#why yes he is showing off- he has a flair for drama

[lavaflowe]

The other Wukongs asked the true Gameboy master for help in beating a boss🙏 (1996 is absolutely crushing it)

[hufflezki]

"sally, when the wine runs out" — james likes grand gestures. he has the flair for drama. and makes a big deal out of—almost—anything (in a good way). but when he sees a lost bowtruckle on his desk, one afternoon, he's forced to keep it on a down low.

-> james potter x hufflepuff!reader (who likes to take care of magical creatures), yes the bowtruckle is named pickett (I know, I'm unoriginal), james potter is a listener, swearing (like twice, probably ) all fluff with a bit of comedy, word count: 1,628

James finds himself with his head down on his desk, as Professor Binns falls asleep after writing down another historical timeline on the board. And everyone in the room took this opportunity to do their own things. Some are found napping, chatting, and even teaching the lesson themselves. For James, he was fighting the strong urge to doze off. That is until he feels something brush against his forearm.

His head perks up, curls obscuring his view, and he can almost make it out—something small, green, spindly, and leafy perhaps? “What?” He whispers to himself, pushing his hair to the side, only to see a tiny bowtruckle staring at him—mirroring his own confusion.

James sits up, careful not to scare the small insect, as he offers his hand. Though the bowtruckle seems to be wary, only giving him so much as a glance before trying to leave. “No, no, wait!” James exclaims, accidentally, catching the attention of some students. He gives them a sheepish smile, before turning back to his desk. Only to see the bowtruckle climbing the hand of another. And when James looks up, he meets your eyes. “What– Is it yours?” He asks, completely oblivious to the way you’re trying to hurry back to your desk. You give him a nod, placing your hands behind you, as you let your bowtruckle hide under the sleeve of your robe.

It wasn’t ideal to bring any magical creatures inside Hogwarts but your bowtruckle, Pickett, grows anxious every time he gets separated from you. Which leads to him escaping your case, trying to get closer to you. Despite him not wanting to be seen by others, Pickett doesn’t really do a great job finding a hiding place. So you still have to usher him into places where he won't be seen, and consider it still close to you.

Thankfully, James doesn't inquire further about Pickett, and decides that asking you where and how you got him was more interesting.

So with Professor Binns still asleep, and the other students minding their own business, you find yourself sitting next to James Potter for the remaining time in the classroom.

And so far, he seems surprisingly interested. He’s just so attentive, it kind of makes you doubt if he’s really listening. But then James does things like repeating whatever you said, just to confirm that what he heard was right. You got Pickett after rescuing him from his branch because they didn't like him? No shit?! He’s absolutely in disbelief. And he’s going to show it too. Which is when you start shushing him, telling him to keep it down.

But that honestly confuses James a bit, if you had a bowtruckle, why wouldn't you want to show other people?

“James, it's more than that.” You respond, your posture deflating as you lean back on your chair. James furrows his eyebrows, watching you. Truth is, you didn’t just have a bowtruckle. You had plenty more magical creatures that you’re taking care of, all hidden inside your suitcase. And it's not like you’re purposely hiding them from everyone. People who are close enough with you know that you like taking care of these creatures.

You just don't like the idea of parading around, telling people you own these exotic and magical animals. It kind of defeats the purpose of why you’re doing this in the first place.

“Pickett gets easily overwhelmed by new people.” You say as the bowtruckle peeks from under the collar of your robe. Pickett is looking at James, inspecting him, but when they make eye contact he immediately hides. Which makes James smile, fondly. “I get it. Maybe I can try and win him over.” You let out a chuckle, feeling Pickett shift under your robe, probably curious.

“I guess we’ll see.”

You start seeing James more frequently after that. Most of the time you meet during your classes together. But then, sometimes, he finds his way to the Hufflepuff table and sits next to you and your friends during lunch. Which was a huge surprise for them.

“Potter? James Potter?”

“I did tell you, yes.”

“Uhm, are you sure it's okay for me to be here?”

