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kimbappykidding · 2 years ago

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You'd been best friends with Chanyeol for nearly 3 years now but still you didn't know much about his youngest member Sehun. You'd seen a lot of Sehun of course considering he was good friends with Chanyeol too but the two of you had never really spoken properly. To be fair part of that was because neither of you made an effort. You weren't sure why Sehun never tried but for yourself, you just didn't think you and Sehun would get along that well. He was a pretty hard person to approach because he was tall, good looking and kept to himself. He wasn't goofy like Baekhyun or sweet like Suho. He was pretty unreadable, at least from your perspective and you never tried. So everything you knew about him was what Chanyeol told you or what you witnessed. For example you knew wherever Sehun went he got attention for his looks and body. The few times you'd been out in public together Sehun usually disappeared and could be found chatting to some girl who'd been eyeing him up. You'd also witnessed him with lots of girls and never usually the same one.

For your latest "walk in on Sehun moment" he was in the middle of the corridor with some girl pressed up against the wall. They apparently made it as far as the upstairs coridoor but failed the last few feet to his room. You were in the bathroom doing your skincare routine when you opened the door to find them grabbing one another oblivious to anyone else. You jumped when you saw it and then frowned as they were blocking your way to Chanyeol's room where you'd be staying for the night. You were in the middle of a heatwave and didn’t get how anyone had the energy or desire to be pressed up against another sweaty body. You tried to sneak past them but there was no way you'd fit so you stood back and sighed "Sehun, I need to get past". Sehun's eyes blinked open and he spotted you standing there. "Oops" was all he said laughing and the girl giggled too. Sehun backed away from the girl and she leant away from him against the wall. You now just had to squeeze between them and it was still rather tight so you wondered why Sehun didn't just move to the side. You walked through and no sooner had you passed than they were at it once again. You got into Chanyeol's room and turned some rock music on, all about anger, anarchy and death. You checked the corridor 2 minutes later and they'd managed to find Sehun's room which made you smirk. That interaction pretty much summed up your relationship with Sehun. Nothing hostile had ever happened between the two of you but there was still tension there with neither of you going out of your way to be friendly towards the other one. You were very different people and didn’t have to be friends so you didn’t try to be. When Chanyeol came upstairs he smiled at the music playing "why the rock anthems?". "Sehun has a guest" you said and Chanyeol nodded knowing the walls weren't as thick as one would like. Chanyeol flopped beside you on the bed and smiled "so how was your day?". You loved chatting to Chanyeol because it felt like chatting to nobody. By that, you meant you knew him so well he felt like an extension of yourself rather than a different person. He was your best friend and that meant everything. The two of you chatted for what felt like minutes but turned into an hour. Chanyeol cursed seeing the time "I didn't realise it was that late, do you mind if we go to bed?". You shook your head "no not at all, I just need to get changed and grab some water but turn the lights off it's fine". You'd changed in front of Chanyeol so many times it never bothered you and even the pyjamas you'd selected were very short. Ones you'd never want your casual friends to see you in but with Chanyeol you didn't mind. Plus with the weather you needed the shortest thing possible. The only thing is you forget to get the glass of water first and had nothing to cover yourself with. Chanyeol was already laid down trying to sleep so you didn't want to wake him just to borrow his dressing gown. It was late and so you decided to risk it. Hopefully nobody would be in the kitchen this time of night. Of course Sehun was sitting there. He was in the dark too so you didn't even notice him until you walked inside. You jumped seeing someone sat there and flicked the light on to see it was Sehun. "You scared me!" you cried and Sehun looked up from his phone and his eyes widened when he saw you. You then realised what you were wearing and blushed slightly. "Sorry" he said finally looking you in the eye again and you turned away busying yourself with the sink. You suddenly realised you hadn't put away your dishes from earlier and cursed your past self because you'd have to do it now. You began sorting them out and could practically feel Sehun's eyes on you. When you turned around and caught him watching you, you stared back "what?". "Nothing just are you warm?". You shook your head "kinda...this is just how I sleep in summer. I didn't think anyone would be here". Sehun shrugged "lucky Chanyeol". You rolled your eyes "Chanyeol and I are just friends". Sehun shook his head standing up "how when you look like that?" he asked looking you up and down once more before he walked away. You stayed there in the kitchen stunned. Sehun had never expressed any interest in you or that he liked your looks. If anything he always seemed unbothered by you so where did a comment like that come from? The way he said it made you shiver and even just replaying it in your head made your stomach tense. What on earth was going on? Was Sehun into you? You went back upstairs desperate to talk to someone but Chanyeol was asleep so you just got into bed beside him and tried to sleep. Sehun was on your mind and of course you had a dream about him where you were one of the girls pressed up against the wall. You woke in the morning feeling a mix of flustered and frustrated and wondered if last night in the kitchen had all been a dream. Then you saw the glass of water on your side table and were sure it had happened, You then wondered if you were making too big a deal out of a throw-away comment. Later that morning Chanyeol noticed you were quiet and asked if you were alright. "I'm fine but I have a question". He nodded "shoot" and you looked at him "what does Sehun think of me?". Chanyeol paused "of you why?" before his eyes widened "wait no way!". You shook your head "whatever you're thinking it's wrong". "Are you hot for my maknae of all people?". "Hey I'm only one year older than him which is the age gap between me and you" you retorted "but anyway that's not where this is going. He made a comment last night and it's making me re-evaluate what I thought he felt towards me". Chanyeol paused "what did he say?". You explained and Chanyeol kept smiling but you noticed he looked less at ease "yeah that sounds like Sehun". "What did he mean by it?" you asked "I always thought he was apathetic to me but now I'm not sure". Chanyeol seemed to be debating his reply and only when you called his name did he respond "well he does find you attractive". "He does? How do you know?" you asked feeling more excited than you thought you would. Chanyeol shrugged "well he's mentioned it a few times" Chanyeol admitted and you nodded "saying what". Chanyeol sighed "sometimes he will just comment that your legs...or say that other areas look good or that your outfit is hot that sort of thing". You raised your eyebrows in surprise "then why has he never tried anything with me?". "Do you want him to?" Chanyeol asked and you would've noticed the apprehension in his voice but you were too busy imagining what it would be like if Sehun did. Your dream from earlier came into your mind and clouded your thoughts. "Y/n" Chanyeol said and you remembered where you were "that doesn't matter. What I don't get is why Sehun never hit on me before. He's not exactly shy with girls and he has a pretty good track record". Chanyeol shrugged "I don't know why, you'd probably need to ask him". You shook your head "no way and you can't say anything to him either! Promise me Chanyeol!" you cried and your friends nodded "I promise!". After that you didn't talk about Sehun again but he was still on your mind. Chanyeol's question asking if you wanted Sehun to do something spun round and round in your head. You didn't want to admit it but you were attracted to him and the idea of him pushing you up against a wall did make you feel flustered. You'd never considered it before, you and Sehun, but now you couldn't seem to stop. So of course that imaginary image was the first one that came to mind when you saw Sehun that morning. You went downstairs for breakfast and Sehun was coming upstairs. Even Chanyeol looked panicked but you tried to remain calm as Sehun came closer and squeezed past you, brushing his arm against yours. He looked at you as he passed and you saw the slight smirk on his lips. You kept a straight face meeting his gaze and only breathed when he passed. You looked back when he'd passed and caught him doing the same thing to you. You shot around quickly making him chuckle. Was this what that weird tension between the two of you had been this whole time? Had Sehun always acted this way around you and only now you were realising it? Things carried on like that for the rest of the week. Anytime you or Sehun were in the same room you were tense and had to stop yourself from looking at him. You weren't sure if Sehun noticed because he started acting differently. He'd come and sit next to you on the sofa, rather close so he'd brush against you or he'd put his drink on the table next to you so he kept having to lean across you to get it. Whenever you did allow yourself to glance at him he'd seemed to notice and he had a permanent cheeky smile on his face. His eyes were so playful and you just got the feeling he was doing this on purpose. You also suspected the summer wasn't the only reason he seemed to be shirtless or hardly clothed a lot recently. It was driving you crazy and you couldn't believe it was impacting you this much...then one day it all exploded. You'd beaten Chanyeol home after work and were getting things ready for dinner in the kitchen when Sehun walked in. He seemed to have a way of sensing when you were in the house these days. He smiled when he saw you and you turned away blushing. "You've splashed a little" he said pointing to the wet mark on your shirt and you nodded "I know...". "Need some help?" he asked and you immediately blushed thinking he meant your shirt. Sehun smiled "with the washing up?" as if he'd mislead you on purpose. You nodded and Sehun appeared next to you. There was a tense atmosphere in the air and anytime you passed Sehun you could practically feel it radiating off him. Once you'd both finished you found Sehun watching you, leaning casually against a counter. "You've been acting differently lately" Sehun said and you shrugged "have I?". He nodded "ever since that night I caught you in your tiny pyjamas" he smiled "did I embarrass you when I commented on how good you looked?" he asked. You swallowed but managed not to blush "no". "No?" Sehun asked "then why have you been acting differently around me?". "You keep saying I'm acting different but you were never around me to notice how I acted before". Sehun shrugged "we've never been joined at the hip but I always took note of you Y/n and actually the truth is it was you who never registered when I was around. I used to be an annoyance to you if you ever spotted me and I could practically see you resisting the urge to roll your eyes". "I wasn't like that" you argued and Sehun smiled "yes you were don't lie...but now that's all changed. You tense when I enter a room and I can feel you watching me from the corner of your eye. Your body language has changed and you shy away from my eye now. Which can only mean one thing". "Which is?" you asked. "That you want me" Sehun smiled confidently. "You think I want you?" you asked, some of your attitude brought back to life with the boy's excessive confidence but he had even more to give you. Don't you?" Sehun asked coming closer and straightening up to his full height. "Are you saying you haven't thought about what it'd be like to be with me? You've heard my results enough, and I haven't been shy in showing you the methods. Tell me you haven't thought about what it'd be like if it was you" Sehun said "and then tell me the idea didn't excite you". You'd been backing up slowly and ran into the counter meaning there was no way for you to go any further back. Sehun smiled "something making you uncomfortable Y/n?". "Why are you saying all of this now? Not before?" you asked. "Because I never knew if you were attracted to me before but your behaviour changed, next question". You blinked at Sehun's fast tone and hurried on "what about Chanyeol?". "What about him?" Sehun asked "I know you're not attracted to him". You nodded "but he's your friend and my friend...won't this be awkward for him?". Sehun shrugged "possibly but not for the reason you're thinking". You went to ask what he meant but Sehun had reached you "now your questions are done and it's my turn but I just have one...can I touch you?". His words made you blush but you managed to nod. Sehun smiled and gently brushed his fingers across your cheek. "Such a beautiful face, do you know many times I pretended I was with you? Wanted to see your beautiful eyes staring at me the way they are now...the way your lips are so pouty begging me to kiss them?" he asked. "Not to even mention how great you always look" he said his hands trailing down your shoulders and arms "that time Chanyeol made us all go to the beach I thought I was going to burst seeing you all toned and tanned" he sighed his hands reaching your waist "so close but so far...I'm going to need to make up for lost time Y/n. Is that okay with you?" Sehun asked. You nodded and he smiled "lost your tongue?". "I was just waiting for you to hurry up and kiss me" you replied and Sehun smirked "I love it when you snap at me" and finally kissed you. A little later Chanyeol was looking for you and was confused about where you'd gone. "She was here earlier?" Chen asked and Chanyeol nodded "yes she text me saying she arrived". "Maybe she left?" Kai suggested but D.O. shook his head "her car's still in the driveway". "And you've checked every room?" Lay asked and Chanyeol nodded "yeah, except Sehun's of course". They all heard the sounds coming from the room telling them he shouldn't be disturbed. Xiumin got it first.

"Wait you've checked everywhere but Sehun's room?" he asked. Chanyeol nodded before he got it "no...there's no way that's Y/n in there with him" he said. "Are you sure?" Suho asked "that would explain how Sehun got a girl in there with him without even leaving the house all day". Chanyeol shook his head beginning to panic "yes I'm sure! She's my best friend, I'd know if she wanted to sleep with Sehun!". "Would you though?" Baekhyun asked "because you'd be the last person I'd tell if I wanted to get with your hot friend". That comment bothered Chanyeol more than he liked and he sighed "it's not her I'm telling you" when they suddenly heard Sehun's voice saying a name that sound suspiciously like yours. Chanyeol shook his head "guess I don't know my best friends then".

An hour later you were laid beside Sehun, both lazily joking and teasing one another. "So I have another question" Sehun said and you turned to face him "yes?". "Do you and Chanyeol seriously never mess around like this in bed or anything?". "No!" you cried and Sehun laughed at your strong reaction "why not?". "Because we're best friends and that'd be weird. You can't think about your friends that way" you said. Sehun paused "I think you'd be surprised". You frowned but then Sehun started tracing a pattern on your thigh and you got a little distracted. "I don't see how any guy can have you in his bed every night and not go crazy" he said "I'm going crazy just watching you". "Well once was clearly not enough" you said and Sehun swore "fuck no" and came back to you. The next morning you woke to see Sehun asleep next to you and swore. Sehun jumped and opened his eyes "everything alright?". You nodded "yeah just...you seriously look like that first thing in the morning?". Sehun quickly checked his appearance in his phone and shrugged "yeah". "That is not fair" you said and he smiled turning you towards him "then you clearly have no idea how good you look". You blushed and Sehun smiled "I seriously had no idea how attracted to me you were". You rolled your eyes "oh come on everyone must find you attractive to an extent. You're tall, broad shoulders, great bone structure, amazing eyebrows not to mention your abs" you said gently tracing them "you must assume everyone's attracted to you". Sehun shrugged "sometimes but I never knew where I stood with you". That made you feel oddly powerful and you liked it. " I enjoyed last night" you said and Sehun nodded "me too, would you like to do it again?". "Now or in the future?" you asked. Sehun smiled "both. I've wanted you for a while". You smiled "sounds good to me". When you and Sehun left his room and ventured downstairs you didn't expect the kitchen to be full and suspected the members might've done that on purpose. Everyone was quiet as you sat down and then Baekhyun burst "did the two of you really screw all night?". Suho and D.O. sighed while Chanyeol hit him. You blushed and Sehun smiled. Sehun looked to you for permission and you figured they all knew so nodded. "Not all night but yes a large portion of it" he admitted. Several boys smirked or smiled but you noticed Chanyeol wasn't doing either. His eyes were focused on his plate unmoving. You frowned and managed to catch his eye. He smiled at you reassuringly and you smiled back. When you got ready to leave, you collected your stuff from Chanyeol's room and were chatting at the door when Sehun appeared. You were more than a little surprised as was Chanyeol by his expression. "Hey can I talk to Y/n?" Sehun asked and Chanyeol looked to you before nodding. Sehun smiled "so I just wanted to see when you were next coming over". You smiled back "why?" and Sehun shot you a look "because I'll make sure I'm home so you know where I am if you want me". Sehun's words made your stomach flutter and you found him so attractive. "I was planning on coming back Friday night if you wanted to be around". Sehun smiled "see you then".

You left the house with a huge smile on your face.

You’d always liked surprised and that was good...because you had a few more in store.

Once the door closed Sehun smiled after you before he became aware Chanyeol was still there. He turned to find Chanyeol watching him and paused “I know I probably should’ve asked you before but...are you okay with this given...you know?”. “No I don’t know” Chanyeol said “you can date whoever you want Sehun and so can Y/n...then again this isn’t even dating is it?”. Sehun shrugged “so you’re okay with it?”. “Why wouldn’t I be?” he asked and Sehun finally said it “because of your feelings for her” and Chanyeol tensed. Sehun couldn’t see his expression but he saw how Chanyeol’s body language changed and how rigid he became. Sehun worried he might’ve pushed Chanyeol too far but when the boy turned around he had a smile on his face. “I don’t have feelings for Y/n so of course I have no objections to this just don’t hurt her okay?”. Sehun nodded “I won’t, I know better than that” and Chanyeol nodded “good” and walked away.

He only let his smile drop when he reached his room. He could almost pretend he hadn’t been lying when he said that to Sehun but he knew the truth. He liked you and you were hooking up with his closest friend.

____

There are two endings to this series! For the Chanyeol ending click here and for the Sehun ending click here.

