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#like it could have been cool to make guilt as a motivation a main point but it went nowhere
bestygogirl · 3 months
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BEST YGO GIRL: SEMI FINALS
Match 2
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please use this as an opportunity to say why you like a character, not why you don't.
Propaganda under the cut!
Isis Ishtar
gorgeous, very caring sister, strong duelist, and the only woman to ever make Seto Kaiba squirm
anyways. not only as mentioned above is she the first woman to make kaiba squirm, but she was by all means going to beat him if not for the millennium rod's millennium interference. yami marik admits that she's a strong duelist with a strategy that's been working for literal years-- and given that she's not like, a professional duelist, thats pretty impressive
she also recently got some really cool meta bumps and let me point out that an "ishizu deck" now includes obelisk the tormentor-- which we knew she had prior to giving it to kaiba, but i think it only solidifies my opinion that she very much could wield an Egyptian God Card, an exclusive little club for top tier duelists
as a character she presents herself with an amazing amount of poise and grace, shes compassionate and kind and stays with mai and serenity even though she only just met them. shes struggling through living the past 5 years of her life drowning in guilt for her family's tragedy just because she wanted to make her little brother happy and shadi is a fucking liar. shes foretold her own death and marches towards it grimly but with so much love in her heart. and even then shes 20 years old and holds an important position in the egyptian government that typically requires a doctorate degree AND has been dealing with mariks off-and-on bullshit entirely by her lonesome. she also likes to flex her fortunetelling a little which is awesome i think she should do that more that scene where she tells the guy exactly how the stele is being transported was so everything
speaking of shes got such an attitude. "is it your destiny to waste my time?" iconic. never seen before will never be seen again. watch the duel between her va and joeys its so fucking funny
shes excult. shes doesnt flinch in the face of god nor death. seto kaiba and yami marik respect her. shes so sad and so sweet and battle city couldnt have happened without her.
also her parallels with kaiba are what motivate kaiba to give yugi the card he needed to beat marik.
kaiba, in duelist kingdom, was ready to jump off a ledge if yugi didnt let him through to face pegasus while trying to save mokuba out of sheer desperation to save his little brother. he KNOWS what that dedication feels like and the iron kind of will you need to have to make that kind of gamble. isis is being so fucking legit with what shes saying and he respects that and her judgement enough to change his mind and not only watch the duel, but give yugi a card that eventually helps him win, even if he has no real confidence in the odds. but theres a CHANCE, which is the same thing he taught her when he beat her in a duel. the layers its her faith that moves him to act. which is so crazy
anyway vote isis shes my best friend forever and a real rep for all the 20 year olds who honest to god did not sign up for this bullshit
Aki Izayoi
An abuse victim who isn't the perfect passive figure but gets to work through her complicated feelings about power, agency, and family. Even with Yusei's help, she is the star of the show when she learns to control her powers and reconciles with her father, it is so fun that a ygo heroine gets to take such an antagonistic role bu not be shamed for her anger
please vote for my main girl, aki izayoi. aki was led to believe she was a monster from a young age by her father, who treated her powers like it made her unworthy of love. as a result, divine was able to swoop in and take advantage of aki's low self esteem. for years, aki believed herself unworthy of love and was molded into a living weapon at the hands of authority figures in her life. she was taken advantage of, and thus when she finally comes face to face with yusei, she refuses to believe he could provide her with unconditional friendship. who would want to be around a monster, after all?
aki also nearly beats yusei TWICE in a duel, bringing it down to a single turn difference. she comes toe to toe with him, and it truly is the result of who dueled better. she remains a fierce duelist, btw. the second season, aki gets her duel runner license, and immediately nearly beats the ass of a tournament winning turbo duelist - to the point where once again, a single card is the deciding factor. that's right: she nearly won. if not for a single trap card, aki izayoi would've won.
a fierce duelist who was shaped into a loving, caring woman despite years of being beaten down by the world: aki izayoi. vote for her now on your phones.
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charnauk · 2 months
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[Just thought I'd post this little fanfic snippet of some Ultimate Fantastic Four stuff I'm working on. This particular fic isn't my main priority at the moment, but I did like how this excerpt turned out, so I decided to post it to motivate myself a bit. Currently I have an earth 616 Fantastic Four fic that's near completion that I will be posting soon.]
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"How are you?" Reed asked. "Everything functioning alright?"
The former doombug buzzed its wings in reply, its spidery legs clacking against the table. Reed extended a finger and gingerly tapped its metal casing, checking for any additional fractures he might've missed.
The bug rotated its egg-shaped head like an owl, revealing the word FANT4STIC scrawled across it in bright blue paint. Johnny had made a point of complaining profusely about this addition whenever he saw it.
"As if the Fantasti-Car wasn't bad enough," he'd said. "Now you're ruining these cool robots by writing fan-four-STICK on them? You're the worst at naming stuff!"
"I didn't have enough room to write Fantastic Four," Reed had protested in exasperation. "Anyway, I just put it there as a middle finger to Victor. No need to make a big deal out of it."
"Dude, no way, I have to fix this. You could've made the words fit if your handwriting didn't suck."
He'd then proceeded to try and etch their team name onto the robot with fire. It was a delicate process that Johnny hadn't quite mastered, and quickly resulted in a lot of white-hot flames flying everywhere. After much cursing and complaining, Reed managed to wrestle the robot away from him, but not before Johnny's disastrous effort had left its hide half-melted and dotted with scorch marks.
Reed could've just scrapped it—he'd already figured out how to replicate and improve on Victor's design after all, and the bugs were easy enough to replace. However, he couldn’t help feeling some fondness towards the little robot.
All throughout his lonely childhood, robots had been his constant companions. Of course, back then they'd been crudely built from whatever scraps he could salvage, but they'd been no less loyal. Reed supposed it was just in his nature to anthropomorphize the little beings.
So he'd taken the time to repair it, and despite his lingering guilt over the unnecessary addition to the team's tight budget, he'd been pleased with the result. Sure, it wasn't a perfect fix, but the robot functioned just fine, and Reed thought the burn scars added a nice touch of character.
"This is your first major assignment as part of the Fantastic Four," Reed said, "so don't screw it up, buddy. Granted, cleaning up after a disastrous kaiju fight isn't the most exciting of jobs..."
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nayialovecat · 3 months
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Nimona :/
Ok, we finally watched Nimona and I admit that I'm a bit disappointed - mainly with the plot and the world that has no right to function.
After everyone was raving about this movie, I really expected something much better. I will only point out a few of the biggest logical, plot and world building errors (warning: spoilers):
The queen is dead - where is the mourning? Where's the new queen or king? She died and people were like "aha, so we have a villain in the city now" and continued their lives? What the hell?
For a thousand-year-old being, Nimona acts like they're been in some kind of hibernation for 99% of those thousand years. They have no experience, no knowledge, and basically… nothing. Personally, I bet that they are a descendant of a monster and are younger than their "main" form. That would make more sense.
Where are the older knights? The new ones were only choosed when the old ones died or what? And if only the descendants of the original team became knights - how come there were still so many of them? Within a thousand years, at least half of these families should be extinct!
So the city really had no contact with the outside world? How on earth was it self-sustaining? Okay, with the technology they could do it - but not in medieval times, damn it! Read how many hectares of land are needed to feed the appropriate number of cows to feed 700,000 people. Man! Seriously!
Since apparently there was ONLY this one kingdom in the whole world, why was it called a kingdom - yes A KINGDOM, even not THE KINGDOM (by the way, it had no other name, lol), but also - who did they trade with at the end? And if there were other countries - why didn't they try to contact this one?
Nimona and Ballister gain evidence of the principal's guilt IN THE DIGITAL VERSION. Ballister doesn't want to share the recording online - but WHY can't he send it to his lover VIA EMAIL? Fucking hell… The technology in this world is advanced but only works when there is a plot need. It hurts so much.
Horses that magically appear when the epicness of the scene requires it and disappear when something could happen to them (then we have exploding flying scooters).
Please, did they only post this short fragment of the principal's statement online, or were the animators simply lazy? Why didn't they include the scene of Nimona changing from lover back to themself - then it would be clear that they couldn't have been the principal when she confessed. Am I the only one who sees the idiocy here?
The principal's motivation doesn't make any sense. I'm not saying anything more here. Her whole plan simply exists to create a plot problem, giving an excuse for fights, betrayals, dramatic scenes and the deaths of other characters. Bleh.
Ballister attack on Nimona have no sens also. Bleh.
People. Don't. Act. That. Way. They don't forgive because the monster saved their lives when he previously almost destroyed the city.
And finally, two more comments about the Polish translation: flattering and unflattering. Unflattering: why "dyrektora". What's wrong with the word "dyrektorka"? I mean, I know what it's about, the fucking linguistic political hypercorrectness, but… When I first heard the phrase "dyrektora", I thought it was just slang. At school we called the principal "dyro" - I thought that was what it was about. Political hypercorrectness disgusts me in this case. And flattering one: Nimona's pronouns. In the Polish version, they talk about themself in the neuter gender - and that's cool. But others call them "she". And here's a big plus in that: a) there's no saying "that's not my pronoun, use proper one!!!", which actually gets tiring, b) there's no exaggeration in the other direction, i.e. Nimona calls themself "ono" once and then everyone magically knows to address them with this form (this is also what irritates me in TV series, that no one is ever wrong - unless they use the plot to justify it or is needed conflic about that). So here I consider translations to be a plus, I don't know if it was the same in English, but it's a tiny plus for Polish translators. Good job.
Let it not be so harsh. The movie has good moments. I think the animation is wonderful. The dialogues are even funny. There are nice character designs. I like the romance between Ballister and Ambrosius. There are some really cute scenes that I liked (e.g. a possessed child, a scene with an otter - although at first I thought it was a hydra - similar words in Polish "wydra" and "hydra") and a few texts that made me laugh (somewhere at the end there was "leave the kid and run away" from some random characters - I laughed at this). But overall… the movie disappointed me. This was not what I expected after so many praises in its honor. And the main (I assume it was supposed to be the main) thread about tolerance and respecting others, no matter who they are, completely disappeared.
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I'm not one who likes to engage in "whataboutism", but I will ALWAYS maintain that between Wanda and Clint, what Clint did in his grief was morally worse than what Wanda did in Westview.
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I think it's a point in Wanda's favor that she had an accidental unleashing of her powers in a moment of anguish. And no one died in Westview.
(I'll even bite and argue that Clint's crimes as Ronin were morally worse than Wanda's kills in DSMOM because Wanda at least has the defense/excuse of being corrupted by the Darkhold, while Clint was completely himself when he committed his crimes.)
It's an interesting debate. A lot could be written about free will, self-awareness, temporary insanity and grief. I think Clint's experience is a little more complex than what those comments try to imply... but if I start talking about my beloved hawk guy I might end up with a crazy-ass long answer, so let me focus on Marvel instead.
I never took the Hawkeye series as an attempt to justify his crimes as Ronin, he was given a story that tackled his guilt and let him move on from that. And THAT is the main issue here imo.
Marvel is wildly inconsistent when it comes to judging and framing characters. You can't tell me Bucky has to make amends and take responsibility for the Winter Soldier, and then refuse to acknowledge Clint's crimes in EG + let him off the hook in the season finale of his series while other characters still have to pay for shit they did a decade ago.
How are we not going to complain? The Hawkeye series came after TFATWS where Bucky was retraumatized & victim blamed and after the Loki series where everything in his past is ignored and he's even blamed for things he didn't even do. So of course when we see a story where Clint is allowed to move on, a lot of people are mad. And rightfully so!
But the problem is not that Clint is being given narrative protection, the problem is that victims are being treated as executioners in other movies/series. At least Wanda was treated beautifully in her series, but she's the odd one out.
And I think that's why many fans see Clint's series as justification for Ronin. But it's not. At least not for me, I think both he and Wanda got series that focused on their pain, guilt and grief. Wanda got ep8 and Clint said this in ep4:
"Everybody dealt with the Blip in their own way. I continued doing what I was trained to do. […] Hurting people. Investigating first, but in the end, my job has always been to hurt people. […] I was a weapon. I was aimed by the right people at the right targets, so… […] (Those mistakes are) tied to me. Tied to my family. That’s why I’m here. And I can’t go home till I fix it."
I don't think that's narrative protection, that's giving a character the chance to move on from his mistakes, which is something we don't get often. He got an awful lot of narrative protection in EG but I didn't see that in his series. One of the main differences though is that his victims were never humanized nor given the time of day, whereas Wanda's get names and we know them pretty well.
Either way, if it comes to comparing his and Wanda's actions.. dunno. Like I said at the beginning, he was aware of what he was doing but man, that pain and grief must have been insane. He was retired while all the others were fighting Thanos. Imagine him finding out about that. I know it's "cool motive, still murder" but... I don't feel comfortable pitting them against one another, you know?
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solarissantaella · 6 months
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'Splaining The Snowflake
So, The Snowflake Method in general is great for outlining, but I want to specifically shoutout the mini-outlines it prompts you to do for characters. I did a few today as part of my NaNoWriMo prep for Mira Manifest and thought it might be cool to break down the process.
I decided to start with Dr. Mireles, also known as Mira Prime, whose death serves as the story's inciting incident.
#1 is pretty self-explanatory.
Full Name: Dr. Mira Mireles
#2 is a one-sentence summary. By the end, you'll have to write a one-paragraph summary, so don't worry about trying to cram in too much plot. This is what I wrote:
2. One-Sentence Summary: Feeling responsible for the devastation of the planet in the wake of an alien invasion she feels she could have prevented, Dr. Mireles devotes her life to using dream travel to saving alternate Earths in an attempt to assuage her guilt.
Not the most concise sentence, but it gets the point across. If I was to summarize her involvement in the plot, I would probably go with something like this:
A scientist who has devoted her life to saving alternate earths from an alien invasion that devastated her own is betrayed by her own self-aware computer program and dies. 
The main difference between the two summaries is that the first focuses more on summarizing the character herself rather than her actions in the story. The emphasis isn't on what Mira Prime does in the story but why she does it, and you have a chance to dive into this more in the next parts of the outline
#3 is Motivation. The one-sentence summary should already have made you start thinking about it, so now's the time to elaborate a little.
3. Motivation: sense of guilt over past failures, compassion for humanity, sense of responsibility, determination to serve the greater good at all costs, seeking redemption
#4, the character's goal, should arise organically out of their motivation. In Mira Prime's case, it's very straightforward.
4. Goal: To save as many alternate earths from the alien threat as possible.
This dovetails nicely with her compassionate nature, regret over past mistakes, and desire for redemption. However, this can get a little more complicated when you have a character whose goal isn't so neatly aligned with their motivation.
One of the alternate versions of Mira is a billionaire who uses her dream travel technology to create a dimension-spanning corporate empire. She doesn't care about the greater good, and yet, she has a similar goal: stopping the alien invasion. Why? Well, you can't turn a profit if your universe is destroyed, can you? The trick is turning an ostensibly noble goal into a self-serving one so it no longer feels out of place for a self-serving character.
#5 is a meaty one--conflict. The outline doesn't specify this, but I like to break it down into internal and external conflicts. You can get away with one or the other, but the strongest books tend to have both.
For the internal conflict, think about your character's personality and backstory. What have they been through in the past that could keep them from success in meeting their goals in the future? What about their innate nature complicates things for them? What secrets are they hiding?
The external conflict is generally pretty easy, at least for me. This tends to be the ticking clock, the big bad outside force making PlotTM happen.
5. Conflict:
internal—the knowledge that no matter how many worlds she saves, she’ll never be able to save her own and there will always be infinitely more out there she couldn’t protect external—the aliens themselves, The Manifest self-actualizing and turning against her, alternate Miras not cooperating, the limited amount of time she has vs the unlimited worlds in peril
#6 is the epiphany--what does your character learn from their role in this story? It's helpful to think about plot a little here. What does your character experience that might change them? When does this happen in the story? How does this change their behavior afterward? Does it alter their goal?
6. Epiphany: pain is never-ending but so is progress, you’ll never be able to solve the world’s problems but that doesn’t excuse you from trying, no matter the cost
Mira Prime's epiphany seems like it would change someone for the better, but it's what leads to her essentially sacrificing her own life and humanity to serve others. She becomes cold and detached, unable to connect to anyone or engage with her own emotions honestly. All that matters is her never-ending crusade against infinite aliens. It's also worth noting that characters don't always change for the better, so the lessons they learn don't always have to be the "right" ones.
Last but not least, #7 has you write a one-paragraph summary. This should still be character-focused, but this is also a good place to crystallize their role in the plot. Don't worry about trying to tell the whole story here--just relay it through this one character's eyes.
One-paragraph Summary: Dr. Mireles was a young scientist working for the Mexican government studying dream travel when an alien threat appeared. She was asked to use her prototype TSS to invade the alien’s dreams to scope for intel but failed and felt responsible when the world’s governments responded with nuclear force, destroying the aliens and devastating the planet. Desperate to save as many alternate worlds as possible, in part as a form of self-imposed penance for failing her own, she spends her days permanently asleep and uses the TSS to supplant the consciousness of alternate versions of herself to do whatever they can to avert the alien apocalypse. She created The Manifest to map the dreamscape, keep track of her alternate selves, and serve as a companion, but it corrupts and destroys her, vowing to do the same to her alternate selves and the human race as a whole. 
I hope this helped someone! Honestly, it helped me just to get all this down and interrogate what I like about the process and why I think it works.
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ivyemerscn · 7 months
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IVY FLORENCE EMERSON | THIRTY-ONE | FLIGHT ATTENDANT
personality:
despite a troubled past, ivy has always been able to keep moving forward. she has a clear and logical perception of conflict and always knows how to work with large groups of people, no matter that the situation is.  so long as no one knows her closely, they have little ammunition to use against her, making her feel like she always has the upper-hand in a situation. although this sounds like she’s always aligned for her own success, it is merely a side effect, she will do whatever it takes to get through an event, even at her own peril. her main motivation in life has been to continue on for her father’s sake, to keep cool and calm enough to be the type of person he could feel some kind of pride in talking about. she has never actually asked him if this is the case, taking on the presumption of guilt that has haunted her throughout her decisions. 
headcanons: 
cannot recall many childhood memories, and has not seen a therapist for these recurring blackouts. she assumes it is trauma and does not have the introspection to deal with why it is happening. 
wears a fake engagement ring out of travel habit, she found it made professional interactions much easier and also just really likes the piece. 
she returns home more often than she would let on to see her father. it is still very much a safe space for her. her plan of action at the moment is to gather enough supplies from the wexley to get to her only family member and maybe finally accept that she has to settle in mount airy. 
her signature beer at walden brewery was the holyoke saison, which she’d named at ten years old after a family trip to massachusetts. she doesn’t remember its flavor profile anymore, just that it had a strong aftertaste of herbs. she’d liked watching the face customers made after they drank it each and every time. 
she wouldn’t consider herself a serial cheater, but she’s never been able to commit to just one person. the moment they start talking about exclusivity something dark finds coils around her, refuses to let her have it. there’s no point in allowing herself a future when she’s taken it from others. 
as a flight attendant she is CPR and crisis trained. although she was always best at deescalation, she’s got a host of skills that the residents of the wexley have yet to see come out. 
supply list:
bottled waters
airplane snacks
shooters
taser & various protection weapons
compact luggage (currently being packed)
first aid kits
if you can find it on an airplane, she has it
other:
pinterest
muse
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nochuvalencia · 3 years
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𝐁 𝐁 𝐇 𝐌 𝐌 - jjk
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I was basically inspired by these ^^^ pics of jk bc wow hot hi
⚠️ ALSO QUICK DISCLAIMER :: this is my first fanfic on here so it might be terrible but enjoy anyway. ⚠️
𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 :: reader x crimeboss!jk
𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺 :: bitch you better have his money.
𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘳𝘦 :: ABSOLUTE SMUTTY FILTH heh angst too ig
𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 :: 11.9k
𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 :: long haired tatted jk, that’s it, that’s the warning, uh kinda sketchy plot hsjsjsj, WOW ANGST ASF at the beginning tho, dub!con towards the middle don’t hurt me, fuck or die ig, gunplay????? yeah????? jks BLATANT OVERUSE of pet names, dacryphillia, major-ish character death, describing the injuries on a dead body, jk has a sir kink ig??? um excessive over exaggerated choking bc jks hands yum, explicit seggs, rough jk, he’s kinda mean, dom!jk, sub!reader, oral m&f receiving (facefucking on both ends), coochie sniff if you squint, coochie slaps if u squint too, spanking, OVERSTIMULATION, unprotected seggs, degradation, he calls her a bitch once idk, other bad names, praise too ig, jk gives an ultimatum, SLIGHT aftercare, he kinda like switches from flirty to murderous like a bunch of times it’s kinda weird, jk has an impossibly huge shlong obv, contemplating death, super mature themes, reader is a BIG fucking crybaby, overuse of the word fuck, corruption kink at the end if u squint super hard, also DUB!CON in case you didn’t see it, at this point I should just write what it doesn’t have
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“If you’re not out of my house in 3.4 seconds, I'm dragging you out by the testicles” you uttered, your alarmingly calm voice laced with raw brutality as hot tears cascaded down your burning cheeks, your arm outstretched and pointed toward the blinding light of the hallway that contrasted with your dark bedroom. You said nothing more, with your eyes trained angrily at one of the four blank tan walls nearby, not possibly being able to bear speaking to or sparing a glance into the eyes of a cheating whore. The woman you had just caught him with scurried past you wearily, a terrified and confused glint in her eyes as she passed your frigid frame sans underwear, with her sparkly silver pumps dangling from her fingers and a wrinkly silver dress hanging limply from the clutches of her other hand. The man in question shuffled cautiously around the bed, clutching the exposed parts of his body and approaching you with extreme hesitation and outstretched hands, as if trying to calm the already blazing flames of your fury. He laid a cold, rough hand on your shoulder squeezing softly, a motion that once brought you comfort but only added the all consuming hatred that bubbled up inside you akin to ravenous bile filling up the pit of your belly. “Did you not hear what I said? Get out.” You spat, glossy eyes still pointed toward anything but him.
“____ please” he croaked, like the slimy frog he truly was, his voice dripping in false agony which only neared you closer to the brink of undoubtedly committing an act of extreme violence against that man. “Please baby it wasn’t-'' you blanked. He was about to make an excuse. A stupid, rediculous, horrible, completely false excuse which you had absolutely no patience to hear. So you snapped, harshly shrugging your shoulder and sending his arm flying back to his side. He stepped back, ceasing his incessant chatter as he stared at you, a surprised expression painting his “pained” features. He wasn’t accustomed to you acting like this, you were never one to raise your voice or act out in any sort of way so he stood there, eyes widened in dumbfounded silence and you took this chance, bending down, scooping up as much of his discarded clothing as you possibly could and throwing it in his face, your rage bubbling over into something much more carnal as you inhaled deeply through your nose.
“Shut the fuck up and leave!” He scrambled to catch as many clothes as he could and was taken aback by your abrupt outburst. He stood silent once again though this time, he was making the face he often made when forcing himself to cry. It was the face he made around his mother to get out of family responsibilities. The face he made around his friends when guilt tripping them into buying him drinks, and now he's using it for you. To guilt you into taking pity on his pathetic actions which merely was the catalyst for your unforgiving violence. In an instant you were behind him, heaving him out of the door with your bare hands, pushing with all your might, using the immense pain coursing through your limbs as motivation to drive his beefy frame further and further out of the bedroom, down the hallway, into the living room and closer to the door yelling “I said leave! Leave! Now!” Pushing harder and harder with every word you choked out. The tears began to flow faster, clouding and distorting your vision as your face contorted into an expression of pure anguish until finally, he was forced out of the open doorway and into the main hallway of your apartment building. You promptly slammed the door in his face and the only thought traveling though your mind was ‘thank god she left that door open’ because you wouldn’t have been able to force him through it otherwise.
You stood silently for a few seconds, back to the door, face still slick with tears as the cool wood on your back shook senselessly with every beat of his fist and muffled shout of his voice crying phrases like “____ open the fuking door!” , “this is my apartment too baby come on” and other variations of the sort. Your mind was empty while you remained there, letting the harsh reality sink in like the slowest molasses. You allowed that man, that pig, to take 10 years of your life. 10 years of your prime. 10 years that you'll never get back no matter how much you beg and plead for it. Come to think of it, you had shaped your entire life around him. His influence was there no matter how much you wished it wasn’t. His residue staining your life like the blackest ink of which you would never be able to rid yourself. At the surfacing of these thoughts, you’d finally broke down and cried, like ugly cried. Broken heaves and sobs escaped your throat until you felt like you were suffocating as you slid down the door, not caring if he heard your wails and whines of torment on the other side of the polished mahogany. You actually hoped he did hear, you wanted him to hear the anguish and grief he put you through. You wanted him to hear you cry out all of your attachment and love for him until there was none left, so he knows the tears flowing from your body hold all of the affection you harbor for him. All ten years of attraction flowing out in a gigantic tsunami of grief that can only end in a new start.
Your mind played through all the memories, and the small amount of good times you had with each other while you sobbed mercilessly, also coming to the realization that he never did anything for you. Ever since you were 14 you’d been changing everything about yourself for him, while he merely lived his life, dragging you along like a supportive little puppy and rewarding you with cheap token gifts and mediocre sex once in a blue moon.
He wanted to attend university in your hometown so you abandoned your dream school, which accepted you, to attend a closer college. He made the decision to study abroad, so you had to drop everything and move to Australia for him. He wanted to wait to have kids so you froze your fucking eggs for him. He got a great new job at a large company in Asia, so you dropped everything again and moved to South Korea. You learned Korean for him. You have the same friends as him. You even cut a few family members off because he was “uncomfy” around them. He wouldn’t even go down on you because it also made him ‘uncomfy’, which should’ve been a red flag from the start. You did all of this bullshit in the haze of love. The promise that he’d reciprocate all of it in affection and adoration, which he didn’t, and now you’re sitting in your living room bawling your brains out because you were too lovestruck to see the signs.
After sobbing hysterically for what seemed like hours, you’d sat limply in front of your door, slouching back onto it as if it were a plush armchair and staring blankly into space, your mind completely empty. Feeling overwhelmed and exhausted beyond belief, you leaned forward, groaning in anguish as your tired muscles cried out in distress after being immobile for more than four hours. Crawling over to the couch, you tiredly flung your nearly paralyzed body onto the soft cushions with a sigh, not even bothering to pull the fluffy throw blanket over your body as your entire frame began to steadily shut down. Before your eyes completely shut, you caught a glimpse of the clock perched on the wooden tv stand which read 11:11 and scoffing quietly as you thought to yourself, ‘I thought that was supposed to mean good luck’ and you gave in to the delicious expanse of slumber.
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You were startled awake by the incessant pounding of your now ex-boyfriends fist on the door, again. For the past 4 days since you’d forced him out, he’d show up outside your door at the ass crack of dawn just banging on the door profusely, as if that would persuade you to open it an inch. He had a schedule, he’d come at 5am, before he went off to work, then at 12:30 on his lunch break, then again at 9:45 just to make you miserable before you went to bed. You’re actually surprised the neighbors haven’t complained to the landlords yet. You tossed the blanket off of your sticky body, kicking and thrashing wildly due to the annoyance caused by that nuisance.
You cried more times than you can count during these last 4 days, especially during the times he would attempt to win you over with sappy shit like “baby, you’re my everything, you’re all i’ve ever wanted”, the lyrics to one of your favorite songs or, “you’re my forever ____, you can’t just throw 10 years away babe” to which you cried about for 3 hours after he’d said it, after realizing that he actually wasted 10 fucking years of your life. Anger bubbled up in the pit of your stomach as you listened to the repetitive banging of his fist and at this point you had enough and came to the decision it was finally time to pack his shit. Stomping into the living room, you grabbed a necessary box of bags that sat on the coffee table in the center of the room, figuring you were ready to use it. With a final nod of your head, you marched into your shared bedroom and opened all of the cabinets and drawers that contained the plethora of his belongings and flinging them on the floor, grabbing the box of xl trash bags you’d snagged on your march in here and started tossing things in left and right, not caring about the brand name or the state of the fabric or anything for that matter. All you saw was red as your eyes welled up with tears for the first and probably not last time that day.
“I can’t do this” you sobbed out, voice hoarse as you fell to your knees, ignoring the rugburn that was soon to form on those areas as your shoulders shook with every harsh breath you took. You had been dreading this task. Dreading it only for its significance that once you packed all his things and tossed them out, your relationship would be truly over. You definitely didn’t want him back but this would be the first time you’ve been alone in 10+ years and you were not certain you were prepared for that let alone wanting it. Inhaling shakily, you sniffed, ridding your face of any moisture as you cleared your throat and walked back into the kitchen, grabbing the bottle of chardonnay from your anniversary that fell on the week prior and venturing back into the closet to resume your task. You weren’t much of a drinker but for this task, you’d need a bottle or two.
A few hours later, he’d finally went off to work and you sat in the doorway of the closet, drunkenly dressed in the wedding gown you were made to be wed in this summer still combing through all of his clothing and tossing them messily into a bag that laid open on the floor beside you. You took a swig from the bottle, hissing softly at the satisfying burn that seared it’s way down your throat and rubbing at your puffy eyes with the knuckle of your index finger. The closet was mostly bare, except for a rack with some of his clothes and one rack of semi-expensive clothing his cheap ass reluctantly purchased for you and you glanced around, catching a glimpse of some ugly floral fabric in the corner of the small space. Getting on your hands and knees you reached a limp hand out, taking hold of the horrendous fabric and dragging it out with a groan, eyes wide at the surprising heft of the object in your hand.
It was a pillowcase. A pillowcase full of something brick shaped. You raised an eyebrow quizzically before reaching into the bag and pulling out a fat stack of cash. Taking a sharp intake of breath you paused, staring blankly at the wrapped wad in your hand and cocking your head to the side. You peeked over into the bag after a few minutes, eyes popping out of your skull as they feasted on more huge stacks of money. It was Korean currency but there had to be at least 250k USD worth in the entire sack. You furrowed your brows, tossing the money back into the pillowcase forcefully as a tornado of thoughts whirled in your mind. Had he been saving behind your back? Was he planning on getting rich then eventually hanging you out to dry for some younger girl? How long has he had all of this? Where the fuck did it all come from?
You looked back at the money then back at the corner you found it in, squinting as you spotted some more ugly purple fabric. Crawling behind the clothing earnestly, you managed to fish out 4 more pillowcases full of money. You stifled a laugh, having never been in the presence of so much currency, you guessed it had to be more than 1 million dollars. You smiled for the first time in 4 days, lips curling up into a wide joy filled expression as you dumped all of the money onto the rugged floor of the closet. With all of the alcohol coursing through your veins, (almost a whole bottle) you didn’t hesitate to grab the biggest tote bag you own and stuff as much money as it could hold inside. You figured it was the least he could do after cheating on you.
He deserved to pay, and you obviously deserved a raise.
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It was a full on shopping spree. After throwing all of his shit into bags, you tossed them outside your door and left with as much money as you could carry before he could come back on his lunch break. You even came back to get some more money, just to go out and spend it again. To say you splurged would be an understatement, you spent almost half of the money on clothes, shoes, a hair and makeup appointment, a manicure, a new car, and you even paid rent for six months after taking his name off the lease.
So here you were, struggling up the stairs as quick as you could, due to the fact that it was 9:30 and you were trying to avoid seeing him at his 9:45 visit. Your feet screamed in agony in your new jimmy choo pumps, because you’d been on them all day, and you had at least six shopping bags hanging from each arm, all full with an assortment of gaudy items such as shoe boxes, makeup products, and clothing. You had finally reached the door after a while, smiling at the absence of his bags which meant he took them and swiftly unlocked the door, clamoring in and tiredly dropping the bags in your hands. With a sigh, you locked the door, running a hand through your freshly styled hair as you rid your face of the designer sunglasses that shielded it. Kicking off your shoes, you hummed gratifyingly at the pleasurable feeling of bare feet and shuffled over to your couch, plopping down on the end cushion groggily.
A soft buzz in your back pocket caught your attention as you carefully fished out the new phone you purchased and unlocked it with your perfectly manicured fingers, raising an eyebrow quizzically as the texts rolled in, ‘i thought i blocked him’ you thought, preparing to do it a second time before a few texts caught your attention and you froze on the spot, chuckling heartlessly at his words.
+82 2 2263 5950 : whose car is in our parking spot?
+82 2 2263 5950 : did you already move on?
+82 2 2263 5950 : wow whore
You rolled your eyes, wondering where he attained the gaul to accuse you of a feat such as that. Calling you a whore as if that name isn’t suitable for himself. Even more so than you. You decided to text him back, feeding off of an unknown source of confidence as your fingers furiously tapped along the screen.
me : it’s my car asshole
me : bought it with the money u left me
me :thx baby <3
+82 2 2263 5950 : what money?
me : the money in the closet you didn’t bother telling me abt u dumb fuck
+82 2 2263 5950 : don’t use that money
me : why should i listen to you?
me : you aren’t my bf
+82 2 2263 5950 : no seriously ____ don’t use that money wtf is wrong with u
me : already did bye babe
You blocked him as quickly as you could, face burning with absolute anger as you tossed your phone on the cushion beside you. Who is he to tell you what you could or couldn’t do? You had come to the decision then and there that you wouldn't let him treat you like a child. He wasn’t your dad. Thanks to him you barely speak to your dad. The only thought going through your mind at the time was ‘fuck him.’ Before you could delve into your thoughts any further, it started. His incessant pounding on the door. Again. Although, this time it was much more frantic, desperate. He was much louder with his pathetic pleas and whines, crying out “please don’t use that money!”, “Listen to me god damn it!”, “___ open the fucking door now!” But you stood your ground, ignoring him once again as you did for the past few days.
Just to escape the racket of his wails of desperation, you retreated to your room, slipping on one of his expensive balenciaga sweatshirts you kept for yourself and climbing into the cool blankets, burying yourself under the plush fabric and folding your pillow over your ears. You knew this would be the longest night of your life..
And you were correct, It was the longest night of your life. He never truly got the memo that you would not be coming out to communicate with him so he finally left at around 1:30 in the morning. You had slept horribly, tossing and turning as the aftermath of his cries and pleads left a print on your mind and tormented you at all hours of the night, you didn’t manage to get any real sleep until around eight and woke up a mere five hours later in a state of confusion. It was well past noon and yet it was silent, you had woken up of your own volition, not because of some crazy man outside of your apartment screaming like a banshee. In due time, you had come to the conclusion that he had finally given up and gone about his day without banging on his ex-girlfriend's apartment door like an idiot at all hours of the day.
This theory was almost set in your mind until you heard a knock. Groaning violently, you stared up at your ceiling, eyebrows furrowed as you erased that theory from the whiteboard in your cortex. Fully prepared to ignore the person at the door, you rolled over to your side until another knock was heard. This wasn’t him. This couldn’t be him. The knocks were way too soft, they lacked an element of urgency, desperation. They were simply just way too calm. So, you sat up, swinging your legs over and reluctantly standing up, before making your way into the living room to be greeted with another knock and a smooth male voice calling out. “Miss ___ ___?”
You glanced wearily though your peep hole to be met with a tall male, dressed in a blue and white uniform. “Looks like a cop. He called the fucking cops on me, shit.” you whispered to yourself, voice small as you held onto the door handle. Figuring it’d be worse to make him wait, you opened the door, being met with the warm, dimpled smile, of the decorated individual. “Yes, i”m ____” you respond, shoving your hands into the pockets of your sweatshirt and looking everywhere but him, which probably seems more suspicious than anything but you were too riddled with anxiety to care. The officer clutched a navy blue manilla folder in his hand and opened it promptly in order to sift through its contents.
“Hi, i’m officer Kim.” he breathed out, calmly bowing and resuming his apparent spiel, “do you know this man?” he pondered, raising an eyebrow quizzically as he pulled a photo from his folder with calloused fingers and lifted it, spinning it around to face you. Your eyes widened slightly upon being shown a picture of your ex and you nodded hesitantly.
“He’s my ex boyfriend- well ex fiance I guess.” you responded, voice barely audible as your mind raced faster than the speed of sound. You asked yourself what he could’ve done that was bad enough for the police to show up at your door. Maybe you had been too harsh on him and he had gotten into one to many bar fights, maybe he robbed a bank at gunpoint, maybe he stole some old lady’s car and filled it with off brand mayonnaise before he returned it. All your questions- all your thoughts stopped as Officer Kim responded, running a tired hand through his hair.
“He passed, earlier today.” he paused, giving you time to digest things and you froze, staring at his face blankly as your mind processed what you had just been told and you hummed questioningly, your throat becoming tight with realization. “It happened around five this morning,” he paused again as you stood in complete silence. Sure you hated him but you’d never wish death upon another person, especially him. You hate him now but you were in love with him once too. You hate him now but, he was the closest person in your life. He was all of your firsts, your fiance, your best friend. You thought you wouldn’t be able to get all of that back because of the breakup but now you truly can never get any of it back, because he’s dead. Then, you started to cry, for the hundredth time this week but this one was different. You weren’t crying because you missed him, or wanted him to come back like all the other times, as horrible as it sounds. You were crying because you felt bad. Because of his short life that was ripped from him by the unforgiving hand of death. You weren’t crying because of him, you were crying for him. A hand on your shoulder interrupted your sobs and you wiped your face, glancing up at the culprit with glassy eyes. “I’m so sorry for your loss...” he paused, giving you a few moments to breathe as he rubbed your shoulder comfortingly before speaking again, “but we have an idea of who did it, it would be helpful if you just came down to the station with me for some questioning.” he asked softly as the shaking sobs and whimpers that came from your body slowed to a halt and you nodded.
“Yeah, uh. Let me just go get dressed.” You muttered, smiling up at him softly and shuffling back to your room to prepare. The longest night of your life was about to turn into the longest day.
And you were correct again as you stood in front of your apartment door after the absolute, and I cannot stress this enough, longest day of your life. Your ex was murdered, brutally, and they made sure to go over all of the gory details with you while you were at the precinct, they even took you to see his body, which made you cry because it was mangled almost beyond recognition and you were horrified. Apparently, he had been tortured for hours, which explained all the bruises, gashes, and burn marks on his body, strangled, thus the huge ring shaped mark around his neck, and dumped into a river, which made his body all pruny and wrinkled. You had spent 10 long hours at the police precinct and it was now nearing midnight as you fished your keys from your pocket in order to unlock the door. Inserting your key, you jiggle it around in the lock for a minute before realizing it was already unlocked initially. Figuring you had left it unlocked accidentally in your depressed haze, you pushed your way into your apartment and locked it promptly, pressing your forehead into the cool wood of the door. You sighed softly, relaxing only for a minute as you absorbed your surroundings before freezing as you heard the rhythmic tapping of someone's foot.
“Long day huh?” the voice was deep, one you hadn’t heard before as you remained facing the door, your grip of the handle tightening until your knuckles turned white. He spoke again, “you must be ____.” he murmured softly, sending a terrified shudder down your spine. “I’ve been wanting to meet you but he said you were off limits. You know, he talks about you a lot-...” he stopped himself as if realizing something, “well talked, I mean.” the man mused, an ominous chuckle flowing from his mouth.
“Who are you?” you rasped, attempting to conceal any cowardice but blinking your eyes harshly as your voice broke. You vaguely hoped this was one of your ex’s friends coming to visit, at an odd hour of the night, sitting ominously in the dark of your apartment waiting for you to come home just to say hi but the chances of that actuality was very slim.
