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perplexedflower · 2 years

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Last Floor To My Heart

Fandom: Supernatural RPF.

Category: F/M.

Relationship: Richard Speight Jr. x Female Reader.

Type: One shot.

Words: 4,855.

Summary: In a single night, [Y/N]'s life takes a turn for the worse; that is, until she goes seeking comfort in the arms of the only man who can make it all better.

~~~~~~~~~~

Everything happened so fast.

Restlessly sitting on the living room couch, my crossed legs could not stop fidgeting as I waited for Mark to come home. A few minutes earlier, he had called me to say he was on his way home, and that he had something important to tell me when he would be back. When I had asked him why he could not simply tell me over the phone, he had answered it was too significant not to be discussed face-to-face. I had not argued any further, but deep down I knew damn well it was not like him to say a thing such as that.

Mark and I had been dating for almost two years, and this time we had spent together had been good to us. We had met on the set of Supernatural, and back then, it was clear to everyone that we hit it off right away; I was introduced to the plot as an endgame character, so I made my debut near the last seasons of the show. However, I had still been given the opportunity to play alongside Mark, even if only for a few times. And although I was instantly charmed by his Lucifer, I got to know him personally over time and consequently fell for him beyond his character.

It had taken us a while to officially get together, but once we did, we never let go of each other. And we both believed things would grow and evolve between the two of us, shifting our relationship into something more and more serious as time would go on. At least, that is what I believed in until I started noticing a change in Mark's behavior, a change in the way he would talk to me, and act around me. I had always brushed that feeling aside, convincing myself it was only a misinterpretation, a fabrication of my own paranoid mind. But with one simple phone call, all my suspicions had come flowing back up to the surface, and it was becoming hard to ignore them.

As I was getting deeply lost in thought, I suddenly heard the front door open and turned around, only to see Mark enter the living room in somewhat of a rush.

"Hey." He promptly let out without even looking at me.

"Hey..." I awkwardly said back.

I was searching for his eyes, but it was clear to me he was trying to avoid making eye contact with me.

"So... you wanted to tell me something?"

My stomach felt like a tangled bag of knots, hurting my guts, which had a bad feeling about what was about to take place.

"Yeah, we need to talk."

This sentence alone made me gulp and look down at my feet.

"Listen, [Y/N]..." Mark started with faint remorse. "I'm sorry... It truly pains me to say it, as much as it will pain you to hear it, but... we should break up."

I blankly stared at him, in a complete state of shock.

"But-"

"No." He cut me off with a sigh. "It's for the best, trust me."

What? Why? How? Have I done something wrong? Have you met another woman? Do you not love me anymore?

Questions began piling up in my mind, so many questions I wanted to ask him. But I was rendered unable to speak.

"I'm sorry." He said once more, still looking away from me.

His apologies were not fully sincere, I could feel it, I knew him well enough to feel it. But still, I was not able to talk back. All I could do was cry. And so I did: I cried miserably on this couch, feeling sorry for myself, wondering how pathetic Mark must have found me. As my thoughts started to overwhelm me, I finally managed to stand up and walked to our bedroom without a word. I grabbed my suitcase and my duffle bag and put them both on the bed; I rapidly gathered my things, which I had scattered across the room, and stuffed them all back inside my luggage. There was not much to collect, just the essentials: clothes, a book, and my computer. But I refused to leave in this house the only few things I had brought with me. I knew I was no longer wanted here; I knew I had to get out of there.

I quickly changed my clothes and put on a t-shirt, a pair of jeans, a jacket, and shoes. I zipped and closed both my suitcase and bag, before leaving the room with them in hand. As I walked to the front door, I came back into the living room, and Mark stood up as he saw me, ready to go, my hand on the knob.

"[Y/N]-"

"No, don't say anything." I said while crying, interrupting him. "That's what you wanted, for me to go away. So that's what I'm doing."

And with that, I opened the door and stepped outside, after which I closed it right back behind me. Standing in front of the house, I let my luggage fall on the ground beside me and grabbed my head with my hands as I cried more tears.

How did this happen? And why?

I regained my composure and wiped away my tears, before picking up my suitcase and my bag. I took a few steps away from the house and looked around: I had nowhere to go. Mark's house was not very far away from the city center, so I decided to take a night walk. I had always loved walking down the streets at night. But not in this particular state of mind. Not while emotionally devastated.

After a few minutes of aimless strolling, I entered the heart of the city and started seeing all types of people walking up and down the streets, going in and out of restaurants, shopping, and simply minding their own business. As an extroverted person, it had never bothered me much to be around masses of people, and at that very moment, it even allowed me to lose myself among them: I could have cried, nobody would have noticed.

I still had no idea what to do or where to go, wandering alone in the crowded streets. But as I turned my head to the right, my eyes fell on an imposing hotel, illuminated by gorgeous lit-up fountains and surrounded by various types of floral decorations. And that was when I remembered.

Richard. That's the hotel Richard's staying in.

Similarly to Mark, I had met Richard while working on Supernatural; and similarly to Mark, Richard and I had become close friends in only a matter of weeks. After the show had ended, we stayed in touch, and over time, we started to hang out more and more. We eventually began working on common projects together, though they were all silly and for our own amusement. But it led us to have somewhat of a reputation as a duo, to the point of being cast as the two main protagonists in a brand-new TV show. We obviously both accepted, and this new shared adventure had brought us yet even closer to each other.

It had now been some time since we had started working together on the series, and it had taken us to Los Angeles, where we had to shoot for about a week. The production crew had decided to put both of us up in a hotel, but I had told them not to book me a room since I knew Mark resided in town and that I could spend the nights over at his place. Production had accepted my request and ended up booking a single room for Richard, although they had told me it went against regular policy.

Standing in front of the hotel, I looked back on how I had thanked the crew for making an exception. But as I now felt lonely and abandoned, I wished I had not said anything and just accepted the hotel room from the get-go. With my suitcase in my left hand and my duffle bag over my right shoulder, I walked up to the entrance of the hotel and stopped in front of the security guarding the doors. Since I had no room registered to my name, I had not been granted access to the hotel, but Richard had given me an extra entry pass, in case I would need or want to see him in his hotel room.

I presented the pass to the guard and was let inside; walking in, I was instantly blinded by the bright lights emanating from the chandeliers mounted on the ceiling, which contrasted sharply with the darkness outside. For a second, I thought about giving Richard a call, to let him know I was on my way to his room; but given how emotionally weakened I was, I felt I would not be able to speak over the phone, so decided against it. I made my way to the elevator and tried to remember on which floor his room was as I stepped inside; after having searched deep enough in my memory, I pressed the button to the third floor and went up with the elevator. Once on the third floor, the elevator doors opened and I took a step into the bright red hallway.

I slowly walked up to his room and stopped at the door, my luggage in hand, my vision blurry, and my mind blown away. I leaned forward and knocked twice on his door with a shaky hand.

"Who is it?" I heard Richard's voice ask from far away.

"Richard... It's me..." I tried to speak loud and clear.

"... [Y/N]?" He asked with surprise, recognizing my voice. "Hang on."

Inside the room, I could hear fast and loud footsteps, and in a matter of seconds, the door opened widely: I was faced with Richard, staring into my eyes, visibly worried. The door had only just opened that I immediately fell into his arms, my body going limp.

"Woah- Hey, hey." He let out as he caught me by the shoulders. "[Y/N], what's wrong?"

A simple look into his eyes was enough to make him understand I was unable to speak, so he took from my hands the suitcase and bag I was carrying and put them both inside, by the door.

"C'mon, come inside." He said gently as he held me by the arms.

Once inside, he closed the door behind us and made me walk to the couch, before helping me sit down next to him. When he understood I could not stop crying, he put a delicate hand over my knee, which made me look up and into his shining eyes.

"Can you talk?" He started softly. "Do you want to talk? I'm not forcing you if you don't want to or don't feel like it."

Despite how pathetic and pitiful I was feeling mentally, my face still managed to shape my lips into a smile that I sent his way, alongside a nod. Richard and I had been really good friends ever since we had first met, for what seemed to me like forever, and he had always been so caring towards me. Every time I needed someone's presence, he was that someone. That someone who I knew would always be there for me.

I stared back at him and was pained to see how sad he was to see me in such a state.

"It's Mark..." I tried to say, a tear stuck in my throat. "... We broke up."

Richard stared at me in a way I could not describe: he seemed sad, shocked, and for some reason, angry.

"... What?" He finally said after a few seconds of silence.

"He told me it's what's best for us..."

He grabbed his forehead with a sigh, visibly pensive, before turning to me swiftly. He leaned closer to me and hugged me tight, wrapping me in his embrace to try and help me calm down. I felt at peace in his arms. I had always felt comfortable in Richard's arms. But never before had I craved his touch so badly. I grabbed tight onto his back as I allowed myself to cry more tears on his shoulder, my head resting against the crook of his neck. Mark's words had rendered a part of my soul cold and empty, but Richard's warmth was the only remedy I needed to fix it.

He passed a hand on my back, rubbing it back and forth, in hopes of stopping my tears from flowing.

"Shh, shh..." He lulled me softly.

His soothing shushing resonating through my mind, I lost myself in his embrace and kept holding him close, making him understand I did not want him to let go. We remained in each other's arms for a few silent minutes, until he pulled away gently and grabbed my shoulders with care: he looked at me straight in the eyes once more, and when I gazed inside his, it was as if an electrical shock was traveling through my entire body.

"Are you feeling any better?" He asked me with a faint smile.

"I don't know..." I answered honestly while shaking my head slowly.

Richard tucked a strand of hair behind my ear while slightly tilting his head to the side.

"What would help you feel better? What do you want, right now?"

My eyes were still interlocked with his, but my mind went elsewhere.

What do I want?

I asked myself the same question he had just asked me, but was somehow unable to come up with a definitive answer: instead of giving him a verbal response, I stared into his whiskey-colored eyes as I grabbed one of his hands with both of mine. His gorgeous face lit up with a stunning smile I had had the chance to see so many times before, but never had enough of.

"Well, in any case, I do know what you'd need right now." He started, backing away from me a little. "What do you say I make you a cup of tea, and go fetch you a blanket or two?"

I giggled softly at his offer and the sound of my own laughter made me realize I was starting to feel better.

"I say I'd very much appreciate it." I replied with a warm smile.

"Alright, I'll get on it right away then." He smiled back. "The tea might take a while to get ready, so don't hesitate to walk around and stretch your legs a bit."

"Good idea." I said as I stood up from the couch at the same time as him.

While Richard left the room, I took a look around, and only then did I realize his hotel room was not even a single room, but a suite. I spotted three other rooms, in addition to the living area: a bedroom, a kitchen, and a bathroom. I made my way to the bathroom while taking in everything around me.

"Damn, Rich..." I said out loud, addressing him even though he was not in the room with me. "They gave you a full-on suite."

"I know, right?" I heard him chuckle from another room.

I stepped inside the bathroom and passed a hand over the wall as I scoffed lightly.

"I can't believe I'm missing out on all of this." I murmured to myself somewhat disappointedly.

Walking deeper into the bathroom, I approached the sink and stopped in front of the mirror above it.

Jesus Christ...

"... I look like shit." I finished my thought aloud.

I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples with a sigh.

"And to think Richard had to see me like that..."

Opening my eyes back up, I looked more closely at my eyes and the ruined mascara around them.

I'll remove my makeup and clean my face a little, hopefully that'll make me look less miserable.

I made my way back to the front door and picked up my suitcase and my duffle bag: I carried them over to the living area, and set them both down on the floor next to the couch, before unzipping the suitcase, which contained a makeup bag. As I was about to leave the room, my makeup bag in hand, I noticed a blanket and a couple of pillows on the couch, which had not been there before. I smiled and headed back to the bathroom, but stopped by the kitchen this time; leaning a shoulder against the wall behind me, I observed Richard meticulously preparing my tea, softly humming a tune to himself, and felt my cheeks get hotter and hotter the longer I stared at him.

Before he got the chance to turn around and spot me, I kept on walking and entered the bathroom once more. I set my pouch down and opened it to take my makeup remover out, and started cleaning my face. After I had removed all traces of makeup from my face, I splashed some cold water on it, after which I dabbed on my skin with a fresh towel hanging beside the sink. With my face now cleaned and dried up, I took another look at myself in the mirror.

"Well... it's considerably better." I told myself with a sigh.

I put my makeup remover back into my makeup bag and exited the bathroom, and once I was in the living room again, I placed my bag back inside my suitcase. With that done and out of the way, I sat down on the couch once more and let my body relax at the contact of the soft blanket and pillows: just as I was getting comfortable, Richard entered the room, a warm smile on his face and a cup in hand.

"Tea's ready." He said as he walked up to me.

He sat down next to me and held out the mug before my hands.

"Here. Careful, it's hot."

"Thanks."

We exchanged smiles as I grabbed the mug from his hands, but our eyes left each other and my cheeks reddened when my fingers went brushing against his, his skin feeling hotter to the touch than the tea itself. I kept the cup in my hands for a while without actually drinking from it, taking in the heat from the ceramic, and feeling it spread throughout my body. As I took the first sip, I looked back at Richard.

"It's delicious." I told him with a sincere smile.

"It's the one I always make you when you're feeling down, but I perfected it by adding a few drops of honey and milk this time." He said with a sense of pride.

"Well, I love this new specialty of yours." I chuckled gently. "And I hope I'll get to taste it again in the future."

"I'll make you as much as you want. Even when you're not feeling down."

Perhaps it was the sip I had just swallowed, or the syrupy-sweet tone of his voice, but when I heard Richard's words, I felt my throat heat up and spread this heat across my face. Holding tight the mug in my hands, I dared look up and into his honey-colored eyes, sweeter than the honey in my tea. But once I had started staring into them, it was impossible for me to look away; stickier than nectar, they kept me unable to move or fight my way out of them, forcing me to lose myself deeper in them.

And if it had not been for him breaking our stare and looking away, I would have remained stuck into his gaze for all eternity.

