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writerpeach · 4 years

Text

Room For Dessert

Momoland Ahin x Male Reader

4197 words

Categories: smut, bathroom sex, daddy kink, dirty talk

18+

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Read on AFF

Read on AO3

It was supposed to be a romantic night.

It took two months to get a dinner reservation at one of the most prestigious restaurants in downtown Seoul, a place that claimed to be more than just about food, but an experience, which made you roll your eyes but enough friends and co-workers recommended it to give it a shot.

You had dressed your best, wearing a nice pressed shirt, slacks, and expensive shoes, while your girlfriend Ahin had picked a more...different route and decided to wear the tightest, shortest dress in her wardrobe. White-colored with roses everywhere did not make the outfit or her any more innocent.

The restaurant was packed, a tiny building with no more than eight tables, it became apparent one of the reasons for the long waitlist.

You entered hand in hand with your Ahin and felt eyes staring, mostly at Ahin which wasn’t a shocker. She was very easy on the eyes - blonde, gorgeous, and a deadly body.

You were seated at a small round table by a large window, being on the third floor you had a beautiful view of the city at night, although it was nothing compared to the pretty blonde across the table.

An hour in, it became hard to concentrate on your food. Peering from her side, Ahin’s eyes were a mixture of innocence and sin. One second they were soft and sparkling, the next they became full of lust, flashing bedroom eyes in a place where that was the last thing on your mind.

“What?” you asked, as you continued eating but couldn’t help but feel like you were the meal by the way Ahin stared at you.

“Nothing, you just eat well,” she replied, feigning a purity to her words. “And not just food, either,” she added with a smile, and you nearly choked.

This was how things always went.

It was bad enough dealing with her constant teasing, but she had to wear a dress that barely covered her up, her dress involuntarily hiking up to show off her wonderful thighs and was so low-cut her tits were practically spilling out and needing to breathe.

“You should eat.”

“Oh, I will but I’m waiting for something more delicious,” she said, and you can’t say you didn’t see that coming from a mile away.

“Can I get you two anything for dessert?” You were thankful for the interruption, but before you could say another word Ahin spoke up.

”I’d love something sweet...and sticky,” she told the waitress innocently, but yet you knew there was nothing innocent at all about her.

“Right away, ma’am.”

“It’s not good to be eating something so sugary this late.”

“I can’t help it, I love sweets. And you know how much I love having cream inside me.”

She was going to be the death of you.

The waitress shortly returned and placed a delicious looking slice of yellow cake down on the center of the table, decorated with sprinkles, white frosting, and caramel icing.

“Thank you,” Ahin told the waitress as she grinned playfully at you. Not wasting a second, grabbed the plate towards her, forgoing the use of the two forks placed as she used her fingertip to scoop up a bit of the vanilla frosting. You knew what was next.

With a smirk a mile wide, she brought her finger to her lips, licking the frosting clean and making sure to leave just a smidgen on the corner of her lips.

“I think I have something on my face. Can you get it for me?” Ahin asked.

You sighed deeply, not wanting to play into her trap and simply handed her a napkin. She frowned and tossed it aside, licking her lips instead.

Ahin made a show out of eating her dessert, every bite into her mouth full of pure raw seduction. You admired how hard she was trying and simply enjoyed watching her struggling to claim a reaction out of you.

When you had enough you leaned over to Ahin’s side of the table and aimed for a kiss, faking her out as you pivoted your face into the side of her neck.

“You’re not getting away with this,” you whispered.

Ahin giggled innocently and averted her attention. She grabbed her phone, her fingers swiping over keys frantically and moments after you felt a buzz inside your pocket. She gestured for you to check your phone but you refused.

“It’s rude to use your phone at the table, baby. Need to say something to me?”

She didn’t speak, but her lips moved and you could tell what words she had formed.

“Ruin me.”

“Not until we get home.”

Ahin huffed. “You know...I'm not wearing any underwear,” she boldly said, folding her arms and grinning devilishly, always trying to up the ante.

“Is that supposed to surprise me?” you asked. To Ahin, underwear was something she wasn’t particularly fond of, and you would have been more shocked if she had any on.

“No, but it would be a shame if I accidentally dropped something and the whole restaurant saw my bare ass, wouldn’t it?” Right on time, you heard the clang of silverware hitting the cold floor.

You had enough. Before she had a chance to do anything you grabbed her wrist, leaving enough cash on the table to pay for both meals and a little extra and got the hell out of there.

“Where are we going...daddy?”

Ignoring her favorite pet name to use you dragged her away, squeezing her hand until you found the perfect place, a large metal door with a sign that said bathroom.

Not even bothering to check to see if other people were around, you shoved the door open and made sure it was empty before holding it open for her.

“Get in,” you demanded, and she complied without delay. The door slammed shut behind you loud enough to cause the sound to ripple throughout the walls.

“You’re cute when you’re angry, daddy,” she said as you leaned up against her body, pressing her up against the wall.

“Angry? I’m not angry,” you said as you cupped one side of her pretty face.

Ahin didn’t believe you with the way she reacted with a grin that was plastered on her stupidly gorgeous face.

“You didn’t lock the door.”

“And I’m not going to,” you said harshly. Your only regret was this was a private bathroom, you’d love nothing more than to make good use of a less private stall.

You could sense the tension in her body as you considered a thousand different ways to use her, running a hand down her shoulder and felt the soft skin of her body as you considered what to do with her.

“Are you going to fuck me, daddy?” Ahin asked.

You denied her an answer, sliding a hand in between her thighs and feeling the wetness of her cunt already, confirming the lack of underwear. She was freshly shaved, every inch of her mound smooth as silk as you teased her folds with one fingertip, threatening to enter her and stopping just before giving in to her desire.

“No...I'm going to make you beg.”

Using your knee to spread her thighs open, Ahin’s breath hitched as you slipped a finger inside her tight hole only for a moment before withdrawing it out. It also didn’t surprise you to find your finger covered in her slick.

“You like being such a slut in public, don’t you?”

“You caught me,” she smirked, but her confidence was shattered as you felt up one of her warm, creamy thighs, inching closer to touching her pussy again but stopping short at the last moment as she instinctively whined.

That sound you had heard before meant she was breaking already, letting her guard down without a struggle and melting at your every touch.

Before you could even touch her pretty pussy again you could feel her thighs becoming damp, trying to close them around your hand but you kept them forced open.

Ahin was a messy girl, to say the least. Her apartment had a closet dedicated to spare sheets as she was known to ruin them without warning, turning herself into a water fountain without an off switch.

With Ahin’s confidence draining you kept the pressure, kissing her luscious neck in several spots before rushing to pull the straps of her dress down. Licking her neck just once, you yanked the top of her dress down to expose her marvelous chest, her full round breasts bouncing as they were freed. You salivated at the very sight of them.

You felt your pants tightening as you stared at her juicy tits, her pretty nipples swollen already and bright pink and you were hungry for your second meal of the night.

Ahin gasped as you touched her, fondling her huge breasts in the same way you had done dozens of times. Hearing her moan softly was pleasing to your ears as you squeezed and massaged them, you never got tired of playing with her tits. You never got tired of how heavy and soft they felt in your hands, fingertips sporadically teasing her pretty nipples to earn another moan.

Licking in between her cleavage, you kept up the obsession with her breasts as you brought your lips to her chest and traced the outline of one nipple before sucking harshly on it, switching between the two. It didn’t take long before her nipples were drenched in spit and you found yourself back in between her legs, one finger than another, feeling her warmth on your fingers but barely moving as her entire body twitched.

“D-daddy...” she whined. She was yours now.

“Yes, princess?” you asked as she tried moving her hips to ride your fingers. You made sure to pump your fingers inside her as slowly as possible to deny her the full friction really needed. Had she not acted up earlier she’d be gushing already all over the bathroom tile for sure.

It’s easy to see why Ahin did this, why she spent so much time trying to get a rise out of you if this is what she got in return.

Finding a rhythm you pumped faster inside Ahin, feeling her walls squeezing your finger as she moaned breathlessly. She was doing a lousy job of keeping quiet, but you weren’t sure if she couldn’t control herself or just wanted to rile you up.

That wet squelch of your fingers fucking her hole echoed alongside the bathroom walls, finding her spot with ease and curling inside her as her pretty moans increased. Your fingers were soaked, her slick coating them and dripping down her thighs and Ahin looked so damn beautiful like this.

She could barely keep her eyes open at this point, her arms down by her side as she tried to scrape her nails into the wall, desperate to hold on to anything as she felt her abdomen tighten.

You worked a third finger into her very tight pussy, feeling her juices leaking all over your hand as you rubbed her clit, her walls tightening with each pump of your fingers.

She was close, you could see it in her eyes and you could hear it, she needed just a tiny bit more.

But you weren’t going to give it to her. At the last possible moment you pulled your fingers out abruptly and she almost came untouched.

“D-daddy!” she whined, and you smiled brightly at her.

“Only good girls get to cum,” you said, giving her needy pussy a handful of slaps before removing your hand from her thighs.

“That’s not fair,” she whimpered.

“Oh, I think it’s plenty fair given your actions.”

“I was just trying to spice up dinner. It’s not my fault you’re no fun.”

“You wanted fun did you?” you said, running a hand through soft strands of Ahin’s pretty golden locks.

If anything you wanted to rip that dress completely off her tight sexy body and force her to walk out of here bare ass naked, but you really liked this place, and getting kicked out was the last thing you wanted.

“Then suck my fucking dick,” you hissed, grabbing the back of her head and guided her down until she knelt in front of you. With her lips smiling wide she quickly unzipped your pants and yanked hard, taking them down with your boxers and released your cock.

Her eyes lit up as your cock ended in her small hand, licking her sinful lips as she stroked you and licked your length at the same time.

“So fucking hard already, daddy,” she smiled as she jerked off your cock, planting several sloppy wet kisses alongside your shaft in admiration.

“Then do something about it.”

Giving one more kiss on your tip, Ahin licked stripes up and down your heavy balls before taking you inside her warm mouth. You moaned loudly at the feeling of her soft pouty lips wrapped around your cock and she went to work.

“That’s a good girl,” you told her as she took you halfway in already, keeping a hand stroking you as her lips did their magic.

“Feels so fucking good. Such a good little slut aren’t you, sucking me off in a bathroom?”

With her mouth currently occupied, Ahin couldn’t answer verbally, but her eyes showed she loved what she was doing. She slurped and slurped, sucking sloppily and keeping her eyes wide open to see your reaction, keeping her mouth on your shaft as her head bobbed up and down.

“It’s nice having you quiet for a change. Should really have you do this more often.” You smiled proudly as you held on to her head with both hands, pushing her gradually down towards your base and feeling her throat tightening as you felt the back of it.

“That’s it, baby, take it all.”

You groaned as her lips met your base, keeping eye contact as you felt her wet mouth deepthroat every inch of you with ease, stuffing her mouth full of hard flesh. Ahin didn’t need any adjustment as she withdrew her lips and slammed herself back down, taking all of you again and again and found a rhythm, moaning around your shaft as you felt warmth and wetness enveloping every inch of your cock.

“Fuuuck...” you moaned and gasped as Ahin continued sucking you off, guiding her movements as she gave the most phenomenal blowjob. Loud messy slurps accompanied her sultry lips as her tight warm mouth moved from tip to base in one satisfying stroke, sliding up and down without a hint of a gag reflex as saliva dripped from her mouth.

Your cock inside her warm mouth felt like heaven, her tongue working against your underside to create even more pleasure, watching the look in her eyes as she swallowed you down her throat. There was more than enough happening to finish you off herself, to take pleasure from her without any in return, but you wouldn't be satisfied, not until she was a mess.

Regrettably, you pulled her off your shaft as saliva spilled out of her mouth. She looked rather disappointed as she stroked your cock furiously, grabbing a handful of your sack and fondling your balls.

“They’re so full, daddy,” she said as she tenderly kissed each one, licking and slurping away greedily and hungrily.

“Alright, that’s enough. Time for me to have some fun.”

You grabbed both hands as you lifted her up to her feet, taking a second to gawk at her body. Her anticipation was high as you hiked her dress up, lifting her up and grabbing her ass as you pinned her against the wall like she was an expensive piece of artwork.

She gasped and never felt so wet between her thighs. “Fuck me, daddy,” she begged, wrapping her arms around your neck, with desperation etched on her features.

“Do you deserve that?” you asked as you teased your cock through her soft silky folds, collecting her wetness on your shaft. She nodded without a word.

“I don’t think so. Maybe I should just finish um all over that pretty face without even letting you feel me.”

”Daddy, please…” she whined.

“Please what?”

“Please fuck me, daddy. Please.”

Every desperate word out of her mouth matched the pleading expression on her face.

“Please daddy...I want to feel that big throbbing cock fucking me senseless and stretching out my tight little pussy. Please, please fuck me, I’ll be a good girl I promise.”

Ahin being reduced to begging was your favorite thing in the world. You looked at her, enjoying the need and wanton desire in her eyes. Without a second of warning, you shoved your cock inside her tight pussy all the way deep, earning a loud shriek as you filled her up with every inch.

“Oh my god!”

“Careful baby, you don’t want someone to hear you do you?”

“We both know the answer to that.”

Moving at an agonizing pace, Ahin’s tight walls swallowed you inside her as you started to thrust, her pussy squeezing the life out of your cock as you began fucking her up against the wall. Plenty wet, hot and tight around your shaft, her cute whimpers and moans filling your ears were just the thing you needed as you kept her tight hole full of your cock.

“God, you’re fucking big, shit.”

“You’re so tight and wet. Acting like a slut turns you on this much?”

“I’m not acting.”

You both smiled, and you kissed her for the first time of the night, muffling her moans as you exerted more energy in your hips.

It took several thrusts for Ahin to adjust, breathing heavily already. She was so wet and becoming wetter with each deep thrust, the way her pussy wrapped tight around your cock and refused to let go, there wasn't a better feeling.

"Daddy, pound me," she pleaded.

You had your fun with her and didn't see any reason to deny her request this time. Building up the pace, you gradually fucked Ahin harder, earning louder and deeper moans as you buried your shaft deep inside her pretty tight cunt, setting her sensitive nerves on fire. You kept her tight body pressed up against the bathroom wall, keeping a tight firm grip on her ass as you drove yourself into her, hearing her moaning beautifully into your ears.

"God you’re so deep, so fucking deep,” she moaned and you kept your eyes glued to her, watching the pleasure overtake her body.

“You like when I fuck your pussy like this? You like when I use you in public like a dirty little slut?”

Ahin’s bliss kept her from answering, the pleasure wreaking havoc on all her senses as she rested her head on your shoulder, wrapping her luscious legs around your waist to help take some of her weight off.

Neither of you were a stranger to messing around in public, but the thrill of anyone able to come into the unlocked bathroom while you were balls deep in your girlfriend wasn’t any less hot.

“Y-yes, daddy, fuck me just like this! More daddy, fuck me harder!”

You were going to fuck Ahin hard enough that anyone left inside the restaurant would hear her. Squeezing her ass even more, you slammed harshly inside her and pistoned your hips, finding the right angle to slam into her cunt with. You could hear how wet she was before you felt it, her juices leaking everywhere, dripping down your balls and her thighs, leaving a mess on the tile floor.

“You’re so fucking hot, I can’t stand it. I love how your pussy feels.”

“I’m so glad, daddy. I love what you’re doing to me, I’m so fucking wet. Don’t stop, even after you blow your load in me.”

She had such a filthy mouth and you loved it. Her tightness was overwhelming, clamping down so firmly on your dick as you pounded into her, it was amazing you’d lasted this long.

The rawness of the situation, the public setting, the way Ahin was constantly moaning into your ears, it was far too much. Your cock was drowned with her juices, the rhythm constant as you fucked into her tight hole as harshly as you could, her big tits bouncing with every thrust that rocked her slim sexy body.

With every entrance into her, Ahin grew tighter and tighter, setting off signals that she was approaching climax.

“D-daddy, c-can I cum? P-please?” She had learned her lesson, and you didn’t feel a need to deny her again.

“Of course. All over my cock, princess.”

You could sense her relief as her limbs tightened around your body, becoming an absolute mess as her pussy tightened almost painfully and pulsated around your shaft. Her breathing became heavy and deep, throwing her head back as she came all over your shaft.

You kept the motions going and fucked her through her orgasm, not letting her recover as you selfishly chased your own pleasure. Keeping her tight body in your arms, squeezing the soft flesh of her ass you kept up the moments in your hips, letting her feel every inch.

Letting the last fleeting moments of pleasure take control of your body, you savored the hot flesh of Arin’s slick pussy as you slid inside and out at a pace you couldn’t keep up for much longer.

“I’m gonna fucking cum,” you growled, harshly pounding into Ahin as deep as you could, the sounds of skin slapping loud enough to be heard outside.

“Fill me, daddy. Please, I need it dripping down my thighs, cum inside your little slut.”

Her begging was the exact encouragement you needed, giving everything as you continued to fuck her against the wall as long as you could last.

You suspected anyone outside could hear, maybe they didn’t care, or maybe they were outside with their ear to the wall. Either way, you wanted to finish before someone showed up, and you weren’t intent on drawing this out.

The final moments felt eternal. You and Ahin staring into each other’s eyes, waiting for that peak to hit, for you to explode at any point. It was beautiful as it was hot.

Your breathing stalled and you couldn’t take it anymore, throbbing inside Ahin as you deposited your load deep inside her pussy, groaning loudly enough for anyone within range to hear. She watched the contorted expressions on your face, as you pumped as many times as your body would let you as you filled Ahin to the brim with hot cum, her tight pussy milking every last drop out of your shaft.

Ahin had never looked so satisfied. You kept yourself inside her for as long as you could take it, but the weight of her body in your exhausted state was too much as you let her down gingerly and pulled yourself out of her as her limbs unraveled around you.

Trying to catch your breath you detached from one another, Ahin’s legs felt weak, and you watched proudly as your load leaked from between her flushed thighs and began dripping down.

“I don’t think I’m going to be able to walk out of here,” Ahin said with a smirk as she fell to her knees. It so happened that she was at the perfect eye level to your cock, sucking you clean as she played with the remnants of the hot load that was still inside her freshly fucked pussy.

“I’ll carry you if I need to, but we should get out of here, we defiled it enough,” you said, dressing back up and trying to clean up as best as you could. There weren’t enough paper towels in the world to clean what you did to that bathroom.

Ahin pulled herself together with the limited energy she had left, pulling her straps back and her dress down, checking herself in the mirror.

“You really ravaged me,” she smiled tiredly upon seeing her messy disheveled hair in the mirror and deciding against fixing it.

“Can’t say you didn’t deserve it.”

“Oh, I definitely did.”

“It’s a shame we’ll have to wait another two months to come back here.”

“We don’t need a reservation for you to fuck me in the bathroom.”

“You make a very good point.”

You were scared to even open the door at this point, slowly letting it creak open as you took a peek. Not a soul. Seeing Ahin on spaghetti legs, barely moving and fatigued you quickly picked her up and carried her to the car, not wanting to dawdle.

“One of these days we’re going to get caught,” you said, helping her sit inside the passenger side.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

She kissed you as she buckled in, you closed her door and headed to the other side.

Starting the car, you looked at Ahin in her post-sex afterglow, still beautiful as ever.

“Are we heading home?” she asked weakly, still feeling the effects of the night.

"No...not until I have my dessert."

#momoland smut #ahin smut #momoland #ahin #kpop smut #male reader #reader insert #kpop fanfic #kpop fanfiction

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writeanapocalae · 4 years

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A Guide for Writing Trans People

Written by a Trans Man.

I’ve seen a lot of different posts on how to write trans characters (absolutely none on how to write cis characters and I am so lost on how to do that oh my goodness) but maybe I’ve got a different perspective and maybe I’ve got something you haven’t heard before. Let’s go!

Terminology

There are a lot of different genders out there, not just male and female. Some people think Trans men and women are some outside of the binary extra gender, which is very much not true. While many trans people do fall outside the binary, there are a lot who are strictly male or female. Therefore their genders are male and female. The trans part is not part of the word, it is a definer to state that the person is transitioning, that is all. So when you write trans man or trans woman the words are separate, not transman or transwoman.

A trans man is someone who is transitioning his appearance for society to view him as male.

A trans woman is someone who is transitioning her appearance for society to view her as female.

The reason I am wording it this way is because they were already their genders. They have always been their genders. Transitioning is greatly influenced by the way we are treated by society, the same way that beauty standards influence people to contour and get surgeries and whatnot.

Demi means mostly in terms of gender so a demi boy is someone who is male most of the time and a demi girl is someone who is female most of the time.

Agender is someone who has no gender

Genderfluid is someone who shifts from gender to gender

Genderqueer is someone who’s gender is nondefined by other terms

Two Spirit is a third gender that encapsulates masculinity and femininity (according to Wikipedia) that is only used by Native Americans

Third Gender is a gender that can encapsulate or be a completely different solid gender like male or female

Nonbinary is someone who is somewhere on the spectrum between genders and their gender is defined by them

Pangender is someone who has all genders

Androgyny is not something that actually relates to gender as much as it does presentation. Presentation does not inherently tell you someone’s gender. Being androgynous just means that someone fits right in the middle of societies expectations of male and female and their AGAB cannot be guessed by onlookers.

AGAB AFAB and AMAB mean Assigned Gender At Birth, Assigned Female At Birth, and Assigned Male At Birth. At birth someone will often assign a gender to a baby based on their genitals and parents tend to show off what sort of genitals their baby has with accessories and colors. Pretty creepy if you ask me.

FTM and MTF has been deemed problematic but many still use them. They mean Female to Male and Male to Female. The terminology states that the person’s AGAB is their initial gender and they are becoming the opposite when, as stated before, it’s more that they were always their gender and now society has to catch up.

