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#I think this story has multiple pretentious lines
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I had coffee my thoughts are all over the place it's not gonna make sense and I'm probably gonna change my mind about some of the things I said later but here's my ramble.
I'm so mad right now. There's so many things that piss me off with Peter B. I keep thinking about all the mess he keeps pulling throughout the first and the second movie. The fact that he betrayed Miles not once but twice BUT THREE TIMES (typing Miles up in ITSV, not telling him about the Spider Society or that he was an anomaly, CALLING HQ ON HIM BECAUSE HE WANTED TO SAVE HIS FATHER. Technically that's 4 but moving on.)
He refuses to acknowledge Miles as a fellow spider(which is probably why he didn't feel bad about finding Miles was an anomaly now he has a reason to not take Miles seriously.) And he keeps trying to insert himself into a mentor role when he's yet to do a whole lot of mentoring. What also throws me here is how he had the audacity to say the trauma builds character while being a mentor to help guide Miles into becoming Spiderman so Miles' could avoid the mistakes that Peter made.
I WILL NEVER BE OVER THAT CHAIR SCENE IN ITSV. How is it you as a grown man. A grown white man no less took a black teenage boy who you viewed as so much of a liability that you had to tie him up. And I know multiple people have talked about everything that's wrong with this scene but there's still something so haunting about watching him just nonchalantly be tied up kicking and screaming about how he wants to be let go that bothers me so much. And I find it hard to believe that this was just a scene we're supposed to just move on from. Did they do this on purpose? Was this supposed to showcase something about Peter's character that I'm not picking up on? Because I find it so hard to believe that the writers who made sure to explicitly show how Gwen's Peter is Christian because he later turns into a lizard wouldn't understand the implications of this scene.
I also don't think he's a strategic as he thinks he is. What do you think was going to happen when you forcefully tied this boy to a chair? You thought he was going to sit still? Also would you think the boy who's trying to save his father was going to do? Actually listen to your words? Sit back and be like, oh you're right I should just let my father die. (This is me going off my reasoning that he didn't plan out that one scene in ATSV. I think that he thought that because he's Miles' "mentor" he could get through to him in a way others can't. Which pretentious much?) His actions do more harm than good and it just works out for him somehow. (For instance Miles saving them in ITSV because he came late.)
These are my thoughts do with this what you will. All the stars decided to align today ig because I haven't been able to come up with coherent thoughts like this in a minute.
(I really need to rewatch itsv. So if there's anything here that I'm wrong about regarding itsv it's been like 5 years since I've seen it.)
I GET THISS SOOO HARD (I waited until I had coffee to answer this lol)
BUT YESSSSS Because like I can understanding giving Peter the benefit of the doubt, it makes plausible sense for a movie to have a certain amount of wiggle room plot wise.
But with writers who clearly understood punk enough to accurately show it in Hobie's arc, repeatedly put in the work to respect Cockney and Puerto Rican culture, who wrote every one of Hobie's lines with PERCISION - would just overlook the glaring hole in their story that is Peter.
Because we as a viewer are continually told we SHOULD look up to him and we SHOULD trust him - but in doing so they accidentally make him the exact opposite. Like.. It doesn't make sense to me.
The Focus on Jess & The Absence of Peter:
aka GODDAMN I hate Peter B. Parker [yet another rant about 'bad' writing, plotholes, and Peter not showing up for Miles or Gwen.
For example,
Jess is Gwen's mentor, and we see her mentor style is extremely different from Peter's and that's suppose to be a contrasting dynamic between them and the relationship between Miles and Peter. Okay, makes sense.
But by NOT having Peter be Gwen's mentor, the writers are implying that he didn't step up as an emotional mentor when all this given - HE SHOULD. Because he's the only adult that she knows, and she a freshly homeless teen who needs to be around people she trusts, rather than working at a society with an auditorium of adults.
But by trying to show off how much we should judge Jess, the writers have inadvertently given us a Peter who just..didn't take responsibility. That's what they're implying - that Hobie and Jess were the ones who came to get aid. And we're suppose to look the other way. I... can't do that, sir.
"Look at how mean Jess is, why not blame her-" Jess is doing her job. Where's the adult she actually knows and trusts. Can we get some dialogue about what he did for her? Or did he just do nothing?
Did they just forget to include that, or did Peter just forget to help?
For me, that's two points in the bucket. Not housing Gwen, and not being her mentor. He could've done one, the other or both.
But because he didn't, we're left asking "What WAS he doing in the Society?"
Missions, I assume. Cause he wasn't mentoring her, so he must have been off putting in legit work for Miguel, I assume.
If we're looking at the characters as full-rounded - which I would hope they are considering the depth of Gwen, Miles and Hobie, it's not a large jump to ask 'How involved was Peter in Gwen's time at the Society? Why is he not her mentor, or why is she not living with him?"
Gwen..should be staying with him. If you're an adult who knows a teen and they become homeless, and it is within your means - yeah, I do think it's a moral obligation to open your home to them, at least temporarily. If you care about them. But that aside, let's extend the benefit of the doubt. Maybe Gwen didn't want to see him.
But then the ratting Miles out thing. This, I can't get around-
Some may say that it was simply for plot development and that Lyla spoke suddenly as a mistake on her part.
And I gotta call bullshit.
Firstly, because this is the same movie where we're shown Hobie stealing parts prior to learning what the parts are for. The same film that literally animated a fight accurately to Bushwick down to the very street. Let's cut it some slack here.
And moreso - I could understand the justification that it was a mistake on Lyla's part.
If Lyla was human. She's not.
She's an AI, and a very sophisticated one at that. Lyla runs on protocol, because that's AI's do. She's made to do things the way that is mathematically most effective, based on her analysis and her code.
It's easy to see Lyla as just an avatar, and a comedic one at that - but Lyla is literally one of - if not the - smartest 'person' in the multiverse. She's the only one who can track Spot in real time. If Jess and Miguel need aid on a mission or with Spot, they call Lyla. And she's handled every Society mission prior to the chase.
Her speaking out of turn suddenly and giving Peter away is an understandable plot mistake, if she was subjected to human mistakes.
So far, Lyla isn't. It doesn't make sense, based on what Lyla is.
I think Lyla would know better than to give Peter away suddenly by detecting Miles' presence and still speaking out loud.
A lot ask 'What motive does Peter have for ratting Miles out?', but we also should also ask "What motive does Lyla have for ratting herself out?'
It's her goal to find Miles no matter what. She doesn't care, she kinda can't - she's an AI. She just has to find him and send Miles' location to Miguel. Her objective.
So her locating Peter without his knowledge and then giving herself away to him doesn't make sense - especially if Lyla knew Miles was that close, from a human standpoint and definitely from the standpoint of the most sophisticated AI in existence.
So I was under the assumption that - like you mentioned now, that before when he gets Miles alone, he may genuinely be trying to convince him still, but by the time they get into that space, I think that's around the time that it becomes a 'Okay, let's just get Miles back to HQ and talk about this' situation.
He genuinely ratted Miles out. In my eyes.
Because at this point, Miguel hasn't assaulted Miles. That comes later. So realistically speaking, his goal was probably to calm Miles down, and get him back to HQ however he could, and talk to him there.
Peter could've helped WAYYYY earlier.
People give Peter credit like 'Oh but he came over to Miles' side at the end-'
NO. YOU DO NOT GET A COOKIE.
Peter could've helped SO much earlier, and if anything, he was THE ONLY ONE in a position of helping.
Gwen can't do anything, like they physically restrain her when she tries to. And there's no point after they come to HQ that Gwen has the chance to turn around and help Peter.
Gwen doesn't get that chance. Peter DOES.
Had Peter helped Miles HERE, IMMEDIATELY, Miles would've gotten away without being assaulted by Peter.
If Peter had turned around and changed course in this moment, Miles would have been better off.
Fuck Peter B. Fuckkkkk hiiiimmmmm. NAWWWWWW
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If Peter had let him go here, or helped him escape - Miles wouldn't have been taking hits up on that train. That's crazzzy.
But he wasn't trying to help Miles escape. If he wanted to, he would've. He could've just said "Matter of fact Miles, I think setting the WHOLE Society on you is a bizarre move and you should probably get out of here until Miguel can calm down and I can talk to him."
But he was like 'Nah, hold my baby. Matter of fact lemme tell you story in this pivotal moment when you're actively in danger. Here, look at me. What do you mean - I'm not stalling? I didn't rat him out on purpose.
Like either you did. And even if you didn't you didn't help him when you were literally the only person in the universe who could. In fact, he got away slower because of you. Lovely.
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Peter is a grown man. He's not an idiot.
He knows Miles is in active danger. Why would an adult turn the conversation in that direction - about his baby - KNOWING Miles has no time.
As soon as Miles got his hands on MayDay, Peter is trying to change the conversation. Suddenly he's joking and laughing.
Even though Miles is freaking out. Why is Peter joking? He knows this isn't a joking situation. But here he is wasting Miles time, either accidentally or intentionally.
Because that'd be some good ass stalling.
There was nothing stopping Peter from helping him leave. But Peter was still on The Society's side, so he didn't. If he was on Miles' side, he would've helped him. He should've, but he was still for Miguel, because at this point Miguel hadn't assaulted Peter yet.
Congrats, Peter. Big L. Humbling Reality Spider-man everyone.
Like combine all this. AND THEN THE SCENE IN ITSV.
LITERALLY AND PHYSICALLY PETER IS ALWAYS HOLDING MILES BACK.
You cannot expect me to believe that the writers of a movie I can write 10k+ words about, just so happened to leave these two glaring plot holes for ONE character.
That I'm just suppose to ignore that Peter restrained Miles, a black boy, in ITSV. That he betrayed Miles for months, wasn't very active in Gwen's time at the Society, and he actively hinders Miles escape - if not actively ratting him out.
It baffles my mind.
It doesn't make sense, that these writers can write Hobie, Jessica, Miguel, Officer Stacy, Rio, and Jeff as fully rounded, well-thought characters. But for some reason, when it comes SPECIFICALLY to Peter B. - they just forget how to write. They just stop thinking about him the second they don't look at him.
IN BOTH MOVIES?
I don't buy it.
To have every other character be thoroughly thought through but have one of, if not these most iconic character full of plot holes...
I think the likely answer is they wrote him that way on purpose and he's just a bad person.
I'm sorry, and I'm laughing while writing this but like.
Either Peter is the ONE singular character who has a series of emotional plotholes - or he's just a bad mentor. It's one or the other. And it's open to interpretation.
But I wanna cut the writers some slack and say, No - they thought it through. And No, Lyla did not just randomly speak out of turn, he contacted her first off-screen before she replied to him.
And by waiting till the very end to come around, waiting until the person who looks up to you is deeply wounded to finally turn around - that's the same arc Officer Stacy goes through.
And we're not supposed to clap for him. It's lovely, but he doesn't get an award. And neither does Peter, not at all.
Maybe if had helped Miles escape in that moment. Maybe if he was Gwen's mentor or he housed her.
But as far as we know he spent those months of Gwen in the Society doing fuck all. We've seen no sign of his contribution anywhere.
And in a story about mentorship, that says something.
Anyway. This is long. Again fiosfgihrgirturetuier I'm SORRY
Once again, Fuck Peter B. All my Hobies hate Peter B. (not a typo)
He's worse than Jess.
And he's not worse than Miguel but I like Miguel more and it's not because of the ass that's just a bonus Miguel is cool (but also very wrong. but like personality wise we're cool).
Ummm I feel like I got off track here. Oh well!!
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Damn he be doing Miles dirty. SMH
Bye.
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wandering-words · 11 months
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For the prompt thingy you reblogged—BTS for chapter 8 of Crocodile and Parakeet, “Foils” :)
(I should note that I’ve never really watched a DVD commentary before but here’s what I was thinking when I wrote this :))
Overview:
When writing Trust Issues I was already exploring how Ava and Gregory were foils naturally. Then I saw people discussing the possibility of an Ava/Gregory/Janine throuple and while I respect people who believe in it, I genuinely don’t think it could ever work because Ava and Gregory would piss each other off so much. (And in my head they would tug of war over Janine.) Then I thought “what if they were married and fighting over the same girl?” Obviously that didn’t end up being how this fic played out but that was ultimately how this fic was born. They both, to me, just would take such different approaches to wooing Janine and I thought it would be an interesting way to explore how Ava and Gregory are foils. (I also think this helps Janine explore her sexuality a bit, something she didn’t really get to do with Tariq).
Passages:
Like many public school teachers, Janine was forced to work multiple jobs to make ends meet. She’d gotten the evening shift at one of the local Starbucks, and there was one woman who showed up every time she was on shift.
I follow a bunch of teachers on Instagram and Iove that they share their stories of being on the job and how their lives were/are affected by teaching. A lot of them talked about how, especially with a single income, that a lot of times they had to work a second or third job to make ends meet so I was like “well Janine has a nice ass apartment close ish to a city and a single income so it’d be more realistic if she worked a second job”. I also love the idea of a coffee shop au so I decided to make it a barista job. (I also figured that the shifts she could take on would align more relationally with her schedule, but I could be wrong on this because I’ve never worked at Starbucks.)