“None of your business” the man retorted, a smirk evident in his ominous tone. “Now, let’s get down to business little dove,” you furrowed your brows at the nickname. You had never been called a nickname, especially by a man who randomly just snuck into your apartment one night. Your ex only ever called you baby or babe so little dove was different for you. It seemed endearing in the worst type of way. “I want the rest of my money.” he paused, “I found half of it in a closet here, and he said you might know where the rest is.” he paused again, only this time a sound is heard, a metal rattling of some sort that ricochets off of the walls of the apartment like a stray jumping bean in a pill case. Then it hits you, he has a gun, and he just shook it as if he intends to use it. . “Don’t make me ask again sweetheart.” Your eyes widen and well up as your head falls down, knowing you're going to die today and you take a deep breath, telling yourself you’d be ready for whatever happens so you decide, if you’re gonna die, you should at least know the name of the man that’s gonna kill you so you scrape together every last drop of confidence you can muster and ask once more.
“I said, w-who are yo-” you choked out, in an attempt to hold onto the last shred of your dignity as you blinked back the tears threatening to fall from your glassy eyes. However, your small shred of confidence is promptly ripped from your grasp as the man cuts you off mid sentence, slamming his gun down onto a hard surface with a loud clatter. You jolt, crying out softly as the tears you’d been holding back with all your might fall onto the ground before you.
“I said none of your fucking business bitch where’s my fucking money.” he spat, his sinister tone draing a choked sob from your thoat as you realized, you wouldn’t be getting anything you wanted today. “Answer me” he said, alarmingly calm as the sound of him cocking his gun travels directly to your mind.
“I spent it” you muttered between your soft hiccups and stiffened slightly upon hearing a heavy footstep approach you, then another footstep, and another, and another until they cease, and you can feel the man's warm breath raising the hair on the back of your neck. All your readiness for whatever happens and willingness to die flies out of the window as you lean your head on the door once more, taking a shaky breath as you begin to plead, aware of how pathetic you sound and part of the reason why you have such a strong urge to cry harder. “Please don’t kill me” you whined desperately as you feel the cold metal of the gun barrel resting on your shoulder.
“Relax little dove” he whispered, his lips brushing the back of your ear and sending a chill rushing through the entire expanse of your body. “Just find a way to pay me back and we’re even,” he continued calmly, his raspy voice reverberating in your eardrums as you think through what he just said carefully. You gasp and sniffle, shaking your head softly and lifting it slowly from the wooden door frame.
“I-” you stopped, taking a deep breath and preparing yourself as much as you could for his response then opened your mouth to continue. “I don’t have that kind of money” you whispered hesitantly, shutting your eyes tightly, allowing nothing to escape but the numerous tears that fell to the ground in anticipation of his actions. There was an eerie silence as he contemplated your words before he abruptly turned away, lifting the gun from your shoulder and holstering it in the waistband of his jeans, causing you to let out a wavering breath you’d been holding that entire time. His hand traveled back up, taking refuge on your left shoulder as the other hand made its way up your right arm, the warmth setting your skin aflame and sending a shockwave of warmth coursing through your body.
“There is another way you could pay me back.” his velvet voice rasped, stressing the word ‘another’ in a way that you immediately understood his insinuation and you took a sharp intake of air, bracing yourself for what he was about to say next. But he didn’t say anything for a moment, letting his hands do the talking for him as he gripped your arms softly, using his hands to spin you around and face him. You whirled around, yelping in surprise but stopping when you were met with the most exquisite, carnivorous brown eyes you had ever seen in your life that were accompanied by full pink lips and a tousled bunch of fluffy black hair you just wanted to run your hands through. Even in the darkness of night, the moonlight streaming through the kitchen window illuminated the room enough for you to trail your eyes down his face and get a vivid idea of what he’d look like with illumination.
Yummy as fuck.
Your eyes began to wander down to his exposed collarbone and before they could travel any lower, his fingers roughly grabbed your chin, forcing your gaze upward until you met his borderline cannibalistic gaze, which crushed you into nothing. He cocked his head to the side, a mischievous glint in his eyes as the corner of his lips turn upward slightly. “He was always bragging about you… saying,” he speaks, his sultry tone lulling you into a state of compliance as he spoke, “you’re such a good fuck,” he continues, placing his left hand gently on your waist and stepping even closer, if that’s possible, his soft breath hitting your face with every word as he speaks. “Your sweet little cunt is so tight” he glances down at your lips, running his thumb over your bottom lip “your mouth feels like heaven” he pauses again, running his hand down to hold the side of your neck softly to which you gasp “maybe i’d like a demonstration little dove.” he smiles, a twisted horrifying smile that snaps you out of his seductive trance and back to reality as your eyes widen and you pull yourself quickly out of his hold, running over to the couch and bracing yourself on it.
“No” you cry out, out of breath for some reason as you swallow thickly and shake your head. “No, I'll find a way to pay you back, I promise.” you plead, praying he wasn’t going to kill you on the spot and that he hadn’t noticed your blatant ogling. He probably did but at this point you didn’t care, you just wanted him gone.
“Whatever you say sweetheart” he replied, emitting a dark chuckle “call me if you change your mind, my number’s in your phone” he opened the front door and you glanced back at him, noticing the way his all black attire contrasts with his tan skin, and most of all, you notice the full sleeve of tattoos that ran down his right arm. Heat crawled up to your face as you realized you were gawking again and you nodded in response, feeling unable to form the words to respond with. He only uttered the words “you have a week.” before the door slammed and you were left alone in the dark.
You ran your fingers along the side of your neck where the aftermath of his touch lingered like a searing residue. No one had ever touched you like that, especially your ex. He was the man that took your virginity and was the man there for every time after so you’d become accustomed to his textbook missionary vanilla sex that left you touch starved and unfinished every. single. time. But you’d finish yourself off each time, feeling bad because you thought he was trying his hardest and truly didn’t understand how to please women. But as time went on, you realized he didn’t care about your pleasure and too enveloped in his own release to ever worry about your needs, but were too deep in love with him to care.
Your thoughts were interrupted when your phone went off to signal a text and upon picking it up there were two text messages from an unknown number that sent a shiver down your spine which read.
+82 2 5284 8735 : don’t try to run
+82 2 5284 8735 : we’ll hunt you down little dove
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“Can’t you just take the shit back?” You questioned frantically, clutching the phone by your head until your knuckles turned white, rolling your eyes tiredly when you got no response. “They hung up, great” you deadpanned, plopping onto the couch you had been pacing in front of. It has been 6 days since the man showed up and you were running out of time and hadn’t slept in two days, your mind running frantically with the thought of him coming back to see you nearly empty handed. Well, not exactly empty handed. You had managed to get 253k of the whopping +400k dollars you had spent of his money and after not being able to return the car, manicure, hair appointment, rent, and a bunch of clothes and shoes, you were manic. Some might even say a bit crazy. Many of the stores and the dealership knew you by name because of the amount of times you called them. You dropped your phone into your lap, burying your face in your hands and wishing someone was here to console you through this but the only person you knew even remotely enough to offer any consolation was your ex. You wish he was alive so you could punch that bitch in the face and ask him what kind of shit he got himself into because the man that paid you a visit was most definitely not from corporate.
You sat for a silent minute deliberating if you should text the mystery man and take him up on his offer. You had asked yourself, is it really worth your life? Were you really going to die because you didn’t want to sleep with the hot guy you stole money from? The answer at first was yes because you still had your pride intact then but now, you had been starting to second guess your confidence in getting all the money back. After all, the deadline is tomorrow. You still had your hesitations, the only man who has ever seen you in such a lewd nature was your ex. You didn’t know if you were ready for sex with another person, even if he was the hottest man you’d ever seen. But, against your better nature, you convinced yourself that your ex was gone and this was bound to happen sooner or later, so why not sooner?
You grabbed your phone in earnest before anything inside you could convince you to stop and unlocked it, opening the messages for his number and typing out your text, hitting send before any sort of regret had the chance to sink in.
me : i’ll take your offer
me : this is ____ btw
You placed your phone down on the couch cushions beside you and chewed nervously on the not so fresh manicure that was still on your nails. To your surprise, his reply came in quickly and you frantically reached for your phone as the dings came rolling in.
+82 2 5284 8735 : i know who you are
+82 2 5284 8735 : i'll be there in 20
+82 2 5284 8735 : be ready sweetheart
Your heart thumped restlessly as you shot up from your seat shouting “twenty minutes?!” and you cried out nervously. You hadn’t even seen his face in good lighting and you didn't know his name so you’d basically be fucking a complete stranger which scared you enough as it is but the fact that that stranger held you at gunpoint merely a week prior is what scared you shitless.
In the limited time that he gave you, you decided to freshen up a bit so you hopped in the shower. Your first shower in a few days after your psychotic state worsened. Humming in bliss, you relished in the feeling of the scalding water flowing over your skin as you took your time washing , shaving, and singing, in an attempt to rid yourself of the horrendous nerves that overtook your senses. After reluctantly stepping out of the steamy oasis, you’d decided on a white lingerie set you had gotten yourself for christmas but never got to wear for anyone because your significant other was always “working” or too tired/busy to take the time of day for you. Pairing the set with a matching white silk robe and not bothering to wear any shoes because you’re in your own house, you slicked your lips in a thick coat of gloss and applied some mascara and eyeliner to your tired eyes just to spruce up a bit. You figured, if you put effort into your appearance, then maybe he’d spare your life after the sex. You stared at yourself in the mirror, tying your robe, smacking your glossed lips together and ogling your appearance before a soft knocking was heard from the living room. “He’s here” you told yourself with a deep shaky breath as you vacated the bathroom and slowly ventured toward the door.
You stood silently before the front door, contemplating whether this was a mistake or if it was too late to turn back. As much as you hated to admit, there was no logical solution to your problem that was in compliance with any standing laws. Heck, what you were doing was probably illegal in everywhere but Las Vegas so you had no other choice than to twist the handle, open the door and stare up at the most alluring man you had ever laid eyes on. You ran your eyes all over his body, studying him, his features, his gorgeous eyes, impeccable nose, plush lips, smooth hair, and strong arms that lead to a presumed strong chest hidden under his plain white tee. He noticed you blatantly checking him out to which he placed a finger on your chin, lifting your face up so your eyes met and making you watch as he rolled his bottom lip into his mouth, sucking on it for a moment. Oh how you wished that was your lip.
“You ready little dove?” he asked, his tone seductive and smooth like chocolate as he walked closer to you, closing the door behind him and backing you up until you stood patiently before the couch staring up at him, a wistful glint in your eyes as you nodded. He reached up, using a finger to push your robe off of your right shoulder and cocking his head quizzically. “All dressed up just for me?” he pondered, his eyes trained on the white lace peeking out from under the robe. You nodded, to which he gripped your chin roughly, furrowing his eyebrows at your response. “Use your words sweetheart” he warned, loosening his grip so you could speak in affirmation.
“Yes…” your voice trailed off, thinking of what to call him, as you still didn’t know his name, so you addressed him as you would any man you didn’t know, “yes, sir. I dressed up just for you” you concluded, your voice barely greater than a whisper as the corners of his lips turned up. He let out an animalistic growl at the name you gave for him, obviously satisfied and moved his hand from your chin to grip the back of your neck promptly.
“It’s Jungkook, but sir will do nicely” he basically growled before latching onto your lips with carnal aggressiveness. You whined heartily into his mouth as his tongue slipped deftly into yours and intertwined with yours, causing your mind to fall into a haze as he coiled his arm around your waist, bringing your body flush against his toned frame. You reached up with shaky hands, fumbling with his shirt, eager to get it off of him and gaze upon the expanse of his abdomen. His lips detached for a moment, giving you the chance to pull his shirt over his head, which he gladly obliged and lifted his hands over his head, swiftly resuming their positions when his shirt formed a pile on the floor beside you. You leaned back in, attempting to capture his lips in another phenomenal kiss but he pulled back, leaving you to chase him and whine when you ultimately lose, to which he laughs mischievously, taking his hands off of your body and toying with the silk tie on the front of your robe.
“How do you want it baby?” he pondered, the new nickname sending shivers down your spine as you glanced at him quizzically, as if asking what he meant. He chuckled softly, tugging at the ribbon and opening your robe as he brought his hands up, carefully sliding it down your arms and bending down so his face was level with your collarbone. He placed a gentle kiss there, leaving fire in the wake of his lips as he spoke, his breath cooling the seared flesh, “would you like me to be gentle?” he asked leaving more hot kisses along the expanse of your shoulder and neck, drawing salacious sounds from your parted lips as he brought his hand up to rest at the base of your neck. “Or…” he paused, sliding his hand up and increasing the intensity of his grip on your throat, restricting the blood flow to your brain as your mind became hazy and your eyes rolled into the back of your head. “Do you want me to be rough?” he continued, lifting his head to watch your face as he loosened his grip. “It’s your choice little dove.”
You were elated, ecstatic and a little disappointed when he loosened his grip on your neck. Your ex was always into sex that lindered toward the vanilla side, as mentioned before, so he would never think to try anything like choking, which always intrigued you just a little bit. You wished you would have experienced other styles of love before you met him but you didn't, and this was your chance to try them out now. Your fingers travelled up, lightly grazing over that hand that was tightly wrapped around your neck. Whining quietly you rolled your bottom lip between your teeth, biting it softly as your other hand came up and wrapped around Jungkook’s forearm.
“I wanna try it rough” you mumbled, eyes closing as you relished in the hazy feeling this restriction gave you which only heightened as he tightened his grip.
“Perfect.” he groaned out almost inaudibly as he pulled your face to his, colliding your lips in the roughest, most passion filled kiss you’d ever experienced. He devoured your mouth with gluttonous amusement, his grip on your airway never wavering for a moment as he tongued you down, his carnal need prevalent and present in the thick air of the room. You reached up, completing a task you’d been wanting to do for days, tangling your hand in the messy black mass that fell upon his head, and relishing in the soft feeling of his waves. Then he detached from your lips and moved away, forcing your hands to fall from his hair and onto his broad shoulders, which, while pleasurable to touch, didn’t even come close to frolicking your fingers through his locks. He moved his hand from your neck to your shoulder, to which you whined with a small pout, missing the new contact as he chuckled at your eagerness. He stared at your lips, before leaning down and capturing your bottom lip between his teeth, biting down on it voraciously before he spoke. “Do you want me to put this slutty little mouth of yours to use little dove?” he asked, pulling back as if waiting for an answer, to which you obliged.
“Yes sir” You answered quite honestly in fact, as you felt all your hesitation and weariness about this task slip away. “Please put my mouth to use.” you pleaded, staring up at him, a wanton expression on your soft features.
“You’re so good for me .” he whispered, his soft breath fanning your face as you nodded in agreement, “such an obedient little dove, hmm?” he asked, to which you nodded once again, a bit more frantically this time as you awaited his cue. He used the hand on your shoulder to abruptly push you down with a small yelp so you were seated on the black leather couch behind you, the colder leather contrasting the burning lust in your entire body as you looked up at him. “Get to work slut.” Your eyes widened at the name. Maybe it was supposed to be an insult or he just liked calling you that but you couldn’t help the gargantuan wave of slick that coated your panties at the moment.
You looked down, a bit above eye level with his crotch as you reached up to palm him through his faded blue jeans. His scent was tantalizing, musky, and you couldn't get enough as you stared up at him through your eyelashes, your lips slightly parted as you gazed in awe. He gave you a warning glance, as if scolding you for teasing him for this long and you unzipped his pants. He held out his hand, as if to stop you before reaching behind his pants and pulling his gun from the back of his jeans. Your eyes widened, gaze now trained on the firearm in his hand, a horrified expression on your face as you ceased all actions. Which he noticed, peering down at you, a horrifying smile etched on his godlike features as he opened his mouth to speak.
“Relax darling, I won’t kill you,” he purred, reaching down and weaving the fingers of his free hand into the roots of your hair, grabbing and pulling back roughly so you have no other choice but to meet his dark eyes. “We’re only just getting started.” he lowered the gun, pressing the muzzle into the underside of your jaw, the cold metal like ice against your scalding skin. However, you felt no need to cry, felt no need to fear for your life even as this gun was pressed to your neck, aimed to kill, because you knew he wouldn’t do it. Through the dark facade and ominous gaze in his eyes there was something else that made you trust his inability to kill you. You realized you were enjoying the thrill, the excitement of putting your life in his hands. So, you did what any crazy bitch would do in this situation, you breathed out deeply, relaxing your shoulders and slouching yourself down to push your neck further onto the tip of the gun with a mischievous smile. Jungkook stared down at you in awe, running his tongue on the inside of his cheek and taking his gun off of your neck before tossing it over to the end of the couch behind you.
Resuming your actions with a shaky breath, you tugged his pants down until they fell to his ankles and placed your hands on the sides of his underwear clad hips. You might’ve been inexperienced in his style of fucking but you sure knew how to give a good blowjob, so you got to work, placing open mouthed kisses to his clothed appendage. You looked up at him once more seeing the lust clouded haze that filled his deep brown eyes. After a bit of teasing, you hooked your fingers in the waistband of his underwear, pulling it down in a seductively slow manner as you allowed his needy cock to spring free, and you stared up at it with a gasp.
It was huge.
You didn’t really know what qualifies as huge because the only dick you’ve ever had was around 6 inches on a good day but this alluring appendage swinging before your face had to be at least 9 inches long and you wondered how the fuck you were going to fit it all in your mouth let alone your pussy, which was already aching for it. Your mouth involuntarily opened wider in anticipation of his delicious dick inside and you grabbed the base, with two hands, drawing a hiss from the man that stood over you as he kicked off his shoes and the rest of the clothing that pooled around his feet. You licked teasingly up the sides of his dick, stopping at the tip to swirl your tongue around it, and catching some salty precum when you did. You glanced up at him and he looked absolutely furious in the best sort of way. Frustrated to the max as you teased him mercilessly, only spending meere fleeting moments at the spots which needed the most attention.
Then he snapped, taking you by surprise and using his hand that was still tangled in your hair to hold you still while he shoved his cock in your mouth. You tried to gasp but it merely came out as a small strangled whimper that was cut off as his length reached that back of your throat. You moved your hands to the sides of his hips once again, bracing yourself as he slowly pulled his member out of your mouth, most likely winding up for another thrust. He propelled his hips forward once again, stuffing not nearly all of his cock into your mouth, as his tip grazed the back of your throat. The feeling of him completely filling your mouth had you livid, your eyes rolling to the back of your head as you moaned, the vibrations reverberating onto his appendage which drew a salacious moan from his plush parted pink lips.
“Fuck, your mouth feels like heaven.” he moaned out, then he started to fuck your face, tears pooling in your eyes while his dick basically hit the back of your throat with every harsh stroke of his hips as he gripped on your hair tighter. After one particularly hard thrust, he held his length down your throat as tears rolled down your cheeks and you gagged around him. He took his cock out of your mouth, to which you gasped, swallowing the spit that pooled in your mouth with an aroused groan.
“Tastes so good.” you mumbled, not possibly being able to get enough as he shoved his cock back into your mouth and fucked your throat relentlessly. The tension building in you was too much to bear and your need to cum only heightened as his actions resumed. You arched your back slightly, pushing your clothed clit into the black leather cushions of the couch as you gyrated into it slowly, praying he wouldn’t notice and would be too invested in fucking your throat to realize.
You were wrong. He noticed immediately.
He halted all movements, taking his cock from your throat and grabbing your neck harshly, to which you gasped, whimpering as he pulled you up to stand in front of him, cock slapping the front of your body as you stared at his face in anticipation of his actions. You could imagine what you looked like right now swollen glossy lips, and tear stains running down your face because you didn’t bother to wear your waterproof mascara. You never needed it any other time so you figured why would you need it now. Oh how wrong you were.
