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residenthughes · 3 months

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opera house - jack hughes

pairing: jack hughes x afab reader

word count: 2.5k

tags/warnings: +18 nsfw, so minors dni, oral sex (m on f), dirty talk (if you can call it that?), no mention of y/n, pet names (baby, princess)

summary: reading is your favourite pastime. jack makes it harder than anticipated.

notes: so...🫣 this happened. it's a small little thing that started out with me just wanting to write about how pretty jack is only to turn into the respectful pile of filth. don't write smut much so apologies if this isn't to your liking, but hopefully i'll be back with something better. also, the sentence in italics is a quote from the book mentioned in the fic. much love! <3

As the cold November climate nips at your flesh and colours the sky in hues of grey, you nestle in the cosiness of your home, warm and sheltered with your treasured fuzzy socks on as you curl up on your bed with one of the books you’ve been meaning to read. Jack says it’s a bad habit of yours: buying books that collect dust on your shelf, to which you quickly argue that he’s the one enabling your ‘bad habit’ by constantly buying them for you - your Goodreads profile bookmarked in his phone for safe keeping. An endearing act of service, all of which he is no stranger to - gifting said books in the form of a bouquet every time he leaves for a long road trip, taking out the trash because he knows it’s your least favourite chore, curling up with you now, sweetly bundled in between your legs as you two find peace in the silence you share. It’s like a warm hot chocolate on a chilly day like today, your connection smooth and comforting, wrapping you in the warmth of its embrace.

You peer beyond the top of your book, catching an eyeful of the back of Jack’s head and his loose curls, the soft clicks of his gamer control sounding as his eyes focus on the TV screen a few metres ahead. Your sugary thoughts of how endearing your long-term boyfriend can be - always is - overflow like lava, the smile on your face terribly enamoured as your fingers card through his hair, curling the soft locks around your index finger.

Like clockwork, Jack leans into your touch, slouching further into his position in between your thighs, laying a chilly cheek against the flesh of your thighs.

You squirm against the brush of his eyelashes against your skin. “That tickles.”

“Uh huh,” he absently answers, tapping away at his gamer control. “Does this?”

A delicate kiss marks you, Jack’s head going back to laying against your thigh as he directs his attention to the game set out against the TV.

“No,” you blush. “But, that was nice.”

A huff of amusement sounds from Jack and instantly, you know what position you've put yourself in by saying that. “Bet it was. Aren’t you busy with that book of yours?”

You bite back, the muscles of your thighs tightening their grip around your boyfriend. “Sometimes a distraction is necessary.”

The clicks of his gamer control halt and silence envelopes the room, your eyebrow raised as his on-screen character dies as a result of his negligence.

Jack clears his throat, his body shuffling against yours as he readjusts his position, restarting the game. “Maybe you’re right about that, baby.”

A pout remains settled against your lips as your eyes squint at your partner, your suspicion towards his action not enough to distract you from the habitual motion of your fingers as they thread through Jack’s hair. You raise your opened book back to eye-level, not batting an eyelash.

It’s when you’ve gotten perhaps three sentences into your book that Jack breaks the silence. “What’s the story about?”

“The book I’m currently reading?” Jack hums in reply. “Oh, it’s a spinoff of a series I’ve been meaning to read. It’s basically a college romance story about a girl aspiring to be on the national ice hockey team and her getting help from this guy she met years ago, called Ryder. Unexpectedly smutty, 10/10 would recommend.”

Jack laughs with you at your nasty comment, body vibrating against yours as his chuckle courses through him. You lower your book again.

“You and your smutty books,” Jack snickers to himself, eyes trained ahead of him. There’s a pause before he speaks again. “In what ways is it unexpectedly smutty?”

Despite how long you’ve been with Jack and the comfort you've established living alongside him, the question does make you a bit flustered, crimsoning as you look away, avoiding any view of him. “Well, it’s pretty raunchy up front. Like how they’ve done some naughty things in the shower - quite tame, but I’ve also just read that Ryder did some things when they went to go see the opera.”

“What things?” Jack asks, point blank.

Now, it’s time for you to clear your throat. Cheeks tinted. “Do I even have to say, Jack?”

The pause screen displays itself against the TV, the clicks of his controller no more as Jack shifts once again within your grasp, body turning as he lays his stomach against the comfort of the mattress, pools of azure staring into yours. Your heart thuds in your chest.

“Yes, I wanna hear what things you’re reading,” he says easily as if he isn’t inciting violence in your chest right now, the corner of his pink lips curved softly as he tilts his head against your thigh. “All of it.”

Suddenly, the temperature in the room escalates from toasty warm to scorching hot, a familiar flame in the pits of your stomach igniting as you’ve somehow found yourself in such a predicament - backed into a corner and at a loss for words.

“He,” you stammer, averting your eyes because all Jack’s eyes do is look at you, his burning gaze elevating the heat that dances against the surface of your cheeks. “He fingers her in the opera.”

You whisper that last part but Jack hears you judging by the faint chuckle coming from him. “He fingers who at the opera?”

He accents his point with a kiss against your thigh, this time the gesture conjuring a polar opposite sensation as goosebumps riddle your skin. You let out a shaky breath you hadn’t known you were holding, looking again at your partner to still find him looking right back at you, eyelids heavy and eyes dark. You have to look away.

You gulp. “Gigi - her name is Gigi.”

You finally muster some sort of courage you’ve had to find within your situation when you hear Jack shift again, eyes capturing your boyfriend’s arms coming up to circle around your thighs, eyes never leaving yours as his hands find purchase against your skin, thumbs absently caressing the surface much like you did earlier with his hair.

“Is that short for something?” Jack accents his question with another kiss, his touch searing.

“No,” you gulp, voice foolishly unsteady as your eyes study Jack’s movements with caution. “I mean, Ryder jokes that her name is Gisele, but that’s-”

“Guys like to tease,” he kisses a little higher against your thigh as if to prove his point. “Especially with girls they like.”

“I don’t think that’s appreciated, Jack.”

You’re talking about a completely different thing now - a conversation within a conversation.

“I don’t know about that, baby,” whilst still staring at you, his teeth manage to nip at a small sliver of your skin, numbness plaguing your limbs. “Read it to me.”

Your brows knit together, puzzled as ever. “What?”

“You heard me,” declares Jack, his kisses abundantly littering the expanse of your thigh as your mind begins to spiral. “Read it to me.”

Your mind is frazzled, brain working overtime to comprehend the sudden turn of events, all the while Jack takes it upon himself to sit pretty in between your legs and touch you as if made from porcelain - delicate and tender, a sharp contrast to the emotions bathing you in lust. Jack glances up at you one more time, button nose nuzzling against your inner thigh as he gives you a knowing look, his lips preoccupied. You obey wordlessly, uneasy eyes still on him as you bring your book back upwards, its previous position altered so you can manage to steal a look at Jack out of your peripheral.

Out loud, you begin to read to him the aftermath of the opera scene, a more tame development following as you manage to get through the next page unscathed. Jack’s kisses at first, are a bit distracting and have your voice betray you, but they’re sporadic and by the time you’ve turned the page, you’re already used to the sensation. You even achieve some comfort in his touch, but that doesn’t last long because when you’re in the midst of your storytelling, you feel Jack’s fingers hook around your shorts’ waistband.

Immediately, you lower your book, a chill running down your spine. “What are you doing?”

He bats his long eyelashes, almost mockingly. “Listening to you.”

“Jack.” For once, your tone is firm, watching aimlessly as he inches the material past your hip bones.

“Lift your hips a little or I won’t be able to get these off you,” he insists, a convincing smile settled amongst his charming features that express his pleasure in this all. “Unless you wanna keep them on?”

It’s a rhetorical question, a trap set up to see if you’ll bite and despite it all, the excitement of what’s to come leads you right where Jack wants you. Lifting your hips with an embarrassing ache in between your legs as you lie in anticipation, continuing on with your reading as Jack goes back to teasing you endlessly.

“Gettin’ pretty worked up over this story, huh?” echoes Jack. “I can tell.”

To demonstrate the meaning of his words, he blows a cool breeze against you that makes you mewl and draw your thighs closer at the sensation. Heart thudding against your chest, your bewildered gaze gravitates back to Jack who kisses you through the fabric of your underwear and has you fumbling for words.

“I didn’t say you could stop reading,” Jack removes his lips, peering up at you with a look that melts you into a pathetic pool of yourself. “You stop, I stop. Sound fair?”

That sounds anything but fair, but who are you to say so? He clearly holds all the power in this situation, you dancing right in the palm of his hand. This has escalated beyond a point of no return and you’re not backing out now so you oblige, opening your mouth to read but uttering out nothing more than a moan as Jack pulls your underwear to the side, his fingers gliding through your wet folds.

“So satisfying to tease you when your reactions are this good,” he rasps, followed by a low chuckle as his calloused fingertip circles around your clit, eliciting the buck of your hips and the waiver in your voice. “Anyways, you were saying?”

