#it's a sharp viewer who picks up on that on first watch i imagine | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

latte-fairytaekwoon · 3 years

Text

𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝑮𝒐 𝑶𝒏 (𝑺𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒊) 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅

𝑷𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈: 𝑺𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒊 (𝑨𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒛)/ 𝑪𝒂𝒎𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍! 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓 (𝑭𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒆)

𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒆: 𝑭𝒍𝒖𝒇𝒇, 𝑺𝒎𝒖𝒕, 𝑳𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝑨𝒏𝒈𝒔𝒕

𝑺𝒚𝒏𝒐𝒑𝒔𝒊𝒔: 𝑳𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒅𝒐𝒍 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒇𝒖𝒍, 𝒔𝒐 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒊 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒖𝒍𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒕𝒚 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒘𝒌𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒃𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕.

𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕: 6.8K

𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔: 𝑷*𝒓𝒏 𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒑*𝒓𝒏 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒇𝒆𝒎𝒅𝒐𝒎 × 𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒃!, 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒋𝒐𝒃, 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒖𝒏𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒙 (𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏)

🍒｡･ﾟ♡ﾟ･｡🍓｡･ﾟ♡ﾟ･｡｡･ﾟ♡ﾟ･｡🍓｡･ﾟ♡ﾟ･｡🍒

Soft pants once again slipped out of his lips, the bottom of them glossy after he had run his tongue over them. He tried so hard to keep quiet, even though he was the only one in the room. One of his hands was buried inside the blankets covering his exposed bottom half, stroking his length at a slow pace, his thumb occasionally playing with the slit on the bulbous head.

Through hooded eyes, he watched as the figure on the screen pushed her panties to the side and ran the tip of the pink glittery dildo across her soaking lips, effectively smearing some of her arousal onto the plastic toy. Her eyes were once again covered by a Venetian masquerade mask, a signature trademark she always possessed during her livestreams. But Mingi could see, and feel, the lust and yearning in them, he swore it was as if she was looking directly at him...

Probably the same thought and illusion the hundreds of thousands of other viewers had as well.

"Do you want me to put it inside me? Want me to fuck myself on this huge cock?"

Immediately a bunch of comments started pouring in, begging her to do it with a splatter of cuss words in between their request. The female let out a teasing chuckle as she read them.

"Desperate now aren't we? But you've all been so generous and I've teased you all too long.."

Lifting her hips up slightly, she lined the dildo up her entrance and slowly sank down on it, a sharp gasp coming from her mouth as the toy stretched her out in the most delicious and painful way. This was by far the biggest toy she had put inside herself and it turned Mingi on so much to see this tiny and cute girl fit a dildo that was almost as big as his own cock into her frail body. He watched in fascination as her legs trembled slightly as she tried to adjust to the size once it was all the way in. His hand squeezed hard at his throbbing length, waiting for her to move so his hand could match her rhythm.

Regaining her composure, she looked back at the camera and smirked before she started rolling her hips. As soon as he saw her movements, his hand began pumping himself once again, holding back the urge to speed up or cum before she did. He always did enjoy cumming at the same time she did. His eyes were latched onto the screen, gaze fixed on her and the way she slid in and out of the toy. He imagined it was his own cock, lord knows how many times he wished it was him she was touching, he wanted to taste her essence as it dripped out of her, wanted her to ride him as she called him 'baby boy' and just be good and pliant for her. He especially wanted to know what her face looked like, she was shrouded with pure mystery that only added to her sexiness and heightened his desire to be with her. For just one night.

But he had to be content with watching her livestreams. It was enough to get him through his stressful days. Especially now when they were preparing hard for a comeback. Mingi was grateful when she decided to pick up the pace and start bouncing on the dildo, his hand now furiously jerking himself off, getting dangerously close to cumming. The moans her pretty lips were pouring out wasn't helping either.

"Oh fuck! I'm gonna cum. You gonna cum with me?" She teased, her hand reaching down and rubbing at her clit.

Mingi resisted the urge to answer back, instead opting for muffling the groan that was about to burst out of him.

"Cum with me my pretty baby. Cum for me like the good boy you are." She cooed softly.

That was all it took for Mingi to spill all over his blanket, effectively soiling it. He gasped a little too loudly than what he intended to, but he couldn't help it. Not after edging himself for so long and biting down on his lip so much he'd swear he probably drew blood. He layed his arm to rest on the pillow next to him, feeling sore after that intense session. Looking back at the screen, he watched as the girl pulled the long toy out of her, trails of her slick juices pouring out and Mingi oh so wished to know what they tasted like.

Giving a tired smile to the camera, she waved at her audience. Mingi pouted slightly.

"I want to give you the best aftercare if only I knew who you were." Without realizing it, his fingers grazed the screen slightly.

"Thank you for joining me on my livestream. I hope you all have a good night."

She looked at the right hand side of the screen, looking at some of the comments before snorting.

"Oh. You guys wanna see it? Ok."

Turning around, she let them admire the tramp stamp adorning her lower back: a cherry slightly shaped like a heart with a green arrow stem piercing through the middle. All her viewers went crazy for it and Mingi was no exception.

Turning her head back to the camera, she winked.

"See you next time."

The screen went completely black, bright red letters on it as it read:

Cherry Venus' Livestream Has Ended

🍒｡･ﾟ♡ﾟ･｡🍓｡･ﾟ♡ﾟ･｡｡･ﾟ♡ﾟ･｡🍓｡･ﾟ♡ﾟ･｡🍒

Mingi!"

Hongjoong's voice called out for him. Mingi rolled his eyes, already dreading whatever the tiny leader was going to ask him to do. Shuffling his way down the hall, he yelled.

"What?!"

Hongjoong quickly appeared, an unamused look on his face.

"Don't give me attitude! I need you to do me a favor."

Without wasting a second, Mingi began walking to the kitchen, hand already opening the cabinet.

"Ok, what do you need me to get down for you?"

Hongjoong let out a mutter of incoherent noises.

"That's not what I needed you for!" He crossed his arms and frowned.

Mingi immediately retracted his hand.

"Oh....what'd you need?"

Hongjoong inhaled as he glared at the top of Mingi's head.

"I need you to go over with Y/N. Seonghwa wants a bake a cake but someone destroyed our pan, so go ask her if she has one we can borrow."

"What the heck? It was new. How did our baking pan get destroyed?"

Right at that moment as Mingi was asking that question, Yeosang walked in then rapidly spun on his heel and walked right back out, making the two other guys look at him curiously.

"While you go do that, imma go investigate what that bunny is hiding."

Without giving him an option, Hongjoong passed by Mingi and made his way to Yeosang's and Wooyoung's room, ready to start nagging and scolding for any involvement in the pan incident.

Having no other choice, Mingi put his shoes on and went over to their neighbor's door to ask for her help. He ran the doorbell and waited for her to come out.

"Oh. Hi Mingi." He observed the smaller girl as she slowly opened the door.

"Hey Y/N! How are you doing?" Mingi always made it a point to be extra friendly and enthusiastic around her, who was really shy and soft spoken.

He remembers the first time he and the rest of the members met her when she moved in next door. Yunho took the heavy box she was carrying out of her hands and she just stared at him with wide eyes, completely in shock at how tall he was. When they asked if she wanted help, she just nodded and uttered the quietest thanks in the history of soft words. San and Wooyoung were absolutely enamoured with how cute she was and tried hugging her or pinch her cheeks, but Seonghwa and Yeosang prevented them from doing so, thinking it would scare her to have complete strangers touching her, even if they meant no harm. Mingi just watched from the side as he helped bring some of her stuff inside. After a while, she started talking to them more, occasionally joking around and always checking up on them or bringing them food. She was still a bit shy, but not as much as before.

"I'm fine. Did you need something?" She asked.

"Yeah! We were wondering if we could borrow a baking pan from you."

She opened the door wider and gestured for him to follow her. As usual, her place was neat and spotless, not a single speck of dirt or a cushion out of place. She was always meticulous like that, something Seonghwa and her had in common. Mingi could only snort at that. But he'd never make fun of her for it. Seonghwa yes, but not her. She was too nice and never made fun of him or scolded him. In fact, she was always taking care to him when the others couldn't.

He followed her to the kitchen, hand already reaching for one of the cabinets.

"Will you need my assistance in getting anything down for you?" He offered.

Y/N rolled her eyes.

"I actually keep them down here, but thank you Mingi."

"Oh.... maybe I should stop insinuating that people need me to get things for them." He admitted awkwardly, remembering the incident with Hongjoong just minutes ago.

"You know Mingi. Just because you're taller than the rest of us, doesn't mean we can't get things down by ourselves. Ladders were invented for a reason." Her statement made him poke his bottom lip out.

"Maybe I like feeling useful."

She couldn't help but smile at his little confession as she crouched down, opening one of the lower cabinets, which was surprisingly unorganized. She glanced back at him with an embarrassed look.

"I haven't gotten to organize all of the kitchen supplies." She explained.

"Y/N you've seen how we live, trust me. You have nothing to be embarrassed about." He assured her.

Y/N went back to her task of rummaging around, trying to figure out where she stashed the damned baking pan. As she moved around, her shirt slightly rose up, exposing part of her lower back, which Mingi would have just shrugged off and not paid attention to......

If a certain splash of red tint wasn't sprawled all over it.

Mingi stared in shock as he recognized the familiar cherry heart tattoo that he had fantasized about so many times. He rubbed his eyes, hoping it was just his imagination, but when he looked back down, it was still there. So many thoughts were going through his head that he didn't notice Y/N had found the pan and was now holding it out to him.

"Mingi? Are you all right?" Her question snapped him out of his thoughts.

He stared at her in bewilderment, eyes boring right through her and Y/N shifted uncomfortably at his gaze.

"Um....here's the pan."

Mingi mentally slapped himself and managed to compose himself.

"Thank Y/N! You're so nice as always. I'll be sure to tell Seonghwa to bring you cake as a sign of appreciation."

He spoke just as fast as the footsteps he took to get out of her apartment.

"That-that won't be necessary-"

"Please! I insist. You're just as sweet as a cherry- I mean! A cotton candy! I mean....."

He decided to stop himself before he messed up even more.

"Thank you Y/N and have a good day!"

He sped back over to the dorm, shutting the door behind him, leaving Y/N confused as to his strange behavior and yet not at all surprised.

"He always was the most bizarre one of them..." But then the image of Hongjoong pouring his milk first before cereal immediately shut down that statement.

Mingi closed the door to the dorm behind him, his back settling on the wall as his eyes looked at the ground for a few seconds, completely oblivious to the argument coming from Hongjoong's room. Going inside the kitchen, he placed the pan in front of Seonghwa, who was already on the task of getting out the ingredients for the pastry.

"You look like you saw a ghost." He pointed out.

Seonghwa looked back at Mingi when the latter didn't respond. He just kept his eyes locked on the pan in front of him. Seonghwa waved a hand in front of him.

"Earth to Mingi!" He exclaimed.

Mingi covered his ears.

"There was no need to shout you know."

Seonghwa let out an incredulous "whoah". He decided it was best not to pay attention to whatever was going on in Mingi's mind, just in case it was something that would end up making him angry or just straight out make him lose brain cells. He opened the freezer door and took out the frozen fruits that kept there.

"What I should I decorate the cake with? San wants kiwis and pineapple, but I kinda wanted strawberries and cherries. What do you say?"

He held out the options out for Mingi to decide, however Mingi just shot up at the mention of cherries.

"I know nothing about cherries ok?!" He stormed out of the kitchen, speeding for his room to hide under the shelter of his blankets.

Seonghwa blinked at his sudden outburst before sighing.

"Literally just tell me you don't want them. No need to be such a drama queen."

Hongjoong opened the door to his room, with Yeosang and Wooyoung trailing behind him, their heads hung low as Hongjoong directed them to go to their room and follow through with their punishment.

"Well the mystery of the destroyed pan is solved." Hongjoong announced happily.

Seonghwa however ignored him, making him pout.

"You're not interested in what I have to say again." Hongjoong whined as he shimmied over to where Seonghwa stood. Tilting his head, he asked.

"Are you still mad about taking them into my room?"

Seonghwa glared at Hongjoong, his eyes speaking for him.

"Well I had to. Besides, it'll be good for you to know that the reason why the pan was destroyed is because your angel son, Yeosang, tried to kill Wooyoung with it when they stayed home by themselves."

Seonghwa involuntarily let out a laugh.

"Probably had it coming."

Hongjoong opened his mouth to say something, but ultimately decided against it. He stared at the contents in front of him.

"So did you finally decide what you want on it?"

"No. And Mingi is no help either. He got all freaked out when I pulled out the cherries. It was weird. He's not allergic right?"

Hongjoong picked up the cherries and held them in his hand for a bit before looking back at Seonghwa, a mischievous grin on his face.

"Let's find out."

"Kim Hongjoong! Are you seriously trying to poison the kids?! No wonder Yeosang thinks murder is ok!"

🍒｡･ﾟ♡ﾟ･｡🍓｡･ﾟ♡ﾟ･｡｡･ﾟ♡ﾟ･｡🍓｡･ﾟ♡ﾟ･｡🍒

Mingi could not get the image out of his head. What on earth was going on? What did this all mean? Could Y/N possibly be...?

He shook his head at that, not wanting to picture anything else. Besides, it couldn't possibly be her. Y/N was so soft, shy, sweet and the most innocent person on the planet. There was no way she was the camgirl he often fapped to late at night.

Then again........

Mingi noticed how they did seem to have similar heights, the same hair color and length, they looked to be around the same body proportions as well, but he wasn't too sure about that since Y/N wore either baggy or oversized clothes. He was so lost trying to figure out what was going on that minutes stretched to hours and soon there was a knock on his door.

"Mingi-ah! Seonghwa Hyung says you have to take cake over to Y/N!" San's voice called out.

Speak of the devil.

"Why don't you guys take it?" He protested, not wanting to see her so soon.

"Wooyoung and Yeosang aren't allowed out of their room for another 23 minutes. Yunho is already gorging himself on cake, Seonghwa is busy baking another one, Hongjoong is at the studio and Jongho is..... well.....I actually don't know what he's doing. He just promised he won't get arrested and then left to who knows where. So you have to go."

Mingi groaned as he rolled off the bed, hitting the ground with a slight thud.

"Be careful Mingi. Just cause you're a giant doesn't mean you can't fall off the bed." San reminded him rather innocently.

Opening the door, Mingi snatched the tupperware containing the cake from him.

"And why can't you go?" Mingi raised an eyebrow.

"I have been tasked with keeping count of the time they have to spend in their room." San answered, pointing to WooSang's room.

Knowing there was no way out of it, Mingi just dragged his feet over to Y/N's place once again, dreading having to face her for the second time. He ran the doorbell, but there was no movement or sound from the other side. He rang it again, but still no answer.

"Did she leave?"

Mingi casually typed in her passcode and went inside. He figured he'd leave it on the counter with a note on it for her. He looked around trying to find a pen or notepad, but found nothing.

"Where is her office?"

He tried to recall which door it was. He scanned the different doors by the hallway before ultimately deciding on the second to last door. He peered his head in but could not see anything do to the fact the lights were turned off. He carefully made his way inside and patted around the wall trying to find the light switch.

"A ha! Found you!" He squealed gleefully and flipped the lights on.

Turning around, he dropped the cake he was holding when he saw the room, his mouth hanging wide as his eyes scanned every corner and wall in there.

"And now I found you..."

Mingi thought he was about to pass out. He walked deeper and deeper in the room, staring at awe at the contents in there. Fairy lights were strung in the air, a soft ivory low bed was pushed against the walls, long sparkly chiffon curtains were pushed back to leave it exposed, and next to it was a pink treasure chest that he didn't need to open to know what was inside....

He recognized that room like the back of his hand.

"Holy hell...." He whispered as he realized he was in the very room where his favorite live streams happened.

"Mingi? What are you doing here?"

He was startled by a voice behind him. He swirled around and found Y/N standing by the door, her head tilted to the side, eyeing him curiously.

Mingi gulped as he thought about what he could answer. Should he just lie? Say he doesn't know anything? Apparently not since all he could get out was:

"You're Cherry Venus aren't you?!"

He quickly slapped a hand over his mouth, but it was too late. He had already exposed himself. He was expecting Y/N to deny it, ask what he was talking about or give some reasonable explanation, like it's actually a friend of hers, or a long lost evil twin sister. And although she did widen her eyes slightly, it wasn't out of fear. It was out of amusement and it soon manifested itself in the form of a smirk.

"Oh....... you know who I am? Interesting."

Mingi began walking backwards when she started taking steps towards him. He felt intimidated by her complete change of aura. How did the sweet and pure girl suddenly turn into the same person that more than once has made his breath get caught in his throat? He gasped softly when his feet touched the bed and he nearly fell on it where it not for Y/N who took hold of his shirt and pulled him against her. Mingi blushed intensely at how hard she was staring at him, her touch felt electrifying. His eyes trained down to her lips as she run her tongue across her bottom lip. On impulse, he bit down on his lower lip as he recalled where that tongue had been just a few days prior.

"You know Mingi.....for a while I've been wanting to have a guest appear on my livestream..."

He shuddered slightly when her hand gently caressed his chest.

"If you're interested.......meet me here.....you know exactly when." She winked at him.

"W-wait.....are you suggesting that I...?" Mingi pointed at himself rather incredulous.

Y/N hummed softly, her hands unzipping part of his sweater.

"As I said, if you're interested. I always wanted to....fuck a fan of mine."

Mingi closed his eyes when she placed a hand on his chest, inching closer and closer and his neck, finger tapping on his Adam's apple.

"So let me know.....

Baby boy."

🍒｡･ﾟ♡ﾟ･｡🍓｡･ﾟ♡ﾟ･｡｡･ﾟ♡ﾟ･｡🍓｡･ﾟ♡ﾟ･｡🍒

Mingi could hardly believe that this was happening...he could not believe he actually agreed to this. Sensing his apprehension, Y/N stroke his head, making him relax a little at her touch.

"Mingi.....if you want to back out, it's ok. I understand."

She looked into his eyes again, softening for him as she waited for his reply. Although he was nervous, Mingi also knew he wanted to do this. It was a life long fantasy of his and now that he got the opportunity, he wasn't going to back down. Besides, the black mask covering his face gave him a sense of relief knowing that no one would be able to recognize him. He held onto Y/N's arm, giving it a light squeeze.

"Go ahead."

Y/N gave him a warm smile before kissing him softly. Just as Mingi had imagined, they were soft and plump. He could faintly taste her strawberry lip balm and was tempted to take her bottom lip in between his teeth, but just as soon as she kissed him, she pulled away, leaving him kind of disappointed. Y/N reminded him the safe word in case anything went wrong or if he wanted to stop at any moment. Mingi nodded and signaled that he was ok to start the session. Y/N went over to the computer in front of them and clicked the record button.

"Hello my little lovelies. Tonight I have a little surprise for you all. I'd tell you about it...but I think it's best to show you."

She stepped away from the camera and back over to the bed, where Mingi was already sitting on the bed, wearing nothing but the black mask Y/N had given him as well as his dark blue boxer briefs. He gazed at the camera, trying not to think of all the viewers that were watching him right now and he especially did not want to glance at the comments that were flooding in by the second. Y/N petted his hair gently and he directed his attention to her.

"Isn't he cute guys?"

Mingi blushed at her comment, but most of his visage was hidden under his mask, so he doubted Y/N could see it. But she did, however she didn't want to tease him too much.

"I'm going to start off slow with him guys. I don't want to scare him off.......yet."

Mingi was about to ask what she meant by that, but he had no chance to as Y/N straddled his lap, lips crashing onto his in a heated kiss. When Mingi felt her tongue run against his upper lip, he did not hesitate to grant her entrance. For someone claiming to take it slow, Y/N sure seemed to do the opposite. However Mingi just let her do her thing, allowing her to take control and let her tongue dance inside his mouth and then across his jaw.

As if his hands had a mind of their own, they went to her hips, his large hands pinching gently at her skin. Either Y/N was too busy sucking hickeys onto his neck or she wanted him to do as he pleased, but she didn't stop him even when he began squeezing her ass cheeks, occasionally snapping the straps of her garter belt against her body.

"You feeling more relaxed baby boy? Are you enjoying yourself?" She pulled back not only to ask him that but to also grind against his bulge that was now very noticeable.

"I- fuck yes! Yes." Mingi stuttered out when she pressed more of her weight down on his tent, allowing him to feel how wet she was becoming.

"Oh yeah? Can I have my little fun now?"

The way she gripped his hair to tilt his head back had him releasing a mix between a moan and a whimper. Mingi attempted to nod, but that just made Y/N's grip on his hair tighten.

"Use. Your. Words." She declared.

"P-please. Use me however you want." He cried out as he raised his hips up against hers so she'd do something about the problem he had.

Y/N seemed satisfied with his answer and she wasted no time in pining Mingi down on the bed, his hands above his head. All Mingi could think was when the hell did she get so strong? Her hands began caressing his torso, stopping right at the top of his underwear. She began palming his hard on, getting him even more worked up than what he already was. Turning her head, she peered at some of the comments.

"You guys want this to come off? Want to see how big he really is?"

Mingi took one quick look at the screen, briefly scanning all the comments that desperately wanted to see what he was hiding. Y/N tapped the side of his thigh, signaling him to lift up his hips which he obeyed immediately. As soon as it was freed, his cock hit his stomach, tip red and already leaking a bit. Y/N couldn't hide the surprised look on her face. Sure she always imagined him to be big, but not....that big. It made her even more aroused though, having always been somewhat of a size queen.

She looked back at the audience, giving a little chuckle.

"Are you all as surprised as I am?"

Lots of comments affirmed that they were, praising Mingi's size as well as stating all the filthy things they wanted to do with his cock.

"You want to deep throat it? Trust me, so do I." Y/N signaled out one of them.

Mingi's eyes shot up as soon as she said that. True to her word, she bent her head down. She spit on his cock and proceeded to stroke his length, for once it wasn't his hand that was doing the job. She maintained eye contact with him as she wrapped her lips around the head, her tongue playing with his slit, making Mingi gasped softly. He couldn't peel his eyes off such a dirty scene and his mouth went agape when she sunk her mouth down, taking all of him in her mouth. She gagged slightly when she reached the base, tiny drool escaping from the sides, but she didn't care. She began a steady pace of bobbing her head and sucking as much of him as she could. As her mouth was busy in the task of sucking him off, her hands entertained themselves by fondling his balls, making the experience even more pleasurable for Mingi. He hissed and gasped whenever she slid all the way down on him again or when she sucked particularly hard, catching him off guard and making him feel more dizzy. Y/N felt his cock twitch in her mouth, clear sign he was about to cum any minute, and the way his chest rose up and down, his moans becoming more and more loud just furthered her suspicions. She wanted to let him cum and swallow it all, but instead opted for pulling him out of her mouth, releasing his tip with a loud popping noise.

Mingi whined loudly and sat up, feeling dejected at having his climax taken away from him.

"I told you all he was cute. Even his little frustrated grunts are adorable."

Mingi frowned at her words. He wanted to retaliate but Y/N gave him no opportunity as she climbed onto his lap again.

"I wanna let you cum my little prince.... but first can you do something for me?"

Mingi had no idea what she was planning, but agreed nonetheless. Y/N beamed at his willingness and pushed him to lay fat on the bed again. Her hands hooked on her panties which she teasingly slid down a bit.

"What do you guys think? Should I make a mess on his pretty face and make him eat my pussy out?" She questioned.

Mingi's heart pounded harder when he heard her words. Was she really about to make his fantasy come true? His question was answered when she slipped her now soiled underwear off and crawled further up, bare pussy sticking to his chest.

"Can you do that for me baby boy? Can you eat me out like a good little pup?"

Mingi wetted his lips as his hands raised her up and placed her right on top of his face, her dripping cunt right in front of him, looking absolutely succulent.

"Somebody is definitely eager." Y/N mused as lowered herself down on him.

"Go ahead. Show me what that tongue of yours can do."

Mingi didn't hesitate as he layed his tongue flat against her folds, licking a strip up her slit and placing a small kiss to her tiny nub. He then attached his lips to her heat, his mouth working on sucking and lapping at her clit as fast as he could. He wanted to have her release all over his face. Y/N's hands steadied themselves on the bed, her thighs trembling as Mingi exceeded her expectations and ate her out with such voracity. She could feel her orgasm building up and it felt so amazing to have someone perform oral on her after so long. She couldn't help herself as she tugged at his hair rather harshly as she grinded her hips against his face. Mingi did not object at all, feeling somewhat proud that he could make her produce such sinful noises from her mouth. He just kept at his task of lapping and burying his mouth inside her, his moans sending vibrations on her core, making it feel even better.

"Ah! Fuck!"

Y/N's hands gripped tightly at his soft locks, she began to fuck his face as she chased her climax desperately. Mingi paid no attention to the pain in his scalp, he was so lost in the feeling, in finally being able to taste her essence and knowing it was he who was making her feel this good. Y/N's thighs closed around his face, her pussy smothering the lower part of his face, slightly lifting the mask he was wearing, she cried out incoherent words as her orgasm was ripped from her body. She was still trembling even after it passed, her breathing starting to become normal again. She sighed blissfully as she lifted herself off Mingi. He was a complete mess. He had cum all over his chin, nose and he was breathing heavily. His bangs were sticking to his forehead and he looked completely dazed. Y/N feared she might have gone too far, but the light giggle that escaped his lips let her know he enjoyed that.

"You taste even better than I what I imagined."

His comment made her feel flustered and she momentarily forgot where they were as she pulled him in for a soft and gentle kiss. She could taste herself on his lips, but she didn't care. Mingi was just so sweet and endearing she couldn't stop her heart from fluttering. She felt his dick poke at her ass, reminding her that she owed him an orgasm.

"You've been such a good boy. So patient and pliant. Let me return the favor."

She coated his dick with her slick, running his tip against her folds. Mingi sat up on his forearms, wanting to see when she sunk down on his length. Y/N lined him up at her entrance and slowly inserted him inch by inch. He was bigger and thicker than any toy she had put inside herself, so it took a bit of time to get fully adjusted to his immense size. Mingi groaned at how tight and warm her walls felt. He was in ecstasy and it took every strength he had left not to thrust his hips up and fuck himself inside her.

Y/N ran her hands down her body, stopping when she felt his bulge protruding from her abdomen. She pressed down on it and Mingi shuddered at how deep inside her he was. She ran her hand across it several times, a smirk on her face as she spoke to the audience once again.

"I bet some of you ladies are jealous of me. Having such a thick and huge cock inside my tiny pussy. I bet you all would want him to destroy you."

Y/N turned back to Mingi who was all red from her comments, his cock aching inside her. Y/N lifted her hips up and slammed back down on him, giving him no time to prepare as she began bouncing on his cock. Mingi began spurting out curses and moans, his hands reaching out to hold her hips and keep her from going, but Y/N slapped them away.

"Oh no baby. You wanted to cum? Well I'll make sure you cum."

The evil grin she had plastered on her face let Mingi know he was definitely in for a ride. Y/N purposefully clenched around him, edging him closer to his release. Mingi's hands clutched the bedsheets underneath him, he panted as he tried to tell Y/N that he was about to cum.

"You're gonna cum already? Go ahead my little prince."

Mingi grunted loudly as he released himself inside of her, feeling overwhelmed by how hard he came. He was about to ask Y/N about her cumming, but he was cut off when she began slamming down on him again, making him nearly choke and become sensitive at the overstimulation.

"P-please..t-too much ...c-can't"

He tried to grip her hips again but Y/N pinned them up above his head, this time landing a slap to his thigh that had him jolting up and trembling under her.

"Next time, I'll slap your face. Come on, you can take it. You're a big boy. Can't you?"

Her hand dropped down and began toying with his nipples, causing him to cry out and squirm at her touch. He didn't even realize that he was already cumming for the second time, pumping more of his seed inside her hole, some of it spurting out. Such lewd squelching sounds could be heard across the room. Mingi at this point had tears trailing down the corners of his eyes, his body a writhing mess as pathetic whimpers fell from his plump lips.

Y/N felt him twitch for the third time and she also felt her second orgasm for the night build up inside her. She wrapped a hand around his throat, applying just a bit of pressure to make his vision hazy.

"Cum for me just one more time baby boy. I want to feel you again. Can you do that for me? Please?" She begged him.

His body couldn't deny her request. He shook violently as he squirted himself inside her once again, her grip on his neck tightening, making his climax feel even more exhilarating. He nearly blurted out her name, but thankfully he was so worn out and his brain fucked dumb that nothing but guttural moans and small yelps could be made out. Y/N wasn't that far off as she squeezed against his cock, her legs shaking as her juices mixed with his. She released her hold on his neck and panted heavily as she calmed down from the high she just reached. When she regained her senses, she pulled out of him, hot white liquid pouring down her legs. Her thighs ached and she nearly toppled over when she tried standing up, but she managed to hold herself up with the help of the bed.

"I think.....we got a little carried away..." She smiled apologetically at the camera.

She looked at the comments, some asking if she was ok, some praising them both and others teasing her about how she was gonna feel that in the morning.

"Thank you for joining us today. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to make sure my baby boy is taken care of. See you all soon."

Shutting off the camera and closing the laptop, Y/N took the mask off her face, rubbing her temples gently from how tight it had been wrapped. Getting up, she sat down next to Mingi, who looked absolutely tired and worn out. Smiling softly, she took off his mask and threw it across the room.

"How are you feeling?" She scanned his face for any signs of regret or discomfort.

Mingi gave her a faint smile.

"Better than any fantasy I ever had."

Y/N snorted softly at his answer. She opened a tiny bag that was hidden behind the bed and took out some wipes and towels from inside. Taking out some of the wipes, she began to clean in between Mingi's legs and thighs, making sure not to touch his dick as he was still extremely sensitive there. She then wiped his sweat off his forehead with one of the towels, gently patting around his temples and cheeks. All throughout it, Mingi just looked at her with adoration and tenderness.

"What?" She asked when she noticed his goofy grin.

"Glad to know my cute and caring Y/N still exists."

Y/N shook her head, a smile on her lips.

"She never left. I'm still the same me you met 3 months ago."

"Yeah....except now I know your dirty secret." He teased.

Y/N playfully smacked his cheek with the towel.

