#rather than “justifying her actions” or anything like that
Text
I was in the mood to draw Minako Tomori, and so I did. I put her in this melancholic pose while dressed in casual clothes, like she's hanging out in public, but she started getting distracted by past regrets...
Her casual clothes are based off of this sprite edit I made of her for my fanfic:
There's no tattoo-covering-a-scar on her shoulder in this sprite cause I literally just came up with that headcanon yesterday and this sprite edit is almost a year old (I just never posted it until now). Not that you would've seen it that well from this angle anyways.
Her tattoo is based off of the flower, Sakurasou or the Japanese Primrose, btw. Kinda proud on how it turned out, ngl, as I'm not really that good in designing tattoos for characters. ^^;
Anyways, I made an off-the-cuff Minako Tomori analysis under the read more, oops:
I've been seeing a lot of Tomori family talk lately and that made me start thinking of Minako again as she's, well, kindof my favorite out of the 6.5 crew next to Dr. Ando (which led to me making this drawing of her). Now, I'm not defending her in how she raised Kizuna or her horrible attitude or anything like that. She's pretty horrible in DRA 6.5 and she gets called out on multiple times by Ryutaro and even Dr. Ando, and rightfully so. But man, from what I can understand in DRA 6.5, she's clearly a goddamn mess. From all the smoking she does to (badly) cope with the stress of dealing with her failure of a marriage to a shitty husband who is also a shitty dad, to constantly cheating on him cause she'd rather be anywhere but with him and can't divorce him due to collateral so she's just legally stuck with him so she goes off to find other men (usually younger but at least they're of age) to ignore her problems at home, puts importance on money because she's the only one trying make sure they have a fuckin' roof over their heads cause her husband is too busy gambling and drinking all their money away, and probably put importance on her appearance more than anything else cause it's one of the few things she can control about herself and feel confident in (and even then, she can't stop the passage of time that is old age). And all of this, plus how she interacts with Ryutaro in her Talk sections (a.k.a. her FTEs) by constantly calling him brat and trying to get him to go away, and no wonder Kizuna turned out the way she did. She had a dad that was never there for her or his wife, refusing to take responsibility for anything and just focuses on himself, and her mom is dealing with SO many things that she's constantly stressed about money and her appearance to the point that she's unable to be emotionally supportive to her daughter in any healthy manner that her flaws, her own attitude about men, and her beliefs in money and appearance is all that matters just ended up trickling down to her daughter and influencing her in a way that it turned her into the messed up girl she is in the short time we got to know her in DRA. Like, holy shit, Minako. You're an asshole of a parent, but when you really think about it, the poor woman got the short end of the stick in life and that really affected how she acted in raising her daughter. Again, not defending her as she's still a bad influence but it's hard not to pity her when she's left to do all the work herself, from parenting, to working, to just trying to take care of herself (by coping in very bad ways)...It's not an enviable position, that's for sure. But honestly, that's what makes Minako so interesting to me. She's not a good person, far from it, nor is she the "better" parent in this scenario. But she still cared enough about Kizuna to follow a suspicious note and getting kidnapped in the process, even when it had the underlying motivation of deciding that she had enough of her shitty husband and took the opportunity to run away from him. And whenever the other characters, particularly Dr. Ando, call her out on her nonsense, I think she gets struck silent in response. Like their words are genuinely getting to her and making her question the way she acts.
And you know what fucks me up the most?
The implication that, between finding out what happened to Kizuna and the rest of the class in DRA post 6.5 upon getting rescued and before the events of SDRA2, she actually changed and improved as a person. Minako, while she is gossiping in the epilogue, is a lot more nicer and friendlier here, is giving us a rundown of what happened after the Utsuroshima Killing Game and the rumors surrounding it to Midori, and making light-hearted jokes in an attempt to cheer Midori up by making fun of herself. And when Midori starts to cry over Teruya's death, Minako's sprite goes sympathetic and concerned and it fades to black for awhile and we come back to Midori reassuring Minako that she's feeling better now with the implication that Minako was trying to comfort her through her mourning. And then she gives out some pretty sound advice, even when dropping this bit in the process:
(The translation is an unofficial version and this bit of dialogue appears at the 3:55 mark.)
"...Go ahead and cry your heart out. You're still young, so you don't have to pretend you're strong."
"With age, the tears won't come even if you want to cry, so when you feel the need to cry, cry."
Which, OW to that last one.
Like, imagine going through so much shit through your life as an adult that you can't even bring yourself to cry about it. You just go, "Yep, this might as well happen," with all the apathy and frustration you can muster in your body.
And when Midori goes to leave to talk to the criminals, Minako has the sense to go "That's a bad and dangerous idea, Midori, don't go alone!" and points out that she JUST got out of the hospital and hasn't fully recovered yet. She even tries to convince her to stay by asking her to continue talking with her cause she's bored. (And, well, I can believe that, even when she's speaking some common sense.) But it clearly rubbed Midori the wrong way as she seems to want to be useful in any way she can, regardless of whether or not her life gets put in danger, so she goes anyway. Aaand Minako complains about Midori's parents not teaching her to treat her adults with "respect," and has brought up "worrying over Keisuke getting a scratch on his pretty face" earlier in conversation, which shows that she's still a flawed person. But I consider that good writing as just because she's a better person now, that doesn't mean her flaws are just going to go away or disappear suddenly. Taking away a character's flaws in order to make them a "good" person will only make them bland, boring, and flat as a paper. Flaws are meant to help characters be more nuanced in personality, and Minako still being abrasive is good as it's a flaw that is a part of her to be aware of and keeps her character recognizable despite the implication that she's trying to do better now. And when Midori gets kidnapped, she immediately runs over to Ryutaro and Keisuke to tell them what happened, calling Ryutaro "kid" in the process, and showing fear for Midori's safety. I don't know if the translation between Kid and Brat is any different, but it's a step up from brat, at least. (And honestly, I can see Minako using "kid" and "brat" as a more affectionate nickname to Ryutaro over time since she comes off as the type to show affection through teasing.) And to top it all off, the cigarettes from her DRA sprites have been replaced with lollipops in her SDRA2 sprites, and candy is a common way of trying to combat addiction to nicotine.
In other words, the way Minako acts in SDRA2 shows that she's trying to be a better person, even if that development happened between games. (And frankly, we shouldn't just stop everything in the epilogue just to have a flashback of "here's why so-and-so acts like this now!" Like, that would just kill the pacing of the epilogue and defeats the whole purpose of a time-skip between games.) It's just a shame that Kizuna's death was the wake-up call that put her on that track to growth in the first place (alongside the call-outs). It's through the death of her own daughter and what led up to it and why she acted the way she did in that moment that made her stop, take in the call outs she's been dealt with throughout the 6.5 chapter, and go, "Oh. I've been a shitty mom and that played a part in how Kizuna acted and led to her death." Cause think about it: if Kizuna was never concerned about her appearance, if she never had this belief that she had to extort others in order to benefit herself, whether it's men for money, affection, popularity, attention or anyone else for anything else, DRA's Chapter 2 probably wouldn't have happened the way that it did. It may not have prevented Kizuna from dying at some point during the killing game, but her behavior was something that she learned and inherited from Minako. And that realization had to sting for her as she not only lost her daughter but had to come to terms with the revelation that it was indirectly her fault for influencing Kizuna in a way that made her a terrible person that decided her only option to survive was to try and kill (which backfired on her hard). But unlike some people, who would double-down on their behavior or just grow worse through their grief, Minako seemed to have reflected on everything up to that point and decided to grow as a person instead. But even though Minako is trying to be a better person now, she can never make it up to her own daughter that she messed up the most. Because that chance is forever lost thanks to death itself.
Reflection is important, because if you don't do that much, you'll never realize what you've done wrong until it's too late and the chance to make it up to your loved one is forever stripped from you.
...At least, that's how I've interpreted Minako Tomori.
#DRA#SDRA2#Minako Tomori#Danganronpa Another#Super Danganronpa Another 2#DRA Spoilers#SDRA2 Spoilers#Star's Art#My Art#Fanart#sprite edit#I hope this comes across as me rambling about Minako being a complicated and flawed character#rather than “justifying her actions” or anything like that#Like no#DRA Minako is *awful*#like congratulations you've passed down your issues onto your daughter#but there's something about SDRA2 Minako being kinder than her DRA self that just...scratches that itch in my brain you know?#like how she acts now VS then is basically almost night and day#while still making her character recognizable in a way that doesn't alienate her from returning players#and I *really* like that#there's just something about terrible older adults going:#“You know what? I don't want to be like this anymore.”#and choosing to change for the better even if they can't make it up to those they've wronged#And I like that it's *Minako* that shows this capacity to change and grow as a person#even if it's implied and requires reading between the lines in her appearance in the SDRA2 epilogue
13 notes
·
View notes
Text
@rowanthestrange i still dont believe 13 did anything wrong talking to the master, “you lost”, i dont think she flew too close to the sun there, but if i may offer you another way, another thing i think she may have got her comeuppance for: 10 was told he was gonna die because of the four knocks, and we thought it was gonna be the master but it wasnt, 13 seeks out the master with those same four knocks, and it is him that kills her directly in the end. if theres anything she got punished for, i wanna say it was that
#rather than bragging that she had won#bc i dont think she did that#i dont think she did so much as kick him in the shins this episode. metaphorically speaking#timeless children was survival and justified#and then we're back at spyfall#where she DID do. really fucking heinous things#maybe it's a reach#but it feels like more of a fit to me than that she died bc she was too arrogant in the end HERE#no#no her mistakes have long been made#'my actions are catching up with me'#you knwo that jenny holzer quote#about how sometimes you can know youve gone wrong but you still continue#and there is a luxurious amount of time before anything bad happens?#thats 13#she digs her own grave by using his mental health against him.#rather than doing the (good. yaz) doctor thing of trying to help#(i say yaz. yaz in the script also tries to pull a 13 and use his mental health against him)#(but thats the script)
5 notes
·
View notes
Text
People say that Sirius never realised how offensive his words were until James or Remus said it to him.
I personally disagree with this take. I think, Sirius was very aware of how offensive his words and actions were. James didn't realise, but Sirius did.
Sirius finds people's sore spots and deliberately hits them. This is not James's "morally orientated" and rather impersonal bullying, this is a deliberate way of humiliating people Sirius doesn't particularly respect. People want to believe Sirius "didn't realise" what he was doing because it's easier to love Sirius and justify their Wolfstar that way, but Sirius always understood what he was doing, unlike James. Sirius probably rarely crossed the line beyond psychological bullying, but didn't stop James from physical bullying – he found it fun. But he himself hardly participated in physical aggression, although he obviously could have, being magically and physically gifted. It seems Sirius had drawn the line for himself.
Sirius wasn’t a little stupid boy, he matured very early, he had a very good understanding of boundaries and was always very aware of where he and James were crossing those boundaries.
“Bad luck, Prongs,” said Sirius briskly.
Sirius knew about James's crush on Lily and found it even funny that she rejected him. Because Sirius understood that James often crossed the line, and Lily’s reaction was quite fair.
‘What is it with her?’ said James, trying and failing to look as though this was a throwaway question of no real importance to him.
‘Reading between the lines, I’d say she thinks you’re a bit conceited, mate,’ said Sirius.
While James played the splendid knight in shining armor, Sirius found it all amusing. Because it was fun for him. And no one told him he was doing anything wrong, he already knew it. Remus mostly stayed quiet, sometimes making them “feel ashamed", haha. He's just much more socially anxious than Sirius, he doesn't like being "unliked." Sirius has zero social anxiety, he didn't care whether people loved him or not (besides, James loved him, what else did he need? Right, nothing).
And I think Sirius truly only respected James. Someone who Sirius truly respects, he never hurt. The moment when Sirius "hurts" Harry in book five is a pretty harsh moment, because Sirius loses respect for Harry for a brief moment because Harry turns out to be different from James. But then Sirius shows a new and even stronger respect for Harry. It's a good moment. This moment allowed Sirius to grow in his relationship with Harry.
And it's obvious Sirius respected Lily by fifth year. And after Azkaban, he "learned" to respect others (he reacted pretty gently in his argument with Molly), but his arrogance still showed sometimes (ie, he rudely cut off Hermione, not letting her finish her thought).
Anyway, what had changed with age wasn't that Sirius had realised that his words and actions were offensive. He always knew that. And he had shown even after Azkaban how cruel he could be to those he didn't respect. The only thing that changed was that Sirius started respecting random people more, instead of sitting around like a shiny royal arse.
But there is a NUANCE here. Sirius most likely always treated girls with respect by default. Idk why I just feel it :D With Hermione, they just didn't see eye to eye.
293 notes
·
View notes
Text
⌗ 𝘛𝘎𝘊 𝘏𝘊 ⁝ 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 ( ♱ )
He would be possessive and controlling, driven by his fear of losing his darling.
