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frazzledsoul · 10 months

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literati fics: a frazzled curated list

So there’s been a lot of talk on my feed about “fandom coming back” (it left?) and needing to create user-curated lists of fanfic instead of relying on authors to plug their fics.

Well, this is cheating, because I’m going to plug my own fics, too, but I’ve mostly been reading literati fics for the past few years. I don’t see a lot of Luke/Lorelai fics even being written anymore (also, while I enjoy the fics, my opinions on those two are out of line with a lot of other fans) and I got really into reading lit fics about two years ago, kind of fell out of it, and fell back into in over the past few weeks. So with that behind us, this is what I have enjoyed.

Appreciation by ksfd89 : This is a post revival fic about Rory reconciling with Jess and going through the pregnancy and birth. It’s long, but it’s complete, and I have a soft spot for it as it was the first fic in this fandom that I really latched onto. I don’t think it’s on AO3 but I may be wrong.

the weight we carry by @scoopsgf: This is basically a novel of Jess’s life story, from right before he shows up on the show to a few years past the revival. I love, love, love it and am rereading it right now. It does a great job of writing in canon and also filling in the gaps when Jess was offscreen.

wrapped up in books by @scoopsgf: This starts as a season 6 fix it where Rory reconcile with Jess after the meeting at Truncheon but then (spoiler alert) Rory winds up pregnant with twins right as she graduates from Yale. I got to the end of the first part and I was like wutttttttt but the concept actually works?!? So it’s basically Rory and Jess being adorable hipster parents in NYC.

A Society Affair by Ultra: Rory has been raised in her grandparents world when she hooks up with Jess, who is Hep Alien’s band manager. I don’t see this author talked about much here, but they’re responsible for a gazillion Lit fics. Anyway, this is very cute and features a lot of the Chilton/Yale crew as supporting characters without villainizing them.

Met You At The Right Time by @windowsandfeelings: So I really hadn’t read fic for over a year until I came across this one a little over a month ago and got super hyperfixated on this ship as a result of it. Rory becomes unstuck in time the day after her mother’s wedding and starts revisiting points in her past. Makes excellent (and I do mean excellent) use of the lack of info given to us about that eight year gap between the OS and AYITL.

Harvest Moon by @mrsmess: I had heard about this fic for years but never checked it out because well, I guess I’m a moron. Rory and Jess reunite at Luke’s cabin after her grandfather dies. I don’t know why I avoided it so long because I’m a hick and have spent half my weekends at a lakeside cabin since I was a teenager so you would think this would be right what I want in a fic and yeah, it absolutely is. So again, I’m a moron for not reading this sooner. The sequels are great, too.

Starstuck by @mrsmess: Rory and Jess get stuck in a Groundhogs Day time loop the day of the firelight festival in season 4 and have to get themselves out. I loved, loved, loved this concept and devoured the story in an hour or so.

The Long and Winding Road by @stellaluna33: Rory comes to some realizations about Jess as she becomes a mom. WIP, but I’ve very much enjoyed it so far.

If you didn’t see your fic on here, well, I probably didn’t read it yet. But these are my current favorites.

Onto my fics for this ship:

The Morning After: Jess and Rory hook up in Stars Hollow in the summer of 2012, and everyone finds out about it and talks the subject to death. I’m not sure if this qualifies as a Literati fic, honestly: I was less interested when I wrote it in the actual sex itself than the blended family dynamics and filling in some of the plot holes and unexplained stray comments from AYITL (and there were a lot of them). My thinking was that it would be interesting if Jess’s complaint that Luke didn’t give him the wifi password for six months “and I lived here!” was not a reference to the distant past, but an indication that his business failed and he had to come back to Stars Hollow for a while and hooked up with Rory when she was newly freelancing and starting to unravel. I was going to write a sequel where Jess wrote a mosaic novel in part based on Luke and Lorelai’s relationship and got his shit together professionally as a result, but I never did (oops). Anyway, this exists, it’s complete, but it’s a got an unsatisfactory ending as it is canon compliant. Also, there are a lot of banjo jokes.

A Simple Twist of Fate: Jess and Rory are reeling from recent breakups of long-term relationships when they reconcile on Emily Gilmore’s living room floor (niiiiice). How will their new relationship handle the pregnancy that ensues? I’ve gone round and round on this on this blog because I didn’t realize until I wrote it what an outlier it was to have Jess deeply involved with someone else (and oh, yeah, it’s written in Rory’s first person POV. Was I high when I decided to do that? Anyway). It’s twenty six chapters of angst and ponderous conversations about miscarriage, guilt, and depression, with some fluff mixed in. Currently unfinished.

Home: It’s a fast forward of A Simple Twist of Fate. Drabbles about Rory and Jess raising their daughter in Philadelphia. I’m currently working on a chapter about the I-95 bridge collapse (what a cheery subject!)

Blueberry Pancakes: Okay, so a long time ago I started a story called Full Circle (it’s in my fic list, but I’m not linking it here because the Literati part so far is basically nonexistent). The idea was that Rory would have lots of romantic misadventures while on the campaign trail while Luke and Lorelai would go to therapy and get married and have babies and do all the conventional stuff. Rory would settle down with Jess and at some point Lorelai and Rory would be pregnant at the same time. This drabble takes place in the world of that story, which is why I’m including it here. The drabble French Fries also takes place in that universe, but Rory and Jess don’t actually appear (although their daughter does).

(Fair warning: the previous two drabbles are in a drabble list where I wrote stories about multiple ships, including Rory and Logan. So yeah, if you read the whole thing through you may get it from the other side. I’ve also re-ordered my canon compliant fics so they appear in a series, and there’s some Rory/Logan stuff in there as well, including the last fic I wrote. They are not endgame, but I haven’t written the stories where Jess wins the ship war. So it is what it is).

#literati #gilmore girls #frazzled recommends fics #and pimps her own stuff #read what you may!

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sophieswundergarten · 10 months

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Because apparently I like angst, I was thinking about the various iterations of "Kate gets adopted by Curtain" AUs, and my brain went to...

The TPJ Cave Scene

Because, I imagine that in this version of events, Kate really was on the Society's side. She wanted to join them, and she tried her best to help them at the Institute, but when push came to shove she couldn't leave SQ.

(SQ knew a little bit about the whole situation, but he has, like, negative ten self-confidence, so he's caught in the middle of his headstrong sister and control freak dad, and he's pretty sure that Kate and the others must just be misguided, but it's his job as the big brother to protect Kate, so he doesn't tell Curtain a single thing)

So she went with Curtain and kept quiet about her mutinous thoughts. Sure, she still snarked at him and pulled him into arguments about his paranoia or his treatment of SQ, but that was nothing really out of the ordinary. She sent a few letters, far too vague and far apart for the Society's comfort, with no return address and no details beyond "We're safe. I'm so sorry."

So they end up on the island in hiding and Kate is doing her best not to rock the boat, but still begging SQ to trust her and leave Curtain before something worse happens.

Meanwhile, the Society is losing their entire minds because immediately after Kate apologized and slipped away to check on SQ, Milligan shows up. And he's regained his memories.

Anyways, instead of a scavenger hunt they're just actively searching for Curtain/Kate the whole time, and when eventually they figure out he's probably looking for duskwort, Mr. B and Number Two have been doing field research while the others stay at home and research that way. But cue Mr. B and Number Two going missing, and that whole crisis, and the kids go off on their own.

Because they were actually involved in the search this time, they get to where they're going much quicker. They still get to meet Noland/Cannonball/Sophie because I love them and they need to be included, but at last they get to the island!

There they find Kate hanging out in the forest/abandoned village because she got mad and ran off and Curtain let her because A) Where's she going to go? It's an island, and B) He's spiraling down the paranoia hole at this point and can barely pay attention to anything.

The Society is super excited to see Kate, and assure her that they understand her not wanting to abandon her family, and she fills them in on all the details. Number Two still escaped, and is... somewhere. They're trying to come up with a plan when Milligan shows up!!

The kids all look at him and Kate uncomfortably, and he announces loudly and forcefully that they will be focussing on one problem at a time, and right now they need to deal with getting everyone off the island safely.

So, they formulate a plan, and then the Ten Men or Grays or whatever show up and think they're trying to kidnap Kate :)

Milligan fight scene, and the kids get to the cave

The Society gets captured, and Kate gets in serious trouble. She has a fight with Curtain where he yells at her a lot and tries all his nasty manipulation tricks like telling her her real dad didn't love her and how great he is for adopting her, and then goes somewhere else to Plot.

SQ tries to comfort her, and the kids take this moment to try and convince him how awful Curtain is. SQ is too scared and uncertain, though, and while he's definitely not going to hurt the kids or tell on them, he isn't about to give up the only protection he and Kate have ever known.

Mr. Benedict has to do his hypnotism trick, but Kate doubles back after a minute and arrives just in time to see Curtain going berserk, just so angey at poor SQ for messing up. Kate hides until Curtain storms out again and rescues SQ, who is so miserable at this point (And after being confronted that 90% of what made his life bearable was Kate, and thinking she had finally gone because he made too big a mistake) that he agrees to go with them.

Aaaaand then they find Milligan and get back to the Shortcut (Where Number Two is) and SQ does his best to help in whatever way he can and sticks right to Kate's side the whole time, and then they get to head back home!!

At this point it's basically a backwards version of the lovely @sqenthusiast's post here, but I will never get over the Cave Scene, so here's what came out of it this time :)

#And then Milligan adopts SQ obviously #In case that wasn't super clear #Because Kate needs a sibling who lives with her!!#She can't get ALL of her shenanigans and prank energy out only when she visits the others #Also I adore my sibling and our relationship is very important to me and I'm more of the SQ in this relationship while they're the Kate #And our dynamic is so good #I want to share it with these characters :)#Anyhow!#Sorry for the crazy rambles #I know they don't make a lot of sense #The usual heterogeneous mixture of Show and Book with random bits of both floating around #Sorry #the mysterious benedict society #mbs #kate wetherall #sq pedalian #milligan wetherall #ld curtain

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thesamoanqueen · 9 months

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I was really worried about what they were going to do with Jey after Summerslam if he lost. Like he's put his blood sweat and tears into the story for 3 years. He's the one who has carried it when Roman isn't there, which is more frequent since he went part-time. This is the biggest story that draws, so that's a lot of trust, especially when their negotiating TV deals and closing on their buy-out. But after Summerslam, I'm kind of naively optimistic? Like it's clear, Jey/Jonny is going to be the A story, especially with Roman taking time off. They are once again trusting them, and they've proven they can deliver. Also, after last night, I'm seeing hints of the adversity baby face beats but not shoehorned and dumb like Cody's but interwoven to the point you HURT for Jey. People are furious, Jimmy is going to get Dominik heat but unlike Dominick (and I love Dominik) Jimmy can handle a crowd and can be ruthless on the Mike, he's goingb to be so much fun. These guys are going to break our hearts. My point is, I thought about how Raw has tons of super over baby faces and Smackdown doesn't. They have faces but only a few guys over and none with the kind of writing Cody and Seth are getting. Most of the development was really going into heals, and LA Knight, I'm not sure where his story is going. So I wondered, are they really going to build Jey to be a top babyface? Is he getting a singles run?What do you think? You always have great opinions ❤️

Aw An thank you❤️ too kind, my mind is not so good but I appreciate your words~

Anyway, Raw and SD are two different brands, they have different creative groups and two different fan markets, that's why the Bloodline has always been on SD and in the last draft (even if they don't respect the rules of ten years ago) were made choices. SD has few babyfaces and surely the only big babyface at the moment is Jey in terms of storylines.

People say after Summerslam that a feud between Jimmy and Jey doesn't make sense, but it's really the only step they could take for him without giving him the title and treating him well. Im sure that the end of this new feud will bring them back together, so its a braket for the Usos, but a great opportunity to show that both can have a run as singles and successfully as that Fightful source said. They're both outstanding and will do their job wonderfully, so I'm definitely optimistic about what's going to happen for them.

I'm sorry it's obvious, because I would have really liked to see Jey win and because they are inseparable, but it's not a split for me, but a break. One that they want first and that also makes sense in the Bloodline story. It will give visibility to Jey who we discovered is an excellent babyface and a new version to Jimmy who has always been seen as the good funny guy of the group and now have to get involved with something that usually doesn't belong to him. It will fill the void left by Roman during his hiatus, give continuity and maybe fill a couple of plot holes. I don't really understand why people are angry and worried, for me it was a brilliant and natural evolution of events. It's new, has two great protagonists and continues what is the best this company has. A big fat yes for me.

#im already in love with this feud idk what y'all are complaining for #jey uso #jimmy uso #the usos #ask me

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comfortscripts · 3 years

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Do Your Job, No Matter What ¬ Draco M.

Plot - Following your boss's orders was part of the job but you never realised how far he'd take it.

Genre - Smut ♧ {16+ Only}

Pairing - CEO!Draco Malfoy x Fem!reader

Notes/Warnings - Power play plot with porn, harsh names, Dom/Sub, penetrative, choking, unprotected sex with creampie (dont be stupid like them irl). Astoria is the ex-wife in this as I couldn't bring myself to write about a cheater and I apologise in advance if this is terrible, I haven't written smut in years.

Word Count - 2.3k

The day had bled into night and as the gentle rays of sun disappeared, so did your co-workers. Mutters of goodbyes and heels clacking faded till all that remained was the muffled sound of Mr. Malfoy on his conference call.

You were used to being the last one to leave, often deep into the night. A common requirement for a personal assistant was to be there till the boss leaves but unfortunately, Mr Malfoy wasn't exactly rushing home most nights.

The simple hardwood desk was more familiar to you than your own bed nowadays. Nights got later as business got busier and Mr Malfoy became more involved with potential investors, but you never complained. You were always the best and you were planning on staying that way.

"Y/N, get in here!"

Being so involved in the setup for the next morning, you didn't listen out for the conference call or how it ended but from thunderous and rude tone of your boss, you could imagine.

Shuffling to your feet before straightening out your skirt, you made hastily made your way through the large oak doors that housed the king, as you co-workers often joked. You understood their distaste, a powerful and attractive man was already intimidating but Draco always found a way to rub people up the wrong way, except you. You always had a certain affection towards the man, not that you would ever admit it.

Entering the darkened office, you felt your breath catch in your throat as you faced your boss. His once tamed hair, now wisps of silvery blond streaking across his forehead. Veins prominent on pale arms where he had rolled up his sleeves. He stood behind his desk, with one hand leaning on the dark oak table whilst the other nursed a crystal glass of whiskey. Even in his frustration, he still looked like the most powerful man in the country.

Draco lifted his eyes to yours and you felt yourself squirm under his gaze, you'd be lying to say that the man wasn't gracing the thoughts you had in your more intimate moments. This simple act made you think that this could be more than a fantasy with how his eyes traced over you.

