#its a cliffhanger without actually being one

[bedknees]

"It's impossible for a piece of media to have a perfect, thematically flawless ending."

Arcane:

[lady-of-the-garden]

edited a chapter. made that chapter two chapters. more than doubled the word count. completely changed the ending. can no longer go seamlessly into the next (already written) chapter. lost an absolutely fantastic ending sentence. ugh.

[controld3vil]

sand walking?

pairing(s): dune 2 cast x actor!reader (platonic!!)

synopsis: requested by this ask!

⤷ alt: how to seduce someone walking on sand.

notes: there hasn't been confirmed for dune 3 yet but denise villeneuve has said he's writing for it to happen. ill patiently wait for the day it's confirmed :) ALSO there are fictional/made-up mentions of the novel for the sake of the reader. they're made to be gender-neutral!! and this includes platonic flirting between cast members. i MAY have gotten carried lmaoo

“I mean- what do you think of the character? Do you think they deserved more screen time?” The clip starts off with you comfortably conversing with the interviewer. To say you weren’t deflecting their curiosity. In actuality, you were eager to learn what others thought about your performance and take on the character. The only other interpretation had on-screen was from the classic 1984 film by David Lynch.

The clip that has been widely retweeted back is of a cute moment you had from the first film of Dune (2021). Before release, little was known about your character’s potential. Apart from the enthusiastic book lovers, film viewers were clueless about what role your character would play after the first movie.

Denise Villeneuve didn’t reveal much to you in person. He wanted to keep ideas confidential until he was 100% on board making the project come to life. Still, rumors sparked through speculation and interviews with the cast members of Dune. Including an infamous short, that you forgot about, of yourself boasting about your hopes and wishes for your character.

“Yes! How could we not!” On the opposite side, the interviewer exclaimed as they leaned forward from their chair, closing into your proximity. Their hands clenched, tightening their grip on the flash card, full of questions. “The movie left us on such a cliffhanger. I think everyone would want to know what happened to Nerre,”

“That’s for Denise to decide,” Nodding you gave a relaxed smile while lifting one leg over the other. Your shoulders relaxed, feeling content and ecstatic about their response. “I can’t confirm anything until he gives me the green light to say anything,”

“I’ve also talked to Timothée this morning,” A shift in gears as the journalist flipped over another flashcard. You two had just fussed about the finale and its dramatic cliffhanger. “And all he had to say were the sweetest things about you,” At the mention of your costar compliments, you felt your skin heat up. Your eyes soften, expressing only fondness for the lovely message. A soft awh escaped your breath. “He’s very sweet. Timothee's always been fun to be around.” A fervent chuckle from the interviewer sends them into a feverish excitement. “And- he said- you had great flirting skills!” It was then your face morphed into complete shock and giddiness . “Really?!” The camera pans up on your initial reaction, eyes popping out in surprise and a bubbling laugh slowly erupting. “I’m glad someone appreciates my talents!”

Without context, the short clip seemed harmless. Your sheer reaction to Timothee's comment emphasized the fun chemistry the two of you had on set. Mirroring much of Paul and Nerre's friendship, you both complimented each other well in the first film, being the youngest surrounded by well-renowned actors. But the reason for the recent spike of interest was partially from Dune: Part Two and their interviews.

Fast forward to the debut of Dune: Part Two, it made success at the box office. Even surpassing the first film altogether. The entire cast of Dune was proud of the work they've made. The introduction of new characters played by wonderful actors and actresses all around.

Weeks after the early IMAX screenings, press interviews were being published amongst of the young cast members. A particular interview by IGV Presents brings together Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Florence Pugh, Austin Butler, and yourself.

This would be considered to be one of your first interviews with the Dune cast after the box office release. You felt nervous yet overjoyed at the same time to be meeting your co-actors again after the conclusion of filming had taken place.

The spokesperson of IGV, Simon Harkness starts off the interview strong with a pleasant greeting. "Congratulations on an incredible movie. Uhm it is the definition of a sci-fi blockbuster and is absolutely phenomenal, so huge congratulations to you all!"

"Thank you!" The five of you all politely cherish his kind words.

"It's so lovely to talk to you. Um- Timothee, Zendaya, I'm going to start with you. This is probably the hardest question I've ever asked in an interview so you've been warned." An endearing giggle can be seen from Zendaya before allowing him to continue. "Sand walking, who does it better?"

Timothee immediately lifts up his microphone. "I'm going to give it to Zendaya here." Without glancing at her, you could tell Zendaya was happily smiling at his compliments. How quick he was to answer made it seem how well connected the cast was even given the amount of time spent together. The main lead continues very swiftly, diving more into how cinematic the shot was from an outside perspective, "I think it's the most- one of the most cinematic shots in the movie and she really has it very precisely down but it's the nature of the movie too that she's supposed to be better than Paul,"

"Is that what it is?" In return, Zendaya who sat next to him gave him a teasing look.

Quietly from afar where you sat, next to Austin Butler, you whispered. "He acted like he couldn't do it but," Soft snickering can be heard across the room.

"In fairness to me, I was going 65%- 65 to 70 too hard," Chalamet reasons justly as he glances in your direction before looking back to the interviewer.

"You dumbed it down," Harkness nods in a high-spirited manner. Right after, Timothee reluctantly agrees, keeping the mood light-hearted.

"I had to!"

"Just how committed you are!" Austin steps in, joining in on the joke.

"Zendaya, you can take that crown. I love that," The brown-haired man reassures as she recuperates with appreciative laughter. In truth, it was a beautiful scene between Paul and Chani you were lucky enough to witness behind the camera. And contrary to their light banter, you thought both actors did well at accomplishing what it was meant sand walk. Truthfully you had no scenes beyond walking through the desert but understanding the mechanics and traditions of the Fremen was as fascinating as it was watching it up close.

Suddenly it was Florence's turn to speak, "Zendaya taught me the other day and I had to just stop to stare at her feet."

"The swoopy swoop?" You asked in a cutesy tone, with furrowed eyebrows. You couldn't help but remember the few instances you witnessed your costars practice the sand walk to be one of the more adorable rehearsals you've seen on the sand.

"Yeah, her feet were so pretty! She was doing the swoopy swoops," The blonde acknowledges, waving her hands in a zig-zag pattern. As the replication of water and how her feet moved.

The interviewer's eyes light up, "Honestly I tried to swoopy swoop at home- um because we have a carpet in the bedroom."

"How did it go?" The mixed actress puts forward.

"Awful!" An assembly of bewilderment is seen between Zendaya and Florence as they quickly question why. However, they reassure him in the end that they would practice together in hopes of him archiving the sand walk.

Talks with simple questions went down the row. Florence discusses her experience from her beginnings, starring in Little Women, comparing those scenes in terms of royalty to Dune. In both films, she's worked with well-known actors and now Christopher Walken as the emperor and her father. She raves about how it was a dream come true. A dream she had when she was little. From this experience, Florence emphasizes the concept of learning and observing her fellow actors.

Another intriguing topic follows Austin for his experience between learning choreography fighting and Elvis's iconic rubber legs. In a sense, as you leaned forward on one of your seats, you became fascinated by the Elvis actor's comparison of it all. While Elvis's moves were televised and had to be precise for the camera, being a Harkonnens gave him more leverage in the freedom to move. It was a captivating question that you couldn't help but want to listen to more.

Comparisons aside, you didn't have much to note for your upcoming question. Which is exactly why you felt unprepared for what he was going to ask.

Harkness brings up your name for the finale. "You have done stunt work before. For the first and now second film, I've heard you compared it to rather- dancing. Is that what you think your relationship with the choreography has been?"

You gave a content hum, "You see it with the Fremen or Harkonnens right? Everyone moves so differently and for the course for me, I've had to adjust my choreo little by little. And I think that analogy you mentioned really does relate back to dancing. I don't know if it's because I was once a dancer or that I'm a visual learner," You shrug your shoulders, "But I see the choreography as a dance routine. You're moving alongside people, doing hits and jabs. Both are very hands-on so I would like to approach it as something I can always work on." Satisfied with your answer, you clapped your hands together.

"Kind of like sand walking no?" It was then that Zendaya swerved counterclockwise to face you.

Bringing back the conversation they had in the beginning about sand walking, your eyes instantly brighten. "Exactly like that!"

"I feel like you would be great at sand walking," Florence puffs, mindlessly shaking her microphone back and forth. "You- You already got the moves." Even Timothee came into agreement, humming and commenting you worked well with the choreography.

Austin Butler raises his microphone. "I think you gotta learn with me because I don't think I could,"

"Nonsense!" You give him a silly glare. "If you can do a killer rubber leg, I think you can sand walk." Florence and Zendaya both mumble their support and your male costar leans to have his arm around the back of your chair, warmly.

"Is that an open invitation I see?" The spokesperson, Harkness giggly pokes at than the rest of the cast turns to look at you. Your scowl morphs into an innocent one.

"Hm?" As you squint your eyes in hesitation.

"I feel like you could have the potential to sand walk but just with the right partner," Timothee chimes in, spreading his arms over his chair as well. Your brows furrowed accusingly, as if wanting to clarify what he meant by his comment.

And the French actor gives you a look, one you became so sure of. "Mm right!" A slight eruption of laughs before you straightened your back with proper posture. "With just the right partner,"

There were also hints mentioned in your interview with Timothee surprisingly not. This was one of the more recent ones to be published, as you finally were able to pair up with your favorite co-star (besides Brolin) from the first film. The two of you had strong chemistry despite having less screen time together in the second film.

The beginning of the video cuts to a clip of you answering an innocent question. "What I think about every day, is Timothee going to send to me a meme today? Uh, I hope so!" You give a sarcastic look to your seat partner as he latently laughs in front of you. "Or when is he going to text me you know?"

It then transitions to an interviewer from Heart commercial radio as he shouts out your names. "How are you both?"

"I'm doing good!"

"Going great!"

The radio show was more relaxed than you would've expected as the spokesperson was very down to the earth with his conversation starters and contagious warmth. Timothee was able to catch up with him from his last interview when he premiered his Wonka film. Eventually, the interview became more casual discussing working together, cooking, and trendy topics.

Timothee and you both went back and forth on favorite memories you had of the first film. And talking about the new cast members and new elements it had brought to the table for the film itself.

"Cool new characters this time," As you played around with the fuzzy microphone the camera crew gave to you.

"Yup lots of new people to meet," Timothee adds on, nodding.

The interviewer proceeds with the question, "And also you have seen- there's a clip about of you running around actually." He signals to you, "Of your reaction to something Timothee said about your performance in the first film,"

"Oh! I've seen it," Almost instinctively, your co-star raises his hand. "I was supposed to send it to you but I forgot." As he turns, to finds you looking lost at the topic at hand.

"Really what was it?" You almost looked concerned, seeing how you didn't understand what they meant.

Luckily for you, the Heart radio spokesperson managed to get a hold of the video from his phone, "It was a little callback of Timothee raving about your flirting skills."

As it plays, the camera zooms in on you and your co-actors reaction. The French actor couldn't help but look slightly embarrassed but smitten when the timing of your reaction came on screen. While you held an intrigued stance, arms crossed and a content grin.

"I am pretty good at flirting,"

"You really are, huh." At the same time, you both turn to make eye contact.

"I also heard Tim- that you thought that they would be your love interest initially?" At the radio speaker's inquiry, you couldn't help but in mid-sentence, finally, swerve your head suddenly.

"Yeah well, fun fact actually," The male actor tries to reason, sitting up. "In the novels, Paul and Nerre almost did become a couple!"

It was a well-known fact of that in the first novel, there had been slight changes to the story. Initially, it was said that the author, Frank Herbert had planned for Paul and Nerre, the character you played to have a romantic connection after the fall of House Atreides. Nevertheless, it was later scrapped for another plot, that of instead having Chani as the love interest. But even decades later after the novel’s release, it was something fans still fuss about.

"Oh, I heard about that!" Almost in awe, you nodded, your attention fully on Chalamet, wondering how far he was willing to go beyond spoilers.

"Do you think Nerre would ever meet someone then?" The afro man questions, adjusting his microphone. "Since- Paul has Chani, I feel like if we ever get a potential third film, that could open some doors!"

"If a third film could happen," You start, fiddling with the lining of the mic cover, "I hope so! I mean I got the moves, I got the skills!"

"Keep practicing your sand walk and we'll see," Timothee cutely chimes as you proceed to blow a raspberry at him. Only for him to lightly swat you away.

Despite your failures to have scenes of sand walking, your cast of a crew were more than happy to show you. Javier Bardem and Jessica Ferguson were quite supportive in your interest for something you did not have any part-time. A few behind the scene videos show the actor demonstrating from afar the slower version of the walk.

Though your back was facing the camera, viewers would pick up and recognize it to be you. Jessica as well was off to the side, in her luminescent costume of a million robes, clapping from side to side.

Another later pans to you taking long strides across the sand in the background. In front of the camera are Josh Brolin and Javier having their turn in the video, to discuss their relationship and the previous they have worked on together. However, viewers couldn't help but pinpoint your figure alongside the frame trying to master the patterns of what Javier taught you from the previous clip.

[coffinclownery]

Hot Take Ashley Noticed Andrew Being Horny Weird Around Her

I think Ashley knows about the peeping. It would explain why she assumes the worst of Andrew. I made a post before about how Ashley seems to believe the "men think of sex every 5 seconds" myth regarding Andrew, not realizing how Andrew's focus is on her specifically. I think her realizing Andrew's horny around her doesn't disprove anything I said. Because to her this would actually prove her point. That he's so horny that he'd even lust after his sister, but is too much of a coward to actually say it to her face. And because Andrew never fully explains how down bad he is for her, Ashley's left to assume that Andrew's just that desperate for sex and nothing else. And whenever she tried to explore being more romantic she's pushed away, further cementing that its just lust.

Like the time when they were teens, and Ashley wondered if they could be different. She wasn't fully onboard with being gross together, but she was curious about being a couple. Something different. But then Andrew pushed her away and never explained why he was uncomfortable, so the only conclusion Ashley could come to was that Andrew didn't see her that way. Then in the year and change they don't talk she notices him getting horny, so she's only left to assume that it must just be her body he's interested in, despite already being in a relationship with Julia. He just wanted her body but not be in a "real" relationship like he was with Julia, which I think also contributed to how pissed she was when they became "official." Even without doing anything, it's hard to imagine her not feeling used this way. And also becoming "official" signified the potential to get married, leaving Ashley behind.

Which is exactly what Andrew was planning, running off without even trying to talk it out with her!

There's also the "mishap" on the couch in shots, when after the shotgun she takes the initiative to kiss Andrew back.

She never gave herself the opportunity to explore her own view of sex, but I do think that she genuinely likes being affectionate to Andrew and him being affectionate to her, even when they definitely cross the line. She likes hugs, cuddles and sometimes even the "mishaps," maybe because in those moments she can feel like she's actually loved. The last time she was really happy was joking around on their parents couch and biting him. But once again, Andrew pushes her away, saying she's bad at it.

In the splat ending she admits it hurts when Andrew doesn't think she likes them.

And in the Shots and Such ending she gives up on the soft affectionate side of their relationship altogether, only using her body as a means to an end and even resenting the one time she almost enjoyed it.

