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angelasscribbles · 2 years

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Who Said Anything About Divorce (A Bad Romance AU)

Series: What If

Original Series: Bad Romance

More: Bad Romance One-Shots

Fandom: The Royal Romance

Pairings for chapter: Riley x Liam (mostly)

Rating: NSFW 🍋🍋🍋

Warnings for this chapter: Lemons

Word Count: 2,475

A/N: @dcbbw asked WHAT IF Bad Romance Liam divorced Riley. I said I don't know if they would ever actually stay apart forever. We talked about it and what follows is what came out.

A/N2: In this version, Liam never offered to tear up the marriage contract (so Riley never agreed to marry him of her own free will), Drake is far more confident about his place in her life (see the Rewrite of Repercussions.) These things combined would leave Liam the one feeling less than confident about his place in her life and continue the toxic dynamic between them that we saw in chapter one of Bad Romance.

My other stuff: Master List.

“God damn it, Riley! The terms of the contract are clear! You will be in my bed tonight!”

“Oh, well, we’ll see about that!”

“What does that even mean?” Liam was beyond frustrated. While Riley generally complied with the terms of the amended contract, there was very little he could do about it when she didn’t.

Noncompliance was grounds to terminate the contract, something he wasn’t prepared to do. Not yet anyway. But all she did was push.

“I have been in our rooms five out the last six nights, Liam!” She stomped her foot. He bit down his lip. He still found her anger arousing.

“The contract clearly says six nights a week, Riley and you weren’t here Monday night.”

“Because I wasn’t home! I was in Portavira dealing with shit and you know it!”

It was a point of contention between them and not for the first time. The contract stated that they would sleep in the same room six nights out of every week anytime they were both under the same roof. The problem arose when she was absent for one or more days out of that week.

Riley insisted she should still be allowed one night per week while she was home to spend the night elsewhere. Elsewhere meaning Drake’s room. Liam was insistent that her nights away from home counted as her night away and the balance should be spent in their shared quarters. Drake had been with her in Portavira, he’d already spent a night with her. This was just her trying to exploit a loophole so she could spend more time with Drake.

Fucking Drake. She already spent almost every day with him. All day, every day, he was there, by her side. As head of her security detail. A valid, socially acceptable reason for him to be there. It rankled. Liam had tried to talk Riley out of making him head of the queen’s guard, but of fucking course she hadn’t listened.

She’d tricked him in the negotiations. He had stalled at the provision allowing her to have full control over her own staff, but even in their argument, she’d never mentioned Drake’s name and he hadn’t seen it coming.

“I have control over my own staff.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, if I want to hire Maxwell Beaumont as an advisor, I can. You won’t interfere with decisions that pertain to my personal staff.”

“Riley,” his voice was tight, “You ask too much, you go too far.”

“Agree to all of it and I’ll pick a wedding date.”

She’d known that was one of his biggest sticking points. She’d also known that throwing out the offer of a wedding date would break his resolve. Because as much as he had hated the idea of Max having twenty-four seven access to her, he’d never seen Max as a real threat and was willing to tolerate it in exchange for getting an actual date locked in. So, he had crumbled, like she’d known he would.

She had known damn good and well that if he’d had an inkling about her plans for Drake, he would have never agreed to that stipulation. And the only reason he hadn’t thought it through was that he’d been distracted worrying about the wrong man. She’d done it on purpose, he knew it. She’d thrown Max out there to argue about as a brilliant bit of misdirection.

That was the thing about her. She was ingenious and devious and trying to stay a step ahead of her was almost impossible. It frustrated and annoyed him. It aggravated and enraged him. But it also challenged and excited him in a way that he was sure he shouldn’t like, but he did. It certainly kept life interesting.

A frustrated whine escaped his lips as he pulled his suit jacket on, “I have to go, I have a council meeting in ten minutes. You will be in this room tonight when I get back, or there will be consequences.”

“Ohhh, consequences!” She mocked him.

He clamped his lips together and ignored her.

That evening….

Liam returned to an empty room. He had the palace searched, but she wasn’t in it.

Fifty two miles away, Riley's phone lit up.

He stared at his phone in disbelief.

Fuck this. He was done. This was too much, too far. Did she not realize that he had other options? He could be with literally any woman he wanted.

He only wanted her.

He could divorce her ass and replace her, in a heartbeat. Women would be lining up to take her place.

No one else belonged by his side.

He squeezed his eyes shut against the tears that pooled in the corners. Tears borne of anger and frustration, not sadness. He was angry, he was furious, he would show her what she was missing.

A week later…..

Liam sat reading the afternoon news with glee.

“King Liam escorted socialite Jasmine Dior to the Green Apple Gala. The queen hasn’t been at the palace in a week. Is there trouble in paradise?”

He vibrated with satisfaction as his phone notification dinged.

In the living room at Valtoria, Riley had just smashed a vase and ran all the servants out. She furiously typed into her phone.

All of his good mood had evaporated. She stopped responding to his texts and wouldn’t answer his calls. Fuck. Perhaps Jasmine had been a miscalculation. What the hell was she going to do?

Five days later….

“Your Majesty, is everything ok?” The maid looked terrified.

The king looked up with a glower, “I said get out!”

The woman yelped and ducked as a heavy leaded crystal tumbler whizzed past her head. She ran out of the room. He was in a mood. She warned the rest of the staff to steer clear.

He scrolled angrily through his phone. The headlines were bad enough.

“Queen steps out with young viscount, eight years her junior!”

“Queen spotted out in public with one of Cordonia’s hottest young bachelors.”

“Is Queen Riley smitten with the viscount of Dramerly?”

“Queen Riley was spotted on the arm of Viscount Blake Remington for the third night in a row!”

But the pictures were worse. There far too many of them, they were far too close in most of them. The young viscount looked far too enamored of his wife in all of them.

Weren’t Max and Drake and Rashad enough for her? No, she was punishing him for Jasmine, and he should have seen it coming.

“Fuck! Goddamn it!” He sent everything from the desk tumbling to the floor.

He pulled out his phone and started texting.

Well, fuck. While he was letting her jerk him around over fucking Blake Remington, Drake was solidifying his place by her side. It was the marriage contract negotiations all over again. She had him tied up in knots worrying about the wrong man. Again.

He knew what he had to do.

Two days later….

Drake opened the door at Valtoria to find Liam standing there, hands clasped in front of him, his best diplomatic smile pasted on his face. Drake’s eyes went behind Liam to Bastien, struggling with far more suitcases than one man could possibly carry. His eyes narrowed in suspicion, “What are you doing here?”

“Joining my wife, what does it look like?” Liam pushed past Drake and into the entry hall, “Where is she?”

“I’m not sure she wants to see you.”

“I’m not interested in your opinion, Drake.”

“It’s not an opinion, it’s-“

“Liam!” Max squealed as he threw himself into the king’s arms.

“Max.” Liam felt some of his annoyance leave him as he returned his lover’s embrace. “Where is she?”

“Oh! Come on, I’ll take you!” Max grabbed Liam’s hand and drug him through the estate leaving Drake standing in the entryway shaking his head.

Max ushered Liam into Riley’s study. She looked up from her desk and an expression of victory mingled with a savage satisfaction flashed through her eyes as she regarded him. He noted the slight dimpling at the corners of her mouth that gave away the smile she was repressing, and vindication spooled through him. He had been right. Blake Remington had been a ploy, a strategy to compel him to her side. She wanted a reaction out of him. She liked it when he got jealous and possessive, when he had to remind her of who she belonged to.

“Get out, Max.” Liam didn’t bother to look behind him as he stalked toward the desk, loosening his tie.

“I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but-“

“Shut up.” He said it calmly, quietly, but there was nothing calm about the storm raging in his eyes as he bent, grasped her by the arm and pulled her unceremoniously from her chair.

She tipped her head back with a defiant smirk, “What are you going to do about it if I don’t?”

Without releasing her arm, he spun so that they traded positions. He sat in the chair she had just vacated and pulled her down so that she was laying across his lap. He shoved her short skit up and yanked her panties down, ripping them from her body.

“This.” He told her as he brought his hand down to smack the bare skin of her voluptuous bottom. His erection sprang to life as the thwack reverberated throughout the room and his palm made contact with the smooth, silky skin of her plump, rounded ass.

An outraged yelp issued out of her as a satisfying red blotch spread across her cheeks. He delivered several more quick smacks, her squirming and wriggling only serving to push his desire higher as her body rubbed against him.

He stood abruptly, his arms pulling her up the only thing stopping her from toppling to the floor as she slid out of his lap.

She whirled on him in fury, delivering a resounding slap to his face. The sharp sting of her palm on his cheek sent white hot desire shooting through him.

Her fists began pummeling his chest. Her face was red, she cursed him soundly. He felt his desire coil even tighter. Her anger still ignited a rapacious hunger in him. Two weeks of absence stoked his need even higher.

He reached for her and jerked her body forward, crashing his lips into hers. She stiffened, the blows raining down on him stopped. He pressed himself closer and she melted into him. The tension left her body, her lips parted allowing his tongue access. A hand tangled in his hair as a leg looped around his waist.

His hands traveled across her body, fingers pressing into her ass, palms squeezing her breasts, fingers pinching at her nipples. His mouth followed suit, tongue and lips caressing her, gliding over her jaw, her neck, her chest.

He pulled the clothes from her body without regard for the delicate material. Let it rip. He didn’t care.

When she was naked, he spun her around and bent her over the desk. He unzipped his pants and stroked himself with one hand while the other gathered a handful of her hair. He leaned over, his torso pressing against her back and put his mouth to her ear, “Say please.”

“Fuck you!” She spat at him, but she made no effort to move out from under him.

He tightened his grip on her hair as he teased her entrance, running the tip around the outside of it. “You have to say it.”

One hand curled into a fist and pounded the top of the desk as she pushed herself up toward him with a frustrated whine.

He pulled back.

“Goddamn it! Just fucking do it!” She demanded. “Please!”

That was all it took. He slammed himself into her and set a brutal pace. His fingers slipped between her legs to circle her clit. She couldn’t decide between pressing herself into his hand or pushing herself back to deepen his thrusts.

His fingers twirled and danced at her core until she exploded, hot liquid squirting out and covering his dick.

“Jesus, Riley, fuck!” He followed right behind her. He shoved himself into her as deep as he could go as he erupted inside her, wave after wave of pleasure cresting through him.

As he pulled out and stepped away, she turned and sat up to yell at him, “This doesn’t change a goddamned thing!”

Liam smiled at her as he adjusted things and pulled his zipper up, “Tell yourself whatever you want my queen, you’re mine and we both fucking know it.”

The next few days followed a predictable pattern. She raged at him, she ignored him, she provoked him, she let him throw her up against the wall or over a desk and fuck the attitude out of her.

The staff scattered whenever they were in the same room together, not wanting to be caught in the crossfire of their explosive fights.

Max tried to play peacemaker and Drake made snarky comments to throw fuel on the fire.

Finally, even Drake had enough. It wasn’t amusing anymore; it was annoying and disruptive and stupid. “Jesus fucking Christ! Why don’t you two just get the divorce already?”

Liam and Riley froze. Both heads turned to stare at him then back to stare at each other.

“Who said anything about divorce?” Riley asked.

“Yeah, what are you talking about, man?” Liam shot him an annoyed look.

Drake’s head swung back and forth between them, “What am I talking about? The two of you at each other’s throats! All you’ve done since you got here is fucking fight!”

“What’s your point?” Liam asked him disdainfully.

“Both of you have been running around with other people in public, the press is having a fucking field day! You’re destroying your public imagine and for what? You’re not required to stay married. Just get the fucking divorce already!”

“We’re not getting divorced,” Liam scoffed, “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Well, that’s not entirely up to you, is it?” Drake rocked back on his heels, hands shoved in his pockets, victory positively radiating off him, “If she wants to be together and work this shit out, what the hell are we all doing here? Riley should be at the palace, but she’s not, is she?”

Riley and Liam locked gazes again. For the space of three heartbeats, no one moved, no one spoke.

“I’ll have the car brought around.” Liam said.

“I’ll go pack my stuff.” She replied.

They both turned to leave the room, Riley heading upstairs to pack, Liam heading out to the front hallway to locate Bastien and have the car brought around.

