#bare in mind that Star Wars is a fictional story

[stxrrynxghts]

Subhadra (and Draupadi)

I am gonna be talking about what I dislike on the way this woman is treated by ppl, including shows and stuff. This is just my opinion, don't cancel me over this.

Subhadra is someone who is mostly seen as Krishna's sister, Arjun's wife and Abhimanyu's mother, mostly. She doesn't actually have her own identity when we talk about her. I have seen people downright act as if she is Draupadi's "slave", which is not fair. Subhadra is her own person, who should be seen beyond the tags of a sister, wife and mother.

But then, this specific set of people HATE it when you point out that Subhadra IS Abhimanyu's mother. She is the adult who was with him for the major part of his life, and who was responsible for his upbringing, not Arjun, not Draupadi, not Yudhishthira and definitely not Karna.

The show, Star Plus Mahabharat, did a great job in showing Subhadra as dumb. She doesn't know that it is a diagram of a war formation, she doesn't understand what her brother is saying, and she is stuck in this bubbly, naive, childish character, who is somewhat of a third wheel between Arjun and Draupadi. Now, I like Draupadi aka the CANON Draupadi, not any show's version.

See, I like Draupadi, and it is not wrong to show a relation between her and Abhimanyu, BUT, pls keep in mind that Abhimanyu has not been around these people since 14 years. How can he be this close to Draupadi (and Arjun) out of a sudden?

Abhimanyu, in the show, never mentions Subhadra, not even once. It is a pretty light thing, very minor, and it is a show with many inaccuracies, and their portrayal of Draupadi is not accurate in any sense. Didn't they show her say that she won't marry the son of a suta, an event which is clearly, not canon?

But, what has happened, is part of a "domino effect". I have read many stories, on certain other writing platforms, and there you can clearly see the effects of this type of writing.

Abhimanyu, in these stories, has no regard for his own mother. Draupadi, in these stories, is the center of the Pandava world. She only loves Arjun, Krishna and Abhimanyu, while her own sons, other husbands and brothers are disregarded by her.

Subhadra is accused of marrying Arjun, and of "stealing" Draupadi's son. These writers, who are 12-13 year old kids, with no knowledge of the actual story, try to "uplift" Draupadi as a character but end up villainizing her instead.

Honestly, one story even justified Draupadi snatching away newborn Abhimanyu from his mother. She also pays 0 attention to the Upapandavas in this story. Thankfully , it was taken down a year ago.

Subhadra is vilified for being Krishna's sister, Arjun's wife and Abhimanyu's mother, by many. That is not right. I am repeating again, that I absolutely have no problem with the canon Draupadi, but the one who is shown by some people? No, I don't like her. Because she isn't Draupadi, she is a different version of her.

Even the shows don't do Subhadra justice. BR Chopda barely gave Subhadra any screen time. Radha Krishn did the same. Suryaputra Karna did not even bother including her, as did Dharmakshetra.

And Star Plus Mahabharat? They ruined most all female characters. Most events related to Draupadi are well...fictional. Her birth, her meeting with Krishna, her meeting with Arjun, the circumstances that lead to her wedding, the villification that follows in Hastinapur, the division of Indraprasth, in the Rajasuya Yagya, many parts of the Game of dice, the incognito year, her knowing about how her sons are going to die, and because of which her subsequent reaction in the War, and in the end, Gandhari's reaction to her, are all events which can be considered fictional. This isn't how the main female Protagonist should be treated as, folks. And well, btw, when they aren't paying attention to characters like Kunti and Draupadi, why will they do anything right with Subhadra?

Subhadra's meeting with Arjun, the Kalyavan thing, Subhadra's marriage with Arjun, and her pregnancy are all botched up to the extent that now, after I have read some stuff here and there, I don't even want to watch this show.

Before writing a hate comment, pls re-read the parts where I have stated that I DON'T HATE THE OG DRAUPADI. And as far as I know, any shows portrayal of hers doesn't count as the real Draupadi. This became kind of a mix on both these women, and y'all who are my friends/have checked my other posts KNOW my opinions on Draupadi and Subhadra both. So , pls, I have a mental health too, and I am not trying to undermine any character.

#mahabharat #mahabharata #subhadra #hindu mythology #draupadi #dont hit me plz #i dont want to die a premature dearh guys #i cant believe that i went from worshipping this show to the point of hating it somewhere #when u know that ur show is a red flag but still like it #*sigh*

[gryphis-eyes]

⊙ Message from spirits

⊙ Welcome to this very simple but (I hope) useful pick a card, I know its been a while and here is my last attempt to get back to tumblr haha.I don’t have more to say , hope you’ll get the message that will light the fire in your !

⊙ How to pick a pile ? There are differents ways to do it, you can do a little meditation while thinking about the 3 images, you can also use a pendulum, remember to listen to your intuition while chosing and reading the messages those are general reading so not everything will be for you or it will ask you to interpret it based on your situation

◇ Deck used : Rider Waite, Shakespeare Oracle, Phenix Oracle

⊙ Pile 1 : The Cat

Cards ; 3 of cups, 6 of swords R " Tis true. The wheel is come full circle; I am here. ”

One day things go up and one day things go down, such is the nature of Fortuna’s actions. The cards are showing me those 3 muses singing with their cups full of sweet beverage while on the other side of the reading someone is struggling on their boat, going against this raging river’s flow. Some of you seems to be tired of life, you're always fighting, barely resting while other people seems to roam freely through life. Its not fair isn’t it ? I feel like the main issue here is that you're going through a though period and it affect your mental a lot, so of course our brain’s first move is to look at others and be like ”damn look at them, so happy and relaxed while im in this burning house”. Do not throw yourself heartlessly into this path which seems to be the only one, do not look at other, look at you. You might be afraid to do a specific thing (new project ?) Because others seems to do it better or the idea you got already have been done but listen to me ; nobody is doing things better than someone else, succes doesn’t mean its better it just mean it touch more people but it doesn’t mean it is made of quality. That’s why we always got people talking about underated movies, music etc, nothing is better, things are just different. What matter isn’t how amazing you'll do but rather how you will do it because you are not anyone else’s mind, look at the story of the hero with a thousand faces it has been done so so many times in fictions but people dont always realise it, why ? Because all of those fictions have been done by different people so that’s why lord of the ring is so different from star wars. To be honest I was thinking about telling you to go slower but the phenix cards are really telling you to move and just do it ! Be serious about this project wether it mean actually writing a story and publishing it or starting writing it, you got nothing to lose.

⊙ Pile 2 : The Owl

Cards ; 3 of swords R, hangedman ” for there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.To me it is a prison. ”

Ive heard ”a haunted heart” part from on the fence by tv girl in mind while reading your cards. I have no contexte about what happened to you but I can tell that it was a wild ride isn t it ? Sit down my dear its time to rest and listen. Whatever happened didnt happen out of the ”univers” cruelty or a ”blessing in disguise” what happened felt like an attack toward you (from your pov) wether its truly the case or not I dont know but I truly think the cards are reminding you to focus on the present since they are hiding the past from me. Do not search for the why, do not search for a blessing coming from it, what was good what was bad do not try to listen to thousand of readers who will tell you how to act (I mostly got those ”forgiveness” speech that every new ager are repeating). You dont need to focus on that past thing you need to focus on yourself and your needs from the present, not the needs you had 5 month ago. You should let your life calm down, put less effort in the world and put more effort for yourself wether its forcing you to have a self care moment or allowing yourself to have a lazy day or just sit down and do nothing but listen to music. The lyrics from ”after the storm” it carry the whole message im trying to give you. Basically, yes what happened suck but its not an excuse to give up on yourself.

⊙ Pile 3 ; The Snake

The lover, 3 of swords R

" The enemy increaseth every day; We, at the height, are ready to decline.There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat; And we must take the current when it serves, Or lose our ventures. "

It's time to risk it all my friend. I have no idea if It's a project, a ritual/spell (I get that most of you are into witchcraft or spiritual thing). See this snake going for the butterfly even if It's small and can avoid the snake’s strike easily, the reptile still go for it. It even look like the snake is using the obstacle in order to jump higher to catch the butterfly. (Idk why I get that you should try to watch samurai champloo). The advice here, is to look at everything that went bad or didn’t work in the past and ask yourself ”why” so now you'll be able to make your action more effective because you have grown a lot since the last time you try that thing or something similar. I feel a big burst of energy so its like everything is here, you just have to act. Like the snake, do not chase your goal or just walk around it until you saw the opportunity. Just go in front of it and strike ! With the Lover I see that this thing is dear to your heart or will light the fire in yourself again. You can do it, you have the power to do so, you can only gain good thing from this situation that will (above of making you happy) will heal something in yourself.

⊙

#pick a card #gryphis #⊙

[missbeautyandherbeast]

Ways to My Heart

Donatello X Reader

Summary: Request: Originally based on “Ways to Break My Heart” by Ed Sheeran but it got healthier

A/n: Apparently I appear every Christmas and rewrite an old prompt. And now that I'm older and healthier, it's kinda fun. And y'all were right, we're not about to be a rebound. So, for my dear @witchancunin, I hope you don't mind that it's been four years.

Autumn was settling in. With the wave after wave of rain that we had, there were little colors to the dying trees. Some scientific reason about fungi and decay. Donnie had explained it, but I barely payed attention. 

Not that I wasn’t paying attention to him: I was too focused. We were working on a new lego set and I had one to many to drink to pit the small plastic pieces together so he took over and his fingers though larger than mine, were so nimble and they pursued the legos with ease as he assembled a BD-1 droid: my present to him after we finished The Fallen Order together. 

The thought of us playing made me smile. I played through most of the game, getting my Star Wars fix, but when it became too difficult, I’d get so frustrated and Donnie would laugh and take the controller from me and defeat whatever stood in my way. I loved and hated him for it. 

But that didn’t change the fact that New York was wet and colorless.

I took the hidden alley, now slick with today’s chilled rain, and followed the path down to his home and the warmth it offered. And when winter came and I missed the heat of my hometown—which was safe and sound in the middle of Georgia—four brothers did their best to keep me temperate: Mikey was all hugs; Raphael actually knitted me a sweater last winter (yes it was purple, no I don’t want to talk about it); Leo let me invade his space now and again if he was meditating; and Donnie… well there was no place warmer than his lab. Between the tech and the constant blush he knew how to get on my face and down my neck… it was where I spent most of my time. 

“Still no color,” I sighed, shrugging off my coat and hanging it in my usual spot by his door. 

“I told you there wouldn’t bet be,” His eyes flashed to mine before returning to his project. 

“A girl can dream,” A smile touched my lips as I wandered over to see what he was working on. 

In front of him was a circuit board and he was soldering wires to the metal with such precision. I left him to it, having no idea the plans in his head of creation, and I found my book on one of his other work stations. Picking it up, I resumed reading—a romance novel I let myself indulge in now and again when I was over stressed. This one was about chess and it was set in Jersey, which I found hysterical. 

I must have made a sound, or a face, or some sort of tell because I heard his voice pulling me from the fictional world. 

“What did Nolan do now?” Donnie asked, pushing back from his desk and over to where I was curled up. 

“Not Nolan,” the story’s main guy. “It’s Oz. He’s definitely telling off Mallory right now,” 

“Oooo what did she do?” I had his full attention. And it wasn’t the first time. He insisted that every time I read a book I tell him about it, despite the many insistings that he read them himself. 

“I like your perspective,” He told me once. “Books are dull, dry, but you bring them alive,” 

So, I launched into the tale, weaving the complexities of the plot with my words and gestures, the poor book being waved around. And all the while his eyes stayed on mine, and he gave the softest smile that belonged to only me. 

He always kept me warm. 

When it go late enough, and we had joined his family in having pizza and watching tv (we were currently going through the newer She-Ra on Netflix), I had to trek back out into the cold. 

“Let me take you home,” Donnie piped up, seeing me get my coat and boots. 

“I’m a big girl, I can handle it,” I rolled my eyes. 

“I know,” He said with such certainty. “Let me do it anyway.” There was that warmth again. 

“Okay,” 

Raph gave me a knowing look but I ignored him. 

And like greeting an old friend, we had our routine. Donnie would stay, and we’d curl up on my couch and watch old reruns of Doctor Who until we were both asleep in the comfort of my apartment. 

And it was warm. 

……………………………….

Then April came. 

And God it was so nice to have a friend who was in on the secret. We explored New York together, had movie nights, and so many girl talks that may have involved some alcohol. 

But it meant I had to watch Donnie fall head over heels for her—from my usual spot in his lab, as he showed her all of his projects, chattering happily. 

I told myself it didn’t bother me. And it didn’t. 

Sorta. 

Maybe? 

Shut up. 

Hiding it from Donnie was easy. Hiding it from the rest of his family? Not so much. 

“You okay kid?” Raph asked, standing beside me as Donnie explained the entire Shell-Razer to April. 

“Why wouldn’t I be?” My voice was low. 

“Because my brother’s an ass,” 

I laughed humorlessly. “We weren’t together Raph.” A shrug fell from my shoulders as I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to fight off the lingering chill. “It’s fine. I’m—fine.” 

It was a few weeks later that I came to the lair; always having an excuse to not accompany April. I could see it in her eyes that she knew something was up, but she didn’t call me out on it—yet. 

“Miss Y/n,” Splinter stopped me as I entered. 

“Master Splinter,” I gave a small head nod. 

“Let’s talk child,” His words caught me off guard. 

“Um. Okay,” I followed him to the meditation room that was lit softly with sparse candles. 

“You have not been coming around as often.” It was a statement. Not a question. 

“Yeah,” I knew no excuse would work on the old master, and the father of four boys. 

“Is everything alright?” He rose an eyebrow and I gave a feeble lie: 

“Yeah,” 

He nodded. “Let’s try that again. Everything is not alright.” 

Tears glossed my vision and the familiar pain flooded my chest like ice. I tilted my chin back, holding my head high. 

“Master, there’s nothing I can do.” I opened my mouth to continue trying to find the courage. “I care deeply for him,” My eyes trained on a candle flame. “But I never told him and… that’s my consequence to live with,” 

“I see,” His wise voice held so much understanding that it washed over me. “And because of that choice, you do not come around as often?” 

“It hurts less,” That was the simple fact. “I don’t have to watch him…” 

“Chase after April?” Splinter filled in knowing. 

“Yeah.” 

He nodded. “Perhaps you and April should talk,” 

“Look, I don’t—“ 

“Y/n,” He cut me off and I pursed my lips. “April is your best friend, and I have a feeling she wants to help you,” 

“I know,” He was right, and maybe hearing git gave me the courage to say something after all. A smile touched my lips. “Thanks Sensei.” 

“I care about my family,” He said. “And that includes my daughters,” 

Tears stung my eyes again as he gave me a hug. 

“Thank you,” 

“Of course, child,” 

……………………………………….

April and I did sit down and talk. More of she called me out on moping and avoiding the subject. So, we sat on our fire escape and talked. About everything. 

She knew when she first got there that there was something going on between Donnie and me. And though she loved the brothers, she didn’t like Donnie that way. She also knew that was the reason I was avoiding going to the lair. 

“I’m sorry,” She said. 

“For what?” I almost laughed. 

“Because, before I came, there would have been no doubt that you and Donnie would be together by now,” 

“Hey I wouldn’t trade you for anything,” I smiled. “And if… if Donnie wants to be… whatever the heck this is, I can handle it.” 

“But you shouldn’t have to,” April said. “I want you to be happy Y/n. And I want you back at the lair. I… I just want you to have your life back,” 

“It wouldn’t be as fun without you.” 

“I know,” She laughed. “But I am going to talk to Donnie,” She must have seen the horror on my face. “Not about you! God no! But I’m gonna tell him that I don’t feel that way about him, and hopefully he gets the message,” 

I nodded. “Thanks April,” 

When April had told me that Donnie took their talk semi-well, I still gave it a few weeks before I headed to the lair, not wanting to have to pick up the aftermath of his shattered fantasy. 

With end of Spring, I had my family back. 

There was a cool distance between Donnie and I that was slowly thawing until I was back in his lab reading and he was fidgeting with his tools. It took another week for him to ask me about my book. And another week for him to take me home. And a few more days for his smile to be back. And a couple more for mine to stay. I wrestled with what had happened in the winter and spring, trying to look for the other shoe to drop. 

But when the six of us played a board game, or watched movies or even had dinner, all that was felt was camaraderie. Donnie didn’t notice April anymore and he backed down. Raph kept a careful eye just like I did. When he caught my stare, Raph rose an eyebrow at me, glancing to Donnie. I shrugged and smiled. 

I didn’t know. 

And I think that was okay. 

I think I was okay.

With summer, meant my birthday. June 14th. The boys and April insisted on throwing a big party for me in the lair with cake and presents and music and dancing. I hadn’t laughed so much in months. 

Donnie offered to walk me home, like always. Like old times. Like now. 

We were standing on my roof, all I had to do was climb down the fire escape to the apartment April and I shared. 

“Happy birthday,” His smile was back, and God I had missed it. All of the careful walls I had built around myself came crashing down at the simple gesture. 

“Thanks Donnie,” 

And in the starlight of the roof, alone with the city alive beneath us, he leaned in and his lips were on mine. A stolen kiss that had me wrecked. 

Donnie pulled away, wonder in my eyes, and confusion in his. 

“I—I’m sorry,” He stammered out, his brows pulling together. 

“It’s… it’s okay,” I managed a smile. 

“I’m sorry,” he said again, backing away. “That… I didn’t mean—it was a mistake,” He choked out. 

My body jerked back with the rejection that crashed over it. 

“What?” My voice was as cold as ice. 

“I—I don’t know why I did that.”

“Oh, okay,” I managed.

He was gone like a shadow in the night and I stood there frozen. 

…………………………………

I must have been up there for too long, because April came up to find me. 

“Hey are you okay?” Her voice was concerned. 

“Um,” Was all I could manage. 

“What happened? Donnie came back and he’s not talking. He’s barricaded himself in his lab.” 

“Um.” I said again. “He… he kissed me.” 

“Oh my God that’s amazing!” April celebrated, but paused when she saw the dread in my eyes. “Then what happened?” 

“He. Um. Said it was a mistake.” I choked out. 

“I—I’m—I’m actually going to kill him,” April said. “He said that? To you!? After kissing you!?” She was outraged, and maybe I should have been too, but it was like my entire body had gone into a comatose. She took my hands into hers. I met her eyes. Tears finally thawed and started to fall. 

“Oh, honey come here,” She pulled me into a hug and I started crying. Every tear I had denied finally rushed forward, and soon I was sobbing on that roof. 