Needless to say, your little spot in the table has never been more alive.

As for James’ friends, you seem to have caught their attention as well. It was Sirius who first noticed that James was disappearing a whole lot. Remus then agreed and shared his observations, as well as Peter.

It's unusual but they soon arrive to the conclusion that their friend has been trying to impress someone. Which makes so much sense as to why Peter, as Wormtail, saw James head down to the kitchen, but then turned the other way to the Hufflepuff common room, that one time. Despite this, they never confronted James about it, waiting for him to tell them himself.

James is thrilled. And you may argue that that’s how he is most of the time, but today, he really is very thrilled. You revealed to him, a week ago, about the other creatures you’re taking care of. And although it isn't really that impressive, you’re only taking care of smaller creatures for now to be fair, James still wanted to see them.

Which is why he finds himself in your dorm room, looking at the suitcase that has been bewitched with an extension charm, able to transport him to practically another dimension. To his surprise, you step inside the suitcase and James watches as you grab his wrist, pulling him down with you.

“Alright, what in the fuck was that just now?!” James now sits on the floor of your shed, whispering under his breath about how he must be dreaming right now. But then Pickett climbs on to his shoulder, poking his ear and sending him to a swearing frenzy. You reach your hand out with a smile, and he takes it, chiding an ever reluctant Pickett.

“Okay, James, I think we’ve long established that he doesn't listen to anyone. Do you, Pickett?” The bowtruckle seems to dismiss your comment, sticking its small tongue at you and turning its head away.

“It's like he gets sassier each time.”

“Pretty sure he got it from you.”

“Oh– Hey, why is it my fault?” James pouts as he follows you around, watching as you gather the feeds for the creatures. On your way out, you tell James the tale of how you got this suitcase in the first place.

It was from your grandmother originally. She used it a lot during her travels, and when she didn't feel like setting a camp. Until it became your family heirloom. She had passed it to your mother, and during your second year, your mother had passed it onto you. The suitcase served plenty of purposes prior. But after being passed to your mother, it’s main purpose now is to keep magical creatures in.

“So, is your mother a Magizoologist?” James asks, continuing to follow you around the vast land outside the tiny shed you were just in. And, to be frank, he still didn't get how you can fit this much space inside your suitcase. Despite believing in magic. “Yes she is. And she loves Newt Scamander a lot.” You respond, exaggerating the last few words. Though it was the truth, she’s always just singing praise for him.

“I think it's sweet that she has someone to look up to.” James says, stopping when you go to check on the tree the other bowtruckles live on. Your lips form into a big smile. “Well, aren't you just a sweetheart?" You tease and he lets out a chuckle. Then James notices Pickett hiding behind his neck. “Everything alright?” He mutters, you lift your head to look. “Pickett doesn't really like them. Even though I try to get him to interact with them sometimes.” James hums, reaching to give Pickett a few pats.

“It's okay, buddy, you have me.” You find yourself smiling at their little interaction. Pickett really has come so far with James. You remember he used to hide from him, and now he’s all cozy on his shoulder.

“James, do you wanna see the Puffskeins?” His head perks up immediately, and you swear you see his eyes light up. “Of course, I think my entire life has been leading up to this moment.” You hum, going along with his dramatics. “I’m sure it has.” You turn to your left, leading to a grassy plain, where a bunch of round, furry, colorful Puffskeins are bouncing around.

And now James is looking at you as if you’ve hung the moon.

“Well? Aren't you gonna–” He cuts you off, giving you the biggest and warmest hug you’ve ever had in a while. And it's almost enough to melt you, but he pulls away before that can happen.

“I’m seriously falling in love with you, you know that right?”

“What?” You stand there as James hurries to pick up one of the fluffy round creatures hopping around, leaving you gawking and wondering if what he just said was true or just a figment of your imagination.

The truth comes to you a few days later, when he sets up a small picnic date for the both of you. Which you end up sharing with Pickett as well.

Even if James found himself in circumstances he didn't expect to be in, and had to keep them a secret. He still enjoyed every time he spent with you.

