#the perfect conservative poster boy | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

hartvigrutledge08 · 5 days

Text

7 Tips About Kids Bunk Beds That Nobody Will Tell You

The Benefits of Kids Bunk Beds Bunk beds allow siblings to share a space. They're also an excellent choice for smaller rooms. Set boundaries for the use of bunk beds on top, such as no hanging items which could be a source of strangulation. Also, make sure to stop horseplay in or near the beds. The bunk bed comes with a slide that is detachable and is a great source of entertainment during sleepovers. Pick a clean white finish or brushed gray to match the various kiddos and color palettes. Shared Space When designing a shared sibling room, it's important to think about how the room will change as your children develop. It's also a good idea to include elements that will let each child have a personal space and take ownership. This could be an individual bookcase or pinboard beside each bunk. This allows kids to display their interests while keeping items well-organized and easily accessible. A small space that is partitioned can be used to protect privacy, both visually and audibly. The addition of built-in shelving units is a great option to give kids their own space in a bunkbed. These are perfect for small bedrooms and provide plenty of storage without taking up too much floor space in the room. They also make a great place to display your child's art work, photos and wall decorations. This will allow them to feel comfortable in their space as they develop. You can also make the bunk beds of your children more fun by decorating them with a distinctive design or theme. If your kids love sailing, then this bunk set from House of Eilers allows them to "set sail" every night with a nautical theme. The nautical decor is attractive and versatile, so it's still stylish when the kids have outgrown their pirate phase. Look into a set of twin beds that are minimalist and sleek design if your child's tastes are more contemporary. This can create a minimalist and clean look that is suitable for both girls' and boys rooms. It's a good idea encourage your children to decorate their bunks using the patterns and colors they love the most. This will give them a sense belonging to the room and help separate their space from the other bunk. You can let them decorate their headboard with a fun project or buy them shelf brackets to hang up drawings and posters. The option of customizing your bunk could be a big motivator in keeping it neat and tidy. Companionship Bunk beds and loft beds can be fun additions to rooms for kids regardless of whether you're putting up a bedroom shared by siblings or creating the ultimate sleepover space. They're available in a wide range of styles, designs and finishes that will complement any decor. Plus, they're a great way to conserve the floor space in smaller houses and apartments or maximize the square footage of a small space. There are more options than ever before for beds of all sizes and configurations. Some bunk beds are equipped with a built-in desk, trundle, or ladder. bunk bed for kids that will aid in keeping your child's room neat. Many of these beds are part of a bedroom furniture set. This can make it easier to find matching furniture. You might want to consider a bunk bed that can accommodate different mattress types or age groups, depending on the needs of your children. This bed from Max & Lily, for example, features two twin beds that can be divided into bed frames that stand on their own when it's time to upgrade to a larger mattress. This feature is ideal for siblings who wish to share a room throughout their childhood and into adulthood if they stay together. You'll also notice that a few of these bunk beds for kids have built-in slide options for an extra dose of excitement. This feature can make the bunks look like a pirate's ship, castles, or any other exciting play-based adventure your child can dream up. This slide is perfect for your child to play with their siblings, friends or their favorite plush animal. The beds in this collection by Pottery Barn come in a variety of beautiful finishes. A crisp white finish will look great in the cottage, coastal, or colorful kids' room. A smoky gray or rich walnut color can add a touch of elegance to a traditional or farmhouse style. These beds have a stylish style with a slatted design and an inbuilt staircase that comes with open-air shelves for books and toys. Safety No matter how fun and exciting the kids' bunk beds appear they must be carefully planned and maintained in order for children to sleep well without injury. First, you have to assemble them in a place that can be locked. This will stop kids from running around during the assembly process, which could lead to falls and injuries. When the bed is constructed, you will need to teach your children how to use the ladder properly. You should tell them to not jump or rough-house on the bunks, and to only use the top bunk for sleeping. Only one child can sleep on the top bunk at any given time. It's also a good idea for you to put a light near the ladder to make it easier for kids to climb down in the event that they have to use the bathroom or wake up at night. It is essential that the mattress fits snugly into the frame, and doesn't hang over the edge. Using a mattress pad will assist in this. It is also important to make sure that the slats which support both top and bottom mattresses are tightly fitted and fastened securely on both ends. If the slats have become loose, the mattress could fall through and into the lower bunk which could cause an accident or injury. Make sure to check the bunks regularly for indications of wear or damage. Make sure that all nuts, bolts and other fasteners have a smooth surface and no sharp edges or sharp points. Make sure that the ladder is free of sharp edges or snags. Keep clutter to a minimum around the bunks. This is particularly important near the ladder access and the bunk above. If you own a ladder made of wood, put carpet on top of it to soften the landing and reduce the risk of injuries to the head when a child falls off the top bunk. It's also a good idea to store away the ladder until bedtime and teach your children how to climb up and down safely. Growth Bunk beds let kids develop their own space and enjoy the benefits of sharing even at a young age. Children can bond with their siblings by playing together while reading books, or sharing a meal. Bunk bed height can also affect the way children learn, with high-top bunks requiring more thinking skills and spatial awareness. Lower bunks are great for toddlers and young children, while large or mid-sized bunks are best for children aged 6-8 years old. For many families bunk beds can be an economical solution to accommodate multiple children in one room. Bunk beds are a great option to accommodate multiple children in one room without the need to purchase additional furniture. They also offer built-in storage that helps reduce clutter and make the most of the floor space. The act of climbing up to the top bunk encourages cooperation and compromise among siblings. It helps them to be considerate of an area shared by siblings, which helps develop interpersonal skills from an early age. Children who share bunks typically must keep their bunks clean and organized. This encourages discipline and a sense of responsibility.

Based on the needs of your child depending on their needs, you might think about a futon bunk that has stairs or a trundle bed that has stair storage. For example the Maxtrix Stellar Bunk features a twin-sized trundle bed that can be pulled out as needed, providing an extra bed for guests and sleepovers. Beyond the practicality of bunk beds, they can also inspire a sense of adventure and discovery in children. The vertical connection brings a sense of mystery and excitement to the bedroom, transforming it into a unique environment to play and learn. Bunk beds are an ideal solution for smaller bedrooms or households with many children. Their design is functional, allowing them to maximize space while maintaining the style. This kind of space-saving solution is a favorite for both adults and children and includes a variety of bunk beds that have garages integrated to decrease clutter and increase the efficiency of your room layout.

#bunk beds for kids #kids bunk beds #bunk bed for kids #kids bunk bed #kids bunkbed

0 notes

denimbex1986 · 2 months

Text

'When the new film by British director Andrew Haigh celebrated its Austrian premiere at the Viennale, we also heard stories about storms of tears in the cinema. “ All of Us Strangers ” has nothing in common with cheesy Hollywood melodramas. The bittersweet plot unfolds far from the usual manipulative emotional strategies. Haigh wraps the queer love story in a hallucinatory narrative in which the boundaries between day and night, fantasy and reality are blurred.

In general, you can hardly find comparable works, even after long consideration. The closest thing that comes to mind for the writer of these lines is the cinema of Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai. Celebrated art house milestones like “Fallen Angels” or “Happy Together” were the visual counterpart to the then popular trip-hop sound in the 1990s.

Delayed beats and lascivious chants dominated this music genre, the mood was reminiscent of drugged moments at dawn. Trip hop has been hailed as the perfect bedroom soundtrack. And it was also about the day after, about the hangover mood and the melancholy. In this sense, “All of Us Strangers” is something like trip hop for the eyes.

Very vivid ghosts next door The opening sequence is reminiscent of iconic videos from Massive Attack or Tricky. A middle-aged man (Andrew Scott) lives in a brand new London high-rise, seemingly all alone, drifting through the corridors and, isolated in his apartment, writing a script about his own childhood in the 1980s.

The alienation surrounding this character is palpable, like in a stylish science fiction dystopia, but “All of Us Strangers” seems to be set in the present. One day, author Adam meets another lonely soul, the younger Harry (Paul Mescal). A love story and sex affair is brewing. The two men soon exchange intimate secrets, but Adam initially hides an important part of his everyday life from his friend: his parents.

Adam visits his former parents' house in the suburbs at irregular intervals - and suddenly the light is on in the living room. We viewers know: Mom and dad died together in an accident when the son was still a child. Nevertheless, Andrew Scott sits quite naturally as a traumatized loner in front of Claire Foy and Jamie Bell, who embody very lively ghosts next door. There are discussions at the kitchen table: about the boy's peculiarities, about important family moments, and also about queerness; The guardians preserved in the 80s represent even more conservative worldviews.

Chemistry between lost souls “All of Us Strangers” seamlessly combines motifs from ghost films (without any horror or threats) with a relationship drama, shines with hypnotic club scenes and pop quotes. This mix is held together by fantastic actors. Claire Foy sparkles in the mother role, oscillating between tenderness and severity.

But it is Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal who really burn themselves into the retina. The former, who subscribes to flamboyant characters on TV series (“Sherlock”, “Fleabag”), fascinates here as a quiet poster boy of urban loneliness. His young colleague plays his way into the upper shooting star league with charm and wistfulness at the same time. The chemistry between these lost souls alone is worth going to the cinema.

Everything about this journey through the interpersonal Twilight Zone (very loosely based on a book by the Japanese writer Taichi Yamada) is intoxicating. Extremely stylish but never confusing images, great dialogues and music that oscillates between euphoric 80s and 90s homage.

In the end, so much warmth flares up in the deepest darkness, so much power of love , that your heart and eyes overflow; Don't forget the tissues. A big recommendation for “All of Us Strangers”, one of the most magical films of today: pure trip hop for the senses.'

#Strangers #Taichi Yamada #All of Us Strangers #Andrew Haigh #Paul Mescal #Andrew Scott #Sherlock #Fleabag #Claire Foy #Jamie Bell

0 notes

parasit-kind · 1 year

Text

3. prada womens autumn/winter 23-24 communism realness

i was perusing my twitter timeline and browsing through the shows at milan for a/w 2324 when i noticed a tweet regarding prada’s new collection and its “ode to communism”. alas, i scrolled past the tweet very quickly and now i have no idea what it actually was talking about or said, but!!! it has gotten me to think about this collection and its relations to mid 20th century communism, especially, as i see it, communistic propaganda posters.

i will highlight the motifs i notice in these three particular looks.

look (1): very formal, white. conservative sleeves and neckline. reminds one of a 50s nurse. here can be seen the throwback retro inspiration of the collection. she’s a utilitarian, sexless female employee. the dress almost looks as if it is not meant to look nice at all. that’s because its not: the purpose of a uniform is function, not form. the dress certainly has many functions. its free with movement, and carries many pockets. it looks quite comfortable really. what struck me severely was the reflection of soviet nurse uniforms onto this garment, but of course, such was the traditional hospital garb in the soviet era, not only for the ussr, but in general internationally. yes, it’s a retro piece. however, the very plainness of it, the lack of embellishment or accentuation of the female figure of any kind is what makes it so perfect in communist idealism: a woman is equal to a man. a woman works, just as a man. why should she be more striking than anyone else.

look (2): here the motif is very militaristic, almost exactly an aviator’s uniform. the get-up is indeed quite unremarkable, save for the shoes, but i will get to those in a moment. as for the shirt and pants, it’s masculine, but in a unisex way. the female body is still not emphasized, even with the high-waist of the trousers. she’s still made to appear very boyish. she’s still a woman in a male way, a genderless way. it’s as if she were distributed a military-regulation uniform, a size not tailored, perhaps not even her own. just another shirt and pants, that what her male counterpart would receive as well. the shoes, however, caught my eye in this show. at first glance, they seem quite “avant-garde”. they honestly reminded me of the current cyber trend, but after analyzing the actual decoration on the shoes, i noticed the flowers. really, without the heels, she would look like she had rushed out in a boy scout uniform, but the heels add the femininity. was it needed? as a styling choice, very much so. with the theme, i must also admit, it reflects the soviet women’s obsession with pretty things, especially flowers. soviet women were very natural and simplistic, a mix of life on the countryside and in the city. on the ussr recognized holiday of international women’s day, it was warranted to gift women flowers.

look (3): this look returns to the retro aspect of the show. come on, the collar? the v neck? it looks like she just crawled out of a 70s family portrait. here i think is important the dull palette. this prada show actually showed a very controlled color variation, save for a few garments, but here, again, the “pop of color” is a very desaturated mint(?) under layer. she, once again, looks very genderless. androgynous, i do not believe describes this, because the garments, to me, clearly have gender, but when worn on her, they seem to lose it, or it becomes mixed. i can no longer tell if they are women’s or men’s wear, that sort of idea. i’d like to add that it even looks like the uniform of a young pioneer, worn out of age.

i’ve lost a little bit my thesis that this collection has something “communist” about it, so let me collect my thoughts. in the soviet era, there was the idea of equality for all, but not in the association that we have the phrase today. it was more so, everyone is a worker, everyone must contribute. there were no exceptions for woman or man, and so here is very much reflected the equal ideology. of course, there was the opening with male models in skirts, but i think that is a bit of a given in the fashion industry today. however, absolutely boring (and i mean that very positively, considering my love for prada) clothing, i would argue, is not. everything is trying to spiral more and more into discord, no? that’s the trend, despite niche movements like “scandi style” and “minimalism”. no, those trends still intend to compliment the wearer and present some sort of accent. this collection truly featured boring clothing, in every sense of the word. the garments were dull, genderless, unsexy, old, untailored, too big and too small. but really, this is the perfect depiction of equality. no one stands out. look again at the three looks i focused upon in this analysis; does any one protrude against the others? not really. they’re all absolutely equal. i suppose this is prada’s response to the equality zeitgeist. a little bit championing the soviet narrative, but i do agree. it’s inoffensive, in fact, it’s the type of equality that people hate. this is either prada’s response to the influencer trend of distinction, or prada themselves being distinct within the industry.

whatever that answer may be, it’s most certainly a soviet futuro fantasy, a utopian society of tantamount individuals. the clothes are practical, not tailored to a specific body, but rather to an amorphous group of similar sacs of skin and flesh. it’s clothing not for a person, but for a group.

>parasitka პარაზიტკა

p.s. i would like to also comment on the setting. those red beams, the color is very reminiscent of the red pigment used in soviet propaganda posters. they really frame the models, their characters, don’t they?

#long thought #moth food

0 notes

cornelius-of-lykia · 2 years

Text

The Benton Museum of Art

As part of a class assignment, we had to visit UConn’s Benton Museum and write up our thoughts on at least one of the exhibits. I actually wanted to visit the Benton to see their Days and Nights of Print and Punk exhibit, before realizing that we had to attend for an assignment anyways. This gives me the perfect outlet for venting my thoughts on the exhibit and the British punk scene in general.