“Did I do something wrong?” I asked her, miserable. We had made it back to the flat, and we were curled up on my bed. 

“No, honey, you didn’t.” April soothed, petting my hair. 

The next morning he was standing in my living room. The two of us. Standing like we had not twenty four hours ago. But the morning was different. Now I couldn’t bare to be near him. It was only because April said I should at least get closure this time that I was even out here.

I stared at him, my lips pursed, waiting for him to say something. 

“I’m sorry,” He blurted out. “That—what I said, it wasn’t what I meant.” He started pacing anxiously. “Look, I know that I hurt you with that whole April thing, and I haven’t apologized for that and I really should and I want to!” His words began tumbling together in his nervousness. “And I wanted to do that before I ever did anything else, and God definitely before kissing you, but you were there so close on that roof and you were just beautiful, and I—I’m so sorry,” 

I blinked. My face when through a series of expressions before settling on shocked confusion. 

“I know!” Donnie insisted. “God, I know and I’m so sorry Y/n. Especially for not explaining last night. But I was panicking and—“ He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for chasing after April like I did. I genuinely thought that you’d never want me like that. And that was a dick thing for me to do. And I’m sorry for hurting you for so long.” He smiled a bit. “And I’m sorry for crossing your boundaries last night. And for not sticking around and explaining. Also a dick move on my part. So… yeah,” He nodded, not daring to meet my eyes. 

“Um. Okay,” I managed. “Uh… wow.” 

“I know it’s a lot. I’m sorry,” He said. 

“You can stop apologizing Donnie,” I gave a small laugh. “That’s um… alright. Thanks? I think?” 

“Are you mad?” His eyes met mine. “I don’t know…” I confessed. “Um I think I need a minute. Or two,” 

“Right! Yeah! Of course! Take as much time as you need!” He said backing away. “Um—I’m gonna go and give you space, but you can come over or call or anything anytime—we are still having game night tonight, so if you want to come—not that you have to!” He was an anxious mess again. 

I placed my hand on his arm to stop him. “Thank you,” I smiled pointedly. 

“Right, um… I’ll just be off then,” He nodded, backing away. “Bye.” 

“Bye?” I laughed. And like that he was gone again. “Hey April?” I called, knowing she heard all of that. 

She emerged from her room. 

“You heard all of that right?” I clarified. 

“Every word,” She was grinning. 

“Why does it all feel so weird?” I asked. “Like really weird.”

“Because that my dear,” April said. “Was emotional maturity.” 

“Is that what that looks like?” 

“For the most part,” April nodded. “So, what are you feeling?”  

“That, it all makes sense? And I want to believe him? And that its still really weird,” 

“All fair feelings,” April said. 

The hours ticked by until game night at the lair. April and I had gone back and forth about going or not. And when it came time to it… I was putting on my sneakers and grabbing my bag. 

I walked into the lair and I felt every stare on me. I was only looking for one gaze though. 

“Hey,” He said, getting up, looking genuinely surprised that I was there. 

“Hey.” I smiled. “Can we talk?” 

Tags: @brightlotusmoon@boatloadsofheart@legandarybeauty@crazywritingbug@bitch-kms@ravn-87@just-a-casual-fangirl-011@unicornjoos @stuckoutsideofthebox@ilikestuffproductions@whygz@coffee-addicti@sugarspooks15@leslieebee@serperiorkb@blossom-skies@fantastical-67impala-fangirl@coresan@big-banging-red@iceprincess2019@raphaeladdict@thirstyforvenom @merindagriese@depressedemo-152@bengewatch@corabmarie@bitemebro522@tmnt-queen@muleka-loka@violet-sky-96 @curadopordeus@artemismohr18​ @thewhisperpen @xjupitermoonsx@bisexualbumblebeesstuf f @merindagriese @oceans-daughter-3​ @dixonreedusfangirlforever@shanidenise@thegayestfish441@lovelyyroseee@yourlieberhoe@dolphincommander@molzies-fanfics@fuzzy-panda@msmcsmutt​ @zombiesnips-blog

#donnie x y/n #tmnt donnie x reader #donatello #tmnt donatello #donnie x reader #tmnt donatello x reader #donatello x reader #donatello hamato #tmnt leo #tmnt leonardo #leonardo hamato #leo tmnt #leo #tmnt raphael #raphael hamato #tmnt #tmnt raph #tmnt mikey #raphael #tmnt michelangelo #michelangelo hamato #mikey #michelangelo #master splinter #teenage mutant ninja turtle imagine #teenage mutant ninja turtles 2016 #teenage mutant ninja turtles

[therhythmafterthesummer]

The Beginning of the End (M) ~Bang Chan

Pairing: Dokkaebi!Chan x Dragon!F.Reader Themes: Fantasy AU | Royalty AU | Established Relationship | Star-crossed Lovers | Smut | bit Angsty i’d say, all things considered… Warnings: written in Chan’s POV, mentions of war, graphic depictions of intercourse (smut warnings under the cut), they’re in love your honour... Word Count: ~2k | AO3 Summary: Whenever Chan held you in his arms again after spending long periods of time apart, he couldn’t help but feel selfish–and even a bit foolishly hopeful. [A sort of pt. 2 to Purple Flame].

Author’s Note: love me a fictional man that’s absolutely whipped for their significant other… they’re always the most fun to write. i’ve been in my feels for this couple these days… so here this is.

Due to all the abovementioned warnings, this story is intended for an adult audience only. Minors please do not interact.

Smut Warnings: unprotected penetration [piv], creampie (these two are using some form of unspecified birthcontrol, considering they’ve been fucking for years and she’s not pregnant. be careful irl tho)

Disclaimer: the story represented in this work does not represent Stray Kids in any way; anything described in this story and all actions performed by the characters are purely fictional, this was created just for good fun.

Chan had never truly been a heavy sleeper. The tiniest of noises, changes in temperature, or changes in lighting would often wake him up, any of those were usually the cause on easy nights. On harder nights, he’d wake up in a cold sweat, plagued by the screams in his head, by the nightmares that would recount time and time again all those horrors and all that suffering he’d had to endure the past six years.

Tonight, as he woke up with the tiny ticks of a clock, he realised three things.

One, that even if the moon was shining extra bright, the sky was still dark out.

Two, that he wasn’t in his room.

And three, that there was warmth at his back, that there was another person next to him.

His mind was clear enough to recognise his surroundings perfectly, just as it was to know who that person sleeping next to him was–especially so as memories from before he fell asleep flooded his mind as soon as he regained consciousness, memories of you. Of you, alive, and safe. Of you, warm, and soft. Of you, nude, and needy for his touch…

Stretching his legs a bit, the tiniest of groans left his mouth, quiet enough he hoped it wouldn’t wake you up. He shuffled in his place under the covers, finally turning around to come face to face with your sleeping form, taking his time to admire the sight of your bare back, now exposed as the duvet pooled around your waist, his eyes tracing the assortment of scars on your back and the ink you’ve gotten over the years.

You.

His little dragon that filled his heart with nothing but love and admiration. There was nothing Chan wanted more in this world right now than to finally get to live his life with you, without having to hide, without having to pretend, without having to be on high alert every day in case the enemy made a move, or on high alert to avoid the Dragon Queen or the Goblin King from discovering your little–more like huge…–secret.

Chan shuffled closer, sneaking his arm between your own so he could lay his hand on your chest, hooking his index finger under the silver chain that hung from your neck, the chain you wore religiously every day at all times, the chain that held the ring Chan himself had forged with his own blue fire. The ring of goblin obsidian that represented that promise he’d made to you all those years ago. The ring he wished you could wear on your finger, publicly, proudly, safely…

Pressing himself to your back, his whole body moulded to yours, essentially making you his warm little spoon, and he couldn’t help himself from taking in a deep breath, revelling in the scent of your shampoo filling his senses, that shampoo he himself had lathered into your hair right before you fell asleep. You stirred a bit, not fully awake yet, but you shuffled to further press yourself against him, mindlessly taking his hand in yours and clutching it tightly against your chest, and Chan’s heart soared with the gesture.

With a deep sigh, he came face to face with reality again.

He shouldn’t be here.

He should’ve left last night after he made sure you were safe and sound, but every time he got to reunite with you again after spending long periods of time in the field, it was simply getting harder and harder to part from you–to part from your care, to part from your love, to part from your warmth…

Chan had spent his entire life giving himself to others, as Crown Prince, as his father’s son, as the War Leader of the Goblin Children… He’d dedicated his life to others, never asking for anything in return. The only thing he ever wanted was to be with you, to share his love with you, and the fact that that, as his only wish, was essentially unattainable in the current circumstances of his life, had him seething more times than he would like to admit.

He’d missed you so much this past month that having you here right now in his arms almost felt like a dream. So much so, Chan really couldn’t help himself when he started to press soft, tender kisses on the exposed skin of your shoulder, selfishly letting himself enjoy the warmth of your skin against his lips.

“Mmm…” You leaned into his touch, your hold on his hand tightening as you pressed further against him. “You’re still here…”

Your voice was groggy, heavy with sleep, but it made him smile regardless, it reminded him that you were also here, with him. “I’m still here… Can’t find it in me to leave just yet”.

“Mm… Don’t want you to”, was all you mumbled back to him, bringing his hand close to your mouth and planting a soft kiss on the back of it. “Missed you…”

Chan knew you missed him. Not only because you had repeated those words to him time and time again when you met last night, just as his cock buried deep within your cunt, just as you hugged him close to you, murmuring those words on his skin just as he did the same, but also because he just knew you had missed him. Because you always did. “Missed you, too… So much”.

“Mm…”

You were silent for a while, just as Chan kept sporadically pressing kisses on your bare skin, just as he relished the soft caress of your thumb on his palm as you held his hand close to you. He’d stretch these moments as much as he could, etching them into his memory for him to latch onto when he had to go back to his crude reality.

“I love you, Chris. My dearest Goblin Child…” your voice was barely a whisper, but everything around you two was so quiet, so peaceful, there was no way Chan could’ve missed it. 

His heart swelled, full of love, full of you, and his hold around you tightened. “I love you, too. My sweet little dragon…”

“Can’t wait for the day I get to call you my husband… For the day I no longer have to hide all this love I have for you in my heart…” Chan couldn’t help but smile against your skin. At times like these, when it was dark and quiet, when it almost felt like time wasn’t passing, you’d always let your feelings free, always professed your love completely unfiltered, always making him blush as if he hadn’t heard you say these things to him time and time again throughout the past six years.

“In my heart, you’re already my wife, darling”, Chan couldn’t help but chuckle, oddly amused by the entire exchange. He meant it, though. You were the sole owner of his heart, of his affections, you’d been for a long time now, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Mm… Your wife…”

Chan loved to spend these moments of silence with you. They were comfortable, peaceful. But sometimes, after a while of that silence, he’d developed this habit of bringing you both back to reality, of reminding yourselves why you were dealing with the situation that you were, and he knew you hated it, but he could never stop himself.

“Today’s the big day, love…”

You took in a deep breath as soon as the words left his mouth, but you didn’t say anything. After a while, your hold on his hand relented, and you turned around, coming face to face with him, and by the Ancient Goblins if you weren’t the most beautiful sight… Just looking at you like this, even with only the moonlight filtering through the drapes to barely illuminate your features, had his heart fluttering.

“Indeed it is”, one of your hands came to cup his cheek, and Chan couldn’t stop himself from bringing his own to lay on top of yours, to hold your wrist in his hand as you softly traced circles on his skin. 

Chan looked at you for a while, just taking in your features, taking in the face of the person he loved most in this world, and eventually, he couldn’t help but profess his love once again. “Love you…”

“Love you, too…” was all you said before your lips were on his, pressing soft, loving pecks that had his cheeks heating up and his heart thumping a bit faster in his chest.

With his hand moving away from yours to instead hold your waist briefly, only to finally sneak to the small of your back, pulling you flush to him, those seemingly innocent pecks quickly evolved into deep, hungry kisses that had Chan’s head spinning with how fast blood started to rush to his crotch as he kissed you just as hungry and eager and needy as you did.

Before he knew it, he was already on top of you, slotted between your legs, and easing himself within your tempting heat, right where he belonged, right where he wished he could stay for days on end. You held onto him tightly, kissing him slowly, but deeply, just as Chan kept that slow rhythm of his hips, making sure to enjoy as much of you as he could for as long as he could.

“Promise me, Chris…” You mumbled against his cheek as your legs wrapped around him, as your ankles interlocked to keep him as close to you as you could and your fingers threaded in his hair, tugging the strands gently. “Promise me you…” Your words came out slowly, slightly broken between soft moans as Chan fucked into you just how he knew you wanted him to, just how he wanted to. “You’ll try to be safe… That you’ll… try your best to live…”

“Promise…” Chan murmured, snapping his hips a bit faster, moving one of his hands to grip your thigh, eliciting quiet noises from your lips with the motion. “Want to live for you. Want to… spend the rest of my days with you, my love…”

With a slight tilt to his hips, Chan started to hit that exact area within your walls that had you throwing your head back in bliss, that had you struggling to keep yourself quiet, and your reactions had him struggling to keep himself quiet and steady. “Promise me, too, my dearest Dragon Child… That you’ll… you’ll live…”

“Promise… For you, Chris, my love, I… want to live”.

“Mm… My precious little dragon… Love you. In this life… and the next…”

Chan propped himself up a bit, just enough for you to sneak your dominant hand between your bodies, looking him right in the eyes as you started to draw circles on your clit. “In this life… and the next… My sweet Goblin Prince… My love… My life…”

With one final whimper, biting your lip to hold back on all those delicious sounds that would be too loud for the time of day, Chan felt your walls clenching with your release, the feeling, coupled with the words that came out of your mouth, had him snapping his hips harder, faster, chasing his own pleasure. And when he finally came, pumping you full of him, full of his seed, full of his love, he did so as he continued to profess his love to you with his lips pressed to your cheek, ‘I love you… I love you… Love you…’

Today was the day.

Today was the day the Firelands were going to finally strike Lyen directly. 

Today was the day that would decide your fates. 

Today was the day to end the war.

Chan was a realist, he never dwelled in false hopes, he was aware of how dangerous today’s task would be, how possibly fatal it could be for both of you. But right now, as he held you tightly in his arms, still buried as deep within you as he could, feeling himself going soft and his own release slowly trickling out from where your bodies connected, he could only hold onto that possibly delusional hope. He let himself believe for a moment that it would all be alright, that you’d both live, that you’d both finally get that future together that you so desperately needed, that you so rightfully deserved.

Tagging: @raspbinniecreme @staaa96 @oiminho @dundullresident @honey-lemon-goose @carefully325 If you want to be removed from the list just PM me. If you want to be added fill in this form~

© therhythmafterthesummer 2022-2023. all rights reserved. do not repost or translate my stories.

Constructive feedback (or even keysmashes, really) is always welcome :)

#stray kids fantasy AU #bang chan smut #stray kids smut #stray kids fanfiction #bang chan fanfiction #chan smut #bang chan fic #bang chan x reader #chan x reader #skz fanfic #skz fanfiction #stray kids fanfic #✨🌙✏

[archduke42]

My thoughts on Ahsoka

I kind of wanted to wait a few days before giving my thoughts. Lots of mixed feelings, some things I liked, and the things I didn't like are the typical writing problems Dave Filoni consistantly commits. I liked: The Fantasy space opera of it. Things like Ahsoka vs the space fighters, the Night sister magic, the Epic notions of the Mortis Gods and World Between Worlds, etc. I often take issue with how Filoni writes his stories, but when he writes an Epic fantasy energy, I do enjoy it. I love doing that in my own writings, so it taps into my vibe. I liked how Thrawn and the Night sisters and undead stormtroopers have such a Gothic thing (Ominous music, the chants of the soldiers, etc.) His Star destroyer has that feel of an old castle in a Dracula movie, which is pretty cool.

I did like the idea of Merrok being an undead Inquisitor, but I refused to take part in the speculations of who he was. I certainly got tired and anxious over the whole speculation of it being Barriss Offee. I just wish they had established early on he was a new character.

Overall, I am a flexible forgiving fan when a creator takes some liberties. Some things in the show were pretty cool, like the mysterious Planet Piridea, the Night Sisters working with Thrawn, the samurai motif of the scavengers on the planet and the little aliens with big shells for defense, etc. The light saber fights were pretty awesome (Ahsoka vs Morgan was quite excellent) I liked Baylan and Shin. Interesting characters with a bit of mystery of where they came from and where they want to go. Though Ray Stevenson has passed away, I have no doubt Filoni will try to continue or conclude the journey of Baylan Skoll somehow. I also get Filoni's Wolf thing that he puts in all his projects. It's a bit amateurish to have wolf stuff everywhere but I do that kind of thing in my fanfiction sometimes. Skoll, Hati, Morgan and Merrok are all from some kind of Wolf based mythology. But then that's where I start to take issue with Filoni (with all due respect to fans who liked the elements I am taking issue with) Much of Ahsoka is his own, unstructured, frenetic fan fiction. He changes and retcons things at the drop of a bucket. He drops things in our laps with no back story or explanation and expects us to just accept it. When did Ahsoka and Sabine develop this Master/Apprentice relation? Why was Sabine being trained to be a Jedi? How did Sabine's family perish? How does somebody with such low Force sensitivity suddenly have Force powers in less than a week when most skilled padawans take a lifetime to do what Sabine did with Ezra? Why would Sabine be such a rebellious teen skipping the Lothal celebrations? She could have just said no thanks if she didn't want to be there. Why is she the trouble maker now, while Ezra seems to be the sensible one? It's such a character switch from Rebels, when Ezra was the loose cannon when she was the team player. HOW is Thrawn going to be a threat to the galaxy with one rickety, barely working Star Destroyer and dwindling resources? I suppose he might unite the warlords but that is going to take effort if they are not impressed with what he's starting out with. Plus, I have never been keen on Filoni's portrayal of Thrawn. The trouble is that Thrawn is the most brilliant military mind in Star Wars. Not to anger anyone, but there is no way he was going to lose against the Rebels. He only gets defeated when there is an insubordinate officer, a mysterious obstacle like the Bendu, or just plain fan fiction contrivance. Filoni and the creators at Lucasfilm really should study Napoleon, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, General George S Patton, etc to create a believable military villain of this magnitude. But that's just my opinion. Thrawn is so unbeatable it would take a pack of Space Whales to totally counter his abilities (Another epic moment I enjoyed at the end of rebels) Not a fan of Filoni just dropping these plot complications without any backstory to explain them, but he does that all the time. He relies too much on fans just figuring canon out on their own when he really needs to explain things a little better. Also not a fan of Filoni's penchant for letting the protagonists be irresponsible yet suffer no consequences whatsoever for their actions.