From taking her order, Janine learned that her name was Ava. She was tall and curvy, with long, dark hair and a signature smirk that caused Janine to flush every time it was directed at her. Ava always wore subtle gold jewelry and came in with new acrylics every week, so Janine assumed that the woman had money.
I wanted to incorporate subtle indicators of wealth because I feel like they’re not super emphasized on the show. (I feel like Ava is wealthier than she lets on, with her influencer incomes and her boyfriend being a famous basketball player, though that second factor isn’t applicable to this fic.) It also helps isolate her presence in the fic to Janine so that Janine senses that Ava has some other intentions other than buying a drink.
It always begged the question as to why Ava would come to Starbucks when she could clearly afford better coffee.
I included this line in particular because I know people who don’t love Starbucks coffee and I thought it be a funny line to include. Also Ava to me comes off as the kind of person who’d have the potential to be picky and randomly pretentious about coffee.
[…]
“I’m sorry,” Janine said as she pulled away, and Gregory’s face was back to its stoic blankness. “I like you, like a lot, just… not like that.” She looked down at her lap and fiddled with her fingers, worried that Gregory would insult her or feel as if he was led on. She wasn’t trying to lead him on, she honestly wasn’t, she just didn’t realize that she was only attracted to him platonically, not romantically.
“I didn’t try to lead you on,” Janine said, her voice growing softer with every word. She was also trying to hide her panic, which was growing with every second that Gregory remained silent. If there was anything Janine hated more than conflict, it was silence. She talked more when she anticipated an awkward silence, though it often served to just make things feel more awkward.
Gregory merely sighed, seeming to sense that Janine would say that.
“It’s okay.” He actually looked a little relieved. “I’m just glad you told me now.” Gregory still looked a bit defeated, which made Janine look down guiltily, but then Gregory was wrapping his arm around her again.
“Hey, Janine. It’s fine.”
Janine wanted to cry. He was so attentive, even when he knew he was being rejected, and Janine wished that she felt more attracted to him for his sake rather than feeling obligated to be attracted to him because he was attracted to her.
One of my trope pet peeves is when fic authors make possible love interests assholes for no reason. Like obviously sometimes it’s warranted (especially if they’re an asshole in canon) but otherwise to me it feels like a cop out. At the time I wrote this (and I still stand by this), I felt like Gregory would be disappointed that Janine didn’t like him back, but he would understand that she’s still trying to figure things out. She’d been with one man for 12 years, mainly her formative years where she would’ve otherwise explored aspects of herself like sexuality and crushes and dating and how to be single. And I felt like Janine would feel guilty because the whole thing, on the surface, appears like a set up. She asks him herself on a date, already a massive achievement for her, and then they make strides throughout the date just for Janine to realize in the moment that she doesn’t want him. Ultimately it was easier for me to write a Gregory rejection than an Ava one. I wanted to showcase that Gregory was mature and capable of growth, that he could be the best friend Janine needed without taking the rejection too personally (or, at least, not actively blame Janine for it).
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cicaklah · 8 months
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my girl @ronniebox tagged me and so here we go!
Rules: List ten books that have stayed with you in some way, don’t  take but a few minutes, and don’t think too hard - they don’t have to  be the “right” or “great” works, just the ones that have touched you.
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman - my mother gave me this book to read when I was maybe 11, it was her copy that she had bought when Pratchett came and gave a reading at our local library in like, 1992. I'd say no book has been more formative to me, but in writing this I don't think thats true.
The City and the City by China Mieville - I got into Mieville through my girl @crimeandcricket, and was horribly traumatised by the body horror in perdido street station, and was way too influenced by his often pretentious writing style, but the city and the city is a masterpiece I'll never recover fully from and changed me for the better.
The Children's Hospital by Chris Adrian - I'm fairly sure no one but me loves this book, but it is also a book that multiple people stopped me when I was reading in public just from the cover image. My favourite kind of book is a book that can only be written by one person, and Adrian is a theologian and paediatrician, and this book uses every single one of his hyperfixations and also made me cry more than anything else.
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster - Actually, this book probably did more to calcify my sense of humour than Pratchett did. The smartest, funniest, coolest children's book ever, and this has reminded me to get the tattoo of Tock on my wrist.
Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield - I read this every christmas morning as a treat to myself. I also adore White Boots, the ice skating book, but Ballet Shoes is such a perfect gem of a story that is the favourite of my grandmother, my mother and myself.
Shabanu/Daughter of the Wind by Suzanne Fisher Staples - The first book that made me cry, inspired my fondness for camels and was probably my first feminist awakening? I've only read one of the sequels, but it was so brutal I still haven't emotionally recovered entirely.
The Amateur Cracksman by E. W Hornung - my mastermind specialist subject, a book that consumed me across time and space, Raffles my beloved, Bunny my beloved, I remember the moment I read the first story and my life changed literally forever. The Black Mask and A Thief In The Night are also obviously amazing and really all three should be considered one book, but something in my life changed for the better when I read the line 'AJ Raffles would be my friend!' in The Ides of March and I realised oh no, they're mine now.
Exhalation by Ted Chiang - very hard for me to choose a Ted Chiang story so thankfully I will pick his second collection, which has The Life Cycle of Software Objects and also the one about the parrots. It does not have Hell is the Absence of God or stories of your life, but tbh, software objects was the first of his stories I ever read, so it deserves to be here, even if it guts me like a fish every time.
Rivals by Jilly Cooper - if I could have anyone's writing career, it would be Jilly Cooper's. Everytime I read this insane soap opera of a book it holds me hostage until I finish it, and its like 700 pages long. The most wonderfully 80s OTT sex farce about horrible people trying to buy an ITV franchise. I genuinely can't believe that disney plus are making it into a series.
The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson - One of his least famous books and yet I think his best? I had read the Mars books several times before I picked this up, but this alternate history where 90% of Europe are killed by the black death, following how world history changes through the eyes of characters who reincarnate but always find each other, somehow??? it grabbed me by the throat and never let go.
tell me YOUR formative texts pls @crimeandcricket @deputychairman @myth-blossom @skylightpirate @stickthisbig @apricotbones @postalninja @cajunandfire @within-infant-rind
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autisticempathydaemon · 11 months
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For the Redacted Audio match-ups
I feel like I've just shown my entire soul here. Wow.
I get fixated on a different song like every-other-day so I'm not sure... Maybe the line "Please give me the strength to be able to believe until the end, even if it is a lie" from "Itoshi kimi yo" (To the one I love) by Moriyama Naotaro. This song NEVER FAILS to make me cry.
97% Enneagram Type 6 (maybe 6w5)
I used to love watching like hour-long YT documentaries but my attention-span has severely gone downhill since the panorama... but I enjoy Bernadette Banner's analyses of historical clothing, Implictly Pretentious' deepdives into the psyches of comicbook movie characters, and NativLang's video essays on various languages and their histories and characteristics.
I never had an imaginary friend as a child (excluding the man-thing that runs alongside the car). Although for a time (in my teens) I had a vampire that would sit by my bedside and protect me as I slept (NO, I was NOT a twilight fan! I was a Vampire Knight fan)
My go-to way to fall asleep is listening to redacted audio. Basically any playlist, any audio (excluding inversion, yandere!ivan)
I don't/hate my name. I just don't associate with it beyond it being what people call me irl. I would change it to either Teigan or Ruri (the former was a cute name I found (and have claimed it in my family should I ever adopt a child) and the latter being the Japanese for the stone lapis lazuli, which I like very much)
...If I was forced to pick only one redacted audio... it'd have to be... Comforted and Cared for By Your Incubus Boyfriend it hits ALL the feels and literally sounds like one big hug that goes straight to my heart.
(Honourable mentions have to go to basically the entire playlists of Vincent, Gavin and Avior; they are my comfort bois despite the various angst in their stories)
I understand but don't personally get the appeal for Lasko. Like we'd get on as friends, but /I need to be the submissive, nerdy, soft one, y'know.
Aside from a number of redacted audios, I tend to not read/watch things multiple times apart from maybe Avengers or Iron Man 1. Those were my comfort movies for a while.
Platonically, I'm attracted to Damien. I am also a perfectionist with a strong sense of justice so I feel we'd get pretty well. Also he's a sarcastic mf-er too and no one can tell me otherwise.
Hmm my go-to ramble topic when tired... I ramble about various things. I wish I was someone who had a singular topic. I'll talk your ear off about Language, Japan, various anime/manga, The Mortal Instruments, Animal Crossing, Pokémon, F1, nail art. I'm that scene from The Avengers [Maria Hill : When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics? Tony Stark : Last night.] I'm a walking encyclopedia of useless (to other people) information and I enjoy info-dumping on people, but I try to not do that so much, so when I do I tend to go overboard...
Go-to gas station snack and drink combo: I don't frequent pretrol stations, they're expensive... I'd probably choose crunchy m&ms and a non-carbonated drink that isn't too sweet. (Unrelated but related, my st*rb*cks drink of choice is a match frappuccino, extra matcha, no syrup)
Favourite Redacted playlist: Vincent (I can talk along with about half of his audios at this point)
Favourite music playlist: I don't really make playlists, I either just listen to everything on one big shuffle or I listen to an album in order on-repeat.
My media choices change depending on my mood, my most "guilty" pleasure media at the moment would have to be NA fiction. If there's no spice or morally grey MMC, I don' want it.
Whatever else you think tells me about who you are.
MBTI type: INFP-T.
I'm a chronic procrastinator.
I have RBF but crack into a smile at the tiniest joke, I have no poker face (but won the only game of poker I ever played).
I'm the older sibling, the 2nd oldest grandchild and often am the "Parent-friend", but I actually act like the youngest and teamed with my (lack of) height, people often mistake me for much younger than I am.
Thanks for reading my ramblings... 😶
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Oh, this was easy-peasy. You know what a Type Six parent friend could really use? A stable, secure, Alpha- the wolf equivalent of a dad friend.
I don’t know who started it, but there’s this delightful headcanon of a bookish, reader Angel that I can imagine for you. It’d be so cute, him stealing your book and holding it out of your reach, asking who the fuck is “Grim” and what is his deal with the chocolate. He’s the type of partner who would make fun of your possible book hoarding but still buys you everything you touch at the local Barnes & Noble with that good, good Shaw Security money.
Also, he’d- lovingly, adoringly but so meanly- give you hell about your imaginary vampire friend watching you sleep. You’ll so regret telling David that every time he asks if you can make do with a werewolf or if you’d rather him call one of the Solaires.
Song:
Hey, boy, where do you get it from?/ Hey, boy, where did you go?/ I learned my passion/ In the good old-fashioned/ School of loverboys
Everything about David is very old-fashioned, old-school romantic to me, down to his pet name, his proposal, and his music tastes. He likes the classics, music Gabe would play on their drives up to the campsite, and he’d like playing it while he cooks for you.
Runner-Ups:
I like pairing parent friends with parent friends; it just makes sense. James gives me bossy, dad friend vibes, the kind of partner who knows you procrastinates and plans accordingly. Sam, I like because he is the protective vampire boyfriend who’d watch over you while you sleep, and that’s adorable.
Notes: I hope that reference isn’t too niche you’ll have to forgive me I’ve watched no joke ten hours of video essay about Lightlark by Alex Aster in the past three days
Read this post and send me an ask if you’d like a match-up of your own! 💌
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queer-lovebot · 10 months
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Kevin and Nicky friendship post incoming
You think Kevin is a literature nerd in addition to history? Like history is the love of his life, but literature he finds fun and refreshing because it’s a form of escape, a way to do something and be Someone different.
I think he can quote many of the classics. I think he reads a Lot of Creative Nonfiction and Speculative Fiction, pieces that re-evaluate reality in fractured lighting. I think he’d like Ocean Vuong and Toni Morrison and Richard Siken and other poets and authors similar.
Kevin would randomly drag up quotes because he likes to be pretentiously smart but also because he has to repeat the words that touched him so deeply.
In addition to This i think Nicky would be a literature nerd for some of the same reasons; finding escapes, but Nicky is looking for happy endings. He’s looking for love and togetherness that he didn’t have as a child, and he devoured anything that gave him a sense of coming home.
Nicky reads Anything though. He’s not as particular across genres as Kevin is. He likes a good story and finds joy in most things he reads (unless they’re honest to god garbage). There are a few books he owns that are thoroughly annotated and read multiple times, filled to the brim with sticky notes marking his favorite passages or important lines or moments that just made him choke without really knowing why.
I think Kev and Nicky have like. A secret book club. Kevin may have lost many of his history books in the nest, but he didn’t start his other collection until After he left, and he has a small bookcase to store his goods. Nicky keeps all of his books in boxes beneath his bed, keeping his favorites/current reads in a pile on his desk.