And if this ends into any type of conclusion, it's that James is actually pretty good at keeping secrets.

marauders era masterlist ꩜ .ᐟ

[celestialpaperhaze]

Dimentio Analysis

My thoughts on this Dimentio post, recently shared with me by @iukasylvie! The post: https://altermentality.wordpress.com/2016/02/10/flair-for-the-dramatic/.

! CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR SUPER PAPER MARIO !

Okay before I address the article, I should establish my own Dimentio headcanons. I see our silly jester as a sociopath, in that he can't feel love in the same way as other people. Like Bleck, he has a void inside of him, but Dimentio fills it by feeding off of others. Basically, he likes playing around and taunting people because of how emotionally reactive they are, it's how he fills himself up. Mimi's his favorite to mess around with because she's VERY reactive. As for why he wants his own world: he wants to put on a show. The whole of existence, dedicated to entertaining him. The only characters I can liken this to are the Celestial Toymaker (DW) and the Collector (TOH).

Now first off, the article references SPM in the context of "commedia dell'arte", which was a form of theater in Italy during the Renaissance. This form of theater had three types of characters: innamorati (the star-crossed lovers), vecchi (the powerful elders of society), and zanni (the clowns). The common plot of these plays? Two young lovers, hindered by the elders, who end up turning to the zanni to reach a happy ending.

Of course, Dimentio is a zanni character type. He may not help the Count reach his happy ending directly, but his actions do lead to the wedding with Tippi so, in a sense, this does fit the archetype. And of course, I don't have to tell you who the innamorati characters are. Anyone who knows a lick about Shakespeare probably already knows the love story of Blumiere and Timpani uses a pretty strong "forbidden love" trope, but it's interesting to see this somewhat supported by other forms of theater arts! To say Nintendo and Intelligent Systems had commedia dell'arte in mind when writing SPM's story would be a stretch, but it's always cool to see some elements match across different eras and types of storytelling.

Moving on, does Dimentio care about the other minions? The article eventually concludes that yes, he must, because how could you live in a castle with four other people and not grow to love them? My headcanon lines up with this pretty well--after all, Dimentio words the Count's lie about creating a new world as a "betrayal", and a betrayal facilitates caring enough to trust someone in the first place (points at Olly's entire arc with Olivia in The New Void). But Dimentio doesn't know *how* to love, and his version of "care" is different. He likes having the others around, but as players in his game, as entertainment. That's how he sees it. He fixates on them specifically for a reason he'd never care to explain.

New Void Spoilers Below.

You could say he fixates on Luigi, too, which might seem strange when they had far less time together. Shipping aside, I think canonically Dimentio fixes on Luigi because he's the key to everything, he's a highly valuable asset and Dimentio knows it. In the New Void, this isn't exactly the case. Dimentio doesn't have anything to gain by making Luigi suffer, it's just pure fun. Sure, he COULD torment some Shaydes or D-Men instead, but they're dead and they're boring. Dimentio's also been in the Underwhere for...awhile, and Luigi is a familiar face. In his own way, Dimentio's been a little lonely. It's just that, his way of acting on this feeling is to turn it into a game of psychological warfare...

New Void Spoilers End.

Overall, the strongest part of the article is the description of Dimentio's ideal world. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of darkmarxsoul's Chaos Trilogy, but this depiction of Dimentio's universe might be the best I've ever seen. “Dimentio’s goal is to maximize the amount of drama in the universe…a world with the dials of mortal anguish and despair and even joy set to maximum volume, and the banishment of the mundane. A world where he pulls all the strings to ensure this happens. The Ultimate Show.” Chilling! It's like Bill Cipher's whole Weirdmageddon deal, except rather than maximizing weirdness, DImentio would be maximizing drama, flair, and theatrics. All the world's a stage, and whatnot.