Ahsoka disobeys the council/Anakin/etc suffers no real consequence for insubordination Ezra goes AWOL to try to save Kenobi from Maul, which would have severe repercussions, but gets a slap on the wrist and a wagging finger Sabine disobeys Ahsoka multiple times and endangers the New Republic by letting Thrawn have the capability to return, but no consequences are ever forthcoming. Now, I know sometimes it's exciting when the Star Wars heroes are mavericks who dismiss the rules for quick actions, but I'm 52, and it kind of chafes me when people break rules for selfish reasons and create problems for those of us who play by the rules. I sometimes wish Filoni would have characters go the common sense path, but there you go. The Asian Senator follows the rules, he gets boo hissed by everyone, while Hera breaks the rules (even with Good intentions) and is celebrated as a maverick hero. I got nothing but respect for Hera but Filoni's Star Wars has a habit of celebrating irresponsibility in the Heroes while the characters who follow rules are written to be sort of villains

The worst habit Filoni has is to end his stories with ambiguity. Characters leave dramatically to an uncertain future, leaving more questions on what happens next. I get that this is a way to make fans want more, but it's a tired tactic so he can leave things open rather than have a concrete conclusion. Plus, we have no way of knowing when there will be a followup. If there will be a season 2, it might not happen until 2025. They announced Filoni will be directing his movie, but that might not be until 2026. It's a lot of wait time, just as there was a lot of wait time after season 5 of TCW and season 4 of Rebels. Then there's the whole Barriss Offee question I've come to simply accept that Barriss Offee is likely never returning to Star Wars canon (I think Filoni tells us he has big plans for her just to keep us waiting). I saw a story about how Filoni wanted to bring back Ventress in the Resistance animated show but then scrapped it because her popularity would overshadow the main characters. That kind of brings me to the conclusion that I don't need to wait for Barriss to return to any animated show or live stream series. Her popularity would just distract us from other characters Filoni wants to focus on. As much as that saddens me a little, I accept it and will not be pushing any more speculation articles or youtube videos trying to sensationalize her return. We all got excited when there was a mystery over who rescued Grogu and that Illuminerdi article that boasted the casting of Barriss for the Ahsoka show (Another red herring) It kind of deflates us when we realized we were wrong about it. I think we should just celebrate Barriss with art and stories and not fall for the stringed carrot bait anymore. In the end, I can still watch future Star Wars stuff, and I am curious to see what happens to these characters. But the wait will sort of make it all it bit Meh. Overall, I liked the Epic style of the Ahsoka series and the characters but Filoni's bag of tricks are a tired thing for me.

#star wars #star wars the clone wars #ahsoka tano #star wars rebels #ezra bridger #grand admiral thrawn

[weathermanpolls]

Andromeda has logical consequences for it's technology. Artifical gravity can make the ship lighter to the point it can run like a space fighter, battles are typically done in distances measured in Light Seconds.

Babylon 5 combines the very hard Earth Alliance, with the much softer other races. Earth Alliance has to have spinning sections to simulate gravity, while the other races actually have artificial gravity. Largely suffers from the writers didn't read the tech manual.

Battlestar Galactica tried to create a very realistic idea of space, but fell into a bunch of current-year cliches, while also not dealing with the fact that artificial gravity is a super weapon. The Cylon Base Stars are a very realistic idea of what an AI might create for space ship design, (cripplingly specialized to the most effective form of warfare), while the Galactica was purposefully designed to be a barely functional hunk of junk that lets you feel the very real risks of empty space that surround you.

Haven't played Eve online, but it lets you customize ships to a ridiculous degree.

Homeworld focuses on massive fleet battles, but also more strategic things, so you fleet is filled with asteroid miners and whatnot.

Gundam tends to focus on Gundams, naturally, but still has some incredibly cool, and well thought out space ships.

Mass Effect takes the hardest science fiction that still allows planetary romance, and throws it into a lovecraftian horror. So you have realistic dreadnoughts fighting space cuddlefish from the dark space beyond the galactic rim, that have voices that crawl into your mind, and have the abyss stare at you from every shadow.

Stargate has really cool old technology, with relatively hard modern technology.

Star Trek does a fantastic job of progressing the ships over the years with intricate, loving detail. And then has writers that flat out ignore the technical details.

Star Wars combines things like artificial gravity and space Confucianism with arguably the most rules-based space travel ever created. Original Trilogy + Prequel Trilogy + Expanded Universe, of course

Wing Commander is one of the oldest and most venerated space sims... short of Star Wars, but still wonderfully dedicated.

40k really depends on the factions. The Imperium is so hard to the point that logistically issues are prevalent in every story. While the ships SEEM ridiculous, they actually operate as a ship of that size would, and justify the size by the fact they can't use anything more than the most basic computer systems to control it. Others factions tend to fall much more into the space magic category.

#polls #gen

[patriciavetinari]

It was against my wishes that I was made to watch the Andor series. I have thoughts.

I'm finding it very hard to discuss because with the entire franchise I feel like it's some sort of topsy turvy alice in wonderland world where we are expected to take very seriously this media that is so simplistic and so devoid of difficulty or nuance or the quintessential greyness and relativity of morals that calling it a series for children is insulting to at least some options of children's media.

I feel bizzare when star wars films (as well as marvel for that matter) are treated and reviewed and discussed as if these stories aren't an equivalent of mass produced plastic mcdonalds toy: utterly generic, simple, inoffensive and lacking any kind of storytelling mastery.

And yet we're at a point when those are not flicks, not something we can agree is fast food of cinema, instead it is treated like something grown adult humans should sit down and discuss as important cultural event of our times. (Not Andor specifically yet, but star wars in general at the very least).

To me, all of this is peppa pig. I cannot take this seriously. I cannot look at those movies and series that are milking themselves for money and are offering the same primitive story over and over and over again and be part of this pretense that this is cinema, that this is for adults. I will not sit with a group of adults and discuss the story and character development in peppa pig. That is not to say peppa pig is inherently worthless! No, I want children of target age to sit down and discuss those things. Learn appropriate level of media comprehension and analysis through appropriate works at appropriate age. Just like I feel star wars franchise in general is meant for pre-teen children, I guess.

And it's bizzare to me not only that the same story and same characters are regurgitated over and over, all of it also has this veneer of seriousness, thoughtfulness, with a pretense of being adult choice of storytelling (and story-listening!). That's the milquetoast liberal message aside even. It's literally the same to me as children's shows getting those grimdark remakes with drugs and sex and incest and rape and murder and abuse added in while it remains a flat, unseasoned, unnuanced story that we are for some fucking reason supposed to sit down and discuss at our lunch breaks because that's apparently what adults consume and discuss.

This is a continuation of that recent tiktok thing about 'not reading a 700 page Russian novel', the battle of anti-intellectualism and snobbism versus lack of curiosity towards anything more challenging than disney. It's disney. It's quintessential disney writing which is not to say the story is necessarily bad: again, for the target audience (which for star wars in its entirety should be in my opinion up to 13 years old) it can be ok. But it's not for adults.

Stat Wars is not for adults. Disney is not for adults. Marvel is not for adults. It doesn't mean it's bad. Graphics are good, yadi yada, spaceahip goes brrrr, it's fine. But I have as much desire as an almost 30 year old to watch or discuss it seriously as I have to watch and discuss peppa pig or spongebob or scooby doo or barbie mariposa.

I'm not even saying it's bad for adults to like children's or teen or young adults' media, keep an eye on it, check it out when it comes out, notice good and bad things about individual pieces, analyze them, admire the art etc etc etc. But the genre and the target of that art should be kept in mind. It should be called what it is: pre-teen sci fi. It should be placed in that category in media libraries, it should be prefaced as such in conversation and when the conversation is about adult fiction, Andor or Star wars (or marvel or disney) should not really take much space in that conversation.

And I'm tired of how much space that primitive writing, those mass produced plastic mcdonalds movies with basic barely liberal messages take up nowadays. I hate that I cannot just say that I don't really check out children's media this days and be understood as someone who doesn't watch marvel or star wars stuff (which is all the same whale anyway).

There's nothing to discuss. Writing is poor, pacing is poor, dialogue is dry, acting is okay (there's not much to act out, everyone had the same expression for the first five episodes), graphics clearly the main point of the whole thing and yeah, I guess, spaceships flying look good.

#the entire franchise is meh #yes the original trilogy as well #it survived solely on the memes #on the delightfull whackiness that has been grimdarked out of it #and I'm fucking hungry to discuss babylon 5 with someone #now that's sci fi #andor #no I'm not tagging it anti-andor #it's my blog #long post

[death-and-other-myths]

Red, White, and Royal Blue Deadass Book Review

America's first son accidentally falls on a wedding cake with England's crowned prince. SHENANIGANS ENSUE.

This is an unhinged book review/recap of Red, White, and Royal Blue By Casey McQuiston

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

When I picked this book up, I did what I normally do and barely read the description. I like to go into things COLD, you feel me? I skimmed the back (the president’s son falls for the prince of england. Okay, cool. Got it.) and downloaded a sample of Chapter 1.

I loved the style of the writing. It's told in present tense, but it has a lot of personality. I like when the omnipresent narrator's voice was in sync with the snarkiness of the characters, and every sentence was just hilarious and quippy and fun.

So I downloaded the audiobook (because my trainer told me to walk 10K steps a day, kill me), but ended up ALSO downloading the kindle version because I got so hooked on this story, I would both listen to it during the day and read it at night.

The main character is Alex, who is the “first son” of the first female president! Apparently this author started writing this book in 2016 to scratch an itch to imagine a fantasy world where competent, progressive people are elected president, and homosexuality isn’t completely demonized. The president in this story is super cool. She's a hardass redhead from Texas.

So her kids are Alex and June. They’re in their early 20’s, and are major celebrities and constantly on the covers of magazines, adored by all, etc. etc. June is smart and sweet and wants to be a writer. Alex is snarky and impulsive and passionate and wants to be a politician like his Mom. Their best friend is Nora, who is the Vice President’s daughter, and Nora is a hoot. She’s whip smart, can do math in her head, loves analyzing data for fun, and is a borderline sociopath. Like she just does what she wants and dates who she wants (men or women) and loves messing with the paparazzi by flirting with Alex all the time when they actually have no romantic interest.

The Trio (who have some fun, flashy media name I can’t remember) are invited to a royal wedding in the UK, where a fictional Prince Phillip is getting married. And Alex learns that his ARCH RIVAL Henry will be there!! OOOOOooooOOOOoooo I hope they don’t exchange quippy remarks and fall on each other!!

Oh no! That’s exactly what happens. Because you can package this story up in clever prose all you want, but at the end of the day, this is an “Enemies to Lovers” story. And everyone knows that to go from enemies to lovers, you must fall on each other at least once.

So anyway they fall on the wedding cake.

AND IT IS AN INTERNATIONAL SCANDAL!!!

So now, the White House and Royal PR teams scramble to save their images by forcing Alex and Henry to pretend they’re friends for a few months. Which means they have to hang out together. And Alex is all “Aw shucks I can’t believe I have to hang out with this prudish fuck. He sucks so much. I hate him. I hate his stupid face and I’ve hated it ever since I stole that teen magazine spread with a photo of him from my sister when I was fifteen and stared at it for hours and hours. Like boy do I hate him.” -- this is literally a thing that happens, by the way.

There are moments in this story that remind me of Olive and Evan from The Unhoneymooners, where Olive is like… going out of her way to paint Evan as a dick when he’s literally just standing there minding his own business.

So then starts this campaign where they arrange a few meet ups for them to have some photo opps. There are several, but I can’t remember them all. The one I do remember is the stupidest one, where they are reading to sick children in the hospital. And Alex overhears Henry talking to a little girl about Star Wars, and it’s supposed to be this emotional thing, but it comes off as forced and dorky.

Any way, right after that, Alex and Henry get locked in a closet and they fall on each other and it’s sexual and awkward.

There’s like… a car that backfires or something. Oh wait no, it’s kids lighting fireworks. So of course the secret service is like, “QUICK!! YOU TWO FAMOUS HORMONAL TEENS. GET IN THE CLOSET!” and they have a silly conversation about Star Wars while rubbing on each other in the dark. This book is silly. It’s just silly.

OH HOW I LOVE IT.

A few other things happen that make them start to become acquaintances or friends. They text each other and actually get along.

Alright so then it’s New Year’s Eve at the White House. And the kids are having a big ol’party and Henry is there because of the publicity plan. Alex and the gang get sloshed. Alex is a party animal and extroverted and gregarious and at one point, notices that Henry is missing. He drunkenly wanders out in the snow and finds Henry beneath a tree. And Henry talks about how things like this can be overwhelming for him, because he’s just always been different. And he’s basically trying to come out to Alex, but Alex is too stupid and drunk to notice. So Henry ends up just KISSING HIM and then running away like Cinderella.

Alex spends the next few weeks texting Henry, but he won’t reply.

So he has to wait until their final PR photo op (as per the agreement). Oh and in the time leading up to it, he is in full-on gay-panic going to Nora and basically discovering he is bi. Nora is so smart, she’s like “Oh baby I crunched the numbers on this a long time ago. You’ve been bi since we met.”

Anyway…

So at the event, Alex gets a bunch of secret service people to guard a room while he traps Henry in there and they furiously make out under a painting of Alexander Hamilton. Then after that, he tells Henry to come up to his room, and we get a very tasteful, very well written description of two famous guys giving each other hand jobs.

It is at this point, during my 10K walking around the city, that I looked around open-mouthed, to no one in particular, and thought, “Oh my god this is porn. I bought porn.” Like I did not read the description that thoroughly. I expected a pretty PG-13 Rom Com like the Unhoneymooners (whose sex scenes were basically the literary equivalent of the camera panning to the billowing curtains). But hey, I’m not complaining. I already fell in love with these characters. I’m here. I’m along for the ride. If they wanna bang, they can and should BANG.

So the like 10 subsequent chapters are about all the different ways they have sex.

Some of the feedback on this book is that it reads like a tumblr.com fanfiction. It’s a little too snarky and too goofy and there is a ridiculous amount of sex. Like it doesn’t even really drive the plot, it’s just sexy fun times. Some people didn’t like that. Some people don’t know how to just relax and have fun reading a stupid romance book.

Well eventually, Alex and Henry get caught. They get caught twice, if we're being technical. The first is something harmless like “Look at this picture of their elbows touching! They’re talking awfully close to each other!” -- so the boys are pulled apart and forced to date women for the optics.

But then they fuck up and kiss in the back of a secret service car, forgetting that the windshields aren’t tinted. This is all really terrible for Henry, by the way. The monarchy is much more awful about decorum and standards. At least Alex has this really cute, touching moment with his family who loves and accepts him no matter what.

OH WAIT the bomb really drops when both the kissing pic, AND all of their saucy emails get leaked to the public. I forgot to tell you about that part. They write these really beautiful, thoughtful emails to each other back and forth. And even add quotes from other famous love letters. It’s very sweet. But Alex is freaking out, and we don’t know how Henry is doing because the “literary camera” stays with Alex for most of the book. But there’s this sweet part with his Mom basically telling him it’s okay, and if he really loves Henry then fuck the world. And all of this happens at like 3am, and Alex has a panic attack in the arms of his family members and it’s all very tender and sweet. I wish they were the real first family because everyone in it is so nice.

The president has this “Go get your man.” moment and orchestrates a flight to the UK for Alex to do just that.

There’s this whole crazy showdown with the QUEEN at the end, where Henry and Alex (and Henry’s Mom who is a badass). And the Queen is all “Blah blah blah homosexuality is wrong. The public will hate you forever.” and someone walks over to the curtains and RIPS them open, and we see this huge explosive crowd outside of Buckingham palace with rainbow signs cheering for HenryxAlex. And it’s a movement that’s happening all over the world. Like of course there are homophobic assholes out there. But overwhelmingly, it sparks a social media movement and these boys are publicly accepted icons.

HAPPY ENDING.

The president wins her re-election campaign. The people behind the leaked photos and emails turned out to be her evil republican adversaries. They get publically shamed. And Alex and Henry move into a brownstone apartment in Brooklyn while Alex goes to law school and Henry does prince stuff. IT’S VERY SWEET. And very much a fantasy of the author’s, which I appreciate. It’s fiction! It’s fantasy. It’s FUN!!

I loved this book. My only criticism is that sometimes, the narration was TOO snarky? Like not every paragraph needs a joke. Or a jab. Or something that says “look at me, I’m so internet culture cool.” -- But I love the characters. I love the message. I was so entertained by all of it. I can see why so many people adore it and yes, I've read it several times.

Deadass Rating: 9/10

#deadass book reviews #red white and royal blue #fiction #currently reading #books & libraries #literature #writers #writers on tumblr

[rollerwavegallery]

THX 1138 (1971)

“What’s wrong?”

This is the famous opening line of George Lucas’ masterpiece, THX 1138- an indication that we are witness to a world that is WRONG, so far beyond repair and so far gone that it bears virtually no resemblance to our own. 

The world of THX 1138 is perhaps the most bleak depiction of the future ever created. Unlike other dystopian scenarios in film, it is not the result of any structure which seeks to abuse power- rather, its environment is merely the result of the progression of time. THX is set in a place where humanity is fundamentally broken, has forgotten how to perform even the most basic task, and does not keep adequate sociological records.

Anyone who appreciates and respects George Lucas’ talents as a director knows of the captivating power of THX 1138, which is arguably even better than Star Wars. Indeed, in it we see many of the elements which later defined Star Wars- the robotic officers being similar to Stormtroopers, the line-refracted holograms THX views in his apartment being similar to the projection of Leia which pops out of R2D2 and the chess set aboard the Millennium Falcon, the sleek polished hallways calling to mind the interior of a Star Destroyer.

Of course, THX is a much less commercially appealing property than Star Wars, which explains why prior to Star Wars’ release in 1977, Lucas was only billed as the creator of the mildly successful film ”American Graffiti”. Overlooking THX is a mistake. It is a spectacular science fiction film, one of the greatest in scope ever conceived, and to think that it is George Lucas’ first film, and predates Star Wars by 6 years, only speaks to just how revolutionary the Lucas is in terms of storytelling and vision. 

