#genuinely love him with every ounce of my petty existence

[bella-but-not-hadid444]

harry truly was my first love <3

#harold my love #harry styles #genuinely love him with every ounce of my petty existence #actual loml #the feminine urge to #girl blogger #tumblr girls #baby you light up my world like nobody else #harry edward styles #hazza #- H x

[sleepingdeath-light]

merperson s/o hcs ; elias gallagher

requested by ; anonymous (18/07/23)

fandom(s) ; the groom of gallagher mansion

fandom masterlist(s) ; here

character(s) ; elias gallagher

outline ; “We can request for Elias Gallagher?! 👀👀👀

If so, can I get hcs for Elias Gallagher with a merperson reader? Like he learns his beloved is a merperson and how he'd react/handle this information”

note ; as this is my first time writing for this fandom, and this character, this may have some shaky characterisation here and there — regardless, i do hope you enjoy this piece ^^

warning(s) ; none, just fluff!

having spent basically his entire life (and after life!) sheltered within the walls of his family’s manor, it’s not much of a stretch to assume that the thought of ever meeting — let alone marrying — a nonhuman would ever have even crossed his mind

of course he grew up on fairytales and folk stories so he was already vaguely aware of merfolk as creatures of myth, as wondrous entities confined solely between the well worn pages of the novellas that he read and reread a few hundred times in his youth, but the idea of such peoples existing in reality had never even crossed his mind — well, not as anything more than a passing fantasy as realistic as his dreams of being a prince cooped up in a tower, and certainly never in his adulthood

all of that to say, in the midst of planning your wedding and using his energy to keep the old building as safe and comfortable for you as possible, he hadn’t even thought to ask you about your species — and, likewise, you were too caught up in your half-abandoned mission and the chaos of the preparations to actually bring up your origins to him

so by the time you have the chance to finally just sit down together and talk — about your goals, your dreams, your pasts, and your future together as a couple — one of the first things you disclose to him is your nonhuman status

… which he, rather naturally, takes as a very out-of-left-field joke from you until he finally recognises just how serious and genuine your confession is

then he just sits beside you and lets you speak uninterrupted — his expressions betraying his emotions as clear as day as his mind cycles through everything from confusion to disbelief to acceptance to amazement (which he eventually settles on once the idea of merfolk being real, and his beloved being one of them, had finally hit him)

and when you’ve finally finished saying your piece, he’ll start asking you all of the questions you’re probably far too used to by now: where did you come from, how did you end up in this state of all places, what can he do to accommodate you going forwards, does your appearance change when you’re underwater, etc.

not an ounce of judgement from him, thankfully, as your darling elias is much too sweet for that, and he’s more than understanding of any hesitance or avoidance you show towards certain topics pertaining to your species

as for any questions you choose to answer, you can guarantee that he’ll be listening to you with rapt attention as you speak — his wide eyes glimmering with a mixture of pure adoration and innocent curiosity as he hangs off of every word you utter (so clearly and unabashedly in love, as he always is, that you can’t help but grin whenever you look at him)

and, of course, if ever you show him the form you take when you’re underwater you’ll be met with an expression of pure love and awe, as well as a string of compliments and praises both archaic and recently learned that are spoken with such reverence and care that you have to stop yourself from dragging your poor ghostly lover into the water in order to press your lips against his own — this same level of praise applies whether you look more like the more modern and human merfolk or something much more ‘monstrous’ because, to elias, you’re the most ethereal and lovely creature he’s ever laid eyes upon and that eternal love of his won’t be swayed by something as petty and shallow as needle-point teeth or scaly flesh (though the latter would take him a moment or two to adjust to… he is more accustomed to the fairytale renditions of your kind, after all)

remember, he did promise you forever and elias gallagher is nothing if not a man of his word

#sleepingdeath #gender neutral reader #fluff #fluff hcs #tgogm x reader #tgogm fluff #elias gallagher x reader #elias gallagher fluff

[ohgodmyeyes]

hi! I was curious as to what are both your fav and least fav versions of anakin? (like aotc, rots, old force ghost, clone wars, etc)

This is such an exciting question, but I'll try to be succinct instead of long-winded and boring. (My stories are already there for that.) Here's a quick rundown of a few different Anakins, from my most treasured to the one (and only one) I tend to side-eye: 

ROTJ Anakin / Force Ghost Anakin - I'm grouping these guys together, because I love them all for the same reason, and that reason is that they DID it. ROTJ Anakin is the Anakin who finds himself again; who takes responsibility for his family, and a huge step toward atoning for the things he's done. He spends ROTJ slowly changing; we see it in how he regards the Emperor, and the way he regards Luke. The closest thing he’s ever going to do to getting his wife back, realistically, is saving his son and finally openly defying Palpatine. It doesn’t matter that anyone else knows Vader has been rescued from himself, or that he was really a good man all along. Luke knows, and that’s enough; it’s part of why their relationship is so special to me. Luke is the only living person who says a proper goodbye to Anakin: He knew all along that it was worth it to try to know him. That’s beautiful.

His journey isn't finished at this stage, exactly, but his he's in a better place than he's ever been, and I love him for it. He's hope personified, even for the very worst of us.

As an aside— physicality isn't a barrier to any of this; I love him all busted up and dying, I love him as a fully-healed Sebastian Shaw, and as a pretty, young Hayden Christensen.

Padawan Anakin / AOTC Anakin / Jedi Quest Anakin - In second place is a much younger iteration of him— a sad, lonely kid who's easily excitable, and dangerous, somehow, without being at all frightening. He's a mixed-up kid who's had a less-than-ideal upbringing, bound to an ancient prophecy no one knows enough about. He cries out constantly to be held and loved; he's got his heart in his hand, and he's always ready to give it away to the next person who shows him kindness— or who even just needs him. 

He's still so compassionate and well-intentioned at this point in his life, even when it doesn't benefit him. He can be petty and sensitive, although anyone would be, if they had to bear the kind of weight Anakin carries on his own shoulders at that age. His emotions sometimes run amok, but his heart is still so good... and more importantly than that, he knows it. He still has hope, for himself and for others, despite the overwhelming sense of 'otherness' he tends to feel. That's what sets him apart from Vader for me, even though I think AOTC Ani resembles the ultimate, 'suited' Darth Vader a lot more than the Anakin we meet at the beginning of ROTS. 

Plus— although this is fairly irrelevant— AOTC Anakin happens to be Anakin at peak hotness. No damn wig is going to change that, nor is the sad fact of my own rapidly-advancing age. :) 

Little Kid Anakin / TPM Anakin - The sweet baby version of Anakin comes in next for me. The altruism he struggles to hang onto until he finally falls is front-and-centre at this stage. He's tough by necessity (obviously, he's a fucking slave), but he isn't jaded yet— largely owing to his mother. Even when he loses Qui-Gon and gets to the Temple and struggles to integrate, his heart just stays enormous. God knows what he's already been through, but he never stops trying, and there's nothing fake about his confidence at this stage in his life. I love that; I think we could all stand to be a bit more like nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker.

There's an Anakin & Reader story on ao3 by @itohan called 'Kuebiko', and it's a beautiful depiction of what it might be like to be a caregiver for a very young Anakin. It's headed for some pretty sad places, to be sure, but there's a lot of sweetness and lovely (sometimes chilling) little insights into his character that I don't otherwise get to see very often. Anyone else with a soft spot for child Ani should go and read it.

'Classic' Vader, between the end of ROTS and the end of ANH - This is an enormous chunk of time, but again, I think it's more helpful than not if I just group these iterations of him together, at least for the purpose of compiling this list. It's horrific and tragic and a devastating waste of potential, but Anakin really does spend a huge amount of time mired in a thick, dark cloud of grief and anger. He convinces himself of a lot of stupid shit during this period in his life: 'Anakin is dead, I'm fulfilling my destiny, I can get Padmé back, she'd love all this ORDER I'm bringing, blah blah blah'. Every ounce of his extraordinary control is purely surface-level; he's a raging wildfire inside for a longer period of time than I think nearly anyone else could realistically sustain (as in, Kylo Ren was always going to die at 30, and I'm surprised I didn't, too lol).