They exchange books and text about them and have really in in-depth conversations about themes together. When Nicky does move back to Germany to ge with Erik, he and Kevin trade multiple books, and they mail others as needed. When birthdays and holidays come around, they like to get copies of books they’ve read for their own collection. They have a shared spreadsheet and Everything.
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stoportotouch · 9 months
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(Feel free to answer publicly) I’m really interested in the terror but I have a couple friends I tend to watch shows with, they have some mixed to positive feelings on horror and creepy/spooky things as well as thrillers and prestige tv and the like (loved breaking bad and BCS) our group has some CWs around rape/roofies
Could you give me like a recommended breakdown/pitch for the show so I can get them involved and make them watch it with me (we are at a weird watch group crossroads where we have like 3-4 shows that we are watching that are only enjoyed by 2 but not all 3 members and need something for when everyone is together)
(first it did take me a moment to figure out that BCS is Better Call Saul and not, as google suggested, the british cardiovascular society, barclays bank, or the british computer society. i really am not a tv watcher other than like. a couple of highly specific shows.)
as far as the two CWs that you mentioned i can't imagine that there's anything that could be a problem. there is, though, a mention of somebody lying about coersion (and we know in canon that he's lying and the whole thing was consensual). there's also uh. the odd reference to drugs (and alcohol). but that's more because it's the 19th century, and if you went to the doctor and said "got a bit of a tummy ache, doc" he would reply "may i offer you some nice cocaine in this trying time?"
in any case! the terror is an adaptation of dan simmons' novel of the same name, which is a supernatural-ish horror story about the ultimate fates of sir john franklin's lost expedition to find the northwestern passages. (supernatural-ish in that while there are supernatural elements... there isn't much that's supernatural about the depths of human despar.)
it follows primarily not sir john franklin but captain francis crozier, the second-in-command of the expedition (and captain of erebus' sister ship hms terror). but it does also have a massive cast of men who i swear you will be able to tell apart eventually. on your first watch you will be saying "which of the three guys with prominent sideburns is this?" and getting it right... actually pretty often. subsequently, however, you will be going "THERE HE IS. THERE'S LIEUTENANT HODGSON." and pointing to a blur in the background. (i did literally do this yesterday watching the third episode.)
also i genuinely think the terror is like. one of the best written shows i've ever seen. partly because it has The Gumption to essentially start the show with "ready to find out how all the people you're about to meet are going to Fucking Die?", partly because of how much rewatch value it has. even knowing all The Twists and basically being able to quite vast chunks of the show, there's always something new.
also the writers and actors have. what i can only describe as a remarkable ability to take somebody who is not on paper particularly sympathetic but really make you understand them. like there is probably at least one character who you will initially look at and say "...eurgh. don't like that." but either come to Sympathise With or just want to take out of the show and let him sleep for about sixteen hours in a very comfortable bed.
and to be a bit pretentious for a second, which is only fair in a show like the terror, i think one of my favourite things about it is the synergy between setting and story/storytelling. on a naval ship most spaces have multiple purposes and there's nothing on board that isn't there for a reason. so even if a scene or a shot or a character (or a line -- i had a sudden moment of "billy? BILLY????" during my most recent rewatch of the first episode) doesn't seem to be there for a purpose... you'll see! maybe not for a couple of episodes but you'll see.
also pretty much all of the relationships between the characters are very much more complicated than "just friends" or "hate each other" or "lovers" or "captain and lieutenant" (or whatever). it's very interesting to watch and essentially keep track of "they're this but also this" or a slightly more straightforward "he literally just needs him and he will fall apart if they're separated". (then they get separated. this is two separate relationships that i'm thinking of.)
finally, if you like men... there's men. since we're in the royal navy in the 19th century there very much are men in this show. great numbers of them! at times the 19th-century-accurate facial hair Looks are a bit much (especially when there's one guy who conspicuously just has a completely normal 21st century beard), but if you can look past that there's truly something for everybody in amc's the terror.
actually finally, because i just thought of it: warning for gore and violence and... i can't quite explain it better than just "really, really overwhelming bleakness". (including some fairly understandable but still disturbing and quite difficult to watch responses to violence.) there are a couple of scenes that it might be better to spoil in advance to give yourself a pep talk before. (you will get warning for it -- there aren't any jumpscares but the waiting almost makes it worse.)
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ddarker-dreams · 1 year
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🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.
😅 What's a story or scene you've created that you're a smidge embarrassed exists?
✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉
Lowkey wanna send you all of these asks, I'm interested to know it all 😭
[ask game]
HI HI thanks for sliding into my inbox <3 i figured i'd take this chance to thank you for all the blessed feedback you leave in the tags of my posts,, they're always such a highlight omg <33
🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.
for themes, i'd say isolation, existentialist dread, powerlessness, idolization, obsession and heightened emotions. when it comes to scenes, it's probably obvious to anyone who has read a few of my stories that i focus on the back and forth between the main characters. what they reveal with their words, what they imply, struggle to keep hidden, etc... feeding off each other and often showing the most unsightly sides of themselves. it's one of my favorite ways to create tension because as the reader, you (hopefully) wonder when the other might snap. where that invisible line in the sand is that shouldn't be crossed. and when that line is crossed, how it'll be dealt with accordingly.
as for imagery. well. i'm basic. i love figurative imagery a little too much, probably. i like how it can be open to interpretation, since when i'm reading and authors use this, it feels they trust their audience's intelligence if that makes sense ?? where not everything has to be spelled out. knowing that two people might read the same story and come away with different interpretations is a cool thought to me. the downside of this is that i'll sometimes wonder if i'm writing something too vague and it's coming off as pretentious... 😭
😅 What's a story or scene you've created that you're a smidge embarrassed exists?
oh god. everything from my BNHA era if i'm being honest. 2019-early 2020 is when i was getting back in the groove of writing after a long hiatus, so it was rough. i never proofread anything i published (whereas now i read stories multiple times before posting them). i'd just open up my laptop, tip tap away for an hour or two, then figure the story is finished. good enough. this story was the first i ever spent more than one day on. i remember being very pleased with how it came out, which led me to put in more effort from that point onward. what i wrote back then may have been unpolished, but i had fun while doing it, and that's what matters the most!
✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉
SWEATS ... my brain has gone blank... hmm..... i think that my greatest strength is bringing various characters to life. whether it's a super complicated plot or a simple back and forth, i focus most on capturing the essence of what makes the character, well, the character they are. i'll reread/rewatch scenes with them in it multiple times to try and get their speaking patterns and body language down. it's always an ongoing process though, like trimming a bonsai tree. how i write so and so today is different than how i did a year ago, even if it's in small ways. i enjoy this part of the process and think that i'm okay at it!!!!
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milfmacbeth · 2 years
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what got you into classic literature and mythology in the first place? i want to read more of it to get better at analysis but i can never figure out where to start :(
hi anon! i’m not an expert in the slightest so take all of this with a gigantic heap of salt
i got into classic literature by being a pretentious smartass who wanted to look Sophisticated™ and somewhere down the line i discovered that classic literature is actually fun and worth reading for more than just bragging rights. that being said, i think the issue with getting into “classic literature” might be that the definition is so broad as to be meaningless. seriously, dante’s divine comedy and jane austen's pride and prejudice can both be called “classic literature” so i’m going to break this down a little to be more specific. 
here’s how i started or how i think you could start: (essay under the cut)
the classics (as in literature from ancient greece and ancient rome)
start with homer. seriously, i see no point in starting anywhere else. i started with the iliad which took some convincing because i expected it to be boring and incomprehensible. what did i get? one of the best fucking stories i ever read, filled with blood and death and tragedy and love. it’s beautifully written and so so worth reading. although i feel obligated to mention that "graphic depictions of violence" doesn't begin to describe it. homer isn't content with telling you that a character died, homer needs to tell you the exact angle at which a spear pierced a characters liver. it's a book about the horrors of war, after all. i read the robert fagles translation which is excellent and which brings me to my next point: i cannot overstate the importance of a good translation. with most ancient greek and latin stuff, you have the luxury of multiple translations and trust me, it’ll take you like three sentences to figure out whether or not you vibe with a specific translation. online previews are your friend!
(and if i may rant for a bit, the iliad should be mandatory reading on this hellsite and anyone who wants to act like they know what they’re talking about because they read a patrochilles fanfic once can fight me)
classic literature (as in anything older than a few decades that we as a society still give a shit about)
this can be anything which makes it really difficult to recommend stuff but here are some starting points 
when it comes to english literature, you can never go wrong with my good friend billy the bard (shakespeare). my faves are macbeth (witches! prophecies! a mad king on a downward spiral!) and hamlet (ghosts! depression! one of the rawest monologues i’ve heard in my life!). but you can literally just pick any play and go with it. 
as for getting some media analysis practice in. i really liked ray bradbury’s fahrenheit 451 and george orwell’s 1984. they’re filled with Themes and Metaphors. they’re both short and they’re both about as subtle as a neon sign on fire. they are practically hitting you over the head with how much the curtains are not just blue. fahrenheit 451 has a more hopeful tone whereas 1984 is as bleak as it gets. 
[spoilers] 1984 ends in such complete and utter defeat of the protagonist, i wanted to throw that book across the room when i finished it and i had to stare at a wall for a few minutes to process what the fuck just happened. good times!
as for media analysis, you can practice with literally any story. the classics just happen to be more thematically intricate than your standard hollywood movie. it just comes down to trying to figure out how a story works. does it work? if not, why? what was the author trying to do and did they succeed? i think the tv tropes wiki is a really good resource that explains tropes in layman’s terms and provides examples for each. 
mythology
this one’s tricky because there are so many mythologies. if you’re just getting into it, i’d start with the big ones (greek, roman, norse, egyptian)
the big ones usually have primary sources:
greek: iliad, odyssey, theogony
roman: metamorphoses, aeneid (i think)
norse: prose edda, poetic edda
egyptian: ???
if you want something a little more accessible, there’s a lot of books recounting the same stories for a modern audience. i personally love neil gaiman’s norse mythology because it first introduces you to the gods and then recounts the most important stories from the prose edda and the poetic edda. i’m usually a slow reader but neil gaiman somehow has the magical ability to make me rip through his stuff in a day or two. highly recommended!
and i only quickly rifled through roger green’s tales of ancient egypt but i really liked what i saw.
on the slightly more obscure side (irish, japanese, persian myth, just to name a few) you can probably still find some primary sources. the first few paragraphs of wikipedia will tell you where to look.
anything more obscure than that takes a special kind of masochist. (i’m researching slavic myth and it makes me want to kill)
so yeah, i hope this was somewhat helpful. there is a lot of classic literature and myth. i haven’t read nearly enough of it but if you consider me qualified to give advice (big mistake) then my asks and dm’s are always open.
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girinma · 8 months
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i've been lazy with posting this but finished two books on my last boat trip so my thoughts on Kraken by China Miéville and Under Ground by Megan Marsnik.
Kraken
another jacob geller recc and my least favorite of the 3 i've read. Museum specimen collection boy Billy gets his giant squid stolen and enters a world of urban fantasy. It's a fun romp though really good worldbuilding but the central plot ultimately falls flat. 7/10
I don’t understand where breaks between paragraphs are. The scene won’t change nor will the POV character. Why is there a blank line. It feels like it was a web serial and these were breaks from that but if so why maintain them in the print version? Also there will be an indent for dialogue when both lines are by the same person. Why????
Also while I liked the realism of the dialogue it was sometimes difficult to read because of the way things were written as if someone literally said them combined with the accents. Sorry for being anglophobic.
Under Ground
I don’t understand how this book came to a Charleston used book thing when it is so Minnesota regional? A mystery. Anyway it's the 1910s, Katya leaves Slovenia because her parents die and she moves in with her aunt and uncle in Minnesota. but uh oh! the iron mines fucking suck so the miners are going to go on strike. surely the management will be willing to negotiate. right? it's based on an actual strike which is neat. 6/10
In general it's very easy to read and reminded me of grapes of wrath. This is obviously not an Author Author so I cut her slack but there are multiple points where you can tell she’s basically recounting a real thing because it does not fully mesh with the narrative sections. Forrest Gump esque scenes.
I would have appreciated a map of Minnesota because I ain’t been there but also I don’t know how this book escaped Minnesota so ?
For a book about unions, it was Not Socialist Enough. I wanted more vitriol. It tries to paint a happy ending at the end but I think it should be more call to action. “These people will kill you and nothing will ever happen and they keep getting away with it.”
Loved the focus on women, very good. Yes comment on the unpaid household labor the girlies are doing so their husband can work twelve hours in the mine. A shift that long and in that time period? Couldn’t survive without a woman doing everything else in your life.
Boardinghouse is such a good setting. It had a great cast of characters and was very natural to have everyone around. I know they were real but I think it worked really well for the story.