I’ve always admired the art and aesthetics of the various punk scenes from the 60s to the early 2000s. I’m not very familiar with the ins and outs of each punk movement or faction, but the art of Western punk incredibly striking, and its influence far-reaching. Artists, musicians, and designers affiliated with the American and British punk rock movements made significant creative strides and had a huge impact on the underground and counterculture movements in other countries. While many bands of the punk movement, notably the Sex Pistols and The Clash, enjoyed commercial success, their roots were still based in revolutionary politics and an anger at the way things were.

The Benton’s exhibit represents a fraction of the collection of Andrew Krivine, who reportedly owns the largest collection of 70′s-80′s punk graphics and memorabilia in the world. Much of the work on display is either directly produced, or influenced, by graphic designer Jamie Reid, who worked with The Sex Pistols and pioneered the ‘ransom note’ lettering style common throughout punk posters. Reid is an anarchist who worked at the Suburban Press, a radical leftwing publication, and his design choices - bold, striking, and improvisational -were both a reflection of his design philosophy and borne out of necessity. This approach to art and life strongly characterizes the broader punk movement, where artists work with what they have on hand for design, equipment, and even clothes. It was incredibly common for musicians to pull whatever clothes they could find, from their parents’ wardrobe or for dirt cheap, and just wear that on stage. This would go on to inspire various fashion trends and designers; two London shops, SEX and Boy, were instrumental in defining punk fashion among British artists, while there are fashion designers today who intentionally tear and damage pristine clothes - such as blue jeans - to achieve a worn and rugged look.

It’s important to note that the broader punk scenes are incredibly multifaceted. They represented not just a music scene or choice in aesthetics, but a rejection of mainstream sociopolitical conditions and a surge of radical politics. As a response to dual economic crises, punk artists and musicians were politically active and combative. They were not afraid to challenge contemporary conservative sensibilities, nor organize in the streets. Punk scenes mostly ascribe to left-wing politics, but there were - and still are - far right groups that latch onto punk aesthetics and punk music. It has been crucial for leftist punks to not let the right-wing elements take hold, which is why groups and bands such as Dead Kennedys take a hardline stance against fascist contingents. This is a struggle that continues to this day, even as it has manifested in a thousand different forms.

For example, in the US, the term “Skinhead” generally refers to a heavily tattooed and bald neo-nazi, but the term originated to describe a subculture of working class youth whose adherents also subscribed to the themes and politics of the broader punk movement in the UK. While many committed skinheads are radical leftists, there is still a prominent number of neo-nazi skinheads in the US, Britain, and across Europe. As such, the term remains contentious, and highlights a key culture war between left-wing and right-wing punks. Britain’s right wing punk scenes and fascist movements of the 80s are also depicted in Pink Floyd’s The Wall, which depicts a British nationalist street gang rise to prominence, both utilizing and corrupting the punk sensibilities of the time.

One major reason I elaborate on this divide here is because the Benton exhibit featured at least one anti-fascist poster, highlighting the National Front as a Nazi organization, pictured here:

In analyzing punk, it remains important to analyze how this movement informed - and was informed by - various political groups pushing back against the mainstream politics of then *and* today. The broader punk movement also encompasses gay, lesbian, and transgender groups from the 70s up to today, as gender liberation and feminist politics have a huge overlap with the nonconformist and counterculture themes of punk. I would, of course, be remiss to mention many artists, designers, and thinkers were directly a part of both movements, and more.

There’s a lot more to the broader punk movements I remain ignorant about, and have not touched on. The anti-racist component of punk politics, and how they reflect contemporary racial politics and developments across the Civil Rights Movement, is not something I am incredibly well-educated in or can comment on. But, it is something I hope to research down the line, as I gain a broader appreciation for the punk scenes throughout history and today.

#punk #Cor Text #UConn #politics #long post #history

0 notes

betammorg · 2 years

Text

Guitar chords for jesus and john wayne

#GUITAR CHORDS FOR JESUS AND JOHN WAYNE HOW TO#

Evangelicals were looking for a protector, an aggressive, heroic, manly man, someone who wasn’t restrained by political correctness or feminine virtues, someone who would break the rules for the right cause. “But in truth, Evangelical leaders had been perfecting this pitch for nearly fifty years. This excerpt from page 253 of 356 in Jesus and John Wayne captures the essence of their cause: He was the fulfillment of their machinations. Trump wasn’t a long-awaited spiritual savior, as some Evangelicals still believe. It worked for them then, and it’s working for them still. But finally, we have an explanation for the meteoric rise of Donald Trump.Įvangelical names that you would recognize used John Wayne’s influence and persona, beginning the process of creating a white American male prototype in order to secure and maintain social and political power. Any connection to Jesus Christ is a very long stretch of the imagination. This well-written book weaves a spell-binding narrative that introduces a seemingly innocent precept: “There’s more to Evangelicalism than theology.” But that ‘more’ sprawls across decades of abuse: of power, money, position, fame, and sexual domination by a staggering number of famous names in modern Christianity. She spent years painstakingly researching and documenting her findings. Kristin Kobes Du Mez received her PhD in History from Notre Dame University and currently serves as a professor at Calvin University. Far more than a history lesson, Professor Du Mez discovered the design for the Evangelical Church’s patriarchal stranglehold on their members. My purpose here is not promotion but to share what I have learned and decide what I will do with the information. At this point, you alone must decide if you want to read the book. That, my friends, is the sordid story researched and reported by Dr. So how did this character- part real person, part Hollywood creation- become the blueprint for the Republican candidate for President of the United States? Not to mention the poster boy for the Religious Right’s quest for the throne? A Scholar Seeks The Truth Whether on or off-screen, when the Big Man spoke, American’s enemies were cued to quiver in fear. He also won an absurd number of awards, including (but hardly limited to) the Oscar for Best Actor, the Congressional Gold Medal, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His politics were solidly conservative, but taken to public extremes in matters of anti-Communism, white supremacy, aggressive militarism, and utter contempt for non-heterosexual identities. He passed away in 1979, long before there was any accountability for his less-than-stellar personal behaviors. Most biographers tend to treat him kindly, giving him the benefit of the doubt since he inevitably played the good guy. John Wayne, credit to Wikipedia and Google ImagesĪnd just like the rest of us, he was a mixed bag. Almost every role he played cast him as a champion of our times Superman versus all of America’s perceived enemies. At 6’4, chiseled and arguably handsome, women wanted him and men wanted to be him. White America’s hero of the silver screen strutted across our collective cinematic consciousness for over forty years. Kristin Kobes Du Mez, is that a man like Donald Trump is exactly whom they were expecting.

#GUITAR CHORDS FOR JESUS AND JOHN WAYNE HOW TO#

Through the Evangelical Church I learned how to love, and I blindly assumed that we all shared a devotion to our Savior as He is revealed in the Gospels. But at the core of my discontent was my longing to understand the betrayal of our faith. My book page lists several resources that detail the rise of the Religious Right, far more of a political juggernaut than a movement of the faithful. If you’ve been reading my blog, you know I’ve been actively searching for the answer since September of 2019. The Big QuestionĪside from the quest for social and political power, why did Evangelicals betray the teachings of Jesus to endorse Donald Trump for president? It did, however, finally answer a question that’s been dogging me for five years. Rather, it lifted a layer of secrecy off of the history I’ve lived through, leaving me feeling as though I’d been punched in the gut and needed a shower. Not for its escapism, nor glorious transportation to another place and time. If William Styron’s definition is correct, then I found Jesus and John Wayne to be one for the ages. You should live several lives while reading it.”- William Styron “A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted.

#Guitar chords for jesus and john wayne

0 notes

pencilwarrior01 · 5 years

Text

Well, I've seen everything now. My father just turned his back on the Republican party to throw in for Elizabeth Warren and the rest of the Democrats (except Biden). In all my 28 years of living, I never seen him lean Democratic, but I guess shit's that bad.

#like #he's a lifetime member of the NRA #the perfect conservative poster boy #and over breakfast he told me that he's had enough #shit's bad ya'll #politics #usa politics

2 notes · View notes

ratsoh-writes · 3 years

Note

What do their bedrooms/living areas look like? I'm going to use all 3 of my asks to request this for all of the boys if that's ok! ❤

Man, I’ve had this one in my secret notes for a good while now!

Undertale:

Both the tale brothers live in a nice little gated community. Their house is one of the smaller ones and has the same layout as the one in Snowdin. The house is pretty basic with some cozy throws and wall tapestries to spruce it up

Sans: his room actually has a proper bed and frame this time. The sheets and blankets are still bundled up in a pile on the floor though. Sans also has his homemade trashnado in the corner. There’s a desk on the wall adjacent to the door which has his laptop. And several folders stacked next to it. Other than a dresser, there’s literally nothing else in there. Sans doesn’t care much about stuff

Papyrus: his room has bright orange walls. He left the race car bed behind underground but has a race car blanket to make up for it. His walls are covered in superhero and comic posters. He also has a display case for some old figurines and his comic collection. Papyrus’ desk is one of those nice fancy drafting ones where he can adjust it to tilt upwards. He has a ship wheel attached to his door for some reason.

Underswap

The swap bros home is only a few blocks from the classic brothers neighborhood. The only thing basic about it is the cream walls. All the furniture and decorations are bright colors. The kitchen especially is real nice. The oven and stove are top notch, and the counters are filled with mason jars full of goodies.

Star: his room can blind a lesser man when you walk in. The walls are bright yellow, the bed (which is a bunk bed by the way) is neon orange. Galaxy posters decorate the wall. Besides the clashing colors, the furniture is pretty basic. Only the top bunk actually has a mattress. The bottom bunk is used as a storage shelf. He also has a shoe rack by his door

Honey: you can practically feel the nerdy aura as you enter his room. The first thing you see is a display case housing some neat figurines of characters from his favorite shows. He’s also got a pretty nice bookshelf on the opposite wall that’s nearly full. Honeys bed has a curtain around it for extra privacy with a nice little wall lamp above the pillows

Underfell

They have a home a little closer to the city center but still far enough to be considered suburbs. It’s a very sleek and modern house with white walls, tile floors and sleek black and metal furniture. The only thing that doesn’t fit the rest of the theme is this nasty old patched up sofa in the living room. The thing is absolutely hideous but is sooo comfy.

Red: his room has soft grey walls and smells like miter oil. Makes sense since one wall is just a long basic table covered in machine parts that red tinkers with in his down time. He actually doesn’t have a bed. Instead he sleeps on this giant leather bean bag. He likes it that way. There’s a few car posters decorating the walls

Edge: he obviously put a lot of thought into his rooms decorations. Everything is pretty black marble or a sleek white wood. His bed covers are blood red with a nice geometric designs on top in silver. He has a beautiful black desk with some pretty jars filled to the brim with nothing but novelty pens. If you looked in his desk drawers you would find notebooks and even more pens

Swapfell

They don’t own a house and instead live in a two bedroom one bath apartment on the third floor of one of lords complexes. The furniture is pretty minimalistic but very nice quality. Most decorations are metal

Mal: the first thing you’ll see in his room is a large wooden drawing desk where pencils and watercolors are neatly arranged on the side. There’s also a vanity with a light up mirror and a nice collection of makeup. Also a huge slanted hunters knife. He uses it to make sure his eyeliner is extra sharp.

Cash: his bedroom is the perfect definition of organized chaos. It looks messy but for cash, he knows exactly where every thing is. There’s a small tv in there with some old game consoles hooked up to it. The bed is never made.

Horrortale

Their home rests in a neighborhood bordering the forest of ebott. The houses there all have a lot more yard space than most houses in the city. The horrortale home is super cozy with lots of knit throws and pillows scattered around. The back patio has a little dog door and there’s a 50% chance of seeing a chicken walk through lol

Oak: his room is also pretty basic. The bed however has so many blankets. Like way more than any person should need. Oak is a blanket hoarder. There’s a lot of notebooks stacked on his wooden desk along with a file of patterned paper for scrapbooking.

Willow: his room has a raised bed with a cute little ladder on the side so that his dog can jump up. You can tell a lot of the furniture has been homemade or refurbished. The room is larger and in the middle is a circular stone table that’s stained with paint. It’s usually housing his latest craft

Underlust

They used to live in the same neighborhood as the classic brothers but have recently moved closer to the inner city because of work. Their home is still in the process of being unpacked mostly, but their rooms are done! The house is actually pretty conservative looking with grey walls, white wooden furniture and soft pastel decor. They do have a stripper pole in the living room though lol

Charm: his room looks exactly how you expect from him. Dark walls with lots of bright rave type decorations. On his dresser is a large pretty cake display that stands out from the rest of the rooms theme lol. His room is always on a state of organized chaos with his desk and bed covered in nick knacks but the floors staying oddly clean

Sugar: his room has light lavender walls and black furniture. It’s a big difference from the soft feminine style people expect from him. Instead sugar has a more sleek modern style to his room. He also has a standard mannequin in the middle that always has a new dresses pinned to it.

Fellswap (red)

They own a pretty two story house only a block away from the two apartment complexes that lord owns. The front lawn/garden is in top shape with lots of those metal flower decorations stuck in the ground along the dirt outline. Inside the house is most worn but comfy looking furniture. Nothing special

Lord: his room is pretty basic with mostly brown and grey accents. He does have a large mostly filled bookcase. There’s also two white bean bags and a deep red rug that covers nearly the whole floor of the room.

Mutt: he actually has two rooms. The first is pretty simple with just his bed, a writing desk and a rack for some shoes. Also his bird cage for KFC (pet pigeon). The second room has a sink, and several cages and boxes for the injured animals that he rehabilitates. The second room is slightly larger than his actual room.

Fellswap gold

They actually live in a studio apartment above wines antique shop. The apartment used to be an unused storage static until wine bought the building and repurposed it. The living space itself is a little small, but they also have access to the roof which the gold bros use as a potted garden and dining area.

Wine: his room is very classy with silk curtains on the window and a silky cream canopy above his head. All the furniture is a dark grey wood with pretty carvings and designs. The walls are decorated with beautiful floral paintings from his brother. It’s a pretty well planned out room. Very cosy and luxurious

Coffee: he has two rooms as well. The smaller of the two is just his bed, dresser, closet and a tv with some consoles hooked up to it. The second room has shelves lining nearly every wall except for one which is just a big collab mural. On the shelves is various art supplies and projects. There’s one large sketch desk on one wall. And finally in the middle of the room is a tarp attached to the floor housing whatever piece of furniture coffee is restoring at the moment .