I love it when idols own how good looking they are and if any idol deserves that it’s Sehun. Out of all the male idols he’d definitely be in my top 5 lookswise so this was a very fun imagine to write :)

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krysphycookiez · 5 years ago

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stray kids | you as the female maknae

synopsis: you’re the female maknae of the infamous k-pop group stray kids! let’s see how you get along with these eight chaotic boys

genre: fluff, platonic, imagines

pairing: stray kids x maknae!reader

a/n: wowza another female maknae au post- yes i have an obsession with these types of writings and i have no regrets. expect a lot of these extra member au’s for boy groups and girl groups

❦

you’re his smol baby child and nothing will change his mind

chan just wants you to be happy and he’s really good at showing that, whether he makes sure you’re always healthy or just doing daily check ups on you

if you don’t end up taking care of yourself he’ll get really upset and probably give you a long lecture

one time you actually cried because of his scolding because you felt really bad and he started crying too

if he feels like there’s something up with you and you don’t open up, he usually plans with the other members to do little things to cheer you up

and those plans work all the time

he knows how much you struggle with the idol life because of his own past struggles so he empathizes with you very well

if you’re an english speaking foreigner, he’d be very chaotic with you and felix

but then it eventually just turns into chan being done with you and felix’s bullshit

nags you sometimes but he just wants you to be careful- so for the most part he just lets you be

when your time of the month comes he’s usually the best at handling the situation (jisung i’m looking at you)

he also let’s you mess around with his tracks, but he makes sure you don’t do anything stupid. as you once almost deleted a whole new track

hugs you from behind a lot to remind you that you’re loved and a precious cinnamon roll

he’s a soft leader for you and it’s just downright wholesome

ngl you had a crush on minho during trainee days, i mean- just look at him for crying out loud

that silly crush soon disappeared and now you see him as a best friend

though hyunjin knew about this past crush and obviously tattled to minho. now you’re his main target for flirting

speaking of flirting, he always tries to make you as flustered as he can cause he just loves your reactions

he also initiates a lot of skinship with you cause you’re like a small teddy bear to him, also he just likes cuddling with you in general

if you’re part of the danceracha, you and him would start a lot of weird shit with hyunjin and felix

hell even if you aren’t part of that sub-unit you still find a way to cause chaos with minho

also you ask about his cats all the time cause you love them a lot, and that just boosts his cocky attitude even more

he gets very possessive of you when it comes to your guy’s friendship

cause he’s the type to say “no one outside of stray kids is allowed to talk or even look at you”

ofc he’s joking though lmao

you two are like an old married couple. a lot of bickering goes on between the two of you and that just becomes the butt of stray kids inside jokes

and both of you are very petty with each other too. like- you know when your little sibling hits you so you hit them back? yeah that’s the two of you

overall both of you have a really strong friendship, and other people get jealous of it pretty easily, even stray kids themselves

you took felix’s spot as changbin’s favorite member overtime

he’s your number one hype boi, he always gets pumped up whenever you do something like singing or rapping cause he’s amazed by your talent

probably let’s you toy with side soundtracks so he can see your production skills

overtime you have gotten better because of him, and you’re very grateful for that

he does a lot of aegyo with you cause he just loves you so much, and he also hugs you a lot too

you tease him about this height but he reminds you that you’re shorter and this leads to bickering

also since he’s not the shortest he probably rests his elbow on your head to tick you off or to get a reaction out of you

most of the time he gets a fist to the stomach but it’s still worth it

he also makes sure you aren’t overworking yourself, even if he’s one of the more busy members

if you’re feeling down the drain he buys you some of your favorite food and snacks to cheer you up, and it works for the most part

because of the attention he gives you, felix sometimes starts petty fights with you and the other members get easily amused by this. especially changbin himself

you also just find a lot of comfort within him cause he’s really gentle with you

and because he smells good all the time too lol

changbin is an equivalent to an emotional support dog. loving and very energetic

the two of you are l o u d asf

hence why you and hyunjin aren’t allowed to share a room together anymore. you had a laptop in your shared room and you guys would watch horror movies that would scare the living shit out of y’all

hyunjin likes to take you on shopping dates so both of you can either eat something together or go on a shopping spree

and mini fashion shows start too lmao, he probably gives you like a million clothes to put on

if you’re one of the main dancers, he’s the reason why you are able to dance as well as you can today. cause you felt close to giving up but then he came in and encouraged you to keep going

during his trainee days, his fights with jisung would scare you. one day it got so bad you started crying cause you didn’t want them to hurt each other

they then realized what they did and hyunjin was the first to apologize, even buying you your favorite drink to make up for it

he tries to steal your attention from minho and that almost results in his deathbed

no one’s stopping this boy from doing anything to get your love and attention tho

whenever you guys aren’t together you text a lot, and you guys send each other cute memes in the process

you guys are just like north and south you can’t stand to be away from each other

he also loves to cuddle with you. whenever you get a nightmare you usually turn to him to sleep with so you can feel the comfort of his loving arms

the other members know about this and they get jealous of that sometimes

hyunjin sees you as the little sister he never knew he needed, and he just wants you to have the best possible life he can offer you

let’s be real here, jisung probably didn’t know how to talk to you during trainee days cause he thought you were really pretty

he’s never basked in the beauty of someone so elegant before

the only time you guys really started talking to each other was in the skz survival show, and in that span of time you two grew extremely close (and if you ended up getting eliminated he’d get really sad)

he’s scared to let you into his production studio cause he’s scared that your clumsy ass would do something, but you never really do anything

if you speak english you two probably have weird conversations in english. quoting vines and inside jokes

on break days he takes you out to get boba and just chat, and usually in the morning when it’s less busy and more peaceful

he lets you take his hoodies cause he thinks you look adorable in them, and also when you give them back to him they smell like daisies

if you get hurt in any way, shape or form he gets very upset cause he really doesn’t like seeing you in pain

one time he caught you crying to yourself because of hate comments directed towards you and his heart shattered

he actually ended up tearing up himself and offered to buy you something to make you feel better

if you’re one of the main vocalists you and him probably have high note competitions, since the two of you probably had iconic high note parts

you also pinch his cheeks a lot cause you like how he just looks like a cute squirrel

which results in him pinching you back

jisung would cherish you like treasure since you’re so valuable to him, and you’re one of the reasons he’s able to keep going in his harsh idol life

a few simple words to sum up your friendship; a cacophony of chaos and screaming

you and felix just have the weirdest but at the same time also one of the strongest friendships in stray kids

if you’re a foreigner the friendship is even stronger, cause you two can relate more easily, and ESPECIALLY if you’re an english speaking one

also if you’re australian like him, the chaos is just even worse. a bunch of australian slangs here and there as well as saying inside jokes

he definitely texts you at 3am to talk about something he thought of or just to send you stupid memes

also probably infected you with his dabbing and fortnite phase

you also probably tease him about his sexy moments on stage, like when he lifted up his shirt. which also made you want to see his abs again

to get back at you he lifted your shirt on stage in front of STAYs to show your own abs and everyone went crazy, and he ended up getting his ass kicked

you two are also like emotional support for each other

since you guys are some of the youngest and had some of the hardest times you know when somethings up, so you two just go and hug/cuddle with each other to let the other one know it’s okay

and you’ve also come up with a way to communicate with each other without the other members knowing to talk about personal things, like a secret language

and if you didn’t have supportive parents in the idol life, felix would automatically connect with you cause he went through something similar

this guy just also wants you to feel safe and loved cause he knows what it’s like to feel so alone

overall you and felix are like two peas in a pod, very alike in many ways but will turn to each other for emotional support or just to feel better

dandy boy seungmin is such a little shit around you

he always teases you and always finds a way to tick you off to see your reactions, such as playing with your hair or stealing your clothes

so you being the petty little bitch you are, you do some things that will trigger his pet peeves, like make a room dirty or not doing chores

and that’s how you developed your evil maknae side, all because of this devil puppy

but even then the bickering isn’t always that bad, that’s just how you two show your love for each other since you guys literally don’t know how to be nice to each other

unless it’s about food or games, then there’s civil acts going on

seungmin actually likes to hug you because you’re like a smol baby chick, but it never really goes further than that

INSULT BATTLES ALL THE DAMN TIME

and it’s usually seungmin who wins them, but when you do win them it’s always a very witty victory

seungmin also knows when something’s up with you. if you suddenly stop acting like a savage around him he knows something is up

so he then investigates, comforts you and caves in to take you out to the mall to make you feel better

he doesn’t think he’s helping that much when those times come to you but he actually helps a lot, cause he gives of this comforting aura that makes you feel safe

also he smells like roses too lmao

seungmin is your pretty and bitchy best friend, but at the end of the day he will always be there for you

the two of you are the; done with everyone’s shit duo, at least when the two of you aren’t causing chaos

you and jeongin are very close in age, so naturally all of the members baby you and while the attention is endearing, it can get out of hand sometimes

so the two of you team up to pull the ultimate pranks on all of the members to get back at them and record all of their reactions

of course this results in scoldings and getting chased by an angry hyunjin holding a broom but it’s still worth it

both of you also compete for who can get more attention if you aren’t getting tired of it

and this can also lead to petty bickering that the other members watch in amusement (and they probably fucking grabbed popcorn too)

jeongin has a good sense of judgement, so he knows when the mood is feeling down

and he usually drags you to the side to plan a way to cheer up the members or bring up a lighthearted mood, since he knows the two of you would make a good plan

he doesn’t really like skinship but he finds it cute when you hug him or hold his arm

and the other members get pressed about this cause you’re allowed to hold his arm but they can’t even touch him with their fingernails

both of you have definitely tried to cook together

and fail miserably, which resulted in MORE scoldings and a temporary banishment from the kitchen, but the way you guys cooked was very funny

you made him a smoothie to make up for the fact that you got him banned from the kitchen cause it was mainly your fault

jeongin would be a more chill and laid-back friend, but he’s still very caring for you and will protect you at all costs

❦

a/n: waeeeee another one done! i had a lot of fun writing this and i hope you guys enjoy it as much as i had fun writing it.

also lee felix get your sexy ass off of my twitter feed i don’t feel like simping

this is @/krysphycookiez logging off... ♡︎

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crescentsteel · 5 years ago

Text

Imagination

plot: Halloween with Kiyoomi Sakusa genre: fluff, crack warnings: sorta creepy wc: 6.3k (went a bit overboard sorry lol)

A/N: - This is collab from our server @babythotshq. See others spoofy stories from our server here. - I’m posting another halloween fic later, sum Semi fluff. lmk if u wanna be tagged - Thank you so much @newfriendjen for the betaread and @aomineavenue for that idea u gave me ehe - Sakusa brainrot

Nothing beats the spirit of Halloween, the best holiday ever invented. Ghost stories, people in costumes, haunted houses, scary movies, everything about this holiday — you love and welcome them all. Last year, your Halloween adventure was you and your friends trying to make a documentary (actually it was just you hogging the camera and tripping your friends that you’re seeing apparitions) in an abandoned building.

But the highlight of that Halloween wasn’t that. It was meeting Sakusa. Albeit how sweet that sounds, the whole of it was honestly ridiculous.

A year ago, you and your coworkers agreed to join the Halloween party at the club near your office. You drew lots on what will be the theme of each person’s costume in the office. The person whose costume fits their theme the most gets a prize. When you got “something unexpected” at the draw, you were thrilled at all the possibilities your imagination could think of.

But then work fucked you up until you barely had any time left. You only had less than 48 hours to come up with an award-winning costume. As you’re scrunching for your work deadlines, you look around for possible costume inspirations. And voila, your eyes landed on that certain object near your monitor.

You laughed your head off when you pictured what you’d look like.

At the club at the night of the Halloween party, it was expected to have most people in costume. No one gave anyone a second look for being all dressed up.

Except for you.

When you entered the bar, people were staring. You made your way to your colleagues, uttering your excuse mes and sorrys to the people you bumped. Once your officemates saw you, they guffawed simultaneously. You were wearing white boots, surgical , a light blue long-sleeve top, and black short shorts. On top of the long-sleeve top and shorts was a white box hanging inches just below your thighs which made it look like a box dress. Printed on the front of the box dress was “GERMINATOR. Kill 99.9% germs” complete with its logo. At the back of it was the product’s information. It even had an improvised pump on your head. On your bare thighs was a holster holding sanitizers instead of guns.

You twirled in front of your colleagues and they all gave you a round of applause.

You were so stressed out with work that you drank your heart out before the party even began to reach its peak. Your nearing drunk ass was letting loose when your back collided with someone and you nearly tripped.

It was a guy with white streaks on his hair that was held up by gel or wax. He gasped as he took in your appearance. “Miss! Please come with me.” The guy didn’t really give you a choice when he grabbed your wrist and dragged your tipsy self to wherever.

“Omi-kun! I brought you someone.” He said while he hid you behind him.

“Really, Bo-kun? You think he’d be interested in anyone from here?” You heard someone say despite the noise. The guy who just hauled you there moved away to reveal that certain someone, aka you. You went with the flow and gave them a curtsy while your vision started to sway a bit.

You easily distinguished who he’s with since they’re all wearing the same yellow jacket. “What are you s’ppsed to be? A boy band or somethin?” you asked but no one answered.

You are met with different reactions. Two of them dropped their jaws. One had a wide smile on his face, obviously proud of finding you. Then, there was this guy you couldn’t make out because he was wearing a face mask. After recovering from their shock, the three men looked at the one who wore a face mask.

The guy with white streaks turned to you and said, “I’m Bokuto,” referring to himself. “That’s Hinata,” he pointed out to the shortest guy in orange hair. “Miya, “ the blonde one said, then grabs the face masked-guy who has a stiff frown on his half-visible face. “And this,” he pushed the face-mask man in front of you, “is Sakusa.” Everyone looked so entertained and so amused, except for the one directly in front of you. But you don’t acknowledge the somber aura coming from him. You like being the source of entertainment, especially for this event.

“Oh you unsanitary boys! You can call me,” you grab two sanitizers dramatically from your holster and pose like a sailor scout, except weirder. You couldn’t even tell how you exactly posed your arms in the air, you just let the alcohol do the work. As a finishing touch to the pose, you winked and announced, “Germinator-chan!!!”

At that, Miya spilled the drink he was about to take while Bokuto put his hands on his hips as they both laughed uncontrollably. Hinata walked beside … what was his name again? You’ll just continue calling him face-mask man. “You look so cool, Germinator-chan!!” Hinata beamed at you while scanning your whole look. “We should’ve dressed up as well,” he added with a slight pout.

Ah. Sakusa it was.

Miya ,who was still laughing his heart out, put an arm around Sakusa, “My, my, Omi-kun,” he paused to chuckle, “We’ve found yer dream girl!” Sakusa tried to shrug Miya’s arm off of his shoulder. “Please don’t touch me.”

Bokuto came closer as well and spoke to Sakusa, “Are you still leaving? Germinator-chan can keep you clean.”

“Of course I’m still leaving. I shouldn’t even have come in this germ-infested place” he said and was about to saunter off towards the exit. Before he could even pass you by, you block his path and extend your arms.

“Germ, you say? I got you,” you said while you poised your sanitizers in place, ready to give him some if he extends his hands to you. You find no shame in how flippant you seemed. This is what Halloween parties are all about. You, yourself, are having fun even if you don’t entirely grasp why they’re teasing the guy. He probably has a cold and wants to avoid too many people.

You weren’t expecting it, but Sakusa held out his hands. You thought he was just going to ignore your antics because he seemed annoyed. You heard him mumble something, but because of the music and his face mask, you didn’t hear it.

“Sorry, what?!”

He comes a bit closer, close enough for you to notice how he’s not as serious as he was before. More so, he looked pleased. Since half of his face is covered, all your attention went to his eyes, and at this proximity, you became aware how pretty they actually looked. Or maybe you’re already drunk and he’s just too close.

“Thanks, miss,” he uttered softly.

“BAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!! You’re perfect for each other!” Bokuto’s laugh drew your attention away from Sakusa.

“Before you leave, Omi-san. Can we take pictures with you, Germinator-chan?” Hinata asks with his phone already on his hand.

“Ah yes yes, Shoyo-kun. Clever idea.” The Miya guy said with a widespread grin on his face. Once again, they all gathered around Sakusa. You joined them with silly poses as they took several selfies with you. The three of them were obviously having fun while Sakusa’s expression was the same in all the photos. Even with the face mask, you could tell. He’s pissed. As soon as they put the phone down, he was on the move again.

“Wait, Omi-kun!” Miya stopped him once more. Sakusa looked like a vein was gonna pop on his temple. Maybe you just imagined him being pleasant a while ago.

“We’re letting ya leave, don’t worry.” Miya smirked prior to adding, “after ya take pictures with Germinator-chan.” You see Sakusa’s shoulders slump in defeat. But you didn’t feel bad for him at all. In fact, you also wanted to keep on teasing him.

As they snap pictures, you kept on doing superhero poses with your costume. Sakusa’s impassiveness doesn’t bother you one bit. You kept on flailing around him while they took pictures. When they had their fill, they said their goodbyes as Sakusa walked away without even looking back.

“Byeee. Stay germ-free!” You half-shouted as he already gained some distance away from you and the three men. When he reached the exit, you felt someone tap your shoulder. You turned on your heel and saw Miya offering you a drink. “You, Germinator-chan, are fucking awesome.” The three boys wore big smiles on their faces which you reciprocated. You bowed as acknowledgment to the compliment and took the offered liquor. You gulped a significant amount before excusing yourself “Bye boyysss.” You head back to your coworkers, faltering on every step of the way.

Two days after that Halloween party, life went on. You regret drinking so much that night. You barfed like crazy when you got home and you had a massive hangover the morning after so you had to take the following day off. Since everyone in your office knew why you had to be absent the previous day, they made you do additional work that day.

You’re a Lifestyle writer, but the Sports department needed another person today. They weren’t able to do the interview for some players the week before so you’re needed to do the last set of interviews. You don’t really know anything Sports-related. They just gave you a list of the people you’re going to interview and the questionnaire for them to answer. The most you could do is follow up on their answers. You looked at the names to be interviewed.

Shion Inunaki

Kiyoomi Sakusa

Shoyo Hinata

You don’t know why, but the names were awfully familiar. You shrugged it off. Maybe you just saw some articles about them from the Sports department.

You arrived at the gymnasium and went straight to their manager, stating that you were scheduled there to interview some players for your magazine. You took your seat at the sides and waited. The first interview with Inunaki went smoothly. When you’re done with him, he called the next guy and got back to their practice.

Upon seeing the next interviewee, you stare intently at him for he looked incredibly familiar, you just had to remember where you met him. Black, curly hair that framed his face nicely. Two moles located right above his right eyebrow. Sharp, serious eyes. But something’s off. Something at the back of your head knows that you’ve seen his face, but something’s amiss.

Face mask. He wasn’t wearing his face mask.

Sakusa.

Drunken memories came rushing down to your sober mind. You even heard your frilly voice saying Germinator-chan!!

You looked down and fixed your glasses as an attempt to hide your face. You cleared your throat and deepened your talking voice so that he wouldn’t perceive any resemblance you may have with what you looked like two nights ago.