He would show his love and affection through lavish gifts, constant attention, and grand gestures of devotion, all while subtly manipulating his darling's actions and decisions to ensure they remain by his side. His intensity would escalate gradually, starting with subtle hints of possessiveness and control before turning into more overt displays of jealousy and manipulation.
He would be skilled at reading and understanding his darling's emotions, using this knowledge to both comfort and control them. He would treat his darling with a mix of adoration and manipulation, alternating between moments of intense affection and cold detachment depending on his mood and his perceived threat to their relationship.
If his darling were abducted, he would likely use a combination of emotional manipulation and psychological torture to break their will and ensure their compliance. He may mock them or belittle their attempts to resist, but he would ultimately be driven by his desire to possess and control them rather than inflicting physical harm.
He would struggle with feelings of vulnerability when it comes to his darling, fearing rejection or betrayal more than anything else. If his darling were to fight back, he would be devastated and likely become even more possessive and controlling in an attempt to regain their affection.
His darling's worst experience would likely involve a combination of emotional manipulation, psychological torture, and physical confinement, designed to break their spirit and ensure their compliance.
He would be intensely jealous and possessive, lashing out at anyone who he perceives as a threat to his relationship with his darling. He may cope by isolating his darling from others or by attempting to control every aspect of their life.
Around his darling, his true colors would be drastically different from how he acts around others. He would be charming and attentive, but also possessive and controlling, hiding his darker tendencies behind a facade of love and devotion.
If his darling were to disobey him, he would likely punish them through emotional manipulation, psychological torture, or physical confinement. He would gradually strip away their rights and freedoms, exerting more and more control over every aspect of their life.
He would struggle to move on if his darling were to leave or escape, feeling a deep sense of loss and betrayal. He may never truly feel guilty about abducting his darling, believing that their love justifies his actions.
He may eventually let his darling go if he realizes that his possessiveness is ultimately driving them away, but he would likely struggle with feelings of resentment and longing for a long time afterward.
Seeing his darling scream, cry, or isolate themselves would both disturb and intrigue him, fueling his desire to possess and control them even more.
He would worship his darling to an unhealthy degree, willing to go to any length to win them over and keep them by his side. He would pine after them endlessly, becoming increasingly desperate and unstable as time goes on.
Ultimately, he may be willing to break his darling emotionally if he feels they are slipping away from him, using manipulation and psychological torture to ensure their continued compliance and devotion.
The cold air whispered through the cracks in the window frame, sending shivers down her spine as she sat huddled in the dimly lit room. Her eyes flickered nervously around the unfamiliar surroundings, her heart pounding with fear and confusion. How had she ended up here, trapped in this eerie silence?
Tom stood in the doorway, watching her with fascination. His dark eyes gleamed with intensity as he approached, his footsteps echoing off the barren walls.
"Are you comfortable, darling?" he asked, his voice dripping with false concern.
She recoiled instinctively, her voice trembling as she spoke. "Where am I? What do you want from me?"
Tom's lips curled into a sinister smile as he moved closer, his hand reaching out to gently brush against her cheek. "You're with me now, where you belong. And what I want is simple – you."
Her heart raced as she tried to make sense of his words, the realization sinking in that she was indeed trapped in his grasp.
As the days passed, Tom's demeanor shifted between moments of kindness and flashes of cruelty. He would bring her meals, whispering sweet promises of love and devotion, only to turn cold and distant at the slightest sign of defiance.
She struggled to maintain her composure, clinging to the hope of escape even as the days blurred together in a haze of fear and uncertainty.
One evening, as the moon cast a soft glow through the window, Tom approached her with a determined glint in his eyes. "I can see it in your eyes, darling. You're still fighting against me, against us. But I won't let you go. You're mine, now and forever."
Tears welled in her eyes as she gazed up at him, her voice barely above a whisper. "Please, Tom. Let me go. I don't belong here."
His grip tightened on her arm, his voice laced with desperation. "You're wrong, darling. You belong with me. And I'll do whatever it takes to make you see that."
@ 𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒔 . 𝐷𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒, 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡, 𝑜𝑟 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑠 𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑠.
#ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤ 𓇼ㅤ ㅤ𓂂ㅤㅤ ˚ㅤㅤ ◌ㅤ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ㅤ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏#tom glynn carney#tom glynn carney x reader#aegon ii targaryen x reader#aegon x reader#aegon ii targaryen#aegon targaryen x reader#dark aegon ii targaryen#aegon targaryen#yandere aegon x reader#yandere x reader#yandere#lovesick#obsession#hotd x reader#aemond targaryen x reader#aemond x reader#tgc x reader#dark hotd#house of the dragon#asoiaf#a song of ice and fire#aegon the second#aegon ii#dark aegon#dark aegon targaryen#hotd aegon#king aegon#modern aegon#hotd
187 notes
·
View notes
Note
i was wondering (and totally lmk if i’m like spamming you i totally don’t mean to) if you could write a fic where elvis meets an innocent reader on the set of a movie.(the reader is an extra) and elvis begins to notice the readers little space habits and suspects it. one day, after overhearing some of the other male cast members make rude remarks about the reader and elvis decides it’s time to take the reader home where he can protect them. elvis calls the reader over to his trailer and starts to make the reader drop, so that he can take the reader home and be their daddy.
i loved this request sm that it’s gonna be a two-parter!! so here’s part 1! ✨
🧚🏻 Masterlist 🧚🏻
Word count: 3,101
Pairings: 70s CG!Elvis and Little F!Reader
Warnings: little space lifestyle, manipulation
It was your first proper job. The one that you were proud of, that your parents would tell their friends about and it was a lot of pressure.
You were the newest person to Elvis’ little performing circle and Elvis always made a point to get to know his band and performers - how else could he put on a successful performance if not everyone was on the same page and trusting each other?
After spending time alone with you and in a group setting, Elvis had his suspicions about you. You had all the qualities of someone with a little personality - docile, submissive, wide-eyed, easily overwhelmed and eager to please. Now, Elvis knew that this meant that you could just be sweet and innocent, adjusting to the chaos of his world, but Elvis figured that even if you were just that, the little lifestyle would certainly help you cope in dealing with all of it.
The first time Elvis really suspected anything was during a break in recording, when a stuffed animal fell out of your locker in front of everyone. You furiously tried to stuff it back in, hoping that no-one had seen, but you'd caught Elvis', Jerry and Sonny's eyes as well as a few others. Your cheeks heated a violent shade a pink, as you tried to sort yourself out, getting increasingly flustered and overwhelmed. As Elvis observed you from afar, he knew you couldn't look after yourself properly, someone was going to have to do it for you.
From then on, Elvis had quietly instructed Jerry to have someone watch over you, making sure you were okay and reporting back to Elvis.
Elvis had been told by Charlie that he’d spotted you in the park by the studios colouring pretty pictures under a tree, whilst Red had informed Elvis that you stopped past every stray cat in the lot, crouching down to speak to it, feed it if you could and stroke it.
Elvis knew you were a little angel sent straight from heaven and he knew he had to have you. Elvis devised a somewhat sinister little ploy to get him in your good graces, for you to see him in a caregiver light from your first proper encounter.
The fame and power that came with Elvis meant that all he needed to do was slip the security a $100 dollar bill and in exchange, he and his small entourage were given the keys to every locker. He only really trusted Jerry with this operation as he made Jerry break into your locker and retrieve your teddy bear from your locker and bring it to Elvis. Now, Elvis knew that his actions were going to cause you distress, but he figured that in the grand scheme of things, you’d be better off for it - that’s how Elvis liked to justify many of his less-than-moral escapades.
“Thanks, Jer.” Elvis said, grabbing the plush, brown teddy bear with a pink bow tie from Jerry who remained slightly confused at Elvis’ intentions.
“Now what, EP?” Jerry asked, curiously.
“Now, I’ll give it back to her when the timing is just right.” Elvis said, leaving Jerry just as bewildered. Jerry figured it was better to just let Elvis do whatever it was that he needed to do rather than question it. There was a method to his madness, Jerry tried to tell himself.
When you realised that your beloved and treasured teddy bear, Binky, was missing, it felt like your whole world had fallen apart - or at least the secure feeling of it that your teddy bear gave you.
You tried real hard not to let the sheer panic and distress seem obvious as you stood at your open locker, quietly hyperventilating that your most trusted teddy was gone. She was a reminder of home, that helped steady you when things where getting all a bit much for little, sweet you.
You began to pace the locker room, thinking maybe she’d fallen out of your bag somewhere and been misplaced but the panic inside of your tummy was growing as your started to realise she was nowhere to be seen.
You see, Elvis was watching you from a tall window above the entry locker room, from the top of a stairwell as your distress confirmed to him that you were indeed a little, even if you didn’t know it yet.
You tried to keep your composure as you went into rehearsals with Elvis and the rest of the crew. It was safe to say you were feeling very wobbly and nervous, your lost teddy bear playing persistently on your mind. You were worried you’d dropped her in a puddle or left her on the bus on the way to the studio, what if she was scared? You could’ve sworn that you’d put Binky in your locker along with your bag, but you knew your memory wasn’t the best and now you were just so confused, right before you had to go and record.
Sheepishly, you wandered into the studio where a couple of people were already set up and chatting. You walked over to your stool and microphone, sitting down and patiently and quietly waiting for Elvis and everyone else to appear.
You were trying to remain calm, you knew you needed to be a big girl right now, not crying over some silly bear, you just couldn’t help the anxious feeling that was creeping its way into your body.
When Elvis appeared he went around the small room greeting everyone, making sure they all felt comfortable and good - and that’s when he landed on you.
“Ready to record, Y/N?” Elvis asked in a surprisingly softer tone, a little more hushed than usual.
You offered a small smile and nod, your quiet demeanour making Elvis raise his eyebrow at you, even if he knew why you were quiet.
“Everythin’ alright honey?” Elvis asked gently.
“Just tired.” You mumbled albeit remaining very polite. Elvis nodded and continued on.
The recording was going well until your microphone fell from its stand as you tried to adjust it, causing a loud bang in the isolated room. You apologised skittishly, and you thought everything was going okay until you screwed up your lines, your brain just going fuzzy.
Feeling a little worked up, you apologised again, especially to Elvis, who just sent you a nod of acknowledgment before continuing.
When the horrendous session was finally through, you quietly began to gather your bearings and sort your equipment when you realised someone much taller had approached you.
“Y/N? Elvis would like to see you right away in his trailer.” A man, who you believed to be called Jerry, told you. You gulped, realising you were likely in for a big telling off after ruining several takes with your clumsy and distracted self.
You followed Jerry compliantly, you wouldn’t ever disobey any command, you didn’t trust yourself to know better and you wouldn’t dare go against anyone. Jerry led you to Elvis trailer, doing an odd pattern of knocking, probably so that Elvis knew it was him. Jerry nodded at you and opened the door, before walking off to tend some other business.
You tentatively wandered into the trailer that you’d never been in before. You liked it a lot, velvet reds, an oddly comforting scent of cigar smoke, designs for performance outfits pinned on a wall and even a few pistols laid out on a counter.
“Y/N?” Elvis said cooly, snapping you out of your observations, you noticed you’d begun nibbling your finger whilst looking around - a childish habit that for some reason, you couldn’t get out of.
You just smiled sweetly, unsure what Elvis wanted but fearing you’d let him down during the recordings.
“Do you know why I called you here Y/N?” Elvis asked gently, relaxing on the couch as you stayed fixed in your spot, not daring to move unless told to.
The size difference between you was immense, you felt utterly dwarfed by his presence. He wasn’t even the tallest guy on the lot, despite being very tall, yet he seemed to tower over just about everyone.
You panicked a little at the question, fiddling with you fingers. “M’in trouble for messing up the recording?” You asked meekly, shy to even admit it.
“Not in trouble sweetheart,” Elvis assured gently. The pet name made your tummy do a little somersault - a sensation that was foreign to you but one that you quite liked. “Everyone’s got bad days, you didn’t seem yourself in there,” Elvis said observantly.
You were feeling wobbly. Now, you weren’t actually accustomed to the little space lifestyle so you didn’t really understand the feelings you often experienced, you couldn’t really articulate them in any way to yourself, let alone to somebody else. But you knew when you felt a little different, you felt, as you put it, wobbly. It was that feeling of anxiety, mixed with neediness and vulnerability.
You weren’t exactly sure what triggered feeling wobbly either. You knew that it could happen when you woke up in the morning, if something out of the ordinary happened in your routine, if you were scared or even if you were happy.
You blinked a little, worried about a potential onset of tears if you admitted to Elvis you’d lost Binky.
“I, um, I lost somethin’ just before the session, and, and,” You frowned a little, getting frustrated at yourself at tripping over your words. “I guess, it was just on my mind lots. M’sorry, it won’t happen again, I promise.” You said earnestly, your nerves and flustered state seeming obvious to Elvis, who patted the spot on the couch next to him.