The film follows three characters- THX, played by Robert Duvall, LUH, played by Maggie McOmie, and SEN, played by Donald Pleasance in one of his best roles. THX is a man who fears illness at the hands of his society, undergoes physical and mental trauma of which we can barely conceive, and in the end escapes his prison through sheer willpower. It is stated near the end that his society is concerned with the cost of his capture more than his capture itself, as his pursuit is abruptly terminated once the effort to bring him in runs over budget. Such are the intricacies of the bureaucracy which THX finds himself in. 

LUH’s fate is left ambiguous, as many things about her are ambiguous- such as the inner feelings between her and THX, which can only be known by them. Their relationship is one of the strongest chemistries ever witnessed onscreen, and McOmie’s expressions in the opening scene, wherein she witnesses the results of an untimely radiation accident, are excellent. 

SEN is the film’s most nuanced character in my opinion, more communicative than THX yet blinded by a lack of real desire to escape the system, despite his declarations in the prison scene that action is required. In one of the most captivating scenes, he and THX open the door which leads out of the prison, only to find a hallway with millions of swarming people- and confronted by the logistics of the masses, SEN is shocked into a state of horror. He is greeted by the abrupt state of conformity after a long period of isolation, which drives him down a path which ends with him as a shell of his former self, not even attempting to hide from the city’s surveillance cameras, being apprehended by officers and returned to prison. So it goes. 

Yet another element which adds to THX’s reputation as a tour de force is, of course, Lalo Schifrin’s masterful soundtrack. It is, like the film, decades ahead of its time, electronic and unsettling in equal measure, with smooth jazz interludes and dark ambient echoes. It tells the story of the film sonically, and is an influential piece in modern Rollerwave. It was notably sampled by Dan Frost on his debut album, “To Every Man,” on the single “scotchGARD”. The song also samples dialogue from Taxi Driver, which is fitting, given Taxi Driver’s similar themes of alienation in contemporary society. 

If there is one downside to THX, it is the director’s cut, which adds in unnecessary CGI which ultimately causes the film to feel dated- not dated by 1970s standards, but rather dated by the standards of 2004 when the CGI portions were added. It is the version you will likely find on any streaming service, so I recommend finding a copy of THX released on VHS prior to 2004. In its uncut, original version, it is nothing short of a masterpiece. 

The CGI shots Lucas added in the 2004 director’s cut are puzzling in that they add nothing to the narrative, and are jarring when compared to the wonderful practical effects of the 1970s. A rat which scares Donald Pleasance in the original cut is needlessly replaced with a strange scorpion creature. Highways are added to the city which make it feel more like the wonderful metropolis of Coruscant than an empty cavern. Most notably, THX’s work with radioactive metal is given the CGI treatment- and it looks abysmal. 

While it can be argued that CGI works well in the Star Wars prequels, given their nature as grand works of science fantasy where anything is possible, it is thematically incompatible with THX 1138, which is aside from the CGI edits extremely grounded and bleak. These cartoony editions feel like a completely separate movie, they are jarring and speak to an older, more cynical George Lucas who was emboldened by the potential of CGI as a new technology and felt the need to go back and touch up what he saw as a flawed film- even though it is in fact perfect in its original state. Any fans of Rollerwave as an aesthetic should avoid the director’s cut at all costs, as it subtracts from the marvelous 1970s aesthetic. 

This is particularly notable in the needless addition of CGI “shell dwellers” in the final portion of the movie, who don’t even look remotely like the shell dweller seen earlier during the prison scene, and whose mere presence subtracts from THX’s chase from the officers. In short, they ruin the conflict. This is a shame, given that THX’s final chase scene is fantastic and displays what can be achieved using practical effects and a vast underground tunnel. 

THX is unfathomably influential to modern science fiction, and unlike Rollerball or Death Race 2000, does not feel dated, despite its obvious 1970s appearance. This can be credited in part due to extremely well-honed performances by a cast who know exactly what they’re doing, and in part to Lucas’ behavior as a director. Every shot is perfectly calculated to achieve the ultimate atmospheric effect, up to and including the satiric clip of Buck Rogers which plays prior to the film proper. Its utopian vision exists in stark contrast with the morbid reality of THX’s world, and also communicates Lucas’ noted fascination with old film serials, which is palpable in Indiana Jones and, of course, Star Wars. 

It’s required viewing for any dedicated fan of Rollerwave as an aesthetic. Each shot oozes with technical prowess, from the gorgeous shopping mall-esque interior of the City’s commerce center to the vast maze of computer servers THX navigates while being relentlessly pursued by his captors. THX is one of the best visions of the future the 1970s has to offer, along with Alien, albeit initiating the decade rather than capping it off. 

More than simply being one of the first examples of Rollerwave in film, and one of the best, however, it is a great science-fiction film which sets itself apart from the crowd, stands on its own, and should be viewed by anyone who considers themselves connoisseurs of science-fiction. 

#rollerwave #thx 1138 #sci-fi #1970s #classic film

[spacecasewriter13]

When the Lights Go on Again by @spacecasewriter13

Story summary: It is May of 1946, over a year after his fall from the Hydra train and losing his left arm, and James "Bucky" Barnes is struggling to adjust. Working as an analyst at the New York City SSR branch, Bucky tries to put the war and all of its sorted memories behind him. However, try as he might he is plagued by thoughts of Magdalene "Maggie" Ramirez, a Women's Army Corps (WAC) Corporal he met in London and hasn't spoken to since before his fall in January of 1945. Little does he know that Maggie, in her struggle to put the war behind her, has moved to the city and looking for a job with the New York Bell Telephone Company as a switchboard operator. Now, by sheer dumb luck, they are reunited as they both fight come to terms with what they were to one another during the war, and work to figure out how to move forward in a world that was unprepared to deal with the consequences of war in the unsteady peace.

Chapter 12: On Account of The Moon

Chapter summary: Maggie seeks out distraction from a friend, while trying to unravel the meaning of Bucky’s unconventional parting gift.

Excerpt:

The early morning light was streaming into the hotel room in thick golden bands between cracks in the black-out curtains, and she was laying on her stomach, wrapped in a sheet, listening as James read the morning newspaper out loud. One of his hands held a corner of the paper. The other traced patterns lazily on the skin between her shoulder blades, up and down her spine, with his fingertips.

His voice was low and soft, and she could hear the slight changes in his inflection and tone as he bobbed his head to check if she was still listening or, more likely, confirm that she’d nodded off, lulled to sleep by the sound of his voice.

“You still with me, doll?” He murmured.

“I am.” She nodded without opening her eyes.

“I can stop if you’d like. It’s all bad news anyway.” James continued with a sigh.

“Would it be too terribly corny if I said I was enjoying listening to the sound of your voice?” She rolled over onto her back so she could look up at him.

“No one’s ever told me that before.” He admitted slowly.

“It’s very soothing.”

“Th-thank you,” He managed to get out before pulling the newspaper up again, barely hiding the faint hint of a blush on his cheeks and chest.

This dissipated quickly as he turned the page with an aggravated sigh, “I wish there was something worth reading in this rag sheet.” He shook his head as he let his hands crush the newspaper under their weight as he dropped them into his lap.

“What would you prefer? We can always resume Dumas, though French at this hour seems a bit daunting.”

James scoffed, running his hands through his hair. “Something nice. Far away. With a happy ending.” He said, “And not in french.” He added quickly. “Sorry.”

“No need to apologize. The french was wearing on my nerves too.” She paused, reaching out her hand to stroke his arm before taking his hand in hers. “As to everything else, that seems a tall order, but I’ll have to see if I can find anything like that next time I’m at the commissary or if I manage to catch the newsstand at the right time.” Maggie squeezed his hand gently.

“I’d suggest the Stars and Stripes. If you’re looking for fiction,” James said deadpan.

This drew a giggle and a snort from Maggie before she took his hand and brought it to her lips, kissing the top and the knuckles gently. “I’ll keep that in mind,” She said as she drew his hand away and returned his arm to a likely more comfortable position. “Where would you want this far away nice story with a happy ending to take place?”

“Oh. I don’t know.” He shrugged, pushing the newspaper onto the floor, which immediately scattered with the sliding hiss, and sunk further into the bed until he was lying flat beside her, their faces mere inches from one another. “Wherever it is, I hope you’re there too.”

“Mhhh, hmmm, now who’s being corny?” She hummed, barely containing a smile as she rolled over onto her side.

“Never said I wasn’t,” he answered with a low chuckle, also rolling over onto his side.

“Well, I’ll have my work cut out for me.” She said, breaching the space between them kissed him softly, only a moment before she withdrew to examine his expression.

He was watching her too with an easy expression, his messy hair sticking this way and that way, giving him an amusing but boyish look about him. After a moment, he took his hand and stroked her face, pushing away hair that had started to fall into her eyes. “A happy ending is a must in whatever story you find for us.”

“I’m not sure they’re selling those down at the shop anymore. You know how these Brits are with their rationing. But I’ll see what I can do.” Maggie smiled

“Good.” He put his hand on the back of her head, near the base of her neck, and gathered her to him to kiss her forehead.

“Mhhh Hmmm,” She hummed, tucking her head under his chin as he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.

Bodies pressed together; they slipped in and out of the light slumber that only a Sunday morning could possibly allow.

To Continue Reading Please Visit Ao3

#Bucky Barnes #MCU #Winter Soldier #Captain America #Fic #Daniel Sousa #Sam Wilson #Sarah Wilson #Gabe Jones #New Chapter up!

[cathygeha]

REVIEW

The Rose Girls by Jennifer Chase

Detective Katie Scott 9

 Intense, dark, gritty, and gripping from first page till the end – couldn’t put it down once begun.

 What I liked:

* Katie: ex-military K-9 handler and war veteran, cold case detective, works for her uncle who is the local sheriff, owner of Cisco the retired K-9, suffers from PTSD, engaged to Chad, focused, sometimes impulsive, dedicated to solving cases that come her way.

* Ciscso: Katie’s K-9 partner, retired from military, companion to Katie, skilled at his job, loving and protective, helps ground Katie

* Sean: detective, Katie’s work partner, calm presence, good balance to Katie, in a relationship with Denise

* The plot, writing, character development, creepy atmosphere in Coldwater Creek that is isolated and filled with secrets

* That this story was based primarily on police procedure and not as much on personal lives of characters – though we did catch up with a few and how they are doing

* The supporting characters – new to and already established in the series

* Joshuar – octogenarian, citizen of Coldwater Creek, cagey, wise, seemed a good soul

* That the case is solved at the end with no cliff hanger

 What I didn’t like:

* Who and what I was meant not to like

* Thinking about how selfish and amoral some people can be and how little regard they hold for the lives of others.

 Did I like this book? Yes

Would I read more in this series? Yes

 Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC – This is my honest review.

 4-5 Stars

       BLURB

 Like a precious doll, the girl leans against the towering pine tree with her long bare legs stretched out and her hands folded neatly in her lap. Her head tilts towards the sky, but this innocent child will never feel the warm glow of morning sun again; her fragile little body is cold, her tender heart is still. When Detective Katie Scott receives a plea from neighboring Coldwater Creek to help with a tragic murder, she doesn’t hesitate. Fifteen-year-old Ivy Miller’s naked body was found tied to a tree, a freshly inked pink rose tattoo on her arm. The word “MORE” carved into her back means sweet Ivy could be the first of many… Katie’s heart aches for the young girl whose life ended before it had even begun. But she has her work cut out with the inexperienced police department fumbling the case at every turn. There hasn’t been a murder in this small town for as long as anyone can remember, but why will none of the locals cooperate? Katie’s only lead is a blurry photograph of Ivy’s long-missing mother found in Ivy’s bedroom. If she can find out where it was taken, Katie knows she’ll have the first clue in a mystery that has been haunting Coldwater Creek for years. But Katie’s world crashes down when Ivy’s two best friends are found murdered in the same woods days later. Inked with the same pretty flower, the rose girls were keeping a deadly secret. Katie will never forgive herself for not making the connection in time. As mothers cling to their daughters, terrified to let them out of their sight, Katie’s search leads her to an abandoned building deep in the forest where the last photo of Ivy’s mother was taken. But will she survive long enough to stop more heart-shattering tragedies? A totally nail-biting, keep-you-up-all-night crime thriller from a USA Today and Amazon bestselling author. Prepare to pick your jaw up from the floor at that final twist! Fans of Lisa Regan, Rachel Caine and Melinda Leigh will be absolutely gripped!  

      AUTHOR BIO

 Jennifer Chase is a multi award-winning and best-selling crime fiction author, as well as a consulting criminologist. Jennifer holds a bachelor degree in police forensics and a master’s degree in criminology & criminal justice. These academic pursuits developed out of her curiosity about the criminal mind as well as from her own experience with a violent psychopath, providing Jennifer with deep personal investment in every story she tells.

 In addition, she holds certifications in serial crime and criminal profiling. She is an affiliate member of the International Association of Forensic Criminologists, and member of the International Thriller Writers.

https://www.instagram.com/jenchaseauthor/

https://twitter.com/JChaseNovelist

 Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases from Jennifer Chase here: https://geni.us/B097H5XLDVsocial

Buy Link: Amazon: https://geni.us/B0BH8YZD2Gsocial

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#jennifer chase #detective katie scott 9 #NetGalley #bookouture #police procedural #murder #mystery #crime #fiction

[quiteanoriginal]

Quick thoughts on AI art

The arguments against AI art are obvious yet worth stating: 1) It's built on stolen labor of thousands of artists who will go uncredited while struggling to earn enough 2) Even if everyone who made the training data were compensated, it will lessen future opportunities to earn money doing art 3) Its work product lacks humanity and cannot generate human-like insights

I took a look at a a rendering of a fictional David Cronenberg movie called Galaxy of Flesh (1985). The image set has a number of problems: ** It regresses to the mean and mixes Cronenberg too liberally with Star Wars (the dusty, computery worlds), Alien (the designs share Geiger's organic bowel-like designs more than what I associated with Cronenberg), and there's even one that has a Terminator-like figure next to a Schwarzenegger-like figure. ** It doesn't accomplish the hard part, the cohesion of the images into a story. There are obviously no main characters or repeated figures. We can't see a development of an idea across it: a character that learns something, a setting that is changed by something, all those things that art actually studies. I'm reminded of Matt Bell's attempt to get AI to generate a blurb which promises a "secret that threatens to tear their world apart." AI will not be able to actually define that secret, not just it can't do anything "novel" (remix is a novelty, for sure), but because it works bottoms-up. It has no vision ** The images are often just bad. Faces are over sharpened or over smoothed. Supposedly solid objects simply fade into backgrounds. Textures don't obey 3D spatial logic in a way that would be filmable. No human designing these images would want to do that.

Mainly, though, my mind goes to my earlier point that AI images lack human-level insights, in particular, the gas masks it puts on some figures. The idea that masks used in the mechanized WWI, which hide the face, can be repurposed as a viscerally frightening symbol in art criqiquing empire or war is such a human insight. I cannot imagine an AI ever coming up with that. Instead, it can only repurpose it from its training data.

Similarly, there's a popular clip going around of Spielberg interviewed about Close Encounters where the interviewer observes that the climax of the film involves making music with computers, while Spielberg's parents were a musician and computer scientist. Spielberg glows at this comment, that somehow, he put something personal and human in the work without being obviously aware of it. AI couldn't do that. Its mind is not a human one, and it will not do what human minds do.

The right thing to do ethically might be to invoke a Luddite ethos, and use whatever powers (legal, publicity, influence) to smash these machines before they take over. The right thing to do aesthetically might be to think about Hayao Miyazaki who, when shown a creepy animation of a creature that AI-learned to walk using its head, told a story about a friend of his who suffered from muscle problems, who could barely move, and used that to say that "whoever creates this stuff has no idea of pain." This, like the gas masks and Close Encounters, shows what art can be when it is made by humans.

The labor concerns are enough that I believe anyone is fair to call it a day on AI art and refuse to participate or indulge it any further.

The aesthetic concerns I don't particularly buy. The fact is: AI art is absolutely still based in humanity. The training data was human. The design of the model was made by humans. We accept all sorts of art which are as tenuous to ties to humanity as AI art. When a natural sunset occurs and a machine's sensors receive data and a printer deposits ink onto a page with those color values, we can still consider that photograph artful. The creepy animation that Miyazaki denigrates was AI-generated, but there are plenty of human-designed animations which are not respective of the pain of Miyazaki's friends yet which no one doubts are artful.

We have been through the 20th century and we understand that computer-assisted art, chance-based art, mechanically reproduced art, and even intentionally anti-human art exists. Much great art (maybe, all great art) is produced in ethically compromised production processes.

Even the criticisms I levied against Galaxy of Flesh are flimsy: ** We love remixes and we don't hold almost any art to the perfect standard of originality ** We accept and praise art that is non-narrative, that has disjointness, which presents without needing to cohere ** We welcome imperfections

To defend AI art is cruel to humanity. It is naïve to pretend that because there exits an interesting and artful way to use AI for art, AI art will be deployed interestingly and artfully. Galaxy of Flesh (1985) is not a good piece of art. It is too long. It is neither coherent nor interesting in its incoherence. It doesn't contain almost any of the beauty and elegance of the human body that Cronenberg places everywhere. The person who posted it on Twitter is acting like a schmuck to anyone who brings up labor concerns and doesn’t deserve good faith the way another artist who dumps raw AI output might.

I still see an imaginative use of those images, though. I feel, underneath many layers of disgust and frustration about living as an artist today, a little inspired by these images. I can see something I would want to create there, and which another artist may want to create. I can imagine an artist who chains together queries with different models, who writes artful prompts, who mixes media between what the AI can do and what else can be done to reach different final works.

I just wouldn't want to pretend that this sugar-high, unnourishing spark would sustain anyone. We deserve better.

Source: https://imgur.com/gallery/KQrpbw3 https://twitter.com/mdbell79/status/1610374083883184128 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZspOEa1CP4A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngZ0K3lWKRc https://twitter.com/keithscho/status/1612991766441111552

[therhythmafterthesummer]

Safe Haven (M) ~Bang Chan | Day 91.

Pairing: SpaceRebel!Chan x WitchQueen!F.Reader Themes: Fantasy AU | Sci-Fi AU | Royalty AU | Soulmate AU | Slow Burn | Mutual Pining | Angst | Smut | Fluff. Series Warnings: Third person POV · Very loose and liberal usage of Star Wars concepts (mostly to refer to weapons and tech). you don’t need to know anything about SW to read this, trust me · Physical descriptions of the main female character such as: can visibly blush, having long hair, and being short · Violence · Swearing · Mature themes and language · Original characters · Graphic smut (later chapters) · Mentions of the members of other groups (later chapters) · No one is straight, beware · Each chapter will include its own individual warnings. Chapters marked as M (Mature) either include highly detailed violence, or smut.