I’ve realized I’m pretentious and don’t really like historical fiction. Like yeah I’ll read it but if I want to read a book set in the past I’ll just read a book from the time period…
Overall it was fine. Not super memorable but it was obviously a passion project so yay Megan happy you finished it and got published :)
AND spoilers under the cut as usual
KRAKEN
The ending is… I don’t know. I like it in some ways and not in others. It did a good job calling back to the beginning and I think it’s very funny to bring The Christian God into this polytheistic world. That being said, I don’t think Vardy’s plan was foreshadowed enough in the middle? As soon as he disappears it’s obvious what’s happening but before that it wasn’t really there beyond the beginning. Also I don’t get it. Ok, he pushed the squid apocalypse forward as cover for his actions? But how did he get Griz to want to steal the squid? I think Vardy giving him the idea should have been made explicit.
I wish the author went more meta with the Griz fight. Like, the book is printed in ink and he is ink! Use that! The author already has some fun with page breaks and italics n such, so put some strikethroughs when Griz is editing reality to delete things and have Billy use footnotes to put things back in. House of Leaves this. Also if he did this he could add like a scene that’s partially destroyed by the memory fire. Literally just add a REDACTED or something.
The little epilogue/finale sucked. Just pairing off characters in straight pairings as if billy and saira or collingswood had anywhere near the relationship of billy and Dane. make it gay. Dane also got a shit ending he should have died with more fanfare. I think the book should have just ended after the cops came and arrested people.
As I said before the worldbuilding is wonderful I love every little concept he comes up with. The gunfarmers are my favorite but it’s all very fun yet aware of the eccentricity. yes everyone has themes weapons and yes people complain about it to their leaders because guns would be more effective BUT NO. The familiar strike and Wati in general was also very fun. Leftist king.
I really dislike Billy’s arc? He starts out interesting - refusing the call, he’s a funny little academic thrust into the world of fantasy. I like how long he’s sad that Leon died but I wished he had more to say about him. Like little things reminding him of Leon and not just reliving the moment he died. But as he comes to accept his role he becomes very much a vehicle of the plot. He becomes simply Hero without ever really using his skills (no preserving no squid knowledge no biology knowledge) and even though yes he lies a bit he isn’t A Liar. He does a little taxonomy at the end with Griz but I want more. He gets a phaser and then he just does what other people tell him. It’s like the author forgot Billy could have any knowledge from before the story started.
Under Ground
Everything after the bar shoot out is rushed but doesn’t go straight to epilogue? Like there was a struggle to wrap things up when the strike fails in real life and nothing good happens ever.
The romance was cuuuuute very cheesy in a This is a Book for Women ;) way but overall it was good. I will take Katka’s “this guy is sooo hot I’m immediately in love with him and will fantasize about him for years before he comes back from prison for being anti-American” over Billy’s “I need to fuck a magician let me call all the women I know.” I did wish there was more of a honeymoon period and not just Paul coming back and being like “I’m also madly in love with you yayayay” because if he got to know her he would have loved her. She is not just some Slovenian girl but she also works on an independent newspaper and does journalism!! His union leader ass would love her pro-labor reporting.
Katka is kind of a bland character though. I KNOW it’s 1915 but she literally is only an individual because she 1. Can type and 2. Likes guns. Could she have a fucking flaw? She needed inner conflict - have her be against the strike and come to view it as necessary, or maybe she’s depressed due to her parents dying and doesn’t see why she should care about the future. She needed something going on Internally beyond “paul <3”
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syrinq · 1 year
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the creativity/design rant i've repeated myself over in the past week for a million times, condensed in a single post with the only example being fortnite skins
something something i love it when people think out of the fucking box and play with colours and concepts and blah blah blah it's lame as fuck when people or companies or anyone keeps doing what's profitable or known to be safe (UNDERSTANDABLE, BUT ALAS, I STILL DISAGREE)
par exemple, it's safe to go anime/cute gal/cat ears for fortnite skins, or joke skins like stupid ass banana peel, and i'll show that by a mere screenshot that obviously does not show the fortnite userbase in its entirety
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and then you scroll across dozens and dozens of ideas that are just ''x but in space'' or ''x but futuristic'' and it's so god awfully overdone, with the same black/white/minimalist colour schemes for sci-fi designs, bright pastels and pinks for cutes-y anime shit, etc. etc. etc.
and you get tired. and then once in a blue moon you come across an idea that has a good foundation, but rather poor or i daresay ''mid as fuck'' execution, resulting in a (gamer slang) L moment and you disappointedly continue on with your life
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some sort of modernised medusa feel, with wires for hair instead of snakes? fucking WICKED. AWESOME. and then it drops down as it's just a generic marvel-looking green alien (human) with hexagon clothes, because for some reason geometric design = minimalism = sci-fi. even smite did medusa greater justice by giving her a lower snake body as if she's some kind of reptile centaur.
and then, once in a blue moon's blue moon, you come across a new take on an existing concept, a hybrid mash of multiple topics that come together gorgeously, etc. etc. and those? those fucking ideas are fucking wicked. best of the best. PEAK DESIGN. bonus points if it's executed to my tastes exactly in terms of design, colour, feel, mood, etc. etc. etc.
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this? fucking.
*chef's kiss*
this fucking tops all the human skins or anime skins or stupid banana peel variations. blah blah blah, interpretation can always be vastly different from the artist's intention. but this? what in the goddamn, it reads like a futuristic sci-fi/dystopian version of a seagull/bird stuck in plastic.
the way the plastic is shaped to form some kind of bird. the wrapped peels of plastic and rubber looking like clothes. the disoriented colours that are, admittedly, fucking disgusting to me, but are reminescent of oil/contaminated water & loose plastics and thus, very great in execution.
fucking forget sci-fi furries like protogens. YOU WANT A SCI-FI FURRY DESIGN? THIS IS FUCKING IT. THIS IS HOW YOU BLEND, SCI-FI-IFY A THING. A TOPIC.
SOME MIGHT EVEN LOOK FURTHER AND THINK ABOUT PLASTIC WASTE ETC. AS A WHOLE. BUT THIS. FUCKING *CHEF'S KISS* PRIME CREATIVE CHARACTER DESIGN AND I WISH ''ABSURD OUTLANDISH CREATIVE'' IDEAS LIKE THIS WERE MORE COMMONLY AND GREATLY EMBRACED BY PEOPLE. THIS IS WHERE IT'S FUCKING AT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PEAK CHARACTER/SKIN DESIGN BITCH!!!!
*YELLS IN MEGAPHONE* THERE IS A THIN LINE BETWEEN BEING PRETENTIOUS AS FUCK ABOUT YOUR SYMBOLISM AND MEANING OF ART, AND EXECUTING IT IN A WAY THAT IS STILL UNDERSTANDABLE TO A PARTICULAR EYE.
*YELLS MORE* I KNOW THAT CREATIVITY IS A SKILL THAT CAN BE LEARNED AND SOME PEOPLE MIGHT BE MORE IMAGINATIVE AND CONNECT THE DOTS EASIER THAN OTHERS. SOMETIMES SOMETHING IS SO CREATIVE AND A ''REMIX'' OF THE REAL, TANGIBLE THING, THAT PEOPLE DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE MOTIVATIONS, STORY, OR ANYTHING WITH IT ANYMORE. AND THUS IT'S TOO CONVOLUTED OR COMPLICATED. AND THAT'S SAD!
*YELLS MORE* ON THE OTHER HAND, LEAVING SOMETHING OPEN TO INTERPRETATION OPENS UP SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE TO THINK ABOUT A CERTAIN TOPIC. AND I THINK THAT'S BEAUTIFUL IN MOST CASES! (LEAVING OUT ANALYSES OF SHOWS LIKE SU AND PEOPLE FIGHT LIKE CATS ABOUT IT)
*YELLS MORE* AND I ALSO KNOW THAT CREATIVITY OR EXPRESSION OF FREEDOM CAN BE STUMPED BY EXECUTIVES, APPEAL OF AUDIENCE, THE MEDIUM IT'S ON, AND A LOT OF OTHER FACTORS. AND I THINK THAT'S SAD! SOMETIMES YOU DO BETTER WITH LIMITS, BUT I LOVE MY CREATIVE FREEDOM BITCH
*FINAL YELL* ANYWAY I LOVE CREATIVITY AND MESHING OF TOPICS LIKE YOU'RE MAKING MARVEL CROSSOVERS IN YOUR MIND AND I LOVE EXPERIMENTS AND I LOVE ANYONE WHO DARES TO GO OUT OF THE NORM AND TRIES SOMETHING NEW. I LOVE YOU AND YOU'RE FUCKING AWESOME FOR TREADING NEW TERRITORIES LIKE YOU'RE THE FIRST ASTRONAUT ON THE MOON! EVEN IF ORIGINALITY MIGHT BE DEAD OR ''SOMEONE WOULD'VE THOUGHT OF THIS EVENTUALLY'', THINKING ABOUT REFORMING THE WORLD AROUND YOU TO CREATE THE FANTASY IS FUCKING AWESOME, AND THE MORE OUTLANDISH THE MORE *CHEF'S KISS* IT IS TO ME!!!!!
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BOOK REVIEW: FAHRENHEIT 451
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Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury Fiction, Dystopian Number of Pages: 256 Rating: 3/5 - It was a good read with a good message, but I didn’t walk away wowed by what I read. Reviewed by: Anonymous
Fahrenheit 451 takes place in a Dystopian version of America, where TV and technology rule over everything, books and literature are censored and burned to the ground, and independent thinking is frowned upon and corrected. Guy Montag works as a fireman, who in this world cause fires instead of putting them out. After meeting his new neighbor, Clarisse McClellan, a free thinker and outcast, he begins to question his line of work as a book burner.
Fahrenheit 451 is a relatively short read that comments on censorship and the value of literature in society. It was written during one of the red scares and was inspired by the methods of censorship employed by both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. I think it’s a very important message that can still ring true today, that provokes us to think about how our government handles censorship. I think this message is especially important with how widespread misinformation is. Nowadays rather than destroying knowledge, more people make up false information, to harm ideologies they oppose or make their own look better. I think this book can remind us to question the information we’re getting and who it’s coming from.
But not everything about the book has aged well. I think the idea it tries to push that literature is the only form of knowledge that really makes you think doesn’t hold up at all like it might have in 1953. Nowadays TV and Movies can have lots of compelling themes and intelligent writing, and has a huge cultural impact instead of being mind numbing nonsense as depicted in the book. Although I understand tv was still very young at the time it was written, it just comes off as a little pretentious.
A minor issue I have is that the book can be very hard to follow along with at times. There will be very long strings of dialogue that take up more than half a page, which can be annoying to try and digest all at once. There are some worldbuilding elements of the book I have some nitpicks with. Although I think turning firemen into literal firemen with flamethrowers is a clever idea, it’s confusing when they constantly refer to their truck as the salamander, which I understand is symbolism but found confusing when trying to follow what was going on. The firemen also employ robotic dogs with needles containing morphine that feel very out of place for me. They seem substantially more futuristic than anything else in the book, and although I understand the dogs being technological is probably important for the message of the book, they just seem out of place. These nitpicks encapsulate my main issue with the book, which is I have a hard time envisioning what’s going on in my head, which for most doesn’t really matter, but I personally like being able to visualize what’s going on. With Bradbury’s style of description and writing, I just have a hard time with it.
I would recommend this book to a more older audience, as the anti-technology and anti-tv sentiment probably won’t reach as many younger people. However I think younger audiences could still get some enjoyment out of this book, probably more than I did.
Fahrenheit 451 Playlist:
Burning Down the House by Talking Heads - Montag and his fellow firemen burn down several houses throughout the book in their efforts to censor books. Very on the nose but a great song.
Disco Inferno by The Trammps - Another song that makes mention of burning and fire, as it is a major element of the book. It’s Montags entire job and happens multiple times throughout the story.
Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple - The smoke serves as the aftermath of all the book burning, so this song works well with the book and its various mentions of burning things.
I Ran (So Far Away) by A Flock of Seagulls - Montag eventually has to go on the run after questioning the government and disobeying his captain, and runs so far he leaves the city
Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2 by Pink Floyd - This song resembles Montag, as he is a “Brick in the wall” or a “cog in the machine”, as he is responsible for the destruction of thousands of books. The song is also about not needing thought control and rejecting indoctrination, which reflects Montag’s state later in the book.
Video Killed The Radio Star by The Buggles - Television replacing books and being a tool of the government is a major theme in the book. Replace the mentions of “radio” in this song with “literature” and this song fits perfectly.
I Fought the Law by The Clash - Montag eventually dissents from the idea of censoring books, and breaks multiple laws of this dystopian society in the process. He ends up fighting authority and “the law”
Puppet Boy by DEVO - You could consider the firemen as puppets of the government, as well as the general populace as puppets being puppeteered by the state with TV and technology being the strings.
Hip to be Square by Huey Lewis and The News - This song is about living your own life and going against society's norms, which fits Montag as well as his young neighbor Clarisse, as they are more in favor of literature and nature than TV and technology.
Dirty Work by Steely Dan - This song fits Montag well as he begins to question his job of burning books, and ultimately decides that he doesn’t want to do the dirty work of the government anymore, which matches the lyrics of the song.
