#my sister's review of this as someone who has watched and loved both:

[evangelical04]

A Single Daffodil || 2

Summary: Getting arranged to be married to your long-time crush wasn't exactly the fairy tale romance you were hoping for. Nor is the dynamic of the marriage, with your husband treating you like you don't exist. But you're going to make this work, whether he cares about you or not. And he definitely doesn't...right?

Pairing: Min Yoongi x Reader

Rating: 18+ minors DNI

Word Count: 9.1K

Genre: angst, romance, unrequited love, smut, enemies to lovers, arranged marriage au, businessman yoongi

Warnings: parental trauma, sibling trauma, toxic parents, unrequited love, explicit language, alcohol usage, yoongi's kind of mean, future smut

Author's Note: hi everyone! it's currently exactly 2am for me lol but I wanted to get this chapter out today! i was hoping to having the wedding happen but I like it more for the next chapter. all the support has been so overwhelming and amazing, thank you guys so much for all the love!! i appreciate it so much and I'm grateful that you all are so supportive, especially for my first ever fic. i really hope you guys enjoy this chapter! also, just let me know if you want to be added or removed from the taglist!

Taglist:

@yoongisducky @kam9404 @sumzysworld @tarahardcore @viankiss @babystarcandylovejk @ktownshizzle @futuristicenemychaos @igot7fairlyoddparents @baechugff @pb89nv @peachytokki @ratherbfangirling

previous / masterlist / next

You could feel your eyes glazing over with the amount of time you’d spent staring at your computer screen. A quick glance at the clock showed that only a couple hours had passed since you’d arrived at work, and a devastating thirty minutes remained until your lunch break. Rubbing at your tired eyes, you tried to find the energy to resume reviewing the materials your team had sent you, but you came up short. 

The wedding planning had been taking a lot out of you the past couple of months, even though your mother wasn’t letting you decide anything for it anyway. She had been quite clear that all you had to do was show up and that your input wouldn’t be needed. You couldn’t honestly say you had an issue with that, this didn’t feel like your wedding anyway. If it were yours, you would’ve been getting married to someone you love, and crucially, someone who loves you in return.

But that wasn’t in the cards for you and you knew that well, so you went along with your mother’s planning placidly, agreeing to almost everything she mentioned and getting ignored on things you didn’t. It left you exhausted, both physically and emotionally. It felt like an out-of-body experience every time your mother pulled you into another appointment for your dress fittings or makeup and hair test runs. You could feel yourself simply going through the motions and just waiting until the appointment was done so you could return to your mundane life. 

Not much else had changed, honestly. You were still working, hanging out with your friends on occasion, reading in bed, and watching television in the evenings. The only thing looming over you was the date of the wedding, now only six months away. It felt like an omen, always hovering near you, spiking your heart rate, and making you sweat. 

Even your team had noticed your heightened anxiety and expressed their worries to you, especially the youngest, Choi Song Ha. She was a cute, young thing, a fresh face in the industry that you had quickly taken under your wing once you had set eyes on her in the new recruit orientation you visited just over a year ago now. You knew just how quickly the gaming industry ate up and spat out women like clockwork and you didn’t want the same fate for her, so you’d snatched her up into your team. She truly felt like the little sister you’d never had and your bond quickly grew over the months since you’d met. She had picked up on your dampened mood and resolved to leave you small treats of a chip bag or chocolates on your desk every other day or so as a means to cheer you up. She knew you well enough to know you wouldn’t appreciate outright signs of concern or making a scene at work, and you loved her for it. 

She had left you a small red ginseng jelly this morning with a doodle of a grumpy cat stuck to it on a post-it note. It made you smile every time you glanced at it.

It kind of reminded you of Yoongi. The two of you hadn’t talked since that night in the restaurant, and you weren’t sure if you even wanted to talk to him. Your mother had given you his number and you’d saved it, but you hadn’t made any move to message him.

“Team leader?”

You turned, snapping out of your daze to face another one of your team members, Yeonsik. 

“Yes, Yeonsik,” you responded, trying to appear calm and collected, and not like you were just thinking about your soon-to-be husband who hates you.

“We have the materials from the character graphics department for Plan C ready, it’s in your inbox now. They said that they’re ready to make any changes you want, but they’re worried about the deadline for the second draft,” Yeonsik rambled. He was a nice man, only a few years younger than you, and quite passionate about his job since joining your team two years back, just after you’d become the team lead of Planning Group 1. He had a handsome face with longer, dark hair and bright eyes that were eager to please.

“Okay, thanks for letting me know. Also, good job on keeping Graphics 2 on track, I know they’ve been giving us a hard time with getting the updated designs over. Thanks again,” you said politely, sending him a small smile. Yeonsik beamed in response and returned to his seat happily. You chuckled fondly at his antics before opening the file he’d sent. You loved your team members and you held a high respect for them. You knew you led them well and that they respected you in return. It was a small team, consisting of only five people, including you, but you were content with the group and the dynamic. You often went out for drinks together after work, usually followed by karaoke and at least one member passing out, most often Yeonsik, who would then be picked up by his boyfriend. You were a close-knit group and you couldn’t imagine a better job.

Slowly, Mrs. Min’s words crept back into your mind at the thought of how much you loved your position. Surely, Yoongi wouldn’t expect you to quit your job? You wouldn’t be able to bear it. 

No, he said that he would do his thing and you would do yours, you reminded yourself. That’s right, you’d agreed that you wouldn’t interfere in each other’s lives. Except, you hadn’t really agreed, had you? You’d just acquiesced because he’d been in the motion of leaving anyway. You weren’t really sure if that’s what you’d wanted, living separate lives and being married only on paper. 

Yoongi’s words rang clear in your head as you gnawed on your lower lip, was this really how this marriage was going to be? The two of you not even acknowledging each other except at galas and parties where you had to appear married? You didn’t want that.

But…if Yoongi did, how much say did you really have? As much as you wanted to make this work, it had to be a two-way street. If Yoongi didn’t want anything to do with you, you would have to accept that and just try to get through this the best you could. You had said to Joohee that day you’d found out, that there’s nothing you can do to stop him. 

It felt painful to come to terms with, especially in the environment of your office where you still had to appear professional. Thankfully, you breathed, none of your team members had noticed your mini-mental breakdown. 

Your phone buzzed with a new message from Yujin, your mother’s assistant.

From Yang Yujin

Hello Miss Y/N,

Your mother has asked me to confirm your three attendees for your wedding invitations. The invitations will be sent out on Friday night, so please send your three names with their contact information and address to me by then. If possible, please send it at least one day beforehand as Mrs. Seo would like to review them before I send the invitations out.

Additionally, she has set up another meeting for you with Mr. Min Yoongi on Friday, at 6 pm. Please find the location details below.

Please let me know if you need any other information,

Yang Yujin

You sighed, reading over the email again. For one, you honestly didn’t even know who you’d want to invite. You didn’t really have that many friends outside of Joohee, your colleagues, and Jung Hoseok, your friend from college. You knew that Joohee would already be invited, but you weren’t sure about Hoseok. He wasn’t a part of the same social circle as you and Joohee, especially since he didn’t come from a richer family, but you’d met him in college and introduced him to Joohee soon after. The three of you had been practically inseparable during your undergrad but after graduation, the three of you hadn’t met up in person in a while, with Hoseok in Busan for work. You tapped your chin thoughtfully with the eraser end of a pencil, maybe you should send an invite to Hoseok. Suddenly, another thought occurred to you, making the pencil drop from your fingers and onto your lap.

You hadn’t even told Hoseok about Yoongi!

“Damn,” you muttered, making a mental note to call him later today. You’d figure out the other invites later. Your eyes drifted to the second part of the email. 

Another meeting, huh? It sounds like it’ll be just the two of us this time. I wonder if he’ll be any different.

A rap of knuckles against your desk brought your attention back in front of you. Song Ha stood beside your chair, looking at you curiously, “It’s lunch, Team Leader. Want to grab something with the team downstairs?”

Shit, you had agreed to grab lunch with Joohee today. 

“No, Miss Choi, I’ll be meeting a friend of mine. But you all enjoy your lunch!”

“Alright, have fun!”

The team slowly filed out, discussing amongst themselves what they’d get from the cafeteria today. You almost longed to go with them, but you knew you had to tell Joohee about the email you got. 

You could feel a headache coming on. 

Sighing, you stood and gathered your things into your tote bag, never having liked purses, and started the walk towards the elevators to reach the quaint cafe across the street you and Joohee liked to frequent. 

You had arrived before Joohee, which was to be expected with your office right across and decided to grab a table for both of you. Setting your tote bag in the seat beside you, you read the email once more on your phone. It dragged another sigh out of you before you almost jumped into the air at the sound of Joohee’s voice.

“What’s got you so melancholy?’

You breathed out to calm your heart rate from the mini jumpscare and looked up at her. She was dressed a bit more formal than you in a light blue blouse and dark navy dress pants that fell gracefully in silk around her long legs with a maroon purse hanging from her shoulder. Her office was much more formal than yours, working under her father. Your own office often had team leaders and higher-ups in jeans, the nature of your work making it more casual, so you contrasted her in a simple black sweatshirt and blue jeans. 

“I have to meet Yoongi again on Friday.”

“God damn.”

You nodded somberly as she took her seat across from you, “You remember what happened last time? Why does it feel like he’s gonna eat me alive this time?”

Joohee looked at you suggestively, wiggling her eyebrows.

You recoiled, shooting her a glare, “Good God, woman, not like that.”

Joohee relented, waving her hands in surrender, “Okay, well, assume he’ll be the same. Then you won’t be caught off guard. But I think you should still try to get through to him. Maybe, at the very least, you guys can become friends.”

You hummed in agreement, what she was saying made sense. You weren’t exactly hoping for a rom-com drama-like romantic relationship, but being friends wouldn’t be so bad. 

A waiter arrived, taking your drink and food orders, and you and Joohee fell back into easy conversation about your jobs and other small gossip. As much as you were trying to pay attention to what Joohee was saying, you couldn’t help your mind returning to Yoongi and his dark eyes scrutinizing you and his cold, biting voice. 

“Y/N?”

You focused back into Joohee and her concerned stare dug into you, “What?”

“Are you still thinking about Yoongi?”

You nodded, looking away. You felt bad for not listening to her especially when she had basically given you a solution to your anxiety regarding Friday. You heard her sigh before speaking. 

“Listen, Y/N, you can’t stop how he’s going to behave towards you. You can only control how you respond. I think your best bet is to try to tell him you’re not expecting him to treat you like a wife, but you want him to treat you like a friend. Unless that isn’t what you want.”

“No, it is,” you said, keeping yourself from burying your head in your hands, “And you’re right, that’s all I can do. Why didn’t you become a therapist, again?”

Joohee only grinned in response, “I’m too pretty.”

Joohee’s words from earlier echoed in your head for the rest of the workday. Did you really want him to treat you like a friend? Or something more?

You weren’t sure. Of course, you had this half-crush, half-infatuation with the man since you’d met him when you were younger, but marriage was a totally different game. Were you really ready to spend the rest of your life with a man you were attracted to but he couldn’t feel the same? 

Maybe he could.

You knocked that thought away as soon as it entered your mind, you shouldn’t be getting your hopes up. You knew that Yoongi was less than happy about the situation and the unfavorable circumstances would only serve to further distance him from you. You would have to be okay with just being friends if that. 

As you paced around your apartment later that night, you stopped in front of your dresser in your bedroom. In the third drawer from the top was the handkerchief that Yoongi had given you when you were younger. You had kept it meaning to give it back to him, but you had barely seen him since then, let alone had a moment in private to give it to him. 

Most of your interactions had been minimal conversations at parties and galas, often accompanied by Joohee and Seokjin. You couldn’t recall a time when Yoongi had actually talked to you directly in any of those scenarios. So why did your crush persist?

Maybe it was the innocence of your first meeting, the cliche of it all. You, small, sad, and alone, and Yoongi, showing up like your knight in shining armor. You had had a fascination with him since then, always trying to seek out his silhouette or pitch-black hair at gatherings afterward. Yet, he never approached you alone, nor did you make an attempt to do so yourself. You had called it an infatuation with Joohee because it really was, you didn’t really know anything about him, much less had a full conversation with him. Even when you were in a group with him, Seokjin, and Joohee, he would barely acknowledge you. 

Not that he was obligated to.

You fell back onto your bed and stared up at the ceiling, letting out a soft grunt when you hit the mattress. Would you be able to survive actually getting to know Yoongi? Your greatest fear was that you would fall in love with him, you were basically already primed for it. And that would not work out, you knew that, and you refused to consider any other outcome.

You couldn’t afford to get your hopes up.

Turning on your side, you could feel your thoughts drift to your few interactions with him growing up. He had always been polite, but cold. The most he’d said to you was a curt greeting and the barest of small talk. The only other interactions you’d really had were your first meeting and hearing about his escapades through the grapevine, mainly Joohee. Nonetheless, you found yourself infatuated, your eyes finding his slightly round cheeks and pouty lips inevitably. What would life be like once you got married?

You tried to imagine yourself in a domestic setting with Yoongi but quickly shut that down, that would only bring up unwanted feelings. You considered whether or not he would continue seeing other people after you were married. Joohee had said it was very possible. Would you be able to handle it? Joohee had suggested that you fool around a bit yourself but you had quickly dismissed that. Cheating was something you would never tolerate in a relationship, from the other person or from yourself. You knew that the reality would be different in your situation, but you still refused to let yourself stray from Yoongi.

Not that you hadn’t tried in the past. You had been in only two relationships leading up to now, one in college and another as a short burst after graduation. It all felt pointless when you knew you wouldn’t get to choose who you spent the rest of your life with. It was an agony that, along with other factors, ended both of your relationships. Mina had been a bright spot in your life, but she couldn’t deal with the fact that you were not only not out to your parents, but that you would likely not be able to be with her long term anyway. There had been other signs that the relationship wouldn’t work out, and you had tried to remain friends but it didn’t pan out past college. 

The relationship after college that had only lasted a few months was with Jaehyun, a sweet man who had been your coworker at your first job out of college. He was very kind to you and you felt comfortable in his presence, but you couldn’t handle the guilt of going out with him while knowing he wouldn’t be the one you marry. To his credit, he had been very understanding when you’d broken down in front of him in a guilt-fueled spiral. He’d held you until you calmed down, wiped your tears, and squeezed you tight before leaving, stating that you could always call him if you needed anything. You still messaged him sometimes, and you remained firm that if you did get to choose who to marry, he would be your first choice. 

The arranged marriage had been looming over your life since you were old enough to understand the importance of status to your family. You were sure Yoongi’s family was the same. You were both expected to keep your duty to your family, a repayment for the comfortable life you both had lived. Once or twice you had considered telling your parents you wouldn’t go through with it when the time came, but you knew that it would only result in you having to pay them back for everything they had ever given money towards for you. Even though you’d gotten multiple scholarships for college, your parents insisted you go to a prestigious university that rarely gave any money to their students because they knew their parents would have wide-open wallets. There was no way you’d ever be able to pay that back in your lifetime, especially with your current job. 

