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#Is just outright showstopping
familyagrestefanblog · 11 months
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Chat Noir in THAT moment of "Revolution"
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May I say with every inch of my heart: fucking THANK YOU Adrien for speaking up to give the governmental and systemically oppressed civilans who think themselves the helpless victims of a normal but highly corrupted, extremely dangerous and selfish person in their mayor’s position an actual VOICE.
And he even did it in probably the savest and most orderly way as well, which ensured that Chloé can neither use the citizens’ reaction against the people themselves nor dismiss it overall because every other approach but EXACTLY what Adrien did here would have resulted in some variation of a chaotic sea of voices and opinions contradicting and clashing each other in various degrees of intensity, favoritism, audibility and spoken CONTENT, in an environment where people could have then freely spoken against and FOR Chloè too.
Ladybug and Chat Noir showing up in a political situation like THIS to get the people on their side to rise up against the corrupted mayor by taking full control of the whole situation should have been an almost IMPOSSIBLE feat to accomplish this quickly and smoothly in execution because a political scenario like this is a literal MINEFIELD as we saw at the end of the last episode. One wrong word and everything could have ended up in total madness that would have either taken a serious amout of time and effort to get back under control or outright through FORCE (or both)
But Adrien was just out here and did it in 5 seconds FLAT.
Thank you Adrien for taking the massive value of your status as Chat Noir into your own hands and acting as the politically most competent and most effective fucker in this entire mess of a situation (besides Lila but that’s a given) as Chloè’s true foil in this entire episode.
You know I would never use the word “perfect” to describe Adrien as a person but I’ve gotta be honest, the way so many massive delicate factors of how to approach not only a political conflict but a full on governmental escalation like this - were a whole sea of angered people have to be lead to speak as a unit - were immediately NAILED with this ONE perfectly timed and worded sentence and this ONE striking hand gesture was pretty fucking close to perfection. Ladybug and Mayor Chloé were having a hero-villain akuma pissing contest of moralities and Chat Noir just pulled all of that back into harsh reality with one swift action to actually give the power back to the people. Let’s fucking GO!
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That was the most effective, competent, responsible and situation-appropriate (and that in corrupted POLITICS) leadership action being taken in the entire episode and it was done in 5 seconds flat by Chat Noir who eagerly wanted to intervene since right the beginning of the episode. No wasting time holding a speech, no unnecessary hero smack talk, no showmanship and no personal verbal morality battles. Just using his status to act as a leader for the civilian people so they can join him to act as one strong unit no matter their age, voice volume, body height, strength etc, 👏it 👏did👏 not👏 matter. 👏
(only people without arms would have been excluded, if you really wanna nit-pick)
He did everything so fucking RIGHT in that moment. Through providing them with a clear-cut language and morality standpoint from his part - without making it about himself-, an easy and situation-specific & very fast, universal and practical but also very impactful way to communicate their game-changing opinion for this ONE specific point he names very forthright and that calls the problem right out on it’s core, so Chloè and the people who support her have no wiggle room to shut it down or dismiss it through pocking holes by claiming people could have misinterpreted what he meant.
5 fucking seconds. PLEASE make it entire episodes!
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iamadequate1717 · 7 months
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OFMD S3 (Manifesting!)
I think we've all seen Casey Bloys' comments on an OFMD S3:
“What’s a little bit different in a linear world than here is… how a show performs over a longer period of time than three weeks or something,” Bloys stated. “So we’re figuring out how it’s doing, what it’s looking like.”
My reaction:
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Really, HBO? HBO, after running one of the worst, most spoilery, most front loaded marketing campaigns I have ever seen, wants to talk about the long term?
The question that was driving everyone feral for an S2 was, will Stede and Ed find each other again? HBO/MAX put their first face-to-face meeting in the trailer. Why watch the show when the marketing will just toss a greatest hits reel out to the public before the episode even releases?
The showstopping set piece of 2x3 (MerStede rescuing Ed) was spoiled in their "marketing" since they released the concept art for MerStede days before the episode aired in a BTS video.
Let's look at the finale:
The beach kisses and the inn were spoiled in BTS videos released days before the episode was released after putting a week between 2x7 and 2x8 releases. Yeah, yeah, they didn't show the kisses exactly, but what else would that pose be for? It really enforced that 2x7 and 2x8 should have been released together, but HBO/MAX choose to create a cliffhanger while immediately posting the resolution in their marketing
Ed thinking Stede was dead was spoiled by the episode promo
Ed and Stede running toward one another on the beach was spoiled by the trailer. (It didn't show them in frame together, but it was obviously the same location and the direction they were going in matched.)
Ed reading one of Stede's letters was spoiled by marketing a few days before the finale release for no discernable reason
Izzy's climatic speech to Ricky (and that he was saying it to Ricky!) was spoiled in the trailer. It could have been a good hype VO, and they didn't need to spoil whom Izzy was talking to
The crew in the British garb and taking out soldiers was in the trailer. This plot begins nine minutes before the credits start.
The Revenge Crew working with Spanish Jackie and Zheng at some point was well spoiled beforehand in their BTS promo material. Zheng saying they should team up is three minutes before the credits start.
(Has anyone seen this amount of BTS material of episodes, including the season climax, released before an episode releases instead of after? Just holding this BTS material until after seems like a no-brainer to extending a show's interest after the finale is released.)
The reason the pacing felt super "off" on your first watch is because HBO/MAX already released a bulleted run through of the episode beforehand, and you were mentally ticking it off as you went instead of watching it organically. Watching it a second time really improves the flow of the episode.
This is a show whose popularity was raised created entirely through word-of-mouth excitement. The greediness of these streaming companies is why we couldn't have the actors doing promo, but then they took away the show's next most powerful tool, the word-of-mouth discussion, by releasing large swathes of the climax of the season before it aired, and the social media hype and discussion was front loaded to before release instead of after.
S3 was set up to show Ed and Stede as a solid couple and to show the pirate community against the British, and the season climax of these two points was released by HBO/MAX before the episode, and it was excitedly discussed then. Now, a week after release, we're stuck in some horrible gravy basket of discussing the part of the last five-ten minutes that HBO/MAX didn't outright spoil (though they tried their hardest with the grave promo stills and Ed's bloody hand in the promo!): Izzy's death. No one is having fun!
There is a lot of story setup for an S3 but DJenks and company had to set up a season that could double as a series finale in a pinch, so we also lost the "What happens next??" fervor because HBO/MAX wouldn't greenlight two seasons at once of their biggest new IP of 2022. The bizarre marketing strategy didn't lend itself to a long term success, and it's up to the fans once again to do HBO/MAX's job for them.
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fickleminder · 5 months
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I had one really big question about your (AMAZING, SHOWSTOPPING, ASTOUNDING) demons will be demons AU: is MC still the descent of Lilith? And if so, how would the brothers find out with the plot being so different and how would they react? Thank so much for all your writing, I genuinely really love this AU!!
Aahhhh thank you, I’m really glad you’re enjoying it so far! 💕
To be honest I haven’t really thought about the whole Lilith thing in this AU, mainly because I wanted to remove any bias when it came to how the demon bros viewed MC. But now that you mentioned it, the reveal is definitely gonna cause a lot of chaos!
So let’s suppose MC is still a descendent of Lilith. Suppose there’s some ancestry magic being advertised in town which MC decides to check out just for fun. They’re curious if it works like those family tree DNA tests back in the human world. The witch performing the spell hands them a little crystal ball at the end of the session, which randomly shows the different people in their bloodline like a digital photo frame.
MC takes it back to the HoL and displays it in their room, not surprised that they don’t seem to recognize any famous historical figures in their ancestry. They end up leaving the crystal ball on a shelf and more or less forgets all about it.
Until one day, Lucifer enters their room for some reason and catches a glimpse of a very familiar face—
Now remember, the first born is the only one who knows what really happened to Lilith. After learning what that crystal ball is, he calls in a personal favor from Barbatos and, with Diavolo’s permission, gets him to trace MC’s roots. What he discovers leaves him at a loss.
Does he tell his brothers? Admit that what they believed for centuries was just a lie? What if they turn on him for not revealing the truth after Lilith’s time in the mortal plane was over, when there was no longer any risk of them violating Diavolo’s terms by making contact with her?
BAD ROUTE: It’s their second chance to have Lilith in their lives again. Lucifer’s brothers may be furious about being deceived at first, but then he rallies them to focus their energy on getting her MC back. By blood, MC belongs with them, and they won’t take no for an answer. MC goes from polite caution to outright fear/rejection at their dogged possessiveness. Any trust that had been painstakingly built up during the begging for forgiveness arc instantly evaporates. Cue identity crises, “stop calling me Lilith”, and all that good ol’ post OG Lesson 16 angst. For the sake of the exchange program, Diavolo and Barbatos will eventually intervene because MC is straight up not having a good time.
BETTER ROUTE: Lucifer decides to just… keep his discovery to himself. What’s one more secret on top of a centuries-old lie, anyway? He knows what will happen, how his brothers will react to the truth, how MC will suffer— No, they’ve been hurt by his family enough. If you love someone, let them go. While it’s not a complete 180, something definitely changes in the way Lucifer interacts with MC. His softer, more brotherly approach ends up working in his favor, helping him to mend his relationship with them the fastest. In time, the rest of his brothers come to follow his lead, and the knowledge of Lilith’s blood in MC’s veins stops burning at the back of his mind. MC is MC, and that’s all that matters.
?? ROUTE: Barbatos sees all. He sees a reality where Belphie is locked up and MC makes pacts with the brothers instead of lesser demons; a reality where the brothers imprison MC in the attic and force immortality upon them; a reality where MC is not an exchange student but a devil-sitter lost in time; a reality where MC and the brothers don’t get along at first but slowly make their way towards a tentative friendship…
All these realities exist at once, and yet not at the same time. There is only one Barbatos after all, and while he cannot simply pick and choose as he pleases, he can at least nudge certain fates.
When he reports his findings to Lucifer later, he’ll have to choose his words very carefully.
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journey-to-the-attic · 5 months
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For some reason, reading that IK wanted the pot of boiling water made my mind immediately go to her trying to use it as a weapon. Like, as soon as she realizes that it isn't exactly safe for consumption, she immediately tries to weaponize it.
Lucifer trying to stop IK from eating something because it's raw is so funny to me, because all things considered, she would be fully capable of eating things raw due to being a wild animal, even if she's from an entirely different universe.
Also, I don't remember if it's ever been mentioned anywhere, but does it ever rain in the Devildom? I feel like, due to how the rain from Rain World works, IK would probably get really freaked out when it starts to rain and immediately attempts to find shelter.
