#so it's always annoying to see people make it into this huge moral Disrespect when you can't avoid the spread of information | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

onmyyan · 3 years

Note

Hi its me again. I love your writing and the fact that there isn't as much abuse like there is in others. It reminds me of old yandere stories were it was genuine lovesickness. Anyway, how do you think jjba yanderes would react to a darling that is taller and more muscular than them by quite a bit. You can do whoever you like I don't mind.

A/N: Omg ily🥺 it means a lot you said all that because I really love this genre it’s my comfort trope anyway thank you for the request n I hope ya like it!! Kira should be a trigger warning in an of itself but dw he’s just weird, not mean. Mentions of his past ‘girlfriends’, a curse word or two, lil suggestive in someplace’s Mista murks a few people, tw//gun violence

Characters: Pt2 Joseph, Josuke, Kira, Mista

Joseph was used to looking down on people, standing at a proud 6’5” he was literally and figuratively knocked on his ass when he’d first laid eyes on you, his immediate thought was you were a forgotten pillarman coming from nowhere to get revenge for your masters only to quickly realize you were just a stallion. You were strong enough to put him on his back after one too many cheeky comments. Unafraid to speak your mind and keep him in check, You would stare down at him with that mind melting smirk, all too aware of his frustrations, you assumed he was just being a man, ashamed to be outclassed by someone other than himself, oh honey how wrong you were. You enjoyed teasing the behemoth of a man as no one else really could, at least not as well as you did, throughout your little jabs and snark he always had a retort, a response on the tip of his tongue, eager to do this dance of yours until one of you broke, to you he was a way too cocky dangerously self assured pretty boy who was entertainingly easy to rile up, but to Joseph, you were his everything. Someone he could proudly take home to Granny Erina once he’d finally tamed you. He had a plan, a three step plan to steal your heart just as you’d done his, and this little game of who could annoy the other the most was just step 1. “It’s been fun JoJo but you’re gonna have to find someone else to bother.” You’d jokingly said one day out of the blue, an odd friendship had formed through the month you’d been in town and it felt wrong to leave without notice, an act of kindness you’d learn to regret. “Is this one of your famous jokes (Y/n)? Not so funny to play with a mans heart like that I nearly believed you.” He finished with a scoff, his signature smirk not reaching his eyes. “It’s true Joseph, my flight leaves tomorrow, I didn’t wanna leave without saying goodbye, because as much as we fuck around you’re pretty fun to hang out with.” Your sincerity almost made him feel bad about rushing the next few steps of his plan, he’d have to cram months of planning into a night but he’d accomplished more with less time on his side. He huffed, his grin stretched wide across his handsome features. “Then we outta make tonight count eh?” A thick arm was tossed around your neck, you had to bend awkwardly for this to be possible much to your amusement. “Okay you weirdo, whatever you say.” You let him lead you around town with a grin, unaware you’d be missing that plane, and any other one you tried to take without him.

Josuke watched you eat with the dopiest grin on his face, he’d spent an extra hour in the mirror this morning in preparation for your first official date! Well you didn’t exactly know it it was a date and Okayasu was eating rather messily beside you two but still! You’d actually agreed to come to Toni’s with him! You’d been an enigma since you transferred to the bizarre town, choosing to keep to yourself, and despite the intimidating height and mass you possessed, he saw through your act in seconds. There was a huge softie under all that muscle, he’d watched you enough to know this as a fact, you were a gem and he was intent on showing you his appreciation and adoration for the rest of his days, a vow he’d silently taken the day you’d stolen his heart, the moment was brief in reality but it lasted forever in his mind, you smiled at him in passing, he could feel time slow down, everyone around you faded in the background, a backdrop to the beginning of your story. He could imagine telling your kids how you’d met, something about the way you’d stare down at him, eyes sharp and attentive, like you truly listened when people spoke, your laugh was loud when it was real and every time he heard it he felt 10 years added to his lifespan. At the same time that icky feeling at another person making you laugh was conflicting, he’d never been in love before but he suddenly understood why his mom had never given up on his dad, love was weird but he wouldn’t give it up for anything. You’d accidentally snapped your chopsticks laughing too hard at a joke he’d tossed out, your face scrunched in embarrassment before chuckling at yourself and switching to a fork, his stand came out on its own, pocketing the shards to fix later, a new item for his ever growing collection, what a cute little memento from your first date! His thoughts swirled happily with the stories you’d be telling your kids. Thankfully neither of you noticed his little pickpocket moment, dangerous plans forming as he stared at you with those misleadingly soft puppy dog eyes.

Kira could die in this moment, happily I might add, as your firm but soft hand was wrapped oh so deliciously around his throat threatening to crush it with ease at the slightest movement. He’d been watching you for a while now, the longest he’d ever spent on someone he didn’t plan to kill, it become sort of hobby he’d picked up recently, the morally upsetting activity bringing peace to his day to day, usually he used his stand to carefully observe your routine, eager to learn all he could about his future spouses likes and desires, but he was getting greedy. Of course he could always introduce himself but he resisted, knowing there was a time and place to get exactly what he wanted. He liked to think he knew everything about you by now, your favorite color, how you liked your coffee, your love for cats, but he didn’t anticipate this. You were much more observant than he’d given you credit for, while you couldn’t see his stand you could sense yourself being watched, and seeing the large blonde lurking indiscriminately in the crowds throughout the day was enough to set you off. So you trailed off into the less crowded parts of town quickly entering an alleyway, he followed in pure confusion only to be roughly slammed into the wall, his stand came out on reflex but simply stared at his attacker, it seemed almost confused as what to do. “Why the hell are you following me pretty boy?” His eyes rolled to the back of his head at the feel of your fingers tightening, god he’d never felt this rush of exhilaration, none of his past ‘girlfriends’ could pull such an illicit reaction from him with a simple touch. When he didn’t answer you simply scoffed and tossed him aside like it was nothing. You left with a threat to stay out of your sight, yet all he could do was smile, the faint imprint of your fingers burned in his skin deliciously, how lucky could one man get?

Mista observed you with hungry eyes. His stare was unapologetically locked on your form. He made no intention to hide his attraction for you. The day you’d joined Buccarati’s crew was the day his world flipped. He assumed his new teammate would be no one to fuck with based on what Bruno told him about your stand, but when you walked in? Needing to bend down slightly just to enter the doorway had him sweating in his seat. He didn’t know what to say as he watched you happily interact with his fellow teammates, immediately you blended with the group, but all that was running through his mind were all the fun things you could do with those muscles. He usually stayed silent around you, not out of dislike as one would assume from his piercing gaze, but fear of accidentally voicing one of those nasty thoughts kept him quiet. You didn’t seem to mind though, always including him in the conversation, you even understood his very valid fear of that dreaded number! How could god plop such a perfect person in his lap and expect him to not do anything about it? Alas, Bruno had specifically told them not to make you uncomfortable with any flirting so he bit his tongue. Your aura was calming, a contrast to your powerful stand, speaking of, he couldn’t get his under control. Whenever they could Sex Pistols was out and all over you. They climbed and clamored for your attention, thankfully you didn’t seem to mind, always entertained their antics when you could, even giving each one a small peck when they wouldn’t let you leave for a mission without Mista, to say he was done for was an understatement, it took one mission going foul for his resistance to snap. His stand moved faster than it ever had, piercing the skulls of the idiots who brought you pain. He left the last one slowly bleeding out kneeling down to wipe the matted hair from your forehead, “You okay baby? Don’t worry honey I’ll make the bastard hurt.” He spoke not breaking eye contact, his hand pointed behind him, grip steady as he unloaded in the poor fool who thought it was a good idea to make you bleed, the wound was small, not even deep enough to trouble Giorno but that didn’t matter to Guido, any slight against you was disrespecting the future parent of his children, and what kind of man would he be if he didn’t defend your honor?

#yandere jjba #yandere jojo's bizarre adventure #yandere jojo x reader #yandere Joseph #yandere josuke #yandere Kira yoshikage #kira yoshikage #josuke higashitaka #yandere x y/n #yandere imagine #yandere x reader #yandere mista #guido mista #yandere Joseph Jostar

211 notes · View notes

youwontlikethisblog · 3 years

Text

Adriana Arboleda

I find this episode so interesting and since I like to avoid many things, I've put off writing this post because I just don't know where to start.

Previously:

Armando was visibly upset when they mentioned the wedding in front of Betty, it was purely because he didn't want her to once again feel guilty and break things off. While at the same time he overheard a conversation with Nicolas and Betty that sounded like she was jealous and mad at him for "cheating" on her and that he was a bad boyfriend.

This feeds the distrust that Armando has towards Betty's fidelity and his insecurity regarding their relationship(and his role in Betty's life) as well as his rivalry that he has against Nicolas.

Betty was visibly upset with both Nicolas and Armando. For one because Nicolas really is a huge reason as to why Armando feels a certain distrust. As much as I find Nicolas endearing there's many things that annoy me from him. For example the fact that he continues to find ways to converse with Patty even though he knows that Betty doesn't like it, especially that she doesn't want Patty to know anything regarding where he works at and what he does, but Nicolas; to impress Patty, always brings up the topic of money to make himself more desirable. Yeah he's insecure and he wants to get her attention but that doesn't excuse his crappy behavior as Betty's best friend, someone that he considers as his family. That adds so much pressure, distrust, and resentment towards Betty and Armando's relationship. Yes Nic wasn't aware that they were in a relationship to begin with but Betty often times told him, reminded him, and got upset with him for telling or talking to Patsy Pats about Terra Moda or what he does for a living and the dangers of that information getting out.

Two: that Armando is getting married. For one it makes her feel inferior, that their relationship isn't as strong and that Armando isn't serious about her like she is of him.

Armando had convinced Betty to continue the affair, despite the fact he's getting married. He told her it was only for show, that he'd continue with the preparations of the wedding but call it off last minute. Mario had told him that he needed to get Betty on their side because she was the only one that could embellish the balance for the board meeting this is when we start getting the trails to the letter and why Betty rationalized Armando's behavior after reading the letter.

However that isn't the real reason as to why he goes to fix things. It's what he uses as an excuse to justify why he goes to fix things with Betty. Mario, to get him to do this, weaponized what Armando had told him earlier that day about what kind of relationship Betty and Armando have. Had Armando not shared any of what he did he wouldn't have had any ground to continue to manipulate him.

Currently:

It's the morning of the day AA arrives to Eco Moda. When Betty exist her office she sports a huge smile and greets Armando, who is absorbed by her presences and very content. His eyes follow her through his office as she moves around it and just the same, Betty's eyes are on him, barely noticing Mario. When she does, as she's about to exit the office she greets him, we see Armando with a smile just absorbed by her until Mario speaks and he composes himself to act like that didn't make him happy, joyful, at peace, etc...

Why does AA hold such a significance here?

Armando is now slowly accepting and willingly understanding his feelings(he does try to justify them as something else at times). Betty says she has felt this through his kisses and his affection towards her, that she knows that he loves her now and that he is faithful to her-when it comes to Marcela.

However as she said the previous night as she wrote in her diary that she isn't so sure about his love or fidelity when it comes to his true vice; the models. Models like AA.

Jealousy isn't something healthy in any relationship, even when media tries to paint jealousy as this normal and healthy thing that every person experiences, it's not.

In the previous post I mentioned what the definition of Jealous/y is. It's a combination of feelings of inadequacy, insecurity, or resentment but if you look up the definition of it it says "concern over the relative lack of possessions-"

Sometimes it isn't an object, rather a person, however the issue lays within the fact that person who feels the jealousy views said person as an object rather than a human. Armando's jealousy is possessive, insecure and resentful however Betty's jealousy is of inadequacy and insecurity. She doesn't feel resentful towards Armando for being attracted to "beautiful" women. She expects that from him.

AA represents Betty's insecurity as a woman in a physical form. When Betty finds out AA wants to see and speak with Armando privately she tries to stop that from happening, contrary to the past when she'd help the man out, this time she tries to stick to "he said he doesn't want to be bothered" but when Armando realizes who wants to speak to him he ignores his duties as the president of the company and the importance of him being in said meeting for the future collection, which will help Eco Moda be able to pay off its debt. Betty knows this so when she sees that Armando doesn't stop to think, at least of the company, much less consider her(the true nature of her anger), and that he is an easy prey or weak idiot to women like AA she gets angry at him but her jealousy lays where she feels the most insecure.

Armando forgets of Betty and how happy he was when he saw her that morning. Now all he can think about is AA.

AA is the symbol and the token object of Armando's weakness: seggs with society's "perfect" women. He places this "need" of his above anything, his responsibilities as president, as an engaged man, and as someone in an committed and mature relationship.

I find Mario's behavior interesting in this scene however. He stares at Armando with raised eyebrows and a frown on his face, contrary to before where he was trying to keep himself from laughing, however freaked out over Armando's feelings, this time he's annoyed at him.

I keep trying to figure out why he'd get annoyed at him for this. In this scene Betty is behind Mario, where Inesita and Armando have a clear view of her. Betty is trying to stay composed and not let the personal seep into the impersonal so Mario hasn't seen her. Yes we're fully aware that Mario is a man that is extremely detail oriented when it comes to human behavior which gives him an advantage to manipulate people and get whatever he wants out of them so he can simply assume, by Betty's tone, that she isn't pleased by this. However this scene and Mario's behavior is very much unlike him.

This is my speculation, not what we are being told.

Maybe based on how Armando had spoken about his relationship with Betty and his feelings for her, Mario was annoyed at Armando for his behavior like saying "How can you say you cherish her and that you love her as a friend and then do this to her? And yet I'm the terrible one? The one that doesn't understand why the plan is wrong? The one with iron skin?" or one could simply point out that Mario didn't want to get stuck doing most of the work in the meeting while Armando went off to spend time with a hot woman.

Later when Betty agrees that they should take a break, when Betty exits the office(I'm skipping that scene for now) and Mario is walking up to it he asks her if Armando is still in there, she tells him that he is and with AA. Mario then says he shouldn't go in there and interrupt them then but he notices Betty's demeanor and asks her if she's alright.

Betty doesn't look at him, she doesn't pay him attention. She doesn't even make eye contact with him so again Mario behaves naturally.

Of course he pretends to be unaware of the relationship Armando has with Betty. He says he won't go in there and interrupt them, but he pays close attention to Betty.

We're all fully aware that Mario would be capable of seducing Betty. He lacks all the moral and ethic rules to not do that. Mario is a villain, a well written one. So his behavior here is just odd imo.

I do believe and know based on his character, that Mario is also annoyed at Armando for screwing up once more, therefore jeopardizing the company and all that it implies. However, take into consideration what happened the previous day. Mario isn't stupid, he is way too smart. He knows that Armando deeply cares for Betty, he's known this all along though he has also tried to deny any true motive of Armando caring for Betty because she's ugly and he knows his best friend and only uses Armando's feelings towards Betty when it benefits him. He knows that Betty is important and special to Armando. Unlike Marcela.

Mario pointed this out the previous day when he told him that he[A] had made love with Marcela in the past but that from what Armando had shared it had never been sweet. He is fully aware that Betty is vastly different to all the other women Armando has been with and it's not only because she's "ugly" but because Betty is of extreme importance and significance to Armando.

Does Mario disprove of Armando's behavior towards AA being in Eco Moda? Yes.

For two reasons: One that Armando is screwing up the plan again. Two that Armando is a hypocrite who gets mad at him for making jokes about their relationship but then he goes and does that, (which is an even bigger disrespect to Betty, Armando's Betty.) all while constantly telling Mario that he is scum because he feels no guilt while he does.

Does Mario care about Betty's feelings? No and if he does it's not enough to make him have a change of heart because what he truly cares about is remaining in the social statues he's on with being the wingman of Armando.

Again even if he did care a little about how Betty feels it's not enough for him to re-evaluate his role in the plan and what comes above that is Eco Moda's ownership but it gives him more intel on how to manipulate Armando. In the meeting board, when he finally got a view of Betty when she went to sit back down at the table, Mario examined her quickly, did so as the meeting continued, glancing at her, studying her.

Resuming to a chronological order.

As Armando leaves to his office to speak privately to AA, Betty stays behind in the conference room with Inesita and Mario where as Mario said, she looked broken and not her computer like self.

Once Inesita suggest they take a break Betty says she'll go to her office, to which we see Mario with his worried expression, look at her and then turn to look towards Armando's office doors in a silent plea that Betty doesn't catch him indecent.

In their office, Armando is busy talking with AA so Betty doesn't catch some indecent Armando, but because she knows him, she knows that he's capable of acting like everything is normal. When she looks at AA she looks her up and down, insecure in herself as a woman with such a woman in the same room. Armando in this scene is absorbed by AA's body, a contrast to when he was absorbed by Betty's presence(that includes body). Barely paying attention to Betty and speaking to AA in an informal and casual way, something he doesn't even do with her. In some places in Latin America speaking formally is a sign of respect and impersonalism. When you speak more casually it implies a personalized relationship with someone: meaning that they have a more deeper connection than someone you work with, a friend, a family member, a lover, etc. Betty and Armando aren't even on that and they've had seggs.

Betty takes note of this, again, this now moves on from her simply being insecure as a woman to now being mad at Armando for behaving this way.

Once Betty exits the office to go grab their refreshments she overhears Armando call AA espectacular

Whenever Betty is mad she always places her hand to her hip. As she stops to talk to Marcela she does this, again implying her anger towards Armando.

The last thing I'll note about this whole AA thing at this time is how both Betty and Marcela react. Marcela goes into the office fuming, throwing shade and whatnot to display her jealousy towards AA and her possessiveness towards Armando, however Betty only displays her anger towards Armando while very minimalistically showing her jealousy because of AA.

Marcela's anger was targeted towards both of them while Betty's was towards Armando.

Later that day after AA leaves, Betty remains angry. When Armando tries to apologize for yelling at her, Betty ignores him and tells him they need to get back to work.

Armando not only made her feel insignificant as a woman but he also said she got on his last nerve, tell me you wouldn't feel bad about yourself and be mad at the person who did that.

Obviously Betty feels inferior to AA. Who wouldn't if we're being honest? She's hot. Again when it comes to Betty it isn't hard to understand or sympathies with her over this.

However lets just remember that Betty has always felt insecure and inferior as a human being and a woman.

Insecurity presents itself in many ways. For some it could be them acting loud and obnoxious, like Armando. For others it could be them never asking for anything or expecting anything because they believe they don't deserve anything, like Betty.

Slowly however, her relationship with Armando has built her self-esteem. She walks a bit taller, she doesn't have such a tremble in her voice anymore unless she's speaking to Marcela or Daniel. Even on this day she dresses differently. She sports a more juvenile outfit, there's a glow to her. Though her clothing isn't form fitting or revealing, she has changed her clothing. Even now since they started to date she doesn't wear the super long skirts with the very boxy blazers from the shoulders or the clothes she wore at the start of the show. She wears the green dress, the yellow, red, and black dress often and the green skirt suit(the olive green one with the skirt that's shorter than all the other ones she wears).

In the past, on one of their first dates, Betty joked that she was ugly and Armando got upset with her, told her that he didn't like that and that she needed to respect herself. Ironic ain't it?

Armando's sole attention has given her a boost of ego, but his confirmation the night they sinned(lol) that he too felt what she felt for him, which was desire, has helped her a lot. Again to recall what her first time was like, this second time around it built her self-esteem. Especially because since then Armando hasn't been able to keep his hands to himself whenever Betty and him have been alone together, out of office hours.

(Currently listening to the YSBLF playlist on Spotify and honestly I just wanna dance)

The previous night though aware of Armando's fidelity to her when it came to Marcela, which was why she said she felt no jealousy or the likes in regards to that relationship(outside of guilt) she still is very aware of Armando's s. addiction tendencies. It isn't only a matter in which Armando is weak to women like that that even when he doesn't want to cheat on Marcela or whomever, he still falls for their manipulative or even pushy tactics to get him to sleep with them.

Let's not forget that Betty knows Armando and his behavior when it comes to the Models because unlike Marcela who has only seen snip bits when she stands behind him when he's flirting, Betty has seen it and heard it all from Armando. She has been in the room when Armando and Mario discuss how to get away with his affairs, she has seen him in action, she has even heard and seen the way he plays women. However Betty lacks the knowledge we have of Armando's seggsual affairs.

What does this mean?

To Betty, this weakness of Armando is solely based on the body of the women he is sleeping with(which are all A Grade) and though to some degree this is true(his obsession with perfection etc.) there's more to it. Armando, aside from having slept with her and saying he desired her, has never acted eager to jump her bones or expressed it like he has about all the other women he has been with. He has never made her feel validated as women for her body, though she knows he has an emotional attraction to her, she doesn't believe he has a physical one(I'll get to that scene in time ok! for now I'm talking about it like they haven't screwed again) for her, or at least one that matters. So when she sees AA in the office and she looks her up and down Betty compares herself, not as Armando's girlfriend, but as a woman in general.

For us women looks are the most important and most valuable thing we're told we have. Without them, what are we?

When you grow up being the "other" of society standards for women you grow up with no self-worth. Comparing yourself to others becomes second nature. We know Betty has said she grew up lonely, only Nicolas was her friend, kids in school made fun of her. She never had this moment when she looked at herself and was at least okay with what she was staring at. The contrary, she hated it but learned to tolerate it. Her self deprecating jokes were her acceptance of it, her way to cope with the way the world treated her. It was for her to be able to not care as much about it. However the way people treat her based on her looks still stings and this time it's a lot more.

Could you put yourself in her shoes? All your life you go about it feeling lonely, ugly, unwanted, inadequate, etc. and one day after so much heart ache, a terrible relationship that left you emotionally disfigured and scarred, a man that is desired by so many women AND men, who is "educated", "smart", handsome and has a good sense of humor pays attention to you, how would you feel?

Realistically speaking; a lot more insecure.

Some people hate themselves so much that they hate when people take notice of them because it's like saying "you have terrible taste if you like me, therefore you are not as great." Burdening someone with your own self-hatred. Betty has shown this in the past, when Armando first started to pursue her. She asked him time and time again why he'd be interested in her or notice her because a man like him could never notice her as more than just his employee.

AA is the incarnation of Betty's own dilema. Her self-hatred and insecurity as a woman because in her eyes she lacks beauty. Body wise she doesn't have Meat on her bones, she has frizzy wavy hair, doesn't wear makeup and has one eyebrow plus a mustache. However, despite this, Armando has fallen in love with her and in a matter of seconds this is shattered.

Armando forgets who Betty is for him. He forgets what he feels for her, the importance and significance of her to him and his life and is enveloped with the idea of AA wanting to speak to him and not in this "fanatic" manor but as a man wanting to conquer. Betty's ego isn't only hurting but she(in complete) is hurting by this. Next to Marcela she knows she is the one to hold Armando's heart and now his desires, but next to women like AA, she is insignificant not just as a woman, but as a person in general.

