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awkward-and-indecisive · 3 years

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The Lazy Chose Me

Gif by @crowleysfavouritedemon

Summary - Y/n wants to have a lazy day but her boyfriend, Dean, wants to take her on an impromptu date. Will she have a good time at the date or will the date, the green eyed hunter organised, be a total wreck?

Pairing - Dean Winchester x Female!reader

Warnings - FLUFF!!! A little language, crack, lots of kissing a certain green eyed man, Dean being the best boyfriend ever, Dean being an adorable dork. Reader’s thoughts are italicised. If I’m forgetting anything please let me know!

Word Count - 4224

A/N - This randomly came to me at four in the morning. Also, I love Stitch with everything in me. 🥺😩

This is completely unbeta’d, so all mistakes are mine.

Please tell me what you think about it.

FEEDBACK IS HIGHLY APPRECIATED!!!

Happy Reading :)

*****

You were having the laziest day of your life. Sitting on your side of the bed in a hoodie and sweatpants, you were stuffing your face with popcorn while watching reruns of your favourite show. With no hunts for the day, you were having a lazy day after months and you were enjoying it way too much. Crumbs of the snacks you’ve had earlier were scattered on the bed, decorating the sheets like confetti. Little pieces of popcorn were falling everywhere but you didn’t care. And you didn’t care that you didn’t care. You were loving the fact that you had nothing to do all day but lie in bed and eat junk and be lazy and messy and ugly and dirty. You were basically a zombie for the day.

Ah! This is what dreams are made of. You thought to yourself, sighing after another episode ended. You stretched your body, a few of your joints popping due to not getting any movement for so long, and hummed happily to yourself. You pressed play on the remote, the next episode playing, and changed your position on the bed. Lying on your side, you brought up your knees to your chest, one of your hands supporting your head, and kept the popcorn bowl within arm’s reach.

You had only continued your munching for a few minutes when your green eyed sex god of a boyfriend entered the room, excitement making his huge frame shake. He stopped at the foot of the bed, bouncing on the balls of his feet and you got a little annoyed at how energetic he was being. Your eyes were still glued to the screen, hand going in the direction of the bowl, blindly picking some popcorn and gorging yourself with it.

Dean moved in front of the tv and switched it off. You let out a ‘hey!’ in protest and he came to sit beside you. You scowled at him for interrupting your plan of being a zombie all day and he kept a hand on your hip, a cheeky smile playing on his lips which told you that he was up to something.

“Get ready, sweetheart. We’re going on an impromptu date.” He said with eagerness, clapping his hands together, and you still kept scowling at him. He seemed to have figured out what was swirling around in your head and started shaking you lightly.

“Come on, Y/N! It’s been so long since we had a date night and I have the perfect thing in mind.” He whined, making puppy dog eyes. You almost gave in right there but the lazy part of you stopped you from saying yes.

“But whyyy?! I don’t want to get ready or dress up or do my hair or look pretty or take a shower. I want to spend all day in bed doing absolutely nothing.” You whined back.

“Y/n, come on! You can be lazy all you want tomorrow. And look at all this mess and you haven’t even showered?!” Your boyfriend exclaimed. You just shrugged in return. So what if I didn’t shower today? It wasn’t like I smelled. Or did I?

You shook your head to get those thoughts out of your head and pulled the covers over your head, trying to hide under them and not let Dean force you to get out of bed. He tried to snatch the covers from you, going to stand at the foot of the bed again, but you had a deathgrip on them. Of course you were no match to him when it came to strength and he managed to steal them from you, throwing them on the small chair in the room. You groaned and folded your body more, tightly wrapping your arms around your knees and burying your head in the space between your knees and chest.

Dean grabbed a hold of your ankle and easily pulled you to the end of the bed and you screamed in protest, grabbing whatever you could to hold on. To anyone else the scene would surely look extremely comical, you clutching the sheets like your life depended on it and Dean dragging you towards the end of the bed. You knew you were being childish and throwing a tantrum like a kid whose mother refused to give in to their unnecessary demand they made in a public place right now but you didn't want to leave your bed. You were so comfortable and happy spending the day there and your boyfriend was bursting your peaceful bubble of lethargy.

“Why. Are. You. So. Damn. Lazy?!” Dean huffed exasperatedly, pulling you more and more towards the edge with each word.

You finally gave up on your plan, knowing you were no match for your stupid boyfriend’s stupid strength. You swiped the strands of hair that stuck on your face from all the scuffle in annoyance, when you stood up on your feet, and looked him in the eyes.

“I didn’t choose the lazy Dean. The. Lazy. Chose. Me.” You huffed with every step you took to leave the room and go to the bathroom to get ready for your impromptu date.

Dean chuckled and shook his head at your antics, taking a pair of your jeans, your undergarments and a jumper out of the drawer to give to you since you didn’t take any with you. He dropped the clothes on the bench of the bathroom, shouting ‘don’t take too long and get ready in 45 minutes’, and came back to change his clothes too.

Rolling your eyes for the millionth time in the last hour, you dragged your boot clad feet to the bunker’s garage. You would have been spending the whole day in sweats and a hoodie and here you were now, wearing jeans and a bra. Oh how cruel life is to break my dreams like that! You internally groaned.

You found Dean humming a tune to himself while leaning against his precious Impala, legs crossed at the ankles and arms folded. His head perked up when the sound of your footsteps reached his ears and he immediately opened the passenger side door for you. You grumpily took a seat and Dean, still acting all gentlemanly, closed the door and rounded the car to take a seat in the driver’s side.

He jammed the key into the ignition and turned it, driving out of the garage. The green eyed man turned on some soft rock tunes, his fingers drumming to their tune. His whole demeanor was annoying you, testing your limits. How was he so happy after literally dragging me off the bed and stopping me from being the sack of potatoes I so desperately wanted to be all day?

“Why couldn’t we have a lazy date night in the Cave?” You asked, turning your body towards him.

“Because I can’t remember the last time we went out on a nice date and what I have planned is gonna be so much better than a lazy date night in the Cave.” He replied with confidence.

“I’ll be the judge of that.” You grumbled, folding your arms.

“At least tell me where we’re going!” You whined after a few minutes had passed, stomping your foot like a child. You were really in a mood today.

“Then it won’t be a surprise.” Dean said, like it was obvious. You faced him and gave him your best puppy dog eyes, jutting out your lower lip to make the pout he could never say no to. He gave you a glance and then chuckled, “Nice try, sweetheart. But my hands are tied.”- he raised his hands in defeat and shrugged, -“I’m sorry but no can do.”

You let out a groan of frustration and decided to give up on prying information from him and just wait to see what this great plan of his was.

After a little over an hour of driving, Dean put Baby in park and you could see a tent with some lights and stuff. It was a carnival.

He brought you to a freaking carnival?!

“A carnival.” You said, judgement dripping from your voice.

“What? It’ll be fun!” He shrugged, a huge smile plastered on his face.

“I swear to god Dean if i don’t have any fun-”

“If you don’t have a good time then I’ll do whatever you want for a month.” He rambled out before you could complete your threat.

“Whatever?” You asked him, wanting to know if he was sure what he was signing himself up for. He nodded in reply and you thought about the little deal he was presenting you.

“Make it two and you have yourself a deal.” You countered, giving him a huge fake smile and putting your hand forward so you could shake on it.

“Deal!” Dean said and instead of shaking your hand, he crashed his lips on yours, kissing you like he hadn’t for years. He parted from you and you weren’t sure if you were out of breath because of the kiss or because of how good he kissed you. “That’s the way to properly seal a deal, sweetheart.” He winked and got out of the car, leaving you breathless and in a daze in the car.

You shook your head to get your brain back to working and got out of the car. You rounded and saw Dean holding his hand out for you. You couldn’t help the genuine smile and warmth that graced your cheeks. You hated how a tiny gesture from him made your heart do somersaults like a teenage girl even after all these years of knowing and dating him. Intertwining your fingers with his, you started walking towards the entry to go inside.

You were mesmerised by the hundreds of lights that were acting as a roof over your heads, looking like a galaxy of stars, as soon as you stepped foot into the carnival. You uttered a ‘Whoa!’ and could already see the smug smile forming on your boyfriend’s face. He gave you a ‘Hate to say I told you so’ look which you just ignored, pulling him towards the first stall your eyes fell on.

Dean suggested that you two eat a little before indulging in any activities and you quickly agreed since you didn’t have anything to eat all day other than those few snacks. You both opted for a hotdog and quickly finished it, feeling the hunger once the food was in your hands. The both of you roamed a little around the fair, watching everything that was on display.

The various games that were hard for normal people but to you both were as easy as pie and all the different prizes they had. A particular prize caught your eye and you memorised the stall number to visit later. The numerous contrasting foods and their delicious aromas wrapped around you like a blanket as you passed their respective stalls.

You saw a stall with flavoured lemonade and urged Dean to try some. You continued exploring while drinking the flavours of your choice. You reached the end of the ground, where the carnival was set, where a huge Ferris wheel waited for you and Dean.

You could only imagine the view you would get from the top. You tugged at your boyfriend’s jacket sleeve, stopping at the queue for the giant ride. You quickly emptied your plastic cups and threw them in the trash. You couldn’t help but notice Dean being a little nervous about the ride and found it so adorable. Dean Winchester, the best hunter in the world, was scared of a Ferris wheel.

It wasn’t long till it was your chance to sit in one of the carts. The crew guy locked the bar over your laps, securing you in. You heard Dean start humming Metallica, which you knew he did to calm himself down, as the ride started to take you up. You took his hand in yours, your thumb caressing the back of his hand. His grip on your hand tightened and you squeezed it back in reassurance, resting your head on his shoulder. You knew he was a little scared but couldn’t help and find the whole situation utterly adorable and amusing.

The wheel stopped when you were halfway to the top and you looked down to see that a couple was getting off a cart and another taking their place. You looked back at Dean, sitting next to you, and he had a funny expression on his face.

“Hey! You okay?” You asked, your brows furrowing.

He scanned his surroundings for a few seconds and then gulped, looking at you. You raised your eyebrows in question and he opened his mouth but no words came out.

“I uh...I think I’m gonna throw up.” He stuttered.

“You WHAT?!” You said, voice getting louder with shock while you let go of his hand and put as much distance as you could between the two of you. Your turn had just started and you were approximately 50 feet above ground and you had nowhere to go. Your thoughts started spiralling and you quickly rambled out, “I swear to god Dean if you throw up here I’ll kill you. Don’t even think about throwing up. Swallow it down if you have to. Don’t you dare throw up.”

“I can’t just not throw up Y/n!” He screeched.

“I don’t care!!” You said, shaking your head from side to side.

You both stared at each other in disbelief for a minute when Dean started laughing hysterically, his whole body shaking the cart. Your eyes widened when realisation hit you. He was messing with you. He wasn’t nauseous. Ugh! You hated him so much. The ride started again, taking you both up and he was still laughing.

“Asshole!” You said, smacking his arm and the cart shook a little bit.

“Whoa Y/n! I might fall!” Dean shrieked and you grumbled ‘Good!’ in reply.

You crossed your arms, rolling your eyes and looking away from him. It wasn’t long until you reached the top and as soon as you took in the view, your annoyance vaporized into thin air. You could see the whole town from up here, hundreds of lights twinkling in the distance, the cold wind blowing through your hair. It all looked so heavenly stunning.

“This is so beautiful!” You whispered in awe.

“Yeah it is.” Dean agreed with you and when you looked at him, he was looking at you. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

You rolled your eyes while a blush crept up on your cheeks making your face warm even in the cold breeze. A smug expression made its way on Dean’s face and he wiggled his brow at you, thinking of how easy it was to win you over. But before he could make a smartass comment, you crashed your lips onto his, shutting him up. He didn’t seem to mind, bringing his hand up to your cheek, his thumb caressing it, while the other one still held onto the metal bar which was your only safety.

You made out like horny teenagers the whole ride, giggling when your noses collided. You both got out of the small cart, hands entwining and began to make your way back. You were walking quietly, taking in your surroundings when out of nowhere a guy ran past you, drenching you with the milkshake he had in his hand. You gasped at the contact of the cold liquid with your body, which quickly started seeping into your clothes and making you shiver.

“Son of a bitch!” Dean cursed looking at you, anger filling him straight away and then his green eyes gazed behind you to catch sight of that guy.

“Let it go, Dean. I need to change before I get sick.” You said, tugging at his hand.

“Okay okay. I think I saw a souvenir shop a little ahead. Let’s get you some clean clothes from there.” He said, his anger disappearing and worry taking its place.

You nodded and let him guide you to the shop, hoping they had some clothes you could wear. As much as you disliked coming here at first, you were having a good time and didn’t wanna go back home so soon.

You went into the shop, thanking everyone in this world when you found some clothes at the back. You quickly took off their tag and handed them to Dean so he could pay for them while you changed in the fitting room. You quickly got out of your milkshake soaked clothes and put them in a plastic bag. You left the fitting room, your eyes meeting with those gorgeous green ones and he chuckled, shaking his head and looking down.

“What?” You asked, feeling a little conscious.

“Nothing. I’m just not that surprised at your choice of clothing.” He said with amusement, waving his hand up and down towards your body.

You glanced down at yourself and realised that you were wearing sweatpants and a hoodie. You were back in your lazy clothes and chuckled too. You looked at Dean and shrugged while smirking, “What can I say? The lazy chose me.”

He grinned at you, pulling you in for a kiss. The kiss was all sweet and loving. He parted when the need for air became too much and rested his forehead on yours, whispering on your lips, “I’m starting to think it did.”

You pecked his lips one more time before taking his hand to exit the shop. You both roamed around a bit more, going on some rides and eating some food. You lost a bet to Dean, getting dizzy before him on Chair-O-Planes, resulting in him making fun of you before you kissed him to shut him up while he lost a bet to you, getting scared in the fun house once while you didn’t. You made fun of him before he applied your method of shutting him up, kissing you. You both tried a hybrid of a cake and a pie which was so fucking delicious that it left you two moaning with each bite and you instantly got a whole one packed to take home. Dean kept convincing you to call it Pieke which you kept ignoring. You also tried something called a ‘pizza cone’, it looked like a normal ice cream cone but instead of the ice cream, it had cheese and pizza sauce and the cone was made out of dough. It was easily the best kind of pizza you’ve ever had and got a few of them packed for everyone back at home.

It was safe to say that both of your stomachs were full with finger-licking food and your hearts with irreplaceable memories from tonight. You couldn’t remember the last time you felt this carefree and had so much fun. You hated to admit it, but Dean was right and you were definitely not going to say that out loud and give him one more chance of being all cocky and boastful.

Both of you were lazily strolling with one of your hands carrying the bags with the food and the other interlaced with each others’. You could see the opening from where you had entered, meaning you had done everything there was to do.

“You ready to go home, sweetheart?” Dean asked, his head tilting to you while his eyes darted towards the entry/exit point.

You hummed while nodding, Dean pecking your forehead and beginning to walk again. You had just stepped out of the carnival when your brain reminded you of that stall number you had thought of visiting before and you quickly shrieked, “WAIT!!”

He stopped in his tracks, turning to you with his brows raised, “What?”

“Uh, I remembered something I have to do.” You gave him a vague reply, not looking him in the eye.

“Okay, let’s go do it then.” He said, turning to walk back inside.

“NO!! No no.” You yelped, pushing on his shoulders to turn him back. He gave you a perplexed look and you awkwardly said, “You don’t have to come. Plus I kinda gotta do it alone.”

“Okaaay..” Dean said, unsure.

“Alright! So I'll meet you at the car in 20.” You hastily rambled out, pecking his lips and made your way back to the stall you had earlier seen in the night, leaving a dumbfounded Dean behind.

You were walking back to the car, a giant rainbow slinky in your hands, which were behind your back, to hide the toy from him. You saw how heartbroken he was, when the one Sam had gotten him on a case, got broken. You just wanted to see his whole face light up and give you that huge smile that lit up your world. You had seen the slinky displayed as a prize on the Ring Toss game and had won it for your boyfriend easily, your hunter skills coming handy.

You saw Dean leaning against the Impala, a mischievous look on his face, something blue and huge peeking out from where he was hiding it behind him. You squinted your eyes to figure out what he was hiding but failed to make anything out.

“What you got there, Y/n?” Dean questioned, nodding to your hands, amusement painted all over his face.

“I could ask the same.” You smirked, raising one of your eyebrows.

“Well as they say, ‘Ladies first’” He winked and you chuckled.

“You’re gonna need your hands for this one and they’re a little busy as far as I can tell.” You said, wiggling your brows at him.

Realisation hit him and you chuckled at his puzzled expression at what to do with whatever was in his hands. He told you to close your eyes and not open them until he shoved the thing he had in his hands in Baby through the window. He gave you the green light to open his eyes. You gave out a count of three out loud and then brought the slinky in front of you. Dean gasped, his whole face lighting up with a million megawatt smile, just like you had imagined, lighting up your whole world in the process.

“No! Oh, you’re the best girlfriend EVER!!! I LOVE YOU AND YOU’RE SO FREAKING AWESOME!!!” Dean blurted out, voice raising with each word, probably on cloud nine right now. Your face heated up at his words but you just dismissed them, mumbling ‘yeah yeah’ while looking down at your feet.

“Okay time for your surprise!”- He said, remembering what he had stuffed in the window earlier, -“Close your eyes.”- he insisted, turning around to get it out of the car while you shut your eyes, -”And no cheating!” You chuckled at his childish behaviour, loving it all the same.

“You need some help with that?” You teased him, after a few minutes passed and you heard him struggling to get it out of the car. He grunted an ‘almost done’ making you chuckle again.

“Alright, open up, sweetheart.” He said.

“YOU DID NOT!!” You gasped as you saw what he was holding in his hands, happy tears making your eyes blurry, reminding you of your childhood.

You instantly took the giant, almost as big as you, Stitch stuffed plush from his arms, squeezing it tightly against yourself. You couldn’t believe he got that for you. That little alien meant the world to you.

“I saw it at a shooting game after you left and I just couldn’t not get it for you. I know how much you love the movie and this weird guy. And also this is compensation if you didn’t have a good time tonight.” He told you and you looked up at him.

“Dean I...this...YOU are the best boyfriend in this universe and all the others. You don’t know how much this means to me...I...I love you.” You stuttered, words not coming to you as your feelings overwhelmed you, your voice getting smaller at the end.

He stepped forward, crashing his lips on yours, kissing you passionately while his large hands cupped your face. You kissed him back with the same passion, pouring all the feelings you felt into it, immense love for a certain green eyed man being the biggest. You parted when the need for oxygen became too much and rested your forehead on his.

“You should find yourself a new bed to sleep in because I just found a new cuddle buddy I won’t be letting go of any time soon.” You teased him, a smile playing on your lips.

“Pfft yeah right.” Dean scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, sorry Stitch, unfortunately I kinda love him the most.” You said with mock sadness in your tone.

“Unfortunately my ass!” He grumbled and you laughed at that.

“I love you. So so much.” You said, pecking his lips.

“I know. Now get your cute butt in the car. It’s getting late and we gotta go home.” He said, lightly smacking your ass as you rounded the car to take a seat.

“Plus, I gotta show you just how much I love you for getting me that slinky.” He winked, suggestively, getting into the car.

“Oh I can’t wait.” You winked back.

*****

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TELL ME YOUR THOUGHTS PLEASE!!!

#dean winchester x reader #dean winchester #dean winchester fanfiction #spn #dean x y/n #dean x female!reader #dean x you #dean x reader #spn fic #supernatural fanfic #supernatural fanfiction

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existslikepristin · 3 years

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Please, No Virginity Puns

The most recent thing I posted before tumblr. It was on Choerry's birthday, and I am proud of that.