(On a completely different note, do you want to hear an attempt at a brief summary of the Rain World lore based on what I remember from when I last played, which, admittedly, is only the basic stuff, plus some heavily hinted but not outright said stuff from near the end of Saint's Campaign/the final dlc campaign?)
lucifer succeeds in teaching her that she cannot eat the scalding water, but now she has started attempting to build rudimentary slugcat-sized water cannons, and while he's impressed by the ingenuity, he is very concerned for his own safety (satan is applauding her the whole way like "showstopping, spectacular, incredible, never been done before")
it definitely does rain in the devildom!! there's a whole Thing about it in nightbringer s1. in my take on its ecosystem it doesn't typically rain naturally (evaporating water tends to dissipate up into higher layers of the realm), but when Funky Magic Stuff happens, then the weather can do all sorts of crazy things
ik would start out relatively calm (just another day at work) but rapidly gets uneasy when she can't seek shelter like she's used to. poor thing keeps racing around the house, huddling in some random gap shivering, then changing her mind and sprinting off to find somewhere safer... in the end their only solution is to bundle her up in a big blanket and take turns with slugpup-holding-duty
and of course!! it sounds super cool, i'd love to know more about it ^^
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claitea · 8 months
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ok you want people to talk to you about pokémon right. well you’re in luck bc i wanted to talk to you
first question uuuuuhm. hm. how about you try to sell me on playing black/white. go wild and infodump about that green man etc
THANK YOU
hm. idk how much you know or want to know bc i dont want to end up spoiling the plot of the best piece of media ever created by human hands containing the absolute flawless amazing showstopping pinnacle of storytelling Natural "N" Harmonia Gropius. but also its an 11 year old game and i spoil it constantly anyway so lmao
bw itself in general? imo the Peak of pokemon all bias aside. the animated 2d sprites, the environments (going over the skyarrow bridge for the first time WOOOO), the music, the pokemon designs themselves, it still had mythical pokemon events like Victini's, pokemon musicals, Pokestar Studios in bw2, auugahhhh chewing on bw/bw2 like its a multivitamin gummy
the music is probably one of the best things about it! routes have slight variation depending on the season (bw has seasons btw its very pretty) which is super neat. village bridge is one of my favorite pokemon songs, it'll activate more instruments as you explore the bridge and talk to people with instruments and things. also Driftveil City. just driftveil its iconic
and now here's an entire no holds barred rant on Him
n. where do i start with him. i will be spoiling literally everything about him btw i just love explaining him
abandoned in a forest at like 5ish years old, he learned to talk with pokemon because he lived with them. ghetsis ends up finding him, claims he's his father, and whisks little n away to plasma castle and everything goes speeding downhill on a sled going over ice.
n's naturally Too Nice, so ghetsis is able to convince him that every human is pokemon-abusing scum by only letting n see pokemon that have been mistreated and isolating him from people other than ghetsis himself and n's foster sisters, anthea and concordia. he makes n think only he can change the world by joining with one of the twin dragons, becoming champion to prove his strength to the region, and from there he can force all people to separate from pokemon.
presumably the first time n's been let out of plasma castle is at 20 years old when bw takes place which on its own is just. insanely horrific. he's genuinely surprised that all the people he meets over the course of the game treat their pokemon well and their pokemon love them in return. unfortunately for n he is STUBBORN. up until the bitter end he keeps holding onto the belief that humans and pokemon should be separated despite all the evidence contrary to that because thats all he's known all his life. was he supposed to just throw away all he's been working towards for 15 years? drives me insane how deeply entrenched n was in his mindset that even when he had suspicions, he couldn't let himself waver from the path he chose. he literally runs away and disappears for TWO YEARS after you defeat him because he's so lost.
yknow how kieran tries to be the hero of ogerpon's story and gets furious when sv protag takes that away from him? thats kinda how n is, he thinks he's supposed to be the hero of unova but after clashing with you he realizes he is Not. "Is the world going to choose you, and not me?!" <- line that has driven me nuts for over a decade. n is literally designed like a classic mainline game protag: compatitively simple casual outfit (with the bright green hair to set him apart though), does the gym challenge and becomes champion, catches a box legendary, is fighting against a threat in order to save the region. the only difference being that threat was a lie, n was being used so ghetsis could take over the region.
speaking of ghetsis's atrocities. there's his infamous "freak without a human heart" line. there's the fact his final team is designed to counter and sweep n's final team, either he was planning for n to end up betraying him or just outright disposing of n no matter what he did once he outlived his usefulness. there's the fact he probably didn't even take much care of n and dumped the responsibility on anthea and concordia who probably aren't much older than n. there's the fact that in usum's rainbow rocket storyline, that timeline's ghetsis has one of the twin dragons, which i've seen interpretations of being that he's trapped n and taken the dragon or straight up Killed n because the dragon is supposed to choose its partner. fucked up stuff!
and throughout it all n still has some attachment to ghetsis! "It's hard to call you this, but… Father! Please understand."
ghetsis may have done All That but he's still almost all n had for so many years. n is also again, Too Nice, he still wants to see the best in ghetsis. pokemon masters had a storyline where ghetsis seems to be trying to make up and n makes the choice to trust him. ghetsis betrays them all of course but the fact n still chose to believe in him again is so. augh
enough about The Tragedy of N Harmonia though, he does turn his life around and seems so much happier in bw2. compare his first game encounter theme to his second. the first is creepy, stops jarringly, is literally named Prisoner to a Formula. his second reminds me of carnival music and i love it so so so much. also, i've had weird issues in the past where putting images under a readmore screws up the entire post's formatting and i dont want to retype THIS ENTIRE RANT but. in bw2 his battle sprite has a bigger smile than in bw1. he regained his whimsy :)
misc thing. he canonically talks so fast some people can't understand him. this is reflected in the game by his text printing faster than everyone else's, and if you set your text speed to Fast he talks at a unique EVEN FASTER speed which i think is really funny. they just Really wanted him to talk super fast they even bothered to make him his own text speed
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The Resignation Letter
Pairing: Nesta x Eris
Word Count: 4.3k
Warnings: SMUT (but only at the end so like, you’re safe for the first half)
Summary: When Nesta finally has enough of her horrific boss, she hands in her resignation letter.  But Eris Vanserra isn’t going to accept it so easily.
I’m late because of some spontaneous inspiration, but here’s my submission for @nerisweek Day 5 🔥 many many many thanks to @tired-potter for reading this and saying “write the smut”
* * * * *
Eris didn’t make a habit of lying. Twisting the truth? Yes. Omitting pertinent details? Of course. But outright falsehoods always felt a bit…crass to him. He was above such simple behavior, too skilled to resort to basic evasions.
Yet every single day, he lied to himself by saying he hired Nesta Archeron for her outstanding resume.
“Sir? Mr. Vanserra, are you still there?” The voice on the line eventually snared Eris’ attention, dragging him away from the woman just outside his office.
“Forward any relevant information to my secretary,” Eris drawled, before dropping the phone back into its cradle. Then he settled in to wait, eyes focused on the frosted glass doors.
Not even five minutes later, a knock sounded. Wiping the smugness from his expression, Eris settled behind his desktop. “Enter.” He pulled up the notes from the latest board meeting, though he had no intention of reading them.
The door swung open so fast, he half expected it to shatter on impact with the wall. Nesta Archeron strutted into his office like a gale-force wind, heels clicking on the polished wood as she swept inside. The door swung shut behind her, just in time for the scathing remark she fired his way, “You had Weston forward me the lunch menu?”
Eris lifted a brow, focusing his attention on her. Blue-gray eyes flashed silver in a showstopping face, full lips pursed in irritation. Her glare alone had Eris hardening in his pants, but the slim fitted skirt did wonders for her flared hips. The real treat was the heaving breasts straining at her blouse. Eris had far too many fantasies about those breasts, not that he let her know it.
His disdainful expression must have worked, because Nesta straightened, chin lifting into the air as she mastered her expression. Wrath softened into begrudging obedience as she added the required address. “Sir.”
Eris fought back a smirk, tapping on his keyboard casually. “He was nattering on about the upcoming fundraiser, and you know how I feel about insignificant details.”
“I hardly think a million-dollar fundraiser is insignificant.”
“Two million, but besides the point. I can’t be bothered with deciding on meal options. You’re my secretary, isn’t that your job? Handling messes I don’t care for?”
He watched her jaw clench, biting back some retort or another. Likely, Nesta thought he would fire her for the offense. It was fortunate that she couldn’t see the length straining at his fly. “Yes, sir,” she finally said.
“So there isn’t a problem, is there?” Eris waited with bated breath, wondering if Nesta would snap at last.
“No, sir.”
He fought a frown. Perhaps he hadn’t pushed her hard enough. Yet. “Is there a reason you’re still in my office, Miss Archeron?”
Nesta straightened impossibly further, turning on one heel with the precision of a ballerina. Which—considering his rigorous background checks of all new employees—he knew she once was. The fact only fueled his fantasies, wondering what flexibility she might retain from her earlier years in dance.
“Close the door behind you,” Eris called after her, tearing his gaze away from her perfectly rounded ass. He did have some work to get done, and his secretary served as wonderful motivation.
“Sir,” Nesta ground out, slamming the door behind her with enough force to make Eris smile.
* * * * *
Nesta forced herself to click on the next email gently. She’d already broken two keyboards and three computer mice in her first year working for the Autumn Corporation. She was lucky that Eris didn’t know, though considering the smug expression on his face every day, she wouldn’t be surprised if he did and was waiting for the right moment to remind her.
Her face twitched as she read the contents of the message. All day, she’d been getting bullshit messages from everyone in the building, from the financial management office to the janitor. No doubt Eris’ doing. He must have decided her snappy comments warranted this…punishment. Fielding calls about the upcoming weekend event, the office supply levels, the building’s cleaning procedure, and so much more. If she got another stupid email, Nesta swore she’d finally print out her resignation letter and nail it to his desk. Or perhaps staple it directly to Eris’ chest.
Ding.
Nesta practically vibrated as she clicked the notification, bringing up an email chain from HR regarding staffing issues that had devolved into slander and gossip long before reaching her inbox. Nesta nearly toppled her chair in her haste to reach the printer, heels boring into the carpet as she waited for her letter to print. Fucking finally. She’d be done with this. Done with him. She didn’t care about a backup plan, she couldn’t stay in this office for another minute.
She didn’t even bother to knock when she barged into Eris’ office. His expression was calm, even as she stormed up to the desk, pinning her letter to its surface. “I quit,” she hissed.
His eyes flashed like amber flames. “Sit,” he said, gesturing to the chairs in front of his desk.
“No thank you,” Nesta sneered, turning on one heel.
“I insist.”
Nesta stopped, one hand on the door, and looked back at him with no small amount of disbelief. “And I don’t care,” she said. “Everything you need to know is in my resignation letter, which you can either read at your leisure or have a new secretary read to you, whenever you manage to hire someone.”
Eris pushed back from his desk, rising to his considerable height. Those long legs ate up the distance between them before Nesta could do much more than open the door. His hand wrapped around the handle, mere millimeters above her own. “Nesta,” he said lowly, dipping his head to look her in the eye. “I insist.”
She blinked. She couldn’t help it. All the Vanserras were terribly attractive, to Nesta’s dismay. And even though Eris was her boss, and a horrible person to boot, she wasn’t blind. His tailored suits fit him like a glove, the faint whiff of elegant cologne only adding to his expensive allure. But even if he’d been wearing garbage bags, Eris would be gorgeous. His face could make angels weep. High cheekbones, smoldering eyes, and luscious lips, all framed by fiery hair that belonged in a shampoo advertisement. And if Nesta managed to tear her gaze away, she’d only be ensnared by his broad shoulders and firm ass. She’d daydreamed of touching him too many times to count.
While Nesta fought to regain her breath, Eris pulled the door from her lax fingers, letting it fall closed again. “Come,” he murmured, extending an arm to direct her back to the desk. He didn’t touch her, but she swore she could feel the heat of his hand hovering above her lower back. She sucked in air, all but jumping away from him in her haste to sit.
Eris settled into the chair beside hers, rather than going back behind the desk. “Are you unhappy here, Nesta?”
She nearly jumped, still surprised to hear her first name. For the entire year she’d been working, Eris had never referred to her as Nesta. “Yes,” she bit out, wanting the whole ordeal to be over so she could leave. She didn’t want to lust over her boss any longer than necessary, yet here they were, alone in his office after most of the building had left for the night.
“Can you give me any feedback as to what made your experience a negative one?”
Her nostrils flared, rage overtaking her nerves. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I can,” Nesta said. “Your vengeful assignments, harsh criticisms, careless requests for overtime, and so much more. You are, without a doubt, the least hospitable boss I have ever worked for.”
Eris’ mouth twitched up. Was he smiling? “I sincerely apologize for my behavior,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “Perhaps I should have set better ground rules at the start of your employment. Do you believe incentives would have improved your experience working here?”