Especially after Armando yells at her, after a long time of not doing so, he yells at her in front of AA, he forgets Betty is even in the room or in the world. While with Marcela he tries not to bring her up or the subject of the wedding because he knows it hurts her(visibly kept glancing towards her office when AA was asking about it, confirming that whenever he seeks her comfort when she isn't with him in the room he'll be facing or standing by her office), he doesn't even consider her when AA is the room. She's heard him say he'd forget all of his commitments and relationships and run away with AA and marry her, just that day she saw him kiss a picture of her and basically make out with it.

She believes that unlike Marcela, AA is real competition because she's hawt(even though Marcela is hawt too) however she knows that Armando isn't in love with Marcela or even interested in her for that fact but she knows that Armando is of AA. However again because Betty is so insecure as a woman she believes that she isn't even in a competition with AA, because if AA wanted to, she'd take Armando and he wouldn't even put up a fight, he'd go willingly on the first attempt. Add that to Armando saying that Betty gets on his last nerve?

He dug his own grave.

One could ask how is it possible that Armando didn't pick up on Betty being jealous?

For one because Armando has only experienced Marcela's jealousy which is loud and arrogant. She throws shade, she yells at him, she demands from him. Betty doesn't do that. She interrupts his one on one time with AA by entering his office and looking for some paper work. She drops a box full of things to ruin any momentum he could be building with AA. Her jealousy is displayed in quiet and timid ways. The one time it she makes it "loud" enough is when she hears Armando flirting with AA and steps out of her office and stands in the middle of them, until he notices her, but then, after she bumps into him, he yells at her. You can tell right away this isn't just like when he yelled at her in the past that it made her want to cry(I mean who doesn't want to cry when they're being yelled at) but this time it was something that hurt her deeply. For the reasons mentioned above.

And two because he's clueless. Though in the past episodes we have seen Armando learn to be in sync with Betty's feelings and make an effort to be attentive and understanding, all of that work of his is thrown out the window when AA appears, making Betty not only feel inferior and insecure as a woman in general but making her feel like she's nothing, not even in a "my fav. employee" type of way. He makes her feel worthless as his girlfriend.

This is when the hurt moves on to anger.

Anger at herself and anger at him for making her feel this way.

When the Love Guru brings all of this to his attention, Armando has a face of realization.

He truthfully thought Betty was just being her unaware and naïve employee self. The one who trips, who doesn't back up her files on disks, y'know, the one she was at the start of the novel. He doesn't think that Betty is acting out in jealousy because again she doesn't act like Marcela does.

When he finally realizes this thanks to Mr. Dimples, we see the sudden "oh crap" face. Like it all made sense and he knew he messed up.

It's interesting to see how these scenes play such a huge roll to Betty finally speaking up in the relationship later that night.

Sorry this post took so long for me to write. I wanted to fully understand the huge significance of Adriana Arboleda as she has been one since the start of their affair, unbeknownst of Betty.

#armando mendoza #analysis of ysblf #don armando #armando ysblf #betty pinzón solano #beatriz pinzón solano #beatriz pinzon solano #betty ysblf #betty #betty la fea #Adriana Arboleda

42 notes · View notes

hatsukeii · 3 years

Text

【Ｙｏｕｒ　ｎｅｗ　ｂｏｙｆｒｉｅｎｄ－　Ｄａｙ　１】

Word count: 6.2k+

【Ｄｅｃｅｍｂｅｒ　２５，　２０２０】

【２：３９　ａｍ】 Nearing the end of the seemingly indestructible health bar of this stupid resurgent cryo regisvene, Changbin lets out an audible growl, tapping furiously, almost murderously at his phone screen. “Cmonnnn you persistent piece of shit, just bite the dust already like the normal one...” His voice trails off as every drip of focus is directed back on his game.

“Which one do you think it is this time Seungmin?” Jisung taunts from the kitchen of the shared apartment, watching the coffee drip into his cup from the ancient coffee machine at a snail’s pace (He had been insisting on having Changbin get a new one for the past three, four months but the latter had been persistent to keep it instead of “wasting money on a new one”). Seungmin yells from inside his room, the sound of keyboard clicking along with the occasional growling and mumbling exposing what he was doing- League of Legends. “You think I would know? I don’t even know the game he’s playing.” “He’s been at it for the past three days Seungmin, it’s obviously the same ice thing he won’t shut up about.” Minho deadpans, tenderly lowering the three cats in his arms onto the couch. “Now my babies, don’t touch the madman next to you, or I’m going to have to do the dishes tonight, kay? He’s our main dishwasher, let’s not try anything funny.” The three cats collectively look up at their owner as he cooes softly at the felines. With the last of his party completely obliterated, Changbin throws his phone across the couch, startling the cats as they jump off hastily, earning a piercing glare from Minho. “We’ll talk about this later, Seo Changbin.” “My god, I give up, I’ll just get Chan hyung to do it for me tomorrow.” What even went through Mihoyo headquarters when they created this boss? Did the development department just decide to throw everything into one giant boss fight?

As he wallows in defeat, his ringtone blares where it sadly lies from being thrown across the couch, the annoying “We just got a letter!” song from Blue’s Clues (He had a feeling that the annoying children’s song would aid in motivating him to actually pick the phone up instead of ignoring people then texting them out of sluggishness) playing on loop the longer he chooses not to answer. “Will you just shut up?” Aggressively snatching his phone, he takes a quick glance at the caller, before picking up. “(Y/n), what do you wan-”

A few audible sniffles can be heard from the other side of the line.

“Changbinnie, he cheated on me.”

Changbin deadpans, not sure he’s hearing things right.

“Hello? Binnie?”

The words hitting him like a truck, he bolts up from where he once sat, hand gripping the phone so hard veins were popping.

“That motherfucker did what?”

His voice rings clear throughout the unit, both Jisung and Minho flinching at the sudden burst of noise. “Jesus Christ keep it down Changbin, the whole apartment complex can hear your annoying voice.” Minho complains, picking up one of his dear cats and stroking its ears. “Soonie ah, that idiot’s yell didn’t hurt your ears did it? Aigoo my baby, it’s okay, it was just stupid horse-faced Changbin, it’s okay my baby boo...” Jisung rolls his eyes, taking a sip from his pitch black coffee. Wincing, he sets the mug down, running to the fridge to get creamer. “Changbin hyung, did you get the wrong creamer again? I told you to get the vanilla one, this one’s dairy free!” Changbin lowers his phone, covering the speaker. “Why the fuck are you even drinking coffee at this hour? Go buy your own fucking creamer if you want it so much then!” “I’m broke hyung! Plus the campus convenience store and the supermarket are closed already, use your pea brain!” “Use milk and sugar Jisung! I’m busy!” Returning to the call, he makes his way into his room, not wanting to have to deal with the two parasites outside. “Tell me everything (Y/n), oh he’s bruising for a cruising playing with your feelings like that-”

A sob passes through the speaker.

“I was just trying to check on him-”

“Scratch that, I’ll be there in twenty, don’t do anything stupid by yourself.”

Shoving the door of his room out of his way, he storms towards the three refrigerators in the kitchen, the other three people in the unit following him in sight (Seungmin heard the commotion and decided to come out of his man cave for once to assess the situation). He pushes Jisung to the side, pulling open the doors to the biggest one. “Soju... soju... soju... there it is.” He untangles the biggest plastic bag he can find from the huge bag on top of the fridge (Minho seems to collect plastic bags at this point, it’s getting annoying) and shoves just about all the bottles of soju he can fit into the flimsy piece of plastic. Moving on to the next fridge, he slams the previous one close, startling Jisung. “Hyung, are you okay?” Changbin ignores him, scrambling to grab the two family sized tubs of ice cream. “Hyung, that’s the last of our ice cream-” Yet again ignoring Jisung’s complaint, he makes his way to the pantry, throwing in the most tooth rottingly sweet candies he can find, a few bags of those honey butter chips and all of Jisung’s cup ramens. In the past couple of minutes, Seungmin had picked up on the situation on hand. He whisper yells at Jisung, making weird gestures to catch his attention. Once his eyes meet Jisungs’s, he frantically jerks his head towards the rooms (It’s like some secret bro code the two have). Jisung picks up on the message, shutting up and shuffling to his room along with Seungmin, before locking their bedroom doors. After his expedition in the kitchen, Changbin goes back to his room, just to grab a duffel bag to put everything in. He takes his switch and the dock, his laptop, and throws his phone into the mix (Both Jisung and Minho agree that Changbin needs to stop abusing his phone, Seungmin doesn’t really care). The only one left in the living room watches as he angrily puts his shoes on, and slams the front door just a little too aggressively as he goes. Hearing the front door close, the two younger boys come out of hiding, finally safe from their scarily furious friend. “My cup noodles... Minho hyung my cup noodles....” “Let’s just wait for him to buy them for us again, leave him alone for now.”

【３：００　ａｍ】 It’s been exactly 21 minutes since you had called Changbin and he is now furiously knocking at your door because 1) You need moral support, clearly, 2) He didn’t bring all the food and risk getting the life nagged out of him when he goes back for nothing, and 3) Your ex boyfriend’s new chick is about to receive a very explicit call from a very angry person. “Oi (Y/n), it’s Changbin, open up.” From inside, you wrap your Armin futon throw blanket around your tired body, before waddling to the front door to your apartment. Gripping the blanket together with one hand, you twist the doorknob with the other and pull. It’s almost like one of those slot machines you would always see in dramas. You pull the lever with all the might you can muster during this trying time and BAM! You hit the jackpot and an angry Changbin comes into sight. He looks scary, almost. His demeanor could probably kill right now if you didn’t know better. “Come in... yeah come on in....” His hand loosens around the duffel bag, dropping it on the floor while he gets his shoes off. You penguin waddle back to where you were sitting on the couch, picking up the crumpled tissues and throwing them out. “Make yourself at home.” You feel a stare burn into your back as you step off the bin pedal. “I’m here, now tell me everything that happened with this asshole.”

“So what I’m getting from this is that Junwoo fucker said he was going out to get groceries, which was a lie at that time but you didn’t know. He took a suspiciously long time so you, being the paranoid ass person you are, went to check on him, only to see him making out with some hussey that wouldn’t stop making moves on him during that dumb lecture you had in the afternoon, correct?” You nod, tears starting to form again for the fourth- no, was it the fifth? About the fifth time in the past minute or so that you spent explaining the situation. “(Y/n), sweetie, I’m gonna need the name of the hussey.” “No, you’re going to do something stupid.” “I wasn’t asking, give it.” You give Changbin a stink eye, acting like you were completely against whatever he has in mind despite actually being curious to see what he has planned (An angry Changbin is a scary Changbin but a rare one also). “It’s Jimin from the dance team.” His mouth hangs open in disbelief. “No, he did NOT!” You nod solemnly, sniffing. "He cheated on you for that slut?” “Binnie! That’s rude!” “Oh please, I don’t like to disrespect women but you know that it’s true.” That shuts you up instantly. He’s not wrong, so far she’s been caught up in the middle of way too many relationships to count. She’s pretty much notorious for sleeping with people’s boyfriends now. Horrid, really, she knows what she’s doing and she enjoys it. Changbin practically rips the zipper off his duffel bag and snatches his poor, abused phone, before scrolling through his contacts to find Jimin (He would delete her contact from his phone if he could, really. He’s tried, but she hit on him so hard on campus as a threat that he kept it just to be safe. Quite honestly though, he doesn’t really care now). “Binnie, no-” He puts the call on speaker, his feet tapping at the floor impatiently. “Bitch, you better pick up before I find you and pick it up for you-”

“Hello?”

His face lights up when he hears Jimin’s voice from the other side of the line. “Oh yeah hi! Here’s your friendly Changbin reminder that your new boyfriend’s an asshole!” You can almost see the sneer that Jimin has on her face. “Uh, and who are you to say that? Twink.” Your mind doesn’t even let you properly process what she said because Changbin’s already retaliating. “Oh, you know, just from his ex partner he was cheating on, but you can state your arguments if you’d like. Also that wasn’t very nice, calling me a twink, considering you hit on me every day on campus.” Changbin’s aura goes borderline murderous when a chuckle sounds from the speaker. “Oh? Them? He could do better anyways.” “Okay listen here you little slut, I’m gonna be honest with you, because no one ever will. Any guy that says they’re in any way interested in you beyond just using you as a fuck toy, is full of bullshi-”

You slam your finger onto the big red button before he can say anything more.

Changbin’s seething with anger, even though he isn’t showing it. You know that because 1) He’s oddly calm in this situation and 2) He just openly called one of the most known people in the college a slut. “Seo Changbin, calm yourself down. Please.” Those were some harsh words he said to Jimin, it was completely out of his usually good natured, well spoken character. He closes his eyes, taking a few deep breaths, before grabbing a flimsy white plastic bag out from the duffel bag. He shoots his hand to the bottom, grabbing one of the 15 bottles of soju he brought over. He wrenches open the bottle cap, before chugging half the bottle in one sitting. “How much stuff did you bring?” Changbin really is oddly stable considering he had just gotten called a twink and went off at someone through the phone. “About 15 bottles of soju, two tubs of ice cream, a few bags of those honey butter chips, all the cup ramens in the pantry, and a bunch of those Hi-Chews that I know you love because you keep taking them from me and eating them in class.” He grabs another bottle of soju from the plastic bag, as well as a pack of Hi-Chews. “Drink?” You sulk, taking the green bottle from him while he rips open a pack of candies, popping one in his mouth. “Damn, on Christmas day too, what an ass, Junwoo.” You roll your eyes, taking in a mouthful of alcohol from the bottle. “You’re so stupid Binnie, she’s going to ruin your life because of that stupid call.” “Me? Stupid? The only stupid thing here is you managing to stay with Junwoo for an entire year. I knew he was toxic from the start. Besides, what’s Jimin going to do? She’s got nothing on me. I might as well be the only person that hasn’t sent her nudes or something.”

It sounds harsh, almost mean, but you know that he’s not lying. Your ex boyfriend was the most toxic, manipulative person you’ve ever been with yet you stayed with him for over a year, it’s unbelievable, really.

“Can I take a cup ramen?” Changbin doesn’t even spare a glance at you, he’s typing away on his phone (Looks like the nagging has started, one could never expect no complaints after taking all the comfort food from the kitchen). “No, you can’t. I brought all this food because it’s three in the morning and I suddenly want to eat at your house. Of course you can, this is about you, do whatever you want.” You grab one of the cups from the bag, before sluggishly making your way to the kitchen to boil water. Seeing that you left your seat, Changbin empties out the plastic bag, before discarding all the rubbish that you left behind prior to his arrival. Tissues, boxes, chocolate wrappers, everything, he throws them all into the white bag. “That should do.” Ripping open a pack of honey butter chips (Minho needs to chill out about him taking a few packs considering he bulk bought these in boxes. One pack won’t hurt), he takes one, before setting it down and waiting for you to return.

Meanwhile, the remaining three in Changbin’s apartment have just received a reply. “Hey... hey hEY HEY WE GOT A TEXT BACK EVERYONE!” Both Seungmin and Minho gather around Jisung and his phone. “Changbin hyung says he’s not coming back tonight and that he’ll restock the food he took when he’s back, what do we do?” The two young ones look expectantly at Minho, as if he would have any good advice. “I don’t know, should I give him a call-” “Are you mad? He’s going to tear you to shreds hyung, don’t waste your life like that!” Minho sighs in exasperation. “Then we’ll just have to wait for him to be back.” Seungmin and Jisung look to the floor almost guiltily. “He won’t even tell us what happened... how are we supposed to do anything about it?” “You don’t, that’s what you do, you don’t do anything about it until he calms down and tells us about it. Now Seungmin, stop playing your games and Jisung, stop doing solo karaoke and go to sleep.”

【５：５８　ａｍ】 “This is going to be the first and last night you get to be this unhealthy, we’re using healthy coping mechanisms instead of… whatever the fuck this is.” You look at him, a mouthful of ramen hanging from your food vacuum as you slurp it up loudly (For context, you’ve managed to go through four cup ramens, two bags of chips, a pack of Hi-Chews, and an additional three bottles of soju to wash it all down. The two tubs of ice cream remain untouched in the freezer. In other words, you were binge eating, all while being shit faced drunk). The TV blares from in the front of the living room, the Mario Kart theme playing on loop. Your controller sits on the coffee table, completely unattended as you get busy with eating. “Haaaaah? I need the junk food Binnie, it’s all a part of recovery!” Changbin clicks his tongue, before flicking your forehead. “That’s just a shitty excuse to be unhealthy, we don’t stan that.” Frowning, you snatch a few chips with your chopsticks and shove them in your mouth grumpily. “Now, where were we... ah! Yeah! Prepare for another devastating loss Binnie! You shall not come out victorious!” (Cmon, you really think you could beat Changbin in Mario Kart drunk? Hunny, he was losing on purpose.) He lets out a breathy chuckle, before picking you up bridal style, walking to your room, and throwing you onto your bed. “That’s about enough for now, go to sleep. I already know your hangover tomorrow’s going to be absolutely horrible.” You whine, tossing and turning. “But I don’t wanna go to sleeeeeeep... I wanna win again... I wanna playyyyy... gamess....” And with that your voice trails off. “Idiot, you would just pass out halfway.” He closes the door behind him as he leaves your room, but not before gently releasing the console from your warm, clammy hands. Coming to terms with what he has to do next, Changbin massages his neck when he sees the absolute mess of a living room. “Now, where do we start?” All the homework and study cramming is about to come in handy as he starts to clean up all the rubbish left sitting around. He sets his eyes on your pink blanket. It’s 2°C out, his nose is prickly and red as he sneezes, and he still quickly notices an alcoholic smell wafting out from the pink throw blanket. Reaching over to feel it, the fabric is slightly damp under his touch. “Jesus Christ, you for sure spilled soju over this thing. Tag... tag... tag....” his hand roams around the thick blanket, feeling for a laundry tag. He whips his phone out, searching for a laundry care symbol guide (It’s been a while since he’s done laundry properly. Seungmin is in charge of doing everyone’s laundry since he contributes the least). “40°C water at the highest, tumble dry on low.... alright.” He bunches up the blanket, the fabric hanging to the floor from his arms. Trying to get to the laundry room hurriedly, he almost trips over the soft material, stomping on the floor obnoxiously loud to regain his balance (The neighbours are going to seriously hate him for this). He throws it into the washing machine and slams the compartment door shut. Scanning the room for detergent, he deadpans when he sees where it’s located. “Why would you put it that high up in the shelf? You’re not even that tall-” He tries everything, from standing on his tiptoes, to jumping in order to reach it. All those attempts end in vain, and he resorts to his final trick- climbing on top of the washing machine. “Cmon, just a feeeew more millimeters-” The dust from the top of the cabinet along with the temperature causes him to sneeze profusely, almost losing his balance. But with a hook of his fingers, he manages to push the bottle out, before grabbing it and using the bottle to push another bottle of dettol out. He wrenches open the lids, before clumsily pouring out the needed amounts, but not without spilling it on the floor. Cursing, he quickly sets the washing machine for a one hour cycle. He then grabs a random towel from on top of the machine and wipes the floor now. “I guess it’s squeaky clean now, you did good Changbin, you did good. Go me.” With one job done, he makes his way back to the living room. The main area is so messy that Changbin has to form a proper plan on how to clean everything up with the highest efficiency. He grabs the ramen cups, draining out the soup and throwing them out. The chopsticks clank together when they hit the kitchen sink as he turns the tap on. He grabs a sponge, soaking it in water and squeezing detergent onto it, before scrubbing the chopsticks clean. With the dishwashing done, he staggers his way towards the coffee table. He’s tired. He’s so fucking tired that his eyes are about to betray his mind. His arms are numb and the floor is wobbling from beneath his feet. He sneezes a few more times, sniffling. He sighs, wiping his nose and warming it up with the sleeve of his hoodie. If anyone pushes him with a bit of effort, he’ll probably fall over and pass out, but he absolutely refuses to let you wake up to a messy living room. He makes use of the vibrant Mario Kart podium segment still blaring on the TV to keep himself awake while he works on cleaning everything up. Seeing that the sky has progressed from pitch black to a beautiful, yet dreadful shade of aegean blue, he’s pretty sure he won’t be getting any sleep any time soon.

【７：４７　ａｍ】 You cough yourself awake to the burning stench of smoke. The world really said “Lol your life is burning and crumbling down” and took it a little too seriously. Fire, fire, fire, what’s the worst that could happen? Fire needs to give itself a vibe check, can’t it see that you don’t have the energy to deal with it right now? You squeeze your brows together and pull your sheets back over your body. If not for the panicked yelling from outside you would’ve stayed in bed and just waited for whatever fire was burning to reach your room. Hearing Changbin’s chain of swears and curses, you shoot up, more worried for him than for yourself. “CHANGBIN!” You get no reply. You’re horrified, probably both from the hangover working its magic at making you more paranoid and sensitive than you already are, and the possibility that the apartment’s going to burn down. You scramble to the kitchen, choking when you reach the hallway. The amount of smokiness in the living room makes it impossible to see anything clearly. One thing is for sure- there is no fire. What there is though, is a very startled Changbin squatting next to a tray of what looks like charcoal.

“Binnie, what the fuck did you do?”

Poor boy, he looks like a lost puppy, a small pout evident on his face. “I was trying to make you breakfast, but I think I set the oven to the wrong temperature, turns out it doesn’t take that much heat to toast bread.” Pinching your nose, you take a glance at the oven. “Changbin I- why is it set to 250 degrees?” “I just told you, I don’t think toast needs that much heat!” It’s almost funny how bad he fucked up. You would laugh wholeheartedly if not for the borderline deadly amount of smoke wafting around your apartment. “Changbin, I have a toaster.” “I don’t know how to use it though, it’s too digital and it makes weird noises.” You let out an exasperated sigh (You knew getting a digital toaster was eventually going to lead to some problems), taking the tray out from the oven and discarding the two pieces of what used to be toast. “Binnie, do me a favour and go open up the windows.” Hearing his cue to leave the crime scene, he rushes to the other side of the living room, opening everything up. “It’s been 84 years... fresh air, hello....” You let out a sarcastic chuckle, before throwing out the piece of foil on the tray. You scan your surroundings, everything is in place, the apartment is squeaky clean, your futon is on a drying rack outside on the balcony, and that’s when it hits you. “Changbin, if you tell me you didn’t get any sleep cleaning my place up for me, I will knock you out here and now.” You speed walk towards him faster than Karen walks to the manager, before taking in his features. His eyebags are heavier and darker than usual, his face is pale, his hair is a mess, his eyes focus on nothing in silence. “Seo Changbin!” You snap in front of his face, startling him out of his trancelike state. “Huh? I swear I’m okay, don’t even worry.” His voice is hoarse and nasally, and he sneezes a few times after his statement, sniffling and wiping his nose with his sleeve for the second time this day. You don’t even give him time to move away or protest. Your fingers pinch his ear at the speed of light, before pulling him to your room and practically shoving him onto your bed. “Sleep.” Changbin pouts, curling into a ball. “But I don’t need to sleep! I’m perfectly fine-” “No, you’re not, you almost burned my apartment down messing with the oven tired, sleep.” You don’t wait for a response as you slam the lights off and shut the bedroom door.