Tags: TheLounge, Loona, Choerry, male reader insert, it's her birthday!, 100% butt stuff, I ate a thesaurus

~~~~~

It didn’t matter what you had to say anymore. Choerry was already on top of you, nude and keeping you muted with her tongue. How did you get there?

Well, moments prior, you were sitting next to Choerry at your small dinner table. She’s always insisted on sitting as close to you as possible in order to enable near-constant snuggling. It’s gotten a little annoying here and there, but you can’t help but concede to her innocent demands whenever she smiles.

Of course, and not that you’ve ever complained about this, that’s not to say that her demands aren’t always entirely innocent. Most of the time they are, but not always.

That day, for example, you woke her up with breakfast in bed. It wasn’t tradition, but you were just getting her back for the last time she did it for you. And what better day to present her, prone, with a pancake, pulverized potato, and porridge parfait platter… with toppings… than her birthday?!

It can be hard to tell if Choerry is acting or not at times, but you’d like to think that her cartoonish level of enthusiasm for the treat was entirely real. She carried that sunshine throughout the rest of your day, skipping through the park, greeting everybody on the way to, inside, and on the way out of The Lounge, at the surprise party that you helped all of her members get her with, and when she dragged you to her room.

Not a drop of alcohol had touched her lips that night, so it was all the more surprising when she shoved you onto her bed and stated matter-of-factly-but-also-vaguely that she wanted you to put a thing in her butt. Her words came out of her mouth like shimmery soap bubbles.

You had to pause for a moment to process her words. You were certainly up for some sexy times with Choerry. You had anticipated it was going to happen when she put your hand down her pants near the end of the birthday party with no attempt at subtlety. But her exact word choices had you rubbing your temples out of exasperation, even as she stripped herself down to her ridiculously cherry red lingerie.

Your chance to admire that rare view was lost to history, however. She removed the lingerie from her body while she claimed your lips. Your disappointment at not getting the opportunity to remove it yourself quickly faded when she popped back up though.

Her breasts were as perky as her attitude, and also your dick. She was quick to notice the latter and made quick work of your clothes too. She sighed satisfactorily at the sight of your sword and stooped to supply it with a suck and some slickening slobber, so you suspected the sex was starting summarily; more swiftly than standard, it seemed.

Concerned for her well being, you made sure to ask if she had lube available. Again, you weren’t going to complain about her gusto, but she lacked the anal experience that some of your mutual friends had, at least you assumed. Sure enough, there was a bottle mere feet from her reach in her drawer. She grabbed it and jumped back on top of you, pouring it generously over her ass crack and your cock with surprising accuracy for someone so engaged with a hot and heavy kiss.

You were sure you had something to say on the matter. Perhaps some additional words of caution, maybe some other words of encouragement. It didn’t matter what you had to say anymore. Choerry was already on top of you, nude and keeping you muted with her tongue. How did you-- come back around to the exact same thought that the story began with?

“It’s okay, right?”

You attempted to blink away your stupefaction. “O-okay?”

“Mhm! For me to… you know!” She leaned in and whispered directly into your ear, “Put your penis in my butt.”

Ah, yes. The demand that you had nearly forgotten in her flurry of kisses, now slightly reworded to include your dick in the equation. “Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?”

“Just checking!”

“We’ve… done this before.”

“I know!” Choerry swooped back in to continue kissing you, implying that she had no intention of expounding further. Her fingers wrapped around your cock, massaging the whole length to ensure that the lube had maximum coverage.

Your breath caught as you felt her readjusting you, tapping you around between her legs as she tried to match you up with her intended target purely via exploration. Your cock was ground between her ass cheeks, the tip slid over her clit, and dipped briefly into her pussy. A groan was the only complaint you could give to only being given a half second of her fantastic heat.

You didn’t have to wait long to get it back. Her ass opened up to the pressure she applied against it with your dick, but exceptionally slowly. Choerry released a series of little exclamations into your mouth as she pushed. She tossed the lube bottle to the side and snatched your hand, curling her fingers into your palm.

Finally, the last pop came, and was followed by a short slide. With no more manual guidance necessary, she grabbed your other hand as well, which promptly slipped out of her grip considering the amount of lube present.

Choerry released you from your kissy bliss to look at her slippery hand, a mixture of anger and amusement on her face. She tried a couple more times to hold your hand with it, but you liked this look. You easily slithered your hand out from under hers every time she slapped down. It was like watching a cat trying to catch a laser pointer.

It was just another reminder that no matter how deep inside Choerry you may physically be, she’ll never stop bringing a goofy-ass smile to your face.

Finally, you relented and entwined your fingers with hers, locking your knuckles together so you wouldn’t fall apart. She glared down into your eyes, but a grin still crept through. “Thank you,” she said, lips tight and nose scrunched up.

With you fully in her grasp, Choerry straightened herself up, allowing you the opportunity to look up and down her sublime figure. Though her movement caused her to cause you to penetrate her a bit further which caused her to flinch slightly, she kept herself aloft on her knees to not go too far all at once. She closed her eyes and took a series of deep breaths there, as calmly as if she was meditating.

As much as you wanted to go ham on her ham, you didn’t want to hurt her, so you contented yourself with watching her chest rise and fall. “Happy birthday…” you whispered.

“You’ve already told me that today,” Choerry intoned, eyes still closed like she was drifting off into her own little world.

You laughed. “I was saying it to myself! Have you seen you?”

She smiled again, and said three words in a voice that made it seem like she was speaking to an audience on the edge of their seats, “Okay, I’m ready.”

Her fingers constricted around yours, so you questioned if she was, in fact, ready. But you wouldn’t be the one to stop her.

Choerry’s tight tush trucked its way toward the top of your tower twice to tighten her take on the task at the time, before torturously trending testicle-ward. She temporized without taking your entire tool.

So hypnotized were you with her graceful movement that you didn’t even notice the frustrated moan coming up your throat until it was too late.

Her eyes popped open. “I’m sorry!” She sounded like she meant it, too. “This is… tough.”

“Take your time,” you said, straining your voice for comic effect.

“Could have used that four paragraphs ago,” she said, continuing her extremely slow descent down your shaft.

The odd statement distracted you just long enough for Choerry to finish her drop. No longer did space separate your pelvises. You grew concerned again when she winced and bit her lip from the inside.

“Choerry, we really can do something else. Don’t hurt yourself please.”

She gave you an exaggerated, indignant gander. “Rhetorical question: Who gets to choose the cake on her birthday?”

You held in your “cake” joke.

“It’s me,” Choerry’s voice was far too chipper to make this talking-to sound as stern as you were sure she wanted it to come across as. “As birthday lady, I get to pick the cake, and I get to feed it to you if I want to.”

You held in your “cake feeding” joke.

“And tonight, the cake I pick is my bum.”

You opened your mouth to comment on her most excellent selection of the word “bum” in the midst of a scenario where your cock is fully inside of said bum, but you instead gasped a sharp breath.

Choerry ground forward, pulling your dick with her and anointing the lowermost part of your stomach with the juices being lightly sprinkled from her clit.

“Besiiides,” she continued, re-angling her hands to she could tickle the backs of yours, “We have all the lube! Even some that’s got a certain special flavor to it!”

“Just some?”

“Yeah, ooh,” she crooned, apparently quite enjoying the grind back down your pelvis, “I didn’t get it all at once. Now guess the flavor!”

You waited for her grinding to pause again to be able to think straight, “Does it start with a ‘C?’”

Her smile grew. “Yes!”

“Is it a fruit?”

“Yes!”

“Is it… cherry?”

“Failure!”

“Wha--”

“It’s coconut!”

If you weren’t so established in your hand holding with Choerry, you’d have palmed your face. Thankfully, thoughts of how she could have possibly expected you to guess that were pushed to the back of your mind as she resumed her removal of your breath with a series of fanciful body rolls.

Finally fucking her fanny felt fictional. For while not the first foray there, far-fetched was the philosophy that it was fielded often, the front being the favored fornication fissure for the foreseeable future. Unless, of course, you could make this an especially special session.

But woe was unto you. Choerry had the upper hand(s) figuratively as well as literally. But, perhaps, you thought, this was exactly what she wanted and you could wait your damn turn to take control.

And you liked letting her anally probe herself this way, so, you know, what were you to do but enjoy the ride?

Over the course of her self-imposed ravaging, Choerry’s meditative breaths became ragged. Her eyelids fluttered at regular intervals. Through it all, she held her phantasmagorical demeanor. A couple of times she reached for the lube bottle and shotgunned it somewhat inaccurately between her legs, but it did the job. You were happy to see that she was still considering her own comfort.

In fact, to your surprise, her mouth opened wide in a silent shout. Her core trembled anticipatorily. Her hands held yours with a colossally increased lewdness. And those two mystical words trickled from her tongue with a high-pitched susurration, “I’m… cumming…”

Choerry’s grinding came to a grinding halt. Her body jerked and she fell onto you. Your cock sprang free of her ass in, and as a result of, the same motion.

You untangled one of your hands to stroke her back in the most adoring fashion you could muster. After chewing on a thesaurus for the prior hour, you were sure neither of you really needed any more words.

She stayed there for a spell, and you were happy to let her. It was so late it was nearly no longer her birthday, but her birthday it still was. She deserved the rest, along with the rest of your undivided attention.

Her whole movement consisted of her back going up and down as her lungs attempted to revive her fighting spirit, and her thumb lovingly shifting over the divinatory lines on your palm. You wished she would do something about her hair plastered on your chin, but ninety-nine percent of paradise is paradise enough.

You were disappointed when Choerry rose once more, slimily straddling your stomach. She detached her hands from yours to give the hair on either side of her face a good backward flick over her shoulders, and she sighed with contentment.

It was a shock to hear her speak again after such a prolonged reticence, but her unerringly cheerful voice was entirely welcome nonetheless.

“More please.”

You couldn’t then, and you still can’t help but concede to her innocent demands. Her smile just touched the corner of her lips. Sure, some of her demands aren’t so innocent, but… How did you get here again?

#loona smut #kpop smut #choerry #male reader insert

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canyouhearthelight · 3 years

Text

The Miys, Ch. 121

Insert Winter Holiday is here, again!

I’m queuing this ahead of time, and I originally had a really cute message about the end of the year. Then, I realized what year this is and said “Yeah, nope. Not jinxing it, will not have the actual end of the world be my fault.”

I am going to leave it at this: thank you to @baelpenrose, @raven-fae, and @charlylimph-blog for all your help with this story in 2020. Thank you to every single one of you who bombed by notes this year when you found The Miys. Thank you @janeshadow for talking me into getting off my rump and making the story easier to navigate.

Standing to my feet after putting the last dish in the oven, I couldn’t help but smile as I looked around my quarters. Despite the fact that we had forgone a tree this year for Insert Winter Holiday, there was a definite festive feeling as everyone packed themselves in as much as possible. Derek had clearly found my lights again, as they circled every public space in my quarters, including the kitchen. Furniture was pushed as far against the walls as possible, and everyone had been advised to bring their own cushion to sit on.

In the two celebrations since waking up on the Ark, dinner and gifts had largely been a smaller, more typical dinner-style affair. However, without my noticing, my family had grown exponentially since then, and this year finger foods passed from hand to hand as everyone relaxed and chatted. Charly, Tyche, and I took turns in the kitchen, with Hannah waving us all three to sit while she checked on something in the oven so that we could rest and enjoy ourselves, too.

“Where’s Derek?” Charly asked as she approached me to take her shift watching the last batch of food bake.

“He isn’t great with crowds, so he and Sam already came for lunch and to exchange gifts,” I explained, stroking the scarf they had given me. “They already left and took Mac with them.”

“Aww, they’re hogging the Christmas Cat… No fair!” she pouted comically.

“Eh, Mac’s not a fan of crowds either. Besides, I’m pretty sure someone gave him cheese - again - so I’d rather the little gas bomb not be here tonight.”

“Fair enough,” she laughed before popping me with a tea towel. “Go! Your turn to socialize and cuddle!”

I held up my hands in defeat before carefully picking my way around people. Coffey was gracious enough to take my hand and guide me around him and over to where Conor and Maverick were guarding the astonishingly huge pile of gifts. Arthur was nearby, arguing with Conor and trying to drag Simon into it every chance he could. The topic sounded like a rehash of the one regarding fortifications, only this time it was Fortification Redux: The Plant Edition. “We’ve already confirmed there are no megafauna on Von!” Arthur exclaimed wearily. “Not even vegetarians. Why would we need fortifications?”

I could tell Conor was just provoking him when he lazily waved a hand. “It’s psychological, to make people feel safe. Besides, agriculturally, it serves as double duty.”

“He has a point,” Simon conceded, wincing when Arthur turned a playful squint his direction. “He does!”

“Whatever,” Arthur surrendered with a mock-sulk. “Sophia…”

“You know where I stand on this argument, don’t even try it,” I laughed as I dropped in between my partners.

“You wound me! I was going to offer to whip up some goulash, but now I don’t think I will since someone thinks she should accuse me of such atrocious crimes.”

I rolled my eyes at his theatrics. “Whip up whatever you want, I’m done with kitchen duty, and so is Tyche. Charly’s on her last lap.”

“I sincerely doubt that,” Maverick laughed, catching Coffey’s careful eye on his beloved bundle of energy.

Arthur practically leapt to his feet. “That decides it. I am so offended by Sophia’s accusations that I am going to share the kitchen with Miss Chaos Incarnate and leave you all to wonder what wound up in the food.”

Tyche tipped her head back to scowl at him from where she was draped across Antoine’s lap. “If I find a single eyeball…”

Muttering something suspiciously close to “Dammit”, Arthur prowled across the room as though the entire floor wasn’t draped in legs and people.

I opened my mouth to whine about how he could do that, only to be cut off when a piece of pastry was stuffed in my mouth. Grievances forgotten, my eyebrows shot up as I chewed. “Tyche! When did you make donuts!?”

“It may have involved time travel,” she waggled her fingers at me. “But no blood magic or ritual sacrifices, swear.”

I could see Antoine shake his head before responding over his shoulder. “She made them this morning.”

“Spoilsport.”

“Travelling forward through time is still time travel, mon coeur.” He tapped the tip of her nose with one finger, eliciting an expression from her that promised swift and painful retribution.

A soft rustle of fabric caught my attention, and I turned to see a pile of purple and jade-green silk land beside me before a long, dark braid came into view. “The donuts are quite delightful,” Parvati declared as she yanked Xiomara down beside her in a graceless heap. Grabbing a dark brown one from the plate, she popped it in her lover’s mouth just as Xiomara was about to complain. “That one is a Black Forest, I believe. You’ll love it.”

“Careful on those,” Conor warned. “I think they’re half booze.”

“I only soaked the cherries in kirsch,” Tyche corrected. “Not the whole thing.”

“So yeah, half booze,” I corrected.

Giving her most fearsome scowl, Xio snatched the rest of the Black Forest donuts off the plate and balanced them in one hand.

A squeal of laughter interrupted our shenanigans, and we whipped our heads around in time to see Hannah holding a plate of mini-Wellingtons over her head without even looking, while Charly struggled to get up from where she was sprawled across both the other woman’s lap and Coffey’s. Zach stared at Hannah like he just saw his first sunset, and Maverick snorted behind me.

“He is such a goner over her,” I heard him say, followed by a light smack.

“Because I have certainly never seen you look at Conor or Sophia in such a way,” Parvati added lightly. “And obviously not when Conor is baby-talking to the plants around the ship, or when Sophia is so busy working she will eat whatever is handed to her.”

He buried his face in the back of my hair before squeaking. “Nope. Never!”

I twisted around so I could see them both. “Wait. When did this happen?”

“Three times a week, in your office,” Tyche interjected in a bored tone. “And pretty religiously.”

I felt my face heat up. “Does everyone know about this except me.”

Xiomara nodded furiously, cheeks plumped out and a suspicious number of donuts missing from the pile in her hand. Parvati shook her head at the antics and smiled gently. “Someone needs to make sure you eat… He brings you gyoza, and you don’t even notice. It’s quite adorable.”

Conor laughed. “She’s got you there, love.”

Eyes flashed as four heads snapped around to him. “Oh, don’t think you’re off the hook, mister!” Charly scolded at him. “He does the same thing to you. Those little pasties you like so much, with the potato and onion.”

Maverick groaned his embarrassment into my shoulder, while Conor’s smile faltered. “I would remember that,” he insisted.

“Not even once,” Charly confirmed.

Rather than being embarrassed, Conor just laughed again and reached to drag us both over to him. “I don’t know how someone so tall can be so sneaky, but I won’t argue.”

That moment was when Arthur decided to return, a trail of slurps in his wake as he handed out goulash. “No eyeballs,” he sighed dejectedly as he handed one to Tyche.

“You guys are no fun,” Charly muttered as she took her own bowl.

Poor Simon eyed the offering hesitantly. Arthur gently wiggled the bowl at him. “I promise, you’ll like it.”

Carefully, as though it would explode at any moment, Simon took the dish and managed a small bite. After a few seconds - presumably to confirm there was no trick - he chewed and immediately started bolting it down at a rapid pace. “I thought it would be spicier,” he admitted as he snaked a hand out to grab another.

“That would be the paprika. Really red, not really spicy.”

Maverick laughed as he took a bowl, but poked it with his fork before wrinkling his nose. “Sorry, Arthur, not happening.” No sooner had the words left his mouth than Simon’s hand darted out again, eliciting laughter from everyone.

Arthur shrugged, well aware of Maverick’s food aversions by this point. “It’s not for everyone. You keep your tofu, I’ll keep my goulash.”

Not long after that, the last of the food was gone and dishes were cleared. Hot drinks were handed out by Zach and Conor, and then it was finally time to exchange gifts. Baked goods from Tyche made the rounds, along with beautiful accessories from Parvati, carefully curated books from Alistair, plants from Conor and Sam, and more.

At one point, Arthur was staring at his gift from Charly like it would bite him. “It’s… a pen?”

She nodded, producing a small jar of black ink from somewhere. “A fountain pen, with black India ink. I made them both myself.”

Arching an eyebrow, he brought the pen closer to examine the engravings. “An otter… with a sword?”

“With a saber,” she corrected. “I tried to make it look like yours, but do you know how hard you make it to get a good look at that thing!?”

“It’s literally on display in my office when I’m not practicing with it.”

“And how am I supposed to get in there when you aren’t? You booby-trapped the door!”

“Wonder why….” he mused with a small smile. “This is very intricate,” he finally admitted.

“Consider it an apology for the other ones.”

“Oh!” I realized. “Give me just a second, everyone.” Scrambling, and with nowhere near Arthur or Tyche’s grace, I managed to make it to our bedroom to grab an armful of boxes. Once I was back at the doorway, I peeked around the stack and smiled. “These are from Derek, with a little bit of help from Hannah.” Checking names, I distributed the boxes before making my way back to my spot.

“This is… It’s so soft!” Parvati exclaimed. “And the colors are beautiful!”

I smiled as I rubbed the scarf I wore. “He wanted to show his appreciation for how welcome he feels, even if he was overwhelmed at the idea of being here.”

Hannah nodded as she brushed her scarf against her cheek. “We worked on these for months, but I didn’t realize he found time to make one for me… All the colors and patterns are different for each person, by the way. They’re meant to show us how he thinks of us.”

Conor held up the green and orange fabric that his box revealed. “I love it, but I’m confused.”

She rolled her eyes, and tapped her own scarf. “This goldish-brown is my eyes, and this olive green are the clothes I usually wear.”

Coffey’s laughter rang through the room as he unfolded his to see a pattern like Neapolitan ice cream: Rich brown, bright pink, with white swirled throughout. “I think he nailed it.”

Antoine’s head tilted until it almost met his shoulder. “Our eyes… Every single scarf has the color of our eyes in it. That must have been so hard for him to do.” I could see what he meant - Derek did not look people in the eyes, as a rule.

“He wants us to know that he sees us, and that he likes that we see him,” Zach shrugged. When we all stared at him, he just blinked. “What? You don’t work with him as much as I do without figuring those things out.”

Without exception, everyone wrapped their gifts from Derek around themselves before the next set of gifts were handed out. “These are from me,” Arthur explained. “Hopefully I got it right.”

Like Alistair, Arthur had gifted everyone a book, but rather than a book that furthered a current interest, he had sought out historical insights into extremely niche topics for everyone. Some made pretty obvious sense - a book on the historical events leading to and the impacts of the Harlem Renaissance for me, a book on the evolution of law in various cultures for Xiomara - but some were far less obvious.

“A book on Roman law?” Charly asked, confused.

He reached over and tapped on the cover. “Specifically, this is about how much of Roman law was the result of litigation, with some pretty hysterical results. I think you’ll get a huge kick out of it.”

She cracked the book open to a random page and looked at it. “If you weren’t home when you were subpoenaed as a witness, you didn’t have to testify, but if you didn’t the person could stand outside your house and - “ she snorted before continuing in a fit of giggles. “Yell at you… for no more than three…. Three hours a day, three days a week - “ another snort “for up to a year!” She wiped a tear from her eye and surrendered to her giggles. “Oh that’s amazing! Thank you!”

Charly wasn’t the only one laughing. Even Xiomara was snickering. “That is an incredibly specific law.”

“Absurd laws are best laws,” he shrugged.

Eventually, all the gifts were distributed, but nobody was in a rush to leave. Instead, we lounged around, quietly catching up and talking about our plans for the upcoming ‘year’. At some point, Insert Winter Holiday had, unanimously and without fanfare, become the end of the year celebration on the Ark, even as far as the Council made plans. With that in mind, we were taking a chance to celebrate our continued survival for yet another cycle, and tried to look forward with optimism toward the next one.

I just let the feelings sink into me, enjoying the presence of the people who moved into my life. Had I been asked fifteen years ago where I saw myself in the future, ‘on a spaceship, as the last of the human race, about to colonize another world’ would have been nowhere on that list. But here I was, with a larger family than I had ever dreamed.

Despite all that we had been through, I couldn’t wait to see what the future would bring.

(A/N: Keep your eyes out for an announcement on New Year’s Eve!)

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#the miys #humans are weird #humans are space orcs #found family #original science fiction #learning to write #aliens #apocalypse #earth is space australia #learning to live #humans are space fae #humans are awesome #humans are strange #hfy

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davidmann95 · 4 years

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Superman’s 10 Best of the ‘10s

Good Miracle Monday, folks! The first third Monday of May of a new decade for that matter, and while that means that today in the DC Universe Superman just revealed his secret identity to the world on the latest anniversary of that time he defeated the devil, in ours it puts a capstone on a solid 10 years of his adventures now in the rear view mirror, ripe for reevaluation. And given there’s a nice solid ‘10′ right there I’ll go ahead with the obvious and list my own top ten for Superman comics of the past decade, with links in the titles to those I’ve spoken on in depth before - maybe you’ll find something you overlooked, or at least be reminded of good times.

A plethora of honorable mentions: I’m disqualifying team-ups or analogue character stories, but no list of the great Superman material of the last decade would be complete without bringing up Cave Carson Has A Cybernetic Eye #7, Avengers 34.1, Irredeemable, Sideways Annual #1, Supreme: Blue Rose, Justice League: Sixth Dimension, usage of him in Wonder Twins, (somewhat in spite of itself) Superior, from all I’ve heard New Super-Man, DCeased #5, and Batman: Super Friends. And while they couldn’t quite squeeze in, all due praise to the largely entertaining Superman: Unchained, the decades’ great Luthor epic in Superman: The Black Ring, a brilliant accompaniment to Scott Snyder’s work with Lex in Lex Luthor: Year of the Villain, the bonkers joy of the Superman/Luthor feature in Walmart’s Crisis On Infinite Earths tie-in comics, Geoff Johns and John Romita’s last-minute win in their Superman run with their final story 24 Hours, Tom Taylor’s quiet criticism of the very premise he was working with on Injustice and bitter reflection on the changing tides for the character in The Man of Yesterday, the decades’ most consistent Superman ongoing in Bryan Miller and company’s Smallville Season 11, and Superman: American Alien, which probably would have made the top ten but has been dropped like a hot potato by one and all for Reasons. In addition are several stories from Adventures of Superman, a book with enough winners to merit a class of its own: Rob Williams and Chris Weston’s thoughtful Savior, Kyle Killen and Pia Guerra’s haunting The Way These Things Begin, Marc Guggenheim and Joe Bennett’s heart-wrenching Tears For Krypton, Christos Gage and Eduardo Francisco’s melancholy Flowers For Bizarro, Josh Elder and Victor Ibanez’s deeply sappy but deeply effective Dear Superman, Ron Marz and Doc Shaner’s crowdpleasing Only Child, and Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine DeLandro’s super-sweet Mystery Box.

