#I am very emotional after watching black panther
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The two best superhero movies of 2022, hands down
#I am very emotional after watching black panther#marvel#mcu#black panther#black panther wakanda forever#black panther spoilers#wakanda forever spoilers#black panther wakanda forever spoilers#black panther 2 spoilers#dc#the batman 2022
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The fact that I need more of Tenoch x Reader-
How about where there is a premiere where Tenoch is jealous to see Reader with OSCAR ISAAC?
A/n: OMG YESSSS YES YES YES YES AND YESSS FUCK YESSSSS COMING RIGHT UP ONG. Also this is more a bit of hints towards Hispnaic Latino reader x Tenoch/Oscar
TAGS: @shoxji @tian-monique @omgsuperstarg @angel-bi666 @sunfairyy @sunkissedebony97 @rkiversstuff @emma-frxst
{IF YOU WANT TO BE TAGGED IN FUTURE NAMOR/TENOCH FICS LET ME KNOW PLUS IF YOU DO OR DONT WANT TO BE TAGGED IN SMUT. MUST BE OVER 18+ FOR THOSE ANYWAYS.}
WARNINGS: NONE
Tenoch Huerta and you had been close since you began shooting Narcos: Mexico back in 2018. There was an instant connection that no one explained yet all could see. You two stayed in touch, meet up weekly, and spent a lot of time together. You landed the role of Namor's lover and queen of Talokan for Wakanda Forever. It was exciting to work alongside Tenoch once more. You had a major crush on the man yet kept it to yourself.
Oscar Isaac is another close friend, you both worked together in Star Wars: The Last Jedi where your character was his characters Poe Dameron's ex-lover yet second-best pilot the resistance had. You admit to the small crush developed for Oscar. By the end of the franchise in Rise Of Skywalker your characters have gotten back together in a long kissing scene.
So of course the fans had gone crazy for shipping you with Oscar and Tenoch. Wondering which an is going to be lucky enough to land you as their girlfriend.
Today was the premier of Black Panther Wakanda Forever. You were so excited about being in the Marvel franchise now. Including working with any great people. Right now you had arrives with Oscar Isaac. The press went nuts interviewing you both.
"Would your characters ever meet?" One of them shouted out.
"Love triangle even?!" Another added.
You and Oscar both laughed cheeks flushed.
"Oh, I hope so that would be a good romance." He winked before wrapping an arm around you. Tenoch had been with another tv station not too far away. How his blood boils noticing who you brought. Lupita and Winston both encouraged him to ask you out. Even as his date to the premiere. Yet Tenoch never had the confidence.
He matched his way over there just in time to hear the question and response by Oscar.
"I don't think that Namor would let that happen." Tenoch adds rather seriously. You smiled brightly and pulled Tenoch into a hug. "Hey you!"
"Hey. While admit the love triangle would be cool a king would never let his queen go."
Oscar rolled his eyes, he knew Tenoch liked you," You sure? Marc is pretty slick with the women. Much like myself." He adds just wanting to see Tenoch clench his jaw.
"Oh boys. Come on. Settle down. Let's hurry along and sign some autographs." You thanked the interviewers before leading the two boys, who currently are acting like man children, off to where the fans are waiting.
You watched the movie sitting between the two boys. Many emotions were shown during the screening especially how it felt seeing you and Tenoch as your characters together for the first time.
After the premiere you all headed for the restroom because it was a very long movie.
"You know I am surprised you and (Y/n) aren't together yet." Oscar comments washing his hands beside Tenoch.
"What do you mean? I thought she came with you as her date." He adds a jealous gaze in his brown eyes.
"No just as friends. But if you won't make a move then I will." Oscar turned the water off reaching for a towel.
"Don't waste your time, Oscar."
The men both walked out looking for you.
Winston and you were both laughing and making jokes. He specially was hammering you for the details of why Tenoch and Oscar were as the fans said 'Simping' over you. You explained your history with both men. And how wondering it was to have them so close together now. But in your heart, Tenoch was the one of you.
"So ready to go to the after party?" Oscar asked.
"But as my date." Tenoch glared over to Estrada's direction.
Winston smirked at (Y/n) who had to choose. "Well boys... I am flattered. Really am."
"Then go out with me." Tenoch whispered giving you his brown sugar eyes.
How could you say no?
#marvel#mcu namor#namor#namor imagine#namor x reader#namor x you#tenoch huerta#tenoch huerta x reader#oscar isaac#oscar isaac x reader#moon knight x reader#moon knight
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Shame Pt.1
Hello all!
I am very new to all of this, but this story came to my head while listening to this song and I was like well hell why not give it a try! Thought I’d give you guys a taste and you let me know if you want more! If you do this Series will be a definite roller coaster. Hope you want to know more about my girls and the story of how they got here!
Prologue
Shuri stood frozen in the middle of the New York State Capital building. A burning sensation starting in her chest, quickly spreading throughout her entire body. Okoye to her left, hand settled firmly in the center of her back as Nakia stood to her right firmly grasping her bicep, both with the intention of keeping their Queen stable on her feet as they all looked up at the screens with a mixture of emotions.
They’d come to The States to start plans on the new outreach program for the state of New York. As they walked into the building there was an obvious distraction that peaked Shuri’s interest to say the least. People were gathered in groups watching their phones or headed towards somewhere where there was a television. As she walked through the building she noticed sympathetic glances thrown her way.
“What in Bast’s name is every one looking at?” Okoye says on high alert. “Something does appear off.” Nakia chimes in. “Ikumkani wam if you feel uncomfortable at any moment we will retreat.” “I am fine Okoye. I don’t believe their to be any threat. Let us follow the crowd” Shuri continues her confident strut following behind the crowd ignoring the weird looks she’s receiving. Nakia and Okoye shoot eachother a look as they follow ready and willing to protect the Queen and Black Panther at all cost.
As they came up on the crowd in the center of the building they were all looking up at the screen with fond looks of adoration. Smiles, tears, hushed conversation. “She’s beautiful.” “She deserves this after what happened.””I’m so very happy for her.”
All three women looked up at the screen in confusion to see…. A wedding. “All the commotion over a wedding? Must be royalty.”
The bride walked down the aisle in one of the most beautiful gowns Shuri had ever seen veil covering her face, as her groom sang to her a song he wrote for her special for this occasion. It was beautiful.
But something felt familiar about this bride. A strange feeling tugged at Shuri’s chest her breathing picking up. The bride walked up to her groom. As he finished up the song he took his mic free hand and gently removed the veil from his brides face to reveal a beautiful beaming bride. With beautiful brown glowing skin that she used to refer to jokingly as”Pecan butter tan”. It was always the perfect description to Shuri because when it all boiled down to it Shuri always thought she looked edible, smooth and buttery. With her perfectly beautiful smile that lifted the apples of her cheeks adorably.
“Y/N” Shuri let out breathlessly.
Okoye and Nakia immediately held Shuri stable. However, pointless because Shuri couldn’t move if she wanted to. Frozen. Everything felt like it was moving in slow motion. As Shuri watched the love of her life … Marrying someone? Some.. Man?
She felt her breathing become shallow. Immediately becoming over stimulated. Feeling Claustrophobic, everything was too much. She started to hyperventilate. She took off not caring who she knocked over to find a place of solitude. This couldn’t be happening.
‘I know it was a while ago but I’m better now! I’m better for her! I have to have another chance! Please Bast, No this isn’t real’ so many thoughts ran through her head as she found a sign for a restroom she ran in lucky it’s empty locking the door behind her.
Shuri felt the familiar pain in her belly as she crossed her arms across her center in agony. She slid down the wall to the floor groaning as tears flowed freely from her eyes. Choking on a sob trying to breathe.
“Shuri! Open the door!” Okoye whisper yelled
“Shuri you need someone with you when you get like this. You haven’t had one in a while let us be here for you!” Nakia spoke up.
It’s all background noise to her.
“I can’t break. I can’t break. I can’t break” she chanted over and over to herself.
She’d really fucked up that bad? It’s really over? ‘I was getting better… baby I was gonna be better for you. Please.’
#shuri fanfiction#shuri udaku#shuri x reader#shuri imagine#shuri x you#shuri fic#shuri angst#Spotify#letitia wright#letitiawright#wakanda forever#black panther wakanda forever#shuri black panther
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Delightful Destruction
Adrien asks to see Plagg’s true form
My entry for Adrien AUGreste 2023: Plagg
Ao3 link, Series
“Hey, Plagg,” Adrien called, looking at a video on his computer. “This ghost thing kinda looks like you.”
Plagg peered over Adrien’s shoulder as he relished the taste of a particularly delicious wheel of camembert. Huh, that was a cat spirit, a decently strong one too, from the looks of it. It wasn’t quite as well formed as him. Its tiny black body was mostly a head with tiny little bat wings, and its eyes were purple instead of his ravishing green, but he could see the resemblance.
Then, having fed off enough fear from the civilians nearby, it transformed. Its wings grew to massive lengths and grew to four. Its face morphed from a simple fear to a pig nosed muzzle, and its main body became long and sleek like a panther’s.
“Oh,” Adrien said, frowning. “It doesn’t anymore.”
“Puh-lease,” Plagg remarked, lifting his nose up away from that pathetic transformation, “my true form is much cooler than that.
Immediately, Adrien sat up straight, looking at Plagg in undisguised awe. “You have a true form?” Adrien asked.
“Of course I do,” Plagg said, grinning smugly as he revealed in the attention his chosen was giving him. He nonchalantly swallowed a roll of camembert whole as he smugly asked, “What, did you think those ghosts could be cooler than me? Trust me,” Plagg swept his paw through the air in a dismissive gesture, “compared to me, those ghosts are just the very beginnings of curdled milk. It would take them millenia to even be a fraction as smart or as powerful as I am.”
“Wait,” Adrien cocked his head, looking at Plagg in an adorable level of confusion, “why don’t you ever use it then?”
“Because it’s huge,” Plagg said, rolling his eyes. “And if you think my powers are tricky in this size, it’s nothing compared to my true self. Honestly, I could probably destroy the entire Milky Way on accident like that.”
“Oh,” Adrien said softly. “I guess that makes sense.”
Plagg hummed, eyeing Adrien carefully. It didn’t take a genius to see Adrien’s disappointment. His wielder wasn’t subtle about his emotions. How anyone could miss them was beyond Plagg, but showing someone his true form was a big deal. Most people only ever wanted to see it before they demanded that he fuse with Tikki to make reality bend to whatever stupid wish they wanted. Adrien though…
Plagg genuinely believed that Adrien might just want to see it. He was curious like that, always grabbing and reaching for whatever scraps of knowledge Plagg handed out to him, and his wielder was clever too.
At first, Plagg had given Adrien the tiniest scraps of information to tease him, offering only a small taste of information to see his tiny little human mind get blown, but after a month or so, Adrien would surprise him by casually mentioning things to Plagg that he’d never even said out loud before, had never even needed to.
For instance, after a few weeks of listening to Adrien drone on and on about his sickeningly sweet crush on Ladybug, Plagg had once again given his excellent cheese advice only for Adrien to counter that Plagg had never been in love. Or after Plagg had introduced the idea that he’d had many wielders before, it had only taken Adrien about 3 weeks to complain about how he couldn’t transform into a cat like Bast had.
From then on, it had become a game of sorts. Plagg would drop some little seed of information every so often, and Adrien would counter it by bringing up some surprisingly insightful tangential guesses about it with the surety of someone who’d known it for years. Sometimes he was wrong, hilariously wrong, like the time he’d thought Loki was a fox, but most of the time, his wielder was right on the money.
Plagg had let a lot of secrets go this way. He knew he’d dropped far too many hints for his own good, but it was so satisfying to watch his little human grow and figure out things so quickly and easily. In fact, for the first time in a long time, Plagg felt like he trusted his wielder. So maybe, he could try something.
“Do you want to see it?” Plagg asked cautiously. Immediately, Adrien lit up like a Christmas tree, but he hesitated.
Biting his lip, Adrien hesitantly asked, “But didn’t you say it was dangerous?”
Plagg gave him an easy grin and waved his paw dismissively. “Don’t worry about it,” he said. “We’ll just have to find someplace big enough to hold me without anyone seeing us, and I’ll just need to avoid using my powers. No big deal.” Then he paused before quickly adding, “But, just in case, I can’t stay in that form for too long.” As Adrien nodded, he quickly added, “and it’s just the one time.”
Adrien hummed, before he grinned. “I think I know a place. Plagg! Claws Out!”
~*~
As it turned out, Adrien’s place was one of the cisterns in the sewer. It was hardly conspicuous. Both Ladybug and Chat Noir had hidden near a number of these several times,but Plagg was a little worried he wouldn’t be able to fit.
Apparently, Adrien had the same idea, because he looked at it nervously as he asked, “Is it big enough?”
As Plagg listened to Adrien’s voice, he cursed his soft heart. As soon as he heard that tone in Adrien’s voice, Plagg knew, as clearly as he knew that pasteurized cheese was a crime against humanity, that if it wasn’t big enough, his wielder would blame himself. He was weirdly self-conscious like that: eager to blame himself at the slightest opportunity. Plagg blamed his stupid father for that, and Ladybug’s stupid obsession with secrets hadn’t been helping.
“Yeah, it’s big enough,” Plagg said, quickly to assuage Adrien’s doubt. For Adrien, Plagg would find a way for it to be big enough.
Quickly, he coached Adrien through the spell. “In order to do this,” Plagg told him, “you’re going to have to say, ‘Plagg, reveal yourself’. It’ll be a bit like transforming, but the magic’s not going towards you, it’s going away, so you’re going to have to be forceful, but not too forceful or we’ll bring this place down.”
Adrien nodded before following Plagg’s instructions to a tee. Feeling the bindings on his smaller form loosen, Plagg stretched his form out very carefully, making sure not to touch the ceiling or the water. He’d only be a fraction of his normal size like this, but he figured that Adrien would still be able to see all of his features.
As soon as he was finished, Plagg looked back at Adrien with all three of his eyes to find Adrien with eyes the size of dinner plates and beaming like the cat who caught the canary.
“You look so cool,” Adrien gushed. “And look at those wings! They look just like Astrocat’s. And that eye! Can I have an eye like that? Can you see out of it? What does it look like? Does it look like it does with only two eyes or can you see in other dimensions?”
Smiling, Plagg stretched and flexed, a strange feeling coming from his chest as Adrien oohed and awed at every new thing he noticed about Plagg, asking dozens and dozens of questions in barely contained glee. Adrien delighted in everything: from the realization that his body was covered in eyes, “can you see from all of them?” to Plagg’s disembodied joints “how far can they move?” to the giant hole in his chest, “can I touch it?”
Plagg had to admit, he let time slip away from them as Adrien admired Plagg. At first from the ground, but after Adrien asked to be picked up, from up close. There was something so simple, so joyful in being marveled at instead of being used as just half of a battery.
Together, he and Adrien spent a few hours down there until Adrien had started getting tired and -very reluctantly- suggested they go back. The next morning though, they paid for it. Adrien had come down with a cold, one of the nastiest that Nathalie had ever seen apparently, and Plagg had felt terrible.
As soon as Plagg apologized though, in his own way, Adrien shook his head.
“It was worth it,” Adrien insisted through a faceful of snot and mucus, and Plagg nuzzled him happily. He knew he must’ve been the luckiest kwami in the world.
#miraculous ladybug#miraculous lb#fanfic#adrien agreste#fanfiction#adrienaugust#adrienaugreste#plagg#miraculous plagg#ml plagg#recreation spoilers#plagg true form#fluff#adrien augreste 2023
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Thoughts about Wakanda Forever
Okay, now that the first weekend is over here are my spoilery thoughts. It's still tagged, but if you didn't watch opening weekend...
First of all, this movie is so... rich. Like, the world is so much deeper, not just because they introduced stuff like the Midnight Angels, but also because it feels so much more lived in. The entire world feels full.
I am really excited to see the Midnight Angels get a big screen introduction, and also REALLY didn't expect them to get one even though I knew Aneka was in this movie. Like, I REALLY didn't think Marvel would just actually introduce them like that. But I'm also torn, because I really wanted more Ayo and Aneka. And the head kiss just feels... empty? Like, you could assume they were just sisters or besties or something. I know Ayo called her "my love", but I wanted more. And IDK how I feel about it being Okoye and Aneka instead of Ayo and Aneka. I love Okoye, though, and she can do anything she wants to do.
That last battle, though! The Midnight Angels, Shuri's Black Panther, Ironheart all fighting Namor and Talokan!?!?! I said it before but it feels like this movie was written especially for me. When I was still in college, and later in grad school, these were characters I was reading in comics, and writing in fics (except the Midnight Angels, never wrote a fic with them), but kind of never expected to see them on the big screen. So, that moment was surreal in the way the 3 Spider-Mans was, for me. I was literally holding back screams in the theater!
This was for the comics fans, for sure. If you like these characters in the comics, this was pure fanservice.
On the grief. It was clear that phase 4 became the phase about grief, about moving on, about missing those who we love. And that makes perfect sense, in universe, because in many ways, the MCU and the fans lost so much in phase 3. It's a shame that we lost Chadwick in real life, but I feel like the phase would have taken this direction, either way. In the movies, we'd lost so much, too. And Coogler was saying how BP2 was going to be about grief, in its own way, even if Chadwick had never passed.
We all lost so much in real life, too. My father passed away this year. It's still very surreal and it still hurts and I can't... be without him.
In that sense, I felt Shuri so much in this movie. Losing someone so suddenly, so absolutely, and there being very little you can do about it. I watched my father go to the hospital thinking he had pneumonia, and die 40 days later from lung cancer. The pain Shuri was experiencing on screen, I experienced just this summer. It was surreal to watch, and also cathartic. She and I went through very many of the same emotions. Everything just feels like it doesn't fucking matter anymore. And I'm very angry. Very angry. All the time. I apologize for how it sometimes comes out, especially on here, but just know that I get Shuri's desire to burn the world.
Ramonda's death shocked me. I also may have numbed myself to it. My mom is all I have left, too, so I made Ramonda's death a story element, and tried to take it as nothing more than that. Outside of my own emotions, here's what I think about that death:
I feel like it was unnecessary. I know they wanted to give Shuri motivation to go after Namor. I also feel like they wanted to give her a reason to want to become the Black Panther, after she expressed no desire to bring back the herb. But I feel like attacking Wakanda was enough. Even bringing Ramonda to the brink of death would have been enough. She didn't even see her in the ancestral plane, so it wasn't necessary. It was just fridging, and frankly it was a copy of what they did with T'Chaka, which was T'Challa's motivation in Civil War.
I do like the choice to show her Killmonger instead of Ramonda or T'Chaka, though. In a perfect world, she could have seen T'Challa... Anyway, Killmonger was a good call out for her and also a great representation for how she was feeling. She felt the same pain that Erik felt when he came to Wakanda for the first time.
Going back a bit, I also love how RUTHLESS Ramonda is. I mean, maybe that's not the right word? But she is not taking any shit. She is not returning any shit. She will not sit by and have any shit.
People were criticizing her for sending Nakia and calling Namor, saying that it was a calculated move so that they could attack. Eh... it was more like a calculated move so that Nakia could get Shuri and Riri out without having to fight Talokan's strongest protector. The girl who got killed was an unfortunate casualty, but that was not planned. The girl was ABOUT TO KILL SHURI and there was no choice but to shoot her first. Also, I still maintain that Namor taking Shuri/threatening to hold her hostage was an act of war. I know she went willingly, but he was saying he would not let her leave... directly TO the queen. I looked it up just to make sure I wasn't wild, and yes, it's against the Geneva Convention . Which I'm well aware that Talokan is not privy to, but in any fantasy fiction with royalty, kidnapping a princess is an act of war. (Also, the girl wasn't literally Namor's child. He calls all of them "my child." Just like Okoye isn't Ramonda's daughter, though she calls her "mother" sometimes. Also, he called Namora "my child" too and she's his cousin.)
Namor, Namora, Attuma, all well done. I like these versions of these characters (I guess we don't get to know Attuma well, but he's a shit talker AND he's extremely noble, and I like that about him.)
Attuma giving his breathing apparatus to Shuri was so good, to me. It shows that the Talokanil are not bad guys. They aren't heartless. They are just trying to protect their own people. It was an act of humanity in a tense moment.
This! Namor! IS! SO! GOOD! I like him. I like that they didn't just make him a villain and forget any of the nuances that make Namor such an interesting character. When he killed the people in the helicopter as they tried to flee the ship attack, omg! I loved that. It perfectly illustrated his take no prisoners, leave no witnesses approach, and his utter disdain for the surface world. I also loved his introduction to Ramonda and Shuri. He sees Talokan in Wakanda. They are extremely similar and made similar choices to protect their people from the world. There's a reason he comes to Wakanda for allyship, and it's not just the shared interest in protecting vibranium/the shared importance it has to their cultures. It's because he assumes that they know all too well how dangerous countries like the US and France and the UK et al are. They both saw people like them enslaved, beaten, murdered, raped all for land and resources. They both did whatever it took to keep their prosperity a secret for those reasons.
OMG OMG Y'ALL. NAMOR IS OFFICIALLY THE FIRST NAMED MUTANT IN THE MCU. I mean, there have been a few other references and that little Easter egg in Ms. Marvel, but this is the first time a character said "I am a mutant."! NAMOR IS THE FIRST MUTANT! Just like he should be!
More thoughts under the jump.
Ross stuff was interesting, but got lost in all of the storytelling. Except as a great way to set up VAL as a big fucking problem in the future! I like Ross, though, and I want him to continue!
Okay, so... it looks like Shuri isn't taking the throne, maybe M'Baku is, but... is anyone else worried? Val mentioned taking down Wakanda through destabilization. Transitions of power are a really destabilizing time, and in the past decade, Wakanda has lost 3 monarchs. I feel like this could be a big problem coming up. I have confidence that Wakanda cam motherfucking SOLVE IT, but this is... a potential problem for the future.