Gender Nonconformity can be practiced by anyone regardless of gender. It just means that they do things that aren’t expected of someone of their gender like men wearing skirts (for some reason?) or women growing beards or a nonbinary person not being androgynous (for some reason that’s become an expectation)

Intersex is not a part of the trans umbrella, even though it is often lumped in and people who are intersex can also be trans. It is a sex (different from gender) in which different parts of genitals and chromosomes and hormones are produced in a way that deviates from the norm. Many intersex people undergo genital reconstruction or reduction surgery when they are infants (and can’t consent) in order to fit the mold better. Intersex people can be cis.

Cis just means that someone agrees with the people who assigned them a gender when they were a baby and how society treats them.

Slurs: Don’t use them. There are a lot. If you see it in a porn category you probably should stay away from it.

Pronouns

Pronouns are highly personal and can be a myriad of things so I will not be going over all of them. They do not always match presentation (a long haired man with breasts is still a man) and many people will use multiple sets of pronouns or fluctuate between them for what they feel most comfortable with.

Common pronouns are: they/them, he/him, she/her

Less common pronouns are: xi/xir, fae/faer, it/its, e/em, per/pers, ve/vir, zie/hir

Neopronouns: People make up pronouns all the time since they are personal and these new pronouns are just as valid as any others. Someone made up his and hers after all. When making neopronouns the main thing to be aware of is consistency. You want the different forms of conjugation to make sense and you want to spell them the same way every time.

Appearance

As has already been stated, there’s no correlation between gender presentation and gender and many trans people are unable to present the way they want to due to the economy, genetics, health, or community. Still, people do what they can to pass or feel comfortable in their body and these things need to be in mind during descriptions. People tend to think of the slight things that make people not pass are unattractive and will point out a woman’s 5 o’clock shadow or a man’s high pitched voice as flaws. These things do not necessarily need to be skipped over but they can be described in a way that doesn’t distract from the characters gender.

Try to stop thinking of an hourglass shape as an intrinsically feminine trait and height as an inherently masculine one. There are cis women with full beards and cis men with round jaws. Exploring different features, combining them, and seeing how they meld will give your characters more depth and help with differentiating them from one another. A good rule of thumb is, if you mention something that people don’t immediately clock as the characters gender, describe it as gender accurate.

Misgendering

This is another one that I would say don’t do but there are characters who the writers don’t always agree with. Misgendering is extremely harmful, puts trans people’s lives in danger, and can out them without their permission. The narrator should never misgender a character unless the character does not realize they are trans until the story is underway but this should be rare. The trans character would have no reason to ever misgender themself and may talk about how they presented in the past but will, most likely, still refer to themself with the correct gender. The POV character may misgender a trans character upon meeting them but after being corrected should fix their behavior unless you want your audience to dislike the POV character. Friends of the trans character should not misgender the character unless they are in a situation in which being correctly gendered would bring them harm, otherwise they’re not good friends. Family may misgender the trans character if they are not out or if the family members are terrible people.

Dysphoria/Euphoria

Dysphoria is when there’s a painful discrepancy between mind and body, like when someone knows they are one way but they don’t look the way they feel. Misgendering can be a large cause of dysphoria, as can hearing a recording of their voice, reflections, binding and tucking not hiding what the individual may want to hide, height, muscle structure, bone structure, etc.

Euphoria is the exact opposite of this. It is an extreme sensation of peace and joy in personal gender presentation. This can be caused by hormone replacement therapy, correct gendering, presenting in a way that feels natural, and acceptance.

Dysphoria is not necessary for being transgender.

Social Groups

Look around your friend group. Notice anything eerie? Notice how most of your friends are similar to you in a lot of ways, especially IRL friends? They’re people that you trust and expect to keep you safe while having a fun time with because you share interests and experiences with. Same for trans people. This is why, if you look at my friend group there’s 2 genderfluid, 1 agender, 1 nonbinary, 2 trans women, 1 trans man, and 1 cis man (who’s a cousin). If you have just 1 trans character in a group of friends it is going to read as a need for diversity points and that character is less likely to feel safe with discussing trans issues due to no one around them being able to relate.

Outing

This is one that a lot of people have a hard time with and even trans writers mess up a lot. We all know the infamous scene of someone walking in on a trans person changing and, hopefully, we know that this is not only cliche but actually harmful as it tends to lead to the idea of “lying” when it’s really just not anyone’s business and that trans bodies must be on display. I would say that you shouldn’t have to out your character because coming out is dangerous for real trans people in a lot of situations and it normalizes the idea that trans people must doxx themselves at any moment but due to the lack of representation and the nature of novels, you pretty much have to out your characters. No amount of subtext will be as beneficial to a trans reader as cementing the fact that there’s someone they can relate to in canon. Luckily outing a trans character is a lot easier than people think.

Some of us can’t shut up. A lot of trans people will hint at it a lot and just flat out say it if they’re in similar company. If we see people who we feel confident are also queer we often drop hints that we understand we’re safe, they can come to us (especially in a retail setting), because we want a community. The amount I bring up my masculinity is very very often, to the point I’m surprised people aren’t annoyed with me. I don’t pass very well so I wear a lot of brightly colored buttons that explicitly state my pronouns. There’s also this very strong urge to correct people who use gendered language for things that don’t need gender (like sexual organs and menstrual cycles). There’s nothing wrong with just saying that a character is trans.

Resources

The best thing you can do for your story is research. The trans people you know are not google and they do not deserve to be treated like google. You can use google. Here’s some stuff I found on google:

Dummies | Transequality | EverydayFeminism | Scriptlgbt

But no matter how much research you do it’s not going to be as useful as a sensitivity reader. Once your story is complete ask people to read it as beta readers and sensitivity readers and listen to the people that fit your minority characters.

Some musicians to check out for inspiration

I have to recommend music. I wouldn’t be myself if I didn’t.

Agender: Angel Haze | Mood Killer

Androgyne: Florian- Ayala Flora |

Genderneutral: Grimes |

Pandrogyne: Genesis P-orridge

Two Spirit: Tony Enos | Cris Derksen

#writing advice #transgender writing #queer writers #trans writeblr #trans writing

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serpentstole · 3 years

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Luciferian Challenge: Day 12+13 (And 22)

A few of these prompts ended up being very similar in theme, so I’ve combined them into a bit of a long reply.

Dogma is something we throw about…that we reject it. Where do you think we may fall short as Luciferians/Satanists when it comes to dogma? Do you think dogma has a certain value?

I don’t think dogma has any value really, no, as I don’t like the idea of rules or ideas that cannot be questioned on principle. Even as a child, I took issue with blind obedience. My mother once called me downstairs, and I asked why, and my father got angry and said that I shouldn’t bother to ask why and just do it, and that even if one of them told me to jump out of a window they probably had a good reason for it.

That memory is seared into my brain and still irks me.

I do think rules themselves can be important, but when we speak of rejecting dogma it’s typically in the sense of it being some authoritative status quo that cannot be discussed or challenged. I think my example above is a good example of that, as petty as it may seem: that parents should be obeyed without question and with the assumption they have our best interests at heart.

I do not believe there’s room for that sort of attitude in an empathetic and respectful society, even towards children. Respecting their natural curiosity and teaching them about bodily autonomy is something I think can only be a net good. The only thing growing up in a strict household taught me, where there was little room for negotiation or challenging of the way things were, was how to be a decent liar.

It harmed me in far more ways than it helped instill any positive values, and while I would not want to belittle the experiences of anyone in a similar boat, I consider myself one of the lucky ones. There are some families where a dogmatic stance, whether based in politics or religion, can lead to the alienation or outright abandonment of LGBT youth, of young women who wish control over their own bodies, of those with views that differ from their parents’, or any other black sheep.

I feel like this question and my thoughts on it really go hand in hand with the next one, so I’m going to actually combine them into one post and make up the difference later.

Do you think it’s dogma or silly to say what Luciferianism/Satanism is not?

I do not think it’s dogmatic to say what Luciferianism or Satanism is or isn’t. The reason I’ve kept both labels in these two prompts, when I’ve removed them in every other post, is because I spent a lot of time in a mixed Luciferian and Satanist community during the beginning of my religious journey. Despite our differences, especially in the case of Atheist Satanism versus Theistic Luciferianism, I saw a great deal of overlap in a lot of the values/ideals, inspirations, and talking points.

I think outlining those ideals and values is important to just… having a label. Words mean things. Religious affiliations and ideas mean things. Even saying you belong to or adhere to a school of thought typically has some manner of definition or parameters. While Luciferianism and Satanism can be incredibly diverse when it comes to the details of one’s ethics and morals, practices, views of the divinity or lack there of, and other suck points, there’s a good deal that does unite us that’s reflected in the archetypal figures our religions are named after. I also believe that certain aspects of what is seen as the Standard Luciferian should be weighed more or less heavily. For example, I don’t see my irritation with hostility towards Christianity as something that makes me less of a Luciferian.

However, I want to combine these two prompts with one more to round out my view of this topic.

What do you disagree with Luciferians/Satanists most?

In the goddamn dogma they cling to and perpetuate while claiming to be adversarial to or enlightened above such ideas. It’s become almost a meaningless buzzword. It barely still looks like a real word to me anymore. This is honestly where my post goes completely off the rails into a mini essay, so it’s under the cut.

The idea that all “Abrahamic” religions should be treated as inherently harmful and oppressive is a bad take.

That Christianity, Judaism, and Islam should even be lumped together when discussing such issues betrays a shallow understanding of these religions that’s been regurgitated from one person to another, typically through a culturally Christian lens.

The idea that “only LaVeyan Satanism should be called Satanism because nothing else that calls itself Satanism is actually Satanism” is exhausting, and I will fist fight Anton myself in hell.

The principles of Might Makes Right and Social Darwanism that some Satanists perpetuate is dumb and bad and wrong, sorry, that’s the only rebuttal I’m dignifying that school of thought with. Once again, I will be fist fighting Anton in hell.

And that’s to say nothing of the Satanists and Luciferians out there that regurgitate the same racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and other assorted bigotries that they’ll condemn religions like Christanity for while perpetuating it with a coat of black paint. Because I have absolutely seen this first hand, both as an observer and as the target of it.

Like... I can’t speak on Islam at all, because I have very very limited experience with it from both a research and real life experience point of view, and thus I’m not comfortable making any claims. On the other hand, I do know that to list all the ways that Judaism is not a dogmatic religion would deserve its own post written by someone far more knowledgeable than me, and it somehow still gets lumped into the Problematic n’ Dogmatic category of AbRaHaMiC ReLiGiOnS. For that reason, in the case of Islam, I can’t help but wonder if the assumption that it’s also dogmatic comes from the harmful assumption that it’s a religion that’s strict to the point of harshness that a lot of people have.

Even in the case of Christianity, which I would argue (as someone who I’d say was raised within the church) is hands down the most seemingly dogmatic of the three (particularly in North America), this is just not universally true. If it was, there probably wouldn’t be so many branches and denominations, many of which cannot stand each other and think the rest are misguided at best and heretical at worst. This is something that’s even brought up in the Satanic Bible; I’ve read the miserable thing. Have you ever seen someone say “Christians and Catholics”? That’s a pretty loaded example of how much disagreement exists within the religion when an entire core branch of it is considered tangentially related.

Not to mention, I was raised Lutheran. That came about because a German Catholic got incredibly steamed at his own religion so he made a more boring different version of it. While the existence of dogma has led to these schisms, historically speaking, the end result has been a religion so varied that it’s hard to say what is and isn’t treated as inarguable law. If you don’t believe me, try talking to a Protestant pastor about the Seven Deadly Sins and see how far you get. I tried during confirmation class and got shut down immediately... but on the flip side, my church was pretty accepting of LGBT folks, which I think some people would claim Christianity is dogmatically against by default.

Is there dogmatic thinking within specific churches or branches or communities? Absolutely, I wouldn’t argue that. I think it can arise in any community, religious or not, but that some religious communities seem to be particularly vulnerable to it. But the harm those specific cases could do should be where our focus goes, not the condemnation of these religions or the concept of religion as a whole, which I touched on in a previous prompt.

I’m not some glorious enlightened mind. I would not want to give the impression that I think I hold in my hands the One True Way to do Luciferianism, or that I think the majority of this religious community are uncritical edgelords. This is, after all, my answer to the thing I take issue with the most, not my thoughts on Luciferianism or Satanism as a whole. I just don’t think it should be a particularly hot take that Religious Discrimination Is Bad Actually, or that maybe you can be rebellious and adversarial and hedonistic and enlightened while still genuinely giving a shit about people. Because otherwise what’s the point?

If we are hostile and rebellious with no actual end goal, no greater cause or purpose, we are simply being contrarian for the sake of it. If we blame the idea of organized religion instead of those who manipulate and abuse faith and scripture for selfish and malicious ends, we’ve missed the point, as I said in the aforementioned previous post. Not all of us have the ability to become an activist, obviously, and I would not ask you to. But I think as those who would claim to reject dogmatic thinking and strive to embody either the ideals of enlightenment or the adversary would do well to be ever questioning their preconceptions of the world around them, of other religions, and of less obvious unjust structures of power.

I don’t know why a community that believes in illumination and free thinking sees the world in such black and white ways.

While I will always strive for a greater understanding of the world, and I hold the concept of enlightenment very dear to my heart, I think it’s something that one spends a lifetime working towards. Alongside my favourite quotes from Paradise Lost, I hold the Socratic Paradox of “I know that I know nothing” as a personal motto, and I wish more people who I share this label with would do the same.

#luciferianism #theistic luciferianism #satanism #theistic satanism #witchblr #left hand path #lhp #30 Day Luciferian Challenge #30dayluciferianchallenge #illumine

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evolutionsvoid · 4 years

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As a natural historian who has gained quite a few rings from the field, I have had the time and experience to pick up patterns and phenomenons that show up in my line of work. While I usually refer to the specimens and environments that I study, the more peculiar occurrences can often show up in places you never think to look. When I visit new places for research, I make it a habit to talk with the locals and get an idea of the land and culture that surrounds me. Usually I focus my thoughts on the species I have selected for observation, but over time I have found that the people I talk to wind up telling me a lot about the creature and themselves at the same time. The questioning and conversation shows what people think of the species, or how they view the entire natural world itself! Ask enough folk around the world, and you start to pick up on some patterns. One of the more obvious phenomenon to note is the desire to label anything big, scary and angry a "dragon." Those familiar with my work should already know quite well how I feel about that behavior. It is a case where people allow first impressions to condemn an entire species, refusing to look any further before calling it a monster. This line of thinking is quite similar to another pattern I have noticed, and that is ugly gross creatures are given no value, while cute pretty ones can often be given too much. To many, the icky stinging insect or the foul corpulent lizard has no purpose to the world, and thus its removal is acceptable. They dare not believe that these creatures have an important role, as those that are hideous cannot have any beauty! A concept spoken by tongues ignorant of the durian! It is often these same folk who then also believe that the adorable and beautiful ones are sacred and paramount to the whole ecosystem! I find it to be a rather messed up system! I know that I myself have called things pretty or ugly, but never would I allow such thoughts to dictate the value of a species existence! One must realize that the dung beetle and the butterfly are one in the same! They are crucial to the environments they dwell in, and seeking to eliminate one of them will often destroy all of them. I apologize for going off on a tangent, but I do so because this line of thinking is what plagues certain species and brings much misery to innocent lives. It creates folk who praise the fragrant blossoms of a tree while chopping away at its gnarled roots. I just wish others could understand that every species plays an important role to the world they live in, regardless of their odor or looks. Judging them only by their appearances is quite shallow and keeps you from seeing their true potential. The reason I have delved into this subject for so long is because I wished to talk about the Colompo, a species that is often scorned for it looks. Folk call them pests and plague bringers, treating them as if they were disease-ridden rats. To them, Colompos are useless stinky garbage eaters, and to that I cry foul! Do they eat garbage? Yes! Are they stinky? Absolutely, but they are far from useless and I will explain why! To start, let us examine what a Colompo is. At first, it may be a bit hard to understand what group it belongs to. It has the comb of a bird, the scales of a reptile and the fur of a mammal, so which is it? The answer is: Mammal! Scaly skin and bird-like structures are nothing new to the mammal class, so these features are quite normal for the Colompo. They have fur on their bodies, teats for feeding their young and bodies that can generate their own warmth. They scurry about on two bird-like legs, while their forearms have developed into fan-like structures that run down their backs. Though they give the impression of wings, the Colompo cannot fly or even glide. That doesn't stop these critters from flapping them wildly at times, usually when they get excited or are trying to scare off predators. They have a long prehensile tail that aids in balance and manipulation, it also comes in handy when they are hiding in the trees or other high up places! These tails end in an arrow-like point, but these structures are not hard nor sharp. Certain folk claim the Colompo use them as spears to impale prey, but these are floppy and are unable to pierce flesh. On their heads, they possess a rooster-like comb of a purplish color, though the structure is a bit more flamboyant on the males. They have large pointed ears and big round eyes, both of which are used to monitor their surroundings. A powerful nose helps them sniff out scent trails that will lead them to food, which brings us to an important part of the Colompo and the stigmas that surround them: their diet. It is funny how the diet of a creature creates so many assumptions in the mind of the public. If it eats plants, it must be peaceful (try saying that to the Khalkotauroi)! If it eats meat, it is evil and mean (I got some bad news about whales)! If it happens to eat dead things, then many call them gross and unsettling, usually leading to people chasing them off or hunting them down. The Colompo is a creature that lands in the latter category, as they are scavengers. In truth, they are considered omnivores, as they do munch on worms, grubs, fruit and any tasty morsels they find, but a huge part of their diet comes from rotting meat. Like mammalian vultures, they seek out carcasses and hurry to the scene, eager to chow on any leftovers they can get. Their teeth are good for gripping and pulling off pieces of tough meat, while their back molars do well against small bones and hardy chunks. Their toes are quite dexterous, which can help them grab hard-to-reach goodies or anchor them down as they yank on a stubborn strip of flesh. When they find a carcass, they will try to gorge as much as they can, storing food in special pouches in their neck. They are quick to feed because they know many others are competing for the same corpse, and often larger scavengers will aim to claim the whole carcass for themselves. At the size of a dog, they can try to push back against bullies at the dining table, but most Colompo will back down and scurry away. However, they do not run far off, as they prefer to use sneakiness over violence when it comes to getting food. While the new owner of the carcass focuses on their meal, the Colompos will quietly creep back to the scene. Colompos tend to travel in groups, and even if they were solo, a large enough corpse to bring in a feeding frenzy will draw in quite a few of these critters. When pushed away from their food, Colompos will band together to get a few more mouthfuls of food. When this happens, a few of them will rush in to harass the owner. This often involves nipping at tails, squawking loudly, spitting, spraying and being an absolute nuisance. Irritated, the larger beast will move to chase them off, leaving the carcass unattended for a few crucial moments. The other Colompos will rush in and grab what they can, scattering once the angry owner comes charging back. They will do this quite a few times, gaining a bit more food each time. Eventually they will relent, and the morsels they gathered will be shared amongst the group.