"Alright, finish your tea up." He told me as he cleared his throat. "You've gotta rest a little, now."

I blinked a couple of times, pulling myself out of my reveries, and did as I was told. As I took the last sip from my mug, he grabbed the blanket he had brought over and carefully laid it over me, before taking the now-empty cup from my hands.

"If you can, try and take a nap. I know it's still early for sleep, but you've been through a lot tonight, you need to rest. Even just for a short while."

He stood up from the couch, the mug in hand, and turned to me.

"If you need me, or anything, I'll be in my bedroom, all right?"

"All right." I nodded.

As I watched him begin to leave the room, a voice inside of me reached out to him.

"Rich, wait." I suddenly said.

He stopped walking and turned around, only to meet my smiling face.

"Thank you, for everything."

A loving smile took shape on his face at the same time his cheeks got riddled with blush. Turning back around, he flipped the light switch off and headed for his bedroom, leaving me alone in the living room. I lay down across the couch, finding warmth in the cozy blanket covering my body, and closed my eyes with a yawn. As if he was still on the couch with me, I could smell Richard's cologne surrounding me, wrapping me in a feeling of reassurance. Everything around me felt so snug, so homelike, that I fell asleep right away.

When I opened my eyes again, I felt somewhat disoriented, but also revitalized. I reached out for my right jacket pocket and pulled my phone out to look at the time, and saw my good rest had lasted over half an hour. I stretched my arms and legs before slowly rising into a sitting position, and pushed the blanket aside. I rubbed my eyes while yawning then decided to take my phone out once again, this time to check if I had any potential notifications; but before I could even unlock my phone, I was distracted by Richard's voice, conversing with another, awfully familiar one, breaking the silence reigning throughout the entire suite.

I quietly stood up from the couch and as I slowly stepped toward his bedroom, the two voices got louder, deeper, and angrier. Not wanting to interrupt and make my presence known, I stopped around a corner of the wall and observed from afar.

"What's the deal with [Y/N]?" I saw Richard angrily ask the phone he was holding up to his ear.

"What happened between her and I is none of your goddamn business." I recognized Mark's voice on the other side of the line. "Besides, why are you even concerned about that? You should be happy, now she's all yours."

"I have the right to know. And I don't want her to be 'all mine'. She's not a plaything, Mark. You've treated her like a toy for so long, and now you've broken it."

"You think I take pride in what I've done? No, but it was for the best."

Before Richard could add anything else, Mark abruptly hung up on him, putting a forced end to their conversation.

"Bastard..." He murmured to himself as he glared at the phone.

Quietly standing still, I watched him sit down on the edge of his bed, before setting his phone aside and burying his face in his hands; hesitantly, I took a few steps forward and gently knocked on his wide-open bedroom door, revealing myself.

"Rich..." I said in a low voice.

The second he heard the sound of my voice, he looked up and met my eyes, before standing up quickly.

"[Y/N]-" He exclaimed as he walked toward me. "How long have you been up? Are you feeling any better?"

"I am, that nap felt really good." I answered him with a forced smile.

He smiled back at me, but we both knew that neither of our grins was heartfelt: mine slowly vanished as I stared into his eyes intensely.

"Listen, Rich..." I started awkwardly. "I... I heard you talk with Mark over the phone..."

His smile faded away and he instinctively avoided looking into my eyes as he backed off slightly; but I could not bring myself to divert my sight from him, and with the both of us staying silent, I could feel the uneasiness settle between us.

"Do you mind... explaining to me what Mark meant when he said what he said about you?" I shyly spoke up.

Richard exhaled heavily as he grabbed the back of his neck with one hand.

"[Y/N], I..."

He tried to speak, but I could read in him the struggle he was going through to find the right words to use: he did not finish his sentence and instead left it hanging, letting silence take over once more.

"You should be happy, now she's all yours."

This one sentence kept resonating in my head, and the more I was hearing it, the more I was beginning to accept it.

"I know what Mark meant, Rich." I said gently as I took a confident step forward. "But I want to hear it from you."

He finally looked up at me, and before he even said a word, I could read the love in his eyes, and I could feel it spread over to mine.

"I love you, [Y/N]." Richard confessed with a deep breath. "I always have. Since the first time we met, since the very moment I saw you, I've always felt this way about you. And, when you and Mark got together, I promised myself I'd keep my feelings hidden and away. The last thing I wanted was to ruin your relationship by interfering... Mark eventually figured it out a couple of weeks ago."

Listening to him pour his heart out to me, I could feel each and every single one of his words was truly sincere.

"[Y/N]... I'm so sorry to burden you with all this... You shouldn't have to sit through my rambling, after what you've just gone through with Mark-"

"No." I suddenly interrupted him.

His eyes opened wider in surprise, and the gleam visible inside of them was a sign he would have begun shedding a tear if I had not stopped him from talking further. I felt my cheeks flush as I took a step in his direction.

"I... I love you too." I shamefully admitted. "Like you, I always have. Something inside of me triggered when I first talked to you. But... I've always been unsure of my feelings for you, unsure of their true nature... It's always been in and out for me. Then, Mark came pretty early on, so I think my brain just... unconsciously pushed these feelings aside. But they've always been there. They never left."

Staring into his sparkling eyes, I felt the atmosphere surrounding us becoming heavier than ever.

"... I never knew you felt this way about me." I shook my head slowly. "But now, it just feels like it makes all the sense in the world..."

Losing some of my confidence, I looked down at my feet and sighed.

"God, I feel so stupid... I've been oblivious this whole time, I should've seen-"

"[Y/N]." He cut me off gently. "Don't blame yourself, please."

"No, I have my share of responsibility in this, Rich. If I had noticed your feelings for me right away, then... maybe... we could've-"

Before I could finish speaking, my cheeks were cupped by two strong hands, before I felt Richard's lips against mine. The contact of our skins against one another was so sudden, that I could not help but let out a soft, high-pitched moan as we kissed. It was such a passionate kiss, radiating love, yet it felt as though it was the softest I had ever received. Just as my limbs started relaxing and my lips began taking part in the action, Richard pulled away after only a few seconds, leaving a part of me frustrated and wanting more. He shook his head repeatedly as he pressed one of his hands on his forehead.

"Shit- I'm sorry, I shouldn't have, this is too soon-" He stuttered.

"No- I mean, yes-" I stammered as well. "But, to be honest... I think we both wanted it to happen."

We awkwardly stared at each other, our bodies still so close, which allowed me to see his slightly blushing cheeks and made my heart flutter.

"And, besides... even if it can't happen now doesn't mean it can't ever happen again at a later time..." I shyly added.

I lowered my gaze a little and delicately grabbed one of his hands with one of mine, before looking back up into his gorgeous eyes.

"When you asked me earlier, I didn't have an answer, but now, I know what I want."

Richard scoffed gently and smiled as he intertwined his fingers with mine.

"I'll need some time to heal from Mark, Richard. But I know I'll heal faster with you by my side."

As we held each other's hands, the warm smiles we exchanged made us both understand we were making the promise of being honest with ourselves and each other from there on.

"Then I'll never stray away from you."

#richard speight jr.#richard speight jr. x reader #richard speight jr. x you #richard speight jr. fanfiction #richard speight jr. fanfictions #richard speight jr. one shot #richard speight jr. one shots #richard speight jr. imagine #richard speight jr. imagines #supernatural rpf #supernatural rpf fanfiction #supernatural rpf fanfictions #supernatural rpf one shot #supernatural rpf one shots #supernatural rpf imagine #supernatural rpf imagines #spn rpf #female reader #perplexedflower

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agentrouka-blog · 1 year

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I can be wrong but I don't think there will be jonerys if Jonsa going to be happen. It will be absurd for Jon and Sansa to have feelings towards each other and tried to deal with those feelings with other external issues only for him to fall for Dany too. Already Jon and Sansa suffered enough and still had to deal with things. Shouldn't they get some respite instead being dragged into some kind of love triangle? Jonerys bring nothing in story and to their characters besides unnecessary suffering

I happen to agree.

They can't coexist without destroying the point of either.

Whatever controversy and tension you create with introducing Jonsa as a fake!incest romance, you entirely undercut by adding Jonerys, the genuine aunt-nephew Targcest romance, on top of it.

Narratively, it erases the tension of the former (Incest? No big deal, old hat, been there done that.) alongside the deeper emotional significance for Jon. Since all that sister-incest drama apparently isn't remotely captivating enough to hold his attention and keep him from becoming enamored of a dragonriding invader, one that it turns out he is also related to.

What, apart from the deepest satire, is enabled by such a heaping of bait and switch incest?

Even if you place the parentage reveal very late (erasing all chance at Aegon drama for Jon) and turn it into a surprise accidental incest switch, you're left with a wishy-washy hero who basically goes "Awww, shucks, now I'm related to HER? Guess I can shag the redhead now, because we're only cousins, lol. Surely she won't care I was in love with the Targ queen until three minutes ago and only choose her now that the other one is off-limits. I am, after all, the ultimate and only worthy prize. Aww, CRAP, my platinum forbidden love is now charring a town! Is it my fault?"

Even any iteration of a sexual political!Jon storyline would suddenly place an embarrassing emphasis on Jon as an irresistible man prize no woman can resist, who is "forced to" have sex with the hot dragon queen to save the world and then fall into the patient and forgiving arms of the long-suffering maiden (who would never emasculate him with something as unpleasant as sexual competition, that's strictly for girls to endure)... apparently. Maybe with a "tragic" delay-by-exile to make it look a little less like he gets to have his cake and eat it too. A dream of spring, indeed. "Jon, your ten years are up. Sansa is ready to give you everything you ever wanted now after spending ten years waiting for you after your epic romance with your aunt. You were so very brave."

It erases the significance of the political messaging by making philosophical differences secondary to sexual attraction, and it really hurts the dignity of the female characters involved, Sansa and Dany both, by reducing their "peak" romance to a competition. It erases the concept and importance of fidelity and loyalty, if betraying one's love is either easily done in earnest, or handled like the rational and necessary choice by a true hero. Fidelity is a luxury that women can't ask of men unless they don't want to save the world!

Considering the level of importance GRRM has placed on romantic imagery specifically with Sansa, I find it sincerely improbable that he would reduce her to a reward prop for Jon, a clean and dignified maiden wife and mother-to-his-children as a treat, after suffering so terribly in yet another sexually charged relationship with dangerous and beautiful woman. (Yawn.) The love story she has been waiting for is going to have to be worth the wait? No?

Sansa's perspective on this would be pretty bleak, otherwise. What's the point of jonsa from her perspective? What's so great about Jon's love if he would just give it to a violent invader? What's supposed to be compelling about this romance for Sansa if it's just another disappointment because Jon's best political trick is sleeping with the beautiful enemy? Is pain the lesson here? Is jealousy and humiliation the price to pay for the crime of... what exactly? And what's the price Jon pays for loving Sansa, then? A little bit of feeling guilty for ten minutes before/after sleeping with his hot aunt? Really? That's love? That's romance? That's the future of House Stark? Sansa has no better option anywhere? Jon is literally the best possible guy, so she has to settle for that hot mess?

And what about Dany, who seems to spend her story arc essentially swinging from murder to falling for the wrong guy, rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat. Girl just thinks with her hormones, apparently. Compelling stuff. At least she gets to make Jon feel a little conflicted, I suppose. A lot of build-up in Essos for that, but anything to serve his story arc.

I don't buy it.

I don't buy it from Jon's perspective, I don't buy it from Dany's perspective, I don't buy it from Sansa's and I don't buy it from GRRM's.

I have never read a proposed storyline for Jonerys that would rival the intrigue of them being allowed to be platonic enemies. The dignity of letting their politics and personalities, not their genitals, take center stage.

#anti jonerys #jonsa #this is just one rambling rant #i apologize

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goldiipond · 11 months

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watched the promised neverland

what is s2 and why does everyone hate it

OHHHHHH OH YOU WATCHED IT??? LETS FUCKING GOOOOO IHOPE YOU LIKED IT!!!!!!