I LOVE this idea for a world of his so much that it's a wonder I haven't started writing fics centered around it already! All these new people living what they think are just ordinary lives, not knowing that it's all being orchestrated by a being that craves mere entertainment. Life as a musical, maybe a comedy tomorrow, or maybe a tragedy next week--all because Dimentio wants it to be. I mean, that's absolutely horrifying when you think about it! Enough for a brief existential crisis maybe! But it's also very cool >:)

In summary: what do we think about Dimentio? I think he's a sociopath who doesn't understand love but desperately wants to be entertained. The article's description of Dimentio's ideal world is scarily accurate and also has a LOT of fanfic potential. Dimentio himself is fun and silly, but also dangerous and probably not someone you'd want to interact with in real life.

As this is my opinion/interpretation, I'm too biased to say whether or not this aligns well with canon. But what do you think? Do you think this all fits Dimentio perfectly, or do you have other thoughts?

[oddygaul]

Interior Chinatown

Meta stories are a tough thing to pull off. Creating a narrative that works on both the surface level and metatextual level is common, but when you brazenly call attention to that metatextual layer, you are willfully inviting the audience to look over your work with the highest level of scrutiny. Such a work asks the audience to question everything, to assume that every last detail must be contributing to the overall puzzle, must have thematic significance – but the foundation still needs to be solid, with all those details properly serving the base-level narrative. Interior Chinatown has a lot of interesting things to say about Asian representation in media, diaspora, gentrification, and more, but they’re most successfully communicated at the metaphorical level, leaving the meat & potatoes Story to fall apart as the show goes on.

Interior Chinatown starts off strong: its first few episodes are filled with compelling mysteries and visual flair. Right from the jump, the ‘show within a show’ idea is made immaculately clear to the viewer with decisive lighting and tonal changes. In the premiere, these transitions feel like a force of nature – the lights of the Golden Palace go out one by one, the ground shakes, and strong winds blow us back as the reality of the police procedural takes over. I loved the inanity of the Deep Watr club, too – what better place to go unnoticed than the middle of a hard seltzer commercial? There’s more than a few similar gags that emphasize the lead / extra dynamic in these initial episodes; aside from the Clubbing Seltzer Youth, my favorite was Willis and Fatty blocking the sidewalk by repeatedly loading and unloading boxes from a truck. Don’t you know that’s how you start a chase scene, guys??

Unfortunately, this visual language drops off harder than a seasonal anime. They hold onto the cop show’s blue lighting for episodes two and three, but it feels perfunctory and eventually disappears altogether. Additional flourishes to indicate genre are few and far between after that: there’s Black & White’s desert arc and episode 8’s commercials, but the show starts to lose its unique visual identity, becoming indistinguishable from a typical drama.

The character work suffers similarly. In the beginning, there’s plenty of intrigue. Our protagonist Willis is a Chinatown waiter with dysfunctional parents, yes, but why has the world itself relegated him to the sidelines? Why is he physically barred from opening certain doors other characters have no trouble with? Lana is a Chinatown consultant stepping in with the Port Harbour PD to investigate a recent crime wave, sure, but what’s her real motive? What’s up with her long and varied list of former jobs, and what exactly is she hiding? …et cetera. 

The problem is, while these questions are answered, they’re answered largely in the metaphorical layer of the show. This leaves the in-universe characters feeling like mere vessels, which is disappointing given what an excellent job all the actors have done at fleshing them out*. And maybe that’s the point, right? It’s a show about Asian actors being stuck with  cookie-cutter stock roles rather than rounded-out characters. But from a storytelling standpoint, it just feels bad to care so much for these characters, only to find that their existence and the world they inhabit was a hollow, inconsistent artifice meant to drive an allegory.