Dancetale

They also own an apartment, one of the flats in lords buildings on the ground floor. It’s the other building from the swapfell brothers. The walls are painted a cheery yellow and the house is mostly decorated with spring colors. There’s always a huge bowl of fresh fruit in the kitchen.

Pop: his room is mix and match of completely different furniture and gadgets. Pop isn’t someone who cares about themes so he will keep whatever catches his fancy. Instead of a bed, he has a hammock attacked to the ceiling with a pillow and some throw blankets casually tossed on top lol.

Rhythm: his room is pretty sparse with just his bed, a shoe rack, and a dresser. On the dresser are pictures of each of his face classes right before they graduate. Rhythm doesn’t really care all that much about decor so the walls are pretty bare too

Outertale

They live in the same gated community as the classic brothers! The outertale home has high ceilings and lots of windows. The living room is the real centerpiece of the home. It has several large antique bookcases and display cases. Inside the displays are various rocks and crystals and the occasional fossil. It’s really neat.

Pluto: his room is comprised of mostly blues grays and greens. He has a small bookcase on the side of his bed where he keeps the things he’s currently reading. There’s also a large fish-tank with an assortment of saltwater fish inside. Pluto’s room also has a large circular fluffy rug in the middle of the floor. The floor itself is hardwood

Jupiter: his room has a similar color scheme except instead of greens, Jupiter has gold instead. He has some exercise equipment stacked nicely on the side of his bed including weights. There’s a wall tapestry with a printed picture of the asteroid belt the outertale monsters used to live in.

Gastertale

The gaster brothers also live in the same neighborhood as the classic and outertale bros. They’re at the very end in the little cul-de-sac. The interior of the house is almost all white with cream carpet, metro grey walls, and white furniture. A few of the small decorations add a bit of color. There’s a lot of potted succulents.

G: his room is probably the only dark room of the house. His walls are a charcoal grey and the furniture is mostly jet black with a few mustard colored decorations. There’s a metal wire bookcase hanging on the wall. G also has a plastic anatomy dummy that he dresses up in his motorcycle gear when he’s not using it. G thinks he’s funny

Green: like the rest of the home, his room is also mostly white. He has a pretty pale green rack for all of his glasses on his dresser. Green also has his several degrees framed in silver on the walls. his room is always spotless

Farmtale:

The farm bros have an old Victorian home that they fixed up themselves. They’re home borders the acres of farmland they own and is about a 45 minute drive from ebott city. The inside is decorated with mostly wooden furniture. There’s like four rocking chairs on the porch lol

Peaches: his room fits the theme of the house with mostly wooden furniture and a lot of quilts and rugs to add color and soften it up. Peaches always has a vase of fresh wildflowers on his dresser. The walls have photographs of plants and animals taped to them that peaches took himself.

Rancher: this mad lad has a large moose skull hanging above his four poster log cabin bed. He also hangs his favorite hunting rifles just below the moose lol. His bedroom is mostly wooden of course but is also decorated with lots of red and orange plaids.

Horrorfell

They live in the same neighborhood as the horrortale and horrorswap brothers. Their home is literally right in between the two. Inside it’s decorated in a mix between sleek modern metals and frumpy cozy style. Somehow the horrorfell bros still have their original sofa from the underground. There’s a lot of little homemade staircases for their cat doomfanger who’s too old to claim on top of things herself now

Rust: his walls are painted a soft heather grey and have some basic wooden decorations that noir painted for fun. The furniture is pretty normal with the exception of a large treasure style chest next to his bed. Open it up and you’ll find a collection of drawings and gifts from the kids he’s watched over the years. Rust didn’t have the heart to throw them away.

Noir: unsurprisingly, his room is littered in canvases and paintings on the walls. It’s divided into two sides: the messy paint side and his nice neat living side. He even has a line of tape going down the middle to complete the divide. On his living side is his bed, closet, and a low bookcase that he uses as a second dresser. The actual bookcase is in the living room

Horrorswap

As y’all all know, their house is right next to the horrorfells and one house away from the horrortales. They like bright colors and have a sort of summery themed house. The best part is the back garden which is filled with garden boxes of veggies, fruit bushes, and fruit trees.

Lilac: his rooms main color is a pretty powder blue along with canary yellow and some bright green. He has a yoga mat on the floor in place of a rug. The walls have some neat sunrise posters

Basil: his room is pretty cosy with lots of knit blankets and fluffy pillows. He has a massive poster of Pixar’s ratatouille that rust got him as a joke. Basil has like five coconut planters, each housing a different herb plant making his room smell like an Italian restaurant

The Mafias (tale, fell, swap)

The mafia brothers live in an apartment complex masquerading as a warehouse. The ground and top two floors are working area while there were three secret basement levels. The mafia bros home consists of the whole bottom level with all their rooms connected to a hallway. At the end of the hallway is a living space and the kitchen.

Snipe: his room is the one closest to the living area. Inside is sage walls with a few house plants that can survive in low light. His bed is almost never made lol. If one was to tear the room apart, they would find at least six different guns stashed in hidden compartments

Bruiser: his room is the closest to the staircase. Inside the room somehow looks super messy but is actually spotless. Bruiser decorates the walls with all kinds of gifts people randomly give him during his vigilante escapes. Stuff from pocket mirrors, to foreign currency to even a small collection of sea shells. He drilled holes into them and hung them up on strings. Other than his walls, the furniture is pretty plain

Butch: his room is a mix of greys, blacks an silvers with the basics of furniture and a small black leather sofa. On the walls are some pretty hand melded metal decorations that butch made himself. He smokes in his room so it reeks of cigars

Boss: his room fits him perfectly with clean white plaster walls, sleek metal furniture and black and gold marble decor. Everything in that room has a specific place. If anyone moved his stuff, he’d know. It’s the only mafia bro room that doesn’t caught smell like smoke somehow. There’s a male model mannequin that he uses to practice designing clothes on

Ace: the most eye catching part of his room is a large vanity with several lamps attached and a very extensive makeup kit. I’m talking professional grade. Ace isn’t the spy for nothing. He also has an open closet so all his clothing is out on display. The main color of his room is mauve funny enough

Slim: his room is a drab grey and has a large desk taking up a whole wall. It’s filled with screens and monitors. He also has a few tv screens hooked up to the wall. It almost looks like a security room. On the other side is his bed with a canopy curtain for privacy. There’s a few anime posters on the wall as well

#undertale imagines #undertale headcanons #undertale #underswap #underfell #swapfell #horrortale #underlust #fellswap red #fellswap gold #dancetale #outertale #gastertale #farmtale #horrorfell #horrorswap #mafiatale #mafiafell #mafiaswap

152 notes · View notes

bikerjongho · 3 years

Text

welcoming song | song mingi

genre: supernatural, horror

characters: vampire!mingi ft. vampire!jongho

description: After a millennium of imprisonment for crimes, the dark, powerful, and vampiric Lord Song returns home and catches up with his life that passed him by.

word count: 4.5k

warnings: violence, murder, explicit mentions of a dead body, blood

author’s note: happy birthday mingi and welcome back from your hiatus!! I hope your day is amazing, special, and you enjoy it to the fullest <3 and now onto evil vampires.

taglist: @itsapapisongo @mangomingki @irehlevant @blueprint-han @doievoir

For thousands of years, the Song mansion had withstood the test of time. Nestled in the dead-center of a lush forest, the mansion had proved itself to have incognito techniques as only few ever found it. Lucky travelers and explorers would get to experience the towering and magnificent architecture of the home, the addicting fragrances of the flowers that seemed to never die, and the unnaturally clear pool of water that looked to be the drink of the gods. All of this was available for them to drink in, and yet they were still thirsty, for if the outside was as glorious as it was, surely the inside would prove similar.

No sooner did these travelers step foot on the marble staircase leading to the doorway did the hidden arrows built into the bird feeders release and rob them of life. Wild bears and decomposers alike took delight in the delicacy of human flesh lying quite literally at their front door. When the mess was cleaned by the hungry animals, the stage would again be set for another unsuspecting victim to be drawn in by the beauty of the mansion. Because while the mansion had the looks and was clearly adept at drawing people in, the mansion was not to be entered by anyone other than the owner. And he hadn't stepped inside in over a thousand years.

The travelers were correct in assuming that the inside of the mansion was beautiful. Much like how the outside of the mansion lured in curious travelers to the front porch only to be transported to the doorstep of the afterlife, the inside swarmed with even more beauty. But this beauty was not soft and warm like the outside. It was as sharp as a blade, and just as piercing as an animal's teeth gnawing on meat.

There were over fifty vampires in this mansion, each adorned with fangs and priceless clothing. The vampires had been living inside the Song mansion since the days where it was new, and they worked hard to conserve its attractive looks. Though their hearts didn't beat, they moved with the swiftness of the most nimble humans and worked endlessly for the hope that one day, Lord Song would return.

Every golden piece of pottery was glimmering at all times, and the floors were like mirrors because of how reflective they always were. Cleaning in this household was no issue because of the sheer amount of vampires that were in this mansion, but there was also never anyone to mess up any of their work. The pillows were always too fluffed and the fireplace too kindled, and this was like that because of the hope that Lord Song would return. The mansion had to look spotless and perfect, to tell him that even after a thousand years, his servants were still as servile to him as they had been before he had been taken from them so unexpectedly.

But unbeknownst to the vampires, the anniversary of one millennium had passed and the prison sentence for a man was finally lifted. Black and buckled boots made their way through the forest, a cloak of the same color billowing behind the wearer. The traveler inhaled sharply when he saw the immortal beauty of the mansion, and increased his speed to the front porch. As usual, the sharp arrows shot out from their hiding places to pierce the newcomer, but the newcomer knew of this trick. After all, he was the one that had installed it.

A pale hand shot out and caught the sharp arrow. His eyes swiveled to the left to glance at the point of the arrow that was only inches from his face, inspecting it. Then, with a swift flick of his wrist, the arrow was snapped in two.

Mingi Song had arrived home at last.

His knock at the door sent reverberations across the entire mansion, and every vampire snapped their heads to the direction of the sudden noise. There hadn't been a knock at the door in a thousand years.

A small child with a mop of black hair and eyes as big as tennis balls clung to his mother's dress and stared at the door. His small fangs dug into his teeth and he huddled in close to his mother in fear. "Did the arrows-" he whispered, but his mother cut him off.

"The arrows never miss."

She said this with a shake in her voice, and all of the vampires could hear it. All eyes, red, black, yellow ones, were glued to the door and this mysterious visitor that had somehow bypassed their impenetrable security.

Finally, a vampire woman with long and silky black hair stepped forward towards the door in a move of bravery. Her hand shook as she grabbed the cold handle of the brass doorknob. She turned around and looked at her vampiric brethren. When Lord Song had been taken to jail because of his war crimes, none were given an estimate of when he would return. Many thought he had died. The majority held it within themselves that he would return someday. This person at the door, whoever they were, was not just some traveller. They could have been another vampire from the Song family taking ownership over them, or an entirely different vampire that wanted to kill them all or take them for their own.

But none of them truly expected Lord Song to be at the doorstep.

The all-familiar sight of his crimson red eyes caused most of the children vampires to burst into bloody tears. Mothers and fathers gathered them in a hug to soothe them, but couldn't close their mouths while they gaped at their Lord Song.

Prison had hardened him, but in the same way that polish on metal made the hard material shine even brighter. Despite being immortal, he looked older, but he had a new glint to his sharp, red eyes that suggested that the recklessness of his youth had subsided. His hair had been a tangy orange upon his arrest, and now it was a dark and jet black that rested over his forehead. He was tall as ever with a commanding presence that was frightful to enemies and comforting to friends.

His crimson eyes glanced over all of the vampires in his walkway. Some had been on the second floor and were frozen over the banister at his sight.

"Lord Song," a vampire finally said. "You've returned."

Mingi held out his arms and enveloped a child running towards him, smiling as he spun her around and she giggled with glee. "You all seem well," he said, and many of the vampires began to fan themselves to stop tears from running.

He placed the child back into the ground and walked forward. His knee connected with a small and wooden table by the entrance to the foyer, and the potted plant that had been placed on it tipped and shattered onto the floor.

Mingi's eyes were wide with shock, but this only caused even more tears and happiness within the crowd of vampires.

"Lord Song, I'll clean it up!" a woman cried.

"I will! It's my pleasure!" Another sobbed.

A millennium of meaningless dusting, sweeping, and wiping for anticipation of Lord Song now had meaning. And for the vampires of Lord Song, cleaning was the least they could do to show their admiration and loyalty to him.

A child pushed away from his mother and, disregarding a dust pan and broom another vampire had ran in with, began picking up the glass pieces with his bare hands. Blood prickled on his palms before spilling out onto the floor as he cleaned.

Mingi, surprised only moments ago, was grinning at the child. "Why, thank you," he said softly, then stepped over the child like he was a toy in the way of his steps. His long and black cloak brushed over the child's head without concern. Some of the vampires had fallen to their knees. Others averted their gaze to hide the tears of happiness in their eyes.

"Lord Song," a man sobbed. "I've missed you. You've returned."

"Tell us of your troubles that you faced while you were gone so that we might soothe you," another suggested, wiping away their bloody red tears with a white cloth.

Mingi surveyed all of them with his eyes, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his pants. "I'd like that," he said after a minute. "You all have kept this home in perfect condition. Let us have a drink while I tell my tales." He smiled with a glimmer in his eyes. "There's much to say. A millennium, however short that is in our lifetime of forever, is still long."

The beautiful and enormous dining hall, which had been bare and dull for a millennium, was waking back up with Lord Song's presence. The vampires cracked open aged blood and ushered Mingi into the hall with the grace of a palace servant. One pulled out his seat for him, while another was unfastening his traveling cloak and black gloves. The rest ogled at him like he was a magnificent piece of art in a museum.

Fancy glasses that hadn't seen light in so long were shining by the light of the chandeliers and candles. The cool, crimson liquid in the glasses swirled around as the vampires amused Lord Song with stories and tales that had been thousands of years in the making. A little boy excitedly told Mingi about the new species of bacteria that had spread around the mansion in the course of six months over three hundred years ago, and his mother told the story of the wild pack of bears that had nearly ransacked the house, stopped only by the mansion's poisonous and lethal breed of ants that lived in the lawn. But it all ceased when the binder of suitors was brought to the table.

A vampire with a monocle and poster straighter than a board dumped a six inch binder in front of Mingi with no preamble. He adjusted his tie while Mingi raised his eyebrows, and the rest of the vampires grinned at him with their fangs expectantly.