10. Greg Pak/Aaron Kuder’s Action Comics

Oh, what might’ve been. In spite of an all-timer creative team I can’t justify listing this run any higher given how profoundly and comprehensively compromised it is, from the status quo it was working with to the litany of ill-conceived crossovers to regular filler artists to its ignominious non-ending. But with the most visceral, dynamic, and truly humane take on Clark Kent perhaps of all time that still lives up to all Superman entails, and an indisputably iconic instant-classic moment to its name, I can’t justify excluding it either.

9. Action Comics #1000

Arguably the climax to the decade for the character as his original title became the first superhero comic to reach a 1000th issue. While any anthology of this sort is a crapshoot by nature, everyone involved here seemed to understand the enormity of the occasion and stepped up as best they could; while the lack of a Lois Lane story is indefensible, some are inevitably bland, and one or two are more than a bit bizarre, by and large this was a thoroughly charming tribute to the character and his history with a handful of legitimate all-timer short stories.

8. Faster Than A Bullet

Much as Adventures of Superman was rightfully considered an oasis amidst the New 52′s worst excesses post-Morrison and in part pre-Pak, few stories from it seem well-remembered now, and even at the time this third issue inexplicably seemed to draw little attention. Regardless, Matt Kindt and Stephen Segovia’s depiction of an hour in the life of Superman as he saves four planets first thing in the morning without anyone noticing - while clumsy in its efforts at paralleling the main events with a literal subplot of a conversation between Lois and Lex - is one of the best takes I can recall on the scope on which he operates, and ultimately the purpose of Clark Kent.

7. Man and Superman

Seemingly geared on every front against me, built as it was on several ideas of how to handle Superman’s origin I legitimately hate, and by a writer whose work over the years has rarely been to my liking, Marv Wolfman and Claudio Castellini’s Man and Superman somehow came out of nowhere to be one of my favorite takes on Clark Kent’s early days. With a Metropolis and characters within it that feel not only alive but lived-in, it’s shocking that a story written and drawn over ten years before it was actually published prefigured so many future approaches to its subject, and felt so of-the-moment in its depiction of a 20-something scrambling to figure out how to squeeze into his niche in the world when it actually reached stores.

6. Brian Bendis’s run

Controversial in the extreme, and indeed heir to several of Brian Bendis’s longstanding weaknesses as a writer, his work on The Man of Steel, Superman, and Action Comics has nevertheless been defined at least as much by its ambition and intuitive grasp of its lead, as well as fistfuls of some of the best artistic accompaniment in the industry. At turns bombastic space action, disaster flick, spy-fi, oddball crime serial, and family drama, its assorted diversions and legitimate attempts at shaking up the formula - or driving it into new territory altogether, as in the latest, apparently more longterm-minded unmasking of Clark Kent in Truth - have remained anchored and made palatable by an understanding of Superman’s voice, insecurities, and convictions that go virtually unmatched.

5. Strange Visitor

The boldest, most out-of-left-field Superman comic of the past 10 years, Joe Keatinge took the logline of Adventures of Superman to do whatever creators wanted with the character and, rather than getting back to a classic take absent from the mainline titles at the time as most others did, used the opportunity for a wildly expansive exploration of the hero from his second year in action to his far-distant final adventure. Alongside a murderer’s row of artists, Keatinge pulled off one of the few comics purely about how great Superman is that rather than falling prey to hollow self-indulgence actually managed to capture the wonder of its subject.

4. Superman: Up In The Sky

And here’s the other big “Superman’s just the best” comic the decade had to offer that actually pulled it off. Sadly if reasonably best-known for its one true misfire of a chapter, with the increasing antipathy towards Tom King among fans in general likely not helping, what ended up overlooked is that this is a stone-cold classic on moment of arrival. Andy Kubert turns in work that stands alongside the best of his career, Tom King’s style is honed to its cleanest edge by the 12-pager format and subject matter, and the quest they set their lead out on ends up a perfect vehicle to explore Superman’s drive to save others from a multitude of angles. I don’t know what its reputation will end up being in the long-term - I was struck how prosaic and subdued the back cover description was when I got this in hardcover, without any of the fanfare or critic quotes you’d expect from the writer of Mister Miracle and Vision tackling Superman - but while its one big problem prevents me from ranking it higher, this is going to remain an all-timer for me.

3. Jeff Loveness’s stories Help and Glasses

Cheating shamelessly here, but Jeff Loveness’s Help with David Williams and Glasses with Tom Grummett are absolutely two halves of the same coin, a pair of theses on Superman’s enduring relevance as a figure of hope and the core of Lois and Clark’s relationship that end up covering both sides of Superman the icon and Superman the guy. While basically illustrated essays, any sense of detached lecturing is utterly forbidden by the raw emotion on display here that instantly made them some of the most acclaimed Superman stories of the last several years; they’re basically guaranteed to remain in ‘best-of’ collections from now until the end of time.

2. Superman Smashes The Klan

A bitter race for the top spot, but #2 is no shame here; while not quite my favorite Superman story of the past ten years, it’s probably the most perfectly executed. While I don’t think anyone could have quite expected just *how* relevant this would be at the top of the decade, Gene Yang and Gurihiru put together an adventure in the best tradition of the Fleischer shorts and the occasional bystander-centered episodes of Batman: The Animated Series to explore racism’s both overt and subtle infections of society’s norms and institutions, the immigrant experience, and both of its leads’ senses of alienation and justice. Exciting, stirring, and insightful, it’s debuted to largely universal acknowledgement as being the best Superman story in years, and hopefully it’ll be continued to be marketed as such long-term.

1. Grant Morrison’s Action Comics

When it came time to make the hard choice, it came in no small part down to that I don’t think we would have ever seen a major Golden Age Superman revival project like Smashes The Klan in the first place if not for this. Even hampering by that godawful Jim Lee armor, inconsistent (if still generally very good) art, and a fandom that largely misunderstood it on arrival can’t detract from that this is Grant Morrison’s run on a Superman ongoing, a journey through Superman’s development as a character reframed as a coherent arc that takes him from Metropolis’s most beaten-down neighborhoods to the edge of the fifth dimension and the monstrous outermost limits of ‘Superman’ as a concept. It launched discussions of Superman as a corporate icon and his place relative to authority structures that have never entirely vanished, introduced multiple all-time great new villains, and made ‘t-shirt Superman’ a distinct era and mode of operation for the character that I’m skeptical will ever entirely go away. No other work on the character this decade had the bombast, scope, complexity, or ambition of this run, with few able to match its charm or heart. And once again, it was, cannot stress this enough, Grant Morrison on an ongoing Superman book.

#Superman #Miracle Monday #Opinion

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stellar-alley · 4 years

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Everfalls

•Chapter 6•

This is based off of the artwork by oceanteeeth on Instagram! Also shout out to my Beta super.rose.cosplays!

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

(Summary: Eddie meets Wentworth and Maggie Tozier for the first time and Richie is worried about his first full moon.)

For his second time ever in a car, it wasn't as bad as the first. Sure it was still bad, but this time Richie made sure to keep his eyes on the road and took it easy, one hand on the steering wheel and the other held Eddie’s hand. Every time Eddie’s grip tightened, Richie would rub circles over Eddie's knuckle. There was even a moment where Eddie’s fear subsided and he was able to tilt his head to the side and give Richie a small smile, which was greeted by a smirk from the driver.

They pulled up to a house that Eddie could only assume was Richie’s. Before he had a chance to ask, Richie was already up and out of the car. He zoomed over to the passenger side door at an inhuman speed, cause he’s not human, Eddie smirked. He was slightly surprised when Richie opened up the passenger door and offered his hand out to Eddie. The rabbit stared at it for a moment, shocked at the gesture but quickly accepted it before the moment was lost, Richie helped him out of the car.

“Thank you” Eddie blushed as he steadied himself on the pavement.

“You’re very welcome, my dearest Spaghetti” Richie did a small bow as a sign of respect. It only made Eddie’s cheeks redder.

“My parents are still at work but they’ll be home in about an hour or so. Until then, it’s just you and me, Eduardo” The first thing Richie did when he stepped inside the house was toss his beanie off and wiggle his wolf tail out from under his shirt. Eddie’s shoulders lowered as a small smile creeped onto his face at the sight of how comfortable Richie seemed now. Now he's in his element. Eddie followed suit, removing his beanie, his bunny ears stood tall on his head, the sight brought a smile to Richie’s already bright face.

After, Richie showed Eddie around the house. It was fairly modern, an updated kitchen at Maggie’s request, and a flat screen TV at Wentworth’s request. Everything was fairley neat and put together, Richie’s room, not as much but still no disaster zone. His bed was loosely made and his clothes almost all made it into his closet, while his desk was covered in papers and books, the far corner was home to a book shelf that was jam packed with books but mostly comics.

“This is where the magic happens. Seriously though I wanted to be a magician for the longest time” Richie held his hands out to show off his room. Eddie’s eyes wandered over the room, then they spotted the comics and they suddenly doubled in size. He gasped, kneeling down to examine the collection. “You like comics? I’ve got a massive collection if you wanna read” Richie smiled at the sight of Eddie’s excitement.

Eddie was almost too shocked to speak, “Y-you know, my dad always brought back comics for me when he went out into the world” He practically whispered as he picked up one of the Spiderman comics. He was always his favourite hero, he owned most of his comics, well he used to. When he was packing his bag he had to sacrifice his Spiderman comics to make room for the box of his dad's things. The sight of the comics nearly brought tears to his eyes.

“W-Wanna read ‘em?” God I sound like Bill. The boy mentally rolled his eyes at himself. It’s just Eddie, but it’s Eddie. Eddie, the only person you willingly told your secret. The only person who shares that same secret….

Eddie’s eyes lit up, “Yes!” he beamed.

Richie nodded and promptly grabbed an entire stack of comics off of his shelf, including most of his Spiderman ones. He brought them over to his bed and plopped them down beside him. Patting the space beside him on the bed, Eddie eagerly crawled over and sat on the bed. The two got comfortable, sitting with their backs against the wall and their shoulders up against one anothers. Unsure of how to do this, Richie picked up the comic Eddie had been holding and held it out between them. He opened it up and wiggled his eyebrows at Eddie as a motion to read. So they read it together. They did the same with the next comic, and the one after that, and the one after that.

By the time they flipped the final page of their 5th comic book, the pair’s magical ears both perked up at the sound of the front door, it opened and closed, then a sigh was released and Richie slid on his beanie, stating it was his parents. Eddie grabbed his hat, pulled it over his ears then followed the taller boy out of his room and down the stairs to where his parents were standing in the kitchen.

“Son! Good to see you, how’s ‘a going?” Wentworth smiled as his offspring gave him a quick hug. Eddie lingered in the entrance, watching as Richie greeted his parents.

Richie took a step backwards, closer to Eddie. His voice slipped into one of a tv announcer, “Maggie, Went, I have gathered you two here as we have a very special guest here with us today. Now, I have the honour of presenting to you, the amazing, the cute (Eddie’s heart skipped a beat at that), Edward Kaspbrak” He announced. Eddie took the cue and finally stepped into the light and Richie put his arm around the shorter boy as a means of showing him off.

“Hello! Thank you for having me” Eddie smiled warmly.

Maggie returned the smile as they shook hands, then doing the same with Wentworth as they exchanged their greetings. “Richie has told us so much about you. Especially since you’re new to Derry, how are you adjusting?” Maggie inquires.

“Oh, I’m settling in nicely, Richie has been a big help” He gives a side glance to Richie who smiles proudly.

“And where did you live before you moved here, son?” Went asks.

Richie had mentioned that his parents would be interested in meeting Eddie, for various reasons, but also because he was an Ancestor. But Richie wasn't entirely sure how to bring up to his parents that his new friend was a hybrid. Before Richie can say anything, and before Eddie could clearly think over his answer, he responded with “The All Lands, I’m sure you're familiar with it, Mr Tozier. It’s the sister city of Everfalls” he said matter-of fact-ly.

The mood in the room shifted, as if Eddie had overstepped some invisible line, “I beg your pardon?” Went asked.

Eddie’s eyes went wide, “Oh! I’m sorry I shouldn’t have said-”

“Eddie’s an Ancestor” Richie interrupted.

The parents shared a worried look, “Rich, this better not be some sick joke or else I swear to god-” Maggie was cut off by her son.

“No! I swear, show ‘em Eds” Richie nudged Eddie as he tried to not acknowledge the nickname.

Hesitantly, Eddie tugged at the side of his beanie and pulled it off of his head. He could feel his rabbit ears begin to perk up at the lack of hat holding them down. He could also see the way the wave of amazement that washed over Richie’s parents, or maybe it was shock?

“You are a long way from home…” Went’s voice drifted off, he squinted his eyes and got a better look at the ears that stood tall on the boy’s head.

Richie, ignored the tension in the room and literally shook his hat off his head, which allowed his wolf ears to roam free.

The silence only grew from there, and it almost reached the point of deafening until Eddie spoke up. His voice was quiet and remenicent, “I was given the death penalty for trying to help a human... So I ran”.

“Oh… Honey, I’m so sorry.” Maggie’s face softened.

Even as the mood in the room shifted, Eddie still felt guilty for just springing this on them. “I don’t mean to cause any trouble, really. I just got here a couple days ago. I-I don’t plan on going back, ever. I’m sorry if I ambushed you or anything”.

“N-No, don’t sweat it. We were just surprised. I haven’t seen anyone from Everfalls- or any of the other Ancestor colonies as a matter of fact, since I left. Since I was banished” His voice sounded nostalgic, as if he were remembering a time before Richie and Eddie. “I have a feeling they took Derry off their maps after they heard I settled here. They don’t want anyone to have contact with the Banished” he explained, “So you should be safe here, son. Plus even if that damned council does search for you, they’d never come close enough to human civilization to even see anything”.

A weight was lifted off of Eddie’s shoulders and he let out a sigh of relief, finally letting go of a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. A comforting hand was placed on Eddie’s shoulder. He recognized the tender touch to be Richie, his thumb began to move in small circles. Eddie wanted to do nothing more than simply melt into the touch.

“You’re welcome here whenever you please, Eddie” Maggie added with a warm motherly tone.

Dinner time rolled around and everyone took their place at the table to eat. Richie and Eddie sat side by side while Went and Maggie sat on the opposite side to them. “So Eddie, do you have any plans for the full moon this month. I can only imagine that being half rabbit isn’t too much of a hassle” Went asked as they passed around the mashed potatoes. Tonight the Toziers were serving roast beef with mashed potatoes and corn. Everything homemade with love, Went cooked the roast beef so it came out tender and flavourful. Werewolves had a thing for meat, as well as cooking it to perfection.

“Yeah, I doubt it’s as much of a hassle as being part wolf. Uh- but no, I don’t have any plans. Honestly? It didn’t even cross my mind” His smile faltered only slightly. “Back in The All Lands, we usually had this big ceremony where everyone would shift- yeah…” He cut himself off as he didn’t really wanna get into it.

“Well you’re more than welcome to spend it with us if you’d like” Went offered before taking in a forkful of food.

“But this is no regular full moon. Oh no, it’s Richie’s first full shift!” Maggie practically squeals, with a smile that’s wide and proud.

Eddie looked over at Richie and could see how hard he was resisting the urge to roll his eyes, instead he opted for “Mom he already knows, stop embarrassing me.” He sounded like a kid who was begging their parents to stop showing their friends the pictures of them taking baths as a child.

“Rich, let your mother be excited. You know I remember my first shift like it was yesterday. Funny story actually-”

“You broke your window and bit your neighbour, yeah dad I know” There was an edge to Richie’s voice, Eddie picked up on it as well as the way he tightly gripped his fork and knife, his knuckles almost turning white. Suddenly he put them on the table and stood, “May I be excused, I need to piss” Richie asked but had already left the room before his parents could respond.

Eddie kept his eyes on his food in front of him, only after a moment did he look up at Richie’s parents. It looked like they were having a wordless conversation, only with their eyes. Maggie noticed Eddie’s wandering eyes and spoke up, “Sorry about that Eddie. Rich gets- moody”

“No it’s alright” Eddie forced a warm smile. The three kept up the small talk for another 10 minutes or so. Maggie asked about Eddie’s living situation while Went asked him about The All Lands and his other side. Eddie hadn't realized how at peace he was until the chatting quieted, instead replaced by the tell tale sounds of utensils clicking against dinnerware and the chewing of food. Something about how normal everything was just made Eddie feel like he was finally at peace with, himself, with everything.

The peace lasted as quickly as it came. It had been a solid 15 minutes since Richie disappeared to ‘piss’. Eddie took a moment and lowered his fork and knife, instead he reached out towards his cup and took a long, slow sip. During that time he focused his hearing and tried to see if he could hear Richie. He was met with the sounds of labored breaths, sniffles, and… light sobs? Shit, Eddie mentally cursed as he tried to keep his facial expressions neutral.

Slowly he raised from his chair and calmly announced he was gonna go check on Richie. Once he turned the corner, he let his hearing focus again and he quickly located the wolf. The sounds got louder as Eddie approached Richie’s closed bathroom door. He could hear through the door that Richie was trying to calm his breathing, but even Eddie knew how hard that can be when you’re overwhelmed.

Lightly, Eddie knocked on the door, waited then spoke softly, “Are you okay?”, he reached down to try the doorknob but of course it didn’t budge.

The sobbing went silent for a moment, then continued but it was quieter, more like heavy breathing.

“Rich, please open up” Eddie leaned his forehead against the door, “Please”.

Eddie’s small voice, it broke Richie, more than he already was. His entire body was shaking, his breathing labored, and his throat ached. Yet he tried to steady his hand as he reached out and unlocked the door, then let go and fell back against the bathroom wall, curling back in on himself.

The rabbit heard Richie shuffling around before he heard the clicking of the doorknob unlocking. He waited a beat and listened as Richie huffed. He reached back down and slowly turned the doorknob, this time the handle turning under his grasp. Holding his breath, he opened the door just enough to slide inside the bathroom. Slowly shutting the door behind him with a soft click.

What Eddie saw sent a shiver up his spine, his entire body suddenly went stiff at the sight of Richie. He saw the teen huddled in the corner, knees brought up to his chest, and his dark curls dangled down covering his eyes. His wolf ears had gone flat against his head, and his tail tightly wrapped around his waist. Richie inhaled sharply, his soft sobs had returned.

Eddie’s heart was breaking as he kneeled down beside Richie, tilting his head down to try to catch the other’s gaze. To no avail,the wolf’s eyes were hidden behind a curtain of curls. Eddie didn’t speak, he simply moved over beside Richie and wrapped his arms around him. He waited until Richie began to lean into his hug to pull him closer. Richie’s arms shook as they unfolded from around him, but quickly folded again, this time around Eddie’s form. He buried his face into the other boy’s chest. Eddie felt Richie’s chest ache and vibrate with every shaky breath.

One of Eddie’s hands rubbed soft circles into Richie’s back while the other was buried deep in his forest of curls. His head rested carefully upon Richies as he began to whisper sweet nothings into his hair.

“Rich, you’re okay. I’m here. You’re safe, I’ve got you” He kept rambling on and on, thinking of every cheesy line he could to try to make Richie’s tears stop.

When his breathing finally began to even out, Eddie decided it was as best time as ever to ask, “Richie… what’s wrong?”, he kept his voice soft and warm.

The feeling of Eddie’s breath on Richie’s neck sent shivers down his spine. “T-The full moon… Eds- I-I can’t do it….” His voice was weak and scared.

“Wh-What do you mean?” Eddie pushed Richie away, keeping his hands on the other boy’s shoulders as he examined his face.

Richie wouldn’t meet his gaze, “What if I change, and I-I can’t change back? Or what if I lose control? W-What if I hurt someone, Eds- What if I hurt you”. The last part chipped a piece away at Eddie’s heart, sad that he was the one that caused Richie so much pain.

“Rich- that won't happen” he stopped only for a moment before rephrasing. “I won't let that happen” a sternness filled his voice.

“H-how can you be so sure?” Richie wiped away at a stray tear.

“I've been shifting for a couple years now… I've even taught others about shifting, back in The All Lands.”

“You sure?”.

“Richie, I swear on my dad's hat. I'd never let anything happen to you. You trust me don't you?” The question caused his lips to curve into a smile, only slightly.

The tension began to fade, “Ed's, t-this might sound fucking insane…. But I trust you a lot more than I trust most of my other friends.” Richie mirrored the small smile.

“I-it’s not crazy. I know what you mean” Eddie whispered, realizing how close he's grown to this wolf within the few days that he's known him. Richie leaned forward and pressed their foreheads together. An intimate gesture that filled Eddie's stomach with a feeling that he's always tried to push down. Something he's dealt with his entire life. A side of him that his mother always frowned upon. That's why he's never come to terms with it, why he's never accepted it- or himself. That's why the butterflies in his stomach and the quickly beating heart in his chest seemed so foreign to him.

Richie slowly straightened up, but he didn't leave Eddie's grasp. “We should go back down there before my parents start to think we're having sex or something.” The joke brought a smirk to both of their faces.

Eddie gave him a playful shove, “You'll be okay?” He moved his hand to cup the side of Richie's face, he gently began rubbing circles on the boy’s cheek.

“Yeah” he said as that familiar spark of joy returned to his gaze as he put his hand on top of Eddie's, “I'll be okay.”

Word Count: 3048

What will happen during Richie's first full moon?

Will Eddie be able to help him like he said?

You'll just have to wait and see!

Anyways as always I hope that you guys enjoyed this new chapter. Don't forget to like and comment, tell me what you're most excited for and what your favourite part was.

And Always, until next time.

So Long and Goodnight.

[Taglist]

@richietoaster @s-onora @that-weird-girl-blog @beproudtozier @ghostnebula @bellarosewrites @s-s-georgie @lermanslogan @iamcupcakefrosting @madidraw @gazebobullshit @thoughtfullyyoungduck @aangzukos @ambitiousskychild @reddieonwheels @breadheadscorpius

Let me know if you wanna be added to the tag list!

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stereogeekspodcast · 3 years

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[Transcript] Season 1, Episode 3. What’s New – The New Mutants

We had thoughts about The New Mutants, few of them good. There were some enjoyable moments, which we discuss, along with sharing our thoughts on what could have been better.

Spoiler alert: we will be talking about the entire film.

Content warning: some of the content in the film can be triggering, please proceed with caution.

Listen to the episode on Anchor.

[Continuum by Audionautix plays]

Ron: Hello and welcome to Episode Three of Stereo Geeks. Today we'll be talking about what’s new in pop culture.

Mon: I’m Mon.

Ron: I'm Ron.

Mon: And this week we’re talking about The New Mutants.

Ron: This is a spoiler alert because we’ll be talking about the entire film, including the ending, so if you haven’t watched it yet, please watch the whole thing and then come back and listen to our podcast.

Please note, we will be discussing some triggering topics as contained within the film so, proceed with caution.

Ron: This film was initially intended for release in 2018, having been filmed in 2017, but it languished in production hell till 2020.

Mon: This year, it finally hit theaters, but because it was in the middle of the pandemic, most of us didn't go and watch it. Now that it's out on digital, we have some thoughts.

The film begins with Danielle Moonstar, played by Blu Hunt escaping the decimation of her village. She wakes up in a rehabilitation center, which is for mutants.

She is one of five students being supervised by Dr Cecilia Reyes, played by Alice Braga. The other students are Illyana Rasputin, played by Anya Taylor Joy; Rahne Sinclair by, played by Maisie Williams, Roberto Da Costa, played by Henry Zaga, and Sam Guthrie, played by Charlie Heaton. Let's talk about plot!