He's empowered by his shitstain of a 'Master' to hurt and kill people against everything that once made him who he was, and no one can know he suffers for it (or for the loss of his wife, or the family he wishes he could have raised with her). No one can know anything about him; he's a man playing a part who can't ever take off his costume. Everything hurts him, and the only places he can turn to for comfort are the battlefield, and the inside of his own head. He has profound disabilities of every imaginable nature, and receives no more than the most cursory physical maintenance to remedy them. He escapes into his missions, but every one of those is a slight against his own better nature. His personal pursuits don't benefit him either; for basically twenty years of his life, he's living in an emotional storm— it ebbs and flows, but it never lets up, and his entire existence is set up specifically to reward the most despicable of his behaviour.

He doesn't make very many genuine emotional breakthroughs, because he's not allowed— just tricked and lied to and manipulated and taken advantage of, even when he's the one ostensibly in 'control'. His life only starts again when Luke comes into it; again, one more reason their connection is so special to me.

I'm going to go ahead and recommend another Anakin/Reader story by a different author; it's called 'mrfiveohone' by DarthDoritos, and it's on ao3. It's a brilliant exploration of what a strange, budding relationship with a youngish Vader might look like, and just an overall beautiful portrait of escalating intimacy on top of that. Another one I would highly recommend (completion status notwithstanding) is called 'Afterimage', and it is by garnettrees, also on ao3. It's a very dark Vaderdala story that gets right inside Anakin's head in the most wonderful ways. He never stops loving Padmé, and in that, he never truly stops being who he is. 

This is the Vader I (admittedly somewhat dramatically) see the most of myself in. It puts us at-odds sometimes, but my urge to get up underneath that mask and make him feel worthy of his own name is insurmountable. I love him because if I didn't, I'd be in trouble. 

Which brings us to TCW Anakin… who is, perhaps, the only version of Anakin I can honestly say I don't care for. Which is fine, because the show itself really isn't my kind of thing. Suffice to say, that particular depiction of him departs so dramatically from any of the other ones I've known (or listed here) that I just can't get into it, no matter how hard I try. 

I'm going to end this with a shout-out to Lego Anakin! I've never seen a shitty version of Lego Anakin, whether in a cartoon or on my desk at home. :)

Thank you for asking, anon. That was fun to write out!

#anakin skywalker #thanks anon #fanfiction #headcanon #boring to everyone but me #i am trying to answer all of my asks #the nice ones anyway #late #too long

[trensu]

Episode 7: The One where At Last LWJ Sees the Light

We’re still in the cave of wonders, guys, and lan yi is doing plot exposition so we’re gonna skip that

Once Lan Yi is done laying down Plot, we have this cute exchange

Lwj: elder, as your descendent i pinky promise to complete this Super Important Mission 

Wwx: oh, same, me too!

Lwj: this is a LAN FAMILY MATTER and none of your business

Wwx: YOU CAN’T STOP ME FROM HELPING

Wwx: and besides, since my grandmaster was besties with your ancestor that means that it’s practically my family matter too, so there

YOU’RE ALSO MARRIED NOW GUYS, REMEMBER, SO IT’S A FAMILY MATTER EITHER WAY

And now, drumroll please…

Our beautiful boys tumble out of the cave of wonders (while still tied together!!) and crash land onto the ground, with wwx oh so conveniently sprawled on top of lwj

THAT’S RIGHT GUYS

IT’S THAT TROPE AND IT’S BEAUTIFUL

Lol lwj’s stunned face here

Wwx: I DIDN’T MEAN TO FALL ON YOU…! Oh hi jiang cheng

yep, jc’s here to ruin the moment (i love you jc, but you have horrible timing)

Wwx is so happy to see his brother, he greets him immediately and completely forgets about the fact that he and lwj are in a…compromising position

It’s adorable, really

Lwj: *glares with every ounce of Repressed Gay Rage in his body* GET UP RIGHT NOW.

Wwx: oh, right sure *totally unruffled bc he is shameless*

At this point we cut to the next scene which is still in the same place and with the same characters but now lwj has his ribbon back on his forehead

Ngl i’m kinda bummed we didn’t see him untie their wrists

It would’ve been hilarious since jc and wen qing wouldve been watching it all happen lol

like, i’m just picturing wq and jc being awkwardly silent as lwj unravels his ribbon from wwx’s wrist. wwx’s eyes would ofc be glued on lwj and he’d be babbling some inane thing or another

but we didn’t get that. oh well.

Oh, and here we find out that lwj and wwx were in that cave for one day and one night

Now that lwj is all put together again, we see wwx, jc, and wq have a conversation that i think counts as a wangxian moment

Jc and wq both start throwing questions at our boys about where they’ve been and what they were doing and all that

Lwj looks very uncomfortable about all the questions.

Lans don’t lie (supposedly; lwj is such a stickler at this point in his life he def doesn’t lie)

So wwx swoops in to ~rescue~ him!!

He answers all the questions by lying thru his teeth: oh yeah, we got lost and trapped and swam for hours and hours in an underground, waterlogged maze that definitely exists before we finally found a way out!! I almost froze to death (he says with a whine bc that’s just how he is lol)

Once he finishes answering all those questions he turns to share THE CUTEST LITTLE SECRET SMILE WITH LWJ. SO ADORABLE GUYS, HOW IS HE REAL

Lwj sees it and HAS TO LOOK AWAY

I CAN’T EVEN BLAME HIM BC IF WWX SMILED AT ME LIKE THAT (WITH HIS CUTE LITTLE BEAUTY MARK IN FULL VIEW!!) I WOULD’VE DIED.

JUST DROPPED TO THE GROUND DEAD.

IT’S TOO MUCH, IT’S TOO MUCH

Now we cut to a Plot Heavy Scene, featuring our boys and lxc and lqr, that is not relevant to this post at all EXCEPT I HAVE TO SAY OH GOD, LWJ LOOKS SO BABY-FACED HERE?? HOW?? HIS LITTLE FACE LOOKS ALL ROUNDED AND SOFT AND HIS LIPS ARE ALL POUTY. HE’S BEBY. I JUST WANT TO WRAP HIM UP IN BLANKETS AND GIVE HIM HOT CHOCOLATE

More plot discussion happens and whatever they’re talking about makes wwx bump shoulders with lwj and call him “my confidant” AKA MY SOULMATE AHHHHHHH

OH WAIT, do you know what else is important about this scene?

It shows how much taller wwx is than lwj!!! And I LOVE IT.

Lwj’s shoulders are a good two inches lower than wwx’s

WHY ISN’T THERE MORE FIC/ART SHOWING THIS??

I MEAN, THE STOIC SOLEMN CHARACTER IS SMOL AND THE SUNSHINEY CHARACTER IS GIANT. IT’S SUCH GREAT COMBINATION!!!

I think ppl in the cultivation world probs don’t realize how short lwj is bc he gives off such an intimidating aura i’m so jealous; i need to get myself an intimidating aura

Blah blah more plot, wwx promises not to tell anybody anything about the plot blah blah

Right after that, they bump into nhs who’s like, hey you guys were gone all night did anything weird happen?? (this is the guy who sneaks porn into this place on the regular, i’m pretty sure we all know what he means by “weird”)

Wwx: oooh, yeah, this super weird thing happened, let me tell you all about it

Lwj: *whips around to stare at wwx likE OMG SRSLY YOU JUST SAID YOU’D KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT*

Wwx: *proceeds to tell nhs a spooky lie about meeting a demon snake*

Nhs: *flees in terror bc he thinks snakes are scary for some reason* (they’re not, snakes are def cute critters)

Lwj: *exasperatedly rolls his eyes at wwx’s frankly amazing story-telling skills*

AND HERE WE GET TO SEE THE FIRST TIME LWJ STARES LONGINGLY AT WWX. LWJ, THIS IS GONNA BE YOUR MAIN HOBBY FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE

Wwx runs after his brother and slings a playful arm around his shoulders and walks away without a second glance to lwj

Lwj stares soulfully at him, def noticing that wwx didn’t spare him a second look (poor bb lwj)

After a moment of Soulful Staring, his lips part as he lowers his gaze to the ground and decisively turns and walks off

INTERNALLY HE’S LIKE OFC WWX WOULDN’T WANT TO SPEND TIME WITH ME SINCE I’M ALL STOIC AND REPRESSED BUT THAT’S FINE, IDC, I DIDN’T WANT TO HANG OUT WITH HIM ANYWAY

POOR LWJ!! DOESN’T THIS MAKE YOUR HEART TWINGE???

Even more plot stuff happens

But they make it worth the wait because now we get to…

THE LANTERN SCENE (PART 1)

YES, YOU HEARD RIGHT.