also thats a quastion with sooooooo many answers i'll try to be brief but. there is so much and i am very passionate abt it <3 heres a general summary of everything i can think of that sucks ass by your best friend skye:

-the biggest one is easily the amount of manga content that is changed/just outright cut altogether. s1 was a wonderful, faithful adaptation of the first 37 chapters of the manga. this manga has 181 chapters and had been finished for a while by the time of s2's release. essentially they tried to squeeze the framework of the remaining 144 chapters into one 11 episode season and it went about as well as you'd expect

-the decision to cut what is easily at least 80% of characters introduced after the escape arc. this includes a character who is, in my opinion, one of the funniest and most well-written characters in the series and a huge fan favorite in general

-the decision to cut literally the entire goldy pond arc, which is widely considered to be the best arc in the manga. every character that comes with it also gets the axe. haha goldy pond reference

-several major plot points and entire chunks of other arcs are also cut out, leaving a messy and frankly sad skeleton of a plot that they try to salvage with original plot points that only serve to make an even bigger mess of this story or to make a setup to what could be a really cool new plot direction and immediately disappoint you. i watched s2 before reading the manga and can count at least 3 separate instances where i went oh youre fucking joking

-i cannot stress how bad this gets. the final episode ends with what is quite literally a glorified powerpoint presentation in an attempt to wrap up an obscene amount of plot before they hit the episode length limit. i said 'this is bullshit' aloud to my sister on my first watch and coming back after reading the manga it was frankly insulting. a character fucking meets god and makes a deal that changes the laws of the world itself and in the anime this is told through a singular still frame that is onscreen for about 8 seconds. it is so bad

-this season fucking gutted pretty much every female character (and every character in general tbh) and turned a series with an amazing emphasis on freedom of expression and defying gender roles into another generic shonen misogyny fest. the significance of emma refusing to wear a skirt after escaping gracefield's oppressive environment is thrown out by putting her back into a skirt by the 3rd or 4th episode, literally every post-escape female character besides 2 are cut, including but not limited to an androgynous girl who kicks ass and is never treated like a joke and a girl who shoots a rich scumbag point-blank in the face to avenge her sister

-i dont see much talk about the racism but god its soo racist. every post-escape character of color is cut with the exception of one, a black guy who is given a 'ooooh hes secretly a villain' cliffhanger at the end of an episode that is entirely non-existent in the manga. they dont even commit to it and he's revealed to Still Be A Good Guy Actually at the start of the next episode, they literally had no reason to do this. at one point they have don tell a terrified 5 year-old not to cry because 'boys don't cry'. don cries more than literally any other guy in the manga and most of the girls as well, and he is never ashamed of this. i am greatly downplaying the amount of rage that line makes me feel

-they cut 4 canonically disabled characters, 2 of which are disabled by the time they're introduced and 2 of which end up disabled after events in the story, all of which are treated with nothing but respect in the manga

i could probably go on but im running out of brain juice so. heres the gist of it <3 in short, season one was for the most part a beautiful adaptation of the first arc and in a lot of aspects i even like it better than the manga, with my only major complaint being the addition of that weird doll krone talks to and the amount of times she's drawn as a caricature even after being toned down compared to the manga. s1 was made with so much love by people who clearly cared abt the story they were adapting, and s2 is a frankly heinous attempt at finishing it up in a very short amount of time. it is so impressively bad that literally no one, from the entire team that worked on the last 2 episodes to THE GODDAMN CREATORS OF THE SERIES wanted to take any credit for those 2 episodes. thank you <3

#skye's ramblings #I DID NOT MEAN FOR IT TO BE THIS LONG BUT UH. I AM VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS. HEART EMOJI #this anime was huge and the release of s2 pretty much singlehandedly destroyed almost the entire fandom. i hate it so much #BUT IN OTHER NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU WATCHED TPN!!!!!!!! JUMPS AROUND #what did you think of it!!!!!!! what did you think of ray. my best friend ray <3 if you have any thoughts id love to hear them #that genuinely makes me soo happy tht you watched it. life is beautiful #bowIetta #shrimps squad #also love this little beast image you have attached. okbye

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tarisilmarwen · 11 months

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1, 3, 6 for Teen Titans. :) Gimme the salty Tari takes!

1. the character everyone gets wrong

Red X. No one seems to understand that his identity wasn't the point. It didn't matter who was underneath the mask. He wasn't anyone. He wasn't supposed to be anyone. Not anyone significant or familiar anyways.

He was just a random ass kid who liked the thrill of the heist, decided on a whim to break into Titans Tower, and lucked into the biggest score of his career. He doesn't need any more deep backstory than that.

People always go the laziest stalest most boring route and make him Jason Todd anyway, despite how that would absolutely never work in the TT continuity.

3. screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

It's a good thing we're limiting this to Tumblr because boooooooooy did I see some bullshit back in the day, lol.

Probably the worst bit of fanwank on Tumblr for the TT fandom is the mindless endless, "BBRae is abusive and toxic!!!!" whinging.

No they're not, they're friends whose personalities can sometimes clash very abrasively but when the chips are down they'd do anything for each other, it's fine if you don't like their dynamic but not every tiny bit of conflict or disagreement or not getting along between characters is automatically a toxic relationship.

Oh and there was also the time RobRae shippers tried to kickstart their own Zutara-esque, "We were supposed to be endgame the whole time guys, the creators totally said so, promise!" conspiracy.

And the time fandom tried to incorporate Teen Titans into the "Cartoon Network cancels superhero shows because too many girls watch them!" nonsense.

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?

[See aforementioned previous note about which shipper base tried to start a Zutara-esque "We were the original endgame!" conspiracy.]

It's a lot less now, now that they've essentially been subsumed and absorbed almost entirely by the DamiRae shipbase (and that's a rant for another day lololol) but the TT fandom was baby Tari's first shipwar and introduced me to so many ~*wonderful*~ concepts like:

Slutshaming the female rival is a totally valid argument, and not base misogyny at all.

Reducing the rival ship to its most surface level characteristics is okay when we do it.

Canon ships having any kind of relationship progress or development is "forced".

"Chemistry" means "the ship dynamic I like".

Wanting to pull someone out of their clearly-narratively-depicted self-destructive habits is bad actually.

Shipping fanon is a subversive act of rebellion and revolution against oppressive unfair norms. (AKA "Shipping is Social Justice Activism" before that was a thing.)

Fanon shippers are just naturally smarter and better than people who enjoy the canon romance as presented.

And many other highlights!

Yeah, I don't miss that drama and that's one of the reasons I don't want a revival or a Season Six, because then I'd have to deal with these idiots all over again.

Choose violence ask game.

#askbox #Teen Titans #red x #fandom wank #ship wars #tari's raging inner shipper bitch #(been a while since I busted that tag out seemed appropriate)#meme #anti robrae

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istumpysk · 2 years

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One of the things I have not understood is the over glorification of Littlefinger's narrative purpose amongst the book fandom especially the shippers and his Stans.

I get it the show dumbed him down but one thing I never understood is some of his fans being sadly insistent on the fact they made his character all about boinking Sansa. But that is not something made up, it's the whole gist of his character.

They say that the man who started the war of the 5 kings couldn't die by the hands of Sansa and they try to redirect his death through a supernatural entity say a corpse like Stoneheart or White Walkers but people forget that instructing Lysa to kill Jon and then telling her to write a letter to Cat so as to lure and trap Ned in Kings Landing but all of that happens before he has his eyes set on Sansa. In fact all of his politicking after Ned's death and from ACOK have revolved around Sansa. From enlisting Dontos to saying the merits of a Tyrell marriage in place of Sansa's to taking Harrenhall as a seat only to gain a title because he was lowborn enough to even marry a spurned princess to putting a wrench in her betrothal to Willas to conspire with Olenna and decide the Purple Wedding was the time to take out Sansa out of the capital to framing her husband for murder so as to widow her and to murdering Lysa to the present Vale succession that we are heading into TWOW.

I don't know why it bothers people to say that his character entirely revolves around Sansa especially from ACOK and after Ned's death. But just because his character entirely revolves around Sansa's, doesn't mean the other way around holds true. Yes he is an important part of her arc but so was Joffrey, Cersei or Sandor. Sansa is a protagonist and Baelish is the supporting character in her arc though he is the most important supporting character in her arc till now, one could say. He is an important plot device and that's it. Sansa is a fleshed out Pov who is a work in progress and Baelish is a static character whose arc is to oil up her hero's journey. It's really hilarious how people get shocked when you say that Sansa has a hero's journey and they are like she is not ugly or an outcast and I am like yeah stop reading those YA novels where everything is a sense of escapism to project upon people who you think had better than you. Also what is this outcast hero worship. George introduces trope but he writes these characters as people. He said the same when he was asked about female characters and he said every demographic you get all kinds of people. So yeah just because someone is pretty doesn't make them evil nor the other way around is true. By that logic Ramsay Bolton should be a hero 🤣. He is ugly and a bastard and unlike Jon, he doesn't have a secret royal ancestry. This obsession with heroic ugly outcasts always makes me believe that this people have not left middle school.

Most of the times I see these arguments are voiced by antis when they talk about after she takes him down, she will die because there is nothing to her arc after his death and I don't get it. Is it because he is the most important non magical antagonist in the books and taking him down renders a certain narrative significance in the text. I must admit its mostly that this accusations are always voiced by key 5 Stans.

Another thing I don't understand is the insistence on him dying with a bang because the show emasculated his death and I am like George for all his talk about moral greyness, always makes sure that his villains die helpless. Remember Tywin, Drogo, Joffrey etc. Even a good guy like Ned dies helpless and Baelish is the anti Ned figure who tries to take that place in Sansa's arc after Ned's death. His death has to mirror Ned's. Overconfidence followed by people that were loyal to him turning against him, add in a daughters betrayal( this time with actual intent to harm him unlike Ned's where she never intended any harm befell her father) followed by helplessness and dying far away from home.

George has himself said Baelish is obsessed with Sansa and the thing with obsession in ASOIAF is that it leads you to the grave. Just ask the woman who was obsessed with Baelish and was later murdered by him.

Nimby! What could I possibly add to this? Well said.

It's more minimizing of Sansa, this time within her own god damn storyline.

The ice and fire threats might be central to the story, but nobody can deny who the political Final Boss is. Admitting Littlefinger's goals rest on Sansa, or that his fate is tied to Sansa, is admitting Sansa is important. They can't do that.

#stumpy ask #nimbledick

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nongenderbentanimeneilarmstrong · 2 years

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Early Honkai Impact manga are extremely fascinating to me. I would say anything released before Elan Platinus (Purple Kite Tales in case you're ever looking up volume release order on mangadex) is early Honkai to me since that all came out before there were a number of retcons regarding certain characters.

Another notable thing is that the artists basically didn't know how to draw boobs like at all. They look like gelatinous spheres attached to characters chests. Yeah sure this isn't probably that interesting but it really just gave honkai a different tone when there were flacid scuppernong grapes smushing into each other every page.

What may be the only official de-canonized part of honkai is the mystery of the stigmata arc. I'm not sure if later changes to the plot influenced this decision or not since I have commonly heard it was removed due to depicting the yellow emperor as an anime girl. Regardless, the main antagonist of this arc is Walter, the 1st herrscher, sovereign of AE, and also secretly Himeko's father. If you ever see anyone crawling out if the woodwork taking about Welt being Himeko's father, this is why. While we don't know what his powers were, the rebirth dlc GGZ character named Walter who was also the 1st herrscher and sovereign of AE had gravity powers. The Joyce clones and Welt seemed to have gravity powers in AE invasion/moon shadow so I feel fairly comfortable in saying that the 1st herrscher used to have gravity powers. However Walter was retconed and now we have Welt who is basically just a totally different guy (and now he doesn't even have gravity powers). Also here's the first image we get of Walter.

And here's a Canon image of the Joyce clone from Moon Shadow.

Himeko's first appearance in the escape from nagazora manga is also really, really bad. That's not how you put on armor, please don't do that. I genuinely don't want to post an image of the page I'm referring to because I don't feel comfortable inflicting this onto others I'm pretty sure this is soft core porn.

On a lighter note I want to show people Otto Apocalypse's first appearance in Honkai Impact.

As far as I can tell, since Otto is never actually seen in Theresa's chronicle chapter, this had to be his first appearance in the story. The translators of this game chose to introduce the English speaking fan base to this guy with a "nobody expects the Spanish inquisition" joke. I'm not sure if he was supposed to the the main antagonist when this was published, but regardless, someone consciously chose to draw this guy like this and someone decided to add in a month python joke. Old Honkai was just, extremely horny (though it is important to note that female characters were sexualized to a far greater degree).

Anyways regarding the original main antagonist, I'm pretty sure it was Cocolia to at least some extent. She was the main antagonist through the moon shadow arc, though Otto Apocalypse was pretty evil in that one so it's hard to say anything with a ton of confidence. Regardless, that's probably part of the reason why Cocolia AE was the main antagonist until she suddenly wasn't. Though the whole AE fracturing and Einstein/Tesla making a deal with Theresa was a pretty significant plot point in AE invasion so technically it wasn't entirely something that came out of nowhere, but really how many people would be reading the manga at that point in the story.

But yeah, here's some notable events from early Honkai manga that I think are pretty interesting. This post kinda ended up being a collection of some of the more salacious images I want to forget about so in general it's actually a pretty mixed bag. Azure Waters is really really good and I definitely enjoyed parts of AE invasion and moon shadow regardless of some scenes that I did not enjoy and would not recommend. Also I find it hilarious that Otto's introduction is like that. I cannot take him seriously at all in that arc or kinda in general whenever I'm reminded of that scene.

#hi3 #honkai impact #honkai impact 3 #honkai impact 3rd #early honkai

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uselessfilmnerd · 1 year

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Dungeons&Dragons Honour Among Thieves: A Film Review By Someone Who Knows Nothing About Film

Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves takes the beloved world of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) to a wider audience, without compromising its already faithful tabletop gaming audience in its narrative. This review includes light spoilers for the named movie.

The film takes place in the world of the Forgotten Realms, a vaguely medieval fantasy world filled with wonderous creatures and races. It finds our main characters, Edgin (former Harper and single father) and Holga (his long-time warrior companion) in prison after a very ambitious heist gone wrong, while Simon and Forge (a pathetic sorcerer and con man, both previous companions of Holga and Edgin) have moved on and live separate lives. The heist was motivated by the mythical Tablet of Reawakening and started by a mysterious and extremely powerful wizard, Sofina.

The narrative follows the rag-tag team of former conmen and thieves Edgin, Holga, half-elf Simon and tiefling Doric as they try to take down former companion Forge, and his ghastly advisor Sofina and their nefarious plot to steal away Edgin's daughter, who has been manipulated by Forge in her father's absence after being entrusted to him.

The film itself was definitely a breath of fresh air in terms of the lack of over-the-top romantic pursuits, and especially in its representation of Edgin and Holga's platonic co-parenting style of raising Kira after Edgin fell into a depression following the death of his wife. I was worried that both of their characters would later be compromised for a half-developed "true love was in front of you all along" narrative, and was pleasantly surprised when Holga was implied to be looking for another dwarf partner during the medal ceremony. It was lovely to see how Holga's character was used to compliment the others, and was never used as a crutch to showcase the others. The showing of her finding closure after a loving relationship with an ex-partner was also lovely to see, both humorous and oddly charming in its vulnerability. Finally, an adventure movie which does not use strong female characters to further the plot to the main male!

