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inkslingersworld · 3 years

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In Defense of Lukanette/Adrigami

I have recently completed watching the animated superhero television show Miraculous Ladybug for the first time, and I have some thoughts.

Now, before I start rambling, I just want to say that I’m not trying to criticize anybody for their preferred ship in MLB. I’m just trying to encourage employing critical thinking when it comes to the show, the characters, and the plot lines. Even if I don’t convince you in this argumentative essay, it is my hope that you will at least perceive things a little more deeply regarding Miraculous Ladybug.

Okay, so for the most part, Miraculous was a decent enough show. I’m not going to go shouting from the rooftops “F*CK YOU, THOMAS ASTRUC!!!”, as some people are apt to do. He is the show’s creator and is at the liberty to do whatever he likes with it.

However, that doesn’t mean I have to agree with him on everything.

Despite its best parts, the show has a lot of flaws, and even though I could sit here all day complaining about what’s wrong with it, I’m choosing for focus on a single aspect of it (for now): the illusion of the OTP.

The Love Square - which involves Marinette liking Adrien and Chat Noir liking Ladybug, even though Marinette is Ladybug and Chat Noir is Adrien - never made much sense to me, even from the beginning. These are the problems I’ve found with it.

1. THAT’S NOT EVEN HOW LOVE WORKS

Now, I could be wrong, but if you love someone - and I mean really love someone - that love wouldn’t be jeopardized because of the love interest simply wearing a costume. And yes, I understand that Marinette and Adrien’s civilian identities act differently than their superhero ones, but still. THEY’RE THE SAME F*CKING PEOPLE!!! I’ve shouted myself hoarse about this loophole more times than I can count. If they were truly in love, wouldn’t Marinette like Chat Noir as much as Adrien? And wouldn’t Adrien like Marinette as much as Ladybug?

2. THEY DON’T LOVE EACH OTHER

Riding on the back of what I just said, the Love Square only proves that it isn’t true love. If it were, they would love each other regardless of whether they were wearing their costumes or not! And there is simply nothing else I can add to this.

3. THE LOVE SQUARE FEELS SHOVED DOWN MY THROAT

The production team for the show has missed out on the chance of some excellent character-building scenes in favor of the Love Square. They’ve been trying to sell it to us ever since the show began. Sure, the Love Square has had its moments, but it ultimately would not suffice as an actual romantic relationship. One of the worst things the show has done is scrap Lukanette and Adrigami. I think deep down all of us knew it was the move they were gonna make, but they dated for like TWO EPISODES. Even if they weren’t gonna keep them, they should’ve at least showed the relationship on more levels, at least to show Marinette and Adrien maturing emotionally.

4. THE REVEAL WOULDN’T CHANGE ANYTHING

Some people take the side of “Oh, but once they find out their secret identities, they’ll love each other!” THAT’S NOT WHAT WOULD HAPPEN AT ALL!!! Marinette would only love Chat Noir because he was Adrien, and Adrien would only love Marinette because she was Ladybug! Even people who support the Love Square agree on this!! They try to present a solution in which Ladybug falls in love with Chat Noir first and Adrien for Marinette, but that too is unrealistic. In the show’s timeline, Marinette and Adrien have been superheroes for three years. I mean, COME ON.

And 5. IT WOULD BE TOO DANGEROUS

We all saw what happened in Chat Blanc. Love Square = The End of Days. You can kid yourself all you like, but it’s the truth.

Maybe it wouldn’t unfold quite like Chat Blanc, but Marinette and Adrien becoming romantically attached would provide a vital opportunity for Hawk Moth. It’s not like he’s been the best at planning before, but this would be a hard one to miss.

Perhaps these five reasons aren’t enough to sway you, but they’re good enough for me. And now I turn my attention to the benefits of Lukanette and Adrigami.

1. THEY LOVE THEM FOR WHO THEY ARE

Marinette and Adrien have not always been superheroes, but they’ve always been themselves, and that’s who they are at their core. Luka loves Marinette for who she is, and Kagami loves Adrien for who he is. It’s that simple.

2. FAR LESS CONTRADICTIONS

The dilemma involving identities is nonexistent in a Lukanette/Adrigami scenario. If Marinette and Adrien revealed their identities to Luka and Kagami, well, that would just be the sprinkles on top of an ice cream sundae. The love of my life is a superhero too? That’s so like them. Also, this type of reveal wouldn’t pose any threat Hawk Moth-wise.

3. THEY CAN HELP EACH OTHER GROW

If the Love Square were to happen, I think it would be a den of awkwardness. Adrien has had very little exposure to the outside world, and if he began a romantic relationship with Marinette, a lot of the time it would be Marinette showing stuff and teaching things to Adrien, which might be nice in some cases, but does not sound particularly fetching to me. With Lukanette and Adrigami on the other hand, it would be the two of either couple teaching things and showing stuff to each other. Luka could show Marinette to play guitar, Marinette could teach Luka how to bake (one of my dream Lukanette scenes is one of Marinette passing on her fashion skills to Luka).

I think this could work for Adrigami also. Both of them have been sheltered for all their lives, and I think it would be nice to see them discovering new things together. They could also teach each other the stuff they already know; Kagami could work on her art skills with Adrien, they could teach each other languages, maybe Adrien could show Kagami to play the piano (or whatever that video game was in Gamer), and so on and so forth. And obviously, at some point, one of them would say to the other, “It’s you and me against the world.”

For me, Lukanette and Adrigami are just more appealing, and I can’t see why the show runners don’t feel that way as well. If they’re refusing it in favor of conflict to drive the show, they can provide that conflict through Lukanette and Adrigami. I mean, seriously - Luka and Kagami would be dating superheroes. That doesn’t come without its side effects.

If their reasoning is “we’ve been alluding to the Love Square ever since the show started”, then scrap the Love Square! I think Marinette and Adrien work better in a friend capacity anyway! Besides, changing love interests is a part of life, and doing this in the show would add a bit more realism to a rather unrealistic television program.

In conclusion, Lukanette and Adrigami could send MLB soaring to new heights, and provide a deviation from the same boring old formula.

#argumentative #inkslingersworld #mlb #miraculous #miraculous ladybug #lukanette #adrigami #against the love square #essay #persuasive essay

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filmmakerdreamst · 4 years

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Xena: Warrior Princess Review

During Pride Month 2020, I finally got around to watch ‘Xena’. A show that had been in my to-watch list for years, but never got around to start. And when I finally did, I was pleasantly surprised. It was not what I expected and it was everything I think my 11 year old self would have loved.

The one thing that surprised me about the show, was the lack of packaging. Even though it was a fantasy, it also played with different kinds of genres too. I’ve talked about this before in my other review - ‘Xena’ was made at a time when TV had very few rules/rarely had a set audience, since there were parts of the show that were clearly for kids and there were other parts that were clearly for adults (therefore had much more flexibility). I admired how they weren’t afraid to break barriers and touch on deep themes such as religion, morality, redemption, spirituality, motherhood, forgiveness etc - even more than shows of today are able. I also loved how they played into the idea of ‘murder’ and how much it can damage a person - not just the person who commits the act, but the many people affected afterwards. I wasn’t expecting it to be that extreme. It made me think that this must of been the inspiration for ‘Game of Thrones’.

I see a lot of comments here and there, saying how ‘cheesy and terrible’ it was but to just accept it because its part of the fun. And while like any show it does suffer from the occasional spell of bad writing (the whole of season 5) but it was also shown to be very aware of that fact and never took itself too seriously - unlike some shows I could mention.

And regarding the ‘cheese’ factor (what 90s show wasn’t) It definitely can be, but I would call it ‘camp’ and ‘experimental’ more than anything else. (Don’t diss the poor use of CGI - I’m personally sympathetic to what was avaliable to them at the time) The style of humour reminded me of Taika Waititi’s filmmaking. If you’ve watched any of his films such as ‘Hunt for The Wilderpeople’ or ‘Jojo Rabbit’, then you know what I’m talking about. I liked how little they cared about being accurate or logical, which added to the ‘bonkers’ element in the show - which you can see in all of Taika Waititi’s films.

In all seriousness, a show centered around two women in their late twenties, who are realistic sizes (not trying to play teenagers). One of whom is a reformed mass murderer, who has lived a life experience, trying to do good in the world for the first time, picking the other one up who has no life experience prior (after they bugged them until they said ‘ok fine’) in their path to redemption. Just two women who become friends travelling the world together, fighting crime, having a laff, learning from one another without any toxicity - when suddenly when the stakes are raised - they realise ‘oh I'm actually falling in love with this person’ I have watched a lot of badly written shows in my childhood enough to know that, that’s not ‘cheesy’. I’ve never seen a story like that in my entire life. I’m not at all surprised that Russel T Davis was inspired by it while writing the Doctor and Rose’s relationship in ‘Doctor Who’ since he’s gay himself.

What’s more amazing about their love story is how they’re both develop as separate people as well. There was this video essay explaining ‘Why you should watch Angel’ the spin off series to Buffy; how ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer ‘was all about growing up and ‘Angel’ was all about being an adult. With Xena: Warrior Princess, you have both of those stories at the same time.

Xena’s character was such a multifaceted experience to watch. And I can’t imagine anyone else who could play her as well as Lucy Lawless. What planet did they get that actress from? She's flawless! The amount of skill she has to put herself into a very physical role is astonishing. I personally had a love/hate relationship with her character all series long. Not in the way that I hated her, just that I couldn’t trust if she was all good or bad, which I know was intentional on the writers part. I haven’t seen a character quite like her before. She felt very much like a fallen angel; almost like the villain of her own story. Some of my favourite episodes come from fleshing out her character and dark past (‘Locked up and Tied Down’ is one of them) which reminds the audience that's she's not the stereotypical hero everyone expects. I loved her transformation from being this incredibly stoic warrior to being content and happy with who she is in season six, all because of a woman she fell in love with along the way.

I’ve always thought of Gabrielle as the real hero and narrator of ‘Xena’. She’s the prime example of ‘a normal person becoming extrodinary’. Gabrielle’s coming of age story starting out as an innocent girl from a poor village dreaming of adventure, and ending as this vicious warrior who realises the ‘adventure’ wasn’t how she made it out to be is honestly the best character arc that I’ve ever seen. I loved how travelling with Xena made her realise her passion for writing (which was never going to happen in her home town, given the ‘sexist’ and ‘heteronormative’ ideas) and that she became a amazon princess like Xena. In regards to her sexuality, which is more up for debate than Xena’s (which I think we can all agree is bisexual) I personally interpret her as gay, just in terms of how she was written. Theres this moment in season 4 where she's being held up her hair, and Xena “symbolically” cuts it off ‘freeing her’. And she never really gets with a man afterwards, unless she’s being ‘possessed. It reminded me of a moment in one of Hayao Miyasaki’s films ‘Laputa, Castle in the Sky’ where the bad guy Moska shoots Sheeta’s ‘princess hair off’ which symbolises her transition from child to adult.

The cinematography was breathtaking. There was some great utilisation of New Zealand as the scenery. So was the soundtrack. You could tell it was made by experienced filmmakers. One of my favourite things about the show was the domestic elements - moments in the show where time seemed to stop - which made the world around the characters seem very real and magical. Even though it was a show that featured a lot of action/adventure, there was also this gentleness to it as well. For example, you could feel the wetness of the rain, the warmth of the sun and the clashing of the waves. This technique is used in Hayao Miayasaki’s work a lot .

The technique is referred to as ‘MA’ 空虚 meaning emptiness in Japanese. ‘Miyasaki describes this as the time between a clap’

“If you just have non stop action, with no breathing space at all, its just busyness. But if you take a moment, then the tension building in the film can grow into a wider dimension” - Hayao Miyasaki

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The episode ‘A Day in the Life’ in season two is a really good example of this technique being used.

To my understanding, they used a lot of the local actors in New Zealand, which according to Lucy Lawless, consisted of ‘African immigrants and other different ethnicites’. It was so refreshing to see such a diverse show (despite some slip ups) especially in the 90s. I appreciated the idea that if the actors or extras couldn’t do an ‘american accent’ people could just talk in their natural speech which was also very refreshing.

The LGBT representation was surprisingly amazing. I never expected so many queer characters in one show - especially under the censors. There was this one episode where they had a trans woman - played by an actual trans actress - win a beauty contest. It made me cry. Not to mention the actress was an aids activist. It was actually Lucy Lawless’ idea to kiss her which was incredibly controversial at that time considering how everyone thought you could catch aids just by kissing. I can definitey see how it validated people back in the 90s.

When people told me that Xena: Warrior Princess was one of the greatest love stories, I thought they were exaggerating a little. But no, watching the show in context, I found out that it really is. Despite its obvious restrictions, It made me realise (regarding token gay couples today) how often television writers rely on physicality and drama to convey a ‘love story’ and how much of it is actually pandering the audience. One of the reasons why Xena and Gabrielle’s relationship felt so genuine is because it was built on mutual respect/compassion and they were also best friends. I felt like I was witnessing something very real and private. It didn’t need kissing scenes or drama to make it interesting.

It really helped that most of the writers were queer also. There’s this opening scene in season 4, panning over to Gabrielle giving Xena a massage (metaphor for sex - because they weren’t able to show that on screen) which I consider to be one of the most iconic scenes in media - considering how I wanted to sick up my supper when I watched the 10 minute ‘empty’ explicit sex scene in ‘Blue in the Warmest Colour’. The difference when something is written by a queer women vs a straight man.

Because the creators weren’t allowed to write their love story in the normal way, due to the studio forbidding them to, they found creative ways to showcase that love on screen - which made for a very magical/sensual experience. And I can safely say, if anyone has doubts about watching ‘Xena’, whenever I expected to be queer baited at a few points in the show, I was proved wrong time and time again. It’s the most romantical show I’ve ever seen in my life!

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jonathanrook · 3 years

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legally i have to give you intern 2

em you have awoken an ungodly beast inside me so i need to warn everyone that this post is. incomprehensible. but so is mymusic so i guess we're all used to it.

How I feel about this character:

i watched mymusic as it was airing/running/coming out specifically bc i'm a jack stannie, and as a kid melvin was my second favorite character (w scene being in first, obvs) for mostly that reason. he basically hovered around this ranking until my most recent rewatch in the summer of 2020, which was actually spurred by some events in my personal life that vaguely reminded me of scene's season two arc w jeff, and i thought it'd been a funny/nostalgic way to get my mind off things.

(i want to side note here that -- i know you didn't ask, but -- i love jeff. i have since i was a kid. like, obviously not as a person but i think he's honestly the best written character in the series, w indie close in second. idk what it says about the f*nes that their most interesting and well rounded characters are the villains, but i digress. to this day i'm salty that jeff never got added to the theme song and wasn't really included in promotional merch.)

however, in said rewatch, certain things about how he was written started to really get under my skin, and certain moments in particular have really stuck out to me in a negative way. like, for the entirety of season one and a good chunk of season two he's one person, and then he leaves mymusic and we have an entirely different person, but not in a nuanced character building sort of way.

i've said a few of these points before but i'll repeat them here regardless. at the risk of sounding like i've put on a tin-foil hat, it's my sneaking suspicion that scindie was supposed to be endgame, but since fan reception to it was pretty neutral, and scenechart stans were, at the very least, more vocal, changes were made to the intended finale, which is why in the last scene he's basically just. indie. like, if everything about the show was exactly the same but indie was the one who had ended up w scene in the end that would have made so much more sense since a) scene had a crush on indie that he/everyone knew about and b) indie was kind of a dick despite the half-assed attempts at redemption, so both combined make it slightly less weird/out-of-nowhere that he kisses her w/o her consent (since, even though like. implied consent is not real at worst and a fuzzy subject at best but you could argue that scene would want indie to kiss her); and this isn't even taking into consideration that c) melvin is heavily queer-coded in both seasons, with his friendship with nerdcore being, dare i say, homoerotic at times, and his arc about leaving the company and changing his name mirroring nerdcore's almost perfectly (with nerdcore being a character who b*nny [at least] has all but confirmed is actually gay).

i've also been on the fence about melvin's behavior in that final scene making more sense for indie's character being an intentional decision as a way of shoe-horning in a theme about the lasting effects of abuse/cycles of abuse/the corruption of power but i also don't think the f*nes are smart enough for that. however, for the sake of defending my straw theory, i also point to the scene where indie comes to visit the acid factory after melvin told him to shut up, and we see melvin use reggie as a foot-stool, going as far as to say that it feels good to do so (which, in all honesty, i think is a bit that was entirely improvised, since the f*nes were "notorious for never saying cut" [paraphrased from a bts video], but work w me here). he's also given a seltzer mug that perfectly resembles indie's kombucha mug. in these moment melvin is directly emulating the behavior of his previous abuser, purposefully or not, literal moments after being promoted to an equal position of authority, which was totally just included as a joke, but could also be argued is meant to show that he's becoming indie; or, if we acknowledge that the f*nes have no fucking clue what they're doing and were just directing like chickens with their heads cut off, it at least shows that melvin's new position of power is leading him to understand where indie was coming from, which is supported by their conversation in the finale.

the following contains a couple brief mentions of irl sexual assault so if that's something you'd like to avoid skip to the next section!

HOWEVER, that alone isn't what i have a problem with, since i think melvin is completely justified in being a dick to indie (and also reggie enthusiastically consents to being used as an ottoman so good for him i guess). the issue comes completely in how he treats scene in the scenes where the f*nes clearly thought what they were writing was super romantic. like, the fact that the only thing he's got hung on his cubicle wall is a single picture of scene taken from the fucking opening credits (like. how hard would it have been to have. literally any other photo[s] esp since there's an abundance of cute bts pics of the cast in costume that could have been put there) and him scrolling through her twitter at work really creep me out (and at the risk of oversharing the weird, like, social media stalking angle really fucks w me bc that may or may not have been the exact fucking thing i was trying to escape in rewatching mymusic in the first place). also, having him sexually assault scene as a means of comforting her after she had just been sexually assaulted in the same way by someone else was... a choice (which is also, uh, personally familiar).

again, i recognize that demonizing melvin wasn't what the f*nes were trying to do here, and i perhaps seem hypocritical for opening liking jeff, but what makes jeff work is he's intentionally "the bad guy." having melvin do the same things as indie and jeff uncritically only proves further that the f*nes can't write for shit, and ruins his character which had, up until he quit mymusic, been unironically good. like, it's obviously not beneficial that the exact asshole things he does are personally triggering, but the character would still be a mess and i would still dislike him regardless.

i want to say though that jack delivers a surprisingly great performance despite how shoddily his character is constructed and how little experience he has as an actor. like, it's clear he was having a lot of fun on set and i would love to see him in something, like, good; i think he could pull off even like, guest television roles, which is a lot more than can be said for other youtubers.

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All the people I ship romantically with this character:

nerdchart should have been canon i'm sorry. i know that close, nonromantic male friendships are valuable, esp between queer men, but also gd wouldn't it have been baller to have a canon interracial mlm ship. like. c'mon. and they could have been such a good friends to lovers story! we already got to see how melvin was the only person nerdcore could really be himself around so it would have been so cool if melvin's self-advocacy arc/flowchart arc had revolved more around nerdcore with a little role-reversal! and then they kiss! like god intended!

also i ship him and indie bc i'm a grubby little gremlin man ohoho. enemies w weird sexual tension? sign me up. not even enemies to lovers i'm not saying this one should have been canon i just love the vibes. do you think melvin and indie ever explored each other's bod-- *gunshot*

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My non-romantic OTP for this character:

i wish him and scene had just been bros. god remember in season one when they were just bros that was the life.

alternatively, i wish we'd seen more bonding w him and metal, as a means of reconciling that. uh. moment from season one. along similar lines i would have loved to see him get closer w rayna in a similar way to how she bonded w nerdcore in season two. i think that could have also worked to show how she'd grown between the two seasons.

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My unpopular opinion about this character:

HIM. AND. SCENE. SHOULD. HAVE. JUST. BEEN. BROS. (though i think my general dislike of him is pretty unpopular, lmao).

when the show was coming out i don't think it's unfair to say that scenechart/scenetern 2 was the most popular ship (aside from potentially techstep whatever) but luckily we're all gay and have better taste now. unfortunately i totally fell into this camp and scenechart was even my otp for years (until it was arguably more unfortunately usurped by reddie in 2019) and i didn't even realise that it's a hot mess until, again, the summer of 2020.

when actually watching the show the choices the f*nes made in regards to how the ship actually became canon are so odd and out of place, too? okay, so, on one hand everyone just shipped scenechart bc it was the whitest hettiest ship in the show (esp in season two when idol left) aside from scindie (and we already discussed what's wrong w that). but, on the other hand, lainey and jack clearly also just got along? and i suspect that lainey probably also admired jack's work and was happy to be working with him bc we have so many shots throughout even the first season when the ship wasn't the intended endgame of lainey scene looking really fondly at jack melvin at times when it doesn't make much sense at all, esp since she's smitten w indie? this trend continues into the second season which arguably works but it still seems really out of place for him to be the one to ultimately make the first move on her since it's clear she was the one crushing this whole time and also he's gay! this bitch is gay what the fuck!!