The film follows Dani as she gets to know these other mutants around her, tries to figure out what her power is, and tries to survive Dr Reyes’ experiments. Ron: There isn't much plot to speak of. It's very much a setup film, though there isn't any reason for us to believe that there's going to be a New Mutants 2. The majority of the film is spent with Danielle getting to know her fellow mutants and exploring their relationships. Though I would say that even there, the film doesn't really do a great job.

Mon: Yeah, there's a huge focus on the central relationship between Dani and Rahne. But the other characters, they're more antagonistic or just in the background. So it doesn't really develop her relation with them.

Ron: Yes, it comes across very much like the new girl being bullied, especially by Illyana though, that really doesn't do justice to the character as she appears in the comics. So, that was a bit of a surprise. Speaking of the backstories of these characters, we would say that really Rahne is the only one who has a similar backstory to the one that she has in the comics.

Mon: In the comics, Rahne comes from a small, very rigid, very religious community, and they freak out when she turns into a werewolf, because of her mutation. That backstory remains the same in the film, except now she’s been branded as a witch.

Ron: I didn't mind that particular inclusion. I think that made sense within the scope of the story. The other characters, there is no similarity between their stories in the film, and how we got to know them in the comic books.

Mon: Let's start with Dani herself. Why is there no mother in the picture? Ron: In the ‘Demon Bear’ storyline, which this movie is based on, Dani loses both her parents, and that actually does play a very large part in the conclusion. But the film only focuses on her father in the very opening scene, which was not edited very well, and we see him later on as well. Mon: Let's talk about Roberto.

Ron: I have to say I was so, so disappointed in Roberto Da Costa in this film. Sunspot was my favorite new mutant and the character in the film doesn't resemble the comic book character at all. Especially not his backstory which plays such an important part in not only his mutant powers, but the way he engages with the world.

Mon: I think the first warning that they wouldn't be doing ‘Berto correctly was the casting of Henry Zaga.

Ron: I'm sure Zaga is a very good actor. I haven't seen him in anything else, but I'm sure he's very talented. Unfortunately, he doesn't look anything like Sunspot in the comics. There is one integral part of his character arc that is completely missing from this film because Zaga has been cast in it.

Let me explain. In the comics, Roberto Da Costa belongs to a very rich family. He doesn't really understand his privilege. But he is also very dark skinned. Because of this, despite his privilege, he is bullied. It is while being bullied by fellow classmates that his powers activate.

Mon: ‘Berto in the comics is Afro-Latino, but they refused to cast character an actor who reflected the same heritage in the film, and that really does him a great disservice. Because race is an important part of ‘Berto’s characterization in the comics, but it's completely forgotten and the backstory that Berto is given in the film is boring. It is staid and it is another example of fridging.

Ron: In the film, Sunspot’s powers activate when he is having a romantic moment with his girlfriend, thus killing her in the most awful way possible. So, not only do they erase an extremely important part of his characterization, but they fridge his girlfriend who is then used as horror movie-material later on. Mon: Let's move on to Sam Guthrie. So, Sam is kind of the pseudo-leader in the comics. He's conveniently the leader because, I feel like the writers, at the time, weren't sure who they could give it to so they gave it to the southern white guy.

In the comics, he's very happy, he's a very positive guy. He's had hardships in his life, but he never lets it bring him down. He struggles with his powers, he's a cannonball, quite literally, and it's a difficult power to master. The film touches on the fact that Sam still struggles with mastering his power, but he's given this broody, overly dark backstory, which doesn't do the character any justice. Sam's storyline in the film really should have come with some kind of warning. Because Sam is essentially self-harming throughout. He's in a cast constantly, he is seen punching himself. Basically, it's quite disturbing to watch what happens. And it comes without context, and we'll come to the fact that a lot of what happens in the film is without context.

What we learn is that Sam was working in the mines with his father and several other men, and his powers accidentally activated and he killed, not only the other men, but also his father, and he's obviously struggling with what happened. And, and he's taking it out on himself. He's not able to grow, learn, or attach himself to anybody. So, this was a huge departure, again, from the comics.

Ron: And then finally we come to Illyana, whose backstory is also extremely different from the comics. When we first meet her, she is a very small child, who ends up in limbo and spends her formative years in that hellhole. But when she's rescued which is a few seconds after her disappearance, she's a teenager.

None of that, obviously made it into this film, understandably, because the budgets would not have allowed for it, though we do get glimpses of limbo. However, Illyana’s backstory appears to be about her being trapped somewhere and being abused. What did you think about her backstory?

Mon: I didn't feel like it was necessary to have that kind of backstory. What I will say is that this is the subtlest way of suggesting any kind of assault or abuse on any kind of character. They really worked hard to be sensitive to the topic, but at the same time I have to ask, why did Illyana need that backstory in the first place? Why can’t she just come from a poor Russian home? Why couldn't it be like a Dostoyevsky story? She didn't need that kind of background.

And I also felt like there were maybe one too many hints about what happened to her. I understand the need to pare down Illyana’s rather complicated, fantastical comic book origins, but they went the other extreme by making it a little too realistic.

Ron: They tried to marry some of the realistic elements of childhood abuse that we see in real life with the fantastical elements of her childish imagination of what these monsters were. I think that worked for them. But to keep coming back and for us to keep seeing small Illyana in that room, there were one too many moments that would have been triggering for anybody who has been in that situation in their life. So, basically there are two instances in this film where they should have added content warnings, and they had three years to do that, but they didn't.

Mon: And that's not the only thing they didn't fix in the three years. The CGI is terrible! When you're talking about a comic book adaptation, especially with the New Mutants, who are more fantastical, and have more imaginative powers, that requires a lot of special effects. I was disappointed with what we saw. We didn't actually see their powers in action as much as we saw some of the horror elements, and I'm sorry but that is the worst CGI I've seen.

After people have been shouting about how hard they've been working to make this product the best that they can, it honestly feels like this movie was made and somebody forgot about what to do with it. And then they just kept playing hot potato with it. They didn't embellish it, nothing. It's not like they tried very hard to make it the best story possible.

Ron: And I think the other problem is that from the very first previews, people had strong reactions to Zaga, to Heaton. There were a lot of people who were upset that an Afro-Latino character had been replaced by somebody who was lighter skinned. This is colorism and 2020 may have put colorism in the spotlight, but, in 2017, this was definitely something that people knew about.

There were also a lot of concern about Heaton’s casting. He was hot off the success of Stranger Things; it made sense to cast him in a movie like this. But he doesn't fit Sam Guthrie at all! I was extremely disappointed in Zaga and Heaton in this film. Not only did they not look like the characters, they had so little to do.

The burden of carrying this film really fell on Blu Hunt and Maisie Williams. They did a good job. But there were also a lot of problematic elements around them. So, whatever they were doing was undone. For instance, Illyana is unnecessarily antagonistic towards Dani. She's also racist. She keeps calling her Pocahontas!

They did a good job. But there were also a lot of problematic elements around them. So, whatever they were doing was undone. For instance, Illyana is unnecessarily antagonistic towards Dani. She's also racist. She keeps calling her Pocahontas!

Mon: Yeah, I found that very disturbing and I didn't see any need for that.

Ron: Absolutely not. And 2017 was one year after Trump was elected. He made a lot of Pocahontas comments soon after coming into power. And a lot of people were very, very upset about that, and they were very vocal about that. Why would they put this into the film?

Mon: I think the whole ‘Pocahontas’ thing in the film is kind of reflective of how the director seems quite blinkered in his view? We have the Zaga issue. We have the racist comments against Dani Moonstar, as well. But there's a character missing in this film from the comics and she's integral!

Xi’an Coy Manh, who is the mutant Karma, is a Vietnamese immigrant who becomes the leader of the group. She is conspicuously missing from this film. Why is the Asian mutant, who was such an important part of the comics missing from the film?

Ron: I understand that for the majority of the ‘Demon Bear’ storyline, Xi’an was not there. But if you're making a film which introduces this particular group, you've got to have her.

Mon: I completely agree with you on that. It makes no sense. We were talking about how Heaton and Zaga really don't do much in film. I have to say, this is probably the first time I've seen a genre film where the two boys spend most of the time cleaning dishes and washing clothes, whereas the girls seem to be driving the story forward. It's hinted at that ‘Berto and Sam are becoming close friends, but you don't really see much of the relationship; it's just one montage where they're having a little bit of fun, but the three girls, there's a lot more to their relationship, especially between Blue Hunt’s Dani Moonstar and Maisie Williams’ Rahne Sinclair.

Ron: I was pleasantly surprised that from nowhere, we got this queer relationship. And it comes off the fact that Blu and Maisie obviously have a lot of chemistry. So, the film just went with it. From the very first time that Dani and Rahne see each other, there's this connection. And it just grows throughout the film, and they become a couple.

Mon: I couldn't believe it because, in the books, they're pretty much written as straight. Romance isn't a huge part of their storylines. But in this film, it's there from the very beginning. There's a scene soon after Danny wakes up, and she's struggling to cope with the death of her father, the death of her entire village, and Rahne really talks her down. It's really sweet, this interaction between two young people who are struggling to find themselves in a world that doesn't make sense. And it’s also a little bit funny.

Ron: In any other film, one of the characters would have been a man. But here, it's two girls. And it's one of the nicest moments in the entire film. Once again, a trigger warning is required. But it's a great moment. Because we have seen so many superhero films, and we're still waiting for those queer characters. And it didn't feel forced at all.

Mon: It definitely because, as you mentioned, the actors had so much chemistry between them. It's a friendly chemistry, and the story doesn't try too hard. It makes sure that they come together because they understand each other. Because Rahne is such a kindly character and Dani needs that at that point, she needs somebody who can just understand. And she also needs to know that other people are also suffering in some way, they have their own pain, so that she can open up herself.

Ron: I also liked was there were no salacious comments, no maliciousness towards that relationship.

Mon: They were no gratuitous scenes.

Ron: Exactly, especially when the characters are young, you know, it would have been very disturbing to watch that. We anyway had the whole thing with Illyana’s backstory. One of the things that we really get to see in genre cinema, that even if you have queer characters, if everybody around them is like, ‘oh, you're queer, or gay or trans’, that ruins the moment, because that is again singling out the marginalized character. We also need to talk about how them being a couple isn't the only driving force behind their characterizations. It is a part of what makes them grow and brings them closer. But it also plays a part in resolving some of the issues in the plot.

Mon: So, here's the problem. While this beautiful little love story is fleshed out throughout the film, everything else got left behind. There isn't really anything else. Even if this was supposed to be a character driven story, or a relationship building story, those are also left by the wayside. Because Illyana is antagonistic, when she comes to Dani aide, it's supposed to be seen as she's coming to help Dani out of a newfound-love for Dani, but it's not true. And I couldn't actually read it that way.

Mon: When I was watching the film, I couldn't understand why Illyana suddenly had this change of heart. She'd managed to fight the monsters from her childhood that had come to come to life. But why did that make her feel like she had to fight for Dani? It seemed more like all the other characters, barring Rahne, were fighting for survival. Ron: I agree. Even Sunspot. When he's in the church, it doesn't seem like he's trying to save Dani, or he's trying to help the others. He's just trying to protect himself. And Sam seems to have so little control over his powers that whatever he does do is always by accident.

What I also feel is that we've been skirting around the issue of the plot. And the problem is that there isn't much plot here. The structure of the story goes something like this. Dani meets her fellow mutants. They try to get to know each other. Mysterious things seem to be happening, and they all seem to be related to everybody's worst fears. As the film continues, we realized that those manifestations have a connection with Dani. And then we finally learn that Dani’s greatest fear is the demon bear.

Mon: The final arc of the film is the demon bear attacking the facility and Dani is incapacitated, which leaves the rest of the team to fight off the demon bear and protect her at the same time. This brings the team together, but it brings them together more for their own survival than for the protection of Dani or for any emotional connection that they have to her.

Ron: Also, the stakes in some ways aren't very high. We are used to seeing the very formulaic superhero ending on this huge battleground, so many faceless people in danger having to be protected. And this is much smaller. The new mutants are fighting their own inner demons. And that works in some ways, but it's also not earned. Mon: I think the lack of payoff in this film comes from the fact that there is no context to what we've seen. The context always comes after the fact. We see Sam self-harming but why? We don't find out until several scenes later. We see Illyana being haunted by these scary creatures. But who are they? Why do they look like that? We don't get an answer to that. Most of the other manifestations, they do become more realistic. Whereas with Illyana’s, for some reason, it remains these otherworldly creatures.

Ron: I kept thinking that at some point, especially in the third act, that the monsters would transform into people we would see that the people who were harming her were actually real men.

Mon: Either that, or it was all in limbo, and that’s why they looked like that. But we don't know because limbo is just hinted at during the last section of the film. We get glimpses of a lot of hellfire but not much else.

Ron: The only remaining aspect of limbo in the real world is Lockheed. For the longest time, he’s just a stuffed toy and then randomly in one scene, he turns into a real dragon.

Mon: As real as bad CGI can make it, anyway.

Ron: It’s sad honestly. We love Lockheed in the comics, but also Lockheed belongs to Kitty. So, why is Lockheed here with Illyana? I don't know.

Mon: I'd argue that that was an Easter egg that didn't belong.

Ron: Yes, and seeing Lockheed look like that was super disappointing. They had three years to get this film on our screens, they couldn't fix Lockheed? They didn't actually do anything once it was filmed once it was packaged, once that first preview came out. They just put it on a shelf and waited for it to be released in theaters.

Mon: Disappointing indeed. What are the other comic book elements that you spotted in the film?

Ron: Well, when we saw Dr Reyes’ screen, we could see Essex Corp. It took me a second before I realized that Essex Corp meant Nathaniel Essex, aka Mr. Sinister.

Mon: And throughout, Dr Reyes kept hinting at how her supervisor was in charge and we knew that she was basically following his orders. Since this mysterious character is such a fan-favourite and a huge part of the X-Men comics, we were expecting, at the end, perhaps a little glimpse of the man himself?

Ron: There have been X-Men stories where Nathaniel Essex has been part of the background and then right in the very last panel, there he is standing there in all his glory. We were kind of hoping for that to happen and we waited till the end of the credits. Nothing.

Mon: The film is connected to the main X-Men film universe. There are glimpses of where these young mutants are going to be taken, and these are scenes from Logan. The corporation from which Logan rescues X-23. They were obviously hoping for a larger universe which would include the new mutants, but it never came to fruition.

Ron: Which is again making me wonder, what was the point of this film? It doesn't really give us an hoped for New Mutants 2. In fact, once they have defeated the demon bear, and they've managed to get rid of Dr Reyes, they're leaving the facility, but they have no idea where they're going. As far as they know, there's nothing around them for miles. So, what is the point?

Mon: My biggest struggle with this film is that the new mutants do not lend themselves to a film or a film trilogy. The new mutants should be a TV series.

Ron: Especially since it has a large cast of characters. And if you had added the other characters, you would have had a good number of people to follow. That'll make for great television. I'm thinking about The Gifted, which was an X-Men spinoff. Unfortunately, it was canceled after two seasons but I enjoyed it. Not everybody else did, but I did. And that showed how an X-Men story in television form could work.

Mon: The thing with the X-Men universe is that it's an expansive universe and new characters are constantly being added to it. So, you can't reproduce that universe in just a few films. While the X-Men films, some of them have been very successful, but several of the characters were underserved. Cyclops is the leader in the comics; he got short shrift in the films. Jean Grey is a very powerful character in the comics, and she spends most of her time standing and waving her arms.

While the main X-Men series can still be carried by a handful of actors, with The New Mutants, they are a group, they're a band of youngsters who spend a lot of time getting to know each other and build their friendships together. The whole point of these characters is not just that they have to explore their powers, they also have to explore their own youth. They are young people that are growing up; they need to find out who they are as people. For these characters, the film being a one off, or even if it was supposed to be a trilogy, it doesn't work. The new mutants need to have episodic stories, which were the central theme of the comics.

Ron: It shouldn't be a horror story. I understand where they were going with that. Even within the comic books, the ‘Demon Bear’ storyline does lend itself to suspense but it's also very tragic. I think we need to move away from instilling fear in the viewer, and more about instilling some hope.

Mon: I also feel like the final product didn't quite live up to the anticipation of the original previews. The first trailer that we saw, it really made it look like the classic horror stories that we are so used to seeing. They're stuck in an asylum and scary creatures are coming at them. That's not what we got.

Ron: This was ‘Jumpscares: The Mutant Movie’. Especially that Sunspot scene in the swimming pool, with him and Illyana, which never happens in the comics, and it came off as super gross.

Mon: I still can't figure out whether that was Illyana or that was his imagination.

Ron: That's what I'm saying! ;Jumpscares: The Mutant Movie’. Look, in a horror film, you can have your own kind of logic, but that logic needs to follow a certain pattern. That scene didn't follow any pattern. It seemed like just an excuse for Henry Zaga to take his clothes off, which is not necessary in this film at all. And to put him and Illyana together as a potential couple, which also didn't work because the two characters had no chemistry. And there was no reason for them to want to be together. Mon: Yes, it is just one of the many, many missteps. Surprisingly, I don't feel like this film was the worst film ever made. I would say that it was a poor choice of subject matter and poor execution.

Ron: It's not a bad film. It's just boring. It doesn't try to push any boundaries. The only area where they did something different was with the relationship between Dani and Rahne and but aside from that, the story is very limited in its scope. And for that reason, having just seen The New Mutants, we are struggling to remember parts of it. Mon: So, let us know, what did you think about the New Mutants?

Ron: You can find us on Twitter @Stereo_Geeks. Or send us an email [email protected]

Ron: We hope you enjoyed this episode. And see you next week!

Mon: The Stereo Geeks logo was created using Canva. The music for our podcast comes courtesy Audionautix.

[Continuum by Audionautix plays]

Transcription by Otter.ai and Ron.

#new mutants #x-men #marvel #stereo geeks #podcast #transcript

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chrysalispen · 4 years

Text

apilado

yeah i’m not even going to preface this, it’s literally porn with fluff, because i wasn’t going to let valentione’s pass without nero/aurelia smut LMAO

NSFW under the cut.

===

The sun hung low in the western sky when the Warrior of Light arrived at her home in the Beds.

The house was empty when she let herself inside, but the scents of cooking wafted into her nose as soon as she opened the door: meat, gravy, fresh-baked bread. Aurelia unfastened the simple clasps and buckles that bound her gunblade to her back and set it carefully by the front door alongside her cane, then removed her heavy gloves and outer utility belt to stretch her spine like a cat’s, yawning and wincing as her shoulders popped.

There wasn’t anyone in the kitchen, but there was a loaf of crusty bread recently baked. It sat in a basket on the small lip of countertop next to the stove, where a stewpot simmered.

“So much for surprising you with dinner,” a voice echoed at her back, from the hallway. Nero leaned against the threshold between the kitchen and the hallway entrance, looking as carelessly handsome in crimson as he ever did. “I wasn’t expecting you back until later tonight.”

The only people who’d known she had any plans to return to Gridania from Mor Dhona at all were Arenvald and Tataru. She sighed at him, with a sort of exasperated tolerance.

“You promised me you’d stop listening in on official communication frequencies.”

“I said I would limit myself to important matters only - which I believe was your stipulation. And if you must know, I consider news of your impending return to be an important matter.”

“Oh?” She warmed to his sidewise admission, despite herself. “Well, that’s very sw-”

“Who else can I trust to assist me with field testing my creations?”

Aurelia scoffed out a short laugh and gave him a jab in the side with one elbow. “Good to know you find me useful, I suppose.”

“Useful is a good way to- hello.” She blinked. His sharp gaze was fixed upon- actually, what was he looking at? “Since when did you start wearing this, or have my powers of observation finally failed me?”

Oh. “Since I started training to use a gunblade.”

“You could have asked me, were you that curious.”

“It’s not Garlean-style swordsmanship.” She put some distance between them to lean against the unused countertop as if checking on the contents of the large stewpot. Mutton, with rough-cut potatoes, carrots, and parsnips, cloves of garlic and various other herbs reducing in a thick gravy. Typical Ilsabardian country fare: simple but hearty. “...I’m learning the art from a Hrothgar mercenary. Radovan is…”

“Radovan?”

She cleared her throat. “Radovan is from Bozja.”

“Ah,” and there was a wealth of implication in that response neither of them wished to address. “Any reason you prefer the Bozjan style?”

Aurelia shrugged uncomfortably, picking invisible bits of lint out of a nearby kitchen towel and averting her eyes. After a long and awkward pause and the soft sound of bare feet against the floor, his hand came to rest on her back.

“All right,” he began, “where did I misstep?”

“It’s… you haven’t done anything wrong. I just…” She took a deep breath. “Cid doesn’t have good memories of Bozja.”

“Garlond’s memories have naught to do with you or me, and as obnoxiously good-natured as he is you should already know he’d never hold it against you.”

“I also... didn’t want you to think less of me,” she admitted. “I’ve always struggled with the gunblade, you see, and-”

“Struggle with a martial art? You?”

“Didn’t I tell you? I tried using one once, during basic. It was too heavy for me to lift and I was too nervous and the shot went wild. Knocked me flat on my arse. I’ve not attempted it since.”

“...You didn’t actually think I was going to laugh at you, did you?” She stared down at the countertop. Once he realized no answer would be forthcoming, he wrapped his arms about her and rested his cheek on the crown of her head. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but ‘tis a comfort, on occasion, to know you aren’t actually brilliant at everything you touch. Sometimes it’s downright galling.”

"Nero, that's...”

“This star doesn’t bloody well need two Cidolfus Garlonds. Can you even imagine?"

That one earned him another jab in the ribs.

“At any rate,” he continued, “this new look of yours.”

“What about it?”

“Mm.” His hands slipped over her cropped jacket and tunic to brace her waist, then settled low on her hips. “...Not overfond of the lack of color, but I shan’t deny I rather enjoy the aesthetic.”

Aurelia jumped at the sensation of blunt fingernails dragging slow and careful paths along that small patch of exposed skin on the backs of her thighs, just below the curve of her buttocks. “One would think,” her hand fisted in the towel she’d been worrying in an effort to keep her breathing measured, “you had never seen a woman in shorts before.”

“Of course I have. None of them were you.”

She laughed. “Flattery-”

“Will get me everywhere.” His effervescent - and occasionally infuriating - grin had returned in force. “So I shall fondly hope.”

He tilted her chin upwards for a slow and languorous kiss. She hummed against his mouth, relaxed and content- until the moment his hands grasped her backside and squeezed, firmly.

“Nero,” she gasped, “not in the kitchen!”

“No? I’m fair certain there’s a bottle of olive oil in the pantry if needs must-” His eyes were alight with mirth, and his grin broke into a peal of delighted laughter at the embarrassed scowl that crossed her features. “...A jest, sweetling! ‘Twas only a jest.”

“Made in remarkably poor taste,” Aurelia grumbled as he continued to laugh. “And the stew is-”