"And now you're part of that dirty secret actually."

Mingi hummed softly, enjoying the way she was pampering him. When she made move to get up again, he wasn't having it. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him, his face resting on the top of her head.

"Mingi!" Y/N exclaimed.

"Y/N! Cuddle me!" He whined as he tightened his grip on her.

"Ugh. Fine."

Mingi let out a tiny shout of victory as he snuggled closer to her. His fingers played with her hair, so many thoughts running through his head.

"Hey Y/N......? I kinda wanted to ask.....what happens now?"

Y/N tilted her head.

"What do you mean?"

"Well I......and you......does this make us...?" He looked at her, hoping she could understand what he was trying to say.

"Song Mingi, are you asking if we should date right after we just got done fucking in front of hundreds of people?" She looked at him incredulously.

"Well I certainly wasn't going to ask you before we fucked."

They both laughed at his answer. He always did say the darnest things.

"So...will you go out with me?"

Y/N pretended to think about it, making him pout and look at her with puppy eyes.

"I can't say no to you when you look so adorable." She admitted.

Mingi lit up when she agreed and he couldnt stop himself as he kissed her softly, elated that she agreed. She giggled into the kiss and laughed even harder when Mingi began peppering her neck with kisses.

"Mingi! Stop!"

They were so lost in their own little world they failed to notice the figure that popped inside the room, eyes widening at the scene in front of him.

"Ummm......am I interrupting something?"

They both froze and looked up to see Yunho clearing his throat at the sight of them. Mingi immediately pulled the blanket over Y/N's body, covering her from Yunho's piercing eyes.

"Yunho, I swear it's not what you think." Mingi tried to explain as he covered himself with a pillow.

"Well I mean....let's be honest Mingi, one of us 8 would have ended up sleeping with Y/N sooner or later, so I'm honestly not surprised." Yunho scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

They all stared at each other in silence, not knowing what to do or say. Yunho noticed the camera equipment and laptop, peeking his interest.

"Did you guys just film a porn movie?"

Mingi and Y/N bursted out laughing.

"No." They shook their heads.

"Then what's that for?" He pointed to it.

Mingi looked back at Y/N. They both mentally asked the same question and both smirked when they realized they were thinking the same thing.

"Can you keep a secret?"

🍒｡･ﾟ♡ﾟ･｡🍓｡･ﾟ♡ﾟ･｡｡･ﾟ♡ﾟ･｡🍓｡･ﾟ♡ﾟ･｡🍒

411 notes · View notes

sugawara-sweetheart · 4 years

Text

𝔠𝔥𝔢𝔢𝔰𝔢 (𝔪)

(n.) contextually is a response to a photographer asking for the subject to smile at the camera

Tinder hookup!Terushima x camgirl!reader | 30/08

Warnings: sex toys, orgasm denial, overstimulation, face riding, titty-fucking, cum-eating

Word count: 5.6k

Part 3/12 of aphrodisia series

terushima smells faintly of cinnamon as you sidle up beside him on the couch, draping your arm over the back. he looks beautiful, you think, admiring the way your lamp paints him in a glow, his brown eyes honey and his silver tongue piercing flashing when he clicks it between his teeth. out of everyone you’d swiped right on and who’d responded with interest over your offer, you’re glad it’s terushima.

your eyes drape down to admire his broad shoulders, his strong arms with green veins lacing up them, muscles rippling as he sips his lemonade, little droplets trickling down and glistening off his chin and the way his shirt hugs his muscular body. you know he’s perfect for the job, smiling as you meet his brown eyes. he returns it just as warmly.

“so, when do we get started then?” he asks. terushima’s excited, you can tell by the way his eyes gleam and he keeps looking at you with a bright smile, something close to a smirk. but he’s nervous too- he’s bound to be with the way his glass trembles in his hand and his knee jostles.

“the stream starts at 8.” you reply. “and you are okay with this, right? i know it’s an unusual date…” terushima swallows as you reach for the tie loosely knotted around the collar of his shirt, playing with the fabric between your fingers. “but we can stop at any time.” he gazes at you for a moment but his reply is physical; one gentle hand sliding up your bare thigh whilst other presses into your jaw, bringing your face close to his. he tastes so sweet when he captures your lips in a kiss, your mutual desire so evident as you pull him closer by his tie and his coarse fingers graze the soft skin of your thigh, snaking up higher underneath your skirt. you’re breathless when you pull away, matching terushima’s smirk as you sweep his blond locks out of his brown eyes.

“come on now.”

terushima follows you into your bedroom, your hands entwined and there’s a sharp intake of breath audible from him as he sees your set-up. it’s sophisticated: an expensive laptop with a microphone, a camera, a ring light and a few sex toys sat on the desk alongside a black leather collar.

“what do you think then?” you turn around with a gentle smile, your stomach lurching with pride when you see how wide he’s grinning.

“damn, this is so cool!” he gasps. “how did you pay for all this? is the money really that good?” you blush a little, chuckling awkwardly.

“the money is decent and definitely helps with college much more than another part time job does, but some of this stuff are gifts from followers.” you gesture to the toys on the desk, smirking at the way terushima’s brown orbs widen at them, his tongue darting out to lick at his lips and his silver tongue piercing flashing in the light. you can’t help staring at it- it captivated you from the moment you saw his picture on tinder, the little silver ball embedded into his tongue immediately making you imagine all the dirty ways you could use him, how it would feel sliding against your tongue, your skin, down between your legs.

“are they for you?” terushima questions, nodding towards the collar and sex toys. you chuckle.

“be a good boy and wait and see, yūji. you don’t want to ruin all the fun, do you? now take off your clothes, but give me the tie.”

terushima’s eyes brighten at your drawl and he smirks as he begins to loosen the tie. you sit by the laptop, setting up the stream and ensuring the camera is connected whilst you hear terushima’s clothes rustle as he removes them. you glance around at him, smiling when he stands in your bedroom, naked except for the underwear he still wears. you’re almost distracted by the beautiful tanned abs, his thick, hard thighs, the silver bar running through his nipple but all of that is washed away quickly as you can’t help but giggle at his bright yellow boxer-briefs, adorned with a pattern of bright red chilli peppers that has terushima blushing.

“i think my viewers will enjoy that.” you smile through your little laughs.

“i’m a spicy boy, okay, y/n? our viewers will love me and my underwear.” you smile with amusement at terushima’s sardonic sigh before standing, pulling off your sweater and skirt.

you smirk at the way terushima gasps, feeling so beautiful in your lacy lingerie that has him staring at you hungrily, mouth hanging wide open.

“it was another gift from one of my viewers- the one who specifically asked to see someone else involved.” you smile, stroking over the lacy cups that held up your tits. “are you ready now, yūji?”

terushima swallows and nods, returning your reassuring smile. then you click.

the stream begins, the viewer count rising rapidly and comments flooding the screen as you smile and wriggle your fingers in a wave before opting to blow kisses at the camera. the comments are a variety of lewd words and lustful compliments which you giggle at, thanking the viewers with their sinful usernames. terushima is stunned as he watches you- when he first spoke to you over tinder, you were friendly and kind. but your camgirl persona was someone else- you were seductive with darkened, hooded eyes and your posture completely different to the usual y/n with your back arched enough now for your pretty tits to be in view and your voice a sexy drawl. terushima isn’t sure whether it’s the depravity of being watched by hundreds of strangers or the way you look so utterly fuckable in your lacy lingerie but he can feel the arousal start to build, his cock hardening in his boxers.

“today i’ll be doing something a little different.” you say after your usual introductions, tilting your head to smirk at the camera. “one of my lovely viewers suggested seeing my pretty pussy get fucked and you know how much i can’t say no to you. so here i have our guest today.”

you turn and beckon terushima towards you with a curl of your finger and he walks slowly to you, suddenly swallowing hard with the excitement and nerves buzzing in his veins. you let him sit down first on the end of the bed, playing with his tufts of blond hair before making him look up at the monitor. his eyes widen as he watches himself, his body looking so good on the screen and the ring light making his tongue piercing gleam. the comments flooding the screen made his heart beat against his rib cage but you only laugh, stroking his hair before you sit on his thigh.

“yūji, they like you.” you smile, tilting your head with interest as your eyes scanned the comments. “that’s right, he is my baby boy today and i’m going to treat him so well.” you look at him darkly, making his stomach churn and his cock strain harder against the fabric of his pants. “look at him, he’s so excited.” you giggle when you stroke over his erection, making him groan at the slight pressure. he’s aware of how the camera and microphone capture his lust with his heavy-lidded eyes and the little breathy moans.

“come on, y/n.” he says with a cheeky grin. “when are you going to make me feel good?” you tut, shaking your head but an amused smirk pulls at your lips.

“don’t be such an impatient brat, baby.” you whisper, leaning into the crook of his neck. terushima swallows when your teeth close around his ear lobe, sucking at the flesh to make the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he shudders. “remember, i own you for today so you’re going to be a good boy for me, understand?”

you release terushima’s ear lobe with a smirk, the cooling sensation only making his mouth drier as he craved nothing more than for his painfully hard cock to be soothed. but you’re slow as you draw out picking up the black leather collar, admiring it before you’re unbuckling it and drawing it around his neck.

“you think i’m yours?” he smirks, feeling that warmth of satisfaction to see your eyes flash with a sudden darkness.

“i know you’re mine.” is all you say before you’re threading your fingers through his hair and pulling him into a kiss.

it starts off slow but passionate, you tugging at terushima’s blond locks to tilt his head back, allowing your viewers a clear view of your tongue swiping at his lips. he’s messy though, his tongue licking into your mouth with the silver ball of his tongue piercing so foreign in your mouth it makes you moan into his lips. it encourages him to grope you closer, one hand squeezing your ass and the other sliding up your bare skin to palm your tits but suddenly he stops with a gasp when you tug at his collar. you pull away from his lips with a smirk, a thin string of spit connecting you both.

“did i say you could touch me like that, baby?” terushima doesn’t reply verbally, instead scoffing as he licks up your mixed saliva off his lips, causing you to laugh mirthlessly as you face the camera. “if he wants to be such a little brat and think he can touch me however he wants, i'll just teah him a lesson.” the comments are coming in faster as you reach for terushima’s tie on the desk, stroking the fabric slowly between your fingers as you turn back to him. “hands out, yūji.”

“and if i don’t?” he teases, causing you to quirk an eyebrow. his stomach jolts as his eyes flicker to the screen, glimpsing the filthy words flashing on the screen that only makes his cock twitch.

“punish the brat by making him cum and cum again till he’s a whiny twitchy mess.”

“want to see him fill up y/n’s pretty pussy with all his cum.”

terushima’s attention is stolen away when you grip his wrists and place them together, binding the tie around him before you’re leaning in to capture his lips in a kiss.

“much better. keep being good for me and maybe i’ll let you cum.”

terushima shudders and groans as you begin to trail wet, open-mouthed kisses along his jaw and down his neck. he jerks when you lathe over the reddened skin, his head falling back and a deep, throaty moan escaping him with drool trickling from the corners of his lips.

“so sensitive, yūji.” you tease with a giggle, sitting back to admire the purple bruises that are slowly forming on his skin. “you look so handsome like this, but we’re just getting started. i wonder where else is so fun to play with.”

“you sound a bit needy for me, y/n.” terushima grins at the thrill when you exhale heavily, reaching out to trail a gentle, feather-light finger along his collar bones, down his chest, around his pec, leaving a blazing trace of tingling lingering behind.

“don’t get cheeky with me, baby boy,” your voice is so sickly sweet but the lustful darkness in your eyes is so cold. “or else i’ll leave you all tied up to watch me fuck myself on one of my toys instead and make you wish it was your cock instead.” terushima doesn’t even get a chance to reply before only a deep moan is ripped from him when you kneel down between his legs and slide your tongue over his pierced nipple.

whines are drawn from him and his hands pull at the tight restraint of his tie as the wet sensation of your tongue sends pleasure running through him, the metal bar only heightening his sensitivity. he can’t help but hiss out a swear when you graze your teeth along the piercing, tugging slightly at it to send jolts of pain mixed with pleasure running through him.

“fuck, please, y/n, do something to me.” terushima groans, his high, breathless voice sounded so foreignly desperate with the blood rushing in his ears. he’s so needy as he bucks up into nothing and you smile as you sit back, letting yourself run your fingertips along the rippled skin of his toned abdomen.

“my, my, you’re so desperate for me to use your cock, aren’t you?” you giggle, sitting up on his leg to allow the camera to have full access to the whole of terushima’s body. “look at how much you need me.” you graze a finger along the outline of his cock and it’s so humiliating how obvious the wet patch of precum staining his yellow and red boxers is.

“please just do something.” terushima whines as you press a soothing kiss to his cheek, letting one of your hands snake around his bare shoulders whilst the other wraps around his jaw, stroking his smooth skin. then you turn to the camera, tilting your head with mocking intrigue.

“should i help him? or should i leave him here all needy and desperate to cum?” the comments go crazy, lewd words popping up on the screen but some only seem to make terushima needier, his mind immediately painting the sinful fantasies in his head of you fucking him till he cums all over you, you treathing him with your mouth so they can see your face stained with his cum or-

“‘pleasure him but don’t let him cum till he’s pathetic and begging you to let him cum like a stupid baby boy.’” you read aloud. terushima whines at the crude words, his cock so painfully hard he can’t even think about anything other than his need for stimulation. “do you like the sound of that, baby?”

“god, yes please, y/n, just do it- something- anything, for fuck’s sake!”

he sounds so exasperated, so needy you can’t help but laugh as you reached for one of the sex toys.

“my baby boy is already so pathetic and needy, i bet you can’t think of anything except cumming, huh?” terushima’s eyes widen when he hears the sound of a low buzzing fill the room. you’ve chosen the vibrator, looking so pleased as you set it to the lowest intensity. “but let’s see how long you’ll last. remember, you can’t cum till i tell you to.” terushima can’t help a grin tugging at his lips.

“or what?” you seem amused at his boldness, flicking his pierced nipple with your other hand to send a wave of bittersweet pain entwined with pleasure.

“i’ll punish you.” you drawl, snaking the hand up from his chest to his throat where you wrap your fingers around him, making him groan even if you don’t apply any pressure. “so be good for me.”

you place the vibrator down on the sensitive, leaking head of terushima’s clothed cock, pulling a loud moan from him as he jerks suddenly, hissing when you dig your nails into his firm shoulder to anchor yourself. it feels heavenly to him, his eyes drooping shut and mouth hanging open, spit trickling from the corners of his open mouth.

“does it feel good, baby?” you ask, pushing his head onto your shoulder as you press the vibrator harder against him, the pressure only adding to the pleasure.

“so good- but i need more, please.” strings of whines fall freely from his lips when you increase the intensity. his hands curl into fists, head falling back onto your shoulder so pathetically with his eyes clenched shut. you can see his toes curling into your carpet, feel his thigh quiver below you as you pepper kisses over his face.

“you’re not going to cum before i let you, are you?” terushima shakes his head, swallowing through his moans as his nails dig into the fabric of the tie, binding his hands. he looks so desperate.

“no, no, no- it just- ah- feels so good.”

“that’s a good boy.” you whisper, tongue darting to lick at his pierced nipple, making him groan as his body jerks from the sensitivity. “you’re not going to mind if i just increase the intensity a bit more? maybe tell you all the dirty things everyone wants to do to you?” terushima nods desperately, eyes opening just halfway and he almost moans at the sight of himself.

sweat glistens off his body and he looks so fucked out with his pupils blown out and his face flushed with arousal. and you look so pretty sat on his thigh, smiling at the monitor whilst you increase the intensity of the vibrator, the buzzing loud as it blends with terushima’s moans.

“you sound so pretty, baby, let me tell you all the dirty things our audience thinks of you.” you smile as you begin to scan your eyes over the words flashing across the screen. “‘fuck, he’s so hot i’d fuck myself on his pretty cock any day.’” terushima groans. “‘want to use the little boy so bad just to hear all those pretty moans.’” he whines. “can’t wait to see y/n use his dick. they’ll look so sexy when she creams all over it.’” the pleasure is so sweet, it’s too much. he’s almost choking on his moans now, moving his restrained hands to the thigh you’re not sat on, digging his nails in his muscular flesh till it stings. “‘he looks so sinful, what a dirty boy. i can’t wait to see him cum.’”

terushima can’t hold back any longer. body and cock twitching and head thrown back, his sinful moans grow loud over the buzzing of the vibrator as his orgasm shakes his body. you scoff at the dark, wet patch over his length that grows till he’s reduced to a panting, twitching, sweating mess.

“did you just cum?” terushima doesn't detect the hardness in your voice.

“t-too much, y/n- it’s- it’s too much!” but you don’t move the vibrator away, instead continuing to press the toy against his softening cock. “y/n-” he hisses, the pain beginning to run through his nerves.

“i told you not to cum.” you snarl, wrapping your fingers around his locks and tugging at it to hear his masochistic whines. “so take your punishment like a good boy.” terushima shudders but you don’t stop, watching the pain on his face as you overstimulate him with your lips stretched into a sadistic smirk. “if you could’ve stopped yourself from being so pathetic and cumming all over yourself in your own underwear like a dirty boy, i wouldn’t have had to do this. look at what everyone’s saying about you.” terushima swallows, trying to breathe through the stinging pain as he turns to the monitor.

“such a dirty boy.”

“i want to see y/n being a nasty slut and lick up his cum.”

it doesn’t take long before terushima’s winces turn into pants of pleasure as the pain fades. but his punishment isn’t over yet and he whines when you move the vibrator away, stealing away the sweet pleasure that was about to build.

“y/n!” he pouts. you give a mirthless laugh as you stroke along his jawline before reaching for his chest.

“you don’t seriously think i'm done punishing you for being such a greedy boy and cumming when i told you not to?” he winces when you tug at his nipple piercing slightly. “go lie down, baby.” terushima feels his heart warmth at the momentary softness of your eyes when you reach to untie the tie around his wrists. “let me cum all over your tongue and cock and then i’ll reward you for taking your punishment so well.”

terushima’s stomach tightens with the excitement, the blood rushing to his cock already despite the horrible stickiness in his wet boxers.

“i’ll be good just for you, y/n.” he drawls, making a show of clicking his tongue piercing between his teeth before he lies down, head in clear view of the camera. he watches you with hungry eyes when you make a show of removing your lingerie. you look so beautiful, so seductive when you unclasp and peel off your bra, arching your back when you slip it off and slide your hands over your chest, palming your pretty tits momentarily before moving to peel off your panties. terushima swallows, his eyes glued to the way strings of slick cling to your soaked panties. then you spread your legs in full view of the camera, your wet, glistening cunt visible to each and every one of your audience.

“you’re going to make me feel so good, aren’t you, pretty boy?” you tease as you move to kneel over terushima’s face, smiling down at him. “going to make me cum all over your face and tongue till you’re all messy, right?” terushima smiles, letting his hands come rest on your tensed thighs, dancing his fingertips over the sensitive skin to hear you sigh.

“i’ll make you feel the best you’ve ever felt.” he says before he grasps your hips, pulling you down onto him.

you gasp sharply, your body jolting and hands coming to grip terushima’s hair at the first moment of his wet tongue sliding across your slick folds, the silver ball impaling his tongue only adding pressure and filling you with more pleasure. but terushima’s good at this- he’s messy and fast, sucking at your clit before his tongue is dipping between your folds to lick at your walls messily, moaning into your wet cunt when you scratch at his scalp. the pleasure is so good, so sweet and electrifying you can’t help but grind your sloppy cunny into his face, shuddering when the tip of his nose rubs against your swollen clit.

“fuck, your mouth feels so good.” you groan, almost crying out when his tongue laps at your wetness with fervour. “fuck, fuck, fuck-” you break off with a loud shriek when the coil in your stomach suddenly snaps and you’re cumming, your walls convulsing around terushima’s tongue with the ball of his piercing feeling so good. pleasure wracks through you, your eyes clenching shut and toes curling as you moan out wantonly, feeling the wetness gush out from you as he groans into your cunt, his vibrations only adding to your climax so that you’re breathless when the pleasure fades away and you peel yourself away from his face.

“wow, y/n, i really made you feel that good.” terushima smirks as he sits up, making you choke. your wetness and his saliva are a glistening mess that drips down his chin and is smeared across his cheeks, making your core throb with need. “i really made you squirt, huh?” he looks so pleased with himself and you chuckle, glancing at the monitor to see all the lewd comments your audience are posting- lewd words of how hot you are, how you’re such a pretty slut when you squirt all over terushima’s face, how they’d do anything to be him and fuck your pretty cunny with their tongue.

“you’re a good baby boy.” you praise terushima, stroking your slick off his cheeks before you’re pulling him into a hungry kiss. you can taste yourself on his tongue, making you moan as you pull at his boxers, tugging them down. his hard cock springs up, slapping against his stomach, the skin slick with his cum and fresh beads of precum leaking from the red tip. terushima grunts into your mouth when you wrap your fingers around his length, stroking it and letting the lewd sounds fill the room before you pull away from his lips to address the camera.

“my yūji will look so good when i’m using his cock.” you mewl, tugging at his collar to elicit a little whine. “you’ll be good and won’t cum without permission, won’t you?”

“and if i do?” he teases, grinning when you tighten your hold around his collar even if it presses into his throat and makes him gasp. you smile mirthlessly as you straddle him, certain the camera has a good view judging by the long stream of comments.

“you’re making me think you enjoyed your punishment, yuji.” you whisper, leaning in to nip at his bottom lip. “don’t make me punish you even more.”

you and terushima moan together when you sink down on his length, wet enough to offer little resistance as he fills you up. you let out a choked whine when you’re fully seated, the stretch stinging a little but so delicious as you feel so full.

“fuck, fuck.” terushima pants, groaning at the way your wet walls clench around his cock. “you’re so tight.”

“i don’t care- don’t you dare cum.” you warn through your breathy pants. “i’m going to use your cock, do you understand?” you grip terushima’s jaw when he whines, making sure he locks his brown eyes with yours before he reluctantly nods. “that’s a good boy. i’ll make sure to reward you.”

then you’re lifting yourself off his cock till only the tip remains before slamming yourself down, crying out at the utter pleasure that runs through you. terushima is just as loud, holding your hips tightly with his nails digging into your flesh as you bounce on his cock, your tits right in front of his pleading face so that you let him wrap his lips around it. you moan at the added pleasure before you’re reaching for the vibrator, making terushima’s eyes widen when he hears that buzzing again.

“going to make myself cream all over your pretty cock, baby.” you smile at him as you lower the vibrator to your clit, not stopping the way you’re riding his cock.

as soon as the buzzing rounded tip presses against your swollen bundle of nerves you can’t help but almost scream at the pleasure, tears springing to your eyes over how fucking good it feels. terushima’s thick length rubs at your spongy walls in all the right places and the vibrations shooting through your clit makes you moan so loudly as you clench around him, feeling that long prominent vein press against your soaking walls.

“y/n,” terushima whimpers, gasping as you start to grind yourself faster, your wetness starting to coat his whole lap and the sound of squelching so loud with your shared wanton moans and the buzzing of the vibrator. “i can feel it- it feels good! b-but more- i want more.” terushima moves his hands to grasp the bedsheets, choking out moans as you continue to fuck yourself on his cock, circling your swollen nub with the toy.

“i don’t care, you don’t get to cum yet-” you break off with a gasp, feeling the coil tighten in your stomach. “this is for me.” the coil snaps and you shake with the pleasure, thighs quivering as you clench around terushima’s cock, moaning as your vision goes white. it feels good, so good, nothing but pure electrifying euphoria running through you.

you almost feel dizzy as you come down from your high, blood rushing in your ears and the vibrator still pressed to your clit making your nerves sting as you pull it away, switching it off. terushima looks so needy still, staring at you with wide, craving eyes as you laugh breathlessly, feeling that warm high of your climax.

“so good for me,” you smile, stroking his cheek and placing a chaste kiss to his lips. “let me treat you now for being such a good boy.” terushima grins, he looks excited as he tries to resist the urge to buck his hips up into you. “i’m sure everyone wants to see you finally cum all over me.”

you both look over at the monitor, smiling at the lewd words that appear across the screen, the words sounding even more sinful as you read them out in a husky drawl.

“‘i want to see yūji cum all over y/n and make her look like the little slut she is.’” you giggle at the filthy words, cheekily popping your finger into your mouth as you wink at the camera. “you’ll be in for a treat.”

terushima is buzzing with anticipation as you lift yourself off his cock, wincing at the sensitivity of his still hard cock brushing against your walls.

“how are you treating me then for being such a good boy, y/n?” he asks and his eyes widen when you’re lowering yourself below him. you smile as you grope your own tits, moaning lewdly at the camera.

“use me like this, baby boy. get yourself off on my body like a sweet little pup.”

terushima swallows, his length twitching at how sinfully beautifully you look. you look so coy, biting your swollen lip between your teeth with your tits pressed together, legs spread out to reveal your puffy, glistening cunt and he can’t wait any longer, scrambling towards you as he strokes his cock with heavy pants.

“y/n, baby, you look so fucking hot.” he grunts, reaching out with his free hand for your chest. he rubs your left pebbled nipple, licking at his lips with the arousal pumping through him. “you treat me so good.” he groans at the friction when he slides his cock between your two breasts, your wetness coating his skin allowing him to rut against you with ease. his eyes roll to the back of his head at the sweet friction, moans falling from his lips as you smile so prettily up at him. “fuck, y/n-” he chokes out, groaning as his thrusts grow quicker. “you look so fucking hot.”

“does it feel good?” you smirk and terushima nods with his heavy pants. it’s so messy, his cock thrusting in between your pretty tits, your skin becoming sticky with his leaking precum whilst you just smile up at him, little gasps and sighs falling from your lips as you rub your hardened nipples.

“so good, so so good.” he grunts, fucking your chest faster. he shudders when you remove one hand from your own chest, sliding your fingers slowly up his body before your fingertips graze his pierced nipple, the gentle touches only adding to the sweet, euphoric pleasure washing through him. with his loud moans, it doesn’t take long for terushima’s hips to stutter, resulting in him rutting himself desperately against you, his fingernails digging deep into your hips.

“i’m gonna cum, y/n. i’m gonna c-cum-” he breaks off with a loud whine as you tug at the silver jewellery running through his nipple.

“go on, baby, you’ve been so good for me.” you encourage him, batting your pretty eyes at him in a way that only makes him thrust harder, chasing his orgasm. “let go, baby boy. make a mess all over me.” with your lewd words ringing in his ear, terushima groans as his cock twitches. hot ropes of cum release from his reddened tip, coating your chest and collarbones, the two of you moaning at the sensation. terushima’s whole body twitches when he pulls away from you, his cock softening as the electrifying waves of his climax wash away.

“such a good boy, you’ve made me look so pretty.” you giggle, sitting up to show yourself to the camera. terushima’s panting, his eyes widening over how beautiful you look, your hands palming your tits that’s covered in his cum. “what do you say to me?” he feels weak, exhausted now as he can only gulp down air, blood pounding in his ear and his body so warm with his high.

“thank you for making me cum.” you smirk.

“that’s a good pup.” it’s so lewd, so messy, terushima’s stomach jolting as you stick out your tongue and you’re sliding it along your chest, coating it with his sticky, wet release. it’s filthy and nasty when you bring the finger to your pretty lips and lap your wet tongue at your digit, winking and giggling as you lick up his cum like a dirty, little slut. your finger is clean and wet with your saliva when you wave at the camera.

“thank you, everyone! i’ll see you all next time!” the livestream ends and the monitor goes blank.

your facade falls immediately, your eyes softening and body slouching with exhaustion. you sigh as you turn to terushima, lips curving upwards into a gentle smile.

“hey, you okay? how was that?” terushima smiles at the warmth he feels when you sidle up to him, wrapping your arms around him and pulling his naked body close to yours. it’s comforting when you graze your fingertips through his blonde locks that are matted with sweat, the scraping against his skull making his eyes feel heavy.

“so good, y/n.” he chuckles, his voice deep with tiredness. “i could do this again but maybe we’ll switch things up, huh? let me take the lead, yeah?” you giggle, smiling with affection as you brush his wet locks away from his forehead.

“if you can handle it, yuji, you’re almost falling asleep. come on, let’s go shower.” terushima grins as you take his hand, leading him towards the bathroom.

“good idea. maybe we can have a round two in there, let me practise for my own. watch your back, y/n; you might be having some competition soon.”

taglist: @crushingonsuga @redflannel @nekomas-biggest-fangirl @euniche95 @heyhinata @strawhatshepard @karasu-hoes @thatgoth-bitch @haikyuuhotline

to be added to the aphrodisia taglist, please send an ask to myself or @super-noya

723 notes · View notes

incarnateirony · 3 years

Photo

So here we are, The Great Supernatural Rewatch, 01.01 Pilot. If unfamiliar with this rewatch, please check my Objectives and Bracketing post [x], and then my Methodology Notes [x]; Also, reminder that I’m not the only person doing this, though each in their own ways. My Objectives and Methodology are my own.

I’m trying to get a little ahead of the official Jan 3 start date, since I know I will... inevitably fall behind, and this episode was ripe for the initial pick-through for the inevitability of a thousand call backs.

That said, with level 1. SYNCHRONIC: As it reads, unto itself, as best divorced from future knowledge of the story, it’s difficult to do much actual “meta” as much as review and commentary since literally it’s all character and story introductions. There’s some to be had, but beyond things like lighting, the Level 1 viewing tier is not going to lend towards much beyond basic archetypes, and a lot of mythology breakdown. This post will be heaving Level 2 weighted as a result. Most tier-1 posting is going to be an early build of key words, phrases and signs to assemble throughout the season watching (and tap back on later for tier 2 by tagging.)

Also a few unannounced side projects; I’m about to start a “Combat Counter” and “Marksmanship Counter”, to see how Sam and Dean handle both in physical battles/scraps over time compared to each other, and who has the better overall aim in the long term.

Some things saved in this post will seem random and arbitrary, but are potential flags I intend to keep, mostly for later level 2, DIACHRONIC study.