You’re grasping for straws here, trying to tie yourself down to the little sanity (and patience) you have as your frantic eyes try and find where you last left off, straying away every couple of words as Jack does nothing more than use his fingers to distract you.

“Words, baby. Use your words,” he instructs, and it’s the sexist thing you’ve ever heard in your entire life. “We follow...”

“We follow..the people,” you falter, voice wobbly. “We follow the people in…”

Somewhere in that sentence, a hefty exhale blows past your mouth as Jack moves two fingers into you, the curl of them accentuating the end of your sentence with a moan.

“Always sound so pretty with my fingers in you,” muses Jack, tone low and memorised as he works said fingers in and out of you, your slick building all around his fingers. “Can’t get enough of it.”

You do a subpar job of reading the next few lines as Jack’s fingers pick up the pace, moving deeper in you to milk every reaction you give him mixed in with your slurred words. Your attempt at remaining coherent diminishes completely when Jack’s lips find their way to your swollen clit, a light press of the lips against the hood of your clit before he’s sucking on the bud.

Your words come out in stutters, voice trembling pathetically as he wraps you around his fingers, making a mess of you in the form of kitten licks against your clit and nibble fingers coaxing your building orgasm out of you. His motions stop every time you get lost in the feeling of him sucking your clit, fingers tangled in his locks of hair. And with a whine, you compel with his previous instructions, reading along with the world’s prettiest distraction in between your legs.

Somehow, you make it to the next page without much delay, Jack’s mouth trained on you as he laps up every bit of you, tongue drawing all kinds of figures against or around your clit. You’re clenching around his fingers more than you can forgive yourself for, body running hot as the sounds of your slick echo throughout the room, the pit in your stomach only growing.

“Just like that, princess,” he hums against your clit, the sensation drawing a tight-lipped whimper from you as your hips follow the vibration. “How many more pages until the chapter’s finished? I don’t think you’re gonna last long.”

And, it’s all true. Body twitching, toes curling and cunt spasming around his fingers that curl in you. Your brain can barely keep up at this point. “So many.”

Jack tsks, his thumb replacing his lips against your clit as he moves it in slow circles. “You think you can hold on till then?”

You answer truthfully, however embarrassing it may be. “No.”

He laughs briefly when he hits that spongy part inside of you, your back bowing off the stacked pillows behind you as Jack continues to hit the exact spot that has you seeing stars.

“How ‘bout a compromise?” Jack starts, your hips lifting to meet the insistent thrust of his fingers. “You tell me how badly you wanna come, and you get to ditch the book whilst I make you come. Sounds good?”

An awfully generous offer considering how your brain has turned to mush and can barely keep up with any of the inked words on the page right now. So, you agree. Enthusiastically.

“Please,” you mewl with a puckered forehead, gazing down at your beautiful boyfriend with his tousled hair and glossy lips. A sight for sore eyes. “Please, J. I wanna come.”

“How bad?” He doesn’t miss a beat, eyes challenge yours.

“So bad,” you keen when his other hand lays over your stomach, applying pressure to the spongy spot that teethers you on the very edge. “Fuck, it’s only you. Only you can…make me feel good. Please, J.”

The begging works. It always works and with that, you drop your book, long discarded amidst the mess of the sheets as your fingers tangle in Jack’s hair as he sucks roughly on your clit again. Rocking up against his mouth, the angle of his fingers renders you completely at his mercy, uttering stuttery breaths as he brings you over the edge, applying pressure in all the right places because he knows your body better than you do, gushing slick flowing from you as you ride out your high, brain reduced to syrup.

He doesn’t even wait before you’ve caught your breath that he sends you a flirtatious wink in between your quivering thighs. “So, opera date next week?”

#jh86 #jack hughes x reader #jack hughes fic #jack hughes one shot #jack hughes smut #jack hughes imagine #smut #nhl smut #nhl imagine #nhl fanfiction #jack hughes #residenthughes

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elixirfromthestars · 1 year

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My Dearest

Pairing: Duke!Bucky Barnes x Lady!Reader (Regency Era AU — Bridgerton Inspired )

Summary: On the night of Lady Maximoff’s ball you find yourself in the gardens, troubled by your emotions. As if by fate, the rain pours down reuniting you with the one who is the very object of your troubles.

Word Count: 3k

Warning(s): heartbreak / angst / longing / implications of cheating / rejection / creative liberties for this era (yes I did do research, but bear with me if there are any inaccuracies in this piece of fiction 🤍) / PDA -> stays at a TV-14 level / a surprise cameo / female reader

a/n: This little piece has been in the works since I got into the Bridgerton series. Binge-watching the spinoff Queen Charlotte this weekend gave me the motivation to finish this piece. Thank you for reading! 🤍 Likes, comments, and reblogs are appreciated!! ❤️

for ambiance 🌧️

Your fingertips poked at the surface of the water in the fountain. Unstemmed red carnations danced along the water to the rhythm of the ripples. The faint music of the ballroom was ever so slightly drowned out by the stream pouring from the fountain at the center of the garden. You were sitting on the edge of it, hoping to ease your nerves with some fresh air. You wished you had brought a coin with you to throw in the fountain and wish your worries away.

Wishes, however, were for children and the fairytales they believed in. You were no longer a child nor were you in a fairytale—much to your dismay. Your father made sure you knew of this, reminding you of your duties at every possibility. As the only child of the one and only Earl L/n, you were expected to marry into a higher status. Your mother, on the other hand, wished for you to marry for love and nothing more.

You thought you had found both—you almost had both.

Unfortunately, the one you truly desired broke your heart before he even fully had it. You pushed the thought of him away, for he was the very reason your emotions were an entangled mess.

You looked down at your ball gown, its baby blue color muted by the lack of lighting in the approach of nightfall. You tugged at the ends of it lightly, wanting nothing more than to be at home wearing your nightgown instead. One of your favorite romance novels in hand, basking in the warmth of the fireplace. You always dreamed of having your own happily ever after, and for a while, you thought you had. A love story any poet would be over the moon to muse over.

You were sadly mistaken.

A few droplets of rain plopped themselves onto your arm. You scanned the sky above you, the once royal blue evening turning a smoky grey. A clear sign it would soon start to rain. It was only a slight drizzle, making you realize a few of those fallen droplets weren’t from the clouds above, but from your very own eyes.

You couldn’t let the prince see you like this.

You rose from your spot and searched the garden for a place to compose yourself. In the near distance stood a greenhouse decorated with overgrown ivy, obstructing the view of the inside. A perfect place to hide away from your troubles and the rain.

You lifted the ends of your ball gown, making sure to not muddy or tear any part of it, as you made your way to the greenhouse. You stepped inside, immediately enamored with the various flora surrounding you. You knew Lady Maximoff treasured her garden, but never in your wildest dreams could you have conjured up the breathtaking view before you.

You strolled along the path, taking it all in. The rain started to come down in a pour, ridding any outside noise from coming through. Thus making it harder to hear the footsteps that were approaching you.

“ Y/n? My dearest, what are you doing here?” You froze in your spot, recognizing the voice of the one who broke your heart. You turned to see James Buchanan Barnes the Duke of Brooklyn standing a few feet away from you, drenched from head to toe. It seems he too was caught in the rain.

“ Your grace, my apologies. I did not know you were here. Please excuse me,” you attempted to remove yourself from the situation, but he wouldn’t let you. Stopping you by your hands, holding them delicately.

A frown overtook his features,“ Why do you address me so formally? Have we not grown past this?”

You swallowed hard, not wanting to dwell on this topic of conversation for long,“ We did, but like anything that grows, there comes a time when it withers. We have withered.”

You yanked yourself from his grasp, his mouth parting in disbelief, “ Y/n, what are you saying? Is this because of the prince? Have you indeed traded your love for me for the status he can bring you?” He threw the accusation in your face with such disdain you felt as though he had struck you.

A rage bubbled within you.

“ How dare you? Do you truly think so little of me? I would have given up the world for you. You, however, would never have done the same,” you turned to walk away again and he swiftly maneuvered his way in front of you, blocking your path. You felt tears prickle at your eyes, but you forced yourself not to cry in front of him.

“ I apologize. I did not mean to insult you. It is only that you have been so cold toward me lately, and I do not understand why. At tonight’s ball, all I wanted was to have you in my arms once more and instead, I had to stand there like a fool watching you dance with the prince. I left for the gardens when the incessant rumors of a marriage between you two were all anyone could talk about,” his eyes searched yours for an answer, resentfulness lacing his every word.

You looked down, not being able to meet his eyes, “ I do not have to justify myself to you. And those rumors. . .are not rumors. I believe the prince should propose any day now.” By the end of your sentence, you feigned what little confidence you had left and fixed your posture, ready to face James with a steady gaze. However, as soon as you met his eyes you found yourself taking a step back.

James looked at you like he had taken a bullet to the heart.

“ And what of us? My dearest, I do not understand what I have done wrong. Tell me, so that I may fix it. I cannot bear to lose you,” his hand reached for yours to pull you in closer. You side stepped his advances, his hand recoiling at your relentless rejection.

