#we didn't get enough scenes of them together especially when they were both young and I wanted to give alicent a moment were she fought bac

[dirtytransmasc]

[mild tw for marital rape/forced 'consent' its only referenced a little, but it feels necessary to mention it]

imagine Alicent only standing up for herself when Aegon is in the picture. Imagine her talking her son to her chambers cause he's fussy and won't go down for bed and was asking for his mum, and she has him tucked close, blissfully asleep, and Viserys calls for her.

she knows she can't refuse, but she tells the servant he had sent to make him aware of Aegon's state. he still demands that she be brought to his chambers and that the babe go back to his nursemaid. she looks down at her baby, who's now woken due to the disturbance, who is staring up at her with soft tired eyes, a little yawn escaping him.

she doesn't want to go, she doesn't want to be forced to take her husband, to pleasure him at her own discomfort. she doesn't want to leave her son, to have him sent back to bed where he will remain restless and in the care of someone who is not his mother. she had never want to refuse more than she did in that moment.

she hesitates, her facade falters. Aegon is still looking up at her as tears well up in her eyes. he quirks his head at her, fingers reaching for her cheeks as if to comfort her. with a sudden conviction, she takes him in her arms, rising from the bed, requesting a robe and a blanket. when her servant looks at her in question, she clarifies that she will be taking Aegon with her and does not wish to rouse him in attempts to dress him. they look at her with shock, but don't voice the concern written on their faces.

they bring her Viserys's favorite robe. Alicent recognizes it from her time with Rhaenyra and Aemma. she's worn it before, Viserys has made sure the servants bring it to her every time he requests her. she hates the way it feels against her skin, knowing why he makes her wear it. she wraps aegon in his blanket, soft and royal blue, his hands beginning to play with its golden tassles as she tucks him inside her robe, pressed to her chest with care.

even as fear bites at her heels, anxiety churning her stomach, she walks to Viserys's chamber with her held high. she knows she is only asking for her husband's wrath; she knows she should just obey him, but she just can't. her son will not suffer a sleepless night and horrid following day all because her husband feels the need to use her body once more. he will not suffer at his father's hands tonight, even if she has to endure Viserys's anger for it.

she enters her husband's chambers, finding him in bed, in a white night gown, clearly ready to use her; he was never subtle when he asked for her, not even the first time.

she pauses in the doorway, pulling back the robe slightly, making him aware of Aegon's presence. she watches his face fall, barely muted anger. she holds onto Aegon tighter. part of her fears he may hurt her for this disturbance, but more of her fears he will hurt Aegon on her behalf.

"I told the damned servants to take him," his voice is warped and cruel, just an angry scowl of sorts.

"Aegon is not well, dear husband... I could not leave him," she admits before he can say anything else. she puts her foot forward as a mother, hoping to claim mercy from the man who made her one.

he mutters something in response, not quite loud enough for her to hear. she has a feeling she is grateful for that.

"what was it you needed, my dear?" she tries to sound sweet and kind, in attempts to abate his anger, "I'm sure I could still attend to it."

"you know what I wanted," he yelled. it had been the first time he'd truly raised his voice to her. she couldn't help but gasp, stepping back one step, than two, stopping when Aegon began to fuss, curling around him instead.

"Please Viserys, the baby." she ducks her head down to press her against his whispy white hair. her son his huffing, as if about to cry, and she's sure if she could see his face, his little cheeks would be red and his eyes would be crinkled and wet, his lip puckered. she begins to rock him slightly, still afraid to move.

"your'e dismissed," he grunts, but his tone gives it away. she knows he doesn't mean it, the if she leaves she will be in more trouble. she questions staying, calling a servant to take Aegon and giving him what he wants, but decides against it. he would not come before her son, not now, not ever.

"I'm sorry, my dear, another night, when I do not have Aegon to tend to," she forces some cheer into her tone, "he is still so young, so helpless. he needs his mother. I'm sure you understand?"

"he is not the only one in need of you." he had not lost his anger yet. not even for the sake of his son.

"yes, of course. forgive me. only he is not as understanding as you, my love." that wasn't the truth, Aegon was more kind and understanding at a year old, than viserys was in all of his years. "I will leave now. I am sorry for the disturbance."

she pauses for a moment, waiting for her husbands reaction. when he doesn't lash out at her, she breathes a quiet sigh of relief, feeling as though she has evaded a great beast. her heart calms in her chest, slowing from its fluttering and her stomachs stops its dizzing ache. she questions turning and running, fleeing from his presence before he can change his mind, but knows better.

she hurries to his side, eyeing him all the while, each step calculated, avoiding cracking any eggshells, until she is close enough to kiss his cheek. he allows it, and gives Aegon grace when he reaches out for him, letting him play with his finger a moment, before pulling it away, not even turning away fully before sneering. she takes that as her cue to leave, this one being much more genuine than the last.

"goodnight dear husband." he says nothing. she takes Aegon's little hand, waving it slightly, "say goodnight Aegon."

her son tries to imitate her, though unintelligible, as a toddler would. she continues to smile and coo at him even when his father ignores him, not letting him feel his father's scorn, quickly turning towards the door and back to her own chambers.

the second the door is close she feels herself sag, she would have fallen to the floor right then and there had there not been kingsgaurd watching. instead she holds her head high once more, walking calm and steady, like a queen should.

Aegon settles his forehead against her collar, giving a great yawn against her skin. she smiles at him fondly, kissing his brow, earning a tired little giggle from him. it hits her that he is unaware of the trouble he just saved her from. she feels equal parts relief as she does terror; she hopes he never knows, never understands, but is so so thankful for it none the less.

the second she steps into her chambers she pulls of the robe, setting it aside carefully despite the pain it brings her, respecting the memories it carried. she pulls back the covers before smothering her and her son amongst them. he's quick to curl against her, quite tuckered out after their harrowing adventure, even if he was unaware of its true weight. she herself still wanted to cry, but was similarly too tired to keep her eyes open for another moment. tomorrow, she tells herself, tomorrow will be difficult, but tonight you have your son, tonight you have a chance to rest.

so she does, she holds him close, tracing fingers over the gold threaded patterned of his blanket, feeling the shifting of his chest as he breathes and the tickle of his hair against her neck. all is well in that moment. she drifts to sleep at the thought.

#omage to Aemma's robe that we see alicent wearing in episode 3 (I believe. it was when she was helping bathe viserys) #cause I know he made her wear it cause he's a monster #this is set prior to Helaena's conception. aegon is tiny. and alicent is still naive to the true extents of viserys's abuse. #especially to the fact that despite all of the love she holds for her children and how badly she wishes to always pick them first #his abuse and the stockholm syndrom that follow it will turn her against her children. aegon in particular. #maybe not against. but acrid and foul. her pain overtaking her love. she still tries so hard to protect them though. if you get what I mean #its otto's fault too and they should both die #anyway #I'm just in my feels with these two #we didn't get enough scenes of them together especially when they were both young and I wanted to give alicent a moment were she fought bac #she refused to give him what he wanted. she chose her child over him. she stood up for herself and what she wanted. #she earned that moment #I know she was choking through those “my dears” and “my loves” but she had to for formalities sake #angst in the front fluff in the back #even if the fluff is laced with angst #letting alicent be soft and love her son #I needed it #aegon targaryen #aegon ii targaryen #alicent hightower #anti viserys i targaryen #pro team green #hotd #house of the dragon #I love them your honor

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Rem's Last Words

[ID: A panel from Trigun Maximum Volume 14. Against a blank white background, Rem stands, holding young Vash's hands, who leans back against her, looking at Knives with a smile. Young Knives stands next to them, smiling back and winking. Rem's voice says "Vash... don't leave Knives on his own." End ID.]

Rem's last words to Vash are never going to fail to completely mess me up. It totally changes the context of the twins' prior scenes.

All that time, that 80 years spent with Knives after the Big Fall, slowly growing to resent him more and more... do you think, even though he said the noise was such that he didn't hear her words, that somehow the message got through to him anyways? That Vash felt compelled to stay because this was his brother, and because Rem asked? And because Vash eventually swore to take down Knives in her name and for all those lost in July... do you think that counts as the breach of her ideals and memory he was so afraid of committing all along?

But could Vash really have been expected to stay with Knives when Knives took every opportunity to pull up a wall between them? Was Vash really in any state to have helped Knives the way Knives so desperately needed? I think, honestly, that this was a bit of an unfair request for Rem to make of Vash. But what else could she do?

She knew she probably wasn't going to make it out of there. She knew Knives wasn't ok. She may have even known that it was Knives who caused the Fall in the first place. But more than any of that, she knew that neither of these boys were ready to be left all alone in this world that they were both still so desperately afraid of.

I find it fascinating that Rem phrased it as "Don't leave Knives on his own" rather than "make sure you and Knives stick together" or that sort of thing. No matter how you look at it, it does appear to put responsibility on Vash for Knives, rather than a mutual "look out for each other" request. I have a suggestion for why she might've said this instead of the more mutual alternative.

We know Knives did not get any of the healing that he needed, and Rem was aware of this. He was keeping it all inside, and rapidly walling himself off. Rem, faced with the reality that she didn't have enough time to offer him the support that he needed, can only hope that he wouldn't close himself off from the one other person who had a chance of understanding him. Knives can't be alone, or he will spiral even worse.

And Vash? Well, I think it's easy to say that he was in a better place mentally than Knives, and while that may have been the case, it still doesn't mean he was in any way "recovered" from that trauma; how could one be? The only thing Rem promised him was that they would see the world together - that she would show him that the world wasn't full of terrible people. But they never actually got to do that - Vash was a suicidal child hanging onto her hopeful words and the emotional honesty she'd shown him thus far as a reason to keep trying, as a promise - and now, Rem finds herself having to break it. So, what will keep Vash going when she's gone? Having someone to look out for might do it, especially since young Vash is already shown in the flashbacks to be very "other" focused - note his other directed speech when speaking to Rem, and the way he seems more comfortable around Conrad when he shows acceptance of Knives. Rem probably knew that Vash was far more likely to look out for himself, paradoxically, if he had someone else to look out for.

[ID: Two panels from Trigun and Trigun Maximum. The first is from Trigun Volume 2, and shows young Vash with arms outstretched, his back to the reader, looking at Rem, hands in her pockets and smiling. They are against a white background, as young Vash says "Rem! Rem! I want to stay with you! You won't be all alone!" The second is from Trigun Maximum Volume 7, and shows young Knives, who quietly says "Ah," as he starts to cry. Young Vash approaches and puts his arm around Knives neck, who is still sobbing. He smiles and says "Thank you Mr. Conrad." End ID.]