Now to get to the meat:

STUDY: REWATCH/REVIEW STAGE

Allow me to lead with: this episode even unto itself is a fine spectacle of just how much the genre shifted over time. I am a huge fan of David Nutter’s directing; many would know him from, say, Game of Thrones. He didn’t stay long--just Pilot and Wendigo--before moving on. But some of his touches stayed with the show for a few years. The entire ambiance is a giant testiment to survival-horror, a grimness to it, even if the CW itself could never truly capitalize on it. The mood and ambiance was successfully played on. The entire episode is rife with cloudy lighting beaming between bars and through windows, bold silhouette shots, and more that gives an air of mystery even after some characters are established. Dynamic shots are plenty.

Your early reading here isn’t going to tell you much you don’t already know, but is for filing, review, and even reminder/refresher purposes. As the season unfolds, there’s going to be more to interconnect, obviously. If you would like to read more observations on actual parallels, scroll to the DIACHRONIC STUDY header. If I’ve taken a screenshot, even in Synchronic, it’s because it’s a flag I do expect to come back up in diachronic study later and need to catalogue for future parallels and address.

So, imagining it’s 2005, we’re watching Supernatural for the first time. We’re in a very different world, Both in the show, and in the real world. A standard, haunting discord rattles the minds of the audience as a tree moves like a hand towards the window of a suburban home.

We see a classic, nuclear family in this standard home, saying their charming goodnights to an infant. But within moments, we’re told in every classic way that everything is wrong. The infant’s mobile turns on its own accord; the clock stops.

It’s 8:12pm when the world goes haywire. The decorative moon in the room flickers, growing dim. The mother wakes to the sound of a distressed infant on the baby monitor. She rises from bed in her gown.

This is a point I’m left to negotiate cursed knowledge: to all visual cues, the mother’s attire appears to be white. The audience perceived it as white. But we know it, and Jess’ gown later, was actually pink; the film stock failed to capture it. Both short term and much louder in the long term, these two colors can deliver two very different meanings. But for us, a viewer consuming a digital medium with no knowledge beyond what they published, I’m left to decide that the text seems to determine her in a white gown.

The wife sees a stark silhouette, asking if the child was hungry, assuming it was her husband that quieted her. She turns away, tapping on a flickering light over an old marriage portrait that one can only assume was a previous family generation. She descends the stairs.

Here she finds her husband is sleeping. Panic takes her, bringing her to the room. Quickly, chaos erupts. As does she, once seen bleeding down onto the hand of the father from above the crib. We see her, sunken eyes, already dying, screaming without a sound. Silent. Unable to make a noise.

The camera details the desperation of the father rushing his infant to his older child. “Take your brother outside as fast as you can, don’t look back. Now Dean, GO.”

I’m unclear what John thinks he’s going to achieve running back in for Mary as fire takes the home. But soon, he finds young Dean, 4, outside, holding an infant, “I've got you Sammy.” John erupts out of the house as the windows begin to blow, sweeping in to carry Dean, who carries Sam.

As the fire department arrives, the first cords of a song we would later come to recognize as Americana haunt through otherwise chilling music that climbs actively to punch out through our first cold open.

The Winchesters are our first cold open.

We find ourselves in modern day with the rick of a rock cord, and a young woman in a white nurse outfit adjusting her earings while framed by an image of John and Mary--the mother and father--in a picture frame. Though she calls for Sam, we see nothing of Dean--not even a picture. The image on the counter tells of a life Sam(my) was too young to even know, but perhaps is in his blonde-haired woman who teases him about halloween while standing in front of a mirror.

Sam is clearly in his young prime, celebrating his LSAT with a 174 score much to his chagrin with friends dressed up in all styles of wardrobe. Behind Sam a neon black cat sign may just jinx his future in warm but dull lighting; ghostly drapes hide behind Jess in a blue, sharper light.

Sam’s friends perceive he must be the Golden Boy of the family. Jess is proud of him. “What would I do without you?” “Crash and burn.”

Night onsets. Dim lighting feels dusty despite the otherwise hopeful environment. Heavy creaking, groaning, footsteps; Sam rises on instinct, spying an open door and catching haunting noises--sounds. An intruder. And one fateful fight. The choreography spares little.

In actual combat, the intruder--quickly identified as Dean--comes out on top. (Combat ticker: Sam vs Dean: Dean 1) Easy there, tiger. As Dean haunts, revealing his roguish personality quickly, he’s then gotten the better of (this is not going to be considered a combat ticker, it’s not actual combat, but aftermath).

Sam challenges why Dean broke in, but Dean knew Sam would have never picked up without him. They’re interrupted from their silhouetting by the light flicking on, and Dean further displays his roguish charm, enjoying her smurfs, not dreaming of her getting dressed; but soon, it’s down to business--Dean says it’s private family matters. Sam, a unit in the doorframe with Jess, says it can be said in front of her. Until the fateful line: “Dad’s on a hunting trip, and he hasn’t been home in a few days.” The camera zooms on Sam’s set jaw to tell the audience how much weight is in that line as the audio itself drags a raw cord of suspense.

The dizzying stairs are a descent into a world Sam seems to have left behind, with the audience viewing from below. Quickly, we’re introduced to ideas: the Poltergeist in Amherst, the Devil’s Gate in Clifton, “always missing and always fine.” Sam’s bitterness is thick: rather than telling him not to be afraid of the dark, “dad gave me a .45″, though Dean challenges what he should have done. They soon stand in a cage of sharply lit bars, arguing if this was what their mother would have wanted--to be raised like warriors.

Dean challenges if Sam would want a normal apple pie life; Sam slaps back: not normal, safe. “And that’s why you ran away.”--But John told him to stay gone. Regardless, Dean doesn’t want to do it alone. Sam asks what he was hunting, and why Dean wasn’t there; Dean was working a voodoo thing in New Orleans.

Dean reveals Jericho, California--10 men over to years on the same 5 mile stretch of road.

The “Ran it through A Goldwave” is a funny side comment but I’m not gonna get into why beyond LOL “through a goldwave”, that’s-- whatever. But we hear, in EVP, “I can never go home.”

The average viewer, at this point, isn’t going to be deeply instructing the story parallels--and in the scheme of it, Sam’s fear of going home barely scratches the meta surface. We do know John has been missing for three weeks. And find out Sam has a Monday deadline for his entry to lawschool, “whole future on a plate.” Jess worries over disappearing with his family, reminding of the deadline, but he promises to be back in time.

A sharp cut to JERICHO, CALIFORNIA. The driver shares similar concerns to Sam, “if I miss it, dad’s gonna have my ass,” he tells his girlfriend on the phone. A woman in white appears down the road as the car clock fries at 10:17, asking to be taken home. “Take me home?” “She lives at the end of breckenridge road.” “A girl like you shouldn’t really be alone out here.” She hikes her skirt. “I’m with you. Do you think I’m pretty? Will you come home with me?” hell yeah.

They arrive at a dillapidated home. “I can never go home.” No one even lives here. He steps out, turns around, and she’s gone. An eerie handprint appears on the window.

He decides to leave, clearly feeling the offsettling vibes, but isn’t alone. She steams with animosity in the backseat.

He looks into his mirror.

And wipes out.

After a violent death, we cut back to our boys and another exposition: credit card scams (jesus, could sam have yelled it any louder?), breakfast in a gas station bag, you gotta update your casette tape collection--why? because for one, they’re casette tapes. Black Sabbath, Motorhead, Metallica--it’s the greatest hits of mullet rock. “House rules Sammy, Driver picks the music, rider shuts his cakehole.” “Sammy is a chubby 12 year old.” “What, can’t hear you.”

ENTER, JERICHO

Internal impala shots galore will end up being a major vibe of our next few years. A spunky guitar theme plays that we will eventually come to know. Dean pulls out a cigar box full of fake badges ranging from FBI to Bureau of Tobacco from the glove box, quickly showing us how deep this path goes for them already.

The cops review the mystery: no fingerprints, spotless; we find out that the victim was dating the cop’s daughter, who was posting missing flyers downtown. The boys introduce themselves as federal agents, are challenged for being too young, and Dean sasses his way through, “that’s very kind of you.” -- while gathering basic intel, we quickly find Dean’s tongue getting ahead of him, calling their lack of ability to find a connection beyond them all being male victims, calling it crack police work. The brothers’ dual personas exit the crime scene with a cuff upside the head from Sam to Dean, a bickering match, and Dean leaving a Mulder and Scully crack on the cops.

They quickly find Amy, the girlfriend, and lie to claim that were Troy’s relatives and had heard about her, and move to a diner to talk about events.

No major unusual things to warrant events; Sam compliments her necklace. She jokes that Troy got it for her to freak out her parents for “devil stuff”, but Sam quickly educates her on the pentagram meaning the opposite, a symbol of protection.

But there are weird rumors in town--people talk. In-sync, “what do they talk about”; a local legend. She tells them of a girl murdered on centennial where anyone who picks her up disapears forever. The brothers quickly move on to a library with a clunky monitor, fully dating us; not just the lack of good cell phones and wifi, but the equipment and the appearance of the search engine alone. Right, we’re watching this in 2005.

The brothers slapfight again, but Sam shows that even away from the life he never lost his prowess. He asks, “Angry spirits are born out of violent death, right?” and searches for suicide. 1981, 24 years prior. “Our babies were gone and Constance couldn’t bear it.”

So they go to see where Constance took the swan dive.

The brothers begin to fight.

SAM Dean, I told you, I've gotta get back by Monday—

DEAN turns around.

DEAN Monday. Right. The interview.

SAM Yeah.

DEAN Yeah, I forgot. You're really serious about this, aren't you? You think you're just going to become some lawyer? Marry your girl?

SAM Maybe. Why not?

DEAN Does Jessica know the truth about you? I mean, does she know about the things you've done?

SAM steps closer.

SAM No, and she's not ever going to know.

DEAN Well, that's healthy. You can pretend all you want, Sammy. But sooner or later you're going to have to face up to who you really are.

DEAN turns around and keeps walking. SAM follows.

SAM And who's that?

DEAN You're one of us.

SAM hurries to get in front of DEAN.

SAM No. I'm not like you. This is not going to be my life.

DEAN You have a responsibility to—

SAM To Dad? And his crusade? If it weren't for pictures I wouldn't even know what Mom looks like. And what difference would it make? Even if we do find the thing that killed her, Mom's gone. And she isn't coming back.

DEAN grabs SAM by the collar and shoves him up against the railing of the bridge. A long pause.

DEAN Don't talk about her like that.

They’re interrupted as Constance appears, diving off the cliff, and immediately taking control of the Impala.

“Dude, who’s driving your car?” Dean holds up his keys.

They flee, over the bridge, and share another movement. One more fake card later, they find themselves in John’s room, room 10, in a motel. Sam remarks that the place is covered in Salt, and Cat’s Eye Shells. The entire room is covered in case work and lore.

I’ll break down the lore of these in a later mythos reblog, though the Asmodeus one really catches my eye for reasons outside of this episode.

Sam finds a photo-- a distinctly different family than the one on his college dresser. There, it’s John and Mary as an ideal image that framed Jessica. Here, it’s the life he walked away from. But while Dean heads out, he’s spotted by police, and their old coded dialect pops out, “Five Oh, take off.” Federal marshalls confront him: They’re looking for his partner (cue Wincest fans trying to make meta that’s about to be shot down one scene later, in the distance), fake US Marshalls, fake credit cards, is there anything about you that’s Real. My boobs.

Just putting a flag in the name Sheriff Pierce, we’ll figure out if that’s ever valid to anything later. But he tells Dean of the trouble he’s in with a room full of missing people and devil worship, for Dean to snap back he was 3 when they went missing. But they knew he had more than one partner. An older man. John’s journal is thrown out (Wincest meta dies a terrible death beyond previous scene)

Again, I’ll translate the FUTHARK in a follow up post, this is already taking a lot of time as it is.

Meanwhile, Sam is investigating the leads they and John both found. Previously spoken intents to burn her has him ask about her being buried at an old plot by Breckenridge at their old place.

SAM And why did you move?

JOSEPH I'm not gonna live in the house where my children died.

SAM stops walking. JOSEPH stops too.

SAM Mr. Welch, did you ever marry again?

JOSEPH No way. Constance, she was the love of my life. Prettiest woman I ever known.

SAM So you had a happy marriage?

JOSEPH hesitates.

Putting a flag in this for later.

But Sam decides to call the man out.

SAM A woman in white. Or sometimes weeping woman?

JOSEPH just looks.

SAM It's a ghost story. Well, it's more of a phenomenon, really.

SAM starts back toward JOSEPH.

SAM Um, they're spirits. They've been sighted for hundreds of years, dozens of places, in Hawaii, Mexico, lately in Arizona, Indiana. All these are different women.

SAM stops in front of JOSEPH.

SAM You understand. But all share the same story.

JOSEPH Boy, I don't care much for nonsense.

JOSEPH walks away. SAM follows.

SAM See, when they were alive, their husbands were unfaithful to them.

JOSEPH stops.

SAM And these women, basically suffering from temporary insanity, murdered their children.

JOSEPH turns around.

SAM Then once they realized what they had done, they took their own lives. So now their spirits are cursed, walking back roads, waterways. And if they find an unfaithful man, they kill him. And that man is never seen again.

JOSEPH You think...you think that has something to do with...Constance? You smartass!

SAM You tell me.

JOSEPH I mean, maybe...maybe I made some mistakes. But no matter what I did, Constance, she never would have killed her own children. Now, you get the hell out of here! And you don't come back!

Sam is flushed out, and makes a fake 911 call to break Dean out, pointing out that the husband had been unfaithful. More dramatic silhouette shots really capture the early spirit of the piece, with Dean using a phone booth in lieu of other options. Hell, Dean was able to find a phone booth, let that take you back. They determine that John left Jericho, and establish his ex-marine habits with the coordinates, 35-111 that Dean had lied through to the cop. But while on the phone, the woman in white appears in front of Sam on the road, non-crashing.

She controls the car again, and forces him to drive to a broken home, repeating, “I can never go home.” Sam recognizes: “You’re scared to go home.” And that’s when the creepy ghost rapey vibes start, mounting him, demanding he hold her, she’s cold. “You can’t kill me, I’m not unfaithful.” He argues. You will be. Just hold me.

As she goes to rip out his heart, she flickers with the beat of his.

Dean breaks into the scene, unloading 12 shots into the ghost with iron bullets to disrupt her manifestation, giving Sam time to sit up and say, “I’m taking you home.”, where he drives through the house. Dean helps Sam out of the car, only to be telekinetically pinned by a dresser to be disabled.

The lights flicker again. Children manifest, water runs down the stairs, looking eerily like the light could be the Winchester’s old home

Here, she falls when reunited with her children. Sam clarifies--she could never go home, she was too afraid to face her kids (while not viable for the synchronic study, for my own sanity I’m going to note this season, Home will be all but mandatory to touch back here.) Dean says Sam found her weak spot.

They drive down the road with a blown headlight, Sam using an old map and ruler to locate the coordinates. But it’s realized Sam isn’t going with Dean to blackwater ridge, colorado 600 miles away. His interview was in ten hours. Dean declares, “I’ll take you home.”

There’s banter over meeting up later, and being a good team, but Sam goes inside and calls for Jess. “You home?” He finds a plate full of cookies with a note “missed you, love you” and relaxes in bed with the distant sound of a running shower.

And of course.

And so it began.

SYNCHRONIC STUDY: IN-EPISODE PARALLELS

In a first episode, there’s only so much to address. While we may question how much the Woman in White being in White may have been intentional with Jess and Mary, who wore pink (a diachronic full text body note later), in the initial review, it’s worth mentioning for the reasons in part 1 I’ve decided to air towards white in the final text product. Resultingly, the tie between Constance->Mary->Jess seems tangible. But it isn’t really so simple.

“Home.” Home is a huge keyword.

"I can never go home." within the episode unto itself, Sam is struggling to well, get back home. And frankly, returning home is the key of it. (hears distant uppity Wincest stans) The difference here is, this isn't a direct parallel, of course, as much as a general ambient mood that will haunt is forward through the show, even if current viewers just watching episode 1 don't recognize it yet. Sam going home kills Jess, essentially; or at least witnesses her death. At the same time, Sam fears returning to the hunter life, or more doesn't think he can because John told him not to come back. But now that Jess is dead, well, Sam can never go home to the life he was building. He has no choice but TO go back to the other home--the hunter life. Even if he’s certain it’s not what Mary would have wanted for them.

DIACHRONIC STUDY: IN-SEASON PARALLELS, LOOKING FORWARD

There’s no way I’ll have them all in mind, these are just what are flagging me along the way.

1.09 Home As the “Home” rewatch is not that far away, I’m going to save this as a placeholder with general notes about “Mary apologizing to Sam,” even if frankly, she should have to Dean too. But even if, at the time, the exact details of the deal may or may not have been established or hashed out by the authors--we’re not picking at arguing if the authors intended it or not here. Here, Mary apologizes for her deal. Here, Mary apologizes--for drowning her children. For magnetizing this poltergeist to this place that she demands let her sons go, where she forces the spook to let go of Sam. She couldn’t really go home in the truest sense until that passed. (I’ll have deeper chain-link connections on this looking-forward once actually at the episode.

DIACHRONIC STUDY: IN-ERA PARALLELS, LOOKING FORWARD

They’re here, but not pinging me at 1 AM beyond vagueblogging about Lucifer showing up as Jess to haunt Sam and the inevitable time travel episodes about Mary, so placeholder for later updates.

DIACHRONIC STUDY: BEYOND-ERA PARALLELS, LOOKING FORWARD

Obviously compare to above-dropped screenshots.

11.04: Mistakes were made.

Listen, Dean’s grimace seat has been in discussion lately, don’t blame me for thinking of Joseph’s mistakes right after the season as Dean-mirror Pastor Joseph. Funny how Sam’s get shown and Dean’s don’t.

11.23/12.01: Mary’s return in the (white or pink, I’m rolling with white as-above) gown, and all extending details.

12.22: Mary's dreamspace.

12.23: Dean, Castiel's death, Sam removing Dean

15.01: Woman In White, We've got work to do

I feel like the Woman in White is the most interesting of these that hasn’t been as talked to death as, say, the 12.23 elements with the Destiel parallel. After all, the Woman in White largely focused on Sam. It was his fear of home. It was him being faithful to Jess (and being unfaithful can be more than sex, really; after all, he made a promise to come back.) But in season 15, it’s Dean that the ghost of the jilted lover approaches, shortly after Dean nearly killed Jack in his pain. Was Dean the weeping woman? Or was Castiel? Who held the animosity in the back seat?

Or is this a shared path? As Dean puts the Equalizer away under the Cigar Box, he has his own haunting issues in the mirror.

Those will be addressed more deeply when we get to that episode in like half a year. But for now, I’m just putting a pin in it. With a side scribble of “Cas got his Secrets/Mary, Sam got his serial killer and clowns and Dean got... the woman in white with Belphegor.”

15.02: Road Closed

15.03: If one insists Mary and Jess’ dress are pink, Rowena’s dress upon wedding and unbirthing to death (and queendom)

15.04: I still think about Jess (shortly before Eileen’s return.)

15.13: If one insists Mary and Jess’ dress are pink, atop the eventually-addressed meaning of lighting (death and transformation) vs the Empress symbolism (fertility, rebirth), Castiel in pink light.

15.15: If one insists Mary and Jess’ dress are pink. Amara’s trenchcoat.

15.20: Beyond the obvious quotes, and the (IMO failed) attempt at nostalgia, there’s honestly very little callback to the original episode.

That’s it on first glance, I’m sure more will rattle out as we go forward. Well, mostly. Keys to the Legacy from Mint Condition is flagging me alongside control mechanisms like Castiel losing control of his vessel. But those are thoughts to put pins in for now and develop later.

COMBAT COUNTER:

DEAN VICTORIES: 1 (sam vs Dean)

MARKSMANSHIP COUNTER:

DEAN SHOTS: 12 shots, 12 hits.

(hits for any individual will be considered accurate even if targets teleport/flicker out as long as it should have hit the body)

The mythology pasted all around John’s Room is worth a second trip, but off the top of my head I see the Bell Witch and Asmodeus from the Lesser Key of Solomon (near the motel door).

I’ll reblog later to add commentary on that.

47 notes · View notes

missholland · 4 years

Text

The Ending

I need to put it out there. I love The Untamed’s ending. Well, I especially love the feeling that ending left me. Although the whole process was like having my heart taken out, chopped in 100 pieces, stick back together with Light Bearing glue, and placed back in my chest. I was happy, sad, confused, excited, anxious, upset, hopeful, and moved.

I’ve watched a lot of Chinese historical fictions since a young age, as they were really popular in my country. It’s easy to end a drama with 2 main characters riding off to sunset together. What’s difficult is creating a final vision that stuck in the viewers’ minds for a very very long time. For whatever reason The Untamed crew decided to leave what we saw as the ending (I’d imagine they filmed a few different versions, and could only use what passed the censorship test set by the government), they’ve made it - they created an image that would stay with me as a viewer forever.

It would have made a bit more sense with further context. Lan Xichen’s isolation was not explicitly explained in the last episode. That might have kind of downplayed the importance of why LWJ had to stay back not only to take up the Excellency role but also take care of Lan clan - considering Grand Master Lan already retiring and just focusing on giving lectures and stuff now. But we all understand, although LWJ has broken quite a few rules just to stick by his soulmate WWX, it’s not that simple when it comes to walk away COMPLETELY from your family (and the family ‘business’ - typical oriental family pressure passed down from father/male authority figure to sons/nephews). On the other hand, WWX does not have the same problem. He already defected from Jiang clan in his previous life and parted way with Wen Ning (pretty much his other next of kin) in this life. So we would have thought the easiest solution is just for him to stay in Gusu - which, according to The Untamed Special Edition, was meant to be the ending despite the fact that the beginning of that episode (the ‘Aren’t you coming with me Lan Zhan?’ scene being re-arranged) made zero sense whatsoever.

Putting that aside, let’s just look at why it’s actually quite important for WWX to be away for a while. I’ve said this countless times and we all know very well, this man has been through SO FREAKING MUCH. If anyone deserves a vacation (apart from LWJ but I mean would the drama-version of LWJ actually going to take a holiday?), it’s him. Gusu retreat is not exactly ideal with all the rules and judgemental look/attitude from your boyfriend’s uncle. With LWJ being busy picking up with new role, WWX would be so BORED. Trust me, I did not gather all of this from my first watch because I was so emotionally confused by everything in episode 50. After a few more tries, this is more of a realistic view to justify why LWJ being pretty calm saying (temporary) goodbye to WWX on the mountain. The same man who hesitated chasing after NHS in Qinghe as he did not want to leave WWX’s side, and everything from that episode onward really. There’s NO way he would be THIS cool with letting WWX leave if he’s not confident that WWX will RETURN.

Similarly, after living through 2 lives being so dense about LWJ’s feelings, WWX has finally come to terms with how much he needs LWJ by his side - so much that he assumes it’s a fixed thing and completely forgets that LWJ has family stuff going on too - case in point ‘Where should we be going next Lan Zhan?’. It does seem like WWX cannot put a name to it yet though i.e. his feelings and everything.

Some time apart would definitely do both of them some good, and when WWX figures out his feelings, they will reunite at the same spot which is obviously right above Gusu waterfall. I should have read into the whole ‘When we meet again, you better tell me the name of the song’ bit a little deeper, as it would have neatly justified my point above. By the time WWX comes back (which he did, we saw it, it’s real) and ready to let LWJ know how he feels (off-screen, thanks a lot Chinese censorship), LWJ will follow by revealing the song name - WangXian. If that doesn’t scream LOVE confession, I don’t know what is. If you know any pair of brothers or simply close friends who compose a love song using their ship name, please educate me as heterosexually speaking that’s not something I’d do.

If you look at the big picture of how the ending is executed in the drama, it does parallel the novel’s ending in a way. The only major change is that instead of WangXian going off for a honeymoon right after eloping at the end of the Guanyin Temple event, WWX goes by himself while LWJ stays behind to get his house in order. If I remember correctly, they return to Gusu in the novel and settle, like, explicitly confirming Jing Shi as their home.

In the drama, WWX returns to the same meeting spot (again, just above Gusu waterfall), LWJ hears the signal song (his radar is as sharp as Google alert, let’s not forget episode 2 when he outruns JC to Dafan Mountain upon hearing WWX’s flute). He then rushes to the mountain top and reunites with his soulmate. 2 obvious facts: it was HIS VOICE calling Wei Ying, and WWX’s biggest happiest smile (NEVER saw him smile like this to anyone else throughout 50 episodes) as he’s overflown with joy.

We might have doubted ourselves watching this as we were just so emotionally invested in ROOTING for these two. But on a nice and calm day, watch it again and you will realize how OBVIOUS it is being a HAPPY ENDING. No hallucination nonsense, no need to zoom in WWX’s eyes to find the white figure. It’s as clear as day. They reunite, profess their feelings, and settle in Gusu.

You’ll see what I mean about loving the emotional rollercoaster this ending leaves you, that no ‘driving off to sunset together’ type of finale can deliver. Happy, sad, confused, excited, anxious, upset, hopeful, moved, and... satisfactorily complete.

Thank you The Untamed cast and crew your incredible hard work to bring us such a well crafted production and story that will stay in our heart forever <3

#wangxianweek2020 #wei ying #wei wuxian #yiling laozu #lan zhan #lan wangji #hanguang jun #wangxian #the untamed #chen qing ling #mo dao zu shi #ending #thoughts #xiao zhan #wang yibo #the untamed ending

434 notes · View notes

for-ests · 4 years

Note

In the mood for Tom x reader! Let’s say it’s date night, reader’s pick, and reader decides to watch Misery. Now Tom already isn’t a fan of horror movies but the plot of Misery really freaks him out especially since reader was a fan before they started dating and begins to have nightmares about reader based off the movie. Hopefully you’ve heard of this movie or at least glance over what it’s about, I think it’s awesome!

—❣—

What a unique request, so thank you anon! I highlighted the quote I used from the movie, but besides that everything else is original. I hope you like it!! Xx

Warnings: mild horror and violence (nightmare), mostly fluff

Word count: 2,420

—❣—

It had been weeks since you and Tom had been able to plan for a relaxing movie night. Though you were not a famous celebrity like him, you had your own tight schedule to work around.

After begging him over text, facetime, and in person multiple times, you had finally convinced your boyfriend to let you pick a horror movie to watch. Known to few people, Tom hated horror movies with a passion, but caved at the sight of your pouty lip and pleading eyes. You were an avid horror film viewer, so him taking one for your excitement meant a lot to you.

“Yes!” You cheered, pointing the remote towards the television in victory, immediately bringing up amazon prime to rent the first movie on your list: Misery. In your opinion, it was fairly mild on the gore and jump-scares, so your mentally wimpy boyfriend could possibly like it.

“Please go easy on me.” He sighed, sitting down next to you with a freshly popped bag of popcorn.

You instinctively snuggled up beside him. “I got just the movie, it's more creepy than scary.”

“How so?”

Chuckling, you bit your lip in a purposefully sinister manner. “Because to you, it’s relatable.”

Not that it was a secret, but before you and Tom had met and began officially dating, you had been a longtime fan of him and marvel in general. You were a well known commentator, youtuber, and artist in the marvel and comic community. A lot of your drawings included spider-man inspirations, and a couple years back when Tom was originally cast as Peter Parker, they began to include him. Somehow, the two of you had met at a party and hit it off immediately, with both of you already knowing of the other person.

Though you were an internet personality yourself, some people found it weird that you had created artwork of Tom before you had dated him. Tom had told you, and the media, multiple times that he thought it was sweet and admirable. It wasn’t just him that you had publicly promoted, and it wasn’t like you were obsessed with him. Sometimes the media ran on a single criticism and blew it far out of proportion. Now that you had been going strong for years, the thought of people becoming jealous that Tom was technically dating one of his ‘fans’ became a joke between the two of you, and your fanbases.

Well, it was also relatable to you. But something like the plot of this movie was far more likely to happen to him.

“I bet you have nightmares about encounters like this.”

He furrowed his eyebrows in a playful manner. “At least give me a brief summary.”

“Famous guy.” You whispered, leaning in closer. “Savior, who happens to be his biggest fan.” You darted your eyes to the front door in mock anticipation. “Kidnapping ensues.”

“Wow.” He shook his head, trying to hide the smile that was threatening to cross his face. “What great summarization skills you have.”

“Piss off!” You chuckled, giving him a weak shove until his laughter died down. You purchased the movie on amazon and turned it on immediately.

Though you wanted to see Tom afraid over something trivial like a horror movie filled with idiotic jump-scares, you knew this movie would have a deeper, lasting affect on him. Hopefully he would be scared enough to hold onto you for the entire night.

The beginning credits sounded through your TV's speakers and you snuggled deeper into the couch. “Lay your head down.” You smiled, taking a throw pillow and laying it across your thighs, Patting the fabric, you nudged Tom over.

Brown eyes twinkling, the nerves that Tom had felt passed as he laid his head in your lap.

The young man internally shuttered. He was a pretty reserved guy, who kept his private life… private. The thought that someone he had never met before knowing every single detail about his life unsettled him.

He watched the film with his utmost intention, because it was intriguing. The suspense began to take its toll though, as any movie based off a Stephen King novel would. Normally, he would tend to stay away from movies like that, His stomach couldn’t take it.

Especially this movie, one that made him think about situations that he would rather not imagine.

But as he glanced up at your face, your eyes wide and peaked with interest, he was happy you had convinced him. Any time he could, Tom wanted to please you- even with the little things.

Knowing it was growing late into the night, it was getting harder and harder for Tom to keep his attention focused. It was pretty much game over for him as you started to draw circles along the side of his arm, that began to reach up his neck and into his hair.

“This is a good part.” You whispered, alluding to a scene in the movie, where the captive, an author, finally realizes the ill intentions of his caretaker, his number one fan.

Your soothing movements began to pick up pace from your own anxious viewing habits. This caused Tom to shut his eyes for a moment and relish in the feeling. And before he knew it, he started to drift away as he focused on the peaceful strokes of your fingers through his hair.

You smirked deviously.

The unfamiliar glint in your eyes caused Tom’s stomach to drop. The second you were able to pin him down against the bed was the moment he seemed to lose all control. His arms felt incredibly heavy, and he couldn’t seem to move his legs.

