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booklr-nova · 8 months

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UGLY LOVE

Book Review

UGLY LOVE BY COLLEEN HOOVER

HOLY CRAP ON A CRACKER!!!! MY HEART IS SO PERFECTLY BROKEN! I DON'T THINK I TOOK A BREATH THE WHOLE TIME I READ THIS BOOK! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME COLLEEN HOOVER!!! I HATE YOU BUT I LOVE YOU! YOU RUINED ME AND I CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH!

IF YOU CAN'T GUESS IT BY MY NON-STOP CAPS THEN I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO THAN SCREAM "I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!!"

WOW JUST WOW! I DON'T KNOW HOW OR WHEN I'LL GET OVER THIS BOOK HANGOVER.

Ugly Love was nothing like I expected it to be. I excepted it too be like a 50 Shades of Grey fan fiction with just a butt ton of thrown together steamy scenes... No, it wasn't it was so much more. I knew I was going to like Miles (because he sounded so hot), but I had no idea that I was going to love him. That he was going to have an actual back story... That he was going to be actually interesting in a realistic way... I had no idea he was going to break my heart.

All that being said I have a few bookish confessions to make before I really get into the review, I choose to read this book 1) because I heard it was becoming a movie and if there's anything I love nearly as much as reading it's seeing movies 2) because this is who they have playing Mil

and 3) I also need to admit that I didn't get what was so appealing about this book that it was actually going to become a movie... I get it now. I get all the hype and talk surrounding this book. I have NEVER, EVER, EVER cried so hard in a book. That's the very last thing I thought this book was going to make me do.

The characters in this book felt so real. Tate was naive and normally that would make me want to punch a B, in her case it made me love her. Unlike most leading ladies she isn't overly sassy, or has incredible lol rebuttals, she was realistic. Her brother Corbin, OMG CORBIN, I loved every single thing about him. He has to be one of my favorite sub characters ever. He was what I imagined a brother would be and even with him not being a constant character just his presence had me. Then there's Miles and he is hands-down the star of this book. The moment you meet him you hate him. He is a mysterious mess and I thought he was going to annoy me fast. He won me over once they started going into his back story. The further they went into it the more I could feel what was coming... Yes, I knew where this story was going and what was going to happen but in no way, shape, or form was I actually prepared for it. I was a blubbering weeping ball of emotions.

The switch between time and POVs was done flawlessly and revealed the perfect information at the perfect time to keep you hooked and wanting more. Colleen set up this story so at first you would only like Miles because of his looks (which I've already made clear I was guilty of) ...

"His shirt isn't buttoned. I'm staring at his stomach. Oh, my word he has the V. Those beautiful indentations on men that run the length of their outer abdominal muscles, disappearing beneath their jeans as if the indentations are pointing to a secret bull's-eye."

And yes, he is a looker, but by the end I could have cared less about what he looked like. He could have worn a bag over his head for the last half of the book and my heart would have still been his. The relationship between Tate and Miles is like nothing I have read before. It was something else that really surprised me about this book. Saying it was complicated would be an understatement. I thought that the steamy scenes were going to take up most of this book, but it didn't... Yeah that's something that would normally make me rank a book lower, but the scenes were so well written and again realistic. They were well placed and well thought out. Just enough to make this book not "too much" which is what had me falling hard for this read way harder than I anticipated. The scenes are hot though like dump a bucket of water on your head hot. Miles and Tate's conversations roll so smoothly and the moments between them are so; I don't even know a word for them, they're just perfect (that word really doesn't do justice). Not only is he romantic but he made average things so hot.

Orange juice is hot, rugs are hot, scrubs are hot, and curtains are so so hot. whoosh.

Honestly though the scenes that turned out to be my favorite were just "average scenes", like when they all go and visit Tate and Corbin's family for Thanksgiving. That whole section had to of been my favorite. I loved how I thought this story was going to be Tate's but turned out to be Miles'. I love how I thought this book was going to be a light sexy read but turned out to be a heartbreaking love story. I just loved how everything came together while falling apart... Because when all Miles story is finally shown and is laid out in its fullest, I was basically like this...

I want to rant and rave even more about this book, but this is something you really need to read and experience for yourself. Ugly Love might just be the biggest surprise read I've had all year. I can't express enough how impressive the characters, plot, and play out of this story are.

I didn't think that this book was going to be so hard on me... And yes,

it hurt. And yes, it was a total sobbing fest, but that ending... Good golly miss molly. That ending was perfection. I don't know if I can ever forgive Colleen Hoover for what she did to me, but God dang it I love her so much for it. I didn't see this coming, and I've never been so happy to be emotionally slapped in the face like I was reading this.

#booklover #bookstagram #romance books #read in 2023 #readers #book blogger #book reviewer #booknerd #readers of tumblr #books and literature #ugly love #collen hoover

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genlossneg · 10 months

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Oh my god I literally cannot convey to you that stumbling on this blog felt like seeing the sunlight again after being trapped underground for months. I thought I was crazy for finding fault with genloss because I have not seen any actual valid criticism anywhere and I thought I was losing my mind for not seeing the glory that is the, ‘next wave of indie horror content’.

Please.

There’s more horror in an average retail store on any given weekend than this entire series has in its three episodes.

Christ I don’t even know where to begin with this thing.

I’m not a film student but I’ve read the other film student anons’ posts and they are so incredibly right. There is so much about the series that felt hastily thrown together and I also loathe the phrase ‘intentionally bad’ when it’s something that’s been hyped up for as long as it has and yet, fell so incredibly flat. I have never been more bored, irritated, and confused watching a piece of media before, and have continued to feel this way as I watch diehard fans of Ranboo tout how great of a series it is?

Hey, Boobers- cmere, let me tell you a secret, genloss ain’t all it’s cracked up to be.

It’s a lukewarm, lackluster production at best, and if I didn’t know going in that this was supposed to be Ranboo’s passion project, it literally feels like a school assignment he had only the bare interest in putting together. God this thing has no soul. It has no spark. And it hurts so much to know that this is what this great incredibly hyped-up project became, because from how they talked about it, it's obvious Ranboo loves this thing, and I wanted to love it too.

But it ain’t good. And someone should’ve told him long before now it needs massive edits, and I get it, getting hard criticism is painful and isn't fun, but if it makes your end product better, your piece of entertainment content more enjoyable for the consumer, then you gotta listen and bare it.

I’m an author and I know they do it because they love me, but whenever my editors are like ‘ayo this shit is whack wtf you talking about’ it does hurt my pride but!!!! But!!!!!!!! I go back and take a harder look at that section and sometimes I stand by what I wrote, but other times I now see what was wrong with it and make the edits. Sometimes entire concepts have to get cut to trim down the story and make it more cohesive and that also sucks, but you just tuck those ideas away for later or another project, and tbh I do not feel like anyone did this with the genloss concept.

This entire story feels like it is stapled together and there is literally no through line!! It is a random bag of ideas mashed together to form what I imagine an AI would generate if you typed in ‘mall, horror, evil cooperation’. Fuck it hurts. It hurts so much to be someone that is so passionate about storytelling and writing to see genloss get the attention it has, and for Ranboo to be praised for their ‘excellent writing skills’.

I do understand this was probably their second real attempt at writing a story for public consumption (first being his character’s arc in the dsmp), and like, nothing anyone writes on their second attempt to tell a story is gonna be great. Mine wasn’t, no writer’s is, and that’s okay I really genuinely get that, my problem is how the production was hyped up, how the budget was apparently blown on so much wasteful crap, and then how no one with experience telling stories took a look at his concept before production began.

It makes me sick to know that box cost 18k. Do you know what I, and many other small creators, could do with that kinda money?

This was a few weeks ago? Maybe last week? But Ranboo said over here on the tumbles that they were thinking about genloss in written form, IE a book, and I think I literally blacked out I got so angry. I am also writing a book (hahahaha hi it is not easy!) and I honestly don’t think it's half bad, but I have still been fighting tooth and nail to get eyes on it and nothing makes me angrier than knowing Ranboo could slap some half-baked shit into a word doc, get whatever kind of fancy printing they wanted, and sell more copies than I likely ever will.

I don’t wish anything ill on the dude, he seems like a nice person and I hope he succeeds, but jesus christ, someone needs to be real with them on their writing and story construction. TBH I think a large part of the problem is how rabid his fanbase is, so any kind of criticism gets buried under threats and just, people blowing smoke up his ass, and that is not helpful to him as a creator!! Dude wants to grow and improve, stop telling them genloss is the best thing since sliced bread!!

Let him get his feelings hurt over this, let them take that and make it their drive, let him know he can do better.

If you keep settling for mediocrity, you never push yourself to do something great.

But that’s just my two cents. Thank you for letting me word vomit in your inbox, I have been going crazy and I will likely be back <3

-the author anon

this blog is collecting anons representing all the creative aspects of gen loss like pokemon. first film student anon. now author anon.

but in all seriousness i'm glad this blog is a breath of fresh air for you <3 you're right! my first couple attempts at writing (mostly fanfiction, some original) i am very glad they do not exist online. part of writing well is being kind of really bad at it for a bit. ive taken a writing class (in college) and the entire foundation of that class was "we will write and then your classmates will give you feedback" and it made a lot of my work so much better. feedback is like. how you get good and i feel like you're right, the fanbase does drown a lot of that out (hence me making a dedicated blog!)

i hadn't heard of the gen loss book concept before this but. i can't imagine it would be super great at the current form of gen loss is in. and writing is so much more than "here's the plot" like. establishing a good setting and sense of place and making us actually connect with the protagonist and. author anon that awakened something in me

Let him get his feelings hurt over this, let them take that and make it their drive, let him know he can do better. If you keep settling for mediocrity, you never push yourself to do something great.

anyways. great thoughts! reposting that quote for those in the back :)

#ask #gen loss neg #gen loss crit

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dokujirai · 2 years

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#66 気合い入れろ (Hype yourself up) Superhuman Share House Story 『CHARISMA』

Watch the track here.

Kei: What’re ya shakin’ like a dog for?

Ohse: !

Kei: Ya look pathetic. Your form is sloppy too, stand up straighter.

Kei: Ya gotta hype yourself up, dumbass.

Ohse: Uuuu…

Kei: How the hell’re ya supposed to live on your own like that,

Kei: Ya get me?

Ohse: ...yes…

Kei: You’re too quiet, man.

Kei: Gimme a “yeah”.

Kei: Lemme hear ya say it.

Kei: YEAH!

Ohse: …yeah…

Kei: Another one, louder!

Kei: YEAH!!

Ohse: …yeah..!

Kei: YEAH!!!

Ohse: Yeah!

Kei: HELLL YEAH!

Ohse: Hell yeah!

Kei: HEEEELLLL YEAHHHHHH!!!!!

Ohse: Hell yeah!!

Kei: HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL YEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Ohse: Hell yeah!!!

Kei: We’re not going for cute…

Kei: Ya gotta give yourself some more “oomph”.

Kei: HEEEEEEEY!!!!

Ohse: Heyyyy!

Kei: HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!

Ohse: Heeeeeyyy!!

Kei: WHAT THE HELL'RE YOU LOOKING AT FUCKER!?

Ohse: What the hell are you looking at fucker!

Kei: KEEP STARING AND I’LL BEAT YOUR ASS!

Ohse: Keep staring and I’ll beat your ass!

Kei: Doesn’t really feel like I’m gonna get my ass beat anytime soon.

Kei: Are ya really trying your best?

Ohse: I’m trying.

Kei: HEEEEEEEY!!!!

Ohse: Heyyyy!

Kei: QUIT YOUR SHAKING AND COME AT ME, YOU SON OF A BITCH!

Ohse: Quit your shaking and come at me, you son of a bitch!

Kei: I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU!

Ohse: I’ll fucking kill you!

Kei: HEEEELLLLLLL YEAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

Ohse: Helllll yeaaaahhhh!!!

Kei: YEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Ohse: Yeahhhhh!!!

Kei: Yeah, I can’t with ya. Let's just call it quits on that.

Ohse: !

Kei: Next up, we’re gonna do some more hands-on stuff.

Kei: Hit me with your best shot.

(Kei slaps himself where he wants Ohse to hit him)

Kei: Alright, hit me right here.

(Ohse punches)

Kei: Ya gotta hit me harder!

(Ohse punches again)

Kei: What the hell is that?

Kei: That ain’t gonna work at all.

Kei: I’m not even feeling anything

Kei: Alright, whatcha gotta do is think of me as the person ya hate the most,

Kei: Ya got someone ya really hate, right?

Ohse: Yes, I do.

Kei: Good, then I want ya to think of that guy’s face.

Ohse: I got it.

(Ohse grunts as he thinks of his own face)

Kei: So? Ya got a lock on of his face?

Ohse: Yes.

Kei: This guy, ya really hate him?

Ohse: I really, really hate him.

Kei: Do ya really wanna hit him?

Ohse: I would love to beat him right now.

Kei: Hell yeah!

Kei: Now go ahead and hit me with everything ya got!

Ohse: Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa~~~......!

Kei: Holy crap, that’s good shit! Just like that!

Ohse: Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa~~~......!

(Ohse transforms into Mega Ohse)

Ohse: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA….!!!!

Kei: EH!?

Ohse: OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Kei: EH!?!?

Kei: Who!?

Kei: Who the hell is that!?

Ohse: UOOOOOOOOOUUUUOOOOOOHHHHHH~~~!!!!!

Kei: WHO THE FUCK IS THAT!?!?!??!?

Ohse: A-are you okay?

Kei: Y-your power…

Kei: I underestimated ya…

Ohse: WE NEED AN AMBULANCE!!!

#Charisma House #charismahouse #karihau #karisuma #charisma #crsm #crsm tl #kei sarukawa #ohse minato #MCdokujirai

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incorrectlumityquotes · 3 years

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FULL REVIEWS: “Wing It Like Witches”

Damn, that last episode was something. It was so much of something that the hype for this episode didn’t come until after they released a screenshot of Amity in the grudgby uniform. Everyone predicted that this was the episode that had Amity join The Owl House squad and...they were right.

The Lumity Trilogy ends with a sports balls game.

The cold open starts with Boscha of all people.

It’s grudgby season again and all I can think of is “Wow how lucky is Luz to enroll in Hexside during the semester where shit happens.” Is the first semester the boring one with no holidays and/or events?

Anyway, I grew up in South Texas where high school football was treated like the biggest deal. I get why Boscha is being treated the way she is, and so does she.

Boscha goes to school expecting a hero’s welcome, but gets pissed when the attention is given to Willow.

Willow tells Luz that ever since she patched things up with Amity, she’s been feeling more confident. That’s really good character development. Without her resentment toward Amity (who was her oldest friend), Willow feels like a weight has been lifted off her shoulders. All that hate and sadness was bringing her down, but without it, she’s free to blossom.

I don’t mean to quote Penn & Teller but, “And then there’s this asshole.”

Boscha is so not okay with Willow being happy with herself and just picks on her harder. Especially since it’s grudgby season and she knows she can get away with it.

Amity tells her to grow the fuck up, and Boscha lets it slip that ever since grom Amity has been “getting soft.” This does fucking nothing since Boscha literally spends all day following Willow and friends all day picking on them like crazy. Like damn bitch, don’t you have anything else do do? Don’t you have any life outside of Willow’s?

People ask why I don’t ship Willow and Boscha and this is why. I get enemies to lovers. I get the bully becoming the love interest. Hell, it’s happening with Amity right now. But this is too needlessly cruel for my taste. There’s not way the Defeat Equals Friendship trope is going to work here. Not for me. But hope comes in the form of a useless lesbian.

Amity literally gay panics after getting ‘nam flashbacks of dancing with the girl she likes in the moonlight. Luz asks Amity for help about Boscha, and based on Amity’s answer, I don’t think Amity has ever liked Boscha. She agrees that Boscha is difficult to tolerate. It’s even worse during grudgby season because it becomes all the thinks about. Luz gets the wrong idea from that.

After literally pelting Willow with garbage, Luz challenges Boscha to a grudgby match for Willow. Again Luz’s character flaw of overstepping her bounds comes back. She never even considers what Willow might want or the fact that Willow has never even played grudgby before in her life. And that’s when another of Luz’s character flaws comes back hard. This time it’s Luz expecting life to play out like a story, or more specifically, a sports movie.

Holy crap. Is that the thorn-vault? I’ve never noticed that before.

Luz thinks that if they just try really hard they’ll beat someone who has been excelling at the sport for years. No. That’s not how life works, sweetie. I’m starting to think that maybe Luz’s mom was on to something sending her to camp.

Luz manages to convince Willow and Gus to be on board, but Amity...

She’ll be in her bunk.

Meanwhile in the B-plot (that should be my t-shirt by now), Eda is talking about her time when she was star player of her grudgby team when Lilith makes an unexpected appearance to arrest Eda. Lilith notices that Eda is wearing her old ass grudgby uniform and Eda’s response made me laugh.

“No reason. It’s laundry day.”

Lilith gives Eda a quick reality check to remind her that while Eda was good...

Lilith was better.

This photo really confused me and took me a while to realize that that was Eda and Lilith. Lilith gave herself a serious make over after school. Straightened her hair, darkened it, got ride of the glasses. I didn’t even recognize her.