You took in a deep breath, a sigh escaping your lips,“ You already have. The moment you decided to entertain other women while claiming your heart was mine. I am the fool for believing your grace was honest about courting me.” Irritation crept its way back into your heart at the memory.

This caught his attention as he stared at you with a puzzled expression,“ Is that what this is about? Y/n, you must know that was merely for diplomacies—for business. ”

You bit the inside of your lip to refrain from insulting the man in front of you. “ Then that is what I was then, merely a means to a business transaction between you and my father. Did you think I would not find out? My father would have never invested in that mine of yours if it were not for him believing we were courting. It was no coincidence that as soon as the papers were signed you were seen with Lady Natasha alone in your home,” you paused for a moment, realizing you had raised your voice at James, causing you to take a deep breath before continuing, “ You should be grateful my father is not holding you to any responsibilities since he is now focused on assuring I become royalty.”

James’ fists were clenched at his sides,“ How could you doubt my honor? How could you ever doubt that my heart is anyone's but yours? My business with Lady Natasha is nothing but a misunderstanding. I swear on my honor.”

You scoffed, “ Your honor means nothing to me. Your reputation of being the most prolific Rake in town precedes you. I should have believed everyone when they warned me.” His lips formed a tight line, an impatience overtaking him, “ You should know by now my darling, I do not care what others whisper in the shadows. You are all I care about, and if that is what you truly think of me then—you wound me.”

You shook your head, ready to retaliate once more with your words when he swiftly made his way to you and held you by your shoulders. “ I love you. I am certain what fuels this frustration and hatred toward me is the love you feel for me,” his voice was gentle, his features softening. His eyes held you in your place, as your body longed to be closer to him. A mere touch and a part of you was already screaming at you to forgive him.

The two of you stood there for a moment, staring at each other’s eyes not saying a word. You had no strength to pull away from his grasp, “ Your heart will move on. It will find love in another,” your response was reduced to a whisper by the end. You weren’t sure if you were trying to comfort him or yourself with your words.

He shook his head, “ My dearest, the heart here has no say. I cannot say I love you with all my heart for it will one day stop beating. I love you with my entire soul, for my love for you will live on with it for all eternity. I am forever bound to you.” James’ declaration tugged at your heartstrings.

“James. . .” his name dropped from your lips in a pleading whisper. Whether that was for him to stop or keep going—you weren’t sure anymore. You were left speechless. Any protests or rebuttals that were initially in your mind were gone with one declaration. He pulled you in closer—if that were possible—and embraced you, planting a passionate kiss on your lips. You returned it with as much intensity.

You melted into each other, the reciprocated love burning into you. This one kiss ignited within you all of the feelings you were trying so desperately to extinguish. James tasted of wine and smelled of sandalwood, a combination you found strangely addicting.

One of James’ hands slipped down your back, your own gravitating to the nape of his neck. He pressed his body against yours, a small gasp escaped your lips allowing him to deepen the kiss. The continuous kisses he bestowed upon you grew needier by the minute. If his words weren’t getting through to you, he wanted to make sure his lips did.

His mouth moved down to your neck, continuing to show his devotion to you. Your body betrayed you as it leaned to the side giving him easier access. You held in a breath at the sensation. It was evident no one could make you feel the way James does.

This was the opposite of what you had been striving for these last few weeks. Your father made it clear to you how important it was for the family for you to rise to the status of a princess. The prince had been kind and charming, but he was no match for James. You knew there was no argument to be had with your father since now that a prince was interested in you, there was no way in hell he was going to accept a Duke as his son in law. You didn't care and figured that in time he would forgive you once he realized how in love James and you were. You hoped he would see what your mother saw and accept this path to your happiness.

That was before the incident.

A month ago you took a carriage ride to James’ home accompanied by your Lady’s maid Kate. The purpose of this escapade was to confide in James over your father’s intentions. Unbeknownst to you, his true intentions would be brought to light instead.

Your carriage was merely a block away when you spotted them. They were laughing as James’ footmen escorted both him and Lady Natasha inside. There was no one else in sight and no one else entering the home with them. This meant they were in there alone and unchaperoned. Only impatient lovers would resort to such means knowing a scandal could break out if they were caught.

You clutched at your chest, overwhelmed with the way it ached. You felt as though James had come up to you and ripped it out of your chest, exposing it to everyone to gawk and laugh at. To laugh at how stupid Lady Y/n had become in thinking the biggest Rake in town had truly, madly, and deeply fallen in love with her.

Kate took you in her arms and ordered the coachmen to take the long way back home. You sat there, crying into her shoulder throughout the entire journey. You vowed that day to never fall for James’ charms ever again.

The memories of that day hit you full force and knocked the air out of you. Your body caught up to your brain and with as much strength as you could muster you pushed James off of you. He looked shaken by your reaction, staggering back almost tripping over a cluster of purple hyacinths.

With your anger at his betrayal still fueling you, you lifted your chin in the air and spoke your final words to him,“ You cannot water what has already withered and believe it will come back to life.”

You didn’t bother to look at him this time, knowing too well the expression on his face was one that would make your resolve crumble in an instant. You quickly turned and ran out of the greenhouse and back into the garden. The rain was still coming down in a pour, soaking you from head to toe. Tears were streaming down your face and the ends of your ball gown were now covered in mud. In spite of that, you continued to run to the furthest part of the garden closest to the carriages and farthest from Lady Maximoff’s manor.

You were yearning to be home—to be in your mother’s arms and bask in her comfort. To have Kate prepare you the warmest cup of tea and sugary scones to indulge in. Anything to remove the taste of wine and the smell of sandalwood that was now deeply imbedded into your senses. This in hopes to forget the events of tonight ever happened.

“ Miss Y/n, you are soaked to the brim, we must get you home. I shall fetch the Marchioness at once,” your coachman draped a blanket from the servant’s quarters over your shoulders and helped you into your carriage. You hugged it tightly against you as the coachman walked away to get your aunt, the Marchioness of Syracuse. You had completteley forgotten she was the one who accompanied you tonight. How were you going to explain your current state to her?

“ Miss Y/n?”

That voice—you know that voice. It belonged to the person you least wanted to see at this moment. A lady should never let a prince see her like this.

“ Your Highness, I beg of you not to look in the carriage. I was caught in the rain and I am not proper,” the door of the carriage was wide open, the prince’s emerald green attire coming into view. You angled your body so that he could only see the bottom half of your ball gown, hiding your face from him.

“ Your wish is my command, my lady,” he stood by the entry of the carriage facing froward, his side profile visible to you. Your shoulders relaxed, relieved he didn’t have to see you at your worst. His personal attendant was beside him, holding an umbrella above him to ensure his royal highness was not touched by the rain.

“ I must thank you for bestowing upon me the pleasure of dancing with you tonight. I regret we did not get to spend more time together. You looked absolutely breathtaking in your dress,” he complimented you, bringing a smile to your face. “ You flatter me, your Highness—thank you. I will make sure to not get caught in the rain next time, so that our dances may continue.” You made light of your situation, bringing out a soft chuckle from him.

“ No matter if there is rain. I would gladly charge right into the storm of it if it meant I could have you by my side,” he stated, a warmth overtaking your cheeks. Any flirtations coming from another man other than James were foreign to you and flustered you easily. James’ flirtations were inviting and expected, while others were far from it. They felt wrong to hear and to accept. In doing so, it was as if you were being disloyal to James.

You would have to keep reminding yourself there is nothing more to be disloyal to.

“ You’re too kind, your Highness. I am not sure it is worth catching an illness over this weather for a dance,” you responded, trying to keep your voice gentle and light. You didn’t want any negative emotions to take charge just yet. They could do so once you were in the privacy of your bedchambers.

“ For me it is. You are worth it, Miss Y/n,” the prince had never confessed his love to you, but with this sentence, it was clear his feelings toward you were much stronger than you had previously believed. Many proposals were given on attraction alone—to have a proposal based on love was the rarest of blessings.

You stilled in your seat, his words making your heart skip a beat. From the bottom of your heart it was clear to you, you were not in love with this man. Nonetheless, you thought, maybe in the future you would. Maybe if you tried hard enough your heart could move on even if your soul refused to.

“ Oh! Prince Loki, your highness, what a pleasure to see you here with my niece. . .” your aunt arrived just in time, saving you from having to respond. Your mind wandered off, your aunt’s voice and the prince’s getting lost in the background as they spoke to one another.

You draped the blanket over your head to cover the stream of tears that refused to stop flowing. If you pretended to be asleep than you could avoid all of your aunt’s pestering questions on where you had snuck off to while the prince was waiting for you.

No, you did not love Prince Loki.

Yes, you were in love with James Barnes the Duke of Brooklyn.

However, for the sake of a love lost along with fulfilling your duty, you would have to learn how to love another.

Rake: A rake is a 19th-century term for a womanizer or a man who flaunts their exploits with women and avoids any real romantic attachments.