Those hands slipped a few ilms upwards to worry at the waistband of her bottoms, and she felt her protest die on her lips. “Not going to be ready for another half-bell at least.”

She stilled his hands and pushed herself up from the countertop to give herself space, so she could turn around while still resting in his embrace. He allowed it, as he usually did when she was gone for long stretches of time, and she took the opportunity to rest her cheek against his chest and breathe him in. There was the faint scent of machine oil as always, and atop that was coffee and aftershave, a fresh scent that made her think of Coerthan spruce trees.

His thumbs pressed very gently along the curve of her hips, tracing the outline of them through the heavy fabric, sliding carefully and intimately beneath leather straps and steel buckles. Svelte frame or not, Nero Scaeva was a tall and imposing man; his hands and their long, deft fingers easily spanned her waist. She could feel the warmth of his palms along her flanks, still caressing that sensitive patch of skin high on her thighs.

Aurelia swallowed, heat settling low in her belly.

“Not in here,” she repeated. The words fell heavy from a tongue that felt suddenly very thick. “I mean it. The bedroom-”

“Too far.” His hands found their way under the waistband and beneath her smalls, to cup her buttocks, and this time she did gasp aloud. He stifled it with a kiss, murmuring, “Workshop’s just down the hall.”

“Oh, Nero, but your schematics-”

“It’ll be worth it,” and with that she found herself hoisted in the air.

She wrapped her legs around his waist to keep herself from falling. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to speak; she could hear how quickly his heart was thumping in his chest and caught the rasp of his breath in her ear, shallow and uneven. They’d barely rounded the corner to the hallway when he pressed her back against the first available expanse of wall surface and kissed her again, this time fierce and wanting. His hips canted upwards to grind against hers, and Aurelia understood the reason for his sudden impatience.

“Put me down,” she whispered against his mouth.

Nero’s grip relaxed enough to let her feet drop back to the ground, though he didn’t release her nor did he stop kissing her. Hastily she kicked off her boots while her hands fumbled at the buckles that bound the heavy leather kecks over her legs; once she was divested of that it would just be the short bottoms and the long woolen stockings she wore beneath- but it was slow going all the same.

“Hells,” he grumbled, “at this rate we’ll not make it down the bloody hallway.”

“Cid would see it done.”

The sheer consternation that spread across Nero’s face at her retort was so utterly comical that Aurelia was unable to resist the urge to laugh.

She paid the price for her teasing almost immediately when he let out a growl and shoved her against the wall, then dropped to his knees. His fingers labored swiftly and ungently at unfastening the clasps that ran down the outer seams, all but ripping them open, and without pause he pulled the protective garment away to toss in the same direction as her boots.

Still chuckling, Aurelia moved to reach for him-- and found herself rebuffed.

His hand caught her wrist and pulled it away from his hair to slam against the wall, pinning it in place until it was clear he meant for her to leave it there while his left hand worked the buttons at her waist. The denim fabric gave much more easily beneath his deceptive strength, and her eyes flared wide when he hooked his fingers in shorts and smallclothes both only to yank them down to her ankles, leaving her completely exposed.

Nero grasped her right leg, still encased in its heavy stocking, and lifted. She had to grab at his shoulders to avoid falling, and by the time she’d corrected her balance he had draped her right knee over his shoulder.

She sighed at the warm kiss he planted on her inner thigh just at the seam of her stocking, then hissed out her next breath when he sank his teeth into sensitive flesh. It left her writhing against the wall in a halfhearted and largely unsuccessful effort to free herself from his grasp as he made his unhurried way upwards, which left her subjected to the same painfully pleasant sensation each time he repeated the process. His mouth made a trail of blooming red marks along her thigh in its wake, the curve of his strong jaw grazing her with the slight and stinging rasp of red-gold stubble with each bite- and his journey came to an abrupt stop a scant ilm or two from the cap of dark golden curls that shielded her mons.

The damp heat of his breath fanned gently against her belly, and something in her spine curled in heady anticipation. Slowly he dragged the tip of his index finger along the seam of her folds: a light and feathery caress that was nonetheless quite calculated.

Aurelia groaned aloud.

“I should torment you like this more often,” his voice was a low and feral rasp as he replaced his index finger with his thumbs, stroking plush and swollen softness, spreading her open with a combination of careful deliberation and obvious relish.

The initial slide of his tongue was as devastating as it was precise: a white-hot jolt of pleasure that sent molten sparks hissing through her veins. Her back snapped into an arch but his hands held her fast, kept her positioned the way he wanted. Unable to dislodge him, she let her head fell back against the wall with a graceless thump, hands gathering in silken skeins of platinum, and the roughness of his cheeks bristled against tender flesh as he feasted upon her.

“Gods,” she gasped, jaw slack and chest heaving. The tip of his tongue flicked against her clit at the apex of each stroke, a light and insolent touch. Just enough to build upon that fire little by little, to leave her raw and burning and desperate for more. “Nero, please--”

The only response she received was a soft and derisive laugh, muffled between her legs. Her hips twitched against the cage of his grasp, moving upon instinct rather than any cogent thought. A throbbing ache she knew well settled into her core, everything within and without feeling as though the flesh was transforming into molten brass. It was a matter of time before-

-he withdrew, left her stepping that razor’s edge just before release. Calmly he rocked back on his heels, smirking up at her, mouth still glistening from his self-indulgence.

She stared incredulously down at him, heart pounding and flushed from head to shoulders.

“You-”

Before she could protest further, he lifted her into a bridal carry and nudged the workshop door open with his foot.

A broad sweep of his arm made space upon the nearby drafting table, set low until he was ready to use it again. She half-expected him to seat her, but instead he set her back down upon legs that still trembled. His mouth found hers again, briefly returning to her the taste of her own slick before he broke away with a soft and unsteady exhalation.

“That was for bringing Garlond into it,” he said. “Turn around. Hands on the table.”

Curt, direct, the delivery flat and sharp. Extremely suited to the tribunus he had once been.

She shrugged off her jacket, let it fall to the floor alongside spare books and the odd trimmings of discarded solder, and leaned forward to brace her weight. The varnished wooden surface was cool to the touch but began to warm quickly enough beneath her palms. Waiting for him she trembled in place, her senses acutely heightened by the ache of unfulfilled arousal.

The distinctive chime of a loosened belt buckle rang loud in her ears, as did the rustling of fabric that followed- and his lips were at her ear, nuzzling and nipping at the shell. She sighed, tilting her chin just enough to give him access, and felt his fingers tug her hair to one side so he could place another kiss behind her earlobe before his hand settled on her bare flank.

Her shoulders heaved with shaking breaths.

“You... don’t have to ask me, you know.”

“I know.” She inhaled sharply when she felt him nudge at her entrance, heavy and thick, gliding through the wet heat of her lower lips. “Tell me what you want.”

“I-”

“Go on.”

She didn’t give a damn for her dignity, not right now. Not when it was just the two of them like this, not when she knew Nero would take care of her no much how much he (gently) bullied her. In the end, she trusted him.

It was a dance, this give-and-take that always balanced itself in the end. An equal exchange.

“I want you,” she rasped. “Please.”

The words emerged as a thin, trembling whisper, almost a plea. She waited, wondering if he’d demand more, and could have cried with relief when his pleased hum buzzed against her neck and she felt pressure between her legs, the sharp and briefly uncomfortable burn even through her wetness as his girth stretched her.

She lowered her elbows, then tilted her head forward until her brow rested on the cool surface of the table, grounding herself through her own harsh and rattling breaths. It was almost too much. The angle of his entry combined with the tilt of her hips made her feel as though she’d been speared straight to her core, and he just seemed to keep going, hells, it almost hurt, but she felt so full like this-

“Aurelia.” The rasp of her name, laced with worry. He’d finally stopped; his hips sat flush with hers and his breathing was near as heavy. She looked down at the slender fingers splayed upon the table’s surface, close to her own, then over her shoulder to look him in the eye. “Are you alright?”

“Fine,” she panted. She wasn't, not yet, but she would be. "Just give me a minute."

The look he gave her from lust-darkened blue eyes was scrutinizing... and then his smirk, cool and challenging, returned in full force.

"I can stop here if it's too much for you to handle."

"Nero Scaeva, if you dare refuse me your cock after all that, I will strangle you with your own toolbelt-”

His breath huffed against her mouth.

“A tempting offer,” he drawled, “if I might be so bold.”

“-and furthermore, we both know no jury in the land would convict me.”

“Threats of asphyxiation aside, far be it from me to refuse you aught--” his hips flexed and she felt the fullness within her shifting by ilms, an experimental push and pull, “--eikon-slayer.”

The forceful thrust that followed all but knocked the breath from her lungs. Aurelia bit out a choked curse, her nails digging small furrows into the table for purchase. His lips pressed against her nape and she felt them curve with mirth- and no remorse whatsoever.

He was a demon. A voidsent summoned from the depths of the seven hells to torment her specifically. She would have said as much, but he had started to move and all she could manage was a high-pitched whimper.

Face buried in her arms once more, elbows down and forehead pressed against natural ridges and cool varnish, she could hear little over the loud and wet rasp of her own attempts to breathe. She arched her back and canted her hips backwards to meet him, the table rattling in tandem with each thrust. Nero hadn’t loosened his grip: one hand still held steady at her flank; she could feel his fingertips curling, digging into her skin as he fucked her. The other was still braced against the table and without thinking she reached for it to thread his fingers through hers, incongruous tenderness in the heat of coupling.

“I missed you,” she squeezed and felt his fingers tighten in response, “gods, I missed you terribly- ”

His breath caught. She felt the renewal of those soft bites against her neck, sharp little pinpricks contrasted against the hot and ceaseless friction he created within her.

He tugged his hand loose from her grasp and slid it off the table, reaching beneath their joined bodies, and Aurelia whined between clenched teeth when he cupped the damp curls between her legs. The slow circular strokes of his fingers rendered the heat in her belly bright and immediate, as if someone had turned the indicator dial on a ceruleum stove to its highest setting.

“Come for me, sweetling,” he breathed in her ear, as relentless above as below; she could feel the return of that tension, coiling tight and unbearable, an overtaxed spring- “Let me hear you.”

Her climax was upon her, light and gold in her veins.

She cried out to the heavens, a high and keening wail. Somewhere in the haze that dulled her senses she thought she heard a deeper cry as he answered in kind, but in that moment she could not have said if it was real or simply a flight of fancy.

His weight did return to her back after a time, gently. She could hear his ragged breathing in her ear, and her own soft gasps, and the reedy creak of the table protesting their combined weight. ‘Twas either a testament to superior carpentry or superior engineering that the godsdamned thing hadn’t broken underneath her in the middle of it all.

Rough stubble dragged back and forth over her bite-marked neck as he nuzzled her. His fingers had left her core to trail lazy patterns along the outline of her thigh.

“So,” Nero murmured, "I know it's a funny little Eorzean custom, but I find myself more fond of - Valentione's? - with each passing year."

She froze in dismay.

“What?”

“Hm? Did I not say it correctly?”

“No, not-...That was today?”

“I thought that was why you were coming home tonight.”

“Oh no,” groaned the Warrior of Light, and this time she was burying her face in her arms for a wholly different reason. Gods damn me for a forgetful fool. “I didn’t get you anything-”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that.” She didn’t have to see his smirk, not when she could hear it in his voice. “ ‘Tis not every day my objectively terrifying better half arrives home unannounced and lets me have my wicked way with her- with minimal complaint.”

Aurelia managed a shaky, embarrassed laugh. He kissed her cheek before bracing his hands on the table and shifting his hips, and she grimaced at the wet slide and the sense of emptiness and burgeoning soreness that followed close behind. Immediately she cupped herself with one hand, not that it was terribly helpful; they had made a mess regardless.

"I’ll clean up in here and see to the stew,” he said. "Go bathe. I'll have it ready by the time you're out."

“If you’re sure…”

“I’m sure.” She gave him a doubtful stare, looked down at her feet as she righted herself- and started to laugh helplessly. “What?”

“My blasted smalls were stuck about my ankle this whole time.” She snatched them quickly up her legs with a loud and nasal snicker. “...Seven hells, I’m so glad you aren’t a historian. You’d include all the embarrassing details-”

“Naturally. ‘The mighty Warrior of Light sauntered with ethereal grace towards the water closet, soiled underthings clinging about the divine ankle of her radiant personage’-”

“Oh, stop. Go see to the Valentione’s dinner. The one the glorious champion of Eorzea bloody well forgot.”

"Along with her smallclothes-"

"Nero!"

His laughter followed her down the hallway as she scraped together what remained of her clothing and made her way to the bathroom.

Her dignity- well. The less said about that, the better.

~*~

Later that night as they lay in close and comfortable silence - having partaken of multiple helpings of stew, homemade chocolates, and each other - Nero felt a stirring from the soft, warm weight pillowed upon his bare chest. Aurelia’s hand had drifted to his side, over the long scar that curved about his midsection to taper near his navel.

He thought he spoke her name but it came out as a vague and sleep-heavy rumble.

“It’s healed cleanly.” Her fingertips traced it, the legacy of a misadventure that had nearly ended his life, never mind his career. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“Hm? Of course not.”

“Good.” She seemed satisfied with that response, dark blue eyes drifting shut again- only to flicker half-open a beat later. “...Nero?”

“Yes?”

There was a long silence, followed by a question murmured on the edge of sleep:

“When I’m gone... do you miss me?”

He paused for long moments to consider the question, fingers idling in the trails they made upon the surface of her shoulder. Time was such a strange thing, really. Three years ago he would have cursed her name if he thought of her at all, and now... now his thoughts were oft as not filled with the memory of lavender and the clean cut-grass scent of the open road.

Home.

He smiled, knowing she couldn’t see it in the dark, and buried his face in her hair.

“Terribly,” Nero Scaeva said.

#chrysalispen writes #firm lemony business #nero scaeva #aurelia laskaris #look if you think i won't lampshade the fact this fic is late #you clearly do not know how very far on my bullshit i am and eternally will be

35 notes · View notes

btsvt-adventures · 4 years

Text

Day 02/30 - Bultaoreune (It’s On Fire)

A/n: Day (week) 2 of 30 day OTP challenge! This has been crossposted to AO3, so if by chance you see this under the u/n Soojinnie, don’t panic HAHA it’s just me :3 Another short piece whoops, they get longer eventually I promise!

Prompt: Cuddling Somewhere

Pairing: Mingyu x Minghao (GyuHao)

Warning(s): Little bits of cursing, set in OFD Castaway, in that infamous Minghao bit

Words: 1,108

Want more of this AU? Or want your own AU? Ask me here!

30 DAY (WEEK) OTP CHALLENGE Masterlist

“A big one is better, we can put more pots!”

“A big fire is hard to kindle, a small one is better!”

“I’m cold, so a big one is more comfortable!”

Everyone’s a little stunned when Minghao snaps like that (in front of the cameras no less), but at the same time they all knew it would happen eventually.

“Well, his innocent image may now officially rest in peace,” Jisoo murmurs quietly to Hansol and Jeonghan, and the younger snorts with laughter, nearly throwing himself off the little stool he’s perched on.

“The better Minghao gets with his korean, the snarkier he becomes,” Jeonghan chuckles, snuggling in closer to Jisoo to share his warmth. “It’s nice to see him open up,” he muses, jerking in surprise when Seungcheol’s loud booming voice calls for them to gather for dinner.

Mingyu tries to enjoy the food that he (with Seokmin and Minghao’s help) prepared, but he’s hungry , and this damn show is so not One Fine Day.

“More like Five Hard Days,” he grumbles to himself, and Minghao snickers next to him, smirking as he inhales the ramyun and grilled fish. Mingyu sets his plate down and pulls on some gloves, bending down to check on the sweet potatoes.

“Course two is here!” he declares triumphantly, breaking the steaming potatoes into pieces to share with the other members, sneakily handing Minghao a whole one to share between them.

Minghao peels the potato silently, savouring the steamy heat as he watches Mingyu do his motherly rounds. He settles next to Minghao when he's satisfied that the rest of Seventeen have been adequately fed, and takes a huge bite from the still steaming sweet potato, yelping in pain when it burns his tongue

“Idiot,” Minghao grumbles fondly, and Mingyu chews slowly, panting comically as he tries to cool the potato while eating.

“Didn’t know it was this hot,” Mingyu whines, watching as Minghao eats it carefully, fingers picking delicately at the orange flesh. “Why didn’t you warn me?”

Minghao wants to make a retort, but Seungcheol calls for the clean up crew to start washing up, and for those who helped to cook to get some rest. There’s grumbling about the lack of food, weather (and of course about the mess Mingyu made), but eventually the cleaning starts. Mingyu downs the rest of his potato in two bites, claiming the shower first, while Minghao leisurely finishes off his before heading into the warmth of the house.

Somehow, Seokmin decides that naruto running around the house they’re in is fun despite the slippery blankets and futons scattered around, and he nearly bowls Minghao over, sending them both crashing into a freshly showered Mingyu.

“Sorry, sorry” Seokmin yelps, scrambling off the both of them and disappearing round the corner before Minghao can react. He winces, feeling the pain in his knee from the fall, and looks up, freezing when he realizes he’s straddling Mingyu.

“Is Xiao Hao a little shy?” Mingyu coos, using the one nickname Minghao hates, and the younger (only by seven months, really), glares at him, purposefully putting more weight right onto Mingyu’s crotch, smirking defiantly when he squirms uncomfortably. “Not at all,” Minghao coos back, smiling sweetly at a now-frozen Mingyu. “You’re the one that’s getting all shifty. Something bothering you?” he grins, pressing down harder, a thrill running up his spine when Mingyu gasps.

Mingyu can only muster a strangled protest before Minghao’s standing up, brushing himself off nonchalantly. His timing is impeccable (as usual), because the next second the producer walks in, telling them that they’ve wrapped up filming for the night, and both boys nod, thanking the producer and his team for all their hard work.

They’re soon distracted by more important things (read: fighting to get ready for bed), and Mingyu pushes the incident into the darkest recesses of his mind. After an exhausting hour of arguing and fighting for the bathroom, they’re finally curled up tight, together no less, and Seungcheol’s calling out goodnight, while some of the others are playing around with the cameras.

The noise quickly dies down, the other boys clearly having already exhausted themselves. It’s almost dead silent, apart from Seungcheol’s thunderous snoring, but Mingyu’s wide awake and hungry. He turns towards Minghao, flinching when he sees the bubblegum haired boy staring right at him, eyes wide and alert.

“Can’t sleep either?” he whispers, and Minghao nods, motioning silently to Jun, whose foot is quite literally, up Minghao’s ass. Mingyu barely holds in a snort, and Minghao pokes him sharply, motioning for the other to follow him, blankets securely in tow.

They tug on their jackets (and the others’ jackets too because this damn island is freezing), and head outside, where Minghao immediately starts kindling a small fire.

“I know you’re hungry, and you worked so hard to prepare all the delicious food for us, so I thought I could make something for you,” he grins.

Mingyu grins excitedly, curling himself around Minghao (to warm up, okay?) and the younger laughs quietly. They’re both painfully aware that they should be asleep, and not making desserts, but the peace and quiet is the perfect way to wind down after such a chaotic first day.

He drapes the blankets tighter round Minghao's narrow shoulders, smiling softly when he hums in appreciation, holding their dessert over the fire.

The snack is simple. It’s just fruit (or whatever they can find, really) on a stick with a melted sugar coating, but Mingyu’s fascinated, and nearly breaks his teeth on the dessert, much to Minghao’s amusement.

“I like them a little softer,” the Chinese boy admits, and Mingyu sidles up even closer, taking the freshly warmed stick gratefully.He bites a little more cautiously this time, gasping when the liquid warmth spreads across his tongue.

Minghao watches Mingyu intently, giggling when a near pornographic moan slips from between his teeth. He takes a bite of his own snack, and hums, momentarily taken back to his childhood in Anshan, before any of this was even a dream.

Mingyu leans in close to Minghao, and quickly pecks him on the cheek, grinning cheekily when a pink blush creeps up Minghao's neck.

“Thank you,” he murmurs, and Minghao’s flush darkens. Mingyu’s infinitely amused as he wraps an arm around the younger.

“Don’t tell Wonwoo hyung,” he whispers softly, and Minghao leans his head lazily on Mingyu’s shoulder, looking up curiously. “But you’re my favourite,” he breathes.

Minghao grins shyly, snuggling deeper into Mingyu while they sit, watching the fire slowly die out. “Don’t tell Jun hyung,” Minghao murmurs sleepily, body completely pliant against Mingyu. “But you’re my favourite too.”

Please like and reblog!

If you’d like more of this AU, or your own lil thing, of if you just wanna yell at me, you can do so here~

#seventeen #svt #minghao #mingyu #gyuhao #thekpopnetwork #30 day otp #lol more like 30 week #but hey #here's part two #enjoyyy #soojinnie writes

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kpophours · 5 years

Text

Partners in Crime

➵ GOT7: Jinyoung x fem. reader / one shot, police AU, enemies to friends / fluff, a bit of humor

➵ warnings: slight mentions of murder and violence, slight cursing

➵ word count: 4.4k

Click. Click.

And another thumb around.

Click. Click.

Jinyoung groaned, looking at the young woman sharing the office space with him. “If you don’t stop, I will literally go crazy.”, he warned you.

Surprised, you looked up, not even having noticed your fiddling.

“What do you mean? What did I do?”

“Your pen. It’s driving me crazy.”

„Oh.“, mouth hanging slightly open, you gazed from the handsome man opposite you to the pen in your hand and back again, „Sorry.”

“Just stop, please. I can’t concentrate.”

“Sorry.”, you mumbled again, placing the pen back onto the desk and beginning to shuffle through some papers. Jinyoung threw you an exasperated gaze.

“What?! If that’s messing with your concentration too, I’m quitting! Next thing I know I’m not even allowed to breathe anymore!”

“I’m just not used to sharing my office space yet!”

“And that’s my fault?!”

“No, but-“

“Are you guys fighting again?”, an amused voice coming from the door interrupted. Both of you turned around, looking at the intruder who leaned against the doorframe, showing off his white canines with a bright smile. “Jackson!”, you said enthusiastically, smiling at him, “Please take your grumpy husband with you to get some coffee. I think he needs it. Like, a lot.”

Jinyoung huffed. “We are not married.”

“Yes, we are. Come on, honey, let’s go get some coffee and leave the nice young lady alone.”

“You’re supposed to be my best friend, so why you’re always taking her side?!”

You giggled, when Jackson winked at you. “Well, for one - she’s way cuter than you. And second, she is right - you are a grumpy ass.”

You only nodded in confirmation, when Jinyoung threw you another dark look.

“Don’t look at me like this, grandpa. I am cute as hell.”

“Yeah, whatever. I’ll go get some coffee. Do you want some too?”

You looked up in surprise, gazing critically at your senior. “Well, when you ask so nicely - yes, I’d like some coffee too, please.”

Jinyoung smirked. “Then go get it yourself.” And with that, he brushed past Jackson and out of the shared office space.

Your mouth fell open and you looked a bit helplessly at Jackson. “Well, that was unnecessarily rude.”, he commented, staring after his best friend and back at you again. You just sighed. “Why does he hate me so much?”, you murmured under your breath, but Jackson heard it nevertheless. He smiled warmly at you. “He doesn’t, not really. He’s just a bit grumpy because he can’t crack those cases without any extra help. Don’t think too much about it, he’ll come around… Eventually.”

“Mhm, sure. Maybe I’ll quit before that.“, you answered, rolling your eyes.

“You better not! Who else will go out and grab lunch with me, then?”, the handsome man gasped, gazing at you with comically big eyes.

You only raised one eyebrow. “How about any of the other hundred workers in this precinct? You’re friends with all of them.”

“Well, you are by far my favorite.”

“I’m sure you say that to all the others, too.”

Jackson stumbled back, a mock-accusing look on his face. “That hurt!”

You laughed again and waved him away. “Go to your husband now, Jackson. I’ll see you later for lunch.” He blew you a kiss and turned around, leaving you alone in the small office. You sighed again, looking around. You usually liked your field of work - profiling. It had been only a few weeks since you’d gotten this particular job at the precinct, becoming the partner of said grumpy grandpa named Jinyoung, but you generally liked coming to work, all of the other co-workers were more than nice to you. At the moment, Jinyoung and you were hunting a particular nasty serial killer - together with a whole team of other detectives, but you two were in charge of leading the squad -, who didn’t leave any evidences of his doings behind, so it was no wonder your partner was becoming more and more irritated. He probably blamed you for the lack of progress, but it’s not as if profiling was an easy task — it took time, effort and a certain skill. But you trusted your own abilities and knew that - sooner or later - you’d be able to help Jinyoung catch the murderer.