Since we all got grudgby on the brain, Eda makes a bet. She’ll go with Lilith to The Emperor peacefully if she can beat her in a game of grudgby. Luz is always pulling stuff like this and it works out for her, so why not? Speaking of which.

Willow and Gus teach Luz about grudgby. Luz teaches Willow and Gus about montages and it does not go well at all. The grudgby, I mean. The montage was great.

In fact it’s so bad that Willow confronts Luz about the thing I was just talking about earlier. You can’t just shonen hero through all your problems. Willow and Gus give up and just leave.

I hate comparing shows because I believe they should stand on their own, but this really does remind me of when Lotte got mad at Akko in Little Witch Academia: The Enchanted Parade. Being innocently insensitive plus expecting life to play out like a movie is not a good combo.

Luz and Amity have a heart to heart. Luz’s character flaws do come from a place love. Willow is one of the best friend’s she’s ever had and it hurts to watch her get picked on. She’s not trying to make things worse but growing up on a diet of movies and cartoons, this is the only thing she can think of.

Amity reveals that she actually used to be a jock. No joke. She was the captain of the grudgby team before Boscha. But Amity decided to make the game all about her and her teammates got hurt. So felt so bad that she never played again. Amity is rough around the edges, but deep down she’s always cared about people.

Another gay panic later, and Luz gets the right idea this time. Luz forfeits the game and agrees to take all of Willow’s punishment so that Boscha will stop picking on her.

Bitch, works for me! Think fast!

Amity senses the obvious and immediate danger and goes for help. She reminds Willow and Gus that Luz always has good intentions and needs help because that’s what friends do.

This isn’t about “friendship” is it?

Gus and Willow show up to save Luz but you need three on a team. And in true sports movie fashion, the hero arrives in the eleventh hour to save the team. I.E. the only player who is actually good at the game gives the good guys a chance to win.

Let’s get it on!

It’s game on and for a bunch of nerds the game is actually pretty competitive. It’s a magic sport, so Willow focuses on the magic while Amity focuses on the sport. Luz being Luz, even congratulates the other players when they score. Luz discovers every RPG players favorite spell, fire.

It looks like our heroes pull off the victory in true sports movie fashion when this happens.

I stand by what I said last time. Someone on The Owl House thinks Harry Potter is really fucking stupid. Boscha catches the rusty smidge which means she automatically wins and Luz let’s out two decades of Harry Potter frustration.

But she has a point. If the golden snitch gives your team 150 points and ends the game then the only way to play would be to play defensively and focus all your efforts on finding the snitch. It means there’s literally only one decent way to play the game if you want to win.

“That just invalidates all our efforts! If catching that thing is so important, why do anything else!? There’s no reason to watch any of the other players! THAT’S SUCH A STUPID RULE!”

You tell them, Luz.

But in a twist that everyone saw coming, all the other players (Skara, Cat, Amelie) all had so much fun playing that they invite Willow to join the team. Willow politely declines because Boscha.

But we can’t have Amity help with the season finale so she hurt her leg. Amity panics at the thought of Luz carrying her, so of course Luz picks her up.

“Oh. Wow. Sports.”

Speaking of sports.

It’s game on at The Owl House and Lilith and Eda have a one on one match that’s really close. Eda decides to cheat her way to victory until.

Dammit, Luz!

Eda wins and Lilith vows to return.

The episode ends with Amity joining the fam at The Owl House.

FINAL SCORE: 5 - LOVED IT!

This episode was the best of fun episodes combined with the development of Amity episodes and you get probably my favorite episode. This was so fun and touched on most of the major characters. Even the B-plot is important because now Lilith knows the location of The Owl House. The jokes were funny. It was cute. Just everything.

The Lumity Trilogy ends on a high note. Amity is officially crushing hard on Luz.

#THE OWL HOUSE #my works #full review #full reviews

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ptergwen · 3 years

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can u do a stark!reader x peter hc where they are both getting ready for one of tony's charity balls and like tony is teaching peter how to get ready(like pick a suit, shave, tie a tie, manners, etc.) and the reader is just like going dress shopping with nat and pepper?

i just wanna say i literally love this concept so much like it was so fun to write

also it’s pretty long oops

your dad is known for throwing over the top parties

rich people who dress fancy and drink a lot are his usual guests

when he hosts more family friendly events, you and peter get to attend

you’ve been to a good amount of them having grown up with him and all

peter has only gone to a few, so he’s still learning how to behave at them

not that peter doesn’t behave all the time

there’s just a certain way to act at a ball

it’s a bit stressful, but having you by his side makes it easier

getting tips from tony does too

he’s helping peter get ready while you find an outfit with your mom and nat

tony watches peter struggle to knot the tie he picked out for him

it’s been long enough that he steps in

“kid, you said you’ve done this before”

“by me i meant my aunt...”

tony ends up tying it for him and explaining how to do it step by step

he has peter repeat everything to him after

“now your hair... you’ve got to do something with those luxurious curls of yours”

“you sound like y/n”

“like father like daughter”

peter squirts about half a tube of gel into his hand before tony stops him

“i wanted to see how far you’d go, but jeez”

“what else am i supposed to do?”

tony teaches him a new way to slick his hair back

he only instructs him for this instead of actually doing it

the boy has to do something himself

next is a lesson on manners

“you know that whole sir and ma’am thing you like to do?”

“yeah... it’s polite, right?”

“too polite. you’re gonna have to drop that tonight”

everything peter knows is a lie

“i thought this was a ball, mr. stark”

“you’re not british royalty. first names only”

he explains that the more comfortable the guests feel, the more they’re likely to donate

whatever, tony is the businessman

they go over a few more things and peter is set

you’re having a harder time than he is

none of the dresses you’ve found are what you’re looking for

too big, too small, too colorful, too itchy

nat loses more and more patience with each store you drag everyone to

“y/n, we’ve spent eighty four years at this mall”

pepper gives her a warning look and puts a hand on your back

“let’s finish up, miss. we still have to get ready”

“can i try on, like, three more dresses? please?”

she gives in and searches with you

nat toughs it out, pulling things off of racks and asking what you think

she’s been really helpful today

it just gets tiring to spend your whole day shopping

what can you say, stark’s are very particular

your mom hands you a short sleeved black lacy dress with a knowing look

it’s the perfect casual black tie dress you were hoping to find

you literally run to the dressing room

pepper and nat don’t even try to catch up

you fall in love with it the second it’s zipped up on your body

you’re beaming when you come out to show them

pepper puts a hand on her heart

“oh, sweetheart. you look beautiful”

“peter’s gonna drool all over you”

natasha says that with one of her famous smirks

you quickly thank them and go to get undressed because you feel your face getting hot

the three of you pay and head home

nat helps with your makeup so pepper can get dressed

she hypes you up a bunch when you step into the dress again

like, she really gasses you

you let her go get herself ready when you feel confident enough

you’re on your way to get water when your dad calls you over

peter is next to him on the couch

he’s staring at you with his eyes blown wide and a small smile

nat was right

tony grins and pats the spot on his other side

“shopping went well?”

“i think so. mom found the dress”

tony glances at peter and sees his whole face is flushed

“it’s perfect for you. speaking of mom, i should go check on her. you kids talk”

you move over to the middle cushion

peter traces a finger over the lace on your shoulder, making you giggle

“you... you’re so gorgeous, baby”

you tug on the end of his tie playfully

“reverse card”

“your parents really know what they’re doing”

little do you know they’re watching you two from the top of the stairs

“they do. my dad turned you into a little socialite”

tony chuckles and slings an arm around pepper

you let go of peter’s tie so you can take his hand

he laces your fingers together tightly

“thank you very much, ms. stark. crap, i’m not supposed to call people miss”

“you’ll get the hang of it, mr. parker”

he breathes out a laugh, you holding your intertwined hands to his chest

“i’ll help you”

#tom holland #peter parker #tom holland fluff #peter parker fluff

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franniebanana · 3 years

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CQL Rewatch - Ep15

I forgot this guy’s name, Yao or something? Honestly, I don’t care enough to research this, like, at all. I hate this guy. My friend and I now refer to him as the Hype Man, so I might just call him that from now on. But I wanted to say that I didn’t realize he was in it so early, so when I saw him, I was like, “That fucking guy!!” And I also totally missed that the point of Jiang Fengmian leaving was to take this worthless piece of trash somewhere. I wish he’d died haha. But then I guess there’d be less reason to hate him, and I enjoy hating him.

I can’t believe this is the first paragraph that people are going to see. If you’re reading this now, you’re like, why do I want to read this crap? And y’know what, I can’t blame you. The next few episodes are gonna be rough. I don’t even know if there will be much to say on my end. My friend, after watching these few episodes commented something like, “Huh, that really dragged.” I could only agree, pulling my hair out from the headache these few episodes were giving me.

Okay, but seriously, Yao is so pathetic here! Talking about how he never thought they’d end up like this, and, “Oh, we were just a small clan, woe is me!” It’s amazing that he turns into the biggest prick, always right there hyping up the scapegoat-blame game rhetoric. Sorry, I hate this fucker.

A rare nice moment from Madam Yu. It was sweet having her show a caring side, packing medicine for her husband, snacks for her daughter. But of course, it was because Jiang Yanli had come to say goodbye to her earlier. Jiang Cheng is really like his mother—they can’t do anything for kindness’s sake, there’s always an obligation to the kindness.

I hate Wang Lingjiao, but I love her, and I love hating her. I’m conflicted. She’s just such a fun, evil character, more fun than Xue Yang in my opinion, probably because she actual interacts with the main characters in the story. It will forever annoy me that Xue Yang gets so much attention for appearing in a long-ass flashback (via empathy) and what should have been a flashback (Chang Clan) but wasn’t because they wanted it to be padding, I guess.

Anyway, Wang Lingjiao. She’s fun, she goes completely nuts—what’s not to love about her? She’s also someone who is so similar to Madam Yu, but because she also is ambitious and wants to take over Lotus Pier, Madam Yu wants her dead. Haha!

While Madam Yu is, objectively, a horrible person, I actually really like how her bodyguards aren’t treated like servants. I like that there’s mutual respect there, as there should be when you’re talking about protecting someone. Unfortunately, I think Madam Yu treats them better than her own family in most cases. It’s cool that the Jiang Clan doesn’t rely on servants to get food and tea and whatnot. These are things that the disciples and leaders must do for themselves. By contrast, the Jins have so many servants—it’s almost obscene by comparison.

Also I want to point out how hot-headed Jiang Cheng gets here, while his mother is just cool as a cucumber. It really shows you how unready he is to actually lead (which she points out). He’s so emotional, quick to anger, yet he has none of the foundations to really lead a group of people. Even when the disciples are explaining to them what happened to the kid and the kite, it’s Wei Wuxian who is keeping everyone calm and asking the questions.

I love that his first reaction here is to insult Wang Lingjiao’s intelligence. We’re basically getting a parallel to how he reacts to Wen Chao, which is fun because you can see how his behavior hasn’t changed at all. He uses his wit in both situations and is easily able to outwit both Wen Chao and Wang Lingjiao. What’s kind of interesting is that Jiang Cheng will speak up now when he wouldn’t before. And I wonder is it because he is guilty for being silent earlier with Wen Chao, or is it something else? I think ultimately Jiang Cheng blames Jin Xizuan, Lan Wangji, and Wei Wuxian for what happens to his parents and to Lotus Pier. Even though, logically, it would have been destroyed anyway, he still wants to place the blame on someone who he can reach. All this is to say, I don’t think Jiang Cheng regrets not speaking up at the Wen Indoctrination. So I think he feels superiority over Wang Lingjiao really because he thinks she’s a stupid woman. And duh, she is not that clever. But she is smart enough to be able to use what talents she has to get ahead. She apparently is favored over Wen Chao’s own wife (who knew he was even married—not me lol), and you have to be ambitious and have some smarts to get that far. That’s not to say that Jiang Cheng wouldn’t treat a man this way too—I think he would. I think he picks and chooses who he’ll stand up to. He’s on his own turf, she’s an invader, she’s a woman—she only brought a few henchmen, right? He’s also been charged with watching over Lotus Pier in his father’s absence. Maybe he just wants to look big for once. Just a thought. Take it or leave it.

So, I think Madam Yu is enjoying this. She’s getting two things she wants: the Wens are going to leave and she gets to beat the shit out of Wei Wuxian. She doesn’t even have to be prodded to punish him, right? She barely waits until Wang Lingjiao has finished speaking. This has something she’s wanted to do for a long time. I think she’s hit him before, yes? But she can go all out right now, since Jiang Fengmian, his only real protector, is gone.

Also Jiang Cheng! Man, he’s torn apart! He hates to see this happening to Wei Wuxian—yes, he blames him for all that shit, but he doesn’t want to see this happen to him. It’s actually harder to watch Jiang Cheng in all of this than Wei Wuxian, who mostly remains as stoic as he could possibly be while she’s whipping the shit out of him. And again here, we get Wei Wuxian telling Jiang Cheng not to interfere, because the last thing he wants is for Jiang Cheng to be penalized too. He’s fine receiving this punishment because it’s a “better me than him” kind of a thing. It’s harder to watch someone else suffer than to suffer ourselves, right? I’m like that, idk if you readers are, but I think a lot of people are like that. I mean, I’ve always been that way, but it’s been amplified since I became a parent. And not only is he accepting of being whipped by Zidian, he’s ready to lose his fucking right hand. The hand that he wields a sword with. His dominant hand. He is ready to lose it with absolutely no fuss. That’s how much Wei Wuxian cares about Lotus Pier. His response is, “I’ll have to learn how to use my left hand.” It’s a passing line, a line when you can’t even see his face—but do you get how big that is? Jiang Cheng is up there losing his mind, completely emotional, crying, yelling at his mother to stop—Wei Wuxian is just silently gritting his teeth and taking it. They’re both brave (I would not want to stand up to Madam Yu), but different kinds of brave, y’know?

I do love this part. I’m not gonna lie. Seeing Madam Yu slap Wang Lingjiao around is something that’s deeply, deeply satisfying. I guess it’s just nice to see Madam Yu’s anger turned towards an actual villain, since up until this point, it’s been directly mainly at Wei Wuxian and her own husband. I think this part is forever tainted if you know how the story goes, because Madam Yu is just on fire! But if you’ve seen this series before, which hopefully you have (otherwise spoilers abound), you know it doesn’t end well for her. I like this plot device here, making you think that the good guys are going to come out on top, and then reversing it so quickly as soon as the Core-Melting Hand shows up. One minute, you’re cheering, the next, you’re…not.

I also want to point out how quickly things reverse here as well. Jiang Cheng is trying to protect and comfort Wei Wuxian throughout this whole scene, which is something we’re definitely not used to seeing. This has always (and I mean always) been more of Lan Wangji’s thing. But in kind of a nice twist of fate, we actually see Jiang Cheng caring for Wei Wuxian. But then, boy, do things change! We see a complete reversal of this behavior—first Wei Wuxian has to be there for Jiang Cheng’s emotional state, and then his physical one. And the man does not complain about it at all.

I want to say that I didn’t cry in my first watch of CQL until episode 50. That is 100% the truth, so help me God. However, when I watched this scene in the donghua, I cried like a little bitch. Cried probably isn’t the right word—how about sobbed. I sobbed. I think because I knew it was coming when I watched CQL, it didn’t really affect me (plus my husband was right there, not paying attention, but still on the couch with me, so I tend to not cry as much when he’s around. I like to cry on my own, okay?). Having said that, the second time I saw this scene, I fucking cried, and I really didn’t stop until after they told Jiang Yanli, because that sweetheart crying makes me cry, okay? I have a really hard time watching things about children and parents, because I always think about my own parents and my own kid, so it just makes me really emotional. The idea of never seeing your parents again, especially in such a traumatic situation, at the age of what—17? That’s something I can’t even begin to imagine. In a word, horrific. Traumatic isn’t even a strong enough word to describe the emotional and mental turmoil that a teenager would be going through. But I can probably ramble about that later.

And my heart breaks for Wei Wuxian here too. Even though she hated him, even though she treated him so poorly, I’m sure he still thought of her as something akin to a mother. She was the only mother figure he had in his life who was still living, so there was definitely an attachment there (and this is proven later). Even being acknowledged by her here must mean something to him. She may hate him, but she trusts him to keep her children safe and to protect them. It’s honestly so sad.

Ugh, this is hard to watch. As a mother, the idea of sending your kid adrift when you know you’ll probably never see them again is so heartbreaking. The connection you have with your children is something that no other relationship can match, whether you physically bore your children or not. They are a part of you. Like, let’s be real, raising children is difficult—they can test your patience, make you angry, make you sad and hurt (toddlers don’t care about you, yeah, I said it)—but you love them in spite of it all. And for me, I can never really hate Madam Yu. I can find her attitude and treatment of certain individuals deplorable, but at the end of the day, she loved her children. Was she a good mom? No, probably not. But I don’t think Jiang Fengmian was a good dad either (although I think he tried a bit harder). But I think she loved A-Cheng and A-Li, and I think she trusted Wei Wuxian to protect them. I think she gave him that shred of respect at the end.