"Much time has passed during your absence," the monocled vampire began, and Mingi recognized him as one of the sparse British vampires in the mansion because of his accent. "We had grown bored of boredom during your absence. Days and years passed us by with a wink. Isolation can make you do many things," he said, and tapped the binder with his pointer finger.

"This is a matchmaker binder," he began, and Mingi's eyes widened as the vampire flipped it open and he was greeted with tens of faces on each page. There must have been thousands of pages. "We weren't sure if you liked men or women, or both, so we have everyone," he said casually, and flipped from a grouping of women to a section of men.

"My God," Mingi breathed. "Pray tell, why-"

"She's pretty, isn't she?" The vampire asked and pointed to a woman in the binder with dark hair down to her shoulders.

"Yes," Mingi began, but the vampires were too excited to let him speak.

"I like this one," cut another one, pointing to a man with blonde hair and a large smile. "He's also a Lord. I would marry him if I wasn't so low class."

"This one looks like he could kiss me until the sun rises," a girl sighed and pointed to a man in the binder. "And then we'd evaporate together. That's love, isn't-"

"Enough," Mingi said abruptly, pushing away the binder from himself and silencing the vampires. "Enough," he repeated, rubbing his brow.

"What's the matter?" The original vampire that had given him the binder asked. A hundred pairs of eyes leaned in closer for his response.

"Why did you do this?" Mingi sighed, looking at all of his vampires with contempt. He lifted the glass of blood to his lips and took a long drink. A hundred pairs of eyes watched every last drop dribble into his mouth, and then he set down the glass. "This is childish."

At that, many of the vampires sunk into each other in embarrassment. The monocled vampire coughed. "You are a fine man," he said simply. "We thought it would be a good idea to get you interested in the vampires available so you may extend the Song family for millennia to come. Many vampires of your class in recent years have found that marriage is a wonderful experience to behold in life."

"And as soon as I got back from my imprisonment was your best time to tell me about this?" Mingi snapped and the monocled vampire bowed his head in shame. "I was hoping to share my stories, not engage in some mindless and useless talks about love."

The vampires hung their heads. "I'm sorry, Lord Song," the monocled vampire lamented, sliding the enormous binder off the table and securing it in his arms. "We won't bring it up again."

A little vampire, a girl that looked no more than eight years old, appeared next to Mingi. "Lord Song," she spoke in a voice that was small but had hundreds of hidden years behind it, "tell us your stories now."

The room hushed and chairs squeaked across the floor as the vampires leaned towards Mingi. A thousand years was not even a twentieth of a vampire's lifetime, but it was still long. Eager ears awaited to hear the experience that Mingi had gone through during his time in jail.

Mingi cleared his throat and surveyed them all once again. Jail had been terrible and boring. It was the price he had paid for the crimes he had committed as a younger and reckless vampire, but he couldn't say that he regretted doing any of it. Mingi had taken himself and all two hundred of his servants to town after town, mowing through houses and draining the residents of their blood. The screaming of the townspeople had only made their own blood curl, and blood with adrenaline tasted richer. Despite being a dead being, Mingi had never felt so alive in that moment. It had been a display of power, a display of the awesome and terrible Song family that had roamed for eons.

But no one else had found it funny, especially the supernatural council that had reigned at the time. Mingi's name protected him from the worst of punishments, but not even he could squirrel himself out of an extended period behind bars. His servants had been sent back to his home and had been locked in with no idea of when Mingi would return, and Mingi had rotted in a cell for a thousand years. It wasn't all bad, though - there were vampires like him, burning with the desire to escape but burdened all the same with exhaustion and the cage that surrounded them. Mingi had lots of time to reflect on his actions, and he had come to the conclusion that if he was to do such an event again, he'd have to be much more discreet about it.

But now he was home. Mingi described the bad conditions of the jail to his enraptured crowd, preached about the terrible clothing he had to have on his back and vocalized the terrible treatment that the jail had given him. With every word, the shock on the vampires' faces melted into anger and sadness.

"Lord Song," many of them sobbed, "we are so sorry you had to go through that."

"What's done is done," Mingi murmured. "Stop crying. It's over now. Rejoice that I'm back."

And amongst the sudden cheers that yes, Lord Song had returned, Mingi smiled. A sliver of fear had baked inside of him when he had been released. He had been concerned over the thought that his brigade of vampires had deserted him. After all, a thousand years inside of a house with nothing to do was not an enjoyable time. But his stupidly obsequious servants had stayed locked in the house all the same.

The arrows at the front of the mansion only hurt those coming towards the mansion. They could have left any time they wanted to. But Mingi relished in the idea that they knew fully well of the arrows that were awaiting if they ever decided to come crawling back. His servants were locked in, and Mingi now knew with confidence that the leash he had on them was tighter than a double-knotted knot.

He raised his empty glass and savored the multiple vampires that tripped over chairs and table legs to reach his glass and refill it. He had them wrapped around his finger.

The next week allowed Mingi to be acclimated back into his home. The couches he rested on gave him peace and restfulness that he had forgotten he could feel during his time on the rock-hard floors of the prisons. The constant vampires that were begging to wait on him was also a complete change from before. But while his servants entertained him and kept him company, Mingi longed to talk to someone on his own caliber. So the next day, Jongho was on his back doorstep.

Only friends knew that the back door was the correct door to enter if they liked to keep their brains inside their head, and even then Lord Choi was smart. "Mingi," Lord Choi exclaimed when he was brought to the dining hall by Mingi's servants and saw him at the table. "It's wonderful to see you once again."

Like all vampires, Lord Choi hadn't aged a day since Mingi had last seen him. The only noticeable difference in his features was his now slicked back dark hair that gave him a more mature look, a look he never would have attempted thousands of years ago. He still had muscle on his arms, if not more, and his black and large eyes that seemed to catch every visual in Mingi's mansion had grown softer, more tempered. Something had tethered him down, and Mingi was curious to find out what it was.

The two of them circled one another in a hug, patting each others' backs as they laughed at their reunion. "How long has it been?" Jongho laughed when they broke apart. "A thousand years?"

"A thousand years," Mingi repeated. "What have you gotten yourself into?" He asked as Mingi's servants led the two of them to their seats at Mingi's long dinner table and sat them down. He expected Jongho to launch into a terrible and exciting story about a murder spree - he was famous for those when Mingi had last known seen him.

But Mingi was wrong. Jongho was more than happy to talk about his disciplined and mild travels he had done around the world. While a glass of red liquid was poured out for him and Mingi, he talked about his travels around Europe, Asia, and most recently, North America.

"I was most impressed by the humans' ability to be clean," he said as he took a long drink of his blood. "A bit of a shame because blood was so much easier to obtain when humans threw the carcasses of each other outside of doorsteps when plague raged. And I quite enjoyed the phase of blood-letting. But now, at least there's no more human feces for me to step upon when I stroll through the neighborhoods in London. I call that a win."

"You'll have to tell me about that," Mingi said and raised his eyebrows. Vampires didn't need to use the bathroom or sleep, but Jongho was glad to explain the modern wonder of indoor plumbing.

"And I think Ireland was my favorite place to visit," Jongho continued. "I was there about two-hundred years ago. Met some interesting humans, I had a book written after me as well. You may know of the book."

"Quite highly of you to think that I was allowed to read in prison," Mingi said, not unkindly, and Jongho laughed.

"Just a little book about vampires. Written by Bram Stoker."

"Never heard of it," Mingi said, and Jongho once again shook his head.

"We need to go on a trip together at some point," Jongho smiled. "To get you accustomed to the new world. You would be surprised how much human innovation has happened in the millennia you missed."

Jongho went on to continuing his life story that Mingi had missed, and Mingi was amazed to listen. Prison had been hard. It had been boring and harrowing, but he had survived, in the end. But he couldn't help but feel a pinprick of jealousy as Jongho described his tales and freedom he had, even if his adventures weren't as violent as he would have guessed. Jongho, like Mingi, had taken his vampire servants many times through towns for blood feasts. But Jongho had perfected the art of subtlety and remaining underneath the radars of watchful vampire councils that made sure none of them stepped out of line. He had found a way to let his innate vampire desires tear through himself and never subject himself to the horrors and pain of prison.

Mingi listened, but his ears turned greener as Jongho continued on about his life.

It wasn't until Mingi's servants arrived with that too-familiar courting binder of vampires did Jongho stop talking. Mingi opened his mouth to shoo them off, but the book was placed in front of Jongho and the vampire that had placed it cleared her throat.

"We hope you don't mind, Lord Choi, but we've come up with a few potential suitors, both male and female, that you may be interested in," she said, giving a bright smile to Jongho. Jongho's mouth twitched and he burst into laughter.

"Lord Choi?" The vampire asked, gasping. "Is something wrong?" Mingi looked at his servant and Jongho, equally as confused as she was.

"No, nothing," he said, "it's just that I'm married already."

"You're what?" Mingi choked and the vampire flushed with what little blood she had left in her body.

"Married, like I said, you missed a lot," Jongho said and reached in his coat pocket for a piece of paper. He threw it on the table, and it was a photo of a bright and smiling woman with blonde hair. "This is Analise, my beloved of almost seven-hundred years."

"Seven-hundred years?" Mingi gaped. The female vampire that had given Jongho the binder was already dragging it away from him, her face hidden by her hair.

"Yes, and she's wonderful," Jongho said casually, shrugging. "It's simply the way of life. I'm sure you'll find someone."

Mingi made a mental note to go back to his own binder later. "I never thought you'd get married," he said, and Jongho smiled.

"And neither did I. But sometimes, you just meet someone," he sighed, then looked at Mingi. "I haven't felt the need to go out and ravage towns or humans now that I have her. She keeps me occupied and happy."

Mingi's question as to why Jongho seemed more calm was finally answered, but it was accompanied by bubbling discomfort. "She must be truly amazing," he said through his teeth.

"She is," Jongho sighed, and then went into stories about her. The stories warped back into tales about his travels around the world, and soon night had fallen across the sky. Jongho couldn't have left the mansion earlier because of the sun and he hadn't brought a cloak, but now the moon could aid him in walking back into town.

"Be sure to come with me to Australia," Jongho said and hugged Mingi before he left. "It'll be lots of fun." And then he smiled, and Mingi's heart broke at how soft he had become.

"Of course," he said, giving a painful smile. Jongho grinned and left the mansion through the back door.

Mingi was back with his thoughts. He watched Jongho walking away through a window and retreated to his study. He sat down at his desk to write something on a piece of paper with a quill. When he realized all of his ink had dried up over the course of a thousand years, he begrudgingly took his glass of blood from earlier and wrote one phrase onto the paper using it: never to be sanguine.

It was a phrase that he and the rest of the vampires at the prison had learned and repeated to each other. Because while sanguine meant blood-red, it also meant that a person was blindingly optimistic and cheerful. And Mingi ached to never, ever, become like that. To be optimistic, to be sweet and kind and cheery, was to ignore the inhumanity of being a vampire. It was to align with humans more than vampires, their own kind. He had lost Jongho to the sanguine nature.

"Not like Jongho," he said, his hand shaking as he finished the end of the word sanguine. "Never like him." Because if prison had taught him anything, it was to be patient, it was to be quiet.

It was to be unassuming. Mingi rushed to his vampires. He must have seemed shocked, because the vampires nearly fell to the floor into a bow. "I need that matchmaker binder," he said. "My binder. The one you tried to give me a few days ago."

"But Lord Song," the vampire said, quivering, "you didn't even want-"

"I want it now," Mingi growled and the vampire shook. He left and came back a minute later with the book in his hands. Mingi yanked it from his arms and stormed back into his study.

Analise had made Jongho soft. The vampire council must have seen this, they must have known this. He flipped through the book until he found a page of attractive people.

A partner was exactly how Mingi could keep going with evil misdeeds and remain under the radar of the council that could reprimand him. The council must have had the impression that a partner would tame him, just like Analise had done with Jongho. And even if his partner ended up hating him for who he was and the actions he did, he could pay them a handsome sum to keep quiet. It was the perfect disguise.

"Marriage," Mingi murmured, and looked at his bare ring finger. A ring would allow his greatest diabolical plans that he had thought of in prison to come to life. He stood up and walked out of his study with the proposal of proposing in his mind. "The secret to staying hidden is to hide in plain sight."

74 notes · View notes

ingeniouscollectionthing · 4 years

Text

My Always (Tom Riddle x Reader)

Pairing: Tom Riddle x Reader

Warnings: NSFW, fluffy smut, really, really, really detailed smut, nice Tom

Request: Would you write something about virgin Tom? Like the reader is a confident girl he had a crush on for a while and she gently guides him through his insecurities? Would be a nice contrast to the dom smut there is about him.

Slowly you were walking back to Hogwarts Castle from your day at Hogsmeade. It was Winter and snowflakes were falling, coating the streets in a blanket of white cotton. You snuggled yourself more into your scarf coloured in the beautiful green of House Slytherin, while looking around the beautfiul winter landscape.

A squeeze of your hand brought you back to reality and you looked at the person holding it.

„Are you cold?“, Tom asked, wrapping his arm now around your waist and drawing you in closer into his side.

„A bit, actually, yeah.“, you replied, looking up at him with a smile, your cheeks and nose coated in a light rosy shade.

“Don’t worry, we’re back in no time. How does some nice hot tea and a good book sound to you? We could snuggle by the fire place”, he said, sending you a beautiful shy smile.

“Sounds lovely”, you whispered, giving him a quick kiss on his cheek, making his cheeks flush into a deeper shade of red.

It’s been a year now since you and Tom started dating and it was the happiest you’ve ever been, really. He was very conservative, as gentlemen of your time should be. He treated you like a princess, always there for you, gifting you beautiful things and sneaking in small kisses here and there. You spent your time together cuddling, mostly reading books and sitting in comfortable silence.

Although you were quite happy with your relationship, you noticed a slight change in the last two weeks. While it was a relationship full of love and happiness, little kisses and cuddles on the couch in the common room, it slowly started turning into something way deeper. Everytime you looked at Tom you noticed his unbelievable handsomeness, more than ever before, and you always got that funny feeling in your neither region, often catching yourself thinking about dirty things.

Feeling your cheeks growing warm, you looked down to the floor, trying to hide your face from Tom, as you slowly walked into the castle, making your way to your common room.

Tom noticed though, as he also noticed the change. He realized that the air around you two went from innocent to more passionate. Soft kisses turned into longer ones, often resulting in a beautiful make out session. He caught himself trailing his eyes from yours down to your lips, and more often than he wanted further down your body, mapping out every curve hidden beneath your clothes.