【２：２３　ｐｍ】It’s been about seven hours since you practically forced Changbin to sleep, the ending of the final episode of Death Parade reminding you of the time that has passed. “He’s still not up?” Mumbling to yourself, you creak the door to your room open, being as silent as possible. “Changbin?” No reply. The covers don’t even budge the slightest bit. You are so taking a photo of his sleeping face for future uses. The second you pull your phone out, it starts ringing, the recording of Jisung’s impression of Changbin’s iconic “Yoooooh” blaring through the speakers like a concert (The two of you snuck into one of his music project recording sessions without him knowing, music major things am I right). You throw yourself out of the room, picking the phone up. “Hello-” “(Y/n)!” Dear God it’s Jisung, loud as ever. “Where’s Changbin hyung?” Of course he didn’t tell them anything. “He’s here, asleep, I forced him to sleep.” “Okay, when he wakes up tell him that he owes us everything he took from the pantry, and that he should come home, thanks!” “Wait-” And that little shit hangs up on you just like that. You place your phone onto the coffee table, before going back to check on Changbin. Scratch the idea of a photo, you’ll just do it next time. You kneel down next to your bed, placing your palm on his forehead. “You idiot, thank God you didn’t cook and get me sick along with you.” Being a medical science major, you never overlook anybody’s wellbeing, especially not your best friend’s. When you feel his burning forehead, you almost slap him in his sleep. He’s in for it when he eventually wakes up. Trying your best, you pull the blanket out from underneath him (He fell asleep pretty much straight after you shoved him onto the bed). He stirs, mumbling softly. “Where... where am I...? Who... am... I...? Who are... you?” You scrunch your face up, finally ripping the blanket from underneath him. Working quickly, you throw it over him, before turning on the heat setting for the aircon in your room. Doesn’t look like he’s going to wake up anytime soon, he looks like a sleeping baby. Motionless and oddly talkative and soft. In the meantime, you might as well go read over the old messages with Junwoo and cry a little more.

【４：５８　ｐｍ】 It’s been another two hours, your eyes are puffy and red from the crying, Changbin still hasn’t woken up yet. You pick up the ramen cup and drag yourself forcefully from the couch to the kitchen, throwing the soup out along with the cup, and reaching up to find the paracetamol and fever relief patches (Which you bought five packs of at a time for a great buy three get two free deal) from the box of first aid and medical essentials. Taking it out of the box, you keep it in your pocket, just in case. You make your way to your room, opening up your cabinet and grabbing your car keys. You shove those into your pocket as well, before peeling off the wrapper of a fever relief patch and sticking that flat on Changbin’s forehead. You throw on a trenchcoat to cover up the fact that you’re wearing a pyjama shirt with tights, get your boots on, and head over to Jisung’s place.

【５：１７　ｐｍ】“Jisung! Let me in!” You rap at their door until your knuckles hurt and a slightly concerned Minho pulls it open, his three cats following their owner and rubbing their cute little cheeks on your leg. “Oh, it’s you. Come on in, Jisung’s not here, what do you need?” “I just need to grab clothes for Changbin, he won’t stop wiping his nose on his sleeve, it’s gross, and he needs a shower.” “Go ahead.” Shooting Minho a quick thanks, you run into Changbin’s room, rummaging through his drawers and cabinets. For someone with a major obsession with hoodies, he sure doesn’t have many. You randomly grab a pair of sweats, along with a tshirt and the thickest hoodie you can find, before you drop the clothes, letting out a funny sound of embarrassment. “Fuck, Minho!”

【５：３９　ｐｍ】It’s warm. It’s really warm, in contrast to how Changbin remembers feeling the last time he was awake. What time even is it? He doesn’t have his phone, and he notices that it’s starting to go dark out, looks about 6pm for the typical Korean winter... and the sound of running water? He kicks the blanket off of him (which he doesn’t remember covering himself with), and is welcomed by an oddly warm room for 2°C weather. Did you manage to throw the blanket over him and turn the heater on at some point when he was asleep? A lump forms at his throat at the thought, a tiny smile threatening to show. The light from the bathroom blinds him temporarily when he opens the bedroom door, and as his eyes adjust to the light, he can see you filling up a bathtub with water. “Oh, you’re awake, just in time.” He’s still dazed from the drowsiness as he staggers a little bit into the bathroom. “I got you a change of clothes, underwear and all, and paracetamol there for your fever.” You’re in your trench coat, the one you wouldn’t shut up about after buying, or so he remembers. “Did you go over to mine to get the clothes?” You let out a breathy chuckle, cupping your cheeks sarcastically. “Oh no! I secretly hide a stash of your clothes and underwear in my house! Get in the bath Binnie, I’ll make dinner outside.” He’s hesitant, but as you close the door behind him he can’t help but be welcomed by the bubbly hot bath in front of him.

【６：００　ｐｍ】“Did you take the paracetamol I left in there?” You chuckle a little at the towel hanging around his neck. “You look like one of those hardcore grandpas in animes.” You stir the tiny stone pot in front of you, making sure not to splash the red soup onto your shirt. “Yeah, I took the pill, thanks.” From the corner of your eye, you can see Changbin heading towards the kitchen. “Uh uh uh, stop right there buddy. You are not going anywhere near the kitchen, nope. I know you want to help, but I’m almost done, so just sit your ass down at the coffee table.” He does as you say like an obedient little puppy, sitting down at the wooden table. Putting on a pair of oven mitts, you carefully carry the scorching hot pot and a plastic mat to the table, setting it down while the liquid continues bubbling. “Now you can go in and help me grab the rice and bowls.”

Changbin once told you that he would never set his eyes on one of your “stupid japanese cartoons” because apparently they're too immature for a 5′6 college student to watch. That’s complete bullshit. He doesn’t even see the kimchi stew drip onto your coffee table because his eyes are glued to Hunter x Hunter which you coaxed him into watching with you. You scoff, mixing the stew into your rice. “Move your spoon Changbin, it’s dripping all over my table.” He snaps out of his trance, hovering his spoon on top of his rice instead. “Poor Ikalgo, all he wanted was to be a squid and have friends....” “Are you going to eat up or not?” You watch as his hand slowly tilts to let the liquid drip into his rice, his eyes not once leaving the tv screen as he mixes it and shoves a spoonful into his mouth. “Ikalgo... you deserve everything. Absolutely everything.” This is a sight, you take your phone out and snap a pic before he notices. “What happened to anime being too immature for you huh?” “Shut up (Y/n).” He retorts, shoving another heaping spoonful of rice into his mouth. “Are you... about to cry?” Changbin continues to stuff his mouth with food, his cheeks puffing up. “Oh my god you’re crying! You’re crying over an anime!” “No I’m not.” He forces himself to mumble out a disagreement with all that food in his mouth, however his watery eyes completely betray him and say otherwise. You stay silent, smirking at him knowingly. “It’s just Ikalgo deserves so much better, if Killua doesn’t become his friend I’m going to stop watching.” He looks so reluctant to admit it that you start laughing, a snort sounding from your nose. “Called it, you’re getting sentimental over a childish fucking anime!” “I’ll kill you if you tell anyone, Seungmin will never let me live this down.” “Thanks for the idea, idiot.”

【１０：４２　ｐｍ】Sentimental hours are open starting from 10:30pm till whenever your body decides to fall asleep. Poor Changbin has been trying to comfort you since then, yet all has been in vain. “Changbinnie, am I really good enough for anyone then? Am I good enough for someone to just stay with me?” No one likes seeing a pretty girl cry, let alone their best friend being said pretty girl. Seeing you cry pulls on his heartstrings. It angers him to the point where all he wants to do is break Junwoo’s face, yet knowing how you wouldn’t like a fight is the only thing stopping him from going along with his desires. “(Y/n), for the last time, you are more than good enough. Please just listen, he was a douchebag all along, you knew that. He didn’t do this because you weren’t good enough for him, he did this because he was selfish and toxic, at least he’s out of your life for good now.” You slump into the mattress further, Changbin staring at you hopelessly. “You can’t keep this up you know, it’s self destructive.” You try your best to move your eyes towards him, but the angle you’re lying in doesn’t allow for that as you feel the strain in the corner of your eye. “For the record I am very much aware of that, thank you.” You feel a hand on the top of your head, stroking your hair softly. “It’s gonna be okay, you’re better off without him and there’s plenty of fish in the sea anyways.” You turn and toss a little bit, shoving your face into and wrapping your arms around his torso while you sulk (If people didn’t know better, they would mistake the two of you for a couple). Your fingers grazing his body sent warm pinpricks up his spine and feathers in his stomach. Changbin’s hand never leaves your head even as you stop sniffling and the room slowly shifts into a comfortable silence. “How is it that you treat me better than how my ex did so for me?” His eyes leave the phone in his other hand to glance at you empathetically. For a moment, he isn’t the witty, sharp tongued Changbin everyone came to know. He hopes you can’t see the almost devastating look on his face as he smiles pitifully, such vulnerability that he will only ever show towards you. “Anyone could treat you better than that guy.” He doesn’t get a verbal reply, but instead receives a string of soft snores slightly muffled by the fabric of his sweater. Satisfied, he has to pry your arms off of him to reach the lights, turning them off. “Binnie, come backkkkkk...” Freezing in his tracks at your words, he sighs, rolling his eyes in slight amusement. He slips himself in bed next to you, getting comfortable with your arms back around his torso. You mumble a few incoherent words, before dosing back to sleep.

Meanwhile in Changbin’s apartment, Jisung feels a sneeze coming. He braces for the impact, before sneezing once, then twice, then the third time. “Oh my god, it’s happening.” Seungmin side eyes him, giving Jisung a weird look. “Not you with your stupid mind bonds or whatever you call it.” “No I swear, it’s real, three sneezes that’s what I told Changbin hyung would happen if he ever did it.”

Now, the two of you have long since passed out amidst the comfort of your bed. However, let me share you a little secret, You, who were the most reluctant to share your sanctuary with someone else, you’re going to wake up from the best sleep you’ve had in months tomorrow morning.

Tags:

@sunshines-and-tatertots @izzyphantomgamer @justachillgirl @trashcanweeb @just-another-bored-writer @poppirocks @majorfangirl37 @kaylacinderella @random-fandomlover @tiger1719 @tiredgr3mlin @itmekisuu @skyeackermans @talks-a-lot-of-stuff @shoutsukii @agentvicinity @sakusasgarbage @kuroo-thought-of-a-better-un @sneezefiction @bokutokoutarou @thirstyvolleyballhoe @iwaixiumi @iwaigroomi @inlwlevi @justachillgirl @emsvegetables @ewfilthymundane

If you want to be added to my taglist please comment or dm me!!

39 notes · View notes

darkdevasofdestruction · 4 years

Text

Save Me From Myself - Leone Abbacchio

The best thing that could ever happen in my life is to become a part of the gang Passione - Or, to be more specific, a part of Buccellati’s team, filled with people with so many past issues that somehow manage to work together and support each other with everything they’ve got, despite their huge differences.

We have, from youngest to oldest, we have:

Giorno, a super cute and pure angel of a kid who is super smart and ambitious. Fugo, a super smart and caring yet hella violent kid who can’t control his temper. Narancia, ADD kiddo who behaves like a 10 year old, but is funny and has nice dance moves. Mista, hella funny guy and easy going, but can get distracted by weird things. Bruno, the mum of the group, everyone loves and looks up to him. And we have Abbacchio, who’s the oldest, acts somehow like the responsible dad of the group, yet he’s more of a very gloomy wine dad.

Of course, being a part of Bruno’s team, we already know each other’s backstories and we know how to support and protect each other when we need it, both morally and emotionally, since, after all, nobody is made of ice or stone.

But that is something that perhaps neither Abbacchio nor I chose to admit...Or maybe we already know that, but we don’t want to say it out loud, because if we do, it will make it real, and we don’t want the bad parts to be real.

When we have pair up missions, I’d usually be paired with Abbacchio, since apparently, we make quite a good team, and can’t say that I complain - He knows when to stay silent, when to make a witty or sarcastic comment, has very nice dark jokes and can be a great conversation partner, especially when it comes to music and bands.

What I realised, however, that I’m not sure everyone knows, is that Abbacchio has a dose of self-hatred so large that it would include the dose of everyone from the team...No, rather said, of all Italy.

Unfortunately, when you’re someone like me, you can easily realise when someone isn’t doing mentally and emotionally too well, and what’s worse, as an empath, you can feel it just like an arrow impaling your heart.

It’s already been about a year since Giorno joined our team and for some reason, things started taking a turn for the unexpected whenever we’d have our weekly restaurant gatherings.

It all started when Mista got himself a girlfriend, and honestly, everyone was shocked because so far, nobody actually had any kind of love life, but we were all super proud and happy for him. He has always been a fun and easy going guy, very adventurous and this charm of his unexpectedly drew interesting girls to him, and managed to get completely head over heels with one.

Three weeks later, Mista couldn’t come to the hang out because he was taking his girlfriend on a date out of the city, but we found out that Giorno, with his really cute tricks and natural innocent charm, found himself in a relationship with a flower girl, very kind and sweet. They met when she was walking her puppy and he pulled on the leash so hard that she fell, but Giorno caught her and helped her out with the puppy, and it was love at first sight.

Of course, we were all very happy for them, because obviously, Giorno deserves the best in life...

And yet, it was weird when we were so few at the table at weekend hang outs.

It didn’t take long for Bruno to fall for a beautiful singer at a jazz bar, who, he found out, always bought meals for children of the streets and bought them clothes and tried to take care of them the best she could.

And now that our Mum friend was busy with his beloved, we are told by Fugo that he also managed to find a girl who is extremely calm, patient and intelligent, just his type, and they are planning a few museum and bookshop dates, as well of some very chill hang outs in the park.

Not even a week later, it was only me, Abbacchio and Narancia at the table, but the little duck was overly enthusiastic today, and told us that he found a girl who doesn’t mind his energetic and airhead personality and wants to take HIM out on an arcade date, and he needs some dating advice so he wouldn’t screw up.

“These kids are so pure and adorable, don’t you think, Leone?” I let out an amused breath, realising that, by now, it was only I and him at the table. “Yeah...They are. they deserve it.” he nodded simply, yet he seemed to not be over with his thoughts. “You seem like you want to say something else. Do you have anything on your mind that you’d like to share?...Hold up, is that lipstick on your neck?” I ask in a gentle voice, that turned into a gasp, which made him hum as he closed his eyes and think over, trying to wipe away the lipstick from his skin. “Well, I suppose I should say it after all. I asked a girl out and we’re going on a date next weekend, so I won’t be present for our weekly hang out...Not that it would make much of a difference, considering we’re the only ones left.” hearing him say that so nonchalantly, broke my heart in very little pieces, but at the same time, I was happy for him. “Woaw, that’s great, I’m so happy for you, Abba! I hope she’s everything you wish for and that you’ll both be happy together!” I congratulated him, but he only let out an amused breath, looking away slightly. “Yeah...Thanks, I guess.” he spoke in a low voice, seemingly absent minded. “You still have something on your mind -... No, rather said, on your heart. Is it something you’d rather keep to yourself?” I ask in a softer voice, leaning a bit on the table. “I’m not sure...” he trailed on, before glancing at him, blinking but not saying anything for a while. “Well, doesn’t matter, I’m not really a talker anyway. I have to go. See you around, Kat.” he nodded at me before leaving the restaurant, leaving me alone. “Bye...” I mutter to myself, staring at the empty seat in front of me.

It was then that I was reminded just how alone I really was, even when surrounded by people that I hold dear, and in turn, hold me dear... Well, not that it really mattered now anyway, since I was truly alone now, both spiritually and physically.

I got up from my seat and started walking around the city aimlessly, not really knowing what to do. When everyone else wasn’t so busy, I’d cling on one of them, depending on the mood I had at the moment...But now? Now I feel like nothing more than a wingless bird, or a paper plane in the wind, just trying to stay in the air.

Everywhere I looked, everyone was happy, everyone had someone that made them happy, and in turn, would make said person happy... And then I’d think at myself, and I’d find nothing more than an endless void of nothingness.

It’s true, I used to date someone too, before Giorno joined us, but...I never, even once, missed one of our hang outs. I suppose the team, my family, for me, was always more important than a relationship that may or may not be fleeting. And...I suppose that’s why my ex kept speaking like that to me, and seeing me in such a bad light. A difference in ideals and mind views that is so radical is never going to work out.

I already miss my Family, despite of how dysfunctional we all are.

How odd.

The next weekend, I went to the restaurant at the regular time, hoping that I would see at least one of the guys... But I was merely lying to myself, or my heart, that is. My brain already knew I was going to be alone.

One week, two weeks, three weeks...

The only time I’d meet them is when we’d have to go on missions or stuff like that.

I can’t believe how fast happiness can disappear...It’s almost like it never existed in the first place. How is that fair?

Why am I the only one left alone? Am I really that much of a bad person? Am I really that bad? Or ugly? Or annoying? Or what the hell is wrong with me? And more, what the hell is wrong with my heart? Why does it hurt so much? Why do I keep feeling the need to break down and cry every night with no exception? But I’m not sure what’s worse, the fact that I feel the need to cry my emotions out and scream my frustrations out at the sky... Or the fact that I can’t?

For the love of God, I can’t express my emotions, I can’t feel them, or maybe I feel too many at once and they threaten to explode, hell, I don’t even understand anything anymore.

This...Is really not fair at all...

About two months into this whole mess, I found myself going out by the sea every night, drinking some red wine that Abbacchio always drank and surprisingly, wasn’t too bad for my tastes, and I would just stare at the sky and let my emotions pour out, but not without cursing myself for looking like an alcoholic.

What was different that night, however, was a very familiar voice that seemed rather irked, continued by a very pitched and nagging female voice.

It sounded like Abbacchio...But I could always be mistaken. After all, drinking a whole bottle of red wine by myself wasn’t the smartest thing to do.

They seemed to be arguing...I don’t know...I wouldn’t want to intervene in their couple affairs. Or at least, that’s what I said, until I heard a loud slapping sound, followed by a deathly silence, which is when I realised that the woman he was with slapped him.

I may not be his girlfriend, but godamn it, nobody treats my family like that...

I marched to where the sound of the woman yelling at him came from, and despite possibly being a bit wobbly, I wasn’t even sure, I glared at her, catching her wrist before she could slap him once again.

“Who the hell are you?! Who do you think you are, getting between me and my boyfriend like that?! You look like some drunk slut from the highway, we have no money for your cheap ass!” she shrieked in my face, trashing violently, but I made no hostile move, except for glaring blankly at her. “He’s my family...And I’ll be dead before I allow anyone to treat my family with such disrespect.” I spoke in a low and threatening voice, gripping her wrist tighter. “It’s fine, Katrina, I deserved it.” Abbacchio tried to defend his girlfriend, but I was having none of it. “No, it’s not fine. And you didn’t deserve it. Nobody deserves to be treated like that by the person they love.” I reply simply, but that seemed to make hell break loose. “Oh my GOD! Leone, this is all your fault! Who the hell made you know such a fucking annoying chick like her who doesn’t mind her own damn business?! Screw it, I’m going home! You owe me a nice fucking date next time!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, before pushing me away and stomping in the opposite direction. “God damn it...” Abbacchio’s low voice was barely audible. “Are you okay, Abba...? Does it hurt where she slapped you? Can I heal it with my Stand?” I tried to reach out instinctively with my hands, but he slapped them away harshly, glaring at me, which made me widen my eyes in shock. “Abba...?” I was barely able to speak out. “What the fuck is your problem?! Why do you have to put your nose everywhere that doesn’t concern you? That was MY girlfriend! My date, my problem, my responsibility! ALL mine! You never stop trying to pry into others’ business, under the pretext that we’re family and you want the best for us, but have you ever thought that maybe we DON’T need OR want that?!” it was the first time he spoke so harshly and aggressive toward me, that I had to take a few steps back, away from him, then turn around to hide the tears streaming down my face. “Okay. I won’t bother you ever again. I’m sorry I’m such a bother for everyone around me. Goodbye.” I manage to speak in a shaky voice, as I started walking back towards the place where I stood previously, but I was stopped by a hand on my shoulder. “W-Wait...Are you crying...?” Leone spoke in an unsure voice, as if he was somehow taken back to reality. “That shouldn’t concern you, should it? It’s none of your business and you shouldn’t pry so much into it. That IS what you said, right, Abbacchio? Who cares about poor little, annoying Katrina, after all? Nobody. Let it remain that way. Who knows, maybe you’ll have the look to completely get rid of me very soon.” I slapped his hand away, before disappearing into the night, not even bothering to hear him out anymore.

From then on, I wasn’t even able to fake my happiness, my face remaining blank and emotionless for most of the time, and I’d only stay around the team for as long the mission needed me, and then I’d just leave back home, to my little safe heaven where I could be myself... But honestly, I couldn’t even be myself there, for I wouldn’t even be able to cry out my feelings or anything of the sort, and for the most time, I’d just watch a movie or listen to music, without feeling anything at all, just wasting my time blankly.

The other guys would voice their concerns quite often and loud, since I wasn’t my usual calming, gentle and happy go lucky self anymore, and it was clear that something was wrong...Especially when I refused to stay anywhere near the silver haired man.

It wasn’t until Bruno paired me up with said man that hell broke loose in a way, and the whole drive to the assigned place was filled with awkward silence, with Abbacchio trying to make conversation by asking if I like the song that’s on or I want to change it, but I didn’t bother giving him any answer, merely looking in front of me as I drove.

By the time we got to the docks to investigate the place, I walked away from him to do my job, but he just stood there, staring into the horizon, trying to say something, but something was keeping him - Most likely his own walls he created.