Speaking of strong female characters, I believed Doric and in turn the male Simon both needed their own section. Doric, the fiery but charming tiefling accepts the quest proposed by Edgin after Simon mentions that he knows a Druid to help. Doric was previously courted by Simon, and found his lack of self-esteem positively distressing, and ended the courtship. Her resolve throughout the movie makes her one of the main masterminds, and quiet and observant as she is, the story would not be complete without her. Wary of humans after witnessing them only lie and cheat, she is hesitant to help Edgin, but winessing the execution and maltreatment of the people who took her in as their own, she agrees to take down Forge. We are introduced to her during an execution, where a woman from a group called the Emerald Enclave has been sentenced to death by dismembrement for questioning the Ruler (Forge). She is adamant in her cause until her very near end, just before the executioner's horse transforms, revealing it was Doric in Wildshape all along. She is cemented as just and right. Her never-ending curious and sometimes mocking questioning of Simon is a lovely addition to her nature, and creates a funny, well-balanced character who again, compliments the group perfectly. Her emotional journey from start to finish of the film is evident too, especially in terms of putting her guard down: a subtle but lovely story-progression as she begins to take charge. Simon has just as significant of a journey, but instead of with the group it is within himself. He is introduced as the comic relief terrible, no good, very bad sorcerer, whose tricks include piping out the smell of fresh-cut grass. However, there is hints of true ability, such as quickly flipping the gravity of an entire barn when his life was threatened after being outed as a thief by the audience. It is all dismissed as 'accidental' by Simon, but his self-deprecating nature and lack of self-esteem play down his achievements. This is especially true in terms of trying to attune to the helm, in which he is frustrated at his own inability and lashes out at those around him, who in turn bolster him to keep trying. This leads to somewhat of a breakthrough later on, in which he realises he is strongest at his weakest, a beautiful sentiment to those who find themselves best under pressure and perceive themselves as average otherwise. His journey focuses on overcoming himself, and learning to live with his doubt while overcoming it for those he loves. I found this a lovely and refreshing narrative for a male character in a movie inspired by a very male-dominated game.

As for Edgin, his story was touching, but almost predictable. The grief which separated him from his daughter due to his own greed in taking treasure from the Red Wizards he put away and led to his wife Zia's death was framed by trying to do right by his daughter, and undoing the damage caused. He realised that while he knew Zia as his wife and the mother of Kira, the only mother Kira ever knew was Holga, and in a truly touching moment, uses the only chance to revive his wife to revive the heroic Holga instead as his daughter sobs. I say 'predictable' as if it is a dirty word in terms of film, but sometimes compassion is predictable, and that is a positive. The lesson he learns is predictable, but that doesn't make it any less impactful. It was so refreshing to see this father-daughter bond featured on screen, especially with a father with a complicated past just trying to rekindle his relationship with his daughter. Learning that accepting his failures and his faults does not take away from his front as the optimistic planner but in fact helps heal this and his daughter is just beautiful, and his journey to taking responsibility for his actions, even if they cause unwanted harm, was truly important and touching.

Seeing these heroic characters come to such human and humble realisations in an action-packed humorous movie is so lovely to see! The plot is thick with twists and turns and subtle hinting which comes to fruition much later in movie, making it feel well-rounded and solid. The plot is easy to follow and engaging, with clear villains but also morally-grey characters, including a well-rounded but still mysterious female villain. As for specifically Hugh Grant's performance, it can be called classic Hugh Grant; it is the same as in Paddington, and in every other Hugh Grant movie ever, which added a great touch for even accidental Hugh Grant followers. For me however, it was amazing to see Sophie Lillis in the role of Doric; she embodied the quiet but fiery personality perfectly, as she has done before in I Am Not Okay With This and IT.

This movie receives a 4 star rating in this movie review by someone who knows nothing about movies.

#film review #film #new film #movie review #dungeons and dragons

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taohs · 10 months

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I know that I've already said this many times now.. Black Lagoon is definitely one of my favorite series in every way. It is a complex series with well written story, well written characters, memorable music. I'd say there isn't anything a single thing I hate about it at all. I enjoy how it pushes boundaries for people in any ways that is considered good and bad for them.

For the original series, there are twelve volumes but the newest volume comes out in the winter. So that will be thirteen novels soon. I believe that there are two short stories that I know of - those stories have also mainly revolved around the female characters.. Which is no surprise. And the two spinoff series, for Eda and Sawyer (which have a fair share of novels).

Li Xinlin is a Chinese character that gets introduced in the next arc. But she, unlike certain characters, is willing to have help in her situation. Because of how similar her personality is to Rock's, they get along a lot during their time together. So Rock doesn't even become dark in that arc. That is all I'll say about it.

That's why I have mixed feelings about Rock as this character. I respect that he would do anything he is able to when helping people. Because he's trying all the time, saying and doing what he can for people - if they allow him to help. But people like Balalaika or Chang manipulating is causing him to become very similar to them. Even though Revy doesn't admit it.. She does want a normal life, as normal a life for her that she can have. Like you saw yourself. You know nothing about her mother, her father was always so abusive. That abusive situation that you saw, she is only a fourteen year old girl in that moment in time. She dropped out of school at a young age so she is not properly educated. And was in prison for some time before she escape, so she's a convicted felon. The woman has a dark life. So if Rock can't save her now, then I don't who would be able to help her.

But then there's Rock being a hypocrite. I might be able to tolerant small hypocrises.. Okay. That's a lie. I can't tolerant hypocrites. Sometimes I'm one. And I try not to be a hypocrite if I can help it, but I'm not on that level of hypocrisy at all. Rock preaches that he has his morals while also manipulating people to do things that he won't do, and then complain that they are doing those things. There are times when I want to hit Rock over those situations. And I know, I know. He's a fictional character. But still.

Yes! Those are the two main reasons why Roberta's Blood Trail was an ova season. Because of Rei Hiroe not wanting he work being censored, he just never wants his work watered down. Which I am so happy for. And because there wasn't even enough story to make a whole season, like the first two seasons.

The ending for that season was different.

In the ending to the "Roberta's Blood Trail" OVA, there are differences on how Roberta survived the fight. In both versions, she survives, but there are a few differences:

In the manga, she survived without sustaining any major injury.

In the anime, she suffers significant wounds throughout the final battle as she ultimately lost her left arm, right leg, two fingers, her right eye and she was also confined to a wheelchair, but this seems to be temporary when she recovered as she is seen rising from the chair at the end of the OVA.

Who knows if you'll feel differently when you do end up reading the manga, when you read the manga.

I'm trying to think of.. something...

I forget.

That's why fans were hoping a new season was now on the way. Because of the promotional video I sent you. But nothing else was ever mentioned after that though, so who knows will might happen now.

Another thought that came to mind. Personally, I'm not a fan of live action adaptions to from anime and manga series. Because those adaptions never live up to my expectations at all. That's just my opinion. But is it weird that I kinda wanna make a post of the celebrities I imagine as the Black Lagoon cast, like my fancast, if the series was ever a live adaption. Not that anyone I would pick for these characters would ever be used, but just based on my opinion.

And yes. For the person who mentioned it, I know people can read manga online. That is where I have usually read my manga if I'm not able to buy manga in that moment. The site I used was removed so I'm needing to search for a new site to read manga now.

- 💋

yes! black lagoon definitely pushes boundaries for people and i can see that it may not be for everyone. but i personally enjoyed it a lot and i love how much work was put into creating the female cast (balalaika easily made it into one of my favorite characters). honestly i haven't watch a series with good female characters that i haven't fallen in love with. i've also started reading the manga and binged up to roberta's arc (not yet to when she started fighting). i like how faithful the anime adapation was for the most part. i'm very excited to reach the arcs that the anime hasn't gotten up to yet and meet the new characters!

i agree that rock is probably the best and only person that might be able to pull revy out of her dark life. she went through so much as a child and her mindset is that only violence and murder will allow her to survive in her messed up world. i really would like to see her live a more peaceful life. it's really up to how rock develops as a character though, which will be interesting to see. i can't tell if revy will be willing to watch him fall to the dark side though, or if she will actually carry out her threat to kill him before that happens. their relationship is so complicated

personally i'm okay with live action adaptations! it's not something that i Absolutely Need, usually i don't care too much for them unless it's a series that i'm really into, but i do enjoy seeing how they bring these characters to life. i would love to see a live action black lagoon cast though, especially with how diverse it is!! (also seeing those female characters in real life will be heaven for me). do you already have people in mind for a fancast?

#answered #💋 anon

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fzzr · 1 year

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I Can't Stop Comparing Things to How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend

Starting in August 2022 I began a long marathon of catching up on my anime backlog. The second show I watched was Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata (How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend, henceforth Saekano). At the time, I had only watched the first season, so this was me re-watching that and catching up on the rest. I was not ready for what happened next. A saucy show about making a visual novel while surrounded by hot chicks made a sudden turn into an emotionally devastating story about growing as an artist and how easy it is for people to hurt one another and much more. It was powerful. It both made me need to stop and take a look at myself and stay up until 2AM to finish it. I need to talk about it.

A note on the title: "heroine" here is officially translated "girlfriend", but a more useful translation would be "main female love interest".

Summary

Our male viewpoint character, Tomoya Aki, has a fateful encounter with a girl that inspires him to create a galge around her. He recruits his two very talented classmates, artist Eriri Spencer Sawamura and writer Utaka Kasumigaoka. When he realizes that his muse is actually the hopelessly normal Megumi Katou, he resolves to bring her into the circle anyway.

With this premise out of the way, the show kicks off a harem story. The core plotline keeps the count of ladies stable at three. When a fourth is introduced as his cousin late in season 1 and the OH NO alerts go off, don't worry - this has not become an incest anime, she's just here to help with the actual plot. The amount of fanservice is significant, but it's not the sole focus of the show. Had it continued like this, it would have been a well-executed example of the genre and probably sat at 8/10.

But then season 2 happens, and the game comes out in time for Comiket... barely. Things didn't go as well as they could have, and not everyone is quite satisfied with the result. There were even some emotional bruises along the way. Tomoya resolves to give it another shot. At this point... well I don't want to spoil things in detail. This is the moment where Saekano takes a hard left turn into drama. It starts artistically managing the viewer's understanding of each character's point of view. It uses indirection and suspense to build up to one emotional gut punch after another. It allows the characters, and you, to wallow in the impact of what happens. It moves the theme of artistic fulfillment from background to front and center.

From here, I went from merely enjoying myself to absolutely hooked. In many harem shows you can find yourself writhing in pain as it draws out every possible step of progress and then snatches them back. In Saekano, you instead feel genuinely worried, deep down, that things will not work out at all and everyone will be left broken into pieces or incomplete. There are twists - but they're not bullshit romcom twists to make things worse for no reason. Characters hurt each other, unnecessarily and unintentionally but sometimes necessarily and knowingly. No one is forgiven for free. When things do get better, they leave scars. There are antagonists, but even characters who act like heels get empathy and you come to understand them, if not agree with their actions.

Wait, I need to talk about the characters more.

Tomoya enters the picture as the character for the male target audience to imprint on. Eriri is a tsundere with all the option boxes checked - twintails, S-class absolute territory, relatively short, modestly endowed. Utaka is cool, collected, cunning, and cutting. You know the type, she never forgets a slight and makes sure you don't either. Megumi is... um. Megumi is... well she's uh... huh. You riffle through all your binders full of women and she's nowhere to be found. Dandere? No, she's plenty willing to speak her mind when needed. Kuudere? I mean sorta, she knows how to deploy sarcasm, but it's not like she's an ice queen.

No, Megumi, as introduced, is a nothing in particular. How can you base a story on a character without a trope to use as a foundation? Tomoya is at a loss, and if you are used to nothing but remixes of *deres in assorted hair colors and slightly different school uniforms, you are too. I guess instead of stamping a label on her, you're just going to need to get to know her. So let's try.

In many stories, you get to know a character and then you get to see them change. Indeed, that's what happens with every character in Saekano - except Megumi. Eriri has trouble drawing her, because you can't see all of her at once. Instead, like the characters in the show, you have to pull together what you do see and create an image of a complete whole in your mind. You turn to compare your model to the original and... it's a bit off. She's changed. Indeed, she has been changing since the beginning. Even your starting snapshot is a bit blurred. Megumi doesn't move too fast to catch up to - but she is always moving, so you can't quite hold on to what you catch.

Megumi is nothing in particular. Instead, she's herself. Kind but not endlessly selfless. Tolerant but not without limits. Influence from others doesn't fill her like some empty vessel, it just adds to what was already there. Neither clay nor brick, neither water nor ice, not a mere object of affection nor a prize to be won. Megumi Kato is nothing in particular, just like you and I aren't anything in particular either. We're just people.

What is love?

Saekano doesn't believe in love at first sight. You aren't destined for someone just because you saw them from the bottom of a hill. It then spends two seasons and a movie teaching us, and its characters, what it thinks love actually is.

Saekano says love isn't an event, nor a straight road from one place to another. It's not even a maze, with many branching paths but one entrance and exit. Life is a forest, and everyone stumbles through the forest in their own way. You may walk together with someone for a time - but when your paths diverge you will find that love is more than being together. Love is when you change your paths and come together. Your paths are still your own - but you stay close enough to hold hands. Love is knowing whose hand you want to hold.

Conclusion

Saekano is not perfect. There are some weak points, even once the fanservice mostly ends in favor of drama. There are a couple of potentially heart-wrenching twists that turn out to be joke setups, which can hurt your trust a bit. The big theme of personal growth in your art does tie into the romance plot, but they don't blend entirely seamlessly. Early on Tomoya does fulfill some of the tropes of "why does anyone like this guy in the first place," which can be off-putting if your tolerance for that kind of shitty protagonist is low. I assure you that this time, the reason he starts low is to give him room to grow high, and that he does.

But... If you're an artist (by which I mean you express yourself in any creative medium, including writing, music etc.) you should probably watch it. If you've ever burned yourself out, created the best work of your life, and then wondered if it was worth it, this is something you should watch. If you have ever wondered if you've plateaued and had to rediscover your motivation to improve, this show is for you too. Likewise if you've ever hurt someone unintentionally and had to earn back their trust. Or if you've had to hurt someone because the alternative was losing a part of yourself. Or if you've been hurt in that way, and needed to pull yourself back together. If you have ever felt like you were accidentally abusing someone's feelings for you, or allowed your own feelings for someone to be abused, or or or or...

Score: 9/10. It tried to do a great many things, and it did those things. It wobbled a bit getting there. This is almost as close as you can get to a 10 without being there.

