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arandomperson5647 · 7 months

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Encanto info from Jared Bush's Q&As

This is a little place where you can find (hopefully) a lot of info Jared has said in his Q&As. This is if you wanna check smth and don't wanna go on a hunt to confirm it since it's been so long. Idk if I got everything, I highly doubt I did, so if you have a piece of info I don't have and have a link to it, I can edit it on. Ngl I'm also kinda doing this for myself cuz I was curious to know everything he's told us. I'll mostly summarize the answer so it isn't longer than it needs to be, but I'll also copy+paste if I'm too lazy.

The info here kinda varies from interesting, to obvious stuff, to potentially pointless but really any of it can be used to do whatever.

Some of the answers he provided aren't concrete solid ("I think __ would happen", "I always thought ___", etc), so take this all with a grain of salt. I'll try to phrase the uncertain ones differently so you know they're not 100% (probably, possibly, might, etc). If the answer he gives is completely up to interpretation, then I won't include it. Some might be repeated cuz I don't feel like looking back to see if he answered the same question twice.

Just to warn you guys before you click "keep reading", this is a LONG post, so if you don't want it fill up your page, don't click it unless you really wanna read everything.

Antonio's Birthday Q&A #2 (5/21/23)

Canon universe:

Dolores never truly believed Bruno was still around. She heard stuff, but everyone told her he was gone, so she thought she was imagining things. "I knew he never left" was her way of saying "I shouldn't have doubted myself."

Antonio was a shy kid and animals are were easier for him to make friends with.

The potteries in Bruno's room were because it was fairly public for people who want visions, so they're probably a nod to that.

When Pedro went to the attackers when he died, he was planning to reason with them.

Luisa's associated with donkeys because they’re beasts of burden and that’s how everyone treated her.

Mirabel has her embroidery because she loves her family, but potentially also because she subconsciously want to make sure the villagers know despite having no gift she is every bit a Madrigal.

Isabela might potentially secretly like Pepa's chaos.

Julieta's really good at hiding her feelings about the pressure of being the town's healer, but she's also a naturally strong person.

There's a reason why Bruno's single but Jared didn't tell us.

Bruno's favorite food is Ajiaco, but potentially also big butt ants.

Julieta probably noticed Mirabel wasn't in the pic at Antonio's ceremony immediately after it was taken, but Mirabel had already left by then.

For a while, Bruno's limit for future seeing was until the fall of Castia, but now it's limitless.

Alma didn't necessarily approve of Agustín at first because he wasn't overly spectacular or confident.

Mirabel and Camilo got along well when they were young, but after Mirabel's ceremony, Camilo felt more pressure to perform and show off.

Even before his gift, Bruno probably worried and wondered about the future, which is what caused his gift.

The Madrigals mostly assumed Bruno had somehow left the Encanto after his disappearance.

The birth of the miracle happened near the turn of the 20th century, and Antonio's ceremony was 50 years later.

The 5th birthdays for the Madrigals is the big one. The others are "regular".

Camilo often annoys Isabela for fun and also because he's a bit envious of her. They're kinda opposite, perfect vs a clown.

The post-movie relationship between Mirabel and Isabela is probably mischevious.

Bruno probably already was breaking from pressure when Isabela was only in single digits.

Alma was loving to all her grandchildren, but sometimes it felt conditional due to her expectations. She wasn't self-aware enough to realize.

Félix can play the tiple, but not shown in the film.

Agustín and Félix probably wore their respective colors before marrying their respective wives. Their colors are also a nod to regionality.

Alma might've seen cracks before Mirabel saw them at Antonio's ceremony (not at the moment tho), giving her a reason to actually believe Mirabel and pray to Pedro.

Based off the book "Mystery in the Rainforest", Dolores and Mariano are engaged and planning a wedding soon.

There is a school in the Encanto, but since it's closed off and was formed in the beginning of the 20th century, new info would cease.

Pedro might've been the one to know sewing and embroidery. He taught it to Alma, who taught Julieta and Mirabel. She probably taught others but Mirabel did it the most.

Bruno's door might've started glowing again during his vision in Antonio's room because Mirabel is making him feel included in the family (and therefore Casita) again.

The Madrigals do have friends groups, just not shown.

Camilo's gift can be tiring. Like an actor playing their part.

Mirabel probably would've had a negative or even traumatic impact from the fall of Castia, mostly due to a near death experience.

The Madrigals have never tested their gifts beyond the Encanto, so it's still a mystery on what happens.

Antonio probably can talk to animals from different countries, not just Colombia.

Camilo sometimes tries to impress everyone with his gift.

Mirabel's birthday became "stressful" ever since her 5th.

Isabela would probably help Antonio decorate his room with crazy plants.

Behind the scenes:

5/21 is Afro-Colombian Day, which is why that's Antonio's bday.

There used to be a deleted scene of Mirabel getting grounded by Casita.

The Guzmans originally had the same number of family members as the Madrigals, and each member was like a doppelgänger of each gifted Madrigal child, except Mirabel, who was represented in the Guzman family by a goat.

There used to be a scene where Camilo's gift goes haywire at night or smth (can't figure out the full pic for this one).

Writers considered early on that Mirabel would want to leave, but they decided that from a character and cultural perspective, leaving her family would have been the absolute worst thing she could imagine.

It's never been established how long the ceremony doors appear before the ceremony, but 9 months has been considered.

Early versions would show that Alma had strict parents. It may or may not be true now, but it would make sense.

Mirabel used to have a gap in her teeth to show her quirkiness, but was removed because they wanted to show it in other ways.

Encanto Disney+ Hollywood Bowl Q&A (12/28/22)

Cannon universe:

Emotions can sometimes affect Bruno's visions.

Camilo often helped take care of babies even before Antonio's birth. He was just naturally good with them.

The stairs in Bruno's room probably grew as he became more distanced, so they probably lessened when Casita came back.

Luisa's favorite sister is probably Mirabel.

Camilo would probably sometimes be happy that Isabela found her true self, while also a bit jealous. It depends on the moment.

The Madrigals' reaction to someone entering the Encanto would probably be chaotic.

As a way to protect them, Alma was always a little strict on her family.

Julieta and Agustín often worried how Mirabel was doing, especially for Antonio's ceremony.

Alma tried to show she loved Mirabel in her own way after her ceremony and before the movie.

Camilo's experience being the only boy in the house for a while was...interesting. Not the easiest.

Pepa and Dolores' gifts have caused some difficulties between the two.

Especially post-movie, Bruno, Agustín and Félix would be a ridiculous trio.

The candle is now gone, but a new miracle took its place.

Félix and Mirabel have a good relationship, especially post-movie.

Isabela's 5th birthday was the first gift ceremony for the grandchildren.

Bruno was probably superstitious before moving in the walls.

Before the house fell, Alma probably wouldn't like Dolores marrying Mariano. After, she'd accept it.

The other Madrigals might have hidden potential in their gifts, much like Isabela did.

The townspeople mostly either put the Madrigals on a high pedestal or see them as equals.

Isa probably had at least one flower she'd intentionally give Mirabel allergies with.

Bruno was probably a bit popular at one point.

Adopted Madrigal kids that were 6+ would probably still get a gift.

Mirabel's near-sighted.

Camilo's probably gotten in trouble for his disguises at times.

Bruno's mostly a rat guy because he's around them the most.

Pepa has a sweet tooth but doesn't let her self have too much due to her weather.

Isabela can grow trees and crops.

There's no definite reason why Isa was the favorite grandchild, but being the eldest didn't help.

When Alma said "the magic is strong, and so are the drinks", she was really trying to get everyone back to the party.

The gifts can tire out the Madrigals if used a lot, sometimes physical pain can occur.

Alma might have siblings, but it's not confirmed.

Behind the scenes:

There used to be a scene of Mirabel getting grounded. Idk if it's the same scene as the previous one mentioned, but the context of the question might suggest otherwise. ("What would've happened to Mirabel if she was found after the dinner?")

There were versions in the end credits of everyone reuniting with Bruno.

There is potential for a Madrigal with OCD, autism, etc, but not yet confirmed.

Triplet's Birthday Q&A (8/17/23)

Cannon universe:

Bruno and the grandkids now watch telenovelas together.

Julieta's favorite food is probably ajiaco.

Mirabel's first word would potentially be "sita" because she loved Casita but couldn't say the full word.

Dolores' room has a lot of soundproofing.

The reason Mirabel seems to interact with Castia the most out of the Madrigals is because she was mostly an outsider, with only Casita to talk to.

Encanto is a hidden place, so simply finding it is near impossible.

There are respected town elders in Encanto, but Alma is considered the founder.

Pedro said something to Alma before he died, potentially in Spanish, but it's not confirmed what.

In terms of personality, Mirabel is the closest to Pedro.

For adoptive kids, Casita may be able to anticipate the arrival of someone new even before the family is consciously aware of it, giving them a new door.

Bruno's a fan of chocolate.

Mirabel loves every color. She has no known favorite.

Julieta got married first between her and Pepa.

Bruno's rats aren't sentient like humans, so Bruno would have to train them to do whatever.

It's possible another Madrigal felt resentment towards Bruno after he left.

Julieta's gift possibly only works with a combo of cooking and giving, but not confirmed.

Bruno learned how to use his gift through practice and invented customs. It was complicated.

Julieta probably needs to know the person's injury before healing it.

The majority of the Madrigals' dominate hands are right. Julieta and Antonio are left handed. Luisa is ambidextrous. It's unsure, but Mirabel is potentially left handed.

Mirabel's favorite food is arepa con queso.

Antonio's favorite snack is nailed rice.

Agustín and Félix have jobs in the town, but not confirmed what.

In a book, it was mentioned that Bruno was the golden child of the family. He probably fell from that position in his late teens.

Agustín's favorite meal from Julieta is chocolate santafereño.

Gifts can possibly be repeated, but not in the same generation.

The refugees/townspeople had brought everything from home they used to start farming when the Encanto formed.

Isabela and Mariano still have a good relationship after the movie. Neither were too wild about the engagement.

The bedrooms can change if their owner wants them to.

The gift ceremonies will now be different without a candle.

Madrigals still do the traditional quinceañera.

The Encanto doesn't have electricity.

Bruno has left the walls a few times for a break.

Isabela will probably keep switching up her outfit now that she can.

Luisa has always felt protective of Mirabel.

Behind the scenes:

Casita used to have shown that it has only 1 bathroom, which was located in the back right corner under Bruno's tower.

There was a deleted scene where Julieta yelled at Alma in front of the entire town after Mirabel went missing.

Julieta is the one singing w/ Mirabel during the "constellations glow/the seasons change in turn" lyric.

There used to be a version of Bruno using water with his vision.

The line said by Mirabel, "Even in our darkest moments there's light where you least expect it" was cut after Lin Manuel Miranda wrote Dos Oruguitas and the emotional thrust of Mirabel’s words needed to evolve to encompass what she’d just learned.

There was a Waiting on a Miracle reprise that was cut because they felt they didn't need it.

The concept of a new door appearing was considered to start with the doorknob.

No one intervened during Alma and Mirabel's argument because the writers felt that it was Mirabel's moment to shine.

VERY early on, Bruno (then known as Oscar) was Mirabel's estranged cousin.

Indestructibility was a gift they wanted to use. It was actually Pepa's original gift.

Dolores' Birthday Q&A (8/31/22)

Cannon universe:

People in Isabela's position wouldn't really have the chance to have authentic relationships because they're hiding their true self. This could potentially apply to Isa herself.

Before Mirabel's ceremony, her family was excited for her. After, the family’s ability to see Mirabel clearly was too obscured by their unhealthy dynamics but were probably unaware of that until Mirabel brought it to light.

Bruno's oversized clothing was by personal preference, potentially because of his awkward nature.

Before Isabela showed up in Bruno's vision, another person was there, who is possibly a young Alma. While not confirmed, it is implied in Jared's answer.

Félix and Agustín already had gifts, just not in a way that others could see.

Isabela lets herself break the rules, so while not confirmed, it's possible she could recreate mythical plants.

The town probably functions like a combination of where everyone came from.

The triplets used to have little meetings in Bruno's room when they were little.

Behind the scenes:

There used to be a scene where Bruno revealed he had a secret elevator in his room.

Agustín's Birthday Q&A (6/19/22)

Cannon universe:

Part of what fuels the miracle is unconditional love. When Mirabel and Isa showed that during What Else can I Do?, it affected the magic.

Julieta often gives people the food they like rather than something random.

For a long time, Isabela was the favorite grandchild for Alma. Before her ceremony, Mirabel was. After Casita's rebuild, many dynamics changed.

Agustín was born in the Encanto, but his family was from a city, so he was raised with the city-vibe.

Luisa's favorite food is bandeja paisa.

Every gift can be affected by emotions in some way.

Casita probably helped Bruno hide, but not confirmed.

If Mirabel and Bruno decided to leave the Encanto after Casita fell, the entire family would've fallen apart.

The only people in the Encanto were the ones who traveled with Alma. They all got there at the same time, no one got in or out.

Behind the scenes:

There used to be an exit for Bruno's wall room behind the family tree, but it wasn't used.

Antonio's Birthday Q&A (5/21/22)

Cannon universe:

Mirabel's canonically 5'2.

Mirabel has good relationships with Pepa and Félix. Félix loves everyone and likes hanging out with pretty much anybody. Pepa is a good tia, she’s just very emotional, but for most of the movie (and her life before) felt she had to bottle her emotions which only made them worse.

Bruno probably doesn't need the sand for visions, but as time went on he added his own superstitions.

The color of the magic in the end changed. It wasn't the color of the candle anymore, but the colors of Mirabel. What that means? No one knows.

Bruno "felt" his vision cave collapsing and investigated. That's how he knew it was destroyed.

Camilo couldn't really hold a form forever because of how tiring it could be.

Mirabel did have a quinceañera.

Casita has a mind of its own with its own emotions. Sometimes it could play pranks on the Madrigals or be too upset to move anything.

Behind the scenes:

Earlier versions had a negative dynamic between Mirabel and Camilo.

The gifts are based off family archetypes. Antonio is a shy kid but opens up to animals.

Random Q&A (3/19/22)

Cannon universe:

The main reason for Mirabel and Isa's falling out was because they couldn’t see the difficulties the other was experiencing, because they were fixated on their own struggles. They were probably closer when they were younger.

Despite being shy, Antonio does have friends in the town.

Due to the triplets' bday being the same day as Pedro's death, it's a mixed day.

Pepa can try to stop natural disasters, but doesn't usually succeed.

Mirabel would sometimes have sleepovers with her sisters when they were younger. There was a deleted scene showing it.

The pink cloud scene in Surface Pressure represents the stuff Luisa wanted to do without the pressure.

Behind the scenes:

Tbh there wasn't any answers that could qualify as behind the scenes sooo... 🤷

Stuff that didn't come from Q&As but is still good info

Madrigal Birthdays (I'm not doing a link for each, just take my word for it lol):

Félix: November 11 (11/11)

Julieta, Pepa, Bruno: October 17 (10/17)

Agustín: June 19 (6/19)

Isabela: August 7 (8/7)

Dolores: August 31 (8/31)

Luisa: November 14 (11/14)

Camilo: December 28 (12/28)

Mirabel: March 6 (3/6)

Antonio: May 21 (5/21)

Madrigal ages:

Alma: 75

Julieta, Pepa, Bruno: 50

Isabela: 21

Dolores: 21

Luisa: 19

Camilo: 15

Mirabel: 15

Antonio: 5

I don't believe the husbands' ages are confirmed, but Félix is confirmed to be a little older than the triplets, while Agustín is a little younger than the triplets.

Julieta is the oldest of the triplets, Pepa in the middle, and Bruno is the baby.

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buffoons-clownbreeder · 11 months

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Hey y’all sorry I’ve been MIA for a few days I’ve had some emergencies to attend to!

First off, Bluebell caught a nasty case of the Polka Dot virus and I’ve had to keep a close eye on her basically 24/7 and set up a quarantine area so that my other clowns don’t get sick! She’s getting better now though, so I think we’re through the worst of it!

Secondly, Laz’s play date with Xanadu went great! (Don’t worry about Laz and Xanadu getting Polka Dots btw, he’s my personal clown so he lives in my apartment with me while Bluebell lives on my property I have specifically for clown breeding). Laz and Xanadu wrote and stared in a skit for me and the other clown owner to watch and it was lovely. Laz really enjoyed having another clown to hang out other then Jon (who I would have brought too but he’s a little too shy). Anyways, I think the play dates are going to be a regular thing now! I’m so excited to get to talk to a real life person about clown husbandry, we had a great time while the clowns were playing! Its nice to have someone irl to share my love of clowns with!