“Dirty little dove, trying to get off on the couch because you want me that bad?” he rasped, nearing closer to your face with each word and you nodded frantically, basically begging him to do something, anything. “Words” he barked, drawing a cry from your lips as you thought of what to say.
“I want your cock, please sir.” you begged, before he groaned hungrily and captured your lips in a ravenous kiss, taking you by surprise. No one had ever kissed you after they’d fucked your throat before so why would he do it. You didn’t dwell on that thought for too long before melting into his touch and wrapping your arms around his neck. Jungkook took his free hand, trailing it around your body to unclasp the back of your bra, your eyes going wide at the skillful ease of his fingers. He snatched the white lace clothing off of your frame, tossing it to the other side of the room and reaching back up to cup one of your soft breasts in his hand, flicking the nipple with his index finger and making you sigh satisfactorily into his mouth. He leaned forward, taking you with him as he lowered both of you back onto the couch, settling himself between your newly opened legs and never breaking the kiss. He unlatched his hand from your neck, trailing it down your body as the other hand continued to knead your breast skillfully. His burning touch slowly ventured further and further down your abdomen until he reached the band of your panties and abruptly tore the thin while lace from your body to your dismay and discarding it on the floor beside him. You whined sadly, as those had been your favorite pair of underwear but barely had any sort of time to grieve as you felt two rough fingers dip into the wetness of your slit, trailing them up and stopping right over the spot you needed him to be at, pulling a moan from your still swollen lips.
He began kissing a trail down your body, stopping for a mere moment to suck on the pert bud of your free breast before resuming his path of destruction. He moved his hands to settle on the inner sides of your thighs, spreading them apart and sighing as he got a glimpse of the treasure between them. Your eyes widened upon realizing his destination as you scooched away, holding a handful of his tousled black hair in an attempt to grab his attention.
“I-…” you paused, chewing on your bottom lip and thinking of how to word your statement. “i’ve never asked anyone to do that for me before, so y- you don’t have to do it.” you stuttered wearily as the nerves set in. No one’s face had ever been remotely close to your womanhood and the thought of it sent a chill down your spine as you released his hair from your grasp. You wondered what it would even be like. He glanced up at you, eyes dilated as he chuckled, a dark chuckle that made you shiver as he tightened his grip on your thighs, yanking you closer to his face and taking a deep drag of your scent once you were close enough.
“Oh baby I want to” he basically moaned out, licking his lips and glancing down at your glistening slit, the corners of his lips turning up in a hungry smile. You raised an eyebrow, asking yourself ‘why the fuck would he want to do that?’, and ‘isn’t this for my pleasure?’, but all your concerns were answered once he spoke again. “I can’t wait to make you writhe on my tongue little dove” he muttered, causing your cheeks to burn with the intensity of a thousand suns as he talked into your soaking entrance. “... make you beg and cry without even using my cock.” he continued, releasing your left thigh from his grip as he placed a hand on your pubic mound, lowering his thumb and slowly beginning to circle your clit eliciting a loud wail from you. “You think, if I had the power to turn you into a messy little whore all for me just by using my mouth, I wouldn’t use it at any chance I could?” He asked and you whined, nodding as your hips stuttered up in desperate need of more friction. “It’s all about power baby, and I have it all here” he groaned, watching you clench pathetic around nothing.
Then, he finally gave you what you wanted. His hand resumed its grip on your thigh, forcing it away from the other as his thumb was swiftly replaced by his warm tongue licking up and down your wet sex. You moaned, placing your shaky hands on the mounds of your chest, toying with your nipples just to add to the pleasurable sensations he was creating with his tongue. This feeling was unlike any ecstasy you had ever felt and you never wanted it to stop. His tongue slipped deftly into your soaked entrance twisting and turning skillfully as you keened loudly. His warm wet appendage swirling around your wet cavern was the best feeling in the entire world and you knew if he continued ravaging you at this pace, you’d cum in no time. But, you needed this release. You needed to let go of all this pent up sexual frustration you didn’t even know you harbored. You needed to experience your first orgasm in months, if not years, that wasn’t self inflicted and you hoped and prayed with all your heart that it would come soon.
He switched his focus,, moving his tongue up to play with your aching clit and slipping two fingers into your formerly empty hole with a deep groan that reverberated through your core like a powerful vibrator which only intensified your moans and cries of pleasure. You looked down on yourself to see the delicious sight of him devouring your cunt ruthlessly, the sight alone almost tipping you over the edge as you brought your hands up, covering your eyes while you neared completion.
“Jungkook you’re gonna make me cum.” you called out, an exasperated cry leaving your lips when your impending orgasm was painfully ripped away from you as all his motion stopped. You uncovered your eyes, about to stare down when your body jolted, a harsh sting being felt directly on your clit, sending a wave of warmth barreling through your entire body. Then you understood, he slapped you, and you peered down at him, your eyes glassy due to the orgasm that was ripped from your grasp.
“Who? said you can cum.” he deadpanned menacingly, staring up at you through hooded eyes as you leaned your head back tiredly, realizing the error in your words and prepared to beg, just like he said you would.
“Sir” you cried, holding your arms limply over your head as you continued to plead. “Sir please, please make me cum.” you begged mercilessly, a tear of relief sliding down your cheek as he resumed his assault on your core, attacking at a steady pace and retrieving the all too familiar knot that formed in the pit of your stomach. You reached up, grabbing the edge of the couch with an iron grip, your knuckles turning white as your hips began circling on his face, your clit rubbing against his tongue with every movement and venturing you closer to your sweet release.”Please don’t stop sir, oh my god” you whined loudly, fucking his face relentlessly as you chased your high, nearing it more and more with each thrust of your hips until he finally pushed you off the brink of ecstasy, a scream leaving your lips as Jungkook continued his unrelenting attack on your pained pussy.
You rode out your high, writhing and panting before him, his pace never faltering, his fingers never slowing, his tongue never relenting and it soon became too much. The euphoric delirium quickly turned into madness as you barreled down the path into overstimulation. You wailed pathetically, thrashing under his hold as the pleasurable pain consumed your body and you could barely form a coherent sentence but you persevered, scraping all the coherent thoughts you could muster and turning them into tangible words that sat on the tip of your tongue, ready to be spoken. “Sir please, it's too much!” you cried to which Jungkook finally let up, slowing his pace to a halt and sitting back.
“Oh my god that was so fucking hot” he growled before sucking on his glossy fingers and cleaning around his mouth with his skilled tongue as he gazed amusedly upon your exhausted body. But he was nowhere near done with you. This fact made apparent when he stood and wrapped an arm around your hip, lifting your limp body and turning you over with ease, positioning you so your face was pressed into the now warm couch cushion and your ass was raised high into the air before him. His eyes rolled at the view of your swollen cunt bent over for him and he gave it a light smack, eliciting a pained, but tired yelp from you as he chuckled muttering “you’re going to drive me crazy little dove.” under his breath.
He crouched down, coming face to lips with your abused cunt as he wrapped his arms around your bent bottom, lacing his fingers together as they rested at the arch of your back and dragging his nose up the tortured path of your slit, drawing whines and cries of overstimulation from your wiggling frame as you tried to get away from the punishing menace that was his face. “No, please. I can't take anymore, it's too much.” You whimpered, your voice muffled as you leaned your face into the couch tiredly to which he obliged, reluctantly, as he stood, grabbing his neglected dick in hand and pointing it toward your pink entrance.
“I can’t wait to stretch your pretty little pussy ____.” he purred and you moaned at the sound of your name slipping off of his tongue like the creamiest butter. He dragged his tip along your swollen clit, abusing it again for what seemed like the millionth time that day as he covered his girth in your slick, a guttural groan emitting from the back of his throat. Then, abruptly, he sunk into your slippery cavern, barely all the way in but you’d never felt so full in your entire life as he pushed forward slowly, filling you up and providing you with the most delicious stretch you’d ever felt. Your eyes rolled into the back of your head as you whined, a desperate whine that you could barely register was your own voice as he pushed his length completely inside of you, his head falling back and your name, rolling off of his tongue once again.
After barely giving you time to adjust to his alarming size, he reeled his hips back before slamming into you again, and again, and again, over and over again until he was fucking you at an unrelenting speed you barely knew was possible to achieve. Suffering from the overwhelming pleasure he forced you to endure, you shut your eyes tight, crying out in strangled indulgence as you grasped onto the fluffy throw blanket strewn lazily over the couch in front of you. You relished in the sting of his girth, staring ahead blankly with glassy eyes as he rammed into you with a punishing speed and black mascara filled tears streamed down your cheeks.
You knew you were about to cum soon, again, only due to the all too familiar feeling accumulating in the pit of your belly. Jungkook reached down, placing a hand on your shoulder blade and pressing your chest further into the couch while he drilled into you, moaning and cursing at the feeling of you flexing deliciously around his cock. He felt you were close, so he moved his hand, snaking it around your waist and trailing his other hand to assume its position around your neck, hoisting you up so your back was arched against his abdomen and you had no choice but to stare up at him as he talked down on you, never slowing the snapping of his hips for a wavering moment.
“You’ve never been fucked this good have you?” he teased through clenched teeth as he leaned down, sucking and marking all over the expanse of your neck with grunts and growls of pleasure. You were way too fucked out to even think about the words to form a coherent sentence, barely being able to form whimpered versions of ‘mhm’ after he questioned you but he was having none of that. He unraveled his hand from your waist, tightening his grip on your throat and landing a hard slap to your left asscheek, drawing a shrill shriek from the depths of your throat as he warned in your ear. “Words little dove” he slapped you again, “how many times do I have to fucking warn you.” he concluded, landing another harsh smack to your abused flesh as you whimpered.
“You’re the best I’ve ever had, I’m such a slut for you sir.” You sobbed out, “please let me cum, please fuck” you whined, drawing out your words and you reached back, tangling both hands in his unruly mop of hair as he split you open, moaning directly in your ear which in itself, was a thing that could make you cum on the spot.
“Cum then.” He said obviously, as if it was the most simple response, only it was this simple command that shoved you off the precipice of ecstasy for a second time. The feeling that bloomed deep in your stomach soon blossomed into a full blown orgasm that racked through your body quickly, leaving nothing but white hot pleasure in its wake as your legs trembled viciously, with one last loud cry of Jungkook’s name. But, he still did not falter, his pace quickening as he neared his own climax, the speed both too much and not nearly enough at the same time. You reached back, attempting to push him and escape the all consuming pleasure torturing your body like a blazing fire but your hands were caught quickly by Jungkook’s hands which crossed them tightly and held them behind your back, resuming his attack.
You shook your head, letting it hang as your tears fell freely onto the couch before you, his moans and groans of ecstasy increasing in volume and frequency as he neared his own climax, his hips faltering in their pace for the first time in a while as he worked to his own release. In what seemed like an instant, he released the most beautiful, salacious, strangled moan you had ever heard, pulling himself out of your soaked cunt, and painting the surface of your ass with his white hot ropes of cum. He finally let you go after a moment, watching as you fell limply to the couch, laying face down, panting exhaustively, your arms still crossed limply behind your back as he smirked down at your fucked out frame. He left you alone for just a bit, coming back but a few moments later before you felt the sore skin of your asscheeks being wiped off with what felt like a warm hand towel. You were relieved he had the respect to clean his mess, it made you respect him just a little bit more as a person but you were way too tired to dwell on the subject any longer.
“You did so good for me little dove” he cooed, his voice softer than you’d ever heard it as he placed a sweet chaste kiss on your lower back, caressing his hand up the side of your body. A simple touch that lacked any sort of sexual aspects, it felt comforting and you sighed, leaning further into the soft couch as you heard him begin to put his clothing on. You felt a pang of distress, seeing as you were more of a fuck and cuddle kind of girl, but you really hadn’t expected him to stay so why’d you feel the need to ask him to. Pushing the feeling deep inside your gut, you sighed deeply as he walked in front of you to bend forward and grab his gun that laid discarded on the opposite side of your couch, also grabbing the throw blanket beside it and tossing it over your naked frame before thinking about something. “So,” he started, tucking his gun in the back of his pants and humming, “I’m thinking that was worth about, hmm 50k” he started. You vaguely understood what he was saying and knew you’d flip out once you were conscious enough to truly comprehend his words. “I’ll keep in touch.” He said, pulling his shirt down and smiling deviously at you as you uttered a hoarse ‘huh?’ To which he answered simply, “if I wanna come collect some more money” and he spun on his heels, opening your door and sauntering out of the threshold.
When he got into the hallway, Jungkook burst into a wide smile, satisfied with the encounter he made today. He entered this agreement fully prepared to either fuck you once and take the money you’d earned back or just fuck you and kill you, but once he’d had a taste, he was insatiable. You were flawless, your compliance was impeccable. The way you obeyed him, begged for him, the way you tasted, the way you felt, the way you looked. There was no way he could ever get enough and is probably the reason he kept overstimulating you like a frat boy with a bruised ego. There was no way he was gonna just let go of an absolute gem like you, so he made his excuse, a plan. Everytime you fuck him, you pay back a portion of the money. He was so tempted to tell you this session was only worth $100 just as an excuse to come back over and over and over until he had his fill, but he kept his composure, giving you hope that you’d ever be free of his grasp. Jungkook for once was extremely ecstatic, elated, excited to ruin you even more than he already had and he was dead set on making you want him just as much as he craved you no matter what it took. Though he was pretty sure you already did.
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mandoalorian · 3 years
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so you have any angsty writings about max raising his voice at u?
my tears ricochet
Maxwell Lord x GN!Reader
Summary: Everyone had warned you that dating your boss would be a bad idea. So when you make a crucial mistake at work, a mistake that leads into your biggest fight yet, you wonder if your relationship with Maxwell Lord will ever be able to recover.
Rating: T
Warnings: ANGST :( a few curses, hurt/comfort with a happy ending, but most of this is very very angst-y. Bruce Wayne makes an appearance (because for some reason, he always does?) and he’s a dickkkkk lmao.
Word count: 2.2k
I haven’t wrote anything in a few weeks, and I haven’t wrote for Maxie in well over a month. Reblogs would be so appreciated because I kinda need the motivation atm ;-;
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You never normally messed up, or at least, not like this.
You were a good secretary for the most part, as you’d been working at Black Gold Cooperative for almost three years now. You knew your way around the office, and most importantly, you knew your way around your boss, the dashing and charismatic business mogul, Maxwell Lord.
Everyone had warned you not to mix business with pleasure, and that dating Maxwell Lord was a bad idea because he was your boss. You could get behind that idea; as you’d never really been one to date colleagues or co-workers. But you swore that he was different. They were probably right, you knew that deep down, but you’d made the mistake of falling hopelessly in love with him.
You and Maxwell had been together for half a year now, and things were going good. Things were going better than good. You really believed he could be the one. He seemed happier when he was with you. He smiled more. You gave his life meaning, and a purpose that strived past his failing business.
He treated you different to his other employees. He was softer with you, and more gentle. He never raised his voice or talked down to you. He was a gentleman, and treated you to luxuries on every occasion that he could manage. Work was sometimes difficult, but he was good with you. You had zero complaints, really.
He’d buzzed you into his office, his dark blonde hair a mess and his patterned tie pulled apart. The first three buttons of his white dress shirt were undone and his collar was wonky. You had to refrain from walking over to his side of the oak wood desk and fixing it for him. His sleeves were rolled up, revealing his tan forearms and the golden Rolex that adorned his wrist, and he was staring at you, his dark brows furrowed together.
“I just spoke to Bruce Wayne,” Maxwell started hesitantly, his index finger impatiently tapping away on the telephone.
“Oh?” you hummed. You knew it was coming, but you tried to remain calm.
“He said he didn’t receive the oil distribution report you sent on Friday,” Maxwell said, followed by a wary chuckle. “But I told him you sent it. Because you did send it. Didn’t you?”
You winced, and it didn’t go unnoticed by your boyfriend.
“You sent the reports, didn’t you?” Maxwell repeated, this time his voice having dropped an octave and his eyes staring dead at you. There was no love in his expression, no happiness. Just pure anger and disbelief.
“Uhm…” you trailed off, your voice breaking nervously. “Wayne Enterprises didn’t get the report on last month’s oil distribution because uhm— I sent the wrong thing instead.” you fumbled with your fingers, shyly looking away from your Maxwell.
Max blinked, and stifled a laugh. “What?”
You folded your arms across your chest, feeling vulnerable as guilt coarsed through your veins.
“Uhm yeah,” you replied, ducking your head down. “I thought I sent it but I just— I found the reports on the main desk at lunch time. And I was going to tell you. I just— I just—“
You were flustered, and could feel your cheeks burn up as you stumbled over your words.
“You just what?” Maxwell prompted, raising an eyebrow.
“I just—“
“You just thought you’d keep it to yourself? Thought you wouldn’t tell me just because…? Because of what, exactly? You know this means we could potentially lose millions of dollars,” he raised his voice, sliding out of his chair and leaning over his desk, balling his fingers into fists.
You squeezed your eyes shut. “It was a mistake. A one-time mistake—“
“—a mistake that could potentially cost us thousands—“ Maxwell repeated bitterly. Money was a sensitive subject right now, you knew this. He had every right to be mad, but that didn’t mean it hurt any less.
“—It won’t cost thousands.” you finished, your words trying to ease him. But it came out patronising and you immediately regretted it. Maxwell slammed his hand on the desk before pointing his finger at you.
“Don’t interrupt me!” he shouted.
He’d never spoken to you like this. Hell, you didn’t think he’d ever spoken to anyone like this before. Or at least, not that you’d heard of. His cheeks were red with rage and little beads of sweat glazed his hairline.
You flinched are his tone, not used to him raising his voice at you like that. Max noticed the change in your demeanour and his face softened, his brown eyes widening slightly when he realised what he’d done. He slowly sank back into his chair, ripping his gaze from you. You stood there awkwardly, trying to hold back tears.
Maxwell regulated his breathing and pushed his hair out of his face before pointing to the door.
“Leave.” He ordered, his voice shaky and not even bringing himself to look at you.
Your lips were trembling. “What?” you croaked out, your voice merely above a whisper.
“Just— go home.” he waved his hand in a dismissing manner.
You stood there a little longer, lingering on the other side of his desk and praying that he’d have a change of heart. You didn’t know what that was supposed to mean. Was it a break-up? Was he firing you? Was he simply just telling you to go home?
“Max…”
Your boyfriend rubbed his temples before picking up the phone and re-dialling what you assumed to be Wayne Enterprises. He had nothing else to say to you, so, you sadly sauntered out of his office, quietly shutting the door behind you.
The entire sales team was staring at you as you walked over to the elevator. No doubt they’d overheard the whole fight. Raquel tapped your shoulder and offered you an apologetic smile. “Are you okay?” she asked.
You nodded and forced a grin, desperate to just get outside and feel the cool evening air. The office felt stuffy and hot and you just had to get out. You opted to take the stairs, not wanting to wait for the elevator. You could feel their eyes burn into you as you left Black Gold Cooperative.
It was raining when you got outside, and you managed to catch a cab just down the street.
After a few rings, Max finally pushed through Bruce Wayne’s receptionist and was waiting to get on the line with the big man himself. He breathed a sigh of relief when Bruce picked up.
“Hi, Bruce, it’s me Max. There’s been a mistake with the reports,” Maxwell said quickly, feigning confidence as he tried to forget about the fight that had just happened. But he couldn’t get it out of his head. He was terrified that you’d leave him. He’d leave him.
“Let me guess— it’s that secretary of yours?” Bruce smirked, twirling the phone wire around his finger as he waited for Max to try and salvage the business deal.
“Wh—what?” Max laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck.
“You know, your arm candy? The one that always accompanies to those charity events and galas? The one you’re fucking on the side?”
Maxwell’s face hardened and his heart dropped in his chest. “Excuse me?”