You started the interview and took down notes more keenly than you should, just so you wouldn’t meet his gaze. From your peripheral, you saw him trying to get a better look at your face.

“Excuse me, have we met somewhere?” he said after answering a question from your list. You smile thriftly and shake your head. “I don’t think so.” He didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t press on.

‘Kami-sama, I swear to take care of myself and not contaminate my precious body with alcohol. Just let me go through this unnoticed. I’m begging you,’ you prayed silently.

Fortunately, the interview ended with Sakusa not figuring out who you were. When the last interviewee sat down, a pair of bright hazel eyes stared at you with glee.

“GERMINATOR-CHAN!” Hinata yelled while pointing at you happily. It echoed in the whole gymnasium and how awfully lucky you were, everyone was on break. You felt everyone’s eyes on you. Not long after, you’re crowded by not only the four boys you met that fateful night, but everyone else in the team.

“Wow. This is the Germinator-chan?” A player you didn’t know asked.

Apparently, Miya shared the pictures to every single one on the team. Inunaki joined their fun and tapped the back of Sakusa. “Real nice, Sakusa-san!” You heard a familiar voice and found Miya beside Sakusa. “Well, well, Omi-kun. Her alter-ego’s real pretty.” The taunts were focused on Sakusa, but you felt like sinking on your seat that moment.

“Um!!” You got all their attention. “Sorry, but can I finish my interview with Hinata-kun first?” You smiled as professionally and as nice as you could. They all uttered light apologies and dispersed back on the court. You resumed with the interview as fast as you could. You thanked Hinata and their manager and semi-sprinted out of the court when you had the chance. No way you’re gonna get hounded by any MSBY member again.

The exit was just a few steps away and finally, you can rest easy. You let out a breath of relief when you reached outside with no problem.

“Germinator-chan.”

You yelp from the sudden voice behind you. You slowly turn around to confirm if it was who you thought it was. And behold, it really was Sakusa Kiyoomi. You twiddled with your fingers while thinking of what you should say. You didn’t want to apologize for your behavior the other night. You liked having fun and going crazy. You saw nothing wrong with that. You didn’t do anything inappropriate. It’s just that you didn’t think you’d see any of those men right when you’re working.

He walked towards you until you were face to face. Without his face mask, you end up staring at his whole profile that was partially hidden that night. He must’ve been really sick to want to cover such an attractive face.

“What brand of sanitizer did you use?” You blink twice from the confusion. “What?” you ask dumbfoundedly. “That night. The sanitizer you gave me felt nice. Did it have 70% isopropyl alcohol?” You couldn’t tell if he was just messing with you cause his face is dead serious. That’s when you figured it out.. The face mask, the early escape from the crowd, attention to disinfectant — he was a clean freak.

“Umm. I-Uh.. I’m not really sure. I didn’t really check,” you said, then laughed nervously.

“Do you want some recommendations?”

“Huh?” You felt like an idiot for not fully grasping what he was talking about. If you weren’t staring so hard, you wouldn’t have noticed it, but something broke his stoic expression when his eyes averted your gaze for a second. He looked a bit unsure.

“I can help you choose a good sanitizer...and stuff.”

The smile that broke in your face was wide and it hurt your cheeks. You’ve been asked out several times, but that. That was unlike any other you’ve ever heard. It was so weird. It was the kind of weird that appeared so charming to you.

You just had to go out with him.

A year after that, you find yourself in his apartment to celebrate Halloween. Originally, you wanted to go to that Halloween party again, but no matter how much you pouted, begged, and pestered him, the answer was a big, fat no.

This is your most-awaited holiday of the year. There’s no way you’re missing out on Halloween activities with him. So days prior to this, you brainstormed on what activities you could do with him.

Haunted House? Dirty. Abandoned buildings? Dirtier. Street Parties? Crowded. Ouija Board? You’re scared something will actually happen. Zombie run? Dirty and crowded.

You almost gave up until you remembered your vast collection of untouched horror movies, documentaries, and series that you didn’t have the time to watch because of work. You instantly texted Sakusa if that was okay with him.

Okay

You’ve never been so glad to read a four-lettered text after receiving a constant n-o, no to all your suggestions. Finally. FINALLY, you came up with something you two could do.

Halloween weekend came and you both decided on Sakusa’s apartment to do the movie marathon. You keep shifting in your seat from excitement. Tonight, you get the opportunity to watch some of your hoarded horror pieces, and much better, you’re watching it with Sakusa.

“Is there anything you’d like to watch in particular?” you ask him with your eyes still glued on the screen, browsing your bought movies. He moves closer to you and slouches so he can better see his options.

If Sakusa will be honest, he’s not really a fan of horror. He doesn’t see the point of scaring oneself from something that is make-believe. So he’s not that enthusiastic about it.

But you were.

If watching freakish movies makes you happy, then okay. Out of all your ideas this year, this is the only one he can tolerate. He knows how dedicated you are in celebrating this event. Last year was already a solid proof of that.

“Don’t you get scared by watching that stuff?” He’s looking at you but your focus is on the screen as you scroll down. “I do. But that’s the point!” You squeal from excitement. He still can’t wrap his head around the whole concept, but he’s willing to indulge you.

“Do you get scared by these?” you peel your eyes away from the TV and shift your attention to him.

He shrugs indifferently. “Not really,” was his answer even though he still hasn’t watched a full length horror film. He just couldn’t imagine how a fictional work could potentially frighten him.

“Okay. Let’s go with something light since the night is still young,” you said, then clicked on some movie that he didn’t catch the title of. You huddled closer to him. You tuck your knees in and hug your legs as the movie starts.

You’re so elated that you don’t notice the tug in the corner of his mouth as he studies your face. He asked you out on a whim because that day, he didn’t really have the time to think twice. He wasn’t sure if he’d see you again. If he’d been honest, he thought you were all over the place when he first saw you. He didn’t usually find that appealing, but he couldn’t deny that you looked so cute as Germinator-chan, especially with your eyes twinkling in glee as you offered him that sanitizer.

Even though asking you out wasn’t a well-thought of idea, he made the right decision. He didn’t need to match up to your outgoing personality. You never made him feel that he wasn’t enough or that he needed to be more than himself. He never felt pressured to make you happy because you already are with whatever he gives. You’re you and he’s him, yet your relationship is more than satisfactory for both of you.

You might have noticed him gaping at you since you suddenly turned to him and raised your eyebrow. “What’re you staring for?” Your lips formed the cute smile he’s always adored.

“Nothing,” he replied more quickly than he should. He takes in your smile for one good second before shifting his gaze to the screen. The movie starts with people going to the woods for their idea of fun.

‘Ew’ he thought to himself.

As the film progresses, it gets even worse. There are body parts getting dismembered. It’s so bad when someone’s arm was severed, blood splattered all over the place. He unconsciously grips your thigh to ground himself. You don’t notice this since you shrieked happily at the scene. You were even clapping your hands.

“Yeeess! Cut those arms, dude.”

He couldn’t believe you found this fun. He couldn’t bear to look at the mutilated body parts, even if it was just on screen. He just looked away until he thought it was safe for his eyes again. That’s what he’ll do every time there’s a bloody clip.

After a while, you finally sense that his hand was clutching your thigh because of the gradual increase of force he unknowingly put behind it.

“Kiyoomi?” You look at your boyfriend whose face is now drained of color. “Oh no. What’s wrong?!” Your full attention is now on him despite the film still rolling.

Your face is a pile of concern. A while ago, he was painfully uncomfortable in your choice of movie, but seeing your once cheery facade get all worried cause he couldn’t take the blood made him feel bad. You already adjusted your Halloween plans for him. He can at least try harder to get through this movie.

He gently shakes his head. “I’m okay. Don’t mind me. Let’s keep watching.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to do it if you’re not okay with it.” It was very like you to look out for him and adjust to him, even at your own expense. You’re easygoing, loud, fun, and everything he’s not - that included messy and clumsy. Despite that, you accepted his needs and boundaries without any qualms.

He removes his grip from your thigh and wraps his arm around you.

“I’m really fine, sweetheart.”

Your face lights up at his endearment, completely melting away the worry you had a while ago.

Now, he just needs to pin it on his mind that the thing isn’t real and he can survive the night.

However, it proved to be more difficult than he imagined when the scenes keep getting messier, bloodier, and dirtier. He keeps on focusing on your entertained face to distract himself from the screams and the sound of blood splashing and gushing.

From the short moments that he was able to glance at the screen, he can tell that the movie is reaching its climax already. He decided that he’s going to keep his eyes on the screen starting from now, just to fulfill your wish of him actually watching with you.

A few minutes into it and he was starting to feel sick. He gets nauseous when someone's head is crushed by a rock. Unable to continue, he pulls you closer and leans his forehead on your shoulder with his eyes closed.

You immediately notice him wavering and quickly turn off the television. You cup his cheeks and brush away the curls blocking his face. He opens his eyes and looks at you weakly.

“Sorry, we were almost done… but the blood was too much,” he confessed defeatedly.

“No, no, no. I should’ve realized that it would make you uneasy.” You felt guilty for not figuring it out sooner. You’ve been with him for a year now. You should’ve put two and two together.

“Let’s do something else. What do you wanna do?”

“We can watch another scary film. Just less blood.” He suggested a compromise. He won’t let you do all the adjusting this time. He’s getting fed up with himself being coddled by you all the time.

“Swear to me that you’ll let me know if it gets too much.” Your tone was serious.

“I swear Germinator-chan,” he says monotonously but you catch the humor behind it. This is Sakusa afterall. Because you’re used to his non-expressive self, you’ve gotten used to the intricate details of how he conveys his emotion.

You couldn’t help but smile while rolling your eyes back to the screen. You choose a more recent movie that’s a sequel to a very famous horror franchise you’ve been following. It was perfect because it was just plain creepy and scary without the gore.

You make yourselves comfortable again. Around twenty minutes into the film, there's no one who’s body parts are missing from their bodies. You’ve been keeping an eye on him. Thankfully, it seems like he’s calmed down now that he’s leaning on the couch with the color back on his face. He looks focused on the movie that was playing. With that, you are able to relax and do the same.

The calm was short-lived though. This movie is quite distinct from the last one. The previous film was chaotic and fun (for you). Now, the room is drowning in ominous music as you wait for the next jumpscare to happen. But it doesn’t. It leaves you at the edge of your seat when you tortuously wait for it to come. The eerie background music stops without any sign of the demonic ghost showing up. You finally let out the breath you were holding in your chest.

That is until you see something in the corner of the screen. It was hazy and it looks like it’s just part of the background. You fixate your eyes on the imagery while you feel a familiar dread rising in your throat. You want to make sure that it was nothing. You squeeze Sakusa’s knee while leaning a bit towards the screen to get a better look.

When you find that you’re close enough, the screen completely turns black, but only for a millisecond. It pops back up to reveal the same background you were looking at earlier. Only now, the thing you were closely looking at was not there anymore. You don’t know what to expect as there’s only silence.

In a blink of an eye, the object of your focus was revealed. A woman’s face occupied the whole screen. She had blood-shot eyes wide as saucers accompanied by an inhuman grin that spread too wide, making her face look unholy.

“SHIIIIITTTTTTTT!!!”

Your reflexes kick in. You use the hand you have on Sakusa’s knee to propel yourself and launch yourself to him. Both your hands find their way on his chest, clutching tight the fabric over it. You bury half your face on his chest and close your eyes.

“Is she gone?” Before he even answers, you open one eye cautiously and peek at the screen to see if it was safe to look again. You see that the scene is cut to a crowd with mundane music. You exhale heavily. You loosen your grip on his shirt and look up to him with a sheepish smile.

“I thought you’re used to this.” He remarks inquisitively while looking confused as to why you were so frightened when you were the one who suggested the horror marathon.

“Do you watch this stuff when you’re alone?” He asked further.

“Of course not. I live alone. I might not get any sleep if I watch some by myself.” You giggle. “And it’s more fun to watch with others.” You let go of your grip on him and go back to how you were previously sitting.

The movie went on with several more screams from you. You begin to feel Sakusa tensing up. You notice how intense he’s leaning on the couch. It’s like he doesn’t want any space behind him from the way he pushed his back to the cushioned backrest and seized the armrest with his right limb. His other hand was holding yours rigidly. Like him, you also start to be agitated as the appearances of haunted apparitions become clearer and more frequent.

It came to point that you were kneeling on the couch and had your arms around him. You have no control on how tight you were holding on to him. You’re pretty sure you were squishing his cheeks sometimes, but you don’t hear anything from him. He seems to be immersed in the story as well because you can feel him flinch and jerk at jumpscares. At the turning point of the movie, it was basically a screamfest held by you.

Seems like you blew his ear off since he tugged you to sit back down. Still, he doesn’t say anything and encloses an arm around you instead. You respond accordingly and use his embrace as your cover.

When the movie ends, you breathe a sigh of relief, which is followed by a laugh and an applause.

“That was so good!” Your eyes are beaming brightly from satisfaction. “Right?” You turn to him to see his reaction.

He has a faint smile on his face, then nods twice. “I didn’t expect you’d be that jumpy,” he said. You scratch your head while laughing embarrassedly. When you settled down, you just found yourselves staring at each other. The thick restlessness from the scary film was gone, replaced by something intimately familiar to both of you.

He makes the first move. He gently cups your cheek and lets it linger momentarily while his eyes shimmer with tenderness as they remain on yours. Some people, namely your coworkers, found it weird that someone like you is dating Sakusa. According to them, you’re a firecracker while he was a defective explosive that only lights up when playing volleyball.

But they’re wrong.

They just don’t know that this Sakusa in front of you exists. He has his own ways of letting you know how much he cares. They were quiet gestures that spoke loudly and exclusively for you. And yes, you are a chaotic bundle of energy, so there were many days that even you, yourself overwhelm yourself. But he gives you peace that nothing or no one else has provided you.

So when he leans closer to capture your lips, you immediately melt to him.

What started out as an affectionate kiss begins to heat up when he grabs your waist and pulls you closer. Then, he grazes his tongue on your lower lip before biting it gently. To hell with your coworkers. He’s nowhere near a defective explosive when he makes you burn up like this.

You want to feel him more, so you take the lead and straddle him. You grind your hips against his crotch and cover his mouth with yours. You’re getting eager to touch his bare skin so you pull up his shirt which reveals his toned chest and abs that made you drool. Best perk of dating a pro athlete. You look down a bit to relish the sight of him topless.

“Um. Can you tie your hair?”

“I washed my hair right before we watched. It’s clean.” You don’t look back at him and continue trailing your palm down on his abs.

“It’s not that.”

“Then what is it?” You still keep your eyes on his torso while biting your lips.

“You’re like the demon lady with your hair down like that when you look down.”

You snap your head back up and find him clearly avoiding looking at you. You try to imagine what he’s thinking - the demon lady on his lap and is about to do the nasty with him. You throw your head back and roar from laughter.

“You have quite the imagination, you know that?” you tell him with your eyes still twinkling from amusement.

“You looked like her for a minute,” he insisted. You click your tongue while shaking your head. “Too bad, Omi. I don’t have my hairtie with me.” You get off from his lap and sit beside him. “Let’s watch a documentary instead?” He only replies with a nod.

“Sorry.I tried, but I can’t unsee it.”

“It’s fine.” You giggle and kiss him on the cheek. “I don’t want you having nightmares of me as the demon lady.”

You grab the remote and put on a ghost-sighting documentary while he puts on his shirt back. It fell flat compared to the other two that previously went on, but you did not change it. You gave it a chance. Maybe there’s something interesting about it.

….

Sakusa woke up with the TV already displaying its screen saver. Before he passed out, he recalls you were starting to get drowsy with your eyes hazy while leaning on his shoulder. He doesn’t remember when, but he must’ve fallen asleep.

Not realizing that there was no weight resting on him, he looked beside him.

You weren’t there.

That was odd. If you moved to the bedroom, you would have woken him up. He blinks a few times to clear his vision before scanning the corners of this room from his seat. His only source of light was the one emanating from the screen, but that should be enough to get even just an outline of your figure.

But there was no sign of you, just the darkness engulfing the inanimate objects in the room.

“Y/n?” He called out, but there was no response.

He grabs the remote and turns off the TV. On the slight chance that you are already in his bed, he walks to his bedroom.

The cool metal of the doorknob wakes his senses. He’s suddenly more wary of everything around him. Because he wanted to reduce the accumulation of dust in his place, he did not place any unnecessary object that can cause dirt. That made his place look spacious and wide. It was only now that he became aware of the vast empty spaces on his back.

Yet despite the seeming emptiness, it feels like something is occupying the place, lurking in the vacant arrays of his home.

A sudden breeze grazes his nape.

‘It’s nothing. It’s usually cold this time of the year.’ He told himself even though he could feel the chill creeping up on his spine.

He hurriedly turns the doorknob and opens the door, only to reveal an empty bed and an empty room. You aren’t there. He’s about to shut the door when the curtains suddenly fly softly at its hems. Yeah. It’s definitely windier than usual.

He closes the door and moves towards the bathroom. The lights are off in it, but you sometimes don’t turn it on when you get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. You don’t like sudden bright lights. Although when you do that, you usually leave the door open.

The bathroom door is shut. His hand was ready to knock when he saw a shadow from his peripheral. He wanted to ignore it, but his trained eye caught the figure. He harshly spun to see what it was.

Nothing.

It was nothing. The deafening silence augmented the dread that was starting to consume his being. He can feel the tips of his fingers get colder, his skin prickling from goosebumps, his throat getting dryer.

“You’re just imagining things,” he uttered to himself to quell his nervousness. He enjoyed the movie earlier, but he didn’t think it would get in his head.

He turns back around to the door and knocks three times. No answer. He knocks again, louder this time. Where the hell are you? It wasn’t like you to leave without saying anything.