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togomiral · 1 year
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Susannah flood actress twitter
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#SUSANNAH FLOOD ACTRESS TWITTER HOW TO#
#SUSANNAH FLOOD ACTRESS TWITTER SERIES#
In this article, we explore her life, background, and career thus far, read on to learn more. Before she began her appearance on For The People, she made other appearances in shows like Chicago Fire and Deadbeat. She is hard at work building a career that could very well lead her to the top of the art. Susannah Flood plays the character, Kate Littlejohn, on the show. Among that select group of those who get to experience a career as an actor or actress is Susannah Flood, an actress who stormed onto the spotlight through her appearance in the ABC Drama, For The People. Shaped by mega industries like Hollywood, it has become an art that millions all over the world desire to partake in but very few get to experience. “Birthday Candles,” at its best, bubbles up our own cherished and difficult memories of the people in our lives who’ve come and gone.Acting is one of the most interesting, followed, and financially rewarding forms of creativity. Nonetheless, Haidle’s plays (his better “Smokefall” did not receive the production it deserved when it played New York back in 2016) have a way of convincing every audience member they’ve been written just for them. Fun, sure, but it’s awfully tough to smell nostalgic homemade dessert when you’re wearing a medical-grade mask. And - look out, Julia Child! - Messing bakes an actual cake onstage. A goldfish named Atman (“the Sanskrit word for self”) sits on the kitchen table for most of the play to lend some continuity, but it comes across as gimmick. Her youthful and elderly characterizations are too sit-com silly and the transition between ages - which should be a stellar acting showcase - is abrupt and stilted. Moments that are merely sad in director Vivienne Benesch’s production could be devastating.Īnd Haidle has his writerly indulgences, too. She crosses the finish line on likability alone, yet you can’t help but think that Ernestine is a meatier role than Messing has made it. Messing, meanwhile, doesn’t quite rise to the occasion of her one very challenging part. Susannah Flood and Debra Messing in “Birthday Candles.” Joan MarcusĮvery actor here other than Messing and Enrico Colantoni, who plays a boy who pines for Ernestine named Kenneth, deftly takes on multiple roles (John Earl Jelks plays her husband, Matt, among others). Finn, making her Broadway debut, is a talent to watch. When she chastises herself in the third person - “You ruin everything, Joan! They’re all laughing at you!” - she morphs into everybody’s strange in-law. Impressively getting more laughs than the “Will and Grace” star is the hilarious Crystal Finn as Joan, Billy’s neurotic college girlfriend and later wife. The actors who play rebellious Madeline and Billy, Susannah Flood and Christopher Livingston, storm in with tremendous humor and energy and cut through the weird, stuffy, “Philadelphia Story” act Messing is doing. The actress overdoes it playing a teen, and Haidle writes partly in metaphysical mumbo-jumbo that can be hit-and-miss.įor instance, her second line is, “In the career of my soul, how many times have I turned from wonder?” That’s a bit heady for a show’s first 30 seconds.īut “Birthday Candles,” which is set in one kitchen, shakes off the pretentiousness when Ernestine enters middle age and has children of her own.
#SUSANNAH FLOOD ACTRESS TWITTER HOW TO#
The play begins when Ernestine is 17, and is learning how to make a birthday cake with her mother - a tradition she will repeat every single year. Debra Messing, center, plays 90 years of one woman’s life in “Birthday Candles” on Broadway. That all too truthful observation about aging makes you want to run out and call grandma. The parties start out big and boisterous, and by the end of the sequence, no one is visiting her house anymore.
#SUSANNAH FLOOD ACTRESS TWITTER SERIES#
During one scene, we race through a series of her birthday celebrations in her eighties and nineties over a matter of seconds. What really packs a punch, though, are her smaller losses. Deaths, cheating and health scares are all weathered with Midwestern steeliness that hides immense pain. The name of Ernestine’s hometown, Grand Rapids, describes her rocky, unpredictable road well.Īfter every victory for Ernestine (Debra Messing) - an invitation to prom, the birth of a child, the starting of a new business - a crushing blow soon follows. Of course, when you condense nine decades into an hour and a half, both bliss and tragedy arrive faster than spam emails on a Monday. 90 minutes, At the American Airlines Theatre, 227 W 42nd Street.
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spicywhumper · 3 years
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4!
Thanks for sending.
4. Share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like)
That's a very hard thing to answer, both because I forget what I wrote fast and because I rarely like anything I write. But I've been re-reading this (because I re-read previous chapters from time to time to know what's going on) and I'll go with this from chapter 6 of you know I've been breaking all the rules:
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This is gonna get long, maybe boring, so here's a cut. There are spoilers in case anyone wants to read that story. (One line summary: omegaverse cheating porn with plot.)
The context: Cameron, who's the alpha with who the main character cheats her husband on with, uses a scent blocker. So, even if they had sex multiple times, Kelly, the cheating omega, never really smelled her scent. Cameron gets hurt - she's my second character in the rank of canonically whumped characters - and during the hospital stay, the level of blockers is low enough for Kelly to smell her.
Now, why I like it?
I admit openly that this is one of this pretentious lines, it's an attempt to have a cute prose, poetic description. I rely more in this attempted poetic descriptions than direct physical descriptions (I have aphantasia, which means my mind doesn't have visuals, in my case, just general shapes. So I'm insecure about physical descriptions).
It's suppose to say things about the character.
I mean, I don't know how much people use scent as character trait in omegaverse because I barely read omegaverse – this is hypocrisy, I know, I just like more writing than reading omegaverse – but I like to do it. So it's scent description and personality description.
Cameron is all warm and cuddly. Like, she'll cuddle with who she likes and trusts at every opportunity. I think that I'm enjoying more them cuddling than fucking at this point. It's also part of the personality, generally a quiet person who looks scary until she smiles. She's also all sweet and stuff. I noticed now you can call her a rapadura in human shape, hard and sweet. Uh, if you don't know what rapadura is, it's this candy (??) made of sugar cane. Basically a stone of sugar. Not too common where I live, but pretty common up North-east and I think North too. (If you don't know: the country is divided in five regions.)
And the sharp thing is basically about her trauma. Baby is full of trauma and pain. In this omegaverse, your scent is only full 'grown'? Fully developed when you're 21, which is the mating age, so things like underage mating will change the scent and sorta add a thing that makes it not the expected.
Ok, I think I should shut up now because this is getting long.
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ghostdrew22 · 3 years
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hi ok sooooo i have asked numerous writers for this request because i thrive on angst and fluff 👁👄👁 so here goes: a love triangle between draco, harry, and a ravenclaw reader. the reader’s been known to be head over heels in love with draco and giving him origami hearts everyday for a year or two, which he only throws in his trash bin. he usually just ignores her and finds her gestures annoying and laughable. one day, he goes too far with his rebuttals. the reader, heartbroken and realizing she had no chance at all, stopped pursuing him altogether. for the next few weeks, he found himself weirded out that he hadn’t received any origami hearts. while emptying his trashbin, he discovers that when you unfold the hearts, there were little notes of encouragement and sweet letters. just as he was about to confront her, he notices the reader folding something on her table during class and thinking it was finally another origami heart for him. however, it was a butterfly, and she handed it to harry instead. Jajdjeioa PLS MAKE IT ANGSTY AND FLUFFY IT’S UP TO U ON HOW IT WILL END BUT WOULD BE CUTE IF HARRY MADE THE PAPER BUTTERFLY FLAP ITS WINGS THO
Ok sorry for the cliche and long request, take your time and stay safe. I enjoy your writing sm 🥺
Butterflies and Paper Hearts || D.M, H.P
Requested: Yes Pairing: Draco Malfoy x fem!reader , a bit of Harry Potter x reader but not really Warnings: ANGST, swearing, Summary: Draco doesn’t like you and tries to let you down multiple times, when it finally does work he feels regret wash over him.
WORDS : 3864
First of all, I’m so sorry for taking so long to get to this. I read the request when it first came in and I loved it but I’ve been struggling to conceptualize it, and then I fell into a bit of a sad spiral because of all the other stuff that’s been going on in my life, which is why I took me so long to complete it. Second of all, I had to amend the idea a bit to make it work for me, e.g I wrote this in an AU where Voldemort doesn’t exist because I hate mr. no-nose, and I didn’t make the hearts go on for years. Third of all, thank you so much for this request! It’s a lovely concept and I really enjoyed writing it <3
~~~
Butterflies.
Flying. Soaring. Alive.
The first time that Draco had ever noticed you was in your fourth year. You were sat at the Ravenclaw table and immersed in a discussion with Padma Patil, one that had you laughing so hard that you were throwing your head back and wiping tears from your eyes. The sight had knocked the wind out of his lungs, like someone had just punched him in the stomach, and he felt the weirdest sensation in his gut.
It was butterflies erupting.
~~~
The first time that you noticed Draco was in your fifth year. Ravenclaws and Slytherins were in Charms together, as usual, and you’d accidentally sat next to him instead of Padma.
“Dude, you’ll never guess what happened this morn-“ You stop speaking the second you notice that the person beside you is, in fact, not your best friend but rather a scowling Slytherin. “You’re not Padma.” You frown.
“No shit.” He rolls his eyes, “What gave it away? The green robes or the blond hair?”
“The snarky attitude.” You instantly reply and he looks taken aback for a second, “Who are you anyway?”
If you’d thought he looked shocked before, you were wrong. “Excuse me?”
“Who are you? What was so confusing about that sentence?” You raise your eyebrows, “Clearly not a Ravenclaw.”
He scoffs at your remark but answers anyway, “I’m Draco? Draco Malfoy?” He asks, a pretentious tone lacing his voice. “We’ve shared this lesson together since you got here last year?”
“Stalker much?” You ask with a smile and he rolls his eyes. “Anyway, nice to meet you Draco, I’m Y/N.”
“I know.” He replies simply as he takes the hand that you’d outstretched. “Some of us pay attention.”
“Mhmm.”
“So what happened this morning?”
“What?” You furrow your eyebrows in confusion.
“You were about to tell me about what happened this morning.”
“Oh.” You respond in embarrassment and watch as his smirk grows.
“What? Am I not worthy of your great story?”
“It’s not that, I just don’t think it’ll interest you.”
“Try me.”
“Right, what’s all this then?” Padma asks as she stops in front of the desk with a confused expression.
You giggle at her obvious confusion, “I accidentally sat here instead of by our normal spot. Do you know this miserable boy?”
“Better than I’d like to admit.” She responds sourly before turning a harsh gaze toward Draco, “Daddy’s boy.”
“Wench.” He responds and she rolls her eyes.
“Are you coming to sit with me?” Padma asks as she turns back to you and you shake your head.
“Maybe tomorrow, I’d like to sit here and annoy him today.”
“I cannot possibly stand in the way of that, you’re doing the whole grade a great service.” Padma replies with a laugh as she goes to sit a few desks away from you.
~~~
Day 1 - 1 Heart
Hearts.
Fragile things.
It’s the next Monday when you have Charms again, and you decide to sit by Draco’s desk in hopes of him coming to sit beside you.
“What on earth are you doing?” Draco asks as he peers over your shoulder before sitting in the chair beside you.
“Origami.” You respond with a smile and he raises an eyebrow toward you. “That thing where you fold pieces of paper into shapes?” You ask and he nods in understanding.
He takes his seat with a sigh, “Sounds boring.”
“Everything sounds boring to you.” You roll your eyes before finishing up the origami heart.
“True.”
You give it a once over and smile in satisfaction before turning to Draco and handing it out him. “Here.”
Hearts. Absurdly fragile things, Draco thinks as he feels his own heart begin to race. Here you are, nonchalantly handing him a piece of paper, and he feels like his entire world is collapsing in on itself at the gesture. Y/N, giving me a heart.
He rolls his eyes and takes the object from you with a scowl, “Why are you giving this to me?”
You shrug, “You’re not completely intolerable, you’ve earned it.”
He smirks, “Careful, people might start to think that you like me.”
You smile, “Maybe I do.”
Your smile reminds him of butterflies- bright, fluttering, inviting, warm, beautiful.
He rolls his eyes and makes a big show of tossing the origami heart into a nearby bin, and you fight to hide the hurt hidden behind your eyes. But what you don’t know is that at the end of the Charms lesson, once everyone else has left, Draco goes into that very same bin and pulls out the heart.
Day 20 - 20 Hearts
“Are you still doing this?” He asks in annoyance as you hand him another origami heart, the same way you have, every morning, for the last twenty days.
“Yup. I’ve got no reason to stop.” You shrug with a small smile.
“How about the fact that I think they’re stupid and I don’t like them?”
“You’re under the misconception that I care about your feelings.”
He chuckles and brings his face down to yours till you’re inches apart. “I think you care a lot more about my feelings than you’d like to admit.”
You swallow and look away from him, trying to avoid the warm feeling that’s creeping up your neck and settling into your skin. “You wish blondie.”
“Mhmm.” He replies absent-mindedly as he turns into the classroom, drops the heart into the nearest bin, and sits in his seat.