So you were stuck. But you knew you weren’t really all that unhappy. While the circumstances weren’t what you preferred, you couldn’t deny the small excitement that you felt at the prospect of being able to have a relationship with Yoongi. The caveat to that was also knowing that he was an entirely unwilling participant in this situation, which wasn’t really going to work to your advantage. You were set on remaining a realist, refusing to consider the idea that Yoongi might come to love you. It felt like you didn’t have much of any other choice. Everything about this entire situation made you feel like a passive observer, someone with no impact or voice, which wasn’t far from the truth. You imagined Yoongi was much the same.

Distantly, you wondered how many people Yoongi was allowed to invite to the wedding.

Speaking of! You had almost forgotten to call Hoseok, and it was getting late. You scrambled to reach for your phone, stretching your arm out to the nightstand where your phone sat, and grasping it. Dialing his number, you registered how low his contact was on your recent calls. You really needed to call him more often. Hitting his contact, you waited for the ringing to start. He answered rather quickly, which surprised you, as he was usually an early sleeper.

“Hey, Y/N! It’s been a while.”

“Yeah, it has. I missed you. Hobi,” you said, not realizing how much you meant it until the words left your mouth. It really had been too long since you’d called.

“What’s up? You don’t sound too happy. Is everything okay,” he questioned, and your heart warmed at his concerned nature. He was always able to read you well, better than Joohee sometimes. 

“Yeah, everything’s fine I guess. I’m getting married, actually.”

The other end of the line was silent for a bit before you heard Hoseok let out a breath and speak, “Oh, wow. Okay. How are you feeling?”

You choked out a laugh, “You’re not even asking who I’m marrying?”

“Well, I know that it’s not someone you chose. So I want to know how you’re doing. When did you find out?”

Your laughter died at his serious nature, your attempt at lightening the mood unsuccessful, “About two months ago. The wedding’s in around six. Want an invite? I get a whole three guests of my own choosing.”

He chuckled softly at that, “Of course I do, you know I’ll be there. But seriously, how are you feeling about this?”

You almost sighed at his unwillingness to let you escape his question, “I don’t know, honestly. I really don’t. I think I’m weirdly at peace with it? I’ve been expecting it for so long and now it’s finally happening. Plus, it being Min Yoongi isn’t exactly the worst thing ever.”

You could hear his surprise over the phone, “Min Yoongi? Like your crush of almost two decades, Min Yoongi?”

You groaned, responding, “Jeez, way to remind me how old I am. Yes, that Min Yoongi. He’s definitely not as okay with it as I am though.”

“What do you mean?”

You recounted the past meeting with his family to Hoseok while he patiently listened and interrupted occasionally to provide his own thoughts. When you finished, you could practically see him falling back against his desk chair, exhaling a burst of air. 

“Well, that’s a lot.”

You let out a short laugh, “Yeah, that’s been my life for the past couple of months.”

“I think Joohee gave you some good advice. I’d probably say something similar to you. Try to make the most of the situation but don’t expect a lot from him. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

You nodded, even though he couldn’t see you, “Yeah, you’re probably right. But, enough about me, how are you doing? How’s work?”

Hosek launched into recapping how busy the dance school he taught at had been lately and the gossip surrounding his coworkers. You felt yourself relax more into the conversation and slowly forget your troubling feelings surrounding Yoongi. 

You would deal with those come Friday. 

It was Friday. You made sure to leave work a bit early, giving you enough time to run back to your apartment to change and look presentable. You had chosen your outfit with Joohee’s help the night prior. You were meeting at a relatively fancy restaurant but it was more of a bar, so you didn’t want to be too formal. You had opted for a green dress with a small flower print since you were coming off the winter months into spring. Your dress was an A-line cocktail dress with a square neckline and puffed sleeves that cinched at your wrist. You’d had it for a while and knew how it looked on you, and you knew you would feel comfortable in it tonight. The last thing you needed weighing on your mind was getting in your head about how you looked, which you usually felt nauseous from. 

With it approaching six, you quickly finished up some minimal makeup, topped it off with a lip tint, and tried your best to make your hair look presentable after what was a long day of work. A glance at your watch told you that you didn’t have much time left, so you rushed to your car, almost forgetting your small purse, and started your drive over to the restaurant. You didn’t want to be late and make a bad impression on Yoongi, although you didn’t know if his impression of you could get any worse. 

After you arrived and were sat at your table, you checked your phone to see the time and were relieved to note that you were a couple of minutes early. You felt yourself relax into the booth and started taking slow, calming breaths to slow down your racing heartbeat. The adrenaline of trying to get to the restaurant on time was starting to fade and you took another glance at your watch. 

6:06

Well, that’s fine. He’s probably just a little late, you tried to reassure yourself, but you had a sinking feeling. As the minutes marched on, the sinking feeling grew deeper, and you could feel yourself growing slightly annoyed. 

6:29

Well, whatever.

You took out your phone from your purse and decided to message him. It should be reasonable, right? You had scheduled this beforehand, after all. Well, not you, your mother, but still, the principle held. 

You:

Hi Yoongi-ssi, this is Seo Y/N. I’m waiting at the restaurant at the moment 

and I was wondering if you were alright, since you weren’t here yet? Please let me know if you’d like to reschedule instead.

You winced at how the text message sounded more like an email between colleagues, but you weren’t sure how casual you were supposed to be with him. Before you could mull over the tone of your message more, you hit the send button and bit your lip as you waited for a response. Your fingers began to pick at your dress in a nervous habit and you kept your eyes trained on the restaurant entrance in case you spotted him. 

Finally, at 6:42, you saw the head of black hair that had haunted your dreams as of late. He walked in calmly, looking slightly disheveled, but his lax pace didn’t betray anything about his tardy entrance. He looked infuriatingly attractive in a well-fitted suit with the tie loosened and the top couple of buttons undone. His eyes met yours as the hostess led him to your table and you smiled politely at him, receiving only a cursory nod in return. The waitress quickly approached as he sat down across from you and took his drink order, two fingers of whisky, while you asked for more water. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to drink, more that you needed to keep your wits about you for this dinner and alcohol would only make you feel nauseous in your already anxious state.

With the waitress gone, he turned to you and you felt yourself flush automatically, something you internally cursed. You wished he didn’t have such an effect on you. He declined to say anything, so you took a moment to take in his appearance now that he was much closer to you. 

You could see that his collar was more rumpled than you initially thought and his hair a bit more mussed. You saw a small mark just barely visible from beneath his white button-up, above his tie. Now that he was much closer, you could smell a faint scent of a sweet perfume that you knew wasn’t yours since you had only worn a very light citrus one. 

Oh. He was with someone else. Why does that bother me so much?

Finally, he spoke, his deep voice lulling you out of your trance of staring at the mark on his chest, “Sorry I’m late. I saw your text, but I was driving. To be completely honest, I forgot about this.”

For a moment, his apology surprised you. For some reason, you hadn’t expected him to apologize. Maybe you’d built him up to be this cartoon villain in your head after your last interaction, but you’d forgotten that he was human just like you. 

“That’s alright, it’s no problem,” you responded kindly, noting the way his eyebrow slightly furrowed at your response, “How was your day?”

He raised an eyebrow at you in a questioning manner, “Are you really going to do small talk with me?”

You let out an embarrassed laugh at your failure to engage him and tried for a new tactic instead, “Okay, what would you like to talk about then?”

“I want to set some ground rules.”

Your surprise must’ve shown on your face because you saw the way his expression almost changed to amusement. You quickly shook off the abruptness of the statement and nodded your head, “Okay, like what?”

“First, you’ll be moving into my apartment. I’m sure your mother already told you,” you nodded, “Do not enter my bedroom or office without knocking. I’ll extend the same courtesy to you. Second, we keep our lives separate. Unless we need to appear at an event together, we shouldn’t be mingling our private lives, including friends, work, things like that. Thirdly, this marriage is going to be on paper only. Don’t expect me to treat you like my girlfriend, or my wife, because we both know that’s not what this is.”

You felt your teeth take in your bottom lip as you considered his words, “Okay, that’s fine, I guess.” You couldn’t really stop him from wanting to do that, but it still hurt some. Any hopes you had of getting a normal romantic relationship after this were quickly dashed by his next rule.

“Lastly, I want this to be open. Our parents aren’t pressuring us for kids, so we can both find relief elsewhere. We both know this is only for increased stocks and influence in our respective companies. So, I do whatever I want and you do whatever you want in that regard, and we don’t interfere in each other’s love lives.”

You felt your face fall a bit, but you tried to control your expression. You had prepared for this, Joohee had prepared you for this. So why were you still so upset? He’s giving you the go-ahead to find whoever you want, so it’s not technically cheating. So why does it still feel so wrong?

“Okay,” you said uneasily, “That’s all okay.” It felt like you were saying it more for yourself than for him. 

His eyebrow quirked once more. They were very expressive, you noticed. 

“That’s it? You don’t have any rules of your own you want to add in?”

Your hands clenched onto the edge of the booth seat, needing something to ground you. Rules of your own? Your head was swimming with everything that had just happened, you could barely think of anything else, “No, none I want to add.”

Yoongi leaned back and clasped his hands, “Alright then. Shall we eat? My dad’s technically paying so eat all you want.”

You shakily took hold of the menu you’d already looked over a hundred times while waiting for him, not wanting to appear rude by being on your phone. You had already chosen what dish you wanted when Yujin had sent you the restaurant name, a habit of yours being to look up the menu beforehand to choose. The waitress approached and took your orders, taking the menu from your hands, leaving you with nothing to grasp your quivering fingers onto. 

You looked over at Yoongi, seeing him on his phone, scrolling. You felt yourself blanch at the blatant disregard and couldn’t find it in yourself to try and start a conversation. 

The minutes passed by slowly, and you were barely relieved when the food came, providing momentary respite by giving you something to do. You felt like you’d never been in a more awkward situation. The waitress quickly refilled both your drinks, and you noted that Yoongi had ordered water this time. It must be because he’s driving. 

Soon, the both of you finished your food, in utter silence. The waitress, who was quite on top of her game, swiftly provided the bill and told you to take your time. You had a feeling she felt the awkward tension as much as you did.

Once the bill was paid, you and Yoongi walked out towards the parking lot where he started shifting to move in the direction of his car before you blurted out, “Wait!”

He turned, facing you with a bored expression, waiting for you to finish speaking.

“I do have a rule actually.”

Seeming slightly intrigued now, he gestured for you to continue.

“I want us to try and be friends. Please.”

He seemed slightly surprised, judging by the way his eyebrows lifted slightly and his mouth parted. Collecting himself, he looked directly into your eyes, his dark orbs boring into your own, “No. I want us to keep our lives completely separate. We’re not friends.”

With that, he turned around and walked to his car, not sparing you another glance. 

“Wow, what an asshole.”

You hummed lazily in agreement, feeling your head lull. You were already a bottle deep in more cheap Moscato with Joohee, as well as a couple of shots of strawberry soju. 

“I know right! I agreed to whatever he said, why couldn’t he agree with the one thing I asked for?”

Joohee winced and prepared herself for your buzzed anger that was sure to flare up at her next statement, “Well, he wasn’t exactly wrong. It did conflict with his other rule. Not that I think he’s justified either. There shouldn’t be a problem in being friends.”

Your head snapped towards her, seeing it as a defensive move for Yoongi in your half-drunken state, but before you could find the energy to get upset, you felt yourself melt further into the couch, “Yeah, you’re right, I guess. Whatever, I don’t need him. I’ll just fuck anyone who looks my way, instead.”

“No, you won’t.”

“No, I won’t,” you cried, collapsing onto the pillow beside you, squeezing it tight, “Why am I so pathetic?”

“You’re not,” Joohee cooed, “You’re just in a shitty situation. So is he, but at least you’re not being a dick about it.”

You nodded glumly, still not feeling better about the situation. As you cradled the now-empty wine bottle to your chest, you remembered Hoseok.

“Oh yeah, I invited Hobi for the wedding. My coworker, Song Ha too. Can you believe I couldn’t think of a third person?”

Joohee laughed before throwing herself onto the couch with you, “Hey, you don’t need other friends, you have me. Besides, we’ll all be together again, then! It feels like forever since we’ve seen him.”

“Yeah, I told him and he said the same stuff as you. To try and make the best of it, or whatever,” you could feel yourself becoming less and less sober, “Can I crash here tonight?”

“Of course, do you want me to wash your dress for you?”

“No, I’ll just do it at my place. Thank God I have you.”

Joohee only laughed loudly in response, getting up to grab another bottle of soju from the fridge. The two of you lounged around before moving to watch TV in Joohee’s bed where she promptly fell asleep. Soothed by her snoring, you relaxed into her comfortable mattress and traced the light extrusions on her ceiling. Your thoughts soon drifted to Yoongi, as they seemed to do often these days. 

Was he really fair in rejecting your friendship? Joohee had made a good point earlier in that it certainly conflicted with his rule of ignoring each other outside of obligated functions. But…you didn’t want that. So why did you agree? In the moment, it hadn’t really felt like you’d had another choice. You seemed to be feeling like that a lot lately. 

Yoongi seemed serious about this marriage being for business only and you knew that you didn’t want that, but you couldn’t exactly tell him as such. You couldn’t be more sure that he would only be disgusted if he heard you say that and you didn’t think you’d be able to survive seeing that kind of emotion on his face when it’s directed towards you. 

Not that you’d be able to survive this marriage either. 

Your fingers toyed with the frayed hem of the sleep shorts you’d borrowed from Joohee, a frequent occurrence whenever you stayed over, and you saw her shift in her sleep. She really had been so supportive throughout this whole thing. 

Maybe you should go to her brother for help? No, Yoongi would probably hate that. 

You resisted the urge to kick your feet in frustration out of fear of waking up Joohee. This was so difficult, it was next to impossible to figure out what your next move should be. 

You had a nagging feeling that your mother wouldn’t force you to meet up with Yoongi anymore before the wedding, but why did that not feel like a clear-cut win? Did you want to meet with Yoongi again?

Rubbing at your eyes frantically, you pushed aside the flurry of questions stirring inside you. You didn’t have time to deal with this. There was a large project at work that was in its final stages that you needed your full attention on and then the final beta tests before the official launch, just weeks before your wedding. You couldn’t afford to spend another moment thinking about Yoongi. 

As you got more comfortable in Joohee’s bed, you turned your head to face the clock on her bedside table, reading 3:09 AM. 

A sigh escaped your lips as you forced your eyes closed to try and get some rest. 

You had an inkling that Yoongi would be occupying your thoughts whether you wanted it or not. 

“We’ll be meeting for the rehearsal dinner in one week, Yujin will send you the information and instructions. Don’t be late.”

Your mother’s voice cut off after that, not bothering to say goodbye before ending the call. You could feel your headache coming back and you fumbled for your water bottle before getting up to grab a red ginseng packet from the breakroom. Things had been a lot lately. 

The final preparations for the wedding were underway and your mother was leaving nothing to chance. Your dress had been fitted to perfection with your mother sending you a strict diet and workout plan to make sure you stayed the exact same size until the wedding. That email had been swiftly archived. 