While big carcasses are a favorite of the Colompo, they will go after any piece of rotten meat they can find. No matter how small the morsel, their nose will find it and they won't let it escape their hungry mouths. With this, they tend to be found anywhere that has spoiled food or rotting meat. Combine it with the fact that Colompos can be found in quite a few environments, and you have a rather widespread critter. From forests and swamps to city dumps and graveyards, the Colompo will be there. It is here where the trouble between the public and the Colompos begins. Since they are opportunistic omnivores and gleeful scavengers, they tend to get into places where they aren't wanted. Trashcans, junkyards, butcher shops and cemeteries can be feeding grounds for the Colompo as well as a headache for residents. Their dining can be a bit messy and their eagerness to go after fresher food can lead to comical and frustrating scenarios. From distracting customers to steal from a produce stand, to clambering on top one another to reach a cooling pie, Colompos will try anything to snag a meal. Unfortunately, this also means munching upon the recently deceased, as unattended graveyards can be buffets for them. Knowing that they will feed on a human corpse has cemented them as vile ghouls and evil creatures in the minds of many. To see the carcass of a former friend or family member be greedily devoured by hungry Colompos is a revolting thought, so many are quick to eradicate them if they start snooping around. I imagine they get the same reputation as vultures, as omens of death and bringers of disease, which is quite unfair! Since the Colompos will feed upon corpses, they have been associated with death and plagues. To see a roaming band of these critters means that disease and blight is sure to follow. Many are quick to point out that towns ravaged by sickness are often infested with Colompos, who surely brought this misery down upon the village folk. When the cattle drop dead in the field, who is there first? The Colompo. When the corpse wagons drop off diseased bodies at the pits, who happily greets them? The Colompo. So often do they show up around pandemics and death that people believe it is they who bring the plagues. Since this is seen as truth, Colompos are actively hunted and killed when they are spotted around cities and towns. Traps and poisons are often set out, and many farmers are quick to send the dogs after them when the Colompos start showing up. Those who attack them, though, are sure to be careful, as these plague bringers are surely not to be messed with. Their fangs drip with a necrotic venom that will rot your arm right off your body within seconds! Their spit harbors more then twenty plagues, and a single bite will cause your flesh to turn purple and swell until it bursts like a pus-filled balloon! They possess sacs that are filled with a foul acid that they spray at the faces of attackers, melting the flesh down to the bone! They will attack with the coordination and ferocity of a demonic legion, springing from the shadows with toxic jaws and tearing apart foes within sec- WHAT A LOAD OF RUBBISH! Just a heap of gall-infested junk that is nothing but the yapping of fools and the embellishment of attention seekers! How I wish I could tear up every page and scroll that spouts this wilting garbage! Colompos aren't venomous! They don't attack in groups! They don't spray acid, though they do spray a foul smelling substance at foes. You see, they have glands along their sides and near their rear that secretes a liquid that reeks like a rotten fish that was glazed and left out in the sun for a few weeks. When threatened they at first stand up tall, fan out their back flaps and puff up their chests. They hiss and growl, but do not lunge or seek to bite. If the attacker still charges forth, they turn tail and blast a stink trail behind them as they flee. Believe me, this stuff reeks and it doesn't come off easy! Get coated with it and be prepared to be banned from every town for the next three weeks! Some say tomato juice helps get the stench off, while others suggest really strong soap. My personal solution was to visit Marsh Dryad settlements and stay in their company. Their odor overpowered the one emanating from me, and I received quite a few compliments for my personal stench! Anyways, where was I? Oh yes, THEY DON'T SPRAY ACID! Absolutely preposterous, I say! Don't people ever do research before they write things down?! No matter how many people claim it is the truth or how many scrolls present it to be so, Colompos are not bringers of pestilence! There have been many studies on Colompos over the years, and none have found that they carry these diseases in their bodies. The only reason they constantly show up during these plagues is because they are scavengers, you fools! They eat carcasses, so obviously they would go to where the bodies are piled the highest! The death and decay that comes from a sick village will lure them in, as they view it as a promising spot for food. Not only do they not cause plagues, but so far we have found that they are good for slowing them! Colompo stomach acid is quite powerful, and it is capable of destroying any disease that lingers in the meat they consume. By devouring virulent corpses, they can actually keep others from being infected! If the sickness is spread by parasites like fleas, Colompos can eat those as well! These creatures are important for cleaning up carcasses and removing sickness from the environment. The droppings they leave behind are free of these diseases and wind up nourishing a whole other group of creatures and plants! They do all this, and we thank them with hate and disgust?! How rude! Do you spit upon your garbage collector? Do you thumb your nose at the fellow who cleans latrines? Hopefully you say "no," because if you say "yes" than I really don't know what to do with you. I find it to be a darn shame that Colompos are forever associated with disease and death, as the species has so much more going on with them. I want to move away from the subject of plagues and instead talk about some of the other wonderful things about Colompos! The big one is that they are utter goofballs! They love to socialize with others of their kind, and it involves all sorts of running and playing. They scurry about and flap their fins wildly like crazed chickens! They make all sorts of stupid noises, and the way they stare with tongues hanging and drool dripping is quite hilarious! I honestly find them to be something out of a children's book, how comical they can be and how goofy their antics are. They are also good mothers! Colompos can have litters from about six to ten, and the mothers care for them until they are grown. They carry their young upon their backs, using their fins to protect them and shelter them from the elements. It is a good thing they can have so many babies, as it helps keep their populations strong despite the efforts of horrible people! I have also found that there are some that keep Colompos as pets! The owners are usually Marsh Dryads or similar hybrids, as strong odors is no bother to them, though I have seen others keep them around. A few Ghilani have been seen keeping Colompos, and I have heard that a human or two has done the same. Though I don't know if I could withstand the smell every day, I certainly applaud those that show such affection for these misunderstood creatures! Hopefully more folk get educated about the real facts about these creatures, and we can begin to show our appreciation for all they do! Chlora Myron Dryad Natural Historian ------------------------------------------------ This is a piece I finished recently that was dragon-based, so I decided to post it for Smaugust because it seemed fitting. This critter was made with the help of Lediblock2 , who had brought up the weird mammal/reptile rat lizard things that were supposed to be dragons in medieval paintings. Honestly they look more like the kind of beast that would raid a trashcan instead of a castle, and that was the concept they brought up. It was a fun idea to play with, and it resulted in this wonderfully gross little furball. They stink and eat garbage, but they are actual pretty nice creatures once you get to know them!

#dragon #monster #creature #art #drawing #smaugust #smaugust 2020 #pest

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keig-hoe-takami · 3 years

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Chapter 2

Chapter 1

MASTERLIST

‘Did you get in?’ Mina all but screamed down the phone, ‘Please tell me ‘rou, please!’

‘Yes, I got in.’ Ichirou replied as calmly as possible, laughing at her friends impatience.

‘YES! I’m so excited I cant believe it. We’re gonna be hero’s Chirou!’

‘I know, I’m excited too- did you talk to Kiri?’ Ichirou responded, smiling warmly at the thought

‘Not yet- do you wanna call him now?’ Mina asked,

‘We better had, I’m sure we’ve all got i-‘

As if on cue, the dark haired boy stormed through Ichirou’s door, running towards her with a huge smile on his face.

‘Kiri what are you doing?!’ The confused girl exclaimed as she was pulled into a crushing hug.

‘I did it- I got in, did you?’ Kiri barely breathed as he questioned his friend, looking around the room for her acceptance letter.

‘Yes, I did Kiri- Mina too,’ Ichirou smiled at the excited boy, holding her phone up to his face as Mina waved at him.

‘This is so cool, I think I’m gonna die.’ Kiri cried, finally sitting down on Ichirou’s desk chair,

‘Me too Kiri- Mina we’ll come see you later okay?’ Mina held up a peace sign as she ended the call, Ichirou turned her attention to the exhausted Kirishima, “This is exciting, huh?’

‘Just exciting? This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.’ Kiri put his head in his hands in disbelief,

‘Sorry Kiri,’ Ichirou was excited too- the girl had burst into tears when she had opened the message from All Might- but her brain couldn’t help overthinking the next few years of her life and how hard she’d have to work to become the thing she’d always dreamed of being. She new it would be hard and she was willing to work for it but- what if in the end it wasn’t worth it? What if she wasn’t good enough for the real thing?

‘Hey,’ Kiri pulled her from her thoughts, ‘I know that face, you’re going to be fine.’

‘You’ve known me too long.’ Ichirou replied, not addressing Kiri’s pointed reassurance,

‘I’ve known you long enough to know you’re going to do great, you’ll be an amazing hero.’ The boy persisted, poking his friend in the side,

‘Thanks Kiri. You’re gonna be amazing to- better than Crimson Riot.’

‘Hey- too far, no one will ever be as good as Crimson.’ Kiri joked, narrowing his eyes, Ichirou laughed at her best friends adoration of the old hero.

‘Alright then ‘Red Riot’, lets go see Mina.’ Ichirou said, pulling the boy to his feet,

‘Hey, I kinda like that one.’ Kiri smiled at his friends attempt to make fun of him,

‘Urghh, shut up. You’re not supposed to like my nicknames.’ The girl rolled her eyes, heading out of her room,

‘Whatever you say, puppy.’ Kiri followed his friend out the door.

‘Kiri? Is that you?’ Mina shouted out to the spiky head of red hair ahead of the two girls,

‘oh, hey guys,’ The newly dyed head of Kirishima turned to look at the girls coming towards him,

‘What the hell Kiri, I literally saw you the other day!’ Ichirou exclaimed in shock, ‘What did you do to yourself?’ She brought a hand to her mouth as they finally caught up with him,

‘I dyed it. Look, just don’t tell anyone, okay?’ Kiri replied seriously,

‘Oh I am so using this as blackmail- you have to do all my homework or I’ll tell everyone you wanted to look cool for high school.’ Mina said when she finally stopped laughing at the irritated red head,

‘Don’t even think about it.’ Kiri furrowed his brow in annoyance,

‘Whatever!’ Mina stuck her tongue out at him,

‘Well I think you look cool Kiri.’ Ichirou intervened before the two declared war on each other, ‘You look just like him.’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about puppy, I just wanted a change before high school.’ The boy narrowed his eyes at her, though she could tell he was silently begging her not to tell Mina he had modelled his hairstyle off his favourite hero,

‘Sure you don’t Red Riot.’ Ichirou said pointedly,

‘Oh my god guys, I can see it!’ Mina cried out excitedly as they turned the corner. The UA high school came into full view. Ichirou’s heart began hammering in her chest, her tail began swiping rapidly behind her.

‘You’re gonna take my eye out, puppy.’ Kiri winced as he was hit in the face by the strong, fluffy whip.

‘Sorry guys! I’m just excited!’ Ichirou apologised, grabbing at her tail to calm it down, Mina giggled at her friends excitement,

‘Come on, lets go!’ Mina grabbed at Ichirou’s hand, pulling her into a run as they approached the huge glass building.

‘1-A, its here!” Kiri shouted back to the girls. Unlike the other two, Kiri hadn’t stopped running when they reached the school building; his excitement had gotten the better of him. Ichirou threw him a thumbs up as her and Mina finally caught up.

‘Open it then, dummy.’ Mina said,

‘I’m kinda nervous.’ Kiri replied, looking up at the huge door,

‘I’ll open it then,’ Mina rolled her eyes, dragging Ichirou with her as she opened the door,

The sight inside was somewhat underwhelming, not that the three friends should have expected anything else except a regular classroom. Ichirou’s eyes narrowed, there was something weird about the room, a strong smell filled her nose, one she wasn’t a fan of. Cats.

A few students had arrived early including the two boys Ichirou had rescued at the entrance exam and some others Ichirou hadn’t met yet.

‘Hey! Sato!’ Kaminari exclaimed, waving the students over to him,

‘Hey Kaminari- how are you?’ Ichirou smiled at the boy as she led Kiri and Mina over to him and the short purple headed boy with him,

‘I’m pretty good- how cool is this huh?’ He replied, eyes gleaming,

‘It’s awesome. Oh, this is Kirishima and Mina, they’re my friends from middle school.’ Ichirou introduced her friends,

‘Best friends!’ Mina chimed in, giggling,

‘Well hey, I’m Denki Kaminari. Its so cool you all got in the same school- especially UA.’ Kaminari exclaimed, surprised at the luck of the three friends,

‘Yeah its totally cool.’’ Kirishima said, Ichirou could tell he liked Denki, hopefully the two would become friends,

‘Nice hair by the way, bro.’ Kaminari noted, gesturing to the spikes on to of Kiri’s head, Ichirou could practically taste the pride radiating off the boy, she shared an amused look with Mina

‘Thanks man, yours is cool too. You know, with that stripe’ Kiri replied, slightly flustered, pointing to the zigzag of black through Kaminari’s blond hair,

Suddenly, the door was kicked open aggressively, causing every students’ head to turn. The ash blond boy Ichirou had argued with stormed in, assessing the room. His eyes met Ichirou’s for a moment, a moment long enough for him to bare his teeth and almost growl at the girl in anger- seriously who was the wolf here? And how the fuck was he so angry at like 7 in the morning?

‘Woah, whose that?’ Kirishima whispered as the brash boy sat himself down in a random seat, putting his legs on the desk.

‘He was in our group.’ Kaminari replied,

‘Yeah, he called me a runt.’ Ichirou groaned. ‘But he was so good, of course he got in.’

‘Poor puppy.’ Kiri patronised, ruffling her head as he so often did.

‘Shut up, weirdo. Just don’t talk to him, I don’t like him.’ Ichirou lied through her teeth, fuck he still looked hot.

‘I think he looks pretty cute. Bad boy type.’ Mina replied

‘He’s not cute. Don’t say that.’ Ichirou whipped her head round to face her friend, becoming embarrassingly territorial, another downside to her quirk. Ichirou decided to blame it on the damn cats, making her wolf senses act up.

‘Okay, I’m sorry.’ Mina put her hands up, slyly raising her eyebrows at Kirishima, who tried unsuccessfully to stifle a laugh, having to disguise it as a cough.

‘Whatever, look more people are here, lets go say hi.’ Ichirou said, practically dragging her friends, poor Kaminari included, around the groups.

‘A quirk assessment test?!’ The whole class exclaimed in confusion, Ichirou included, it was only their first day but already they were being trialed to examine their weaknesses.

‘What about the entrance ceremony? The orientation?’ Cried a petite, brown haired girl in anguish. She was clearly feeling just as nervous as Ichirou at the thought of being tested in front of the whole class so early on.

‘If you’re going to become a hero, you don’t have time for such leisurely events.’ Their dishevelled homeroom teacher, Mr Aizawa mumbled his reply, barely looking back at the girl. ‘UA’s selling point is how unrestricted its school traditions are, that’s also how teachers run their classes.’ He continued, finally turning towards his baffled students, ‘You kids have been doing these since junior high, too, right? Physical fitness tests where you weren’t allowed to use your quirks.’ He held up his phone to reveal the categories to the students. If it was just like junior high, perhaps this is going to be easy- Ichirou thought to herself as she scanned the crowd of her fellow pupils,‘The country still uses averages taken from results for students not using their quirks. It’s not rational. Well, the Ministry of Education is procrastinating. Bakugou,’ The strange man suddenly turned to the blond dummy stood at the front of the group. Finally, there was a name to that irritating face, ‘you finished at the top of the practical exam, right? Of course he had, Ichirou rolled her eyes as other students gawked at the boy in amazement. ‘In junior high, what was your best result for the softball throw?’ Aizawa continued,

’67 meters.’ Bakugou replied, looking towards the floor,

‘Then, try doing it with your quirk.’ Aizawa suggested, the meaning of this test was becoming clear, their teacher wanted to understand how adaptable their quirks were, as well as weaknesses. ‘You can do whatever you want as long as you stay in the circle. Hurry up, give it all you’ve got.’

Bakugou began to stretch, mumbling to himself about god knows what (probably some unnecessary rude remark) before he planted his feet in position and prepared to throw the softball.

‘DIE!!!’ He screamed at the top of his lungs as he launched the ball into the air using his boisterous quirk to create momentum. Ichirou stifled a laugh at her classmates looks of shock towards Bakugou’s manner, after fighting alongside him- though she used that term loosely- Ichirou wasn’t as surprised at the fact that the boy definitely didn’t sound like a wanna-be hero.

‘Know your own maximum first,’ Aizawa said as he learnt the distance the ball had traveled, ‘that is the most rational way to form the foundation of a hero,’ He held up his phone, the screen read 705 meters. Holy shit- Ichirou may not have gotten off on the best foot with Bakugou but she could appreciate that he had an amazing quirk, no matter how much it burst her eardrums.

‘What is this! It looks like fun!!’ An astounded Mina turned to Ichirou, grabbing her by the shoulder and bouncing,

‘We can use our quirks as much as we want! As expected from the hero course!’ A black haired boy next to Kirishima exclaimed.

‘It looks fun, huh?’ Aizawa mumbled, Ichirou placed her hand on top of Mina’s as a warning, ‘You have three years to become a hero. Will you have an attitude like that the whole time?’ Mina’s face went white with the expectation of being punished on the first day of school, ‘All right, Whoever comes in last place in all eight tests will be judged to have no potential and will be punished with expulsion.’ An evil smirk plastered the tired mans face as he turned to fully face his class. Ichirou’s eyes widened- expelled! On the first day of school? Suddenly everything became more serious, eyes narrowed in determination and fists clenched, nobody was willing to just back down. The equally determined girl braced her body, tail bristling in anticipation. She wasn’t going to lose. Not yet.

Ichirou looked over to the frog- like girl crouched besides her, her now glowing red eyes narrowing as she let the possessive, competitive wolf inside of her free. Her hands braced the ground beneath her as she positioned herself as low as possible, hoping to use little energy to complete the 50 meter sprint. The shot sounded and Ichirou leapt into action, arms burning as she pushed herself from the ground, legs pounding as she raced towards the line, barely thinking as she tried desperately to stay in her lane- controlling her wolfish traits was often difficult in open planes like this, her mind begging her to run off into the distance.

‘3.76 seconds’ a robotic voice caused Ichirou to stop abruptly, rubbing at her temples in slow, circular motions to regain control of herself.

‘You okay there puppy?’ Kirishima asked, ‘Need to go for walkies?’ he jested, before noticing that the colour of the girls eyes was still red,

‘Just got to go grab my lead.’ Ichirou replied sarcastically, words muffled by her now protruding canines,

‘Hey you did really good though.’ The red head reassured her, ruffling her ears and pulling her into his shoulder, ‘Plus Mina’s up next so just chill out and watch.’

Waiting for Mina’s race to begin, Ichirou looked around at the other people who had also finished their races. Her heart fluttered embarrassingly as her eyes met a pair of flashing red ones staring right back at her, an action that seemed to be recurring, though this time, there was no baring of teeth or narrowed eyes. He was just looking at her, with such intensity it could have been a glare, but Ichirou felt her cheeks warm up again, unable to turn away. She didn’t know what to do, they’d held eye contact for so long it almost felt wrong to look away, and she knew even after only knowing him for this small amount of time that Bakugou was not one to back down from a challenge. Decisively, the girl smiled at him, fangs peaking out of her lips, feeling as if it was the only rational thing to do. Apparently she was wrong, the boys eyebrows raised into his hairline as his entire face turned almost as red as his eyes, he looked away quickly, turning his attention back to the race and leaving the poor girl completely astounded.

The rest of the test had gone well. Ichirou hadn’t come last in any of the activities so far and had won the long distance run by a mile which meant she was saved from expulsion no matter what happened. She couldn’t say the same for some of her other classmates- most importantly a green haired boy she had heard Bakugou calling Deku who had only used his quirk during the ball throw.

‘Okay, I’ll quickly tell you the results. The total is simply the marks you got from each test.’ Aizawa explained, ‘It’s a waste of time to explain verbally, so I’ll show you the results all at once. The person with the lowest total score will be expelled.’ Aizawa pressed a button on his phone and the results were revealed to the hopeful students.

Ichirou searched for her name, 7th – Ichirou Sato followed closely behind by her friends. She turned to the two with a smile as Kirishima gave a thumbs up.

‘By the way, I was lying about the expulsion’ Aizawa said offhandedly, everyone’s jaws dropped, eyes widening, ‘It was a rational deception to draw out the upper limits of your Quirks.’

‘Of course it was a lie,’ The winner of the test, Momo, said, taking in everyone’s shocked expressions, ‘It should have been obvious if you just thought it through.’ Ichirou hadn’t even noticed how absurd it would be to expel a student on the first day.

‘That was pretty nerve wrecking, huh.’ A black haired boy turned to Kirishima,

‘I’ll take up the challenge anytime!’ he replied, causing Ichirou to laugh at his new and improved manliness. Bakugou turned to her at the sound, eyebrows drawn in as they had been since Deku had used his quirk. Ichirou responded by raising an eyebrow in question, to which Bakugou turned away eyes rolling as he crossed his arms, Ichirou mirrored him, feeling equally as confused as before.

‘With that we’re done here. There are handouts with the curriculum and such in the classroom so when you get back, look over them.’ Aizawa mumbled, turning to leave his class,

‘That was pretty wild, huh puppy?’ Kirishima nudged the girl as they headed back to class,

‘Yeah, I cant believe he lied to us!’ Ichirou replied, kicking at the sand beneath their feet,

‘Hey, would you watch out!’ Mina covered her face dramatically,

‘Sorry pinky.’ Ichirou apologised,

‘It’s okay, we did really good guys! I’m so glad no one was expelled.’ Mina exclaimed as the three began walking, ‘And did you see Momo! She’s so cool, I think she was one of the recommendations.’

‘Yeah she was so good!’ Ichirou replied,

‘I wonder if she’ll be friends with us.’ Mina sighed,

‘What do you mean? Everybody likes you, we’re gonna be friends with everyone!’ Kirishima reassured as they entered the building to get changed.

tag list : @jazzylove

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villainever · 5 years

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"I See You Got What You Wanted": Niko & Villanelle's Relationship + What Gemma's Death Means for Villaneve

i think it’s fairly safe to say that gemma’s death in 2x07 has been one of the most controversial of villanelle’s murders. in this mini-essay, i want to look at the eve-niko-villanelle-gemma dynamic, why villanelle might’ve killed gemma, what that means for the show’s plot, and for villanelle/eve. although in my last post i talked about how villanelle and eve DON’T have an “i / it” relationship, villanelle certainly does position most other people in the “it” category. eve is an exception, not the rule – unless someone really captures villanelle’s attention, she doesn’t really bother to contextualise them as more than an object, or in gemma’s case, a tool.

villanelle is aware of gemma before eve is, and meets her minutes after, as one of her many characters – one specifically designed for interacting with gemma. remember, this is 2x03, and even though raymond has told villanelle that eve isn’t interested in her anymore, she doesn’t believe him yet, because a) she doesn’t view raymond as a reliable source, and b) eve came to julian’s house when villanelle called her, even though they ultimately missed each other. at this point, villanelle is happy with her and eve’s progress, and understands that they’re more connected than they’ve ever been (“she [stabbed me] to show me how much she cares about me” / “sometimes when you love someone, you will do crazy things”). but one obstacle remains between her and eve: niko.

i believe her actions at this juncture reflect how seriously villanelle takes her relationship with eve, and its potential future. because the obvious, easy answer to someone like villanelle would be, “kill niko”. it’s fast and efficient and neatly removes him from the equation. BUT. villanelle has learned from killing anna’s husband that people don’t just bounce back from having a partner murdered, even if they were already having an affair with you. so villanelle takes killing niko completely off the table; she doesn’t want eve to hate her, to resent her even years later, like anna did. notably, though, her first strategy is NOT to tell him about the stabbing, and to try and make him hate/distrust eve. she tries the carrot, not the stick.