He hated the way Bruce was talking about you. Bruce was always like that, Maxwell knew that much. He treated everyone like they were lesser than him. Maxwell was able to shrug it off when it happened to him, but he wasn’t going to let it happen to you, too.
“Please, we all know it,” Bruce rolled his eyes. “I learned the hard way about mixing business with pleasure. Never works out, my friend.”
“With all due respect, Mr. Wayne, but you know nothing about Y/N and I. So if we could please get back to the topic at hand…”
“You still want to secure the deal?” Bruce quizzed. “I supposed as much.”
Jesus, he was insufferable. Maxwell knew what it took to climb to the top of the business world. You had to be cold and brutal; everything that Bruce Wayne was. That’s why he was so successful, and truthfully, that was the difference between the two men.
It was probably the reason Black Gold was failing too. Ever since you came into Maxwell’s life, the business had been losing more and more money. Maybe it was because Maxwell worked less, always choosing to favour his time and spend it with you. He wasn’t hardened by the business world anymore. He was softened by you.
Max wouldn’t allow the entrepreneur to hurt the ones he loved. At the end of the day, you were infinitely more important than some reports on oil distribution.
“Wait,” Maxwell paused, unable to escape the invasive thoughts that consumed his mind. Thinking about your glossy eyes and your timid voice, and the way you flinched when he yelled at you. You looked terrified. “No.”
“No?” Bruce repeated incredulously.
“No,” Maxwell confirmed. “I have to go.”
“You’re making a big mistake Lord,” Bruce warned. “If you’re thinking about throwing this entire deal away over some nobody secretary—“
And with that, Maxwell tore the phone from his ear and slammed it down on the hook. He rose to his feet and grabbed his pinstripe suit jacket, hastily throwing it over his shoulder before leaving his office in a rush.
When he got home, you were curled up on the sofa, enveloped in a blanket with balled up tissues scattered around you. When he saw you, his heart broke. He dropped his keys on the coffee table, the noise alerting you. The rattling sound made you jump and you looked over at him, your eyes red and puffy.
“Hi,” you said quietly, watching as he sauntered over to you. He offered you a weak smile before sliding down on the sofa next to you.
“Hi,” he said, gazing into your eyes.
You shuffled around and sighed. “I’m sorry.” you both said at the same time.
You giggled gently, always cherishing the way you and him were so in-sync. Maxwell smiled too, a dimple appearing in his left cheek.
“I thought you hated me,” you admitted with a sniffle, and Max frowned, leaning over and cupping your face with his hands.
“No my love, I could never hate you,” he swore, shaking his head. “I— I’m sorry I yelled at you like that. I got so worked up over this deal and—“
“I know,” you cut him short, pressing the palms of your hands flat against his chest. “You don’t have to apologise. I know. It’s been a stressful few weeks.” you said knowingly.
“Still,” you Maxwell sighed. “It can’t be excused.”
“It won’t happen again?” You asked hopefully.
Maxwell smiled. “Never again, honey,” he promised. “Can I hold you?”
You nodded desperately and nuzzled into his warm embrace. He wrapped his strong arms around you and smoothed out your hair, pressing a chaste kiss into your forehead.
“I love you so much, and I won’t ever let anything come between us again,” Maxwell whispered. “No job or business deal is jeopardising what we have together.”
You smiled, squeezing him tight and never wanting to let him go. “I agree.” you replied, pulling yourself up onto his lap and nudging your nose against his.
Maxwell’s smile spoke a thousand words. It wasn’t the forced smile he showed the world when he hyped up his business on the television. It was his real, genuine smile. The smile only you got to see.
Everyone had warned you not to mix business with pleasure, and that dating Maxwell Lord was a bad idea because he was your boss. But in that exact moment, you wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
—————————
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localcactushugger · 3 years
Text
Is anyone else amazed that Hawks was only "undercover" with the Leauge for 6 months at the most.
Not only that, one and a half of those 6 months were spent just trying to gain enough trust to infiltrate.
I know it seems like much longer since Hawks made his Manga debut 2 years ago. But he had such a short amount of time on this mission. Hawks was introduced in the manga with his role being the "double agent". We literally have not seen Hawks outside of his "spy" role. Even when he is interacting with other characters outside of the Leauge, his "mission" is still happening in the background.
It seems Hawks made contact with Dabi right before the Hero Billboard chart, this is when he starts trying to infiltrate. His interaction with Dabi in the warehouse begins immediately after Endeavors fight with High-End:
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During this time, Dabi is testing out a High-End Nomu for doctor Ujiko. Which means by the time Endeavor fights High-End, the My Villain Academia arc is already happening. Hawks is assumed to be one of the "members" Dabi is trying to recruit:
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The Leauge has already made contact with doctor Ujiko, and the Doctor sends Dabi to test his High-End Nomu out on Endeavor (even though Dabi didn't know it would be Endeavor) while the rest of the Leauge battle Machia. At the time, Dabi still doesn't trust Hawks at all and he keeps the hero at arms length. While Dabi and Hawks are sharing ominous phone calls, the Leauge is hauling ass and it take's Shigiraki a month and a half to finally beat Machia. (The MLA is "defeated" too):
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After a month and a half of phone calls (while the Leauge gets their asses handed to them by Machia in the background) Hawks is finally allowed into the Leauge when the battle of Dekia City is finally over. Dabi let's him in because Hawks "kills" Best Jeanist.
But there's a problem. By the time Hawks is let in, The Leagues numbers have drastically increased. They have an army at their side, multiple High-End nomu, and are now called the MLA:
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Hawks blames himself, saying that he was "too late". That so many civilians would be alive now if he had been faster. He couldn't round up the Leauge when they were a small group, and now they have an army. A powerful one:
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He's in too deep now. And you can see the stress on his face. I bet he never expected to be part of an army. He was simply tasked to round up the Leauge members while they were a small group, but the MLA was completely unexpected. Still, he decides to improvise and do the best he can with the shitty cards he's been dealt. It's not like he has another option at this point.
So he slips a coded message to Endeavor ASAP. Basically saying "yo, in four months shits about to go down. Ttyl I'll keep you posted lol". He can't tell the guy in person now, because to make things harder, he has camera's on his wings. (and even though he's being watched by camera's, he also gets followed by guards at the mansion):
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After Hawks relays the massge, he stroles around the mansion with his bodyguard and heads towards the cafeteria. With a little eavesdropping (courtesy of his feathers) he also finds out that the Leauges plan is to "Destroy Everything" in four months:
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After he relays the massage to Endeavor, he listens to the Leauges plans of destruction as his thoughts run a thousand M.P.H.
Because now "capture the Leauge" has turned into "Holy shit I now only have 4 months to take down a full fledged terrorist organization/army from the inside-out by myself while I'm being monitored 24/7 with absolutely no privacy & also a full time job as a hero + a public image to maintain. And I can only contact my fellow pro's about this mission through code because if the villains find out I'm a double agent I could be killed and Japan could be destroyed. Also some heros have even joined the MLA so who on my own side can I trust? Only a select specific few for now I guess."
If you thought things couldn't get worse your wrong.
Because around 2 months before the raid Hawks' heart (that wants to be free & has a genuine desire to help people) takes shit a bit too far when it makes him get attached to a certain powerful villain.
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Hawks quckily finds out that Twice is easily the second most powerful villain in the Leauge after Shigiraki. He's an S ranked villain and he'll kick your ass with the power of friendship anyday. He's a great guy, but him and the Leauge are still planning on doing horrible things within the next 2 months. Twice is going along with it because he wants to stick by his friends, which y'know, is a cool motive. But considering that fact that the people Hawks is trying to protect ALSO have friends, and family's, this makes shit difficult and sends Hawks on some major guilt trips. (I would show all the panels of Hawks sadly smiling as Twice calls him a "good guy", but alas- Tumblr has informed me that I've reached my 10 image per post limit)
And tbh who wouldn't feel bad about suddenly getting attached to such a golden retriever of a man and then realizing you'll have to double-cross him at some point! I'm not surprised Hawks would feel this way, especially considering the fact that he never wanted to take on this mission in the first place.
Hawks is very much a people person, and he HATES lying even when he has no other option. This is a man who got "shivers up his spine" when he had to put on a serious face while handing Endeavor a book with coded messages inside. He literally felt icky and thought "this is low even for me" just because he had to use a deadly expression so that Endeavor would get the gist.
And when the Commission made their "proposal" about this mission, Hawks' first reaction was to call them out on their B.S. for asking him to put civilian lives at risk. He even admitted that he was feeling bad about sending Tokoyami away while talking to Deku, Shoto, and Bakugo. Hawks felt guilty about not being able to spend more time with his student, but considering that things with the MLA were starting to get riskier, and that Hawks literally handed Endeavor a book with a coded message inside about an uprising 2 seconds later, I can see why he wouldn't want to risk Tokoyami being around him. The fact that the camera's on Hawks' wings caught his interactions with Endeavor & the students also makes the creep‐factor worse. The MLA saw everything AND talked about it in a meeting later. Continuing to train with Tokoyami would put him at risk.
I love the complexity of Hawks' character, he's incredibly intelligent, logical, and intuitive. But at the same time throughout this entire mission his heart is constantly battling with his mind. Even when he knows he has to grit his teeth and do something shifty, his heart never fails to put up a fight with his logistics. Honestly it's been a pattern for a while that Hawks' sympathy always "Trips him up" in some way, so idk why I didn't see it coming around to bite him in the ass later.
(Tbh it's hard for me to see Hawks as a this super "Morally Gray" person that the fandom likes to paint him as because of a mission that he only spent 6 months on. I personally, kinda see Hawks as a "good person" who works for a "morally gray" agency. But that's a whole different meta)
Basically, Hawks getting attached to Twice wasn't a surprise. But considering how powerful Twice was, along with his role in the League's destructive plans (He was a lieutenant in one of the MLA's "Units") the discourse going on in Hawks' mind makes sense. By this point Hawks has already figured out all of the MLA's "Units" along with the three "bosses" that support the lieutenants of those "Units". It's noted that those "bosses" are extremely powerful and can match the strength of the heros as well. It took Hawks an entire month just to figure out all of the "Units" members. (I would show the panels explaining all of this but I'm at my photo limit)
All of these members were tasked to follow their lieutenants and bosses, and the plan was to attack all of Japans major cities at the same time. Once the cities were destroyed and chaos had set in, Redestro and feel good inc. Would distribute support items to the remaining citizens in the name of "self-defense". It would create a country full of discourse and destruction where Redestro and Feel good inc. Would rule from the shadows. But Shigiraki would be the main leader. He would become "king" and sit upon a "throne of rubble". (At least this was the MLA's plan, Shigiraki himself just kinda wants to destroy everything. But I suppose this would make things easier for him to do that.)
needless to say, the stakes have been upped excessively. But it took Hawks an entire month to gather this info.
This post is honestly just me marveling at what an M.V.P Hawks is
My guy literally only had 4 months to take down an entire terrorist organization for the inside-out. AND he was being monitored during that entire time. He figured out the MLA's intentions within the first month of being there. And it took him another full month to go into detail and figure out all the members, bosses, and lieutenants, for each of their "Units". Hawks even went as far as to immerse himself in the MLA's ideology, and he had in-depth discussions with the MLA's members. HELL HE EVEN FAKED HIS CO-WORKERS DEATH JUST TO GET IN.
AND HE PRETTY MUCH IMPROVISED ALL OF THIS SHIT!!! The original plan was to capture the Leauge when they were a small group! But by the time Hawks managed to infiltrate, The Leauge already had an army! They were a full-blown organization! And Hawks just kinda rolled with it??? He just kinda bullshitted his way through??
Like, "okay I'm now apart of an army I guess. The Leauge is now an entire organization and they're planning on destroying Japan in March. Let's see how this goes. I'll just have to make this work"???
LIKE HOW THE FUCK IS HE NOT DEAD! WHAT A FUCKING MADLAD
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amynchan · 3 years
Text
"It's Easy."
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Okay, but like, Rick.
The whole father/daughter rift in the family that needs to be fixed is a tried and true trope, but almost every time, the father is seen as this character that has expectations of his daughter that she’s not living up to. And our natural instinct is to view Rick in the same way.
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He definitely lives up to it in the first bit, tho, doesn’t he? What, with the “failure hurts” and “will you be able to make a living like this,” it’s easy to read into that and say “why can’t you go for something stable that I know you can succeed in?” It’s easy to place him with other parents like Triton from The Little Mermaid, Elenor from Brave, and Jefferson Davis from Into the Spiderverse who just don’t understand their kids and want them to be like them. For reasons that are sound to themselves, of course, but yeah.
But Rick kinda misses something that the others have. The others seem to make their sacrifices while banking on a future where the kid succeeds, and they’d do anything to give their kids that future. There’s nothing wrong with wanting the best for your kid, and that thought process in and of itself isn’t bad, but Rick’s just a touch different, and that shows itself a good chunk into the movie with a pretty solid line: “I’d do anything for that kid.”
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As an audience, we’ve been conditioned to think that that comes with conditions and expectations. “I’d do anything for that kid so they don’t have to live what I’ve gone through” or “I’d do anything for that kid if they can succeed” or even “I’d do anything for that kid for the payoff at the end.” And, tbh, I think the studio was banking on our interpretation.
By this point, the audience knows a little bit about The Moose.
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We see Katie toss it in the ‘give it away’ bin, then we see Rick find it and seem kind of… disheartened that she’s gone to give it away. Later, we see video footage of when Rick actually gives her the moose. It seems like such a second-thought kinda thing that we almost don’t think twice about it. He’s a nature lover, so of course he’d have a wood carving of a moose on his dashboard. And, as an audience, we kinda don’t give much weight to Katie’s “but this is, like, your favorite thing.” To a kid, anything can be an adult’s favorite thing. It’s a sweet gesture, but it doesn’t really hold weight to us as an audience. Well, it does a bit in that it's a token of Rick's affection, but not much more than that. In this scene, the main thing is that Kiddo Katie’s reassured and that she goes off to camp and that it meant something to her at one point and might as well symbolize how far the two have drifted from one another.
Storytelling and narrative stuff. We almost expect this sorta thing in our stories at this point.
Then, later on in the movie and kinda outta no where, Linda gives us a little bit of backstory that seems so wholly unrelated. The lodge. It’s big, it’s beautiful, and it’s a dream that Rick gave up. When Katie asks “why,” the audience jumps to the conclusion: he did it for her. Why else would Linda tell her this now if not for the fact that he gave the lodge up for her?
It’s a sweet sentiment, but a lot of us know that that kind of sacrifice usually comes with expectations and a bit of guilt. “They gave up their dream for me. I have to pay them back in turn by succeeding.” It’s responsible, it’s expected, and it can be painful and pressurizing.
But then, side note, the reveal of Katie’s lie comes to light. And Rick’s face… the dude has seemed so human throughout this movie, and the whole “I am a dad with emotions and feelings and they’ve been hurt” seriously came through for me in that one moment. He wants to do his best for her, but he’s been hurt. He still tries to do his best, but yeah. Dude’s been hurt.
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Seriously. Look at his face.
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Look at him. He's in pain.
And then… then we see the moment in the video camera. Linda’s recording, and Rick’s saying goodbye to the lodge. He’s definitely at an acceptance stage about this. Sad, but acceptance. He breaks off The Moose from the pole out front as a keepsake, and Linda says “I know this must be hard for you.” It has to be. That lodge was his dream. He built it himself from the ground up. He carved every nook and cranny of that thing, and it had to have taken him years.
But Rick… doesn’t dwell on it. He takes a momento, sure, but he doesn’t dwell. Instead, he smiles at Linda (and the camera), the only one who’s really gonna remember this at all, and says “Nah,” before going to the car and smiling at babbling, baby Katie, who probably can’t even feed herself right yet, and says “It’s easy.”
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Not “It’s not hard” or “I’ll be okay.” “It’s easy.” Also, his face?? Look at his face in this recording!! Look at it!
It’s easy for him to give up the lodge. Why? That doesn’t and shouldn’t make sense. But it doesn’t have to. Because that is Rick loving a daughter who he doesn’t expect anything out of. He’s doing it to care for her and provide for her, to give her what she needs. It’s not a call to the future of “I’ll be okay when this pays off” either. It’s a “right here, right now, this is an easy choice to make because I love my daughter.”
And I think that’s really cool. Katie didn’t get a guilt trip or a pressure of “your dad wants you to succeed and be financially independent so you’ll be okay when he’s gone” or “your dad gave up his dream so you could live yours, so just do it already.” Katie got “this is the love I have for my daughter. I have always had this love, and I will always have this love.”
The execution of it all just makes me so freaking happy.
Also, also, also! Rick and Katie don’t change themselves by the end of the film. What they do is they take a hard look at each other, recognize that the other is trying, and try to give the other what they need. They’ve loved each other and always have; they need each other and honestly always have. It just… takes a while to see that.
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And, idk. I just think that’s cool. Rick's worry isn't placed as "succeed or else" that needs to change by the movie's end. I think the way the movie progresses and shows Rick as a character really contextualizes his position as "I love you and just want you to do your thing." And once Katie gets that and Rick is able to see her world a bit through the video (though he still sucks at computers lol), he's able to better support her and she's able to let him.
idk. I just really like what they did with Rick as a character and I love the fact that they developed him out of the motivation of "succeed for my sake," which is usually in there in previous iterations of this classic father/daughter struggle.
Anyways, that's just my thought on it. XD Couldn't get any work done until I wrote this down. Imma try to get work done now. XD
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bibuckbuckley · 2 years
Text
wreck my plans (that's my man)
A/N: for @fighterkimburgess for the 911holidaygiftexchange2021 from the wonderful @paranoidbean. I'm so incredibly sorry I didn't get this out on Christmas day but, like Maddie in this fic, I had a lot of mishaps along the way. But I'm so happy I can finally gift this to you. Hope you like it. Belated Happy Holidays and Happy New Year :)
you can also read on here
Maddie is determined to make this the best Christmas ever.
Since moving to L.A. she has regained her love for her favorite holiday, but it has recently felt a little...tainted in a way, the guilt of missing Jee-Yun's first Christmas still gnawing at her.
However, she has to keep reminding herself what her therapists, doctors, people in her support group, and everyone else in her life continue to remind her: that she had a mental illness and wasn't in her right state of mind, but even then every choice she made was to protect her daughter. And she had gone to a facility in Boston run by her old boss to get the thorough help she needed for Jee. Everything she does is for her daughter.
So instead of letting the guilt incapacitate her this year she's using it as motivation to give her baby girl the Christmas she deserves. To give Chimney the Christmas he deserves.
And so Maddie has a plan. Having Buck help as Santa's Top Elf - as he dubbed himself. It would be full-proof and nothing will get in her way of making this the best Christmas for her family. Nothing.
The plan is divided into different steps which mostly consist of different activities filled with an exorbitant amount of pictures being taken.
Decorating the tree? Check. Her favorite picture of the night is Howie pulling Jee up in the air, making it look like she's putting the star on herself, both of them giggling. She often finds herself looking at the picture whenever she needs a little serotonin boost.
Take Jee-Yun to see Santa? Check, even though Jee cried at first. But once they decided to take the picture as a family and Chim made silly faces at Jee, they were able to take one of the happiest photos she had ever seen, being another one of her serotonin sources.
And so it went, activity after activity with her family whenever they had the time.
Buck, whose main job as an Elf has been to find cool places for them to go to since he's apparently the "King of Research" - his words not Maddie's, even came up with a whole list that she's still not sure they could cover it all before the season ends but they've been having a blast with.
So far, the Holiday Season already has been pretty amazing, even when some reminders of the past would pop up, but when those moments would happen she and Howie would work through them together. But all in all it's been pretty great, and Maddie can't help but feel the happiest she's been in a long time.
However, the last two steps of the plan are also the biggest, which means they could make or break Christmas in its entirety.