You weren’t even sure of who was in your bridal party other than Joohee being your maid of honor. Not that it mattered. This wedding wasn’t for you anyway. 

As you slowly sucked out the paste from the ginseng packet, leaning against the break room counter, you wondered if Yoongi had had to go through similar procedures, though likely less extensive. You hadn’t heard from him since that dinner where he’d firmly placed a boundary between you, but he’d rarely left your mind since. You’d hoped that the reality check with Yoongi might help clear you of your feelings for him, but, instead, they only deepened your desire to get to know him better, to break past that boundary. But you knew that those ideas were merely fairy tales and this marriage was not going to be one by any means. 

Distantly, you wondered how the ceremony would go. The two of you hadn’t prepared any vows, nor were you expected to. This wedding was not a show of love and everyone knew that. Your parents weren’t concerned with making it appear as though you and Yoongi were a loving couple, no, this wedding was more of an excuse to show off their wealth and influence. Your nuptials were merely a byproduct. Still, would you have to kiss Yoongi?

You quickly shook your head, trying to rid yourself of the mental image, feeling your cheeks flush hot. Yet, you couldn’t get it out of your head. You imagined his lips would be soft and gentle, that he would lead you through the kiss and deepen it for more. His hands would come to rest at your waist before encircling it, pulling you closer, flush, to his body. 

No! You can’t imagine that, you’re not allowed!

Internally, you scoffed. What kind of girl wasn’t allowed to imagine kissing her fiance? You knew the truth, however, that it wasn’t your place to imagine yourself in that position. That was reserved for the person he loved, who was, decidedly, not you. 

Tossing the packet, you made your way back to your way back to your desk. Settling into the pillowed surface of your chair, you browsed through your emails before noticing one from the marketing team.

From: [email protected]

RE: MIRA’S AWAKENING Influencer Advertising

Hello Team Leader Seo,

We have decided that we would like to reach out to online influencers and streamers to assist in promoting Project Mira’s Awakening. A list of possible candidates is attached, along with their profiles and viewer analytics. We would like your input on any public figures you believe may be good candidates for this endeavor. Please reach out if you and your team come up with any candidates that are not already included in the attached file.

Additionally, we would like to create merchandise to provide for these public figures and we need to confirm with you and Graphics Team 2 on graphics we can include on merchandise items. You will find a list of items we are looking to make, along with graphics suggestions, attached as well. Please coordinate with GT 2 to send over finalized ideas and start creating the images.

Thank you,

Team Leader Lim

You considered the contents, feeling the eraser of your pencil tap against your lip, who could you suggest? You had your favorite streamers, but none aligned that well with the nature of the game you were producing, which meant the viewer base wouldn’t have enough crossover with your target audience. Running through a list of the streamers you watched regularly in your head, you stopped at one in particular. 

Goldenboy97. 

Jeon Jeongguk was quite popular and played enough combat-based games to have sufficient audience crossover, while still being intriguing for the puzzle aspect of the game. Not that you were biased, but he was your favorite creator at the moment. You jotted down his handle and a note to ask the rest of your team about their thoughts. 

Leaning back in your chair, you stared blankly at the screen as the emails continued flooding in. Slowly, but surely, your thoughts drifted back to the phone call with your mother. The wedding was next week, with the rehearsal dinner only being seven days away. 

You felt a strange combination of dread and giddiness, a swirl of emotional turmoil you weren’t ready to unpack. Hoseok was coming back tonight and you were picking him up from the train station. You’d probably have time to process your emotions then. Hoseok was staying at your apartment in the guest bedroom for a couple of weeks so he could be there through the whole wedding process. He had also mentioned looking for an apartment to move into in Seoul, which made you excited. You really wanted to have the college dream team together again.

The thoughts of the actual wedding were stoking your nerves, you still hadn’t talked to Yoongi since the last time you’d met. You weren’t sure of the protocol or if you should try to talk to him beforehand, especially about the ceremony. Too cowardly to act on your anxiety, you shut off your opened messaging app on your phone. You weren’t keen on finding out how Yoongi would respond to an unprompted message. 

The sound of your team packing up alerted you to the time, being slightly past five. You joined them in getting ready to leave before heading to the elevator. The rest of the group trekked slightly ahead while Song Ha walked slightly slower to stay back with you. 

“So, the wedding is next week. Are you excited?”

You chuckled nervously, “Yeah, you could call it that.”

“Ah, are you nervous? Makes sense. Just think, though, soon, you’ll be married to the love of your life! How exciting!”

Your insides felt queasy. You hadn’t told Song Ha about the nature of your relationship with your betrothed because you weren’t exactly sure how to explain it to someone who wasn’t familiar, nor did you want to deal with the embarrassment, “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Where are you going for your honeymoon?”

You bit your lip, “Nowhere, actually. We couldn’t get time off of work at the same time.” The honeymoon had long been decided as an unnecessary expense, and neither you nor Yoongi complained. Being stuck with him for weeks after the wedding in another country sounded like a nightmarish situation. You wouldn’t have minded a vacation though.

“Gosh, that sucks. Hopefully, you’ll be able to do something over the summer, maybe,” Song Ha pouted, swinging her work bag in line with her step. You smiled at her naivete.

“Yeah, hopefully.”

“Hobi!”

You ran towards the taller man, throwing your arms around his upper body, “I missed you! It feels so nice to have you back in Seoul.”

Feeling his chest rumble with a laugh, you squeezed him harder before releasing him. 

“Feels good to be back too,” he responded, a bright, heart-shaped smile adorning his face, “Let me get my bags to your car.”

“Oh, right, let me help,” you nodded, reaching for the bigger suitcase to roll towards your car. Hoseok easily picked up the duffel bag lying at his feet and followed behind you. You had opted for driving to the station since his train had come too late for the buses to still be running, and you didn’t want to have to deal with paying for or lugging his baggage into a cab. 

After loading the luggage into your trunk, you both settled into the front seats of your well-worn car. You heard Hoseok chuckle while clicking in his seatbelt, “This certainly feels different from the drunk bus and taxi rides back to the campus dorms. Even if it’s about the same level as luxury.”

You rolled your eyes, “Hey, my car is reliable. The previous owner only had it for a couple of years before selling it off and she’s been perfectly good since then. Though, my mom would probably agree with you on the luxury bit.”

“Yeah, well, who wants to listen to her opinion anyway. Before I forget, thanks again for letting me stay at your place while I’m here, I know it’ll probably be annoying with the wedding prep going on.”

“It’s no problem, seriously. Besides, a lot of my stuff’s been moved over to Yoongi’s for when I move after the wedding. I’m just keeping my apartment there in case I need it since I won’t be paying rent at Yoongi’s.” Keeping the lease on your apartment had been a conscious decision because you had figured you’d want a safe space away from the marriage drama and it wouldn’t be an extra hit to your income. What your mother and Yoongi didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them. 

“Has he really paid off his entire apartment? You’re marrying a proper chaebol,” Hoseok joked. 

You laughed lightly, a tinge of awkwardness at the idea that you really were, and you had no idea how he’d act in his own house. Tapping your fingers along the steering wheel, you tried to subtly change the topic, “Well, speaking of apartments, do you know where you’re going to be looking?”

Hoseok launched into a detailed plan he had for looking at rental properties in Seoul for both his apartment and the studio he wanted to open. You excitedly listened along, thrilled that he was planning on settling near you, as you drove to your own apartment. 

After you’d parked, Hoseok insisted on taking the large suitcase, claiming that only he was strong enough to lug it up the stairs. You only laughed a little bit at his sour expression when you showed him the perfectly working elevator. 

Punching in the code to your apartment, you swung open the door, making sure not to step food inside. A loud pop rang out and confetti sprayed out from the doorway.

“Surprise!”

Hoseok stumbled back, clutching at his chest and mouth agape at Joohee’s excited smile from inside the apartment, “Shit, Joohee, you scared me!”

You laughed loudly before grabbing his suitcase and rolling it inside, setting the duffel bag on top. Joohee began cleaning up the mess of confetti, Hoseok started to unpack what he’d need for the night, and you began unboxing the pizza that had arrived while Joohee was setting up. 

As the three of you settled into your living room, Hoseok already teasing Joohee, you felt like a void in your heart had been filled. The last few months had been so stressful and it hadn’t felt like you’d gotten a break emotionally in so long. The sounds of your friends chattering and laughing made you feel at ease. So, naturally, Hoseok had to ruin that.

“So, Y/N, how are you feeling about the rehearsal next week? Or the wedding, for that matter.”

You shifted in your position on the loveseat, feeling yourself frown, “Um, I don’t know. I don’t know what to expect. I can’t believe I’ll be married in just over a week.” Letting out a nervous laugh, you continued, “I haven’t talked to Yoongi in like six months. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

You could feel yourself spiraling, but you had been holding in so many emotions that it felt like you couldn’t stop yourself from talking, “Honestly, I’m really scared. I don’t want this to be my life forever. I’m not ready, I don’t think I’ll ever be.”

Joohee got up from her spot on the couch to hug you, Hoseok joining soon after. Something about their touch comforting you pushed you over the edge, the dam broke, and tears began streaming down your cheeks. You sniffled pathetically, hating the level of vulnerability you were currently displaying. You hadn’t cried throughout this whole experience, but in the comforting presence of your closest friends, you couldn’t help it. 

“I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to marry him if it’s going to be like this. Why does my life have to be this way? Why can’t I be normal?”

Joohee and Hoseok only squeezed you in response, not having an answer to your questions. Your tears continued on until you couldn’t cry anymore and Joohee finally released you. She stood and smiled kindly at you, “Do you want me to get you anything?”

“Water, please,” you said raspily, throat dry from all the crying. Joohee nodded before heading to the kitchen, leaving you with Hoseok who had shoved himself into the loveseat to further comfort you. 

“Thanks,” you mumbled, slightly muffled by burying your face in Hoseok’s soft, cotton shirt. 

“You know you can always talk to us. I wish I could change this for you, that you didn’t have to do this,” he said softly, stroking your hair. 

“It is what it is,” you said, feeling much more mellow now that you’d cried out all your overwhelming emotions. 

“Still,” Hoseok insisted, “He has no reason to be such a jerk.” You shrugged, you felt the same but there wasn’t much you could do to change that. 

Joohee returned with a cup of water which you gratefully took and sipped. Suddenly feeling quite exhausted, and a headache coming on, you tapped Hoseok to get off of you, to which he complied and clambered off the loveseat.

“Sorry guys, I’m just so exhausted now. I really appreciate you being here, but I think I’m going to head to bed,” you stated, hugging both of them, before starting to gather the trash to clean up. 

Joohee laid a hand on your shoulder to stop you, “Go, get some rest. We’ll clean up.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Hoseok exclaimed, and pushed you towards your bedroom, “Go to bed!”

Laughing, you acquiesced and headed into your bedroom to get ready to sleep. As you went through your nightly routine, you felt yourself feeling a bit calmer about the upcoming week. You had your two closest friends by your side. 

You were ready to handle anything that Yoongi threw at you.

Probably.

Yoongi lightly swirled the glass of whiskey between his fingers as he sat at his desk in his brown leather chair. By this time next week, he would be getting married. 

His eyes drifted towards the manila folder lying at the edge of his desk, a small water stain on the corner. Inside were the files on his soon-to-be wife, Seo Y/N. He took a sip of his whiskey, the smoky flavour traveling down his throat, as he considered his fiancee. 

He didn’t know what to make of her. She just seemed so meek and obedient, which wasn’t at all appealing. He didn’t remember much of her from before the arrangement, aside from vague interactions between them and the Kim siblings. She had seemed quite timid then too. 

Sighing, he leaned back in his chair, setting his glass on his desk. He didn’t want to do this marriage. It was a chore, really. 

Yoongi didn’t necessarily have anyone he was looking to marry, but having to pretend to be exclusive with some girl he didn’t care about wasn’t conducive to the bachelor lifestyle he’d cultivated. He’d set his ground rules, and she’d agreed, pretty easily, another thing that irked Yoongi. 

Couldn’t she stand up for herself? Or say anything at all that was her own opinion?

Yoongi drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair, he supposed she had said something that night. She’d wanted to be friends. He hadn’t been expecting that.

He figured it might be some condition about how she didn’t want to work or for him to stop seeing other people, but, instead, she’d simply asked for his friendship. And he’d refused. 

Of course he did, it went against his other rule. He wanted to keep his life separate from this artificial marriage and that included remaining nothing but acquaintances. He’d have to be steadfast, he decided. That night, when he’d seen your imploring expression with hope shining in your eyes, he’d almost agreed. He wasn’t sure why that was, or if he even wanted to know, but he couldn’t let it happen again. 

Despite your docile and unassuming nature, you were dangerous. And you didn’t seem to know it, which made you all the more so.

previous / masterlist / next 

#yoongi #yoongi fic #bts yoongi #min yoongi #yoongi smut #min yoongi smut #yoongi x reader #bts fic recs #yoongi x you #bangtan #bangtan smut #bangtan fanfic #bangtan x reader #bangtan fic #bts fic #bts smut #bts #bts fanfic #bts imagine #bts x reader #bts x you #min yoongi fanfiction #min yoongi x reader #min yoongi fanfic #myg x reader #myg fic #myg smut #myg #myg angst #asingledaffodil

[doll-elvis]

PRISCILLA (2023)

~ my thoughts as an elvis fan

(credit to @urpinkstargirl for the photo)

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD:

so I saw it last night and I’ve been stewing on it ever since as I wanted to be 100% sure in myself before saying this publicly

**brace yourselves**

After just one viewing… I feel confident in saying that I preferred this film over “Elvis” 2022 🤧. It was just so immersive and so deeply intimate that I walked away from the theater feeling like I had just lived a life with Elvis, and experienced all the ugly and wonderful things that came with it

I am seeing it again tonight and possibly tomorrow just to recapture that feeling (which made me cry… three times…)

And although I’m not the biggest fan of Sofia Coppola, there is simply no denying that she has perfected showing “girlhood” in film, and making the most unique experiences, like being Marie Antoinette and being Priscilla Presley, somehow universal to everybody. I haven’t felt being “14” since I was 14, which was a whole 5 years ago, but WHEW… I most definitely felt 14 again when watching Priscilla navigate life in Germany

Also- we all saw how Austin Butler was completely cheated out of an Oscar and so I’m begging that we do not do that again. Give the Oscar to Cailee Spaeny (who played Priscilla) right now 😤 There are no words besides “immaculate” to describe her performance. Her future is so bright as an actress, I just cannot wait to follow her career + she just seems like the sweetest person ever??

And I know it might seem insane to say that I preferred “Priscilla” over “Elvis” and some of y’all might crucify me for that take but my preference solely comes down to the fact that I appreciate Priscilla’s perspective much more so than the Colonel’s, who to me, has always been the least interesting aspect of Elvis’ story

My biggest gripe with having the Colonel narrative/tell Elvis’ life in the 2022 film is the fact that it made the film feel rather impersonal to Elvis as I don’t think the script or the storytelling ever fully allowed for Austin Butler to explore what he was like beyond the stage

And personally speaking, I have a much deeper love for Elvis the person as opposed to Elvis the performer, and I think that “Priscilla” showed the human side of him far more than “Elvis” ever did (like y’all we actually get to hear and see him reading his philosophy books in this!!!)