Recommendation: Power level requirement is fairly high, so I can’t hard recommend it to everyone. It has a lot of anime tiddy early on, the protagonist starts out as a bit of a shit, and you will miss some things if you're not deep enough in anime culture. Out of the gate it wears the same hat as a harem anime. It does pull troll tricks maybe one or two times too many. If you can, I urge you to look past all that. Just... watch How To Raise A Boring Girlfriend.

Final Thoughts

Oh right, I should explain the title. At the time I finished Saekano, I was maintaining that there could only be one 10/10 anime, and it was Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Lagann-hen. Saekano was so good I had to go back and watch my top rated shows again to compare. This started the train of thought that led to On Rating Anime, and "Perfection" and caused me to re-rate Toradora and Angel Beats up to 10. For the rest of the marathon, I found that something in almost everything I watched caused me to think of Saekano, so it led me to start comparing anime to similar ones... particularly Saekano. At this point it's become a personal meme to find a way to compare things to it, in at least some small way.

#saekano #anime #how to raise a boring girlfriend #saenai heroine no sodatekata #original post

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afaimsarrowverse · 1 year

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The Top 25 Things the Arrowverse gave us:

25. Elseworlds

This Crossover-Event will always remain extra special, because it saw Oliver and Barry swap identities, an evil would-be Superman, the introducting of both Gotham City and Kate Kane to the Arrowverse and Kara finding sisterhood with another version of her sister Alex by just knowing her. Oh and Gary was there too, totally random in the Elseworld Version of Earth-1 but still totally Gary, while Cisco was kind of evil and Oliver’s enemies were all cops.

24. Crisis on Infinite Earths

„Crisis of Infinite Earths“ was the biggest Crossover-Event of Television, because not only did it crossover all Arrowverse-Shows including the not-yet-green-lit „Superman & Lois“ and the first footage from „Stargirl“, it did crossover all of DC Television and Film. We had „Lucifer“, „Smallville“, „Birds of Prey“, „Titans“, „Doom Partol“, the 60s Batman-Show, the 90s Flash-Show„Superman Returns“, the Burton-Verse and Ezra Miller in there, as well as Kevin Conroy and a lot of previously unfilmed Comic Stories on the top of that.

23. The Annual Crossover Events

Starting with the launch of „The Flash“ the Arrowverse started doing crossover episodes and most of them did occure just before the Mid-Season Break and featured episodes in more than one of the shows. Soon more and more shows got invovled in these crossovers, and they got bigger. The Annual „Autumn“ Crossover Event was something to look forward too as long as it existed.

22. The Olivarry Friendship

When it got announced that Stephen Amell would return to „The Flash“ for its final season the Internet almost broke. This shows how much the friendship between Oliver and Barry did impact the viewers and how special it was for everyone, who got to watch it grow and change over all these years. And why we will never forget it.

21. Ray Palmer

Brandon Routh may have played Superman, but the superhero who really had an impact on the cultural landscape was his Arrowverse Role, Ray Palmer aka the Atom. Introduced in „Arrow“, becoming a main character in „Legends of Tomorrow“, Ray showed up in almost every Arrowverse-Show, and the likeable nerd was very much missed when he was written out of the Arrowverse. Since then he has returned, but sadly the end of Arrowverse does also mean that we won’t ever see him again.

20. Steelatom

The Arrowverse presented us many forms of male friendships, but out of all of them the friendship between Ray Palmer and Nate Heywood undoubtable was one of the most special ones. Two soft male nerds becoming BFFs and in many ways much more each others significant other than their respective better halfs is still not something we are used to see.

19. Black Lightning (The Show)

Yes, „Luke Cage“ came first, but without „Black Lightning“ the MCU Show would have been the first and only not-animated Superhero Show with a black lead involving the Black Community. „Black Lightning“ did for DC what „Luke Cage“ did for Marvel, and it even got to go out own its own terms. So „Black Lightning“ will always be that Black Superhero Show with a Lebsian Female Lead, that came, did what it set out to do, and finished the narrative despite everything.

18. The Power of Goodness

Certain so called fans tend to see DC as this dark and broody and egdy Anti-Marvel Brand. The Arrowverse however did very much not fall in this trap. Yes, early episodes of „Arrow“ might have fooled you into thinking they were going there, but as soon as Barry Allen speed into the show, the Arrowverse showed us that, no, no matter how dark life becomes these shows and that whole franchise actually is a story about how in the end there is more good than evil out there, and how goodness can inspire other people into becoming good themselves. In all the shows our heroes did inspire others to do better to become more and to never give up. Instead of an edgy story about gloom and doom the Arrowverse was a story about how one’s inate goodness can overcome anything and can inspire everyone around to listen to the goodness inside themselves.

17. Soft Males

Sure, we got Alpha Males like Oliver Queen or Mick Rory, but the Arrowverse also held a significant number of Soft Males, that were even more fun and frankly more inspirering to watch. In the end people like Barry Allen, Ray Palmer, Winn Schott, Cisco Ramon, Nate Heywood, Behrad Tarazi, Querl Dox or Luke Fox do appeal to people much more than the typicial male macho, we get to see everywhere else. And when people like John Constantine, Oliver Queen or Mick Rory find it in them to also step out of their own shadow and discover their softer side, it is even more beautifiul.

16. Female Friendships

Many ensemble shows treat us with outstanding male friendships but not all of these shows are „Friends“. Most shows have to fight for their female characters to have a relationship with each other. So it is an accomplishment to actually see a postive female relationship outside of familial bonds and sexual interest flourish. Most of the Arrowverse managed to produced more than a couple of strong female friendships over their run. Bookclub matters, and so does the fact that, no Kara does not want to pounce her female friends, that Ryan is not ready to give up on Mary, this shows us that women actually care about each other. Something that especially male writers often forget about.

15. An Ace Superhero

The biggest moment of seventh season of „Legends of Tomorrow“ was the moment in „The Fixed Point“, when Spooner came out to Zari as asexual. After admitting that she did not think about anyone „that way“, Zari explained to her that she is probabyl ace and that there is nothing wrong with that, and that there are many people like her and many of them still have happy relationships. This moment is even bigger because it was a latinx woman coming out, and it did give us the first asexual superhero on screen ever and one of very view openly ace main characters on a Television Show.

14. A Trans Superhero

Season 4 of „Supergirl“ did introduce Nia Nal, who would go on to become the superhero Dreamer, the ancestor of Nura Nal from the Legion of Superheroes. Played be Nicole Maines Nia Nal is the first transgender superhero on our screens, serving us an inspiration for many by coming out about her true self in the show and fighting hate and even her own family for who she really is.

13. Sara Lance

In the beginning there was Sara Lance. Long before characters like Nia Nal or Spooner Cruz or even Alex Danvers or David Singh would grace the Arrowverse Laurel Lance‘s little sister kissed boys and girls on screen, fought and overcame trauma, and never gave up on finding herself. Sara Lance proofed to us that you can come back from everything and that strong bi-sexual females can be lead characters on action shows.

12. Avalance

Because of the rotating cast „Legends of Tomorrow“ did not really have a central romance for its long run. Changing up characters and romances, there was however one that stuck with us and the Arrowverse for most of its run, and that is the relationship between Sara Lance and Ava Sharpe, which did include getting married and having a baby. Even more important while same-sex-relationships were only secondary ships on „Supergirl“ and „Black Lightning“ Avalance, since it involved the lead character of the show, was the central ship of the show.

11. Westallen

People tend to overlook that taking after the New 52 Idea of making the Wests Black during casting was a gamble for „The Flash“. But it also was one that payed of. The only Arrowverse Show that actually had their central couple for all of its run, took an iconic couple from the comics and made it real and did stick to it. Westallen is also a mixed race couple in Prime Time Television and sadly that is still not something viewed as normal today.

10. Diversity

The CW did make „Dare to Defy“ their motto, but in the end they did give in, gave up their identity even before they were sold, because no one would buy them, if they would actually live up to their motto. Which is why half of the Arrowverse Shows was cancelled when they were. However while it was alive and prospering the Arrowverde did dare to defy. The Arrowverse had women, POCs, LGBTQ+ Persons, Non-Americans, Aliens and Non-Confermists as their protagonists and antagonists from the get-go. So of course I could not stay around.

9. Same Sex Weddings

Having celebrated their first Same Sex Wedding Of Screen during Season 1 of „The Flash“, the Arrowverse did feature no less than 3 [!] Same-Sex Weddings between Females in the year 2021, with Anissa and Grace getting married on „Black Lightning“, Sara and Ava finally tying the knot at the end of Season 6 on „Legends of Tomorrow“, and Alex marrying her girlfriend Kelly Olsen in the Finale of „Supergirl“.

8. Strong Female Characters

Yes, it all started with a man, but even the late great Anne Rice noted that she was intrigued that Oliver was surronded by women rather than men after the Pilot. Since then „Arrow“ always tried to aim for a strong female presence as well as female characters in general. The same is true for the other Arrowverse Shows, most notably of course for „Supergirl“ and „Batwoman“, but with Season 2 „Legends of Tomorrow“ switched Rip Hunter with Sara Lance as their main protagonist and Captain, and more than one critic has noted that „Black Lightning“ actually is much more about Jefferson’s daughters Anissa and Jennifer than about Black Lightning himself. And „The Flash“ tried really hard to keep both Candice Patton and Danielle Panabaker around until the very end, adding more female characters to their main cast over the years. And let’s not forget that the never picked up Backdoor-Pilot „Green Arrow and the Canaries“ would have centered around the daughter of Green Arrow and no less than two Black Canaries.

7. Season 8 of „Arrow“

Sometimes fans get something back. The short final season of „Arrow“ was very much a season tailored for the fans, a homage to the show’s history, that also aimed straight at the future of both the show and the franchise. Not as strong as Season 2 and not as shocking as Season 5, Season 8 of „Arrow“ still was something very special, which only the Arrowverse at that point of its existence would ever give to the viewers.

6. Season 1 of „The Flash“

While everyone might have their own personal favorite Arrowverse Season, Season 1 of „The Flash“ ist arguable the best out of all of them, most people would agree. The first real Superhero Show since „Heroes“, „The Flash“ paved the way for the rest of the more comicbooky Arrowverse, DC- and MCU-Shows, and probably even stuff like „The Umbrella Academy“. The show made people, who are not really interested in superheroes, interested in watching the show by putting the characters and their feelings and relationship first, but backing it up with an engaging story that relies on superpowers and time travel to work.

5. Legends of Tomorrow

The Arrowverse had a whole bunch of very different shows appealing to different audiences, but the one ouf of all of them that stood out was „Legends of Tomorrow“. After a luck-warm first season the writers threw out everything that didn’t work and went full in, embracing the fact that this was supposed to be a time travel show with superheroes and villains about a bunch of screw ups. They did not shy awawy from the crazy any longer but ran towards it instead. They made an outsider show for outsiders, that was beautiful and unique und very much not your average television show.

4. Coming back from Trauma

„Arrow“ very much had the message that in the end, no matter what happened to you, you can not only learn to live with it, you can come back from it. Oliver Queen’s whole journey is about becoming a new person, that is not ruled by his past anymore. And he isn’t the only one. When „The Flash“ started we learn about the murder of Barry’s mother and how he was able to come back from that, and how he had to learn to stop looking back and start looking forward. Supergirl’s whole planet was destroyed, almost everyone she ever knew died. And still she managed to go on after that und flourish. In some shape and form most Arrowverse Characters are shaped by trauma – and their shows tell us that this does not have to rule them.

3. The One where they are stuck on TV

The best Arrowverse Episode out of all of them probably was „The One Where We‘re trapped on TV“ from „Legends of Tomorrow“s fifth season. Not only that, it was also the best Television Episode of the year 2020. Honoring TV that came before as well as the main character of the show, the episode also did include a valuable lesson. In the end that little TV Episode did more than most shows are capeable doing in years.

2. A Voice

If we are talking about the question what the Arrowverse gave us, we should not forget to menton the most important thing it gave us: A Voice. Yes, the producers listened to the fans, but that’s not what I mean. The Arrowverse gave us a voice – the not privileged not white not straight not cis-males who were not brought up by a loving parental figure - it gave a voice to everyone else, to the damaged, the overlooked, the ridicouled, the bullied, the loners, the persons on the fringes. It gave a voice to those, who think no one ever listens to them, by having the heroes listen. For those magicial years of television all of us were heard. By going for Green Arrow, the Flash, Supergirl, Batwoman, Black Lighning and John Constantine the stories told by something with the DC Lable on it were finally about us.

1. Hope for a better Tomorrow

When Oliver Queen came back to Starling City, he was a broken man, but when „Arrow“ ended he had been healed, something he never would have thought possible. Kara Danvers might have lost her planet, but she found a new home on earth, a new family and her calling. Barry Allen might have lost his mother and his father, but he found a future, where he has a new family, that flourishes and grows. Gotham may be a crap hole, but the Batwomen stepped in, when no one else did and made it a better place. While the Pierce Familiy fought to do the same for Freeland. Everyone who ever stepped foot on the Waverider came out stronger and more whole when they left the ship again, even those who did not leave alive, ironicially enough. In the end the most important thing the Arrowverse gave to us, is hope – hope that this will also pass, hope for a better tomorrow. Hope for a tomorrow, periode.

The franchise saved lives – with every show, ever episode at a time, probabaly many more lives than most people realize. And then it all came crashing down after a decade, when it became clear it had all been a lie.

So maybe they shouldn’t have bothered to give us ten years of lies in the first place. Or anyhting else on this list for that matter, because giving someone something only to take it away again without warning or reason is cruel, but giving someone hope and then taking that away, well that is just criminal. So in the end the Arrowverse was just that: A Crime against Humanity, because they told us life could be a certain way, only to end with the clear notion, that it actually in reality can’t.