Well, that was if you didn’t quit before - okay, not really though, like you said, you liked your other co-workers and your job way too much for that. Still, today Jinyoung’s attitude was a bit too much, probably because you were a bit more emotional than usual thanks to your period and lack of sleep.

You sighed again (beginning to feel like a Jane Austen heroine) and looked at the door. Coffee did sound heavenly, but you would definitely wait until Jinyoung was back in the office so you wouldn’t have to run into him in the break room as well. At the start of your new job, you had been more enthusiastic — your partner was just a year older than you, had a soothing voice, a blindingly bright smile and was more than easy on the eyes… But only two days into being partners, his attitude had changed completely: he had become grumpy, withdrawn and always seemed to be sporting a dark scowl. You knew it couldn’t be thanks to you, or at least not only, but hadn’t managed to get the real reason out of Jinyoung — or Jackson, for that matter (though not for lack of trying) . But something had definitely happened — otherwise his radical change in behavior couldn’t be explained. You were determined to find out what happened — one way or another. At the moment, you still hoped Jackson would tell you, even though the chances were more than slim as he was Jinyoung’s best friend.

Another lunch date, another try – “Jackson.”

“No. I know exactly what you want to ask.”

You pouted, taking a sip of your apple juice and trying to look as innocent as possible. “You can’t possibly know that.”

“I do though. You want to ask about Jinyoung.” Jackson grinned at you, skewering another potato onto his fork and pointing at you with it, “I’m right, aren’t I?”

You sighed. “Maybe. I’m sorry, but I can’t help it – I want to know what happened. I’ve only seen the happy Jinyoung for two days, but he was a great partner, a great guy! And now I’m stuck with that grumpy man inside a stuffy office with only you as my shining light in this grey, grey world.”

The handsome man across from you raised one eyebrow. “Don’t try to smother me with compliments, I still won’t tell you anything. Jinyoung is my best friend.”

You sighed again. “Okay, okay… I give up.”, you murmured, shoving some more noodles into your mouth and shooting Jackson a dark look. He simply winked at you, continuing to happily munch on his roasted potatoes.

“By the way, I’m having a game night this weekend, do you wanna come too?”, Jackson asked when lunch was almost over and you were walking towards your offices. You looked up at him, surprise written all over your face. While you liked him and he was kind of your best work-friend, you hadn’t hung out outside of work yet – but you were more than happy he had invited you.

“Oh, I’d love to! Should I bring any games? Or something to drink? To eat?”

Jackson chuckled at your eagerness. “I’ve everything sorted out, so you just have to bring yourself.”

“That I can manage.” You smiled brightly at him and, while stepping into your office, said: “I’m looking forward to it. Thanks for the invitation, Jackson.”

“Anytime.” With that, he winked at you und entered his own office.

You were still in high spirits when Jinyoung came back from his lunch - if he noticed your good mood, he didn’t comment on it. He simply turned on his laptop and continued to ignore you for the rest of the day.

The rest of the week was spent with not so friendly banter between you and Jinyoung, lunches with Jackson and some other co-workers and relaxing evenings at home after exhausting workdays.

The weekend couldn’t have come any sooner in your opinion, even though it was already fully booked: Friday evening was a birthday party of a close friend in some new, fancy hipster bar; Saturday evening was the game night at Jackson’s place and on Sunday evening... well, you were going on a date — the first one in a long time. It wasn’t like you hadn’t been asked out before, but you hadn’t been ready yet. You had just come out of a long relationship, over five years to be exact, and wanted to enjoy the single life for a bit, not even thinking about any men or women.

But that had been over six months ago, now you were finally ready to get back into dating - starting with Johnny, a fun and handsome young man you had met through some mutual friends. You were really looking forward to the date. But for now, you had to get ready for the game night at Jackson’s place.

Dressed in ripped black jeans, a loose-fitting blue blouse and your beloved leather jacket, your made your way towards the subway station. Jackson lived only a few stations away from you, so it didn’t take too long to arrive at his flat. Only seconds after having rung the bell, the smiling face of your favorite co-worker appeared in the opening of the door.

„You’re here!“, he cried dramatically, swinging both arms around you and hugging you tightly.

„I am indeed.“ Your voice sounded slightly muffled thanks to your face being squished against Jackon’s broad chest.

„Well, come inside - God, you're freezing! You do realize it’s almost minus five degrees outside? Why do you still wear your flimsy leather jacket?“, he nagged, pulling you into the warmth of his apartment. You didn’t answer, just rolled your eyes and looked around his flat. It was cozy, painted in warm colors and with a lot of nig-nag standing around - just like you’d always imagined your friend to live. It was inviting and homey, just like himself. Laughter and the clinking of glasses drifted over from what you assumed to be living room. After shedding your jacket and kicking off your shoes, you followed Jackson through the hallway. About seven other people had already arrived, two women and five men - only one of which you already knew, Jinyoung. He looked up when he heard you enter, the bright smile on his face immediately dying.

Wow, so much for a warm welcome, you thought to yourself, letting yourself be led towards the others by Jackson. „Guys, this is Y/N - our new profiler and Jinyoung’s partner. Y/N - this is Mark,“, a handsome man with a stunning smile nodded politely at you, „Yugyeom“, this one looked like the youngest of the bunch, „Youngjae“, his smile was even brighter than the sun, „Jaebum“, a complete adonis winked at you, „Sana“, a stunning beauty with long blond dyed hair waved happily at you, „And Mina.“ The second woman just nodded politely, her hand finding Mark’s, fingers intertwining. „Well and you already know Jinyoung of course. BamBam is late, as always, so you'll probably meet him later. Please, have a seat.“, Jackson said, pulling you with him and seating you between Sana and Jinyoung.

„So, you’re a profiler.“, Sana immediately opened up the conversation, something you were more than thankful for. You might seem confident and out-going, but being around so many new people you tended to become extremely shy and soft-spoken. „Mhm, that’s right.“, you just answered.

„And, what it’s like to be Jinyoung’s partner? Is he already annoying you?“ The young woman grinned and you gave the handsome man beside you a side-eye. He was already huffing, arms crossed over his chest.

„No, it’s alright. He can be an ass sometimes, but I kind of get where that’s coming from. It’s though at the moment, you know, with that serial killer still on the loose. A lot of pressure on both of us - or well, on our complete team, actually. But I know we will catch him.“, you finally answered, trying to be as diplomatically as possible. You didn’t see Jinyoung’s surprised but thankful gaze when he looked at you, being too immersed in the conversation with Sana.

The truth was - and Jinyoung would rather bite off his own tongue than admit it - he knew he was being a total douchebag towards you. He couldn’t even say why he was behaving in such a way! At the beginning, he could explain his behavior with the break-up he had been going through at that time. But that had been weeks ago and he hadn’t even been dating Jolene that long. He was definitely long over her, so why was he still so mean to you, his junior, someone he should take care of?

Jackson had already had „the talk“ with him, being immensely displeased with his best friend’s behavior towards his favorite co-worker. And Jinyoung knew he was right. You weren’t the problem - he was. Because, liking it or not, he kind of had a crush on you. Something he tried hard not to acknowledge, even though it was stupid and childish.

At first, he had thought you would try to change partners if he was behaving like this. Which hadn’t worked at all.

Then, he thought you would at least keep your distance from him. Which had... not worked too well. You were a bit more reserved, but still nice towards him, asking him about his weekend on Monday mornings, bringing him a cup of coffee when you got one for yourself, continuing to laugh while bantering with him over stupid things. This week though, your mood had somehow seemed a bit dimmed - maybe his ugly behavior had finally taken a toll on you? If that was the case, he would slap himself. Because by now, he knew that his tactic wasn’t working in the long run. He couldn’t continue like this, trying to avoid you, trying to push you away; that would do no good for your case, your squad and even the whole precinct.

Also, Jackson had taken a real liking to you - completely platonically though - and was determined to bring you into their circle of friends, today being kind of the „initiating ritual“ for his plan. And you were already getting along greatly with everyone - especially with Yugyeom and Sana it seemed, as all three of you were laughing rather loudly together. By now, you had your second bottle of beer in your hand, taking a long sip and continuing to banter with Yugyeom over which Star Wars movie was the best - you said it was the fourth one while he persisted on it being the third one.

Jinyoung sighed deeply, nibbling on the chips someone had placed in front of him.

„So, what’s up with the dark look on your face?“, Mark asked, falling down onto the sofa beside his oldest friend.

„Nothing. Just not in the mood for a game night, I guess.“

„Sure. You do realize I know you way too well and know when you lie, right?“

Jinyoung rolled his eyes, but his lips twitched. „I’ll tell you another time. Just not today, okay?“

Mark shot him a scrutinizing look. „Alright. But I guess it has something to do with Y/N. I saw how your behavior changed the minute she came in. You’re not really subtle, you know?“ He grinned demonically at his friend, before standing up and going over to his girlfriend Mina again. Jinyoung just grunted, standing up as well and fleeing into the kitchen, where Jackson and Jaebum were preparing some more snacks and dips.

„Seriously, you don't notice the difference?“

„No, I actually don’t. Did you even do anything to it?“

„Jackson! I added some extra spice! Don’t you dare tell me you really don’t taste it. Because then you should definitely go to a doctor and get your taste buds looked at!“, Jaebum said, sounding offended. Jackson just chuckled. „I’m sorry, but I’m no cook.“ Suddenly, a soft laugh came from behind Jinyoung and he briefly closed his eyes, inhaling deeply.

„He definitely isn’t. Did you know that I tried his lunch one time when he brought his own? All I’m going to say is that I was more than glad to have already written down my will.“, you said teasingly, entering the kitchen and coming to a stop beside Jinyoung. Jaebum laughed, beaming at you - oh my, he honestly had one of the most beautiful smiles you’d ever seen. „Okay, then you have a taste, please. I think I’ll trust your judgement a lot more than Jackson’s.“, he said with a pleading undertone.

„On it.“ With that, you stepped around Jinyoung, not even sparing him a look, and took the spoon out of Jaebum’s hand, tasting the hummus. „Mhm, it’s really good. But I think it could use a bit of lemon juice, don’t you think?“, you suggested after smacking your lips together.

„Ahh! Yes, that’s a brilliant idea!“, Jaebum answered enthusiastically, already opening the refrigerator and poking his head inside.

„Okay… I think we should just leave you two to it, then. I don’t think I can be of any help and Jinyoung’s nearly as hopeless as I am in the kitchen.“, Jackson said brightly, already grabbing his friend’s arm, who was still gazing at Jaebum and you. You looked up and shot Jinyoung a shy glance. „Oh, really?“

He cleared his throat. „Uh, well… I’m not completely clueless. But I do have to admit that I might lack certain... skills in the kitchen.“, he admitted bashfully and you grinned.

„Consider me warned. I’ll never taste your lunch.“

„As if he would ever let you. You can be glad he’s allowing you to breathe in your shared office space.“, Jackson joked, but you only shrugged. „I’ve been getting used to it, actually. As soon as you learn to ignore his snide remarks, it's not that bad. Oh and his dark looks of course. Also, no forgetting his sublime ability to change any happy or comfortable atmosphere in a mere second.“

Jinyoung’s mouth fell open, shock written all over his face. Had he really been that bad?

Jackson laughed and you grinned at the expression on your senior’s face, not being able to suppress the feeling of slight smugness rising inside you.

„I… will try to behave in the future. And become a better partner.“, Jinyoung finally answered, making you as well as Jackson gape at him in silent shock.

Looking a bit uncomfortable due to the prolonging silence, Jinyoung cleared his throat, fidgeting with the beer bottle in his hand. „What?“, he finally asked, a bit defensively.

„… can I get that written down? Or on tape?“, you finally answered, but you smiled brightly at him. He couldn’t help but grin back. „No. You’ll just have to trust my word.“

„Never a good idea, to be honest. Also, I think he’s drunk.“, Jackson stage-whispered to you. Jinyoung looked slightly offended. „I most certainly am not!“

„He really isn’t. Exhibit A: the tips of his ears are not flushed. Exhibit B: he hasn’t begun to sing ABBA songs yet. Exhibit C: his shirt is still on.“, Jaebum chimed into the conversation, holding the finished bowl of hummus’ in his hands, grinning cheekily at his younger friend. „Hey! I - am not sure if I should thank or smack you.“, Jinyoung said, blushing slightly while you began to giggle.

„ABBA songs? Oh, I definitely need to hear that. I’m also not opposed to seeing you without a shirt.“ You smirked and winked at your senior who seemed to be at a total loss for words, while Jackson and Jaebum began to laugh uncontrollably. „Okay, what the hell is taking you guys so long? I was promised some hummus ages ago!“, Sana said, coming into the kitchen as well, „And what the hell is so hilarious that you guys are laughing so hard?!“

That evening was the beginning of something you’d later call “the ultimate change” - because Jinyoung actually kept his word and tried to behave himself. The atmosphere became lighter again and you were happier than ever to come to work every day. Jinyoung also noticed what an amazing team you both made when you were only bantering in a good humored way.

One day - during lunch with you and Jackson -, he realized he really really liked you, smiling while watching you joke around with Jackson, laughing. He loved your loud and hearty laugh; one where everyone immediately wanted to join in. He loved that you were so easy-going, laid-back and good humored, even though you didn’t take shit from anyone, not from your seniors and not even your boss. You were also highly intelligent and managed to zone out completely when focused on something - this, Jinyoung could relate to wholeheartedly. It soon became a weekly incident that you and Jinyoung spent long nights beside each other in your shared office space, trying to solve the case of the mysterious serial killer still stalking the city, not caring in the slightest about normal office hours. Thanks to that, you could finally record some progress, something you had proudly presented during the last team meeting. All in all - life was good for you both.

It was another long night at the office and you were feeling exhausted. You knew about the dark circles under your eyes and the dull hair you were sporting. Your eyes were getting heavier with every passing second and even the tenth cup of coffee wasn’t able to keep the tiredness at bay – but still, you stayed, as you had the feeling to be close to a new breaking point.

Jinyoung, who sat directely opposite you, was still working too, but not a single hair seemed out of place and his face still looked fresh and bright. You huffed at his handsomeness, earing yourself a questioning look from your senior. You quickly lowered your eyes, trying to focus on the crime scene pictures in front of you.

“You look tired.”, Jinyoung remarked after observing you for a few seconds.

“Mhmm.”, was the only answer he got from you, apparently too absorbed into the pictures you were analyzing at the moment.

“You should go home, get a good night of sleep - and take shower.”

“Are you suggesting I smell?” You locked eyes with him, raising one eyebrow in a silent challenge.

He grinned. “Maybe.”

“Not everyone can look as handsome as you all the time, oh dear Adonis.”, you replied, rolling your eyes at him. The tiny smile playing around your lips betrayed your seriousness though.

Jinyoung just laughed. “I’m just worried about my junior, that’s all. Don’t you have a private life waiting for you at home? A boyfriend? A girlfriend? Ten cats? A dog?”

“Sadly, neither. Just my books and a cup of tea, if I’m being honest.”, you shrugged and yawned. The date with Johnny had been nice, but you had quickly noticed that there was no spark between you. So, that had been it - you had decided to concentrate on your case and leave the dating life for the time being. You sighed and streched both arms above your head, rolling your neck until it cracked.

Jinyoung flinched at the noise. “That does not sound healthy.”

“Eating your tenth cup of Ramen in less than a week isn’t healthy too and yet you don’t hear me say anything about it.”, you shot back.

He pouted, crossing his arms over his chest and pointedly not looking at you. “It’s not like it have someone to cook for me or teach me how to cook.”, he finally murmured, beginning to type somewhat aggressivly on his keyboard.

“No girlfriend, no boyfriend, no ten cats, no dogs?”, you repeated, making him laugh.

“Nope. I’m probably too much of a workaholic for all that.”

“Relatable. I don’t think any man or woman would like me working those long hours voluntarily. I’d need a partner who has the same crazy work-drive as myself.”

Jinyoung looked up, heart pounding against his rib cage. You were still focusing on your computer screen, your silver wired glasses pearched on the bridge of your nose.

“Yeah, but where do you find those? Is there an app for that? Like a tinder for workaholics?”

You giggled. “Well, there should be! And you should be able to put in a preference of work hours, so you can find a partner with the same shifts.”

“That’s actually an awesome idea! And the slogan should be 'We'll help you find the perfect work-love balance’.”

You both laughed at that until you finally shook your head. “Jesus Christ, I think it’s definitely time for us to head home if we're coming up with such stupid ideas. I really can’t concentrate anymore.”

With that, you shut off your computer, glancing at your watch. “What?! It’s almost half past two?! Damn it, I think I just missed my last bus.”, you whined, slapping your own forehead in frustration.

Jinyoung looked at the clock as well. “Oh wow, I didn’t realize it was that late. I can drive you home, no worries.”

You looked up, surprise written all over your face. “Really? You don’t even know where I live. Maybe it’s in the exact opposite direction of your home.”

Jinyoung shrugged. “I don’t care, I’ll drive you either way.” With that, he shut off his computer as well, grabbing his jacket and grinning at you, who still looked a bit stunned at his offer.

“Well... Thanks. I’ll buy you lunch tomorrow.”

“No need for that. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

You smiled softly at the taller man, shrugging on your jacket as well. “That we are indeed.”

Jinyoung smiled a bit sadly. One day, he hoped, you could be more than just friends.

Not now though - now, you still had a serial killer to catch.

And maybe, after finally solving this case, he would have the courage to ask you out.

With this thought, he left the office as well, following you, his literal partner in crime, into the night.

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picturebookmakers · 5 years

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Anete Melece

In this post, Anete talks about the creation of ‘The Kiosk’, a wonderful picturebook based on her award-winning animated short. Originally published in Latvian by Liels un mazs, the book is set to be published in many more languages, including Swedish, German and Korean.

Visit Anete Melece’s website

Anete: Usually films are made out of books, but in this case it was the other way around. Six years ago, I created an animated short called ‘The Kiosk’ (Virage Film, 2013), and this year a picture book version of the same story was released by Latvian publisher Liels un Mazs.

vimeo

The idea of a lady who is literally stuck at her workplace came to me an even longer time ago. It was a time in my life when I felt like a potato. I had a decent job in an office, earned more money than I ever had before, and everything was kind of okay, except that I had a feeling that I was in the wrong place and that I had stopped growing. This idea didn’t leave me alone and I had to figure out a way – how to make it. I finally left the job and applied for a Masters at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts – a program called Animage (Animation and Illustration).

Actually, I drew a comic about all this. You can read it in full on my website, but here’s a few pages. It’s called ‘Busy Freelancer at Work’.

During my studies in Lucerne, I worked on the development of the story for ‘The Kiosk’. First, I thought a lot about the character: Why is she stuck there and what does she actually want? To find a romantic love or maybe to change profession and become an opera singer? Finally, I came to a simple conclusion: As she is literary stuck, then all she dreams about is freedom.

Sometimes people ask me why she didn’t lose weight to get out? Because it would be very boring and the story is not about being fat; it’s about being stuck. You can move on and start a journey to your happy place exactly as you are. Right now.

To collect some ideas for the side characters and Olga’s life in the kiosk, I also did some research. I did interviews with a few kiosk sellers and even spent a day in one. Well, that kiosk was not as small as Olga’s kiosk; it was more like a little shop, where I was sitting in a corner and observing situations and sketching the people that came there.

I worked on the animation in Switzerland, where I am still living. However, the action in the film and even more in the book happens in Riga, Latvia, where I am from.

The shape of the kiosk was inspired by a real art deco style kiosk in Riga, which lately has been mostly standing unused.

After three years, the seven minute animation was finally finished. I was travelling with it to film festivals all around the world, and I realised that not only the beginning of the story was about me, but the end of it too. Just like Olga, I was travelling around with ‘The Kiosk’ and I was totally happy. But most importantly, I had found the freedom to do the things that I love.

I had never really thought about making a book of ‘The Kiosk’. Not before Roger Thorp from Thames & Hudson and Alīse Nigale from Liels un Mazs told me that it would be an idea worth considering. The considering took another three years; I was always busy doing other projects – like making a baby and becoming a mother. Meanwhile, I think I just needed some more time to find the motivation to work on a story that ‘I had already told’ again.

How to transform a film into a book? The easiest way would be to make the key screenshots and explain the missing parts with some text. Yes, if you want it to look like a lazy copy of the film, only without sound and movement.

For a while, I forgot about the animation and focused on the story itself...

I didn’t even use the existing material, like the characters and backgrounds that had already been painted for the digital cut-out technique used for the animation. I knew that if I needed a new background, it would be very hard to paint exactly like I had done six years ago, and I didn’t want it to have that cut-out look.

In the end I painted everything new, using the film as reference for the character and background design. And to slightly compensate for the lack of voices, music and movement, I tried to use the advantages of the book format – readers have more time to look at each ‘frame’ – so there are more side characters and details. A kiosk is a perfect subject (or object) for that. I also added a couple of side stories for the background characters.

Perhaps some hardcore fans of the animated version (I don’t know if they exist though) could be disappointed to see that the picture book is so different. I would like to invite people not to compare, but to simply enjoy them each in their own way.

During this whole journey, I was never alone. At the beginning, while working on the story, I got a lot of support from my university mentors, especially Ted Sieger, Jochen Ehmann and Paolo Friz. It would be impossible to finish the animation without my producer Saskia von Virág and animator Stefan Holaus. I thank the whole team of Liels un Mazs for being so supportive. And also thanks to Hans ten Doornkaat for his advice while working on the book. And last but not least, thanks to my family for their love and inspiration.

Illustrations © Anete Melece. Post edited by dPICTUS.

Buy this picturebook

Kiosks / The Kiosk

Anete Melece

Liels un mazs, Latvia, 2019

For years now, the kiosk has been Olga’s home simply because her sweet tooth and monotonous life have made her larger than the exit. To distract herself, she reads travel magazines and dreams of being far away. An absurd occurrence sets her off on her journey.

Based on Melece’s animated short which has received many awards worldwide.

Latvian: Liels un mazs

German: Atlantis Verlag (2020)

Swedish: Lilla Piratförlaget (2020)

Korean: Mirae M&B (2020)

Other languages are in negotiation

#latvia

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superiordragonlorde · 6 years

Text

Free Prompt

Alright, for @teammustangweek we have the final one: day 7- Free prompt/Wrap up day/Black Hayate day. I was planning on doing Black Hayate but nothing I wrote really panned out so... here’s this one instead.

Warnings: some vulgar language but there's only a few words.

Ok then, please enjoy!

The bar was loud, humming with the activity of a busy Friday night. In a back corner, surrounding a large table, unbuttoned military blue jackets hung on shaking shoulders.

“And then-” Breda snorted a laugh. “And then, she said, ‘What do you mean? I thought it was a metaphor. Are you saying that was what literally happened?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, that’s literally what happened.’ Man, she looked at me like I just grew a third arm. It was hilarious!” he cackled, earning a chorus of laughs to join in.

“Your sister’s a riot,” Havoc wheezed, clapping Breda on the shoulder.

“Yeah, but she still doesn’t want to date you.” Havoc’s laughter cut off and his face fell.

“Oh come on,” he whined. “That was one crappy date. I could totally sweep her off her feet this time.”

“And thus result in handing her off to me,” Mustang mumbled around his glass of golden liquid. That resulted in multiple cries of laughter, a spluttering Havoc, and Breda giving the General a small glare.

“Hey, that’s my sister you guys are playing hot-potato with,” he barked, taking a large swig of his own beverage.

“Calm down, Breda,” Hawkeye soothed, fingers tapping on her almost full glass. “No one will be playing anything with your sister.” She gave the two womanizing men a pointed look. They were both quick to surrender.

“Fine, no wooing Miss Breda,” Mustang nodded. “Besides, I’m sure she could do better than a military dog.”

“Yeah, she tends to favor towards aloof cats,” Breda snickered, losing everyone at his inside joke. Except for Fuery, who gave a hiccuping chuckle.