You try to look unbothered as you go to sit beside him, ignoring the disappointment that’s churning your insides.
Day 35 - 35 Hearts
You watch as Draco inspects the origami heart from the Slytherin table, hoping that he might open it this time.
“He’s going to break your heart, Y/N.” Padma whispers from her seat beside you in the Great Hall.
You shake your head and let your eyes drift away from the blond at the Slytherin table. “He wouldn’t do that, he’s a lot better than you think he is.”
“Y/N, I’ve known him a lot longer than you have and I know that this isn’t going to end well.”
“And why not?” You ask defensively.
Because you’re a muggle-born, Padma wants to say, but she knows that it isn’t her place to crush your dreams so harshly. She shakes her head instead and smiles sympathetically, “Nevermind, I’m sorry for overstepping.”
You don’t notice, too busy talking to Padma, that Draco tucks the little piece of paper into his robe with a small smile.
Day 50 - 50 Hearts
You don’t exactly know when you caught feelings for Draco, it’s like all the small moments just bunched up together, but you know that it wasn’t your intention. The hearts, the sitting together in charms, it had all just started as friendly gestures in an attempt to get the scowling boy to befriend you, but somewhere along the line things just got too messy.
And now, you’re utterly infatuated with him.
You take a deep breath as you pull out the small box from your bag containing Draco’s Christmas present. The train comes to a half at platform 9 and 3/4, and you quickly grab your belongings before rushing out of the train in order to catch the blond before he goes home for the holidays.
You catch him by the door and you smile at him. “I’ve got something for you.”
“Another paper heart?” He raises his eyebrows with a smirk and you shake your head.
“No, it’s something else actually.” You hand the box to him, wrapped in a mix of dark green and navy blue paper, and he accepts it with a skeptical glance.
“What is it?”
“A Christmas present.” You laugh and he nods sheepishly in acknowledgement.
“Oh.” He rubs the back of his neck, “I didn’t get you anything…”
“I didn’t want anything.” You smile again, “That’s not why I got you a gift.”
You watch as he nods again and looks out the window. “Then why did you get me the gift?”
“Cause we’re friends.” You shrug and he swallows.
If he were any other person then the erupting butterflies in his stomach would be an obvious sign to pull you closer and hug you till both your arms hurt. If you weren’t a muggle-born witch, and his parents weren’t watching him intently from outside the train, then this would be the moment that he seized to let your friendship blossom into more.
“We’re not friends.” He spits out coldly, and you’re taken aback by the sudden harsh tone.
“Okay…” You reply quietly, “Acquaintances?”
“For fuck sake…” He mumbles with a sigh, “Y/N, I don’t like you, at all. You’re annoying, you’re pushy, and worst of all, you’re a mudblood.”
Harsh words, words that taste of venomous denial, are running out of his mouth before he can stop them. The look of astonishment and sadness on your face has regret dancing on his tastebuds like the taste of tar, and he struggles to push that feeling down.
“You don’t mean that…” 
“I meant every word, and I can repeat it if that empty skull of yours didn’t catch it.”
You shake your head and look down at the ground, trying to blink away tears, and he nods as he turns to finally leave the train.
“Draco.” You choke out and he whips his head back angrily.
“What?”
“I forgot to give you this today.” You whisper as you hand him his origami heart and push your way past him toward the platform.
You feel sick, you feel sad, you feel disappointed. There’s a twisting and churning that’s going on in your stomach but it’s not like normal, it’s the opposite of what you’ve felt every time before.
It’s butterflies dying.
He watches you walk away as a lump forms in his throat.
Day 65 - 0 Hearts
Draco walks into charms half-expecting you to be sitting somewhere else, and half-hoping that you’re sitting in your usual seat beside him. He didn’t open the Christmas present, too much guilt weighing him down, and he hopes that you don’t give him any more paper hearts.
He feels an odd combination of anguish and comfort when he sees that you haven’t moved, and goes to sit beside you in silence. You turn to him and smile but say nothing to him, not then and not for the rest of the lesson. When you get up to leave he half-expects you to drop an origami heart on his books, and disappointment consumes when you don’t.
Day 75 - 0 Hearts
“Morning.” He mumbles as he finds a spot beside you, as usual.
“Morning.” You respond.
That’s all the conversation that you two have now. A part of you misses the way the two of you had been before, easy-going, sarcastic, in-sync, but an even bigger part of you understands why that had to be over. He could never allow himself to love someone like you without resentful undertones of disgust and shame, and you could never settle for someone who doesn’t love you regardless of your blood purity.
“Y/N…” Someone whines from ahead and you look up from your desk to find Harry stood in front of you.
You laugh at his childish behaviour, “Yes Harry?”
“Please help me with this assignment?”
“No.” You respond bluntly, just to mess with him, and he pouts at you.
“Please?” You shake your head, “Please?” You shake your head again and he pouts at you hopelessly, “Pleaseeee?” He begs once more and drags out his plea.
You laugh once again and nod, “Okay fine.”
“Thank you so much!” He exclaims excitedly and leans over the desk to hug you. You shake your head and giggle in his arms, and Draco has to look away to ignore the looming feeling of jealousy consuming him.
Day 103 - 1 Heart
“So, I know that we’re not friends or anything…” You start as you turn to Draco, “But Valentine’s Day is tomorrow and I can’t resist the urge to give you one more.”
He furrows his eyebrows in confusion but feels realisation wash over him as you hand him an origami heart, one that’s bigger than all the rest you’ve given him in the past. He nods and takes it from you, trying to pretend as though his heart isn’t swelling at the gesture. “Thank you.” He responds curtly before the two of you revert back to silence.
It’s only when he’s alone in his dorm room that night that he actually looks at the origami heart. It’s red, and you’ve written his name across it in cursive. He runs his fingers along it and allows himself to unfurl it, feeling shocked to find words written inside it.
I know you never read these, so I’m probably wasting my time, but I wanted to say that I miss you.
Ridiculous right? I even feel stupid writing it. But it’s the truth, I do. I miss your smile, and your laugh. I miss the way you would scribble nonsense in my book to distract me from the lesson, and I miss the way you’d get so frustrated when I did the same. I miss the way you’d make fun of me for being a nerd, and try not to look proud when you outdid me in tests.
I miss your jokes too, even though they weren’t really funny, and the way you’d always forget your textbook so we were forced to share and we had an excuse to talk. I miss you a bunch, even though I know that you don’t miss me nearly as much.
Happy Valentine’s Day pretty boy,
I wish you could’ve loved me the way that I love you.
He quickly jumps off his bed and walks toward his trunk. He pulls out the Christmas gift that he never opened and another small box that he’d used to store all of your origami hearts, and begins to go through them all.
Note 1 - You’re weird but I like you. Very defensive, I hope that I can knock down those barriers. Note 2 - Your hair looked really nice today, made you look like a famous movie star who pays people to do it for him. Do you secretly have a hairdresser in your room? Note 3 - Your eyes are a strange colour, a cross between blue and grey, it reminds me of the sky before a really pretty rainstorm.
He opens every heart, from the first to the last, processing every last compliment that you’d ever written. With every word he reads, he feels a mixture of love and guilt wash over him simultaneously. Love for you- because you’re kind, and funny, and beautiful, and way too good for him- and guilt- for treating you so horribly because he was scared, when all he had wanted to do was kiss you, and hold your hand.
9 - I’m oddly very proud of you for beating me in the latest Charms assignment, you might actually be the bigger nerd between us both. 20 - I know you hate that I call you pretty boy but that’s what you are, you’re unnecessarily pretty! 26 - You’re very funny when you’re not trying to be. Your jokes are horrendous, but your impersonations and quips can be quite amusing. 35 - I’m starting to think that you don’t read these. No, I’m sure that you’re not reading these. Doesn’t matter though, there’s so many things that I love about you and I think I’ll explode if I don’t put them down somewhere. 47 - I’ve fallen very hard for you, it might be your dumb laugh or the way you tickle me whenever you walk into class, but I didn’t know that you could feel this much for a person. Damn you pretty boy. 50 - Padma thinks you’re no good for me, I agree, but I don’t care. I love you too much to give you up.
The last of the collection is the Christmas gift that you gave him. He’d refrained from opening it out of shame, feeling unworthy of a gift from you after being so cold to you that day on the train. He unwraps it and finds another paper heart, with a silver engraved ring above it. The words, ‘pretty boy’  are inscribed into the ring and he smiles at the sight, a few tears sliding down his face.
Pretty boys like you deserve a little more than paper hearts, I hope you like it.
He slips the ring on before getting off his bed, walking to his desk, and pulling out a piece of paper.
Day 104 - 1 Heart.
It’s Valentine’s Day and his palms are sweaty, for the first time in his life Draco has sweaty palms because of a girl.
You’re in your usual seat and you’re folding another piece of paper. His heart soars at the sight of you so focused, that goofy smile you always have whenever something demands a lot of your attention, and your hands working delicately against the edges of the paper. He stops in front of you.
He clears his throat and you look up at him, startled by the sudden interruption. “Oh, Draco, morning.” You respond with a small smile, obviously still apprehensive about him.
“Happy Valentine’s Day Y/N.” He smiles back and slides an origami heart onto the desk, beside the butterfly that you seem to have been folding.
“What’s this?” You ask in confusion as you pick it up and inspect it.
“You’ve made enough to be able to tell by now.” He deadpans and you laugh softly with a nod.
“It’s a paper heart.” You smile up at him, “Did you make this for me?”
“Maybe.” He responds curtly as he slides into his chair beside you, but you catch the shy smile he’s harboring.
“Thank you.” He nods, “I could’ve done better though.”
He scoffs, “That’s not a fair comparison.”
“And why not?” You raise your eyebrows and he chuckles as he rolls his eyes.
“Read the note inside and you’ll know why.”
“There’s a note inside?” You exclaim excitedly as you start to unfold the heart and he yanks it out of your hands.
“No! Read it later when I’m, like, far away from you.” He says defensively and you furrow your eyebrows but nod in agreement.
“Alright, I’ll read it after school.” You take it back from him and put it in your robe. You resume folding the butterfly and smile when you see that it’s done.
Draco watches intently as you finish it, expecting you to hand it to him once it’s finished, and furrows his eyebrows in confusion when you set it down and scan the classroom.
“Harry!” You exclaim as you watch him walk from the door and toward you with a bright smile.
“Y/N.” He responds once he’s standing in front of you. “Is this for me?” He asks once he sees the butterfly on your desk, and Draco is about to scoff at the question but you nod your head eagerly.
“Of course!” You pick it up and give it to Harry, watching excitedly as he opens it up and reads the note inside.
Draco watches in silent envy as Harry laughs, at whatever you’ve written in the note, and brings his lips down to your forehead. “Thank you so much butterfly, I love it.”
You smile proudly and your eyes light up as you watch Harry cast a charm to make the butterfly flap it’s wings and fly down to his desk. “When are you going to teach me that? I’ve been asking for weeks now!”
“If I taught you then I wouldn’t have anything to impress you with.” He smirks as he leaves to his desk and you shake your head with a laugh.
“You two seem to be quite friendly now…” Draco mumbles, trying to hide the jealousy in his voice. The butterflies that had been erupting in his stomach earlier that morning being trampled to death by Harry.
“Yeah, we’ve been-“ You cut yourself off with a gasp as you catch a glimpse of the ring that you bought Draco, “You’re wearing it!”
He smiles at your excitement, thinking about how such simple expressions from you leave butterflies fluttering in his stomach. “Yes.” He chuckles and you smile.
“I thought you didn’t like it.” You respond softly and he feels his heart break.
“No, not at all. I just didn’t want other people getting jealous.”
He smiles at you and you feel that familiar bubbling in your stomach, like rosh bushes blooming at the sight of the sun, but you can’t exactly pinpoint the feeling.
Later that day when you’re sat beneath a tree and reading Draco’s letter, you know exactly what that feeling is.
~~~
Y/N.
Beautiful, funny, kind, observant, utterly perfect Y/N.
I’ve spent the last three hours trying to come up with a reason for you to forgive me, I couldn’t come up with one. I also tried to find an excuse, any really, that could justify my horrid actions over the last few weeks, and I couldn’t find one. So instead, I settled on just telling you the truth.
I’m a coward.
You’re probably laughing right now and thinking, “He’s only realising this now?”, and the answer is yes. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed but you’re the brighter one between us two. It took me 103 more days than you, to realise what you knew the first day you made me a paper heart; the two of us are meant to be.
That sounds a bit cheesy doesn’t it? Doesn’t matter anyway, because in note 12 you said that you enjoy my cheesy anecdotes. I’m not sure why though, I’m not particularly sure why you love anything about me when you’re you, but I guess some mysteries can never be solved.
I’m sorry for those words I said that day on the train, I didn’t mean them. I was scared of what my parents would think if I fell for a muggle-born witch, but I forgot one important thing; it doesn’t matter. All that matters is the fact that I’ve never been as happy as when I’m with you. If I could spend the rest of my life getting these perfect little paper hearts from you, listening to your sweet laugh, bothering you when you’re trying to get work done and buying you rings that match the ones on my hands, then I’d be over the moon.
