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#he is the only film bro i trust
strangerathecinema · 6 months
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my want for the community movie is for abed to have a letterboxd
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bylertruther · 2 years
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my vision of modern au mike wheeler in all his glory
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leclerc-s · 3 months
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snow angel - track four
series masterlist // previous // next
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DECEMBER 2022
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JANUARY 2023
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EARLY MARCH 2023
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liked by lilymhe, alex_albon, mickschumacher and others
rheareynolds the council sending me off for filming.
tagged: lilymhe
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user1 somehow all three are very grumpy about rhea leaving.
↳ rheareynolds they were. although the boyfriend has no place to be complaining. he's constantly travelling.
user2 the boyfriend is hot.
↳ user3 you can only see his hair and arms?
↳ user2 and?
vancityreynolds stop lying, i bet they're thrilled.
↳ rheareynolds just because blake always throws a party when you leave doesn't mean my friends and boyfriend do.
lilymhe you couldn't have found a better picture of me?
↳ rheareynolds i think you look very cute
↳ alex_albon that's my girlfriend!
↳ rheareynolds what's your point? she's literally my wife
charles_leclerc have fun but not too much fun!
user4 okay but her cat is literally the prettiest cat i've ever seen.
user5 see i personally love that rhea met lily and the other drivers through lando but they still picked her over him
↳ user6 to be fair they are friendly with lando but you can tell it's not the same as it was.
↳ user7 well lando cheated on his girlfriend and not the other way around.
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LATE MARCH 2023
lilymhe and rheareynolds posted new stories
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breakfast with the prettiest girl ever.
prettiest surprise visit ever.
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charles leclerc rhea come home the children (me and lily) miss you
lily muni he please come back!
max verstappen added two people
logan sargeant bonjour!
logan sargeant i don't speak french
oscar piastri hello?
charles leclerc piastri i swear to seb if you tell nowins about this i will crash into you. alex albon jeez give the kid a chance to breathe sharl
rhea reynolds i wrap filming in may!
rhea reynolds oh hello. oscar piastri and?
logan sargeant i'm logan sargeant, alex's teammate. when will we be getting new music?
yuki tsunoda yes, when can i get new material to further torment norizz?
rhea reynolds july.
lance stroll BOOO!!
rhea reynolds but a single in june
pierre gasly IT'S BARELY APRIL?? THAT'S TWO WHOLE MONTHS AWAY?? mick schumacher sucks to suck charles leclerc YOU LET HIM HEAR IT BEFORE US?? YOUR BEST FRIENDS?? charles leclerc WHAT HAPPENED TO BROS BEFORE HOES?
george russell GIVE US THE TRACKLIST TO MAKE UP FOR YOUR SINS!!
rhea reynolds talk too much, i hate boston, poison poison, gemini moon, snow angel, so what now, the wedding song, pretty girls, tummy hurts, i wish, willow, 23.
charles leclerc claiming snow angel lily muni he claiming pretty girls max verstappen you two are too much sometimes. but i claim so what now.
rhea reynolds his ass is grass. trust.
oscar piastri trust i will be playing this in my drivers room.
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MAY 2023
rheareynolds posted new stories
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💞💞
i just woke up why the fuck is everyone blowing up my phone? did my nudes get leaked, not that i have any, or some shit? worse, what the fuck did ryan do now?
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mick schumacher who fucking spilled??
esteban ocon i spilled milk earlier, why are you asking?? and how do you know??
rhea reynolds how the fuck did some spanish paper find out that i was dating mick??
charles leclerc oh no.
max verstappen YOU TOLD CARLOS??
charles leclerc HE PROMISED ME HE WOULDN'T SAY ANYTHING!!
pierre gasly HE'S FRIENDS WITH NO BITCHES!! WHY THE FUCK WOULD HE KEEP IT A SECRET??!!
oscar piastri this is bad. so bad.
lily muni he OH COME ON!! SERIOUSLY CHARLES??
charles leclerc I FUCKED UP OKAY?! I GET IT! I WILL SPEAK TO CARLOS!
george russell NO! NO MORE TALKING TO CARLOS!!
charles leclerc HE PROMISED!!
max verstappen HIS PROMISES MEAN SHIT! WE BOTH KNOW THAT!
rhea reynolds WHAT THE FUCK CHARLES??
charles leclerc I WAS ALSO DRUNK AND I TRUSTED HIM!!
pierre gasly i thought we learned our lesson after last time?
alex albon this is bad. this is so fucking bad.
rhea reynolds yeah no shit alex.
alex albon you didn't read the article did you?
lily muni he i swear to sebastian that i will be castarating both sainz and norris for what's being said. rhea reynolds oh fuck me.
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are you dating mick schumacher?
rhea?
i know you're seeing these
are you seriously dating mick? my friend?
that's rich coming from the guy who cheated on me with a friend.
and if i am i don't think i owe you an explanation.
i also wasn't aware you guys were friends. you take one picture with a guy and suddenly you're friends.
are you fucking kidding me reynolds?
you're dating him?
him of all people
literally fuck you norris.
tell carlos to pull the fucking article or i'm suing his ass for defamation.
for what? telling the truth?
you and i both fucking know that article is straight bullshit. i never did anything to you. i was committed to our relationship more than you ever fucking were.
either he pulls the article or i swear i'll sue him.
fuck you and i hope you choke.
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taglist: @emilyval @ihateyougunthersteiner @lesliiieeeee @firetruckstuckley @cashtons-wife @landonorizzz @yoremins @nikfigueiredo @badassturtle13 @cataf1 @silentreader128 @taylorsatl @alessioayla @greeneyesandsunshine @wisteriafence @mrscharlesleclerc @sesamepancakes @localwhoore @vettelsebastianvettel @Pinksstrawberry @yourbane @bborra @aandreea2005 @nichmeddar @asparklysoul @landossainz @scarletwidow3000 @cha-hot @ssararuffoni @cherry-piee @vroomvroommuppett @shineforever19 @kissesandmartinis
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¡leclerc-s speaks! i do know that the mick quote in the grill the grid video is in reference to seb, but the opportunity was right there so i had to go with it!! if i had a nickel for everytime i made carlos out to be an asshole i'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice. I PROMISE I DON'T HATE HIM!! I ACTUALLY LIKE HIM BUT HE'S LIKE BESTIES WITH LANDO AND IT WORKS OUT SO WELL.
¡disclaimer! this is in no way making assumptions about the people involved in this story, this is all fake. it is a fanfiction please don't take any of what is said seriously. this is all for entertainment purposes and as a creative outlet for me. enjoy!
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heyybaejjk · 1 year
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MODERN AO'NUNG HCS.
pairing. human!aonung x human!fem reader
summary. modern au, ao'nung in highschool + boyfriend headcanons
notes. boyfriend ao'nung headcanons, human & in high school. ao'nung & reader are both 18.
warnings — swearing, mentions of blood! making out, implied smut but nothing too far
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masterlist. pt. 2 pt. 3
A lot of his peers from school assume he's just some muscular, hot headed guy with an ego so big, when in actuality he's not.
He was, until he met you.
People change, people don't change. He was the first factor.
People naturally assume Ao'nung is the type to just buy you expensive shit that have no meaning, but he really puts thought into every little thing he buys or crafts himself.
Also assuming that your relationship with Ao'nung was going to end after one month.
How could that possibly happen if he is head over heels for you?
Mans is caught off guard by the thought of you, even when you're not there with him physically
Brags about you, his kind and sweet girlfriend 25/8 just because.
"Bro my girl is so fucking cute, she met my mum yesterday and brought her flowers. like??? if you want me to get on my knees, just say so babe. My dad and Tsireya love her already... AND OH MY GOSH, my baby sister, Luna, Y/N held her for five seconds and Luna was already so smiley and giggling. Like yeah Luna, I get the same feeling,"
"We've heard this shit for the last 10 minutes" his friend rolls his eyes playfully.
When he's playing basketball with his friends, he's the type to shout "Oi, this is for my missus" before shooting the ball, and making it in.
Laughs at Lo'ak when he attempts to shoot for Tsireya but misses the hoop completely 😹
"Mean ass airball" is all Ao'nung says while chuckling
Bites back to the mfs who want him, even when they know damn well he's got a girlfriend
He posts about you every hour of the day, how could anyone not know ☠️
rayraybae has sent you a message!
rayraybae: hey you got some fine ass back muscles
m.nung: i will literally make a film of my girlfriend leaving scratch marks all over my back, back the fuck up.
Ao'nung says before blocking the user that texted. Rolling his eyes, he places his phone on the night table of yours. Sitting up from his position, his arms wrap around your waist as you sat on the edge of your bed. He lifts you easily on his lap as you let out a soft squeal. "Ao'nung!" you softly say, blushing intensely.
"Let me hold you, baby," he says smirking into your neck, pecking along your shoulder trailing up. Whispering into your ear, "I want us to try something."
Grabbing your phone and press onto the camera icon before hitting record. Placing your phone on the side table while his phone lit up with notifications. Getting the perfect landscape angle of the both of you, as he lays on top of giving your neck slow and sensual kisses. From the corner of his eyes, he caught a glimpse of his phone repeatedly turning on and off, yet he ignored it as he was too busy with the lovemaking you were about to do.
That little thing he said before was half true and half untrue.
Truthful to making you scream his name while scratching his back, recording it all
The untrue factor was sending it.
He respects you and knows your boundaries (every relationship has boundaries ofc) he only really said it to her because bro just loves to argue and brag about his girlfriend
Every recording you make, whether on his or your phone stayed between you two.
Posts a lot about you. His insta story, his tiktoks, twitter acc = all about you. Lets you make tiktoks on his account to show you off
But sets his comments only for his mutuals, he doesn't fuck with the comments that talk about you as if you aren't his.
Hell, his bio on everything is "@y/nnnnn 💓" or "i love my girlfriend."
Trusts you 100%, doesn't force you to give him your passwords to anything nor asks to check your phone
Spams your camera roll so much, like a lot.
Once he sees your phone without you around, he's already on your camera roll
"Mama. Mama, come. I got y/n's phone, she's in the bathroom. Pose with Luna. Smile Mum." he says with a hushed tone, smiling with his arm around his mother's shoulder. Ronal chuckles at her son's actions, the newborn baby in her arms, she lays her head on his shoulder as she sees in the camera her newborn baby lying against her chest.
"Hey! Let me be in it!" Tsireya quietly whispers before making her way beside Ronal, kissing her cheek as Ao'nung presses the shutter button.
That happened last week because now Ao'nung was smothering kisses all over your face while you giggled after he saw your new lock screen.
He loves to send paragraphs
Loves typing (even writing letters) paragraphs all about you. From the way your laughter sounds like a melody from Eywa, how your smile along with your pearly white teeth make him also smile, how your soul ties him in.
He loves pda, but not the type where you both makeout with each other's tongue down your throat
(i have a couple from my school who does this & it makes me wanna cry cos literally stop & go to class pls.)
Holding hands, wrapping an arm around your shoulder, hugging, kissing your knuckles (uses you as an armrest to tease you but stops when you elbow his side.)
Forehead kisses, kisses on the cheek & pecks, that's how far he'll go in public.
in private, BROS GOING HAM DURING MOUTH TO MOUTH SESH.
"Nung," you let out a breathy laugh as you feel your boyfriend trail kisses from the side of your mouth down to your neck.
"Hm?" he mumbles, lightly sucking and licking the sweet spot of your neck. You moan lightly, too immersed in the pleasure. "O-oh!" you gasp slightly, your hands now on the back of his head, bringing him closer.
"Nevermind, keep going," you say as you feel Ao'nung smirk into your neck.
Loves to spoil you.
Whether it be with clothes, makeup, shoes, stuffed bears. Anything.
But his most favourite are handmade gifts
He loves it when you shyly hide your squeal of excitement to everything, but when he pulls out an origami rose that he sprayed with your favourite perfume rather than an expensive stuffed bear, he loves seeing the glimmer in your eyes
Since you're his baby, he's already got both the handmade and the expensive shit hiding in his bag.
As he pulls out the bouquet of paper-coloured flowers from behind his back, he watches as you hide your squeal with your small hand, a bright blush appears on your face as you bring him into a tight hug, your head on his chest. You pull away before rocking from side to side shyly as you look to the ground, hiding back a smile as you hold onto the bouquet softly.
"Thank you, Nung, they are absolutely cute. I love them," you say politely, your nose slightly red. You stand on your tippy toes as you kiss his cheek. He smiles gently at you, wrapping his arm around your shoulder, walking with you. "Well, I love you."
He will fight for you, doesn't care if the person is taller or more muscular (as if he's not already the tallest mf in school 🧍‍♀️)
Will never, ever bring up the fact that he got his ass beat by Lo'ak when he was 15
If Lo'ak were the one to bring it up to you, he'd definitely tell Tsireya about all the stank ass piss stains he used to leave on his bed when he was sixteen.