WWX: lwj, we should set off a lantern and make a wish together since we’ve been thru so much together now

LWJ: *pulls a batman* I work alone 

WWXX: habits change!! Besides, i made this lantern specially for you~! *shows drawing of magic cave bunny on the lantern*

HERE WE GO GUYS, OMG, IT’S HAPPENING

Lwj looks at the lantern and, just, his face, ahhh, LWJ’S ENTIRE FACE GOES SOFT AND WE SEE HIM SMILE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE SERIES

FIRST!!

TIME!!

EVER!!!

AND IT ONLY TOOK 7 EPISODES!!

I’M DYING I’M D Y I N G

HIS LIPS PART AND THE SMILE JUST GENTLY BLOOMS ON HIS FACE, ILLUMINATING IT SOFTLY LIKE A FUCKING SUNRISE OR SMTH

FUCK IT’S JUST SO BEAUTIFUL IT’S MAKING ME POETIC

GAHHH

NO WONDER HE NEVER SMILES

THAT SMILE COULD KILL PEOPLE IN THE BEST WAY

Ofc wwx has to ruin the moment by giggling at him and saying “hey you’re smiling!!”

Okay, guys, you know and I know that wwx is giggling from joy. Like yay!! I made lan zhan smile!! I did a Good Thing!!!

He is genuinely tickled pink about making his soulmate happy!

But remember, LWJ is the King of Repressed Gays here. So, you know, the laughter in his ears sounds mocking. Because he’s a dumb boy who can’t Emotion well yet.

LWJ reacts to the giggles by immediately grabbing his sword which startles wwx into stumbling back into the group behind him and the mood is effectively ruined

But just for a little bit!!

Then ~THEIR SONG~ starts playing in the background AND THEY SEND OFF THEIR LANTERN TOGETHER, WHICH IS SOMETHING THAT GENERALLY ONLY ROMANTICALLY INVOLVED COUPLES DO 

as is shown by how everyone’s trying to get jyl and jzx (aka our token heteros) to send off a lantern together

The pair of them, need i remind you, are currently betrothed (even tho that dumb peacock doesn’t deserve her)

so yeah, that’s totally not gay at all

WWX makes his wish: “I wish to always stand with justice and live without regrets”

THIS IS IT, THIS IS THE MOMENT. 

THIS IS WHEN LWJ FALLS IN LOVE, I SWEAR

LWJ is watching wwx as he’s making that wish (more of an oath, really), and as soon as he hears those words, his eyes widen the way they do when someone gets hit with a life-altering realization. He’s completely thunderstruck 

IT’S NOT SUBTLE GUYS

YOU CAN PRACTICALLY SEE CUPID’S ARROW STICKING OUT OF HIS CHEST (OR WHATEVER ANCIENT FANTASY CHINA EQUIVALENT THERE IS)

THAT’S IT. HE’S A GONER. THERE’S NO ONE ELSE FOR HIM NOW. NO ONE BUT WWX.

For real tho, after this moment, we really don’t see lwj be angry towards wwx like he has been. Annoyed and exasperated at him, sure, but never angry in a petty mean way like before.

It’s beautiful

The next wangxian moment isn’t nearly as intense but it happens shortly after the lantern scene

Wwx goes to beat the shit out of jzx for saying he doesn’t want to marry jyl (because jzx is a moron and definitely deserves a beat down for this insult)

Wwx and jzx are surrounded by a group of loud, flailing people

And lwj just dives right into that throng of people to get to wwx (contrast this to a scene in a later episode where he actively avoids going anywhere near a much calmer, collected group of people bc ew people)

Lwj: *grabs at wwx* stop, wei ying

Wwx: DON’T STOP ME, LAN ZHAN, IM GONNA KILL THIS GUY DEAD IS2G

Next wangxian scene takes place the following morning

Lwj is walking along minding his own business and sees wwx kneeling as punishment for the fight before

He approaches him and calls out to him.

THIS IS IMPORTANT

This is the first time we see him willingly initiate interaction with wwx. Every other time, wwx was the one to approach him first and start to pester him for attention.

BUT LOL JOKE’S ON HIM. THE FIRST TIME HE DARES TO APPROACH WWX FIRST AND HE IMMEDIATELY REGRETS IT

‘Oh hey lan zhan’ wwx responds to LWJ. ‘look at all these little ants i found on the ground!!’

‘OMG WWX YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE KNEELING TO REFLECT ON YOUR MISDEEDS NOT TO PLAY WITH ANTS. SO UNTEACHABLE’ *walks off in a huff*

Wwx is left pouting and saying ‘but the ants are so cute.’

I’M SORRY WHAT??

WHAT DID YOU SAY WWX?? ANTS ARE CUTE??

ANTS ARE NOT CUTE. 

YOU, WWX, YOU ARE CUTE. ANTS ARE NOT. 

WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU.

(i just really hate insects, guys, i would not get near them even if wwx was the one holding them)

(okay, maybe if wwx was holding them, i’d try to get near them, but idk how successful i’d be)

Blah blah more plot stuff happens, blah jin “can’t keep it in my pants* guangshan exists now blah blah 

Alright so now we have the jiang clan saying their goodbyes to the lan clan since i guess Ancient Fantasy China summer school is over maybe??? Idk, point is they gotta leave. 

As they leave, wwx starts to whisper at lwj “lan zhan, lan zhan, about that Plot Device…”

But gets tugged away by his fam, HOWEVER he manages to hear lxc telling lwj to be careful in that foreboding Important Plot Things Are Afoot sort of way

And wwx makes the effort to go back to talk to lwj but jc grabs him and yanks him out by the arm

Jc: are you crazy?? That guy hates you!! He must be happy you’re leaving

Wwx: LIES AND SLANDER, everyone here LOVES me

Idk about everyone, but lwj definitely loves him and jc knows nothing

now it’s THE RETURN OF WINGMAN LXC

The lan bros are watching the yunmeng sibs leave

Lxc: gosh, it’s gonna be quiet here without him, huh? (HIM, HE SAYS, NOT ‘THEM,’ HIM! BC HE TOTALLY KNOWS WHO LWJ IS ACTUALLY WATCHING)

Lwj: *looks down to the floor and refuses to answer*

Lxc: soooo…r u gonna tell him about your Super Important Mission?

Lwj: no. *walks away*

Jeez, he walks off on his big brother a lot, doesn’t he?? Rude. didn’t your parents teach you any manners? Oh wait that was an awful joke and i’m a terrible person, SORRY LWJ

AHHHHHHHHHHH WWX WITH THE BUNNIES!! THIS IS NOT A DRILL, I REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

Wwx: *holding a bunny* Bunny, are you gonna be happy hiding here??

Wwx: *pretending to be the bunny* Happy!! 

GUYS THIS SCENE IS JUST TOO CUTE FOR WORDS. 

I REWOUND AND WATCHED IT LIKE, 3 TIMES BECAUSE THE CUTENESS WAS JUST UGH I COULDN’T RESIST. 

HIS VOICE GOES ALL HIGH PITCHED THE WAY IT DOES WHEN YOU MAKE VOICES FOR YOUR PETS!! IT’S ADORABLE AHHHHH I DIE, I DIE

Wwx: maybe i should take you back to lotus pier with me…?

Wwx: hmm, no, i can’t do that. What if lan zhan gets lonely and comes here looking for you? He won’t be able to find you!!

This is literally what wwx said. Like, that was the deciding factor for not taking the bunny home. 

Lan zhan might get lonely. HOW SWEET IS HE. WWX, THE SWEETEST BOY, WHO’S SO IN LOVE AND DOESN’T EVEN KNOW IT YET

Then as he’s bonding with the bunny he gets the epiphany that OMG LWJ IS GOING ON THAT SUPER IMPORTANT MISSION ALONE, WITHOUT HIM

And that’s the end of that episode. 

but we got to see the EXACT MOMENT LWJ falls in love for real. And it’s BEAUTIFUL. Not to mention the we were gifted the accidentally-falling-on-top-of-each-other trope. 

and we got bunnies! did i mention the bunnies and wwx being adorable together? because that happened.

Ah, this is the show that just gives and gives *wipes away tears* what did we do to deserve it?

Return to Masterpost

#WangXiantics #the untamed #wangxian #aka the second part of my valentines day gift to fandom

[popculturebuffet]

Paul Dini’s Jingle Belle: The Mighty Elves (Comissoned by WeirdKev27)

Well well boys, we’re back to Jingle Belle with another kevmission, though per his request i’ll be getting back to Life and Times Of Scrooge McDuck at long last. I also have some other stuff planned and all that, but for now, let’s focus on everyones faviorite elfen hellion as we dive back into Paul Dini’s Jingle Belle. 