In case you’re wondering, I fucking cried through to the end of this episode. I mean, Jesus, Yanli just gets immediately thrown into another boat and tied up with her brothers, after finding out that her mother might be dead already, and then her dad abandons them too. I just can’t.

I’m sorry this was short (maybe I’m not sorry, depending on how much you like the episode). I’m going to try and knock out more than one episode per week because I just don’t have a lot to say. These are mainly getting through the plot episodes, if you know what I mean.

Other episodes: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |

#wei wuxian #jiang cheng #cql #the untamed #jiang yanli #jiang fengmian #madam yu #wen zhuliu #core-melting hand #wang lingjiao #jiaojiao #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #cql rewatch #wwx

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liliesoftherain · 4 years

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YouTube Challenge!

Request: Ok so I’ve been watching a lot of youtube couples (not the cringey ones lol) and I reallyyy wanted a head canon for maybe bakugou, shoto, and kiri with a s/o who is a youtuber, and they shoot a couple video like those “my boyfriend rates my outfits” or “chapstick challenge” videos. Could the prompts (42)“(58)(18) Also boys to be pro heroes already...if that’s ok.

A/N: I hope you enjoy this hun, @pletopliito and also as each one is written it gets shorter and shorter lol IM SO SORRY

Prompts: 18. “Have you lost your damn mind?” 43. “Why don’t you kiss me already?” 58. “Are you flirting with me?”

Pairing: Katsuki Bakugou x Reader, Eijiro Kirishima x Reader, Shoto Todoroki x Reader

Katsuki Bakugou!:

“Hey guys, QueenExplosion here! And I have a surprise! Drumroll… It’s King Explosion, as a guest!”

You excitedly pulled your boyfriend into the chair next to you, laughing as he grumbled about the name.

“Right, right! Sorry Mr. Pro Hero, I meant Ground Zero is joining me today!”

“Against my will, might I add.”

You smacked his arm without looking for the snide comment,

But knowing your boyfriend,

This video was bound to be full of them

“Alright, so today I look a little bare don’t I? That’s because this hunk is going to be doing my makeup.”

“Get ready to look like shit.”

“ANYWAAAAYS, let’s just jump right in, yeah? So I have all my makeup set out on the desk here, I’m not telling him what does what-”

“Like I need to know, this shit isn’t rocket science.”

“And it’s his job to make my look as fine as I always do.”

You watched as Katsuki faced you, grabbing a random brush and your highlighter.

“This is like the base coat for your foundation crap, right.”

He huffed to himself as you stifled a laughter, side eyeing the camera

He brushed it all over your face before picking up your stick foundation,

“Now this just kinda goes.. Fucking everywhere.”

He narrowed his eyes in concentration and you thought he was adorable,

“What are you doing Katsu?”

“You put dots all over your face. So that, stupid.”

He grabbed the beauty blender and you were shocked to try to see him dab it all over your face

He lightly grabbed your neck to maneuver your position,

Making it easier to blend in the makeup

“Do you think I need this much makeup?”

“No.”

“Awhhh-”

“You need a fucking crap ton.”

You smacked his arm again at the rude comment,

But you knew he was kidding with the way he was smirking

“Now that your face is done or whatever the hell, guess it’s the eyes.”

He picked up one of your newer palets and your heart skipped a beat,

“Oh man I just got this… Don’t mess it up please.”

“Yea, yea shut up.”

“I’m serious Katsuki-”

“Shitty woman I won’t mess it up. Now quit talking so I can make your eyes fucking pretty.”

“Haha okayy~”

He grabbed a small brush and opened your eyeshadow pallet,

Staring intently at the colors

“What are you glaring so hard for? Just pick one, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“You use these two the most. Let’s mix them.”

“Wait, what-”

You watched with wide eyes as he dipped the brush into one color,

Roughly grabbing the powder onto the brush before-

“Have you lost your damn mind, KATSUKI!”

“EH!? WHAT!”

You watched as he selected another color,

Lighter than the first,

Blending them together on the pallet instead of on your eye

LIKE HOW A REGULAR HUMAN BEING DID IT

“YOU CAN’T JUST MIX THEM THERE, YOU RUIN THE COLOR!”

“HA? YOU BLEND SHIT ALL THE TIME!?”

“ON MY EYES DUMBASS!”

“So.. Like this?”

He brought the brush up to your cheek and smeared the makeup all over

“Whoops. Missed.”

“Katsukii!”

Laughing and whining you tried to push him away but he kept sneaking makeup all over your face,

Grabbing your hands and holding them so you couldn’t stop his onslaught

It was all fun and games till you heard a crash,

Looking down you saw your pallet on the ground,

Face down

“... Bakugou Katsuki…”

At the tone of your voice he stopped,

Looking down to where he saw you gaze on your fallen makeup.

“Oh fuck.”

Let’s just say that video ended with a bunch of cut scenes until you said goodbye,

Smiling face full of misused makeup and Katsuki with a smug look on his face,

Even if he did have matching makeup stains where you wiped your cheek against his.

“Fellas, if you’re asked to try this, just don’t-”

“Ignore him!! Thanks for the stopping by and watching the explosion duo! See you guys soon! ”

Eijiro Kirishima!:

“Hi beautiful people, and welcome back to my channel! It’s your host, RockkStarr here with my own, rock star- Red Riot! And today we are going to be doing the Chubby Bunny challenge!”

“Yosh!! I’m hyped up to eat some delicious sweets, oh, and the marshmallows too.”

Winking at the camera Eijiro pulled you in close,

You laughed and tried to squirm away as he left playful bites along your shoulder

“Oh stop! If you guys are unfamiliar with the challenge, it’s a winner-loser game-”

“That I’ll definitely win.”

“That you win by seeing how many marshmallows you can fit in your mouth while still being able to say, ‘chubby bunny’!”

“Oh then I’ll definitely lose, you see these cheeks? Made for this.”

“Owiee!”

Eijiro laughed as you swatted his hand away while he pinched your cute cheek.

“Let’s get onto the marshmallows!”

“YOSH!”

The first few times didn’t go so well since he kept eating them,

“Ei babe you gotta keep it in your mouth!”

“That’s what she-”

After a few more failed attempts you were both up to five, and you both could still talk pretty clearly,

But Kirishima was not making this easy for you,

“What was that??”

“You heard me!!”

You covered your mouth as you tried to hold back laughter,

Making it even harder to do so as you saw your boyfriend's cheeks puffed out so wide,

With a pursed smile to make him look funnier

“Say it again!”

“CHUBBY BUNNY!!”

After another 4 more you were getting to the limit,

Eijirou was tearing up in laughter about how cute you looked with puffed cheeks,

And every time you opened your mouth to talk they would almost fall out,

“Why don’t you just kiss me already?”

He teased with an almost clear voice,

You rolled your eyes at his smugness but did it anyways,

As soon as your lips touched you couldn’t hold back the giggles,

Spitting out wet marshmallows all over your boyfriend you began dying of laughter,

His shocked and disgusted face made you laugh even harder as his own came out of his mouth

“THAT WAS SO GROSS BABE!”

“AHHHH I’M SORRY!”

You both ended the video,

Your chin slick with drool and Eijiro covered in soggy marshmallows,

But you were both smiling and laughing nonetheless

“Thanks for tuning in! See you beauties next time, RockkStarr-”

“And Red Riot!”

“OUT!”

Shoto Todoroki!:

“Hello friends, it’s me, IceeBaby! Don’t be alarmed, I know it may be hard to recognize me behind all this Gucci-”

“That’s a store brand tee-shirt, don’t lie.”

“Aaaaaand I’m here with my ice ice baby, Shoto! Thanksforruiningtheintro.”

“Anything for you, love.”

“Thanks babe.. today we are going to have a fashion show of sorts. I'll be trying on my closet for you all to see, and he is taking time out of his busy day to rate them for me!”

“She looks good in anything, so you’re going to get 10/10s everytime.”

“Oh my gosh. Are you flirting with me?”

“I most definitely am.”

“You do know I am dating a top pro hero right?”

“What is he going to do?”

You giggle as Shoto pulls you onto his lap from, squeezing you tight while he did.

“He can try all he wants but he can't have you back.”

“You’re such a dork-Oh no!! You’ll wrinkle my clothes, let me go!”

“Wrinkled or not this outfit is still a 10 for me.”

You wiggled out of his hold, messing his hair up as you stood.

You tried on a few different outfits, explaining where you got them and why you liked them so much.

“Oh and this shirt-”

“Is my favorite actually.”

“Ohh?? Why is that?”

“This is the shirt you were wearing when we went on our first date.”

Your jaw dropped and Shoto swears there were hearts in your eyes,

“Shoto.. You remember that?”

“Why wouldn’t I? It was one of the best days of my life, you were wearing that shirt and that one pair of jeans that makes your ass look fat-”

“aahhhHHHHHHH! you know about my butt enhancing jeans!?”

“Well, then I didn’t but I know which ones they are now.”

“Kya, you’re so embarrassing~!”

“You were the one wearing them, trying to impress me.”

“Well of course! I was on a date with an up and coming hero, who has tons of pretty heroes who could snatch you from me.”

You pouted looking away from him,

He once again pulled you onto his lap,

“No one is more beautiful than you. I want no one else.”

You looked over to the camera with a smug smile,

“Hear that? Sorry thirsty guys and gals, this man is all mine!”

“Thirsty??”

“Uh yeah, you know how many people thirst over you?”

“Do you know how many thirst over you?”

“Not as many as you, sweetie pie.”

“Whatever you say love, in that case,”

Shoto glared at the camera, shielding you with his body,

“You thirsty people cannot have her either.”

“KYAAA SHOTO-KUN HOW EMBARRASSING!!~~”

You look up at the camera the best you could, a big smile on your face,

“That’s it for today’s video! Go find other people to thirst over!! But I really hoped you enjoyed this! Comment down below if you’d like more content like this! Thanks a bunchies friends! Icy Hot 1 and 2 reporting for outro! Bye!”

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popculturebuffet · 3 years

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Amphibia Reviews: The First Temple or Bessie and Joe: The New OTP

Hello all you happy people! Amphibia season 2 moves right a long and it’s time for some video game shenanigans as we enter The First Temple! Family drama, snail on bird action, and outhouses await you under the cut with a recap/review with full spoilers.

So we open with the Plantars having chocopillbug pancakes. Ironically my mom offered me chocolate chip pancakes after this and thank god for that. This is a rare treat to the point Anne didn’t even know they had choclate, and is suprisingly not strangling Hop Pop over this. Unsuprisingly he broke out the good stuff to try and make up for hiding the box and things are still VERY awkward between the two, with Hop Pop walking on Egghshells around Anne and Anne doing the same when he brings it up with both desperatley trying to avoid the subject and Sprig not helping by bringing it up a bunch.

I like this a lot and didn’t really think about the series continuting any tension over his decision.. but should have. Partly because this is a modern animated show and most of this wonderful new wave of shows have a LOT of emotional nuance. ANd partly because this show dosen’t forget things even most nuanced shows forget: the fact the characters cause chaos and learn life lesons is outright RECOGNZIED by the show as a pattern and brought up quite often, as are the patterns that lead to it, like mostly being sprig and anne, anne’s impulsivness that sort of thing. It’s the kind of thing you just gloss over in most shows but this one lampshades to hell and back for funsies so when something THIS important happens, you’d better belivie it’s not just going to disappear.

The tensions thankfully broken by a new arrival, as a massive sparrow shows up in the yard. “It’s a giant bird with.. books on it’s back.. what. “ Great delivery from bill there. Naturally it’s Marcy!

I missed this little goober. Such a joy to be around, and she of course marvels over the Plantar’s house before getting back on track: She’s found the first temple.. even though she sent a letter saying that and it’s not commented on that she did. It set off the whole previous episode Marcy... you okay Mar-Mar?

That aside though it’s time for the first temple and Marcy asks for the Box, with Sprig trying to make a joke about how good thing she didn’t ask for it a week ago.

Polly rightly punches him in the ribs... do frogs have ribs? Hold on.. okay here we go

Huh.. so they do not You learn something new every day. Well lack of ribs or no our heroes are ready.. while Marcy’s sparrow Joe is also ready TO GET IT ON. Yes really, he does a mating dance for Bessie, complete with an intersumental version of “Sylvia” from last season. God damn that bird’s got game. The only time i’ve seen more game is THIS.

Marcy tells him to knock it off. Look marcy your a pet owner now and as a pet owner, it’s your responsiblity.. to let your giant bird do horrifying things with a slightly smaller but still giant snail. it’s what nature intended. Nature was doing a lot of cocaine that day but we still honor her wishes.

But anyways Marcy’s figure out something intresting about the box.. by winding it just right the gems pop out, which allows her to take one, we later find out it’s the green one, to use in the temple. So off we go with Marcy and the rest of the kids up top and Hop Pop.. screaming in Joe Sparrows claws. He’s fine.

So while they get ready, Anne worries about the amount of puzzles and hazzards Marcy’s hyping for this but Marcy shurgs it off and gives her own big boast about how may RTS she’s beaten.. suspciously like Yuaan as one post on here pointed out. Not a huge suprise though, to Marcy she’d just be the grand hero out of one of her rpg’s and not think of how many people she probably killed or who she’s working for.. though you’d THNK given all the RPG’s both tapetop and on her switch she’s played, that Marcy would see that “the benevolent king turns out to be the big bad” trope coming.

But Anne’s worry is not on the big bad of the show but on Marcy who has a tendency to get so in the zone she ignores the world around her, which goes from focusing on her game while helping anne get softserve leading to a mess, not letting Anne down in a play and.. Anne catching Marcy on tv as all the snakes escape from the zoo.

Regardless our heroes arrive and while the awkwardness between anne and hop pop continues, they find a majestic temple.. and what appears to be an outhouse. Hey we all gotta poop sometimes, even people making a majestic temple. If you don’t it comes out like this.

So they head in and we get our first puzzle, a mysterious cube that lifts you into the air and allows you to tilt the thing around.

Those of you wondering why I have such a strong reaction have ever never played breath of the wild or played it with a pro controller, i.e. NOT having to tilt the very thing your screen is on because Nintendo has failed to grasp that MAYBE people don’t like that, that it takes you out of the experince and that it’s really hard to focus on your screen while having to move the fucking system about. And the plantar’s getting horribly jostled around as she moves it is EXACTLY how it feels to play a puzzle requring that shit.

Next is a color based tile dungeon leftover from Link’s Awakening DX. As marcy figures out the reds do fire and the blues do crushing... but she reads the language (And as she put earlier “Guess who learned an entire dead language?” God she’s precious. ) and finds a green with envy pun (Which Hop Pop takes offense to.. several of his friends are green.). Which is curious as given several citzens of amphibia are green.. why would they make a green pun? So she gets on one tile and Hop Pop plans to take the risk of getting on the other green tile, but Anne does it instead.. and things get heated between the two as Anne reveals she no longe feels like family since he did what he did for polly and sprig and hop pop takes offense as she IS. Even if he screwed up with her. But Anne’s near death experince activates the tile.

The final challnge switches us from Zelda.. to Harry Freaking Potter.

Now I used to love Harry Potter, with all of my heart. Then JK Rowling turned out to be a transphobic piece of shit who thinks she’s an ally, but is really a bigot who wants to “accept” trans people without giving them any rights. So yeah while I still love the starkid musicals, ore more accuratley the music from them, and own a copy of lego harry potter I got as a gift recently as both parties had no idea she was a monster when this stuff was made. Still a sore subject though, but if I didn’t bring up the similiarties I wouldn’t be doing my job as a critic and this was likely thought up long before JK outed herself as well...

No no the great mighty poo respects all peoples.. and wants to take their heads and ram it up his butt. He’s an equal opportunity butt rammer.

Anyways this is the frog equivlent of chess flipfrog, and just like with Wizard chess, our heroes end up as the pieces minus marcy.. and in a nice twist on that scene, Anne ends up on the other side. Marcy is a grandmaster at it though so after an hour or so of play she almost wins.. only for the king equilvent to refuse to be taken and the automatic board she’s up against to send Anne against hop pop, and with our heroes magically restrained and given stone weapons, this can’t end well. Eventually though Anne’s forced to hit HOp Pop multiple times and while he says “well isn’t this what you wanted”, she says no.. she didn’t want to phsyically hurt him it’s just complicated. So we get one heck of an emotioinal scene as Hop Pop just wants to help and wants this to stop and dosen’t knoow how to fix this which as someone who desperatlyt ries to fix most emotional situations right away this hit very hard.. and her response of needing time hit harder. The two while not reconciled, ar ecloser to it and Marcy realizes what she’s done getting so obessed with winning and forfits for thier benifit. Our heroes leave, seemingly having lost.. only to find glowing arrows to the crap hole, which turns out to be the pedistal. The temple wasn’t just an intellegence test but empathy.. and the temples are clearly built to specifically test each of the chosen three, our heroines, specifically. Marcy’s tested her intellegence.. but also her willingness to let go of cold clyincal thought to do the right thing. That earns her her gem recharged and a flash in her eyes and her gem starts pointing to the next. She needs time to triangulate and hop pop and anne are back on workable footing... though our heroes offer to take a break instead of going to the next temple.