He heads for the kitchen to get some water, hoping that it can erase the uneasiness on his mind and body. Then he’ll call your phone as a last resort.

When he makes his turn at the corner of the living room leading to the kitchen, his breath gets suspended in the air at the sight.

A woman who’s looking down stood in front of him. He’s never seen something so sinister. Her black pupils occupy the whole of her eyes. Her hair is down and framed her face in a perfect V shape.

“FUUUUUCCCCKKKKKKK!” His thick scream broke the stillness of his apartment while stumbling a few steps back. It was followed by the woman’s screechy wail as she looked up to him.

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Her hair falls a few inches away from her cheeks, giving him a clearer view of her face. It was not a haunted apparition.

It was you!

Now that he looks closely, your eyes were actually normal. It’s just that it was so dark and your eyelids were half closed so it seemed like your eyes were a complete block of black.

When the two of you stopped exchanging screams, it was you who recovered first. He was still frozen in place with terrified eyes. “Oh Kiyoomi.” You put your arms around him and dipped your head on the crook of his neck. Your relieved heaving quickly bubbled into tittering as you realized how stupid you two must’ve seemed.

You put a gentle hand on his face and looked at him. He’s still a bit shaken, but he meets your gaze. “I called for you. Why didn’t you answer?”

“I got a voice call from one of my editors so I was listening intently.”

“Why here?”

“I was getting water when I opened the message.”

“Were you in the living room just now?”

You frown at him. “No…. well actually, maybe? I was spaced out while walking when I realized I didn’t really get the water I came for. So I immediately went back to the kitchen.”

The breath he exhales is deep, but you feel his shoulders loosen up from it. “You didn’t even see that TV was already off and I wasn’t there anymore?” His tone was a bit irritated.

“I was preoccupied with what my editor said.” You pout.

His demeanor softens up. He takes your hand off from his cheek and holds it tenderly. “Let’s just get to bed already.”

When you two lie down, you’re surprised that he’s spooning you. He never does. He doesn’t like your hair touching his face, even though you tell him that you’ve thoroughly cleaned it. Usually, you are the big spoon, which was weird because he’s way too huge for you, or you position yourself a bit lower so that your cheeks are on his chest and you aren’t obstructing his face.

“Next year, let’s go to that Halloween party instead. I’ll dress up in a PPE so no one touches me.“ He says in your ear while his arm snakes around your waist.

“Hmm. I dunno. I quite like this to be honest.” You hold the arm he has around you and snuggled closer. Yep. You’d rather have this.

Taglist: @shinhiromi @elianetsantana @moonlightaangel @vicassa @shrimpypenis @sunshine-hina @isentsworld @kozupresh @humanitysbiggestsimp @omibaby @atsumubabe @sachirou-senpai

#bbthots #spoofythots #sakusa x reader #sakusa fluff #sakusa scenarios #sakusa kiyoomi #sakusa x you #imagination

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ezraspiderwick · 8 months ago

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Thank you Rae for giving me personalized recs of your own fics that you know I love and I might have missed the next part, I ADORE you

And it hurt to think about how each of these boys who left came back different. They came back as men. Damaged, bloodstained, and exhausted men chewed up and spit out by the big bad world.

Screaming and crying

It hurt even worse to think about Din this way. Din with his unwavering faith. Din with his impenetrable armor. Beaten and scorned. Unvalued. He deserved a softer life than the one fate had handed him.

My babyyyyyyy 🥺

But life had the annoying tendency of moving on and on and on, uncaring of who it pissed off in doing so, and even the most gruesome of wounds stopped bleeding eventually, leaving behind a couple of jagged scars as reminders of lessons learned.

How lucky I am to call such a wonderful writer my friend. I'm getting chills

You and Din? The shortest of love stories summed up in four words. Wrong place. Wrong time.

OUCH

“I know it feels like an ending, darling. Like all hope is lost,” she said, hands squeezing your shoulders. Her eyes were bright and expressive, impossible to look away from. “But sometimes things fall apart because there’s no other way for them to go. And it’s natural to feel hurt and confused and angry. Those challenging moments are meant to teach us new things though, open our stubborn eyes and change us into us. Din will come back when the timing’s right. When you’ve both grown up a bit, walked your own separate paths for a few seasons. Trust me.”

I'm hurting in the best possible way. So much wisdom in those words. Write a book Rae pleaseeee, I need to hold your words in my hands, to highlight my favorite passages so I can revisit them over and over

Why not? Because dating meant opening yourself up to someone, allowing them to see you. Every crack, every shadow, every shortcoming. Why not? Because someone already had seen you like that…and you’d lost him.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Afterall, even the biggest of shadows were powerless against the smallest of candle flames.

See? Poetry, real poetry

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH WHAT HAPPENED WITH THEM??

Absolutely lovely my friend

Share My Moon

Part of The Fox, The Mage, and The Cupboard

Pairing: Din x Female Reader // also referenced Pero Tovar x Female Reader

Word Count: 3200+

Summary: If you’d known then of the upcoming hell, you would’ve savored the brief taste of heaven significantly more.

Warnings: Magic AU with mages and familiars, Reader has a backstory but no name or description except having hair, Reader's mother makes an appearance, worldbuilding, Ginger Ale being the supportive friend I wish I had, language, angst, grief, mentions of death, passage of time is kind of wibbly wobbly here

Author Note: I've missed this little universe and felt like pouring out some angsty feels. Expands a bit more upon events referenced in Young Love. Hope someone out there likes it 💜💜💜

Pics in moodboard found on Canva + Pinterest. The Omera + Din pic is merely used for aesthetic purposes and does not depict Reader's physical appearance.