MCU really don't like confirming ages unless the character is a teen bc it becomes more important, but they REALLY need to clarify Shuri's age. I think she's very easily like 23, based on the timeline we've been given post blip, but also, people keep saying she's "a teenager." I really don't think so? Like, even Peter Parker was 18 the last time we saw him, and I think that was still supposed to be the 2023/2024 school year, and he would have graduated that year. And Shuri is a bit older than him. IDK. It really felt like they were playing her older. The overprotectiveness was less because she's young and more because she is Ramonda's only living child and technically the heir to the throne. Ramonda both cannot stand to lose her and cannot afford to lose her only heir. (This movie definitely ends in 2025 or 2026, there's been too many "one year laters" and stuff, and it's post-blip.)
I like 19yo Riri instead of minor Riri. It's not a huge deal, but it gives you more room to play with that character. Although I'd love for this to be like... her senior year of college so she can still have been a prodigy that was in college early.
LITTLE T'CHALLA!!!!!! That was soo sweet, I was crying so much!
IDK if I have other thoughts. Everyone stan. I guess the last thing I wanna say is... I hope everyone doesn't hate Namor. That shipping fiasco really fucked me up. ISTG I don't even ship the shit that much, I was just feeling the very Disney prince/princess "let me show you my world" thing. It was also giving the guy from The Woman King who came to Benin and was gonna run off with main girl. That's what I meant by "oh, he was feeling her" and that it was fun to ship. The whole bit in the first half was very much giving "I can show you the world! Shining, shimmering, splendid! Tell me, princess, now when did you last let your heart decide?" I very much think it was on purpose, and the moment where he kills her mother was meant to feel even worse BECAUSE they wanted you to think this was a potential romance. It's also why Namor says "This could have been different" at the end. When has ANY character ever said that NOT about romance? The reason why nobody shipped T'Challa with Zemo is because there were no such moments between them, and there was nothing to ship, really. Although usually someone ships any pairing you can think of, so there's probably some T'Challa/Zemo shit.
I really don't wanna be thought of as a shipper. From a story perspective, I 100% think this was intentional. Nobody would write something like that and not intend for you to read it as courting. He thought he could court her and entice her to his side. I saw a take that he was doing that on purpose to make her like him and coax her to agree to burn the world with him, and that, I can agree with. That's also really good storytelling. He probably thought "If I woo the princess, I win Wakanda's support." In a different type of royal fiction, he'd probably have asked for her hand in marriage for the same reason. Like I was saying the other day, you CANNOT have a kingdom that is lollipops and rainbows. 100% of them are shady and problematic, inherently violent and practice cruelty. Including Wakanda. And as benevolent as Namor seems, there's no way he's been king for nearly 500 years without being absolutely manipulative, cold, and calculating. Also, I'd argue that if Shuri was a white princess, all of y'all would have read this as him courting her, either genuinely, for allyship, or both. There's this idea that to protect black girls we gotta infantilize them AND we gotta desexualize them, but in some ways, that gets a little weird, too. Even if you don't "ship it", I don't know how it's hard to see that he was courting her. ESPECIALLY when you consider that for a long time, marriage was MAINLY used for alliances instead of love.
Shuri isn't interested in dating anyone, I think. I think she's still too hurt. Even Riri, who I think she really likes, isn't catching her eye that way. And I honestly think that's best, right now. Shuri needs time to heal and to figure herself out. But I love the Shuri x Riri dynamic, and I hope we get more of them together. I think they had Riri a little toooo... scared, shocked, audience stand-in character in some moments. But I loved her complete admiration for Shuri and I need more of it!
Chile but I didn't like the Ironheart suit in this one! I'm sure we'll get the sleeker suit in her series next year. And I hope we get some pink in the suit. This Riri doesn't seem like she'd be into it, I feel like she's not clamoring for a pink suit, but I love the pink elements in the comics suit.
Okay that's the real end. Stan Wakanda Forever. Watch multiple times if you can!
#black panther#Wakanda forever#black panther: wakanda forever#spoilers#wakanda forever spoilers#black panther spoilers#shuri#shuri and nem#queen ramonda#okoye#namor#riri williams#text#movie thoughts#rip chadwick boseman#heavy spoilers
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2023 Movie Journey #6: Ant-Man And The Wasp
ant-man and the wasp. if you read my previous review, you know that i saw this nearly a year ago, and am therefore working off really old notes to review it now, because i didn’t fill in my thoughts at the time. i took less notes for this one, and i’m not really sure why, other than maybe my need to rush right from watching it to the theater to see quantumania?
so, i had literally nothing to say about the core characters who returned during most of the movie, except to note that the story is a ‘classic Part Two disaffected group’ but weirder since it happened offscreen. and what i meant by that is that i don’t know if it’s an actual trope, with a name, but i certainly feel like it’s a trope to establish a group--in a movie, or tv show, or book, whatever--and then in a future installment create major division between them, so that the drama is about how they’ll repair the damage and come back together.
tv shows do this a lot, presumably because the benefit of successfully building a found family for viewers to love is that when they then shatter, viewers are invested and care about the plot that follows. the problem i had with this movie doing it is that the rift happened offscreen, between movies!! i watched the first one, then this one the next day, and had no fucking idea what the characters were talking about even when they did discuss what had happened.
that, of course, is why i’m not a marvel fan and never could be, because even when they do make movies and shows i like...even when they make the rare movie like black panther that i love and could watch over and over...their core principle of trying to FORCE me to care about other parts of their ‘universe’ and punishing me if i don’t, by withholding pieces of stories about characters i like, grates against my stubborn nature and makes me even more certain i want nothing to do with whatever it is they’re trying to push on me.
so i had to google stuff in order to even be able to follow along with the gap between ant-man and this movie, and @actuallylukedanes very helpfully explained stuff to me, since they are familiar with more of the mcu than i am. setting the in-group conflict up the way this movie did meant that they were able to sort of reset scott and hope back to a place that was similar to their dynamic in the first movie: resentment on her side and justifications and trying to be a team on his. but i can’t say i enjoyed it as much or felt it worked as well this time, with the inciting incidents happening offscreen (for me). you can’t expect me to be emotionally invested in your characters if you’re leaping right to estrangement without showing me the conflict...cuz that’s where the emotion is!
anyway. lol. we meet a new character in this movie, and it felt to me while watching it like she was meant to be set up for future appearances, the same way they insist on establishing new characters now by first inserting them into existing franchises. but in her case, we never see her again--i just checked and she’s meant to be part of a ‘team’ movie eventually. which is something, i guess, but so many of those get made now as a way to randomly throw characters together (and not just in marvel world!) that i definitely don’t assume they’ll be as interesting as movies that center on a single character. plus her centrality to this movie just made me expect that she was now part of ant-man’s world and it was weird when she wasn’t referenced in the next one.
however, i did at least find her interesting! my immediately-after-watching notes on her were: ah, ava. what is it about british women that makes them so perfect for unsettling, eerie characters? all i could think when we meet her is Big Drusilla Energy, and i feel like it’s not a coincidence that media going for ‘spooky unbalanced antagonist’ so often chooses ‘young waif-thin british woman with dark hair’ as their goal. i don’t know what it means, but it works.
there were too many car chases for me in this one. i am notoriously not a fan of car chases in general, and i don’t actually remember them from this movie now--but since literally my entire note about it was ‘too many car chases.’ as its own little paragraph, clearly it stood out to me at the time. i think my problem is that i want the action in action movies to make sense in a basic, ‘fitting the world’ kind of way. so, for example, it makes sense to me for the ant-man movies to have action scenes about heists, and size-shifting, and insects.
it doesn’t make sense to me for them to have car chases. the fast and the furious makes sense for car chases! they can have as many as they want and i support it! but instead, since movies about car chases are popular, every other movie now has to have car chases, and it’s dumb. indiana jones is an archaeologist! unless he’s literally finding an ancient car, he doesn’t need a car chase scene! gah.
speaking of irrelevant things, it felt like there was really nothing for bobby cannavale to do in this movie, now that he and scott weren’t in opposition. like, i loved the end of ant-man with them awkwardly getting along and uniting behind cassie, but if he’s not getting in scott’s way and as an average cop he also doesn’t possess specialized skills to help him...he’s just a guy barging in on hugs, which seems like a weird reason to keep him involved in the story. i may not have cared about him in the first movie, but at least he existed for reasons.
i only had one more note from this movie, and it was the following:
michelle pfeiffer!! in my world, michelle pfeiffer is a bright light that makes all things better, because despite there being no social media in the early ‘90s, i definitely developed a parasocial relationship with her as a tiny child.
and that is true. so she was easily one of my favorite parts of this movie. she and michael douglas work together well, which is great, and tbh it’s also great that as hope’s previously-missing mom, she’s only about a decade younger than her costar, so once they’re reunited we get to watch them be a mature couple. i’ll never get tired of that in media cuz it’s still really rare, and i enjoy it way more than, say, giving an older actor a ‘still in her prime’ love interest.
despite the complaining notes i took, i did like this one, but it’s hard to say if i liked it more or less than the original. i’m not sure i could pick a favorite. on the one hand, the original has a simpler story and is easy to love; on the other, this one has MICHELLE PFEIFFER. but it also focuses so much on ava when her arc never reappears after this, and that kind of makes it feel like a waste of time pulling focus from my faves here. very much a trade-off because sadly i can’t just insert michelle pfeiffer into the first one and have everything i want.
even if it wasn’t better than the original, though, (and realistically, how many sequels are?) i enjoyed watching it. this movie’s heart did stick close to where the first one was coming from, so it feels the same, which is cool to get in a series.
more than any marvel franchise i’ve seen thus far, the ant-man movies seem to understand that underneath their plot choices and cgi and crossovers, what can make them beloved is the ability to make characters feel very specific, and then keep those characters familiar every time they bring them back. that’s why i was happy to see them again.
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I saw Black Panther: Wakanda Forever last night in IMAX and here are my SPOILER-FREE thoughts:
- fun fact first: the first Black Panther was the first MCU film I ever saw, so it has a very special place in my heart and hearing about Chadwick's passing 2 years ago hit hard...
- that being said the way Ryan Coogler, Marvel and everyone else who worked on this handled Chadwick's passing is nothing short of inspiring. This film is a beautiful love letter to not just Chadwick and his legacy, but also T'Challa's character. It's beautiful, painful, emotional, yet full of hope 💜
- now, I thought the movie was perfect! I am still a little at a loss for words really...
- I cried my absolute eyes out, I cheered and clapped, I laughed, I gasped, and I smiled. It was a real rollercoaster of emotions for sure
- in terms of the story, I really do not know where to begin... So much happens, it's crazy... I don't want to spoil anything obviously but I'll just say it's a beautiful story of legacy, grief, and culture
- even though the movie is emotional, I genuinely laughed at some of the comedy in this. It is really nicely balanced!!!!!
- the cast is incredible across the board. Everyone is amazing!!!! Just everyone, the real standouts for me were Angela Basset (she is coming for her oscar!!!!!) and Letitia Wright! Incredible, but truly everyone in this cast brought their A-game!!!
- speaking of Letitia, let's talk about Shuri for a second. Shuri's arc in this film is so amazing and Letitia just nails it! Massive respect for how she had to step up to the plate here.
- I also enjoyed the new characters! Namor was a really good antagonist to the plot and I loved the exploration of his people and Talokan was very well realized. Riri was great, loved her relationship with Shuri, and I am more interested in her series now too!
- the soundtrack and score are incredible once again! (as expected ofc hehe)
- VFX-wise, I thought it was really well done and the cinematography was gorgeous. Especially Wakanda was just so well done again, it was so amazing to return again
- action scenes are really good and thrilling!!!! Already looking forward to seeing them again!
- Ruth Carter deserves another Oscar for costume design. EVERYONE LOOKED GORGEOUS! I guess that is also a shout-out for the hair & make-up team 😍
- a lot of this movie can be spoiled and I already saw clips circulating of the film on the internet, so be warned! There are a lot of genuine surprises in the film and I REALLY hope no one ruins them for you!
- I saw it in IMAX 3D and it was a great experience! Hoping to watch it in Dolby Cinema as well!
- ofc, you know the drill, stay after the credits 👀
I cannot wait for round 2 on Saturday ✨
I guess there is only one thing left to say: WAKANDA FOREVER!
#perfection honestly.#black panther 2#black panther#black panther wakanda forever#wakanda forever#marvel#mcu#wakanda forever spoilers#black panther wankanda forever spoilers#yen's thoughts#yen reviews
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30 / 07 / 2022
🇬🇧🇺🇲 ENGLISH / ANGLAIS 🇺🇲🇬🇧
My opinion on the first trailer BLACK PANTHER - WAKANDA FOREVER
The first BLACK PANTHER - WAKANDA FOREVER movie trailer was released almost a week ago and I still haven't posted my review. Sequel to the Black Panther movie, this Marvel movie is highly anticipated. Despite its few flaws, I loved the film. Suffice to say that I was impatiently awaiting the sequel to the film. And what can I say except that..... I LOVED THIS FIRST TRAILER!!!
This first trailer for the Black Panther sequel is perfect, because it doesn't reveal much about the plot, but it manages to inspire, reserve surprises, and arouse emotion around the characters. First I almost had a heart attack when I saw the trailer for the first time, then I saw it at least ten times. Maybe I'm overdoing it, but I was honestly very moved.
Chadwick Boseman, the interpreter of King Tchalla of Wakanda, has died. I had posted a message on Tumblr to express my sadness for this very good actor who seemed to be a generous man in real life with his fans and his teammates. I haven't seen him in many movies, but he leaves a big hole in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the comics, Tchalla is very important, even being the leader of the Avengers for a time, in addition to having been the first black superhero in the comics.
Suffice to say that I had tears in my eye when watching the trailer, because we can assume that the ceremony in white will be more of a funeral than a coronation. I am thinking in particular of the highlighting of the character of Princess Shuri, a role which brought out the actress Leatitia Wright. Will she be the next Queen of Wakanda?
In addition to managing the mourning of the previous King, there is lot of questions that we can ask ourselves about the royal succession, the role of the Black Panther being held by the ruler of Wakanda. It seems obvious that Princess Shuri will be the Black Panther, even if the Marvel teams had said that it could not be imposed so easily. What is certain is that she will be very important in the film. We see her in particular meeting the one who is Riri Williams, the future Ironheart.
To those who would be surprised that a young black woman "replaces" a straight white man (Iron Man), I say that this film is not intended to replace the previous Marvel characters. People exist, black women talented in the armory, it's believable, plus it's already in the comics. In short, I know that the film will be very interesting to follow in its presentation of the characters, and the return of the old heroes (agent Everett Ross).
In addition to Agent Everett Ross, almost the only white actor in the film, I especially look forward to learning more about the character of King M'Baku, whom Winston Duke plays very well.
What I especially love about Black Panther are its female characters. The heroines of this film are among the best written and performed female characters. Okoye, leader of the Dora Milaje (the royal guard), is funny in spite of herself and at the same time worthy of admiration for her loyalty to the throne. Nakia, played by the excellent actress Lupita Nyongo, is my favorite character in the film, because she is the wife of King Tchalla (which is not the case in the comics). I had loved their romantic relationship, but I hope it will exist more on its own.
The one who especially impressed me a lot is Queen Ramonda. Mother of Tchalla and Shuri in the film, she is only Shuri's mother in the comics. I found this character very interesting in the film and I tell myself that there is potential with her, because she will have to manage the death of her son (shortly after that of her husband). We can assume that she had remained the Queen of Wakanda during the Thanos snap and that she remained in power while waiting for Shuri to become the new Black Panther.
She wears sublime costumes, she is really dignified in her manners but she has this angry cry in the trailer that moves us. Above all, passionate about royalty in general, I'm grateful that the Marvel universe gives us the opportunity to see believable political stories (it's a change from stories that are too cosmic), and it's a change to see a black woman in power.
In the absence of historical films or series on African Queens, this film could be the opportunity to see a black queen showing her intelligence and her strength.
Ultimately, I am very interested in the character of Namor, King of Atlantis. Faced with the success of the film Aquaman with Jason Momoa, the character of Namor - although older than that of Aquaman at DC - will have to prove that he is just as exciting. I don't mind that he's not a white man, because you see inspirations from pre-Columbian civilizations in the costumes. It makes a real difference.
This character is great in the comics and I hope he turns out to be a good villain. When he floods Wakanda in Avengers vs. X-Men (2012), one of the best Marvel comics, this event has consequences. I have a feeling this will also happen in the movie and it promises some great scenes. Maybe he won't be the only villain.
We also know that Killmonger, cousin of Tchalla and Shuri, will return, even though he died in the first film. As you will have understood, the battle scenes and the emotion behind the death of King Tchalla make me want to see this Marvel feature film even more, following an excellent first part.
This film will conclude Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the longest yet, and I can't wait for more to be known about the film, although I hope to be surprised.
Dynamic, in particular by its rhythm and its excellent music, its lighting, its plans, its sets and its costumes as well as its introduction of new characters who just make you want to see more, this trailer deserves to be seen. That's why I linked it to you at the end of the article. If you too can't wait to see this film or if you enjoyed this trailer, don't hesitate to come and discuss it in the comments so that other people can answer it.
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Mon avis sur la première bande-annonce de BLACK PANTHER - WAKANDA FOREVER
La première bande-annonce du film BLACK PANTHER - WAKANDA FOREVER est sortie il y a près d'une semaine et je n'ai toujours pas publié mon avis. Suite du film Black Panther, ce film Marvel est très attendu. Malgré ses rares défauts, j'avais adoré le film. Autant dire que j'attendais avec impatience la suite du film. Et que vous dire si ce n'est que..... J'AI ADORÉ CE PREMIER TRAILER !!!
Ce premier trailer de la suite de Black Panther est parfaite, car cela n'en dévoile pas beaucoup sur l'intrigue mais cela réussit à donner envie, réserver des surprises, et susciter de l'émotion autour des personnages. J'ai d'abord fait une quasi crise cardiaque en voyant le trailer pour la première fois, puis je l'ai revu au moins une dizaine de fois. Peut-être que j'en fait trop, mais j'ai honnêtement été très ému.
Chadwick Boseman, l'interprète du Roi Tchalla du Wakanda, est décédé. J'avais publié un message sur Tumblr pour témoigner de ma tristesse de ce très bon acteur qui semblait être un homme généreux dans la vraie vie avec ses fans et ses coéquipiers. Je ne l'ai pas vu dans beaucoup de films mais en tout cas il laisse un grand vide dans l'Univers Cinématographique Marvel. Dans les comics, Tchalla est très important, étant même le chef des Avengers pendant un temps, en plus d'avoir été le premier super-héros noir dans les comics.
Autant dire que j'ai eu la larme à l'œil lors du visionnage de la bande-annonce, car l'on peut supposer que la cérémonie en blanc sera davantage des funérailles qu'un sacre. Je pense notamment à la mise en lumière du personnage de la Princesse Shuri, rôle qui a fait émergé l'actrice Leatitia Wright. Sera-t-elle la prochaine Reine du Wakanda ?
En plus de gérer le deuil du précédent Roi, se posent en effet des questions sur la succession royale, le rôle de la Panthère Noire étant tenu par le souverain du Wakanda. Il paraît évident qu'elle sera la Panthère Noire, même si les équipes de Marvel avaient dit que cela ne pouvait pas être forcément si simple. Ce qui est sûr, c'est qu'elle sera très importante dans le film.
On la voit notamment rencontrer celle qui est Riri Williams, la future Ironheart. À ceux qui seraient surpris qu'une jeune femme noire "remplace" un homme blanc hétérosexuel (Iron Man), je dis que le film n'a pas pour volonté de remplacer les précédents personnages. Les gens existent, les femmes noires douées dans l'armurerie, c'est crédible, en plus du fait que c'est déjà dans les comics. Bref, je sais que le film va être très intéressant à suivre dans sa présentation des personnages, et le retour des anciens héros.
En plus de l'Agent Everett Ross, presque le seul acteur blanc du film, j'ai surtout hâte d'en savoir plus sur le personage du Roi M'Baku, que Winston Duke joue très bien.
Ce que j'aime surtout avec Black Panther, ce sont ses personnages féminins. Les héroïnes de ce film sont parmi les personnages féminins les mieux écrits et interprétés. Okoye, chef des Dora Milaje (la garde royale), est drôle malgré elle et en même temps digne d'admiration par sa loyauté au trône. Nakia, jouée par l'excellente actrice Lupita Nyongo, est mon personnage préféré du film, car elle y est la femme du Roi Tchalla (ce qui n'est pas le cas dans les comics). J'avais adoré leur relation amoureuse, mais j'espère qu'elle existera davantage par elle-même.
Celle qui m'a surtout beaucoup impressionné c'est la Reine Ramonda. Mère de Tchalla et Shuri dans le film, elle n'est que la mère de Shuri dans les comics. J'avais trouvé ce personnage très intéressant dans le film et je me dis qu'il y a du potentiel avec elle, car elle va devoir gérer la mort de son fils (peu de temps après celle de son mari). On peut supposer qu'elle était resté la Reine du Wakanda durant le snap de Thanos et qu'elle est restée au pouvoir en attendant que Shuri ne devienne la nouvelle Panthère Noire.
Elle porte des costumes sublimes, elle est vraiment digne dans ses manières mais elle a ce cri de colère dans la bande-annonce qui nous émeut. Surtout, passionné par la royauté en général, je suis reconnaissant que l'univers Marvel nous donne l'occasion de voir des histoires politiques crédibles (ça change des histoires trop cosmiques), et ça change de voir une femme noire au pouvoir. À défaut d'avoir des films ou séries historiques sur des Reines Africaines, ce film pourrait être l'occasion de voir une reine noire montrant son intelligence et sa force.