Back in Newtopia, Yuaan reports on the toads gathering.. but dosen’t get to mentioning sasha before Marcy’s letter interrupts and Andridas oddly and aburbly dimisses her.. and goes to talk to a watcher with a thousand eyes, his “master” who has plans to undo the prophcey and get their revenge.

Final Thoughts: This was a damn fine episode that gave Marcy some much needed character development, and gave the reveals of last episode some more emotiional fallout. It also had some really great jokes as always. Top notch stuf.

Next Time: Marcy tries to win everyone over through science and we FINALLY get an episode with the Frog Robot apparently. Horay

Next on this Blog: We go into final space yo! It’s unexpected births, ho yay, and horrifying zombie gary’s galore!

Until then if you liked this review, follow me for more, join my patreon, comission a review if you please and i’ll see you at the next rainbow. Play us out jeff... and I haven’t done THAT bit in a while but eh. This song was too perfect.

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#amphibia #anne boonchuy #marcy wu #the first temple #hopidah plantar #sprig plantar #polly planntar #king andrias #the watcher with a thousand eyes

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kiribaku-queen · 4 years

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Can I request a Nishinoya Yuu x Reader from America where Nishinoya actually meets our reader as she works as a florist that her grandmother owns and from that day forth he wants to get to know her much more by visiting each day after practice until he finds out that she won’t actually be staying for long :( Even then when he goes to confess his feelings he’s too late.

Tulips

Pairing: Nishinoya x reader

Fluff, Angst

Word count: 3.4K

A/N: Uhm... I’m OVERWHELMED by how much love and support I got from that Oikawa request????? Like thank you so fucking much! Anon picked a good request. This is another long one but let me tell you! I looooved this request and I had so much fun writing it! The ending is really my favorite part and I hope I fulfilled this request to your liking. Anon please let me know what you think and I appreciate all of your comments!

Flowers were the epitome of romance. On any special occasion, flowers are always bought to show a loved one that they are thought of and that they are special. They were hard to maintain and sure, they might die easily, but the symbol of love was only meant to live for short time. That’s what makes it beautiful. That’s why people come back for more. That’s why it’s treasured more carefully.

It’s no secret that the Karasuno boys were head over heels over their manager. And it was no surprise that two specific people would die for her. But there was one person that wanted to absolutely woo the heck out of Kiyoko. And that was Tanaka. But Tanaka was an idiot. He didn’t know how to woo a girl. He didn’t know the first thing to impressing a woman. He stared at the local florist shop, completely spaced out and overwhelmed. Thank god his best friend was there to hype him up. Nishinoya also didn’t know the first thing to impressing women. But he was there for moral support.

“Are you seriously stressing over flowers?” Nishinoya poked fun at the bald who was practically shaking in his feet.

“They have to be perfect,” he stressed. But Nishinoya paid no mind to mind and walked in the shop without a second thought.

“How hard can it be? They’re just flowers,” he brushes it off. And soon as he steps in the store, the small bell rang, indicating that someone had walked in.

“Welcome!” a girl’s voice greets them. Nishinoya turns to that direction and was about to wave back in response until his smile drops and he is suddenly frozen in place. His eyes saw one person and one person alone.

You. You were standing at the cash register with the widest and cheekiest smile you could muster. Your eyes disappeared from how wide you were smiling. You were dressed in a floral, pink dress that flowed down your body like it was made for you. Nishinoya was starstuck. He could feel the rush of emotions coming up from the bottom of his feet all the way to way past his head. The moment was ruined when Tanaka bumped into his back, causing both of them to groan.

“Why did you stop all of a sudden?” Tanaka yelled, pushing him forward so that he, too, could enter the shop.

“None of your business!” Noya yelled back and walked away from him, confusing the boy. But he brushed it aside and walked with him. He wasn’t even paying attention to the lovestruck boy. He was lovestruck himself and he was on a mission.

While Tanaka was over in one corner picking out different flowers and putting them together to see if it looks good, Nishinoya was facing the direction you were at, acting like he was interested in a flower. When really? He was staring at you the entire time. There was just something about you that drew him to you. That just mesmerized him.

“Oi, Noya. What do you think of these?” Tanaka held up a poorly arranged bouquet, feeling all proud with his creation. When he saw that his friend wasn’t even paying attention to him, he was about to knock some sense into him. But then he noticed that his friend was looking at something. Or someone. Tanaka leaned closer, almost to Nishinoya’s level and scanned his eyes to where he was looking.

“Watcha looking at,” Tanaka whispered straight into Noya’s near, scaring the crap out of him.

“I was… looking at the flower,” Noya lied, picking up the flower that he was messing with that just to happened to now be ruined because of him. Yeah, he wasn’t falling for that one. Tanaka squinted his eyes and looking over the smaller one.

“A girl, huh?” Tanaka gave him a sleazy smile and bumped him with his elbow a few times.

“Nuh-uh.”

“Yeah-huh.”

“NUH-UH!”

“YEAH-HUH!”

“Uhm, can I help you guys?” both boys spun around to see you looking shyly at them. Noya swore his heart just leaped out of his chest. And he would have fallen over if it wasn’t for Tanaka keeping him steady.

“Yeah, I want to buy flowers to impress this girl. But I don’t think I’m doing a great job,” Tanaka says after Noya refuses to say anything. That’s because he was so distracted looking at your pretty face. When he hears you laugh for the first time because you saw Tanaka’s failed attempt at making a bouquet, it was like angelic music in his hears. He wanted to hear more.

“We have some premade bouquets in the front if that’s easier for you. But if you want to make your own, I can help you make one,” you offered. Noya tilted his head. Your voice was also like music to his ears, but something about the way you talked was different. And he couldn’t put his finger on it.

The boys followed you around the shop because Tanaka insisted that he wanted to make his own. And he was trying to do his friend a favor by being by your side a little longer. You and Tanaka were making great conversation and Noya was standing in the back wanting to jump in, but didn’t have the courage to. He’s never nervous. He thought he had great game and could flirt with any girl he sees. But you were exactly his ideal type. The type of girl he dreams about every night. You were real and standing right in front of him. So why couldn’t he get the courage to speak to you?

“I’ve been wondering for a while, you’re not from here are you?” Tanaka blurts out and Noya freaks! You don’t ask people that! But you didn’t mind it one bit.

“I’m actually from America,” you replied with that lovable smile.

“Woah, but your Japanese is so good!” Tanaka complimented, causing you to flush red. Noya pouted. You were blushing at Tanaka. And not him. He wanted to be the one you were blushing at.

“Thank you, but my Japanese still needs a little work,” you say, wrapping up the flowers Tanaka picked out. “I need more practice, but I don’t have anyone to talk to beside customers.”

“I can practice with you!” Nishinoya shouts out, a little too enthusiastically. You look at him, wide eyed. And Tanaka just feels proud that his boy finally has the balls to speak up. You looked surprised at first but then your eyes and lips curl up to show that excitement you were bubbling up.

“Really?” you lean forward towards the shorter one, eyes pleading that he wasn’t joking. But now you were closer than you’ve ever been and he was blushing like crazy. All he could muster to do was nod his head with confidence and you exploded with happiness!

“Yes!” you cheered for yourself. And Nishinoya swore that was the cutest thing he’s ever seen.

Tanaka already got checked out and paid for all his stuff but now was waiting on his friend. Ever since he spoke out like that, you two were having full blown conversations. It was like you two were in your own world, talking about this and that. His hobbies. Your hobbies. What your favorite color was and vice versa. Tanaka felt like he was third-wheeling all of a sudden. But he smiled when he saw how happy his friend looked and knew that he couldn’t ruin such a rare moment.

You and Nishinoya could talk for hours. You didn’t feel like strangers that just met. Talking with him felt so comfortable and normal. So much that you weren’t even shy about your accent or if you were saying sentences correctly. It just flowed out on its own. You wish it could go on for another couple of hours, but before you knew it, shop was already at closing time. Unfortunately, you two had to say your goodbyes. Noya didn’t want to leave just yet. There were so many things he wanted to talk to you about still. There was always tomorrow, he thought. As he left the shop, he so happened to glimpse at one of the flyers on the bulletin board. A class for flower arrangement? Sly as a dog, he ripped the flyer down to keep in his pocket for safe keepings.

It was everyday for the past month. Everyday that Nishinoya would stop by the florist shop after volleyball practice to see you and talk with you. He would even go to the weekly flower arrangement classes that he saw on the flyer. There, he could spend even more time with you and fall even harder for you. Needless to say, you were falling for him too.

The day you two met, it was actually your grandmother who pushed you to go help them. When Nishinoya came through the door, you were starstruck. You knew Japanese men attractive but this guy was too attractive. For a moment, you felt like you couldn’t breathe. That’s how breathtaking he was. But you were at work. Professionalism. That’s a thing. But even though you had a job to do, you kept looking in his direction just to see those sparkling eyes and dazzling smile. Your grandmother noticed that you were distracted and nudged you in their direction.

“Why don’t you help those gentlemen over there,” your grandmother suggested, leaving you to become flustered.

“Granny, it doesn’t look like they need any help. How could I help them? I can’t speak Japanese,” you tried to make an excuse. But it wasn’t working on granny.

“Oh, stop. You’ve helped plenty of customers. What’s a couple more?” she says and pushes you in their direction. You grab on tight to the sides of your dress and look back. Your granny was watching you, urging you to keep going. With a deep breath to calm your nerves, you made your way to the couple that was arguing.

You thought that was going to be the one and only time you were going to see him. But you were wrong. You saw him many times. Every day actually. You were even surprised when he showed up to your flower arrangement classes. Granny could see the pure excitement look in your eyes every time he showed up. And how you were talking nonstop to this young, volleyball player. She felt young love in the air. She was so happy for you, but sad at the same time because you haven’t told him yet. The time was getting closer. But she was sure that you would figure it out on your own.

“Noya,” you got comfortable calling him by his nickname. At first, it was very awkward, but he got you to say it after much persuasion. You pulled up a stool and motioned for him to sit down. “Can you help me style this bouquet?” you asked and he kindly accepted.

“What’s the theme today?” he asked, plopping down in the stool next to you. Then, he scooted even closer to you, making you tense up at the sudden closeness.

“Uhm, h-how about, uhm…” you stuttered, your brain shutting off because now you got a whiff of his cologne and god, does he smell good. Noya notices that you stopped and pays even more attention to you, his gaze now curiously looking at you. Please stop looking at me, you thought. He’s just making your brain go haywire.

“S-Summer!” you blurted out. Now that was embarrassing. Your face becomes hot under his continuous gaze but he doesn’t laugh at you. Instead, he gives you an encouraging smile and nods his head in understanding.

“Summer! It’s really hot outside. If we make a good enough bouquet, we can put them outside to attract more customers!” Nishinoya said very enthusiastically. His enthusiasm about promoting your granny’s shop makes you admire him even more. You pursed your lips together in a shy, side smile and hummed in agreeance.

Noya was collecting pink, yellow, and white flowers while you were cutting up some leaves and stems to fill up the empty spaces. And you arranged everything into a style that you could both agree on. Although, there were some disagreements here and there but it was in all fun. When you were finished, you stepped back to look at the finished product. But it looked like something was missing.

“How’s it lookin’?” Noya asked, also getting back to look at what they created. His pointer finger and thumb met his chin in a thinking position, like he also thought that it was missing something.

“It’s pretty, but it could use something else,” you comment seriously. Now this was really bothering you. What was it missing? Then the idea popped up like magic. You looked at the pile of leftover flowers and picked up a white rose that was there. Like you shared the same brain, Nishinoya went for the same one and your hands brushed against one another. The moment your hands touched, you both stood still and your eyes looked up to meet each other. Both were wide with shock and a deep, red blush ran across your cheeks. You pulled back and was about to apologize when Nishinoya grabbed your hand back, pulling you in closer to him than you were before. Your thoughts were traveling at a millions miles per second and you didn’t know what to do in this moment. His eyes were serious and intense. He may not be saying anything but his eyes told you the whole story. He was going to kiss you. Right here. Right now. You let in to your emotions and allowed yourself to fall in his arms. Right before your lips touched, a big, red sign in your mind said STOP! Because you were keeping a secret from him and he needed to know. You placed your hand on his chest, stopping him movements.

“Wait,” you said. It was now or never. You had to do this or else you would feel so guilty.

When you stopped him, he took that as a sign of rejection. He could feel his heart burst with pain, like someone had just stabbed him right there. It was too bold of a move, he thought. He backed away, lowering his head in embarrassment.

“Sorry,” he whispered. But you didn’t want him to apologize. You had to tell him something important but before you could, he stood up, grabbed his Karasuno jacket and left without another word. And that was the last time you saw him.

Nishinoya was heartbroken that night. God, why did he attempt to kiss you?! He didn’t even know if you liked him back and he did that? He must be a real idiot. Sure, he’s been rejected before but why did this one hurt the most? Why wouldn’t the pang in his heart go away?

It’s probably because he didn’t do it right. That has to be it! He was missing all the steps! He had to confess first, then ask you to be his girlfriend, then he could kiss you! He wrote this down in his notebook yet he completely looked past it. You rejected him because he missed the most important step. He had to confess first.

Over the next few days, Noya was working on the most gorgeous bouquet for you. He no longer went to visit you because in the meantime, he was going to other florist shops around town to see what kind of flowers they had in store. Little by little, he was gathering the materials to confess to you. Brown paper so that he can wrap the flowers around nicely with. Greenery because you loved some greenery in bouquets. You would never make one without it. Yellow tulips because you reminded him of the color yellow. It fits your personality just right. Bright, beaming and beautiful. He also did a little digging, and tulips mean confession in flower language. Yeah, he knows that’s going to impress her. And he also bought a yellow bow to tie the whole piece together.

Today was the day. The day to finally do the first step: confess. He got dressed in his best boyfriend clothes. He slicked back half of his hair and left the other half rest on his face. He saw an attractive person pull of his hairstyle so he tried to pull it off. It was okay, but it was too late to change it. He wore his best cologne because he knew that you liked how he smelled. He’s got his shoe game on and bouquet in hand. Time to go.

He was on his way, skipping down the street while whistling a happy tune. He raised the bouquet of flowers in the air, admiring his work because you were for sure going to love it. As he got closer to the shop, his heart starting beating and his stomach was starting to get butterflies. There was something else he was feeling but couldn’t quite put his finger on it. It was probably just his nerves getting to him.

The shop was finally in his field of vision. He stopped, turned to the side and looked at his reflection in one of the shop’s window. Fixing his hair and pumping himself up, he was ready to go. He took a few steps towards the shop when he already saw you outside. Perfect. But why did you have a suitcase in hand? And why were you putting it in a van? And why does it look like you’re saying goodbye? He started picking up the pace because it looked like you were going somewhere. But you got in the van and already left. Dammit, he was too late. Still running up to the store, he saw your grandmother still outside the shop, preparing to open up shop.

“Granny!” he greeted her, running out of breath from running so long. She looks stunned to see him.

“Young boy. What are you doing here?” she asks with an alarmed tone.

“Well, I came to give (y/n) this but I saw that she just left. Do you know when she’s going to be back?” he asks, showing your grandmother the flowers that he made. Her eyes soften with sadness. What an innocent boy. The news is going to break his heart.

“She didn’t tell you, did she?” your grandmother pointed out. But Nishinoya was confused.

“Tell me what?”

“She left for the airport. She’s going back to America.” Nishinoya’s smile dropped. He didn’t need to hear the rest of the story. The bouquet of flowers that he worked so hard to create fell to the floor and he was chasing after your car.

No, it has to be a lie. You couldn’t leave. There were so many things he had to tell you. Things he wanted to tell you but never could. So many secrets that he wanted to confess to. Theres never going to be a tomorrow. He ran after your car like he’s never ran in his life. But no matter how fast he ran, you were getting further and further away. But he couldn’t give up. You were the one for him, he just knows it. He screams and he pushes himself to continue running. But he could only go so far. He started to slow down but his mind kept telling him to push through it. That he’ll never get another chance. He’ll never meet another girl like you. A girl who was so down to earth and sweet and intelligent and beautiful and funny and shy and quirky and dramatic and emotional and caring and loving as you. Noya clenched his teeth as tears brimmed his eyes. Then his body couldn’t take it anymore. He gradually came to a stop, frustrating taking over his body. Running took so much energy out of him that he had to take multiple deep breaths for him to breath properly. But he wasn’t done there. He took a deep breath and yelled with all his might.

“(Y/N)!!!!!! I LIKE YOU! I LIKE YOU, I LIKE YOU, I LIKE YOU!” Nishinoya screamed like a madman, hoping that you could hear it and that your van would stop. But that wasn’t the reality. Your car kept driving until it disappeared into the distance.

“Fuck…” Noya said, exhausted, not noticing the tears streaming down his face. “I love you.” He confessed to himself and fell down to his knees. You had already left and he was devastated.

#nishinoya x reader #nishinoya imagine #yū nishinoya #nishinoya angst #haikyuu imagine #haikyuu oneshot #haikyuu nishinoya

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artificialqueens · 3 years

Text

Whenever I’m Alone With You (Tia/Veronica) - Juno

Summary: Tia and Veronica take an eventful day trip to the seaside. They start the day as friends. Will that be the case by the end of the day?