Anyways the clowns are all doing good now and hopefully now that all of that is behind me I can post more!

#clown breeding #clown husbandry #clown care #clown help #clownblr #clown owning #clown #clownery #clown biology

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tepkunset · 2 years

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X-Men Evolution ft. Alpha Flight

Been enjoying X-Men Evolution recently, and it made me think about how great an Alpha Flight episode could've been. Hell, there was a Captain America one, so why not?

Anyway, some thoughts about what an Evolution version of the characters might be like:

KIDS -

JEAN-PAUL BEAUBIER / NORTHSTAR:

Age 16, Québécois

Super-speed, flight, can create blinding light by linking with his sister

A jerk, but in his defence is straight up not having a good time. Only does homework for the classes he likes

Backstory only semi-unlocked because it's none of these clowns's business: Kid on his way to being an Olympic-level skier who is hinted to having been blackmailed into joining AF by Guardian, but mostly remains for the sake of his twin sister he only recently reunited with

I didn't bother designing new superhero outfits for JP and JM because why mess with existing perfection?

JEANNE-MARIE BEAUBIER / AURORA:

Age 16, Québécois

Super-speed, flight, can create blinding light by linking with her brother

Either very outgoing and bubbly or very shy and quiet, (depending on if she's Aurora or Jeanne-Marie of course). Definitely forgot about the homework

Backstory unlocked: Raised in a very old-fashioned Catholic boarding school hinted at to be abusive, until running away as Aurora and was found and recruited by Guardian. Really not sure how her DID might be handled in a kid-friendly cartoon, but I think it should still be present because I don't see why children can't be educated on such things

I originally had her civvies designed to reference her 2.0 yellow costume, but then I liked the idea of JM wearing blue and JP wearing pink too much

MARRINA SMALLWOOD:

Age 14, Newfoundlander

Super-speed underwater, can breathe underwater as well as on land

Just happy to be here; tries too hard to seek validation from everyone older than her. Agonizes over not being able to go to public school due to her looks

Backstory unlocked: Was adopted by a small coastal family and raised in a very happy environment, joined AF because she wanted to see more of the outside world and genuinely believes Guardian is teaching them to do good

I literally just drew her in a wetsuit for a superhero outfit lol

ELIZABETH "LIZ" TWOYOUNGMEN / TALISMAN:

Age 15, Albertan / Tsuut'ina

Deus ex machina mystic powers

Running on anxiety and bitterness towards Guardian. Won't let you copy her homework but will help you with your own for as long as it takes

Backstory unlocked: She and her father were recruited to Alpha Flight as what she believes is a PR stunt for so-called Reconciliation. Her magic circlet helps her control her mystical powers, but unlike in the comics she's capable of taking it off

Of all the characters I was most excited to design a new age-appropriate look for her, since 90% of her outfits in the comics look like they're racist Spirit Halloween costumes

ANNE MCKENZIE / SNOWBIRD:

Age 17, Nunavummiuq / Inuk

Animal shape-shifting

Easily forgotten from being so quiet, very prim and proper behaviour that can sometimes come off as up-tight. Studies above and beyond regular homework because she feels like she has to work twice as hard to be respected

Backstory semi-unlocked: With her parents divorced, Anne was used to spending the school year down south with her father and summer up north with her mother, but when her powers started manifesting, her father scorned her and wanted to give up his custody. Instead she now spends her school year under the care of Department H

I hate Snowbird's comic backstory so much; the whole "she's 100% white because her mother was a goddess who temporarily transformed into a white woman to appeal to her white father" makes zero sense and also has gross connotations, so I decided since this is my adaptation, she's not a demigod but rather just a mutant, because why not...

I thought about giving her tunniit, but since I know so little I figured I wasn't the best person to depict them

WALTER LANGKOWSKI / SASQUATCH:

Age 17, British Colombian

Super-strength, super-stamina (when in gamma form)

Biggest nerd in any room, pretty chipper. Will do your homework for you just for fun

Backstory unlocked: Walter was taken in by Department H after being branded as a failed experiment by a group of scientists playing with gamma radiation—except the experiment didn't fail, turning Walter into a gamma mutate, but one with control over himself and the transformation

I had such a hard time trying to decide what to do with this bitch... His power is to turn into a 'cryptid' that is just lifting from spirits across multiple Indigenous cultures so that's really awkward, but I didn't want to leave him out since that felt weird? I do imagine this version of him having a different personality though, where he's less annoying

ADULTS -

JAMES MACDONALD HUDSON / GUARDIAN:

Age 35, Ontarian

Flight and super-strength granted by super-suit

Thinks acting like a Cool Dad™ will make children like him. Believes recruiting kids to work for the government is justified because they have superpowers, but at the same time hypocritically insults the X-Men

Backstory unlocked: Oil corporation research and developer who designed a super-suit for oil extraction, except then the Canadian government put him on the payroll to head Department H for monitoring superhumans in Canada

I knew I still wanted him to be decked out with the maple-leaf because it fits his asshole nature, but I wanted to make him look like he's trying too hard to be Hip

MICHAEL TWOYOUNGMEN:

Age 40, Albertan / Tsuut'ina

Healing mystic powers

Is the actual Cool Dad because he's so chill and actually cares about the well-being of the kids

Backstory Unlocked: A surgeon who turned to traditional medicines in attempt to save his wife when western medicine failed her, and though he he did not succeed, he did discover he had innate mystical powers, putting him on Department H's radar. Just here to protect and patch up the children the best he can

EUGENE JUDD / PUCK:

Age 42, Saskatchewanian

Super-durability

Says thinks like 'back in my day' and 'eh' unironically way too much, low-key waiting on that inevitable divorce between the Hudsons

Backstory semi-unlocked: Is mostly there to train the kids how to be superheroes and survive the experience

Like Snowbird I think Puck's backstory is some bullshit that they should've just left alone instead of trying to create this magic explanation for his dwarfism and chronic pain... just let him be disabled! Disabled superheroes exist! So again, in this version he's just a mutant who happens to also have dwarfism and chronic pain

HEATHER MCNEIL-HUDSON:

Age 37, Albertan

Guardian's wife, tries to be a Team Mom and make up for her annoying husband

#alpha flight #x men evolution #jean paul beaubier #northstar #jeanne marie beaubier #aurora #marrina smallwood #snowbird #walter langkowski #sasquatch #james hudson #guardian #michael twoyoungmen #shaman #eugene judd #puck #heather mcneil hudson #art

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unwilling-souls-if · 2 years

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answered scenarios + ROs asks [not updated, will do... someday]

ALL ROS

the ROs most treasured possesion

3 random facts about the ROs

ROs age + which dog breed would they be

the ROs love language (giving and receiving)

MC who adoringly wrapped their wings around the ROs for cuddles, hugs or protection

the ROs resistance to puppy eyes from MC

ROs reactions to a shy MC whose wings puff when they’re flustered

Who would preen MC's wings

ROs reaction to MC gently kissing the place between wings/shoulder blades

ROs clothing style

ROs reaction to a MC who lost their wings due to torture or a monster (CW: blood, limb loss)

ROs reaction to MC wearing their clothes

when talking about Ratatouille, who refers to the rat as Ratatouille, who calls him Remy, and who says ‘the rat’

MC lost their wings to save the ROs

ROs (+ MC) as Tarot cards

romantic fly or cuddles on the clouds with the ROs

Tipsy MC confesses their love to ROs and nuzzles against them with their wings puffed up

what if those "hickeys" were from mosquito bites

MC makes the ROs bend down and give them a surprise peck on the lips

ROs reaction to seeing a hickey on the MCs neck (crushing stage)

ROs comfort breakfast, hot VS cold drinks and fave drink

what do they see as red flags

5 things they like about themselves

rational or intuitive

if a child cries in public

their ideal type

+do they think they had a good childhood?

Do they believe in ghosts? + magic or witchcraft

Are you overly cautious, or overly reckless, or neither?

ROs reaction to MC saying they are worried they’re smothering them

ROs were deities, what deities would they be

How would ROs react to a painfully oblivious MC

ROs thoughts on clowns and storms

What kind of ex partner would the ROs be

reaction to children yelling “mcdonalds!”

How would ROs react to MC who is scared of storms

+What their reactions to MC saying they had a nightmare where the RO abandoned them

stabbing meme

“i'd die for you” meme

MC nibbling flirtingly on the feather of ROs wing/their own wing, while batting eyelashes innocently

ROs reactions be to walking in on MC who clearly has been crying earlier

ROs reactions to MC telling them that they don’t believe they [the MC] could ever be loved (and MC thinks the RO can do better than them)

ROs first thought when they realize they're falling for MC

if MC was a regular human and the ROs angels or devils on their shoulders, what would they be

What are the ROs favorite colors and what color would represent them

the ROs accidentally pinning MC down

ROs true love kiss couldn’t wake up MC

ROs instagram profiles+facts

the ROs around people they don't like

the ROs finding an engagement ring in MC's drawer

would the ROs have a baby with MC

Who would get a matching tatoo with MC

the ROs deal-breaker

their favorite mythical creature

What are they the most proud of + what do they enjoy that others don't

their short-term and long-term goal + their favorite author

current favorite song + comfort drink

who's the most likely to have a petty revenge and who would help them

some incorrect quotes

MC cupping their face and saying “you. you are the one I love.”

reactions to a MC that visibly lights up when they see the ROs

ROs reaction to someone (Crescent) pointing out that MC and the ROs get along sooo well (wink wink nudge nudge)

ROs with a MC that stress-clean

ROs turning red when they think of MC or MC is too close

↬ spicy/NSFW asks

when the ROs touch you between kisses and you moan into their mouths (spicy)

MC giving bedroom eyes at ROs in a meeting/party (suggestive)

ROs kinks (NSFW)

ROs reaction to hearing MC call their name while jerking off to them privately (NSFW)

ROs top/bottom/switch & dom/sub/vers preferences (NSFW)

↬ Sleeping Beauty curse saga

MC, after being awaken by another person, go straight to the ROs and reaffirm their love despite Fate

the true love kiss ends up being MC’s pet cat’s

the ROs kiss actually woke up a cursed MC

ONLY XANDER

something he’s always wanted to do but never did

if MC knitted something for Xander

funny Xander facts

MC has to go back to H.E.L.L. (not really a scenario)

Xander reaction to catching MC and Charlotte cuddling

Charlotte catching MC and Xander cuddling

Would Xander put on his nipples piercings for MC

Xander being Sad ™ and MC aggressively smooching him

character profile: xander

ONLY CHARLOTTE

Opinion on love letters + do they miss their s/o easily + what gets their heart racing

Xander reaction to catching MC and Charlotte cuddling

Charlotte catching MC and Xander cuddling

character profile: charlotte

ONLY DIONE

Feeling like something is missing, but not knowing what, when you're not with each other

Opinion on love letters + do they miss their s/o easily + what gets their heart racing

favorite way to self-care

character profile: Dione

ONLY PERCEVAL

Character profile: Perceval

ONLY CRESCENT

Crescent catching you undressing and checking you out

catching each other with someone else and being jealous

favorite way to self-care

character profile: Crescent

MC, MR RUBBER & LORE

having a baby (possibility, nephilim)

Mr Rubber facts

lore about ROs and MC’s mortality

TAGS to search: ro:xander | ro:charlotte | ro:dione | ro:perceval | ro:crescent

#navigation #ro:dione #ro:xander #ro:perceval #ro:crescent #ro:charlotte #answered scenarios #answered asks

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thislovintime · 1 year

Photo

On set (for, in photos 1-4, “Monkee Mother,” January 16-19, 1967; photos 5-6, “The Picture Frame,” April 5-7, 1967; and photos 9-10, “Monkees On The Wheel,” October 23-27, 1967); photographed by Chuck Boyd for KRLA Beat, Michael Ochs Archives, Gene Trindl, Fab 208, Pictorial Press.

“I feel as happy with the character of Peter Tork portrayed in the series as I ever was, but he’s changing. You’ve not seen them yet, but in future episodes you’ll find I’m not so dumb as I have been up to now.” - Peter Tork, Disc & Music Echo, January 20, 1968

“I’ve always been a clown. I did comedy-variety shows and minstrel shows in high school and college. On the Village stages all you could do is throw out a few one-liners; basically you’re up there to sing and pass the basket. This opened up a whole new area that I hadn’t been able to explore so fully before. I was hoping to base further experience on that and eventually expand, but that didn’t happen, which was disappointing. But my goal was always to wend my way merrily through life, playing my little banjo and my little guitar and singing my songs.” - Peter Tork, When The Music Mattered (1984)

"I can think of two good reasons why I was chosen. One is that I brought that character of the dummy to the audition. And they needed an odd man out, a guy who is like a little, you know, slightly turned from the other guys; straight-ahead rock and roll band, and one kind of simpatico, simplicico kind of a guy, and that was my character. And so that was one of the reasons why I was chosen. The other reason I think I was chosen is because I did the screen test in one take. At least, I thought it was impressive, I hope they did, too. In any case, it was like that, I got — I was the odd man out, Davy was the little British or romantic, and then two other guys, one of them light and crazed, and the other kind of dark and serious. And so that was the way it was balanced out." - Peter Tork, NPR, June 1983

“‘They had two regular guys and a tiny heartthrob and they needed an offbeat kind of guy,’ says Peter Tork. ‘So I brought that simpleton in, a part I had developed on the Greenwich Village scene. I enjoyed that role. I still do, sometimes.’” - Washington Post, July 27, 1986 (x)

“Tork says he had experimented with that persona since his Greenwich Village days. ‘I created that character on stage (as) a defense. In case a joke fell flat, (I’d) smile befuddledly.’ Looking back, Tork mused, ‘It probably expressed an inner truth about me.’” - Los Angeles Times, October 20, 1992

"The main 3 reasons I was selected: I did my scene (screen test scene) perfectly on the first try… the 'Dummy' character I created on the screen…was created by ME… and they said…we will give you the part if you don’t mind playing the character!" - Peter Tork, Compuserve chat, 1995

“He developed that character, he said, to deal with audiences while performing in Greenwich Village fold clubs in the early ’60s. ‘I was actually shy, putting up a loud facade,’ said Peter.” - San Francisco Weekly, February 15, 1995

Peter Tork: "I’m shy.” Q: “You are? PT: “Yeah.” Q: “I wouldn’t say you’re shy.” PT: “You wouldn’t think so. This is all a ruse, this is all a cover up. I’ve spent years and years learning — because being shy was not a good thing so I… this is all like, you know, a left-hander writing with his right hand. [...] I created that character. In fact, I created that character in Greenwich Village, on the stages. It was sort like — like I said, all this show business is all smoke and mirrors, right? I created that character partly as a way of, like, deflecting, deflecting disaster. If I told a joke and it didn’t go over, I’d put this face on as if to say, ‘I don’t know anything about jokes but somebody told me it was funny.’ And it kept me from feeling like I had laid an egg. It was just like something that I threw out there. So that character sort of evolved generally. And then when they did the auditions, they asked me if I minded playing that character on stage, on the TV show. No, fine.” - Peter Tork, GOLD 104.5, 1999 (x)

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grimm-rider · 5 months

Text

Entry 29

So the bathhouse was not relaxing at all.

Like. Fuck. I thought the Water Palace would be a nice easy mission to cool off with after fighting a former Demon Lord. Instead half of us nearly died at least once.

There was a Leviathan. Not my pet Levi, like an actual giant water monster Leviathan. And some sort of water monster with tentacles and multiple wolf heads. And some sort of water dragon. Like a dragon made of water not like a sea serpent.

What the fuck was all that?

We’re home. We’re resting now. Tomorrow we’re going to the Nonagon so it’s not like I’m getting any sleep tonight. So might as well write it all down, because I sure as shit won’t be in the mood to write about this tomorrow.

So after we got back from Ioberia and had a little downtime to plan and to fill Greta in, we made for the Water Palace. The plan was to get in playing the part of regular upperclass citizens again, like we did at the library. Aenland would stay outside with Nevra and Talsune on the roof of the building across from the bathhouse and wait for my signal to attack. In the meantime, the rest of us would get inside and do some scouting and setting up undetected.

We made it to the Water Palace with absolutely no hassle. By this point the patrols have become so few and far between that they’re generally easy to avoid, not to mention the lack of killer clowns and time dragons popping up. We did still have to avoid the encroaching fungal infestation Xanthadon’s left in her wake, but we didn’t end up face-to-face with any of those creepy archers or any other twisted…fungal thing. So I’d say we did a pretty good job.