Nesta scoffed, shaking her head. “I can’t believe this. Incentives? Like what, a pat on the head? You’ve never even managed a compliment in the entire time I’ve been here.”
“So praise would have been helpful, then?” Eris hummed, tapping his fingers on the desk. “Very good, Nesta. Thank you for the feedback.”
Despite her fury, the words settled in her gut. Very good. When was the last time she’d heard anything like that? And for it to be happening in Eris’ office, during a resignation discussion? Nesta gritted her teeth. “This isn’t funny,” she snapped.
“I’m not joking,” Eris said, brows raised. “I take feedback very seriously. Would any other incentives have helped you?”
Nesta stared at him, utterly lost for words. Was this some kind of dream? A polite Eris Vanserra asking for constructive criticism?
“Perhaps some extra attention from me would have enhanced your time at the company,” Eris said, tilting his head. “Do you agree? Would it have helped to have one-on-one time to go over your assignments?” His amber stare pinned her in place, burning with an intensity she usually associated with annoyance. But Eris seemed anything but annoyed.
She looked away, unable to hold his stare. “I doubt it.”
“Would punishments have been better?”
Nesta sucked in a breath, eyes flying back to him. “Excuse me?” Her voice was an octave higher than usual.
“I think you would have liked that, Nesta,” Eris said with a smirk. “A little praise, a little punishment. Nothing as vanilla as we’ve done thus far, hmm?”
All of the little innuendos started to add up, and Nesta watched, shocked, as Eris blatantly examined her from head to toe. His gaze lingered on her chest, her hips, her mouth. Nesta scrambled up and out of her chair, legs a bit wobbly. She ignored the pleasant tingle racing over her skin, forcing her expression to turn icy. “I’m leaving,” she stated.
“I’m leaving, sir,” Eris corrected. The harsh tone made her freeze halfway across the office. Nesta loathed the warmth blooming in her belly. “I don’t believe I gave you permission to leave.”
“I don’t need permission,” she gritted out, making her feet move once more. “I quit, remember?”
“Very well, I’ll accept your letter of resignation. But you have to look me in the eyes and tell me the truth,” Eris drawled.
Her fingers brushed the door handle, but that damned heat made her hesitate. What was wrong with her? Nesta couldn’t stand the man, but still she found herself turning to face him. One last retort and she’d be gone, she promised. “What truth?”
Eris lounged in the chair, legs spread wide. His smirk grew when he saw her hesitation. “Tell me you don’t want my cock,” he said.
Nesta’s lungs froze, her lips parting in shock. And Eris began to laugh, as though he could sense the wetness between her thighs, the thoughts that had been circling her brain for months.
“Go on. Tell me.”
She tried. Damn her but she tried. “I don’t want you.”
“You can do better than that, love.”
Nesta bared her teeth. “I don’t want you,” she snarled.
“Better, but I still hear the lie.”
Growling softly, Nesta stalked over to him, stabbing a finger into his chest. “I. Don’t. Want. You,” she ground out, punctuating each word with her nail.
Eris’ smirk only grew. He licked his lips, leaning forward. “Oh, but you do,” he whispered, running a finger up her forearm.
Nesta glared down at him, but her breathing stuttered again when she noticed the bulge in his trousers. “I don’t,” she said, but even to her ears, the words were weak.
“Prove it.” His finger disappeared, and Eris sprawled back in the seat. “Let’s see that pretty pussy. It better be bone dry.”
Her lip curled, seeking a worthy retort but finding none. She could either walk out, saving her dignity but losing the battle. Losing the war, really, since that’s what the last year had been. Or she could do what he said, be proven wrong, and likely receive the dicking down of a lifetime.
The sound of her zipper was almost too loud in the quiet office. Eris’ smirk faded into a look of predatory interest, his gaze unblinking as Nesta dropped her skirt to the floor. She rolled down her hose, drawing it out until Eris was shifting in his seat. Then Nesta was the one smirking, sliding her panties down and stepping out of them. She sat primly on the chair opposite Eris, victory heating her veins. She luxuriated in his stare, spreading her legs wide enough that she knew he could see every inch of her—dripping wet.
Eris actually growled, and Nesta widened even further, fingers playing with the hem of her button-down. “Am I a good liar?”
“Sir,” he corrected, eyes flashing.
She grinned. “Am I a good liar, sir?”
Eris loosed a long breath, running a hand through his hair, mussing the perfect strands. “I’m not sure. Are you a good liar, deserving a reward? Or are you a bad girl for lying to me?”
Nesta hesitated only a moment. But she had nothing left to lose. “I think I’ve been very, very good for a long time. I think I deserve a lot of rewards.”
* * * * *
Eris was kicking himself. Why the fuck had he waited so long? He should have thrown her on his desk ages ago. Nesta’s gleaming cunt practically sang his name, and he fought the animalistic urge to take her without preamble. But he refused to rush, refused to hurry the moment he’d been waiting for.
And as Nesta had pointed out, he did owe her a reward.
So he ignored his painfully stiff length in favor of kneeling on the floor before her. Eris ghosted his fingers up her leg, trailing along her calf. “What kind of reward does my good girl want?”
Nesta was so still, he wondered if she was still breathing. “What will you give me?”
“What you deserve,” he murmured, brushing his lips against the side of her knee. She twitched, sensitive. “I suppose you could come on my fingers,” Eris mused, sliding his hand up to her inner thigh. He watched her muscles tense at the touch, anticipating his next move.
“Yes,” Nesta said, though it sounded like a demand from her haughty lips.
“Yes, what?” To emphasize the point, Eris removed his hand from her, pulling away entirely.
Nesta huffed, rolling her eyes. “Yes, sir,” she said, mocking him. “Please make me come on your fingers, sir.”
She wouldn’t be laughing for long, Eris thought darkly. He skipped right over her thigh, plunging one finger into her without warning or preparation. Her slick channel parted around him easily, though Nesta gasped in surprise. He hummed, curling his finger up into her heat, his cock hardening further at the phantom touch of that glorious pussy. He could almost feel her around him, massaging his length. But not yet.
“Good girls ask nicely,” he growled, biting her thigh lightly. She jolted, tightening around his finger in response. Interesting. He pulled out of her, watching her hips lift a bit to chase his hand.
Nesta swallowed, looking down at him with hooded eyes. “Please,” she repeated, no hint of teasing in her tone. She bit down on her lip, watching as he pressed small kisses up her leg. He ran a teasing finger up her slit, but he avoided her nub. “Eris,” she snapped.
He traced wide circles around her clit, ignoring her mounting frustration. “Nicely,” he reminded her.
Eris nearly chuckled watching Nesta reign in her temper. “Please make me come, sir,” she said again, silver eyes piercing through him. “I’ll be a good girl.”
He smirked. “I bet you will,” he said, passing his thumb over her nub so gently, her hips arched off the chair, demanding more. Eris obliged, leaning in to press a kiss to her apex. Nesta moaned in response, making him grin against her. He gave her a long lick, stopping to taste her honeyed hole. His tongue dipped in briefly, enough to make Nesta arch off the chair, and then he sat back on his heels. “Take off your shirt,” he ordered.
Already needy, Nesta complied immediately, practically ripping the buttons in her haste. She was breathing hard, those bountiful breasts spilling over the cups of her lacy bra, heaving under his stare. Eris rewarded her with both tongue and fingers, delighting in the sounds spilling from her lips. Every twitch and shudder helped him learn, improve his technique. If he crooked his fingers inside her just so, he could make her scream. When he pulled her clit into the heat of his mouth, she writhed, practically sobbing at the attention. And when the stimulation became too much, pushing over the edge, Eris memorized the details of her pleasure. The expression as she came, the violent twitching of her thighs, the rhythmic spasms around his fingers.
But where those aftershocks began to slow, Eris sped up, working her harder, faster. He didn’t want to reward her, Eris wanted to ruin her.
She surfaced from her third orgasm with a choked gasp, legs clamped tight around his head. “Stop,” she said, voice hoarse. Eris heard the tears even before he looked up at her, still lapping at her sensitive folds. “Please, sir,” Nesta begged, her knuckles white where she gripped the chair.
Eris released her with a final kiss to her clit, and Nesta trembled in his grasp. Chuckling, he let her go at last, ignoring the pins and needles in his legs as he stood up. He was far more concerned with the aching length trapped in his slacks. “Good girl,” he praised, running a hand over himself for some small bit of relief. He was already leaking in his pants, anticipating what was to come. Nesta wasn’t leaving his office until he was satisfied, and he had plenty of fantasies to work through before they were done for the night.
Number one on his list was bending her over his desk, a punishment he’d longed for each and every time she’d come storming into his office. Soon he wouldn’t have to wonder how her dripping cunt would look wrapped around him.
“Get your ass on the desk. Now.”
* * * * *
Nesta’s legs wobbled, but she obeyed, practically stumbling out of the chair to lean against the solid wood furniture.
Then Eris was on her, hands at her waist, her hips, her back. Her bra disappeared, flung across the room somewhere while he devoured her. He licked into her mouth, utterly filthy, and she loved it. Loved the taste of him, spicy and hot. Loved the firm press of his lips against hers, the slide of his tongue, the desperate fingers tracing her curves. Her own hands pressed against him, feeling blocks of muscle beneath his tailored clothes.
Eris pulled away from her mouth, but only for a moment. Her pussy clenched when he swept an arm over the desk, sending piles of organized paperwork to the floor. His carelessness, driven by the same fierce need she felt, was the proof she’d been longing for.
Then he was at her breast, licking, sucking, pulling moan after moan from her throat. His fingers worked at her core, building a fast and furious need within her. “Eris,” she chanted his name, over and over, until he was panting against her. Nesta’s skin pebbled, her nipples hardening under his ministrations.
“You’ve been waiting for this, haven’t you,” Eris murmured, seemingly unable to pry his lips from her body. “You’ve wanted me to take you for months.”
“God, yes,” she groaned, feeling his fingers biting into her hips, pulling her tight against him. She ground upwards, feeling the long length straining at his fly. “Every time you called me in here, I wanted to end it.”
“End it,” Eris repeated, smiling against her breastbone. He pressed kisses in a line up her chest. His hips rolled against hers, forcing her clit to accept the friction of his slacks. Nesta’s eyes rolled back, knowing she was making a mess of those sleek gray trousers. He wouldn’t be able to walk out of his office without everyone knowing. “End what?”
“Your stupid leering stare, your rude comments,” she panted. “I wanted to sit on your face to shut you up sometimes.”
“Perhaps you will,” Eris said, voice a dark promise. “But right now it’s my turn, my fantasy. And I plan on fucking you utterly stupid.”
The tinny sound of his zipper met her ears over the pounding of her pulse. She could barely think straight as she watched Eris pull himself out, every rigid inch of him. God, he was big. And unfairly pretty. Nesta bit down on her lip, unable to look away as Eris stroked himself, once, twice. Then his other hand pressed her down onto the desk, pinning her to the surface roughly.
“Beg,” Eris growled, running the head of his cock through her slick lips. He nudged her clit, rubbing over it on every pass, until she was clawing at the desk with numb fingertips.
“Fill me up, sir,” Nesta said darkly. Eris’ eyes flashed, and then he slammed into her, the force of his thrust sliding her up the desk. She groaned, luxuriating in the stretch of her walls, the throbbing length taking up every inch of space within her. “More,” she demanded, arching her back to thrust her breasts in the air. His gaze latched onto them, as expected.
“Be careful what you ask for,” was his only warning. Then Eris was pounding into her with long, strong thrusts. She gasped, reaching over her head to grip the edges of the desk. Eris gripped her hips firmly, pulling her back to meet every snap of his hips. He plundered depths she didn’t know existed, thumbing at her clit with each stroke. Nesta reached the precipice before she realized, coming around him so suddenly, she whined in surprise. Then one hand was wrapping around her throat, cutting off her air and abruptly ending the sound. “Again,” Eris ordered, teeth bared in feral pleasure. Nesta could do nothing but comply, shuddering in his hold as her pussy tightened around him.