"Well that meeting was a total disaster." The man sighed before manoeuvring to sit on what could almost be described as a leather throne. "I told my father that trying to work with Potter Industries was useless but the stupid git wouldn't listen so I had to deal with them bastards for nothing!"

Whilst you tried to focus on his words, your thoughts were more taken with his hands. Strong, thick fingers graced with three solid silver rings and the way they wrapped around the crystal tumbler was so sinful, you let yourself imagine what they would feel like around your neck.

Snapping yourself out of your sinful thoughts, you notice the silence as if Draco had expected a reply to his rant. Whilst he valued your opinion, you weren't sure what to offer.

"I'm sorry they wasted your time sir. Is there anything I can do?" Whilst it sounded innocent enough, part of you couldn’t help but mean it in a suggestive manner.

Draco debated your offer for a moment. He always knew what you thought of him, how your thighs would clench together during car rides where he was just slightly closer than normal or how you would blush at the simplest praise. You were wrapped around his finger.

He knew you wanted him sexually, he too held this secret but he wondered if you were harbouring more than sinful thoughts towards him. He needed to know, to see if he was just seeing what he wanted to see or if there was something between the two of you. Draco knew that by tonight, he would have his answer.

"Come over here" He beckoned.

Obeying before thought, you carefully manoeuvred so you were standing behind the desk and in front of your boss.

Mr Malfoy patted his right thigh in a non-verbal demand for her to sit on his lap. Once again, you were obeying before thought or reason, you gently placed yourself on his muscular thigh, allowing your skirt to ride up.

Draco rested his hand on your exposed thigh, toying with the edge of your tight skirt. With the other hand he gripped your chin in a gentle but firm manner, turning your face to meet his, only centimetres away.

"You know exactly how you can help me"

"I'm not sure what you mean Mr Malfoy"

"Don't play dumb my dear. I see how you look at me, how you respond to me. Would bet money on the fact that you are getting wetter by the second just from being this close to me." His hand inched up closer and if on instinct, your legs moved apart to allow him. The tips of his fingers graced the edge of your panties before pulling them to the side, allowing his fingers to feel your wetness. "Just as I thought, always knew you were my little slut".

He slowly pushed a digit inside, allowing the warmth to coat his pale finger. The action caused a small whimper to leave your lips involuntarily and as you felt the cold metal of his ring graze your folds, you could barely stop the moan from escaping. Draco kept a slow pace, almost teasingly slow. Your body was begging for more but Draco wanted to hear it, needed to hear it. He could see you getting restless at the gentle pace but he needed more from you so he delicately removed his finger, which was met with an annoyed groan from you. Sliding his digit up your soaking slit, he brought his finger to your sense bud. Rubbing in careful circles, you felt your need for Draco grow even stronger.

"Please, I need more"

"Tell me what you want baby"

"I want your fingers. Want to cum. Please make me cum"

This was what he needed, you falling apart for him. Begging for something as simple as him to finger fuck you, and god the sound of you was better than he imagined. A cocky smirk grace his whiskey coated lips before colliding his lips with yours, a collision of tongues and teeth but it was exactly what you both craved. The messy kiss resembled the messy dynamic you were both about to enter.

Placing his attention back on your weeping hole, he broke away from the kiss. You felt your eyes flutter shut as he entered two of his thick digits into you, this time at a harsh speed. Moans were escaping your body as your orgasm built but Draco was quick to drink them up. The combination of the anticipation and how he was perfectly hitting every spot whilst massaging your clit was getting you there quicker than ever before.

Draco could feel your body getting closer to release, clenching and tensing against his fingers. "Cum for me, show me what a little slut you are."

His words were what pushed you over the edge as you came hard all over your boss's hand. You connected your mouths again in a brief moment of ecstasy. Breaking away from the kiss, you rested your head on his shoulder attempting to catch your breath.

You could feel his harden length through his trousers and the feeling alone was enough to make you need more. Carefully grazing your hand over the evident bulge, you felt the man tense under you.

Before you could do or say anything more, the phone rang.

The sharp sounds were enough to remind both of you that you were still in the office and technically still on the clock. Breaking your stare from the phone, you turned to Draco who simply stated "Better answer it sweetie, it is your job after all".

Rolls of frustration filled your body as you wished he would have simply thrown the phone out the window and taken you on the desk but no, here you were. Standing up from his lap, you picked up the phone.

"Hello, Mr Malfoy's Office. Y/N Speaking."

"Oh, Y/N, hello. I was hoping you would answer" You knew that buttery voice, Astoria Greengrass. Ex-wife of the man who just made you cum, of the man you were hoping to fuck.

"Hi Ms. Greengrass, how are you?" As you said her name, you spotted Draco rise from his chair.

Astoria started on a small rant about how hard dating is as a single mum but you could barely focus on her. The blond haired man had made his way behind your figure, and was slowly undressing you. Button after button until your bra-covered chest was exposed, a quick zip of your skirt left you standing in only your panties and finally, Draco decided to rid you of your panties as well with a quick rip of the fabric.

Whilst Astoria talked your ear off, Draco leaned down towards the other and whispered "Be a good girl and do your job, okay".

You shakily nodded whilst attempting to focus on the words the woman was speaking but you were rendered incapable when you felt his enlarged tip tease your folds. You couldn't help but intake a sharp breath.

"Y/N, are you okay?" Astoria paused, she was always a thoughtful woman who made sure Y/N was leaving enough time for herself between work but now here Y/N was, fucking Astoria's ex-husband whilst on the phone to the woman herself.

"Yep, I'm sorry. I jus-" Her sentence interrupted by Draco fully entering her tight pussy. His cock stretching her out in ways she had never experienced, she couldn't help but whimper in an attempt to hold back a moan. "I stubbed my toe really hard. It's all okay truly."

"Always hurts more than it should." You attempted a chuckle at the woman's remark but it became a strangled moan as Draco picked up the pace. Astoria continued "Anyways, sorry for ranting but I was calling to remind Draco about Scorpius' play on Tuesday, can you please make sure his schedule is clear".

"Yes, of course I will." You manage to respond, trying to focus on being professional rather than focusing on your boss pounding you into oblivion.

"Great, I won't keep you any longer. Thank you dear, have a good night."

You replied a quick 'You too' before slamming the phone down. A plethora of pent up moans rushed from your throat as you felt Draco's full size threaten to split you open, you had never felt this full and god, you loved it.

His slender hand wrapped around your neck, pulling you closer to his chest and gaining more force. "What a good little whore you are! Taking my cock like you were built for me". His words made you clench around him which caused an guttural moan to escape the dominant man.

"Please sir, I need more. I need to cum, please." You were close to seeing stars but you needed more, you craved more.

Draco had never felt more powerful than he did at that moment. Slipping out of you before lifting your body as if you were a ragdoll for his amusement, you were now seated against his desk and face to face with him as he re-entered your soaking pussy dangerously slow. The new angles were enough to make your eyes roll to the back of your head, moaning strings of swears as you approached your peak.

The pale businessman pounded you with such force you thought his desk might break under the pressure, holding your hips so tightly that you were sure to have bruises the following morning. Moans of your name graced the man's lips as he approached his orgasm, as his pace faltered and became uneven.

Grabbing your throat with force, Draco brought his face down to yours. "Cum for me."

His words were all you needed as you felt your climax hit you like a freight train. Moaning his name so loudly that you suspected anyone left in the building would have heard. Your vision darkened as the pleasure rolled over you in waves, feeling the release of all the late nights with your hands between your legs whilst fantasies of Draco fuelled you. The reality was better than the fantasy.

Your climax had left you clenching Draco, milking him dry as he released inside of your warm welcoming pussy. All frustration from work was gone, all the desire he felt for you was enhanced, just everything was right in this moment. He felt his cock soften and carefully slipped himself out, watching as his seed slowly trailed down your plump pussy.

Catching your breath, you slipped off the desk before finding yourself in Draco's arms once again. "That was incredible but I am still mad you fucked me whilst I spoke to your ex-wife"

"Very bold aren't I, kitten?. You have to do your job, no matter what" He chuckled. "What did she want anyways?"

"Wanted me to remind you about Scorpius' play on Tuesday." Answering in a nonchalant tone, which is never how you spoke to him but you were now feeling the repercussions of what just happened and were feeling insecurity, causing you to use attempted nonchalance to hide it. "So I guess I will see you tomorrow?"

"Yes, technically. I will see you tomorrow as well but for now, we are heading to back to my house. Have some dinner and see what happens from there." His gaze was often fierce and stubborn but now it was gentle and almost hopeful, showing that he was also scared of what this meant for your relationship, but hoped that you wouldn't reject his offer of something more romantic.

Even with already flushed cheeks, his words caused light blush to appear "That sounds like a perfect plan to me, Draco."

Draco's fears were put to rest as soon as he heard his name roll of your tongue. You may be wrapped around his finger but he was wholly wrapped around yours. Just took a bold move to release the truth.

#draco malfoy #draco malfoy imagine #draco smut #draco malfoy smut #draco malfoy fanfiction #draco malfoy angst #draco x reader #draco x you #draco one shot #draco lucius malfoy #draco malfoy x reader #harry potter fandom imagine #draco #dracotok #draco imagine

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cybernaght · 3 years

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The Rebel/叛逆者: A Review of Sorts

After being only semi-invested in the Rebel, I ended up getting so into it in the final weeks of its release, I’ve shelled out on IQIYI premium just to get the final couple of episodes a few days earlier.

That’s right kids, it’s a Review of Sorts. Unfortunately, I could not find a translation of the novella the drama is based on, so will be looking at it as a separate entity.

Most of this post is spoiler-free, however I have dedicated a few paragraphs at the end of it to discussing the final episode, as there are a few specific things about it I wanted to mention. There is a clear spoiler warning before that part.

If you don’t want to risk it, TL;DR version of this review goes something like this: Rebel is very decent, and positively one of the best things that I have seen to come out of China since I’ve jumped into that particular rabbit hole. It’s pretty well written, it’s very beautifully dressed and shot, and the cast is killing it. I thought it dropped the ball a little in post production, and I did not always love the pacing. Other than that, it’s incredibly decent, and well worth watching, unless communist propaganda really irks you, in which case stay very well away.

I have been having many conversations with @supernovasimplicity all the way through watching this drama, so there are likely to be some thoughts here that are influenced by those.

The story centers around Lin Nansheng, a struggling servicemen in the Guomingdang party. He has a great analytical mind, and absolutely no emotional capacity for his job. He has trouble handling violence, he is impulsive, he cannot speak to his superiors without bursting into tears, and has nothing even remotely resembling a poker face. And that is what makes this drama as enjoyable as it is.

I don’t think Lin Nansheng’s journey would have been nearly as exciting had he started it from a place of competence. He botches up everything he touches because his big brain switches off the moment his emotions kick in. And so, when you see him grow in confidence, learn to control himself, learn to fake his smiles and compliments, you can’t help but feel a strange sense of pride. It also makes Lin Nansheng very likeable as a character for reasons other than Zhu Yilong’s ability to look like a bush baby.

It did take me a while to feel fully engaged with his performance - not because there is anything lacking in it, but just because it’s hard to be truly surprised by his choices after the exposure I have given myself to his work. That said, at about a half-way point I got charmed by him anyway, and there were quite a few scenes that were truly mesmerising. There were scenes where he broke out of the familiar mould of big unguarded eyes and fluttering wet eyelashes, and tried something that was not pretty: every time to a great success. I am hoping to see more of that in his future work.

I really wanted to like the female lead, Zhu Yizhen, but unfortunately both the way she was written and the way she was performed by Tong Yao left me somewhat cold. It did not help of course that the screenplay ended up sidelining her at every turn, leaving her with very little personal agency. She was set up so interestingly, but in the end her sole purpose became being someone for Lin Nansheng to pine over. It is particularly curious from a perspective of meta storytelling: seeing how this is all centered around superiority of communism, which as a whole was, arguably, ahead of its time in the matters of binary gender equality.

The ensemble cast of the drama is stunning. Wang Yang came very close to stealing the show at several points as Chen Moqun, somehow managing to make his rather unlikeable character interesting. I can say the same thing about Zhu Zhu who absolutely shined as Lin Xinjie, showing an incredible range and imagination in her performance.

The overarching story of the show is engaging, with some incredibly suspenseful elements; every narrative arc including a nice progression through it. As spy thrillers go, it was fairly well plotted. You could if you go looking for a few things that did not pay off in a satisfying way (notably, the Chekhov’s cyanide capsule), but you overall the story really was well told for the most of it.

I did, however, feel like the pacing started to fall apart in the last quarter of the drama. Last episode in particular really did feel rushed, not just due to its pace, but also in a way it failed to pay off the final mission in any visible way. There will be more on that in the spoiler section of this post.

Important to note that The Rebel is a show made in Communist China in the year 2021. It does not ideologically side-step from the path that was laid out for it by that fact. Which is to say, it is, undeniably, filled with propaganda. Communists are the good guys, and if you think a good guy (or gal) is not a communist, they probably secretly are. With one exception of a friendly character who is not a communist, and whose fate we actually never find out. Curious, that.

The Rebel is not a kind of a show where censorship-appeasing scenes are shoehorned in. It’s a kind of a show in which the main theme is Sacrifice For the Party.

Aside from the being the moral vector of the show, Mao’s gentle teachings explicitly help get Ling Nansheng out of prolonged depression following his injury, and almost annoyingly, this sat incredibly well with the character, as he was written. Lin Nansheng is conceived as this naive idealist who wants to be on the front line, who needs validation and support of others. His - and I can’t believe I’m saying this - his being disillusioned in his beliefs and choosing to join a party which includes people whom he likes and trusts makes sense. Him finding this one thing that gives him hope and letting it propel him into gaining confidence and competence makes sense.

In many ways, the Rebel is a story of Lin Nansheng’s failure to become an antagonist within the world of the drama.

I have honestly spent this past couple of weeks pondering whether being well written makes political propaganda better or worse, whether the subtlety of it makes it more or less palatable, whether it’s enough, as a viewer, to be aware of it to shrug it off. Ultimately, this is not something I could or should make moral judgements on, but I do believe that it’s possible to acknowledge the fact that propaganda exists in the drama, and still appreciate it for a good piece of television that it is.

That said, I am very well aware that me being kind of okay with it stems entirely from my own removal from the culture this is made in, and I am, perhaps, lucky to even have a choice as to whether I want to engage with a product which is, undoubtably, here to dress political ideology in fancy clothes.

I have, on the other hand, also seen many things in Russian media of the “Annexation of Crimea is Good Actually” variety and those make me feel very unwell, so feeling somewhat at ease with blatant political propaganda in Chinese media makes me the biggest hypocrite.

But, I digress.

Before we go into some specific plot-related things, I would like to mention that the Rebel has this weird dichotomy in which the production is sublime, and the post-production… not so much. The show very well shot. Every element of it sits perfectly together, not a single prop out of place, not a single extra underdressed, not a page of script not put to good use. It’s lit to perfection. It’s scored beautifully. So much of this show is just stunning.