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes au #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes x you #bucky angst #bucky barnes angst #bucky barnes fanfiction #duke bucky #duke bucky barnes #james buchanan barnes #bucky barnes fic #bucky x female reader #bucky x you #bucky barnes x female reader #bucky barnes one shot #bucky barnes x female!reader #bucky oneshot #james bucky barnes

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canyousonicme · 18 days

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Doctor Who: Big Finish, Alex Kingston Team for New River Song Stories

Alex Kingston will return as River Song for a new round of Big Finish's Doctor Who audio dramas set AFTER "Silence in the Library."

Now that Steven Moffat is back writing for Doctor Who, fans are speculating about whether River Song will be back. Alex Kingston certainly hasn't made it a secret that she would love to play the character again. But River Song never really went away. She's been headlining a River Song series in audio dramas from Big Finish for years since she had her final story on Doctor Who. Now she will star in The Death and Life of River Song, a brand-new series of full-cast audio dramas coming soon from Big Finish Productions. It's like a whole new season of River Song adventures – and the latest.

In case you didn't know, River Song is an archaeologist from the 52nd century, born and raised to be an assassin, destined to marry her intended target, and to have many of her own adventures too – Professor River Song's very messy timeline began (or maybe ended) when she first appeared in the 2008 Doctor Who TV episode Silence in the Library. Since then, Kingston has reprised the role in her own series of Doctor Who audio spinoffs, including The Diary of River Song, which ran from 2015 to 2023. Now, in August 2024, she will return in a brand-new series, The Death and Life of River Song.

The first box set in the series, Last Words, is written by Robert Valentine. It begins with River, after settling down to an afterlife in the Library's computer core, finding herself waking up in Earth's future, her consciousness having been temporarily transferred to a new body.

Alex Kingston said that River's stories at Big Finish have moved beyond her death in Doctor Who: "We have gone post-Library! We've done another episode in the past where I was within the database, which I loved, and I thought that's the only way you could go forward with River, given her situation. So, I was actually really surprised when this box set came my way and that we are now so far advanced in the history of Earth that she is able to be brought out as data and put into a cloned body. So very, very clever!"

Producer David Richardson added: "When every single day during the recording, your leading actress says "This script is brilliant," you know you're onto a good thing. Even better, at the end of the last day, Alex popped the script in her bag and announced that she loved Last Words so much she was taking it home to keep and treasure."

The Death and Life of River Song: Last Words is now available for pre-order exclusively here, either as a collector's edition four-CD box set for £29.99 or as a digital download for £22.99 per volume. Big Finish listeners can also pre-order a bundle with Last Words as well as Volumes 2 and 3 of The Death and Life of River Song, which are both due for release in 2025, for just £80 (collector's edition CDs + downloads) or £66 (downloads only). [X]

#I'M SCREAMING BECAUSE WHAT DOES LAST WORD MEAN #Alex Kingston #Doctor Who #River Song #Steven Moffat #Big Finish #2024 #I HAVE TRAUMA

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journeytothewestresearch · 1 year

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Sorry if this is a miss-informed question but I can’t find anything really on it, so sorry if you have already answered this. But what exactly are the rings commonly seen around Nezha and Redboy’s neck? I know it’s not one of the the rings the Buddha gave the monk and it’s never really addressed.

I’ve been told it restrains power but I can’t find anything on it, even a name. Would you happen to know anything about it?

No need to apologize. It's a valid question.

I want to say in the beginning that there is ZERO textual support in JTTW for such rings restraining a character's power. This is a spinoff concept related to misunderstandings about Sun Wukong's headband.

The novel does mention that one of the three rings given to Guanyin by the Buddha is used to subdue Red Boy. My previous post cites the passage and explains why the ring is split into five pieces to envelope his head, wrists, and ankles. It's based on body adornments worn by his religious counterpart, the Buddhist deity Boy of Goodly Wealth (Shancai tongzi, 善財童子).

However, to my knowledge, the Boy is never depicted with a ring around his head. If present, it's always around his neck, like this tiny 20th or 21st-century idol in my collection.

Depicting the Boy with this necklace goes back hundreds of years. One of the earliest examples I know of appears in a mural from Yulin Cave no. 3 (Yulin di 3 ku, 榆林第3窟, 13th-century). WHAT A CHONK!

I've seen a similar necklace worn by a Daoist protector deity as well. Here's a detail of the Marshal of Heavenly Reeds (Tianpeng yuanshuai, 天蓬元帥; a.k.a. Zhu Bajie's former incarnation) from the Ink Treasure of Wu Daozi (Daozi mobao, 道子墨寶, 13th-century).

Please note that both images come from the 13th-century and feature deities. That's all I can say about these historical examples. Unfortunately, I don't know the original meaning, but it sort of brings to mind Sun Wukong's curlicue-style headband.

I hope this helps.

#Nezha #Red Boy #Red Son #ring #headband #necklace #Monkey King #Sun Wukong #Lego Monkie Kid #LMK #MK #Journey to the West #JTTW

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shitpostingperidot · 3 months

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Kamala Khan’s bookshelves

Kamala’s room in The Marvels is an absolute treasure trove of little details to zoom in on, and I’ve identified so many books on her shelves!

Shelf 1, top to bottom:

1. Landmark Experiments in Twentieth Century Physics by George L. Trigg

College-level book about experiments that helped us learn about x-rays, lasers, isotopes, superconductors, and all kinds of other things I don’t understand. Meant to be more practical than theoretical since it talks about the actual methodologies of these experiments. Could be for school, or for Kamala and Bruno to run their own tests of Kamala’s powers. The first of many books in the Khan house that come from Dover Publications.

2. Space Time Matter by Hermann Weyl

“An esoteric initiation into space time physics” -Amazon reviewer. I’m gonna be real, I don’t understand half the words in this book description, but apparently it’s famous for introducing gauge theory, which was later reborn as phase transformations in quantum theory. I can see this being something Kamala reads to try and understand the bangle transporting her to the Partition. Also from Dover.

3. A Map to the Sun by Sloane Leong

A graphic novel about a high school girl’s basketball team learning to work together despite their many differences and conflicts. Also it has a gorgeous color palette. Seems fairly self explanatory why it’s in this movie. I’ll definitely be borrowing this from my library! Like my friend Kamala recommended a book to me herself.

4. The Good Immigrant anthology edited by Nikesh Shukla

21 essays from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people in the UK about their experiences. It was crowdfunded initially, extremely critically acclaimed, and has gotten spinoffs and sequels. Riz Ahmed, who is British Pakistani, is one contributor, and a fun fact is that Rish Shah (Kamran from Ms. Marvel) worked with Riz Ahmed in an Oscar winning short called The Long Goodbye. Also, the editor, Nikesh Shukla, is currently writing the Spider-Man India comics series!

5. Bright Lines by Tanwi Nandini Islam

A coming-of-age story about 3 young adults with complicated family, friend, and romantic relationships between them. They have to travel from Brooklyn to Bangladesh together one summer and thereby discover a lot about themselves. I haven’t read it, but there seems to be a ton of complex representation of LGBTQ, POC, immigrant, and Muslim characters. I wonder how much the three main characters can be compared with our three characters with complex relationships in The Marvels, and I wonder which character Kamala most relates to!

6. I can’t tell! The font is bugging the hell out of me because theoretically, with that amount of contrast, I should be able to read a word when I get two inches from the TV and mess with the settings. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

7. I also can’t tell, but I’m being easier on myself because the title is written in white on a yellow background. It’s not the only book I know off the top of my head with this color scheme (Yellowface by RF Kuang) because the title is definitely multiple words. Help!

Shelf 2, right to left:

1. One Night that Changes Everything by Lauren Barnholdt

A YA romance where, through a convoluted series of events, a teenager must face all of her insecurities in one night. I can see Kamala devouring this as brain candy after wrestling with those advanced science books, or using it as fic inspiration!

2. Can’t tell, but love the color scheme!

This next one is a weird one, because I am 100% sure of what book it is, but I cannot find a picture of a matching edition.

3. Wizard at Large by Terry Brooks

It’s definitely, without a doubt, this book (where a character and a magical medallion are accidentally transported to Earth from another realm and switches places with an evil genie). Like those are the words on the spine and the plot of the book is an obvious choice for this movie. The fonts match on the audiobook, the ebook, and the next two books in the series. But try as I might, I cannot find any proof on the internet that the physical book that appears in Kamala’s room, that uses those two fonts and that spine formatting, exists. This is haunting me…

4. (On the other side of the box) It’s not The Twilight Saga Eclipse, but I definitely thought it was before I could watch in high definition. I think it’s a journal or sketchbook of Kamala’s; there are a bunch scattered throughout the room.

Shelf 3:

I’ve only identified the bottom book, which is Einstein’s Theory of Relativity by Max Born (Dover Publications). The third one up is HAUNTING me, it looks SO identifiable and yet!