(A/N: It’s taken me a little while but I’m finally happy with this so here is some Greentia for anyone who wants DRUK stuff. No CWs it’s mostly fluffy with some h/c. I hope you enjoy.)

Brighton was supposed to be well-known for having the best beaches in the UK. Student city? Sure. Queer-friendly? Yes. But the beach? Mostly stones. Stones as far as the eye could see along the coastline.

Disappointing, Tia thought to herself as she leaned against the intricate Victorian iron fence surrounding the beach. I expected white sand and palm trees from the way the uni welcome pack hyped it up. I’ll give it a four out of ten.

Still, the seaside was alright. It almost felt like being back in Clacton. The usual fairground rides, a Ferris wheel, the pier out over the sea littered with people, and seagulls brave enough to steal your wallet let alone your chips.

It was October and for some reason it was sunny and warm this Saturday, and Tia had come to the seaside to relish what would probably be the last warm-ish day of the year. What seemed to be the entire population of East Sussex had also taken that view, and the beach was crowded with people chasing the last strands of summer sun.

Tia preferred to be here on the pavement above the beach, breathing in the salty sea air, and listening to the waves, wondering how something so forceful sounded so peaceful.

“Nice day.”

Veronica’s soft voice behind her served as a reminder that Tia wasn’t alone.

Out of her three new housemates, Veronica hadn’t been Tia’s first choice in wanting someone to spend the day at the seaside with, but Aurora and Ellie had already gone out. They’d only lived in their halls for just over a month, but Aurora and Ellie were already almost joined at the hip, spending all day together when they weren’t in lectures.

There were four of them on their floor of the halls, all women. Tia had instantly bonded with Ellie, who bubbled with fun and was most content when she was making people laugh. It had taken a little longer to get to know Aurora, who was hard as nails but whose loyalty to her friends was endless. And then there was Veronica. Veronica had avoided most of the freshers’ social activities, barely leaving her room, and in doing so, became something of a loner.

She’d asked Veronica to go with her out of politeness, but also out of some vague fascination with her. Tia knew they were friends - if the last month had shown them anything, they were definitely friends - but she didn’t know enough about Veronica to know if it would be a fleeting friendship or a lasting one.

After all, Tia thought to herself as she watched Veronica getting black lipstick all over the cone, we don’t really have much in common on the surface.

“Yeah, it’s a really nice day,” Tia nodded at her finally, taking another lick of the ice cream Veronica had bought her.

The quiet resumed between them; not an uncomfortable sound, Tia noticed, but one that simply didn’t need to be filled with noise. It made a change from Ellie, always game for a laugh, and Aurora, who had an opinion to give on everything. But Tia liked the quiet time they shared. The only sound was the rush of the sea, and Veronica humming some tune that Tia recognised vaguely, but not enough to know.

There was a clatter as Veronica’s parasol dropped to the ground beside her. Veronica smiled apologetically as she leaned to pick it up. Tia knew some people with some - interesting fashion choices, but Veronica was the only person she knew with an actual parasol, black like the rest of her outfit.

“Do you always wear black?” Tia asked.

Veronica’s huff and rehearsed reply said it all. “Yes, I always wear black, I sleep in a coffin, and it’s Halloween every bloody day.”

“I mean - don’t you get really warm in summer?”

Veronica seemed to consider the question. “Not really. The skirt is quite thin material, and -“

“But it’s all black.”

“So?”

“Well, it traps heat,” Tia said.

Veronica looked down at herself, cocking an eyebrow, turning back to look at Tia. “Yeah, I suppose so. At least I look, you know, hot.”

Tia blinked at Veronica, who held her gaze expectantly.

“No, sorry, Vee, that was just crap. That was such a bad dad joke.” Tia shook her head in exasperation. “Honestly! I thought goths were meant to be funnier than that.”

Veronica sighed. “Yeah, well, me too.”

Her contemplative stare out to the sea was evidently meant to be intense, but no one, not even someone as goth as Veronica, could ever look too intense while eating an ice cream.

“Is that why you bought me an ice cream in the first place?” Tia asked, still teasing, trying to coax Veronica to open up a little more. “Were you trying to make up for your dad jokes in advance?”

Veronica managed a smile. “Partly. And - partly to say thanks for sticking up for me last night.”

Last night. Tia cringed internally.

“Yeah, well,” Tia muttered, shuffling uncomfortably. “You were homesick. You didn’t need that.”

Veronica’s stare was fixed on the horizon as she continued. “I … don’t think I realised how homesick I would be.”

“It’s normal, Vee. You’re not - you don’t have to put on a hard front just because you like wearing black; you’re allowed to be emotional too. It’s not like the rest of us haven’t been homesick as well.” Tia gave her a nudge in the shoulder. “You saw me bawling about it, didn’t you?”

——

All it had taken for Tia to get homesick was for that Doja Cat song to come on Tia’s shuffle while she was waiting for the kettle to boil.

It was Thursday morning, the week after lectures started, and Tia was already feeling like shit. The reality that she was here to study had kicked in, and she’d spent half the night awake worrying about her first assignment. But when the song had come on, Tia had been instantly flooded with the memory of her mum attempting that TikTok dance with her, falling about in laughter when she’d failed. That had been enough for Tia to break down, sobbing so hard that she didn’t have the energy to finish making her cup of tea.

Aurora hadn’t come home the previous night, spending the night at Tayce’s halls after Wicked Wednesdays at the union bar, and Ellie’s 8.15 lecture had already started; so Tia knew that when she heard a creaking of the door in the hallway that it would be Veronica.

“What’s up, love?” She’d whispered cautiously, but Tia had just cried harder at her words, so she’d simply rubbed her back and shoulders and made her a brew as Tia had tried to stop crying.

“D’you miss your mum?” Veronica had asked, peering up at her in concern, Tia’s free hand clasped tenderly in both of hers.

“I’m sorry, I’m being stupid,” Tia had managed to mumble through her tears.

“Don’t say that, you’re not being stupid at all,” Veronica had soothed, looping her hand into the crook of Tia’s elbow. “Tell you what, come into my room and we’ll put on a film, eh?”

“I - I have a lecture at 11 -“

“You’re not going anywhere, someone will get you the notes.”

Tia was surprised at how determined Veronica was to take care of her, pulling her into her immaculately tidy room and setting the tablet up with Netflix. She hadn’t expected Veronica’s first choice in a comfort film to be Finding Nemo, or for Veronica to toss the blankets over both of them and curl up next to Tia, handing her tea and the pack of Hobnobs that she’d only bought the day before.

They didn’t really speak at all.

Tia felt herself calm down gradually, laughing and tearing up at the film, passing biscuits back and forth with Veronica, sharing the progression of emotions with her as they came and went.

It was a depth of care that Tia felt to her bones.

Not that the other two girls on their floor would have been bad company. She knew that Aurora would have given her a hug and a peck on the cheek, told her she was amazing and she was smashing it and how much she herself was feeling the pressure of being away from home too. She knew that Ellie would have cracked a few jokes and tried to make her laugh, maybe telling her a funny story of something she’d seen Aurora do, or one of the scores of new friends she’d already made.

They both would have tried to be helpful in the best and most loving way they knew how.

But Tia wouldn’t have been able to take in encouragement from Aurora, and she didn’t want to laugh even if Ellie had succeeded in making her.

Somehow Veronica knew that Tia didn’t need someone to make noise for the sake of noise. She didn’t need hugs. She just needed … company. She just needed someone there to be with her.

“Thanks, Vee,” Tia had said finally, unable to meet Veronica’s eyes. “I - I feel a lot better now.”

“It’s alright,” Veronica had murmured, threading her fingers into Tia’s and squeezing. “Come back any time.”

——

“What made you want to come to Brighton?” Veronica asked, breaking into Tia’s memories.

They had moved to a free spot on the beach itself, sitting on a towel under Veronica’s parasol - seriously, why did she have a parasol? - the heat now starting to break as the evening drew in. Tia was taking a swig from her bottle of water, while Veronica was digging into the sand with her hands, pulling up handfuls and letting the grains slip through her fingers.

Tia shrugged in response. “The course. Being by the coast. Lesbians. The usual.”

“Oh.” Veronica stifled a laugh. “Like me then. The usual.”

The forced nonchalance of her tone made Tia snort with laughter.

“Where are you from again?” Tia asked her.

“Lancashire. Took five hours for my dad to drive me down here last month. Five bloody hours.” Veronica held up five fingers as if she hadn’t given enough emphasis already. “I wanted to come here for a bit of a fresh start, I suppose. No one I know from school went this far south. I thought maybe I’d have - I don’t know. A reinvention. A renaissance, fitting on my History course, eh?”

“Yeah,” Tia nodded.

“But you can’t shake off the old habits,” Veronica muttered darkly.

“What do you mean?”

“People - just thinking I’m stuck-up.” Veronica sighed, digging back into the sand. “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.”

——

The previous night had been tense. Aurora’s friend Tayce had asked about the roommate who never seemed to leave her room, and Aurora had groaned an exaggerated groan, running her hands through her hair.

“I’m so sick of Veronica’s martyr act,” Aurora had declared at the sound of Veronica’s name, her voice ringing in the kitchen and through the open doorway to the hall.

“Don’t be stupid,” Tia had said, nudging Aurora in the ribs. “She’s not a martyr.”

“She is. She’s playing the martyr. I mean, she’s nice when you speak to her,” Aurora had shrugged, “but she doesn’t really want to talk to us, does she? She doesn’t make an effort, it’s always us making the effort with her. Like she’s too good for us. We’re just normal and she’s special just because she likes some bloody moody bands from the eighties.”

Tayce had raised her eyebrows, grinning her usual wolfish grin and sniggering silently behind her hand.

“She doesn’t think she’s special,” Tia had retorted, but Aurora had just rolled her eyes.

“It annoys me. People like her want to be different but they are all the same as each other. They want to conform to show that they don’t conform. How does that make sense? She just wants the attention.”

That was when they’d all heard the door slam.

“Good going, Aurora,” Tia had hissed. “She must have heard you.”

Aurora had chewed her tongue nervously, a flush creeping up her neck, but she stood her ground. “Whatever. I’m not wrong, am I?”

“You are wrong, actually,” Tia had replied, her voice suddenly louder than Aurora’s, “because you just don’t give her the chance. She’s not playing anything. She’s just - I don’t know, shy. And missing her home. And I bet you’re not making it any easier for her to feel like she can come talk to you. Leave her alone.”

Tayce’s sniggers had become too loud to cover up, and she turned to bury her face into Aurora’s shoulder. Aurora, her face now red as a tomato, had chewed her lips and shaken her head in exasperation.

“Whatever.”

With that, she’d swept away to her own room, Tayce on her heels. Tia had hung back, remembering Veronica’s kindness towards her, knowing that she was probably going through it as well. Ellie and Aurora had both had tough days, too. They all had.

Tia had stopped outside Veronica’s room and knocked gently at her door.

“Vee?”

But Veronica didn’t answer initially. Tia knew it was wrong to barge in, but she’d found the door unlocked.

“I’m opening the door - tell me to go - or I’m coming in -“

But Veronica had called “Come in” in the smallest voice, and Tia pushed the door open.

Veronica was curled on her side on the bed, staring at the wall, tracing the paint on it with her finger. When Tia had pushed the door closed and sat on the bed next to Veronica, she could see that her face was red and patchy and her eyes bloodshot.

“Is that really what they all think? That I’m an attention-seeker?”

Her voice had broken as she spoke. She rolled onto her back to face Tia, searching her eyes for honesty, and Tia thought she seemed as angry as she was upset at the way she had been spoken about.

Tia had shaken her head. “I don’t think that. I think -”

I think you’re really lovely.

The words wouldn’t come out, and Tia realised that they went deeper than she’d previously thought. But Veronica’s eyes had softened, and she’d laid her hand on Tia’s, almost as if she’d heard her thoughts. “Thank you.”

——

“They’re nice, you know, Aurora and Tayce are,” Tia replied, and Veronica looked up at her. “Just - I don’t know - don’t be scared of them.”

“Aurora’s got some preconceived idea about me because of how I look.”

“Okay, but you do too,” Tia sighed. “You think Aurora and Tayce won’t want to talk to you because they’re the coolcrowd. I get it, I feel like that too sometimes. But Aurora just takes a bit of time to get to know, and trust me, she’s just tough for show; she’s really sweet and caring underneath it all. Like you,” Tia added.

“I guess.” Veronica muttered.

“I mean - you’re right, things don’t just change when you move away, you have to make them change.”

Veronica huffed.

“You know I’m right,” Tia said.

“Yeah, I do. Sorry.” She shrugged dismissively. “Dad always tells me off for being stubborn. Maybe Aurora had a point.”

A seagull landed dangerously near to Veronica, and she kicked out at it. When it didn’t immediately fly away, Tia sat up on her knees and waved a hand, until it scurried away to a safe distance.

“This place is giving me lots of Clacton vibes.” Tia stretched out her legs again. “My mum used to take me there every summer, and it’s the same as here! Some sand, some chips in a cone, seagulls shitting everywhere, a few rides, you get the idea.”

“Rides?” Veronica spun to Tia at that word, her eyes lighting up suddenly. “I didn’t know if you liked rides! Do you want to go on a ride on the pier? Or the Ferris wheel or something? Is there a waltzer? I love the waltzers, oh my God -“

“I don’t know, do I! I’ve only lived here for as long as you have!”

But Tia couldn’t have resisted the spark of joy that came to Veronica’s face if she’d tried, holding back laughter at Veronica’s sudden burst of enthusiasm. She got up and pulled Veronica to her feet, and Veronica hooked a hand through Tia’s arm in what was becoming a wonderfully familiar gesture, to pull her along the seafront towards the pavilion and the amusement arcade.

“Waltzers!” Veronica cried, squeezing Tia’s arm and pointing at the waltzers fifty yards away. She dragged Tia towards them with surprising strength for such a tiny woman.

But Tia was worried. Is this the time to mention I’ve never been on them? That I hate spinning round and round?

“Am I gonna vom?” Tia asked nervously. “I don’t want to vom. Do they spin you?”

“Yeah, they do, but you won’t puke, promise.”

“You sure?” Tia eyed the waltzer, but Veronica nodded earnestly.

“Yeah, I’m sure. My brother gets car sick and he loves the waltzers too, come on, you’ll be fine.”

Partly, Tia was watching the other people in the booths shrieking with delight as they spun in their booths, but mostly, she saw a happy side to Veronica that she hadn’t seen a great deal of, and found she wanted to experience it with her.

Things don’t just change when you move away, you have to make them change.

“Alright, I’m coming on.”

The next three minutes were a blur. A fast, dizzying blur. Tia just remembered screaming until her throat hurt and clinging onto the bar for dear life as she leaned into Veronica, who screeched loud enough to wake the actual dead, the g-force sticking them to each other and the back of the booth like glue.

But it was so fun that Tia wanted to go again.

“Vee,” Tia muttered, as they stepped back off, “I’m covered in your nail marks, hun.” She showed Veronica her forearm, where her nails had dug in, leaving tiny crescent-moon indents in her skin.

Veronica grimaced. “Sorry. Can I make it up to you?”

“Another ice cream?”

“I was thinking of Spoons.” Veronica pointed to the pub on the seafront. “It’s getting too cold here now for ice cream.”

——

The sun had set and the seafront had a definite chill in the air as Tia and Veronica sat together on the terrace outside Spoons. They watched the people around them as they passed, the ride operators for the kids rides as they packed away, and the daytime folk, as a handful of teenagers started to appear, getting on the rides themselves.

The rush of the waves as the tide crept in, and Veronica’s persistent humming, filled the space between them. Veronica had shuffled her chair right next to Tia’s, and the song was irritatingly familiar, but Tia couldn’t quite remember it.

“What is that song you keep humming?” Tia asked Veronica finally.

“Oh - nothing.” Veronica swallowed hard.

“Really?” Tia grinned at her. “Is it The Cure or something?”

“Yeah - yeah, it’s The Cure.” Veronica said quickly. “Disintegration. Great album.”

“It sounds like it,” Tia nodded, secretly hoping she’d never have to be subjected to it. Veronica fell completely silent after that, a little self-conscious, and Tia felt a little uncomfortable for the first time that day.

“That woman’s the fortune teller at the Pavillion,” Tia motioned as she passed, trying to ease the tension. “Tayce got her palm read by her at freshers’ week. She thought Tayce was from Yorkshire! She couldn’t even read her mind and see she’s Welsh!”

“Fortune telling?” Veronica shook her head. “Just a cheap trick, cold reading more like.”

“I can do it! Give me your hand and I’ll show you.”

Tia took Veronica’s nearest hand that lay on the table, and pulled it towards her. Veronica shuffled in even closer, leaning into Tia’s arm. She was much shorter than Tia, her chin only just resting on Tia’s shoulder, and Tia found her warm weight more distracting than she thought she would.

“So,” Tia mused, stroking her thumb slowly down Veronica’s palm, “this line here, that’s your life line, this long one here in the middle of your palm. See it?”

Veronica didn’t speak, but she gave a hum of agreement, her lips perking at the corners into a dreamy smile. Tia caught a hint of the surprisingly light floral perfume she wore, a vague scent of apple from her hair.