I’m sorry for taking so long to tell you this; I love you Y/N. I know that I haven’t earned a second chance but if by some miracle you decide to grant me one then I promise to make it worth your while.
I would pick the stars out of the sky for you Y/N, if only you asked me to.
Happy Valentine’s Day from your pretty boy.
You look up from the letter and wipe the tears that had managed to escape, before getting off the grass and running back into the castle. When you find Draco eating dinner in the Great Hall, and see him flash you a shy smile, you instantly know what that feeling from earlier was.
It was butterflies reviving.
~~~
get added to my taglist <33
taglist : @purpleskymalfoy, @astoria-malfcy, @dreaming-about-fanfictions, @dracoscene
~~~
I’m pretty sure I completely deviated from what you wanted, I’m so sorry if it’s not satisfactory :( It’s so cheesy and I feel like I messed it up at a few points but either way I liked writing it, it made me very happy to finally write some Draco fluff again.
anyway, love you all,
jean <3
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zirkkun · 3 years
Text
just before.
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just before. (Undertale fanfic - based off of Wickedtale by @alch3mic​ - rated M by AO3 standards.)
+ soldier!sans x dancer!reader (they/them prns)
+ 4456 words, english
+ prologue to soldier’s story. first time he ever meets dancer.
+ cw: mentions of murder, classism, yandere/obsessive personality, abusive/controlling parents
+ “he hadn't heard that phrase in years. so constantly aware of the corruption plaguing the world... well, as it seemed, there was still one highlight to live to protect.”
+ AO3 link
Ebott City. The corrupted hell hole that was somehow above ground, while the actual hole the "monsters" came from had been far more palatable. At least, in one case. Many didn't have the same experience he did, but… whatever. That didn't really matter. He didn't really care about it anymore. Why dwell on the past? There's too much shit going on in the present to even have time for something like that.
Day-to-day life was flooded: constantly moving, constantly working, never slowing, never stopping. There's no time for that. The day he gets time to take off and sleep, get whatever medication he's sure he needs for his horrifically weak non-stomach, and lead a healthy and safe lifestyle while retaining his wealth? Ha. In dreams, maybe. This city wasn't kind enough for that. Though, maybe if his ambitions weren't so specific, he wouldn't have fallen into this path of endless work… but it's a little late for that.
His brother had made use of their skills the two of them had attained growing up, and with that opened a dance studio where others of all sorts could come through and learn how to dance. A small corner of peace in this awful world, that little building, where monsters and humans could both dance without feud, where rich and poor could both talk without judgement. Maybe it was ironic, maybe it was fate, or maybe it was straight coincidence that his brother had named the place "Enchanted Dancing." He knew that the name was merely in reference to the magic of their home where everyone had their own sort of dances they practiced, which they all soon found was very different from most other monsters who had battle magic specialties. But even still… heh, ah, it just further proved his point. The only decent place in the world was the Underground, before they ever surfaced.
A beep. 6:00 P.M. Work.
Or, rather, his second line of work.
While he'd abandoned his dance skills long ago, he never really fully disconnected with music as a whole. It's not like he really could when he doesn't have anything else to his life or history -- he doesn't know anything else. So, he made it a pastime to make his own musical works, trying to sell them online for money, but quickly found it's not exactly easy for people to find your work… let alone get them to pay for it when they do. He had run low on money fast -- so fast that he needed something quick and easy that he could do to not end up on the curb in a weeks' time.
He doesn't remember how he heard about it, or really what possessed him to go along with it anyway; but somewhere along the line, he'd caught word of some pretentious wealthy human furiously rattling off how their reputation would be "demolished" if the rumor that had begun about their business didn't come to a halt. How they would pay "insane amounts of money" to have that rumor "eradicated." You know, without really doing any work themself, or trying to better the work that they were doing, or fixing the root of their problem to begin with… Yes, because throwing money at the problem until it's pushed onto someone else is the better solution.
And yet… when someone comes up to you in your hour of despair, presenting to you an arguably invisible layer of protection in this world of work or die, something to get you out of the dark and stop the ticking clock of your otherwise inevitable doom…
It's not like he was going to turn down the offer.
He'd forged some sort of alias -- whatever it was at the time no longer mattered, since he'd had many over the half year or so he's been doing this -- and scribbled out a note of sorts explaining what was, at the time, a feigned, short "resume" for work as an information broker. The note was left with the pretentious prick, who did, in fact, end up contacting him in the end, offering more money than he thought he'd ever see in his waking life. Needless to say, he took the job… and found the issue to be so incredibly simple to resolve that even a child could have done it.
Well, no.
A child would have had more sense of morality.
... probably.
Who was he kidding here, honestly? He complains about the rich on a regular basis, their foolish waste of money, their apathy towards those that didn't have any money, just pure care for only money.
But here he was.
Morality erased.
Lives ruined.
Bank account overflowing.
Doing the same things they were doing.
The very least he could do -- and the very least he does do -- is support those whose music he'd wanted to support while he was on the edge of homelessness. Even some of his online friends, music composition friends, were consistently met with the cash they needed in a moment's notice. "Where did you even get this kind of money?" they would ask him. He would just jokingly say that an old witch blessed him with unending wealth, or something else to that extent of unbelievable ridiculousness.
But, unfortunately, not all of his money could go towards such good causes. While he did have far beyond the money to sustain multiple dozen families, at least a third of it was thrown right back into the exchange as he paid person after person for job after job he was unwilling to do.
There was no blood on his hands. No dust caked into his bones.
But it was splattered all over the money he handed out like trick-or-treat candy.
He'd met two others, notably, that did a lot of work alongside him. A crafty cat and a wily wolf… figuratively, of course. The three of them sharing the same first name, they merely tossed nicknames at each other. More often than he probably realized, they took much of his budget for work he was far too lazy to bother with. You know, scouring the dark web for information, stalking people to track their pathing… the occasional hit here and there. Sometimes, he would do it himself, but only if he really felt up to it… and frankly, he was never in the mood for murder. But that damn wolf was shockingly willing -- for the right paycheck.
He did recognize, however, the two of them did seem to have a mutual similarity that he, personally, did not share.
… he did not have anyone close to him. He didn't have anyone who looked after him, cared for him. It didn't bother him until recently, when apparently that damn wolf managed to lock the object of his affection into a relationship. Even the cat seemed bitter when he heard the news. Someone so fucked as him still manages to find someone?
… the world was just trying with his emotions at this point. Taunting happiness at the end of a pole taped to the back of his head, leaving it just out of reach, but always in his way and always in his line of sight.
Of course, he had his brother…
... who he doesn't talk to for weeks at a time…
... and he keeps turning down his offers to meet up again…
… yes, he had his brother. A strong emphasis on the "had."
He was alone. He knew that. But, at least for the case of his brother, he'd done it on purpose.
The last thing he wants is to have his brother, someone so passionate and pure, hands still clearly clean of sin; find out he has the richest humans of the city wrapped around his fingers out of both fear and dependability.
So, frankly, sometimes he found himself jealous of the other two. The other two who had someone to care for them.
He supposed the trio of them could sort of be friends…
He'd met the wolf a few times in person, both intentionally and not.
He'd bumped into the cat, wasted in a bar, more than once.
… No, they really weren't his friends. Co-workers is the best way he could probably describe them.
Yes, he was just jealous of them.
He was alone.
… Well, work isn't going to start itself. He pulled his phone back up to his face, clicking it on to see how long he'd zoned out for. 6:03 P.M. Not too terrible. He slammed shut his laptop, pushing back from his chair as he went to put on the outfit that had practically become his "uniform" at this point. A dark under layer of tight leggings and a fitted long-sleeve athletic tee with a zip-up turtleneck; a desaturated over layer of a baggy, now sleeveless hoodie and equally as baggy gym shorts. And, of course, a hat, as usual… but he wore those no matter the time of day.
His apartment door clicked shut behind him as he left, and once the door was locked, he evaporated into thin air.
-- only to appear, moments later, in front of one of the most lavish mansions in the richest part of Ebott City. It was so bleeding with "I'm such a rich, extra asshole" energy that it made his Soul twist with disgust. The walls were marble, shimmering from small lights below them to show off their sparkling, smooth surface. Each edge of the building was lined with gold-plated metal, even the rails to the stairway. Arching windows stood on either side of the front door, which was probably big enough for an average sized elephant to fit into with some extra ear room to boot.
Thank the stars he didn't have to go inside again. He already knew what his job was for the night, and to be back inside that disgustingly overdone building these pretentious humans called "home"... Just thinking about it made him feel beyond insulted.
He took another shortcut -- this time, finding himself on the rooftop. Although the sun had not yet fully set, even so, it was still much darker here than standing in front of the artificially-lit trophy they called a front entrance. He popped open his phone again. 6:05 P.M.
Unlocking it completely, he pulled up a message from the cat he'd gotten this morning.
morning soldier~ i managed to get done what you needed me to for today last night. which, you owe me BIG-TIME for, mister.
i was up until 4 am doing this!!
Soldier checked the timestamp. Yesterday, 11:34 P.M. Does that cat think he's an idiot? Whatever, it's not like this was the important part of the message. But, if anything, he's getting docked pay for really bad lying. It's not like the guy needs more alcohol money, anyway.
here's a list compiled of all the parties in ebott tonight. i only looked for ones starting after 6 pm like you asked, but there was still far too many… the list is very long (T▽T)
[file download link]
i hope you're happy!!! cause im not looking any more than that!!!!! ☆⌒(> _ <)
He downloaded the file to his phone, browsing through it to see what parties had been collected into the spreadsheet. He only could assume that's what was bringing them out, at the very least.
Oh, yes, his job for the evening. That's integral information, I suppose.
The mansion whose roof he sat upon currently was owned by a human family with the surname King. They had twelve children, all adopted, but were all also kept on very rigorous and strict schedules. The eldest of the children very recently had been caught sneaking out of the house every evening by one of their siblings, and sleeping noticeably late in the morning, their final semester of university was suffering from this all as they refused to finish their thesis. So, naturally as it is for all the rich, they threw their money at the problem hoping that would fix it.
Today's "that" was the skeleton monster sitting on their roof, waiting to see when someone would eventually leave the house.
With a hefty sum of money, upfront payment, as usual; Soldier was told to follow their child for three nights, and to report back after that time with what they had been up to. Seemed easy enough. Of all the jobs he'd gotten, tailing someone for a few days and tracking their every move was probably the easiest he's ever had the misfortune of doing.
He continued to scroll through the list. He had been given absolutely nothing to work with from the Kigngs as to where their kid was headed or when they tended to leave the house, or any information of actual use; so he was going into the job without a clue as to what he was really looking for. It was probably the most difficult aspect of the job -- hence why he outsourced the bulk of it. As for the "where," parties seemed like a reasonable assumption to make for a human college student. That's a rather common stereotype of sorts, college students getting drunk at party after party, is it not? Better than nothing, he supposed. Nothing else really came to mind anyway, but that doesn't mean there wasn't another option. Even still, it's a better start than nothing.
Now he had to just wait for the "when." He had the list in front of him, hoping he could deduce when the human would leave their house… but the more he read it over, the more bored he got. Guess the cat wasted his time. Oh well. That's not Soldier's problem.
Just as he locked his screen shut, planning to come down from the roof and investigate any exits that might be hidden to most of the house, he heard an absurdly loud sound he initially thought was a gunshot, followed by a raspy huff of various curses. Peering over the edge of the rooftop, after shortcutting there silently to avoid making attention towards himself; he noticed there was, in fact, no gunshot, but rather, an awfully messy and junky trap door of sorts, seemingly made of plywood. A human, who he assumed was the one who swore earlier, grabbed a bush that had been sitting next to it, picking it up like it was nothing and placing it over the door. It was in line with several other, similar bushes. The human dusted off their hands before walking, keeping a close eye on the mansion walls to their side.
Well, looks like he's found who he's supposed to tail.
He kept watch over them for as long as his eyes could follow, and then, the moment they left his vision, he shortcutted to where they had been moments ago, though slightly distanced as to be hidden nearby; and simply repeated the process. Soldier knew this part of the city better than the back of his hand, so he knew where he was at all times, as well, making shortcutting silently even easier.
… However, what he didn't understand was where the hell this human was headed. A few times he tried clicking on his phone, scrolling through the list again, but they weren't headed in any direction towards any party. And even when they started heading in the direction of one… they would end up taking a "wrong" turn and dodging it completely.
… this was taking a really long time…
It's… almost been an hour by now. Soldier's starting to recognize this area a little less. He knew the map layout, but not all of the details about where they were or what was distinctly different about each street. They were outside of the rich part of town, but not quite in the poorer side that he was used to, either. If he was remembering correctly, this was in the direction of downtown. Unless this human's planning on breaking into some probably-already-crashed college dorm party for the night, they definitely weren't planning to party at all. Okay, well, that throws that plan out the window.