Living Room Side Table:

1. Amateur Astronomer’s Handbook by JB Sidgwick (from Dover Publications)

2. Cosmology by Hermann Bondi (also Dover)

Both of these seem less difficult than the science books in Kamala’s room, but reviewers note that it helps to know calculus when reading Cosmology. Idk which member of the Khan family is reading these, but I love their family’s connection to the stars 💫

Tbh I’m having so much fun doing this! And I really wish we got to see Monica’s living space so I can analyze her books 😭

#the marvels #kamala khan #ms marvel

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soreiya · 2 years

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Should we as a fandom collectively decide to step away from Vat7K and push for something completely different? Now don’t run off to grab your torches and pitchforks just yet. This isn’t a hate post. I just think it would be kinda fun to have a big discussion on the subject.

First of all I’d like to ask you a few questions. This will help us get to know one another a bit better.

Questions:

What got you into Vat7K?

What do you think of the Vat7K concept?

Would your opinion of it be different if it wasn’t created by someone who worked on TtS?

Have you personally noticed any problems with Vat7K and or it’s fandom?

What would your ideal Varian spinoff be like?

What would your ideal partner for Varian be like? (Can be either romantic or platonic)

The vague concepts that I like:

Varian leaving Corona on a simple quest that turns into something a lot grander along the way. Let the boy have his own epic adventure. ;D

Varian finding some friends who are around his own age.

The potential to learn more about Varian’s family, (This includes his mother and The Brotherhood.)

Reuniting with Cassandra and finding out what she has been up to.

Varian being given more opportunities to use his knowledge of alchemy and engineering. Doing things like problem solving, helping others, or using it for self defense. (Since this is part of what makes him special.)

Maybe finding out if there is anything special about Varian’s hairstripe? Is it nothing? Is he cursed? Does he have some unknown magic power? Is it some prophecy bullshit? I want to knowww.

Things I like about 7K:

I like Varian’s teal vest. Out of everything 7K related, it’s probably the only thing I have no real issues with.

Don’t worry, I’m not being completely serious with that comment.

My Vat7K thoughts and ‘opinions’:

This AU has potential, but some stuff would need to be reworked in order to make more sense.

Mode of transportation:

-Why wasn’t Varian provided with horses and a nice caravan? He's not only the Royal Alchemist/Engineer of Corona, but the son of a marquess. An uncovered cart wouldn't give him and his supplies adequate protection from hazardous weather conditions/potential enemy attacks.

-Would Princess Nuru's parent/s allow her to leave in some dinky cart?

The trials:

-If Donella and Ulla already completed the trials then what happened to the totems that they used to open the portal?

-Did someone reset the trials after they had been completed? Even if they reset on their own this leads to a huge issue with the plot. Other people could have already completed the trials. All you would have to do is find someone who did and bypass the trial completely.

-Why does Varian and his group struggle with the trials if they have a cheat sheet journal? The implications here are honestly a little insulting.

-Since Princess Nuru joins the main group much later on, would she be able to take part in the trials out of order? If so, then does taking part in only a portion of the trials disqualify her from entering the Eternal Library, or can anyone enter once it has been opened?

The Demanitus device:

-Since this is an AU I’m fine with the Demanitus device still being intact. The problem however is that the intended use of that device was weather manipulation. It could alter wind trajectory. This wouldn’t be all that useful for creating a portal.

-Varian is already capable of building interdenominational portals. He also has access to Demanitus’ tomb. Thus it is entirely likely that he could locate the notes and blueprints needed to create the portal without completing the trials.

The Eternal Library:

-Having the end goal be to reach some treasure trove of knowledge is probably going to be a bad idea. If all knowledge is at your disposal then what’s the point in experimenting? Whatever life and drive that Varian still had left would slowly be drained away by this prospect. He wouldn’t be trying anything new. He would simply be following instructions.

Characters:

Varian:

- Who let Varian leave the house in that ridiculous boy scout outfit? That’s a bigger crime than any of the ones he committed in TtS.

-All jokes aside, there are real problems with Varian’s portrayal in this AU. By making everyone and their mother a genius, alchemist, and or an engineer, you’re robbing Varian of everything that made him special. He doesn’t feel like the main character of this story. He’s just the guy with the journal. There are no big moments where he has an opportunity to really shine. Even in the final battle he has to be rescued from becoming a meat suit.

Varian’s family

Ulla:

-Ulla essentially abandoned her entire family in order to find the Eternal Library. There is no other way to put it. This wasn’t some day trip or mini vacation. It could have taken her years to complete the trials. Even if she had returned home, she would have missed out on a lot of Varian’s childhood. Don’t you think this would have a lasting impact on his emotional development?

Given this information it’s not a plot twist whatsoever that she turned out to be the final boss. Which bothers me greatly because it is just reaffirming the one thing I hated about Cassandra’s villain arc. That somehow villainy is inherited from one’s parents.

Regardless of her being ‘redeemed’ or not, I’m giving her an F on the good mom scale. The quest wasn’t even time sensitive. She could have waited for Varian to become an adult before going on this journey. Heck, she could have taken him along for the ride…

-Okay, so I’ll admit that I don't actually like the name Ulla. I’d probably like it if it was pronounced Yoolla, but uh-lla and oo-lla is on level with Horace for me.

Ulla’s relatives:

-Does anyone find it creepy that Ulla’s family are almost all Varian clones? Let them be their own characters… This feels lazy.

-Also, why would Varian give up on his quest just because he found his family? I get that they are like minded people, but he’s supposedly traveling with like minded people??? This feels OoC. Varian is a very goal oriented character. He doesn’t give up so easily.

Supporting cast:

Donella:

-What is her goal exactly? She’s the one who returned Ulla’s journal to Quirin in the first place. If she really thought there were secrets inside then she should have come to this conclusion beforehand…

-There was no reason for her to send Hugo to get the fire totem or to have him infiltrate Varian’s group. Everything could have been resolved with a little honesty. Talk people!!! Seriously, I hate when plots have pointless drama or misunderstandings because someone bottles up their god damn emotions.

-When you give it some real thought the whole plot legit makes no sense. Why wait for Varian to turn 18? If she had been keeping tabs on him then she would have given Hugo more information. Instead she lets him go into some big mission completely blind? Way to go… You left him out here thinking that Varian is some sweet naive summer child who wouldn’t snap him like a twig… You’re lucky that he makes it out of this story alive.

Princess Nuru:

-Her character is severely underdeveloped. Much like Yong she feels like an afterthought. Like she was created to fill a void rather than to be an actual character.

-Sure, let’s force the sole female character into the role of the ‘mom friend’. That won’t be stereotypical at all.

-Why does Nuru not know anything about Varian? She’s a princess. Such people soak up loads of political gossip through osmosis. Even after Varian’s reformation he would still be a hot topic of discussion. I’m hella sus, girl…

-I get that her kingdom was in a state of crisis, but would she really be allowed to just leave with a group of strangers? Why wasn't she provided with some sort of guard at the very least?

Yong:

-There is nothing particularly interesting about his character. He’s just the baby of the group.

Hugo:

-If Hugo is supposed to be some stealthy street smart thief, then why does his personality completely contradict this? You can try to say that it’s just an act, but he’s always portrayed as an obnoxious player, like some pompous flirt. Stuff like that would make him notorious and easily recognizable. Believe me when I say that this behavior isn’t ideal for someone who’s entire job is to go on undercover missions. Donella would not be pleased. She didn’t raise a cheap half assed Flynn Rider 2.0 knockoff did she?

-I hate to be the one to point this out, but the fandom might have inadvertently turned Hugo into a full on Gary Stu. Let me explain. Often times I see people saying that Hugo is ‘smarter’ and ‘more capable’ than Varian. Did this man bring a kingdom down to it’s knees twice over? Why isn’t he using his skills in alchemy and engineering to make a fortune? He’s supposed to be greedy. That’s his whole gimmick isn’t it? Then why is he letting those smarts go to waste? He wouldn’t need to be a lapdog to a manipulative old woman if this was the case. It doesn’t matter if he feels indebted to her. A smart and resourceful person would be using their intellect wisely.

Animal companions:

Prometheus:

-Is this just Varian in donkey form? Why do they look so much alike?

-Am I the only one who finds it a little humiliating for Varian to leave on a big adventure with a derpy looking donkey? I get that this is probably the point, but I think it's a little sad.

Ruddiger:

-Ruddiger is awesome. I just think that people forget that he exists sometimes.

Olivia:

-My only issue here is that people are taking information about Hugo from his D&D counterpart. They should be treated like completely separate characters. Otherwise I have no problems with the little mouse companion. I think it's a cute idea.

Thoughts on relationships:

-There should be other potential suitors for Varian in Vat7K.

-Varian is a Flynnigan Rider fanboy. Suffice to say that his vision of romance is likely to be incredibly idealized.