Drake’s mouth fell open, “But-“

Liam slapped him on the back of the shoulders on his way out, “Thanks, buddy!”

~~~~~~~~~~~

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charmixpower · 2 years

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Stealing royal titles bc I'm annoying, but keeping everyone famous and from politically important families

I will readily admit this is just because of my dislike for stories about royalty lol, and I have "no royalty" au for just about every fandom I'm in so this is customary

Anyways, here are the ideas:

Sky is still a prince but like Eraklyon crumbles in s3 so not for long— also, Eraklyon fucking sucks so it doesn't put monarchies in a good light lol

Bloom 1: Bloom is technically still a princess but the monarchy is dissolved when Domino is brought into the modern era, so it's an in name only thing and then not

Bloom 2: same thing as in the evil parents Bloom post, Viva all revolution, Bloom is once again in name only and then not

Roxy is a "princess" but that's a political title one is elected into as the next leader, Roxy is the youngest one ever, and Roxy was chosen because she's the only earth fairy thats been off planet and she's gonna be representing them to the rest of the dimension so they made the decision. Roxy is pretty annoyed about this

Stella 1: Radius is like?? You know how the supreme court is a life time position?? Radius is like that. His role is to basically keep Solaria as his highest priority, and this is done by connecting his life force to the second sun (which is one of the few things I remember that's gonna happen) this is obviously a life long position and a very high ranking political position. He's role is like Permanent advisor (Solaria's leader can change but he will never go). Btw this doesn't make his and Luna's divorce less of a media circus. I imagine Radius and Luna are some of the messiest bitches and Stella was dragged in the middle of their public fighting. Everything is still on fire with that divorce

Stella 2: Constructional monarchy, they're only there for symbolic reasons and only have very minor power and their biggest role politically is in ceremony

Stella addendum: Luna is probably a famous actress or something in that vein

Aisha 1: Aisha's are very visible and high ranking politicians that constantly have the public and other politicians watching them bc of Andro's strength. Especially by still powerful but starting to lose stability Eraylon. Aisha is still expected to be extremely prim and proper so she doesn't make her parents look bad. This also gives Aisha the space to pick up hobbies like rock climbing and learning how to drive a wind rider. I can't see ultra conservative royals letting their child pick up a hobby that could get her injured, but Aisha would be under less strict rules/watched less so she'd probably be allowed to do these things because they wouldn't make a huge positive or negative impression on them. Also Aisha disappearing and not wanting to follow in the parents foots steps is less a huge political problem for Andros

Aisha 2: King&Queen is a semi ambassador semi representative, political role thats mainly about land Andros and Sea Andros treating eachother as equals and has bother and sisters despite their differences.

Aisha 3: Aisha's family is a constitutional monarchy and holds a symbolic role as Sea Andro's monarchy's direct family, with the same goal of equality and connection between sea and land Andros

Diaspro: I can't see a reason that Sky and Dia would be getting married unless she was also a princess, so she's probably a still princess :// damn you unmovable plot points. Whatever it's still connected to the Eraklyon plot line so I can shove it full of political drama

Krystal is just a politician's/high ranking specialist's/witch/faires kid. I'm partial to specialist bc then she and Helia would be living at the same base and that's how they're childhood friends (that and they liked to prank military wives). I can't imagine Linphea having a monarchy at any point in time, it's all representative

Zenith doesn't have a monarchy. It had one at one point, bc the idea of someone being swallowed up by the sea because they had no compassion is cool, but they've done away with it

Melody might still have a monarchy? Or maybe just a v rich noble/political class that Galatea is apart of

#rus chatters #They either must go or I will fill them to the brim with political drama and make them a fucking nightmare for everyone /j /lh #and i like the girlies too much to do that to them. fuck Samara and Erendor tho

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btsdreamcourt · 2 years

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Tuesday, October 11, 2022 ⥈ Fic Review #2

Dearest Readers,

We are delighted to share BTS Dream Court’s Fic Review from the month of September! Each month, we highlight an Esteemed Member of our Ton and a piece from their personal library. This past month, we are proud to share that Viscountess Cath @magicshopaholic has received this honor.

TITLE: Next Time

PAIRING: Namjoon x OC

SUMMARY: “It’s a quiet night in, and neither of you are in the mood for talking.”

Read Here

What our Queens and Court Officials have to say about this fic:

❝ Normally, x OC fics are not my first choice, but I'm so glad that I came across Next Time. It was really well written, not to mention hot, and I quite enjoyed Kaya's point of view on everything. Her attitude and demeanor really came through in this fic and I adore her personality. My heart ached knowing that she and Joon were going to be apart again so soon and I could feel their dread. 10/10 fic, and I can't wait to catch up on the others! �� - Queen Valerie

❝ Next Time was really good!! Even though I was in my feels I still enjoyed it. I love when characters are adorn with a big personality and Kaya had such a strong impact on me. The spice was just right and the ending... ‘Like I said: we have all night,’ my knees were weak!! Amazing story! Thank you for sharing. ❞ - Queen Dee Dee

What was your inspiration for Fic Title Here?

So I have storylines for all members, and this was probably the sixth or seventh fic in Namjoon’s. He and his OC are in a long distance relationship and this particular fic is set on one of the nights before she has to go back home. I wanted to write specifically about that feeling of dread that you know is coming, that’s expected but isn’t made any easier with time, and the lengths people will go to to avoid feeling all of that, distracting themselves with other emotions.

Which of the characters do you relate to the most in Fic Title Here and why? Which was the most fun/difficult to write?

Kaya/the OC is probably the OC I relate to the most in my universe. She’s academically driven and hardworking and kind of scatterbrained, but she’s really good for Namjoon, in that he’s finally able to let his guard down around her. In particular, I relate to her because we both left home for college and stayed out, live alone, are borderline workaholics but don’t mind that either. She’s usually the most fun character to write that way, because I can explore choices and experiences vicariously through her - in some cases, not all - mostly because we’re the same age and have so many of the same values and experiences.

How long have you been writing? What made you decide to write?

I’ve been writing for approximately fifteen years, ever since my cousin sister introduced me to fanfiction back in middle school. I’ve written for tons of fandoms, but the one that’s stayed with me the longest has been Harry Potter, from cringe romance to more grown up war fics. I have an extremely vivid imagination and I can spend hours daydreaming so the best outlet for me is to pen it down, regardless of whether I choose to publish. I also love going back and re-reading it, if for no other reason than to catch glimpses of what I was doing back then or how my writing has improved.

What are your favorite tropes, genres, AUs, etc. to read and write?

Within the BTS fandom, I’ll honestly read anything as long as it’s written well. Darkfic/yandere/mafia/hybrid isn’t really my cup of tea, but I particularly love soulmate AUs, idol AUs and - this is a weird sub-genre - almost divorced couple AUs (delicious angst). I also love certain crack fics, because humour and banter is something I love to read and write.

When it comes to writing, I strictly stay within canon, no matter the fandom. If I’m writing about real people, then canon implies whatever we know publicly about them, along with minor changes maybe - which is why all my fics are idol fics. I also love writing movie/TV show AUs, where I get to flit between the characters’ canon and the show’s canon, which is fun.

How do you overcome writers block?

Power through. That’s literally it. I don’t like having unfinished WIPs, so if I’m working on a fic where I’m stuck, I have this need to finish it before moving on. If I’m stuck on a certain scene, I just close that scene as quickly as possible and start writing the one I really want, and work on the transition later. Sometimes I watch a movie or a show with a similar theme for inspiration too.

What is the most difficult part of your writing process?

Given that I have set storylines for all members, I know where all their stories are headed. I also have certain key events outlined, but there are fics I need to insert to add context and stuff, so thinking about those situations and fleshing it out is a bit of a challenge.

When Cath isn’t writing, you can often find her working, reading, or chasing her labrador around the house while he steals her stuff. Cath is a manager at an investment bank, working in process transformation and change management. When Cath is craving something good to eat, she chooses Chinese takeout or garlic bread. Cath is very thankful for the network of writers she's met.

BDC is proud to have Cath as a member of our Court and cannot wait to see what she shares next!

#fic review

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letstrywritingmaybe · 5 months

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Starting to think me being productive is the reason for my sports woes, so maybe I should stop writing. Meanwhile I finally wrote snow on the beach for midnights. I’m gonna chill for real though and read my books I got from the library that I haven’t touched yet

Update: I know I said no writing. But I just have to note googling lawyer from reading through emails to make sure they’re not divorce lawyers as an idea. Group chat convos that are not fandom related can also lead to great inspo

Update 2: still very much stuck on this ship and got no reading done. It hasn’t even been a full day. Good news is I wrapped all of my Christmas presents! And I have no desire to write so I guess I’m still going strong on the no more writing and see if that ends my sports woes. Will still be doing my regular updates though. And while I’m here, I reread my green card au today and it’s so self indulgent, I’m so happy I wrote it. I was kinda stressed while writing it and I wasn’t super happy with the ending at first, but when I went to reread it today I was like you know what? This reads like a shitty drama, and I’m okay with that. I mean I used to watch terrible dramas all the time, and I liked some of them. They can’t compare to the really good ones, but they have their moments. So yeah. I’m glad I wrote it and included American references cause it’s what I know

Update 3: I know I have no business saying shit cause I’ve written it before, but idk if I could see them cheating tbh. At least not in canon, which kinda gave me an idea that’s semi similar to a fic I read before… but I digress cause I’m still on my own writers strike. I think I’ve been ruined by the summer series and the vampire diaries, I’m really not fond of brothers fighting for the same person. Even if that person is my queen, it’s just so messy! So awkward too once you get past the initial stuff that people find intriguing about love triangles. Best case scenario in my eyes will always be the person they fight over doesn’t choose either and the brothers are cool again. But that never happens. I’m very family oriented so it just makes me sad to think that it fucks everything up. I know I’ve written about messy ship drama, but I don’t think I’m fond of reading it. Even when I’m writing it myself I’m kinda just like why is this happening? I don’t enjoy the process, but sometimes the story calls for it. Cause my fics write themselves and have a mind of their own. Idk I would just rather it be a non family member fighting for my queen. Plus in the context of shinshi versus CoShi, shinshi wins every time for me. I like when they both take the antidote or they both stay as their shrunken forms. I like when they’re equals. It’s literally the reason why I’ve never written a ShinAi fic despite it being popular. I hate the idea of it. I’m such a hater of the canon ship that I hate them even getting a shot for like ten years while my queen doesn’t get to move on. That’s so unfair. I would much rather she get to date and try and fall in love with other people too, instead of just waiting for him to turn around and realize he loves her. *sigh I just read some fics and I’m having mixed feelings, so I’m venting here cause I’m not an asshole who says mean shit in comments. Easiest way to get on my shit list is to hide behind screens and spread hatred, we get enough of that irl

Update 4: I was onto something about not writing to end my sports woes! My pens won!!! And we scored TWO Power Play Goals!!!! And a shortie!!! And it was big Jeff Carter!??!!?? Alright, I guess I should never write again. But to celebrate I will probably post the last chapter of devour so I can wrap up another wip

#cynful babbles #I also finally got my hands on a Sherlock Holmes book and am currently halfway through it #so that’s been cool I guess. tbh I don’t get shinichi’s fascination so far #I’m more of a Poirot fan myself but I haven’t read all the books/series so I shouldn’t count Holmes out yet #also got another poirot book to read too and I’m excited about that

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born-to-lose · 3 years

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I'm so glad I don't have Twitter

#for me the whole fandom life is on tumblr #in my small circle with all the nice fans #i had twitter for two weeks in 2017. never again.#like sure there are asshole stans on tumblr too but oh my god twitter is a fucking hellfire #this is why i love the ramones johnny thunders stiv bators etc fandoms bc there's only a bunch of us and it's super chill #it's always sad to see good people leave bc of toxic stans #also one of the reasons i divorced from queen and the all the other fandoms before bc holy shit #just my luck that i got into gnr at the height of the fandom war #insta isn't much better either but i just follow fan accounts to look at photos of my babies #let's start a group that's like 'chill people only. no drama. just simping and liking the music'#sorry this kinda became a rant post #niche bands my beloved #mel talks #ok to rb btw no worries fam

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deafchild2000 · 2 years

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I'm particularly attached to these fanarts of Drizella & you can't tell me a fanfic story behind these isn't possible! (All credit goes to @WindOfForever on Twitter and Instagram!)

Mirror Realm. Plain and Simple. Or more appropriately, The World Behind The Mirror. As seen in OUAT 7x08, this world is where Sydney Glass/Magic Mirror lived while serving the Regina during her Evil Queen days. The potential story behind this fanart is more than possible because it likely also exists in the New Enchanted Forest.

And for Drizella to end up here? For numerous reasons. An AU where Drizella stuck around after the curse broke and is placed here by Wish!Rumple as a hostage? Maybe a new Big Bad appears shortly after Drizella and Anastasia leave and Ana had to use magic to save her? Or judging by the silhouette of Rapunzel, maybe her mother put her there as a means to control her. Or it could be a metaphor for the Old Drizella hiding behind a facade wanting to break free.

Anything is possible!

Alright, I'm a Stepbeliever shipper and I don't deny it! And this is fanart here is another potential we never come - or the fandom has scared others into not writing as much as they should! Loving the use of Mary from Reign aside, this also has a myriad of story potential behind it.

What if Henry met Drizella first? What if Henry fell for Ivy if she joined the Resistance? What if Drizella broke away from Rapunzel and ran off, only to end up crash landing into Henry's life - as her stepsister did in canon? What if Drizella became a false "Ella" and Henry mistook her for the real Cinderella and fell in love with her?

Anything can happen when the least redeemable stepsister meets the one who can change her life!

(First off, I have nothing racist against Ella/Jacinda - and I heavily EMPHASIS this as a POC myself! In all actually, I liked her character - or at least found her more tolerable than her daughter, Lucy! See, the thing that has me rooting for Henry and Drizella has nothing to do with race but a majority more towards chemistry! And I'm sorry, but the scene that hit the nail on the head for me was the famous Bench Scene. And taking into context that Drizella was awake in that scene, everything she said was still likely true - no deception. Same story, different world. I saw more chemistry and emotions between Henry and The Evil Stepsister more than I saw with Cinderella. It was only towards the second half that I could actually see why Henry and Ella worked! (Which is sloppy writing btw!) But because it took so long for me to see that - or rather the writers to put it in - is why GlassBeliever still isn't for me. At most, in a realistic perspective, GlassBeliever would look more like an amicable divorce with co-parenting than what Isaw with StepBeliever - which fits everything Henry was looking for in a fairytale love with a more grownup perspective! )

#drizella tremaine #jacinda vidrio #rapunzel tremaine #ella tremaine #henry mills #ella mills #ivy belfrey #fanart #GlassBeliever #Stepbeliever #Henry x Ella #Henvy #once upon a time au #once upon a time #once upon a time fanart #Lucy mills #anti Lucy Mills #once upon a time season 7 #Henry x Drizella

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hologramcowboy · 2 years

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I just have to vent this out for a minute. Can I tell you how freaking tired I am of AA's? I like Jensen and I support him but they are a pack of feral and rabid dogs almost if you say one tiny thing if you disagree with Jensen at all.

Like, if you don't agree with how he parted his hair one day, suddenly you're a Jensen hater and should be destroyed on the spot. If you don't want to watch the prequel for your own reasons, then you're committing the ultimate sin against Jensen, and by extension, his wife. If you didn't agree with his take on the finale, either one, how dare you? If you don't want Jensen to win an Emmy for his role on The Boys, then there's something seriously wrong with you. Oh, and if you say one thing and have a picture of Jensen on your blog or have him mentioned in your header, God help you. You're not a real fan of Jensen and how dare you parade yourself as a Jensen blog when you're really a secret Jared supporter? The list goes on and on and on. These people are a freaking cult!

They attack in packs and are the most toxic and hateful portion of this fandom. They're narcissistic and full-on bullies. And what gets me is that you wouldn't expect that type of negative and harassing behavior from self-professed fans of his. These same people that treat Danneel like a goddess of perfection simply for being married to the man. These same people that have no issue sharing pictures of their kids. I know J/D share them publicly but these Ackles' Army aka Nutty Nancy's take it to an extreme. If I knew Jensen personally or his family, I would seriously be concerned for his safety and theirs because these people are not well. What happens when their flawless god Heaven forbid makes a mistake? Sure, they'll attack whoever calls him out or makes excuses for him but what happens when they can't deny it or they finally wake up from their ongoing fantasies and realize the guy is human? Or if he gets divorced, would they turn on Danneel and attack her, too? What if his aunt says something less than complimentary about him publicly or his kids when they get older? Are they going to launch an attack on them as well?

It's because of their nasty behavior that I even started checking out anti blogs in the first place. Just to find a safe place to be able to question the troubling things that my fave may say or do. Not to hate on him or rip him apart, but to say 'Am I imagining things? Oh, you saw that, too, right?' The few good ones like yours actually care about Jensen but have your (valid) reasons as to why you don't like Danneel or don't support Jenneel or critique some things about what Jensen has been doing and saying lately. And not all personal, sometimes they're industry related, like the prequel or Jensen's brand issues. There's nothing wrong with expressing your opinion respectfully. You can question why Jensen looks so miserably tired lately or why the prequel seems to be a mess or what prank Jensen pulled on the Walker set. You can disagree with what he said on the podcast or critique his talk show appearances. You can cringe at the FBBC interviews or the AD tour video. There is NOTHING wrong with any of it. But AA's act as if you should be sent to the 7th level of Hell if you do this.

Almost every day recently I see your blog or one of the others getting hate from this group. They literally stalk your blogs to see what "hateful" thing you'll say about Jensen and Danneel next. So they not only police the Jensen tag on this site but also the anti tags and posts. That's lunatic behavior. And what drama queens.

I don't care for Jared but even I'm tired of hearing their bs when it comes to him. Why is he always the go to when defending their idol? What does Jared have to do with anything other than the prequel drama, SPN, and the episode of Walker that Jensen just directed? Other than the cons they do? I'm so tired of them throwing Jared and Genevieve into it when it has nothing to do with any of it and I am not a fan of these people at all lol.

And this is no shade on Jensen at all. I genuinely feel bad for the guy, to have a lunatic stanbase doing these atrocious things in his name. He deserves better.

I'm just over their bullshit and I despise seeing you and other blogs get this hate from this cult, no matter what type of blog it is. I just had to vent this out. Thank you for giving us a safe space to express our thoughts and feelings, no matter how "sinful" they might be. 😜