#Arrowverse #Arrow #The Flash #Supergirl #legends of tomorrow #Batwoman #Black Lightning #Constantine

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modelsdemo · 2 years

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Blade runner 2049 joi

He’s a terrible piece of work, and we come to view Luv as being just as repugnant as she essentially becomes the film’s proactive antagonist - doing his bidding for him. One of the film’s other major female characters is Luv, the assistant of Joi creator Niander Wallace. However, while perception in Blade Runner 2049 can imbue humanity, it can also remove it. The same could be said for K, Joi and Mariette. Deckard gives his dog a sense of reality by perceiving it to be real. Whether either of them is biologically ‘real’ or not doesn’t matter. And, as it obediently wanders around after him, we assume the dog cares about him. And why should it matter? Deckard sees the dog. When K asks him whether the canine is human or replicant, Deckard replies that he doesn’t care it doesn’t matter to him so it’s not a significant question. Deckard’s now haggard and alone, save for a dog. The closest the film gets to providing an answer to these issues is when it introduces Deckard, who’s hiding in a devastated Las Vegas (another area dominated by objectifying images of women). Just a sense of ambiguity and unease driven by the perceptions of the characters and the audience. In a world of despair and degradation like the one Blade Runner 2049 depicts, who wouldn’t want to feel loved (emotionally or physically), even if that love is coming from circuits and code? Again, questions. They’re lost, like so many of us are, and they feel like they’ve found a connection in each other. Even though I was creeped out, I couldn’t condemn the scene, or the characters. Villeneuve draws out the scene’s unease, but he also underlines its tenderness, intimacy and humanity. I’ve used a heck of a lot of question marks in that last paragraph because I simply don’t know the answers, and I don’t think I’m meant to. But just because these feelings are programmed are they any less real? K tells Joi that he doesn’t need to touch her to know his love for her is real, and isn’t that enough to show that he does love her, and in turn that her love for him is valid and real itself? After all, aren’t we as humans biologically programmed to some degree to love and desire love from others? What makes our desire to be loved different to K and Joi’s? And if we validate our sense of love, dictated it is by chemical impulses, why do we find it difficult to validate K and Joi’s, just because it’s dictated by code and circuits?

He’s also programmed to do a job and accept the orders he’s given without question. They’re programmed to do what they’re doing: Mariette to elicit sex, Joi to show love towards K. Here, and throughout the film, the two women seem to lack agency.

K is using these women to satisfy a need, and director Denis Villeneuve does everything he can to remind us of how unnatural the moment is by showing Joi and Mariette moving out of sync with each other as they caress K’s face and hands. The scene never gets explicit and cuts before it moves into the bedroom, but it made me deeply uncomfortable throughout because it feels exploitative and voyeuristic. It’s about the male gaze, the human gaze and the tragic effects they can have.Īrguably the film’s most controversial scene, and certainly the one that’s struck with me the most, is a sort-of threesome between our lead (replicant Blade Runner Agent K), his holographic girlfriend Joi and a replicant prostitute called Mariette, whom Joi projects herself into her in order to physically touch K for the first time. But while the original film pushed any critical thought about this to the sidelines, 2049 makes it its central thesis. The future of 2049is, like that of the original film, one in which women are prostitutes or sexualised advertising hovering over cities for men to leer at. My personal view is that I lament the fact the film reduces women to stock, often sexualised roles, but would argue that it does so to make a point about misogyny and the treatment of women in society.

So instead, I’m going to focus on what the film has to say about perception and, in particular, the perception of women.īlade Runner 2049 has already received some fascinating write-ups about its treatment of women. I don’t have the time, and having seen it just once, I’m going to struggle to comprehensively discuss the fragment of the film I want to here, never mind everything else I could mention. I’m not going to attempt to cover all that here though. At nearly three hours, it’s a dense, jam -packed film that says a lot about technology, masculinity and cinema itself (I’d love to read an essay about how it deconstructs film noir and even the first Blade Runner). There’s a lot to unpack in Blade Runner 2049. Do not read it until you’ve seen Blade Runner 2049.

#Blade runner 2049 joi

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creativesplat · 3 years

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I often try not to be too critical on this blog, but I thought I ought to mention it.

Star Wars the Clone Wars has some serious problems.

Some things are just not handled delicately or correctly in any way shape or form. I’m not going to talk about the Clovis arcs here, since @englishlady has already done a very good job on that, and will instead elaborate on my opinions about the Zygerria arc.

Trigger warnings for discussion of slavery, non-consensual stuff, and sexual harassment.

Anakin’s portrayal was the thing that really frustrated me at first. This is a man who has suffered under slavery, abuse, and violence for the first nine years of his life, and the story writers are telling me that he is almost entirely comfortable bantering with his Padawan whilst surrounded by awful things from his past? After a few years you don’t just get over trauma, but his reactions seem to have.

I have been through nothing even remotely as bad as this, but the bad stuff that has happened in my past isn’t something I can get over, and when it’s brought up I feel rather uncomfortable, uneasy, or downright rotten.

The show writers really should have looked at this and said: ‘we are putting a character who has experienced childhood trauma into a position where he will be confronted by it and may experience it again, let’s try to handle it sensitively’ but what they actually went for was: ‘we’re doing episodes on slavery, there should be scantily clad ladies and the overall message that slavery is bad’ Yes. Slavery is bad. Everyone knows that. In dealing with such a sensitive topic, it should be handled better. Not just ‘slavery bad, but ooh look girls!’ (I will be getting on to the inappropriate costume design in a moment, btw), but also some delicacy and tact. These are real world problems that people today still suffer from, they should be handled more appropriately.

There was one line that really stood out to me (although all of them were rather poor) and that was where Ahsoka is discussing her roll on the mission.

Here’s the conversation from the Clone War’s TV show:

Here’s the conversation from the comic.

See the difference?

It feels really really tone deaf for the only character that is making light of the situation the only one who has actually experienced it. It felt a little like saying: ‘oh this sort of thing isn’t that bad, hehe lol’. It felt dismissive and not only unpleasant in terms of the real world as well, but also just incredibly poor writing and story telling.

You don’t even need to realise he has emotional trauma to realise his character would be uncomfortable in that situation, he doesn’t like sand and he’s on a desert planet. He doesn’t like putting Ahsoka in danger, and Ahsoka is in danger. I mean maybe I’m just a little judgmental or maybe I misread it… but… IDK, the portrayal of Anakin really cheesed me off.

---

Here’s the bits that may be a bit triggering, just a warning:

Ahsoka’s outfit is in no way shape or form appropriate. She is dressed like a sex slave, and she is a child.

Anakin would have probably chosen the outfits for this mission, because you know, he has the most knowledge on the subject. You can not tell me that the Ex-Slave Anakin Skywalker would gladly dress his underage female Padawan in saucy clothes.

This was a creative decision which made no sense in the story or for the characters, and it has some rather unfortunate implications. Whilst Ahsoka is not in any way harmed sexually there is the implication that something could have happened, had the Queen or Anakin allowed it. That is a rather distressing concept. It is inappropriate, particularly for a young child.

In the comics Ahsoka was dressed like Shmi Skywalker.

It would have made no difference to the story had they kept her dressed as Shmi Skywalker. I don’t really understand why they decided to dress a 15 year old girl as what appears to be a sex slave. It is disgusting and inappropriate.

Although, full disclaimer, I have never read the comics. I have only seen some of these pictures when researching to write this little opinion piece, so they may have handled the subject matter inappropriately too, I’m not sure.

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Another monumental wrong doing on the part of the writers was to make the ‘romance’ between Anakin and Miraj Scintel feel (with the music and staging) like a pining love.

She had his friends captured and seriously harmed, had him electrocuted until he fainted, and is the queen of an entire slave empire.

It was not a romance, or even a pining one-sided love.

At best it was sexual harassment of a powerless prisoner/ slave.

At worst it was sexual assault.

He woke up on her bed (which a few people have pointed out is a little unnerving and suggestive), she was very touchy with him (and he is uncomfortable with it), and she threatened him with hurting Ahsoka and Obi Wan (indirectly but it was clearly still implied) and the people who wrote the show said that they wanted the audience to feel some form of pity at her death because of their ‘romance’.

There are some moments where the writers imply that Anakin might not be entirely as into their ‘relationship’ as she is, telling her that she had “all the power” in their dynamic, but he looks so nonchalant at this point that it might go over the head of an audience member. He is telling her that she is forcing a relationship on him, and that he is powerless to stop it, and it’s played off as a blasé interaction.

I’m not entirely sure you can put those things in a show and try to play it off as romantic to get the ‘child-friendly’ rating. They could have quite easily at least attempted to deal with the serious subject matter that they introduced. There was a suicide and a significant amount of torture and abuse in these three episodes, so there was no excuse when the show glossed over such obvious and unpleasant misconduct.

I don’t know what it is with the writers writing abusive, predatory characters who’s deaths are supposed to inspire pity. Miraj Scintell was handled as poorly as Rush Clovis was, and I don’t really have a solution to that.

Maybe if you’re watching the Zygerria arc of the clone wars, don’t watch it with younger siblings or your children.

Although, this is completely an opinion piece, so if you totally disagree or think I’m a bit of a hater or just being judgemental, that’s fine. I may be being too harsh, IDK.

I’d like to think that this was an honest mistake from the writers rather than them being deliberately obtuse or inappropriate.

#zygerria #Star Wars the clone wars #opinion piece #little rant #Star Wars meta

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fanficimagery · 3 years

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Wildest Dreams.

Imagine it's a couple days before your wedding and your friends start coming in for your last days of freedom. Only you start having second thoughts, old feelings crop up, and you end up having a breakdown.

Words: 5.1K Warnings: This happens to be an AU with no children and Liz is alive. If a character isn't mentioned, I'm sorry. I had too many characters already.

The Mikaelsons, plus a couple of significant others, are sitting around a fire pit in the backyard of their mansion down in New Orleans after a surprisingly calm family dinner. The only one missing is Rebekah who'd gotten up to answer the door when one of Klaus' minions was dropping off some things inside. But mere seconds later she's returning, a smile gracing her lips as she reads from what appears to be an invitation in her hands.

"You have been cordially invited to witness the celebration of love between Landon Wesley and Y/N Y/L/N," she says as she retakes her seat next to Marcel. "Aw. Our little Y/N grew up so fast."

Elijah, who'd been staring into the fire, suddenly frowns. He sits up a little straighter in his seat. "Y/N is getting married?"

Skimming through the invitation, Rebekah doesn't see her brother's expression. But Klaus, Marcel, Freya, and Keelin do. "Mhm. In two weeks, but she wants me down there a couple days before for a girls thing. She said I could bring whoever I wanted, so Freya and Keelin are coming with."

"Oh. Okay," Keelin huffs. "So I guess we don't get a say in this?"

"Nope. Not at all."

Keelin rolls her eyes, but she's smiling all the while. Freya pats her wife on the back of the hand, chuckling, just as Elijah clears his throat and stands up. "Well if you excuse me, I think I'm going to call it a night."

As Elijah makes his exit, Rebekah finally lifts her head from the invitation. Klaus hides his smirk behind the glass tumbler he's sipping from as everyone else watches Elijah go with their interest piqued.

"Am I the only one who found that weird?" Keelin asks, gesturing towards where Elijah disappeared off to.

Marcel chuckles, shaking his head. "Not at all. Someone please tell me what the deal is there?"

Rebekah sighs. "Y/N holds a special place inside Elijah's heart."

"Dear Y/N is cousin to one Caroline Forbes of Mystic Falls, part of the scooby gang we once loathed." Klaus smirks. "But we never loathed Y/N."

"Not at all." Rebekah now starts to smile. "Y/N was kind, even when her family and friends plotted our deaths. She was the only one whose word we could trust and the only other person who purposely engaged 'lijah in conversation."

"We obviously thought our dear brother had a thing going on with Y/N, but he denied it every time," Klaus says. "It was because she was only seventeen at the time, but it's been years now."

"Y/N is definitely all grown up." Rebekah slowly smirks. "And definitely still asks after Elijah."

Klaus chuckles. "And it appears Elijah still harbors something for our favorite Mystic Falls resident."

"Well damn," Marcel mumbles. "We're so going to this wedding. We haven't had normal people drama in a while."

Keelin raises her glass in salute to Marcel's words. This was definitely going to be an interesting trip.

The Salvatore brothers have given up the Boarding House for the night so you could meet with your girls. Caroline took care of getting food and drinks, and Bonnie and Elena knew it was best to just stay out of Caroline's way. Because as Maid of Honor, Caroline took her duties a little too seriously.

"Can we eat yet?" Bonnie asks, already munching on a breadstick. "What are we even waiting for?"

"I'm expecting a few more friends," you say. "They're about five minutes out."

"And which friends are these?" Caroline wonders.

"Rebekah." Caroline immediately groans whereas Bonnie and Elena look uncomfortable. "Don't even give me that look," you tell your cousin. "I made Rebekah promise to be on her best behavior and she did so long as none of you made snide comments towards her. And the other two are Freya and Freya's wife Keelin."

"Freya and Keelin? How come we've never heard of them before?" Elena asks.

"Because Freya is a Mikaelson and her story was really sad," you say. "I didn't think I should tell you when I had first found out." All three girls look at you and you sigh, locking your phone and shoving it into your back pocket. "So long story short, Freya is the eldest Mikaelson. She was taken hostage by her aunt, forced to live for one year and then magically sleep for a hundred." Bonnie's eyes widen in shock. "She escaped and sought out her siblings who helped her kill their aunt so she'd finally be free. It took them a while to trust one another, but they eventually did and then Freya met Keelin. I've only spoken to them a handful of times, but they seem like great people. Just give them a chance."

The girls are quiet after learning that, but then Elena can't help but ask, "So is Freya human or..?"

"She's a witch and her wife is a werewolf." The girls all blink in surprise and you sigh. "Please. Just please give me this night and the day of my wedding. I don't need any drama."

Your pleading expression is enough to have the three of them agree and just in time as well. Elena and Caroline alert you and Bonnie that a car is pulling up, and it's not long until Rebekah, Freya, and Keelin and walking right on in.