Neteyam told Ao'nung this because he just felt like it. Or maybe Lo'ak just pissed him off that day, who knows.
Safe to say that if they sparred now, Lo'ak's ass is 6 feet underground.
But they're best friends now, won't ever happen.
"He what? Where the fuck is he?" He angrily says, throwing his bag off his back harshly. You look around frantically, "Nung, really. It's okay," you calmly say as you grab his bag before following behind him, trying to grab one of his arms.
"No, no, no, he touched your thigh when you told him to stop."
He walks around the halls and finally spots the guy he was searching for. Rushing up to him as you call out his name from behind, stopping as you figured it was no use. Grabbing him by his collar, he harshly throws the guy up against a wall. As people surround the two, you can only watch as his friends try and pry him away from the poor, shaken up boy. Lo'ak who made his way beside you, grinning at the sight.
"I would've gotten my ass beat if I tried to intervene," Lo'ak snickers. You roll your eyes before push his shoulder roughly as a joke.
Both your faces cringed and heard the crowd grow loud as you heard something from the crowd crack. A few seconds later, you see Ao'nung being pulled away from the crowd as the guy on the ground holds his nose, blood staining his hands.
You look over to your boyfriend who had an angered expression on his face, his shirt being pulled at as four of his friends pushed him back. His shirt slightly riling up, revealing his define V line and toned abs. "Touch my missus again, I'll fucking knock you out." You hear him yell out.
"He deserves some good head," you blurt out. Lo'ak side eyes you so fucking hard.
He walks you to class <333
If you have a class together, best believe mans is seated next to you
But if he knows one of your best friend's in the same class, he rather you sit with them
He feels like you spend a lot of time with him & rarely with your friend group, so he feels slightly guilty
Although you feel the opposite as you've sorted a way to spend time equally with both him & your friends, you give him a soft peck on the lips for the lovely thought
If you do sit together though, it doesn't necessarily mean he'll be distracting you with kisses and secret whispers of affection
He knows education means a lot to you and knows when and when not to be affectionate
You do still hold hands under the table often, or link arms.
You both take notes, help each other out, ask each other on what you've misheard from the teacher
He does give your thigh or hand a comforting squeeze when he notices your brows furrow or a slight pout on your lips form, an overwhelming feeling taking over your body as you look stumped on a certain task
You both are mature people and can communicate, so he lets you speak your thoughts rather than going ahead and helping you immediately, if that makes sense
Only when you really feel like something is too much and you can't talk or communicate properly like you both usually can, that's when he drops his shit and soothes you.
"Would you like some help, baby?" he whispered soothingly, his hand comfortingly caressing your thigh, as he notices your confused expression. The rest of the class was too focused on their sheets of paper. You were too caught up in your thoughts that you let your hands massage the temple of your head. You shake your head, signalling no.
"It's okay if you don't know the answer immediately, sweets. You don't need to rush," His hand now on your back, sliding up and down slowly.
For a few seconds, he lets you take a breather, and you finally answer with a broken voice and a small whisper. "Can you help me please?"
"Of course, lovely," an arm around your shoulder and he kisses your temple. "Which part are you stuck on? We can break it down and solve it."
Doesn't give any care about who you're friends with, even if they're a guy. Will warn you or hint if he knows something is up with certain people.
Is protective, will always be there behind your back to defend you.
He has friends that are girls, but aren't close with them either. Even if he is close with another girl, bro never touches her. Just a simple dap is good enough to him.
As soon as he gets the "I got something to tell you." text from a girl.
Blocked. Sorry, but he literally blocks them.
He knows exactly what that six worded sentence means because those were the exact words he said to you before confessing.
He has a girlfriend and only has eyes for you, they should know better than to pull shit like that 🤷‍♀️.
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my fingers hurt... from typing of course 🧍‍♀️ ANYWAY thats all i got, im tired LOLOL <333
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Trolls overall has a Big problem with the idea of Holding people accountable for their actions.
here's a numbered list of examples of what I'm talking about.
Cloud Guy in the Tv shows not only because he Harasses Branch most of the time with no consequences but also because Poppy goes out of her way to defend him even when his actions cause trouble for many other people.
like when he flooded the village just out of spite because Branch wouldn't do what he wanted anymore and not to mention how even when she found out that he also Harassed other people from each of the Troll Tribes she still took his side and got mad at them when they stood up for themselves and "" upset Cloud Guy "".
which even if it hadn't been revealed that it was all an act by him just to mess with them it would still make Poppy look bad since she Refused to do anything about his Blatant Bullying yet got mad at his victims when they stood up for themselves.
and not to mention made excuses for why his behaviour wasn't so bad making out like he only Harassed them because he was trying to help them which is just all kinds of wrong.
2. a lesser example but still a bad example imo is in the Trollstopia episode where Dante uses Branch as his muse and he stalks him breaks into his home and disrupts his daily Jobs which he does.
and when he goes to Poppy for help she makes out like Dante's behaviour is reasonable and tells Branch to suck it up.
and after Branch does something to get Dante to back off Poppy then gets mad at him when Dante isn't able to come up with any music ideas like that's somehow Branch's problem?
Dante needed help but Rather than ask for it he just went ahead and took it by invading someone's privacy.
and breaching their trust and then Poppy made out like Branch was wrong for setting down Boundaries with him which is just iffy to be honest feels like this episode was written by Joe Goldberg or something lol.
3. and there's Creek as I've said in the past I love him lol but I do agree that his Return in TBGO could have been done better where he could have had a little arc of slowly earning back people's trust maybe over the span of a few episodes.
4. some people like to go on about the Bergens being forgiven too easily and I agree to an extent but given how Gristle Jr couldn't exactly punish the majority of the population I don't think they really had much choice in this matter.
I feel the only problem is them acting all chummy with the rest of the Bergens like letting them off for killing their species is one thing but acting like friends with them is a whole other like staying friends with Bridget and Gristle is fine given their history and the fact that they were too young to have eaten any Trolls prior to the escape.
but acting friendly with the rest of them feels a tad insensitive like in the opening of TBT we see Branch and Poppy acting all chummy with Random Bergens and Branch even High fives a couple of them and I was just thinking to myself
"" dude they probably ate someone's loved ones in the past how would you feel if you saw other Trolls giving Chef a friendly High five? ""
5. anyway moving on there's Barb who enslaved countless people destroyed their homes and tried to wipe out all other kinds of music and she was let off in the end.
its not even like she had a last minute change of heart she literally just got beaten and that's the only reason why her plan didn't succeed and afterwards she was just instantly forgiven.
6. Bro zone I've already talked about them in Depth in the past but yeah unreliable selfish insensitive and at worst cruel not to mention they never truly change their ways.
they keep on doing the same crappy behaviour and they don't show that much remorse for their past actions yet they still get forgiven in the end Despite everything.
because yaaaay family is amazing even if they Treat you like shit over and over again.
the films message feels like it was written by a toxic parent to please other toxic parents to be honest which judging by how this film won over general audiences I'd say it worked like a Treat lol.
so yeah Despite my love for it Trolls overall as a franchise has a serous problem with actually Holding people accountable for their crappy actions and Behaviours I feel the only exception is Veneer as even tho his turn at the end felt Rushed and out of nowhere imo.
I was pleasantly surprised that the movie didn't just let him off the Hook and he still got arrested and accepted the punishment for his crimes in the end.
I feel the same thing should have happened with Barb given everything she did.
anyway if you've made it to the end of my post thank you you have the patience of a saint lol anyway what do you think about this aspect of the franchise?
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riptide (two) | a. targaryen
Description: Aemond finally knows who his brother's gf is. Pairing: college-student!aegon/ceo!reader part one
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Another sigh escaped his mouth.
"If you keep messing with me, I'm switching dorms." he threatened, moving his mouse slightly to the left - there was no way in hell that he'd let himself banned for afk because of his brother. "-or are you switching to her mansion?" Aemond keenly teased.
"Do you have nothing do with your life?" he groaned - pressing his mouse frantically as he spots an enemy. "Yes," the man replied, walking towards his desktop.
"Can I borrow it now? I have to play Sims4,"
"Nope, I deleted the Wicked Whims thing you downloaded."
"Bitch?"
Aemond was about to throw hands - but the doorbell to their apartment suddenly rings. "Get the door," Aegon pushed his brother backwards - eyes planted on the game in front of him.
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Aemond's eye widens seeing the woman in front of their apartment. "Anything you need?" his eye widens - seeing you in front of him. He was usually a good judge for character, and his radar was beeping red; you were rich. He could smell it from your expensive perfume.
"I'm here for Aegon," you smile - eyes lighting up at the mention of your boyfriend's name. On your hand - there was a small giftbag, it was teal and Aemond spent enough time with women to know that it was Tiffany and Co.
"Aegon!" Aemond cautiously called out for his brother, careful to not frighten you away. "I'm playing!" he responded in an annoyed manner. A small chuckle exits your lips.
"Can I come in?" you inquire.
"Sure," he breathed - slightly moving away to provide enough space for you to enter. The entire apartment smelled like faint axe body spray, and all of their clothes were stacked near the washing machine. It was something out of a zombie film.
Aemond walks towards his brother's room, not bothering to knock - just opening the door wide and tapping the door impatiently.
"Bro, your girlfriend is here." he informed - with an intrigued smile. Aegon abandons his match immediately, not giving a fuck whether or not there was a penalty.
"Baby!" he ran out of his room, arms wide open as he welcomed an embrace. It's been a week since he's seen you - due to the business trip that you had to attend. "I missed you so much." you buried your face on his shoulder - inhaling his scent of aftershave and cola.
He presses butterfly kisses on the crook of your neck. His hands were about to go somewhere deeper, but his brother clears his throat. "We should leave him not traumatized," you scrunch your nose - a small laugh exits his mouth.
"Trust me baby, he's already traumatized with life." he answered, entwining your hands together. "We should go out," you offer and he nods immediately. "I'll leave your gift here, grab your coat." you ordered, smiling as he followed everything you said.
You turn to look at his brother.
"Bye, Aemond - it was nice meeting you."
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agn.high's story
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agn.high: i don't know how it gets better than this.
234 comments 2,669 likes
Alexander_Gomez: No effing way bro 🥲 - agn.high: my only flex in life
aemtargaryen: i knew about it 1st 🏆
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@pearlstiare @sweethoneyblossom1 @tinykryptonitewerewolf @cheri-ladyy @watercolorskyy @bellastwd @nyctophilicvitnir @fan-goddess
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medialog april 2k24
ok. sick day catch up part two
watched
monkey man - this was gnarly and fun and dev patel, quite simply the hottest man ever to live, is upsettingly hot in this film, like SO hot oh my fucking god
white room - this was a VERY weird movie that (as per the filmmaker q & a) totally flopped at a film festival and never received distribution... you can kinda see why but i more or less liked it. it's about a weird sheltered repressed dude who accidentally sees the murder of a mysterious pop star and then accidentally befriends and falls in love with the woman who was actually the reclusive songwriter and voice of the act... the filmmaker described it as a "journey through genres" and it was very artistically ambitious in a way that maybe didn't totally work but it had some really good stuff about art/consumption/fame/women (my jam) and it frequently looked gorgeous and also all of the mysterious/reclusive pop singer's songs were big late 80s/early 90s style upbeat synth-bombast numbers with lyrics taken from emily dickinson poems which is soooooo funny and a great idea
alien - this is like die hard in that if i'd seen it ten years ago i would not really have understood the hype but seeing after i had a backwards education in film by watching all of the mcu movies and developing curiosity about the question of why they were bad and ugly in such distinct ways and from there developing a nascent and unsophisticated appreciation of the filmic qualities of film i'm like, wow what an incredibly fucking well made movie!!!!!! some things in particular i liked were (1) no substantive backstory for anyone, no dark secrets except the one that really counted, no traumatic pasts, no explanation for how this world works or why anyone was here except needing a job, just giving us the bare minimum to understand the situation the characters find themselves in and trusting the story to do the rest (2) very good spaceshippy spaceship (another way it's like die hard is lots of great Texture, another thing that the MCU lacks which like many other MCU traits was actually a totally fitting design choice for tech bro billionaire tony stark in iron man but simply did not need to expand to Everything...) (3) sigourney weaver so good! ian holmes also very good (4) lots of suspense through silence which is one of the most lost of lost arts in the realm of big expensive Cool Shit Happens cinema!
roy cohn/jack smith - this was a filmed recording of two monologues performed by ron vawter, a gay actor who died of AIDS, each in the character of another gay man who had AIDS - the notorious roy cohn & the experimental cinema icon jack smith. i don't really have much to say about it but i feel very lucky to have seen it and vawter was incredible - i'm glad also that he happened to come to our attention a few months ago because he played the therapist in sex lies & videotape.