“squirt your perfume in his room so it always smells like you. flatter him. make him doubt his wife.” not only is this transparently from villanelle’s playbook (lmao), it’s an attempt to give gemma a viable plan to solve everyone’s problem: gemma seduces niko > niko leaves eve > eve is single > villanelle and eve rail each other into the next century (i can only assume this is how villanelle’s brain works lol). gemma gets niko, and presumably both are happy and far away. and most importantly, villanelle gets eve for keeps. i think this is probably the max of empathy we can expect from villanelle when it comes to two people she literally couldn’t care less about except for their roles in eve’s life. however, villanelle’s massively impatient. her idea doesn’t work instantly, probably because she’s overestimated niko’s willingness to abandon a long-term relationship for new possibilities and chemistry – and who can blame her, seeing as she’s making her calculations based on eve’s readiness to do the same when villanelle comes into the picture. anyway, villanelle isn’t getting instant results, and then the game changes: eve doesn’t come to amsterdam. villanelle’s suddenly freaking out, because god, what if eve’s not into her anymore, when villanelle still so crazy about her?

so after meeting up with eve in 2x05 – which confirms yet again that this thing between them isn’t something villanelle can bear to lose – she shifts it up a gear, and tells niko that eve stabbed her. it’s the pincer approach: on one side, there’s gemma, looking sweet and simple, and on the other, eve, appearing increasingly grey and complex. obviously, that’s a very easy choice for villanelle, and she’s hoping it is for niko too, only in the opposite direction. everything that makes villanelle like eve more, makes niko like her less.

then niko and eve hook up in 2x06. villanelle probably kicks over every trash can along the street and taps on all windows creepily to scare people until she feels better. after this, she’s a bit petty with eve until eve reveals that niko left. then it’s all genuine effort at AA, and “maybe eve’s lonely, i should text her”, because hey, the window is open, and impatience cuts both ways. she’s not going to lose the opportunity.

by 2x07, things are going well between villanelle and eve, but villanelle wants reassurance, and insurance. she’s tying up loose ends – getting the recipe, making sure gemma and niko are riding off into the sunset and leaving her and eve alone. side note: while villanelle tells niko that she wants the shepherd’s pie recipe because “eve likes it”, i think it’s also because to villanelle (who loves food) it’s a significant piece of the memory of her first proper meeting with eve in 1x05. she might be hoping it reminds eve of this night too, but even if it doesn’t, villanelle likes it, and it has all-round positive associations for her.

anyway. villanelle asks niko if he loves gemma – no, he doesn’t. he loves eve. “of course i do, she’s my wife”. in this scene, after he says that line, villanelle’s eyes get shiny, like they did in amsterdam, almost like she’s about to cry. ive tried to grab it in the screenshot, but it’s hard when it’s not a gif.

here’s the thing. i don’t think villanelle would’ve killed gemma if she’d waited until after rome to have this confrontation. why? because in rome, it’s pretty clear that even if niko’s not over eve, eve is pretty much over him. when niko leaves, eve says, “don’t leave me alone!” crucially, this line, this FEAR, isn’t really about him at all. eve’s relationship with villanelle is so volatile that she hasn’t made the leap yet, unsure of the landing. niko is her safety net. we’ve been shown all season that eve’s basically bored with him, and has been since pre-villanelle (“you’ve missed [teacher’s night] for three years”), but she keeps him around so that she has someone. at this point, eve isn’t certain whether she has other people in her life, so she doesn’t want to lose him.

EXCEPT. seeing him with gemma at her house kind of puts him in a new light, and eve’s abruptly faced with exactly how normal he is, and how different they are. earlier that day, she and villanelle were running an undercover op, and villanelle killed someone in broad daylight (at least a lil to impress eve), but here niko is, hanging out with someone who collects music boxes, and is painfully ordinary by contrast. it’s enough to get eve to walk away, but her decision is affirmed in rome. hugo’s more than happy to sleep with her, and far more significantly, villanelle is too. eve’s suddenly available, but villanelle hasn’t lost interest now that the chase is effectively over (they’re hardly enigmas in different countries anymore; they work together and text and have conversations about jealousy). with niko gone, eve ISN’T alone. and i think eve will find that life without a safety net is even more of an adrenaline rush, plus now there’s nobody to slow her down or question her (questionable) decision-making. she’s not thinking about niko AT ALL, and he’s barely crossed her mind this season anyway. but rewind to pre-rome, and villanelle sees an eve/niko reunion as a possibility. now, i really doubt niko would’ve told villanelle he still loved eve if he’d realised it was the wrong answer. in fact, i believe he thinks it is the right answer for villanelle, because he fundamentally misunderstands villaneve’s relationship.

he still thinks it’s a cat-and-mouse, power-trip thing. in season 1, he accuses eve of getting off on being the only one who can predict villanelle (not landing on the fact that it’s villanelle herself eve likes, not just the rush of a high-stakes mission), but even with villanelle saying, “we’re more than friends”, his “what are you talking about?” is actually in response to her telling him she’s forgiven eve – he’s asking, “forgiven her for what?”. niko doesn’t get that villanelle and eve are inherently romantic, albeit in an unconventional (and twisted) way. he does infer that villanelle cares for eve in some way, so i think he incorrectly adds it up, and comes to the conclusion that in 2x07, villanelle’s come to see him and gemma because she’s mad at him for leaving eve, and has come for revenge on eve’s behalf. but she’s not there for revenge, she’s there for closure. and he turns around and does the exact opposite of what she wants. so she kills gemma.

even though many of us were expecting a recurring character death this season (i saw some speculation around hugo, particularly), gemma’s death wasn’t exactly predictable. while villanelle killing people is very par for the course with this show, and killing eve does an excellent job of using close narration to warp viewer’s morality while they watch (another essay in that point), gemma evoked a lot more of an emotional response than villanelle’s typical marks. i think this is for a few reasons. firstly, even though she was far from the show’s coolest or most interesting character, gemma was nice and considerate; she tried to shoot her shot, but she never pushed niko to cheat on eve, and when she met eve, she was kind (and friendly to villanelle too when she was “kim”). secondly, she was really normal – most of killing eve’s cast of characters feel exceptional, almost fantastical in the best way, but gemma was someone you could meet in real life. lastly, gemma didn’t opt-in to any of this; unlike bill, nobody warned her of the risks, and her life was completely extrinsic to the main plot – from her perspective, she basically got killed completely out of nowhere. villanelle won’t kill people eve cares about anymore. she killed bill, when their relationship was nascient, but in 1x05, villanelle telling eve “he was slowing you down” is what prompts eve to reach for the knife that first time before villanelle pins her to the fridge. but eve dislikes gemma, so villanelle decides this is unlikely to have negative repercussions for her.

is she intending to frame niko for murder to eliminate him permanently without killing him? maybe. she did use materials she found on-site (i.e. crime of passion). but villanelle has a certain flair for narrative, and i think if she was trying to do that, she probably would’ve staged some kind of scene to make niko seem more guilty (e.g. a domestic dispute). that said, the murder did have less of her usual drama, so she might be trying to keep it realistic for niko to have done. if yes, this was a bit risky, because it might pull niko into the MI5 investigation, and put him in proximity to eve. what i think is most likely is that, just as villanelle has positive associations with niko’s shepherd’s pie, she’s trying to give niko a negative association with eve. trying to ensure that every time he looks at her, he sees gemma dying for no real reason, sees the harsh reality of the path she’s chosen, and can never be truly close to her again. if it’s niko’s choice to stay away from eve, then eve will be less mad at villanelle – she might be more cross if he got falsely imprisoned. this way, she’ll see him as someone who can’t hack it, just as she already does. and he’ll see how she keeps going on, relatively untroubled, and his image of her as “the best person [he] knows” will be irreparably shattered. so will eve be mad about gemma? im not even sure she’ll find out about it this season. it seems like there’s a lot going on in rome next episode; it might not even come up. honestly, given eve’s current development, i’d guess the consequences will be eve acting huffy at villanelle for a few days in a way that villanelle will weather in relatively good spirits, knowing that once it’s passed, they’re in the clear. eve doesn’t care about gemma, maybe even dislikes her, and if she was able to move past bill’s death, then this is unlikely to bother her that much. with eve, we are able to more and more often see these “i / it” relationships shine through, and to eve as well as villanelle, i think gemma is an “it”. carolyn will probably make this mess go away, to keep her own plans sailing smoothly.

gemma’s murder also has the symbolic value of the death of normality, specifically eve’s normality, which she’s been drifting further and further from over the whole show, but particularly this season. gemma’s body literally has “fragile” written on the murder weapon: eve’s ordinary existence was always fragile, because eve didn’t fit. she’s a sociopath, and her life was a performance that was suffocating her, just as gemma suffocates. personally, i liked gemma, and was quite sad that she died. while i was shocked when it happened, the longer i’ve had to reflect, the less i feel that surprise. part of what makes killing eve fresh is that it doesn’t pull punches, and it’s not interested in trying to make villanelle more human, it’s interested in seeing how far it can take her and still have us love her. given the fates of bill, frank and nadia (she even shot konstantin), this was hardly out of the left field for her – the most notable deviation is that gemma’s death was her last resort, not her first idea. just as eve is changing, villanelle is adapting too. ive mentioned a few times that they’re meeting in the middle, and this is another step towards that. now, for anyone who actually made it through that slog, i have one more point. villanelle is really hung up on niko’s moustache, and i think that’s a great choice from the writers’ room, to have the thing she uses to identify him as being something explicitly masculine. to villanelle, niko is just The Man. The Husband. The “i / it” relationship here is between villanelle and a moustache.

this mini-essay is for @enter-the-mind-of-a-degenerate , who asked in the comments of the last one. if anyone else has any requests, inbox me or reply to this post :D also any and all of your comments give me life, and i have so much fun reading them/the messages you guys send me.

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mashitandsmashit · 4 years

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America’s Got Talent: Season 15 - Auditions 4

11: Christine Hurley. I will say, I wasn't a big fan of the stand-up for the most part anyway, as she basically came off as Bargain Bin Barbolak (with only 10% trailer nasty). I mean, I've seen this character plenty of times before...But I also felt bad for that little flub; She was doing fine up until that point, and it really threw her off by the end...I will admit that Howie gave some pretty good advice, and I hope she takes it to heart to improve for the future...Best wishes to her!

10: LILIAC. Shame we didn't see more of this act...I enjoyed what little of them I saw! But I guess the next entry had to be the focus of the segment...

9: Luca Di Stefano. Barry White he is not, but this amused me enough...I wouldn't say this guy is necessarily a talented singer OR a talented baritone, as I could hear his voice cracking up throughout...But I enjoyed the gimmick for now, knowing that he's very likely going to be cannon fodder in the next round. (And probably for the best...Doing that CAN'T be good on his throat!)

8: Ashley Marina. So we're combining the drama from the Ansley Burns, Lamont Landers and Daniel Emmet auditions now, huh...? This kid gets THREE tries, HUH!? Honestly, it's getting harder and harder to understand Simon's standards by now, because I thought she did really good with both of those other attempts...But this was an obvious set-up...I liked her precious little dad song enough, and her singing voice is legitimately good (though nothing particularly new for me), so I'd say she deserves a shot in this game...I'm just sick of all this manipulative drama...Simon, I'm coming for your dogs! (This is becoming a VERY disturbing running gag...)

7: Olox. And from here on out, it's nothing but overwhelming positivity! When these two Power Rangers villains walked out, I knew they were either gonna suck, or we were gonna get something truly entertainingly bizarre! I am beyond happy that it was the latter! As far as such an unappealing talent as throat singing may be, they really are talented in that department, and they found a way to make it fun! ...And yet strangely the lady still sounded less like a goose than Dolores O'Riordan...(I'm just teasing; I like the Cranberries AND that song...) A silly gimmick that's sure not to get very far, but I'll enjoy the ride as much as I can!

6: Brett Loudermilk. Markiplier called, he wants his hair back! Next to Cristina Rae, this is probably the act we saw the most of in the promos...On the surface, he seemed like just another sideshow act, and to be fair, he kinda was...But contrary to some opinions I've made before, this is one type of act where personality is everything, and this guy has it by the bucketloads! Honestly, he is probably one of the funniest comedians we've seen in recent seasons, without even doing stand-up! And Sofia was almost as funny working off of him! I've no doubt the extra segments of the performance were a set-up (and how interesting that we had two acts with midway cliffhangers in a row...and I still loved this audition as much as I did!) That being said, I look forward to seeing him again! ...Though I guarantee you his throat hurt like a motherf***er the next morning! (And that makes TWO dudes in one show abusing the hell out of their throats!)

5: Nolan Neal. Vying for the gold medal in the Sob Story Olympics, and yet I'm willing to look past that because this man is just THAT talented! It's like if Chris Klafford's voice (and beard) came together with Marcin Patrzalek's guitar skills, with the songwriting complexity of We Three! Interesting how his audition came right after the Golden Buzzer, since this guy looked fitting enough for it (especially from Simon), and I honestly wouldn't have complained (though I'll get to the REAL pick soon...) But as it is, this guy looks like a prime GB pick for the Judge Cuts, and I have no doubt that he will go far! Hands down my favorite singer so far this season!

4: Feng E. Speaking of the passing down of Marcin Patrzalek's skills, here's a mini Marcin right here! Grace VanderWaal is watching this kid and going “Why didn't I do THAT with my ukelele!?” From what little we saw of him (not so much the performance as the boy himself), I wouldn't doubt that he will probably be eliminated in the next round...Real shame...But we have another talented preteen to potentially step in for him...

3: Noah Epps. It was actually a close one between the two kids, but I ultimately picked Noah because we saw more of his dancing than Feng's electric ukelele playing...(It's actually a close one between all of the Top 7...) It looks like they finally built a more advanced model of the Merrick Hanna droid, now with more creepy Pinocchio schtick! (Ultron, eat your mechanical heart out!) I really hope this kid does well in this game; No reason to cut his strings so early...

2: The Spyros Bros. So THIS is what Mochi's act was missing! Well, where he failed, this may be the act to succeed in making diabolo a talent to be taken seriously on this show! What they have already displayed here was mindblowing, and from what they've said, it sounds like this is only the beginning! Between the awesomeness we are (possibly) about to witness, the bullying backstory, and the AGT fanboyism, this act does have the potential to go far! When I watched the preview video on Youtube a few days ago, I was expecting this to be another awesome act in an otherwise humdrum show, but not only were almost every act tonight top-notch, but one other act just barely edged them out from the top spot of this list...

1: W.A.F.F.L.E. Crew. In Season 13, we got the epically named Pancakes! And now this year we have met their superior brethren in the dancing breakfast pastry category! (Can't wait to see French Toast Crew in Season 17 and Da Crepez in Season 19!) Okay, onto the most important point...I never thought I'd say this...But I think I'll be rooting for Simon Cowell's Golden Buzzer to win this season! It's hard to compare them with the more gimmicky dance acts like V.Unbeatable, Light Balance and Zurcaroh, but as far as straight-up hip-hop dance goes, this is the cream of the crop! It's also hard to compare them with the other GBs; They probably won't get as many Youtube views as Roberta or Cristina (though we'll just see), but they definitely stand out more, and Simon is sure to push them as far as possible! So far none of the acts are safe bets for the win...But maybe it's time a dance crew finally got it (again, not counting V.Unbeatable at Champions earlier this year...) These guys have all of the necessary materials to go all the way: The skills, the style, the story, the Golden Buzzer, the fans' blessing, Simon's blessing...and MY blessing!

WHERE WERE ALL THESE ACTS BEFORE!? It's like they saved almost all of the really exciting ones for one show (though Malik and maybe a few others would have fit in quite well). This reminds me of that audition episode last year that had Marcin, Berywam and ADEM all in the same show (as well as that goofball who did the Andy Kaufman thing), but if almost the entire show was at their level! Hands down the best audition of the season so far, with several acts I could see making it all the way to the Finals!

So next week should be interesting...We already saw what it's like with a vacant judges' seat (giving the Spyros plenty of space to toss the diabolo over), but we'll see how Sofia's “Modern Family” co-star Eric Stonestreet handles filling in for Heidi...

I will probably expect the last Golden Buzzer of the round (Howie's) to be saved for the final audition the week after (I wonder if it will be that “at home” show I saw on Youtube, and they left out Howie's GB in those videos). Either way, we'll wait and see...

Until then...

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atlas-of-a-human-soul · 5 years

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Young Wolf, pt. 8 (Twilight AU)

Summary: Knowing the danger they’ll face, Shawn and Y/N prepare for the Volturi to arrive...just not how Shawn imagined they would.

Warnings: sexual references, swearing, angst, fluff

Word count: ~ 2.1k

Young Wolf - Series Masterlist (Twilight AU)

Y/N couldn’t tell if the room turned so quiet or had her senses been numbed with the news Eleazar gave her. If she were human, her poor heart would be running an arrhythmia as her mind raced toward an electrical storm of anxiety induced panic attacks. But she isn’t human, which is exactly why she’s in this position.

Just as her emotions grow to be overwhelming, a soothing wave of calmness washes over her and pulls her back from the very dangerous ledge she found herself hanging from. When a human loses control, they drink themselves to oblivious or hook up with random strangers, even start a fight. When a vampire loses control, they slaughter entire cities before they’re stopped.

That’s why Y/N sent a thankful smile in Jasper’s direction, one he received with a curt nod. Jasper has certainly been helpful with her transformation and although she’d usually complain about his influence on her mood and hunger, today she appreciated it.

“But I can’t even do anything.” She frowns deeply, thinking her forehead must be creased with horizontal waves that showed just how worried she is, but when she tilts her head up to meet Shawn’s eyes, seeing her own reflection in them, she’s almost disappointed her forehead is perfectly smooth, unaffected.

Shawn leans in, brushing his lips against the cool surface of her forehead, turning his cheek to rest there for comfort just as his arms around her tighten and push her so close to him that it’s hard to tell where he ends and Y/N begins.

“That will change, little vampire.” Eleazar assures her, the amazement in his eyes never quite dissolving. If possible, Y/N could have sworn it grew.

“To have the ability to talk and manipulate any animal, bending them to your will…The potential your power holds is infinite. You could rule the world and I don’t mean the supernatural aspect of the world we live in, but THE world. All you need is proper motivation.” Eleazar draws out the last bit, enthralled with his own vision of what Y/N’s future could be and that’s when it dawn on Shawn just what he meant when he said the Volturi would be dangerous to his imprint’s well being.

They could influence her to leave the Cullens and him in return for their protection, but work with them to achieve this ungodly plan Eleazar concocted. She could be killed for her power instantly, so they would be certain she can’t overthrow them once she’s in control of herself.

Neither option benefited them.

“That’s enough Eleazar.” Carlisle interrupts, seeing Shawn and Y/N huddled up in fear and agony of what’s to come. In his mind, Y/N is his child, his family and he’d die before something happens to her. In fact, he just might in a day’s time.

“Don’t worry, young wolf. Your fate is tied to the girl in your arms. Should she die, you will too. Should she become Queen, you’ll be her King. Either way, you won’t be apart for long.” Eleazar smirks, stepping back by his mate’s side. He didn’t hide his curious gaze, but the distance between them helped Shawn breathe again.

“So what now?” Rosalie stands, her lips pressed together and her eyes burning with rage. She’s angry, Y/N can tell. But she’s no longer angry at her for sleeping with Shawn and accepting him as a soulmate, rather with the world and the silence in the room. Everyone seems to be lost in their own worrisome thoughts, no one daring to speak a sound.

“Well?!” Rosalie raises her voice enough to get everyone’s attention, but no one can truly say they have a plan. Y/N hides her face in Shawn’s chest, listening to his very frantic heartbeat as her emotions begin to rise and push against Jasper’s effect.

“If she runs, they’ll assume she wants to do just what Eleazar said.” Carlisle points out, sighing in resignation.

“If she stays, they might want her to join them. They might see her as a threat.” Jacob adds, looking to his pack member and brother with compassion and a silent promise to be his imprint’s defender. If anyone, Jacob knows what it means to have your imprint threatened by Volturi leadership. He’d fight for Shawn to never feel the agony he almost felt.

“And kill her for it.” Jasper finishes.

Y/N places her hands on Shawn’s chest, gently pushing herself away from him. She didn’t want to leave his embrace, much less see the hurt flash in his eyes as she did so, but she had to. Standing on her own, stepping away from her warm moonlight lover, Y/N approached Alice who sat beside Jasper with her hands folded in her lap.

“What do you see Alice?” Y/N asked her quietly, afraid of what the answer may be. She shivered, bending down as Alice refused or couldn’t meet her eyes. At face level, her hands resting on Alice’s knees, Y/N spoke.

“Please.”

Alice blinked, her lips parting ever so slightly. Her amber eyes flickered to Shawn and back to Y/N, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

“I can’t see anything. It’s like the future doesn’t exist.”

Y/N stands abruptly, shaking her head.

“How is that possible?” Bella questions, asking what everyone’s thinking. After her last brush with the Volturi, Bella didn’t look forward to seeing them again.

“It just is. No visions, nothing…Just dark.” Alice spoke as if in shock, her eyes fixating somewhere in the distance, looking through everyone.

“So…we all die?” Shawn’s tone is higher than usual, showcasing his worry for all to see. He didn’t mean to let his emotions show, but when it’s about Y/N, he can’t help it.

Selfishly, he wants more time. He finally found his soulmate and he wasn’t ready to accept the fact he had no time to be with her. He envisioned his entire life with her, a small infinity of their own to explore the world and love one another until there was nothing left. Until civilizations rise and fall, until the Sun is no more. That was his plan. He can’t just let it go.

“I don’t know.” Alice breaths out, her eyebrows furrowing once more as her lips press together in a thin line of frustration. It’s the first time she didn’t have an answer to any questions asked.

“Shawn.” Y/N only speaks his name before moving outside and away from all the tension. Shawn doesn’t hesitate to follow after her, like gravity itself is calling on his feet to move. He could feel she wanted to be alone, but his heart couldn’t stop the flutter that came with the realization that she wanted to be alone WITH HIM.

The moment he steps outside, he finds her already gone. Smiling to himself, Shawn quickly shifts and follows her scent to wherever she goes. He doesn’t mind her taking control, especially now when she’s in a situation where she can’t obtain any control over what happens. If that helps her even in the slightest bit, Shawn would let go of the reigns and relinquish any power he has.