Andrew complains about not having boundaries with Ashley, but the sick joke is he never gave Ashley boundaries either. Her privacy was invaded by him without explanation. She was used as an object of desire the way Ashley used "Andy" as a safe object. One of the many reasons Ashley prefers "Andy" is that he would be with her without expecting anything, but "Andrew" has the wants of a man which threatens to separate him from her.

It's also why she's so confused in the cliffhanger route. Andrew gives her "promises" and is affectionate, yet isn't interested in bartering for affection or using her body. It almost shakes that deep-seated view she has of Andrew.

...Then of course Andrew fucks it up right before they separate. And now Ashley's left with the Entity's words about him betraying her until he either returns or she goes looking for him.

Also fun fact, Andrew never says "I love you" back to Ashley. Not once. Because if he did his real feelings for her might leak out. You could say Ashley's similar in that most of her "I love yous" are for Andy, but unlike Andrew I think she extends what she considers "love" to Andrew too, in a different way.

Anyway tl:dr Ashley's assumption of Andrew being horny all the time was possibly contributed to the fact that Andrew kept failing to hide his horniness around her. At this point it'd be healthier for Andrew to just ask Ashley out. Go out to the movies? Have a candlelight dinner with a couple limbs and some wine? Go stargazing? I heard someone had a really good pick-up line to use during stargazing.

[itsclydebitches]

Just finished Good Omens 2 and I'm honestly boggling at the Aziraphale hate because yes, his decision led to the angsty cliffhanger, but it makes SO much sense for his character. Not just in a "Religious brainwashing and sunk-cost fallacy" kinda way but also a "Aziraphale has no reason to believe this isn't the perfect solution" way. That scene among the nebula is crucial because it establishes that Crowley loved being an angel—reveled in his ability to create and allow his creations to grow kinda like plants—and the only problem was that someone else was calling the shots, someone who wouldn't listen to his criticism. Aziraphale has also spent 6,000+ years watching Crowley do good, all the while forced to deny the fact that he's "nice" lest embracing his original nature get him into trouble with hell. Now, Metatron comes along with an offer that fixes everything in one fell swoop. Crowley can be an angel again, be nice without censure, his ideas and criticisms will hold weight because he'll be answering to Aziraphale, and they'll be together.

It strikes me that Aziraphale isn't there when Crowley sees Gabriel's trial, ergo he likewise doesn't see the (non)acknowledgement that there's an institutional problem up in Heaven. There just happen to have been two archangels who called it quits. Same when Gabriel blurts that phrase out to Crowley. Aziraphale has always been more blind to the ways in which Heaven is "toxic" (for very understandable reasons) and this season he's continually sheltered from new evidence of its structural problems. The plot just preaches to the choir: Crowley. He likewise wouldn't see the conflict Gabriel and Beelzebub have caused as evidence of an underlying problem because that's a problem he and Crowley will no longer share. Why would they be worried about Heaven still being unable to accept partnerships between angels and demons when Crowley will no longer be a demon? And that's something he presumably wants based on Aziraphale's memories of him and the ongoing admission that he's lonely.

The way I see it, they got what they thought they wanted at the start of Season 2. Heaven and Hell are keeping an eye on them, but functionally they're left alone. Crowley can spend all the time he wants with Aziraphale and nothing comes of that except that they're both continually named traitors and the higher-ups grumble about it. If Gabriel had never shown up, things should have been perfect based on Crowley's "Let's just run away and have each other's company" standards. Better, even, considering that they get to be together on their beloved Earth, rather than being bored out in Alpha Centauri without any sushi, plants, books, or Bentleys. And yet... Crowley doesn't strike me as particularly happy. Because, you know, based on that kiss he wants to be with Aziraphale, not just literally be with him, but the point of this post is that his "Let's run away and be an 'us'" falls totally flat when he doesn't explain that specific desire to Aziraphale; the desire to change what an 'us' means. From Aziraphale's perspective they're already an 'us.' That was the entire point of "our side" in Season 1 and now they can continue to be 'us' up in Heaven. Plus, Aziraphale likely sees this as a sacrifice on his part. He will give up his bookshop, his Earthly indulgences, take on the responsibilities of leadership (which I don't think he actually wants for a variety of reasons), and spend the rest of eternity in a place where he's felt so small because he thinks that's what Crowley wants. Crowley was happy as an angel. Crowley wanted them to be together without risk of permanent discorporation. They were able to achieve that after not-Armageddon and he still wasn't happy... so surely those two things together will do the trick. Crowley never actually articulates how he wants their relationship to change and the kiss comes much too late, when he's already rejected what Aziraphale must see as a perfect, selfless solution he's secured for them. Even if Crowley wasn't always moving too fast for him, an overture of romance isn't going to go well after that.

Is this crushing and angsty and devastating as a hiatus? Damn straight, my heart it breaking. But it's a good setup. More importantly, it makes perfect sense for their characters, particularly when they're still talking past one another. Aziraphale is someone who has always moved more slowly as a matter of course, as an angel he has remained immersed in the rhetoric of Heaven, his main avenue of breaking free of that (Crowley) has a huge communication problem (to say nothing of his own denial. He only made headway with the help of Nina and Maggie, seconds before Aziraphale shows up), and Metatron (in a no doubt incredibly manipulative manner) has just offered Aziraphale a job that presumably makes him happy AND Crowley happy AND allows him to maintain the moral this-is-how-the-universe-works perspective he's had since he was literally created. Of course he's going to say yes to all that!! And sure, there are problems in Heaven, Aziraphale isn't completely blind, but he can fix them now that he's in charge. How? Well... he'll figure that out later! Kinda like how he's been making plans on the fly this entire season. That seems logical from his perspective, right? It's not like he's gotten a crash-course in the concept of the master's tools never being able to dismantle the master's house...

[shigayokagayama]

What are the biggest losses between the manga and anime? I just finished watching mp100 and I'm curious what the manga has!

ok biggest losses are kind of hard to define because like. anime and manga are two inherently different mediums and there are a good amount of cuts that improve pacing and then a good amount of cuts that people sort of argue over the merit of so im just going to go for biggest differences. i would also highly recommend reading the manga just because it is a pretty different experience tonally along with the minor plot differences and cut scenes + theres a bunch of omakes that both flesh out characters that dont get too much focus and have some really good bits in them. putting the rest of this post under a cut bc i ramble

mogami arc

this one is kind of inescapable i feel like but the anime version of the mogami arc had a LOT of things trimmed for a couple different reasons. season 2 already got an extra episode in order to do the fire scene as a cliffhanger so with the way things shook out the director had to choose between a. cutting a bunch of stuff out of separation arc to make it one episode so mogami arc couid stay three episode or b. cutting a bunch of stuff out of mogami arc so separation arc could stay two episodes. imo they made the right choice, whats even the point of adapting mob psycho if you dont get confession arc right, but some of the cuts to mogami arc will be dearly missed and others will be fought over to the end of time. cuts include:

minori being established as a brat in a video everyones shown and the video being part of how reigen deduces shes possessed (reigen deducing her possession in the manga is generally just a lot better done and after you read the manga the scene in the anime feels so awkward because you know whats missing

the psychics deciding to band together to beat this little girl to death to save themselves and shinra stepping between them to protect her and getting utterly thrashed, not by mogami, but his fellow psychics

reigen trying to convince mob to leave without him and call for help while he distracts him which leads to this

the general mogamiland section lasting a lot longer and being more brutal (notably the stray cat mob feeds getting killed in front of him)

mob getting fucking torn to pieces by spirits during the fight instead of ambiguously dying offscreen

generally would recommend if nothing else reading the manga version of this arc and confession arc because i feel like these are the only two where you lose like. a significant amount of the story and themes from the cuts. speaking of....

2. WHY THE FUCK DID THEY CUT THIS I WILL BE MAD UNTIL I DIE

maybe its just because i reread this arc on its own probably 50 times before the anime came out but this is the only arc where the cuts actively piss me off because there is absolutely no reason they had to do it. they cut a bunch of important shit, left in things that didnt need to be there, and added scenes that contribute literally nothing to the overall point. if they just did any one of those things or combo of two of those things i wouldnt be as mad but it feels like they put a bunch of filler in then speedran the actual story

cut #1 that pisses me off: HOMOPHOBIA?????

THERE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A HEART IN HIS EYE. WHY DID THEY NOT INCLUDE THIS. THIS IS THE CULMINATION OF TERUS ARC. THIS IS HIM SEEING THE PERSON HE HAS IDOLIZED AND DEIFIED IN HIS HEAD AT THEIR LOWEST AND STILL CHOOSING TO LOVE HIM, AND THROUGH THIS HE IS CAPABLE OF BEING LOVED EVEN THOUGH HES NOT PERFECT BECAUSE NO ONE IS. WHY WOULD YOU CUT THIS?

cut #2 I NEED WHOEVER CUT THE DIALOGUE FROM THE FIRST PANEL IN PRISON

the lack of inclusion of the first panels dialogue along with the cuts to the mob and shigeo conversation (WHICH WE WILL GET TO) make me think the person who adapted this arc fundamentally misunderstood what was happening. this line. is. THE POINT. THIS ISNT SOME SEPARATE SCARY THING. THIS IS MOB. HE IS CHOOSING TO DO THIS BECAUSE HE IS SCARED AND ANGRY AND HURT BUT HE IS IN CONTROL OF HIS ACTIONS AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN.

cut #3 HE DOESNT WANT TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR HIS ACTIONS

this entire conversation is so good and i was looking forward to watching it voice acted for so long and its just. gone. for me the "i am shigeo kageyama who are you" reveal felt like a gut punch because the opening being "i knew i would be needed" made me go "oh hes like possessed or his powers are sentient or something" and this conversation was the slow unraveling of my view of these as two separate people and instead as a scared, traumatized teenager who has convinced himself that the parts of himself he hates are something else outside of his control instead of an intrinsic part of who he is because if he's convinced that the parts of him that are able to feel desire and frustration and anger and malice are him then he'll lose all these relationships he's worked so hard to cultivate as his perfect, non confrontational self. and of course that isnt true. all his friends and loved ones are making their way to the center of a damn hurricane because they see he's in distress and want to help him. but he cant see that so he pushes them away. ugh. mob. protagonist of all time.

cut #4 WHY WOULD YOU CHANGE THE COMPOSITION OF THIS I CAN LITERALLY SEE HOW THIS WOULD BE ANIMATED IN MY MINDS EYE W

can you imagine how beautiful this would be in motion. just. god.

cut #5 HE WAS TALKING OUT LOUD. REIGEN HEARD ALL THIS

:(

cut #6 the bowling arc

so the scene where reigen takes his shoes off is supposed to be a lot more solemn bc like. taking your shoes off before killing yourself is a trope in japanese media (ive heard it started in media and bled over into real life but i might have it backwards?). reigen knew he was probably going to die. anyway i cant take this scene seriously because of this edit

the bowling arc.

cut #7 WAAAAAAAAAAAA

WAAAAAAAAAAAA *sniff* AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

cut #8 homophobia again

rip pensive fruity tea sip

cut #9 mob threw the cake directly in reigens face on purpose

i literally experienced every stage of grief realizing this got changed. why. its so perfect. why would you change this.

3. World Domination arc

so WD arc is in a very interesting place where it had a lot of scenes cut but unlike the other two most of the cut content youre like. yea probably best not to include that. ill start with the good content that got cut then go into the weird content

serizawa got his power drained by toichiro. i am quite sad this scene didnt make it in because its sorta heartbreaking

teru fighting off the claw assassin is shown and we see that teru can both make shadow clones AND hold a barrier while attacking, he seems to be the only esper with this ability!

the reason dimple could tell mob's family was alive is that there was no sense of grudge at the house which would have been left behind by people passing in a violent manner

mob briefly goes unconscious during the start of the toichiro fight and dimple possesses him and says "shit"

dimple possessing mob shoots shibata with a gun

we get mukai lore.

it doesnt make any sense and just raises more questions but we get it.

toichiro has a team of telepaths to recap where everyone is because this arc took an entire calender year to update

literally everyone shows up to fight shimazaki. i cannot stress enough how many people show up to fight shimazaki. it would be faster to list espers who dont show up to fight shimazaki

the middle school delinquents show up and start fighting the claw grunts literally completely out of no where and this is never brought up or referenced ever again

when mob and ritsu get home ritsu says all their stuff is in boxes and they need to hurry and redecorate the house before their parents get home which implies that shou packed the entire households worth of belongings into boxes and hid it somewhere before lighting their house on fire which is such a funny mental image that i cant even be mad at it. loony toons ass plot point.

4. other random interesting cut things

takenaka is just generally more of a bitch during alien arc. "ah i think they took him" remains one of the funniest goddamn panels in the manga

peak

alien arc overall is a lot funnier in the manga, i have a slight preference for the manga version just bc theres a lot of really good bits that didnt make it to anime but the anime version is so heartfelt and nostalgic it makes me happy

between omakes and small things that got cut or changed for the anime teru just feels way more fleshed out in the manga. like. anime teru is a completely different person. its hard to explain if youve never read it.

the all girls school part originally went right before the ghost family stuff and was the beginning of mob's existential crisis about why spirits and people get different treatment but tbh it works well where it is i just wish it werent. like that.

the scene where ritsu and teru shake hands was teru draining ritsus power which he seems to have learned to do from encountering ???%

teru.

ow

thats all i can think of off the top of my head, im sure ill realize i forgot something some time after posting this but. yeah. read the manga its good

[ao3cassandraic]

Some things we learn, or have confirmed, in Murderbot ep 3 (SPOILERS, NATCH):

Murderbot can placidly ignore indirect orders, no matter how politely expressed. It can, however, choose to obey them... it does lower its helmet after Mensah leaves. (Petty little unit, isn't it? "I'll do it because I want to but not because you tell me to!") It's even learned to ignore "direct orders" from Ratthi, where they touch on human interactions. ("Get in here!" "Not a chance.")

Mensah knows this, but is bullheaded enough to keep trying. Go Mensah go! Treat that SecUnit like the person it is! Open up the team to include it!

Confirmed: Preservation Alliance isn't wealthy and needs resources. We kinda got hammered over the head with that in this ep.

Confirmed: BHARADWAJ IS NOT OKAY. Oh, honey. Somebody give you all the hugs please! (Mensah -- I assume it was Mensah -- leaving her behind, and not alone, was a good move.)

Gurathin continues with the full-on awkward. Bharadwaj doesn't want a therapy module; she wants a listening ear, Gura!

Mensah wants one too, but... Murderbot cannot be a dumping ground for her anxieties. It is right to walk away from her, though the nonverbal abruptness isn't exactly the best way to set a boundary (it's okay, Murderbot, we know you're trying, and Mensah dumping on you really was both unfair and othering -- she won't do this to any other team member, so why you?).

Pin-Lee is a pattern-seeker. It was smart of them to try to figure out whether there's a pattern in the comms satellite outages. We'll see this come back around, I'm betting.

Ratthi may be dealing with a substance-use disorder? Ouch. He's hard on himself about it, too. He has had a bit of a class-clown vibe so far, alongside a need to Fix Relationships...

... which, given the friction between Arada and Pin-Lee, is becoming difficult. I confidently forecast the said difficulty increasing.

Confirmed: tv!Murderbot has zero interest in being human. "Oh, hold on, I definitely am [more of a machine than Gurathin]." Origins ain't everything, MB, but you do you.