mad max: fury road - ok i kept putting this off because the way people talked about it on the internet frankly emphasized to an off-putting degree the ideas in this movie and did not adequately convey to me personally the most important thing about it which is that it Fucking Owns Lmao Wow. we happened to pause it for some reason like 50 minutes in and i swear to you i would have guessed 15, maybe 20 minutes had passed, that's how much it flies by... the coolest shit ever, i wanted to live there forever! also lottie yellowjackets is one of the wives????
mission: impossible 3 - the worst movie in the entire world. we only revisited this one as part of our ongoing marathon with some friends and we spent the whole time complaining about jj abrams' totally inept camera work... seriously watch this movie and look out for (1) every time an already fast sequence is torn up with a zillion stupid little cuts some of which actively prevent us from seeing something that could have been cool (2) every time we get to a new location and the camera starts aimlessly drifting to the side literally immediately because he's afraid we'll get bored if we sit in a location for one whole second (3) every time 3 people are having a conversation and the camera spends the whole time just purposelessly wafting back and forth side to side for, i cannot emphasize this enough, no reason at all. literally nothing in this, an installment of the Stuff Looking Cool franchise, looks even a little bit cool even one time. people hate on 2 for the male gaze of it all re: thandie newton but her character has more personality and agency than ethan's sexy lamp wife in this. the closest to a redeeming value this movie has is that it really feels like part of the goal was to remind everyone of how even though tom cruise jumped on that couch one time he's actually a very normal american heterosexual man (he passes out at one point and flashes back to his wife in her underwear sdksoeroser it's SO dumb) but because he's tom cruise (a total insane freak) he can't convincingly portray that at all and just comes across as insane and maybe a sociopath. "what about philip seymour hoffman" i'm not going to give abrams credit for knowing PSH was a good actor, that's like saying defending a doctor accused of malpractice by saying he knows that feet generally have toes. be serious. i will give a shout out to simon pegg, who is in this less than i remembered but who comes across as the MVP (across what should be a deep bench of a cast!) of making abrams' horrible comic-book-bro-patter come across as something a human might say, mostly so i can also share my friend's insight when i said that which is that it makes sense pegg is suited to the task given that he cut his teeth largely on movies that are parodies of shitty action movies.
mission: impossible - ghost protocol - a wonderful and perfect treat :) i've gone on at length about this one before and really have nothing left to say but it's so good and so specifically good at all the things 3 sucks ass at... my friend was physically squirming next to me on the couch during the burj khalifa sequence, as is right and proper :)
read
beautiful losers - this is a novel leonard cohen wrote in the 60s that is very weird and experimental and i'll be real with you and say i did not get it. it's about a guy whose wife and best friend he had a weird sexual relationship with are both dead and now he's kind of obsessed with an iroquois saint... i am not sure how to describe it but i guess i would say if you think the music of leonard cohen is too optimistic and insufficiently horny for you maybe you would like this. it is probably the most aggressively sexual book i've ever read but not in an erotic way... it's very like about the nastiness of sex and bodies... which i admire ideologically on a certain level but it's really quite unrelenting with it... occasionally there are snatches of deeply beautiful writing though.
listened
sourpatch, stagger & fade - nick put on the vinyl of this and i was like oh that sounds nice and i wound up listening to it a bit... fuzzy indie rock (i'm not educated enough to parse genres more finely than that) that makes for very pleasant background listening
ariana grande, eternal sunshine - i've never kept up with ariana because i just find her voice kind of annoying and i had never heard a song to challenge that UNTIL we reviewed "we can't be friends" at singles jukebox and ariana teaming up with max martin to do kidz bop body talk era robyn turned out to be everything i wanted from her... unfortunately the rest of the album was incredibly boring lol. love that song tho!
maggie rogers, don't forget me - i don't know that i find this one as interesting as her last album or quite as likable as her first (although that might be me somewhat overrating her first because i love "light on" sooooo much) but she's such a capital-M Musician she's always a pleasure to listen to. "drunk" was an early fave but recently i found myself returning a lot to "the kill"
girl in red, i'm doing it again baby! - girl in red comes a lot when other people are talking about the g*yl*rs as one of the actual queer artists they should support but first of all they actually love her and second of all i listened to this album twice straight through and have let some of the songs play on shuffle since and i could not hum you one single line :/
taylor swift, the tortured poets department - speak of the devil! i mean i've talked about this. i like this album a lot - at this point i'm ready to call it easily her best work except for maybe folklore, and honestly i find it hard to assess folklore out of what a special lockdown treat it felt like at the time. i don't expect a world insistent on calling 1989 pop perfection to eventually agree with me but i think people will mellow out about it in time and forget that it was so divisive on release much as has happened with reputation (an album far worthier of scorn if not without its occasional merits) and at the VERY least i think in like 5 years it will be more or less consensus that it's better than midnights.
the starting line, say it like you mean it - i listened to this album mostly to fact-check claims i was making about emo in the taylor swift piece but then i kept listening to it cuz it was kinda full of bops!
fall out boy, take this to your grave - @voidofcourse recommended this as a stepping stone from the starting line for loud guys offering bops and indeed it too was full of bops!
other
an enemy of the people - i saw this on broadway, yes, 1000% literally just because my boy my king my number one guy jeremy strong was in it. the production was interesting and good if not flawless, and although i think some of the younger cast members got a little lost in the old-fashioned theatrical language (even in a new translation) and could have used some direction towards really pulling out the meaning of individual sentences they were saying, the more seasoned actors all did a great job, including, of course, jeremy strong, who got to be shoved into a pit and have pretend ice thrown at him, i'm so happy for him. also the play was incredible? like as a play? i said as much here after seeing it but basically it's about this doctor who discovers that the town baths that are about to open have a contaminated water supply that is definitely going to result in people getting sick and some of them dying, especially since they are being advertised partly for their health-restoring properties for people who are already not doing well, and he's like, wow, good thing i caught this thanks to the help of science so we can change plans, and then everyone else in town is like, but have you considered that would be expensive? why do you hate poor people? (there's a thread specifically about the editor of the radical leftist newspaper going from being the doctor's number one champion to being totally coopted out of both politics and self-interest that was particularly brutal to watch...) like it was truly SO incredibly specifically relevant to some Extremely Contemporary Issues that i was just agog and also it was incredibly fucking upsetting to watch! really really great playwriting, such a clean example of how a work can best encompass & comment on ideas by developing them through character and dramatic action rooted in wants, needs, choices, conflict, etc., a lesson many people could stand to learn. i kept thinking it had burrowed as deeply into the core issues as it could and then it found another layer. this ibsen guy... he really knew some stuff about stuff....
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rowretro · 5 months
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✧𝐆𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐍✧
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WARNINGS: none I know of
✧CHAPTER 1✧
"Hee- ever heard of a Uni called Yah leh?" y/n asked tilting her head as Heeseung frowned "You mean Yale?" "Yeah whatever it's called- do you think I can get in?" y/n asked as Heeseung sighed "look here... sweetie I think you should look for a more uhhh reachable school, y-you know- maybe film school? maybe preschool?..." Heeseung, kindly suggested as Sunghoon snickered.
"No I wanna go to Yale! all the smart people said that its a good place-" y/n pointed out as Heeseung pat her head "Oh y/n... 18 years and you haven't changed one bit." he said before walking away from her "Hoon somehow convince her to apply for an easier uni or college-" Heeseung whispered to his friend who nodded.
Well it's everyday now, since the oh so sweet, darling Sunghoon started visiting their home, Heeseung trusts him completely, their mother does, and the sweet little gullible y/n does. "Sunghoon I think I can get in! I was studied at a University once-" y/n pointed out as Sunghoon frowned.
"Ah y/n..." Sunghoon started as he ran through her dark, silky hair, her innocent, curious eyes, meeting his. Oh how goddamn vulnerable she looked, how he wanted to keep her, protect her, break her... "Yale sucks. why don't I put in a good word for you and you go to the same Uni I go to?... it's a good place" Sunghoon said, smiling down at her. "Will there be pretty boys?... I saw pretty boys on the Yale advert-" Y/n pointed out as Sunghoon sighed.
Pretty boys? when he's standing in front of her dressed in all black, his hair swept to the side revealing his forehead, that black t-shirt was perfectly fitted on him. How could she possibly want prettier than him? "Pretty boys?..." Sunghoon asked, tilting his head as y/n nodded smilling "Hee gets lots of girls in college- I think I should start dating more people too- I only ever dated one person- A clueless idiot who bangs his head everytime he rides his bike out of th garage... everytime." she repeated, still upset about her break up with Jooyeon.
Sunghoon rolled his eyes, as he put up with his peaceful act, oh how bad he wanted to end that Jooyeon... "Hey... there are many pretty boys in my college... I mean I am there." Sunghoon pointed out as y/n shrugged "Ok it'll be nice to have a familiar face in college next year, and well I do have to start in the coming months-" y/n said as she smiled up at Sunghoon.
All the better to keep an eye on her 24/7... Make sure he could gradually get her closer to him and let her innocent self fall into his trap. God she was so gullible it made it so easy for him. Sunghoon Smiled as he pat her head, seemingly friendly. "So it's your last day of school today huh?" Sunghoon asked as the girl nodded "You coming to the party tonight?" He asked as she nodded again.
When the girl left to help her mom out in the kitchen, Sunghoon was in Heeseung's room, gaming with the male. "You know the drug dealer? his ex asked me out on a date tonight- so I can't come by for your award event bro hope you don't mind-" Heeseung said. Well that just makes things better for him...
"Isn't your sister meant to go to a party tonight?... Jooyeon will be performing with his little band" Sunghoon oh-so innocently pointed out as Heeseung's eyes widen in shock, he choked on his beer as he turned to Hoon "No fucking way she's going there, fuck-" Heeseung complained, downing his beer. "The event is next week- I'm completely free today-" Sunghoon pointed out as Heeseung handed him a beer bottle "Hey you know you're like the brother i never had right?" He asked as Sunghoon snickered "I'll accompany your sister at the party~" Sunghoon said as Heeseung smiled at him, the 2 going back to their game.
✧𝐆𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐍✧
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marimbles · 9 months
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Ey I forgot to post this here but! I wrote a lil ladrien fic!
Word count: 3.2k
Summary:
Ladybug sniffed. “I saw through you right away. You look just like a celebrity trying to sneak past the paparazzi.”
Adrien frowned. “Well, I think I blend in better than you do. What are you supposed to be, a film noir detective on holiday?”
Or, Incognito Adrien runs into I'm-Not-Here Ladybug on the bus.
Mr. Perfect Disguise
13:38
adrienagrestbrand
HALLELUJAH! My shoot was canceled!
lahiffesbeats
oh sweet!
wait the one with Lila?
adrienagrestbrand
Yes!!!
Apparently she caught the flu
lahiffesbeats
uhh why are you so excited that lila’s sick. that’s not cool man
adrienagrestbrand
Oh um I’m not excited that she’s sick! I’m just glad to have some extra time.
One of my mom’s movies is playing at this indie cinema downtown. Want to go see it with me?
lahiffesbeats
aw man, i cant :( im watching chris
adrienagrestbrand
Maybe you could bring him?
lahiffesbeats
nah, he can’t sit still during a movie lol
maybe alya is free?
adrienagrestbrand
Uh, you don’t think that would be a bit awkward?
lahiffesbeats
why
adrienagrestbrand
I mean, Alya is great, but we never hang out with just the two of us.
lahiffesbeats
ok so ask marinette
adrienagrestbrand
I don’t think Marinette would want to go with me 😅 Last time we went to the movies together, Gorizilla showed up and it was kind of a disaster.
I think I’ll just go on my own. I’m not sure the movie would be that interesting to any of you anyway, haha.
lahiffesbeats
well i know for a fact that marinette would be 3000% down to go to literally any movie with u but ok lmao
adrienagrestbrand
What do you mean? How do you know for a fact?
lahiffesbeats
nvm
have fun dude!
adrienagrestbrand
Sorry, but would you mind covering for me? I told Gorilla I was going to study with you.
lahiffesbeats
sure thing bro. i’m honored to protect your scandalous sneaky ways
i’m proud. honestly i might tear up
adrienagrestbrand
Thanks
And shut up
Gorilla will drop me off in a few, OK? Then when the coast is clear I’ll head over to the theater
lahiffesbeats
How are you gonna get there
adrienagrestbrand
I’ll take the bus
lahiffesbeats
the bus?
mr. famous rich boy teenage heartthrob model adrien agreste is gonna take the bus
adrienagrestbrand
Yes
And shut up
lahiffesbeats
bro i hate to ask but have you ever been on a bus
like do you know how it works
adrienagrestbrand
Yes!!!!