“You look so sexy like this.” Your voice rang out all around his head, yet your lips did not move.

Your smaller, far more delicate frame, seemed to weigh a staggering amount, a number that caused his lungs to struggle for air. Your legs curled tighter around his torso, and you leaned forward to whisper in his ear.

“I finally have you right where I want you.”

This wasn’t you. This wasn’t the girl he had grown to love and cherish. You were unrecognizable. Had he really been so blind?

A manic chuckle vibrated through your body as you pulled out a pair of handcuffs out of thin air. With ease, you raised Tom’s hands above his head and shackled him to the headboard.

Had he been drugged?

“W-what are you doing?” He managed to choke out, yet it seemed that your touch could silence his frantic questioning. You ran your hands back down his arms and onto his chest. The sensations stimulating him to no end--even if there were alarm bells ringing in his ears--and he fell weak under your embrace. A sensual, loving embrace, that somehow felt foreign and unwanted.

Leaning down, you tilted your head and pressed your lips behind Tom’s ear, etching a moan from deep within his throat. The kiss started out gentle, but within a second, turned into a rough hickey, your tongue running along his jawline.

“I know where your favorite spots are.” Your voice echoed in a diabolical manner.

It was true, the deep breath you had drawn out of him proved it. Feeling your lips against his neck felt so right, yet every time he gazed into your eyes, the innocence and adornment they once held was replaced with something dark and unrecognizable.

You knew right where to kiss him, as if you had done it hundreds of times before. But Tom’s scrambled mind screamed that you had never kissed him there before, and that he had never admitted to enjoy foreplay like this.

Why couldn’t he move?

“Wait,” Tom’s eyes opened and he gazed at you with caution. “How did you know that?”

The same wicked smile you brandished the moment he had lost control appeared back on your face. Whatever was happening, you were enjoying it far too much. “I know everything about you.”

“No you don’t.” He whispered. “Why would you say-”

Your unfamiliar laugh interrupted his moment of realization. “I knew everything about you before you had even met me. How did you think I was able to make you fall in love with me? Because I knew how to make you.”

Suddenly, Tom was able to move his arms and legs again. He struggled against the shackles, but he couldn’t break free. The grip you had on his arms restricted, tightening further every time he tried to move.

“What the hell, Y/N? Let me go!”

“No, I can’t do that.” Your grip loosened, but that was only so you could move down and bound his legs before he could make sense of your true intentions. You looked like a stranger to Tom now. Again, he was too shocked to move, too shocked that he had let his guard down and let someone like you into his life. “I can’t let you go, cause you’re going to leave me for someone better. Someone prettier, someone more famous.”

“Who said I was going to do that?” Tom tried to reason, feeling fear creep into his mind for the first time. Now he knew you weren’t kidding.

“Really, it doesn’t matter.” You mused, pulling the restraints tighter against his skin that was already starting to grow irritated. “I am your number one fan. There is nothing to worry about. You are going to be just fine. I am your number one fan.”

You crawled off of him, smoothing out the floral dress that you had put on for the evening. One that you had never worn before. One that he couldn’t recognize. Just like the color of your eyes that had seemed to be replaced with the deepest, most pure shade of black.

“Now that I have you, I can’t let you escape.”

Smiling as if Tom had confessed his undying love, you revealed a butcher knife that was intended to disable him.

“You’re mine,Tom. And nobody else's.”

As you studied the knife in the palm of your hand, the sharp edges glinted under the dim lighting. Smirking, you gripped the handle.

“You don’t have to do that!” Tom’s eyes widened as your true intentions were revealed. “Please, please Y/N you don’t need to do this.”

“But I do.” Your eyes studied his ankles, and where the easiest part to amputate his feet would be. “I’m your number one fan.”

You weren’t making sense, your voice void of all previous emotion.

“No, I’m not going to leave you anyways!” He tried to plead one last time, though he could tell that you had already made up your mind. To his dismay, tears started to stream down his cheeks. He was frightened, he didn’t want to lose his feet, he didn’t want to lose his life. For what purpose? So you could have him all to yourself? “Please!” Tom cried. “I already love you, so there’s no need for this!”

Your head shot up at his words. And before he could process the expression that flickered across your face, you raised the knife above your head, right in the path of his ankle.

“Liar.”

You knew Tom had fallen asleep. But he looked so peaceful and content for the remaining second half of the movie, that you didn’t want to wake him.

Switching you attention back to the screen, for the remaining hour you had let him sleep through it.

You were entirely engrossed with the movie, as you usually were, but as you heard Tom’s breath sharply intake as if he was afraid, you finally glanced his way to study his face.

His eyes were closed, on the verge of squeezing in pain. The expression he wore displayed discomfort as he muttered your name.

Was he having a nightmare?

It was time to wake him up anyways. You needed to stretch your legs, and the movie had just ended.

“Tom?” You nudged him softly, his eyebrows crinkling with worry. “Tom!” You repeated more forcefully.

Suddenly, he jumped up from your lap, almost falling off the couch. He gasped, turning to you with wide eyes.

“Calm down!” You giggled, raising your hand to cover your smile, a habit you couldn’t seem to fall out of. “It’s just me.”

Instead of making him afraid, the gesture calmed him. He wasn’t dreaming anymore. He was back with your normal, loving self. You gave him a look of confusion. You had never witnessed a nightmare from him before. Because of how panicked he looked for that brief moment, you suddenly felt guilty. Perhaps this was the reason he didn’t want to watch a horror movie in the first place.

“Thank God.” He muttered, raising his own hands to his face so he could tiredly rub at his eyes.

“Are you okay?”

“What?” He sighed. “Yeah, I just had a really weird dream.”

“About…?” You pried.

“You.” He laughed, meeting your eyes and shaking his head with embarrassment. “It was stupid.”

“Looked like you were having a nightmare.” You pointed out.

Knowing he was going to have to tell you no matter what, Tom decided to be straight up and admit what he had dreamed about. “You were my crazy fan.” He said, realizing how idiotic he was acting to be afraid of something that would never happen. But the dream had felt so real. For a moment, his brain decided to make him picture what it would be like if you were a completely different person.

As he explained his dream, he studied your face. You watched him intently, and when he finished, your adorable smiled came right back. “I didn’t know I could be scary.” You chuckled, standing up from the couch to grab your glass of water.

“Well, let’s get to bed shall we?” You held your hand out. “You seem pretty tired anyways.”

“Yeah.” Tom agreed. “I can’t wait to hold your psycho ass all night.”

“Oh?” You teased. “Watch your back mate, or your dream might just come true.”

You tried to mimic an evil, devilish laugh that so many villains in superhero films did, but all that came out was something that caused Tom to fall even more in love with you.

“Hehehehe…” You grinned, waiting for his reaction, a sheepish blush dusting your cheeks when the silence stretched on for a moment too long.

He finally smiled. “You’re a loser.” Tom whispered in your ear, before he pressed a kiss on your cheek. “Let's get to bed, darling.”

#tom holland x reader #tom holland imagine #tom holland one shot #tom holland #tom holland fluff

98 notes · View notes

pieswhump · 4 years

Text

Whumptober #3-

Warnings- food mention, but otherwise none, I think.

This piece is a direct sequel to my first whumptober piece.

Nico stayed in the office the whole day, with someone coming by to feed him around lunch. He wasn’t unchained, so he had to eat like a dog. He felt humiliated, his head pounding and his stomach churning.

He dozed all day, but properly fell asleep at around what he guessed was ten. He had no reliable way to tell time, relying on instinct. Thankfully, he was given a thin blanket. The man had left after his cryptic statement about Nico being a good present.

Unfortunately, or perhaps, fortunately, he didn’t have to wonder long.

The next day, he was awoken by footsteps down the hall. Two sets. The footsteps continued until they reached his room, and Nico’s heartbeat picked up speed.

The two strangers opened the door, and Nico’s heart plummeted. It was the man from before, and a stranger. Nico memorized his appearance, too.

Pale skin, straight dark brown hair cut in that one rich people hairstyle, swept to the side. His ears were pierced. He looked younger than the other man, around his age. Nico figures they were father and son. He looked surprised, and Nico noted another family resemblance- the man’s son had bright red eyes. His were more like the color of strawberries, however. Interesting.

The man grinned. “Do you like him?”

The son looked confused. “What’s this?”

Nico felt a spike of hatred for them both. Not who’s this, what’s this. Like he was simply an object.

The man continued. “Well, it’s your birthday today. You’re twenty-one, so I figured you deserved something new. A real challenge, not pre-broken ones.”

The son’s face lit up. “Really?! When did you get him?”

“Dane picked him up two nights ago. Happy birthday, Reed.”

All at once, Nico realized what he had meant by present. He was to be his son’s… servant? He wasn’t sure, but regardless, it wasn’t something he wanted to be.

Reed smiled at his father, and bent down so he was level with Nico. He shied away slightly. “What’s your name, little one?”

Nico growled. “I’m twenty fucking years old. I’m not little.”

To Nico’s irritation, Reed laughed. “Fine. My question stands- what’s your name?”

He didn’t want to answer but… “Nico.”

“Well Nico, I have a feeling we’re going to get along swimmingly.”

“I have a feeling I’m going to hate your guts.”

Reed stood up and smiled at his dad. “I like him.”

His dad chuckled a little. “He’s a little skittish, but fierce. Afraid of physical contact but not of verbal confrontation.”

Nico snarled, and Reed glanced at him. “Hush.”

He went silent, hating himself for it. But it was better to play along and try to get out of here than retaliate and die here.

Reed seemed to realize something. “Do you think he’ll play nice?”

His father thought for a second. “I don’t know. It could go either way- he could lash out, or be scared of him.”

Reed snorted. “He wouldn’t harm a fly.”

His father shrugged. “Maybe not, but your other one tends to be clingy from what I’ve heard. If he doesn’t like touch, he could become scared.”

Reed wrinkled his nose, muttering to himself. “I hate it when you’re right.”

His father laughed. “Well, want to get him ready? You’re live in about a half hour.”

Reed swore under his breath. “Do you have the key?”

He smirked, handing a small, silver key to Reed. He took it, unlocking the padlock that kept him chained to the ground.

Nico stood up, unsteady on his feet. He lurched forward, trying to bite at Reed.

Reed stepped back, his jovial smile hardening into a glare. "Well if you don't calm down, then you won't get unhooked and we'll be late."

Nico glared back. "Who fucking cares if we're late?"

"Well I do, for one. And so do my viewers."

Reed rolled his eyes. “Stay still. Or today will be much worse.”

Nico didn’t know what to make of the threat, but he certainly didn’t like it. So, he stayed still, glaring at Reed.

Reed sighed, and unhooked the lock that kept the chain attached to his cuffs, then removed the chain. He relocked the cuff together, humming under his breath.

Nico didn’t move, despite his brain screaming at him to do something, to fight back.

Reed smiled. “Good.”

He took hold of Nico’s wrist, the touch sending jolts of electricity up Nico’s arm. Reed started leading Nico out the hallway, and Nico drank in the sights to escape later.

The hallway was wide, with the same flooring as the office. The walls were white. They passed by a large window, and Nico saw a large and well-manicured lawn with flower beds leading up to what he imagined was the door. Apparently, they were in a mansion.

Reed took a sharp turn down some steps, and Nico stumbled. Reed glanced back at him. “Be careful.”

Nico glared and ignored him. Reed sighed and turned back around, leading him downstairs. The lighting was getting progressively darker, and while Nico wouldn’t admit it, he was a little spooked. They passed by a door about halfway through, which Nico figured led to the first floor.

They got to the bottom of the staircase, where there was a large wooden door. Reed opened it, leading Nico inside.

Inside was a concrete room, with a small platform towards the back. On the platform was a chest containing things he didn’t want to know about. There was a camera and a computer on a table in front of it, the camera facing the platform. There were two other men, but they didn’t spare Nico a glance. On the platform was a kneeling boy, around twenty or so. Reed looked surprised to see him, leading Nico onto the platform.

“Jac! What’re you doing here?”

The boy glanced up at Reed, doe-eyed. His eyes were bright green, almost startling. “Um… Mr. Raymond brought me down here. He said you couldn’t for today.”

Reed grinned. “Well apparently, I was getting a present. Jac, this is Nico!”

Nico glanced away, not sure how to respond.

Reed sighed. “Fine. Nico, knees.”

“What?”

Jac looked afraid, and Reed glared. He let go of Nico’s wrist, setting his hand on Nico’s head and shoving. He stumbled, landing on his knees. Nico winced, swearing under his breath.

Reed grinned. “Good.”

Nico felt hatred for this man course through his veins like blood. Reed glanced at the other two men. “We ready?”

One of them checked his watch, moving behind the camera, and nodded. He did a countdown from five on his hands, and Nico heard the undeniable sound of a camera whirring on.

Reed grinned. “Hello and welcome to the Bourdell family stream! As our more frequent viewers might be aware, today is my birthday, and my father has gotten me a wonderful present!”

Reed tousled Nico’s hair, grinning wider still as Nico glared at the camera with all of the vitriol he felt for Reed and his father. He was screwed.

#whumptober2020 #no.3 #forced to their knees #oc #Reed Bourdell: Perfect Son #Jac Krane: Broken #Nico Dowey: Defiant #fic #food mention tw

4 notes · View notes

rkjinwook · 4 years

Photo

• • • STARTING LIVE!

02AUG2020 | 🐥 JINWOOK’S HAPPY BIRTHDAY 🥳 🥳 DURATION | 1:02:22

it’s a cute set, albeit typical for this kind of broadcast. the staff have provided jinwook with a fixed camera framing his mini birthday table, complete with multicolored balloons decorating the back wall. there’s a small tablet to monitor the stream and comment feed, which jinwook fiddles with as he waits. in retrospect, he thinks it would’ve been nicer to hold a more casual conversation with fans for his first solo live, but that might just be the nerves talking.

he fills the silence with music, his guitar in his lap. it’s an everyday sight, but jinwook realizes most fans won’t have heard him play much, so he takes care to warm up cleanly, and warm up his vocals too. he only alternates between a few simple chords, though. it’s the sort of background music he used to hear when he’d occasionally attend church services with eve. as jinwook plays he imagines an audience quietly filing in, taking their seats at his birthday party as they each receive the live notification. finally the staff motions for jinwook that the actual video is starting, and he rests the instrument in his lap, out of view for now.

“hello! i’m convex’s sunshine, jinwook.” the greeting is bright and familiar as he dips his head toward the camera. it’s unlikely that the viewers, who arrived so early from a notification, don’t know his name, but it can’t hurt to start off formally. “today is my birthday! yay!!” also evident from the title and the backdrop. jinwook gives himself a round of applause anyway. then he picks up a party hat from the table and slips the cone over his head. “tada~”

“since we can’t meet in person, i wanted to greet you all with a live today to celebrate.” there’s a pause as jinwook adjusts the thin elastic of the party hat. he takes a breath. “last year, hmm...” he taps a finger to his cheek as he thinks back. “oh, last year i made cupcakes! i was helping our team sphere on the mgas.. so i couldn’t meet consta that time, either.” jinwook hums in thought, suddenly a bit nostalgic about his time as a coach. he shakes his head. “so i’m excited to try this out now.”

“let’s see...” he says, quickly moving on, “is everyone settling in here alright?” he peers over the tablet and rests a finger over the chat to pause its scrolling speed. the amount of viewers is staggering and the number only keeps rising, but jinwook focuses on the individual users sending messages instead. it’s a relief to see the majority in his native language. “hello and hello and hello,” he says, reading off a string of usernames and greeting each one individually, “and thank you for coming, and thank you for coming, and thank you for coming~!”

when jinwook releases his finger from the screen, the chat jumps back to life, shifting too quickly to read. he frowns and tries to pause it again. it takes some concentration to read off the unusual username combinations, but he does his best.

💬 : happy bday 🥳 🥳 🥳 💬 : you look handsome!!! 💬 : happy birthday oppa~ 💬 : thank you for being born 💖🎁🎁 💬 : bare faced jinwook is the best!

“ah, thank you~ hello!! thank you too~ thank you for being by my side! oh! this one...” jinwook is startled into a laugh at the last comment, bringing a hand over his mouth. when he drops his hand he shows his full face to the camera, grinning. “this is definitely not bare faced jinwook, but, still i appreciate you thinking so~”

as he tries to keep reading, he tilts his head and squints. many of the messages are just full of celebrating emoji or animated emotes. it’s less to parse, but more noise to sort through. “ah, so much emoji in chat, you all must’ve learned from me, huh...” he muses.

after another minute he leans back again, his nerves settled. well, jinwook’s never had much trouble even talking to himself, so it shouldn’t surprise him that speaking to a bustling chat window comes naturally, too.

💬 : did you have a good day so far?

“i’m happy today!” jinwook answers confidently. “my grandmother always wakes up early on sunday mornings, so i called her on the way to practice! and later tonight i’m going to video call with my family. actually i told my sister what time i was going live, so she might be listening too?” jinwook squints back down at the tablet and bites his lower lip. “ah, the chat is going way too fast to tell...”

💬 : where are the other members!!

“hmm, training?” jinwook grins. “i’m taking a break to talk for right now~ but we are all working very hard otherwise!” he shares another smile, proud of himself for not mentioning anything further - although if his eyes sparkle, he can’t be held responsible. “they might stop by at the end!”

“that reminds me!” jinwook reaches below the table for his bag, pulling out a fresh journal that jaehyun had gifted him in the morning. he holds it up for the camera, proudly showing off the nice foil accents and the fold-out attachment. “my roommate, haru, got me this really pretty notebook. it’s supposed to work as a real midi keyboard.” jinwook’s runs his fingers over the cover. “he has good timing since i am almost out of pages in my old notebook... i’m excited to use it.”

💬 : oppa’s hair is cool today!

“my hair, ah..” jinwook reaches absently to touch it, pleased. “it grew!” it’s worn longer than it was for pretty u era, freshly dyed and parted down the middle. he’s lucky he’s even allowed to have it showing for the live right now, since it’s a similar shade to his old cut. “i’m kind of happy, since it feels healthy recently...” he chuckles a little, the compliment leading him to another train of thought.

“speaking of cool, consta, did you guys see our call me baby special stage last week?” jinwook looks up to the camera and leans in, curious. “the concept was slightly darker for us, since unit black is so, you know... cool.” jinwook gestures vaguely but laughs at the understatement. it’s not a big enough word to describe some of the biggest superstars in the industry. “we have songs like rock but it’s different from convex‘s usual image, maybe,” he adds thoughtfully, knowing full well that their next comeback is inching in that direction. “do you think we suited it well?”

💬 : convex is cool too!

jinwook nods, pleased by the positive responses in the chat. “so it was okay, then?” he laughs a little because of course, they’re all biased fans and he asked for it on his birthday, but it’s still reaffirming. “mmm, it still felt a bit refreshing and funky like convex, too. so i think there can be a middle ground,” he says, as if simply imagining how things could evolve in the future. “something smooth like that stage?”

something smooth. jinwook’s thinking of crazy in love, specifically, but the title song itself is an even bigger departure from their pretty u sound and aesthetic. “ah..” he shakes his head with a sheepish grin, “i think i’m rambling a lot.” jinwook takes a dramatic deep breath and collects his thoughts.

then he shifts away from the tablet to pull up the guitar in his lap. “i wanted to answer a lot of messages, but i actually prepared a song for you, too.” he strums a bright chord for emphasis. “it’s nothing fancy but i thought consta would maybe enjoy something like this. so i don’t have to sing happy birthday to myself, or anything,” he jokes.

🎵 : heartz / minhee&luda — i’ll be there

“this is one of my favorite songs recently! i thought it would be nice for our fans, too.” it’d been an easy choice when jinwook was preparing for this stream. it’s a recent sphere release, plus he’s been listening to and singing the song since it came out, so he already knew most of the words. still, jinwook pulls up the lyrics on the tablet just in case. since he frames it as a fan song, there’s no need to change the gendered parts, although he doesn’t think he would have bothered, either way.

jinwook only slows the tempo and lowers the key slightly to fit his guitar and his voice. the song has a different energy with an acoustic guitar instead of the bouncy synths, but it’s just as sweet and upbeat. he takes his time, singing all the way through both verses and two choruses.

just before the bridge, jinwook trails off with a little smile. “ah, i just practiced up until here so far...” he keeps strumming idly as he leans over the tablet again. the comments flood with cheers that jinwook only can read some pieces of. it feels good, though, and jinwook feels confident about the vibe.

he watches several prying questions about heartz fly by in response, and carefully doesn’t acknowledge any of them. “of course i’ve been cheering for heartz,” is all he says. “i really liked around you and vivid also! and i’m excited for the next singles released this week, too.”

💬 : please a convex song next!!

“oh,” he says, “a convex song?” jinwook takes a break, first, to roll out his wrists. then he hums in thought, searching for something he could play on the spot. “do you remember this one?”

🎵 : convex — 20

he transitions into a familiar guitar intro. long-time fans might recognize it as the vocal unit song from convex’s debut album, but jinwook is pleased to introduce it to anyone else who’s unfamiliar. personally, he thinks it has held up pretty well over the past two years. “shh—” he mimics the sharp first line, then smiles as he continues strumming and begins to sing.

the song proves difficult to solo, and jinwook wishes he’d thought to prepare more material ahead of time. a medley could’ve been nice, but with all of the comeback preparations going on..... instead jinwook giggles as he trips over the lyrics, attempting the first verse’s backing and lead vocals both together. “hm..” he mumbles, glancing up at the camera. he casually redoes the section to make a decent recovery, and the chorus soars as intended.

“ah...” says jinwook wistfully after he eases to a stop, “i’ll have to come back to that one someday. that one is nice to sing to consta, too. i always liked the lyrics a lot. you’re my twenties~”

he taps his fingers against the body of the guitar and is reminded of the special day. “but today my twenties are officially half-over, aren’t they? wah... scary....”

twenty-five. he stares blankly toward the tablet, thinking he should follow up: then i’ll just spend the second half of my twenties with consta!

these days, though, it feels like an unfair promise to make.

💬 : like a gorilla like a gorilla!

his eye catches on one of the suggestions breezing down the chat window, and it interrupts his brooding with a burst of laughter. “gorilla? de:code’s gorilla?” he repeats. he tries a few chords but they’re not in the right key, and jinwook grins as he puts away his guitar on its stand. “i don’t know, that one would be an interesting acoustic cover.” he sings a little phrase of it anyway, a random adlib from the ending: “girl you make me feel~!”

“but!” he points a finger at the camera, not wanting his opinions to be twisted. “maybe one day i could cover their song beautiful, or i’m fine from predebut!”

💬 : what are you listening to recently?

“hmm... what is new?” jinwook absently adjusts his elastic party hat elastic and pulls out his phone. “i like lee hi’s holo! per_se have a nice summer album.. with o sole mio, and of course...” jinwook hits a pretty falsetto as he opens the music app: “this is how i feel about you, twilight~”

“it’s like twilight, yeah~” he flicks through his playlist and wonders if he should just share screenshots of the whole thing on fancafe. “ah, and eclipse’s comeback!” he adds. “look, isn’t the album cover pretty?” his screen is probably illegible, when he holds it up close to show the camera, but at least his enthusiasm is clear. “i like their night side the best, with that unique rock sound...” jinwook pauses, and reconsiders. “actually, navillera was totally my style, too.” he shakes his head and grins. “eclipse is definitely cool no matter what.”

💬 : it is already 4 in the morning here why 😭

english. jinwook has glazed over every message in foreign languages but he laughs at this one. he trips over a stilted reading of the comment, and quickly switches back to korean to answer. “i’m sorry ahh, next time i have to think of different timezones, right?” he tilts his head. “mm, it seems impossible to find a good time for everyone all around the world? but i’m happy you could visit with me for even a little bit. please make sure to rest well~” as an afterthought, he finishes in english: “and goodnight~”

💬 : can you show a rap verse?

“rapping?” jinwook’s eyes light up at the suggestion, and he laughs out loud. “can i tell a secret?” it’s not the right question to ask, judging by the staff’s reaction. but jinwook leans in sneakily, and continues despite their concerned looks. “we tried to switch parts for adore u once, so i learned seungcheol’s rap! that choi seungcheol,” he says with a grin, “has pretty good expressions on stage these days... his parts are fun! i like practicing his pretty u verse, too.”

he tells the story casually, although that part switch was not just boredom in the practice rooms, but an official planned anniversary release. that weekend in incheon is still a fond memory despite the disappointment of never getting to see the final edit.

he rolls his shoulders. “anyway, i don’t have the nice low voice for it, but there is a little melody to his parts a lot of the time...” jinwook postures up for full effect and puts on his best rapper expression. “how can you dazzle so much? you’re so pretty it’s—”

it’s probably for the best that he is interrupted by a loud knock and a rowdy chorus of happy birthday starting right outside the door.

➡️ : continued in part two...

#& sns #&& vlive #rkvlive #& solo #&& 07.20 #wc / 2500

4 notes · View notes

steve0discusses · 4 years

Text

Yugioh S4 Ep 14 Pt1: Rex and Weevils Ultimate Betrayal No One Gave a Damn About

Just finished watching the Superbowl, which I never ever do, and it was VERY confusing and I thought I remembered this sport but I did not. I don’t know what’s happening. I do not understand how Kansas City got that field goal on San Fransisco when their feet never touched the goal line. So, I’m just gonna...change gears completely and wrap up this long post about a VERY complicated anime that came out before some of y’all were born, instead. Today I just really wanted to feel lost.

Last episode, Yugi (the main character of the show, the one this show is named after) hella died, and Rex and Weevil decided to leave the party very, very quickly.

You’d think that the one event (Yugi’s dead) would have to do with the other event (getting the hellllll away), considering how rude and judgy Yami is, but they actually left for cards. They accidentally did a very wise decision in order to do something incredibly stupid and cancel out any wisdom they showed in pedaling as fast as they could possibly pedal away from the reincarnated ghost who just very suddenly achieved full control of a human body.

They accidentally pedaled away from every Mummy movie super villain and somehow ended up with a much more worse villain.

Like I say that this whole season is about Yugi’s crazy commute, but Rex and Weevil’s commute has just been so much more. They are just clinging to whatever vehicle is near them in order to find these legendary cards sitting somewhere in American Soil. They are so ambivalent to all the very real world terrible problems around them because they’re PRETTY SURE they’re gonna get rich. It’s like the Gold Rush but with helicopters.

Also the 49ers never rode tandem bikes, but you know they would’ve if they could’ve.

And for some, weird reason, Rafeal decides not to pick them up under his arms and toss them directly onto an unsuspecting Joey Wheeler like he just did with Yugi. Rafael and Alister decided...nah...I’ll keep these strange small manchildren.

It seems really off brand for Rafael and Alister but maybe they just got too tired to deal with it right now.

Speaking of tired--this horse.

I mean I’ll do the math eventually--not this post but maybe the next one I just did a lot of math trying to remember why the hell it’s 6 points for a goal in football--but this horse that we estimated would take over 20 days to ride to Death Valley just rode all the way back in the same day. Congratulations horse, the strongest force in all of Yugioh, (second to Yugi’s neck, holding that 70 lb necklace at all hours of the day.)

The girls seem to think that everything is OK initially, mostly because Yugi doesn’t really lose games that often, since the list of ways to beat Yugi in a card game up until now didn’t include “trick Yami into murdering the hell out of Yugi Muto.” Crazy that that actually worked, but Yami isn’t that bright.

PS please admire how chubby this horse appears in this scene.

OK I’m glad we all acknowledged the elephant in the room that was a horse last shot.

Also...maybe he didn’t hug her back because she just shoved a very sharp pyramid necklace straight into his small intestines?

(more under the cut)

I’ll spare you Transatlantacism this time.

Tea is concerned but more surprised than straight up angry. An anger which is more honed by Rebecca because Yami just killed her only friend (other than this horse) and possibly her only future husband that would ever put up with her (other than this horse.)

Like it seems kind of rude in the show out of context that everyone took a moment to lay a big dump on Yami Muto, but can you imagine if you straight up killed your twin (by accident but only by like 75% accident, lets be real) and this was your only punishment?

Like getting punched out is just how Yami treats himself every single day, so I don’t think Joey made too much of a difference in the situation. But you know, it’s Yugioh, so getting punched does is somehow the correct answer.

It was very lucky for Yami that Tea was too busy trying to console Rebecca to punch Yami before Joey got to him first because hot damn that would have sent him straight back to Death Valley.

And then I think this next exchange between Duke and Tristan was somewhat lost in translation. Please admire the censorship here. Safe for kids now.

I say this like a joke but have you seen Equinox? I live in the Bay, so trust me. Equinox is absolutely reviving the Great Leviathan. No doubt in my mind.

Anyway, Rafael and Alister hear Rex and Weevil’s plea to join the evil task force and they’re like...

...yeah, I guess you can apply, why not? No need to interview your or anything before we harass Darts with you.

Like Rafael and Alister were completely bonkers children that were driven to insanity by very extreme circumstances, and then there’s Rex and Weevil. They’re just...kind of middling at cards and that’s it.

But sure, yeah, I’m sure they’ll fit right into the completely maniacal card corporate atmosphere here at DartsCorp. I’m sure Rex and Weevil will jump out of a plane on a motorcycle and then do stunts all the way towards Atlantis Island.

Sure.

(course, now that I think of it, they did introduce themselves to Alister and Rafael by accidentally doing a stunt over a canyon onto a helicopter so...maybe they accidentally think Rex and Weevil are cool?)

Which, in hindsight, makes Mai make a hell of a lot more sense because y’all, they should be SO distracted right now, and shouldn’t let anyone in here who isn’t insane or insanely good at cards. But instead they’re like...I guess you have a duel disk, you’ll work. It’s not like there’s a line of people at the door.

Anyway, because the show has to acknowledge that there might be new viewers, they do their best to try and explain this very lengthy Yugi mechanic as if we’ve never heard it before and honestly, it just sounded like everyone was very frustrated.

Like for reals what is he wearing?

Why are there so few normal ass suits in Yugioh? Why is KAIBA the only person who knows what colors belong on a fitted suit? (And he just wears white, which isn’t a color and is always very safe but youknow it still boggles my mind that the power suit people are so into very friendly soft pastels from Gozaburo, to Pegasus, to Noah, to Darts.)