Enfin, je suis très intéressé par le personnage de Namor, Roi d'Atlantis. Face à la réussite du film Aquaman avec Jason Momoa, le personnage de Namor - pourtant plus ancien que celui de Aquaman chez DC - va devoir prouver qu'il est tout aussi passionnant.
Cela ne me dérange pas qu'il ne soit pas un homme blanc, car on voit des inspirations des civilisations précolombiennes dans les costumes. Cela apporte une vraie différence. Ce personnage est génial dans les comics et j'espère qu'il sera un bon méchant. Lorsqu'il innonde le Wakanda dans Avengers vs X-Men (2012), un des meilleurs comics Marvel, cet événement a des conséquences. J'ai l'impression que cela arrivera aussi dans le film et cela promet de belles scènes. Peut-être ne sera-t-il pas le seul méchant.
On sait aussi que Killmonger, cousin de Tchalla et Shuri, reviendra, même s'il est mort dans le premier film. Vous l'aurez compris, les scènes de bataille et l'émotion derrière la mort du Roi Tchalla me donnent encore plus envie de voir ce long-métrage Marvel, suite d'un excellent premier volet.
Ce film va conclure la Phase 4 de l'Univers Cinématographique Marvel, la plus longue pour l'instant, et j'ai hâte que l'on en sache plus sur le film même si j'espère être surpris.
Dynamique, notamment par son rythme et son excellente musique, ses éclairages, ses plans, ses décors et ses costumes ainsi que son introduction des nouveaux personnages qui donnent juste envie d'en voir plus, ce trailer mérite d'être vu. C'est pour cela que je vous l'ai mis en lien à la fin de l'article. Si vous aussi vous avez hâte de voir ce film ou si vous avez apprécié cette bande annonce, n'hésitez pas à venir en discuter en commentaires afin que d'autres personnes puissent y répondre.
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@deepkissesandunexpectedhappiness @kingblack @kingblackcinema @blackpanthercast @i-love-marvel-men @natashaxmarvelmen @marvelentertainment @gaymarvelboys @tchalla-and-mbaku @tchalla-never-freezes @awesomecrowdcontrol1 @leftprogrammingroadtripdean @torinya @tidodore2 @chrisevansxmalereader @theuncannytruthteller @ghost-37
#Youtube#Black Panther#MCU#MARVEL#marvel cinematic universe#Univers Cinématographique Marvel#Mon avis sur#My opinion on#Black Panther Wakanda Forever#Review#Critique#movie recommendation#recommendation#Recommandation#Movie recommandation#Namor#Tenoch Huerta#King#Roi#Reine#Queen#Princesse#Princess
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I just watched Wakanda Forever and I am overwhelmed with emotions
Warning: Spoilers below the cut
Let me start by saying that I cried so hard for so long through various parts of this movie so I am happy that I didn't see this in theaters
Once again the soundtrack WAS ON POINT
Losing T'Challa is losing Chadwick all over again
It's been 2 years and I am as heart broken as I was the moment I learned the news
I very much enjoyed the movie. I knew they were gonna make Shuri the next Black Panther. I was gonna riot if they didn't.
M'Baku being a brotherly figure to her after she lost her brother and mother was a welcome sight.
I would die for M'Baku and I am all here for him to be the King of Wakanda. It's what he deserves and I hope we see him as King!
OKOYE LOVE OE MY LIFE MY WIFE MY EVERYTHING
I dont like her new suit but I'm sure if she keeps popping up it'll grow on me. I would kill for her to get her own standalone movie.
Nakia and T'Challa have a little boy. I cried so hard when he said "My name is Prince T'Challa son of King T'Challa". I think that it's a beautiful way to end T'Challa's story. Leaving us something of him behind.
I am grateful and hoping that we see more of him even if it's cameos or even just mentions.
I hope Everett Ross gets to live his best life in Wakanda.
Valentina Allegra de Fontaine can fucking CHOKE I've disliked her since the first time I saw her.
As expected I would risk it all for Namor. Good on him and his people for killing the conquistadors.
THE RETURN OF N'JADAKA! I'm always here for Michael B. Jordan. He did tell us that he'd be back after Black Panther.
Ramonda 🥺 She died as a mother. She risked her life for Riri because in her eyes that is someone else's daughter and she'd hope someone would do that same for Shuri 😭 ANGELA BASSETT I WOULD DIE FOR YOU 💜
Ayo and Aneka being cannon lovers is the best thing that could have happened. We stan.
I think I covered everything but boyyyyy
I think it was a proper send off for Chadwick and T'Challa. There will forever be a hole in my heart for Chadwick. But I think he would be happy with it.
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Black Panther: Wakanda Forever thoughts...
So I watched WF today as a big fan of Ryan Coogler. I was a little apprehensive admittedly. I was worried that the film would feel a bit like a 160 minute therapy session for the cast and crew. But I had enough faith that Coogler would do good with this movie. I had overall enjoyed the first Black Panther, but I didn't love it as much as a lot of people did. I think it was a good movie with a terrific hero and a terrific villain. Coming out of Wakanda Forever, I overall felt satisfied but still slightly disappointed, which is a contradiction, I know. I think it is a decent movie. Certainly better than the latest Thor movie. But its middle tier Marvel. But its a creditable effort, given the loss that the Coogler and the team experienced with Chadwick's passing.
The good parts are the obvious ones. The film is quite well crafted. The costumes and music are wonderful. The film does a nice job with some of the under water scenes. The film is tonally fairly somber, which is a refreshing change of pace from Marvel recently. The acting is quite excellent across the board. Letitia Wright is the de factor lead and she handles that quite capably. Certainly in all her scenes of processing grief and loss are extremely well acted. She is not as convincing in scenes where she has to show anger and a thirst for vengeance, but its a very strong performance nonetheless. Obviously, due to where the character is at personally, the humorous part of the character is largely missing. Angela Bassett is a force of nature in the movie. She commands the screen in every moment she's in. Tenoch Huerta, playing Namor, is quite terrific in the film. While the character isn't quite as strong as Killmonger from the first film, he's still a strong antagonist. Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, and Winston Duke are all excellent in their returning roles. Dominique Thorne helps provide much of the humor, as Riri Williams. Martin Freeman and Julia Louis-Deyfus are just there in to be there so it feels like the MCU. Overall royally wasted. Michael B. Jordan makes a short but impressive appearance.
Asides from this, there are some narrative issues with the film. Everything with Ross and Fontaine feels completely unnecessary and out of place. Like with the first film, there are some dodgy CGI sequences. Also, and this may be a problem of the film itself or the theater where I saw it, but it was very difficult to see what was happening in some of the night and under water sequences. The film felt narratively a little too busy. I feel the backstory to Namor and Talokan felt rushed and half baked as a result. I didn't really understand his motivations behind going to war. In the end, The Talokans still murdered people who were innocent. So I am not sure the film makes a convincing argument of making us understand their side. I feel it could have been fleshed out. It also really didn't make much sense that Riri Williams was walking around as a normal college student after having made the technology to find Vibranium. The film is definitely 15-20 mins too long. I think there are characters and subplots that could have been cut and certainly there are sequences that go on for too long. For me, the biggest issue was that I ended up feeling emotionally cold after the film. For a film that was promoted as being about Wakanda dealing with the death T'Challa, his character's passing is a bit of an afterthought. In fact, there is a death in the film that ends up feeling a lot more relevant to the movie and Shuri overall. It was a bit surprising because I was worried it was going to be too much of that but I didn't feel as much of an emotional punch as I should have. In fact, the one scene I did find powerful was the mid credit scene. Also, as harsh as it is, there is a big missing space with Chadwick's departure that the film is not really able to fill.
All in all, still a good movie, but not necessarily a one that will stay with me. I think there is a lot of craft and care behind this movie and a cast that is giving it its all. Coogler has still made a solid movie, though its arguably his weakest in his filmography, which is a credit to him. Among MCU Phase 4 movies, I think this ranks in the middle. Above Black Widow, Eternals, and Thor: L&T, but below NWH, Shang-Chi, and DS2, which I know I like more than other people do. A 7.5/10
#black panther#wakanda forever#ryan coogler#letitia wright#angela bassett#lupita nyong'o#danai gurira#winston duke#dominique thorne#tenoch huerta#martin freeman#julia louis dreyfus#shuri#okoye#nakia#m'baku#riri williams#namor#queen ramonda
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11 reasons why cap 4 should reintroduce Bucky Barnes as the love interest, an essay
to start this off, i am not writing this essay from a shipping place nor do i believe that this would have any influence at all over the upcoming movie. i expect nothing. this is simply something that i would personally like to see. (of course no hate to anybody who thinks differently)
here are 11 reasons why i think making Bucky into Sam Wilson's love interest in Cap 4 would be a good move for Disney.
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1. on the Chinese film market - and why it's an irrelevant argument against the inclusion of homosexual themes in Cap 4
the Chinese film market is something that has been blamed for a lack of diversity in Hollywood films a lot lately. many people claim that this market with a lot of buying power has been responsible for the lack of gay and black representation in particular within Hollywood films.
and we have certainly seen Hollywood treating it as such, going so far as to cut gay scenes from movies for their Chinese releases, and vastly minimising John Boyega's (a black actor's) presence in the Chinese poster of Star Wars The Force Awakens.
[image ID: on the left is an image of the American poster for Star Wars The Force Awakens, featuring John Boyega prominently on the right-hand side. And on the right is the Chinese poster for the same movie, in which John Boyega is barely visible.]
so we know at the very least that Disney believes this through their own actions and efforts to self-censor for the different markets.
but Captain America 4 is a black-led movie, don't you forget. and Disney can't minimise Sam Wilson/Anthony Mackie in the movie or the poster because it's his movie and his poster. and no amount of creativity in the editing room can change that (thank God!).
so if by their own argument the film is already going to be either banned, panned or slammed in China... then what do they have to fear from making it a gay movie too?
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2. oh, the queerbaiting
queerbaiting is an unusual cultural idea. and sometimes i find myself thinking that the term is far too easily used, but then all of a sudden i will stumble upon a movie or show that is so quintessentially cruel and overt in it's... well... queerbaiting that i will start to wonder what the hell kind of a bizarre relationship all these straight people seem to have with their friends. take Troy and Abed from Community or John and Sherlock from Sherlock as the perfect examples of this. (in which my reaction to the show's creators saying the show wasn't gay was to ask so then why did you make it so gay?!)
i felt that Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes in tfatws were getting quite close to this level of queerbaiting.
there was the field scene, the couple's counselling scene, the boat scene, the couple's counselling scene, Bucky going with Sam to face Karli when she told Sam to come alone, the couple's counselling scene, ALL the staring scenes, Sam checking out Bucky's ass here as they said goodbye, the "i would move in with him but" hidden scene, "Uncle Bucky" showing up at the cookout scene, the romantic walking off together into the sunset together ending scene, and the couple's counselling scene. did i forget anything? but i mean seriously, the couple's counselling scene!!! that thing they did with their legs and their crotches while staring deep into each other's eyes, would any straight guy willingly do that? do straight guys crotch-snuggle now?
[image ID: an image of Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes during the therapy scene with the quote, "Isn't anybody going to drag me into impromptu couple's therapy and slot my legs firmly between theirs before staring deeply into my eyes?"]
(yeah i stole this image from a buzzfeed article on the fan reactions to the couple's therapy scene. but given that they stole 80% of the content of that article from fandom tumblr, i think it's pretty even-steven.)
there's also the fact that people started talking about bisexual Bucky Barnes a lot after the tiger pictures line, and the lead writer Malcom Spellman responded to the talk of Bucky's bisexuality with "just keep watching". well we watched, Malcolm. but it's beginning to feel like you were just jerking us around.
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3. the writing
seriously though, what else is Bucky Barnes doing right now in the MCU? his only remaining connection to anything going on right now is through Sam. there is literally nothing else established that's left for him to do that doesn't involve Sam. he moved to Louisiana to be closer to Sam (canonically), he hangs out with Sam's family (canonically), and Steve is presumably gone and is definitely not coming back for more adventures.
he has no villains or loose ends left. he has no other superheroes that he appears to be in contact with. he has no girlfriend or potential love interest, or even other friends or family. he is living in a tent that he has secretly set up in Sam's backyard and is mysteriously appearing from the bushes when it's time for dinner like a stray cat.
in my opinion there is no other meaningful and pre-established progression for Bucky's character that wouldn't just feel cheap.
plus, i don't think the general audience would be all that surprised if they kissed. i think a LOT of people picked up on all that tension. i think a lot of straight people picked up on all that tension too.
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4. the chemistry between the actors & the chemistry between the characters
the original pitch for tfatws was essentially just this, it was the chemistry between Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie and their respective MCU characters of Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson.
now obviously Anthony and Sebastian are simply friends, and i wouldn't mean to imply anything more. but they are also not their characters.
Sam and Bucky's scenes together before tfatws were both limited and short, and yet audiences still fell in love with the dynamic between the two characters.
in interviews, these two actors are constantly slipping into character and flirting with each other and frankly it's adorable. plus it's really entertaining. i'd love to see that dynamic, unfiltered, in a movie.
because believe it or not the flirting is actually even more open in their interviews than it was in tfatws. and i'm leaving some links as proof.
this here is known as the "married" compilation
and here's a "lucky dip" selection of interviews - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
and here's Anthony trying to get Seb to take his jacket off.
i'm just saying, why not let their chemistry shine? these two are so talented and so entertaining, especially when you put them in a room together. and can you imagine how absolutely hilarious and brilliant it would be to watch them navigate being a couple?
(and for those who bring up the "friends would be uncomfortable pretending to be dating" argument, i'm not here asking for a sex scene or anything. i don't think anyone would expect them to show any more intimacy (physical or emotional) while playing a couple than what they've already shown together in say... tfatws or in their own interviews. not that i actually expect anything regardless.)
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5. if they were a man and a woman they would've gotten together in tfatws
i have no more to add here. just that... yeah, they would've.
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6. and i'm not talking about the comics here, i'm talking about the MCU.
i understand fully that none of what i'm saying here falls in line with these characters from the comics. but the mcu itself doesn't fall much in line with the comics either, and these two characters especially are very different from their comics counterparts.
i'm not asking for these two to get together in the comics. tbh i don't think that it would work.
but the mcu Sam and Bucky are different and closer than their comics counterparts. they've got different histories, different backstories, and a very different dynamic. please rest assured that i am only talking about them in the mcu.
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7. Bucky Barnes is believably bisexual. and Sam Wilson has never been proven to be straight in the mcu, nor has he had a love interest.
(now please continue to keep in mind that these points only stand for the mcu versions of Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson, and not at all for their comics counterparts.)
Sam Wilson has never had a love interest, which is crazy because have you seen that man! he has had two blink and you'll miss it moments of verbal expression of attraction to women, both in TWS. and that's the extent of it, through his entire history in the mcu.
Bucky Barnes has had a number of surface-level female love interests, but none of them even came close to the level of connection and chemistry that Bucky shares with Sam.
and i'm sorry SarahBucky fans, but i just don't think there's very much to their relationship either. i love Sarah, i really do. but it's Sam who shares all the meaningful moments and history and chemistry with Bucky. and i don't see what making her into a love interest would do for Sarah's character either, what would that add to her story?
[Picture ID: Bucky at the cookout with Sam, Sarah, Cass and AJ. Bucky and Sam are looking at each other and smiling.]
and also there is the whole tiger pictures thing... again. which does strongly suggest that Bucky is bisexual whether this was intentional on behalf of the writers or not.
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8. it's representation... AND it feels natural
marvel hasn't had a lot of queer representation that's been noticeably present in the MCU at the time of writing this.
there have been a lot of failures so far, from the bisexual erasure of Valkyrie in Thor Ragnarok to the wlw erasure in Black Panther.
there was queerbaiting almost identical to the bisexual Bucky baiting for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2. when asked if he had considered featuring a gay hero in gotg2, director James Gunn stated that "We might have already done that. I say, watch the movie." after the movie's release audiences were understandably confused about the lack of queer representation. To which the director followed up his comments with, "But we don't really know who's gay and who's not. It could be any of them."
there is also Loki, considered by most fans after the airing of his six episode series on Disney+ to be both a poor attempt at both genderfluid representation and bisexual representation. with both attempts being summed up fairly well by the term "blink-and-you'll-miss-it". (also it's just terribly written and Loki doesn't wear any interesting clothes! fanficcers are a Goddamn blessing in this hard time!)
and let us not forget that Andrew Garfield was apparently FIRED for pushing for a bisexual spiderman. a bisexual spiderman within an interracial mlm relationship no less.
so for all these failures, marvel, why not allow us queer fans this? two brilliant and heroic men in a loving interracial relationship. two heroes that we can look up to.
now, one of the biggest detractions from the argument for representation is the idea of "forced diversity". and some poorly written characters certainly do end up feeling forced into the narrative. take Iceman in the comics for example, with Jean Grey just straight up suddenly telling him he's gay. like, marvel, sweetie, that's not how this works! and i don't know a lot of queer people who thought much of that "representation".
but the crux of the "forced diversity" argument is almost always that it feels unnatural within the story, right? and i don't think that anyone could say that about MCU Sam and Bucky ending up together, given these characters' existing chemistry and their history. they've both played characters in gay relationships before so we know that it's not outside of either actor's wheelhouse. and y'all know that Anthony and Seb can act, people. if it's in the script i believe that they'll make it seem like the most natural thing on earth.
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9. it'd be a nice change
there's been an ongoing meme lately about "Disney's first gay character", the joke being that they continually announce gay characters without really ever including gay characters in their films.
this is to the point where Disney has formed a reputation amongst queer audiences of being homophobic.
if Sam and Bucky were to become a couple, then Disney could have its first actual gay character within a gay relationship. AND have him be in the lead of his own movie, no less.
it's also worth keeping in mind that there's likely an overlap between the people who were outraged by a Sam Wilson Captain America, and the people who'd be outraged by a gay Captain America. and if they were already not seeing the film, then i don't think much is gonna change that.
queer audiences would definitely love it, and the media attention would be guaranteed to be huge. i mean, simply look at the amount of media attention mere rumours of a character's queerness gets you and multiply that by a canon confirmation of said rumours.
but i'm pretty sure that Disney already knows this.
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10. and yet, in truth, it's not about the representation
in truth i've never felt that i had any trouble relating to characters of any sexual orientation, race, gender, sex, body type, etc. (although that is not to throw any shade at all on people who do wish to see themselves represented) but for me, i think it's more about the story than the packaging.
and yet, a love story is still just a story. straight or queer, monoethnic or interracial. when two characters have chemistry and history and have sacrificed for each other time and time again, and they also can't keep their hands or their eyes off each other, then i'm pretty sure that that's a love story.
straight or queer, monoethnic or interracial, it shouldn't be about these simple labels. it should be about how well written the relationship is. it should be about chemistry, and history, and sacrifice.
because i'm fucking sick of all the hollow, forced romances in media no matter the genders of the participants. i'm sick of lazily written, shallow relationships where any two people sharing the same space for any extended period of time will simply fall in love. it's boring, it's repetitive, and as a writer myself it drives me up the wall!
romance stories suck! and everyone knows that romance stories suck. between twilight, and most of the entire YA genre, and love triangles (so boring), and romance used as poorly-written throwaway subplots in Hollywood movies, the world is in agreement that the romance in western media is simply dreadful. and yet we still want love stories. it's an entire genre that sits at the heart of the human experience (<3), and yet one which so few of today's best known writers seem truly able to capture.
i don't think that i'm the only one who feels this way, either. i suspect it's actually a large part of why fandom is so romance-centred in the first place, that we're all just starving for a good love story.
(btw i think fandom has a reputation for being something that as a whole that it is not. it has this reputation for straight up demanding things and harassing people until they get their way. while unfortunately there are a few people who do this, they're fucking annoying and i swear that they're far from the majority.
in my experience fandom is mostly about writing a five thousand word story at three am while drunk off your ass because it might make someone whom you've never met smile, editing it in the cold light of day, and then posting it. expecting nothing. sometimes getting nothing. and sometimes getting someone send you kudos or a comment so heartbreakingly wonderful that it makes you smile in return.)
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11. so once again, it is all about the writing.
i want to see Sam and Bucky get together in the mcu, not because they would be a gay couple but because i genuinely believe that their story has potential to be an amazing love story.
and i know the mcu isn't about the romance. it's why in my personal opinion we haven't gotten a lot of good canon romances besides Peter Quill and Gamora. and i don't think that the mcu should be all about the romance either. i fucking love the action and the fighting scenes. i love the comedy. Captain America: The Winter Soldier had no romance and it was a fucking treasure, it was an amazing spy-action-thriller and it made my little gay heart dance. Thor Ragnarok had no romance, and it was an utterly brilliant comedic spectacle action film. not every movie needs romance.
but mcu Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes were doing couple's therapy and fixing a boat and walking off into the sunset together in tfatws. they were inseparable on the battlefield. they've got a dynamic. it's beautiful, it's romantic, and it's gold.
a budding relationship between them in the next movie would be a good way to explore both characters more without the narrative feeling too stilted and separate. at the end of tfatws, both Sam and Bucky fans found that their respective fave felt somewhat underutilised and that their characters were underexplored.
now, that problem would be even more difficult to remedy in a movie, because the plotline of a movie needs to be really tight to work (giggity). and we know that the central conflict of the movie is gonna be action-based (which is good), but we still need each character's personal journey and growth to tie into the main conflict. (which is another issue that some fans found with tfatws, that these characters didn't really feel connected to the action-based plot on a more personal level.)
if Sam and Bucky are already in a relationship, however, this whole dynamic changes. first, their relationship has already been set up for nicely since TWS and through tfatws and they would officially be the best-fleshed-out couple in the mcu. but most importantly, a relationship gives them a perfect vehicle to explore both of their pasts comparatively and connect them personally to the action-based plot.
do you want to establish that Sam is a little too trusting and naïve? then establish this through his relationship with Bucky, and through showing his placing his trust in Bucky. (rather than through having him sympathise with a villain who threatened to murder his sister and his nephews).
perhaps you want to show Bucky recovering from his trauma? show us how comfortable he is with Sam. they get along, they're enjoying each other's presence, we see more of Sam's life and of his family, and then let Bucky tell Sam something that's raw and dark and honest about his life as The Winter Soldier. something about a memory, one that he only just recalled. he's opening up. and maybe what he tells Sam is even something that sets up the future action-based conflict, to ground that in something real.
you want to explore that Sam has trauma too? do this through Bucky. he tells Bucky a story about his time in the military. in the form of a flashback, he shares his own story of loss to evoke before the audience the shared theme of feeling at fault even when you're simply a helpless bystander to an act of pure destruction.
then, action sequence! and it's directly connected to Bucky's time as the Winter Soldier. explore the grief of someone whose life the Winter Soldier tore apart manifesting into a villain perpetuating the cycle of pain. establish your villain.