No
But how hard can it be? You just get on and pay the driver and ride it, right?
Wait, do they give change back for 100€?
lahiffesbeats
probably not lol
just take my travel pass
adrienagrestbrand
Really? You’d do that?
lahiffesbeats
ofc. i’m very invested in your teenage rebellion
u can give it back tmw
adrienagrestbrand
Thanks, Nino!! You’re the best
lahiffesbeats
yeah, yeah. i know
just have ur bodydude drop u off here and i will help u turn on Incognito Mode. for maximum stealth
i will make you a kit
adrienagrestbrand
A kit?
lahiffesbeats
yee
for Operation Teenage Rebellion
just trust me
see u in a few
adrienagrestbrand
See you
— — —
“Uh, Nino, are you sure about this?”
Adrien frowned down at his outfit. Nino’s “Incognito Mode” had turned out to be a pair of sunglasses, his signature red hat, and an old denim jacket with a mysterious stain on it, which he insisted Adrien wear to hide the fact that his shirt “cost literally a million Euros, dude.” He’d even made Adrien swap out his orange Agreste-brand sneakers for pair of Nino’s old Nike slides, which were the only thing small enough to fit him.
“Have I ever led you wrong?” Nino grinned. “Just trust me.”
Adrien opened his mouth to name a time or two when Nino had, maybe, actually, led him wrong, but before he could say anything, Nino was nudging him out the door.
“Sorry, man, I really gotta get back to Chris. And you gotta get to the bus.” He shoved a plastic sack into Adrien’s hands. “Later! Keep me posted.”
The door clicked shut behind him.
Adrien peered into the bag. It contained a neon yellow sports drink, a pack of American crisps with a cartoon cheetah on them, and a plastic blue card, which he assumed was Nino’s transit pass.
The bus would arrive in just a few minutes. Adrien hurried down the steps of Nino’s building and jogged to the corner to wait.
Soon, the bus rolled to a stop in front of him. He climbed aboard, pulling Nino’s hat lower over his eyes. The woman in front of him drew a ticket from her pocket.
“Oh—shoot.” Adrien reached into the bag and grabbed the blue card. The plastic rustled loudly. Blushing, he tapped the plastic card on the reader with a beep.
There was photo of Nino on the back of the card. Adrien’s hand shot back. He glanced up nervously at the bus driver, who was busy adjusting his mirror. Adrien’s muscles relaxed.
He followed the woman into the aisle. At this time of day, it was a crowded ride—standing room only. He squeezed through to an empty space next to a girl in a sunhat, pulling out his phone.
adrienagrestbrand
Why didn’t you tell me your transit card is also an ID??
lahiffesbeats
eh, they never check
how is operation teenage rebellion going
adrienagrestbrand
Well, I’m on the bus, at least.
lahiffesbeats
:’) proud of you, bud. my little rebel bro. breaking the law and everything
adrienagrestbrand
Wait, using someone else’s travel pass is illegal???
Before Adrien had a chance to fixate on the horror of his father bailing him out of jail (in this outfit), the bus took off with a lurch. He stumbled forward, nearly dropping his phone and treading on the toes of the girl in the hat.
“Sorry,” he said with a wince. So much for staying inconspicuous. He reached out and gripped one of the metal handlebars, tucking his other hand into his pocket. His fingers found his Marinette lucky charm, rolling the beads between his fingers.
“Oh, um, it’s fine!” The girl ducked her head. “It’s not a problem.”
Adrien blinked. There was something familiar about her. And something strange. Maybe it was the dark trenchcoat, which looked too heavy for the mild weather. Or maybe it was her wide-brimmed hat, more suitable for a beach than a crowded city bus.
He glanced down at her black leather gloves. If he didn’t know any better, he’d think she was trying to hide, just like him.
The bus rounded a corner, and despite his hold on the bar, Adrien staggered to the side. His free hand was thrown out wildly to try to keep his balance, and he nearly hit the girl on the nose.
“Sorry! Sorry,” he said quickly, scrambling back into place. His neck burned underneath the collar of his jacket.
“Don’t worry about it,” the girl mumbled.
Adrien shoved his hand back into his pocket and froze. His lucky charm was missing.
He scanned the floor and spotted it next to the girl’s boot.
“Um, excuse me, miss,” he said. “Would you mind handing me that? I dropped it.”
The girl peered down where he was pointing, face still hidden from view. Then she seemed to stiffen, frozen in place as she stared at the charm.
“Um, miss?”
She scooped it up and held it out to him, head bowed. “Here you go.”
“Thank y—” he started to say, but the words got lost on their way out. The girl’s hand was still outstretched, and he stared at the gap between her sleeve and her glove.
It was bright red, with a black spot.
The bus hissed to a stop. People clamored to their feet.
“Ladybug?” he whispered.
Her head snapped up. He caught a glimpse of her wide eyes through a pair of oversized sunglasses. Then she shot to her feet and pushed past him.
“Wait!” he called. He stumbled after her, down the steps and out the door. “Wait, please!”
She didn’t turn around. Just strode quickly down the street, the brim of her hat flopping with each step.
He broke into a jog and to catch up with her. “Ladybug!”
“I’m not—uh—who’s Ladybug?” She let out a breathless laugh. “Or, I mean, of course I’m not Ladybug. Why would you think that?”
“I, uh, saw your suit. Could you stop for a second?”
“No! I have to ca—I have … important business to attend to.”
“Um, before you do that, would you mind giving me back my lucky charm?”
She came to a halt, and he almost ran into her.
“Right,” she said quickly. “Here you go.”
She shoved the charm at him—he had to fumble not to drop it—and kept walking. But Adrien wasn’t willing to lose her that fast.
“What kind of business?” he asked quickly, dropping the charm into his plastic sack.
“Superhero business. Top secret.”
“Well, if it’s superhero stuff, then, um … why isn’t Chat Noir here too?”
“Because! It’s not—he isn’t—” She let out a little huff. “Because he wouldn’t get it. I have to do this alone.”
“I don’t think you ever have to do anything alone,” Adrien said. “Maybe he would get it if you explained.”
Finally, she stopped. Even with the double layer of her mask and her sunglasses, he could feel the weight of her gaze. “Why are you following me, Adrien?”
He blinked. “I … I didn’t realize you’d recognized me.”
“Well, um, that disguise isn’t very good.”
“It’s not?” He glanced down, suddenly feeling very self-conscious of the stained jacket and open-toed shoes. There was even a hole in the toe of his sock—Plagg kept stealing all of his good ones, and he always forgot to ask Nathalie for more.
Ladybug sniffed. “Not for me, anyway. I saw through you right away. You look just like a celebrity trying to sneak past the paparazzi.”
Adrien frowned. “Well, I think I blend in better than you do. What are you supposed to be, a film noir detective on holiday?”
Ladybug stiffened, and Adrien’s stomach dropped. He’d done it again. He’d let a stupid joke fall out of his stupid mouth, and now his lady was upset with him—this time, with Adrien him.
But Ladybug didn’t scoff, or cross her arms, or do any of the things she usually did when she didn’t like his jokes. Instead, she groaned, flattening the sides of her big, floppy hat to her head.
“This is so embarrassing,” she muttered. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“It’s—it’s not that bad,” Adrien tried, but Ladybug just buried her face in her hands.
“Ugh! This stupid suit!” Her head snapped up. “If you have any better suggestions, Mr. Perfect Disguise, I’m all ears.”
“You could just … detransform?”
She froze again, and before she could say anything, he went on in a rush.
“I mean, if you don’t want to be noticed, couldn’t you just take the bus as, like, yourself? And then just transform when you get to wherever you’re going? That would draw less attention. Unless, by chance, you daylight as a circus clown.”
He laughed awkwardly, mentally kicking himself for cracking another bad joke. But to his surprise, she laughed too.
“Nope,” she said. “That’s Chat Noir’s civilian identity. I’m just a normal girl with a normal life.”
He clung to the echo of her laugh, letting it fill him up with a hesitant sort of confidence he couldn’t resist testing.
“Aw, come on, mila—Ladybug,” he dared to say. “I’m sure there is nothing about you that isn’t special. Spots or no spots.”
“You’re wrong. I’m super normal. The normalest.”
“No way.
“Yes way! I bet—” She seemed to hesitate. “I bet I could sit behind you at school and you wouldn’t even notice me.”
“Lies,” Adrien said. “I would definitely notice.”
“Right. Well … um, wow, would you look at the time!” She let out a nervous laugh, glancing down at an invisible watch on her wrist. “I’d better be off. It was nice to love you, Adrien—I mean, nice to see you. Bug out!”
She spun on her heel, and without his permission, his hand shot out to stop her.
“Um,” he said, “do you—I mean … well, I still don’t get why you’re in disguise. Do you need help with something?”
“No! I mean, thanks, that’s okay, but I really need to … oh.” Her voice trailed off, mouth falling open.
“What is it?”
“I was going somewhere, but I guess now I don’t … need to.”
“What do you mean?”
She held his gaze, biting her lip, and then released a breath, her words spilling out in a rush. “I heard you and Lila were gonna have a photoshoot today, so I was going over there to, like, stake it out and stop her from whatever terrible thing she was planning. But I was worried that if I wasn’t suited up already I’d have to find a place to transform and that could take forever because do you even know how hard it is to find a decent hiding place in one of the biggest cities in Europe?”
“Well—”
“And by the time I hid and transformed and got back, who knows what kind of damage she could’ve done? So I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll just have to suit up beforehand so I’m ready for action at a moment’s notice.’ But there really isn’t much that can cover a whole supersuit, so I stole—borrowed—my mom’s coat and the hat she bought for her trip to Côte d'Azur last year because, I mean, she literally never wears it, and I was gonna put it right back when I was done, and I couldn’t use any of my hats because they don’t have a big enough brim to hide my mask. Because, like, even with sunglasses on you can still see it, so I thought I could just kind of, like, bow my head and it would be fine—”
“Ladybug—”
“—and of course Tik—my friend told me it wasn’t a good idea, but I just couldn’t let anything happen because I’m the only one who knows what Lila’s capable of. So I’m the only one who can stop her.”
At last, Ladybug paused, breathing heavily, looking flushed beneath her mask.
“This is about Lila?” Adrien asked. “What were you afraid she was gonna do?”
She was definitely blushing now, pink spilling out from under all her layers of disguise. “Well—I don’t know! She would think of something! She’s a liar. Or—I mean …” She breathed in, closing her eyes briefly. “She is at high risk for akumatization. Or getting others akumatized.”
Adrien nodded. “I know.”
“You—you do?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I thought you did, at one point, but then you started doing all these photoshoots with her, and you guys seem pretty … friendly.” She made a face at the word, like it was something slimy and poisonous. “I mean, like, being all cuddly and couple-y and—like, if you’re dating Lila, that’s … that’s fine, I just have to, um, warn you that—”
“We’re not dating,” Adrien cut in. “We’re not even friends.”
“You’re not?”
“No,” he said firmly. “The photoshoots are my father’s idea, and I kind of let Lila do what she wants with them because, well, I made a deal with her.”
Ladybug frowned. “What kind of deal?”
“I told her I would do the shoots with her if she’d leave my friend Marinette alone. Lila got her expelled from school temporarily. She almost got her akumatized. It was terrible.”
“You … you did that?” Ladybug asked, sounding strangely distant. “You did that for Marinette?”
Adrien nodded. “She’s really important to me. I couldn’t let anything else happen to her. I mean, I hate having to hang around Lila and pretend to be her friend, but”—he shrugged—“it’s worth it. To keep Marinette safe.”
Ladybug appeared to be in some kind of daze. She wandered to the edge of the walkway, sinking down onto a bench.
“Is something wrong?” Adrien asked.
She shook her head slowly, taking in a deep breath. “That’s, um, really nice of you, Adrien.” A pause. “You’re a good friend.”
He sat down beside her. “You know Marinette, right?”
“Yeah,” Ladybug said. “Yeah, I know her.”
“Then please don’t tell her about this. I don’t want her to feel guilty or anything. She has enough on her plate already. She does so much, and she cares about people more than anyone I know, and I don’t want this to be one more thing for her to worry about, you know?”
“Right.”
Adrien pulled his lucky charm from the sack. “She’s the one who gave this to me. Maybe it’s silly, but I feel like it brings me good luck. I always carry it with me wherever I go. My Marinette lucky charm.”
“That’s …” She looked down, hiding her face under the brim of her hat. “That’s really sweet.”
“Maybe … maybe this is what made me run into you today. At least, I feel like it’s good luck to see you.” He paused, smile faltering. “But maybe it wasn’t so lucky for you that I, like, chased you down. Sorry about that.”
She raised her head. “No! I’m really glad we ran into each other. Maybe that thing is lucky after all.”
“But you don’t need luck anyway, huh? You’re Ladybug.”