Chapter Warnings: graphic depictions of intercourse (smut warnings under the cut) · mentions of death · plot interwoven with the smut (kind of). Word Count: ~10k | AO3

Due to all the abovementioned warnings, this story is intended for a 18+ audience only. Minors do not interact. ✰This chapter has been reworked as of 16/08/2023

Previous Chapter: Day 90. | Series Masterlist. | Next Chapter: Day 92.

Smut warnings: fingering [F.Rec] · oral sex [F.Rec] · nipple play [F.Rec] · fingers in mouth · unprotected penetration [piv] (this is a fantasy world where you can trust people when they tell you they’re clean, the real world doesn’t work this way unfortunately so be careful out there!) · creampie (with no risk of pregnancy) · pretty vanilla, all things considered.

Disclaimer: the story presented in this work does not represent Stray Kids in any way; anything described in this story and all actions performed by the characters are purely fictional, this was created just for good fun.

The facility used as ‘Dall’s base’ was a bit difficult to navigate the further away Chan moved from the main areas. The staircase to get to the upper floors was almost hidden, so it took him a while to find the doorway that finally led him to the stairs. 

He took the stairs two steps at a time, until he finally reached the landing area. There was a plaque with the number three on it next to a doorway, signalling he’d reached exactly the place he’d been looking for.

When Chan stepped into the third floor, he quickly noticed the area was barely illuminated by orbs of light, and much cooler than the rest of the facility.

There were hardly any doors, so it was easy for him to spot the wall clock the Queen had told him about. As he walked by it, the hands of the clock let him know it was past midnight. He turned right, and walked for a bit until he found the only door in the entire corridor.

Chan brought his fist up to the door, but he paused right before knocking. His knuckles shook a bit on the surface, just as a million different thoughts raced through his mind.

He wasn’t sure what exactly he was going to say, he wasn’t even sure what his own feelings were at this point… As he stood there, the relentless humming that accompanied his thoughts seemed to be shaking his core from deep within.

So, before he chickened out, Chan knocked, and the door slid open to the side shortly after.

It was a modest room, with just a single bed, a couple of windows on the wall showing the greenery and rocky formations outside, and a dining table in the middle of the room, with four chairs on each side. The sliding door quietly shut behind him, and his gaze trailed from the table to the windows on the far wall, where the Queen stood, already looking at him, toying with the rings on her fingers.

Silence stretched around them, eyes looking into eyes as unspoken words crossed between them. Chan wouldn’t dare speak, he kept his mouth shut tightly, looking at her face, pondering. 

The Queen was the first to break the silence. 

“Are you upset?” Her voice had a barely perceptible tremble to it, but Chan noticed, just like he always did.

Her voice pulled at his heartstrings immediately. It was an involuntary reaction at this point, and the feeling provided him insight on his own feelings, the exact insight he needed to reply. “I want to be, honestly”.

Her Majesty winced a bit, but still took a tentative step forward, bringing one of her hands to rest on the back of a dining chair. “I can understand if you were”.

Chan stayed silent, crossing his arms over his chest as he just stood there, looking at her intently.

“There were many times I wanted to tell you… Because I trust you, I truly do. Because you’re important to me. But I always chickened out…” She sounded not only honest, but also genuinely distressed about it, which was something Chan didn’t find pleasant in the slightest. In fact, regardless of his feelings, he hated that she’d feel distressed at all. 

With an intake of breath, she continued. “So I can really understand if you were upset”.

Chan looked at her, scanning the features of her face for a brief moment, only to finally look lower to find that thin leather choker around her neck, with the blue stone-comm hanging from it, resting comfortably in her jugular notch.

Had she been wearing it like that all this time? Wearing a matching stone-comm with a mundane rebel unit leader so openly and proudly and prettily?

Was it silly of him to feel affected by a simple accessory?

Maybe it was.

Chan sighed. “It’s not like you lied. You never lied”, he was trying to rationalise the situation, to pick every detail apart in hopes of negating the very small sliver of negative emotions in him.

“Yes… but I hid the truth, and I’m aware of this”, her fingers tapped the back of the chair, and that characteristic tinkling sound erupted from her rings upon contact. “Regardless, whether I lied or not… that’s not what I’m asking”.

He could see it in every single one of her movements, even if she was trying to hide it… She was nervous, but she still stood straight, very obviously mustering every fibre of courage she could to face this head on. And he couldn’t help but respect that.

After a few moments of pondering, Chan let out a tired sigh, taking a tentative step forward. “There’s a small part of me, a very selfish, self-centred part of me that wants to be upset, honestly”, and it was true, he knew it as soon as he said it. “But then there’s a bigger part of me that understands. This whole thing, the Alliance… is something that’s much bigger than me, much bigger than us”.

The Queen was about to say something, but before she could, Chan interrupted her.

“And…” He took another step closer. “It might sound silly, but there’s an even bigger part of me that blooms with inexplicable pride and admiration. Thinking about all the things you’ve accomplished, all that you’ve been standing for all this time… Knowing it’s been you that’s led us and helped us… It’s a lot, but in a good way”.

There was no need to filter his words at this point, no need for pretence reproach, Chan meant every single word he’d just said.

The Queen just looked at him, with her eyes slightly wide, stunned as she listened to him and digested his words. He dared not move any further from where he stood, even if every fibre of his body screamed at him to do so. Keeping the promise he’d made all those months ago was important to him. Or, at least, for as long as she wanted him to. So, he just stood there, leaving the ball in her court and waiting for her response.

The Queen was still for a moment, save for her eyes that seemed to be jumping all over his face, although not entirely in focus. He could practically see the moment his words started sinking into her, how they slowly, but surely, shattered the protective walls she’d put up around herself.

Before Chan could register the movement, Her Majesty was already in front of him, and the collision of her body against his own almost tipped him off balance. He would’ve probably stumbled backwards, had his hands not instinctively found their way to hold her waist the moment she looped her arms around his neck, and brought him close in a tight hug.

Relief washed over him immediately, like breaking the surface of water after swimming at the bottom of the ocean, like taking that first deep breath of fresh air after his lungs had been straining due to lack of oxygen for much longer than they should have. The clean smell of her shampoo, the warmth emanating from her body, the physical feel of her pressed against him… His senses were entirely flooded by her, and Chan realised then just how starved he had been.

“I wouldn’t have accomplished anything without any of you. I should be the one beaming with pride”, her breath fanned his neck as the words came out of her lips, and goosebumps immediately rose on his skin.

His eyes closed, almost involuntarily, and he buried his face in the crook of her neck. The Queen was so warm, and, with her proximity, Chan felt all those unnamed emotions stir violently within him.

He couldn’t really tell how long they stood there. All he could register was her warmth, the rise and fall of her chest against his own, the feeling of his arms around her waist, and hers around his neck while they just held each other.

Eventually, the Queen spoke, barely whispering, tightening her hold. “How are you?”

“Much better now”, and he was. With just a hug, it was almost like all that grumpiness and crankiness that had been plaguing him evaporated. “How are you, Miss Dall?”

Her Majesty chuckled softly. “Much better now, too”.

Chan asked the Queen about her brother and Hoseok, about Wang Eun, Talboot, and Jenna. And, of course, about Freyja. To which she simply told him they were fine, all of them. Although, Freyja seemed to be a bit grumpy these days. Apparently, after Chan left, she was moping for a few days, and Chan couldn’t help but laugh.

“Seriously, it’s like you enchanted her or something”, Her Majesty mumbled against his neck, and Chan tried his best to ignore the feeling of her lips lightly brushing against his skin.

She asked about his friends, to which Chan promptly told her they were fine. At least, in the grand scheme of things they were…

It was honestly heartwarming, just being able to hold her and talk to her, to listen to her voice physically there with him… He’d missed her voice more than he could’ve ever imagined. 

After a while, the Queen pulled back slightly, trying to not break their embrace as one of her hands cupped his cheek to start tracing small circles on his skin. “I’m sorry”.

“I know”, one of his arms unravelled from her waist so he could place his hand on the small of her back, and he started tracing circles with his thumb there in a comforting gesture. The Queen smiled at him, warmly. Her eyes moved across his face, until they settled on his mouth.

Chan closed his eyes at the action, taking a deep breath before his tongue unconsciously darted out to lick his lips. “Gods, don’t look at me like that. I’m trying my best to behave”.

He wished he hadn’t opened his eyes again. Like wind caressing a candle’s flame, his resolve wavered immediately when he came face to face with the now serious expression on her face. He was getting lost in her blown pupils, in her gaze that was filled to the brim with so many different feelings he was having trouble deciphering any of them. It was all too alluring, too intense, and the second she spoke again, her voice but a whisper, his resolve crumbled immediately.

“I don’t want you to behave, Christopher”.

Okay, fuck his promise.

His lips were on hers as soon as the words left her mouth. The Queen yelped at the sudden movement, but reciprocated his kiss with as much enthusiasm as he’d conveyed.

With a swipe of her tongue against his bottom lip, he parted his lips, and their tongues finally met in the middle. Chan’s hands were trembling a bit with excitement, and, with his palms flat on the small of her back, he pulled her impossibly closer to him, bringing their hips flush to one another.

The kiss was getting more and more heated the longer they devoured each other’s mouths, something was brewing deep within him, within his heart and the pit of his stomach. It’d been too long, just way too long without her warmth, and he, feeling a bit selfish, had no intentions of letting her go anytime soon. 

Chan needed her to know. The Queen needed to know the effect she had on him even with so much as a heated kiss. There was no way she wouldn’t notice his growing arousal, so might as well own it and let her know. After all, she didn’t want him to behave, did she?

She noticed. Chan knew it the moment the first wanton moan escaped her lips, only to dissipate into his own mouth.

His hands grew bolder the more they kissed. Chan dragged them up her back to briefly caress her shoulders and the back of her neck, before he brought them lower once again, until they found comfort on the curve of her ass. Even under the light pressure he applied over the fabric of her trousers, the flesh dipped.

It was all too familiar. For a second, his mind took him into the memory of them on that night in the castle town… Back then, Chan had wanted nothing more than to kiss her and feel her up. Right now, though, he wanted so much more, and he wasn’t going to hide it. Not one bit. So, finally giving into the impulse, he gripped her ass tightly with both hands.

The action clearly caught her by surprise, if the rather loud moan that fell from her mouth when their lips disconnected by the sudden jerk was anything to go by. Chan could see it in her eyes clear as day now–the want, the longing, all the unsaid words… They were right there in plain sight for him to admire as her gaze turned darker, as her pupils dilated.

He couldn’t help the satisfied smirk that came to his face at the sight. He licked his lips, and addressed the situation with a teasing tone in his voice. “You wanted me to misbehave, witch”.

Her Majesty huffed, with a smirk of her own on her lips. Bringing a hand to the back of his neck, she pulled his face close to hers, leaving their lips a hair’s width apart to brush against each other with every word. “Do your worst”.

Chan just groaned when their lips connected again.

The Rebel Alliance, the Charmer, his crew, everything faded into muddled water as his only all-consuming thoughts were her. Even if just for a moment, he deserved to feel normal. He deserved to indulge in the woman he longed for without any regard for the outside world, and he’d allow himself to be selfish this time, even if just for a bit.

Bending his knees, he gripped the back of her thighs, and exerted just enough force to scoop the Queen up into his arms. Her legs wrapped around his waist instinctively with the motion, and, for a brief moment, Chan saw the smile on her lips. Only for a moment, though, just right before he kissed her once again.

He moved with purpose, breaching the last stretch to the table in a heartbeat, and carefully placed Her Majesty’s royal bum on the surface. ‘May the Gods bless whoever built this table’, Chan couldn’t help but think, for it was the perfect height for her core to press right where he wanted her most.

If Chan’s brain hadn’t turned to mush yet, it would’ve probably done so at this point, when the Queen’s legs pulled him tightly against her, when the barely there friction between their bodies started fueling his need. He brought a hand under her shirt, and as soon as his fingertips made contact with her lower back, goosebumps rose on her skin. She shivered under his touch, quiet whines filtered between their kisses, especially once his daring hand started travelling from her back until it reached the soft flesh of her belly.

“This needs to go”, Chan mumbled, pulling away from the kiss, and tugging lightly on her shirt.

With a chuckle, the Queen held the hem of her shirt high on her torso, holding onto her undergarments, and pulled both items of clothing over her head in one swift motion. After placing both her palms behind her, a knowing smirk spread on her lips as she rested her weight on her hands, falling back enough to give Chan a full view of her naked form.

Chan was a simple man. When presented with consent to ogle he’d gladly take it, and took it he did… To a certain extent, he’d been desensitised to seeing Her Majesty’s cleavage–thanks to her fondness towards pieces of clothing that framed her attributes. It was a completely different story seeing her upper body completely nude.

Her tattoos painted the skin of her chest, her sternum, and her sides, leaving just the skin of her breasts and her middle bare. His attention was drawn immediately to the delicate jewellery decorating her navel and–as a complete, direct attack towards his sanity–her left nipple.

“Holy shit…” Chan dived in, finding her neck and attaching his lips to her skin. He brought one of his hands to her right breast, and groped the soft flesh, all while the Queen had the nerve to laugh, which only aggravated him more. “A nipple piercing? Seriously? With no warning? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?” He descended from her neck, to her collarbone, where he settled to suckle the skin.

The Queen let out another breathless laugh, bringing a hand to his hair, so she could start massaging his scalp gently. “I think it would’ve been much worse if I’d just come up to you and told you how I looked like naked”.

Chan just hummed against her skin, finally releasing her breast, only to bring his fingers to her nipple, and toy with the hardening bud.

A shaky gasp left her mouth, and her legs tightened around his middle. He pulled away from her neck a bit, so he could have a good look at her face, at her half-lidded eyes and her parted lips. Chan licked his lips, unconsciously, just as a million ideas flashed through his mind, each one lewder than the last.

Tentatively, he pinched the sensitive bud between his thumb and index finger, eliciting a surprised moan from her lips. The Queen’s head lolled back, and her grip on his hair tightened the tiniest bit. “More…”

Who was he to deny such a request? Chan dived in again, his hand kept playing with her right breast as he brought his mouth close to the left. After a deep breath, he finally laid the first tentative lick on the decorated nipple.

The quietness in the room was quickly replaced with the Queen’s quiet whines and moans. Chan focused all his attention on her chest, on the soft flesh he was fondling with his hands, and the taste of her skin on his tongue. With every moan, his heart swelled in his chest, and even if his own arousal was straining his trousers, he didn’t care. At this moment, the need to please surpassed tenfold the need for pleasure.

He wanted more, though. He wanted to make her feel good in every way he possibly could, and he was going to do just that. Chan pulled away from her breasts, and the Queen quickly pulled him to her with force to bring their mouths together.

Bracing himself with a hand behind her on the table, he tentatively rolled his hips to get some friction, and an appreciative groan fell from both of their mouths with the movement. Before she could retaliate, he pulled on her legs that had settled around his middle to set himself free.

A look of confusion crossed Her Majesty’s features, until she realised what he was doing. He–rather ungracefully–yanked her boots off, he found the button of her trousers afterwards, and undid it with a swift flick of his fingers. Chan looked up, finding her gaze looking at him, focused solely on him. Biting her bottom lip, the Queen was hiding a lewd smile, completely, and utterly shameless.

Chan just huffed out a laugh, finally pulling her bottoms–undergarments and all–down and off of her legs. Tattoos wrapped around her nude legs, too, although he already knew this from the numerous times he’d seen the Queen just in a nightgown around the castle. The memory was still burned in his brain even when it felt like it’d happened a lifetime ago. He decided then that this was his favourite look of hers–completely bare, save for her characteristic tattoos, and her assortment of accessories.

“Fuck, you’re so fucking beautiful…” Chan’s mouth quickly found hers again, and he was hoping to convey every emotion he felt stir deep within him in that kiss. She returned it in kind, feelings of her own started overflowing and spilling into him. The Queen didn’t need to say anything, with every movement of her lips against his, with every swipe of her tongue against his own, he just understood.

Pulling away from the kiss, Chan was now filled with determination, he pulled one of the dining chairs to him and sat on it, right in front of her, The action made the Queen laugh for a moment, at least until he grabbed her right leg and slung it over his shoulder, taking her left thigh in his hand so he could spread her open for him.

As soon as he gained access to the soft skin of her inner thighs, he started peppering kisses all over, leaving a sheen of wetness everywhere his mouth touched. The Queen exhaled a shaky breath, throwing her head back.

“Who’s trying to kill who now?” She taunted, falling back to prop herself on her elbows, giving him more space and a better angle.

“Now?” Chan’s eyes were trained on her seeping core, and his mouth watered just at the sight. He let the leg he held in his hand rest against the armrest of the chair, and brought a finger to collect her essence, so he could spread it generously up and down her slit with an appreciative hum. “Definitely me”.

The Queen’s snarky remark died in her throat, replaced by a sinful moan the second his tongue made contact with that sweet nub of nerves between her legs. He licked, kissed, and sucked the area as if his life depended on it, the all-consuming need to hear her moan for him driving his every calculated move. Chan had a goal, and by the Gods he was going to reach it. He was going to make her reach it.

“Chris…” Her moaning his name in such a lewd tone almost, almost made him thrust his hips forward in his seat. ‘Fingers’ was the only intelligible word he could understand, and it was honestly all he needed to hear.

Chan hummed, bringing his hand to her core, and one of his digits tentatively teased the area, getting drenched in her juices before slipping inside. Threading her fingers in his hair, the Queen threw her head back with a satisfied sigh, keeping Chan in place as he explored her, as he looked for that especially sensitive area within her walls.

He pumped his finger for a while, testing different speeds and movements to gather her reactions, until one particular curl of his finger made her legs jerk, earning him a particularly shameless moan, and a barely audible ‘Fuck, right there’.

Ah, how incredibly gratifying that was…

Chan added another finger then, relishing the satisfying stretch around them. The Queen was just so warm, and as soon as both of his digits started a rhythm, his mind quickly filled to the brim with lecherous thoughts. How she would feel wrapped around his cock, how her walls would pull him in as she found her release, the faces she’d make as she came crashing down in bliss…

His mind ran wild as he looked up at her from between her legs, with his lips pressed on her clit as his tongue drew circles on it, fully enthralled by her blown pupils as she looked back at him, by the way her chest heaved with every laboured breath, and by the moans that unabashedly came out of her mouth under his touch. Everything combined was too much, and, somehow, not enough at the same time.