Rem's last words, then, were intended to a) make sure Knives would have someone who could stick with him and help him where she didn't have the time to, and b) provide Vash with a purpose so that he will keep himself going.

Unfortunately, this didn't work at all the way she'd intended. Knives' unintentional killing of Rem (and I stand by the notion it was unintentional) messed him up even worse and forced him to fully take on the stance of hatred against all humanity in order to cope with the guilt, throwing a huge wedge between him and Vash, so stricken by grief and blindsided by his brother's actions that he'd throw himself into trying to be as much like (ideal) Rem, and as little like Knives, as possible. Knives spends the story desperately wanting Vash (or his ideal of him anyways) to stay with him in order to cure the loneliness he feels from being all alone, and Vash spends the story eternally guilt-ridden, taking on the blame and responsibility for his brother's actions.

And the tragedy to me is that you can't say any of this was for a lack of Rem trying. She just didn't have enough time to minimize the damage caused by the trauma of Tesla and her discovery. She just wanted them to at least have each other, and that... was the only thing, asides from "don't say you'd rather die", that she actually asked of Vash. Fucked up!!!

#storyrambles #aughhh #trigun #trimax #trigunbookclub #rem saverem #millions knives #vash the stampede #trigun meta

[sparkles-rule-4eva]

"Knuckles is just having a little trouble adjusting to his new home. It wasn't easy for me to understand this planet at first either […] I had a family that was patient enough to let me figure things out, so we have to do the same with Knuckles." Notice how as Sonic says all of this, Tails doesn't chime in with his own experiences coping with Earth as another example. What is this baby boy hiding?

Tails did nod as Sonic said those things, so I imagine it was a similar struggle for him. But! Tails might've been a bit more adaptive to such things. Think about it for a sec with me.

When Sonic came to earth, it was abrupt, jarring, sudden, and the aftermath of a tragedy. In being sent to earth, Sonic lost Longclaw, his first adoptive mother. He was SO young, too; probably between 2 and 3 years old. Practically a baby. 😭 He tried to make himself a good life, as good as he could manage without getting to interact with anyone and at such a young age, but living in the woods and being isolated for so long did a number on his mental health. Even after he properly met Tom & Maddie, his social skills were awkward and lacking, and considering how much time is between the first and second movies, they probably had an entire adjustment period as he tried to figure out how to live with a family. That's likely what he was talking about in this clip. 🥹

When Knuckles first came to earth, he was coming with intention and on a mission. Find Sonic and use him to find the Master Emerald. He had no intention of staying on Earth. It was because of Sonic and Tails befriending him (and the vow they made together to protect the Master Emerald, according to him) that kept him from leaving. Not to mention, coming to earth was a HUGE culture clash for him, and that continues. He's used to the ways of his tribe, to war, to a completely different set of rules. Adjusting to the life of a small town American family is a HUGE adjustment for him, especially compared to the others, hence why he's having more problems than Sonic and Tails.

But Tails?

Tails's initial motivation in coming to earth was "warn Sonic about Knuckles, then leave." But then Sonic roped him into tagging along for the ride, and by the end, they're brothers. You can't separate them anymore. They both admire one another so much, and Tails is clearly excited to be adopted into the family. For Tails, earth has been near nothing but positive. Sure, there was the bomb incident in Siberia and the brief trauma before the dance fight fixed that up, but otherwise? He gained a big brother from who was previously his hero. He gained another big brother from Knuckles (if that scene where Knuckles picks him up and sits him on his shoulder says anything 🥰). He got parents. He got a home. His culture from Mobius didn't seem to clash as much with earth culture as Sonic's and Knuckles's did, especially Knuckles.

Tails Wachowski has definitely had his fair share of trauma, but our baby boy is doing well, I'd say. Becoming the baby of the Wachowski family has probably been like living the dream for him. 🥹💙💛❤️

#thank you for the ask! #anonymous asks #asks answered #sonic the hedgehog #sonic #sth #sonic cinematic universe #scu #sonic wachowski #tails wachowski #knuckles wachowski #longclaw #wachowski family #wachowski bros

[tired-fandom-ndn]

The fact that Alastor is canonically more comfortable around women is so interesting to me.

He doesn't seem to mind it when Rosie and Nifty touch him or enter his personal space. Rosie also seems to be aware of his plans to some extent. Mimzy has been using him as a get out of jail free card for DECADES before he told her to stop.

Meanwhile, when he interacts with other men it is usually much more hostile. He humiliates Vox, keeps Zestial at a distance and refuses to share information, has a rivalry with Lucifer, and we all remember how the Husk scene went.

And that makes the idea of Alastor being in a lavender marriage in life so much more interesting, too.

Because Alastor is good with women, he genuinely LIKES spending time with them. Chances are he got along well with his wife, possibly being close friends.

And the more I think about it, the clearer I can see Alastor being raised by a single mother and developing "girly" hobbies, such as cooking or sewing, and being used to housework. A well-dressed man who hangs out with plenty of women but never makes an advance. There would be rumors about him being gay, and men would hate him either for getting too close to their wives, for being a pansy, or both.

Alastor, in hell, waiting patiently for his wife. Because she was his friend. Because she never loved him and he never loved her, but extra souls never hurt and he'd rather keep her close than let someone like Vox get his hands on her.

[context]

GOD ANON HOW DID YOU READ MY MIND

Like this is EXACTLY what I was picturing holy shit. Alastor raised by a single mother (or with a very absent and/or abusive father), taught how to cook, clean, sew, and garden. I headcanon that he was also a hunter from a pretty young age, but even then they worked together to make an income from the hunting, not just eating or selling the meat but also making clothes from the hides and furs. Alastor is, at his roots, a homemaker which was NOT at all typical for men in his time.

His mother also taught him how to respect women and treat them well, always the perfect gentleman, and that combined with his "oddities" and distrust of men definitely led to his friends being almost entirely women (probably with scattering of queer men). The rumors about him would've been RAMPANT, especially when combined with the racism he'd be facing anyway (Word of God says he's mixed, I headcanon him as Black and Choctaw on his mom's side, white on his dad's), which would just drive him further away from forming any sort of relationships with other men.

I think his wife (I've been headcanoning her as Black too, from a lowerclass family like Alastor's) was probably one of those friends, one of the many women who was easily charmed by his bright smiles and kindness but maybe one of the very, very few people who saw a hint of sharpness in his smile or heard the little thread of truth in his darker jokes. She didn't truly understand Alastor, not like Mimzy did, but she saw enough that he trusted they could have a relatively happy and open life together, with him using their marriage as a shield against suspicion. And the fact that their marriage would benefit her too, giving her more freedom than she would get from living with her family and letting her carry on her relationship with her own lover, was absolutely a bonus.

And they were happy. She didn't tell him about her lover, he didn't tell her about his little hobby, but they were happy. They made a home together, laughed and gossiped over meals, and filled their house with constant music and warmth. Their garden was the envy of their neighborhood (and if she wondered where he got the bones and blood their flowers loved so much, she never asked) and they were the life of every party they were invited to. They didn't love each other, but they didn't need to. They were friends and that's all that mattered.

And yeah, I think Alastor absolutely waited for her or sought her out in Hell. Maybe he never found her and was content in the knowledge that she made it into Heaven. Maybe he found her a few decades after his own death and offered her up a simple contract, something to protect her from other overlords while giving her as much freedom as an owned soul has. He keeps her on as one of his reserved souls (like I mentioned here) and they share meals together every so often and sometimes he summons her to act as a background singer or play an instrument to accompany his singing.

They never talk about their previous relationship, partially because it's just not important to who they are in Hell and partially because it would put her in too much danger. Alastor probably mentions having been married in life a few times and everyone just assumes that Mimzy was his wife and that her contract keeps her from talking about it.

#Anonymous #alastor hazbin hotel #hazbin alastor #hazbin hotel

[cupofteainme]

I've been so happy with queer representation in Young Royals. I also have notes. Here are some musings about season three.

We didn't get to see many ripple effects of Wille coming out in the show, but trust me, the world changed the moment he held that speech at the end of season two.

Nils and Stedrica

Nils found the courage to come out to his best friends. We don't know how much he was directly affected by Wilhelm. The common struggle with restrictions and the the graduation seemed to tighten the bond between August, Vincent and Nils. Honesty was a strong thread of the season. Wille's confession inspired students to come forward about iniations, later even August yelled at people to stop arguing and to just be sad about Hillerska closing—to be honest about their feelings.

We can make a mental leap and say that Nils was affected by these events and found his courage to be more honest. He also complimented Wille on his bravery and asked the prince if he regretted coming out and Wille answered with a firm no.

I liked how Nils said that he 'sleeps with guys'. You could see how hard it was for him to tell him friends. In season two Nils uses the word 'gay' about himself to Wille. I like how YR shows how people can use different definitions of themselves in different situations or choose to be unlabeled. I got a feeling that this was a huge first step on Nils' journey to accept that part of himself.

Stella and Fredrika are minor characters so they didn't get much screentime regarding their romance. Them ending up together was motivated by something the show explored in season two with Simon, Marcus and Wilhelm—jealousy. While I enjoyed Rosh being frustrated with her gaydar, Stedrica's arc left me wanting. In season two, Stella told Sara that she hesitates to make a move on Fredrica in fear of losing her beast friend if they break up later and things get awkward.

In season three we weren't shown what made Stella feel like she and Fredrica have a good enough chance to succeed in their relationship to put their friendship on the line. It's a shame. I would have loved to see some character development.

The audience is introduced to the sexual side of Stedrica straight after the white party when emotions ran high, Rosh was there to hit more on Stella and the teens were drinking and partying their hearts out. At the time of Stedrica's hook-up Wilmon were broken up, demonstrating exactly what Stella was afraid of—losing the other person completely. We can say that Wilmon didn't set up an encouraging example for them.

Even though Frederica's face looks blissful with Stella, I'm left wondering, am I supposed to read their kissing as a passing fancy that they can play down as part of their friendship again. ("every girl makes out with her best friend while drunk")

I was hoping for some connection to the main story with their arc. It could have been something with honesty, one remark from Stella to Madison for example: "I can't keep lying to my best friend."

Choosing the foundation

Queer matters were lifted to the table and discussed in the scene where Wille needs to pick his charity. Good for Simon for encouraging Wille to use his platform. I especially loved hearing that Wille knows how his love for Simon is changing the world. Not bad for a sixteen year old who's been out of the closet for five seconds.