She laughed, and for the first time, she leaned her head back, lifting her face to the sky. “Trust me. I need all the luck I can get.”
For a moment, they just sat there, watching the people passing by. It was strange, to sit side by side like this with Ladybug—exactly like he’d done a thousand times before, but nothing was the same. A bench instead of a rooftop. The street instead of the sky. And Paris, bustling all around them, instead of twinkling from below.
He liked it like this. (He liked it any way, with her.)
“So,” she said, “were you not actually supposed to have a photoshoot today?”
“I was, but it was canceled.”
“Oh? Why?”
“Because Lila has a huge zit.”
Ladybug’s eyes widened, and then she snorted as her face crumpled with laughter.
“I’m serious,” Adrien went on. “It’s enormous. Like, a category 5 disaster event.”
“You’re lying! They’d just cover it with makeup.”
“You can’t cover a geographical landmark with makeup,” Adrien said gravely.
Ladybug doubled over, clutching her sides as she howled. He laughed with her, feeling almost weightless with the thrill of it. He was laughing with his lady, without his mask. He’d made her laugh, and she knew it was him, and when she lifted her head again, the smile on her face (big, bright, beautiful, brilliant) was for him, Adrien Agreste, and no one else.
Finally, Ladybug straightened, nudging her sunglasses up on her nose to wipe at her eye.
“Wanna go out with me?” Adrien blurted.
She froze. “What?”
“I mean—sorry!” Adrien shook his head quickly. “I was on my way to a movie. And since you’re free now, and you’ve already got your disguise, I thought maybe you’d want to … come with me? Or—or not! I don’t mean to presume any—”
“Yes,” she said.
“Wait. Really?”
“Yes, I’d, um …” She brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. “I’d love to go with you.”
Warmth shot through him like a firecracker, and he felt his face split into a grin. “Great. I’ve always wanted to see a movie with Beach Vibes Sherlock Holmes.”
She laughed. “Lead the way, Mr. Perfect Disguise.”
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solbach-colbrock · 7 months
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Balcony - Seth Borden x Reader
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SUMMARY - Seth, your best friend and crush, learns about the state of your mental health when an investigation starts affecting you. His response isn't quite what you expected
WARNINGS - Ghost stuff, mentions of self-harm and suicide (reader is NOT okay), angst (fluffy ending)
WORDS - 6.6k
NOTES - first fic I’ve written in a while and it ended up very dialogue heavy. I also didn't expect it to be this long but here we are
~*~*~*~
Sometimes you weren’t sure why you trusted these boys so much. Sam had requested two things of you for this investigation: one, that you didn’t do any research beforehand so you’d learn the lore from the guide, and two, that you all arrive in the same car so you can have the drive up experience with everyone else. You had gotten into the habit of arriving to locations early to scope the place out before anyone else and doing research before investigations, and the boys started to get pouty about not sharing the experiences, so you complied. It had also been a while since you’d been on an investigation with Seth, so you were excited to see him again. 
You had met Seth after the Sallie House investigation. The boys had immediately FaceTimed you after both the Sallie House and Villisca investigations (and every investigation thereafter that you weren’t involved in) to tell you what they had experienced, and he caught your attention quite quickly. The excitement in his voice and energy about his experiences drew you in somehow more than the other three did, despite Nate practically jumping around the room when he was talking about the 8-ball. You’d been friends with him ever since and loved teaming up with him whenever possible. You had even been on his channel a few times.
To say you two were close was something of an understatement. He had started calling you after his own investigations, and even showed up to your house all hyped about some evidence he caught on numerous occasions. The two of you had grown comfortable with one another very quickly. You had shared beds when locations didn’t have enough for everyone, you constantly teased one another, and you were more than a little physically affectionate with each other. Josh often teased you for being so affectionate, but you were comfortable. 
The first time the teasing bothered you happened only a few months ago. Josh, along with Sam and Colby, had been making jokes about you and Seth being practically married. You were about to respond with a bad joke about finishing paperwork, but Seth replied first. The laugh that broke up his words when he said he could never be with someone like you hurt.  The fact that he found the whole concept funny enough to laugh at shattered any shred of self-confidence you had left in you. He thought you were gross. You swallowed the pain and laughed along with him, but every interaction with him from then on made you feel guilty for bothering him so much.
Eventually, it got easier to act normal again, but the thought that maybe he was serious about what he said still lingered.
The majority of the hour-long drive to the location consisted of Sam and Colby quietly discussing their plans in the front seat, and you and Seth fighting over a bag of gummy worms in the back. Colby finally intervened when you managed to slap Seth in the shoulder with one. 
“Let’s film the intro before these two start a war in the back seat. Everyone ready?” Colby cut in, taking what felt like the 10th right turn the whole drive. Everyone settled, and Sam hit record. 
“What’s up guys, its Sam and Colby, and today we are bringing Seth and Y/N to the famous Haunted Miller House in Fredericktown, Missouri. We are currently… fifteen minutes away from the house. How’s everyone feeling?”
“I’m excited bro. I’ve been wanting to come here for like, almost two years,” Seth admitted as he leaned forward in his seat. You leaned in as well to be heard better by the camera.
“I’ve said this before, but the fact that it’s a house freaks me out just a bit. It screws with my sense of security when we do haunted houses, like, homes are where you’re supposed to feel safe and there’s fucking spirits here. No thank you.” 
“I’ll keep you safe, don’t worry,” Seth replied. You raised your eyebrow at him.
“Oh what, Ghost Bait’s gonna protect me? No thanks, I’ll just smoke the sage.”
“Ouch, damn, alright. Fuck me, I guess.”
“Damn, roasting him back here. Colby how do you feel about this place?” Sam turned the camera forward to the driver's seat, missing Seth’s pout and your finger heart to apologize for the joke. It was all in good fun and both of you knew that. It was funny to play it up for the camera.
Two minutes away from the house, Sam pulled out the camera again. It felt like you were almost out in the middle of nowhere, even though town was less than half an hour down the road. The property sat on 15 acres of land, which was mostly forest save for the few acres that were cleared out for the house and yard. What was once farmland on the south side of the property had overgrown and been reclaimed by nature, though it was still obviously used for farming at some point. As soon as the house was in sight, everyone let out their excitement for the camera.
The house was beautiful, even in its decaying state. Nobody had dared to actually live there since the 1890s, and it sat abandoned until the 1970s, when it was taken over for paranormal research. Many investigators had come through the place, and unfortunately in the early days of it being open to the public, many frauds had come through. It had been closed again in 1994, and only reopened by approved booking only since 2014. 
The house was three stories, in an almost Victorian style, with a white exterior and a deep green trim. Large windows covered a rounded section on the northeast corner of the house. Even with the peeling paint, it still held a certain elegance. Your jaw dropped at the sight.
“There’s a fucking wrap around porch are you shitting me?!” you exclaimed, admiring the architecture as Colby drove slowly closer. 
“This place is sick, dude. The architecture is amazing,” Seth commented.
“Haunted or not, I’d kill to live in a house like this. Let’s just move in and pretend there’s no ghosts,” you joked. Something clicked in Sam and Colby’s minds the longer they looked at it.
“Doesn’t it feel a bit like the Winchester Mystery house? Just a bit?”
“I was just thinking that, yea. A little bit, like just the style sorta…” 
As Sam and Colby continued talking to the camera, your eyes drifted up to a balcony on the third story, just barely visible from the front of the house. The railing matched the deep green trim of the house, and three large windows lined the wall behind it. You couldn’t figure out why it intrigued you so much. It was just a balcony, though you were sure the view over the north side of the property was amazing You hadn’t even noticed that the car had stopped until Colby opened the door to the back seat. 
“You comin’? We can take a minute here if you’re too nervous.”
“No I’m good, just spacing out a bit. I may need to crack open a RedBull already.”
“Don’t drink it all just yet. We’ve got a long night ahead of us. Come on, help me grab the equipment and we’ll head inside.”
Sam broke the news that the guide was running late, but they had told him where they kept a hidden key, so the four of you let yourselves in and decided where to set up home base for the night. Sunset wasn’t for another hour, so none of the rooms on the first floor felt very spooky just yet. You decided the living room felt the best, and everyone got to work checking batteries and equipment. 
“I’m gonna go wander around for a bit, see if I can find the bathrooms in this place,” you announced, having finished helping Sam sort out batteries and making sure your own camera was fully charged.
“Dpn’t fall in,” Seth joked as he messed with the settings on his camera. You flipped him off and wandered towards the staircase, shaking your head as the boys laughed behind you.
“Hey Y/N!” Sam called out.
“Yeah?”
“Guide should be here in about 20 minutes, make sure to get back down here by then!”
“I will!”
The house seemed fairly well preserved, though you assumed it had been at least a bit fixed up since the 90s. The winding staircase going up the entirety of the home seemed a bit too sturdy for its age. There was a large room on the second floor that looked to be a study or small library, with dust covered books lining the walls. There were two decent sized bedrooms on that floor as well, and two bathrooms, which you took a dutiful mental note of. 
The third floor was fairly similar, but with three bedrooms, and instead of a study there was a room that you presumed was a sort of living room area. There were gorgeous antique couches and rugs, mostly free of dust. Curtains, strangely, only lined two large windows on the east side of the room The windows on the north side were very bare, as was the door next to it. The door leading outside to the balcony. You walked towards the door, using a fair amount of force to nudge it open. It swung outwards, and the light breeze cooled your face as you stepped out. 
The view was beautiful, just as you had anticipated. You could smell the fresh air as it blew by you, feel the chill on your cheeks. You could almost imagine yourself laying in the large grass yard at night, listening to crickets and staring up at the stars. You told yourself you had to come back here once the sun went down, even for a five second glance at the cosmos. There was bound to be almost no light pollution, and you’d definitely need some pictures. 
The wood of the railing felt rough against your fingers, almost bumpy as you pulled yourself closer to it. You hadn’t quite realized how high up you were until you looked down. You stretched up to your toes to get a better feel for the height and then…something changed. Something felt different the moment you looked as far down as you could manage. Your hands gripped the railing, but somehow you felt oddly at peace. You couldn’t move your gaze from its downward position, but you didn’t want to anyways. You let your eyes unfocus, and you took a deep breath. Something about this view felt so… final. Your ears were ringing.
Normally you steered clear of heights, too afraid of your own thoughts and impulses to allow yourself near them. In this moment, it wasn’t the same. You welcomed it, whether by choice or not, you welcomed the feelings that were coming to the surface. You focused on the view. The changing view. It was changing…
A hand on your shoulder snapped you from your stupor, your head whipping in the direction of the sensation. Seth looked at you, wide eyed and confused. Your ears stopped ringing. 
“Are you good? I’ve been calling your name for a solid minute here. Did you see something?” You blinked, risking a glance back out over the trees.
“Uh, no, no. It’s just really pretty out here. Admittedly I did space out a bit, but I’ve just been looking,” you said, still unsure of what just happened. 
“I thought you were afraid of heights, why the hell were you looking down like that?”
“I don’t know, just… just looking around, honestly.”
“Well the guide got here ten minutes ago, I’ve been looking for you. Let’s head downstairs and get you an energy drink on the way.”
“Yea… you know what, I’ll meet you down there. I just want to get some pictures really quickly.”
“You left your camera downstairs. Are you positive you’re okay? You seem a bit out of it.”
“I’m fine Seth. I just want another minute.”
“Okay no, we’re going. You’re acting weird and I don’t want this to be some ‘call of the void’ shit. Let’s go.” His hand once again made its way to your arm, but you resisted his pull. You didn’t mean to, you fully intended to listen and go with him, but your body decided otherwise. “Y/N, you’re starting to freak me out.” Another arm planted itself around your waist, and you were brought inside. The moment you passed through the doorway, the pull you were feeling was gone. “You wanna tell me what the fuck that was about?”
“I don’t- I think I’m just nervous to be in here. You know how I am about houses.”
“We’re safe, we’re gonna sage as soon as the guide leaves. If anything goes sideways, we’ll leave, alright? Let’s get downstairs. They’re waiting for us.”
~*~*~*~
Marsha had a very captivating way of telling stories. You had heard plenty of guides tell their stories about their paranormal experiences and the lore of the locations, but she had done a good job of keeping your interest and making the stories seem just as scary as they actually were.
“Wait, so Edwin, the father, cheated of Gwendolyn with six different women, and then when she found out, she shot him in the cellar, went upstairs, locked all four kids in one of the bedrooms, set them on fire, and then killed herself?” Colby attempted to recap the story that she had just told. He was in a chair next to her, Sam holding the camera standing across from Colby. You and Seth were spread on on a couch across from her, listening intently. Your legs were halfway across the couch, knees bent slightly so as not to jab Seth in the leg with your boot. He leaned forward as Colby spoke, elbows meeting his knees and hands coming up to cover his mouth in shock.