“C’mere.” Elvis cooed and you complied without a second thought, making your way over and sitting down next to the big man. “Whatcha missin’ darlin’?” Elvis asked, despite knowing.
“My bea-“ You stopped yourself, feeling all hot and bothered at mentioning that you were so devoted to a soft toy, thinking how silly you’d look in front of Elvis. “No, it’s silly.” You mumbled.
“If it’s causin’ you this much upset little one, it ain’t silly.” Elvis soothed, the pet name doing a number on you again, giving you those strange wobbly feelings.
You’d always found Elvis attractive, even before you started working with him. However, there were little things that you really liked about him, such as when you were standing in line next to him in the canteen area, he’d always help serve your plate up, always insisting on more green vegetables to keep you healthy.
It was like he was a dominant albeit gentle and encouraging presence and you really were drawn to him, even if it was unprofessional.
“I have a teddy bear and I lost her and she’s really special to me and I don’t know where I put her a-and I thought, I thought,” You we’re starting to get worked up and panicky all over again, this time in front of someone so famous and powerful that it was making the situation worse. “I put her someplace safe but when I looked she was gone and she helps me and I don’t know what to,” You whimpered, your voice cracking as tears began to pool in your eyes.
You dared not look at Elvis, only imagining his face when he realised how weird you were. Yet all you felt was a large hand on your back, gently rubbing soothing circles which helped.
“Oh little one, I’m sorry.” Elvis cooed as you hiccuped adorably by his side, your feet not quite reaching the floor in comparison to his which were outstretched. “What does she look like hm?”
“Um, um, she, she’s got um, brown fur and she’s got a pink bow tie and it’s um, it’s real pretty,” You stammered, feeling so wobbly and small as tears began to trickle down your puffy cheeks.
“A pink bow tie?” Elvis asked with you nodding and sniffling in response. “Well, I did happen to notice a teddy bear out in the entrance to the lot earlier, a teddy bear with a pink bow tie in fact.” Elvis said and for the first time since you entered his room, you looked straight up at him.
“Really?” You sniffled, your eyes wide as you wiped them with your sleeve.
“Want to come with me and we can take a look and see if she’s yours?” Elvis said gently. You nodded yet again, feeling just a bit too wobbly to keep using words. “Okay sweet girl, let’s go.”
Elvis helped you up a little, taking your small hand in his large one as you went to another room. You realised that lots of trailers were interconnected from the inside and Elvis had so much space.
You were surprised at how sweet and kind Elvis was being. You’d expected him to find you odd, but he was being gentle and soft with you, as if he knew you were feeling a little unsure of yourself and in a wobbly state of mind.
When you turned a corner, you entered a room where lots of other men, who you realised later were Elvis’ Memphis Mafia, were all lounging on the couches, laughing and drinking. At the sudden surprise at the large crowd of loud men, you tried to hide behind Elvis a little, shuffling your body behind his whilst holding his hand a little extra tightly, which he couldn’t help but smirk at.
“Outta here, fellas.” It was just three words but they all quickly obliged Elvis’ request, leaving within a minute of the command. It made you realise the power and control Elvis held. “Sorry about them, honey.” Elvis said, offering you a smile.
He led you a draw, opening it and pulling out Binky, with you tearing up all over again at the mere sight of her.
“That’s her, that’s Binky.” You said, wiping your eyes again as you hiccuped. Relief washed over your small body as you wrapped your arms around Elvis, as far as they would go. “Thank you, thank you, you saved her!” You cried sweetly.
“Oh darlin’, look atchu, look at the state you’re in, all worked up, hm?” Elvis cooed, grabbing some tissues from a box on the table and kneeling down to gently dab it under your eyes and nose. You felt a little embarrassed at the way you were, but you couldn’t help it if you tried, you were just an overwhelmed little thing.
“M’sorry, I was just real worried and she, she’s real special t’me.” You said softly.
“I know she is, I know baby. Binky’s a pretty name, you give her that name sweet girl?” Elvis asked you, trying to make you feel better.
Elvis was secretly thrilled at how everything had turned out, you were even more vulnerable than he’d initially anticipated. He could tell that you were feeling little, you just didn’t know how to articulate it, just like a little one.
He wanted to protect you and take care of you so badly, here you were, right in front of him, a sweet, beautiful, docile, gentle, naive little thing and he just had to have you.
“Uh huh.” You said sweetly, “I had her all my life and she just makes me happy and helps me when I’m feelin’…” You trailed off a little, unsure of how to describe how you felt to Elvis.
“A bit confused hm?” Elvis said, finishing your sentence for you. You nodded, grateful that Elvis was able to think for you. “I bet she’s been helping you with your new job here?” Elvis asked.
“Jus’ get scary sometimes.” You admitted, almost whispering as Elvis continued to kneel in front of you.
Both you and Elvis realised you were feeling extremely ‘wobbly’ as you’d put it, as you started chewing on your fingertips anxiously.
“I know it can baby, you’re doin’ a real good job of it baby.” Elvis hushed.
“Really?”
“Really. How’s about I make you a lil’ promise honey?” Elvis suggested, gently taking your fingers from your mouth and holding them in his own hands. “How’s about, whenever you feel scared, or even a lil’ bit nervous or confused, you come knock on that door and you come find me? You can do whatever you like, you and Binky, you can even have a nap if you need to. How does that sound, little one?” Elvis said, pushing stray hairs behind your ear tenderly, making shivers go down your spine.
You nodded again, liking the idea very much. You had some friends in this place but you often found it all very overwhelming and stressful. Elvis had been nothing but a calm, authoritative presence and you craved more and more of him.
“Good girl.” Elvis praised.
And that’s how the next couple of months ensued. Elvis delighted in you seeking him out for comfort. At first, it was only a couple of times a week but eventually, you’d be in his dressing rooms practically every day.
Elvis had made it a safe haven for you, he’d even given you your own draw, where you’d keep Binky, knowing she was much better off there than in your locker. It also held a colouring book with lots of different paints and colouring pencils for you, which you enjoyed doing quietly between each rehearsal. Elvis has even put some of your favourite snacks in there for if you were ever feeling peckish.
It had everything and Elvis gave you everything. You felt so looked after and cared for that it was becoming difficult to not become totally dependent on Elvis. It was at the point where Elvis, or one of his men, would now pick you up from your little apartment and drop you back, even if that meant you staying far later than your finished time. But you didn’t mind, you loved the tranquil and safe space Elvis had made for you. You loved doing your pretty colours for Elvis whilst he worked on other projects throughout the day, as you eagerly awaited his return so that you could run up to him and show him all your pretty pictures.
Elvis was surprised at how quickly you seemed to slip into the routine he’d provided for you. You were everything he wanted and more - beautiful, gentle, kind, naive and little.
The only thing left to do was to officially introduce you to the little lifestyle, and Elvis couldn’t wait.
taglist: @eliseinmemphis @prompted-wordsmith @vintagegirl2005 @imaginationlast @presleyenterprise @librafilms @ccab @wolywolymoley @wwebaby657 @billhaderstan420 @waiting4brucewayne2adoptme @elvispresleywife @ellie-24 @hollbunn @sassanoe @gothicphantom @fallinlovewithurlove @astralheart21 @elvisbf @slimerspengler @octobers-snow @meetmeatyourworst @reddie-freddie @kxnnxy @lana-4life
#elvis#elvis presley#elvis x reader#elvis imagine#elvis smut#elvis x y/n#elvis fluff#yandere elvis#elvis x you#70s elvis#little reader#elvis fanfic
737 notes
·
View notes
Text
It's my delusion and my need for a villain speaking but does anyone feel like Jaiden is setting up for her past in the federation to be a more antagonistic role?
Not seeming to agree that she was an experiment like q!Baghera and aologising in advance if she ever did anything bad to her
Cucurucho saying "Years ago, you helped us. Me." implying that q!Jaiden knew how to fix imperfection rather than be an experiment herself
The thing with caging birds and setting herself up on a higher ledge than it and calling it "symbolism" (even if it was /lh)
Her wings being pristine while others are clipped or plucked
cc!Jaiden saying that her character is morally grey and doesn't need to be defended
Something about q!Jaiden constantly justifying Cucurucho's actions despite knowing fully well how awful he can be... it almost feels like a case of "If he is not worthy of redemption, then neither am I"
222 notes
·
View notes
Note
You have turned me from a Zenos hater into a Zenos ambilaventer keep posting and you might manage to turn me into a Zenos lover
If you already hated him though is me drawing him really going to make that big of a difference? 😩 Like I know I give him a fat ass and extremely delicious nose in my artwork but now I feel compelled to give you my tedtalk on why I like zenos lmao
This is about to be really long and also contains spoilers for stormblood, shadowbringers, and endwalker
This might surprise you but I like Zenos for his characterization and storyline in the game itself! The fanart is just kind of a bonus. He's one of many examples in Stormblood of a character that is shaped by their experiences, though I think it's not told as successfully as it is for like, Fordola, Arenvald, or Yotsuyu, because a key part of his backstory was locked to a short story in a print-only book (which I think is out of print now). The most you see of it in the actual game is this blink and you miss it line from Lyse at the very end of 4.0:
(Dialog from the quest "Stormblood", patch 4.0)
What really, really appeals to me about Zenos though, is that he is the personification of depression and that really resonates with me. He has anything he could possibly want, he has accomplished a great many things, but he feels completely hollow inside. He's miserable. He slaughtered countless Domans including their leader and felt nothing, commanded to do it by his father because (as shown in that short story) he only ever was acknowledged to even exist to his father when he practiced violence. So it's a given now, that's what's expected of him and that's all his life is. He's completely desensitized.
He finds one thing that makes him feel alive, that is the warrior of light challenging him, and it becomes his sole focus. Nothing else matters but chasing that high, because every single other thing is a low. After being bested by the warrior of light for the very last time, faced with probably prison for his crimes, he decides to die by his own hand on that high note rather than go back to the drudgery and misery that is everything else.
It's why in endwalker he can be swayed to do something good at the very, very end. He doesn't have a moral compass because he was shaped into an attack dog by his father, he sees "righteousness" as an excuse for war. Because I mean, what else is Garlean propaganda but righteousness from their twisted perspective? He asks Jullus if he would be happier had he a good reason to kill so many garleans after killing his own father— he makes it plain that death is death and there is no justice or good or evil in his eyes. He did have a reason, and it was that his father's use of black rose would likely kill the warrior of light, the only person or thing that gave Zenos any joy in life. Later, it was that Fandaniel dangled the idea that the warrior of light would be attracted to the slaughter and would come running to stop him so he killed more people during the civil war after the emperor's death. But he doesn't need to say that that was why. The reason doesn't matter, he knows the action would not change no matter how it was justified. Even if it was a "good" reason, death is death.
(Dialog from the quest "The Time Between the Seconds", patch 4.0)
(Dialog from the quest "As the Heavens Burn", patch 6.0)
I often see people take Alisaie's part in that scene as her convincing him to be a better person but that's really not what happens. He knows if he takes that action that others perceive as good and helps to stop Endsinger, he could have that high again in facing the warrior of light one more time. He could find joy and meaning, even for a fleeting moment. Then once again end it all because he fears returning to the low monotony of life. It's all over his dialog, especially in Endwalker. The dialog at the very end where he asks the warrior of light if they feel fulfilled, I know is meant to be a bit more of a meta question toward the player themselves, but I'd like to think it's Zenos comparing how different his outlook is to the warrior of light's. The warrior of light has many things keeping them going, whereas Zenos is drowning in despair with only one bright spot that he is constantly chasing time and time again.
(Dialog from the quest "Friends Gathered", patch 6.0)
those three tiny lines can hold so much zenoswol yearning in them AAAAAAAAAAAAA I AM not well
I personally still feel like there was room for him to survive that and to be gently guided into more and more good and try to undo some of that conditioning but I think he might be too polarizing of a character for him to become a permanent ally in canon. Much as I would love to see that! I have to wonder if the mentions of him in the 6.X patches that bounced between positive and negative were testing the waters, but I will leave my tinfoil hat aside because this post is already WAY too long lmao
I understand why people dislike him: they think he enjoys murder because he does it without "a good reason", they don't like how obsessive he becomes toward the warrior of light who is an extension of the player themselves, they don't like that in Fandaniel's scheme in "in from the cold" Zenos is the one inhabiting the warrior of light's body. Totally get it, totally understand.
I'm just saying I see the complexity to him and I find it compelling. Just as I found the overwhelming grief and despair that motivated Nidhogg or Emet-selch or Elidibus to be compelling. I think what people miss though when you like an antagonist is that feeling empathy toward them means you don't feel empathy toward the people they harmed, or that you somehow agree with what they did. But really, I just love seeing these characters that are faced with such tragedy or misery that they start to lose sight of right and wrong. They're driven entirely by emotions. For a story where emotions are literally power, I think it's a really interesting angle to take with the antagonists of that story.