Gurathin's backstory is not looking like sunshine and roses. As someone who tiptoed around and hid a lot as a kid to escape my parents' or classmates' notice, I'm smelling "history of abuse and/or bullying" coming off him. Third possibility: child soldier of some kind -- that sure would explain the therapy modules. Whatever it is, though, I think Bharadwaj knows about it.

Gurathin does want to be human(e). From how he was looking at the pic of Mensah's kids, Mensah's heart is a lot of what draws him to her.

I'm enjoying the leakage between in-show shows and, um, actual show. The ending here? Classic soap-style cliffhanger (just like the first chapter of book!ASR, actually). Hell yeah let's cross narrative structures!

And we all know I have a thing about surveillance, so... we learn something about PresAlliance norms in this ep. Nobody caviled at Gurathin looking at Arada's feed after the millipede munch... but the PresAuxers and especially lawyer Pin-Lee think that SecUnit monitoring their logs (especially without notice) is Super Not Okay.

(PIN-LEE, WHY DID YOU NOT READ THE CONTRACT AND NOTICE THIS IN IT. I'M SURE IT WAS THERE. Yeah, yeah, fine, it's a hit at shitty privacy policies and ToSes, I get that, but sheesh, YOU ARE THEIR LAWYER. THIS IS ON YOU.)

Can I just say I'm in love with Noma Dumezweni's voice? The warmth, the resonance, the depth. Gorgeous.

[graveyard-galaxy]

No hate to Julia but people who like her only because "she is better than a psycho sister" gets to my nerves like I thought we already clear that Andrew and Ashley both have their influence on each other, both see each other as their own property. Plus do you saw how cute schoolgirl Ashley was? I would probably want to keep her forever too!

It is certainly a shame, because I do think I often see people either only liking Julia because she’s “safe” to like, as you say, or plainly refusing to believe that she could actually be someone not somehow secretly fucked up and evil. Both cases are quite saddening to me, because both are just people refusing to engage with the game and its writing.

Julia is absolutely an interesting character in her own right, especially when you begin analysing pretty much all of her phone calls (I think I have some tags lying around on this blog somewhere about how interesting her episode 1 phone call is knowing what we do about her character now) but she’s not a good character just because she’s the “non-incest option” or “not as rancid as Ashley”. If you truly see Ashley as purely a burden to Andrew, or think the game would be better without the incest, I don’t know what to tell you. Julia and Andrew’s relationship is interesting to me because it is also terrible, just in a very different way to Andrew and Ashley’s.

Julia’s final letter to Andrew in Shots and Such about having been afraid of him is absolutely fascinating, especially when paired with a lot of the flashbacks we get of her in the cliffhanger ending, because we see and hear about the kind of treatment which sort of seems so right on the surface, but we have the benefit of seeing Andrew’s actual thoughts and knowing just how shallow most of it is.

Andrew: “(That’s right, I love Julia. She’s nice and, uhh… kind.)”

Certainly the words of someone who knows and cares about who they’re talking about here………

But in all seriousness, thinking that Julia is just simply a better option than Ashley fundamentally misunderstands the Andrew and Ashley dynamic, as well as honestly demeaning Julia quite a bit? Surely it should be evident that if you (not you specifically, anon, just ‘you’ as in someone) supposedly like Julia for not being as bad as Ashley, then you either don’t respect, Ashley, Julia, or both.

It’s like you say, anon! Andrew and Ashley both need each other around, and see each other as property that they are owed, so of course they can never truly stay away for long. Andrew views Renee parentifying him to take care of Ashley as her having given him Ashley to keep, his nightmare to forever love and then hate and then love again, and Ashley very genuinely believing Andy’s forced promises to Leyley are binding because she very much needs them to be binding to validate herself. He’s owed Ashley because he views her as a creature given to him, and she’s owed Andrew because he’s the only one who fulfils her needs, so once he’s played the part of her Andy in the toy box, that’s how she expects him to stay.

We are shown very clearly that even whilst separated for Ashley in the year they were apart, even and whilst actively on dates with Julia, Andrew can only think of Ashley for a reason.

[windmill-for-the-land]

Finished the Netflix Devil May Cry show a couple hours ago and i think i've finally collected my thoughts about it (Spoiler Warning and a kinda long post)

TL;DR Pretty good but the second season is going to either make or break this show, it depends on it to flesh out its characters, and fix the concerns raised up by its cliffhanger ending.

To start, i think the show is a fair 7/10, I really enjoyed it, the action scenes and animations were great(even if the cgi got pretty bad on a few of them, specially on Agni and Rudra at certain moments),the songs always fit in very well with the scene, and the licensed music choices were really good, the story and voice acting were pretty nice too, they got Dante's character pretty well in the show which is great and the 6th episode was simply beautiful!(even if what it depicted didn't feel very devil may cry but we'll get to it)

But the show has a fair bit problems(most of which i think can and will be solved in season 2 but we'll see) that hold it back from being REALLY good instead of pretty good or okay.

One of the biggest problems being Lady's adaptation in the anime.

When i saw that she was going to take a very important role in the anime i was HYPED, she is easily one of my favourites, constantly fighting with Nero over who is my number three favourite. Unfortunately, her character in the netflix show ended up being pretty shallow for the most part while also barely feeling like the character she is supposed to be. They did a good job on her backstory in the shows universe(plus arkham is totally alive since he didn't die on screen in her flashback, which is great because it means there could be a possible take on the dmc 3 plotline in one of the seasons that would develop her as character), my problem with her is the way she acts throught the main story, her swearing like a sailor is already pretty disappointing, something i like about dmc is that the characters rarely ever use profanitys, making it so that a line like nero's fuck you in dmc 5 actually feels impactful and cool, meanwhile in the show, she says either fuck or shit in every sentence and it felt ridiculous, not like her at all, i was already so sick of it by episode 4 or 5, it felt like a forced attempt to try make her sound cooler and justify this show being for adults(much like castlevania).

But more importantly, her arc in the show feels unsatisfying, i understand that her arc is clearly not complete, it is certantly going to continue in season 2 with her leaving darkcom, throwing that ugly-ass armor away and rescuing dante, and that's fine, i dont think every character should have their entire arc in only 8 episodes, but the main focus of the first season was on Lady (I'd say 60% Lady 40% Dante, which sucks because this is a pretty good version of Dante that NEEDED more screentime), and she barely changes by the end of it. She starts out blindly following darkcoms orders and being a dick to dante, and ends still following their orders and hurting Dante, but being slightly remorceful and unsure about it now, the only major change is that she doesnt hate every single demon anymore after her encounter with the hellIrefugees, and that she actually likes Dante and feels bad for doing that to him, although with season 2 hopefully finishing her arc, i think season 1 will become a little better retroactively.

Speaking of the hell refugees(i forgot their name sorry)

they were fine? I guess??

I get what they wanted to do, they wanted to add some moral greyness to Sparda's actions and flash out the demon world so that not everyone except Sparda is evil, therefore building on the theme of there being humans as wicked as any devil, and devils as kind as a human.

But since literally every demon in the show was working on the goal of freeing the weak devils from the demon world so they can have a better life, YOU END UP WITHOUT ANY ACTUALLY EVIL DEVILS IN DEVIL MAY CRY, which of course, isn't very good for an adaptation of a series based on slaying hundreds of demons every game. I think this is another complaint that can be remedied by season 2, if they show that the refugees are the exception, not the rule, and that the underworld is still packed full of stronger demons working for Mundus that willfully perpetuate the misery of the weaker ones, it would solve one of the most consistent complaints i hear about the show, that it humanizes the demons way too much, by answering these complaints with "Actually, these are just a portion of the demons, there a LOT classic 100% evil devil may cry demons, you just didnt get to see them in season 1!!"(also i think the demon world looks too much like an alien planet instead of the underworld, which i get that's what they're going for, but it really doesnt feel right in an adaptation of one of the best visual depictions of the underworld in videogames, specially in Dmc3, some of those sections look gorgeous, and the show is severely lacking in that gothic architecture.)

Also the U.S.A invading the demon world and DROPPING NUKES on the weak demon refugees in a analogy to real world US actions while American Idiot by Green Day plays in the background felt so on the nose and unfitting for dmc I couldn't take it very seriously, they went too hard on the "humans are the real monsters" side with little to no nuance, since they are depicted as more evil and malicious than any of the actual demons, plus it makes the regular humans have too much control, the demons in dmc should absolutely destroy the army, like in 5's opening scenes, with their only hopes being our protagonists, i REALLY hope that when season 2 drops they start with Vergil and Mundus' forces absolutely destroying the humans forces, to show that, sure they can arrest and bomb a bunch of weak demons who can barely survive on their own land, but when the powerful ones show up, they're out of their depth and are forced to rely on Dante and Lady.

Now,moving on to the storm shaped elephant in the room, Vergil.

He's got a total of like, a minute of screen time, but it was enough for a huge size of the fanbase to go up in flames about it, and honestly? i understand why, i don't agree with the assumptions that Vergils is absolutely be like that in this adaptation, but i get it, having Vergil on screen basically saying that he is voluntarely serving Mundus sounds sound insane and like a huge character assasination.

Buuuuuut, i think that's the point, its to make us question what is going on with Vergil, since at no point in time would he ever willingly work for Mundus. My theory is that instead of unlocking his devil trigger and escaping the attack on their home, in the show's universe, Vergil is captured and brought to hell as a child, likely being tortured or brainwashed by Mundus to align with him and make him blame Sparda and the human world, so it would basically make it so that Dmc1's corrupted Vergil shows up before anything else.

I really hope im right and this is the direction they're taking Vergil, because if he really is willingly serving Mundus and his Devil trigger is Nelo Angelo, it would be soooooo fucking bad that i could not defend the show anymore, it would be such a huuge character assasination and would turn Vergil from a hurt and tragic character, that copes with his feeling of powerlessness and guilt from not being able to protect his mother, brother and himself by becoming as powerful as possible to make sure he is NEVER in a situation like that again, no matter what and who it takes, into the stereotypical EVIL TWIN that simply does bad things, alongside the person who killed his mother and probably his father, and it would absolutely not fit with Dante and Vergil's dynamic AT ALL.

also before i get to my closing thoughs i just wanna say dante felt a little weak in it and that i feel like he didn't get enough spotlight in HIS OWN SHOW, like i know that he's waaay less experienced than any version of Dante from the games but omg he spent the entire show post episode 2 getting his ass kicked by lady and almost every single demon, even with devil trigger(speaking of which, having devil trigger from dmc5 playing during his devil trigger transformation while cool on concept, really doesnt fit since that song is VERY personal to Nero and doesnt fit Dante as well, plus i honestly didnt like the cover of the song used tbh but its not that big of a complaint.

In the end i really did enjoy the first season of Devil May Cry, and i am very hopeful and excited for the second season, the highs were really high, the animation was pretty amazing, loved the opening and every single one of the endings, and dante felt great, but I cant help but be worried for the future of this show, if the second season doesnt address some of these issues, SPECIALLY LADY AND VERGIL, it will really be like the castlevania netflix show, fun in isolation and with no knowledge of the source material, with a decent plot and some nice visuals and songs, but lacking severely in the core elements of the series they are adapting, making it that i cant help but dislike it a little, i really hope it turns out well since i want to really, REALLY LOVE this show, not to JUST like it or even dislike it.

[blessedbyahuntress]

Just Let Me In

Pairing: Leo Valdez x Cold!Fem!Reader

Warnings: Swearing

Word Count: 1.58k

It’s hard to ignore someone like Leo Valdez. 

He’s constantly in everybody’s face, pulling jokes and pranks like a plea for the tiniest of smiles.

But most often? He’s in your face, teasing you and trying to make you laugh. Most of the time, he grabs whatever book you’re reading and holds it above his head because, as much as you hate to admit, you are the only demigod shorter than him on the Argo ll, and therefore the only one who can’t reach your book. Which is what you were trying to do now.

“Leo,” you growled. “Give it back.”

“Whoa!” Said boy raised his other hand in triumph as he cheered. “Y/N just said four words to me! Did any of you hear that?”

A ripple of laughter echoed through the dining table of the Argo ll, but it seemed to drop dead at Hazel. 

“Leo,” the roman girl said. “Give it to her.”

The Latino whined. “But, Hazel-”

“Now!” 

You knew that tone could never come from someone as sweet as Hazel, so you turned your head toward the voice. 

Frank was standing, hands resting on the table as he glared daggers at Leo. “Give Y/N her book back,” he ordered harshly. “Now.”

Leo glanced from you to Frank, sighing as he decided it wasn't worth it. He handed you back your book, which you accepted without hesitation. You made toward the door without another word, giving Hazel and Frank small nods of gratitude. Well, at least they thought it was gratitude; it was rather hard to tell with you, since you had a permanent frown upon your face.

You marched up the stairs and into your room, slamming the door so hard behind you, it shuddered on its hinges. Leo winced at the noise.

“Too much?” He asked. When no one responded, he sighed. “Too much.”

Piper frowned at him. “That is not the way to get a girl to like you, dumbass.” 

Percy nodded in agreement. “I was stupid, not mean,” he said, gesturing to Annabeth. 

Annabeth snorted. “You sure were, Seaweed Brain,” she teased before returning to seriousness. “Leo, I don’t know why you do this. If you like Y/N, show it in your actions! I mean, we all know you’re too cowardly to admit it straight to her face, so let her guess. She’s cold, not idiotic.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Leo muttered. “Whatever. She’ll never like me now.”

Frank scoffed. You were his best friend besides Hazel, and he was extremely protective of you. He thought of you as a little sister- the daughter of Apollo who preferred throwing knives and daggers to actual archery, and the son of Mars who used a bow rather than a sword. “You think?” He demanded.

Piper shook her head. “We know what you’re like when you’re not being a cocky jackass,” she said.

“Hey!” Leo complained loudly.

“I’m not done yet,” Piper scolded. “As I was saying, I like how you act when you're not being an asshole. I might help you get the girl, Valdez.”

Jason rubbed his eyes. “I’ll leave you two to your scheming,” he said. “I’ve got first watch.”

Annabeth grabbed a pen and notebook, flipping it open to a blank sheet of paper. “If anyone would like to be able to still lie to Y/N’s face about nothing going on behind her back, I’d leave now.” The daughter of Athena cracked her knuckles. “‘Cause shit’s about to go down.”

You flipped a page in your book. The author had just left you on a cliffhanger, and you desperately needed to find out if the main character managed to save the love interest in time or not.

“No,” you muttered when you saw a sticky note adorned with sloppy handwriting was stuck on the page labeled, ‘Chapter Nineteen’. This was supposed to be chapter eighteen! There couldn’t just be a sticky note!

You felt anger bubbling inside you as you read the note. That arrogant little Latino- the nerve to rip out a whole chapter and keep it to taunt you! 

Did your feelings for him change, though? No. You still liked him, and you found that highly annoying.

You glanced around for your diary, surprised when you didn’t see any sign of the notebook. You were sure you’d put it…

Oh, shit.

You stormed out of your room and back down the stairs once again.

The scene at the dining table was not your favorite, that’s for sure. Percy, standing on the table as he read aloud to Annabeth, Piper, and Leo. He kept stumbling over the words as his eyes scanned your diary. 

“Ugh,” Percy read. “I don’t know how I’m going to… surfer- ah! Survive on this boat for much long…er. Leo just won’t stop bugging me, and m-my emotions won’t either!” No one seemed to notice you as you snuck into the room. “How could I like someone who keeps… testing? No. Teasing! That’s it, teasing me.”