All for her.

Always for her.

Shawn’s seeing in tunnel vision, only looking at the trail that leads to her. He fails to notice the beauty in nature as his paws pick up space, not admiring the newly discovered colors as all he cares is catching up and seeing her once more. Even a minute without her is time wasted, especially if all you have left is time measured in minutes.

He’s surprised to find her at a cliff, one overlooking waterfalls and a chasm he’d die if he fell to it. While she’s almost indestructible, he’s anything but and yet the collateral beauty in their difference is why their love holds so much worth in comparison to what he envision for himself in the past. He doesn’t have to worry about her being injured or dying in a freak accident as he’d be if she were human, but his worries have surpassed the trivial and landed in a category of its own. Ancient vampire society…not something he thought would be his main concern for the future. Alas, we don’t always get what we want.

Shifting back to his human form, Shawn looks around for a familiar tree with a stash of clothes to wear. Only to realize there isn’t one. This is so far into the Cullen’s territory, far pass anything he’d seen by now. Bare as the day he came into the world, he sits on a large rock, happy it’s a flat surface and hopes his downstairs area will be unaffected. He’d stand beside her, but he didn’t want her to think he’s a weirdo for being naked while she’s fully dressed. He didn’t want her to think he’s pressuring her for something in a situations they’ve been pushed into. He didn’t want her to have any reason to question him at all.

Turning on her heel, Y/N cocked an eyebrow as her eyes slowly traveled down his body, taking him in entirely. She looked at every inch of skin like it’s the silkiest, most beautiful fabric she had ever seen. Her gaze stilled on every round muscle, every hair that decorated his toned body. Her lips parted at the scar in his lower, right abdomen, one that signified he could get hurt and his skin can be easily scarred. It reminded her he could be taken from her at any given moment, bringing forth an aching pain in her chest.

Shawn cleared his throat awkwardly, shifting so his privates are concealed from view out of respect, mostly because he was sure she’d notice he was already throbbing for her. His animalistic side would love to have his way with her, probably going for round two by now, but his human side knew she deserved respect and a choice, most of all a moment to collect herself.

“Still shy after last night, huh?” Y/N teases. Corners of her lips curl upwards, tugging her lips until the spread into a smile, one genuine and loving, disarming for Shawn.

“I wouldn’t say that.” Shawn plants his palms behind him, leaning into them as his legs spread casually, giving Y/N a pretty big view to take in. She casually glances at him, only to shake her head and giggle.

“I was talking about your blushing cheeks, not your dick, but I’m not complaining.” Shawn’s eyes widen as his confidence crumbles, but she’s by his side in a blink of an eye. Tips of her fingers trail delicately along his thigh, making Shawn close his eyes and his head fall back.

“Easy there wolfy. Not going there just yet.” She breaks the moment he hoped would lead to pleasurable ecstasy she gave him the night before, but he fails to let her know. Instead, he smiles at her, sitting properly once more, his hand enveloping hers.

“I won’t let anything happen to you tomorrow, you know that. Don’t you?” Unlike his usually cocky persona, the Shawn sitting in front of her is shaky and scared, but for all the wrong reasons in her head. She knew he was scared for her, instead of taking care of himself. He’s the fragile one in their relationship and it unnerved her how casual he is about his own safety. She couldn’t understand why he believed that she’d be able to continue her life without him by his side if he sacrificed himself for her. She needed him just as much as he needed her and for that reason alone, she decided to channel whatever power she holds within and use it if it becomes necessary.

One night to find that flicker of hope inside her and help it turn into flames that will devour the Volturi. If they try to attack and destroy what she holds dear, she’ll make sure they go down with them.

She always had a stubborn defiance most considered a fatal flaw, but it had become her greatest virtue. Closing her eyes, Y/N concentrated with all her might on a call she knew might not work. She focused on the task, ignoring Shawn’s attempt to talk and his touched and tugs, knowing she had to try. If she didn’t, all she’d get in return is dead bodies of people she loves. Shawn’s body on the pile as well.

And it’s when she hears a growl and Shawn muttering ‘fuck’ under his breath. Opening her eyes, she sees the majestic cougar she had envisioned, circling menacingly. Instead of being afraid, Y/N smiles, bending down to face level with Shawn. Her right hand grabs the back of his neck and her other rests on his face.

“I am not going to let anything happen to YOU.” She uses his own promise, watching the cougar leave them be.

“How about we take advantage of your current look?” Y/N kinks her eyebrow, indicating her desire for him as she licks her lips and without any further explanation connects her lips with his.

In her mind, she had the proper motivation Eleazar spoke of.

She had her Young Wolf.

Tags: @accalialionheart @ourlittleshawnie @esoltis280 @ashwarren32 @justanothershawngirl @dragonqveendany @harleyscheekheart @mendes-vuitton @ilovejackavery @keithseabrook27 @hermit-with-friendz @iamburdened @heyits-claire @selenesybill

#shawn mendes #shawn mendes x reader #shawn mendes au #twilight #shawn mendes fanfiction #shawn mendes fluff #shawn mendes fic #shawn mendes fanfic #shawn mendes angst #shawn mendes werewolf au

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fics-for-my-heart · 5 years

Text

Award (b.h.)

Summary: What really happened at the viewing party?

Word count: 1765

Warning: none, maybe some cussing

A/N: I’ve been going back and forth on if I wanted to post this or not lol. Hope you guys enjoy it! Also, you should see my docs, someone give me some motivation bc I have so many WIPs 😬

Masterlist

“Y/N?” Ben's voice was muffled by the music you had playing as you danced around getting ready for the viewing party. Being apart of Bohemian Rhapsody was a huge step in your career, but sadly only Rami was invited to the Globes.

You were so caught up in getting your makeup finished and singing along that you didn’t realize Ben standing behind you. “A gathering of angels appeared above my head. They sang to me this song of hope and this is what they said. They said come sail away come sail away.”

“Come sail away with me.” Ben sang in response.

You jumped around and laughed before continuing. “Come sail away, Come sail away”

Ben took your hand in his and spun you. “Come sail away with meeeeeeeee.”

As you spun away you paused the music, still laughing. “Well don’t you look sharp.” You adjusted his tie before wrapping your arms around him. “I missed you.”

He kissed your head, returning the hug. “You look very lovely yourself. And I missed you too.” He smiled, pulling away and watching you slip into your shoes. “Are you ready? Joe and Gwil are already there.”

You grabbed your clutch and nodded, taking Ben’s extended elbow and heading to the car.

“Are you nervous?” He asked, watching you twist your bracelet on your wrist as the city speed by the window.

“Kinda? It’s the first award the movies been up for. Also Rami deserves it, he did so well. I just wish we could have been there.”

“Me too. But, at least we all still get to be together.” He patted your hand, leaving his over yours for a few beats before pulling away. The conversation easily went into the progress of the most recent projects you’d each been working on.

That’s how it always had been with Ben. Easy conversation, just kinda clicking. But you two weren’t together, although you wouldn’t say no if he asked. After spending every second together from shooting the film to falling asleep together during movie nights, the two of you had grown close.

There had been a few almosts for you. Like when you woke up curled into him and he looked so peaceful that it took everything in you not to kiss him. Another time was when you were sick and he stayed with you all day even though he was suppose to be on set. He made you soup and tea and he even read to you. You felt so soft about it, it was difficult not to confess your feeling right then.

When the car pulled up to the building, there were a few photographers outside the mini red carpet. Ben helped you out of the car and lead you with a hand on your lower back. The two of you stopped for a few pictures and to talk with some people but seeing as this wasn’t a big event, there weren’t many interviewers.

“That never gets easier, does it?” You asked Ben as the two of you made your way inside.

He laughed, swiping two flutes of champagne from a passing waiter, handing one off to you. “If you know the interviewer it’s not as bad. But you just have to have fun with it.”

Before he could say anything more you were each wrapped in a pair of arms. “About time!” Joe's head was propped onto Ben's shoulder as Gwil rested his chin on your head. “Y/N, you look absolutely lovely.”

Gwils head moved over yours in agreement. “Thank you. How’s the party so far?”

The boys released you and Ben, giving you the opportunity to hug Joe while he filled you in. “Lucy went to the red carpet with Rami, but she will be here for the viewing party. I know Rami is coming here after the show, his mom and brother are here somewhere.” He lead you away from Ben and Gwil, who seemed to be in a serious conversation, and took you to the buffet. “Food and drinks are all here and they have a bunch of screens set up for when the show starts.” Joe handed you a plate, taking one for himself and starting on the food.

“Wow they really went all out. It smells amazing.” Your stomach silently grumbled as you scooped some potatoes into your plate.

Once you and Joe had plates, you followed him to a table and started eating and talking with everyone else at the table. When you first pictured the party, you had this hectic idea in your head, and you were glad it wasn’t as crazy. There was some mellow music playing and chatting all around. It was all very nice.

As conversations continued, you started remembering all it took to get here. Creating a bond with the boys and Lucy, all the retakes and late nights. The pranks you’d all pull, and getting to know Brian and Roger.

You hadn’t realized you’d zoned out till something icy touched your bare shoulder. “Ah! Cold!”

Ben pulled the chair closer to you and sat down. “Sorry love, I brought you a beer.”

After a long sip you sighed. “Thank you. Where’ve you been? You were having a pretty deep conversation and the poof you were gone.” You pokes his leg with your toe.

“Oh, nothing. That was just about the rugby game.” His face was flushed, but you couldn’t tell if it was from the alcohol or not.

“Well, I’m glad you joined us.” You smiled, tapping the neck of your beer against his.

“Me too.” He responded as you turned back to listen to Gwil, you missed the dreamy look in his eyes.

About an hour later, everyone had eaten and was moving around talking when the show started. You’d just finished speaking with Ramis brother when you noticed Ben watching you with a soft look. You raised an eyebrow and he smiled, nodding to the spot beside him.

“Thanks for saving me a seat.”

“No one else I’d rather sit beside.” He laughed, nudging you slightly with his shoulder.

“Except me.” Joe said, wiggling his way to the other side of Ben. “I’m just glad you separated them.” He pointed at Ben then at Gwil who was sat beside you.

Gwil mocked shock. “I take great offense to your lack of support, Joseph.”

“You didn’t mind his lack of support of our love.” Joe huffed, crossing his arms.

“Boys. Boys. There’s enough of me to go around.” Ben said, holding his arms up.

“You sure Y/N would want to share you?” Gwil asked.

You picked up your drink from the table and sat back, thankful they could see the heat rising up your neck. “He’s all yours boys.”

They bickered back and forth for a bit before Lucy showed up. She talked about how exciting it was to walk the carpet with Rami, and how nervous he was, and before long it was the start of the show.

The beginning was slow, and rough. The opening was cringe worthy, and it took awhile for them to actually start announcing winners. It was exciting to see Rami, Brian, and Roger sitting front row, and the closer it got to the end the more the energy in the room shifted to a nervous one.

When Julianne Moore and Richard Gere walked out and started talking the entire room went silent. Ben's hand slowly wrapped around yours as he leaned forward a little.

“And the golden Globe goes to...Rami Malek!” Juliann said as the room erupted.

Cheers and whoops and hugs went around as Rami made his way to the stage. Ben wrapped his arms around you in a hug and gave a sigh of relief before turning and hugging Joe, still keeping his arm over your shoulder.

Ramis speech was beautiful. Joe yelled “come at me” when he said he was going to tackle the boys, and when he dedicated the award to Freddie you couldn’t hold back the tears.

Ben's thumb gently swiped under your eye and he pulled you closer. The room grew quiet again as Nicole Kidman walked out and introduced the last category. Everyone stood still, even the waiters stopped moving around to listen.

“And, the Golden Globe goes to...Bohemian Rhapsody!” She announced, as once again the room erupted.

You started crying again, as Bens arms went straight up and he wooed. Everyone was hugging and cheering. When Ben turned back to you, he had a huge grin on his face as both hands cupped your cheeks, wiping the tears away again before closing the distance and kissing you.

Everything stopped, all you could feel was Ben's lips on yours as you kissed back. Your ears were ringing, and when you pulled away you realized it was because everyone was cheering again, this time for you and Ben.

“I’ve wanted to do that for so long.” He laughed, resting his forehead against yours. You licked your lips and just looked at him for a long moment. His eyes grew worried the longer you took to respond. “I’m sorr-..”

You covered his lips with your finger and shook your head. “I’ve wanted to do that for a while too.”

A boyish grin was on his face again as he scooped you up and spun you, kissing you once more.

“Fork it over.” You heard Gwil say, his hand out as Joe grumbled under his breath while digging in his wallet.

“The one time I’m wrong. And I lose $50.” He slapped the bill into Gwils hand. “About damn time though.” A smile spread across his face as he hugged you both at once. “I’m going to get us a round of shots to celebrate!”

Gwil move closer and whispered. “Ben told me he was thinking about doing it, and he sounded pretty serious. But I may have down played it when I told Joe.” He laughed, kissing the top of your head. “I’ll give him back his money at the end of the night. Maybe.” He patted Ben’s back before following after Joe.

Ben looked down at you and smiled. “Hi.” He whispered. Wrapping both arms around your waist.

“Hi.” You couldn’t stop the smile that spread across your face.

Slowly, he moved closer, and you pushed up on your toes, meeting him halfway. This time the kiss was more serious, everything you’d wanted to say to each other but weren’t sure how.

When you pulled away, Ben laughed. “Rami may have won a globe but I think I got the best award of the night.”

Tags:

@hermionedeservesbetterthanron @unlikelysamwinchesteronahunt

#ben hardy #ben hardy fluff #ben hardy x you #ben hardy x reader #ben hardy fanfic #ben hardy imagine #bohemian rhapsody #borhap

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lokilickedme · 5 years

Text

Part 3 of Read By Loki Laufeyson - Fifty Shades of Grey

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own (no longer available there)

Rating: Mature

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: F/M

Fandom: Loki - Fandom, Loki (Marvel) - Fandom, The Avengers (MarvelMovies), Tom Hiddleston - Fandom

Relationship: Loki/His Book, Ana/Christian

Character: Loki, Loki Laufeyson, Loki (Marvel), Ana Steele, Christian Grey

Additional Tags: Explicit Language, this book deserves its own warning tag, one that says DON'T READ ME, Explicit Sexual Content, lame and exceedingly silly descriptions of sex acts

Series: Part 3 of Read by Loki Laufeyson

Stats: Originally Published 2016-02-27 Words: 3386 (original version)

Part One: The Night Manager

Part Two: High Rise

50 Shades of Grey, Read By Loki Laufeyson by lokilickedme

Summary: Loki reads 50 Shades and throws up multiple times. I would offer my apologies to E.L. James, but she doesn't deserve it.

Notes: See the end of the work for notes

This shitshow gets on the shaky road with a dedication that made the right side of my face twitch before the story even got started. It's dedicated to "the master of my universe" and as of right this very moment I'm ready to preemptively toss it into the bathroom, not as reading material for my next luxury soak, but as a replacement for the empty roll of toilet paper that I keep forgetting to run to the store for. Fuck me people, she didn't even capitalize "master" and ANY GOOD SUB KNOWS THAT NOT CAPITALIZING MASTER IS A MASSIVE SHOW OF DISRESPECT AND YOU DESERVE THE ASS BEATING YOU GET FOR IT - WITH ZERO AFTERCARE. Don't ask me how I know that, but go ahead and fight me, this is a hill I’m willing to die on. If this person is writing a book that's touted as an even remotely accurate accounting of a Dom/sub relationship, I can tell you right now, she doesn't know jack shit.

So I've read a couple of pages and I'm already looking around for my seizure meds when I realize I don't take seizure meds. I will after this, I might as well go ahead and call it in. I'm to the part about Wanda the Volkswagon when my anticipatory boner not only goes away, but retracts so far up into my scrotum as a result of the most horrendous writing I've seen this side of Thor's second grade book report on Anne of Green Gables that I'm thinking I might just be female now. I mean seriously? This hurts. I’m not even exaggerating, if you have a penis it’s going to draw up into your gall bladder. If you have a vulva it’s going to need a vat of Burt’s Bees Extra Moisture Replenishing Salve and a bottle of cranberry capsules. I’m not even female at the moment and this thing gave me a flaming UTI.

I’m not sure Wanda, my old VW Beetle, would make the journey in time. Oh, the Merc is a fun drive, and the miles slip away as I floor the pedal to the metal.

People, this is a published book. Someone got paid for this. It got made into a movie. I haven't even gotten to the sex yet and I'm already Google mapping monasteries within a one-hundred mile radius because I'm ready to take my vows. No, this book hasn't made me believe in a higher power. It has taken away my will to ever get laid again.

The elevator whisks me with terminal velocity to the twentieth floor.

Holy fucking shitballs people, terminal velocity by its very definition means someone is going to die. Is this person wearing a pressurized speed suit? Do they hand them to you at the door before you go into the elevator? How does the building tolerate the mechanics of generating that kind of speed? And if by some random blessing by some random god who won't be getting any thanks from me she actually survived this trip to the twentieth floor, her brains would be leaking out her asshole. That's not the way to make a good first impression, sweetheart. Take the fucking stairs next time.

It’s a stunning vista, and I’m momentarily paralyzed by the view. Wow.

Yes, wow. Paralysis is rarely ever momentary darling, and it does ugly things to pretty girls. Like, rendering you a jelly-like heap on the floor because your muscles don't continue working while you're paralyzed. Paralysis sort of means your muscles have stopped working.

I've begun highlighting every word I come across that the author obviously doesn't know the definition to. Fake it till you make it, right darling? Five pages in and my yellow pen has died a violent death.

I push open the door and stumble through, tripping over my own feet, and falling head first into the office. Double crap – me and my two left feet!

YOU.

HAVE.

GOT.

TO.

BE.

FUCKING.

KIDDING.

ME.

In what universe is this ridiculous cutesy sort of shit thought to be amusing? The cliches are giving me hemorrhoids. Me and my two left feet? Not that I'm an expert on Earth terminology and phrasing, but I'm fairly certain people stopped saying shit like that around 1962. And...I can't believe I'm being forced to say this, but - double crap?? I was already calling my brother a bilgesnipe’s vagina by the time I could crawl, I'm pretty sure the last time I said something as immature and amateurishly silly as double crap I was still in the womb and cursing in Morse Code. I may actually have even still been a sperm in my father's left testicle. How old is this writer?

“Um. Actually–” I mutter. If this guy is over thirty then I’m a monkey’s uncle. In a daze, I place my hand in his and we shake. As our fingers touch, I feel an odd exhilarating shiver run through me. I withdraw my hand hastily, embarrassed. Must be static. I blink rapidly, my eyelids matching my heart rate.

I'm sorry but I really don't even know where to start. The Um. Actually- ? Or the I'm a monkey's uncle? Maybe it's the staccato pacing? The elementary school sentence structure? The fact that all but one sentence of that paragraph has the word I in it, sometimes multiple times? She placed her hand in his and they shook - sort of like I'm shaking right now. It's the seizures this damn travesty has provoked, honestly I should sue the author for my prescription costs. And if that girl's eyelids matched her heart rate then I'm just envisioning one of those blinky-eyed cupie dolls strapped to a paint mixing machine.

“I own my company. I don’t have to answer to a board.” He raises an eyebrow at me. I flush.

Yes darling, always do a courtesy flush when the stench is really vomit-inducing. Like now. I'm not even going to ask if this conversation is taking place in a bathroom because I can tell you honestly, the bathroom is right where it belongs.

His voice is warm and husky like dark melted chocolate fudge caramel...or something.

Something...like, maybe shit, perhaps?

I shake my head to gather my wits. My heart is pounding a frantic tattoo -

No darling, trust me, it's not. A tattoo is something you draw on your body, there's no pounding involved unless you've done the drawing on your vagina. And if you’re referring to the drum beat, then you should just say so because frankly this is meant to be a sex book and your readers aren’t going to be interested in Googling your sophomoric attempts at using interesting words. And just as an aside, most humans are going to think of a Scottish marching band when you use that word in that context, and the last thing you want your readers thinking about while you’re sliding into a smut scene is men in plaid skirts blowing bagpipes.

I am utterly thrown by the sight of him standing before me. My memories of him did not do him justice. He’s not merely good-looking – he’s the epitome of male beauty, breathtaking -

Hold on a second, I wasn't aware I was in this book? I must have been drunk. I'm not sure that I would consent to this idiocy even if I was soused off my gourd, so I think I'm going to be filing a second lawsuit for character theft.

- and he’s here. Here in Clayton’s Hardware Store. Go figure.

Yes, go figure sweetiepie. Everybody, even handsome people, need replacement U-joints for their toilets. They come in handy when you're trying to flush books.

Finally my cognitive functions are restored and reconnected with the rest of my body.

Honey, cognitive functions aren't a part of your body, they're a part of your brain. So unless your head fell off while you were walking around in Clayton's Hardware Store, I doubt this happened. If it did, my condolences to Mr Clayton and the other shoppers, I know how traumatic that can be.

And from a very tiny, underused part of my brain –

You mean the whole thing?

- probably located at the base of my medulla oblongata where my subconscious dwells – comes the thought: He’s here to see you.

I just had another seizure. It’s a sex book darling, stop trying to use seventy-five cent Merriam Webster words and settle for something along the lines of My fucking head exploded - trust me, at this point your readers will relate to that far more than to the concept of subconscious thought. Or any thought at all. And we all know it’s highly unlikely Miss Double Crap Wanda-driving headless-in-Clayton’s-Hardware store is capable of coming up with a term like medulla oblongata after that terminal velocity elevator ride.

No way! I dismiss it immediately. Why would this beautiful, powerful, urbane man want to see me? The idea is preposterous, and I kick it out of my head.