But before I get into what was actually depicted in film, and all my praises, I thought I would briefly state what I thought could have been done better. Don’t get me wrong, this movie was beyond amazing, however, it was definitely not without its’ faults:

1. If you have seen a lot of reviewers talk negatively about the pacing in this film- just know that they are unfortunately, completely right in that assessment. The whole timeline of Germany felt literally five minutes long, and the 70s also, felt maybe 10 minutes long which just made both the beginning and end feel rather rushed. Also there were at least 5 scenes that just faded to black before going onto the next one, and some very abrupt cuts in scenes which felt a bit awkward

2. Because this is a biopic, and because it’s based on a real life, there is no climax like you would be accustomed to normally in a film and so I think that the average viewer, like someone who may not really care about Priscilla or Elvis, will probably walk away from the film feeling unsatisfied- possibly bored. I saw it with my mom and my sister, and my mom was asleep in like 45 minutes 😭. The movie definitely got repetitive at some points but I acknowledge the fact that life is repetitive, especially for Priscilla in the 60s while Elvis was off making movies

3. While Priscilla (played by Cailee Spaeny) aged realistically and seamlessly, Elvis (played by Jacob Elordi) was essentially the same person (physically) for 95% percent of the film. For some reason, his hair was already dyed black in the Germany scenes, although we know it was brown at that time, and so there was no real transformation for him until Lisa Marie is born. The height of the actor was definitely jarring at first but eventually I got used to it…however…I damn near busted out laughing when they showed him in the Comeback special outfit 💀 His performance was nothing but incredible (ESPECIALLY THE VOICE) and so I learned to get over the physical disparities rather quickly

4. The ending of this film, particularly the song, was overwhelmingly sad and impactful but I was really disappointed that we didn’t get to see Priscilla’s and Elvis’ relationship after the divorce. This film ends with Priscilla leaving Graceland, starting her “new life”, which didn’t make much sense to me considering this movie was adapted from her book, which very much explores that part of her life, especially with Elvis

I would have really love to seen moments like this from Priscilla’s perspective ⬇️

excerpt from “Priscilla, Elvis and me” (avoid this book)

5. NO CIRCLE G RANCH!!! It is borderline criminal to make a film about Priscilla and Elvis and to not include their time spent at Circle G ranch ** which Priscilla has always said were their happiest times together **. I assume that this was likely an issue because of the budget and the fact that they only had 30 days to film but god… I would have really appreciated some of the domestic bliss that Priscilla and Elvis shared while living in the trailer on the ranch. There were many happy moments/sequences (y’all are going to die when you see the rollerblading/go cart scenes) in this movie, but I think their gradual separation/withdrawal from one another (post marriage) would have hit harder if we saw how happy they were together during their ranch phase

6. For those who have read “Elvis and Me”, we all know about the famed LSD scene that takes place and unfortunately, Coppola heavily missed the mark on it. We don’t see Lamar Fike making out with a tree, we don’t see Jerry Schilling in a closet- instead we see Priscilla and Elvis just kind of rolling around, laughing amongst themselves while the room around them turns different colors

There were definitely many key moments/stories like that missing from the film, and I honestly wish that the movie was an hour longer so that we could have seen the book more fully fleshed out

Lastly, here’s just a general synopsis of the scenes in Germany… I was going to do the whole movie but I don’t have the stamina to type it all out 😭. If y’all want to know something specific please feel free to comment below and I will let you know <3!!

After the beginning credits are shown, the film starts with Currie Grant (who was renamed as Terry West) approaching Priscilla in a diner, inviting her to a party at Elvis’ house. After talking with her parents and assuring them that Priscilla will be looked after by him and his wife, it cuts to her in the back of a car, on her way to meet Elvis. The scene is exactly like how it is in the book, Elvis asks her how old she is, he remarks that she is “just a baby” and so on- Elvis then plays “a Whole lotta shakin” at the piano and that is one of three musical performances we see from him

Priscilla is then re-invited by Currie aka Terry via Elvis to comeback to the house again. Elvis invites Priscilla up to his room, she looks around and sees letters from Anita Wood, and a poster of Bridgette Bardot just like in the book. After Elvis talks about Gladys and how he is still reeling over her death, and how lonely he has felt since then, they share their first kiss to the song “Crimson and Clovers”

There are some scenes of Priscilla at school and some scenes of her sort of convincing her parents to let her continue to see Elvis. And they do agree, but just like in the book, they want to meet him first. Elvis is questioned by Priscilla’s father on why he wants to be with her to which Elvis replies that she is very mature for her age and that he likes talking to her since she is from home aka the United States. He then assures Priscilla’s father that she will be taken care of. After that we see them going to the movies where Elvis expresses how much he wants to be a serious actor, and then they share another kiss on the car ride home. It then cuts to Christmas time where we see Elvis giving Priscilla a watch and then BOOM- Elvis and her are on the way to the airport where they say their final goodbyes as he leaves for the United States

The film really does follow closely to the book (at least from 59’ when they meet to 69’- again the 70s were really rushed) and so I really recommended to read that prior to watching the movie

As for the more sensitive scenes-

There is no explicit sex, no graphic nudity, and no scene where Elvis forces himself upon Priscilla. He does say “this is how a real man makes love to his woman” but all he does is kiss her before she pushes him off. There is a rather long “polaroid-taking” sequence where it shows all the outfits that Elvis would Priscilla dress up in but other than that, we only see Elvis and Priscilla make out

And it did show when Elvis accidentally hit Priscilla in the eye during the pillow fight scene in her book, along with the scene of him throwing a chair in her general direction after she expressed she didn’t like a demo of one his songs, and the scene where he grabs all her clothes from the closet and tells her that she should go visit her parents. I don’t think that the scenes made Elvis look abusive: Coppola was surprisingly nuanced in showing that he had reasons for his sometimes bad temperament i.e the pills he took along with the fact that he was frustrated with his film career

It also shows Elvis’ infidelities but really only through movie magazines that Priscilla sees. So it’s never explicitly shown, I would say it’s more hinted at than anything

And there are two scenes of Priscilla with Mike Stone but again, nothing that is explicitly shown, it’s just hinted at

Finally, to finish this up, this is what I wrote on my Instagram account which I very much stand by ⬇️

Just please give this movie a chance y’all, it was so beautiful and so sensitively done… I cannot wait to watch it again <3

#I was not prepared for this movie #cailee and jacob completely floored me #I’m sorry I ever doubted y’all #give everyone an award #wow #priscilla presley #priscilla movie #priscilla 2023 #elvis and priscilla #elvis presley #elvisaaronpresley #elvis #elvis fans #elvis fandom #sofia Coppola #cailee spaeny #jacob elordi #Spotify

[nobodysdaydreams]

And… even MORE Hatchetverse Theory on the history between Webby and her brothers

Based on my earlier poll about the potential history between Webby and her brothers. I'll go through each option and discuss the merits of each theory as well as they ways they could be combined.

The rest of my posts are under "#hatchetverse theory". Read below for an unhinged rant.

Before I dive into the possibilities for what history could exist between the brothers and Webby, I first want to review what little we know about their relationship and why I focus so much on Webby and Wiggly's relationships specifically as opposed to Webby and the other LIB:

We don't know their birth order, but based on the fact Wiggly acts as the leader of the LIB with little resistance from his brothers and Webby's verse in "the web I spin for you" where she talks about her brothers teaching her, currently the most common head canon seems to be that Wiggly is the oldest and Webby is the youngest (I also head canon that the reason Wiggly uses "baby talk" is because that's how he talked to his newborn siblings, and he never grew out of it because he enjoys infantilizing anyone and everyone).

The LIB all seem to want humanity to suffer for different reasons, but out of all of them, Wiggly seems to have the most interesting motivation. Blinky and Nibbly's motivations seems to be the most straightforward: Blinky likes to watch people suffer; Nibbly is hungry. Pokey just wants to put on a one man show and get rid of everyone else that's not him (he's basically an insane version of Hidgens with absolute power), and Tinky just seems to like messing around with time and specifically has it in for the Spankoffskis, but it's unclear exactly why. Wiggly however doesn't just seem to enjoy suffering and chaos just for the sake of his own pleasure. He has Wilbur give a whole speech in Black Friday about capitalism and consumer culture, and none of the other LIB have seemed interested in monologuing about the sins of humanity thus far. Granted, I still have to catch up on Nightmare Time (I know, I'm awful), but I didn't read anything about Nibbly bothering to give a speech about gluttony right before he eats someone.

Additionally, Wiggly is also the one who demands the the teens in NPMD give up what they love the most. Nibbly just wants a snack. The LIB's song also says "Nibbly wants his sacrifice and Wiggly wants his wrath". Wrath? Revenge? Revenge for what? And why just Wiggly, why not all the LIB? It really sounds like Wiggly is the one who is primarily trying to gain something here. Wiggly's brothers seem to be following him because they get what they want, but Wiggly seems to be the driving force here.

Now the question becomes: what does Wiggly want revenge for, and why? Well, several people have pointed out that despite Webby being called a "queen", the LIB are called "lords" (though Wiggly insists on wearing a plastic child's dress up crown to make himself look like a king). There's also a line in the summoning where the LIB sing "we dance around the pentagram and take all out kingdoms back". It's possible Webby took their kingdoms from them, or that they betrayed her to take power if they believed the way she was running things wasn't to their liking, but again, this is unclear.

What does seem more clear is that Wiggly does have a personal grudge against Webby and that the feeling is mutual. He calls her a "stupid b*tch" in Black Friday, whereas Pokey in Nightmare Time only calls her his sister, and I don't think any of the other LIB had demonstrated that level of hatred towards her yet. During the song "The Web I Spin for You", it is clear by the dolls shown in the shots that Webby is singing about her brothers, but the camera focuses in on Wiggly last and holds on him the longest.

So then the question becomes: what happened between Wiggly and Webby? Who betrayed who? Did they both betray each other? What seems the most likely based on what little we know so far?

Let's dive into those poll options.

The first option on the poll was that the Lords in Black used to be good, but turned evil. I was surprised at how few votes this option got given some of the evidence presented in NPMD and "The Web I Spin for You" song that Webby sings in Nightmare Time. I'll spend some time reviewing the evidence for this, since it seems to be the least popular option and some of the evidence for this option could also apply to the others.

There are lines in the song that imply the LIB used to care about Webby, to some degree. It's unclear whether this means they were actually "good guys", but it seems like they either cared about Webby or Webby at least believed they cared about her at some point, most notably when she sings: "You used to keep me at your side, have you given it up?" and "Weren’t you the one to watch my back, unlike the witches you summon?" (which could be referring to Willabella Muckwab, the first witch of Hatchetfield who seems to have started this whole mess).

Webby seems frustrated with her brothers, but doesn't seem to hate them, at least not as viscerally as Wiggly hates her (again, he's the one who seems the most angry at her).

But it doesn't stop there. There's a few other lines in "The Web I Spin For You" that are even more concerning:

The lines I'm referring to are: "Why do you haunt me like a ghost? You’re supposed to love me the most." And "Got me in the spell you cast. The iris of your eye is black. You have a tendency to stab my back. Just like the witches you summon."

The backstabbing line implies that they betrayed her, not the other way around. But the lines chosen to convey this are particularly concerning when you consider two things: 1) the plot to NPMD and 2) the pictures of the black book and the black blade I found on the Starkid Wiki page (posted below).

There seem to be numbers marking the positioning of the knife, numbers which appear on other pages from the book on the Starkid Wiki page, but you can look at that yourself. Now, what IS interesting here is the picture. Five people in black robes, one holding a knife, his point taller than the rest like the book illustrates, and the knife is positioned in such a way that it could quite literally stab the woman in white in the back, just like Webby's song says.

Other interesting notes about the picture are that the hair of the woman is red (could still be Webby, maybe her hair changed color, or Miss. Holloway, more on her later), and it's possible the woman is wearing the baseball cap Hannah wore in Black Friday (or it could be a fold of the guy's robe, it's hard to see in the photo).

But back to my main point: why would the other LIB be stabbing Webby in the back, or as the song says "have her in the spell they cast?"

Well, I see two reasons. One is more visual, the other much darker.

The first is that the LIB sing about "dancing around a pentagram". In the black book picture, Webby, or whoever the woman in white is, seems to be placed in the middle of the pentagram.

So that's the visual reason: Webby is in the middle of the "Spells they cast" because that's physically where she's located.

Now for the darker reason, one some of you have probably already guessed, because I referred the Summoning in NPMD. You know, the part where Wiggly demands they kids give up the thing they love most for power?

Well. Remember the "Why do you haunt me like a ghost? You’re supposed to love me the most." line from the web I spin for you?

It's possible that if Webby was at one point what the LIB loved most, they could have sacrificed her to gain some sort of power.

It could also explain why Wiggly hates her so much. Maybe he also hates himself. Or hates Webby for making him feel like he had to do that. Or at least try to do that, still unclear if he attempted this, or what succeeding would even mean since Webby and the LIB seem to be immortal.

Now the evidence against this theory seems to be the fact that if Wiggly was really the one to sacrifice (or attempt to sacrifice) Webby (for the sake of, apparently, summoning witches for unknown reasons), why would he act like he's the one who needs revenge and be so angry at Webby when he betrayed her? Well, it's possible that he believes she betrayed him first, or that betraying her corrupted the LIB, similar to what happened to Grace in NPMD (but more on that in another post).

Now for the second option: that Webby used to be evil. The evidence for this is fairly straightforward, which is probably why it's the most popular poll option:

Wiggly wants revenge and hates Webby, her betraying her brothers and turning good lines up with this

The LIB have never acted benevolently or shown any genuine concern for others, whereas Webby has done semi-morally questionable things (she kills the witch Willabella Muckwab in nightmare time because she tried to hurt Hannah, but Willabella Muckwab was a bad guy who'd been dead for centuries so make of that what you will)

Webby sings about the LIB teaching her, but her becoming disillusioned and turning against them, her developing a love for humanity also lines up with this

It's still possible that the LIB attempted to sacrifice Webby as discussed above, her turning good was possibly the catalyst for this course of action

The main source of evidence against this theory is we don't know what would have caused Webby to turn good. She seems to care about children (more on that later) and not like what her brothers do with the witches they create (and then there's the mess of how Miss. Holloway fits into all this), but beyond that, it's unclear, but still one of the most plausible theories in my opinion and the fandom seems to agree with me on this one.

The next two poll options: Webby and the LIB were always on their respective sides of the Black and White, but used to be closer, or they selected opposite sides of the Black and White and that drove them apart.

Both of these seem to line up with the evidence presented thus far. The first option would explain why Wiggly and Webby feel betrayed by each other without having to change much about their characters. The second option makes sense in that it explains their conflict.