You managed to put into words what most of us are feeling, Anon. Thank you for that. Fully agree with you, cult-like 'factions' of fandom need to chill. I too feel bad for Jensen, it must be psychologically draining to have awareness of such "fans". I despise seeing people get hate too, especially when people don't even take the time to find out where they are coming from. Most Hellers and AAs twist things in sick ways and they propagate toxic ways of thinking it seems, so it's very important to draw healthy boundaries. I'm so happy there are people like you who understand that freedom of thought and expression is critical. Fandom should be fun and freeing not draining and stressful. Thank you for bravely sharing your perspective and for your heartwarming kindness. 🥰🥰🥰

#anti AAs #anti hellers #anti hate #love my anons

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dragimal · 2 years

Text

Centaurworld s2 rewrite

though mostly a re-organize, because the biggest problem was the pacing

ep 1:

Rider meets with the elusive General, who she fucking obviously already knows. she introduces him to the idea of Centaurs, and specifically Water Baby. the General has an odd reaction-- disturbed? could easily be passed off as reacting to a completely alien species, on a first watch. Water Baby pitches her recon mission, and General agrees.

montage of Horse’s crew visiting previous ‘Taur groups, but they’re refusing to help for various reasons: the forest critters don’t believe them, the Whale Shaman doesn’t want to upset the delicate emotional states of the Merfolk that she only just released from her belly, the Cattaurs want compensation and/or entertainment, and the Moletaurs generally don’t care about anybody anyways, etc. Horse tries to emphasize the dangers ahead, and what the Minotaurs can do, but no one is really grasping that war is coming. Durpleton and Glendale off-hand mention how much it would suck if the war came and they couldn’t have anymore hootenannies-- this snowballs into the ‘Taur groups wanting to go to a hootenanny. Horse sees that this may work to ease them into the war, and she tells them all to go to meet at the shrine. Horse starts to feel vaguely useless, and Wamma notices but doesn’t yet comment.

we see Princess secretly following behind the group.

ep 2:

Rider wants to fight/train but needs a horse, so General introduces her to Becky. Rider thinks about how much she misses Horse, and commits to working as hard as possible so they can reunite quickly. Water Baby attempts her secret mission, and it’s the same as the original-- she finds the mutation pit and gets captured.

Horse says they need weapons, but they don’t have enough time to craft any from scratch. Ched mentions that Horsetaurs have weapons, so they go ask Horsetaurs for help. mostly the same as the original, but the queen is... less. just less. Ched ends up convincing the Horsetaurs to help by claiming that the war will destroy their wealth and tulips if not. he dips into a strangely proper way of speaking while lecturing the Horsetaurs, and everyone is confused by his knowledge, but he refuses to elaborate. Horse feels even more useless, asking herself why she’s even here to help when she could be with Rider. Wamma cringes at this comment and gently tells Horse that she is useful, and everyone (esp Wamma) WANTS her to be here. Horse just blows her off.

ep 3:

Water Baby sends her SOS message through Doug, same as original. Rider receives it and tells General, but he can’t spare any troops to help. mostly the same as original-- Rider insists that she can help on her own, the General warns her not to go, but Rider goes with Becky anyways. no forest rebels(???), their bit just ends on Rider and Becky leaving.

I’m... begrudgingly willing to let the Birdtaur fandom stay. Centaurworld is already meta and silly, so I’ll allow it. but it needs to be completely reworked to reflect the actual fandom-- no more Wamma hate, no more Doug love, etc. some reference to “divorced couple Zulius/Splendib” would be funny. also nix the fucking embryo twitter birds, that was just disturbing and gross!!! I’m not a fan of Crandy either-- I KNOW influencers are an unfortunate truth of modern fandom, but god I don’t want to be reminded of them. also the Birdtaurs should just outright say that they’ve been secretly watching from the skies instead of watching the “show”(??? what??). it would be funny if there was a brief montage of s1 scenes, but Birdtaurs have been retroactively pasted up in trees or behind clouds.

anyways, Horse mentions that they need more reinforcements while they’re walking back to the shrine, but she keeps getting distracted by what she thinks are spies following them. she confronts someone in a tree, and... it’s a Birdtaur. the Birdtaur says they’ll explain more, and whistle for other Birdtaurs to kidnap the group and fly off. once up in the clouds, the Birdtaurs reveal that they’re fans, and they’ve been recording the group’s exploits for months. they keep asking the group invasive questions, like what they were thinking during various traumatic events, and their potentially sad backstories. Horse gets fed up with people treating her life, struggles, and especially her relationship with Rider like a fun game. she’s ready to just leave without even recruiting them, but Zulius convinces her to stay. part of it is that he likes the attention, but he also thinks he can recruit the Birdtaurs-- which he does, with a similar speech as the original, asking the Birdtaurs to become part of the story too. Horse is a bit crushed that he could recruit them, while she just wanted to leave. Wamma tries to make her feel better and distract her from thoughts of Rider, but Horse isn’t having it.

ep 4:

Rider rescues Water Baby with Becky, same as original. but this time, Rider shows some talent for magic? maybe she partly deflects an arrow with her hand+magic? Water Baby thinks that maybe her presence has helped bring some magic to the humans around her, including Rider. Water Baby offers to help Rider learn some magic, and Rider’s eager to have another means to help in battle.

Horse’s group returns to the shrine to find all the different groups fighting. Horse tries to rally them, but they aren't even listening-- the Birdtaurs obnoxiously bother the Mermaids, the Horsetaurs and Cattaurs keep fighting over space to lounge, and even Zulius starts bickering with Splendib. and some of the groups are confused and angry that this isn’t actually a party-- they were tricked into coming to fight!! Doug stops by and tells Horse about Becky, and she gets even more unstable. she runs off, leaving Wamma to barely calm the crowds, but she quickly runs off after Horse.

ep 5:

Rider continues to learn some basic magic from Water Baby, riding and fighting with Becky, trying to plan a better way to steal artifact back. their part ends with Rider claiming she has a plan.

Wamma finds Horse, who’s moping about being useless. does Rider not want her anymore? Horse NEEDS to prove to Rider that she's capable, that she’s still worthy to be Rider’s horse. Wamma says you can't just assume how people feel-- that love is about trusting that your friends are still by your side, even when you’re apart. Wamma admits that she's jealous of Horse's connection to Rider, in the same way Horse is Jealous of Becky. Horse explains that just because she has other loves, that doesn't negate Horse’s love for Wamma. they both have an "oh..." moment, realize they’ve both been self-absorbed and kinda stupid. they can’t let their insecurities get in the way of their relationships and responsibilities. they return to the shrine, and they apologize for tricking some of the groups under the pretense of a party. they won’t blame anyone for leaving, but they implore the groups to consider helping, “this is our home, these are our friends and family. we might not have them for much longer, if we lose. please...” the groups all agree after the speech-- some are still a little peeved, but they understand that they need to help protect their world. Zulius and Splendib even reconcile to train together. everyone has been calmed and rallied for the coming war.

we see Princess is also at the shrine, hiding far away from the Centaurs, grimacing at their celebration.

ep 6:

Rider, Becky, and Water Baby return to King’s lair to steal the artifact. they succeed-- Rider figured out how to use all their strengths together, including her new (but currently rather weak) magic. but this angers King and kickstarts his final charge too early.

Horse tries to train the ‘Taurs, but she focuses too much on the physical while forgetting magical. maybe this is where Horse mentions Wamma’s backstory, and Wamma explains backstory magic? backstory shenanigans. Horse figures out how the army needs to be trained, alongside Wamma-- magic and physical. they’re interrupted by a message from Doug: the battle has already started.

ep 7:

the ‘Taurs enter the rift, and it’s already chaos. they start battling as Horse/Wamma taught, but it's still tough. Horse decides to backstory King so they all have enough time. she knows she’ll be able to get back out, so no one is worried about her getting stuck. but they also know that her magic is nothing compared to his-- anything could happen. she gives Rider a final goodbye, just in case-- she’s excited that Rider has connected to magic too, and encourages her to continue training with it. they’ll always be connected, no matter what. Horse gives Becky an awkward "you have my blessing”-type speech about protecting Rider, “I used to hate you, but then I realized that was just, uh, projection? and jealousy? but you’re not me, and I’m not you, and you’ve just been helping Rider, so uh... just keep doing that. no matter what, protect her, ok? because if you don’t, I’ll come marching right back out of the Nowhere King, and--” Becky is completely stone-faced, as usual, “well... anyways.”

Princess walks calmly through the rift and straight through the battle, blocking attacks and snapping spines without even looking. she continues straight towards the rampaging Nowhere King in the distance.

ep 8:

Horse experiences Elk's backstory, the same as the original. but this time, as King is starting to break free, Princess shows up, “But that’s not the full story, is it?”

Centaur moral dilemmas about killing Minotaurs I guess, same as original.

ep 9:

Princess is powerful enough to hold King back as she enters the backstory too, but he’s still starting to gain control back. the Taur’s start fighting the Minotaurs as the King starts to break through the backstory magic, but they attempt non-fatal blows at Stabby’s suggestion.

Princess shares her side of the story-- her growing affection for the original Elktaur, her grief after he disappeared, how she learned to move on with General, her horror after learning the truth and confronting General after she helped Elk escape his prison.

Princess: “do you have any idea how devastated I was, over what you did to yourself? over the lies you told me? that you did this for my sake, as if I ever wanted that--”

Elk: "I never knew--"

Princess: "you never thought to ask-- you only assumed! I was broken for so long, thinking this was all my fault-- that I could have prevented this if only I had paid more attention, if I had loved you sooner--"

Elk: “my love--”

Princess: “but I’ve learned better by now. I know your decision was never my fault, and there’s nothing I could have done to prevent it. because this?” she gestures at scenes of carnage and misery, playing out in the theatre of the King’s mind, “this isn’t affection. this isn’t dedication or care. this isn’t love.”

Elk: “no, but I--”

Princess: “Horse,” Horse jerks to attention, “you may leave now.”

Princess forcibly ejects Horse from King. just as Princess fades from view, she delivers Horse one more line, “warn your Rider of the General, before it’s too late.”

Horse launches out, but she can't immediately find Rider. she finally sees Rider on Becky, and she's aiming her arrow at King, coating her arrow in magic. Horse runs towards her, yelling in warning, but Rider doesn't hear her. General gets there first, stabbing Rider and attempting to take Becky. Becky kicks him in the gut then runs off, just as Princess is ejected from King. Horse reaches Rider, but she’s too late-- Rider is fading. General recovers from Becky’s kick and walks off towards King. “hello black mirror” moment

ep 10:

King and General confront, before Princess joins the confrontation, shocking General. General wants to speak to her, but she refuses, “I’ve already said my part.” she pushes both General and King back as the battle kicks into high gear. Horse and Rider say what they think are their final goodbyes, crying over one another. their tears mix and ~*MAGIC*~ happens, creating a big flash of color that heals Rider’s wounds just enough for her to survive. this flash is enough to distract both King and General-- Princess pushes General over the cliff, and King follows.

the Taur’s are struggling with the rest of the battle, until the Tiny Versions show up (SANS DOUG... PLEASE LEAVE HIM OUT OF THIS). they’ve created their own tiny societies and came to help out in the final battle-- it just took a while for them to get there, because tiny. Princess has her final confrontation with a dying Elktaur, same as original

epilogue: in ‘Taur world, more or less the same as original. Becky gets a (monotone) voice, and says it's nice to finally meet the Horse that Rider goes on and on about. Becky thinks their relationship is exhausting... but cute. Rider and Horse are both embarrassed, and Wamma teases both.

ROLL CREDITS

EXTRA changes:

something’s gotta change about the whole Stabby/Durpleton thing. not only did Durpleton infantilize a grown man, but Centeurworld itself infantilized Stabby, making him into a little bitty toddler with footie pjs! that wasn’t cute, that was disturbing!! Stabby can stay, as long as he remains a full-grown man when he changes to the Centaurworld style, and the group (especially Durpleton) learn to respect him as a full grown person. that means no longer stabbing him with that damn sword-- that drove me fucking nuts!! even the parental aspects can stay, if Stabby really wants that found-family connection, but he needs to keep his autonomy. maybe he warms up to the group over time, as they learn to respect him more, and he even gets protective of them by the end. maybe he even suggests that the other Minotaurs could be saved at the end, if only shown love and care??

Zulius and Splendib should have had more screentime before they reconciled. even a couple scenes of them cattily hissing at each other or arguing, then begrudgingly working together to help their friends, and THEN fully reconciled.

just. completely cut all the Ched/Greg shit. their phonecall at the Moletaur prison was funny, but the gag quickly turned weird after that. like, deeply uncomfortably weird. I don’t want it.

Doug can stay I guess, but only as a brief messenger character. and I do NOT need the fucking Flat Douglas bit. sure, I was curious about what the Tiny Versions did on their own, but if that was the answer? nevermind, I didn’t need to know.

#s2 sucked so so bad I literally can't conceive how it got through every stage of development like that #centaurworld #shut up ashley #long post

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kazoosandfannypacks · 2 years

Note

E, Z, R and A for the fandom ask meme!! (and if you're taking requests, would you ramble about Tangled: The Series and all the reasons I should watch it? I'd really like to, but I wouldn't mind some motivation!

Okay so yes! I'll probably talk about quite a few different fandoms here, but I'll list each one before I go off!

E - Have you added anything cracky/hilarious to your fandom, if so, what?

Star Wars- Our beloved PAULGARY, Darth Maul's twin brother who formed from Darth Maul's legs after he was chopped in half, in a way akin to a starfish. He's just a regular moisture farmer and has tea with Obi-Wan quite often :) I also started the "Does Darth Maul Wear Shoes" debate, a little thing that happened a while back that I don't know all the details for but yeah. It was a thing.

Tangled- I'm the reason we now think Stalyan's mom is Rapunzel's aunt Willow. Also Eugene can see into the future when he's high? That was me.

Newsies- Who's Whosies was a Newsies thing where we just... posted pictures of our favorite newsies but gave them different (and very funny) names. I came up with it because we needed a new newsies meme and I thought "oh yeah. This is dumb. Perfect."

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go (prompts optional but encouraged)

Tangled- Why you should watch Tangled The Series-

If nothing else, you should watch Tangled because Rapunzel and Eugene (and don't even think about calling him Flynn anymore nope) are couple goals. Hands down. He loves her completely and totally and respects her so much and they show a relationship in this show really well. Usually the media depicts two people when they fall in love and then bam marriage and bam now we're off to the story of their kids or bam they're divorced or bam one of them dies but Tangled? Tangled says "here's this couple let's show the viewers what that really means." And sometimes they don't see eye to eye and sometimes they get into fights and sometimes they have to learn to trust each other more and sometimes compromises have to happen and this show shows that on a few occasions and it's not really portrayed as "we have a problem so now we don't like each other," but it's more like "i love this person so how can I help them work out this problem," for better or worse.

Another reason to watch Tangled is the new characters they've added. Cassandra, Varian, and Lance are all really awesome characters and unless you watch the series you don't even get to know about them. You've got the captain of the guard's adopted daughter who's now Rapunzel's handmaiden and best friend and who can also totally kick your butt and has a lot of banter and salt with Eugene. You've got a fourteen year old kid with freckles and a pet raccoon and dadsy issues and he loves to do science and is Eugene's biggest fan and he gets a really cool character arc. You've got Eugene's childhood best friend who comes back into his life and serves as comic relief, but also as a caring friend in their gang. And let's not forget Hookfoot (Hookhand's brother) Aunt Willow (The Queen's sister who wears pants and has bare feet and a free spirit,) Angry and Red (two orphan thieves who Lance and Eugene help rehabilitate) and Adira (awesome lady with sword!)

But let me jump back to the first three- Cassandra, Varian, and Lance. Cass is voiced by Eden Espinosa, who understudied for Idina Menzel in Wicked. Varian is voiced by the beloved Jeremy Jordan, famous for Newsies, Bonnie and Clyde, Supergirl, and Little Shop Of Horrors. Lance is voiced by James Monroe Inglehart, who played the genie in Broadway's Aladdin. They chose three professional broadway actors to play these roles- and it shows, because there's so, so, so many jaw-dropping new songs in this show. Do you want some fun upbeat thugs? You got it! Daddy Issues and Daddy Issues- The Reprise? Got it! Identity crisis? Got at least three of those! Moral Ambiguity? Take your pick. Heartfelt friendship? You got it! Catchy villain song? More than just catchy- iconic.

Also, this show is nice, because what starts at first like a happy little domestic au turns into an incredible journey, a story of twists and turns and destinies. It shows the characters as they develop and set out to unravel a mystery and save the world. And while this show has some filler episodes that are heartfelt or at times childish, it also has some really deep and sometimes dark stuff. Black magic? All over the place. Betrayals? Everywhere. Trauma? Yup. So, so, so much stuff happens that feels so much heavier than the gravitous usually given to a disney princess show.

Lastly, watch it because Pascal is a hero and saves the day single handedly at least seven times and that's always a delight :)

R - A pairing you ship that you don’t think anyone else ships:

Once Upon A Time- I'M NOT DONE WITH THE SHOW SO I DON'T INTERACT WITH THE FANDOM ON HERE BECAUSE I REALLY HATE SPOILERS but I think we were robbed because we didn't even get to see a friendship between Graham and Ruby. In the storybook land they were taken from, Graham is the huntsman, and in his backstory he was raised by wolves. He loves animals, and when he hunts, he even apologizes to and thanks his kill, because he's sad that it had to die. Then he goes into a pub and kills a couple guys without remorse because people are bad but animals aren't even capable of badness so why do they deserve to die?

Ruby is little red riding hood, and her backstory is one where there's these werewolves that come every month and grandma won't ever let her leave the house cuz she's overprotective or whatever but then we find out that it's because Red is the werewolf, and their werewolf is very wolflike, like a regular old wolf but more deadly, and I think Graham and Ruby would've been wolf buddies- Ruby sometimes seems to wish she was raised with people like her who understood her, raised with wolves, and Graham would be the first person to hear that she's a werewolf and go "are you kidding me? You're a wolf? That's the coolest thing ever I love wolves what's it like to be a wolf that's so wonderful tell me everything." I don't know if this is actually a ship no one else ships or not, but I'm obsessed with this concept and can't wait to write about it eventually.

A - Your current OTP(s)/OT3(s)/OTX(s)

Okay, so we got Hook and Emma from Once Upon a Time, we got Will and Elizabeth from Pirates of the Caribbean, we got Eugene and Rapunzel from Tangled... I'm noticing a pattern, a "dark haired pirate/thief is an absolute simp for his capable girlboss girlfriend"

Thanks for the ask! It was much appreciated!

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jyndor · 3 years

Text

I’m rewatching the Puppetmaster for ~research~ and ugh.This is such a good episode but I cannot stand the treatment of Hama and also Katara’s special bending ability. And I’m gonna talk about it because I can’t help myself. But I also want to offer a solution maybe something that the writers could have done instead. Granted I’m a white US American so while I am about to talk about imperialism, anti-indigenous racism and racialized misogyny, I am coming from a position of privilege here and ymmv. It’s important that we as fans (especially white fans) acknowledge the things that our favorite stories can do better so that we can make our fandoms safer for everyone.