“We should talk.” he finally spoke up after excruciating minutes. “Really?” I asked sarcastically, now even bothering to look at him. “What were you doing at the beach that night?” he asked after a long pause. “Strictly confidential.” I replied blankly, looking at the little dock house. “What...?!” my response seemed to shock him since I was never so harsh and direct with him, always preferring to speak with a gentler and softer way. “It’s none of your business, is it? Your words, not mine.” I explained as I got inside and looked around the place. “I didn’t mean that. Not a word I said.” he tried to say, but I cut him off fast. “Activate your Stand already, stop wasting time.” I got out, looking at him with a bored expression. “Besides, words spoken always have a meaning and consequences. Action-Reaction, like in Physics, y’know?” I pointed out, as I took a seat on one of the logs around. “Look, I know I fucked up. I lashed out at you for no reason, and I’m sorry about that. I want to make it up to you. You were right to worry about me. Anyone from the team would have done the same. I was an asshole with you, I know that. I let my feelings go out of control... I'm just that kinda guy... a worthless guy who can't see anything through to the end. I always screw it up halfway through.” he spoke now more than I’ve ever heard him before, but the way he described himself made me cringe. “Don’t...Speak like that about yourself...” I muttered, shifting my gaze from him to Moody Blues. “Huh? Even now, after I was such an asshole with you, you try to protect me? Aren’t you an angel?” he chuckled lightly, which only made me sneer. “Shut up. I’m sorry for caring about you and for not wanting you to go through what I’ve been through. But I should’ve known better. You’re 21, you already have enough experience to know what you get yourself into. I won’t say a word next time, don’t worry. I promised not to bother anyone again.” I rolled my eyes, crossing my legs to get more comfortable in my seat. “That guy really was a bastard, wasn’t he...?” he muttered with a somehow softened expression. “Don’t try to turn this around. This conversation isn’t about me and nor should you be concerned about me or my feelings in any way.” I reminded him once again, but he was always a stubborn guy. “Lately, I’ve been feeling worse and worse...I guess I just needed a distraction. I never held any feelings for that woman, nor did she for me.” he tried to justify himself, but I merely shrugged. “I don’t see how that concerns me in any way.” I scoffed in annoyance. “You’re the only one I’d trust with my feelings.” he spoke after a brief silence, but I could only laugh sardonically. “Oh, really? Really, now? Are you sure you want to say that after that night? Because, as far as I’m concerned, you want me out of your life! Why would you even bother trying to justify your actions to someone like me anyway?!” I got up, glaring at him dead on. “Look, I give you every right to be mad at me! You can go ahead and punch me or kick me or slap me or whatever, it doesn’t matter, I won’t feel anything so if it will make you feel better, lash out your anger on me, I’d deserve it anyway.” he spoke a bit louder, yet he wore his raw feelings on his sleeve. “Why...Would I do that? You, of all people, should know that I would never, in a million years, do something like that, no matter how angry I am. Are you trying to mock me...?” I narrowed my eyes at him, but he merely shook his head. “I’m trying to get you to forgive me. I’m just very bad at this whole feel-thing...Or people-thing. You already know my past and I’m pretty sure you figured by now why I act the way I act. It’s not rocket science. So just...Tell me what to do to get you to forgive me and be the way we were before. I can’t stand the idea of you hating me.” his voice became much softer and more emotional by the end of it, something uncharacteristic of him. “I don’t hate you.” I looked down, crossing my arms. “You don’t...?” he stepped forward, his face shocked. “I can’t. No matter how much I want to hate you for what you did...I can’t.” I mutter, biting my lip, averting my eyes away from him, until...”Hey...Doesn’t that look oddly enough like your girlfriend...?” I ask breathlessly as Moody Blues took the shape of the girl at the beach. “Oh, great...My hookup is a villain Stand user. Great news.” he facepalmed in anger, before he ran full speed towards me, pushing me away. “Look out!” “Wh-What...?! Leone...?!” I gasped in shock, seeing him on the ground, a really ugly wound on his torso. “Guess we have to kill her.” he chuckled weakly, as I could feel a drop of sweat run down my back. “Damn it, you idiot! You shouldn’t have done that! Why the hell would you do something like that?!” I freaked out, looking at his bleeding wound. “I’ll tell you if I make it through this.” he wore the ghost of a smile that almost challenged me. “...You always know how to irk me the wrong way, don’t you?” I grit my teeth, before I got up, activating my Stand. “I’m not a violent person, chickadee, but now you’ve done it. You really got me mad.” I growled, creating blasting shots of water and throwing them at the woman in front of me. “Awww, what is it? Were you jealous, after all? Were you after my man all this time~?” she giggled, throwing her own blasts of whatever kind of energy that was. “I have no reason to be jealous. Especially not on someone like you.” I smirk as I made molecules of water depart from the actual blast, that would glue themselves on her skin and would get absorbed into her organism. “Oh, really? Can you really afford to say that, even now, knowing that he fucked me?” she laughed condescendingly, but she had no idea what a gruesome demise she’d have. “I almost pity you, you know? You seem like the kind of person who never knew what love is...Not that I’m sympathetic to you in any way. But sure, use that as an excuse to pretend you’re not just an empty shell of yourself.” I chuckled, before snapping my fingers together, which made her explode. “Au revoir.” I flipped my hair, looking at the place she was at just a few seconds ago, before rushing to the fallen ally. “That was pretty cool.” Abbacchio smirked breathlessly. “Guess my plan worked. I tried to look cool in front of you.” I let out an amused breath, before I took off his top, focusing the water to regenerate the cells on his wound so he would heal. “It worked damn well.” he said in a lower voice, watching me heal his wound. “Next time, don’t do that. I almost had a heart attack.” I bit my lip, not daring to meet his gaze. “It’s fine...I don’t feel anything. I haven’t in a long while.” he tried to make light of the situation, but I knew. I knew the truth, but I couldn’t say anything.

I didn’t even realise that I stopped healing him until tears started falling down my cheeks without any means to stop.

“H-Hey, why are you crying? I was joking, don’t take me so seriously-” he tried to take that back, but I knew better. “Don’t do that...Don’t. Just don’t. I already know...I know that so much that it hurts...” I manage to speak, hiding my face with my hands, not wanting him to see me crying. “Hey, come on...No need to cry over someone like me. Your pretty face should shine with a smile all the time, not cry.” he put his arms around me, pulling me to his chest. “Don’t act so brave in front of me, it’s annoying. Not when I already know how much you’re hurting...I understand you so well...I’m just too scared to say it out loud...But lately, I couldn’t even pretend that it’s not true. That’s why...I wanted to protect you from everything bad that would make you feel even worse...” I tried to explain myself, until I felt a kiss on the top of my head. “Look, I’ll be frank. I love you. I’m done hiding. I didn’t want to say anything ‘cause you deserve better, not a depressed guy who’s stuck in the past. You deserve someone bright and caring like Buccellati who’d treat you like a princess and all that. I’m not worthy of your feelings.” he stroked my hair gently, pouring all his feelings out. “Don’t...Say that...Ever again. Look at me...You think I’m any better? Do you have any idea how lonely I’ve felt all this time since you all got too busy for your family? Do you have any idea how bad I felt without you guys around? As if before that wasn’t bad enough...Now I’ve become an even greater mess. I either cry randomly, or feel nothing at all. I don’t even know what I am or what I feel anymore...And you say you’re no good for me? Did you hit your head too or what?” I spoke out everything I had to say, not even feeling embarrassed or scared anymore. “Don’t say that...You will regret it later on. I can’t even help myself, how could I possibly support you emotionally in any way?” he asks in a self-deprecating tone. “You’re impossible...” I sigh dramatically, as I raise my head and cupping his face, I capture his purple-painted lips in a tender kiss, with enough passion to show him that I mean it, but gentle enough, almost as if afraid that either of us would break from the pent up emotions that kept overwhelming us. “Are you sure...?” he mutters, his eyes wide in surprise. “If you want another one, you can just say so.” I smirk softly, before he put one arm around me, while his other hand was on the back of my head, and he pulled me into another kiss, just as full of love. “Do I really have to ask?” he let out an amused breath. “No. I’ll just let you steal them.” I could feel the ghost of a side-smile creeping on my face as I helped him get up from the ground. “Well, mission complete. Let’s go back home now. We gotta report to our dear Capo, after all.” I intertwined my fingers with his. “There’s gonna be a lot of explaining to do. How bothersome.” he said, yes the chuckle betrayed his words. “Hey, I’ll just look at the bright side. I won’t have to sit at the restaurant table by myself anymore.” I shrugged with an innocent smile on my face. “Low blow, tesoro. Low blow.” he shook his head, yet he was smiling, just as much.

248 notes · View notes

sanders-sides-fic · 4 years

Text

Hunters and pray(ing)

So, I talked to my younger brother about the prompt-thingy. My brother doesn’t watch Sanders Sides and avoids English with a passion (it’s our secondary language), but he still made a request. So, even though he will never read this: “Are you stupid? Or just randomly suicidal?” and “Careful, there are Vampires around here” with, and I quote, »the purple one, the snake-guy and the one who does that thing with his arms«

XD Enjoy.

Virgil hated whenever Janus did something like that. He was supposed to be the one in charge, he was supposed to be careful. Not… Whatever that was!

Then again, Virgil may or may not be a perfect example on what not to do, as well. After all, he hadn’t left their new house since they had moved in, not even for the sake of buying new clothes. But that didn’t matter, he’d just used some of the fabric from an old cloak he couldn’t wear anymore anyways and had patched his outfit up. He kinda liked it. Actually, he felt way more comfortable in the worn, customized hoody than he had with any of the high-price stuff Janus felt to be appropriate.

But that wasn’t the point.

The point was that Janus was ignoring all the flashing lights and for what? He just didn’t get it. Why was it so important to Janus to always look perfectly put together at all times? Why was it so important that he had to go into the city, right amongst the ones they had to fear the most, every other day. Appearance had always been a huge deal to him, Virgil guessed, but not to that extent. Maybe because they were new or something like that?

No. No, Virgil couldn’t believe that. Janus was a smooth talker, a slick bastard and a cunning schemer. Janus lied like it was his second nature. Janus was untrustworthy and, yes, at times also back-stabbing. He was impulsively loyal, fiercely vindictive, specifically prideful and his moral compass mostly seemed like a fucking roulette wheel, but the one thing Janus was not was dumb. Dense, maybe, but not dumb. He knew when a risk wasn’t worth it.

So there had to be a reason why Janus went into town all the time. Virgil knew that there had to be. But he had confronted Janus before and, as always, received an outrageous lie as an answer. That and a half-hearted promise not to go for the next few weeks. A promise he’d never intended to keep, as Virgil and he had both known very well.

Virgil looked at the clock in the back the room. It was fairly late, almost five in the morning. And yet Janus wasn’t back still.

That was something that had happened more and more lately, too. Janus never named a reason or anything, but he went out in the early evening hours and would return way too late. Sometimes even injured. He never used to come back hurt, never used to be this careless.

Virgil bit his lip, wanting nothing more than to slap Janus for being home late, again. Seriously, what could be more important than to come back to-

A sudden thought occurred to Virgil, making him stop his pacing back and forth dead in his tracks. No. No, not Janus. Right? Janus wouldn’t get this caught up over some… some guy, would he?

Sure, he had had many lovers before, but every single one of those had been disposable to him. Some even just means to some end, if Virgil remembered correctly. But Janus had never really been in love. He had been loved, but he had never put anyone on equal footing or, perish the thought, even above himself. Even Virgil, who had known Janus basically his entire life, could barely reach thought to him. There was no way Janus had fallen that hard, to actually endanger himself and his family, was there?

…

He didn’t take a coat as he ran outside as fast as he could, just following the street Janus would always take. It took him about five minutes that way to reach the small town close to their new home. He knew Janus had been exaggerating! But that wasn’t what he was here to do. He was here for Janus, to make sure Janus hadn’t gone and done the one thing that had even landed them in this situation.

It took a long time to find him. Longer than he wold have expected, which made it pretty clear that Janus didn’t want to be found. He had been on the verge of giving up and returning home for the night, hoping Janus had done the same already, when he saw him. The young man he considered to be his brother was leaning against a wall, clearly amused. His gloved hands twirled his hat around, the black vest had moved up ever so slightly above the yellow button-up, and Virgil couldn’t help the snicker. As per usual, Janus looked like a mafiosi standing in that dark ally, possibly as suspicious as that would have been possible for a man in a suit at all. And Virgil mistrusted most men in suits.

But, there was also someone with him. Someone with the back to him, so Virgil couldn’t see him properly. But he could make out the brown hair. It looked neatly trimmed and pushed back smoothly. Judging from his back, Virgil would have guessed that the other man lived uptown. A good, stable household. The worst kinds of people, if anyone asked him.

He made a point of not listening in on their conversation, but he didn’t let them out of his sight either. Janus looked happy, or at least he was enjoying himself. Virgil could appreciate that about the stranger. After all, with what had happened, Janus had been tense for quite some time. Thinking about it now, Vigil realized that Janus had been a bit more relaxed lately. Less frustrated and more playful. That hadn’t happened since Remy…

Well, there was a good reason for them to be tense and on the other end of the globe now.

It was close to sunrise when Janus said something and pointed in the direction of a shop. Judging that it would be safe to listen in without disrespecting Janus’ privacy too much, Virgil stopped dulling his senses. “-so my roommate doesn’t get worried. Well, more worried, I suppose. He’s always anxious.”, Janus laughed silently. Virgil huffed in annoyance. As if he hadn’t seen through that tactic long ago. Janus didn’t even try anymore at this point, just bringing back a single, random article. “I’ll be right back, alright?”

“Or, just a thought, you could talk to him.” The strangers voice was thick and rich, like a singer’s voice. Thinking about it now, he also had a great posture, like an actor on a stage. Oh, great. As though Virgil didn’t have enough dramatic people in his life already.

“I will. I promise I will”, Janus replied, making Virgil clench his teeth. Such a liar. “as soon as he’s gotten used to life in America. He’s shaken from that fire still.”

“Oh, the mysterious fire I’ve heard so much and nothing about. Will you ever tell me what actually happened?”

Janus only laughed and waved as he walked into the shop he had pointed at before. Some sort of candle store by the looks of it. Oh, God. Please, not another scented candle!

Virgil sighed deeply as he watched his ‘roommate’, apparently, walk away. Maybe he should go take a closer look at the stranger? See what kind of person Janus had fallen for? Just to make sure it was safe, of cause, the curiosity wasn’t any part of the reason he wanted to do that at all.

Nah, he should probably get back. If Janus wanted to end up a pile on the floor, that was his decision. He himself would much rather go back to sleep or have a nice meal right about now. Besides, it could be dangerous to go talk to a stranger in a strange town in a strange country. Yeah, really didn’t seem like a fail-safe plan to Virgil.

So he naturally put his hands into his pockets, looked for cars and crossed the street, right to where the stranger was standing.

The stranger’s brown eyes meet Virgil’s storm grey ones. He was pretty, Virgil had to leave him that. And he had a color coordinated outfit, which didn’t matter much to Virgil, but was probably a huge plus for Janus.

“Uhm, hi? Can I help you with something?”, the stranger asked. Virgil looked him up and down and nodded his head slowly. “Yes… I kinda got lost and I’ve been wandering around for most of the night. Do you know the direction to the highway, by any chance?”

“What?!”, the nameless stranger asked shocked, his eyes visibly widening, “The entire night? Oh, lord! You have to be more-”

“Responsible? I know. My whole family seems to have that problem lately.”, Virgil interrupted annoyed, looking for a way look into the stranger’s eyes deep enough to question him.

“No. Careful. There are vampires around here, you know?”

And that made Virgil freeze up. He knew? The humans knew? How did they find out?! Had Janus been even more careless than he had thought? Had Janus maybe even confessed? No. No, surely Janus wasn’t that stupid. No way.

“Oh? Doesn’t the church usually take care of things like that?”, Virgil asked, paranoia creeping into his mind. Had there been anyone there tonight who might have figured him out? Anyone who could follow him and stick a pole through them while they slept today? He didn’t think so, but he hadn’t payed attention either. Well, fuck.

“Yes, we usually do. And we did. We have a non-aggression pact with them, though it’s anonymous. Still, you have to be careful with creatures like that. They have… prejudges. Justified prejudges maybe, but they still often attack first and ask questions later, you know?”

What. The. Fuck?! Who the hell was it having prejudges now, idiot? But Virgil forced himself to remain calm. “So, what do you do to be careful? Wear a cross or something?” Most of the things humans thought to be helpful were rubbish, but some of them actually worked. If he was unlucky, he wouldn’t be able to hypnotize the stranger, and then it would only blow his cover and he would know about Janus and they would end up like Remy and-

“No, that doesn’t really work. Best is just not to be out on the streets so late. Well, not alone anyways. I usually go with a friend of mine, but he’s in the store right now.”

Okay, good. If he was quick about it, he might actually be able to pull this off. So Virgil took a deep breath, took the stranger’s face in his hand and forced the eye contact, with a smirk. “I see. You will do as I say and answer al my questions, then.” The stranger barely had any time to gasp in shocked recognition before his body went lax.

“Good. Now, who are you?” “My name is Roman Royals.”

“How old are you?” “Nineteen years.”

“And you are completely human?” “Yes.”

“Do you know Janus?” “I do.”

“What is he to you?” “My boyfriend.”

“And is Janus human?” “Yes.” Virgil let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding when he heard that answer. So at least Janus hadn’t told him anything.

“Okay, last question: You just said ‘we’ when you talked about the church. Why?” “My father’s the priest there.”

Well, fuck. Did Janus know? Probably, he did a background check on the barista he gets his coffee from now. So why did he stick around Roman if he knew? What kind of bullshit was he pulling here? Virgil sighed heavily. “I see. Well, you will forget this ever happened. You just told me where to go and I was on my way. Got it?”

Roman nodded absentmindedly and Virgil let the hypnosis drop, sprinting home without checking that Roman actually forgot what had happened. He just had to get away from there, away from Roman, the priest’s son.

Shock turned to fear pretty fast, and fear to terror. Terror turned into a lack of air and that lack of air turned into helplessness. It was unfortunate that Janus came home right when that helplessness just finished its slow transformation to rage. Not unfortunate for Virgil, but certainly unfortunate for Janus. And Janus could tell the moment he closed the door and locked eyes with Virgil.

For a few moments everything was silent. Then, Virgil pointed out in a voice colder than ice: “You’re late. From happy hour to blue hour, again.” Janus nodded slowly. “Yes… I lost track of time.”

Virgil didn’t even acknowledge that lie with a response, which told Janus enough about how damn angry he had to be. So Janus gave a nervous smile, swallowing dry. They both knew how dangerous Virgil could be if he wanted to. He had always been their best fighter, amongst other dangerous but useful qualities. Janus cleared his throat. “Right. As you said, Virge, it’s pretty late, so I should probably go to bed. Good day.”

“Don’t”, Virgil interrupted Janus’ fast retreat dead in his tracks, making his friend stop dead in his tracks, “lie to me, Janus. I know about him.”

“What?” The question was a mere whisper, probably even imperceptible to the human ear. But neither of them were human, were they? That was kind of the problem, so Virgil certainly heard. He didn’t answer, though, only looked Janus dead into his eyes. So Janus asked again, this time a little louder though still full of shocked uncertainty: “What do you mean?”

“I mean”, Virgil answered through clenched teeth as he stalked forward towards Janus, “I know what you’ve been up to every night. I mean I know about your stupid ass decision. I mean, Janus, that I know about the Royals boy.”

“How do you know about Roman? You never even leave the house!”

“For good reason! Or have you forgotten why we came here at all? Have you forgotten about the fire that did that” - Virgil pointed uncharacteristically expensively to the light burn marks on the side of Janus’s face that started to stand out more in the morning light - “to you? And then you go and, what, jump at the first decent looking human you can find?”

“No! Of cause I didn’t forget. But this is fine, we’re fine, we’re safe, I promise.”, Janus was quick to defend, but it didn’t do him any good. Virgil only let out a humorless laugh.

“Oh? Is it? You are always out with a human, whose family runs the church no less, and come back so close to dawn that you arrive seriously injured. So, please, tell me, Janus, are you stupid?! Or just randomly suicidal? Which one is it, huh?!”

“Really, Virgil. I’m being honest right now.”, Janus insisted, even taking off his gloves to show the trembling hands underneath and painting a cross above his heart. “He… Roman, isn’t like that. He’s different. This is different. You have to believe me!”

“Funny. That’s what Remy said, too. And then the fucking house was brunt down by the fucking human. Tell me, how did that go? Hm? Where’s our coven now? Our home?! It’s only you, me, and the two unconscious brothers upstairs that’s left!”

Janus tried and failed to hide the pain that crossed his face remembering that night, whispering: “No one could have seen that coming…”

“I did!”, Virgil cried angrily and desperate, ”I did, and you didn’t listen to me, and now it’s happening again, and you don’t listen to me again, do you?!”

A beat passed by before either of them did anything again. It was Janus who moved first, straightened his back defiantly and moved out of his defensive position, crossing his arms and shaking his head slightly. “No, I will not. And I don’t have to, either. In case you forgot, I am the leader of this coven, so I get to decide. Maybe I should have listened to you back then, but that was back then and now is right now. This conversation is over.”

“It’s not.”, Virgil sighed defeatedly. He didn’t make eye contact anymore but watched the sun rise through the protective glass instead. “I won’t stand around and watch this happening again. If you don’t end things with him, I will end things with you.”

“Are you… Virgil, is that an ultimatum? Are you making me choose between you and him?”, Janus asked in disbelieve. He wanted to get angry at Virgil, but he could see the pained expression on his friend’s face. His shoulders were shaking and tears started to silently race down his face, as he whispered with a broken voice: “I just can’t see that happen again, Jan. I’m sorry, but I just… Just, please.”

Janus sighed. “How long have you known me for, Virgil? Six-hundred years?” “Five-hundred-thirty-five. Since the fourteen-eighties.”, Virgil nodded absentmindedly.

“Right.”, Janus softly continued, drawing soothing circled on Virgil’s back. ”I got us through the times of the witch trials, I got us through two world wars, I got us through the development of photography and videos. I protected us from werewolves, aristocrats, christian fanatics, fanatic civilians, homophobes and even nazis. So why would you ever mistrust me?”

“Because you are a liar by nature.”, Virgil answered without missing a beat. But he also sighed, leaning against Janus. “But… It’s not you I have troubles trusting.”

“Only because you don’t know him yet. Roman won’t hurt us.”, Janus insisted again

Virgil scoffed: “He’s human.”

“So where you. But I gave you a chance, didn’t I? When everyone was avoiding you because your mother used to be a witch?”

The silence dragged on and on, until Virgil finally pulled away and walked towards the stairs. “I’m gonna hit the hay, tonight was fucking exhausting.”

“Virgil?” Janus’ voice was so soft and breakable right now, so very vulnerable, and Virgil couldn’t even bare to look at him. So he sighed, almost out of sight, hesitating before finally saying: “One dinner. Tell him I’ll cook dinner for us the night after tomorrow, nine in the afternoon. He’ll get his chance to make me trust him then, and if he does he can stay. But that’s all he gets, just that one dinner.”

And then he left, leaving a smiling, somewhat relieved Janus down in the entrance hall. Now all he had to do was tell Roman. And maybe, in time, the two most important people in his life would actually get along some time soon. He sure hoped they would. But for now, a chance was good enough.

For now.

Masterpost: here

Prompt-chart and one-shots: here

Taglist: @gattonero17

#I forgot to do the tags again #damn #I gotta remember that #like it’s not that hard #people won’t even see this otherwise #who decided to make me an adult?#I can write about death and torture and blood but I can’t even remember to tag shit #but oh well #enough with the conversations down here #sanders sides #roman sanders #virgil sanders #Janus Sanders #sanders side fic #vampire au #one shot prompts #fan fiction #sanders sides au #angst

11 notes · View notes

marshmallowgoop · 4 years

Text

Brand New Animal...