So, of course, with all a lot riding on both of them, it's as the old saying goes: everything that could go wrong would go wrong.
It all happens as she and Chimney, along with the help of Buck and Albert, are preparing the Christmas Eve dinner that she requested to host this year - being the second-to-last step.
First, she forgot to defrost the turkey in time.
But Chimney, being the best supportive partner that she could ask for, pointed out that they are making enough food for the dinner and suggested just adding another easy-made dessert or two. Maddie's sort of secretly glad it turned out that way because she will admit she might've gone too over her head with trying to cook a Christmas turkey for the first time and have it be served to a whole party of people. Plus, she's happy with making another batch of cookies, it being one of hers and Buck's favorite Christmas activities they would make together when they were kids.
At first, after coming up with a solution, it doesn't seem like that big of a deal. Mishaps happen all the time, but they were able to fix it so no harm, no foul.
What Maddie doesn't predict, however, is that one mishap turns into a sorta domino effect of disasters that all lead into them accidentally burning the green bean casserole, making the sprinklers in the apartment go off, drenching all the food waiting on the table.
A stunned silence falls between them all, until Chim breaks it first. "Well, at least the sprinkle system seems up to code."
And just like that, Maddie starts having water works of her own. She hates when she cries, despises it, because it reminds her of the days when she felt her weakest. Even though she has been working on her issues with it with her therapist, it just makes her feel worse about everything.
"Hey, hey, it's okay. We'll figure it out." Chimney tries to soothe her, wrapping his arms in a comforting embrace.
She sinks into the hug, letting out a wobbly sigh. "I'm sorry, I just wanted this to be the best Christmas. For Jee. For you."
Howie parts them far enough so he can use one hand to cup her cheek while the other lays firmly on her waist. "It already is. Because we're celebrating it together, as a family."
Maddie closes her eyes, sucks in a deep breath, letting his words and soothing touch calm her. After exhaling, letting go as much of the anxiety and pressure as she can, she nods. "You’re right. It has really been amazing already."
He gives her a beaming smile, the kind that still makes her melt even after all these years. The kind of smile that helps keep her center, helps her feel safe and loved. The kind of smile that is a perfect reminder of why she's doing all this in the first place. That none of this has to be perfect, because they're not perfect, nothing is. What matters is that they're enjoying it, every moment of it, even the not-so-happy moments, together.
The second biggest part of the plan might've gone terribly wrong and she's not even sure how they'll fix it, but they'll find a way. They always do.
Which leads her to the decision to enact the last part of the plan, the biggest of them all.
With the help of Buck and Josh, she had it all planned out to every intricate detail. But it's in this very moment that she realizes that the best and happiest parts of her relationship with Howie hadn't been planned. Hell, even meeting Chimney in the first place hadn't been planned. But in that very first day they met where he was helping move in a then stranger because he worked with and cared for her baby brother, he gave her that giant smile of his while showing her how to set up her security system and Maddie couldn't help but smile back, instantly feeling warm and safe and...giddy. Even through the ups and down, those feelings have only gotten stronger, along with so many wonderful ones as well.
Yes she doesn't have to do this, they're already life partners and a piece of paper won't change that, but through loving Chimney, through him loving her, she's found herself slowly taking steps that she once thought she never would be able to take again. But with his loving support and understanding, never once even trying to push her, Maddie has been able to reach those points. Not out of any obligation, but for her, because she wants to.
Through all that they've been through together and continued to heal through, this is the next step she wants them to take together, and looking into those brown eyes that continue to make her feel safe and warm and giddy, there are no more doubts that he wouldn't want the same.
And so, standing in the middle of their kitchen, soaking wet from the sprinklers, Maddie places her hand on top of his that is still gently caressing her cheek, and asks him, "Will you marry me?"
Chim's entire body freezes underneath her touch, and there's that instant fear that he'll say no or think it's too soon, that they still need to work through some more things before they can reach that point. But it only stays there for a second because Maddie knows Chimney, knows them, and she hasn't been more sure about anything except when she held Jee-Yun in her arms for the first time.
He blinks at her for a few moments, the rest of his face still frozen like a statue before it transforms into a wide grin as he starts to laugh.
Feeling infected by his laughter, she lets out one of her own before gently shoving him. "Why are you laughing? I'm being serious."
He shakes his head. "I know, and so am I. I had an entire speech planned."
Maddie raises a confused brow but before she could ask him what he means, they're interrupted.
"I helped!" Albert chimes in from the living room, hand up in the air.
"So did I." Buck happily points out, giving the younger man a high five. "Well, with Maddie's proposal not Chimney's."
Maddie puts her attention fully back on her boyfriend. "Wait, let me get this straight, you were going to propose too?"
"Yeah, I've had it planned out for weeks. Was going to do it tomorrow morning after we opened Jee's presents." Her heart soars at the thought. Damn, that was actually a great time to do it. "When were you? Unless burning the green bean casserole and proposing while being soaked from the sprinklers was always a part of the plan."
Shaking her head, she lets out another laugh, those giddy and warm feelings he always gives her forming tenfold. "No, it was supposed to be tonight when we opened our Christmas Eve presents."
It was a tradition her family had before...before Daniel passed, opening one present on Christmas Eve together. When her parents stopped doing it, Maddie wanted to keep it up, even when she was younger and only had a few presents to give and make. But it always ended up great, especially when Buck was old enough to make homemade gifts of his own and surprise her with them. It even became one of their favorite traditions together. She hadn't done it in years, but brought it back on the first Christmas her and Chimney were officially together even when he had to go to work super early the next day. To her delight, he immediately latched on to the idea and it has now become a Buckley-Han tradition as well.
Chimney nods in approval with a grin. "That's a great proposal moment. But," he pauses, placing both his hands on either side of her waist, "I like this one the best."
She wraps her hands around his neck and starts to lean in. "Yeah?"
"Absolutely." The word is barely out of his mouth before their lips collide into a tender yet lingering kiss. Once they part, he continues. "Oh and that's a yes by the way."
She beams up at him. "Good. Because that's a yes for me too."
His smile mirrors hers. "See? Still Best Christmas ever."
Maddie can't agree more.
Their little moment is interrupted by both of their brothers whistling and clapping in congratulations, Jee even joining in with her joyous laughter as Buck hands her over to Maddie so she can be a part of her parents' engagement.
"You hear that, Jee?" Chimney asks their daughter, tickling her stomach and making her giggle. "Mommy and Daddy are getting married."
Their baby girl makes a happy noise in response, making them all laugh in joy.
Maddie kisses her daughter's forehead before giving her now fiancé a sweet kiss on the lips. Once parting, she then looks around at the mess, but doesn't feel upset at all about it. In fact, she's never been happier.
Following her gaze, Chimney clasps his hands together. "Alright, I think we can still salvage tonight."
"It's okay." Maddie fondly tells him, shaking her head. "I can tell everyone what happened and if they still want to come over, they can. We just won't have dinner. What matters is that we're all together."
"And while that's true, I think I know a way where we can still have a fun dinner without making it stressful."
She raises a curious brow at him. "How?" He mimes zipping his mouth shut, making her huff. "Alright then, keep your secrets."
Chimney gasps overdramatically, placing a hand over his heart. "Is that a Lord of the Rings reference? I'm so proud." They both laugh as he gives her a quick peck on the lips. "I love you so much, but shoo."
She mocks offense. "Excuse me?"
"You have done an incredible job planning out and giving us the best Holiday season, but now I'm relinquishing you of your duties so you can get cleaned up and maybe relax a little while me and Santa's elves over here get everything ready."
Maddie's heart is so full it's like it's gonna burst. She leans in, Jee-Yun still firmly placed at her hip, and kisses him once more. "I love you so much, Fiancé."
"I love you too, Fiancé."
Chimney ends up having Jee stay with him, taking Buck's Santa's Top Elf title and giving it to her, but her baby brother doesn't seem to mind in the slightest.
Once Maddie was able to shower, rest, and get ready for the party, she walks out of their bedroom, already hearing people arrive, and gasps at the sight of the table that was once covered in soggy food now replaced with containers of different take-out places.
"Welcome to Buffriday: Christmas Addition." Chimney announces, spreading his arms out on either side of him. "Merry Buffmas!"
Maddie puts her hands over her mouth in gleeful shock. "You didn't?" She asks in disbelief.
He nods, giving her his signature beaming smile. "I did."
"How?"
"Well, while Albert and I cleaned everything up, I had Buckeroo go get takeout for us and we all three split into calling everyone who's coming to explain to them what happened and ask - only if they could - if they were willing to either bring food of their own or get takeout at places that are open. Everyone agreed."
Maddie looks at her guests - her family - in awe, tears forming in her eyes again, but this time she doesn't mind. "You all didn't have to do that."
"Oh, we know." Athena says as she and Bobby walk towards her.
"But we wanted to." The fire captain tells her with the utmost sincerity, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"Thank you." She barely manages to get out, voice cracking a bit.
Athena then goes to hug her. "It's what family does."
The night goes on without a hitch, at least none that bothers her, because she's content being with the people who are closest to her and Chim. There are so many people in their apartment - with the 118 family, her dispatch family, the Lees, and even two families from the support group who she and Chimney had gotten close with - that she's not sure if they've passed the fire code limit or at least pushing it. Ironically enough. But half of the people here are firefighters so she'll let her fiancé and his team worry about it.
After everyone's had at least one plate of food, Howie gently grabs her hand and gives her a certain look. She doesn't need to read his mind to know what he's thinking.
She nods and then proceeds to call for everyone's attention. "First, I just want to say thank you for coming and for pitching in. It means a lot." Her voice starts to quiver, but Chim squeezes her hand for support which helps keep her going. "I also wanted to say that Howie and I have an announcement."
Everyone's faces light up in intrigue, but Bobby, Athena, Hen, Eddie, and Josh all wear knowing looks. Which makes her wonder in amusement if either Buck or Albert or even Chimney himself already spilled the beans, or maybe they just know them so well. Either way, Maddie doesn't mind.
"But first." She adds, walking away where her and Chimney were standing and heading to the tree before picking up a small present and turning back toward him.
"Gee, I wonder what it is." Chim exclaims overdramatically.
She rolls her eyes fondly. "Just open it, you dork."
Once he unwraps it he genuinely sucks in a breath. Even though they're already technically engaged, the emotion is still there, as if they're proposing for the first time all over again.
The crowd around them gasps.
"Howard Han. Chimney. My Howie. I love you so much, sometimes it's hard to even fathom how much. We've been through a lot of ups and downs together, but we eventually always came out of the other side and learned and grew - together. Thank you for being my life partner and the father of my child. I love you. I love our daughter. I love the life we created together. So will you give me the best honor in having you as my husband?"
Chimney huffs a tearful laugh. "Damn, your speech really is better than mine."
"That's because she had me help her with it instead of Albert." Buck chimes in, although she can see tears of his own in his eyes.
"Hey!" Albert exclaims in offence.
"Will you two please cut it out?" Chimney chides them. "I'm trying to be proposed to again."
"Again?" Hen asks with a knowing smirk. Yeah Maddie would bet good money that her fiancè already told his best friend, which she doesn't blame him for. She herself had texted Josh about it before the party started.
"We'll explain in a sec." He tells the crowd. "But first." He then turns around and bends down to grab something from a shelf in their TV center.
She smirks. "Nice hiding place."
"Well, at least I hid my engagement ring. You had it just hiding under the tree, easy for me to find."
"Only because I knew you wouldn't go snooping to get a sneak peek under the presents."
Chim hums. "Touchè." He then hands her the small gift. "Here."
She already knows what's in it but eagerly unwraps it anyway to reveal a red engagement ring box. When she opens the box, the gasp she lets out is genuine. A laugh then escapes her. The ring is a simple cut with a small diamond in the middle and small gemstones on either side. "Is this...Jee's birthstone?" He nods, giving her a watery smile. A tear falls down her cheek as she lets out another small laugh. "That's…"
"The same gemstones on the band you gave to me." Chimney concludes for her before chuckling. "You know what they say, great minds think alike."
He then gently places his free hand in the one that isn't holding the ring box. "Maddie." He begins to say, choking up for a second before continuing. "I've spent a long time trying different jobs and careers with none of them working out, but it wasn't until I became a paramedic - not just a firefighter but a paramedic - that it finally clicked. My sorta aha! moment. Meeting you felt like that. As if all the failed relationships, all the heartbreak, led me right to you as I had my aha! moment again. As if my heart started to sing the first time I saw you - and yes I am well aware of how cheesy that sounds. But you know me, sometimes I think cheese can be good." She laughs, tears streaming down her face. "But the thing is, my heart never stopped singing, in fact it just grew. When you first came into my life, everything just...clicked. And it continues to do so, through the good, the sad, and the in-between. I love you so much Maddie Buckley, and I am the luckiest man in the world to have you as my life partner, the mother of our child, my love. And I'd continue to be the luckiest man ever and the most honored to be able to call myself your husband. I love you. I love our daughter. I love the life we've built together and will continue to do so. And I love us." He repeats the last words she said in her speech like a promise, like a vow.
And Maddie can't help it, she pulls Chimney closer to her until she can kiss him like no tomorrow, not caring that everyone close to her is watching, which is good because they all start to cheer.
Once they part, they rest their foreheads together. "I think you won." She whispers, making him laugh.
"I definitely did, but not because of my speech."
They then start to put their rings on each other's ring finger.
At the corner of her eye she sees Buck lean into Hen and ask in a not-so quiet whisper. "I'm confused. Did they just propose again or did they actually get married?"
Hen shrugs. "I think it depends if there's a licensed officiant here."
Turns out there isn't. But, even though she and Chim wouldn't mind getting married then and there, the night is amazing already.
And so is Christmas day when it's just her, Howie, and Jee-Yun, opening presents and basking at each other's unintentionally matching engagement rings. They have a nice and relaxed day until Chim has to go to work in the evening and even then they're both happy and content when they kiss goodbye.
As much as Maddie worked to give her family the best Christmas ever, even when some of her plans fell through, it became more than she could ever hope for.
She thinks about this a week later on New Year's Eve, when she and Chimney are eating lunch together after he woke up from a nap after coming home early in the morning from a 36 hour shift, Jee-Yun in her high chair eating with them.
"Hey, Chim?" She asks.
"Hmm?" He hums in question, wiping some food from Jee's face.
"What do you think about getting married?"
He raises a quizzical yet amused brow. "I mean, if the four proposals are any inclination, I very much like the idea, yes." He then pauses for a second before quickly adding, "But if you're having second thoughts about it, or don't want to anymore, I totally get it. We don't need a piece of paper to say what we already know to be true."
"While that's true and as much as I appreciate the sentiment, I still want to get married."
He smiles. "Me too."
Her face mirrors his. "Good, I'm glad. Because, what I meant was...qwhat do you think about getting married...today?"
His eyes widen in shock. "Today?" She nods. "Are you sure?"
"This is one of the few things that I've never been more sure about in my life. Along with the moment I held Jee for the first time, when we officially started our relationship, and our four proposals."
Chimney chuckles before letting out a happy sigh. "Okay."
"Okay?"
"Yeah. Let's get married."
They go to the courthouse, making it about an hour before it closes, and get married in front of a justice of the peace, both taking turns to hold Jee-Yun as they say their vows, deciding to keep their engagement rings as their wedding ones as well.
Later, they go to a New Year's Eve party at Bobby's and Athena's, and because Chimney can't keep a secret for the life of him, everyone finds out the minute they enter the Grant-Nash house. So the New Year's Eve celebration also becomes a sort of wedding celebration in a way, even though Maddie and Chim decide they'll still have a bigger one later.
As Howie twirls her around in a motion she loves oh so much, a smile not leaving her face since they said 'I do', Maddie can't help but think about how even though some plans worked out and some didn't, nothing she planned could predict just how happy she is now. She knows that no matter the ups and downs, the mishaps and ruined plans, those still really low moments in between -and sometimes intertwined with- all the happy ones, as long as she has her family things will always get better - no matter how long or fast it takes to get there. And, if this past week was any inclination, sometimes it turns out better than she could ever imagine.
Maddie then wraps her arms around Howie's neck and gives him a slow and tender kiss before saying. "I love you, my wonderful husband."
He gives her his signature bright Chimney smile that she loves so much and kisses her nose. "I love you, my amazing wife."
And yeah, Maddie can't help but think as she kisses her husband once more, definitely the best Christmas and Holiday Season ever.
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anasticep · 3 years
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Why Julie and the Phantoms is a masterpiece of a show. Part 2. Heroes and Villains or Let that foil shine
NOTE: Thanks again for your kind response to Part 1. I never expected that. It being my first tumblr post and a first meta in quite a long time I was blown away. I read all the tags, some were really hilarious. About having more than one brain cell xDDD I laughed so hard. It means a lot.
NOTE2: Please remember that the gifs are made by me, so don't crop, edit or give as yours.
Part 1.
Before diving into meta, I have to mention that the Villain of the story is actually one of the best in the decade. He’s cool, evil from the start, we understand his motives and we certainly are not supposed to love and make excuses for him. The writers made sure of that. So back to the main topic.
A foil is a character who contrasts with another character; typically, a character who contrasts with the protagonist, in order to better highlight or differentiate certain qualities of the protagonist
Foils in literature are not necessarily antagonists. A friend can be a foil or sometimes even a thing, a song. Whatever can make a good and real contrast to the protagonist. But it’s not very simple to use this author’s device and not fall down a deep hole. Because you have to make sure you did just the right amount of work to make it understandable for a reader, the things you want to contrast are definitely there and still you don't waste a character. On TV it can be even harder given limited air time. And, well, I don’t come across this device being used in full very often nowadays. It’s usually good and evil fighting for the plot. That’s why I personally appreciate JaTP so much.
Caleb is clearly a foil to Luke. As much as I’d love to say that Julie also has one, that’s not entirely true, at least not this season. Carrie is not her foil though it may seem so, and I really think that’s cool as Julie’s journey is being presented through her own demons and I'm going to cover that next. That being said, of course Caleb doubles as an antagonist plotwise, but I personally consider him being written more as a contract to Luke so we could see and appreciate his character and journey better.
1. Origins
Caleb and Luke have extremely similar backgrounds. They are both natural performers. They know how to deliver, because c’mon, “Now or Never” is something and so is “The other side of Hollywood”. Stage is their natural habitat, their element, power. Although they channel this power from completely different places.
Let’s start with our little ball of energy. It’s emphasized TWICE that he doesn’t care about the money aka the physical side of art.
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All Luke wants is to make music. Connect with people. He is so happy just to be heard despite him loving to perform. Making music is what makes him feel alive and basically that’s enough. I think if there was no “hologram” magic at all, Luke would have still been extremely happy to make music with and for Julie. Because that’s the way he is.
But Caleb doesn’t know that. He knows, and I’m standing by that, right away that Luke is the one to aim at. Because we always feel the similarity in people. If Luke said yes, Reggie and Alex would have followed. So Caleb recognizes the passion and shoots at them what he thinks is appealing. And, oh boy, he delivers.
“The Other Side of Hollywood” is a perfect song to emphasize Luke and Caleb being foils for each other. Follow me here:
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But these lines come from very different places. For Caleb the only thing that matters is himself. He owns the show, he IS the show. It’s about being famous, drowning in applause, admiration. Look at how he performs. Confident, yes, but still very much in control. He must keep his perfect face. No flaws, no real emotions, no real connection (Did you miss ME? I did too // This band is back). Whereas Luke is simply living the best time of his life each time he performs. Is it just jamming? Bring it on. Doing fun riffs? He’s all for it. He doesn’t care how he looks (though who could deny gorgeous sweaty Luke), he owns the show just because he is a natural.
So back to the business. Caleb immediately puts the boys in his own shoes:
On the other side we live like kings // Your soulprint on the walk of fame on the boulevard of your wildest dreams // I got your glamour, got your gold, got all you’ll ever need
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And, I mean, he is not that wrong. You can see the appeal on the boys’ faces. They are young, passionate, handsome, talented musicians. Of course they wouldn’t deny fame. Of course they would want all that to some extent. And Caleb is very sure he pulled the right strings.