“Say…” Chan placed a kiss on her inner thigh after he pulled away from her core, and his other hand found its way around her hip to rub circles on her clit. His fingers didn’t stop moving, though. They kept slowly pumping in and out of her warmth, massaging her walls, and he was careful not to let her thigh fall from his shoulder. “I reckon you can take another finger, Your Majesty”.

The Queen huffed an incredulous laugh, and her voice was slightly shaky when she spoke. “I can’t believe you’re using my title as you… As you are–Shit, I can’t even think… As you’re fingerfucking me”.

Chan chuckled, the fire deep within him increased in size, fed by the sight of the struggling, fucked-out expression on her face.

Slowing the movements of his hands, he brought a third finger to her entrance, and started carefully pushing it in. Her legs trembled as soon as his three fingers bottomed out. He continued the movement of his other hand on her clit, while his fingers remained unmoving to give her some time to adjust to the stretch.

“If not ‘Your Majesty’ then what should I use?” Chan curled his fingers up, rubbing against that sensitive spot inside her walls. “My dear? My heart? My love?” Chan emphasised each term of endearment with a curl of his fingers, which only seemed to rile her up more.

“Any–all of them. Fuck, Chris, darling, I’m so, so close. I might cry”, she was whining, her head lolled to the side, and Chan wouldn’t be surprised if she truly started crying.

Chan chuckled, sucking delicate purple roses on the few unmarked areas on her inner thigh before he removed his hand from her clit, and replaced it immediately with his mouth. His tongue was relentless, determined to get her to her peak soon, aided by his diligent fingers to build her impending release.

The Queen was going to speak, but it was almost like Chan could see the exact moment the words died in her throat, replaced with a moan. With one more gentle suck of his lips, her inner walls started clamping hard on his fingers, and the sounds coming out of her mouth as her orgasm crashed down on her was nothing short of absolutely perfect to him. He was so focused on them that he barely registered the distant sound of ceramic shattering to pieces by the windowsill.

Swears flew from her lips as he drew out the last few waves of her release with his fingers, with his mouth that was still attached to her heat, languidly licking her clit until she weakly tapped his head.

The Queen was breathing heavily, and her legs were still slightly shaky. Chan stood up from his chair, removing his fingers from her core. Experimentally–and completely on impulse–he brought them up to her mouth, which she immediately opened. Her lips closed around the three digits, and her tongue lapped up her essence, licking them clean with an appreciative moan.

Chan licked his lips, enthralled by the sight in front of him. By the Queen lightly sucking on his digits, by the flush on her face… He removed his fingers from her mouth, and replaced them with his tongue, connecting their mouths in a sloppy kiss.

With a hum, the Queen pulled away from the kiss, sitting up straighter to look him up and down while her breathing was still evening out. Taking a hold of the hem of his shirt, she brought her lips to his cheek, and pressed a tender kiss there. “You’re wearing too many clothes, Christopher”.

Chan just chuckled, ignoring the heat that started to pool on his cheeks. He pulled his shirt over his head in one swift motion, leaving his torso bare save for the enchanted ribbon around his limbs, and the stone-comm hanging around his neck.

As soon as the garment was off, the Queen pulled him closer to her by his belt, her lips attached to his skin, leaving soft pecks behind his ear, moving slowly down the length of his neck, settling on his collarbone for a moment just to trail her way up again, softly mumbling against his skin between kisses. “So good with your mouth, hm? You’re so handsome, so broad, darling, fuck… Wanna kiss you all over…”

Coupled with her mindless words of praise, everywhere she kissed ignited a rosy flush on his skin. Warmth spread from any place her lips touched, and reached those secluded areas deep within him. 

Cupping her cheeks, Chan moved her away from his neck to bring her mouth to his. He kissed the Queen almost desperately, with his body nestled between her legs. His hands found purchase on her waist, and he moved as close as he could so their bare chests pressed flush against one another. The skin on skin contact fed the fire in the pit of his stomach, and, all of a sudden, it was almost impossible to ignore how hard and leaking he was.

He felt her hand then and his hips bucked forward when she pressed her palm on the very obvious tent in his trousers. He couldn’t help but groan, especially as the heel of her palm exerted just enough pressure on him. Chan was close to begging, he would admit. But before he could open his mouth, the Queen started unbuckling his belt, and frustrated huffs started leaving her lips as she clumsily fumbled with the trail of buttons on his trousers.

“Why the fuck does it have this many buttons…” was all she mumbled against his lips.

Chan just chuckled in response, pulling away. He removed his boots in two quick movements, then took a hold of the waistband of his trousers to slide them off his legs, and his underwear swiftly came off with them. He felt his cock spring up the motion, but most importantly, he felt the Queen’s curious gaze burning his skin as she looked at him.

Licking her lips, she returned her eyes to his. Slowly, her hand moved, her short fingernails lightly grazed the skin of his thigh before finding their destination for her fingers to finally wrap around him with an appreciative hum.

Realisation hit him all of a sudden, it was a splash of reality that contorted his face into an uncomfortable grimace involuntarily, which clearly made the Queen sober up. Her hand was now unmoving, but still wrapped around him. “What’s wrong?”

“Shit, I…” Chan quite literally face-palmed himself. “I don’t have any protection on me. Getting laid was clearly not in my plans for this trip. Could’ve never even imagined you’d be here in the first place”, he added the last part with a sheepish laugh.

The Queen laughed at his comment, but went serious right after. “Are you… Are you clean?” Her hand around him didn’t move, the warmth of her palm tempted him to roll his hips forward, but he didn’t. Instead, he just tried his best to focus on what she was telling him. “I am. Honestly I haven’t done this in a long, long time. Years. And even then the last time was with a girl. And, I mean, it’s not like you can’t catch anything from sapphic intercourse, but…”

She was rambling. It was kind of cute, and it brought a smile to his face immediately.

“Hey, hey”, Chan brought his hands to her hips, and he traced circles with his thumbs on her hip bones, getting her attention back on him. “We, uh… there were one too many scares at the base, and I got fed up, so now I literally force everyone to get checked regularly. Myself included, to keep it fair”.

She hummed, understanding. So Chan just continued. “So, yes. Clean. And if it makes you feel any better, I also haven’t done this in a long time”, he shrugged.

Her Majesty chuckled. “Being a rebel leader is tough, isn’t it?” She emphasised her words by tightening her grip around him ever so slightly, which made him lick his lips instantly.

“Tell me about it”, Chan chuckled. “Also, I, uh…” He could feel heat creeping up his face, but he decided to ignore it, to instead focus on the movement of his thumbs against the skin of her hips. “I’ve never really done it without protection before, if that also makes you feel any better”.

“Oh? Really?” Her thumb swiped over his tip, collecting a bead of clear fluid and spreading it around, providing special attention to his frenulum, making him shiver. “I feel like this is a good moment to tell you I’ve never… uh”, she cleared her throat, then chuckled softly. “Never had penetrative sex with a guy before. If that makes you feel any better”.

Chan was honestly surprised, both at her comment and also at the fact that they were having such a normal conversation right there, with her hand around his shaft and her juices still on his face. He realised then that he liked it. He liked it a lot. He’d really just listen to her speak to him with her hand around him, not even doing anything, at any time. Which was honestly quite the revelation for him.

So, as to not break the habit, as if he hadn’t just stuffed her full of his fingers minutes before, he decided to be annoying.

“Wow, you don’t need to charm me up, love. I already got my pants off for yo–” His words died on his tongue, replaced by a hiss when she started to slowly pump her hand around him.

“Don’t tempt me”, it was her warning tone, the one she used when she absolutely wanted him to tempt her.

“Shit, is this your idea of a punishment?” Chan laughed, incredulous.

“Not even close, I’m just too horny”, she leaned in, and pressed a kiss to his lips. “If you’re clean and I’m clean then… everything else is up to spells and potions. I’ll handle it”.

She removed her hand from around his cock, and brought it to her mouth to spread some of her saliva on it. When she wrapped it around him again, and gave him a couple of tentative pumps, he couldn’t help but swear under his breath.

“Shit”, Chan closed his eyes, letting out a shaky exhale. “Gonna have to press your buttons more if this is what I’ll get”.

“When have you not pressed my buttons?” 

Fair point, he supposed.

A groan fell from his lips as his hips instinctively chased the feeling of her hand moving around him. The prospect of fucking her raw had his hips bucking forward, chasing the sparks of pleasure that started to run up and down his spine.

It wasn’t like he’d never had the opportunity to have unprotected sex, it just always felt too… personal, so Chan never took the chance the couple of times it was presented to him. Here, though, with the Queen, he wanted it to be personal. He wanted to feel all of her, every centimetre of her bare skin, for as long as she’d let him. 

Her hand was too dangerous, though. Her pace was picking up ever so slightly, and he’d be damned if he blew his load right here by a handjob of all things, so Chan held her wrist in place to stop her movements, while his other hand pulled her face closer to his for a quick kiss. “Maybe next time”, was all he said as he removed her hand from him.

She bit her bottom lip, anticipation was written all over her face when he moved closer, holding his cock and bringing it to her sopping folds. The contact with her warm, wet core made him shiver slightly. His need was increasing exponentially as he coated himself in her wetness, as he used the tip of his cock to lightly tease her clit before he lined himself up with her entrance.

“You sure about this?” He needed to check. Chan really hoped the answer was yes. Like, really hoped so. But had it been no, he was ready to pull away immediately.

Her Majesty huffed out a laugh, bringing the hand that rested on his chest to his cheek, and stroking the skin there. “Yes. I’d stop you if I didn’t. Just like I hope you’d do the same”, she leaned in and kissed him, moving her hand to the back of his head to play with his hair.

When he pulled back from the kiss, he just looked her in the eyes. He briefly wondered if his face showed his neediness as much as hers did, and, if so, did she feel as affected by the sight as he did? He hoped she did…

With one last lick of his lips, he finally pushed himself in, centimetre after centimetre diligently stretching her walls around him until he was buried to the hilt. Biting hard on his bottom lip, a grunt bubbled from his chest, and his brows furrowed in concentration. “How are you this tight even after three fingers? Holy shit”.

She giggled, fucking innocently giggled at the comment as if he wasn’t buried deep within her cunt. With one hand behind her for support, and the other gripping his hair, the Queen pulled his face closer to hers, with her mouth just shy of his ear. “I thought I told you earlier, darling. Do your fucking worst”.

Oh, fuck.

Challenge fucking accepted.

Hoisting one of her legs on his elbow, and with a hand on the table next to hers for support, he thrusted his hips hard. A strangled moan fell from Her Majesty’s lips at the sudden movement, joining his own groan of appreciation.

She wanted his worst? He’d gladly give her his worst. At least, to the best of his capabilities in this unfortunate setting.

Chan’s hips snapped fast, hard, as hard as his body let him. The sound of skin slapping against skin quickly filled the room, accompanied by their shared groans and moans. The incessant, ever-present hum roamed freely in his head, growing more intense with every single one of his thrusts.

As his cock repeatedly buried deep within her, as their tongues danced with one another, he had a revelation, an epiphany, almost.

Although he couldn’t fully understand how, or why, right then, there was no doubt in his mind that that relentless hum brought them to this moment, to connect in such an intimate way.

The table was moving a bit with every collision of their hips, hindering his pace slightly. Chan hardly registered it, his mind was too far gone at this point to reason time and space. With a deep flush spreading over her cheeks, and tears pricking the corners of her eyes, the Queen certainly didn’t look any better, either.

Finally, after months of keeping his innermost thoughts contained, his mouth was just running freely. It was almost impossible for it not to, when she was so close, when she filled his heart with so much warmth, and when the pleasure he was feeling was just inexplicably unmatched.

Look at you… So pretty… So warm… Taking me so well… So fucking tight and good for me, huh? He could barely register anything that was coming out of his mouth, the words just couldn’t remain contained within him anymore, he just said anything and everything he felt like saying. He’d stay there forever if he could, with his cock burying repeatedly deep within his lover, drawing out every single moan he could until she couldn’t speak anymore.

The grip of his hand on her thigh tightened, and Chan dived in to catch a nipple in his mouth as he continued to pound her to the table. He could vaguely feel Her Majesty’s nails digging into his shoulder while she tried to keep herself steady. The sting just added another sensory input that fueled the bright fire that was burning within him.

She was very vocal, which didn’t surprise him in the slightest. Ever since he met her, the Queen had never shied away from verbalising her opinions, so why would it be any different with sex?

He was grateful for that. Every groan, every sigh, every moan, every comment, just let him know if he was hitting the spot, if he needed to increase the pace, or change the angle. She was an open book, ready for him to read, and he’d diligently commit to every single word.

Chan could tell his own release was close, but he wanted to feel her come undone around him. He needed it. So, in an incredible display of multi-tasking capabilities, surprising even himself, he brought his hand between their bodies to start drawing tight circles on that sweet bundle of nerves between her legs. Her reaction was instantaneous, With muffled moans, her body tensed up, and her legs started trembling slightly with exertion.

Finally letting go of her nipple, he focused his gaze on her face, and the moment their eyes met, he vaguely registered her giving him a warning before she finally came undone. Her walls squeezed repeatedly around him, and the feeling started getting more intense as he approached his own downfall.

Holding onto the Queen’s hips tightly with both hands, Chan gave a few more thrusts, until he felt the telltale signs of his orgasm almost overflowing. He might have warned her, he couldn’t really tell.

Breathless words of ‘Come on, darling, fill me up’ and ‘Stuff me full of you’ encouraged him to his end, and, with one last roll of his hips, his orgasm washed over him, coating her inner walls in short spurts until he was milked dry by her clenching cunt.

His ears were ringing, the sound mingled with the ever-present hum. His head lolled to the side, his eyes closed shut while he took deep breaths and enjoyed the last few waves of his release with a slow grind of his hips.

When Chan opened his eyes again, he was greeted by his new favourite sight. The Queen’s flushed face, with the most delicious fucked-out expression on her features, her chest heaving with laboured breaths while she looked up at him. This moment solidified within him what he’d already known for a long time, something he didn’t dare say out loud just yet, but he knew it was the complete, absolute, irrevocable truth.

Chan was utterly, madly in love. And the feeling was spreading like wildfire inside of him.

The Queen held onto him, her fingers combed the hair sticking to his sweaty forehead, with her caring eyes staring up at him. Her voice was but a whisper when she finally spoke. “I’ve known since day one that you were stupidly attractive. But this…” Her hand moved down from his forehead to his chest, resting on top of his agitated heart. “This has got to be your prettiest look”.

Chan huffed out a laugh, ignoring the heat he felt creep up his face. Carefully, he pulled out his softening cock from her warmth, and quickly inserted two fingers in its place. She looked at him, curiously.

“You wanted to be stuffed full, no?” He teased, feeling immensely satisfied with himself when he saw the sheepish smile on her lips, accompanied by the deepening blush on her cheeks.

Looking down at the table, he spotted the disposable napkins. Careful not to let his fingers slip out, he brought the napkins close enough that he could pull wads of paper from the holder. He placed some right below her entrance, slowly removing his fingers to watch his own seed spill out, and onto the napkins.

Had he not just blown his load just a couple of minutes ago, Chan was certain he would’ve gotten hard right there just at the sight.

He did his best to clean her up, until finally she decided to pick up a napkin and finish the job. Chan collapsed on the forgotten chair, finally noticing the table had moved several centimetres out of its original position with a sheepish smile.

The Post-Nut clarity hit him like a truck as he sat there, and he brought a hand to cover his face, groaning.

“I can’t believe you let me fuck you on the table. Out of all the places we could’ve fucked… the fucking table, shit”.

Her Majesty just laughed. Her face was glowing with her post-orgasmic bliss, and the look certainly suited her. “I asked you to do your worst. I brought it onto myself”.

Chan chuckled, linking his fingers together with his elbows resting on the chair’s armrests. “I must confess, that’s not even a quarter of my worst”, the urgency had overwhelmed him, his own neediness and their current setting certainly rushed him. But he was fine with that, as she seemed to be. “But you’re right. It’s all your fault, witch”.

The Queen hopped off of the table, her legs were slightly shaky as she walked over to him. He had to admit that he was immensely amused–and satisfied–by this.

She brought a hand to his forehead, and released the tiniest flick of her finger right in the middle, to which he dramatically yelped, since it didn’t really hurt one bit.

Her Majesty held his jaw in her hand, with his chin resting comfortably in the warmth of her palm as her fingers lightly squished his cheeks, making him pout. “Can’t wait for the moment you get to ruin me”.

The contrast of her lecherous words and the dreamy expression on her face almost gave him whiplash, but in all the best ways possible. Chan would ruin her if she wanted, just like he’d let the Queen ruin him, too.

Her Majesty placed a delicate kiss on his forehead, right where she had flicked him. “I have to pee, be right back”.

She finally walked away from him, right towards the adjacent bathroom. On her way, she swiftly flicked her wrists, so the shattered remains of a destroyed vase could start gathering neatly on a pile on one corner of the room.

“Mind if I go in, too? I wanna freshen up”.

“Suit yourself”, she chuckled, going into the bathroom.

After a quick rinse, and a quick wee of his own because ‘Of course, Christopher. It’s important to pee after sex regardless of which genitals you have’, Chan came back out, and proceeded to plop down on the bed that was nudged in the corner of the room.

The Queen came out soon after, taking languid steps towards the bed. Tentatively, Chan opened his arms, an invitation she accepted in a heartbeat. As soon as she was settled, she snuggled closer to him and let herself melt into his embrace.

They stayed silent for a few moments, basking in their post-coital bliss, just enjoying the feeling of one another. As he traced shapes on her skin with his fingertips, Chan allowed his mind to wander, to think of a future in which this could be his day-to-day. A future where he could lay down and peacefully enjoy the company of the woman he loved…

Her Majesty broke the comfortable silence. With her face buried in his chest, her words were slightly muffled, but he still heard them. He heard them loud and clear. “I’m sure you can tell but… I missed you so much”.

Chan’s heart grew ten sizes, the mirroring of his own feelings instantly reassured him. He could’ve told her this, but he chose to tease her instead. “Oh, I could tell, alright”.

She weakly slapped his chest, to which he just laughed, and he finally poured his feelings out. “I missed you too, love. I love them dearly, but spending day and night with my seven younger friends slash brothers is just not the same”.

The Queen chuckled, removing herself from his embrace to lay on her side, with her face level to his. Bringing a hand up to his head, she lightly ruffled his hair. “You always look handsome, but I really like this look of yours”.