And then… there is post-production.

This is not even about bad CGI (and the CGI is, indeed, bad), it’s just that most of post-production as a whole feels rushed.

Starting with surprisingly imperfect editing, which at times just fails to make the scene flow together. The final line of dialogue would be spoken within a scene, and it would fade to black instantly without a single breath to indicate a full stop. A montage sequence would be created, but every shot within it condensed to a second, making it feel incredibly fast-paced when the effect should be the opposite. There would be a cut away from a speaking character and to the same speaking character from a slightly different angle, making it dynamic without any reason to do so. There are a couple of truly startling jump-cuts.

I did not speed this gif up. This is part of a romantic montage, edited like it’s a goddamn action sequence.

And of course dear old friend slowing down footage shot at 24FPS. Please don’t do this. You think no one notices - but we do.

There are other tell-tale signs of production rushing to the finish line: occasional, but very noticeable ADR glitches, very sloppy job done at sound mixing, which contribute to parts of the show feeling ever so slightly off.

It’s not unforgivable, but it does make me wish the same amount of care and efforts that went into shooting this drama would also go into it after it was all in the can.

Oh, and just because if you know me you know I have a professional fixation on fights, and I am happy to say most action scenes are toe-curlingly delightful. Hot damn those fights are good. I am absolutely in love with the shot below, for example. Placing an actor behind a piece of set so he can exchange places with the stunt double during a one shot is such an old trick, but the execution, timing and camerawork are just... flawless. This is what perfection looks like.

Now we got all that out of the way...

SPOILERS FOR THE SERIES FINALE BELOW

Here’s the thing. I wanted to love the ending and I found that I could not.

The final mission was presented as important, and honestly the scene in which Zhu Yizhen is sending the vital message out as Lin Nansheng holds his ground in hand to hand fight is incredibly dynamic. Party, this is due to the fight itself being incredibly well choreographed, yes, but it’s also where it sits within the narrative, how high the stakes are for everything surrounding it.

But then, the tension all but bleeds out. The Important Message is sent, the fight is won, and we are treated to ten minutes of a very slow car chase, problem of which is not even its speed as much as its placing within the story. As in, by this point both of those operatives have lost their cover, and completed their Very Important Mission. It would be very sad if they died, but their survival does not technically contribute to their cause. Moreover, Zhu Yizhen getting mortally injured in order to protect Lin Nansheng as part of her mission read a little empty when the mission is technically over.

While I personally found Lin Nansheng slow recuperation and his low key ending enjoyable, I think I would have preferred to have seen a more tangible pay-off to all the sacrifices made in the name of “bright communist future”, just a little more justification for every moment of death and despair we witnessed. I would have certainly at the very least preferred to see Wang Shi’an’s death on screen. Considering how many likeable characters martyred themselves on screen, denying us the death of the one antagonist just seemed cruel.

I really did love the ambiguity of the final few scenes however, if we consider the children choir at the end a fantasy. The idea that Lin Nansheng will live out his life in this hope that Zhu Yizhen is still alive, imagining her just outside of his field of vision, his only joy being in this fantasy of her… now, that is incredibly strong. I equally like the idea of rest being promised to him at the end of his journey, and said rest being painful, and slow and unwelcome.

But it felt like as they chose not to to lean into the “sweet” part of the bitter-sweet tone of the ending and we’re unable not commit to the “bitter” part either, so it lands with a splat which is somewhat lacklustre.

---

This concludes my thoughts on the Rebel.

I am more or less out of Zhu Yilong’s filmography to watch, which is probably a good thing at this point. I have just emerged out of several back to back work projects - literally today - and will hopefully once more have time for things I grew to enjoy doing during the lockdown.

Those things, if you have not guessed, include watching Chinese television and writing things about Chinese television.

#the rebel #叛逆者 #Zhu Yilong #review of sorts #now with gifs #chinese drama

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lovecolibri · 2 years

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The thing is, ls doesn't have to do much to be better than 5a lmao. Like the "big" disaster was handled badly the rest of the season was riddled with plot holes they tried to fill with random characters we don't give a single 💩 about instead of the ones they don't really concentrate on in general and last minute changes. Like Tim gave that team a long leash and they fumbled badly. Did it set up some good stuff for b? Sure, and it's exciting, but it was still a really bad season that ls can easily eclipse plot wise 😬 also made me scared of what they will actually deliver in b

Yeah, like I said, I think the overall arc still works, and the potential for 5b with what they set up is good, and they were working with JLH being out AND JHK getting another job (not sure if they wrote Kenneth Choi out because he was working on something else as well), but based on individual episodes and my desire to see them over again? 5a is...definitely lacking compared to previous seasons, as well as the LS premier. Like, there was a distinct lack of rescues this season, as well as a lack of bright moments to grant some levity to a darker season.

Even episodes that had the potential to be good like Ghost Stories (still a favorite opening rescue that was well shot and well performed) with some great Chim and Hen moments, and Past is Prolog which started out so strong and had lots of things going for it, are still so full of pointless stuff that it makes it hard to watch the episode as a whole instead of just the “good” scenes, or like 5x03 which aside from the end and a few good moments with Harry is pretty 😬😬😬 And I say this as a person who does not skip any scenes when I’m rewatching the show (aside from that horse dying in season 2, I’m not putting myself through that again), I don’t currently want to rewatch 5a at all right now (all the good stuff is in gifs and clips on tumblr anyway), and when I DO come back to it, I will have a really hard time making it through 5a.

I’ve not only been able to handle everything this show has thrown at me (again, aside from the horse. He didn’t NOT deserve that and if I never watch it again he can live forever on a rehab farm for injured police horses), I’ve enjoyed watching even some of the harder/darker or more cringe moments that other people always mention skipping or not likeing. Season 1 Buck? Lawsuit arc? Street fighting arc? Doug/Maddie’s kidnapping? Bobby’s backstory? Season 4 in general? I love this show and I’ve loved watching and re-watching it but 5a is not just it for me personally.

Which hey! If a show can get 4 full seasons of banger content before having a big miss (more than just one “meh” episode, or several eps that just didn’t work) than that’s really not too shabby! And again, 5b does have the set up to be really good so 5a isn’t a total miss and might even be more enjoyable after 5b turns on the electricity and sheds some light on what was going on in 5a. Fingers crossed 5b delivers some good stuff and looking at those episode titles (and knowing the feedback from the GA hasn’t been great either and the team would be taking that into some account), I am pretty optimistic!

#my sweet nonnie friends #911 #911 spoilers #i'm a little worried just because 5a did have some 😒 moments #but 911 has pretty consistently delivered great episodes and their overarching arc is still on track and going well

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fatbottombucky · 4 years

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It’s A Bro-Job!*Chris Evans x Reader*

Summary: Yourself and Chris crash at his place after his big 39th Birthday bash, you’re on the sofa when he confesses to something. You decide to help your “bro” out.

Pairing: Chris Evans x Male!Reader

Rating: [+18] Explicit

Warnings: MxM smut, Male oral receiving, anal. Creampie King! No plot, it’s all porn. I literally don’t know where this came from, I had a whole other idea but this... just happened

Word Count: Over 2K

Authors Note: I had a conversation with my friend Dan, how he got with his now boyfriend was because he gave him what he calls a “bro-job”. Don’t ask lol Again, my beta, Honey, REALLY helped a girl out with the smut @peachesnplum - Ro

Tagging: I was the anon lol @honeychicanawrites @rhyrhy462 @softboi-vibes

You both stumbled through the door, the lights were all off which made it impossible to see or walk without tripping up. You could hear Chris fumbling for the lightswitch, cursing under his breath when he slaps the wall haphazardly a few times. The lights flicker on and you blink at the brightness, trying to get your eyes to adjust to the sudden change of lighting.

“Make yourself comfortable,” his words are slurred, but he’s not drunk just on the better side of tipsy.

You both have that buzz. Your bodies are vibrating from the alcohol, plus the music from the venue you were at. The taste of the confetti cake in your mouths and sweat clings to your bodies; dancing, being pressed to so many people at the party.

Chris always throws the best birthday bashes, that’s just facts.

His 39th wasn’t an exception either, somehow, this was more wild. So, many people turned up. Women all wanting a dance with Chris, which he humbly accepted with a wicked grin thrown at you- he’s shameless. You’d never hear him brag about the advances, but he wouldn’t hide the absolute prideful smirk he gets when he is flirted with.

It’s what makes the ending of this birthday so… different. Normally, you’d be his wingman. Granted you’ve never been with a woman before, you’re gay, but you somehow have this charming effect on everyone you meet and it helps ease Evans anxiety knowing if things get awkward you can steer him back on track.

You originally met his brother, Scott, through Grindr. You met up, had a connection but more so as friends and you haven’t looked back. Five years of being their friend and pining after Chris.

Tonight, however, Chris left the party with you. He danced and flirted with a few girls, pretty and stunning girls. But he claimed he didn’t find the person to give him that 39th sex experience.

Whatever that means.

However, the conversation happening now is something completely different. “Well, how would you know?” You asked with a laugh. “Guys suck dicks better, it’s facts. We know what we like, I’m sure girls are great. Heck, I bet they’re marvellous. Props to women for sucking dick, but guys are just naturals to it.”

Chris looks at you with disbelief and you look back at him, willing him to challenge you on this argument. “All I said was that, I think, I wouldn’t be good at it.” He reminds you.

Huh, why were you saying that?

“I said what I said,” you defend yourself and Chris laughs. “Anyway, why isn’t there a girl giving you a birthday blow-job?” He chokes on the beer he has, coughing as he tries to take a sip when you ask that question. “Stop acting so innocent, Evans. We all know this is your favourite time of year, every girl is suddenly into anal for your birthday.”

It’s a couple minutes before he has settled, giving you a playful glare. “I don’t know, I wasn’t feeling it from any of the girls at the party. Honestly, I didn’t get any last year either.”

“Damn,” you mutter with raised eyebrows and Chris shakes his head. “Two years in a row? Chris, there’s a plethora of people willing to do anything, you know that, right?” He nods with a simple shrug.

“I can’t remember the last time I had my dick sucked,” He admits with a frown, a thoughtful sip of his beer. “Probably, sometime before Endgame began shooting.”

That’s a...while. Longer than you would’ve expected. Chris is a very attractive guy, you half expect him to have someone on the side. Maybe, not a full time thing but someone he can call up for a bit fun. Yet, almost half a year since he’d done anything.

That needed to be changed. Pronto.

“Unconventional offer,” You begin, “but this wouldn’t be my first time giving a bro-job.”

“A what now?”

You roll your eyes, “I’m your bro, right? I’ll suck your dick, no questions asked. Don’t make it weird, it’s just a bro doing a favour.”

The explanation should make him laugh, you hoped anyway. Instead he’s silent, watching you and for a moment you think, maybe, just maybe, you might have offended him. Of course, you’re best friends and this could potentially make things awkward.

“Okay,” he shrugged nonchalantly and that throws you off now. “Well, you offered.”

Instead of questioning his willingness you get off of the sofa, settling between his legs but avoiding looking into his eyes, for now. You work on unbuttoning his pants, pulling the zipper down and he helps by lifting his hips as you pull his jeans and briefs down.

His cock is only half-hard, heavy and dribbling a small amount of pre-cum from the tip. It’s long and girthy, exactly what you expected but a little bigger than you’ve ever taken before. You spit in your palm and wrap the hand around him already slowly working him. He gets harder in your hand as you lick the pre-cum away, it’s a slow process till he’s extremely hard in your grasp.

That’s when you really begin.

Once he’s rockhard, you take the tip into your mouth lightly suckling the head. Pulling out the salty pre-cum from the tip, flattening your tongue against the underside of his dick before taking more of him into your wet, hot mouth. A loud groan comes from him, you finally look up and see his head is thrown back. One of his hands holds the back of your head, keeping your mouth on his cock.

You start to work your mouth down his length, breathing evenly through your nose as you nudge him down your throat. Your gag reflex coming in strong as you have his entire length settled in your mouth, your nose brushing against the trimmed pubic hair he has.

“Fuck!” he chokes and looks down at you, “swallowed my cock whole, filthy slut.”

You swallow around his length, throat tightening around his length and he releases a groan. Your jaw aches from having it stretched so wide, so full too. You start to bob your head, practically choking yourself on his cock as you fuck your throat.

Your own jeans becoming tight around the crotch area, your own cock aching for attention. This isn’t about you, it’s about Chris and you doing him a favour, so you forget about the hardness in your pants and double your efforts.

Saliva and cum dribbles from the corners of your mouth, slurping and choking sounds coming from your slicked up mouth. Everything about this is dirty and sinful. You’re sucking your friends dick, nothing about this is sweet or innocent. And Chris is enjoying it.

Hands on your head, his hips lifting to meet your mouth to fuck it generously. He’s panting above you, chest heaving and eyes darkened but not leaving your face. It’s like he’s a different person, not that you minded. If anything this side of Chris is, somehow, in some way hotter to you.

“Oh, god,” he groans out loudly, eyes rolling into the back of his head, “can I fuck you? Let me fuck you.” He stutters out when you grip his balls.

You pull off his cock with a slurp and a pop, looking up at him for a moment. A whimper escapes his throat when you’re not around him anymore, a thick string of saliva connects you to his dick and more is dribbling down your chin.

“You sure?” You asked rubbing at the bulge in your jeans, the thought of getting fucked by him just making you want to explode.

“Fuck yes.”

That’s all you need, you’re standing up on shaky legs with achy knees. You button your pants and pull them down, trying to pull your shirt off. It’s a flurry of clothes being removed from the both of you, you look at Chris and allow your eyes to roam over his naked torso.

But he seems to have other plans, grabbing and pulling you back to the sofa. Your hands clutch the armrest ahead of you, knees spread and ass in the air as Chris has one knee on the sofa and the other leg on the floor.

He spreads your asscheeks apart, spitting on your quivering hole and you groan at the feeling of it dripping down before it can go anywhere he’s swirling the spit around your tight ring. Fingertips dipping inside of you, you shakily sigh when a finger slips in and he starts to fuck you with it. Adding another finger, your thighs are shaking already just from having his thick digits inside of you.

“Don’t wanna hurt you, but fuck I just wanna fuck you already.” he admits and your eyes roll into the back of your head when a third finger is scissored inside of you.

He fingers your ass for a few minutes, spitting to add more lubrication before he eventually pulls his messy fingers from you. Pumping his cock with spit slicked fingers and lining himself up, you feel the fat tip prod your opening.

Even with the slight prep it’s still on the side of pain when he pops the head in, your hole stretching around him and he sinks in slowly. Hands grip your hips in a bruising embrace, he allows you to adjust once he’s fully settled inside. Your cock is leaking pre-cum and smearing onto his sofa, but neither of you seem to care about it.