Later, Sam is dragged into battle against this villain for protecting Bucky. But Bucky doesn't want Sam to protect him. He feels guilt for what he can't control and he doesn't want Sam getting hurt because of him. Bucky reminds Sam that he has a family, one who needs him and who loves him. He tells him to go home.
Sam reminds Bucky that he's a part of that family. And that sure Sam's a hero and his job is to protect anyone and everyone, but that he's doing it because he wants to. It's not simply to prove that he can, or to prove that he's not a bystander (this connects to Sam's trauma here), but that he's doing it to help people.
and this gets Bucky thinking about who he is and what he's doing here. is he a hero who stands by Sam's side? or is he an ordinary man who stands aside? or perhaps, does he stand alone? what does he stand for? Maybe Sam knows. But does Bucky?
Sam and Bucky fight off the villain again, and for the first time Bucky meets this adversary face to face. And Bucky recognises this villain, and has a flashback to the genuine pain that he inflicted upon them in the form of the Winter Soldier. Bucky freezes mid-fight, he almost dies, and Sam has to save him.
Sam chews Bucky out for almost getting killed because he was afraid for him. but Bucky takes this the wrong way and goes off to fight the villain alone, or perhaps to die alone, he's not quite sure.
He puts up a half-hearted fight. He apologises for what the Winter Soldier has done, and he waits for the killing blow, when Sam swoops down and he saves him. He asks Sam why he saved him and Sam calls him a moron. And then, Sam asks him what sacrificing himself would solve. He tells him that you can't choose your past but you can choose your future (connecting to his own experience of loss and guilt and grief). And that no matter what Bucky Barnes still has a future, whether that's as the Winter Soldier or the White Wolf or just some dork with a day job. And that he has a future as a part of Sam's family too.
Sam fights the villain, and it's toe to toe. He delivers a few good blows, but receives a fair few himself. And then the villain tears off his wings, first one and then the other, in a manner reminiscent of what the Winter Soldier did to him in TWS. Through Bucky's eyes there's a flashback to highlight the parallels. Sam gets back on his feet and he fights his best fight, but is now losing.
And then the heavily injured Bucky steps up and fights by Sam's side, and only together do they take down the villain.
"So... I inspired you, huh?" Sam teases with a smile, utterly exhausted. "With my heroism and-"
"You inspired me." Bucky said, equally exhausted. "Let's leave it at that."
Together, Sam and Bucky go back to the safety and warmth of their family. Sam fixes his wings. Sam goes back to being Captain America. And Bucky... he's around, but it's unclear what he's doing.
That is, until the very end. When Sam is in a fight, and suddenly Bucky shows up and helps him out.
"What are you doing here?" Sam asks.
"I've made up my mind." Bucky says. "I'm the Winter Soldier. But now I'll save lives, Sam. Now, like you, I'll be a hero."
Sam smirks. "So does this make you my sidekick, then?"
Bucky smiles. "C'mon, at least make me a partner." He says.
"How about co-workers." Sam says (in flashback, he remembers back to the death of his last on-the-job partner).
"How about friends." Bucky says, with a wry look.
"Bucky... I don't want to see you put your dumbass self in danger." Sam says.
"Oh, and it's ok for you to go running off into danger on your own all the time?" Bucky asks.
"Yes." Sam says stubbornly. "Absolutely it is."
"Why?"
"Because I'm not a dumbass?!"
"Sam, if you think I'm not gonna be watching your back for the rest of time... then you're the biggest dumbass I know. And I don't care if you need me or not, I will be there for you."
"Because Sam, you're more than Captain America. You're more than a good soldier. You're a good man. And I think sometimes, the world forgets what the difference is."
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...or something like that.
(i only spent like 15 minutes on that. you know if i were actually writing this movie i would come up with something much better. and if anyone from marvel is seeing this, yes i can come work for you. i will make the time, let's do this thing right!)
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finale
at the end of the day, whether or not the mcu chooses to make Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes a couple, it's their decision. and they don't owe me anything.
i'm just some random person on the internet. who thinks that Captain America 4 should #givecaptainamericaaboyfriend
#givecaptainamericaaboyfriend#meta#analysis#captain america 4#caatws#fatws#tfatws#captain america#cap 4#sam wilson#bucky barnes#sambucky#marvel#mcu#mcu phase 4
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By The Norns (Part One - Soulmate!Loki)
Pairing: Loki x Reader, Soulmates AU
Word count: 2.1k
Warnings: Nobody was harmed in any way in the making of this story... but there was some arson.
Summary: She wasn’t a goddess. She wasn’t even an elf or a dwarf. She was a mortal, a Midgardian, a human. To Odin, she was a curse. To Loki, she was a second chance.
Notes: Don’t worry. Despite what the chapter and the description may make you think anyone whose read my stories before will know I am not a fan of soulmate aus that take away the character’s choice. This chapter is set up. Stick with me on this. I promise.
Posted in honor of @muna1412 being very excited at the prospect of another soulmate au.
This is not related to Loyalty in any way... I just have an unhealthy obsession with Soulmate aus.
Fate was a funny, fickle thing. Loki knew that much. After all, he’d met her.
Them, to be more precise. The Norns.
Urdr, Skuld, and Verdandi were their names: Past, Present, and Future, as they should be known.
It was they who watered the tree, and they who grew its leaves. The task fell to the Norns to write, shape, create, and control the fate of every being under the branches of Yggdrasil.
A poor, dwarven craftsman working on the surface of Nidavellir, a beautiful, golden elf living on a hill in Alfheim, a meager, puny human scurrying around the surface of Midgard. It was they who made the dwarf rich, who killed the elf in his sleep, who let the human sow the land. They did not exchange the gold; they did not wield the dagger; they did not draw the plow. But it was by their hand, by their grace and mercy, that the worlds turned, that life waxed and waned, that the Realms drew breath.
Every birth was through their will. Every death was by their hand, and everything in between was because they decided it would be so.
All fell under the gaze of the Norns. The kitchen cook, Andhrimnir, who served the Aesir’s table at night, owed everything to the Norns. They allowed his birth into Asgard. They raised him above the station of a lowly tavern boy. They gifted him the family he cradled so dearly to his chest.
Odin, King of the Nine Realms, Protector of Asgard, owed everything to the Norns. He was born by their choice. He survived a thousand battles because they said he would do so. He married Frigga because they put her on his path. His sons…
Well, one of his sons.
Loki knew the exact moment Odin stopped looking at him as a son, the exact moment Odin chose Thor over him, the exact moment Odin turned his back on him, the exact moment his father marked him disappointment.
It was, like all things, the doing of the Fates. The Norns.
Fates were theirs to command from the highest branches of Yggdrasil down to its very roots. From king to beggar, slave to master, aristocrat to pauper, farmer to merchant, sailor to soldier. From Loki to her. She was their doing.
Love was an inevitable part of life. Not even the Norns, with all of the power of the gods and then some, could stop that. Humans, Aesir, Elves, Vanir, the sentient beings of the Nine Realms felt an overwhelming urge towards emotion, and one of the strongest, one of the most inevitable, was love.
They couldn’t stop it, but they could direct it.
It fell under the purview of Fate to decide who one loved. People, god and mortal alike, fell in and out of love all the time.
Sometimes, though, every now and then, the Norns would reach down and touch two beings. The Norns would take two souls in two bodies and braid them together, weave them together, mold them together, as if they were one.
Those who knew magic well, those like Loki, could see them, watch them, doing this.
They could see Urdr floating, invisible amongst them, deciding the pair. They could see Skuld, plucking up their souls. They could see Verdandi tying them together.
Loki watched them when they took his soul.
“Mother, Mother,” Loki tugged on his other’s silk skirts and pointed up into the rafters of the Grand Hall. “What’s that?”
Frigga followed her son’s gaze and gasped. Magic was not her proficiency, though what little she had she wielded well. She had enough to see the Norns, floating ghostlike in the air over her younger son. She had enough to see his soul in their hands, and another at their side.
In the old days, before that fateful night, it was considered an honor to be chosen by the Norns. It was a guarantee of a great, powerful destiny in the future. It was a promise of passion, understanding, and respect on the horizon. It was the mark of one who would know true love.
The Midgardians called them soulmates. The Aesir called them the destined.
“The Norns have touched Loki,” Frigga whispered to Odin at her side. “They are gifting him a match.”
“With who?” Odin asked because he could not see them for himself.
Frigga squinted in the direction of the apparitions tying together Loki’s future. “I cannot tell. She appears to be…” Frigga’s eyes whipped around to Odin, “Midgardian.”
Odin turned up his nose and sniffed.
Midgard. The word, the world, that had sentenced Loki to a lifetime of second best.
His ‘destined’, his ‘soulmate’, his curse.
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It was centuries before the soul tied to Loki’s found the body it would spend its own life in.
(Y/n), her parents named her.
They weren’t sure why they named her that. When asked, they said they saw the name once in a book. Or was it on the tv? Or in a dream?
Neither could really remember. All they knew was that, as she grew, the name suited her perfectly. Almost as if fate itself had chosen it for her.
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For centuries, millennia even, her soul had been lingering on the edges of reality, existing but not quite feeling. She floated through time and space, following the ties that bound her to existence, waiting.
By the time her soul entered her body on Earth, she had existed longer than any other Midgardian ever had or would in all of history. She had lingered for years just out of reach of one of the most powerful beings on Asgard, her soulmate. Lifetimes had passed her by in the blink of an eye, and though she didn’t remember any of them, they remembered her.
Her soul hovered above its mate, basking in the magic that dissipated into the air around him like smoke. She breathed it in, soaked it in, drew it in.
In many ways, even subconsciously, she showed her age, her mate.
Even as a baby, she never woke her mother up screaming, to the jealousy of her mom’s friends. She was the model toddler, even through her terrible twos. She almost never cried and rarely threw temper tantrums. They called her a prodigy when she started speaking in full sentences before time doctors even expected her to be learning her first words, and they called her a genius when she learned to read full children’s books while other kids were still struggling through their first alphabet flashcards. Even though she ran around playing in the mud or splashing in puddles, somehow her clothes were always pristine. She taught herself faster than the teachers could and skipped two grades in elementary school alone. She was suspiciously charismatic for such a little girl and made, literally, hundreds of dollars off her lemonade stand. She listened to a family speaking another language in the store once and ran up to them to answer a question they had; when her parents asked her how she’d learned to understand or say that in another language, she had no idea what they were talking about and seemingly hadn’t even realized she’d done it.
And yet there were other things, darker things.
When she was born, the nurses didn’t question the little shock of static that jolted through them as they held her. No one commented how, in the right light, the baby’s eyes could look terrifyingly aware. She lied as easily as she breathed and almost never got caught. A girl made fun of her friend's hair once at school, and that night ended up being rushed to the hospital by her parents with all the signs of a heart attack in a five year old child. She liked having things her way, and even when her parents refused her, they always found themselves oddly compelled to do whatever it was anyways. She had an affinity for snakes that often found her letting them in the house. The pranks she pulled on her little brother sometimes got out of hand and often resulted in loud crashes and screams, though by the time any adult arrived nothing ever seemed broken. Her father used to joke that she must be some kind of shape shifter because he swore that, from day to day, her eye would change their color. Sometimes, when he looked in them, he swore they weren’t his daughters, but when he blinked and looked back they always returned to normal.
Most of it was written off as the simple oddities of a child or exaggerations of first time parents.
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Superheroes did not exist when (Y/n) was a child.
It would be another decade before Tony Stark would stand on a stage and proclaim before the world, “I am Iron Man.” It would be even longer still before Peter Parker would put on a red and blue jumpsuit and call himself, ‘Spiderman’. Bruce Banner hadn’t even begun his research into the serum that would be his ultimate undoing. Dr. Stephen Strange was finishing up med school. Thor hadn’t made his presence known. Wanda had just been born. Hawkeye and Black Widow were still assassins working in the shadows. No one outside Wakanda had ever heard of the Black Panther. Vision hadn’t been built yet, and Captain America had been dead for decades.
Even if they did exist, it wouldn’t have helped (Y/n). Most of them weren’t born super. Most of them became so by lab experiments or radioactive insects or training or technology.
In the world (Y/n) grew up in, there were no superheroes. And if there were no superheroes... then what was she?
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She was 12.
It was her big day.
Not her birthday, she didn’t particularly care about birthdays. Something about them just felt off to her. When she turned 11, she asked her mom if she could have two of those candles that were shaped like the actual numbers, and she’d put them pressed against each other on top of the cake. She ran around all day telling everyone she was 1,111. Some people laughed, but mostly to humor her.
That was why she hadn’t had a birthday party when she turned 12. She didn’t like people fake laughing. It felt like lying. She didn’t particularly mind lying herself, but she hated thinking that people were lying to her. Especially because she could always tell when they were.
No, instead, she had this. The Science Fair.
She’d won first prize the night before. She knew she had because one of the judges had told her she’d won.
That morning, they would be handing out the awards, and she was so excited for everyone else to know the secret, to know that she was the best, even better than the older kids in her class.
The judges were walking up on stage, and any moment, once they got past the category winners they were going to call her name.
“In third place we have Jesse Martin with his project in the biology category!”
A cheer went up that, judging by the pitch, absolutely must have been from Jesse’s mom. The other parents in the room clapped while Jesse ran towards the stage, turning red in the cheeks from his family’s overzealous encouragement.
“Congratulations, son,” the Dean smiled as he bent down to shake the boy’s hand. The mike picked up a small bit of Jesse’s anxious thanks before he ran to join the line of winners.
“And in second place we have, (Y/n)! With her wonderful….”
Second place.
But Mr. Sellers, the science teacher had told her she won.
Was he lying? Did he honestly think second place was winning? Was he just saying that to shut her up? Or was he being mean? Did he want to laugh at her when his real favorite won?
The parents were cheering her, including her own. Her father was nudging her towards the stage, but she didn’t at all appreciate the gesture.
No. They told her she was going to win.
Her face screwed up in pain, and she balled her hands into fists.
At the back of the room something exploded.
A scream went out.
“Fire!” Someone shouted. “Fire!”
The poster boards up and down the hall were catching fire. It jumped easily from paper to paper. It didn’t help that there was no smoke, for some odd reason. That the sprinklers, that the fire alarm, didn’t turn on.
Someone grabbed (Y/n) by the waist. Her father no doubt.
(Y/n) barely noticed. She was still upset staring at the trophy on the stage over his shoulder.
Slowly, before her eyes, it began to melt.
She smiled. Good. If she couldn’t have it, no one could.
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“She caused the fire.” He whispered, staring down at the floor in front of him with glassy eyes.
“Wayne, that’s crazy; you know it is.”
“I saw it with my own eyes, Elle. She clenched her first and suddenly Christina Danvers poster exploded. She gets second, and the first place project explodes the moment she throws a fit?”
“Our daughter doesn’t throw fits.”
“Not normally, but she did today. She was about to, and then everything caught fire.”
“Wayne, you can’t be serious about this right now.”
“She was smiling.” He whispered. “When everything burned down, she was smiling.”
(Y/n) listened silently from the hallway as her parents talked.
She loved to eavesdrop on her parents late night. They never knew she was there. It was another one of those odd coincidences of her life that (Y/n) was the only person in the house who never made the steps creak when she walked up and down the stairs.
She was old enough to know what they were saying, what they were implying. It should’ve bothered her more than it did.
(Y/n) walked back upstairs, silent as the grave, and opened her closet.
She needed the duffle bag her father kept tucked away in the top of her closet, but she was nowhere near tall enough to reach it. As the door slid open, the bag teetered on the edge of the wire shelf and fell to the floor.
“How convenient,” (Y/n) mumbled to herself.
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“Hey Kid,” The man shouted at her out the window of his semi-truck. “What’re you doin’ out here at night? It ain’t safe!”
(Y/n) shrugged. “Not safe at home either.”
The man gave her an understanding look.
(Y/n) watched him carefully as he opened the door of his rig and offered her a hand.
Her mother had always told her not to talk to strangers, but (Y/n) had found she could always tell what people wanted. Besides, she was pretty sure she was a greater danger to them than they were to her.
“Where ya’ headed?” The man asked.
“West.”
“I can take ya’ as far as Texas.” He offered.
(Y/n) hopped off the curb and grabbed the man’s offered hand, hauling herself up into the passenger seat.
She didn’t know where she was going or why she was going there. But something inside of her told her she had somewhere to be.
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Next Time On.... Part Two
Thank you very much for reading! I hope you all enjoyed. I have just come back from a hiatus and a great deal of why I went on said hiatus was the stress of managing ‘added features’ for lack of a better expression. I like writing. I don’t like formatting or managing the blog side of things.
As such, no taglists. Please don’t ask me to be on a taglist. Keeping track of it stresses me out too much. I don’t feel like doing it. I don’t appreciate being pressured into doing it. In the olden days of tumblr, people used to follow each other, and I promise you that feature still works. If you follow me you will see part two when it’s posted.
#loki x reader#loki odinson x reader#Loki Laufeyson x Reader#loki soulmate au#loki soulmate#soulmate loki#loki fanfiction#loki fanfic#loki x reader soulmate#marvel imagines#loki imagines#marvel fanfic#marvel fanfiction#marvel one shot#loki one shot#loki oneshot#mcu fanfiction#avengers fanfiction
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Here’s my bday letter! I hope it’s not too long lol it really means a lot to me that she reads it!
Happy Birthday Letitia! I’m so proud of all you have accomplished and I can’t wait to continue following you as you grow in your career and as a person. I know you have so many blessings coming your way! For your birthday I wanted to gift you with my testimony and let you know how much you mean to me! Matthew 4:19 Jesus said “come follow me, and I will make you fishers of people”. I read that today and I thought of you. You have been such a great example of what it means to be a disciple for Christ. The way you have publicly given your life to the Lord and professed you love for Jesus has resulted in many others seeking his Kingdom. Above all the awards and accomplishments you obtain in life I think this is the most rewarding thing you could ever do. I want to share my story with you and let you know how your talent and testimony changed my life. I first became a fan of yours from watching Black Panther 1&2 and I fell in love with your light on screen. I’m a real film geek and know a good actor when I see one, and although Marvel is such a huge blockbuster film, I just knew you had some good indies in your filmography so I went digging. I stumbled upon Silent Twins. I couldn’t get through the movie without pausing and crying and contemplating my life because for the first time I had seen a representation of myself on screen. Never in a million years did I think it would ever happen. I am a black autistic woman who grew up with selective mutism similar to the twins. My story so closely related to their upbringing I thought I was watching myself on screen. I was filled with so many emotions as I watched you play that character. I just thank you for seeing June in the light that you saw her and how you were able to bring her truth to the film. It really touched me. I felt so seen. And although we’ve never met, your understanding of their struggles made me feel understood. I continued to follow that story by watching your interviews to get more context on how you studied for that role and it further confirmed that you really did take your time to understand. Not many people do that; take time to understand. And I’m so grateful that this story was so important for you to tell. Growing up undiagnosed autistic, black, mute, facing racism, bullying, isolation, and more is such a challenging feat. It is a lonely battle. One that no one can fully understand unless you experience it yourself. For me it was very hard. So to see my experiences be represented on film and have a part of my story be told and celebrated by you means the world to me and I’m so grateful to you. You say that you found your purpose in life by telling stories and that you want your stories to tell the truth and to touch someone. Well you are fulfilling your purpose because your work has truly blessed me. And you should be very proud of yourself for that. I’m even more indebted to you as a fan because not only did you provide me with representation in such a beautiful story as Silent Twins, but you also helped me get reconnected with God. I struggled with my faith for a long time. I believe the Lord brought my attention to you more and more so that I could hear your testimony and prayers. After watching Silent Twins I became more of a fan and continued following your story. On Instagram you talked about Christ and you prayed for your followers one day. I prayed with you and I gave my life to God that day. I’ve been renewed by his word and with the Holy Spirit I found peace and comfort. And again I thank you so much. I am now on my journey with Christ. And it is so beautiful. Your courage and faith made me into a believer and a disciple. Now I’m in a career working with children and adults of color who are autistic and I am advocating for cultural awareness in the field of mental health. I work in schools, homes, and clinics changing the lives of autistic people so that their voices can be heard. I pray over every single one of my clients and I speak up for them when needed. A girl who had no words before, has now found her light and her purpos
😁
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apricity pt. five
apricity- the warmth of the sun in winter
warnings: angst, violence
pairing: bucky barnes x female oc
word count: 3,556
A/N: yes, I did purposely reuse the flashback sequence lol enjoy! feedback is welcome! 💕
MASTERLIST
The air held a palpable tension, red lights reflecting off of the walls and casting red-hued shadows. Florence’s footfalls were quiet, stepping with precision and purpose. Steve and Sam stalked behind her, their eyes ghosting over the path of bodies the Winter Soldier left in their path.