I covered most of the behind the scene’s stuff last time so in short in case your just joining us, since this one’s got a bit more stuff to tag: Jingle Belle is an indie comic book character created by animation god Paul Dini, the daughter of Santa Claus and the Queen of Elves who acts like a standard rebellious teenager sterotype and causes trouble for her dad.  Last time I touched on the character a good two days ago, we looked at her first appearance, where she sent her family to Family Therapy. At the time I’d ONLY read that story, and hadn’t gotten that far into Jing’s world just yet. As you probably guessed despite plugging a decent amount of time into re-reading the rest of Scott Pilgrim (shout out to my good friend Mike for the early christmas present), on digital and in color and into the Switch port of the first Fire Emblem, I still got 2/3 of the way through the omnibus Kev gifted me of almost all her stories up to 2018′s The Handmade’s Tale.  Honestly not a lot has changed from the pilot.. while Jing’s designs changed a bit, she’s still more of a rebellious hellion, and while Santa’s no longer a slut shaming jackass, he’s still hard on her while her mom tries to keep the peace, The humor’s still edgy, if toned down enough to support returning whenever Dini felt like it but it’s largely the same for better or worse.  Overall the stories haven’t been bad but have been a bit reptitive to read in one giant omnibus. This really is down to the format they were made in: These were one off stories spread months apart meant to be picked up off the shelf with no real ongoing stories or character development and only some slight worldbuilding here and there. In short not bad stuff, just clearly not built to be collected in a huge omnibus like it was and not the first comic collection i’ve encountered with this problem and definitely not the last. 

That being said the stories are creative and still well put together. It is Paul Dini and he has wrote pretty much every story collected here with few exceptions, so it’s still good stuff, just as I said clearly not meant to be read all in one block like i’ve been doing. And today’s story happens to be one of my faviorites so far, breaking the formula up a bit by having Jing do something a bit diffrent and also involving hockey, a sport this story made me realized might actually intrest me on some level.. if in part due to letterkenny. 

God bless those two handsome idiots. So let’s ice up or skates, get those letterkenny refrences at the ready and see what the Mighty Elves have to offer. 

We start at Hockey Practice for Santa’s Hockey Team, The Elves, the kind of sentence that makes me really happy to type for money. Santa’s team is naturally for this kind of story and what the title references, are the last place in the bi-polar hockey league their in.. presumably ran by commissioner bi-polar bear. 

Again, I really love this job and that i’m actually getting paid for this this go round. Anyway, Santa’s team isn’t all that agressive because.. well i’ts a team coached by Santa, why would they be? But Santa’s still proud of his boys... as for his girl on the otherhand he gets a call and we soon find out via mugshots Jing dragged her two friends, up from just one in previous stories, to an air force base, somehow got arrested for hitting on enlisted men, not a crime, and stealing and crashing a helicopter, very much a crime.  Naturally Santa isn’t pleased, so we cut to a few days later where he’s letting her friends off making robo kitties, damn I want one of those now, while leaving Jing to do the packaging, though like most stern but fair dad’s he admits he dosen’t like punishing her and is right in saying there’s more to do with her summer vacation than you know, piss off the military. Santa needs his flight clerance dammit. Jing complains there isn’t much to do but feed the reindeer and make toys to which I say.. really santa? You haven’t set up anything else for your eleves to do? Making toys is their job. Build a fucking movie theater. And at the very least if not for them than for your bored and rebellious daughter to distract her from doing crimes. She’s still likely got a few hundred years of teenagering left, give her something else to do other than piss you off.  Santa does have a least a little something: Hockey! Which Jing’s cousin Rusty has taken up. Rusty showed up in the first story but I kind of glossed over him, he’s basically Jing’s Dorky cousin she frequently abuses. Not really much more or less to him. Jing isn’t on board mostly because their team always looses, to the other teams: The Penguins, the Polar Bears, The Snow Leopards and the Eskimos because they don’t really have killer instinct, which yeah is kind of necessary for hockey. To her..

But during her rant she does show Santa she’s got genuine talent for the sport, so he makes her a deal: Do a little favor for him, and she’ll swap that for making toys.. it’s a deal.. one she soon regrets but hey. 

Jing naturally makes an ass of herself pretty quickly beating the shit out of Rusty with her dad repremanding her and threatning to throw her off the team if she has another outburst like. That is until she runs into the Huskies Coach, Stan. 

I mean i’ts a hairy old man who makes a side bet with Santa Claus despite it technically being against commission rules, might as well be. So Santa tells Jing screw it, as long as it’s the opposing team violence is a-okay.  And naturally our first target is the world famous hockey player, aka snoopy aka a snoopy stand in. And being a big fan of peanuts i’m a sucker for a good peantus parody. Doubly so since Dini did his homework, and as I’d remembered and a quick google confirmed “The World Famous Hockey Player” was indeed one of snoopy’s many personas.

 Not that it was much of a stretch: just about any time snoopy played a sport he was “the world famous X player”, but still it’s a nice little nod. Not so nice is Jing within seconds slamming him into the air and under a Zamboni and getting sent to the box for it naturally. So clearly she’s the shorsey of this team, all chirps and ultra violence. 

Snoopy is thankfully still alive, if barely, though he’s off course been through much worse.

But while in the Box jing helps advise the team and a presumed combination of her beating the shit out of the other team’s best players and her team now not only having something to inspire them but a strategy means the Elves win for once! Santa and Jing share a hug, though Santa advises her not to go for his wallet, it’s still a sweet moment as she’s genuinely invested now.  So we cut to..

Okay Hank Ribbon seal is genuinely one of the best things humanity has made but as for Quiki I just... wow that joke is mildly racist at worst, confusing and unfunny at best. I mean... it really just makes no sense on any level and that’s with me not knowing a lot about hockey, but knowing just enough to know Kathy Lee Gifford existed. Just.. what even was that? I know Paul can do better than this.. because as my first review outlined he wrote a LOTTTT of Tiny Tune Adventures including my favorite episode. He also wrote most of the best Joker episodes for BTAS, so it’s not like the guy CAN’T be funny.. so I have no idea how he could fail so hard with this. Just.. what is this. Who thought this was funny? what was the joke? 

That.. utter bafflement aside, this newscast is used to push things ahead as the elves are on a winning streak, having also beaten the Polar Bears and the Penguins.. though weirdly we DON’T get a cameo by this guy despite having already had Snoopy show up. 

That’s my boy. But yeah there’s only two teams left with this, the Eskimos and tonight’s matchup the Snow Leopards, aka snow catgirls lead by Tashi Ounce, who Jing met at the winter games last year and lost too and thus has a whole rivlary thing going. In a really nice moment Santa stops to make sure Jing is okay going into the game. 

It’s part of why I REALLY like this story: Santa instead of just being disapointed in his daughter genuinely bonds over her over something and Jing shows she has a softer side to her. It’s some good character stuff, helps shake up the normal formula nicely. Back to the usual though she and Tashi naturally go at it, phrasing, and fight the whole damn time, with Belle eventually scoring the winning goal. Though noticably while Tashi is just as competiive as belle and lost this time.. she’s fine with it, knowing she’ll win next time and congradulating the opponent.  But before she can leave the rink, Tashi is approached by a mysterious figure with an offer and we cut to said figure’s lair... it’s THE BLIZZARD WIZARD! dun dun dun!.... yeah I haven’t introduced him the Blizzard Wizard is.. well exactly what he sounds like, as well as the former ruler of the North Pole. He enslaved everyone there to do his bidding and was essentially, a butt till Santa showed up, united all the various animals and kicked his ass. Since then he’s been reduced to basically a rankin bass villian, lurking near bye and scheming to get petty revenge on Santa for it. So essentially....

Minus the tragic backstory. He offers them a deal: The championship cup for him defeating the elves. As he puts it the cup symbolizes hard work, respect and team work.. i.e the things their throwing out to get payback. Tashi wants none of it, but the blizzard wizard has his slush minons capture her and with the rest willing to sell out, he gets to work. 

Bliz snows out the eskimos, and brings up accusations of Santa gambling, which he gets away from by.. having his wife donate the money real quick don’t ask just go. But he has a waiver signed by the other coaches so their playing his goons. But Jing isn’t phased and Santa asks her to give the lockeroom some inspiring words. 