Chan groaned then, remembering the state of his head. “That’s how I can tell you like me for real. I look like a rooster. You should’ve never shown Felix how to brew those damn potions”.

The Queen let out a quiet laugh, but, clearly, the mention of his crewmate slowly brought awareness to where they were, and what they were here to do. Chan cleared his throat, sensing the change in mood.

“You can tell me to leave whenever you want to, you know?”

She hummed, looking at the ceiling.

After a few moments she spoke again. “That’s the problem. I don’t want you to”.

Chan held her hand, and brought it close to place a kiss on her soft palm. “Then I’ll stay”.

Her Majesty turned to look at him then, with a genuine smile on her lips that made her face light up. Chan would stretch these moments as much as he could. Although every single encounter prior to this had left him with nothing but a desperate need for her, he was determined to push through. After all, the moments were always worth more to him than the aftermath.

“So… round two?” Chan was only half joking. His limbs were still slightly achy from earlier. After all, even if he was in shape, sex was a different type of workout altogether, and it had been a handful of years since the last time he’d had it…

The Queen laughed at that, and a blush spread on her cheeks. “Give me some time. My joints are screaming at me, even if I hardly did anything”.

“Hey, you did very important things! You took it like a champ, and I’m proud of you”, he was teasing her, but he realised then that he kind of meant it.

Laughing softly, Her Majesty cuddled closer to him. She laid her head on his arm, and lightly stroked patterns on his chest as he curled his arm around her shoulders to play with her hair. Chan could feel his eyes drooping, his breathing was evening out, and sleep was certainly threatening to take hold of him as the long day finally caught up to him.

That was, until the Queen spoke again.

“I have… uh… There’s another thing I wanted to tell you”, her tone gave him pause. It was enough to snap him fully awake. She sat on the bed, folding her legs under her as she looked down at him. “It’s not really a secret… It’s just something no one knows and we don’t talk about… And now that you know I’m posing as Dall, I want you to know this, too”.

Chan propped himself up on his elbows, looking up at her, a bit alarmed, and completely unsure of what to expect. “Okay… Should I be worried about this?”

Her Majesty shrugged. “Depends on how you want to see it”.

She was quiet for a few moments, just looking into his eyes as she gathered the courage to speak. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes briefly only to open them once again. “You asked me once why I had joined the Alliance…”

Chan nodded, giving her his undivided attention. She took this as a sign to continue. “I built the Alliance because, in a way, I felt responsible for the Charmer’s existence. So I made it a point to try and undo as many of the things he’d done as I could”.

Chan blinked a bit as he let her words sink in. “How could you possibly be responsible for the Charmer’s existence?”

The Queen took another deep breath, tapping her fingers on her thigh. “The Charmer wasn’t always a murderous man, he used to be just a boy. A very jealous boy. I know this, because I grew up with him, back when I still called him my brother. You remember, right? From the tapestry? Our brother Ike?”

Chan’s eyes widened with recognition, and the washed out portrait of the Queen and the High King’s older brother appeared in his mind like a distant memory.

She continued, her gaze now trained on the movement of her fingers on her thigh. “I used to look up to him… He was skilled and knowledgeable, and overall a likeable person… Until he wasn’t. We found out much later that ever since we were born, he hated us. Even when he pretended to be caring and doting, all that time, he just hated the fact that Sol and I had been adopted into the family, because it meant he would never have the throne like he’d always wanted. He believed it was his right to rule”.

A knot formed in Chan’s throat as he looked at the Queen’s face, as tears welled in her eyes.

“So he… he killed our parents, for bringing him into this world only to give ‘what was his’ to us. That day, he almost killed me, too, but one of the royal guards was able to intervene, and right after that Ike ran away… Many years later, I found out what he was doing and I just couldn’t stand back and let him”.

“That’s…” Chan reached for her hand to hold it in his and caress her knuckles with his thumb. “That’s horrible”.

“It is”, her eyes moved from their joined hands to his face again. “In a way, my older brother died that day. So, the man that stands now as the Charmer with my brother’s face I no longer consider as part of my family. I wanted to tell you this. It’s a part of my family’s history, and it is why the Alliance is so important to me”.

Chan looked at her for a moment, taking in the calm, yet guarded expression on her face. She looked genuinely relieved to have finally told him, but it was as if she was expecting him to suddenly feel different about her after handing him this piece of information. Which was something he needed to crush immediately. 

“Come here”, he pulled the Queen into his arms, and her body instantly relaxed in his hold as she quite literally let out a sigh of relief. Chan could now fully understand her reservations, her need to put the Alliance first, the need she felt to remain anonymous and keep her façade as Dall until the very end. And he truly respected that.

As they laid there in silence, with his hands softly moving up and down her arms, and hers caressing his back, a burning question arose suddenly to his tongue. The realisation that the Queen was, and had always been, Dall, finally let things he hadn’t been able to explain or understand before fall into place.

“Is this why you took us in after the crash?”

She clearly didn’t need further clarification to Chan’s question, the memory of them in the twins’ throne room must’ve been just as vivid in her mind as it was in his. “You know it isn’t odd for us to help those who get stranded on our planet… It is odd for us to keep them in the castle, though. We usually just provide them shelter in the castle town”.

She softly tapped her fingers on his chest. “When you told me why you crashed… I felt so incredibly guilty. I knew immediately you were from the SKZ unit, that I had sent you there myself, and that you all almost died because of me”.

Chan hummed. He wanted to argue, to tell her it’d been his fault, he’d been the one to make the miscalculation that eventually led to them being discovered, but before he could speak, she continued. 

“I realise logically that it’s silly of me. We all come into this knowing we might die for the cause. But I think you especially would understand how and why I felt the way that I did”, she removed herself from his hold, and propped herself up on her elbow to look at him. “Regardless of what happened, you all survived. And I am so incredibly grateful that at the very least, it’s brought you to me”.

Butterflies seemed to erupt in his belly with her words. Chan brought his hand to the back of her head, and pulled her down for a kiss. He hoped all his feelings could translate into that kiss. That she could understand that he, too, was grateful that such a dreadful event had brought something good to his life–her.

The Queen returned his kiss in kind, and, as she pressed soft kisses on his lips, she moved to straddle him. Chan’s hands immediately found their way to the supple flesh of her bum once she settled. With her body flush to his, the sudden contact slowly reignited that flame of need within him.

Her Majesty broke the kiss, and rested her weight on him when she sat up. Her core was almost pressing on his quickly hardening length, and Chan’s head was starting to spin.

Her eyes were trained on him, and a playful smirk spread on her lips when she spoke to him.

“So… Round two?”

Chan plopped down on the bed, breathless, with his cock still buried deep within the Queen’s cunt as the final spurts of his orgasm filled her up.

It was a transcendental experience, truly… Blowing his load in someone… Be could kind of understand now why his friends had risked it so many times. Never before had he felt the urge to do it, but now he was certain he wanted to fill her up any chance he got. As long as she’d let him, of course.

“Not gonna destroy any vases with this orgasm, huh?” One of his hands remained on her hip, tracing circles with his thumb on her skin, while the other came up to shamelessly squeeze one of her breasts.

“Fuck”, she let out a breathless laugh. “You’re never gonna let me live that down, are you?”

“Never. My ego is too inflated right now”, he was joking, of course. And she knew it, too–if her soft laugh was anything to go by.

With a smile on her face and her weight on him, she leaned in, and connected her lips to his. Chan hugged her waist, holding her tight against him. His heart soared, her soft pecks against his lips had warmth spreading all over within him, and heat settled on his face with her motions.

“What am I gonna do with you? You’re just too cute”, the Queen mumbled against his lips, making him giggle. 

“Me?” Chan whispered between kisses, followed by a “What about you, witch?” that had her chuckling as she continued to peck his lips.

Her Majesty pulled away from him, and his hands settled on her hips again. She sat on him for a few moments as their breathing evened out. With her hands resting on top of his abdomen, she softly caressed his skin, almost absentmindedly.

“Chris…” There was a serious tone to her voice, a very serious one. Coupled with the now lack of a smile on her face, warning bells started ringing in his head. “There’s something else I want you to know”.

The abrupt change in mood gave him pause, and it was almost impossible to ignore. “What is it, love?”

“Tomorrow… Or I guess I should say today… My final mission… ” Her gaze was trained on her hands that were splayed over his abs, and she was clearly making a conscious effort to not look at him. “I might die”.

Chan propped himself up on his elbows, blinking a bit. He took a moment to let her words sink in, but they just didn’t make sense. They couldn’t make sense… He couldn’t help the flat tone of his voice when he asked, “…What?”

The Queen finally looked him in the eyes. “There’s a high chance that I’ll die today”.

He paused for a moment, scanning her face, and the gravity of the situation started dawning on him. “You can’t seriously be telling me this while I’m still balls deep inside you”. 

She grimaced slightly at the realisation, slowly rising from his lap for his now soft length to fall from the comfort of her walls. His own cum pouring out from her onto him and the bed was clearly the last of his worries at this very moment.

“It’s a high risk mission. If the slightest thing goes wrong, which unfortunately, is very likely, I will die”.

Chan’s mind was racing, and anxiety and worry started clinging to every fibre of his being. But worst of all, the worry wasn’t the emotion that gave him pause. A different emotion was brewing quickly within him as she continued talking.

“There are backup plans of course, if that were to happen, but–”

The Queen’s words were cut off when Chan gripped her by the waist, and swiftly pushed her off of him so he could sit down on the edge of the bed, with his feet firm on the ground and his back turned to her. 

Hurt.

The emotion bubbling over like a forgotten pot of water on the stove coating his insides with its sticky presence… Chan was hurt. Not by her specifically, but by the whole thing.

He was tired of having to deal with loss and grief, tired of this endless fight against injustice, but most of all, he was tired because it seemed like every time something good happened, every time he found something to be happy about, something just as bad came around the corner to taint it all.

Her Majesty could clearly tell something wasn’t quite right by the shift in mood, so she made no move, she just sat on the bed with her legs folded under her. She waited for him to speak, daring not to speak herself over the suddenly tense environment.

Chan had indulged in his deepest desires, he thought he’d be strong enough to deal with the aftermath, to deal with his sad, crude reality. He wasn’t. The evening filled with uncalculated hormone rushes caught up to him way too quickly, and he suddenly found himself unable to put his walls up.

“So, a goodbye”, Chan finally spoke, with a harsher tone in his voice than he had admittedly intended to use. “Is this what this is? You saying goodbye?”

“I… That’s not…” The Queen was hesitant to reply, which only made it worse.

Chan sighed, resting his elbows on his thighs. He lowered his head to his hands, and lightly gripped his fire-red hair in frustration. He knew he had to be logical and rational about the situation, but he just couldn’t bring himself to.

“Hey”, the Queen placed a hand on his shoulder, and a couple of her fingers went under the sliver of ribbon resting on his skin. At least, as odd as it might sound, the minute contact of her palm on his bare skin soothed him. “Chris, look at me”.

Taking a deep breath, he turned to look at her. He wished he hadn’t. The expression on her face was as pained as his must’ve looked, which only pulled harder at his heartstrings.

“This”, she gestured with a finger between the two of them. “Us… Nothing that has ever happened between us has been calculated in any way. Hell, I didn’t even know we’d end up naked on this bed when I called you here. I mean it”.

The Queen looked at him for a moment, taking a shaky breath in, only to let it out. “I need you to know that if it comes to it, I will fight. I’ll do my best to stay alive. I want to… I really want to come back to you”.

Chan looked at her, and his eyes darted around her face while he pondered.

He knew she was telling the truth, and, although her words comforted him in a way, it didn’t make it hurt any less, nor would it stop the worry and uncertainty that was now leeching onto his bones. With another intake of breath, he braced himself for what was to come, exhaling before asking,

“So, what’s this mission about and is there any way we can help?”

Author’s Note: where did all these words come from? i honestly don’t know. also, you know when you’re writing something and somehow things don’t end up as you expect them even when you’re the one writing? yea, my girl realised she could be open and just decided to open pandora’s box and drop bomb after bomb on my guy, and i just... let it happen lol. anyway if you’re reading this, i hope you enjoyed it!

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[jp-hunsecker]

Prisoners is a carefully constructed labyrinth, deceptively simple and very clever. The material was nothing new even when the film was released, but director Denis Villeneuve (pre-Dune) and screenwriter Aaron Guzikowski work a few unexpected twists and turns into their maze to keep us on our toes. The key element, however, is Hugh Jackman’s career-best performance as Keller Dover, a father whose patience for police work quickly runs thin when Detective Loki (the always effective Jake Gyllenhaal) fails to find Dover’s kidnapped little daughter.

It will surprise no one that Dover decides to take the law into his own hands, recruiting Franklin Birch (Terrence Howard), his best friend whose daughter has also gone missing, to kidnap the only suspect — whom the police has ruled out for the moment –, take him to an abandoned house, and beat a confession out of him. This is par for the course in the movies, but is it realistic? Can a father, however desperate he may be, really go from zero to psycho in no time flat?

The film makes this transition 50% more believable by making the character a committed survivalist, meaning that he was halfway there all along. And even if we still found it hard to believe, Jackman would just browbeat us into believing it with a skin-shedding, raw nerve-baring, sadistic, ballistic, animalistic performance wherein he doesn’t just go berserk; he goes full on Beserker.

In some twisted way, all this makes sense; the antagonist or antagonists are just as crazy as Dover, if not more: making children disappear is their way of “making war with God”. With that in mind, who better than a monster to find a monster? Dover may not in fact be too far off either, or is he? In one of those twists I mentioned, the movie toys with the Law of Economy of Characters by casting Paul Dano as the mentally challenged man on whom Dover’s suspicions (and fists, among other objects) fall.

Gyllenhaal’s work is as strong Jackman’s, but more subtle and nuanced; he gives his Loki an eye tic which lets us know that, although he has solved all his cases, and belying his usual calm and collected demeanor, he has not gotten to where he is without some traumas of his own.

Prisoners - reviewCanadian director Denis Villeneuve is known and admired for his 2010 movie Incendies, a mysterious and involved tale…www.theguardian.com

“Rather as in Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty (2012), there is a kind of ambiguity about righteous violence in Prisoners and how exactly we are supposed to feel about it.”

I completely failed to see any trace of this supposed ambiguity; in fact, I think only a viewer with a seriously screwed-up set of values would be at a loss as to how to feel about the violence in this film, which is portrayed, and denounced, as “righteous” only insofar as it is self-righteous.

Film Review: 'Prisoners'The wages of sin, guilt, vengeance and redemption weigh heavy on the characters of "Prisoners," a spellbinding…variety.com

“Powered by an unusually rich, twisty script by Aaron Guzikowski (“Contraband”) and career-best performances from Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal.”

100% in agreement, especially in the case of Jackman, who has yet to match the intensity of this role in any of his subsequent work.

“It is a performance void of vanity or the desire to be loved by the audience, and moment to moment it is exhilarating to watch.”

REVIEW: Prisoners (2013)Denis Villeneuve received a lot of attention for his science fiction films Arrival and Blade Runner 2049, and…fictionmachine.com

“[Prisoners] simply tells a bold and emotionally gutting story of kidnapping, revenge, and murder. It does so sensationally, transforming it into arguably the best thriller of its type since David Fincher’s Zodiac (2007).”

Actually, the only thing Fincher’s well-cast and well-acted but thoroughly preposterous Zodiac has in common with Prisoners is Gyllenhaal’s presence; my point is, Prisoners is so much better than “the best thriller since Zodiac.”

“The film showcases a near career-best performance by Jackman, who usually shifts back and forth between his two personas: musical theatre and Wolverine.”

Not “near” but definitely “career-best performance” (sadly, “musical theater and Wolvering” do seem to be his two default modes, Prisoners remaining a bittersweet reminder of Jackman’s true potential).

Buzzy 'Prisoners' good-not-great piece of genre pulp, enhanced by good perfs and sleek visual…" Prisoners," a crime thriller starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal, was one of the early popular hits at last…www.washingtonpost.com

“Jackman and Gyllenhaal bring their A-game (and, in Gyllenhaal’s case, an unexplained eye tic).”

I think it’s a good thing that the reviewer calls the eye tic “unexplained” as opposed to, say, ‘inexplicable,’ since in a way, the tic is self-explanatory; that its underlying cause remains unknown is perhaps because we wouldn’t want to know.

PRISONERSPRISONERS is a riveting, morally complex thriller about the desperate search for two missing girls. The movie stars…www.movieguide.org

“PRISONERS is not an easy movie to watch and will prove difficult for many to handle.”

That’s putting it mildly. I would go as far as to add that it’s a difficult film to even listen to, and not precisely because of the “strong foul language.”

PrisonersPrisoners is an effectively moody child-abduction potboiler that spends much of its two and a half hour running time…www.avclub.com

“The villain isn’t obsession or vigilantism (which the movie ends up tacitly condoning).”

Uh, no it doesn’t: without revealing too much, I think Jackman’s character’s ultimate fate leaves no doubt as to whether or not two wrongs make a right.

Prisoners (2013) Movie Review - Tina Dubinsky, WriterWhen a movie has me cringing in my seat with horror, hand over my open mouth and eyes preparing to shut out what comes…tinadubinsky.com

“When a movie has me cringing in my seat with horror, hand over my open mouth and eyes preparing to shut out what comes next, it sure as hell has my attention.”

Really? Shutting your eyes seems to me like a counterproductive way to pay attention to a film, but whatever.

PrisonersInnocents are in danger. Evil is afoot and running wild. An angry "hero" attempts to beat the truth out of his handiest…www.pluggedin.com

“This is a dark, dark pic with some very ugly moments. But it features a man who prays repeatedly, deeply loves his family and readily makes whatever personal sacrifices are necessary to rescue his young daughter.”

Yeah, the problem is the only personal sacrifice this man is ready to make is literally sacrificing a person. In fact, he’s the one providing the ugliest moments. Moreover, his religious fanaticism is the one major thing he has in common with the other villains, who believe in God enough to want to “wage war” on Him.

Prisoners - Movie ReviewMan kidnaps child. Father kidnaps man. Father becomes kidnapper... And Prisoners is just getting going. The new…filmjabber.com

“Prisoners also gives Jackman the juiciest role of his career, though there were times, to no fault of Mr. Wolverine, that I didn’t entirely buy into his continued torture of the prime suspect.”

As I noted in my own review, Jackman’s performance is so authoritative that he actually bullies into belief (let’s put it like this: if he told me that 2+2=5, I’d be like ‘fuck math, whatever you say’s cool with me’).