The tension is obvious when Rebekah says hello to everyone, but the genuine smiles come out when you greet Freya and Keelin for the first time face to face, and then introduce them to Caroline, Bonnie, and Elena. Caroline, having put her best hostess persona, then leads everyone into the dining room.

Caroline and Bonnie are the only two to remain standing as everyone takes their seat, Caroline then dishing out either spaghetti or chicken alfredo while Bonnie serves up the wine. Conversation is a bit stilted, but the moment Bonnie asks Freya a question about magic it's like the flood gates open. You're surprised Freya gives up more of her story so freely and it's like a weight is lifted off your shoulders when Rebekah cracks a joke about how deranged her family is that has everyone laughing.

The food is devoured between the seven of you and by the end of dinner you've finished two bottles of wine. The third wine bottle follows you all into the lounge where more comfortable armchairs are carried in so everyone has a seat of their own after Freya and Keelin take over the loveseat.

"So," Caroline chirps as soon as she's comfortable, "are there any other Mikaelsons we should be expecting?"

Rebekah grins. "Is this your subtle way in trying to figure out if Nik is coming?"

Bonnie and Elena giggle as Caroline scoffs, but everyone sees right through her. Even Freya and Keelin who have no idea of the history between the two blonde vamps. But suddenly Freya stops giggling and leans forward in her seat, looking quite pensive. "Wait. Are you the Caroline that my brother couldn't help but compare every female to? You're that Caroline?"

"Yes. Yes she is," you say and take another sip of your wine.

"Huh. Now I get it." Freya chuckles. "You're cute and feisty, and can apparently keep up with Klaus. I approve." Keelin can't help but nod along as everyone laughs at Caroline's surprised expression.

The surprised expression quickly morphs into smugness, but then Caroline is quick to shake it off. "We're not here to talk about me. We're all here for Y/N. I was just wondering because you know how Damon and Stefan are with Klaus."

You sigh. "Which is why I've talked to them too," you say. "I know everyone has issues with each other, but it's my goddamn wedding and there will be no death threats or neck snapping or so help me I will stake somebody." Your friends and guests are stunned into silence before Keelin snorts, everyone then giving into their laughter quickly after. You too, eventually, and then you groan as you attempt to hide your face in the palms of your hands. "I just- I don't want any issues. I'm already freaking out as it is."

The laughter fades off, sympathetic expressions taking over, and it's Keelin who then leans forward in her seat, reaching for your hand and gripping it in comfort. "It's going to be fine. You have nothing to worry about. If you love- er, uh what's his name?"

"Landon."

"Landon! Yes, Landon," she chuckles. "If you love Landon, you'll be fine." Your smile falters and you don't have to be an onlooker to know that the light in your eyes dims just a little. Your pretty sure everyone's noticed it if the sudden intake of breath is anything to go by. "You do- you do love him, don't you?"

"Yes!" You blurt a little too fast. Your response is a little cringeworthy and you sigh, retaking your hand and slumping in your seat. "I mean we've been together for three years. I love him. I do, but.."

"But he's not 'lijah."

"Rebekah!" Freya is quick to scold.

"What?" The blonde Original shrugs. "You haven't seen them together. You don't understand."

"I'm not one to ever agree with your sister, but she has a point," Elena says. "Y/N and Elijah-"

"But there is no me and Elijah." The girls fall silent at the tone in your voice. "There never was." You retake your glass of wine, chugging the rest of its contents before setting your glass back down. "Now if you guys will excuse me, I need some air."

No one tries to stop you as you go and you end up on the back patio, hopping up onto the brick railing and then leaning your back against the brick pillar. The cold air outside cools your flushed face and you try not to let your mood tumble down the rabbit hole.

You knew inviting the Mikaelsons was bound to bring up the past, but you didn't think it'd affect you quite like it is now. Elijah was, for obvious reasons, a touchy subject with you and your friends knew not to bring him up. But then Rebekah broke the ice and Elena, of all people, just had to agree with her.

"Here. Put this on." You're surprised to see Freya offering you a jacket, but you take it nonetheless and offer her a small smile in thanks. She grins, placing a smoking bowl down on the railing next to her. "Sage," she explains. "It keeps the vampires from hearing."

"God I love magic."

Freya chuckles and then after a moment passes, she says, "I'm sorry about what my sister said in there. They shouldn't bring any of that up so close to your wedding."

You shrug. "It is what it is. And if I'm being honest, she's not totally wrong."

"No?"

You shake your head. "I almost didn't invite Elijah because I knew my stupid crush on him would resurface, but then I thought I'd look like an asshole if I sent out personal invites to everyone else and he saw he didn't receive one." Freya chuckles quietly and you sigh longingly. "And the closer it comes to my wedding, the more I find myself longing for those talks with your brother rather than what Landon has to offer. I miss our talks about history and just life in general," you say. "And the more I listen to Landon talk about the latest Xbox game or the stupid jokes he's heard from his coworkers, it feels like I die a little more every day on the inside."

Freya frowns a little. "I apologize if I'm overstepping, Y/N, but do you honestly love Landon? If you continue to compare him to my brother, you're just setting yourself and Landon up for heartbreak down the line."

"I know. And I love Landon. I do, but I don't think I'm as in love with him as I once thought."

"Y/N.."

The first tear falls and you huff a laugh as you wipe it away. Quietly, you rhetorically ask, "Why couldn't your brother just love me? It'd have made things so much more easier." You're so caught up in your feelings that you don't see Freya tense or her eyes widen in surprise. "I don't even know what I'm saying," you then mumble. "I'm getting married in two days. Maybe I should just lay off the wine until then."

"Uhh, yeah. Maybe." Freya agrees.

You snap out of your spiral then, eyes widening. "Oh my god. I'm so sorry for laying that on you."

"No. Don't be," she laughs. "You needed to vent and I'm glad it was me, an unbiased ear."

"Really?"

"Really. You're fine," Freya assures you. "Now come on. Let's get you inside before we freeze."

As you hop off the railing, heart aching and mind going a mile a minute, you can only hope that your mind clears in time for you to say I do to Landon. It would really be terrible to enter a marriage while longing for someone else.

The morning of your wedding dawns bright and early, and you immediately know you're in no shape to be getting married. Since Rebekah, Freya, and Keelin have come into Mystic Falls you've put on a brave face for everyone, but now there's no hiding exactly what you're feeling. Because the moment aunt Liz, Caroline, Elena, and Bonnie wake you for your big day with party horns and confetti, you burst into tears.

Immediately the cheerful atmosphere vanishes and the girls are stunned into silence. "I can't do this," you cry. "I can't do this to myself or to Landon. It's not fair to him."

"Oh sweetie." Liz takes a seat next to you on the bed, putting a comforting arm around your shoulders. "What's going on in that pretty head of yours?"

"I'm so sorry, aunt Liz, but I can't- I just can't get married today."

Elena shifts uncomfortably next to the bed. "Y/N, if this is about us bringing up Elijah the other night I'm so sorry."

"No. No, you don't have to be sorry." Sniffling, you wipe at your eyes and look at those in the room. "I will admit to being nervous about seeing Elijah again after only talking about him brought back this stupid crush on him, but the more I thought about it," you trail off, shaking your head. "Can I really marry a human?"

Bonnie frowns. "Y/N, you are a human."

"I know that, Bon, but after everything we've been through.. knowing all that I know, can I actually settle down behind a white picket fence and pray every night that Landon doesn't ever find out about the supernatural? Whether you guys want to admit it or not, Liz and I will always be in danger because of our ties to you guys." Seeing their frowns makes your heart break just a little bit more.

"I don't mean to offend you," you say. "I love you guys alot. But I've put Landon in danger for years now and I can't risk it anymore. Because what happens when he asks for kids? I won't bring a family into our already messy lives."

"Y/N," Caroline murmurs. "The wedding is in nine hours. What are we supposed to do?"

"Compel them to forget or to be okay with the wedding being called off. I don't care. Just please do something."

"What are you going to tell Landon?" Bonnie wonders.

"I'm not sure. If I have to, I'll call in a favor from Klaus. He likes me enough to compel the groom away."

"And the caterers?"

The bedroom door suddenly swings open and Rebekah sighs as she leans against the door jamb. "Don't worry. Us Mikaelsons have a bit of money to throw around. All caterers will be told the wedding is off and to not to mention the money they've already been paid, and Landon's family will find that they're not missing a penny from their bank accounts."

It feels like a weight has been lifted off your chest. "Thank you, Bex. Thank you so much."

"Don't even worry about it," she assures you with a smile. Then pushing off the door jamb, she pastes on a smile and claps her hands once. "Okay. All vampires and witches with me. We've got a wedding to cancel."

Caroline and Bonnie are quick to rush out of the room, but Elena lingers by the bed. When you meet her gaze, she says, "If you need some time, my family's lake house is empty. You're more than welcome to take a week or two for yourself there. We'll give you some space."

"Thank you, 'Lena. Some space and time actually sounds pretty good."

"Well then it's settled," Liz says. "You go freshen up in the bathroom and I'll pack you a bag. We'll grab some groceries while everyone cancels your wedding, and then I'll drive you down to the lake house. Does that sound like a good plan?"

You offer her a faint grin. "Yeah. It does."

The moment Elena leaves the room, it seems like everything is in a fast forward motion. Liz ushers you to the bathroom where you have a good cry in the shower and then as you're getting dressed you have numerous text messages from your friends coming in to tell you how all the compulsion is going. Damon even offers to compel Landon for you, admitting that he never quite liked the human blood bag and he was glad you had come to your senses before you took the guy's last name. That had earned your first chuckle of the morning and even Liz chuckled when you had read her Damon's text.

Liz helps you put the groceries away at the lake house and then makes you promise to call her should you need anything, no matter the time. And only after you've agreed does she finally leave you all alone.

You send off one last text to your group of friends that your phone is going to be off for the time being and then promptly fall asleep in the master bedroom.

When you wake up again, it's only a little past one in the afternoon and you decide to make yourself something to eat. You eat and then settle on the couch for a little tv, only to end up outside on the dock and staring out into the water.

The time your wedding was to take place comes and goes, and you can't help but turn your phone on to see if you have any notifications. The only messages you have are from Caroline who assures you that everything's been taken care of and that she thinks you made the right decision. Hearing confirmation from your cousin eases some of your worries and you don't feel as bad about what you did.

By the time night falls, you're snuggled up on the couch and watching the best horror has to offer in order to keep your mind off any romance for the time being. You're in the middle of watching The Conjuring when there's a knock on the front door, startling a yelp out of you. Cursing your overbearing friends and their need to make sure you're really okay, you pause the movie and get up to see who it is.

Only when you open the front door you're more than a little stunned to find Elijah standing there by the top of the porch steps as he turns to face you. There's a moment where you both drink each other in and then your eyes narrow into a glare whereas Elijah's lips stretch into a smile as he steps closer to you.

"Elijah."

"Hello, Y/N."

The butterflies take flight and your heart beats double. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?"

He huffs a quiet laugh. "Someone near and dear to me had to make possibly one of the most difficult decisions in their life this morning. Did you really think I wouldn't come to check up on you?"

You do your best not to swoon, smiling softly at him as you shake your head in amusement and open the door wider as an invite. "You're lucky you've already been invited in otherwise we'd be stuck out on the porch. Come on. Let's go take a seat."

Elijah follows you into the living room after shutting the door behind him and you turn off the movie so you can place all your focus on him. There's a fire going in the fireplace, but you still turn on a few lamps so you can see him properly. And when you turn back around it's to see that Elijah already made himself comfortable smack dab in the middle of the couch.

Grinning, you drop in the spot next to him with one leg curled beneath you and the other hanging off the front of the couch so your foot is planted on the floor. "Hi," you muse.

"Is it too soon to ask you what happened?"

Straight to the point as usual, his question makes you faintly cringe. But before he can take the question back, you decide to tell him. "I'm too involved with the supernatural world, Elijah. What kind of person would I be if I had dragged Landon into the mess that is our lives? He deserves to have a normal and happy life."

"And what about you? Don't you deserve to be normal and happy?"

As he speaks, you notice how his gaze drops to your mouth before quickly darting up and looking elsewhere. You try to play it off but you know your damn heart gives you away immediately when he fights off a smile. "Normal and happy is so overrated," you then manage to say. "After all that I've seen and been through, a normal life would be boring."

Elijah finally allows himself to smile. "Is that the only reason why you wouldn't marry him?"

You tense at his knowing gaze, heart beat tripling as it's your turn to avert your gaze. You'd never been good at confronting your feelings head on, especially with the person said feelings are for. So as the seconds tick on by, you can feel your face flushing. You quietly groan. "Do I really have to say it out loud? It's embarrassing."

"Y/N."

"Elijah," you retort. You manage to hold his gaze for three seconds before you break eye contact and sigh. "It was obvious I had a crush on you back when I was seventeen and apparently it's still obvious now."

"I think it's adorable."

"Of course you do." Against your better judgement you reach out to swat at his arm and your breath hitches as he catches your hand and then maneuvers it so he can press a kiss to the back of your hand. You smile sadly. "It's been you since I was seventeen and I don't think anyone can ever compare to the Elijah Mi-mmph."

Elijah stuns you by pulling you into his lap and quickly maneuvering you so your knees are on either side of his lap, his mouth slotting against yours with such ease. There's a moment where you don't know what exactly to do with your hands, but the second his hands tug on the hem of your shirt, your hands find purchase on his shoulders before sliding up the side of his neck.

It's you who breaks the kiss for some much needed air, but you don't go far because Elijah keeps you close. His hand cups the side of your jaw, but his thumb runs gently under your bottom lip. You nip at his thumb, he grins, and then you groan when your predicament finally settles in. Elijah chuckles as you drop your head to his shoulder, your hands clutching at his sides under his suit jacket.

"What are we even doing?"

"I believe you're finally going after what you truly wanted."

"And you? What about you?" You ask, shifting nervously in his lap as you sit back.