Share My Moon - Candle Cocoon

The times that we exist together. Words not needed. Words not said. Memory past. Baking frenzy, harvest night. Pause, look up, the window is bright. Share my Moon. Feel It’s light. Always know that wherever you go. You just need to know that we share the same moon.

~~~

For as many people called Eldergrove home, there were twice as many who no longer did. They moved on and never looked back. The village and its inhabitants nothing more than tiny specks in the rearview mirrors of their lives. You wondered sometimes, if despite the miles of separation, they ever could feel it when their name was spoken by reminiscing villagers. A pinch of nostalgia in the center of their chest for a chapter of their lives they’d closed.

Maybe that was what led a handful of souls back to their old stomping grounds, even after some swore they’d never step foot on Eldergrove soil again.

The Miller brothers upped and left after the deaths of their parents. Ben was barely fifteen at the time, too stubborn and too emotionally damaged to be abandoned by his older sibling. Years later they returned out of the blue, bringing with them Santiago and Frankie, and moved back into the Miller household alongside their cousin like they’d never left. You were reminded of a pack of feral dogs, dangerously codependent and easy to spook, distrustful of the friendly hands offering to help them.

Pero Tovar and William Garin stuck around long enough to graduate school before they packed their things and disappeared. Nobody in the village could figure out for sure where they went or what they did the eight years they were gone. But once William’s ability to kill any prey with a bow and arrow in one shot and Pero’s complete lack of reaction to bloodshed were noticed, the rumor mill blazed with conspiracy theories each more outrageous than the last.

And it hurt to think about how each of these boys who left came back different. They came back as men. Damaged, bloodstained, and exhausted men chewed up and spit out by the big bad world.

On paper, Din had no reason to return. He’d never called Eldergrove home. He’d never called anywhere home. Mandalorians weren’t meant to form attachments outside of their family bonds. Weren’t built for the apple pie and white picket fence domestic lifestyle.

Still, like the ocean drawn to the shoreline, he came back to you over and over.

You thought that was a constant you could depend upon in your ever-changing life.

And maybe it would have remained one, if not for your brazen act of selfishness. If you hadn't been drowning in grief over the deaths of your loved ones and overwhelmed by Din’s kindness, his fidelity, his everything and stopped yourself from lifting his helmet high enough to slam a kiss against his lips.

If you’d known then of the upcoming hell, you would’ve savored the brief taste of heaven significantly more.

If, if, if…They seemed to multiply like rabbits, invading every corner of your brain.

You’d known it was a mistake in the fragile seconds before he pushed you back, so it wasn’t surprising to find him gone by the time you’d summoned up the nerve to walk out of Ivers Forest. His constant absence the several following months without a single word of contact was another puncture driven through your tormented heart. The kind that kept you up at night, white hot and unbearably tender, but deserved all the same for fucking everything up.

It had made sense back then, in its own twisted way, that the anguish would stick with you forever, infiltrating every last atom you possessed. But life had the annoying tendency of moving on and on and on, uncaring of who it pissed off in doing so, and even the most gruesome of wounds stopped bleeding eventually, leaving behind a couple of jagged scars as reminders of lessons learned.

And boy did you learn yours the hard way.

You and Din? The shortest of love stories summed up in four words.

Wrong place. Wrong time.

You were a mere shadow of your former self in the aftermath of the funerals and Din’s departure. Shattered without a plan of how to glue yourself back together again. People noticed, of course they did, looking at you with pity in their eyes and offering paper-thin smiles. Turned you into a bit of a recluse to avoid facing them, feeling too much like an object or statue to gawk at rather than a real human being. Though there were some days you didn’t even feel like one of those either.

Your relationship with The Cupboard was a love/hate one, switching back and forth depending on the week or day or hour. It was funny in a pathetic, tragic sort of way how a building you’d known since birth became almost unrecognizable once it stopped being your grandmother’s shop and now belonged to you. You spent days refamiliarizing yourself with every tool and ingredient, the contents of each drawer, the ‘hidden’ nook beneath one of the floorboards you once stuffed shiny pebbles and bird feathers in like your own personal treasure trove. Nothing in there now except a couple of dust bunnies.

Inheriting the shop also meant inheriting your grandmother’s loyal mass of clientele. They sent in their orders by mail from afar, knocked on the shop door if you had the light on, or asked through your mother when you made yourself purposefully scarce. No one commented on the unpredictable hours. Grief could be used to excuse all types of strange behavior.

Wearing the same clothes for several days in a row? Grief.

Locking yourself away in a tiny room with nothing but molds and candlewax for hours on end? Grief was the explanation.

In your defense, you did spend time outside of the shop and your bedroom. Quite a bit, actually. Not your fault there weren’t any witnesses in Ivers Forest to see you collecting herbs or tending to the graves there. Sometimes you’d personally deliver orders to customers who lived beyond Eldergrove’s boundaries rather than send them by post–Rosedale, Bogcaster, once even Sassashire Falls for a woman with a particularly nasty reaction to a bee sting.

A good night’s sleep was hard to come by, no matter the candles which burned on your bedside table. You’d dream of what you’d lost. Who you had lost. And if you weren’t dreaming, you were having a staring contest with the moon outside the window, full and white, a guardian against the worst of the hungry shadows. Stared until your eyes burned and the questions beating against your skull fell mute. The clock numbers ticked by from midnight ‘till dawn. Life went on and on and on.

Mornings were easier. You’d make tea while Ginger cobbled together a little breakfast meal from whatever could be found in the fridge. She knew better than to comment on your tired eyes or frumpy appearance, instead just nudged her elbow against yours in a silent I’m here if you need me.

You stuffed your mouth with food and stacked the dishes and silverware in the sink to deal with later. Wished Ginger luck on finishing her newest invention designs.

Then back to The Cupboard you went. Same old, same old.

Your mother worried about you–well, that was always a fact. But she worried even more so that year, had a concerned crease between her eyebrows every time you stopped by, hugged you an extra bit tighter as if she could somehow absorb the negative emotions and take them on herself.

“You know, darling,” she told you one evening, a couple glasses of wine too many loosening her tongue, “that boy could never hate you.”

Your mother was your closest confidant–boy troubles, irritating customers, crippling insecurities, she knew just what to say to make every problem shrink down into manageable ones. Easy to fix.

But not this.

“Mom–”

“It was obvious from the minute you brought him home you were tied to each other. He may not be your familiar, but your grandmother and I both knew you would always be in each other’s lives.”

“Not anymore.” You shook your head, a wet sob stuck in your throat. “He’s not coming back. Not again.”

So that’s what you did.

You grew up, settled into your own skin. You made a name for yourself as a skilled mage and chandler. You started smiling a bit more.

Missing Din became easier–felt less like the throbbing absence of a limb, more like the yearning ache of homesickness. Curious, since you were the one who had a roof over your head and a mailing address.

There were still some nights you’d find yourself watching the moon, its waning and waxing. And it became a comfort, imagining Din somewhere out there in the wilds on his own path, sharing the same view.

Take your time, you would think in the lulling seconds before drifting off. I'm not going anywhere.

If not for the stone markers, the graves in Ivers Forest wouldn’t look much like burial sites. The dislodged piles of dirt had been reclaimed by the earth, smoothed out and replenished with green tufts of grass dotted with dandelions doing what they did best. Thriving where least wanted.

Sunlight trickled in through the overarching tree branches, shimmering beams igniting the dust and pollen floating in the air. The only movement in an otherwise frozen patch of wilderness. Not even the birds or crickets sung their songs there. Used to make you feel nauseous–the silence so still your heartbeat hurt to hear.

You craved quietness these days. Wished you could preserve it in the wax of your candles somehow, then burn its essence and inhale its effects until your racing thoughts permanently settled down. But every kind of magic had its limitations. Capturing the hush of a soul’s final resting place, raising the dead back to the realm of the living…it was all too much for you.

The lit candle cupped between your hands flickered, reacting to the negative dip of your mood. An infusion of lavender, bergamot, and a hint of lemon meant to invoke calmness–one of your grandmother’s favorite recipes. Except it didn’t smell like hers, missing the unique, spicy aftereffect of her own magic that you would never in your lifetime be able to mimic. It was a plain and simple fact: you could run her store, you could copy her recipes, but you couldn’t ever actually be her.

Didn’t stop you from trying to fill your grandmother’s shoes though, to be everything she was remembered and loved for.

A talented mage, a successful businesswoman, a respected member of the community. Accomplishments which matched those of a happy life. Accomplishments you’d earned for yourself, checked off each box through hard work and stubborn persistence.

You should have been happy.

But the feeling remained elusive to you. Hovered just beyond your reach, enshrouded in a mist of uncertainty, not so different from a certain bounty hunter you were dearly fond of.

It was foolish, thinking of him at the same spot everything shattered to pieces. You rubbed at your nose, grimacing against the phantom sensation of blood leaking from your nostrils. If only you’d mourned the loss of your grandmother and Aunt Bunny the way most people did, instead of nearly getting yourself killed trying to bend the rules of the universe to your whim, maybe then things would have been different. Happier.

Your candle’s flame flickered again, angrier this time, nearly snuffing out.

“Sorry, sorry. Brighter days are on the horizon, I believe you,” you muttered to yourself, staring down at your grandmother’s marker with a rueful half-smile. Some days it felt cathartic to speak out loud, other times a little ridiculous. Regardless, nobody ever replied back.

“It’s always darkest before the dawn,” a familiar voice agreed from behind.

Until then, apparently.

Ginger was a great roommate. She was tidy, thoughtful, far more brilliant than everyone else in the village combined. She also knew how to find you when you didn’t want to be found and when it was time to bring you home again. Even when you weren’t ready to admit so.

You greeted her with an arm nudge as she stepped up beside you, shoulder pressing back against yours. She adjusted her glasses, then neatly held her hands in front of her. The stance of someone who intended to stick around for a while.

“Caught up in the past again, hmm?”

“Guilty,” you answered with a sigh. “Can’t seem to shake the habit.”

“You ever think about, maybe, finding someone to anchor you in the present?” she asked, like the question had an easy answer.

“Someone like who?”

“A boyfriend.”

You hummed a dismissive note. “No. Not even once. Why the hell would I want that?”

“It’s called dating, hon. Lots of single fish out there in the sea, including some of Merlin’s friends.” Ginger tilted her head to meet your gaze, an encouraging look in her dark eyes. “Could be good for you. Why not give it a shot?”

Why not? Because you were still grappling with the consequences of the last (and first) time you kissed someone. Why not? Because dating meant opening yourself up to someone, allowing them to see you. Every crack, every shadow, every shortcoming. Why not? Because someone already had seen you like that…and you’d lost him.

You bit into your lower lip, stared down at the pooling melted wax filling the jar as if the words you lacked were stuck there, waiting to be pulled free. But nothing could be found.

“Change can be scary,” Ginger said after a moment. There was a note of sympathy in her voice, and you didn’t want to hear it. Not there, where out of the corner of your eye you swore you glimpsed the glint of beskar, where the dividing line between past and present had never been blurrier. “But…you’re not happy with the way things are right now, are you?” The expression on Ginger’s face told you she knew the truth. She just wanted to hear you say it.

It wasn’t an easy thing to do. Something about actually giving voice to the problem that had been weighing down on you so long felt akin to tearing your heart out of your chest. Exposed for one of your closest friends in the whole world to gawk at.

“No,” you answered, shoulders curving with defeat. A sour taste in your mouth, you choked out, “I’m not happy.”

“The first step’s admitting it.” Your roommate slung her arm around your back, squeezing your upper arm. Then: “The next step’s taking a leap of faith and doing something about it.”

Later, you convinced a stubborn Pero Tovar to make you a cottage out of The Cupboard. (That’s a whole other story on its own).

Later, Pero kissed you beneath a sky full of shooting stars. It was unexpectedly sweet. Romantic. (Another story for another time.)

Later, you broke Pero’s heart because (beware of spoilers) for all the potential reasons you might’ve been happy together, there was one glaring detail you couldn’t overlook no matter how hard you tried.

He wasn’t Din.

And life went on and on and on.

On one shelf in The Cupboard, towards the back where you kept your wax molds, there was a row of candles—different colors, different infusions, each created with a different person in mind. There was a pink one for your mother, a grey one for your stepfather, light blue for Ginger and green for Benny and yellow for Frankie. Din’s was gold, Will’s a dark shade of purple and Santiago’s a vibrant orange. Pero had a black one, though with the unpleasant awkwardness still lingering after the breakup his had become the least burned in your collection—well, actually that was not entirely true. There was one you’d never lit at all. An earthy brown shade and still as pristine as the day you made it for a familiar you’d yet to meet.

None of these people asked for a candle. They didn’t pay for them or choose their colors or infusions. You made the candles in your own free time of your own volition. Because there was something about the process of melting wax and adding scents, about infusing strength and peace and creativity and protection that gave you a sense of purpose, of being a positive force.

You burned them sporadically, sometimes for hours while you finalized orders, sometimes for under ten minutes as you drank a cup of tea. You burned them when your magic sensed something was needed, a void only it could help fill. You burned them because nothing hurt you worse than when the ones you loved most were suffering, the hopeful vibrance in their eyes dimming and waning.

There were some tragedies which could not be avoided. Some hardships that must be endured and overcome by one’s own strength. Life was never a smooth path for anybody. For every sunny day there were also moonless nights.

But light would always come again.

Afterall, even the biggest of shadows were powerless against the smallest of candle flames.

Monday: breakfast at your mother’s house, yummy biscuits and troubled lines along your stepfather’s brow, news of a sick relative, a grey candle burned to bring him peace of mind.

Tuesday: lunch with Frankie, tired smudges beneath downcast eyes, discussions of nightmares, the dancing flame of a yellow candle promised sweeter dreams.

Wednesday: stacks of orders, piles of laundry, Ginger lent a helping hand, a blue candle lit over dinner in gratitude.

Thursday: Santiago and his restless spirit, the notes of an acoustic guitar played by scarred hands, new song lyrics in black ink, an orange candle ignited to summon enlightenment of life’s priorities.

Friday: woke up before the sunrise, magic tugged at your chest, a gold candle grabbed and lit before you even registered its meaning, heartbeat dangerously frantic.

It’s happening, you thought with a laugh verging on hysterical. It’s really happening.

Din was coming back.

Night had descended upon Eldergrove by the time Din approached The Cupboard. It was reassuring to learn his preference for the cloak of darkness concealing his presence hadn’t changed. Helped appease something ruffled deep inside you, eased the tension in your spine.

He knocked on the door–and that hadn’t changed either, the achingly familiar thud of leather-gloved knuckles against the wood. Even without the gold candle still burning away on your kitchen table, you would have known it was him by the mere sound alone.

Electricity seemed to thrum along your nerves, pulse spasming and fingers trembling as you gripped the doorknob. Your mom had told you Din would return when the timing was right, and you’d believed her. Except absolutely nothing felt right about then and there. It was an impossible clash of too soon and too long without any middle ground to stand on.

Taking a deep breath, you opened the door and stepped outside. A leap of faith.

And for the first time in over a year, you and Din shared the same moon.

#bee reads #my Din

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mc-doppomine · 4 years ago

Note

I love your analysis of Matenro!!!! Its my fav division too 💞

What do you think of Fling Posse? ✨

Aaaahhhh, thank you so much! I’m so glad that others enjoy my thoughts for this series.

As for Fling Posse, I am honestly hoping so much that KR is about to blow the lid on them in this DRB. Because right now, there’s just so mystique about them and a lot of threads that could lead to something bigger but it hasn’t yet. And right now, I think Fling Posse has the most growth to do to catch up with the other divisions. This isn’t me saying they’re not good, don’t get me wrong, but they are missing something for their team.

(I guess we’re going to actual analysis because we all know I can’t just blurb.)

But I think that solely lies in HOW they came together. Which is distinct despite initially seeming like MTC’s way of coming together. Distinct being that FP are so immensely independent as people that their team kind of has suffered. Unlike all the rest of the divisions, FP was the one team that was only together ONLY for rapping together. And at least until they were at ‘serious’ risk of not making it to the 1st DRB (in the FP vs MTR manga) that they got better. Better. But they continued to strongly be just themselves. Which isn’t bad, it’s just that you have a higher chance of the ‘too many chefs’ problem.

Lucky for them, they didn’t have that issue so much as simply being bested. It really could’ve gone either way for them. Personally, I do feel a bit more surprised about their friendship. Not saying that they’re not friends but mmm...I think it really depended on the media that came through for me. FP is one of those divisions that seemed a bit different in from the anime vs...almost everything else I’ve listened to? Like I think the anime is more of what FP gets into once they sufficiently convince the other members to go along with them. But that’s the main thing, if you notice a lot of their initial coming together for the track or chapter, they usually are asking ‘why are you bothering me?’ And it doesn’t always come across as that mean-spiritedness of like calling your friend a mean name that they’d laugh about. They do have a good time once it’s a bit of ribbing but there’s always that brash first few steps.

Which, honestly, is mainly Gentaro being ‘why have you interrupted me this time?’ But to his credit, he’s like the only introvert amongst two high energy friends. And they are also crazy so he needs the time to regain the energy to be straight-faced through whatever bullshit is about to be pulled again. And speaking of Gentaro, he is such a driving force in FP too. Like he’s an unwitting mom friend and he is both aware of it and absolutely exhausted from it. But I do think he cares a lot. Too much to be honest. And I think that may be that part of Gentaro that is kinda romantic at heart. And that he doesn’t want to admit that he only met Ramuda and Dice for one day but if anything were to happen to them, then he’d kill everyone in the room and then himself. A little exaggerated but Gentaro does seem very attached to these guys when he honestly doesn’t seem the type to really make friends. Maybe their energy remind him of his friend or it’s that whole introvert gets brought into a fold because more outgoing person was like ‘I like you, let’s go.’

When it comes to his crew, Gentaro does have apprehension with Ramuda though and kind of rightfully so. His ‘liar’s intuition’ was not off about feeling something was strange with their leader and Ramuda KNEW that Gentaro had that feeling. But they never pried into each other. Gentaro because he could tell Ramuda would shut him out, making his snooping incomplete forever. Ramuda because...well, as far as he’s concerned, he already knows all he needs to about Gentaro. They are honestly such observant and calculating people that they kind of end up in cat and mouse deal. I say this because while I do believe Gentaro does care, I do also believe he is still using Ramuda to some extent for some unseen goal. He probably wouldn’t risk Ramuda’s life over it though.

Ramuda’s whole journey of feelings could best be summed up as him catching feelings and instead of being glad, he’s like ‘No. God. Fuck! WHY?!’ He didn’t ask for this, you bastards tripped him! Like I feel like Ramuda went through this whole time fulfilling his whims because it’s the only time they would ever be filled. And he was running with it never being able to last because all it takes is one order and it’s done. He’s seen it happen. He’s made it happen. There’s no way he can stop it but...because there is some piece of him that aches for humanity. So, he considers his time with FP like sweets, little indulgences he is allowed until eventually he’s pulled away. But Ramuda still feels things and I felt like FP he was much more guarded than he was with TDD because he was still living down the pain he felt for...basically, taking someone important from people he considered friends! He hurt his friends and probably didn’t want to do that to them again. Which explains this false closeness Ramuda puts up with FP.

Although they did get to him during the 1st DRB because Gentaro and Dice only cared about how Ramuda was and him doing things his way and on his own terms. Sure they didn’t know what was happening but they gave him courage to be unapologetically himself since that is what he wanted but he never thought of the weight of what that means. That sometimes being yourself means that you choose a path that isn’t easy. And Gentaro and Dice would know what that’s like. While I believe Gentaro is well off, I’m sure he’s still seen as a weirdo just because of how he dresses. It is stubbornly outdated when he lives in, arguably, one of the most trendy and up-to-date wards but he doesn’t care. He’s himself and to hell with those that make fun of him. And Dice, well, his habits make him do and say strange things. I won’t say he has no pride but he is...shameless, which can be very off-putting in the context of the things he’s done for money or the thrill. And Dice doesn’t care either. He’s doing exactly what makes him happy and that’s all that matters. Because they know, they could convey the sincerity in wanting Ramuda’s self shining through that it actually got him. With the 2nd DRB (which at the time of writing, the FP vs MTC CD is not out), I hope that they allow for more time of FP getting to deal with Ramuda’s ‘true self’ and Ramuda allowing that to show. Which...from what I’ve heard from those that have heard the full version of Black Journey....seems like a strong possibility.