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One thing I wish had happened with this character in canon:

at this point i'm struggling to think of anything i haven't covered yet. oops.

i've talked at length before about how he should have been a woman/lesbian, but the tl;dr is that it would have solved a lot of the queer-coding "problems" that just didn't get resolved in the show. if he'd been a lesbian then not only would the friendship w nerdcore still made sense, but scenechart would have as well (not even mentioning that both of scene's other relationships w men make a lot of sense as comphet anyway).

#long post #this took me an hour to write i literally had to get a snack in the middle of it #mymusicshow #mymusic show #question #mlentertainment #also having a character named scene when you have to write about scenes like. in a story is an absolute bitch

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boringlibrarianthoughts · 3 years

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Destiel and the X-Files

Ok. So. We all know that obviously Supernatural has taken inspiration from the X Files. Many, many shows have. It’s one of the classics of modern television.

*long read*

In case you don’t know (somehow), it’s a sci-fi mystery horror show following two FBI agents, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, who come from different points of view and eventually become one of the great TV “ships.” The simmering, will-they-or-won’t-they tension between the two leads burned television screens for years. Years. It was always a question in viewers’ minds: will Mulder and Scully be in a relationship? Will they finally break through that tension and smooch? What would it look like when they finally get together?? OMG!

And... nothing really happened for many seasons - until an episode in season 7 entitled “all things.”

Now, it was... not what viewers were expecting. For those of you who don’t know, the episode immediately starts off with Scully getting dressed after spending the night with Mulder. No fanfare. No big love declaration. It just is. In fact, the episode in its entirety does something of a retcon: it suggests (quite heavily) that the two characters had actually been in a relationship for some time - just off screen. This was not the beginning of their relationship. Going back and watching previous seasons was different because now you knew Mulder and Scully were already together - you just didn’t see it. A later episode then suggests the two first started hooking up back in (I believe, it’s been a while) season 4. Holy heck. One of the biggest, most popular TV romances... and you don’t even see how it begins.

Now what does this have to do with Dean and Castiel’s relationship in Supernatural? A lot. Not necessarily on purpose on behalf of the writers, but parallels are definitely there.

Think about this: would it honestly be surprising if at some point you were told Dean and Cas were “involved” in some way in seasons 12, 13, 14, or 15? - And it just wasn’t shown on screen? I wouldn’t be at all. The implication is there - just as it was for Mulder and Scully. And that relationship proves you don’t have to see things with your own eyes in order for it to be true. The suggestion had been there for years with Mulder and Scully. I would actually argue the romantic tension vibes are stronger in Deancas than they ever were for Mulder/Scully (and I LOVE Mulder and Scully, don’t get me wrong).

I’m saying that it is definitely possible and logical to assume that Dean and Castiel may have “done something physically together” in seasons 12 or 13. I’m more iffy on seasons 14 and 15 because Cas then had the deal with The Empty hanging over him. And in season 15, the tension between the two was through the roof, so I doubt anything happened there.

Think about the infamous episode 12x19. That one has it all. Cas has been gone for a little while and returns to the Bunker only to have Dean be very upset-but-mostly-worried and it comes out as anger. Sam has previously acknowledged Cas as family and doesn’t respond as Dean does. Dean’s response is not a familial response. It just isn’t. Even Sam seems weirded out/concerned over how Dean responds to Cas’ return. Cas is hurt but mostly upset that he hurt Dean. Dean storms off to his room: a common romantic trope during a couple’s argument - you run off because you want your bf to follow you. When Cas knocks on his door, Dean already knows it’s him. He knows perfectly well it’s not Sam checking up on him. He went to his room specifically to make Cas chase after him, alone. This is where we get the revelation of the mixtape (this has been done to death, but remember, Led Zeppelin is the band Dean’s parents fell in love to). Dean chose this band purposefully and made the mixtape specifically for Cas.

What prompted the mixtape?

I believe Dean “took a leap” and gave it to Cas either after the whole deal with Cas killing Billie in 12x09 to save the Winchesters (Dean), or after 12x12 where Cas is dying and tells everyone “I love you (to Dean). I love all of you (to everyone else).”

Dean gave Cas the mixtape. And it’s definitely very possibly likely that this produced... more physical touching than is normal between two dudes who are just buddies. Cas then heads out on his own (a major fault of his) to figure out the problem with the pregnant Kelly. Dean is upset that Cas up and leaves and doesn’t communicate while he’s gone. Dean acts out and is hurt because he opened himself up and was vulnerable.

His response when Cas comes back to the bunker is a result of this. Again, his relationship with Cas is of a totally different nature than Sam’s relationship with Cas. It’s not just degrees of brotherly closeness - it’s literally a different kind of relationship altogether.

Then we get the whole scene with Cas trying to return the mixtape, etc. Dean and Sam are later talking about a potential plan, and Dean excitedly runs off to tell Cas about it (notice Sam’s face in that scene - what does he know about Dean and Cas? lol). The last time we saw Dean and Castiel interacting before this scene, Dean was acting like he’s still pissed. Then he’s running off like a puppy to go tell Cas about their plan? Cas, of course, isn’t there. And that’s where Dean gets upset again and complains to Sam: “He came into my room and played me.”

Hmm. What? Did something else happen between these two scenes? Is Dean just so soft for Cas he forgive him and moved on that quickly?

Could this be referring to the mixtape interaction? I guess so... but there’s nothing really “playing” about it. In fact, Cas was going to leave before Dean called him back - that’s not really a good plan for stealing the Colt: to talk to Dean and then leave the room.

Furthermore, how did Cas know where the Colt was? This whole scene is weird. Sam thought the Colt was in the safe, but Dean tells him he keeps it under his pillow, which surprises Sam.

We don’t see what happened after the mixtape scene. But we don’t need to. There’s enough suggestion to make some educated guesses. Personally? I wouldn’t be surprised at all if in this season, they either started a semi-consistent physical relationship or had a one-off that they never addressed again. If this happened, it would’ve also not included any love declarations of any kind; more just a desperate, physical need for each other. For so. many. reasons. these two dummies (affectionate) could not either figure out how they felt for each other or they weren’t able to express it.

As an aside, I think Cas wasn’t able to figure out what exactly the feelings were that he had for Dean. And Dean wasn’t able to express what he felt for Cas, but he knew how he felt.

The tension in the Dean/Cas relationship is toned down significantly in the later seasons. Why? Simply, the “thing” between them was settled in a way that was satisfactory to them both - at the time. They settled into what looks like easy domesticity: Dean didn’t have hookups season 13-15, and it’s clear he and Cas spend the majority of their time together in the bunker. Cas knows things about Dean that Sam doesn’t even know.

However, feelings have a way of rearing their ugly head, and this is the cause for the return of the tension at the end of season 14. Dean is upset, sure, but the way he lashes out at Cas (who really isn’t at fault and Dean knows it) is because Dean is once more frustrated by their relationship. He has feelings for his friend, and he doesn’t think his friend can even possibly return those feelings because his friend is not human.

All that is to say: you don’t need to be shown something on screen to know it happened. Implications and suggestions in the text are purposefully placed for you to fill in the blanks. This is a way for you to know more about the character without screen time being spent on it.

I will likely write more on this as this piece is getting a little out of hand - sorry, I meant to stick to the parallels in this one episode! And I keep getting distracted by Dean and Cas being so dumb for each other and it drives me crazy.

#spn #supernatural #spn meta #deancas #destiel #dean and cas loved each other #and they were too dumb *afffectionate*#to figure it out #ugh #mulder and scully are the best omg

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timetoresurface · 4 years

Text

secrets (4) / BBH

Y/N x CEO BAEKHYUN

5k, next part will be final

I apologize that it took me a while

PART 1 // PART 2 // PART 3 // PART 4 // PART 5

Hopping from one job to another, you really wanted to keep your position at Banking and Finance. If you would have to describe your perfect work environment, it definitely wouldn’t be at that stupid finance magazine that had the worst coffee machine in history. But hey, it did pay the bills, and that’s what everyone does, right? A perfect job doesn’t exist, right? A perfect life doesn’t exist, right? Only in cheap romantic comedies was life perfect, and you certainly weren’t in any. At least the last time you checked.

The sunlight trickled in through the blinds. Slowly, and reluctantly you uncover your face. You sit up, dragging your feet off the bed while rubbing your knuckles onto your eyes. Everything is blurry. For a second, you don’t know who or where you are. Then everything processed. You are in Baekhyun’s suite, and the thing above you is the ceiling. The thing on top of you is Baekhyun’s duvet, which smells like him. The stuff underneath you is the pillow and mattress. The item you are wearing is not yours, and you can’t recall when you dressed in an unknown oversized white t-shirt that didn’t belong to you.

The strange room was like a perfect magazine cover. You’re afraid to sit in case you wrinkle the fabric or stain it with something imaginary on your body. The white curtains are linen, the expensive kind you’re afraid to touch. There is no television, no bookshelf and the highly polished wooden floor is dark and free of dust or clutter. It didn’t look like anything Baekhyun would choose, but then again this was a hotel suite and not his personal home. The only things reminding you Baekhyun lived here were bis clothes neatly folded over the chair in the corner. The room smelled like his aftershave like he had sprinkled it everywhere before leaving.

You softly stood up, trying not to make any sound. Baekhyun wasn’t lying beside you anymore, but he could still be roaming in the other rooms. You peaked your head through the door, but there was no sign of Baekhyun anywhere. His smell lingered in the air, but there was nobody in sight. You were left all alone in his suite, without a note or a thank you. He could’ve thanked you for the amazing sex you had yesterday. He could’ve left a letter saying there was some food in the fridge, or he could’ve made you some coffee.

You quickly took a shower, trying to get rid of Baekhyun’s touch under the hot water. You felt disgusted by yourself, you felt used, but most importantly, you hated yourself for falling for his tricks. He was a player by heart, and you hated that kind of man. You might not have the best dating record here, but at least you prodded yourself for not letting a fuck-boy fuck you over. And you just let a fuck-boy fuck you over. How ironic. How tragic.

You searched for your clothes at high speed but were quickly reminded of last nights events. Baekhyun had torn your blouse with his bare hands, and there was no saving it now. You searched through his clothes and found a simple white dress shirt that could fit you. It wasn’t too big, but it was clearly not yours, and you were afraid everybody could tell. You tried to arrange the shirt in your pencil skirt to make it look more yours, but everyone would see through your efforts.

With a final glance in the mirror, you left Baekhyun’s room in a hurry. Suddenly realizing you were late for work thanks to the little guy who hadn’t woken you. You awkwardly encountered with the room cleaning lady who had a knowing look on her face. Why hadn’t he put up the sign to leave his room for today? Maybe he had sent her to get rid of you. How rude.

Luckily for you was the hotel not far from your work, and you made it in under five minutes to the entrance where the old security greeted you awkwardly.

“Good morning. I’m sorry, I’m late. I’ll talk this afternoon.” You said while running through the crowd while bumping into people. They frowned at you when you walked passed them, but you just didn’t care. You needed to know if Baekhyun was at the office, and why the hell he thought it was a good idea to leave you alone. You might not have known him for long, but he should’ve known you were going to make a big deal out of this. You weren’t a toy he could just use and discard whenever he wanted. You’re a strong independent woman, and you don’t need a man to bring you down. You could talk to that on your own.

“Hi, Y/N. You’re late again.” Sehun commented while you seated yourself at your messy desk. When were you going to clean up your life? Maybe your mess of an office was to blame for all your bad decisions?

“It’s only my second day that I’m late. What are you insinuating Oh Sehun?” You bit back, but he didn’t even flinch at your tone.

“Someone got out of bed with the wrong foot.” A teasingly smile appeared on his face, and you really wanted to knock it off his face, but that wouldn’t be considered very socially of you.

“Someone is trying to test my patience this early in the morning.” You simply stated, moving away from Sehun.

“You look like hell.”

“I still look better than you. Do I see eye bags under your eyes? Have you actually done your work for once?” You spit back, and he just kept on smiling.

“Y/N!” Your boss interrupted the silent argument you had with Sehun. He simply smiled at you, and you couldn’t hold yourself back to glare at Sehun directly behind your boss’s back. You followed your manager into his office and quietly sat in front of him. He looked questionably at your shirt but shook his head like he didn’t care why you were dressed in a men’s dress shirt. You awkwardly fiddled with your hands, scared of what your boss was going to say. Maybe Baekhyun had spilt all your secrets after he had gotten what he wanted from the start.

“Chanyeol will be visiting this afternoon, and he asked me to get you in on the project. He thinks you’re the perfect fit and would love to work with you.” Your boss smiled at you, and you couldn’t hide the shock on your face. Your boss had mentioned Chanyeol had taken a little interest in you. Still, you hadn’t anticipated for it to happen so quickly after the event.

“Oh.” Was all you could say, and your boss softly smiled.

“I know we haven’t been given you enough opportunities, and we have been wrong to do so. You have proved to be a worthy colleague who could handle the more difficult parts of this job.”

“Thank you so much. You won’t be disappointed.”

“I hope not. Please pull yourself together as Chanyeol will arrive at two. Be ready.” He ended the conversation, and you took it as your cue to leave his office. You silently grabbed your back-up make-up bag from your desk and made your way to the restroom. Your manager had said you needed to pull yourself together, and you were going to show Baekhyun you were more than an inflatable toy.

“Wild night?” Mina asked as she exited the toilet. You quickly nodded your head and continued to apply some moisturizer on your face. You wanted to use Baekhyun’s, but then you would have been reminded of his smell all day long. You just couldn’t handle anything Baekhyun related today.

“Baekhyun also looked shaken up this morning.” She told you while washing her hands roughly.

“It must be hard to be a CEO. He probably worked all night.” You tried to reason with her. You weren't sure if she was insulation anything, but you didn’t want anyone to link your look to Baekhyun this morning.

“He didn’t look tired or anything, he just looked stressed.” She explained herself more clearly this time while drying her hands.

“You’ve only seen him once, and you can already tell when he’s stressed?” You asked her in disbelief. She really was something that girl.

“Maybe not, but I did hear that his wife made a surprise visit this morning. They’re in a meeting as we speak, and Baekhyun definitely didn’t expected her to be here.”

“His wife?” You squeaked uncertainly.

“Didn’t you know that he is married? I’m not surprised though, you didn’t even know who Baekhyun was before yesterday. You should really do your research, it might come in handy later on.” She told you while leaving the room, leaving you alone with your thoughts. You were in overdrive due to her information.

“Thank you.” You softly spoke, and you didn’t know why you were thanking her. Baekhyun’s wife is here? Did he know she was going to be here too? Why did he have sex with you if his wife was going to be in our office? What was wrong with the guy?

Stop. Thinking. About. Baekhyun.

Just apply some foundation, comb those eyebrows, and try to get through the meeting with Chanyeol. After that, you can go home, and complain about your life decisions to your roommate, who had been blowing up your phone ever since seven AM. She’ll have to wait. You need to blow away those investors with your competence while wearing a male’ dress shirt that didn’t belong to you, but to your company’s CEO. You were finishing up your face when an unknown female entered the toilets. She looked absolutely gorgeous, and like the insecure little bitch you were, you were jealous. She seemed to have everything, and you’d only seen her for five whole seconds before she dived into a cubicle. Some people leave an impression. Baekhyun had the same aura surrounding him.

You didn’t pay it too much attention and continued your mental pep talk. Stop thinking about Baekhyun and keep being awesome. Nobody knows that the shirt you’re wearing is Baekhyun’s, only you do. Baekhyun himself probably won’t even recognize his own shirt.

“Oh.” The stranger said when she still saw you standing there. You looked questionably at her through the mirror. She started washing her hands while her eyes never left your form.

“Good day.” You awkwardly said after a few moments of silent eye contact.

“Nice dress shirt.” She complimented you, even though you didn’t feel like it was a helpful comment at all.

“Thank you?” You questioned her.

“Rough night?” She asked you.

“No, why?” You tried to play coy. Maybe you weren’t as good at hiding your sex glow as you thought you were.

“Looks like you didn’t make it home last night.” She snapped at you, and you didn’t know why such a stranger would be so rude.

“I just woke up too late to finish up my routine. Happens from time to time.â€ You tried to play it cooly. You weren’t going to spill your little secret to this new girl you met in a bathroom.

“Sure.” And with these words, she left you all alone. What the hell was that? What was her problem? But again, you tried not to pay too much attention. Maybe she got out of the wrong bed this morning also. You don’t know what happened to her this morning. The girl’s bathroom was no place to judge.

A good cup of free coffee would definitely lighten your lousy mood. The coffee might be terrible, but at least they gave you free coffee. You’ve heard stories from friends that they have to pay for their coffee at work. It was something Starbucks related, but still, your company should provide you with a brown beverage.

“Are you making coffee?” Someone of your floor asked you, and you simply nodded your head. You didn't even know his name, and you felt a little embarrassed. Maybe you were a bit too self-centred.

“They took away the coffee machine this morning. They said they will replace it with a newer one by tomorrow morning.” He continued when he got no response from your side.

“Oh.” Was what you finally mentioned to say. He didn’t look impressed and left you alone in the kitchen. Where was our bad coffee machine? Did Baekhyun buy a new one so you could enjoy your coffee at work? What was he up to?

“Y/N! There you are.” Mina yelled once you entered the office floor.

“Is there anything you want me to check? I’ll start right away.” You hurriedly made your way over to your desk. You had been gone for half an hour, and you didn’t want to waste any more time thinking about Baekhyun. He most definitely didn’t deserve your thoughts.

“No, yes, but that’s not important right now. Chanyeol just came in early and is already in the meeting room waiting for you.” She explained with jealous laced in her tone. Still, she said Chanyeol was waiting for you. She could’ve said nothing, and let you make a fool of yourself. Maybe she was sweet, after all?

“Oh.” Was all you could mutter while getting up from your desk.

“Make sure to not embarrass yourself.” She said emphasizing the word 'not’.

“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.” You told here while grabbing your laptop to go to the meeting room. Your heart was racing. Your palms were sweating. Would Baekhyun also be present at this meeting? Would his wife be there? So many questions fill your head, you barely missed the door to the meeting room.

You got this.

You repeated these words three times before you entered the meeting room. It was the first time you were expected to be there to really participate, and not to just bring the coffee. Just stepping in makes your breathing rapid and shallow. It’s a relief to get to your chair because between the heels and your shaking legs, you’e afraid you’ll trip.

“Look who decided to join us.â€ Chanyeol smiled, and you couldn’t help but smile back at him. He made his way over to your side and kissed your cheek, making you blush.

“I wouldn’t want to miss seeing your face.” You happily replied, and your boss smiled at the interaction. Chanyeol was a vital investor, but pure numbers and tricks don’t work with him. You need to become his friend, and somehow you’ve managed to spark an interest.

Chanyeol chuckled lowly and made his way to his chair. You finally had the chance to glance around the room. Everyone was seated around the table with their laptops taken out. You didn’t know half of the people in the room, but it didn’t really matter as your eyes immediately locked with Baekhyun. He was seated at the head of the table. He wore a dark blue suit, and his hair was pushed back. He looked like a snack, and you hated yourself for being so weak.

“This Y/N I told you about. She was at our last event and blew everyone away.” Chanyeol demanded your attention. It wasn’t that hard as Baekhyun was avoiding your eyes now. He shrunk a little in his seat, and you almost felt bad for him.

“Chanyeol can’t stop talking about you. You must have left a great impression.” Someone said, while entering the meeting room. You turned your head and were greeted with the sight of the lady from the awkward bathroom conversation.

“His brunch most definitely left a great impression on me.â” You told her with half a smile. She kept walking over to Baekhyun, and she took the seat next to him. Baekhyun didn’t look at you, or at the woman next to him, and suddenly it clicked. That must be his wife. The wife you met in the bathroom while wearing Baekhyun’s shirt. The wife that somehow wasn’t his wife anymore, according to his words last night.

“Baby, why are you so quiet?” She asked Baekhyun silently, and everyone removed their attention from the two, giving them a bit of privacy in a serious meeting. You had no clue as to why she was supposed to be present for this. Last time you checked she didn’t work for this company.

“So Y/N, we do need your help.” Chanyeol began speaking, ignoring the presence of Baekhyun and his wife. He looked annoyed.

“I’m all ears.” You told him earnestly. You were really excited to start up a project of your own. Maybe you were allowed to write something, and it would be published. That would be the dream.

“We need someone’s opinion of who is fresh. Someone who hasn’t changed into a walking banking dictionary.” Chanyeol started, and you remained still. “We would like the magazine to be a little bit more approachable, as our brand doesn’t fit with the stuck-up shit it is now.” His words left you speechless, but you tried to hide your surprise.