And btw fans of color have been talking about this so I definitely am going to be quoting some phenomenal bits of critique I have read on here. Also you should follow @shewhotellsstories and @visibilityofcolor for anti-racist fandom commentary.

I am also going to talk about grooming, so just be aware if that is a trigger for you.

I. Hama as a Campfire Horror Story Monster

The episode starts out with the Gaang camping in a creepy forest telling ghost stories to each other. Set to spooky music, Katara tells a story about something that happened to Kya, a friend named Nini (likely) dying in a snowstorm and then haunting her family’s home as a ghost. Immediately after, Toph hears people screaming under the ground - and then Hama finds them and invites them to her inn.

Every so often, Hama says something spooky with the spooky music playing. Katara immediately takes to Hama, but the others (especially Sokka) find her pretty unnerving. Katara says she reminds her of Gran Gran before Sokka starts snooping around and finds a bunch of puppets and a comb from the Southern Water Tribe. It’s the standard horror movie fakeout.

Every so often we get an artfully placed hint about Hama’s agenda - pulling water out of thin air, showing Katara that “plants - and all living things” are made of water. And oh yeah, she makes herself ice claws. Cool skill, but in the context of the episode, a little more unnerving.

The “moon monster” that Old Man Ding mentions, the alleged Moon spirit, turns out to be Hama (of course) and the tension builds to a peak as the Gaang rush to save Katara from the “dark puppetmaster” that has imprisoned the villagers.

Meanwhile Hama and Katara stand under the full moon washed in spooky cool lighting with an ominous breeze around them. You see Hama practically transform into a monster in a way sort of reminiscent to a werewolf - her fingers become claw-like, her veins pop out. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say it’s a coincidence that as she reveals her true agenda, she becomes less human in appearance. Which... okay I’ll get to that later.

While I can’t say that Katara fits the Final Girl trope very well, I do think it’s interesting to note that horror movies often do feature women as heroes who defeat the monster/killer/whatever and usually the Final Girl is used to allow audiences to experience the full horror of the villain, which absolutely is how Katara is used here. Yes, her friends come to help, but she saves everyone in the end (my queen).

So here’s why that’s bullshit.

Framing Hama as a horror story monster make sense when you don’t think about the Implications of framing the indigenous woman POW living surrounded by people who have benefited from Fire Nation imperialism. It does - it’s a common trope: the reclusive witch who first seems kindly to some lost/wandering children before revealing her true intention - to use them for her own purposes. Yeah, I know they’re playing on Hansel and Gretel. But yeah, I’m gonna call bullshit on that too - drawing on a c*nnabalistic witch for inspiration when you’re writing an indigenous woman character is probably not the way to go.

II. Hama the Puppetmaster* and Groomer

A puppet master is obviously a puppeteer, and Hama has puppets (creepy though they may be). But in terms of the underlying meaning, she’s a chessmaster, an Emperor Palpatine/Dick Cheney kind of master manipulator who works mostly through other people. What most people would consider a psychopath (in layman’s terms). When her friendly mask falls, she is terrifying.

She is cold, calculating, manipulative as fuck - she isolates Katara almost immediately. Hama uses Katara’s desire to connect with her culture to groom her to become a weapon. It’s actually such a good example of grooming that it has to be purposeful:

Targeting a victim - Hama hears that Katara and Sokka are from the SWT. She also hears Katara tell a story about Kya. To Hama, a waterbender from her own culture is a hell of a target.

Gaining trust - Hama reaches out to Katara in particular, is especially kind to her, gives her individual attention that the others don’t get. She prepares a SWT feast for them and tells the Gaang about her heritage when they go snooping.

Filling a need - so once Hama has given Katara reason to trust her about waterbending, she promises Katara to pass on SWT waterbending heritage that only Hama knows. She fills a unique need of Katara’s.

Isolation - From then on out, we don’t see Katara with the rest of the Gaang until the end of the episode. Hama seems like a normal teacher but she does start to drop little hints, pushing Katara very gently to see how she will react to her real agenda and desensitizing Katara to what would otherwise seem unacceptable coming from someone else who hasn’t established that unique trust. “You’ve got to keep an open mind, Katara.”

So this would be the point at which Hama would make sexual contact but this is metaphorical so that obviously doesn’t happen. What does happen is Hama pushes Katara’s limits. She makes her pretty uncomfortable with the idea of killing the fire lilies for water, but when Hama appeals to their shared history of marginalization she gets over it.

Maintaining control: Hama makes her final move, which is obviously bloodbending, and reveals her true agenda - and when Katara refuses to manipulative living beings’ blood, Hama violates her bodily agency. And not only this, but she pushes Katara into bloodbending when she victimizes the Gaang, fully realizing her control.

Hama sees it as a victory, and telling Katara breaks down at the end in one of the most emotional scenes in the show. She feels like so many of us have felt at some point: violated, betrayed by someone we trusted. And then they never really deal with that.

I actually think that’s the point of The Puppetmaster, especially given ATLA being a show for children. I think it’s supposed to be a metaphor for csa.

And... okay.

Undoubtedly it is important to send these messages to kids. And yes, people usually are victimized by those closest to them, by those in their own communities. But not indigenous women. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but according to the National Congress of American Indians, Native American women and girls are more likely to be sexually assaulted by non-NA men. 57% of cases are perpetrated by white men. Not the people in their communities.

Choosing to tell this story with an indigenous woman POW (who very likely would have been victimized herself lbr) is a choice that I find really aggravating. When writers tell stories with a Point, it is incredibly important for those writers to understand the implications of what they are saying about the characters who they are using to make that point.

Like I’m not saying don’t make that point, or don’t use Katara (who would in real life be at a higher risk of sexual violence than the others) to make it, but why make the perpetrator someone who is statistically unlikely to be Katara’s abuser? I’m not sure I have a good answer to that question. My guess is, like with making Hama animalistic and about as unsympathetic as it gets, the writers just had blinders on about the cultural implications of what they were saying.

Not even considering the whole victimizing-the-“innocents”-of-the-Fire-Nation-town plot, Hama’s not a good person. This is probably because she was driven mad by the need for revenge, which, eurgh okay, but still it’s very apparent that she is not interested in winning over Katara’s support directly or honestly.

* also the antisemitic history of this trope hmm.

III. Hama and The Victims of Genocide Victimizing Oppressors #NotAllFireNation

Okay. So this is the part that I think annoys me the most because it’s so bad. Like, imagine for a minute that you’re a white guy and you’re gonna tell a story about a victim of genocide who is completely divorced from her culture and homeland, and furthermore is an escaped prisoner of war who has radicalized in prison - okay it just hit me, I know what they MIGHT have been going for, like maybe some kind of anti-Gitmo statement? But that didn’t happen. People who were stolen away from Iraq and imprisoned illegally in Guantanamo Bay, and who were released after being detained illegally, haven’t really shown any real radicalization. They’re pissed at the US for victimizing them, but like that seems pretty fair considering so many of them did nothing wrong.

That’s been the US government’s excuse for not releasing innocent people who were detained illegally. The idea that prisoners of war radicalized in Gitmo so they can’t be released because they’ll attack the US is propaganda. I’m not saying it hasn’t happened, but that’s where it comes from.

Considering the time period ATLA was written, considering how much of it was inspired by the US wars of aggression and imperialism, considering how political ATLA is (and why it was so popular during its initial run - during the years that Bush lost a ton of popularity) I think if that’s what they were thinking about, that’s not great.

But for all of Avatar’s good messaging on imperialism and war, it’s still written from a white US American mindset. Well surely I’m not responsible, surely you shouldn’t imprison and abuse me, a random white girl in the States. It’s my government, which I cannot control because of two-party politics or some shit.

So first off, that’s shitty because oppression is often about systems, not individuals. Sure we need to always consider the individual experiences of people who are victimized, but the people who are benefiting from imperialism? Me? Fuck if I care if someone in El Salvador or Iraq or Chile or idk any of the countries we have meddled in, let alone from a marginalized community in the United States, hates white US Americans for what our government has done - and that’s even silly because white US citizens support our government. Like we think the institutions are sound, although sometimes we don’t support the guy in charge. We think the cops are going to help us, even though that isn’t really the case.

Why frame it about what she’s doing to the Fire Nation civilians at all? Why make Hama the villain? I don’t think they wanted her to be unsympathetic, I mean they tell her story and I don’t think anyone would conclude that it doesn’t justify her desire for revenge, but why tell this story through a victim of genocide?

Recently I saw a post by @sunkin-akh where they point out that Hama basically quotes Malcolm X:

I was literally just watching the Hama episode again and I just noticed for the first time that while forcing Katara to bloodbend she says that they must fight back against the Fire Nation (and she used this exact phrase) “by any means necessary”, which is Frantz Fanon’s phrase popularized by Malcolm X during the Civil Rights Movement (iirc). They directly compared Black liberation to Hama’s evil acts and it disgusted me.

The full context:

Hama: The choice [to use bloodbending] is not yours. The power exists. And it’s your duty to use the gifts you’ve been given to win this war. Katara, they tried to wipe us out, our entire culture, your mother.

Katara: I know.

Hama: Then you should understand what I’m talking about. We’re the last waterbenders of the Southern Tribe, we have to fight these people whenever we can, wherever they are, with any means necessary.

I find that so appalling because it is framing resistance, specifically anti-racist resistance, as barbaric and monstrous. And given the way that Hama is portrayed at this point, about as inhuman as anyone in ATLA, that is extra gross.

Finally, after Katara defeats Hama, she is lead away by the authorities in CHAINS.

So now the FN cops are the good authorities who we’re gonna trust a SWT waterbender with? I mean she’s a villain so we’re probably not supposed to feel bad for her, like yeah sure the FN is usually bad but she’s a criminal so it’s okay that they take a POW back into custody.

No, no, no.

I know I am reading into this far more than the writers intended - but that’s kind of the point of critically engaging with media. Because shockingly writers don’t always question their choices - they are people and have implicit biases just like all of us. When those writers come from a privileged culture that has colonized the culture they are using as “inspiration” for their story, they need to be extra mindful of how they represent those people.

IV: How To Write Hama

Well, I’m not gonna talk over indigenous fans on this one on specifics, and you should read this rewrite by @kispesan but my thoughts generally are:

lose the horror framing it’s just not right for this context and this character

don’t frame Malcolm X as a villain because that’s nasty and racist

have Katara learn to use bloodbending in ways that she is comfortable with (and not just like once in one episode where she’s extra vengeful and the hero of the show doesn’t approve of her actions JFC) and don’t make the dark-skinned girl the only character whose special bending skill is dubious (I know she also has healing but still)

bring Hama home

have indigenous people in the writers room

Anyway, I’ve gone on wayyy too long. Let me know if I am speaking out of turn please if you feel that I am. and I’m sure I had other thoughts but if you want to read some other good pieces of Hama meta, I’ve listed some below:

post and another post by @marsreds

this post and this post by @visibilityofcolor

this post by @shewhotellsstories

anyway katara is a queen and should have been allowed to heal, and hama never should have been irredeemable because if you can make iroh redeemable, if the show was going to redeem AZULA, you can make hama redeemable.

#hama #racism #atla fandom #fandom racism #katara #some amazing people on here who i hope don't get mad i mentioned them #grooming tw #racism tw #i sure hope i remembered everything i wanted to say butttt

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yumeka36 · 3 years

Text

The ending of Frozen 2...a year later

I try to stay away from touchy subjects like this, at least here on Tumblr. But since @greatqueenanna @the-blue-fairie and @vuelie-frost have recently written inspiring posts on this topic (which you can read here, here, and here), I wanted to give my two cents (well, more like a thousand cents because what I thought would just be a few paragraphs ended up becoming a mini-book!)

Just to be clear, my intention here is not to argue with anyone or invalidate their feelings about the end of Frozen 2. It's quite the opposite, actually. In my view, when we're presented with a beloved hobby that has disappointed us, we have a couple of options: one is to simply stop partaking in that hobby and move onto one that brings us more pleasure (no doubt some ex-Frozen fans have done that), or keep sticking around the fandom despite constant negative feelings about it which, I can't imagine, is that enjoyable. But there's another option too: when presented with something we don't like but won't divorce ourselves from and yet have no power to change – in this case, how Frozen 2 ended – what we can change is how we view it. The fact that people who disliked Frozen 2 are still part of the fandom even a year later shows just how strong the Frozen characters and their world are…that despite dissatisfaction, fans are still not willing to give up on the franchise and leave it in favor of another fandom. And if they're not willing to give up, but still can't help feeling let down about it, I'm hoping the reasoning I present in this post can possibly offer a fresh and, hopefully, more appealing perspective. My intention here is to help alleviate hard feelings, not entice arguments.

I also want to mention that I'm only discussing the ending of the movie, specifically the fact that Anna is queen of Arendelle and Elsa is living in the forest. I've addressed most other topics of theorizing and criticism in my Frozen 2 analysis book “Seek the Truth,” which you can read here. While I did discuss the ending in detail in the last chapter, I didn't expand on it nearly as much as I will in this post.

To make things easier, I'm going to address the most common griefs about the ending one at a time and offer my input:

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Anna and Elsa were separated for 13 years so they shouldn't be separated again.

I definitely agree that it would be tragic if they were forced apart again, unable to have a relationship like they did for most of their childhood. But the more times I watch Frozen 2, the more I just don't see that in the ending. To me, a separation is when both sides are split up against their will, unable to get together again. That's not the case for Anna and Elsa. I admit the epilogue of the movie was rushed, but out of the many loose ends it could have touched on, the filmmakers made sure to include Anna's letter to Elsa about charades night, which to me shows that they want us to know that the sisters still get together regularly (that's the feeling I get from the movie; I'm not including the questionable canon of the storybooks/comics in this, which I’ll discuss a little later). We could still infer they get together even if they didn't show the letter, because we know the forest is free again and Elsa can ride Nokk to Arendelle whenever she wants. But the filmmakers chose to show the letter to make it clear that there's nothing keeping them apart.

So then the point becomes "spending only 3 years together isn't enough." What number is enough, then? 5 years? 10 years? Any number is arbitrary for a case like this. But the length of time doesn’t matter because, to me, Frozen 1 showed how strong of a bond Anna and Elsa have despite hardly ever being in physical contact…a bond of love strong enough to thaw a frozen heart. So to think that now they could never be happy unless they're physically together 24/7 does an injustice to that bond that transcends physical boundaries. They suffered because of their separation in Frozen 1 – that was a true separation, because they wanted to have a relationship but were forced apart against their wills – and at the end of the movie, they could finally have the relationship they were yearning for. And at the end of Frozen 2, not only was their love cemented further from the epic adventure they shared, but they can continue to see each other as a family as well as live out the new roles bestowed upon them. Unlike a movie with an actual separation ending, like Toy Story 4 for example, where Woody and Buzz would never be able to see each other again except by some crazy coincidence, there is literally nothing stopping Anna and Elsa from continuing to have adventures together in future stories, while also satisfying their new duties and enjoying their lives both individually and as a family. That sounds like a very fulfilling life to me.

But the "Anna sans Elsa" book proves that they barely see each other and Anna misses Elsa a lot.

This sentiment comes down to whether you want to consider the relatively few post-movie storybooks as true canon or not. I consider them loose canon at best because no one involved with the creation of the canon Frozen movies/shorts had any involvement in their development and probably even knows they exist. There's also the fact that they're having such a minimal release – just one or two European countries have been getting them, and they're not even being released in English, which is arguably Disney's largest market. There're also conflicting implications between the stories, for example, the "Anna sans Elsa" book implies that Elsa hasn't visited for a long time, but the German comic where Elsa visits for charades implies that she does visit regularly (from @bigfrozenfan‘s translation here, she says "I wouldn't have missed an evening of charades with you for anything in the world!"). Then there's the "Explore the North Book" which shows Queen Anna visiting Elsa in the forest. Just because this book isn't a story is no reason to disregard it, especially when you consider the fact that it was the first book released to show the sisters interacting post-movie, plus it was actually released in larger markets, like the US and Japan. Even Anna's letter within the movie canon itself, telling Elsa not to be late for charades, is not written in a way that implies she hasn't seen Elsa for a long time. If anything, it implies the opposite to me…that these visits occur regularly. So what we can conclude from this is that Disney's publishing branch is releasing a few post-movie stories to limited markets to make some extra earnings, but obviously the book/comic authors are restricted with the kinds of stories they can depict; as in, they can't have stories that would affect the lore and canon, like showing Elsa's role in the forest or how Northuldra/Arendelle relationships are progressing. So they're going with safe side-stories like Anna doing familiar things in Arendelle and Elsa visiting for charades – things that can be inferred from the movie's ending but don't continue the narrative past that. This could also be why these books are having such a small release. Perhaps because the English-speaking market is so large, anything brought to that market could be seen as having relevance and clout, and Disney doesn't want that for these stories (because there's really no reason to not bring the books to other markets when children's book sales are soaring thanks to the pandemic). The "Anna sans Elsa" book is even getting a re-release with new pictures, again, only in French, which to me further illustrates the limitations on post-movie stories currently going on. So ultimately, I would not take details from these books/comics that are available to only 0000.1% of Disney's worldwide market as the "word of god," especially when they're inconsistent with each other and canon implies otherwise.

Anna isn't fit to be queen.

I'm not really sure what (canon) examples there are of Anna showing traits that would hinder her ability to be a good queen, or at least not as good a queen as Elsa. Is the reason for this because of her naivete about Hans? There's no evidence that shows she hasn't learned her lesson from that…it's not like she rushed into marrying Kristoff right away. If it's something about her personality being too reckless or something, Elsa has exhibited recklessness too, doing things without forethought like running away to live alone in an ice palace and risking her life to dive into Ahtohallan. But despite having these very human flaws, Elsa still turned out to be a good queen, so why would Anna be the opposite? Anna has proven herself to be brave, noble, and outgoing with people…all of which are great qualities for a ruler. Plus she's lived among royalty her whole life, and no doubt helped Elsa during her reign as queen, so she's not going into the position as a total novice. We barely see Elsa doing queenly activities in the Frozen canon, so how can we assume she's so much more fit to be queen than Anna? Again, I think this is another sentiment that stems from an aversion to something unfamiliar: fans want Elsa to remain queen because we've been familiar with that for years, but that doesn't mean Anna can't be a good queen, too. Canon-wise we haven't yet seen Anna do anything in the way of ruling, so why not give her the benefit of the doubt and a chance to prove herself?