Let me say this clearly: Queer people don't have to represent a group they identify with, not even Crown Prince Wilhelm. A young person's identity is rarely so strong yet, that they have the strength to carry the public's negative reactions. We saw how much online hate hurt Simon. He and Wille both have the right to protect their identities and relationship. Simon deserved better help with his social media.

Wille told Simon in season one that he doesn't want to say anything (referring to the sex video). At the end of season two, Wille took it back in his speech, but his attitude didn't change. It was a part Wille wanted to keep as private as he could. Over time, Wille could talk about both his mental health and his queerness more openly and in a way that would affect change. He has time to do so when he grows up.

I thought that the pressure for Wille to use his queer identity for good press would have come from the monarchy. It was mentioned once when Farima talked about new royalists and then dropped altogether.

I don't know why YR wanted to differ from the real Swedish monarchy in this instant and rule out LGBTQIA topics as political, when in real life the Crown Princess has taken a stand for them. (Plot reasons, duh, but it's irritating. I was under the impression that for example the amount of LGBTQIA rights and the discrimination LGBTQIA people face are on the same level in real life Sweden and in the YR universe. When one detail doesn't match, it makes the whole foundation wobbly).

That said, LGBTQIA rights don't exist in a vacuum. Sport and health foundation is a brilliant and super topical place to advance non-discrimination and inclusion in sport. Wille could advance LGBTQIA rights without drawing attention to himself when he's underage, perhaps still figuring out his identity and in his first relationship with a boy.

I can't stress enough how impactful it would be to have a queer Crown Prince (or King!) patronage a sport foundation. We can see that the pictures in the launch event of the foundation are taken with diversity in mind. Even if this is a PR strategy on the Court's part, people far removed from the court are going to work in those charities every day. And what do people think about when they see Wille's name and title associated with the foundation? The answer is not a straight boy playing football.

I hoped that YR would have shown in more concrete way that Wille understood the positive impact his queerness brings to people. We got a moment like that with Simon on the First of May when he was asked to take a picture. He got to feel like a role model. Wille could have had a similar encounter at his birthday or even at Hillerska. I feel like the show very carefully avoided to give Wille any good experiences related to the monarchy.

Is there homophobia at Hillerska?

There is a disconnect in how much hate we see Simon get, how Wille is not allowed to support queer rights versus how casual and obvious being queer is to Hillerska students. We saw girls at Hillerska openly kissing next to August in season two. Nobody batted an eye. The students of Hillerska knew it was Wille in the video and there was gossip but no negative reactions.

Young Royals seemingly treats queerness as a neutral or positive thing—even the biggest bully Vincent is not a homophobe and supports Nils when he comes out. Simon's parents are cool with their son being gay. Wille gets personally no backlash after his speech (or at least we don't see him be affected by it as Simon is).

Season three paints a very gloomy picture in contrast. 1. Simon gets mostly negative comments online. These comments hit to where it hurts, into the intersection of Simon's identities (latino lover) and his aspirations with music (chacing clout). 2. Queen Kristina falls sick straight after her son comes out. 3. Erik took part in homophobic hazings that were a tradition at Hillerska.

We don't get to see instances of this homophobia in the school or in the interactions between students except in s2e4 in 'Wille to the table' scene when the Forest Ridge boys celebrate Wille kissing Felice (and conforming to the heteronormativity). It tells us that being straight is the preferred option.

Young Royals claims that homophobia is in the walls, it lives in traditions and institutions. I partly agree. Homophobia needs also people to survive and everyone at Hillerska was shocked and appalled by the hazings. That made it kinda feel like YR put homophobia on-call for plot reasons.

Where is my big scandal about homophobic monarchy?

The journalist in Sweden might have had a keen interest about the disappearance of their Queen from active duties especially when it coincided with Wilhelm's historical coming out speech. Any accusation about the Queen's homophobia would have been devastating for the Monarchy in a country where support for same sex marriages is over ninety percent. (Go Sweden!)

Media would also have a field day about the hazings and their connection to Erik. It's very recent history. The media would wonder if Erik was a victim and/or the perpetrator. No way there would be radio silence. The burning question would be if the freshly out-of-the-closet Crown Prince suffered from homophobic hazing as well.

In season one, Wilhelm had to give a statement about a video he denied being in. In season three Wille has just come out and it turns out that his school has messed up homophobic traditions, the Queen is unable to perform her duties and it's confirmed that somebody filmed the Crown Prince with another boy and uploaded the video. There is nothing 👀

Queer up!

Wille's character is not only queer for loving Simon but queer in the broader (queer theory) meaning of questioning the prevailing conditions by bringing in new ideas, like in season one: 'What if I just want to be with him and not say anything?'

Wille never had the tools to question his position morally or academicly. At the same time he always knew what he wanted at the emotional level. Simon helped Wille with these questions. They had talks about the monarchy and Wille said he was learning from Simon.

Simon was the catalyst for Wille to find his voice and to figure out what he wants his life to look like. More than that, Simon's character allowed the viewers to look into the life of the rich and powerful through queer theory's lens: questioning, revealing, challenging status quo.

Whatever direction their ways ago after the ending, Wille's and Simon's love will continue to make a difference.

#also gay sex is holy #long post #young royals analysis #young royals #young royals does queerness so well #stedrica #nils young royals

[pyropsychiccollector]

Natsu Harem: Fairy GET! 3/14

Who next~...? Ah, yes. (人��ω◕)

A childhood sweetheart, Miss Lisanna Strauss. (人◕ω◕)

When did they meet?

Among Fairy Tail's current generation, they all arrived at the guild in the mid- to late X770's. For the most part. Natsu arrived in X777, and the Strauss Siblings came to be part of the family in X778.

Whereas Natsu grew leery and terrified of Lisanna's older sister, he forged a special bond with Lisanna as kids. (人◕ω◕)

Happy's egg fell from the sky, and Natsu found the thing, determined to hatch it, believing it to be a dragon egg. (人◕ω◕) Naturally, Lisanna-chan invited herself along to help care for it... And act as a sort of mommy to Happy when he did hatch. Happy might not have been the dragon Natsu wanted, but soon enough they all became one happy family~.... For the most part. (人◕ω◕) ... Lisanna-chan did get these weird ideas into her head sometimes, as noted by Natsu's reactions above.

As a young boy, Natsu didn't always appreciate Lisanna, at least on the surface. Yet even so, he did love her in his own way. She became a precious friend, much easier to get along with than that blockhead Stripper and pole-up-her-butt Erza. Sometimes they went out on jobs together. Sometimes they just camped out together with Gildarts and Happy.

Until that fateful mission for the Strauss Siblings... all was well. But when it did arrive, and Elfman lost control, he wound up... killing Lisanna. Or so they all thought. Elfman and Mirajane were both devastated as Lisanna died in their arms... Elfman resolving to never use his Takeover again - too scared of losing control. And Mira just... lost her powers. Relegated to being a barmaid and becoming a much kinder, gentler person that more openly treasured her friends and family in the guild.

Meanwhile the Earthland Lisanna was sent to Edolas, unbeknownst to everyone... The Edolas Lisanna had already died on a job, and that's who perished in Mira and Elfman's arms. But for the Lisanna that Natsu and everyone else knew... She was seemingly trapped in Edolas forever, no idea of how to get back. So Lisanna made the best of her situation, bonding with the Edolas Fairy Tail.

And then through a miracle, Lisanna-chan returned to Earthland with everyone after the Edolas debacle concluded. She hadn't seen her family and friends in Fairy Tail for a few years, and while she felt terrible about leaving her Edolas siblings without their sister... Lisanna was glad to be home. She was welcomed back with open arms... And soon enough the S-Class trials were upon them, then the Tenrou Island team missed out on seven years because of Fairy Sphere protecting them...

When did they grow closer?

This is a little trickier question. (人◕ω◕) From X778-782 when Lisanna "died", she and Natsu became quite close. But then coming back in X784... she didn't get as much on-screen time with Natsu. In a subtle way, their friendship seemed to have taken a hit, at least with Lisanna not joining Team Natsu, not even on the occasional job.

... But I have my theories that despite what we were shown, Natsu and Lisanna's bond was as strong as ever. (人◕ω◕) Returning home after 2 years, Lisanna had a lot of catching up to do with everyone, especially her siblings... Team Natsu was always on to the next adventure, and Lisanna-chan couldn't focus on them exclusively... But even so~...

Natsu was still special to Lisanna. (人◕ω◕) She picked up on Erza's dancing habits, spinning Natsu around. And she remembered having ideas of marriage with Natsu, as evidenced by that moment during the Grand Magic Games~...

... Not to mention that jail cell scene in Tartaros. (人◕ω◕) Natsu's only shared a cell with one other girl in Fairy Tail... But more on that one later.

The point I'm laboring toward is that despite what we see in the main series, there was plenty of room for Lisanna to come trodding back into Natsu's life at any point after returning. The S-Class trials did happen, and they were technically rivals then... But they had different opponents during that arc, and there was a lot going on. Then they missed out on seven more years. Once that blew over, I'm sure they shared some time together, whether or not Lisanna also spent time with Team Natsu.

At some point she must've found out that Natsu erected a grave for her at the spot they helped hatch Happy together in a hut... Lisanna might've felt bad for worrying him like that, for worrying everyone. But even so, she's not gonna let them treat her like glass. She's strong in her own right, and Lisanna wants to protect everyone, too~... So like her sister Mira, most of her time with Natsu is spent with him when he gets back from jobs, catching up with him and rekindling that bond of theirs~... It's not that hard. (人◕ω◕)

When does friendship turn to something more?

The answer is anytime, really. (❋•‿•❋) However, if I had to take a stab at a more concrete time... I'd say when Igneel died. Remember what I said about making this series having fanfic in its veins...? Well, it begins to kick in now. One thing that's always rubbed me the wrong way about everyone splitting off after Tartaros is that some people never seemed to try harder to stay in touch with certain others. In this case... Lisanna and Natsu. Sure, Natsu had training on the brain... And Lisanna was there when Makarov disbanded the guild.

... But Lisanna knew the dragons perished. She knew how much Igneel meant to Natsu. Lisanna would have been among the first to track Natsu down and give him comfort. She was one of Natsu's first serious friends, and she wouldn't have wanted Natsu to be alone after losing the father he tried finding all of this time. Naturally, Natsu would be dragged along with the Strauss Siblings during this year-long guild hiatus. Because Lisanna-chan isn't the greedy type to hoard Natsu for herself. ... Unlike certain others. (❋•‿•❋)

Natsu, Lisanna, Elfman, and Mira could get strong together. Although Elfman miiight be a little defensive of the Dragon Slayer getting a little too intimate with his sisters. (❋•‿•❋) But it's not like he can say "no" to Lisanna, who wants to cuddle with her Pyro~... In this time together, he could hear about what the siblings went through during the Tartaros arc. While Natsu might punch Elfman or something to that effect for choking Lisanna, he'd know that it wasn't Elfman's fault, and the guy was feeling bad enough for all four of them, especially after he blew up the guildhall.