Piper squealed, clasping her hands together. “Well, there’s your answer, Leo!” She cried. “Y/N does like you!” 

All of your anger surfaced. “Jackson!” You screeched. 

All heads whipped toward you, and your eyes flicked over everyone, reading them each like a book. 

Percy: Terrified, hoping that Annabeth would get him out of this, but not the slightest bit regretful.

Annabeth: Looking and acting calm, but is actually panicked on the inside. Is this how she loses a best friend? Will Y/N ever forgive her? She’s also very sick of getting Percy out of situations like this, but is already formulating a plan to get her boyfriend out of this mess.

Piper: She’s secretly pleased. She doesn’t want to have to lie to you, not ever.

And Leo… you find him staring at you already, never taking his eyes off you while the others avert their gaze or exchange glances with each other. 

“Perseus Jackson,” you growled. “Give me my diary.”

Percy gave it to you without protest. 

You sulk all the way back to the door, only to turn around when you hear Leo call your name.

The Latino is grinning wickedly. “You think it’s hot when I steal your office supplies?” He asked.

You felt your face flush. “Shut up,” you said, exiting the room, only to hear Leo continue. 

“You like my curls, right? That’s what Percy said. I heard you also like my, and I quote, ‘Beautiful big brown eyes.’ I know you fancy me, Mi alma-”

“Shut up!” You yelled. “Didn’t you hear me the first time, Valdez?” 

Silence.

You stomped back up the stairs and to your room. You locked the door behind you and threw yourself onto your bed. 

It was all ruined. He knew. He knew! It was all over.

You grabbed a pillow and squeezed it with all your might. You wouldn’t cry; you couldn’t feel the tears. But you could crush your sorrows with rage. Yes, you were quite capable of doing that.

A knock.

Your head shot up, your deathgrip on your pillow easing slightly.

“What?” You snap.

“Uh… Y/N?” A voice that sounded suspiciously like Leo’s responded. “Could you maybe… open the door?”

“No.”

“Y/N,” Leo said, deadly serious for the first time since you’d met him. “Open the door.”

“No!”

“We need to talk!”

“No!” You cried, raising your hands to your temples to banish your headache. “No, we don’t. Just go away, Leo.”

“Y/N, please,” the boy begged. “Just let me in.”

You didn’t respond, turning your back to the door.

There was a sigh loud enough for you to hear from the other side of the door. “Okay,” he said. “I didn’t want to do this but… Frank!”

You jumped as a loud bang sounded behind you. You turned your head to glare at the Chinese-Canadian Baby-man that now stood in the doorway. “Frank?” You asked in disbelief. 

“Sorry,” your best friend muttered, rubbing his shoulder as if it hurt. “I was bribed. With bubble tea.”

“Ah.” You nodded. “You’re forgiven. I would’ve done the same.”

Leo popped his head out from behind Frank. “Thanks, big guy,” he said, patting Frank’s arm. “I got it from here.”

Frank gave Leo a look of pure distrust before turning and walking away.

You kept your back turned to Leo as he cleared his throat awkwardly. “Right,” he murmured. “This wasn't how I imagined it would be, but I’ll try my best…”

You felt a tap on your shoulder, but you didn’t look back at him, keeping your eyes trained on the wall in front of you. 

“Y/N… I like you too.”

“Enough,” you said softly.

“What?” Leo asked.

“Enough games. Enough teasing. I don’t need your pity.”

You couldn’t see it, but Leo smiled cheekily at you. “It’s not pity, Mi amor. It’s love.”

He gently grabbed your chin, turning your head to face him. He pressed his lips against yours delicately, as if you might break, might shatter into a million pieces. 

You pulled away first, still scowling. “Alright. You say you really love me, as I love you, but the only way to prove that is by letting me sleep in your room.” You gestured at the splintered remains of your door. “You broke my door.”

Leo grinned. “Correction: Frank broke your door.”

You rolled your eyes. “Correction to your correction,” you said. “You bribed Frank into doing it.”

“Fine. It’s worth it. You’re sleeping with me tonight.”

[rei-ismyname]

Exceptional X-Men #4 REVIEW

I've been singing the praises of Eve L Ewing and Carmen Carnero's Exceptional X-Men, so let's see what they manage to do now that the premise is established and they've got 5 main characters we're invested in. A benefit of establishing your characters early is that you get to focus on introducing plot elements, special guests, and complications - like serialised storytelling does. Uncanny is a good example of how a lack of focus early on weakens everything you try to do. It's hard to care about The Outliers or Nightcrawler when they feel like wallpaper, and now they're running around an event without knowing who they are. The stakes lay primarily with Rogue. Trista/Bronze is a fantastic example of this done right, and as you'll see we can explore plot developments that wouldn't make sense elsewhere. Spoilers ahoy, caveat emptor.

Trista gets a lot of focus which works because we know who she is and what she wants.

Due to Kate pushing back against taking these kids somewhere isolated for training, we get to see them try to live normal lives. Trista has friends outside the tiny mutant peer group, a crush, and an interest in theatre. She declared last issue that her goal is to not hurt anyone, and she's struggling with what people tell her to be and what she wants. She's a sweet kid, and I'd say there's a racial component to this dichotomy - how black kids are perceived and how they need to act to get by in a white supremacist world. That's outside my experience but I'm invested in how Trista deals navigates the issue. After all, being strong, kind, gentle and lovely aren't mutually exclusive

I hesitate to compare to Uncanny again, but they both have high school scenes and the difference is stark. Westinghouse College Prep is a real life school in Chicago (that Biggie, Jay Z, Busta Rhymes and DMX all went to) and it is ranked pretty highly nationally. According to its website it has 98% minority enrollment. Importantly, it feels like a real school in 2024 with real people attending it, and not just because it actually is one IRL. There's no need to reach for played out generic high school tropes when the characters feel like real people with real problems already - verisimilitude.

After a smash cut to Trista with a sentinel looming over her, we learn that Emma does a pretty damn good Danger Room analogue. Trista seems determined and in control at first, using her different powers in concert effectively. She does manage to Empire Strikes Back trip the Sentinel up, but wigs out when it falls on top of her, understandably. Emma calls it, and we see more proof of why she's considered good at training young mutants.

Bobby's entrance at the end of last issue felt like a cliffhanger by virtue of being on the final page, but I'm glad his presence doesn't derail the plot entirely. It's implied that some time has passed, maybe a week - enough time for Bobby and Trista to get to know each other and enough time for Bobby to feel Kitty is avoiding him. Trista picks up on his odd behaviour and asks Emma about psychic ethics, heh. Her answer is funny and sardonic while still getting the point across. Emma and Trista having one on one time tells us a lot about Emma's sincerity and the trust she's earned through good works.

The subtext of Trista's distraction is made text - she's preoccupied with the audition, her crush, and the fear of exposure/social rejection. While we know this already, or could guess, it's effective to have newer characters tell their story. What they say is as important as what they don't say or how they say it. She responds well to being listened to and positive reinforcement, accepting the reframing of the audition as an opportunity.

Bobby is definitely up to something and acting weird. His persona feels performative. He's explicitly faking bathroom usage to text privately, and while his texting is worded vaguely enough to not give much away, it does seem sinister. At minimum he is lying about why he's there. Kitty picks up on the same weirdness Trista did and she's really not having it. He doesn't have the vibes of a friend seeking or offering support, though Kitty isn't interested in either and tells him to leave. Idk if Bobby even has a home right now - he was living in Antarctica because ORCHIS poisoned him and he couldn't hold a solid form for long. He was back with Romeo last time we saw him but also didn't have a physical body. I can't blame the creators for not explaining that, I have to assume they're under the same editorial direction everyone else is.

Trista's warmup scene has excellent layout, with the other kids' faces in circles next to their supportive texts. It's a clever way of showing their faces in an issue they're mostly absent from, and it's a solid method of variety in an issue with more texting than most. Showtime!

Trista meekly introduces herself to the casting guy/director and he suggests that the lead might not be right for her. He's polite, though she's about to disagree when her mutant life and school life clash in an unexpected way. One of those yellow beasts from X-Force appears from a portal and grabs her crush. You don't need to have been reading X-Force, it's a big monster (that were confirmed to be appearing globally in that book) and it's here. Trista rallies and uses her training to bronze up and get her head in the game.

It's a dangerous situation but has a simple solution suited to Trista's skillset. She grabs it with her tentacle things, ties it up and yeets it through the portal. Her overcoming it with pure force or martial skill would be a bit silly, but by linking her training and the progress she's made with Emma to a simple solution, it feels like an appropriate and believable triumph. Strong yet gentle. Neutralizing the beast and protecting herself and others without using overwhelming violence. It's a very effective character beat and the support/adulation from the theatre people is earned. She nailed the audition, and gets offered her choice of parts, though interestingly she turns it down in favour of her training. The theatre folks show solidarity and swear to keep her mutanthood a secret.

Trista shows up to training and seems more confident, her posture showing strength and positivity. It looks like Bronze, Axo and Melee are all benefiting and even Kate manages a smile. Then she overhears Bobby on the phone while grabbing some equipment. It's not a good look.

What Bobby is saying is so weird that she's not even sure it's him. Kate phases her hand next to his heart and straight up threatens him. He explains that everyone is worried about her and she says she's choosing this life. He tries to bring up ORCHIS and she shuts it down, saying out loud that she killed people. A little too loud, it turns out.

The kids overhear and are horrified, understandably. They're really young and don't have the kind of life experiences that come with being an X-Man - of course they are! Tom Brevoort has made a lot of noise about the X-Men killing people in Fall of X, an argument that has ignored the nuance of being at war with genocidal fascists. The issue hasn't made it to the page in a meaningful way until now, and I couldn't be more impressed. Rooting the issue in Kate's trauma and shame - as something that terrifies the students she's trying to help and likely damaging the trust she's built - approaches it on a believable character level.

This is a big part of what caused Kate to hang up her Spandex and it's something she's going to have to reckon with. Add the kids' emotional and ethical reaction and you've got a fantastic cliffhanger with the promise of explosive drama.

Kate grabs Bobby's phone and it's Rogue on the other end. She doesn't look like she's at Haven or in uniform, so who knows what's going on there? They're clearly ahead of Raid on Graymalkin as Iceman is in league with them, as if that book needs more characters. Kate doesn't care and hangs up on her. I wasn't going to compare to Uncanny a third time, but if the two are crossing over it invites comparison. Kurt's glib comment about thinking he was a murderer felt trite and silly, next to the dramatic execution of Shadowkat's actions being confronted it looks downright amateur. Kate is clearly having a PTSD flashback or intrusive thought during this conversation - whereas it wouldn't work for Bobby or Emma to announce that she has PTSD, for example.

I do enough shitting on Uncanny's writing in my reviews of that book, my point is how well similar beats are executed in this book. Eve L Ewing and Carmen Carnero's Exceptional X-Men is aptly named and frankly, if you're not reading it you're missing out. We know all these characters well enough that we care about their reaction to this revelation. Kate looks like she's about to break down, and Bronze and Axo's body language is heartbreaking. Emma knows shit is about to hit the fan and she's surely aware she killed people in Fall of X too. That's how you do a cliffhanger. Issue #4 managed to do a Trista focus issue, some slice of life, excellent character work, and lit a fuse to explode next issue all in 20 pages.

Exceptional X-Men is fantastic and you should be reading it.

[moog-rt]

GO TO HELL [ch. 5]

[Lucifer Morningstar x Fem!Reader]

Previous: Chapter Four

➨ Chapter Five

Next: Coming Soon...

Premise:

You love your friends. You really do. But sometimes it needs reminding when one of them accidentally sends you to Hell.

Despite falling into the hands of Hell’s loveliest princess, finding a way back to the world of the living proves difficult as you tiptoe around its king.

A/N: Hold onto your britches, this chapter is chock-full of our Big Boss of Hell! Also, my sincerest apologies for the slight cliffhanger last chapter. Fingers crossed it doesn’t happen again!

If you'd prefer to read on Ao3, here is the link:

Otherwise, enjoy!

♡ ♡ ♡

CHAPTER FIVE

You didn’t dare take your eyes off of him.

The man took a step forward and you promptly launched a ladle at him, backpedaling behind the couch as he dodged it. You huffed when it only missed by a hair.

A plethora of household items were strewn about the hardwood floors of the foyer. Books, spray bottles, spoons (you broke into the crate containing the unpacked kitchenware in search of more ammo), etc. were scattered further and further away from their original home as you used them as a way of keeping him a safe distance from you.

“Please, put the skillet down,” he said, inching closer and closer to you, hands outstretched.

If he thought he could trick you into giving up your only form of defense, he was sorely mistaken.

“Stay back!” you hissed, grabbing a wrought iron skillet you had chucked at him earlier. He could try all he wanted to get at you, eat you, skin you, auction you off on the black market… You simply refused to let him have you without a fight.

“I’m not—” He was taking another step towards you but paused as you readied your weapon. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

You eyed him for a moment before taking a long, deep breath. Seeing that as a sign that you were trying to settle down, he carefully came closer.

Thunk!

A single swing of the skillet sent him toppling over.

He may have been your newfound friend’s father, but you were not going to roll over and show your belly in the face of potential danger. Being a parent did not make a person automatically worthy of your trust.

“Okay,” he said in a pained tone, slowly sitting up with a slight sway to him. “That’s fine...”

He crawled onto the couch, slouching over and cradling his head where you had made contact. Without lowering your weapon, you put yourself on the other side of the couch, standing at the arm and watching him very carefully.

The two of you remained silent as he rubbed at his growing welt.

It was awkward…

Why were you actually starting to feel bad about defending yourself? The guy had jump scared you and wouldn’t leave you the fuck alone when you were clearly panicked. He just kept following you, insistent on getting you to calm down but giving you no good reason to.

Honestly, what kind of logic was that? That’s like pelting beach balls at a child with a crippling fear of spherical objects and expecting them not to flinch just because you said it won’t hurt them.

If he wanted you to feel less threatened, he could have just planted his ass on the ground and waited for you to come to him like a stray cat.

“You weren’t supposed to arrive until this afternoon,” you stated.

“Right…um,” he said, looking off to the side, “You know, I just didn’t have much planned this morning, and it worked a bit better for me to come earlier—”

“Charlie told you she wouldn’t be here.” Your eyes narrowed. You knew he was making shit up, and you wanted him to know that you knew. If he wanted to beat around the bush, you would be delighted to become more proficient with the skillet.

“Right again!” The hand that cradled the side of his head moved to rub at his eyes as he sighed. After retracting his hand, he turned to face you, propping an elbow on the backrest of the couch. His eyes ran up and down your body, fully taking you in without your costume, which caused you to shift uncomfortably. Whether or not you were recognizable to him as the ‘demon’ he had already met was still to be determined. “You’re an odd duck, you know that?”

You shot him an incredulous look.

“Me?”

“Yes, you,” he said, jerking his head in your direction. “Showing up all caked in makeup or paint or whatever it is you people wear nowadays. You and Charlie were being painfully suspicious!”

“So, you decided to sneak in when you knew she would be away? To snoop?” you asked, putting a hand on your hip. “You know that’s breaking and entering, right?”

“I am her father,” he scoffed.

“And that makes it okay? If I called to tell her you let yourself in, you think she’d be fine with it?”