“He has his shirt off a LOT” -Lana

The metaphorical layer, to be clear, is rock-solid; Interior Chinatown approaches the idea of representation from, like, a dozen different angles. Lily’s subplot focuses on gentrification, respectability politics, and the attainment of whiteness by adhering to beauty standards and cultural norms. Fatty’s waiter shtick highlights a particular sort of modern Orientalism, with white folks coming to the Golden Palace in droves for an ‘authentic experience’ and failing to realize their own biases even as they’re directly degraded for them**. Audrey is the model minority myth, surrounded by white coworkers as she works day and night to live up to her mother’s expectations. Lana faces ostracism from multiple sides due to being mixed-race: she’s reduced to a racialized ‘cultural expert’ by a police force that only sees her otherness, while the Chinatown locals immediately peg her as an outsider due to her lack of familiarity, all while wildly speculating about what kind of Asian she is, exactly. Willis’ brother Johnny represents Asian leads being typecast as the ‘kung fu guy’, and is made so synonymous with his martial arts mystique that we don’t even learn his given name until 3/4ths of the way through the series.

And Willis himself, well, he’s the thesis statement for the whole show. A character who spends ten episodes defined by his ever-changing roles, before finally making a plea directly to the audience in the finale to be seen as himself. To let the story be about him as a person; not about him as an Asian, not about him as a Chinatown resident, not about him as a child of immigrants, just about a regular person grappling with the tragic death of a loved one.

Despite this moment’s power, though, I can’t help but feel that it’s undercut by the confusion of the in-universe implications because of how much time is spent highlighting the mystery.

After making this point, Lana & Willis escape their TV show via suicide into… a different show? Does this mean the show they realized they were in is Black & White, and they’re still unknowingly trapped in Interior Chinatown? Why is this new show any better? Are their families somehow brought over into the same roles, or have Willis’ parents lost yet another son from their perspective? Did Johnny come with them, or is he still trapped in the video game? Why is he trapped playing the arcade machine when no one else is? While we’re at it, what do arcade machines have to do with any of this? Are they an important pillar of Asian misrepresentation that I’m not aware of? Does Hulu or another major television network have a side franchise that deals in arcade machines? Why do the other dying people travel through it? Why do Turner & Green barely care about the TV show revelation despite spending a whole season leading up to it? Why hasn’t Lana aged a single day in 12 years while Willis basically started and finished puberty?

boy.

Did I mention how good a job all the actors do and how funny they all are? They’re great.

—

I was disappointed that Interior Chinatown never really digs into the artifice of policing despite being set inside a police procedural. It certainly pokes fun at the brazen nature of TV law enforcement: Turner & Green’s interrogations are almost comically hostile, and I particularly love the running gag of “Excuse me ma’am, do you have a moment? That was a rhetorical question, I’m the police”. Thematically, the cyclical nature of Chinatown’s artificial violence hints at one of the inherent flaws of the police procedural: viewers just want to see some bad guys lose, not get into the ‘why’ of crime or how to actually improve society. That’s about as far as it goes, though. It’s not like I expect Interior Chinatown to go into a full-fledged utopian treatise of what a world without policing could look like – it’s tackling its own specific set of issues, after all – but at least some acknowledgement of how inherently problematic and normalizing the ubiquity of the police procedural is would’ve been nice.

tf is Death’s End doing in your psychologist’s office? that’s a red flag bro get out of there

—

I did not like the Lana / Willis romance. The age gap is weird, the brother thing is weird, and I barely felt any chemistry; Lana generally feels like such a blank slate for most of the show that it’s hard for me to see anyone with her. I’d rather see Turner and Green hook up. Shit, to be honest, I’d rather ship Fatty and Green but idk if the world is ready for that. Look, I get that it’s shockingly rare for two Asians to be paired romantically in American TV & movies, and having two Asian couples is a huge dub, but counterpoint: imagine Fatty and Green sitting in a room together just talking mad shit back and forth, insults flying like bullets. hell yeah.

*The finale is particularly egregious; it feels like a Conclude All Character Arcs% speedrun, with major characters getting 30-second wrap-ups then walking off-screen. **And also a ‘truth is stranger than fiction’ moment, incidentally

[mandareeboo]

SU Music Rankings

Bc I can and I wanna start some Disk Horse rip. These are all in order of preference, with explanations, etc. It’s a long bitch. That said, I’m not counting little short jingles or small joke songs like Little Butler. This is the meat and potatoes of SU music- just under 30 songs. I might do the rest if people like my takes lol.