Natsu would also hear about Fairy Tail disbanding... And train that much harder so they could all come back together a year later. (❋•‿•❋) But in terms of him and Lisanna.... This year together is an excellent period for them to become a couple. They'd have Mira's blessing. ... And a little more, but we'll hear about Mira-chan later. (❋•‿•❋)

Even though Natsu's instincts are to protect Lisanna, he knows she's strong enough to stand on her own and have his back. Happy still views her as a Mommy, too. (❋•‿•❋) And after Alvarez blows over... Perhaps Lisanna-chan makes good on that childhood dream of tying the knot with her dense Pyro. \(❋•‿•❋)/ She does have to work that much harder to get him to understand romance, but I feel after a while Natsu would mature in his own way and roll with the dates and eventual marriage scene.

... Not to mention the eventual "mating like rabbits" scene. (❋•‿•❋) Lisanna is Mira-chan's darling sister, after all~... She's petite. But she also has L E G S~... \(❋•‿•❋)/

#Fairy Tail #Lisanna Strauss #Natsu Dragneel #Natsu x Lisanna #NaLi #Natsu harem

[be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie]

What interests me most in Quaritch’s and Spider’s relationship is The Tragedy. Quaritch is an asshole who wants to kill Na’vi but he also has nothing else going for him, so he does what he’s told because without the mission he has no purpose. Spider is a kid who was neglected by EVERYBODY and never had an adult care for him. Then BOOM, they meet and are forced to work together. The movie had not given them a lot of screen time but the fact that Spider felt safe enough around the recoms to crack jokes and be playful says a lot. The scene where he teaches Miles Na’vi and puts a hand on his knee, unafraid of physical contact also shows that they’ve grown quite close in the past months.

And then Quaritch fucks it up. He goes back into his old ways and only cuts corners out of fear that Spider will hate him until the end of days, but he already does so because after months of camping out in the forest and having their Disney found family arc, the poor kid is confronted with the fact that his not-dad-dad had not changed in any way that matters. The only thing that changed about Q is the fact that he now has one (1) person he cares about. Spider got taken away from his home, somehow experienced what it was like to be loved (even if said love was the bare minimum) and then was brutally reminded that the person who loves him is an actual demon.

In the end, a happy ending was never meant to be. They are enemies, and could never support the other’s cause and yet they still love one another, and they fucking hate that they love one another, which is my favorite part. In separate interviews, both Slang and Jack had confirmed that both characters have a mighty soft spot for one another, even if they resent it. The bond they have built is there and not Spider, nor Quaritch can shake it off.

I've let this sit in my asks for a while now cause I knew I would get fired up. Yeah from the get go in your post you are already being extremely charitable to Quaritch in a way that sits really poorly with me.

-"Quaritch has nothing else going for him if he's not fulfilling his mission and killing Na'vi." I don't understand where you guys fabricate this tragic past for Quartich from, in the first movie he literally says he chose to extend his tour on Pandora because of his hatred for the Na'vi. He was going back to Earth, where who knows who was waiting for him? Saying he has no family or friends is entirely made up, especially when we know he had a girlfriend and a child at the time.

-"They were forced to work together" HUGE fucking reach dude. Spider is sure forced to work for Quaritch. But Quaritch kidnapped him, took him as a prisoner of war, brought him to be tortured for informatin, uses him as a forced teacher and translator as he burns down and threatens civilian villages. These are all decisions he makes intentionally (not forced!) and are all fun little war crimes.

-I think calling Spider playful around the recoms for that one scene where he mocks Quaritch's Na'vi is rather crazy. Saying they've grown quite close, that they've had a 'Disney family arc,' I really hope you are really young and you'll mature. YOU CAN'T DEVELOP A GOOD AND HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP WITH SOMEONE UNDER DURESS. Spider is a prisoner! The entire time! Any relationship basis is stockholm syndrome, because every interaction is colored with the fact that any of the recoms, Quaritch, could hurt him or kill him at any time. They could take him back to be tortured. He can't do what he wants. He cannot leave. So every action that isn't harmful feels ten times better because he knows it COULD BE and might be at any second. It's why the cycle of abuse is so powerful, when the norm is pain, kindness feels so unexpected and undeserved. It's really harmful to paint these relationships as good.

-"Quaritch has changed because now he has someone he cares about." Well fuck me, I guess Spider didn't matter when he god damn existed in the 2009 movie??

-The bond that is built is a toxic one based on abuse and manipulation. It's stockholm syndrome, it's lima syndrome. It will definitely be interesting, but you are right about that one thing: it will never work out.

#when will you all get it through ur thick skulls #miles quaritch #miles spider socorro #spider socorro #recoms #avatar #avatar the way of water #james cameron avatar #melissa's asks #melissa on avatar (cameron)

[thegeeksideofsr]

Pretending or Not.

I didn't know what reason to give for them to be in this situation, so I had to wing it.

Content: A fake marriage, bed sharing, talk of having kids and a family, a smidge is steamyness, a dash of self doubt and miss understandings, and probably an absurd amount of fluff.

I hope you enjoy.

Being the newest to the team was, interesting. They offered me a place on the team after they need my help with a forgery piece of jewelry for a con a almost a year ago. They asked me to be their forger, and occasional grifter. Grifting wasn't my normal thing, but I can pull it off when I need to, plus Nate had more options for cons with one extra person around. It was nice having a team, but I spent most of my time behind the scenes with Hardison.

Spending as much time together as we do, Hardison and I bonded pretty quickly. He was an amazing forger, but there was somethings he wasn't able to do that I could. He was great at making fake badges, coats for various agencies, uniforms for almost very profession that required one, and the occasional statue of a saint. My area of expertise was paintings, gems, coins, and a verity of antiquities. Plus we had similar tastes in things outside the job like movies and tv shows, books, and movies.

Parker and I got along well. We bonded over a mutual love of shiney things and her teaching me how to lift and pickpocket, a skill we both used to mess with Hardison.

Sophie and Nate were harder to get to know. Sophie was helping me improve my grifting, while trying to keep Nate from going of the rails. And Nate was, Nate. He was drunk most of the time, but when he wasn't as drunk as normal, he was planning the next job.

Eliot was the most difficult. He was friendly and we had been paired up for cons occasionally, he even kept me company while I was working on a forgery. He never said much, usually reading a book, or watching something on the TV quietly. We even cooked dinner for the whole team together a couple times.

I could help but fall for him. I had witnessed his kindness towards the people we help, especially kids. His protective streak for the team is a mile wide, his cooking is out of this world.

Then there's his looks. His blue eye that seem to change color depending on the light, his honey tone skin, soft brown hair that is obviously well taken care of, and his smile that could make any girl swoon.

I kept how I felt to myself though. I had seen how he put the charm on to women at random places. He had never done that to me, and that made it clear I was just part of the team.

That didn't stop me from admiring from afar. Hardison nearly caught me ogling him once, but I managed to play it off as starring off into space, in his general direction.

At least today he wasn't in my line of sight, just sitting right beside me as Hardison went over everything he had dug up of the Price's.

The Price's were a middle aged couple, with no kids, and way to much time on their hands. They took over management of an apartment building a six months ago and decided that the fixed rent that tenants were paying wasn't enough, and raised the rent. A few families moved because they couldn't afford it anymore.

Our client was a young father named Eric Thatcher, who was maybe twenty eight, who's wife had an emergency cesarean with their second child and was still healing, and was having trouble managing everything. He was taking care of his wife, a new born, a four year old, work and house hold chores.

Apparently, taking care of everything in a household can cause bills to be paid a little bit late, who knew? Eric and been making all his payments, just a few days late. Mrs. Price said that if he didn't start paying on time, his family would be evicted. Eric had tried to tell her that she didn't have the power to do that, but that just made it worse. She had her husband make up some official looking papers saying that she could.

Poor Eric knew they weren't real, but he had no way to fight her on it.

Eric came to us to make her back off, or get her arrested for extortion or breach of contract, for the sake of his sanity and the other families in the building.

That's how I ended up playing house with Eliot Spencer.

While we posed as the new couple in the neighborhood, Nate got close to the Price's at work.

We 'rented' the apartment next door to Eric, establishing ourselves as his sister and brother-in-law to help out with the kids and her recovery. We made sure to bring him and his wife, Kate, in to the con to make sure the Price's wouldn't get suspicious. Kate was more then willing to help, and their four year old, Jemma, was young enough not to really know if we really were related or not.

We kept our first names so Eric and Kate wouldn't accidentally slip up, and Hardison built us an entire history for us, photos and everything. He even managed to get rings that looked like a set, that happened to fit us both perfectly. I don't even want to know how he knew our ring sizes.

We 'moved in' with help from Parker and Hardison. They helped us set up the apartment so that it looked presentable. The apartment had two bedrooms, but we decided to share one in case the Price's got curious and went snooping.

Hardison giving me a wide eyed look repeatedly when we where bringing stuff to the bedroom.

Of course, with in two hours of us being there, the Price's made their way to our apartment to introduce themselves. They put up a friendly persona, Mrs. Price was obviously checking out Eliot, which was a little creepy, Mr. Price seemed unfazed by his wife's blatant ogling.

It was after dark and we had a couple boxes left in Eliot's truck. He climbed up to pull them from the bed of the truck and handed them to me, to set on the ground, he hopped down from the tailgate, turning to me to take a box from my hands. His eyes moved over my right shoulder, and his posture changed slightly.

"What? What is it?" I ask.

"Mrs. Price. She walking her ankle biter, keeps looking at us trying to be inconspicuous, but damn she's bad at it."

He puts on a flirty look I'd seen on him a dozen times, he takes the box I'm holding, set it on top of the other box, then pulls me in close to his chest.

"We need to sell the part. You up for that?" He whispers in my ear.

I nod, his close proximity making my brain shortcircuit. His hands come up to either side of my face, his fingers landing just behind my ears. I let out a squeak of surprise, as he pulls me into a kiss. I freeze for a second, then relax and kiss him back.

He pulls away, just barely, before we both move in for another kiss, completely losing our selves in it. His hands travel from my face to the back of my neck, down my arms, then around my waist.