At the Water Palace, I took the lead talking to the hostess. She directed us to the changing rooms and the tubs. So we got changed and stashed away my Bag of Holding in the provided lockers. All of our weapons, armor, and supplies were tucked safely within the bag. I stored my component pouch separately in the same locker—just incase someone other than us got the bright idea to steal my bag.

I don’t think poor Edeya quite knew what to do with herself with everyone else declothed. Nestian and Greta certainly weren’t shy about it—and why should they be? For one thing, they’re a bear and a winter wolf respectively when not in human form, so it’s not like nudity is exactly a thing they would have to worry about around others in their other forms. For another, let’s be real, we are a very good-looking group of people. Why be bashful about what you have?

Perhaps to spare dear Edeya, we split up with me and Nestian circling around the tubs in one direction, and Greta and Edeya scouting around the other. We didn’t really discuss it ahead of time, we just kind of ended up splitting up that way on our own.

Nestian and I made our way up the stairs, past the chilled tub. Towering above us was what, at a glance, appeared to be a statue. But it didn’t take long for me to identify it as a living creature—an ice yai oni, standing still as a statue. Keeping watch.

There was a second one on the opposite side of the warm water tub ahead of us. And standing, posted gloriously on the ledge into the hot water bath, was that appeared to be a dragon made entirely of water, with a waterfall pouring from its mouth, constantly refilling the tubs with fresh water. At the time it, too, appeared to be a statue—and unlike the Onis I didn’t see anything that indicated otherwise, nor did I personally know of any dragons like this. I asked Talsune mentally if he knew, but his response was a resounding shrug, he'd never seen this particular type of dragon before either if it existed at all on Triaxus.

Nestian nudged me, and said there was something written in Skald in the water near the back wall of the warm tub. I looked, and sure enough there it was—difficult to see with all the water in the way, but now that it was pointed out I could make out that it was labelled as a VIP room. Nestian and I theorized that this was likely where the Crone Queen was holed up. After all we’d already found one Crone Queen in a VIP lounge in a bar, why not one in a bathhouse as well?

We waded into the warm pool and motioned for the other two to join us. We moved as far out of the Onis’ earshot as we could, and told them what we’d found. We discussed our options, and came up with a plan. Edeya and I would try to sneak in and scout ahead, while Nestian would get a head start and go to grab the Bag of Holding and my spell components. Once we were ready to kick things off, I would signal to Aenland, and Edeya would teleport Nestian to us with her newly refreshed Bracelet of Friends. Greta would just have to burst through the door, but by that point stealth would no longer be in the cards anyways.

So Edeya and I waited for a few minutes, making sure we gave Nestian plenty of time to get back to the changing room and to collect our bags, before Edeya slowly eased open the door.

I could have sworn she was perfectly silent about it, but perhaps the sounds of the bathhouse itself coming through the doorway alerted those within the chamber, because a whispery hissing voice from one corner of the room said that there were uninvited guests.

Within the room was another pool, this one monstrously deep, the bottom pitch black and obscured in darkness. A Crone Queen and an elven man were in the pool, as was that horror I mentioned at the start of this entry, the one with tentacles and multiple wolf heads. In each corner of the room was an upsettingly large spider, about the size of an elephant if the size of my twin Rajput Ambaris are any indication. And apparently the elephant-spiders could also talk, because it was one of them that had heads the door open.

Edeya immediately closed the door. Good call. A little too late, unfortunately. But a good call, none-the-less.

Then there was a deep low voice that rumbled the entire building and shook through my bones. Because I had Tongues up I could understand the speech—although something about the magnitude and slow uncaring pace of its speech gave me a cold feeling in my gut that whatever was speaking was unspeakably big and equally old. It only spoke one word—slow and drawn out. ‘Intruders’. The word echoed out from somewhere deep below us.

And that’s all that was needed for everything to go to hell.

The two onis and the water dragon all quit their statue act and went on the offensive. And it turned out all the staff were warriors with a skillset adjacent to Cesseer’s. Except for the head of the house, who was a sorcerer with draconic power. Been a while since we’ve seen that. The woman who stabbed me in Radosek’s tower if I remember right? Yeah she was a bitch to fight, too.

Well, okay unless we count every single sorcerer we fought on Triaxus, but that was Triaxus, everything is dragons there.

The two onis towered above us, one stabbing me as she charged in, the other swinging her blade around and catching me, Edeya, and Greta all. Then one of the monks swung around and tried to kill Greta in a single hit with her Quivering Palm technique—but Greta’s stronger than that and she resisted her attempt to stop her heart.

Which just meant I was going to have to stop the monk’s heart instead.

With that, I nudged open the door to the VIP chamber. I called to Aenland over the Stone of Farspeech that this was his cue, then I called down a Fire Storm on every living thing that wasn’t a fleeing aristocrat, in both rooms.

Much to my displeasure, with so much water around the sorcerer was the only one who got caught alight for any amount of time, but it was still worth it. From the look of the gash on the oni’s leg, the fire also stopped their regeneration. So, no more dealing with that. We had enough of that with Kostchtchie.

Without my spell components, I couldn’t throw a second spell at the monk—who had frustratingly dodged all of the flames. So instead I tried to Banish the oni that had stabbed me. To equally minimal effect. She laughed at me, saying a puny human couldn’t send her home! I’m indignant thinking about it.

Unfortunately, without my Bone Armor or my Belt of Physical Perfection, I have to admit I was not at my best. My only protection was Vigliv’s boon, a Ring of Protection I’d thankfully had the sense to nab off one of the anti-paladins we’d fought earlier that day, and my Amulet of Natural Armor. I felt sluggish and my stamina was flagging fast—along with the loss of much of my blood. I knew that my best hope was for Edeya to bring Nestian to us with her bracelet immediately.

Or so I thought.

Apparently Nestian had heard that booming noise, and had taken it upon himself to reach us—because a moment after that oni stabbed me, a familiar bear came barreling over the edge of the tub, and with the power of his Boots of Speed positively flew across the water to our side, his axe putting a respectable cut through the leg of the oni as he went.

Nestian offered up the Bag of Holding, and I quickly nabbed my necessities. Headband, belt, spell components, and pocket watch. I could live without the rest…or at least I sure hoped so, because I didn’t have time to dig out the cassock and throw it on right that moment. I could call on the Bone Armor as any time, but at least with the belt and headband I was no longer tired and sluggish, and I could feel a deeper connection to my magic that had waned without the headband and its effects on my natural charisma.

I didn’t get to savor the feeling of power for long, when the water dragon looked straight down and breathed boiling steam on us. I was already battered and bleeding, and now I was burning alive on top of that. I desperately needed some negative energy to patch myself up. And we were not in the best position for spellcasting.

I felt, rather than saw, that Talsune, Nevra, and Aenland Dimension Doored into the room with the Crone Queen behind me. I heard that water creature howling in the other room, and then fall silent, and recognized the feeling in my mind of Talsune finishing off a foe. He doesn’t get the same almost giddy satisfaction I get from killing our enemies. His is somehow both a much calmer and much fiercer satisfaction—that of a warrior who has felled a vicious foe in the heat of battle.

I also heard Nevra begin singing, and the Crone Queen yell—and then heard as that yell was cut short. I’m going to assume that was Aenland’s doing, if Talsune’s claws were full with that sea monster. And then it sounded like Aenland was arguing with someone?

I didn’t really have time to focus on any of that while I was trying to not die, obviously. It was more just what I noticed in the back of my mind since my back was to the door where they were. I had ducked back towards the doorway and with my guard up I cast Harm on myself, the icy cold of the negative energy revitalizing me and stitching the worst of my wounds closed. Hearing the fighting in the other room—and not having much room for him with me, Nestian, Edeya, and Greta practically fighting back-to-back—I pulled Roscoe from the Bag of Holding and sent him to help Talsune and Aenland. A moment later I heard the echoing bang of his gun firing.

There wasn’t much I could do about the onis right that moment, so I turned my attention to that attendant who’d tried to kill Greta. I quickened a Boneshaker, and grabbed hold of her skeleton, forcing her to her knees, and then pulling her head under the water.

She never came back up.

It was almost that same instance that I felt genuine fear from Talsune, and through our bond he told me that there was some sort of Irriseni Leviathan in the pool, and it just ate Aenland and dove back into the depths.

I told the others, thinking we would have to try to figure out some way to save him. Instead, Nestian took the news in stride, and told me to trust him—he had a way to get Aenland out.

I put my faith in Nestian, and turned my attention to the water dragon, which had just thrown itself down from the platform above us and was now baring down on us from the opposite side as the onis.

But now it had unwittingly put itself into a vulnerable position.

I cast Horrid Wilting on everything around the Water Dragon, sucking the moisture from the dragon and the onis. The dragon in particular looked like its form wasn’t holding together so well after that.

While I kept the dragon occupied, Nestian made use of his own Bracelet of Friends, teleporting Aenland from the literal belly of the beast and into a more metaphorical one with onis and dragons.

After he appeared, the sorcerer made her move. I’d honestly mostly forgotten about it after setting her on fire, but apparently she’d been lurking around the edges of the tubs, just waiting for the opportunity to strike. And strike she did: I heard her speak a single word as she cast a spell and tried to snuff out Aenland’s life in an instant. However death wouldn’t have Aenland again—Nestian made sure of it, throwing the protection of the Black Rider around him and causing the Power Word Kill to fall on deaf ears.

Aenland immediately repaid the favor by slaying both the dragon and the sorcerer, his arrows a deadly rain.

The nearest oni—the one that had stabbed me prior—tried to reposition herself so she was where the dragon had fallen, in an attempt to flank us with her twin oni. Aenland and Nestian both took advantage of her dropping her guard and laid into her.

And unfortunately for that oni, she found herself standing facing Greta when she swung around to where she thought she wanted to be. A few axe swings and a particularly brutal bite later, and we were down one oni.

Have I mentioned that I love that woman? It’s one thing that Nestian can take down enemies with a bite as a bear—you expect a bear to be able to rip someone’s throat out with their teeth. Greta can do it even in her human form, and no one ever sees that one coming.

Also, if anyone saw Greta naked and covered in another person’s blood and didn’t find it at least a little hot, there’s definitely something wrong there.

Now that I got a good look at Aenland, I could see why the sorcerer had aimed her Power Word Kill at him—he looked like he was on his last legs. Worried that the final oni might still be able to take him down, I pulled him away and quickened an Oracle’s Vessel on him, followed by a Harm to close up the worst of his wounds. I doubt it’s as pleasant for him as Edeya’s healing—just like positive energy still made me feel a little squirmy the one time I used the Pallid Crystal—but better that than dying.

The other oni didn’t last much longer than her twin—Nevra had Dimension Doored herself and Talsune out of the Leviathan deathtrap room and they’d appeared right behind the other oni. And Talsune made short work of her.

Roscoe was conspicuously absent—and the sound of gunfire still occasionally sounded from the room behind me. Considering how long Roscoe lasted by himself in Abbadon, I wasn’t too worried about him against a bunch of spiders, and I didn’t think it was likely the Leviathan would try to eat a Baykok, assuming he’d even remained low enough to the ground to be snapped up.

Nestian charged past me—despite the fact I could see that there was more blood coating his fur than was probably left in his body. Edeya ran after him, saying not to worry and that she’d heal him. Nevra swooped around and grabbed Aenland before flying through the door. Talsune and I quickly followed suit.

I took stock of the room, which I’d only seen for a moment through the cracked door or through flashes of Talsune’s perspective. There was a paralyzed spider in the corner nearest the door, courtesy of Roscoe—the same one that had spotted us when Edeya opened the door, and which Nevra silenced once and for all. Another in the back corner had arrows sticking from it in the telltale signs that Aenland has just released half a dozen shots. The elven man and the Crone Queen also lay dead by the pool, also peppered with arrows. Nestian was fighting the last spider, with Edeya behind him. His fur was still coated in blood, but he looked much healthier, his eyes sharper, not dulled by pain. So Edeya had clearly already worked her magic.

Aenland finished off that final spider as well. Just in time for the Leviathan to resurface, and once again leap just out of the water enough to nab the elf from atop Nevra. Through the Stone of Farspeech, Aenland told me not to let Edeya use her Bracelet of Friends to pull him out until the thing was dead. I passed on the message.

Talsune flew us down, ramming his sword into the Leviathan. Despite the great beasts I’ve seen my partner take out, to the Leviathan that might as well have been a papercut. I channeled my magic through the Pocket Watch and used the same trick I’d used on the svathurim earlier that same day. I overcharged a Slay Living, making it so it would be nine times as powerful if the gargantuan creature resisted the spell.

As predicted, the great beast’s resistance was formidable—and that allowed the watch to work its magic. Inky black flames licked at the Leviathan, decaying and burning wherever it touched. It certainly didn’t kill it, but the beast definitely felt that one. There was an angry putrefied burn across its back and side where the black flames raged across its blubbery flesh before going out. The flames weren’t hot enough to melt the icicle spines that coated its back, but the bright white of the ice was a stark contrast to the dark decaying flesh that now surrounded it.

I attempted to follow that up with a Boneshatter, but the beast was onto my tricks now, and it shrugged off my magic.

Before it could fully submerge itself and flee to the depths with its meal, Nestian dug his axe into the massive whale-like titan with one final swing.

Aenland crawled out of the Leviathan’s now loosely gaping maw as the unimaginably massive body sunk down below the water’s surface, and then vanished into the darkness.

As we gathered up anything that might be useful and licked our wounds, we discussed what next. There was supposed to be a gateway to the Dancing Hut in this room, somewhere. We decided while we were here we should try to figure it out.

Nestian borrowed Aenland’s goggles and dove beneath the surface of the pool, swimming deeper and deeper, until he, too, vanished into the dark. He came back a few moments later, and explained that there was a glyph in the side of the pool, which could be used to dispel the darkness, which would also make the pool magic. Using the pool for an hour while this was active could rejuvenate us, in the same way certain powerful clerical spells could. The glyph could also be used to teleport into the Dancing Hut. However, Nestian didn’t know how to activate the glyph. He believed that I should take a look at it later, next time we come back. I’m inclined to agree. I didn’t really fancy a trip all the way to the Dancing Hut if the activation didn’t go off without a hitch first try. If it was made by anyone other than Baba Yaga I’d feel confident I could do it no problem, but our kindly grandmother’s magical creations have proven tricky in the past.

Also Nestian did not find the body of the Leviathan down there, which admittedly has me slightly concerned. I’m hoping it just means it was either summoned here, or it was taken back to the Dancing Hut after we slayed it. What I’m worried about is, if it was put there by Baba Yaga, what if it’s like many of the creatures in the Hut, which would return to life and continue doing their designated guard duty or puzzle or what-have-you after a certain amount of time passed? I don’t want to fight that thing again. That pool is not worth it.

When we were finished, we decided to teleport directly back to the Clocktower, to avoid being seen coming and going too often.

Aenland headed out with Nevra when the sun was setting, off to find the Night Monarch and save Xanthadon’s soul.

I hope she is actually salvageable, when all is said and done. Aenland did a shitload to try to save her, he’s really put a lot of himself into this. And Xanthadon’s kind of…crazy. She didn’t ever once think Aenland wouldn’t be okay with her whole using dead elves for a fungal army thing? And I mean, yeah, she didn’t choose to serve a Demon Lord, but she’s sure as fuck embraced it. What if there’s nothing left of her, when he pulls away all the demons and plots and trauma? I’m worried how he’ll take that, if that does happen.

Not like I’m one to talk. I’ve been keeping this shaky peace between the others and Keisuke, and I’ve probably stretched it as far as it will go. I know he isn’t a good person, and I know the others have very good reason to hate him. I just…hope he will listen, so that hopefully the others never have to interact with him again, and it never comes to a fight.

Is that naïve of me? To just this one time not want to fight? Nestian and Edeya have both had situations in which they’ve faced a problem and decided they wanted to solve it without killing. I know when we first met I thought they—especially Nestian—were weak and foolish for looking for way to avoid killing their problems. But…just this once can I have that too?

…

It’s just on my mind, because I know we’re going there tomorrow.

Anyways, while Aenland and Nevra were both safely out of potential eavesdropping range, I pulled Nestian aside for a talk. See…after we beat Kostchtchie we’d had a little conversation. It was just a passing thing at the time, but it bothered me. We were talking about how we’d just killed a Demon Lord (former Demon Lord, whatever), and I said it was good practice for going after Treerazor next. And Aenland said it was good practice for him. So I said something about how, obviously we were coming along. And Aenland said it was a Kyonin problem, it was none of our concern. And I snapped at him slightly saying it was his problem, so it was our concern. Nestian steered us onto another subject before it could become an all-out argument.