Man, where was I going with this? 😂 I just love Zenos... I don't think I will be convincing anyone to like him who doesn't already, and that's not at all my intent. I just thought I'd share my perspective a little bit after getting this ask!
#ffxiv#zenos yae galvus#replies#hope this all makes sense#also please don't come at me with wank or discourse about how much you hate zenos#I've heard it all before and you're not gonna convince me to hate him with wank I'll just block you lol#endwalker spoilers#long post
64 notes
·
View notes
Text
You Know Now It Makes Sense Stolas’ Character Evolved Into What It Is
youtube
Seriously, when I found this tidbit it makes sense why Stolas evolved from being treated like an actual demon lord rather than the sad woobie he is now. I think she put some of herself in him because she tries to see herself as one of those not so bad elitists who have little care for the poor but are able to interact with them on some level. But yeah, with the fact that she comes from privilege it makes sense she’s having this tantrums because despite her being a sjw she really is someone who hasn’t had anyone say no to her and not to mention it makes sense now why celebrities are coming to her project because she’s getting her rich relatives to help her.
This isn’t a case of a girl of humble origins rising through the industry this a case of nepotism and she can’t handle the fact that she isn’t being praised and isn’t okay with being said “no”. She has had everything handed to her and can’t handle the pressures that someone is pointing out her flaws. She has been coddled too long that it has caused to become such a brat. As a result, when the time comes for the big meltdown it will probably be when the big mess in story comes and everyone just gives up on her. But even then she still refuse to realize that she needs to stop acting like a primma dona and improve herself. Because someone who has been sheltered that long it’s hard to get out of your comfort zone.
In it you see the same thing with Stolas, because he comes from a place of comfort and still is being treated like he hasn’t done anything wrong even though it negatively effects his daughter. While Stella can be written as irredeemable and abusive, I think trying too hard to make her one note made it more apparent it was just to make Stolas more sympathetic rather than make Stella any sort of compelling character. She’s just a tool to make Stolas be even more justified in finding love with Blitzo even though it’s toxic itself. If she had made him remain where he was in the pilot then we could see him more of a villainous figure rather than a poor sad boy whose actions are always excused. The same thing with Vivzie and her fanbase where everything is excused because she’s a queer woman and not thinking about how others are speaking out against her. They just see a vision of her that she wants to present just like Stolas when in reality both are just awful people trying to look for an excuse to be the victim.
#anti-vivziepop#vivziepop#vivziepop criticism#vivziepop critical#vivziepop critique#helluva boss#helluva boss criticism#helluva boss critique#helluva boss critical
249 notes
·
View notes
Text
Having a fascinating conversation with @markantonys and @butterflydm in notes about the Tower Coup (& how it will go in the show) and I need to take my thoughts to a post, in roughly this order:
How did it START in the books vs how did it END?
What changed along the way and where did that work/not work?
With the benefit of hindsight, how could the show make this arc more coherent?
How it started vs how it ended
The Tower Coup starts in the books as a pretty clear moral issue: Siuan is deposed on the sketchiest of pretenses, she and Leane are tortured and stilled immediately, a lot of people die, and Elaida dissolves the Blue Ajah (basically all our friendly Aes Sedai up until this point are Blue). That's a lot! Then the Tower faction, on Elaida's orders, also kidnap and torture Rand. By the time Egwene is raised as Amyrlin we're fully ready to get behind her taking names and kicking Elaida's ass. Elaida is doing nothing to help her own cause, instead descending into paranoia and tyranny with nobody at the Tower doing anything to stop her.
And then...from ACoS on it becomes clear that there's plenty of Tower Aes Sedai who are good people (the Black Ajah Hunter plotline), and also that the Black Ajah and the Forsaken are working both sides of the conflict to keep it as amped up as possible. However, at the same time the Tower is collapsing into conflict, the Salidar camp under Egwene is rewriting the rules in a way that the books make clear offer the Aes Sedai as an institution new relevance and scope, by opening the novice book to all who wish to apply. Meanwhile, the Seanchan return and the seams of the Pattern start to fray because the Last Battle is getting real close now.
By the time Egwene is kidnapped by the Tower, her mission becomes to negotiate the Tower Aes Sedai as a group (rather than Elaida, who is too far gone) into dealing with the real existential problems the Tower faces - the Seanchan and Tarmon Gai'don - rather than 'winning'. Once we hit the Sanderson books we're fully into 'the Tower is fine, it just needed to have the right person leading it', Gawyn's storyline is revealed (charitable) or mildly retconned (uncharitable) so that the Warders attacked first and he and the other Younglings were arguably justified in fighting them, and Egwene ends up demanding that the Salidar Aes Sedai apologise for their rebellion before the Tower is reunited under her.
Was this a change of direction? How well did it work?
I would argue that in general scope the Tower arc was always meant to end with a reconciliation between the two sides in order to face down the real enemy - Elaida literally Foretells this very early on in the piece, and it's signalled frequently that besieging Tar Valon with an army, even if it feels like the only option, is playing into the hands of the Shadow and supported by Darkfriends within the Salidar camp. There's also a strong theme throughout the final RJ books of our heroes having to make their peace with people they are fighting in order to effectively confront the Shadow. E.g., Perrin is rewarded for his truce with the Seanchan by getting Faile back. So I'm pretty sure the plan was always for Egwene to reunite the Tower by winning the respect and allegiance of crucial people within the Tower faction, rather than military action, and for the conflict between the two sides to be decisively derailed by a Seanchan attack.
HOWEVER.
I also feel pretty strongly that the way that arc finally ends feels like a weird and hard swerve towards 'rebelling was wrong actually' and ignores the extremely real grievances that caused the Blue Ajah and their allies to gather in Salidar in the first place. Despite the Ajah Heads' plotting there is never any viable path to negotiation presented to the Salidar faction - yes, some of this is down to the work of the Black Ajah but like. Tarna Feir wasn't Black! Elaida wasn't Black! None of the non-Red Ajah Heads were Black! The Tower as an institution is pretty fundamentally broken and instead of a renewal and a vision of what it could look like in the future, what we get in the last two books is kind of...a return to BAU except Egwene is in charge now...? and also we stop checking in with all the Aes Sedai we know in favour of charity namedrops, yes I'm still mad forever thanks. I think some of this is exacerbated by Sanderson but I do also think it's the result of RJ having a pretty sketchy idea of how the post-unification Tower was going to look or act except knowing there were crucial plot points to hit in terms of the conflict being derailed by the Seanchan attacking the Tower, and Egwene and Rand clashing before the Last Battle.
In addition, for me personally, Elaida in TGS is also almost a parody of her original self - she's a sexual harasser, she's physically violent - in a way that sure you can write off as the influence of Padan Fain but feels cartoonish. I think this is somewhat of a minority opinion but this makes Egwene's whole Reason You Suck speech very unsatisfying to me! None of it engages with why Elaida was able to become Amyrlin in the first place. It's not a tragedy, it's a farce.
Anyway, it's all a bit unsatisfying and the big question I have is...
How could the show do it better?
The show 100% has the benefit of hindsight and being able to simplify down its story instead of try and tie up ALL the dangling threads - it can just not weave those threads in to start with! - so I think it has huge potential to make this arc more elegant plot-wise and emotionally. For me there's three key ways it could do this:
Make Elaida a charismatic leader (to start with)
Largely due to the books/RJ wanting the coup to come as a shock, we have very little insight into how Elaida persuades the Hall to take down Siuan and we never see Elaida as a genuinely charismatic leader people might want to follow. Coming after Siuan, sure - why choose her as leader? If the show can demonstrate why people follow her, it will make the Tower faction seem more reasonable to start with. And there's endless material to mine from the books in terms of her slide into tyranny as a more subtle and tragic arc.
Give the Salidar Aes Sedai a genuine chance to back down
I don't think it's bad for readers' expectations to be challenged, but through the books it's really hard to see what other genuine options the Salidar Aes Sedai but particularly the Blue Ajah actually had. Elaida never resiles on her proclamation disbanding them; that's cataclysmically bad given how the structure of the Tower traditionally works. Frankly it should have made a lot more Tower Aes Sedai (and independents) turn against her! For the Salidar Aes Sedai to have any genuine apology to make at the end, they need to have a choice to reunite that they could take...and not take it. I think it's obvious in her later appearances that Tarna Feir was meant to be a 'Worst Person You Know Has A Point' character but that's left on the table for a loooooooooooong time through the Slog.
Show how the Tower has changed for the better
Egwene's demand is part and parcel of her fairly sudden change into an Amyrlin who is basically happy with the Tower running as it always has, but with her and her people in charge now. Let's see how the post-reunification Tower is a genuinely different place which has learned from its experiences! Let's see how the influx of novices and new organisational systems, as well as the new engagement with the Windfinders and Wise Ones, are requiring Aes Sedai to contemplate new ways of doing things! Let's see Egwene leave a goddamn legacy that will outlive her. Going out in a blaze of glory is all well and good but that's what makes the Tower Coup arc have meaning. The Tower broke but wasn't defeated.
Anyway, that's enough brain-dumping - interested in what other people have to say about this!
#wheel of time#wot book spoilers#wot tv show#aes sedai#meta#egwene al'vere#elaida do avriny a'roihan
80 notes
·
View notes
Text
Crossdresser x BLLK (2nd) pt2
Notes: SHIDOOOUUU (I’m so sorry if he’s ooc)
warnings: reader is female, cursing, cringe lol
pt1pt2pt3pt4 pt5
ISAGI’S VER KARASU’S VER
2ND SELECTION(SHIDOU’S VER)
Y/N entered the room and looked around for any familiar faces.
Suddenly, a large arm draped over Y/N shoulders. ‘Aye your not ranked to low- join our team!’ A tall, tanned boy with fuchsia eyes asked.
Y/N was rather put out of by his lack of understanding of personal space.
Another trailed behind him, he was beefy, big, dark skinned dude and stared into Y/Ns soul.
‘Is thata yes?’ The fuchsia eyed boy peered.
Apparently she took to long to answer so he did for her ‘perfect, perfect- ‘ her mouth agape, looking at him with pure confusion.
‘ m’ Shidou, he’s Shiguma-Chan and yer’? Shidou asked, sliding himself off of her.
She told him her name and they looked for their first opponent.
Shidou walked over and pretty much demanded they play against them.
They agreed and everyone headed to the field.
The opponents were Hiragi, Tanaka, and Haiji.
No one knew anything about each other or their weapons.
Shidou wouldn’t shut up and Shiguma wouldn’t talk, so there’s that.
‘You better not get in my way’ Shidou warned as he held to ball, ready to kick off.
‘That was cocky’ Y/N thought, she rolled her eyes and took position.
Shidou kicked off the ball rather high, Tanaka charged towards it and passed to Haiji.
They were at halfway mark when Y/N intercepted it and ran down the field. She passed to Shiguma and he shot the ball towards the goal.
Hiragi dashed to the goal and saved it with a head butt.
The ball was headed towards Haiji, Shidou was trailing behind him and was about to steal it. Haiji quickly passed to Tanaka, who was by the goal. Tanaka shot into the goal.
1-0, the game had just start so Y/N tried not to stress to much.
Shidou grabbed onto Shiguma’s jersey. ‘Why’d the hell ya didn’t pass to me?? Hah?? I was fuckin’ open!’ Shidou yanked on him.
Y/N trotted over towards them trying to pull them apart. Shiguma wasn’t doing anything about it, he just justified his actions by saying Shidou wouldn’t have been able to catch it- which added fire to the pot.
She was ‘successfully’ able to pull Shidou off of him by reminding him it was just one point and the games not over.
….
The game finished at 2-3
Shidou scored a goal and Shiguma scored some crazy long distance goal.
Y/Ns team lost, and Shiguma was picked. She was frustrated, this wasn’t how she planned this to go.
Shidou was pissed. Pissed that he lost, pissed that he didn’t get picked, just overall pissed.
Shidou snapped at Y/N saying she was ‘fuckin useless’ and ‘coulda passed to me more’.
She was not gonna deal with his bitching.
The both dragged their feet to the losers gate.
Shidou demanded they have another match this instant.
The door opened and revealed someone Y/N would never expect to find here.
Kunigami was sitting down rolling his thumb back and forth. His eyes darted to so who was entering the losers section.
He was also surprised to see Y/N. Shidou peered down at Kunigami, with his hands shoved in his shorts. ‘Play against us’ Shidou demanded, rather boredly.
Kunigami agreed.
It was Kunigami and Reo vs Shidou and Y/N.
‘No hard feelings yeah?’ Y/N asked holding out her hand
‘None’ Kunigami responded and bro-fived her.
Reo kicked off the game and and Kunigami was headed towards it- Shidou cut him off and kicked it straight into the goal.
no one was expecting that.