I bring my arm up behind his head, one hand tangling in his hair, which is softer than it looks, and the other cupping his jaw.

We finally pull away when the need for air is to much to ignore. We stand there, breathing hard trying to come back to reality.

He lifts his head away, his blue eyes looking into mine, a lock of hair hanging in his face. I bring my hand up and tuck it behind his ear. It's a intimate moment neither of use were expecting. The air around us thick with tension.

He glances behind me quickly.

"She's gone." He says in hoarse tone.

The bubble bursts when he speaks, the memory that it was just an act hitting me like a rock.

I don't even acknowledge him. I untangle myself from his arms grab the top box from the stack and practically run back to the apartment.

I leave the box in the kitchen, then head to the bedroom to grab some clothes then lock my self in the bathroom. I can hear him enter the apartment, then walk down the hall to the bedroom, then some movement and drawers opening and closing.

I tune out the sounds of his movements, and start a shower.

Once I finish, I take a deep breath, before walking to the bedroom. The only light on is the small lamp on his side. Eliot's already in bed, sitting up against the head of the bed with a book in his hands.

He looks up when I come in, he marks his place then sets his book aside. He doesn't say anything, he just watches me get ready for bed, then crawl in next to him. I lay on my side, my back to him.

"Are you ok? I should have asked if it was ok before I ki-"

"It's fine, Eliot."

I hear him take a breath, then let it out. He turns out the light, and lays down himself.

I don't fall asleep immediately. Neither does Eliot. I can tell by how rigid he is. We don't say anything, we just lay there, back to back, until sleep finally takes over.

*****

The next morning I wake up alone. I sit up and look around, Eliot is now where to be found. The clock on the wall says it's only eight thirty, so I decide to get up. Once I'm dressed and presentable, my ear bud in my pocket, I make my way down the hall, with still no sign of Eliot. The only sign he's been there was a pot of fresh, hot coffee. I make my way through the kitchen and fix my self a mug.

I begin to make myself a light breakfast, when the front door opens. Eliot comes walking in, dressed in a janitor jump suit, a scowl on his face. Hardison obviously annoying him this early in the morning.

He sees me and his scowl softens.

"Mornin', Y/N," he says, then rolls his eyes. " Parker and Hardison say hi."

I laugh as I pull my ear bud out and tuck it in my ear.

"Good morning, gang. How's it goin'"

*****

By the end of the day, Hardison had been able to hack into the Price's accounts, and discovered that Mr. Price had some serious gambling debts, and they had raised the rent to pay it off. He also worked for a crime family as their accountant.

Parker broke into his office and found all the original fixed rent contracts, and records of the crimes his boss committed, in a safe, that according to her, so easy to open, baby could do it.

Once we set up the next step in the con, we quit for the night, so that we could start fresh in the morning.

A knock came on the door just as we were starting to collect items for dinner. It was Eric asking if we could watch Jemma and Fern for a few minutes while he and Kate made dinner, and focused on a few chores.

He introduced us to the girls. Jemma warmed up to us pretty quickly once she realized that Eliot wasn't as scary as he looked, she pulled him off to look at her rock collection, while I was holding baby Fern. She was adorable and had that sweet baby smell. It was nice being able to give the Eric and Kate a few moments to them selves, even if it was just a room away.

After Jemma was finished showing off her collection to Eliot, she decided it was my turn. So I handed Fern to Eliot and followed the little girl to her desk in the corner of the living room. She began going through the box one by one, telling my which ones where her favorites and why, which ones had stories behind them, and which ones were 'enchanted'. After she was finished we talked a bit more about rocks, flowers, and our favorite colors.

Kate soon called Jemma for bath before dinner, leaving me at the small desk. I watch them leave the room hand in hand, when movement from Eliot's direction catches my attention. I look over at him and my heart nearly stops.

Eliot holding a baby is something I never expected to see. She looked so small in his arms, he's swaying slightly as he holds her so gently. He's not even looking at me, or scanning his surroundings, he's just looking at the baby in his arms.

I would have liked kids some day, with the right guy, but it never happened. And now being a criminal and working with a team that went after powerful people, my life too dangerous for kids. But damn, Eliot holding a baby, and interacting with Jemma, that made me reconsider things.

But he didn't see me as anything but a coworker. So I would have to stow these memories away, for when I needed a smile.

*****

When we got back to the apartment we cooked dinner together again, working in comfortable silence.

I couldn't get the image of Eliot and Fern out of my head.

"Did you ever thing about having a family?" I ask.

He looks at me, his eye brows raised in surprise.

"Nevermind. It was stupid question."

I turn back to the stove, mentally scolding myself for asking that.

"A long time ago. Before I joined the army. The life I live now, ain't safe for a family. Even if I tried," he answered after a few minutes.

I turn to look at him, finding him already looking at me.

" I understand."

We stare at each other for a moment, before turning back to our cooking.

****

I let out a huff as I laid down against my pillow later that evening.

"You ok?" He asks, walking towards the bed.

"Yeah, just tired."

He nods, then climbs in next to me. We lay back to back, with a gap between us. I toss a little bit, trying to get comfortable.

He suddenly rolls over, wraps and arm around my waist and pulls me across the bed and into his chest.

Once the shock of what he just did wears off, the feeling of being spooned settles over me. The warmth of him seeping into me, the weight of his arm around my waist, the feeling of him breathing against my back, the combination making me calm a little bit.

"What are you doing, Eliot?" I whisper.

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Cuddling me. But, why?"

"Because you keep wiggling, tryin' to get comfortable and I thought this might help. Do you want me to let go?"

"No."

A silents falls over us, his warmth seeping into me.

"Can we talk about the kiss last night?" He asks after a few minutes.

"What about it?"

" You kissed me back."

"You kissed me first."

He chuckles at my response. His arms squeezing me briefly, before relaxing into a soft hold.

I roll over into his chest, tucking my head under his chin. He lays his hand on my back, and starts to rub circles into my spine, lulling me to sleep.

*******

I woke up to my phone ringing, I go to grab it, but an arm around my waist tightens when I move. I open my eye to see Eliot scowling, barely awake. I untangle myself from his arm, and grab my phone.

It was Hardison, calling to tell us that he intercepted an email Mrs. Price just sent to Eric, saying that because of all the late payments, his family was being evicted, and he had two weeks to find a new place to live.

Nate decided to bring up the time line. We were taking the Price's down today. The con was already in motion, we just had to push them over the line.

After hanging up, I turn back to Eliot, who's now wide awake and leaning on an elbow. I scoot closer to him, and begins filling him in on what Hardison told me.

"Alright. We better get going," he says moving to get out of bed.

I grab his wrist, stopping him from getting to far. I hold his face with my free hand and kiss him. He leans into the kiss, his hands cupping my face.

He leans in more, he brings a hand down to my waist and gently pushes me backwards onto the bed, holding himself above me with one arm.

The kisses become more intense and hands starn to wander. His hands slip under my shirt, and graze my skin. I grip his tank top, and pull it up slightly, exposing his skin. I runs my hands over his skin, his warmth seeping into me.

His hand travels up my torso, landing on my ribs, his thumb grazing the under side of my breast. He runs his thumb along the side of it, causing goosebumps to appear.

He pulls away when I let out a small whimper when his kisses move from my lips to my neck.

"We should stop. If we don't meet the others, they'll come lookin' and I don't want to be interrupted." His voice low, and ruff." And when this job is done we are having a long talk."

I nod. He pulls his hand from my shirt, sitting up slightly, before leaning in and kissing me one more time.

He finally pulls away, as he stands I can see a clear bulge in is sleep pants. He follows my gaze, then look back at me with a smirk.

"If we had more time, I'd make sure you wouldn't leave the bed for as long as I could."

And with that last comment he walks out of the room, leaving me a mess in the bed.

I hear the shower turn on, and have to stop my self from imagining him in there, other wise nothing would be accomplished today.

I drag myself out of bed and get ready for the long day ahead.

*****

After the job was done and the Price's were charged with forgery and extortion, I sat at a booth with Parker and Hardison, half listening to them bicker about something, I was still thinking about the kisses between Eliot and I earlier. The way his hands held my face, his smell, the feel of his hands against my skin, the intensity of the kisses and how his lips were softer then I was expecting. It easily became the best kiss I'd ever have.

I get up to get another round of drinks. While waiting, I hear Sophie and Eliot talking.

"You two are practically made for each other!"

"Damn it Sophie. Leave it alone."

"You're in denial, Eliot."

" I'm not in denial."

"Look me in the eye and tell me you don't feel anything for her. Or it was all just the job?"

" Sophie. Let it go," he growls.

He doesn't deny it. That it wasn't all the job.

I bring the drinks back to the booth, then head back to pay the evening's tab. While waiting for the receipt, I think about all the things that happened over the con.

"Y/N."

Eliot's voice pulls me from my thoughts. He's sitting on the stool next to me, an open beer in front of him. He's changed clothes from before, now he's in black short sleeved button front shirt, the way he's leaning against the bar top accentuates he's arms and shoulders.

"You ok?"

I clear my throat as I force myself to look away from him.

"Mmhm. I'm fine. Just tired, it's been a long couple of days."

He nods in agreement, then takes a sip of his beer. He sits there quietly, looking deep in thought.

He doesn't bring anything up though. He acts like nothing happened, like it was just another day. It makes me realize how stupid I was thinking that something changed, that he felt something for me.

I get up and dig through my bag for some money, tears start blurring my vision.

"You leavin'?" He asks, in a worried tone.

"Yeah. I wanna sleep for a week after this. Who knows what Nate has planned next."

I finally manage to pull a few bills from my wallet, I see that I'm still wearing the ring Hardison gave me for the con. Tears finally blur my vision completely. I set the bills down then pull the ring off. I place it on the counter next to Eliot.

"Can you make sure Hardison gets this back, please?"

"Wait, we need to talk about -"

"It fine, Eliot. You did a great job of making people believe you love me. Nearly fooled me too."

I practically run out of the pub. I can hear him call my name as I leave, but I ignore it. The crisp night air is refreshing after being in the pub. I hear footsteps behind me after a second, I recognize them as Eliot's, but I continue to ignore it.

I almost make it to my car, when he catches up to me. His hand catches my elbow, making me stop.

" Wait! Would ya stop runnin'?"

" 'M not running. I just want to go home."

"Come on, Y/N, you look like you are about to cry. What did you mean, nearly fooled ya?"

I clench my eyes shut, trying to force the tears back.