“You’re going to snitch?!” his voice went a pitch higher, and he scooted to the edge of his seat.

You took a step back, tightening your grip on the skillet.

“Maybe.”

You had no way of ‘snitching’ on him to Charlie. Your phone was fried, and even then, you weren’t too sure that your provider would have coverage in Hell. And to top it off, you didn’t even have her number…but he didn’t need to know that.

He rolled his eyes, grumbling something to himself as he crossed his arms.

“Why didn’t she just tell me you were human?” he asked no one in particular, throwing his arms out. “That is what you are, correct? In all my years, I have never seen a sinner nor hellborn look as human as you do.”

“Yeah, well…Charlie thought you might freak out if you knew,” you said.

He looked taken aback by that explanation before beginning to sputter.

“Freak—freak out? Because you’re human? I married a human. Her mother was a human!” His hands were waving around as he gestured along with his words.

“We didn’t really want to take any chances…” you said slowly, head tilted away but eyes still locked onto him. “The last time a demon saw me, I was nearly torn to shreds…or eaten alive… I’m not sure exactly what they had planned for me, but it didn’t seem like it’d be pleasant.”

“No, I can’t imagine it would be,” he sighed as he straightened out his hair.

This guy didn’t give two shits, did he?

He snapped his fingers and, with a plume of sparkling smoke, his top hat appeared in his hands. It had previously been about ten feet away on the floor from when you had knocked him upside the head. 

“Now just how did you stumble into Hell without the minimum requirement of death?” he asked as he brushed invisible dirt from his hat before placing it back on with a few adjustments.

“That’s a great question,” you said with a smile that didn’t quite reach your eyes. “I’ve got a friend who thought it would be a good idea to try to summon a demon. Obviously, they screwed up, ‘cause it sent me here instead.”

He cackled, and you stood there with a blank expression, cheeks growing hot. Why you were feeling embarrassed over something you had no control over, you weren’t sure.

Well, come to think of it, you did have a bit of control over whether or not Devon had the essential, hard-to-acquire ingredient needed to make the whole thing happen in the first place. Maybe it was karmic justice for your pulling unethical shenanigans in the workplace.

“Play stupid games, win stupid prizes, so they say,” he said, shooting you a shit-eating grin.

You rolled your eyes and turned to walk away. 

“No, wait–don’t leave!”

You ignored him. Since he was there, you might as well give him his shit back. You would have preferred it to be under different circumstances, such as those where you still had your disguise as a buffer or Charlie returning them in your place (because you’d be back home safe and sound). 

But there was no better time than the present, so they say.

You put down the skillet and grabbed the stack of books by the front reception area where you left them after being thoroughly disappointed by their contents. It appeared that Charlie’s father followed you over, as you turned around to find him looking over your shoulder to see what you picked up.

Lord have mercy on your heart.

“Okay, you have to stop that!” you scolded, taking a quick step back.

“Stop what?” he asked with a look of pure innocence.

“Popping up behind me and shit! Somebody needs to put a bell on you or something. Every time you show up out of nowhere, it gives me a goddamn heart attack,” you said, shoving the stack of books into his arms. “Here.”

“What–”

“The books you lent me. We were hoping to find something that could help me get back home but they’re all kinda…not helpful for that,” you explained, toying with a strand of your hair.

“That’s why you and Charlie were there?” he said, looking down at the books with an unreadable expression.

“Well…yes.” You tilted your head. “She thought that’d be the best place to look.”

He sighed before tossing the books up just for all of them to vanish into thin air. You blinked in surprise.

He must have been a magician when he was alive.

“I don’t understand why she didn’t just ask me,” he stressed, throwing a hand up. “I mean, I’m her dad. You’d think it would be instinctual for her!”

“She probably wasn’t sure how you’d react,” you said, looking off to the side. This felt like it could easily spiral into a family therapy session, and even if you were qualified, you did not sign up for that.

“I just have to prove myself to her!” he said in a determined tone, throwing an arm over your shoulder to walk you back over to the couch, “I’ll get you home lickety-split!”

You stiffened at the unexpected contact but conceded to his will, nonetheless.

“Like, now? I could be home today?” you asked, eyes alight with hope.

“Ah…I don’t now about that. It’s been quite a while since I’ve gone to Earth so my skills may be a little rusty, but it won’t take me too long to brush up on them,” he explained as he plopped you both down on the couch. “I’ll have a portal open and ready for you to hop through in no time!”

“It–It’s that easy for you?” you asked, aghast. If Charlie knew he could do that all along, she should have just bit the bullet and asked him. Daddy issues be damned!

“Hah! I used to be able to do it with my eyes closed!” He leaned into you as he emphasized his words. “Usually, I’d charge a sacrifice or something of the sort, but you’re no sinner. You shouldn’t have to be subjected to this hellscape until you’ve earned it.”

“That’s–uh–very kind of you,” you said, smiling and nodding along whilst looking longingly at the front door of the hotel. It was generous of him to offer his services to your cause, but a social buffer would be appreciated considering your circumstances. You hoped Charlie and Vaggie returned soon.

The man continued to converse with you on the sofa for the next hour, and slowly, you felt your anxiety begin to fade. He turned out to be quite the chatterbox, and his commentary was mostly light-hearted and humorous.

 Occasionally, he would stand up to poke around the entryway, commenting on anything that wasn’t quite up to his standards. That left you to come to your hostess’ defense whenever you could. After all, the hotel wasn’t technically up and running yet seeing as you weren’t an actual guest and Angel had yet to move in.

After getting all the parental nosiness out of his system, he settled back down beside you and began asking you about your life on Earth. You had to tell him again what you did for work–he apparently wasn’t paying attention the first time–and what all went into it.

The conversation jumped from topic to topic but left little room for you to ask much about him. His interest in Earth and humanity’s accomplishments was overwhelming.

When Charlie and Vaggie finally returned, they were greeted by the sight of the two of you chatting away and sipping on tea, which had been manifested out of thin air. You were highly skeptical of it at first but had decided to drink so as not to spite the one person who could get you back to Earth. You were pleasantly surprised by its flavor and relieved that it didn’t appear to be poisoned or drugged.

“Hey, Dad…” Charlie drawled as she walked up to the couch. It was clear that she was surprised he had beaten them home. “I thought you were going to come, like, an hour from now.”

“I had some free time this morning, so I decided to swing by a little earlier,” he said after standing up to nudge his shoulder into her, “Can’t put a price tag on extra time with my darling daughter.”

“Right…” Charlie said with a strained smile, looking off to the side where her eyes landed on Vaggie. She perked up and pranced over to her side, grabbing her hand to introduce her.

Her dad was ecstatic over getting to meet her girlfriend. You thought he was overbearing when you met him, but that was dwarfed in comparison. He was even more touchy and fumbling over his words.

Vaggie did her best to be polite.

“Haha…so–uh, have you been given a tour of the hotel yet?” Charlie asked, glancing over at you.

“I poked around this area a bit–-didn’t want to intrude too much,” her father chuckled with his hands propped up on his apple staff.

“I thought it would be better to leave that to you,” you said as you stood up to join the group, teacup in hand, “I still struggle to find my way around.”

The night prior, Vaggie had caught you wandering aimlessly on the fourth floor after attempting to find your way to your room on your own. They offered to walk you there since they understood the halls could be a maze sometimes, but you had decided to be stubborn, insisting it was straightforward enough. Clearly, you had overestimated your skills.

That being said, it was a miracle you were able to make it to the foyer that morning.

Vaggie chuckled a bit as she recalled the memory.

Charlie smiled at you knowingly, as well, indicating that the story had been relayed to her. She looked back at her dad for only a moment before her eyes darted back to you, eyes widening as the smile dropped from her face.

“Oh–Oh my god!” she squawked as she rushed to your side. “You’re not–Why aren’t you…” she waved her hand in circles as she tried to find the word she was looking for before leaning in to whisper, “...you know.”

Your eyes narrowed as they rolled over to look at her father.

“I barely rolled myself out of bed when he came knocking,” you explained, “Believe me, I tried to avoid being seen, but…”

But you were hunted down like a mouse running from a fox. Even when you thought you were in the clear, it seemed like he knew exactly where you were and where you would go next.

That man was scary.

“But you can’t hide something like that forever~” he sang, wrapping an arm around your shoulder to pull you against him. “However, I never imagined it would be this darling little human.”

He jostled you slightly as he spoke, and you could feel your face warming up from both his actions and his words. However, he had no right to be calling anybody else ‘little’ considering his stature.

“We really need to get her a new phone,” Charlie said to Vaggie, “If she could have called or texted us, we might’ve been able to intervene.”

Charlie’s father scoffed.

“What kind of sinner do you take me for? I’m not an animal, you know––” he began to argue but paused to turn his attention on you, retracting his arm. “You threatened to call her earlier, but you don’t even have a phone?”

Your lips twitched into a guilty smile, and you took a step closer to Charlie.

“You’re a filthy little liar!” He jabbed a finger in your direction.

 “You were breaking and entering!” you pitched back.

“I am her–”

“Okay!” Charlie tucked you behind her and put a hand up in front of her dad. “How about that tour then?”

She put one hand on your back and the other on her father’s as she began to lead the group of you through the hotel. You were secretly glad you were getting another chance to look around and get a grasp of the layout.

When you dared to glance over at her dad, he was already eying you bitterly, and the only thing you could think to do was shoot him a sheepish smile in return.

The childish part of you wanted to stick your tongue out and blow a raspberry, but you knew better. He made it clear he had some level of magical abilities, and to what extent, you weren’t sure. That last thing you wanted to do was learn the hard way. Besides, you needed to be on his good side so he’d help you get home.

As the tour progressed, he thankfully dropped his spiteful demeanor towards you in favor of soaking in as much of Charlie’s attention as he could get. You could tell that he was just happy to be near her.

It was sweet.

There were a few times where he exchanged some words with you lightheartedly. It reassured you that you hadn’t managed to say or do anything to genuinely piss him off. Rather, it seemed he was just the dramatic type.

You made it back to the foyer, and when Charlie was finished explaining her ideas for redeeming sinners, she waited eagerly for her father’s thoughts. She was disappointed that he had more opinions on the hotel’s appearance than its purpose, but she didn’t push the subject.

She would have a better chance pitching the idea to him once she had a few successful patrons to use as evidence that sinners could, in fact, be redeemed.

“I can certainly help you spruce the place up a bit,” he said as he waved his stick around the room, “After filling this place up with furniture and maybe adding a bit more light…I’m sure it will look wonderful, honey.”

He sent her a prideful grin, which she subtly rolled her eyes at.

“Thanks, dad… I really appreciate it,” she said as she pulled him into a hug. His face lit up before he shut his eyes and melted into her embrace.

When they parted, he made a gesture at you.

“I was also telling your friend earlier that I’d be more than happy to get her home. I just need some time to warm up. Don’t want to accidentally drop her off in the middle of Antarctica,” he said whilst nudging her and chuckling at his own joke.

“Oh! Well, I don’t really think we need your help with that…” she said, looking away.

You sent her a baffled look.

“We already found some people–today, actually–that can get her home,” she stated with a firm nod of her head. “So no need to worry about that! Sending over furniture is more than enough, which, again, I really appreciate!”

“Nonsense, this is what good fathers do! Besides, I highly doubt they could be more efficient than me,” he huffed before turning to grin at you. “I promise to have you home in no time.

♡ ♡ ♡

Tag List: @spookysisters @for-hearthand-home @crescent-z @mixplara @juskonutoh @tinywolfiegirl @lafy-taffy @glowinthedarkbones1150 @froggybich @darling-angel222 @preciousbabypeter @itzabbeym @mrspepper1885

[azenpal]

The answer to my maybe

– aaron hotchner x neighbor!female reader

summary | being in a new place is weird, but you make it harder for yourself by crushing on your neighbor

warnings | nothing really, just me trying to envision a pervert hotch, cliffhanger

word count | 2055

a/n | hi, i’m just going to drop this one here because i can’t find the inspiration for the smut part of this story<3

Living in a house alone isn’t as fun as the movies made you dream of. Although you enjoy your alone time and doing the things you promised yourself you’d do for years. Somehow, there was still that nudging feeling that something wasn’t in its right place, telling you there’s a factor missing in your life now. The cycle of waking up, going to your job, doing an activity, and picking up a hobby felt mundane when you end the night staring at your ceiling. And it turns out, there were only a few DIY projects in your home you could do until you feel fed up with it. So here you were, laying on your sofa on a Saturday, staring at your window, hoping inspiration hits you to do anything. 

But if you could be honest, the only reason the view looked good was that there’s a chance you’ll see a glimpse of your neighbor– Aaron Hotchner, no— Agent Aaron Hotchner. The neighbor who introduced himself as you were moving the boxes in your home. The guy that told you places to see and restaurants to try as soon as the second time you met him. The father of Jack Hotchner, an adorable bundle of joy dressed as a cute little boy. The man your friends refer to as the hot neighbor when you confess to them how you feel “hot” every time you see him, among the many other confessions you would do and are willing to do for that man.  

But over the weeks, you grew to have a soft spot for the Hotchners each time you saw them playing outside or walking back to their homes with their ice cream. So, of course, bringing them snacks and buying Jack toys that remind you of him became a habit of yours and is certainly not just an excuse to see his dad, although that is a bonus. Yet every time you see Mr. Hotchner, you start to feel that your liking of him is growing too strong. It became so bad that you actually tried not to initiate any conversation with the Hotchner, but Jack is just too damn cute to ignore, and your resolution easily crumbled after two days. Failing to control your feelings and thoughts for Aaron, your mundane days were over but filled with nights imagining how it would feel to be in his arms. 

So, aside from your normal routine, nothing has changed, and you still have a lot of free time. But instead of finding a new hobby or trying to be productive, most of your days are now spent thinking about what you could do to stop your never-ending fantasies with Aaron. Maybe you just have to get out and spend money. Or maybe a shopping haul? Or maybe your period is just nearing, and you’re just horny at a different kind of level. Or maybe you just really need to get laid. Or maybe you need some romance in your life?  

Or maybe, just maybe, you were starting to want the feeling of a thrill? The idea of being careless, having the ability to just do without thinking of the consequences of your actions, or simply, your coworkers’ idea of having fun every time they have a drink. But a one-night stand is just a no-no; you know that you don’t trust people that way and the paranoia that you’ll get murdered if you’re alone with a stranger is just too strong for you to sleep with a stranger. 

But now that you’re thinking about it and you’re hearing your thoughts, maybe you’re just being dramatic about your life.

Then again, your friends have told you to go out more and “explore.” Meet new people and enjoy the different possibilities life has to offer aside from your usual safe and plain routine. So, heeding your friend’s advice, who may either start an adventure or a murder, the temporary answer to your maybes is meeting their friend, whom they all talk kindly of. The truth is, you will never do this on your own. The reason being a mix of anxiety, fear, insecurity, and your strong imagination of how your date would and could dump you on the spot in a hundred ways made you stop your finger every time you want to try a dating application. But knowing that the people you trust know the guy eases your negative emotions. However, while you’re thankful to them for being supportive, a part of you still regrets using the words “bored to death” and “looking for a thrill” when you opened up to them; after all, a delusional part of you wants to be on a date with your neighbor. 