I would wear this suit to Easter Sunday. Darts just wears it every day.

And so then we get a little insight into what it takes to become an Orichalcos card champion.

While before, Darts just kinda poked Mai in the forehead and she was instantly imbued with Aqua Green Evilness, he decided to do a weird test on Rex and Weevil. Just to make sure they realllllly wanted to be here.

As if they didn’t stow away in a 18 hour flight stuffed into a handbag, hold in their piss for said 18 hours, then get shipped by accident to the Tenderloin, where they were mugged twice, and then get shoved into the trunk of Duke’s car, and then took a broken tandem bike to the hottest desert in America, where they then rode said bike off of a cliff in order to hang onto a flying helicopter.

Like I think this test was unnecessary, I think they want to be here.

But youknow, I think Darts just wanted to torture em for kicks.

And then Rex and Weevil have to grab two of these Oricalchos stones that were farting special effects and were very, very opposed to being owned by Rex and Weevil. But they managed to do it.

And uh congrats--their betrayal has begun!

And I don’t think anyone else on this show even recognized that they freakin left. Like they just kinda disappeared in Death Valley and then Duke was like “eh. They’ll find their way home.”

Kind of incredible that Joey and friends left these two stranded in Death Valley, That alone should have killed Rex and Weevil and like...Wow. Wow is Joey and co such a freakin asshole.

So don’t leave people stranded in Death Valley, they will join a card cult and freakin kill you. If the insane heat doesn’t kill them first.

And then because...I don’t know...I don’t know why, after sending his best and brightest fighters, Darts decided to downgrade and do this:

(based on a true story where a friend of mine worked as an intern in the city, and because they couldn’t pay him a living wage, he lived in a closet at said startup for nearly 2 years. Start-up culture is pretty real, folks, it’s PRETTY REAL. But, on the bright side, at least they had a shower in-house.)

So, I’m gonna go remove my contacts and try to forget how much queso I ate at that Superbowl party.

It was a lot of queso.

and if you just got here, this is a handy link to read these from the start.

PS anyone else pull the Yugioh fest in PAD? Because I have played this game...a lot over the course of 5 years and saved up over 300 free stones for several months in anticipation for this collab and then I pulled Kuriboh about 15 times. Most of you have no idea what that means, but for some of you out there, your heart just broke for me 15 times. (I did get 2 Yugis so I’m fine, but damn it) Then, bro saved up his stones and pulled Seto Kaiba, Marik, and Bakura all in a row. Freakin gotcha games, man. Freakin gotcha games.

#Yugioh #ygo #photo recap #episode recap #yami #yami muto #joey wheeler #tristan taylor #darts #rex and weevil #alister #rafael #duke devlin #tea gardner #S4 #Ep14 #rebecca hawkins #copernicus the horse

23 notes · View notes

unfolded73 · 5 years

Text

How Do We Get Back (1/16) - schitt’s creek ff

(AO3 link)

Summary: In a literal alternate universe where the Roses escaped financial ruin, David and Patrick struggle with loneliness and a sense that something isn’t right. A chance meeting in New York and a terrible tragedy drive them to question whether the timeline they are on is the right one.

Notes: I'm really excited to start posting this fic which has been obsessing me for a few weeks. Thanks to @j-philly-b for being my New York-native nit-picker - pizza fight forever. See notes at the end for warnings about plot elements in this fic ... or don't if you prefer not to know.

Rating will be explicit in later chapters. This chapter 3.5k words.

______________________________

Soft music played from somewhere, infused into the space like just the right amount of an expensive perfume: not enough to draw attention to itself, but enough to help round out the aesthetic with taste and class. The white walls positively glowed under warm, carefully selected lighting, offering a contrast to the pieces on offer to buyers. Minimalist and spare, every item was lovingly placed by the owner in exactly the perfect spot to highlight its assets and mask its flaws. It was why buyers went out of their way to come here, or so the proprietor had been told in more prosperous days.

“Tell me about this sculpture,” said a woman in a severe suit and a severe haircut and impossibly high heels.

David Rose, the gallerist she was addressing, put his hands together in an obsequious manner and walked over to stand at her side. Her command had come without the courtesy of turning and looking at him; rather with the expectation that she would get a prompt response — she was the kind of woman who always got a prompt response.

“This is another exciting piece by Devonaé Streeter. She works out of New York now, but after a few months in Prague—”

“I don’t want to hear about the artist. Tell me about the work.”

David squinted an eye at the bronze sculpture, standing its solitary vigil on a white pedestal. He imagined the… woman? it depicted was looking back at him, or would have been if she had more than empty eye sockets to look at him with. He launched into his patter.

“Devonaé’s bronze works often challenge the viewer to look past the grotesque features of the art to see the grotesque features in themselves. This particular figure is an allegory for the way in which we fail to recognize each other’s pain, and I think—”

The woman turned on her heel and walked away, dismissing him and the statue with one quick wave of her hand. She turned her attention to the art on the walls, scanning over the canvasses quickly. David could almost see the calculations going on behind her eyes, like a scrolling ticker on a cable business news show. She wasn’t here to appreciate the art, she was here to find something to invest in. Most of them were, especially people like her.

“Tell me about that one,” she said, pointing to the largest canvas.

David winced. He would have taken the painting in question down a while ago, or perhaps never would have hung it in the first place, if he weren’t hurting a little bit for artists these days. And of course if he hadn’t signed a contract. He’d met Carmen at a party, and okay yes, she’d seemed a little crazy at the time but he’d assumed that was because of all the drugs they were taking. He’d agreed to display her art in his gallery. Now, months later, not a single one of the paintings had ever sold.

Clearing his throat, David said, “Carmen Herrera. She has a… unique vision, as you can see from this piece.” He focused on the track lighting above the painting as he talked; he’d never been able to look at this piece without developing an anxious flutter in his stomach. “It is intended to shock, of course. The worshippers…” He let his eyes glance over the blood-soaked imagery, wondering why he was bothering. This woman was never going to buy one of Carmen’s paintings. “The worshippers hurt themselves and each other at the behest of their goddess.” He gestured vaguely upward.

“Mictēcacihuātl,” the woman murmured.

“Umm… bless you?”

“The Aztec goddess of death,” she explained, still staring at the painting.

“Oh, uhh, yes exactly,” he vamped. “Personally, I’ve always thought the worshippers represent the American electorate, voting against their own self interest because of the lies politicians tell them.” He didn’t really think that. He wasn’t sure Carmen could have said, if pressed, who the President of the United States even was. But he gave potential buyers this line, figuring they might recoil a little less from the painting if they thought it was allegorical.

The sharp-suited woman couldn’t seem to take her eyes off of it. “No, I don’t think that’s what it’s about,” she said. Then she turned to him. “I’ll take it.”

David gaped at her for a second before he recovered enough to respond. “Yes, of course.”

After several minutes of dealing with the payment and shipping, tasks that always made David’s palms sweat with anxiety that he’d screw up some detail of the transaction, the woman was gone and the gallery was quiet as a tomb — its usual state. David sighed and looked up at Carmen’s terrifying painting. “See you never, you creepy fucker.”

He walked back into his office and pulled out his phone. Opening Instagram, David scrolled aimlessly through posts by celebrities and influencers, many of whom he had met and a few of whom he had fucked. When no images of his sister appeared after a few minutes of scrolling, he pulled up her profile and checked her last post — two days ago, which was very unlike Alexis. David’s heart started to hammer in his chest with familiar worry for his sister. He checked the time and counted forward. It would be close to midnight in Italy, probably as good a time as any to catch her on her phone.

Hey r u ok? he texted, and then spent a full minute watching for any sign of a return message before he clicked off the screen and tossed the phone onto his desk with a huff. Then when that dramatic gesture didn’t give him a result, he picked his phone up again, just in time for it to vibrate with an incoming call. He almost dropped it.

Seeing who was calling, David almost let it go unanswered, but at the last second he tapped the screen. “Hi, Dad.”

“David, how are you?” His father’s voice was always confident and booming, as if he could summon happiness if he just projected from his diaphragm. David held the phone away from his ear with a wince, and then put it on speaker before setting it down.

“Fine. Why are you calling me?”

“Do I need a reason to call my only son?”

David rolled his eyes. “Yes.”

There was a pause. “Well, actually, I just heard that Eli was released from prison.”

Pulling a nail file out of his desk drawer, David snorted. “What, and you’re going to rehire him as your business manager?”

“Well, of course not, David.”

“Good.”

“I’m never going to speak to him again.”

“Good.”

“I mean, can you imagine how our lives might have turned out if he’d managed to get on that plane to the Cayman Islands before the police caught him?”

“Yes, I can, because you’ve mentioned it an average of once a month for the last three years,” David said, taking a few desultory swipes across the end of the nail on his middle finger.

“I mean, it was bad enough with all the tax penalties we had to pay. If it weren’t for Eli, we’d still have the beach house!”

“Uh huh.” If David had heard all of this before once, he’d heard it a hundred times. “Where’s Mom?”

“She’s on location with Sharknado 5. And you know, the prison that jackass was in was pretty swanky.”

“Then maybe Eli will actually be more miserable now that he’s been released. When does Mom get back?”

“Two more weeks. She’s got her phone in Bulgaria; you can call her.”

David didn’t want to call her. He wanted his father to call her so that she could talk him off of this angry ledge before he had another scare with his heart.

“Just… don’t worry about Eli, okay?” David set the nail file down and pinched the bridge of his nose. “He’s not a part of your life anymore.”

“Damn straight he’s not.”

“Weren’t you telling me something about a new business venture at Christmas? Some kind of app?” David didn’t want to talk about this, or about anything really, but he figured he could at least try to pull his father out of this emotional tailspin about the former business manager who almost made off with the Rose family fortune.

“Yes, well, the spouting video market is quite crowded now, of course, but we’re making some in-roads. Slow and steady wins the race, that’s what I always say.”

“It’s streaming video. And that’s what you used to say about your rivalry with Blockbuster,” David snarked, his moment of charitability toward his father difficult to keep front of mind when he was being so irritating.

“And Blockbuster went out of business.”

“So did you!”

“It was a strategic restructuring, David. A shift into other markets. Like streaming video. Sure, the money isn’t flowing as freely as it did in the Rose Video heyday, but we’re doing fine.”

“Okay.” He went back to filing his nails.

“Are you still seeing… what was her name?” Johnny asked.

Trying to remember who his dad was even talking about, David squinted. “Who?”

“You know, the girl who used to eat garbage as performance art?”

David huffed. “Eliose didn’t eat garbage, she covered herself in… you know what, it doesn’t matter. We haven’t seen each other in months.”

“Oh. Is there anyone special in your life right now?”

An image of Brenton flashed in his mind. He was probably back in David’s apartment as they spoke, making the place reek of bong water and eating all of David’s food. He sighed. “No, no one special.”

“Well, don’t give up, son,” Johnny said. “How’s the gallery?”

“I just sold a painting.”

“That’s great!” his father boomed. “Good for you!”

“Okay, selling paintings is my job, you don’t have to praise me quite so effusively for doing my job.”

“No, of course I don’t need to. But I’m proud of you, son. Especially now that…” There was a moment of dead air.

“You still there?” David asked.

“Oh! Yes, I’m still here.”

“I thought the call had dropped. Now that what?”

An uncomfortable chuckle came out of the phone speaker. “You know, I forgot what I was saying.”

“Uhhh… okay.” David rolled his eyes again. “Anyway, the art business isn’t booming like it used to be, but today was good.”

“You know what? I just remembered I need to make another call,” his father said. “Sorry, David.”

“Whatever. You called me.”

“Talk to you soon, son.”

“Mm-hmm. Bye.” David tapped the screen and ended the call. He noticed the time and sighed, glancing out of his office door at the empty gallery. He might as well lock up and go back to his apartment. He moved quietly around the space, flipping off all of the lights and turning off the music that he played from a spare iPad that he’d gotten in a gift bag when he was Hayden Panettiere’s date to the 2012 Teen Choice Awards. Once he had his coat and messenger bag and had the security gate pulled down and locked, David pocketed his keys and stepped out onto the busy SoHo sidewalk. It had been misting rain for hours, the January day not cold enough to produce snow, but the temperature was now dropping below freezing and making the sidewalks treacherous.

The stationary store next door to his gallery was still open and doing a brisk business, and he was tempted to go in and look at the journals, but he resisted the impulse. Even though he used them sporadically, he’d already bought more empty journals than he could fill in a lifetime. The bar at the end of the block was also starting to fill up, and while he’d been known to get a drink there after closing the gallery, he wasn’t in the mood to be around people at the moment. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he summoned an Uber to ferry him the two miles to his apartment in Chelsea.

Braulio is 4 minutes away, his phone told him. While he waited, he texted Alexis again. Can you respond pls???

“Want me to talk or not talk?” his Uber driver asked as soon as David was settled into the back seat of the black Nissan.

“Don’t talk, please,” he responded. “Sorry.”

“Hey, no worries, man. That’s why I ask.” Braulio turned up his music a couple of clicks, the kind of unobjectionable, nondescript soundscape that was like something you’d hear in a modern hotel lobby. The driver had probably read on a website that it was the key to increasing tips or 5-star ratings.

David’s block on West 21st Street was packed with four and five-story apartment buildings, the short trees at regular intervals along the sidewalk offering a tiny break from the monotony of sandstone and concrete — although not this time of year, when they stuck up like twigs haphazardly shoved into the dirt by a giant, bored child. Shivering in his too-thin but fashionable jacket, he clicked on a rating for his Uber driver and shoved his phone in his pocket before making his way over to the short flight of stairs that led up to his building.

“Spare change,” a familiar voice called from a heap of blankets at the base of the building.

David opened his messenger bag and fished for the coins at the bottom. “It’s getting cold; you need to go to a shelter.”

“Not that cold,” the woman countered, holding her dingy Starbucks cup aloft. He dropped the coins in.

“The temperature’s dropping though.”

“Cold enough to ice skate.”

He took the non-sequitur in stride. “Well, not quite, but almost.”

“Your skates have to stay on the right line, ya know. You slip off and then suddenly—” She hit the cup, making the coins rattle. “Different universe.”

“Uh-huh. Will you go to a shelter, please? Don’t stay out here all night.” He re-clipped his bag and turned to walk away.

“You’re not supposed to be here, Mister Rose.”

“Well, I live here.”

“Not supposed to. Supposed to live in a motel with your family.”

David stopped and turned around. “What? Ew.”

“Rosebud,” she murmured.

“Oh, are we in Citizen Kane now?”

She hunkered down in her blankets, putting an end to what could only loosely be termed a conversation. Sighing, David left the homeless woman behind and entered the building’s vestibule. He then unlocked the inner door, shoving his way in with a grunt when the door inevitably stuck a little bit.

He mounted the one flight of stairs to his apartment. At the height of his family’s wealth, when David had been in his late twenties, he’d lived in a very posh apartment on the upper east side, but after the incident with his father’s business manager, he’d downgraded and moved to Chelsea. It was still a very nice, modern apartment, but it wasn’t what he’d once had.

The scent of sandlewood incense greeted him as he unlocked his door, and he wrinkled his nose and recoiled a little. Dropping his bag, he made his way to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, hoping to find his leftovers from last night’s take-out. Of course they were gone. He slammed the refrigerator and swung around, ready to have it out with Brenton once and for all.

The man in question chose that moment to stride into the kitchen, shirtless, a pair of athletic shorts slung low on his waist. “Hey,” Brenton said. “Glad you’re here, we need to talk.”

“Yeah, we sure do.” David tried not to let his eyes drift down to the v-shaped crease of Brenton’s hips and failed.

“I’m gonna go stay with my boyfriend in LA for a while, so…” He shrugged. “Thanks for everything.”

“I’m sorry, your what? You never mentioned a boyfriend before,” David said, grimacing. He’d met Brenton last month at a cocktail party he’d thrown at the gallery. Young and blond and in his mid-twenties, Brenton was the son of a well-known hedge fund manager, and he seemed to be a guy whose sole occupation was drifting from one party to another, looking for a good time. He and David had hooked up several times in recent weeks, but their conversations had been limited to fashion and art world trends and what kind of sex they were into.

“Because we weren’t like that, you and me,” Brenton said with a disarming smile. “This was never about, you know, unpacking our pasts. And we never said we were exclusive.”

“I know that,” David snapped. “I didn’t say I expected exclusivity. Still, you might have mentioned—”

“He and I were figuring some things out, you know? But he’s gone out there for pilot season and the auditions are stressful, so I think I really just need to be there for him.”

“Oh, he’s an actor,” David said. “How fun for you.”

There wasn’t really much more to say, so after a few more empty platitudes from Brenton, he disappeared into David’s bedroom to get dressed and to gather whatever belongings he’d brought over in the course of their month-long affair. David sat at the kitchen island and flipped through an issue of Vogue without seeing the pages. He probed a little bit at his feelings, pressing against them like you’d touch a bruise, trying to determine how painful it was. He didn’t really care that much about Brenton — he was shallow and mostly unkind. David didn’t think he’d miss him. What did hurt was once again being shoved aside as soon as something better came along, after a lifetime of being shoved aside as soon as something better came along.

Once Brenton was gone, David tried cracking open a window to air out the apartment, but quickly closed it when it let in a biting cold wind. He was starting to get a headache, and he reached up to massage the back of his neck, trying to stave it off. Pulling out his phone, he checked Alexis’ instagram again, and then opened his messaging app.

[David] 911. Call me.

Surprisingly, his phone rang only a few seconds later.

“David, what? What’s the emergency?” Alexis sounded manic and not a little annoyed.

“I’ve been texting you all evening!” he almost shouted. “I’m sorry for worrying that you were dead.”

“I’m fine, why would I be dead?”

“Your social’s been dark for days.”

“Ugh. I’ve just been busy, David, I don’t have to post something every day as proof of life, do I?”

“You have to at least respond to my texts, Alexis.”

“Look, the club we were in might’ve gotten raided by police earlier, a little bit, but it’s fine because we found a back way out and we ran. It’s no big deal.”

“It kind of sounds like a big deal,” David said, rubbing his neck again. The headache was getting worse; the muscles running down from his skull were like iron rods. “Why were the police raiding the club?”

“How should I know what the Monaco police were doing?” she asked.

“Monaco? I thought you were in Italy.”

Alexis laughed. “Monaco is in Italy, David.”

“Monaco is a separate country, Alexis.”

“No, it’s… is it? Well anyway, Tiff and Lily and I are back at the hotel. I might come home, though. Stavros called and he wants to see me.”

David moaned unhappily. “Alexis, no, don’t go see Stavros. You’ll end up getting back together with him and that would be a terrible life choice.”

“Speaking of terrible life choices, is that Brett guy still crashing at your place?”

“It’s Brenton, and we were seeing each other, he wasn’t just ‘crashing’ here.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“And it’s over anyway.”

“Oh.” Her voice softened for the first time. “I’m sorry, David.”

He waved his hand, not that she could see him. “It doesn’t matter. I didn’t like him that much. He was just really hot.” He looked around the quiet, empty apartment. “You could stay here for a while, if you want.” Alexis was a chaos engine, but he also kind of missed her. Her whirlwind life would keep him from thinking about his own sad existence as much.

“Ew, what? Why? I’ve got way more space at Mom and Dad’s, and when I want to stay in the city, Klair lets me stay at the apartment with her stepmom. Who’s actually really cool, although she takes way too many pills.”

“Fine, whatever. Far be it from me to come between you and Klair’s stepmom.” He fluttered his hand again.

“Okay, don’t be like that. See, David, I know how you are. You’re lonely right now and you think you miss me, but you’d be sick of me the second I set foot through your doorway. You’d complain that I was too messy and that my friends were too loud and that I hadn’t used a coaster for my water glass.”

“Well, if you’d use a coaster—”

“David, it’s 3 a.m. here and you’re lecturing me about a hypothetical coaster. I’m gonna get some sleep now, okay?”

“Fine.”

“Go to Mom and Dad’s if you’re lonely,” Alexis said.

“I’m not lonely.”

“Goodnight, David.”

“Goodnight, Alexis.”

(Chapter 2)

_____________________

...

[additional content warnings after some spoiler space]

...

[last warning]

...

This fic will include a temporary character death, the temporariness of which should be obvious by the time it happens. Also note that this fic does include marital problems and adultery committed by Patrick, who didn't meet David in Schitt's Creek in this timeline, and (as you will see in the next chapter) ended up marrying Rachel. Just giving you an extra warning for that if it squicks you out.

#schitt's creek #schitts creek #david x patrick #david x patrick ff #hdwgb fic #my fic

16 notes · View notes

concussed-to-pieces · 5 years

Text

More! Part One

Fandom: My Hero Academia/Boku No Hero Academia

Pairing: Eventual Tenya Iida/OFC

Rating: Holy shit M

AN: Hello all, it's time for the first chapter of my prime indulgence! To any of my anime-inclined broskis out there, welcome aboard!

In The Shadow

[!TRIGGER WARNING!: For gratuitous,canon-typical violence and facial trauma. Stay safe!]

Tenya had been informed time and again that college was slightly different from high school. He endured a few weeks of mental gymnastics when he realized that he wouldn’t have a uniform. College was different and yet...not. Certainly, no uniform to iron the night before and the ability to make your own schedule were boons. Nearly all of his ‘new’ classmates were old friends from high school which meant that he wasn't lacking in company, but many people didn’t seem to share Iida’s enthusiasm for continuing to better oneself even after the preliminary quirk training of high school! He wanted to be the best hero he could be, he wanted to make his family proud!

That was why he made the choice to attend college in the first place, with Tensei's wholehearted support behind him. He knew that any time he wanted it, he could have a job at his family’s hero agency. So why not be the best possible fit for his future job? Tenya was incredibly fortunate to have a secure career, and he took his studies very seriously.

Leona Moore wasn’t a troublemaker, though the way that she dressed had set off warning bells in Tenya’s brain. It was the pants, he decided, the overlarge cargo pants that had too many pockets. She was notoriously early for her classes, sometimes by an hour or so. Tenya admired her dedication, consistently fifteen minutes ahead of schedule himself. She always had a lollipop stick protruding from her mouth, her shoulders hunched slightly underneath the leather jacket she usually wore. She couldn’t seem to decide on whether she wanted to make herself seem larger or smaller, her clothes all slightly too big for her frame and her jokes never failing to make Kirishima snort with laughter at the worst possible times.

Her quirk made her a little touch-shy, Izuku had kindly pointed out to Tenya when Iida was confused over her standoffish behavior during their warm up period before general training. “She’s had to be pretty careful, Iida. She didn’t learn how to use her quirk until halfway through high school. Before that, she didn’t even know she had one!” Iida could only imagine how volatile the situation for that revelation must have been, seeing as she had a quirk that doubled the power of any kinetic force she withstood.

She also had control, seeming to have mastered the ability to turn it off and on at will. Tenya's misguided pity had turned into genuine admiration after watching her perform in their college sports festival. Granted, next to the explosive display of Bakugou versus Ururaka or the emotional minefield of Todoroki and Deku's battle, Leona's bout wouldn't stand out overmuch to the average viewer.

Leona had been paired up against Mineta, who made the fatal mistake of immediately pelting her with his ammunition in an attempt to incapacitate her. The kinetic energy from his rapid-fire slinging seemed to send her into overdrive, the young woman slamming an uppercut to his jaw that landed him in the lower stands. One punch, and the round was over. Iida silently approved of the way she had turned and bowed to the crowd before leaving the field. As a hero, one of many priorities would be to end fights quickly and decisively. Another one was courtesy to bystanders and officials-

...

How strange, he mused, thinking about her at a time like this. His rage continued to boil and yet…

He closed his eyes. Just for a minute. God, it was strange. Would she be proud of him? Proud of his rabid behavior? What about his family? Fear lanced through Tenya's heart, the first he had felt in ages. What if his parents lost him to this ill-advised fight? What if...what if this was the end?

The blade in his shoulder twisted sharply and Tenya bit back a sound of pain. He refused to show any more weakness to this monster, regardless of what he might endure.

“Hey, what the hell are you doin' to my class rep?!”

Tenya's eyes shot open. No. That's-

“You've got the nerve of a bull elephant if you're takin’ on ‘Genium. Who do you think you are?!”

“Run More! Get away from here!” Tenya yelled. “He’s got some kind of paralysis quirk, don't let him get close to you!”

Stain grunted, obviously a little startled by the young woman's abrupt presence. From what Tenya could see out of the corner of his eye, his classmate Leona (hero name More for reasons he had yet to discern) looked red in the face like she’d been running for a while. Her shoulders were still heaving up and down even while she raised her fists.

“You're another trainee. Interesting.” Stain remarked, almost as if he was talking to himself. “So you're also from the college. And you called him the class rep, which means he and you are in the same classes.”

“Mind like a steel trap on ya’.” Leona replied dryly. “Any other obvious insight you want to share, or can I beat the shit out of you now?”

Tenya bit back the reflexive shout of language!, shocked out of his impotent bloodlust by how brazen his classmate was being. It was an admirable strategy. Or at least, it would have been if she actually had backup.

“Another fake hero who needs to be cleansed from the planet.” Stain eased his blade out of Tenya's arm agonizingly slow.

“Thanks, but I'm plenty clean. Took a shower this mornin’ and everything. The name's More, and I'm no fake!” Leona called to Tenya then, her voice sharp with poorly-concealed worry. “How you holdin’ up, Calf Crusher?”

Tenya groaned. Her nicknames never ceased to send the class into fits. “I can't move. I'll be no help at all. He's just going to kill you. Why did you interfere?”

“You've gotta' be shittin’ me right now, Rep. Like I would just stand by and watch you get fucked? What kind of friend would that make me?” She sounded incredulous. If Tenya didn't know any better, she actually sounded a little irritated.

“One that keeps living, that's what kind!” Tenya snapped. We're barely friends! his mind added traitorously.

Leona pounded her fist into her palm and then jerked her hands up in a way oddly reminiscent of how Iida would move when he was excited. “I know who this guy is. More importantly, I know who you are and I figured out what you were up to when you picked Hosu for your internship. It's okay.” She reassured him.

You're going to die. “I'm begging you. Please leave.”

“I'm not gonna’ let you degrade yourself by beggin’ me, bud.” Leona retorted. “Second oldest son, heir to the Ingenium name, badass extraordinaire and all around decent dude, shut the fuck up and let me do what I can to make sure you can keep doing the best that you can!” She all but shouted, leaving Tenya speechless as Stain stepped over his body.

“‘More’, huh? Why, because you're always trying to be the best? Maybe because you want to protect more people. At least, that's what you would say, right?” Stain sneered, brandishing his sword.

“No way man! ‘More’ because the more the merrier when it comes to me!” She shot right back, that teasing grin firmly fixed on her face. “I may not be fast or smart like ‘Genium...hell, I'm not even all that special compared to the other people in my class, but I'm still here!” Tenya's eyes widened as she advanced on Stain, extending a hand. “I look forward to apprehending you, sir!”

“You'll be fun to kill.” Stain lashed out a second too late, Leona barely ducking his blade in time. “Another false hero, proud to wear the title and unwilling to do the damn dirty work that comes with it!”

“I feel like this is pretty dirty work right now.” She pointed out, catching his next strike with her gloved hand and grunting at the impact against the padding of her gloves. “Whew, a little harder next time and you'll take me down for sure!” She encouraged sarcastically, twisting the blade and coming close to ripping it clean out of the villain's grasp. She was so focused on his sword that the knife thrown at her arm caught her by surprise.

Stain’s speed and raw power were devastating. The blade sank deep, so deep, too deep. Tenya's brother in that hospital bed was burned into his mind, I can't feel my legs I can't feel my legs. “More!” Tenya had thought he felt helpless before, but it was now multiplied tenfold. “Damn it, I told you to run!”

“It shouldn't be too tough to keep him here until the pros arrive. I'm in for the long haul, Calf Crusher. Don't worry.” Leona said calmly, her rational words only serving to confuse the engine hero. She was built to take hits and he had never witnessed any particularly mindblowing strategies from her. Maybe he had written her off too soon. Maybe-

Stain rushed her, that deadly sword smeared red with Iida's blood. Moore jerked the knife out of her arm and used it to hastily deflect the worst of the cut from the sword away from her torso, snagging the blade under her arm instead. Stain drew another knife, this one serrated, and slashed at her face with it. One of the teeth on the knife caught the edge of her mouth and split it open nearly to her cheekbone. Leona staggered back, holding her cheek.

Stain turned up the pressure, releasing his sword momentarily in favor of cracking a fierce punch into her wounded face. Blood spattered from the impact, Stain's knuckles that sick red. “That all you got? Gimme’ more!” Moore slurred through her broken mouth, that infuriating grin still-

Oh. Tenya felt like an idiot. She was the endurance hero. She absorbed punishment like it was oxygen, a kinetic battery that could only be charged by violent outbursts. And when she decided to strike back, she doubled the output...but her body had limits, he had seen them in action during training. Midoriya had given her a kick at her request and instead of explosively discharging the extra power, she just passed out.

His heart slammed in his throat. If she pushed herself too hard, Stain wouldn't even have to do anything.

She swung at the hero killer and the doubled power of her blow threw him to slam his back into the alley wall. Stain wheezed for breath, clearly confused by the force behind her hit. “Just who the hell are you?” He panted.

“Beat me an’ maybe you'll learn.” Blood was spilling between her gritted teeth, running in a brilliant trail down her chin to drip off the bottom of her jaw. She was smiling like a fiend.

“I've never met anyone so eager to die.” Stain grimaced, rotating his shoulder and then shaking it out.

Tenya heard a strange crackling noise, almost like electricity. Midoriya rocketed over his head and bounded off the walls of the alleyway, a green missile with fist extended to crash into Stain. “Smash!” He yelled. Green energy, lightning, whatever it was it was blanketing his body. The Hero Killer was flung further back in the alley from the impact. Izuku skidded to a halt beside Moore, shaking his hand and hissing in pain. “Sorry I took so long!” He said brightly, like he hadn't just given the man responsible for killing a multitude of heroes the most thunderous of haymakers. “How you doing?”

“Take care of ‘Genium. He can't move, help him get out of here!” Leona said urgently.