Eris released her throat when she came, letting her suck down heaving breaths. Then he pulled out of her, leaving her gaping in his absence. “Eris,” she started, but he didn’t let her finish.
His fingers bit into her hips, moving her efficiently until she was bent over the desk, breasts pressed into the smooth surface. She panted, looking over her shoulder at him. The sight of Eris fully clothed while she was wholly naked before him had Nesta flushing all over. Anyone could walk in—she hadn’t locked the door. And all they’d see was Nesta, spread across Eris’ desk like a sultry feast.
Eris’ cock gleamed in the lamplight, coated with her juices. His lap was smeared with it, from where she’d pressed herself against him. But Eris didn’t seem to care, his dark gaze fixed on her. “You look so beautiful, laid out like this for me,” he said. He ran a hand over her ass, fingers skimming over her and up her back. “Ready for me to take, to use however I want. Do you like being my pretty cocksleeve, Nesta?”
“Yes, sir,” she said, shivering with anticipation. Eris held her down, keeping her upper body pinned to the wood. She could barely wiggle in the position, but Nesta found she didn’t mind, because then Eris was bucking his hips to impale her on his length once more.
Bent over the desk with Eris pumping into her from behind, Nesta moaned helplessly, lost in the sensation of her boss repeatedly filling her up. He somehow reached even deeper like this, hips pumping furiously. Each thrust resulted in a wet slap, the sounds speeding up as his thrusts turned sloppy, even rougher as he neared completion. “You take me so well,” Eris growled. “No one’s pussy is as good as yours. You were made for this, Nesta. Made to take my cock.”
With the way he stretched her so perfectly, Nesta couldn’t think of a single argument. “Please, sir,” she begged, moaning at a particularly deep thrust. He was hitting all the right spots to make her see stars.
“Please what? Does my good girl want to come again?”
“Yes, sir,” she practically sobbed, breasts rubbing hard onto the desk.
Eris slowed his thrusts, taking the time to grind against her when he was at his deepest. “Do you want me to fill you up? Should I make a mess of you?”
Nesta nodded, beyond words as he rolled his hips against her ass. “Please,” she managed.
He groaned, long and low, picking up the pace again. His cock dragged along her walls, running over the same spot over and over until she was sobbing on the desk. “My good girl,” Eris grunted. “You’re going to feel me for days.” Then his hips stuttered, and Eris banded an arm around her chest, hauling her up against him. Eris groaned, pressing fevered kisses to her neck, one hand finding her breast as the other found her core with unerring accuracy.
Nesta moaned at the first hot spurt within her, Eris’ fingers sending her over the edge one last time. She clenched around his twitching length, milking him for everything he was worth. The cresting pleasure overwhelmed every thought until she was gasping, hair sticking to her forehead as Eris softened inside her.
He pressed his lips to her temple in a surprisingly gentle kiss. “Good girl,” he repeated, holding her close. “Do you like your reward?”
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stuff-diary · 1 year
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The Bear (Season 1)
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TV Shows/Dramas watched in 2023
The Bear (Season 1, 2022, USA)
Creator: Christopher Storer
Directors: Christopher Storer & Joanna Calo
Mini-review:
What an impressive first season. The writing is brilliant, the directing is fiery and the acting is showstopping. It gets better with every episode and the last two are outright masterpieces. Episode 7 in particular blew me away with that 18-minute single-take scene, which was just exhilarating. Also, as someone who watched Shameless for a long time, I already knew how incredible Jeremy Allen White was, but he once again managed to impress me here. And the rest of the cast is fire too, all the characters feel so real and natural. Tbh, this first season has a fairly closed ending that doesn't really require a continuation, but I'm very glad there's more coming. I'm looking forward to seeing what the writers come up with.
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jewfrogs · 7 months
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thoughts on ghe daughters of the crown GO 🎤
INCREDIBLE showstopping stupendous never been done before etc. G-D. i Just finished the finale so i’m still chewing on this one before i can swallow but. Man. 
cinderella and snow white are specifically the most characters ever to me. not to crib what brennan said in the they might be giants AP but the way that they’ve lived these lives over and over again without learning about the authors, without knowing that there was anything more to the world…i would want everything to end too. i liked the contrast of their cynicism and nihilism against the party’s naïveté; i’m also a sucker for naïveté as not inherently negative, that the party were able to save the neverafter because they could hope for and create a world that the princesses were too beaten down to imagine, and that the princesses are part of that world…yeah. Yeah.
idk i understand why the players were against them/their aims and i think a version of the campaign where they weren’t would’ve been unequivocally worse (d20 does haunting and harrowing and sad so well but outright bleak wouldn’t work as an end tone to me) but their ethical dilemma is so compelling. because theirs is the solution that would end their suffering! properly and permanently! after an unfathomable eternity of suffering! and i expected an epilogue and didn’t mind what went on there, but there’s also a grimness in the happy ending, because it’s not solving everything forever, and even if they can write their own stories, they’re still in their stories, inescapably. and the authors are there, always.
(but that’s the only ending that i think would’ve worked and felt satisfying for me, because the fairy tales erasing themselves might be metal, but i loved loved loved the theme of the perseverance of these stories—maybe my favorite line in the season is baba yaga saying that the authors are powerful but she’s watched many of them die—and i love the thought of this cyclicality lurking at the ending. that the sun is out on this morning but night’s not gone.)
also again i must say cinderella is one of the coolest characters in the world. her glass armor! g-d. she is everything.
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ncssian · 3 years
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A Favor: Part Ten
Nessian Modern AU
Masterlist
warnings: NSFW (!!), light abuse mention
this chapter is dedicated to the amazing showstopping talented @duskandstarlight for reviewing my writing and helping me successfully edit the sexy times!! she's so cool yall ❤️
***
The first thing she notices when she steps inside is the sound of crackling, followed by a warm glow from the living area. The lights are all off, but the fireplace is ablaze.
Nesta’s brows furrow, confused, but then she sees on the couch— “Cassian?”
Cassian’s eyes widen at the sight of her, and he stands quickly from the couch. “Nesta.” He’s breathless. Like he ran a great distance to get here.
Nesta is worried that she had one Jello shot too many. That maybe she’s still in Eris’s car, dozed off and dreaming. She can’t remember falling asleep, though.
“What are you doing here?” she whispers. If she’s too loud, he might disappear.
“I came back.” His hands flex at his sides, and Nesta wishes for the millionth time that she was better at reading emotions, because she’d give anything to understand what’s going across his face right now.
“You’re supposed to be in Velaris for the weekend,” she says dumbly.
“Fuck the weekend. I couldn’t even make it through dinner.” Are his eyes red?
Nesta’s mouth opens and closes, and she turns toward the burning fireplace. Weirdly enough, she’s grateful for the lack of lights. She can’t see the depth of Cassian’s expression under the firelight alone, and he can’t see hers.
“Why?” is all she can say.
“I…” He scrubs a hand through his hair and blows out a harsh breath. “Shit, we promised we would take things slow just a few days ago.” He laughs derisively. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”
Nesta’s head swivels to Cassian, eyes focused on him in that intense way of hers. “Tell me. I want to know what you were thinking.”
He drops his head, staring at his shoes. “I missed you,” he says lowly. “Even though I knew you were doing perfectly fine without me, I drove all the way back here like an idiot because I wanted to see you.”
Nesta’s throat tightens the longer she stares at Cassian; it’s getting hard to breathe.
Cassian clears his throat in the silence, attempting to sound lighthearted. “So, that’s how I’m doing. What about you?”
“I had fun,” Nesta says, somewhat quiet.
“I saw.” He tries to smile. “You looked so happy in that picture. It made me happy.”
He’s telling the truth and lying at the same time, Nesta can tell. “I felt weird tonight, too,” she admits, swallowing. “Happy, but… lacking."
Cassian looks up at that.
“I’m really glad you came back,” she whispers. “I missed you too.”
“Nesta,” he breathes.
She takes a step closer to him. “I didn’t want to be clingy. Tell me if I’m being clingy.”
He shakes his head quickly.
“I don’t think you should leave me alone again,” she says into the dim glow of the room. "Not for a while, at least."
"I'm thinking the same thing."
He's right in front of her now, just inches away. She swallows; when did he get so close?
"If you want me to stop, I need to know now," Cassian says, voice low. His hands hover in the air between them, like he has to physically restrain himself from reaching out and touching her. "Because in a minute I won't remember why we agreed to take this slow."
All the air leaves Nesta's lungs in a straight whoosh. "I already forgot."
This kiss happens faster than the last one, but is somehow still slow— Nesta doesn't know which one of them moves first. All she knows is that one moment she's a lone figure, and the next she's joined with Cassian, his arms being the only thing still holding her upright.
He wasn't lying when he said he missed her, she finds out quickly. He kisses her with a drawn-out desperation that makes her head spin, using the distraction to ease her out of her coat and drop it to the floor. He pulls back for a sharp breath, only to take a look at her. "I can't believe I missed seeing you in a dress."
"I have more, we can look at them later," Nesta assures, her hands already reaching to tear the dress up and off of her. Cassian's hands catch hers at the last moment. "Easy, baby." He laces his fingers through hers. "I'm not going anywhere."
He pulls her in for another kiss before she can even process how much she likes the word baby. She latches onto his promise the way she latches onto his lips, like the string of a balloon about to fly away from her. He's not going anywhere. Not even to the next room.
The next minutes are the gentlest battle of wills Nesta has ever fought: every time she tries to speed things up, Cassian grounds her with his hands and mouth and towering form. When she becomes too impatient and reaches for the button of Cassian's jeans between kisses, he sweeps her right into his arms, forcing her legs to wrap around his waist and her arms to cling to his neck. His own hands slip right under her skirt, straight to her ass and squeezing.
The new angle presses her center firmly against his hard length, and she greedily accepts the simple pleasure he grants her with a choked gasp. "Can we please—"
"Don't rush this," Cassian murmurs into the underside of her jaw, walking them to the stairs. He stops to press her into the banister, rubbing his hips lazily into Nesta's. "I've waited a long time for you. Now it's your turn to wait." He bites down on a soft spot of skin.
This is real, Nesta finally realizes. This melting heat turning her limbs into jelly— it's not her mind wandering off to involuntary thoughts about Cassian's dick. The kind of thoughts that have her pinching her wrist hard enough to hurt. No, this is infinitely better than any three a.m. fantasy she's had so far.
He's carrying them upstairs now, but Nesta barely notices with how she's clasping his face, demanding all of his attention with her hungry kisses. It's a wonder they both don't topple down the steps with how starved she is for him.
How long has this need been building up in her? She doesn't want to know, even as the ache between her legs intensifies and she's eased onto a mattress. Blinking, she notices they're in Cassian's room. She hasn't been here since that night she was sick, and even then she didn't get a good look at the place through her haze of pain.
It's decorated with art and personal photos, big enough to carry a fireplace and a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows. Her own room isn't half as nice. "You've been holding back from me," she accuses.
Cassian looks up from where he's kneeling between Nesta's legs at the foot of the bed, realizing that she's talking about the room. "Why?" he smirks. "You looking to move in?"
As if she can even consider such a thing right now when she's seconds away from combusting.
Like he knows exactly how she feels, Cassian pushes the hem of her black dress up until it bunches around her waist, leaving her painfully exposed. His eyes glaze over at the sight of her plain gray panties, narrowing on the darker damp spot over her slit. A predatory look crosses his face, one that makes goosebumps pebble along her thighs. He tugs her even closer.
"Cassian..."