-I know that this fandom loves it’s angst fodder, but let’s think for a moment on the lasting consequences of betrayal. Varian already has trust issues. That paranoia is gonna linger in the back of his mind forever regardless of how many healthy connections he makes throughout the years. If he is betrayed by a love interest, those feelings are only going to be amplified tenfold. You don’t just kiss and make up after something like that. He likely would want to close himself off completely from being in romantic relationships as a self defense mechanism.

Varigo:

-The first thing I saw from this relationship was an adorable confession scene animatic. That was hella cute shit. I was like “Hell yes! Nerds in love!”. Was that what I got? No, but that disappointment set in much later.

My issues with Varian’s portrayal in the relationship.

-If you have to change a character’s whole personality in order to fit your ship preferences, then at this point they are no longer the same character. They might as well be an OC.

-Why does the fandom push toxic stereotyping? (Basically the seme/uke nonsense that you see in BL manga.) Varian usually gets dumbed down so that Hugo can swoop in. Varian has to be short, weak, and naive... Why is this so heavily enforced? Why can’t people portray things differently without the fandom losing their collective shit?

-Why is Varian portrayed as not being street smart? He lived on his own for months while being harassed by guards. He went to prison… He worked with terrorists… He is friends with former criminals. He is acquainted with pub thugs. ???? Sorry, but he’s not gonna be impressed with Hugo’s whole shtick… It’s not something new to him.

-Also… Varian may be skinny, but he’s still relatively athletic. He has the endurance to run round trip through a magical blizzard. He can parkour like a pro (When he’s feeling confident.). He can build huge boilers and giant automatons. So he’s probably used to some level of manual labor. He can leap down great distances. Somehow he can scoot Xavier across the ground with no issues. o__O; What part of this sounds weak to you all?

-His height as an adult is debatable. He may remain short forever. He could grow tall. Maybe he even has a late growth spurt.

-Regardless of his height Varian shouldn’t always be portrayed as some uwu submissive fragile little flower. Let there be some equality in the relationship.

-For reference on Varian being assertive and flirty I would recommend rewatching Great Expotations.

My issues with Hugo:

-Hugo triggers my anxiety because he gives off the vibes of a sexual predator. Unlike Eugene, Hugo doesn’t fall in love right away. Any interest he has in Varian is for self gratification and that makes me hella uncomfortable. If you combine this Varian being treated as naive and innocent. Then you can understand why I want to chase Hugo ass away with a flip flop.

-The way Hugo speaks to Varian is gross. Constantly calling him “sweetcheeks” and other objectifying terms… It just solidifies my view that he’s not capable of keeping his mind out of the gutter for a second…

A note to the fandom:

Oh boy, I went a bit overboard… Please don’t think of me as an enemy because of this post. We can still be friends. I’m fine with you all sticking with 7K. I just wanted to raise awareness of some of the things that I have noticed about the plot and characters. Whether it has any influence on your views or not is up in the air. If anything this can be used to help troubleshoot and improve upon the AU.

At this point it’s unlikely that Disney has interest in creating a Varian spinoff series/comic/novel/etc. It would be awesome if they did, but I won’t get my hopes up.

So in the meantime, does anyone want to band together and brainstorm ideas? I feel like we could have a great time coming up with scenarios for something new.

Advice/suggestions/additional misc notes:

-Don’t stalk or harass the creators of this AU.

-Do not pass HC’s off as canon facts. This includes pushing 7K onto others as a canonical continuation of Tangled the Series.

-You should never threaten or bully people who do not share your opinions or HC’s. Try channeling those negative emotions into doing something positive instead.

-Do not bully or try to ‘socially cancel’ people who ship other pairings. Don’t like a ship? Scroll past it and move on with your life.

-Tag fics appropriately. Express content in detail. Don’t bait and switch. Don’t rant and rave or be malicious in any way.

-For some reason there are people who enjoy making ‘white boy’ jokes about Hugo. These same people often exaggerate Varian’s skin tone in order to put more emphasis on this. I find it pretty distasteful. Would you tolerate this behavior aimed at any of the other characters? If the answer is “No.” then stop.

-There are people who use the trans tag when all they really want to do is gender swap the character to fit their smut preferences. Objectification is not representation. (To be clear, I'm not saying all trans smut is like this. The type of storytelling I'm talking about is obvious to spot. You'll know it if/when you see it. Though hopefully you won't have to see it.)

If you want to HC Varian or any other character as trans because it makes you feel closer to the character, then by all means do so. You’re valid and this is perfectly reasonable.

I may face slack for not sharing the trans Varian HC personally, but I’m in the mindset that we need more characters who were born male that do not conform to society's norms. It’s incredibly important for boys/men to see that they can sew, cook, and clean without these activities being treated as if they are somehow emasculating. Getting rid of toxic gender stereotypes is the first step to a future where people can be accepted as equals.

#Tangled the Series #Vat7K #Varian #Varigo #varian and the seven kingdoms #varian and the 7 kingdoms #TtS #Thoughts #discussion #opinions #debate #Varigo-criticism #Vat7K-criticism

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queen-of-the-boos · 2 months

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You are Cordially Invited...

to the second ever-

(The envelope opens with a shrill shriek)

THAT'S RIGHT I'M DOING THIS AGAIN!!!

I'm throwing a little Luigi's Mansion themed ball for everyone who selfships and self inserts! (You don't have to selfship in the Mario universe to participate)

ᴵᵗ'ˢ ᵇᵉᵉⁿ ᵠᵘᶦᵗᵉ ᵃ ʷʰᶦˡᵉ ˢᶦⁿᶜᵉ ᴵ'ᵛᵉ ᵈᵒⁿᵉ ᵒⁿᵉ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵉˢᵉ ˢᵒʳᵗˢ ᵒᶠ ᵖᵒˢᵗˢ ˢᵒ ᵖˡᵉᵃˢᵉ ᶠᵒʳᵍᶦᵛᵉ ᵐᵉ ᶦᶠ ᶦᵗ'ˢ ᶜᵒⁿᶠᵘˢᶦⁿᵍ. ᴵ'ᵐ ᵃ ᵇᶦᵗ ʳᵘˢᵗʸ

Details about the event under the cut!

Now then, I'm sure you have a few questions. Hopefully I can answer them all here! Such as...

- What the heck are Banshee Blossoms?

Glad you asked, my fine friend! They're a fictional flower I made up based on these pretty little blooms on the roof of the mansion!

(Don't mind the fire. Luigi is totally fine.)

Here's my silly little doodled rendition for reference!

Banshee Blossoms are symbols of love, romantic and platonic, even familial! There's a tradition in the Boo Kingdom where you give one to someone you care about. They're said to bless whomever is gifted one with good luck and a happy relationship for the rest of their lives into their afterlife! Theyre pale white flowers that glow like moonlight with purple foliage.

They only bloom in the month of March, so now is the best time to come and view them!

- What's this event all about?

Another excellent question!

This event is tailor made for those of you who selfship or self insert as well as anyone who has Luigi's Mansion ocs! You're all welcome to attend! I'll be hosting it along with my darling husband King Boo 💕

It's just a small, relaxed event for everyone to have fun with whether you're an artist or not.

The general thing you can do is go around to your friends' ask boxes and leave them Banshee Blossoms should you feel so inclined. But we also have... Prompts!

- Prompts?

That's right! Prompts. You're a great listener!

The event runs from March 15th - March 17th, and throughout those days, you, dear listener, will have two prompts to choose from with which you may create things with! Think of them as themed projects? You can choose one or do both if you're feeling it!

The regular prompts will be:

15th - Arrival / Meeting

(Your arrival at the ball, or you meeting someone at the ball!)

16th - Grudges / Spinoffs

(Getting out any grudges before the party begins, or thinking of your self insert/ship/oc in the context of a Mario series spinoff like Mario Kart or Mario Golf ect.)

17th - Party / Comfort

(How you would be enjoying the party, or perhaps reviving comfort from somebody or something.)

Along with our regular prompts, we will also have musical ones for those of you who are music autistics with melodies in your heart like me.

Those will include:

15th - Treacherous Mansion /Paranormal Chaos

16th - Phantom Dancing / Luigi's Mansion DS

17th - Luigi's Mansion Credits / LM3 Music box

These work just like the regular creative prompts! You're just going off a song rather than an idea. You can do one, two, or all three of these options if you wish! No rules against that!

I'll be posting a daily post with all three daily prompts for that day around midnight (12 am CST) each day!

These prompts are for anything creative! Mood boards, writing, art, playlists, you name it! Even just posts saying what you and your fave are doing to participate are welcome!

- When is the event?

Just like I said above, the event will run the weekend of March 15th - March 17th.

- Where is it being held?

Well, it'll be hosted here on this blog! I'll be sure to look for posts and reblog them all here so everyone can see! Be sure to tag your posts for the ball with #Banshee Blossom Ball 2024 so I can see them! That's the tag I'll be looking for! Youre also free to tag me so I can see them too!

But...if you meant what location the event is being held... Its-

The Treacherous Mansion from Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon! It's a large mansion in Evershade Valley full of many interesting rooms that house treasures from a famous adventurer from days long past.