So, the last few episodes of BNA: Brand New Animal dropped on Netflix Japan last week. I was initially really hyped for this anime—I devoted several hours of my life to translating and summarizing the Winter 2020 Otomedia interview concerning it—so I intended to write a lot more about the series, especially upon a wider release.

But having now seen every episode, this is another Kiznaiver and Darling in the Franxx for me. There’s a lot of potential, and I was incredibly invested at the start, but the narrative quickly goes directions and makes decisions that don’t sit well with me at all.

For those interested in BNA, my (mostly?) spoiler-free opinion is that it’s visually beautiful (especially in regards to its colors), but the story feels scattered, and there’s so little time devoted to positive interactions among the leads that their friendships fall flat. Further, speaking as a very character-oriented person, I finished this anime annoyed at the entire main cast. Their growth comes across as dissatisfying and undeserved.

Of course, it is more than worth noting that my understanding of Brand New Animal is indeed limited at this point; I don’t have much of a grasp on Japanese, there are no official English translations yet, and I watched with Japanese subtitles. (At least until episode 12. While there are thankfully subtitles available now, there weren’t when I watched, which is a huge disappointment in terms of accessibility.)

I recognize that my feelings may very well change if I have a better sense of everything that’s being said. But given what I do know, I—at least at the moment—have no desire to rewatch this series. I’m always open to requests to talk about BNA, but I don’t think I’ll be blogging much about it otherwise.

All that said, I do want to share some spoiler thoughts under the cut. As my sister noted, I am “very upset about this furry anime.”

First things first: I cannot stand Nazuna. I’m sorry. I think it’d probably be too much to say that she soured the whole show for me, but she definitely comes close.

Now, I got a (minor) degree in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, so, yes, I can’t help but wonder if my strong negative feelings are related to sexism. Would I feel so strongly if there were a man in Nazuna’s place? There’s been a lot of investigating myself these last few days, let me tell you.

Still, I can’t say I know the answers. But I do have some Thoughts that are maybe best illustrated with another anime I’ve started watching lately: My Hero Academia.

Do note that I’m only on Season 2, but there are also characters I strongly dislike so far in My Hero—characters who are arguably much worse than Nazuna, as far as their actions and behavior go. Bakugo is an angry, abusive bully, while Mineta sexually harasses women. I hate both of them, but—especially regarding Bakugo—it’s a different kind of hate than what I feel for Nazuna.

Why? Well, I won’t deny the possibility that sexism plays a role, but there’s also a profound difference in how these characters are treated by their stories. Bakugo initially gets away with his bad attitude, but upon coming to high school, he’s a pariah. He’s called out for being a jerk, time and time again. Mineta, similarly, is not adored for his actions. These aren’t nice dudes, and the narrative makes this point clear. Regarding Bakugo, I hate him, but it’s not exactly a bad kind of hate. Because I hate him, I’m rooting even harder for Deku to prove him wrong.

But what about Nazuna? She pretends to be another culture’s god, but much of BNA seems dedicated to treating her as a poor victim who was manipulated into manipulating others and needs to be rescued. While Nazuna’s situation is indeed a frightening one that I don’t at all intend to make light of, episode 6 makes abundantly clear that this girl adores masquerading as a goddess and fails to see any moral problem in tricking thousands of people into believing that she’s their savior.

And that, to me, is absolutely horrendous. Nazuna is not in kindergarten. She is not a small child still in the preoperational stage of development. She is an older teenager. I find it disconcerting to paint her as someone in a rough place who was simply desperate for love when she pointedly relishes her false godhood because it makes her feel like an idol. That is so unbelievably gross and disrespectful.

Of course, Nazuna truly doesn’t see what she’s doing as wrong, and I recognize that she is young. In the end, as I hope the Bakugo example highlights, my issues are really less about Nazuna herself and more about how she’s written and depicted. Just as there’s nothing inherently despicable about portraying a smug, selfish teenage boy in a cartoon, there’s nothing inherently despicable about portraying a smug, selfish teenage girl in another cartoon. But while Deku and Bakugo were also past friends just as Michiru and Nazuna, Deku never defends Bakugo’s awful behavior as Michiru does for Nazuna.

And that bothers me. Michiru—our protagonist and so the person viewers are pushed to empathize most with—never really seems to grasp just how disgusting Nazuna’s actions are. More importantly, neither does Nazuna herself. She’s instantly forgiven, and her dream comes true seemingly without any apology or understanding of wrong whatsoever.

Brand New Animal is filled to the brim with social commentary, but one message that stood out to me actually has nothing to do with the human/animal-human conflict. It’s instead that this cute girl never has to face the consequences of her actions because she’s cute.

I know, I know. This is some pretty over-the-top negativity. But I was so excited for this series. Especially considering the ending conflict around being “mixed” and “purebred,” I felt like BNA was an opportunity for writer Kazuki Nakashima to more thoroughly explore concepts he wanted to examine in Kill la Kill but didn’t because a talking outfit just ain’t gonna garner the same amount of sympathy as cute animal-humans. With my recent(ish) Wolf Children posting in mind, I also love that Brand New Animal ultimately pushes for diversity instead of away from it as I feel that film does, even if there are some... unfortunate implications along the way (that I don’t know if I’m personally capable of analyzing).

But 12 episodes simply couldn’t do this show justice. I’m supposed to care for a girl who calls being an animal-human a “disease” and never seems to really reconcile with how messed up that is? I’m supposed to care for a man who dismembers others in the name of “honor” and never seems to really reconcile with how messed up that is? I’m supposed to hope that two friends/lovers get back together when one is rude and dismissive towards the other for the majority of the show, and the other idolizes her and overlooks her truly terrible misdeeds?

Maybe I just don’t get it. Maybe I missed something (or a lot of things). But there is so much here that gets resolved too quickly or never receives the full exploration it deserves. As I said in the start, characters fall flat, their friendships fall flatter, and any good themes or messages that I do recognize in the series hardly impact me because the rushed development of the players soured my positive feelings for them.

I would have loved to see Michiru acknowledge that she’s in love with someone who does bad things. I would have loved a heart-to-heart where she admits this to Shirou, where he then admits that in his long life, there have been times when he’s been in the same boat. I would have loved to see Nazuna truly question her actions, where her declaration that she’s Nazuna instead of a cult leader actually means something because she’s recognized that she’s been wrong and is ready to be loved for herself, not someone she’s not. I would have loved to see a moment where Michiru expresses to Shirou that he shouldn’t control his violent tendencies for her approval but because it’s simply the right thing to do. The list goes on and on.

At the end of the day, I can admit my own garbage tastes. Bakugo is apparently the most popular My Hero character, and I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else express such a harsh opinion regarding Nazuna’s portrayal in BNA. Episode 5 of the show (with the baseball) seems to be its most adored entry, but I thought little of it. My favorite things in anime—and what I’m specifically looking forward to in Studio Trigger anime—are maybe anomalies.

But, gosh. I really wanted to love this.

#shut up goop #ramblings #negative #spoilers #bna spoilers #brand new animal #bna: brand new animal #bna #sorry for the flaming hot take but hopefully this doesn't show up in tags #just wanted to say why i wouldn't be really blogging about bna but it got out of hand

20 notes · View notes

surveys-at-your-service · 3 years

Text

Survey #293

“your head upon a stick would look really sick, but they would call me crazy for the way i spoke to it”

Hey bitch, what's your fucking name? What a start, jc lmao. Brittany. What color are your nails? They're not painted. Last time you got some ass? Well this survey's gonna be a journey. Many years ago. Do your parents like your style/music choices? Yeah, at least most of it. Some music my mom really doesn't like or just hates, while I can't even imagine Dad's reaction to some bands I enjoy. Ever seen your parents make out? tbh would rather slam my ankle on a Razor scooter. What's your dream height and weight? Forget about my height, if I could just be at least 120 again... Do you put your hair up a lot or down? It's too short to put up. Most of the time do you straighten or curl your hair? Neither. What do you do when your house loses power? Light a bunch of candles and carry flashlights. What piercing do you hate? I'm not a fan of cheek piercings. Were you raised in a religious house? Yes. I grew up going to Sunday school and church, even though I hated both. Do your parents get mad when you're on the computer for hours? Gah... it was a very, very big source of argumentative fuel between Mom and me all the way up to my late teenage years when she just gave up; now, it's to be expected and is completely "normal." I always wanted to be on the computer once I was introduced to it; she tried to limit my time on it, and it was without fail what she would take away whenever I was grounded. I'd even sneak onto it when I wasn't allowed to if she wasn't home and Dad was in their room. My mom really did try to keep me from being hooked on technology, she really did, it just didn't work, but dear god I wish it did. I just about turn into a caveman without some form of it, and it's pretty pathetic. Dad meanwhile has never really cared much, but he'd make a comment here and there that would make me self-conscious about it. Have you ever been asked for a nude picture? No, and guess who would be ignored for the rest of their lives if they did. It's so fucking disrespectful and objectifying to me. If someone wants to send a partner something like that by their own volition, that's cool, but asking, that just seems incredibly rude to me and turns the person into an object of lust. Ever been so scared you pissed? Caaan't say I have. Can you watch scary movies at night and not be scared? Yeah, they've never really fazed me. Last reason you got your cell taken away? I actually don't know if that's ever happened, given the aforementioned computer thing. I was never hooked on my phone. Could you handle working on a farm? Nooooo, that is way too much physical exertion. Have you ever been attacked by an animal? No. Have you ever had to put an animal to sleep? ugh Do you have a favorite type of firework? Well, visually I really just like the big colorful ones, but I don't endorse the use of fireworks anymore. Some animals literally die from fear, they can be seriously upsetting to veterans with PTSD (you could have one in your neighborhood and never know you indirectly gave them a panic attack), and they're a large source of litter. Where would/did you get your first tattoo? My right wrist. What's your favorite kind of pet? Snakes. Favorite dinosaur? Spinosaurus is obviously the coolest. It's always been my fave. How many pets do you have? Sigh, just two. Our landlord doesn't want us to get anymore pets than what we came in with. What were two of your favorite Disney movies as child? The Lion King and Finding Nemo. They're still my favorite Disney movies. When carving pumpkins, how do you decide what you're going to do? I haven't carved a pumpkin in years... so idk. Do you own any art supplies? Some, yeah. Do you believe you have a higher IQ than most? Definitely not. What is the name of the doctor that delivered you? I have no clue. Mom knows him for sure because she's mentioned him from my childhood, but I don't. Have you ever seen a Lamborghini in person? Hunny, I live in rural North Carolina. You don't see that level of bougie here lmao. Shane Dawson: funny or annoying? I honestly think he's fucking hilarious. I just have such conflicting feelings about him after "the drama," hearing so many people's opinions (particularly from those who know him so well, like his fiance and Ryland's sister), fact checking, audio cutting and mixing, the whole "people change" philosophy... I don't know. When you have a container of Neapolitan ice cream, what flavor do you leave for last? I ain't touchin' strawberry. Gross. If you could choose to have any superpower ever, what would you pick? I'd wanna be a shapeshifter/druid. What would you be more embarrassed to buy: sex toys or adult diapers? Yikes, sex toys. Given my age, I'd say if I bought adult diapers, people would assume they weren't for me. I'm awkward enough with all things relating to sex to begin with, so. What’s the biggest animal you’ve ever killed? Yo wtf I never have and never will (intentionally) kill an animal. Well, correction: I've killed bugs before, the biggest probably being some spider or something, but I really try to avoid this now. Could you win the Hunger Games? lol hell to the fuck no, have you seen me??? For you, would getting amnesia be a good thing? ... Maybe? Not saying I wanna find out, though. Have you ever been punched in the face? No, plan on keeping it that way. Is morality universal or relative? I question this myself. Who is your favorite late night talk show host? I don't have one. Where do you put your keys when you get home? They stay in my purse. Do you prefer hot coffee or iced coffee? Neither. The sheer variety of questions relating to coffee and tea in surveys boggles my mind, always feel left out that I can't answer 'em lmao. What’s your phone background picture? My lock screen is this pretty, soft aesthetic screen that has "i am strong, i am loved, i am enough" written in the center. I've really needed it for my mental health lately. My home screen is some meerkats. I know, can you believe neither are currently Mark? Have you ever seen a snake in the wild? Plenty. How do you cope with anxiety? Deep breathing, mindfulness and grounding exercises, confiding in my mom, listening to music (usually my favorite calm, instrumental soundtracks, like from the Silent Hill franchise - particularly the second game! - or Shadow of the Colossus), try to nap, play a game as a distraction, watch my favorite YouTubers (typically something funny)... I'm lucky to have learned a lot. Now, if only I could cope with social anxiety... What was the last takeout food you ate? Oh Jesus, how embarrassing is this timing, seeing as it was one of my unhealthiest fast food orders: Son of the Baconator and Baconator fries from Wendy's. It was so fuckin good tho. Who makes you laugh the most? My friend Girt. What does a successful relationship look like to you? One with great communication and total honesty, and when you are able to build each other up and bring out the best in your partner. It's also imperative for you to feel safe being your authetic safe for me to consider it "successful." What do you like to put on your baked potato? "Salt, pepper, butter, cheese, bacon bits." <<<< That's how we do it, lads. What was the most memorable birthday you’ve had? My 16th, but not for good reasons. Would you rather go to the beach or the mountains? That's easy as hell, mountains. I don't like the beach. Do you look in the mirror before you leave the house? Yeah. Not gonna like what I see no matter what, but I'd like to make sure I don't look worse whan what's normal. Have you ever seen someone quit their job in a dramatic way? No. What do you like to dip your fries in? It varies between ketchup and honey mustard. What’s your favorite kind of museum? Science. Do you believe in alternate universes? Nah, I don't think so. Whose house did you last visit? My older sister's. What games do you play on your smart phone? Mostly just Pokemon GO nowadays. I haven't touched Dragons of Atlantis in a long time... Do you know anyone who is colorblind? Jason's older brother is red/green colorblind, I think? Are you the youngest, middle or eldest child in your family? Middle. What’s something you’ve been meaning to do but keep putting off? Ugh, I need to finish decorating my damn room... Got most of the stuff on the walls now, but it's still pretty skeletal in self expression. My motivation is abysmal. Have you ever flown a kite? Oh yeah, I loved to fly a kite with Dad as a little kid when the tobacco field just across the road was barren. Who was the last person you talked about sex/relationships with? My doctor. How many brothers does your father have? I'm almost certain he doesn't have one, just one sister. Do you think you act older or younger than your actual age? It depends on the situation. When it comes to "adulting," I don't have a fuckin clue what I'm doing. I doubt anyone would believe I'm a month shy of 25. In terms of general maturity, I think I act my age, if not older. When was the last time you swam in a pool? It's been years. What are your parents' views on your relationships? Mom is always very supportive so long as they treat me right; she's taken to all my previous partners very well and treated them like family, too. My dad is also supportive as long as I'm treated properly and happy. Is your best friend dating anyone? No. Have you ever babysat before? Twice, but not really willingly. Way too stressful. Do you delete pictures of you and your exes off of Facebook? It took a very, very long time, but all pictures with Jason are forever deleted. Ever had a huge crush on someone who still doesn’t know? Not a huge crush, no. Ever watched porn? No. You do you, but I don't see the appeal of watching some random people fuck. Ever performed in a talent show? No. Would you audition for a reality talent competition? Nope. How many celebrity crushes have you had? I'd say Jesse McCartney, Link Neal, and Mark Fischbach are my only BIG celeb crushes I've had. How many non-celebrity crushes have you had? I dunno, don't feel like reaching back and counting. Ever been compared to a celebrity? Not visually, but with my adoration of animals. Have any embarrassing pictures on Facebook? Oh, I'm sure. None that are horribly embarrassing though, or else I would have deleted them. Ever seen a therapist? I've regularly seen a therapist since the 6th grade. Ever purposely ignored a text? Yep. A Facebook message? Sure have, when I was beyond done arguing with a former friend. A friend request? No, I just decline or accept it. My page is private, so you can't see my activity, and it's not like they get notified if it's declined, Would you say you read into things too much? I am the fucking sovereign of this. If you turned out exactly like your mom would you be pleased? I love my mom to death, but no. I'd be disappointed. Ever had a credit card denied? I've never had one in the first place. Ever had the lead in a play? No. I do remember though in elementary school, I was real bummed that I wasn't Snow White for one we did for Music class. What about a solo in a concert? Never been in a concert. Would it bother you if you found out that your mother was pregnant? Well. One, she's long past menopause. Two, because of ovarian cancer, she had all those organs removed. So, that would be impossible. Have you ever had a threesome? No; I'm personally strictly monogamous and would feel it to be disloyal, even if my parnter was okay with it. What's the last game you used dice for? Not a clue. Are you interested in surfing at all? Have you ever been? No. What brand of bottled water do you prefer? Essentia. What is your favorite type of bird? Barn owls. What is your favorite chocolate candy? motherfuckin REESE'S Have you ever been called a racial slur? No, considering I'm Caucasian. Why did you last stand in line? I was at the doctor's office, I think? What is your favorite pirate movie? /shrug What is your favorite character from Orange Is the New Black? I've never watched it. What was the most unsettling film you’ve seen? Watching the ending to Paranormal Entity was VERY uncomfortable. It was a decently scary movie, but the ending was seriously intense. When was the last time you were snooping, and found something you wish you hadn’t? I don't recall. Which celebrity or band has the worst fan base? I don't know. What are you interested in that most people aren’t? The sheer degree of my love for meerkats would definitely be missed by probably most people. What smartphone feature would you actually be excited for a company to implement? I dunno. Anything I could think of, the most current products probably already have and I'm just uninformed of them. Like, I use a Tracfone lmao. What’s something people don’t worry about but really should? Their plastic usage and disposal. I'm certainly no saint when it comes to plastic either, but I try to do all I can. What movie quotes do you use on a regular basis? Hm, ARE there any? Do you think that children born today will have better or worse lives than their parents? This depends on what you consider "better" and "worse." Environmentally, I honestly don't think mankind can maintain itself for that many more generations at the rate we're currently at, so that's probably just gonna keep getting worse. On the other hand, advances in medicine and things like that will certainly continue to improve quality of life in that sense. Human rights are getting better and better. I do fear that we're becoming too comfortable with laziness and convenience, but I hope that's a decline we don't continue to venture down. What’s the funniest actual name you’ve heard of someone having? I had a college classmate named Apple. Which charity or charitable cause is most deserving of money? Oh, come on now. It's not a competition. What game have you spent the most hours playing? So. When you type /played in World of Warcraft, it will show you your total playtime, and mine is YIKES. Like, around a year's worth of time of pure playing since 2014, I think. What’s the most comfortable bed or chair you’ve ever been in? I don't recall. What’s the hardest you’ve ever worked? When I did WiiFit religiously and lost around 40 pounds in HS. I was in the best shape of my life. What movie, picture, or video always makes you laugh no matter how often you watch it? Oh, there's certainly something. Probably some Unus Annus clip. That channel was a fucking blessing and a curse all the same. If you could have an all-expenses paid trip to see any famous world monument, which monument would you choose? Oh boy, I'd have to think, but probably somewhere in Rome or Greece. What’s the coldest you’ve ever been? I'm unsure. Probably jumping in the pool as a kid. My sisters and I would nag Dad to put the pool up on like the very first day of spring, so of course it was cold, but as a kid, I didn't mind that. What’s the most ridiculous thing you have bought? Hm. What’s the most depressing meal you’ve eaten? Ha ha yiiiikes, struggle foods... I don't know, but I've had some. What outdoor activity haven’t you tried, but would like to? Herping, though I change my mind on-and-off about it. I'm not very into the idea of disturbing wildlife just because they're cool and you wanna check them out. I'd totally go exploring with a camera, though, and not actually pick anything up. If you were given five million dollars to open a small museum, what kind of museum would you create? Hm... I actually think something like an art museum for the mentally ill would be pretty interesting and educational? Even something that could build empathy. Maybe mix some psychology in there to understand conditions.

#survey #surveys #questions #questionnaire #lyrics: ''apex predator'' by otep

2 notes · View notes

crossdressingdeath · 4 years

Note

sorry for barrelling into your inbox to complain about jiang cheng again but it's genuinely so annoying how many people treat his constant verbal abuse towards wwx as a fun quirk or Just JC Being JC. i know siblings can be vitriolic, but jc blaming wwx for his family's deaths, knowing full well it isn't true and wwx already hates himself for it? jc calling wwx a selfish brat who doesn't face consequences after knowing what wwx suffered? not cute. no reason why wwx should let that disrespect fly

like will he get angry, will he flip out because I have done this commendable courageous thing? Oh no, I should find a way to praise him for taking a long hike in the woods too like it's the same thing so he doesn't feel left out. The contrast with other brother pairs is glaring (like I can picture cases when they separate for the public image of the sect, but there still would be no bad blood between them and they'll get assistance) I'm fully converted to your JC is a bad brother agenda, 2/5

even though frankly I don't think that JC ever saw WWX as his brother. Brother like subordinate, yeah, but his brother, nah, WWX isn't adopted and JC never calls him anything approaching brother or even martial brother. Now I have to ask for your top 3 worst scene where JC lets someone down! Can also be a top 5, top 10 or a full ranking lol :p For real, I was mostly meuh about JC but followed a stan a while back and realized that the whole process of writing meta about JC is literally just 3/5

about trying to justify, explain away or dismiss his actions because during the *entirety* of the story, he didn't do or say a single thing that could be seen in a good light... Not without mellowing his character without canon support, giving him the moral skills of a toddler (ongoing genocide or my feelings, what is most important?) or whataboutisms about other people or situations - like even his fans aren't proud of his actions. That or trying to shift blame on WWX by making his golden 4/5

core sacrifice a wrongdoing or an imposition on JC that WWX should be grateful that JC accepts or ever deigns to forgive him about because JC would have be 100% ok on his own... He would not, he was letting himself die of hunger and lack of sleep in enemy territory, and his incapacity of letting go of things trumps that of LWJ or even WWX who lost 3 families and was turned on by everyone in the cultivation world lol. He can be angry about if of, but not seeing it as a sacrifice on WWX part ?!5/5

So much of JC meta (from what I’ve seen on my dash, I don’t go looking for it because fuck that) is fixated on “He saved WWX from the Wens that one time! It was a huge sacrifice! Everything else he did doesn’t matter because he did a good thing this one time!” ...Okay, I’m exaggerating, but it is like... that is one of two good things JC does. He asks his mother not to whip WWX and cut his hand off (which, wow, what a fucking saint, we should give him a fucking medal for not wanting his brother to be mutilated) and he gets the Wens away from WWX. And, guess what? After he gets the Wens away from WWX and faces serious consequences for doing so, he never goes out of his way to help WWX again. In fact, he makes the situation worse for WWX more often than not. I genuinely think that JC realized helping WWX could hurt him in this new life they’d found themselves in and immediately decided he wasn’t worth the effort.