Chris pulls back a couple of inches before slamming back in, you groan and squeeze your eyes shut. His hand slinks up your back and gripping the back of your neck in a tight grip, you know you’re in for the ride of your life. He starts pounding into you, showing little mercy on you. He fucks you with long, hard strokes. The tip of his more than impressive length hitting your prostate everytime.

You choke on air, your lungs barley filled because he’s fucking the life out of you. His other moves and wraps around your cock, loosely wrapping around it, so that every jolt of his hips has your cock fucking into his hand.

“Fuck, I’m going to cum.” You admit and bite your lip, feeling your balls tighten and your cock starting to twitch. Chris has the audacity to chuckle darkly at you, every thrust in he grinds his hips so that his cock head brushes against your prostate.

“Go on then,” he leans his body down, torso against your back and mouth beside your ear. “Cum in my hand because you can’t hold it, can’t even wait for me, can you? So desperate.”

You groan and start meeting his thrusts, pushing back against him- almost like you were chasing his dick every time it started to withdraw. It’s a few more thrusts and you’re cumming with a shout, spilling over his hand and sofa, it’s hot and sticky but you don’t care. Chris continues to fuck you, wrapping his hand tighter around your cock as you cum. He squeezes and milks your dick of it’s release, you whimper as he continues to stroke your cock even after everything had spilled.

“Cum inside of me, please.” You look over your shoulder, meeting his eyes and he bites his bottom lip harshly.

You can tell his close by the way his eyes glaze over, a stuttered groan escaping him when he continues to pound into your overused hole. He pulls up off of you, hands gripping your asscheeks and spreading them so he can watch exactly where his cock slips in and out of you.

“You want it all inside of you, huh?” He asked with a cock smirk and you nod, unable to form words. “Gonna fill your ass up.” He throws his head back and moans loudly.

You feel the hot load shoot inside of you, he doesn’t stop fucking you as he cums. Short thrusts and deep thrusts as he continues to cum inside, it feels never ending as load after load is fucked into you. Some of it dribbling around his cock and down your quivering thighs, it’s a few short minutes before he stops and pants for air.

You hiss when you feel Chris slip his cock from you asshole, his eyes watch your sloppy hole clench around nothing and is puffy from being overworked. He sits back against the sofa, dick now soft but wet and between his legs. He looks over to see you belly down on the sofa, one leg hanging off and on the floor.

His dick twitches when he sees his cum spilling out of your ass, it’s going to stain his sofa but he doesn’t care right now. You look completely fucked out, but he can feel himself getting up for round two. Briefly wondering if you’d be up for another load in you.

“How many of those bro favours do you give out?” He asked and he heard you chuckle, your shoulder shaking and pushing yourself up.

“You’re the birthday boy, however many you want.”

(As a lesbian woman, I need to say, I’ve never had straight sex... I’ve watched gay porn, cause me and my friends LOVE to laugh at porn plots sometimes, so be nice to me... I’m not very adapt with sex stuff (unless its fxf) love you all- Rosalie)

#chris evans x reader #chris evans smut #chris evans x male reader #chris evans x male!reader #chris evans one shot #chris evans imagine #xmale reader #x male read #xmale

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meetmeatthecoda · 3 years

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It’s bonkers how Liz and Ressler can literally have sex and then still be on a last name basis with each other. Even Red calls her Elizabeth lmao. But seriously, if K—nler is endgame, is this really the writers’ idea of romance? Barely any buildup, BOOM they have sex, then these awkward, forced ‘moments’ between them? *deep sigh* Idk, maybe I’m being harsh, but I guess I feel like the least they could do (if they won’t give us Lizzington) is give us something decent to watch. What are your thoughts/theories on this mess?

Hello, dear anon!! ❤️ Firstly, omg, I know!! All the “Hey, Keen.” and “What, Ressler?” is so intensely romantic 🙄🙄🙄 The thought of Red calling Liz just “Keen” is so laughable to me. As you so rightly say, he at least calls her by her full name, which is much more telling imo than any robotic surname crap. (Plus, he would never call her “Keen” bc it’s her fake name from her fake marriage to her fake husband, but I digress.) Regardless of whether it’s Lizzie or Elizabeth or Agent Keen, it still sounds like music coming out of Red’s mouth. Whether that music is a funeral march or a symphonic poem... well, it varies 😒

ANYWAY you make such a good point!! If we’re striving to be objective (which is a pretty unobtainable goal for me at this point), there is n o t h i n g inherently romantic about K**nler. I’m sorry, but to me - no matter which way you slice it - there’s been absolutely NO romantic coding with these two over SEVEN SEASONS, really only a handful of scenes together at all that mostly consist of “STOP! FBI!”, and very few personal/meaningful moments. And of those VERY FEW moments, they all appear to me as platonic/work friends/colleagues. And listen, I’ve always liked Ressler and Liz as BFFs. Liz always offered a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on about Audrey in the good ol’ days and Ressler did the same about T*m, plus I’ve always loved how Ressler offered to “rough him up” in that gruff, brotherly way. There was never any jealousy between them at their respective romantic partners, like there always is with those Will They/Won’t They ships. And I think pilot!Ressler hating Liz’s guts gradually morphing into them being best buds over the ensuing seasons is super cute. But it’s never screamed “romance” to me. There’s been no anticipation, no build-up, no close calls, no nothing. My prime ship example for that sort of thing is Caskett from Castle. They spent 4 seasons building those two up with plenty of close calls and jealousy keeping them apart for as long as they physically could before they finally came together with fireworks. There has been zero of that with K**nler. (Lizzington on the other hand? Yes. Not to mention all the Lizzington suggestions FROM RESSLER: ”Sounds like someone’s jealous Uncle Red’s got a new crush”, “You in the dog house or something?” - but I’m slipping into my Lizzington googles, so I’ll stop there.) Not to mention I’ve never really liked Ressler as a character. Sorry, no shade to Diego, but it’s not exactly a dynamic character. And TPTB have a marvelous reputation of tabling characters until their designated plot lines and episodes, with no measurable growth or continuity in between, so it always feels forced to me. To just throw a long forgotten character - whose only role in the past 11 episodes has been driving around and answering phone calls to catch the weekly blacklister - in my face once a season and say, “LOOK, WE THOUGHT OF SOMETHING FOR THIS DUDE, REMEMBER HE CAN TALK?!” and expecting me to feel invested is wildly unrealistic imo.

In conclusion, anon, I don’t think you’re being harsh at all, rest assured that I have been much harsher in tags, DMs, and especially my own head about this so-called “romance”. I think you’re definitely correct that they could at least give us something decent to watch with time, a true romantic build-up, and a satisfying culmination. I mean, I know this is primarily an FBI-mystery-mythology-government-action-procedural-show but... AS SOMEONE ONCE RIGHTLY SAID, “I think it’s a love story.” and babe? ..... this ain’t it. I’m sorry, Lizzington remains the only pairing on this show that has had a veritable phone book of romantic tropes written for them, including - but certainly not limited to - tense undercover operations, dancing, jealousy at other partners, killing for each other, actual DECLARATIONS of LOVE, T H E L I S T G O E S O N, not to mention I’m of the steadfast opinion that they were the initial endgame for the show, and that’s a hill I am prepared to die on. I HAVE and WILL go down with this doomed ship until the end of my days. Amen.

As for my thoughts/theories on this mess, I am flattered that you’re interested enough to ask, and I think I probably gave you way more than you bargained for in the ^above^ rage!typing 😂 The only things I would venture to add are: 1) K**nler is a barely a ship by my admittedly high standards and, if it is indeed intended to be The Great Romance™ of the show, TPTB did a piss poor job of making it AT ALL satisfying 2) The current “plot line” is an inconsistently written, infuriating, OOC across the board, “twists” pulled out of a hat, PIECE OF CRAP mess, and I’m so over it and 3) I have genuinely no idea how they plan on digging themselves out of the sizable RED VS. LIZ hole CRATER they’ve dug themselves into and, if they plan on having even a mildly successful season 9, they had better claw their way out soon bc, by all accounts, pretty much nobody likes pathetically-evil!Liz and most are rooting for heart-of-gold-&-incredibly-sympathetic!Red in every single way. Sooooo... idk. I’m really bored by the whole RuSsIaN oPeRaTiVe arc and I wish we could fast-forward to the season finale to see if they plan on making any effort at all to improve the core relationship of the show, or if they have indeed given Liz up to mannequin-man and revenge-filled-rage-induced-mentally-unstable-out-of-left-field-evil-Kaplan-hallucinations and Red over to simply sad-lonely-romantic-tired-puppy-dog-who-deserves-better.

At any rate, thank you dearly for this ask, anon, it turns out I had a lot of negative feelings (surprise, surprise) that needed an outlet and I hope it wasn’t too painful to slog through!! Feel free to send another/more asks to keep the commiserating going!! I have dearly missed asks in what’s left of this fandom, but my ask box is still open!! 🥰 I will continue writing fic and shipping Lizzington pretty much in AU now as, unfortunately, that seems the healthiest and only remaining option 🥲 Much love to you!! ❤️❤️❤️

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shan2-d2 · 4 years

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As the garbage fire year of 2020 continues, I have been struggling to find something to fill the Schitt’s-Creek-sized hole in my heart.

Which, come to think of it, replaced the Parks-and-Rec-sized hole in my heart prior to that. I’ve always been a sucker for “soft” television, but with everything going on the world, whatever tolerance I had for heavier fare has disappeared completely. Like, yeah, I’d love to catch I May Destroy You or I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, but I just. Can’t. Handle. Them. Right now, anyway.

I do have some old standards to fall back on-- Bob’s Burgers, The Good Place, The Great British Baking Show, and Kim’s Convenience (bless you, Canada) work just fine. But with so much time at home, I’ve been getting antsy for new, soft, comforting content.

Then I watched Julie and the Phantoms on Netflix.

And I loved it SO. MUCH.

(Warning, since this is a family-friendly show: profanity ahead.)

Which, I have to admit, I’m kind of embarrassed about. Like, look: I fully own up to the fact that my tastes aren’t exactly refined or mature. I’m one of those contemptible “childless millennials”, after all. There are things on my Netflix and Spotify lists that would make film buffs and hipsters cry.

But what I will give myself a pat on the back for is that I’m extremely open-minded when it comes to any sort of art consumption. My tastes are super-varied, and I don’t have the burden of worrying about what is “socially acceptable” for me to watch. I can watch Barry and Fleabag just as happily as I can watch Sarah & Duck (literally, a show for preschoolers that works better than any anti-anxiety medication I’ve tried) and old episodes of Tiny Toon Adventures.

Regardless, there’s embarrassment. Which is not about the fact that it’s a cheesy, High-School-Musical-esque, pre-teen friendly series, actually (... okay, maybe a little), but because the aging freakout is real, my friends. Hitting the “Oh-My-God, I’d-Have-To-Play-the-PARENT” period of your life is fucking rough.

Basically, in the words of Roger Murtaugh... I’m too old for this shit.

But I’m trying to tell myself that 1) Generation Z is delightful and I refuse to feel guilt for appreciating them, 2) god knows we’re all watching Stranger Things without embarrassment, and those kids are, like, twelve, and 3) now that I’m apparently ANCIENT, I’m supposed to stop caring about what other people think.

So: Julie and the Phantoms made my heart grow three sizes and I loved it a whole lot.

Quick synopsis: Julie, our hero, is a performing arts school student who is grieving the death of her mom and unable to continue making/playing music because of it. One day, three ghosts of teenage boys who were in a mid-90’s rock band show up in her garage. They form a new band (insert title of show here) and help Julie rediscover her love of music, while she helps them navigate the afterlife. Bonding occurs, lessons are learned, the power of friendship is discovered, you get the idea.

And okay-- at its surface, it’s family-friendly entertainment, you know? Cute story, funny moments, the music is catchy, the whole cast is super talented (and, hey, can actually play their instruments! Whaddaya know!).

But the CHARACTERS! THE SOFTNESS! THE REPRESENTATION! If this is how young adults are going to written from now on, sign me the fuck up.

First of all, the two female leads of the show are women of color-- Julie (Madison Reyes) is Latinx and her best friend, Flynn (Jadah Marie), is Black. That alone is (sadly, STILL) noteworthy, but I literally wanted to stand on my couch and yell about how wonderfully self-assured, smart, mature, strong, and competent these girls are. Julie, in particular, is just… she’s just so cool, you guys. She never once has to rely on anyone else but herself to get shit done, and she takes responsibility for her own actions. The girl very clearly knows her talent, capabilities, and worth, and PHEW, do we need to see more young women like her on our screens! Like, yes, the boys support her, but they’re complete equals. Julie doesn’t need any male saviors up in this business. She’s got this. I LOVE HER. I SOMEHOW WANT TO BE HER WHEN I GROW UP, EVEN THOUGH SHE’S LIKE HALF MY AGE (oh GOD. I’m so OLD).

In fact, throughout the series, the importance of honesty, respect, and healthy support is repeatedly emphasized. There’s no dependency issues here, and lying of any kind is clearly forbidden. Which I loved, because the whole “teen lying to everyone” storyline has been done to death.

Then there’s the three boys of Sunset Curve-- Luke (Charlie Gillespie), Alex (Owen Joyner), and Reggie (Jeremy Shada), i.e. the messengers of destruction for toxic masculinity. THIS IS THE MALE FRIENDSHIP PORTRAYAL WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR, PEOPLE. They’re so nice to each other! They’re so supportive! They’re tactile, openly emotional, and completely devoid of judgment of any interests or behaviors that don’t follow male social standards. Bless the Age of the Soft Boys, may their reign be unbreakable and everlasting.

Oh, and Alex is openly gay. It’s not just hinted at-- he’s out and proud, with an adorable crush/pre-relationship with a skater boy named Willie (Booboo Stewart). And, apart from a quick mention about Alex’s parents being homophobic, the show pretty much takes the Schitt’s Creek route-- all love and acceptance, with not much of a thing made of his sexuality at all (in fact, there’s enough evidence that none of the boys are completely straight, and I’m here for that, too).

And if all of that isn’t enough of a cuddle to the heart for you, THERE’S MORE:

Julie’s supportive, soft dad

Reggie’s immediate, one-sided bond with Julie’s supportive, soft dad and her brother

Julie and Luke totally have crushes on each other and it’s SO SWEET but completely age-appropriate, good job guys

I’m a sucker for good harmonies and the band HAS ‘EM IN SPADES

Flynn being HBIC the entire series

Julie’s crush Nick being very realistically awkward and dopey in the shadow of Luke’s arms (Nick, dude, lose that HAT, I beg of you)

A surprisingly moving side-plot/song about Luke’s parents

Alex just wanting to dance, and also being a high-key feminist and calling out the others when they slip up

EVERYONE’S JUST SO FUCKING NICE, OKAY

So yeah. Shut up. It’s wonderful and pure, and I WILL TAKE ANY SOFTNESS I CAN GET IN THIS HELL YEAR, WHEREVER I CAN GET IT.