10/10 no notes. But naturally Bliz has a sneaky trick up his sleeves.. to win.. specifically a hot french canadian player which.. makes jing fall to pieces flirting with him and makes her entirely ineffective. Okay time out.... huh so this is the timeless void known only to zack morris, that girl from the reboot I haven’t watched, and Regis Filbin. But yeah while I wouldn’t expect Jing to slaughter the guy it feels out of character for all she’d do is to giggle like an idiot instead of making a move. She’s been established as forward and knowing what she wants. I’m not against her being distracted by this it’s just the how that feels off especially since the opening reinforces this. She hit on air force guys. She’s not going to just be giggly and awkward. Jing may not be the most complex charcter but she’s better than this. Aside from the baffling Kathy Lee Gifford gag, this is the only thing I really don’t like abotu the story, and it lasts two pages before it’s resolved and in a 22 or so page story, that’s a good chunk of it spent on something that isn’t funny and that’s out of character even within story. That being said it dosen’t drag the story down entirely, still a good story. Just a bit uneven is all. 

But unsurprisingly Tashi escapes her earlier imprisonment offscreen to let Jing know not only the full extent of Bliz Whiz’s machenations, i.e. that the other coaches are in on it, but that the hockey player is really just one of Bliz’s minons uner a glamour. WIth that knowledge Jing asks why she’d help and Tashi shows her inner honor beneath the whole rival deal, pointing out she wants to win from a GOOD team next year. With the jig up Jing pulvirzes her former crush, claims to have been under a spell (no one byes it) and the elves clean house and win. Super fuckin shooter. As for Bliz Whiz he tries to steal the trophy but instead gets booted into the snow leopards box, phrasing... it doesn’t end well for him. 

And yeah while he comes back eventually, some how, apparently, for most of the stories after this he’s just.. dead. He was killed and then his remains eaten. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

But Jing admits she had fun, she and her dad bond and we get one last gag as he assumes she learned not to showboat only for her to block everyone else in the team photo. Falalallal we’re out. 

Final Thoughts: As I said, one of my faviorites. It’s really well paced, has a good premise and only one part drags at all and only that part and one gag really don’t land. The rest of it is really funny, nice and touching, and overall a nice shakeup from these stories usual pattern of “Jing getting into hyjinks”. While she DOES here, her and her dad are literally and figuartvely on the same team, and she does show a sweeter side genuinely bonding with her dad and it’s nice to see them actually enjoy each other’s company for once. It’s a nice change of pace and one I wish more of the stories had. I’m not saying they all have to be holly jolly but i’d be nice if more of them had a bit of heart to them is all. Tis the season and all that. Still for what it is, it’s a fun ride and I highly recommend it. We’ll probably see her again sometime this season but that’s a bit off.  For now coming up I have some ducktales to tell, a chapter in a man’s life story that’s long overdue, a holiday mess I wish I didn’t have to clean up, and in the distant future.. an old friend to reconnect with. Until then if you liked this review reblog it, comment etc all that good stuff, and you can send me asks with suggestions fo ra review or direct message me, or ask for my discord, to comission a review yourself. Until then, happy holidays. 

#jingle belle #paul dini #comics #comic reviews #santa claus #christmas #hockey #letterkenny #snoopy #opus #blizzard wizard #tashi ounce

[faejilly]

ultimate top 10 sh moments/scenes 👀

ultimate? I am terrible at favorites/top 10′s nonny, this will not be ultimate, it will just be whatever 10 random things I thought up that I could manage words about 😅 In no order whatsoever, with numbers just so I don’t lose my place even more than usual:

10. May I start of by saying The Wedding? I generally skip fictional weddings, they make me uncomfortable. I mute them on TV (or pull out my phone to distract me if there are other people watching) and skim them in print, I find the entire concept of personalized vows mortifying, and I’m honestly delighted that most romances end at the engagment, because those are lovely and emotional. (I wasn’t even interested in my own wedding, and only actually arranged one because I knew the now husband didn’t just want to be engaged for fifty years *laughs*.) But I liked the flowers and the outfits (tho Magnus is not imo wearing a tuxedo, poor Alec) and the music and vows that were familiar rather than personal because ritual is important to them, being part of this setting that neither of them thought they’d ever have? I enjoyed it tremendously. Not an ultimate of anything, I suppose, but I liked it, which is all that matters. (It’s not where I wanted their relationship to be at that point, but it’s short-hand for where they’re going, which is the best possible scenario for a finale movie, tbqh.)

Engagements are about the couple, but weddings are about the community, and I felt like this did that visually, even if the actual ritual of the wedding makes no sense.

9. Parbatai sparring in uh… 2x11 I think it was. Sometimes the choreography in the show is a bit… weird, but they always did a good job with Jace & Alec and having the way they fought be character-full, having it show the strengths and weaknesses of their bond in a way very few of their other interactions could. In this one it’s so clearly comforting, this one sliver of normalcy after everything else that’s happened. (And gods I love Alec’s shirt, sorry never sorry, wtf is up with that man and grey shirts? *laughs*)

8. Shout out to Izzy & Luke in 3a. It’s basically one scene, but it gives us a sense of a solid world in a way Shadowhunters generally didn’t, of Luke and Izzy existing in the world as their jobs, Shadowhunter & Cop, as people, as friends, as part of a larger whole in terms of their professional and personal connections. Of course all these people know each other, in all these different ways, whether we see it all the time or not, and that was DELIGHTFUL.

7. SIMON LEWIS

That’s it.

No, obviously, especially, his speech about his grandmother and the Holocaust, because not only is it in important speech on about five levels, the way he tells it illustrates how much he loves Clary, that he’s giving her this story that she, tbqh, hadn’t earned, as a gift for her more than an explanation. It’s just. Gorgeous. It’s a gestalt, one of those moments that is greater than the sum of its parts, and in this particular case, the parts that make up the whole were pretty damn good already.

6. The 2x18 flashback to Magnus & Alec’s first time together. One, because it addressed the way the show had screwed up the original episode, but mostly two, that it was important in how it showed their relationship (fears and issues and strengths and desires, all at once) and the way they interact. Most sex scenes in TV & movies are trying to be titillating and don’t really accomplish anything in terms of plot or character, but this one did. And also it was lovely and giggly and very very pretty. 😅

5. Jocelyn’s funeral: This entire episode, actually, is a really good Clary episode. It showcases her strengths, (she never has any trouble forgiving Alec, never even considers blaming him), her determination, and also her weaknesses, the way her grief makes her reckless, again, and it’s sheer chance that her visit to Iris didn’t go dramatically horrifyingly wrong in ways that would have damaged her and Alec (and everyone who cares about them) in ways that would have lingered for years. But even though they didn’t ever explicitly address most of that, the moment at the funeral, when her voice breaks and Jace speaks for her, gives us enough catharsis that it works anyways. (It’s also a really beautiful moment for Jace, and there are so few moments when he lets himself be who he is to help someone, rather than doing what he thinks he’s supposed to do, that this one really stands out.)

4. Clary killing Valentine. #PRINCESS STABBITY

It’s good, is what I’m saying. Desperate and brutal and I love her.

3. Simon & Jace and the boop-boop both because it’s legit adorable, but also because it was one of the few ‘short-hand’ notes in the epilogue that worked for me exactly as intended. It shows you how well Simon’s integrating into the Nephilim side of the Shadow World (without ever being an ounce less Simon than he ever was) but it also shows that Jace really did learn from everything that happened to him, that he’s no longer hiding what he’s thinking and feeling, that he’s no longer afraid to just, idk, like people. He’s mourning Clary, obviously, but he’s going to be ok, and I believe that he would have been even if she’d never seen him at her show. (Though I think her seeing him is better, that it gives them a second chance to be them without the world ending around them, to be soft rather than desperate.)

2. Nice Gills

Not only is it just a stunningly perfect smile on Alec’s face, but that one moment kind of crystallizes and pulls together all the potentially disparate parts of his personality, how angry he was in s1, the hopelessness here after Jocelyn’s death, the giddy impossibility of that first smile he gave Magnus, the way he let his siblings run him even when he was running the Institute, the way he never quite cracked down on Clary’s assorted crazies because she was doing it for her mother. 