Florence was trained for this: the moments of chaos. She knew how to disappear, how to take out any threat without a trace. She knew the art of managing her emotions, how to go cold like a switch. Yet all of the training that was beaten into her flew out of the window the second the lights went out. Bucky was her number one priority. She was scared, terrified of what awaited her, her heart hammering in her chest as she ran down the dimly lit halls.
The self-proclaimed therapist laid on the floor in front of Florence, anger swimming in her eyes at the sight of him. She grabbed him by his collar, hauling him against the wall with force, face inches away from his, a snarl on her lips, “What do you want?”
“To see an empire fall.”
Florence shoved the man against the wall harder, hands tightening in the fabric of his shirt, opening her mouth to speak again. Movement behind her made her turn, seeing Bucky throw Sam down the hall. Steve threw a punch to his ribcage, the soldier barely feeling it and throwing his own. As Bucky stalked him like a wolf hunting its prey, Steve jerked backward, a dangerous look in his eyes. Florence looked down the hall at Bucky and Steve, watching as Bucky threw Steve down an open elevator shaft. She bolted to Sam, her fingers meeting his neck, making sure he was alive before she took off running up the stairs after Bucky.
She found him in the open seating area of the building, fighting off Sharon’s flurry of attacks. He took the blonde down easily, tossing her head over heels into a table, splintering off. Florence threw a punch to his abdomen, Bucky doubling over before moving to tackle her. She used their height difference as an advantage, moving behind his outstretched arm and flipping over him onto his shoulders, thighs around his neck. Her elbow struck his head repeatedly as he tried to throw her off to no avail. Bucky stumbled forward, his hands grasping her waist and throwing her onto a nearby table.
Bucky's metal hand found Florence's throat in an instant. The Winter Soldier showed no mercy, squeezing his hand tighter and tighter. Florence felt her face heat up, her blood vessels threatening to burst if the soldier continued to apply pressure. She writhed in his grasp looking up at him with pleading eyes, black dots dancing across her field of vision. Tears stung her eyes, her throat burning from the crushing weight of his hand, feeling her windpipe constrict as she rasped out the only words she could muster up, "You could at least recognize me."
Florence wanted him to look at her. She wanted him to look at her as Bucky, but also as the Winter Soldier. The soldier was looking at her, her legs wrapping around his neck, not giving him any way to not look at her, but he wasn't seeing her. Not in the way Florence needed, otherwise he was going to kill her.
In the clutches of HYDRA, Florence was the only one that could calm the soldier down when he would have a panic attack or had an episode of anger brought on by the confusion, brainwashing, and torture of their captures. Even in the moments when Bucky was the farthest thing from himself and became the dark machine HYDRA created, he immediately softened at Florence. He would stop whatever he was doing, whether it be loosening his grasp around an agent's throat or dropping his aimed weapon, his eyes would soften and he would become putty, only made to be molded by Florence. Even in the moments where Bucky’s attack was set on her, metal and flesh hands clutched around her throat, a flash of recognition would always wash over his face and immediately let go, falling to his knees at her feet in forgiveness.
HYDRA caught on very quickly about the Soldier's fondness of the redhead and used that to their advantage; always looking for a way to control. If only they had learned of the relationship the two assassins had before the war and before Florence slipped away into the winter night.
Bucky wasn't seeing what he was really doing to her. He was causing her the most imaginable pain, and in turn, hurting himself. She needed him to see her, really truly see her. She needed him to see her as Bucky, the love of her life and not the machine he was made out to be, otherwise, this was all for nothing.
The Soldier's hand left Florence’s throat, being thrown off her by the Black Panther. Florence gulped in air, her throat burning in pain, her windpipe bruised from the weight of Bucky’s grasp. She laid on the table she had been thrown on by Bucky, taking a minute to collect herself and her breath, gasping for air as tears unwillingly fell down her face and into her hairline. Years of emotions threatened to spill, the dam threatening to burst completely. She couldn't do this.
Florence could barely handle the constant up and down of adrenaline anymore, every day was a gamble whether something was going to go wrong or not. Lately, every day had been hell, each passing minute worse than the last. She needed a minute to breathe.
By the time Florence had made it to her feet without falling over, both the soldier and the king had disappeared up the staircase. Florence bounded up the stairs two at a time, a loud commotion outside accelerating her heart rate. Her hand threw the door open, bouncing back against its hinges. She rushes out of the building, eyes locking on Steve who had an iron grip on the helicopter Bucky was attempting to take flight in from the helipad.
Before she could move, Bucky slams the chopper into the helipad, Steve flipping and dodging the attack narrowly. Florence ran towards the scene, hand reaching for Steve’s bicep to help him up as Bucky’s metal hand flew through the windshield and grabbed Steve’s throat. The girl pries at Bucky’s hand around Steve’s throat to no avail, the helicopter tipping further and further over the edge towards the water below. Feet skid against the concrete as Florence and Steve were continuing to be pulled. Bucky’s grip remained on Steve, Florence trying her best to do anything to get him to let go, her hand going from the metal to reaching into the glass towards the brunette, flesh hand finding her outstretched one easily.
Florence squeezed the flesh tightly in her hand as they continued their slow descent towards the edge, her voice betraying her by cracking, “Bucky, please. Let go, we’re trying to help.” Her pleas fell on deaf ears as she was yanked forward by Bucky, her body colliding with Steve as the helicopter finally tipped over. The trio dived into the icy water at the same time, Florence’s vision blurring and fading at the impact.
The redhead was vaguely aware of the arm around her waist and the warm body next to her. Steve secured both Florence and Bucky in his grasp, pulling them out of the frigid water. Her legs kicked helplessly in the water, failing to ease Steve’s rescue swim. Once they made it to dry land, Florence coughed up the water in her lungs, eyes trained on Bucky’s unconscious body on the ground. Neither of the two friends spoke, too preoccupied with moving Bucky to a secure location.
Along with Sam, Steve and Florence secured Bucky in an abandoned warehouse, metal arm braced between heavy machinery. The redhead’s eyes never strayed away from Bucky’s unconscious form for long, wanting to make sure he was okay. Bucky groaned as he came too, eyelashes fluttering against his cheeks as his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting of the old building. Sam called for Steve behind Florence, wanting to have a second super soldier in case Bucky remained the Winter Soldier.
Bucky peered at his arm between the vice and then settled his gaze on Florence who stood mere feet away in front of him, shifting her weight from one foot to another. Steve jogged to where the others were, eyes darting to the man in the chair, eyebrows furrowed.
Bucky groaned as he sat up further, “Steve.”
“Which Bucky am I talking to?”
Florence whipped her head to the blonde standing next to her, hand coming up and swatting him on the shoulder, “Steve!”
Bucky made no reaction, instead, he gazed vacantly ahead before he spoke again, “Your mom’s name was Sarah. You used to wear newspapers in your shoes.” Bucky chuckled fondly at the newfound memory.
Steve smiled softly, his lips barely turning up, “You can’t read that in a museum.”
Bucky looked from the ground to Florence, eyes softening as he took her concerned features in, “Your mom was Anya, dad was Viktor. We used to have dinner every Sunday. And you were my best girl.”
Her face broke out in a pained smile. If Steve hadn't been standing next to her, Florence would have been on the ground. Waves of memories washed over her and threatened to pull her in, each one more grueling than the last; happiness, dances in the moonlight at 2 a.m.-, their bare feet barely gliding across the kitchen floor. All throughout time, he called her his best girl. Then there were the darker ones, them huddled together on the chilled floor of a HYDRA cell, using each other for warmth as they whispered memories of their past to one another. Always his best girl.
The memories were fleeting, Sam scoffing behind her, “Just like that, we’re supposed to be cool?” Florence turned her head curtly, glaring at Sam. He didn’t know.
The smile fell, Bucky grimacing, “What did I do?”
“Enough.” Florence’s voice was barely above a whisper when she spoke, she was still drowning in the past, fighting for air before the current took her under, dragging her by her ankle.
“Oh, God,” Bucky squeezed his eyes shut and dropped his head, greasy hair hanging around his face and shielding his eyes, “I knew this would happen. Everything HYDRA put inside me is still there. All he had to do was say the goddamn words.”
Steve spoke, “Who was he?”
Bucky shook his head, “I don’t know.”
Steve continued to pile on the hurt, “People are dead. The bombing, the setup, the doctor did all that just to get 10 minutes with you. I need you to do better than ‘I don’t know’.” It was Steve’s turn to be glared at by Florence, her ferocity to protect Bucky knew no bounds, even if Bucky deserved whatever it was Florence was trying to shield him from.
Bucky took a moment to think, his words tumbling out before he spoke clearly, “He wanted to know about Siberia. Where I- we were kept.” Florence’s heart dropped at Bucky’s correction from singular to plural. Siberia. No fond memories were made in that place, Florence shuttered at the thought of remembering being kept there with Bucky. She listened closely as Bucky further explained, “He wanted to know exactly where.”
Steve wasted no time to ask questions, his invisible clock was ticking, “Why would he need to know that?”
Bucky met Steve’s gaze, “Because I’m not the only Winter Soldier.”
The December air was cold as it blew through Florence’s hair, her arms circling Bucky’s waist as they rode down the dark road on Bucky’s motorcycle. The soldier steered with one arm, free hand coming down to rub circles on the redhead’s calf as they pulled behind a cluster of trees, hiding them from onlookers as they waited. The pair of assassins were unthawed and reset only hours ago, immediately given their latest mission.
Florence remembered the screaming. Without fail, HYDRA always made her watch Bucky be reprogrammed, his screams echoed in her brain even days after it would happen. That night was no different, even the cold air from the motorcycle speeding down the road did nothing to numb the pain she felt.
A car came into view, red tail lights illuminating the air around them. Bucky flipped the bike’s headlight on and pulled onto the road again. The soldier revved the bike, catching up to the side of the vehicle as Florence sunk her butterfly knife into the tire, causing the car to swerve off the road and crash into a building.
Florence’s choice of close contact weapon had always been a butterfly knife; Bucky had taught her for hours on end in the Red Room how to use it. There had been a few training mishaps, an accidental slice to Bucky’s rib cage that sent Florence into a fit of fear, her past nursing skills coming to light, her fingers working quickly to bandage the wound all while Bucky merely peered down at her nervous hands with a smile. That had been the first moment the Winter Soldier and the Winter Widow were not the machines they were training to be in the Red Room, they were Bucky and Florence. They just didn’t know it at the time.
Bucky parked the bike ahead of the crash, Florence stepping off the bike, Bucky behind her, and approaching the car. She flipped open the trunk to reveal a large silver briefcase, opening it to see five bags of blue liquid; exactly what they were looking for.
Bucky briefly explained the use of the liquid, HYDRA used the serum to experiment and create more super-soldiers; better ones. Bucky’s handler and head of the Winter Soldier Program, Karpov, made sure of it.
Steve stood with his arms crossed over his chest, “Who were they?”
“Their most elite death squad. More kills than anyone in HYDRA history. And that was before the serum.”
Sam leaned against a beam, looking to Bucky, “They all turn out like you?”
Bucky lifted his head, eyes hollow, “Worse.”
Steve spoke, “The doctor, could he control them?”
“Enough.” Bucky’s head fell.
Florence took a small step forward, lessening the gap slightly between herself and Bucky, “He said he wanted to see an empire fall.”’
Bucky lifted his head again, “With these guys, he could do it. They speak 30 languages, can hide in plain sight, infiltrate, assassinate, destabilize. They can take a whole country down in one night, you’d never see them coming.”
Sam steps up to Steve, nodding at Florence to join before he began speaking, “This would have been a lot easier a week ago.”
“If we call Tony-”
Florence cut Steve off, “No.”
Sam shook his head, “He won’t believe us.”
Steve shrugged, looking to Sam, “Even if he did-”
Sam interrupted, “Who knows if the Accords would let him help.”
“We’re on our own.”
Sam thought in silence before looking between Florence and Steve, “Maybe not. I know a guy.”
A few phone calls and a handful of hours later, the quartet was packed into a small car, parked under an overpass. Steve stepped out of the car to greet Sharon, another favor that was called in, retrieving their gear. Sam sat in the passenger seat in silence, while Florence was huddled into the driver’s backseat, knee unwillingly brushing Bucky’s much larger frame.
Bucky had a scowl on his face, whether it was from the seating arrangement or the situation they had found themselves in, Florence didn’t know. Bucky stared ahead at the back of Sam’s head, “Can you move your seat up?”
Sam snapped back monotonously, “No.”
Bucky shifted slightly towards the middle of the seat, further invading Florence’s space. Although she wasn’t complaining, she hadn’t been this close to him in decades.
The trio looks on in a mixture of shock and proudness as they watch Steve and Sharon share a kiss, Steve sauntering back to the car with a smug smile with gear in hand.
A cramped car ride later, they arrived at the airport, Steve’s choice of car rattled and squeaked through the parking garage. They parked next to a van that contained Sam’s favor that was called in. Clint and Wanda stepped out of the van as Florence squeezed out of the car behind Steve.
Sam stepped up next to Steve, conversing with Clint and Wanda, Florence staying by the car with Bucky. They watched as Clint slid the van door open, a highly caffeinated Scott Lang appeared.
Steve stood with his arms crossed, “They tell you what we’re up against?”
Scott shrugged, “Something about psycho-assassins?”
“We’re outside the law on this one. So if you come with us, you’re a wanted man.” Steve was giving Scott his last way out, not wanting him to be involved with something he didn’t want to be.
Scott merely raised an eyebrow, “Yeah, well, what else is new?”
Beside Florence, Bucky spoke as he leaned against the car, “We should get moving.”
Clint spoke, “We got a chopper lined up.”
Speakers began to blare overhead in German, Florence translating in her head as Bucky translated for the others, “They’re evacuating the airport.”
Sam looked to Steve, “Stark.”
“Stark!” Scott looked at Steve with his eyebrows raised.
A frown etched itself on Steve’s face, “Suit up.”
Later, the team took their places around the airport with their gear on. Florence was with Sam and Bucky, watching through the terminal windows as Steve and Tony talked amongst themselves along with Natasha with Rhodey.
Florence shifted uncomfortably, standing between Sam and Bucky. She was nervous for what was about to happen, antsy to get Bucky out of here. She knew he was a wanted man, both by the government, T’Challa, and now by Tony. She didn’t want to have to fight her friends, but for Bucky, she would do anything.
Sam was busy using Redwing to find their Quinjet, Bucky standing in silence. Neither Florence nor Bucky have had an opportunity to have a proper conversation, too busy not getting captured or killed.
Chaos ensued below, various Avengers fighting amongst themselves. Florence took off with Bucky and Sam running through the hanger. Spider-Man appeared on the window, Bucky turning in confusion as he ran, “What the hell is that?”
Sam groaned, strides falling behind slightly, “Everyone's got a gimmick now.”
The spider swung through the window, breaking it as he kicked Sam. Bucky and Florence halted, turning to the attacker. Bucky threw a punch, the spider’s red-gloved hand catching it with ease. Both Bucky and Florence stared in horror at how was able to easily stop Bucky’s punch.
“You have a metal arm? That is awesome dude.” The spider was taken down by Sam, grabbing him and flying up with him. Bucky and Florence resumed running, watching as Sam dropped the kid as he webbed himself up. Bucky threw a beam at the spider, trying to knock him down. He and Florence took cover, weighing their options of escape. Spider-Man throws the object back at Bucky, Florence yanking the man away from the crash.
They take off running again, Sam temporarily distracting the attacker. The distraction is short-lived, Sam being webbed down to the balcony railing. Bucky and Florence run across towards Sam, the spider crashing into both of them and sent them crashing through the glass railing to the floor level below. Florence, Sam, and Bucky land with a thud, the spider quick to web their hands to the floor with no chance of escaping the unusual restraints.
The spider sat on top of a kiosk, looking down on them, “Guys, look, I’d love to keep this up, but I’ve only got one job here today, and I gotta impress Mr. Stark, so, I’m really sorry.” Sam managed to tap a button on his suit, Redwing appearing and dragging the spider through the air and through the window.
Bucky groaned, “You couldn’t have done that earlier?”
Sam snarked back, “I hate you.”
Between the two men, Florence could only laugh. The situation wasn’t funny, but if she didn’t laugh, she’d cry and her training made crying a weakness. Neither Sam nor Bucky commented on the redheads' theatrics, only looking at her oddly. Bucky couldn’t help the minuscule smile he had as he watched her laugh.
They eventually freed themselves from the webs, jumping to their feet and outside to join Steve, along with Wanda, Scott, and Clint. The group ran toward the jet as fast as they could, impending doom settled itself in Florence’s chest as she ran between Bucky and Sam.
Vision hovered overhead, casting a line of heat in front of the running group, causing them to come to a halt.
Vision remains in the air, speaking, “Captain Rogers. I know you believe what you’re doing is right.” Tony and Natasha joined below him, “But for the collective good, you must surrender now.” Black Panther, Rhodey, and Spider-Man join, all standing together across from them, divided.
Both groups faced off against one another, Sam breaking the tension, “What do we do, Cap?”
Steve took a breath, “We fight.”
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed, please reblog!
Tag list: @tanyaherondale @lilyviolets @jckie94 @badgernix @geek-and-proud @ginger-swag-rapunzel
#bucky barnes#steve rogers#captain america: civil war#bucky barnes x female oc#bucky barnes imagine#bucky barnes fanfiction#winter soldier#james bucky barnes#james buchanan barnes#marvel#marvel imagine#marvel fanfiction#natasha romanoff#sam wilson#tfatws#angst#bucky barnes x reader#sebastian stan#sebastian stan imagine#my writing#apricity
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What a delusion...
I was cautiously optimistic about Wandavision before it came out. I thought it could lead me to reconnect a bit with the MCU (I intentionally skipped a lot of movies and disliked every one I saw after AoU, with a small exception for Black Panther and Dr Strange, not to mention I never finished Endgame, so...).
Dear, I was wrong.
I started watching it with some interest after seeing the trailer on tv, I have been a long-time fan of Bewitched and I hoped for something on that line, a lighthearted fantasy Wanda concocted to deal with the loss, only for someone to get in and help her get out of it and cope in a more reasonable way because they needed her or something, or maybe because she was an Avenger who went missing and people wondered what happened to her and if what she was doing could be dangerous (a reasonable belief, I may add, given her precedents...), a thing like that. And it sort of was like that, except it wasn’t?
And, okay, I was biased from my own high expectations, I wished for things that weren’t there and Marvel would have never given me (full and well-thought plot, emotions, exploration of magic in the MCU and so forth), but I didn’t think they could mess up so bad. The finale in particular was a train wreck.
Why introduce new characters (and bring back Darcy) if they are of no consequence in the final showdown? I guess they needed to introduce White Vision (even though I can’t fathom why...) plus make an origin story for the powers of Monica (to whom I had no prior attachment since I didn’t see Captain Marvel but I grew quickly fond of her here), but what else? We didn’t get to see her abilities or her coming to terms with them (which would have been great and possible if she had been introduced to the plot earlier) or anything. Nor it made me hope to see her again because I am back to be uninterested in anything Marvel after this mess. The fact they gave us the twins only to take them away like that and in the after credits make them call for mom made me irrationally angry on top of the rest. I won’t even mention the whole Quicksilver matter because it was plain stupid to cause all that hype for nothing.
I don’t really understand how could they ruin it so badly, especially after how good ep8 had been in comparison to the rest. Meh.
To cite @lucianalight, how can we consider Wanda a hero after that? Even leaving out what she did before (she was pardoned for her AoU actions by joining the Avengers and fixing what she’s done as much as she could and we don’t know how many lives she saved before CW happened, so I give her the benefit of doubt that she redeemed herself a bit there), but now we saw she kept the town trapped even after she realized what she did! Agatha may have wanted to take her powers but she had a point in saying “heroes don’t torture”, and then what did Wanda do afterwards? Condamned Agatha, who could have been a great teacher to her, maybe a good friend in due time, to live a shallow life as a brainwashed dimwit?! WHY? Agatha had a point. Multiple points, if we take the hints the Scarlet Witch would be the one who destroys the Multiverse. In a way, Agatha was trying to prevent that by taking the power she saw, a win-win situation at the expenses of Wanda, I’ll give you that, but ultimately not that villainous.
I guess that what I’m trying to say is: why couldn’t the plot be more coherent with the idea Wanda was a hero AND with the MCU in general?
But, hey, Marvel sucks at anything but special effects and I don’t know why I had hopes for this show. Just like I don’t have any more hopes for the Loki series (which is a pity because I wished so bad for Tom Hiddleston to reprise the role on his own terms with some creativity freedom that could take Loki back to the Shakesperean anti-hero from his early days I love so much, but clearly Marvel doesn’t know what a precious resource they have, blame on them).
(And here I realize I elaborated a rewriting of WandaVision so I’ll put it under a read more because it wasn’t the original point of this post, lol)
Would it have been too hard to make the first episode and half as they were, then introduce Monica as they did but without a whole town hostage and more like, I don’t know, a magic red coocoon the size of the house in the middle of a simple town that alarmed a lot of people? Maybe with people being sucked in for a few hours from time to time and with no memories of it, except for the transmission of the “episodes” on a magically appeared channel in the town’s tv.
And then Monica, who tried to get in and was sent out, would recognize Agatha as someone from “outside” too and try to figure out what was going on. Cue Monica and Agatha both trying to “wake” Wanda each in their own way but Monica, who understands Wanda’s grief a little better than Agatha, would be the one to breach out Wanda’s on a feelings-level while Agatha, being more interested in Wanda’s powers would try to see the full extent of them.