And after weeks of talking with Jake and a side of asking your friends about what to do and if what you’re doing is correct, you actually had the courage to meet him. But behold, now that the meeting place is set and the time is also scheduled, you did not think of the possibility that you will rack your brains configuring countless combinations of your clothes. You want to appear like you put in the effort to look presentable but not overwhelming because maybe he could be someone special and think that your clothes were too much. But all you know is whether he likes you or rejects you, you want to look and feel good tonight and not think of Aaron Hothcner.  

With your bed filled with pants, shirts, skirts, your favorite underwear, and the dress you felt confident in, you step back, trying to think which combination will make you feel good tonight. There’s only a small chance that this date will solve your problems, but you want to try your best; after all, it’s better not to have regrets. So, holding onto your two favorite underwear while still in your towel, you try to imagine which would be better to boost yourself up. 

But then again, the point of this date was for you to feel something new, so maybe wearing the usual wouldn’t be the right way to start- and also in hopes of getting some, as your friends have said. So, looking at the further edge of the bed, you grabbed the caramel nude and periwinkle underwear you have and contemplated between the two. Periwinkle would look good on you, but maybe it’s too much for a first date? Not that you want to impress him with your underwear. But caramel nude feels the safest right now, not too far off your comfort zone, but still different. 

Choosing the caramel nude underwear made you feel as if you’ve taken a big step in getting ready, even if you haven’t chosen what to wear. Although realistically thinking, it would take you hours to decide what to wear, so opting to do your usual make-up, you sent a picture of all the clothes in your bed to your friends for their choice. 

While waiting for your friend’s reply and starting on your make-up, you glimpse the dress you’ve only worn once for a specific purpose-- to deliver cookies to Aaron Hocthner’s door. Stupid? Yes. But do you regret buying it? No. You couldn’t say you regretted buying that dress because he complimented you for wearing it. And it’s not just that he said you looked pretty in it, but the fact that he noticed it was the first time you wore it made you feel hot. You could just combust on the spot. But of course, you didn’t admit it was new when he asked if it was, making a lie that you didn’t realize you still have that dress. 

That day also made you think that, just maybe, you had a chance with him. See, you remember what he wore the first day you saw him. He was wearing a Rangoon green polo; well, it was a well-fitted polo. You’re still unsure about the color, given that you just obsessed about it and searched for hours in the hues and shades of green that day. He also had sunglasses on, but you didn’t get a good look at them because the moment he saw you walking on your pavement, he quickly got rid of it and approached you while smiling. 

And as you see yourself smiling like a fool while remembering that day, you realize maybe that day sealed your fate already. But the buzzing of your phone cut your thoughts as your friends all voted for you to wear a dress. Making you remember the goal of tonight’s plan, stop thinking about Aaron Hotchner. 

Your date is a hot man. If you were in the mood for sex, you might jump his bones to end your dry spell. This is not a denial of the fact that you were in the mood for sex because, technically, you are, just not with the man in front of you. And maybe one more reply of saying what and I’m sorry I didn’t hear that, and your hot date would also know that your mind is floating to someone. Floating to someone serious-looking, big, hot, FBI, and most definitely your neighbor.

At this point, you have given up trying not to think about Aaron. Maybe when the date ends, you could say sorry to your friends and then thank them for doing this for you. You could also ask them to help you make a move on Aaron because, apparently, he’s in your head no matter what distraction you put yourself with. When you entered the place, you tried to imagine what restaurant Aaron would choose. Does he prefer a casual dinner? Would you be riding in his car while talking about your day to each other? Does he like the food you love? Would he wear a suit? Does he talk about his friends or work when on a date? Would he tell Jack about your date? Does he end a date by dropping you home and kissing you goodnight? Or maybe he would invite himself in and stay with you for the night?  

As the minute passes, you answer all your questions by imagining different scenarios of how your date would go. So, with a smile, kiss on the cheek, and goodbye, you entered your home to do the same repetitive way you end your night. But as you take your clothes off, you realize that somehow, what was first to be an evening you looked forward to turned out to be a night you just wanted to end. Wearing only your underwear, you flopped your body in your bed and exhaled loudly. You could not stop thinking of him at all. And no denial method of yours could get you to stop imagining a date with him. So maybe it would be better to just be honest with your feelings? Maybe you could ask your friends for advice. 

Picking up the phone, ready to tell them everything, you got a message from the man you were trying to avoid by all means.

Aaron Hotchner.

Prepare? What does he mean by that? Does he-

About to reply to Aaron that he sent you the wrong message, you look to your right and realize that the window is wide open. The window where you first saw how hot your neighbor is is freaking open. Rushing to close it, you checked if he was still there. How long has he seen you walking around in your room in a towel? 

Did he see you twirling and posing earlier while holding your underwear? 

Did he see everything? 

Mouth opening and mind flooding with questions, you realize what the hell just happened. 

The hot neighbor you’ve been crushing on has seen you posing in front of the mirror while holding your underwear and checking yourself out.

He saw you.

In your underwear.

And if this isn’t the most embarrassing night of your life, maybe finding a new place is the right answer to all your maybe’s. 

Endnote | now that i have dropped this, i will now contemplate how the hell i’m going to continue this but anywhore tysm for reading this!

Masterlist link

[genericpuff]

The Mishandling of LO’s S3 Mi(n)season Hiatus - Part 3 1/2

Here we go, Part 3 of my analysis of the current FP episodes - a three-parter episode set leading up to the midseason finale of LO.

Part 1

Part 2

Truth is, I had actually forgotten a lot of the weird (and very stupid) shit that happened in this episode, that I thought Episodes 251 and 252 had already offered up the worst that this three parter set could dish out. Boy, was I wrong, because when I went back to check out Episode 253, I was reminded of a reality that my brain had wiped out in an attempt to protect my withering psyche-

I also forgot just how long this episode is. It's so long that I frankly can't even fit it all into this post, so this is gonna be part 3 1/2.

Anyways, let's just get on with it. This is the final stop on our trip into absolute nonsense.

CAUTION: THIS IS PART 3 OF A 3 PART SERIES IN WHICH I WILL BE SPOILING MUCH OF EPISODES 251-253. THIS WILL BE A LONG POST. BRACE YOURSELF.

Well, it's the midseason finale, and what better way to open it up than with the final title card-

Typo and all. It wouldn't be an LO episode without one. Granted, IIRC this typo has been edited out, but the version of the screenshots I have from it feature it in all its original unedited glory. So enjoy that.

And yes, just like the last two times, the title itself only applies to the final cliffhanger, which is an absolute doozy especially for those who were there to experience it in real time.

This is already a bit of a wild opening compared to the last two episodes, but it's quickly revealed that this is laying the foundation for the prophecy that Psyche gave to Apollo back in Episode 252. In true LO fashion, the story can't actually be linear in any regard, we're always segmented from pieces of information at a time. Loyal fans will call this a "writing style", I call it Rachel just trying to get another 70 cents out of me.

That said, I will say the art here is fairly decent, but I think that just goes to show that LO's one of worst features these days - ironically enough - is its coloring. What began as its strongest feature has now become one of its biggest weaknesses due to the sheer laziness in its rendering and the colors become more and more saturated into the grotesque over time. So at this point, you pretty much have to rob these characters of their colors to make them look decent, and of course at that point it just further highlights Rachel's same-face problems. She definitely tried to make them look distinguishable here, at least, with Hestia and Poseidon being the most unique.

Now, this isn't the first time that we've heard of this herb being referenced - it was stated by Hades that Hera was the one to originally poison Kronos with the herb after gaining his trust - but to see it suddenly just pop up and play a role again out of nowhere already gives me a bad feeling in my stomach. It feels like yet another plot device - especially when presented in this type of format - that Rachel is suddenly using to try and seem "unique" in her writing, much like the strange narration we got back during the "Run For Your Life" sequence. It's just once again LO lacking any specific identity, it's always trying to be a million other things at once.

I will say, much of this in and of itself is panel filler. Why? Because the location of the herb doesn't matter. You'll see what I mean in a moment, but the mentioning of Anthedon plays no role here, it's just yet another obligatory "see, I know how to Google things!" lip service moment from Rachel "self-proclaimed folklorist" Smythe.

Anyways, Eros is perplexed by this but Psyche immediately catches on, knowing right away that Apollo is going for Zeus. And this is where we get yet another one of the dumbest sequences in this comic.

(see what I mean that the location of the herb doesn't matter? Because Apollo already got it and laced it into the cupcake).

Now, first of all, the fact that Eros and Psyche believe Kassandra's prophecy is already hilarious in and of itself, because ... well, because it literally defeats the point of her establishing it as a curse in the previous episode. Unless it only works on mortals? It never stated as such, so we literally just have to go with it and pretend not to notice that.

But most of all, of course LO had to play this off as some joke. Like, "hahaha how awkward! I've already eaten the cupcake!" and he still doesn't seem to really be in shock. Zeus has seen what this herb has done to gods before him, and yet his reaction to this is akin to a dad getting upset that he stepped LEGO's that he asked his kid 20 times to pick up off the floor. The whole "record scratch" style formatting of this followed by Zeus' lack of reaction just really makes me not care about any of this, because clearly the story doesn't care either.

But we don't see who he makes these calls to because the comic, of course, can't spend any longer than 10 panels on a single scene, so we cut to Hades and Persephone.

Again, I don't know what the point was of having Hera relay this information to Persephone for her to relay to Hades, aside from the fact that Rachel needed to act smart with Therapy Speak that didn't even apply to Hera's situation (as we talked about in the last part). They gotta make Persephone the center of everyone's world though, so it's Persephone who's delivering this info and trying to come up with the solution.

Hades, though, wants to focus on his wife's birthday the commemoration of spring.

SIR. THE WOMAN YOU WERE IN AN AFFAIR WITH SINCE BEFORE YOUR WIFE WAS BORN IS CURRENTLY GRAPPLING WITH YOUR FATHER WHO ABUSED HER AND IS NOW HAUNTING HER. THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR FLUFFY ROMANCE TIME. THERE IS A CHILD BEING HELD CAPTIVE IN TARTARUS AND LITERALLY NO ONE SEEMS TO CARE.

Anyways, apparently (for some reason) Hades is the one who has to go meet Demeter out front. Even though Hades has literally NOTHING to do with this ceremony, it's not his domain, but Persephone literally says "yep, that's correct" when he asks if he needs to go out to meet Demeter.

This just feels like such a pointless conversation and I don't get what the point of this exact exchange is. Again, this isn't Hades' domain, so I don't see why he needs to be the one to go meet with Demeter.

But then, of course, to make matters worse, this man has the absolute audacity to pretend like he's never done anything wrong to Demeter. As if she should be obligated to be cool with sharing a bench with this man who literally terrorized her for years and then essentially groomed her daughter.

I hate him so fucking much and I can't believe we're supposed to be rooting for him. He has not undergone ANY of the character development necessary for me to want to care about him.

Anyways, Hades has a seat with Demeter, and the conversation is very brief before Hades says that he has a gift for her. And what is it, exactly?

Oh great, Hades. Sure wish you would have had this consideration hundreds of years ago. I fail to see what good this does for her now because it doesn't change the fact that he still cost her the role of Queen of the Mortal Realm and treated her like shit for hundreds of years. This comes across as such a shallow and empty "apology" because it's barely even a "gift", rather something she was OWED back then that he didn't want to hand over for his own selfish reasons. He still comes out the winner here because he's gotten to spend thousands of years being a rich slave-driving oligarch while Demeter has had to maintain the Mortal Realm on her own even without the glory of having a title.

I especially detest this "twist" because it's less of a twist and Rachel finally accepting the fact she couldn't come up with anything better than what her fans had to come up with for her. If this had been the fact the whole time, we would have seen it established back when we first got those flashbacks showing Hades being a total prick to her over the volcanoes. Instead, Rachel dragged it out for weeks and weeks until finally dumping this "twist" that her fans had been talking about all that time. This is yet another one of those "Rachel used her fanbase to come up with her ideas" moments. I know that that seems a little mean and presumptuous, but the fact of the matter is that the writing in this story is such an absolute mess that you just know Rachel's writing by the seat of her pants and has to rely on her audience's headcanons to actually fill in the gaps of her story. Most of the time when people commend her for the "great storytelling" in LO, what they're referring to are things they came up with entirely on their own because of how easy it is to just make assumptions about LO's storyline. Rachel benefits off the story being as vague as possible because then her fanbase will fill in the gaps with their own assumptions and give her all the credit for an idea they came up with.

By the way, to the "self-proclaimed folklorist" who wrote this, the volcanoes were really just entrances into the Underworld. Hades did not own them. They were owned by Hephaestus. And I would argue that the volcanoes were only seen as "entrances" into the Underworld because, fun fact - if you jump into a volcano, you die!

Hades frames his reasoning as feeling like Demeter was pushing him out of the Mortal Realm, but this makes no sense because none of that is on her. He claims that he felt like an "outsider" but the reality is that he made himself that way. He resigned himself to being King of the Underworld, he ate the pomegranate and made the deal with Erebus, and even he stated that he could still actually leave the Underworld, just not for long periods of time. So he was the only one keeping himself away from the Mortal Realm, not Demeter. We even see that in the VHS tape flashbacks where Hades stumbles onto Demeter's property and she lets him sleep it off in her home. So this whole sob story about how he felt "pushed out" by Demeter is such a bad take from someone who's routinely known to make himself out to be the victim. Because Hades can't have an actual reputation for a reason, no, this is a "retelling" told by someone who got all their Greek myth info off Tumblr circa 2016 and the front page of Google, so Hades has to be the misunderstood uwu sad underdog. Even though he routinely does things that reinforce the reputation he has within the comic, like being a slave driver, abusing lower class nymphs, and grooming teenagers.

Minthe showing up for a split second in the background is the best this comic has been since S2. We stan our girl Minthe, fucking run girl, do what Persephone couldn't do. She's the real hero of this story (｡･∀･)ﾉﾞ

And honestly, I'm sorry, but Demeter really SHOULDN'T be taking the high ground on this. She has more than enough reason to be upset. For a comic that tries to celebrate feminism and holding abusive men accountable, it sure is willing to make the women - often victims of the men - the real villains who have to "do better". Except for Persephone of course. Persephone is married into the system now, she doesn't have to "do better", she's a "boss babe" for being abusive and petty and undeserving of her status because she's the self-insert Y/N character.

So the ceremony for commencing Spring begins. I gotta say, for the final major scene of the mi(n)season finale, the art is severely underwhelming. You can really tell the difference between S3 and S1 art here, there's barely anything extra done to make this scene even half as impactful as the most basic of scenes from S1.

Like, it's fine, but it still feels so half-baked and rushed to attempt to replicate the kind of art that's been gone from the series for years now. The full sequence itself is actually quite lengthy, with a lot of nymph hands just moving around and playing instruments, but it's about as bland as any other panel, so it makes the sequence itself feel dragged out and boring.

This is about as pretty as the sequence gets and it's still not even as good as the original Dread Queen transformation. There's barely any rendering in the skin, and they couldn't even be bothered to make the hands look normal. It's like it's trying so hard to be "original LO" but is fundamentally missing the point of what made the original LO so captivating.

But oh noooo, looks like Persephone did a bad!

Are they actually gonna give her some kind of flaw? Are we gonna FINALLY gonna find out what she traded to Erebus?

No. We're just gonna make her the cause of winter.

Spaghettios.