It's too late for whatever Nesta is about to say, because Cassian isn't listening anymore. Leaning forward, he noses at her clothed crotch, placing a slow kiss on the wet fabric of her underwear before dragging it off entirely and tossing it aside.
Nesta gasps and squirms when he pulls her legs firmly over his shoulders. "Um," she tries to say, "I don't really have a great history of getting off to oral—"
She's interrupted by a long lick up her center, from the wetness pooling at her entrance to the tip of her clit. Her hips jerk involuntarily, and then Cassian is outright feasting on her, all his words of patience suddenly as meaningless as a snapped leash.
Nesta's head falls back against the mattress with both overwhelming pleasure and unexpected surprise. Getting eaten out has never done much for her in the past— most of the time she just ended up wet and frustrated, and not at all in a good way. She believed coming on someone's tongue was an activity best reserved for her romance novel heroines, never herself.
So when her legs start trembling around Cassian's head after not even a minute of calculated licking and openmouthed kissing—
"Oh— ah," Nesta stammers, hands fisted desperately in the bedsheets since she doesn't know where else to put them. The only thing stopping her from rubbing herself all over Cassian's face are his broad hands, pinning her firmly in place while he gives her what he wants.
His deep groan rumbles through her heated core, right down to her bloodstream. "There's no fucking way," he says against her folds, shaking his head. "Your fucking taste—"
At the same time his hands find hers, interlacing their fingers together, his lips wrap around her swollen clit, sucking hard.
A breathy whimper tears out of Nesta's throat as she's thrown into release, every last nerve in her body shot through with electric pleasure. Cassian keeps licking and toying at her folds, until she can feel the overstimulation all the way down to the arches of her feet. It's only then that she tries to squirm away, feeling too much at once.
Cassian relents, wiping his mouth with the back of a hand, but the dark glint in his eyes says he has a new objective. "Aren't you glad you waited?" he rasps as he stands.
In Nesta's haze, she feels a tug of fabric, and then her dress is being pulled over her head. She can't remember if the bra she's wearing is a particularly sexy one, but before she can lift her head to check, it's being flung to the other side of the room to join the rest of her clothes. She doesn't even shiver, but sits up so she can grab at Cassian, any part of him—
He tries to catch her wrists before she can tear his clothes off, but Nesta isn't having any more of his waiting. Her hands dive under the hem of his sweater, his bare skin burning hot to the touch with arousal, and then he's shirtless. Her eyes rapidly skim over his scattered tattoos, not sure which one she wants to take in first as she fumbles with his pants.
"I'm going to learn all of you by the end of the night," she threatens, her focus catching on a pattern of thick black lines inked onto his ribs.
Cassian huffs a laugh at that, but the sound turns strangled when Nesta slips her hand into his jeans, palming him through his boxer briefs. He's— larger than she expected, but whatever apprehension she has quickly turns into nailbiting anticipation. This is real, she thinks for the hundredth time that night.
"You're one to talk," Cassian breathes as he lets Nesta rub and squeeze at him. He catches her slim wrist in his large hand, pulling it away from his cock despite her whine of disappointment. "I've been wanting to learn about you from day one."
His eyes narrow on a spot beneath her left tit, and he reaches out to brush the small mole there. "How many more of these do you have hidden?"
"You'll have to find them."
Cassian's gaze darkens, and Nesta can nearly feel time slowing down around them as he regains control of the pace, the tempo. Leaning forward with predatory intent, he crowds her until her back is once again pressed into the mattress. She shudders with expectation, her legs unconsciously parting wider around him. He bends his head until his breath fans over that mole, his lips about to brush it—
At the last moment, he pulls away, standing off the bed to strip the rest of his clothes off. Nesta scrambles onto her elbows, stretching her neck to get a look at his erect cock as it springs out, a furious shade of red.
She swallows roughly at the sight.
Cassian doesn't bother hiding his satisfaction at the look on her face. "Maybe it's for the best that I didn't know how much you wanted me earlier. I don't think my ego could have handled it."
"I..." Nothing comes to her mind for a witty comeback. She must look struck stupid, because Cassian chuckles, "Okay, my ego definitely can't handle it." He tugs at her legs so her elbows collapse beneath her.
Before they can do anything else, he seems to remember: "Condom."
Nesta shakes her head rapidly, unwilling— or unable— to give up even a second of the time between them. "I'm not on birth control for nothing."
Technically, she's on birth control to regulate her periods, but this is definitely an unexpected benefit.
Cassian's answering grin is both cocky and reverent before he moves. And as he crawls over her body, it strikes Nesta how far she's come to reach this place— this haven of warmth and safety. Because the last time she was in this position, she couldn't have imagined ever being able to feel like this. She never thought she could find or earn the adoration that shines in Cassian's eyes before he buries his face in her neck.
There's a kindness in his touch that takes her breath away.
"I think I fell asleep on the couch earlier," he whispers into the crook of her neck. "I think I'm dreaming right now, and I don't know how far I can take this without waking up."
Before Nesta can show him how decidedly awake they both are, her entire body freezes up as his roaming hands near the soft flesh of her sides. Muscle memory makes her abdomen clench in defense, and Cassian stills instantly, pulling away to look her in the eyes.
No, no, no! This is not the time for her body to overreact, not when she's so close to everything she's been wanting, needing for weeks. And still, her hands fly to grasp Cassian's wrists at her sides.
"Nesta?" His calloused fingers scrape against her skin, so different from Tomas's hands when they touched her. She shuts her eyes and takes a breath, trying to force herself back to that heartdropping state of arousal.
"Just—give me a moment," she promises. Her body is awake in anticipation, not of a good fucking but of being pinched and bruised blue.
"Nesta," Cassian says again, lower now. There's a hint of warning in his voice, but it's not directed at her.
She peeks open her eyes. Cassian looks deadly serious above her, and he peels his hands away from her sides to place them on the mattress instead. "What's wrong."
She clambers for something to say that won't completely kill the mood. "I'm ticklish?"
He isn't buying it, scanning her face intently for the truth instead.
It's not that Nesta doesn't want to tell him. It's that she doesn't want to tell him now, when she's already learned what an orgasm from Cassian feels like and she's been promised another one.
No way in hell will her ex-boyfriend get in the way of her first hookup since she left him. The unjustness of it ignites a frustration in her that burns away any lingering anxiety.
She places her hands on Cassian's, bringing them firmly back to her sides. Softly, she tilts her head up to peck his lips and whisper against his mouth, "You still have time to learn everything about me. I'll teach you myself. But right now..."
Her hand snakes down his hard abdomen, finding his thick length and squeezing. "I want to be fucked."
This truth, Cassian believes.
"I'll hold you to that promise," he warns before he dips his head, taking a pink nipple into his mouth and suckling hard. Nesta's damn eyes roll back at the perfection of this scene, this sensation that goes beyond physical pleasure, as he releases her nipple with a pop. "I'll learn everything." Not just her body, but her secrets, her soul, the way she breathes and feels and thinks.
What a terrifying vulnerability, yet her core tightens at the thought of it.
Cassian slips his hands beneath Nesta's thighs, supporting her as his cock finally, finally settles between her legs, pressing insistently against her slick entrance.
Nesta can't describe the sound she makes when he finally pushes into her, the luxurious stretch snapping an emotional cord in her. In Cassian, too, from the way he has to bow his head for a moment, his face pressed into her chest as they both catch their breaths.
After a long moment, he begins to move inside her at a steady pace that nearly makes her keen. Nesta can only let him grind her into the mattress, let him explore and play and touch while she writhes beneath him, head spinning so fast she's on the verge of blacking out. She couldn't have predicted such— closeness.
Clenching tight enough around his cock to make him swear, Nesta attaches her lips to the line of a compass tattoo on Cassian's bicep, shutting her eyes against the intensity of his gaze.
"Can't believe I don't have to pretend not to be obsessed with these anymore," Cassian rasps, palming a full breast. He rolls his thumb over her stiff nipple in fascination.
"As if you ever hid it," Nesta grits out, shuddering beneath him. She swallows down the obscene sounds rising up her throat. Not that it matters— her desperate panting seems to be doing more for Cassian than loud moans ever could. Raw tension laces his body as he pumps harder into her.
His thrusts hit so close to a spot she didn't know existed before now, awakening a greedy new ache—
"Lift your hips for me, baby." As if he can read her mind. Nesta arches her hips off the bed on instinct, allowing Cassian the angle to slide deeper than she thought possible, to grind against that sensitive patch of skin and fill her completely.
Holy shit. She doesn't know if she says the words aloud or not, because her face is pressed into the sweat-dampened pillow, eyes fluttering rapidly as she withstands this new immense pleasure.
Cassian's low moan tells her he knows how she feels. She's so close.
"Look at me, Nesta," he demands.
Nesta shakes her head fiercely into the pillowcase, unwilling to meet his gaze when she's strung up this tight. She might explode if she even breathes wrong.
"Open your eyes," he orders more urgently this time. His hand finds her face, forcing her to turn to him. She gasps at the next thrust, her eyes flying open to meet Cassian's dark hazel ones. The way he's looking at her—
He rubs a thumb down her cheek. "Beautiful."
She isn't prepared for the intensity of the release that barrels through her. She isn't aware of the sounds she makes as she clenches repeatedly around Cassian, hands scrabbling for a way out of this neverending rapture. It's too much, more than she can handle, and she can't—
Cassian clutches Nesta like a lifeline, his hips picking up speed. Through the last ebbs of her climax, Nesta winds her fingers through his hair, bringing him down for a final kiss. She holds him tight as he spills inside her, groaning desperately into her mouth.
Later, when dopamine floods her system and her muscles turn numb with relaxation, Nesta will think that there's a word for how she's feeling right now. She won't know what it is, though.
***
Cassian can't help but be proud of himself for keeping his cool. For not coming within five seconds of getting Nesta in his arms and around his cock, but also for not blurting anything embarrassingly vulnerable during their first time together. Or their second and third times.
Nesta isn't great with vulnerability, even now. But he's watching her try to grow comfortable with it as she traces one of his tattoos, her naked body propped half on top of his.
"I usually hate tattoos," she murmurs softly, almost to herself. "I cringe every time Feyre gets a new one. But these are nice."
Cassian glances down to where her finger points at the elaborate phoenix tattoo on his pectoral. "What do you like about them?" he asks. With Nesta, there's always a reason.
"I like their placement." She trails that finger down his chest with studious focus. "I like the dark lines; it reminds me of my coloring books." Her finger stops on a Celtic knot on the side of his ribs. "Overall, very aesthetically pleasing."
He chuckles. "Thank you for the stellar review."
She glances up at him then, those blue-gray eyes even more arresting now than the first time he saw them. He's never understood how they can be the same color as Feyre's yet so different.
"I still can't believe you walked out in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner to be here," she whispers. "What will your friends say?"
Cassian’s arm tightens around her. He's still not sure of the answer to that question. His phone blew up with so many texts and calls on the drive here that at one point he just turned it off, but he'll still have to come up with some believable excuse for his behavior.
He tries to find an answer to Nesta's question.
"I’ve known most of those guys for fifteen years," he finally says, "and I’ve only had you for a couple of months. I wanted more time with you." It's the best reasoning he can provide right now.
“Maybe I should feel bad.” He stares up at the ceiling. “But I just can’t.”
Nesta hums in thought. "You must really like me."
Cassian swallows. "Yeah. I do."
"You have for a long time, according to your words." She rests her chin on the crook of his shoulder and looks up at him. "How long? Since I first moved in?"
He thinks back to that fateful night, Nesta standing rainsoaked in his foyer with wary eyes. A turning point in his life, yes, but there was a night before that.
"Do you remember our first meeting?"
The overpriced restaurant that Feyre chose to introduce her blood family to her chosen family. The dim lighting that glanced off the silver pins in Nesta's hair, and her solemn stare as she inspected Cassian and his friends in her detached way.