(Thanks for helping me show it off, Luigi! But get that AWFUL thing off your back-)

Phew! Hopefully that clears things up. I'll try to condense the info here for those of you who need a tl;dr

TL;DR

I'm hosting an event for self inserts and shippers as well as Luigi's Mansion oc havers! It's a ball themed after Banshee Blossoms, symbols of all types of love and new beginnings!

The creative prompts for the event including musical prompts (notated with a 🎵) are:

🌙 15th - Arrival / Meeting

🎵 Treacherous Mansion/Paranormal Chaos

🌙 16th - Grudges / Spinoffs

🎵 Phantom Dancing/Luigi's Mansion DS

🌙 17th - Party / Comfort

🎵 Luigi's Mansion credits/LM3 music box

The event runs from March 15th - 17th.

I'll make a post each day at 12am CST with a short blurb about the day's prompts to help inspire! (You're free to start on the prompts early though!)

Remember to tag your ball related posts with #Banshee Blossom Ball 2024 so I can see them!

I hope everyone has fun! Feel free to send me an ask over on this blog here if you have any questions or concerns!

This event is not for proshippers. Please kindly do not participate.

#self shipping community #self insert #Luigi's Mansion oc #Luigi's Mansion #Banshee Blossom Ball 2024

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basedkikuenjoyer · 3 months

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Academy you're a treasure. I believe this is an attempt to demonstrate the Calm-Calm fruit before the big break in. Like we thought, this is shaping up into a New World saga parody and I only hope the high chance of Kiku taking Kin's place ends up being anywhere near as fun as these bits with Cora. We continue to focus on this group tailing Doflamingo at the Shady Businessmen's Ball, ending on the gang gracefully descending from the air vents to stop Doffy from...killing a guy as a sick initiation? It's wild to see modern guns in One Piece:

Izo still has his flintlocks which is even more of an A E S T H E T I C honestly. Well, those and his super soakers. I feel like we should never allow the Akazaya to have squirt or Nerf guns as a rule. Definitely not Oden and definitely not Toki. You have to imagine they'd put the "fight" in snowball fight too. Oh yeah, the chapter. The other intriguing thing was this:

Duh, of course the shady figures are the underworld brokers. The chapter plays into this too, remember they're trying to stop a younger Doflamingo from cementing this role. Which is a legitimately interesting AU. It's also cool to me we don't see a notable pair here. The two favorites of the group who've had the biggest role. Stussy & Morgans. I mean, Stussy being a student in a future CP-Student Council story is sensible. We'll probably have some kind of Egghead spinoff after this. Does Morgans run the school paper? That's one of those elements that has a lot more potential in this universe. Like, do a classic sidestory about rumors in the news. Doesn't have to connect as much.

#one piece academy #donquixote rosinante #donquixote doflamingo #episode 41

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klaineccfanficlibrary · 5 months

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Hey! I'm looking for some good canon compliant married!klaine fics, and was hoping you had some recs!

Here are some. I've read the first one, which is lovely. The next four have been reviewed previously by Lynne, and i have added them to my "to read" list.

Also, don't forget the Daddies!klaine tag for fun with their children!

Enjoy! ~Jen

Snapshots by @borogroves

August 27, 2044. They say a picture paints a thousand words… and Kurt and Blaine have a whole scrapbook.

~~~~~

I remember when we first met By @tnystrk3000

Inspired by #42 of 101 Ways to Say I Love You by emswritingprompts on Tumblr: "I remember when we first met."

Summary: During their wedding reception, Kurt and Blaine find a moment alone to reflect on where they started and are now. They sit outside, looking at the stars, as they talk about their journey.

Takes place during season 6 episode 8, the only difference is that it’s nighttime.

~~~~~

daydreaming my life away (would you come along with me?) by anderhummel (em_a)

Sometimes Kurt feels like he and Blaine are moving too fast, hurtling headfirst into the unknown where their relationship is bound to end in a fiery crash and broken hearts.

But then Blaine flashes a smile at him, or shoots him an exasperated look behind Rachel's back, or hooks his pinky into Kurt's belt loop as they're walking down the hallway, or—really, sometimes Blaine breathes and Kurt knows, deep in his bones, that he has never been more sure of anything in his life.

* * *

A collection of times throughout Kurt and Blaine's relationship that they discuss their futures.

~~~~~

5 Times: Darling, Just Kiss Me Slow by InsightfulInsomniac

Five types of kisses that Kurt and Blaine share in their domestic moments of early marriage. Wholesome, sweet early married Klaine with a few guest appearances along the way from Burt and Carole.

Aka my five favorite kiss ideas from a kiss prompt list I found a long time ago.

~~~~~

New York Ever After by @gleefulpoppet

Upon their return to New York, Kurt and Blaine create an extraordinary life curated from thousands of ordinary moments noticed, appreciated, and treasured. [AKA The Klaine Glee spinoff we all wanted: date nights, doing the dishes, showers before work, fits of giggles, lazy couch kisses, and more.]

Canon compliant through the entirety of season 6. Each chapter will be self-contained—no cliffhangers or abandoned story issues to worry about.

~~~~~

Honeymoon Holidays by @flowerfan2

Kurt and Blaine’s first winter holidays together as a married couple fall so quickly after their wedding that sometimes they almost seem like a continuation of their honeymoon. But not always. A story in the “Season 7” series that looks at events in the early married life of Kurt and Blaine.

~~~

The Boys of Summerby neverhaveieverbooks

Kurt and Blaine’s first summer in New York after they get married. It’s easy. It’s hard. It’s perfectly imperfect. A summer tale in 12 chapters. Canon-compliant. This story technically takes place within the middle of episode 6 x 13, after Nationals, and before they return to McKinley for their visit in the fall.

Written for the Klaine Summer Challenge 2016 on tumblr.

~~~~~

The Bluebird as She Singsby @lovetheblazer

Eleven months in the journey Kurt and Blaine take to become parents, from Rachel offering to be their surrogate through the birth. Klaine reaction fic for “Dreams Come True” with background St. Berry.

~~~~~

My Wish for Youby Iris Kane

Picking up after the series finale; this story takes place sometime between 2015 and 2020 when Rachel agrees to be Kurt and Blaine surrogate, this is what I think might have happened. (Some rewrites and adjustments to this story; if you’re confused about the direction the story is going please reread)

~~~~~

It’s Bittersweet, Babyby InsightfulInsomniac

When packing up their things to move into their first place as an officially married couple, Blaine finds Kurt’s engagement ring in his former sock drawer, sparking many emotions and memories between the two of them.

But as loving, secure husbands do, they talk it out together.

~~~~~

A year in the Life by @darriness

Formally titled Fic A Day 2018.

I wrote 365 fics (one a day) based on a word that was randomly generated every day.

~~~~~

Wednesday By @spaceorphan18

Just an average day in the life of Kurt Hummel, Blaine Anderson, and their baby Katie.

~~~~~

The Chaperone By pracitcalamenda

When a class mom pulls out at the last minute, Kurt fills in as a chaperone for Blaine's second grade class trip. Turns out that "Mr. Anderson" is quite popular with the moms and Kurt doesn't bother to mention that Blaine's his boyfriend.

#klaine fanfiction #fic finder #klaine fanfic #married!klaine #canon compliant! klaine

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battle-of-mid · 1 year

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iwould like to hear your rant about lmk wukong's character assassination. In detail. if possible. please

(takes long drag of cigarette) it really did all start with the show itself coming out. see, after ROTTMNT came out, i don't think we could really expect flying bark to be "faithful" to its IPs and while whether that was a good thing for the TMNT franchise is absolutely something that can be discussed by people that aren't me, it's a whole lot more sensitive when you're handling a show based on a cultural treasure -

LEGO's line of toys dedicated to a sort of journey of the west spinoff is, in my opinion, an objectively good idea. other than boosting sales it feels kind of inevitable considering just how much LNY stuff they'd put out already, you know? to put it simply i don't have any problems with the lego monkie kid IP in concept, just with the way FB decided to run with its execution -- which ended up landing it squarely in "hot mess" territory.

basically - and i promise that this is relevant to wukong specifically, bear with me - i think that the first red flags were the fixation on their rendition of the six-eared macaque: a character that they've changed from being a single-use "evil twin" character that served the original Journey to the West's allegory for enlightenment (ie. that he was a manifestation of SWK's worst impulses) and then immediately fucking died when the situation called for it. he didn't show up for more than one storyline. they retcon a looooot of SWK's actual backstory as detailed by the book itself in order to make room for sadboy LEMH content so the writers could get their shipfix for him and SWK (which is annoying on more than one point, if you remember what I said about the evil twin thing. if you catch my drift. average flying bark moment)

but to put it simply i genuinely think they just made him... way too much of a lazy fucking self absorbed asshole? the beginning of the show has this which feels like a one-off gag but they double down on it later which makes they didn't write sun wukong -- this is after he's supposed to have ascended to victorious-in-strife buddha, mind you, and it ends up feeling less like sun wukong at any point in the storyline and more like... well, goku. from dragon ball super. which is its own, mostly unrelated can of worms in and of itself.