And that's where I'm leaving this review for now because, as mentioned in the beginning, this episode is a LOT longer than I remember it being. There's still a whole ass segment with Apollo that we need to cover and I don't want to leave it out but I also don't want to do it entirely in text format and I've hit that pesky image limit. So I'll be posting that second part as soon as I can!

That said, I really can't stand this "subversion" by making Persephone the reason for winter.

First of all, because this is a common problem in a lot of H x P "retellings", as many of them fundamentally miss the point of why Persephone is the "Goddess of Spring".

Persephone was not born the "Goddess of Spring". She was born Kore (Κόρη), a maiden born from Demeter. It wasn't until after she was taken by Hades that Demeter, in her grief, took away the harvest and created winter. It was the return of Persephone every six months that brought about the spring, hence, she earned the name, "Goddess of Spring". What these retellings COMPLETELY MISUNDERSTAND is that the gods aren't 'born' with their titles, they're granted these titles by the mortals who comprehend them and write of them as harbingers of their respective elements, stories, and messages. Zeus wasn't "born" the God of the Sky and Heavens, he was granted that title after he overthrew Kronos and took the Heavens for himself. Hades wasn't "born" the God of the Underworld and the Dead, he was granted that title after he became the ruler of the domain of death.

Where these retellings really fuck up is constantly trying to "subvert" the H x P myth in an attempt to romanticize it, thus undoing the point of why Persephone is called "The Goddess of Spring". A Touch of Darkness also made this mistake by putting a "twist" on Persephone's character by having her start out as someone who couldn't make things grow. But if she sucks at making things grow, then why is she still referred to as The Goddess of Spring? In LO, Hades is referred to as "Grandpa Winter" and the seasons already seem to exist as we saw in this episode through the ceremony, so why has she been called "The Goddess of Spring" this whole time?

But I also can't stand this "subversion" because it fundamentally misunderstands the very myth it's trying to "retell". By giving Persephone the "curse" of creating winter, it further robs Demeter of her own agency in this story, more than it already has. It wasn't enough to make Demeter a helicopter mom, it wasn't enough to drive an actual rift between her and her daughter, they had to take away Demeter's entire role in the story and the creation of the seasons and give it to Persephone.

And this is, surprisingly enough, NOT the first time the comic has done this. There are many traits associated with different gods that have been given to Persephone and Hades. The volcanoes belong to Hades rather than Hephaestus, Persephone is "more beautiful than Aphrodite", Thanatos' and Psyche's butterfly symbolism is given to both Hades and Persephone, Aphrodite's symbolism of roses is given to Persephone, the list goes on. Every single plotline has to involve Persephone as the hero, and every single attribute that's commonly associated with other gods has to be granted to H x P in some way to make them better and more interesting than every other cast member in the comic, and yet they still come across as vapid and boring protagonists with nothing to show for themselves.

So to give the ONE thing from the source material that made LO what it is, it comes across as so unbearably cruel.

But then again, we should have seen this coming. After all, Rachel does not cite this as a retelling of The Hymn to Demeter. She simply refers to it as its more unofficial name: The Taking of Persephone.

Look, I get it, the story is meant to be told from Persephone's POV (or at least through the lens of her being the main character) so I can understand why Rachel may have chosen to reword this to make it more clear. But it's really depressing that she went to such an extent with making it about Persephone that she had to rob one of the most integral character of her moment and retribution. Especially when one of the only books in her cited "research" that's primarily about Persephone is, shocked, The Hymn to Demeter, which is listed at the very bottom of every "research" list you can find in LO's history.

LO should have just stayed as self-indulgent fluff. This isn't "subversion", this isn't a "twist", it's just yet another item on the list of making Persephone the most Important One of all. Even when it attempts to be a 'flaw', it fails tremendously by acting as yet another aspect of her being a Mary Sue, because her 'flaw' has come at the cost of another character's story, identity, and strengths. What was originally a tale of grief, retribution, and standing up against a patriarchal system, has now been warped into a consequence of a muddied plot that doesn't have anywhere left to go. For a story that claims to be "feminist", it has ironically missed the original point of its source material entirely, and completely robbed itself of the feminine strength it could have had if it hadn't tried to be "subversive".

I don't really have anything much more to say than that. I could leave it here for good, but we do still have that extra segment to talk about that covers the actual final cliffhanger in this episode, so... we'll see you on the other side.

[x-bluefire-heart-x]

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

Okie dokie my lovely readers! Here is chapter Five of Dating App now it does end a little on a non suspenseful cliffhanger and I promise that the next chapter will be worth the wait!

So there is also about a three week timeskip at the start and about three days around the half way point of this chapter.

Warnings: Masturbation. Dirty minds. Semi public (in office behind a closed door).

Master List

Prompt List

One , Two , Three , Four , Six , Seven , Eight, Nine, Ten

It had been almost three weeks since you had been able to see Rafael, the two of you had messaged back and forth every day. You had learned a lot about the man, such as the fact that he needed at least three coffees a day more often than not that was the minimum requirement, one of them had to be as soon as he wakes up otherwise he is a little grumpy, and he can be a little petulant when you mention how adorable you thought he was as he complained to you about the coffee at the court house.  He even sent you a photo of himself pouting, you saved that straight away.

Rafael always messages in full sentences, with near perfect grammar and punctuation. However, you learnt that when he was beyond tired after a day of court and then spending hours preparing for cross the next day he could become adorably nonsensical with some of his messages, the perfect grammar and punctuation slowly leaving as each hour passed. The petulance would come back in full force if you gently told him that he had to go to sleep, you worked out two ways to get him to sleep, one that if you promised to give him lots of kisses when you next saw him he would go to sleep. Or you hoped he did, he stopped responding to your messages at least. The other was video calling him, and you preferred this option as it allowed you to see that he did actually go to bed and sleep, as you wouldn’t hung up until he was asleep. You were also shown the petulance in its full glory as he tried to negotiate with you, thankfully you weren’t bound by law or court etiquette so you used all the weapons at your disposal to get him to relent. Including promises of more than kisses and perhaps a continuation of what happened in his office. That would sometimes backfire, as Rafael’s eyes would darken and his voice would become a husky grumble, still tinged with sleep as he asked for evidence of these promises. In the end it still resulted in him falling asleep but it was harder to get him to agree.  

You also learned how to tell when he had been having a good day in court and when he’d had a bad day. You made sure to do whatever you could to do make his day better when court had been tough, by sending him updates of everything going on in the library, sending him photos of your different outfits and makeup for the day, as inspired by different gods and goddesses. Even though you hadn’t been unable to meet up with him it hadn’t changed how you felt at all, in fact you think it only helped your feelings grow. Although the two of you couldn’t do exactly what you guys promised on your second date, Rafael insisted that you still read the amber quartet series to him over the phone. He claimed being able to listen to your voice helped to relax him after a tough day, hearing that you were all too happy to read him a couple chapters a night.

Rafael showed that he could be romantic even without seeing you, he had sent flowers and even chocolates to the library twice since your lunch, both thanking you and apologising for not being to be meet up with you. Not wanting him to be the only one being romantic, you sent him some flowers back, with a hidden meaning. You sent him a bouquet with peonies, matthiola incana, red chrysanthemum, and carnations, trying to portray that you could see yourself falling deeply for him. Something that was already happening. The response you had gotten from that had been endearing as hell, Rafael called you right away after he got them, he stumbled over his words and he sounded flustered, you really wanted to see if his cheeks were red, because that would have been the most adorable sight.

That had been three days ago, the messages had been fewer but Rafael had told you that the court case had just gotten difficult and so he might not be able to message you. You stared at your phone and the message sitting in-front of you.

‘So, I know that your case is difficult at the moment, but when it is over I was wondering if you would like to come over to mine for dinner? And maybe, if you wanted to of course, you could stay the night.’

You hadn’t sent it yet the nerves in your stomach stopping you. Of course you knew that he wouldn’t have an issue with it, in the past few weeks there had been plenty of indications that the both of you wanted to be more intimate with each other. But there was still that small part of you that was worried he would say no, that was nervous about taking that step with him.

“Come on, pull on your big girl pants and send it,” you groused to yourself. You took a mouthful of your wine, swallowing it while closing your eyes and hitting send. “Okay, so I did that. It’s fine, it’s so totally fine.”

You drained the rest of your wine as you grabbed the bottle to pour yourself another glass, to wait for Rafael’s response. It was late but you weren’t working tomorrow so you figured you could get away with a rare late night wine session. You bit your lip as you looked through some of the photos Rafael had sent throughout the weeks. A lot of them were similar to the first one he ever sent, dishevelled appearance with more and more of his shirt buttons undone. You paused on a few of the ones he sent when the two of you had been messaging late at night when he was grumpy. He had angled the phone to capture his strong thighs clad in his suit pants, with the zipper undone and his cock tenting his boxers. You felt a curl of pleasure in your lower stomach as you stretched out on the couch, your bare legs bent and spread. You flicked through some more photos of the same vein, one with his hand cupping his cock through his pants, another showing his entire body as Rafael bit his lip and grabbed himself.

Images of what could happen the night he stayed over played through your mind as you remembered how his cock felt as you sat on his lap kissing him, his hands grabbing your ass. Your mind played out what could have happened if you hadn’t been interrupted, you imagined Rafael manhandling you until you were laid out on the couch, as he buried his head between your thighs, drawing moans and whimpers from you. You imagined him hovering over you as he slowly pushed himself inside of you. As these images played through your mind, you trailed your hand down your stomach, slipping under your panties and swirled your fingers around your clit.

--

Rafael could feel another headache starting just behind his eyes. This case was almost over, maybe another two days and it would be closing arguments, the defence was just throwing character witness’ at the jury, one of which had opened up a can of worms but the detectives had dug a little and hopefully found something he could use tomorrow when he cross-examined this witness. He had always had an issue when defence would have an insane number of character witnesses, but he especially felt it with this case. It had been almost three weeks, three long weeks since he had been able to see you, see his Chica. The messages and video calls had been amazing, you showed a clear concern for his health, bartering with him to get him to sleep, it was adorable to see you negotiate with him. You of course had an advantage, he was finding it very difficult to say no to you. He didn’t want to disappoint you, and it was slowly becoming clear that all you had to do was flutter your lashes, pout a little at him and use a tone that was a mixture of coy, shy and seductive.  

He was pleasantly surprised when you had sent him flowers, along with a cute little note stating that you thought men should get flowers and that you were giving him a little test to work out the little message the flowers had. He had brought up a flower language website so fast, the flowers were all about adoration, romance, bashfulness, happiness, passion, fascination and new love. Rafael didn’t think he had ever felt so flustered when he read the meanings of the flowers, nor had he ever stumbled so much over his words when he rang you. Nor had he ever felt so adored by someone before. He had worried that you would lose interest in him, finally see that a relationship with him meant going potentially weeks without being able to see him, that it would involve making plans for dates but having to cancel them and not even being able to have you come to his office. But you hadn’t shown any sign of that, you always sent him a good morning and good night message along with ones spattered throughout the day, trying what you could to help him relax.

Rafael sighed, a groan of frustration leaving his lips as he slumped into the couch at his office. He knew he should probably go home but he needed to be focused for the cross tomorrow, plus he had to go over the evidence of other cases and start on warrants for the detectives. Liv and the others had done what they could but even they couldn’t prevent how much work could pile up on his desk. His phone vibrated on the desk drawing his eyes from the papers in-front of him. God he hoped this wasn’t a message telling him one of his cases was about to blow up. Again. But all the exhaustion and frustration of the day disappeared when he saw your contact name.

‘So, I know that your case is difficult at the moment, but when it is over I was wondering if you would like to come over to mine for dinner? And maybe, if you wanted to of course, you could stay the night.’

Rafael stared at the words on the screen. He swallowed as heat coursed through his body, you wanted him to stay the night. He thought that you might be interested in moving things forward from the conversations you had had, including some of the incentives you had given him to get some sleep. And you weren’t necessarily shy, although you could ask for what you wanted he found that you would get a little bashful about asking. He wondered how long it took for you to send this message.

‘That sounds like a fantastic way to celebrate the end of this case. And there is nothing more I would like to do then spend the night. Hopefully, this case should be over in about three days but I will keep you updated, of course.’

He sent through his response, adding a heart emoji onto the end of the message. And with that Rafael couldn’t focus on his trial prep, all his mind could think of was spending the night with you. He tried not to let his mind get away, but after some of the video calls the two of you had shared he found it incredibly difficult. He knew what you would look like above him, but now he was imagining what you would look like underneath him, stretched out head thrown back in ecstasy and what noises he could drag from your lips. He felt himself harden, his cock straining against his pants as the images played through his mind. He felt his body heat as he palmed himself to relieve some of the tension, a soft groan slipping from his lips, he glanced briefly at the door trying to remember if he had locked it after closing it.  

“Fuck it,” he muttered deciding that it was too late for anyone else to still be around. He quickly unbuckled his belt and unzipped his pants to pull his aching hard cock out.

He didn’t have any lube available so he closed his eyes and licked his hand, imagining that it was you licking his hand, sucking on his fingers. He wrapped a hand around his cock slowly stroking himself as he allowed his mind to go where it wished to. He saw you on your knees in-between his legs as you teasingly sucked on the head of his cock. Your gorgeous eyes staring up at him, a beautiful red flush on your cheeks. He bit down on his other hand in an attempt to quiet the noises coming out of his mouth. His phone was beside him on the couch ignored as he focused on his pleasure until it started to buzz consistently. He wanted to ignore it but he vaguely recalled having messaged you and he didn’t want to ignore you, even for his own pleasure.

­--

You had just considered getting up to get one of your toys when your phone buzzed.

‘That sounds like a fantastic way to celebrate the end of this case. And there is nothing more I would like to do then spend the night. Hopefully, this case should be over in about three days but I will keep you updated, of course.’

You grinned at Rafael’s response glad that he was excited at the prospect of spending the night. Your pleasure hadn’t ebbed away when you read his response, it instead grew as the possibilities you had played in your mind as you fingered yourself suddenly became a lot more possible. You dragged yourself up from your couch and travelled to your bedroom, glass of wine in one hand and your phone in the other. You quickly set up your room, lighting some candles and turning on the fairy lights you had strung up over the canopy of your four poster bed before you dug around in your drawer for your external vibrator. The wine had gone a little bit to your head, as you took a photo of your bed and your room all set up to send to Rafael. You sent another one with a towel and your toy sitting on top of it. And then other one after you had changed into a green set of lingerie that you thought would be perfect to wear for your first night with Rafael. You had purchased it as soon as you saw it, as you believed it would almost match his eyes.

‘I thought a little preview was in order. A little gift for you. My poor man is working so hard.’

--

‘I thought a little preview was in order. A little gift for you. My poor man is working so hard.’

“Fuck Chica,” Rafael groaned his hand speeding up as he stared at the photo of you in the most gorgeous set of lingerie he had ever seen.

A gorgeous green, with lace trimmings and a sheer, gauzy material that almost showed everything but it was designed to hide the parts of your body that he longed to see. His stomach tensed as his pleasure reached its peak as he imagined you laying under him in that lingerie set as he mouthed at your breasts and teased your clit through your panties. His cum covered his hand, some drops on his pants that had it been a different situation he probably would be frustrated but he didn’t care. He cleaned up the mess his cock had made before he took a photo of his face showing his flushed skin, lips red from his teeth having bitten them.