“Yea, you’ve got it just about right there,” Marsha replied nodding. Sam chimed in with his own question from behind the camera. 
“So, what would you say are the most active areas of the house?”
“Most people that come through here say that the cellar, the dining room, the room where the kids died, and the balcony up on the top floor are the most active. You get a lot of stuff happening there. Some people hear stuff, some even smell stuff, and your equipment should be pretty responsive in those areas as well.”
“What’s significant about the dining room and the balcony?” Seth asked.
“Well people have claimed to hear a number of things in the dining room, whether its parties or Edwin and Gwendolyn arguing and throwing things at each other. We’ve even come in to see some of the dinnerware smashed when nobody had been inside for three days. The balcony is where Gwendolyn jumped off and killed herself. Y’all should be careful up there.”
“Hold on, she jumped? I read that she shot herself or drank poison or something. I didn’t see anything about her jumping to her death.”
“People used to think it was something else because of a fake medium that came through here in the 70s or 80s, but we’ve learned the truth since. By the way, if any of you struggle with depression, if you self-harm or think about suicide at all, I'd advise you don’t set foot on that balcony. It affects people that have that kind of thing bad enough.”
“How does it affect people?” You finally speak up, trying your best to keep your voice and expression one of genuine curiosity. You didn’t want the dread to show. You hoped she would say anything but what she was about to say.
“Well nobody’s thrown themselves off or anything, but it definitely picks up on those feelings and seems to amplify them. We’ve had a few guests and mediums tell us that they felt what Gwendolyn probably felt before she jumped. They said they felt rooted to the spot staring off that balcony, like they couldn’t move. They didn’t say they were scared when it happened, but they felt like they needed to be there, and they thought about jumping even though they couldn’t move. It’s only ever been people that hurt themselves or are already thinking about suicide, as far as we’re aware. So now we warn everyone about that. No depressed people on the balcony, we don’t need any more ghosts,” she explained, adding a small laugh to her final sentence. 
You looked at the camera, feigning a surprised face. You could feel Seth’s eyes on you, but you couldn’t look at him. Your cheeks felt hotter than they had a moment before. He had connected dots that you had hoped he would never connect, and now you couldn’t look at your best friend. You all thanked her, and you tried to be casual about your goodbyes. The front door clicked shut behind her. Sam and Colby went to gather equipment for the first investigation, leaving you and Seth alone in the living room. 
“Tell me what happened on the balcony wasn’t what she was just talking about.” There was a faint shake in his voice, as if he was scared of what you might say. He stood behind the couch now, a few feet from where you were still seated, eyes boring a hole into the back of your neck. You tried to think of a quick lie. 
“It wasn’t. I genuinely went up there to get pictures,”. You claimed. You shifted sideways on the couch. You were still too nervous to look at him directly, but you wanted to acknowledge him.
“Without your camera? With the heights? Y/N, you’ve always asked me to get the pictures that are anywhere near any sort of drop, even with guardrails and shit. You understand why I don’t believe you, right?”
“I am begging you to believe me, Seth. When have I ever shown signs of being depressed? I’m fine!”
You weren’t fine, and up until this moment Seth believed you every time those words left your mouth. You had developed quite the skill for hiding your issues, even from the people closest to you. Your mental health had been getting worse and worse, finally devolving into its current tragic state only a few months ago. You were so scared at first that they would spot the wounds on your wrists and hips immediately, but you had no such fear anymore. You had been hiding too well to worry up until now. 
You never wanted him to know, never wanted any of them to know. You didn’t want to bother them with this when they had their own lives to live and personal stuff to deal with. You didn’t want to hear the anger in their voices if they ever found out, didn’t want them to think you were weak or pathetic, but you couldn’t hide it anymore. Not from him.
“Please just tell me the truth. You don’t have to tell me how bad it is, but you need to tell me if it is bad, because not only am I incredibly scared that you haven’t told anyone about this, but this is also about your safety right now. If you’re- fuck, Y/N/N, if you're hurting yourself or thinking about killing yourself, we can’t go anywhere near the third floor. I might just take you home because I don’t want to risk this. Please just tell me nothing's wrong because I don’t want to believe what I’m hearing.” His voice was clearly cracking now, and you felt a pain in your chest every time you heard it.
 As you finally turned to look at him, your hear shattered. Seth didn’t cry often, but the tear tracks lining both his cheeks were so obvious. More tears spilled from his eyes as you looked at him, the look in his eyes a silent plea for you to convince him that he doesn’t have to worry about you. You felt so guilty seeing him like this. 
“Whoa, what’s wrong? Seth, what happened?” Sam’s voice came from behind you. You sighed and shook your head at Seth, whose eyes still hadn’t looked away from you. It was bad enough he knew; you didn’t want to drag anyone else into this. A beat of silence passed before he spoke. 
“Y/N can’t go near the balcony,” Seth said simply, allowing the others to figure out what he meant.
“Actually? Like Y/N… fuck, really?”
You closed your eyes in defeat, resting your head in your hands. The couch cushion dipped next to you as a hand was gently placed on your shoulder. Your knees drew closer to your chest. You hoped that, somehow, if you curled up and closed your eyes, this would just go away. 
“Look, we’re not gonna make you do anything like that, especially if it’ll affect you negatively. Even if I’m assuming wrong here, which frankly I hope I am, and it’s just the heights that are freaking you out-“
“It’s not the fucking heights, Colby. It’s not- they were on that fucking balcony earlier before the guide showed up, staring at the fucking ground. I had to physically drag them inside because they wouldn’t come in when I asked. It only fucking affects people who- God damn it. It’s already affected them and I want to get them the fuck out of this house,” Seth interjected. He was pacing now, picking at the sleeves of his flannel. You had never seen him this freaked out by anything. Colby’s hand moved from your shoulder to your back. You still didn’t want to look anyone in the eye, opting to peek through the gap between your knees to look around the room. 
“I-… I don’t know how long you’ve been feeling like this, and I do think we should talk about it at some point because trust me, its really important to talk to people about this stuff, but I kinda agree with Seth that you should probably sit this one out.” You whipped your head up and jumped from the couch, moving yourself across the room from everyone.
“No, for god's sake I’m a grown adult. I can make these decisions for myself. Put me on a leash if it’ll make you feel safer but I’m not leaving. I’ve been wanting to come here for months. Can we talk about this after we investigate, please? I’m not missing out on an investigation because you guys are overprotective. I’ll be fine.”
The silence that followed your words was tense. Sam and Colby looked back and forth between everyone, but you and Seth just stared directly at each other. The gears were turning in both of your heads, deciding what to do or say from here. 
“The millisecond you feel like you want to go up there you tell someone. Immediately. You can’t go anywhere alone, no solos. I’m not even gonna give you the luxury of pissing by yourself while we’re here. Stick with us at all times, hold my hand, whatever you need to do to stay away from that balcony. I will handcuff us together, I swear to God. I hate this but if you stay in my sight I’ll deal,” Seth rambled, stepping closer to you. 
You knew damn well that he would absolutely physically attach himself to you if he thought it was necessary. You also knew that there was no escaping the inevitable conversation that you really didn’t want to have. The investigation gave you time to prepare, or more favorably, give them a chance to forget that you’re not okay. As much as you wanted to go back to the balcony, you knew that realistically, they wouldn’t let you, which was probably for the best. Your arms crossed themselves over your chest. 
“Fine, fine. As long as I get to stay. Where’s our first stop here?”
~*~*~*~
True to his word, Seth did not leave your side the entire night. Even when he went under for an Estes session, he kept a hand on your knee, and kept a tight grip on your ankle when you went under later in the night. The higher in the house you got, the more you could feel the pull. Your name had come up a few times during the night, usually followed by ‘follow’ or ‘up’, which didn’t sit well with any of the boys. If the cameras weren’t such a constant presence, he would’ve had a firm grip on your waist, but instead he opted for the bottom of your shirt and your belt loops so the cameras wouldn’t pick up so much of the constant touch. You wanted to be annoyed, but you couldn’t exactly complain about having him so close for hours at a time.
The only place left was the balcony. The boys seem in consensus that Sam and Colby would investigate out there, and you and Seth would take one last crack at the dining room. You, however, had another idea.
“Can you give me the courtesy of hearing me out on an idea real quick? I know none of you like it, but I think we all know the best evidence we could get on that balcony is if I’m out there. It would- don’t look at me like that, I’m right. I’m not gonna jump or anything. Look, I was feeling something when I was out there earlier, I was seeing things, but Seth pulled me back before I could figure out what it was. I know my limits, just trust me,” you pleaded. 
“I still don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be out there. Even if there wasn’t a risk to your safety, this could trigger you or something. I just don’t think that’s worth the risk,” Colby argued. You looked to Sam for help, but you knew he agreed with Colby. “Besides, if people know the lore and then see you being affected by this, they’re gonna do the math. I mean, is that really something you want fans to know?”
“Fuck the fans and frankly, fuck the cameras. You know I rarely feel stuff like this during investigations. This is real, man. I was drawn to it before I even knew what happened out there. I wasn’t even trying to learn anything, I had zero intentions besides exploring the house, and it was that strong? We can't just ignore that. This will be good evidence and you know it, even if it’s just for ourselves.”
“I fucking hate this,” Seth mumbled, pulling you closer to him. “I’ll let you out there on two conditions. One, that I hold onto you the entire goddamn time we’re out there, and two, we have this conversation right after we finish, out in the yard. As much as I want to do it the second the cameras are off, I don’t want anything in this house feeding off of that energy.”
“You’ve been holding me this entire time, I wouldn’t expect any less right now. Yard would be smart… I just don’t want to talk about it at all. I’d rather pretend everything’s normal but you’re not gonna let that slide.”
“Well it isn’t normal, and we’re gonna address it. Now, do you want me to hold your hand or what? What’s the plan out there?”
“Estes? I can go under and hold the railing. I feel like that would be at least a decent trigger, give us some good results. If nothing else, I can just stand there for a bit and tell you what happens. It honestly felt like scrying just without the mirrors,” you suggested. 
“This is insane, I can’t believe you want to do this,” Sam said. He handed you the blindfold. 
“You spent the night in the conjuring basement Sam, you can’t say shit.”
“Fair.”
~*~*~*~
“Okay guys, we are about to do something… unusual for our last investigation tonight. This balcony is said to have a weird energy about it, and Y/N thinks they can tap into it. Now, even though our guide said there was no real safety issue up here, we’re still gonna be as careful as possible, so Seth is gonna hold onto Y/N while they go under for one final Estes session,” Sam explained to the camera. He pointed it towards you, already pressed up to the railing with Seth’s arms firmly around you. You slipped the blindfold and headphones over your ears, and focused on the static. The boys started with their questions.
“Gwendolyn, are you here with us?”
“Me. Hello.”
“Hi Gwendolyn. We just want to ask you a few questions. We mean you no harm, we just want to communicate and tell people your story. Can you tell us how you died?”
“Husband.”
“Husband… there is that theory that Edwin actually killed her and that he was the one that set the fires, and then killed himself in the cellar out of grief. Do you think-“
“No. No.”
“No, so you did kill yourself?”
“That’s correct.”
“Gwendolyn, why do you draw people to this spot? Do you want them to know how you felt when you died?”
“Feeling. It hurts. Can’t understand.”
“We’re so sorry that you had to go through that. You didn’t deserve for your husband to treat you like that.”
“Why did you kill your children, Gwendolyn?”
“Don’t talk about-… fuck you.”
“Damn, she does not want to talk about that.”
“Leave me alone. I’m going.”
“Where are you going?”
“Down. Down.”
“We want to ask you a few more questions, is that okay?”
“Deserve this. Nobody loves-… not worth anything.”
“That’s not true. You didn’t deserve wha happened to you. We’re so sorry you didn’t have a happier life.”
“Taking them with me.”
“Taking your kids with you?”
“Let go. Off. Borden. Go away.”
“Oh fuck no, We’re ending this.”
“Y/N. With me. Jump.”
Seth yanked you back from the railing as Colby pulled the headphones and spirit box away from you. You were drained all of the sudden, feeling a bit shaky and dizzy. Normally you needed to be under much longer for it to get to you, but this session really took it out of you, physically and emotionally. You didn’t even know what you had been talking about but you didn’t feel fantastic. He pulled the blindfold off your face when you didn’t move to take it off.
“That was fucked up. We’re never doing anything like that again.”
“What was the conversation? Did it make sense?”
“We’ll talk about it downstairs. I don’t want us to be up here anymore, but it made perfect sense. That was terrifying.”
~*~*~*~
The grass was soft, having benefitted from the recent week of rainfall. The stars littered the sky above you, giving you something to focus on other than the heavy silence between you and Seth. Sam and Colby were packing up the last of the equipment in the house, giving the two of you space to talk.