But I went back and talked to Aenland later, told him that he was being ridiculous if he thought we wouldn’t come and help him face a nascent Demon Lord. He had better chances of winning—and surviving—if he had us with him. Aenland at first argued that we all had our own lives to live that didn’t revolve around each other’s problems. I told him all I planned to do after this was travel. So I’d travel to Kyonin and fight Treerazor with him of my own volition if I had to. He said something about me dying and leaving Greta waiting for me, to which I told him he’s daft if he thinks Greta wouldn’t be right there with me. Which only made him double down because then he was arguing that we were both going to get ourselves killed. So I told him, what the hell? We just beat a former Demon Lord. Treerazor isn’t even an actual Demon Lord! And we’re only going to get more powerful going forward, not less. I, for one, intend to get Mythic Power from my wish from Baba Yaga, so I know I’m going to be plenty capable to handling myself thank-you-very-much.

So then Aenland finally fucking laid it out, what his actual problem was. He already lost two family members to Treerazor. He didn’t want to see that happen again.

And just, fuck, how are you supposed to respond to that? Because I still know I’m right. He’s going to get himself killed going and doing this without us. He needs us there. But he doesn’t trust us enough to believe we can hold our own in a fight, and maybe even know when to pull back if things actually are too nasty. Even after all this time together. He just projects his trauma onto us instead of trusting us. So what am I supposed to say to that? Because he’s not listening to any of my perfectly sound arguments!

So I told him, fine. I don’t agree with you, but I’ll drop it for now.

And that brings me to Nestian. Because I don’t know how in the Nine Hells to handle Aenland when he gets emotional and up in all in his own head. But Nestian is good at dealing with him. So I went to Nestian and laid out pretty much everything I just wrote above.

Nestian told me to approach it from a different angle. That next time it comes up, I should talk to Aenland about how being left behind will make us feel rather than trying to approach him with hard logic. Remind him how he felt when he lost his family, and let him know that’s how we would feel if he ran off to do this on his own and died without us being there to help him. The guilt, blaming yourself for not being able to save him.

I can’t say Nestian’s picture rings entirely true, however. If he went out and got himself killed, I wouldn’t feel like it was my fault he died. That’s ridiculous. I’d feel like it was his fault he died and like he’s an idiot. And I would miss that stupid idiot.

As I was thanking Nestian for his insight and making to take my leave, Nestian mentioned something about how I should get some rest because we’d be venturing into the Dancing Hut to find Anastasia tomorrow. This gave me pause. I asked him if he was sure that’s what he wanted to do next—after all, we hadn’t found his mother while fixing the Eon Pit, and her Eidolon was still with Keisuke. I’d figured he’d want that to be our top priority.

He stopped and I could practically see the wheels turning in his head as everything clicked into place. He immediately sounded worried and agreed that we should pay Keisuke a visit in the morning to rescue his mother, who he felt was probably in even more danger now that the Nonagon was back in working order. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I know I’m going to do my best to convince Keisuke to release them into my care, and hopefully avoid a confrontation.

Nestian asked me why I cared so much about Keisuke, really—feeling that my prior explanation that I owed him my life did not really cover it at this point. And he’s right, it doesn’t. I haven’t thought about things with Keisuke in relation to him having raised me from the dead in a long time.

I told Nestian the truth. At least the truth in the best way I could articulate it. How I feel about Keisuke has been…complicated, for a while now. I don’t know that even I, skilled as I am at speaking my mind, could really get it across properly. But I told him the most accurate truth I could. I told him that if we’d met at any other point in time besides when we did—be it me without my memories or as the Grimm Rider—if we hadn’t travelled together and gotten to know each other, they would have all wanted to kill me just as much as they want to kill Keisuke. At the very least I don’t doubt Aenland would—he shot Keisuke for a single wrong word at the wrong time the first time we met, before we really knew anything about him except that he was a necromancer and someone from my past. I was only different in their eyes because of them—both because they know me now, but also because just being with them and Greta has made me different than I was. If we’d met at any other time I’d just be some showy necromancer in their way.

Nestian disagreed. He believed that even if we’d met at a different point in time, we could have come to an understanding in a way the others can’t with Keisuke. Because, according to Nestian, I am not pointlessly cruel. I don’t just hurt and kill innocent people for fun. I argued that hurting innocent people was just a waste of energy—it wasn’t some moral stance on my part, I just know it’s an ineffective waste of my time that I could be focusing elsewhere. Nestian pointed out that plenty of people we’ve fought didn’t think so—they tortured and killed just for their own amusement. I argued that this only proved my point, because we’d killed all of them, so clearly that wasn’t the best way to go about gaining and holding power.

Nestian claimed that I’m a better person than I give myself credit for. He pointed out that I’d never hidden a thing about who I really am from Greta, and we were still together, still love each other. He said that he didn’t think Greta would stay with someone if they were as bad as Keisuke—so we were clearly on a different level. That…I couldn’t argue. Greta might not care about the whole morality thing any more than I do, but I can’t imagine her being happy with someone like Keisuke. For one thing I think she’d rip his throat out the first time he hurt someone she cared about and then tried to act like he was the victim for not knowing ahead of time that he shouldn’t kill that one particular person.

I’ve been…perhaps more patient with such things than I should be. But…like I said it’s complicated.

We bid each other a good night shortly after, and I returned to Grimm Labyrinthus to write in peace for a while. If they need me again tonight, Aenland has the Stone of Far Speech. I just…need to get into the right headspace for tomorrow. I know that despite his promise, Aenland is chomping at the bit to have another shot at Keisuke. And Nestian has every reason to hate him, and to want to see him dead. I wouldn’t have even blamed him if he were to decide by this point that was done with letting me try to talk to him. But Nestian is nothing if not patient. Really the only people I’m certain won’t just go for his head the second they see an opportunity are Talsune and Greta. I know I can trust Greta, and I can feel from Talsune his intention to not start anything so long as Keisuke doesn’t act first, for my sake. They’re both really better than I deserve.

…

I…should take Nestian’s advice. And try to get some rest. Not that I expect I’ll sleep well tonight. I’ve got a long day ahead of me tomorrow.

#pathfinder #reign of winter #journal entry

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eldritchcircus · 11 months

Note

edgy ask meme for OCs GO: 2, 4, 5, 17 GRIIIIIIM

2. something about my OC that people wouldn't expect just from looking at him : hmm I think probably the biggest surprise, when people meet this sweet cuddly outgoing eldritch abomination clown, is finding out that he's incredibly insecure and suffers from debilitating depression and anxiety on a regular basis. like if the biggest surprise isn't "this man is either a dead guy resurrected by bizarre alien creatures, or bizarre alien creatures that collectively believe they're this dead guy" then it's "oh no he genuinely needs intense therapy and nobody's sure if he has enough of a brain, physically, to be able to be medicated, but god if he does he needs it."

4. when scared, does he fight, flee, freeze, or fawn: that kind of depends on the situation! When Grim was alive he was afraid of 2 things: being abandoned/alone, and coming to physical harm at the hands of people who often did hurt him. as a child he fled. as an adult he tended to fawn in the face of people who used his desperate need to not be alone against him, and he tended to freeze in the face of physical harm. now that he's an undead monster clown with a family, he still fawns when he is afraid that people might spontaneously forget him or abandon him, and he's almost never in physical danger anymore (due to being a shapeshifting undead monster clown) but when it does happen he still freezes. being afraid of someone hurting his family puts him instantly into fight, though. he was like that before, but he never had anyone in his life long enough as a living adult to find out how he responds to a loved one in danger.

5. how far is he willing to go to get what he wants: I MEAN... that's a really complicated question partly because his wants are incredibly simple and easy to fulfill now. he just wants to be in a family that cares about him (which they would have done regardless, because they adopted him as an unhatched fungal egg full of alien baja blast goo) and to make people happy as a performer (which his family readily, happily supported as soon as he was brave enough to tell them, because they love and support him.) When he was alive, of course, he pretty much had none of that. He ran away as a 12 year old in the 1920s to become a vaudeville performer to try to achieve the second goal, and when the depression hit he became a desperate, petty criminal and occasional mob enforcer in a failed attempt to achieve the first one. He's hurt people in an attempt to buy his way into someone's good graces, just to have someone who would care if he lived or died or disappeared forever. (And no, nobody did care that he died, that he disappeared forever.) He knows deep down that he felt miserably guilty for having done a lot of objectively bad shit just to be liked, and that it didn't even work, but he's so unsure of whether he'd do the shit he's ashamed of nowadays that he will sometimes preemptively punish himself for it, because he's (wrongly) sure that Good People Know If They'd Do Bad Things Or Not.

17. what is the WORST thing I have put Grim through: well, it's pretty much just the outline stage and is a long ways away, but at one point Grim is going to wake up human, a twenty-seven year old high school dropout living with his living human parents who still insist on calling him Angelica, and trudge to his job at starbucks where he's too shy to make friends with his coworkers. he's going to only vaguely remember the beautiful dream he had of having had friends and loved ones and his dream job running a circus, and the thought of being loved is going to hurt so much that he won't want to think about it any more than that, and this is going to happen because the creator/mother of the things that make him is a petty, vengeful god. (but somewhere else, his brother and sisters and cousins and mom and uncle are all desperately trying to figure out where he is, and why they can't quite remember his name even though they know they're missing him.)

#grim the clown #jonah grimaldi #horror #oc ask meme

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littlemissvincentvega · 1 year

Note

Hey I just wanted to tell you I love your blog so much and I wanted to know if you’re still writing fics/hcs and If you still are can I request headcanons for what the Pulp Fiction crew would be like in high school. Thanks so much xx.

i have literally no clue when this request was sent but i saw it half-finished in my drafts and finished it just now! so thanks for the request bc this was actually really fun and interesting to think about. and i haven't posted anything in a while so i hope y'all enjoy 🥰

what the pulp fiction crew was like in high school!

vincent:

thought he was cool but really wasn't

didn't have much luck with the ladies

probably had a stupid haircut

very rarely got good grades, not because he's dumb but mostly because he really didn't care

got boners over everything

definitely had a crush on one of his teachers and because of this, tried harder in their class

bad at spelling

i feel like he'd be shy at school too. like he wouldn't be disruptive or anything he just mostly kept to himself and mostly people didn't wanna be friends with him

if he got picked on enough he wouldn't say no to a fight

hid in the bathroom so he could smoke

jules:

he was popular at school i feel like

all-rounder. he did well at most things, got along with teachers and made people laugh

not a class clown but was really funny

got away with swearing in class bc all the teachers were fond of him and bc he was respectful of them

the type to break up a fight

took girls on dates to the drive in movie theatres

his mom raised him to respect women too and so he always picked them up and dropped them back home at sensible times

we all wish we were jules in high school basically

mia

honestly mia was kind of eccentric at school. not very popular but not a complete outcast either

a little bit alternative

was friends with guys and girls, she didn't care for bitchy drama

could be loud and misbehave but that was mostly if she was with those types of people. like she got dragged into it and influenced easily

but on her own she was pretty shy and respectful, rarely got in trouble then

got picked on a little by more popular kids

struggled with her mental health at times

but really the teachers did like her, she was usually described by them as a 'sweet girl'

marcellus

you'd think he would be the type that nobody would dare mess with, but my hc is different

i think marcellus was picked on. maybe he was a little chubbier back in high school and people saw this as a reason to bully him

probably why he ended up being a gangster. nobody could do that to him again and the people he worked with he could look after, which he did

i also think he was very intelligent. not straight As by any means, but he did very well and the teachers liked him

probably had one or two close friends, despite being a target for the popular kids

overall he was really happy to graduate and was really proud of himself for getting through it

lance

complete pothead but are we surprised

used to deal in the school bathrooms, also he would smoke in the cubicles

he was actually respectful to teachers though

kinda dumb i feel, like he struggled to concentrate and understand everything. maybe he just found it all boring

hated doing essays

i'd say he would bunk off on the regular too

lance was always invited to house parties because who wouldn't wanna party with this guy. he supplies the goods anyway, so whether or not the host likes him you can guarantee he'll be there

natural comedian although sometimes people are just laughing at him. he doesn't mind for the most part

high school was basically just one long party for him and he looks back fondly on it

#pulp fiction #pulp fiction hc #pulp fiction headcanons #tarantino hc #tarantino headcanons #vincent vega #jules winnfield #mia wallace #marcellus wallace

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forever-rogue · 3 years

Text

Sprinkle of Cinnamon

Summary | Another dull day at your coffee shop turns much better when an unexpected visitor becomes your favorite regular.

Pairing | Bucky x Fem!Reader

Word Count | 4k

Warnings | none

Masterlists | Bucky, Main

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.�� .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The sound of muffled voices - disjointed laughter, a few groans. The ticking of the aging clock on the wall above the front counter. Tick tock tick tock. The sound of the oven timer in the back of the shop. The scrape of pastry knives on cutting boards. The sip of coffee through a to-go cup lid.

It had all become such a stable part of your life that you could have cried from boredom. Before your regularly scheduled 3:02pm sigh, the door opened, the bell above it twinkling merrily. Your eyes peeled up from your book in surprise at the sudden break in monotony. Casting a furtive glance at the door and stashing your book away, you tried to see who the surprise intruder was.

Your breath immediately hitched in your throat as you peeked through the pastry case and noticed that it was a man - a very handsome one at that. He was tall and lithe, dressed in dark jeans, topped off with a black shirt and leather jacket. He whipped off his sunglasses and tucked them into his pocket as he looked around the small coffee shop. His eyes were a striking cerulean, contrasting nicely to his dark hair. Classically handsome and modernly well-dressed.

Shit, shit, shit. Were you really just staring at him pathetically, hiding behind pastries instead of greeting him and welcoming him into your humble little shop?

“H-hi,” your voice. It actually cracked on a one-syllable little word. You wished the ground would swallow you up whole then and there. Rolling your eyes, you cleared your throat and tried again, “hi.”

“Hello,” he shot you a quick glance, a smile gracing his features as he held up a hand and wiggled his fingers. Was everything he did, or at least the two things you’d seen him do - pulling off his sunglasses and greeting you - attractive? Or was he just the first person under fifty you’d had come through in days?

“Hi,” you repeated, already internally groaning as he laughed lightly and came over to you. He approached the counter slowly, taking everything in stride as he looked around the homely little shop. He looked like a god in this small space, making everything seem old and worn, “what can I get you?”

“Hi again,” he smiled lightly as he leaned against the counter, watching you with keen eyes. You felt a flush of warmth well up in your cheeks as you bit on your lip and stared at the top of the counter, “I don’t take anything special - but you do have a strong dark roast?”

“We do,” that much you could happily offer him. Making a cup of coffee should be an easy and simple thing, “do you take anything in it? A little bit of sugar? Some syrup or creamer?”

“No, thank you,” a little half smile, half smirk combo pulled on the corners of his mouth, “but whatever you have that’s strongest, I’ll take it black.”

“Black? N-no creamer or sugar? Why do you hate yourself that much?” you couldn’t help but blurt it out. As soon as you did, your hands flew to your face in embarrassment as he immediately broke into a fit of laughter. Oh no. This man was going to think you were an absolute clown - whatever chance you had of him thinking anything to the contrary was now long gone, “I-I-I didn’t mean it! I’m so sorry...I should haven’t-”

“Don’t worry about it,” he insisted as he calmed himself down, “it’s not the first time, nor will it be the last, I’ve been asked that. You know, you just grow up with it a certain way, you get used to it.”

“Did your mother never let you try different creamers?”

“Something like that,” there was a huff of laughter as his tongue darted and wet his lips. You tried not to stare. It was a herculean task, “I’ll just take that - the largest cup. Ummm...any pastries you recommend?”

“I like the bear claws,” you shrugged lightly, still embarrassed by your earlier guffaw, “they’re always a good go-to. Do you like them?”

“Tolerable,” he admitted as you giggled lightly, “well then, I’ll take your largest and strongest coffee and a bear claw.”

“I thought you said they were tolerable?”

“I did,” he agreed, “but you recommended it and you look like someone I can trust. And besides that, they do actually look pretty good.”

“I do? They do??”

“You do," he nodded, “unless you’re doubting your own recommendations?”

“Not at all,” you offered up a confident smile of your own, “I’ll have it right up.”

"How much do I owe ya?" he pulled out his wallet but you quickly shook your head, playfully swatting his hand away.