Tenya refused to meet Midoriya's eyes, ashamed at how his own filled with frustrated tears. Midoriya reached for him and then went stiff. Tenya's heart fell into his stomach when he noticed the small tear in Midoriya’s glove and the blood blotting the fabric. Just enough. “Uh...I can't...move either?” Midoriya muttered slowly.

Tenya watched Leona freeze as well, her arms grinding to a halt. “Stain, your fight is with me! Leave them alone!” Tenya yelled, his voice cracking.

Further down the alleyway Stain grinned, giving his knife another lick. “I think I'd rather play with your friends. At least they landed hits on me. Unlike you. How does it feel to know that this is entirely your fault, fake hero?”

An ugly noise of agony fought free of Iida, rasping in his throat like sandpaper. It was true, wasn't it? Tensei worked so hard because Tenya believed in him, looked up to him, and the eldest Iida wanted to make his little brother proud. If Tenya hadn't been such a child, maybe…maybe his big brother wouldn't have tried so hard to rid the world of injustice. Maybe his big brother would still be able to walk. Fake hero.

And his classmates, friends, tangled up in this mess because of him! Midoriya crouched so close and yet so far away, his eyes darting around as he tried to figure out where Stain would come from. Moore, frozen in place with her back to the two of them while she was forced to face down the Hero Killer. “I'm so sorry.” Tenya breathed finally.

“Don't apologize! I should be apologizing. I should have gotten you to talk to me after what happened to your brother.” Midoriya looked tearful. “I should have said something. I just didn't want to pressure you. I'm sorry I'm a bad friend.”

Tenya was at a loss for words, losing his ability to stave off the tears streaming down his face.

Flames suddenly illuminated the whole alley, the gout of fire threatening to cook Tenya in his armor. “Next time you send your location, give a little more info.” It was Todoroki! And he was using his left side! Tenya was aghast. How many acquaintances had his blind rage dragged to this slaughter?

“Easy! I think you singed my hair!” Midoriya fussed at the icy hot hero. “That was all I had time to send!”

Stain hammered a fist into Moore's side, making the endurance hero spit out a mouthful of blood. Her arm wound up for a swing of her own, body sluggishly chugging forward like she was moving through molasses. The fact that she could move at all, though-! Was it because she absorbed the momentum from his hits? Or was Stain’s control weaker the more people it was spread across? Tenya found himself pondering the ins and outs of the man's quirk even as Stain pummeled Moore. She was defenseless, where was the honor in this?! Tenya's fingers twitched, uselessly tapping the cracked blacktop.

Todoroki drove Stain away from Moore with a combination attack, fire and ice arcing through the air as he switched rapidly. Leona slid one foot back, then the other, spitting more blood off to the side and slowly raising her arms in a defensive move. “Icy Hot, you-”

“I know. Keep my distance. Shouldn't be too difficult.” The flames on Todoroki's left side burned even brighter. “I'm not one hundred percent comfortable with my fire yet, but I can't deny its applications here.”

“How many children will throw themselves upon my blade tonight?” Stain cackled incredulously. “Bad enough that your friend in the armor didn't have the brains to run and get help just like his stupid brother, but now the rest of you feed yourselves to me!” He shook his head. “This next generation of heroes gets weaker and weaker. At least I'm lessening the workload on your professors.”

“You be quiet!” Iida shouted, fingers digging into the asphalt. “Ingenium was the model hero, the perfect example of selflessness and respect for others that a villain like you couldn’t possibly understand! I'll never forgive you for hurting my brother!” He screamed, able to move his neck now so he could look up at Stain while he issued his ultimatum. He didn't care how idiotic he must look, barely managing to wiggle his fingers while he yelled his fury at this man, this villain, this monster who had fractured his family.

“You're selfish. Dragging your friends into this fight because of your petty need for revenge. You're the furthest thing from a hero. You're a weakling.” Stain sheathed his sword, drawing two smaller knives instead and lunging at Todoroki and Moore.

“Don’t listen to him!” Midoriya said fiercely, somehow already able to move again! Was Tenya really that weak? Or was Stain’s quirk overpowering him because he had been the first one hit? “He’s just-”

“No. He's completely correct.” Tenya cut him off dully, clenching his hand into a fist. “If I hadn't been so consumed with this...if I had just been stronger, maybe…” Emotion closed his throat.

“Knock it off!” Leona yelled, startling him with the fury in her tone. “You don't need to be a fuckin’ martyr, Iida! What good does it do your brother if you get your ass killed?” Her voice was rough, words hard to understand through the injury she had sustained. “Think about how your parents will feel, and especially think about how your brother will feel! We're here to help, Rep, but you gotta’ take our hand!”

“Ingenium wouldn't give up!” Todoroki continued where she left off. “Be Ingenium! Get up and fight!”

As though a switch had been flipped, feeling surged through Tenya's arms and legs. Pins and needles so harsh it made him wince, and it was nothing compared to the pain in his limp arm, but he was up, he was up-

He staggered to his feet, splaying his stance just to stay vertical.

Stain hacked Midoriya’s leg out from beneath him after barely avoiding another Smash and then rushed Todoroki, nimbly dodging the fire and ice attacks in an attempt to bring that sword down on Todoroki's left arm, he would sever it clean at his shoulder-

Tenya felt like everything shifted to quarter-speed. Leona's fingers grasped desperately at Todoroki's shirt to try and pull him out of the way in time. She was still too slow, still sapped by the hero killer's quirk. Shoto's eyes went wide in realization, the young man attempting to recoil backwards away from the blade. Midoriya was yelling something, Todoroki's name no doubt, tears shining in his eyes.

Tenya's breathing echoed in his ears. In, out, in--

The engines in his calves came roaring to life in a glorious rush of Reciproburst! and without a thought for his own safety, Tenya was there between Todoroki and that sword. His armored knee shattered the blade before he whipped his whole body around via bicycle kick and re-aimed his leg at Stain's side. The hit made landfall accompanied by a shower of blue sparks from the heat of his engines, essentially drop-kicking the villain out of midair.

Stain was flung head over heels. Iida stumbled as his right leg gave out, clumsily dropping to one knee. His engines sputtered to a halt, shudders of pain from his calves flickering over the all-encompassing agony in his wounded arm. Fleetingly he wondered if he had ruptured something in his frenzy.

“Iid-Ingenium!” Todoroki shoved the larger man behind him and issued another burst of flame, barely warding off the rallying villain in time. “He’s fighting like a rabid animal. Be careful!”

“Give me a good kick, ‘Genium!” Leona suggested eagerly. “I'll get his ass back down to ground level so you and the others can wreck him!”

“My Reciproburst shot my engines and I don’t think a regular punch would offer you sufficient damage, I've overheated and I need more…time...” Iida paused, his eyes narrowing as a thought occurred to him. “Todoroki! Can you freeze my legs without plugging my exhausts?”

Todoroki opened his mouth to reply and Stain roared in outrage, bolting through Todoroki's flames in the distraction for another attack on the icy hot hero. Tenya and Moore moved at the same time, Tenya extending his good arm in front of Todoroki’s chest to offer him the protection of his armor while Leona rushed forward to fight Stain one on one. “You're in the way!” Stain snarled at them, leaping backwards up the icy pillars Todoroki had created.

A folding knife found its mark in Tenya's upper arm after penetrating his armor and he gritted his teeth in pain, doing his best to hold fast. “Todoroki please-!” A larger serrated knife followed the first, slamming into Tenya's forearm so hard he was forced prone. The wind was knocked out of him by his abrupt change in posture and Tenya choked for breath, still bewildered by the Hero Killer's power and tenacity.

“Iida!” Todoroki actually stopped his elemental attacks on Stain in favor of reeling back his fire-wreathed fist and whacking a heated punch into Moore's shoulder (to Tenya's dismay). Leona laughed (also to Tenya's dismay), easily accepting the blow while the air began to reek of smoldering cloth and lycra. Todoroki quickly slapped his other hand down on the burning area of her vest, extinguishing the heat before it could get out of hand.

“Just freeze my legs!” Iida yelled, startled by the fierce cry Moore let out before she lunged upwards at the retreating Stain.

A distraction, a distraction, he realized suddenly, take the punishment and double it to give us time. Please Leona!

Midoriya was back up again, limping badly. Cold ripped at the armor covering Tenya's calves, the frigid temperature almost too much to bear. This was an incredible risk he was taking, pushing on past the natural boundaries that his quirk and familial training had instilled. He hadn’t had enough time to recover naturally from his last Reciproburst. If something gave out under the strain, he would be incapable of defending himself.

It didn't matter. Tenya felt his engines choke, sputter, and then rev wildly. His left arm was useless at this point. He used his teeth to pull out the knife in his right, retching at the sour taste of old blood on the handle. Both arms were effectively unusable.

It didn't matter. He would use his legs. As long as Leona could land a hit that would get Stain off-balance enough for himself (and possibly Midoriya, but it might be presumptuous to rely on him) to capitalize on, that was all that he could ask for.

Iida stood, bending his legs at the knees as he prepared to leave the ground. Leona wisely aimed at the building directly beneath where Stain had jabbed the remaining stub of his sword in to perch, the doubled power from Todoroki's hit easily crushing the cement to instability. Thank God the buildings were long abandoned. Stain at least picked fights far away from where people would frequent, isolating his victims. A solitary, fiendish predator.

Iida crouched as low as he could, his exhausts glowing bright blue with the horsepower he was putting out. A new word came to mind.

“Recipro-” The engines in his calves stalled and keened, out of sync with one another as the ice dissolved into rivulets of moisture on the heated surface of his armor. “-extend!” He left the ground behind, a cloud of dust billowing in his wake.

If I just…

Tenya rocketed towards Stain, his eyes locked on the villain.

...use my leg…

He was vaguely aware of Midoriya out of the corner of his blurred vision, a brilliant streak of verdant green that seemed to hang in midair perpendicular to his path of upward motion.

...that's all I need…

His knee threatened to hyperextend even with his armor to brace him. Iida squinted fiercely and gritted his teeth.

...to beat this guy!

Midoriya’s fist planted in Stain's jaw the same time Iida's foot crashed into the villain's unprotected side. The impact rang in Tenya's ears, metal on cloth on skin on metal, high reverberations that sent shivers down his back.

Even after that tandem strike, the conniving villain still managed to swipe wildly at Tenya with one of his many knives. Tenya barely moved his head in time, feeling the blade just catch on the top of his dark locks. He narrowed his eyes, ignoring the fact that the three of them were now rapidly returning to the ground. Izuku started scrabbling at the wall, trying to grab a handhold.

“I will defeat you Stain!” Iida shouted passionately. “Because you are a criminal, and I am a hero!” His second kick didn't miss the free-falling villain either, cracking into Stain’s side so hard Tenya could feel the older man’s ribs collapse as they plummeted towards Todoroki and Leona in the alley far, far below.

Arms locked around Tenya's hips and Leona pushed off the wall in an abrupt redirection, moving Tenya so Todoroki could have a clear shot at the villain. How had she jumped so high, so fast?! She skidded to a stop on a pillar of ice that Shoto had made, still holding tight to Tenya’s waist. Iida shifted his weight as low as he could, trying to help so they wouldn’t go over the edge. His legs felt like gelatin, like they would fold underneath him, and he was immensely grateful for her strong hold on his armor.

Shoto's mastery of ice was intimidating enough up close and personal, but his barely-controlled flames were a sight to see. Tenya supposed it probably had to do with man's deep-seated primal terror involving fire, if he had to chalk it up to something. A massive fireball engulfed Stain, missing Midoriya by the barest of inches.

“Deku!” Leona yelled, sighing in relief when the young hero gave her a thumbs up and a wavering smile from his own slippery perch.

“Get up and keep fighting, you three! I doubt that was enough to…” Todoroki trailed off, his eyes widening in confusion. Stain had crash landed on yet another of his icy plateaus, the villain’s eyes rolled back in his skull. He looked like he had been knocked unconscious.

Is he dead?

Tenya hated the sick, joyous thrill that sang up his spine at the thought. He had been so selfish, so blinded in his fury that he believed his actions righteous. It was terrifying that he could so coldly rationalize the taking of another human being’s life, even one so horrible as the Hero Killer! He would never forgive himself if his own mistakes had urged Todoroki forward into doing the unthinkable.

Moore went limp against Tenya’s back, her relief palpable. “Icy Hot, I think we’re all going to need an assist at this point.” She slurred. “I’ve lost...a lot of blood. Head wounds, you know the drill.”

“Your mouth! Moore, are you-”

“I think he knocked out one of my teeth?” She mumbled over Tenya’s frantic question, moving to sit beside him and then carelessly dragging the flap of skin from the split side of her mouth aside (presumably so she could count her own teeth). Tenya fought a wave of nausea at her rough actions, thankful that at least the destroyed side of her face was outside his limited field of vision. His own pain and injuries he could take in stride, but someone else’s because of him was…

He didn’t care for the sensation at all.

Todoroki eased them to the ground through careful manipulation of his quirk, until finally the three heroes and one villain were safely down. Stain had indeed been knocked unconscious, but whether by the punch, kicks or outright fireball was anyone’s guess. Shoto wasted little time securing the villain with some clothesline he found in a dumpster, practically mummifying the older man with the half-frayed rope.

“We need to get him to the street. The pros and the police should be able to handle it from here.” Todoroki said calmly.

“I can drag him!” Tenya offered immediately, taken aback when Todoroki shot him an incredulous look.

“Have you forgotten about your arms, Iida? What will you drag him with?” Shoto deadpanned. Tenya deflated a little. He had almost forgotten the beating he had taken, if he was being honest. Adrenaline.

Moore’s snicker was a half-hearted gurgle at best, the endurance hero scooping Midoriya up onto her back and starting the slow limp to the street. “C’mon Calf Crusher, let’s get you home. I’m sure your pros are really worried about you guys.”

Iida trailed silently after his classmates (friends, he reminded himself), flushed with shame. Moore hung back for a second, letting him come up alongside her and Midoriya.

“Hey, you know that this isn’t your fault, right?” She murmured as best as she could. “I would have done the same thing no matter who the hero killer was going after.”

“I wish I had said something at the train station that day.” Midoriya whimpered. “I could tell that you were hurting, Iida, but I just...I didn’t know what to say. I’m so sorry.”

Iida shook his head dejectedly. “Don’t apologize to me, Midoriya. It’s not your responsibility to look out for my emotional wellbeing. I ought to have better control over my-”

“As your friends, it’s absolutely our responsibility! We need to pay attention to each other in this line of work, Iida!” Midoriya actually interrupted him. “You never know...you never know what could be the thing that pushes someone over their edge! You’ve always been there for the whole class since high school and the one time you needed us, we weren’t there for you!” Izuku was always so passionate about hero work, throwing himself headfirst towards any new challenge they faced. It should be no surprise to Iida that he would have a speech prepared for this situation.

So why were tears blurring his vision further? Tenya tried to no avail to wipe them away with his limp arm, ending up smearing blood across his cheek instead. Moore clicked her tongue at him (an impressive feat in and of itself due to the wounding of her oral cavity), pausing in her forward motion to dig in her pocket and tug out a red bandanna. “Never know when you’ll need a field dressing.” She shrugged, using the cloth to clumsily mop at Iida’s face. “There. That’s better. Look a little less damp.”

“I’m relatively certain that I’m the furthest thing from ‘less damp’ right now. But…” Tenya hesitated, unsure if this was overstepping a classmate or coworker boundary. “Thank you for your, er, concern. I will...do my best to rectify this grave error in judgement.” His bow was, as ever, perfect. “I humbly beg your forgiveness.”

“You don’t need to, Tenya.” Moore using his first name snapped Iida’s eyes up, the large man startled. She gave him a thumbs up and a grin that was a wince, her facial expression a little more kindly than he was used to seeing on her despite the gruesome flap of skin that hung from her cheek. “Let’s go, dude.”

“Will you pull yourself together? You’re the class rep. You're practically our mascot.” Todoroki complained, the hint of a smile tugging at his mouth.

Gratitude closed Tenya’s throat and he nodded hurriedly, trying to blink back the fresh wave of tears.

#original the character #I meant to post this on the first...#Iida Tenya #Izuku Midorya #Todoroki Shoto #My Hero Academia #College!AU #alternate universe #Hero Killer Stain #Hero Killer Arc #My indulgence is legendary and my cares are none #The kids are in college and havin' a good time #original character #(definitely original)

9 notes · View notes

knightwingyj · 5 years

Text

Little Do You Know Ch 5

The background was coming together nicely and would certainly draw the viewer’s eyes to the center of the piece. Markus placed his brush to the side and took a cleansing breath. The color was muted, not much different than the original color of the canvas but it had a few shades and breaks to avoid feeling too empty. His phone buzzed on the side table, breaking the calm environment he had created and startling him a bit. Annoyance pinched his face as he snatched up the Plastic-wrapped device. The annoyance vanished with a grin when he saw who had texted him.

‘Why the fuck are there so many shades of white?!’

Shaking his head, Markus typed back a response with paint-stained fingers.

‘Hello to you too, Conner.’

The young CFO only tended to curse when he was beyond frustrated with something and whatever it was had to be particularly grating to warrant the drop of the F-bomb. It wasn’t long before his phone buzzed again.

‘Seriously, white is white.’

‘And hi Markus.’

The painter chuckled.

‘What has white ever done to you?’

‘Besides supposedly having more than one shade?’

‘Having my fiancée and her mother asking me whether cream or eggshell goes better with eggplant.’

‘EGGPLANT MARKUS!!!’

A laugh escaped him on that one. It seems Conner is in desperate need of saving.

‘Tell them to go with a bright white.’

‘Anything else and it’ll just look dirty.’

The phone in his hands remained still as he patiently waited for the verdict. Ding.

‘They officially believe me to be a color genius.’

‘Thank you!’

Chuckling softly, Markus typed his reply.

‘Glad to be of service.’

‘I expect payment in the form of Pauli’s giant caramel mocha shake.’

‘You got it.’

That winky face at the end did things to Markus’ insides that should be considered illegal. Cheeks aching, he set his phone down and set about cleaning up his supplies. He was in the middle of cleaning up his brushes when his phone suddenly blew up. A little startled, he dried his hands as quickly as he could and hurried to grab his phone that was doing it best impression of Carol of the Bells. “Jesus, Conner,” he muttered to himself, opening his messages.

‘This was a huge mistake.’

‘Mayday! Mayday! They want my ‘expertise’ for the rehearsal dinner place settings.’

‘I don’t know anything about place settings!’

‘Markus, help me!!’

‘Why are there so many shades of the same color?!’

‘MARKUS!’

‘Oh, why didn’t I lie?!’

‘I blame you for this.’

‘No shake for you.’

His smile grew wider with each new message and he could practically hear Conner’s panicky voice in each one. The last one had him dissolving into chortles and scrambling to answer back. The deliciousness of Pauli’s shakes was on the line.

Conner sighed and rubbed his eyes. Figuring out the color schemes for the wedding ceremony, reception, and rehearsal dinner compounded into a migraine despite the marvelous tips from the man behind the curtain, or massage as it were. He could hear Hank’s hastily muffled laughter as Chloe dragged him from one set of China to another. It was unfortunate that his bodyguard was immune to his glares or we would have been a steaming pile of goo on the department store floor.

Rubbing his temples, he almost didn’t notice Conan approach him. “Headache?” His brother asked.

“Unfortunately.”

“I’ll have someone bring you an aspirin, but for now,” the slight warning tone in Conan’s voice set Conner on edge. “She wants to see you.”

Something akin to ice flashed through his veins and all expression slid from his face. “Thank you for informing me.” Conan nodded seriously. A hand on his bicep squeezed reassuringly before he mounted the stairs.

The door was closed, it always was, and he allowed himself a moment to purge and collect his thoughts. Taking a deep breath, he turned the brass knob and entered. Her office at the manor was almost identical to the one at Cyberlife, all cool colors and sharp edges. He avoided this room like that plague when he was a kid, afraid that he would somehow impale himself on the furniture or art around the room. There was even the accent wall with blood red roses creeping up to the ceiling. That’s where he found her, carefully pruning the flowers she loved so much.

“Good afternoon, Conner.” Amanda greeted unbothered to turn and address him.

Conner stood stock still, hands clasped behind his back, ram-rod straight, and eyes fixed on a point just above her head. “Good afternoon, Mother.”

“How was your time with Chloe?” Those hands, thin but precise, snipped the dead and dying leaves and blooms from the healthy ones.

“Productive. We managed to finalize the color scheme and place settings for both the rehearsal dinner and reception if you should want to review it.”

“I’m sure what you two have chosen with be sufficient.” She dismissed the suggestion with barely a wave or her shears. “And Chloe? How is she handling everything?”

“Remarkably well. She had booked the venue for both events and the ‘save the date’ cards have been delivered.”

“Excellent. Very good, Conner.” Snip. Snip. “And how much time have you spent together?”

Conner’s brow pinched as he attempted to understand her question. “We were together today during the selection.”

“I meant outside planning for the wedding and your work at Cyberlife.” Snip. “How much time have you spent together recreationally?” Snip. Snip. Snip.

A pale hand tightened around a thin wrist, sending pens and needles dancing down his fingers. “Not much, I’m afraid.”

Amanda hummed, displeased with his answer. “Take her out tonight. Spend some downtime with your fiancée. If you want to form any kind of relationship with her, you actually have to put in the work.”

Her tone dictated that this wasn’t a suggestion and Conner’s own grip was becoming painful. He was probably leaving behind bruises. Tonight was supposed to be his night with Markus. They had planned a Star Trek marathon after the artist discovered his lack of sci-fi knowledge and was determined to make him a ‘true Trekkie’. Now, it would seem that he’d have to cancel. Nails dug into the flesh of his wrist to keep his expression from voicing his displeasure.

“You may go, Conner. Enjoy tonight.” Snip. Dismissed.

“Thank you, Mother.” Conner bowed his head to her back before walking out the door and calmly closing it behind him. He sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose. This was not how he imagined this day going.

Retreating to his room, he barricaded himself in and hit speed dial on his phone. He counted three rings before it was answered. “Well, hello there stranger. Thanks for all the text messages, you kinda blew up my phone.” The sound of Markus’ voice never failed to put a smile on his face.

“Sorry about that.”

“Don’t worry about it. It was a pleasant distraction.” There was the sound of rustling as if Markus had shifted the phone to a more comfortable angle against his ear. “So, what do I owe the pleasure of your call?”

For a split second, Conner had forgotten why he had called, content to just listen to Markus speak, but the question brought him back to the true purpose of the conversation and his smile fell. “Markus, I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to cancel tonight.”

“Is everything alright?”

“Depends on your definition.” He took a deep breath. “Amanda has informed me that I have been neglectful in my duties to Chloe and has…suggested that I take her out this evening. I won’t be able to attend out marathon.”

“Okay, raincheck then,” Markus replied pleasantly.

Conner blinked. “You’re not upset?”

“Not, why would I be?”

“…because I wasn’t able to stick to the original agreement we had made?”

“And that’s okay. You’re human, Conner. Things are going to mess up our plans all the time. You just have to adapt a bit. Nobody’s perfect.” There was silence as Conner tried to process what he had said. “I’m not mad, Conner,” Markus assured softly.

“Promise?” Conner cringed at the very child-like question that slipped out.

“Promise.” He could hear the fond smile drifting through the speaker.

Conner practically deflated with relief. “Okay. I just wish…”

“I know. Me too.” Not for the first time, Conner wondered how he was lucky enough to warrant having a friend like Markus. They took a moment to just listen to each other breath, each morning for their lost time and secretly yearning for the next to come. “Go see Chloe, Conner. We’ll hang out another time.” Markus said softly breaking the fragile silence.

“Alright. Goodbye, Markus and don’t watch any without me.” The last part was added hastily and was only partly playful.

“Of course not,” there was that smile again. “Goodbye, Conner.” There was a faint click and Conner pulled the device away from his ear. It wasn’t nearly enough, but it would have to do for now. Finding himself sighing again, Conner typed out a quick message.

‘Would you care to join me for dinner tonight at Maroni’s?’

Chloe’s response was almost immediate.

‘I would love to!’

‘I’ll pick you up at six.’

‘Can’t wait!’

Chloe’s emojis didn’t make him smile quite like Markus’ does.

Here he was in another suit at yet another event he had no desire to be at. Chloe sat across the table from him, a vision in lavender, delicately spinning her pasta with her silver fork and spoon. His own ravioli was slowly cooling in the white china dinner plate in front of him. Hank sat at the table next to them, silently enjoying his own meal while scanning the area around them and not-so-subtly rolling his eyes at their inability to fill the space between them with any type of conversation. Conner took small sips of his wine from the spotless crystal glass, eyes fixed on the candle flickering the silver candlestick in the center of the immaculate white table cloth.

His eyes flickered to Hank, who gave him a pointed look and gestured to Chloe, mouthing an aggressive ‘talk to her’. He cleared his throat. “How is your food?” He asked and Hank face-palmed.

“It’s delicious,” Chloe replied with a polite smile. “And yours?”

“It is very good.”

“That’s good.” The silence was back, and Conner could feel Hank’s unimpressed glare heating up the side of his face and he pointedly avoided looking over. He was getting a lecture on the finer point of social conversations on the way home tonight for sure.

“I wanted to thank you for taking me out tonight.” She said fork pushing the pasta around her plate. “I know we haven’t seen much of each other these past few weeks, with both of us being so busy.”

“I know,” he acknowledged. “I apologize for neglecting you.”

“Oh, I’m not upset or anything. I mean, both of us have lives to live. I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to spend tonight with me. That’s all.”

“Oh…” he didn’t really know what to say to that. “You are welcome, I suppose.”

She smiled warmly at him. “Were you able to watch the play the other night? Or did you give the tickets away?”

“Right, the play. Um…” his mind flashed to Pauli’s dinner, laughing and enjoying great food with a certain beautifully mismatched man. He couldn’t decide if this feeling was bitter or sweet to the taste. “I went for a portion of it but wasn’t able to stay for the full performance. Special…circumstances arose that required my…immediate attention.”

“Oh, that’s too bad.” Chloe’s hands disappeared beneath the table. “I would have liked to hear how it ended.

That bittersweet taste soured, and he swallowed the rest of his wine to chase it away. The awkward silence was back, making his ears ring painfully. The conversations of the other patrons nor the soft music playing over invisible speakers did nothing to dispel it. It was, of course, Chloe that broke it. “Do you remember that carousel that we used to ride all the time when we were kids?” She asked looking away as her hand tapped her chin. “I can’t remember the name of it.”

He knew exactly which one she was referring to. “The Cullen Carousel.”

Her eyes lit up. “Yes, that’s the one.”

“Yes, I remember it.” He smiled. “I also happened to remember that your brother challenged us that we couldn’t ride it without throwing up.”

She giggled, hand covering her mouth. “Yeah, and each of us rode it till we did.”

“If I remember correctly, you beat us all. Rode it ten times.”

“You were a close second.”

“Then Elijah.”

“Then, of course, Conan.” She giggled again. “Poor Conan, he was never very good with rides.”

Conner shook his head fondly. “He had a weak stomach. He would get so mad at me when I forced him onto anything with any kind of spin to it. He’d always end up a little green afterward.”

They laughed lightly together, bonding of memories of their shared childhood. “Those were the days, weren’t they?” She said wistfully. “No work. No responsibilities.” She shifted slightly in her seat, the mood dropping quickly with her tone. “Whatever happened to those days, Conner? We used to be such good friends and now…now, we hardly talk to each other.”

Conner looked away, staring into the bottom of the wine glass rolling between his fingers. He couldn’t answer her. So much had changed since then. He had changed.

“Hey,” a perfectly manicured hand reached across the table and gently grabbed his wrist. He glanced up at his…fiancée. She smiled softly at him, blue eyes glowing in the candlelight. “Why don’t we go?”

His head tilted. “Go where?”

“Back to the carousel. I’m sure it’s still there. We could go back to those days. Just for a little while.”

His mouth opened to refuse her. There was no use in dwelling in the past, but…maybe…just this once. The smile grew on his face. “Let’s go.”

Grinning, they stood together, and Conner helped her put on her coat. Hank glanced at them confused. “Just where are you two going?” He asked standing as well.

“On an adventure,” Chloe declared giggling.

“Would you bring the car around Hank?” Conner asked slipping into his own coat. To his credit, Hank just shook his head and did as he was asked.

They paid the bill and were soon cruising toward Cullen Plaza and the childhood memories hidden there. They could see the operator starting to close down the carousel and ran the rest of the way. “Wait, sir! Wait!” Chloe called trying to catch her breath.

“I’m closing up for the night, guys.” Said the man with the name tag the read, ‘Jerry’.

“We know. We would just like a few minutes. Please?” Conner asked.

Jerry’s eyes flicked between the two of them, taking in their ruffled evening clothes and faces filled with childish hope. He sighed good-naturedly and smiled. “A few minutes.”

Chloe bounced in excitement and Conner thanked the man and handed him a hundred for his trouble. They opened the gate and rushed to the glowing carousel. Chloe chose a beautifully-painted white stallion and Conner mounted the chestnut one next to her. The music started up and the ride began to spin slowly. Chloe giggled and for a moment, Conner could see the little girl he knew years ago. Platinum blond hair up in pigtails and chubby cheeks pink with laughter. Feet barely able to reach the stirrups and safety belt wrapped around her waist. What had happened to the feeling of freedom that came with those days? How did things get so jaded with age? That little girl was one of his close friends and now? Now, he found himself engaged to her with no desire to replace what they had back then. Why did life have to taint those good memories?

The carousel slowed to a stop and they got off, Chloe still giggling. They thanked Jerry and walked back to the car where Hank was waiting with an amused smile. The ride back to the Kamski’s mansion was filled with Chloe reminiscing about their childhood and Conner doing his utmost not to ruin the mood.

Ever the gentleman, Conner walked her to the door. “Thank you for tonight, Conner. I haven’t had fun like that in a while. Hopefully, we can do it again soon.” She said hesitantly, brushing a stray curl from her face.

“Of course, Chloe,” Conner replied with a polite smile. “Goodnight.”

As he went to turn away, a hand on his arm stopped him. Resting on the step just below her, Chloe was able to look him in the eye and she stepped toward him. The same panicked feeling from that afternoon in his office bubbled up inside him, threatening to burst. His muscles seized as her warm breath ghosted over his face and he held his breath to keep from hyperventilating. The moment her glossy lips met his, his hand flew to her arm as if to push her away.