I finally feel calm enough to look at him. He has a worried look on his face, his jackets not even on right. I reach up and fix his jacket, I rest my hand on his chest for a second, then pull away.

" Good night, Eliot."

"Y/N, wait -"

I tune him out and flee to my car, once I'm in I start it and pull away. I glance in the mirror, seeing Eliot standing in the sidewalk where I left him.

Once I'm home I finally let the dam break. I let my self cry for a few minutes before gathering my self up, and taking a nice, hot shower. When I'm done I put on my favorite sweater and comfy pants then take care of my hair. I head to the kitchen for some water. Half way through my second glass, a knock on my door echoes through my apartment.

I set my cup down on the counter then walk to the door. Looking through the peephole, I see Eliot standing on the other side. I let out a quiet groan because I know my eyes are still red and puffy.

I open the door, and look at him. His eyebrows aren't in his usual scowl, he has a more hopefull look on his face.

"What do you want, Eliot?" I ask, with a slight croak.

"You."

A bolt of surprise shoots through me.

"What?"

"You said I fooled everyone in to thinkin' I love you, even you." He says, taking as step closer, nearly touching me. "I wasn't pretending."

" Eliot, I heard you with Sophie. She asked if it was just for the job, and you didn't say it wasn't."

He lets out a sigh.

"I didn't say anything, because I wanted to talk to you first. I fell for you months ago. I didn't want to admit it to myself, because I thought you didn't feel the same way. And I was pretending, at the beginning, that it was just for the job, then when I kissed you that first time, it was like someone slapped me up side the head. Then you kissed me back and it was like all the puzzle pieces fell into place."

His hands come to the sides of my face, holding me still at he looks me in the eye.

"I'm in love with you. And the past few days made me realize just how much, and it scares me."

The weight of his words makes the world fade away. Words seem to escape me, so I do the next logical thing. I grab the collar of his shirt and pull him down into a kiss. Pouring as much feeling into it as I could.

His arms wrap around my waist, pulling me in till my front is flush against him. I move my hands from his collar to his face, holding him as if he was a precious artifact. I pull away from the kiss when my lungs begin to burn, both of us start taking deep breaths.

"I love you too, Eliot," I whisper, holding his face in my hands.

A smile spreads across his face, crinkles appearing at the corners of his eyes.

" I never pretended after that first kiss. And seein' you with Jemma and Fern, I made me feel things I didn't think I could feel any more," he whispers. "You think you'd be willing to give me chance?"

"I think I can do that."

#leverage #eliot spencer #christian kane #eliot spencer x reader #eliot spencer x oc #leverage fanfic

[theopolis]

I'm told BND Harry started patching things up with Liz off-panel and didn't care about Normie for most of his appearances. Would you say that's a fair assessment?

I'll preface this by saying that I may be overlooking something as I am not super well read on the post OMD era (many thanks to my friend @kitausuret for her liveblog of it, which def filled in some gaps for me!)

But overall... yes and no. Patching up things with Liz off-panel definitely rings true to me, I can think of only one storyline where the conflict between them was beginning to be adressed head-on

Which ended with both of them by Normies side, establishing how they are a family regardless of how the relationship between Liz and Harry may evolve from here. Overall, a good start.

However following that this conflict was neglected. Until, at a later point, we were informed that while plot was happening Harry and Liz were basically locked in a room together and whatever happened in there caused them to get romantically involved in some way again which. Hmmm. Is a very lackluster way to revive their relationship, especially considering how little ground it had to begin with. I can buy them being young, impulsive, etc pre OMD and rushing into getting married and having a child. But after the trauma Harry put his family through during his Goblin days, I cannot imagine things resolving so easily. We deserved a deeper exploration of their feelings, especially Liz' side.

Harry's relationship to Normie post OMD wasn't as undercooked, although it still didn't receive its due if you ask me. The main thing that made me go "blegh" was that one quote from Harry about how he went for days at a time without thinking of Normie while he was in hiding. Bad. Very ooc. I do not see it

But ignoring that - Harry was consistently shown around Normie when the narrative didn't whisk him away to somewhere else (a problem of its own) and they definitely got more of a real pay-off to the conflict between them compared to HarryLiz. Normie was wary of his father upon Harrys return and there was this subplot about Harry struggling to raise two sons at a time, and Normie growing jealous of Stanley (as well as being confused by the status of his parents relationship)

In my opinion, Normie's feelings were justified considering how big of an impact Harry's Goblin days and death must have left on his young psyche, and his (one-sided) sibling rivalry with his half brother was a compelling concept. The resolution to that, while rushed, was still quite sweet

The main issue with post OMD Spider-Man comics, as you may have deduced from this summary, is that they more often than not do not want to commit to fleshing out grounded interpersonal conflict. Often, the writers don't give the characters enough time to be around each other, and when they do, we do not get to see enough of it to really paint a picture of the way their dynamics evolve. A problem will be set up, forgotten about for a while, and then we jump-cut to its supposed resolution.

This stands in stark contrast to the root of the complicated feelings between Harry and his family especially - DeMatteis' Goblin Jr arc left more room for the characters inner lives and how they externalize those than perhaps anything else. That's what made it so intense and captivating.

I really wish for another version of the post OMD era where Harry is not only written more in line with his original personality and themes, but he and his family receive more of an opportunity to shine as complex individuals with complex relationships to one another which change at a natural pace and through thoughtfully placed character beats. But regardless, I cannot agree with the assesssment that post OMD Harry didn't care about Normie. If anything, his scenes with Normie are the rare moments where his once character-integral softness and domesticity come through

#harry osborn #liz allan #normie osborn #theopolispost #osborns #canon

[littlebookmermaid]

i saw The Little Mermaid on Friday (after all these years...) and it's taken me a while to process it. I've been waiting for this movie for so many years, like even before it was announced it would happen. And especially after 2015 when Cinderella came out. So being the obsessed mermaid fan that i am here are my thoughts. If you would like to discuss it with me please do! I want to talk abut this movie with everyone. SPOILERS BELOW!

The feeling of seeing your favorite movie on the big screen but in a brand new way was very emotional and i cried and laughed and then i cried again. I loved it though, so much and i have so much to write so here we go. I only had three things that i didn't like too much. Three kinda big things but still it doesn't matter too much because overall i did love it so much. It was fun, sweet and Halle really was the star (fish) of this!

I obviously loved Halle. She was amazing, she is amazing. Long before Halle was announced as Ariel I had this slight fear over who they would cast. I was worried that they would only see "mermaid" and age Ariel up and make her a mermaid al a Pirates (this fear only grew when weirdly enough, it would be directed by the same guy). I really didn't want them to make Ariel this gorgeous super model siren just because she was a mermaid. Instead they, thankfully, left her young, curious, beautiful in a very cute way and Halle really embraced the character perfectly.

Ariel and Eric were so adorable together! What a rom com this turned out to be. Ever since i was a kid i always wanted the "Tour of the kingdom" scene to be longer and this movie really delivered! I loved their date to the market place (with the Jodi cameo!) and the boat ride was so soft and lovely. I hope we get a sequel to this movie cause i need waaaay more of Halle and Jonah as Ariel and Eric together.

Speaking of! I adored how they connected them even more by giving Eric a collection too! What a fun idea. And the shot of his room mirrored the shot in Ariel's grotto. Also, having Ariel showing him a bunch of oceanic stuff was so fun and Eric was so patient and observant while she expressed her emotions without her voice and it was the most romantic thing i've seen in a long time (maybe ever).

I liked how fun Sebastian was in this and especially his banter with Scuttle.

I thought Awkwafina was fun as Scuttle, no complaints.

Flounder my love i'm sorry they didn't give you much to do. I really thought they would give him the deleted scene from the original where he stopped the shark again but no. At least he swam to get Triton so that was something.

The mermaid lore! I wish we could have gotten more of that but i love what we got.

i loved Eric's new song and I liked Ariel's new one. I do think Beyond my wildest dreams from the broadway show did it better.

i loved how beautiful the tail looked underwater.

Okay i need to get on to the three things i didn't like so someone can argue with me and change my mind.

I didn't love how they did Ariel and Triton's relationship in this one. I think it missed the point from the original. In my opinion, their relationship in the original is the main thing. Ariel and Eric are actually like second place (if this make sense). Because in the original it is clear that they have a very loving and strong bond, they share traits which is one of the reasons why they had trouble understanding each other. Ariel is rebellious, Triton is protective and they're both very stubborn. It's also why I always liked how in the original there's this scene where Ariel wishes him good morning (with the flower) right before under the sea and the destruction which shows them being close to each other. It's just one tiny scene but it makes a lot of difference cause otherwise he would just be yelling at her the entire movie- which is what he did in this one. Only because they didn't include a scene where they were just talking kindly to each other. The guilty look Triton gives after destroying the grotto also shows how he already regrets it but in this one he was all "Never leave again," while she's crying and i'm so confused. It also took Triton waaay to long to come around like the anti climax i felt when he came back to life and still ordered her away from the surface was so weird lmao However, i do understand that this is a new take and a new movie with new mermaid lore so... it is what it is but i wish we could have gotten a bit more of a glimpse of the sweet father/daughter relationship from the movie ( and the tv series... honestly they did it the best).

Gods this is long okay. Kudos if you've read this far. Anyway... second thing was the fact that Ariel steered the boat into Ursula. I understand why they did it and I'm not mad about it. But it does change part of the point of the movie. Like, I'm all for women in movies taking charge, please do more of that. However... i have always loved the balance and parallel between Ariel and Eric. Ariel rescues Eric at the beginning of the movie and Eric rescues Ariel at the end of the movie. It also takes away the whole idea that Eric saves Ariel which is why Triton understands that he really does love her and that all humans can't be bad cause this man saved his daughter and almost died doing it. And in this movie Ariel's all "Eric was there too." And i just thought, doing what exactly?? haha But seeing Ariel crawl on a ship in a storm to steer it was really cool and she deserved to be the one to to do it cause this was obviously very personal (I mean her father had just died because of Ursula). So i'm obviously fine with it but maybe they could have given Eric something else to do besides... throwing a harpoon?

There was not enough dresses. Where was my sparkly "i just turned into a human"- dress??? Why did that last scene not show her walking out of the ocean in a blue, sea foam dress??? Why was she back in the blue one?? Disney... i want more dresses!

Okay one more thing. Under The Sea deserves a choir.

I think i'm done for now.

Overall i did love it so so much! I can't wait to see it over and over and over again. I'm so happy that The little mermaid got a deserving remake. It also opened with my favorite quote from the original story by H.C. Andersen so good job Disney.