And yeah, WWX spent most of his childhood having to flinch away from any impressive feat he performed, downplay his genius and cultivation talent (or play it up to ludicrous levels so it could be passed off as a joke), out of fear for how YZY and JC would react. Thinking about it, I wonder if that’s why his reaction to LWJ praising him in a way he can’t laugh off or wave away is so... dramatic. He clearly took pride in how good he was at pretty much everything, and rightly so, but I imagine it was always soured slightly by how JC would complain about it, as if it was WWX’s fault that he was in fact brilliant and JC was... not. WWX’s always effusive in praise for JC because if he isn’t, if he doesn’t act like their actions are equal, JC will throw even more of a tantrum about it. And he’ll still throw a tantrum because he doesn’t want to be pitied, except if WWX doesn’t give him that “pity” he’ll be in even more trouble for “showing off”, and... WWX can never win with JC.

And the whole thing with the golden core! It is such bullshit. “He didn’t get consent!” And how, exactly, was he supposed to do that when JC was openly letting himself die and refusing to speak to him?! WWX had to trick him because it was the only way to get JC to so much as listen to him. And, let’s face it, even if WWX had managed to actually discuss it with JC the result would’ve been the same. JC would’ve yelled and screamed about how it was all WWX’s fault that the Jiangs died and that JC lost his golden core and WWX would’ve still given his golden core to JC except with a side order of nonstop guilting over “letting” this whole situation unfold. At most discussing the matter with JC beforehand would mean JC wouldn’t get pissy about WWX not training the disciples (he’d find something else to be a dick about instead! And probably get pissy about him not teaching the disciples demonic cultivation). ...Also there’s a good chance they’d both get immediately captured by the Wens because they were hanging out at the foot of the mountain and JC wouldn’t be able to fight them off, but that’s not the point right now. Also, acting like it��s an imposition that JC got an insanely powerful golden core for free is just... ugh. Oh, pity him, pity him, he’s now got one of the strongest cores of his generation because his brother loved him enough to sacrifice his own! So sad, so hard for the poor boy! I mean, it’s not like JC cares that WWX lost everything so that JC could have a golden core. If he cared about that sort of thing he wouldn’t have stabbed WWX in the gut and called him a traitor to the sects when WWX suggested they stage a fight. I know the whole getting captured by the Wens and having his core removed business must have... sucked. A lot. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to feel bad for him for getting WWX’s golden core.

(On a related note, people acting like JC not telling WWX he got captured leading the Wens away from WWX is some sort of great deed is kinda... Well. Yeah, on this one, singular occasion JC didn’t guilt his brother over something that wasn’t at all his fault! What a great guy!)

Anyway, the only part of the golden core transfer that JC seems at all upset about is that now he’s conflicted about leading an army to slaughter WWX and the innocent civilians under his protection, which really he should’ve already been conflicted about at the very least, so I really don’t see why people act like he’s the victim in the whole situation.

#grapehate #asks #anon

8 notes · View notes

battlestar-royco · 5 years

Note

What makes you think that Lucien is better than Rhysand.

Oof, is it a copout to say literally every aspect of their characters? Lmao. In all seriousness, this is gonna get real long real fast. I guess the obvious thing to say first would be that L/ucien passes the basic lowest standard of being a decent person just by virtue of never having drugged someone or broken and tattooed their arm for paper thin motivations. Other than that, there are so many reasons why I like L/ucien better as a person and literary character and I think he’s better written than Rice, but I can group them into three main categories.

First, I find L/ucien to be an actually compelling and flawed character. He’s got baggage about Jesminda and Andras, both of whom close friends who died in ways he couldn’t control. I think there’s also room for him to be interpreted as MLM with the ambiguity of his and Andras’s relationship and he was bridal carried by Assriel okay. He has a personal fear and investment in A/marantha’s curse and her fate because of what she did to his eye. He can’t really escape his fraught relationship with Tom Lane because if he returned to his family he would be disrespected and essentially neutralized as a political entity. His residence in the Spring Court is always strained because of his conflicting loyalty toward and fear of Tom. (And this is a huge part of why L/ucien is borderline objectively better as a character. Internal conflict. Interesting backstory that has implications for the current story. Two attributes that almost all AC0TAR characters except L/ucien and N/esta lack.)

Plus, as a person, he’s simply a more likable guy than Rice. Faerug and L/ucien had their rough moments in the first act of AC0TAR, but once they got past that, he was actually a good friend. They bantered. He provided her life advice and warned her about the dangers of the fae world. He tracked her all the way into Night territory trying to save her from Rice, who, to the best of L/ucien’s knowledge because of idiotic Night Court antics, was an evil monster who kidnapped her to mentally and physically control her. L/ucien is not an obnoxious ~fae male~ who beats up other men and tries to force his mating bond onto his mate. Rice on the other hand has no inner conflict–he’s either completely morally reprehensible as in the first book, or he’s completely justified in his actions and absolutely sure of all his decisions for the greater good of Faerug. Rice tortures, ridicules, estranges, robs, and bosses people around all the time due to a false sense of entitlement and he is called a good person for it. He treats his political allies like shit, allows wing clipping and wealth disparity, and has no idea how to stick to a budget. He’s just an evil idiot who gets away with everything because SJ/M thinks he’s hot. That’s a thousand times more boring than literally any single aspect of L/ucien’s character.

Second, SJ/M’s narrative preference of Rice over L/ucien is nonsensical. In AC0MAF, after several hundred pages of not giving L/ucien a second thought, Faerug mentally condemns him for not fighting for Faerug in the beginning of AC0MAF. I have to laugh at the entitlement and slander. Um SJ/M? Are we ignoring the fact that L/ucien was literally also an abuse victim for decades if not centuries and is not at fault for the way their abuser treated either of them? She should be holding neither character to this standard, and yet L/ucien is victim-blamed here. Faerug clearly feels that she deserves his undying loyalty despite only having known him for a year tops, killing his friend in cold blood, and abandoning him to Tom’s antics for months. How about how he trekked across P/rythian on foot for Faerug while she was having boring banter with a bunch of annoying fuckboys? How about how he tried to save her during the trials with absolutely zero ulterior motive and offered his help FOR FREE while Rice’s price was absurdly high and unnecessary? He’s a much better friend to her than Faerug ever is to him, despite being forced to say the exact opposite to Faerug in AC0WAR. Meanwhile, every truly evil thing Rice has ever done is retconned into either a pity party or a part of his master political plan. Like?? I think drugging someone repeatedly, forcing them into an unfair deal, exposing “friends” to their abusers, generally being a douche in the political arena, and robbing precious heirlooms from allies makes someone a demonstrably terrible person, but SJ/M seems to think that makes him… a feminist?! Sure Jan.

Third, Faerug constantly treats L/ucien like human garbage and gets away with it. In AC0WAR, not only does she not acknowledge Tom’s abuse of L/ucien, but she purposely contributes to that abuse by manipulating both Tom and L/ucien. She takes advantage of L/ucien’s trust, friendship, and shared history by first publicly invading his personal space, then privately doing so, then hugging him in lingerie just to make Tom mad. What the fuck. That is sexual harassment. That is completely abhorrent behavior and yet never fucking once does she question the evil in it. She just sees her end goal of taking down Spring, despite the selfish stupidity of said goal due to a whole ass war coming to P/rythian and the destruction of the only relatively safe space her supposed “friend” can live. Furthermore, the fact that I/anthe raped L/ucien is a passing thought in her mind when it first comes up, then it’s never discussed again until I/anthe literally chains him in the forest with the heavily implied intention of raping him again and Faerug CONSIDERS ABANDONING HIM. Oh, and of course we can’t forget how Faerug violated L/ucien’s mind, a crime previously established to be one of the most abusive and corrupt in the AC0TAR universe, to answer the burning question of whether or not his small talk with E/lain was leading somewhere sexual. What the actual fuck?! How the fuck is this the same character who unironically believes she’s the better friend in this scenario?!?! L/ucien goes through so much more than he deserves, gives so much of himself to assholes who don’t deserve him, and he is never acknowledged for it. That’s why I think L/ucien is better than Rice Sand times infinity.

#anti sjm #anti sjm: lucien #anti acotar #anti rhysand #rape tw #abuse tw #anti sjm positive

99 notes · View notes

mountphoenixrp · 5 years

Photo

We have a new citizen in Mount Phoenix:

Kim Jisoo, who is known by no other name; a 26 year old son of Hades He is a host at Noona.

FC NAME/GROUP: Kim Jisoo / Actor CHARACTER NAME: Kim Jisoo AGE/DATE OF BIRTH: 26, 30/03/1993 PLACE OF BIRTH: Busan OCCUPATION: Host at Noona HEIGHT: 186 lbs WEIGHT: 77kg DEFINING FEATURES: A scar on the back of his shoulder.

PERSONALITY: + confident, humorous, charming, witty - immature, dishonest, selfish, shallow

An asshole with a childlike heart; a pain in the ass, but a charmer. Not good, not bad. Just really, really annoying. Jisoo knows no limits, because he believes there are no limits for him. Frankly, there is not much he cares about but himself. Listen to those who tell you not to trust him. He might not be evil, but he sure as hell isn’t a saint. Loyalty? Only if it suits him. His moral compass seems to have broken a long time ago; probably around the time where his confidence blurred into arrogance.

Truthfully? Your go-to-guy to have a bit of fun, but you better not count on him to have your back when things start to go downhill.

HISTORY:

( I. ) (1999)

‘What the fudge! Didn’t you take a look in the mirror this morning?’ The kid’s words are received with both confusion and horror. Muffled laughter, perhaps, though that much is only for the demigod’s ears to hear. ‘Jisoo!’ The mortified expression on his mother’s face is enough to have him running, oblivious to the soft-spoken apologies that are uttered soon after. She explains to her friend that Jisoo has always had some problems with his behaviour, and reassures her that it had nothing to do with her (rather poor) choice of clothing that day. What she does not explain is that her son had only repeated what some bitter old ghost had whispered to him. Come on, who would possibly believe that?

Here’s the thing: nobody would.

At first, it is enjoyable. Jisoo effortlessly turns into the genius of his class. Turns out that ghosts aren’t all that bad–not when they provide him with all the answers to his tests. Not only does he grow into being every teacher’s sweetheart; his careless attitude and playful jokes are a huge success with the girls as well. Little casanova, as they’d so often dub him. It’s funny, until it isn’t.

( ii. ) (2010)

Little casanovas grow up too, and what is considered cute as a child, often loses its charm when one grows older. As it would have done to anyone, all of the attention easily gets to Jisoo’s head. Confidence turns into arrogance, and carelessness leads to trouble. By the time he turns 17, he is despised by practically all of the male students at his school, and approximately half of the females. Word travels fast when you don’t treat a girl right, it seems. He’s had to learn that the hard way. If not from getting his ass beat up by his fellow students, then the continuous nagging of undead voices would certainly drive him crazy.

This is what blowing up his ego has done to him: he listens to nobody anymore. He’s part god, anyways. Why on earth would he ever listen to these mortal losers–or worse, these dead losers. If anything, their words work counterproductively. The more they nag, the worse his behaviour gets. It doesn’t help that he can still wrap girls around his fingers so easily. Even his mother’s feeble attempts at controlling him are in vain. He is Kim Jisoo, son of Hades–and nobody can tell him what to do.

( iii. )

‘Oh my god, do you ever shut the fuck up?’ Clearly, ghosts have way too much time on their hands. Why else would they never stop bothering him with useless advice and lectures?

Sometimes, he really detests his powers. There is no turning off the voices around him. Voices that no longer try to help him, but are apparently only good at ordering him around. It is needless to say that the hatred is mutual. Jisoo hates them just as much as they seem to hate him. Disrespectful little shit, as they seem to have agreed on calling him. Not that he cares; he just really, really wishes they’d shut up for a moment.

PANTHEON: Greek CHILD OF: Hades

POWERS:

Jisoo can sense ghosts and communicate with them. Additionally, he can summon them as well, but he never felt the need to make much use of this ability. There has never been any trouble speaking to ghosts, but unfortunately he has no control over them whatsoever. The only reason he has never had to summon them, is because they won’t leave him alone.

It’s been only a few years since he found out that he can also get any kind of dog to obey him. Although it hasn’t seemed to be very useful to him, girls have fallen at his feet just by seeing dogs listen to him. This is practically the only time he actually uses those powers, so they aren’t entirely developed yet.

STRENGTHS: i. Jisoo has a way of charming people with his words and smiles. No matter how shitty his attitude, he barely has gotten in trouble for it. ii. If he puts his mind to it, he is a very quick learner. iii. Although he hasn’t done a lot of practice with commanding dogs so far, it seems that he is far better with them than he is with ghosts. He just needs to put in some more effort.

WEAKNESSES: i. He has no idea how to get ghosts to obey or to listen to him. In fact, there’s a mutual sense of hate between them most of the time. ii. There hasn’t been a way for him to shut out the ghosts’ voices yet. Because of this, it can be really hard to concentrate on certain things. iii. Physical violence is very much not his thing. He’ll avoid it at any cost (or recently, he’ll just try to send some dogs after you instead.)

#kpop rp #krp #kdrama #kim jisoo #ji soo #mp; welcome

1 note · View note

sunlitroom · 6 years

Text

Gotham – s4e18 – That’s Entertainment!

As I watched it, and some random observations here and there.

Previously on Gotham:

Jerome invaded a beautiful 1960s office building to find his estranged brother, Xander Wilde. Then he did find him, and told him he was going to drive him mad. In an outrageously dull and dumb storyline, Barbara is apparently the demon’s head. Bruce didn’t kill Jerome, and now he feels bad about it. Jerome has a plan to turn the city into a madhouse.

As always, long post will be long. There are likely to be rambling digressions. Gobblepot might appear (although I welcome all shippers and non-shippers alike :)). There will be naked favouritism and naked not-favouritism. Broader comments at the end on plotlines and parallels and general direction.

The interim mayor is holding a meeting in front of a large painting (did anyone catch what it was?). A representative is there from the Moral Authority Society, as well as Gotham’s ‘Mother of the Year’, and the Police Commissioner.

The Moral Authority woman is making outraged noises about criminals taking office and gunfights in the streets. Those are both definitely Bad Things, but anyone from anything called the Moral Authority Society is so instantly intolerable that criminals in office and gunfights look just fine and dandy in comparison.

The interim mayor tells Moral Authority woman, Mrs Haverstock, that they have been working to improve the way the city conducts itself.

The lights go out. The mayor sends a bodyguard to see what’s going on. The people round the table shiver suddenly, and wonder if a window has blown open.

They all stand about anxiously – and then stare as Victor strides in, giving them a dry good evening.

They ask what’s going on, but Jervis now appears and tells them there’s no time for questions – they’re needed elsewhere.

Outside, Jervis and Victor usher into the mayor into a van containing a smirking Jerome, Firefly, and a very pretty-looking Oswald. This is the problem with Gotham - the villains are all absurdly hot. Law and order just isn’t as enticing.

The mayor instantly demonstrates how completely full of bullshit he was earlier by blurting out that he has access to the police pension fund. Jerome shrugs at this, unimpressed. The mayor turns to Bridget – saying her knows her. He can offer her money and a new home.

Bridget smiles at him, and says that it was people like him who got her locked up in Strange's lab – the result of which being there is no Bridget anymore.

Getting desperate, he turns to Jervis and offers him a pardon. Even Jervis looks baffled by that one. I don’t like Jervis’ new coat. It’s not half as nice as his old overcoat. The collar sits all funny, and I don’t like the cape.

Jervis makes some noise about how they’re visionaries.

Finally, he looks to Oswald

Oswald - can't you do something?

Oswald looks back at him. He plainly wants to do something, but can't be seen to be a dissenting voice.

Absolutely not. I am with Mr Valeska 100 percent of the way.

The mayor says cops looking are looking for him and there’ll be no mercy, just bullets.

Jerome tells him he’s so serious – and that’s why his approval ratings are so low. He needs to smile more. He puts an arm round Oswald’s shoulders, and Oswald offers a fake smile in agreement.

Jerome goes on to comment that it’s time to give the city the boost it needs. Jonathan sprays the mother of the year with some of the purple gas. As her vision blurs, and she starts to convulse, we hear Jerome say

Come on, Gotham what do you have to lose? Except your sanity.

From the back of the van, Oswald watches – wide-eyed and pale. He’s terrified.

Bruce and Alfred in the garage at Wayne Manor. Bruce asks why they’re there – and Alfred drops a small box into his hands, and wishes him happy birthday. Bruce smiles

You remembered

You think, Bruce?

Alfred says of course did. He bloody loves Bruce’s birthdays. His seventh was a blinder. Bruce got a little red truck which he took outside and played with alone. When Alfred found him, he was gathering stones in order to build a secret place for it.

Bruce smiles – touched that he remembers - and opens the box. It's a car key. He presses the button, and a very fancy car starts up. Even Bruce, who must be used to fancy cars, is impressed.

Alfred – I don't know what to say

Alfred tells him all the fancy specs. 5 litre, 460 horsepower. Matte black. Bulletproof. Ye gods - the insurance will be astronomical.

Bruce hugs him. Alfred is also moved.

Aw, mate

GCPD- where Jim is telling Harvey about the kidnap - everyone is out searching. Harvey says he was going to say that he had won 100 bucks from a scratch-off lotto ticket and was going to suggest they go blow it at the track and the pub. I’m not sure whether Harvey’s just being flippant here but – if not – some of this might help explain why he was having money problems earlier in the season.

Jim’s phone rings.

We need to talk

Oswald

I’ll be out back - come alone

Jim hurries downstairs to the evidence room, where there is a persistent knocking at the door.

This is a first

Apparently, Jim and Oswald haven’t yet used the evidence room for one of their exciting clandestine meetings. That’s the only part of this that I’m buying as ‘a first’, Jim.

Oswald is agitated, and asks Jim if he’s doing anything about Jerome. Jim asks if he knows where he is. Oswald tells him that going in all guns blazing would not help. He also tells him that everyone is under his thumb – they’re all part of his dark, terrible plan.

Jim asks what the plan is. Oswald tells him about the gas Jonathan’s made. Jim asks if it’s like the fear toxin. Oswald says this is much worse. It’s not neutralised by water or concentrating really hard, for a start. He saw it turn someone into a maniacal cackling violent animal.

Jim demands more information. Really, Jim – I think this is more than you had before, so let’s be grateful.

Oswald protests. He says Jerome doesn't share his full plans- he’s not stupid. They’re all assigned separate tasks. Jim snarls – asking why he’s come if he won’t help him. Jim, he is. You know now that all the villains are likely to carrying out individual missions at different parts of the city; that – if caught – it’s a waste of time to interrogate them about Jerome’s master plan; that a poison gas is involved, so there’s likely to be a need for Jerome to find a way to circulate it widely; and that this gas is essentially a way of weaponizing the public – so you need huge containment measures in place. C’mon now. Lazy writing. You can have him desperately ask Oswald for more information– but not act like he’s not given him anything, because you just make him look either stupid, assy, or like he’s not been listening.

Anyway – before I ranted, Jim had asked Oswald why’d he’d come at all. Oswald is exasperated, and tells Jim that Jerome scares the living hell out of him. Oh, Oswald. That response to the fear serum wasn’t a one-off, apparently.

Jim gives him a considering look. Oswald says he thought Jerome might get them power and money – a return to the good old days.

I really love the notion that Oswald is nostalgic and longs for tradition - because it’s so tricksy, and not quite how things were. I can see it on one hand – because he’s not really like the rest of the villains. His MO and needs are much more standard, and less obviously outre. On the other hand, Oswald is the upstart outsider who completely subverted the old order and caused chaos so he could take the crown. The likes of Sofia and Carmine just curled their lip at him, and saw him as a freak. So he’s in this odd situation of not wanting to be part of the new wave, but being rejected by the old order.

Jim, already turned on by this illicit meeting at work, decides that he wants to provoke Oswald, gives him one of his looks that wander well below the neck, and suggests that maybe he just doesn’t want the competition

Oswald scoffs at this. He says Jerome is simply chaos – an anarchist, whereas he is an honest criminal.

OK – at this point Jim makes a series of weird faces which, frankly, baffled me. Mouth ulcer? Popcorn stuck in teeth? I have no idea what these were.

Jim asks where the gas could be. Exasperated, Oswald reiterates that Jerome only tells what he has to – and that all Oswald knows is he has to be stopped.

Jim and Oswald being Jim and Oswald, they’re standing very close. Jim raises his eyebrows at Oswald’s comment and looks down at him.

Harvey yells downstairs for Jim, at which interruption Jim’s lips thin in a momentary expression of annoyance (it’s in the gifs, I promise it’s not shipper glasses), and he and Oswald slide into a hilariously smooth and practised quick escape. Once Oswald is safely out the door, Jim walks back towards the stairs to meet Harvey – who tells him that Jerome has been spotted at Paisley Square.

At Paisley Square, we see a very small music festival in progress. The main act is being interrupted by Jerome, who has invaded the stage and his shaking his ass at the crowd. The singer tells him to get lost, and is bludgeoned with the mic stand for his troubles. We also see that Firefly is on stage.

Ladies and gentlemen. We are the Arkham Asylum lunatics – and we are here to blow some minds.

He tells them they’ll love this next one, and brings his hostages onto the stage: the mayor, commissioner, bishop and…. this lady, whoever she is.

He’s waiting for two more guests, though, so – in the meantime, he’ll explain the rules. Basically, they have dynamite strapped to their necks, and he has the trigger – so if he doesn’t get what he wants, headless people. Only one man get him what he wants

Gordon! Calling Captain James Gordon!

Oh tremendous – it’s the League of Shadows, which saves me a lot of typing. Some guys is mad at Tabitha’s arrogance and disrespect for throwing his brother out of the club. Tabitha says he a rude ass who won’t pay his tab. The faux girl-power stuff with the Sirens storyline is annoying, because Tabitha is arrogant, and disrespectful, and downright rude – we saw that when she threw Ivy out for no good reason. But because this story is mired in its own weird powerful women rhetoric, she can’t just be called out on it. Her behaviour has to be seen to be justified.

Barbara struts in and wants an apology. The man demands blood. Barbara summons her army, and the men are all taken out. They turn to Barbara afterwards and ask her about continuing Ra’s’ legacy, as opposed to petty shit like this. She apparently has more to learn. Barbara makes a destiny face. Tabitha channels the audience, for once, and rolls her eyes.

My wrists are really suffering today – so this is summarised. Jonathan and Victor invade Wayne Enterprises and demand that they make a huge amount of poison madness gas.

Back to the music festival. Jerome is dancing to the Batman theme. My love for 60s Batman knows no bounds, so this makes me happy

As I live and breathe, Jim Gordon is in the house.

Jim doesn’t want to talk until he knows the hostages are OK – but Jerome says he is the one making demands. Jim says this is an act of terror, which seems to offend Jerome. Jim moves a little closer, but Bridget sprays flames into the crowd.

(An aside. So – are the people in the crowd also the kind of people that allowed Bridget to be experimented on by Hugo? Ivy’s resentment towards the entire city is more understandable. She was repeatedly let down on a personal and impersonal level. She wants revenge on everybody – which is exacerbated by her immaturity. Even so, there’s a transformative element to what she wants to do – making them something better, in her eyes.