“It was like… the feelings weren’t mine. I fully felt them but it wasn’t coming from me? It’s hard to explain. It was intense.”
“We need to talk about your feelings. You keep dodging the issue and talking about Estes. You agreed we would talk.” You crossed your arms over your chest in an attempt to tamp down the nerves buzzing behind your rib cage. 
“I know, I know. Fuck, I never wanted anyone to know. I don’t even know how to talk about it. I don’t want to make this your problem.”
“You’re not making it my problem, it isn’t a problem in the first place. It is, however, my business when the people I love are hurting and I have the ability to do something about it. Just… don’t worry about phrasing it correctly, just say whatever comes to mind and we’ll make sense of it together. How long have you felt like this? How bad is it?”
“Since I was twelve, in one form or another. It got worse as I got older, and this is the worst its ever been. I uh… I do cut and I think about suicide a lot. It’s passive though, I don’t have a plan or anything. I just… I’ve tried so many things. Therapy has never helped, my medication does fuck all, all my coping mechanisms stop being effective eventually. It just feels so helpless, like I’m never gonna get better, so why would I put my energy into trying? Every therapist I’ve had has told me that it’s basically managing my symptoms and keeping afloat at this point anyways and I don’t want to fucking- I don’t want to spend the rest of my life keeping afloat. It’s fucking miserable.”
“Have you ever talked to anyone besides a therapist?”
“No, I hate bothering people with this shit. I feel like I’m needy enough without it.”
“You’re not needy, and this doesn’t classify as bothering anyone. It’s using your support system. We’re your friends. We love you. We’re here for you, so let us be here for you.”
“You shouldn’t have to fucking babysit someone that you think is pathetic! You deserve better than putting up with my bullshit! Fuck, I should’ve never come here! This conversation is over until you can get it through your thick fucking skull-“
“Whoa, hey! Y/N, stop!” Seth grabbed your shoulders, stopping your attempt to walk away from him. “What the fuck are you talking about? I never said you were pathetic, and you aren��t. Is this just the depression talking or has someone actually made you feel like you’re pathetic for feeling like this because I swear to fucking god-“
“Do you actually love me? Do you enjoy being friends with me or are you just tolerating me because I work with Sam and Colby? Please just fucking be honest with me. I’d rather have my feelings hurt now than have you put up with me out of obligation. I know I’m not worth the attention or energy most of the time. I know I’m annoying and add nothing to investigations. I add nothing to anyone’s lives and I’m just sort of here, but I just need someone to fucking say it to my face because I’ll happily leave if it’ll make your lives easier.”
You were almost shaking now, hot tears spilling down both of your faces. The heartbroken look on his face sent a pain shooting through your chest. You had made him feel like this and you hated yourself all the more for it.
“I have never, ever felt that way about you. You have no idea the amount of times I turn to say something to you during investigations and get sad when you’re not there. You’re the first person I run to when I have something cool to say. I choose to use my attention and energy on you because I do love you. I wouldn’t crave your presence all the damn time if I didn’t love the fuck out of you. You are not pathetic. You are my favorite person on this god damn planet and I’d give my left leg if it meant you would stop hurting yourself.”
“…Seth?”
“Yeah?”
“You… can you promise me that nothing I do bothers you? I just feel like sometimes I ask for too much attention or I’m too touchy or something. The fans are gonna be all weird and shippy after this video comes out and if you’d rather they didn’t see that sort of thing it doesn’t have to go in the video. We can even stop all touches altogether if you’re uncomfortable with them thinking-“
“I’d rather get possessed than not be able to show you affection anymore. I don’t care what the fans think. They can mind their own damn business. We’ve always been touchy.”
“So… the fact that they’re gonna think we’re dating doesn’t bother you?” His hand drifted up from your shoulder to your cheek, somehow colder than the air around you. You leaned into the touch gratefully.
“Not the worst idea they could have. Actually I kinda don’t mind the thought of it. Our friends are always teasing us for being a married couple. I don’t see how us dating would be much different than things are now. We’re almost there, we just haven’t managed to kiss yet,” he laughed. You we’re hoping, with every fiber of your being, that his laugh was more nervous than joking. You gently placed your hands on his chest and pulled lightly at the edges of his flannel.
“We haven’t kissed because you’d probably regret it,” you mumbled. The buttons on his shirt suddenly became very interesting to you. 
“Why the fuck would I regret it?”
“I’m not exactly worth bragging about. Besides, now that you know that I’m all kinds of fu-“
His lips were warm on yours. The taste of tears lingered in the corners of your mouths. Your grip on his shirt tightened in a desperate attempt to pull him closer. You almost wanted to push him away for his own sake, but the hand that gripped your waist and pulled you flush against him erased that thought entirely. As soft and cautious as it started, the years of both of you wanting exactly this came rushing forth and pushed you both into desperation for one another. The kiss got deeper, fingers pressed harder and wandered further, any care for breathing went out the window. You were the first to pull away, dizzy and overwhelmed.
“There’s no shot in hell I’ll ever regret that,” Seth breathed, smile creeping across his lips as he looked at your breathless state. The butterflies in your stomach hit full force when his thumb brushed across your kiss bruised lips. 
“You just… would it be weird to admit I’ve wanted to do that for a while?” You laughed. He laughed with you, taking your hand in his. 
“So have I. You’re extra stuck with me now because I definitely want to do that a lot more.” He pressed his lips softly to your palm, right above your wrist. “And your issues aren’t gonna scare me away. We’re in this together whether you like it or not. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
Tears welled in your eyes once again. The small gesture made your heart flutter, even more so when he kissed your wrist again, holding it longer this time. 
“It’s bad, Seth. It’s really bad and I don’t know how to fix it.”
“Then I’ll make it my first official duty as your boyfriend to at least distract you from it, maybe with more kissing.” You laughed at that, pawing the tears from your eyes. He wiped at hem as well, catching the stray ones that you missed. You pulled him closer to you, hugging him as tight as your arms would allow. 
“You guys good out here?” Colby’s voice carried over from the front of the house. He and Sam were lugging bags of equipment, finally ready to leave the location. Seth turned towards them with his arms still firmly around you.
“Yea we’re chilin’. We fuckin’ kissed, bro!” He shouted. You laughed and buried your face in his chest, smacking him lightly.
“Fucking finally! Ready to head out then?”
“Totally, we’ll be right there!”
Two fingers pushed your chin up so your eyes met his. He placed a kiss on your forehead, and another quick one on your lips. You wanted it to continue but you knew you had a long drive ahead of you, so you took his hand and walked with him to the car.
“Before we head out, do you want to talk about the self-harm because I’m still worried,” Sam asked. He leaned against the driver’s side door, keys dangling from his hand. Seth spoke before you could figure out what to say.
“I think they’ll be okay. We’re gonna work on it together, right?”
“Yea… yea we are. Together.”
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ominous-auburn-orbs · 7 months
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Ok I know it's been a while since the last Invincible episode, but I had the sudden motivation to paragraph anyway.
What I wanted to talk about is the one scene that made everyone uncomfortable: the shower scene.
Now, as we're all well aware, the relationship between Dupli-Kate and the Immortal is morally dubious at best, considering not only their actual and physical age difference but also the large power imbalance between them, physical and position wise.
But, on a good note, it is clear from the writing that we are not supposed to like their relationship at all.
Throughout this scene, when Kate is telling Rex about how Immortal and her are a couple now, Immortal doesn't say nor do anything to prove it or reassure her. He hardly even looks at her. His expression is completely steely; he does not feel an emotional connection with Kate, while Kate likely wants to pretend he does.
I would have images to prove this, but this isn't really something I feel like googling, so just trust me bro.
Even within this scene, the two are shown to have no chemistry whatsoever, with Immortal paying near to no attention to Kate at all.
This is important to note as it ties in with Immortal's sub-plot as a whole. Already in just 2 episodes, it's become incredibly clear that something is wrong with him. He hardly shows any emotions beyond frustration, which highly contrasts with how he was in the first episode of the show. He is meant make the audience uneasy and is not supposed to be likeable. He's likely to become a proper antagonist, as since his debut he's done nothing that would make us trust him because he isn't meant to.
If whatever I'm rambling about was already revealed in the comics, please don't tell me as I haven't read them and don't want to be spoiled for what will happen later on in the show.
If you couldn't already tell, I like film analysis.
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dazaisdior · 2 months
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₊˚a story in which you are able to see your soulmate in your dreams every other night. you keep seeing a man appearing in your dreams, but you never believed in love. that is, until you meet him.
warnings — bsd x fem!reader, minor bsd spoilers (but it’s an au), ada!dazai, angst, fluff, romance, mentions of traumatic backstories & self-medication, reader has a dream job as a veterinarian, reader has an ability similar to midoriya’s mother from bnha (being able to make small objects float), reader has an emotional support dog along with a cat
MASTERLIST
notes: bro i hope this is good
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You never believed in love. Even if you were destined to be with a person for the rest of your life, you had no interest in finding them. You had other things to do–better things to do, like strive towards your dream job and enjoy your life to the fullest. Becoming a veterinarian has been a dream of yours since you were a child.
You’ve had a passion for helping animals after they’ve done so much for you. You simply wanted to return the favor. However, you were currently taking a gap year to bring yourself into a better mental state.
Rosa, your cat, meowed, curling up in your lap. Chi, your emotional support dog, whimpered, trying to nudge your cat off your lap. Your animals had a jealousy feud that you hoped would die down. You only recently got this emotional support dog, so you hoped they would ease up to each other. You were currently eating dinner and watching a Studio Ghibli movie. They were your comfort movies–perfect ones to curl up and just enjoy the amazing scenery and phenomenal characters and storylines. If only you could be transmitted to the mystical fairytale-like world of a Studio Ghibli film. 
But alas, life is not a fairytale. It is filled with hardships and challenges you must overcome. You knew that all too well.
Suddenly, you heard your doorknob jiggle. Fearing someone was trying to break in, you grabbed Rosa and hurried her and Chi into your bedroom, shutting the door, in order to keep them safe. You ran to the kitchen and grabbed a knife before heading over to your front door and held your back against it. 
“Stupid, stupid Y/n,” you muttered, not even thinking about grabbing your phone in a state of panic. Slowly, you inched away from the door and rushed to grab your phone on the coffee table in front of the sofa. You dialed the police and held your phone to your ear with a shaky hand. 
“What’s your emergency?” A male voice came from the other line. “There’s someone trying to break into my house! Please, please hurry,” you said frantically. The door burst open and a scream erupted from your mouth. However, a brunet man yanked the intruder back and slammed him to the ground. “Ma’am, is everything alright?” The voice spoke on the other line. “Th–There’s a man he…he pulled the person breaking in out of my home and threw him on the ground,” you stumbled over your words. The sound of sirens rang in your ears, coming from a distance. “What is your address, ma’am?” “I–” “Don’t worry, those sirens are for us!” The brunet man called out, holding the intruder's hands behind his back. “How can I trust you?” You shouted at him. 
It was then that the sirens approached your home and several police cars appeared in front. You didn’t dare move from your position, as if your feet were glued to the ground out of fear. The police arrested the man and questioned you and the brunet. 
When the police left, the man finally faced you. “I apologize for this intrusion. I didn’t think he’d try to break into somebody’s house–let alone a lovely lady like you,” he told you. Your eyes widened at the man, not because of his flirtatious remark, but because of the fact he was the man from your dreams–your soulmate. 
“I’m Dazai Osamu,” he introduced himself formally. “Nice to meet you, Dazai-San, but you really must be going now,” you explained, beginning to turn to enter your house again. “Wait, that’s no way to treat your soulmate!” He complained. So he did know. You paused in your steps, turning around. 
“Look, I have no interest in marrying my soulmate or even being in the same vicinity as them. So, you can just leave and live a cozy life with some other person,” you told him, crossing your arms and staring at him. “Isn’t that what people dream of though?” “Not everyone, I just have bigger priorities other than love,” you explained, shrugging.
“Hmm, well if that’s the case, I’ll see you, mystery girl,” he said, smirking. Dazai began walking away, leaving you to sigh heavily and enter your home. Entering your bedroom, you let your pets out. Returning to the sofa, you tried continuing your movie and eating your dinner, but had an uneasy feeling in your stomach.
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“Y/n, when will you be attending college?” Your mother asked, causing you to drop your utensils on the plate below you, making a clattering sound. Tucking your bottom lip between your teeth, you huffed angrily. “Mom, I’m trying to improve my health,” you briefly explained, trying not to get agitated and say something you don’t mean.
Chi noticed your stressed state, rubbing the bridge of her nose against your leg. “It’s been ten years. You have got to get it together, you’re an adult now,” your mom pleaded. You sighed, not wanting to have this conversation in public. “I know, mom.” You kept your voice down. “I’m serious, I’m not gonna be here much longer. You’re going to have to figure things out for yourself.”