"Its on the house," you insisted softly, feeling shy and nervous suddenly, "for bringing me the most amusement I've had in hours...probably days."

“I’ll get you back,” he grinned as he walked over to one of the empty tables facing the window. You tried to calm your inner squealing down as you watched him walk away, quickly facing the other way when once he sat down facing you. As you got to work on making his coffee, you could swear you could feel his eyes glued to you. But every time you sneaked a glance at him, you found him looking down at his phone, a little smirk tugging on the corners of his mouth.

It wasn’t long before you finished his coffee and grabbed a fresh pastry from the back and slowly walked it over to him, a new flood of nerves welling up in your tummy. He was handsome - more so than should be allowed - and he looked slightly familiar. It was almost like you were positive you had seen him before, but just couldn’t place where.

“Here you are,” you set everything in front of him with a flourish as he looked up at you and grinned, “if it’s good, I made it all, if it’s terrible, I wasn’t here.”

“I’m sure it’ll be great,” he promised, shooting you a wink as you offered a small wave and turned to go back to your station behind the counter. But before you could get more than a few feet away, you couldn’t help but spin on your heel as you faced him.

“Do I know you?” you blurted out, your face growing warm as soon as the words left your mouth. He seemed taken aback for a moment and his face flushed lightly as shook his head, “I’m so sorry, it’s just....you just look so familiar…”

“I think I’d remember if we’d met before. I wouldn’t forget seeing a face as pretty as yours,” he said softly. Completely turning the table as you tried not to completely melt into a puddle on the floor. You bit your lip before playfully rolling your eyes and walking away, “hey - what’s your name, coffee girl?”

You turned around and offered him your name before giving him a little mock bow, “but coffee girl works too, coffee purchaser - or do you happen to have a name?”

“Bu-James,” he quickly caught himself as you raised an eyebrow and tried not to laugh too much. His face immediately turned a shade darker as he stared at his coffee.

“Well, Bu-James,” you teased with a wink, “it was nice meeting you. Enjoy your coffee!”

You darted away and to the back as you attended to the pastries that needed to be prepared for tomorrow. Your body was practically buzzing with exciting energy as you tried to focus on the dough and batters, rather than the nervous fluttering in your tummy. Funny how one stranger could turn your whole day around.

“Silly girl,” you whispered to yourself, vainly attempting to ground yourself in reality. It was one stranger - albeit incredibly handsome and funny - and that was all. Nothing more and nothing less. As soon as he left he wouldn’t even remember the fool that brought him his coffee, Meanwhile, you knew he would be lingering in your mind for some time. A heavy sigh escaped your lips before you finally focused on your work.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

It was a rainy afternoon, a completely out of the blue summer storm that had caused everyone to revel in the coolness while you were stuck working. It was even more boring than normal - if that was even possible. You cleaned over the same spot on the counter for the tenth time, glaring at it as you tried to eliminate it for good.

“Hey coffee girl,” your heart practically did somersaults in your chest at the sound of the familiar voice. Be cool, be cool, you repeated to yourself several times before slowly turning to face the door. There he was - in all his golden glory, pulling sunglasses off and sticking them in jacket pocket as he approached, “just who I was hoping to see.”

“H-hey James,” you stammered nervously, dropping the rag to the side as you offered him a small smile. He strolled over at a leisurely pace before leaning on his elbows on the counter and resting his face in his hands. He watched you with a lazy little smile, “what are you doing here?”

“At a coffee shop?” he quirked an eyebrow at you in amusement, causing you to groan before the two of you shared a laugh, “I was thinking a coffee sounded good.”

“And does it?” you turned and gestured to the grinder as he nodded lightly, “coming right up. What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be outside enjoying the nice summer rain?”

“I’ve seen enough rain,” he shrugged as he watched you work, admiring your deft hands and the concentrated look on your face, “besides, there’s something I wanted to enjoy even more.”

“Oh? And what could that be?” you topped his coffee off with just a sprinkle of cinnamon, “it was the bear claw, wasn’t it?”

“That was pretty good, but that’s not it,” he promised as you handed him the coffee. He gratefully took the coffee and held it to his nose, taking a moment to smell and inhale the delicious scent, “maybe it’s the coffee girl.”

“Stop,” you grabbed the rag and playfully swatted his arm with it, “you don’t have to pretend to be all nice and what not to get the coffee. As far as I’m concerned, it’s on the house.”

“Even if that was the only reason I was here, what’s the reason for it being on the house today?” he leaned in even closer and you could practically feel the warmth of his body radiating onto you. Where his eyes even bluer up close? Was his smile really that magical? Shit. You were in deep and you’d barely even spoken to the man.

“I highly doubt the shop will dismantle because of one cup of coffee-”

“Two.”

“Fine - two cups of coffee I’ve given away,” you mirrored his position and the two of you watched each other closely, “and besides, maybe the company isn’t too bad at all, James.”

“I’ll take what I can get,” he grinned as the tips of his ears flushed red, “I-”

Just before he could say anything else, the bell above the door twinkled and a small group of people clambered in. You wanted to groan and wished you could tell them to leave, but instead you tore your gaze away from James and to the new arrivals.

“Sorry,” you murmured softly as he nodded in understanding. You straightened up and reluctantly made your way to the other side of the counter. Before he could leave, you stole another glance at your newly anointed favorite customer and shot him a shy smile.

Bucky watched you for a few moments before taking his coffee and heading for the door. He caught your eye briefly before raising his arm and giving you a quick wave. You timidly raised a hand in response and crooked your fingers, reluctant to see him go. This had to be the one time you’d had a sudden influx of customers.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

It had been several weeks since you’d last seen James. Fifteen days to be exact. Not that you were counting or anything. Things just hadn’t been quite the same since. Days seemed to drag on and no matter how many customers you had been getting, both old and new, no one was quite the same as him. Everyone was so average.

Before the break in his regularity, he was making it a habit of coming every other day or so, even if it was just for a few moments to say hi and grab a coffee before heading out for work. You come to enjoy his presence, and getting to know little bits and pieces of him. You should have known better than to slowly fall for a regular customer. Sigh.

It was a slow evening, and you’d made your rounds and checked on the few customers that were lingering in the shop, doing things such as studying or reading. You’d cleaned the bar and counters down a couple of times by now, and decided if you cleaned any further you’d wipe them away altogether. You pulled out a book you’d been wanting to get to forever, deciding you might as well make some use of your time.

“Slacking on the job?” you almost jumped out of your stool at the sound of the familiar voice, slamming your book shut in surprise, “sorry, coffee girl, didn’t mean to scare you!”

“James,” you immediately knew who it was from his warm chuckle as you clutched at your racing heart, “y-you didn’t scare me…”

“Hmm,” he was leaning against the counter, watching intently as you put your book away, “is that why you jumped out of your seat and almost threw the book at me?”

“Yup,” you agreed with a shy smile, mirroring his position, “definitely why.”

“You can admit you were scared,” he insisted, “you’re pretty cute when you’re scared.”

“Shut up,” you bit your lip as you studied the wood grain in the seemingly ancient counter. He nudged his elbow lightly with yours, causing you to turn your attention back to him. The two of you stared at each other quietly for a few moments, “you came back.”

“Of course I came back,” he said as if it were obvious he would. You had certainly had your doubts - after all, why would he waste his time coming back to a small little hole in the wall? He tilted his head to the side and gave you a curious look, “did you think I wouldn’t?”

“I...ummm...no, I didn’t,” you confessed quietly, “it’s just, you were gone for a few weeks and then...this place doesn’t exactly seem to fit your vibe is all.”

“I was...working,” he admitted, although judging by the use of the word working, you couldn’t help but wonder what he did, “and trust me, this place is much more my style than anything fancy or whatever you want to call it. I came back as soon as I could.”

“Whatever for?”

“Really?” he laughed as your face felt warm and you hid behind your hands, “maybe it was for the excellent coffee, maybe for the coffee girl.”

“You’re too much,” you said as you reluctantly met his eyes, “you want a cup? I can make you one…”

“I’d love some,” he nodded, “but only if it’s with whatever little thing you do to it.”

“A sprinkle of cinnamon,” you confessed as you pointed to the freshly ground cinnamon you’d prepped earlier in the day. A look of surprise crossed his face as he just grinned at you, “it’s my secret little go, if I didn’t tell you, you’d never know. But it just adds a little something.”

“It makes it-” he was quickly cut off by the loud vibrating of his phone. He rolled his eyes and sighed as you laughed before fishing it. As soon as he saw who was calling him, he sighed again and gave you an apologetic look before answering, “what?”

Your eyebrows shot up as you tried to hold back your giggles at his exasperation. You busied yourself with brewing him a fresh cup and tried not to listen in too much - you were curious but not nosy. Singing quietly under your breath, you had his brew ready in no time. When you turned around, James was looking at you with a guilty little expression.

“Everything alright?” you set the coffee down in front of him as he gratefully took it.

“I have to go,” he confessed, and he actually seemed reluctant to do so, “it’s...work. It’s just...pretty important. I’m sorry...I wanted to stay.”

“Now you’re being crazy,” you insisted, although the idea that he actually came to see you, made your heart skip a few beats, “go and take care of something much more important! If you need a cup of coffee once in a while, you know where to find me.”

“Ahhh, I like you coffee girl,” he reached into his pocket to attempt to get his wallet out. As usual you shook your head and pushed his hand away, “fine. Alright. Let me give you something else instead.”

“Okay, now that sounds a little creepy,” you laughed as he realized his gaff. His face turned a light shade of pink as he reached for a napkin and the pen behind the counter. He quickly scribbled something down as you had a feeling you knew exactly what it was. But you didn’t want to get too ahead of yourself…that was for later.

“Here,” he said softly as he pushed the nap towards you, “that’s my number - obviously. I...umm...if you ever want to talk or whatever, you can...yeah.”

“I’m pretty sure I can figure out what a number is for,” you shot him a wink as you grabbed the napkin and pulled it closer. Your heart was practically hammering in your chest at this point, “I'll see you around, James.”

“See you around, coffee girl,” he said softly as he waved his coffee cup at you and started to head to the door, “have a good night.”

“You too,” you said softly as he left under the twinkling bell of the door. You watched him walk away through the windows, sighing wistfully. He came back. He gave you his number. Holy shit.

You looked at the napkin and the number he wrote. It all seemed normal until you saw that he had written his name. Except it wasn’t his name.

Instead of James, it said Bucky.

Who the hell was Bucky?

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You paced around your apartment as you stole furtive glances at your phone. To text him or not to text him? That was the question.

It had been almost four days since he’d given it to you. You wondered if he thought about you. If he was wondering why you hadn’t reached out to him. Your stomach churned with guilt.

After he gave you his phone number, you’d gone home and googled it, along with both the names you now knew him by - James and Bucky. With just those few bits of information, it wasn’t hard to figure out who he really was. You were almost positive that he didn’t tell you his real identity for fear of you freaking out or being afraid of him. But you weren’t afraid - you had no reason to be. You just wished he would have told you in the first place, but you understood his reasons.

A heavy sigh escaped your lips as you snatched up your phone and decided to just text him. Why not? There was literally nothing to lose. You might as well see where this went.

Hey James. Or do you prefer Bucky? It’s Coffee Girl.

As soon as you sent the text, a sense of regret welled up in your belly and you groaned heavily. You tossed your phone onto the couch and headed into the kitchen to get a glass of wine. Anything to occupy your mind as you tried not to think about all the possibilities of what he could say in response. Or not. Perhaps he wouldn’t text you back at all.

You weren’t sure which possibility was worse.

Pouring the rosé with a heavy hand, you slowly filled your glass. Once you were satisfied with it, you took a long drink and refilled what you had just consumed. Your heart almost stopped when you heard your phone buzz from the couch cushion.

You took another long drag from the wine and almost ran into the living room. You picked up the phone and excitedly saw that it was indeed from James...Bucky? You had saved him as James Bucky in your phone for the time being.

Opening his message, you quickly read it, finding yourself grinning from ear to ear.

Ahh, I gave myself away, didn’t I? Bucky. Call me Bucky.

You didn’t even bother to wait to send a message back: Okay Bucky. You did. Were you going to tell me or was I always going to have to figure it out on my own?

You wondered if you pushed him too far. Too much. But his reply suggested anything but.

I was going to tell you, believe it or not. I just wanted to make sure it was the right time. I didn’t want you to worry or hate me or be scared.

I’m not scared, I promise. Just wondering how I got to be lucky enough to be your coffee girl.

Now you just felt like a stupid fool at your vain attempt at flirting. Cringe. You wanted to curl up and pretended that none of it ever happened.

But to your continued surprise, he texted you back.

And then some more. Until the very late hours of the night where you reluctantly had to tell him goodnight for the time being before you fell asleep.

It was okay, because somehow you’d managed to get a date out of it. You had an actual real life date with Bucky. Shit. How on earth were you going to survive that?

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Bucky was nervous. Gods, when was the last time he ever felt this nervous? He couldn’t even remember. He had a small bouquet of flowers in his hands as he waited for you in front of the small restaurant you’d picked for dinner. He rocked back and forth on his heels as he looked at the time. You’d be getting there any moment. He’d been there for fifteen minutes. Wanting to be early, and also because he was nervous. Mostly because he was nervous. Ugh. He was almost tempted to run away and head home, just because he didn’t want to make a fool of himself. But he also really wanted to see you again too.

“Hey Bucky,” the sudden sound of your voice almost made him jump as he turned around to face you. A smile quickly spread on his face as he drank in the sight of you; you were wearing such a simple dress, nothing too fancy, but you still managed to take his breath away. You snorted lightly when you noticed his silence, “you alright there - cat got your tongue?”

“No, I-I...hi,” he held out the flowers to you and you eagerly told them, inhaling their sweet, saccharine scent, “these are for you.”

“Thank you,” you said softly as you offered him the sweetest eyes he had ever seen, “they’re beautiful. No one’s ever gotten me flowers before!”

“I think it’s time we change that,” he said softly as you tried to conceal some of the excitement off your face, “I’m glad you came...I wasn’t sure if you’d say yes.”

“There was never a doubt,” you promised, “even if you had told me who you were right off the bat. See, I knew you looked familiar!”

“It’s a lot for people,” he admitted, “a lot of people just see the -”

“Bucky,” you interrupted him softly, “I just see Bucky. The handsome, funny man that made my day the instant he came in. That’s all.”

“You’re something else, sweetheart,” he said softly as you reached for his hand, “you sure want to do this? You can still say no.”

“I want to Bucky,” you promised firmly, “how about we get inside before you change your mind and run off on me? Unless you’ve changed your mind?”

“I’m all in,” he agreed softly, giving your hand a squeeze.

“Me too. All in.”

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Marvel Taglist (add yourself to a taglist here!)(strike-through means I couldn’t tag you - please check your settings!)