Bridget, on the other hand, is seemingly just happy to roast civilians alive if needs be. So – what’s stopped her just going on a killing spree before now? Does she need direction?)

Jerome lets Jim know that this is a dead man's trigger – if it falls out of his hand, then the collars still detonate. He comments again on the two empty chairs. Jim asks who they’re for.

You’re a detective. Do some detecting

Jim guesses Jeremiah – but can’t think of the second. Jerome asks about the other irksome do-gooder who's spoiled his fun – and answers for Jim: Bruce Wayne.

Jim says to take him instead, but Jerome doesn't want Jim. He wants his brother and the version of his brother he’d liked to have had, who – when he had the chance - didn’t abandon him to his violent uncle.

Jim tries to clear the crowd – but Jerome gets angry. Anger manifests, in this case, as making the commissioner’s head explode. He demands Jeremiah and Bruce again.

At Wayne Manor, Alfred sings happy birthday to Bruce as he presents him with a cake. Selina appears behind Bruce’s shoulder and blows out the candles – telling him his security sucks. A slightly put-out Alfred greets her with Miss Kyle, before putting out plates and leaving.

(An aside – Selina is virtually Bruce’s only friend – of his own age, anyway. She got shoved out a window on her way to let Alfred know he had been kidnapped. She nearly died. He… didn’t think to invite her? Stay classy, Alfred.)

Bruce thanks her for visiting on his birthday – But Selina denies knowing that’s what today is. He says it’s good to see her. She says that she knew his bratty stage was just an act, but Bruce says she’s more sure than he is.

Alfred announces visitors – Jim and Lucius letting them know about the Jerome situation. Lucius says he’s designed some radio wave jamming technology that would keep Bruce safe long enough for GCPD to ambush, but Alfred still isn’t happy, and nor is Selina, who is now perched on the table and still picking at the cake.

In the meantime, Jerome makes the bishop’s head explode.

Jim appeals to Bruce’s good nature by saying they can prevent deaths

Bruce agrees and asks what they’re waiting for – people need their help.

Ra’s house. There’s a secret door with no key – but, luckily, Barbara can open it with her magic hand. Just take a moment to ponder exactly how stupid the thing I just typed sounds.

She enters a room full of random pieces of art and culture. Walking reverently through, she catches sight of a very bad painting, and stops short.

Good lord – wtf is that? From what one of the assassin sisters said, it should be– what, 17th century? It doesn’t look it, though.

Barbara is all awe-struck – saying that she’s always knows she was meant for more. Sure, Barbara. Whatever.

I’m home

Back with Jerome and co, we see snipers on the roof – who are being coordinated by Harvey.

Back to Jim – he’s trying to convince Jeremiah, who is pouring himself a stiff drink, and telling Jim he’s mad to consider this plan at all. Jim gets nowhere trying to persuade him.

Bruce introduces himself with a handshake. Jim and Lucius watch him – guessing he might have better luck than them.

Bruce says he wishes the circumstances were better, and asks what Jeremiah is working on – listening with genuine interest. He says that Jeremiah has a brilliant mind, and hopes that he can carry on after his brother is gone free from fear.

Jeremiah watches him as he speaks. He doesn’t seems suspicious, or dismissive – just intent.

Bruce says he trusts Jim and Lucius. And even if things don’t go to plan – they will show the city that standing up to terror is the only way to take its power away.

Jeremiah considers this

Well said

Jim’s phone rings. It’s Harvey – letting him know about the lab break-in. Jim tells him what ‘Penguin’ said about the gas. Yeah yeah, Jim. We all know you use that name for show.

They all leave to head to Paisley Square

There’s a very unnecessary scene where Harvey gets to the lab and learns that they made loads of gas which was then taken away again.

Jerome is singing on the stage when Jim and co. arrive. Jerome invites them to take their seats. Bruce strides up to the stage, face defiant. A nervous Jeremiah follows. Lucius says the device has been activated. Lucius is wearing a purple shirt and paisley tie, which is a fairly consistent style choice for him.

When they get to the stage, Harvey tells the snipers to fire – but the snipers are shot by Arkham patients. Jerome guessed they’d do this – and set his own men up in position last night. They’ve been watching the police all day. In short, they’re fucked.

A genuinely beautiful shot of a glass aircraft hangar – with clear blue skies outside – with the remainder of the villains walking through it.

Jonathan gasses one of the pilots there. Oswald looks nervy. Jervis asks the remaining pilot if it can be piloted alone and hypnotises him.

Oswald’s brain is whirring, and he exclaims aloud when he realises the plan – draw a crowd to the square to drop the gas and infect as many as possible. He can’t contain his genuine feelings about it anymore, and says it’s madness.

Jonathan said he thought he'd appreciate the beauty of it – but that Jerome had already anticipated his betrayal.

You went to Gordon

Ooops. They all ship it.

He adds that Oswald is a Judas – before hitting him on the head. Jervis tells two random goons to tie him up and put him on the blimp - Jerome wants him to have a bird’s eye view

God – this storyline again. Ra’s cellar of random objet d’art. Tabitha says he was a cult leader with brainwashed assassins. Barbara’s gone all conspiracy theorist – poring over one text which outlines how Ra’s has influenced all world history. That’s one document, Barbara. This is not how we do historical analysis.

Now she’s going on about spells. Tabitha says that Barbara would have sold all this once upon a time, and asks her what about how she begged to be part of her and Selina’s team.

Barbara points to the portrait and says that portrait shows her and Ra’s 400 years ago, and that this is her. She’s found her true purpose.

Barbara tells her minions to escort Miss Galavan to the street – and, plumbing hitherto unknown depths of unlikeableness, tell her that she’ll have her loyal servants teach her manners – she wouldn’t dirty her fingers with the task now.

Back to the festival. Jerome is monologuing.

Everyone's got their favourites – the one who cleans their room and does their homework. Mr Perfect – this guy

Jeremiah was adopted by rich folks, while Jerome was dragged up by a depressed alcoholic mother and had to clean up elephant dung.

He faces Jeremiah

But I know something mommy and daddy never knew. You're as crazy as I am

Jeremiah grimaces and struggles.

It’s in the DNA. You see, we’ve got the same blood - we are practically identical. You are a killer. It's your nature. Don't try and fight it.

He gives him the knife.

Take your best shot

Jerome stands back. Jeremiah roars and launches at him. Jerome easily disarms him, laughs, and punches him.

Jim and Harvey have a quick phone conversation about the chemicals headed their way. Jim tells him to evacuate the site, and says he’s going to kill that maniac once and for all.

Back on stage, Jerome is still beating Jeremiah, while telling him he loves him. Suddenly, the tables turn – and GCPD cops are shooting the Arkham patients stationed on the roofs. Jim, meantime, shoots Jerome. Bridget aims her flamethrower at him, but Jim manages to get away. Jerome – on his back on the stage – shuffles away.

As he does, Bruce and Bridget brawl. Jerome tries to hit the switch – only to realise that it’s not working.

From the crowd, we hear a voice

Hey – look up at the sky!

The blimp is now overhead.

Oswald wakes up, tied to something on the blimp, and is instantly wide-eyed with terror

Holy crap!

He frees himself and tries to get the pilot’s attention politely – but realises he’s been hypnotised. The captain goes on to say he’s going to dump the chemicals.

Oswald, bless him, decides that the way to go is to yell bossily, because that’s what he does

You turn this thing around right now!

The captain turns and aims a gun at him. Oswald raises his hands and backs off.

Chaos below. Jerome runs up an alley, and Jim follows. On a rooftop, Harvey looks up and sees the blimp. He calls Jim and suggests shooting it down – but, as Jim points out, that’s incredibly dumb, because it’s carrying all the chemicals.

As Jim chases Jerome upstairs, he gets a call from Oswald. He tells him he was knocked out, and then panics down the phone – telling Jim that he has to help him, the blimp has that horrible poison gas on board, and the pilot has been hypnotised.

Jim says that Oswald is going to help him – and tells him to steer the blimp away. Oswald splutters. He can’t steer a blimp – he doesn't even drive his own car. Thousands could die. Jim tells him there’s something worse. Oswald asks what’s worse than that. Jim tells him he can't run an empire in city full of lunatics. Again – that writing is weird, because it makes Jim come off as more morally bankrupt than Oswald. Or maybe it isn’t weird.

(An aside. Ahhh. In times of true need – as with the fear serum – Jim is Oswald’s first port of call)

On the rooftop, Jerome on the ledge. The pilot calls to say he’s in position, but before Jerome can reply, Jim shoots the phone from his hand.

Jerome says it’s too late anyway – and laughs, calling out bombs away!

Jim shoots him in the gut. Jerome is momentarily shocked, then laughs, falling backwards.

Meanwhile, on the blimp, the pilot starts to pull the lever. Oswald lurches forward, yelling no, and struggles. He overcomes him by smacking him in the face, and takes the wheel, chanting up up up. As he manages to get it to do what he wants, he laughs nervously

Ok ok ok…river, river – where is the river?

Oh, Oswald. I do actually properly love you.

Jim looks over ledge at Jerome dangling from a pole. Jerome comments that it’s quite the dilemma. Let him die – or pull him up and arrest him. What’ll it be? He extends a hand and asks Jim if he’s a lawman or a murderer.

Jim thinks for a moment before reaching down towards him – but Jerome withdraws his hand.

Good old Gordon, always playing by the rules - that's why I’ll outlive you and always be loved. I don’t play by rules.

Jim comments that it’s a long way down. Jerome responds that he’ll live on because he’s an idea. A philosophy. He’ll live on in the shadows of Gotham’s discontent.

He tells Jim he’ll be seeing him soon and, with an au revoir, lets go of the pole, laughing hysterically as he drops towards the ground.

Jim watches, wide-eyed, genuinely shocked.

On the street below, Jerome’s body – looking oddly unharmed – lies on a crumpled car roof, eyes open – still smiling. The crowd surge round him, before the police usher them back.

Jim stares. A tearful Jeremiah hovers close for a moment, and then makes to walk past. Bruce stops him, and says he meant what he said about work – he wants to fund him with a grant. Bruce also looks tearful. Jeremiah walks away, still limping as a result of the beating he took on stage. Bruce acknowledges Jim before walking away.

Jim's phone rings. It’s Oswald

Um – hello. I’m still here. Will someone get me the hell off this thing?

Jim says they’re on it, and asks Harvey how they get a blimp down safely.

Harvey says let him stew. You know, Harvey, any residual shame you feel about being on Oswald’s payroll during the Pax is all on you – so anytime you want to stop being a prick where Oswald is concerned is good.

Jim says they’ll get the standby pilot and he will advise him, adding that he should sit tight. He takes a moment and adds a well-deserved and just ever-so-slightly fond, with the use of his full name.

And Oswald Cobblepot? Gotham thanks you.

Oswald stares incredulously at the phone and yells Jim’s name as the blimp drifts off. Someone is getting a spanking when Oswald lands. I suspect he’s into it.

Tabitha is thrown out. Barbara’s plan doesn't involve her. Honestly, Tabitha, I don’t like you – but I would leave the vortex of dumb that is that storyline while you have the chance.

One of the sisters tells her to leave the city and never come back. Tabitha tells her to kiss her ass

Which one of you bitches wants to go first?

Tabitha starts well, but is quickly overpowered and beaten. From a car a little way down the street, someone watches all this. It’s a pretty ugly scene, with four or five of them kicking Tabitha’s ribs as she lies on the ground.

The sisters walk away.

Next time, we kill you

They close the gates behind them.

Tabitha is lying in the street. The man from the car walks towards her and extends his hand

Let me help you

Tabitha takes it.

Who the hell are you guys?

They’ve apparently been watching her and Barbara Kean ‘the imposter’. Poor sods. They must be both bored and irritated.

They say that Ra’s is the true master. Tabitha points out his deadness, but they tell her death is an illusion, and inject her with some very green stuff that looks like Herbert West’s reagent. She’s dragged away, unconscious. The street is really pretty.

Back in Jeremiah’s drab home, where he pours himself a large whiskey. Jeremiah fairly knocks it back, doesn’t he? We saw him drinking the same way earlier, without a wince or a cough. It suggests that he’s maybe used to it.

Looking over at the table, he sees a present. He walks over and looks. It looks creepy, even with its little tag claiming it’s from Wayne Enterprises.

Now. Would you open that? I wouldn’t.

He opens it. It’s a toy – a jack-in-the-box that can only be described as ‘menacing’. And if opening the original parcel wasn’t dumb enough, he actually turns the handle.

Predictably – an evil looking clown springs out and sprays him with gas. Jerome’s voice plays from some recording. Jeremiah staggers round the room, his face twisting.

Hello brother. You didn't think get you’d get rid of me so easily. My days were always numbered – but you can continue on for me. Be my revenge. Don't fight it – it’s a special mixture I had Scarecrow mix especially for you, to finally set you free. It’s time to have some fun. Burn it down. Burn it all down.

General Observations

A strong episode - excepting the League of Shadows stuff, which I find ludicrous and dull.

A couple of interesting nods to the past in this episode.

There’s Jim and Oswald, of course. They never really stray too far away from each other – but the secretive meetings, and Oswald as informant hark back to the good old days of season one, as does them working together. When push comes to shove, they seek out that dynamic which must - by this point - be almost comforting.

There’s also the moment with Jim and Jerome on the roof – which calls back to the moment at the church, when Barbara attempted suicide by letting go of his hand. There’s a similar rhetoric, too, about being set free through insanity.

Fate or Choice?

There’s quite a lot here to do with free will and determinism, and fatalism. Was Barbara really fated to always end up here? Is Jeremiah bound to end up as murderous and insane as Jerome?

Gotham has played with the idea before. I’m not really fond of it, to be honest – and found it particularly annoying when creepy Elijah revealed the dark past of Oswald’s relatives. Of course background is important, but to reduce Oswald’s life to ‘well – of course, he wound up heading that way, because his grandfather was crazy’ completely cheapens his story.

It also raises the queasy notions like, well, do you even bother trying to rehabilitate those people? Maybe some people are just born bad, and can be written off?

Jeremiah was an example of that, to an extent. Even if you go with the idea that he maybe suspected something wasn’t quite right somewhere, in terms of his mental health, it doesn’t seem as though he had acted on it. He was controlled and secluded, and had found an outlet for his energies in his work. If he was aware of certain impulses and compulsion, then he apparently hadn’t acted on them. He made a choice, in so far as he was able (which is, of course, not to say that this is feasible/realistic/appropriate in a wider and more serious discussion of mental illness – I’m talking about it purely as it’s presented within this narrative).

But Jerome’s final actions removed that choice from him, and framed it as ‘setting him free’. So freedom is giving in? Jeremiah to his (apparently) familial madness? Barbara to following a path set out for her? Bridget can remember being Bridget, but she’s given up on her in favour of living out Strange’s vision of her?

Jim

Jim more or less continues on the path set out last episode, of trying to more solidly be a ‘good guy’. He offers himself up in Bruce’s place, and tries to rescue and arrest Jerome. His interactions with Oswald are occasionally assy (if you watch it with shipper glasses on, Jim seems to enjoy riling Oswald up into a hissy fit) – but his thanks at the end are sincere, I think. He could have said something mean-spirited – but acknowledges instead that Oswald saved the city, and ‘Oswald Cobblepots’ him in the same way that Oswald likes to ‘Jim Gordon’ him.

His interactions with Harvey seemed to be business as normal – Harvey’s slid back to his comedic, mostly ineffectual, ways. This return to old days makes me wonder if the ‘betrayal’ we read about elsewhere might come from this quarter, after we’ve been lulled into a false sense of security.

His bond with Bruce in terms of ‘helping people’ was reaffirmed here, and deliberately made distinct from Bruce’s ties with Alfred.

Oswald

I wrote earlier that Oswald occupies an odd bridge between the old and the new. The old order didn’t want him, but he can’t find a common ground with the new order: their motivations baffle him. When pushed, he prefers order – and if that order happens to be lawful, he’ll take it, temporarily, anyway.

Here – Oswald falls back on what’s instinctive to him which, despite everything, is to seek out Jim. There’s a double aspect to how he goes to Jim here. It makes logical sense, because Jim wants to stop Jerome too, but there’s also an emotional element to it: he’s scared, and he trusts Jim to help him.

Bruce and Jeremiah

I think Bruce and Jeremiah’s relationship - which we know will become hugely important - was really well set up. Although Jerome would frequently puncture the moment with humour, he had poignant moments throughout. Part of him did love his brother. In many ways, they are alike. His brother did abandon him. His childhood was terrible. He willingly lets himself fall at the end.

By the end of this episode – before the gas – we see Jeremiah also deeply unhappy. His home looks dark and enclosed. He’s drinking heavily. He’s traumatised by encountering his brother again. He’s tearful when he sees his body. The one glimmer of light in his life was Bruce’s offer of work, in much the same way that Bruce’s refusal to leave Jerome to be beaten was the lone example of decent behaviour he’d seen in a long time. And now that’s all ruined, and the relationship - which could have been good for them both - poisoned from the outset.

I’m not commenting on Barbara’s storyline. It’s silly.

Things that remain open. Sofia is still in a coma – what happens when she comes round? Does Victor know yet that Oswald didn’t kill Carmine? Will Martin put his stabbing skills to use?

Thoughts?

#gotham commentary #gotham s4e18 #that's entertainment

25 notes · View notes

sometimesrosy · 6 years

Note

You're really creative. I love how you just put the story together, like a puzzle.

I think I do look at it as a puzzle. How do the pieces fit together? If they don’t fit together, I don’t shove them in until they fit just to make it the picture I want. I’ve been doing it a long time, and I had a natural facility at putting narrative pieces together from a young age, which I pursued by getting a degree in English, practiced as a teacher and examined as a writer when I built my own stories. Sometimes it all seems very self evident to me and I supposed I should recognize that not everyone is as familiar with tropes and allusions and film and creating tension as I am.

I’m getting frustrated with a lot of fandom, because they look at all of these pieces that the writers took time to put in there, and they don’t see how it goes together so rather than trying it out different ways and making sense of it, they just shove it off the table and say “it doesn’t fit, therefore it’s bad writing.”

And, like, that’s not analysis. That’s disrespect of the craft, the canon and the writers. And I’m gonna say, it’s a huge pet peeve of mine. If people want to create their own fanon and write fanfiction they can ignore all the parts they don’t like. If they want to UNDERSTAND canon (book, movie or tv show) they have to actually try to make it work together. You CAN’T say “that’s badly written” and ignore it. The value judgements do NOT help you understand the story. Even if it’s badly written you have to figure out why it’s there.

And then there are people who come up with their theory and ignore all evidence in canon that disproves the theory. They like it so they are going with it. Dialogue? Season 1? Cause and Effect? Gray morality? They don’t know her.

If you want to analyze something, you don’t try one theory and stick with it because it’s yours, and then say the story is stupid or ignore it completely when it turns out it doesn’t work. You made the wrong theory. It was was wrong. Go back and figure out where you went wrong. It’s okay to be wrong, it’s just a theory. Things change in the story and new things come clear.

If someone finds a theory that makes sense of multiple narrative elements and answers the plot holes that you declared to be bad reading…. then it behooves you to take a look at the new theory and see if it answers those questions for you.

I’ve written posts explaining how this element shows this theme which is reflected through 4 seasons of narrative, and have actually had people say, “nope, the writers didn’t mean to do that. they don’t think about that.” Like. It’s a theme throughout 4 seasons. You think it’s an accident? They accidentally repeated it with all the main characters and antagonists?

Well. Okay. Writers don’t always intend to put in things we interpret, right? But I say that if a theme keeps reoccurring in all four seasons, if they DIDN’T do it on purpose, then it is even more powerful because it reflects an important psychological archetype or cultural truth that keeps popping up accidentally. And it’s still part of the meaning of the story.

My goal is always to understand what the story is trying to tell us. It is less about me being right than it is about making sense of the story, ESPECIALLY the parts that seem OOC or like plot holes. And if I can find a theory that explains Clarke or Bellamy’s seemingly OOC behavior, then it is no longer OOC, it is a story element. It fits. If I can see a long term pattern for the Bellarke relationship, then it is going to help me understand where they might go next. Not only because COOL I found a pattern, but because it indicates to me the intentions of writers. Patterns are, generally, intentional. These writers are good writers, not bad writers and they put a lot of effort into making a crafted story. Some things get messed up for some reasons and some things don’t work the way they thought they would, but they try.

This concept that the goal of the writers is to actively screw over Bellarke fans, and this is their intention and always has been is DUMB. DUMB and SELF CENTERED. These kids are really up in here thinking The writer’s room is sitting there laughing evilly thinking how they can screw over the fans.

I will tell you the truth– it IS the job of the writer to wring emotions out of the audience. Maybe this is what they are reacting to. But the fandom is taking that to mean that it is malicious in intent. They want us to FEEL, to be attached, to think all is lost (All Is Lost is actually a narrative beat story structure. It’s explicitly how you tell a story,) to be worried that the mains won’t reach their goal. THIS is how we become excited and engaged. THIS IS ACTUAL STORYTELLING. They get the audience invested in something, like Bellarke, and then take them on a rollercoaster of emotions before giving it to them. It’s actually proof that Bellarke IS going to be given to us. Because if there is no investment in that ship in narrative, no obstacles? no tension? Then it’s not happening.

Let me give an example that I don’t think will cause drama. KINDRA. I love Kane and Indra. It is not happening. There is absolutely NO tension, no angst, no obstacles in their way. Or rather, I mean, there’s Kabby, but that’s never shown as a source of angst between Kane and Indra. If anything, Kindra in Polis helped cement Kabby. No rollercoaster. No pain. No baiting/hooking/reeling in. No story. No romance. brzzz. Even if they WERE to get together in the bunker (same place, 6years is a long time) they’d have to start s5 with all the romantic tension. So therefore, if Kindra became a thing, it would not be part of the story that they’ve been building. lol. watch them take a big swerve and go with Kindra. Well if they did, they’d have to build it from scratch. But Kabby is actually more at risk than Bellarke, and has had less development and less of a place in the larger narrative, sorry to say. I am worried about them. It’s part of the excitement that you don’t know what path the authors will take.

Anyway, I’m looking at how stories go together. And that people are taking classic story telling techniques as proof that they’re bad writers or out to get bellarkers or that Bellarke is never happening is just. Fascinating.

And annoying.

I have just been informed that the reason why this stuff gets under my skin so much is because I am an English teacher and this is exactly the stuff I was teaching. So that makes sense. Apparently just because you quit the teaching life, the teaching life does not quit you.

#the 100 meta #fandom wank #meta meta #critical thinking #literary analysis #storytelling

3 notes · View notes

babylon-bitch · 6 years

Text

Just Friends ~ Goodbye (part 67)

Harper White is best friends with Luke Hemmings, they always have been. Not only is she friends with the rockstar, but with the rest of 5 Seconds Of Summer, as well as a really nice girl named Erika.