A little voice in the back of his head informed him that this is what an engaged couple does. They were affectionate, intimate, with each other. Be affectionate, Conner. That sounded too much like Amanda. Swallowing down the panic, he forced himself to loosen his grip and just allow what was happing.

Encouraged by his reaction, Chloe’s head tilted, slotting her lips against his closed mouth. Her hand held the back of his neck, keeping him from escaping.

You can stop now, he pleaded. Please stop. It was as if she heard him as she finally, finally, broke the kiss. She seemed more relaxed in her smile as she gazed lovingly at him. Don’t do that. “Goodnight, Conner.” Her voice was husky, and he shivered. It had nothing to do with desire. She turned away and headed inside, and Conner could finally breathe. A shaking hand wiped at his mouth and he desperately tried to calm his racing heart.

The night seemed like a success. He had spent the adequate amount of time with Chloe and was even affectionate towards her. The little trip down memory lane was unexpected and it wasn’t clear if it had been welcome. Amanda would be proud. So, why did he feel like he was going to be sick?

#my fic #markus x connor #dbh markus #dbh connor #dbh hank #dbh jerry #rk1000 #rk900 #emotional manipulation #arranged marriage #human au #slow burn #ao3 #i can never remember all of my tags #dbh chloe #dbh amanda

13 notes · View notes

cometsweepandleonidsfly · 5 years

Link

David Sims: “ As a fan of the TV show, I felt battered into submission. This season has been the same story over and over again: a lot of tin-eared writing trying to justify some of the most drastic story developments imaginable, as quickly as possible....[T]ime and time again in recent years, Benioff and Weiss have opted for grand cinematic gestures over granular world building, and Drogon burning the Throne to sludge was their last big mic drop.

Spencer Kornhaber: The penultimate episode of Game of Thrones gave us one of the most dramatic reversals in TV history, with the once-good queen going genocidal. The finale gave us yet another historic reversal, in that this drama turned into a sitcom. Not a slick HBO sitcom either, but a cheapo network affair, or maybe even a webisode of outtakes from one. Tonally odd, logically strained, and emotionally thin, “The Iron Throne” felt like the first draft of a finale.

When Dany torched King’s Landing last week, viewers were incensed, but I’d argue it was less because the onetime hero went bad than because it wasn’t clearwhy she did. Long-simmering madness? Sudden emotional break? Tough-minded strategy? A desire to implement an innovative new city grid? The answer to this would seem to help answer some of the show’s most fundamental inquiries about might and right, little people and greater goods, noble nature and cruel nurture. Thrones has been shaky quality-wise for some time now, but surely the show would be competent enough to hinge the finale around the mystery of Dany’s decision.

Nope. The first parts of the episode loaded up on ponderous scenes of the characters whose horror at the razing of King’s Landing had been made plenty clear during the course of the razing. Tyrion speculated a bit to Jon about what had happened—Dany truly believed she was out to save the world and could thus justify any means on the way to messianic ends—but it was, truly, just speculation. When Jon and Dany met up, he raged at her, and she gave some tyrannical talk knowing what “the good world” would need (shades of “I alone can fix it,” no?). But whether her total firebombing was premeditated, tactical, or a tantrum remained unclear. Whether she was always this deranged or just now became so determines what story Thrones was telling all along, and Benioff and Weiss have left it to be argued about in Facebook threads.

The Dany speechifying that we did get in this episode was, notably, not in the common tongue. Though conducted in Dothraki and Valaryian and not German, her victory rally was clearly meant to evoke Hitler in Triumph of the Will. It also visually recalled the white-cloaked Saruman rallying the orc armies in The Two Towers, another queasy echo. People talk about George R. R. Martin “subverting” Tolkien, but on the diciest element of Lord of the Rings—the capacity for it to be seen as a racist allegory, with Sauron’s horde of exotic brutes bearing down on an idyllic kingdom—this episode simply took the subtext and made it text. With the Northmen sitting out the march, the Dothraki and Unsullied were cast as bloodthirsty others eager to massacre a continent. Given all the baggage around Dany’s white-savior narrative from the start, going so heavy on the hooting and barking was a telling sign of the clumsiness to come.

Jon’s kiss-and-kill with Dany led to the one moment of sharp emotion—terror—I felt over the course of this bizarrely inert episode. That emotion came not from the assassination itself but rather from the suspense about what Drogon would do about it. For the dragon to roast the slayer of his mother would have been a fittingly awful but logical turn. Instead, Drogon turned his geyser toward the Iron Throne. Whether Aegon’s thousand swords were just a coincidental casualty of a dragon’s mourning or, rather, the chosen target of a beast with a higher purpose—R’hllor take the wheel?—is another key thing fans will be left to argue about.

Then came the epilogue, a parade of oofs. David, you say you were satisfied by where this finale moved all its game pieces, and if I step back … well, no, I’m not satisfied with Arya showing a sudden new interest in seafaring, but maybe I can be argued into it. What I can’t budge on is the parody-worthy crumminess of the execution. Take the council that decides the fate of Westeros. It appears that various lords gathered to force a confrontation with the Unsullied about the prisoners Tyrion and Jon Snow and the status of King’s Landing. But then one of those prisoners suggests they pick a ruler for the realm. They then … do just that. Right there and then. Huh?

It really undoes much of what we’ve learned about Westeros as a land of ruthlessly competing interests to see a group of far-flung factions unanimously agree to give the crown to the literal opposite of a “people person.” Yes, the council is dominated by protagonist types whom we know to be good-hearted and tired of war. But surely someone—hello, new prince of Dorne! What’s up, noted screamer Robin Arryn?—would make more of a case for another candidate than poor Edmure Tully did. Rather than hashing out the intrigue of it all as Thrones once would have done, we got Sam bringing up the concept of democracy and getting laughed down. The joke relied on the worst kind of anachronistic humor—breaking the fourth wall that had been so carefully mortared up over all these years—and much of the rest of the episode would coast on similarly wack moments.

It’s “nice” to see beloved characters ride off into various sunsets, but I balk at the notion that these endings even count as fan service. What true fan of Thronesthinks this show existed to deliver wish fulfillment? I’m not saying I wanted everyone to get gobbled up by a rogue zombie flank in the show’s final moments. Yet rather than honoring the complication and tough rules that made Thrones’ world so strangely lovable, Benioff and Weiss waved a wand and zapped away tension and consequence. You see this, for example, in the baffling arc of Bronn over the course of Season 8. What was the point of having him nearly kill Jaime and Tyrion if he was going to just be yada-yadaed onto the small council at the end?

One thing I can’t complain about: the hint that clean water will soon be coming to Westeros. Hopefully, someone will use it to give Ghost a bath. As the doggy and his dad rode north of the Wall with a band of men, women, and children, the message seemed to be that where death once ruled, life could begin. Winter Is Leaving. It’d seem like a hopeful takeaway for our own world, except that it’s not clear, even now, exactly how and why the realm of Thrones arrived at this happy outcome.

Lenika Cruz: Do I have answers? Who do you think I am—Bran the Broken? Before I get into this episode, I need to acknowledge how unfortunate it is that Tyrion decided to give the new ruler of the Six Kingdoms a name as horrifyingly ableist as Bran the Broken. You could, of course, argue that the moniker was intended as a reclamation of a slur or as a poignant callback to Season 1’s “Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things,” when Tyrion and Bran first bonded. But given the “parade of oofs” this finale provided—including the troubling optics of Dany’s big speech—it’s hard to make excuses for the show.

Now that we’ve gotten our “the real Game of Thrones/Iron Throne/Song of Ice and Fire was the friends we made along the way” jokes out of our system, where to begin? I basically agree with Spencer’s scorched-earth take on “The Iron Throne.” I was already expecting the finale to be a disappointment, but I didn’t foresee the tonal and narrative whiplash that I experienced here. At one point during the small-council meeting, my mind stopped processing the dialogue because I was in such disbelief about the several enormous things that had happened within the span of 15 minutes: Jon stabs Dany. Instead of roasting Jon, Drogon symbolically melts the Iron Throne and carries the limp body of his mother off in his talons. A conclave of lords and ladies of Westeros is convened, and Tyrion is brought before them in chains, and they know Dany was murdered, and Tyrion argues for an entirely new system of government while being held prisoner by the Master of War of the person he just conspired to assassinate. Excuse me? (The way that Grey Worm huffed, “Make your choice, then,” at those assembled reminded me of an impatient father waiting for his children to pick which ice-cream flavor they want.)

David, Spencer—of the three of us, I’ve been the most stubborn about thinking this final season is bad and holding that badness against the show. I don’t fault viewers who’ve become inured to the shoddy writing and plotting, and who’ve been grading each episode on a curve as a result. But I personally haven’t been able to get into a mind-set where I can watch an episode and enjoy it for everything except stuff like pacing issues, rushed character development, tonal dissonance, the lack of attention to detail, unexplained reversals, and weak dialogue. All of those problems absolutely make the show less enjoyable for me, and I haven’t learned to compartmentalize them—even though I know how hard it must have been for Benioff and Weiss to piece together an airtight final act solely from Martin’s book notes.

...Much like with last week’s episode, I can actually see myself being on board with many of the plot points in the finale—if only they had been built up to properly and given the right sort of connective tissue. For all the episode’s earnest exhortations about the power of stories, “The Iron Throne” itself didn’t do much to model that value.

For example, I can’t be the only one who was let down, and at a loss for a larger takeaway, after seeing a high-stakes contest between two ambitious female rulers devolve after both became unhinged and got themselves killed. After all the intense discussion about gender politics that Thrones has spurred, and after seeing characters such as Sansa, Brienne, Cersei, Daenerys, and Yara reshape the patriarchal structures of Westeros, we’ve ended up with a male ruler (who once said, “I will never be lord of anything”) installed on the charismatic recommendation of another man and served by a small council composed almost entirely of … men.

Perhaps there’s no deeper meaning to any of this. Or perhaps this state of affairs is a commentary on the frustrating realities of incrementalism. I am, of course, beyond pleased that Sansa Stark has at least become the Queen in the North—a title that she, frankly, deserved from the beginning. But I haven’t forgotten that this show only recently had her articulate the silver lining of being raped and tortured. Nor am I waving away the fact that Brienne spent some of her last moments on-screen writing a fond tribute to a man who betrayed her and all but undid his entire character arc in one swoop. My sense is that the show’s writers didn’t think about Thrones resetting to the rule of men much at all, and that they were instead relishing having a gaggle of former misfits sitting on the small council. See? the show seemed to cry. Change!

At times, Thrones gestured more clearly to the ways in which the story was going a more circular route; this was especially true of the Starks. Jon headed up to Castle Black and became a kind of successor to Mance Rayder—someone leading not because of his last name or bloodline but because of the loyalty he’s earned. Arya’s seafaring didn’t feel out of character to me—it fit with her sense of adventure and reminded me of her voyage across the Narrow Sea to Braavos all those years ago. Sansa became Queen in the North in a scene that recalled the debut of “Dark Sansa” in the Vale, but that felt like a true acknowledgment of how much her character has transformed. I’ll admit, the crosscutting of the scenes showing the Starks finding their own, separate ways forward was beautifully done. It made me wish the episode as a whole had been more cohesive, less rushed, and more emotionally resonant.

Spencer, I think you smartly diagnosed so many of the big-picture problems with the finale—the sitcommy feel, the yada-yadaing of major points, the many attempts at fan service. So rather than elaborate even more, I’ll end this review by saying something sort of obvious: Viewers are perfectly entitled to feel about the ending of Game of Thrones however they want to. After eight seasons, they have earned the right to be as wrathful or blissed-out on this finale as they want; it’s been a long and stressful ride for us all. I’m genuinely happy that there are folks who don’t feel as though the hours and hours they’ve devoted to this show have been wasted. I know there are many others who wish they could say the same thing.”

#game of thrones #spoilers #such rotten storytelling

1 note · View note

codetrainwreck · 6 years

Text

Code Geass Season 1 Interview Collection

All of these interviews were translated/summarized by Celiss @ GameFAQs

CLAMP Summary of the Newtype Ookawa Nanase x Taniguchi Gorou interview. Note that the early designs on that page are by Ookawa Nanase, but the finalized CLAMP original art (not to be confused with the finalized KimuTaka character designs) were done by Mokona, a different CLAMP member. All info listed are from Ookawa and Taniguchi themselves; dialogue in ""s means those are the parts I didn't rephrase at all. - Suzaku originally had a "sharper" look to him. Ookawa -- "Originally I imagined him as having Chinese-like, sharp, single-eyelid eyes." Taniguchi -- "In order to have Lelouch stand out more, I had this design changed to a softer, rounder image." - On the early design for Lelouch (white hair) Ookawa -- "I imagined Lelouch as someone everyone will find to be "cool"; a beauty, to put it simply." Taniguchi -- "We talked about Tackey & Tsubasa as well as early Kinki Kids." (Popular Johnny's idols in Japan) - Ookawa attended the Episode 1 sneak preview / test screening; according to her a large number of reporters and other mass media-related personnel showed up as well because of the pre-show hype. When the 1st episode ended, the room went dead silent. With the fast-moving plot and the episode ending with Lelouch going "Die, all of you" as he Geasses the soldiers into killing themselves, everyone was left speechless. However, the momentary silence was later broken by tremendous applause. Taniguchi himself wasn't at the screening, but he heard about what happened as well. - How did CLAMP come to be part of the Code Geass project? Producer Kawaguchi was the one who wrote to them first. That was the first time CLAMP heard from him, and also the first time they received a request to design characters for an anime. The members only met the director more than a year later; they were already on board the project when the characters and world view were nothing more than a vague concept. CLAMP offered some "interesting ideas" and these helped shape the world of Code Geass. - The character illustrations shown on the page are preliminary designs; when these were first drawn Code Geass wasn't about a war with an Empire but something different. Taniguchi said "We're making a hit show", and wanted to create a show which appealed to everyone. They ended up using the Johnny's artistes (Tackey & Tsubasa; early Kinki Kids) as a sort of model for the characters (probably Lelouch; those Johnny's artistes are usually thought of as "Prince" types, especially early Domoto Kouichi of Kinki Kids) - The character "Zero" was decided from early on, and is one of the characters left unchanged even when they adjusted the story. CLAMP members call Zero's mask "Tulip" (because of it's appearance) They wanted to create a mask never seen before in previous Sunrise shows. They were told to create a mask showing only one eye, and there were two possibilities for that, the other being the masks used in palaces (...which kind of palace? Asian or Western?) Taniguchi -- "When I saw Zero's mask, my thought processes all came to a halt (laugh) It was extremely simple yet had impact." The biggest merit of having CLAMP do the designs is that, according to Taniguchi, they can come up with things normal animator-turned-designers can't. The clothes, for example, may seem impossible (*coughZeroandC.C.'scostumescough*), but CLAMP still went ahead with them anyway with the simple reasoning that "These are better!" - How did the designing process work? CLAMP members drew a certain number of illustrations, handed them to Taniguchi and Taniguchi would later return it to them with his own comments. The designs would be changed according to his wishes and the cycle repeated. The comments ranged from "I want you to redraw just this part" to "I want you to add this part of the character with this part of that character and come up with a new character." Taniguchi pretty much gave CLAMP free reign over the designs, telling them not to worry about what the CG world was like, and because of that they came up with all kinds of variations, from SF to Classical, for things like the military uniforms. There were altogether some 40 ~ 50 designs; C.C. also had traditional Japanese clothes as well as Western Barbie-style clothes. (Now we know why C.C. cosplays so much. Taniguchi probably included them because he thought it would be a waste not to...) - Ookawa -- "Taniguchi doesn't like girls with big breasts." (This is true; Taniguchi is famous for being anti-fanservice. He supposedly hates "jiggling chests" the most, but it seems that since GunxSword he's had to compromise on this area because frankly, sex sells) Ookawa - "Even though I drew all kinds of female figures and body shapes, only the flat-chested designs were returned." (The unreturned designs = No Good) Taniguchi: "It's not that those aren't allowed (laugh) It's just that when you transfer them on to the screen it usually ends up even more exaggerated, so I wanted to keep the original designs under control, at least." - Taniguchi also likes having characters who have something different on one side of their bodies (the "unbalanced" balance) Lelouch has one red eye, for example; Villetta's and Jeremiah's hairstyles also fall under this category. Taniguchi -- "I like it. It's sexy, don't you think?" Ookawa -- "You like characters with sex appeal, huh." Taniguchi -- "Sex appeal is important. CLAMP's characters are all sexy. That's another reason why we decided to request designs from you." - Before doing the character designs, KimuTaka spent every day copying CLAMP's art from their artbooks and manga. After analyzing CLAMP's art to his best ability, he then started on the character designs. He did his best to design them in a way so that the other animators would be able to draw them without deviating from CLAMP's original artstyle. - According to Ookawa, Schneizel was designed with "Lelouch's arch nemesis" in mind. The most time was spent on his design. Taniguchi wanted someone who could appear either good or bad and had a large sense of scale (2 meters... okay so he probably wasn't referring to height, but still) - Lloyd is the professor-type CLAMP is good at (Ookawa's own confession), but originally he wasn't supposed to be that much of a mad scientist. It happened mostly because of Shiratori Tetsu's acting (In the audio commentary for episode 1 Taniguchi mentions that he gave Shiratori free reign over Lloyd's character) Ookawa was surprised when Lloyd turned out the way he did. - Which characters do the CLAMP members like? Mokona (she did the final character original art) liked Clovis, so when she saw that he was offed after only 2 episodes she was really depressed. According to Ookawa, Clovis was killed off a lot earlier than originally planned. Taniguchi apologizes for this, and then remarks that Jeremiah, on the other hand, has survived longer than originally planned. (The power of 2ch, indeed) - Taniguchi: "If you rewatch the first half of the show after watching episode 23, you might discover new things you didn't see before." He refuses to say what these things are, saying that this is an enjoyment exclusive to viewers who noticed themselves. - Okouchi was the one who insisted that a mask was necessary in order for it to be a Sunrise anime. - Ookawa -- "Director Taniguchi is someone who makes it clear what his likes and dislikes are, and this really helped our work. I like Cornelia, and I hope she can be happy." (I'm sure she'll get along well with Fu-kuyama, that crazy Cornelia fan) - Ookawa seems to be a Lelouch fan. She says that she worries whenever Lelouch does something stupid or uses the Geass in a wasteful manner. - CLAMP will still be doing the designs for the sequel, or perhaps have already done them. --- Animedia Q. Is it true that the Emperor is invading countries because he is looking for (Geass) "ruins"? A. In episode 19, General Bartley said "The Emperor decides which country to invade going by the location of the ruins" (I'm not sure how gg translated this). It is unclear whether this is truly the motive behind the invasions, but as the General has been investigating this for a long time, his statement that there are other such ruins, at least, must be true. Since a gigantic Geass mark surfaced on the Kaminejima ruins, it appears that it is somehow connected with the Geass. (Well duh) Q. What exactly is the "Mental Elevator" (Intellevator) the Emperor mentioned? A. This is still very much a mystery. However, because this is something coming from the Emperor, it may have to do with the mystery of the ruins he is said to be searching for. (...Double duh) Q. What is the 2nd Imperial Prince Schneizel looking for? A. Bartley and co. are picking up where Clovis left off with his investigations, which is why they went to Kaminejima. It seems that they have a vague suspicion on what the Emperor's objectives are, and intend to get a jump on him. At this stage this is all we are able to infer. It is probable that there is a certain something the Britannian royalty all wish to obtain. (...? Immortality? Pizza? And Schneizel vs Emperor, go! If Schneizel isn't a bad guy, or had nothing to do with Marianne's assassination, Lelouch should just team up with him already >__> With Suzaku, the Emperor would be dead in a day) Q. After episode 23, what will become of Britannia's "Area 11"? A. As we have just reached the part where the next step of the battle would be to destroy the Britannian government office (the palace-like building with flags), the answer to this question will have to depend on the outcome. Should the Black Knights triumph, Japan may have its rights restored while the Britannians may be forced into a vulnerable position this time around. (Take away all their cellphones! That'll teach 'em!) However, both the Chinese Federation and the EU, names which have repeatedly come up in the show, are both keeping an eye on the situation. How these two forces will act is something to look out for in the future. Q. What happened to "Good Morning'd" Orange? A. I too am surprised. Even though it's amazing that he's made a reappearance in the show, it's "Good Morning'd" after all. (Meaning the line destroyed the serious, cool mood of the scene XD) It seems that after the Narita battle, he was picked up (in the same sense you pick up rubbish / abandoned animals), turned into a subject for experiments and then modified. I'm sure many viewers have already realized what happened because his silhouette is in the OP. The resurrected Orange can't be beat! (Literal translation = "is the strongest") Q. What happened to Shirley's "memories" erased by the Geass? A. Basically, those memories will not return. The Geass works only once. Having seen the memo with her own handwriting, Shirley made her own inferences and somehow managed to grasp the truth of the situation. Although there was a subtle scene in episode 23 where she reacted to the name "Lulu", with the situation becoming increasingly hectic, her chances of meeting Lelouch again will diminish. (What does this mean? She's not going to get her chance to confront Lelouch about the truth after running away from it in episode 22?) Q. Will Kallen's real identity never be revealed to her friends in school? A. Although Suzaku already knows about it, he didn't say a thing about it in school, so as long as Suzaku and Kallen herself keep quiet no one will know. However, in episodes 24 and 25 Kallen, along with Zero, may storm the government office. What will become of the school when the settlement becomes a battlefield...!? (Are they hinting that the school will be in danger --> Black Knights come to the rescue --> Kallen's identity is finally revealed?) *The caption for Nunnally's picture: Sayoko's position itself has become somewhat ambiguous. There isn't a single person left who is protecting her... (I noted this because this sounds bad. Protect her, Arthur!) *The caption for Milly's picture: Having given up on Lelouch, she plunged headlong into the engagement with Lloyd. However... (However...? JUST JOIN THE BLACK KNIGHTS ALREADY!) Q. If the settlement is attacked, what will become of Nunnally and Arthur? A. In episode 23, it appears that the school is still somewhat safe and peaceful. Although Nunnally was frightened, she still has "the mysterious" Sayoko-san with her. Sayoko was told by Diethard to "Stay as you are and wait for further orders." (Episode 21) Things should be alright. Is Arthur with them!? (No, he's obviously outside taking down mechs left and right) However, should Japan achieve independence, Britannian schools would be in danger. *The text below (not in the blue boxes) written by the magazine writers (not the CG staff) says that if Lelouch doesn't go back to Ashford, Nunnally's safety will be "a candle in the wind". However, since this is his beloved sister we're talking about, it makes sense to think that he will definitely return in episodes 24 and 25...!? (...did they really need to end the sentence with an interrobang?) Q. Will "Chigusa"-san join the Black Knights? A. Chigusa-san = Villetta. She's currently cohabiting with Ougi and living a life reminiscent of the Showa period (...loving couple, wife waiting at home etc?) The octopus wieners she made for Ougi's bentou truly had a lot of impact. However, because her memories disappeared not because of the Geass, they will return someday. With that the two of them will become mutual enemies, which will make things difficult. *The lower text says "There is no way a Britannian female Knight will pass all her days living a lovey-dovey life in secret. But don't cry, Ougi!!" (I... want to see him cry >__>) Q. When will C.C. give the OK to Lelouch the Geass user? (This is the literal translation of the question; it seems that what the question is trying to ask is: Exactly what does Lelouch need to do in order to fulfil the terms of the contract?) A. This is far from clear. It seems that C.C. sealed the contract with Lelouch with a certain objective in mind. This contract is valid until that goal is reached. (Does this mean that once her wish is fulfilled, she can / will take Lelouch's Geass away from him?) For Lelouch, his goals are to defeat Britannia and the Emperor and also to create a happy world for Nunnally... However, what C.C. stands to gain from these goals of his remains a mystery. Q. Is Wall h4x Suzaku's (okay, so it actually says wall-runner Suzaku) physical prowess that of a normal human being's? A. Yes, he's a normal human being. It's just that he possesses extraodinary physical capabilites. It seems that his excellent Knightmare piloting skills has to do with him being unexpectedly compatible with Lancelot, and nothing more than that. Lloyd of the Special Dispatch was quick to notice this. (...? What about Fake Okouchi and Real Okouchi's previous hints about there being a secret behind his abnormal physical strength? Unless this answer is supposed to be a red herring?) Q. With Euphie dead, is Suzaku's mental state alright? A. He can't be alright, can he? That's not the usual him. If you listen carefully he said "Ore" (? He was still Boku-Suzaku during the phone conversation though, but I might have missed him saying "Ore" in episode 23), even though he had been using "boku". However, it seems that that is Suzaku's original personality. Up till now he's been faking his personality because of what happened with his father. He can no longer continue his facade now that he's snapped. Rather than saying that he will be somewhat like a beast from here on, it would be more appropriate to say we will be able to see Suzaku's real personality. Q. Why is it that up until the very end, Suzaku still doesn't have a "cellphone"? A. It's because there is a clear rule regarding this; Elevens and Honorary Britannians are not allowed to have one. It's a Britannian rule. This was probably decided in order to nip any possible insurrection in the bud. Also explains why Cecile-san had to personally come and get Suzaku (in episode 17) Q. After episode 23, what will Suzaku's next move be? A. To take revenge? For Euphie. Against Zero! Perhaps he isn't thinking about the future at all. Although he's fighting as a Honorary Britannian, it seems that he's just rushing headlong into the battle with personal grudges to settle. However, he pretty much cannot die due to the "Live!" Geass on him. A rather painful future may be awaiting him. Q. Who is more amazing? Suzaku vs Lelouch 10-point showdown! 1. Knightmare piloting skills: Suzaku 2. Hunting ability: Suzaku 3. Game skills: Lelouch 4. How they treat Nunnally: Lelouch 5. Popularity with the girls: Tie 6. Popularity with the guys: Suzaku 7. Studies (Science/Maths): Lelouch 8. Studies (Humanities/Arts): Lelouch 9. Independence (Cooking): Suzaku 10. Independence (Money concept): Lelouch (Lelouch wins 5-4. Lelouch is actually pretty good at cooking (It's part of his official character profile, IIRC; Sayoko also mentions this in her Diary section for DVD vol 2's booklet) Some of the reasonings behind the Lelouch vs Suzaku results are pretty nonsensical, actually. For example: 9. Independence (Cooking skill): Suzaku Lulu has been feeding Nunnally ever since their childhood days. His cooking skills are absolutely perfect. Suzaku received a strange Onigiri (Cecile's) Therefore... ...What does that have to do with cooking skills? >__> If anything that only proves Suzaku isn't human. As for Popularity with Girls, it's a tie because while Lelouch may have a hidden fanclub at school (I forgot who said this... FO?), Suzaku is popular with older women. This is also part of his official character profile; Suzaku admits it himself in the booklet for DVD vol. 03. However, he denies being attracted to them, but considering his first love (a house maid) happened when he was 3 years old... >__> Suzaku wins in the Popularity with Guys section because Lelouch doesn't really mix around with other students, only with his fellow Student Council members. This isn't really fair considering Suzaku probably has a hard time getting along with other classmates as well, but I guess that all changed after Euphemia knighted him. Though I think if it had been Zero vs Suzaku Zero would have won hands down. Zero has Diethard (Obsessed stalker), Tamaki (Tsundere) and Orange (also a stalker when you think about it >__>) --- Taniguchi Some interesting stuff from the Taniguchi interview: - Taniguchi appears to be hinting that Suzaku will have more scenes in the 2nd season. He mentioned that for viewers who want to watch this show thinking of Lelouch and Suzaku as double protagonists (Like Kazuma and Ryuhou in S.cry.ed; however, officially, Lelouch is the only protagonist in this show; everyone else is a supporting character), this motif will come up from here on. (He probably means that the difference between Suzaku and Lelouch will be made even more obvious in the future) - We'll be seeing more of Lelouch romantic relationships (probably in the 2nd season) According to him they decided not to put too much focus on those in the first 23 episodes because it would only complicate matters. It was necessary to show what Lelouch's primary focus is (Destroy Britannia; happy world for Nunnally) - V.V. will be a key person in the 2nd season; same goes for the mysterious long-haired Chinese guy (? Girl?) shown in episode 23. - By episode 26 (Taniguchi probably means 1st episode of the 2nd season; it seems that he's thinking of Code Geass as one whole continuous season) viewers will be able to see what Lelouch currently has in mind and what he intends to do next. - In case the sequel wasn't greenlighted (they already received the OK for it back in December last year, at least), they had an alternative route prepared for the story to take, one which would have ended the story in episode 23. It would have been a non-conclusive ending though; according to Taniguchi it was more of a "psychological" ending for Lelouch (think EVA ending) - By Taniguchi's own admission, the real story has only just begun. --- Kawaguchi The Kawaguchi interview itself is quite strange. It feels as though Director Taniguchi, Scriptwriter Okouchi and Producer Kawaguchi all have different interpretations regarding the show. On the subject of the phone conversation at the end of episode 23, Kawaguchi says that Okouchi originally wrote the scene intending to dramatize the mistaken nature of Lelouch and Suzaku's friendship (lit. trans: how it continually "passes each other by"), but Taniguchi said "If you need to confirm it, then you're not really friends" (The "After all, we're friends, aren't we?" line) and had the meaning of the scene changed. So... are they truly friends or not? I suppose they're "friends" in the sense that they truly care about each other, yet at the same time they can't be "true friends" because they're still hiding all sorts of secrets from each other. Kawaguchi, at least, is adamant that Lelouch and Suzaku cannot be considered friends. I'd like to see an Okouchi-only interview next to hear what he has to say on this matter XD Also, Kawaguchi referred to Lelouch as "Lulu" twice in the interview. Kawaguchi is a big fan of Lulu Quality, indeed. --- The infamous phone call in 23. Producer Kawaguchi actually offered an explanation in his interview on why Lelouch has Euphie's number. We know that he definitely has her number saved because "Euphemia" showed up on his cellphone; we also know that calls from unknown people show up on his phone as "No Number" (episode 13 -- assumed to be a call from Ougi and episode 15 -- Mao) Basically the (lame) explanation is: "They must have exchanged numbers on the deserted island (laugh)" I wonder what name Euphemia saved Lelouch's number under though. She can't possibly have saved it under "Lelouch"... she's not that much of an airhead... right? >__> Though "Zero" is a lot worse, but not as much as "My First Love, Eheh <3" --- Fake Okouchi questions from 2chan 1. (Did Suzaku know that Zero = Lelouch at the end of episode 23? If so, did Lelouch realize it as well?) No comment. 2. (When exactly will episodes 24 and 25 be aired during the summer? Will they not be aired first via Biglobe's internet streaming?) I don't think so . We weren't able to secure the slots in time. It's a little thick-skinned of me to say this, but to make up for it the animation and the directing etc. will be impressive. 3. (It seems to me that Suzaku is more important to Lelouch than Lelouch is to Suzaku. What exactly does Suzaku think of LuluNana?) To Suzaku, Lelouch is more of an old friend. As for Nunnally, rather than her being just the sister of a friend, it appears that he thinks of her as an important person. 4. (Will Lulu and C.C.'s line "Bestow upon me the mark of destruction! Consecrate it!" used in the pre-airing CMs appear in the show? A word about this line please.) I don't think the line will appear in the show. The lines said in the CMs are more like "catch copies" <"catch phrases" in English> 5. (Did Suzaku see V.V. or C.C. in episode 22? What was the reason behind it?) <-- The light silhouette in front of the Gawain It was C.C. It's somewhat like the mirage(?) of C.C. only Lelouch could see in episode 1. He saw it because he has the Geass potential. 6. (C.C. talked to Marianne in episode 23. Is Marianne in the World of C?) No comment. 7. (How does C.C. go about choosing Geass users? As long as they have potential everything's fine? For what reason did she choose Mao and Lelouch?) It's a secret, but the main criteria involved in the choosing is related to the bloodline as well as where and how the person grew up. 8. (In episode 7, C.C. said "The blood does not rebel" (Children take after their parents) Whose blood was she referring to? The Emperor's or Marianne's?) Both, I suppose. C.C. was teased *by Marianne* a lot, so I think she just wanted to get her back for it *by claiming that Lelouch takes after her?* 9. (Who's stronger: V.V. or C.C.?) It depends on what you mean by "strong", but if you were to make them fight each other mano-a-mano I think C.C. would be declared the victor. 10. (Will the "Lelouch being good at household chores" character setting be used in the future? Is it true that he made Zero's costume himself? Will such hidden character settings appear in the drama CDs etc?) I think the scenes that were cut from the show *such as the kiss with Kallen?* as well as the character settings that have yet to be shown will be included in the drama CDs and such. *He didn't actually state a specific media* 11. (What's the meaning behind the OP shot in which Lelouch rides a horse? What about the mugshots? Whose hand is it in the scene showing someone trying to grab hold of the person floating with the Geass mark?) Horse-riding is a sort of reference to piloting a Knightmare *they're "mares", after all* It implies that his (Lelouch's) main role isn't to pilot a Knightmare *he's more of a commander*, unlike Suzaku. Also, his elegant way of spurring a horse onward shows his prince-like quality / nature. This is further supported by the background, which was drawn with the Britannia homeland in mind. As for the mugshots, I think that those show the key characters whose actions help move the story forward, but I fear that only the director knows the truth of it. As for the hand, I think it's probably Nunnally's. (Actually I don't know either, but the skin-tone is the same as Nunnally's) 12. (What is the debt from 7 years ago? Will it be revealed in the 1st season?) The "Debt" doesn't only refer to one specific thing. One of it has to do with the Kururugi family forcing LuluNana into confinement *in a storage shed, no less* 13. (Will the Emperor's past cronies and Knight appear in the show?) That would depend on the 2nd season. 14. (Why is it that even though Nunnally calls Marianne "Okaa-sama" (polite), Lulu calls her "Kaa-san" (informal)? It's rather strange for royalty to do that.) I think perhaps it's a sort of code showing how he respected, trusted and in a way depended on his mother. The same goes for Suzaku calling himself "Ore". *Meaning it's a sort of clue about what goes on in their heads* 15. (How much time has passed in the show between episodes 1 ~ 25?) The actual length of time is made ambiguous, but I suppose it's quite close to the broadcast length in real life. *About 6 months?* 16. (The difference between a Knight and an Elected Knight (Suzaku, Guilford) please.) Originally, the term "Knight" is a general one referring to all Knightmare pilots. Elected Knights such as Guilford and Suzaku are those chosen by the royalty as personal protectors. It's just that for the convenience of the conversation there are times where the term "Knight" actually refers to "Elected Knight". 17. (A hidden character setting, please. Anything is fine.) In the early planning stages, Rivalz was named Radner *? Katakana = "radona"; I have no idea whether this is a name or whether he's referring to another famous person or what* and had a much bigger role. In a way, he had an evil side to him, more so than Lelouch, and was truly "bad company". However, if he was to be made into someone who had too much in common with Lelouch, Suzaku's existence would have less of an impact and thus changes were made. 18. (Will the period in which LuluNana lived by themselves be shown in the show? Or will these be covered by the Picture Dramas and Drama CDs?) Unknown. 19. (Was the Marianne shown in episode 22 part of C.C.'s memories? Why did Suzaku faint?) Rather than say that was C.C.'s memories, it would be more appropriate to say that was a scene showing her "vision". *That's exactly what he says in katakana* Suzaku collapsed because of C.C.'s shock attack. 20. (Villetta once said "Britannia is scary" when she was still Chigusa. Were those her real feelings?) That was her reacting to having been seriously wounded and having lost her memories. Besides that, she felt peaceful during her time with Ougi and was also influenced by his way of thinking. 21. (What are the requirements for the reactivation of Suzaku's "Live!" Geass? How will it affect him, exactly? Make him go berserk?) He will return to his original way of living and become more and more honest. *His "boku" personality is a false one used to protect himself* 22. (Are there plans to use the cut Zero / Kallen kiss scene (Source: Megami Magazine) in the future?) It is true that that scene was cut. A lot of adjustments were made around episode 20. The kiss event was to give Kallen courage after she lost her nerve to continue to act as a member of the Black Knights. Originally there was supposed to be a sequence of scenes showing her remembering the kiss, shaking off her hesitations and fighting whenever she was about to be discouraged. 23. (A word about the Emperor and Marianne, please.) No comment. 24. (What is the relation between V.V., Suzaku and Nunnally?) For Suzaku and Nunnally, it's just as I said in the answer for the 3rd question. As for V.V. and Suzaku, no comment. At the moment V.V. and Nunnally are not connected. 25. (A word about the future of the Ashford Academy Student Council members.) The school will become a part of the battlefield due to various calculations *? from which side? Nina...?* 26. (A hint about love relationships. Also, a word on why Euphie fell in love with Suzaku. Is Suzaku no longer a virgin?) No comment. *Yeah, 2chers like asking which characters are virgins. See: Virginity Theory* 27. (Kaguya called herself The Goddess of Victory. Did something happen before this to support her claim?) Unknown. --- Ura de Net Geass! Participants: Tanaka Kazunari (Tamaki VA) Yoshino Hiroyuki (Secondary scriptwriter / series composition) Kawaguchi Yoshitaka (Producer) Morotomi Youshi (Producer, MBS TV station side) - An 8 hour meeting was held to determine C.C.'s name and real identity. Supposedly none of the participants ate or drank throughout the whole thing (Okouchi: "Give me something to eat!") According to Yoshino, whenever he thought the meeting was about to come to an end, someone would start up again and the meeting would continue with no end in sight. XD - The title "Code Geass" was a fairly last-minute decision (the tentative title was "Lelouch of the Rebellion") The production team were in a panic over the lack of a proper title; "We need a title to design the title logo!" etc. - Yoshino: "A strange scriptwriter joined around episode 12." (referring to himself) According to him, for episodes 1 ~ 11 all he did was comment on Okouchi's scripts: "Oh, I like this. I don't like this. This is cool." etc. Okouchi got annoyed and told him "Why don't you write the scripts then?" (Yoshino wrote the scripts for episodes 12, 13 and 19) Dark Okouchi >__> - Mao's repetitive clapping didn't exist in the scripting stages; Taniguchi was the one who later added it to make him "more annoying". Also, according to the producers, the Mao arc had the highest ratings o__O - Originally, Toudou was supposed to join Lelouch's side much earlier. They talk about the Diethard and Toudou shot in the ED. All are baffled by it; conclusion: "Only Taniguchi knows." - Okouchi wrote the script for episode 18; according to Yoshino, Okouchi told him: "Isn't it exciting, leaving viewers wondering whether Lelouch Geass'd Suzaku?" Yoshino: "So how are you going to wrap this up?" Dark Okouchi: "I'll think about it later!" XD Each time Yoshino asked him if he's thought of it yet, Okouchi would reply: "Not yet." Seems like Okouchi is a fairly laidback character XD - Yoshino ended up writing the script for episode 19; supposedly he requested to do it, saying "Oh well, if (Okouchi) wants me to write a script, I might as well do the island arc." (he's more or less the fanservice supervisor for this show) According to him (and the Newtype Taniguchi + Fu-kuyama interview), this was how Lelouch's trap was supposed to work: Lelouch successfully digs a proper hole --> However, a boar appears behind him --> Lelouch tries to Geass it: "Lelouch Vi Britannia orders you to SIT!" --> Geass doesn't work on animals --> Lulu Quality Tragedy (Wait, isn't this just like that one fancomic? o__O) However, Taniguchi changed it all, telling Yoshino: "Well, in the first place, Lelouch isn't capable of digging such a hole..." - The reason why the writers made Kallen stand on Gawain's shoulder instead of getting into the two-seater cockpit with Lelouch in episode 19: "There's no way Kallen will hand over the 2nd-pilot position to anyone else once she's in there." Good point. - Will we see Gawain engaging in electronic warfare? Maybe, maybe not. However, officially Gawain is equipped for it (Druid System) The producers and Tanaka all agree that Gawain is pretty much a h4x mecha in this show. - According to Tanaka, right after the airing of episode 22, 3 of his friends rang him up asking "What the hell was that? I need to know what happens next!" etc. According to Kawaguchi, "some of the viewers may have been satisfied with the handshake in episode 22, but actually, a lot more people would have been upset..." - After episode 23, the production team received letters from fans saying "Okouchi is so evil", "Dark Okouchi" etc. According to the 4 of them, Okouchi doesn't like that. Realizing Okouchi may be listening to this, they start sucking up to him, saying things like "Okouchi is a wonderful person!" "He's an... *long pause* honest person!" Tanaka: "I love Okouchi!... okay, moving on..." XD XD XD - Tanaka says he isn't allowed to talk about episode 24, but he dropped some hints, like: "I had no idea that part in episode 23 was a foreshadowing" and "So that was what that person was doing". Okay...