In conclusion, Kenny Ortega can have my entire soul if he wants it, for not only this but also Hocus Pocus and Newsies.

Completely Unnecessary Afterword:

Being old enough to remember 1995-- and, specifically, what was popular that year-- has brought up some important questions regarding the Sunset Curve boys:

We know they died in ‘95, but like… when? Did they get to see Empire Records, for Christ’s sake?! Did they see Casper, because, I mean, they’re basically the Devon Sawas of 2020? Were they spared their contemporaries’ fate of constantly over-quoting Billy Madison and Tommy Boy?

OH MY GOD, DID THEY HAVE AOL SCREEN NAMES, AND WHAT WERE THEY??

What are each of the guys’ favorite song off of Boyz II Men’s “II”? This is possibly the MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION.

Did they die before Jagged Little Pill came out? That would kind of break my heart. Not that I expect Julie to start portraying Alanis-levels of anger/angst, but ‘95 was a YEAR for women in rock. Garbage, Hole, No Doubt, PJ Harvey, The Cranberries, Veruca Salt, Bjork, and countless others-- they all had massive hits that year. I love the idea of Julie and the guys sitting around the garage listening to all of those women for inspiration. Can we have a resurgence of female-led rock bands taking over the charts, please?

On a much more serious note, given where the AIDS crisis was in ‘95, it’s no wonder Alex is a nervous wreck. It’s not really something I expect the show to delve into, but man… getting transported to 2020 might’ve been a bit of a blessing (not that things are great now, but y’know, medical progress).

How in the world did none of them fall victim to the whole “white boys dressing hip-hop” trend back in ‘95? I mean… Clueless got it right. (Wait, did they make it to Clueless??)

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#julie and the phantoms #jatp #blog #netflix #I am old

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westershiresauce · 3 years

Text

Headcanon: Deus Ex Scuba Gear

Note: Spoilers for Bly Manor.

So, here is my Bly Manor/Supergirl crossover crackfic headcanon where Kara is Dani and her ex Mike gets killed by a truck when he walks into traffic after Kara comes out to him and breaks off their relationship.

“Mike, I think I’m gay,” the blonde whispers, too ashamed to speak any louder. The man next to her tenses slightly before a look of relief washes over him.

“Oh thank God,” he says, and smiles at a confused Kara.

“What? You’re okay with this?” Mike shrugs and shoots the woman his frustratingly disarming grin.

“I mean, am I glad I’m being dumped? No. Am I relieved that the reason is you aren’t into guys? Kind of.” Kara wrinkles her brows in confusion and he continues.

“I mean, I know I’m hot.” Mike grins again and winks at the blonde who purses her lips at his peacocking, “I thought maybe you were just frigid or something.”

“Mike!” Kara looks around to make sure no one is listening. Mike laughs and she shoots him a glare.

“Hey, you’re the one that decided to break my heart at the corner of a major intersection.”

He winks at her and she advances on the man, trying to shut him up. He skips away from her, ignoring the fact that he is now in the crosswalk of the intersection.

“Mike! Stop fooling around!” the blonde pleads but the man ignores her.

“Hey, were you checking out chicks while we were together?” He waggles his eyebrows and Kara balls her fists at her sides. She refuses to take the bait. The man just laughs at her silence. “Dude, you totally did. What’s your type?”

He goes quiet suddenly and his face lights up. Kara shakes her head. It is seldom a good thing when the man gets a light bulb moment.

“Hey Kara,” his face gets lecherous and Kara readies herself for some horrifying comment, “Would you let me watch?”

Kara’s face blooms red with embarrassment and anger. She steps closer to jab her finger against the man’s face and get her point across. However, Mike anticipates this and he takes another step back, grin still in place even as a truck barrels into his body. Kara stares in shock, midstep and with her finger still in the air as Mike is flung at least twenty feet down the street. The smell of burning rubber as the truck attempts to stop and the blaring sound of a horn being pressed much too late fill her senses.

Kara: “No, Mike, not gay as in happy. Good lord, dude!”

Kara is at the hospital when Mike is pronounced dead. Rhea never really liked her so she leaves for her apartment, still shaken but confused about how she feels about what happened. On the one hand she feels responsible for what happened, but on the other hand, she almost feels relieved. Until, that is, she goes to wash her hands in the bathroom and sees Mike standing behind her. She screams and when she turns around, he is gone. It isn’t until a few days later that she hears someone walking around her apartment that she realizes what happened. She grabs her trusty bat and walks out, expecting some coke addict rifling through her bookshelves but instead sees Mike, pawing at her bookcase. He grunts in frustration when his hand goes through a book but cheers when he manages to knock one onto the floor. Kara drops the bat in shock and Mike turns around, grins wide and puts a hand up in a peace sign, just like when he was alive.

Mike: “I’m still here, bro!”

Turns out Mike is tethered to Kara and it is a horrible, cruel curse. He is both the best and worst wingman and Kara is still not convinced he doesn’t try to peek when she is getting dressed or showering but he also helps her learn to be more confident. All his shameless arrogance makes him a great cheerleader, at least once they talk about some ground rules.

1. No creeping on Kara in the bathroom or when she is changing. Mike scoffs at this and mutters about being able to creep on hotter ladies.

2. No unsolicited advice or comments about women that Kara is not interested in pursuing a relationship with. This is added after a week of Mike making comments about women that had Kara blushing constantly, even at work.

3. No watching when Kara has a lady over. She wasn’t sure where Mike disappeared off to when she did manage to have a date come back to her place but he would always leave after shooting Kara another peace sign and telling her to “do the circle thing I showed you.”

It all hits the fan when Rhea gets wind of Kara dating women and she packs up and leaves. She does not want to deal with that fallout and she would rather get a fresh start somewhere else. Where is that where else? London, Bly Manor, American au pair, you know the rest.

Kara: “Yeah, I’m gonna take a one way and gtfo of here.”

Who are our players at Bly?

Our cook Owen Sharma is good old Jack Spheer because sometimes these things write themselves. And who is our beloved Hannah Grose? Why, Lucy Lane. Because she was too good and I always want to see more of her. Plus she can be a stern little spitfire with the kids and ghosties (The kids refer to her to as Major). She takes her fine self and daydreams about the moment that charming Jack came over to get the job as a cook, not dead, just as a useless hetero (is that a thing? It is now...) that can’t fathom for some reason that Jack is totally in love with her.

As for Rebecca Jessel and Peter Quint? Kelly Olsen (the only character with any brain cells half the time) and Andrea Rojas, our muy caliente Scotsman. Is that racist? No, but her horrendous accent might be a crime. This version has none of the controlling assholeroy of Peter and no secretly killing Rebecca. Just good old bad luck in a horror series. Andrea gets drunk and tries to dive into the lake to find the chest of loot she is convinced is down there so her and Kelly can run away to America.

Andrea: “This is a file on all the reasons you should run away from this haunted ass creepy mansion and come with me to America. Also, there is a map I drew of the lake with an X where the loot most definitely is.”

Kelly: “This is just a picture of you in lingerie and a sheet of paper you colored blue with a big red X in the middle.”

Kelly dies trying to save her when Andrea starts to get hypothermia and they both drown in the freezing lake. Because why bury your gays when you can drown them? Amiright? Who finds their bodies the next day? This leads to the following section: Next slide, please!

Who is standing in for Miles and Flora Wingrave? Why, Ruby and a tiny Nia, of course. Nia is a sweet baby angel and I want to meet her as a little sister, totally doted on by her big sister, Ruby. Nia sees Andrea and Kelly arguing like lesbians (so much hand waving and crying and angry whispering) on the far end of the lake while their blue popsicle bodies float around. Ruby and Lucy drag little Nia away from the scene.

Nia: “My giant scarf is perfectly splendid! Also, I am baby.”

Things get really spicy when Kara shows up, ghost!Mike and all. He complains about not being able to haunt the “hot chick from apartment 314” any more, but he perks up at the thought of “British broads.” Kara had hoped he was tethered to National City or something, but it appears he is linked to her. Mike is ecstatic when he finds out Bly is full of ghosts. He is always off somewhere exploring the mansion and only pops in to tell Kara snippets of Bly’s history and its many inhabitants.

Meanwhile, we get to the real star of this indulgent charade. Lena as the wonderfully fit Irish (let her have the accent!) gardener, Jaime. She is convinced Kara is a corn-fed straighty from America until Kara throws herself at her in the greenhouse because flowers turn on lesbians (see Imagine You and Me and Georgia O'Keeffe’s many works. This is sapphic lore, kids.) She opens up about Mike and Lena smooches her so she doesn’t have to listen to the hot blonde’s delusions.

Lena: “What do you mean it is too bright? What book? This is a watering can for my gardening activities. So is my fashionable, appropriately sized hat.”

Kara: *OMG she is so hot and cool, what do I do?* “Hey, do you guys do the circle thing in the UK?”

Meanwhile, things are getting interesting with Mike and the ghosts: Kelly and Andrea, newly minted Bly ghosts, explain that they are stuck on the grounds. Mike, who believes in having the freedom of “you do you,” vows to break the curse. He strikes a heroic pose that makes Andrea roll her eyes but Kelly agrees they need to find out more about the origins of the Bly Manor curse.

Flashback episode in a horrid b/w tone because I want to show this is old, okay. It’s not like we could figure it out by the clothes. Or the set dressing. Or the fact that the one of the characters died of “the lung.”

Anyway, we have our sisters, Viola and the other one. Their names don’t really matter because they are going to be the brunette one and the blonde one, played by the queen of period series: Katie McGrath.

Anger-y brunette Katie, getting her smacking hand ready.

And blonde, sad (but also evil? plot twist!) Katie, lusting after her brother in law.

And they fight over none other than Daddy Cullen, Maxwell Lorde, because look at that hair, look at all those buttons, look at that big hand! Who could resist?

The child is baby Lena being twirled by Anger-y Katie pre-“the lung” because let’s just have this turn into a black hole that destroys itself.

Baby Lena: “Swing me, mummy. Swing me with your good lungs!”

Anger-y Smack-You-Every-Time Katie: “I swung too close to the sky and now this is happening to me.”

So while Kara and Lena are christening all sorts of places at Bly (yes, even the master wing because, of course, the master wing), Mike, Andrea, and Kelly are incepting themselves into all sorts of memories and whatnot. Cue that montage!

404 ERROR. MONTAGE NOT FOUND.

Whoops, looks like we blew our budget on that black and white filter. Sorry about that.

Once the ghost trio realizes the chest in the lake doesn’t in fact hold some dragon’s hoard of gold, but the key to ending this madness, Mike pops in on Lena and Kara to bring them up to speed. Kara screams at him about the third rule while Lena tries to accept the fact that her girlfriend (yes, they are girlfriends by now, keep up) has a ghost for a best friend.

Kara makes Mike look away while her and Lena get dressed and after quite a bit of exposition, they decide to pull the chest up from the lake. Lucy and Jack have been off playing hide the croissant or whatever the straights do during their leisure time, but they quickly hop on the “break the Bly manor curse” train.

There is a fun B (C?) plot where Ruby and Nia steal Jack’s car and drive into town. No one in town cares because they are rich and all the adults at Bly are busy romancing each other and assume the girls are being odd rich kids playing somewhere in the manor.

The adults are planning how to get down to the chest without suffering Andrea and Kelly’s fate, when they find some scuba gear the kids bought on their last trip to town. It is wholly impractical but the adults shrug and accept the plot hole so they can hurry this along.

They draw straws and Kara has to dive down and tie some chains around the sunken chest. Lena jumps in front of limited edition Scuba Gear Kara to stop her but the American has to America so she dives into the freezing lake after a swoon inducing “I’ll be right back” kiss. Like, gifable on tumblr, twitter, and whatever new platform there is a hundred years from now.

Scuba Gear Kara: “Guys, I can’t see anything through this helmet. Guys?“

After a few tense moments where Anger-y Olden Time™ Katie tries to stop Kara, Mike, Andrea, and Kelly step in and use their ghost powers to keep her away from Kara. Jack uses his car to pull up the haunted chest and they pry it open with a crowbar and plenty of moxie. The screams of slap happy Katie of the past ring out around the heroes as the curse is broken. The ghosts cheer, everyone laughs nervously (they know the end is never the end in a horror story) and Kara shivers from the cold until she is next to the fire, dry and cuddled up with Lena.

As her final act of revenge, Anger-y Katie gives Kara the Lung(!) but thanks to the power of Science, our spunky American pulls through after properly completing the full course of treatment and antibiotics. This includes Lena taking sexy care of her girlfriend. *wink*

***** westershiresauce is not a medical professional and their thoughts regarding the health benefits/healing powers of a sexy nurse!Lena are not verified. Don’t take srsly. *****

Cut to, one more garden and I can retire, Lena, sitting next to an immaculate shrub, waiting for her wife Kara to bring out the tea and biscuits.

THE END!

Lena: “I swear to all that is holy, if that tea is shite, I am leaving her. It’s been like thirty years!”

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thewincestgospel · 4 years

Note

Do you have any gender-bent fics, either wincest, J2, or gen??? Thanks!! (This blog is awesome, it's super helpful, so thank you so much for it!)

But of course! There are so many though that I might have to do a part 2

Female Dean

Another Way to Get to Know You by IndridGrey New city, new apartment, new job, new gender presentation.Dee Smith leaves the menswear at home, starts her new job at Sandover Iron & Bridge in a skirt and kitten heels, and finally, fucking finally gets called the right things. Things are going great for a few weeks and even with the fear of being outed she's the happiest she's ever been.And then someone decides to pop their own kernel in an office microwave.(This covers the three weeks that the Winchesters are brainwashed into Smith and Wesson up to the end of It's a Terrible Life)

Dress to Impress by KillerOfHope Deanna and Sam are undercover as a married couple in a gated community where several strange murders have taken place while undercover, the two have a little roleplay in the bedroom as 'husband and wife' with Sam as the dom Hubby and Deanna being the ever submissive wife, taking every order he gives, referring to Sam at some point as 'sir'.

Judgment That Will Never Come by xHelenxOfxSlash “Yeah, I mind. Dee, you want me. We need to-” Sam started in his “caring and sharing voice.”

“We don’t need to do anything. Besides, who says I want you, huh?” Before She knew what was happening Deanna was flipped over onto her back again, Sam’s hands slipping under the waistband of her shorts and cupping the wetness there. She let out an embarrassing mewl, face coloring with shame and arousal

Let's Get this Party Started by firesign10 16-year-old Sam gets invited to his first party and is totally awkward and feels uncool. Girl!Dean shows up and pretends to be his cool, older girlfriend in college and lets him feel her up in front of his envious peers.

A Most Unusual Realisation by BronteLover He took in the sight of Dean’s new mouth-wateringly luscious body, only dressed in white, lace underwear. The smooth, soft curve of her breasts were accentuated by the line of the bra, and her flat stomach led down into lace panties that left little to the imagination. He imagined ripping them off and plunging his cock inside the tight, wet heat they hid.