Y/N scored a goal and Shidou scored 2 more.
Kunigami and Reo barely reacted to Shidous plays, he was insane.
It came time to pick to was to join them. Y/N was set on Kunigami, Shidou then spoke up saying he scored more goals so he decides.
He chose Reo- ignoring Y/Ns objections
‘I’d rather have purple topknot…than a puny, naïve hero like you. People who can’t destroy themselves.. can never create explosions. Let’s go Y/N-chan.’ Shidou stated as he shuffled back to the winners gate.
Y/N didn’t know what to say, she felt awful. Kunigami’s soccer career was over, and she part took in the ending of it.
She whispered a sorry and followed behind shidou with Reo trailing her.
They headed to their new room and Shidou claimed the top bunk bed.
Reo offered to take the bottom bunk, Shidou and Reo headed to the bathroom to shower. Y/N showered when they finished.
Shidou apparently snooped around and got another team to play against them tomorrow, so that was settled.
Shidou got bored rather easily so he just asked Y/N a bunch of dumb questions, or tried to get her to spar against him- she declined.
Reo just moped around, like a wet noodle.
She just went to bed and got good sleep.
Next game they won with the score of 3-1, Y/N chose the player Kurona Ranze, he was pretty fast and scored a goal so he seemed pretty solid.
Kurona was low maintenance unlike Shidou and not in a depression like Reo, it was nice to have a normal guy around. It was really cute how he repeated his words.
Another match and they won again with the score of 3-0, Reo chose the player Sokura Testu, he’s chill.
Y/Ns team had all 5 players and were headed to go against the world 5. No one was able to score any goals. Shidou and Y/N got pretty close to scoring but it got blocked or it missed.
They had finished all stages.
Y/Ns team was the last team to finish.
They walked through the sliding doors and Y/N spotted her former teammates in Team Z (Isagi, Bachira, Chigiri, Gigamaru, Igaguri, Raichi)
She waved and smiled at them, happy to see that they made it.
ISAGI’S VER KARASU’S VER
NEXT PART ISNT OUT YET :>
made March 8th 2024
#blue lock x reader#bllk x reader#blue lock#blue lock x you#blue lock imagines#blue lock kunigami#blue lock scenarios#blue lock shidou#shidou x reader
54 notes
·
View notes
Text
Part Three
Ghost / Reader
[ Previous ︱Next ]
AO3 ︱Wattpad
taglist (if you want to be added - let me know!): @villainofmyownstory
After a brief, yet somewhat awkward exchange of words with the driver, you carefully hand him his fare through the small, barely open window of the taxi. The moment the coins clink into his palm, the vehicle revs to life, pulling away from the curb and vanishing into the distance.
In the back pocket of your jeans, you can feel your phone vibrating. There’s no need to pull it out and glance at the screen; Emily’s name is practically burned into your retinas. You know you are running late. But that doesn’t justify the relentless onslaught of calls and messages from your sister. It seems with every second that ticks by, another notification pops up. Yet, they do nothing to quicken your steps or hasten your pace. If anything, they make you want to slow down, maybe sit on some bench and waste another five minutes.
You still are mad at Emily, for various reasons. Her lie keeps echoing in your mind, like a broken record on a constant loop. No matter how hard you try, the memory of the conversation that both of you had yesterday refuses to fade away.
A part of you, an insistent part of you, craves for a confrontation. You yearn to corner Emily, to force her into a situation where she has no option but to justify her actions to you. You even fantasize about challenging her, about instigating a fight with her, with the sole intention of forcing her to finally reveal the truth to Simon.
Since you find yourself unable to tell him, restrained by your own selfish reasons, you come to the conclusion that if Emily were to do it, there would be no conflict of interests. You hold an unwavering belief that Simon deserves to know, and if, or rather when, Emily musters up the courage to confess and explain her side of things, you are confident that if his love for her is as true as you believe it to be, he will understand her actions. If their love is as genuine as the diamond that adorns her finger, the worst possible fallout would be a heated argument, a huge fight that will do little more than shake them momentarily—it certainly won’t stop them from walking down the aisle together.
You step into the lobby. In the distance, you spot Simon already standing next to the elevator. He is talking with someone on the phone, his fingers slowly massaging his temple as his eyebrows furrow. As you quietly approach, your steps barely making a sound against the floor, you manage to overhear Emily’s distinct voice rapidly firing words from the other end of the line. Though her exact words are muffled and indistinct, drowned out by the subtle hum of the air conditioning, her tone is clear - she is upset, and definitely annoyed. That doesn’t surprise you—Simon is late, just like you—but you feel a slight sense of relief wash over you. You’re glad that you didn’t bother answering any of Emily’s calls.
“Shouldn’t you be upstairs, getting ready with Emily?” You dare to ask the moment the call ends and Simon hastily stuffs the phone into his pocket.
Caught off guard, Simon pivots on his heel to face you. At first, his expression is hardened, a mask of disbelief that someone would dare to intrude on his private conversation. But as his gaze settles on you, the hardness fades and a lazy, almost boyish smile tugs at the corner of his lips.
“Shouldn’t you too?” He asks, his tone light and playful as he cocks his head to the side.
Just then, the polished elevator door slides open with a soft ding, the sound echoing in the large lobby. You both step into it. Simon extends a hand to press the button for your floor, while you seek out a comfortable spot to lean against, feeling the cool chill of the wall seep through the thin fabric of your blouse.
Almost instantly, as soon as the elevator doors shut behind you, you notice the lack of air conditioning within this confined space; it’s slightly warmer inside the elevator than it was while you were waiting for it. Yet you can’t shake off the nagging thought that perhaps the sudden rise in temperature has more to do with the close proximity between you and Simon than the absence of fresh air.
He’s standing so unbearably close to you, his presence nearly overwhelming. Your fingertips hover near each other’s, like two magnets at the brink of connection, a near-contact that sends your heart into a wild, fluttering frenzy. A blush creeps into your cheeks. The heat spreads across your skin in an unmistakable wave of embarrassment. You attempt to dismiss this blush as a mere physical reaction to the stuffy air. It’s desperate and somewhat pitiful attempt to avoid acknowledging the electrifying tension that’s slowly but surely building up between the two of you in this cramped space.
Simon, for his part, does nothing to alleviate the palpable tension that hangs heavy in the air. On the contrary, he keeps stealing furtive glances at you, his gaze flickering in your direction every now and then. His brown eyes are glinting with something mysterious, something inscrutable, something you can’t quite decipher.
You have seen the cryptic expression that adorns his face now. It’s an expression that was etched on his face the first time you caught a glimpse of him, sitting alone in the dimly lit corner of a bar, his piercing gaze fixed firmly on you. He was leaning against the counter, nursing his drink with a kind of calculated, unhurried ease that was not only captivating but also intriguing. The amber liquid would swirl gently in the glass each time he lifted it to his lips.
“You know, I’m still hoping to come up with a good enough excuse to avoid going,” you admit, letting out a soft, almost inaudible sigh. Perhaps, you think, if you start talking, you will distract yourself. Maybe then you can stop your thoughts from constantly circling back to the subtle curve of Simon’s lips, or his futile attempt to disguise his amused smirk by clenching his jaw.
Simon shakes his head slightly. “Don’t think you’re going to think of anything that’s gonna work,” he says, his eyes sliding down your figure, lingering on your curves for a moment longer than necessary before his gaze shifts to the bag you’re clutching in your hands. “Shopping?”
You nod. A smile flashes across your lips. “Didn’t have a nice dress to wear, so had to go out and buy a new one,” you say, not really wanting to think about the money you spent on some silly dress that you will probably wear for one evening only, for a single dinner at some overpriced restaurant, before it will be relegated to the far corners of your closet and forgotten.
Simon’s tone is soft when he speaks. “I’m sure you will...” he begins, but his voice trails off into silence. His eyes, though, they hold you captive, their intensity making it impossible to look away. As the pause stretches into an endless moment, a pang of disappointment wells up within your chest. It’s clear that he’s holding back, refraining from expressing the thoughts that are so obviously teetering on the tip of his tongue.
At last, he manages to find his voice again. “I’m sure the dress you bought is lovely,” he exhales; the words are barely out of his mouth before he quickly averts his gaze towards the opening elevator doors.
Upon your and Simon’s rather ungraceful entry through the front door—where you tripped over the threshold, and he made a joke about it—both of you are still caught up in fits of hushed giggles, which only get louder when you mention Emily, and that she’s probably on the verge of ripping her hair out because she hates being late (although, Simon says, and you agree, there’s no need to rush since Johnny won’t mind waiting); the discomfort that was previously palpable in the elevator has been entirely forgotten by now.
As if on cue, as if the mere mention of her name had summoned her, your sister appears. Emily steps into view, her silhouette emerging from the living room as she strides towards the hallway. She then halts abruptly, planting her hands on her hips. Her lips purse into a thin, straight line after she dramatically rolls her eyes.
Emily pauses for a moment. Her gaze sweeps over you and Simon—her eyes dart back and forth, as if wrestling with the decision of who to unleash her annoyance upon. The sarcasm dripping from her voice is clear when she finally shatters the silence. “Finally. Was is too hard to pick up your phone?” She directs her question at you, but you see no reason to answer; the icy undertone in her voice signals that she isn’t really expecting a reply.
Then, without missing a beat, she swivels her head towards Simon, her gaze as piercing as a dagger. Simon, finding himself on the receiving end of her stare, offers her an apologetic smile. He makes the wise decision to remain silent, following your lead, fully aware that it’s better to let Emily vent her frustrations out than to engage in a fruitless argument.
Relief washes over you like a tide when Emily’s attention shifts to Simon. This sudden change in her focus creates a diversion, a brief but valuable window of opportunity that you seize with both hands to slip past her. However, as you start walking away, you can’t resist the urge to steal one last, lingering glance at Simon. His eyes, brimming with an unreadable emotion, flicker between Emily and you.
With stealthy steps, you make your way into your room. Thankfully, you have half-a-brain to lock the door behind you, too. Because exactly three minutes later, Emily attempts to barge in. The echo of her fists pounding against the sturdy wood fills your room, and her voice escalates slightly as she announces, “We leave in fifteen minutes.”
Responding with a nonchalant “Yeah, yeah, fine,” you begin to undress. Starting with your blouse, you unbutton it. The soft fabric cascades off your shoulders and flutters to the floor as you shimmy out of your jeans, letting them pool around your ankles before you kick them to the side. “I’ll be dressed in five,” you add, your tone filled with a certain leisureliness that suggests you are in no rush whatsoever. Yet your words are enough to make Emily mumble something inaudible under her breath and leave you alone for a bit.
As you gingerly take the neatly folded dress out of the bag, Emily’s words from yesterday’s conversation in the car flash in your mind. You know she wants you and Johnny to be a cohesive, visually pleasing pair for the wedding. In fact, she’s so invested in maintaining the aesthetic of the event that she would even go as far as replacing Simon as the best-man if he doesn’t meet her standards. This leads you to a curious question that starts circling in your head: If what Simon has been saying about his friend has any grain of truth, and Johnny is indeed as handsome as he claims, would Emily go to the extreme of replacing you instead?
Your fingers twitch with the temptation to shrug off the formal wear and opt for another pair of comfortable jeans and a simple shirt. You yearn to test out this theory, especially given your dwindling enthusiasm for the upcoming nuptial event—you wouldn’t mind to be replaced and watching everything from the sidelines. However, the prospect of enduring Emily’s likely tirade about your outfit choice, not to mention the potential for a heated argument, makes you pause.
With a resigned sigh, you decide to avoid the imminent conflict, at least for the moment. You tear off the price tag, throwing the piece of paper on the mattress, and slip into the little black dress you had bought for the occasion. The fabric hugs your body, but it’s not too tight. Then, you grab your brush and begin to work through your locks, smoothing out any knots and giving it a quick, but thorough, brush through. You even take a few extra minutes to apply a touch of mascara and a shiny lip gloss.
Stepping out of the room, you are greeted by the sight of Simon and Emily, who are already waiting for you. Emily is dressed in a tight pink dress that showcases her cleavage. Around her neck, she wears a beautiful pearl necklace, and her ears are adorned with matching pearl earrings that sway like pendulums with her movements. It’s clear that Emily has devoted considerable time and effort to her appearance, evident in the meticulously applied makeup and the way her hair has been styled with painstaking precision.
Your gaze then shifts to Simon, and to your surprise, you discover he had been drinking in your appearance all along, like a parched man finding an oasis. You quickly avert your gaze and instead focus on the details of his outfit - a tailored black suit that fits him immaculately. The top two buttons of his shirt are casually undone, revealing a hint of his collarbone. As your eyes wander further, you also notice the watch adorning his wrist. It’s a gift from Emily; she bought the watch for him on their unofficial three-month anniversary, not with her money, of course—she had Simon’s card.