Right now he had to try and hide the slightly noticeable bulge growing in his pants, while he daydreamed what it would be like if you did more than just cuddling, what it could be like behind closed doors - to feel your warm skin on his, kissing you wherever he wanted, while slowly and gently pounding into your warm, wet puss-.

Stop it Tom, he thought. I’m not allowed to think about her that way.. About the way her beautiful plump lips would look around my- Stop!

It was embarrassing for him, for you were not supposed to have sex before marrying. What would your parents think? They already disliked him pretty much, for you chose him, a halfblooded orphaned boy, as your partner. You were everything he ever dreamed of. Brilliant and cunning in your mind, confident and loving in your heart and a dashing beauty in your looks. He was just him.

While he was quite powerful in his magical abilities, he wasn’t so sure about everything else. While other girls worshipped the ground he walked on, he didn’t see himself worthy of being by your side. After all, he didn’t know if he deserved your love – no one else really loved him, so why you?

“Tommy? Did you hear what I said?”, you brought him back from his thoughts.

“No I’m sorry, Darling, I just zoned out.. What was it you talked about?”, Tom said, looking at you.

“I just asked if you’d like to cuddle in your dorm, instead of in the common room. You know, it would be more private… And your friends are not as nosy as mine.”, you said, as you sent him a brilliant smile. In reality you didn’t worry about cuddling at all, you felt that a certain kind of lust made you act on impulse, you needed him.

“Uhm.. I mean.. Yeah sure.. Why n-not.”, he stuttered and cleared his throat. You laughed a bit at his shy behaviour, it was so unlike of what others saw him as. You loved it.

Tom on the other hand hated it. It seems that all confidence vanished as soon as he looked into your beautiful (e/c) eyes, which shone brightly in the light. Right now he was nervous. You never took cuddling to the bedroom, although it was no different from cuddling on the couch in the common area. Or was it?

Well shit, he thought. It’s just us. In my bed. In my room. In Privacy. Just us. Cuddling…Kissing…Making out…Maybe making love.. Wait what?

Again he was thrown from his thoughts as you stopped in front of the common room entrance. The snake engraved into the door, turned it’s head into your direction, waiting for the password.

“Ego sum princeps * ”, Tom said, and slowly the portal opened. Hand in hand you walked past your fellow Slytherin’s, who followed both of you with curious looks as you made your way to the boys dormitories. To Tom’s and your relief it was in fact empty.

You both settled down on his bed, each with a book in hand while you both snuggled into each other after shedding off your winter clothes. You’ve been there for quite a while now, lying in his arms. You’ve barely read the words written on the pages. Instead your mind wandered around, thinking about what could happen right now.

As if reading your mind Tom looked at you, both of you holding eye contact while slowly leaning in. Your lips met in a slow sensual kiss, which lasted for far longer than you two had anticipated. The book laid forgotten on your lap as your hands slowly but steadily wandered up over Toms shirt clad chest, stroking in a circular motion up to his broad shoulders. Tom shuddered lightly, breaking the kiss to draw a long shaky breath. You looked at him, loosing yourself in his beautiful greenish blue eyes.

To your surprise he showed no signs of shying away, instead he slowly cupped your cheek in his big hand and pulled you towards him. Your lips met again, this time much more primal than ever before. Bent up passion made it’s way to the surface of your very beings and slowly and unsurely Tom licked your lower lip, asking for permission to enter your mouth. You granted it, but instead of fighting for dominance you both explored each other in a calm manner. Slowly his hand wandered down your face, over your arm until it landed on your waist. He squeezed softly and you let out a soft moan. And Tom snapped his hand back suddenly, breaking the kiss.

“I – I’m so sorry.. I didn’t mean to be so indecent”, he stuttered, a blush creeping up his neck. He avoided all eye contact.

You pouted, grabbing his face and making him look at you.

“No don’t be”, you sucked in a sharp breath, continuing in a sensual whisper “I liked it”.

And with that you pulled him back to you, your hands tangling in his raven black locks. Tom’s hand came back on your waist, now squeezing with a bit more confidence. Slowly you both turned, his back was propped up on the headboard of his bed, while you sat in his lap. Your hands explored each other slowly, the kisses became harder, less loving but more lustful, and Tom became more flustered by the second. Your hands traveled back to his neck, now trying to unbutton his white shirt.

“No (Y/N) wait!”, Tom whispered his eyes still closed.

“Are you not alright with this, Tommy? We can stop now”, you said, withdrawing your hands.

“Yes, no, I mean yes I am alright with this, b – but this isn’t right. I mean it feels right, because I love you so much.. But I’m supposed to be a gentleman and – and I’m supposed to be conservative. I just can’t take your virginity without marrying you because – because..”, Tom’ s rambling stopped, he looked at you. Merlin, his heart was beating out of his chest.

“Because what, darling? You can tell me”, you said reassuringly.

“Because what if I’m not the one to marry you?” All his insecurities spilled out of his mouth at once. “I mean I don’t care about m-my virginity, but you – you are such a brilliant, beautiful young witch and I’m soo goddamn scared that I could never be enough for you, that I won’t be the one putting a ring on your finger. And I know it’s bound to happen that you’ll leave someday, because I always end up alone…. I just – I don’t want you to give yourself to me so readily and defile your name, if I’m possibly not your forever.”

You processed all of his words, tears clouding your vision.

“You’re right you won’t be my forever” Tom’s heart broke at your words and he tried to keep it together until-

“You’re so much more than that, Tommy. My forever, my always, my soulmate, my lover, my partner in crime, my best friend. Call it whatever you want, but I’ll always be here right by your side. There will never be someone else as perfect in my eyes as you are. Let the whole world be damned, I want to be yours. Always”

Tom looked at you, stunned, not knowing what to do.

“Tom. Make love to me”

And he lunged forward enveloping you in his arms before kissing you with such a passion, your heart almost leapt out of your chest. Now everything was a blur. Slowly you undressed each other, leaving you completely bare. Tom drew the curtains closed around his four-poster bed, before turning to you again.

“You’re so beautiful”, he said, his hand stroking the side of your hips. You looked into his eyes as you guided his hand up to your chest. Shyly he grabbed one of your breasts, his eyes sparkling as he witnessed the pleasured sigh that left your lips. His confidence grew as his finger slowly circled around your nipple, making it instantly hard. He did the same to the other before he suddenly took one nipple in his mouth, sucking gently on it.

“T-Tom”, you whispered, one of your hands tangled in his hair, as the other started exploring his body.

Slowly you stroked down his chest, over his beautiful prominent abs, until you reached the most intimate body part of his. You’ve never done this before and you had no idea what you were doing as you slowly grabbed his erect cock in your hand, stroking up and down. Tom shuddered, leaving your breasts with a slight popping noise as his eyes rose to meet yours. Both of your faces were flushed, pupils blown. Tom kissed you again, now beginning a little fight about dominance, as his hands mimicked your earlier movements until you felt his fingers around your pussy. Slowly he tested the waters – he started spreading your lower lips, while his thumb started circling your clit.

You jolted as some kind of electricity shot through you, making you grab his cock harder. He groaned into your mouth and suddenly – one of his fingers slowly made his way into your waiting, warm and wet cunt.

“You’re so wet (Y/N)”, Tom whispered in astonishment, pumping his finger slowly.

“Only for you Tom”, you moaned, fastening your movements.

You felt as he inserted a second finger, stretching you so deliciously. You felt so full.

Tom felt as if he was in heaven. The girl of his dreams lying in his arms, squirming in pleasure he gave her. He groaned again as your small hand travelled down his big cock, cupping his balls gently.

Merlin’s beard, he thought. I can’t get enough.

Acting on instinct, you grabbed his hand in a gentle manner, making his fingers leave your pussy. You guided it to your mouth, licking his fingers covered in your juices clean. You maintained eye contact and Tom took in a deep breath. Then you grabbed onto his shoulders and lifted yourself up, guiding his erect, hard and big cock in between your folds. Slowly it slipped inside your warm and waiting walls. It hurt and you grabbed harder onto Toms shoulders.

“Shhh.. It’s alright, darling. I’ve got you”, Tom whispered, panting hard, while grabbing your hips and helping you down on his shaft. You both groaned, as he was settled deeply inside you. Slowly you started moving, the pleasure replacing the pain. You both panted loudly, not caring if Tom’s dormmates would burst into the room right now.

Tom wrapped his arms around you, pulling him towards you. He kissed you hard, his hands now exploring your whole body, before you guided them to each of your ass cheeks. You looked at him, saying in a breathless voice,

“Don’t be shy my love. I’m all yours”

And Tom squeezed hard, surely leaving behind some red marks.

Your movements picked up speed, your moans getting louder by the second, as he hit every right spot inside you.

A sudden rush of confidence led Tom to flip you both over, making you lie down on your back and wrap your legs around his waist. You continued to make out, while Tom started picking up ab bit speed, as his thrusts became rougher. His balls slapped against your flesh, the smell of sex wafting around the room, while your moans spurred each other on.

“Tommy – ohh yes! Fuck – right there!” You moaned, scratching down his back.

“You feel so good, (Y/N)! So good! I don’t think I can last any longer!”, Tom groaned kissing up and down your neck.

“Rub my clit, Tom. Please! Make me cum Tommy!”, you whimpered. His hand wandered down to your tight pussy, slowly rubbing circles on your little bundle of nerves.

“Is that alright? Do you like that? Do you like how I rub your clit?”, Tom asked, not realizing how dirty he actually sounded, fully intended on pleasing you.

“Oh Tommy! Yes! Yes! I’m – I’m coming!”, you moaned loudly, tangling your fingers in his hair, moaning his name over and over again, as a beautiful feeling washed over you, making you squeeze your pussy around Tom’s big cock.

“(Y) – (Y/N)! Fuucck!” His hips stuttered as his cum shot into your waiting womb, marking you as his.

Gently he laid himself down on top of you, careful not to crush you. Both of you panted as you basked in the afterglow of your orgasms.

After a while Tom pulled out of your still pulsing pussy, watching as it tried to keep in every drop of his seed.

He looked up at you, as you cupped his cheek in your hand and he leant up to kiss you slowly, before he rolled to his side of the bed, gathering you in his arms. You both looked at eachother, content smiles plastered on your faces.

Tom put a strand of hair behind your ear, while whispering in a soft voice,

“I love you”

“I love you more”, you said, closing your eyes.

“(Y/N)?” Tom said, pulling you even more towards him.

“Yes?”

The door to Tom’s room opened and his dormmates gathered inside, disturbing the comfortable aura in your little nest. Lucky for you, the curtains kept you in your loving Little bubble.

“Will you marry me?”

Outside, the boy’s bickering fell into silence, listening carefully to hear your answer.

(*I am a leader - Password)

#tom riddle #tom riddle x reader #tom riddle x you #tom riddle imagine #tom riddle imagines #voldemort #voldemort x reader #young voldemort x reader #lord voldemord #tom riddle smut #tom riddle fluff #tom riddle lemon #harry potter #harry potter imagine #harry potter smut #harry potter x reader #harry potter fluff #smut #fluff

2K notes · View notes

letterboxd · 3 years

Text

A Cinematic Outcoming.

From Istanbul to Chicago, and C.R.A.Z.Y. to Spirited Away, Letterboxd member, writer and film programmer Emre Eminoğlu explores the films that drove his gay awakening.

“I see it as my duty to never shut up about how representation matters.” —Emre Eminoğlu

I was one of the luckiest ones, yet I had no idea how lucky I was. Growing up in Istanbul, Turkey, a predominantly patriarchal, conservative and homophobic society, my luck was being born into an open-minded, secular and loving family.

In this bubble, I was isolated from the struggles of the majority of my people. I was not bullied at school by my peers, I was not forced into being someone else by my family. Yet I still had that voice in my head. As soon as I realized something could be different with me, I became my own bully and forcefully adopted a fictional persona: ‘exceptionally normal’.

Coming out was hard, but coming out to myself was harder. Although I was perfectly aware of my sexual identity, I could not come to terms with the possibility of being ‘abnormal’. Cue cinema. Watching films was a way of escape for high-school Emre—it still is—and it was inevitable that I would come across some LGBTQ+ films. I was not consciously in search of a ‘truth’ about myself but I started seeing my reflection in them, as they slowly disarmed the bully I involuntarily created.

Twenty years later, now, as a 34-year-old gay man professionally writing on cinema and television, I see it as my duty to never shut up about how representation matters. Streaming LGBTQ+ shows on various platforms, seeing widely released, mainstream LGBTQ+ films, listening to the music of openly LGBTQ+ stars, and hearing words of wisdom like “If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?”, I am confident that the personal, inner bully that I created twenty years ago would not survive a week in today’s world.

‘C.R.A.Z.Y.’ (2005)

Jean-Marc Vallée’s C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005) was definitely not the first LGBTQ+ film I ever watched, but it was an invaluable juncture in my life. It was a hot summer in Istanbul, freshman year of college was over. One of my best friends, who had been accompanying me through most of my cinematic discoveries, told me about a French-Canadian film with this guy on the film poster with David Bowie makeup on his face. We headed to an independent theater in Kadıköy to see it.

Zachary Beaulieu was different. As the lone gay son in a family of five boys, he too was forcefully adopting a fictional persona, and his way of escape was music. He was constantly worried about how to be worthy of his parents’ love, how to realize their ideals of him, and how his difference and truth contradicted all of that. Zac’s 1960s basically mirrored my story in the 2000s. I perfectly muted the life-changing enlightenment I was going through and did not vocalize my inner screams.

In two hours, C.R.A.Z.Y. helped me realize my true self and admit my sexual identity after all those years. It was a personal threshold I had been longing to cross… but there was still a lot to go through.

‘Les Amours Imaginaires’ (Heartbeats, 2010)

Liking someone, falling for someone, being loved, dating someone, sex, refusals, misinterpretations, heartbreaks, break-ups, bad sex. On the other side of the closet, I was being introduced to new, sometimes euphoric, sometimes gut-wrenching experiences. But coming out to my friends was still a challenge. I was feeling so lonely keeping all these wonderful and horrible experiences in my chest.

But I was not alone: LGBTQ+ films were my life’s understudy. The same heartbreaks, worries, and disappointments I was going through were right there on the silver screen. I took note as two best friends, Francis and Marie, fall for the same guy and navigate their friendship in Xavier Dolan’s Les Amours Imaginaires (Heartbeats, 2010). I studied how a popular student, Jarle, falls for the new guy in school, but cannot risk his reputation to be with him in Stian Kristiansen’s Mannen som Elsket Yngve (The Man Who Loved Yngve, 2008) and I watched as close friends Tobi and Achim become lovers, until one’s need to keep everything secret threatens to destroy the relationship in Marco Kreuzpaintner’s Sommersturm (Summer Storm, 2004).