The fact that Alec is both good at his job (killing demons) and a total marshmallow to his family who will burn himself to a crisp to save them is not news, not even back in 2x5 when he met Madzie. It’s apparent in almost everything he does (especially after 1x12, when he’s no longer trying to hide himself to protect his family and has to choose actions to protect them instead). But what’s impressive here is that that smile and those words are completely 100% genuine, despite how worried he is for Clary, how guilty he feels about Jocelyn, how lost he is to have agreed to come here, to a questionable warlock who practices dark magic on the off-chance this will somehow make things better, he is honestly and truthfully there for Madzie when he smiles at her.

And that one moment, when they connect, is well enough done that her saving him from Valentine five episodes later feels completely earned. 

1. MAGNUS BANE’S SHEER EXISTENCE. He is perfection. Even when he makes no sense at all it doesn’t matter because he’s Magnus and he has done nothing wrong ever.

Except probably a bunch of murder and definitely centuries of petty revenge, but that’s just part of his charm. That he chooses not to do the former and has wallowed delightfully in the latter. 

With a special shout-out for Every Time Alec & Magnus Kiss, shut up, they’re beautiful.

#shadowhunters #entirely incoherent and random rambling #whee? #malec #and other things #Anonymous #jilly answers #my sh rambling

[geollejimin]

Kookmin Headcanon #6

Jungkook isn't ever sure if it's a blessing or a burden that he can tell down to the second when Jimin is about to spiral in to self-loathing. 

He recognizes the signs with ease, and it's also with alarming calmness that he pulls Jimin back from that brink every time -- as if it's almost just another daily responsibility, like brushing his teeth or doing laundry. He always frames it in a way that makes Jimin think it was his idea, it was his strength and resolve that brought himself back down to earth, and Jungkook is content with that. If that helps Jimin live another day relatively worry free in the already busy world they live, what's the point in hogging all the glory? It's for Jimin, after all. He can forgo the praise every now and then. 