“You’ve managed to stun most banking people at my event with your honesty, and if I’m honest, I really like your view on the banking world.” Chanyeol continued quickly after noticing your expression. He smiled softly at you, and you couldn’t help but the smile back at him. Chanyeol was a handsome, tall guy who had seemed to have taken an interest in you. Who could really blame you?

“I’m glad you enjoyed Y/N’s presence at the event, but what would you like her to do?” Baekhyun suddenly spoke up, breaking the eye contact you had with Chanyeol.

“I’m glad you ask. I thought to do a weekly column, and maybe add some social media while we’re at it. Nobody buys paper magazine’s anymore, everything is on social media. I think we should focus more on being approachable than our content right now.”

“And who are you to decide what direction Banking and Finance should take?” Baekhyun asked him firmly, but Chanyeol didn’t really seem to care. His smile grew even more significant than before if that was possible. He knew what kind of power he had over Banking and Finance as his dad was the biggest investor in the company. Investors are what keeps our magazine going, so he was actually the perfect person to stir the wheel.

“Last time I checked you agreed, and that’s why you’re here. I thought you were just as impressed by Y/N as I was.” Chanyeol announced, and you could see Baekhyun’s wife snapping her head up.

"Maybe we should ask Y/N if she agrees to your plan?” Baekhyun’s wife suddenly spoke up, making all heads turn to her direction. Everyone except Baekhyun, he seemed to ignore her every move. You thought he said they were over, but you don’t think she already got the memo. The more you thought about it, it seemed he only mentioned it to you. You hadn’t decided how that made you feel.

“I think the world needs a bit of help regarding finance subjects. Before I started working here, I didn’t know a thing, but I’m feeling more confident about my capability in the banking world. At least I know what they’re talking about. I would love to be a translator and teach people the basics.” You confidently stated while maintained eye contact with Baekhyun’s wife who didn’t really look impressed. You really needed to learn her name.

“And you think you’re capable of doing so?” She questioned you sceptically, looking you up and down like you were the most disgusting thing in the world. Suddenly Baekhyun’s shirt weighed down on your body, and you felt yourself becoming smaller. The anxiety she stirred awake, sits below your smile and your actions. You felt over-caffeinated but without the option to drink a cup of your liquid luck.

“I'm the most capable person in here, but nothing is set in stone.” You tried to hide your blushing cheeks and sweating palms. Now was not the time to show your weaknesses, and most definitely not in front of Baekhyun and his wife.

“I completely agree. Y/N would do a great job, but we are nowhere further than just an idea. We still have to discuss things with possible other investors if they agree, and create a plan before we present this to the outside.” Chanyeol said, making everyone turn their attention back to him, and you softly smiled at him. Thanking him with showing him your teeth. Baekhyun noticed.

“Give me a plan by next week before I agree.” He declared confidently while his eyes never left your frame. You felt naked under his stare, and a short memory of last night flashed before your eyes. How he had torn your blouse in one go as he was to impatient to undo all the buttons one by one. He really described him perfectly. He always got what he wanted, and he didn’t want to wait.

“Y/N and I are going to spend a lot of time this week with such a short deadline.” Chanyeol chuckled, but you didn’t mind to spend some more time with him. He seemed like a genuinely good person who liked brunches just a little bit too much. There were worse people to spend late nights with. Baekhyun noticed your sparked enthusiasm, and his fake smile faltered for a second.

“Next Tuesday. Same time. Same place.” Baekhyun stated before making his way out of the meeting room. You finally let go of your breath you didn’t know you were holding in.

“That’s it for today. Y/N, I have a dinner meeting today, but as from tomorrow morning I’m all free to get this project started.” Chanyeol told you while making his way over to your side of the table. He seated himself on the table next to your hands, towering over you.

“That would be great. I can not wait to work with you.” You told him enthusiastically, and the both of you were smiling like idiots.

“Likewise. Can I maybe have your number?” Chanyeol asked you softly, and you almost melted under his intense gaze. It was not the same look as Baekhyun, it didn’t make your insides stir, but it felt good to be appreciated. Something Baekhyun had forgotten somewhere along the way. But could you really blame him? You had only met him this weekend and he might have turned your life upside down with a couple of secretive glances.You were nothing more than someone who worked for him who fell into his trap he had so beautifully placed.

“I have to go now, but please do call me tomorrow morning.” You told him after you had given him your number. You felt his gaze on you while you exited the room, but you really needed to get out. You just wanted to get absorbed in your work and forget about the past 24 hours.

You ignored your other colleagues and went straight to work. The new coffee machine was already set in place, but you didn’t want to drink from it. If Baekhyun had installed a new one because he knew about your secret hate, you didn’t want to take a sip. What else would he do with you other secrets? You didn’t want him to change anything because it made you feel weak. It made you feel naked, and Baekhyun had your clothes. He was holding onto them with a smirk on his face, or that’s how you imagined it to be.

“I’m out.” Sehun declared when the clock stroke five, and you immediately followed after him. You were going to work overtime for the rest of the week, and possible weekend. You deserved an early night in with your roommate. Who would be fuming because you hadn’t contacted her at all today? You had texted her you were fine and that you would discuss the details tonight, but knowing her, that wasn’t going to be enough.

“Where have you been?” Jennie asked the moment you entered your shared apartment.

“Can I please change into something more comfortable before you grill me?” You asked her, desperation clearly heard in your voice. She didn’t give up, though.

“What in hell are you wearing? Is that a man’s shirt?” She exclaimed loudly, making you cover yourself up. You had momentarily forgotten about Baekhyun’s shirt. It was beautiful and comfortable and still smelled a little like him. You hated the fact that you loved is smell so much.

“All in time.” You told her while trying to make your way to your bedroom. You really just needed to escape her.

“Now’s the time.” She told you firmly while guiding you toward the orange sofa in your living room. You took the shirt out of your skirt and kicked your heels very far away.

“Ok.” You said while crossing your legs.

“From the start.” She told you with a glare, and you couldn’t help but agree to her wishes. Jennie was a firm young lady, and she didn’t take no as an answer.

“It actually all started this weekend.” And that’s how you explained the whole situation to your best friend. She had opened a bottle of wine, which made telling a bit more fun to do so. She nodded her head at the right time and asked the right questions. After you were done explaining, she remained quiet, which was a nice contrast to her past behaviour.

“Do you like him?” She suddenly asked you. She was seriously questioning if you liked your boss. You weren’t an idiot. You didn’t want him like that because you didn’t really know him. But the physical attraction was something that couldn’t be ignored when the two of you were together.

“No, of course not. He’s my boss.”

“But you’re not the type to randomly have sex with someone.” She said while holding your hand. Why was she holding your hand? It’s not like your heart was broken.

“Maybe I’ve changed.” You told her while taking your hand out of hers. You didn’t need her pity.

“You could have chosen someone else to pop your one night stand cherry with, though.” She reasoned with you, and god did you hate it when people reasoned with you.

“That’s up to me, I guess.”

“That’s true. So, what are you going to do? He’s going to be there all week? And with his wife?” Her eyes lit up like when she was watching sex and the city, and you did feel like you were in the middle of a drama you were not even supposed to be in.

“Luckily for me, Chanyeol has started this project at the right time. I won’t be having any free time at work for a week. If I’m fortunate, I won’t have to see Baekhyun until our meeting next week.” You confidently told her, but she looked strangely at you.

“From what you’ve told me about Baekhyun, I don’t think he’ll wait until next week.” She simply stated.

“He’s gotten what he wanted. There is no need to return his attention to me.” You softly explained to her, and you hated it that you sounded weak.

“He did get you a new coffee machine.” She reassured you, but you didn’t need the false hope only a friend can give you.

“That’s coincidental.” You muttered under your breath.

“Whatever.” She said before leaving to her room. It was already past nine, and it was time to get ready for bed. You quickly took off Baekhyun’s shirt, and you wondered if you should give it back to him. Maybe you could keep it, but that would be weird. But it would also be strange if you suddenly gave a shirt to your CEO. What were you going to do now?

@shesdreaminginoverdose

#exowritersnet #baekhyun fic #baekhyun fanfic #baekhyun fluff #byun baekhyun #baekhyun #exo #exo fic #exo fanfic #exo fan fiction #fanfiction #fan fiction #fanfic #Byun Baekhyun fanfic #Byun Baekhyun fic

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ajokeformur-ray · 4 years

Note

Hey, I'd like to request a matchup with Arthur if that's ok for you :3 I'm 5"5, brown hair, green eyes, a tiny bit plump bc of my hips amd curves, I LOVE old movies and music (everything from Frank Sinatra, Led Zeppelin, Beatles, The Who etc.) and I love dancing and feeling the music. I spend my free time mostly with reading and cooking (it brings me immense joy to care for and pamper my loved ones). I'm pretty introverted, but can get quiet lively around the right people :)

Hi, darling! That’s more than okay with me, omg I hope that you enjoy this, my love!💙

Total wc: 2,393.

Arthur // wc: 1, 100.

There is a three inch height difference between yourself and Arthur and he adores ducking his head to kiss the crown of your head, his nose nuzzling into the dark strands to inhale you at your most natural. His nose is filled with your scent and long after he says goodbye or good night to you, you keep him company. Sometimes when he thinks that you’re not real, so twisted and tormented is his mind, your scent proves him wrong. His imagination has never been that vivid for so long a stretch of time, so consistently is your scent with him. It’s saturated into his clothing, embedded in his mind. Arthur adores looking into your green eyes, and when he cups your face in his hands, his fingers spread wide behind your ears so that he can touch as much of you as he possibly can in the same moment, he likes to press his forehead against yours. He is home. You are curvy and Arthur cherishes you; he likes to have his hand on your hips when you cook; his sharp chin resting on the curve of your shoulder. His thin lips, cool to the touch, press reverent kisses to your neck as he watches you and just indulges in this moment of closeness and of domesticity; this moment and you are everything he has ever wanted or needed and he hardly dares to believe what is so very clearly right in front of him. Arthur loves you for all of you and that will never be any different.

If there’s one thing which you and Arthur have in common, it’s your love of old movies and music. The first time Arthur came home from a long gruelling shift at Ha-Ha’s to see you dancing and feeling music in the living room, he was breathless and utterly captivated by the way you moved your body to the music. You were just like him. Arthur had thought that he couldn’t fall any deeper in love with you, but in that moment had he been proven wrong. And, oh, how right being wrong felt in this moment! You communicate with each other through music. Most often does Arthur not know how he feels and all he has to do is select a relevant song and you can pick up on his mood relatively easily; you’re both so intuitive and emotionally intelligent and you can both feel the arts you surround yourselves with. When Arthur comes home from work to see you dancing, your eyes closed to better feel the music and allow it to guide your body, he cannot help spinning you around the small cramped space of the living room; he cherishes every moment he gets with you. With you, he feels like he’s living in those old films he loves so much. During the rare evenings when both of you are off and you have the time to yourselves, the both of you watch old films (most of which you both enjoy so there is never any trouble to pick a film, and even if there is, Arthur will deliberately pick the one you want to watch; it’s another way in which he shows affection) and you cuddle together on the worn sofa.

It brings you immense joy to comfort and pamper your loved ones and this is something else which you have in common with Arthur. He likes to spread joy and laughter to this cold, dark world and in this way you both bring light and warmth to all who cross your path. Most especially is this true for one another, though, for in simply being yourselves every day do you look after and take care of each other. Arthur is your greatest priority, and you are his greatest priority. You are made for each other! Arthur really enjoys hearing of ways you have helped someone else or of ways you have taken care of someone, and he most often says, “awh, that’s sweet” when you want to focus on him. Sometimes he hardly dares to even believe that you’re real; you’re too good to be true and with you does he find everything he has ever wanted or needed in his entire life, let alone in one person. You comfort each other with just your respective presences in the apartment; and if one of you is home then the other one is too. Home isn’t necessarily a place, but it’s definitely a person. You like to read and cook in your spare time and this simple domesticity is everything that Arthur has ever dreamed of. You are his one and only person who understands him, and finally, after almost thirty six years of yearning, does he have his own space, but not all alone. You are his entire life and every time you take care of him, Arthur returns the favour tenfold. He would be nothing and no one without you, but with you, why, he has it all.

The both of you are introverts and you spend lots of time together when neither of you has anything to do, when at last has the day been put away and reality is set aside for a few precious hours. The contrast between who you are around people you don’t know and how you are around people you do know takes Arthur by surprise when first does he see you interact with the right person. He longs to be one of those people and he doesn’t have to wait long before dream becomes reality in this respect. Actually, Arthur is pretty sure that you are his dream; there can be no other explanation for how perfect you are and how much he loves you. If there is another explanation, then Arthur doesn’t want to hear it. He only wants you as you are in any given moment; you’re perfect. As the weeks turn to months, Arthur is gifted with coming to see your truest self. This inspires him to relax around you in kind, and the two of you lead one another into the relationship you have now. You are his entire life and Arthur will spend the rest of his time on Earth showing this to you. Never will you doubt even second that he doesn’t love you, just as he will never doubt your love for him, for your voice is louder than his demons; their power diminishes in your presence and never does he want to spend even a single day without you now that he knows what life with you is really like.

Joker // wc: 1, 293.

That three inch height difference is still something which Joker adores. It’s not a big difference in height and it’s not even something which means anything to anyone but Joker, but it still means that Joker can kiss the top of your head whenever he so chooses. Just one easy duck of his head and the red greasepaint which adorns his lips is sticky enough to linger long after he’s raised his head with a smug grin. Joker loves to leave his mark on you in this way. By this time in your relationship, Joker knows that you are real and he no longer doubts it, though he is still a victim of the worries which plague his mind. Even just the thought of you is enough to keep Joker company when he’s out werewolfing in the dirty and filthy streets of Gotham, and he always hurries home to you, wanting more time with his one and only person. Joker would know you anywhere and when he smells remnants of your presence around him, even if it’s just a slight hint coming off of his crimson blazer when the wind blows just right, Joker knows that he is home. Home is not a place, it’s you. He feels more at ease, more peaceful, with you in his life and though he wouldn’t wish his almost thirty six years of suffering on anyone, he would do it all again if it meant that he would have you once more. When first did Joker swan in to apartment 8J after he had murdered Murray Franklin live on national television, he felt out of place, like he was participating in a life which was no longer his, a life which no longer fit, but one look into your green eyes, those eyes which were his own and yet so different, and Joker knew that he was right where he needed to be. Your roles reversed as in that moment did you reach out and cup Joker’s face in your hands, your fingers splayed in those dark green romantic waves, and you pressed a kiss to his painted forehead. Your eyes met his own, you welcomed him home and you accepted him all in the same moment, and Joker’s knees would have given out had you not already been holding him. ALl he could think of in that moment was that he was right where he was needed, wanted, and loved.

One thing is for sure and that is that Joker has music in his soul. He dances to the beat of his own heart and your love for him is the track which accompanies this beat. You flow through his veins so strongly and when Joker is unable to fully express himself, he tells you that you are the music in him. You bond over Sinatra and his music is the one which the two of you dance to often. No matter what happens or what mood either of you are in, you have songs to connect to on their own and you have songs to connect with each other. Your dances are instinctive and while neither of you are professionally trained dancers, you don’t need to be. You can feel the music like it’s part of you and in this way are you more intuitive. The song you are listening to becomes you for its duration and you live within music, while most others only listen to it. Joker adores having you in his arms and he loves to spin you out and to pull you back in with a kiss which steals the very breath from your lungs and he replaces it with his own; you breathe life into each other literally and metaphorically in these moments and neither of you would ever have it any other way. Joker feels more alive with you than he has ever felt and he knows that you are his first and his only love. When most others have turned their faces away from unknown, unseen Arthur Fleck and muted his song without even bothering to listen to it, you stopped to listen and to learn it as well as you know your own song and you know deep within your core that never again do you ever want to hear another song. You wish to sink into his refrains and to never resurface. You are home.

You spend your free time reading and cooking and Joker finds that the familiarity of you and your hobbies calms his racing heart faster than anything else. Whenever he comes home from the grimy and filthy streets of Gotham, he already knows even before he's through the door that he will find you on the worn sofa reading; your legs tucked up underneath you. Joker has never been so loved and so well looked after in all of his thirty five years than he has in the months that he's been with you. It brings you lots of joy to take care of your loved ones and Joker loves the way that you love him. He makes sure to love you just as strongly and just as deeply, for reciprocity is his largest concern. Never, for even a moment, does Joker allow you to question his love for you. Daily does he love on you so hard that the thought never crosses your mind and that's just how he prefers it. You're such a wonderful person and Joker really admires the way that you take care of other people. He likes to sit back and watch you and he will only ever step in if you neglected yourself for the sake of others; this includes himself. He makes sure that he tells you every day that he loves you and that he's proud of you. You're the kind of person that he thinks everyone should be like and somewhere deep within his soul does Joker know that never again will he love another; you're his one and only for now and forever. But not even until death do you part for his love for you goes beyond that.

By this stage in your relationship, you and Joker know each other like the backs of your hands. Joker knows how you are around the right people and every time he thinks he can't love you any more, he's proven wrong when he sees you chatting lively to someone across the other side of the room; he marvels at your confidence. His own confidence is as much of a disguise as his face paint, but your confidence comes naturally to you when you're able to vibe with the right people and Joker wonders how you do it. You’re a mystery to him sometimes but he loves you all the more for the way you so naturally are yourself even with everything you’ve ever been through. You’re so strong and brave in yourself. He loves you so much he could choke on it sometimes and quiet evenings with you is something that he cherishes. Joker likes to read his old government issue battered brown journal while you read beside him, the two of you cuddling and quietly talking the evening away. You are his one and only person who understands him and finally is someone in his space but no longer was here all alone. You are the beginning of his forever, and he is the beginning of your forever. Joker is utterly devoted to you and his life is in your hands, just as your life is in his hands, and the two of you are finally home. You’re so in love that it hurts, but meeting him was the best thing which ever happened to you and Joker echoes that same sentiment.

#dreamingmaria #arthur fleck #arthur fleck matchup #joker #joker matchup #joker 2019 #joker 2019 matchup #please note im not accepting requests for these #im clearing out my drafts #dont send any in bc i'll delete them

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blarhiv · 5 years

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Pre-Debut Fan on Shipping and KM

Guys,one wonderful Anonnie decided to bless us with so well written article.So,please,read it <3

Anonnie,thank you for sharing with us your thoughts!

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BE WARNED VERY LONG SHIPPING/KM POST AHEAD!!!!

First of all, I just want to clarify that I’m a KM supporter. By my current understanding and my own personal definition, this is to say that that while I believe in the possibility of these two individuals being in a real-life relationship, I am at peace with the reality that it is also conceivable that they are merely very close, wonderful friends. I will get to KM a bit later, but I first want to go through some general commentary on the statement of the fandom in regards to shipping first. I’ve tried to be as respectful as I could and so, things have gotten quite lengthy indeed.

PART 1: Shipping and Fandoms

Shipping Wars

My first point of major contention lies in shipping wars—in quick and easy summation, I truly really fail to understand shipping wars.

It doesn’t quite make sense to me that there are individuals warring over which ship is real when, no one in the band has ever confirmed a heterosexual relationship, never mind an in-band relationship. So, why fight about it when we can enjoy the lovely bonds between human beings and celebrate good, ostensibly healthy relationships?

If shippers were really into their “ship” (for lack of better terminology) for the bond between those two people, I feel that it is imperative to acknowledge what complete injustice one is doing by participating in something so meaningless and hateful as shipping wars.(Now, despite my refusal to get involved in shipping wars, I do empathize and understand those combating the wretched comments and criticisms these toxic individuals in the fandom say about undeserving band members. But I still do implore people not to argue over with some of these hyper-volatile, toxic individuals about why their perspective is inherently flawed because these people are highly unlikely to entertain a healthy, open discourse about a difference in opinions.)

And at the point where shippers are determined to evince the realness of their ship, I think their intentions are automatically highly suspect.

Why?

If one is truly trying to celebrate the connection, the supposed love, and the affection of said ship, there absolutely shouldn’t be a pressing need or compulsion to prove others wrong for not sharing the same perspective as yours.

At that point, it becomes less about a celebration of love and more about selfish gratification—whatever it is that may be incentivizing said shipper (And there are, unfortunately, a plethora of self-serving reasons people ship which are not limited to the fetishization of gays/Asians, the determination not to have their dreams of being with a band member to be shattered by their significant other being a female, the egotistical compulsion of needing to be “right”, etc.). And if one is shipping with the genuine intentions of supporting a potentially LGBTQ band member or generally supporting two humans demonstrating great love (whether it presents itself in a platonic or romantic expression), it needn’t matter what the label or status of that relationship is.