@qhbr2013 @greeneyedblondie44 @april-showers-and-flowers @softboiipascal @im-an-adult-ish @patzammit @niki-xie @xxlovingfandomsxx @startrekkingaroundasgard @welcometothepedroverse @actual-spawn-of-satan @punkerthanpascal @lazybeeches @someday-when-you-leave-me @justgivemethekeys @salome-c @rosiefridayrogersunday @neptunesglow @artsymaddie @haildoodles @amneris21 @star017 @irepostthingsiwanttoseelater @its–fandom–darling @ayamenimthiriel @alyispunk @djarinbarnes @edencherries @ashamed23 @sunsetskywalkerr @nikkixostan @spookispunk @cable-kenobi @ironicfoxes @cc13723things @gooddaykate @natthebattygeologist @sociallyantisocialbutterfly @n3ssm0nique @daughterofthenight117 @riddikulus-obsessions @imaginelover88 @saint-bvcky @sleep-tight1 @missstef23 @moonlacebeam @asylummara @wakandabiitch2 @hoodedbirdie @mysweetlittledesire @reallyloudstarlight @vintagepigeon @froggyy06 @fleurydelacoury @veil-of-time @queenbeean @deedepee @kenzieam @luxeavenger @dobbyjen @bbl32 @frickin-bats @caprisunsister @spacedadmando @bucks-bunny @starlightcrystalline

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #sebastian stan #sebastian stan x you #sebastian stan x reader #james buchanan barnes

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mariesocuniverse · 3 years

Text

Relationships: NCT 127

Maeil (aka Daily)

there are two meanings to their ship name

first is, of course, their names mashed together but the second meanings is much cuter and the one fans use to explain their dynamic

When Mae found out their ship name was Maeil her first reaction was “Oh? Is it because I make sure to let Taeil hyung I love him daily?” while cuddling Taeil on a couch

he’s the same age as Mae’s older brother so she treats him as such

her brother is literally like “Are you replacing me with Taeil? I’m your reall brother!” and she’s just there sweating

part of Taeil’s hype squad and will fight donghyuck for the position of president

like the two were on vlive and spent a good fifteen minutes arguing about their positions in the club Mae won but donghyuck refuses to acknowledge it

he could be doing something simple and you can see Mae in the background with a big smile cheering

he’s also like her personal teddy bear whenever she wants cuddles and/or wants to rest

there are just multiple gifs floating around nct twt of Mae tackling Taeil for a hug or her just clinging to him on a couch because she’s either tired and wants to rest or just wants cuddles

absolutely adores his voice

there are multiple compilations on youtube about all the times Mae compliments Taeil on his voice and him just blushing the whole time

Maenny

was lowkey intimidated bc the man is a fucking tree and basically towers over her

but then he saw him play around with some other trainees and that thought disappeared real quick

he’s more like the protective older brother than like a parent like Doyoung or Taeyong

can and has used his height to his advantage when it comes to scaring people who hurt Mae or do something to make her sad

he was one of the first people who found out about her old company and he looked like he was about to storm their building probably would’ve if it weren’t for Mae

one of the first people she became friends with because he always answered questions she had when she was a trainees

before debut there were times people could see Johnny walk somewhere and Mae is just trailing after him like a lost puppy more like running because the man’s legs are long and he walks faster

there was this one time someone asked where Mae was and Johnny just shuffled to the side to reveal her behind him

his large frame was just big enough to hide her from everyone’s vision unless you walk past the two

you know that one vid of predebut nct performing Under The Sea with Johnny wearing the fish head? Mae was supposed to join him dressed as Ariel but the idea was cut last minute

there was this one time Mae couldn’t see something bc she was too short so Johnny lifted her up and put her on his shoulders

okay enough about Mae’s height

during shows he’s always encouraging Mae to talk more when she seems unsure whether to give her input or not

johnny, after an interviewer asks a question: “what do you think Mae?”

absolutely melts whenever she does aegyo because no matter how old she is he’ll always see her as the cute kid who followed him everywhere

MaeTae

honestly it’s hard to pinpoint where Taeyong’s protective parental energy started getting directed to Mae

like it might’ve been somewhere predebut but she doesnt know when

she’s like 50% sure she just blanked out and suddenly Taeyong appeared in her life scolding her for not taking care of herself

it’s not like she’s complaining abt it she’s really grateful to have someone like him in her life

when her family got worried abt her joining a group filled with guys he personally went to her house and calmly explained how Mae will be taken care of and how the group will make sure that she’ll be safe

first person to know if there’s something between SM and Mae that the other members don’t know about

he was also the first member to know about what happened with Mae and her old company

she knows she can trust him with anything

he found her alone crying in one of the practice rooms and she just poured her heart out to him

Whenever they go places as a large group he looks for Mae first before counting the other members

she got lost once and now he doesnt want her out of his sight for more than five minutes

she got him a “world’s greatest dad” trophy as a joke that he has on a shelf in his room

YuMae

you know how yuta acts with mark and winwin? yeah he does the same for Mae

if he isnt giving a hug to mark he’s all the way across the room with Mae giving her a back hug

Mae: does nothing

Yuta: aigoo look how cute she is :)

she doesnt ignore him tho she just returns the affection

likes to jump on his back for a piggy back ride or just run and jump to give him a hug

there was this one clip that went viral of Yuta talking to someone and he just pauses for a moment before turning around to catch Mae, who seemingly came out of nowhere, into a hug and turned back to his conversation

neither yuta nor the other person seemed fazed so this seemed like a regular occurrence to them

he teaches her japanese!

its beneficial to both of them because Mae can learn and Yuta won’t forget any Japanese while living in Korea :D

really really really loves his smile

like real whipped (A/N i wrote this while watching the under the sea performance and now im going through it)

like she sees him smile and that makes her smile and that makes fans smile

Can and has glared at “fans” and other people who make her uncomfortable whether it be at the airport or during their schedules

There was this one time Mae was walking ahead of him when there were fansites following them and he just pulled her back into his arms because he noticed an anti of hers was nearby

It’s like a lion trying to protect a kitten

2Young

again did not know how Doyoung because like a parent to Mae but she just ended up rolling with it

She just has this aura to her that makes you want to care of her and give her love

whenever they go eat together with the group he always put food on her plate, regardless of whether the managers glare at him or not he glares back anyway so they back off

“doyoung she’s been put on a diet-” “she’s going to eat whether you like it or not”

one time Mae got sick with a fever and he just burst into her room with medicine and soup

if taeyong has the “world’s greatest dad” trophy doyoung has the “world’s greatest mom” trophy that he says he’ll throw it away but has it perched on his desk

Mae’s also one of the members who like to clown him

she’s the one of the reasons he already has gray hairs

Mae has a folder of embarrassing photos of Doyoung’s childhood that his brother sent to her and refuses to delete it

she cant do anything about them tho bc Doyoung got his own folder of babie Mae pics courtesy of Mae’s older brother

Haechan has tried and failed to gain access to either of those folders

MaeHyun

major sibling energy

but not like the bickering kind of energy but more like very soft and uwu

there are a lot of people asking them “are you sure you’re not related?” during interviews and fansigns

Fans are just waiting for the two to do a duet bc come on SM you have a real life Disney prince and princess here

Let Mae be the Jasmine to Jaehyun’s Aladdin and perform A Whole New World together

She likes to poke his dimple

There’s this one vid where Jaehyun and Mae are sitting together and she just pokes his dimple and Jaehyun’s smile gets bigger

joked about if he could let her meet yugyeom and bambam bc of 97line and he just went no <3

when jaehyun was inkigayo’s mc nobody could approach her with the infamous inkigayo sandwich bc she was always with him not like anyone could try considering mae has several bodyguards wherever she goes

you know how jaehyun won the alpaca plushie in nct life? he gave it to mae bc he know how much she loved plushies

Honestly the majority of the plushies in her room were given to her by jaehyun

She has a bear named after him uwu

MaeWoo

Loves the energy he gives and thinks he’s so funny

He never fails to make her laugh whenever she needs cheering up

they used to be shy around each other when he first joined the group but they caught each other having a midnight snack so they just talked at 3am eating ramen until doyoung found them and told them to go to bed

now it’s just tradition for them to go to a convenience store together and eat ramen or whatever snacks they decide to get

nobody is allowed to join them its only a MaeWoo thing

Mae has natural aegyo but Jungwoo has taught her to use it to her advantage which she does but not often

Another one of Mae’s cuddle buddies

She just thinks he looks so soft so she just clings to him whenever he’s nearby

Major uwu energy over here when it comes to the two of them together

idk why but i dont see him as the type to be protective when it comes to her dating

he’s more like

“you dont have a boyfriend yet? damn people dont know what they’re missing”

or on the other side of the spectrum

“good luck to your future boyfriend he’ll need it if he’s gonna date you”

2Ma/MaeKyung

Older brother that doesn’t feel like an older brother

Majority of the time he kinda just feels like they’re the same age or younger so newer fans get shocked when they find out she’s younger

Like there was this one time Johnny the two were playing Smash Bros and Mark was whining because he lost and Mae was jumping in the background cheering it was his fourth loss in a row but he won’t say it

they were kinda awkward around each other at first so johnny literally had to stick them in a room together and didn’t let them leave until they talked to each other

it worked and they just vibed and rambled about different topics like trainee life and what mark’s life in Vancouver was like

speaking of Vancouver

one time during their stay in Vancouver they wanted to have a friend date but he lost her at a mall and took twenty minutes trying to find her until she used the announcement service to call him

he wouldve ask his Vancouver friends to go with them but some of them had a crush on mae so no <3

When she first starting writing songs and her own lyrics she went to Mark first and asked if the lyrics she wrote were good

They were amazing and Mark made sure to tell her that :D

mae’s reaction to his dream graduation was one of the saddest things czennies have seen so when she found out he was coming back she would not let go of him

Literally could not stop smiling whenever mark was with the rest of dream filming for Resonance

It’s just very wholesome and czennies are willing to riot if SM decides to separate them

Maechan

You know how I said Maehyun was the soft and uwu type of siblings? Well Maechan are the bickering type of siblings

You know the ones who like to bicker over minor things but still would protect each other for life

they have so much dirt on each other on trainee days lmao

Haechan to Mae: lmao what a loser

Haechan when someone insults Mae: listen here you little shit

The only person allowed to clown her is him and the rest of NCT

he heard a trainee talk shit about her once and they still can’t look haechan in the eye

he’s only a few months older than her but he uses the “i’m older!” card whenever he can

“i’m older therefore i get to go first” “excuse me sir but you’re only three months older than me” “but im still older”

they fight for the title of the favorite 127 maknae but they both know that can do what they want

Mae is more lenient towards the hyungs during yaja time than haechan is tho so she just vibes whenever they go to scold him when the games over

they do team up a lot so they’re a menace when they do something together

especially in games

their competitive nature plus their brain power together? its over it even started

50% of the time they have to be separated from each other when it comes to choosing teams

the other 50% is someone choosing both of them because they want that easy win

Those two are willing to risk it all even for a bag of chips

#24th member of nct #nct 24th member #nct female oc #nct female addition #nct au #kpop female addition #nct addition #nct dream female addition #nct dream female member #nct 127 female addition #nct 127 female member

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heartsywritesthethings · 3 years

Text

Sk8: The Sleepover

Author: GA!babe

Summary: The gang’s all here for a sleepover at Reki’s! In a discussion of skate names, Reki finds himself the center of attention after getting flustered by the mere mention of the word “tickle” (2,842 words)

“Langa! Glad you came!” Reki exclaimed as he opened the door to find his best friend standing there.

And then he looked behind the boy and saw…four other people right behind him.

“Uh, what are they doing here?” Reki asked, trying not to sound too rude, but it’s not like he wanted to invite two grown men, a clown, and a literal child over to his house as well. It was just supposed to be him and Langa tonight.

“Oh, well when you told me that your mom and sister were out of town for some mother-daughter bonding, I thought it would be nice if everyone came along.” Langa said with a smile. It made Reki wonder again why that smile made his heart flip flop. This boy? The one with a pile of snow in place of a brain?

“That’s not a problem, right, Reki?” Miya asked, snaking himself around Langa’s legs and looking up at the red head with his big puppy-dog eyes.

Reki took a deep breath.

“No, of course not. Come on in,” Reki sighed and took a small step aside so everyone could walk into his house. The house that he wasn’t supposed to have anyone else in while his mother and sister were away. That one.

“Nice place you have here, Reki. I’m sure the ladies love a humble man who lives with his mom,” Joe teased on his way in, ruffling the kid’s hair.

“Just so you know, Carla said there was a 95% chance that we were seen by one of your neighbors. I hope you aren’t grounded for too long after your mother finds out,” Cherry said as he slid by.

“Thanks for telling me,” Reki whined, his shoulders slumping. Great. Now it was almost guaranteed that he would be grounded when his mom got back.

“Wait, you’re not allowed to have people over? Why didn’t you say so?” Shadow hissed, looking over his shoulder to see if anyone was outside looking at him.

“Well, that’s not exactly–” Langa began.

“What kind of flowers does your mom like? I can get her a vase before she even gets home,” Shadow continued. taking out a little notepad from his pocket and waiting for a response.

“Uh, she likes lillies I think?” Reki said with a dry chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Shadow scribbled it down with a frown.

“Not exactly the best of apology flowers, but I’ll see what I can do,” the older man grumbled as he stepped into the house.

“Sorry for ruining your date night, Reki. Sleepovers are fun though. Do you think we should braid each other’s hair?” Miya said, popping a bubblegum bubble as he also walked into the house.

“Date?” Reki squeaked, his face turning a rather nice shade of pink. Miya just laughed as he skipped towards the couch.

“You will not get your little claws on my hair!” Cherry snapped from the other room.

And then he was alone with Langa. The guy he had wanted here…alone in the house.

“Sorry, was I not supposed to invite them over?” Langa asked, smiling awkwardly. Reki couldn’t help but melt just a little. How could he say no to that face?

“Ah, no, you’re fine. I just forgot to ask for them over too. I just got, uh, busy with a new…new board! Yeah! Thanks. You saved me the trouble.” Reki stammered awkwardly, shuffling on his feet. Langa smiled softly and their shoulders bumped as he stepped in.

Reki closed the door with a sigh.

This was going to be a long night.

~ ~ ~

“Alright, what are we going to watch?” Miya asked, jumping onto the couch, quickly getting comfortable against the pillow in the corner.

“Watch? This is a party, right? We drink and play games until dawn!” Joe announced, sitting down on the couch and stretching his arms high over his head.

“You’re an idiot,” Cherry huffed, looking around with a barely concealed look of disgust. He looked between the couch, chair, and love-seat, before deciding that he was perfectly fine standing right here thank you very much.

“I’m an idiot? I’m just trying to make things fun around here!” Joe exclaimed, looking around to see if anyone agreed with him.

“Did you forget how old he was? He’d get in more trouble if his mom found empty sake bodies around the house,” Shadow huffed as he took his spot next to Joe. The burly man scowled at being sat next to a clown, but he didn’t protest too much.

“Well, there’s only so long she can ground me.” Reki chuckled before plopping down on the nearby love-seat. Langa sat down next to him, not at all bothered by how incredibly close they were.

“I’m sure she won’t be too mad, Reki,” Langa said and pat his friend on the back.

“Well, if we can’t drink, then why exactly are we here? What are we going to do?” Joe groaned, dragging a hand down his face dramatically.

“What were you expecting? He was probably going to play spin the bottle with his new boyfriend, right Reki?” Miya teased, a shit eating grin on his little face. “Maybe swap spit and make babies?”

“Miya, do you know how–?” Joe began before Shadow smacked him in the face with a heavy pillow.

“I will not be explaining that on my night off,” Shadow grumbled with a shake of his head. Reki and Langa stifled their giggles, giving each other matching looks.

“What? What’s so funny?” Miya hissed, his face turning pink as he realized that there was something that the adults knew that he definitely wasn’t aware of.

“You’ll know when you’re older,” Cherry said with a sigh and a shake of his head.

Reki laughed even harder at that.

“Stop it, guys! What is it? What did I say?” Miya whined, crossing his arms over his chest and just outright pouting. He had been bullied in school before, but this felt different. Sure, they were laughing, but there was no real malice behind it.

“We are not doing this tonight,” Shadow groaned, “Why can’t we just find monopoly or something?”

Reki laughed harder, leaning back against the back of the love-seat. Langa looked up and down the red-head.

“Really tickled over there, aren’t you Gearhead?” Cherry mused.

Reki’s laughter dissolved into a coughing fit.

“Wh-what?” Reki spluttered, his face turning an even brighter shade of bright red.

“What? Not Gearhead? Gears? Sunshine?” Cherry mused, finally sitting down, but on the arm of the couch.

“Those are all terrible skate names. How about Mech? TechDeck?” Joe chimed in.

“Oh, and Joe is such a cool skating name?” Cherry scoffed.

“With all this going on? Keeping it simple is how the ladies don’t get too overwhelmed by my awesomeness,” Joe shot back, flexing his arms for everyone to see.

“We could call him Fire? Opposite of Snow there?” Shadow said with a wink in Langa’s direction. This was the type of teasing that he could get behind because it wasn’t some complicated nonsense that he would have to explain to a child.

“How about Red? Like his face when you said that word?” Miya said, getting up off of the couch and sauntering over to where the two teenagers were sitting.

“Gearhead?” Langa asked, looking between Reki and the sly cat-like boy who was stalking his way over to them.

“Tickle.” Miya said plainly. Reki went an even brighter shade of red, closely resembling his own hair at the moment.

“Wh-What? I was just…thinking that Gearhead was such a stupid name that-uh…I dunno. It was ridiculous,” Reki said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

“I am insulted by that, Reki. Nicknames are incredibly important on the S. You’ll need to figure something out so that you’re not in Snow’s shadow every time to you step on a board.” Cherry said. Now he was the one pouting.

“I-I didn’t mean it like that, Cherry. It was just–” Reki continued, glancing between Miya and Cherry.

“He’s just too shy to admit that the word tickle got him all bothered like this,” Miya said smugly and jumped onto the arm of the love-seat.

“Why would something like that bother you, Reki?” Langa asked, all innocent, but Reki could swear he could see evil behind those bright blue eyes.