The main way these two options differ is whether Webby and the LIB were "always this way" or whether they ever had a choice. Both seem compelling, especially when you consider Wiggly's (via Wilbur) whole humanity hating Black Friday speech and Webby's care for Hannah and complicated feelings towards her brothers. If the siblings were always like this, is their room for them to change? If they chose the sides they did, why did they do so and can they change back?

The last two poll options (not counting the "other"): The sides of the Black and White Webby and her brothers are one were chosen for them or that this is somehow their parent's fault.

I put these two together because the issues with the "sides of the Black and White" being chosen for them option is: who is doing the choosing? The mostly likely possibility for this seems to be their parent (maybe parents?)

The LIB call themselves the "spawn of the Black and White", so for now let's call their parents "the Black and White". They seem to have parents, at least according to the Starkid wikipages, which state that "The Lords in Black were spawned from the same deed of evil. Their father was a giant chaos entity," and the credit of this comes from an interview with the characters' creator. I personally don't know how to verify this, so let's say it's true. What was this "deed of evil?" How is Webby their sister, was she spawn from this too? Will we ever meet their parents?

Overall, I'd say these options are possible, but given that we don't know much about their parents or the nature of the Black and White, it's hard to draw a solid conclusion.

Finally, some other unknowns about Webby and her brothers that I find interesting:

The "Starry Children" Stuff and Webby and the LIB's relationship with Children:

The LIB's followers call themselves the Church of the Starry Children, and as I pointed out before, the symbol of the LIB seems to be a star, with the LIB in the triangles and Webby in the middle, at least according to the illustrations. What's unclear is who the starry children are. Is this the name of the followers of the LIB OR is it Webby and the LIB themselves? The show might have already said this at some point and I missed it, but Webby and her brother often act very childish and playful (although often in ominous ways). This plus the fact that they apparently have parents could point to them being literal children.

Wiggly and Webby seem to have opposite relationships with children. Wiggly's Black Friday spell doesn't work on kids. Willabella Muckwab is said to have written the black book with the blood of innocents kids (again, based on the wiki page). Webby on the other hand seems to have a closer relationship with children (most clearly shown in her relationship with Hannah). You can argue that Wiggly does interact with children in NPMD, but they're technically teenagers, and as Grace says repeatedly throughout the show "they're only 18."

The Relationship Webby and the LIB have with Witches:

"The Web I Spin for You" implies Webby's brothers keep summoning witches that try to hurt her and "The Witch in the Web" implies that Webby keeps "spinning webs" to capture and stop these witches from hurting others. This lines up with everything we know about Willabella and most of the other witches and followers of the LIB.

Where this pattern seems to break is Wilbur Cross and Miss. Holloway. How is Miss. Holloway able to use the black book without being in debt to the LIB? Does she serve Webby like Wilbur serves Wiggly? Miss. Holloway also seems to care about children, again contrasting to the way Wilbur tries to hurt them. Does that mean anything? Why isn't Wilbur caught in Webby's trap like the others, and why does he keep coming back? Why do the LIB need Wilbur anyway? Why were Miss. Holloway and Wilbur chosen for these roles? Is it because Miss. Holloway encountered the White of the Black and White similar to how Wilbur encountered the Black? Or is it because the LIB and Webby just really liked their southern accents and were going for the "southern small town preacher" vibe?

I hope you like this rant. Thank you Starkid fandom!

#Hatchetverse theory #starkid productions #hatchetfield #hatchetverse #npmd #nighthawks #nightmare time #webby hatchetfield #the lords in black #wiggog y'wrath #pokey #nibbly #pokotho #blinky #bliklotep #nibblenephim #wiggly #lords in black #tinky #nerdy prudes must die #nerdy prudes spoilers #starkid #star kid #team starkid #starkid npmd

[lutawolf]

The Sign Commentary Review Ep 2 part 1 & 2

We start off right where we left off, with Phaya listening in to the conversation that the instructors are having. He tells Tharn to take Yai back, but is anyone surprised when Tharn doesn't listen?

Phaya, I got to ask. What kind of life you have been living that you can pick a lock? Though to be fair, I unlocked my sister's bedroom door with a butter knife more than once.

Phaya makes his way in and intensely looks around. Guess they don't have security cameras. Anyway, he finds what he is looking for and takes photos with his cell phone.

These two. I love them so much. "Why are you so close?" While smirking. The other facing down his current bedmate with annoyance. "I can't see. Why didn't you find a better place? Someplace with more space?"

They discuss the case while cuddling under the blanket. They weren't under there for warmth and seriously, even Yai couldn't turn this into hiding. Those coconuts are cuddling! Convince me otherwise!

Phaya says how he doesn't think that the victim tied his ankle knot himself. "How do you know?" "I just know." Hahahaha! Know a little something about knot tying do you Phaya. So we are looking at a wrap and cinch, aka a quick cuff. Now he was floating in water so that has to allow for some rope give but notice the pull section is in the back. If he were going to quick cuff himself, the pull would be in front so he could yank it himself

How the hell are you going to hide two people under that blanket! I got to see this. Oh wow. 😂😂😂

Tension! Damn, but they got some good chemistry!

"I'm not leaving until you tell me."

HAHAHAHA I'm dead. Phaya taking advantage of the situation is my favorite thing ever.

Now back to training. Where we see Phaya paying attention to everything, and then we get to the classroom. Have I meantioned how much I love Yai?

Look at that guilty face. Homeboy can deny all he wants, but his face says it all. Hahaha!

Then the looks that Tharn and Phaya give each other. Screams confusion on Phaya's part and guilty on Tharn's. I'm loving it. Speaking of faces.

Someone is suspicious of our boy Phaya.

More training, with a sprinkling of flirtation. Then hand holding!!!

Ohhhh, yeah baby, break out the rope. Phaya is showing Tharn exactly what I mentioned earlier.

They are contemplating what move to make next and how just the two of them can do it when the Scooby gang shows up. You decide who is who, but they are the Scooby gang for sure. Yai brings up valid points as to why not to investigate, but Phaya says he can't ignore this and be a cop. Which everyone agrees with but Phaya, but now I know why. He was protecting his brother. I love Yai and his fierce loyalty.

I love them both so much. They are a good balance. And Captain suspicious is for sure watching them. The Captain follows them around to figure out what they are up to.

Now for some well deserved eye candy. Thank you, director, for knowing what us thirsty bitches want.

Now we are to the part where Phaya sneaks out to look for evidence at the beach.

A female voice begins calling out his name. Telling him to come this way. She appears in the water, beckoning to him. Meanwhile, Tharn senses something and wakes up. Checks Phaya's bed and sees that he is missing. He takes off, seeming to know where he will be. He finds Phaya in the wadding in the ocean in an apparent trance.

This is also around the time when they get caught by the instructors. Please let one of them be smart enough to come up with an excuse.

Apparently not. He threatens to expel all of them who continue with the investigation.

After punishment, Phaya talks to the guys in the barracks. Telling them that he is really sorry. It's at this point that we realize that Thai was the smart one of the group earlier. That the Captain was right. For them to be good cops, they have to stick to the rules and pass the exam.

And that's that for this part. On to the next. I'm breaking them into two posts because... Well, I like to add all the pictures. 💜💜💜

#the sign the series #the sign bl #phayatharn #phaya and tharn #luta talks the sign #coconuts mafia

[jenyifer]

Dead Friend Forever Ep 9 initial reaction

HELL YES I WAS FUCKING RIGHT on multiple fronts wooooo I love it when things go the way I want.

Although also I was wrong on one thing which is slightly disappointing but whatever!!!!

I do have new questions because I’ve rewatched ep 1 and there are some things that still ain’t quite clicking. I’ll put the questions at the bottom.

Let’s get into the photo review.

Okay I was suspecting drugging of the water when they showed Non getting drunk on something on the tape White saw. But what is up with Jin MAINLY feeling guilt about the teacher not Non. Very weird. He’s seen the dead teacher multiple times unless that’s Por? Which I don’t think so? Jin doesn’t know he’s dead yet.

Oh Non…. 😭😭 I felt his absence all episode really it felt like he was always just in the background of all the actions.

As an older sister I would never fucking stop if this happened to my little sister. New had obviously tried to be the perfect child for his parents to the point of ignoring his brother. I believe he fucking studied his ass off because in pretending to be Tan we saw how fucking smart he really was again and again.

I’m ready to hunt them all down too. I don’t blame Tan for being fucking pissed at Phee about getting too close to Jin. Because Phee annoyingly didn’t find out anything when we as the viewers know Jin DESERVES A SHIT TON OF BLAME DEFINITELY MORE THAN POR. Anyways. So it is tough to watch the lovey Dovey scenes then see Tan trying his hardest to get justice for his brother Tan NEVER stops.

Okay so White is younger and he’s not in on the scheme then. Idk when Tee starts dating him but I am kind of glad he had some happiness. As much as what he did to Non is fucked he did feel bad about it and was forced into it by his dad needing medication that his uncle paid for also his uncle probably paid for him a place to live too.

Oh so maybe baby is alive. Or he was alive longer than Tee and Top pulling him out of the house anyways.

Okay so I haven’t rewatched all of the early eps but I don’t know if Phee is aware Jin leaked the vid of Non. Also I find Jin’s approach to relationships psychotic. He’s extremely possessive and focused on his interest but he doesn’t really consider them people. When Phee tells him ‘oh we are just friends’ Jin doesn’t talk to him in two years?! I mean maybe Phee had a bad day or whatever it seems insane for Jin to assume he’s desperately in love with Tan and did it all to shame Jin in some way when what Phee did was consensual causal fling. But then again didn’t Jin go fucking crazy when he saw Non and Phee together from behind. Jin wanted non to be his but was ready to hate him at the drop of a hat. Jin didn’t love Phee or Non he loved the idea of being in a relationship with them for himself. He’s a narcissist.

Oh so Tan/New is fucking desperate his mom and dad are dead his brother has been missing for years and he doesn’t have any leads. The police have given up. Phee his only ally has basically given up as well.

Okay so the bathroom scene with Tee there was smoke. I guess the alcohol at the party is what Por was tripping on before he went into the woods. But also… someone had to have cut on Por…? Idk. I guess Tan drugged Top although I’m still iffy on that. So everything we have seen are the boys biggest darkest fears interesting.

So things I got right

New = Tan

Early events were hallucinations

Thing I got wrong

Phee doesn’t know what Jin has done

White is not involved with Phee and Tan

Questions I have.

Is Top mega drugged? Or did Tan get close to Top and he’s made Top confess already and while he is on drugs he’s actually in on the revenge thing. We did see Tan is probably closest to Top.

Is there another person involved still? Who slashed Pors arms with Non’s knife and left it in the basement? I previously thought it was the teacher but the teacher and Non’s fates are together I think they either both survived or are both dead probably the second one.

Still like to know more about White.

Is Non alive? He was dressed differently in that bus photo.

Why are Tee and Por’s personalities so changed when they meet Phee and Tan.

Is the cult thing real then? Because Tan said he got the herb from that cult right? I thought it was a set and made up for movie.

Why didn’t they make another movie I assume Por’s parents would have wanted him to do that.

#dead friend forever #dead friend forever the series #dff the series #dff #dff episode 9 #dff ep 9 #dff meta #Jenny’s watching

[poppletonink]

10 Things I Hate About You Review

★★★★★ - 5 stars

"But mostly I hate the way I don't hate you. Not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all."

Katarina Stratford does not conform to everyone else's ideas of teenage normalcy: she doesn't wear things based on what's trendy, she likes indie rock music and feminist novels and most importantly, Katarina Stratford does not want to date. On the other hand, her sister, Bianca does want to date. After their father decides that Bianca can only date when Kat does, a boy named Cameron (who has a crush on Bianca) comes up with a plan to pay someone to date Kat.

I love the characters in this film so very much. Kat is a feminist icon who I've idolised ever since I first watched this masterpiece. Bianca annoyed me at first but the whole punching Joey in the face thing was very cathartic for me, so she increased her placement in my favourite character ranks. Patrick Verona is amazing, and all of the Kats in the world know that not falling for him is a very trying task. Cameron, on the other hand, is the complete opposite of Patrick and yet he's extremely sweet and endearing - a hopeless romantic at heart (and a definite James Potter variant for sure).

It is safe to say that generally speaking feminism and rom-coms do not go hand-in-hand skipping down a flowery hill (what with most rom-coms being Chick Flicks, a controversial genre in the eyes of feminists everywhere). However, 10 Things I Hate About You manages to meld together these two assumedly opposing topics into an amazing masterpiece. It discusses a horrible idea formulated within society - that idea being that a woman cannot be in a relationship with a man, whilst retaining her status as a feminist. The irony of it is that feminism is about equality and yet we put this boundary between men and women, both of whom can be classified as feminists, and say 'No, you cannot date and wish for equal rights.' That's what is so wonderful about 10 Things I Hate About You: Kat Stratford is a feminist icon in her own right (what with her love of Sylvia Plath and riot grrrl bands, and her blatant "Well I suppose being male and an asshole makes you worthy of our time" comment) and yet she is also the star of a rom-com. She's a feminist who simultaneously "gets the guy".

Aside from the amazing characters and the amazing feminist representation of 10 Things, one of the best things about it is its music. Music plays such a big part in 10 Things, from it playing to represent the character's emotions to Kat wanting to start a band. The soundtrack overall is amazing, with riot-grrrl bands galore and Joan Jett as the queen of rock 'n' roll. Without a doubt my favourite musical moment of 10 Things is Heath Ledger singing "Can't Take My Eyes Off You"- it's one of the most romantic moments and an important part of Kat and Patrick's journey.

In case it could not be gathered from my prior statements, this modern, feminist adaptation of Shakespeare's Taming Of The Shrew is one of my favourite films of all time - on par with the likes of Dead Poet's Society and Clueless. It's wonderfully witty, romantic and heartwarming, and furiously feminist all in one - and if that does not convince you to watch it, then I don't really know what will.

#10 things i hate about you #katarina stratford #kat stratford #feminist #romantic comedy #romcom #movie review #film review #10 things #kat and patrick #patrick verona #bianca stratford #cameron and bianca #films #film blog #review #cameron james #joseph gordon levitt #julia stiles #heath ledger #feminist recommendation #feminism #riot grrrl #riot girl #riot ghoul #annotations

[wildechild3]

Modern Maurice AU

Part 4: The Kiddos!

(Re-posted because someone decided to leave a rude comment on the first one. Please keep in mind, this is for fun. It's fanfiction. It's literally not a big deal.)

This part is background information about Maurice and Alec as parents. Like I said in part 1, none of this is spoilers for the fic I want to write. Also, feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions, these are just my headcanons!

The Kiddos:

Early on into dating, Maurice mused to Alec about being a father. But he only spoke about it in a hypothetical way. It was only the one conversation, and he didn't think Alec was really listening anyway. (Alec was. That's the biggest difference between Clive and Alec, he listens.)

After they got married, they took a short vacation to the countryside and found they liked it a lot more there than in the hustle bustle of the city. Maurice is already working from home at this point (I'm thinking this is late 2020-2021) and Alec's construction company had an opening closer to the small country town they were interested in moving to. They decided to take the chance, and found being closer to nature and out of the city was much better for their mental health (especially Maurice's, who's in therapy by this point).