So, if one is supporting with selfless intentions and a sincere desire to see members happy, there’s no point of arguing about the “realness” of a ship because at the end of the day, all the ships in the band are real—because they all have honest, genuine relationships with one another as friends. Shipping Real People

This is also a highly controversial subject and I believe it is mainly due to the lack of boundaries people have set in place when they participate in shipping real people.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with real people ships—but only under great constraints and self-monitoring. Most people who ship real people do so because human beings are naturally drawn to and attracted to love—that is to say, people love love. That’s why people enjoy romantic movies and relationships between characters on television shows. That’s why writers like to write about love and photographers take pictures of things and people they love.

However, the problem lies in people who take liberties with how seriously they can invest into a real person ship or how entitled they begin to feel towards someone else’s life.

This is where para-social relationships come into place—through the use of social media, fans are given ultra personal ways to interact with celebrities causing them to believe that they’re connected to their idols despite the reality that it is a one-way relationship. These celebrities do not know you—and therefore, they owe you absolutely nothing in regard to their personal life. And so, I absolutely do not condone writing or tagging or demanding things from any real-life ship (ie. VLives, Twitters, fan meets, InstaLives, etc.) where one could be causing the human being distress or pressure. They are, at the end of the day, real people with real feelings and real lives—and we, as fans or spectators at best, are simply entitled to no components of their life.

I think there are instances that you can comment on a celebrity’s life and have it be a perfectly innocuous encounter. For example, it’s quite alright to appreciate and feel second-hand joy at seeing two people whom one respects and follows as a fan looking happy with their potential partners (as in the case of KM) or commenting supportively on a confirmed real-life couple’s Instagram photos (Justin and Hailey Bieber, Michelle and Barak Obama, Hyuna and E’Dawn, Cara Delevine and Ashley Benson, etc.). Feeling joy at seeing someone else happy or commenting something cute and chill on a real-life couple’s picture doesn’t cost anything nor does it harm anyone. But if you, as a fan, begin to demand things from said people if the real life couple breaks up (Justin Bieber-Selena Gomez, Cole Sprouse-Lili Reinhart, etc.) or you hate the real significant other after one half of a popular ship is revealed to be dating someone else (Zendaya-Tom Holland-anonymous girlfriend), that’s when you’ve got a real problem and you need to reassess what you’re doing. If you are going to ship a real-life ship, do it sensitively—don’t personally bother these people with your unsolicited advice and woes, they don’t care about your ships, they just want to live their lives.

Fetishization and Homophobia

Another deeply problematic that comes with the shipping territory is the fetishization.

There are, unfortunately, many fans that like the idea of a real ship right up until the point there’s a possibility where the members might actually be part of the LGBTQ community. It’s sexy and sensual, a “guilty pleasure”, to imagine the idea of gays, but the actual concept of homosexuality as a real part of someone’s identity is somehow unacceptable to many fans. This is definitely a problem in the Asian music industry.

While girls fawn over the boy-boy interactions on stage, these same young women are equally likely to be disgusted by the existence of actual homosexual men trying to celebrate their love on the streets—and the KPop industry feeds into this by via methods like encouraging fan service between members or the Pepero game.

This is deeply disheartening as there are, without doubt, LGBTQ members in this industry—we may not know them by name or face (aside from Holland), but they certainly do exist. And how sad is it to imagine that the closest to acceptance these human beings will ever attain for their sexual preferences is on stage for the gratification of fans who won’t even support them if they actually come out? If you only enjoy same-sex interactions on stage, feeling repulsion or deterrence in supporting a gay or lesbian idol based on their sexual preferences, you probably have some soul searching to do.

Another thing I’ve noticed is the tendency of same-sex shippers to modify a harmless interaction between members as they make jokes or innuendos that splatter a hue of raw sexual essence onto the moment—this is, in part, some fetishization. We should try to avoid this as gay men are trying to escape the sexualized view a large majority of people have about them.

And KMers are guilty of this—after all, sometimes when a boy says he wants to do his laundry, he really just wants to do his laundry.

So, this is something else to keep in mind.

General Homophobia

How many times have bloggers received comments about how X members can’t be gay or how if X is gay that the anon can’t be a fan of that person anymore? I’ve definitely read several too many in my time and these are all exemplifying comments of people who house internal homophobia.

Unfortunately, the need to explicitly state and prove homosexuality will always be a symptom of the heteronormativity of most societies—and I do understand why it happens and it’s not always a malicious assumption.

What I peacefully and regretfully do not understand are aggressive fans who flagrantly deny the possibility of any other sexuality aside from being straight—these instances really make me suspect these are mainly female fans that can’t stomach the possibility of their idols not being into their gender or are straight up homophobic without any other reason. (That being said, I also don’t encourage any same-sex shippers/supporters to make assumptions about sexualities either. It’s fine to support and to suspect the possibility of a same-sex relationship, but there should always be that margin for error since none of these idols are definitively out.)

Conclusion to General Shipping

TLDR; my basic point in the first part of this ridiculous essay is that, we should really all respect one another as members of a single fandom. And beyond that, we should all respect the people whom we are shipping, taking great care and using our sensibilities to ensure we aren’t making real people uncomfortable.

PART 2: KM

History as a Fan of BTS

So, I just want to clarify that I am a pre-debut BTS fan. I literally read about JM and JK a couple days before they were due to debut and as a huge hip-hop fan, I was immediately interested in their concept. I instantly fell in love with JM’s voice and JK’s multi-faceted talents (and live vocal skills)—that is to say, I was most interested in these two members from the very beginning. As of recent days, I have detached myself from the fandom, preferring to keep a great distance away due to the toxicity and negativity I’ve unfortunately been privy to as the fan base grows bigger and bigger—and it really does make me incredibly sad. I’ve always been into BTS for the music—they were what I listened to bussing up to school as I admired the Cyphers by the rap-line, the gorgeous fluidity of JM’s melodic voice, the deep resonance of TH’s voice, and JK’s talents as a quality, consistent singer despite his age.

And now, sometimes the ship wars and solo stans are louder than the positive members in this community. Luckily, I’ve found a small niche of BTS blogs and KM blogs that have made this experience a lot easier (for KM blogs, many thanks to people like blarhiv, slowlybutobvious-jikook, gaja-aegiya-gaja, chaotic-jikook, singwriteluv, jiminkoo, etc.)

Shipping as a Whole

Now, as for the shipping component. I want to clarify I’m a very selective real-person shipper—I don’t look for mere skin ship or overt proclamations of love or popularity of ship.

Of course, these are initially the easiest features to discern a shippable “ship”, but I’m well practiced in the KPop industry and know these factors between members are virtually useless in discerning romantic interest.

On top of being a selective shipper, I also think it’s safe to say I’m pretty respectful about shipping as I always try to maintain reasonable skepticism and I’ve never commented anything about shipping on any forum that could make the involved individual uncomfortable. With all that being said, the beginning of BTS, I did not see ANY SHIPS that I could’ve deemed suspicious enough to be considered real. They were all just young kids that were trying to pave their path to success and just boys messing around on their early television appearances whilst trying to promote their albums.

And even when YM and TK began to gain traction as the fandom’s decidedly largest ships with some believing them to be “real”, I still didn’t see it—and this is said with utmost respect to their closeness and respect for one another as teammates, colleagues, and close friends.

Undoubtedly, their interactions were playful and adorable, but there was nothing in how they interacted to rouse any suspicions whatsoever. I would view their interactions as commonplace as any other men in regular friendships—with their culture and their age and their jobs in consideration. Again, I never understood people who truly believed in the validity of these ships.

Now, to be fair, I have, of course, also participated in casually shipping a few members for fun too. For example, I thought Sope was cute and I was drawn to VM’s friendship as well—JM and TH were so ridiculously cute and close, it was nearly impossible not to casually ship them. In the earlier years, since I believed there to be no "real" ships, I was on board with other casual shippers but was greatly confused by those who believed the big three ships (YM, NJ, and TK) were actually real.

My View on Early KM

I first started tuning into KM when I saw a particular Bomb clip of JM and JK messing around with a phone app where their voices were autotuned. Whilst JM was laughing, JK just had his face crinkled up with the softest look on his face. I was like, “huh”—but it definitely wasn’t enough for me to begin thinking it could be real.

Since it was one isolated incident, caught directly on camera, it wasn’t nearly enough evidence to make any logical inferences. At that point, I’d just be jumping onto the train of delusion. While on the subject of early KM, I also want to take this opportunity to quickly give my take on this malicious narrative that JK doesn’t like JM—as a pre-debut fan, I’ve never bought into this.

Between JK’s self-proclaimed shyness towards JM’s unadulterated fondness for him, JK’s proclivities to drop honorifics on camera even from the beginning, JK telling JM he teases his hyung because he likes him—I was almost flabbergasted when I first caught inklings of it.

This is such an outrageous vilification and outright character assassination of a young kid in his teens who didn’t know how to deal with his hyung’s affections, despite having always confirmed and reassured JM that he does, in fact, like him.

The fact that so-called fans to this day still try to drive this narrative despite the fact that JK has set fire and gasoline to this toxic roller coaster ride of lies and delusions is actually unfathomable to me. Never mind the exact type of relationship KM have, it’s just so distinguishably clear that JK really, really likes JM judging by the amount of time they spend together and how beautiful JK’s smile is when he’s around JM.

The Shift

Essentially, I casually shipped Sope, VM, and KM at some point—they were my favourites to see interact and I was always cooing over how adorable their bonds were with one another. And if I’m being frank, I was especially partial to the latter two ships because of how attentive and caring JM is to his younger members.

JM’s kindness has always touched my heart.

I find JM’s interactions with people the most fascinating based off the fact that he is just an enthralling, ethereal human being with this gorgeous voice and enormous heart—and for that, he was my very favourite member always.

But, of course, I am a KM supporter.How did this happen?

Well, my eyes nearly bugged out of my head at the infamous back hug at 2015 KBS Music Festival—especially since it was JK being so unusually expressive and forward with his affection. But perhaps this was a cultural thing? I definitely felt some cognitive dissonance as I tried to explain the strange, almost romantic aura of the moment using logic despite sensing that this string of reasoning didn’t sit quite right with me. But again, one isolated incident is a whole lot of nothing in the world of skin ship and KPop.

But as we all know, at this point, we got see KM get closer and see their relationship develop and I was really all for it as I was incredibly pleased by that personal growth in JK as a maturing adult and the joy it conversely seemed to bring JM with this newly matured JK.

JK’s Development

A large part of my transition over from casual to serious “shipper” is actually because of JK. I’ve always viewed him as a talented individual, as aforementioned, but other than that there was certainly other larger personalities that caught my eye quicker—between JM’s big heart, JH’s enormous personality, and TH’s quirks, he was definitely quietly existing in the background when he wasn’t performing. But he really just grew into himself and I think any fan can see that.

There’s all the general ways he grew up, his physique and his facial structure and his height, but more than anything my heart softened immensely when I began to see what a beautiful soul this boy had always had. I’m not saying that he’s not without flaws—because another a huge problem in the industry is the fans’ tendency to idealize their idols past the mortal realm of making mistakes or having character flaws—but anyone can see he’s clearly matured.

The way he treats JM only gets better and better with each year.

And I genuinely don’t feel that it’s delusional to say the way that he treats JM is vastly different from any other member. He is kind-hearted with a dreamy view on the world and he’s good to his hyungs after everything they’ve done for him when he’d been a child, but he’s that in tenfold around JM. To say he doesn’t play favourites when JM’s involved is being willfully ignorant because there’re so many recent examples alone (the way he splashes water on SJ vs. JM, the way he roughhouses other members vs. JM, the way he gives JM a big pancake because of an impending punishment vs. SJ in same predicament, the attentive way he watches JM in interviews over other members, the way he monitors JM's health via food and drink, etc.).

I also want to mention as a disclaimer that these comparisons aren’t made in any type of malicious way or with the intent of discrediting relationships between JK and other members. It’s simply instrumental in understanding why such a large population of non-shippers have been drawn to KM as a potential real pairing versus any other pairing. If everyone stopped inserting their own captions and interpretations of JK’s actions and only had the source material in front of them, no misleading historical content to waylay new fans with a tired and counterfeit narrative, it’s pretty clear that JK displays incredible fondness and tenderness towards JM in a conspicuous manner.

It doesn’t make his relationships with the others any less, it just makes his relationship with JM just that little bit more. It’s not about putting down or undermining the other relationships, it’s just about acknowledging the reality of JK’s obvious magnetism towards JM. If a fan really cares for JK, it’s almost cruel to disregard the fact that his face lights up when he’s with JM (WeVerse picture, JM punching him on the shoulder, FaceTime picture, VLive, etc.) and his voice softens when he speaks to JM (Run episode with JK slating, Run episode playing palm game, Run episode asking JM if he’s ready, etc.).

These examples aren’t delusions, it’s reality—the evidence are quite literally in photographs or videos. As a longtime fan, I honestly and sincerely mean this—JK has become a handsome man in my eyes not because of his appearance (though he’s undeniably good-looking) but because of the way he treats JM and others he cares for. As the years pass by, his heart and soul has become more and more beautiful in my eyes. I can’t attribute it fully to JM, but I can certainly say that my heart melts when I see his interactions with JM—not because I am a shipper/supporter but because as an empathetic human, I am viscerally drawn to humans with kindness in their hearts. The man treats JM so, so well. I know I keep repeating this but it’s just a grave injustice to ignore how much JK cares for JM. Never mind your projected desires and your biases, just look at what’s in front of you and just appreciate that enviable, lovely bond. Even if people will choose to disregard romantic overtones in GCFt or the meaningful lyrics during the times JM shows up in GCFsai or the fact he has the most screen time overall (which is fine), it'd be prudent to at least acknowledge the fact that JM is incredibly treasured by this young man.

JMs Shift

Another thing that made me suspicious was the transition of JM’s behavior as well.

I find it harder to read JM than JK in many ways—perhaps it’s just an introvert relating with follow introvert—but there are differences in his behavior that also made me question things as well.

It’s obvious that JM used to be a little much for shy, introverted JK in front of the camera and that that behavior tapered off as the years went by. I do think a large part of it is due to JM growing up (although I do suspect some part might be due to vicious fans who might’ve hurt his feelings about his personality) and reigning himself in. But even then, he was still visibly touchy and affectionate with JK—just as he is with all his other members—whether he was petting his head, openly calling him cute, or what have you.

In my view, the most telling thing about JM is how careful he seems around JK—something in his behavior feels tailored in a way that’s still affectionate towards JK but in a way not to rouse suspicion even if the body and eyes don’t lie.

I’m not sure if it even makes sense, but I do sense a certain sense of caution about how JM treats JK in the public eye in comparison to JK who reliably wears his heart on his sleeve. He seems to be more aware of cameras and the public eye than JK does. It’s really hard to verbalize, but I’ve sensed a discernible change in how JM treats JK—it’s not bad or worrisome, it’s just different.(Although, they’ve gradually become a lot more carefree this year.)

Time Skip

I don’t want to bore everyone anymore than I already have, but the point of how I became a more serious supporter compared to my origins as a casual shipper is based off suspicious trends and continuous patterns in the boys’ behaviours over multiple years.

Even now, I continuously try to translate the boys’ body language, vocal tone (when speaking to each other vs. another member), facial expressions, and constant mentions of one another as a platonic demonstration of affection. And some interactions are pretty harmlessly adorable, just a little something to wet the lips of any casual shipper, but with the surmounting amount of moments it becomes really hard for even the most logical person not question the nature of their relationship.

KM and Ship Wars

Clearly, the progression of their relationship has been the target of incredible hatred and frustration on the parts of hostile members of other ships and it’s gotten to a point where they’ve resorted to subterfuge to try pilot a plane missing a wing—that is to say, they’re trying to keep an aircraft based on intentional mistranslations, vicious lies, and carefully crafted stories of events that have been disproven afloat.

The incredible discrepancy between what sorts of behavior can be categorically classified as fan service seems to conveniently shift based on whatever is keeping the fragile balance of their dreams alive despite evidence to the contrary.

The moment we try to discount or negate the relationships a member has with another one in the name of a ship, there’s absolutely a problem that needs reassessment—this goes for all fans including KMers.

KM and Coming Out

I want to clarify very firmly that if you are a true supporter of KM, one who selflessly wants their happiness above everything (which includes everything from the potential of KM having other significant others, KM being single, KM being involved in a fling, etc.), you absolutely do not want or need them to come out.

If they do come out, of their own choice and volition, you can happily support them, but you do not need or seek this from them.

And may I carefully remind people that if you want them to come out for the sole purpose of feeling vindicated against other shippers, you’re not a true supporter and you’re in this for selfish reasons. So, if you imagine your first instinct will be an outcry of “I told you so, I’m right” with the express purpose of throwing it in another ship’s face, please evaluate your role and incentive in being a KMer. It doesn’t matter if you’re right or if you’re wrong—all that matters are these incredible boys who inspire people on the daily are happy, healthy, and well. I honestly want their happiness and safety over a confirmation of a relationship any day and I really encourage all supporters to feel this way as well. In a conservative Asian society, it wouldn’t be easy to maneuver as an openly homosexual man. I implore you to consider the occurrences of hate crimes in more liberal countries. It’s not going to be an improvement, only likely to be a far more isolating experience, in a more traditional country with homophobic tendencies as the majority sentiment. So, while I know most reasonable supporters feel this way, this is a reminder to toxic shippers to stay in your lane and stop demanding things from other human beings that owe you nothing—they don’t owe you pictures of WeVerse, they don’t owe you selfies with one another on Twitter, and they don’t owe you a coming-out story to prove your ship right.

Conclusion

To sum up, I’m not saying that KM is real for sure.

No one can know that except their personnel, their friends, and their family—or sadly, in a conservative country, perhaps even just themselves. The point is, we as fans, absolutely cannot know for certain.

And this is mainly why I'm not too concerned or bothered about timelines or specific dates. We don't know and there's no point (for me) to delve this far into the realm of speculation. But to each their own as long as you're not being invasive to KM!

However, I’m not unconfident in saying that if they are not real, the likelihood of any other same-sex relationship in the band is highly unlikely—though not impossible.

I also want to reassure everyone that I love the bonds between all the members and encourage everyone to understand that even if you favour or don’t favour one member over another to realize that your opinion really doesn’t matter in comparison to how BTS feels about one another—they love one another.

And at the end of the day, shipping isn’t so important that we need to fight over it.

After all, if all we’re trying to do is support love, then shouldn’t we be doling it out to?

And with that, I’m out!

Thank you to anyone for reading and keep well and healthy everyone!

PS Thank you very much to Blarhiv to allowing me to use her blog as a platform! This very, very special individual we should all treasure in the KM community!!!❤️❤️❤️

(omg anonnie this is too cute тттт Thank YOU).

#jikook #Kookmin #jungkook #jeon jungkook #jimin #park jimin

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palomvs · 4 years

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insert a GOOD tik tok reference here ! hey , i’m izzy ( my middle name , my actual first name is lola , but i thought having my character’s nickname and my name be the same might be confusing , but you can call me either ! ) , i use she / her pronouns , i live in the est timezone and i haven’t left my home in a solid FIFTY-THREE days ! i’m so , so , so excited for this group and to finally give netflix even more real estate in my brain — they really do own this ass !

( ester expósito , cisfemale , she / her , muse b ) — oh my god, i totally just saw PALOMA VIDAL walking through greenwich village ! you know, she plays VALENTINA ROMERO on that new netflix show, the village ? i can’t believe they’re already famous at TWENTY. i’ve watched all of their interviews, and they totally come off as BRAZEN and STOIC, but they can also be DEBONAIR and CONSCIENTIOUS. based on their social media, i’d describe LOLA like ( script pages covered in notes , silver rings , iced matcha on a warm day , coconut-scented sunblock ) — totally makes sense that people call them THE PRODIGY.

𝐢. 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬

full name : paloma isabella vidal. nicknames : lola , loma & palo. age : twenty. birthday : september 15 , 1999. sun sign : virgo. gender : cisfemale. pronouns : she / her / hers. romantic orientation : heteroromantic. sexual orientation : heterosexual. relationship status : tbd ! passports : spanish & american. languages spoken : spanish , english & a few words of french. label : the prodigy. pinterest board : click here !

faceclaim : ester expósito. height : 5'5". eye color : hazel. hair color : blonde. dominant hand : left. tattoos : a moon on her left shoulder blade , which she got in memory of the long nights she spent on the beach in california ( malibu nights by lany , anyone ? )

positive traits : debonair , conscientious. negative traits : brazen , stoic. enneagram type : type seven , the enthusiast. hogwarts house : gryffindor.