Her eyes narrow, but she nods.
"I noticed you before I even noticed Feyre or Rhys," Cassian says. "You just... demanded attention. You never gave it, though. I spent all night being louder than usual, sneaking looks at you, but I couldn't even get a second glance in return."
Nesta's mouth tightens. "And what then?"
"The night ended. I forgot about you and moved on." She was like a shooting star: fascinating and beautiful for the brief moment she passed through his life, but quickly dismissed afterward. That initial impression of Nesta faded so much over the years that when Cassian finally reunited with her in his cabin, he was shocked by the magnitude of her existence all over again.
Nesta stays quiet, thinking. "You did get my attention," she finally says.
Cassian's brows raise, but she continues, "I thought you were too loud, too absorbed in your own friends to ever be worth having a conversation with. But I was just being snooty and... jealous." She looks down at the planes of his brown skin. "If I wasn't busy being comfortable in my role as social outcast, I would have thought you were kind. You looked like you wouldn't mind being my friend— that's why I noticed you. But you weren't my friend, and you couldn't be, and that's why I made myself look down on you."
Her eyes glitter when they dart back up to him, and her hand starts absentmindedly tracing another tattoo. "I do that sometimes," she murmurs. "Build a whole relationship in my head with someone I've just met, and then get mad when it isn't reality."
Cassian pulls a strand of hair back from her face. "That's called wanting to make friends, Nes. It's just that that part is usually followed by, you know, actually making friends."
She pouts adorably. "That's the part I suck at."
He can't help it. He leans forward and kisses the little beauty mark at the corner of Nesta's mouth, the mark that nearly received more attention than her lips tonight. Memories of the rest of the moles scattered along Nesta's body flood Cassian: her shoulder blade, her ribs, below her ass cheek, and that damn spot on her thigh he's been eyeing since week one. He's tasted every single one of them several times by now.
"You finally did it," he says against her mouth. "You got me as your friend and more, and now you have all those guys from school, too. You can get whatever the hell you want when you aren't holding yourself back."
She rolls her eyes, but evidence of a smile pulls at her lips. "Save the motivational speeches for my therapist."
Another thing Cassian is eternally proud of: Nesta finding a professional she's comfortable with and having her first session coming up soon.
"And what do you want?" she asks before his thoughts can trail off.
He blinks up at her. "Hm?"
She shifts on top of him to face him better. "We're always talking about my feelings and wants and needs. I don't think I've ever learned about what you want."
What does he want? He opens his mouth, but doesn't know how to answer. Shit, he's never had to answer that question. He's never been asked it.
"Take your time," Nesta assures him after a moment of silence. She's not being sarcastic.
He inhales the scent of her hair, thinking.
"You know," he finally says, "I'm always talking with my friends, and I always leave the conversation feeling like I didn't say a thing that was worth anything. Nothing serious, nothing weighty, nothing thoughtful. And it's not a bad thing, technically, but sometimes I just want to have a real conversation with them. Like the ones I have with you."
He doesn't know when he and Nesta started having those types of conversations. Maybe they fell seamlessly into it: she would ask him how to interpret different tones over text, and he would ask her about whatever legal concept or romance novel she was currently obsessed with. The topic didn't have to be serious, as long as their words were. It was the flawless exchange of intelligence, ideas, and opinions that he wasn't even aware he craved.
"What else do you want?" she says.
To not be relegated to comedic relief all the time. To be chosen first.
He boops her nose. "You've ruined me. I have everything I want now."
Nesta sneers down at him. "God, you're predictable." She's about to push off his chest when he pulls her back in, rolling them over so they're on their sides.
He tucks her head under his chin. "Nesta?"
"Hm."
"We're not gonna backpedal after this, right?"
She sighs into the crook of his neck. "No. We like each other. You're my boyfriend now." She says it like she's telling him the time or the weather.
Into her hair, Cassian starts to smile, any lingering doubts at once assuaged.
Some things you just know instantly, like how Cassian knew the minute he met Mor that they would be friends for life, or how he knew Feyre wouldn't have any trouble fitting into his family. Like how he knows now that he loves Nesta, even if he can't tell her just yet. He'll just have to keep pretending he only likes her.
***
a/n: the tattoo artist that designed the new acotar covers has some sick work so a lot of cassian's tattoos are based off their art (but smaller) :)
taglist: @ladywitchling @sjm-things @thewayshedreamed @drielecarla @sensitiveillyrian @superspiritfestival @aliveahaahahafuck @cupcakey00 @sayosdreams @rainbowcheetah512 @claralady @thebluemartini @nessiantho @missing-merlin @duskandstarlight @lucy617 @sleeping-and-books @everything-that-i-love @cassianscool @awesomelena555 @julemmaes @wickedqueenoffantasy @poisonous-bloom @observationanxioustheorist @gisellefigue08 @courtofjurdan @theoverlyenthusiasticwriter @wolfiixxx @cass-nes @seashade @royaltykxx @illyrianundercover @queenestarcheron @monstrousloves-explodinggalaxies @humanexile @that-golden-lyre @agentsofsheilds @mercy-is-alive @cassiansbigwingspan @laylaameer01 @verypaleninja @maastrash @bow-dawn
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flodaya · 3 years
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it would be interesting to know ur ranking on the best written seasons in the skamverse :) I always love when u post analysis/rankings
thank you so much, i think I’ve done a ranking like this before but my opinions are always changing so top 10 here we go
1. druck s5 - my only issue with this season is how josh and nora’s ending was very rushed, everything else is done to perfection. the cashqueens friendship in this season is my absolute favourite friendgroup dynamic and they’ve a managed to create some of the best characters in the skamverse
2. skam españa s2 - blasphemy to say this is better than the og but I just love what they’ve done to joana’s arc plus interconnecting the MI plot with cris’ insecurities about being seen as the fun party friend, showstopping beautiful (cris and kieu my really do have more in common than they might think)
3. skam s3 - not one of my personal top 3 favorites anymore but undeniably one of the best written seasons in the skamverse, pacing, plot, dialogue, all really really good, it is a cultural phenomenon for a reason
4. skam españa s3 - definitely not a favorite to rewatch because most of the season just extremely triggering but the writing is outstanding; the way miquel slowly becomes more possessive and the audience is often just as blinded as nora, amazingly done
5. skam s1 - eva mohn my bisexual daughter, one of those seasons that just makes me feel seen and understood and heard. the topic is so lowkey compared to so many other skamverse seasons but that’s also the reason why it hits so hard
6. druck s6 - this is my personal favourite, no one is surprised. much like eva’s season i feel like the season’s topics are so “normal” and taken from every day life, having a huge crush and struggling at school must be one of the most universal experiences ever represented in skam but adding the learning disability and lesbian representation makes this season so important (and also just extremely relatable to me personally as a lesbian with adhd), i just think the first 6 episodes are the best thing in existence (or at least in the skamverse)
7. skam españa s1 - this was the only remake Eva season i actually enjoyed, all the others felt too much of a copy or too underdeveloped, this one though 10/10. also the eskam girl squad is the only girl squad that was already working for me in s1, like they genuinely felt like friends right away
8. druck s3 - justifying why it’s down here: it is a really good season but as good as this season is I can’t forgive them for outright insensitive and bad choices they have made in episode 8-9, every skam season has made choices and has plothole but it’s a totally different thing to add scenes that are simply hurtful and damaging and then dragging it out over a week where we don’t even get much development; otherwise a really emotional season
9. druck s2 - morally grey protagonist can be so much fun and in this case i really enjoyed it, not a big fan of noora seasons usually so this isn’t really a favourite season but it’s a really well written one, though it does have the issue of trying to redeem Axel and it just doesn’t properly work tbh
10. honestly difficult to find a 10th well written season so I am going to give this one to eskam s4, druck s4, and skam s4, because if you took the best from each of these and added them together you would get one of the best skamverse seasons
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nerteragranadensis · 4 years
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assorted thoughts on my first Leverage rewatch since I binged the whole series in 2016 (spoilers for everything through s3e4 The Scheherazade Job):
it’s really cool to see just how much character relationship stuff is set up in the early seasons, before it gets stated more explicitly in s4/s5.
Hardison/Parker is a perfect example- Hardison flirts with Parker in "The Nigerian Job”, and there’s explicit romantic tension btwn them in “The Wedding Job”. That’s episode seven in the broadcast order, but if you watch in the DVD/intended order, that’s episode three. it’s amazing to see how early that relationship is set up and how slow the burn is, especially considering it’s an interracial ship- and it’s great to have the writers follow through with it by the end of the show.
another example is Parker becoming the mastermind- there’s a handful of episodes in s2 where she’s clearly shadowing Nate and observing his plans (The Order 23 Job, The Top Hat Job, The Lost Heir Job, and The Runway Job come to mind), and in The Inside Job Nate and Hardison straight-up say that Parker’s plans for breaking into the steranko building were as solid as anything Nate ever came up with. In season 3.
y’all were right, Parker grifting in The Iceman Job is incredibly hot
every episode is good, I love all of them, but the two-parter of The Three Strikes Job/The Maltese Falcon back-to-back blew my fucking socks off this time around
it’s so good. it’s so good. there are so many small things that I love. Eliot having to play baseball and actually getting really into it. (”They named a sandwich after me!”) The mob stuff, which is especially funny when every other episode of s2 involves some kind of mob activity (you’ve got the Armenian mob, the Russian mob, the Irish mob, the Chinese triads... seriously). Sophie coming back at the end, a twist that I completely forgot about, which made it that much better--seriously, I probably made the same face Nate did when she showed up.
Nate and Hardison pretending to be mob guys to interrogate the mayor... ngl, I thought it was a little bit hot
I love any kind of grift/subterfuge where the characters pretend to be People They Definitely Aren’t, so it was fun on that level too
and the ending of The Maltese Falcon Job... wow. I remember being impressed even the first time I saw it, because it’s an ending that ties seasons 1 & 2 together into one big arc not only for Nate but for the team. It’s incredibly dramatic (the double cross! the self sacrifice! the kiss! Nate gets shot!) but it’s not a cliffhanger, it gives us a real ending for these characters... they truly could’ve ended the show after season 2 and it would’ve been a complete, compelling story. Obviously I’m glad they didn’t! but just the fact that they could have... the writing on this show, I swear
If I didn’t already know that Sophie’s arc in s2 was written that way to shoot around Gina Bellman’s pregnancy, I would’ve never figured it out. Sophie’s arc in s2 is so good! It actually makes sense why she would want time off to explore and maybe find herself! and the rest of the team ends up growing from it, too! so many fun episodes of s2 hinge on Sophie, even if she’s not physically there. And again, the fact that she’s gone for most of the second half of s2 makes her return in the finale that much better.
Sophie cons her own team at the end of season one and Nate cons his own team at the end of season two. it’s parallelism
Moving on to season 3- The Reunion Job is so extra. I’m not even sure if it’s a good episode, but it sure as hell is fun
The last episode I saw was The Scheherazade Job, which I remember disliking the first time I saw it. I thought the hypnosis twist was dumb, came out of nowhere, and took agency away from Hardison. On review... I think I’ve softened to it. The episode points out that the hypnosis was kind of an asshole move; Nate outright tells Hardison that being the mastermind sometimes means manipulating your own team (and that’s something Hardison won’t do, because he’s a sweetheart <3). And the episode also notes that Hardison always had the skill to play that violin solo, just not the confidence. I still think the hypnosis thing is a little out there, but what holds the episode together for me is that final heist sequence. Organizing a heist set to a musical performance? Amazing. Brilliant. Showstopping. The opera scene from mission impossible: rogue nation wants what this episode has
and then Hardison gets up to play his solo and he plays it and it’s so beautiful that literally everyone stops to listen. Everyone is moved, including me. Parker starts crying. the team almost blows the entire con, just to hear Hardison play, and it’s worth it. It’s just... a breathtaking scene.