They've lived in this country town for about a year when Alec gently broaches the subject. He brings up the conversation they had early in their relationship (to which Maurice replies, "You remember that!?"). He ends by saying he never saw himself as a father, but now that him and Maurice are settled and happy, he couldn't imagine doing it with anyone else.

Maurice is thrown off and doesn't give solid answer at first - which Alec is confused by but respects and gives the topic space. Maurice isn't against the idea, in fact he very excited by it. He just never thought he'd get this far - and he sits Alec down to tell him as such. He talks about how deep his depression was and his suicidal ideation - both of which convinced him that he'd never live long enough to see thirty. Yet here he was. Freshly thirty and the happiest he'd ever been. He ends by telling Alec that he'd love to be a father with him - but is scared of being too 'muddled' to be any good at it.

Alec responds by assuring him that he doesn't have to be perfect. That he wouldn't be alone. That he and Maurice would be a team. He tells Maurice that they can take their time and suggests they start small and work up to actually doing it.

So they do. First, they talk about which rooms in their little house would be a good spot for a nursery/child's room. Then they talk about how'd they fix it up. (Alec comes home to Maurice painting his once beige office a pale yellow.) Then they talk about where they would go to school (and Alec pretends to not see Maurice looking through reviews of local schools on his phone while they watch a movie.) They talk about how they would raise a child, which leads to a conversation about their own childhoods (both agree to never use spanking as a punishment.) Finally, Maurice brings up the subject on Halloween night after a little boy dressed as a cowboy comes to their door with his two fathers.

They decide to go the adoption route and after almost a year working through the process, they adopt a four year old boy - Archie - and his 6 month old sister - Winifred ("Winnie"). They agree to an open adoption, and by 2022, they become their legal guardians.

*Just a quick note about the names: I know they're older sounding names. I chose them based off of the 1913 UK census of the most popular names to help blend them into the story. I just felt like it would be weird to have classic names like Maurice and Alec paired with Brandon and Mckeighlynn.*

Both of them go on paternity leave to help the kids get settled into their home and to help Archie get ready to go to school. It's the wildest, weirdest, and best two weeks of their lives.

Alec is so sad when he has to start going back to work, but the first time he comes home and sees Maurice and Archie making dinner together- it's all worth it.

They get in the habit of taking the kids to the park after dinner. Sometimes Maurice will hang back if there's something he didn't get done for work during the day, which happens more often than Maurice would like.

On the weekends, they go to the bigger park near the center of town. It's usually a 20 minute walk and they'll pack a lunch since they're usually there all day.

Final details: Alec is insanely good at clamoring around the play-sets. Maurice jokes that it's because he's the shorter one, but Alec is a pro at running around these structures built for people far shorter than him. Maurice usually hangs out with Winnie at the swings. He's the best at giving those big dad-pushes that'll make you feel like you're flying.

And that's the world building I've sketched out for the AU! Like I said, feel free to correct me on my American-isms or add suggestions.

(Also, I'm trying to be very respectful of adoption. I don't know how different it is in the UK, but in the US it's a very complicated thing to say the least. If you're an adoptee and I said something ignorant please let me know so I can fix it.)

#maurice 1987 #maurice 1914 #maurice hall #alec scudder #maurice

[originalwinnercheesecake]

The Owl House Watching and Dreaming Analysis. (Spoilers)

Its over. Its been around 3 years and now its over. Well like Luz says its time for a new chapter now. The majority of my tag is posts about the owl house, and now I have to find a new thing to post on. I like Molly Magee, but so far not enough to spend hours typing out analysis and theories. I got into Ducktales 2 years late and, it has me going through Disney plus to find more shows about the wacky highjinks of the duck family, so if that corner of the Disney fandom is still alive maybe I will pop in their from time to time. I also happen to like a few live action shows.

But before that I want to close out the owl house with 1 (possibly a coupe more posts). This one is my recount and review of the Owl Houses final episode, and will focus on the families and connections at the end, as I feel they were the most important part of the episode, Warning long post and spoilers below.

I will start off with talking about Meeting Kings father and what we learned about Titans. We have comfirmation now that Titans do not have spouces/mates and reproduce Asexually. King’s dad did not object to being refered to as Dad, but was term wise both his dad and mom. Two things: 1 does this mean King (who doesn’t need labels right now because he is only 8) will grow up to be aroace, like Lilith? 2 this is confirmation that he will still be able to become a parent 1 day, which I am glad about, because we know he will outlive Eda, Lilith, and Luz and this way we know he will still be able to have a family again after they pass on. Also we now have confirmation that the baby titan skulls in the trapers room were kings brothers and sisters. Were the Full grown ones his oldest siblings or were they his dad’s siblings. Also the owl beast. I knew it...they? Were a titan, and that were were probably the last living one Bill mentioned since king as an egg couldn’t cry or run, and was still being hidden. At first I thought they might be his parent, but it looks like they are actually either his older sibling or his aunt/uncle... They are still inside his mom and aunt, so they are a part of his life.

So now on to King’s Dad as a parent. Because the Titans heart was still beating he actually was not completely gone. His spirit was alive in the in between realms and was watching over King, is shown to be delighted that his son found such a nice family to raise him, and is confirmed to have had a bit of a hand guiding Luz in how quickly she learned glyphs and wild magic. This all feels like methaphors for Heaven and Guardian Angels. I do not know what Dana belives or if she belives in anything. She certainly hasn’t been shy about making metaphors to the bad parts of religon/christianity. But i am glad she also made these refrences loving and positive. They can be comforting to those that have lost loved ones.

Now on to the Collector. First the older collectors aren’t his gaurdians, they are his older siblings. From their point of view the war between titans and collectors was just them being mean and breaking their baby brothers toys. Okay, they are jerks, and it was a horrible thing to do, but okay the show didn’t go full on SU diamonds parasitic route. This makes me feel a bit better about how our collectors arc ended. King’s family and He forgave each other and are good friends, the collector is confirmed to come visit them from time to time, but he went back to the Star’s to finish growing up. His siblings better feel bad about him having been stuck in thousand year time out because of them, and better leave his new friends alone now. Him going back was one of the three options I felt were possible and while not perfect I genuienly do think it was the best one. The collector was ultimelty to powerful to live on the isles full time without hurting someone, and with all the repairs and rebuilding needed to be done Eda and Raine did not have the time needed to watch him as much as he needed.

No lets go on To Luz. She moved back to the Human realm to live with her mother and sister, and graduate from earth school in graves field. It also looks like Camila was able to eventually forge the documents needed to adopt Vee in the human realm and send her to school with Luz. But we can see that a permenent portal was opened at the old house (how can Camila afford two houses on her single parent vetenairy income? Did she pay in snails and the seller think she had gold?). Luz, Camilia, and eventually Vee (wonder how long that took) made visitations to the demon realm. Luz had the option to chose which realm she wanted to live in once she grew up. It also looks like Eda got upgraded from being Luz’s temporary host parent to being like a God mothe rto her. Camila will always be Luz’s real mother, but Eda still getting to stay in their lives as support is for the best. Camilia and Luz went through so much when Manny died and they were struggling to deal with it by themsleves. I said in an earlier post that I believe the owl house to ultimately be about finding a community that is suportive of you. Camila, Luz, and Vee did not have that before, but they do now.

Now on to Hunter. So the final hints very strongly that he was adopted by Darius, not Camila, and not Eda (who FYI had no positive interactions with Hunter and should not have been considered as heavily as she was by fans). This again makes the most sense. While watchig Thanks to them when Hunter is mentioned to be happy and doing well in the human world I was like “Alright the story still works great if Hunter becomes Hunter Noceda. Darius can just be a mentor to him if he goes back to the iles in summers”. But then when he described the life he wanted at the end of the episode I was confused because everything he said was things he could only do in the demon realm. He wanted to go back perminently. I doubt Camila will ever want to fully live in the demon realm, Luz did probably need to live in both worlds until she was an adult to fully make a fair choice, and you know it took months/years for Vee to step foot there. I still hope Camila got to be Hunters God mom or was in his life as a surogate Aunt. Hey Darius and Eberwolf are implied to have become like Police officers, dedicated to stoping suporters of Belos’s system fromt trying to reinstate it. It thoretically could have been possible that they would be away for stretches and Hunter would need another adult to stay with some of the time.

Reminder of what Darius and Hunter’s relationship was like since a lot of it had to develop off screen. Darius and Hunter are strongly hinted to have started spending more time together post ASIAS, by Hollow Minds Darius had grown so fond of Hunter that he was ready to abort his cover to help him. When Hunter ran away from the EC Darius is confirmed to have tracked him down to ensure he was safe, and Hunter was comfortable leaving his hiding place to go on a mission Darius gave him (protect Luz while she went to break Amity out of the manor). Hunter was very worried/scared when he saw Darius on the stage at the Day of Unity. Also while Hunter did not put Darius’s picture on the wall he started sewing every piece of fabric he could find in the Noceda’s basement and would talk about how this was something he practiced with Darius. So he clearly missed him, but I do not think he realized how much Darius and Eberwolf missed HIM until they came looking for him after waking up. On the subject of Eberwolf and Hunter, I have seen the headcannon that Eberwolf calls Hunter pup/cub but can we as a fandom please come up with a term Hunter uses for Eberwolf. there is no way they call each other “Uncle” and “Nephew”. Those are definitly trigger word for Hunter.

Also the Blue bird Palisman Hunter eventually carved himself. I am glad its a bird, because Hunter had Palisman as therapy/support animals and birds were the animal he was most comfortable with. I want to name his new bird Bananas. Since Bananas, like Flapjacks, were a human food he was unfirmilar with in the demon realm. I am also so glad that show let him grieve Flapjack and take his time before getting a new palisman. Flapjack was Hunters biggest support during his darkest time and I was so afraid that they would trivialize his lose due to the shortened season. But no not only did they give him a grave that got visitited, not only did Hunter get a tattoo of Flapjack, but so did Willow and Luz, maybe Gus and Amity as well. Flapjack was so loved and so missed, as he should be.

 On to Alador x Darius. I ship the couple but I am so glad how it was handled, with them basically being confirmed to not get together for another 3-4 years. As cute as their dynamic is, it would have been extstreamly problamatic for them to get together soon after the battle with Belos. Alador was just getting out of a long, abusive, marriage. While we do not get a chance to fully explore Darius’s character and what caused him to close himself off from his old friends, we know he was working through some things and closing a chapter on a mission that had been a big focus f his life. Not to mention that both men had teenagrs who had been tramatized and needed/deserved to be their dad’s full focus for the time being. So for that I am glad we did not get the Blight-Deammone step family.

One kinda nice twist was that Alador decided he wanted to build medical machines and Emira was the child that ended up working with him. Emira was the child who seemed to have the least in common with Alador so I liked that they eventualy had something they could do together. A stranger surprise was Amity and Lilith’s reunion, and the strong hints that they started working together again and bonded. Dana dropped them being Mentor and protage like a hot potato after Covention day and was quick to post that they were never close/did not like each other when asked. So its kinda strange that she suddenly had them start caring and tried to portray Lilith as a strong female figure in Amity’s life after her seperating completely from Odalia. This is the big thing I feel should have been either explored more or dropped.

Lastly reagrding the end credits; I am upset that for how many clips we saw of both Steve and Matt towards the end we did not get a single on of them reuniting or together. Come on Show Why. That said I love the jobs they were shown to have afterwards. I expected Steve to maybe get an internship/assistant job at the museum with Lilith, since they were such good friends. Seeing him, still friends with Lilith, but also with the Catt’s and working to rehabilitate other coven scouts was so much better. And finding out that Matt became a hotshot architectural designer on the isles is just perfect. Also I spent 3/4ths of the End credits going “Where is Gus. Do not leave him out of this time jump”. Then I find out he graduated early and was teaching students about the human realm at Eda, Raine, and Lilith’s new university. The little genius. They’re is no confirmation that he and Matt ever got together, but Oh well. Maybe they did and are just not into PDA? maybe did and broke up/were on a break? Maybe they only ever stayed friends? It was my second favorite ship (besides Lumity) but if it didn’t happen that’s okay.

All in All this was the owl house final. It was exciting, intense, it tied up lose ends,and gave our charcters ends that while not perfect, where the best they could have been. Good job Dana. Good Job Owl House Crew. Thank you for the show. Its helped me a lot with getting through the past 3 years.

#The owl house #The owl house Finale #Watching and Dreaming #Luz Noceda #Camila Noceda #Vee Noceda #Eda clawthorne #Lilith Clawthorne #King Clawthorne #TOH Collector #hunter deamonne #Darius Deamonne #Eberwolf the Huntsman #Amity Blight #Alador Blight #Emira Blight #Toh The titan #Boiling isles Titan #Willow Park #Gus porter #Matt tholomule #Steve tholomule #Raine whispers #Reda #Lumity #Huntlow #Gustholomule #Aladarius #Dadrius #goo dads

[huney-blood]

Review of "Perfect Marriage Revenge"

I'm normally not one to say a show is perfection, but I truly I felt this show hit all the sweet spots and did not leave you unsatisfied by the end. It never slowed down and there wasn’t any messy outside stories or drama that left you bored between scenes.

There have been so many cliche damsels in need of saving series that I was unsure on watching this one at first. But I am so glad I gave it a chance. I'll keep this as short and sweet as i can, since so many others have probably said the same with this being such a popular drama but I honestly had to write a review of one of my new favorites or I would burst!

While the main focus of this series was more about overcoming traumatic events both main leads went through in childhood and as adults, the love story between the main leads was still very sweet and to watch as they both started to find their sanctuary/home where they could both finally feel at peace with each other was beautiful to watch. They honestly grew together, and the male lead was amazing in how he cared for her. He is the epitome of what a partner should do and be when faced with someone they love who has gone through trauma.

First of all, the women in this series are the POWERHOUSES which I Ioved: The female lead was nothing short of a woman learning to take control of her own life. Yes the male lead helped her but she was not a wilting flower when she discovered her own strength to fight. She didn't wait around for the male lead to solve all the problems, while yes she did lean on him when she needed to and he did the same, she was at the forefront of unraveling the web of deceit and hate her stepmother wrapped around her family before serving revenge on all of those who hurt them.

The Stepmother and stepsister were the epitome of villains, they did not pull any punches or rely on the men on the side lines to fight for them UNLESS it was part of their plan to use them. The stepmother was honestly amazing since there was zero overarching redemption arc for her, she was evil through and through which made her even better as a character. The step-daughter was more so spoilt than evil but she was still given her just desserts just like her mother.

The in-law women (mother, grandmother, sister, cousin - in -laws) were all strong, take no guff business driven individuals who took matters into their own hands when faced with obstacles. With the matriarch of the family being the grandmother who was the founder of the company, she worked as a carpenter first and grew from there, and never let others define what she could do which you can see mirrored in the the other women of this family who fight tooth and nail to protect those who they deemed family.

While the husbands and the evil brother were key with having the storyline progress, they were less dominant characters compared to the women in most respects. Although the evil brother does play a huge role in the finale, he's in between spoilt brat and evil demon level of the step mom and step sister of the female lead.