I scored it mostly on three bases- how dear it was to my heart, how much/often I relisten to it, and also what it means to the plot. That said, little fun songs don’t automatically go farther down than big, plot-heavy songs either! It’s a strange little balance.

Special Note: I don’t dislike any of this music! I love SU and that includes its bumps and glitches. I just pick favorite children lol.

1.) Change

Was there ever a more Steven moment than when he wiped the blood off his face and kissed it into sparkles? I think not. 

If “Be Wherever You Are” is an ode to young Steven, then this is teen Steven’s. Talking about change, and how much and how little it can do. How he holds his arms up for Spinel to hug him, so trusting. How he seems able to just. Break into soft tears at will, and not to be manipulative- it’s just his kind nature. The warmth in his voice. Fuck yesssss.

2.) Change Your Mind

This song is only fifty five seconds and it’s EVERYTHING to me. It really felt like someone was speaking the words I’d always held deep inside of me, unsure of how to say. It feels like a goodbye to someone who never really loved me. 

As much as I enjoyed Future, if this was the finale of SU, I would’ve been perfectly okay with that.

3.) Drift Away

This song gave me legitimate shivers the first time I heard it, and it still haunts me to this day. Spinel stayed, and waited, and all she got was a transmission thousands of years later. Fuck.

4.) Here We Are In The Future

THE MOVIE IS SU AS ITS BEST AND I WON’T BE SWAYED ON IT. Steven being a teen who loves his weird family but is growing just a bit sarcastic to their drama. The adorable love he and Connie share. His slow realization that he will always be working, always have things to do, is both somber and real. The Crystal Gems won’t be safe with one epic battle. They’ll be safe with years of hard work and love. HIS LITTLE HANDSHAKE WITH AMETHYST.

This is a helluva bop and a great way to summarize the main character’s backstories.

5.) Let’s Only Think About Love

Did ya’ll know that Zach Callison killed his throat with that last note? He gave his all for this performance in a vocal range he no longer comfortably do and by god did it SHINE. The FLAIR. The FORESHADOWING. All of the Gems all being awkward about Rose and Steven trying to bring them to the present. Peridot having a mini-existential crisis in a cute yellow dress. I love Zach Callison’s normal singing voice but man is that a fucking bop. Nothing will ever beat it.

6.) Here Comes A Thought

This bad boy helped me out a LOT with some mental issues I was dealing with in high school. I was unmedicated, unsupervised, and full of anxiety. I’d have break downs when I tried to speak about certain things. I couldn’t function. This song inspired me. It helped me feel okay with my intrusive thoughts.

And the episode! -chef’s kiss-. Once again bringing up the morally gray area of training child soldiers. Connie expanding her social group. Steven’s trauma hauling ass in that second half. The ANIMATION. Stevonnie’s gorgeous singing voice. GOD yes.

7.) It’s Over Isn’t It?

Just barely squeaking above Stronger Than You, this ballad is everything gorgeous. The whole episode is. I think Mr. Greg stands in the top five of my episodes for the entire show. It even got nominated!

There’s just so much about this song that I love. The gentle melancholy of Pearl’s voice. How the crew had to redo the shots for this bit bc Deedee went so fucking hard. The hard cuts between Pearl, remembering the love of her life, and Steven, who has begun to feel like he took her away. I’d recommend this song to anyone, regardless of what they do or don’t know about SU, simply bc it tugs so many heartstrings of love, loss, and responsibility.

8.) Stronger Than You

Did you realize this episode aired SEVEN years ago? This bitch was what got me into SU! Hearing about Ruby and Sapphire made my little gay heart so happy inside, and then getting a whole song confirming that they were a couple, that their love powered the strongest Gem on the team? Aaaaaaaaa

To this DAY I get excited when I hear Estelle start singing. This song is timeless. This song will live in media history. God I fucking love this song.