#code geass #interviews #translation

27 notes · View notes

heatherrosebabcock · 5 years

Photo

Beer and Blood: The Birth of the Public Enemy

THREE DETROIT GANGSTERS MASSACRED: DEAD VICTIMS STILL HOLD CIGARS THEY SMOKED WHEN GUNS SPOKE, screamed a rather poetic real life Globe newspaper headline on September 17th, 1931.

Prohibition, now over a decade old, had transformed ordinary citizens into lawbreakers and everyday hoodlums into wealthy, bloodthirsty demigods. 1931 could arguably be summed up as “the year of the gangster”: the newspapers were full of ‘em – stories of “bloody bootleg rackets” and “bootlegger bandit death trysts” dominated the headlines and, thanks to the Warner Brothers studio, the silver screen as well. The studio, which only a few years earlier had revolutionized the industry by ushering in sound (or “talkies”) with 1927’s The Jazz Singer, began 1931 with a bang when they released Little Caesar.

“Be somebody,” Rico, Little Caesar’s ambitious thug, played by the incomparable Edward G. Robinson, enthuses at the start of the film. To “be somebody” is to be rich but as Rico warns “Money’s all right but it ain’t everything. Be somebody. Look hard at a bunch of guys and know that they’ll do anything you tell ‘em. Have your own way or nothin’.”

In other words, to “be somebody” is to live the American Dream and in an America caught in the double fisted grip of Prohibition and the Great Depression, it was a dream gone dangerously delirious - a dream fueled by buckets of bathtub gin; a dream which could be poisonous if taken straight.

Little Caesar was a massive hit – so much so that theaters had to keep it running twenty-four hours a day just to satisfy audience demand; they had done the same thing almost four years earlier with Underworld, Josef von Sternberg’s 1927 gangland epic for Paramount Pictures. Underworld, a film dripping with both beauty and brutality, is considered by many to be the first successful gangster picture – the Grand Daddy of all gangster movies if you will – but it was a silent film; it wasn’t until the gangsters began to talk when the genre truly secured its choke-hold on the public’s imagination. It is a testament to the power and influence of the movies that when we picture Prohibition-era gangsters today it is not the real-life criminals, such as Al Capone or Jack “Legs” Diamond, who immediately come to mind but rather Edward G. Robinson, a cigar anchored between his lips, or James Cagney, shooting his words out quicker than bullets from a Tommy gun.

Riding the wave of gunfire, Warner Brothers followed Little Caesar with The Public Enemy, released in April of that same year. In The Public Enemy, James Cagney stars as the nasty break-your-word-and-I’ll-break-your-face bootlegger Tom Powers. One wonders if we would still be discussing this film eighty-seven years later if it were not for Cagney. I say that not to lessen the talent of the movie’s other stars, but there has never been any question that The Public Enemy is Cagney’s picture. Originally Edward Woods was signed on to play Tom Powers, with Cagney as his side-kick Matt. However when director William “Wild Bill” Wellman was viewing the early footage he realized that it was Cagney, and not the handsome but reticent Woods, who crackled with an almost frightening intensity. Wellman switched the actors’ roles and both a classic movie and a star were born.

He was beloved by both cast and crew as the nicest guy on the lot but onscreen Cagney could be as terrifying as he was captivating. Watch closely his movements in The Public Enemy – particularly his hands – his gestures are as sharp as a boxer’s jab yet as graceful as a ballet dancer’s pirouette. Indeed, the street smart Cagney had been both a boxer and a dancer. In his own words, from his 1976 autobiography Cagney by Cagney:

“I learned how to dance from learning how to fight. It was feint, duck, quick dance around your opponent on your toes mostly, then shoot out the arm like a bullet.”

Cagney ignores the rules of the early talkies – to speak slowly and to enunciate clearly – instead he spits words out at breakneck speed in his proud Lower East Side New York accent. As we follow Tom Powers’ rise from a young roller-skate snatcher to a vicious bootlegger, we can’t keep our eyes off of him. That is, until Jean Harlow shows up. There is a very good reason why Warner Brothers borrowed her from Hughes for The Public Enemy and for why she shares top billing with Cagney even though she has less than half of his screen time: in the 1930s, studios catered to a female audience and they undoubtedly knew that women would be more likely to buy a ticket to see a gangster flick if Jean Harlow, the original Platinum Blonde and most influential 1930s style and beauty icon, was in it. Just one year later, Harlow would come into her own both as an actress and a comedian: she would make them laugh in Red-Headed Woman (1932) and cry in Red Dust (1932). But her early acting, particularly in The Public Enemy, has always inspired negative criticism and cruel mocking. I for one though appreciate the glitter and grit that Harlow brings to the role of Gwen, Tom’s trophy moll. In Harlow’s hands, Gwen is not a society dame but a dame who craves society – like Tom and Rico she wants to “be somebody”. Working class audiences, the audience that Warner Brothers proudly catered to, adored Jean Harlow. Whiplash may be a viewer side-effect of watching Cagney and Harlow together on screen – it feels as though we are watching a game of ping pong but the ball is their fire. Make no mistake though – the passions that they unleash are at each other, not for each other; Gwen and Tom are not a couple mating but rather individuals fighting for their own place in the world. Their one love scene together is the only time in the film when Cagney appears truly vulnerable but when Harlow says to him “You don’t give – you take,” she could easily be talking about herself. That love scene goes unconsummated, ending with a frustrated Harlow smashing a champagne glass against the wall as Tom carelessly walks out with his friend Matt. Cagney didn’t do romance and The Public Enemy isn’t a romantic film – nor is it really a movie about guns and bootleggers. The Public Enemy is a film about family. The script was adapted from Kubec Glasmon and John Bright’s novel Beer and Blood and that title sums up all of Tom’s world: his “beer” family of bootleggers and his “blood” family, played here by Beryl Mercer as his naïve, loving mother and Donald Cook as his conservative big brother Mike.

The relationship between brothers Tom and Mike is interesting. It is complicated and intense in the way that relationships between real-life siblings often are. Tom Powers may thumb his nose at Mike’s responsible lifestyle (“He’s too busy going to school – he’s learning how to be poor”) but the hard-core gangster, who can literally shoot a man in the back before calling his moll for a date, doesn’t defend himself when his disapproving brother gives him a sock in the jaw (and the punch was reportedly real – Cook hit Cagney so hard that Cagney cracked a tooth). In one of the film’s best scenes, Mike picks up a keg and throws it across their mother’s kitchen, angrily accusing Tom that “there’s not only beer in that keg – there’s beer and blood!” Tom replies that Mike, who has just returned home from the War and is incidentally shell shocked, is a hypocrite. “You didn’t get them medals from holding hands with them Germans,” he sneers. “You killed and you liked it!” He is projecting in the way that siblings often do – for of course it is Tom, not Mike, who “kills and likes it.”

In the early 1930s, gangster movies used real bullets but the most explosive scene in The Public Enemy doesn't involve gun fire at all – yes folks, it's time to talk about the Grapefruit. The film's most notorious moment happens as Tom sits down to breakfast with his moll Kitty, played by the lovely Mae Clarke. They have obviously just had sex and Tom is acting more than a little cold and distracted. Kitty, looking fabulous in a pair of silk lounging pajamas, asks him if he has met someone he likes better. Cagney’s sneer curls up like a fist as he picks up a half grapefruit and smashes it in Mae’s face. It is a cruel scene which still shocks today and it confirms our suspicion that Tom Powers is a sociopath.

It seems that almost every man who had a hand in making the film has their own story of how this scene came to be shot; the most commonly accepted theory is also the most condescending - the belief that the scene was improvised by Cagney and Wellman, without Clarke's knowledge or consent and that her response was thus genuine. This assumption irritates me as it is dismissive of Clarke's admirable acting talents and relegates her to little more than a prop. Well, Clarke was no prop and she sure as hell wasn't a hack either: in 1931, in addition to the Public Enemy, she delivered strong performances in three important films: Waterloo Bridge, Frankenstein and The Front Page. As for that grapefruit, I'm going to go with Mae's version of the story, both because I trust her talent and because I like her better than all those other mugs: in a 1983 interview with American Classic Screen, Mae said that the script originally called for Cagney throwing the grapefruit at her and then storming out. Wellman and Cagney however felt that this wasn’t quite working so they took Mae aside and asked if she would be okay with Cagney pushing the grapefruit in her face. Mae didn’t like the idea but agreed to do it on the condition that the scene be shot once and with no retakes. Still, according to her close friends, Mae always hated the “grapefruit scene”. Viewers today may honor her talent by watching this great actress in the powerful role for which she would undoubtedly prefer to be remembered – as chorus girl turned prostitute Myra in James Whale’s Waterloo Bridge. Mae Clarke was much more than just “the dame who gets the grapefruit facial". The most criminal thing about the Public Enemy is that she did not even receive a screen credit.

Like the grapefruit scene, the film’s ending also packs a wallop with rival gang members tossing Cagney’s mummified corpse through his mother’s living room door. It is Cook’s nuanced performance though that makes this scene truly haunting – his slow, stunned lurch towards the camera to the tune of a broken phonograph record. Will Mike avenge his brother’s death, we wonder? Or will this be the final straw that breaks him? And how will he tell Ma that her baby is finally home but not in the way that she hoped?

Like other gangster films from this period, The Public Enemy is book ended by title cards warning of the dangers of a gangster lifestyle. Audiences accepted these admonishments as broccoli to the film’s ice cream dessert. “(Gangster pictures) are intended to point out the lesson that crime does not pay,” insisted Harry Warner and you can almost see Tom Powers sneer in response. “Crime doesn’t pay, does it?” I picture him saying. “Baby, these days it’s the only thing that pays.” The popularity of films like The Public Enemy is indicative of how most Americans really felt about Prohibition. Eighty-five years later the film’s heat remains as unquenchable as a forest fire. Who needs CGI when you’ve got James Cagney?

#the public enemy #thepublicenemy #james Cagney #mae clarke #jean harlow #james whale #william wellman #1930s movies #gangster movies #pre-code #the great depression #prohibition #classic film review

3 notes · View notes

nightmareonfilmstreet · 6 years

Text

Let’s Try That Again; The 10 Best Horror Movie Remakes

The horror movie remake is a polarizing topic that drives the horror community crazy. You either love remakes, or hate them. Few horror movie re-imaginings have been able to rise above their “remake” branding. Too many fans chalking their existence up to exploiting a film or franchise’s existing fandom, being made purely for profit, being rushed, or re-envisioning iconic characters to a lesser extent.

Despite not being received with open arms, there are a select few remakes that stand above the pack – converting their audiences of naysayers into rabid fans, re-invigorating the franchise they birthed from. Here are our picks for the 10 best horror movie remakes!

10. Friday the 13th (2009)

Against the advice of locals and police, Clay (Jared Padalecki) scours the eerie woods surrounding Crystal Lake for his missing sister. But the rotting cabins of an abandoned summer camp are not the only things he finds. Hockey-masked killer Jason Voorhees lies in wait for a chance to use his razor-sharp machete on Clay and the group of college students who have come to the forest to party.

Alright, I may get a lot of flack for putting this one on the list. But I really do love the Friday the 13th remake. It’s over the top, it’s got everything you want in a slasher, and there’s exactly 13 kills. While it doesn’t hold a torch to the original from 1980, this 2009 remake directed by Marcus Nispel ain’t half bad. There’s some really fun kills and a bit of back story about Jason.

9. Piranha 3D (2010)

Spring break turns gory when an underground tremor releases hundreds of prehistoric, carnivorous fish into Lake Victoria, a popular waterside resort. Local cop Julie Forester (Elisabeth Shue) must join forces with a band of unlikely strangers — though they are badly outnumbered — to destroy the ravenous creatures before everyone becomes fish food.

Piranha 3D is the perfect summer film! The original was released in 1978 and was titled simply Piranha. In 2010 we got a 3D remake that took the thriller element from the original and added way more boobs. And humor. And blood. Piranha 3D is a cheesy gore-fest. Directed by Alexandre Aja, it has an all-star cast including Richard Dreyfuss, Christopher Lloyd and Jerry O’Connell. A great flick to watch in a group while vacationing at a lake. Just make sure to maybe check there’s not another lake under that lake.. filled with ancient piranhas.

8. Quarantine (2008)

Reporter Angela (Jennifer Carpenter) and her cameraman Scott (Steve Harris) are doing a story on night-shift firefighters for a reality-TV program. A late-night distress call takes them to a Los Angeles apartment building, where the police are investigating a report of horrific screams. The TV team and emergency workers find an old woman, who suddenly attacks with teeth bared. What’s more, Angela and company find that the building has been sealed by CDC workers. Then the attacks really begin.

[REC] (2007) is a Spanish found footage film directed by Jaume Balagueró. The film is absolutely terrifying and exactly how found footage should be done. One year later came the American remake Quarantine, directed by John Erick Dowdle. Both films follow the exact same story, so there’s not a lot of surprises watching the American remake. Both films also set up for a bunch of sequels, some of which are really great. The American version stars Jennifer Carpenter in the lead role, who does a great job carrying the story. I won’t say much more because both of these films should be watched with no prior knowledge of the story. The first time I saw the ending was one of the few times I’ve screamed out loud while watching a horror film. I apologized profusely to my neighbors.

7. Evil Dead (2013)

Mia (Jane Levy), a drug addict, is determined to kick the habit. To that end, she asks her brother, David (Shiloh Fernandez), his girlfriend, Natalie (Elizabeth Blackmore) and their friends Olivia (Jessica Lucas) and Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci) to accompany her to their family’s remote forest cabin to help her through withdrawal. Eric finds a mysterious Book of the Dead at the cabin and reads aloud from it, awakening an ancient demon. All hell breaks loose when the malevolent entity possesses Mia.

Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead was originally released in 1981. A campy, low-budget film that became an instant cult classic. In 2013, Fede Alverez’s re-imagined the beloved story of Ash and his deadites, creating a darker, more sinister interpretation. One of the biggest changes, was opting for an incredible female lead played by Jan Levy. The film is deliciously dark, and only embellishes the silly, zany palate of the Evil Dead Franchise. There’s been a lot of chatter about a sequel being in the works, but nothing concrete.

6. Willard (2003)

Desperate for companionship, the repressed Willard (Crispin Glover) befriends a group of rats that inhabit his late father’s deteriorating mansion. In these furry creatures, Willard finds temporary refuge from daily abuse at the hands of his bedridden mother (Jackie Burroughs) and his father’s old partner, Frank (R. Lee Ermey). Soon it becomes clear that the brood of rodents is ready and willing to exact a vicious, deadly revenge on anyone who dares to bully their sensitive new master.

Willard was released in 1973 and the remake came years later to screens in 2003. It stars Crispin Glover in one of his best roles, and a crap tone of rats. Glen Morgan directed this awesome remake and fills it with everything you’d want in a terrifying situation about killer rats. Glover shines on-screen as a total weirdo and carries the film with perfection. If you weren’t scared of rats before, you will be after this flick ends.

5. The Grudge (2004)

Matthew Williams (William Mapother), his wife, Jennifer (Clea DuVall), and mother, Emma (Grace Zabriskie), are Americans making a new life in Tokyo. Together they move into a house that has been the site of supernatural occurrences in the past, and it isn’t long before their new home begins terrorizing the Williams family as well. The house, as it turns out, is the site of a curse that lingers in a specific place and claims the lives of anyone that comes near.

An American remake from the Japanese original Ju-On: The Grudge released in 2002. The remake, directed by Takashi Shimizu, the same person who directed the original, is terrifying. Back in the early 2000’s it was harder for North Americans to access J-horror and horror audiences were grateful for an accessible remake. Starring Sarah Michelle Geller in the lead role, she carries the story with grace. There’s so many memorable moments and jump scares. While I do recommend The Grudge, I say go crazy and watch both the original and remake one after the other. Have the pants scared off of you!

4. The Fly (1986)

When scientist Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) completes his teleportation device, he decides to test its abilities on himself. Unbeknownst to him, a housefly slips in during the process, leading to a merger of man and insect. Initially, Brundle appears to have undergone a successful teleportation, but the fly’s cells begin to take over his body. As he becomes increasingly fly-like, Brundle’s girlfriend (Geena Davis) is horrified as the person she once loved deteriorates into a monster.

Originally released in 1958, it was a long time before The Fly remake came around in 1986. The original movie was adapted from a short story written by George Langelaan. The remake was directed by the always impressive David Cronenberg and starred Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis. Both brought insane performances to this movie which makes it such a great remake. Of course, it is Cronenberg, so…you know…don’t eat while you’re watching it.

3. Dawn of the Dead (2004)

When her husband is attacked by a zombified neighbor, Ana (Sarah Polley) manages to escape, only to realize her entire Milwaukee neighborhood has been overrun by the walking dead. After being questioned by cautious policeman Kenneth (Ving Rhames), Ana joins him and a small group that gravitates to the local shopping mall as a bastion of safety. Once they convince suspicious security guards that they are not contaminated, the group bands together to fight the undead hordes.

The original Dawn of the Dead was a fantastic, beautiful, groundbreaking film from Romero, released in 1978. The remake came in 2004, helmed by James Gunn and Zack Snyder. What stands out about this remake is how far they veer from the source material. But it works! The film boasts a strong cast featuring Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, and Jake Weber, to name a few. There’s also some heart-breaking moments and genuine scares. Oh, and zombies. Lots of those.

2. The Ring (2002)

It sounds like just another urban legend — a videotape filled with nightmarish images leads to a phone call foretelling the viewer’s death in exactly seven days. Newspaper reporter Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) is skeptical of the story until four teenagers all die mysteriously exactly one week after watching just such a tape. Allowing her investigative curiosity to get the better of her, Rachel tracks down the video and watches it. Now she has just seven days to unravel the mystery.

Another J-horror American remake. Ringu was first released in 1998 based on the book Ring by Koji Suzuki. In 2002, along came The Ring directed by Gore Verbinski. This was a huge deal for us teenagers in the early 2000’s and made us all terrified of our landlines. The Ring is beautifully shot and colored mystery. It’s a wonderfully done film. It stars Naomi Watts as the mother fighting to save herself and her child, played by David Dorfman.

1. The Thing (1982)

In remote Antarctica, a group of American research scientists are disturbed at their base camp by a helicopter shooting at a sled dog. When they take in the dog, it brutally attacks both human beings and canines in the camp and they discover that the beast can assume the shape of its victims. A resourceful helicopter pilot (Kurt Russell) and the camp doctor (Richard Dysart) lead the camp crew in a desperate, gory battle against the vicious creature before it picks them all off, one by one.

You didn’t think I’d make this list without The Thing did you? Come on! Originally titled The Thing from Another World and released in 1951, the remake was done by John Carpenter in 1982. The Thing is probably the one film everyone will agree on. It’s perfection on-screen. Giant, snowy, cold landscapes filled with unbearable tension and fear. An outstanding performance from all involved – but Kurt Russell stands out on top. Amazing practical effects and a terrifying premise, The Thing is the penultimate remake. They actually remade this again in 2011, but let’s not talk about that..

Those are our picks for the 10 Best Horror Movie Remakes! Are any of your favorites on this list? If not, let us know what your favorite horror remakes are in the comments below, or over in our Facebook Group!

The post Let’s Try That Again; The 10 Best Horror Movie Remakes appeared first on Nightmare on Film Street - Horror Movie Podcast, News and Reviews.

from WordPress https://nofspodcast.com/lets-try-that-again-the-10-best-horror-movie-remakes/ via IFTTT

#IFTTT #WordPress #horror #horror movies #nightmareonfilmstreet #nightmare on film street #horror pod

6 notes · View notes