𝐢𝐢. 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲

paloma was born to cristian and alina vidal ( respectively a producer for film and television , and a retired actress turned director ) in los angeles in september 1999 , and grew up in the GLITZ of hollywood from a young age. though many would think a life of premieres , backstage passes and paparazzi would go straight to a little girl’s head , paloma’s parents both made sure her life was kept as normal as possible. she was raised in l.a. , and spent most of her time either in school , or by the water.

despite her parents’ backgrounds and careers , it was never really written in the stars for paloma to follow in their footsteps. growing up , she was a particularly active and outdoorsy child , with a penchant for sailing , surfing ( see her HEADCANONS below for more on her surfing ! ) and photography. guidance counselors thought she might choose to become a pro athlete of some kind , or perhaps some kind of sports journalist or photo-reporter.

throughout high school , she felt a certain lack of direction , feeling torn between her childhood interests and the pull of hollywood , and what she’d seen her parents do their whole lives. in her junior year of high school , the opportunity to audition for the role of audrey in her school’s rendition of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS came up. landing the role , and the subsequent weeks of rehearsals and performances , cemented the idea of a career in the arts for paloma.

she eventually made a move towards the industry by attending the savannah college of art and design ( scad ) , as a performing arts major. the opportunity to audition for the role of VALENTINA , in netflix’s upcoming show the village was brought up by one of her professors ( along with her parents’ connections ) , who urged her to travel to new york. within a few weeks , filled with travel and a flurry of online assignments , paloma landed the role and decided to move to new york full-time to be present for the filming of the show.

though she’s always been known as quite a workaholic , taking on the role of valentina has amplified it greatly. she’s usually the first in and last out on set ( actor-wise , at least ) and is known to prioritize making sure she knows her lines and blocking over beauty sleep. at present , this hasn’t devolved into anything too SERIOUS , but definitely could in the future ( will it be a slippery slope to a caffeine addiction and perhaps something more , or will she correct course in time ? stay tuned to find out ! )

𝐢𝐢𝐢. 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐚

VALENTINA ROMERO , known as val to friends , is the village’s resident pretty girl ( with a brain ). she’s what would result if serena van der woodsen , cher horowitz , cordelia chase , elle woods and summer roberts were put into a blender. from a prominent political family , she was raised between party fundraisers , easter egg hunts on the white house lawn , campaign trails and society gatherings.

much like SERENA , her life has happened under the warm glow of the spotlight , and things always seem to have come easy to her. she’s a little more tame than serena though , and rarely ends up on page six ( when she does end up in the pages of magazines , it’s usually for something a little more decent ).

much like CHER , she’s known for her fashion , and is the darling of amateur photographers in greenwich village. she’s not really the type to bring anyone down for their taste , but rather one to remark when someone wears something she’s into.

much like CORDELIA , she’s not one to bite her tongue when something’s on her mind. she’s got a sharp wit , and adores honesty over everything else. again , she’s not known to bring people down for sport , but will rebut anything that comes her way if it’s meant to be damaging to her , her family or her friends.

much like ELLE and SUMMER , she’s a lot smarter than she looks. she doesn’t always try as hard as muse a , but often ends up with good grades anyway. she’s often underestimated by group project members or fellow students , who see her as the stereotypical DUMB BLONDE. proving them wrong is her favorite sport.

𝐢𝐯. 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬

she took up surfing at a young age , and made it her primarily source of exercise growing up. for a while , many thought she’d either go pro , or end up photographing surfers professionally. since moving to new york , she’s had to CHANGE workout regimes , but that hasn’t stopped her from decorating her apartment with surf memorabilia.

she loves experimenting with fashion , and is known for her BOLD red carpet looks. from bright colors to unusual materials , nothing is off limits ( as long as it’s ethical ! ) she chose her stylist specifically because both saw eye to eye when it came to taking a risk , rather than playing it safe.

her favorite scents are coconut sunblock and surf wax , which she found is CANDLE form and is always burning in her apartment when she’s running through lines , practicing her blocking , or hanging out with castmates / friends. it’s also one of her favorite ‘ first day of shooting ’ gifts for the cast and crew around her.

dried mango is her ABSOLUTE favorite snack , and she’s always carrying some around on-set. her mother used to give her that and frozen grapes growing up instead of candy ( since she has such a sweet tooth ) , and she’s been hooked ever since.

she’s not one to name-drop her parents’ connections and friends in the industry , but the one connection she’ll proudly let people know about ( when they ask ) is that , yes , hugh jackman is her godfather. he and her father met when the latter produced x-men in 2000 and have been INSEPARABLE ever since. if paloma’s ever able to fake a believable aussie accent , it’s thanks to hugh.

her script pages are usually covered in notes , made in pencil , highlighter , markers , or whatever else she can get her hands on. over the past few months , and during her time at scad , she found that jotting down her IMMEDIATE thoughts on a scene , her lines and / or her blocking always help her remember things better. she keeps all of her notes and script pages in binders back at her apartment , so she can always look back on her character arc and make sure she stays true to who valentina is.

𝐯. 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

give me the WILL THEY , WON’T THEY ? , where the paparazzi and magazine editors are all convinced there’s a relationship bubbling below the surface. and who wouldn’t ? paloma and your muse have incredible on-set chemistry , are always seen hanging out outside of work hours , and are expertly paired by their publicists during press rounds. that said , when removed from the flashes of the paparazzi , nothing seems to have transpired ( yet ).

give me a RYAN REYNOLDS TO MY JAKE GYLLENHAAL ( see this video ) , where our muses cannot be paired together for interviews anymore , after cracking jokes every five seconds instead of promoting the village. they’re fused at the hip on-set , and are usually the ones to go live on instagram during filming breaks , to the delight of fans.

give me an EX , because working with someone you used to date ( or just sleep with ! ) creates so many great possibilities. was it awkward for them to see each other’s names in the press when casting for the village was revealed ? or did one ( or both ) of them see it as an opportunity to build a friendship ? are they jealous on-set , or can they keep it together ?

give me CHILDHOOD FRIENDS , with bonus points if the friendship exists because of their families’ ties to the film & tv industry. if people dig deep enough through google images , there’s bound to be a picture of them together as children on some red carpet. perhaps the years of knowing each other have turned them into best friends , or maybe they now can’t stand the sight of each other. after all , hollywood can get competitive and ugly.

give me the BROTHER SHE’S NEVER HAD , who teases her mercilessly , but will always protect her from the paparazzi. they’re protective of one another and are each other’s rock in the new world that is sudden overnight fame.

give me the PLATONIC LIFE PARTNER , whom paloma loves more than her own self. they have the login information to all her devices , they text people back in her stead , they sleep in the same bed , they readjust each other’s clothing on red carpets. one is rarely seen without the other , and the village’s fans revel in the two’s friendship.

i also have a full WANTED CONNECTIONS tag right here , if you want to peruse and find something that suits you , your muse and your own wc !

#( paloma vidal ) / * out of character .#villagetvintro

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wackygoofball · 5 years

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Moodboard: Jaime x Brienne - Elementary AU

Just FYI, I am sending ahead that I absolutely, with all of my heart adore Elementary and Jonny Lee Miller’s and Lucy Liu’s portrayals of their characters, which is why this moodboard should please be regarded as an homage to the show above all else, even if I take the romantic high road here despite the fact that the show seems to follow the trajectory of the platonic love (which is so pure and so well written I still cry) up until this point of time, though as a shipper... one can still hope, right?

I will also send ahead that I had to do some tweaking to create the Watson/Sherlock dynamic since Jaime’s character is different from a Sherlock Holmes in many ways, so I employed a little workaround I hope suffices.

To give a bit of a teaser, here the plot bunnies I have thus far:

Brienne of Tarth knows what she is getting into whenever she takes on a new client. After all, she chose to become a sober companion to deal with the unexpected and help those who can’t help themselves in times of crisis. What she doesn’t know is how she stumbled over this most curious case. First she gets an ominous phone call from an assistant to Mr. Blackwater to request her services for his friend who just came out of rehab and now needs some looking after, then she finds out the same man would not meet up with him.

All Brienne knows about her client is that his name is Jaime Lannister, a former consultant for the King’s Landing Police Department, and that yes, this is the same man known as the Kingslayer in the Seven Kingdoms after he killed Aerys Targaryen, but was found to have acted in self-defense even though evidence begged to differ a lot, or so she heard on television. From the medical files she was provided by the facility, Brienne knows that he lost his hand and as a result got addicted to pain killers, which resulted in his drug abuse that landed him in the rehab in the first place.

Their first meeting couldn’t be any more unfortunate as it doesn’t take long for the truth to unfold that Jaime Lannister does not want and won’t tolerate a sober companion, or “mannish drug nanny” as he puts it, to watch every of his steps.

“I have no intention to be using again, so Bronn can just fuck off and leave me alone. He actually has a lot of experience with that ever since he got his villa.”

Brienne won’t budge, however, she never does, and makes it clear to her new client that she won’t be going anywhere until she knows for sure that he is settled in and doesn’t run the risk of relapsing anymore during this very critical transition period from rehab center to normal life again.

She is used to clients who display hostility towards her, show mistrust, but Jaime Lannister puts a new level to it, because no matter what, Brienne not once encountered an client who would play fanfares late at night, arguing it vital to his recently picked up again consultant duties, dumping trash on her bed for a “long overdue experiment concerning decomposition of evidence” or introducing her to police staff as his “personal valet.” Though Brienne will have to admit, despite his sheer intolerable behavior, Jaime Lannister is even better than the rumors about him would let one assume: through deduction alone, he sees right through a crime scene, gets down to the bottom of it and finds the culprit. It is such a stark contrast to the childish man trying to drive her out of the house. On the job, he is exceeding any expectations, is sharp, focused, and cuts through lies and stories with the precision of a scalpel.

Jaime, for his part, would rather have this sober companion gone for good, but Miss Tarth appears stubborn enough to stick around against better judgment, or perhaps Bronn pays her better than he would have calculated. His interest in her witnesses a slight peak while working a case, since his “personal valet” happens to have some medical insights bringing him forward in finding the murder suspect that would have taken him quite a while longer.

Not that he would admit that to her, of course. After all, Jaime shouldn’t be surprised by her knowledge of the field. He did his research and knows for a fact that she is a former army doctor turned drug nanny. Nevertheless, she happens to have deductive skills of her own, he discovers, and while unrefined in some aspects, she has a certain clarity in her mind that most others lack.

However, in the end, that shouldn’t matter. Jaime has other things to do, and she is just the constant reminder of his failure, which is why Jaime undertakes the efforts necessary to drive her out of the house. At last, his research reveals that one thing that may drive her over the edge – how she ended up as a sober companion in the first place. In the course of a heated argument, Jaime snaps and confronts Brienne about it that she only ever took on the job because she failed to keep Renly Baratheon safe when she worked as his personal secretary and he ended up getting shot in the streets outside a restaurant where they met with Catelyn Stark for business dealings.

When Jaime considers himself the winner at last, he is taken aback by Brienne’s reaction, however:

“It appears your only method of dealing with your own emotions is by projecting them on others.”

“So you deny you have any problems? Please. I just proved that wrong.”

“I know I have them, and that means I am three steps ahead of you. Because you can’t look into the mirror because you are ashamed of what may be looking back at you. And quite frankly, I find that… craven.”

After that, neither one knows how to talk to the other for a while. Brienne genuinely considers quitting the job, but before she makes that decision, Jaime brings himself to an apology, which is, she knows, an absolutely rare exception.

“I overstepped a line to drive you away. I am not used to have other people deduce things about me. I tend to think that no one ever really got me other than my brother, perhaps, but that’s another story. Because yes, I wanted you gone so that I don’t have to face the fact that this is the reason why you are here. I want to do my job and forget about those past months. I wished they never happened.”

“They don’t go away, though.”

“I know. But there is just going forward from here, for me at least… but… it was wrong of me to take that out on you. Which is why I am generous enough to offer you my services as part of what I tend to refer to as a truce: I am willing to dedicate some of my free time to Renly’s murder case.”

“Hell no.”

“… I actually thought you would be flattered by that. You are aware that I am the best consultant currently residing in King’s Landing, arguably in all of Westeros I daresay?”

“That is my responsibility and my responsibility alone.”

“… You want to find the person responsible yourself.”

“Your deduction skills are, as per usual, very much on point.”

“… Well, if that is the case, I can only offer you my resources, should you decide to dig into his case again, or otherwise be of assistance. I still propose a truce as part of our agreement of sober companion and client because, frankly, I gave it some thought and I suppose you are the least trouble. Imagine some dimwit stepping on evidence at crime scenes. You at least know how to stay put.”

“… I suppose that is a compliment.”

“You may take it as such. So do we have a truce?”

“You need trust to have a truce.”

“I trust you.”

And on that trust, they start to build for the next weeks. Brienne finds herself more and more drawn to Jaime’s work whereas Jaime can no longer deny Brienne’s apparent talent for detective work outside the medical sphere. She is perceptive and thanks to her military training knows more about fighting than most ever will.

He finds her… promising, in a way. Just like someone once found him promising, only to destroy it all, but maybe, just maybe, he can make things right this time, who knows?

While Brienne enjoys the work more and more, she knows that her days with Jaime Lannister are limited, which means she must not get attached to either the man or his profession. When Brienne communicates that to him, Jaime starts distancing himself from her. Brienne already fears for a relapse and is close to calling Mr. Blackwater to request an extension, but before she can make the call, Jaime breaks his silence with a sudden offer: to become his apprentice and become a consultant like him.

“If you decide to take the offer, of that I assure you, I will train you to the best of my abilities. Make you cry, very likely. But once the training is completed, you should know all there is to know about solving crime the way I harnessed that skillset.”

“I am a sober companion.”

“And before that you were a personal assistant to Renly. And before that an army doctor. You see, a woman once told me that I was craven for running away from my problems, and I think it is time I give these wise words over to the next generation sitting before me. I think you are running away from an opportunity, just because you are afraid of making that step. You want to be out there. I saw you at the crime scenes. I saw the satisfaction on your eyes when we got the bad guys.”

“And I don’t deny it. But I am helping people, too, as a sober companion. I am preventing people from relapse, I am preventing them from committing crime.”

“And that is admirable, without a doubt. And you are good at your job. You kept me from the drugs and I thought that was virtually impossible. Nevertheless, I think this is an opportunity for you and…”

“And?”

“And me as well. Because I have to admit that… that my work has been better ever since you started to come along. I don’t know why, I just know that this is the case. That I am better with you.”

Brienne remains unsure about the offer for a while, but eventually agrees to the training regiment, no matter how much spiteful glee Jaime takes in basically tormenting her.

Jaime, for his part, rediscovers how much joy it gives him to do this job, and discovers something new as well, starting to understand how Tyrion loved training him to become a consultant back in the “good old days,” not just to make the other suffer, but to see them grow, deduce, put the pieces together. When he watches Brienne, when he sees her succeed, Jaime finds himself succeeding. And when Brienne is proud and happy, he finds himself smiling along.

As things progress, their truce soon grows to a deeply felt friendship since both lacked someone to rely on with those very private insecurities and inner demons for a very long time.

Brienne admits to how she ended up as Renly’s assistant, namely because she was hopelessly in love with the man, as Jaime had rightly deduced on the day they had their first fallout, and that she chose to join him to be around him.

“After I came back from my military service… I don’t know, I had so many people die, slip through my fingers, people we were sworn to protect, good people, good soldiers and far too many civilians. And then I heard that Renly was running for presidency after Robert’s death and I just… I just wanted to be sure that he was alright. I have seen the results of political upheavals in times of crisis during my service as an army doctor. I know that political enemies tear each other to shreds and that this will always lead to bloodshed on all sides. No one really questioned me and my decision because… you know, trauma. Everyone just assumed I wanted something boring, something conventional after all that I saw and went through. And perhaps I did, I don’t know. I just wanted to keep close to Renly, that much I knew. But then… Renly was killed and I only ever held him as he died.”

“And you couldn’t identify the guy.”

“It was a shadow. And it had Stannis’s name all over it.”

“Can you prove it?”

“Not yet.”

“You see, it’s always risky to deduce from the conclusion to the fact. It should be the other way around.”

“Those are the facts. Renly ran as an independent party to split potential votes between him and Stannis because he didn’t want Stannis to ever make it past the primaries. He had a motive to want to have him removed. Many of Renly’s voters went ahead and joined Stannis after his death. He has a woman in his ranks who will carry out almost any kind of task you give to her. It was Stannis. I know it, I just need a way to prove it.”

“Melisandre of Asshai. I read some interesting things about her.”

“She is a murderer. And one of these days, I will be able to prove it that she and Stannis did this.”

“You just need the remaining evidence.”

“Even more so since he runs for president. I will rather leave the country than live under him as my commander in chief.”

“And you would just abandon me? How rude. Even more so as a former sober companion.”

Jaime, for his part, also finds the courage to let Brienne in on his secrets, even the ones he kept so well for all those years, such as the true nature of Aerys’s assassination and Tyrion’s disappearance, and how it broke him that his brother went behind his back to kill their father and Tyrion’s ex-lover Shae before disappearing to Essos as it was planned to buy Jaime time to prove his innocence of Joffrey’s murder.

“What pissed me off foremost, though, was that he didn’t trust me. That was always the thing we relied on, that was stone one. That was our truce. He trusted me and that I trusted him. Blindly. Or so I thought. Because my smart, smart little brother didn’t trust me to clear his name. He didn’t trust me as his brother, as his friend, as the consultant he helped frame when he picked me up after the Aerys affair to offer me a new perspective. He believed he was the only one who could clear his name, and when Tyrion saw no chance anymore, he quitted, on himself, on me, on our work. And I will never forgive him for that. Well, that and murdering two people for the simplest and most basic motive there is: revenge.”

As things progress, it isn’t until long that they run into a hacker group called No One run by a man named Jaqen H’ghar. They “help” them on a number of occasions to gather evidence they could not otherwise acquire, in exchange for oftentimes publicly humiliating Jaime, such as carrying around a sign to encourage people to “Slay the Kingslayer with a Golden Slap,” a task many people happily agree to, apparently. The members remain ominous, only ever appearing in chats wearing masks. A young group member, a teenage girl, catches their attention as Brienne pieces together that this is in fact Arya Stark. Due to Brienne’s personal involvement with her family, she feels ever the more urged to help the girl and keep her from potentially committing worse crimes to carry out her revenge against the people she deems responsible for the deaths of most of her family.

However, Jaime’s and Brienne’s attention soon turns to politics as the elections come into the hot phase, only to be shocked to the core when a newcomer emerges from Essos to enter the race rather late: Daenerys Targaryen, the Mother of Dragons as she is called, wants to become president of the Seven Kingdoms alongside her rivals Stannis Baratheon and Cersei Lannister.

Things take a sudden turn with the re-emergence of someone Jaime thought he would never see again in a life time, and a nemesis who may no longer be just after the infamous consultant Tyrion Lannister but now the new detective team solving cases in King’s Landing.

And if history taught them one thing by now, then it is that this person will do anything to get what he or she wants. And from the sounds of it, that is one thing and one thing only:

Power.

A game of cat-and-mouse begins, putting everyone involved in danger as a country is bound to decide on who will come into power next…

Additonal Image Sources: Elementary ( 2012-), http://gwendoline-christie.com/.

#jaime x brienne #jaime lannister #brienne of tarth #got moodboard #got aesthetic #moodboard #aesthetic #wacky tries gimp #fanfic #in smol #fanfiction #i just love elementary so much that i could not resist

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stokan · 4 years

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The Top 20 Things of 2019

1. “Shallow” at The Oscars How can something be so anticipated, so hyped, so seemingly bigger than the freaking Oscars themselves, and yet still somehow exceed all expectations? We now know the answer: by completely subverting them. That’s why it makes perfect sense that the greatest moment of Lady Gaga’s career would be the simplest one. Her and Bradley Cooper simply standing up from their seats still gives me chills every time I watch it (and I’ve watched it A LOT). And the close up on their faces needs to be shown in sex ed classes.

If I could travel back in time, sure going back to kill baby Hitler would be great, but mostly I’d just want to go back to the exact second the curtain starts to raise on this performance, before I knew where it was headed next.

2. Olivia Colman winning Best Actress at The Oscars If you think it’s weird that there are two separate things from the same awards show on my list of the top things from the entire year, then, well, you’ve come to the wrong place.

This is the absolute platonic ideal of someone winning an Oscar. Our genuine shock at hearing their name, THEIR genuine shock at hearing their name, the genuine emotion from everyone involved, a speech that is heartfelt, human, funny, and charming in a way that only a true star could ever dream of being, all in equal measure. And it’s all part of a YouTube clip you can watch endlessly and find new things every time. (Glenn Close’s reaction when she loses is like an entire drama in and of itself.) Sure awards shows may be dumb, but then also, this is why they’re not.

3. Sharon Van Etten - “Seventeen” in advance of this year’s Oscars I just want to be on record that my favorite movie from 2019 about aging, feeling that life is passing you by, grappling with mortality, the passage of time, and the generation coming up behind you is Closing My Eyes And Listening To “Seventeen” By Sharon Van Etten. It has it all: the creeping melancholy and regret, the sense of doom that you try to dance away, the feeling that the past was maybe just a dream, the urge to yell into an increasingly uncaring void.