“This line here,” Tia mumbled, rapidly losing her train of thought, running a thumb along the palm of Veronica’s hand. “This line, it’s - your life line. I said that already. Erm. It means that you … spend your life … in lines. All sorts of lines. Lines for rides, lines at the shop, Tube lines -“

“Give over.” Veronica sounded almost a little disappointed. She took another swig of her drink, almost draining the glass.

“Your love of lines has been exposed now, Vee. You can’t hide it any longer.”

To her surprise, Veronica was laughing.

“I like that you’ve given me a nickname. No one else does. It’s nice. Feels like …” Her eyes were pensive, and she shrugged, unable to think of a word. “I don’t know. But I like it.”

Veronica’s tone was light and airy, but Tia felt goosebumps spread on her neck and arms at the sound of her voice, and her chest fluttered, filled with sudden butterflies.

This moment felt pivotal, like a turning point.

Are we - catching feelings?

Sure, Veronica was interesting enough, and kind - if a little stubborn - and every time they had been alone together, they seemed to have an instinctual connection that Tia couldn’t explain. But it felt quite fast, and still, Tia wasn’t quite sure what Veronica was feeling for her.

After all, Tia thought to herself, I’m just a maths nerd who makes crap jokes sometimes.

“And this line …” Tia moved her thumb up over Veronica’s palm, “this is the … the Bakerloo line and it means … there is maintenance over the weekend so plan your journey well in advance.”

Veronica nearly choked on the mouthful of her drink, instantly breaking the spell. “That makes no sense at all! Anyway, I’m more interested in this one,” Veronica added, putting down her glass and pointing, “that’s the love line. I know that much. What does that one say?”

“I was just getting to that one. Save the best for last and all.” Tia feigned exasperation as Veronica’s face grew more and more red even under her makeup.

“Your love line is here,” Tia began, looking back at Veronica, staring enraptured at her hand in Tia’s, her smile a mile wide. “And it says that … you … I don’t know, you’re going to meet a tall, beautiful stranger.”

Tia meant that to be casual, but Veronica curled her fingers around the thumb that was still stroking her palm, and gave it a squeeze.

“Alright,” she said softly, “maybe palm reading isn’t all bollocks.”

——

Tia found that she hadn’t wanted Veronica to let go of her hand.

Luckily, Veronica didn’t seem to want to let go, either.

Tia wasn’t the biggest fan of physical contact, and she hadn’t thought Veronica was either, until this evening, as they walked home, hand in hand this time, after the wine was drained. One glass of wine each wasn’t enough to make either of them drunk, but both of them were light and happy, even as they got back to the halls.

“Thanks for asking me to come with you,” Veronica said, her smile lighting up the rest of her face.

“Vee, you don’t have to thank me. You’re … I don’t know.” Tia sighed. “It was a fun day.”

The hallway was quiet and dark. Ellie and Aurora were still out evidently, and in the half-light, Tia was conscious that Veronica still had her hand, a gesture that felt so familiar and so exposed for them both.

Tia cleared her throat. “Alright. Night then.”

Veronica nodded. “Night, Tia.”

Neither of them moved.

Tia hadn’t really noticed before how intense Veronica’s stare was, or how bright blue her eyes were underneath the layers of black eyeliner; but she felt it now even though it was getting dark; and it felt like Veronica was trying to tell her something, drawing her into her eyes.

Wait. This is uni. There’s no going home after a day out. We live here together. We can do what we want.

“I mean -“ Tia shifted from one foot to another. “We don’t have lectures tomorrow, it’s Sunday isn’t it? Or are you tired, do you want to get to sleep?”

“No, I’m not tired - what - what did you have in mind?”

“Finding Dory this time?”

“Can do,” Veronica tilted her head as if pondering the idea. “Yeah. You set up, I’ll take my makeup off.”

Within fifteen minutes they were both in their pyjamas, curled up together in Tia’s bed this time, passing Veronica’s Hobnobs between them. The tablet played Finding Dory, balanced on Tia’s knees. The night had turned colder and Tia had insisted on Veronica bundling under the covers with her.

Tia left her hand out of the covers, in full view, and Veronica took the cue, grabbing her hand and interlacing their fingers. The film didn’t last long before Tia became distracted by Veronica running her thumb over Tia’s knuckles, as if in a dream, not even looking at the screen any more.

As the film came to an end, Tia realised she barely remembered the plot at all. She and Veronica had curled into one another, Tia’s head resting on Veronica’s, still clasping her hand. They didn’t move, Tia feeling their breathing fall into rhythm, until she felt Veronica’s deepening and realised it was pretty late.

“Are you tired, Vee?” Tia whispered.

Veronica hummed, stretching out her legs and yawning. “Yeah, a bit. I should go to bed.”

Tia missed the warmth of Veronica from the bed, the steady weight of her hand, from the moment she’d slipped from under the covers; but she followed her out, getting up to go to the door and lock it.

“Well. Night, Tia.”

Veronica reached to hug Tia, who had to bend to reach her, being a good eight or nine inches taller than Veronica. But when the hug lasted much longer than expected, Tia didn’t complain.

Nor did she find it strange when she felt Veronica’s lips softly graze her cheek, right by her ear. It wasn’t a familiar, friendly kiss. It was curious, testing the waters, wondering if this was really happening.

Tia’s heart fluttered when she returned the kiss, again on Veronica’s cheek, as if to answer the question.

But when Veronica pulled away, her eyes were fearful all of a sudden, and she seemed to lose her nerve, spinning round to make a quick exit, slipping away without another word.

Tia locked the door, now humming the tune that Veronica had been humming all day to herself.

It isn’t The Cure. I know it too. God, what is it?

Tia had to hum a few more bars to herself before she finally recognised it, and started singing the chorus to herself.

‘I wanna ruin our friendship, we should be lovers instead.’

God, Tia thought to herself, not just me then.

#rpdr fanfiction #rpdr uk #tia kofi #veronica green #tia x veronica #a'whora #tayce #uk2 #lesbian au #college au #fluff #hurt/comfort #juno

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sneakymalou · 4 years

Note

*slams the door* Here I am again! Uncle Kabu asking Raikichi about her bite mark on his neck~~ (with Piers present, of course, let's make those two blush)

You know how much I love your ideas sweetie ! 🤩 This one was just SO FUUUN !!! ❤❤🥳

Piers x Kabu x Raikichi 👑🍀

“It’s pretty hot down here, why do you wear a scarf, kiddo ?”

Holy shit. Holy crap. Holy Arceus ! Your uncle had always had the eye of a hawk, but you prayed for him not to notice you wearing a silk scarf... well, too bad, he did it ! Without warning, you started tossing your tea, breathing louder as your cheeks turned all red. “Oh it’s nothing uncle, I’ve just a little soar throat !” you lied with a smile, keeping yourself all together as much as you could. If you hyped for Piers to help you, well... you could pray for it over and over again, because he blew off your lie in a matter of seconds.

“Your throat’s ache babe ?” he asked, trying to be thoughtful and sweet. Alas, your sigh betrayed you even more, as you almost killed the dark-type gym leader with that sight of yours. “What ?” The surprise in his gaze made Kabu frown, and turning to you an asking look. “Well, kiddo ?” Now that you were really hiding something from him and he had discovered it, you had no bother choice than confess your ‘crime’.

“Alright !” you almost yelled as removing your scarf, for Kabu to discover a bite mark underneath. First, he had no reaction at all, making you fear for the worst. He stared at your neck in perfect silence, before clearing his throat. You knew him too well, he was about to tease you... of course you had to make up an excuse, something to prevent him from teasing you.

“A mosquito took my neck for dinner !”

Piers almost chocked himself with his own tea, not expecting that kind of excuse from you. Well, you had to figure something out ! “Damn mosquito” Kabu teased nonetheless, making your very efforts to nothing. “It had the size of a Beedrill, I suppose !” If your cheeks were already red, Piers’s turned almost violet. He had never been so embarrassed in his entire life, not even during all his previous meetings with your uncle. Dammit, the fire-type gym leader happened to be good to tease the both of you until you surrender totally. “Yeah...” you tried calmly, not paying to much attention to your heartbeat, suddenly as fast as hell.

As you drank another drop from your tea, Kabu burst into laughter. “I’ve been young way before you kiddo ! Good grief, I can recognize a bite mark when I see one ! The two of you had a great time, heh ?” Please, please, may the gods granted you a grave deep, veeery deep to burry your shame forever... Piers was about to collapse and you were so short of breath you wanted to disappear. You had never been so red either... “Kiddo, you should really learn how to have fun, now that you have punk boy by your side” he concluded with a teasing tone, so you couldn’t really know if you wanted to disappear even harder... or not at all. Truth is, you were speechless, and so was Piers. Kabu, on the other hand, had a delightful time making fun of the both of you. Needless to say he would keep that particular discovery in mind for later... after all, a good tease is always priceless !

(Gifs by me 🍎)

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werezmastarbucks · 4 years

Text

c a r e

kai parker x reader brutal fluff oneshot

Kai’s bleeding out ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

word count: 1920

warnings: language, mentions of suicide, kind of au

You opened your eyes and winced, closed them again and decided to smell the room first. It’s been a while since you got hit on the head last. In fact, the last heavy blow that might have been dangerous for you, you received here, in Mystic Falls, five years ago. Outside this wretched town, danger was virtually non-existent. All the crap always happened here. Did you really have to come back, did you, really? There went your silent rant as your feelings were coming back to you, the tips of your fingers stinging, your limbs, sore, and the smell of burning curtains in the air. The sun was on your face, burning the cut somewhere on your forehead. You lifted your hand and touched it gently, still keeping your eyes closed, and put your finger in your mouth. Blood.

You sat up carefully, and looked around.

“Anybody alive?” you called. The house seemed to be empty. A slender streak of smoke came out of the fireplace. You pictured the last thing you saw before you blacked out: Liv Parker, her great mane of blonde hair waving and messed up, with her arm outstretched, screaming some latin shit in your face. All they ever said while chanting sounded like intricate swearing, honestly. Then, you got up on your feet and started assessing the room, sure that there’s supposed to be something else.

There he is! Another Parker, the psycho one, laying on his back, his white shirt soaking in blood. In a flash, his life ran before your eyes. You thought of the way he spoke to you and that article you read about the night he killed his family, and how there’s so much more to it.

You sprinted to him – well, walked, fast. He was going pale, losing the color, becoming like the shirt he was wearing. When he didn’t talk, and didn’t roll his eyes around, he looked almost like a child, almost quiet. You tried his neck – if there was pulse, you didn’t catch it, because your hands started shaking. After all he’s done, where he’s been and everything he’s seen and was about to see, that was not the way he’d go. Stabbed in the stomach with a poker? Please.

“Can you hear me?”

You looked around and took off your own jacket, pressing the wound in, and the blood started coming even faster, like you were squeezing a lemon.

“Shit”.

You felt for the phone and didn’t find it. You tapped his jeans and pulled his iPhone out, calling for the emergency services. The lady’s voice startled you because you got distracted immediately as you were trying to close that huge hole in his abdomen.

“What’s your emergency?”

“I- I’ve got a guy here who’s very stabbed, he’s like bleeding out”.

“What’s your address?”

You spat out the Salvatore mansion address, deeply surprised you had it carved somewhere on the wall of your skull; his blood was hot, which was probably a good sign, right? His face was glistening with sweat, and your palm was warm on his cheek. You bent over Kai, putting your ear very close to his face, and it sounded like faint breathing.

“Is he awake?”

“No, he’s out, and he’s getting very pale”.

“Okay, I’ve dispatched the car, they’re going to be there in fi-ive-minutes”, the girl said reassuringly.

“Thank you, what do I…”

“How much blood is there?”

You threw the phone on the floor and put her on speaker. The boy was dying. It was funny to think that! He’s died like a bazillion times back in his prison world, by his own confession. When you asked him which way to die was the worst, he said that was relative. The first might have been the most stressful because he really thought he was going to end it all.

As a suicide survivor, you knew what it felt like, and you thought, did I look like this? If someone stumbled upon me that day, would they see what I’m seeing now, a kid whom you want to save? You got such a dire desire to save his life, regardless of how he’ll pay you, you stopped listening to the 911 girl. Damon’s gonna be so pissed, you imagined with a smirk. He was dying, you should have just left him there! Such a convenient disaster which solves the Parker problem and takes out the biggest pain in the ass of all.

Then you looked at his face again, and realized that even through his morbid sleep, as he bleeds out with his arms outstretched, he knows no one cares about him. He knows he’ll die without making a single person ever care about him.

“Are you there, miss? Are you resuscitating?”

“Uh, yeah”.

You hit him in the chest.

“Wake up!”

His head moved as you pressed on the jacket again, like he was stubborn to get up.

“You need to do the heart massage, five times, then mouth to mouth”.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m doing that”.

Your wrists were hurting from how much you were trying to get him to breathe.

“Come on, you’re magical moron, you gotta help yourself”.

Aren’t witches supposed to die harder? Or is it already harder than normal? How much blood is Kai Parker supposed to lose until his headstrong soul finally decides it’s not worth it?

You hit him in the chest with two fists, trying to knock through the ribs and straight to the heart.

“What is that sound?” the girl asked. You puffed and hung up on her, threw his phone away. Kai’s eyes swung open and he stared up as his mouth opened slowly in the grimace of pain.

“Hey! Yes! Can you see me?”

Kai’s eyes shifted to you, irises huge like two black moons.

“Don’t die yet”.

“Am I?” he whispered.

You pressed the jacket again, and he moaned. Your hand twitched, fingers spreading in the gesture to comfort, and laid on his shoulder.

“Not yet. Don’t get me wrong, I still hate you”.

He took a very careful breath, like a sip of hot tea, with his mouth.

“Why?”

You thought for a second. Why? Is he stupid? Is he a child? Why? Why do people hate him? When he’s spread here like a fish, sweating through his clothes with freezing blood, white like a sheet, helpless like a kitten, human more than anybody else. Does loathing apply? Where’s the set of moral rules? Does him being a first-class Kai Parker apply?

“By default”, you offered. He looked through you, almost transparent, like a veil with eyes.

“Hold on, dude, this is too embarrassing for you”.

“Agree”.

You felt his hand move next to your thigh, and let your fingers crawl to his palm. It was losing heat.

“Heal yourself”, you pulled his hand and put it on his chest. “Come on, witch. If I had anything, I would help you”.

He turned his head to the side slowly, and the apple in his throat rolled grievously.

“It doesn’t work like that”, you rather read it on his lips than heard.

“Yes, it does. Heal yourself”, you squeezed his hand. There was the sound of wheels screeching in the yard.

He turned his head back and gave you a look from under his brows. The eyes refused to go unblack, and it felt like all the color from his body was draining right through them.

“Don’t let me die, Y/N”.

People were running through the corridor, certainly getting very hyped by spectacular destruction in the house.

“Over here!”

The doctors appeared in the living room, blue jackets and gloves, and you were pulled from Kai, letting go of his hand. You couldn’t see if he blacked out again as they surrounded him, velcros scratching and voices filling the space.

“Are you hurt?” a man appeared before you. You looked at him dumbfounded as he reached for you with a piece of white wool in his fingers. The cut on our forehead stung.

“What the hell happened here?”

“Family dinner”.

______________________________________________________________

“Is he going to make it?”

“If he’s strong”, the nurse replied. The doctor left the emergency room and raced past you, his hands covered in blood like in a movie. You sat on the chair prepped against the wall, and realized you had nothing to do here. It’s not like you’re going to sit here like a girlfriend while they operate on him, or call the time of death. Caring and solidarity is all sweet and good, but let’s not get carried away. This man tried to push you down the stairs like yesterday to create a distraction. He wouldn’t think a second before gutting you if he needed to. That’s how he made it so far, actually.

You left the hospital, walking slowly towards the bus stop and looking at the cloudless blue sky. Then your phone rang, and you realized it was in your back pocket all this time, and Damon was going to be real furious. For a second there you hoped Parker doesn’t make it so that you don’t have to go through mental beating. You tried to think of one way he can still be useful to the Mystic Falls folk and therefore eligible for preserving.

______________________________________________________________

They said, you saved that fucker, you babysit him.

You tried to explain that the majority of work was probably done by the doctors who closed his bleeding wound, and the said fucker’s impeccable will to live no matter what. The guy has that precious survivor’s gene that cannot be pulled out.

But while he’s in the hospital, he’s technically unmonitored, and somebody has to be there when he wakes up. To cuff him or whatever and let Damon know so that they know where he is. With too many Parkers still alive and running around it’s dangerous to let Kai just roam. It’s like, what was the point of all that fuss in the living room? you asked. Exactly, Y/N, Caroline said. Exactly. You were stunned by their bloodthirst. It’s all understandable though – and, at the same time, no. Klaus was free and happy living in Tyler’s fucking house. Katherine was alive and sleeping like a baby somewhere in the old Fell crypt. Rebekah was having the time of her life pretending to be a college student at Whitmore. These were all un-people who commited unspeakable things and hurt all of you personally. Everybody seemed to have come to terms with the fact that they’re here to stay. What made this one different, except eating too much?

You sat in a comfortable armchair in his hospital room like a disgruntled mum, waiting for him to wake up, but the little criminal took his time.