#The Little Mermaid #The little mermaid live action #The little mermaid 2023 #the little mermaid live action 2023 #the little mermaid live action spoilers #Ariel #Eric #Ariel and Eric #Disney #Disney the little mermaid #mermaid #mermaids

[beeoftheboop]

D e s t i n e d w i t h y o u ; SPOILERS

I just finished watching Destined with you and AHHH <3

Plot: 7/10

The plot while one of the best things about it and is very entertaining it does get a bit repetitive they always come back to the overarching plot which is good but they only have 2 actual plot points (and yes I know its a limited series) and one of them the Stalking plot they don't really play on it at all and pretend that its normal?!? they act as if nothings wrong until the end and then ALL of a sudden they are responding normally too it because it could wrap up the series nicely.

The other plot point of the past lives I like it and a lot of dramas have done it amazingly and this drama does well at it but from the information you find out from episode 12-16 (ish) you earn no new information and they just keep going back to it from different perspectives not really adding anything new. Although I do love the plot of its destined to happen so why try to avoid it.

Also the ending left me wanting more although I know realistically that was the natural end to the show I still wanted to see Lee Hong jo and Jang Shin Yu have the wedding I feel like we don't get enough scenes of them happy together maybe that just the rom-com lover in me though.

Also the ex plot and her father (mayor of the company) just did not interest me at all the only good thing to come out of it was Lee Hong Jo's speech to her in the restaurant (in one of the final few episodes) and the scene where Jang Shin had figured out that the GF (now ex) slept with his old boss (correct me if I'm wrong), but other than that I was bored of it a few episodes in.

The magic / spells plot was honestly the best plot and funny asf especially when they only half believed in it towards the middle, and the whole scene with Kwon Jae Kyung when they were trying to prove to him it worked was good!

Characters / Acting: 7/10

The acting throughout the whole show for a most part is great there is a few moments especially in the first few episodes that the actors just don't funny understand there characters yet but apart from that the acting is good (yes there is a lot of 'cringy' bits BUT when is there not in a Drama, although I will say I did notice toward the middle and end i stopped pausing it from second hand embarrassment)

However the characters is what brough this catagory as the characters had the possiblity to be fleshed out and they have bac stories its just never gotten into, i mean Lee Hong's back ground is she was bullied and an orphan and while yes the part with her dad was cute and bonding for her and Jang Shin for the majority it is not explained like - WHAT I would have really liked to see that more and especially the behind the scenes with her mum and yes I get she died while Lee Hong was young i still would have at least liked for the show to show the affects of both of her parents dying.

I also think while yes there are quite a few characters I would have liked Lee Hong to actually have a good friendship instead of her and the women from her office as they were mostly in it to get closer to Jang Shin and Kwon Jae Like 0-0 at least let her make an actual friend!!

But all in all the characters have the potential to be fleshed out but they just didn't go into depth and I know that it is a limited series but still there is 16 episodes FIND SOME TIME.

Pace: 5/10

The pace of the whole show is quite slow BUT it does start to pick up around episode 7, and although it picks up at some point it becomes repetitive. And yes although I did watch it all in one (over the spa of like 3 days) and not weekly like intended but I still don't get why they give us the same plot point over and over again, ALSO the pace of the show is very much intended for a casual watch while still giving a good romance and thriller just thing they could have done it a bit better. And I'm glad they only stuck to a handful of plot points so they could go fully in depth in to a plot (meh) I wish they sped it up a tiny bit and gave us more of the day to day life.

Also the in universe time frame can get confusing at some point as they jump back and forth and sometimes a day had passed between scenes and sometimes months and most of the time they just don't tell you.

All in all I loved the show and I probably will try and watch the other shows that the actors are in just to see how they are in that.

This is all just for fun and what I liked and disliked! <3

#destined with you #kdrama #netflix series #rowoon #korean #show review #review #romance #thriller #happy ending #rating #Beeoftheboop #kdramas #k-drama #netflix kdrama

[gillianthecat]

I couldn't decide which moment to use for my header photo, so I just picked Mamoru looking beautiful and relaxed.

Kabe-Koji-Nekoyashiki-Kun Desires To Be Recognized final episode (episode 8)

my extremely scattered thoughts:

if i liked Matsuoka Koudai's face before, he is absolutely devastating when he's relaxed and smiling

i thought this was a good ending to the series. surprisingly, the time skip worked for me. Mamoru had done the growing that he needed to do already, he just needed to marinate in it for a while, and produce his love letter of a manga, before he was quite ready for Issei. And Issei was already almost ready, and he needed to wait for Mamoru to take action before he could take his next steps

i adore Yamada. and she knows Mamoru well. It was heartbreaking to hear that she was almost ready to give up on pushing him, but her yelling worked. And his shift into action felt abrupt, but a) sometimes that's just how change goes, and b) it fit the overall manga vibes of the series.

the depiction of Mamoru's depression felt very sad and all too real.

all of the side characters were wonderful!

I'm so glad that the paparazzi, who's name we now learned is Nikaido, turned out to be helpful in the end! I knew there was a reason I liked him.

also I really liked his face too. Saito Yoichiro is the actor, according to MDL. I think I need to watch more shows with older actors. Writing about how all the Thai office romance dramas feature offices filled only with 22 year-olds has for some reason made me feel more aware that I keep watching shows where everyone looks so young.

and of course Tsubasa comes to the rescue. Structure wise he pretty much had too, and I'm so glad they did it. He was hilarious trying to buy Mamoru's new manga in that disguise.

also high on the list of side characters that I loved was Framboise, and his conversation with Mamoru. I loved that they let him become serious for a moment and act as a mentor to Mamoru, without making him seem out of character either.

I do like seeing Mamoru relaxed and happy, but still keeping his fundamentally grumpy self. He is so beautiful with his new self confidence. He was even able to smile at Takkun and be happy for him in his place in the wall, while he himself was still in the center.

I think it was a good choice to keep Mamoru in the center, and really show us that his perspective had changed.

I do feel like this episode really showed us the courage that it took for Mamoru to embrace what and who and how he loved as a gay man. It could have felt like a trite message, "just be yourself!" but it didn't. It felt like the show overall really acknowledged just how hard, and even dangerous, that can be, especially for queer people in an anti-queer world. It made the story of Mamoru's transformation that much more powerful.

Issei's on stage coming out announcement: part of me felt anxious for him outing Mamoru too, not just outing him as queer, but also exposing him to the media circus as the partner of an idol, without his agreement. But the story is stylized enough that I'm able to ignore that and enjoy it for Issei stepping forward to claim his love and his right to love as a gay man. He did not have nearly as hard a journey as Mamoru in that, as his obstacles were all external (wanting to protect Shiny Smile from homophobia, and running up against Mamochi's insecurities), but I'm glad he still got the chance to make his huge public claim. It felt like a triumph for him to come out that way. And I loved seeing his group mates support, and Tsubasa's little smile as he tells him to go get his man.

I do love Tsubasa. I would like to see his story if we get a sequel. I was considering shipping him and the paparazzi dude, but I think it's just that I like them both individually, not that I think they make sense together.

The final scene of Issei and Momoru together in the plaza overall was lovely. Just now I realized it reminds me a bit of To My Star 2, where the sunshine character has long been making huge romantic statements, but when the grumpy character, the one who's been paralyzed with fear this whole time, finds their courage and whispers "I like you," it feels so powerful.

I didn't actually mind that they didn't kiss there, because it felt true to both the characters and the storytelling style. I did kind want Issei to emphasize more that his love for Mamochi was special, because that was something that had made Mamochi not trust it before, but it seemed like Mamoru had learned to trust Issei's love anyways and didn't need that.

The circling camera made sense and added to the manga/anime stylization, but it did make me a bit dizzy.

We did get our wonderful tropey run-to-him moment. I liked how it worked, and Issei jumping on a confused Mamoru's back, and Mamoru's skeptical reaction.

The domesticity of the post credits scene with Mamoru working and Issei bringing him sweets was lovely, and a balm after all those stressful depressing scenes in Mamoru's apartment.

I often don't like it in shows or books when a character turns their own life story into a novel/play/manga or whatever, but here it felt very right. I think because this story was so much about Mamoru as a storyteller, and because it was needed as a love letter to Issei, and needed for Mamoru to feel free and safe enough to accept and even embrace the part of himself that loved a man, that loved Issei.

I'm still in my weird mood, so I'm not feeling as heart-eyed squee-ing enthusiastic about this episode as I might, but I still really liked it and thought it was a successful end to the series.

#kabe koji nekoyashiki kun desires to be recognized #kabe koji ep 8 #kabe koji #final episodes #gillianthecat reacts to bl #to my star 2 #only a brief mention but tagging for a potential spoiler

[hxans]

So, we watched episodes 6 & 7 of Wheel of Time

I think my husband has struggled a little with hearing some names pronounced, I mean, I know it's thrown me off a couple of times, when we're both so used to seeing the names written. Even with the guides at the back of the books we sometimes develop a preferred (incorrect) pronunciation. Anyway watching the opening about young Siuan and he's like, wait, who is she? 'Cause I don't think he quite caught the way her name was pronounced at first.

It's all starting to blur together a bit, which things happen in which episode, which I didn't expect to happen quite so soon, for me in the books I'm pretty good at remembering things up through tFoH and then it gets blurry. At least being 8 episodes if I want to rewtch it's easy enough to do so.

I am way more interested in the white tower polical stuff these days, so that's all very interesting to watch, and I feel I've got to watch it again to catch all the various interplays. Logain was very tragic, and I want more of him. Moiraine was very dramatic with the public displays of humiliation.

The blue sister talking about ships disappearing in the west filled me with dread. That's some bad, bad news right there.

I was right, when we got to the scene where Moiraine and Siuan are alone and they kiss, husband was like, I don't remember that from the books. I had to remind him RJ had some odd ideas about women being "pillowfriends" as novices but usually growing out of it. Which, yes, let's ignore that.

It was interesting how Moiraine kept Mat & Rand separated from Egwene & Perrin, not even telling them they were all in the city. I know part of it was trying to keep the tower from noticing what she was doing, but I can't help but think little things like that will fuel the distrust in her, especially with some of her other choices later.

Loved the scene of Egwene and Nynaeve meeting Siuan, and the way Nynaeve refused to be impressed or cowed, haha.

If I have one complaint, they sent the horses away before entering The Ways and had Mat dramatically hang back before ditching them, I just think him holding on to the horses and noping out of going with them would have made more sense. But uhh, I'm also worried about him being alone, weaponless and horseless and Padan Fain showing up to follow the others.