The first Frozen established that Elsa shouldn't live in isolation and yet she's doing it again in Frozen 2.

In the first Frozen, Elsa isolated herself out of fear and refused to even get near anyone. What evidence is there that this is happening at the end of Frozen 2? I've heard assumptions that she's living in Ahtohallan now, but we don't know that for sure. The last scene of the movie shows her heading in that direction, but she could be visiting too. But regardless of where her actual place of dwelling is now, there's no reason to believe she's shutting herself off like she did in the first movie. The epilogue shows that she's happily interacting with the spirits, the Northuldra, and makes visits to Arendelle. Home is more than just a physical place where one dwells and sleeps; even if the forest is where Elsa does this now, Arendelle is still her home in all other regards.

An offshoot notion of Elsa living on her own in the forest is that it's somehow akin to the idea that "people who are different should live outside normal society." I don't understand this because to me it implies the person in question is being shunned; that they want to live in normal society but normal society doesn't want them. That is definitely not what's going on at the end of Frozen 2. As I'll explain in the following paragraphs, Elsa stays in the forest because she feels a newfound sense of freedom and is thrilled to explore this new world she found, but she can freely go back to Arendelle whenever she wants, and there's no indication that anyone there loves her any less (they should love her more actually because they all witnessed her save the kingdom from the tidal wave!) At the end if the movie, no one's being ostracized for being "different." Everyone's doing what makes them happy and can freely come and go as they please.

Why does Elsa need to stay in the forest? Why can't she stay in Arendelle and visit the forest?

A large majority of the hard feelings about Frozen 2's ending comes from the fact that it didn't clearly show what Elsa's role in the forest is. I definitely admit that the ending would have benefited from expanding on this, even just another line or two. But to me, it still leaves enough information for us to make reasonable inferences about what she's doing. We don't see the Northuldra or Arendellians interacting in the epilogue, which makes sense since they hated each other for decades and it'll take time to mend the relationship between them. When Elsa says to Anna "we'll continue to do this together" conveys to me that she knows they still have work to do as far as making amends between the kingdoms…she and Anna can serve as dual queen ambassadors between the two sides, a bridge, so to speak. Then there's also the fact that the spirits were angry for decades and it'll take time for them to return to the peaceful coexistent they had with the Northuldra, something Elsa can certainly help with (again, we don't see the spirits interacting with the Northuldra in the epilogue, only with Elsa).

On top of that, there's the fact that Elsa spent her whole life believing she was the only magical being in the world, and now she's discovered this whole new land of magic just waiting to be explored. As I explained in my analysis book, if we consider Elsa believing for years that her powers were a curse and no one but her possessed magic, and suddenly she's brought to a place where other magical beings exist, as well as a group of people who live in harmony with them, plus the fact that she's somehow a bridge between both magic and humans, it makes sense she'd be ecstatic and want to spend time indulging in this new land. The reason she doesn't just visit the forest while living in Arendelle is because being queen is a full time job that requires her to be present as much as possible. Trying to stay on top of all her queenly responsibilities while going back and forth to the forest all the time wouldn't amount to the kind of quality she wants for Arendelle royalty. But having someone like Anna who's already familiar with royal activities and loves Arendelle with all her heart, would be perfect for the role. Elsa never indicated it was her dream to be queen of Arendelle. She was born into the role and accepted it, and if the events of Frozen 2 never occurred, would have probably lived out her life happily in that position. But happiness isn't necessarily a final destination and sometimes things come along that alter the status quo, but also enhance what we thought was already a good life. What we can infer from Frozen 1 is that she doesn't want to live in fear and have to constantly suppress her powers and that she wants to have a relationship with her sister again. None of this is taken away from her at the end of Frozen 2: she's not living in fear but in freedom, she can use her powers without restraint and in brand new ways with the spirits and Ahtohallan, and she can not only continue to see her sister often and foster their relationship, but she can grow her relationship with herself and this new realization about the origin of her powers. And still another reason, perhaps the true purpose of the fifth spirit is more than a single task and Elsa is trying to discover what it is: what more can she do with her amazing powers now that the forest is free, both for the benefit of the Northuldra, the spirits, Arendelle…maybe even the world? There's a wealth of possibilities for future stories, and I believe this ties back to the fact that the post-movie books/comics can't touch on what her role in the forest is because it's too closely tied to continuing the canon story, and until the heads at Disney decide what direction to take it, all spin-off content will be limited.

And yes, it's true that these are just my theories, but they're theories based on many hours of rewatching, analyzing, and thinking critically about the movie, which I think is better than just dismissing the idea that Elsa has a role to play in the forest simply because it wasn't explicitly shown. Just because Elsa's new lot in life isn't spoon-fed to us doesn't mean it doesn't exist, and I think it's much more logical, and imaginative, to assume she's doing the kinds of things I just mentioned as opposed to doing nothing of significance in her life now. I prefer to be logical and imaginative, so I’m going with these reasons unless canon shows otherwise.

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After reading all this, you might think I'm in love with the ending of Frozen 2 and think it's perfect, but that's not the case. While I love Frozen 2 overall, I admit that the ending was rushed and it wasn't my first choice of an ending for the sequel I was anticipating for years. But at the same time, I'm open-minded, especially in regards to the fact that the story and characters I'm invested in are not my personal creations. They’re the products of someone else’s experiences, values, and beliefs, and I have to recognize that this is what makes them interesting even though I may not agree with everything. But who am I to say that my vision and headcanons for Frozen are somehow better than those of the filmmakers? I don't think so highly of myself as being more of an authority on Frozen than the creators themselves or even my fellow hardcore fans. But I have spent many hours of my life these past 7 years examining and analyzing the franchise and its characters, so I'd like to believe my words have at least some weight to them. That's the wonder of fiction…that someone's ideas can be interpreted and appreciated in a variety of ways by a variety of people. But that's also the tragedy of fictional stories that continue on with long gaps in between, like the gap between the two Frozen movies. During that long time, we can't help but build and prop up our headcanons and develop the feeling that we know these characters inside and out, what is and isn't good for them, how they would and wouldn't react in all situations, etc,. But two and a half hours (which is about the length of time of Frozen 1 plus the two shorts) is not enough time to show so much of a characters’ personality that we could really know them as much as we’d like (especially Elsa, who got relatively little screentime in the first movie). So when we're presented with the continuation of the story and find that the creators had a different view, a view that didn't return to the status quo we were familiar with, it can be very jarring. But that's the risk of falling in love with someone else's creations. And thankfully, the beauty of headcanons is that they're all our own and can be adjusted. Even though the outcome of Frozen 2 was not what I was expecting, it was a minimal effort to adjust my headcanons because I don't feel the ending was so outrageous and far removed from everything I loved previously about the franchise, for reasons I hope I explained clearly in this post.

If you still can't feel any better about the end of Frozen 2 despite all I've discussed here, I'm sorry…I really tried my best. All I can say now is that I hope future content will rekindle your appreciation for the franchise. I know it's been over a year since Frozen 2, which seems like a long time to go without any announcements of new material, but we have to remember that that's not a long time at all by Disney standards. The recent Disney investor's meeting proves how long it takes to churn out new content, especially on the animation side of things, as it took years for Princess and the Frog, Zootopia, and Moana to finally get new content. Disney immortalizes all their popular franchises and could go back to them months, years, or even decades later (The Lion Guard series came out over 20 years after The Lion King for example). Unlike other Disney franchises like Marvel and Star Wars that have their own production teams and studios, Frozen has to share resources with all of WDAS's other projects. So a year is still too early for the studio to go back to Frozen again, especially if you consider that it's technically only been a few months since we got new Frozen content in the form of Once Upon a Snowman. Patience is the key now and we don't know what the future holds. But I'm someone whose opinions will change with new information, so maybe tomorrow we could get an announcement about a new Frozen YA novel or Disney+ series that shows Anna and Elsa rarely see each other and Anna misses Elsa and Elsa's doing nothing noteworthy in the forest and everything I've said here can be tossed out the window. I don't think that will be the case though, so as long as we don't know anything for sure, I want to go with a positive outlook because, at the end of the day, your fandoms should lift you up instead of bring you down. Frozen is a juggernaut for Disney so I'd rather they take their time with the next installment for the franchise. It's not so much a question of "if" as much as "when" and "in what form"? So until we have those answers, I wish you all well…don't let the hope die out.

#frozen #frozen 2 #frozen2 #disney frozen

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agentravensong · 2 years

Note

Please can you elaborate the thing of how Jevil and Spamton are made to be essentially au sans to appeal to the fandom by Gaster?

Of course, Anon! Sorry this took me a few days to answer, it has been A Weekend.

[this is the post anon is asking me to elaborate on]

Firstly, as far as Gaster generally trying to appeal to the fandom is concerned, I think the first half of this post by @determinators pretty succinctly sums up all the evidence that Gaster has been reaching out to UnderTale fans (those who completed the True Pacifist ending specifically) to be his "partners"/"subjects" in this "experiment".

And if he's trying to draw such targets to his creation, to make them happy and keep them playing... doesn't it make sense that he'd try to force the inclusion of at least one character who is similar to UT's most popular character?

Which isn't to say that Jevil and Spamton are AU Sans-es in the sense that they started out as versions of Sans that became so divorced from him that they became different characters. Rather, Gaster took two pre-existing Darkners and tried to make them as much like UT!Sans as he could, to the point of breaking them with knowledge they couldn't stand.

(putting the actual comparison of these three characters under a read more for your dash's sake)

Now, why is Sans UT's most popular character? What are the major traits that seem to draw people to him? I propose the following:

He's a friendly, funny little man... who will also scare the shit out of you, sometimes for no good reason.

He's surprisingly powerful in a specific context and the hardest boss in the game.

He has meta knowledge to a larger extent than most of the cast, or at least makes his knowledge more explicit.

And the combination of that meta-knowledge and his unknown connection to UT's long gone Gaster give him a mysterious, angsty layer to his backstory.

Plus, he's associated with one of the best songs in the OST (even if it isn't really his theme)

There are other likely factors, like him being relatively easy to draw and his potential relatability to similarly meme-loving low-key depressed fans, but I'm gonna focus on the ones in the list, for reasons that are about to become clear. Let's start the comparisons.

First up, Jevil.

Funny little man? Check. Maybe not friendly, but certainly jovial. And he's scary, though not exactly in the Sans way.

He's the hardest boss of Chapter 1, arguably even harder than Spamton.

Whether the "strange man" (Gaster) straight-up told Jevil the world of DeltaRune is a game, or Jevil just interpreted what he said in the only context he could comprehend (he is a playing card, after all), he's clearly more aware of the greater truth of this world, whatever that may be, than almost everyone else. He even predicts Chapter 2 in his defeat-via-fighting dialogue.

* SOON, THE "QUEEN" RETURNS, AND HELL'S ROAR BUBBLES FROM THE DEPTHS.

The angsty backstory factor is the point where Jevil differs the most and least from Sans. They're similar in that their reaction to the weight of the meta knowledge they held (resets for Sans, the truth of the world for Jevil) was apathy. But where Sans's apathy made him passive, Jevil's gave him permission to do whatever he wants, no matter how it affects others. As a consequence, Jevil has a lower angst factor. Yes, he was sealed away by his friend, but Seam seems to bear the emotional weight of that more than he does.

The World Revolving? A banger.

There's also the bonus point that, like Sans, you beat Jevil by tiring him out. Oh, and they both wear slippers, for whatever that's worth.

Then, there's Spamton. Good old Spamton G. Spamton.

Funny little man? Check. He certainly tries to be friendly. Success rate on that? Debatable. And he's got the creepy factor; still not quite the same as Sans's, but closer.

He's the second hardest boss in the game, first place obviously going to... the teacups. In fact, he shares an extra point of similarity with Sans by being the final boss of Chapter's 2 "evil route".

While Spamton's knowledge may not technically be "meta" in the same sense as Sans's, he clearly shares Jevil's level of knowledge about the true nature of DeltaRune's world.

And while he's the opposite of apathetic in the face of this knowledge - at least once Kris comes along and gives him hope - he's got angst in spades (heh). Toby even lined up some NPCs to give us his backstory, New Home style. But there's also a bunch of gaps in our knowledge (like, who's Mike?) that are ripe for theorizing.

Both of Spamton's battle themes? Bangers.

And I've got some bonus points for y'all too.

They're both lying shopkeepers - Spamton with everything but the KeyGen, Sans with the fried snow you can't actually buy and the hot dogs that are actually water sausages

They both use cyan attacks/projectiles - Spamton Neo's heads, even if they don't function the same way cyan magic does in UT, and Sans's bones

They both have a "yellow eye" - Spamton's glasses are pink and yellow, and Sans's eye during the no mercy fight flashes cyan and yellow. ...Actually, I'm pretty sure Jevil has yellow pupils too, so mark that down as a similarity for all three of them.

Obviously, Spamton also has some strong connections to Mettaton, and at this point I'm expecting that the future secret bosses will also be equally direct UT callbacks in one way or another. But the idea of taking Sans and giving him traits of other UT characters is something the fandom itself has engaged in, to varying levels of problematic-ness, so it seems like the next logical step for Gaster to take too on his quest to create the Ultimate Fan Favorite Character.

Before I close out here, let me address your other ask:

[Image description: a screenshot of an ask from an anonymous user reading, "There’s also a theory of how Jevil and Spamton were meant to be Ralseis aka to be party members given how they both know game mechanics and can heal but failed and got scrapped."]

I've definitely seen that theory around, specifically with Jevil and Spamton having been intended to be tutorial characters only to be discarded because Gaster decided it would be better for his OC to be closer to Asriel than Flowey.

I think it has merit. The healing via ACTs point in particular - that's one trait I can't see any crossover with Sans with.

But tutorial-izing game mechanics post the player already experiencing them, like Jevil does ("WHEN YOUR HP DROPS TO 0, YOU LOSE!")? Sans does that too, with about as much effectiveness.

[image description in alt text]

And let's not forget one of his most famous scenes: the judgement in the Last Corridor, where he gives the full explanation of EXP and LV.

I'm more than willing to believe that Ralsei wasn't the original third party member, the Darkner representative among the heroes (assuming he didn't lie about that too), and that he's partly the way he is because he's meant to be UT!Asriel II, to mirror what Gaster assumes we liked about the goat boy.

But if we're looking at who Jevil and Spamton have more in common with, especially with the roles they actually end up playing in-game, I think tying the two of them back to Sans makes a lot more sense.

Now, some of you might be expecting me to end this post with a prediction that Sans, who many have speculated to be a Darkner himself, will be the final secret boss. And to that I say: no. He's had his moment. Let him be Just Some Guy. Please.

(If you want my actual (but still mostly joking) final secret boss prediction:

What if, when Asriel comes home in Chapter 7 (assuming the game doesn't just end there, which I frankly wouldn't put past Toby), he says he was having a really hard time in college, but he was able to get through it thanks to a friend. A friend who reassured him that the difficulties he was facing weren't really that big a deal. After all, they aren't even real. How freeing it was to hear, Asriel says. And he's been waiting to share this epiphany with Kris. He knows they need it. Perhaps more than anyone. Cue boss fight, with Kris fighting alongside Asriel's new college friends who came to visit his family and did not sign up for this: Chara and Frisk :)

...yeah, that won't happen. and it probably shouldn't.)

Anyway. In summary, Gaster has been trying to make the Next Great Tumblr Sexyman based on how the fandom reacted to Sans. And considering how Spamton has passed that test with flying colors, I can only wonder what the rest of the Meta Aware Manlet Brigade will be like.

#thanks anon!#undertale #deltarune #deltarune spoilers #wd gaster #sans #jevil #spamton #yes asriel being the final secret boss would break the sans-like pattern this post is about. that's half of why i don't think it'll happen #the other half being that it feels too fanservice-y and too close to a regurgitation of one of ut's best moments #...still think it's a fun idea tho

18 notes · View notes

op-peccatori · 4 years

Text

Hopefully, Yours (part 1) | MLQC Victor

Fandom: Mr Love Queen’s Choice

Pairing: Victor/Fem!Reader

Rating: Mature

Word Count: 8823

Summary: A fight between co-stars leads to you taking their place, along with the man you’ve been carrying a rather fervid torch for. A happy accident—except it’s a dating show and you have to pretend your feelings aren’t real. | Part 2

Warnings/Tags: language, fluff, oblivious behaviour, dating show, social media, Victor might be a little OOC because I’ve written him differently, some making out in the next part hence the rating, no smut though, my sense of humour

A/n: as always, I’m here to clown around. I tried something a lil new (for me) in this one 👉👈 something I picked up quite recently from works I adored, so I hope you like it! It got longer than I intended so I had to split it into 2 parts ;.; Victor said: keep writing, hoe.

ALSO!!! Yours by Ella Henderson is. THE Victor/MC song for me. I felt it in my bones when I listened to it again after all these years. brb crying

It’s the incessant buzzing of your phone that lures you out of the warm cocoon of your blanket.

You don’t really want to come out of your haven. Not after the week you’ve had, and because you know what awaits you. But as Anna had told you, there’s no way you can avoid this. They had finished editing the episode on Thursday, and Jason had already texted you last night to let you know it would be ready to be uploaded at 7:00 pm today.

Reaching listlessly for your phone, you squint at the bright screen through bleary eyes; it’s 9:00 pm already, and you’ve managed to sleep most of your Sunday away. It’s been a whole week since you filmed the episode, and while you were able to keep your thoughts at bay through it, it’s finally caught up to you.

After all, this is the episode you’re going to be in.

Pulling your laptop towards you, you open the tab that has the streaming site open. Your heart begins its anxious thump against its cage, a beat all too familiar to you by now. As the video begins playing, the memories of that day rise up to the forefront of your mind, refusing to be outdone by this meticulously edited version.

It started with a plan. A very well-thought-out plan.

“He called me a bitch. How can you still expect me to shoot with this jerk?”

Things were not going according to the very well-thought-out plan.

From your place next to Homer, the camera guy, you watched with mounting apprehension as Hollow resisted the AD’s attempts to placate her. But she did seem calmer, the scalding rage of her glare simmering down as he continued to reason with her.