On the day he finally woke up you lost your patience and walked to him, laying in bed. He slept, and slept like a baby, like he was in a witch coma, face peaceful and open, almost good for conversation.

“Here’s one you missed on while you were kicking it in prison”, you said, putting your airpods in his ears. You found it personally quirky that you could torture him with your music while he was out.

You turned the volume down and returned to your chair, listening to the song in your head as the dot on your screen was crawling right.

Summer has come and passed The innocent can never last Wake me up when September ends

#kai parker #kai parker imagine #kai parker x reader #vampire diaries #imagine

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certainempatheticturkeymuffin · 3 years

Text

Age of Calamity Review

Hey! I wasted three hours of my life writing this in Arlo's comment section and part of it had to be cut out because of Youtube's word limit, so y'all get to suffer with me.

Here's the video that I wrote this on, give him some love, his opinion is a great juxtaposition to my own!

There are a few weird formatting errors because tumblr wants me to make new paragraphs, but there's no missing words as far as I can tell.

I like it, but I like the first one better, mainly for the appearance. I don't know why, but the pop ups are hard for me to see (by pop-ups I mean the challenges and weak point meters, the out of battle menu is actually pretty good, though I admit the text is a little small on the opening screen), and the lack of saturation makes it hard for me to see. Actually, that might be it, I just don't like the paler color palette in this context, since for a fast paced game I kind of need to be able to see, which I can't because I'm partially blind, and glasses have a glare that's an annoying trade off. Compare that to the original Hyrule Warriors, the weak point meters are brightly colored and change color the more you damage it, which is good for those with visual impairment who need some extra feedback to judge their next actions. The menu was also this aged tan color which provided a great contrast that wasn't the blinding white on top of dark blue, which wasn't bad at all, but the buttons and text were always big enough for those with visual impairment to see, though I will admit that the little pop ups with all the people crying out for help have a bit of the same issue as AoC. I think I just like the more vibrant colors of Hyrule Warriors in the context of a faster game, rather than the pale beauty of BotW, since my eyes can't really see what's going on if the colors aren't at least comparable to what you'd find in Minish Cap or Triforce Heroes. I can see fine in BotW during the day time, but at night, well, I just run and hope for the best, trying not to get killed by an electric keese, which is also a problem in AoC, mainly Zora's Domain; I could barely see a thing and it negatively impacted my experience.

I've got hundreds of hours in HW, and maybe five or ten in AoC. It's mainly because I just don't like how it looks. I've heard a lot of people say that it looks pretty much exactly like botw and...I have to disagree. A lot of areas are pretty perfect, but some, like the tower, are just a little off in a way I can't describe. That's a personal irrelevant nitpick though, but it negatively impacted my experience, so I thought it was worth a mention, the tower on the opening screen always annoyed the crap out of me, every time I see it I just want to exit the game because ew.

The gameplay is fine, and thank goodness for the addition of the meditation room, there's not a feature like that in the original, so I had to play the first stage over and over again to figure out new combos, I think Mipha is my favorite hero that I actually unlocked (though I've been wanting to play more just to see if I can control Revali and Teba like I can Fi (which makes her insanely good since her wide area of movement is the only thing you need to account for)), and I think Zelda is my least favorite, since she's a little clunky for my taste (Daruk is too, but his rolling makes that more bearable). I was a little disappointed with Impa, but her seal thing is kinda like Zelda's and Fi's thing in Hyrule Warriors (there are probably stronger connections, but I'm not experienced with every single hero), and I think it was just the hype that she got. She's not the type of character I like to play, since Zelda and Fi are my favorites, speedy and nimble area clearers (Sheik and Marin are cool too, I just have less experience using Marin, and Sheik is always a B pick since I find them a little harder to control with less area of impact), which meant that Mipha, a character I admittedly was never attached to, became one of my favorites in the game. Impa wasn't an area clearer for the most part, she had a few moves that could do that, but she was mainly a boss-killer to me, Mipha though? She's great, set up a few waterspouts and everything dies.

I do like that they've lessened the kind of ridiculous amount of items that were in HW, and that they didn't try to strong arm fairies in, because that system was the most annoying thing in the world and so poorly explained that I had to watch the same tutorial three times over about once a month because it was so convoluted.

I do hate the runes though, I just, couldn't seem to use them right. It might just be me, but I found trying to use them weird. It's a little hard to explain, but it's probably just a me thing. Not only that, but I found the inclusion of the rods on top of the runes annoying. The rods were entirely unnecessary if you were going to use runes. They just added another layer that was thin at best, not to mention that I found them hard to use as well. I hated the weird controls of the targeting system. I don't think there's anything wrong with a basic hack and slash, and if you're not going to have the excessive amount of items, runes were a good idea i think it might've been a me issue, but rods? It seems a bit excessive. It's probably just a "you'll get better with practice" kind of thing, which, fair, most people can't use Fi like I can, so that makes sense. I figured it was worth a mention anyway since the runes were a constant source of annoyance and I used the rods twice before never bothering again because I hated them so much.

I do like the addition of healing from food drops whenever you want though. In the original if there was a dropped heart but you were at full health, sucked to be you, going back for it when you need it would waste time. The plot is still as weird as ever though (from what I've heard from other videos and such), which is fine, since I tend to play my favorite levels over and over rather than actually do anything plot relevant (can you believe that it took me over a year to finish the story of HW because I kept getting distracted by letting Fi and Zelda mow down everything in the Adventure maps and challenges? I literally got the boomerang like six months after

getting the game. It's perfect for people with ADHD I swear) though I am extremely disappointed with the fact that they took the cheap way out, it's a kid's game and a nintendo game, what did I expect? For them to let everyone actually die? Nope...though honestly, I can't comment on the overall amazingness of the plot they went with because...er....I only did Mipha's and Daruk's stages before just losing interest, so I'm not the person you want to ask about any story criticism, because that would be pure conjecture and utterly pointless.

The customization of heroes, now that's great. It's a weird system that I needed to google a lot for, but it's absolutely brilliant and I love it. Sure, getting the specific seals I want is a little annoying, but it's a great mechanic and I love it.

I probably should've said this earlier, but I'm comparing it mainly to Hyrule Warriors rather than BotW because AoC's a Warriors game and thus plays more like Hyrule Warriors than BotW, and BotW has a different set of standards due to being an open-world game. I'm still salty about the plot though, so I guess there's your comparison.

Also, I absolutely ADORE the fact that you can track materials. Not having to google which stage gives me which material is just the best. And the fact that the side quests have little blurbs, absolutely fantastic. We didn't get that in HW, but then again, once you finished the main story, the rest was just, Have Fun and Kill Everything, which is great, and I love it, but adding in a weird ingredient fetching quest with a nugget of lore is kinda cool. I don't wish we got it in HW though, since, as aforementioned, there was no way to track which material came from which stage, so that would've made it a nightmare.

The Divine Beasts....I hated them, they were literally just time wasters, and, granted I only did Rudania and Ruta before dropping the game, I just hated them. The UI was horrendous and even Ganon's Fury was better, and I absolutely DESPISE Ganon's Fury. Once I finished them, I was just happy for them to be over and never bother with them again. I hated their controls, I hated the cramped paths, I hated how I couldn't really turn and see anything, and honestly, I commend the champions for being able to control these bulky slow and absolutely horrible machines.

On the music, I think it's good. I loved BotW's soundtrack, I loved Zelda 2's soundtrack, I loved Wind Waker's soundtrack, I loved Cadence of Hyrule's soundtrack, I loved Hyrule Warriors's soundtrack, I loved Minish Cap's soundtrack, Triforce Heroes, Spirit Tracks (you're lying if you say otherwise, this soundtrack is a bop and I will actually fight you), etc etc, and this one is no different, though I will admit it did a pretty good job of having me ignore it, though that may have been more due to my frustration at the rods and runes and Zelda and Daruk more than actually having an unimpressive soundtrack.

Personally, it didn't do much for me, I can't get over the color palette, the mechanics, the divine beasts. I had pretty average, maybe a bit high, expectations, but they weren't quite met. I played it for a few hours one day, dropped it, picked it up again a few months later, then remembered exactly why I dropped it. I think the original Hyrule Warriors is just better visually for me, even if the plot isn't great or it's a bit fanfictiony, it had depth in combat that didn't absolutely annoy me, and the annoying battles were usually optional, and the bosses had variety, which is a fault mainly of BotW and was just an inherited problem for AoC, and I'm not a completionist, I don't want to have to complete anything with Darunia or Cia, so I don't unless I have to to progress something, which means that I don't stress about the gargantuan amount of content in HW.

IN SUMMARY: I've never had problems with frame rate (though I play docked due to visual impairment), and if you're visually impaired, wear anti-glare glasses because the pale colors aren't going to help much. I haven't found an option to make text bigger. The soundtrack is good,

there isn't much boss variety (not AoC's fault, but it's still there), the meditation room is great, the runes take a bit of getting used to, as do the rods(i never got used to them), Divine Beasts tank performance in all aspects and are just disappointing, you actually know which stage drops which item, and there's no My Fairy (which is definitely a positive).

To slap on an arbitrary rating that only means something to me: 4.5/10

It's a good game if you can get passed the issues that bug ME to no end.

And there we have it. There goes....holy crap I spent three hours on

I wanted to like this, I really did, and I'm glad others enjoy it, but as it stands, I'll let y'all move on to Age of Calamity, and I'll stick to my handy dandy Hyrule Warriors ice cream with a dash of Breath of the Wild, a sprinkle of Cadence of Hyrule, and a Zelda 2 cherry on top. It's not like I have to wait long for Subnautica; hopefully that doesn't disappoint me too much, I preordered this one. Actually, I get Pokemon Snap today too, hopefully it isn't a SwSh level disappointment, AoC is magnitudes better than SwSh at a 4.5

this????? Three hours of my life. Gone.

#age of calamity #loz #hyrule warriors #review #game review #zelda botw #age of calamity review #hw aoc #aoc #botw #aoc spoilers #legend of zelda #breath of the wild #late review #like several months late #who cares #visual impairment #gaming

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hyunjin-bun · 4 years

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The Good Mistake {Bokuto x Akaashi and Kuroo x Kenma}

synopsis: Where Akaashi and Bokuto have to come to terms with how they feel and Kuroo and Kenma have to discover their feelings.

pairings: Bokuto x Akaashi and Kuroo x Kenma

genre: FLUFF! (or at least trying to be) crack (but like it wasn’t supposed to be that’s just what happened) mutual pining.

warnings: swearing that’s it i guess?

note: CHAPTER 3, Its long, its punny and I’m sorry😄 i couldn't stop laughing while writing this it just killed me. Bokuto seems like the kind of person who likes puns and is also a very quick thinker so this is what came out of that thought process. 🤷‍♀️ Also just to put it out there, these puns came from a video from a youtube channel called The Pun Guys (I’m Not smart enough to make up puns myself). If you’d like to be tagged just send me an ask (or a message if you feel to awkward with asks cos same👀💛)

Store Puns

The first thing Akaashi noticed when he woke up was a very loud alarm tone, the second thing was an arm curled around his abdomen. He looked to the side and was greeted by Bokuto’s face right next to his own. Bokuto’s eyes started opening slowly as he took in the harsh light from the sun’s rays that entered the room. They shot open when he realised the position he was in. He quickly untangled himself from Akaashi, “I’m so sorry.” Bokuto sputtered out an apology. “S’okay, it’s not the first time that’s happened,” Akaashi said.

Bokuto had the habit of holding onto whatever he was sleeping next to and this time it just happened to be Akaashi. It happened when they were younger too but this time it felt different with Akaashi knowing full well what his feelings were. However, Akaashi did not know how this made Bokuto feel.

Bokuto had only recently started to come to terms with his feelings. He liked Akaashi and he always has, since he met him when they were kids but he started to realise his feelings for him were stronger than those of a friend, they were more. More intense, more heavy, and were growing harder to keep under wraps.

He was too scared to talk to Akaashi about it because he valued his friendship with him and didn’t think that Akaashi would ever feel the same way. He’s told Kuroo all about this and he’s told him to do something, take the first step and confess but whenever he tried he got freaked out and pulled away.

Waking up with Akaashi next to him felt so right but he didn’t want to make Akaashi uncomfortable even though it had happened multiple times before. Akaashi looked more surprised than usual which is why Bokuto reacted the way he did.

Akaashi cleared his throat, “So, um, when do you want to leave?” he asked as he stood up and stretched. Bokuto looked at him with a confused expression, “Huh what?” Akaashi raised an eyebrow at him, “To the store, Bo,” he said, seeming annoyed. Bokuto’s mouth formed a perfect ‘o’ as he remembered their conversation by the fridge. “Right yeah, we can leave whenever you’re ready, and we can take my car,” he replied with a yawn stretching his arms.

Akaashi went to his room to get dressed leaving Bokuto to do the same.

Even though the sun was shining it seemed like it was going to be a pretty cold day so he opted for a yellow hoodie and black sweatpants. He brushed his hair but didn’t do anything else, it was too much effort, and he was also starting to like having a fringe.

He left his room and waited for Akaashi who also sensed the weather and was wearing a forest green hoodie and black jeans. “Should we tell Kuroo and Kenma we’re going to the shop?” Bokuto asked as he grabbed his keys. “Mmn, I told Kenma when I went to get dressed,” he said as he slid his hands into his pockets. Bokuto nodded and opened the front door, “Cool let’s head out then.”

It was cold and to make it worse it was windy, so they got in the car as quick as possible. Bokuto started the car but let it run a little bit to warm up so he could put on the heater.

It was still quite early in the morning so not a lot of people were around, just the people who wanted to get shopping done before the rush of the weekend. Akaashi took out the list and grabbed a shopping cart, only a small one though, he wasn’t planning on getting much. Bokuto seemed to be getting hyped about something and a little perk became prominent in his stride.

Akaashi side-eyed him as they walked into the store, “What are you so excited about Bo?” Bokuto just shook his head a smiled but kept on walking, leaving Akaashi hopelessly confused. Going towards the milk aisle, they passed a stand with pretzels on it. Bokuto picked up the packet and showed it to Akaashi and said “Jake Baked? Definitely” Akaashi shook his head, they were not in need for pretzels “Akaaashiii,” Bokuto whined quite loudly “What Bo?” he responded looking too serious for his own good. Bokuto just pouted at him “You missed the pun. Jake looks baked right?” he said as he pointed towards the cartoon on the bag. Jake did indeed look baked but Akaashi just smirked and told him to put the pretzels down.

They got the milk and some cheese since they were next to each other. Akaashi saw pasta on the list so he went down that aisle and he heard Bokuto gasp quietly behind him he turned around to find Bokuto with a box of Shirriff piecrust mix in his hand. “Pie shot the shirriff” he sang with a smile on his face. Akaashi got this one and just snickered at him but continued to walk but with a smile on his face. He got some linguine and Farfalle, Bokuto liked those specifically because they were shaped like bows.

They needed something sweet in the house constantly and since Akaashi liked baking, he decided to get muffin and brownie mix sachets. Akaashi was expecting something to stick out at Bokuto and he was excited about it. Bokuto could make a pun out of anything. As they were deciding on what to get Bokuto picked up a box of fudge brownies, “After a long day of tanning I get brown knees” this sent them both into a fit of laughter. Once they recovered, Bokuto put the brownie mix into the cart. “See going to the store can be fun even as an adult Akaashi.” Akaashi just shook his head again and smiled.

Akaashi needed some soap and shampoo but as they were looking at all the brands Bokuto picked up a bar of soap, “Yo Akaashi, Yardley call me anymore,” He said with a bad British accent. Akaashi burst out laughing, he hadn’t laughed like this in a while and it started to force out all the anxiety he had in his system that had been there since he woke up with Bokuto wrapped around him.

It got to the point where they just wanted to look for puns so Bokuto ran off and came back with a nerf ball. He then threw it at Akaashi, “Hey that’s anerf” Akaashi deadpanned. Bokuto just stood there surprised “Oh my god you, just made a pun!” he burst out laughing, clutching on to Akaashi’s sleeve. Akaashi let out a small huff with a smile.

They needed some sauce for the pasta they had and still recovering from all the previous puns Bokuto picked up a box of fondue sauce. “Hey Akaashi, I’m fond-a-ue,” he said with an innocent smile then suddenly realising what he had just said. Akaashi, not realising he was making a pun, turned around blushing. He huffed out a puff of air, “Wait what?” Bokuto just still trying to understand what had just come out of his mouth looked up at Akaashi and spoke softly “I’m fond-a-ue, holy crap, Akaashi, I like you.”

Akaashi felt like he was short-circuiting like a computer when you pour water on it, but the water was just Bokuto’s words making their way to his brain and his heart. “W-what, Bo, seriously?” he stammered as he felt his face heat up. Bokuto was awkwardly rubbing the back of his head “Um, well yes, for a while now. I’ve been meaning to tell you but I get scared and stop myself. I guess I thought delivering my feelings through a pun would soften the blow. It's okay if you don’t feel the same way, I just had to let it out because it’s been crushing me for so long an I-“ Akaashi put his finger on Bokuto’s mouth to shut him up “I like you too Bo.” He said stepping closer to the other, letting his hand fall.