Finally rounding off and probably both fortunately and unfortunately my shortest would be Dice. *cue my long and frustrated groan* He has so much to do with things but he isn’t used. Truly, Dice is underutilized story wise. And unfortunately I have the least to say because his is straight forward. He just does not care. Not that he doesn’t care about FP but he does not care about all the things THEY worry he wouldn’t like them for. He doesn’t care about their past. He doesn’t care what they’ve done. He doesn’t care who they decide to be to him. For Dice, I think it’s a simple ‘but I’m loyal if you feed me and I’ll never leave you because, well I need the food.’ It’s not actually that simple since Dice has never and would never leave FP despite someone that could possibly continually provide what he wants or needs (this lovely man named Rio exists). But I just think that Dice doesn’t really hold grudges. Even though they haven’t interacted this go around, I don’t think he really hates Hifumi and Doppo since that’s a lot time of time to invest in not liking them and I just don’t Dice giving enough shits to do so. I do mainly think it’s because if Dice respects them not prying into them, they’ll do so and not look into him. And it’s this lack of prying that earns both Gentaro and Ramuda’s friendship because they don’t want that. That and Dice would defend them regardless of if they could’ve handled the situation are not. All because they are friends. And nothing else.

Phew. This is a lot. Like way more than the MTR one but that’s because it has so many moving parts. Like FP are so individualistic that you need to go for each one specifically. I hope that this was something close to what you were looking for lovely anon.

#Anonymous #long post #fling posse #ramuda amemura #dice arisugawa #gentaro yumeno

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raviposting · 5 years ago

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So @singledarkshade has a Dream Movie challenge where we are given 6 actors from our favorite TV shows (or movies), a wildcard actor, and an object that should be incorporated into the plot.

I decided to make my movie blurb and character descriptions like a “case file” of suspects as my movie is about a Private Investigator team, so enjoy! :)

CASEFILE: King Investigations is the best investigative group in the country, and they are taking on so-called “unsolvable” cases, refusing new cases until they solve the one they have. One day, an envelope containing $5,000 is slid under their door alongside a note on a strip of paper. The request? To solve the murder of their recently deceased employee. The problem? Every employee of King Investigations is alive and accounted for, so they quickly get on the case - to solve why one of their own is getting murdered, and stop it before it happens.

SUSPECT: Stephanie Beatriz as Aimee Gonzalez

Role: Technology specialist

Background: Suspect was hired 5 years ago after offering up her services for a case where a woman had been missing for 43 years. She solved the case within 24 hours of joining the team as a liaison and was immediately offered a full-time position at King Investigations.

Characteristics: An expert at finding someone, if you’ve left even a trace of yourself online she will work tirelessly to find you. Suspect’s favorite color is pink and seems to have a splash of pink on her at all times, alongside any decorations she ever has laying around. The suspect is an out and proud bisexual woman. Suspect seems bright and bubbly, constantly hugging the other suspects and loudly proclaiming her love for them in public. Genuine happiness or an attempt to throw off the case from herself?

Close relationships: Adam King (best friend), Nelly Johnson (close friend)

Further suspects are listed under the cut:

SUSPECT: Tom Ellis as Adam King

Role: Founder of King Investigations

Background: Suspect founded King Investigations roughly 10 years ago, but has a PI background spanning two decades. He previously worked for Perry Co., but left under good terms to create the company with his husband, co-worker, and new employee.

Characteristics: Suspect is a blunt, to-the-point PI who excels at investigating cases, but is not so great on the whole empathy thing. He is meticulous in every detail, and unlike Suspect Gonzalez’s tech-savviness, prefers everything traditional and vintage - from his work method to his clothes to his furniture. He comes off as sarcastic and dick-ish, and he is, but he’s also fiercely loyal and firmly believes in getting justice in every case. He will not give up, no matter how little he has to go on.

Close Relationships: James King (husband), Lily Mullins (best friend), Aimee Gonzalez (best friend), Andrew Perry (mentor)

SUSPECT: Michiel Huisman as James King

Role: PI - particularly skilled in surveillance

Background: Suspect has been working at King Investigations for 10 years, and like his husband, he migrated over from Perry Co.

Characteristics: The more grounded counter to his husband, the suspect is a more quiet investigative sort, who also specializes in something that comes a bit harder to his husband - empathy. His role seems to involve trailing individuals and smoothing over any issues that arise, whether they be due to the case or Suspect Adam King’s own behavior. Further information on the suspect could not be found at this time.

Close relationships: Adam King (husband), Clancy White (confidant), Andrew Perry (close friend)

SUSPECT: Malcolm Goodwin as Clancy White

Role: “Bodyguard”, particularly skilled in combat

Background: Suspect has been working at King Investigations for the shortest amount of time (2 years). Suspect began as the King Investigation team’s chief suspect in an unsolved murder, which he was promptly cleared of when the true murderer cornered Suspects Mullins and Adam King, and White apprehended them. He was offered a job shortly after. Suspect does not have a PI license and is instead employed as a “bodyguard” for the Kings, although he freely aids in investigations behind-the-scenes.

Characteristics: Suspect is soft-spoken and quiet, but seems to attempt to match the personality and energy of whoever is speaking to him. Suspect is an aromantic man who entered into a queerplatonic relationship with suspect Nelly Johnson, and now lives with Nelly Johnson and Lily Mullins.

Close Relationships: Nelly Johnson (partner), Lily Mullins (friend), James King (best friend)

SUSPECT: Emmy Raver-Lampman as Nelly Johnson

Role: Forensic specialist

Background: Suspect is the one who originally came up with the idea of King Investigations, though she never worked at Perry Co. Suspect worked at the police department for 5 years and became frustrated with the department, and suggested to King and her now-wife (then girlfriend) Mullins that she would gladly work with them under their own company. Suspect immediately quit her department job after King Investigations was founded.

Characteristics: Suspect is sharp-witted and seems to match King’s wit. She is clearly confident and has an inquisitive mind, constantly checking and re-checking every bit of evidence that comes her way.

Close relationships: Lily Mullins (wife), Clancy White (partner), Aimee Gonzalez (friend)

SUSPECT: Isla Fischer as Lily Mullins

Role: PI at King Investigations

History: Suspect has been working at King Investigations for a decade. Much like the others, she migrated over from Perry Co. Out of the original founders, she has the least experience as an investigator, having started as an intern for only a few months before moving to King Investigations.

Characteristics: Suspect is sharp-tongued and has a good poker face. She seems to have strong combat skills and is exceptionally manipulating others into giving her information. She and her wife recently moved in with Clancy White. Suspect is seemingly always on guard, scanning for danger in even the most mundane circumstances. Suspect should be watched closely.

Close relationships: Nelly Johnson (wife), Clancy White (close friend), Adam King (best friend), Andrew Perry (mentor)

SUSPECT: Harrison Ford as Andrew Perry

Role: Former head of Perry Co.

Background: Suspect is the mentor to the Kings and Mullins, who all used to work for him before moving on to create King Investigations. Perry retired shortly before the three announced their business.

Characteristics: He acts as a father figure to these suspects King(s) and Mullins, and sees them regularly, as well as occasionally visiting the other team members. Suspect seemed reluctant to come out of retirement when the investigative team asked him to come out of retirement to help solve the case, but did so upon realizing that it was a life-or-death situation. Suspect seems reserved, but clearly cares for the founding investigators.

Close relationships: Adam King (mentee), Lily Mullins (mentee), James King (close friend)

Item - Lamp

The lamp is remarked upon by every single member of the investigative team. Clancy believes Aimee brought it in, due to her love of pink. Nelly believes Adam brought it in with his love of vintage materials, Adam believes it was Clancy due to his poor taste in decorations, etc. Each team member has an off-hand comment on how ugly the lamp looks before moving on.

BONUS: Plot summary (with some scenes written in because I couldn’t help myself)

We start off with a news-voiceover on King Investigation’s latest bust as we see the team stopping a potential murder. The reporter briefly introduces each character (as we see each doing their own thing in the case), and through the voiceover, we see the team turning in the suspect to the police, as well as discovering valuables of their client’s. She thanks them and provides them with a hefty sum of money. The reporter says the team has solved yet another seemingly unsolveable case and preventing a murder to boot, while we see the team begin to move furniture into a new building. As the voiceover speaks about their professionalism, we see Nelly and Adam arguing, and Nelly throwing out an old vase. Aimee sits on the curb, watching the group arguing and struggling to carry the furniture into the house. The voiceover begins to praise the team for their hard work and perserverance, as we see Clancy turn to Aimee and motion towards the furniture, at which point she shrugs and offers him the chips she has been eating. He accepts and sits down next to her.

The beginning half hour shows the dynamics within the team - a team that seems to bicker constantly, but are obviously very close with one another. They are at lunch with their former boss, Andrew Perry, when he asks how the move is going:

[The team is clustered around a round table outside. CLANCY is holding NELLY’s hand. LILY has a pleasant smile on her face, but she is looking beyond the group, her eyes scanning the area. ADAM has his legs stretched out, prompting an eye roll from AIMEE, and JAMES has made himself as small as possible, crossing his legs to provide AIMEE more room. ANDREW sits next to AIMEE, looking at the group with an amused smile]

ADAM: It’s splendid, really, Andrew, save for Nelly throwing out my furniture yet again -

NELLY: If you get one more ugly-ass vintage piece I am throwing it out, I swear to God.

ADAM, indignant: I - ugly? These are pieces of history.

[ADAM processes that NELLY said she would throw out his pieces]

ADAM: And excuse me? Throw out the furniture I bring into my office? Need I remind you that I am the boss?

NELLY [mocking ADAM’s indignant tone]: Need I remind you King Investigations wouldn’t even be a thing if I didn’t suggest it?

[ANDREW laughs and excuses himself to flag down a waiter and get another round of drinks for the table. As he leaves, ADAM and NELLY have a stare down while the rest of the group ignores them. AIMEE reaches over JAMES to steal a fry from ADAM’s plate, but he swats her hand away, never breaking eye contact. The music swells, until finally -]

NELLY: Fine. I won’t throw away your stupid vintage shit.

ADAM: Aha! See, this is why I am the boss, everyone.

[The group ignores him, and JAMES grabs two fries from ADAM’s plate, giving one to AIMEE]

The team gets settled in, setting up security measures, adjusting things around the office, and giving Perry a tour. We see them in a fully furnished office, pouring over what case they want to take on next. Lily pauses for a moment, thinking she’s heard something, but brushes off the feeling and continues on. The team falls silent when Clancy notices a letter that has slid under their door, alongside an envelope with $50,000 in cash with the message:

CLANCY [with a confused, questioning tone]: My deepest condolences to losing a member of your investigative team, I trust this amount will be enough for you to uncover who carried out this plot, the remainder will be delivered to you upon the completion of the case?

[AIMEE furrows her eyebrows and quickly counts up each member in the room]

AIMEE: Well unless one of us drops in the next 5 seconds, I’d say we’re all pretty alive.

CLANCY: Maybe it’s a joke?

JAMES [gesturing to the money]: It is a very expensive joke.

The team determines that the note was sent in advance because somewhere, the murderer’s plot went wrong, and so they work with two goals in mind: Figure out who is getting murdered, and why.

JAMES: First, we have to figure out who is most likely to be our victim.

[All eyes turn to ADAM, who is intently pouring over the letter. He stops when he hears the lack of silence, and glares at them]

ADAM: Oh come on now, I get the job done.

NELLY: I say this with love, but you’re an asshole, Adam. I think every case we’ve ever worked has at least one person who threatened to kill you.

LILY: And twice it was the victim we were saving.

ADAM: Well that’s just -

NELLY [muttering]: I’d kill you myself over your shitty home decor choices.

[NELLY briefly motions to the garish pink lamp in the corner, but ADAM is not paying attention, because his attention is on JAMES, who has turned to write down ADAM’s name at the top of his whiteboard, and ADAM gives a sound of protest. JAMES looks back at his husband, an apologetic look on his face.]

JAMES: Sorry, Adam. You know it’s true.

ADAM [sighs, waving his hand at the board]: Fine, put me on the board.

[JAMES writes down ADAM’s name at the top of the whiteboard, then underlines his name three times]

Throughout the movie, the team works to identify who the victim could be. Clancy and Lily tail the Kings, convinced that it is Adam or James who are the intended victims. Adam and Aimee work on the idea that it could be due to one of their past cases, and James and Nelly track down the man who sent the letter - a recent British immigrant who claims that he was told to do so and paid by an anonymous caller and that he never got the face. He admits he realized he got the date wrong - 5/6/2021 instead of 6/5/2021, and they realize it is a month before the supposed murder is supposed to take place.

Coming to a pause in their investigation, James, Lily, and Adam ask Andrew for help. He is reluctant but agrees. The group continues on, getting frustrated as they track down lead after lead without any further break. It comes to a head when:

[ADAM slams down a file in frustration, and the other members look up, frustration etched onto their faces as well.]

ADAM: There’s nothing. There probably will be nothing until the murder is supposed to happen.

[CLANCY sighs and leans his head back, wincing when he hits the pink lamp]

CLANCY: Okay, I know that you love pink, Aimee, but this is ugly even with the color scheme.

[The team has a confused look on their faces, and AIMEE and ADAM speak at the same time]

AIMEE: No, Lily brought it in - ADAM: Wait, you didn’t bring it?

LILY: Why would I bring this - CLANCY: Definitely didn’t, man.

[There is a brief pause as each team member processes, and the team speaks over one another]

JAMES: I had just assumed Clancy brought it in as well -

NELLY: Okay, I thought it was Adam. Figured he was just trying to rile me up with his weird furniture.

ADAM: I have taste, Nelly -

[LILY shushes the group]

LILY: So none of us bought this lamp in?

[The group stares at the lamp, and LILY writes on a slip of paper. The other members write as well, understanding that there may be a bug in the lamp, and Nelly grabs her materials to investigate the lamp.]

As the group continues, they find a listening device in the lamp. Aimee works to trace where it came from, but Adam stops her, and looks to Lily and James, a look of understanding passing between them, as they all recognize and used to use this type of listening device before - at Perry Co. They dig into Andrew and find out that he was not intending to retire until he found out about King Investigations - a week prior to them actually telling him of their plan, and a former colleague tells them that Perry had lamented that if Nelly hadn’t brought up the idea, this never would have happened. They determine that Nelly is his target and start their plan.

The next scene, Andrew is visiting the office to help with the case. The team confronts him, laying down the evidence:

ADAM [his eyes are teary, but his tone is angry and cold]: Rather clever of you, got the lamp in what, during the final move? And you listened to us so you’d be ahead of us every step of the way.

AIMEE: Once we figured out it was you, it was all too easy to track the phone you used to contact [letter sender].

LILY [her tone biting]: And we asked you for help. You played hesitant, but we offered you up the case on a silver platter.

JAMES: And we know exactly who you were trying to kill.

[The music swells, and ANDREW’s shoulders slump. He knows that he’s been found out. He and ADAM speak at the same time.]

ADAM: Nelly ANDREW [resigned]: Myself

[There is a pause, and then JAMES speaks, surprise clear in his voice for the first time in the movie]

JAMES: What?

From here, we have the conclusion - Andrew admits that he doesn’t hate Nelly, he respects her for understanding when a change needs to occur. He hadn’t planned on retiring until he found out he was losing his best detectives, but he didn’t want them to go onto their new job with any hesitations or regrets, so he announced his retirement earlier than planned. There was just one problem - he began missing his detectives, who he had come to view as pseudo-children.

Andrew put a plan into place - he would prove, as Aimee did all those years ago, that he could be useful to the team. He concocted a plan where he would fake his death and lead the team down different twists and turns until they found the culprit, at which point he would reveal himself to be alive. Unfortunately, his letter was delivered far too early, and Andrew had to intervene wherever he could in the investigation.

ADAM: I can’t believe this.

ANDREW: I know, I know, it was stupid, I just wanted to show you I was sharp and could still do it.

ADAM: You could have just applied, like a normal person.

ANDREW: I could have, but that wouldn’t be nearly as fun, would it?

JAMES: A murder plot is not fun, Andrew.

The team forgives Andrew, knowing that his intentions were good, but say that they need a bit of time before seeing him again, and he agrees. In the last act a few months later, they are having lunch again, sans Andrew. They return to the office. When they open the door, they see a paper, and Adam sighs before he realizes what it is. It’s a job application, filled out with a resume for an Andrew Perry attached, and he grins.

[ADAM picks up his phone and sits down, the ugly pink lamp right next to him, and the phone rings, until someone picks up.]

ADAM [smiling]: Hello there, I’m calling to follow up with your application to King Investigations. It is rather impressive, and we’d like to call you in for an interview.

[Muffled sounds of a voice coming through the phone, and ADAM grins wider]

ADAM: Wonderful, we’ll see you at 8 AM sharp tomorrow. We look forward to having you on board Mr. Perry

This was so fun to write! Thanks to @ginnxtonic for helping me choose between my two endings lol <3

#stephanie beatriz #malcolm goodwin #michiel huisman #emmy raver lampman #isla fisher #tom ellis #harrison ford #dream movie challenge #idk why the steph photo is so big rip but anyway woot woot #fun fact i completely scrapped my old idea and did this yesterday night a;sdlakjf #bc i'm nothing if not inconsistent apparently #dream movie #janie writes stuff

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dreadnought-dear-captain · 5 years ago

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Happy (Slightly Belated) Birthday, Baghdad Waltz!

*CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR BAGHDAD WALTZ UP TO CHAPTER 37*

I know these are stressful times right now, but I wanted to post a little something for BW’s third birthday on 3/13/2020 (and I’m a little late because I had a lot to say). THREE!! I cannot believe it. Truly, I cannot, but here we are. I know there are still a few stragglers hanging around from when I first started posting this story (extra hearts to you all), so many people who have come and gone and sometimes return again, and so many new people joining this crazy journey all the time.

You are all so great, and you make it possible for me to keep writing this. I probably would have quit a long time ago without your support, because this shit has been quite hard to sustain sometimes. I know I am very bad at keeping up with comments and things, and I’m so sorry. I am terrible with social media, too. People IRL will say the same thing about me. I am super old school and still talk on the phone with my friends. I KNOW.

(Heyyyy Bayside High)

I’ve prepared a couple of things for BW’s birthday. First, a few statistics I thought I’d whip up. Then a few questions and answers about BW, both from myself and from my beloved beta, @pitchforkcentral86. And I’m still trucking away diligently at chapter 38! I just have a few scenes to go.

-- BW Statistics --

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

Words to date: 526,011

Chapters to date: 37

Shortest chapter: 3,821 words (Prologue)

Longest chapter: 31,395 words (Chapter 33)

Number of words per chapter: 12,530 (median), 14,257 (average) (note: the median is probably a better measure, since this is such an abnormal distribution - see below for the changes in chapter length over time)

Estimated total work to date: 2,890-3,120 hours (approx 18-20 hours/week). This includes writing, rewriting, editing, research, conversations with beta, outlining, and a small portion of the brainstorming. This is a conservative estimate and only includes a fraction of the ambient thinking I do about this story. And God, I do so much processing when I sleep! Perhaps I will be a BW “expert” -- estimated at around 10,000 hours I guess? -- by the time I am done with the story and all my revisions hahahahaaaaaa D:

Money spent to date (estimated): $600-700. This includes books on various subject matter and writing craft, video access to therapy education resources, and other educational materials. This does not include the incalculable sum in lost productivity from thinking about BW when I’m supposed to be doing other things!

Most of you probably don’t know this, but @pitchforkcentral86 is not just a beta reader. She is my partner in crime with BW. She knows my characters as well as I do, sometimes better. She helps me troubleshoot scenes, she tells me when my writing sucks, when my I’m not being true to my characters, when I’m not being real enough (sometimes when I’m being TOO real). She gives me porn inspiration and listens to me bitch and calls my bullshit and makes this story what it is. I really mean it - this story would not be nearly as good without her, and you can see how much better it gets once she starts to get involved around chapter 17.

So I decided I would answer some silly little questions about BW. Just my own personal opinions about stuff! And asked @pitchforkcentral86 to contribute as well. See below.

What are my favorite scenes in BW and why?

In no particular order:

The 9/11 memory (Chapter 26): When Steve is in therapy with Hope remembering when Bucky returns from Ground Zero. This was one of the first times I experimented with writing in a sort of stream-of-consciousness way (though certainly not the last!). I have done several tweaks to it since the original version, texturing it more. It’s so rich in detail, visceral detail, little details about their relationship, pieces of Bucky’s past, clues about his alcoholism, the way he handles stress, his difficulties letting Steve in, the love Steve has for him, Bucky’s need to be loved and cared for and his aversion for it, it’s so, so rich. Gah. I love it. (GUH and @buckydunpun’s ART - just murder me. Thanks.)

The Thor “breakup” scene (Chapter 28): This is the moment I think that many people realized Bucky is not a reliable narrator. Maybe they suspected it before, but this is when it’s very obviously apparent. His entire interpretation of his relationship with Thor is thrown into question. He built a rich fantasy about what they were, holding hands in the grass, all this bullshit, and he could actually say they were boyfriends, which makes complete sense because there were never any stakes. It was always surface. There was never any intimacy except as veteran/soldier friends who had sex, which is about as deep as Bucky can go anyway without getting utterly terrified.