And then her partner for the episode walked back onto the set.

“She said my songs are predictable! You want me to work with a hater?” Kai protested loudly, and Hollow turned back to him in a fury. The AD looked back at you in dismay, the rest of the staff watching with varying levels of exasperation.

“This is supposed to be a cheesy, ultra-romantic show,” Kiki whispered from her place at your side.

“This is what the reality is. All that sappy crap is for the camera,” Willow snorted, shaking her head in disenchanted disappointment.

There may be more than a kernel of truth in that. Hopefully, Yours was your company’s latest project; the second season, the first one having been produced by a different group. It’s a romantic web-series that featured different couples going on dates around town. The couples featured ranged from non-celebrities to people who are household names. So far, there hadn’t been too many issues with the participants—so you really should have expected this.

“Not always!” you cut in, fiddling nervously with your planner. “Some of the couples have gone on to date for real. Raymond and Liliana got married!” A lovely couple from an episode that aired last year. They’d been in the news recently too.

“They’re getting divorced,” Homer piped up in response. You hoped the look on your face let him know how unhelpful that was and turned back to the clashing couple. The AD looked harrowed and harassed as things turn increasingly hostile.

“Willow, do we have a backup couple?” you asked after a long moment of watching them spit insults. “Or just one person to replace either of them. What about Carlson?”

“He won’t be in town until tomorrow.”

‘Can I leave town?’ You wondered in a fit of desperate, wishful thinking.

“And we’ve got everyone here, with everything set up. Can we really waste time?” Kiki wondered out loud.

“No, we can’t,” answered a strained voice from behind you. All four of you turn to see Anna striding towards you, her hassled expression sending a frisson of worry through your stomach. “___, we’ve got guests.”

“Guests?” you repeated numbly. “What guests?” From the look on her face, it couldn’t be good news.

Anna held your gaze for a second, looking vaguely apologetic, before stepping to the side, allowing you to get a look at who Jason, the director, had rushed off to greet. You felt the ground shift beneath you, throat drying rapidly and the surrounding noise dimming as you focused on the new arrivals—your friend, your boss if you insist on the technicalities, and the star of most of your daydreams. LFG’s very own CEO, Victor, and his loyal secretary, Goldman.

In other words, people you hadn’t expected to see today.

“Why?” you whimpered, mostly panicked, but distantly amused by how enthusiastically he’s being greeted. It gave you a few moments to get it together, a familiar buzz coming to life underneath your skin.

This is terrible. Surely, this is karmic retribution for some misdeed committed by you.

“Boss, get it together,” Kiki hissed in an echo of your thoughts, and you realized you had half-fallen back into her and Willow’s arms, their hands steady on your shoulders.

“This is really bad timing. Like, really bad,” Willow pointed out unnecessarily as you straightened up, running a quick hand through your hair.

“Goldman said they just dropped in to see how it’s coming along. I don’t really understand why, this is not at all Victor’s cup of tea, but he’d been hesitant about the show, so...” With a sympathetic smile, Anna placed a hand on your elbow, squeezing lightly. The comfort it brought is chased away almost immediately by a furious screech.

“That is it. I’m done!”

Turning just in time to watch Hollow stalk off the set, you tried to restart your thought process. You just needed to solve this.

“How do we solve this?” Kiki asked in a low voice, and Willow shook her head helplessly.

With no answer for her, you could only watch as Jason led Victor and Goldman towards the set. You knew the exact moment he saw you; there was no smile, but a slow blink. It was still early in the afternoon, and his patrician features were alight with a soft glow in the golden sunlight, the curve of his lip relaxed and his clever gaze taking in you and everything happening around you in seconds. You’re not sure what he saw in your face but it made the corners of his mouth pull downwards.

Your stomach plummeted, seized by a sudden urge to flee.

But with his long strides, he reached you before you could take a step back. Kiki and Willow retreated silently, greeting him like newly registered soldiers coming face to face with their general and leaving you at his mercy. You would have felt miffed, but the way the sunlight softened his features was a little distracting. His lips moved, and you’re certain he said something, but couldn’t quite hear him over the sound of your heart drumming in your ears.

Homer coughed loudly, popping the bubble.

“Good morning, Victor!” Certain your lack of actual delight was obvious, you tried to inject as much enthusiasm into your voice as you could while your project went up in flames behind you. Not that you weren’t happy to see him, as the sudden thrill twisting through insisted on reminding you, but the prospect of disappointing him was one you would rather not face.

There was no visible reaction from Victor, but Homer looked a bit disturbed by the attempt. Goldman just looked like he pitied you, while Jason looked oddly contemplative. This was probably his first time seeing you this…dazzled.

“Good morning,” Victor replied evenly. His eyes, a constant, focused storm and his silken hair falling artfully over his forehead form a picture so lovely, almost beyond words. It’s never stopped you from waxing poetic about them, or his long list of admirable personality traits, but he had a way of knowing when you’re not paying attention. “Looks like I picked a bad time to check in.”

You couldn’t quite pin down the inflexion in his tone, but your immediate guess was that he was either severely disappointed or was low-key mocking you.

With how quickly things derailed, it’s understandable.

“Haha,” you laughed—an unfortunate coping mechanism that seems to flare up most often in his presence. Also, because Victor looked unfairly gorgeous, as always and you were a fool with a worryingly erratic pulse. “Just a few bumps. Nothing we can’t fix.”

Behind you, Kai declared his intent to leave as well. There’s a contract, so they would have to look into this, but that would take time. At that moment, Victor was eyeing the singer leaving the set and your nervous smile with his brows steadily climbing higher.

“Right. Anything I can do to help?” he offered, and the shame that elicited is so fierce you felt like you’d shrunk. This was supposed to be a casual visit, for him to see how the filming was going and instead you made him feel the need to step in and clean up the mess.

“No,” you said, firm, immediate, vehement. He frowned down at you. “We’ll come up with something. Why don’t you two take a seat, we’ll get you some drinks and Anna can go over the ratings and numbers with you.”

Victor seemed to hesitate, still frowning at you, but relented when you mustered up a small but convincing smile for him. “Alright. Let me know if you need anything,” he insisted, because he’s nice like that, before following Goldman and Anna into the small room you’ve converted into an office. You have a small but closed set for the first meeting of the couples, before the crew moves to whatever location has been picked out for the date.

“He’s nicer than he looks,” Homer observed as the two of you watched him leave.

“He’s lovely,” you said miserably. Who would have thought there’d be a day when you said that about Victor? He was still an evil capitalist, but he’s a kind man.

Homer didn’t get the chance to reply as Jason rushed up to you.

“Okay, so we’re gonna have to sit those two down for a talk, but we don’t have time for that today. We need substitutes,” Jason said, not nearly as panicked as you would expect from a director who had no one to direct. It was admirable, this ability to keep his head even when he hits what looks like a dead end.

“I’ll make some calls.” Reaching into your pocket, your mind ram through your options as your hand closed around your phone.

“I want you to do it,” Jason declared.

It took you a few seconds to realize you hadn’t misheard. He looked back at you steadily, already resolute in his decision. You looked around, expecting protests, but the staff members only looked eager.

“…I don’t like this joke,” you said, slowly.

“Good thing it wasn’t one!” Jason returned cheerfully. “Before you turn it down, let me say—please? And don’t go off with the ‘I’m nobody!’ thing. People know who you are.”

“Um.” You really, really didn’t know what to say to him.

“My brother thinks you’re hot,” Homer offered, and Jason beamed at him.

“Okay, we’ll do this. You’re the producer of one of the oldest and most popular shows. You’ve gained more media presence over the last two years. You’re also friends with Kiro and Professor Lucien, so people have been quite curious about you for a while! This is just a fun little thing. Please?” Jason pleaded.

In the spirit of fairness, you took a minute to think about it. It would solve half the problem. And today’s location was a local fair, where the couple got to try out anything they want to, with all the expenses covered by the company. The very thought of stepping in front of the camera left your cheeks flushed, but you couldn’t deny the bud of excitement that seemed to have taken root.

In the end, your stomach made the choice for you.

“If you think it’ll be fine, then sure,” you acceded, thoughts filled with stir-fried noodles and holding hands with a faceless person. “But what about the other person?”

“Hmm,” Jason looked in the direction of the office, reminding you that you don’t have all day to decide.

“I could call Gavin and ask if he’s free,” you suggested. People adore him. “Or Lucien?”

Jason nodded as if truly considering it, his gaze sharp on you. “Good choices. What about Victor?”

“Yeah, no. That is a bad idea,” you said at once, without giving it a moment’s thought. This was a dating show, where people go on cute dates and act adorable on camera. The very thought of Victor doing that at all, let alone with you…was something you couldn’t think of because it was ridiculous. And bad for your poor heart.

“It is an excellent idea,” Jason disagreed. You hated to be the bearer of bad news, but this was necessary. You’ve known Victor for a while now, and felt responsible for Jason’s well-being that would inevitably be threatened if he embarks on this particular path.

“He’d never agree to it,” you told him solemnly. The man barely agrees to do interviews; a show like this? Out of the question. “You know who he is, right? He doesn’t have time for this.”

“Why don’t you leave that to me, and go get ready. I’ll go get your man,” Jason said, loud and bright, shooing you in the direction of the dressing rooms. You stood there for another minute, dazed and afraid. What if Victor thought it was your idea?

The horror.

The terror.

“I’m still texting Lucien!” you called after him, voice pitched high in your alarm. Before you could follow Jason to make sure Victor knows you would never suggest this, an arm slid around your shoulder.

“Darling,” Arnold, the head stylist, cooed at you. “I heard the good news.”

“How?” It had been two minutes. People shouldn’t be spreading this without the director’s confirmation.

“Forget the hows. This is your time to shine. Come, we’re going to make that CEO drool,” he proclaimed, shepherding you towards the dressing rooms. “And I can finally do something about this hair!”

“He’s not going to agree.” You were absolutely certain of that, even as your mind continued to conjure cutesy images of you sharing cotton candy with the reticent man.

Taking a seat at the vanity, you reached for your phone over the cotton pads, watching Arnold’s reflection in the large mirror as he flitted about the small room, picking out different outfits. You hadn’t gotten a chance to check it for a while, and scrolled through your texts swiftly, pausing on a few in particular.

‎

Victor [9:00]: Hello. I’ve got some time off today.

Victor [9:02]: Is it alright if we drop by the set? What time is your lunch break?

Victor [9:20]: You must be busy. I spoke to Anna. I’ll see you later.

Victor [9:25]: Also, good morning.

‎

Oh.

He had actually let you know he’d be dropping in. Taciturn and domineering he may be, but Victor’s quiet consideration often left you glowing with warmth. In comparison, your own clumsiness often left you embarrassed. In this instance, it made you feel doubly determined to do this right.

‎

Y/N [12: 05]: Hi, sorry I missed these. Don’t worry, I’ll get us back on track.

‎

Closing Victor’s chat, you took a moment to consider your options before making your choice.

‎

Y/N [12:07]: Lucien! Are you free?

Lucien [12:15]: Hello. Just wrapped up a lecture. I thought you were going to be shooting today?

Y/N [12:16]: I am. Actually, I had a favour to ask.

‎

You stared down at the screen of your phone, shoulders relaxing as one of the assistants fussed with your hair. Should you wait for Jason before asking him? You knew what the outcome will be, regardless of what you wanted. You’ve always known, always kept your thoughts safe behind a barrier, never letting them spill out in Victor’s presence.

You thought back to his disappointment, and something fragile in your chest tightened.

Your phone buzzed in your hand, and you prayed to all the powers above that this works out.

‎

Victor [12:18]: Dummy. I’m not worried.

‎

There was a knock at the door as you opened the chat, thrown off but pleased by Victor’s confidence.

“Guys, can I come in?”

It was Jason.

With trembling fingers curling tight, you sat up straighter as he was let in. Your pulse quickens, your emotions jumbling together until your can’t tell them apart. You kept your expectations low. You knew what the answer would be. It couldn’t hurt if you expected it.

You just hoped it wouldn’t change anything. It wasn’t your idea.

“He agreed!” Jason announced with a flourish, and your heart halted its despondent march. “His secretary’s picking up his outfit, they said it won’t take too long. We’ll do his hair and mak—uh, are you okay?”

You swallowed your heart back down. “He said yes.”

“Yeah,” he confirmed, stretching out his answer, nodding as Arnold thrust an outfit at him.

“And he…knows it’s with…me?” you asked carefully.

Jason’s brows climbed a notch higher. “Yes, of course.” His eyes gleamed with something you couldn’t quite read.

“Right, right. That’s great! Fantastic. Wonderful,” you said admittedly weakly, turning your gaze back to your reflection. The colour seemed to have drained from your skin, and you ignored the concerned glance exchanged by Jason and Arnold.

“___, hey,” Jason began gently, coming up to stand behind your chair. “Are you okay with this?”

You studied his worried expression, thoughts turning inward. You shifted aside the panic, the disbelief, the prickling nerves, and shushed the sparks of excitement.

A date with Victor.

It sounded wonderful. But the problem was never about you not wanting it. It was that you’ve wanted it for so long and so badly. Could you really have this?

“It’s okay to say no. It’s just…I don’t think it’ll be as awful as you think,” Jason said. His brow furrowed as the lines of your face smoothed out.

Oh.

“It’s for the camera,” you remembered, and Jason hummed thoughtfully. Regardless of what he may think of you, Victor wouldn’t let it show on the screen. You knew he was aware of what the show entails. So, perhaps, you could have this. It was for work. “Yeah. Yeah, it’s okay.”

Your breath evened out from its shallow state, and you smiled up at Jason, who still looked concerned.

“It’ll be okay.” Your phone buzzed again, and you gathered yourself once more.

‎

Lucien [12: 23]: What can I do for you?

Victor [12:24]: And I look forward to working with you.

‎

It wouldn’t be real.

Telling yourself it wouldn’t be real was easy.

Sitting next to Victor, your high stools positioned close together as you tried to keep your thoughts away from dangerous paths, was not easy. But the light notes of his scent, sandalwood and myrrh if your nose hadn’t led you astray, threatened to lull you into a state of near-intoxication.

Jason had wanted to film the ‘first meeting’ and, for the sake of authenticity, decided to have Victor wait in front of the camera while you got to be the one to walk in. Which meant it was straight from the dressing room to the set. While you were thankful you wouldn’t be filmed drooling on camera, it still meant you wouldn’t get a chance to talk to him until after, or in between takes.

You were a lot more grateful for the arrangement when you did walk to the set, because the sight of Victor—clad in a slim-fit black shirt, paired with a dark grey jacket and black pants that stretched deliciously over his muscled thighs—stopped you dead in your tracks, your thoughts wiped blissfully clean.

The look on his face, bright under the studio lights, had been unreadable, but it didn’t look like his usual unimpressed poker face, so you decided to take it as not quite a win, but not a loss either. Then the small upturn of the corners of his lips, however, threatened to overload your system, prompting you to avert your gaze slightly as you walked to him, for fear of losing yourself.

Your hi had been shyer than intended, but his hello had been the gentlest you had ever heard it.

And then he handed you a bouquet of red, fragrant roses and you felt yourself grow weak.

It was a short take, where you both introduced yourselves, and discussed where you’d be going for the date.

“Do you like fairs?” he’d asked, gaze intent as if your answer was of the utmost importance.

“I love them,” you’d answered, meaning it completely, and he’d looked glad.

Even through the wild beating of your heart, you had managed to feel impressed. He was doing wonderfully already. Who knew Victor had these acting skills? Hopefully, he thought the same of you. You weren’t acting, though, and this, you were quickly realizing, could be a wonderful way to lift the lid off the pot just a little, and let your real feelings shine through.

You would be filming the individual, interview type scenes last, after the date.

With the first meeting done, with Jason going over the take to make sure he had everything he needed, you would be moving to the location soon. But first-

You looked around quickly, covering your mic and making sure nobody was paying too much attention to you, before turning to Victor—only to nearly jump in fright when you met his eyes. How he’d known you wanted to talk, you’d never know. His own eyes had widened when you’d turned around all of a sudden, the tips of his ears reddening slightly. He had probably been startled by your reaction.

“Hi,” you whispered, grinning up at him, and his lips twitched as he covered his mic.

“You’re doing well,” Victor told you, giving you a firm nod, and you couldn’t quite keep from beaming at him.

“Thanks, you too. I never knew you were hiding such a skilled actor in there!” You really meant it, but your words gave him pause, mouth opening and closing as he considered his response. Strange, as modesty was something he didn’t often bother with. Not to say he’s arrogant, just that he knew his strengths.

“…thank you,” he finally said. “You too. I didn’t know you could…act.”

Because you weren’t acting. The blushing, the shy giggling, the warmth buzzing through you, they were painfully real.

You shrugged, smiling slightly, and he looked away.

“Just…thank you, Victor,” you murmured. “I know this isn’t really your thing. But I promise I’ll do my best to make it enjoyable.”

The light, airy sound that escaped his mouth could almost be a laugh. He did shoot you a small smirk, facing you once more. “Well, you’re not wrong. But it can’t be too bad. I’ve heard they’ve got good street food.”

“Good street food,” you repeated blankly. Wasn’t he taking this acting thing too far? This was bordering on alarming, coming from the man who used to look down on you for eating instant noodles.

“Yes.” He looks at you as if daring you to argue, and, well, who are you to argue with an actor’s method?

His smile faded slightly as yours widened, eyes fixating on yours, your voice pitching higher in your excitement. “I know, yeah, great food. Literally the only reason I agreed to do this!”

Victor’s face shutters at that, his lips pressing tightly together. “Hm.” He turned back to face the camera, leaving you confused, before realisation dawned.

“Hey, don’t worry! I won’t be too much of a glutton, we’ll be on camera, after all,” you told him, as reassuringly as possible because you and good food were a dangerous combo.

He arched a sharp brow at you. “We’ll see about that. I may spend most of my time in kitchen, but Mr Mills has much to tell me about some of your reactions.”

It was only through the sheer power of your offence that you were able to scowl at him even with the heat flaring up in your cheeks. “Well, there’s no way the food there will be as good as the one in Souvenir, so we have nothing to worry about.”

You resisted the urge to cross your arms, keeping your hands neatly folded in your lap as you turned away from him. But when he said nothing for a whole minute, you couldn’t resist the urge to sneak a peek, only to be left with your jaw slack.

Victor was still facing forward, but the corners of his mouth seemed to be curling up despite the effort he was clearly putting into keeping them neutral, his tiny smile still managing to spill through the seams. It enraptured you, a willing captive to the sight of him so pleased, and you wondered if you could make it through this with your heart intact.

But then, you told yourself through your daze, any chef would be happy to receive such praise for their food.

[video]

hopefully, yours, episode 3, part 1: Introductions (Victor and Y/n)

450,569 views • Feb 8th, 2020

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JTV ✓

1.19M subscribers

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51,509 comments

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Jason P ✓

pinned comment

This is a special one guys ♡

‎

needwater 45 minutes ego

AM I HALLUCINATING OR IS VICTOR LI ACTUALLY ON A DATING SHOW?

view 50 replies

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somsom 23 minutes ago

omg it’s y/n! We rarely get to see her on TV. She’s so cute!!!!

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orangeismycolour 16 minutes ago

!!!! Victor and Y/n!!! Omg ever since I saw them attend the Loveland gala together last year, I knew there was something there!!