All in all I encourage you ALL to watch it so that viki can make more amazing originals like this one.

#kdramanetwork #korean drama #kdramaedit #asiandramanet #kdramadaily #perfect marriage revenge

[ecargmura]

Wonderful Precure Episode 4 Review - Meet The Nekoyashikis

Oh my gosh, Mayu’s mother Sumire is beautiful. And she’s voiced by Chiwa Saito, meaning she’s Homura Akemi and Yona. That’s a crazy choice to have for a mother character and I’m rolling with it. It’s interesting to see what the Nekoyashiki family will bring to the story now that Mayu and the cat Yuki are introduced. Iroha’s mom Yuko and Sumire are really pretty. I wonder if Satoru’s mom will be pretty too…

Mayu is very socially awkward. She gets anxious around people and it stems from her being a loner at her old school. Her only source of comfort is being around her mom and Yuki. Fortunately, meeting Iroha at the grand opening of Pretty Holic has her hope that she’ll be good friends with her. I’ve seen people make comparisons to Kokone. While they are similar, their reservedness are different. Kokone doesn’t tense up or care too much about her solitude as she preferred being alone. Only when she started befriending Yui that her awkwardness started showing. She was still willing to talk to people and doesn’t shy away when conversing. Mayu, on the other hand, is a mess when it comes to talking to people. So yeah, while both are reserved, they’re different.

Yuki is a typical cat, but I do like how her and Mayu’s relationship differs from Iroha and Komugi’s. The Inukais have it to where Iroha is like Komugi’s not-that-much-older sister while the Nekoyashikis feel like Yuki is the much older sister to Mayu. I like seeing a different type of relationship with the main duo. I also really like the interaction between Komugi and Yuki with Yuki behaving like a typical cat; she even did the tail slap, a sign that cats are stressed. My favorite part of the episode was Yuki punching Komugi for getting too close. I can tell these two are gonna be hilarious once Yuki gains the ability to change into a human.

Pretty Holic makes a return in this show as it did in previous iterations. It was a hybrid stationery shop in Hirogaru Sky and a makeup shop in Delicious Party that Kokone is a fan of. In this iteration, it is a makeup shop that Mayu’s family runs. The fact that this is the emptiest Pretty Holic I’ve seen so far is saying something…. I also like how Sumire forbids pets from entering. In the case of dogs, the cosmetic scent could be harmful to them and that they could accidentally swallow small items. This is very smart to inform. I watched an anime called Dog Signal where the main character Miyu tells a client to stop wearing perfume when around her dog as it can ruin their sense of smell. I know that pet owners want to bring their pets everywhere, but in cases like these, one has to think about their pets’ safety. Also, I love how Komugi is spewing confidential information to Yuki about herself while Sumire and the three granny customers are at hearing distance. This is like Yui, Rosemary and Pam-Pam rambling about Kome-Kome and Recipeppi stuff when Takumi is right in front of them in Episode 3 of Delicious Party.

Iroha and Komugi are tasked to search for more GaruGarus. Special Niko Animals, ones with sparkling jewels on them, are called Kirarin Animals and collecting nine of them will restore Niko Garden back to its former glory. However, I do think Iroha and Komugi’s tendency to ignore Mey Mey is a bit of an issue that hopefully will be addressed later on. I get that Komugi has a short attention span because she’s a dog, but Iroha, a human, should take these Niko Garden matters seriously and not drop everything onto Satoru. Speaking of which, Iroha just seems like someone who can’t lie or pay attention. She could’ve easily said that Komugi is her sister or a relative, but she just flubs hard with that and she even gives the impression that she’s a bad dog owner because of this. I know this is a kids’ show and I shouldn’t take this too seriously, but sometimes, the writing can be a bit asinine. I just hope that someone, whether it be a Precure, Mey Mey, or a villain, will call Iroha out on not paying attention to important details.

I like the relationship between Mey Mey and Satoru. A few episodes ago, Mey Mey had a bias towards outsiders, but now Satoru is his favorite child. It’s like night and day now. It’s adorable how clingy he is towards Satoru and the boy is even his emotional support. The fact that Mey Mey has a sheep-shaped smart phone is adorable as heck; he uses it to call Satoru when he’s upset. Cute.

Now, with the scene with the GaruGaru, I did like that it was foreshadowed that the GaruGaru of the day would be a Tanuki as there was a shot to three unhappy Tanuki in the beginning and how Komugi put on eyeshadow around her eyes like one. I was surprised that Friendy knew about Tanuki behavioral patterns… Despite that, the Tanuki GaruGaru is the first small one they encountered as previous ones were large. This means that their sizes vary and that some could even be difficult to purify due to their size and speed. Now the question is…will GaruGarus be just mammals or will there be insects and sea creatures too?

For now, this was a cute episode of fully introducing Mayu and Yuki into the story. When will they start school? When will Yuki and Mayu become Precures? I’m honestly anticipating the next episode. What are your thoughts on this episode?

#wonderful precure #precure #Komugi inukai #cure wonderful #iroha inukai #cure friendy #Mayu nekoyashiki #yuki nekoyashiki #Sumire Nekoyashiki #Satoru Toyama #Mey Mey #review #anime #anime review #arum journal #ecargmura

[crof-fwf]

…Is this serious?

Well, I will be brief since I don't think there is much to go into for this occasion, since all this boils down to a "cursed" comment or an argument that I found in my travels in the depths of "Twitter/X".

Well only in brief context: "An angst moment of Ship BB" is posted on the social platform, well in a few words within those comments, there is one that caught my attention (too much):

...Well, from the moment I read this I had a reaction that was not pleasant at all

Okay, let us "review this" first... Breath

What the FUCK does he mean with "Yang doesn't lose her arm if she doesn't have feelings for Blake" ?!!

First, how we generally understand that scene was that:

Yang lost her arm as collateral damage in order to save Someone's life (Blake)

And yes, I give the benefit of the doubt to the individual about the importance that Blake's life was worth to Yang, however the scene remains the same (subjectively):

Yang out of desperation sets out to save a person ( for her "future duty as Huntress") but above all the person has an importance in her life (already on a personal level), so the loss of her arm was collateral damage and such a price "for even trying."

[I know it could sound like an analysis in favor of that ship. But nonetheless…]

So literally saving Blake was something that didn't depend on "whether Yang has feelings for her or not" but rather because she had to do it.

But also something that caught my attention in the comment fragment was:

"if she doesn't have feelings for Blake"

He comes to interpret that: Yang lost the Arm not because she threw herself at Adam without thinking much but in reality she lost it because of her "feelings for Blake."

(According to my interpretation)

But hey, at least we know that Yang is capable of doing everything possible to save her loved ones without giving it much thought… right?

Well, according to V8, she did it by preventing Ruby from being stabbed by neo…

Okay if Yang saved Ruby from an outside agent who wanted to kill her, then it's likely that Yang…

Yang when her little sister (who is also a person of great importance to Yang) is about to drink that cup with the intention of "saying goodbye to the world":

Wait… "Why is Yang watching and not throwing herself like she did for Bla…"

Because "Mi ciela 💅💅" ...

You already know it:

Shock factor and priorities of both the series and Yang herself:

If it's not Blake then why would Yang jump in without thinking?

PS: And how curious that before the confession Yang did go to save Ruby from Neo but after the confession Yang does nothing to save her sister from that cup. Seriously, what a poor choice of events by the writers to make the “Bees” canon.

#crof #rwde #crof: honest reaction...

[rei-caldombra]

Shimeji Simulation Manga Review- A Strange and Sentimental Story.

This is a hard manga to talk about. Not because it's bad or anything, in fact I think it's fantastic. It's just hard to describe what it's about and put my opinions on it into words. And I actually think this hard to describe feeling perfectly mirrors the tone and subject matter of the manga. There will be direct spoilers for the story. 

I first got into Shimeji Simulation after I watched and subsequently read Girls Last Tour (GLT). I absolutely love GLT, so I had to give Tsukumizu's other work a shot. By the way, to my knowledge Tsukumizu's gender identity is not confirmed by them so I will be referring to Tsukumizu as they.

The style and overall tone/vibe of Girls Last Tour carries over into Shimeji Simulation. Both stories focus on two young girls trying to find themselves in the world.

Tsukumizu's art style has not changed since her work on Girls Last Tour. I love this style. The faces of the characters are very simplistic but super cute. There is a lot of portrayal of buildings and structures, with them being incredibly detailed. I love this contrast. There is also a great sense of scale. Characters can go from looking small to large based on how they’re drawn. The style also has the look of rougher sketches. Like you can see in the thumbnail, lines are uneven, not always fully connected, etc. Hard to explain but I really like it. I think it fits the subject matter and something about it just looks very nice.

Shimeji Simulation is a true slice of life. The main focus is the girls just living their lives, with the world they are in being a very strange one. It's got a laid back but weird atmosphere. Things can be nonsensical at times, then very normal and casual. There's a lot of philosophy and poeticism. Topics can include the meaning of life, what people mean to each other, humanity, what objects can mean. One scene I really like that touches on this tone is the scene where Shijima and Majime talk about plushies. This also serves as an example of the manga simply being very cute.

They simply talk about plushies, like why Majime likes them and what nicknames she has for them. But you get this feeling that there is something deeper you can take out of this, even if you can’t quite put your finger on it. Shimeji Simulation’s writing strongly encourages people to think more deeply about normal things. To consider the meaning of objects and concepts. Shimeji Simulation is adept at making you think about and contextualize the world around you. And this theme is expressed and reflected directly through the story. 

When it comes to the story it’s also hard to describe. It starts out with Shijima exiting her closet and getting to know people and the world. Some time passes and they meet someone who's kinda like a god. Then Shijima’s scientist sister alters the fabric of reality, making it so everyone’s imaginations directly change the world. What truly makes this story special is that this is not something that is a horrible issue that the story makes clear needs to be fixed. The characters have to live with this. You see the characters adjust to the new way the world works. Some people like it and some people don’t. And the world does not immediately descend into chaos or anything like that. The people change and keep living. Even in a world where reality can change with a thought, life ends up being pretty simple. There is something so special and grounded about this. I think this story is a beautiful representation of the mundanity and simplicity that makes up much of the human experience. While also bringing up how complicated our feelings and places in the universe are.

Later on, reality basically falls apart, melding into this strange amalgamation of everyone and everything. You truly don’t really know what’s going on, as do the characters. The girls get separated, stuck in their own mindscapes. You see how their worlds are very different. But what they both want is to see each other again. They do end up finding each other. But reality does not get fixed. Their wish and what all of this meant is not clearly defined. In the end, all that really matters is that Shijima and Majime end up back together. And what you make of that and everything that led them to that point is up to you. 

There are a lot of takeaways you can have, particularly about what life means. I think life in this story can simply refer to being with the people you love. Life can dramatically change and throw things at you that make you uncertain and afraid, but you can push through it by sticking to what is important to you. Shijima and Majime’s love for each other allowed them to find each other amidst a chaotic world and be able to find happiness. As said before. I believe the manga encourages you to reconsider how you view yourself and other people. Everyone sees things from different perspectives and has unique ideas. We see this in the reality controlled by imagination, where everyone has different living spaces, objects, even bodies. And people generally seemed happy. Shijima is able to find Majime by exploring many different places in their world that are dictated by different people. By gaining new experiences and world views, she is able to recontextualize her own. Which enables her to realize her own feelings and get in the space that Majime is in.  

I feel this is one of those stories where you can really feel the author's feelings and personality in the work. And despite that, it doesn’t feel like it’s trying to convince you of any particular worldview. Rather it encourages you to look inward and come to your own conclusions. I would love to hear how any of you have taken from this story.

To conclude, I really like this manga and highly recommend it to anyone who wants a bizarre story that encourages deeper thinking while also making you smile with wholesome antics. It truly is a unique read, there is nothing else quite like it. I really hope you check it out if you haven’t. I don’t think this is a story that gets ruined by spoilers. It seems like Tsukumizu has another project in the works, so let’s look forward to that together (I hope the next one continues the trend of the previous protagonists showing up in noncritical ways. I want to see our potatoes, mushroom and egg again). Thank you for reading!

#manga #review #shimeji #simulation #shimeji simulation #blog

[cinnamoncountess]

Fellow Travelers Rewatch Party | episode 2

Content warning: NSFW, strong language (maybe)

Let’s continue the weekly review / reaction session while watching episode 2 tonight!

First time seeing the title sequence and the composition of different LGBTQ+ and historical photographies as well as original sequences from the show - Hawk hanging Tim’s cross chain over the bedpost - merged in is spectacular. The intro has been composed by Paul Leonard-Morgan and he explains the build-up and musical structure as follows: 

„The idea was to have this loop which kept on evolving and descending keys,as Hawk’s life descended into inner turmoil.Tim’s cello sound playing the pizz at the start and the end - I wanted to represent that Tim was the grounding force, keeping the steadiness in the relationship while Hawk’s life descended into chaos.Each character adding a layer to the arpeggios on the top - first the violin, then the piano, then the wind. Sticking to our rule of never resolving. It gets increasingly frenetic until the final reprise played on the cello. Also, it’s written in. Again, so we never settle, just like @MattBomer (Hawk) and Jonathan Bailey’s (Tim) complicated relationship in the show.“ (source: Paul Leonard-Morgan via X / twitter)

It’s incredibly beautiful, well-crafted and the meaning behind feels very palpable in the music, especially with the given explanation! You should check out the Fellow Traveler’s OST: 

We’re in the 80s timeline with Maggie and Hawk meeting in the café!

I still wonder how that came about… Did Tim just tell Maggie to call Hawk? Did they have a discussion about that with Tim pondering whether or not he should go and meet Hawk and Maggie, the protective sister she is, intervening and shushing her brother off in a ‚no way, I’m gonna call and meet this douche who breaks your heart every decade‘ manner?!

Maggie: Although he swears no one else even came close. - Ouch. Tim never found happiness with someone else. That’s truly devastating. However, I’m actually curious to hear a conversation between Maggie and him on that. What did Tim tell her about Hawk and their past relationship? How did he justify his feelings for the man? I crave for more scenes focussing on Tim and his family.

Hawk is part of the Smith family. Leonard is rightfully salty at Hawk, seeing right through his scheme of settling himself a place in his family whilst masterfully playing a false game, while his standing with his own father is standing on wobbly feet.  

Tim: Had I know there’d be pictures I would have worn my best tie. - Dawww. 

I love seeing Tim and Mary socialising with the key political society and shielding each other. The supportive friendship between them is absolutely precious.

Roy Cohn looking Tim up and down suspiciously and then presenting his mom as his date, what a goblin. At first I thought he’d eye Tim up as a potential ‚interest‘ of McCarthy, but maybe he’s just extra cautious recognizing him from the State Department Bureau and the fact that he always seems to linger around when important meetings are held. 