This is in such stark contrast to Steve, where there is actual intimacy, ongoing demand for more intimacy, and this relationship feels VERY real to Bucky, and it’s very frightening to him. And that’s why he runs from the term “boyfriend” with Steve. It’s all so real. It’s easy to engage with a fake boyfriend. But still, he didn’t deliberately realize he was doing this, so it was devastating to find out the truth of his own self-deception. And to hear that he’s not the kind of guy you settle with, he’s the guy you fuck… wow. But how can you really hate Thor? (I’m sure some of you can but…) He’s a nice guy. Even Bucky knows it. So he’s run from something good and real (Steve) to something good but false (Thor) and then he gets rejected from both. It’s horrible and so self-defeating and so quintessentially Bucky. I love it.

A Close Second (Spent Brass fic): This whole side fic came together like a glorious dream. I love everything about it. It’s such a wonderful look into their relationship, into their dynamics, into their individual personalities, their idiosyncrasies, so much push-pull between them. Whispers of things that have happened to Bucky in the past, a lack of understanding from Steve, a desire to know, so much affection. Some good sex. I love this SB. But I love all the Spent Brass fics. They are so close to my heart.

Honorable mention: Bucky’s masturbation scene during his bender (Chapter 32). I had an absolute BLAST writing this. Thanks to @pitchforkcentral86 for proposing that Bucky’s core sexual/romantic desire is just to be kissed. Dayum. It all unfolded from there.

Who is the character I think about the most? Bucky. I think because he’s got the most complex history and the most complicated psychology. He’s actually fairly rule-bound in terms of how he operates, but he’s got a lot of back story that explains how he became the way he is, and I spend a lot of time considering what happened to him and how he developed his self-image, his coping strategies, and his ideas about others and the world. I think a lot about his relationship with his parents. I think a LOT about bby Jamie. It’s not because Steve is not important or any less complex. But Bucky’s childhood experiences have shaped him in very specific ways, and I want to make sure that I represent them very thoughtfully.

Who is my favorite character to write? Bucky. His voice and thought processes come to me more easily than Steve’s. Perhaps in part because of my personal penchant for the word “fuck.” I love writing his perspective, his preferences, his interpretations of situations. I love imagining the way he imagines the world.

Who is my favorite supporting character? Winnie. I know she’s a very polarizing character, but I have so much affection for her. I think she’s a badass. She joined the military as a female officer back in the 1970s, which is incredible and rough. She kept her maiden name. This is a Southern conservative woman, an Air Force brat, raised by very conservative Southern people in a very conservative Pentecostal church, but she has always had an irrepressible rebellious, feminist badass streak in her even before she knew what feminism was. She might not even define herself as a feminist now. She has always done the best she can under very difficult circumstances, and she loves her kids, even though she sometimes sucks quite badly at mothering them. I love her for her imperfections.

Favorite topic to research this year: I’ve been really enjoying researching emotionally focused couples therapy, which was developed by Sue Johnson, EdD. I’ve been watching therapy videos of couples going through this and having a wonderful time imaging Bucky and Steve going through something similar with Claire. I don’t think Claire is the strictest adherent to EFT, but I think she’s informed by it. It’s tough, because I’m very used to cognitive behavioral type therapies, so this one has been different to think about writing. I’ve also been really getting into reading about childhood sexual abuse and its effects on boys and men. It’s greatly helped my conceptualization of Bucky and Bucky and Steve’s relationship. I mean, it’s a grim topic, but there have been some fascinating threads in terms of understanding one’s self perception of sexual orientation, etc. and thinking about how Bucky would consider and contextualize his experiences.

Am I more of a Steve or a Bucky? Hmm. I don’t strongly relate to either, but I think if I had to choose, I’m a bit more of a Steve. I’m pretty expressive of my affection and positive emotions, and I’ll complain about daily life things enough. However, when it comes to major life events that really bother me, I tend to err on the side of not processing them and turning my feelings into headaches and other physical afflictions. In other words, I’m a suppressor of major emotions and events. It’s FINE. I’m FINE. Nothing to see here. But I am definitely not as tidy as Steve, nor as smart, and definitely not as buff or hot. So that’s where most of our similarities end lol. I do eat a lot of tofu though.

Who would I want to hang out with for a day? I initially thought Rikki, but like @pitchforkcentral86, think she’s actually too cool and smart for me, and I would probably just make an ass out of myself. I think probably Elektra. I know, this is a left field answer, but it’s one day! To do whatever with anyone! I want to choose someone who’s going to make it worth my while. So many of the characters are either too busy, too rigid, too anxious, too conventional, etc. I would want to run around NYC with Elektra for the day and have drinks with her and Matt afterwards at some weird-ass underground bar. My more infield answer would probably be Hank. I want him to tell me gay stories about gay things. I want to see his apartment. I want to drink coffee with him. I want him to tell me about what the AIDS crisis was like for him. I want to hear about his relationship with Howard. I want all the shit that Bucky takes for granted every day. He can be my fairy godmother any day.

Who would I want to be friends with? Probably Sharon. She’s one of the most reliable, loyal, and level-headed people in this world. She’s smart, she’s flexible, she rolls with things pretty well but also doesn’t take a ton of bullshit. She also has a good sense of humor about things. I feel like she’s someone I could call with my Zack Morris phone and talk with for hours about all sorts of things. We could also split a bottle of wine and talk some real shit.

Wait - Why not Bucky or Steve? I don’t think these two are entirely likable, to be honest. They’re good humans, they mean well, but I don’t think they’re very well equipped in the friendship department. I care about them very deeply (I hope that’s clear), but I don’t know if I’d want to be particularly close to either of them at this point in their lives. They’re both lacking in the skill and perspective to be good friends and partners, which is a major reason why they are in therapy.

Who would I want to be my therapist - Hope, Bruce, Scott, or Claire? Claire. Given how much I suck at talking about the things that are really deeply bothering me, I think I would need an emotionally focused therapist who is going to dig in there and really get me to focus on all the emotions I’m trying to shove away. I would probably try to over-intellectualize everything and deflect, and I don’t think she’d let me get away with that.

Okay, on to @pitchforkcentral86~~~~~

What are my favorite scenes in BW and why?

Oh boy. Well, this is a difficult question to answer since it feels like every chapter becomes a new favorite simply due to sheer amount of time spent planning and composing and revising and whining and complaining. And also my memory sucks. BUT, with that said, I think I would like to mention three scenes specifically:

1) Bucky on deployment, cleaning a Humvee (Chapter 7), Steve standing nearby. This scene conveyed the tension of deployment and between Steve and Bucky so well, and, perhaps more importantly, built my respect towards Bucky as a competent, caring NCO (to that effect, the small scene in which we see Bucky the NCO on film telling all the little grunts to eat so they can become big and strong is another favorite).

2) Beautiful Boy (Spent Brass), Steve’s memory from childhood with Sarah at the park, naming animals. I really don’t have a good reason other than that scene was so clear to me in my mind and was especially tender.

3) Steve sleeping with Sharon in DC (Chapter 33). Honestly, it was just a great scene, and we had a really good time planning it out.

I can include many more, and certainly the ones Dread mentioned are favorites too, but I have to stop or this will just be a squeee fest.

Who is my favorite supporting character?

Hank. His particular brand of honesty is extremely appealing to me, and I think Bucky secretly, or not so secretly, loves him too. And also Quill, just for shits and giggles because he is reliably there as an ice breaker, that lovable Mountain-Dew-drinking goof.

Favorite topic to research this year:

Well, I don’t do the research myself, but I spend many, many m-a-n-y hours listening to and conversing with Dread about all the things he’s delved into for this fic. So I guess maybe I’ll turn this question into favorite topic to discuss/conceptualize. In that respect, Bucky’s and Jack’s relationship has been by far the most intriguing, grueling, fascinating and difficult aspect of this fic to conceptualize – those were some of the best talks in the process. [Dreadnought edit: You will see much more of this in future chapters, folks!] And for a fun answer, planning out sex scenes is hilarious.

Am I more of a Steve or Bucky?

Bucky, no doubt. Sometimes it feels like Dread has climbed into my brain, found a horrible nugget of truth about me, and then put it into words coming out of Bucky’s mouth. Those moments are both wonderful and terrible in equal measure.

Who would I want to hang out with for a day?

For a whole day? Can it maybe be a coffee or, like, a quick lunch? I honestly don’t know… Neither Steve nor Bucky will be very good company, I think. Not in their current versions, anyways. Rikki is hella cool but she intimidates me, so, not her. Um.. Huh. Nope, don’t have an answer.

Who would I want to be friends with?

Probably Hank, again. He has a really good attitude. I’m starting to feel like not picking Steve/Bucky is selfish because it’s like “oh, they have too many issues and it won’t be fun”. But it’s also true! Friendship is reciprocal, and I really don’t think that’s where they’re at. (But I would have totally been dying to be friends with Steve in his bookshop days).

Who would I want to be my therapist - Hope, Bruce, Scott, or Claire?

Hope or Claire. Both are no-nonsense competent therapists. But I think maybe Hope will be too put-together for me. So, yeah, probably Claire.

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

Okay, everyone. Back to the grind. I’ll update as soon as I can! Remember to wash your hands with the fastidiousness of BW Steve Rogers. (And also remember to sing the “happy birthday fucking everyone” song, which should actually be sung TWICE or resentfully enough that it lasts 20 seconds.)

#baghdad waltz #happy birthday #fucking everyone #I love you

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funtooza · 4 years ago

Link

Riddle of the Day

Riddles of the day are Summer Brain Teasers

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What 2 things are you able to ne’er eat for breakfast?

Lunch and Dinner

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A clock.

What tastes higher than it smells?

A Tongue.

What quite a space has no doors or windows?

A Mushroom.

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During what month do individuals sleep the least?

February, it is the shortest month.

What’s orange and looks like a parrot?

A Carrot

What goes up and ne’er comes down?

Your Age

What word becomes shorter after you add 2 letters to it?

Short.

Two youngsters are born on an identical day from identical mother however they’re not twins. however is that possible?

Also, try these

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They are triplets!

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Johnny after all.

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Mt. Everest; it simply wasn’t discovered nevertheless.

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There is no dirt within the hole.

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A Duscart.

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What gets wetter a lot of it dries?

A Towel.

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Incorrectly.

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All Of Them.

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He is bald.

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The Outside.

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Household Items and kitchen Appliances

Six fish are within the pool if 3 die what percentage ar within the pond?

Three.

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The Stairs.

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It Wasn’t raining outside.

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rannadylin · 6 years ago

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Some more of 100 Warm Up DnD Character Questions from beyond tumblr, courtesy of the GM! (Omitting a few that I answered in the earlier posts)

3. What are your character’s core moral beliefs?

She’s very much internalized her Eothasian upbringing; she’s all about that Benevolence/Honesty combo. “Be a little kinder than you have to” is pretty much her creed. She’s inclined to give people the benefit of the doubt and to be humble, to the extreme of not really standing up for herself much even when she should. She’s also a terrible liar and is aware of this fact so she’s just always much more honest than she has to be, too.

9. What deity, if any, does your character worship? What’s their opinion on other people’s worship?

She worships Eothas (though I think, with all the doubts raised by actually meeting him/Waidwen, her worship for the next few years will be a little less confident. She won’t quite give up on him, but she’s still not sure how much she trusts him now. She’s got a bit of abandonment issues after he un-godliked her, telling her she deserved to be free of him; I know he meant well but Dal isn’t sure if he was trying to drive her away or what. Slight spoiler for Dal-fic to eventually be written: she will revise that view and realize what a blessing he meant that to be [or so she’ll think, at least; it’s unlikely she’ll ever realize cutting that link actually meant she was spared from the possibility of Eothas consuming his godlikes to animate Maros Nua’s statue, if that’s how that all in fact worked….] when certain events occur which could not have ever occurred for a godlike…and I’m not even sure they technically could in Dal’s situation but they’re gonna XD

12. What is your character’s current goal, summed up in one sentence?

Get her family to safety (i.e., far from places that hate both orlans and Eothasians) so she can actually get to know them.

23. If your character could go back in time and change one thing about their life, what would it be?

She’s glad she grew up with Siofra and learned to be a priest, but she would like to have known her parents during that time too.

24. Which other player character does your character find themselves having the most in common with?

Ooooh let’s see *starts counting things off on fingers*…obviously none of them have the same god or race and they’re all a fair bit older than her. (Well, accounting for race lifespans, Nona might be the closest to Dal’s age?) She likes Ona best but I don’t know if that’s due to having anything in common as much as Ona’s outgoing, cheerful, laid-back personality being a good balance for Dal’s shy, quiet, skittish one. (I mean, her best friend growing up in the temple, Weynid, was pretty similar to Ona in those respects…) They do have in common being the shortest half of the god squad though! Yarrow is about as quiet as Dal is though probably not for the same reasons – and they both can bake though I don’t think Dal had a chance to learn that in character. From what I know, Dal might in fact have the most in common with Nona, but again she might not realize all of the details they have in common: both brought up to be priests (more or less), both just now reuniting with missing family members (more or less successfully). Also they both did a lot of the cooking on the trip, which would be one of the things Dal would focus on. 😊

42. What does your character think is the true meaning of life?

To brighten the world in whatever small ways you can. (Also can I just say I love that they made this question #42 XD)

48. What aspect of your character’s future are they most curious about? (If they could know one thing about the future, what would it be?)

Hmmm Dal doesn’t tend to be very curious about things, but I think she would like to know how things will work out in the Saint’s War. (I mean, she thinks she’d like to know that. Actually knowing it would be a thing she would very much not like, considering.) She’ll always want to know how Siofra is doing back in Gilded Vale, though, which is part of why she won’t like actually knowing the results of the war.

74. What makes your character feel safe?

Routine and a familiar environment/people. (No wonder she’s so skittish on this trip…)

100. What, currently, is your character the most curious about?

She’s very curious to get to know her family!

#from the desk of ranna #idalia #poe god squad campaign #thanks for asking!#warm up asks

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letterboxd · 5 years ago

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Screen Time.

Can the data about actors’ time on screen help bust open Oscars category fraud? Jack Moulton talks to stopwatch-wielding Academy Awards fan Matthew Stewart about his hours (and hours, and hours) of timing Academy-nominated performances down to the second. Pictured above are the longest on-screen appearances for winning lead and supporting performances: Charlton Heston, Vivien Leigh, Tatum O’Neal and Mahershala Ali.

“It’s a shameful practice and in order to argue against it, there has to be evidence.” —Matthew Stewart

The Oscar categories for Supporting Actress and Supporting Actor were introduced at the 9th Academy Awards in 1937 to recognize those who excelled in roles that were less-than-leading, but no less important to the story. It’s a category in which emerging actors, fantastic character performers and non-famous industry veterans have found their way to Oscar glory.

Except that in recent decades, there’s so much more to an Oscar-winning performance than what we see on screen. It’s often a deliberate campaign, using every publicity trick in the book: red carpet walks, ‘surprise’ Q&A appearances, press coverage about the sacrifices involved in playing the part, narratives about previous ‘awards snubs’.

And then there’s category fraud—a strategy where studios split two stars across two categories, in order to nudge both towards the Academy’s podium. Example: for their equally leading roles in Carol, Cate Blanchett won the leading actress nomination, while Rooney Mara was nominated for supporting actress.

The problem, as Anne Thompson writes in her recent Thompson on Hollywood column assessing this year’s likely category-shifts, is “when lead actors (or actresses) decide they have a better chance in supporting, they take a slot away from another deserving performer”.

As history moves on and the politics fade away, measuring screen time is perhaps one of the few objective, quantifiable and finite pieces of information the director passes along to the audience and Oscar voters about an actor’s contribution to a film.

Enter Matthew Stewart: a 28-year-old Oscar buff and Letterboxd member from North Carolina who’s been following the Academy Awards for fourteen years. Curious as to why Frances McDormand and William H. Macy were nominated for Lead Actress and Supporting Actor respectively for Fargo, he set out to investigate how egregious their category placements were, by comparing their time on screen. Turns out Macy is on screen for 38 seconds longer than McDormand.

Matthew is our type of completist. Over the past twelve years, he has made it his mission to time all of the Academy Award nominated performances; tracking actors’ seconds on screen (whether seen or heard), keeping track of the time in his notepad, and then summing it all up. He certainly knows more than the Academy, who broadcasted incorrect trivia on last year’s Oscar game that Matthew was quick to put right.

His motivation is largely to debunk myths, such as the commonly repeated ‘fun fact’ of Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs having the shortest Best Actor Oscar-winning performance. The shortest, in fact, is David Niven’s appearance in Separate Tables, which is exactly one minute and thirteen seconds shorter than Hopkins’ Hannibal Lecter.

Of course, screen time does not reflect quality by any means. Having a character on screen for longer does not mean the role is better acted or more well-written. In many ways, it can be more impressive when an iconic or powerful character is technically on screen for half an hour or less.

We spoke to Matthew about his hobby, his opinions on category fraud, and the data he has on this year’s nominees. He shares his results on Twitter, his Letterboxd profile and his website, Screentime Central.

Vivien Leigh in ‘Gone with the Wind’ (1939).

Let’s get to those stats. In Academy Award history, what is the longest performance to be nominated for an Oscar? Matthew Stewart: By length, 1940 Best Actress winner Vivien Leigh is seen on screen in Gone with the Wind for two hours, 23 minutes and 32 seconds. By percentage, 1976 Best Actor nominee James Whitmore is on screen in Give ’em Hell, Harry! for 96.52 percent of the film’s runtime.

And the shortest? Both by length and percentage, 1960 Best Supporting Actress nominee Hermione Baddeley is on screen in Room at the Top for only two minutes and 19 seconds, which is just 1.98 percent of the film’s runtime.

You’ve done the math: what was the most egregious category fraud of all-time? And also—the worst failed attempt at category fraud? The most egregious case of category fraud is Richard Burton’s supporting nomination for My Cousin Rachel. Others come close, but that is the worst. He’s the main focus of the film and is in 85 percent of it, making it one of the 25 longest performances nominated in any category. And his co-star, Olivia de Havilland, is only in 44 percent of the film, so there’s no explaining it.

One of the most serious cases of fraud I can think of that didn’t result in a nomination is Jacob Tremblay being campaigned as supporting for Room. It’s a shame that that kind of bias against child actors still exists. And then there are cases where a definitive decision on placement wasn’t made, resulting in no nomination at all, like Lesley Manville in Another Year.

How does your husband feel about your time-consuming hobby? I actually didn’t tell anyone about my hobby for the first four years or so. I wanted to avoid the judgment of people thinking it was odd.

My husband was interested as soon as I told him and showed him my work up to that point. He’s always been willing to listen to my Oscar-related ramblings, so I shouldn’t have been worried!

Why do you think it’s important to keep such scientific track of category fraud? I think it’s important to because it’s a shameful practice and in order to argue against it, there has to be evidence. And the evidence is stacking up just about every year. I want to provide as much screen-time data as possible as a way to support correct category placements, and of course I hope that someday the Academy will catch on.

Now we have the data, has category fraud gotten worse over the years? Can you tell if the recent absence of Weinstein has helped ease fraud? Category fraud seems to have gotten worse in recent years, with cases like Rooney Mara [in Carol] and Alicia Vikander [winner of Best Supporting Actress for The Danish Girl] in 2016 and the cast of The Favourite last year. But really, it’s not any worse now than it’s been since the introduction of the supporting categories.

The worst thing about it now is how blatantly greedy some studios are in terms of winning as many Oscars as possible. It’s sad that we’ll never again see two leading actors or actresses nominated for the same film out of fear of them cancelling each other out and neither winning. Campaigning one of them as supporting makes for two potential wins.

I think Weinstein intensified the trend so long ago that his absence doesn’t change much. Some studios have campaigned that way for so long that I don’t think it will get better any time soon.

Which is the most significant difference between a nominated lead and supporting performance in the same film? [See Matthew’s list: Who’s Supporting Who?] The worst case is Timothy Hutton [supporting] over Mary Tyler Moore [leading] in Ordinary People. Hutton is onscreen for 32 minutes and eighteen seconds more than Moore! I would personally classify both of those performances as leading, as well as Donald Sutherland’s performance in the same film.