Things were not always accessible via online platforms and the internet, so film festivals were often the only chance to see the latest independent and queer films. Two of the biggest film festivals in Istanbul, thankfully, had LGBTQ+-focused sections; !f’s Gökkuşağı (Rainbow) and Istanbul Film Festival’s Nerdesin aşkım? (Where are you, my love?) felt like home.

‘Tomboy’ (2011)

Being the lone avid cinephile among my friends, I was used to seeing half of my festival picks alone. Even before coming out to myself, my hopes for a romantic relationship included, among other things, having a festival partner. When I, fortunately, found the one, I was delighted to have also found the perfect festival partner. Shortly after our first month together, the first film we saw at a film festival was Céline Sciamma’s Tomboy (2011).

Although I was a 24 year old cis man, I was more than able to empathize with the title character, a ten-year-old trans boy. With his family unaware of his true identity, Mickaël experiences the liberation of a fresh start when ‘mistaken’ for a boy after they move to a new neighborhood—finally able to introduce himself as Mickaël, not Laure.

Changing my career path, a new job in the creative industry, and a stable relationship had similar effects on me. I was still not completely out to my parents, or some of my friends, schoolmates, and acquaintances from my past, but I was freed of the obligation to explain anything to my new friends or colleagues. I would proudly introduce them to my boyfriend, or simply correct people by saying I was attracted to men during a conversation. The perfect festival partner turned out to be a perfect partner as well—over the past ten years, he has helped me grow and be proud of myself.

‘Weekend’ (2011)

We moved in together in the fifth year of our relationship. Right above our bed hangs a poster of Andrew Haigh’s Weekend (2011). At the time we saw it, it was just another film that we watched together and liked—no significance, no symbolism. It is the story of two young men, Russell and Glen, who are fascinated by the connection they find between each other, and are surprised how their one-night-stand evolved into the perfect weekend. When Glen reveals that he will be leaving for another country the very next day, it only makes their connection stronger, and their time together more precious. Being a timid and socially anxious person, none of my romantic relationships or my friendships had formed this organically. Even my first date with my partner was a disaster. We built what we have now over time, slowly and patiently. I did not believe in ‘weekends’.

And yet, one summer night, we met a guy on Grindr, as we occasionally did. What we thought was just another one night stand was in fact a transformative experience for us both. Intense conversation, a triple connection, the drinks we enjoyed instead of hurrying to bed, and the passionate sex turned that casual one-night-stand into a magical reality for us. We realized that we still had feelings and instincts to discover in ourselves and in each other. Over a week-long, unexpected, unpredictable polyamorous fling, we learned to act as one instead of two—only to find out that he was leaving for another country the very next week. This was our ‘weekend’.

‘Hamam’ (Steam: The Turkish Bath, 1997)

Thinking how LGBTQ+ films of other cultures and languages had played a significant role in some precious, threshold-crossing moments of my life, it was alienating not being able to feel embraced and represented openly in Turkish cinema. There were certainly multiple Turkish LGBTQ+ films or characters, but they were in films addressing more urgent issues—right to live, violence against LGBTQ+ individuals, honor murders, trans murders—rather than the nuanced experience of queer love.

Although I discovered it years after it was released, Italian-Turkish director Ferzan Özpetek’s Hamam (Steam: The Turkish Bath, 1997) was a mind-blowing experience for me. The relationship, and the sexual tension, between Francesco, the Italian heir to a building with a Turkish bath in it, and Mehmet, the young son of the family managing the compound, felt much closer to my story and my cultural, familial identity.

Aşk, Büyü vs. (Love, Spells and All That, 2019)

Today, I am glad to see more and more filmmakers finding the courage to maintain the LGBTQ+ narrative in Turkish cinema, despite the oppressive, intolerant and exclusionary policies. Some are telling the youthful, urban stories I was longing for at the time: In Leyla Yılmaz’s Bilmemek (Not Knowing, 2019), Umut, a high-school athlete from a middle-class family in Istanbul, is bullied by his so-called modern and open-minded teammates after not replying to a query about whether he is gay or not. In Ümit Ünal’s Aşk, Büyü vs. (Love, Spells and All That, 2019), Eren and Reyhan, two adult women reunite in the magical atmosphere of The Princes’ Islands on the Istanbul coast, decades after they were forcefully separated by their parents.

The story of me coming out to myself all started with an urge to escape reality through cinema, and on the way, I found films that gave meaning to my muddled existence. When I saw Levan Akin’s And Then We Danced (2019), I smiled as I noticed the Spirited Away poster in Merab’s room; this minor detail another reminder that I was not alone. Merab, a gay dancer who is part of a very traditional and conservative Georgian dance company, was dealing with similar challenges in his life. He was trying to discover his true identity in a society that does not celebrate being different. He was too, finding an escape in cinema.

Coming out was hard. It still is. A recent Instagram post by the 27-year-old actor Connor Jessup, who came out as gay two years ago, reminded me coming out is not a single moment, but a never-ending process, a ‘becoming’. He writes, “When I first came out, a friend wrote to me and said, ‘Now you can really start coming out.’ Start? I thought. I just did it. But he was right. […] I’m going to keep trying. I’m going to keep looking.”

I keep trying, and looking. Learning about myself, my identity, my relationship. And LGBTQ+ films keep helping and inspiring me, just as they did in my journey to accept myself and become the person I am today. This is the power of cinema; unconsciously, you see your past, actuality and possibilities through the stories filmmakers tell. And I am so grateful to these filmmakers.

Related content

The Ten Greatest Turkish Films of All Time, according to the Turkish Film Critics’ Association

Emre’s Favorite LGBTQ+ Films: a personal top 50

Queer Films in Turkish Cinema—a list by Atakan

The Top 100 Turkish Movies of the 21st Century: Emre’s personal favorites

#letterboxd #pride #pride 2021 #lgbtqia cinema #lgbt film #turkish cinema #turkish film #queer cinema #coming out #jean marc vallée

24 notes · View notes

autisticgaycastiel · 3 years

Text

Pride Month Destiel Fic Recs 🌈✨💖🏳️‍🌈

hi hellers! so since it’s pride month and I’ve spent the last 7 months reading a truly RIDICULOUS amount of fanfic, I thought i’d compile a mini rec list of fics that centre around LGBTQ+ themes - enjoy! feel free to reply with your thoughts on the fics or other recs :)

Mi Casa es tu Casa by MalMuses

(au, word count: 29k, rating: E)

An AU with a two-person love triangle where Castiel works in an office by day and helps his brother to open an LGBT-friendly bar by night, and Dean is struggling with his sexuality while working a dead-end job. Things get interesting when Castiel begins to receive phone calls from a cautious-but-charming mystery man 'Armando', but Cas becomes torn when a sexy new maintenance man starts working in his building...

i’m a sucker for a two-person love triangle and this fic is a great slow burn - i also really enjoyed the exploration of Dean’s sexuality, and the scenes where Dean is called to Cas’ office are very funny!

Sam Winchester, Ally At Law by amidsizedfrog

(canon, word count: 3k, rating: T)

Sam is an overly supportive straight ally and Dean is a homophobic gay person. Coming out was never going to go smoothly.

This is the first fic in an excellent series of canonverse fics about Dean coming out to different family members and i would DEFINITELY recommend reading them all - this particular fic is very light-hearted and hilariously accurate in that Sam, Dean and Cas are all terrible people who have trouble communicating - a quick but worthwhile read!

Go Down With This Ship by PorcupineGirl

(au, word count: 31k, rating: E)

Since he has to stay deep in the closet to protect his job as a children’s librarian in conservative Wichita, Kansas, Dean’s main outlet for sexual frustration is writing and reading slash fiction for his favorite show, Devil Boys. When he starts corresponding with AngelofThursday, another male slash writer in his ship, he really is just looking for friendship… but when it seems like more might be on the table, he’s not going to turn it down. If only he didn’t also have a crush on Cas, the hot volunteer at his library branch…

I told you, I’m a sucker for a two-person love triangle! This is such a unique AU concept and I was apprehensive about it at first but SO pleasantly surprised - although it’s a bit more angsty, the setting is perfect for a very interesting exploration of both Cas and Dean’s sexualities!

oh sooner or later it all comes down to faith by @sobsicles

(post-canon, word count: 62k, rating: E)

Getting used to Heaven is something of a marvel. It ain't perfect, and Dean thinks he'd hate it if it was, which is probably why it isn't.

Or: Dean and Cas work through their shit in Heaven post-15x20 and adjust to eternity together

I couldn’t make this list and not include one of my all-time favourite destiel fics. This fic has LITERALLY everything you could possibly ask for, including excellent writing and characterisation, Dean working through his repression and coming out, a truly hilarious scene when Dean first arrives at Cas’ house, some cracking Sam moments, literally all of their found family, Cas nearly killing John Winchester, and they have a bar!!! *chef’s kiss* a delight!

First Impressions by suckerfordeansfreckles

(au, word count: 7k, rating: T)

When Cas wakes for the first time after his surgery, it takes him a while of uncoordinated blinking and thinking until he realizes where he is, why he’s here. And then the giddiness comes, sudden and overwhelming, when he looks down at his chest and there is none. He's happy, and giddy, and so thankful. And then a nurse wheels in his new roommate, one very obnoxious and flirty Mr. Winchester. Cas just... cannot wait to watch all of this play out.

A really sweet and fluffy fic with trans!Cas, perfect for if you need a bit of cheering up, plus a little cameo by Charlie! Also the first in a series - if you enjoy this one the others are definitely worth checking out.

He Will Be A Friend of Mine by @menschdean

(canon, word count: 900, rating: G)

Supernatural came out in 2005.. Brokeback Mountain came out in 2005 (with its hetbait posters).. Dean loves cowboy movies.. thinking about 26 year-old, mid s1 Dean…. going to the movies...

a ‘missing scene’-style fic that I think about on a fortnightly basis - i did not know it was possible for >1k to absolutely unzip me before i read this fic. Early seasons Dean and Brokeback Mountain are truly an excellent combo

Stories Are Made of Mistakes by wildhoneypie

(canon, word count: 5k, rating: T)

In which Cas is human and doesn't understand basic concepts like: clothing, Mythbusters, moisturizer, and Greek food. Dean is...Dean and doesn't understand basic concepts like: boyfriends, language, how to tell your friend that he's a walking miracle, and when not to quip.

Short but very sweet, with human!Cas and an oblivious Dean coming to terms with his feelings (and freaking out when Cas tells the waitress they’re dating!)

17th Birthday by @the-wednesday-tales

(canon, word count: 1.1k, rating: T)

Inspired by an excerpt from John Winchester's Journals. Dean celebrates his 17th birthday with his first solo case, and comes to a heartbreaking realization.

Ok so this one is more angsty than the others on the list (this fic broke me and I think about it twice a week) but it’s well worth a read because who doesn’t love reading about teenage Dean grappling with his sexuality?

Married for a Week by JessJesstheBest

(au, word count: 11k, rating: T)

“It wasn’t until he was standing at a fake altar in front of a fake priest clasping hands with Castiel Novak that Dean thought he may have made a terrible mistake.” Or, the one where Dean and Cas get fake married. FOR SCIENCE!

A super fluffy fic where the boys are both vets, Cas is asexual and Dean is aromantic - it’s great to see the love and intimacy develop between them during the course of the fic, with plenty of funny moments too!

A Room Of One's Own by NorthernSparrow

(canon, word count: 94k, rating: E)

All Dean wants is a little privacy. Cas doesn't understand.

A smutty and hilarious fic chronicling Dean’s realisation of his attraction to Cas and coming to terms with it - an absolute classic by the BRILLIANT NorthernSparrow.

#fic rec #destiel fic rec #destiel fic #destiel #spn fic #carys' thots

21 notes · View notes

sugar-petals · 3 years

Note

Sorry to interrupt you but can you explain why do you think taeyong's kibbe type is dramatic?

taeyong’s kibbe analysis: a dramatic type profile

first impression is everything with kibbe, so let’s take a look. what instantly strikes you is how you can draw this guy with a ruler: everything stark, everything sharp.

this looks just way too mature for any other kibbe category already. so many pointy, irregular, long, thin angles. to me, except the extreme height, he has all dramatic characteristics and no tinge of yin in him. not a single curved line to be seen. look at that arm and how taut his cheek profile is. the nose can cut like a razor.

to confirm that. taeyong also looks best in D stylings rather than say gamine. it feels too chaotic or childlike on him, the outfit overshadows the person, it looks like a different world:

or classic — too understated on him, too symmetrical, bland, makes him disappear, doesn’t underline his features well:

whereas the same outfit idea looks much sexier and sassier on an actual (flamboyant) gamine who carries it effortlessly:

and an actual (soft) classic, which is a type that shines in the most conservative of clothes:

for taeyong, it needs a head to toe color kind of futuristic concept. suddenly his face is where you look at and the bigger picture works out.

the more geometric and bold with black and white contrasts, the better. keeping it minimal so we see him the most. he really pops out in kick it because it’s a dramatic styling.

when you wear your kibbe category, the outfit no longer overpowers or is more important than you. you see taeyong, not the fashion choice. you can get a good idea of him and the shapes and size bring out all the sex appeal. i find him the most impressive here:

any element that is contrary to his type has the opposite effect. fluffy hair, small accessories, wild color layering, bulky lines, no geometric shapes, youthful wardrobe: suddenly he’s completely gone, almost unrecognizable and even appears a lot older.

put some grandpa glasses, wild and terribly dyed hair, plus a random jacket on a gamine, it plays into their look entirely. what’s a bad outfit on one type is attractive on another, it’s funny.

so, you can see why pure dramatic brings out his very best. that’s a type that can handle a lot of dressing up. it’s also the reason why he can rock the subcategory. taeyong in soft dramatic, he looks dazzling with all the drapes and ornaments and jewelry overload. oh man, look at him.

a little different and the hair doesn’t fit completely but also very interesting and memorable on him, this soft dramatic jacket is the bomb:

natural stylings, sort of decent, can be too large though, especially sportswear jackets. but you can tell there’s some major yang going on by how he can wear a completely monochrome look and not make it boring. it also feels like he has the height to pull it off even if taeyong is not the tallest when you compare him with others. but in and of itself, the vertical line is there.

regardless, it has to be crisp and fitted. dramatic makeup is the best on taeyong. sharp dark brows and smoky eyes, very harsh lighting, shadows all around him. add metallic jewelry... perfect.

the hair is best when it’s all sleek and pulled back. put him in a funky gamine multicolor crop mane and it looks like a wig he got from 2013 sehun 😂

seriously, these stylists. the fluffed up cotton candy colors need to go back to where they belong which is on the sweet gamines. where it looks surprisingly sexy, if not seductive. when baekhyun said girl i’m your candy, he didn’t lie.

gd (flamboyant gamine poster boy) has done all of these colors times ten and manages to look handsome and pretty edgy, even in the weirdest cuts and colors.

same for hyuna (soft gamine), looks pretty cool right here. no other type can do ice cream galaxy hair.

because: it’s in their gamine geometry and they have some yin (= soft, wishy-washy outlines). button nose, squishy cheeks, pouty lips, moon face. completely different story. you can fluff the hair up to maximum effect and it looks really good.

the same idea looks strange and frizzy on taeyong, he doesn’t look like himself anymore.

you can see how it makes his face look even sharper. compare it to yoongi, hair like that only picks up on the roundness that’s already there. with taeyong, it creates a contrast. that’s your sign.

it needs a much more severe and hypermodern outfit. with large square shapes, hard contrasts and only 2-3 dominant colors. that’s how you know taeyong is pretty much pure yang. most other types need some kind of line blend. meanwhile, taeyong shines in the absence of yin. this one has a bit of natural sprinkled in but looks on point because it’s so geometric:

as the finale — easily my favorite outfit here, lots of dramatic elements: only one color (no gradients either), stiff hair and fabric, a huge lapel, asymmetry with the flower emblem and waist ties, strong eyebrows, eye shadow, sharp shoulders, straight sleeves, V-neck. amazing.

so, i rest my case — we have a dramatic on our hands 👆

#taeyong #kibbe #yoongi #hyuna #yeosang #hoseok #nct #super m #cub mail 🐆#ask #anon

66 notes · View notes

idiopath-fic-smile · 4 years

Text

femslash pining teen ExR

i still have openings for writing ficbits in exchange for donations to BLM or other relevant causes! if anyone’s interested, i’m gonna go ahead and share another one of the other requests i got, for grantaire and enjolras as teenage girls, with pining.