Bokuto’s face was priceless and Akaashi was so happy he was making it because of him. Bokuto, quick to recover from that, looked around and noticed they were the only ones in the aisle. “Can I kiss you?” he asked almost timidly

Akaashi breathed out. It got really hot in the small space between him and Bokuto, “Right now?” he asked. Bokuto rolled his eyes, suddenly gaining confidence after seeing Akaashi’s eyes cloud over “Yes Akaashi right now.” Akaashi nodded and so Bokuto took the last step to clear the space between them. His lips ghosted Akaashi’s, trying to see if he would stop him but he never did. He placed one hand on Akaashi’s waist and another under his jaw; he pressed his lips to Akaashi’s and nearly imploded inside when he kissed back. Akaashi curled his hand into Bokuto’s soft hair, tugging slightly.

It was as romantic as it could be having your first kiss in your local store. It worked well enough though. Akaashi was the first to pull away reluctantly but he didn’t want to make someone randomly walk down the aisle feel awkward. Bokuto looked at him hesitantly, “You really like me back” he asked. “Yes and I’ve also been too scared to say anything,” he whispered as he looked down. Bokuto caught his chin and set his face level with his own. “I think we should just be straightforward with each other next time huh?” he said with a smirk. He kissed Akaashi’s forehead and grabbed the cart, causing Akaashi to blush.

Bokuto thought he looked so soft at that moment and he couldn’t help but hold out his hand for Akaashi to take, which he did. So together they left after buying the food and making more cheesy puns over the camembert they decided to get for Kenma since it was his favourite.

Akaashi finally felt at peace about his decision to move in with Bokuto. (And Kuroo and Kenma) whatever he was with Bokuto now and it felt like nothing mattered anymore.

(f in the chat for the poor, most likely sleep-deprived teller who had to watch this all go down.)

Tagging: @gabbywubby @shou-kunn @currentconcern @super-noya @thequeenofpotatoeunicornss @pudding-head-kenma @thirsthourdemon

#haikyuu!!#haikyuu fanfiction #bokuaka #Bokuto x Akaashi #bokuto kōtarō #akaashi keiji #puns #store puns #bokuto being cute as all hell #akaashi rolling with it and getting infected by bo's cuteness #just really happy with this one idk...

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totaldramafan-lauri · 3 years

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Eurovision 2021 final thoughts

Well.....it’s over.

It feels great, but also kinda weird to be done with it. I mean, it took an extra year to get here! But I’d say it was worth the wait....

Holy CRAP this year was good. Oh my god, this was SO much fun to watch! The presentation, voting, and especially the songs were unbelievably strong! It made me so happy that my bad luck in the semifinals didn’t even let me down all that much, so that’s a good sign. XD

I haven’t shared this before, cuz I didn’t wanna be a downer, but.....there was a part of me that was worried. Even after listening to and loving the majority of the entries, I was still worried that, when the show started, there’d be some kind of big tell that....this wasn’t a “normal” Eurovision. Something that would bring my enjoyment of the show down to a level where....I-I’d only be able to say “at least it took place, but it wasn’t as strong as usual”. That small, pessimistic part of me that was so hurt by last year that it’d become cynical, and scared of getting hopes up.....but I hid it. I love this contest so much that....bringing down the mood for my fellow fans wouldn’t be cool at all.

And thankfully.....I came out of this with a big smile on my face like normal. I enjoyed this year just as much as previous years! In terms of the songs alone, I’d seriously call this one of my favorite years, probably just behind 2016 (my favorite year). The fact that I don’t just agree with the winner, but I LOVE the winner, was definitely the icing on the cake! But the presentation was also outstanding! It really feels like everything was put into this contest to make it as enjoyable as possible with the limitations they were given. The interval acts were great, especially getting to see so many of the winners again! The rooftop concerts in the final were a lot of fun. But, as good as everything in the final was.....When the first semifinal started, and I saw that there was a crowd, coupled with the song that Duncan sang, I legit thought I was gonna cry. That’s definitely gonna stick with me in the future when I think of the most memorable moments of watching Eurovision. I could seriously go on and on about how much I enjoyed watching this....so I will!

Oh god the voting. OH GOD THE VOTING. Tense as always, and I loved it! No clear favorite, the juries making decisions the televoters didn’t agree with, a plethora of different countries getting twelves, and an ending that proved my predictions wrong in the best way possible. It was the BEST way to end the contest, and a very good example of why I’m really loving having the jury vote and televote separated....cuz you never know what’ll happen until the very! Last! Moment!

Seriously, that moment of Finland’s televoting result making them in the lead for a brief period was AWESOME. And then it was Ukraine, and then it was Italy, and I was thinking “oh god slow down, my poor heart-” And yeah, there were SO many great songs and great performances that it really did feel like a close race!

Even rewatching it was exhilarating! Rewatching it also made me appreciate things that I didn’t before (due to being, well....too caught up in the moment). Like, the wide range of music genres in the top five! I hope this inspires more diversity in future years! I mean, you got Italy bringing us rock (which, by the way, never dies), you got France bringing us a classic waltz, you got Switzerland bringing us a powerful modern ballad, you got Iceland bringing us disco, and you got Ukraine bringing us.....well, a friend of mine called it “folktronica”, and yeah, I don’t think there’s a word that describes them better. XD

Not only that, but there’s one more interesting thing about this top five! Can you guess what it is?

......

......Yeah, only one of them’s in English! Imagine that, entries that DON’T have to be in English to become big hits! Seriously, I’m American and even I know that having understandable lyrics is really more of a nice bonus in Eurovision. What’s most important is having a song that sounds good. And if a song sounds best in another language, you don’t have to translate it for the contest! (Especially if it results in obvious ESL that loses the song’s original meaning, but that thankfully hasn’t happened often) Don’t be afraid to send songs in your native language! I hope people learn from this...

(But then again, this has happened before.....In 2007, the winning song wasn’t in English, runner-up was in multiple languages and third place was also not in English, so....I’m probably putting too much emphasis on this, s-sorry >.<)

But enough about the top five, let’s look at the full results:

I’ll say it again.....this is my favorite winner since “Heroes”. I love the Italian entry, and I’m very happy that they proved me wrong. I didn’t think they could do it. Not only is it a rock song, which isn’t to everyone’s tastes....but it’s from Italy, who seemed to be cursed to never win even while sending fan-favorites year after year. Two second places (oneofwhichwasunserved*cough*2011*cough*butIdigress), one third place that also won the televote that year, and one very, very robbed sixth place. I thought this was gonna be another one of those cases where Italy get screwed somehow by other, more popular songs. But I still absolutely loved the song and rooted for it anyway, and......lo and behold, here we are. A rock song won Eurovision. A rock song in Italian. And it’s awesome, and I couldn’t be happier! To be specific, they were my fourth favorite in the final, but they were my favorite of the possible winners, so it still feels like the best case scenario! Woo!

Having the runner-up also from the Big Five is kinda surreal, since save for Italy they’re usually all underrated due to not having to pass through a semifinal (with exceptions like Germany 2018 and Spain 2012 and 2014). That’s a cool way of looking at this, since.....I’m sorry, but I never got the hype behind France’s song.....It was well-performed, but.....I just find it kinda boring, save for the ending. I-I feel bad that I couldn’t make myself love it, cuz I wanted to, but I just....couldn’t. I guess it’s a case of me being too stupid to get it, pffffff. But I don’t dislike it, so I’m fine with it being the runner-up.

Switzerland won the jury vote and achieved their highest placement since.....*looks it up*....1993, geez.....AKA, their highest placement since I started watching. XD This is FAR from my favorite entry of theirs, but I still like it fine and I’m happy to see Switzerland do well. It was a powerful song. And, unlike other jury-pleasers like the Austrian entry in 2018 and the Macedonian entry in 2019, they actually got a triple-digit score from the televote! They were loved all around! The same goes for France, so....that makes the most obvious “jury bait”, uh....Portugal, I guess. XD

Iceland came fourth, and.....can I just say how bad I feel for those guys? From having a potential win snatched from under them by last year’s cancellation, to one of them getting Covid the day before their semifinal, making them the only act that couldn’t perform live, it felt like Iceland couldn’t catch a break. But thankfully, due to their very strong rehearsals, they were able to rise above it and come fourth PURELY based on the strength of their song. Heck YEAH, what a beautiful ending to this story. They weren’t one of my personal favorites, but it was still a very cute song, and it DESERVES its placing just so much.

Ukraine’s song was one that only got better and better for me over time, and it was also the favorite song of a friend of mine, so seeing them in the top five makes me happy too! That’s a FUN song, and it’s near universally loved, so I wasn’t too surprised. I did guess that it had a chance at pulling off the win, but the competition was too strong. In a weaker year, they probably would’ve done it.

I’m really happy to say this next one: Finland came sixth! WOOOOOO! Their first top ten result since Lordi’s win and awwwww MAN do they deserve it. Such an awesome, intense song! It was my favorite song in the final, and I wasn’t alone! They brought the roof off the place, and for good dang reason! Seeing Finland do so well after being so underrated for so long.....it makes me very happy to see that happen. Especially with a song as amazing as “Dark Side”. It’s now a permanent part of my playlist, and I love it. <3 Empire of the freaks, all drinks on ME!

(I stand by the fact that Finland should just keep sending rock songs to Eurovision. They’re clearly very good at making those)

Now, Malta coming seventh.....hmmm....I have some problems with this? I mean, pre-contest favorites not doing as well as predicted HAS happened before (oh, hello 2017), but that doesn’t mean I’m not a little surprised? I really do think they deserved to do a bit better.....I thought that was a top five-worthy song and performance.....I’m happy with the top five we got, but I didn’t think Iceland and Ukraine would place over Malta! Destiny had one of the best voices of the show! If I had to guess, it was because they performed so early? Or maybe people just overhyped the heck out of it and it got old. I dunno. Seventh is still good for Malta. So yeah, it’s not bad, just a bit surprising.

Lithuania in eighth, I pretty much called. I knew that was a top ten song. Still couldn’t beat LT United’s record though, pfffffff.....Guess Lithuania have to try even harder to do that. XD Russia was another one I knew would be in the top ten. Their song had a very strong message that sticks with you. Lithuania and Russia may not have been favorites of mine, but I can’t complain with their results at all.

And finally, rounding out the top ten is my second-favorite, Greece, tied with Bulgaria! I’m more than happy with this result for Greece - I would’ve liked to see them do a BIT better, but a top ten finish is a top ten finish, and the competition was really strong. Their entry was still fantastic! A powerful song I can’t get enough of AND the best staging of the year. You can’t say Greece didn’t try their hardest!

As for Bulgaria....not complaining. It was a fan-favorite for a while, but for me, it was a song that I loved the lyrics to, but not much else. I did think it’d do a bit better purely because of how relatable the lyrics were, but with this competition? This was the best they were gonna get. XD A slow song in a sea of high energy-performances. Makes it stand out, but not necessarily be what people wanna hear.

The same is true for Portugal, who had the other slower song. THIS was the “jury bait”. XD Seeing how many points the jury gave them compared to the televote....wasn’t all that surprising. It’s not a bad song at all. It’s actually pretty good. And twelfth is a good result for Portugal. I think they can be happy with that. “Jury bait” isn’t a bad thing at all, cuz I’ve liked plenty of songs that’ve had similar results (I’ve even loved a couple of them)

Moldova were a surprise for me. I honestly expected them to place toward the bottom. Their entry was fun, sure, but I didn’t think it....stood out all that much? I feel like it was missing something staging-wise. Moldova’s entries usually have really creative staging, so yeah, maybe I just felt a bit let down. But the song’s good. It just....was a party song in a sea of them. XD

Now Sweden, on the other hand.....I’m actually not surprised THAT much. Yeah, I did at first predict that it’d finish in the top ten, cuz....well, it’s Sweden, and the song was good and seemed to be popular. But after the first semifinal, reading comments and posts from fans really made me realize just how many people....don’t like “Voices”? It’s been called generic a lot, and.....well, I don’t agree. I think it’s a very good song. But I’m just one person and yeah, seeing the popular opinion of it just drop like that made me change my mind on calling it a top ten song. XD Not gonna act like seeing Sweden on the right side of the board (even at the top of it) isn’t still a bit weird, though....

Serbia, I thought would do better. I thought they’d be higher than Moldova at least. That was a big crowd-pleaser and a great hype song. I didn’t think it’d be a front-runner or anything, but I did think it’d be on the left side of the board. I can’t even say that it being in Serbian held it back, cuz this year proves that non-English songs can and will be fan-favorites. So.....I dunno what happened there.

After Serbia are two other party songs, Cyprus and Israel. I have nothing really to say about Israel. I thought they’d do about this well. And Cyprus, I’m kinda bummed didn’t do better, since it was a GREAT performance - it was enough to win me over, when it was a very hit-and-miss song for me before the contest - but going first when already there were a lot of party songs to compete with probably did them in. Oh, and the people who think parts of the song are annoying, like......I did for a while.....ahem. >__>

Then we come to Norway.....who were my third-favorite. At first, I was kinda....OK, very surprised at how they did, especially when it came to the juries. But after learning that they were only five points away from not qualifying for the final.....I’m just happy they were there. I’m happy I got to hear that song in the final. It’s obviously not to everyone’s tastes, so I shouldn’t have expected it to do well. I was just a bit hopeful. As it is, I love the song, and it’s currently one of my go-to songs to sing to myself. XD (Also, TIX is an icon)

Belgium getting only three points from the televote was painful, since I did like their entry a lot......but I can’t act like I didn’t at least kinda see it coming. Even though I liked them, I was still surprised they even made it to the final. XD With such strong competition, a band just standing there and singing a downbeat song? Yeah, this was as good as they were gonna do. Still a very cool song, but standing out was always gonna be an issue for them. They also performed really early on, so that probably didn’t help.

Azerbaijan....oh Azerbaijan.....how did they do you like that. Seriously, down in twentieth? What are they doing in twentieth!? They were one of the best of the upbeat songs! They stood out! I’d put them above Cyprus and Israel easily! I don’t understand that.....I do understand Albania though. They were pretty much doomed. Barely qualified for the final, and then stuck in second position. Ouch. Kinda unfortunate, since I actually like Albania’s song a bit more now after hearing it live....

I really, really, REALLY wanted San Marino to do better. I was HOPING they’d do better. They were clearly trying really hard this year. The little country that could, pffff....And if you ask me, “Adrenalina” is probably the most solid song they’ve ever sent (I say this as someone who loves “Spirit Of The Night”, for the record), so I thought it deserved to give them their best result ever. But....nah. It did worse than “Say Na Na Na” because....I dunno.....Serhat funny? That’s all I got....seriously, it’s unfortunate. The dream should’ve done better than the meme. XD

And we finally come to the flops.....the four countries that got nul from the televote, all automatic qualifiers. Seriously, why did FOUR countries get nul? At least three were saved by the juries, but if you ask me, it was still unfair.....

The Netherlands are the one I easily have the hardest time understanding. Germany, while I found their song funny, I can easily see why people would find it annoying (I DID think the televote would like them MORE than the juries though?), and I was not expecting them to do well, because it didn’t seem like they were trying to do well. They were just having fun. Spain, well.....a good singer does not a good entry make. It’s the Eurovision SONG Contest, not Singer Contest. If the song fails to stand out, you’re doomed. I was impressed by their performance, but it’s still just a ballad. It’s sad when you know the story behind it, though....And with the UK, it was a party song in a sea of party songs. It had TOUGH competition.

But....the Netherlands? Why the CRAP didn’t they get points from the televote? While not one of my absolute favorites, that was a darn good song and a great live performance. What happened? I don’t understand! There was nothing else that sounded like that! It was unique and sounded great, wh- my brain hurts....

On the UK getting nul overall though, I do have some complaints. Sure, it failed to stand out, but to score nothing? A bit unfair, isn’t it? I mean, there was nothing wrong with the song or the performance at all! It was the most fun song the UK have sent in years! I liked hearing a fun song from them! And c’mon, they’ve sent a lot worse before and still got points. “Still In Love With You” got points. That was debatably a joke song. “Love Will Set You Free” got points. That was a boring ballad. Heck, even flipping “That Sounds Good To Me” - it came last, but it at least got SOME points! And that song was CRAP.

Now, thankfully, I didn’t love this song nearly as much as I loved “Bigger Than Us”, so I’m not super salty about it or anything. I’m not gonna rant about the UK coming last again. I’m just.....a bit baffled by the nul. Geez, UK, who did you piss off? Eh, it’s not the end of the world or anything.....and I’ve been through good songs getting nul before (....”Black Smoke”....forever confused TT__TT)

It does make me a bit....hesitant....to track down the BBC commentary for this show. I usually love watching it that way, and it’s my preferred way to rewatch Eurovisions. And usually, Graham is a really good sport about the UK’s poor results (even when coming in last like 2010), but....how’d he handle a nul? XD I hope he didn’t overly praise the song....

So......yeah, that’s about it! I’ve missed rambling about Eurovision, and now.....it’s over! It was a good year, and I had a great time. It truly was a ride. Here’s hoping next year in Italy will be just as fun.

Until next year!

#eurovision #opinions

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