Orlando by ellerkay While working a case in a small town in Massachusetts, Dean ends up with a very different body than the one he’s used to. He thinks it’s the most fun thing ever. Sam, on the other hand, is barely holding it together. He can’t stop thinking about Dean’s new shape, and it’s making it much harder than usual to keep his desire for Dean at bay.

Sweet Sister by Anonymous Sam has pined after Deanna for years. Finally, they can't resist each other anymore.

there's an opera out on the turnpike by cherryvanilla She's tried to fill the hole Sam’s left behind with saving other people. Tried to fill it with rock salt and matches and grave digging and shotguns. Tried to fill it with whiskey and beer and fucking and sucking. (Or, five times Deanna Winchester hooks up with someone who reminds her of her brother plus one time she sleeps with the real thing.)

Thicker Than Water by Edwardina Dean's got cramps, and Sam knows just what to do for him.

Until it All Falls Down by Callisto Jess burned, Dad died, Mom never really was, and Samuel never mattered. She figures if surviving all that doesn’t entitle Sam and her to each other for ever and ever, then Castiel in his heaven can sit on her middle finger and rotate.She once said that aloud, expecting a little shock and derision from the brother who’d prayed every day once upon a time. But all he said was ‘amen’ before he crowded her against a wall and kissed her.(Pre-series to season 6)

You're The One That I Still Miss by tebtosca A curse sends Dean running to Stanford to hide out, but an unexpected life with Sam keeps him there.

Female Sam

All Right, Mr. De Mille by britomart_is Sam's thighs are controversial. They're a matter of public debate.

Beggars Would Ride by victoria_p (musesfool) He tells himself that the line he's crossing can be redrawn, slightly over the edge into fucked up, and isn't that where they've been living anyway since Mom died?

Bewitched Again by DickBaggins Someone didn't read the fine print on the curse, and a month after Bewitched, Sam transforms into a super hot lady yet again. This time, Dean thinks he's better prepared. Thinks.

Blues Won't Haunt You by darkdecay When John gets Dean severely injured on a hunt, Sam decides she's had enough. She gets Dean in the impala while their dad is out, grabs what she can, and gets herself and Dean as far away from John—and the life he wanted them to lead—as she can.

Dean's Bad Girl by Annabeth_Crestfallen_LeMorte Not a lot of plot...basically some gender-swapped Wincest-y goodness. SHAMELESS SMUT! You've been warned.

Don't Be Such a Girl, Sammy by LoveThemWinchesters Okay, yeah. Dean makes mistakes sometimes…some are worse than others. But maybe the end result isn’t so bad this time.

Exit Sign in the Mirror by keysmash Sam lets things go pretty far before she bothers to tell him.

Heaven is High and the Earth is Wide by lexicale As wide open as the untamed west is, the Winchesters are always trapped between a rock and a hard place. Sam can't escape the trappings of her gender, and Dean is irrevocably in love with his sister.A western!AU with always-a-girl!Sam.

The Hunt Gone Girl-Shaped by Viridescence Your typical monster-turns-Sam-into-a-girl fic. Or, how Dean DIDN'T get to play with Sam and his shiny new vibrator.

I Am Sam By: Sorrel It's hell being the girl. But Sam makes her own way, come hell or high water, and there's plenty of the former when she reunites with big brother Dean, and remembers all of the things she'd thought long forgotten.

The Old College Try by Anonymous Sam's getting ready to graduate from high school and Dean's worried about Sam up and leaving him. So he starts plotting to get Sam pregnant.

Only Love Can Make A Home by KassandraScarlett Soulless Sam seduces Dean and they begin sleeping together, and Dean does his best to hide the fact that he's in love with her. But then Sam gets her soul back and has no memories of what she did while soulless, until her wall breaks and her hallucinations remind her.

Samantha & Dean by Destiel_Cockles AU where Sam is a girl and she wants nothing more than to be with Dean. She comes up with a plan to seduce him because she knows he wants her just as bad.

A Supremely Black Tai Affair by setissma The year she turns sixteen, Sam's Christmas list to her father has exactly three things on it: a house, a real Christmas tree, and the OED.

The Thrift Store Tragedies by Blue_Jay For hunters, being a woman is seen as a weakness. Samantha figures out quickly how to make it a weapon instead.

Underground Wires by eggnogged It’s hard enough being a teenage girl even without all the extra crap: they move around all the time, her family is as far removed from normal as it’s possible to get, and she’s in love with her older brother. Sam has no control on any of it, she’s just trying to stay afloat.

Both Dean and Sam are females

Bleeds for a Week and Doesn't Die by Nutkin John Winchester has two daughters named Sam and Dean.

The Cursed Beaver by Mayalaen Sam and Dean find a cursed object that allows them to switch genders whenever they want.

The Female Advantage by DckBaggins Dean's still feeling the full effects of a nasty little sex spell courtesy of a banging succubus, but she decides to lie about it to Sam; of course, her soulless sister sees right through her.

For My Prayer Has Always Been Love by The_Circadian Back on the road after tragedy finds them again, Sam and Dean find themselves seemingly cursed by an unknown source. With little to go on, their previous plans to find their father are put on hold while they try to fix whatever has changed them into female versions of themselves.Despite the curse and his grief over the loss of Jess, the situation does nothing good for Sam's long running, hidden feelings for his brother. If anything it's harder and harder to deny how he feels.Takes place soon after the Season 1 Pilot.

We Still Have Tonight by ds9trekkie Sam and Dean experience lovin' from a very different perspective. Witches, lesbian sex, and all the feels.

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helloprettybb · 4 years

Text

i don’t want to set the world on fire

The other Steve Rogers fic did surprisingly well. I have so many more ideas, so look out for those. Also, Peter Parker may come soon, but who knows. While writing this, I realized that I could probably write a part two, so would you all like that? Also, just warning you, I lowkey insult rock, but it’s only for the sake of the plot. Rock is great. I’m also writing a prequel for ‘i’ll be back’ which will be posted after this hopefully.

I have a plan to make this a series all inspired by old music. This first part is inspired by this song:

Warnings: almost rape

word count: 3.9k

“I didn’t mean to,” were the first words you uttered to the Avengers. Laying next to you was a man whose body was burnt to a crisp. Yet you, small and innocent-looking, were perfectly fine. Of course, they had some questions.

Your father was never in your life and your mother died from childbirth, so for most of your life, you were raised by your great aunt. Life was great, even normal, until she died when you were thirteen. Since you were a minor, you were placed in an orphanage while the house was up for rent. When you turned 18, you were allowed to move into her house. Although rather lonely, you were safe and inherited a decent amount of money. Still, you had a part-time job to stay financially stable.

You were walking up to your car when you noticed a piece of paper on your windshield. You knew what that meant so you quickly turned the other way but were too late. A man appeared out of nowhere and grabbed you. As much as you struggled, it was useless as he was much stronger than you. Before you could pull out your pepper spray, the man knocks you unconscious.

The first thing you see when you come to is a man hovering over you. He must have noticed you woke up because he cooed, “Don’t worry, I won’t take long,” You start to scream for help, but survey your surroundings and realize that you’re probably in the middle of nowhere.

You panic as the man starts to unzip your pants. You can feel a heat burning inside of you. It feels like a volcano was erupting from within, extremely hot, but not uncomfortable. All of a sudden, a blast of fire erupts from your hands and shoots through the roof. You’re so taken aback that you don’t even notice the man burning to death until his screams of agony cut through your train of thought. You pull back instantly but it’s too late. The man is dying before your eyes and you are stuck frozen. Your brain starts up again and you look for something to put the fire out. You find a blanket and eventually put out the fire, but he is already dead.

All you could do is cry at the fact that you just killed a man. You’re so caught up in your tears that you don’t even realize that all your clothes are burned off. Shivering, you try to think of what to do. Noticing a dark bag in the corner, you hesitantly touch it and hope that it doesn’t burn to a crisp. Luckily, nothing happens so you rummage through it to find anything. You pull out a long shirt and clean boxers. Before you could think of an exit plan, you are startled by a blast through the door.

You cower in fear as Iron Man flies and lands right in front of you. The rest of his team follow suit. They look at you, the burnt man and then back at you. Iron Man’s hand is glowing and pointed right at your face.

He towers over you, causing you to scoot back. He starts to say something when Captain America put up a hand and says, “She’s just a kid, Tony.” He squats down so that he’s eye level with you and asks, “Can you tell us what happened?”

You could barely talk since you were so nervous. Seeming to sense your fear, he removed his mask. You’ve seen him on television, but only as Captain America. But crouched in front of you, he didn’t seem like a superhero, but just an ordinary man. You rack your brain and finally remember his name: Steve Rogers.

“H-he was trying to attack me. I don’t know how it happened, but one moment he was on top of me and the next he was on fire. I tried to put it out, but he was already dead.” you stutter, still shocked beyond belief. You start to hyperventilate as your actions finally sink in. “I didn’t mean to, honest. I didn’t even know I could do that. You have to believe me!” you cry unprompted. Steve moves to touch you soothingly before you quickly scoot away.

“Please don’t touch me! I don’t want to kill you too.” you exclaim, scared of your own body. Steve’s eyes are filled with what looks like sympathy and he glances at Tony.

He speaks up, “She’s right, Cap.” You suddenly notice the scanner on his suit. “Her temperature is off the charts. How are you alive, kid?”

Before you could attempt to answer his question, Steve speaks up, “We have to take her to the lab. Banner will know what to do.” With no further questions, you are escorted toward their ship, careful not to touch anyone.

On the ship, you hear their muttered whispers and assume it’s about what they should do with you. After all, you’re just a stowaway. The ride feels like an eternity until the jet finally lands. The other Avenger separate, leaving you alone with Steve and Tony. They guide you inside the giant complex and you try not to gawk at the high ceilings and large staircases, but you’ve never been in a building this huge.

You are directed downstairs to a high-tech lab. Tony types on a keyboard and does a retinal scan before the door opens. A smallish, fidgety man is in there and greets Tony. When he notices you, he asks politely, “Who’s this?”

Realizing he never caught your name, Tony turns to you and asks in an almost comical way, “Who are you?” You say your name and Tony continues, “Anyway, she uh, has some special abilities.” Bruce quirks an eyebrow at his wording and does a biological scan. His eyes widen when he sees your vitals.

“You have a temperature of 160 degrees Celsius.” he explains. You watch as he interacts with the projected screen.

“She also burned a hole in the ceiling.” Steve states, purposely excluding the part about you killing someone.

“This may sound like a stupid question, but can I touch people without hurting them?” you ask hesitantly. You don’t want to live the rest of your life in constant fear.

Bruce pushes the screen down and responds, “Well, I’ll have to do some tests before I know for sure. But seeing as you’re clothes are still intact, I assume that you are safe.” Bruce walks over to his lab table and starts typing something on his computer. You feel Steve’s gaze as you fidget uncomfortably.

“We’ll do the tests tomorrow. Let her get some rest,” Steve’s voice booms above you. Bruce just nods as you, Tony, and Steve leave the lab. As the three of you walk up the stairs, Tony’s phone goes off.

He looks down and tells Steve, “It’s Pepper. Can you show Y/n to the residential area.” Steve nods and you two part ways with Tony. You’re silent as Steve guides you around the building and towards the elevator.

He presses the third button and you two stand in silence as the doors close. A familiar tune plays on the speakers. You smile after recognizing it. Steve catches your small grin and asks, “You know this song?”

“Uh, yeah. ‘Stop Pretending’ was one of my great aunt’s favorites. Personally, I prefer ‘I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire’” you comment lightly. Steve opens his mouth to say something when the doors open. He steps out and you follow him down the hall.

He stops in front of a door at the far end and says, “You can stay here for the time being. My room’s the first door on the left if you need anything,” Steve doesn’t know why he added that last part, but something about your wide, innocent eyes intrigued him and your affinity for old music sure didn’t hurt.

You open the door and start to walk in before turning around and tell, “Thank you, Steve.” He gives you a glowing smile before you close the door. You didn’t realize how tired you were until your head hit the pillow and you instantly fell asleep.

You’re woken up by a muted, yet pestering, alarm. “Miss Y/n, Dr. Banner requests your presence.” a disembodied voice says. You look at the clock and see that it’s nearly ten o’clock. You step into the elevator and expecting to hear smooth jazz music, are extremely caught off guard by the jarring rock music. Never a big fan of rock, you cringe slightly as the speakers blast the loud electric guitars and intense drums. Luckily you are spared when the elevator doors open to the living room. You see the Avengers, now in normal clothes, lounging on the couches.

They all get up and walk towards you. A man with only one arm goes to introduce himself, “I’m Bucky. Who are you?”

“I’m y/n.” you reply sheepishly, feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the new faces. You vaguely remember them from tv but an introduction helps. They go around and say their names. You remembered Natasha and Clint as Black Widow and Hawkeye but you didn’t know the man named Sam Wilson. You shake everyone’s hand and you mentally sigh in relief that you didn’t burn anyone.

They start a conversation with you and before you could respond a voice calls, “Y/n, aren’t you starting with Banner today?” You look over Natasha’s shoulder to see Steve. He’s wearing a fairly tight grey shirt and sweats that if you were in any other situation, would distract you greatly.

“Yeah, I was heading down there now.” you reply with a curt nod.

“I’ll walk you down.” he states, walking towards you. The others part so that Steve could get through. You follow him towards the stairs that lead to the lab.

“Sorry about them. They can be a little intense at first, but I promise they don’t bite.” Steve jokes and cracks a beautiful smile.

“No, it’s alright.” you reply with a smile to assure him, “They seem nice. I’m just not the best with people.” You realize how sad that sounded and it seems that he did too. It looks like he’s about to say something when the lab door opens.

“Y/n, come in.” Bruce insists. You and Steve walk in the lab and Bruce closes the door behind you. He leads you over to his work area and starts, “Before I test your abilities, I want to understand how your abilities work. I’ll do a couple blood tests, take some skin samples, and do a DNA test.” He pulls out a needle and you instantly stiffen.

Steve notices and you half-joke, “I’m not the biggest fan of needles.” You expect Steve to leave when Bruce starts preparing the needle, but he stays. The more you think of the needle, the less you can control your shaky hands. You close your eyes to try and block out the image of the needles piercing your skin.

You feel a panic attack coming when you feel a hand slipping into yours. You open your eyes and look down at Steve’s outstretched hand. Before you could say anything, you feel the needle prick. Almost out of instinct, you grab onto Steve’s large hand. His calm, blue eyes ease your tension and divert your attention from the blood. Steve starts lightly caressing your knuckles and you feel yourself warm up.

It’s a different type of warm than in the warehouse. It feels like a warm hearth spreading through your body. Your mind wanders

“Okay, I’ll have the results in a couple days.” Banner states, interrupting your thoughts. You look down and see a band-aid on your arm.