I... really like Nate. I love the whole team, obviously, and if you asked me to pick a favorite character I’d have a really hard time, but I do like Nate. I think he’s interesting and even relatable (in a few specific ways. Nate is also an asshole and I do not want to be like him). This is kind of unfortunate in light of the recent allegations against Timothy Hutton (tw for sexual assault if you follow that link). I’m still working through my feelings w/r/t Leverage since this news broke. obviously it hasn’t stopped me from rewatching the show, but... I don’t know. I still struggle w/ how to engage with media that I love when one or more of the people who created that media (and those characters) was a sexual predator. At the very least, I am glad that Hutton won’t be returning for the Leverage reboot.
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ingek73 · 4 years
Text
1/2
The Royal KAREN Has Come Out To Play
By Irene May 28, 2020
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Samir Hussein/Getty Images
The Royal KAREN Has Come Out To Play.
It’s silly season for Karens the world over. For some reason, they are everywhere. Not a day passes without some account of an entitled white woman exhibiting peak privilege, by making their own choices and then playing victim and acting a complete fool, when it doesn’t go to plan. When in full Karen mode, they are an outright danger to whoever is in their path.
They will cough or spit in your face with the hopes that you catch a virus that they may knowingly or unknowingly be carrying because, they say it’s their right to not wear a mask and you questioned it. They will call the police and put on a dramatic act to feign danger or a threat because, they expect that when the police show up, your life can literally be taken from you. They will make a huge song and dance about why your success is not worthy or deserved because, their own lives suck and they wish they were in your position.
As if we didn’t already have enough to deal with, a royal Karen said hold my coatdress. She called her royal media police, to do a number on a lady who is minding her own business, probably enjoying some avocado toast by the pool on a sunny California day. She did that because, she expects the “police” to take her side. I for one am tired of this constant scapegoating and am having no parts of this latest royal propaganda lynch mob.
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Kate Middleton feels exhausted
Kate Middleton blames Meghan
Catherine The Great cover
Karen is KEEN to be ‘KWEEEN’
She wants the moon. Once upon a time, a young lady grew up in an upper- middle class family. She was fortunate to be enrolled in private school, where it is reported that, in her teen years she had a poster of a certain young prince on her wall. Harmless teenage fantasy right? What young lady doesn’t have a poster of a guy she admired? After her A-levels, this lady reportedly got admission into her dream university(Edinburgh). Around that time, it was announced that the prince she likely admired was to attend St. Andrews University, after he has taken a gap year . For reasons that still remain unclear, the young lady made an about turn, and rejected her already confirmed place at her dream university. She decided to take a gap year and apply to St. Andrews University.
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Kate turned down dream college to chase William
Kate attends same college as William
It was described as a gamble, as St. Andrews had become very competitive once it was known that the young prince would be attending there. Also, the young lady wanted to be an art history major and Edinburgh’s art history program was said to be among the best in Britain.
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Kate's decistion to decline admission
Kate chases William
Whether by a stroke of luck or fate, the young lady got into St. Andrews University, where she went on to become friends with said prince. The subsequently embarked on an almost decade long courtship, including a short period of separation. She was bestowed a nickname on account of the perception that, she had waited for a long while and had yet to be rewarded with the much coveted royal engagement. Wasn’t that cold, considering that after Uni, she literally put her career on hold to be available to the prince at a moment’s notice? But all is well that end well. The waiting paid off. She and the prince became affianced and subsequently married. This put her squarely in the path to be future queen consort.
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Waity Katy
Tatler shades Middleton family
Riding on their wave of pre and post nuptial publicity, the lady and the prince settled into a quiet life in the countryside. The now duchess did not assume full time royal duties because, her prince was holding a ‘regular’ job and not a full-time working royal himself. Their stint in the countryside was dotted with a handful of royal engagements here and a few tours there. She even got a new nickname, Duchess Doolittle. She and her prince were described as ‘work shy’ and were under pressure to step up to the plate.
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workshy William
workshy Kate Middleton
workshy William and Kate
This was all BEFORE her brother-in-law, Prince Harry met and fell in love with his then girlfriend Meghan Markle. Karen was enjoying her cushy life, with all eyes on her. Then in rolls this strong, gorgeous, and accomplished woman on her brother-in-law’s arm. Their engagement and ensuing marriage captivates the attention of the world. Together, they are dynamite. The world and its media can’t get enough of them.
Karen is ANGRY
She wants the moon, with no stars in the sky. The newest Duchess was magnetic. She seemed to just naturally ease into her duties. She exuded warmth and had an easy and natural way with people , that endeared her to them. She took on her first foreign visit to Ireland like a duck to water. Wait, who is this girl and where is her learning curve? Its four months after she became a working royal and she already has a project ready to launch? Oh no, no, no! Karen is on a mission to save Britain’s kids at a yet to be decided date but, can we just tell everyone now? I’m working too you know.
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Kate's broken Britain
Meghan launches cookbook
It’s now the autumn of 2018 and the world is watching a dynamic royal couple take Oceania by storm on a packed two and a half week tour. Thick crowds, meaningful engagements, funny, heartfelt and memorable moments, captivating speeches, showstopping fashion. It’s all a bit much for Karen, and this time Kevin, and they have taken notice. Something must be done. “Kenablers” in the Kingdom concur. Before the couple could wrap their tour, the palace all of a sudden developed a curious plumbing issue. Drip, drip, drip… “ Meghan made Kate Cry”, “Meghan was rude to Kate’s staff”, “Meghan was rude to Windsor castle staff”, “ Meghan wanted air fresheners in the church”, “ Meghan is demanding”. Thus begun an orchestrated campaign to dim the stars. It came thick and fast.
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Meghan makes Kawte cry headline
smear article Meghan makes Kate cry
Kate attacks Meghan
Karen’s mother even tried throw some shade at Meghan in an interview saying, “royalty is not just about giving speeches”. Curiously though, Karen all of a sudden was delivering speeches at every turn. That is, provided she could flip the notecards quickly enough, to get to the next line. She even “designed” a garden and became a pro at climbing into tree houses and oscillating on rope swings. Every outfit change and accompanying smile became an engagement. There was even a groundbreaking log design. Whew! I tell you it’s the stuff of CEOs. Top notch executive stuff. Catapulting the British monarchy into modernity, one log at a time.
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Kate's garden flower show
Harry and Meghan flower Chelsea flower show
The palace even prevented CAMFED from using pictures they took with Prince Harry the previous year. Why? It would be a tragedy if the future queen’s garden is overshadowed by Meghan. Note that, Harry and Meghan had no involvement with the CAMFED garden, and Meghan does not appear in the images in question. But that was the PR line. Meghan, who was home nursing her baby and editing British Vogue, was somehow threatening to overshadow Kate’s garden.
Through all of this, Kate’s pregnant and now post-partum sister-in-law was being raked over the coals. Mostly for things she supposedly did to Kate, or for being the source of a feud, for doing everything wrong that Kate did right and for supposedly causing war and drought among other things. Kate, despite being a self-proclaimed champion of new mothers bit her tongue and never once offered a word of support to her sister-in-law. The Kingdom was silent too.
As the year drew to a close and the Sussexes took a break from the royal Christmas to spend time in Canada, it was time for the K-team to reclaim the spotlight. At least that’s what the propaganda machine told us. It turns out that the spotlight is not just bright and shiny, it reveals things and “pigeons” like to keep things under wraps.
As it turned out, The Sussexes had decided that their family’s well-being was paramount and said, here is where we draw the line. We are out. What? What do you mean? Are we going to have to do more work? I don’t know Karen, you have the stage. For the time being, the ‘Kenablers’ told us that Karen was relieved now that Meghan had left. She now feels more relaxed that she doesn’t have to be compared to Meghan. Sure.
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Kate's time to shine
Kate happy Meghan left
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duskadawn · 5 years
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My pre-show top 41
hello clowns! as an indecisive bottom, ranking all 41 entries of this year’s esc into a definitive top was a challenge but I think I’m finally decided on my ranking! read below the cut for clown certified bad takes
the stan list:
1. Greece / Katerine Duska - Better Love
yall already been knew but its Athens 2020 babey! her voice...the lyrics...the chorus....the visuals...the production.........talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, showstopping, spectacular, never the same.......the power it has......the international implications.............god we stan
2. Italy / Mahmood - Soldi
the clapping in soldi is mahmood applauding himself for being That Bitch because god soldi Slaps. probably my favourite italian entry of this decade if not ever. its just gay rights 
3. Netherlands / Duncan Laurene - Arcade
if amsterdam 2020 does actually happen it would be so fucking deserved becuase duncan really snapped on this one......he really did that you know what i mean
# Ukraine / Maruv - Siren Song
really wish UA weren’t such clowns because siren song is scientifically proven to smack...it just bangs! 