Here I had two ideas: Agatha is a gray-character who just wants to study another witch, maybe to figure her out or to have a student after centuries alone. Or Villain Agatha who wants to unleash chaos magic to the greatest extend possible to get her own gain, maybe to exploit the twins who were spawned from pure magic, or, as it was speculated, she’s allied with Mephisto who wants the kids for his own nefarious scheme.
Either way, Wanda has to face Agatha. First scenario: Agatha realizes Wanda is the Scarlet Witch and offers to teach her a proper way of magic, perhaps to avoid the destruction of the Universe the Darkholme (I hope I got the name right) predicts, with Monica, who is finding her own powers and dealt with her grief along with Wanda, convinces Wanda it’s a good idea. Second case: Agatha kidnaps the boys and sends them to Mephisto, Wanda and Monica fight her but the boys are lost in the Multiverse and Wanda has to teach herself magic to find them again.
About Vision, the fact he was an illusion and Wanda didn’t steal the corpse to revive it was the only good point of the plot, their goodbye was very emotional and I liked it enough to think it could have stayed the same, but the boys were born through Chaos magic so they woulndn’t disappear. In the grey!Agatha scenario, they would stay with Wanda in the cottage while she learns magic (we could have had a cool scene with her playing with the kids while her astral projection studies magic, like in the post-credit scene), only to be kidnapped mysteriously when she turns for a second.
And maybe my take shows I would have liked more friendship between Wanda and Monica, and maybe I think Agnes’ potential and all the implication of her very existence were wasted, maybe I would have given people the cameo we were expecting with Strange showing up at the cottage with a “you need to learn things properly if you want to save your kids and not destroy the multiverse by accident”, and so on.
#wandavison spoilers#just my personal thoughts#it's long and unedited please be nice if you spot mistakes I wrote half of it while watching Sanremo#I'm sure there are plot holes in my idea but I wrote it in 15 minutes so whatever#it's not like I'm paid for it#unlike Marvel authors
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Girls’ Night — a girlfriends’ tale
Characters: OCs (Vixen, Princess, Lace), small Namjoon intromission
Wordcount: 12.2k
Genre: slice of life with discussion of BDSM themes, conversation
Rating: suggested 18+
Hello doves! As I announced the other day, I have been working on extra pieces that I really loved as a concept. This one — I must admit — is especially dear to me since it covers topics that I consider extremely important. This fic discusses mature themes. Please minors, do not read or interact.
Quick recap: (read Jimin’s Love Talk if you want to know the whole background for this story) Princess — Jimin’s girlfriend — has ventured into the world of BDSM after Jimin expressed his interest in being dominated and spanked. A few days after her first brief session with Jimin, two old acquaintances come to her help: Vixen — Namjoon’s girlfriend and Princess’ high school classmate — and Lace, Vixen’s best friend, Princess’ university flatmate but also Taehyung’s latest crush. (Tae and Lace met through Vixen at Taehyung’s housewarming party). The girls meet for dinner at Princess’ apartment and after some confessions and girl talk, they explore the most important rules and procedures a person should know before dominating their partner in a basic impact play scenario, with special contributions of a trained domme and an experienced brat.
The piece is written with the girls as characters described through the POV of an external narrator. If you want to get to know the characters a bit better, you can find their headcanons here (Vixen — Princess — Lace).
On a lexical note: throughout the text I’ve used the word “dom” both as in short of the verb and of the noun. Even though the feminine form is usually “domme”, I’ve considered it gender neutral, as a short term for both “dominator” and “dominatrix”.
On an ethical note: I wanted to raise awareness on how a safe, sane and consensual domination works. These days there’s an increasing number of BDSM pieces coming out, and very few of them mention the level of emotional connection that is necessary in these circumstances. Most of them focus on the scene, without showing how pre-session negotiations, aftercare and post-session feedback work. I wanted this piece to be educational and I wanted to show the “background work” on how I plan each BDSM-themed piece before I write it. Though I’ve done a lot of research on handbooks, websites and forums, I am NOT a BDSM educator, so I would recommend reading more in-depth manuals in case you ever decided to venture in this world, and possibly speak with an expert first.
On to trigger warnings: swearing, consumption of alcohol, obviously there is in-depth discussion of NSFW and BDSM themes with focus on impact play. Discussion of hard limits, negotiations, SSC (safe, sane, consensual), safewords, aftercare, bruising, cutting/puncturing (connected with cane and cat-o-nine-tales whipping), marking, pain kink, punishment, drop (both for subs and doms), anatomy of impact play (where to hit, how to hit), sex toys (spanking, face slapping, paddle, riding crop, slapper, strap, whip, flogger, cane). That should be all. In terms of angst, there is some insecurity, jealousy, and slightly traumatic past experiences. Lace recalls one time she “dropped”, Vixen recalls a series of quite intense scenes. There are mentions of Vixen’s second relationship (toxic relationship with a man who called her out for her sex drive, kinkshamed her and forced her into becoming exclusively vanilla). Both Princess and Vixen mention abandoning some friends since they couldn’t trust them close to their boyfriends, or not respecting their privacy. Lace mentions traumas that lead her to learn domination. She also explains her insecurities about possibly dating Taehyung.
Word count: lengthy. 12.2k words. Reading is not necessary but recommended since a lot of pieces stem directly from this one.
Here is my masterlist!
Enjoy 💖
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EDIT: You can find part two here
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Lace came through with the loud stomps of the heels of her boots, the bag on her shoulder swaying heavily. It looked like she was ready to enter Cat Woman mode, wearing a cropped leather jacket rimmed with a thick black-fur neck. Her wondrous thighs were clad in tight, high-waisted jeans, her black leather knee boots completing the look. She impeccably wore her part.
As she neared the door, she checked her watch, noticing that she was a couple minutes early.
Five minutes later, always fashionably late, arrived Vixen, her hair falling perfectly around her pretty face, her lips tinged with a deep wine red, her doe eyes as inquisitive and wide as usual. It was exactly the girl she had met two years before on the other side of the counter of her shop, it looked like she hadn't aged a week.
"Hello!" She greeted her friend.
"Hi there! Look at you, you look like the best girlie in the world." Lace hollered back.
"Because I am." Vixen replied, basking in the attention and the praises.
"That self esteem is thriving! Freshly fucked and ready to misbehave?"
"Unfortunately not freshly enough, but you know me, I'm always ready to misbehave." Vixen winked before making her way to the entrance of the building, pressing the buzz for Princess' apartment.
"Isn't your big boy attending to his duties?" Lace asked, curious about the whole situation. She had personally met Namjoon and had seen the two of them together. They looked like the it-couple and she would gladly bet big money on the pair. Plus she knew about Vixen's collection and Namjoon's taste in terms of lingerie and negligees: in her honest opinion that's a solid base for a lasting union.
"He's attending, yes, but I don't want to vex him with my continuous cravings."
"Baby, not all of us are like that slut-shaming bastard of your ex. Stop thinking that needing to get laid more than once a week is a shame."
Princess voice sounded from the intercom. "Hi! It's floor 16 number 41!"
"Thank you!" Vixen replied before pushing the door open.
Lace slapped her hand and held the door as Vixen walked through. The other followed. "It's just that… He's been busy, plus he keeps saying he likes to come back early so we can have dinner together, he's always rushing from the studio to the dorms to his apartment. He looks like he'll get drunk on motion sickness before the tour even starts."
Lace stared at her feet as you both stood in the lift. How could she start something serious with Taehyung if they were going on tour? By the time she would get used to him he would be travelling on the other side of the world.
"So he stays at the dorms?" Lace fixed her bag on her shoulder.
"Often, yes. He stays at the apartment when I'm around, but he prefers the dorms when he's by himself or working."
The lift dinged and you exited, heading down the hallway "Thirty-eight, forty, there!" Lace chirped, noticing the open door.
There stood Princess, hair in a ponytail, wearing a fashionable white turtleneck and a thigh knee-length skirt. She looked classy and smart, just like she had appeared during previous meetings.
"Hello girls!" She waved at the pair, gesturing at them to come in.
"Hi there!" said Lace, "long time no see."
"We don’t see each other in ages and then two times in less than a month." Princess replied while hugging her. “Wouldn’t it be lovely if we reacquainted?”
Vixen nodded with a cute smile. "It would. I must say it was a surprise to meet you at the party with Jimin." Vixen took off her shoes as Princess offered her a pair of slippers.
"It seems like fate brought us back together." Princess replied.
“Indeed.” She commented, thinking about how they would get even closer if she gave in to the preternatural connection with Taehyung. Lace tugged at her boots, fighting with them a little before finally removing them, lost in her thoughts. She clumsily tried to avoid Vixen’s stare. She knew the girl would spot her secret in a second. Not now, she told herself. With the slippers on, Lace still looked like Catwoman from the ankles up, but her feet were clad with a pair of pink panther slippers that gave the outfit a hilarious twist.
"Let's move to the kitchen," Princess said, leading the way. "The apartment is small, sorry."
"Don't worry sweetie, with a view like this I would gladly live in a shoebox." Vixen commented, looking out of the window. "Plus you live pretty high up."
"It was accidental. I just needed something close to my office."
"What did you end up doing?" Lace asked as she looked at the prints on the wall.
"I work for a fashion magazine. Usually I do model casting and a little bit of everything about organising photoshoots." Princess replied.
"That sounds great!" Lace exclaimed, grinning.
Princess clumsily opened a bottle of wine, but fortunately no damage resulted. "What about you?"
"I'm a shop assistant in a lingerie shop." Lace replied.
"Don't diminish yourself like that." Vixen said, looking away from the window. "She works at the La Perla boutique in Gangnam, plus she has her own studio where she creates customised orders." The woman patted her friend on the shoulder. "She's amazing."
Princess lit up. "So you managed to make part of your dream come true!"
"A small part. I'm still far from having my own shop." Lace exhaled.
"But she's getting there." Vixen added with a positive note.
"I ordered in a little bit of everything." Princess said, taking the food out of the oven. "I didn't trust my cooking skills knowing this one." She pointed at Vixen. "I've heard you're almost a chef."
"I just took lessons." She shrugged. "I just really like everything that feels like home."
Sniffing at the air, Vixen sparked up, getting cozy at the smell of bulgogi. "This smells very nice."
"A little bird told me it's your favourite." Princess winked.
"Do I know that little bird?"
"He knows you very well." Princess said, admiring how the polished, elegant woman-girl turned completely smitten.
"I'll make sure to thank him."
Lace snickered. "Do you need help?" She offered, while Princess laid out a bunch of smaller plates and bowls with side dishes. "I got some dumplings, pancakes and our baby's favourite: braised potatoes."
Vixen clapped enthusiastically.
Dinner proceeded calmly, all the partakers digging in quietly, chitchatting between one serving and another, catching up on the various mishaps that had happened during those years apart.
"So you studied in Europe, right?" Princess asked Vixen.
"I spent almost two years between France and England, yes." She replied politely, sipping her wine composedly as if she hadn't devoured her serving of potatoes like a very smug wolf.
"Cool. But you came back here." Princess continued.
"Yes, I missed home. And I missed jajangmyeon." Vixen grinned. "Food in general. I like my life here. Living in Europe to me felt like being continuously on the sidetrack of something. Catching up with the culture is seriously a challenge, especially when you're in the art world."
"Right, you're an interior designer." Princess reminded herself.
"Exactly."
"I've heard you met Namjoon because of that."
Vixen smiled. "Yeah, well… The usual. We met at a gallery, I had a meeting with the artist and he accidentally participated. The artist and the director of the gallery accompanied us through the exhibition and at the end he asked if I wanted to grab a coffee. At the beginning I thought it strange that he hadn't booked a private visit, but he said that because of a last minute plan he had begged the director to book him in anytime. Since I'm friends with the director and I have strict privacy agreements at the firm, the curator thought it was a good idea."
"Who would have thought, uh?" Lace chirped in, laying her chopsticks on her empty bowl.
"Y'all, soju?" Princess asked, now that they were all done with the food.
While Vixen nodded, Lace held back. "I think I'll take just a sip. It gets me bloated."
The table was clean, the small cups for soju laying on the table as Princess shook the bottle and poured it according to tradition.
"Cheers to your taken asses and my single one." Offered Lace, the three of them laughing and downing the liquid. Princess drank it without even blinking, Lace taking it in a small measured way while Vixen downed it and scrunched her nose, shutting her eyes tight and shaking her head as she processed the burn.
"You're still a doll." Princess commented.
"And you're still otherworldly cool." Vixen replied, smirking. "You were the most bad ass girl of the class. I had lots of respect for you, but I was so scared of approaching you."
"You were so tiny and shy." Princess gushed. "You were everyone's crush but you were so smart. And a bit strange. It felt wrong to even think of you like that."
Vixen shook her head, "It feels strange to bring up those memories. After university and being abroad it feels like another life."
"Because many things changed in the meantime." Lace argued. "I've known you since you started working, two years ago."
"I spent half of my first paycheck at your shop."
"You did. And I asked you for coffee because I liked your sense of fashion."
"I thought you wanted to date me." Vixen laughed.
"Well, when you're done snuggling your big bear, you know you can come to me." Lace winked.
"My bear is pretty big so it might take me a while to be done with that." Vixen joked. "Plus I'm pretty happy. I haven't been this happy since I was nineteen. I'm content. Satisfied. Taken care of. Loved. I'm thriving." She closed her eyes and shrugged, smiling.
"My bad." Lace patted her own shoulder in support. "What about you and Jimin?"
"Oh, we met during a photoshoot. I assisted in his shoot and when he was done he asked to see the pictures that would feature on the magazine. That's when he asked me out for dinner." Princess said, her eyes shining as she remembered the event.
Lace noticed the two women staring at her. "Well time for my story… Me and my dildo met at the store, he was cute, I was needy and I invited him to my bed. That's how we first met and we've been happy ever since." Lace told emotionally. The other two burst out laughing, Vixen holding her belly while Princess leaned on the table.
"Oh goodness." The smaller one said.
"I think it's time we face our main topic. Would you like to start?." Lace asked Princess.
"Okay. I'll be very direct." Princess warned.
"Don't worry, we're all grown ups here. You're safe, darling." Vixen stretched her arm out to caress her forearm. "And we're pretty open minded, trust me."
"Okay. Basically, Jimin would like me to get a bit more rough in the bedroom. Namely, we tried spankings the other week. He sort of power-bottomed? Like he gave me instructions on how to do it."
Lace nodded.
"I am worried about how to handle this. I want to do it, but I don't know how to do it right. I don't want to hurt him." Princess said with a frown. “And I’m a little worried I liked it so much.”
Lace’s lips formed a small conspiratorial smile. “At the beginning there’s always a little bit of fear. And a bit of… Shame.”
“Yes.” Princess confirmed. “But it’s not something that bothers me. Like, it’s there but it doesn’t bother me. I don’t think it will persist. When I think about what we did… Well, I’m almost proud.”
Lace smirked and nodded. “That’s good. What would you like to work on? Is it just impact play — you called it "spanking" — or is it also domination on a broader sense?"
"Well… Wait, I took notes." Princess looked around, walking towards her bedroom and coming back with a small notebook and the guide.
"It's the book!" Lace exclaimed.
"The book." Vixen wiggled her eyebrows knowingly.
"You, vixen." Lace smirked. "Namjoon is right calling you that."
"You have no idea." The other replied. "Now, let's see."
"I'll return you the book." Princess reassured her.
"You can keep it for another bit. You'll need it again with Jimin."
"We have our own copy, don't worry." Princess replied, with a quick smirk. "Well, I think I can dom pretty fine — as I read the book I realised I already have some of those behaviours. However there are some practices I might have to learn in person."
"Normally we teach how to dom through subbing: what you experienced the first time with Jimin was subliminally subbing." Lace took the reins and explained. "It is one of the most sophisticated forms of domming — being a power bottom — and the fact that he did that should suggest you that A — he's a very skilled sub, or B — he's generically a very smart person with good manipulative skills."
Princess listened to the explanation quite raptured. "Personally, I don't know how far he's gone with his exes but I would say he has taken the lead before and he's quite used to speak up and order me around a little, so his behaviour might come from that."
Lace nodded. "I would recommend that you talk to him and try to design a specific plan for the two of you. As I hinted before I have taken lessons on BDSM practices in a club here in the city. I have received almost two years of training and I have taken part as an assistant to a teacher for another two years, that's why I might sound academic and serious. You can stop me whenever you feel uncomfortable or when you need to ask a question." That's when Lace shifted. Her whole position changed: her back got straighter and her hands splayed on the table, somehow squaring her position.
"Okay." Princess confirmed.
"You know that during university I took that course on acrobatic yoga?" Lace asked.
Princess frowned. "Yeah, I remember."
"Well, it wasn't exactly acrobatic yoga." Lace shrugged and raised her eyebrows. "At the beginning I did do some acrobatic yoga lessons but then one of the students introduced me to this BDSM course and I left yoga for… yeah, you know." Lace laughed.
Vixen listened quietly, observing Princess' reaction.
"Would you consider taking lessons from an expert?" Lace asked.
Princess shrugged. "I think that the book was very good on general analysis. Personally, I've never considered meeting an expert mostly because I wouldn't know where to look for one. Plus, I've only had a week to think about this."
Vixen looked at Lace. "I'll be very blunt here, darling. I think that the best thing to do would be discussing the whole book thing with Jimin. Have pre-session negotiations. Discuss stuff. Find out what you want to explore and go there together."
Lace raised an eyebrow. "However, it is perfectly okay if you want to practice by yourself. Being a good dominant means that you can convey control and safety through your stance and behaviour. That requires practice."
Vixen nodded before adding, "It's okay if you want to take some steps by yourself before bringing him into the equation."
"Okay, so I reckon you have quite some knowledge on the theme. Maybe you could teach me something?" Princess asked Lace, a bit shy but fully determined.
Lace smirked. "That's why I came prepared. However, I must remind you I have been a co-trainer, and that doesn't mean I am a teacher, therefore I can only cover the basic stuff, which for now will suffice."
Vixen's eyes burned expectantly.
"Our girl here might help you see stuff through a submissive's eyes, right?" Lace questioned.
Vixen nodded and smiled, reassuring Princess by placing a hand on top of hers.
"Okay. Let's talk about general principles. BDSM is an acronym for Bondage, Domination, Sadism and Masochism. But I guess you read this in the book." Lace presented.
Princess nodded.
"The golden rule is SSC: Safe, Sane, Consensual. Use protection and make sure that you're both tested and clean if you go without a condom or dental dams. Also, keep your toys clean. Do not start anything if your judgement is clouded — by alcohol, drugs or violent, instinctual emotions. Make sure that both you and your partner want the same things. Explain what is going to happen and negotiate before each session — at least for the first few times. This is also the right moment to talk about safe words."
"Me and Jimin covered these already." Princess noted.
“Then you’re already halfway there. The biggest part of training is making people always aware of all the steps that could possibly go wrong and make sure that you’re prepared for the worst case scenario.”
Vixen nodded. “As a sub, it is important to feel safe. An anxious sub is a sub who can hardly feel pleasure, and that invalidates the experience as a whole. We only do it for pleasure.”
Princess listened carefully and thought about it a little. “How… How does it feel…To be a sub? I mean, I’ve sort of subbed with Jimin but… Yeah.”
“Well, I’m leaning-sub. That means I rarely dom, and when I do I’m a power bottom — that thing that Jimin did when he gave you instructions on how to dominate him. Being a sub has a lot to do with feeling cherished and taken care of. Some of us are not comfortable with power and responsibilities. Some of us simply like to be told what to do and please. I like doing what Joon tells me to do and do it perfectly the way he wants it to be done, because I know he will praise me and reward me. I know that he loves me regardless of me doing what he wants, but it pleases me immensely to use my submission to show him how far my trust and love for him go. I feel safe when I'm in his hands. And I like punishment, it helps me deal with guilt. When I make a mistake, I always torture myself with guilt and self-hate, but punishment makes me feel like I've made a mistake and I've paid for it. The point is not the punishment, but rather the forgiveness and the sense of atonement afterwards." Vixen spoke with a composed attitude, however her eyes wandered around nervously, as if trying to avoid meeting the others’ gazes.
"In that case the dominant is supposed to be attentive in terms of how far the submissive pushes themself. A sub looking for forgiveness is a sub willing to go further than normal, which means that they might inadvertently reach their breaking point — which shall never happen." Lace highlighted.
"The golden rule is to always leave hungry. There is a fine line between satiety and nausea. The moment you overstep and reach nausea is the moment your sub might hurt themself." Vixen said, tight lipped.
Princess nodded. "I'm glad we can have this conversation. It's not something I can quite talk about with my friends since the whole situation with the boys is pretty delicate. I had to close some of those friendships to keep Jimin safe. I realised I couldn't trust some of those people and I'm glad I realised before it was too late."
Vixen’s leg started bouncing. “Same with Joon. I don’t have that many friends in the city, mostly because of the time abroad and the fact that all of the friends I had by now are married and/or with kids. I couldn’t trust many of them, but you —” she said, gesturing towards Lace, “and when I introduced you to Namjoon I told him you were one of the most discreet people in the world, because you value your privacy and other people’s privacy because of your, uhm, lessons.”
“It feels good to have someone to share this burden with. I’m pretty scared of the tour.” Vixen looked down. The poised young woman seemed to crumble, giving space to an insecure little creature. “We’ve been dating since last November, but our relationship hasn’t really begun until late February. To be honest I’m terrified.”
Both Lace and Princess reached out for her.
“I’m scared.”
“Have you told him?”
“Yes, he knows.” Vixen sparked up for a minute. “We talk a lot. He always asks me how I feel about things. Lately I’ve been spending all my time away from work with him. It’s been… maybe three days since I last went back to my apartment. And in the last month or so I’ve slept alone maybe three or four nights. I don’t know what I’ll do when he’s away.” Vixen’s eyes welled up with tears before she smiled classily and recomposed herself. “But that’s not relevant.”