“It’s done already?” you ask, surprised that you actually did it without passing out.

“Yeah, you did it, doll.” Steve replies with his hand still wrapped around yours. Doll. You wonder if you were just imagining that, but you have to admit, that nickname made you feel a certain way.

You glance over at Banner who is dripping the blood into a tube. You start shaking again and start to feel the urge to throw up. Steve’s solid hand lightly squeezes yours and he asks Banner, “Does she need to do any more tests?”

“No, not today at least. It’ll take me a couple days to perform tests since I have Tony’s side project to work on. You’re free to go.” he replies.

Steve lets go of your hand and it immediately feels colder. You hop off the stool and follow Steve out of the lab. As you walk, your stomach grumbles and Steve asks, “When was the last time you’ve eaten?”

You think back to the past 24 hours and realize you haven’t eaten since that man abducted you. “Not since yesterday,” you reply.

Steve furrows his brow at that and states, “I’ll make you something.” Before you could protest, Steve walks into the kitchen and looks through the cabinets. “What would you like?” he asks politely.

“Um, anything. I’m not picky.” you respond, pulling out a stool from under the counter. Swinging your legs, you watch Steve as he begins to make you a sandwich. Something about Captain America making you a sandwich is so odd that you laugh to yourself.

You didn’t realize you actually laughed out loud until Steve looks up at you. “Sorry, I just think it’s funny that Captain America is cooking for me.” you explain. Steve responds with a small smile and light chuckle and continues cooking. When he’s done, he pulls out a plate and hands you your food.

You smile widely, surprised that he’s so nice and caring, “Thank you, I’m starving.” He hands you the plate and you sit on a stool by the counter. Steve stands on the other side, waiting for you to take your first bite. You moan with delight and mumble with food still in your mouth, “It’s delicious.” Steve smiles as you continue eating.

A comfortable silence forms around the two of you. When you finish, you wipe your mouth with a napkin and get up to put your plate in the dishwasher. “Hey, uh, thank you for not mentioning the guy dying.” you note awkwardly as you throw the napkin in the trash.

“Don’t mention it.” He replies, turning to face you and shooting a short smile. He sees you look down, presumably too ashamed to look him in the eye, “Hey,” he starts, drawing your attention, “If you ever need to talk, I’m here.” He adds an assuring smile that makes you melt a little.

“Thanks, Steve.” you convey before heading upstairs. You take the stairs to avoid the rock music and although it’s a tiring three flights, at least it’s quiet.

It’s not that you don’t like the Avengers, but being alone for nearly a decade gave you some certain habits. One distinct habit was eating alone, which you didn’t realize how odd it was until Natasha asked, “Hey, Y/n. Do you want to eat with us?”

You wanted to say yes, but your years of self-isolation made you reply, “Oh, uh, I’m just going to eat in my room. Thank you, though.” Steve gives you a brief wave before looking back at his crossword puzzle like a true old man.

Natasha watches you walk out and hums a short, “Hm.”

“What is it?” Bucky asks, eyes flitting over to Natasha who has a confused look on her face.

“I wonder why Y/n insists on eating alone.” she takes a bite of her food and thinks again, “Are we not inviting enough?”

Tony laughs and replies, “You’re about as inviting as the green guy.” Luckily Bruce is down at the lab or else he would have stared daggers at him.

Nat rolls her eyes and says, “Well, I showed her my knife collection and she seemed pretty entertained.” Tony, Bucky, and Natasha present multiple theories.

“Maybe she just likes her personal space.” Tony shrugs, proposing the most logical explanation.

“Yeah, I guess. But I don’t know, there has to be another-” Natasha starts before Wanda interrupts her.

“It’s because of her great aunt.” Everyone at the table turns to Wanda.

“How do you know that?” Bucky asks skeptically. Wanda rolls her eyes and simply points at her head. “Oh, yeah.”

Wanda continues, “After she died, Y/n was left alone and stayed that way for years.” She takes one last bite and adds, “I think she isn’t used to all this company.” Everyone seems to accept this answer and they take their last bites before picking up their plates.

Wanda remembers one last thing and states, “Oh, yeah, and because Steve held her hand.” Bucky wolf whistles and Natasha’s eyebrows shoot up.

Steve had been listening to the conversation, but after hearing his name, he speaks for the first time since dinner started. “Bruce was drawing her blood and she looked really nervous.” Steve explains with an eye roll. He walks away before they could bully him anymore.

Throughout the week, Banner performed a skin biopsy, MRI, and DNA test. While none of them were as bad as the blood test, you wished Steve had been with you for them. You knew he was busy, being Captain America and all. Occasionally, you’d see him around the Compound but you haven’t had a full conversation with him since that one time.

On your fifth day, you find yourself wandering the Compound yet again. It seems that no matter how many times you wander, you still find a new room to discover. You open a door on the first floor and see a vast ballroom. It isn’t the ballroom that catches your attention, but what lies in the corner.

A beautiful grand piano is tucked away next time a guitar, drums, and microphone. Strolling over, you remove the keyboard cover and press a key. The piano sings, sounding prettier than your great aunt’s old upright piano. Smiling to yourself, you sit on the bench and begin to play. You become so lost in the music that you don’t even hear the footsteps walking closer.

You come to the end of a song and a voice behind you asks, “You play?” You turn, even though you already knew who it was. Steve’s blue eyes are so intense that you falter a bit before responding.

“Yeah, or at least I used to. My great aunt taught me before she passed away.” you sigh and turn back to the piano. Steve sits beside you on the bench and you start a slow, pretty tune. “I haven’t played since.” you admit sadly.

“I’m sorry,” Steve says, not knowing what to say at the moment.

You smile a little sadly and remark, “You would have loved her. She’d always have her record player on and it’d fill the house with The Ink Spots or Al Bowlly.”

As you reminisce, Steve studies you. With everything going on, he hasn’t had the chance to truly see you. You’re beautiful, but Steve already knew that. He noticed all the little imperfections that seemed to make you even more flawless. He can tell that you’re scared and he admires your calm disposition with all of this.

He focuses on your hands, elegant and graceful across the keys. You apologize a couple times for your mistakes, but Steve doesn’t hear them. Even if he did, he wouldn’t care. Everything about you seems effortless and beautiful. When he first met you, he thought you were just a kid, but now he couldn’t be more wrong. You didn’t look old, but you had a mature beauty and something about your essence tells Steve that you’ve seen things.

Your hands slow and Steve sees a sly smile spread across your face. When you start again, Steve recognizes the introduction. He matches your smile and asks, “I’m Beginning to See the Light?”

“Yes, it’s one of the first non-classical songs I learned.” you respond. Steve nods and you return your focus to the music. You get so lost in it that you don’t even realize that you’re singing quietly.

Your trance-like state is interrupted when Steve says lowly, “You have a beautiful singing voice.” You blush a little since no one except your great aunt has heard you sing.

“Thank you,” you respond, a little embarrassed. He already heard you sing so mind as well continue. A little louder, you sing, “Then you came and caused a spark. That’s a four-alarm fire now.” When the song ends, a sudden thought strike you.

“Why does the elevator only play jazz when you’re on it?” you ask curiously, trying to change the conversation.

He chuckles lightly and responds, “The elevator is programmed to play certain music for each of us. For guests, it plays Tony’s rock playlist.” You roll your eyes and close the fallboard.

“It was awful. How could anyone enjoying something that loud, especially in the morning?” you joke and Steve laughs.

“You’ll find out sooner or later that there’s a lot of things about Stark that can’t be explained.” Steve jests and you laugh.

“I’ve been avoiding the elevator ever since.” you admit and Steve chuckles.

F.R.I.D.A.Y breaks the conversation and announces, “Y/n, you’re test results are in. Dr. Banner requests your presence.” Trying to hide your disappointment, you get up and Steve follows suit. The two of you walk out of the ballroom.

At the top of the lab stairs, you tell Steve, “Well, I guess I better get going.”

“Yeah, see you later.” Steve says, giving a quick wave. You give him a final goodbye before heading down to the lab.

“You said that was the first time it happened?” Bruce asks and you nod in response. For the past half hour, Bruce explained the many discoveries he made. Turns out, not only could you produce fire, but your body can withstand such high temperatures that you could walk through fire.

He continues, “Well, it seems there was a stimulus that triggered your body to increase its temperature so high that you were able to produce fire.” You nod as he continues, “I think with proper training, you could learn to control and use your abilities.”

You raise your eyebrows in shock. Obviously, these new abilities would change your life, but you never thought you could actually achieve something with them. You ask, “Well, um, how do we go about this training?”

Bruce thinks a bit and responds, “I’ll ask the team and we’ll put something together.” Bruce turns to work on something else and you take that as your cue to leave.

You remember a distinct detail from when you used your abilities and ask, “Can you design a suit that doesn’t result in me being naked every time I set on fire?”

Bruce blushes a bit out of embarrassment and replies, “I’ll tell Tony.” You walk out of the lab and up the stairs. Too tired, you grit your teeth and decide to use the elevator.

Bracing yourself for heavy rock, you plug your ears. But when the elevator doors close and you don’t hear anything, you remove your fingers from your ears. You smile to yourself as the song ‘I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire’ starts playing.

#steve rogers #steve rogers imagines #steve rogers fluff #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x you #marvel #marvel imagine #avengers #avengers imagines

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thebibliomancer · 3 years

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Song of the Dark Crystal liveblog pt 10

Song of the Dark Crystal by J.M. Lee because DON’T TRUST WHO??

Last times in book: Kylan, Naia, Tavra, and Gurjin are on their way to Aughra’s High Hill to enlist her help in warning all Gelfling of the Skeksis’ drinking problem. I.e. they like to drink people. On the way up the hill, Kylan spots some dream-etching in a spider nest that says DO NOT TRUST HER. Vaguely ominous!

Chapter 10

Naia talks to some more plants. The party meets Aughra. Ha ha.

Aughra’s High Hill was not casually named. Within the mountainous forest, it was the highest point in all the land, near where the Black River originated, closest to the suns and moons and stars. Not a high hill, but the High Hill.

Good reason for it to be named like that then.

‘Aughra lives on the high hill’ ‘Oh, which one?’ ‘I don’t think you understand. When I say the high hill i mean THE high hill.’

Anyway, after all that stuff about reading writing under a spider web, Tavra doesn’t even care enough to ask. Gurjin does but Naia just tells him they’re not sure what it meant.

With Naia spending time chatting with Gurjin, it leaves Kylan nothing to do but think which he decides is his role.

If that was his job in all of this, then he would gladly take on the burden.

Its a lonely job possessing the sole pair of braincells to rub together ha ha (just joshing obvs)

Kylan thinks about that mysterious DO NOT TRUST HER message but he can’t really get anywhere on that ponderation so instead decides to ask Tavra what she meant when she said spiders hate Gelfling.

“Spiders hate Gelfling... All Vapra know this.”

“They hate us? All of them?”

“Oh yes. From the death-stingers to the crystal-singers.”

This was news to Kylan, though on reflection he’d never had a conversation with any spider before. The idea that an entire race might loathe his own was discomfiting. He wasn’t even sure what a crystal-singer spider was.

He asks why spiders hate Gelfling but Tavra just tells him to ask the next time he sees a spider. Which is a weird answer.

So I’ve changed my suspicion for what’s up with Tavra from ‘something something Skeksis’ to ‘something something Skeksis but definitely think she’s Spider-Tavra.’

I think the books and the show are following at least the same vague outline so I figure with all the opinions she has on spiders all of a sudden, she might be being controlled by one.

Later, Tavra tells the group they’ll reach Aughra’s by evening and asks if they’ve prepared what they’re going to say to her.

“I plan to tell her the situation and see if she has advice. Is there more to it than that?”

“You’re about to speak to Mother Aughra, the Ram-Horned. The mouth of Thra. She was born of the world, both child and mother. She has seen Thra before the Gelfling were but sprouts in the garden of all creatures. You would speak to her so casually?”

“I’ll speak to her like I’d speak to anyone else,” Naia said. “With respect -- if she deserves it.”

God, Naia is great. Its that Drenchen upbringing. The hard-talk. Just cut right to the point.

Gurjin points out that Aughra probably respects hard-talk since it’s the language of the natural world.

Which I kinda see? As a point?

Tavra just shakes her head at this but doesn’t really object. She doesn’t even want to be here so at best she’s disappointed on principle.

Kylan, almost passive protagonist but definitely a socially withdrawing protagonist that he is, doesn’t add to the conversation. Just thinks anxious thoughts.

Aughra was said to be wise, to know all things -- but as Tavra had said, she might already know about the Skeksis. Worse, she might already know and yet have done nothing. The Gelfling were her favored children, as their lore sang time and time again, but those songs had been written by the Gelfling. Did Aughra think of the Gelfing as much as any flower in her garden? Would she be equally content to see one creature devour another, if it, too, were part of the circle of life?

Its an interesting idea there about the Gelfling being her favored children, according to Gelfling. Like, oh geez what if we overestimated ourselves?

(Although the minor good point to add to this anxiety ramble is that the Skeksis aren’t part of the natural order. So there’s that.)

Gurjin also thanks Kylan for keeping Naia company and helping her in the woods during that whole Gurjin heroic sacrifice thing.

Kylan: “I’m glad you’re alive. I’m glad we all are.”

Aw, friends.

They reach the finger vines as mentioned in Rian’s warning.

Thick orange vines covered the cliff wall in front of them, finger-shaped and tangled like rope that had been left too long to its own devices. No further pathways led deeper into the crag, but Kylan could feel a draft coming from behind the vines. There was a tunnel there but they would have to pass through the overgrowth, and if one part of Rian’s instructions had stayed with Kylan, it was to stay away from the finger-vines.

Tavra hucks a rock into the vines and they immediately tangle about it before dropping it as inedible.

So, I’m pretty sure that these are the same vines that Jen will eventually blunder into. It’s not his fault, he didn’t have a helpful Rian in his life.

I wonder how long the vines take to eat something. Jen is lucky that Aughra was literally right around the corner when he got caught.

I’m honestly a bit surprised that finger-vines are a specific predatory plant and not just. Something Aughra set up to discourage solicitors.

Oh my god, I’m once again blown away by Jen going to visit Aughra in his quest without any idea of her significance. The UrRu never even told him that (for all practical purposes) god lived a day down the road.

I’m sure they did their best but wow. He has holes in his education.

I’m getting off-track.

Naia tries calling for Aughra through the vines but this time she’s not lurking right around the corner so that doesn’t work.

Tavra was unimpressed and unsurprised, almost smug at the situation.

I’m glad that you’re probably a spider, Tavra, because you are being a bummer.

She again calls this whole trip a waste of time which annoys Naia into wing flicking. Love the wing body language but now I’m wondering what specific muscles correspond to that. I guess if your back stiffens... yeah, that makes sense.