"I am making my move," he says as he tucks a loose strand of hair behind your ear, "before someone else comes in to ask for your hand in marriage." You roll your eyes and he chuckles softly. "Since I made you admit something earlier, I will admit that I too have compared everyone to you. My family knew I held you above all else and they were quick to rub it in my face that you were to wed this evening. And earlier when I got Rebekah's call, I knew this was our chance."

"You're a big 'ol softy, Elijah Mikaelson."

"Only when it comes to you, Y/N Y/L/N."

You can't help but smile at his words, leaning in for a quick kiss. But it's not so quick as Elijah pulls you back in, peppering a few kisses across your mouth and cheeks. You giggle, but then that giggle turns into a groan. "The girls are going to be unbearable."

"Niklaus too, but I'm willing to put up with it as long as I have you by my side." You make a noise and facial expression as if you have to think about it, and Elijah gently squeezes your waist in retaliation which makes your jerk in his hold. "If you're that worried about their reactions, we can go away for a bit until everyone has had enough time to get used to our new situation."

You huff a laugh, but upon seeing Elijah's expression your amusement fades away. "You're serious."

"I am. New Orleans is a bit crowded at the moment and if I remember correctly you've always wanted to see Ireland. So what do you say to a spontaneous vacation with me?"

You blink owlishly at Elijah before your lips stretch into a smile. "Yes!" Your excitement makes him chuckle, but then you're quick to to come down. "My friends won't go for it. They'll continuously ask if I know what I'm doing and want daily updates and everything."

"They won't. And if they do, they'll have Sheriff Forbes to answer to." Your brow furrows in confusion and Elijah smirks. "How do you think I found you all the way out here? I stopped by the Forbes residence and Elizabeth was kind enough to point me in the right direction. It seems we already have one person in our corner."

"Jesus Christ," you huff. "Are we really doing this?"

"Only if you're sure you want to."

You take a moment to think things through, but before that moment can stretch on too long, you say, "Yeah. Let's do this. When do we leave?"

"Whenever you want," he tells you.

"As much as I wanna leave right now, I kind of just want to take you up to bed and get reacquainted with you."

Elijah slowly smiles. "I quite like the way you think, Miss Y/L/N."

"Then what are you waiting for, old man? Take me to bed already."

SIX MONTHS LATER

Freya and Keelin have just gotten home, a stack of mail on the hall table catching Freya's attention. Her siblings are out as usual, wrecking havoc no doubt, so on her way to the kitchen she grabs up the stack to sort through it.

As Keelin goes about grabbing the wine from the fridge and two glasses, Freya starts to filter out the trash from the stack of mail. Only halfway through the stack, one particular envelope catches her eye.

Freya starts to smile. "It seems like Elijah finally broke his silence."

"Oohh," Keelin coos. "What does he have to say? How is Y/N doing? Because last I heard not even the girls in Mystic Falls know."

Freya opens up the envelope, pulling out a picture and a letter. She smiles brightly upon seeing her brother and Y/N smiling under the Northern Lights- which is utterly adorable, in her opinion- and then goes on to read the letter to herself. Her smile slowly falters as her eyes widen in surprise. "No. They didn't," she breathes in awe. She quickly scans the picture again, her eyes lighting up as she laughs joyously. "They did!"

Keelin startles. "What? What did they do?"

Freya drops the letter and quickly flips around the picture for her wife to see. "They got married!"

"WHAT!?" Keelin practically shouts. "Let me see," she says as she hurries around the kitchen island.

Freya openly laughs now. "They got married under the Northern Lights last month. They'll finally be coming home in a couple of weeks."

Keelin grabs the photo so she can study it itself, her smile blossoming. "Oh my god. They really did get married."

"In the letter, Elijah said only Caroline and her mother know. They're going to come here first so they can figure out living arrangements and then they'll go see everyone else."

"Rebekah is going to be so pissed," Keelin muses.

"I can see it now, she's going to force a small ceremony on them when they're settled in."

"As long as I get to see Elijah smile in person as he is in his wedding photo, I'm all for it. Jesus looks at how adorable they look together."

"I know," Freya says. "I don't think my brother could have found anyone better for himself. We had only met Y/N and I immediately knew they'd be perfect for each other."

"Right?" Keelin then huffs. She looks at the picture one last time before setting the picture down. "We need to blow that up and hang it on the wall. Getting married under the Northern Lights was such a neat idea."

"Mhm. So much better than that Christmas themed wedding she originally had planned."

Keelin chuckles. "I thought I was the only one who thought the Christmas theme was tacky."

"Oh no. Rebekah secretly hated it too, but she didn't want to upset Y/N. She will, however, be upset she missed the Northern Lights wedding."

"I mean I'm pretty bummed, but I'm also excited for them to get home so we can pick their brains and get to the bottom of whatever the hell they were thinking. I'm super stoked for them, but I also want to know who proposed to who and everything!"

"Same here." Freya turns towards her wife, wrapping her arms around her waist while Keelin settles her arms around Freya's neck. "But until then we got family to inform of the couple's new status. Not it!"

"Not i- dammit!" Keelin pouts, she now having to be the one to inform Klaus and Rebekah. "I hate it when you do that."

Freya laughs. "Better luck next time. Now let's go. I can't wait to see their reactions."

#elijah mikaelson imagine #elijah mikaelson x reader #the originals imagine #elijah x reader #elijah mikaelson #freya mikaelson #keelin malraux #rebekah mikaelson #elena gilbert #bonnie bennett #caroline forbes #klaus mikaelson #the originals

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ripperdaddy · 3 years

Text

the viktor vector romance path + ending we deserve

Disclaimer: This is definitely something I came up with in my head. There will be a few instances that are solely made up so it can tie in with the “story.” This is purely fictional; something I wished happened if there was a possible Vik romance 🥰 This is based on my general knowledge of the game & Vik’s life. All gifs + images are from my own personal play through, but wouldn’t be possible without the help of the Appearance Menu Mod, found on Nexus Mods by the creators, MaximiliumM and CtrlAltDaz. And the shirtless Vik mod by the lovely samsnak ♡

It would start after completing the Paid In Full quest where you pay Vik back the eddies you owe him.

I feel like realistically, the general player would have to be at least halfway through the story to have collected enough eddies. I would say that a good point in the story where we can begin the romance is that you’ve already established a connection to Alt and have dealt with the VDB’s.

I think it would be a short side quest like River’s. Vik already plays a big part in the story overall on his own, so I don’t think it’s necessary to make his “side quest” too long. His romance would just be an addition to the ending.

And as much as I would love for him to be a bisexual option for both male/female V, if we’re sticking with the game’s standard with limiting partners to only one kind of partner, he would only be romance-able by a female V with a feminine voice.

V: Finally scrounged up enough eddies to pay you back in full.

Vik: Hold on to ‘em just in case - you need ‘em more than me.

V: I’m not taking them all the way to my grave, Vik. Here. And.. thanks again for doing so much work on me ‘thout ever seein’ an enny.

Vik: That’s what friends are for.

Then, there is an additional option for dialogue to trigger the romance path.

V: Friends? I think you’ve been in and out of my body more than anyone else I’ve hooked up with in Night City.

He laughs, with a coy smile. “Well, can’t argue with you there. Why don’t we take some of these eddies and grab a drink. You know, to celebrate. Catch up on old times. Haven’t seen you round here much lately, kid.”

You agree to meet at the El Coyote Cojo tomorrow evening.

You meet around 9 PM and you are welcomed by the sight of Pepe and Vik at the bar.

V: Nice choice of venue.

Vik: Thought you’d like it. Haven't been here since.. well, you know.

V: I miss him, Vik.

Vik: I know, V. Me too.

You immediately take a seat and tinker with a few dialogue options, where you can either have a sweet moment talking about Jackie or some surface questions to ask, like how he’s doing, what kind of drink he likes, etc. But it all winds down to Jackie anyway, where Vik confides in you about his past. Judging by how Vik was so affected by Jackie’s death, and V’s (if you chose the suicide ending), you can tell that he has lost a lot in his life, and keeps his circle very small.

You then achieve an even closer, more personal relationship with him. But, ultimately nothing happens other than the usual, wait 24 hours in game for a text/phone call from Vik to head into the next stage. At least now, you have established the foundation for a future romance.

Halfway through the 24 hour period, you get a text from Vik thanking you for the lovely evening. No reply needed, as he calls you once the 24 hour mark hits and invites you out for another date.

You meet at Tom’s Diner for coffee in the afternoon. It starts off with him apologizing for being emotional the previous night and asks if you’re open to hanging out again and going down to Pacifica to watch a fight with him.

Vik: Hey, V. I just wanted to apologize about last night. I didn’t mean to be such a downer.

V: It’s okay, Vik. We share the same grief.

Vik: I was going to head down to Pacifica and catch a real good match later on today. I was wondering if you’d like to come along, think it’d be great for the both of us, you know, as a distraction.

pssst even Johnny’s rooting for y’all ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Johnny: Hmm, interesting.

V: What?

Johnny: Never thought you'd be going out with this guy.

V: Vik's amazing. And I mean--we basically owe it to him since he practically saved our life.

Johnny: Don't tell me you're going out with him out of pity.

V: I'm not.

Johnny: I know, I can feel you get all mushy-gushy. It's almost repulsive. Just wanted to hear you admit it.

V: Eat a dick, Johnny.

You arrive before the GIM and blend into the crowd.

V: Nothin’ like watching guys beat the shit out of each other to get your blood pumpin’, huh?

Vik: This is a real good matchup, V. This kid’s fresh, young talent.

V: You miss it, don’t you?

Before the fight begins, Vik shares a story about his time in the ring and coming in second in the Watson Boxing Grand Prix.

There’s some extra fun options in the dialogue, you can bet some eddies on who’s gonna win, or side with him. The fight ends, and you two head outside.

Since you’re already out in Pacifica, you head over to the boardwalk (where you would ride the roller coaster with Johnny) and he starts telling you about the last days of his boxing career and how he transitioned from the sport to being a ripperdoc.

You both share a sweet moment with each other, reminiscing about old times and talking about V’s future with the relic. This is where I would see Vik confessing how he feels about you, mentioning how grateful he is for Jackie introducing you to him.

The evening ends and Vik asks you to give him some time to try and dig up some footage from his storage and have you come over to watch. You can kiss him then wait another 24 in game hours before the last quest. Halfway through, he texts you and asks you what you’d like for dinner. You can opt for pizza or chinese.

I haven’t seen or read anything about how or where Vik lives. If I overlooked something, please let me know! But for the sake of the story, let’s say he does actually have his own place that’s now introduced in the game. Personally, I think he has a typical bachelor pad, like a really nice apartment. Not too far from his clinic either. He looks like he would just walk to work. Vik definitely has a lot of money, but he’s so humble I doubt he would choose to live lavishly. As mentioned in the beginning, he typically just “sleeps nights” ever since he was over “being a legend” so I’m guessing his lifestyle is very routine. He goes to work, goes home, sleep. Seems unlikely he has a place like the Peralez’s. It would probably be just the same as V’s but decorated to his taste.

The evening comes and you are over at his place. He’s dressed in just a white undershirt, no exo-glove. You get to know more about his family, how he grew up — scanning things around his place. Then he plays some footage of one of his fights for you, while you two have a conversation and share a beer. As you two sit on the couch, you get close, then have an opportunity to kiss him.

then this is where da sex happen hihihi (ノ・ω・)ノ

The next morning you wake up and you two have a heartfelt conversation about where this is going. He already knows your situation, so I would assume he is very accepting and supportive. And with Vik, he seems like the kind of guy who would still want to be in your life and keep the friendship the same way despite no longer being together romantically. So it’s official. He’s your man 🥵 !!11!1!

Like how River gives you the “fuck the police” tank top after sleeping with him, I think Vik would give you his Night City Devils t-shirt that provides you with a significant amount of armor or some kind of cyberware upgrade that makes you invulnerable for a brief moment while using your hands to fight enemies.

Note: I was thinking of Vik giving V his boxing glove necklace, but because it's part of his character's appearance in the game, I don't think we would be able to essentially "take it" from him - unless he gives you a replica as a keepsake. Which I think would also work.

If you successfully romance, during the rooftop scene near the end of Nocturne OP55N1 (despite Vik’s disposition of him telling you to take matters in your own hands and being a little closed off), you still have an option to reach out to him when Johnny advises you to call a loved one.

V: Hey, Vik. I just wanted to say, thanks for hanging with me, until the end.

Vik: Quit talking like it is, V. Just do what you need to do.

V: I mean, think of it. It’s like I’m heading into the last round of this whole thing.

Vik: Well, in that case.. remember—keep your hands up, guarded at all times. It ain’t over just yet.

V: Heh.. I can feel it, just a few more punches.

Vik: Now look at you - the new welterweight champ of Night City.

V: Thanks, coach.

Vik: Last piece of advice from the coach's corner. Just.. be careful, kid. Remember, I’m with you.

Okayyyy, soooo I’m not the biggest fan of how CDPR gave us two of the same endings (Path of Glory). The only difference is that Rogue’s life is spared. I would have assumed that not only would we get to keep Rogue around, things should have played a bit more differently for V if we took the route of going solo against the corpos. So let’s tweak it.

This specific ending; it should be after getting through Don’t Fear The Reaper where you single-handedly manage to rip through Arasaka by yourself. Johnny goes back to Alt & Rogue is still alive. Yes nobody dies!!!

(honestly this ending can apply to any love interest you choose)

Vik and V are now living together in a lavish penthouse, entertaining an upcoming merc to do their work for them (which is now the current POV of the player.) You were recruited by Rogue at the Afterlife, who told you to visit this couple for a real, preem job.

They give you some vague details about the gig and go on for a brief moment about what you will be doing and what you should expect. Vik emphasizes to you that it’s important you get what they need because it’s for his wife, V, as her life depends on it.

As Never Gonna Fade Away is playing in the background, they tell you to break into Arasaka HQ.

Then the game officially ends.

#cyberpunk 2077 #viktor vector #v/vik #let us romance the ripperdoc you cowards

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