‘Chica, you are going to drive me insane.’ He attached the photo and sent his message off before he saved all the photos you sent. Your bedroom looked exactly how he thought it would, cozy and romantic. And he desperately wanted to see it in person. He would actually consider murdering the defence if they did anything to make this trial go any longer than three days. But he would kiss them if they stopped calling witnesses and allowed the trial to end earlier. He decided to call it a night, he wouldn’t be able to concentrate at all now.

--

You stared at the photo that Rafael had sent you and a part of you just knew that he had taken this photo after he had cum. His cheeks were flushed just so and his lips looked bitten and his eyes, god his eyes were burning and had a satisfied look in them that you desperately wanted to see as he hovered above you.

“Oh fuck,” you groaned as the heat inside you built, you held the vibrator against your clit, hips rolling in pleasure. You sat your phone done so you could tease your breasts altering between them as you pulled at your nipples.  You imagined Rafael above you, thrusting inside you and biting at your neck, the imagine was all you needed as your pleasure reach its peak, your walls fluttered as your clit throbbed as your orgasm flooded through you.

You breathed deeply allowing the last thrums of pleasure to roll through you before you removed the vibrator. Humming you opened your phone again to the photo Rafael sent, bit your lip. You weren’t a religious person but you prayed that the case would be over in three days or less. The need you felt for Rafael was like nothing you had ever felt before, it grew and grew every single day.

--

“Girl you need to get laid,” Lily muttered after you had snapped at some teenagers making a mess.

“I’m trying to,” you snarked.

“Wait…you guys haven’t?” Lily walked beside you on the way to the break room.

“I haven’t seen Rafael in three weeks, this current case apparently become a shit show,” you shrugged. “He’s going to stay the night after the case is over.”

“And that is?”

“Hopefully tomorrow night,” you groaned. “Lily, that man is making me feel things I haven’t felt for someone before.”

Lily grinned wrapping an arm around your waist as she pulled you close.

“And what about Rafael? Any indication that he feels the same?”

“Yes, I think so at least,” you nodded, a soft smile pulling at your frown as a soft blush swept up your neck to your cheeks. “We’ve messaged a lot, including video chats and he is definitely interested. I had a bit too much wine the other night and may have sent a spicer photo then normal and he definitely enjoyed that.”

“Ooh girl, who are you?” she teased.

You shrugged grinning at Lily as you briefly wondered that yourself. You have never sent a photo like you did to Rafael, you had never felt comfortable enough for that. But Rafael made you feel comfortable and safe, you couldn’t explain why after only a short time you felt that way. But honestly you didn’t care. You liked how Rafael made you feel, and you didn’t want it to go away.

“I don’t know but I kinda like it,” you giggled.

“Well, let’s  hope you get laid tomorrow cause you seeing you death glare teenagers dressed as Athena is a little terrifying,” Lily patted your head. “And we can’t go scaring people from our library.”

“Hm, let’s hope,” you hummed in agreement.

--

Rafael barely waited long enough for the Judge to leave, barely waited enough for the victim and their family to thank him before he rushed out to the courtroom and to his office. Ignoring the detectives, he briefly waved over his shoulder when Liv called his name.

“Can’t stop, dinner,” he rushed out. His pulse was thundering as he quickly packed his office, telling Carmen to not interrupt him under any circumstances for tonight and tomorrow. Maybe even the next day, he hadn’t quite decided that. He paused only long enough to send you a text message letting you know that he would be over to yours by 6 at the latest.

‘I can’t wait to see you Rafael, I’ve missed you.’

Rafael grinned at your reply as his uber arrived, he continuously tapped his leg in a little anxious pattern until he arrived at his apartment. He didn’t think he had ever rushed quite so much packing a bag as he did tonight. He debated having a shower and changing but after a quick look in the mirror he decided against it. He knew you thoroughly liked how he looked dishevelled in a suit and figured he could have a quick shower at your place, maybe with you. That would be incredibly enjoyable.  He ordered another Uber to get to yours, stopping to pick up some flowers on the way.

In what felt like hours he arrived at your apartment. Taking a deep breathe he keyed your apartment number into the buzzer and waited for you to answer.

--

The sound of your intercom going off set your heart racing. You hesitated briefly before answering.

“Hello? Rafael?” you asked, there was no-one else it could be.

“Hey Chica,” Rafael’s voice soothed something inside of you. The nerves calming a little.

“I’ll buzz you up, I’m the fourth floor, left after you get out of the elevators and near the end,” you breathed hitting the unlock button.

“Thanks,” Rafael said before you heard the sound of the door opening.

You rushed to your room, checking yourself one last time in your mirror making sure there wasn’t anything out of place. Your hair fell loosely down your back, you decided to forego make up tonight, and chose a formfitting dress with just the peek of green lace showing at the top. In a short time a knock on the door had you wondering back to the entrance. Your eyes cast over the candles that you had lit throughout your apartment, the kitchen table set for two, a bottle of wine and a glass of scotch waiting. You also had your aroma diffuser going with the scent of cherry blossoms. You smoothed down the front of your dress, taking one last breathe before you opened the door. And that breathe rushed out of you the second your eyes saw him.

It looked like he had run here straight from court. A bag held in one hand and white rose held in his other. His green eyes simmered with a heat as he took you in, the simmer growing when he saw the green lace peeking out the top from your dress. He was man enough to admit that he struggled to pull his eyes away from your cleavage but he managed to if only because your eyes caught his.

“My eyes are up here, Sir,” you teased opening the door wider to allow him in. “Come on in.”

“Thank you Chica,” he grinned, as he passed you he pressed a kiss to your cheek. “You look ravishing tonight.”  You smiled ducking your head a little as pink dusted your cheeks.

“So do you,” you tried for a similar tone in your voice that Rafael had but you didn’t quite succeed. Your voice was breathless, because Rafael did look…delicious. With his suit not quite perfect, the tie loose and buttons undone. His hair ruffled and messy.

You watched as Rafael took in your apartment, you kept it clean and tidy. You had bookshelves along the back wall of your open floor plan, the shelves had fairy lights and fake plants decorating them. More fake plants decorated your coffee table and other little nerdy items were scattered throughout your apartment. You felt comfortable and happy in your apartment and never second guessed any of your choices for decorations. Rafael did a small circle noting a glass of scotch waiting beside a plate on the table, you grinned as you noticed the slight hitch in his eyebrow and the soft look on his face as he took everything in.

“You have a lovely home,” Rafael walked towards you. “I picked these up for you.”

“They’re gorgeous Rafael, thank you,” you said reaching out to take them from him but you didn’t step away from him right away. You stepped closer, looking up at him through your lashes, before looking down at his lips and then back up to his eyes.

“Is there something you want carino?” He asked hands taking hold of your hips and tugging you softly.

“Hm, I thought it was you who wanted something,” you countered. “Last I checked it was you who petulantly begged for kisses.”

“Petulantly begged?” Rafael whispered lowering his head until his lips hovered over yours.

“Mhmm,” you nodded. “You going to deny it?”

“Do I get a kiss if I agree?” he asked.

“Well, I mean you did bring me gorgeous flowers,”  you started, purposefully biting your bottom lip. “And I heard you won your case as well.”

“Oh, does winning get me a kiss then? Even if I deny that I begged?” Rafael grinned.

“We both know that you did beg but I will still give you a kiss for winning,” you nodded. “Plus I haven’t seen you in three weeks.”

“Which is just far too long, I’m sorry-”

“Ah no, there is no need for that Rafael,” you smiled cupping his cheek with your free hand. “I was fully aware that this could happen. You’re here now.”

He opened his mouth, probably to try and apologise again but you were not having it. You decided the best way to get him to stop and to distract him from even thinking about it was to kiss him. You pressed your lips against his, causing him to startle a little at the sudden contact, a huff of air escaping him as his lips curled up into a smile, before he started kissing you back. You pulled away before it could get too heated, as you had cooked a rather nice meal and as much as you wanted to finally get him naked you wanted to have a nice meal and talk with him first.

“You hungry?” you asked pulling away, Rafael followed your lips for a second before he opened his eyes a soft whine leaving him.

“Starving,” his green eyes no longer just simmered with heat, they burned.

“Later,” you promised, a similar heat burning through you, and your eyes telling Rafael that you wanted him just as much as he wanted you. “I made Casareccica Alibrandi, and I got you some scotch. I hope it’s one you like. Also please make yourself at home, you can put your jacket on the coat rack just over there.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” Rafael watched as you pulled out a vase to put his flowers in before sitting them on your coffee table, his eyes were glued to you as you walked back past him into the kitchen. It was only when the rest of your sentence entered his brain that he looked over to the a little nook in the wall just after the entrance into the apartment. He quickly took off his suit jacket and tie hanging them up and leaving him in his shirt and suspenders. He undid a few more buttons and rolled up his sleeves.

 “I know, I wanted to though,” you smiled over your shoulder at him as you pulled the pasta dish out of the oven where you had placed it to keep to warm without overcooking anything, feeling your throat constrict a little when you saw him rolling his sleeves, exposing those forearms of his that you had dreamed about. You forced your eyes away and tried to remember the rest what you had wanted to say. “You’ve had a tough three weeks and I wanted tonight to be as relaxing as possible for you.”

“Carino, you are something else,” Rafael whispered as you served up the dish gesturing for him to take a seat. The first thing he did was try the scotch, he wanted to assure you that the scotch was good. And it was, it was really good. “This scotch is really good.”

“I’m glad, I hope the food is good,” you smiled shyly placing a bowl down in-front of him.

“It smells delicious and looks it too,” Rafael caught your hand before you could move to your chair. He brought it up to his mouth to place a kiss on your knuckles. “Thank you Carino, this night is exactly what I need. You are what I need.”

“Rafi,” you whispered squeezing his hand, leaning to place a kiss on his cheek before slowly dragging your hand from his and taking you seat. You stretched your legs out entangling them with his, not wanting to stop touching him.

Rafael smiled at you, taking a bite of the food and could barely stop the groan of appreciation that left his mouth the minute the tastes hit his tongue. It was amazing. Your eyes were stuck on his mouth, as he took another bite, tongue darting out to catch a drop of the sauce. Another hum leaving him. Your body heated as you noticed that his tongue would poke out a little as he took a bite of food.

“Chica, this is amazing,” Rafael focused back on you to see that you hadn’t taken a mouthful yet. “Chica?”

“Hm, what?” you shook your head trying to clear away the images that had taken up residence there. “Oh, um, good, that’s good, I’m glad.” You quickly took a mouthful trying to pretend you hadn’t been staring at him this entire time.

“A bit distracted?” Rafael teased he slipped off one of his shoes and lightly ran his foot up your leg that was entangled with his. You gulped down some wine at his action, surprised at it. “Because I have been distracted by you since you opened your door. Seeing that lacy bra peeking above that gorgeous dress that hugs your curves. Those curves that I have been wanting to kiss and run my tongue all over, tasting you.”

“Rafael,” you gasped, a shiver running through you, your heart picking up at his words.

“My desire for you has grown Carino,” Rafael stood up from his chair, placing one hand on the back of your chair and the other on the table beside your bowl. “Carino, look at me.”

Your eyes trailed up his arm, his throat until you finally looked him in his eyes. The green in them was darker then normal, you were taken back to the day in his office when the two of you made out on his couch like teenagers. You wetted your lips, subconsciously pushing your chest out a little, you felt a little surge of pride and victory when you noticed Rafael’s eyes darting down to stare at your chest before he looked back to your eyes. That small little victory you felt however, withered under the look on Rafael’s face. The hand that had been on the table moved to trail up your stomach and over your chest and up your neck before he gently cupped your face. His touch was the complete opposite of the hungry look on his face, a look that was almost feral. A look that finally made all those descriptions in your fantasy books seen possible. The plan for a nice slow evening had gone out the window and you found that you didn’t quite care as much as you thought you would. You could always talk with him in the morning.

“Ask me,” Rafael demanded as he slowly lowered his face to yours. “And tell me to stop, tell me if you don’t like anything I do.”

“Rafael, please kiss me,” you voice was quiet.

“And?” Rafael insisted, you smiled up at him you hands reaching to grab hold of his suspenders.

“And I promise I will tell you to stop if I need to and I will be clear if I don’t like something,” you responded.

“Good. Girl.” Rafael cooed just before his lips took yours.

[cantquitu]

Hi!

Im also watching Say Nothing and its really good! I also started to read the book. As an Irish person can you give me your perspective about it?

Sorry I completely missed this yesterday. I was binging the last few episodes, I couldn't tear myself away.

I thought Say Nothing was really good. It is such a complex and difficult subject with no clear right or wrong, only dark and shade. I liked that the series didn't try to give easy answers or take a moralistic stance. I think it portrayed the awful, messy complexity of the war as well as a piece of television could. I am sure it will provoke a breadth of differing opinions, and some will be angry, but I think it was a truly excellent attempt to portray this painful chapter in history with some nuance.

And not only that, but to make this story into such bingeworthy, pacy, riveting television without falling for Hollywood cliches and pat cliffhangers? I don't think I quite believed that was possible in a series about the war in Northern Ireland.

The acting was fantastic, such brilliant casting matches for the young & old versions of the characters! Lola Petticrew, Hazel Doupe and Anthony Boyle were particularly great, and I'm so glad that they chose West Belfast actors for two of those roles. I thought they were incredible.

But giving my perspective "as an Irish person" is kind of complicated. As an Irish person from the Republic I've had a completely different experience of events in the North compared to anyone who grew up there. A completely different personal relationship with our history. One of the strengths of Say Nothing for me was how it portrayed this contrast in the later episodes set in the '90s. My brain is still melted from being confronted with so many shades of the conflict all at once. Every time I felt conflicted about a scene, a later scene would address that conflict - not offering solutions or answers, but acknowledging that there were multiple other perspectives. Powerful stuff!

Growing up in the south, most of us had the option to tune out what was happening, to go about our days without our lives being directly impacted by the war. When I was very little, it was on the news every single night and I knew that after the grown-ups had had a few drinks, you didn't want the subject raised. But despite trying to figure out the words to U2's 'Sunday Bloody Sunday', my childhood understanding didn't really go beyond "We want the Brits out but they won't leave because the Protestants want them to stay and there are more of them than Catholics, and they'll probably keep killing each other forever and I really wish it could stop"

I never experienced British bigotry towards me personally as an Irish person until I was actually in England - it's something every Irish person anticipates in their bones, but it wasn't in my face growing up.

I never even went across the border until I was 16 years old. I went to see a British band play in Belfast (think of that episode of Derry Girls where they travel to Belfast to see Take That, if the Derry Girls were from Dublin and they were going to see a punk band, not a boyband). My parents wouldn't let me go because they said it was too dangerous, but I went anyway. They were right. There was a bomb scare on the train on the way there and another bomb scare at the club after the gig. My friends and I were totally out of our depth. At 4am we fucked up and called the wrong taxi service to take us to a Catholic area and had army rifles pointed in our faces at a checkpoint. We were young and didn't know what we were doing and couldn't quite grasp that this was reality. It was frightening and sobering, and I did not go back until after the ceasefire a couple of years later.

So that was the luxury of being raised in the south - I didn't have to think about it most of the time. A luxury no-one growing up in the North had. So as an Irish person I have a load of thoughts about Say Nothing, but I'm especially interested in what Northern Irish people have to say about it.