Anyway, Naia is so annoyed that she decides to dreamfast with a plant again. She just goes and puts her hands on the vines and instead of entangling her, they do not do that.

Kylan had learned the language of the Landstriders, as all Spriton did. Tavra had certainly learned the tongue of other creatures as well, in her training to serve the All-Maudra. But those were languages spoken on the tongue, in sets of words and phrases. Naia’s unique ability to dreamfast with creatures other than Gelfling let her speak in the universal song of the heart.

This is neat!

It expands on Kira’s beastmastery. At least in the novelization, it’s mentioned during Jen and Kira’s dreamfast that Kira’s podmom Ydra taught her the language of animals.

And apparently it used to be a thing for some Gelfling to learn. But not as much as Kira! Ydra knew a lot!

Anyway, after dreamfasting with a plant again, the vines open like a curtain to let the four Gelfling (or four Gelfling and a spider??) enter.

At the end of the tunnel they find a door to Aughra’s Sweet Orrery.

(Just imagine the Dark Crystal theme in your head)

Most impressive was the enormous moving contraption that occupied the center of the chamber. It filled the space of the room with dozens of huge spheres, mounted on poles and swooping arms. The machine rotated and gyrated like a living thing, spheres orbiting spheres, circling yet other spheres, all of it shining in bronze, copper, iron, and glistening stones. Clearly, the grating sounds emanated from the machine, and the movement of its pieces stirred the air so it felt as though there were a breeze, even inside the crystal dome.

“Amazing,” Kylan breathed.

He recognized some of the symbols etched deep into the metals: the symbols that represented the Three Brothers, others that represented the elements of the earth and water, air and fire.

“Its the path of the stars,” he said. “The suns, and...”

Then Aughra pops up from behind a book tower.

And she is amazing.

“What, you just gonna stare? Walk right into my home just to stare, did you? Maybe you should draw a picture, take it with you!”

This is exactly the kind of Aughra I was hoping for.

Also, the way she speaks the Gelfling language (the single Gelfling language that exists I guess?) with what sounds like an ancient accent to Kylan. Although I’m not sure how he would know, I’d bet he’s right.

Naia takes the lead and tells Aughra that they’re here to ask for her help, calling her Mother Aughra.

“Mother Aughra, eh? Ask for my help, eh? Why is it you Gelfing only call Aughra Mother when you need help? That’s what children do, I guess... I guess that’s what they do.”

‘You never call, you never write’ hahaha

This is quality Aughra content.

With her grump helpfully communicated, she takes note of the party and grumps some more, noting that they only have a Spriton, a Vapra, and a Drenchen.

“Hmph. Three out of seven ain’t bad. It’s still soon. Where are the others?”

And when they don’t have any idea what she means:

“What others, he asks? What others? The other clans, of course! Gelfling gathering. What else is there to know?”

Its like when you arrive to the final dungeon without a full party and the NPC is like ‘lol no go hit some more plot flags’

Aughra sat heavily on her table stool, as if hoping they might go away if she ignored them long enough.

I don’t know how many ways I can say how great this is.

I’m living for it. Unlike Jen, these Gelfling know that Aughra isn’t some random grumpy mountain woman. She’s basically god and she’s behaving like a cranky grandmother. Kylan can’t even warp his head around how different from his expectations this is turning out to be.

I also guess it answers in this continuity whether Aughra was so grumpy in the movie because she’d lost much of her hope after the Gelfling were all but wiped out. It turns out: no, she’s Just Like That.

When a thousand ++ trine you reach, be so nice you will not.

But since they don’t just leave, Aughra decides she will say more things.

“Come on, then, Gelfling. Children. Aughra already knows what you want to know. Whether it’s what you want to hear, though, hmph! Might not be.”

Oh, this sidequest is shaping up beautifully.

J.M. Lee, you have done a marvelous job.

#dark crystal #the dark crystal #Song of the Dark Crystal #liveblog #Kylan #Naia #Tavra #Gurjin #Aughra #this is everything I hoped for

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spacenoise · 4 years

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Essential Steven Universe Episodes

Hello everyone!

Looking to watch Steven Universe, but not drag yourself through all the episodes? Never fear! I’ve made a list of what I believe to be the most essential episodes of Steven Universe with unnecessary ones labelled as such (and my reasons why). Now here’s some things to keep in mind before looking at the list:

When I say “essential” I mean ones that introduce important elements to the story. New important characters, new powers, episodes that develop the character and plot-relevant episodes fit this category.

Episodes that develop certain characters will be labeled as “unnecessary” if they don’t contribute enough to the plot or their growth.

There may be some personal bias since I found one or two filler episodes to be enjoyable despite their uselessness to the overall plot but I’ll label them as well so you know.

Avoid reading ahead. The labels for unnecessary ones may contain SPOILERS so if you care about that kind of stuff: you’ve been warned.

On to the list!

Season 1

1. Gem Glow

2. Laser Light Cannon

3. Cheeseburger Backpack: Steven’s first mission

a. Together Breakfast: shows off gem rooms and a monster but that’s really it.

b. Frybo: introduces PeeDee but he doesn’t ever really do anything so...?

4. Cat Fingers

5. Bubble Buddies

6. Serious Steven

a. Tiger Millionaire: while there is some character development, there isn’t really enough to make it worth watching since most of the episode is focused on wrestling.

7. Steven’s Lion

8. Arcade Mania

9. Giant Woman

10. So Many Birthdays: a peek at how dark this show can get

11. Lars and the Cool Kids

a. Onion Trade: mainly about Onion; if you like his character, feel free to watch but if not I’d avoid it since it ultimately doesn’t mean much.

12. Steven the Sword Fighter

13. Lion 2: The Movie

a. Beach Party: Gems piss off the family that runs the town’s pizza shop and try to make it up to them by inviting them to hang out. Shenanigan ensue, but has no lasting impact on the story.

14. Rose’s Room

15. Coach Steven

a. Joking Victim: develops Sadie and Lars’ relationship; skip if you don’t really care about either

16. Steven and the Stevens

17. Monster Buddies

18. An Indirect Kiss

19. Mirror Gem & Ocean Gem

a. House Guest: shows why Steven has trouble with his powers, but nothing too important happens other than that; watch if you wanna see more Pearl & Greg interactions

20. Space Race: shows Pearl’s fondness of space; develops her character and background but not necessary; skip if you want

a. Secret Team: if you don’t like episodes about characters making temporary truces I’d avoid this one; not enough character development to make it worthwhile.

b. Island Adventure: another Sadie and Lars episode; Lars opens about his feelings but not much else happens.

21. Keep Beach City Weird: relevant for SU: Future reasons, but if you don’t like Ronaldo skip

22. Fusion Cuisine

a. Garnet’s Universe: contributes nothing, but is a kinda cute episode.

b. Watermelon Steven: introduces a character(s) that is only used a total of three (maybe four?) times; also introduces a power that is rarely ever used when it matters.

23. Lion 3: Straight to Video

24. Alone Together

25. Warp Tour

a. The Test: some good character discussions, but not important overall.

26. Future Vision

27. On the Run

a. Horror Club: if you don’t care for Ronaldo, Sadie or Lars: skip. Even if you care about Lars, skip this one since you kinda get the gist of his character at this point.

b. Winter Forecast: a few nice moments, but ultimately a big “what-if” episode

28. Maximum Capacity

29. Marble Madness

30. Rose’s Scabbard

a. Open Book: a Steven and Connie episode; fun if you like them, but skippable

b. Shirt Club: focuses on one of the Cool Kids but ultimately means nothing

c. Say Uncle: Uncle Grandpa Crossover; some funny moments from the Gems but if you don’t like UG avoid this one.

31. Story for Steven

32. The Message

a. Political Power: addresses certain concerns the Gems have, but nothing important crosses over into the next episode; most about Mayor Dewey anyway

33. The Return

34. Jailbreak

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Season 2

1. Full Disclosure

a. Joy Ride: Steven messes around with the Cool Kids; there’s a bit here briefly referenced in SU: Future I think, but other than nothing really happens; skip it if you want

b. Love Letters: properly introduces Jamie and shows his character, but he never does anything for the plot. All you need to know if him and Steven are friends.

c. Reformed: introduces Amethyst's new form and shows more of her insecurities but that’s all this episode is really good for.

2. Sworn to the Sword

a. Rising Tides, Crashing Skies: a Ronaldo episode; need I say more?

3. Keeping It Together

4. We Need To Talk

5. Chille Tid

6. Cry for Help

7. Keystone Motel

a. Onion Friend: another Onion episode; addresses how Amethyst feels regarding the current situation, but other than that nothing worthwhile.

b. Historical Friction: Jamie puts on a play and some gem stuff is involved; no action, but tells us about the Gems’ history

8. Friend Ship

a. Nightmare Hospital: mostly about Connie and her mom; some cool scary bits, but skippable.

b. Sadie’s Song: entirely about Sadie and how her mom makes her feel; skip if you don’t care much for Sadie.

9. Catch and Release

10. When It Rains

11. Back to the Barn

a. Too Far: develops Peridot and Amethyst’s relationship, and develops Peridot’s character, but not enough to make this episode necessary

12. The Answer

a. Steven’s Birthday: fun episode, but ultimately contributes nothing

13. It Could’ve Been Great

14. Message Received

a. Log Date 7 15 2: shows how Peridot got to where she is (as a character) and fills in some holes between Catch and Release and Message Received; fun and worth watching but skippable regardless

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Season 3

1. Super Watermelon Island

2. Gem Drill

3. Same Old World

4. Barn Mates

5. Hit the Diamond

a. Steven Floats: introduces new power but not much else

b. Drop Beat Dad: Explains where Greg gets his money, and I guess if you’re a Sour Cream fan watch this one? Skip if you’re not.

6. Mr. Greg

7. Too Short To Ride

a. The New Lars: focuses on Lars mostly, but Sadie also shows up at one point; skip if you don’t care about them.

b. Beach City Drift: watch if you like Stevonnie; skip if you don’t really care.

c. Restaurant Wars: pointless fight between the pizza shop family and the fry stand family. I guess if you like food watch this one, but you can skip this one.

d. Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service: focuses on certain member’s of the pizza family. Skippable, but watch if you like pizza I guess.

8. Monster Reunion

9. Alone at Sea

a. Greg the Babysitter: a “stories of the past” episode where Rose shows up; nothing important really happens though

b. Gem Hunt: a certain character makes a return, but not until the end of the episode; skippable

10. Crack the Whip

a. Steven vs. Amethyst: develops their relationship but skippable overall

11. Bismuth

12. Beta

13. Earthlings

14. Back to the Moon

15. Bubbled

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Season 4

a. Kindergarten Kid: Looney Tunes-esque episode; fun but skippable

b. Know Your Fusion: certain fusions return but still skippable

c. Buddy’s Book: shows off more of the Gems’ history and has Rose in it; still skippable despite all this since none of it is super important.

2. Mindful Education

a. Future Boy Zoltron: skippable since it focuses on Mr. Smiley and a former colleague; watch if you want to see some fun interactions.

b. Last One Out of Beach City: fun episode and shows some of Pearl’s development, but still skippable.

c. Onion Gang: it’s an Onion episode so: skippable.

d. Gem Harvest: Thanksgiving episode; reveals Steven’s real last name but nothing else important.

3. Three Gems and a Baby

4. Steven’s Dream

5. Adventures in Light Distortion

6. Gem Heist

7. The Zoo

8. That Will Be All

a. The New Crystal Gems: shows us what Connie, Lapis and Peridot did while Steven was in space. Nothing really happens so just skip this one.

9. Storm in the Room

a. Rocknaldo: features Ronaldo once again and is arguably one of the worst episodes. Thankfully, it’s skippable.

b. Tiger Philanthropist: callback to an older episode; doesn’t contribute anything to the current plot

10. Room for Ruby

a. Lion 4: Alternate Ending: goes no where and contributes nothing; reveals possible name for Steven if he was a girl though so...cool I guess? Skip it.

11. Doug Out

a. The Good Lars: develops Lars’ character a little, but not much else

12. Are You My Dad

13. I Am My Mom

-------------------

Season 5

a. Stuck Together: Steven and Lars’ relationship develops further along with Lars’ character; some dramatic moments make it an overall a good episode, but you can skip it if you want.

1. The Trial

2. Off Colors

3. Lars’ Head

a. Dewey Wins: Steven realizes why Connie’s upset with him; saved you from watching Mayor Dewey for almost eleven minutes.

b. Gemcation: another good episode, but skippable regardless.

4. Raising the Barn

a. Back to the Kindergarten: shows how Peridot feels after a certain event, but nothing else really happens.

b. Sadie Killer: Sadie starts a band and that’s it. Skip if you don’t care much for Sadie.

c. Kevin Party: watch for character drama and one resolution, but skip if you can’t stand Kevin.

5. Lars of the Stars

6. Jungle Moon

7. Your Mother and Mine

a. The Big Show: a Sadie’s band episode; skippable

b. Pool Hopping: shows off Garnet’s fears and insecurities but is still skippable

c. Letters to Lars: basically amounts to Dewey finding his place in town after losing his job; nothing else so just skip this one.

8. Can’t Go Back

9. A Single Pale Rose

10. Now We’re Only Falling Apart

a. What’s Your Problem: develops Steven and Amethyst’s relationship further; skip if you want, but it’s a good episode to watch.

11. The Question

12. Made of Honor

13. Reunited

14. Legs From Here To Homeworld

15. Together Alone

a. Escapism: shows how Steven contacts the B-team but overall just feels kind of out of place? Skip if you want.

16. Change Your Mind (four parts; almost an hour long btw)

-------------------

Watch Steven Universe: The Movie if you plan on watching Steven Universe: Future

-------------------

Steven Universe: Future

1. Little Homeschool

a. Guidance: skippable since nothing in this episode is mentioned ever again. Smoky Quartz is in it though so watch if you like her.

2. Rose Buds

3. Volleyball

a. Bluebird: introduces Greg’s new look and a new fusion that’s never brought up again.

b. A Very Special Episode: fun episode but contributes nothing to the overall story.

4. Snow Day

a. Why So Blue: shows other Lapis Lazulis and shows us how far Lapis has really come; watch if you’re a Lapis fan, but skip if you want.

b. Little Graduation: skip if you never really cared too much about any of the human characters since this is mostly about them.

c. Prickly Pair: downer of an episode; no one ever mentions anything that’s said in this episode, but check it out if you wanna see Steven more of Steven’s plant powers!

6. In Dreams

7. Bismuth Casual

8. Together Forever

9. Growing Pains

a. Mr. Universe: Greg’s history is revealed but doesn’t contribute much so skip if you don’t really care about that too much.

10. Fragments

11. Homeworld Bound

12. Everything’s Fine

13. I Am My Monster

14. The Future

And that’s it! I guess let me know if this list was helpful or not, but other than that: I hope you enjoy Steven Universe!

#steven universe #steven universe future #su spoilers #suf spoilers #space noise

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