Enjolras’s nails are perfect.

Of course they are.

Of course they are, and of course Grantaire’s are stained with markers and scabby with old nail polish and bitten to shit. Grantaire barely even cares at this point, it’s just one more tile in the gigantic fucking fresco of why people like Enjolras and Grantaire are not meant to occupy the same room, let alone work on the same History project.

Enjolras isn’t looking at her nails. Enjolras is eyeing Grantaire’s room, face completely unreadable. Grantaire should’ve suggested that they work anywhere else, including her long-abandoned tree fort in the backyard or the roof or the middle of the freeway. Enjolras’s hair is bright enough that cars would probably be able to see them and swerve in time.

Grantaire snorts. Enjolras thankfully doesn’t glance over. Instead, her eyes fall on the cover of Grantaire’s sketchbook. SUFFERING SAPPHO, it reads, in hand-drawn, stylized letters surrounded by lightning bolts. Enjolras’s (perfect) eyebrows are climbing.

“Do you read Sappho?” she asks. It’s not accusatory, the way it would be in some kids’ mouths. More like she’s shocked to potentially have something in common with Grantaire.

Of course Enjolras spends her free time poring over ancient poetry. Probably inspired by Combeferre, which doesn’t lessen the sting. Grantaire pictures them at lunch, at the nerds’ table, heads bent together, earnestly discussing which translation best captures the spirit of the original dead Greek chick’s words.

Best to just rip the Band-aid off now. “DC comics,” Grantaire corrects.

“What?”

“Wonder Woman,” says Grantaire. “It’s one of her catchphrases.” This feels like giving away way too much, although to Grantaire’s credit, Enjolras doesn’t turn to her and declare, ‘Aha! I have hereby deduced from your little art project that Wonder Woman was your first crush, years before you understood the funny feeling in your stomach when you read about her fearless crusade for truth and justice, long before you ever saw me stand up to the sexist boys at the back of the schoolbus and felt yourself claim your final Pokemon evolution as the world’s most useless lesbian.’

What Enjolras says is, “Huh.”

Small fucking mercies.

“Yeah,” says Grantaire, rocking back on her feet.

“Really?” Enjolras says. “Is it sarcastic, or…?”

Grantaire will stand for a lot of things, but not an attack on Wonder Woman’s character. “No,” she says. “She’s from a paradise island of only women. Originally to be honest I think because the guy who wrote her thought it was hot, but these days she’s bi and everything.” She shrugs, in a way that hopefully signifies it’s not really a big deal.

Enjolras nods slowly, looking thoughtful. Looking almost approving. Grantaire’s stomach does a delicate pirouette, but all Enjolras says is,

“We should start working on our presentation.”

“Right,” says Grantaire.

“I can’t believe the poster is worth half the grade,” Enjolras muses, unzipping her backpack. “My handwriting is awful. How’s your’s?”

“I mean,” Grantaire says, glancing involuntarily back at her sketchbook.

“Wait,” says Enjolras, turning her full gaze on Grantaire. “You drew that?” Forget bullet-proof braceless or a lasso of truth, Enjolras appears to have actual X-Ray vision.

Grantaire swallows. “Uh, yeah,” she manages, forcing herself not to look away.

“Why,” Enjolras says.

Grantaire predictably caves, eyes plummeting to the floor. “Because I like Wonder Woman. Not her 1950’s rah-rah-America phase,” she adds, which means nothing, since Enjolras is clearly not a DC fan. “But the way she is now. She doesn’t take anyone’s shit.”

“A paradise island of only women,” Enjolras repeats, which were just about the last words Grantaire would’ve predicted. She smiles crookedly to herself. “I may have to check that out.”

Grantaire dies. Not literally, but it does kind of feel that way. “Sure,” she gets out. Then, out of an almost violent need for Enjolras to truly give Wonder Woman a chance, “it really depends on who’s writing her, though.”

“Can you recommend where to start?” Enjolras asks. “You can email me. I gave you my email address already, right?”

Grantaire can only nod.

“Great,” says Enjolras, pulling out her history book. She looks back at Grantaire’s sketchbook. “I thought it just came that way,” she says, which is close enough to a compliment that Grantaire can feel her face starting to warm, because apparently she was someone really terrible in a past life.

“Thanks,” Grantaire squeaks. Thankfully, Enjolras has still deployed her X-Ray eyes to the sketchbook cover.

“You’re drawing the poster,” Enjolras declares. “I mean, we can decide what it says together, obviously, but I think we’re gonna need your hands on this.”

My hands will do anything you want them to, Grantaire wisely doesn’t say, although she does very clearly think it, which is only half-credit.

“Sure,” says Grantaire.

“Now we just need to pick a topic,” says Enjolras. “I may have a few ideas,” she says, and she doesn’t need to add ‘that will make our white conservative teacher absolutely shit himself’ in order for the sentiment to be absolutely one hundred percent fucking clear. She smiles that crooked little smile again, eyes sparkling with rebellion and determination and a boundless love of justice.

Suffering Sappho indeed.

115 notes · View notes

bananapie99 · 4 years

Text

Back in Time

Bucky Barnes x Reader (other Avenger appearances)

*****************************************************************************************************

You had been planning Bucky’s birthday party for the past six months. That might sound excessive, but there was a lot that needed to go into the planning. You wanted this one to be his best birthday yet. Finally, the horrors of his past were mostly subsided, and you thought a celebration all for him with his closest friends might do some good.

The biggest problem with planning his party for six months…keeping it a secret from him. Bucky and you were attached at the hip whenever he was not off on a mission to save the world. Peeling yourself away from your boyfriend to make arrangements hurt your heart, so you tried your best to get most of the planning and organizing done while he was already gone. The only downside to that was how much you needed Steve’s help, and normally if Bucky was gone, so was he. Even so, Steve did his best to help while he was around, sometimes even keeping himself home from missions. Bucky was his best friend after all, and he knew this party had to be perfect. As soon as you had approached Steve with the idea, he knew it was going to be great.

Planning a party was time consuming enough, but adding a theme made it that much harder. While the party was for Bucky, you knew Steve was excited too. After all, they both missed their opportunity to enjoy most of what the 1940s had to offer (not to mention every decade after). While there were plenty of missed decades you could expose Bucky to, you really just wanted to bring him back to the familiar, his life before the war spiraled his life out of control.

As much as you could research what life was like right before Bucky and Steve joined the war, having the first-hand tales from Steve was immensely helpful. You even got some information out of Bucky. You had to be careful to not be too obvious when questioning Bucky, searching for natural ways to slip it into the conversation. Bucky enjoyed talking about his life pre-war.

This party needed to be as authentic as possible, down to the outfits. Every one of Bucky’s friends in the Avengers agreed to dress the part. A major part of the party planning task for you was sewing your own outfit. You decided to sew an outfit for Bucky as well, which he could change into after being surprised with the party. When you brought the outfit idea up to Steve his eyes lit up with so much excitement for Bucky, you decided you would sew him an outfit as well. These outfits for the boys would be exact (or as close as you could get) replicas of their uniforms. Sure, the war ruined their lives in certain ways, but both men were still proud to have worn that uniform and defended their country. Steve’s reassurance made you more confident it was a good idea. For women, 1940’s fashion had too many options, but also not enough. Every time you would research the fashion trends, the information would be slightly different. The boys also left so early into the 40’s that you could make an argument to follow more 1930’s fashion even. You decided to stick with the 40’s, but also not worry too much about if the trend was from 1941 or 1948. If you were off by a couple years within the decade, you were just helping Bucky experience a taste of his time that he had missed. Steve consulted on your dress as well. You couldn’t decide on a style. Did you want a swing dress? A classic shirred dress? A more pinup style to tease Bucky a little bit? Together, Steve and you decided to aim for a classic, elegant look, much like what a young, new bride would have worn at the time.

On top of planning the outfits, just for fun Steve tutored you in the slang of the 1940’s. Some of it you already knew just from being around the two men, but there were plenty of other terms you were giggling about as you learned.

“Alright you eager beaver,” Steve said, “you’ll be talking like an old dame in no time.”

You rolled your eyes at his joke, but your ears were open, ready to retain as much as possible. Turns out you’re pretty good at using the lingo, but it feels a little weird coming out of your mouth. Steve was practically rolling on the floor any time you put a sentence together.

“Sweetheart you’re solid. He’s already in love with you but by the end of this party, he will be tied to your apron string.”

Steve hadn’t taught you that phrase, but you could guess the meaning.

Finally, the day of the party arrives. Bucky left your room early to get in a training session, after you showered him with hugs and kisses, wishing him a happy birthday. Once Bucky leaves, Steve comes to your room and you hand him two garment bags, one labeled Steve and the other labeled Bucky. Steve unzips his bag a little to look at the outfit and his face lights up.

“This is snazzy, sweetheart, Bucky is going to love this. These are on the beam.”

“I know what that means!” You exclaimed through your giggles.

Steve laughed, shaking his head.

“So, I’ll keep the geezer distracted all day and have him back here at exactly 6:30 tonight.” “That’s perfect Steve, thank you.”

You kissed his cheek then he turned to leave. Soon it would be time to transform pieces of the compound back in time.

You twiddled your thumbs in your room, waiting for Bucky to come shower from his training session and leave with Steve. As much as you wanted to spend the whole day with your boyfriend, you knew seeing everything put together for tonight will make it worth it.

As soon as the two men left, you were what Steve would say, “cooking with gas.” You were running around the compound like a crazy person. Luckily some of Bucky’s teammates volunteered their assistance to party decorating. Nat and Tony left to handle picking up balloons. You got to work stringing up some lights around the bar and living room. Your favorite decoration addition you found was the patriotic bunting. Tony suggested you hang up an Uncle Sam recruitment poster, but you felt that might be taking it a step too far. You didn’t want Bucky to feel like he was being sent back into battle.

By 4:00 the decorations were set, and everything else was almost ready. Bucky’s teammates insisted you go relax and get yourself ready.

“You’ve been working so hard on this,” Nat said. “You deserve to enjoy this party as much as Bucky. We can handle the rest of the minor details, go start on your transformation.”

With a hug you left for your room. To get in the 1940’s spirit, you put one of Bucky’s favorite vinyl records, an album by Glenn Miller, on the turn table. Sitting in front of your vanity, you began on your makeup. Luckily in this department the decade was fairly simple. You decided for the sake of the celebration to do it up a little more, but not much. You went for the neutral shades, adding a little black and gold to make it a bit more of an evening look. You swiped on your mascara, followed by the dusting on of some blush. You decided to wait to put on your lipstick until you were getting ready to head down to the party. Next came your outfit. You pulled your garment bag out from the back of your closet. You’ve wanted to show Bucky this dress many times but kept reminding yourself the surprise would be worth the wait. Laying the bag on your bed, you unzip the front and reveal the navy-blue fabric. Seeing the dress in front of you makes you grin, eager for Bucky to see you. The only person to see your outfit put together so far is Steve.

His response had been along the lines of “sweetheart, you look dynamite.”

Now to hope Bucky will feel the same. First you grabbed your stockings, nude with a black seam going straight up the backs of your legs. Next, the dress. It was a beautiful dress. You were proud of the sewing. Hopefully you’ll be able to wear this dress more often, it would be a waste to only see tonight. Pulling the dress on and getting it situated, you look in the mirror. The A line skirt ended right at your knee; the waist cinched in with the matching navy belt, sleeves resting just above your elbow. The neckline of the dress had been what you struggled with the most, too many options. Looking at it now, you know you made the right choice. You decided on a round neck, a slightly larger dip, to show off a little bit of your collar bones. Learning that had been a fashion trend of the pretty conservative decade made Bucky’s love of your collar bones make a little more sense. Your shoes would go on right before your lipstick. It was time to take out those pin curls. You had hurried to set your hair in them as soon as Bucky and Steve left the compound. After six hours you hoped they had enough time to set. Carefully pulling out the pins you watched the curls settle. You breathed a sigh of relief when they seemed to turn out perfectly. The soft curls fell delicately around your face and down your shoulders. Looking at the clock you realize it is 6:10. Steve would be back with Bucky soon. Giddy and a little nervous, you grab your navy peep toe heels and slide them on. For your final touch, you pick up your victory red lipstick and swipe it across your lips.

Standing with Bucky’s friends you take a moment to admire the room. It looks absolutely beautiful. Not that you have any experience with living in the 40’s, but it at least looks like it could be a scene from a movie about the decade. All of his friends look fantastic, in outfits reminiscent of the decade. Big band music played softly in the background, warming your heart. 6:28. Your heart is about to beat out of your chest. You don’t have too long to worry, as you hear keys jingling in the door. You hear muffled voices, then the door opens.