“Uh oh,” Havoc sang. “Looks like our lightweight's out of the game already.”

“Not quite,” Mustang hummed. “We still have someone smaller coming along tonight.”

“Surely you don’t mean Edward, sir,” Falman gasped, the soberest of the men sitting at the table. Fuery gave a slurred cheer as the rest of the soldiers smiled in surprise. Mustang shrugged.

“He is sixteen now, besides,” he smirked. “It’ll be fun to see the little brat trying to hold his liquor.” Hawkeye gave him a reproachful glare and Havoc let out a whistle.

“Geez, Mustang,” he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. “That sounded a bit harsh there.”

“I agree,” Hawkeye stated, smirking. “I think you might have had enough of these, sir.” She grabbed his drink, pulling it away. Mustang released a noise of complaint but didn’t dare to do anything else.

“I was just joking,” he whined. “Look, I saw him with Alphonse getting some groceries and I invited him over for tonight. It’ll be his first time drinking, so I told him if he wanted to come he had to be smart about it and he said he would.”

“And you trust him, sir?” Hawkeye arched an eyebrow. Mustang sighed.

“It’s a little late to ask that now, what with all the missions I’ve given him and that brat saving the world and all.” Hawkeye only answered that with a mockingly unconvinced hum, but still proceeded to return the Colonel his drink, who perked up at the fermented beverage.

“So, when’s the Chief coming?” Breda asked, almost vibrating from the excitement. Mustang shrugged.

“I guess whenever he gets here.” He downed the rest of his drink. Hawkeye sighed, shaking her head.

“Speaking of the devil and his brother,” Havoc chuckled, not even a second later. Everyone looked up to see two pairs of golden-haired heads weaving through the crowd. It took some time for the brothers to make their way to the back table. The group watched as Ed parted the crowd with his loud, brash voice, glancing back every few seconds to check that Al was still behind him. The poor kid looked exhausted as he moved along on crutches, skin still a little sunken in around his cheeks, frame just a bit too boney and fragile for comfort.

“The hell, Mustang,” Ed barked once they got within earshot. “Why’d you have to pick the furthest table here?” Mustang snickered at the young man’s familiar temper.

“We’re sorry, Alphonse,” Hawkeye apologized instead. “It was the largest table they had available.” Alphonse waved the apology away, giving a bright, tired smile.

“That’s alright, Lieutenant.” He sat in an offered chair with a grateful sigh, handing his crutches over to Ed who leaned them up against the nearby wall before taking his own seat. “I’m just glad we finally made it.” He gave a light chuckle, prompting others to join in.

“So,” Ed drawled, eyes roaming over the group. “How’s it going, working under General Bastard?” He smirked at the rank.

“A lot quieter without you two around, that’s for sure,” Havoc answered, eyes softening in nostalgia as his grin broadened.

“Amen to that,” Mustang murmured around the rim of his glass. He nearly spat out his drink at Ed’s indignant “Hey!”, shoulders shaking at his suppressed giggles.

“How are you feeling, buddy?” Breda directed the question to Al. The younger brother sighed.

“I’m tired, but,” he raised his head, grin broadening. “It’s great having my body back. It’s been well worth it.” Everyone muttered happy comments as Ed gazed at his brother, a deep relief radiating from every part of him.

“What does your recovery entail?” Falman inquired, eager as always to learn something new. This resulted in a long explanation by Al about his exercise schedule and eating requirements, with any blanks filled in by Ed. While Al was talking, Fuery reached his fingers out towards him, stroking the boy's hand. Al flinched, caught off guard.

“So soft,” Fuery slurred. “ ’N warm. Like a baby.” He hummed, oblivious to everyone trying to smother their snickers. “Baby skin,” he muttered, repeating the phrase every few seconds.

“Edward and Alphonse Elric!” A voice boomed, carrying over the cacophony surrounding them. Ed’s eyes widened and he leaned his head on his hand.

“Oh no,” he groaned, a traitorous smile pulling at a corner of his mouth. The mountain of a man, Major Armstrong, plowed through the crowds, parting them with ease. There were two other people trailing behind him, calling out in distress after the quick man.

“How wonderful and glorious it is to see you both in such good health!” Armstrong bellowed, even when he stood behind them. “It warms my heart to see you all in such good spirits.” Sparkles appeared to be dancing over his head, even to the completely sober guests at the table.

“Hiya, Major,” Ed chuckled, tilting his head back to look up at him. Alphonse gave his own excited greeting, thrilled to see the muscle-bound, soft-hearted man. The two people that had followed Armstrong finally arrived at the table as well, making four pair of eyes light up.

"Ross! Brosh!" Ed and Al both cheered, the eldest leaping to his feet to hug the excited brunette. Brosh went to give him a firm handshake instead, grin widening at the warm contact of Ed's right hand.

"Oh my gosh, Alphonse, is that you?!" Ross cried, pushing Armstrong out of the way as if he were nothing more than a sack of feathers. She wrapped Al into a tight hug, laughing in joyous disbelief. Al's own joyful laugh meshed with hers.

"Oh my- I- I'd heard the news, but I- I never thought I'd see you-" She pulled away, brushing a hand through his fine hair, tears shining in her eyes. "Oh, I'm so happy for you both!" She squeezed Al again, then turned back around to give another hug to a laughing Ed before pushing him back to admire his newly returned arm.

“Care to join us?” Ed asked when Ross had calmed a bit, gesturing to the empty seats still residing at their table. Heartfelt tears gathered at the edges of Armstrong’s eyes.

“We would be most honored.” He sniffled, settling himself into his chair with a grace that a man his size should not possess. Ross and Brosh both eagerly agreed, scootching their seats as close to the Elrics as possible. Conversation picked back up again at the table before Havoc slammed down a hand on the scarred wooden surface.

“Hold up,” he slurred, starting to reach his limit in alcohol consumption. “Ed’s not... He hasn’t had a drink yet.” He pointed an accusing finger at the elder brother but it wavered and never stayed pointing in his direction for long.

"Yeah," Breda added, not sounding much better than his friend. "You're right." He tried to give a glare, but his eyes were too unfocused for it to be intimidating. " You have to get one," he demanded, downing his own drink for emphasis. Ed chuckled, shaking his head.

"Nah, I'm good." He waved his hand to push the command away, but that only caused the rest of the table to join in.

"It's an honored, cherished traditon," Armstrong spoke, drunken tears streaking his face. "Passed down-" he hiccuped. "The Armstrong family... for generations!" He raised his glass in a grand toast, expressive eyes widening comically at the lack of alcohol inside of it.

"Oh, are you sixteen already?" Ross exclaimed. "Wow, time sure does fly. I think you should try some though." Brosh nodded his head, eager as always to agree with the woman.

"Go, Ed!" Fuery slurred out a cheer, his head lying on the table's suspiciously sticky surface. His glasses laid half askew on his face.

"Come on, Fullmetal," Mustang teased, arching an eyebrow. "Try it out."

"I agree," Falman shouted, slamming his glass down. "Join us in poisoning our bodies!" His blush tinged face twisted in thought for a moment, then cleared with a shrug and a mumbled, "Screw it" as he drained his own glass. Ed shook his head, snickering.

"You guys are all idiots." He turned to the last person to speak. "Come on, Hawkeye. Help me out here." Hawkeye, the most reasonable and stoic of them all, shrugged, smiling a mischievous grin over her drink.

"Look at that!" Mustang crowed, raising his beverage. "The great Hawkeye has declared it so. And thus, you must drink." He motioned for a waiter to come over, shouting an order out over the din. Ed opened his mouth to protest.

"At least try one," Ross pleaded. Ed submitted, but not before leaning closer to the woman to quietly say, "But I don't even like alcohol." He roared a laugh at her surprised face towards his implication.

"Alright, Edward," Mustang smirked when an amber liquid was placed before him. "Drink up. It's on me."

"Does that go for all of us?" Havoc asked, hopeful. Mustang snapped his head around to glare at him.

"No!" he screeched. Havoc's head drooped, causing a mixture of laughter and disappointed groans.

Ed gripped the glass, staring at the liquid inside of it. There was a pale foam lying undisturbed over it with small bubbles rising from the bottom to add to the layer. He gave a deep inhale.

"Alright," he sighed, raising drink. "Here goes." And knocked back a mouthful. He swallowed, licking his lips, nose scrunched.

"Actually," he blinked in bewilderment. "It doesn't taste as bad as I remember it." The majority of the table was too drunk to catch on, cheering at Ed's passage to manhood, but Ross, Brosh, and Hawkeye all gave him knowing looks, and even a soft glare of disapproval from the Lieutenant as she shook her head in disbelief.

"May I try some, Brother?" Al asked, timid. Ed pulled a thoughtful face, then shrugged.

"One drink," he warned, handing the cold glass over. Al shivered a bit when he touched it. "That's all. I don't want you to get sick or anything." Alphonse nodded and took a delicate sip. His face scrunched up.

"Oh, thats-" he coughed, shoving the drink back at his laughing brother. "That's..." he searched for the correct word to describe it.

"Just say it, Al."

"That's awful!"

"I know, right?" Ed laughed, shaking his head. "So nasty." The group yelled teasing protests at their dislike for the beverage.

"You'll grow into it," Mustang waved his hand, quieting the playful yells. "Let's do a toast." He raised his glass as everyone followed suit, or at least tried to. Ross handed Al a glass of water that had sat untouched in front of her. He nodded his thanks.

"What should we toast to?" Mustang mused, growing sober for a moment. "How about..." he paused, thinking, then gave a firm nod, continuing. "For the war we've won," against Father and the homunculi "The sacrifices we've made," lost limbs and a body, innocence burned under a desert sun "The people we've loved and lost," a family man gushing over pictures of his wife and daughter, a golden haired philosopher stone with a chestnut brown haired woman, two doctors on the front lines leaving behind a daughter safe in Resembool, a little girl and her dog " And the friends we've made along the way," Mustang grinned, looking over the faces surrounding him. A chorus of "Here here"s and "Cheers" rang around the table as everyone clinked the rims of their glasses together and downed their drinks.

The night wore on with stories, laughter, joy, and not one person wished to alter the path that had brought them all together.

Alright, that's a wrap for this week!

Thank you all so much for reading!

#teammustangweek18 #fma #fullmetal alchemist #roy mustang #riza hawkeye #jean havoc #heymans breda #vato falman #kain fuery #edward elric #alphonse elric #alex louis armstrong #louis armstrong #maria ross #denny brosh #my fic #my writing #fluff #vulgar language

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canyouhearthelight · 4 years

Text

The Miys, Ch. 90

The more chapters I post, the weirder that number feels. I swear.

“Have a good night, Grandma Kim,” I smiled from the door and waved as she and Lyric made their way into the stream of foot traffic in the corridor. Conor had just come home from work, so I had the obligatory two people to keep any eye on me for the night. Turned out that my mandatory escorts were not only for travelling to and from anywhere - and locking the door to my quarters wasn’t considered enough, either, since “Too many people have permission to just walk in,” as Xiomara pointed out.

When I turned around, both men were already seated at the table, a small and tidy dinner of roast, boiled potatoes, and salad waiting. “No GK?” Conor frowned, pointing at a fourth place setting.

“She said she had to get to another appointment,” I explained. With a groan, he reached down. To my surprise, he picked a fifth place setting off the floor. “Wait, you set a plate for Lyric? You don’t even do that for Mac!”

Jokingly, he shook a finger at me. “That cat’s a damned menace,” he grumbled. “Besides, we all know Mac eats from whatever and whoever’s plate he wants. He doesn’t need his own.”

Maverick just smiled at his back as the taller man put the plates and silverware away. “Says the person who always saves an entire serving of everything for the ‘damned menace,’ as you put it.”

“He likes my plate better.” With a wink and playful grin, he sat down and started slicing the roast.

Smiling lightly, Maverick brushed his hair out of his face and turned to me. “Stuff better between you and Tyche?”

Stabbing a potato, I shrugged before wobbling my hand a bit. “Kind of? We’re still working through a game of Twenty Thousand Questions, but we aren’t mad at each other anymore. So there’s that.”

“You’ve been in a noticeably better mood, at least.”

I scowled as he set some salad on my plate. “I haven’t had five minutes to myself since the incident with Charly. That’s going to make anyone cranky.”

“You didn’t help when you put that bloke flat on his back, love,” Conor chided gently. “One slice or two?”

Eyeballing how thick he cut them, I thought for a second. “One, for right now? With gravy?”

“What heathen doesn’t put gravy on roast?” was the scoffed answer.

Maverick’s head snapped up, half a slice of meat hanging out of his mouth. “Ee guy ah even eh own eye ussoom gayey.”

“Babe, please cut the rest of that up before you choke…” I begged, looking away. The military had done horrible things to his table manners, but at least he kept them isolated to ‘private’ meals. “On the topic of Tyche, we fence twice a week while Arthur scowls at us or Coffee pretends to ignore us and read a book. I ask her questions, and she whallops me when I guess wrong.”

“And why is your sainted best friend scowling at you?” Conor stabbed half a potato and shoved it in his mouth, staring at my skeptically.

I stabbed my own potato before cutting it carefully in half. “He may prefer saber.”

“Ehrr oaf.”

“Maverick,” I sighed without looking over. “I am begging you…” A snort of laughter forced me to surrender and turn towards him. “You shit.”

He was sticking his tongue out at me, mouth clearly empty. After I stared long enough, he lost his composure and started laughing, squeezing my upper arm with one hand. “I’m sorry, Sophia. I’ll stop, I swear.” Briefly managing a serious face, he ran a hand down and then across his chest. “Cross my heart.”

“King’s X,” Conor corrected.

All I could do is roll my eyes. “It’s the same thing…”

“Still tense, huh?”

“A little,” I admitted softly. I usually would be laughing and joking with them - who could you be gross and ridiculous around, if not your loved ones? - but I just couldn’t right then. “I think being watched all the time is making me feel watched all the time. Like I always have to have my public face on.”

Conor hummed, rubbing the arm facing him. “Maybe we can think of something to let you have a bit of time to yourself.”

“We could have the sensors monitor you, have one of Miys specifically keeping a watch on that?”

I shook my head. “That’s literally how I met you, remember? Someone destroyed the navigation sensors, and hacked the monitoring ones in order to destroy the replacement parts. Xiomara will never agree.”

“Damn it,” Maverick swore softly. “We can at least leave the room?”

Dropping my fork, I threw my hands in the air. “And go where? It’s not like you can leave our quarters.”

“She’s right. And we can’t even go in the bedroom and leave her out here… If we aren’t in the same room with her, we have to be in one closer to the exit.” Conor pointed over his shoulder with a fork before using it to dig into his salad. “Meaning she can be in the bathroom or bedroom alone.”

“At which point I may as well be a prisoner.” My frustration was vented against my slice of roast, and I absolutely did not cut it more aggressively than strictly necessary.

With a wince, Maverick slowly lowered his hands from where they had been covering his ears. His eyes darted to the knife that was now laying beside my plate, clearly trying to figure out how to take it away from me. “More potatoes?”

Clearly discretion was the better part of valor in his case.

“I’m fine,” I mumbled, prodding the lumps of formerly-roast on my plate.

“We’re going to get through this, Sophie, I promise.” Conor stood, but rather than trying to approach me, he stepped into the kitchen. When he returned, he had a plate of soft rolls. Tearing one in half, he started scooping the massacred remains of my dinner onto it before handing it to me. “There. All better.”

I gave him a watery smile as he set it on my plate. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a grumpy bitch lately,” I whispered. Glancing up, I could see them exchanging puzzled looks. “Oh come on, don’t pretend I’ve been an angel. Just last week, you two left me and Tyche here, with strict orders to sort our shit out.”

“If you didn’t get grouchy when things are out of your control, you wouldn’t be Sophia,” Maverick pointed out generously. “Besides, it’s not like you threw anything.”

“Or broke shit.”

“I still owe you both an apology,” I argued. “Just because I’m out of my comfort zone, that doesn’t mean it’s okay for me to snap and snarl at you two.”

Conor snapped his fingers several times. “Dinner. At the Undine. You, your sister, Charly… Maybe don’t get drunk this time, but a night out, yeah? People who would be there anyway, just like we’re usually the ones with you at night. Whatcha say?”

I shook my head slowly. “I don’t think Xio is going to approve that. Both of us in one place, for starters. Plus somewhere that crowded? Security would be a nightmare.”

“What about camping? Charly keeps mentioning at work that she’s dying to go camping.”

This time, it was Maverick’s turn to be confused. “Where?” he gestured around us. “We’re on a space ship. Where can we go camping?”

“BioLab2,” came the answer. “It goes into night mode from mid Beta-shift to the start of Alpha. That’s fifteen hours of night time. We’d have to get special permission, since folks aren’t usually allowed in there at ‘night’, but given the circumstances, I think Grey could be convinced to try it out. See how the nocturnal species in the lab react to their schedule being interrupted.”

“You seriously want me to go camping?” I asked skeptically.

“Hey, I love to go camping!” He looked comically offended. Glancing at Maverick, he raised an eyebrow in challenge.

“Never been, but I can give it a shot,” was the mild reply. In the bottom of my field of vision, a hand snaked over and snagged the sort-of stuffed bun from my plate. I didn’t even stop him, just waited for the inevitable. Sure enough, less than a minute later, he started sputtering. “Oh, that is disgusting!”

Conor tsked at him, shaking his head. “Love, you saw me put her poor roast on the bap. You knew it had gravy on it.”

“But you put the mushrooms on the bread, too!?”

“I did it for the lady, who likes mushroom gravy.” Heaving a sigh, he stood up, went back into the kitchen, and returned with a small carafe of something. Prying apart another roll, he gently tucked a slice of roast inside, before pouring the contents of the carafe - plain, brown gravy, as it turned out - both beneath and on top of the meat. “You have to have something or it’s too dry,” he explained, handing it to Maverick, who surrendered mine back into my own custody.

I took a bite of mine, and gave a little hum of delight. It reminded me of being in school and stuffing mashed potatoes with gravy and thin sliced mystery meat into a yeast roll to make the meat edible, only much better. Gesturing to Maverick’s own sandwich emphatically, I waited.

Unlike his enthusiasm for stolen food, he stared his own bun down suspiciously before taking a very ginger bite. Chewing carefully for a moment, he furrowed his face in thought before finally making a similarly happy noise and taking a larger bite. Covering his mouth with one hand, he gave his verdict. “Dis iss guh!”

Conor and I both rolled our eyes, landing on each other’s face. “You’d think the boy never had chipped beef on toast. Or a French dip sammy,” Conor scoffed as he made his own.

It took everything I had not to dissolve into laughter as I watched my beautiful roast dinner be turned into schoolyard sandwiches. But sometimes, that’s what you need, I reminded myself as I took another bite. Kids have the right idea.

<< Prev Masterlist Next >>

#the miys #humans are weird #found family #original fiction #humans are space orcs #earth is space australia #humans are cool #science fiction #aliens #apocalypse #second chance

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lightyagamiis · 6 years

Text

project holland - three

pairing: tom x female reader genre: sci-fi, fluff, some angst and possibly future smut. some monsters and superpowers warnings: language word count: 2.9k

When the world was ran down by alien monsters that appeared out of nowhere one hundred and twenty years ago killing most of the human race. The rest of the world population moved into a giant hotel that was built with an invisible shield to help protect those inside. In a world with every human with superpowers cramped inside one hotel and a mystery person showing up out of the blue, secrets get let out and the whole world changes.

prev / next (coming soon)

It’s been two weeks since Tom showed up at the hotel, and he’s changed your life for the better.

You went from being so anti-social to a blooming butterfly in a way. You talked more than you’ve ever talked before. Usually, you were quiet and kept to yourself. But now you can talk all day long to Tom and you enjoyed it.

He waited for you every day by the doors until you showed up for college so you two could walk in together.

He waited to get in line for dinner until you walked in the cafeteria so you could stand in line together.

You two didn’t spend much time together unless it was at college or dinner.

The Jones family took most of his time since they have such a big family and share such a little space they need him to help watch the younger kids and keep the room clean. You didn’t blame them, but maybe if they would quit breeding like rabbits there wouldn’t be such an issue.

You did want to spend more time with Tom, but you guess you were just meant to be those friends that only hang around during school and food.

It was the weekend, which meant the whole hotel would be in chaos for three days.

No schooling was held on Friday’s, so from then until Sunday every student ran around the hotel like it was nobody's business. Throwing small parties in the other students' rooms, spending time with family or just run around the hotel to keep themselves busy.

You usually spend your time in your room on weekends. You didn’t care about attending parties or any other shit like that. You see your family every night for dinner, plus your parents work so there’s no need to really see them. Your brother gets dropped off and watched during the day. So you just sit around and do absolutely nothing.

You laid on your bed and stared up at the ceiling, counting the spots on the wall that needed to be repainted. This hotel was slowly falling apart, only a matter of time before it just stops functioning.

Tom sat at the kitchen table with a bowl of cereal in front of him.

Kids ran and screamed around him. Yelling at each other and calling everyone names.

Tom slowly lift the spoon to his mouth, having the taste of milk and fruity cereal fill his taste buds.

He’s only been here for two weeks but felt as if he’s been here his whole life.

Tom sighed as he crunched his cereal, drowning out the sound of the annoying kids around him. Damn, why does the Jones have so many kids? They are the biggest family in this hotel.

But Tom knew why they kept producing, they believed that one day everyone would leave this hotel and start over in the world. They wanted to make sure their family lived on, and that it was their duty as survivors to continue to breed so the human population doesn’t die out. Or maybe they just enjoy having sex and didn’t know what pulling out meant.

But they were a good family, they did take him in after all.

Gwen Jones walked into the kitchen, giving Tom and sad look. Gwen was the oldest child of the Jones family. She is seventeen years old.

“Tom, why do you sulk around during the weekend?” She asked placing her hands on her hips.

But Tom didn’t hear her, he was deep in thought.

“Tom!” She shouted, making Tom jump in his chair and look at her quickly.

“What the hell why did you yell at me?” He snapped.

“I was trying to get your attention, dumbass.”

Gwen and Tom definitely had a sibling relationship that grew the past two weeks he’s been here.

“Bitch..” Tom mumbled as he shoved more cereal into his mouth.

“Anyways, why do you sulk around here during the weekends? I understand the first week since you didn’t know anymore but it’s been two weeks and you still just sit around.”

Tom shrugged, standing from the table and placing his bowl in the sink, “I don’t really have a reason to leave during the weekend except for dinner.”

Gwen groaned and shook her face, causing Tom to shot her confused looks, “You literally have Y/N, Tom.”

He shrugged his shoulders again, “she’s more of a friend I just see during dinner and college.”

Gwen shook her head again, “she’s a friend Thomas, and I think you two need to hang out more.”

Tom crossed his arms, giving her a stern look, “why?”

Gwen mimicked his position, “because Y/N really doesn’t have any friends, she’s always alone and only really speaks to her family, that was until you came along. I’ve never seen Y/N so happy to have a friend. Plus she’s the only person you know besides us and I think it’ll be good for the two of you to become closer.”

Tom thought about it, knowing Gwen was right. But his other thoughts is what kept him second-guessing, but again, he knew Gwen was right. And it wouldn’t hurt him to gain a friendship.

“Fine, I’ll go see if she’ll hang around me.” Tom said.

“Good, she lives on the second flo-“

“I know where she lives, Gwen.” Tom said walking past her, “don’t need to tell me, I’ve walked her home plenty of time to remember where her room is.”

Gwen snickered as she stared at him as he walked out the door, “they would totally be cute together.”

Tom made his way up to the second floor, finding his way to your room. Your last name was engraved on a bronze plate on the wall, which made it easier to find your room since this hotel didn’t have room numbers on the doors.

He knocked on your door, waiting for an answer.

You swung the door open, completely surprised to see Tom standing in your doorway.

“Hey Tom, what’s up?” You asked. It wasn’t normal for him to show up randomly, the only time he’s ever been to your room was when he’s walked you here after college was over.

“Would you want to hang out?” He asked, “Gwen was bothering me about being a couch potato, and said I needed to get out and about.”

You chuckled at what Tom said, crossing your arms and leaning against the door frame, “yeah that sounds like Gwen.”

Tom nodded, pulling his lips into his famous thin line, rocking on his heels.

“So, hang out with me?” He asked laughing a bit.

You didn’t have anything better to do, “yeah, let me grab my shoes.”

You quickly turned and slipped into your Chuck Taylor’s and quickly ran out the door closing it behind you.

“Since you haven’t gotten a proper tour of the hotel, would you like one?” You asked, walking beside him.

Tom nodded, “that would actually be great. The major rushed the tour when I showed up so I didn’t get to really see everything.”

“Well, you came to the right girl! I know this hotel like the back of my hand!”

Tom chuckled at your comment, he was also happy he decided to get out and spend more time with you. You held a special place in his heart. A feeling he wasn’t sure he understood yet.

You showed Tom all your favorite places in the hotel, showing him every floor and inch of the place.