Meryl Streep in ‘Kramer vs. Kramer’, the first—and longest—of her three Oscar-winning roles, from a record 21 nominations.

Have you timed which actor or actress has the most Oscar nominated minutes ever? Or, let me rephrase: how many minutes do Meryl Streep’s 21 Oscar nominated performances add up to? Meryl Streep’s Oscar-nominated performances add up to 21 hours, 19 minutes, and 39 seconds, which gives her an average of about 61 minutes per performance.

And the runners up? After Streep, it’s Katharine Hepburn (12:45:10), Jack Nicholson (12:32:27), Bette Davis (12:09:13), and Laurence Olivier (10:54:22).

Which were the hardest and easiest films to time? Naturally, the harder it is to see the actor on screen, the harder it is to time them. So I really despise drawn-out battle scenes or scenes with huge crowds. Timing Charlton Heston’s performance in Ben-Hur during the chariot racing scene wasn’t that hard, because you know where he is, but timing Hugh Griffith’s performance in the same scene was much harder because he’s part of that enormous crowd.

The easiest one I’ve ever done is James Whitmore in Give ’em Hell, Harry!, since it’s a filmed one-man stage show. Sleuth and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? were easy too, because there are so few actors in the cast.

What results surprised you the most? I remember being shocked to find out that Robert Strauss’s supporting performance in Stalag 17 is nineteen minutes longer than William Holden’s leading one. But still, in that case, I don’t have a problem with the category placement. More recently, I was surprised by the shortness of Sam Elliott’s performance in A Star Is Born [eight minutes, 45 seconds!], and the fact that Scarlett Johansson’s performance in Marriage Story is 20 minutes shorter than Adam Driver’s.

Of those you’ve timed so far, what are the screen times for this year’s nominees? [Actors are ranked below by screen time as a percentage of each film’s total runtime.]

Best Actor in a Leading Role: Joaquin Phoenix (Joker) – 1:43:44 / 85.3% Adam Driver (Marriage Story) – 1:25:03 / 62.1% Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes) – 1:12:42 / 57.7% Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory) – 59:31 / 52.5% Leonardo DiCaprio (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) – 1:01:12 / 37.9%

Best Actress in a Leading Role: Renee Zellweger (Judy) – 1:27:29 / 74.0% Cynthia Erivo (Harriet) – 1:25:12 / 68.2% Saoirse Ronan (Little Women) – 1:15:01 / 47.7% Scarlett Johansson (Marriage Story) – 1:05:19 / 47.7% Charlize Theron (Bombshell) – 37:16 / 34.3%

Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Anthony Hopkins (The Two Popes) – 55:14 / 43.9% Brad Pitt (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) – 55:12 / 34.2% Al Pacino (The Irishman) – 53:58 / 25.8% Tom Hanks (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood) – 44:56 / 41.4% Joe Pesci (The Irishman) – 43:22 / 20.7%

Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Florence Pugh (Little Women) – 42:06 / 31.2% Margot Robbie (Bombshell) – 26:16 / 24.2% Kathy Bates (Richard Jewell) – 25:06 / 19.2% Laura Dern (Marriage Story) – 18:36 / 13.6% Scarlett Johansson (Jojo Rabbit) – 15:36 / 14.4%

It looks like the more time on screen, the better the chances of a win, judging by some of the frontrunners this year. Is that an identifiable trend in your data? Looking at the data from the last ten years, Oscar wins do tend to favor longer performances across all categories. The shortest Best Actor or Actress nominee of the year has only won once since 2010—Olivia Colman last year for The Favourite.

The average winning leading performance since 2010 is 75 minutes long (63 percent of screen time), with none under 50 minutes (when the previous decade had eight under 50, and five under 40 percent). The average winning supporting performance since 2010 is 36 minutes long (28 percent of screen time), with only one under 20 minutes (which was Allison Janney in I, Tonya).

Have you noticed any fun stats for this year’s nominees? The only screen-time-related stat I’ve noticed is that this year’s Supporting Actor nominees have either the highest or second-highest average length of all time in the category. I can’t say for sure until after I time Tom Hanks, nominated for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

With an average age of 71.6, this year’s Supporting Actor Oscar nominees are the oldest group ever nominated in any acting category. This is the fourth time this decade that the Supporting Actors have broken the long-standing record of 61.3 held by the 1965 Supporting Actress group.

Also, all of this year’s acting nominees make up the second-oldest group ever nominated, with an average age of 51.8. The record is still 53.1 for 2017—the third time the record was broken this decade after previously being held by (again) the 1965 group (49.3).

So far, this year’s nominees haven’t broken any records. Phoenix’s performance could be the overall longest Oscar-winning performance of the decade, but that’s about it.

Mahershala Ali as Don Shirley in ‘Green Book’ (2018).

What nominees in the past decade broke records? I think one thing worth mentioning is that Mahershala Ali just broke the record for longest Supporting Actor winning performance last year [for Green Book], previously held by Christoph Waltz in 2013 [for Django Unchained], who took the record from Timothy Hutton.

And the female percentage record was broken twice this decade after being held since 1991 by Meryl Streep [for Postcards from the Edge]; by Marion Cotillard in 2015 [for Two Days, One Night] and then by Charlotte Rampling in 2016 [for 45 Years].

Three of the ten longest Best Supporting Actress-nominated performances of all time (by minutes) are from 2016 (Mara, Vikander, Leigh). Mara and Vikander also make the percentage top ten, along with Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit), Emma Stone (The Favourite) and Julia Roberts (August: Osage County)—so exactly half of that top ten are from this decade alone.

2019 was the first time ever that two performances under ten minutes were nominated for Best Supporting Actor in the same year—Sam Elliott, and Sam Rockwell in Vice.

And what about performances you timed from 2019 that were snubbed? (More from other years are here.)

Awkwafina (The Farewell) – 1:00:19 / 60.4% Zhao Shuzhen (The Farewell) – 37:33 / 37.6% Constance Wu (Hustlers) – 1:02:31/ 56.8% Jennifer Lopez (Hustlers) – 53:09 / 48.3% Robert De Niro (The Irishman) – 2:14:19 / 64.1% Lupita Nyong’o (Us) – 57:21 / 49.3% Robert Pattinson (The Lighthouse) – 1:23:18 / 76.4% Willem Dafoe (The Lighthouse) – 56:02 / 51.4% Margot Robbie (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) – 17:00 / 10.5%

You’ve watched more nominees than most people (let’s face it, maybe all people). Forgetting screen time, what are the most underrated nominated performances you think people should check out? Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in The Guardsman (I can’t separate them, sorry!), Mickey Rooney in The Bold and the Brave, and Norma Shearer in Marie Antoinette.

How about greatest snubs. Who are you dying to see get nominated for an Oscar? When I think of who the Academy has snubbed the most, I immediately think of John Goodman. He’s everyone’s go-to answer, but it’s true. After him, I’d say Emily Blunt, Steve Buscemi and Alfred Molina.

What Oscar win are you rooting for the most on Sunday? My favorite Oscar-nominated performance of the year is Joaquin Phoenix in Joker. I know the film is polarizing, but he’s undeniable, and I hope he wins. As for upsets in below-the-line categories, I’d love it if The Lighthouse won Best Cinematography, and it’d be so cool if Parasite won Best Film Editing.

The 92nd Academy Awards take place on Sunday, February 9, at 5:00pm PST. See also: The Best Best Picture Lineups and All the 2020 Oscar Nominees.

#academy awards #oscars #oscar #oscars 2020 #awards #acting #actors #time on screen #matthew stewart #leading actor #leading actress #supporting actor #supporting actress #letterboxd

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thecardsimagine · 6 years ago

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I can! Thank you for asking about the two of them ~♥ To sum it up it was like/TLDR:

Meets vulture

They stare at each other

She keeps on walking, but vulture follows

+1 familiar gained

Named him Hubsi

___________________

Traveling from her home town to Vesuvia took her more than a year almost, even though it is roughly eight months of travel. Susanne made a lot of stops in different cities and not always followed the shortest path, which caused her an immense time delay, but if asked, she would do it again the same way. For a big part, she had to travel through a mountain pass with a town before and after it, so there was a lot of camping and patching up her clothes after getting them stuck in between rocks a few times

It’s not unusual to the time in which she went over the mountains that griffon vultures are seen summering on the rocks and up to the point where she met Hubsi, she had already witnessed a few of them around. Susanne didn’t particularly like having them fly over her because she thought they might just be waiting for her to find her end, and that was not what she planned at all. So originally they gave her a bit of a bad feeling, and she’d walk faster when she saw them approach

Unsurprisingly, it did make her jump when suddenly one of them landed directly in front of her, a small wonder she didn’t fall over the knee-high bird and really harm either of them on the rocky path. When she finally got a grip on herself, she noticed how the bird was watching her with it’s big, round eyes. Susanne decided it was best not to anger one bird and have all the others come to protect it, so she made as big as possible of a circle around it, but it would always follow her movements, sometimes ruffling its feathers and opening up the wings, chortling.

When she finally managed to get back on track, she did it on fast feet, but looking back over her shoulder she noticed the vulture jumping after her which seemed very threatening at first and made her walk even faster for a while until she had enough and found herself out of breath. Of course, the bird only made bigger jumps, flying a little but always keeping close to the ground, and when she finally confronted it, it let her pet its head and chest.

Strangely enough, she kind of accepted the company then and there, just like that. She did see familiars back at home, and though a griffon vulture wasn’t what she had expected and she isn’t all too big on the magical aspects of her family anyway, she was just glad she wasn’t talking to herself anymore and named him* Hubsi after discussing names for a while. At first, she still thought he might not come back whenever he took flight and either circled over her head for a while or disappeared. But latest at night he came jumping back, settling down next to her camp

* Susanne gave him the name not knowing his gender or being able to talk to him in the beginning. She just suggested, and Hubsi gave her the coo to go, and she’s very relieved she didn’t accidentally settle with any of the other names she suggested

#Susanne #Apprentice Susanne #The Arcana #The Arcana game #The Arcana Imagines #The Arcana Headcanons #The Arcana Scenarios #The Arcana fanfictions #the arcana fan apprentice #fanapprentice #fan apprentice #fan-apprentice

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fiddleabout · 6 years ago

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I hope this isn't too invasive or weird anything and am sorry if it is, but I find a lot of music through your blog, including Julien Baker, and was reading an interview she did where she talked about not leaving the south because if all of the queer people leave then no one will be left to change it. And I know you've mentioned being from the south, and being queer, and I also am queer and in the south (GA) and have always wanted to leave but never knew if I should stay or go (1/2)

I think there are a lot of ways to answer this, but the shortest is this: yes, I think the south can be saved, and no, it's not your responsibility to do it.

The longer answers are, well. There's a lot to consider. I lived in the south for 25 years before I left and grew up visibly not straight in a conservative community. I spent a lot of time in moderately accepting-- and I say accepting to cover most things that fall between "openly homophobic/sexist/racist" and "fully working to accept and address systemic and systematic injustices from homophobia/sexism/racism"-- areas and communities, and a not insignificant amount of time in openly, virulently hateful places. The south, like I imagine most regions and communities that have open discrimination and bigotry woven into them, has a lot of terrible people who would like to see someone like me shot in the street and have told me as much. It also has a lot of extraordinary, wonderful people, people I'm privileged to call my friends, people who never want to leave, not because they think it doesn't need to be saved but because they think it's worth saving.

Hatefulness and bigotry, codified or otherwise, aren't the sum of places like the south. I'm having a very super queer wedding this fall and my family-- my Republican parents, my heavily religious sister, my aunts and uncles and cousins and godparents who live scattered across the deepest parts of the deep south-- are all coming to celebrate us. Some of my best friends live there still, some of whom are queer and some of whom aren't, all of whom believe stringently and deeply that their communities are more than the bigotry and hatefulness and terribly discriminatory actions and laws that are so unfortunately frequent. The south can be terrible and scary if you're not an able-bodied cishet white guy, but so can everywhere else. The south can be wonderful and welcoming and kindhearted even if you're not an able-bodied cishet white guy, and so can everywhere else.

So yes. I think the south can be saved for people like you and me. I think Georgia can be saved for people like you and me. But to get to the second part of your question: it's not your responsibility to save it.

I don't think I know about the interview you read, but I can imagine it's similar to a lot of things I've heard: if we leave the south to the bigots, it'll never cease to be bigoted. It's not untrue. People and communities and governments will only change when they need to, and if their bigotry can drive away everyone they dislike, they'll never have a need to change, and things very much do need to change.

It's an extraordinary and admirable thing, to want to hold your ground in your home with the people who support you and support changing things for the better, and acting to do so. It's admirable, and it's hard, and if you want to, if you're able to, then you're doing something incredible. But you're not obligated to. You're not obligated to be some light in the dark, to open yourself up to homophobia and discrimination. It's neither your job nor your responsibility to stay somewhere that, for all of the good people you may know there who love and support you and your rights, may have codified it's distaste for you and your queerness.

I left when I was in 25 and went literally as far away as possible without leaving the continental United States. I will probably never move back. I left for graduate school and figured that I would probably move back after, but I didn't. I moved to places where being queer mattered less, where I was no longer the person most likely to draw attention in any situation just based on how I dressed. I'd never realized what it could be like, to live somewhere with the privilege of my sexuality not mattering anymore. I'd never realized what it could be like to not feel like some poster child for queerness or acceptance in any given community, to be a person first instead of a discriminated-against party first. The ability to leave is a privilege that not everyone has, and it's one that I took advantage of, and I felt guilty for a long time about it because the queer people I knew who still lived in southern communities didn't have the privileges I had because of leaving. But I had to leave, for so many different reasons, and being some light in the dark wasn't a reason to stay; it's taken the better part of a decade for me to come to terms with that. If you have the ability to leave, and you WANT to leave, then being a light in the dark is a fine reason to stay, but it shouldn't be your only one. Your job, as a human, is first and foremost to live your own life: to be healthy and to be safe. It's not your responsibility to sacrifice any of that, or your own happiness, to stay somewhere and try to drag it out of the dark ages.

So, yes. I fully believe the south can be saved, for people like you and me and the queer community. Some of it already has been, or is in the process of it. It's an extraordinary thing to have witnessed just in my lifetime. But also: you've no responsibility to stay there to do it, and it doesn't make you any less of a good person if you don't. I think it can be saved, and I think it's worth saving, and I think that staying to try and contribute to progress is an incredible thing to do, but that isn't why you should stay. Everyone deserves an opportunity to make a home somewhere that doesn't discriminate against them, but that doesn't mean you're obligated to stay in the home you were born into and try to fix it. If you want to do that, that's wonderful. If you don't, and you want to move somewhere else, that's also wonderful. But it's not your job to be the light in the dark.

#anonymous #long post for ts #i got this ask this morning after i got back from the gym and i've been thinking about it since then #whole lotta feelings getting dredged up on this rainy rainy wednesday #Anonymous

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jeremiahwasajoker · 7 years ago

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5x01 (Year Zero): A Review

Hey guys! As you know, Gotham’s first episode of season 5 debuted on Thursday, and I AM SHOOK BEYOND BELIEF! I felt it was necessary to document my thoughts and reactions for this episode, so here I am. I wanted to gather all my thoughts on the episode in one place, just to clear my head out a bit and to share some theories and thoughts!

WARNING: This includes spoilers. If you have not seen the episode yet and want to avoid seeing any information about it, I would advise you to not look at this until you have done so. Without further ado, let’s get started!

So, first thing’s first: I want to give a shout out to Danny Cannon and Jessica Lucas. This was Danny’s last episode as an executive producer on Gotham, and the show would not be the same without him. As we all know, this is Jessica’s last episode, too, as Tabitha died. She was a strong, outstanding character that added that much pizazz to the show, and she will be deeply missed by not only me, but so many other fans who enjoyed her development and presence.

Also, I think it’s necessary to say thank you to all the departments of design, whether it be for the costumes, cinematography, etc. The costumes were to die for this episode! The visuals were stunning and movie-like! I can’t wait to see what else they do for these next 11 episodes coming up.

Next, I would like to review what I thought about some of the arcs of major characters and scenes that were incredible throughout Year Zero. They are in no particular order! Here we go!

“If it’s the last thing I do...”

Wow. Just wow. Erin Richards really did give me the chills with this scene. Her shouting into the camera was absolutely perfect, as we can see that she really conveyed Barbara’s grief of Tabitha’s passing in these twelve seconds. I was blown away. Not only by this scene, but even in the big fight scene that I’ll get to later. I know Barbara is not on the top of everyone’s list as their favorite, but I can say that I am so excited to see the rest of her arc. This scene really took the cake for me.

“Hope”

I would first like to say that I am a huge fan of Jim’s inspirational speeches throughout the series. This one was really a unifying moment for the GCPD, as they decided that they were going to do the best job they could, no matter what, to save the citizens of Gotham from the wrath of the villains. I think this was a really strong way to end the episode, and it makes me really hyped to see Jimbo doing the best for the citizens of the city.

The Shootout

R.I.P. Tabitha Galavan. This whole scene, whether it be Bruce sneaking in, Jim and the GCPD fighting off Penguin and his men, the struggle between Oswald and Tabitha, or even Barbara’s rage was perfect. Jessica and Robin did a phenomenal job in this scene, as they showed that there wasn’t just a feeling of vengeance between the two, as their past has been pretty rocky. Barbara’s war cry gave me the chills, along with Oswald screaming in pain after being shot in the leg. (OW! That must’ve hurt a lot). This scene will definitely go down as one of Gotham’s most iconic.

Selina’s Suicide Attempt

This HURT so much. After hearing that she would have a suicide attempt this season, I was saddened, and assumed she would try to kill herself a different way than the way she did. I love Jeremiah so much, but the pain that Selina was going through was not worth whatever he was looking to do. Also, if she’s going to try to get revenge on him...oof. It makes me feel so conflicted! I know Camren said that this scene was one of the hardest to shoot, and I would like to say that she did an outstanding job with her performance. It made me so sad. Also, that nurse is creepy! There’s no way she’s not a Jeremiah follower in some capacity. (Look at her eyebrows!)

Ecco

A queen? She literally had the shortest scene in the episode, but shook me to my core. I was not expecting her outfit/hairstyle! I’m so used to seeing her with her hair in a bun, and I really like the look of the high ponytail for her. Also, the simplified version of the mummer costume was cool, it looks like just a leather jacket. She was so sneaky, and she doesn’t seem unhinged yet. It makes me wonder what will cause her to switch. Maybe it’s just a façade. Also, I love the jingle bells! I’m also glad she was doing work for her man, and I will say that her drawing was pretty good. Why the Jerome logo, though? I guess we’ll find out.

Since there were too many scenes for me to have the time to cover, I’ll have some honorable mentions! Edward the dog, Bruce vs. Scarecrow’s men, Scarecrow in general (he scared me), the flashforward to day 391, Bruce and Selina, Bruce and Jim, and the Riddler waking up everywhere.

Now is the time for a few comments and questions I have for the latest episode!

Who shot down the chopper? (I’m aware that literally everyone is asking this). Okay, so we only know three people who have access to an RPG: Penguin (who it wasn’t), Zsaz, and Jeremiah. Zsaz is actually a pretty good guess, I’d say, but something tells me it might have something to do with Jeremiah. I’d doubt it would be he himself, as he is a bogeyman this season, hiding within the shadows of Gotham’s discontent. (See what I did there?) I think it was Ecco. Maybe she needs to stock up on ammo, or needs to get food for her and Mr. J. She had access to the GCPD, so maybe she heard about it there? It’s a great distraction to steal stuff from Penguin or Babs, so I think it most likely was her. Also, she is doing Jeremiah’s dirty work, so it’s not out of possibility.

Who’s the Witch? I think the witch is Ivy. I mean, she’s been confirmed for 5x02, and she would have a motive for helping Selina. How that weird nurse would know? I have no clue. I used to think that when I read the synopsis for the next episode that Ecco would be the witch, as she kinda had those vibes with the mask and cloak on, but after seeing the stills and cast for “Trespassers”, I think it's Ivy.

Shoutout to my boy Jeremiah! I love the imagery of the map with the laughing face on it, as it kinda signifies that he’s literally ruling the city from underneath. I also love that his presence was felt throughout the episode, despite not being there for any of it in person. He’s going to be such an amazing villain this season, I just know it.

Who was the lady calling Jim? I heard things about a Theresa Walker this season, and apparently she has a big impact on the plot. Jamie Murray (who apparently plays her) was listed as one of the guest stars, but we didn’t see anything that had to do with her. Maybe it was her calling Jim? I don’t know.

If I had to sum up the episode with one Jeremiah Valeska mood, it would be:

I’m very happy with how this episode turned out!

What a strong way to start out the season. I know that I’ve seen most of the footage in Year Zero in trailers, stills, etc., but it still blew me away. My parents were also very impressed, and really amazed with how the episode turned out. (Which also made me happy!) I really can’t wait for next week.

Thank you for reading this! I hope you all had a wonderful time watching, too! I think I’m going to do one of these for each one that comes out. I’m so excited for the rest of the season! I hope you enjoyed!

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