But now he had no idea what to expect. Were they banned from getting help, so they're actively seeking it out? Unlikely. Were they secretly addicted to drugs? Unless it was alcohol, getting away with drug smuggling in downtown was a horrific, nearly impossible idea. Did they have a significant other that their family wouldn't let them see? Well… he had no idea. Thoughts and questions and possibilities kept cycling in and out, but he never lost sight of where they were going.
And, sure enough, the bright downtown lights descended upon them as they started making their way across the long bridge leading to the most eventful point of the city. Due to the sheer length of the bridge, and the fact that Soldier was not as well-versed in the map of the downtown Ebott area… he resorted to traditional stalking, mimicking their every step as casually and nonchalantly as possible, as though to avoid being spotted.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket. One new message.
weeeeell? was my work useful? >:3c
He merely huffed half a laugh before typing out his response.
i didnt use it at all
what?! Σ(・口・) soldier, i went through all that hard work, and you didn't even LOOK at it???
i looked at it
i didnt use it
...you're at least still paying me, right?
no
you are the WORST 凸(`△´+)
i'm never doing anything for you again >:(
you dont need the alcohol money anyway
But the cat never responded to that one. Well, Soldier's never been the best at landing most jokes, despite his tendency to make them. Clearly sarcasm wasn't his strong point either. Whatever. He'd pay him later.
He put his phone back in his pocket, putting his attention back to his job as the bridge finally began to end. If the human was suspicious of his following them, they showed no signs of it. Good. Frankly, being silent by stalking someone in this manner isn't his strong suit. He had assumed they would have stayed nearby… not gone to the other side of the city.
The sun had set, but even still, downtown was overwhelmed with artificial lighting, and frankly, it was already giving Soldier a headache and he hadn't even been here for more than 10 minutes. Curse his ridiculously weak and sensitive body.
The human kept walking along, though their pace was beginning to hasten as they flickered their gaze between stepping and a phone screen. Naturally, he also quickened his footing, although unsure as to why. Maybe they were running late for something?
They took a sharp left into a shady alleyway; Soldier shortcut to its entrance, spotting them sprinting down it as fast as they could before eventually climbing up a wooden fence at the end, reaching its peak and jumping over it with ease. Like they'd done this many times before. Soldier, confused, checked the name of the buildings on either side of the alleyway… but neither were significant. One was even an apartment building of sorts, but it looked abandoned at best. Well, might as well continue.
Reaching the end of the alley and pushing himself over the fence with magic to avoid making as much sound as possible, Soldier's feet landed on the concrete of the other side. It was surprisingly… clean. As if someone kept it nice regularly. He went to take a step forward when he heard chattering, and instead, tucked himself behind the smallest edge of the nearby wall, barely peering over its edge to see the rest of the area.
It was like a very small park. Perhaps a courtyard? But it was too barren for that. Well, all except the trees. There were four skinny trunks sprouted from the ground, all of different kinds, and probably no more than two and a half meters tall. Around them was a square-shaped sidewalk of the same concrete he was standing on.
But, at that center of the trees, were two humans, not one. He recognized the one he'd been following up until this point -- vaguely, and mostly just from the color of their clothing -- but the other was new.
"I'm sorry I'm late, I was held up worrying I was going to get caught…" the human he'd followed spoke. "My dad apparently hired someone to follow me for a few days. One of my sisters told me… she apparently ratted me out -- she was forced to -- and now my dad's on a manhunt to find out what I'm doing."
"Yikes," the other person responded. They had a higher pitched voice, but a lower tone of interest. "Sorry to hear about it. You didn't need to come racing here to tell me that, you know. You could have stayed home and texted me to move the lesson."
Lesson?
"No, it's fine. I came because I wanted to. It probably would have been better if I waited… but I was too excited about tonight," the human explained. "It's the first time we're practicing the whole dance routine straight through. I've been practicing on my own some other nights, too."
… dance routine?
The other human let go of a heavy laugh. "You've really been practicing for two weeks straight with no other dance party breaks?"
"I said on some other nights!"
The both of them laughed.
But Soldier was stuck on "dance routine."
A phrase he typically only heard from his brother anymore, and he barely talked to him as is.
A phrase he'd never said himself in… so long.
An act he hasn't tried since they were still trapped Underground…
An act that, even back then, he'd sworn off doing after so many years of it.
It's like he'd been punched directly in the Soul. Possibly even with a knife.
"Well, are you ready to start, then?"
Soldier's attention peered back to the two humans.
"Yup, whenever you are!"
There was a brief period of silence.
Then the music started. He didn't recognize it at first…
But the realization that it was his own piece hit him in the face like a truck. Some sort of shivering heat rushed through his body. … embarrassment? ...maybe? He… wasn't sure.
But even still…
He soon became entranced by their dancing.
Only the human he had been following was dancing the routine. Every step timed perfectly to every beat and measure… so meticulously performed with such dedication. But then, some old part of him started to creep back from where it had been shoved away, as he started judging the technique of their every move. Sure, they had a… beautiful dedication to every step they took… but much of it was wrong. Though, they were not missteps. Everything planned was executed with confident perfection. The moves themselves were wrong. Some of them didn't match the tone of the piece at all, and it was clear that they were self-taught, just based on how they were moving in between each one. He wasn't mad, no… no, rather… he was utterly fascinated.
Soldier stood and watched the whole routine, start to finish. Though, he couldn't help but have a yelp from his own Soul every time they did something his own memory was screeching to be incorrect. It was yelping because… he wanted to correct them. He wanted to walk up to them, tell them what was wrong with their choices, and point them in the right direction. He wanted to… take them by the hand, directing their movements through his, teaching them how to dance the way he was taught. He… couldn't stop staring…
A scream. Soldier shortcut in a panic. He was now on the opposite side of the wooden fence, back in they alleyway.
"What, what is it?" The voice of the second human.
"I… I thought I saw someone." A breathy, horrified tone from the dancer. "I thought someone was watching me but… th-then I blinked and… they were gone."
The second human huffed angrily. "You haven't been getting proper sleep lately, have you? Maybe you should go home and rest."
Still breathing heavily, the dancer hummed a sound of malcontent. "I… Can I finish the routine first?"
"Really, now…" But with a sigh, the second human allowed them to start again from the beginning.
Meanwhile, Soldier…
He was doing his best not to scream on his own. So many emotions overwhelmed him entirely. Most of which he could not identify. But one thing would not stop looping in his mind. One thing other than a raging beat echoing in his skull from the sound of his own Soul racing, that was. In fact, that only heightened.
The thought of taking their hand. Teaching them to dance.
The overwhelming feeling of hearing someone else not just listening to his work… but expanding upon it. Being able to express themself through it. Being able to see themself through him.
The raging passion burning deep inside of him, regretting his forgone dancing career. It ate at his Soul, bit by bit. Begging his laziness to cave for them and them alone.
The fact that all of these thoughts happened in the very same millisecond that he made eye contact with them… he felt unexplainably and weirdly hot.
That eye contact. Their eyes, their face. They were almost as beautiful as the dances they performed… no… perhaps even more so.
Another loud beat echoed in his skull. The song was reaching its end. He knew he needed to start going home before he was caught.
But part of him wanted to be caught.
Part of him wanted to catch them.
… And all of him wanted to see them dancing… just one more time. Once more, that's all he asks.
Just one more time.
Maybe… maybe that will suffice.
Maybe that will drive away the fortissimo thoughts clouding his sense of reality. Maybe he'll be able to go back to…
A thought. A separate one, remembered from earlier this same evening.
"Alone."
He was… alone.
Did he really want to go down the same paths as…?
No, not really.
But it seemed his Soul was not giving him much other option. The mere thought of never being able to label himself as lonely… and if it was because of someone as beautiful as them…
Well. He already was a hypocrite, chanting against a society he partook in regularly. What other damage could be done by reaffirming what he already knew?
Besides. His Soul was desperate.
He wanted that dancer for his own.
No… no, this was most certainly a need.
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ouyangzizhensdad · 2 years
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(1/2) isn't it hypocritical of you to pick on cql fans for their purposeful misreading of canon (which some do, i'm not denying that at all) and then turn around and do that to someone who hasn't said anything critical of mdzs? that person was just listing the merits of each adaptation and you just tore into them as if them saying that cql has any merits at all is an insult to mdzs.
2/2 for example, you pick on the three bows thing, but that is novel canon too and cql shows multiple instances of people bowing in respect only twice, so it's not insanely far-fetched that the three bows are read as an acknowledgement of their marital status. anyway, you're perfectly free to see it as bows of respect, but there's little need to ridicule someone who says they see it differently and that they like cql because of it.
3/2 and i'm sorry if i'm taking too much of your time, i guess i'm a little upset because i've always seen you as a voice of reason in the fandom. to see you make multiple posts tearing down what is an uncontroversial statement (that canon and all adaptations have their own merits, and people shouldn't be judged for preferring one over the other) is a bit hurtful. you say you don't hate cql, but you certainly seem eager to shit on anyone who has anything nice to say about it? 
Hi anon,
I’m not sure I’d consider it hypocritical. I don’t think I’ve ever operated with the caveat that I should only be critical of the arguments of people who have been critical of the book in turn--I guess the baseline is that I am critical of all things I come across. I am not likewise sure I’ve “torn down” into that person or “ridiculed” them. I’ve quoted one part “all adaptations are equally good” and said (yes, as per usual, in a bitter and pretentious tone): “at least take the subjective route of equally enjoyable”. I don’t see how that’s being extremely mean about cql: my view was more that it irks me, for a lack of a better word, that people truly just push aside all the very real issues at a technical level (aside from anything that has to do with the writing or creative choices) that prevents cql, imo, to be considered comparable to other adaptations like the audio drama or the donghua even if it is not my particular cup of tea--but that this does not mean I said that c/ql cannot be enjoyable. I guess I have my issues with people generally being unable to distinguish with a well-made piece of fiction versus one they enjoyed. And that I am still a little bit flabbergasted that it remains a controversial statement to explain that c/ql, despite trying very hard, has many issues that directly impact it’s ability to stand as a well-made tv series.
Then, I think a few days later, I showed the arguments being leveraged by that same person to argue c/ql was just as good or what it ‘brought’ to the table that the other adaptations didn’t (partly because they were representative of many others I had encounter) and ‘responded’ to them one by one underlining how I was left unconvinced by them. I mentioned how one argument in favour (it includes more emotional scenes of wwx crying and being angry) could be read as a failure of the adaptation to stay true to the characterisation of the main character, who is textually said to rarely cry or get angry. I questioned whether it was such a “win” for c/ql to include more scenes of wq and jyl considering how we can infer why this change too place, and how it focuses on a quantitative reading--it’s less a ‘the book handled female characters sooooo much better’ argument than a a ‘we’re really going to give kudos to a tv series because we saw the female characters more often, regardless of how this impacts their characterisation, agency and impact on the story on a narrative and thematic level or why this change likely was made?’.
Then, the three bows thing. I won’t pretend to be an expert here, but my understanding which has come from discussion with Chinese or chinese-diasporic people, is that the third bow must be to one another (bow to the heaven and earth 一拜天地, to the parents 二拜高堂, then to each other 夫妻对拜). We can consider the three bows a wink-wink from the production team because that was the best they could do in the circumstances, maybe. But can we say that these can really be read as an “acknowledgement of their marital status”? It’s different from the novel because wwx talks about reserving that third bow to one another for later. This relates as well to the way fandom have sort of exaggerated aspects of CQL due to misunderstanding certain cultural or linguistic aspects of it, as we have with people being convinced zhiji must always be a grand romantic declaration. Is it a crime to choose to interpret/headcanon these things that way? Of course not. But does it make for good arguments to argue c/ql brought something special to the table that the other works didn’t? I don’t think so.
Overall, I won’t pretend I don’t have a very bitter and pretentious way of phrasing things but I do wonder if that’s where I consider it gets into ‘ridiculing’ territory--I didn’t call them names or anything, I just responded to their points. But the truth is, as you might think that I am targeting that person, whoever they are, for ‘liking c/ql,’ that’s just how I am in general, about all things: I am critical of any arguments I hear and I have no filter. I’m actually trying to be courteous by keeping my responses to my blog, not reblogging from their posts, cutting off the person’s profile picture or name, etc. because in any case more often than not they simply represent to me an illustrative example. Hell, I even get to re-read how I worded things which makes them come out way better than in real life.
You can of course consider that I was out of line! Perhaps it is the pitfall of considering a person a certain thing. Even if you think of someone a “voice of reason” you might also consider that some of the stuff they do or say is a little bit unreasonable. We all draw lines differently. Just because you generally agree with someone does not mean some of the stuff they say or do won’t make you shake your head in disapproval. And if you dislike these posts of mine but still want to stay for the rest, you can blocklist “brine corner”. Unfortunately, although many have tried to change this, I am an incurable critic who is terminally and brutally honest.
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