Watch me make a move, I’m your number one choice
Also I have to mention, as we are talking about TOSOH (IKEA name again) and it being a foil for Luke, thy lyrics still don’t forget about what is important for Reggie and Alex (we’ll talk about that just a bit later):
Welcome to the brotherhood -> Reggie
Where you won’t be misunderstood -> Alex
Then again, lots of foreshadowing in the song, if you listen carefully the lyrics are stressing the true colors of the offer:
A tomb with a view
Man, what a metaphor. I would have run out of there the minute I heard this line. But our boys share one brain cell (I can’t get over how funny this is) and it’s currently taken by Julie, so I don’t blame them.
Disappointment is huge. Caleb read it all wrong. So we are moving to the next point in our Heroes and Villains essay.
2. Recruitment
It’s very cool that Caleb offers the boys to join his band right after Luke offers Julie to join Sunset Curve. They both are going out of their ways to get that (although have different budgets apparently. But look, they live in a garage). Luke made a hit with a bunch of Julie’s not very well structured lines (I love Flying Solo with all my heart as a song, but as a poem it just looks weird to me) to impress her, and we all saw the show Caleb had thrown to impress the boys. Plus food. And fancy dancing. But here is where contrast comes again.
Caleb offers to join the band, yes, but only as backup singers. It’s his show, remember? It’s only about him. He doesn’t care if they are even good. He wants their magic under control.
Share the spotlight with ME / How do you like MY new band?!
Luke offering Julie a spot in the band is a completely different story. He saw what she is capable of. He instantly knows she must be the key to a new sound, a new level. And he, a natural performer, frontman, lead guitarist, steps back and gives the spotlight to Julie. To think about it, he could have just got her magic under control by giving her simple lines, incorporating piano in the songs and that’s all. They would be visible, he would still be a center of attention, and Julie herself wouldn't mind that much. But that’s not who Luke is. Yes, there is a funny scene of “Hey, I’m your lead singer” and “you don’t have to be mean”, but it’s just messing around. Because right after that he finishes Flying Solo, writes several other songs with Julie, seeks her approval of Sunset Curve songs and basically follows her around like an adorable excited puppy.
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Moving on and back to the rejection. Again the writers are mirroring them. Julie quits the band & the boys decline the offer. What does Luke do? Well, he tries the way he knows: books a gig, makes Reggie and Alex sing in perfect harmonies and does his puppy eyes thing. And it doesn’t work. And Luke goes to reflect and then probably try to come up with a plan. But something tells me he would not have haunted Julie until she joined them.
What does Caleb do after the initial rejection? Puts a cursed stamp that leaves them no choice but to join HGC. You don’t need to say more.
But in fact the more I think about it, the more I suspect Caleb also not possessing enough mental capacity for a human being. Like, if it wasn’t for Willie, how would they even know? Has Caleb planned to simply show up one day and casually explain? Look, foils in everything.
“You’re in a tough spot… So, you wanna join the band?” | “Looked like it hurt… you know where to find me”
But we sidestepped a bit.
3. Pulling the strings
After the song Caleb comes out to consolidate his success. What he does is clever and, btw, that’s the only time he becomes Julie’s foil. They are stating basically the same thing.
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Again, Julie is concerned about the band and the boys, while Caleb is only concerned about having them under control. But they both are pulling basically the right strings.
What is interesting, Caleb actually impressed the wrong person (and that person is our sweet Reggie). Luke follows the string Julie pulled. Although the offer is tempting, he insists twice that they are in a band already directly to Caleb and then in Eats&Beats he says "It's like Julie said, we have a new band, a new sound». No matter what Caleb promised, Luke is not affected at all although Caleb’s offer is a very-very safe choice.
Speaking about using friends as foils, Alex and Reggie also serve as contrast characters for Luke at some points. Luke’s indifference to money is first stressed through Alex who is clearly the chief accountant for the band. His lines about not getting tips, living in a garage and «it’s a little bit about the money» are waved aside by Luke. Reggie is clearly the most affected by the whole Bobbie thing. His lines «I don’t care what Julie said, I’m glad we scared Bobbie», «So we’re gonna forget about getting back at Trevor?» are getting a clear contrast by Luke’s «It’s what Julie said, we have a new band, a new sound» and «He has to live with that guilt».
While editing the article I realised a very cool thing I haven't noticed before. How badly Luke wants to go on tour. And again that's another thing Caleb offers as if reading his mind. That's actually brilliant, to think about it.
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Caleb is a VERY good reader. He tests the waters with a speech about disappearing from stage and going around the world and all dreams coming true. Still he doesn’t know the boys and especially Luke, so his phrase “no real connection” doesn’t register that much.
But he learns. Remember the lines I’ve marked before?
Reggie is afraid they will not be together after they cross over. He is in desperate need of a family. So wouldn’t it be nice to spend the rest of your afterlife with your brothers? (Reggie's main insecurity is loneliness, feel of a broken family. That's why he is the most concerned about crossing over. Will his family stay intact?)
Alex is insecure, and not being understood by the people closest to him will always hit hard. So welcome to a place where you won’t be misunderstood. And actually we know there is a guy you like and find comfort in. (Alex's insecurity is growing up in times when he could not truly be himself even with his family and for sure not believing he would ever be able to find someone meant just for him)
That mirrors the whole Luke’s beach speech perfectly. Only comparing them we can truly appreciate why Luke is the leader. He shuts down his own demons to make Alex and Reggie remember that they are not alone (“and I believe in you”. sorry. Olicity fan).
Caleb makes them suffer to get what he wants. But this time he is careful with the words aimed at Luke. Yes, he repeats his words about vanishing and applauses BUT he makes sure that his words about CONNECTION are the key words for Luke. Intense look, calming voice, touching - these are all elements of hypnosis. And Luke is in a daze. (Continuing the parents' thing, for Luke the main insecurity is not managing to connect with his mom. Maybe that's such a big thing for him: through all these people he wanted to find that connection with her)
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4. The Hero’s journey
That’s the best part actually but I won’t be saying anything new or that you don’t know. Luke is made of lyrics and music. That’s his soul, heart, that’s the feeling running through his veins. He doesn’t need anything other than that in his life. Playing for eternity is “a gift no musician would ever turn down”. But he actually does turn it down. As well as his dream to go see the world with his band (is there covid in jatp universe?). He is the one who resists the hardest to the pull. Luke, who always has a guitar in his hands, doesn't want to play. Because it’s not only about the music now. He has this amazing girl in his afterlife who was willing to accept them for who they were, helped Luke battle his own demons, eased his pain and made him open up. And it doesn’t make sense any longer without her anymore. “And you’re a part of me now till eternity”.
Caleb, being Luke’s foil, completely misses the whole point of connection. It’s not in his nature. His house band are just recruits (Just so happens you’re in luck we’ve got a vacancy). For Luke his band is his family (We are the only family we ever gonna need). The Connection theme is one of the main in the show. And it’s so cool to show it focused through Luke whose best way of interaction is a touch. But not being able to touch Julie Luke has to find other ways, although it’s not that simple for him. And Julie backs that up: We connect in so many other ways. They literally touched each other's souls. Without knowing she put a stamp of her own on Luke, Alex and Reggie. They’ve never felt loved enough, appreciated enough, supported enough. They’ve only had each other. And Julie’s stamp is love. And for Luke (as well as Reggie and Alex) from now on this girl is worth dying for all over again.
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So yeah. I hope you enjoyed it, as I for sure enjoyed writing. There is gonna be a part 3 about Julie and a few honorable mentions of parallels of the Pilot and the Finale (I hope at least to do all that). I’ve also figured very very cool connections in the songs and I can’t wait to share.
Also as I was heavily speaking about The Other side of Hollywood, @catty-words has a wonderful meta on rain metaphors here (sorry for tagging, if you don't want to be tagged), check it out if you somehow missed it. It's super clever.
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magical-girl-coral · 4 years
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et any more than ten notes, but fuck it, here are the reasons why Entrapta should have been kidnapped instead of Catra :
Catra's redemption would have felt more well earned - if Catra was trying to find a way to help Glimmer and Entrapta, then her change would seem more legitimate. She already showed signs of guilt through her nightmares of what she did to Entrapta. Instead of falling to her old ways like in Prime's ship, she would most likely go through a complete 180 and almost kill herself while trying to prove her worth. Imagine Catra trying to befriend Emily and Imp so they could find a way to save Entrapta, putting aside her past grievances with them so they could signal Entrapta on Prime's ship. Maybe Imp was the one collecting robot bits, so they could give it to Entrapta once they find her. Maybe Emily showed one of Entrapta's old recordings before she was sent to Beast Island for the sake of filling the empty space she left. The possibilities are endless.
Making the princesses look more justified in their anger - The princesses' ableism was handled terribly. There is no way around this. Neurotypicals obviously wrote episode two, and it shows*. However, once you replace Entrapta with Catra, their anger, hostility, and Scorpia's timidness make way more sense. Mermista's rage especially makes the most sense since Saelinas was the kingdom was fell first thanks to Catra and Hordak. Instead of making all of our favorite characters, ableist assholes, this plotline makes them more human. The power of friendship can only run so far, after all, and every single princess is allowed to have a breaking point in trust. 
It would showcase Entrapta's real priorities - For most of the show, both fans and characters see Entrapta as someone who would never care about anything other than tech. Now, if that were true, then Entrapta would have no problem joining Prime's side. But that's not what would happen. Instead, Entrapta would unleash hell on Prime's ship without Prime even noticing. Sending signals to Etheria and new tech designs, helping Glimmer escape and sending her back to the Best Friends Squad, all while showing zero hesitation. Entrapta loves tech unconditionally until it starts to mess with her friends.
It could show ableism correctly through Prime with how he would treat Entrapta - This is my scenario of how Entrapta ends up on Prime's ship (please tell me if you have anything better): Prime, after looking into Hordak's memories, sees a young and brilliant scientist. Prime decided to show her his ship, trying to seduce Entrapta into improving his tech while convincing her that a 'defective, retarded, emotionless' Etherian like her could never truly be great, so she might as well give up now. He would touch without her consent and shame her for turning his "affection" away. Instead of falling to his manipulations, Entrapta realizes that he is afraid of her. She's biologically different then most Etherians, and Prime doesn't know how to control her. That gives her the final push of courage she needed to have to go behind Prime's back and rescue Glimmer. By making Prime ableist instead of the princesses, the show tells us how ableist is bad and disables people deserve more respect (I know that most of the show's fans are above fifteen, but with how the fandom has been acting, they deserve to be taught like children).
It would give a parallel 'be careful what you wish for' between Entrapta and Catra - At the start of the series, all Entrapta wanted was to see more advanced tech, and all Catra wanted was to see Etheria conquered. They both got exactly what they wanted, and their lives couldn't be worse. 
A chipped Entrapta breaking free from the hive mind because of her autism would be awesome - That's it. That's the pro. I'm incredibly desperate for more good autism rep, and this would be amazing.
Catra and Adora bonding while in space would be excellent for both characters - As much as I love the angst from chipped Catra, it feels more like fanservice now. At the end of the day, it felt like Catra and Adora didn't bond enough to have a solid devolvement in their relationship. This could change if they went to space together with Bow. Instead of spending just half of the last season together, they spend the next eleven episodes bonding in the insanity of their situation. It would also allow more time for Catra to understand Adora's abuse under Shadow Weaver. By forcing those two into a close space in the middle of nowhere, they would have no choice but to confront the other about their issues. And speaking of much-needed bonding time.
Glimmer would get a chance to face Catra about Angella's death - If there is one thing I will never forgive season five for, is forgetting Angella's death.  It was Glimmer's main motivation to take more action against the Horde, it was what almost drove Micah to despair, and it was the final nail in the coffin for Adora, making her stop taking the blame for everything and take Catra's threat to the world more seriously. But then season five happened and they just... forgot about her? She was never mentioned again because if she were mentioned, Catra would look bad, and Glimmer would have a reason to hate her. But if Glimmer were to meet Catra again outside of Prime's ship, with all the trauma she went through there, she would definitely take out on Catra (kind of like how Katara took out her anger on Zuko after he joined the gang).
Hordak would join the Best Friend Squad early after they save Entrapta and would get more devolvement as a result- If you think for one second that Hordak won't abandon Prime after what he did to Entrapta, then you haven't been watching the same show. I don't know how he joins the BFS. Maybe Catra tried to find him to fix her mistakes**, maybe he finds them by accident and remembers some of the past events as a result, or maybe he was one of the clones that witnessed chipped Entrapta and got a wake-up call. Either way, he wouldn't sit back and watch Prime continue to ruin his only friend's life. This would give him more screen time to show his backstory more clearly, give more sympathy for the clones along with a better redemption arc. And finally, the most crucial point.
Catra's growth would be more consensual - Most of Catra's maturity seemed to be out of her control. She helped Glimmer because she felt like no one wants her anymore. She had her hair cut because Prime wanted her to look more tamed. She was buddy-buddy with Glimmer and Bow because the plot says so. Nothing that happened this season seemed to be with Catra's consent, which made me feel extremely uncomfortable. Instead of watching Catra go through glorified torture porn, imagine her changing from her own free will. She cuts her because her hair reminds her of how Shadow Weaver's hair looked wild when she was angry. She changes clothes because she didn't want to wear her crown anymore. She goes to space with Bow and Adora because she wants to do good with her life, and is tired of being the mean old bully she was never meant to be. Doesn't this seem more satisfying?
*here, here, here, here and here are some metas about why Entrapta’s treatment was written terribly. I’m too tired to explain myself, and these posts tell the show’s problems better then I could
** I really like the idea of Catra finding the Luvd crystal and returning it to Hordak as a way apologize for how she has separated them. It would also be a cool parallel to all the times she took the crystal out of Hordak’s suit.
Edit: holy shit, there were so many typos here. Why didn’t any of you guys tell me?
Double edit: soooooo... I may or may have not written a fic...that you can read here...please support me, my brain is begging for more serotonin.
455 notes · View notes
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Word of Honor - Episode 2 Part 2 - Mirror Lake has more Fire than expected
In an interesting twist of fate Zhou Zishu decides to take the nice munchkin up on his offer to crash at his place for a while.
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Thumbs up my dood
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Now the fuck are these guys?
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Oh cool. Thanks.
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See? Children chants are creepy! Always!
But especially when driven by plort! (plort was a typo but I’m Keeping it.)
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Finally people treating our man with common decency and respect! Who knew he just needed a fancy bookmark?
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Oop. Nevermind
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I have discovered the joys of fucking with people and I’m never going back again
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A fuck this guy again. I’m assuming we’re not supposed to like him? But I don’t like him either way. He has no...  je ne sais quoi
He boring. Basic. Bland.
It ain’t good.
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Oh and also you know how you wanted us to keep tabs on Zhou ZiShu? Oh well um.. it’s going great! Great! Yeah... except for... we can’t find him.
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Well if this ain’t a whole ass mood?
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Midnight already? Time for the pain pins to poke me painfully!
This sure is a weird version of Cinderella
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gross
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Okay okay so normally the 7 torture nails block your chi? I’m understanding? So you can no longer do martial arts. And he would rather die than lose all his martial arts so he put the nails in slowly so that he could still have SOME of his martial arts. But the point of the nails is still that he wants to die and feels he deserves to be punished as well? Right? So having his martial arts helps mediate the pain which lessons the punishment
and if it weren’t for the punishment aspect couldn’t he have just like... faked the nails? Or would they have been able to tell? I mean this is all dramatic and all but where are your motivations Zhou ZiShu?
work with me here
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Hey?! That’s not sunlight?!?
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Love me a good silhouette shot
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And suddenly everything is on fire???
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Rude
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After watching like 4 people get killed in front of him and a lot of fire and ransacking our protragonists finally thinks perhaps he should get himself involved.
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How is everything a fucking boomerang???
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Pffffff I love it
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Tunk thunk
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In another interesting development, the boat man from before is important?????
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Also our boy is doing his best with that hat
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Okay I know he’s like a master of disguise and all but like he doesn’t seem to be doing much to actually... hide? Still love his wiggly sword style
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Um take the kid and fucking run maybe????
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*stalks you from a not very inconspicuous distance*
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Didja miss me?
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No
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Hate to see you leave but love to watch you go
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Fuck I hate being disarmed.
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This place looks strangely similar to the woodshed...
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The fuck are you?
Wouldn’t you like to know?
Yes I would. That’s why I asked
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There’s just nothing quite like a near death experience to bring people together.
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Take this kid and run!
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But sir, you don’t seem to understand! I am the Best Boy! I simply cannot just leave you to die.
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Don’t worry kid! You can’t get in trouble anymore! Your dad is fuckin dead! Surely that’ll bring you some comfort!
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Random Local Boatman is surprisingly honorable and happens to be in debt to the father of the kid who was nice to you that morning.
Life sure is weird.
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He doing him best
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Though it is absolutely understandable, he reacts to being touched by that paper the way I react to walking into a spider web.
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Gramps is a badass
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I do have to say these guys do seem to be much better trained than the usual evil henchmen. And you have to appreciate their aesthetic.
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Seriously!! The best boy!!!!!
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This man has helped in a little bit exactly once to repay him for his own kindness an this little teenager is willing to just die for him without hesitation.
Like no, son, the two old men are doing this so that YOU live. You have it backwards.
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Surpriiiiise I’m stalking you too!
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Oh no the henchmen are falling into the drawing things out to emotionally torture their prey thing. Don’t y’all know that giving the protagonist time to recover and/or study your moves is how you die? Did you even GO to henchman school?
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ahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Just.. omg. The noise he made. “Dwaaah!!!”
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Okay kid I know you’re young and under a lot of stress and never really got into the whole martial arts training thing but grandpa is doing better than you literally laying down and covered in cuts. Just sayin
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Aw nuts
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*ding*
Please take your protagonist out of the oven as cooktime has been completed.
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The fighting editing style seems to be a weird splice of nice crisp slowmotion view of the action and spliced together jump cuts and zooms that make for an odd kinda hard to follow combination. But at least I guess they tend to end on ‘cool pose x”
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“Hey, Beggar! You’re good at martial arts. Somehow this surprises me even though I already knew that???”
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Unexpected trust fall ends better than anticipated
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Das gaee
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He’s bendin’ over backwards for you!!
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Unexpected but definitely varied emotional investments on the fact that Gramps is dying.
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Look at him being all humble.
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Ooh he could be in a medical drama. That is the perfect like sad close your eyes and head shake no I’m sorry he’s not gonna make it. Bravo.
Very delicate.
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“Don’t fuckin’ touch me”
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I’m guilt tripping you into a found family and you’re gonna like it punk
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Sick dude, whats your name? Shit no one’s asked me that before somehow I’m not ready..
Uh.uh... Zhou Xu.
Nailed it.
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“Zhou Xu? Naw that doesn’t sound right.”
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May you learn from this never to underestimate, rob, and otherwise harass your local old boat man for you never know when he may force you through guilt and honor into taking on a ward and a quest under penalty of being haunted by his old ass ghost forever
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Uncle Li has died and most of the group is much more upset about it than they would have anticipated that morning.
Poor ChenLing is having a rough day.
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RIP Uncle Li. So much for living a carefree couple of years lying drunk in the sun.
It looks like even now you can’t escape your responsibilities Zhou Xu.
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Group of hereto-unknown men arrive in poor time to stop the bonfire
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“What’s wrong?” Um... maybe... fire??
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I say again, thank you for labeling the people I’m supposed to remember.
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Also, why did y’all have to wait for orders before checking out the fuckin boats?
Y’all dumb.
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Hey, Wen KeXing, Not trying to throw off your groove or anything but maybe a funeral isn’t the best time for flirting? Perhaps? Maybe?