“It doesn’t bother me. I think Miya is just upset that we teased him a little.” Reki insisted, feeling like he was just a piece of red juicy meat and his friends just all turned into starving lions.

He could practically feel his skin buzzing.

“You sound really defensive, kid.” Joe said, leaning forward with a smirk on his face. “Are you that ticklish?”

“There’s only one way to find out!” Miya said and jumped forward–

Only to be stopped by Langa. Reki cowered with a squeak, pressed hard against the back of the love-seat.

“As much I would love to see Reki tickled to pieces, it’s not very fair if we all gang up against him like this, don’t you guys think so?” Langa asked, looking around. Reki sighed in relief at first before realizing what exactly the former snowboarder had said.

“Hey!” He exclaimed, shaking his head frantically.

“And how do you propose we do that, Snow?” Cherry asked, now definitely intrigued as to how exactly the blue-haired boy planned to get Reki in a puddle of giggles.

“Without killing him of course,” Shadow added with a pointed look. Sure, he liked to cause chaos and make people laugh (especially as his clown skater persona) but five against one was a bit much.

“Sure, we can play a regular party game.” Langa said with a shrug and turned to his friend and a pouting cat-boy. “Reki, truth or dare?”

Reki looked around and huffed.

“Truth.” He said with a small nod. No way he would say dare after all that nonsense about the damn t-word.

“Alright, where’s your most ticklish spot?” Langa asked calmly.

How the hell could Langa say shit like that without blushing?

“I don’t want to play this game. It’s rigged.” Reki grumbled. Now he was red from the tips of his ears to the base of his neck. After he let all of these hooligans into his house when he knew he would be grounded later… they treat him like this? Totally uncool.

“Alright, how many of us do you think you could handle tickling you? Surely you’re not that ticklish, Red.” Miya teased and stuck out his tongue.

“And what about you, Miya? You wouldn’t happen to be ticklish, would you?” Shadow asked, looking between Miya and Reki.

“You never answered the question, Reki.” Langa said with a smirk on his face.

“Alright, fine. You guys are bullies.” Reki huffed. “I don’t have any. You all are just wasting your time. Why don’t we pop a movie or something in the–”

And just like that, Langa was on top of him. He was shoved to the very corner of the love-seat with Langa practically straddling his waist.

“You can’t lie during the game, Reki. That’s not how you play,” Langa said with a shake of his head. “Where should we test out first?”

“Langa, come on, don’t do this. I’ll teach you a new skateboarding trick if you let me go right now. Maybe even make you some of my special ramen,” Reki rambled, kicking his feet out on the couch as he scrambled to get away. Langa snatched both of Reki’s wrists and pulled them above his head.

“Miya, would you be so kind to hold onto these for me?” Langa asked sweetly.

“With pleasure,” Miya hummed, grabbing Reki’s wrists and holding them as tight as he could.

“I would also like to join in on the fun!” Joe said, jumping up from the couch and running over to where the others were getting ready to tear Reki apart.

“Alright, you guys have five minutes, and then you have to let him go.” Shadow said, laying down on the now empty couch and getting comfortable. He took out his phone and pulled up the timer app.

“Five minutes?” The four said in unison, though Reki was more upset with how long time seemed to pass when he was getting tickled to all hell.

Not that it happened often, mind you, but before he had skateboarding, he had more friends and those friends definitely took advantage of how ticklish he was time and time again.

It had really been a while since he had been tickled to pieces and a part of him was…excited? Maybe?

No, that couldn’t be right.

“Time starts now,” Shadow said as he pressed the start button.

Langa went first, poking and prodding at the exposed belly of his best friend. Reki grit his teeth, refusing to let them get the satisfaction of hearing him break right away. Maybe if he doesn’t laugh, they’ll get bored.

Was Reki sure that he wanted them to get bored?

Joe snatched up the red-head’s legs and put his ankles into an armlock.

“Trying the tough-guy act, huh, Red-Mech?” Joe asked, swiping a finger down Reki’s foot.

Reki yelped, jerking his legs. His heart sank as he realized that he could barely move as they all held onto him.

Then came the pinches up his ribs.

“How many ribs do you think you have, Sunshine?” Langa asked as he pinched up and down Reki’s ribs.

“I-ACK! Stop! Lahahnga! Quit!” Reki gasped, a laugh managing to escape as he pleaded for his ticklish life.

“Was that a laugh I heard, Ticklee?” Miya asked from his perch on the arm of the love-seat.

“What’s that nickname?” Langa asked as he continued to squeeze up and down Reki’s ribs as if he weren’t completely tormenting him right now.

“Oh you know, like how you’re the tickl-er, that must mean he’s the tickl-ee, right?” Miya asked sweetly.

“Shuhuhut up!” Reki exclaimed. He didn’t know what was worse. Was it the teasing with the actual word, or the fact that Langa seemed to not care about all of this?

And Joe decided to chime in again, but this time lightly scratching his fingernails up an down Reki’s arches. Just as Langa decided to zero in on his other weak spot too. Well, weaker.

Now that the truth was out, they would all know that Reki was just one big walking tickle spot.

However, Langa just found that Reki’s underarms were insanely ticklish, just like the bottoms of his feet. Just as Joe had started on his arches, Langa decided to lightly scratch under his arms too, one finger under each as if he were testing the waters.

“AH! OHOHOHOHOKAY! Okay!” Reki barked, his whole body jerking and his head thrown back.

“Wow, okay what?” Langa asked teasingly, stopping his tickling as he realized the hefty reaction from his friend was because of what he and Joe had done.

“Alright, you got mehehe,” Reki said and tugged on his arms.

“You still have four minutes, Firetop,” Shadow chimed in from his spot on the couch.

“How about just one more minute, Shadow? I think we found the answers we were looking for,” Langa said smugly. Shadow nodded and changed the timer. If they were going for the death spots, it would only be fair to Reki for them to shave off a few minutes.

“You’re no fun, Snow.” Miya huffed.

“And you are definitely next, kitty,” Langa said with a pointed look at Miya. He then turned to Joe. “You ready?”

“Of course. I’m waiting for you kids to finish with whatever. ” Joe said before getting back into it.

For one full minute, Reki was in ticklish heaven hell. Langa altered between digging his thumbs into Reki’s armpits and lightly tickling around Reki’s neck and ears while Joe tickled and scratched up and down Reki’s poor defenseless feet.

When the timer ran out, Shadow snatched Miya up and tossed him playfully onto the couch. Cherry snatched Joe by the ear and pulled him away from a giggling mess of a skateboarder. Langa pulled himself off too, but Reki grabbed a handful of his shirt and pulled himself closer.

“Alright, your turn,” Shadow said as he began tickling little Miya to pieces, mainly clawing at and around the little monster’s belly button, getting him cackling in no-time.

“Now I’m in a tickle monster mood, what do you think, Cherry? Like old times?” Joe asked before diving on top of him and digging into the pink-haired man’s hips. Soon, Cherry and Miya’s laughter and giggles filled the living room as Reki curled up in Langa’s lap and watched the scene unfold. Langa ran his fingers through the red hair of his tickled out best friend.

“Thanks for inviting everyone, Langa,” Reki hummed sleepily. “But I’m definitely going to get you back for this one.”

“Alright, Sunshine,” Langa said and fluttered his fingers by Reki’s ear. The red-head squeaked and scrunched his shoulders up protectively.

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theliterateape · 3 years

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We Killed Jason Todd

By Matt Markman

In 1988 my friends and I killed a kid.

He was just a boy really. We had help it wasn’t just me and my pals. there were adults involved, lots of them. I mean we were young we were just thirteen and really couldn’t comprehend the ramification of our actions, the adults knew what they were doing. I’m painting it to sound way more sinister than it was, and in today’s society, wouldn’t trend on Twitter but maybe in the ’80s, it was probably considered quite ominous.

To set your mind at ease, it was Jason Todd. You know, Batman's sidekick, The Boy Wonder, Robin—well, the second Robin anyways. And I helped kill him.

I was big into comic books but my favorite was, The Dark Knight, The Caped Crusader, The Batman… He donned the best costume, he had all the money and was the most intelligent of all the superheroes. That last trait right there, the fact that he was considered a superhero and he had no actual super powers made him cooler than the other side of the pillow. You know how The Big Bang Theory has convinced the world it’s an Emmy-winning sitcom worth watching? I think it’s the fact that Batman was someone any one of us could actually be. Sure we needed to start with a base coat of genius followed by a splash of handsome billionaire playboy then train overseas in martial arts for several years, but if you had those things you, too, could be a vigilante. You ask me today and I'd stand by the fact that Batman would beat Superman in a fight, say ten out of ten times. This is not debatable because super beings from another planet are not real.

My favorite thing about Batman, though, is his ability to balance out good and evil. He spawned one of the greatest comic book villains and fictional characters ever created, The Joker. They have tried and tried again but in my opinion never got close to the Clown Prince of Crime—maybe Negan from The Walking Dead, he's pretty ruthless. The Joker is what would happen if a stand-up comedian became a criminal mastermind, so basically the plot of the 2019 film Joker.

My love for Joker made sense because growing up I was always more into the bad guys than the good guys. Watching and playing with G.I.Joe, I was always on the side of Cobra Commander, the twins Tomax and Xamot, and Zartan because they were always more glamorous and eye-catching than the boring ass Joes. Just once, I’d like that “knowing is half the battle” part at the end of the cartoon to have been Storm Shadow giving us kids a tip on how to fuck up Shipwreck and his stupid Parrot. Megatron, Skeletor, Shredder, Mumm-ra…

The list goes on, but the antagonists always resonated with me. they had a much better and more intriguing agenda than the good guys did. I know that wasn't the purpose, we were supposed to cheer on the good guys, like the idea of saving the world and all, but the mayhem… It’s like Alfred Pennyworth said, “Some men just want to watch the world burn.” It’s odd because the bad guys in my life were real, the bullies and I didn't like them at all. They tormented me daily unprovoked because I was short and had big ears. Perhaps my love for the dark side stemmed for my desire to be on that side because in real life there was no Superman swooping in to rescue me from the clutches of Lex Luthor.

There were two sides, and good had a lack of champions looking out for the weaker, smaller good guys. The bad guys in my neighborhood, well, they were real and never really foiled and more importantly, they always got the girl in the end. Fuck the good guys!

My admiration for evildoers achieving their agenda was tested in 1988, Batman was running a four-part series called A Death in the Family. It was your typical Batman arc. Somehow, The Joker was going to get the upper hand on The World’s Greatest Detective only to be bested in the end by Batman. But this time, the third comic decided to do something nobody had never seen in the industry. The writers were going to give the fans the opportunity to decide where they were going to go with the story, only it was an option between two different roads, one quite unconventional. Apparently a few years earlier, one of the writers, Dennis O'Neil, had seen a sketch they did on SNL where Eddie Murphy held up a Lobster—Larry the Lobster—and was asking viewers to decide whether Larry was boiled and eaten or was to be set free. The choices were offered in the form of two phone numbers both costing fifty cents a call. One number was a vote for him to be freed and the other number was a vote for Larry to be murdered, smothered in butter, and devoured by Axel Foley. Ultimately, after nearly 500,000 calls, the people voted for Larry the lovable lobster to be pardoned with a 12,000 call margin. The popularity of this bit intrigued O'Neil and A few years later he decided to implement it in his Death in The Family storyline.

In the third book, The Joker had taken Batman's sidekick, the Boy Wonder, hostage. He’d beaten him bloody with a crowbar leaving a cliffhanger to be wrapped up in the fourth book. The last page of the comic was full page and at the top read in true ’80s Do the Right Thing fashion: “Robin will die because The Joker wants revenge, but you can prevent it with a telephone call!” They even phrased it to steer you down the hero’s path, like you can literally be Batman with one phone call. Underneath the imploring verbiage were two numbers, dial one number; The Joker fails and Robin lives, Batman would once somehow saves the day. However, call this other number and The Joker succeeds and Robin dies. Gruesomely.

Wow! They were going to let the fans decide the fate of Robin, really this was one of my earliest introductions to a reality voting competition type show. In my opinion, it was a bad idea. Robin was always the worst. Go back and read through an adventure or two involving Jason Todd and tell me he wasn't always whiney and bellyaching. He was never going to be iconic or cool like Bruce Wayne or even his predecessor Dick Grayson—the first Robin. See, Dick got pissed off, decided he was tired of being in Batman's shadow, ditched the Robin costume, threw on a black blue and gold costume, moved to another city and became Nightwing. Dick was a go getter, ambitious. Grayson’s Robin was a winner, Todd's Robin was an irritating little bitch; he was not an innocent lobster.

I went to my mother and asked if I could make a call that was going to cost just fifty cents and I would pay her back or she could just take it out of my allowance. She wanted to know what it was for and mostly wanted to confirm it wasn't for an adult sex line, which costs more than fifty cents a minute, but that’s a different story. It was nothing as tawdry as phontercourse, I just wanted to help murder an annoying teenage sidekick. My mother response was “Oh, yeah, that’s fine.”

I think after it was exposed that it wasn't phone sex anything else I said went in one ear and out the other, surely she didn't think I was actually voting for a plucky comic book sidepiece to be murdered by The Joker. So that’s what I did. I cast my vote along with a majority of DC comic book fans that shared my detest for the boy wonder. Ten thousand votes were recorded with a narrow margin going to Robin dying. I think the writers never suspected that fans would go that route.

O’Neal himself voted for Robin’s stay of execution. A man of his word, Batman issue #429 was released and Robin was killed by The Joker in an explosion and we were to blame for it. Sad to say but you give a bunch of comic book nerds the power I think it would go bad every time. That day we were all proud to be The Joker's henchmen. I felt like a soldier at the end of Star Wars cheering madly while The Joker received his metal shouting, “I helped that happen!”

So many shows these days embrace our fascination with the anti-hero with the success of The Sopranos, The Shield, Breaking Bad, hell Narcos had me rooting for Pablo Escobar—Pablo fucking Escobar. I wouldn't say I was a bad person growing up. Quite the contrary, I was a shy nerd with no power to do anything but pick my books up after they were smacked to the ground. What I’m saying is don't give me the power to make important life or death decisions with your franchise because myself and the other dorks will have the bodies of Orko, Snarf, and Jimmy Olson lying in a shallow grave, just tell me what number to dial… or text.

Matt started performing standup comedy in 2004 in Las Vegas and is now a regular at every major comedy club on the Las Vegas strip. He released his first comedy album in 2016 titled Uncut available on iTunes. More about Matt and his upcoming appearances can be found on MattMarkman.com.