4. Iceland / Hatari - Hatari -  Hatrið mun sigra
ok so at first i couldn’t really get behind this because i didnae feel the verses at all but they’ve really grown on me and i appreciate them as part of the package a Lot more now. however if the entire song was as good as the chorus it would undoubtedly be reykjavik 2020 but it be like that sometimes
5. Romania / Ester Peony - On A Sunday
i know the nf was shady but i’m so fucking glad this won over little miss i hate gay people. its just so unqiue and mysterious and moody god i’m so emo x. really hope this is a dark horse this year but i’m Worried 
6. Portugal / Conan Osiris - Telemoveis
i don’t entirely get what hes serving but bitch i’ll take it. really appreciate conan’s artistry and the musical diversity hes bringing to the semi and europe better fucking treat him right or there Will be consequences 
7. Norway / Keiino - Spirit in the Sky
this is the fun eurovision bop we all deserve this year and i would die for all three of them. also really love the sámi representation!!! take notes sweden
8. Spain / Miki Núñez - La Venda
while I preferred the original to the revamp, i’m also don’t really care because its still the best song spain’s sent since pastora, its just so fun and warm and full of energy and god miki is a lad!! main reason its so high in my top tho is because i want miki to choke m-
9. Albania / Jonida Maliqi -  Ktheju tokës
time to put on my clown suit but i preferred the original cut. that bein said jonida maliqi is a queen and ktheju tokës is still the masterful ethnic banger it always was. my crops are really watered well this year. also if this dies because of its running order position i will Snap
10. Armenia / Srbuk - Walking Out
before i even get into the actual tune the piano intro to this song that lasts for a maximum of 5 seconds is better than half of all eurovision songs to date so that’s that. but also the song itself is real powerful and modern and god the last chorus sent my wigs to yerevan immediately. srbuk could step on me and i’d give her the esc trophy 
11. Azerbaijan / Chingiz - Truth
im so glad azerbaijan let go of their sweden of the caucuses look because it wasnt a good one but this one really is!! shes serving
12. Malta / Michela - Chameleon
does malta finally deserve rights? maybe so! to me this is the best, most original of this years fuegos i just love that drop. really smacks. hope it looks as good on stage as it does in the mv tho
13. Hungary / Pápai Joci - Az én apám
its not as good as origo but can you really beat perfection? joci may be back but my depression is nowhere to be found
14. Poland / Tulia - Fire Of Love (Pali Się) 
best polish entry in a while if not ever. i get why its polarising but to me it just fucking Slaps. feel like storming down the street and robbing a pierogi store. queens. also the bilingualism really works some revamps should really take some notes
15. Belgium / Eliot - Wake Up
this feels like the sequel to city lights and while it may not be as good its still a great installment. the chorus could be more impactful but i still love it we stan the belgian renaissance  
16. Slovenia / Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl - Sebi
at first listen i thought this was one of the flattest, most monotone entries in a while and was completely puzzled as to how it had stans but turns out that was just the live oof. in studio its a really magical tune but im not sure they’re gonna be able to make it work on stage but here’s hoping! also gasper and zala seem really sweet so we stan
17. Latvia / Carousel - That Night
not to be romantic on main, but this song is just one of those that makes you feel like you’re sitting around a campfire staring at stars playing tunes in the wild west you know what i mean? while it may be repetitive as fuck i just really love its chill atmosphere 
18. North Macedonia / Tamara Todevska - Proud
i’ve stanned macedonia since 2017 but they always fucking let me down with the staging However this is the dramatic ass female ballad i’m stanning this year and i just feel at home in a clown suit 
19. San Marino / Serhat - Say Na Na Na
never in my life did i expect san marino to actually snap this hard. this is genuinely good while still maintaining that san marinese campy charm and i want nothing more than for serhat to be my kind caring uncle. if europe lets him down it will know nothing but Pain
20. Serbia / Nevena Božović - Kruna
we always stan a good balkan ballad. best one in a while and i hope europe treats her right she deserves it after the tragedy that was moje 3
21. France / Bilal Hassani - Roi
at first i was not feeling this song at all but its really grown on me! bilal loaned me his best clown wig and i feel really pretty
22. Cyprus / Tamta - Replay
this one the other hand has very much grown off me. while it slapped at first when most of the songs out were disappointing nf songs, coming straight after fuego it just feels a little stale. kinda wish cyprus had changed it up more rather than go for more of the same. but ill probably be stanning once may 14th comes around because im a clown
these are also good:
23. Ireland / Sarah McTernan - 22 
this isnt quite good enough to stan but its still a lovely lil pop song. its gonna get absolutely murdered at esc but its cute
24. Sweden / John Lundvik - Too Late For Love
swedens best entry since 2014 and i guess this is sort of a break from the trend However i still have some issues. it does bop but as always it feels like i’ve heard it all before you know what i mean. It slaps in a completely safe way which is fine but I just want sweden to change it up just Once it’s not asking much
25. Czechia / Lake Malawi - Friend Of A Friend
unstoppable force: friend of a friend slaps and is one of czechias best entries. immovable object: making loOooHrve
26. Australia / Kate Miller Heidke - Zero Gravity 
at first the terrible over the top nf staging made me dislike this song a Lot but after I took the time to detach the song from the performance it grew on me a lot. However i still find it a little bit underwhelming but its a nice break from the complete jury bait snores they’ve been sending every year after guy sebastian invented music 
27. Russia / Sergey Lazarev - Scream
this is clearly a song made for a live performance and there’s no doubt its gonna do really well with whatever they’re planning for the staging but that’s kind of my problem with it. while good, it feels incomplete. like a lot of it feels like its leaving room for a live performance moment so as a standalone song it feels lacking you know what i mean
28. Belarus / Zena - Like it
this songs fun and catchy you guys are just mean!! yes its basic but that doesn’t mean it can’t bop. I’m not gonna stan but i’m gonna enjoy it. billie eilish is shaking in her boots
29. Switzerland / Luca Hänni - She Got Me
sorry to be heterophobic but i’m not in love with this song. I was never a fan of his discography and while this song is a massive upgrade from his other songs imo, and extremely catchy, it also feels like hes trying so damn hard to convince everyone hes straight you know what i mean. no song with the lyrics ‘getting rowdy rowdy’ deserves 3rd in the betting sorry sisters. i just cant take it seriously but it still bops and when it does well its not gonna be undeserving, i just like a lot of songs more
30. Denmark / Leonora - Love Is Forever
this song is sweet and i appreciate the multilingualism but its also a little too sweet. Its perfectly fine but i just prefer other songs
31. Austria / Paenda - Limits
i don’t actually dislike this but it really is missing something. hopefully that something is in the staging because as it stands its got the elements of a good atmospheric ballad and shes a great singer but it just never reaches any sort of memorable climax
the whelmed list:
32. Lithuania / Jurijus - Run With The Lions
ok so when i first heard this i really was slapping but with every listen it just gets more and more average to me. when i listen to it i feel like i’m underrating it but then immediately i’ve forgotten lithuania’s competing. but honestly this years too strong we in my bottom 10 and i’m still bopping
33. Estonia / Victor Crone - Storm
this isn’t terrible but it really is just an avicii throwaway from 2013. nevermind that there were much better songs in the nf, its just way too safe. I don’t hate it and i can bop to it if i try but at the same time-wait why can i hear a plane oh god oh fu
34. United Kingdom / Michael Rice - Bigger Than Us
why are we always such a disappointment? michael is a legend but when we’re sending a song that sweden outright told it’s entrant to not use, There’s a problem. when we send a song in welsh it’s over for you hoes
35. Finland / Darude ft. Sebastian Rejman - Look Away
like storm this is just a very average piece of edm. it’s not terrible but it’s not great either. eh
36. Germany / S!sters - Sister
this is a song called sister by a group called S!sters, who aren’t even remotely related. that’s all i’ve got to say
these aren’t great:
37. Israel / Kobi Marimi - Home
look i will forever stan kobi for calling out wiwi but i can’t deny that his song is absolute paint by the numbers toilet break. pass
38. Montenegro / D-mol - Heaven
it does sound like a bad throwback to the 90′s but i guess its at least catchy. which is more than i can say about some songs. its kind of ok if im feeling nice
39. Croatia / Roko Blažević
forget about greece. there is no doubt in my mind that croatia’s gonna win for the second time following jacques houdek’s momentous win in kiyv. and no i am not being held at gunpoint
40. Moldova / Anna Odobescu - Stay
this just sounds like a nq from 2010. anna deserves a better song. next
41. Georgia / Oto Nemsadze - Keep On Going
a day or so i decided to listen to this for once and found myself going ‘this ain’t that bad’. just as i was applying my clown makeup, the song finished and I realised that I could not remember a single second.
___
so there it is! that means my qualifiers from each semi are:
Semi 1: Greece, Iceland, Portugal, Hungary, Poland, Belgium, Slovenia, San Marino, Serbia, and Cyprus
Semi 2: Netherlands, Romania, Norway, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Malta, Latvia, North Macedonia, Ireland
im in danger
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suspensionbridges · 5 years
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Talking about the major Black Sails characters at the start of S3...
Character by character, in fawning detail.
James Flint: Talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, showstopping, spectacular. This is the character type that undoes me every time. Not impossible to defeat, not without vulnerabilities, not omniscient. But clever and tactical as hell, strong, adaptable, violent and vicious with relatable motives even if those motives are not always noble. Additionally, he is bi as hell and is willing to die for it because the fucking shithole British empire has done so much damage based on that “crime”. I’m ride or die with him, whatever his goal is.
Eleanor Guthrie: Love her. She is a unique figure because she is half-Nassau, half-gentlewoman. On top of that, her issues tied to rising above how the world views her gender make her complicated. Her father abandoned her due to her being a woman. She grew up in a world where the men had so many choices but the women had one. (Anne is the exception that proves the rule, being edged out at different moments due to being a woman.) From childhood, she has witnessed violence against women and their use as a commodity. That takes a toll.  She is the most outright ruthless of the female characters. But the more the characters around her hate her or call her cunt or hang her in effigy, the more I want her to succeed. Her goals are/were so ambitious that they inspire me the most, after Flint. Plus, her presence on the island kept motherfucking Blackbeard away! That’s some serious shit, yo.
John Silver: This little shit. He is a character I enjoy a great deal due to his willingness to adapt to survive and the charm he brings to do it. Plus, pretty. I don’t always root for him to succeed because his changeable nature puts him at odds with my faves quite often.
Charles Vane: Alternating hate and admiration through the first two seasons. The more that was revealed about him, however, the more I understood his choices. More than Flint, he could never accept falling under British rule again. I can’t fault him for that anymore, even though he foiled Flint and Eleanor so often. And his choice to rescue Flint was so badass. That is probably my favorite moment of the whole series so far.
Jack Rackham: He is a treasure. He may be my favorite after James and Eleanor. He is probably the most honorable man after Billy. He will deceive and swindle and deal but he has more restraint than the others who do. And he’s more willing to admit his wrongs. (He plans for how to make it up to Anne before he agrees to a deal without her taking a share. He dislikes setting up Charles to take on a slave ship and admits that to him.) And he’s the best dressed. Always.
Anne Bonny: Just awesome. Her struggle with her identity and sexuality was handled very well. Her violent tendencies are beautiful. Her relationship with Jack is my favorite??? I should be over the moon with Anne/Max but Anne and Jack are just more compelling.
Billy Bones: He is the pure cinnamon roll of the series so far. His dedication to his crew and fellow pirates is incredible. I love him and want to protect him. And his arms make me feel dizzy. 
Max: Because I love Eleanor so much, I find myself very lukewarm about Max. I wouldn’t want her storyline to be different but due to the scales tipping her upward when Eleanor plummets, I cannot root for her. But even if Eleanor were not part of the story, I think I’d still rank her low on my character list. Whether it’s the writing or the actress, Max remains the most inscrutable of all characters at this point. All the others have shown their vulnerabilities and backstories. Hers have been...strange. Because she had choices to avoid the worst of her torments, I don’t sympathize as much that she endured them. Likewise, her successes don’t give me that delighted happy feeling I get when Flint, Eleanor, or Jack outwit and rise.
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cto10121 · 6 years
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@meganphntmgrl replied to your post:  European Musical Tropes
I think… a lot of non-European musicals function similarly.
So, what, most non-European musicals are nigh sung-through quasi operetta epics that deal with forbidden love, commentary social injustice, unjust/dystopian societies, depression/existential despair, little to no humor except for Tanz, have anthropormorphic versions of abstract concepts going about haunting human characters, and end tragically with the death of the protagonists and/or minor characters?
Yeah, not quite. 
True, American and British musicals have (in general) been getting more angsty, dark, tragic, with pop-rock/classical epic hybrid scores and what-have-you, (although I’d argue that I think that trend is finally leaving us), but they are still not quite the same. Except for Andrew Lloyd Webber, definitely classically-inspired, most Anglo musicals are more like plays with music than music with a plot; recently, they seem to be going for low-key social-issue-driven projects - either that, or straight movie-to-musical adaptations, Disney or otherwise. Freak hits like Hamilton don’t fit either that or the European style. And that’s only recent American/Broadway musicals. Traditionally, American musicals, in structure, were comic plays with happy endings until late 70s/80s, returning for a brief stint in the 90s and cropping up on occasion. Outliers like West Side Story and Porgy and Bess (out of the top of my head) were composer pet projects for the most part, the latter an outright experiment by Gershwin, heavily classically-influenced.
European musicals, on the other hand, had a tradition of opera and operetta that they followed with or without American influence. Hence the high-octane melodrama, recitatives (American musicals tend to dislike recitatives in general, preferring dialogue), poor character development, symbolism, and tragic deaths. 
Of course, there’s the whole forbidden-love or just love thing is a staple of both kinds, always ubiquitous. Showstopping solos, I Am/I Want numbers, love duets, ensemble numbers - things part-and-parcel of the musical for ages. Structurally, not too dissimilar. But themes like tragedy, existential despair, and suicide are rare in American musicals (which is weird because the blues are so American it’s not even funny). These European musicals in general seem to show modern concerns more starkly - the plight of migrants (Notre Dame), corrupt societies plagued with social ills (Starmania, RetJ), marginalized people struggling against their societal fate (Elisabeth, Notre Dame), love and desire mixed in with intimations of the supernatural or the fantastical (Notre Dame, Elisabeth, RetJ, Tanz, pretty much all of them). And then there is the solipsism of individualism in Elisabeth and Starmania, which leads to depression and suicidal thoughts. Quite different than, say, in Hamilton or the Book of Mormon or the Last Five Years or Matilda. or any of the hits on Broadway. 
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