My husband had left the room just before the openjng for episode 7, so I paused it, and when he came back he was like, you didn't have to do that, and I was like, excuse you yes I did. You'll want to see this. Rand's mum fighting all those men while in labour, that was some badass shit. It's an awesome fight sequence which he agreed was worth watching.

So the Ways were creepy, but I liked the moment that showed Perrin's vision has changed when he could see further in the dark than the others. And then the black wind with everyone's fears hurled at them, for yet another moment of Nynaeve blazing with power.

I saw Uno! Hiiiiii Uno!

And Min was introduced, hi Min. She seems ok so far. She is kinda special that she's the first person Rand is willing to admit to the possibility he is tDR.

Liked Nynaeve getting to meet Lan's family and have her time with him.

Not sure what else to say about the episode. There were a lot of conversations, some awkward moments, a moment that seemed to be unintentionally unrequited Perrin/Rand while they tried to sell us on unrequited Perrin/Egwene, but all of it leading to the moment where Rand and Moiraine ditch everyone to head to teotw.

#hxans rl #hxans watches wot #wheel of time #wot on prime

[donnerpartyofone]

As I was leaving last night's Very Bad Screening, I was pretty sure I saw someone from college who I really didn't want to run into--and sure enough when I got away and opened Instagram, the first thing it wanted to show me was a post by that guy celebrating his friends' terrible movie. He was half of a gay couple I lived with during my last year of school, in a little house in the nearest town. They were the kind of couple who were so fascinated by their own internal rhythm and logic that they could be totally insufferable to be around, and case in point: They regularly did this thing where they would get all of our friends excited for a party at our place. Then, once everyone was settled in, they'd park in the kitchen, blocking the only entrance/exit, and start to have a Very Personal Conversation. The conversation would quickly turn into loud, abject mourning and sobbing, although the subject never seemed that serious from the outside--it was typically some dumb thing that happened to them in high school, something they never seemed to get tired of, all their favorite media was about children and/or high school. Sometimes the sobbing would be accompanied by one of the guys randomly smashing our dinner plates, and in any case it would become so disturbing that everyone would have to leave. On one such occasion, we had rented IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES to have on in the background of the party (an INSANE idea, why did we do this?); if you don't know, this is a long, difficult drama featuring frequent hardcore sex scenes. Somehow things evolved so that after the movie started, I found myself trapped alone in the living room with a guy I had a crush on but who I really didn't know. There was an overpowering pressure to sit very still and be very adult about watching the entire porn drama together with a stranger of the opposite sex, especially as the alternative was to pass through the kitchen where the boys were weeping and smashing things. It was one of the worst social experiences of my young life that did not involve someone deliberately scaring and hurting me personally.

So those guys both turned out to be narcissistic nightmare people. One of them wound up overhauling his life after things got bad enough, so I'm told. The other one, who I saw at the festival, is surfaced to me by Instagram or whatever now and again and he may have "gotten his shit together" more but it hasn't done a thing for his personality, apparently. You never know what factors have made somebody the way they are, but the moral of this particular story is that just because there's a reason for something, that doesn't mean you have to like it!!

PS We didn't have to have a party for the ritual glass-breaking to happen. Late one night (I don't know how I slept through this but I was surely abusing a lot of cold medicine at the time) I opened my bedroom door to find a note lying on the floor that just said something like "Watch out, there's broken glass everywhere". There was no apology given or implied, not in the note and not in any future conversation. Neither of them ever apologized for anything.

[spider-xan]

Trying to parse out the romance plot lines and possible future intentions for the sequel when it comes to the LXG film is fucking difficult tbh bc honestly, it very much feels like yet another problem with the script and editing where there's a good film in there, but the studio wanted to hedge their bets and leave things open to make creative decisions based on financial considerations - and that just leads to a problem where there's no conviction or strong direction in many areas, including the two potential love interests for Mina once Dorian is out of the picture; there are obviously romantic storylines going on for both Jekyll and Tom meant as set up for the cancelled sequel, but by the end of the film, I don't think you can conclusively say which direction the next film was going to take bc both are kind of present, but also just sort of there and really uneven, and it's like, just pick one and follow through with it.

My guess is that the original direction was Mina choosing Tom, especially when Tom was supposed to be the teen heartthrob character and American audience surrogate set up as the second protagonist, next team leader, and most likely male romantic lead in the sequel, and both Peta and especially Shane were rising hot young actors at the time while Jason is one of those talented, but low-key British character actors who's always great, but not a box office draw - though it's funny bc as someone who was in the fandom back in 2003, I would say Mina and Jekyll were easily the most popular characters, and I think Jekyll got the most horny on main reactions, along with probably being one of the most consistently praised parts of the film while Tom was very polarizing.

Anyway, on the Tom side of things, we know from the DVD commentary that there was a much bigger plotline of Tom having a crush on Mina that was cut down for the final print, but they didn't elaborate on why exactly; what we do see is generally Tom trying to flirt with Mina and her initially being nice, including vouching for his joining the team, but firmly turning him down, and later, we do see her smiling at Tom he's being an action hero in Venice and later when he mentions the villain will assume they're dead - though interestingly, Mina's weirdly disproportionately impressed reaction to the latter is actually repurposed from her reacting to a deleted big rousing speech marking him out as the next leader, where it made more sense (but also not really bc why is she accepting authority from him?); we also get her checking on him after the chase and him asking her if she's okay, and it's Tom who offers to kill Dorian for her; at the very end, it's Tom and Mina who share glances at each other during the funeral and walk away together, almost like a couple; on the other hand, the scene where she basically says she wants to be with him was deleted, but again, we don't know why.

On the Jekyll side of things, we know that during filming, they were deliberately shooting them exchanging fleeting glances (not sure how much made it into the film though) to set up a potential romance, and Jekyll is obviously in love with her, but too repressed to act on it, and Hyde as his less restrained self is also interested (since they're the same person); the film ends up doing a nice storyline in the second act where he goes from only being able to watch her from afar to becoming more confident after his big heroic moment, enough to at least look her in the eye, say something, and almost touch hands, and she seems interested - but then the film just drops everything; the only interaction they have after that is her snapping at him when they're in the cave, and as mentioned earlier, it's Tom she ends up walking away with instead of him.

So what basically happened was that they didn't commit to developing either potential romantic storyline as strongly and consistently as they could have in order to hedge their bets for the sequel that got cancelled anyway, and it's frustrating bc we just ended up with two storylines that feel awkwardly half-assed; on the other hand, it could be a monkey's paw situation where as someone who admittedly preferred the Jekyll set up, this was the only way to at least gets scraps if based on the deleted scenes, it was much more likely they would have gone for Tom as the only love interest if they chose one to focus on.

#lxg #league of extraordinary gentlemen #mina harker #mina murray #henry jekyll #tom sawyer #long post

[psych---ologically-deranged]

psych commentary 1x15

Scary Sherry

franks, kulchak, roday rodriguez, hill

"The best show creator in the world" "As long as he keeps signing our cheques"

Landis spare me

There was a version of this script where scary sherry turns out to HAVE really jumped, & KK was the one to say she shouldn't die, more interesting

instead of her being impaled on a unicorn.

The door falling on her was NOT planned & she just went under it

The original script was 79 pages!! It should be 50

JRr: I got you saying "damn girl" KK: We were wondering who was going t oplay Gus this week bc he's so much hipper than before (Ig jrr's scripts are different that just SF')

GOOCH!!!

Jamba juice

They used the same actress from the first episode, the sexy girl

Network to JRr: Take out the liquid kitty scene, I don't think that's possible JRr: It did. To me, actually.

DH has been asked irl if he's budd from cosby

The entire episode is bubilt on this bit right here

Her bedroom with stffed animals & chad michael murray

Gooch!!! I love her I wish we got more of her

JRr: That is my mother's maiden name

Mel Damski

Make DH say things that long & multisyllabic He had his lines on his computer screen

John Landis WHIPPING the keys at him

DH's nepheew pla.yed young gus somewhere... & then got cut

IN THE ORIGINAL SCRIPT BIANCA WAS BEHEADED JRr: the axe of a suit of shining armour fell on her & the head actually bounced down the stairs.

That toaster cooming down the wall XD KK I love her

Reallly good crying & JRr is barely holding on XD

"the legendarytar ppits of santa barbara" Tar pit It's a very small tar... right off the road, right off of state street

First dream sequence! Young shawn & gus got out of the car & say the whole thing & gus was still dressed as lando

SF: There's the sample case that doesn't get enough play DH: Oh no it gets enough play trust me. That's a heavy case!

My black ass

Never want a shawnvision on another shoe again

Green day shawn vision changed a million times & just went back to the initial one

Poor stunt actor, bleeding all over the place

JRr: Now there was also in the original draft, there was a little more to alice & doreen's relationship than what meets the eye. KK: Oh that's right JRr: They were actually a little bit closer than just best buddies. KK: Are you saying they were lovers? JRr: They were actually lovers. We took it all the way. Especially with beheadings. SF: The tone of the episode changed ever so slightly KK: But I like how you're making your connection here that this relationship is close to yours & gus's relationship JRr: Right. Super tight. I can see why they didn't have them be gay lovers comparing to gus & shawn.

It IS nice to have lassiter on the other side

Like a little baby orphan

Supposed to have a cooking montage :(

XD fih screensaver

it's hard to play drunk DH: When I play drunk I like to actually get drunk KK: Do you really? DH: I'm joking

Gus with Henry & Shawn I love brought flan XD Flan & flan, then flahn & flaan, & together it's flaan.

virile virile man.

cleaning up both the flan

CB improvised this? JRr responded: That was creepy John Lanis, offscreen: YES IT WAS *quiet*

Magic Head

Never see the dog

I love how the writers are just cracking up girls have friendship rings, "friendship" rings

She could walk upright in the gutter

SF: I should know, I used to work at the haunted mansion

Juliet's car XD

Oh yeah the score is always good, horror stuff is great

Oh yeah, rent the sme stairs & just redress it

Lanis fighting he really wanted the dolls

I like the headset

Triped & fell into the alice in wonderland bit

The colours

the hands, all them laughing in there

"I put my foot through this paper, how will I get it out"

lassiter before you

they're just laughing at the belt

cuts his finger XD

Why woul you make the deleted scene SHORTER

Network didn't want shawn leaving gus in the building

trying not to swear XD

gus tossing them a fortune cookie

Ooh the bloggers caught him say dulé (unless it is dule or d'andre)

American duos!

#psych commentary 1x15 #psych cast/crew