That change of scene from Mary/Tim sweetness to Tim full on blowing Hawk in a doorframe is just  so filthy, sinful and juicy - it nearly threw me off the couch the first time I’ve watched it, such an unexpected switch. Also, damn Tim, clutching the peachy cheeks! (I get it, I get it) Also, it’s Jonathan’s / Tim’s muffled moans while he’s at it, enjoying it just as much as Hawk and edging him on, that makes me feel like a sinner. 

Tim figuring out that Mary is a lesbian and Hawk plans to encourage them to see each other, caring about both of them, their safety, because they aren’t bulletproof like he is. It’s his way of protecting the (vulnerable) people he cares for. 

Hawk talking about his dreams of buying a villa for himself, living a life where no one is judging. He doesn’t explicitly mention Tim but it makes me think of the villa he buys on Fire Island, which comes as close to his dream as it gets, just under more tragic and depressing circumstances. Tim seems satisfied with every little glimpse he is allowed to have into Hawk’s perfectly guarded ‚inner world‘ and emotions. He doesn’t press further and ask what his own place in this dream of Hawk’s would be.   

Them falling asleep together and Hawk waking up to the sight of Tim sleeping peacefully next to him, the sun and lightning in this scene - so beautiful and warming and at peace! That's how every morning for them should be.

Oh no, the neighbour seeing them together. Hawk, you can’t fool him. He’s got his own newspapers in his hand and these were definitely not handed over by a dorky looking man in glasses and a suit.

Marcus introducing us to Langston Hughes and a world where he struggles between racism and homophobia. He’s an outsider in the black community for being gay, which is why he can only handle and focus on one cause… This is far worse than living a fake life in a ‚white people‘ world. 

Momma Fuller: Don’t tell me you’ve gotten some poor girl in trouble. Didn’t think so. - Oh, Momma Fuller knows everything. What a lady, ahead of her time. Like, she’s a Gilded Age woman and is more tolerant and accepting than most of society at the time, very fierce, knows what she wants and willing to marry for a wealthy entourage. She also reminds me of Lucy, because I think she indicated as well that she’d marry a man if he’s wealthy and even if he’s ugly (because then she wouldn’t have to try too hard to hold onto him).

Momma Fuller: And he’s had a change of heart.

Hawk: Doesn’t seem likely in the absence of one. - Hawk can cut super sharp, especially when standing up to homophobes and his father. Love it. 

Mary’s party is honestly my favorite scene of this episode! The pure joy, the music, the playfulness during the charade game, seeing Tim happy / smiling and dancing with Luis. Mary insisting that Tim shouldn’t mention her relationship with Caroline to Hawk… well, she knows very well that Hawk wouldn’t approve at all, that he’d consider it dangerous, not only for them but also a threat for him. AND Mary might be worried for her job as well, she's his employee after all.

Hawk preferring to stand up for his past actions, talking down to his father’s homophobic bullshit and thus refusing to gain the heritage. Wow. Delicious, superb cinema. Wonderful. Perfect. Love to see it!

Hawk (to Tim): I’m home now. - Remember the echo in episode 8 and hold back your tears till then.

Hawk is the big spoon! Awww. Again, such a beautifully staged scene. 

Hawk dictating the love letter, formally addressed to Mary with words actually aimed at Tim - my heart. 

Again, Hawk’s attempt to protect both of them, Mary and Tim, with ethically questionable but effective means. Mary does as Hawk predicts - they know each other very well. Also, can we please recognize that Mary and Marcus as well are just as willing to throw people under the bus as Hawk is?

Back in the 80s timeline!

80’s Hawk refusing to go and have fun with the young guy in the gay bar, instead warns him to be more cautious. 

When Hawk enters Tim’s apartment and Tim notices who it is… then just traces his lips with his fingers, reminiscent. Also, I just love that Hawk still calls him ‚Skippy‘ (affectionately) and Tim doesn’t protest, although he would have every right to claim that he doesn’t call him by this pet name, a name that arose from their first sexual encounter. But he doesn’t. Because he still loves his Hawk.

Sen. Smith: But someone asks me the other day why one of the most eligible bachelors in town hasn’t married yet and I couldn’t think of an answer. - Here’s the pressure for Hawk to start courting Lucy, to protect is mentor and not be his Achille’s heel. 

Hawk (to Lucy): You’ll make a wonderful mother. You’ll teach them to have principles.

Lucy: You always found my principles annoying, silly even.

Hawk: Come on, you know I’m too smart for my own good. 

Their whole conversation, looking ahead. Ouch.  

The whole Marcus and Frankie scene is so effin’ sweet. The way they talk about their poetry and Frankie opening up on his first drag experience and what that entailed… Such natural chemistry between them. The poem Marcus recites is flows so well with the scenes!

Seeing 80s Tim all overjoyed and happy and smiling when they sit down together for Chinese Takeaway food is such a treasure (His ‚thank you thank you thank you!‘ is so sweet)! I’m pretty sure a great part of his delight must derive from the fact that Hawk is there with him, spending this evening with them, eating together. They NEVER had that, not even in the 70s, Tim and Hawk eating with a family member of either of them.

That’s it for episode 2!

#fellow travelers #fellow travelers rewatch party #Youtube

[mk-wizard]

Frozen Review: The case for Hans of the Seven Isles

Hi. I always wanted to do a review of the game changing film Frozen which is Disney’s adaptation of the Snow Queen. I’m also going to keep it brief because everything great about it has already been said. Queen Elsa, Princess Anna, Kristoff, Olaf and even Sven the reindeer are all great loveable quirky characters. I even like Hans! And as a woman who has a sister who I am close with, this movie hits a note with me.

However, I also need to confess that as much as I love it and always will, there was always something about this fantastic story that was... off. And that is what I am going to talk about and I’m afraid while it the one flaw it has, it brings it down a lot. And it took me years to detect what it was and it wasn’t until I watched a review by Aldone (link below) on Prince Hans that I had my “eureka” moment.

Prince Hans should NOT have been the villain because him being a twist villain makes no sense. Nothing about his actions, gestures, decisions or even his character showed any subtle hint that he was a bad guy all along. When he meets Anna and watches her as he leaves, he looks genuinely smitten. When he introduces himself to Elsa, he is a gentleman even when she rejects him and doesn’t argue with her at all. His backstory of never having been loved by his brothers and father though still having his mother’s love sets him up to knowing what loneliness and at the same time, being loved feels like. When Elsa accidentally brings down an eternal winter, he isn’t the one to label Elsa as a monster (the Duke of Weseltown is) and is more concerned about the well being of the people. And even when he captures Elsa, he doesn’t kill her. He just locks her up. That moment where he is revealed to have been evil all along and plotting against the two sisters makes no sense when you look at everything in before. It’s like they weren’t even the same guy. In fact, Frozen didn’t need to pick someone to be a villain because it already had one: Queen Elsa.

I know that sounds contradictory to how she is especially when you compare her to what she was going to be like, but by making her as good as gold, she is in fact already the best twist villain there is in Disney lore. And it’s funny that people joke that her and Wreck-It Ralph would make a great couple because she IS just like Ralph. She really is just misunderstood.

I am also aware that everything I mentioned can also be interpreted as subtle hints to being evil, but for a twist villain to work, they have to make you suspicious. Nothing about Hans translates as suspicious and if he was meant to be interpreted that way, I am very much afraid that it was not well done. I speak as an artist, the way the hints were presented was all wrong I also speak as someone who knows what the red flags in a guy look like. The prince doesn’t have any of them.

Also, the Duke Weseltown is the perfect foil to Elsa as a bad guy who really is bad. He embodies those who jump to the conclusion that those who are different are evil, dangerous, broken or all of the above because they’re either ignorant or opportunistic. Yet underneath it all, they are very weak, pathetic and spiteful.

So there was really no need to make Hans evil at all. I could even argue that it would have even more valuable to girls if Hans was good, but just not the one. A relationship can fail while the two people involved are both still good. The whole theme of Frozen is misunderstanding and letting go of the things in your life that bring you pain. In my mind, Hans had to understand that he doesn’t need to look for love so desperately nor does he have to settle for the lack of love he gets at home. People will take a liking to him naturally when he is just his good kind self and even then, it takes time and some people just aren’t compatible with him in any way. That and it is perfectly fine to select who you want to keep in your life.

I know that Hans is meant to be the guy we’re supposed hate, but... seeing all his flaws as a twist villain just makes me feel bad for him. He is a great character who was put in the wrong role and it’s something I see happen all too often. A lot of great characters who should have been good guys go bad out of nowhere and that sours the story or the flipside happens (I’m looking at you Vegita from Dragon Ball).

Now, I’m not saying Frozen is ruined now that I identified it’s flaw. I just don’t think it’s a perfect movie. Like I said, the entire theme of Frozen was misunderstanding and the point of clearing misunderstandings is that usually, there is no bad guy. Just good people who made mistakes.

Overall, I can finally rate Frozen appropriately as a 6/10. It’s a good but not great story though you can still learn even from its mistake which is not every story needs a great big bad. It started strong, but it could have ended better.

Here is the video by Aldone who made me pinpoint the flaw in the film.

Anyway, this is all my opinion. Thank you for listening and as always, stay safe.

PS: I will not review Frozen 2 because I didn’t like it at all and I don’t find it right to review a film I can’t say anything nice about.

#frozen #queen else #princess anna #kristoff #sven #olaf #prince hans #hans is not a good twist villain #twist villain #bad writing #frozen is not perfect #film #disney movie #review

[sweepweep]

YO HAVE YOU EVER SEEN "UGLY BETTY!?!" I'M SCARED OF LOOKING UP A FANFOM IN FEAR THERE IS NO FANDOM BECAUSE I BOTH SHIP AND FEEL GUILTY FOR SHIPPING BETTY WITH BOTH THE GUY IN ACCOUNTING AND HER BOSS BECAUSE SHE HAS A BOYFRIEND BUT HER BOYFRIEND SUCKS. HE CHEATED ON HER AND TRIED TO LEAVE HER FOR A WOMAN WHO DIDN'T EVEN WANT HIM AND THEN BEGGED BETTY TO TAKE HIM BACK AFTER HE GOT REJECTED. AND THEY DID BECAUSE PEOPLE KEEP TELLING BETTY SHE'S UGLY AND SO SHE DOESN'T THINK SHE HAS A SHOT AT ANYONE SO SHE STAYS WITH HIM AND IS SCARED TO TRY WITH SOMEONE ELSE.

I REALLY WANT TO TALK ABOUT BOTH OF MY SHIPS WITH BETTY.

ALSO I LOVE BETTY SO MUCH. AND HER SISTER. AND JUST ALL THE CHARACTERS. AND I'M ONLY 13 EPISODES IN (although episode 11 was supposedly supposed to be episode 4 just letting you know to avoide confusion like I had when I first saw it if you decide to watch it). THEY'RE SO IMPERFECT AND SO KIND BUT ALSO SELFISH AND AND SOME ARE OPENLY SELFISH BUT LEARNING TO BE KIND AND THEY MESS UP (BADLY) AND I LOVE THEM.

Also the show is so cartoony. Like maybe not Kirby Buckets (Banks?? It's been a while since I've heard of the show) level of cartoony but more like I felt like I was watching Arrow but most of the time it was a sitcom with drama camera work that just delved into a superhero villain sneak peak scene change with a shadow person and everything (although episode 13 is when you find out who they are and it is a TWIST). Also the characters all seem like stereotypes but get more character as the show goes on.

A SHOW WITH CHARACTERS THAT THINK ACT AND BEHAVE IN REALISTIC WAYS!!!???

I’ve never heard of it before but after your review, SIGN ME UP!!!

#ask #aulga

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Eh, Thursday Afternoon Toriyama posting is fun for now. I'm surprised by how much I've thought about it lately. Not like I'm usually the type to dwell on celebrity deaths heavily, but Toriyama's taken up as much of my mind as when Prince & David Bowie passed close to each other or having the two windows I followed pro wrestling line up with Owen Hart's, Eddie Guerrero's, and Chris Benoit's sudden deaths. We'll touch on it in time but y'all saw Oda is taking a break because of it right? So far I've re-watched a huge chunk of Dragonball and binged the excellent review by Totally Not Mark for Z. I don't think a lot of anime fans, myself included, ever gave Toriyama a fair shake for how truly good DB could actually be.

Like...think about Meruem & Komugi in Hunter x Hunter. How lauded that story is. How much controversy but praise Oda generated by taking such a freewheeling goofy direction with such a late stage of his story. Both of those are just elements of the Majin Buu Saga. Meruem has Cell's design and Buu's arc. And Mr. Satan saving the day by being a good friend and mentor to the Majin? I've always loved that. My actual first exposure was that stretch of the story, staying at a friend's house while Cartoon Network ran a marathon. I liked Videl and we got to see this wonderfully epic clash of titans:

I remember going back to school in the fifth grade, telling some guy friends who liked the screaming and blowing up Earth shit all about how I finally saw DBZ and they were horrified by how much I loved this nonsense. Mr. Satan is a legend and Goten/Trunks pulling a Vincent Adultman is iconic. But...ma cherie. Android 18 is objectively the coolest thing to come out of that series. You may disagree but it's objective so that would make you wrong. I mean, the Androids alone are already cool as hell for being such a solid callback to the earlier Red Ribbon Army arc. Who could forget 8? Guy was classic. First we have a couple of goofy ones then BAM! kickass young sibling pair named Lapis & Lazuli which is a high watermark in a world with some truly weird names. Since I'll be on about another favorite pair likely somewhat inspired by them tomorrow might as well say it.

That's not exactly off the wall right? Kiku & Izo, Jodio & Dragona, that combat sibling pair of a sister that's feminine but fierce and a kinda fey brother you definitely shouldn't underestimate? Nothing new under the sun but the trope certainly echoes from the Cell Saga. And honestly, can't help but notice that side of Okiku I always want to come out more. Lazuli's best moment that made me love her so much:

I do like how when she recognizes Goten & Trunks she just takes them out via disqualification using Krillin's disk technique. But I adore the conclusion now as much as I did then. Knowing Mr. Satan was enough of a preening dickhead to pay her double for the glory of the win and throwing the fight. Same flavor as what makes me love Kiku and the Yokozuna as much as I do with a distinctly Nami blend. Tell me those two couldn't play good cop/bad cop to shake someone down.

Honestly a lot of the way I see contemporary One Piece makes sense through that lens, the way the Buu Saga took a different approach was bold and controversial but got the series back to its roots. I bet Toriyama had a lot of fun with it. And thank you for the archetype I love so much even if I didn't fully appreciate the Ur-pair until after I came to love their inspiration.

This is probably too much to get into today, but you can't divorce this from what we know about the Cell Saga, how there was so much editorial meddling when it came to the villains. The more meta elements of how I see Kiku & Yamato, how one is set to age like fine wine even if she wasn't the flashiest and the other will probably never be as popular as you were at the start even if you started white hot. The Android Pair vs. Cell are a great example. Fans as a collective sometimes don't really know what they want, I get why Eiichiro Oda opines about "authors becoming slaves to readers." Weekly serialization is a wonderland. And that wonderland gave us something really cool along the way to giving editors another Frieza.

#thursday afternoon toriyamaposting #dragon ball #android 18 #android 17 #mr satan