For Jimin. But tensions were high -- promotions on the horizon and the looming anxiety of constantly being in the spotlight non-stop for a few weeks.  It was an unspoken rule that everyone did everything within their power to look their best. It wasn't an odd sight to see Namjoon walking around in a face mask the minimum three times a week, something he never really committed to doing any other time of the year. Jin agonizingly washed his sheets every night to keep his skin the clearest possible (where did he get the time?). Jungkook himself put in extra hours at the gym out of habit. He didn't even actively think about doing it anymore before a comeback, he was on autopilot. Everyone seemed to have a dedicated, yet realistic, game plan to prepare for the cameras in the coming months. Except, of course, Jimin. There were the aspects of Jimin's obsessive personality that he could prepare for after years of practice. They were the physical ones -- the eating habits (or lack thereof), the late hours practicing until his feet were blistered -- Jungkook had those down pat. He was nothing if not a professional at being annoyingly persistent, in a sneaky way. At meals, Jungkook watches Jimin push food around his plate out of the corner of his eye, talking excitedly and animatedly about something topical so no one would suspect anything else was afoot. In this way, Jimin is a master manipulator, and far too clever for his own good. But Jungkook is too -- Jimin falls victim to pettiness far too easily, and all it takes is Jungkook nonchalantly picking the best bits from Jimin's plate every couple minutes for Jimin to pull it out of his reach and tell him to knock it off. "You're not eating it anyways," Jungkook points out, feigning innocence as he makes another grab for something delicious looking. "Just because I don't inhale my food like air like you do doesn't mean I'm not getting to it," would come the biting reply. And ten minutes later the plate is clean, and Jungkook can deal with Jimin's sour mood knowing he's accomplished something. The long hours of practice requires more persistence and more of a back bone. The others members would drop out of the practice room one by one, turning in for the night and saying they'd put in more hours tomorrow. Jungkook, exhausted after half of them had already left, envies them -- but Jimin isn't even close to calling it a night, and if Jungkook didn't stay, he's positive they'd be peeling Jimin off the floor of the practice room the next morning, asleep and feet in a terrible state. So, he stays. Every angrily restarted routine, every minor tantrum when something isn't just right. He doesn't say anything to quell Jimin's obvious irritation. Years of experience has told him that there isn't anything that he can say that Jimin will take deeper than face value anyways, so he bides his time. He practices alongside with him even through his exhaustion, but doesn't scold Jimin about the late hour. If it's important to Jimin, he wants him to know it's important to him too. When the time comes and Jungkook pretends to badly roll his ankle during a particular step, he is always half-expecting Jimin to get irritated with him and tell him to go home if he's going to be an obvious hindrance. But of course he doesn't. Jimin hears Jungkook's over-exaggerated hiss of pain and he whips his head around, the music fading in to the background around his instinctual worry. "What happened?" He asks quickly, a hand on Jungkook's lower back, every ounce of irritation in his demeanor evaporated. "Did you hurt your foot?" "It's nothing, just stepped on it weird." Jungkook has never considered himself an award-worthy actor, but even he can't deny that when he puts weight on his now "bum" foot and his barely-there yet telling grimace gets Jimin's eyes wide with concern, he's got at least a little bit of natural born talent somewhere in him. "You need to go home and rest," Jimin says. Jungkook just shakes his head. "I'll stay, I want to practice hard for the comeback, too." "You can't practice through the pain, that's not healthy." Jungkook shakes his head once, firmly. "If you can, then I can too." Jimin goes silent, and it's in that moment of clear realization on his face that Jungkook knows he's won. When they're in the car on the way back to the dorms not ten minutes later, Jungkook is on beside himself with internal self-congratulations. Half elated because his clever plan worked perfectly for the third time that week, and half on cloud nine as Jimin absentmindedly rubs and works his very much normal and uninjured ankle. But those were the physical ones. They were easy. Jungkook excelled in the realm of the physical, he was a very tangible kind of guy. Disputes, love... it all could be settled with physicality, touch, contact; it's how it always had been for him. Unfortunately, Jimin existed seemingly entirely within the realm of the emotional, which might as well have been on top of Mount Everest during a blizzard as far as Jungkook was concerned. His psyche was guarded heavily, and penetrating it was something Jungkook had yet to accomplish. He couldn't fight off the feelings of inadequacy that plagued Jimin, couldn't drag them out back and intimidate them in to leaving Jimin alone. The way Jungkook had always dealt with -- or not dealt with -- emotions wasn't how Jimin processed his own, and it bothered Jungkook that he couldn't make anything any better. What use was he to Jimin if he couldn't even make him feel good enough? And it was times like these that were the worst. Here, in this green room after a performance. Jimin in his costume, each piece of it designer and exceedingly expensive. In one hand, the glittering trophy from that day's win. In the other, his phone with which he had just tweeted a picture of himself, trophy held close to his shining smile, to their fans all over the world, thanking them for making it all possible. Not a hair out of place, his makeup accentuating his best features, his pristine and perfect milky skin. And yet... Everyone around them was exhausted, either sleeping in whatever corner they could claim or snacking and chatting away tiredly. The sea of people made the two of them fade in to obscurity, hard to be noticed. But Jungkook was watching Jimin, and Jimin was watching himself. Jimin stood in front of one of the long mirrors in the green room, the day's spoils grasped tightly in his hands, but a darkness had crossed him. His stare seemed distant and cold as he analyzed himself in his reflection, unblinking, a direct juxtaposition to the buzz of tired excitement around him. His gaze seemed to judge silently, himself on trial for every small imperfection and mistake he could find. He was the judge, the jury, and the giddy executioner. The sight would have been alarming and uncomfortable to anyone who noticed it -- but Jimin had somehow convinced himself that in a crowd of people he faded in to the background every time. Even with his fiery neon hair, his bright skin and listless, hooded eyes, his full features and rhythmic way of moving, he thought there was nothing that set him apart from everyone else, nothing memorable about him at all. Jimin believed if he was alone in a room, it was empty. Jungkook watched him for what felt like too many minutes, disbelief overcoming him alongside waves of agitation. How could no one else see what he was seeing? He could chalk it up to exhaustion, to ingrained casualness that made everyone numb to the barely noticeable signs of something not being right with the others. But this was the Jimin that Jungkook couldn't decipher. The one who had almost everything and still felt as though it was going to be yanked away from him as soon as the world who adored him now had grown tired of him. The one who thought he didn't deserve any attention until he had become pretty, not realizing that someone had been attached to his side for years before the awards, the recognition, the brand. The one who seemed to find fault in every aspect of himself where Jungkook only found something new to study and memorize. The one who thought that in a crowd of adoring fans, no one was ever looking solely at him, when in reality it was never anyone in the crowd who couldn't peel his gaze away. What was Jimin still yearning for? And how could Jungkook make sure he got it in abundance? Jungkook could agonize over the why's and how's, like he always did around promotions when this behavior was at its peak. He could obsess over how to pull Jimin out of this spiral and continue to never actually do anything about it. He may not be able to connect with Jimin on his level, may not ever understand the convoluted and complex inner workings of Jimin's self-loathing, but Jungkook could still fix things the best way he knew how, the one way he always excelled at anything he put his mind to. Someone on the opposite side of the green room called Jimin's name, jolting him out of his trance. He blinked once, twice, and by the time he had done a 180 and was floating towards the assistant calling him to change, his facade had changed to one of unbothered content, one that would seem genuine to anyone except those who bothered to look further. As he passed Jungkook their eyes met for a brief fleeting split-second, and he could tell that Jimin knew he had been caught, but Jimin continued on with an astonishingly good poker face. Jungkook lowered his eyes back to his phone, his resolve steeled. If Jungkook existed solely within the realm of the physical, then he'd settle this the way he'd resolved every conflict in his life until this point: Physically. And with no holds barred. *** "Hobi-hyung, the food is getting cold. Where is Jimin-hyung?" Hoseok looked up from his plate and nodded his head in the direction of the room he shared with Jimin without hesitation. "Same place he's been all night." "He hasn't come out yet? At all?" "Your guess is as good as mine." "I went in there earlier," Taehyung said from the couch, his plate resting precariously on one lifted knee. "He wouldn't talk to me. It was like trying to communicate with a brick wall." "You all should just leave him alone," Yoongi offered quietly from the kitchen table where he sat alone. "He will talk when he's ready, you know how he is when he gets upset." Jungkook wasn't convinced. He wiped his chin with the back of his hand as he stared at the closed door to Hoseok and Jimin's room. "Jungkook-ah, if you go in there and try to make him talk when he doesn't want to, he's only going to withdraw more," Namjoon continued in Yoongi's place. There was a long pause, the five of them watching Jungkook watching the door, all with the same thick tension. "You can't fix everyone," Jin added, quiet. "I don't need to fix everyone." "You know exactly what I meant," Jin replied irritably, glaring holes in to the back of Jungkook's head. "There's literally no need to be so dramatic." "He doesn't want to talk," Namjoon said from beside him as he swallowed a mouthful of food. "I'm begging you, Jungkook-ah, for the sake of his mental well-being and your own, don't force him to." Jungkook should listen to his leader, he knew that, but that still didn't really stop him from already being on his feet and stalking towards the door, picking up Jimin's untouched plate along the way, before Namjoon even finished his sentence. "Or, you know, do," he could hear the exasperated voice behind him. "Everything I say is only a suggestion at best anyways." Jungkook stood at the door for only a few milliseconds before turning the handle and letting himself in. He didn't bother knocking to announce himself; what was the point if wasn't going to get a response anyways? Jungkook always lived by one motto: do first, ask permission second. Jimin was curled up against the wall on his bed, surrounded by waves of blankets that didn't cover any inch of him, leaving him exposed to the cold temperature Jin insisted on keeping the dorm's thermostat at. He didn't look up at Jungkook when he entered, didn't say anything or acknowledge his presence at all, but Jungkook could tell he was awake. And if he was awake, he was listening. "Hyung?" No answer. "I brought you food. It's cold, but you should eat something." Again no answer, but Jungkook wasn't really looking for one anyway. He gingerly placed the plate on the nightstand by Jimin's bed, next to the journal Jungkook had given him for his birthday the year before, written in twice before it was forgotten. He was surprised Jimin still insisted on keeping it close even though he never used it. The bed dipped as Jungkook sunk down on it, close enough that his thigh brushed Jimin's lower back. Jimin still didn't move. "Hyung, don't you want to talk about it?" "Go away." "No one is mad at you, you know." "Go away." "You're allowed to have off days--" "Jungkook!" Jimin whipped his head around and his small, balled fist landed directly on Jungkook's chest, giving him a firm shove. "I said leave!" Jimin might as well have been blowing smoke on Jungkook for as much effectiveness as his shoved were. When Jungkook didn't even budge, it angered Jimin further, and soon both his hands were pushing with all their muster against Jungkook's solid chest. As his desperation grew in to franticness in trying to get the other to move, Jungkook just stared down at him, silent. He didn't put up a fight, but he also didn't back down. Eventually, as was always the case, Jimin tired himself in to a stupor soon enough, and he collapsed face first in to his pillow with an annoyed huff. His fingers were still fisted in Jungkook's shirt and he didn't make any attempt to remove them. Jungkook knew he needed to let Jimin say his piece first, it was the only way he could coax Jimin out of his heavily-guarded shell. He didn't make a move to touch him, he simply stayed silent and still, watching Jimin back rise with his exhausted breaths. Finally, he spoke. His voice muffled from the pillow smothering him. "I'm humiliated." "For being sick?" He hugged his pillow around his head tighter. "During practice! I fainted in the middle of practice and even though I was fine, I was still sent home! Don't you know how embarrassing it is to be sent home like a child?" He seemed to sink further in to the mattress. "I let you guys down." "You didn't let anyone down." Jimin replied with something biting, but it was far too muffled by the pillow to make out, and Jungkook didn't want to ask for a repeat. "You didn't let me down, hyung," he whispered after a long moment. He expected Jimin to continue to prolong the silence between them, ignore him completely, start throwing fists at him in vain again -- but Jimin just turned a small potion of his face away from the pillow he was still buried in, looking at him with one eye clouded with some sort of expression Jungkook couldn't place. It almost seemed as if Jimin was looking for some sort of confirmation that he was lying. "That's easy for you to say," he finally replied. Jungkook's stare turned quizzical. "What is that supposed to mean?" "Every fucking thing you touch turns to gold." Jungkook could feel the blood rising with heat in his veins. "I have no idea what you're talking about, and neither do you." Jimin shot up angrily from where he laid on the pillow, his livid face inches away from Jungkook's, challenging. "Have you ever even let down anyone in your stupid life?" "Yeah, I have." "Oh really? Who?" "You." Jimin only pulled back a fraction of an inch, his eyes only widened for a hair of a second, but it was enough for Jungkook to see the surprise on his face at Jungkook's no-hesitation response before he hardened again and sneered, "And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" Jungkook threw his hand up in exasperation. "What do you think?" Jimin made to move off the bed around him. If Jungkook wouldn't leave, he'd do it himself. "I don't have to listen to this nonsense." He didn't make it but a few inches before one of Jungkook's long and muscled arms wound itself around Jimin and practically threw him back to where he had been sitting on the bed a few seconds prior. He bounced as he hits the mattress, shock evident on his face at the blatant manhandling. "Well you're going to listen anyway."

(to be continued)

#kookmin #jikook #HC

[takaraphoenix]

I recently noticed that I have less patience for assholes than I do for villains. That’s actually nothing new and I have a track-record of it, but I only noticed a couple days ago.

I mean, villains who are assholes taken out of the equation because obviously I do have negative amounts of patience for those.

But generally, a well-written villain where we get, from the get-go, where they come from. Why they do the things they do. You know, a fleshed-out character, if possible with actually reasonable motivations. Those are amazing and this very hellsite is like... the pit to prove that, I think.

Those are cool. Those make me want to see a redemption arc - whether in canon or in fanon. I love those.

And then there’s assholes. And assholes don’t necessarily have to be villains. More often than not, they are part of the main cast and supposedly part of the good guys. But they’re just... deeply seated assholes who do asshole things. Bullies and creeps and, well in lack of a better word, assholes.

And I just genuinely do not care for those kind of characters.

Like, even the best of characters can have an asshole day where they do something dickish and okay. That’s something different.

But if a character continuously and repeatedly only displays an asshole attitude and asshole behavior, for multiple seasons even, then I just... nope out of giving a fuck.

And legit the worst writing decision a show can make, in my opinion, is trying to shoehorn in that “Oh no! This asshole has Reasons!!”. And I do mean really retconned in, all of a sudden they come with a teary-eyed background story that’s supposed to make you care.

And at its base, I do think you could argue that “But Phoe, isn’t that the same thing? A character doing Bad Stuff because of Bad Past and having a reason for being that way!”. But actually no.