“You look nice,” Emily says, her lips curling into a smile. As she subtly shifts her hips, it becomes abundantly clear that she’s fishing for a compliment in return. You really don’t feel like saying anything, but at the same time, you don’t want to act strangely, either. If you do, it would only lead to both of you having to explain to Simon why the heated argument you had yesterday is still a lingering issue.
You swallow, you can’t ignore her. So, after a moment of tense silence, you force your lips to curl upwards into a smile. “You as well, Em.”
Upon entering the elegant restaurant, you trail behind Simon and Emily, drifting like a shadow behind them. They walk a few steps ahead, their hands intertwined. The three of you are looking around—Emily and Simon are searching for Johnny, while you are simply taking in the grandeur of your surroundings.
You can’t help but feel like a fish out of water in this restaurant, with its refined ambiance and clientele that resemble a gallery of polished statues. It’s not a place you would typically find yourself. The soft melody of classical music wafts through the air, further enhancing the refined atmosphere. The waiters, all impeccably dressed in crisp uniforms, skillfully weave their way through the tables that are generously spaced, draped in spotless white tablecloths, and adorned with flickering candles that emit a warm glow.
“Over there,” Simon declares with a pointed finger, his voice just a notch above a whisper, before his arm falls back to his side. “I see him,” he adds, his gaze locked on a figure in the distance. After he glances over his shoulder, his eyes meeting yours, ensuring that you’re still following closely behind, he starts leading you and Emily towards a secluded table. It’s tucked away in a quiet corner of the room, away from the lively chatter and clinking of glasses.
When you approach the table, Emily is the first to be introduced. You find yourself momentarily relegated to the sidelines, silently observing as your sister carefully assesses Simon’s friend with a gaze as sharp as a hawk’s. This prompts an involuntary eye roll from you. Then, the spotlight shifts to you. Simon’s hand gently brushes against your shoulder and he ushers you forward. The unexpected warmth of his palm sends a shiver down your spine, causing your knees to tremble. However, the moment, as electrifying as it was, proves to be fleeting.
Simon’s friend extends his hand towards you. “Johnny,” he introduces himself, his voice smooth and confident; there’s even a slight hint of an accent you can’t quite place yet. He steps closer and lifts your fingers to his lips, pressing a soft kiss against your skin. This unexpected gesture catches you off guard, making you feel as if you’re in some old movie. You giggle, and Johnny lightly strokes the top of your hand with his thumb, eliciting another chuckle to escape from you.
“Y/N,” you say, your lips curving up into a wide smile that lights up your face. The corners of Johnny’s mouth lift in a matching grin. His eyes begin a slow journey across your form. His gaze descends at a leisurely pace, drinking in every detail, lingering a bit too long on the expanse of your legs. However, you choose to let it pass without comment. After all, you find a strange, exhilarating sense of satisfaction in his undivided attention, knowing that you are his sole focus at this moment.
As Simon pulls out Emily’s chair, he takes a second to cast his eyes over towards you and Johnny. Simon’s gaze is unwavering and steady, the pupils of his eyes dilating as they observe the interaction that unfolds between you and his friend. He takes note of every minute detail, every micro-expression that flits across your faces.
Simon notices the upward curve of Johnny’s lips, a sly grin adorning his face with each flirtatious remark he tosses your way. He observes your reactions to Johnny’s advances, meeting his jests with a smile that crinkles your eyes at the corners. The gentle batting of your eyelashes is not lost on Simon, either.
When you happen to glance at Simon, you notice a dramatic change in his demeanor. His eyes darken noticeably, a shadow casting over them as they fill with an unreadable emotion. This noticeable shift in his mood, this palpable change in the atmosphere around him, becomes even more pronounced after you subtly lean into Johnny and whisper something into his ear.
Neither you nor Johnny make a move to take your seats. And it’s not until Simon clears his throat, a sound that cuts through the bubble surrounding you and Johnny like a sharp blade, that you both return to reality. Simon tilts his head slightly, a casual yet deliberate gesture indicating the table. His silent command for Johnny and you to take a seat is clear, even without words.
The dinner is nice. In the beginning, the conversation is slow, and, to be honest, quite monotonous. There’s a certain awkwardness that permeates the air, acting as a silent, invisible barrier as everyone around the table makes polite attempts to conjure up interesting subjects to discuss. But at some point, just before the food is served, Emily takes the reins and starts dominating the conversation.
Emily gushes about her and Simon’s upcoming wedding. Each sentence she utters is punctuated with a bubbly giggle or an excited clap. Eager to share her meticulous planning, she divulges even the most minute and seemingly trivial details to Johnny. She talks about the venue, the guest list, the dress, the music. However, she seems most excited about the details she’s put the most thought into. This includes everything from the exact shade of her bridal bouquet—a perfect blend of pastel hues that would complement her dress and the overall theme of the wedding—to the intricate flavor profile of the wedding cake she wishes to have.
It’s obvious that Emily is determined to bring Johnny up to speed. However, you think, that perhaps she should slow down, so as not to overwhelm Johnny with the extensive details that he, quite frankly, probably doesn’t really care about. In your mind, it’s entirely plausible and you wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if, after having to endure a dinner with your sister, Johnny would decide to withdraw from wedding because Emily’s intense excitement is overwhelming, and a bit much to handle. Especially for someone who may not be accustomed to such a high energy level.
Surprisingly, though, Johnny rises to the occasion. He displays an admirable level of patience. You could never spend such a long time pretending to be interested in a conversation that does not particularly pique your interest. Yet he remains attentive and keeps up with Emily’s pace. He continues listening to her every word, even when you and Simon stop paying attention.
As the evening progresses, an array of sweet treats and decadent desserts replace the remnants of the main course. Seeing as Emily doesn’t make an effort to get to know Johnny, you step in. And thankfully, Emily finally takes the hint and stops pestering Johnny about the wedding, allowing you to capture his attention.
Johnny is undeniably a shameless flirt. His flirty remarks and comments not only seem to flow from his lips without a hint of hesitation, but also with a confidence that is impossible to ignore. Each compliment he showers you with is more charming than the last. But you don’t mind that. Not in the least, not even when they start getting a bit lewd. In fact, you find yourself drawn into his charismatic aura, and sometimes respond with your own playful banter and risque jokes.
For a while, the world seems to shrink down to just you and him, the rest of the restaurant becoming a mere backdrop to your conversation. You and Johnny become so engrossed in each other that you almost forget about Emily and Simon, who sit across the table, watching and listening to the two of you talk.
However, the lively atmosphere takes a slight turn when Johnny, in a playful tone, points out that Emily is not partaking in the drinking. He asks her, his voice tinged with a hint of genuine and innocent curiosity, if she holds any kind of aversion to the particular wine being served—perhaps she has a preference for white over the robust red that’s being passed around.
As the spotlight unexpectedly shifts onto Emily, you watch as her composed expression gradually changes. Her cheeks flush with embarrassment, the redness visible even beneath her foundation. Despite her lips parting to muster a response, no words manage to find their way out. She appears taken aback, blindsided by Johnny’s unexpected attention, and unsure how to react to his sudden inquiry.
This situation, while uncomfortable for Emily, is somewhat amusing to you. You find yourself silently observing the spectacle, and your enjoyment only interrupted when Simon decides to intervene and redirect the conversation.
“She’s on some silly diet,” Simon interjects, making Johnny’s eyebrows arch. After a brief pause, Simon adds that it has something to do with Emily wanting to fit into her wedding dress.
Johnny, much to your disappointment, accepts this far-fetched explanation. As the conversation resumes its normal flow, Johnny turns to you. With a smirk playing on his lips, he says, “Well, that’s great, isn’t it?” Raising his drink, he adds, “It means there will be more left for us.”
You respond with a nod, an amused smile on your lips. You clink your wine glass against his. Together, you both take a generous sip of the expensive wine, its rich flavor momentarily distracting you from the lingering awkwardness that yet has to vanish.
You are savoring the sweetness of a juicy strawberry, a garnish that adorned one of the lavishly presented desserts, when Johnny leans in closer. His warm breath causes a ticklish sensation that dances across your neck and leaves you breathless and flustered. Drawing closer still, he whispers softly into your ear. “I must admit, I was dreading the wedding somewhat—I hate wearing suits,” he confesses, his tone light and teasing. But then his voice drops lower and becomes intimate. “But now that I know I’ll get to spend a day with you by my side, the day can’t come soon enough.”
A sudden rush of warmth floods your cheeks, leaving you blushing, caught off guard by his words. However, you manage to regain your composure and steer the conversation away from the topic of the wedding. Part of your underlying motivation for this diversion is to prevent Emily, who has a habit of eavesdropping, from overhearing and launching into another one of her lengthy, detailed monologues about the countless challenges she faced while choosing a suitable wedding venue. Yet, your main motivation is your eagerness to hear the many captivating stories Johnny has to share about him and Simon.
Simon, for his part, appears less than thrilled about Johnny’s inability to maintain discretion regarding their shared escapades. Despite the subtle hints Simon continues to drop about toning down the conversation and maintaining a certain level of decorum, Johnny cheerfully disregards them, showing no signs of self-restraint. Even Emily seems to grow increasingly vexed by the two of you. It eventually becomes apparent that she’s not at all pleased with the attention moving away from her.
“You are being rude,” Emily says after she drags you into the restroom with her.
“I’m not,” you reply, staring at your reflection in the large mirror hanging on the wall. The lack of fresh air—and definitely not Johnny’s attention or the flood of compliments—has caused your cheeks to flush a rosy hue that doesn’t seem to be vanishing. Your hair is slightly disheveled, too, an aftermath of your restless hands constantly running through it.
“You’re acting as if you and Johnny are the only people at the table,” Emily accuses, her fingers wrapping around your wrist. With a firm tug, she forces you to meet her gaze. “You’re constantly whispering and sharing jokes. It’s becoming annoying. Even Simon is starting to feel uncomfortable.” Her grip tightens. “You need to tone it down.”
“I was under the impression that you wanted Johnny and me to get along. After all, you’ve already approved of him, right?” you counter, shaking off her hand away. “Or is this sudden dispute because you’re considering replacing him and you’re worried I’m wasting my time getting to know someone who might not even be a part of the wedding?”
“And slow down on the drinks,” Emily continues, ignoring your last comment as though it didn’t reach her ears.
“Jealous that you can’t drink because of your fake pregnancy, Em?” The words slip out before you can stop them, your tone steeped in sarcasm. You had been avoiding Emily all morning, not wanting to engage in an argument, but now that she’s cornered you in the restroom, the restraint you’ve been exercising all day is starting to wane.
“What’s gotten into you? Why are you acting so bitchy?” Emily snaps back, her face twisting into a grimace. “Stop it, or if you can’t, then perhaps it’s best if you leave.”
You press your lips into a thin line. An uncomfortable silence fills the space. There’s a long, tense pause before you finally respond. “Fine, I’m going. I’ll let you come up with another lie about why I left. You seem to have a knack for those.”
Emily tries to stop you—clearly, she didn’t expect this reaction—but you are faster. Before she can say anything or ensnare your arm in her grip again, you slip out of the restroom and head straight for the exit.
Venturing further from the entrance - far enough to avoid obstructing the flow of patrons - your arms coil around your waist. You try to shield your body from the icy wind because the cold is seeping in through the fabric of your dress, penetrating your skin and chilling your bones. But the feeble heat generated from your frantic self-embrace barely makes a difference. You start shivering. If you weren’t so consumed by anger and frustration, you’re fairly certain that by now, you would be crying. But your anger, a raging inferno that burns in the pit of your stomach, refuses to allow you to shed even a single tear.
When you made the impulsive decision to leave, to let Emily deal with her own bullshit, you hadn’t fully considered the ripple effect of your choices. In your hasty exit, you left your belongings at the table. Now, without your phone or purse, you’re stuck in an awkward situation without an easy way to call a taxi. And even if you could flag one down, you don’t have any money to pay for it. The heels that seemed like a good choice earlier are now a source of throbbing pain in your feet, too. Your toes are uncomfortably squished, and the mere thought of the long walk home that awaits you is enough to make you feel nauseous.
From the corner of your eye, you glance back at the softly lit restaurant that you just stormed out of. As the cold night air swirls around you, regret begins to seep in, like a slow-acting poison in your veins. You should go back, pretend that you just needed some fresh air and hope that Emily hasn’t let slip a word about the argument yet. But your stubborn pride holds you in its unyielding grip, rooting you into the cold concrete. You refuse to give Emily the satisfaction of winning this fight. Not this time.
Thankfully, just as you start to walk, each step a wobbly battle against the discomfort of your towering heels and the slight dizziness that has begun to cloud your senses, a familiar voice cuts through the night’s air and calls out to you. Johnny. Hearing your name, you pause in your tracks. He hastens up his pace. When he catches up to you, he says how Emily told him and Simon that you aren’t feeling well.