And now your head is completely empty, much like the author's, because that poorly constructed series of sentences was all that was rattling around in there.

For the sake of moving this along, because I have something to say about literally every fucking sentence in this roll of rough-ass toilet paper, I'm going to skip to the first round of sex and see if anything improves. Because that's what people do when things aren't going well, isn't it? They have sex and see if it gets better? And then if it doesn't, you kick them out and finish up with a fresh pack of batteries and a few minutes of Skinamax and when you wake up in the morning it'll be a whole new day, sunshine. Because honestly, I just got to the part where her cheeks went the color of the Communist Manifesto and if I don't get to some penis and vagina action I'm going to kill myself. Besides that, all this double crap inner monologue is starting to make my ballsack clench up.

So alright people, I've got my lube and my right hand ready, let's get this party started shall we?

"Does this mean you’re going to make love to me tonight, Christian?” Holy shit. Did I just say that?

Well it certainly wasn't me. Having medulla oblongata issues again, are we sweetheart?

His mouth drops open slightly, but he recovers quickly. “No, Anastasia it doesn’t. Firstly, I don’t make love. I fuck... hard."

Finally, someone steps up. Is that the sound of zippers headed south I hear?

"Secondly, there’s a lot more paperwork to do, and thirdly, you don’t yet know what you’re in for. You could still run for the hills. Come, I want to show you my playroom.”

Nope, my mistake. Zippers firmly holding north. How far is this fellow going to count? Do people actually do that cheesy little “Firstly, secondly” speech tic all the way up to thirdly? I usually only get to secondly before someone pops me in the mouth. Somehow I have no trouble envisioning this obviously anal retentive Christian fellow proceeding right along to fourthly, fifthly, sixthly, seventhly...perhaps he has a numbers fetish to go along with that paperwork obsession of his. If this is foreplay I'm leaving because math was never my strong point and I’ll be damned if I’m going to relive the hell of ninth grade just to get a two page smut scene. If you want to have sex with me we get to firstly, I point to my zipper, and the game is on. But he does get points for being forthright enough to come right out up front with the admission that he's such a rough fucker there have to be contracts involved. Kudos my man. Too bad he wrecked it by planting that playroom visual immediately after, because now all I can think about is a toybox full of Legos and a plastic xylophone. Even I can't make anything kinky out of that.

My mouth drops open. Fuck hard! Holy shit, that sounds so... hot. But why are we looking at a playroom? I am mystified. “You want to play on your Xbox?”

Yes darling, Fuck hard! It sounds like a Bruce Willis movie, only this time he's not in an office building crawling through the ceiling or on an airplane fighting off terrorists, he's tied to a bed while Bonnie Bedelia drips hot wax on his scrotes. It's a real shame we lost Alan Rickman, I'd give anything to see Hans Gruber standing at the foot of the bed in a leather corset intoning Yippee ki-yay, motherfucker just one more time.

As for playing on his Xbox, the Sims have a "whoo hoo" function. That's all I'm going to say about that.

- it feels like I’ve time-traveled back to the sixteenth century and the Spanish Inquisition. Holy fuck.

Ah yes, the good old days of the Inquisition. I had quite a wonderful time during that era, it was a sado-masochistic wet dream. And no, I wasn't an Inquisitor...I worked as a volunteer equipment tester for the Vatican. There wasn't a steel spiked ball cage or 360-degree nipple twister that earned my seal of approval until I screamed for my mommy. Something tells me this pansy-ass little ninny isn't going to make it past the electroshock vulva clamps before she's crying for every matriarchal figure in her family all the way back to the Charlemagne era.

“It’s about gaining your trust and your respect, so you’ll let me exert my will over you. I will gain a great deal of pleasure, joy even, in your submission. The more you submit, the greater my joy – it’s a very simple equation.” “Okay, and what do I get out of this?” He shrugs and looks almost apologetic. “Me,” he says simply.

Um...no. Just no. Unequivocally NO. That isn't how it works, E.L. James. Not in the slightest. In a true Dom/sub relationship the submissive receives every bit as much as the Dominant, and there is no two ways around that. Anything less is bullshit and whoever you're trying to force-feed this lie to should leave running and punch you in the crotch on the way out. I sincerely hope anyone reading this nonsense is doing so on a dare and not because they want to learn about D/s dynamics, because you're obviously not going to learn anything from this book except how to be a lip-biting ningnong who doesn't do much more than chat merrily with herself inside her medulla oblongata while mentally spouting double crap! on repeat every thirty-seven seconds. And any respect I had for this Grey fellow for being up front about his sexual preferences just went out the window, which coincidentally is where the lip-biting ningnong should be headed. Like he said - you could still run for the hills.

Skipping ahead...skipping ahead...my god are these idiots ever going to do it? I'm on page 194 and so far the closest they've come to coitus is when he almost ejaculated in his pants in an apoplectic rage when she told him she was a virgin.

“Ah,” I groan.

Ack, I puke.

“You smell so good,” he murmurs and closes his eyes, a look of pure pleasure on his face, and I practically convulse. He reaches up and tugs the duvet off the bed, then pushes me gently so I fall on to the mattress.

I'm practically convulsing too darling, but unfortunately not with pleasure. I need more anti-seizure meds, I've already gone through the entire bottle. I'll be starting on the Xanax next and then it’s another call to my HMO.

I’m panting... wanting.

I'm vomiting...heaving.

Not taking his eyes off mine, again he runs his tongue along my instep and then his teeth. Shit. I groan... how can I feel this, there?

Hold up a second - this is a man who is so persnickety he pulls the duvet off the bed before he lets her set her ass on it, but now less than a page later he's just removed her sneaker and is licking the bottom of her sweaty all-day Converse encased foot? My capacity for suspension of disbelief is not only wavering at this point, it’s pretty much died a slow and painful death. Which is what I feel like I’m doing. And if a man is holding eye contact while licking the bottom of your foot, he’s either upside down or your leg is so high up in the air he could be looking up your hooch and seeing himself through your left nostril.

“How do you make yourself come? I want to see.” I shake my head. “I don’t,” I mumble.

I call bullshit. She’s twenty-one, a virgin, and has never diddled herself? That’s about as likely as me never having had intercourse with a horse.

“Let go, baby,” he murmurs. His teeth close around my nipple, and his thumb and finger pull hard, and I fall apart in his hands, my body convulsing and shattering into a thousand pieces.

Huh. And here all this time I’ve been laboring under the delusion that more was required than just two short paragraphs worth of nipple play. This girl is a physical wonder, her nipples are clitorises. Clitori? Clitterati? However you say multiple clits. I know playing with them feels nice and I’ve made more than one maiden squirm with a few well placed sucks and a pinch or two, but this girl was climaxing before he even got her out of her brassiere. Someone get her a job at the Kinsey Institute.

Suddenly, he sits up and tugs my panties off and throws them on the floor.

I hope they didn’t land on the duvet, he went to such trouble to keep it from getting mussed.

Pulling off his boxer briefs, his erection springs free. Holy cow...

Rather like a jack-in-the-box, I’m envisioning. Holy cow indeed. Twist the handle and Pop Goes The Weasel plays while you wait in panicked anticipation for that horrid little clown to burst out of the hinged metal box and scare the shit out of you. Well, he did say playroom, didn’t he. Oh, and boxers and briefs are two entirely different things, my dear. The further we get into this silly little tale the more convincing my sneaking suspicion that the author has never actually met a man before.

“I’m going to fuck you now, Miss Steele” he murmurs as he positions the head of his erection at the entrance of my sex.

I’m sorry, I know I’m an adult and all but I’m giggling like a sixth grade girl that wandered into the wrong locker room at school. And for the record, I know exactly what that sounds like because I’ve done it. But this...this is just...holy fucking hell with twice the fire and ten times the brimstone, that sentence up there just chemically castrated me. The head of his erection at the entrance of her sex. I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume it means he put his cock on her pussy and we’ll call it fair and move along.

“Hard, he whispers, and he slams into me. “Aargh!” I cry -

To quote Miss Steele, holy fuck! His dick is so big it’s turned her into a pirate!

He speeds up. I moan, and he pounds on, picking up speed, merciless, a relentless rhythm, and I keep up, meeting his thrusts.

Is anyone else envisioning these two jogging through the park playing bongos? Just me? Okay. Oh and for future reference, because I assume this world isn’t lucky enough to escape at least three sequels to this travesty, no sentence should have as many commas as it has words unless the person speaking it is being punched in the mouth between each syllable.

Two orgasms...coming apart at the seams, like the spin cycle on a washing machine, wow.

Darling if the spin cycle on my washing machine made anything come apart at the seams I’d be at Home Depot demanding they make good on the warranty. Which, something tells me, you should be doing with this new man of yours.

He increases the rhythm infinitesimally, and his breathing becomes more erratic. My insides start quickening, and Christian picks up the rhythm.

I looked up infinitesimally, mainly because I’ve never actually seen it in print before and it’s such a strange looking word. I laughed so hard my Xanax came out my nose when Google offered up this definition: immeasurably small, exceedingly little, less than an assignable quantity. To give it a meaning, it must usually be compared to another infinitesimal object in the same context. Mr Grey, I do believe your tight coochied little virgin just called your dick tiny.

“You. Are. Mine. Come for me, baby,” he growls. His words are my undoing, tipping me over the precipice. My body convulses around him, the precipice. My body convulses around him, and I come, loudly calling out a garbled version of his name into the mattress.

Well damn, I have to say I’m impressed, both with the uncanny power this fellow’s voice has to make orgasms happen from out of thin air, as well as this girl’s ability to climax on demand after never having done so in her entire life previous to this encounter. That’s three times now she’s “shattered into a million pieces” all over the fucking bed - thank god he had the presence of mind to toss the duvet on the floor, because those stains would never come out. He’d probably be getting a visit from the local police as soon as Mrs Fratelli at the dry cleaners got a good look at it. And I don’t know about anyone else but I really want to hear this “garbled version” of his name that she called out into the mattress. No, really. I want to hear it because I’m imagining something like what went down in the Caves of Caerbannog when the Knights were debating the pronunciation of the last word written on the wall. Does that make Ana’s orgasms the sexual equivalent of the Black Beast of Argh?

I’ll wait for you to hit Google on that one. Go ahead, I’ll wait. I’ve got all the time in the world. I still have six hours of studio time booked and this travesty of a novel is now residing in stall #2 in the mens room and I’m sitting here playing with the roll of toilet paper I stole. It was a worthwhile trade. The word Charmin printed four million times on these little squares in infinitely more intellectually stimulating than that undigested goat’s dinner we were reading.

Fifty shades of TP’ing E.L. James’s house, anyone?

End Notes: All passages in italics are the property of E.L. James, and as far as I’m concerned she can keep them.

#Loki Reads #50 Shades of Grey

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jaeminlore · 6 years

Text

Do You Wanna Dance? | Jaemin

summary: do you wanna dance? hold my hand? words: 3k category: lifeguard!jaemin, fluff, slight angst a/n: this one isn't too bad. also... i love jaemin

You love vacationing in Salos. Granted, this is your first time, but you can't think of anywhere better to spend a month before heading back to New York. You love the sun, the clear air, the sand, the water, and most importantly — the view.

More specifically, the extremely cute boy who perches on the lifeguard stand every morning in front of the resort. Your favorite pastime is sitting in your rented beach chair, getting a tan and watching the already-tanned boy do his job ever-so-cutely.

His name is Jaemin, and you only know this because every morning he does his rounds of making sure guests have paid for their rented chairs and umbrellas. And every morning, around nine, he walks over in his stark red board shorts, with that silver whistle thumping against his lean chest and a voice so deep it makes your toes curl into the sand.

It doesn't help that he's warm, in every sense of the word. He radiates positive energy, and always has a new compliment to give to you or your family. At first, you thought his flattery was the only reason you developed such a crush on the boy. But as the days pass, you realize that can't be true. Because you're mesmerized by his actions and absolutely captivated with the way he talks to the resort guests.

Around noon, an older college student will take his place.

There have mornings when you thought about following him. However stalker-ish it may sound, you're positive he must have an interesting and exciting life. Someone like him, with an award-winning smile and a bright personality, has to.

It's the second Monday of your vacation, when your mother casually mentions that the three of you are from New York.

You're busy staring at the smear of sunscreen that Jaemin hasn't quite rubbed into his shoulder yet. Your arm twitches, instinct telling you to rub it in, but common sense reminds you of how dumb that plan is.

In the midst of your inner conflict, you realize Jaemin is talking to you.

His eyes twinkle, so much so that you'd bet he had real diamonds behind his pupils. "You've been to Broadway shows?"

"Of course," you say, finding strength somewhere in the way Jaemin is looking at you with utter fascination.

"My dream is to perform on Broadway. You should see my room, honestly, I've got so much memorabilia I bought off of Ebay, you'd think I was a season ticket holder."

You find yourself giggling, and Jaemin cocks his head to the side. "No siblings?"

"Just me."

"Friends?"

"Back home."

Jaemin tuts, much like a grandmother after finding out her grandchild has yet to eat any sweets. "Well that just won't do! Not on an island like this, where there's so much to see. You have to share it with friends, not with your parents. That's boring."

He cuts a quick, apologetic look to your parents and continues, "I have a few friends who work all around the boardwalk if you ever want to meet them. And every Friday, there's this bonfire all the kids throw on the beach. It's so much fun. We even go surfing at night sometimes."

Jaemin has this fascinating way of speaking, the kind that pulls you into a fantasy or a daydream and has you thinking so much about how you like his voice, that you end up forgetting to listen to it. It's addicting. "Tell you what, if you want to hang out, give me your number, and I'll text you when I'm off work. If you don't, just tell me and my feelings won't be hurt."

You believe him, but your entire body refuses to reject him, despite how awkward you assume this whole ordeal is going to go. "Okay. Give me your phone."

And that marks the beginning of a happy summer.

☼

When Jaemin meets you at the boardwalk later that evening, he's wearing jean shorts and a pink button down shirt. It has three top buttons undone and for a moment you let yourself stare at his collarbones more than socially acceptable.

You want to think he dressed up for you, but then your eyes pan down to the black crocs on his feet and you think it's a safe bet that he genuinely doesn't care what he looks like.

It kind of makes you like him more.

"So my friends, Jeno and Donghyuck, always hang out at this weird part of the beach. It's like the only strip of public property between the resort's private beach and the university's private beach, so it's barely used. There are these cute little caves too, and crabs scuttle around all the time. I think it's a Salos experience you need."

You nod, only because his large smile is paralyzing your vocal chords. It'd be a miracle if you talk to Jaemin at all during this little trek. Luckily, he doesn't seem to mind.

He tells you about his day as the two of you walk down the boardwalk, towards the university. The tone in his voice is light and playful, and when you zone out, he brings you back to reality with a whine and a poke to your side. "You aren't listening to me."

"I am," you say. Because you are. You're listening to the way his voice reverberates against the ocean's breeze. You're taking note of how high his voice gets when he imitates his friends, and how drawn-out his syllables are when he's complaining. You want to tell him all of this, but it sounds strange, like you shouldn't be having these thoughts; not yet. Not so soon.

You walk in silence, only stopping when Jaemin does. "Hyuck hates my crocs."

You're glad he brought up his strange footwear, because it was beginning to feel like the elephant in the room. "Well, you have to admit they aren't fashion forward."

Jaemin rolls his eyes and places his hand on your shoulder. At first, you're startled, but then he bends down to take off his shoes and socks one by one. "And here I was thinking you would be an ally." He snorts and shakes his head, "Anyway, it's just down here."

You slip out of your sandals and follow him down a few wooden stairs until you're under the pier.

Jaemin was right. Under here, there seem to be cave structures, and little pools of water that the tide just couldn't reel back in. Sitting beside one of these pools are two boys, both strangely handsome, and part of you thinks there must be something in the water. Maybe you should drink more of it.

"Y/n, this is Jeno and this is Donghyuck. Guys, this is Y/n."

"Are you a guest at the resort?" The boy with a black rash guard on — Jeno — furrows his brows.

"Yeah, I'm here for a month."

Donghyuck hums. You get distracted by his red hair for a moment, mostly because it reminds you of The Little Mermaid. Then he says a few questionable words, "But Jaemin's never brought around a guest before. Strange."

Jaemin laughs a bit too loudly. "You know what's stranger? I wore my crocs with dinosaur socks."

"Jaemin, you're hopeless. You can't become a broadway star and wear crocs. You'll be bullied by your own costars." And just like that, the three boys forget about the previous conversation and launch into a heated debate about fashion.

So you, not wanting to miss out on any of the fun, jump in to defend Jaemin. But in the back of your mind, the knowledge that you're the first guest Jaemin's ever shown around sticks like a wad of chewing gum.

And that marks the beginning of a confusing summer.

☼

Jaemin's wearing sneakers today, and he says it's because it's his off day, and he can afford to take the extra time to lace up his shoes.

When you comment on how dramatic he is, you receive a serious reply, "I know it sounds dumb, but working two jobs makes it hard to brings sneakers around. I can go barefoot on duty, but then I need something to walk home in. You can understand where sneakers would get complicated since my feet are usually covered in sand.

His logic isn't flawed, until you remember the fact that he wore socks with his crocs, and that alone sounds harder than putting on any type of tennis shoe. Also, he could just rinse his feet and dry them off at the public shower.

But he isn't hurting anyone, so you forget about it. "You work two jobs, huh?"

Jaemin presses his lips together and nods. "The resort in the morning and the university in the evening. It's a simple-enough job, but it definitely takes up the majority of my weekdays. It pays really well, and I need that money for theatre school."

"What's your favorite play? Like, if you could be any character in any play at all, on broadway or off, which would you pick and why?"

Jaemin doesn't ponder for even a moment. "Marius from Les Mis."

"Why?"

"Because... I don't know, I feel like there's more to him than the story tells. Sure, he's so blinded by love he nearly forgets what he's fighting for, but then it twists, and he realizes his love is what he's fighting for. And if I were him for just a day, I'd want to show the audience that it isn't a bad thing to fall in love. It's okay to let happy, safe things consume you. That's what Marius did, and he survived."

You hum. "I never thought about it like that. To be honest, I think I would be Fantine. She really gave up everything for her daughter, and listening the raw emotion behind her song live is just... I don't know how to describe it, but it's something I'll never forget."

"Isn't the theatre magical?" Jaemin does a twirl as he walks, nearly tripling on a loose plank. "I love plays and how a story can be told on a stage. The thought of performing in front of such a big audience, embodying someone else completely, and telling their story with all the passion in your heart makes me long for it."

"Is there a theatre school here?"

"Yeah. It's pretty good, and scouts come around often. I wish I would've gotten accepted into Juilliard, but obviously that didn't happen. I think the officials just assume Salos isn't a real place."

"Na Jaemin, are you making excuses for not getting accepted?"

Jaemin giggles slightly and bumps his shoulder against yours. "Seriously, I sang Waving Through a Window and I don't think I've ever sang anything so nicely in my life. I should've gotten a callback or something."

"You're very sure of yourself. I like that." It comes out strangely, like you tried to take it back before you could even say it.

Jaemin seems appreciative nonetheless, and you happily listen to him talk about how hard it was to gain confidence.

And that marks the beginning of a friendly summer.

☼

For a week, it was acquaintanceship. For the next week, it was friendship. Now, it's something more: you're sure of it.

There's not a bone in your body that doesn't feel strongly about Jaemin, and you don't think you're crazy to assume he thinks the same way as you.

So far, you've spent nearly every day of your vacation with him, and on days the two of you couldn't meet up, he'd call you and the two of you would go on for hours about nothing in particular. It's ridiculous, if you're being honest. There's no logical reason why a boy you met two weeks ago should have such a large effect on you.

But he does, and you aren't sure how to ignore it. You aren't even sure you want to ignore it.

You aren't sure you can ignore it, not when Donghyuck has paid for two tickets on the ferris wheel. He shoves you and Jaemin into one of the colorful pods before the two of you can protest. And suddenly, it's just you and Jaemin, sitting across from each other.

Jaemin looks really pretty. You don't know how he could embody such a delicate word, but he does. He just looks ethereal, and with the sun shining through the pink-tinted windows of the pod, you think he looks even better than usual.

"Y/n, I know I have a wonderful profile but must you keep staring?"

You start and look away before Jaemin can catch the blush forming on the apples of your cheeks. "It's easy to get distracted with you."

"Why?"

Jaemin looks so genuinely confused that you have to burst into laughter. "Why? Because you're extremely handsome, and nice, and wonderful, and sometimes it takes me awhile to process all of that."

"Y/n, are you confessing to me?" Jaemin doesn't look smug, or flirty. He just looks happy, in the simplest sense. He looks joyful, maybe a little bashful.

It makes your stomach do a weird flip. "I guess so."

Jaemin suddenly looks jittery, like his excitement might suddenly burst the bright pink pod open. "Does that mean I can hold your hand when we get out?"

"Yes..?"

And so marks the beginning of a lovesick summer.

☼

"Do you hear music?"

You almost don't hear him, once again, but this time it's because he's holding your hand. With every brush of his thumb against your knuckles, you zone out. Just a bit. He's held your hand every day for nearly two weeks, and you want to say that you will never get used to the feeling, but that simply isn't true.

You're used to the feeling already. It feels perfect, like a missing puzzle piece finally sliding back into its slot. You're used to many things about Jaemin, like the way he always smells faintly of sunscreen, or the way his hair sticks up slightly in the back if he doesn't comb it when it's wet. You're used to him bursting out into song, even if it's hushed and quiet, just because he feels like it. You're used to his odd sense of style when it comes to shoes, and his even odder sense of mellowness when it comes to other's opinions. Except Hyuck's of course, but you've noticed Jaemin has a bit of a soft spot for the six boys who work at the boardwalk.