“Surprise!” you and all of Bucky’s friends shout.

Bucky looks absolutely shocked, eyes scanning the whole scene before landing on you. Speechless. He opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. You walk towards him, placing a hand on his chest and stretching up to kiss his cheek.

“Happy birthday, James.”

He stares at you, mouth slightly open. You giggle and blush under such an intense scan. Finally, he finds his words.

“Baby doll, you look…” His eyes kept wandering your form. “…you’re a bombshell.”

Your blush deepened at his words. Now it was your turn to find your voice again.

“Before you get too settled, there’s one more part to the surprise. Go on up with Steve for a minute but try to come back in a jiffy.”

You could see the smile in his eyes.

Only a few minutes later, Bucky and Steve are walking down the stairs freshly dressed in their outfits you sewed. You gasp, taken aback by the beauty of this man in front of you. Sure, you’d seen some photographs of Bucky pre-war and some even during, but he’d never looked more handsome than right now. Bucky’s eyes immediately find you and makes a beeline your way. His metal hand finds its way to the small of your back, sending a tingle straight up your spine. The love in his eyes is impossible to miss as he stares into your own.

“Doll, this is…killer diller.”

You can’t help but giggle as you watch the man you love travel back in time, his dialect shifting and Brooklyn accent becoming more pronounced.

“You’re not looking too bad yourself, dreamboat.” Bucky’s grin grows as you try to assimilate yourself into his past. His ears perk up when the song changes to “In the Mood” by Glenn Miller. The up-tempo swing always makes him even happier.

“Come cut a rug with me doll,” he asks you.

How can you say no to him on his birthday? Even if dancing really isn’t your thing.

“Bucky, you know I’m a dead hooper.”

“Don’t worry about it sweetheart, I’ll lead you.”

Caving in, you take his outstretched hand and follow him to the center of the floor where some people are swaying. Once you got going, you had to admit you were having fun dancing with Bucky to this song. The music faded to the next song, another Glenn Miller classic, “Tuxedo Junction.” This one was one of your favorites. The song wasn’t too slow, but Bucky didn’t care. He took the opportunity to pull you impossibly close to his chest, wrapping his right arm around your waist and taking your right hand in his left. In his arms is where you felt safest.

“You really do look absolutely stunning, (Y/N),” Bucky whispered into your ear.

Smiling, you rested your head against his chest and focused on his heartbeat.

“I hope this party is okay,” you say to him.

Still swaying together, Bucky takes his hand from yours to put his fingers under your chin, pushing your head up to meet his gaze.

“Doll, it is absolutely perfect. Thank you.”

He brushes his lips against yours and smiles. His hand doesn’t go back to yours, instead finding your slightly exposed collar bone. His fingers dance softly across the spot a few times and you melt into his touch. This time his lips meet your neck, right behind your ear.

When his lips separate from you he says “I wouldn’t protest seeing you in this dress more often.”

No matter how many compliments or flirtatious sayings fall from his lips, each one sends butterflies to your stomach as if it were the first time hearing them. His words are always sweet as honey.

As the song hits its last note, Bucky takes you by the hand and spins you away from him before pulling you back in, hands finding your waist. He cranes his head down, kissing you with all the love he has for you, stealing the breath out of your lungs.

“Best birthday ever, baby doll.”

*****************************************************************************************************

Requests are open!

Taglist: @belladonnabarnes

#bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes imagine #bucky imagine #bucky fluff #bucky x you #bucky x reader #bucky barnes x you

114 notes · View notes

andy-the-8th · 3 years

Text

Day Of and Day After - Sam (Part 5)

Part 5 of Creatures That Defy Logic

Read on AO3

That feel when you're 14 and your boyfriend turns out to be a merman, but you've still got things to get done this summer.

Sam's perspective at the end of the movie.

A/N: Sam was perhaps the least-developed character in the whole movie, so writing from her perspective was kind of a fun blank slate. I've given her a last name, individual background interests and information, and invented (mostly - Jennifer is Sam's friend who had like 2 lines) a whole supporting group of original characters for the chapters from her perspective - maybe they'll also be connected to other stories?

Sam got home about an hour after leaving the marina and Cody's parents behind. Hot from the long walk and summer air, she went immediately to the kitchen and downed two glasses of water, letting the coolness spread throughout her body as she sat and calmed down at the kitchen table.

It had been a good plan to walk back. Sam was as much an athlete as Cody or Sean or any of the boys they hung out with - her mind and muscles were connected, and one always worked better when the other was engaged.

With the open air and time to walk with purpose, she had managed to calm her emotions about losing Cody. She hung on to the mermaid's silent promise to have him back before school started, somehow communicated to Cody's mom via telepathy. God, telepathy. Another ontological thing to adjust to. Would Cody have telepathy when he returned?

She'd managed to stop crying about halfway through her walk. She knew it would come again that night, and probably the next several nights. She could hear her friend Jennifer laughing at how silly she would look crying over a boy going away for the summer, even a boy as socially desirable as Cody Griffin. Sam and Jen connected on a lot, but in the boys department she sometimes wished Jen could be a little less shallow. As far as Jen was concerned, a boyfriend only needed to be cute and popular - emotional depth, socializing, deepest-darkest secret keeping was for girl friends. Sam agreed on all the latter, but had always thought romance could be about something more.

She hadn't been attracted to Cody for his popularity. If anything, she was drawn to his drive, his energy when he would compete, the charisma he had among his teammates and with his friends. The way being one of the popular guys hadn't turned him into a cocky prick like Sean and some of the other boys on the team.

Sam felt like they were meant for each other, even if they'd only been going out since spring break. She thought Cody felt the same - Cody was like an open book, which was something she'd always loved about him. He was terrible at lying, and you could always see every emotion on his face. She had never doubted his feelings for her.

Which was part of why she was still not over him not telling her about this sooner.

Sam's older sister Jackie had come home from college last summer, talking about all the drama of dating in college with her high school friends once they were all back in town. The new thing she kept talking about was love languages - the way people show each other they care. Sam honestly thought most of her sister's talk was needlessly dramatic, and hoped that the boys she knew would grow up to be a bit less vapid and out of touch than all the boys Jackie seemed to encounter. Regardless, Sam took the little checkmarked quiz in the back of Jackie's magazine, and which said her love language was trust - being able to tell each other anything.

When she'd told Cody on the beach that she wanted him to be able to tell her anything, she could even hear Jackie's or her mom's voices in her head, saying that she was being a bit demanding for a three-month relationship in 8th grade. She didn't care. She knew she loved him, and to Sam that meant complete honestly.

So having to find out after Cody sprouted fins, apparently blew up the scoreboard (?), and ran away from the meet was justifiably infuriating. To be fair, she didn't really expect this to be what Cody was keeping from her. Part of her was relieved that it wasn't him seeing some other girl. She didn't think he would do that, but this was junior high after all. She only now slightly regretted storming out that day - she may have been sad to lose Cody, but he had hurt her too with his lack of trust and uneven expectations.

The fact that she had to learn about the details from that Josh kid only exacerbated the issue. Apparently they were close friends or something now? Then again, he looked at Cody like a science project - like he was something to study. Still, she could tell that he was important to Cody, and had clearly helped him out when the problems had started - even if she would rather have been the one to do it, the kid's science background probably helped a lot more. Even if Josh insisted they weren't problems, they were steps of Cody's metamorphosis, it sure still turned into a lot of problems for everyone else involved.

Josh's - no, Jess's - weird-ass comment about her "kissing" him after performing mouth-to-mouth was probably the part of the day she least wanted to remember. Like, sorry for trying to save your life. Thank God for junior lifeguard training and boyfriends who can apparently shoot lightning out of their hands.

Still, as she was thinking about school the next day, Sam realized it was going to be weird to not be able to talk about where Cody was with anyone. She was his girlfriend, after all - "the most popular girl in school" as Jen naggingly kept reminding her - and had always been an extrovert, wanting to talk things over with people she cared about to make them all make sense. Jess was now in the weird position of being her only peer she could be fully truthful with about what was going on her life.

That would make for an interesting summer.

God, and Sean would no doubt have a million questions after whatever he might have seen at the swim meet. It was bad enough that he still attempted to flirt with her whenever possible - him getting into a fight with Cody that had to be broken up by Josh Jess of all people surely was going to make him all the more insufferable.

Getting up from her chair, Sam tied her hair back and got up for another glass of water. She was reminded of Cody's weird sudden thirstiness at all times over the last several weeks, and how that finally made sense, and (thankfully, maybe) wasn't diabetes, as she'd repeatedly warned him. He'd insisted it wasn't, with the excuse that his mom wouldn't want him to go to regular doctors to get tested anyway. That part at least was true, even if only half of the story. Diabetes would have been a bit more normal, but imagining Mrs. Griffin dealing with insulin shots was almost scarier than her dealing with merpeople.

Merpeople of all things. She didn't doubt Cody's promise to her this time, but still: there'd better not be any mer-girls to hear about come the end of the summer.

Putting her glass in the sink, she stretched back and decided to put all the drama of middle school girls and boys - human and otherwise - behind her for the rest of the afternoon. She slid open the glass door next to kitchen table and stepped out onto the small porch in the backyard, lined with shelves of potted plants all sorts of colors and shapes. Sam had always loved her plants - succulents, aloe, bromeliads, spider plants, dracaena trees - things tied to the earth. Her room and the back porch had become her container gardens, where she'd retreat to care for them and decompress. She gathered up her watering cans - large spouts for rainlike streams, small bottles to directly water the soil - and the various pump bottles of plant food for each variety. As it was the beginning of June, it would be time to refresh the fertilizer in all of the soil. She filled the watering cans at the sink and moved smoothly and slowly from plant to plant, dabbing drops of liquid plant food to the soil, carefully parting leaves and stems, watering just the right amount for each species. The work was perfect, slow and relaxing - Sam focused on the diverse needs of each individual plant as well as appreciating its beauty and growth progress.

Sam was actually quite a good biology student herself, though she had always been more inclined to studying plants, both aesthetically and via agriculture, than anything to do with the oceans. Land management and endangered species conservation were at the top of her extracurricular interests - she had been president of the middle school environmental club the last two years, organizing recycling drives, local beach cleanups, and nature walk days for the elementary school.

This summer she had managed to get a part time job at one of the local greenhouses, which served both the florist shop and a few of the garden centers around town. Her job would start two weeks from the end of school. The prospect of spending the summer caring for things of the earth was far more comforting and appealing than tomorrow and dealing with people again.

Sam mentally noted the irony of her caring so much for things of the land, with her boyfriend turning out to be a literal sea creature.

She finished all of the care and cleaning for the plants on the back porch, then carefully went upstairs with the smallest of the watering cans and repeated the process with the small collection of indoor plants in her room.

After finishing up, she laid back on her bed, staring at the musician posters on her ceiling - Backstreet Boys, TLC, and Destiny's Child - trying to let her mind zone out. She reached into the bottom drawer of the dresser next to her bed for her CDs, finding what she had been looking for: TLC's FanMail, new just last winter. She popped the CD into her small player and put her headphones on, closed her eyes, and focused on following the rhythms of the drums and harmonies in the voices. The music worked - she found herself drifting off to sleep, exhausted physically and mentally from the rest of the afternoon.

It was almost dark outside when she woke to her mom coming in the front door downstairs. Sam quickly got up, taking a few seconds to reorient herself in space and time. Quickly trying to pull herself out of the weird fog of falling asleep midday, she made her way downstairs.

"Oh hey! Were you asleep?" Her mom rarely missed anything. Like Sam, she had long red hair, pulled back into a bun over her black dress shirt and blue blazer. Her mom was a lawyer, one of the only ones in their town who worked in environmental protection policy. Most of her days were spent with documents and plans from the various touristy planners, boat charters, and other industrialists looking to exploit the town's oceanside location, circumventing whatever environmental protection laws as they could. Ms. Lindsey Brathwaite was the main champion of the environment standing in their way.

Sam consciously widened her eyes and slightly shook her head to wake herself up. "Only a bit. Had a busy day earlier, lots going on with tomorrow the last day of school."

"Oooh, any plans for tomorrow night? Two weeks still til you start work, anything going on in the meantime with ze boyfriend?" Her mom always had a good sense of humor when discussing Sam's social life, even if it got a little annoying sometimes with not taking things quite as seriously as her daughter would like. If only she knew this one.

"Actually I was just going to maybe hang out with Jen and the girls tomorrow. Cody's, uh, Cody's going to be going away for the summer."

"Oh really? Family vacation? I would have thought they'd stay around, tourist season and all." Lindsey never missed a thing.

"Uh, no, he's going away by himself. Swim training thing, out in Australia." At that Lindsey turned right around from where she was busy taking plates out of the cabinets. "Australia? Really?"

Sam did her best to nod nonchalantly. "I think he has something going on there for like, potential Olympic training maybe? And Mrs. Griffin's sister lives there too." Sam turned away, slightly bit her lip, worrying she might be laying it on too thick. Best to avoid too many details with the story, in case she or Jess or anyone else couldn't remember them all if they had to. That said, a training camp for the Olympics wouldn't be too out of the ordinary to be in Australia - the next actual games were in Sydney next year anyway, and as she said, Mrs. Griffin had a sister who lived somewhere on the north eastern coast.

Lindsey was still no less surprised but at least seemed to buy the story, frowning at her daughter slightly. "Aw, I'm sorry to hear that, I'd imagine you'll miss him, especially with such little notice!"

"You have no idea." Sam's tone accurately indicated to her mom that she was annoyed but also wanted to drop the subject for right now.

"Well we can get on making dinner right now, then if you want to call Jen later tonight you can set up your plans and talk things over? I won't be needing the computer tonight so the phone'll be all yours." Sam really loved her mom, especially how she knew when to give her space to work things out socially. "Jackie will be coming back next week too!"

The thought of her sister showing up again for the summer made Sam even more glad to be out of the house at her greenhouse job. Jackie was alright, but ever since Sam had grown up enough to be dating, her sister was only too interested in being helpful - and prying - in that department. There were only so many details Sam would be able to give about the boyfriend she'd already told Jackie about.

"OK, thanks Mom! I'll call Jen after dinner." Sam walked over to the salad bowl Lindsey had already put out on the table, and began carefully mixing in croutons and putting the dressings out from inside the fridge. After the day she just had, something as simple as making dinner was an appealingly normal event.

#the thirteenth year #dcom #disney channel original movies #mermen #mermaid #TLC #backstreet boys #destiny's child

1 note · View note