9.) Other Friends

I’m not the biggest musical person, so I hadn’t heard of Sarah Stiles before her casting as Spinel, but JESUS CHRIST the lady went hard. She went SO fucking hard. Sarah Stiles started on 100 and somehow just kept CLIMBING. You can just hear the sheer manic energy building in her voice, the anger and resentment. 10/10 Sarah Stiles is a queen.

10.) Independent Together

This made the list entirely bc the crew was like “you’re gonna get a himbo ass Steven-Greg fusion singing with Opal while Garnet flies across the moon on Lion while floating” and I am forever thankful to them for it

11.) Who We Are

Bismuth deserved more songs. ‘Nuff said.

12.) Peace and Love (On the Planet Earth)

It Could’ve been Great is EASILY one of my favorite s2 episodes. I love the entire concept of this song. Of Steven making music to reflect how much Earth means to him and his family. Of him teaching Peridot some self-care. Also Peridot’s singing voice is really cute and squeaky. 

I know it’s silly, but I would’ve really enjoyed a flip around of this in Future! Like Peridot reminding Steven how much he loves music, that he needs to take time to relax for himself, maybe with a new verse or just a remix of the original song!

13.) Something Entirely New

I watched this episode as it aired, and I legitimately almost cried. I love Charlyne Yi’s voice so much ya’ll- her raspy, not perfect singing voice against Sapphire’s deep soothing lull is great.

And to have Ruby and Sapphire’s meeting be the way it was- for Ruby to bemoan Sapphire losing Homeworld, to being stuck with a single Ruby, while Sapphire is a noble who has always been taught everyone in her “caste” is vitally important (and has, in her own mind, taken that to mean every Gem, as she should) and how they come together and make each other happy. Good shit good shit.

14.) I’m Just a Comet

The fact that Greg’s music career never really blasted off pisses me off to this day bc Tom Scharpling’s voice is fucking BUTTER. Also the song really feels like a jab at his parents now that we know the kind of dynamic he had growing up. “This life in the stars if all I’ve ever known” is definitely him wiping away their existence after reminding them (and himself) the things they used to say about him.

15.) Do It For Her

This episode. This fucking episode. This episode got me permanently hooked on SU. I’d just binged season 1 and was kinda meh about it overall after the bop of Stronger Than You. “Oh,” I thought to myself, foolishly, “I’ll probably just casually watch this from time to time.”

Like three days later Sworn to the Sword aired and that was it. I was hooked! Pearl’s gentle training song turning darker and darker, Connie’s accompaniment from nervous to determined to fully into such a toxic mindset. The fact that SU had the BALLS to discuss the repercussions of training child soldiers, now and later. This episode was everything to me, STILL is everything to me.

Six years and well over 100 fanfics written later, I think it’s safe to say this show swallowed me whole and never let go.

16.) System/Boot.pearl_final(3)

I debated putting this on the list because it’s not anything crazy important, just a way to show things are Wrong, but I had to do it entirely bc Pearl is so damn SALTY.

Like telling us about the Gems makes sense, she felt like she was given a duty, but she went so damn petty. WHY is that Ruby alone. Gross. This Amethyst is a trash dump. Wtf are you people.

17.) Full Disclosure

This episode really feels like a turning point for SU. Before, the show had its dark moments- but now we’re in the thick of it, and it’s not going away. Full Disclosure felt like an rebuff to the idea of returning to any normal we’d established in season 1. Gems are actually a giant species now. Gems tried to kill us now. There’s this Yellow Diamond bitch who got namedropped. Something about a Cluster. 

The song itself is BALLER, with its ingenious use of Steven’s ringtone and photos as he tries to decide whether to clue in Connie on all this nonsense. Meanwhile we, the audience, already know damn well Connie about to yeet some common sense into him.

18.) What’s the Use of Feeling Blue?