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tooktiktook 8 minutes ago

um. isn’t this kind of an odd combo?

cheribb 5 minutes ago

@tooktiktok I thought so too but they look pretty cute together. I mean…he totally blushed when he saw her! And his eyes went so soft!

tooktiktok 4 minutes ago

@cheribb Well, she seems sweet but I think he was just being nice.

By the time you were shuffled into a van and driven to the site of the fair, your nerves had mostly settled.

Of course, that may have had something to do with the pudding cup Victor had handed you once you were in your seats. Goldman had brought over a paper bag, with Victor plucking two cups from it like a magician with a hat. With that said, while it’s a trick you’ve seen many a time, it never fails to bring a sparkle to your eye.

With Arnold’s permission, you were more than happy to dig right in. Your makeup would have to be retouched once you got there even if you didn’t eat.

It was easy to relax in the steady familiarity of Victor’s presence. A dangerous notion, your unwavering faith in Victor, that dictated everything would be okay if he was there because he would either make it so, or you, with confidence half-drawn from him, would make sure of it yourself.

It was only once you were halfway through the treat, humming and wiggling in your joy, that you realized Victor hadn’t started on his. Rather, his eyes were fixed firmly on you, intent in observing your devouring of the pudding.

The next bite went down a little heavier as you turned to him.

“Is something wrong?” Your enthusiasm surely couldn’t have come as a surprise.

He hesitated, seemingly on the verge of saying something, before clearing his throat and looking out he the window at the slow-moving traffic.

“No. Just…eat slowly,” he muttered, refusing to look at you. You squint at him, at the pink creeping up the back of his neck, sucking on the spoon thoughtfully. “There’s no need to rush.”

“Sorry. I got a little too excited.” Your laugh is a little hollow, and you muffle it with another mouthful of the soft, sweet dessert, missing his quick glance back at you.

He sighed, sudden and a little ragged.

“No, I meant that you should take your time and savour it,” he told you, looking at you out of the corner of his eye. “I can make it for you anytime, so there will be many more chances in the future.”

The next spoonful remained frozen by your mouth as you struggled to process his words. Warm fingers came to rest against the back of your hand, guiding it, and the spoon, to your lips. Your skin tingled, but what was more damning was the way he held your gaze as your lips parted, the metal spoon warm against your tongue as you tasted the sweet delicacy.

It felt all the more sweeter, however, because of the little smile dancing across Victor’s lips.

You were rescued from attempting to respond to that by the van slowing to a stop, with Jason and Homer climbing in before they got moving again. Homer would be the one following you around the fair, as they only needed to get a few takes of you indulging in various activities.

“We absolutely need one with the ferris wheel, of course. A little cliched, but still damn cute. Maybe we can fix a camera in the cabin…” Jason trailed off, turning to Homer for his input. “If you think it’ll be better without you there.”

‘How would it be better without Homer there?’ you wanted to protest. ‘I’ll screw it up if left to my own devices! Professional environment aside, that’s a little too romantic!’

Something prickled at the back of your neck, and you realized Victor seemed to be trying to get your attention, albeit in a very silent way you probably wouldn’t have caught on to if you hadn’t spent so much time studying him.

He said nothing even when you met his gaze, but a reassuring warmth calmed you all the same. I’ll be there, he seemed to say. Trust me.

You were worried about the romantic atmosphere getting to your head, but surely Victor, the ultimate voice of reason, wouldn’t let you get carried away?

“Okay, we won’t crowd you guys too much, but remember to avoid turning away from the camera!”

That had been the last thing Jason said to you both before he retreated to his place behind Homer, who was ready with the camera propped over his shoulder. Your mics were affixed to your clothes, and people were already beginning to shoot curious looks your way. It wasn’t an uncommon sight; many vloggers and people working for food channels could often be found in places like these, flitting about with their cameras out as they partook in the activities available.

While being around cameras was nothing new, it was a little strange to be on the other side of them. Nervousness weighing on your chest, you reminded yourself over and over: be natural, don’t act like a lovesick fool, don’t stare at Victor for too long. Turning to the man himself as Homer adjusted the camera settings, hoping to draw inspiration from his steadfast composure, you could only stare in confusion at the intent way in which he was staring at the entrance to the fair.

Following the trajectory of his gaze, you squinted, hoping to see what had caught his attention. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, with people milling about, the welcoming sign high above their heads bright and welcoming.

“Victor?”

“Hm?”

“Is everything okay?” you asked hesitantly, and he nodded, almost distracted.

“Are we ready?” he asked Homer, who gave him a thumbs up.

Jason grinned at you, winking in what he seemed to think was a discreet manner. “Have fun, you two.”

You couldn’t quite pretend there were no cameras, not with Homer keeping up with you as you began to walk through the entrance arch. Looking at Victor was easier, just to block out the awareness of your companions, of course.

Catching your nervous glances, he inclined his head towards you and made an abortive movement, hand rising and falling midway. His jaw clenched, and then he offered you his arm, elbow bent.

As your hand curled around his arm, you focused on your vibrant surroundings. A task made more difficult when, after a short pause, you felt him tuck his elbow into his side, the broad span of his shoulders relaxing when you tightened your grip.

“I’ve been meaning to come here for years, but never really got the chance to,” you told Victor, your voice still edged with nervousness. But Victor nodded at you again, the usual stern line of his mouth quirking up, and your mind stuttered, committing itself to memorizing the precious curve of his mouth.

“In that case I’m glad we got to come here together,” he told you, and it took a good deal of effort not to gape at him. “It’s a first for both of us.”

You nodded, stunned by this unforeseen acting prowess. Seemed like you’ve discovered another one of his many talents.

“Hopefully, it’s the first of many,” he added, a smug lilt to his voice, and this time, you did gape.

“Y-yeah,” you answered, face heating up as you turned away for the sake of your dignity. “Hopefully.”

bandanaman @headaccs

are we all seeing this?? he’s such a gentleman!! I was not expecting this man to be smooth. #HopefullyYours

mintmadness @mintsallover

@headaccs HAVE YOU SEEN HIM? He doesn’t even need words, one look and I would be on my knees. #HopefullyYours #VictorLi

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srirachafire @hotsauce

@mintsallover calm yo thirsty ass down lmao

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raspberrydream @berryberry

“the first of many” omg what does he mean???? #HopefullyYours

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freshasnow @crystalmoon

Yeah, I’m not really feeling this. I thought we were going to get Kai and Hollow this week? #HopefullyYours

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teatime ✓ @spillit

For those of you asking, yes, we knew Victor Li and Y/n were going to be on Hopefully, Yours. Don’t worry darlings, we’ll have some quality tea for you soon! #HopefullyYours

Spotting the first of the food vendors, you both headed over to it, peering at the fresh dumplings. The vendor straightened up at the sight of the camera, a benign smile spreading across his face when you asked him for permission to film, nodding and plating plump, steaming dumplings with the utmost grace.

Gordon, as he introduced himself, was more than happy to talk about his family business, their two restaurants in Loveland, while Homer took close-ups of the dumpling that Victor broke apart for a better look.

“My daughter comes here every year with me, insisting she can handle things by herself, but honestly, I just enjoy coming here,” he chortled, before fixing the two of you with a knowing look. “It’s a completely different atmosphere from the restaurant! And it’s always nice to see sweet young couples such as yourselves. Reminds me of my own fair dates with my wife…”

You couldn’t stop sneaking glances at Victor, who seemed content to chew on his snack. He caught your eyes, before his flickered over your head towards Homer and Jason. Inexplicably, his ears began to tint a deep crimson, as he swallowed with some effort and stepped closer to you.

It began to make sense when he lifted the other half of the dumpling to your lips, Gordon gasping an oh my! in the background, and even as your heart began to race, your eyes widening, you felt…bad. Jason had obviously asked him to do this, and you felt terrible about him having to embarrass himself like this. But he did it, and so you took a small bite of the dumpling, the juicy filling suddenly tasteless on your tongue.

And then there was a soft sensation on your chin, your eyes lifting to see Victor dabbing at your skin with a napkin, the little motion taking all his concentration until he stepped back with a satisfied glint in his eyes, which seemed to linger around your mouth.

When you were unable to do anything more than flush deeply and try to stammer out a thank you, Jason ended the shot.

The glint in Victor’s eyes didn’t fade, and something within you quivered.

raspberrydream @berryberry

he looks like he wants to eat HER #HopefullyYours

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bandanaman @headaccs

@berryberry I CAN’T BREATHE. I thought he was going to kiss her LOL. And she looked so nervous and then he just wiped her chin THIS IS TOO SOFT I CANT #HopefullyYours

mintmadness @mintsallover

god I wish that were me #HopefullyYours

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only4food @bananabread

Okay I HAVE TO go to this place. I NEED TO EAT EVERYTHING. Who’s in??

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midnightmachine @musiclover

Gordon knows what’s up. We stan a hard-working man. #HopefullyYours

Things continued in much the same direction. With no signs of reluctance, Victor rolled up his sleeves and dived into the bustle of the fair. And with his hand curled around your wrist, you couldn’t bring yourself to doubt him. You’ve learned to read the signs of his displeasure, subtle and obvious, and they were nowhere to be found. He looked relaxed, trying out mini doughnuts, accompanying you to any shops you want to browse, frowning when you looked longingly at the ring toss.

“Let’s go,” he said, guiding you over to the booth. Well, you were supposed to try out the games too, but you hadn’t thought Victor would agree to play them. It seemed a little too childish for him.

“I haven’t come here in years either,” he told you when you looked at him curiously, the two of you standing in line with Homer right next to you. “I love my job, but I admit it takes up most of my time. I rarely have time to indulge like this.” He paused, as if wanting to say more, but his eyes flicked towards Homer and he ended it there.

While a part of you was startled in by his words, another softened at his truthful admission.

Victor seemed to have thought of something else, giving you a meaningful look. “But, of course, I always make time for the people in my life.”

You blinked, a little taken aback by sudden turn in direction.

“Even if they want to come to places like these, I don’t mind.” Victor seemed to be hinting heavily at something, and you smiled at that, almost excessively fond. Because it’s true that Victor makes time for the people in his life, especially his family. And even for you—he’s there for you, no matter how small the matter might be; huffing and puffing and going out of his way to help you.

Falling for someone like that, someone who effuses such stoic confidence and noble compassion in equal measure, it was all too easy.

“Then we’ll make sure to come again,” you told him, a wide grin blooming across your face at the thought. It was unlikely that it would actually happen, but it was nice to think about. You stepped up to the cashier, greeting him politely.

You finally got your turns after fifteen minutes, with Homer and Jason taking a quick snack break while you waited. You’d run a quick eye over the prizes available, quickly drawn to two pusheen cat plushies, a soft grey and a dark ebony. You didn’t think he’d judge you on camera, but would it really be okay to admit that’s what you want? The hair pin would be a more sophisticated pick, something more to his tastes.

Silently despairing over your proclivity for soft cute things, you turned to Victor for his choice.

Only to realize he seemed to have taken his jacket off while you were preoccupied and handed it over to Jason, his thin black t-shirt fitting him like a glove—and your words died a swift death at the back of your throat, shrivelling in the sudden dryness of your mouth. Silhouetted against the light of the late afternoon sun, his features seemed sharper, his gaze keener as he twirled the ring in his hands carefully.

As Homer began to roll the camera, and Victor prepared to toss the ring, you panicked with the realization that he didn’t ask you which prize you wanted like Jason had asked him to.

The ring landed around a bottle with a loud clink, and you hoped the surprise you felt wasn’t clear in your loud cheer. With the look he gave you, you knew he caught it even if others wouldn’t.

And then he handed you the dark pusheen plushy, which you took with trembling fingers and a sheepish smile. “Oh, thank you.” It was exquisitely soft to the touch. “This is the one I wanted.”

“Hm.”

“It looks like you.”

“What-” His head snapped toward you as you laughed, clutching the toy to your chest. Whatever outraged retort he’d been about to spit out was held back as he saw you hugging it contentedly, your eyes twinkling at him. “…I suppose.”

You handed him the toy, rolling your shoulders as you were given the ring. “Which one do you want?”

“I’m fine with anything,” he said, eyes locked on the grey pusheen plushy, the other half of the pair. So it was with a laugh, helpless in the face of his clear yet unspoken demand, that you tossed the ring. You got it on the second try, handing the toy to Victor with a triumphant grin, who took it primly and tucked it into his side.

“Thank you.”

“Isn’t this too childish by your standards?” you teased, unable to help it, but he only smirked down at you, stealing your breath with devastating ease.

“It is. But childish is…nice, sometimes,” he admitted carefully.

Your mind helpfully supplied you with all the instances of him calling you childish. “Oh?”

He shrugged, elegant, one shoulder lifting as he looked back down at the toy, before looking back up at you through dark, half-lidded eyes. “It’s grown on me.”

Kiro ✓ @kiromusic

Wow! This seems like so much fun, I kinda wish I got to go there too! :D @miracley/n invite me next time!! #HopefullyYours

Savin @agents

@kiromusic You just want to eat junk. And...well, I guess we can make an exception for today.

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bandanaman @headaccs

Before I proceed to scream over the clip, I just wanted to let y’all know I did some digging and apparently, they are friends! They’ve been spotted together in public many times, including the Loveland Gala last year. You know what this means. #HopefullyYours

bandanaman @headaccs

THE PUSHEEN TOYS. They won each other toys!! Y/n’s right, that does look like him with the dark fur lmao. BUT. Look at Victor’s heart eyes!! And she looked so happy omg T_T

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raspberrydream @berryberry

@headaccs NO WONDER. It seems like they already like each other but it seemed too soon!! They’re so cute omg please date!! #HopefullyYours

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bandanaman @headaccs

@berryberry With how they look at each other? I smell pining ;) I’ve compiled a list of all their public appearances. He even took her to Souvenir! How are they not dating????

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raspberrydream @berryberry

@headaccs DM ME!!!!

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srirachafire @hotsauce

@headaccs I feel like that’s a bit of a reach. They certainly seem comfortable with each other, but that could easily just be friendship, which is nice too. I feel like we should allow people to be friends instead of just shipping them.

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mintmadness @mintsallover

@hotsauce they’re on a dating show, though.

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srirachafire @hotsauce

@mintsallover yeah but plenty of other ‘couples’ were just friends or went on to be good friends. I just think these two are comfortable with each other, which is probably a good thing because Victor doesn’t strike me as the sort of person who can have fun with just anyone, you know?

You ended up having a lot more fun than you thought you would. Victor was always great company, but you could tell he’d tried his best to relax for the show and you didn’t know how to thank him for it. The warm gratitude bubbled up at the base of your throat, your heart sinking deeper into the ocean of affection you already held for him.

He’s so kind. His aloof demeanour, his nagging, his precise instructions and advice were things you’ve come to appreciate. But beyond those lies a heart so caring, so considerate, it made you yearn so deeply, to find yourself a place in it. But Victor had come to treat you as a friend and you could never ruin that because of your own feelings. It was precious, his friendship, and you wanted to treat it as such.

The line you’d drawn with so much care seemed to be straining, however, ever since you found out you would be riding the ferris wheel together, without Homer.

“The people in charge told us if we could just wait until closing time, they could keep things going until we’re done shooting!” Jason had told you as he briefed everyone. A bunch of the crew had left after packing up, as this would be the last take for the day. “That way Homer can fix the lighting and equipment in the cabin and won’t need to join you two! Give you some privacy, yeah?”

‘For what,’ you’d screamed internally, nodding along with a smile on the outside.

Looking to Victor for his opinion had been futile, because he seemed to have withdrawn into his own head, looking up at the ferris wheel absently. You were supposed to shoot the individual parts, but with how late it had gotten, Jason had asked the two of you to drop by the studio the next day. Only, you had a free slot in the morning while Victor would only be able to make it sometime during the late afternoon.

So you wouldn’t get to see what Victor said about you. That was perfectly fine. Things had gone well, and Victor wasn’t the sort to badmouth someone anyway.

It was supposed to be his day off. And he gave it up to participate in a show that was, for all intents and purposes, pointless for him. You felt terrible, heart aching at the thought that once again you had made him waste his time.

How on earth did Jason even get him to agree to this?

“You’re thinking something ridiculous,” came a low voice, and Victor seemed to have come back from his mental journey.

“I’m sorry,” you blurted out, the guilt getting to you.

“For what?” He seemed genuinely baffled, and it made you feel worse.

“For this entire day. You just came for a visit and now it’s after 8 pm and your day off is gone and you rarely get free time…” your shameful rambling tapered off as the furrow between his brows appeared to grow deeper and deeper.

His response was interrupted by a staff member, who came to let you know the ride was ready for you two. Walking together in complete silence, you wondered what he was about to say.

“Do you regret it?”

You arrived at the ride, and Victor had stopped in front of the open door. “What?”

“Do you regret it?” he repeated patiently, holding his hand out to you. “This entire day. Our date.”

Our date.

It was silly, how him calling it a date, with no cameras in sight, seemed to affect you so deeply. It was ridiculous but it was so real, how your heart fluttered and hope unfurled in the garden where you’ve buried your affection.

“Because I’m not sorry,” he added when you failed to do anything other than flush horribly. There was a question in his gaze, one you didn’t know how to answer, so with a deep breath, you focused on the one he’d asked out loud.

“No,” you said softly, your hand coming to rest over his as he helped you into the cabin. “I don’t regret it.”

How could you, when he was everything you wanted?

You settled on the plastic bench, watching Homer fiddle with the settings and light, making sure the camera’s fixed in place, basking in the heat emanating from Victor.

“Alright, that should work. You guys ready?” he asked.

“Yeah!”

“Yes.”

Homer stepped back to let Jason poke his head through the door. “We’re all set guys. Just call us if there are any problems. Be yourselves, don’t worry about the take. And remember, make sure to make it as romantic as possible!”

As the door closed behind him, with the camera rolling, silence rose to take the place of the sounds now cut off, the rest of the world falling away as the ride began and you began to ascend.

Outside the window, the stars shone in a twinkling blanket across the night sky, and Victor’s arm pressed into yours. Meeting his eyes was difficult, astoundingly so after the entire day you spent together.

This close, it would be so easy to let the words tumble from your lips. You didn’t know what your eyes could give away right now, and you were just as afraid of the softness in his gaze.

It looked too real.

“I’m glad we finally got some peace,” he muttered, and just like that a bright laugh broke out through your fear.

“This was not your kind of place at all, was it?” you said, snickering at the look he threw your way, because it’s so easy to make him huff like that.

“It was…lively,” he said, glaring at you as you stifle your smile behind your hand. “Exactly the kind of place you enjoy.”

“That’s true.”

“Then that’s that.” He shifted a little, trying to face you, his knee knocking into yours. “As long as you had fun, we’ll come again.”

Despite your warnings, your heart skipped a beat.