"What song is it?" You manage to say as Jaemin pulls you into one of the boardwalk's open restaurants. There's a live band inside, singing a mellow song you feel like you've heard before.

"I Like Me Better," Jaemin says quietly.

You look up at his face and notice how entranced he is in the music. "Do you wanna dance with me?"

Jaemin looks somber as he slides his hand across your side and rests it against the small of your back. You rest one of your hands on his shoulder. He gathers your free hand into his and presses them between the two of you, just where your hearts would meet.

The air around you is sweet as Jaemin sways you back and forth. His nose keeps brushing against your forehead, and the comfortable feeling of warmth that pools down to your fingertips makes you want to pause this night forever.

Jaemin sighs and presses a fleeting kiss to your forehead. "So you're leaving Saturday morning?"

"Yeah," you breathe, "we have tomorrow, if you want to go to the bonfire or something."

Jaemin's grip on your hand tightens for a moment. "Maybe we could go somewhere else instead. Somewhere where we can be alone."

And so marks the beginning of a heartbreaking summer.

☼

On your walk to the little hidden place under the pier, you think of how dumb you must be to fall in love over the course of a month. It's careless, reckless, absolutely idiotic, and yet you wouldn't change a thing about it.

Because Na Jaemin is one of those people you only have the chance of meeting once in your life. He's fleeting, like dew in midday, but he leaves his mark wherever he goes, and you can't help but feel a little thankful that you got to spend some time with him.

However selfish the motives, you hope Jaemin will become a broadway star soon, so that the two of you can cross paths again. Or perhaps, if you can save enough money, you could move down here.

But that all puts a hold on your life. And while Jaemin is everything to you right now, you know giving up your university of choice for him is a dumb move. So you don't do it.

But you want to. You really, really want to.

And when the two of you sit on the sand, shoes and jackets discarded somewhere along the way, Jaemin's lips meet yours. His fingers thread through your hair as he gently pushes you down until you're laying in the sand and he's hovering above you.

He places soft kisses on your lips; innocent, but the soft words of affection he squeezes inbetween each one make your toes curl into the sand once more.

There's sand in your hair, and your shirt, and your shorts, but with the attention Jaemin's giving you right now, you can't find it in yourself to care.

Jaemin's hands feel good on your waist, and his lips taste like honey. He's addicting in every way, and the thought of going without him for even a day makes you want to break down in tears.

But you don't. Not until Jaemin curls against you and falls asleep to the sound of the tide. And you, running your fingers through his hair, let out a choked sob. Because you know you're going to have to wake him up, and when you do, it'll officially be over.

You decide to rip the bandage off. "Jaemin, wake up."

And so marks the beginning of a lonely summer.

#if i left any bullet points in im sorry #sounds of the summer au #lifeguard!jaemin #jaemin au #jaemin fluff #jaemin scenarios #nct au #nct fluff #nct scenarios #destwrites

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monstersdownthepath · 5 years

Text

Spiritual Spotlight: Nivi Rhombodazzle, the Grey Polychrome

True Neutral Demigoddess of Gems, Stealth, and Gambling

Domains: Community, Earth, Luck, Trickery Subdomains: Caves, Deception, Fate, Thievery

Faiths of Golarion, pg. 47~51

Obedience: Engage in a game of chance in which gems, money, or objects of value equaling or exceeding 10gp are at stake. Offer a prayer to Nivi Rhombodazzle out loud just before the wager begins (before the dice are thrown, the cards are drawn, the wheel is spun, etc). If there is no one else to wager against, make a bet against yourself on Nivi’s behalf, setting aside the winnings as an offering to her should she ‘win.’ In either case, afterwords, spend the remaining time in private reveling in the thrill of chance and steeling yourself for the moment when fate will turn against you. Benefit: Gain a +4 sacred or profane bonus to Bluff and Sleight of Hand checks. The type of bonus depends on your alignment; if you are neither good nor evil, you must choose whether it is a sacred or profane bonus when you first perform this Obedience and cannot be changed after.

Much like Cayden Cailean, keeping Nivi’s faith on the down-low is more or less impossible. Thankfully, her faith is accepted (or at least tolerated) in more or less any settlement, aside perhaps in those where gambling is viewed with scorn.

This Obedience may at first seem like it’s difficult to do consistently because after all, you stand to lose 10gp every day! But note that it says that 10gp must be at stake, not that you, personally, must have contributed to the prize. If ten other people each donate 1gp and you toss in a single copper (or a button that looks like a copper in the right light and when not examined too closely), the thing still counts for your Obedience. You don’t have to spend a silver, you just have to be part of the wager.

Also note that this Obedience can very well apply to things like a party deciding who gets to carry the Cursed Artifact Of Horrible Death (certainly worth more than 10gp) for the day, though you CAN’T use it if someone’s spinning a chore wheel. Your labor may certainly be worth more than 10gp, but her Obedience demands that material goods be at stake.

Also, there’s nothing saying that you can’t simply give items back once you’ve ‘won’ them, or that other winners can’t give their ill-gotten gains back to their rightful owners. The alternative Obedience requiring you to bet against yourself also doesn’t say you need to donate or otherwise lose Nivi’s winnings, so you can just pocket them once more at the end. Nivi might look down on that, though--despite her penchant for gambling, she does not tolerate actual cheating--so do that carefully.

That benefit is pretty good, though. Bluff is a very valuable skill for moments where Diplomacy can’t be used, and though Sleight of Hand is much rarer, the moments where you NEED to use it will make you thankful you have the bonus.

Boons are gathered slowly, typically obtained when a given character has 12, 16, and 20 hit dice. Unlike fiend-worshipers, servants of the Eldest, and devoted of the Empyreal Lords, characters worshiping Neutral gods do not seem to have catch-all classes (though I could very well have just missed it)… but Neutral-aligned characters can enter the Evangelist, Sentinel, and Exalted Prestige Classes earlier than Evil characters, classing in as early as level 6 (they need +5 BAB, 5 ranks in a single skill, or the ability to cast lvl 3 spells); entered ASAP, one can gain the Boons at levels 8, 11, and 14.

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EVANGELIST

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Boon 1: Gambler’s Essentials. Gain True Strike 3/day, Augury 2/day, or Haste 1/day.

I love this ability’s name. Not above steering luck in her own favor (NOT cheating!), Nivi grants her followers the same blessing. 3/day True Strike is fairly decent, though as your levels climb, you may find it more and more difficult to justify giving up a round of actions in order to assure your next attack strikes. Augury I’ll usually never take even as a spell-like; it takes too long to cast, and knowing the future may cause it to change.

Besides, those two options are stacked up against Haste. They never really had a chance. Unless you desperately need a fortune told, Haste is always, ALWAYS the way to go every time it appears as a potential Boon.

Boon 2: Gambler’s Egress. 3/day as a swift action, you may cast Litany of Escape as a spell-like ability targeting yourself or an ally.

I had no idea Litany of Escape existed until doing this article. For those not in the know, it’s a Close-range (25ft + 5ft/level) spell that can be used on a willing creature (and yourself, which is a Gambler’s Egress-only blessing) to instantaneously pop them out of a grapple or a pin, and teleport them 10ft in any direction while getting them to their feet.

I know a lot of times I’ll say that an ability is invaluable or that it will save your life, but it goes without saying that instantly breaking a grapple regardless of how skilled the grappler is while also giving your friend 10ft of breathing room can stop an encounter from immediately ending. Even if you’re not in direct combat, this spell renders the old “knife to the throat” hostage situations a non-issue and keeps you from being kidnapped by some stealthy, grabby enemy. Normally, the litany is limited by its need for verbal and somatic components (difficult to use while grappled), but as a spell-like, it uses no components.

AND it’s a swift action! So not only can you squeeze out of a Purple Worm’s mouth, but you can then blast it/slash it/run screaming in the same round! I also appreciate the fact Nivi is generous enough to let her followers use this power three times a day.

Boon 3: Gambler’s Prayer. 3/day as a standard action, you may make a wager against Nivi Rhombodazzle. This wager manifests as a Wondrous Effect generated by a Rod of Wonder, which can be aimed towards a target up to 60ft away provided the effect does not affect the wielder. If the 88-90 result is rolled, the gemstones fired are blessed by Nivi and each successful strike deals additional damage equal to your Charisma modifier (min +0).

It’s important that you know what a Rod of Wonder is so I’m linking it twice. These weird and wacky items can do everything from provide cover via a cloud of butterflies to instantly turning the victim to stone, to reducing the wielder by two entire size categories, to simply blasting someone with a Fireball. This is one ability that actually gets endlessly weirder to use depending on if your DM uses variant Wondrous Effect tables, which I highly encourage when using this power.

I adore this ability! Though how useful it actually as obviously depends heavily on how lucky you’re feeling. Fitting for someone worshiping a goddess who embodies the rush of a wager! But less practical for an adventurer who wants a situation handled, especially once you realize that the save DCs for the Wondrous Effects are pitifully low by the time you get this power (a blessing in disguise, as it reduces the chance of you getting screwed over). If nothing else, it makes for a great distraction, a good party trick, and a good trick to pull out when you just want to make things more interesting.

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EXALTED

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Boon 1: Faithful’s Fortune. Gain Bless 3/day, Misdirection 2/day, or Heroism 1/day.

Ehhh, not a lot here, really. Bless and Heroism are nice, though I’d lean more towards Bless; giving everyone a weak boost is usually better than giving one person a better buff, Heroism is obviously better if you have someone on you side who’s consistently making full-attacks, or someone you expect to be in the thick of it, so it’s a tossup about whether it or Bless is better to take each day.

Misdirection is a cute spell, but unlikely to come in handy unless you really need to hide information about yourself or another. It’s the niche spell in this lineup, one you’re unlikely to need, but will be happy to have when you do.

Boon 2: Gemstone Guardian. 1/day as a standard action, you can summon a Huge Earth Elemental. You gain 100ft of telepathy to commune with the Elemental, and it follows your commands perfectly for 1 minute/Hit Dice before vanishing back into the Plane of Earth. This called Elemental will never obey a command that would make it cause direct harm to a gnome or svirfneblin, though it can be commanded to grapple or otherwise restrain such a creature.

A Huge Earth Elemental is a CR 7 beatstick, undecorated and plain in stats but resilient and obedient. They possess a 15ft reach and two slam attacks which deal 2d8+9 damage. Nothing particularly special, another body on the field, but they do ALSO have the very interesting Earth Glide.

Earth Glide allows the Elemental to pass through anything short of solid metal while burrowing, making it an amazing scout despite its immense size. Earth Glide technically allows it to pass through even worked stone, allowing it to weave easily through stone fortifications protecting an enemy camp, a dungeon, or a castle, so long as it’s not reinforced with metal or wood. With 100ft of telepathy between the two of you, an Earth Elemental can easily report everything it sees to you, and even crossing out of that distance doesn’t mean they instantly die. They can come back and report on what they saw.

Note that the first time you use this to your advantage, it’s likely the DM didn’t forsee it. The second and beyond? Awfully weird how enemy vaults and bedchambers are so often lined with lead nowadays, eh?

That being said, having a bruiser big enough for you to hide behind is still decent, even though it becomes less useful as your level climbs.

Boon 3: Seven-Pipped Gem. As an immediate action, you can gain a luck bonus on any single d20 roll equal to half your total HD. You may use this ability after you’ve rolled, but you must use it before the result of the roll is declared. If you use this ability on a Sleight of Hand roll, or a roll pertaining to a game of chance, the luck bonus is equal to your total HD instead. You can safely use this ability a number of times per day equal to your Charisma modifier (min 1), but if you have no daily uses of this ability left, you may still invoke it. Doing so results in a 50% chance that your luck bonus becomes a penalty instead.

Any d20 roll. Any. Skill check, ability check, attack roll, saving throw, weapon damage roll with a ridiculous weapon, random chance rolls on specific weird abilities, death rolls... It’s really astounding how many d20 rolls a single player character makes in one session, isn’t it? And you, servant of Nivi, can get a preposterously huge luck bonus to any of them. Getting +4 to any roll is an amazing ability, and getting +6 is astonishing. You, at minimum, get +7 (fittingly enough), which rises all the way to +10 at level 20.

And if you’re doing some cute Sleight of Hand trick or dealing cards? +20.

Even at 1/day, the ability to get +7 and up to any single d20 roll is... Not particularly incredible compared to most final Boons, I’ll admit, but as your Charisma modifier rises, this ability goes from ‘useful’ to ‘outrageous.’ 2/day? 3/day? 4/day if you’re a Swashbuckler or Charisma-based caster? You basically become untouchable.

And, of course, if you’re feeling daring, there’s the chance of using this ability as often as you feel like in order to try and succeed. At a certain point, like with attack rolls and saving throws, there’s very little reason not to, because if you fail you’ve already failed and things can’t get any worse. But if that +7 would let you just squeak by? Go for it! If you’re going to die, you might as well try, right?

Just note that, because it’s an immediate action, you can only use it 1/round... And that a DM may take abuse of this ability as a signal they need to be harsher on your failures. Maybe you take a swing at a monster with 20 AC and roll a 13. You’ve already missed, right? So might as well try and use the Seven-Pipped Gem to succe--oh you got a penalty instead. Oh well, not like you lost anything! Unless the DM decides that your foul luck caused your weapon to slip from your hands, opening you up to an Attack of Opportunity...

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SENTINEL

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Boon 1: Communal Combatant. Divine Favor 3/day, Shield Other 2/day, or Prayer 1/day.

Back in Milani’s article, I discussed both Divine Favor (Exalted) and Shield Other (Sentinel), so just pop over there and give them a look if you need a refresher! Favor is a lot more useful for the traditionally-martial Sentinel than it was for the typically-caster Exalted, so it’s a pleasure to see here! Its power rises with your level, up to +3 to attack and damage rolls, and while its spell form quickly falls off in usefulness, its spell-like form is much more flexible. Its 1 minute duration will last likely an entire combat with some time left over (meaning you should slap it on the moment you detect trouble), and it’s always nice to have.

Shield Other is typically nicer to have, though. Granting your allies expanded durability is always good, and your own (presumably) fat HP bar buffering your fragile but more blaster-y friends will keep them from being downed the moment they’re focused.

Prayer is... Actually really good? It’s a very small bonus, but it applies to everyone in a 40ft burst, works on more or less every roll they make, and penalizes enemies at the same time. That’s a +2 swing in your favor, and it offers no saving throw. It won’t change the course of an entire combat, but it’ll certainly make everything run a little more smoothly. All three of these options are actually really good! It just depends on what your party needs, really.

Boon 2: Stone Strikes. 1/round as a free action when successfully striking an enemy with any weapon in the hammer weapons group, or any weapon with “gnome” in its name, you may attempt a sunder combat maneuver check against any one weapon or piece of armor your target is wielding/wearing. You get a +2 competence bonus to this check for each size category above yours your enemy is.

First thing’s first: Note that there’s no daily limit to how many times you can use this power. There’s really, really no reason NOT to use this ability, beyond wanting to steal your enemy’s equipment for yourself, because even failing your check doesn’t cost you anything but a bit of extra time from rolling the dice. Going for a sunder build can see enemies peeled right out of their armor or robbed of their weapons in short order, though it should be noted that this ability doesn’t state that your sunder attempt doesn’t provoke an Attack of Opportunity. Easy enough to overcome with a single feat (Improved Sunder), and building your character with this ability in mind can make for a very, very fun but very, very frustrating (for the DM) character.

Note that sunder attempts take the object’s hardness into account, though. Without powerful magic weapons, you’ll likely only be hitting for 2 or 3 damage at a time. For enemies with unenchanted gear, this is often enough (a typical weapon has around 5 HP), but enchanting them boosts both their hardness and their HP, making actually shattering them extremely difficult to do. You can, at least, give them the broken condition relatively easily.

And, again, since you can do this for free on any successful attack, there’s really nothing stopping you from just tacking it on every single round until your enemy’s breastplate or longsword lays in a thousand pieces. I do like the touch that you’re better at breaking things that are bigger than you, though, which means you’re actually encouraged to get into a giant’s threat radius for once.

Boon 3: Strength of the Earth. As a free action, you may enter a specialized defensive stance. In this stance, you gain a +2 dodge bonus to AC, a +4 morale bonus to Strength and Constitution (which causes you to gain +2 HP per HD you possess), and a +2 morale bonus to Will saves. In this stance, you cannot willingly move from your current position, or the stance ends (it is NOT ended if you are forcibly moved by an enemy). You cannot enter this stance while raging. You may maintain this stance for a number of rounds per day equal to 4 + your Constitution modifier, plus an additional 2 rounds per day for each Sentinel level you possess. Breaking or being broken from your stance fatigues you for 2 rounds for ever 1 round you maintained it (min 2), and while fatigued from this ability, you may use your Stone Strike ability 1/round against an enemy that strikes you in melee.

Hmmm... You know, on paper this looks good, but against any enemy that doesn’t actually want to fight you, this ability is defeated simply by walking away. Not a fan of that, unless you’re wielding a compound bow (or any ranged weapon, but a compound bow lets you use the extra +4 Str), in which case you’ve just become a shielded artillery platform.

I’m just really not impressed with this power, despite that. I am aware that most combats in Pathfinder tend to devolve into “standing next to the enemy and pushing the Attack Button,” but against enemies that DON’T want to stand next to you and attack away, like, say, around 60% of the classes in the game, this power translates to turning yourself into a Do Not Cross barrier. There’s a LOT of interesting things you could do with this ability, especially if you had a reach or ranged weapon, but, again, all an enemy has to do against you is walk away. If you break out of the stance to reposition, you get fatigued, and any enemy worth their salt will attack you at that point. They’ll probably lose their weapons for doing so, but being fatigued is painful nonetheless.

... All that being said, though, there’s a great many enemies who simply won’t recognize the fact you’ve just taken on your defensive stance, and will continue to stand next to you and attack without realizing why their strikes are being deflected more and more often, and without realizing that you’ve just gained +2 HP per HD and that you’re suddenly hitting much harder and much more often.

You can read more about Nivi here.

#Spiritual Spotlight #Neutrality Notes #Pathfinder #Dungeons and Dragons

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storiesbeyondthestars · 6 years

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Love In Voltron

You should always be wary of things said in interviews, but one thing I absolutely believe is when LM and JDS said that one of the biggest themes within Voltron is love. I’m not talking about shipping or anything like that, just love in general and in all its forms.

I’m going to be looking at different kinds of love, and how, as far as we’ve seen on the show, it applies to them. There’s a tiny bit of speculation in spots too, because of course there is. This gets long, so it’s going below the cut.

You may have heard of the Greek terms for different forms of love like eros, philia, storage, agape, and others. I think there are eight total (though a few sources have made a more ‘modern’ version that has seven). I’m not going to be looking at those specifically, but there is some overlap to my version.

Different forms of love include sexual, romantic, familial, platonic, universal, self, and there are many others. Here’s how I’m going to be using them:

Sexual – physical interest/love for others

Romantic – how we commonly see love with a partner/spouse.

Familial – love for parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, cousins, and does include found family that you genuinely see as family.

Platonic – Friendship

Universal – this is your love for things like nature, strangers, God, etc…

Self – loving yourself.

For Voltron, obviously, there is not going to be a portrayal of sexual love. It’s a show for kids/young teens. You can take inferences based on people having kids (like Keith’s parents for instance), though you can still have a kid and not experience sexual love (an ace person that may be chill with sex and wants kids, for instance).

Outside of that, I’m going to go through Shiro, Pidge, Hunk, Allura, Keith, and Lance in regards to love.

Shiro

Shiro is the oldest of the Paladins, and therefore he’s instantly had more life experience, more time to learn, grow, and experience different types of love.

Romantic – in S7 we learned that Shiro had a boyfriend, potentially a fiancé. He definitely knows what romantic love is. Yes, he struggled with aspects of it, and in the end he couldn’t make it work, but he’s experienced it and knows what it is.

Familial – Keith. Shiro has never been shown to have a family. There’s the possibility that he himself was an orphan or separated from his family, but that’s just speculation. With the age difference, a child compared to an adult, they developed a brotherly relationship. So yes, Shiro experiences familial love through Keith.

Platonic – I’d say he absolutely develops a friendship with all the other Paladins as well. Yes, he is separated by age and experience, but he’d be close to them. They can also fall a bit under familial as well.

Universal – He’s has this one from the moment he landed on Earth. Save the universe.

Self – This one is a bit weird. He wavers with this sometimes, is very dry and sarcastic with his own life, but at the same time, he chose HIMSELF over his relationship. He accepted what was happening and wanted to do what he wanted while he had the chance. That does speak of self love.

Shiro was pretty well rounded from the beginning, despite being the wonderful disaster he is. It makes sense, since he’s older and was the more stable force to balance out the other Paladins. He’s already gone through figuring out who he is and what matters to him. Now he just has to figure out how to make that work without a looming death date over him.

Pidge

Romance – Pidge has shown zero inclination for romantic love. She recognizes crushes and when people are mooning for others, but she doesn’t seem interested herself. I like the headcanon that she’s ace (like me!), but she could also just be a young teenage girl who doesn’t have an interest in that kind of thing yet, but might in the future (but also she could be ace and still fine love, those things aren’t separate). All points of view on that are legit.

Familial – This is arguable the strongest form of love Pidge understands in the beginning. All of her actions are defined by her family, and sometimes she slips into the mentality of ‘my family first’, which we see in S5 with the Lotor-Sam trade.

Platonic – This one is super interesting. We know that she was separated from her peers as a student. That’s a pretty common thing for children that are as smart as she is. Her best friend was arguable Matt, who I’d estimate was roughly 5 years older than her, give or take. Despite being part of the ‘Garrison Trio’, she actually didn’t have a relationship with Lance and Hunk. They tried, but she was on a mission. Later on though, she grows to love all of them as friends, and we get to see this.