Part of the curse of aging is everyone becoming their own Casandra. Now you know, but no one will listen. And part of the joy of aging is realizing it doesn’t really matter if they do.

4. The writing on Succession

“Proof that, as long as the writing is there, TV doesn’t need to be anything more than people having conversations in rooms.” - theringer.com

I have a rule with these year end lists that I can’t feature something I’ve listed in a previous year. But it’s actually illegal to write about the best of 2019 without mentioning Succession. So I’m going to get around my self-imposed rule by this year specifically highlighting the writing on the show.

The amazing thing about Succession is how watchable it is not despite, but almost BECAUSE of the fact that not much actually happens. People talk a lot about things they are GOING to do, or MIGHT do, but there’s not a ton of actual DOING. And that’s actually great, because what we’re really here for is the talking. Every character talks with the biting wit of an Armando Iannucci character, the deep intelligence of an Aaron Sorkin character, and the realism of an actual human being. I find myself constantly rewinding just to make sure I took in the brilliance of each dialogue exchange. And literally every line Kieran Culkin is given to say would be the best line of the entire season on 90% of the shows on TV.

Everyone talks about how great the acting on Succession is, and rightly so, but actors are nothing without good words to say. And on Succession, to paraphrase a president of the United States that I’m sure ACN would love, they have the best words.

5. The chemistry of Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein in Booksmart My favorite movie of 2017 was Lady Bird. My favorite movie of 2018 was Eighth Grade. So suffice it to say I was well prepared for how much I loved Booksmart. But what I was not prepared for at all was the incredible chemistry of two actors I had previously never even heard of before: Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein. It feels impossible that the two of them aren’t real-life best friends. Life-long friendship is such a specific bond it feels impossible to fake, and yet somehow Kaitlyn and Beanie pulled the magic trick off. Experiencing the giddy contact high of their chemistry felt like being in the presence of a miracle. And anyone who says the romantic comedy is dead clearly didn’t see Booksmart, because maybe the best romantic comedy of the decade was the story of two people realizing the deepest, purest, most unique love of all can sometimes be the love you have for your best friend.

6. Fleabag Season 2 What on earth is there left to say about Fleabag that hasn’t already been said? And yet somehow even with all the discourse about this show it has still maintained its status as the rare cultural phenomenon with a 100% approval rating. To be as massive and as beloved as Fleabag and yet inspire zero backlash, not even a stray contrarian take from an online troll, feels impossible, and yet also, in the case of Fleabag, totally right. If (the now VERY problematic) Louie was the beginning of giving people money to make their idiosyncratic, personal, not-quite a drama not-quite a comedy TV shows, then Fleabag is the end. The apex of the art form. There’s nowhere to go from here but down. 2019 was the year television finally peaked. It was the year we all witnessed perfection. And it was the year that we fittingly all had a priest to guide us there.

7. Chelsea Peretti’s monologue at the WGA Awards Ironic that the year that proved that awards shows don’t need hosts is also the same year that gave maybe the best example ever of what a great awards show host can do. Chelsea goes so far inside baseball it gives new meaning to the phrase “corker”, and it’s all the better for it.

8. Vampire Weekend - Father of the Bride If you don’t think Father of the Bride is the best album of 2019 then congrats on not being a late-30s straight white man. But as a late-30s straight white man myself I’ve got two big things going for me:

1.) A life that has benefited from a history of privilege and near-total control over society stretching from the beginnings of civilization up until today 2.) An understanding that Father of the Bride is the best album of 2019

But what about Bon Iver and Wilco and The National and Sturgill Simpson and Big Thief, didn’t they all put out albums for late-30s straight white men this year you ask? To which I say: did any of those albums have a song on them called “Unbearably White”? No they did not! And that sort of ironic self-awareness is the kind of shit that has fueled a million straight white male sketch comedy scenes. It is the air we breathe. Also, have you heard “Harmony Hall” lately? Or “This Life”? Or “Stranger”? I mean, come on, leaving Brooklyn to make your “settled down in LA” album is the sort of late-30s straight white guy catnip James Murphy could only DREAM ABOUT. I may not have much these days, other than unlimited power and privilege, but at least I will always have Vampire Weekend, and they will always have me.

9. Lizzo Every year there is one thing that defines the year. One thing that 50 years in the future when someone mentions that year, it will be the first thing that pops into everyone’s head. And in America for 2019 that thing will be the impeachment of Donald Trump. But if there is a second thing, then it’s Lizzo. She was there when the year started, only got bigger as the year progressed and was arguably still getting more popular as the year ended. And she was everywhere. She was on massive stages and behind tiny desks. She was at the movies, she was on TV, she was coming out of every open car window. And she was definitely at every wedding you went to this year. Lizzo WAS 2019.

With the impeachment of Donald Trump I don’t know how far down the presidential line of succession we have to go before we get to Lizzo, but I know we would all be better off if we would hurry up and get there. Lizzo is the best of us.

10. This picture of Baby Yoda

Ok I was wrong. Take everything I said about Lizzo and double it for This Picture Of Baby Yoda (you know the one, or if you don’t, click the link above). On the wikipedia entry for the year 2019 that definitely needs to be the picture.

11. Kodi Lee on America’s Got Talent I realize you probably weren’t sitting around watching America’s Got Talent this summer. I certainly wouldn’t have been if I hadn’t happened to be working the live show tapings. But lemme tell you, if you didn’t see the show, you missed out on something truly magical this year. Something that makes you rethink what human beings are capable of. Something that goes so far beyond inspirational that I don’t think our language has a word to fully express it. Kodi Lee is a real life superhero, and provoking emotion is his superpower. Making it thru a full Kodi Lee performance without crying should be the new Turning Test. Forget America; Humans Have Talent indeed.

12. Taylor Swift - “Cruel Summer” Look I didn’t expect to ever find another “Teenage Dream”, but, well, here we are. I mean, a Taylor Swift single produced by Jack Antonoff and co-written by Annie Clark is pretty much genetically engineered to be one of my favorite things ever, but still: wow. Do the kids still use the term “banger”? Because if so, this is why the term was invented. I would have more to say about how great the rest of Lover is as well, but sorry, I gotta go now. I have to listen to “Cruel Summer” for the eight millionth time.

13. Michelle Williams in Fosse/Verdon If there was an award for best acting performance in any medium this would be the clear winner for 2019. In fact, can you win an EGOT for one single performance? What about a Nobel Prize? I can’t come up with an award or a title big enough to truly honor Michelle Williams’ work in Fosse/Verdon.

As a fellow actor very rarely a performance will come along that will make me think: ok we’re done here. Let’s all the rest of us pack it up and go home, because someone just won acting. This is one of those performances. So congrats to Dame Michelle Williams, you’re the new Pope.

14. American Factory My favorite line in all of Shakespeare is “there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so”. And nothing is evidence of that more than the piece of art I have thought about most this year: the documentary American Factory (available on Netflix right now!). So many of the things we in western societies believe are universal bedrock virtues and value are in fact simply products of the society in which we were raised. Individualism, personal expression, autotomy, the importance of leisure time, and so many other things, are not absolute human values, only relative ones. What is important to someone in America, can be ridiculous and incomprehensible to someone in China. And vice versa. And neither side is right or wrong, only thinking makes it so.

American Factory is documentary that doesn’t say WHAT IF EVERYTHING YOU THOUGHT YOU KNEW WAS WRONG, but instead shows something that is perhaps even more powerful: what if everything you know is simply just that, a thing you know.

15. White Claw Life is an endless parade of infinite options, possibilities, and choices. So I have no idea how you personally chose to spend your 2019. With one exception: I Know What You Did Last Summer. You drank an alcoholic seltzer water. Probably many of them, but at least one. At a park, at a beach, in a backyard, definitely at a party. If at some point this summer your paws weren’t wrapped around a White Claw (or a similar product) then you didn’t actually experience 2019. Because this is the year we all collectively got obsessed with combining America’s two hottest drink trends: flavored sparkling water and…hold on, lemme look up the name of this stuff…alcohol?

History may record summer 2019 as Hot Girl Summer, but those us who actually lived it know the truth: it was Hard Seltzer Summer

16. Marriage Story A movie that fundamentally misunderstands things I care about deeply - theater, Los Angeles, how the entertainment industry works - is my favorite movie of the year because of how deeply it gets right the thing I care about most: human beings. The way we talk, the way we behave, the way we love, the way we hurt, the way we create bonds that never fully go away. It’s been said a lot, but part of the beauty and magic of this movie is that it doesn’t take sides. Both people are right and both of them are wrong. And that’s how human relationships often work in real life, but rarely in art. There are no heroes, there are no villains; there’s only being alive. 

(Also, Adam Driver, Imma let you finish, but Raul Esparza doing “Being Alive” is one of my favorite YouTube clips of ALL TIME. If you ever need to weep uncontrollably and you don’t have time to watch Marriage Story, then Raul Esparza’s “Being Alive” will do the trick)

17. Lil Nas X - “Old Town Road” “What kind of music do you like” used to be a very important question. Your sense of identity used to be defined by the type of music you listened to and what that choice said about you. But now music-as-cultural-signifier is as dead as the concept of owning music itself. Rap music is for elementary school kids. Country music is made by queer black Americans collaborating with Dutch teenagers. Billy Ray Cyrus and Korean pop stars appear on remixes of the same song. A song about an old road and an antiquated mode of travel becomes a massive hit thru the brand new music app TikTok. What kind of music do we like in 2019? All of the “kinds” of music at once, in one marvelously inescapable two minute burst of joy. Music is dead; long live music.

18. Chernobyl If you thought it was crazy that the year’s biggest song was a novelty country/hip-hop track by an unsigned artist rapping about trying to find parking for his horse, then wait until you find out what the summer’s biggest hit TV show was about! I mean, nothing screams “summer fun” like nuclear radiation and shooting dogs. But as always, no one ever truly knows what people will want until you give it to them. And clearly what we really wanted in our LOL Nothing Matters age was a captivating reminder that life on earth truly could end at any moment. Some things very much DO matter. And that something as dramatic, devastating, and consequential as Chernobyl could have happened in the fairly recent past and already have been largely forgotten about is incredible. But if you can take such a compelling story and tell it as well as the makers of Chernobyl did, then people will watch and learn and better understand an issue of vital importance, no matter how seemingly uncommercial it might be. So in a very 2019 sentence: thank you creator of the the Hangover franchise for your miniseries about a 1980 Russian power plant explosion. It was our collective summer obsession. (2019 was a weird year.)

19. Raphael Bob-Waksberg - Someone Who Will Love You In All You Damaged Glory

“I think about how loving someone is kind of like being president, in that it doesn’t change you, not really. But it brings out more of the you that you already are.”

Back in the day, Raphael Bob-Waksberg had a tumblr that was so good it both single-handedly inspired me get much better and writing my thoughts and putting them on the internet (thus what you are reading right now) and intimidated me out of doing it more often (why I now do this only once a year). In fact, I’m almost positive I had his tumblr listed as one of my top things of a year in the past, which is really the highest honor a tumblr account can receive. It was one of the single most impactful forces in the direction of my creative life. And now Raphael has taken the voice that created that tumblr and created my favorite TV show (BoJack Horseman) and wrote my favorite ever Craigslist post, and used it to create a book about love and loss and being human. And it feels like a wonderful treasure that was written just for me. It IS my worldview, expressed better than I ever possibly could. When I meet people now rather than doing the usual introductory small talk I am just going to hand them a copy of this book.

20. The New One - Mike Birbiglia Speaking of art that felt deeply personal to me…just hearing even a rough outline of the story Mike Birbiglia tells in The New One was enough to start me on a path of perhaps reconsidering one of my most deeply held beliefs. By talking about parenthood in a refreshingly honest and shockingly open way, he is able to possibly change lives. I know finally actually seeing the show in person (and it’s now available on Netflix) felt like a possible turning point in mine. Is it theater? Is it standup? Does it matter? Here’s what there are no questions about: it’s hilarious and deeply felt and perfectly constructed. It’s an absolute master class in story telling. And it’s my favorite thing I saw this year.

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sol1056 · 5 years

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Can you explain why LGBT representation is so important and why Voltron's negative portrayal of LGBT characters/rep should be scorned as harshly as it has been? I'm trying to prove a point to a friend and they don't get why representation has to be as important as we're making it.

Oh, this is a huge topic, and one I’m not sure I could do justice to, all by myself. Given that, this time I’ll let people speak for themselves. Anyone else reading (and I know a whole lot of you are out there) who’ve valued representation – regardless as to whether you relate to the character as a lived experience – feel free to add your thoughts, or links to any other articles, podcasts, or videos you’re recommend.

Fabricio Leal Cogo, Why Queer Representation Matters

I remember growing up here in Brazil and not seeing anyone like me portrayed on TV—or at least, not anyone with a similarly complex inner life. The few times I saw gays on TV, they were always a punchline in a comedy—a source of laughter. Many people, I’m sure, are probably thinking: It’s just a joke, right?

But representation matters.

It’s impossible to overstate the power of being able to identify with a public figure, particularly when that figure is actually seen in the fullest sense. As Michael Morgan, a former professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a researcher on media effects, told the Huffington Post earlier this year, “When you don’t see people like yourself, the message is: You’re invisible. The message is: You don’t count. And the message is: ‘There’s something wrong with me.’” He continued: “Over and over and over, week after week, month after month, year after year, it sends a very clear message, not only to members of those groups, but to members of other groups, as well.”

Uma Dodd, Queerbaiting And The Issue Of LGBT Representation In The Media:

Of the 125 movies released by major US studios in 2016, the media monitoring organisation GLAAD found that only 23 (18.4%) contained characters who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer – an increase of less than 1% from the previous year. … It’s insulting, and often quite disheartening, to be told that you’re only worth the three lines of dialogue and five minutes of screen time that the one LGBT character in a film might have, just because of your sexuality or gender.

Queerbaiting relies solely on subtext and the subsequent interpretation of it by fans, and as a result, creates the perfect paradox: writers are able to attract an LGBT audience with vague promises of representation, implied by the text and often encouraged by the writer, but will then never actually confirm or explicitly show said representation, reducing the amount of effort that has to be put in on their part.

You may say that I’m blowing this issue out of proportion, but that too, is a part of the problem. Because queerbaiting is based on purely subtextual hints, any evidence of it, no matter how blatant it might seem to the viewer/reader, is often insubstantial and difficult to quantify. This allows writers and cast members to dismiss the anger of LGBT fans as simple overreaction and, as a result, makes any legitimate pleas for better representation easier to ignore.

Another by-product that has resulted out of increasing calls for better LGBT representation is implied representation. This is where writers will claim that a character is LGBT but never explicitly show this within the TV show, film, or novel. This is a method which has been employed by many creators of famous franchises, and it allows them to insert that token bit of representation which makes them look good, without ever actually providing said representation explicitly … Not only does this result in LGBT characters, once again, being shoved into the background – and often killed off for shock value – it raises the question: is this kind of representation good enough?

…Whilst any representation of non-heteronormative characters is a good start, this way of representing us can’t be allowed to become the norm – we deserve to be explicitly shown in the media as much as anyone else does. We need better representation and we need to be shown that not all LGBT characters have to remain in the closet, because what kind of a message is that sending to those young people out there who are currently questioning their sexuality?

B. Whiteside, 6 Reasons It’s Important to Have LGBT Characters on Children’s TV Shows:

A recent study by the Williams Institute at UCLA revealed that nearly 6 million adults and children have an LGBT parent. There are more than 125,000 same-sex couple households with nearly 220,000 children under the age 18. These children go to school and are active members of their communities. Their identities and home life deserve to be portrayed and represented just as much as anyone else’s.

Being a child can be tough, especially when one can’t identify with anyone around them. There are children and young adults alike who identify as LGBT or have parents who do so. Having content that mirrors their lives can, in fact, save their own. It isn’t always easy for children to articulate what’s wrong or what they need. So it can be a tremendous help to see their favorite character in their same predicament live out their life and truth.

Aristeaus Sizer, We Need To Talk About LGBT Representation, Apparently:

…since Cinderella, there have been 11 Disney princesses. All of which have been heterosexual, and the majority of them married by the end of their film. There is no shortage of straight princesses in this world, so why would it be such a crime for one of them to be LGBTQ? If anyone is forcing any agenda down anybody’s throats, Mary, it is you and your heteronormative agenda.

As a heterosexual, and I don’t mean to patronise here it’s simply the truth, you cannot understand in full capacity how important representation is. Seeing yourself on screen in a genuine, non-caricature form is hugely validating. When I was a kid I thought being gay was like doing drugs, it was a fun choice you made when you wanted to spice things up, and that all came from the films I had seen and how sordid LGBTQ people were portrayed as being. Then, later on into my teenage years, I thought I’d never be able to show public displays of affection without violent repercussion. Again, this was because of the media I had consumed telling me this. Films and media may not dictate our personalities, but they tell us how much of it we should hide, and the implicit message when you have an entire franchise of heterosexuals is that anything other should be kept underground, out of sight.

…we’ve been everywhere for so long you’ve just never noticed. Primarily because every movie and every advert and every t.v show and every animated cartoon is packed to the brim with straight people. LGBTQ people deserve representation because there’s far more of us than you think. … To you, it’s just a gay Disney princess where there could have been another straight one, but to someone that princess is the validation they needed that they aren’t some abomination or sinful mistake. They’re valid, they’re wonderful, and they have every right to love and be loved.

Danielle Cox, The Importance of LGBT Representation in Media:

[In 2016, GLAAD’s annual] shows the highest percentage of LGBT characters on our televisions … [but] when more than twenty-five of those characters are killed off in the same year, we know there is still a lot of work to be done. In fact, GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis released a statement saying, “When the most repeated ending for a queer woman is violent death, producers must do better to question the reason for a character’s demise and what they are really communicating to the audience.” When this ending is repeated in show after show and character after character, we can’t help but think the message they are sending is about the worth of our LGBT characters or rather lack thereof.

James Dawson, The importance of LGBT visibility in children’s books:

I was unaware gay people even existed and, when puberty hit, found myself more than a little lost. I so dearly wish there had been just one book with a character who was a bit like me – just a normal teenage guy who happened to be gay. I would have especially loved one whose sexuality did not define him.

I just know that had there been a diverse range of people like me in books when I was growing up, I wouldn’t have felt abnormal for all those years, which I see now, overwhelmingly, I am not. In 2014, it’s my hope that all young LGBT people can see themselves in fiction and recognise there is a place for them in the world.

Palmer Haasch, “Yuri!!! On Ice” and the importance of positive LGBTQ representation:

Despite my resigned certainty that I was about to be drawn in by the potential of a queer relationship only to be disappointed for the umpteenth time, Yuri!!! On Ice managed to exceed all of my expectations. In the end, the show delivered a thoughtful portrayal of two men developing a deep and trusting romantic relationship that provides LGBTQ viewers with representation of queer individuals being happy together above all else, which is something that we desperately need.

For me, it was the first piece of entertainment media I had seen that didn’t present queer individuals as “other,” but allowed them to simply freely love and exist. While watching, I didn’t have to worry about whether Yuuri or Victor would be outed in an unsafe environment or if Yuuri was going to be unfairly judged on the ice because of his sexuality like so many real life figure skaters have feared in the past. Rather, I fretted over when they were finally going to kiss (because really, it was a long time coming) and if I was ever going to get to see the wedding that was hinted at by their matching gold rings.

Although it is true that the discrimination-free world of Yuri!!! On Ice isn’t realistic (yet), it can help reassure queer individuals like me that they can experience love in the same way as anyone else. At the same time, it provides a glimpse of a future where being queer doesn’t mean being “other”. And that notion is something that I will always work towards and protect.

Additional reading:

Why Visibility Matters

Make Them Gay: Why Queer Representation Matters

Why LGBT Representation Is Important In Media

We Need More Than Visibility

Why It’s Important To Make More Diverse LGBT Films

Queer Representation in the Media

Why Television Needs More LGBT Characters

Importance of LGBT Representation

#queer media #lgbtqia+#representation

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starryeyed-char · 6 years

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An End and A Beginning

Another installment of the Klance YouTuber AU to celebrate the new year! It’s the end of an era for this AU, but I hope you’re excited for what 2018 will bring, as I’m not done with it yet! This is the tenth one-shot though, so I figured it should be something special! I hope you enjoy.

As for a summary? A proposal, finally. These two are idiots, but they’re perfect for each other.

Lance had been planning to buy the ring. He'd been thinking about it for ages, actually. The thought kept nagging in the back of his mind. He knew he wanted long term, wanted a happily ever after with Keith, and he knew he wanted to propose.