You sighed, running a hand down your face. “Yeah, yeah, I know,” you mumbled, shaking your head. You were well aware you’d lose your mom someday, yet you still prayed that day never came. After all the loss in your life, you craved someone to be with you forever. Someone you can form a connection with. 
Your mind drifted back to the man who saved you from the intruder. Your soulmate. It was like a nightmare come true. You didn’t want love, but you needed love. You tried pushing it away as much as you could but the desire never went away.
Brushing it off, you continued to poke at your salad with your fork. It wasn’t like you were going to see him again, so you shouldn’t even be thinking about him. He’s probably off thinking about another person as well.
SIghing, you tried taking a bite of your meal. Your appetite hasn’t been very large since the age of 16. It might’ve been stress-induced, but you weren’t too sure. 
After finishing your meal, you and your mother parted ways. “Think about what I said,” she told you, ruining your mood again. You had just forgotten about it. Shaking your head, you began heading to your car with Chi. 
You dropped her off at home and drove to your job at a local nightclub. You worked as a bartender and earned a hefty wage, completely oblivious to the fact that it was solely because your employer was into you. 
“Hey babe,” Kaori, your best friend, said, glancing at you before continuing to change into her attire. “Hey Ri,” you replied back, beginning to change. “You will not believe what happened to me…” You recalled the attempted break-in that occurred the previous night. “No way, what the hell?” She exclaimed, turning when you finished tucking in your shirt. 
“I wanna spot a cute guy in the crowd tonight and make him mine!” Kaori giggled. “Yeah, make him yours for one night. Then you’ll be onto the next guy,” you chuckled, exiting the changing room. “No, I'm serious. I wanna settle down.” Your eyes widened. The thought of your best friend, who was usually a party animal and took a new guy home every night, settling down seemed impossible.
“Well, it’s your life and it’s up to you.” Kaori nodded eagerly and placed her arm around your shoulder.
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kurolumiis productions, 2024
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canidaria · 3 months
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slenderstuck alpha kids sprites
misc info below!
Dirk Stirder
- he/him intersex gay arospec
- lives with his bro, D Strider, a famous director for his absolutely TERRIBLE MOVIES
- dirk wants to be just like him, filming the odd paranormal activities he finds with his somehow-related-family-member, roxy
Roxy Lalonde
- she/he bi (unaware of our current genders and prns bcs I firmly believe in she/he/nya roxy but idk if that existed in the 2000s)
- lives mostly with her dad, occasionally going to her mom’s for the summer
- dirk is the only person he hangs out with those summers
- compsci genius but words everything like a sk8r bro so no one has any idea what she’s saying
Jane Crocker
- egg. He will transition eventually, trust. He/him transmasc butch lesbian
- lives with his brother, Jake, and their grandparents
- vaguely knows who dirk is
- aspiring to never see anyone he grew up with ever again
Jake English
- any pronouns gender apathetic dude. unlabeled sexuality. you ask and he says guess
- lives with Jane and the grandparents, albeit most of the time she’s running off to who knows where doing who knows what
- in the words of the elderly
- adventures around the local forest frequently, speaking to a thing within it
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thesunshineriptide · 2 years
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Stores I’m taking the TWST boys to and why (brutal)
Cw: light bullying of every boy and half of the stores. Also crackfic material
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I’m taking Ace, Deuce, and Grim to Walmart at 3AM. That’s where you go to ride a child’s bicycle, cry in the cereal aisle, and play with toys that you don’t intend to buy and not worry about getting kicked out or banned. It is the only store safe for the braincell trio to go
I’m taking Cater to Starbucks so he can buy a $7 drink and post a picture of it on magicam. Then I’m taking him to therapy
I’m taking Trey to sur la table because he can behave and I think he’d like looking at kitchen equipment like a single 40 year old dad. He and I have to go alone though because I trust him not to get me banned but I don’t trust him not to spend all my money
Riddle is going to Barnes and noble and I’m sitting in the kids section reading picture books while he goes through every single bookshelf. After I run out of picture books I’m sitting in the Starbucks. He’s halfway through the store and moving at a snails pace. Ends up picking out one book so I buy him that and one of the really cute plushies they keep near the kids stuff
I’m taking Leona to the pound target and I’m making him guess how much basic household items are. He will fail and I will laugh at him and shame him
Ruggie and Jack are going to five below. I give them each $25 and tell them to go wild. Jack brings back plant holders and squishmallows while Ruggie has filled a cart with $25 of food and a sleep mask. Now every time we pass a five below they both beg to go in there.
I’m taking Jade to world market because a) they have cute mushroom mugs and soup careens, and b) exotic snacks. He will drain my bank account and I will let him. I am a complete simp for this man
I’m taking Floyd and rook to bass pro shop. We are forcibly removed from bass pro shop after Floyd throws a basketball at a workers face and rook shoots an arrow and almost hits another customer.
I’m taking Azul to ikea. He said he’s really passionate about interior design and likes clean looking spaces so I’m taking him to ikea. I will force him to eat a Swedish meatball. We end up buying pillows and also dunkleskög (we have shared custody of him)
Im taking Kalim to hot topic. He is intimidated but then he sees Sanrio shit and he is THERE bro he falls in love so fast with that little frog thing. End up buying matching best friend bracelets for both me and him and also for him and Jamil
Im telling Jamil that I’m taking him to the grocery store but in reality I’ve stolen his grocery list and I’m leaving him at therapy for an hour. I buy the groceries and drink coffee until he’s done and then we go home. I sleep with one eye open because this boy is anti self care with a passion
Vil and I are going to hobby lobby and stealing materials for Vil’s next film project. We don’t even pretend to hide them and the workers literally don’t care. Vil curses one of the cash registers and doesn’t tell anyone which one, just that he did it. The workers still don’t care because working at hobby lobby is a curse in itself.
It’s not a store but I’m taking Epel to the farmers market. He’s given $20 and ends up coming back with three heads of lettuce, a bushel of apples, two jars of jam, a jug of honey, and $34. I ask no questions and we go home to make an apple galette.
Idia and ortho are going to GameStop. Idia gets in a fistfight with a normie and is immediately hired by GameStop. Ortho comes out crying because he’s proud of Idia for making a friend
I’m taking Silver to a mattress store. We take a nap and get locked inside the building until morning. Spend the night talking and drinking the free coffee. We are banned upon the store opening the next morning (the coffee wasn’t free and we didn’t call anyone to get out)
I’m taking Sebek to a Jamba juice. Not technically a store, but he can yell as loud as he wants and it doesn’t bother anyone
I take Lilia to a guitar store. He plays an amazing ballad on a $4000 bass, then smashes it at the end. We are banned and being sued by the guitar store.
I take malleus to forever 21. He turns into a dragon and kills me
Malleus (real) I take him to lush and he picks out some bathbombs. Now the dragon smells like patchouli and lavender. Neat! And some of the workers there recognized him as a princ-
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I think it'd make for an interesting episode in the future if Branch ended up locking him and his bros in the Bunker.
like maybe something happens such as a loud noise and trembles in the earth making them think that some sorta dangerous creature has attacked outside and as a result Branch puts them into a lockdown in his Bunker.
and goes into full paranoid mode kinda making his bros feel somewhat uncomfortable.
anyway there was 2 ways I was thinking this could go in terms of Branch's characterisation either
1. he thinks the threat is genuine and he actually is just that overly afraid of losing anyone else that he cares about especially when he only just got his Brothers back.
but obviously he goes to obsessive crazy lengths to protect people not letting them leave even when it seems like there's no obvious danger anymore.
making his Bros see him at his most paranoid similar to how he was at the start of the first film.
or 2. it turns out he actually didn't legit think there was a threat but the entire Bunker Lockdown basically just was an excuse to stop his Brothers from leaving.
since it came time for them to go back to their lives elsewhere and he panicked and thus invented this excuse to stop them leaving again.
because he was that afraid that once they left they wouldn't come back again despite what they've said.
more just showcasing his extreme abandonment issues to his Bros and his lack of trust in them.
the second option could also work if instead of them thinking there's a potential threat instead something happens such as maybe the entrance to the Bunker stops working.
and they become unable to leave due to that and they spend the episode working on trying to fix it while also Bonding and maybe bickering a little over the situation.
only for it to turn out in the end Branch intentionally caused it to keep his Brothers there.
and maybe he angrily reveals this to his Bros after they end up arguing a bunch making him upset over how little they've actually changed.
like I said I feel as an episode idea there's some good Juicy emotional potential in a little bottle episode of just Branch keeping his Brothers in the Bunker for whatever reason.
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ultraericthered · 21 days
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So I just recently watched this confused little movie in full again.
And I have to say, shocker of shockers, Doug Walker got it wrong yet again. Aside from his typical lack of research on the development of this film (I don't think the "one character from each animated canon movie" project that was concieved for the potential 50th film back in the 2000s had anything to do with this and its correlation with the 100th year, as this was a project concieved in 2018, when it wasn't certain that it would be rolled out in 2023 five years later) and his typical hypocrisy of not giving it the "it's fine" pass that he gave the similarly middling quality Super Mario Bros Movie, his venomous lambasting of the film as being the worst Disney film because it's "nothing", thus capping off 100 years of history and creations with "nothing", is just dead wrong. If anything, the problem with Wish is exactly the opposite: it's got more than one "something" going on for it and gets perpetually tugged at and torn in all those directions.
The movie clearly began as merely a way to tell an all-new Disney original fairy tale that ties back to the old "When You WIsh Upon A Star" theme, but the 2023 deadline turned that into a celebratory milestone feature alongside the animation studio's own supplemental celebratory feature for that same milestone, Once Upon A Studio. But then the big corporate side of the Walt Disney Company, the side of Bob Chapek and Bob Iger, put its heel down on the production and tampered with the shape the film was taking in order to ensure it checked off every possible box of some arbritary Disney Formula checklist and include all the homages, references and cameos they wanted in it so that it could serve as the corporate celebration of Disney too.
But this isn't the only identity crisis it got hit with, for Wish presents itself as clearly a kiddie-oriented flick, trying to be something that whole families can watch together and enjoy well enough on the most basic, casual level, but particularly geared towards the little ones in the audience, to be for them what the Disney animated fairy tales of old were for Disney fans who are old timers today: the throwback is all too calculated and deliberate. And yet it tries to do this on the back of a premise that is rife with complex ideas, spiritual subtext, vague and sometimes contradictory rules that dictate the worldbuilding, and heavy themes like a self-made monarchy that has corroded the society of its citizenry into a cult following that puts all faith and trust in the royals to manage the most important parts of their lives and very selves for them not realizing or caring that they're being befrauded and restrained from the pursuit of self actualization and the realization of their own visions, how placing too much trust in one solitary other person with power over something that is your inalienable right not to be marked as anyone else's possession in the blind hope of a magic solution to all the obstacles in your life is unwise and unfulfilling when you could instead try to realize your heart's deepest desires yourself through your own utilization of other means, and when even the best intentions of a civilization's leadership gives way to oppressive, harmful practices, betrayal of committed responsibilities, and destructive corruption that seeks gratification and elevation of the self through the subjugation and dissipirtment of others. This is unfortunately on brand for Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, who similarly set up themes and ideas and even ethical dilemmas with potential dramatic weight in Frozen II only to have the film get cold feet (ha ha) and not go all the way with them because being a markettable Disney fairy tale for kids took priority.
And then lastly you get the whiplash duality that I as a viewer has to experience, where my mind is always wandering to what I wish (HA HA) this movie had been but also trying not to veer too off track from engaging with what the movie actually is, with the most bothersome part being that while I can get some decent, wholesome, all around solid entertainment from the movie as is (King Magnifico's scenes are always the most captivating and show-stealing parts), it also keeps showing me so many areas where even this finished product could have been significantly improved, which is especially true of the film's erractic pacing. The story slowing down a bit and allowing some of its scenes the breathing room they needed to really get the most out of them so that they sit better with the audience would've done wonders for the viewing experience. Expand more on backstories and axe the go-nowhere bits, have Asha be a ball of anxiety who’s not accustomed to having to extrovert so much, make Gabo less of a douche, make King Magnifico more of a douche, make Queen Amaya more morally gray and give her character arc the details to make it sensible and convincing, do similarly with Dahlia, give Star more clear communication bits, give Valentino much less to say, etc. That way even without the darker edges, the evil power couple, the Star Boy and semi-romance, the film is still a strong enough version of what it needed to be for a young audience.
Wish is ultimately an alright Disney film, definitely not the worst they’ve done, it’s passable entertainment. But I’m sure the creative team that worked on it is on the same boat as much of its audience: wishing for much more than this, ‘cause how much more this tale could’ve been is apparent in all the lanes it touched yet did not pick.
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