“It is, baby.” Princess rubbed her shoulder. “You have my number. You can reach out to me anytime.”
“I’ll be there too, you know. I know I’m not your Big Bear, but I can cook and I’m an excellent vintage movie marathon partner.” Lace rubbed the other shoulder, catching the few tears that had fallen. This was a further confirmation that Namjoon was the right man for Vixen: he had reached out to Lace a few weeks after they had been introduced, asking her if it was cool if he asked her updates on Vixen during the tour, mostly because he knew she would put up her strong, charming face in front of him, but secretly she would be worrying over his absence. That brought them close; it felt good to create this safety net for Vixen and it felt even better to know her in the hands of a man worthy of her, attentive despite his busy schedule and strong work ethic.
“Thank you, girls. That’s really sweet of you.”
“You’re the one who made this possible,” said Princess, gesturing to the three of them sitting at the table together. “I owe you. And I reckon this is a good time to make amends for not making friends with you in high school.” Princess laughed. “We’ll all need each other. We could have a group chat with Jin’s girlfriend too. Plus Jimin mentioned Yoongi is seeing someone.”
“Yes, Namjoon mentioned too. I’ve heard she’s a lawyer. He’s got this insanely huge crush on her.” Vixen giggled. “I haven’t met her yet but I’ve heard they were supposed to go out tonight.”
“Maybe we’ll see her at the next gathering.” Princess wondered. “I must admit I’m curious.”
“I am too.”
Lace felt a bit out of the conversation. “Me and Taehyung have been texting.”
Vixen blinked and turned to her. “What?” She had this face that read perfect confusion. “How long? And you’ve never told me? I mean, I gave him your number but I didn’t—”
“It’s because I haven’t been really taking him into consideration until recently.” Lace replied. “Normally I would reply to him with small texts, just to avoid sounding rude.”
“You mean to tell me you have Taehyung wrapped around your little finger — Kim Heartthrob Taehyung — and you weren’t even interested? Have you been doing drugs too?” Vixen looked outraged. “Fucking insane.” She shook her head.
“You know me. I value my privacy. Do you know how fucking un-private it is to potentially date that man? What if they find out about my extracurriculars?” Lace pointed out.
Vixen exhaled and formed a tight-lipped smile.
“Don’t give me the disappointed mom look.” Lace replied. “Plus I’m the same age as you, you have no right to turn judgemental.”
“Of course.” Vixen nodded. “Your safety first, love.”
“It’s just that I want to, but I can barely imagine how fucked up that could be.”
Princess breathed out. “Jimin and I have been extremely private about us and me being so close to the press means I am risking so much.” Princess opened her arms wide. “But it would take a catastrophe to take him away from me.”
“Give him a chance. Tell him about everything outright and let him choose. He’ll take his chance. Don’t choose for him.” Vixen pointed out. “That’s how I did with Joon. We talked and clearly said ‘this is what I need and what I can give, can you comply? Are you okay with it?’ It’s a bit of a bet, but I think the prospect of gain outweighs the actual risk of it.”
Lace nodded. “And then there’s the tour.”
Vixen and Princess nodded. Vixen tried to keep her insecurity and jealousy at bait. All those girls drooling over him, all those female staff members travelling with him. She propped her elbows on the table and pressed her forehead against her palms, her lovely hair falling forward.
Princess, sitting beside her, rubbed her back. “What if you just give him one date. Tell him your situation both about your, uhm— hobby and your emotional state. I’m sure he will understand. His emotional intelligence is impressive.” Princess stated, nodding, her hand still rubbing Vixen’s spine.
“He’s the kind of man I would gladly be a sucker for.” Lace explained. “I knew I was a dom since I was eighteen, but Jesus, I know I would sub for him.” Vixen seemed to awaken at that comment. “I’ve seen his stages. He is insane.” Lace bit her lip. “But I need time to trust him. And it would feel useless to get cosy with him only to have him leave for the tour.”
“Just tell him.” Vixen encouraged her. “He will surely work with you on a compromise.”
“I’ll talk to him tomorrow. Are you okay?” Lace checked in on Vixen.
“Yup. Just a sudden jealousy rush.”
Lace frowned. “He would never. Don’t worry about that.” Lace cocked her head to the side. “He worships the ground you step on.”
“Girls throw thems—”
“He throws himself at you.” Lace remarked. “Plus he loves you. You love him. That’s all that matters. He gave you the passcode to his house, basically made you move in, what else do you need? I bet he’d gladly handcuff himself to you if you asked kindly enough.” Lace joked.
“Scratch that ‘kindly enough’. He’d cuff himself to you without you even asking.” Princess remarked.
“Can we move back to the BDSM introductory lessons?” Vixen asked, shaking her head, but with a tiny smile on her face.
Lace saw that was a good sign. Princess smiled beside her. “Okay, I’ll go with my request. I know I told you I wanted to get to know more of impact play and if we could focus on that...”
“Yes, I get where you’re headed. Let’s get it. But we’ll need a clean table for this.” Lace explained.
“Let’s do this.” Princess stood up from the table, beginning to clean up everything. It took the girls only a couple minutes to get rid of dirty dishes, empty boxes, the glasses and the soju. Even the fruit basket the guests had bought was moved on the kitchen counter.
“Do you have any sanitizer, perhaps?” Lace asked.
“Isn’t it better if we move to the sofa?” Suggested Vixen. “Use the coffee table?”
Princess shrugged. “Same to me.”
Lace nodded convincedly. “Let’s prep the coffee table. Sorry for the main table.”
Princess shrugged. “Needed to clean it anyways.”
A few minutes later the girls were all sitting around the coffee table, Lace’s bag placed at her side while Vixen occupied her other side, Princess sitting in front of them.
“Let’s do an impact play in depth analysis. What you need is one — a dom, two — a sub, three — optional, — supplies.” Lace listed. “Let’s go a bit at a time. First, the dom. A dom must be sober, lucid. No alcohol, drugs, and most importantly, no impulsive, instinctual emotions. If you’re furious, don’t go there. Violent emotions can cloud your judgement. Don’t let those lead you. Of course you might be angry or aroused, but that must not take the lead. If your anger makes you want to give them fifty spanks, but normally your sub can take twenty, you can negotiate maybe twenty-five. Be judicious, never hungry.”
“Good.” Said Princess, focusing on every single one of Lace’s words.
“Once you’re sure you’re in a coherent, calm mindset, you should negotiate with your sub. Remember: safe, sane, consensual. Safe, in this case, involves that your supplies are clean and cannot hurt your sub, both in terms of cleanliness and state of use. Check for loose threads, scratches on leather that could possibly host bacteria or dirt, splinters in case of wooden devices, porous surfaces. We’ll talk about this more accurately in the supplies section. Sane means to check your mindset and your sub’s mindset. Same rules as before: no alcohol, drugs, violent emotions.”
Vixen made eye contact with Lace, silently requesting permission to speak. “Small note on that, may I?”
Lace nodded.
“Your sub might come to you while being emotionally unstable. They might need you for comfort or atonement. Make sure to heal that emotionally before dealing with it sexually. It means to discuss what caused the upset state of mind in order to identify the real entity of the problem, correct the perception of it and negotiate the atonement.”
“Excellent point.” Replied Lace.
Vixen smiled cutely.
“Can I have an example?” Asked Princess with a frown.
“Of course. Let’s say I fucked up at work, I booked the wrong artwork and the artwork they wanted is no longer available. I manage to find an alternative but I somehow feel like I let down my client. I go home and I am scolding myself because I didn’t deliver what was asked of me. My dom may spot my disappointment or may recognise self-punishment. Also, I might explicitly tell my dom I am not feeling well due to a sense of guilt. This leads to my dom asking me why I am upset or why I am punishing myself. I — along other perfectionists like Jimin — tend to overestimate my mistakes, making them a bigger deal than what they actually are. My dom corrects my perspective through objective analysis, underlines my successful abilities in dealing with the issue and suggests potential improvements on those things I didn’t manage to solve. Perfectionists have a strict inner judge that scolds them and punishes them. Therefore their psych is divided into victim and punisher. This fracture obviously causes discomfort. The dom’s goal is to heal this fracture, especially since the perfectionist’s “punisher” side — so to say — is very strict and usually overestimates the damage and subsequently overestimates the punishment. After correcting the perception of the mistake, the dom gives an appropriate price for atonement.”
“So the goal is to stop the guilt trip mechanism?” Princess asked.
“Yes.” Vixen confirmed. “But this is just one kind of spanking. There are other cases. It can be educational or simply sexual. Educational is when the dom corrects the sub’s behaviour because they violated a rule or an order. In that case it’s mostly dom-initiated—”
“Unless the sub willingly misbehaved to earn a punishment.” Lace added.
“That sounds Jimin.” Princess commented, rubbing her forehead.
Vixen smiled widely.
“That’s not funny, you brat!” Lace scolded her.
“When you find your sub willingly misbehaving, you should talk to them very clearly. Usually they do it to attract attention. Ignoring them might hurt them or bring them to further misbehaviour, which can turn dangerous. I normally recommend conversation.” Lace explained. “Pay attention to them and ask why they broke the rule, what they were trying to get out of it. You can give them the punishment they were asking for — for example if your sub disobeyed because it earns them spanks and they like spanks, you can either give them spanks or punish them with something that they really don’t like, for example edging.”
Princess nodded. “That’s interesting, thank you.”
“Any remark, Vixen?”
She shrugged. “No, I don’t think so.”
“What about sexual spanks?” Princess questioned.
“Those can be incorporated into foreplay. Some people are simply aroused by pain.” Vixen shrugged. “It puts the sub into a vulnerable position, and it underlines a power imbalance. It makes the sub feel smaller, powerless — or almost so — and sometimes humiliated.” Vixen explained.
“Exactly. I would add that it stimulates the circulation of blood to the pelvis region, which means that skin is more sensitive, arousal increases and the whole perception intensifies. It builds trust and sometimes, according to personal history of each sub, it can send them back to childhood memories, mimicking the power imbalance between child and adult who disciplined them. It has strong disciplinary and educational value, back to the punishment scene.”
“Oh, about punishment!” Vixen exclaimed. “We forgot the most important part of it all. But it refers to all sorts of spanking, to be true. Negotiation. Once you have identified the fault, tell your sub how many hits there will be, how you will deliver them and with which instrument, which position they will have to assume. Repeat safewords. Make sure that they agree fully to every detail of the spanking. If they do not agree to some parts, ask to find a compromise, a middle ground between your and their needs. Once you have the green light, you can talk your sub through the whole experience as the scene actually develops. Once you are done with the scene, say a code phrase that means that the scene has finished.”
“Okay, me and Jimin did this stuff our first time trying this.” Princess confirmed.
“Wonderful. Was it a positive experience? Did you have any uncertainties, questions?”
“It was a very positive experience, both in mine and his opinion. We talked it out the morning after, since I preferred to have some time to elaborate my personal feelings about the scene”
“That’s okay. As a dom you can experience mixed feelings, especially after a first scene, with activities that are usually misjudged by society”. Lace explained, gently patting Princess’ hand on top of the table.
“I think that Jimin’s positive reaction and guidance helped me feeling positive about the whole scene. He was truly supportive through all of it.” Princess smiled softly.
“That’s a good partner. Both for life and for play”. Lace smiled herself, glad that Princess’ first experience went well.
“There were very deep emotions of care and support and love during the whole scene. A kind of affection and vulnerability I had never experienced with anyone else. I hope I can go there again with him, but next time I want to be more reliable and secure and experienced. I thought that a general introduction, especially about supplies, could help me, since Jimin was interested in that.”
“Okay, let’s just finish the general intro. We were saying safe, sane and consensual. Safe means toys, safewords and aftercare supplies. Sane means both parties know what they’re doing, the dom is aware of the sub’s mental space. Consensual means negotiation about number of blows, technique, position and eventually toys. Make sure that your sub always knows about the motive of the spanking. The natural response, especially to pain, is ‘why’. Make sure they know. Eventually, remind them. Once more remind them of safewords and the final sentence.”
“Do not ever stop unless they safeword.” Vixen said. “If they repeatedly tell you to stop, remind them they have their safewords if they want to. As a sub I’ve said both ‘stop’ and ‘why’ at least a hundred time during a spanking. ‘Stop’ and similar are pretty recurrent. Just say ‘You know your safeword, love’. If they really need them, they will use them, trust me. Just remind them all the time. You could maybe need to slow down, make sure that they aren’t panicking and they do actually remember their words.”
“Yes, that’s right.” Lace confirmed before turning to Vixen. “Have you been studying?” She joked.
“I’ve been reading lately.” Vixen confirmed, with a very happy smile on her face.
Lace mirrored her expression. She knew Vixen had been pushed into quitting BDSM activities by her ex boyfriend. Knowing that she was finally back to something she liked, something she was comfortable with made her happy. “I’m glad you’re back on track, sweetie.”
“Thank you.” Vixen closed the small exchange with Lace.
“Once a scene is closed, your sub might have different responses. They might ask to be left alone. In that case, make sure that healing supplies are ready for their self care. Remind them to check for abrasions. If the skin is damaged on a surface level — that means it is not only bruised, but also broken — you will need disinfectant and probably band aids.” Lace explained.
“But that happens rarely, right?” Vixen asked.
“With average spanking, that is quite rare. Normally you need specific instruments specifically meant to cause abrasions.”
“Like canes and spiked toys?”
“Yes, but not only those. I’ve seen pretty heavy damage caused by an apparently regular flogger.” Lace commented, shuddering at the memory.
Vixen blinked, a bit shocked. “Okay, back to aftercare.”
“Yeah,” said Princess, exhaling and looking away.
“So, unless your sub wants you to leave, you stay around. Provide for them. Rub lotion first. Some subs store specific lotion for this kind of stuff. To ease the burn, the sting, or lessen the bruises.”
Vixen interrupted. “I must say, most of us like the bruises and the reminder-sting, so they don’t really do much about it. Still, it depends on how far you’ve gone and how the sub feels. Usually, my favourites are a cold cloth, lotion and if I went particularly far maybe a painkiller. Normally herbal lotion and muscle relaxant are an excellent solution. They’re softer and safer, especially since you never know how a sub might react to medicines. As usual, make sure that whatever you use on them is safe. Let them prepare their usual medication. Make sure you have plenty of time to ascertain that they are emotionally stable. Do not leave them alone unless they request so, and tendentially it is good etiquette to stay in proximity, in case they change their mind.”
“Thank you so much for all the head ups.” Princess said, true gratitude shining all over her face. “I feel more comfortable knowing that we followed those lines during the first time too. It’s not something absurd. Youjust really need to use your common sense.”
Vixen nodded. “Being smart sure helps, but it’s not everything. You can only truly learn it by making it a routine.”
“You mean practice?” Princess questioned.
Lace nodded. “Yes. Once you actually start practicing, you’ll immediately find out your forte and potential weaknesses. Be comfortable with those: you can ask us or look it up on the guide, or on BDSM blogs. I can send you reliable sources, if need be. I would say you can reach out to my dungeon, it is a safe and discreet environment, but I fully understand your position, and I get that you might prefer to have a private approach to this. You can eventually book personal appointments with an expert. Those normally include non-disclosure agreements and Jimin could be protected from the public eye, as far as it can go.” Lace explained. “We have had many, many clients who have requested so. It would be perfectly normal.”
Princess thought about it and nodded. “I’ll discuss it with Jimin.”
“Perfect. As you can see the key to this is communication.”
“Indeed.” Confirmed Princess.
“Now, let’s get down to the actual business.” Lace opened the bag but left all the contents inside. “Impact play can happen on different parts of the body. Vixen?” Lace called.
Vixen stood up gingerly.
“Tie your hair, doll.” Lace reminded her.
The woman fished a ribbon from her pocket and did a soft ponytail.
“Good. I’ll show you.” Lace fished out a long, silky bag from her weekender; untying the ribbon, she pushed her hand in and extracted a long stick. A cane, Princess corrected herself.
Lace didn’t pay much attention. Its purpose was that of a pointing stick at that moment. “Number one, the derrière.” Vixen turned and Lace let the wooden instrument hover over the girl’s ass. “You know what to do to hit here?”
“Find the tailbone and place your non-dominant hand over it to protect it. Alternate sides, rub between a spank and another. Hit the lower region, far from the nerves up high. Where the flesh swells, that’s where I can hit. Also the back of the thighs.”
“Excellent. That’s all.” Lace congratulated. “Other spots are the back of the legs, more precisely the back of the knees and the calves. However, knees are delicate, so you can only deliver delicate blows with a restricted selection of toys. I would not recommend it. The back of the calves also offer a limited selection of toys, but it is slightly safer to go there. Still, the surface is limited and the knees and ankles are close. The risk of missing your target is high. Since you’re a beginner I would not go there.”
Princess nodded. “What kind of toys can I use?”
“We’ll cover that later. For now let’s just run through anatomy.” Lace answered calmly. “Are you good, Vixen?”
“Yup.” The other replied.
“Perfect. Turn to your side profile.” Lace asked and Vixen quickly provided.
Lace pressed the cane in a line connecting the peaks of each of Vixen’s glutes. “From here—” she moved all the way down to her mid thighs “— to here it’s good. The peak to the midthigh.”
“Great. Got it.” Princess replied. “There are other places? Like…?”
“Would you like to talk?” Lace asked Vixen. “You're the expert.”
“May I?” She asked.
“Of course, sweetie. You’re the expert in this.”
Princess raised an eyebrow at the comment, but still she stayed focused. To say she was intrigued was a big understatement.
Vixen’s sweet voice began speaking. “Other than the backside, as we’ve just mentioned, there are other spots that can be involved in impact play. While the back of the thighs and the butt can stand harsher beatings with almost all toys intended for impact play, other areas are more sensitive, more delicate or consist in a smaller expanse of skin, therefore they shall be treated differently. Both the palms and the back of the hands, just like the soles of the feet can be involved, especially when matched with instruments with a smaller surface of beating, like a slapper, a riding crop and a cane — for example. They shall be treated lightly, since they have lots of nerve endings, bones and tendons exposed.”
“What’s a leather strap?” Princess asked.
Lace lifted a finger as a sign to wait, before digging her other hand in her bag and extracting a small device, of maybe twentyish centimetres of length and five or six of width; she placed it on the table to let Princess observe it. “Handle and slappers.” She pointed. “Very noisy, actually pretty innocuous. The leather bits slap against each other and create a single impact that sounds like a double.”
“It sounds scary, though.” Vixen noted. It always made her blood curl in her veins, the heavy smack turning into a torturous feel as the hit didn’t match the noise. Fear worked, but the sensation didn’t. It was not something she liked, usually.
Lace nodded. “I haven’t used it much. Usually people like the cane on the back of the hands. Because of old school punishments.” Lace explained.
“Right. Thanks.” Princess nodded.
Vixen waited for a sign before moving on. Once she had both women’s attention, she proceeded. ”Thighs are generally all good, if they’re fleshy and plump enough. Make sure that you don’t go too hard when hitting close to private parts. While a vulva can handle a fair bit, the penis is generally more delicate in the structure. Thighs can handle all toys, just like the ass. Paddles, slappers, straps, riding crops, whips and canes. For private parts I recommend the riding crop.” Vixen smiled politely.
Princess interrupted. “The strap is that kind of… like?” She gestured a long and thin rectangle with her hands, looking for words.
“It looks like a belt bent in two, with a handle. Maybe I have it…” She rummaged in her bag. “No. Sorry. I think I left it at home.”
Princess waved her hands. “Don’t worry, that’s okay, I think I visualised it pretty well.” She smiled. “There’s more?” Princess said, marvelled as Vixen began talking again.
“Well, yes. Oh, first a small warning — before I forget. You must absolutely stay away from the belly and the stomach. Same for the lower back.” Vixen showed the various spots on her body with precise gestures of her hands. “Too many vulnerable organs left unprotected there.” She took a small pause and then moved on.
“Some people can handle hits on their shoulders and upper back, where the internal organs are protected by the ribcage and other bone structures; however I would talk with a professional about that kind of scene since you need to flawlessly master advanced equipment — people tendentially use whips and similar, or the strap.” Vixen stopped for a second, looking at Lace as if asking whether she had anything more to ask. Lace shook her head, inviting the other woman to proceed.
“Now, about delicate parts: some people like being slapped in the face, but then again, that must be clearly stated in the negotiations. I’d say you should only use hands, but maybe I’m projecting.”
“In four years, I’ve only used and seen other use hands. Also, riding crops, but usually that’s just to direct head movements or to pat the face, rather than slapping it.”
Vixen nodded. “Great. About interesting stuff, nipples can be gently stimulated with small, very delicate pats. Riding crops are excellent for this use. Also slappers. Maybe canes in some cases.” — Lace did a so-and-so motion with her head. Vixen continued, — “Some people can go very hard on nipples and technically — just like with the butt — women who have bigger breasts can stand more intense stimulation”.
“Oh, that yes. You can use, as usual, riding crops, but also paddles, straps and whips — if you’re experienced.” Lace added.
Princess nodded with an interested expression. She could mention that to Jimin. Imagining him with a riding crop, standing at the side of the bed, rubbing the leather bit against her nipples before whipping them harshly had her losing focus for a second, taking in a big breath and biting her lip.
Vixen grinned. She could practically read the other woman’s thoughts. “For women with smaller breasts and men, I would say to stay on the more gentle side for the first few sessions and eventually — once you know each other and once you know your sub’s pain threshold — you can get more heavy-handed, so to say. As I said before female private parts can handle pretty harsh whippings, especially since arousal tends to make the labia plumper and therefore protect the skin better. Still, you should start slow and work your way up. Male crotch area is a lot more delicate, however the shaft can take a medium-intense whipping. I recommend riding crops and small leather straps.”