You also gave him more history that your grandparents told you growing up before they died.

Tom asked more about the Marvel comics, and you told him everything you knew, his eyes glowing with excitement as you spoke about them.

You two spent hours running around the hotel, but there was one final place you wanted to show him.

“You want to see my all time favorite place?” You asked.

Tom smiled softly at you, “uh duh!”

You both laughed, “okay follow me!”

You ran down the hallway towards the stairs, running up every single floor towards the top.

“Y/N, slow down I can’t run up steps as quickly as you.” Tom complained.

“Oh come on! Keep up!”

Tom snickered as he continued to watch you run up the stairs, you gave him such a rush and he wanted more of it.

You reached the top floor, which was empty. The major wanted to keep the top floor completely empty and used as storage. A few broken things are up here, filled with so much dust.

“You wanted to show me a bunch of shit?” Tom asked confused.

“No,” you said giving him a smile, “I want to show you this.”

You opened the door, the sun shining through.

You walked out, Tom following behind you.

“Woah…” he whispered.

You two were now standing on the balcony to the roof, the only place in the hotel that was exposed to the outside world, the only place you can come to fully experience being outside. You had your window in your room sure, but it wasn’t the same.

The balcony faced the river that went out for miles and miles. The green was plenty green, but that was thanks to the rain.

You could feel the warmth of the sun through the shield, and the breeze of the wind.

“The genius who made this shield really did a great job huh?” You said looking at Tom.

Tom was so amazed by the outside world and how the lowering sun looked along the land. How the light touched it, it was beautiful.

Tom glanced down at you, and he swore he was looking at the most beautiful thing.

The way the sun kissed your skin and how the breeze blew your hair. It was the most beautiful meat thing he’s ever seen.

“You gonna answer me?” You asked, smiling at him.

“Oh, uh yeah, I think the guy who made this was a genius,” he said glancing around at the shield. It had a light faint blue color to it, making it barely visible, “smart kid.”

Tom looked at the shield like it was the greatest thing on the planet, but in certain ways it was.

“I used to bring Mason up here all the time,” you said, having Tom get his attention back to you, “he used to love it, watching the sunset with me. But he got older and my parents started dropping him off to get baby say by Mrs. O’Kay and said I needed to focus on school, not babysitting my brother.”

Tom looked softly at you, his eyes turning soft as well, “so you started coming up here by yourself?”

“I used to. Eventually, I just stopped coming here, I don’t, well, didn’t have any friends to really come here with. And now many people in the hotel come this far up here anyway.”

“Why not?” Tom asked confused, “this place is beautiful.”

“Most people don’t want to see the monsters,” you said, “there’s been a few that have wondered near the hotel and has scared the living shit out of them.”

Tom glanced out towards the river, watching the sun sparkle against the water, “have you ever seen one?”

You shook your head, “No, I’ve been lucky enough to never come across one.”

Tom nodded.

“How about you?” You asked really actually wanting to know, “have you seen one? I’m sure you have since you seemed to have a long journey here from your land.”

Tom pursed his lips, thinking, then finally shaking his head, “I never came across one.”

You were shocked, how could he not have come across one? There’s no way he traveled that far and didn’t see one.

You wanted to open your mouth and call him out on it, but it didn’t feel right to.

This moment with him, standing out here, talking with him, it was too perfect to want to start an argument over something so stupid.

“How about your family?” You asked, “what were they like? Have any siblings?”

Tom nodded, “yeah I had three.”

Had? He had siblings?

“It’s not something I really want to talk about right now...I’m sorry.” He said looking down at his boots.

You understood, remembering the whole reason he is here anyway, his family was gone.

You kept your eyes on him, your heart beating fast.

You loved the way he looked under the setting sun. How the sun-blessed his skin beautifully and made his chocolate eyes look more beautiful.

You couldn’t take your eyes off him. Your heart was starting to feel something for him, something you’ve never felt for any of the other guys here in this hotel.

A feeling of a fire starting to burn deep within you.

Tom looked down at you, staring deeply into your eyes. His heart skipped a couple beats, feeling a spark deep within him.

Tom glanced down at your lips, pressing his lips into a thin line, then looking back into your eyes.

“You’re beautiful.” Tom said, causing your heart to stop and sink so deep down into your belly.

“No, I’m really not,” You said breaking eye contact with him. “I’m-“

Tom placed his fingers on your chin, lifting your face back up to look at him. He was now standing closer to you, his body only inches from yours.

Your heart raced, you’ve never had a male be so close to you like this, to make you melt against his touch. Tom was working some weird magic on you.

“You are beautiful,” he said again, “don’t ever doubt me about that. You’re amazing and beautiful and really smart,” he said pushing your hair behind your ear, “and I am so lucky and happy that you were the first person to really welcome me here.”

You kept quiet, not sure what to do or say. But it was official.

Thomas Stanley Holland stole your heart at that moment.

And little did you know, you also stole his.

You’ve been back in your room for a couple hours now, your mind continues to think about what Tom said, about what he did.

Your stomach filled with butterflies every moment you thought about it.

Your heart raced remembering his touch and how he held your face in his hand.

How your heart now belongs to him.

He owned you.

And there was nothing you could do about it, not that you wanted to do anything about it.

You tossed and turned in your bed, wanting to just fall asleep so you could hopefully see him again tomorrow.

But sleep never came and your mind never slept.

You needed to get out and get yourself tired.

You quickly changed into a pair of shorts and a black tee shirt, sliding on your chucks and quietly walking out of your room and down the hallway.

This place was super quiet at night. No one ever walks around this place at night, the hotel is way too big and creepy to really walk around at night.

Plus the elders claim ghosts of the first people to live here haunt the place.

PPFF whatever. Ghosts haunt this place my ass.

You walked down to the first floor, glancing around the empty floor and at the moonlight that filled it.

You kept on walking, just glancing around at everything, passing the cafeteria, library and the lobby.

And then, you saw something. Someone.

And not just anyone...you swore it was Tom.

You saw him place his hand on the wall, and a small opening in the floor opened up.

Tom kicked the floor open more with his boot before disappearing down into it, the whole closing up.

“What the fuck?” You whispered.

You quickly walked to where he was standing, touching your foot all over the area where the opening was. And touching all over the wall trying to figure out how to open it.

You were confused and didn’t understand what was going on.

You swore it was Tom that opened this floor, it looked like him and you swore it was him.

Your eyes couldn’t have been playing a trick on you, it wasn’t possible.

You kept touching the wall and kicking the floor, trying to figure something out.

“Miss L/N?” You heard a voice ask, turning your head you see the major, “What are you doing up this late? And why are you kicking and touching everything?”

You smiled shyly and laughed quietly, “I couldn’t sleep and decided to go for a walk and…” you stopped, if you told him the truth about what you just saw...it wouldn’t end good, “and I dropped something, I couldn’t find it and was kicking the ground hoping to find it and touching the wall to find the light switch.”

The major raised a brow, “the light switch is in the lobby, Y/N...you’ve lived here twenty-one years, I’m sure you remembered that.”

You laughed quiet and nodded your head, hoping you were faking enough for him to buy it, “that’s right! Silly me. I’m just so tired I can’t think straight.”

“Well, then go back to your room and go to bed.”

You nodded, looking back at the floor.

“Now, Miss L/N.” He said with a stern voice that made you jump.

You nodded again, walking towards the stairs.

You glanced back at him, watching as he looked at the floor and slowly touched the wall before getting up and looking at you.

You quickly looked away and just kept on walking.

Something wasn’t right here. You needed answers for what just happened.

And you knew Tom had the answers.

tag list: @meyrapp @smexylemony @og-baby-ob14 @lafayettes-baguettes-1 @its-livelovelife @blisssection @harringtonmyhusband @ixchel-9275 @sparklingseb @nerdofthehighestcalibre @justmesadgirl interested in being added to the tag list? fill out the form in my bio! enjoy!~

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katzirrart · 6 years

Text

Art Growth Compilation

I really enjoy doing posts about improvement in art.

It makes me feel better about my work, especially with how busy I am these days.

I wanted to compile all the comparisons I’ve made over the years and kinda discuss the posts, for myself or others.

I thought it’d be funny to start with comparing how I first drew on a tablet, using dodge and burn tools, to how I do now which is using layers and actually painting. It’s funny to look back on that, you know?

I linked the post I made, compiling all the month to month memes from 2003-2017 that I try and do yearly. And everything else is under a cut ;w;’‘/

Most artists have done a drawing of themselves and a few Pokemon, or their team. I did that in 2010, and was dissatisfied with my work...

I took a crack again in 2013 after I’d learned to draw more animals and not be so Edgy(tm) I really liked the results. I still didn’t use references though, because I was lazy. I just didn’t want to. I still was on that boat feeling like I was CHEATING. I wasn’t being CREATIVE if I looked at references.

Artists get stuck on using reference and it’s AWFUL. USE THEM. USE TWENTY. LEARN!! It’s so HELPFUL, I wish I had started sooner.

In 2014 though -

I tried again.

I had gotten better at anatomy, but most of all, I started to work off references more. I started to really focus on not stylizing so much, but to work on actually making things look like things. I started to work on caring about COMPARISON sizes. Composition!!

While Pokemon reference sizes are -wiggle hands- and while my team changed up, I was satisfied that I could draw Arbok ACTUALLY like a cobra now, Meowth is easy given it’s just a noseless cat so to speak, Haunter is literally a triangle cloud - I was satisfied having drawn that team.

My secondary team in the new games? I was excited to draw them. It was fresh and new and FUN and it turned out PRECIOUS.

I learned better how to proportion things in an image for layout, and just... making characters feel COHESIVE in the same space.

It was a nice thing to keep visiting. I have a sketch in the works for an update even hopefully.

These pieces are kind of interesting to me too, because they’re towards the end of my era of THIN lineart?

My lineart has gone from this, and THIS, to this.

Literally I use to not believe in line weight, I can still do thin work of course, but I’m not a fan of trying to FORCE it like I use to? Even the second link, I went from the SMALLEST brush in Sai, to using a marker brush that had barely ANY give, to a custom brush on Sai that acts like a Paint Chat brush I use to use with friends online!

That’s what I mean about style too, like you may reserve yourself about things - like not coloring black in and outlining with white, or certain ways you do things. But the growth and changing and figuring FUN ways to color that black etc is where the fun of art comes in, to me??

Learn. EXPERIMENT. PUSH!

A few months ago, I did my first redraw. Of this piece from 2012.

Six years difference.

This was interesting for a number of reasons. There’s aspects I like more in the old one, but not many. I really like the pose a bit better, but I like the casual closeness that I did in the new one because that’s more my Shepard.

But technically speaking, it’s worlds better because I took time. I paid attention to details. I did fun things instead of rushing. I took time with my coloring and didn’t SMEAR it around. I had a friend who use to complain I drew so fast and they felt so SLOW, but I love what that taught me. I started taking more time on my art, and enjoying it more since I caught more mistakes and vastly improved. By leaps and bounds.

It’s amazing what a difference six years makes in not only style, which is often a FOCUS of these things? My style has come awkwardly and naturally to me over the years of critically picking certain things apart? but I really love where it’s gotten.

I have things I want to get back to, but I love... where it is, and CAN be?

But it’s wild to me how much change happens in technical handling? It’s a hand in hand thing, you can’t focus on one or the other only, or the other suffers.

Honestly this has been my favorite improvement to notice though?

Kisame was a character I felt I should be able to draw EASILY? Not so much. Itachi? ALSO EASY. Not so much??

Kisame has weird eyes to grasp how to draw? Thus focusing on them kept making them wonky to me!! On top of that, he’s everything I’ve been use to drawing for AGES because he has a muscular body, with a smaller waist? ... that was something I was use to drawing? I still was awkward getting back into the swing of that... Drawing HIS HAIR though? NOT SO EASY....

But like, Itachi should have been easy, but I have a thing about him appearing too feminine as he gets drawn because his eyelashes, and I’ve really found a nice... medium at this point?

But even still like my face styles and eye styles are finally to a comfortable point for me? I have stopped focusing on some weird things with Itachi’s hair and just... DO IT? But even still like...

The improvement here is literally just if I don’t know how to do something, or I’m not satisfied with how I do it? I just keep at it.

It’s a theme of this post honestly... repetition, persistence.

Keep drawing it. Keep trying to figure out what it is that’s catching you off about how you do it. Don’t like how you do eyes or how they fit on the face? Look at facial structures and references and figure it out. Draw them separate and figure out how to apply them to what you are.

Remember there’s a skull in there. I draw the holes in the skull like the eye sockets, and the nose area to help my proportions for SURE.

I’ve also gotten to a nice marriage in my lineart? The piece before the recent one, those lines feel HARDER or HEAVIER? The newest piece seems...softer? Like I’m lighter handed again?

I really like critiquing my own growth on what is good or working better for me? Older pieces it looks like I’m putting lineweight for SAKE of it versus where it goes now?

INTERESTING.

Like this lineup -

My style shifts so RAPIDLY, it still is noticeably MY style to people, but parts shift so VIOLENTLY because I’m constantly picking at what I don’t LIKE.

It’s funny too in the case of Kisame and Itachi because consistently I’m drawing the SAME character over and over - can make you REALIZE how you’re doing something wrong?

Like, here’s a difference of eight years, and it’s all the brush I use now, and it REALLY shows how my style has changed - in the aspect of one point of reference?

I have a childhood favorite character too, of Daisuke, and I use to be bad at drawing boys, and I use to be SUPER bad at drawing fluffy hair?

It was something I specifically started to learn to do? And I started to draw Daisuke every few months or years for a while. Especially when I started to first REALIZE I didn’t like my style that much?

But the middle one was July 2009, top left is less than 6 months later, and the last one is about a year later. DRASTIC DIFFERENCE. But next -

This one was in 2012, when I started to do more with teeth, or first dipping my toes into anatomy. I started to focus more on HANDS too, I was super bad at them. Overall I started to focus more on making my art have...ages? Like a boy versus a man. Facial features being DIFFERENT.

I can look at this boring little bust and see that he comes off more of a teenage boy to me now. I need to work more on figuring how to draw asian features especially the eyes. Sometimes I hit the mark, other times I don’t.

but between this and 2012? Not too much has changed. I do hair fluffier now, and I angle the eyes better. The teeth not being outlined doesn’t give that weird effect where I might give him TOO MANY TEETH....

People do that and it’s easy but whoof.

So there’s still learning and adapting to do in QUICK drawings, you know? but I can still see there’s good things. That took me like 5 minutes to draw? Not bad honestly.

In it’s own bracket is original characters though too?? But also divergent of STYLE shifts because like...

OKAY. Nightmare Syndicate’s story.. started for me in 7th or 8th grade, that was when I was...14? 15? I’ve been fleshing it out for like 13 years, that’s wild haha!! I love my kids and all.

But okay so SIALI. She’s still fairly similar but I restructured her face for SURE. She’s gotten less edgy, she’s.... a teenage girl.

FELIX?? CHRIST. He’s been such a long journey!! More on that later?

Rot and even Cor?? Rot and Cor are a shorter span of development, but Rot started in Highschool so almost 10 years ago, and Cor has been fairly solid - but even just DRAWING him over three years? Go look at how much he changes.. I’m not married to concepts easily. haha!

People act like making a character you’re STUCK with it. Like Oh boy, I better make this character good, from the get go!!

I only worry about that with small potatoes like my Pillar(Gods) designs I just made for the comic?? Even still, small things will change with them I’m sure.

But not only has Felix and Siali changed, but they’ve GROWN with my style and DEFINED it even. I’ve had to adjust my style to support Felix’s look honestly a LOT. Bend my rules. Break my anatomy stickler attitude - and honestly, that’s the thing.

You have to learn the rules and anatomy BEFORE you can break them. A style built upon broken anatomy will fail you down the road if you just excuse everything with style.

Learn to draw the hands. Learn to draw the feet. Figure out the face. Bones exist. You can break the FUCK out of it once you learn how to do it, you know? Like I’ve seen so many styles I LOVE who are cartoony and BROKEN AS FUCK, but there’s still some STRUCTURE to it. Most of those people can still structure a face just fine, and the reason exaggeration works so well is because there’s like unwritten rules for what works and doesn’t based on that?

Idk.

Felix has a very elongated torso, he’s like 7′ or 8′ tall so I mean?? He’s... broken anatomy, but he’s... lanky - but his muscle is LITHE and stretched. It makes contextual sense. That’s the important part.

But even designs, it’s important to understand designs YOU make, or like... to understand they’ll CHANGE and that’s growth within your art too?

Like okay, example. Felix has a millipede inspired monster form. But with designing that? I still have to know how millipedes and SNAKES work because there's bones and vertebrae in there??

But there’s also the difference of like... CONCEPT, versus execution. You can design a fucking badass character, but understanding your own concept is SOMETHING.

I had no idea how this would play out, until I was mapping out his ‘midsection’ spikes? and man. MY STYLE WAS MADE FOR THIS CHALLENGE NOW. Which is so interesting how smooth my style has always been? Felix has defined ANGLES in it, and it’s hilarious tbh?

But even too, I’ve had to work with Felix’s monster form FACE, to break the rules to make it WORK the way I need it too?

On the anatomy subject too, like when I first got into Marvel comics 6 years ago or so? I had no idea how to do muscle structures?? I was so BAD at it.

I can look at this left image and CRINGE so badly at how NONE of those are muscles?? THOSE ARE THINGS I PERCEIVE AS MUSCLES. Like...

A course I took taught me to draw what I see, not what I know. That’s the whole point of that post that goes around about drawing a shrimp. Look it up. It’s hilarious and cute.

But it’s like, asking an artist to draw a bike, you can tell who uses reference and who WINGS it. It’s funny, but like it’s what you know versus what you see.

I started to study anatomy like crazy and was seeing improvements days at a time. The right image was done like... a month later? already I can see the muscles under the pectorals? those look normal now. the abs aren’t dough lumps under the skin in a perfect 6 pack, they’re the actual plane shapes.

I was trying to find a good reference for myself of learning to make men ‘thicker’ too in terms of the waist etc since the left is really...thin.... but...

A bit better, but even still, comparing these two - they’re 2 months apart? and I can see understanding more about arms and how they connect to the body, where the planes ACTUALLY lay for the chest and obliques and such?

I can see improvements from July 2012 up there, to - WHOOPS. I FORGOT TO CHANGE THE YEAR LMAO... TO FEBRUARY 2013...omg

I mean, I could go on and on about improvements I see, when I go through my art though? Gosh.

Like I’m seeing so SO many bad hands and feet in my old stuff, and just CRINGING because tricks I learned for myself by now?

I give so many pointers and streams and screenshares on discord still to help people with art and it cracks me up?? Like...

I dunno. I’m pretty mediocre tbh, but god damn.

#art improvement #art meme #pep talk

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cesperanza · 6 years

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Ragnarok!

Ok, so I loved it, I unabashed loved it, and I keep finding new reasons to love it. This tweet thread gets at some of the reasons why I love it, but for me there’s so much more. (Spoilers under the cut, much babbling, sorry.)

I mean, YES, postcolonial politics: Taika made a movie where the message is, seriously, BURN IT ALL DOWN. The idea that they end up overtly questioning where all that Azardian gold came from - framing the whole society as one built on exploitation, Hela as the Return of The Repressed, the massive violence underlying what appear to be the most civilized societies - and then propose this unbelievably radical solution: don’t be afraid of burning it down and starting again. (Talk about a contemporary film in the age of tearing down statues and questioning Columbus Day! This was literally a film about getting history out of the museums, of realizing that these “frozen” artifacts of history represent real, living conflicts.) All of Asgard ends up on an ark, as refugees, literally huddled masses - which gets me to the other thing that I loved about the movie, which was that every (apparently) silly thing turned out to be a serious thing: so, witness, The Immigrant Song, which was cute/funny the first time we hear it but turns out to be the thematic keynote to the whole story.

In this way, this was the most New Zealandish film I’ve ever seen, because of course the New Zealanders stereotype the Australians (hello Thor!) as drunk, loudmouthed boors - Thor breaking everything over at Dr. Strange’s - and then you had the Valkyrie who at first appears to be merely “slapstick” drinking /falling down drunk, except that ends up being absolutely serious, too: she’s Native, she’s like so many displaced people: traumatized, alienated from her culture and her own memories, whether she be Maori or Native American or Inuit; her drinking problem got increasingly important and poignant to me. The film was on the one hand, funny, but on the other, very sensitive to trauma, even Loki’s - and omg, Loki staging plays in which everyone loves him, his father, his brother (with Matt Damon et al!) - and JFC, the iconography, the peeling back of the Catholic-style ceiling art to the violent friezes underneath. And Jeff Goldblum’s reality show! They did fucking theatre, film, media, and art criticism in the middle of it! GOD I LOVED THIS MOVIE.

ALSO, more randomly, things I loved: Bruce Banner dazzling his enemy with disco, while wearing Tony’s too-tight pants; it was like queer theory weaponized! The wry dig of Jeff Goldblum changing “slavery” to “prisoners with jobs.” THOR LOSING HIS EYE AS PART OF BECOMING A REAL KING --omg, I could not be happier with the symbolic nature of that (Buffy fans will be with me here), but also Thor leaves us more a king as well as a more powerful superhero than we’ve ever seen before; he’s got a wisdom he hadn’t had before, IMO. He’s had a real hero’s journey to the garbage pile of history and back and is now set up to be a really amazing king!--for the first time I really see him as a king. Plus on a comic book level, losing the hammer and grasping the lightning and thunder was AMAZING. (Also on a comic book level, the mocking of Ultron, which needed mocking. I will also say that normally comics lose me when they go intergalactic, but this made the idea of it not seem stupid to me, unlike--and apologizes to those who liked it, Guardians of the Galaxy, which was a film I really disliked; too dudebroish, a world run by adolescent boys. For the first time I have some small hope for Infinity War, though I suspect that they won’t find the infinity stones as stupid as Taika obviously did - I was looking for some rocks, I didn’t find them - which is a pity.)

On a shipping note, you could --and should - ship everyone with everyone in this film, but Thor/Loki in particular had a nice arc: I loved Thor throwing things at him, and the way his physical presence became meaningful at the end; he finally, literally, REALLY SHOWED UP. I love how Loki came with the revolution and got to be the hero of the story like he’d been dreaming of in his headcanoned fanfiction story - but of course that was the Loki story I wrote for love, so I’m biased toward this interpretation. And I loved that it was Thor’s fanfiction too: I thought the world of you, I thought we’d fight side by side forever. And of course the mid-credits clip leaves us with them side by side.

I could watch a whole movie about the Valkyrie war, which was beautiful and beautifully shot, and though they said that they cut the evidence of Valkyrie’s bisexuality, I had no trouble seeing the whole story of her lover’s self-sacrifice and her guilt. Valkyrie was a more interesting and complex female character than we’ve had for a while--and I actually found Hela to be really complex too, in that she--how to put--had an honesty to her. She wasn’t lying, she wasn’t that kind of devil figure; she was forcing us to confront the lies that we’ve been telling ourselves about how power works/has worked. She was literally the pure military force that builds empires, and she was demanding to be acknowledged. Often women are framed as temptresses or liars or seducers - Eve - but Hela was a fury, a punisher of unavenged crimes. \o/

So wonderful - as with Wonder Woman - NOT to have that sort of normative, mainstream, mid-century American male perspective on the comic book. We’ve heard it, guys; we know. But you can do so much with this material, and I honestly can’t believe how much Taika did with it--just the range of it. Ragnarok is both the funniest and the most serious of the Marvel films; there was not to my ear a bum moment. It was a souffle, a perfectly executed pastry in a genre that normally lands with the thud of steak and potatoes or the glop of cold oatmeal. (Justice League trailer, I’m looking at you.) The idea of even saying that Ragnarok is not something to be avoided, but something to face head-on; a reckoning; that’s gutsy and brave and interesting--and it got said in THOR!

#THOR!#thor ragnarok #spoilers

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