You tried to laugh it off, changing the subject to your childhoods, swapping lighter stories and carefully avoiding the heartbreaks. Your hands moved somewhere in between, in the dim lights, and your fingers had found each other’s. Make it romantic, Jason had said. That was the only reason. You talked about work, about Miracle Finder, about his public projects, how your busy lives don’t give you the chance to find love.

“I wouldn’t say that,” Victor cut in, still looking at you in that quietly dangerous away, his gaze a heated cloak over your skin.

You stilled. “You wouldn’t?” There was a tremor in your voice, one you hoped went unnoticed.

“I think, regardless of how busy we are, however reluctant…love finds us when it has to,” he said, his voice deep, unwavering, and you forgot how to breathe. Somehow, despite doing your best to avoid it, you had wound up on the proverbial cliff’s edge.

And it was time to take a leap.

“Victor...have you ever been in love?” you asked, part of you ready for his outrage, for him to brush it off with a roll of his eyes, and the other curling up in fear at the thought of the answer he might really give you.

He hummed, tightening his grip on your hand when you tried to tug it back, searching your face. His thumb swept over your knuckles, rubbing gently, and you wondered if he was preparing you for heartbreak.

“Yes. I have.”

Kiki @kikiki

@smilingwillow WHAT THE FUCK

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Anna @miracletv

@kikiki Language.

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Kiki @kikiki

‎@miracletv did you see the episode?? im going to collapse WHERE IS BOSS @miracley/n

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raspberrydream @berryberry

DID HE JUST???? OH MY GOD @headaccs DID YOU SEE THIS? ARE YOU OKAY? #HopefullyYours

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bandanaman @headaccs

THIS MAD LAD ACTUALLY DID IT. @berryberry I will never recover from this #HopefullyYours

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srirachafire @hotsauce

@headaccs @berryberry He just said he’s been in love before. He didn’t say he’s in love with her lol

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raspberrydream @berryberry

@hotsauce what will it take for you to finally see the light

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mintmadness @mintsallover

I could listen to this man talk all day. Y/n, you’re one lucky girl <3 #HopefullyYours

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cocoloco @chocolatedelite

I’m late to the party but lmao at everyone freaking out. Uhhh honestly I’m not sure. These things are usually scripted. They could just be faking it. #HopefullyYours

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srirachafire @hotsauce

@chocolatedelite Thank you!!!!

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victorshoe @mrsli

My heart is broken but their cuteness has mended it. I’ll give them my blessings. #HopefullyYours

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bandanaman @headaccs

oh thank god they just uploaded the individual bits!!! THANK YOU @jtv

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bandanaman @headaccs

...wait

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raspberrydream @berryberry

‎‎omfg

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bandanaman @headaccs

????? IS THAT IT??? COME BACK @jtv that can't be it!!

Thank you for reading!

MC/You: it’s a fake date. chill.

Victor: Goldman I need NINE roses and an outfit that makes me look like a sex god I HAVE A DATE

#mlqc #mlqc victor #mlqc fanfic #mr love queen's choice #mr love li zeyan #mlqc victor x reader #queue are my sunshine

374 notes · View notes

fawad-khan · 3 years

Text

Together Always

A/N: hey guys, this is a part of @in-a-lot-of-fandoms-tbh 's 1k writing challenge, congratulations again, queen K! I hope you enjoy. I’m so sorry for the delay hvfuuvcurv, i hope you enjoy! This is my longest yet, if this flops, i will be angy :)

Masterlist

Pairing- Harry Holland x reader

Warning- some angst maybe? mentions of hospital, nothing too gory, maybe swearing here and there

Word Count- 3.5k+ (woohoo!)

Prompt- “Marriage? Pass”

Prompt will be in bold

Summary- you finally realize why people choose to go ahead and take a long term committment with each other.

(At age 10)

You were sitting on a park bench alone, crying by yourself. No one was around, for you were sitting in a quiet and empty part of the park. Your head was bent to your knees, which you had brought closer to your chest. You were so engrossed in your own sorrow that you did not notice two identical faces catching your sight and walking towards you, wondering what was wrong.

"Hey, what happened? Are you alright?" You heard a voice in front of you and looked up, seeing two twin boys standing in front of you. One of them had curly hair, while the other had straighter hair.

"Well no, I'm not in a really good mood right now." You replied meekly.

"Do you want to talk about it?" The curly haired boy asked. You let out a sniffle and wiped your wet eyes. They sat down beside you, the curly haired boy sitting on your left and patting your hand for comfort, and the straight haired boy sitting by your right.

"Well, uh it's just that my mommy an-and my daddy they do-don't want to live with each o-other anymore and are getting a d-divorce."

"Oh, uh that's really sad to hear. Do you know exactly why this happened though? Like do they fight or anything?"

"Harry, don't ask her all that! She will tell us if she wants to."

"It's ok, uh they kind of fight a lot everyday and I overhear them saying they cannot live like this and all, I guess." You said, smiling sadly. "Now I have to decide who I want to live with. It's gonna be a bit hard for me." You sniffled again, making the boy named Harry (you guessed when the other boy called him) rub your arm in comfort.

"Well if you ever have any difficulties, we don't live very far from here. You can always come and maybe live with us, if our mum agrees with it."

"No no, I don't wanna burden you like that, but uh sounds nice!"

"Oh and I'm Harry, he's my twin Sam." He said, pointing to the straight haired boy.

"I'm (y/n)." You said, shaking their hands. Little did your 10 year old self know at the time that their friendship would make a tremendous difference in your life.

----

(6 years have passed)

It has been 6 years. You decided to finally move in with your dad, partly because he was kind of a better parent to you and partly because his house was near the Hollands, which made it easier for you to see the twins more often.

Ever since that day, you had become great friends with Harry and Sam. Of course, through them, you also met Tom and Paddy and their parents, and they were the sweetest people you ever met. They helped you go through your parents divorce, as it is always very difficult for a small child to go through such things alone. They were like a second family to you. Tom kind of became like a protective older, while Paddy was like a little brother.

Harry and Sam were your best friends, of course. They never failed to always keep you happy and amused, especially when they did a lot of silly things on purpose.

Harry never failed to pull you out of your blues. No matter what it was, he always managed to get a smile out of you every single day. He made you feel warm and fuzzy every time it was just the two of you together. You often accompanied him whenever he would do some casual photoshoots, as you were a great help to him, giving valuable tips, helping him choose a perfect scene, etc.

Of course, as you grew older, puberty was obviously very much favourable to all of you. Harry was no longer the cute little boy with a baby voice, you were no longer the small girl with a doll face. Harry grew more tall, his muscular features become more and more prominent. His voice had become deeper, which you found pleasant to hear all day long. Not to mention, he was more attractive as well, so naturally he often attracted the attention of girls in school which often made you jealous.

Sam of course grew up to be a very charming and handsome lad as well, quite like his twin. His cooking skills had improved a lot too. But, the bond between the two of you was more platonic. You felt a deeper connection with Harry, something more than friendship. You were still wary of a long term committed relationship, given that you had gone through your parents divorce, but that did not stop you from daydreaming about what it would be like if you and Harry were together.

----

(Age 17)

It was your senior prom and your date had turned out to be a bitch, deciding to never show up at your house to pick you up. He had messaged you about having caught the flu, and right when you were about to just give up and stay in at home instead, Sam insisted that you come to prom anyway. What you did not know was Harry had not managed to get a date, so he just decided to show up solo. He had been hoping to ask you, but seeing that you got a date already, he decided to just go by himself.

So when he saw you alone and dateless, looking absolutely impeccable and breathtaking in your body hugging purple dress that ended above your knees and hair opened save for a small braid in the side, he decided to take this chance and go for it.

You had seen him too, looking so handsome in his tuxedo. How you were mentally wishing that you both would be together instead. The way his curls flopped despite his best efforts to keep them tidy only made him seem hotter in your eyes.

"What happened? Todd ain't here?" He asked, referring to your date.

"Na, he's had a bout of flu, at least that's what he says."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I dunno, I guess I just kinda had this coming you know, maybe I'm not meant to have a nice date to a dance and have fun. Ah, just my luck."

"Come on, any guy would be lucky to be with you."

"Yeah right." At that moment, his eyes fell on a couple who had entered the ballroom, and when he realised who it was, his blood boiled and his fingers were clenched as he tried to control the urge to just go and punch him.

You could feel him tense up beside you, and looking at his face, you could sense something wasn't right. His face held an agitated expression.

"What's the matter, Harry?" You asked, concerned.

"I hate to tell you this, but uh looks like Todd is in perfect health." He mumbled.

"Wait whatever do you mean?"

"See for yourself." He pointed you in the direction where he was looking, and to your immense surprise, there was Todd all suited up, getting quite cozy with some random chick who was in a dress slightly shorter than the prescribed dress code. You could feel your blood boiling. The audacity of the motherfucker to lie like this and then just show up like that, you couldn't control the rage building in you.

Before Harry could stop you, you stormed your way towards the couple, who were now making out in a corner and ripped them apart. The chick had barely uttered a word when you gave him one tight slap.

"Fucking bastard, so this is your flu? How did I even agree to you, you son of a bitch?!" You shouted out so loud that now the whole hall of students was staring at this scene. Harry finally came behind you and held your shoulders in an attempt to calm you down.

"Hey hey hey, just leave that fucker alone, okay" he whispered in your ear and dragged you away from them towards the drinks table. He handed you a cold drink and you gulped half the drink in one sip, which helped you to calm down.

"Are you okay?" He asked softly, holding your hand for comforting you.

"Yeah, I'm fine just, I should've expected this would happen, I guess. I don't think boyfriend and all is meant for me." You said, feeling a small lump in your throat as you felt tears in your eyes.

"Hey hey hey, now don't say all that." He lifted your chin up and looked into your eyes. "Don't cry over that wanker. You wanna dance with me?" He held out his hand, waiting for your answer. You wiped your tears and smiled at him, taking his hand, which he took as yes.

He took you to the dance floor and held you by the waist, pulling you closer towards him. Some slow music was playing. You held his shoulders and rested your head on his chest, swaying slowly to the music. The space between the two of you was not that prominent now, and you could hear your heart beat very loud and felt that Harry could probably hear it too.

He was feeling sorry. Sorry that you were made upset by a total jerk, but at the same time glad because that was the reason he was here, holding you close, dancing with the prettiest girl he knew, the girl he had liked over the years. He could smell sweet shampoo from your hair, mixed with some perfume you had applied, lulling him into a trance of you.

The beat of the music changed as the DJ changed into another song with faster rhythm, making you pull away from each other as you matched to the rhythm. He accompanied too, although he wasn’t too great of a dancer, but he still looked cute trying to match your moves, making you giggle at him. You danced to a few more songs, before you felt a little hungry and thirsty, signalling Harry who was feeling the same. You went to the snack counter and got some snacks for both of you, while he got the drinks. You quickly chugged the drink and snacks at once, making him laugh, you following suit.

“Thanks for this Harry, I’m really enjoying prom.”

“You’re welcome, love.” you froze a little at that nickname. Love, huh. You’d love to get used to that nickname. You just smiled in response.

The rest of the prom just went in a blur. All that you really remembered and cared about was when you sneaked out of the party and took a walk in the park. You both were just walking side by side, hands brushing every now and then. Harry suddenly stopped and let out a deep breath.

“Hey, (y/n)?”

“Yeah Harry?”

He cupped your cheeks and leaned in, pressing a soft kiss on your lips, catching you off guard. Slowly you melted into the kiss, moving your lips against his soft ones. He pulled away from you, eyes closed and pressed his forehead against yours, hands still cupping your cheeks.

"Would this be a good time to say that I like you? Like maybe we could be something more?" His eyes slowly opened, looking into your (y/e/c) eyes, both of you knew the answer.

"Yes Harry, I'd love that." You said smiling, making him grin from ear to ear. He leaned in again to kiss you harder, one hand still on your cheek while the other pulled you closer by the waist to practically press into his chest. Your hands went around his neck as you kissed him harder as well, with more passion, as if letting out all of the tension into it. Needless to say, this was your happiest memory of your lives.

----

(Age 23)

You never thought that you'd be in a relationship this long, but here you were, six years later. Harry was now a professional photographer and often had lots of photoshoots lined up for him. You had decided to take up journalism, as you were fond of writing a lot and often wrote plenty of articles in your school days.

You both now lived together in an apartment of your own, not very far from the Hollands'. You were both busy in your professional lives, but always found time for each other as well. You’d maybe go out on dates to a restaurant or to the movies, or have a night in having a movie night or just do something goofy or have some fun ;)

He has always made you feel complete. Neither of you really felt the pressure to go to the next step, which was marriage, or well so you thought. Harry would lie if he said that it didn’t occur to him. However, he knew that you weren’t ready just yet. He did not mind much, so as long as he could be with you all his life.

You were sitting and having tea with one of your colleagues Sally, who was also a good friend of yours. You were just sitting and discussing stuff about some work and boyfriends, bitching away about some stupid colleagues in your office.

“Oh also, I have something to say.” she said in a very excited voice.

“Oooh what is it?” you asked, curious as to what she was going to say. She simply squeeled a little and thrust her left hand in front of your eyes and you saw a beautiful silver princess cut diamond cut ring on her ring finger. You covered your mouth, a big smile on your face. You gave her a big hug. You were so happy for her.

“Oh my god, Ricky proposed? I cannot believe this! When did this happen?”

“It happened this morning! He did it when I woke up! Isn’t he so amazing?”

“Of course Sal, I’m so happy for you!”

You could not, however, feel a panging in your heart. It felt a little like a longing pain, as if you would love for something like this to happen. You had no intentions to settle for a long term commitment like a marriage, but maybe, just maybe, there was a teeny tiny part in you that perhaps wanted that with Harry.

“So what about you and Harry? Are you guys planning to marry any time soon?” she asked cheekily. You gave a clamped smile.

“Marriage? Pass.” you said, trying to sound nonchalant, even though your voice quivered a bit.

“Are you sure though hun? I mean, you and Harry have been going strong for years now. Don’t you even think about it sometimes?”

You gulped. She was kind of right.

“I don’t know, maybe? Ok, yes maybe I’ve thought of this a few times.” you paused to take a sip of your coffee and continued, “well actually speaking, I have some issues to be in a long term commitment. So far, I am kinda surprised that I’ve been in a relationship this long, although Harry is really amazing. It’s just that, I don’t want that if we marry then something happens, creating a wedge between us, and then we have to split up. Like, in the case of my parents as well, who couldn’t wait to leave each other. I guess, I’m just scared of that happening, that’s all.”

“Oh I see. Hey, its normal to feel scared of what may happen in the future. I would be lying too if I said that I’m scared too. But sometimes, we just have to go for it, you know? Life is a roller coaster, yes, but if you find the right person to spend it with, then you’ll be ready to face them.” she held your hand to give you assurance. You let out a breath and nodded in agreement.

“Thank you so much, Sal. Also congratulations again! I’m so happy for you!” you hugged her again and headed towards your bike to go back to your apartment, Sally’s words never leaving your mind.

----

(many weeks later)

You were sitting in your office cubicle, editing an article on your computer. Suddenly you saw Sam’s name flashing on your phone as it buzzed since you had put it on silent. Sensing that something was up, since he never called you while you were at work unless it was an emergency, you picked up the phone, a “hello?” leaving your mouth. If you were not mistaken, you could hear him crying.

“Sam? What happened? Is everything okay?” you asked, getting worried.

“Oh (y/n), come to the hospital quickly. Harry’s been admit-ted.” he stuttered, followed by more cries. Your hand flew to your mouth, you went into a shock. Harry? In the hospital? Was he ok? With so many questions buzzing in your mind, you managed to mutter a quick yes and got up from your desk, gathering your bag and telling your boss briefly that you needed to go to the hospital urgently, to which he agreed. You quickly climbed on your bike and drove to the hospital, which was thankfully not very far off.

You went to the receptionist, where Sam was standing, waiting for you. Seeing you walk towards him, he just gave you a hug, tears dropping from his eyes. You hugged back, trying your best to soothe your best friend by patting on his back.

“It’s ok Sam. Where is he?” your voice was suddenly high as you choked back your tears. He just led you to a hospital room, where Tom was sitting beside the hospital bed, face tear stained. He gave you a small and faint smile when he saw you. Your eyes finally fell on Harry, who was lying on the bed, his eyes closed. The heart monitor was bleeping, he had an oxygen mask on his face. Many wires were attached to his left hand, for medicine and blood supplies. He had some bandages on his left arm and his left leg as well.

“Wh-what exactly h-happened?” you stuttered, tears spilling from your eyes.

“He got into a crash, and got injured. The doctor said that he hasn’t suffered too many injuries, but he is yet to gain consciousness.” Tom said, voice still shaking. “We’re all just waiting for him to wake up.”

You took a seat beside the bed and held his right hand, which did not have any needles. You muttered a silent prayer for him to get well soon. You stroked his hair as he kept on sleeping peacefully.

----

Harry finally regained consciousness two days later. You all were so happy and relieved. The doctor also gave good news that he was better and would be good to go in two more days, as he had to do some minor check ups. You were relieved that he was going to be alright. You had been so afraid to lose him, as you couldn’t imagine your life without him. He had been your support all your life.

Oh. Oh. A realization hit you. He was your whole life. You did not want to spend your life without him. This episode of almost losing him had made you realize it. You quickly made your way towards Harry’s room, where he was just lying awake. Sam was telling him something, and he had an amused look on his face.

“Hey, babe. How are you feeling?”

“Better. How’re you?”

“I’m great. Hey, could I talk to you for a minute?”

“Yeah sure, (y/n/n) what is it?”

You took a deep breath. “So uhh, I’ve actually been thinking ever since we almost lost you. I don’t know, but it got me thinking. You know how I’ve always been wary of the idea of marriage, as I have always feared that what happened to my parents, would happen to us, which is not what I want. But umm, I’ve realized that I never wanna lose you, ever. I cannot imagine a life without you with me. Also, what Sally said to me the other day, made me realize that you are indeed the right person for me.”

“Oh my- wow (y/n) so, are you saying that um, that umm you’d consider taking the next step?” he asked, hoping you’d say yes.

“Yes Harry.” you tucked a hair strand behind your hair, took his hand in yours and continued, “so Harry, I know this is probably not the place to say this, we’re in a friggin hospital” he chuckled as you smiled and continued, “but maybe, when time comes, and I’m hoping it comes soon enough, do you wanna consider maybe going further? Like, be together forever?”

“You have no idea how much I’ve waited for this.”

“Is that a yes?”

He just pulled you towards him in response and caressed your cheek, attaching his lips to yours. You kissed him back gladly, smiling into the kiss. He pulled away and stroked his finger on your hand, whispering a “yes”, a goofy grin on his face.

The End

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