I know you don’t have an ‘off’ switch but maybe a pause button?
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“are you done?”
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“Never.”
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It deadass took y’all this long to introduce yourself? You’ve been stalking him all this time and you never thought to go “btw my name Wen KeXing? Comment t’appelles tu?” Come on man
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Our best boy is having his not best day. D:
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Don’t worry. Your new family will stalk/care for you.
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“A-Xiang! Make some food!” “No shit Sherlock I already did.” “My ideas are the best. :D”
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Eat your food!
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Eat your food!
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Eat your food!!
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Eat your FOOD!!!
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EAT YOUR FOOD!!!!
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WILL SOMEONE PLEASE EAT YOUR GODDAMN FOOD?
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“Oh my GOD we get it you can fucking read! Oh my god.”
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If I prove I can read too will you pass me a damn pancake?
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Fuck yeah.
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GOD DAMN IT SOMEONE EAT FOR THE LOVE OF FUCK
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Um excuse you this group only has room for one little bitch and it ain’t fuckin you, you hear me little girl?
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I am very sorry. Thank you for saving my life. I would like to re-assert my status as “best boy”.
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HEY WHAT THE FUCK????
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Wen KeXing: 👀
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Please increase your friendship level before asking personal questions.
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Nya Nya you were useless when your home was burned to the ground and your family was killed waaaaah how pathetic are you!!
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Can you fucking not?
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My B.
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BEST BOY INJURED THIS IS NOT A DRILL
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Our Man Zhou ZiShu respects bodily autonomy!
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Do not touch my fuckin’ boy or I will fight you!
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And we end the episode with Wen KeXing being horny on main!
Sir, keep it together. There are children present.
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41 notes · View notes
ethernetchord · 3 years
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i was posed some interesting prompts/questions by @waywardrebelhairdodeputy-blog about iwwv so here are my responses!
1. Why do you think James punched Oliver? (During the sword play practice and also in the beginning of the book Gwendolyn asked James to think of something that would make him wanna punch Oliver and after a minute his eyes became hard, what do you think he thought of then at the moment?
oh, this is a cool question. there are a couple of angles I'd like to take with this so please, bear with me. Firstly I thought about this from the Rio/Oliver narration perspective. So let me pull out some Oliver quotes (concerning James)
"James and I put each other through the kind of reckless passions Gwendolyn once talked about, joy and anger and desire and despair."
"but in the red glare of the fire, he no longer looked so angelic. Instead, he was handsome the way you think of the devil as handsome—forbiddingly so."
"You’re—I don’t know, this fragile, elusive thing, and I feel like if I could just catch you, I could crush you... I should hate you right now. And I want to—God, I want to —but that’s not enough"
“Oliver, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I want to hurt the whole world.” (James to Oliver)
Now, with all of this in mind, you'll come to realize that one of the most enticing and riveting things about these two is that their love and passion for each other is far from gentle or soft- contrasting greatly how many queer male relationships are represented. It's harsh, bright, sharp- it's ruthless but not uncaring. Oliver, highly repressed in himself becomes inwardly aggressive and violent- "I could crush you." "I should hate you... I want to" "Forbiddingly" - His affections towards James aren't entirely consensual on his own behalf, this makes him assaultive and frustrated. But only internally- he never acts on these feelings, he can't hurt James. James is the opposite of this- and you'd think with his gentle angelic, princely demeanor that he'd be equally repressive of his feelings and impulses but if the book has proven anything- it's that James is perfectly capable of causing physical harm. Rio presents them equally in their aggression but their approaches are foils of each other.
The next thing I'd propose- ultimately- is Meredith, and additionally, internalized homophobia. Now let's clarify: I don't think James had any doubts about his queer identity I just don't think he was entirely accepting of even himself. Because if we look at the one, explicit, instance in which James is murderously aggressive- Richard's murder- what two things does that event and his aggressions towards Oliver have in common? Meredith and homosexuality. Let me explain. Richard and Meredith, Meredick if you will, "She and Richard had been “together” in every typical sense of the word", it's nearly impossible to think of Richard without Meredith- and this might have been less significant if Meredith and Oliver didn't have the relationship they had and if Meredith had never propositioned James also. Her ties with all three of them is important. Now; homosexuality. Richard was acting explicitly homophobic- now whether this is true or not because I know that's been an argument itself- it has to stem from some reality for James. And with Oliver- well it's obvious there. So my point: James might have thought of Meredith and Oliver, of them together, of if she had propositioned Oliver in the same way. He might have thought of Oliver, of wanting to love him but not allowing himself, of Oliver slipping through his fingers, of Oliver hitting him for these very desires.
2. Also also also the part where James was drunk and blabbering like a fool out of guilt, he asked Wren to sleep with her so was he bisexual too? Or that was just a ruse to get away from Oliver at that moment, but there are parts where he was affectionate towards Wren (could be friendship, but he was twirling strands of hair at the nape of her neck and she was smiling so....)
I think different queer people might interpret this differently but this is my reading of it. I do think they were friendly- I think they were very close really. The situation with the photos in which James is playing with her hair while posing + plus the kiss (part of their performance) and finally him asking her to sleep with him- I don't think that it's impossible for him to be bisexual.
I've seen a lot of people say that he must be gay since he rejected Meredith but that's a very surface-level conclusion in my opinion. I think that his inability to be attracted to Mer had more to do with his genuine disliking towards her and that he just really didn't want to be another one of the boys she could play. I don't think it has to be concrete evidence of his complete homosexuality. I don't by any means think he was in love with Wren, however. The nature of James and Wren's relationship is nothing like Oliver and Meredith's. This is important. I think they were close, James loved her platonically enough and like you said, probably used her as a diversion for himself.
But- kinda in a different direction here, that it's not impossible that James and Wren was some form of straight-baiting for readers (and Oliver.) I don't know about other readers but I know that for most of the book I was convinced that the feelings between James and Oliver were unrequited on Oliver's behalf. I never suspected that James might harbor feelings back which leads me to this: Oliver might have over assumed the nature of their relationship due to his feelings of unrequitedness and incompatibility. As we're having to listen to Oliver's particular retelling of all this- it's easy to get lost in the lens he creates for us. After all, there are multiple versions of the truth.
But like I said- It's likely Wren was a similar distraction for James as Mer was for Oliver and It's also likely they genuinely had some form of relationship. Nothing's impossible.
The only just criticism for Iwwv I accept is that we never received a why for the way Richard was behaving (you could say he was always a dick and losing his main part made him more so) but all those violent tendencies toward everyone? Not justified, I would have liked more depth in his character and then there's the eating disorder of Caroline (Older sister) and how fickle and reckless Oliver was about it, he just didn't care (kinda sad to think about)
I TOTALLY agree with this. Some people might disagree with me when I say iwwv was actually a pretty short book- but between the amount that was Shakespeare extracts and due to the formatting, 400 pages really isn't a lot. I think Richard could have had more development- Hell most of the characters could have had more development but him specifically. His spiral into violence did feel really sudden and a little confusing. I mean as readers we were beginning to look for an antagonist, for someone to dislike because all the characters had pretty enjoyable personalities so when Richard begins to seem antagonistic we kind of follow it comfortably because it seems natural. However, thinking about it afterward you realize how little we truly know about Richard and his borderline insanity ykno? Even re-reading- Richard begins to become an uncomfortable character to readers very very early on. I was trying to find some foreshadowing or possible explanations and all I might be able to grasp at is the line:
"I didn't mean there are exactly fourteen," Richard said thinly. "I mean it would be impossible to isolate one that leads him to skewering himself." (page 57, when discussing Brutus.)
I know Richard doesn't play Brutus but I think this is still notable- It's kind of impossible to find the one thing that drew Richard into this downfall and it would have been a combination of many things, like with any human character. But I do agree Rio could have given us some more space to learn about all those factors for him. Reading from the perspective of Oliver makes this hard because well- He is an unreliable narrator and it's impossible to know how everything played out and why because of this. Especially since Oliver and Richard were never the most friendly. Additionally, I think the closest thing Rio really gives us is Oliver's delivery of the iconic "Actors are by nature volatile" line.
The same goes for the situation with Oliver's sister. I think we didn't hear much about her because Oliver didn't care enough. He was far too overwhelmed with anger and disappointment from being put second to his sister to really muster up the energy to care enough to expose more to readers. Unfortunately, she was simply a side character even in his life, too unnotable to him or his plot (as he's retelling the story). Much of the flaws of this book with the lack of development of other characters- particularly their motives and side plots boil down, essentially to the unreliable narration. This is why so many people do not like this book- and others like it. We are, to some degree, always kept in the dark about something. Because so is Oliver- as much as he (and in turn, we) could spectate about why things happened the way they did, he (we) could never really know. There is beauty and frustration in this simultaneously.
I could say so much more about all my thoughts on Richard but I'll save you that (for now) because I don't think I could explain him but I definitely have my theories.
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So I rewatched Raya.
And I was really trying to watch it without a skeptical lens. I wanted to be able to act like the oblivious kids in that theater and just enjoy the movie. But I just couldn't. I've mentioned it before it's a gorgeous movie but there are so many things wrong with it that just bug me. And I’ve mentioned before the changes that could be made to fix it and the main one being just completely scrapping the movie and starting from scratch with a tv show. And because I’m on spring break and I have nothing to do (also I’m a perfectionist and I tend to hyper-fixate on things that I know have easy solutions) I broke down how I would make it better in two different categories. The first one being kind of baseline stuff like animation and character designs and other stuff I had small problems with and the second being plot.
Section One:
Okay so I know we all hate Sisu’s design. As someone who grew up with Naga carvings and paintings all around my house seeing this Elsa fursona was like a slap to the face. Like I know I really shouldn’t expect more from Disney but I did. I mentioned in this post that I would have loved to see a longer series even if it meant the animation quality went down. And I feel like Neeith_ on TikTok did a great job of drawing what Sisu could have looked like which only disappointed me more. Caldatelier on Twitter also pointed out the many flaws with Raya’s outfit design which fully proved to me that Disney did little to no research and chose style points over historical accuracy. I also felt like the designs of the main characters were very unremarkable and before you’re like “that the whole point it’s supposed to be normal people saving the world” I don't mean that I mean it feels like they took previous designs and just made them Asian. Like my sister and I were talking about it and she said the baby just reminded her of the boss baby and Tong reminded her of one of the twins from rapunzel with a little more depth. This is also kind of a small thing but it kind of bugged me that they were all the same skin tone if not lighter. SEA is incredibly diverse and if they weren’t going to represent all of the cultures in full then they could at least shown their features. I feel like the food should have been more important. I know I mentioned it in my last post but food is an incredibly important part of our culture. It’s not a placeholder or a set-piece to make a scene look more aesthetically pleasing. It’s a way for us to bond and show each other we care it’s a way we show genuine love and appreciation. And when you have a main character who is emotionally stunted it felt like food was a perfect way for her to show her love and they blew it. Like can you imagine Raya and her dad getting into huge fights and then bringing each other food as an apology sitting in front of that window not needing to say a word because they simply get each other? Can you imagine Raya visiting Namaari and stocking up on foods that she knows Namaari loves but also hasn’t been able to eat for a while? We could have had genuinely heartwarming scenes centered around food but instead, we got set pieces and props. And one more thing that stuck with me was the voice acting this movie should have been a change for SEA voice actors to really put their names out there and be a part of a really big Disney project but as always out voiced were overshadowed by someone lighter.
Section Two:
(I’m going to warn you this is gonna be really long because I’m essentially rewriting the entire plot because as I said before I’m a perfectionist)
I feel like the first ep should be dedicated to the backstory and the lore
How were the Druuns made how where they defeated
I feel like it would have been interesting to see them fighting over the gem
But I think it would have been really interesting to see from the get-go how Sisu wasn’t the one who made the gem
So instead of having this big reveal alongside Raya, we would know that her hope of finding this all powerful Naga is hopeless because the story was a lie
Another thing I think another person who should have had more screentime was Raya’s dad
I think it would have been interesting to know his backstory and get some questions answered like “why does he have so much faith in the other rulers to help him on his journey to make Kumandra a thing?” “When did he become the protector of the gem?” “And how many attempts of stealing the gem has he thwarted”
Also as much as I love him I feel like his personality incredibly unrealistic because all SEA men I’ve met have been really emotionally stunted
Idk it’s just a small thing that made me go “eh he talks to his daughter. What kind of magic world is this?”
I would have liked to see Raya’s various attempts at becoming a protector of the gem
I think it would have been a really good way to show how resilient she is from a very young age
And when she finally succeeds the audience could have celebrated with her like a small “yes she finally got it and all her hard work finally paid off” moment
I feel like we should have gotten more Raya and Namaari moments right from the start
Like how they meet is basically the same but Raya doesn’t trust her with the gem’s location an hour after meeting her
It's a trust that both of them fought for in their own way
Like you get to see them bond over their mutual understanding of “well the worlds fucked”
So when Namaari finally stabs Raya in the back when she betrays her for the first time it hurts when she says the throwaway line about them being friends in another world in burns Raya
Because she thought they were friends and she genuinely trusted Namaari
Which would have really justified her distrust in the world
And again I feel like we should have seen that 6 year period of Raya trying to find Sisu
We would get to experience the frustration of building up the hope of finally finding her just to have it knocked down when she’s not there
It could also do two more things
Raya making genuine connections with people
And Raya and Namaari’s strange alliance forming
Now for the first one, I feel like it would have been really cool for Raya to be introduced to the different lands
And yeah sure I feel like it would make her feel like kind of a tourist but I feel like it would be really interesting to see her go through culture shock
Because she really thought she knew these places but boom they’re completely different from what she was told
And while she’s making her way around she learns about the different lands and the people inhabiting them and also their culture
We could have seen Raya make genuine connections outside of the main cast
And if you’re feeling a little masochistic we could see her lose those people because of the druune or simply because they died
But the main point is we would be able to see her become less and less selfish
Now back to Raya and Namaari’s alliance/romance later on
I mentioned in my other post that when Raya trusted Namaari to put the gem back together it felt very flat very fake
So I feel like it would be cool for the series to be split into two parts the first part being from Raya’s perspective and the second part being Namaari’s
I also feel like Namaari would have to be a constant in Raya’s journey
And what I mean by that is like she’s there every other episode either trying to stop Raya or she’s trying to save her from life or death situations
And later on down the line, we find out the main reason why she kept helping Raya (in her own way) was that she didn’t want to see her get seriously hurt
But anyway that’s mostly backstory and now we’re in the present tense
And like I said before we know that Sisu wasn’t the one who made the gem so we know that Raya’s quest is pointless
But because we’ve seen her various attempts at becoming the protector of the gem and the six years of looking for Sisu we know she’s too stubborn to give up just yet
So she and Sisu head out to find the other gem pieces
Now with context, her and Namaari’s standoff has more tension because for the first time in years Namaari doesn’t know the motives behind Raya’s actions
I don’t really have many ideas for Sisu other than she starts to trust people less and less
Like she’s still really innocent for the most part but there’s a small part of her a really small part that’s kind of lost faith in humanity
And after this, we meet Boun
I feel like we should have known more about Boun considering the fact he’s the first side characters we met
But it’s very clear they gave no thought to his character I’m sure they just wrote down “funny kid who lost his family”
This is such a shame because he could have been so much more than just “Raya’s funny younger brother”
Like he could have been this selfless kid who hands out food to the orphans around and offering his ship to homeless people during the night
Next with the baby and the monkeys, there’s really not much you can do with them unless you seriously age them up
Like at the very least have Noi be a grade-schooler who can express more emotions than mad and hungry
Like she can still be the baby of the group while taking care of herself and expressing her emotions a great example of this is Polly from amphibia (which is a great show with a SEA main character you should check it out)
With Tong, I have two words: Survivors Guilt which is something Raya would be able to relate to in fact they all would
I feel like Tong’s entire character arc would be him realizing that he can’t save everyone
Which yeah sure would seem pretty contradictory with the ending being them literally saving everybody but I have a fix for that too
And finally, we get to Namaari who is selfless to a fault
Giving me very much typical Disney princess she gives up food to kids who seem particularly hungry
She’s usually the one who tells the stories to the kids but her mom was taking over that day
She helps her people in any way she can and honestly, she’s wearing herself a little thin
Because while she’s doing all that she’s also saving Raya & co from their own mistakes
Giving me very much burning the candle at both ends
So you see all these characters bonding over the course of at least a year
Making and losing more allies along the way
And because Namaari has been helping them they trust her… for the most part
But there have been times when she trips them up and makes their end goal all the more difficult
And because they haven’t known her as long as Raya has each character has at least one moment when they look up at the sky and scream in frustration “What is this binturi’s deal!”
But anyway they finally get to fang and Raya is more open to the idea of just talking to Namaari because she trusts her not because Sisu told her to but because she’s seen Namaari do good
And Namaari is even more reluctant to take the gem pieces by force because she has a decent relationship with Raya like yeah sure they’re not best friends but they’re in a good place
And shocker shocker she’s maybe just maybe head over heels in love with the princess of heart
But her mother gives her an ultimatum and that is “either you take it from her or I will”
Because here’s the thing, Queen Virana isn't a moron the exact opposite in fact and she knows her daughter has been going easy on Raya these past six years
She also knows that she could squash Raya under her shoe if she damn well pleased and Namaari knows this too
So when Namaari gets her necklace back she doesn’t even hesitate to take her crossbow when she leaves
The meet up goes basically the same except its more Raya talking Namaari down than Sisu
And while they’re having their little heart to heart Sisu notices Namaari’s finger twitch and she goes to jump in front of Raya
And Namaari was shaken by the sudden movement and fires and kills Sisu
I feel like this would make Raya furious for two reasons one she killed her best friend and two she deep down trusted Namaari to do the right thing
So when the fight goes down instead of the whole “I don't care if you trust me because Sisu did” it would be “I trusted you and you murdered her”
And when the dust settles Raya realizes that this battle doesn’t matter because fighting Namaari isn’t going to bring Sisu and she’s also sick and tired of hurting the people she loves
And she decides to help people instead not because Sisu would want her to but because its the right thing to do
Which is cliche sure but its better than the scene they gave us which really wasn’t faithful to her character arc of not caring for people who aren't close to her
And I feel like Namaari joining her makes more sense with my context if anything else
And here’s how I would fix this scene even with them fighting the Druune off to the best of their abilities there are still falling buildings and the gem can’t really save people from that
So they lose some people not because of the Druune but because death happens even when the heroes are fighting their hardest
And because I feel like this would just affirm Tong’s character arc because there are people dying under these buildings he knows it’ll take too long to save them and its not time they have
So he leaves them behind prioritizing the people he knows he can save
Anyway, after a long battle scene, they finally end up underground
And it goes basically the same except it doesn’t take Raya as long to convince them
And instead of Raya’s reasoning of “Sisu told us to” it's more “all this fighting isn't going to bring Sisu back” and “I know she’s done something terrible and you can be mad at her after this but for now trust her”
So when they all make their sacrifices it’s less “I’m doing this for Raya” and more “I’m doing this because deep down I know you’ll do the right thing”
And Namaari does do the right thing obviously
Sisu comes back and it's all “yay we saved the world!” but it doesn’t really end there
Because I hate the “lifetime” ending of “even though we all went through incredibly traumatic events we’re all fine months later” no they’re running around for months and years fixing their mess
And while this is happening Raya and Namaari is mending their relationship they’ve apologized for all the terrible things they’ve done to each other
And when they’re fixing their world they’re helping each other become the best versions of themselves
That’s when they really fall in love
Like don't get me wrong they loved each other when all the bad shit was going down but there was too much bad blood them to really process it and talk it out
But that’s exactly what they do when it’s all over they talk it out for hours
In fact, they both said its the most they’ve heard the other speak
They both agree they’re in the best place to start a relationship and so they do
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