Harper has a few secrets, she can play all the instruments the boys play and many more. It’s a talent she has kept hidden, only very few people know.

What will happen to the six teens, wondering around the world together?

***

Harper’s P.O.V.

Slamming my car door closed, and locking it, holding my hoodie close to me as it’s raining and really windy. A storm is brewing in the sky, a few leaves floating around, the sky a dark shade of grey, and water flowing down the road.

I’m at Michael’s house to say goodbye to everyone, my flight leaves in a few hours, and I didn’t want to say goodbye through text.

I haven’t really spoken to Luke since what happened the other day, we texted a little last night, and that’s it.

We didn’t kiss, we nearly did, but then I came back to reality and realized what we were about to do, then I jumped away from him, running my hand over my face, and thought about what just happened. Luke had the same reaction as me, eyes wide, not knowing what we were doing.

We talked for a little before Luke got a text from his mum, and I’ve never been more greatful for her.

Neither of us brought up what happened last night, but we didn’t seem rocky, we just joked around and asked what each other are doing. So from what I can tell, we’re on good terms.

Knocking on the door, I watch the sky as I wait for someone to open up.

“My favourite person!” Michael exclaims as he opens the door.

“My favourite person also!” I smile at him and give him a short, half assed hug.

“Your enthusiasm is overwhelming.”

“It’s early, I’m cold, and a little wet, cry me a river.” I reply and head up the stairs.

“It’s 11:30.” He deadpans.

“I didn’t get much sleep.” I tell him and walk into Michael’s room.

“Hi.” Maddie and Erika speak in unison.

“Hey.” Calum waves as I sit down next to Cal on Michael’s bed.

“It’s just Luke and Ash to come now.” Michael breathes as he walks in, sitting down on his desk chair.

“Who came first?” I ask.

“Maddie and Erika.”

“When’s the wedding?” Calum questions.

“We haven’t really set a date, we’ve done some planning and stuff, but I think we’re going to wait a while.” Maddie answers.

“Fair enough?” He nods.

“When do you think you’ll have it?” Michael questions.

“Uh in like 2 years or something.” Erika says, and Maddie intertwined their hands.

“Need me a partner like that.” I say.

“You’ve got one.” Calum smirks and I glare at him.

“No I don’t.”

“I can be him.” Michael saves me.

“Eat shit, Hood.” I flip him off.

“Eat shit, Hood.” He imitates my voice.

“I hate you.” I pout.

“Cool story.” He responds and I roll my eyes, looking out the window, watching the droplets race each other. Seeing cars go by every now and then, water splashing the pavement as they go by. I would hate to be walking, I almost did, but then I became lazy and took the car, but I took the right choice by the looks of it.

“You look like you’re in a sad music video.” A voice interrupts my daydream. Turning to my left I see Luke and Ashton, well Ashton is talking to Michael, and Luke’s paying attention to me.

“Hey.” I greet.

“What’s on your mind?” He questions, sitting next to me.

“Nothing.” I shake my head.

“You sure?”

“Yeah? What makes you think I’ve got something going on?” I look up at him.

“You just were zoned out for a while, and it seemed like something was up with you.” Luke explains.

“Well nothing major comes to mind.” I shrug.

“Good.” He purses his lips.

“Anything up with you?”

“Nothing new.” He says and I nod, leaning my head back the wall.

“You’re so short.” Luke comments after a while.

“What? No I’m not.” I defend myself.

“Harper, your legs just about reach the end of the bed.”

“It’s a big bed.” I reply. “Well you’re so big.”

“You know it.” He winks at me and I roll my eyes.

“I’m not short, I’m 5"5, and that’s one inch taller than the average.”

“You’re still short.”

“No I’m not.” I claim.

“Look at these cute little short arms.” He teases and picks my arm up.

“Mean.” I huff.

“Yeah but your my little shorty.” He tells me and I look at him unamused.

“You’re so annoying.” I groan and push his arm.

“Yeah but you’ll miss it when you’re gone.” He sends me a smug smile.

“Maybe, maybe not, depends if you send me memes or not.”

“Like salt bae??”

“No, good memes.”

“Did you just disrespect him?” Luke questions holding a hand to his heart and I nod. “Have you seen the way he handles that meat? Have you seen how he sprinkles salt?”

“Yeah, and it’s dry, it was funny for a few days.”

“Have you seen salt bae?” He shakes my shoulders and I laugh.

“Really? Right in front of my salad?” I question and he facepalms.

“When you pieces of trash are finished, I’m gonna go wave a metal pole outside.” Maddie grabs are attention.

“What?” We both question.

“You talking about memes was doing my head in.” She explains.

“Maddie please, this is a private conversation.” I hold my hand up to her. “So moral of the story, only send me good memes, if at all.”

“Fucking bitch.” She mutters and as soon as she finishes the power goes off.

“If I could see you right now, I would hit you.” I reply. You can still see a little bit, but because it’s so cloudy it makes everything really dark, plus Michael has part of his curtain closed.

“Is anyone scared of storms?” Calum asks.

“No.” We all say.

“I hope my flight isn’t delayed.” I sigh.

“You could always drive.” Erika speaks.

“Yes Erika, I’m going to drive all the way from Sydney to Sheffield.” I sarcastically reply.

“I swear there hasn’t been a storm in ages.” Ashton points out.

“Yeah.” I agree.

“Maybe because you haven’t been in Australia?” Erika informs.

“And it’s just turning summer.” Maddie adds.

“Geez you guys are moody today.” Luke comments.

“Rule number one, don’t point it out.” I inform him. “You should know this.”

“What?” He raises an eyebrow.

“We’re on our period.”

“At the same time?” Ashton asks.

“Yeah, it’s called syncing up.” Maddie explains,

“Are you on your period?” Calum asks me.

“No.”

“Then h-”

“You don’t choose to sync up, it’s just natural.” I explain.

“This is gross.” Michael shudders.

“It’s just nature.” I tell him.

“I still get nightmares from when you were on yours.” Luke jokes.

“What do you mean were? I still get it.”

“Whatever, but you used to snap at me all the time, get me to get you food, and I didn’t even get anything out of it.”

“I gave you my love!” I pout.

“For what I did, I think I deserved more.“

“Rude.” I huff.

“What do we do now?” Michael asks.

“Uh, I don’t know.” Calum shrugs.

Helpful.

“We could go out or something.” Ashton suggests.

“Where?” Luke asks.

“Your guys’ houses might have power.” Michael suggests.

“I’ll text my mum.” I announce and pull my phone out.

“What’s your background?” Erika questions.

“Hayley Williams.” I show her.

“Oh my God, same.” She laughs and shows her one to me.

“What? Why don’t you have one of me?” Maddie asks.

“Sorry, babe, but Hayley is my one and only.”

“Same.” I raise my hand.

“My one is of you.” Maddie huffs and folds her arms.

I carry on with my task of texting my mum, and leaning my head on Luke’s shoulder as I wait do her to reply, listening to the harsh patter of rain on the windows, lighting lighting up the room every now and then, and thunder rumbling around.

“My house has power.” I tell everyone.

“I don’t really know what we’re gonna do at your house that we can’t do here, but hey.” Erika shrugs and gets up.

“There’s a difference, believe me.” Luke says and gets up. I whine and put my hand out for him to help me up, Luke rolls his eyes but takes my hand anyway and helps me up.

We all walk downstairs and I put the hood of my hoodie up as we’re by the door. “I’m so not ready for this.” Maddie mumbles rubbing her hands together.

“Who’s car are we taking?” Calum questions.

“Well we gotta take my car, let’s just split.” I explain.

“Can I drive?” Erika pipes up.

“You don’t have a car here.” Ashton points out the obvious.

“But I can drive your car.” She gives him puppy dog eyes.

“Why? Can’t you just be a passenger?” He asks.

“Please Ashton, I haven’t driven in ages, I’ll clean it for you at some point.” She bribes.

My phone starts to make a noise and everyone looks at me, pulling my phone out I see I have a facetime call with Blake.

“I’m going in my car whilst you figure this out.” I mumble and open the door, my converse stepping in many puddles on the way.

Unlocking my car, as I get closer, and open the door, left in out a sigh of relief once I’m safe out of the rain.

“Hey.” I say as I answer it.

“Hey, are you busy?” He questions, not looking at me.

“Not really, just waiting for my friends and stuff.” I answer.

“Cool, when you coming home?” He asks, looking at me.

“Well my flight is tonight, but there is a huge storm going on, so it might be delayed.”

“But you’re planning on coming home tonight.” He asks for confirmation.

“Yeah, should, why?”

“I was just checking because I didn’t know when you were coming home.” He tells me and I readjust my phone.

“Alright, do you want to meet up when I get back.” I question as I watch the others rush out the door, Calum and Luke doing a quick jog.

“Yeah sure, when are you supposed to get back?” He asks as he does something on his laptop.

Calum opens the passanger side of the door and sits down, Luke following his actions but in the back behind me.

“Late afternoon or something.” I answer as Michael and strangely Ashton enter the car.

“Alright, I think we’re going over to Juliet’s house for the evening.” Blake explains as I begin to pull out of my parking spot. “I can meet you at your house, or you at mine, whatever is easiest.”

“Probably easier if you come to me and then Tori, Izzy, you, and I can all go over at the same time.” I reply, placing my phone in my lap as it’s easier to focus on driving.

“Okay cool, hope you have a safe flight, and I hope it doesn’t get delayed, see you tomorrow.”

“Alright, I’ll text you when I land.”

“Okay, oh any boy troubles?” He smirks.

“Goodbye, Blake.” I sigh with a laugh.

“Bye, speak soon.” He laughs and ends the call.

I plug my phone in so I can put some music on as we’re at a stop sign. “Any song requests?”

“Play some My Chemical Romance.” Michael requests, and I nod putting one of their albums on shuffle.

“Why are you here, Ash?” I question, looking behind me.

“Do you want me to leave? Do you want me to leave so I have to walk in the rain?” He asks.

“No it’s just, you have a car.” I laugh. “Of your own.”

“Erika wanted to drive, and she said she’d clean my car so I said yeah, because I haven’t done it in over a year.”

“Why’d she want to drive? She has her own car.”

“I don’t get it either but I’ve not been a passanger in a while.”

“You were on tour.”

“Your point?”

I roll my eyes, ands put my focus on my driving, spotting Ashton’s car a couple cars in front of us.

After a little while we hit some traffic, and I’m stuck right by the spot where the ‘accident’ occurred.

It’s weird to see how far I’ve come from that place, it was quite a few months ago now, and I’ve made some progress. I still get these little bursts of sadness every now and then, I’ll be in the kitchen making some dinner for myself late at night, when a little cloud comes over my head, while I’m stirring pasta. At first I’m like where the fuck did you come from? But then I start thinking and it gets worse, a little ball builds up in my chest and my stomach feels weird, overall I just feel uncomfortable.

All night I feel like that until I drift off to sleep, then in the morning I feel alright, sometimes it clings on in the morning, but it’s so different to what I was feeling just last month.

Last month I felt like that all day and all night, as well as it being 10x worse.

I don’t know if it’s caused by just one person, everyone I’m around, being away from the bad habits I had back in England, or just being home. Maybe it’s a combination of it all, but I’ve improved, and I hope I can stay like this.

I see the boys thinking the same thing when I look in the mirror. I really need to change this because I don’t want my last day with these guys to be sad.

“Are you guys gonna visit me when I’m in England?” I ask.

“I mean…” Calum trails off and I glare at him.

“I think we should at least try to.” Ashton agrees.

“I said I’d visit you.” Luke speaks up.

“Then it would make sense if we all go.” Michael says.

“When do you get a break?” Calum questions.

“Um nothing until Christmas.” I shrug and move forward as the traffic starts clearing up.

“Why don’t we visit you like next month or something?” Michael suggests.

“How about early December because I’m really busy through out November.” I tell them.

“Yeah that could work.” Luke nods.

“What about the girls?” Calum asks.

“Erika has uni doesn’t she?” I sigh.

“I mean you’re gonna see her in like 3 weeks after, it’s not too big of a deal.” Luke points out.

“I’m still gonna feel bad.”

“You’re coming back?” Ashton questions.

“Yeah, after Christmas.” I confirm as I turn the corner, sliding around a bit because of the wet. “Shit.” I mutter.

“What?” Michael asks.

“Did you not feel that?” Luke and I say in unison.

“What?” He repeats.

“We were sliding around a little.” I tell him as I drive cautiously round the roundabout.

“So we’re definitely going to England in early December?” Ashton asks.

“Pretty sure.” Calum nods.

“Cool.”

“What date?” Luke questions.

“What are you going to be there for?"

"To see you of course.” Michael says confused.

“Yeah but like do you want to party and stuff or just chill? Because my friend Cody and his girlfriend are hosting a party.”

“Could be fun.” Calum replies.

“That’s on the 8th.”

“Why don’t we fly out on like the 4th or 5th?” Michael suggests.

“Cool, I guess we’ll tell you when we book our flight.” Ashton purses his lips.

“By the way, I’ve only got one spare bedroom, so you can fight about who’s getting it.” I inform and pull the hand break up.

***

Putting my leather jacket on as I jog down the stairs, seeing everyone in the lounge, chatting and laughing.

“Hey, are you ready to go?” My dad asks as I walk in the kitchen.

“Uh yeah I think so, I’ve just gotta go say goodbye.” I answer as I look through the cupboard for a snack.

“Okay, you’ve got around 10 minutes, just gotta wait for your brothers to finish packing.” He sighs as I pick out a couple chocolate bars to put in my bag.

“Alright, I’m gonna go say goodbye.” I smile at him and walk out the kitchen and towards the living room, leaning on the door frame.

“Geez you got a stash.” Michael laughs as he sees the chocolate in my hand.

“Shut up.” I chuckle and place them on the table in the hallway.

“Who’s your dealer?” Maddie questions.

“Cadbury.” I joke.

This is so bittersweet.

I know I’m gonna see them soon enough, but it’s still sad.

I hear one of my brothers clunk down the stairs with his suitcase, and once he’s on the bottom floor I see it’s Angus. He pushes my shoulder as he goes past, and I flip him off.

“Looks like it’s time to say goodbye.” I quietly sigh.

“I guess it is.” Erika mumbles and begins to get up.

I wrap my arms around her shoulders briefly before we pull away. “I’ll see you after Christmas.” Erika says.

“Yeah, I promise I’ll call you and stuff all the time.” I promise.

“Bye, I’ll talk to you soon.” She gives me a small smile and walks back to where she was.

“My turn.” Maddie raises her hand and she gives me a short hug.

“How are you gonna cope without me?"

"Easier than it sounds.” She shrugs. “Bye, Harper.”

“Bye, Maddie.” Repeat and she stands next to Erika.

“Now, don’t get too drunk without me, you’re usually my buddy in that.” Calum smirks as he approaches me.

“Yeah, I’ll try not to.” I smile up at him, then wrap my arms around his torso, his follow in suit.

“We’ve got time to catch up on though soon.” Calum replies.

“I am not looking forward to that hangover.” I grimace and he laughs.

“See you soon.” He gives me a smile and stands next to Erika.

“Ashton!” I over exaggerate my tone.

“Harper!” He mocks.

“I can’t wait for you to visit me and critic my life choices.” I tell him.

“You know it.” He chuckles and gives me a hug and we say our goodbyes.

“It’s time.” Michael announces.

“It’s not like I’m dying, Michael.” I inform.

“Well last time you disappeared off the face of the earth.” He points out.

“I promise to speak to you regularly.”

“You better.” He sends me a warning look and I give him a hug and say what I want to say.

“I’m gonna miss you.” Luke mumbles as he stands in front of me.

“I’m gonna miss you too.” I copy his tone.

“But we’ll see each other soon enough.” He reassures and runs his hand down my arm.

“Yeah.” I nod and wrap my arms around his waist.

“Text me or call me when you get home.” He requests, running his hand down my back.

I pull back from him slightly, looking up at him, my eyes slightly filling with tears. “Don’t cry babygirl.” He pouts and wipes away the small tear that is falling.

I briefly look at his lips, and then back at his eyes, then give him one last hug, before we part.

“I love you guys.”

3 notes · View notes

caemec · 7 years

Note

Hi ^^ I love your "Candy best friend" post

Hi honey ! Thanks for your request and for your kind words ♥ I am sorry for the late, I wanted to publish the part 2 of the main boys before making your request. Here some side boys for you, I actually only did Dake and Dajan, because I know absolutely nothing about Jade, he seems a little too much like a second Lysander to me ? Sorry for him, so. But I hope you will enjoy the others (I couldn’t stop writing, they are so inspiring and great OMG why can’t we date them)

Dakota

In general ?

Being Dake’s best friend means having destroyed every trace of sexy he once thought you had. He knows to what you look after only two little hours of sleep, had hold your hair when you were sick, rubbed your nose when you cried in front of his house, drag you to your bed after a drunken party and took off your shoes. But he still calls you “pretty”, and he actually means it. He is not an assh*le, he will do everything he can to improve your self-esteem. Of all the boys, he will be the most diligent to point your strengths, and it’s a pretty rare quality these days.

You would never go on holidays without him. He is the spirit of travels. You want to climb a mountain ? To say hello to fish ? To annoy old couples from the swimming pool ? Some surf lessons at the beach ? A road trip without any money ? He’s always ready, his philosophy is “say yes to everything”. He will probably propose you to make a volunteering summer in a foreign orphanage or a village, because yes, despite what everyone thinks of him, Dake is also someone really sensitive to what’s wrong in the world, and needs to speak about it with someone, to let it go.

You are in couple ?

Poor boyfriend. He will practically constantly have that perfect, boring and defiant model in his field of vision. Such a womaniser as your closest friend ? Well, how to tell you ? He is not secure at all. Unless your partner is someone as self-confident as your best friend, you will have to deal with that problem, one day or another. And it’s not like if Dake helps to calm him, he will prance with pleasure and arrogance in front of him, of course. However, he will silently learn his limits, because he doesn’t want to screw up everything in your couple, you deserve to be loved.

He could actually be the most loyal of all the boys when you’ve made a big mistake. You had cheated on your boyfriend ? And so what ? He will minimize it, will search why you did in the first place and will prove it wasn’t (totally) your fault. No morality with him (he did worst). However, if it is the reverse situation, pray for the other guy’s soul, because he will completely destroy him.

He is in couple ?

It’s nothing incredible, Dake is literally always in couple. Okay, maybe not according to him, he is a huge fan of the “friends with benefits” concept, but you never really saw him as a “true single man”. It is why you will mostly start to ask questions when there is nothing new on that point since a little too long. Dakota without a girl in his back is a strange phenomenon.

If it happens and he seems lost, careful. He probably is in a bad moment, and this is where you have a role to play. Make him speak, he has his proud, but he has to learn how to lower his guard and accept the fact he can be fragile too sometimes. He is a true introvert about his feelings, he hides a lot underneath this lovely smile and the playboy attitude. Listen to him, and then counter every fault he thinks he has, just like he does for you. He needs to know how worthy he is (yes, he doubts about it, everyone has his hang-ups).

From “best friends” to “more than friends” ?

Dake is the typical friend who will seduce you without any shame. But as you are his best friend, you know why he acts like that, even with you. In fact, it is his safe way to be with women. Playing with them gives him the possibility to handle the relationship, he needs to control the situation, it is how he will feel good around people, like a self-defence. When he flirts with you, it is because you are in public or you catch him off his guard. It is why you are quite used to his fluffy sentences, you don’t even take it seriously now.

It could actually backfire, because the day he will understand you are more than his friend, he will struggling to convince you he is serious. If Dake falls in love with you, it will be a true love story, he knows you, your strengths and faults, and can say exactly why he still looks at you. He will not forget you easily, will hang on for a long time (no kidding). He can forget the other girls at that step, you’re the only one who matters and he wants to give you all the reasons to trust him.

Dajan

In general ?

He is totally the kind of guy who will play to the fake boyfriend during parties if he knows you’re not enjoying your time because of sharks. He is also the friend who will remark really quickly when you are boring or too shy where you are. He will pass an arm around your shoulders, give you his beer and will drag you everywhere with him during the whole moment, being sure you will relax. He could actually need a best friend who is quite independent, because he is not here to play to the babysitter. He starts from the principle that you are a big girl, so he wants to see you acting like that.

Of course, his passion for sports will be a great part of your friendship. You support him, obviously (you don’t have the choice), and even if you are not a huge basketball fan, he will drag you to every big match of his favourite team and parties with his teammates. If you are sportive too, he is the perfect one to talk about it. Injuries, doubts, anger, he will listen really carefully, because sport is a whole religion, and apparently also a part of your life, moreover. If you are not sportive at all, be ready for a lot of serious speeches, he could even use your hang-ups, he doesn’t care about your killer look at this moment, this is about “your well-being”, so you sit down and you listen in silence.

You are in couple ?

Dajan is the typical “big brother” in those circumstances. Friendly, but dangerous as f*ck if the situation requires it. Normally, he lets you live your love life as you want, again, you are old enough to take your own decisions, but if someone tries to hurt you, he acts in one little second. Dajan is really cool, but could be a quite impulsive boy, he makes the mistake before thinking of it. At least, he will try to assume the consequences as much as possible.

It’s also how he acts with you, if he has something to say, don’t expect any tact, you will receive it as it comes. If you did something wrong, you will know it quickly, and he has no difficulty to take your partner’s side when he thinks you’ve ruined the relation. However, he will always come back to you with a comfort hug, and reminds you he does it on purpose, for your own good.

He is in couple ?

Dajan is probably the kind who has a few ex girlfriends, because he had a budding womaniser period, before calming down and searching for tranquillity. He’s more mature about that now, but will make an exception during parties. Why not, after all. Maybe not until a whole night with a girl, but a seduction game never killed nobody, right ? He is the kind of boy a lot of girls quickly notice, and sometimes it disturbs him. He is not always appreciated from other males, mostly because of that.

But he is a straight-up guy, he would never act in a disrespectful way, can be really charming with a girl he likes. He could make past his friends before everyone else, it can be quite annoying for his girlfriend, but there is absolutely no concession to make. He also needs someone who will support his sportive project. Basically, for Dajan, if you try to change him in any way, you’re already out. If you don’t like what he does, it’s your problem, not his.

From “best friends” to “more than friends” ?

Probably not so easily. He is responsible, loves his friends and would do so much for them. With him, the limits are all about his definition of “friendship”. You can have a great connection with him, but it still does not mean you’re friends. It’s why, due to your relation, he will be really careful with what he could do or let you think. If he has no feelings, he will be completely frozen after having discovered yours. He’s sure he acted in the bad way, can’t understand that both of you couldn’t control that.

If he finds out he has a crush on you, for once, he will think twice about the situation. What could be the consequences ? Like Castiel, he will make a step only if he is sure it can work between you two. He stays the same, even in couple with you, a carefree best friend in public, and a passionate and a little rough lover in private.

Global summary

83 notes · View notes