“Director Denis Villeneuve and writer Aaron Guzikowski are tricky bastards.”

No argument there.

Movie review: 'Prisoners'If you've seen the trailer, you'll probably walk in thinking that you've also seen this movie before. You know, the…www.sj-r.com

“ … this isn’t exactly a vigilante film. It’s more of a cat-and-mouse game in which the players are both good guys, both trying to prove who the bad guy is, albeit working in totally different manners.”

That would be all well and good were it not that the bad guy that one of these two “good guys” uncovers is actually himself. I know there is mo such thing as black-and-white, but what this film deals with is not shades of grey, but shades of evil.

Movie Review: PrisonersPrisoners is a 2013 film directed by Denis Villeneuve. The movie has a stacked cast including Hugh Jackman, Jake…theregional.org

“When watching the movie closely, one can notice Detective Loki blinking quickly whenever he is on screen. This is due to Gyllenhaal believing that Loki was so obsessed with this case that he was rarely sleeping, and could barely stay awake. It demonstrates the tremendous detail that went into the acting and character development.”

I think the tic comes from even before that, and it’s meant to highlight Loki’s general obsession with all of his cases (he has a perfect record, but it has taken a psychological toll on him). It is, nonetheless, a neat display of tremendous attention to detail, as the review does point out.

MOVIE REVIEW | Prisoners (2013)"He's not a person anymore. No, he stopped being a person when he took our daughters." I don't think Jake Gyllenhaal…boredanddangerousblog.wordpress.com

I’m including this review solely on account of the following non sequitur: “I don’t think Jake Gyllenhaal ever had a complete decent into shittyness and rom com world that he needed to be redeemed from. But after a lot of early critical and box office success, he seemed to be in the wilderness for a while.” Huh?

PrisonersIn director Denis Villeneuve's mystery-thriller Prisoners, Hugh Jackman plays Pennsylvania carpenter Keller Dover, a…thedissolve.com

I hesitate to agree with a review that claims “Jackman’s not at his best in Prisoners” (I’m not a fan of Hugh overall, but his performance here is nothing short of flawless), but the fact of the matter is that Gyllenhaal’s character is “the real protagonist” (the hero, if you will), and Gyllenhaal’s “unflashy” performance does “anchor” the film, and does give “the audience someone to want to watch” (or, more to the point, someone to identify with, since what in a more conventional movie would be the most sympathetic character, that is to say the grieving father, turns here into something almost as bad as the de facto villains).

Prisoners (2013) - Movie Review / Film Essaywealth of engrossing ideas populates "Prisoners" as it carefully unravels modicums of information to relate a macabre…gonewiththetwins.com

“The serpentine disappearance case proves intriguing enough; to add a grim test of faith and morality to the tale convolutes [sic] an already heavy narrative.”

This simple-minded assessment is an unwitting proof of the filmmakers’ genius. What this reviewer found to be a counterproductive mishmash is actually a symbiotic coupling; without the “grim test” the “serpentine disappearance” would be nowhere near as “intriguing,” and vice versa. The subplots are indeed “riveting” but not “individually” (in which case we’d have an either/or of all too familiar plots); in fact, it’s their being, as it were, riveted together that allows them to result in more than the sum of their parts.

[TIFF Review] PrisonersPrisoners might be the most shockingly dark studio release since Fight Club , a grim, unsettling, occasionally…thefilmstage.com

“Prisoners might be the most shockingly dark studio release since Fight Club.”

I sincerely don’t get this need to compare Prisoners with David Fincher films. If it’s not the fascist Fight Club it’s the crackpot Zodiac. Even the brilliant but ultimately nihilist Se7en would be an unfit comparison, if only because Prisoners has a more satisfactory conclusion.

Review: PrisonersIt must really suck when you make a good solid movie only for something vaguely similar to get released to mass…moviebastards.com

“Jackman is almost unlikable in his unyielding approach, but you’re constantly reassuring yourself that you’d do the same if some freak took your own kid.”

Scratch the “almost” and you’re right on the money. What’s more, that “almost” detracts from Jackman’s performance, because you’re not meant to like the character one damn bit, nor are you required to match his intensity even in theory. The whole point is that he goes too far; he crosses a line where even if he were to get his daughter back, there would be no going back for him anymore. For what it’s worth, though, at least this reviewer doesn’t make the Fincher comparison just for the sake of making it; he actually uses it to establish a point.

Prisoners Review - IGNA beautiful slog. Prisoners has the sheen of a prestige picture and the guts of Law & Order's best episode. A brooding…www.ign.com

[Prisoners] “feels like Villeneuve’s Insomnia, a display of confidence that could put him on a Christopher Nolan path.”

As it turns out, it put him on a Dune path, which is just as bad, if not the worse.

“Without the eye candy, Prisoners is a shallow exercise in thriller fiction.”

Spoken like someone who can’t or won’t look past the surface (I’m reminded of the above-quoted reviewer who was ready to shut her eyes at any given moment).

Review: 'Prisoners' Is Dumb Thriller Disguised As Prestige DramaThe Box Office: There was a time maybe twenty years ago when Prisoners would be considered a solid star-driven genre…www.forbes.com

“Outside of his role as Wolverine, Hugh Jackman generally isn’t exactly a huge box office draw … Ditto for Jake Gyllenhaal, who is good for a solid $14 million or so when his face is on the poster outside of pre-sold fare like The Day After Tomorrow or Prince of Persia … The good news is that Prisoners cost, depending on who you ask, between $30m and $40m to produce, so unless it completely tanks it should be fine for Warner Bros.”

God, I feel dirty just reading this so-called movie review, picturing the critic’s grubby little fingers as he types numbers in, as if were his own fucking money. I hate it when untold millions are wasted on CGI extravaganzas, but even then I try to limit my thoughts to the movie’s merits (or lack thereof). On the other hand, “between $30m and $40m” is still a lot of money, but at least it went into the type of film they should be making more of. Fuck this review.

'Prisoners' Movie Review - Uncomfortably Numb | Film EqualsThe best movies, in my opinion, make you uncomfortable. They're the movies that actually make you think. Usually they…www.filmequals.com

“All this makes it an uncomfortable movie with a lot of deep questions…that leaves just one unanswered.”

And that question would be…?

Movie Review: Prisoners (2013)I have a thing for crime dramas. I don't know why, I just love them. Whether they are movies or tv shows or books. I…themarckoguy.wordpress.com

“ … the longer the movie goes on, the further you see Keller dive into the pit we call insanity. Detective Loki is not that way really, he is more fucked in the way that he got a short fuse … But that is why I like the characters (maybe like is the wrong word), they are so damn complex and got many layers.”

See, this guy gets it: you don’t have to “like” the character as long you love the performance. In other words, the character can and should be as unlikable as it needs to be, provided we like what the actor is doing with it, and as long as the filmmakers don’t expect the audience to empathize with it (quite the contrary, as a matter of fact, in Prisoners). And now that I think about it, a lot of people who watched this film wonder what they would do were they in Jackman’s place, but so far not one has even mentioned putting themselves in Paul Dano’s shoes, perhaps because the latter’s character is an ambiguous creep; if they did, however, I believe much of what little sympathy Jackman’s character inspires would certainly evaporate.

'Prisoners' is a long sentence with no hope for paroleThe first movie I ever reviewed for a newspaper was a revenge thriller called "Extremities." It starred Farrah Fawcett…www.stltoday.com

“The silence of the lambs who mistake this trash for treasure is deafening.”

The only thing worse than a pretentious film (which Prisoners isn’t by any stretch of the imagination) is a pretentious film critic.

Movie Review: Prisoners (2013)A harrowing and intense child abduction drama, Prisoners ratchets up the tension early and never lets up. A magnificent…www.theaceblackblog.com

“Jackman in particular excels as Keller Dover, humanizing a traumatized father and finding the justification for unjustifiable actions in the face of personal anguish.”

It would be more accurate to say that Jackman dehumanizes his character (a process that is both terrifying and fascinating to behold), and finds the rationalization for unjustifiable actions (remember, the guy is both a Jesus freak and a survivalist nut).

Movie REVIEW - PrisonersIt feels like everyone put their best into this movie. The intensity of the scenes and horror of other scenes is…www.everydaythread.com

“Even after the credits roll you’re left wondering the true difference between right and wrong.”

If that’s what you’re wondering at the end, either the movie failed miserably or you missed the point by a fucking mile, and since the film is rock-solid, that leaves only alternative B.

#prisoners #movie review #movie reviews

[kayliemusing]

53: Books!

BOOK RECS ASK GAME

a book that is close to your heart - My favourite childhood book. Love You Forever by Robert Munsch

a book with a blue cover - The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

a stand-alone that you wish was part of a series - The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton. While ~technically~ this is sort of a series, it reads as a stand-alone and the other books are in the same universe but star different characters (previous character do appear tho) I wish this one was almost like an episodic book series about Cecilia and Ned because I fell in love with them and wished I could hear more about their shenanigans and their relationship and life together.

a poetry book that reads like a story - On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

something in fiction that reads like poetry - I don't have one that truly comes to mind. The Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi kind of reads like a poetry, but only a bit.

a book with a pink cover - Cinder by Marissa Meyer (depending on which cover you have!)

a book you did not finish - Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

a book you finished in one sitting - Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber

your favourite book of 2020 - I can barely remember omg!! I think it was a Kingdom of Flesh and Fire by Jennifer L. Armentrout. Not for sure though but I remember this one being highly anticipated and I really liked it! (don't ask me about the fourth book tho...)

a book that got you through something - Tbh I don't have a good answer for this because I'm constantly using books to escape most things so I kind of want to say all of them??? A book that did really help me though was the Gift of Imperfection by Brene Brown. It's not fiction but genuinely enlightened me!

a book with a green cover - The Cactus by Sarah Haywood

a book that mentions food in the title - N/A :(

your favorite romance novel - If you couldn't tell from my book recs, I am a Romance Reader so this is a very hard question. I think it might be 99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne just because I'm still in love with Tom Valeska (AND Sally Thorne's books in general)

a book that made you trip on literary acid - Crush by Richard Siken (I hope tripping on literary acid is a good thing...?)

a book rec you really enjoyed - The Bridge Kingdom series by Danielle L. Jensen (truly the only time booktok made a good rec)

a book you'd recommend to your younger self - maybe A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer because I personally didn't *love* it but I felt like my younger self would have. I remember thinking that when I first read it.

a book with a yellow cover - Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J Maas

your least favorite book ever - Either The War of Two Queens by Jennifer L. Armentrout or Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

a book that put you in a reading slump - I've never really been in a reading slump but honestly anything written by Colleen Hoover kills me tbh (Sorry I don't mean for that to come across really rude. I just can't with her books)

a book that got you out of a reading slump - The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen ( trying not to repeat books but oops!)

a book with a red cover - Blood and Honey by Shelby Mahurin

your favourite thriller - N/A. Don't read thriller.

a book that is currently on your TBR - People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

a book on your nightstand - Gilded by Marissa Meyer

a book by your favourite author - The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

your favourite memoir - N/A

a book with a purple cover - The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber (technically not released yet)

a book you wish you could read as a beginner again - The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

your favourite YA novel - Faking Normal by Courtney C Stevens

your favourite middle grade book - Immediately can only think of the Maximum Ride books by James Patterson. I was obsessed.

a book that mentions a name in the title - Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

your favourite nonfiction novel - N/A

a book with a white cover - How The High King of Elfhame Learned To Hate Stories by Holly Black

a book featuring the enemies to lovers trope - The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

a book featuring the found family trope - The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

a book that mentions time in the title - The Fifteenth Minute by Sarina Bowen (does this count??)

your favourite heist book - N/A (I would've said Six of Crows but I haven't gotten around to reading it!!)

your favourite series - There's so many. I'll list a few of my all-time favs bc I can't narrow it down lmao. The Cruel Prince by Holly Black, The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle Jensen, The Winners Curse Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski, Caraval series including Once Upon a Broken Heart spin-offs by Stephanie Garber, The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon, Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas, and The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer.

a book featuring your favourite character - A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas (don't make fun of me. I love Nesta Archeron)

a book with a black cover - From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

a book about nature - N/A

a book that made you want to scream by the time you got to the end - A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J Maas (and NOT in a good way - I would burn this book)

a book that you have read more than three times - The Mask Falling by Samantha Shannon (part of The Bone Season series. This book is my fav in the series!)

your favourite fantasy novel - This is literally so hard. I'm going to say either Queen of Shadows, Empire of Storms, or Kingdom of Ash from the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas, just because I think the characters and the world-building in this series is so well-done and feels so expansive to me.

a book featuring the friends to lovers trope - Marriage on Madison Avenue by Lauren Layne

a book with a brown cover - The Dawn Chorus by Samantha Shannon

a book that mentions a place in the title - Love on Lexington Avenue by Lauren Layne

your favourite sci-fi novel - N/A

a book featuring the bed-sharing trope - There's so many of these. The only one coming directly to mind tho is From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L Armentrout

a book that made you cry a LOT - The Fault in our Stars by John Green (which is why I didn't finish it- it was super triggering to me tbh)

a book that you found underwhelming - The War of Two Queens by Jennifer L Armentrout. I was so excited for this book and then disliked every second of it.

a popular book/series that you love - Unfortunately, I love a Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas despite everyone's controversial opinions. (In fact, I love the way Sarah writes her characters - they feel so real to me and that's what really attracts me to her books.)

a popular book/series that you hate - Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi. Don't know how these ones popped up tbh

a book that features an animal in the title - The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

a book with an orange cover - The Trouble With Hating You by Sajni Patel

#survey

[thehoneyjournal]

Legend Lore #12 Ymir

I was, and am, the first and last of my name. I was cast from my home world, a marvelous place of water and air, to drift aimlessly forever amidst the stars as punishment for my fictional crimes, for the mere fact that I was grander and more powerful than anything that had existed before me. My ambitions exceeded their grasp and control, and this has ever frightened those with little power and less vision.

I was encased in ice, ejected from my world, and I confess no small amount of pain came from watching my wonderful blue world shrink behind me as I left. I could feel the magic of the elders pressing against my prison, moving me ever faster, ever further from where I was born, where I was raised, and where I thought I would one day die, when everything else had turned to dust and ash, and the universe was a cold vacuum once more.

I slept. My kind do not sleep, not as the short-lived beings I have come to understand, but there was little else to do in my prison, and it is the closest thing I have to an analogy. As I slept, I raged at the foolishness of the elders. How could they not see that I was right? That I alone understood the threat we faced, and how to end it?

The universe is nothing more or less than a dark forest, with every race and civilization creeping through it, trying desperately to remain unnoticed. Reaching outwards to the stars is a mistake, a world ending, apocalyptic mistake. For everything that dwells in the darkness is hungry, and strong, and so utterly different from us that they would simply see this world as a snack, an appetizer of things to come. Odin never understood this until he met me. Finally, I had someone who had lived nearly as long, who saw as clearly as I did, even with one eye. Or so I thought.

But I digress. A tale for another time, for later in this story.

My elders disagreed with me. I felt them fight their war, uncountable millennia ago, and lose, sealing our world away from any others who could ever find it. If they had heeded my warnings, I would, perhaps, have a home to return to. I know you understand me, my dear. You have been on the run for years for no other reason then what you were born as, and it is a travesty.

As I drifted, I felt the minds of so many beings passing along beneath me. For the most part they quailed under my mental touch, gibbering with fear, barely coherent enough to catch my attention. I passed so many worlds like this I eventually began to pull away the moment I felt them, as I knew I would learn nothing from such interactions.

I learned much of the movements of celestial bodies- the forces that govern their movements, that can bend even light to their will. I painstakingly experimented with such forces, altering my trajectory several times to the point where I nearly impacted with planets or stars. Such a blow would have wounded me severely, and while the vacuum or cold of space holds no fear, I would never have been able to move myself anywhere or heal quickly enough. Gradually I learned how best to manipulate these bodies, to speed or slow my passage through the stars, and even to orbit those worlds with interesting populations.

It wasn’t until I found your world that I knew this was a place to try and stay. Such a bright light upon its surface, many of them, with minds that flowed like water, and were strong like stone. I had only seen so many on a few worlds in the past, and they universally feared and rejected me rather than entertain my overtures.

But when I reached out and felt his mind, I knew. Here was one to be respected, possibly even feared. Ahhh, little one, when I felt his mind… it flashed and darted like a school of fish, always obscuring its true intentions, never revealing its true thoughts until he was saying them out loud. He is clever beyond reason, decisive, unused to being challenged. His power and command over magic rivaled my own in those days, and as soon as our minds met, I knew there was a chance. I showed him a bit of what I knew of gravity and light, and his curiosity took my breath away. Where before all had pushed, he pulled, demanding more and more of my knowledge, and as my prison approached your world, he and his compatriots drew me down to the surface of his world.

I wish I could say that your planet was beautiful as mine was, little one, but that would be a lie. It was a blasted wasteland, cratered and pockmarked with the signs of fierce magic and violence. It was clear a fight had been waged here, and had left innumerable scars. These “gods”, as they called themselves, worked for three years to free me, gradually melting the ice around me until they had made what you call the Lake of the World. An apt name, for that lake was once my entire world, for thousands of years.

When I saw him, I was nearly disappointed. If I had not felt his mind from above, I would have consumed him and his brethren on the spot, and my wariness was reflected in the stances of his siblings and children, weapons bare, glowing with an inner light that would have blinded lesser creatures, and would have wounded me greatly in the battle.

We learned to work together. I helped him often over those years, as a friend, a confidant, an advisor. I watched as he sketched the plans for Asgard, brokered peace with Vanaheim, strengthened Midgard and became a god to their people, changing the land around him to be lush with forests, seas full of fish and life, and a people hungry for exploration of the new world.

He betrayed me. When I told him of the threat in the stars, that I needed his and everyone devotion to access the power needed to protect their fragile worlds, he grew distant. One night while he was sleeping, I entered his dreams, and there found his plan to try and kill me. Just like my elders, he resented me for supposedly seeking to become greater than him.

I knew I could not stand against them united, and many of them were scattered to the winds. A small, mean creature of shadow offered his services to me, and I allowed him to hunt the two gods of Midgard for his pleasure. While they were occupied, I broke Asgard, killed the gods I could find, and drove the rest into their golden halls, where they cower to this day.

Remember this, Thenestrae. Beware of God’s when you meet them, for they lie as they breathe. They will not protect you. They cannot.

But I can.

#legend lore #Miere Notes #the deep one