But with Lance, it had to be perfect. Everything always did, and this wasn't any different. Perfectly planned, perfectly executed, something he could remember for the rest of his life and be happy doing so. He waited to buy the ring for a while, just because he worried Keith would find it in their apartment if he had it for too long beforehand.

And then, somewhere along the line, Lance decided he was done waiting. So what if he hadn't planned every detail of the proposal yet, he wanted to buy a goddamn ring. And that was that.

The trouble was, his job didn't require him to leave the apartment much. He didn't have an easy excuse to leave the house without Keith with him.

Well, unless he said he was going grocery shopping. But Keith usually did that, so he might get suspicious. And he hated keeping anything from Keith. Which was why he never did it.

Honestly, with Keith knowing every possible side of Lance, it was a wonder he stuck around. Though Lance knew his boyfriend would say the same thing vice versa.

Regardless, Lance had decided that desperate times called for desperate measures. A small lie was in order; he had to buy a ring.

So, he set off under the pretense of filming a baking video with Hunk (he certainly did enough of them for this to be believable), and instead went to his favorite jewelry store in the nearby town. Funnily enough, it was right near a little Italian restaurant that they'd been to on dates on more than one occasion, especially early in their relationship.

Lance's eyes scanned the choices, analyzing each possible ring carefully before deciding that yes, this was definitely the one.

A silver band, with a single blue gem in the center. A sapphire. It wasn't exceedingly big or flashy, but still beautiful. Lance couldn't help but smile as he looked at it, with a soft exhale. “Perfect.”

The woman working behind the counter walked over, peering down at the ring he pointed to. “Ah, a spectacular pick,” she said, with a nod. “I'm sure Keith will love it.”

Lance felt a blush rise to his cheeks, even though he shouldn't be surprised that people knew him. Especially not when he'd been to this exact store several times, sometimes with his boyfriend. “Thanks,” he replied, paying for the ring and heading home.

He hid the bag from the jewelry store in the spare room he used to film videos, despite the fact that Keith came in there to do their collabs. Not any place better, anyway. Besides, he'd gotten a hiding place together beforehand just for the occasion.

The plan for the perfect proposal began to take shape in his head. Lance knew exactly what he needed to do, knew he'd need to get Keith out of the house for a while to set it up, and he knew that it was more than a little cliché. He probably stole it from several of his favorite television shows but... what was life without a little cheesy romanticism, anyway?

A few weeks later, while Lance was making dinner, Keith asked when his baking video with Hunk was going to be up. Lance nearly burned his hand.

But it was still worth it, obviously.

For Keith, he'd never really given it an excessive amount of thought. They'd never explicitly talked about proposing before, but they had mentioned vague things on the subject of kids, pets, and a house. Namely, the other's opinion on each. He wanted that future with Lance, and he was pretty sure Lance wanted it, too. And of course he knew there were steps that had to be taken to get there, but he'd just never thought about... taking them.

And then one day, he was driving back from picking up groceries and saw the display window of a jewelry store Lance had made him go in a few times while waiting for a light to turn green. Something in his head just clicked in that moment, and... oh.

Keith really, really wanted to marry Lance. And preferably soon. He wanted to spend the rest of their lives together, and why wait any longer for that?

He parked the car next to the jewelry store and went inside, completely on a whim.

He only looked at the options for a few moments before his eyes snagged on one, and he just knew. “That one,” he pointed it out. It was a decently sized red gem, with two smaller clear ones on either side, all sparkling brightly on a gold band. “It's perfect.”

The woman walked over and took it out of the case. “A ruby and two diamonds,” she noted. “An excellent choice.” She looked up, met his gaze, and almost seemed to do a double take.

His eyebrows furrowed. “Is something wrong?”

She shook her head immediately. “No, of course not, just didn't realize it was you at first. I know Lance will love it,” she winked, and Keith got the feeling that she knew something he didn't.

He shook the feeling off, nodded, and headed back home. It was probably nothing, anyway.

Keith hid the bag in a box of Lance's least favorite cereal (“Who even eats corn flakes , like, they're not even frosted flakes, no sugar or anything!”), which he knew that he'd never touch. When he began to feel like that was pushing risks a bit much a few days later, he began carrying the box around in his pocket, waiting for the right moment as a vague sort of plan formed in his head.

He wouldn't be waiting for long.

Keith opened the door, not exactly sure what he expected to find in his apartment. Lance was very insistent that he take his time visiting Shiro, but also very annoying about the fact that Keith should come back because he 'wanted to talk about something very important.' Knowing Lance, it was either a genuinely big deal, or a very minor issue his boyfriend just wanted to blow out of proportion.

Maybe he'd hit the next mark on his subscriber count, or maybe he was outraged to find that Keith had bought corn flakes again.

Both options were equally likely. Nothing Lance did could surprise him at this point.

But when he entered their apartment to find Lance standing there, surrounded by lit candles that seemed to be covering every surface, Keith was proved wrong yet again.

“I love you,” Lance blurted out before Keith could say anything at all.

Keith crossed his arms, leaning against the now closed door and fighting to keep a smile off his face. “Yes, I've noticed. You've only told me a thousand times. Is this the 'important thing' you needed to tell me?”

Lance shook his head. “No, you don't understand. I love you, Keith. More than myself, more than anything in the entire universe. Which is why—” he got down on one knee. “I think it's about time I asked you something.”

“Oh my god.”

“I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” Lance continued, pulling a box out of his pocket. “And I've known that you are the one person in this world for me for a really long time. I love everything about you. Your stupid hair that sticks out everywhere when you wake up, your shining eyes, your adorable little laugh that turns into a snort at the end, those small smiles you save just for me. I love how cute you get when you're annoyed, and how you always know what to do when I'm down. The way you care so much and pretend you don't at all, the way you'd risk anything for someone you love, just... everything. I want to be with you forever, so I'll never miss any of it.”

“Oh my god.”

Lance opened the box, revealing a beautiful ring. “So, Keith, will you marry me?”

Keith had clapped his hands over his mouth, and he was staring at Lance with wide, disbelieving eyes. “Oh. My. God.”

Lance glanced down at the ring he held and then back up at Keith, smile faltering. “Could... could you maybe say something other than that? You're freaking me out a bit here. Maybe a 'yes'? That's what I was hoping for. Or at least an 'I love you, too.' I mean, really—”

Keith let out a laugh, cutting Lance off short. “Oh my god,” he repeated again, reaching into his own pocket, and pulling out a box the same size. “Lance, I bought this last week. I've been carrying it around with me ever since... I was afraid you'd find it.”

Lance stared at the box blankly as Keith opened it to reveal the ring he'd picked out, at what coincidentally happened to be the same jewelry store.

“You bought that last week?” Lance demanded. “You just impulsively bought a ring and figured you'd ruin my spectacular plans?!”

Keith shrugged. “I guess.”

Lance was outraged, but he knew it was all an act. “I've been planning this for months! Months, Keith!”

Keith snorted, and Lance's eyes sparkled. “I figured you'd have some big cheesy romantic gesture like this planned. But... I don't know. I got impatient.”

“You always are.”

“True”" Keith admitted. “But especially when it comes to you.”

And then Lance was on his feet, at Keith's side in seconds and pressing their lips together the next moment.

“Beat you to it,” Lance bragged between kisses. “I totally proposed first.” He broke away to reach for the box again, taking the ring out and sliding it onto Keith's finger.

Keith returned the favor, putting the ruby ring on his now fiancé's hand. “Guess so. But you also proposed in the most cliché, sappy way ever, you hopeless romantic. How long did these candles take you to set up, even?”

“Ages. And it's going to take ages for me to clean up, but you love it, Keith. Don't lie to me,” Lance smirked, then tapped a finger to his chin thoughtfully. “How were you going to do it? You know, propose. I'm curious.”

Keith shrugged. “I wanted to take you out for a picnic, at night. Do some stargazing. Figured I'd ask you then.”

Lance's face lit up. “We can still do that. I'll just pretend that I don't know.”

Keith rolled his eyes, fond smile betraying his true feelings. “Lance, you're already wearing the ring.”

Lance looked down at it, still grinning. “Am I? Didn't even notice it was there. Feels like it's belonged there my whole life.”

“Why are you like this?” Keith groaned, burying his face in Lance's shoulder. “Do I even want to know where you hid the camera in all of this mess?” He gestured at all the candles.

“Camera?”

“You know, to post on your channel.”

“Believe me, this moment isn't going to be for anyone but just us two,” Lance promised, then seemed to realize something. “Actually, come to think of it, you never actually said yes to the proposal. You just proposed back. So, technically, you have to—”

“Yes,” Keith replied immediately, shutting Lance up with another kiss. “Yes, of course I'll marry you. I love you, too, Lance. I'm... you know I'm bad with words, but. I love how you smile so brightly, how you can lift the spirits of an entire room. I love your horrible jokes, and your even worse pick-up lines. I love how serious you get when you really care about something, about someone. I love how you laugh and cry so easily, and how you're secretly the most selfless person I've ever met. I love—”

That was precisely when the fire alarm went off, and the sprinklers in their apartment came on.

Lance cursed, and Keith laughed, wrapping his arms around the other. It was kind of fortunate he'd been interrupted, because if he had to list everything he loved about his fiancé, they'd be there forever.

“Stupid smoke,” Lance grumbled. “Guess I shouldn't have lit all these candles. We should probably tell everyone that they don't have to evacuate the building—”

Keith brought a finger to his lips.

“Keith?”

“We will, just... just kiss me for a minute,” Keith insisted. So he did.

205 notes · View notes

sciencespies · 3 years

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Looking Back at the Legacy of 'The Great White Hope' and Boxer Jack Johnson

https://sciencespies.com/history/looking-back-at-the-legacy-of-the-great-white-hope-and-boxer-jack-johnson/

Looking Back at the Legacy of 'The Great White Hope' and Boxer Jack Johnson

SMITHSONIANMAG.COM | Feb. 25, 2021, 8 a.m.

“There’s nothing you need to make up about Jack Johnson.”

Documentarian Ken Burns would know. His 2005 series “Unforgivable Blackness,” based on the book of the same name by historian Geoffrey C. Ward, brought the true story of the life and career of Jack Johnson, the black boxer who fought his way up through the pugilism ranks to become the world heavyweight champion, to television.

But before Burns, those who weren’t around for the so-called “Fight of the Century” that saw Johnson outslug James J. Jeffries in 1910, would have known Jackson’s story through the play and movie The Great White Hope. That work of historical fiction, by playwright Howard Sackler, perhaps reveals more about the time in which it was written than the time in which it is set.

The play’s message about the nature of racism and racial conflict succeeded in providing audiences with an opportunity to better understand different perspectives through the prism of its characters, but the film adaptation failed to deliver the same powerhouse impact. That said, both served to launch the careers of two actors on the rise and brought to the public a poignant story of interracial romance and the struggle for interracial couples to find acceptance in America.

Alexander and Jones in a publicity still from the 1970 film

(Photo by Afro American Newspapers / Gado / Getty Images)

Sackler’s much-lauded play arrived in 1967, as the civil rights movement’s struggles were at last bearing fruit. In The Great White Hope, black boxer Jack Jefferson—a name change borne out of legal concerns—becomes so successful that a fight is set up between Jefferson and the reigning heavyweight champion of the world, a white man. In addition to developing a story which focused on an equivalent of the Johnson-Jeffries fight, Sackler constructed a storyline based on the relationship between Johnson and his first wife, a white woman named, Etta Terry Duryea, represented in the play by the character of Eleanor Bachman. In addition to mirroring the tensions Johnson and Duryea endured in pursuing an interracial relationship during the early 20th century, Eleanor’s ultimate fate mirrors that of Duryea, who died by suicide in 1912.

The play’s title came from the descriptor assigned decades earlier to any white boxer who stepped into the ring to challenge Johnson, although it was most famously used to describe Jeffries, who had retired from the ring more than five years before the landmark fight. Upon being wooed into returning to the ring, Jeffries made his reasons perfectly clear, publicly announcing, “I am going into this fight for the sole purpose of proving that a white man is better than a Negro.”

As history reveals, Jeffries proved no such thing: not only did Johnson win the fight by a technical knockout in round 15, but as fellow boxer John L. Sullivan told the New York Times, “Scarcely has there ever been a championship contest that was so one-sided.”

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Sackler drew inspiration from these events, seeing in Johnson an opportunity to tell a story about a man who becomes a hero but is nonetheless destined for a downfall, someone who many—including the play’s director, Ed Sherin—likened to the titular character in William Shakespeare’s Coriolanus. “It’s about a man who essentially moves out of his tribe and gets clobbered,” Sherin told The American Theatre in 2000. “And in [Sackler’s] mind, it wasn’t about black-white. The historical circumstances made that the paramount issue in the play. But it’s not. And it taps off white guilt about the way the black man was dealt with, but that was not [Sackkler’s] position at all. He wrote a play about a tragic hero, somebody who oversteps himself—as Coriolanus did.”

***********

The Great White Hope began with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to Arena Stage, a Washington, D.C. theater, which at the time was best known for being the first integrated theater in the city. To find the right man for Jefferson, Sackler reached out to actor James Earl Jones, an established performer was working in Europe.

“Howard suggested that I start getting into shape, which was really important—the man was a boxer—but which I was not and am not and will never be!” says Jones, laughing. “In fact, the young man who was my understudy onstage, Yaphet Kotto, resembled Jack much more than I did.”

James Earl Jones looks at his reflection in a Broadway dressing room mirror on December 10, 1968.

(Photo by Harry Benson / Daily Express / Getty Images)

For the role of Bachman, Sherin went with an existing member of the Arena Stage company: actress Jane Alexander, who would later become Sherin’s wife. Despite the racially charged subject matter, Alexander had no hesitation about diving headlong into the material.

“I really looked forward to doing things like that,” says Alexander. “Of course, civil rights were very high at that time in the ’60s, and we did not shy away from controversy at Arena Stage. We did quite a lot of things, tackling the Vietnam War and racism and so on, so I didn’t have any problem with the subject matter.”

Alexander also politely disagrees with her co-star’s self-assessment. “[James] is a big man—he certainly looks like a heavyweight champion!—and he got in such great shape,” she says. “He was just gorgeous-looking at the time. But he was formidable…and when he gets that look in his eyes, he’s scary!“

The Great White Hope only played for a few weeks at Arena before its success catapulted it to Broadway. Although the audiences were initially almost entirely white, Alexander says that the number of black theatergoers began to increase steadily as the play received more acclaim, hitting the 50/50 mark by the end of the first year. As a result, she also began to notice that black audiences reacted differently to the play than white audiences.

“They didn’t like my character at all…and who could blame them?” concedes Alexander. “I was causing him all these problems! So they would sometimes cheer or laugh at my death…and that was not easy for James Earl, because [he] looked at it as a love story. He had a very difficult scene to perform over my dead body, and they were sometimes not happy with him being emotional about me.”

Even worse, Alexander also began receiving hate mail. “Sometimes they were just disgusting letters from white bigots, male and female. Really awful letters. But I got a couple of death threats. That’s when I said to my stage manager, ‘I can’t open my mail.’”

Jones, for the record, didn’t receive any such threats, but the fact that his co-star did receive them, he says, “sort of measured the height of the bull****.”

Both Alexander and Jones received Tony Awards for their work in The Great White Hope.

(Photo by NBCU Photo Bank / NBC Universal via Getty Images)

Muhammad Ali at a November 12, 1968, performance of The Great White Hope on Broadway

(Photo by Tom Wargacki / WireImage)

Fortunately, those who appreciated The Great White Hope far outweighed those who didn’t, and one of the play’s biggest fans was one of the most famous men in the world: Muhammad Ali, who understandably saw some parallels between himself and Jones’s character. (“What Ali actually said was, ‘This is my play, except for the white chick,’” recalls Alexander, laughing.)

“Muhammad Ali had just done a Broadway play himself—or, rather, a musical—called Buck White, where he played kind of an activist,” recalls Jones. “He considered himself a stage actor, I think, so he’d come back and wanted to talk actor to actor about my work. When the audience left the theater, he used to love going up on the stage and say, ‘Watch this!’ And he’d take a crack at a scene, and then he’d say, ‘And that’s the way that ought to be done!’ I loved it. And the way he’d interpret it? He wasn’t always wrong!”

Ali was also responsible for one of Alexander’s most cherished memories from the Broadway run of The Great White Hope, during the third of his backstage visits.

While the film version of The Great White Hope received its fair share of critical acclaim, with both Jones and Alexander—in her film debut—earning Oscar nominations for their work, few would disagree that it’s a lesser work than the play. The first sign that Hollywood had done some major streamlining: the play originally ran for three-and-a-half hours, whereas the film version clocks in at a streamlined 103 minutes.

“I missed some of the lyricism in the beautiful long monologues—or soliloquies, if you will—that some of the actors had, specifically [James],” says Alexander. “They were cut, a lot of them. “

Jones pulls no punches when offering his take on the play’s cinematic adaptation. “I apologize for the film, because it wasn’t right,” he says. “The big mistake happened when the decision was made not to have Ed Sherin direct the film. It was a big investment on the part of 20th Century Fox, and they made an attempt to work around the cost of filmmaking. They decided to make it… I wouldn’t say ‘cheap,’ but they thought they couldn’t afford to take a gamble on [a first-time film director].”

“They made a decision to shorten it by using a formula which… Well, I won’t try to define it, but they wanted to make it a romance,” says Jones. “Which it was in real life, but it was a mistake to try and ignore all the dynamic stuff going on in that man’s life in favor of trying to make it a love story of this poor black guy and this poor white girl who wanted to be together in life. But America just didn’t let them do it.”

Jones’s description of the film’s romantic plotline is dripping with sardonic wit, something which becomes evident when he abruptly begins chuckling.

“The truth is, I think Ken Burns’ documentary is more important than the film or the play we did,” says Jones. “I thought there was no way you could capture all the dynamics of that man’s life, all the gorgeousness and physical beauty, the human beauty of the man called Jack Johnson. But Burns captured it. Whether you’re a boxing fan or not, whether you have any corner of the race issue you want to explore, it’s something everybody should see.”

Jack Johnson (right) defeated Jim Jeffries in a 1910 boxing showdown.

(Photo by PA Images via Getty Images)

“He stuck around late enough that the stage manager had already put the ghost light onstage. Only the doorman was left, and I was in the wings. And Muhammad Ali walked out in that dark theater and turned to a naked, empty house, and he reprised the last line of the second act: ‘I is here! I is here! I is here!’ It was amazing. And nobody ever witnessed that but me. “

**********

The success of The Great White Hope soon led to conversations about adapting the play into a film, but those conversations didn’t include Alexander until after the show swept the Tony Awards, winning Best Play and earning Jones and Alexander trophies for their roles, too. The acclaim even extended beyond the traditional theater community, with the play winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama as well.

“I was told that [film director] Martin Ritt offered it first to Joanne Woodward,” says Alexander. “She turned it down, saying, ‘You should get that girl who did it on Broadway.’ And then he went to Faye Dunaway, and Faye turned it down! And then what happened after Faye turned it down? The Tony Awards happened. And the next day, I got the offer.”

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Burns, who interviewed Jones for “Unforgivable Blackness,” believes the problem with the film adaptation extends well beyond trying to force it into being a love story.

“The much more important thing is something that you find throughout well-intentioned history and art about African-Americans, which is that somehow they always need to have a white person around to justify them,” says Burns. “In The Great White Hope, here’s this incredibly talented physical specimen who plays in all these incredibly dangerous tropes about black people, and yet somehow you need well-intentioned white handlers in whatever form—romantically or fight-wise—to sort of nudge you to the right direction, as if they’re unaccompanied minors who need to be accompanied.

Adds Burns about the real story he found while making the documentary, “What’s so important about Jack Johnson is that he defies all conventions we want a heroic black man to be in. He doesn’t want the job of hero. Somehow we want our African Americans to conform to some version of our idea of an acceptable black person. Jack Johnson just takes dynamite and pushes the plunger on that.”

“I admire the play, and I admire the movie, and it’s heart is in the right place, and it’s intentions are good, but it’s in a narrow bandwidth that doesn’t permit the full scope of Jack Johnson, good, bad, and otherwise,” concludes Burns. “It constrains him with narrative devices that aren’t needed.”

Boxer Jack Johnson

(Photo by Sean Sexton / Getty Images)

Jones in boxing attire

(Bettman via Getty Images)

Even with its flaws, there’s no question that The Great White Hope made an impact on those who saw it, on stage or screen.

“I remember walking down the streets of New York for the next decade, and black men would just come up and say, ‘Hey, Jane, how are ya?’ or something like that,” says Alexander. “I remember once I was in an airport, and Snoop Dogg yells across the terminal, ‘Jane!’ I recognized that he was a big music star, but I didn’t know who it was, so I just sort of inched over a little bit…and he just said, ‘Hey!’ That’s all! But I felt very warm inside that black men recognized me, seemed understanding and supportive, and… I think they were saying that they knew that it was a difficult role.