#Matt Markman #Matt Markman Comedian #Matt Markman Comedian Las Vegas #Las Vegas Comedians #G.I. Joe #Skeletor #Joker #Batman #Joker kills Robin #Jason Todd

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seattlesea · 3 years

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Percy Jackson Characters as High School Students

Percy: -Waits for the last minute to do an assignment -Is captain of the swim team -Always has Annabeth tutor him when he doesn’t understand something -Dozes off a lot in class -Studies the night before a test but studies hard (he has a lot of good study tips from Annabeth) -Goes to the bathroom at least twice every class cause he drinks so much water -Seems like the slacker troublemaker who will fail every class but he actually works hard and does all his work so he can get into a good college with Annabeth -Friends with everyone in his class -Never raises his hand but usually knows the answer -Has a label as a trouble-maker but hasn’t ever actually done anything bad and tries hard to break himself away from that label

Annabeth: -In all honors and AP classes -Works the hardest out of everyone -Always asks for extra credit even though she has a 5.0 GPA and gets good grades on every test and assignment -Likes to read and study in the library -Everyone goes to her when they’re stuck on something and she’s always willing to help -The one to read in math class -Daydreams about random things during lessons she already knows everything about -Does quite a few extracurricular -Leader and founder of the school’s book club -Usually has a hot chocolate or coffee with her

Jason: -Captain of the football team -The Golden Boy -Half the class loves him cause he’s so nice and the other half hate him cause he’s such a teacher’s pet -Never breaks the rules or cheats -Nice to everyone and studies hard -Sucks at science -But he’s pretty good at math -Loves gym class -The one to tell people (especially Percy, Thalia, and Leo) to focus when they’re goofing off in class -Super inclusive and will always invite someone who’s sitting or working alone to join him

Piper: -That one kid in class everyone knows but isn’t super popular -Pretty decent GPA but doesn’t want a formal job -Does the best in history class -Chews gum super loudly in class -Uses ten different colored pens for notes -Has a bunch of stickers on all her notebooks and folders -Focuses in class most of the time but will sometimes doze off -Studies well but doesn’t care that much about education -Overall a good student but not the best in some classes -That one girl every guy has a crush on but she doesn’t want to make any new friends cause she’s never sure if they like her for her or for her money

Frank: -The Softie -Everyone loves him, including teachers -Will apologize like he stepped on a puppy if he misses one assignment -Studies really hard but sometimes doesn’t get the lesson -Loves being tutored by Annabeth, she’s one of the only ones who can explain the lesson without making it confusing -Participates in a bunch of extracurricular and sports -Can’t do math for shit -Would never cheat even if his life depended on it -Nice to everyone but won’t hesitate to get all up in a bully’s face -Brings a bunch of snacks to class and shares with everyone

Hazel: -Participates in all the plays and musicals (and usually gets the starring role, she’s a great actress and singer) -Super nice to everyone and people try to take advantage of that but she’s actually tough as hell and her motto is ‘Do no harm but take no shit’ but overall she’s a literal gem (pun intended) -Usually sits in the back but always raises her hand when a teacher asks a question and won’t hesitate to ask a question when she’s confused -Actually super smart and loves reading and does really well in her classes -Loves history class -In French class but it’s super confusing for her cause she grew up learning Louisiana French, not France French -Has a super organized desk, backpack, and locker and all her notes are super neat and pretty -Writes in cursive all the time -Focuses a lot but tends to daydream when the lesson is too boring -Loves listening to music and chewing on ice and pencils while she’s working and studying

Leo: -Can’t pay attention for shit -But he’s extremely smart so he gets good grades in everything, especially math -People are surprised when he gets a 100% on the test almost everyone failed and he always gets accused of cheating -Always willing to help tutor people in math -Fidgets a lot and taps his pen furiously on the desk while taking a test -Always cracks jokes and is the class clown and the teachers secretly love him even though he’s their worst nightmare -The one to put gum under the desks -Doesn’t focus in class but studies super hard and might miss one or two assignments when he’s busy or stressed out and is in all Honors and AP classes -In a bunch of different after-school groups -On the basketball team

Reyna: -Also super smart and seems super intimidating but is actually really approachable and nice and loves helping people who are stuck -Gets good grades in pretty much everything and is one of the smartest in the class and is also in all Honors and AP classes -On the football team and loves gym class (especially weight-lifting class) -Usually quiet and serious but will joke around like Leo during lunch and study hall -Whenever someone’s too shy to ask a question to the teacher, they go to her or she asks the teacher for them -Will punch a bully in the face without question -Everything she has is super organized and neat, especially her handwriting -The best at group projects and everyone chooses her to be in their group first but she’ll always pick Nico over them -Comforts stressed out students, gives the best mom hugs, and even brings them coffee and breakfast at times -Always has a coffee with her that she’s willing to share with anyone along with any snacks she brings and as the Mom Friend she often brings snacks to class to share with everyone

Nico: -The one kid that’s still emo in 2021 -Super quiet but focuses and studies really hard -Tries his best to get good grades but since he missed the last century or so has a lot to catch up on with math, science, history, etc. and Reyna and Annabeth are always willing to help him -Mixes energy drinks and coffee -Is also- along with Reyna- a great comforter for stressed out students -The teachers worry for him cause he’s so quiet and reclusive but really he’s in a great place, he just doesn’t like social interaction -Does his homework last minute or at 3 AM -Wears a bunch of pride merch to school and sends death glares to anyone who looks at him weird (so will Reyna, Jason, and Hazel) -Studies for finals three weeks before they arrive -Mostly in regular classes but in one or two Honors

Thalia: -The punk and basic trouble-maker -Every teacher hates her but all the students love her cause she’s so hilarious, rebellious, and badass -Won’t hesitate to point out a teacher’s bullshit (‘The bell doesn’t dismiss us my ass it’s called the dismissal bell Karen’) -Gets into fights a lot -All the teachers want to bust her but they can never catch her in the act -Vandalizes the school on a daily basis -Pretty smart but doesn’t bother with the work or focusing even if she knows she can -Though she does have pretty decent grades cause Reyna forces her to do the work -Will protect any and every student against a rude teacher or staff member no matter what -On the track team and is a super fast runner

Rachel: -Art nerd (and theater nerd) -Participates with Hazel in the school’s plays and musicals -The best in art class and can do Van Gogh-level paintings -Always brings iced tea and a variety of fruits to class -Skips lunch to draw and paint more in the library -Friends with pretty much everyone and spoils her friends with super cool and expensive school supplies -The most popular besides Jason -Above average intelligence and does really well in her classes, loves helping others and has a really good GPA, is in quite a few Honors and AP classes, and studies and works hard -The only one who can actually focus but will get distracted with sketching random things (especially things in the class) often -All her notes are super colorful and pretty with a bunch of drawings in the margins and she drew all over her notebooks, folders, and backpacks and will sometimes unintentionally draw really detailed drawings all over the desks

#heroes of olympus #demigods #high school #high school au #students #percy jackson #annabeth chase #jason grace #frank zhang #hazel levesque #leo valdez #reyna ramirez arellano #reyna avila ramirez arellano #nico di angelo #thalia grace #rachel dare #rachel elizabeth dare #should i write a fanfic #or would that be cliche

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letterboxd · 3 years

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Siren Song.

Undine writer-director Christian Petzold talks to Reyzando Nawara about modern-day mermaids, Tinder culture and finding the magic in life.

“Love stories always change. A kiss in Berlin 1933, for example, is not gonna be the same kiss in Berlin today, right?” —Christian Petzold

“If you leave me, then I’ll have to kill you.” Undine’s threat to her soon-to-be ex-boyfriend Johannes, after he has told her that he has met someone else, seems at first like an over-the-top reaction to the breakup. But it is a curse that Undine must fulfill, for she will become human only when she falls in love with a man who is doomed to die if he is unfaithful to her.

From Splash to Ponyo to The Lure to Song of the Sea, mythical water spirits, usually female, sometimes horse, have powered many film plots. The sixteenth-century European myth of Undine, in particular, lies behind many screen adaptations of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid, though the Danish writer was not the first to popularize the fairytale in his century. Decades earlier, around 1811, Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué of Germany had produced his romantic novella, Undine.

And it is to Germany—specifically modern-day Berlin—that writer-director (and fellow German) Christian Petzold transports Undine in his contemporary magical-realist take on the myth. There, she does not take the form of a mermaid or siren, but a beautiful young woman (played by Paula Beer), who works as a historian at a museum, where she guides tours of Berlin’s architecture and its reconstruction. The breathtaking cinematography, by regular Petzold collaborator Hans Fromm, crystallizes both the romance and the beauty of Berlin, while Petzold’s leads root every scene in reality, even as aquariums explode and giant catfish drift past.

Paula Beer and Franz Rogowski fire up the streets of Berlin in ‘Undine’.

Water may be the dominant element in Undine, but Beer and her co-star Franz Rogowski bring fire to their scenes together. Where Beer brings charisma and intensity to the titular role, Rogowski, as Undine’s new love interest, an industrial diver named Christoph, offers charm and sweetness.

In the frenzy of Parasite’s world domination, it is easy to forget that Petzold’s previous feature, Transit, appeared in two of our 2019 Year in Review lists—the 50 highest-rated films and the highest-rated international films—and was one of the top romance films of the 2010s. His riveting Phoenix is still his highest-rated film on the platform—one of many to center a complex female character in search of love at a time of personal and/or political crisis. In Undine, Petzold does it again, a welcome departure from other adaptations, including the Colin Farrell-starring Irish romantic drama Ondine (2009), that have mostly told the myth from the perspective of its male characters. Petzold also revises the fairytale, by giving Undine a chance to try to emancipate herself from her curse.

We recently had the pleasure of speaking with Petzold about his fascination with water, the magic of Berlin history, modern dating and of course, his ongoing collaboration with Beer and Rogowski.

Spoiler warning: this conversation contains plot details regarding the ending of Petzold’s film ‘Transit’ (2018).

Your movie is inspired by the myth of Undine, but you reinvent it by giving it some modern twists. How did the main narrative for the film come about? Christian Petzold: I think the idea of the story first came to me around twenty years ago when I had a project in Germany. It was together with Claire Denis and also Kathryn Bigelow, and everybody had to make a ten-minute short film for a project based on the museum near the Rhine River. I had written a little dialogue—oh, by the way, Steve McQueen was also part of the project—and it was the scene that we can see in the movie in the first few minutes where Undine’s boyfriend, Johannes, said that he doesn’t love her anymore and that he wants to leave her and she said to him, “If you leave me, then I’ll have to kill you.” Then she goes back to work, and later when she comes back to try to find him again, he isn’t there—so she knows that she has to kill him now.

Then when I made Transit with Paula Beer and Franz Rogowski, I told them after a very lucky and happy time of shooting, that I had written a short story and wanted to make a 90-minute feature movie out of it together with them. I wanted to keep working and making movies with them because we’ve had an amazing experience together in Transit. This was basically the start of how the movie and my collaboration with these two actors came about.

Paula and Franz are actors who didn’t come from the basic German acting school; their backgrounds are dance and theater. But they both have so much curiosity about cinema—when I met Paula for the first time, for example, she told me that she had bought 50 movies by Alfred Hitchcock and wanted to see all of them, and to me, this is the best kind of school to learn about cinema.

So to some extent, Undine is a spiritual sequel to Transit? Yes, you’re right. It has so many things to do with Transit. Marie, Paula’s character in Transit, finds her own death in the sea—she’s drowned. And Franz’s character, he’s waiting at the land, hoping that she may come back from the land of the dead. So I said to them, “Okay, the next movie is gonna be about a woman coming out of the sea and going to the land to search for love and also about this young man who is a diver, who is going underwater, to find love as well.” So to some degree, it’s a sequel, you’re right.

Beer and Ragowski in ‘Transit’ (2018).

You mentioned earlier that you had a great experience working with Paula and Franz in Transit. Can you tell us what it was about these two actors that you thought would capture the story you wanted to tell in Undine? Paula is a very young actor—she was 23 when we started Transit, and she was around 24 when we made Undine—but when you’re filming her, she has this ability to make her characters much more mature beyond her real age. In one second, she’s 45 years old, with a whole experience of someone who’s had a hard life and has gone through so many bad things, then one second later, she’s thirteen and innocent. And to have that kind of ability—to go from one point to another—is just really fascinating to me. I’ve never seen other actors do this before in my life.

Franz was a dancer, and if I remember correctly, I think he was also in a clown school for a circus, so he can do everything with his body. It’s unbelievable what he can do. He has this amazing physicality that I admire and haven’t seen before in other German actors. When they’re together sharing a scene, they dance with each other. And this is the thing that I like so much about them and the thing I need in Undine, because I need actors who can float from one scene to another as if they’re dancing underwater.

In literature and pop culture, the myth of Undine has been mostly told from the male perspective. You reframe the narrative, to give Undine the opportunity to maybe emancipate herself from both the male figure in her life and the curse. Tell me more about that choice. Two or three years ago, I had a retrospective in New York, and I had the chance to see some of my previous movies again—[laughing] I’ve actually never done it before, revisiting my own movies. And at that time, I realized that I’ve always tried to rewrite the stories centering on women, which were made by men in the ’40s, ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, from another perspective: the perspective of the women.

When I was in Venice for the first time, Claude Chabrol [was] in the same hotel as me, and he had a Q&A. I wanted to say hi and tell him how great he was but I couldn’t do it because I was very young and too shy for those things. I heard what he said when asked why in his movies, the women are always the main characters. His answer was, “Men are living, women are surviving. And cinema is about surviving.” It was such a fantastic answer.

All the movies I [have] made, including Undine, are about surviving. Undine wanted to survive her curse—she tries to, every time, since centuries ago. In so many iterations of the myth, Undine always has to go back into the lake and to the life the curse has set for her. I really wanted to zoom in on that, to liberate the character of Undine from the myth and the curse.

In the movie, Undine works as an historian at a museum, and in her tours, she talks about Berlin’s architecture and its reconstruction throughout the years. How is this related to the romantic aspect of the movie? Everybody says you can take a love story and put it in the sixteenth century or the nineteenth century, and it’s always gonna be the same kind of love story. But I think that’s not entirely right. Love stories always change. A kiss in Berlin 1933, for example, is not gonna be the same kiss in Berlin today, right? Therefore I want to take the historical aspect of Berlin architecture and its reconstruction to tell the story of two young people in Berlin nowadays, to see the evolution of both this love story and the myth of Undine itself.

What’s the significance of all the buildings Undine mentions in the movie? The buildings serve a very important role in the movie because Berlin is between two rivers on an island, and the city is built on dried-out swamps, so the element that Undine is coming from, which is the water, is destroyed in Berlin. It doesn’t exist anymore. And therefore Undine doesn’t have any habitats, so she has no choice but to adapt and to live on the land.

In some way, I always think that the modernization in Berlin erases history, and when there’s no history, there’s no magic, which means magical creatures like Undine won’t exist. That was the main idea of the architectural elements in the movie.

Is that also the reason why there are two locations in the movie: Berlin, and the small town where Franz’s character, Christoph, works and lives, which is still full of swamps? To show that in this small town, magic still exists? That’s a good question. The romance and the myth of Undine is a part of German and European history. It’s a unique enchantment. But in Berlin, where modernization and civilization keep growing and changing, there’s no enchantment anymore. So I want to show how in this small town where everything is still kept as closely natural as possible, the enchantment and the charm of Germany are still there.

There’s a beautiful and romantic poem by Joseph Eichendorff that says, “You must find the right world, so everything can sync again.” To me, that line encourages us to find the magic of the world back. We live in this world surrounded by retro buildings and retro behavior and retro music, but it’s all actually just an illusion of magic. The real magic, that’s something that we have to find—either by movies or camera positions or poems or even by preserving the naturality of a city. And the Undine myth actually has a lot to do with this.

Another thing that fascinates me about the movie is how the dynamic between Undine and Johannes, in some way, reflects the state of modern dating. Is this something that you also wanted to capture when you wrote the script? [Laughing] Funny story, when Paula read the script for the first time, she told me that she liked it so much because the story reminded her of Tinder and modern dating. And on some level, it’s true; part of Undine is about modern dating. I always think that in the era of dating apps, everything gets much simpler—you meet someone, you have sex (or perhaps not), and if you feel like this someone is not handsome or beautiful enough for you, you can keep scrolling until you find someone new. So, dating right now is like going to the supermarket.

Johannes leaving Undine to be with another woman, who for him is better-looking than Undine, reflects the culture of Tinder. And the line I mentioned earlier, “If you leave me, then I’ll have to kill you,” is the opposite of that kind of dating life. And Paula, who hates Tinder, loves that line a lot. Some of the actors are on Tinder, I’m sure, and that’s understandable. Actors are sometimes very lonely because for six to eight weeks, they are deep inside of a character, and when they’re on break, they’re in some sort of “black hole of loneliness”.

Writer-director Christian Petzold.

Undine being a water nymph, of course, makes the water element very important in this movie. But water has actually been heavily featured in some of your previous features as well, like in Yella, Barbara and Transit. Can you tell us why you find water fascinating? I’ve seen a documentary by Agnès Varda, and in [it] she said, “The place where one element is touching one another is the place where cinema builds its stories.” That’s why she loved the beach, because on the beach, there’s water and there’s the earth and there’s also wind, and they’re touching each other. So to her, the beach is the perfect place where you can tell a story.

For me, however, the reason I like featuring water or the other elements in most of my movies is because it has something to do with seeing my characters coming from one element then going to the other elements; to see them act and react in a new and sometimes uncomfortable place. Also, when you see pictures or paintings, so many of them are about people looking deep into the sea. I always feel like that kind of painting is actually about a desire. And most of my movies, at [their] core, are about desire. That’s why water is so important to me. Deep under the water, there’s the place of desire.

What’s the first movie that made you want to become a filmmaker? The first movie I loved very much as a kid was The Jungle Book, but the first movie that made me want to become a filmmaker was by Alfred Hitchcock, The 39 Steps. I was fourteen or fifteen years old when I saw the movie for the first time, and I loved it from the first moment. The movie is about a man and a woman who are bound by handcuffs, and they don’t like each other, but because they’re on the run, they have to communicate and come to an understanding. And the love story starts because of that communication, not because of looks, and I love the movie so much for that reason.

If you could program a double feature with Undine, what movie would you pick? Good question. I would say The Night of the Hunter. Also maybe Creature from the Black Lagoon or 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea or The Son’s Room by Nanni Moretti. These are the movies that I would recommend for a double feature with Undine.