“Let me take you home,” Johnny offers.
You shake your head, shifting from foot to foot in an effort to keep your balance—standing still proves unexpectedly difficult. “No, you really should stay. Emily has been looking forward to meeting you, and I’m sure Simon would hate to see you leave, and… and I can just walk,” you say, and a feeble smile crosses your lips. Just because your sister ruined the evening for you, you don’t want to do the same to Johnny.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he insists. “It’s late and cold, and I can’t, in good conscience, let you walk home alone.” His eyes catch a small tremor of cold racing across your body - a slight shiver that you couldn’t suppress. Swiftly, almost as if it were an instinctive response, he removes his jacket. The material is warm from his body heat and he drapes it over your shoulders. “I’ll drive you,” he adds and starts absentmindedly playing with his car keys, twirling them around his index finger.
“But you can’t,” you remind him, “you���ve been drinking.” He responds with a nonchalant smile, the kind that suggests he won’t back down or leave you alone.
“Just a couple of glasses,” Johnny assures you. Noticing your hesitation, realizing you might need a bit more convincing, he quickly adds, “But if you’d rather walk, we can do that.”
You bite your lower lip, drawing it between your teeth as you gnaw gently on the tender flesh. Deep down, you know what the safe, sensible choice should be. However, you don’t pick it. “Alright, fine,” you finally relent, letting out a soft sigh. “But only if you promise not to speed.”
The ride is quite pleasant as the car glides smoothly down the road. Johnny doesn’t speed at all; he mostly keeps his eyes on the road and his hands securely on the wheel. The conversation between the two of you is sparse, yet the silence that ensues is far from uncomfortable or awkward.
At one point, Johnny punctures the quiet to inquire if you’re still feeling cold. Yet he doesn’t wait for an answer and simply turns on the heat. Almost instantly, the warmth envelops you, and Johnny’s jacket acts as a blanket that you wrap tighter around your shoulders. As the car continues to hum, you feel your eyelids growing heavy. You sink deeper into the plush seat, fighting a losing battle against the urge to give in to the sleepiness. Sensing your struggle to stay awake, Johnny decides to fill the silence with some chatter, filling the car with the sound of his voice.
“You know, I never thought I would see the day that Simon will be getting married,” he says. His words catch your attention, causing you to turn your gaze towards him. However, you decide not to say anything, which he takes as a cue to continue his train of thought. “I always kind of expected that I’d beat him to the altar. But until recently, I hadn’t had much luck with the ladies.” He adds the last bit while looking at you.
A smile blossoms on your face. You feel a blush creeping onto your cheeks. Not wanting Johnny to see you flustered, you quickly divert his attention by saying, “Eyes on the road.”
“Aye,” he chuckles in response, a sound that tickles your heart and makes you giggle as well. He obliges your command, turning his head away from you and once again refocusing his attention on the winding road that lies ahead. “Do you want to know my first question was when Simon called me and told me about the wedding?”
“Something inappropriate?” you tease, causing him to roll his eyes in mock exasperation.
“No, but my second question was. I jokingly asked if the reason behind his sudden decision to propose was because he had gotten Emily pregnant.” he glances at you with a cheeky grin, but the corners of your lips fall at the revelation. His smile, too, begins to fade. “Yeah, Simon didn’t think it was funny, either.”
#simon riley x you#simon riley x reader#ghost x reader#cod#johnny soap mactavish#soap x you#love triangle
37 notes
·
View notes
Photo
WHEN PAK IS ON FIRE HE IS ON FIRE.
“You yearn for a father. But you will not find him in me. So you cling to your friends. As if you want to disappear in their company. As if you could snuff out the Force within you that fills you with so much fear. But none of us can escape who we are. So if you refuse my offer, you will end up more lost than you can ever imagine. So you will come to me. Now. If you do not, I will cut your friend in half.”
“My son. I sense your anguish. You still cannot bear the thought of losing your friends. Good. Now you’re ready to learn what real fear is.”
EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS HITS LIKE A GODDAMNED TRUCK.
This is Anakin projecting everything about himself--every word of that opening speech was a reflection of what he wanted. He yearned for a father figure (despite having one, just as Luke did). He clung to his friends, he was so afraid to lose his mother, his wife, his Master, his apprentice.
I fully believe there were times when he wanted to snuff out the Force within himself because it echoed with the fear he was constantly pouring into it and it threw it back in his face, because the Force works based on your emotional mindset.
He truly believes, even now, that he cannot escape who he is.
Vader is halfway justifying his actions (just as Anakin justified everything he did during the Revenge of the Sith) that he’s protecting Luke. By cutting off his hand, by turning him to the dark side on Vader’s terms rather than the Emperor’s, just like he justified murdering Jedi and Jedi children and turning his back on everything Padme believed in, because he was protecting her, he was saving her.
Anakin has always done this with people he cares about, because he is the one who is so afraid to lose any of them that he will hurt them, maim them, choke them, try to destroy their soul, to force them to stay with him. He is so afraid of being alone in the dark that he will do anything not to be, and that’s why him returning to the light is so meaningful in the end, because he finally lets go of this fear, this one right here. The one he’s projecting onto Luke, because so much fear fills him that it’s all he can see.
#anakin skywalker#luke skywalker#sheev palpatine#meta#comics#reading comics: darth vader vol. 2#long post
503 notes
·
View notes
Note
Please can i request Baki with a crazy reader, like clinical insane, can we have his reaction with reader running out of the asylum, would he help her or put reader back in the hospital? Also how would he react with reader picking alot of figths in the asylum...sorry if my english is broke, i'm too lazy to check it 😁
Oh, it was hard, but I kind of did it.
Baki:
- Oh...
- he's confused...
- of course he's glad to see you, to spend time with you again, he'll give you shelter, but the more time he spends with you, the more convinced he is that he made the wrong decision
- the actions that you do have to be dealt with by him and it bothers him, but he has no choice but to just fix what he has done
- the interaction between you is also changing. He just doesn't know how you're going to behave in the next second, and it knocks him out of his rut.
- for example, you are talking calmly and then you just take and pour water on your feet from a kettle that has just boiled... He really doesn't know how to react to this. Naturally, he will provide you with first aid, contact Kureha, but he does not know how to prevent such situations in advance ...
- the more time Baki spends with you, the more convinced he is that you need to return and continue treatment... And the Kureha will confirm this.
- he will feel guilty as if he betrayed you, but Baki will convince himself that he did it for your own good.
Hanayama:
- It's hard for him.
- on the one hand, he is happy that you are back and that you are spending time with him as before, but he sees your insanity and... It's really sad for him.
- he will cover you and your actions to the end. He is a Yakuza boss, he has the opportunity to do this...
- the reason for this is his love for you, but Hana cannot close her eyes to your actions, although she tries very hard
- but the more time he spends with you, the more convinced he is that you need help.
- Hana sees that your insanity is more harmful to you than to others. He understands this when he comes home and sees you lighting a fire there, justifying your movements by saying that you "just wanted to cook him dinner, you didn't want to do anything wrong"
- and... It makes him sad... Or rather, he really feels sorry for you.. He's sorry that you're hurting yourself...
- as a result, Hana will prefer to hire personal ones for you, or send you to some elite clinic so that you will be treated more delicately.
Katsumi:
- shock
- and then the joy. You should know how much he missed you, how much he wanted to see you...
- He is so glad that at first he does not even notice his insanity, his joy has blinded him
- time passes and he begins to notice it, and the more time he spends with you, the more obvious it becomes to him.
- the most striking example of this was that you attacked him, of course, he was able to easily cope with you, but the fact that you explained your act by saying that Katsumi seemed frightening to you, made his mind completely clear
- and this causes him to panic. He doesn't know what you're going to do or if he can stop it, and it really makes him afraid.
- HE STILL CONTINUES TO BELIEVE YOU. He listens to how you were treated in a mental hospital, how you missed him, how painful it was for you without him. Even though your stories sometimes sound too absurd.
- and he will keep you with him, will justify your actions, try to cover for you when necessary, but he understands perfectly well that over time you get worse... Then why does Katsumi keep doing this? Perhaps because he still continues to live with memories... Or maybe it's because he doesn't know what you can do if you find out that he's going to put you in a mental hospital.
Jack:
- confused
- he's glad to see you, he missed you, but that situation is really worried about you.
- However, compared to others, he is more tolerant of this. He is naturally disturbed by your frequent mood swings, harsh laughter or crying, and lack of adequacy in behavior. However, he can bear it.
- but Jack WON'T let you hurt people or yourself. He'll grab you in his bear hug and won't let you go until you calm down. You kick, bite him, scream, hit him, it doesn't matter. He won't let you go until you calm down.
- he also makes sure that he made the wrong decision, but still leaves you with him for a while.
- a lot of consultations with the Courier, both telephone and personal. I may have brought him to you several times, but apart from the conclusion that you need to return to the mental hospital, nothing followed.
- Jack knows that very well himself. That's why he's going to send you back to the asylum. Not without remorse, but he did it anyway.
Retsu:
- his first thought is: "Oh my God"
- he knows perfectly well what's wrong with you
- even if you start lying to him that you've recovered, he won't believe you.
- it seems to me Retsu has seen a lot in this life, he is experienced, so one glance is enough for him to ensure that your condition leaves much to be desired.
- he'll send you to the hospital right away. Immediately. He is sure that it will be better for you and for the society. He understands perfectly well that you yourself cannot predict your actions, so he will do exactly that.
- but that doesn't mean he doesn't feel guilty about it. He is also experiencing a strong one.
- he was tempted to take you in, leave you for a while, try to limit your actions, somehow help you personally, but he understands that in your case it won't help ...
- in general, he did what he had to do
Shibukawa:
- ohhh
- this old man immediately realizes that something is wrong with you as soon as you cross the threshold of his house
- it takes him a couple of days to figure out what's wrong with you
- inadequate reaction, risky actions, even the smallest ones, aggression without a reason... It more than gives you away
- just like Retsu, he is experienced, he has lived a long life, he has seen a lot, including similar situations... But he could not even think how difficult it is sometimes to make the right decision
- he could have pretended that everything was fine with you in order to live as before, he would just have to keep you in check, so that you wouldn't do stupid things...
- however, he didn't do that... Because it won't do you any good, it might also make you feel worse.
- that's why he decides that bringing you back would be the best solution.
#baki son of ogre#baki the grappler#baki#baki the grappler headcanons#baki headcanons#chracter x reader#katsumi orochi#jack hanma#baki hanma#hanayama kaoru#retsu kaioh#shibukawa gouki#orochi katsumi x reader#jack hanma x reader#hanayama kaoru x reader#retsu kaioh x reader#baki hanma x reader#shibukawa gouki x reader#baki x reader#katsumi x reader#jack x reader#hanayama x reader#retsu x reader#shibukawa x reader
80 notes
·
View notes
Text
chapter 141 thoughts!
The usual reminder: because of the content of this arc, I will unavoidably have to discuss CSA and topics related to it in this & future chapter reviews. I do not discuss them in great detail, but if you very understandably just aren't in the headspace for that, no hard feelings - look after yourself and I'll see you next time.
This chapter starts us off on the note of answering something I've been wondering for a while and confirming that Ai did, in fact, know that Hikaru was being abused by Airi. On the one hand, this feels like it should go without saying, since it answers the question of where Aqua would have gotten some of this info, but it feels strange to have this dropped on us in such a matter of fact way.
In general, I continue to be both baffled and impressed by Oshi no Ko's dedication to never showing characters learning or reacting to huge, status-quo altering pieces of information on screen lol. I think this is more a case of the movie's framing than the manga's - hard cutting from the HKAI exchange at the end of last chapter to the Ai & Airi confrontation is very cinematically appropriate - but it does bother me regardless. In isolation, I think it's fine and we get more than enough information about Ai's thoughts and feelings on the situation in the confrontation but it's nevertheless part of a pattern that's been going on for a long while now of important reveals and reactions to really huge pieces of information are happening entirely offscreen and are only told to the viewer in retrospect, or are backfilled into the story once Akasaka wants to make use of it. It's not a world-ending flaw or anything but I'm noticing it more and more and I think it's been harming the series more than it's helping.
That said, I do really like this confrontation Ai has with Airi. It definitely feels more like Ai speaking for Aqua than it does Ai herself speaking - the cold, straightforward way she addresses Airi pretty clearly mirrors the way Aqua spoke to the director on Akane's behalf back in LoveNow. Whether this is a case of Aqua using Ai as a mouthpiece or their similarities as mother and son coming out in a moment like this, I think it's interesting either way. Given what we learned about Ai's own abuse and her own history with narrowly avoided CSA, it makes total sense that upon learning someone she cares about was being similarly exploited by an adult that she would have some very strong feelings about it.