“It was surprising to me the number of white people who wondered why I had done the film. There were a lot of firsts there. The racism was not as overt as it is today, but it was there, and I was surprised it was there in my parents’ friends, who would just question me and say, ‘Why did you have to do that for your first film?’ I was thrilled! Race relations were different at that time. We didn’t march in the same way. If you look at the marches in Selma, Alabama, you won’t see a lot of white people. But I was part of the Poor People’s March in Washington (in 1968), and I went and listened to Martin Luther King speak. But now we have Black Lives Matter, and there are a lot of white people and black people walking side by side. That’s progress.”

#History

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drunklander · 6 years

Text

Drunj!Der Yells About Outlander

Thoughts on Ep. 310

♫ side-quest ep! side-quest ep! totally worthwhile side-quest ep! ♫

(Being mostly sarcastic there, but ffs I’ve been singing it to the tune of the Spider-Man song since Saturday night and how do I make it stop...)

As a standalone thing, this was an entertaining hour of television. I’m always here to watch Claire go full Beauchamp and be badass. (I am hardcore just leeching on to the parts of this episode that I liked because dammit I’m sick of not liking most things.) As part of the season as a whole though, I have a lot of similar issues as I had last week. Except this time instead of the characters acting like they’d skipped an episode’s worth of development, it’s like why are we spending an episode this close to the end of the season on a side-quest where the only important thing that happens is finding out that Jamie’s two identities have been connected. (Yes, I know that the answer is “the book” but *puts on broken record* it’s an adaptation, they can change things.)

But whatever. I need to just proactively keep my expectations low and just enjoy episodes as individual units because apparently thinking of them as a whole season makes me roll my eyes.

Fergus with his gift for Marsali is adorable. But why does Jamie need to come off like such a dick when he asks Fergus what his business is with the cook? I’d really like to like Jamie again, show. Just sayin’.

For real though, smitten!Fergus is my favorite.

Why does Jamie act surprised that Claire is still on the Porpoise? Like he’d know if she was back on the Artemis. So where else would she be?

Where was all this passion and need to protect Claire when she’d actually been attacked in ep. 307? Because in the aftermath of that he was just a dick and didn’t bother to ask if she was ok. Cool that Jamie only acts like he gives a shit about Claire’s well-being when she’s not there.

Midshipman Fetus standing up for Claire is my everything. And Claire scolding him for licking his finger is also my everything. Basically everything with Claire and Midshipman Fetus is my everything.

Ok but the kid who plays Midshipman Fetus is named Albie and that is the most adorable name for the most adorable kid. And for real, bless the casting wizards because this dude is like a little heart-eyed puppy who follows Claire around like “don’t you dare mess with my mom.” He’s perfect.

For real though, Claire’s face when she’s like owning Mr. Overholt. Like I don’t have time for your shit, rando. Just do what I tell you. #BAMF But then her face when she’s looking over the deck of sick men and is like fuck, I can’t save all of them and is very much aware of the limits of what she can do. Basically 90% of my thoughts while watching this episode were just “omg look at Claire’s face.” I’m *rull* eloquent like that.

*throws awards at said face, just for good measure*

Seriously though. It’s so nice to finally see Claire being like listen up fives, a 10 is talking. Like yaaas queen.

And in things that aren’t shocking, it took her being away from certain dudes and their manpain for her to finally get to Kool Aid Man-style bust through the wall she built around herself and be like I’m Claire Elizabeth Motherfucking Beauchamp and I’m here to save your asses. *aggressively side-eyes a certain producer who keeps claiming that Claire needs to be defined by the men in her life*

“Just because it’s beyond *our* comprehension, Cosworth, doesn’t make it less voracious. We must believe her.” Yaaas, Captain Babyface. Am always here for people who respect Claire’s skill and knowledge.

“There’s more than disease aboard that ship, lad. There are 300 men.” Cool that Jamie understands that *men* are the source of the of sexual violence women face when Claire’s on the Porpoise, but when she was nearly raped all of three episodes ago, he was like meh, screw comforting my wife, I’m just going to tell Claire how everyone will just blame her and then go about my business.

“What good are you, you damn fool? I see I was right to withhold my blessing from you. Proves ye dinna ken what love is.” Ok, yes. Jamie is like freaking the fuck out. But jfc, you can freak the fuck out and not be a complete piece of shit to Fergus. Someone text me when Jamie isn’t a fucking asshole anymore because I’m *rull* over this.

“You would move heaven and earth. You would risk arrest and death. Even hell.” More big dramatic speeches for Jamie because clearly that’s all you need to redeem a character who was a dick for a few episodes but sorry, dude, you can speechify all you want, but your idea is still dumb and eventually your rational thought needs to come back and you need to fucking realize that. Like I get it. He’s desperate. He probably can’t survive losing Claire again. He definitely thinks that’s the case, anyway. But he’s also smart. He and Claire have been alternating rescuing each other for basically the entire series. So like dude. Stop. Take a fucking breath. Think about this for a second. Fergus is fucking right.

Although his face when he says “even hell” is so good because yeah, we all remember the way too unnecessarily graphic Wentworth episodes, dude.

“Until ye risk all, ye canna speak of love.” Nah, bro. That’s not how it works. Not every couple has to go through all the shit you and Claire went through so they can “earn” being able to say they love each other. (I don’t know why Jamie bugs me so much this half of the season that I’m like incapable of just going along with dialogue like this. Because like the show clearly wants me to think it’s all dramatic and romantic and shit. I’m apparently “watching it wrong” or something. Lol, no. Jamie’s just a fucking asshole. *eye roll at the thought that there’s a right or wrong way to watch something*)

Fergus, my dude, if Jamie’s going to say shit like this to you, maybe you should just say fuck his blessing and live your own damn life.

Midshipman Fetus’ face during the burial at sea. Omg I just want to give him a hug.

I love that Claire can’t even be bothered to tell Cosworth to fuck off. Like bro she’s so far out of your league she doesn’t even need to deign to acknowledge your bullshit with a response. Just the arms crossed lean on the rail with her face like broseph I know my value, who the fuck are you. You go, Peggy Carter Claire.

Oh the layers of Claire explaining what compartmentalizing is. Girl, you have a PhD in compartmentalizing...

“Begging your pardon, madam, but after three days of watching you at your work, I do not think much of it will come down to luck.” Midshipman Fetus is officially a member of the Claire Beauchamp Fan Club along with Ned, Fergus, Young Ian and YTC.

I’m over the rabbit shit, tbh. Like they’re trying too hard at this point. But it’s a super sweet gesture by Midshipman Fetus to give Claire the lucky charm his mom gave him.

Here for Claire dropping f-bombs and for Midshipman Fetus to just be like *heart eyes* about it. Right there with you, sir.

“Seamen will drink almost anything.” Same, tbh.

Cosworth is like the *one* antagonist dude in the series who doesn’t threaten Claire with sexual assault. All for there being conflict, but thanks for finally not making the threat of rape part of it, show. No brownie points for you for finally doing something you should have realized ages ago.

Like for real though. The bar is that low that in a crap scene that I’m still like omg but he didn’t try to rape her so they made progress and I should just move on. I don’t know why I bother with you sometimes, show.

Also seriously I keep typing Cogsworth and I’d like to apologize to the clock from Beauty and the Beast for that.

Oh so it’s Marsali helping Fergus in the credits. RIP hopes for a nice Claire and Fergus scene. Haven’t had one except the meeting on the street, have we? Le sigh. Maybe at the wedding? *lowers expectations because why should we have meaningful moments between characters we care about when we can have a whole episode about saving randos*

I really love Marsali. She reminds me a bit of Claire and I’d be so down if Fergus like told Jamie and Claire at some point that that’s part of why he likes her so much. Like not in a creepy way, obvi. *side-eyes some of Roger’s thoughts about Claire from the books* But like that she has the same strength and spirit.

Oh but then of course we get the Artemis’ crew talking about wanting to rape Marsali. Couldn’t make it through one episode, could you, show. Of course you couldn’t. Le sigh.

STOP SAYING MIDSHIPMAN FETUS LOOKS TIRED. HE’S FINE. HE’S TOTALLY OK AND WILL MAKE IT TO JAMAICA AND YOU WILL ADOPT HIM AND TELL JAMIE THAT HE GOT TO BRING HOME FERGUS SO YOU GET TO BRING HOME THIS FETUS CHILD AND EVERYONE WILL LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER.

Claire in a bandana, threatening a man with a comically large knife is my aesthetic.

For real though. Claire is just as desperate to save Jamie here as Jamie was to save her. The difference is, Claire takes a fucking minute, thinks about it and is like nope. Killing this dude is not a good idea. Need to think of another plan. Take note, Jamie.

Claire’s face when she says Jamie didn’t kill the minty fresh corpse. [insert Mentos joke here] Although Claire, it’s not your fault. Like she’s clearly thinking omg I did the thing that Jamie might hang for and there’s a sense of guilt there. But Claire. You didn’t kill the guy. You tried to save him. It was Jamie who put him in the cask. It was Jamie’s smuggling that brought the dude to the brothel in the first place. It. Is. Not. Your. Fault.

Since we’re side-questing, because lol why not, I want a whole spinoff about Annekje and her goats shenaniganing their way around the world on ships.

Like her smile though when she’s like “my goats need grass” like she knows she has a good escape plan and the language barrier is not going to put her down. She’s fucking adorable and I heart her.

Fergus is so great in this episode. You’re a better man than Jamie, dude.

The scene when Elias dies kills me. Just Claire giving him that bit of comfort in thinking his mother is there. And her face because she couldn’t save him. And he’s just so young. And guys why is my face wet.

AND SHE GIVES HIM BACK HIS RABBIT FOOT AND WHY DO I HAVE FEELINGS.

Oh man, the shot of just his single body going into the sea is so much more powerful than the shot of the multiple ones from earlier.

Bless for Captain Babyface trying to comfort Claire and give her due credit while recognizing her loss. The Babyfaces on this show, both Lt. and Capt., are so great.

Sort of side-eyeing Claire for not getting what Annekje meant earlier, but whatever. Also why so many VOs in this ep. Stahp. For real though, the way she reassures Claire that she’ll care for the sick when Claire leaves is so good. So like Claire leaves knowing she’s not breaking her oath.

Speaking of oaths...they are pesky little things, aren’t they. For real, I love Capt. Babyface. Like even when he’s a threat to Jamie, and therefore my girl Claire’s happiness, I can’t help but like him.

Oh look. Jamie’s looking at the pictures of Bree. Cool that he thinks of her when he’s by himself but when he’s with Claire all he does is insult Bree, use her to hurt Claire like a certain other doucherocket did and acknowledge that Claire misses her but doesn’t offer any similar sentiments of his own so Claire’s basically feeling like she’s going through missing Bree alone. (A hug is nice, but not the same as a comforting word to Claire about your daughter, dude. Since you have yet to say basically anything nice about Bree that you didn’t then immediately contradict when you were in a pissy mood.)

“What Fergus did, he did for you.” “If you believe that, you dinna deserve to be let out of here.” PREACH, MARSALI. FUCKING PREACH.

I love Marsali so much. I love Fergus so much. I am Fersali trash and I am 1000% ok with that.

For real though, Jamie, I get you were desperate and shit, but you’re also not an idiot. Fucking take a minute and realize that Fergus basically saved your ass from your damn self. The guy is fucking great and you are a fucking asshole. #SorryNotSorry

“You’ll need to prove yourself to her as much as to me.” Jamie. Wtaf is wrong with you. Fergus is a fucking good dude. Marsali is a good woman. They fucking love each other and each fucking know how much the other loves them. There was never any reason why they shouldn’t have gotten your blessing except that you were being a twat. Not that they even need your blessing. It’s a gesture of respect that I’m honestly not sure you’re worthy of at the moment. But wait, I forgot that you’re not a dick anymore apparently and everything’s fine, it’s all forgotten and totally ok now. (For real, I really want to like Jamie again. I’m just...struggling.)

Lol, Jamie calling Fergus “mon fils” is like the equivalent of saying a romantic book line to Claire in that it seems like the show thinks that makes everything he’s done ok.

Ok but for serious. Give Annekje her own show. She’s like so self-assured and like yeah, I totally know that this ridic thing will work because I *actually know shit about the sea*. SHE’S SO COOL AND I WANT TO BE FRIENDS WITH HER.

The JHRC’s always sound so forced. This one is no exception.

And we end on a cliffhanger. Again. Because of course we do.

But whatever. Next week we get tan, sea soaked Claire. Which does things for me. So since I’m basically just here for Claire at this point, bring on jungle shenanigans and here’s hoping the crazy fucking priest is slightly less crazy than he was in the book and they cut a bunch of the random shit when Claire’s at his house... Because fuck it, if I’m drunk enough the ridiculousness is silly enough to justify watching. I guess.

#*#drunj!der yells about outlander #outlander starz #outlander 3x10

57 notes · View notes

miss-musings · 7 years

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Why I want to stop watching the Blacklist (a.k.a., A Rant by Me)

This used to be my favorite show. Hands down. I would legitimately schedule things around it; I would leave events early to make sure I could watch it live; I would post about it on Tumblr and read other people’s posts the rest of the evening; I would search through multiple review site’s posts the next day.

I loved the dynamic between Red and Liz. I loved the mysteries and the little morsels of answers that we would get. I loved how, in the S1 finale, it felt like no one was safe: Meera got killed; Harold got attacked and nearly killed; Tom was shot and left for dead.

But, over the past few seasons, this show has become the bane of my TV-watching experience.

(EDIT: this post, which quietly keeps gaining notes, was written post-S4, pre-S5. So, there’s still plenty of relevant things in the post, but just keep the timing in mind.)

I would watch it, sure. But that was because I didn’t want the folks on Tumblr spoiling it for me. It was because I thought we were finally getting answers – which is what they teased us with every other week – only to feel so disappointed.

This last year, I made reaction videos for a friend of mine for every single episode. You know what one of the most commonly said things in those videos is? “Well, at least next week’s preview looks good.” Only to be disappointed in that episode, and to say the same thing about next week’s preview, and the cycle repeated itself until we actually got a half-way decent episode (which was usually some kind of finale or premiere, because that’s the only time actual shit can happen – during Sweeps Week).

Over and over again, both online and in person, I compared this to those scenes in cartoons where someone puts a carrot on a fishing pole in front of a donkey, and the donkey runs so hard to reach the carrot, only to never get there.

That’s how this show has felt the past season or two.

It’s only a shadow of what it once was, and I’m tired of it. I wish I could stop watching it.

So many other people I follow on Tumblr have said they’ve either stopped or thought about stopping. By comparison, Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad and the Walking Dead seemingly increase their viewership every season; the Blacklist has been NBC’s lowest-rated show in the demo for the last year, IIRC. The ratings for the Redemption spin-off were so low, the showrunners tried to pass it off as a one-off miniseries, when it was ALWAYS intended to be its own full-length show.

I understand that the show does well in DVR viewership numbers, and it was the most expensive TV show that Netflix had purchased when Season 1 was released.

But, this show continues to disappoint me. There’s hardly anything I like about it anymore. Hell, even James Spader, who’s a master at his craft, seems to be bored with it. His monologues are becoming more and more cliche, and even his amazing performances can’t save this dumpster-fire.

Its protagonist, Liz, is all over the fucking place in terms of characterization. First, she was naive and learned her “husband” had used and abused her. Then, she went to the dark side, chained him up on a boat and said she’d never forgive him for what he’d done. Then, she apparently forgave him, slept with him, had his kid, tried to remarry the guy, and then faked her death to get away with him and is now living her happy dream life with her little girl and her ‘perfect’ husband.

What happened to the dark, morally questionable, grungy Liz? What happened to the Liz who was jaded and afraid after being on the run for several weeks, or months?

She just settled down with a guy who she used to hate and she’s living the dream.

What in the literal fuck?

And, for all the time that has been invested in Liz, she has made little to no progress in her characterization these past few seasons. In fact, she’s done more of a 360. She’s right back where she started, more or less.

Why should the audience give a shit about her journey if she’s not making any progress? Why should we care that, halfway through this show, she has everything she’s ever wanted?

The side characters, like Aram, Samar, Ressler, Cooper and others are there just to serve the plot. Any time there’s a semblance of some character development or plot progression, the showrunners regress everyone back to Stage One so we can do it all over again. Aram and Samar look like they’re making progress in their possible romantic relationship? Fuck that, we’ve got to make sure Aram runs back to his abusive girlfriend and string this thing along another season! Remember when Ressler got shot, had prescription drug problems, and was in Narcotics Anonymous? Yeah, me neither.

Mr. Kaplan, who was best when she was on-screen to sass and help Reddington once every few episodes, gets pushed into the spotlight for some made-up bullshit reason that had never been discussed or hinted at previous to the “Mr. Kaplan used to work for Katarina Rostova” storyline. And while Susan Bloomaert is a fantastic and underrated actress and did her absolute best to make those scenes between her and Liz feel emotional, I didn’t really care about their dynamic at all because it felt so forced, underdeveloped, and out-of-nowhere.

Whereas the relationship that I care the MOST about – that between Red and Liz – that has been the most built-up and developed over the course of the show keeps getting thrown under the bus as Liz does the whole “love Red, hate Red, forgive Red” song-and-dance routine. She claims she agrees with Red when he tells her not to go back to Tom in Season 2… only to go back to Tom later in Season 2. She’s totally down with asking Red to help her whenever she’s a criminal on the run… but the minute her wedding gets shot up, she yells at him and says it’s his fault.

And now, as far as the Lizzington fans go, which I count myself as one of them, the show has written itself into a corner. Because all the amazing chemistry and romantic tropes throughout the show feel incredibly creepy now that Liz believes Red is her dad, regardless of whether he actually is or not. I don’t care how they try to pull themselves out of the ginormous hole they’ve dug for themselves on that one – why the hell would a woman ever end up with a guy that she once thought was her dad, even if it turned out he actually wasn’t?

And the only real way out of it is the Impostor Theory – a well-written and well-researched theory, but one that makes people have to do fucking mental gymnastics for it to work. You have to assume a lot of people like Naomi and Reddington’s former roommate from the Naval Academy who’s now an admiral, are in on it. Whereas dudes like Finch or the Director aren’t…

Don’t get me wrong; I think it’s a wonderful theory and it explains a lot. But, if it ends up being true, it means one of two things:

1) The writers didn’t plan this from the beginning and lucked their way into it

2) The writers DID plan this from the beginning, which means they have the ability to be really good writers, but then they fell into all this other bullshit – like Liz’s weird arc and other things – which really means that they’re not that good of writers; they just had the one good idea.

And if the Impostor Theory DOESN’T end up being true, in some form or fashion, that means that Red really IS Liz’s dad, and this whole fucking show – Red’s entire characterization, his relationship and dynamic with her – has been a lie. Canon can be throw out the window to rot in the sewer and fuck itself in the interim, because the writers don’t even care any more.

Which, I realize is unfair, because I know there are hundreds of people who work really hard to make this show happen, and while it’s not, like, the worst show of all time, the fact that it had such potential and has fallen so far, almost makes it seem worse than a show that was so bad from the beginning I never invested time in it.

And what makes it even WORSE is that the showrunners continue to act like this is the most groundbreaking show on television, and put it on a pedestal On High, along with the likes of Game of Thrones, The Americans, and The Sopranos… you know, actually good shows.

That would be the equivalent of the Taken director demanding that his movie should’ve gotten an Oscar. It’s like, you know it was a fine movie, and I had a good time watching it, but like, bring yourself back down to earth. Taken is okay, but it is NOT Oscar-worthy material, so get off your high horse, dude.

I guess, if nothing else, it shows that the showrunners, writers and actors are so talented that they got me to invest in the show to the point where I can’t not watch it, even though it’s fallen so far and I feel like it’s nowhere near as good as it used to be. They hooked me and got me to care about these characters and their dynamics so much that, even though it frustrates me week in and week out, I will still keep watching it.

It’s just that, now, I might be doing it with a bottle of vodka, taking shots every time:

Red has a monologue that proves James Spader is too damn good for this show;

Liz is bitchy to Red for little to no reason, while continuing to be lovey-dovey with Tom;

Ressler survives a fight or car accident or some other action sequence with no injuries whatsoever;

Harry Lennix is completely underused as Harold Cooper in an episode, because he only tells his employees to do the obvious… and literally nothing else;

Samar and/or Aram take a step back from getting together, despite hints that they’ve liked each other since Season 2.

So, bottoms up, Blacklist fans!

#blacklist #nbc the blacklist #the blacklist #raymond reddington #lizzington #keenler #elizabeth keen #harold cooper #aram mojtabai #donald ressler #samar navabi #dembe zuma #mr kaplan #katarina rostova

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