Universal – This is another form of love that she originally struggles with. How do I know this? More than once, she was willing to turn her back on the rest of the universe for her family. She wanted to trade Lotor without hesitation. She was willing to walk away from Voltron. She learned to embrace this too.

Self – Pidge has never struck me as someone with real self-esteem issues. She knows who she is, what she can do, and she embraces it. Once she got a few friends that understood her, she knew exactly where she fit in.

Hunk

Romantic – this one has never been a very big focus for Hunk at all. However, we do know he made a connection with Shay that can fall under this category. Like any typical teenage boy, he denied this at first, but doesn’t seem to really mind. There’s no huge dynamic arc for this for him.

Familial – this was a strange one for Hunk. Family came up so rarely with him at first, but then it turned into a huge thing for him in S7. He had to learn to cope with his family being in danger, using everything else he learned over the adventure to save them.

Platonic – I’d arguably say that this is the strongest form of love associated with Hunk. He is very much a people person. He can bond with them in ways pretty much every other Paladin struggles with. This actually makes a ton of sense if you watch everything over. He hasn’t gone on a journey with this one or anything, but it’s a strong part of who he is. Sidenote: the concept that he’s got a super strong bromance with Lance actually has never really been shown on the show. They’re close, but they also really don’t hang out with one another much anymore.

Universal – Hunk learned this one very early on. He was all set to go home even knowing how bad the Galra were. It was only after his experience with Shay that he opened up to this kind of love. He really does embrace this.

Self – I don’t recall Hunk ever having an issue with self-esteem or self love. He’s good here!

Allura

Romantic – Allura does know what this kind of love is. I think she genuinely fell in love with Lotor, and that he truly did love her in return. I don’t think he was expecting it, but it happened. Now, I’d say that she definitely has a crush on Lance. How that’s going to turn out though, who knows?

Familial – Allura loved her father. This love actually is a huge thing that defines her. Not only that, but she definitely loves Coran as family too.

Platonic – This is one that she’s had to work on with the Paladins. She was super awkward at first, and if you think about it, she’s been trained to be a diplomat and a princess. She’s always been a bit separate from the others. This evened out more when she became a paladin, when she became one of them. They are friends, and she’s much more at ease with them. This is something she still works on at times, but she’s learning.

Universal – hands down she has this one in the bag. This is largely what defines her character for so long. The universe. Alteans she doesn’t know. This has always been a part of her.

Self – She actually really does need to work on her self-esteem. The moment things start going badly, she questions herself. She’s very quick to bring herself down, and resorts to thinking ‘what would father do’, as if he’s so much better than she is. This is largely how Lotor was able to worm his way into her heart, and why she’s now paying attention to Lance too.

Keith

Romantic – he is a mess in this category, rife with misunderstandings. I think he has been/is in love (yes yes, my bias, whatever), but he doesn’t at all know what it’s like for this to be returned.

Familial – he had his father, who died when he was young, then he had Shiro, who vanished on him. So he’s gotten tastes of this in the past, but he’s only recently learned really how to love family. We see this when he tells Shiro ‘you’re my brother, I love you’ and tells Krolia that he loves her.

Platonic – Keith has struggled a lot with this too. He’s actually not a hostile introvert, but he is still quiet and was a lone wolf for so long that it made it so he doesn’t REALLY know how to have friends, but he’s working on it. You can see this in his closeness with the other Paladins (understanding Pidge’s wild hand gestures, helping Hunk). I don’t think this part is done for him, since I think we’re going to see a small moment or two like I mentioned with Pidge and Hunk with Allura and Lance.

Universal – I think this is one he’s always understood. A love for all life – the will to protect strangers, and he definitely loves nature too. This is one I don’t think he’s ever had to work on.

Self – this one isn’t so easy with Keith. On one hand he’s very sure of his own abilities and capabilities, and he tried to do something for himself (in part) by going to the blade, and let himself open up to others, but he still neglects himself too. He thought he was the weakest link in Voltron.

Lance

Romantic – Lance absolutely has no idea what romantic love feels like at first. He knows crushes, but love? No. This is actually a huge part of his story. He has been learning about what romantic love really is this entire time (I’m still banking on a sexuality arc for him too). Lance was the only character that was confirmed to have a love interest by the end of the show. The only one. I think we’ll see him experience some of this with Allura, but I don’t think it’s going to last, because he’s learning about what romantic love is and isn’t. He’ll learn enough to know that yeah, his feelings for Allura were legit, but they might not be the strongest form of romantic love he feels.

The fact that there were “leaks” that hinted that he wouldn’t end up with someone in the end kind of threw me, especially since they said he was going to, and that whatever was planned in a romantic sense was planned from the beginning. I guess we’ll see where this one goes.

Familial – Lance knows this one so well. He loves his family to pieces and there’s never any doubt of that.

Platonic – this is actually something Lance struggles with at times. Not all the time, but you know, he really only seemed close to Hunk at the Garrison, and he was isolated from almost everyone else in S4-S6. He does know how to be a friend, we see this with Allura when he starts to see her in a platonic light. He also gets Keith to open up to him. Those are big things. So this is one he started out understanding, but also had to…refine as he went.

Universal – Lance does understand universal love. He talks about missing the rain, and the beach at home. He loves being in the water and the ocean. Not only that, but he does care about the fates of strangers too. It does matter to him.

Self – Oh boy. You know, I think part of Lance’s boasting is genuine. It’s not all just a mask for his insecurities, and that’s okay. At the same time though, this was a huge thing for him. He questioned being on the team, questioned his worth, isolated himself. He was at his worst when the clone was there. However, this is one of those ones that has been silently (show, not tell) in the works. Lance doesn’t once question his worth, his place on the team, or himself after Keith comes back. He knows who he is and where he fits in. He’s still working on this though, and I think it connects back to romantic love and his sexuality.

Conclusion

As you can see, when you break down love into these categories, everyone has different experiences, everyone is learning different lessons, and they are all about love. Some know a lot, like Shiro, and some know only a little but are learning, like Keith. Voltron may not be a show about romance, but from beginning to end, it’s a show about many different forms of love.

And also giant robots fighting aliens. That too.

(Also, sorry for the image quality - don’t have access to all the more hd ones I normally use right now.)

#my thoughts #klance #technically #voltron #vld #long post #Shiro #Pidge #Hunk #Allura #Keith #Lance

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secondratefiction · 6 years

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Smut Alphabet - Sweet Pea

Nobody asked for this, but I spent two days on it so I’m posting it anyway...

A=Aftercare (What they're like after sex)

• Sweets has a reputation, and it's not unwarranted, but there is something about you that just throws all of that right out the window. It always starts the same way, no matter how rough he may have been with you: Heavy breathing and small kisses against your shoulder or collarbone depending on if your facing towards or away from him, and stoking his thumb along your hip, back or stomach, wherever he happens to have a hold of you. Then, once he's able to actually focus on anything again, he's up, cleaning up, making sure your squared away and comfortable. Once you're taken care of, he'll fall back in beside you, hauling you into his chest and kiss the top your head, content to just relax for a little while longer, potentially (hopefully) even falling asleep with you warm against his side.

B=Body Part (Their favorite part of their partner's body)

• Your Thighs. Oh my god this boy is absolutely weak for them. He's obsessed... in his hands, around his waist, pressed against the sides of his head, all of it. Just all of it. Send help, he doesn't know what to do with himself.

You've developed a love hate relationship with summer and warm weather. On the one hand, your shorts drive Sweets absolutely mad and he can't seem to keep his hands off you. On the other hand, your shorts drive Sweets absolutely mad and you can't wear them for more than a day before they're marked up with so, so many hickeys and other love bites.

C=Cum (Anything to do with cum basically... I'm a disgusting person)

•The single fucking hottest thing he's ever seen was you pulling back after blowing him, sitting back on your heels, hair a mess, makeup smudged; positively, sinfully, debauched, and looking up at him with deceptively innocent eyes and traces of his cum at the corner of your mouth.

That image along getting him through more lonely nights than he'll admit to.

D=Dirty Secret

• It's buried so deep that even he doesn't acknowledge it, but there is a tiny piece of this boy that wants so badly to sub for you.

Once while you were riding him, you'd pushed his hands away from you, trying to take control. He humored you; and when you unconsciously pressed your hand against the base of his throat to steady yourself, he lost it. He honest to god whined, though he'll deny it to this day, and shortly after he came so hard he almost passed out on you.

E= Experience (How much do they have?)

• Experienced enough. It's not like there's some mile long laundry list of former flings, but he also wasn't above occasionally taking home one of the girls that had a habit of hanging off him at the pool tables.

F= Favorite Position

• Anything where he can pull you around to kiss him. Mostly facing him in some capacity, where he can grab a fistful of your hair, close to the scalp, and turn your head whatever way he wants it.

If not that then it's over the counter, the table the back of furniture, or against the wall. Basically anywhere that puts your ass out for him, where he can pin you down and plow away.

G= Goofy (How are they in the moment? Are they more serious or humorous?)

• Generally, Sweets tends to lean more towards the serious end of the spectrum, especially if you've made him jealous or caught him in a bad mood; but it's not like he's never laughed during sex. Especially if you two are purposely teasing and trying to rile the other up, you've had more than one occasion where sex somehow turned into a game of 'who can make the best sarcastic comment or innuendo before one of us comes.'

H= Hair (How well groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes, etc.)

• Decently? It's not like he's putting any great effort into it, but he's not just letting it go either. Some kind of low effort, easy middle ground.

I=Intimacy (How are they during the moment, romantic aspect)

• Once again, it's one of those things that depends on what kind of a mood you happen to catch him in. If he's been under a lot of stress with Serpent business or god forbid another confrontation with the Bulldogs or even the Ghoulies, you're much more likely to get Sweets who's angry and frustrated and hasn't had a proper outlet for all the emotions.

On the other hand, there are some days he feels like he's hit bottom, like the only good thing he has going for him at all is you and there is literally no way he's ever going to be able to express how grateful and absolutely in love with you he is, but damned if he isn't going to try

J=Jack Off (Masturbation Headcanon)

• Given the choice, he'd 100% much rather be doing anything with you. Unfortunately, that's not always an option, and when it's not, he's still more than capable of taking care of himself.

Especially on long nights where you've been unable to stay over, he likes to draw things out. He's got a whole library of pretty images burned into his brain to draw from, as well as one very well hidden gallery on his phone of pictures and videos you've sent him to help with that.

K=Kink (One or more of their kinks)

• Size Kink - We all know this is a thing, but I don't see nearly enough people talk about it.

Dear god you just look so damn tiny stood next to him, let alone under him, and he's not entirely sure what to do with everything that stirs up.

• Dominance - Unpopular opinion: I don't see Sweet Pea falling into ??the specific category of "daddy kink". The boy is dominant and possessive af, but I think the line falls just short of the actual title of 'daddy'. I can see Sir though, and him calling you any number of pet names that absolutely should not sound that sinful.

L=Location (Favorite places to do the do)

• Honestly, he prefers back at his place, just because there's less chance of someone walking in or being interrupted in some other way.

M=Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going)

• You wearing his clothes, it’s cliche as hell and he kind of hates himself for enjoying it as much as he does, but he does nonetheless. Especially his leather jacket, the whole thing just seems to swallow you.

• Anytime he's walked out of the Wyrm, or anywhere else, to find you just sitting on his bike waiting for him.

• That look he catches you giving him anytime he's leaning across the pool tables to line up a shot, and he's not entirely sure if you're planning to fuck him senseless or eat him alive. But, with that look, he's good either way

N=No (Something they won't do, turn offs)

• Anything that could seriously harm you or cause more than momentary pain. Sweet Pea isn't exactly known for his gentle disposition, so of course he's rough with you sometimes: spanking, pulling and pushing you around, he almost seems obsessed with having his had wrapped around your throat. And yeah, that can leave bruises or sore muscles, but it's never been extreme, he's never been out to truly hurt you. The one time he thought he did, hyper extending your hip in the heat of the moment, he nearly had a panic attack and spent the next several days making it up to you.

Also, he's always been super careful not to actually choke you. Like I said, the boy loves putting his hand around your neck, but it's never been more than firm pressure for you to feel it while you breath in and out, or holding your head in place so you can't move it, but never going so far as to cut off your air.

O=Oral (Preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

• Ok, yes, of course he likes receiving, c'mon, really, why would he ever say no to that? But in all honestly, if he could get away with it, he'd spend all day, every day between your thighs.

P=Pace (Fast and rough? Slow and sensual?)

• Depends on the mood you catch him in. Usually it falls more on the fast and rough side just because only seems to know how to work through his emotions physically. Not that you're complaining all that much.

Q=Quickie (Their opinions on quickies rather than proper sex, how often, etc.)

• The amount of times this boy has snagged you in the hallway and dragged you off to an empty classroom or storage closet in the mornings or during lunch... It is some kind of miracle the two of you haven't been caught and suspended or expelled. And that's not accounting for the times he's pulled you out behind the Wyrm or off to a dark patch of forest out of view of the bond fire

So, yeah, it's safe to say he's a fan.

R=Risk (Are they game to experiment, do they take risks, etc.)

• He doesn't really care much one way or the other. More or less the rule of thumb is if you're comfortable and want to do it, then he's all for it.

S=Stamina (How many rounds can they go for, how long do they usually last)

• Generally you'll go anywhere from one to three depending on the kind of time and other extenuating circumstances you guys have. There have been rare occasions where it's gone far beyond that, but those are the exceptions, not the rule

T=Toy (Do they own toys? Do they use them?)

• Does he own any? No, not yet anyway. But he's not opposed to including them if you're interested.

U=Unfair (How much do they like to tease?)

• There is something about seeing you desperate and frustrated that just gets to him. He absolutely loves to drag it out as long as he possibly can, but he's also pretty good at reading the signs that he's going too far and needs to just back off and give you what you both want already.

V=Volume (How loud they are, what kind of noises do they make, etc.)

• Shockingly vocal, but surprisingly quiet. He's a not lout at all, but from the time the two of you really get started, until he comes, he almost never shuts up. Moans, groans, growls, the boy sounds like a damn animal, and that's not accounting for when he got his mouth pressed against your ear, muttering devious and immoral things.

W= Wild Card (Random headcanon)

• It seems like it should go without saying but this poor boy is so whipped it's almost pathetic. Behind the big, tough guy exterior, you've had him wrapped around your finger almost since day one.

X=X-Ray

• Technically, yes, he falls into the category of "well proportioned"... but, and let's be real for a minute, have you seen the proportions we're working with here?

Y=Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)

• Before you, it was little to nonexistent, things cropped up once in a blue moon, but it wasn't like it was something he paid much attention to. After you... it's not like it's some crazy 180 turn around or anything, but it's still a lot more often than he's used to. As long as you're not complaining though, he's not going to worry about it too much.

Z=ZZZ... (How fast do they fall asleep afterwards?)

• After he's sure you're happy and squared away? Not that long at all. Once you're both cleaned up and he's got you tucked back against him. he's out within five to ten minutes and most likely not waking up for a while either.

#sweet pea #sweet pea x reader #sweet pea imagine #riverdale #riverdale imagines #fanfiction #imagines #reader insert #writing #smut alphabet #smut

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marredbyoverlength · 5 years

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Year-End Awards 2018

2018 sucked personally, professionally, and politically. But hey, at least the movies sucked too!

Ok, there were plenty of good movies. But the bad vastly outnumbered the good, and the highlights weren’t especially high. Even my favorite filmmakers had weak years: Wes Anderson and the Coen brothers both put out some of their most mediocre films in 2018.

But no year is devoid of value, and damned if I won’t do my best to find it. Let’s dive into the only blog post I still do, the year-end awards.

(Honorable mentions, as always, are listed in no particular order.)

Best Lead Performance: Paul Giamatti & Kathryn Hahn, Private Life.

Giving this to two people is a cheap trick (and one I’ve used before), but this is my blog and I make the rules. Private Life is a powerful, painfully realistic film about a middle-aged couple, played by Hahn and Giamatti, going through IVF to get pregnant. Their relationship is at the core of the film; singling out one for praise would be a disservice to the other.

A film like this could easily be a one-dimensional tragedy about baby angst, but both lead actors go through a broad range of emotions that are at once inarticulable in words but instantly recognizable. The highs and lows of their journey and the stress it puts on them and their relationship come out in every expression, every movement of their bodies. This is the highest praise you can give actors: that they portray something that can’t be portrayed any other way.

Honorable Mentions: Olivia Cooke, Thoroughbreds; Joaquin Phoenix, You Were Never Really Here; Toni Collette, Hereditary; Ryan Gosling, First Man; Viola Davis, Widows; Olivia Colman, The Favourite; Emma Stone, The Favourite; Annette Bening, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool.

Best Supporting Performance: Anton Yelchin, Thoroughbreds.

Enough has been written about this already, but Anton Yelchin could easily have become one of the greatest actors of our time had he not died such a weird and sad death. His performance in Thoroughbreds is the perfect example of why I say that.

Yelchin plays a kind of guy that everyone knows, the wannabe operator who hangs out with, and deals drugs to, kids much younger than him and feels cool for doing so. He slips perfectly into that role, but what makes it better than just a caricature is how he captures the character in the scenes where he’s out of the element he’s chosen for himself: once after two high school girls violently rob him and once at the end after he sees what one of the girls has become. He is shaken and unsure, and letting that façade drop in real time is an impressive feat of acting.

Honorable Mentions: Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?; Alison Pill, Vice; Oscar Isaac, Annihilation; Jason Isaacs, The Death of Stalin.

The Costner Award for Worst Actor: No Winner

Before going into more detail, I’d like to point out that I didn’t see any Gerard Butler movies this year, so take this with a grain of salt.

There were a lot of god-awful movies this year. But all those movies are awful for reasons distinct from acting. Bruce Willis was boring in Death Wish, sure, but his character was boring. Tye Sheridan was annoying in Ready Player One, but his character was annoying. Travolta was actually pretty good in Gotti, even though the movie was a total disaster.

In fact, I can’t think of any performances this year that made me angry in the same way the Kevin Costner makes me angry. Congratulations to actors, I guess? If you know of a truly heinous performance, let me know.

Nicest Surprise: Aquaman

Aquaman is a superhero movie about a very strong, very stupid dog in the shape of Jason Momoa (just look at his dumb face!). There is also a giant octopus who plays the drums. That’s about all you need to know about Aquaman.

Honorable mentions: Mission: Impossible – Fallout; Game Night.

Most Insulting Moment: “Street Weapon,” Robin Hood.

In Robin Hood (2018), Little John (Jamie Foxx) trains a fledgling Robin (Taron Egerton) in the art of hoodery. At the completion of this training, he says to Robin, “you’re going to need a street weapon.” Then he hands Robin this:

“Patrick, is that a full-sized bow with brass knuckles tied to it?” Yes, yes it is. You know, for the streets.

Honorable Mentions: Queen Saves Live Aid, Bohemian Rhapsody; Tactical Furniture, Death Wish; Pretty much all of Ready Player One.

Winter’s Tale Memorial “What the Hell Am I Watching” Award: No Winner

I almost gave this award to Gotti, a movie so widely panned that the marketing campaign explicitly told potential viewers that critics are scum. But then a friend of mine live-blogged his first viewing of The Book of Henry, the current title-holder, and I was reminded of just how gonzo bananas a movie has to be to get this award.

Sure, Gotti is an incomprehensible failure tornado that somehow had enough money for John Travolta but apparently not enough for, you know, lighting and sound guys, but it’s not bewildering like Winter’s Tale was, or like Book of Henry was. A winner should make me ask not just “what the hell is going on” and “how the hell did this get made,” but also “why the hell would anyone want to make this?” I didn’t see anything that prompted that last question this year.

Prettiest Movie: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

I used to give out an award for technical filmmaking, but in hindsight, I don’t know enough about filmmaking to confidently give that award. But I am an expert on the topic of “things I find visually appealing,” and since film is a visual medium (despite what the Academy would have you believe), I’m bringing the category back in this form.

Anyway, the winner is Spider-Verse, no contest. It’s the most brilliantly animated film I’ve seen in years, and easily the best-animated CGI film ever produced. In a world drowning in endless round-and-shiny Pixar clones, Spider-Verse made something entirely unique, influenced by the styles of comic books through the ages but ultimately producing something all its own. The end sequence, with manifold universes spiraling out of a black hole and bleeding into each other, will no doubt be the most impressive feat of animation for years to come.

Honorable Mentions: Mandy; Annihilation; You Were Never Really Here.

Best Picture: Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool.

After seeing this beautiful film, I resigned myself to the fact that it wouldn’t receive any Oscar buzz. I was more right than I realized: not only did it not get any nominations, it didn’t even qualify for consideration. The Academy considered this a Film Stars a 2017 movie, as it was released on a very limited run on December 29, 2017. I didn’t hear the name until I saw a trailer for it in January of this year, and I didn’t get to see it in my city until February. This is the great crime of Oscar season: everybody tries to put their stuff out as late as possible, and real gems like this one get crowded out by Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, a movie that gets worse every time I think about it.

I’m correcting this injustice. Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool is the only great movie of 2018. The script is heartbreaking, the acting is profoundly human, and the fluid cinematography masterfully blends past with present, creating a portrait of the last days in the life of Gloria Grahame (Annette Bening) in all her messy detail, seen from her own perspective as well as that of her former lover, the much younger Peter Turner (Jamie Bell). Where those perspective diverge is where the film is at its best, and those moments are easily the most moving of the year.

Honorable Mentions: Annihilation; The Death of Stalin; Private Life.

That’s it, that’s the whole post. Peace out.

#Film #Oscars #Best list #Awards #italiano

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