For one, the kind of villains that I do like are the ones were you essentially from the get-go know where they come from. Like, say, Erik Lehnsherr. Before you meet villain!Erik, you meet child!Erik seeing the literal worst of humanity and you just... you get it. You are repeatly shown why he does what he does. You knew from the beginning why he is the way he is. If all I’d met was... say... X-Men: Evolution Erik Lehnsherr, I would not care for him because aside from never doing the background story, this show also never dove too deep into the “Humans are scum and yeah the mutants are right” thing - they did cover it, but not to the same all-consuming extend as the movies.

And with the asshole characters that is the norm.

Either you don’t get the reasoning for why they are the way they are at all, or you only get it after up to multiple seasons. At a point where it becomes plot-convenient that asshole character now gets some compassion from the viewers and might even turn to become a Good Guy (like, actually a good guy now, as in changing their behavior).

But... that’s just too little too late.

If I spent weeks, months, even up to years watching this character mistreat others and be a petty bitch, then you can try to force your tear-jerker all you want, the deeds of their own doing outweight whatever others might have done to them.

If you give me the background and reasoning early on - it does not have to be straight-up from the beginning, but, you know, not wait years - then that might be a different issue.

And another reason for why it doesn’t work for me with the asshole characters is that they believe they’re good. Villains? They own it. They know what they have turned into. But most asshole characters actually believe they are good and that is just... very disturbing for me.

Heck, some of my favorite characters are asshole characters worthy of redemption, because the franchise showed from the get-go where their assholery came from and then, gradually and slowly unveiled layers of issues and had the characters opening up more. That’s deserving. When you make it clear from the start that the asshole behavior is a front to cover up insecurities and issues. When you establish that right away.

But when all we get is a character who for long instances behaves like an asshole, pushes others around, does not show an ounce of care or friendliness, then you can’t just suddenly decide “Oh no, the asshole act was just a cover-up! They were Nice And Kind All Along!”. That just... does not work for me. If anything, it makes me even more angry.

And nearly worse than those who were openly and deliberately written as asshole characters are the ones where I am unsure if it might have happened accidentally. Those are generally female characters. Where in a very warped perception abusive, pushy and bullying behavior are seen as Progressive And Strong and you just know, for a fact, that if the roles were reversed and this character would be male and would display this behavior toward a female character, so many people would be outraged and disgusted. I don’t know, I think this trope was born in the late 90s when they were trying to break the Barbie stereotype but weren’t quite sure how to write strong women and many of today’s writers still channel that energy and many of today’s readers/viewers were raised with it and just do not recognize the signs because they were trained that “If a woman does this thing, then it’s cute and funny and hilarious!”, or at the bare minimum “understandable”. Those types of characters just make me plain uncomfortable and angry.

And... that’s it. There is literally no point I wanted to get at with this. I’m just really fucking tired of shoehorned in redemption arcs for asshole characters - either it was planned from the get-go to be “just a front” and you could have actually worked with that, or you just... don’t. I mean, seriously, not every human being is nice. Assholes are a thing that exists and it is perfectly okay to have some hateable disgusting pieces of shit on your show or in your book, because quite frankly it is intensely unrealistic to only have nice, kind cinnamon rolls in your cast. You are allowed to just keep the asshole an asshole and not try to force your audience to like them. Because not every character has to be liked.

#Writing #this post is brought to you by #not the franchises you might think #well I mean THEM TOO but also #me recently watching too many shows with this plot #seriously #I'm just tired of it #you don't need to force every character to be Nice And Kind #and you ESPECIALLY #do not need to come with dumbass bullshit reasons #waaay after you already established them to be assholes

[wordsandshawn]

Jealousy and Reassurance

Requested: I was wondering if you could do an imagine where you get jealous of Shawn and Camila but he assures you that your the one he wants. Thanks ❤️

Masterlist

~~~

Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello getting cozy. The headline pops up in big letters on your phone, but you don’t bother reading it. You keep scrolling, trying to ignore it, but of course there is another, Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello spend hours alone in the studio together when you come across a third article about your boyfriend and the ex member of Fifth Harmony, you throw your phone on your bed, and actually decide to study to try and distract yourself from it. You know it is really bothering you because it is so rare for you to actually willingly choose to study when it isn’t the night before something is due.

Your phone buzzes on the bed with a text, but you don’t look. A few seconds later, the notification shows up on your macbook. Hey baby, it is a text from your boyfriend, one you ignore. You don’t have a reason to be upset with Shawn. You know that people are often just looking for juicy stories, and that often leads to them digging so deep they make stories that don’t exist and that never existed. People can write anything, and publish almost anything, even when there isn’t an ounce of truth to it. Shawn hasn’t given you any reason to doubt his faithfulness. And you don’t want to, but honestly, you can’t help but feel a little jealous. It isn’t a lie that Shawn has been in the studio with Camila. You know that they might be writing love songs, but that it’s for work and not because they love each other in a romantic way. Even though you trust Shawn completely, you can’t help but feel jealous of Camila. She’s been spending more time with your boyfriend than you have. You know it’s all for work and you feel like you’re being a petty girlfriend, which you hate, but you can’t help the way you feel.

What are you up to love? You see the message, but the jealousy in your heart won’t let you respond. You want him to think about you, and if you don’t respond at least he can wonder about you. Turning your attention to your economics homework, you almost forget about feeling jealous. But a third message interrupts your studying, I miss you. Again, you ignore it, this time putting your macbook on do not disturb so that the notifications will stop popping up on your screen.

Two yours later, you get back from having dinner with your best friend. You’ve been ignoring Shawn’s messages all afternoon and even though your friend brought up the many headlines, you refused to discuss it with her.

Finally, after taking a shower, you decide that it’s time to stop ignoring him.

You read through his slew of messages and formulate a response. How has the studio been?

A reply comes only a second later, like he was waiting for you, which he probably was. It’s good. Lots of hard work and sometimes frustration, you know how it goes. Where have you been all day? He questions, since you don’t normally ignore his messages for hours on end.

It’s been good with Camila? You respond, knowing you’re being petty, but you can’t help it.

Almost immediately, your phone is ringing, and it’s Shawn, of course. You answer, “Hello?”

“Is that what this is about?” He asks, he doesn’t sound angry. He sounds a little bit concerned for you, but he also has humor in his voice, like he thinks this is funny.

“What are you talking about?” You ask, playing dumb.

“You’re upset that I’ve been in the studio with Camila,” He knows you so well it isn’t even a question. You stay silent, because he’s right, but you don’t want to admit that. “Okay baby. Listen to me. You’re the only girl I’ve ever known who can literally make my heart skip beats. I swear I used to think there was something wrong with me when I first met you because I’d never experienced that before.” You don’t really understand what the point of that sentence was, but he just continues speaking. “And when I’m not with you, all I think about is being with you. So yeah, I spent some time in the studio with Camila, but you know who I was thinking about the whole time?” He doesn’t even pause long enough to allow you a chance to reply, “You. And we tried writing love songs, but baby every lyric I came up with was about you.”

“Alright Shawn that was way too cheesy,” You say, but still, you smile at how he was genuinely not afraid to sound sentimental and to be honest even if it makes him sound the opposite of manly. As long as it makes you feel better, that’s all he cares about.

“But I’m not done.” He responds.

“No I think you’re done. I get the point.” You try to tell him, but of course he won’t listen.

“I love the way your eyes light up when I buy you coffee, and your smile—god, that smile. I swear, I’d do anything to make you smile.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too. Are you feeling better now?” He asks.

“Yeah,” You respond. Because it is true that Camila has been getting to see Shawn and spend more time with Shawn than you have been recently, but what Shawn said really made you feel better. There’s so much more to someone and more to a relationship than just being able to spend time physically with them.

“Good, because I thought I was going to have to start singing?”

“Oh yeah?” You ask.

“Yeah—Cause when I see your face, there’s not a thing that I would change, cause you’re beautiful, just the way you are.”

“Thanks Shawn,” You say somewhat sarcastically.

“Beautiful girls, all over the world, I could be chasing, but my time would be wasted, they got nothin’ on you baby, nothin’ on you babyyyyy!”

“Throwbacks.” Is all you respond when he pauses.

“Thanks for putting up with me.” He responds laughing.

“Thanks for loving me.”

“Loving you is easy.” He responds immediately, then after a beat he says, “Missing you is hard.”

#Just short and cute #feedback is always appreciated #or random messages #don't be afraid to say hi #love you all #requested #imagine #shawn mendes #shawn mendes imagine #shawn mendes blurb #comfort shawn