Airi's meltdown in response is also something I have mixed feelings on. As a piece of characterization in isolation, it's fascinating and I think it provides some important insight into how and why Airi was able to rationalize and justify her abuse of Hikaru to herself, even though she clearly knows it was objectively wrong. I honestly can't help but see parallels in the way she centers her own feelings and pain and uses that as justification for her actions with Ayumi, Ai's mother, who had a more subdued but emotionally similar breakdown when talking about her history with her daughter.
Ultimately, I do feel it adds more than it takes away - I would much rather see the story continue to humanize characters who could otherwise have just been left as uncomplicatedly black and white Evil People Doing Bad Things. People very rarely begin acting in cruel, exploitative or antisocial ways out of nowhere and I think the manga's story is better for highlighting that this is the case.
H O W E V E R. . . where my feelings become more negative is the talk that follows, but I have like a million things to say about that so I'll put a pin in it for now to not derail too badly.
Given how Airi responds here, I'm also suddenly very curious as to if this direct confrontation was what put an end to her abuse of Hikaru. It's hard for me to imagine her going back to it after being so directly called out and if that's the case, I can't help but wonder if this was the trigger for the HKAI romance. I already talked last chapter that there's some imagery already implying Hikaru views Ai as his light, which OnK thematically associates with the role of a savior in someone's life. If Ai really did manage to intervene and protect Hikaru from Airi's abuse, then that would have intensified those feelings one hundredfold.
holy shit akane AND miyako are back! wow, isn't it totally crazy that across the arcs where they could have contributed to and potentially resolved the conflicts at play they were just totally absent but now they're just reappearing without comment or reaction to any of that other shit!
As I mentioned before, I have really mixed feelings on this scene with Miyako and the others. In isolation, I do like it and I think it kind of brings into explicit text something that had been just floating around as vibes before, which is how absolutely symbiotic with misogyny and sexual exploitation the entertainment industry is. The way misogyny played into Ai's exploration was always a really fascinating part of her arc to me, but given that Akasaka at least publicly presents as a person without that sort of lived experience, I was curious as to how much was intentional and how much was accidental, just because of how surprising it was to see a man centering this sort of thing so thoroughly in his writing. This scene with Miyako makes it clear that it's something Akasaka absolutely wants to highlight and discuss in Oshi no Ko, to the point of him being willing to call out even likable and sympathetic characters like Taiki for casually taking part in and perpetuating it.
THAT SAID… I really don't like that this scene, accidentally or otherwise, ends up centering and discussing Airi's victimhood over Hikaru's. His story has always been an indictment of the way children, specifically, are at risk in the entertainment industry not just in terms of being exploited as workers, but in the ways that adults in power can and will use their positions of authority to do exactly what Airi has done. That is what needed to be discussed here; the way that Hikaru's abuse is in no way an isolated incident and how people like Airi will continue to get away with hurting children so long as the industry - and society at large - treats children like second-class citizens at best and commodities at worst. I do think this scene is trying to use Airi and Miyako's experiences as a jumping off point to talk about exploitation in general and the way a person's ability to say 'no' can be compromised by outside pressures but it talks so much and so exclusively about the experiences of young girls and adult women specifically that it's hard not to read it as the story placing more value - at least for now - in exploring Airi's perspective over Hikaru's and that just feels kind of grody to me.
The timeline of this chapter is also just… really weird? Given Frill's, uh, appearance at the end of the chapter I have to assume it's taking place right after she films her scene with Aqua last chapter but that makes no sense given where the Ai and Airi confrontation is placed…? My best guess is that the scene we get at the start is some kind of visualization of the script by the characters who are reading it but it's all still very needlessly confusing lol
frill just barging in with her tits out when she knew rbkn were waiting for her was so fucking funny though i gotta admit. weird ass lizard woman.
Her mentioning it was her own decision to do the scene like that is also shrimptresting because it seems to implicitly confirm that there is, thank god, SOME kind of intimacy coordinator on set that the cast are talking about these scenes with. I actually also think the level of trust and comfort between Aqua and Frill this implies is also really interesting…? In general, I've always really like the idea of AQFR friendship, so this is kind of making me daydream a bit about seeing more of one…
As for the ending… man, it's such transparent reaction bait that I can't really summon the energy to get annoyed LOL. At least we won't have to wait a whole extra week to see what it amounts to.
Weary as I am with the reaction bait cliffhangers, I am at least glad to see the story coming around to finally addressing the elephant in the room here. As the chapter end text points out in the Japanese versions of this chapter, a scene like this was an inevitability of playing Ai and Hikaru and it's been where I've expected to see the underlying tension that's been floating around AQRB's relationship since the past life reveal finally get drawn out and addressed. Given its placement in the story (ch 142 is only the second chapter of its corresponding volume) and the framing of that last page as more of a gag/punchline than a serious dramatic beat, I don't things are quite going to play out like Ruby seems to want, but I'm nevertheless curious as to wtf is even going to happen
Honestly, at this point, I kind of just want Akasaka to shit or get off the pot. If he's going to bring a topic like incest to the table, then I want him to actually have something to say about it that isn't just Ruby going 'kyaa oniichan' and acting like a fanservice imouto character from a harem anime. If we're going to have something like 'Ruby falls in love with her brother' actually happen in story, then I want to see how she feels about this, how she rationalizes it, how she expects this to play out when she and Aqua live in a society that by and large condemns incest and treats it as taboo. At the very least, give me something to dig into and examine and chew on that wouldn't have already felt dated during the mid 2010s little sister boom.
62 notes
·
View notes
Text
You know as much as people give Raoul shit, myself included, I have to say that I never realized how integral a good Raoul is to the efficiency of the love triangle. A Raoul that doesn’t show interest in Christine or scoffs at her conflict with the Phantom just makes the whole dynamic unbalanced.
If Raoul’s not as devoted and in-love with Christine as Erik is, than Erik’s actions and misdeeds look ridiculous because he’s trying to win Christine over from a guy that doesn’t even care about her or what’s going on. And then it kind of makes Christine look like an idiot for wanting to marry Raoul if he doesn’t really care for what she’s going through. It’s like he’s promising her all of these things in AIAOY out of obligation rather than love. (Oh this crazy hot chick wants me to save her from a ghost. I don’t know what she’s on but whatever I’m getting laid). You’d almost rather she be with Erik because at least he’s passionate about her. If anything, his actions almost seem justified in that he’s trying to take Christine away from someone who doesn’t appreciate her and her talents.
The best trio performances to me are when all three of them are unhinged: Erik is Erik, Christine is scared and horny, and Raoul wants to be a hero so bad he can’t recognize when he’s near as obsessive as Erik. Like, the fun of POTO is how in love both Raoul and Erik are with Christine and the way they go about expressing it, both the good and the bad. The Final Lair is when they both realize that they’ve hurt Christine in their “quest” to do what they thought was best for her. They are opposites, but they also share similarities.
Anyway, John Riddle and Hadley Fraser are fantastic Raouls, though they play him differently, and I think we should talk more about his importance in this narrative.
#poto#phantom of the opera#raoul de chagny#Christine daae#Raoul/Christine#erik/christine#Poto 25#Yea Paul's Raoul inspired this point#his performance genuinely left me angry when I saw the show last week#I never thought I would care so much about a Raoul performance and yet#I didnt realize I saw John back in November and oh how I wish he was there that night
253 notes
·
View notes
Text
My statement on ACOTAR characters
(unedited; really just a brain dump)
I know I use a lot of pro and anti tags when it comes to ACOTAR, and while I do have characters I like more than others, I really just dislike them as a whole. I think the series is poorly written and SJM is the one I actually hate.
I honestly can't really criticize or defend any character properly, because the characters themselves are just deficiently made. They all come from the same dumbass author. The main thing keeping me in the fandom are the actual people in it, because they have actual thoughts that make sense, and I find discussing the topics presened entertaining. So I don't wanna hear any "Well if you hate the books so much stop talking about them" bs
I don't hate Rhysand, in fact I think he has a lot of cool moments. I like the idea of him not bowing to anyone but his own people, so he got a knee tat of Velaris (even if I think its dorky). I enjoy his outlook on what's right, and I did genuinely like him early on. But I think the way SJM writes his actions (especially political ones) and their justifications incredibly disjointed poorly thought out. I think he's wrongfully used and justified and digs people into a bad way of thinking ethically because SJM has made no move to do anything but portray him as a white knight. Had the narrative acknowledge some of the things he's done as actually bad, in fact that most of them have bad outcomes for some even if they benefit others, I'd have no issue with him. SHe just writes him doing heinous things for reason and then is like "Oh but he's traumatized so its okay!"
I don't dislike Feyre, but I think she's often shoved into a backseat role in her own series. I know this is a multi-pov story, but seriously? How the fuck did SJM make Feyre's pregnancy climax to nothing more than more Nesta hate??? Why was her experience and thoughts just completely missing in the plot that literally revolved around her?? I find her flaws charming, and yet they're often forgotten or used to justify things that shouldn't be justified. I don't have any issue with her beyond the SC disaster. But, I think the fact that there's Feyre antis in general speaks to how bad of a writer SJM is. You can't even make people agree on liking your main fucking character? In fact most Feyre antis are Pro Nestas... which is ridiculous. How poorly do you have to write for people to pit sisters against each other WHEN YOUR MAIN TROPE IS FOUND FAMILY. The way SJM uses Feyre pisses me off endlessly
I think Feysand has its moments, and I don't hate anything about them specifically - but rather how they're presented and treated by the narrative. I think they make sense together, and I prefer them to Feylin, but I hate how SJM and fans bend over backward to justify everything.
I'm not a Nesta stan, I just think the narrative (and especially SF) is an injustice to real world issues and the logic used against her makes no sense in reference to the other characters. SJM says she loves her so much, but shows her none. I find the way the fandom treats her lacking empathy, and SJM has done nothing to actually better her character. I think its ridiculous no one acknowledge that she grew up in the same fucking cottage as Feyre with the same parents. SJM constantly dredges up new shit to pit her and Feyre against each other instead of just letting them be happy. She treats Nesta like she's irredeemable, and when she does "redeem" herself its literally in service to the people who are forcing her to fix herself??? She's used as a point for juvenile drama and placed in a cycle of being antagonized with no outlet to place blame. See my full thoughts on her here
I don't actually despise the ic, I think they all are just wasted and thrown into whatever whirlwind situation gives SJM a boner. I think Morrigan had so much potential, but SJM decided it would be better to use her for petty drama and forwarding a ship. I don't hate her because she doesn't do anything for the woman in the CoN, because quite frankly I don't think SJM has thought that far. I don't think Cassian's the worst man alive, but I think SJM has a poor grasp on him and what a healthy relationship (even in the bounds of a fantasy novel) is. And I just find Azriel particularly useless, he's not a thoughtful sensitive soul, he's just yet to be focused on. And I do not look forwards to the day he is, based on his first and only current pov.
I'm not a Tamlin stan, in fact I really don't care for his character, but I think he suffers from lazy writing and some severe character assassination. I think the switch up on his character after the first book is absolutely ridiculous.
I dislike how SJM throws Elain around and treats her like a little precious baby and making her out to be an airhead whos absolved from the same crimes Nesta's hated for.
I'm not an SJM fan, I'm an avid SJM hater. I actually despise her, and while I won't write out my entire long list of grievances with her here, just know that literally all of my issues with the series would be gone if she was just a better person and writer. Seriously, I think she lacks so much mechanical and analytical skill (which is crazy, she's been publishing books for 12+ years and written like 15) and I see no change in the future. She constantly retcons, switches characters up for whatever her narrative calls for, and sacrifices good character writing for a fast track to mediocre faerie smut.
I hate the way she sexualized Feyre's experience under the mountain. I hate the way she immediately objectified Feyre when she got pregnant (the blurb describing Feyre walking around while pregnant is insanely kinky and I hate it). I hate the way she throws around trauma and mental illness like cute little stickers so that she can pick and choose the aspects she thinks are cool. I hate that she's fucked up people's perception of abuse and mental illness. I hate the way she uses poc and steals credit for representation she didn't care to make. This isn't even all of it, its just what I can remember within the 9 minutes I spent writing this brain dump. SJM does not deserve more of my time 😭
If I was a character in the series I genuinely think I'd avoid all of them, because I don't care, and if I somehow did have to be cornered with any of them, I'd hate all of them. But If I ever faced up with the mother (aka Sarah), it'd be on sight. My hatred for her knows no bounds. Hate is a strong word, and one I used so many times in this post (something SJM does a lot too though, so I'm not worried, seriously get a thesaurus and stop using the same phrases every 6 pages) because it's true.
34 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
auraee
𝔸𝕦𝕣𝕒 𓇗
hrmanagements
Human Resource Information System
just-a-smalltown-guy
Fuck That Life Fucking Sucks
profbastard
The Lab is Closed
robinhoodmv
Untitled