Lace raised her eyebrows at Vixen with a proud grin. “Nothing to add. This should be all.”
“Wow.” Princess was a bit excited. If Jimin had looked that good with a few spanks, she could only imagine what he would do once she got more experienced and learned what actually drove him crazy.
“That’s a lot of stuff, I know.” Lace reassured her.
“I’m actually excited. Like, it sounds very interesting. There’s a lot of trust and knowing each other. I really like that. I think it brings the partners very close.”
Vixen nodded. “It does.”
Princess bit her lip. “I don’t want to pry but… Do you do all of that?” She looked at Vixen with a slight blush.
The woman giggled. “Not anymore, no.” She took a meditative pause, like she was reminiscing something. It felt strange that a girl so young could feel so old every now and then. That dark cloud that obscured Vixen’s doll-like traits disappeared, leaving only a fond grin in tow. “Now I do the bits I like best.” She grinned.
Lace looked at her with a bit of worry before smiling again.
“Before we actually start with tools I need to make sure that you know all you need about aftercare and drops.” Lace said seriously.
“Yes, please.” Princess said. “May I recap what we said about aftercare?”
“Yes, sure.” Lace invited her.
“Prepare the stuff before. Check for abrasions: if there are, then disinfectant and band aids. Next cold cloth, lotion and eventually painskiller. Use medicines that my sub takes regularly. Make sure that they’re okay emotionally. If they want me to leave, I do, but I stay close.”
“Amazing. Quick learner.” Lace cheered.
“Those were also in the book.” Princess commented, diminishing her feat. “Plus I did it already. Sort of.”
“I’ve seen people take weeks to put all of that together. You did a good job, stop doubting yourself.” Lace corrected her. God, these two insecure creatures would be the death of her.
“Aftercare is not only physical, but mostly emotional. If your sub wants you close, cuddle them. Jimin looks like the type to want cuddles and reassurance afterwards. Make sure you give plenty. Would you like to explain the drop Vixen?”
“Yes, of course.” Vixen intervened before addressing Princess. “I always like to talk about this subject because it can affect anyone, without any need to get involved in BDSM. ًWhen experiencing an orgasm, our bodies produce an incredible quantity of hormones that make us literally ecstatic. What happens sometimes, especially after long or intense scenes is that our bodies get high on these hormones, experiencing a sense of withdrawal once the rush is over. Such withdrawal, so to say, can cause pretty intense sadness that can lead to numbness, indifference, or even hate and depressive or aggressive behaviours. A good way to slow down this sadness is providing the body with other hormones that usually calm us and relax us. Cuddles and sugars usually are a good way to help the body produce oxytocin — commonly named ‘the hormone of happiness’. It’s the same hormone that spikes when mothers are breastfeeding their babies.” Vixen smiled fondly.
“This is incredible.” Princess said, completely amused. “So cuddles heal both the sub and the dom, I assume.”
“I think so, yes. Usually I’m the cuddler while Joon is the cuddlee during aftercare. Both subs and doms can experience the drop since both suffer the shift in hormones. It’s really about mutual care. Usually though, there are people who suffer more.” Vixen commented.
Lace spoke shyly. “Once I went so hard on a sub that I felt awful with myself after the scene was done.” Lace said. The silence felt heavy, like in some part of her mind Lace was still seeing that scene. “Usually the dom is expected to give the sub water, sweets and a cozy blanket — water for the body fluids, sweets for rebalancing the sugars after an intense effort and the blanket for emotional safety. I remember that one time the sub used the aftercare kit on me. It took me almost an hour to get back on a neutral state of mind.” It was Lace’s turn to be comforted. As Vixen rubbed her friend’s back, Princess spoke.
“So I might experience guilt and sadness afterwards and that’s normal?”
As Lace was still thinking, Vixen spoke up. “It happens, though usually, if your partner reassures you and supports you properly, you should be able to deal with it together with quite some ease. I myself have shouted slurs at my dom in the past during punishment, but that is because pain or anger make you do that. I may have sent him into a drop once, and since that time I always make sure that I praise and cuddle my dom once the scene is over. It’s important that you remind yourself that what is said during an intense scene is due to the sub’s sensations in that moment, therefore you shouldn’t give it much importance. Still, once you have your post-session chat you have every right to say ‘that hurt me, please don’t do that again’. It’s etiquette.” Vixen said with a serious note.
Princess nodded. “So cuddles, water, sweets and a good comfort blanket.”
“Normally, yes.” Vixen replied. “Sometimes shower or bath together, wash your partner clean or have them wash you. For some people physical cleanliness is also spiritual cleanliness. It eases the mind from whatever ‘dirty thing’ you’ve done during the scene. The rest is really what you would normally do during self-care, but with your sub. Facemask? Junk food? Lotion? Massage? Tea? Whatever you like as long as you do it with affection.”
Princess nodded. “This is really helpful. I just need to do anything that Jimin likes, and do it with him.”
“Yes, if he wants you close — which I assume he does, knowing the two of you.” Vixen smiled.
Lace added her own contribution. “If possible, remember to schedule a post-session chat. Whenever it feels comfortable. Normally you wait until all parties have fully recovered before saying ‘let’s talk about it together’, but some subs are already okay talking about it during aftercare. Just make sure that you know how your sub felt about the stuff that you did together, and that you tell them how you felt yourself. This is not one-sided. Power imbalance is limited to the scene: once you’re done, You’re equal again — that’s why a final sentence is necessary. It breaks the power imbalance and repristinates equality. All parties are equally entitled to support and communication.” Lace said, making sure that Princess grasped the concept. That’s where most couples went wrong: communicating.
“Thank you girls.” Princess said gently. “Thank you for the insights, and for your personal experiences.”
“You’re welcome.” Lace said heartily before grinning. “Now, let’s discuss supplies.”
Vixen cheered with a small ‘yes’ at which Lace replied murmuring ‘painslut’, chuckling playfully.
“Let’s start with these.” Lace showed her hands, letting the sleeves of her shirt fall a little, exposing her wrists. “These are your main instruments.” She showed the palms, then the backs. “You can use them everywhere. You can use your whole palm, flat, for a sting and cupped for a thud.”
“What’s that?” Princess asked.
“Vixen.” Lace called.
“A sting is when it prickles and bites, a thud is when it reverberates and goes deeper. You go with a quick, fleeting swat when you go for a sting—the palm must be flat and there must be a bit of wrist game. To deliver a thud, you should let your hand cup slightly and hit hard, keeping your hand pressed where you hit. It’s a matter of angle and speed.” Vixen replied readily, as if she were being asked what is two and two.
Princess grinned and nodded. “I see. Jimin mentioned something about it, but I don’t remember clearly. Which one hurts the most?” Princess asked Vixen.
“Well, it depends. It’s a different kind of pain and it depends on one’s sensitivity. Personally I prefer thuds, because usually it’s the muscle taking most of the impact, in case of traditional, over-the-knee butt spankings. Stings make my eyes water a little, because it hits a smaller area of skin with more pressure. But it really depends on what your sub feels.”
“It is all in the way it is delivered.” Lace stated.
Vixen bit her lip, nodding, and moved on.
“Hands can be also used to slap the face, as we said,— that should be especially clarified during negotiation — but also nipples and genitalia. Also, thighs, calves, hands and feet — though in some cases they might be too mild. Always remember that it is good manners to try the toys on yourself first, especially if it’s a toy you’ve never used before. Get familiar with its weight and density and grip, so you know how it affects you before affecting your sub. Make sure to start slow and eventually intensify, always asking your sub if they’re okay in the first place. Be careful with your sub’s pain threshold: since you don’t have direct perception of how much you’re hurting them, try to increase force and pattern a bit at a time.” Lace explained.
Princess felt sure about the directions. Common sense and the guide told her the same things, which reassured her about the fact that she would remember all the complicated passages. Sure, it would be easier to have an actual practical exercise.
But for now she would make do.
“You ready for the next?”
“Yes.” Vixen replied.
Lace tutted. “The question was not meant for you, menace.” She said, reprimanding a grinning Vixen.
Princess cackled. “Sure.”
Lace picked up another object from her bag. “Here we have a paddle. It can have different shapes and textures. Some contain small indentations, or even spikes. The main features are the handle.” She showed the part. “And a flat surface, used to hit the sub. In terms of tenacity and resistance, mine has a hardwood interior covered in a leather exterior. Oh, and it’s branded.” She showed a red leather heart sewn onto the black leather cover. “It leaves a mark.” Lace smiled cutely. “Best used on wide, fleshy surfaces. Questions?”
Princess shook her head. “Oh, yeah. How much is it?”
Lace twisted the object in her hands. “A good one is around thirty five thousand won or so. If you want something that lasts and that is actually covered in true leather, the price might be higher. I could recommend a shop that sells excellent gear.”
“Thank you. Also, you said it comes in different shapes.”
“Yes. A dom in my dungeon has a pretty extravagant one in a cherry shape.”
“With a double sting?” Vixen asks, eyes almost glittering.
“Yup.”
“Amazing. I had spotted it once but I never bought it. Maybe I’ll have it commissioned.” She mused.
“Joon would?” Lace asked, eyebrows raised.
Vixen shrugged. “I just need to be good — or bad — enough.”
“See, darling, this is a brat.” Lace addressed Princess, pointing at the other girl in the room. “Their anatomy is five percent manners, five percent playfulness and ninety percent utterly smart evil.”
Vixen smiled before cocking her head to the side prettily. “Yes, that’s me.”
Princess bit her lip and smiled. Vixen was a lot more interesting than she thought. All those cute manners and polished looks could not entirely shade the dark magnetism of her eyes. She would pay good money to see what ruckus she could cause with Namjoon in the bedroom. And it would be even more interesting to see what poised, calm Lace could do to teach her how to behave.
Lace put her paddle down before fishing something else from inside her bag. “For tonight let’s cover only the basics. I’ll keep more lowkey devices for another time. Or maybe I could show you what I have and you ask me about what looks interesting to you.”
Princess nodded. “That would be lovely. Plus I’m sure you’ll have to get back to Joon since he’ll want to see you before they leave tomorrow.” Princess asked Vixen.
“I don’t know if I’ll see him— oh, that one looks lovely!” She said, looking at a riding crop from Lace’s collection and distracting herself with it. “Yeah, I told him he should stay at the dorms and rest. His week has been hectic with all the briefings for the press conferences and tv shows.” Vixen explained as she picked up the crop, studying the red, heart-shaped bit.
“Yeah, I figure. Jimin and I are meeting for an early breakfast tomorrow, before they leave.” Princess explained.
Vixen’s fleeting gaze moved away. She seemed visibly unsettled. Still, her mood changed once more as she collected Lace’s paddle from the coffee table, the other woman not even noticing one of her devices had attracted Vixen’s attention.
Vixen rolled it in her palm a couple times, shifting it to feel the weight distribution and the texture.
Princess looked at how she studied the object, carefully taking in every detail. Vixen’s perfectionism showed in that exact moment, in the undisturbed, slow way she felt every ridge and stitch with her fingers. If she could think of an adjective it was ‘thorough’, in the first place. ‘Sensual’ in the second.
Raising an eyebrow and biting her lip, Vixen opened her free hand, lifted the paddle and delivered a heavy thwack.
A shiver ran down Princess’s spine. She could almost feel how Jimin would moan after a smack like that.
Lace turned around, looking at Vixen. “Like it?”
Vixen simply nodded with a wicked smile. “Do you know what wood it is?”
“Not sure, possibly birch or cherry tree. Soft wood but very elastic.” Lace sat upright as she was done taking out all of her collection.
“And the leather is splinter-proof.” Vixen commented.
Lace hummed in confirmation. “See anything interesting, Princess?”
Princess creased her brow. “What about the riding crop?”
Vixen smiled mischievously as Lace wrapped her palm around the handle, lifting the object. “Here. This is a personal riding crop. It has been commissioned specifically for me. It’s my favourite and somehow my brand.” She smiled fondly as she studied it. “However, I would say one should never grow fond of a vulnerable thing such as a riding crop. They break fairly easily. Anyway — the general traits of a riding crop are the shaft, the handle and the tip. In terms of length, I normally recommend minimum sixty centimeters, to increase flexibility and impact strength. The shaft should be elastic, but not too much or it loses impact strength and a submissive usually doesn’t want the whoosh without the smash.”
Vixen giggled at her side.
“What is that?” Princess asked, frowning.
Opening her palm, Lace calculated the distance and whipped the leather bit hard against the soft flesh at the base of the thumb. Princess clearly recognised the sound of air whistling before she hit her skin with a thin clap. “That’s what I meant.”
Princess nodded with eager eyes, keeping an amused silence.
“Fiberglass is a good material for beginners. If you’re buying one in person — which I recommend for the first time — make sure that it can make a forty-five degree angle when you bend the tip towards the handle. A forty to fifty degrees with a fair amount of resistance means it’s flexible enough, just make sure that it’s not too close to the breaking point. The handle is normally made of leather or very good rubber to improve the grip. Some cheap riding crops — also, the ones not intended for BDSM purposes — come with a strap to slip your wrist into. I recommend you don’t use the strap or that you remove it completely because first, you shouldn’t need it and second, you should avoid everything that keeps you from interrupting the scene and comforting your sub as quickly as possible. Sometimes even a couple seconds can be very important when it comes to subdrop. Remember this at all time, in all scenes. Remove everything that could keep you from helping your sub.”
“Okay. But if my riding crop falls?”
Lace smiled darkly. “Trust me dear, you’ll hold on to that as if it were the sceptre of England.” Princess laughed. “And if it falls, it’s usually a sign of poor mastering of your tools. Train yourself. You can use a dense pillow to learn the variety of strokes that a crop can deliver. It can be used for sensation play, simply rubbing your sub’s skin, caressing it, spending some time to arouse them before the whipping starts—”
Vixen purred at that.
Princess thought of Jimin biting his plump lips, eyelids fluttering at the gentle touch of the leather tickling his body.
“Are you with me?” Lace called for Princess’ attention, an amused grin on her face. Lace almost wanted to congratulate her for staying focused for so long.
“Yeah, just — thinking.”
Lace exhaled and wore a grin on her face. “I get that. Let me just finish this and we can take a pause. The tip is the important part of the crop. Mine has a fancy, heart-shaped tip, however, the best standard ones have triangular or rectangular tips that are a couple fingers wide on the very tip and restrict around the head of the stick.”
“Sounds nice.” Princess said.
“It is.” Vixen mused. “As Lace said, riding crops aren’t excessively difficult to use, if one has the patience to learn the basics and take some time to experiment. They can offer plenty of freedom to the dom in terms of use since they can be incredibly harsh, but also extremely light and gentle. You can use them on most spanking areas: breasts and nipples, feet, thighs, ass, shoulders and genitals, both male and female. Also the face, if you’re being light-handed enough.”
“Jesus, you’re wicked.” Lace snickered.
Vixen shrugged. “Says you.”
Princess looked at the exchange quite amused. “Okay. I think I got it. Oh, isn’t that a flogger?”
“Yes, it is. But that is for your sophomore lessons. For now, let’s stick to the beginner deals.” Lace said, slowing down Princess’ enthusiasm.
“Oh.” The other answered, taken aback.
“The bigger the toy, the more difficult it is to use it. Floggers, also called multi-tailed whips, are unpredictable because the whips are really flexible, usually made of leather, and very light. You must have excellent wrist flexibility and great spatial awareness. Once you can use your crop with your eyes closed, then you can consider learning the basics of flogging.”
“Okay. I assume canes and that fancy thing over there are off-limit too.” Princess noticed.
“Isn’t that a cat-o-nine-tales?” Vixen said, wide eyed. “It’s been years since I last saw one. Since my training.” Vixen shivered. “He had silver studs on the tips.”
“Did he ever use it on you?” Lace asked, very serious.
“Once. I didn’t speak to him for a week afterwards.” Vixen said, gaze empty. “I’ve never seen one like that in my life, though. Are those flowers?”
“Yes.They have a silver bead in the middle with some petals around it. The effect is very unusual, or so I’ve been told.” Lace answered with a chuckle. “It was a gift from one of my students. Lovely girl. Kinkier than hell.” Lace smiled and took the toy. “See. Those are meant to hurt. Mark or scar even, in some cases.” She showed the appendage to Princess.
“I don’t like that.” She replied with tiny hesitance.
“The cane is also a vicious one.” Lace suggested.
“The first time I safeworded was with a cane.” Vixen said with a meditative smile. “It hurts like hell. Normally I can take around forty to fifty spanks. I couldn’t handle ten with a cane.”
“I don’t think I like that either. My favourite so far are the paddle and the riding crop. I think Jimin likes the paddle, or at least the idea of it. The riding crop is… for personal reasons.”
“Excellent choice.” Lace grabbed a glass of water and drank, easing her mouth and throat after all the talking. “A riding crop can really gratify a dom at their first experience. You can study it, if you want to.” Lace encouraged Princess to hold the toy and look at it from up close.
Princess thanked her before lifting the crop from the table. “It’s very light.”
“Indeed. It’s a lot lighter than a paddle, that’s why it’s a personal favourite to most female doms. Plus it can be used to praise and to punish, making it a tool of great versatility.”
Princess studied the handle, with a thick leather band wrapped around the stick to grant a good grip. Lace, previously standing, bent down behind Princess. “The leather has been treated so to reduce any slipping.” She corrected Princess’ grip around the handle, placing her hand wrapped tight around it and fixing her thumb. “Like this.” Next, she placed the tip on the flat of the opposite hand. “Always make sure that there are no loose stitches here. Make sure that the spot where the tip meets the stick isn’t rough or hard or juts out in a way that could cut the skin.” She fingered the spot, tracing it. “Also remember to check the flexibility, see?” Lace made Princess’ fingers wrap around that spot, making her push it towards the butt of the handle. The sensation was extremely elastic, with a bit of give still, but far more resistance. “That is good elasticity for a versatile crop. Try it on your forearm.” She suggested, pushing Princess’ shirt upwards.
A bit hesitant, Princess lifted her dominant arm up. Lace corrected her stance, repositioning her elbow. “You only need to do a slight rotation of your forearm for now. Keep your elbow still and smack your forearm down, like you were arm wrestling but with more snap.”
Princess nodded, her eyes closing before she let her arm snap. First she heard the ‘whoosh’ of the stick cut through the air, and then the snapping sound, like a dry cracking.
“Good one. Did it hurt?”
Princess tutted. “Not too bad. The bite was pleasing.”
The sound awakened Vixen from her trance. She had been staring at the paddle for a few minutes, thinking.
“Try using it feather-light now. Like it was a make-up brush on your skin.” Lace placed the tip of the crop on Princess skin with the lightest pressure, the touch so soft that the tip didn’t even bend a little to accommodate the skin. It was simply lingering, grazing.
“I really like it. I think I’d love to own one.” Princess said enthusiastically. “Would you come with me if I go buy one?” She looked up to her friend.
“Yes, sure. You have my number, we can arrange someday this week, or whenever you like it.” Lace smiled genuinely. Her cheeks puffed up in round apples.
“I think you should check on Vixen.” She whispered.
The girl was being too quiet. It meant she was thinking. Overthinking, if Lace knew her friend well.
“Are you okay?” Lace moved towards Vixen, looking at her vacant stare, her skittish mood and the insecure nibbling on her lower lip.
“Yeah, I was just thinking...” Vixen replied, still unfocused from her surroundings. “I don’t know if Princess is okay with this. It’s her home, after all.”
“What is it?” Asked the other one, immediately alarmed.
“Would it be awkward if we tried a small simulation? Not a scene, just an exercise. For practice.” Vixen proposed. “If you’re all okay with it.”
Lace studied Vixen’s expression. “What about Namjoon?”
“I could ask him. I think he’s awake, I’ll text him. Ask him if it’s okay with him. This is nothing sexual. It’s just for learning purposes.” Vixen shrugged.
A part of Princess’ brain was already seeing it happen, her throat bobbing as she swallowed. “If it’s not too much of a bother, I think it would be really helpful to me if you and Lace tried. I don’t think I want to do it myself, but I’d like to watch.” She admitted.
“Are you in the right mindset to do this, sweetie?” Lace asked. “You’ve been on mood swings the whole night. Are you sure?” Lace asked, seriously concerned.
“Yes, I’m sure. Trust me,” Vixen said, reassuring her friend with a kind smile. “I just need to ask Joon.”
Lace thought about it. Doing such a thing with Vixen of course could be extremely helpful to Princess, showing her how a scene worked, however Vixen’s mood swings suggested that she was looking for reassurance, that she was hoping someone would literally spank her negative thoughts out of her. She probably wanted Namjoon instead of Lace, but maybe this mechanism of simulation and education was what she needed to rein in her insecurities. Vixen was a smart woman, extremely aware of her emotions and the mechanisms to handle them. Lace decided. “Okay. Call him.”
“Let me grab my purse, then.” Vixen stood up and reached for her phone at the dining table. “Thank you”, she said to Lace before unlocking her phone and finding Namjoon’s number on her shortcuts.
“Put it on speaker.” Lace told her.
The three women waited expectantly as the ringing echoed through the small room — Lace with cold ice settling in her veins, Princess with ebullient anticipation and curiosity, Vixen with a certain emptiness in her gaze, her free hand toying with the small pendant laying between her collarbones while she rubbed the flat of her upper chest.
The ringing stopped, followed by a couple seconds of silence.
“Hello?”
-----------------------------------------------
Part two here
#bts blog#the Girlfriends#introducing the girlfriends#bangtan sonyeondan#bts fic#Bts smut#bangtan smut#Introducing vixen#introducing princess#Introducing lace#namjoon x reader#namjoon x vixen#jimin x reader#Jimin x princess#taehyung x reader#taehyung x lace#bts fanfiction
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