the thing is this is a character that's been used historically as an allegory, as representative of the people, objectively a cultural icon no matter where in china-influenced asia you find yourself (fantastic analysis of the problem with the way LMK pays homage to that allegory here), and also used in reference to, like, diaspora kids. this is a character that baaasically any chinese person with any kind of connection to the culture is going to see themselves in - especially in his reckless identity and subsequent ascension, you know?

and the main problem here is essentially that when you do this with a character that exsits as part of a media franchise... it's fine? it's whatever. people can just skip that. but when you are doing this as an attempt to adapt a piece of historically and culturally important literature - one that is made for children, one that is infinitely more accessible to diaspora children of that culture than any other adaptation that would be directed towards their age demographic, it feels like a punch in the gut. it's a level of disrespect that just really really hurts, all because the people in charge of it feel like they have to flanderize their characters for their fandom or they'll, like, die.

this isn't exactly organized nor is it every thought i have on the matter but basically tldr they forgot they were writing sun wukong and not their oc

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spiderdreamer-blog · 7 months

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Tarzan (1999)

It's hard to define sometimes where the end of the Disney Renaissance period from the late 80s through the 90s is. After the release of The Lion King, the 2D animated features steadily made less money and critical acclaim became more mixed. There was a sea change occurring thanks to more competition from companies like DreamWorks and Warner Bros., as well as the advent of the computer. For me, the dividing line is 1999's Tarzan, mostly because it's after this point that we get to what I and others call the 2000-2004 "experimental" age with films like The Emperor's New Groove, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Lilo & Stitch, and Treasure Planet. But Tarzan has much in common with those films, representing a step away from the Broadway musical traditions and into a new, intriguing arena of animation storytelling. It's genuinely one of my favorite Disney films to revisit, and I hope this review helps explain why.

The story takes Edgar Rice Burroughs' initial novel Tarzan of the Apes as a guideline more than an actual adaptation, namely ditching concerns about nobility wealth inheritance and unflattering black African caricatures (the spinoff TV series would deal with the latter in trying to be, uh, less problematic about such). We pick up with Ye Olde Dramatically Convenient Boat Wreckage in a truly commanding opening sequence set to Phil Collins' anthemic Two Worlds. Tarzan's unnamed parents land in Africa and are put in parallel to gorillas Kala (Glenn Close, at the time coming off a very different performance for Disney as live action Cruella De Vil) and Kerchak (Lance Henriksen). Tragedy strikes for both families, and where one loses his parents, another gains a son. But Tarzan (Alex D. Linz as a child, Tony Goldwyn as an adult) grows up knowing he is "different", desperate to prove himself as an ape and belong. He seems to find an equilibrium, becoming best friends with Terk (Rosie O'Donnell) and Tantor (Wayne Knight at his most nebbishy), and even managing to vanquish Sabor, but then strangers arrive. Strangers who look like him, in the form of British scientist Archimedes Porter (Nigel Hawthorne), his daughter Jane (Minnie Driver), and their guide Clayton (BRIAN BLESSED). Now things steadily grow more complicated as Tarzan wishes to learn all he can about these outsiders and himself, but what might it cost?

One of the first, most notable things about the film to me is its complexity in the writing and characterization. Looking back, the Renaissance can have a problem in terms of male leads being love interests who don't get as much focus or slightly bland focus-tested "likable". This isn't true for ALL of them; the Beast has many layers to his personality, while Simba and Quasimodo are great, imo, because they have more baggage tying them down and thus more to rise above for true heroism. Nor does it make most of them bad characters. But it was notable enough, as was the tendency for them to be overshadowed by the villains or sidekicks, for co-directors Kevin Lima/Chris Buck and writers Tab Murphy/Bob Tzudiker/Noni White to slightly...course-correct.

Ergo, Tarzan himself is very much the main focus here. There's only one major sequence that he's not really involved with, and even when he's not onscreen, the other characters are as intrigued by his contradictions as the audience. (Insert your own Poochie jokes here, though obviously it doesn't come CLOSE to that) We truly feel his anxiety about fitting in, and the lengths he goes to are intensely relatable even at their most self-damning.

The other characters, too, feel richer and more lived-in than many of the standard types. Kala is a mother figure, one who tries to make Tarzan feel like he belongs, but is deeply scared of losing him. Kerchak is possibly my favorite character in the film because of how much you have to read into his actions because he holds so much back emotionally until the very end. Even then, he comes off as a more realistic harsh father figure than a caricature, and we can always understand where he's coming from. Jane is one of the best Disney love interests, meanwhile, feeling like a modern romantic comedy heroine with a lot of drive and initiative, as well as being just genuinely nerdy, which you don't often see even today. Clayton manages a nice two-step of seeming like an obvious bad guy but playing things down the middle until he gets what he wants. Even the comic relief gets good moments, such as Professor Porter gently supporting the romance or Tantor standing up for himself at a critical juncture.

Of course, what helps here is that said characters have some of the most beautiful environments and animation backing them up in Disney history. The African jungle is depicting as a kind of painterly, hyper-real fantasy, with impossible tree shapes and vines that bloom in the sunlight. And the then-revolutionary Deep Canvas CGI process allows Tarzan to soar through them, the camera spinning and rotating with each movement. The design sensibility is "classical" Disney to a large degree, but with slightly longer faces or larger eyes to add expressiveness. The California, Parisian, and Florida animation teams all clearly busted their asses to make this come to life. And Glen Keane's work with the Paris studio on Tarzan might be the best of his legendary career in terms of the variety of movements and subtleties in expressions. So too goes the rest of the supervising animators: Ken Duncan makes Jane truly lovable and wholly distinct from the likes of his Meg or Amelia; Randy Haycock gives Clayton a macho swagger that feels entirely his own rather than feeling like a Gaston ripoff; Bruce Smith combines remarkable anatomy work and microexpressions with Kerchak; Russ Edmonds' Kala is warm and motherly while never letting you entirely forget she's a gorilla; Dave Burgess makes Porter funny with his slightly squat, short shapes; and Mike Surrey and Sergio Pablos make for an excellent duo on Terk and Tantor in terms of contrasting their size, as well as the latter giving nervous-nelly body language to such a huge character. That's harder than it looks.

The aural end is just as good. Much hay and memery has been made of Phil Collins going ridiculously hard on the storytelling songs, which I fully support. But it really is true that they add so much here and take the burden off the characters in terms of singing save for the improvisational scat number "Trashin' The Camp". I'm partial to "Strangers Like Me" in terms of the earnest yearning and connections that Tarzan makes over the course of it. And of course the various versions of "Two Worlds" are essentially the mission statement of the film, complete with absolutely bitchin' percussion. Mark Mancina's accompanying score is also excellent, sounding like a fusion between The Lion King (which he produced/arranged for both the film and Broadway show) and his action movie work on projects like Speed or Bad Boys. Particularly great is the cue that plays when Tarzan defeats Sabor and builds up to his classic yell, which milks the heroic triumph for all its worth.

The voice cast is also excellent top to bottom. Goldwyn has a deeper timbre than many Disney male leads, less of an ingenue, and this adds to the stormier emotions; we truly feel his pain on lines like "Why didn't you tell me there were creatures that look like me?" But he's not TOO grim, thankfully, and gets some good subtly funny moments such as sounding out monkey noises in a conversation that Jane only hears one half of. Close is properly maternal, of course, getting her best showings in emotional one-on-ones with both Linz and Goldwyn as they hash out their relationship. Henriksen, like the animation, wisely underplays Kerchak and lets the emotion come out through his gruff, gravel-pit voice rather than obviously signaling things. Driver is hilarious and winning as Jane, getting some of the best laughs and most sweetly tender bits of the proceedings. It's all the more impressive when you consider she played Lady Eboshi in the Princess Mononoke dub the same year, which is the utter opposite of this performance. BRIAN BLESSED doesn't do a lot of his patented BRIAN BLESSED yelling outside of some choice bits at the end, but he makes a meal of Clayton regardless as a charismatic asshole, and I like how he plays a climactic bit of manipulation in particular. Hawthorne gets a much better showing here than his previous Disney voice role as Fflewddur Flam in The Black Cauldron, daffily sweet and humorous in equal measure, while O'Donnell and Knight are familiar vocally but use that to inform their characterizations rather than distract.

I think what I like most about this movie is that it feels incredibly well-rounded. Some Disney movies from this period might have a great villain or sidekicks but a weaker protagonist in Hercules or strong protagonists/villains but a weaker supporting cast as in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. (Then you have Pocahontas, which sucks on ALL ends!) In Tarzan, everything feels of a piece, and nobody jars against the tone or mood. Combine that with the dizzying highs of the animation and truly excellent emotional beats, and you've got a real winner that stands the test of time in my eyes.

#disney animated canon #tarzan #disney's tarzan #reviews #analysis

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