I’mma admit it- I’m a Yellow Diamond stan. I’ve always loved her- her anger, her poise, her hardworking nature. I actively argued against the “Yellow Shattered Pink” theories back in the day. But, man, when this arc leaked? I got so overexcited I was too jittery to watch it for like two days. It’s easily my favorite arc of the series. The sheer alien nature of the zoo, the Famethyst, and absolutely Patti Lupone’s beautiful ballad. Goddamn. Yellow singing to Blue to try and help her regain her old status, the warble in her voice as she reminds Blue she misses Pink too, the movement of the bubbles as she talks about attack. It gives me shivers to this day. FUCK.

19.) Tower of Mistakes

This is, fun fact, that only SU song I have completely memorized. The story itself is kinda funny! See, we lost internet at my house for a solid 5 to 6 months when these episodes aired, so I only got a very brief window to view them all. But this was the first Amethyst song in a long while, and I didn’t want to forget it! So I keep replaying it in my head for ages. And that’s still definitely a thing.

Anyway will never not be sad that this entire song was about making it up to Garnet for Amethyst’s perceived slights with Sugilite (which was a two-way road), only for Garnet to pressure her into fusion later when pissed and never discuss it again bc Garnet probably never thought twice about it and Amethyst has the emotional openness of a clam that’s just been told its ugly. Helluva way to make someone feel like shit, G. Helluva way to bottle that shit, Ames.

20.) On the Run

I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times: Amethyst! Needed! More! Songs! 

The dichotomy between Steven’s play and Amethyst’s honest desire to run away from home is so well-done, especially when you consider a lot of Steven and Amethyst’s actions are playing together. The song is also near and dear to me simply bc it’s my favorite Amethyst episode to exist (well, maybe second to What’s Your Problem, but not by much). Moments like these are all the proof I need that they were right to fuse first.

21.) Be Wherever You Are

This tune really just feels like an ode to who Steven was as a kid. Trapped on an island with no way home, and he’s just happy to be with his friends. The stars are beautiful and not oppressive. Also that one animatic with Lars and the Off Colors playing in the Homeworld Kindergarten to this music was iconic and made this song get stuck in my head for a solid month.

22.) Familiar

I ADORE how the crew use bright neon colors to show how alien Homeworld can be. And Steven recognizing that the Diamonds treat him how the CGs used to, and how prepared he is to “fix” a broken family. It’s a soft, gentle tune about melancholy. Also the Pebbles are beautiful.

23.) Let Me Drive My Van Into Your Heart

Such a cute little love ballad, but every time I listen to it now I just imagine the heart attack Rose must’ve had at the line “And if we look out of place/Well, baby, that's okay/I'll drive us into outer space.” like there’s a Vietnam war flashback if I ever heard one

24.) What Can I Do?

I’m kind of neutral on this one? Rose and Greg both have great voices, but the song itself lacks many lyrics. I think it was definitely a good way to show Rose’s flaws in thinking.

Also, I’m shocked they managed cram that much vaguely sexual innuendo into two minutes, followed by how Not Hetereo that dance between Rose and Pearl was, and not get their asses chewed by it. You go guys.

25.) Cookie Cat

I love a lot of the vibes this song has. The lyrics are so damn prophetic, but they also sound like the kind of weird 90s commercials I grew up on. It’s been like two decades since I saw the Shirley Temple commercial but I’ll be damned if I don’t remember “Animals crackers in my soup! Monkey and rabbits loop-de-loop.”

26.) Giant Woman

I am. NOT the biggest fan of Steven’s original singing voice. I feel bad saying that, since it was just Zach Callison as a kid, but he never jived well with me for some reason. So I wouldn’t listen to this on the fly. 

The song itself is still really good though, with all sorts of fun animation of Amethyst and Pearl being bitchy to each other. It’s a bit sad in hindsight to see tiny Steven trying to get his moms to get along. Ahh, season 1.

27.) Strong in the Real Way

This song has SUCH a strong start. Pearl reflecting on Sugilite’s problems, but the show making sure to show us that Pearl’s lack of enthusiasm towards her also lends itself to jealousy as well as just general malaise. How much she cares about Steven, and wants him to grow up strong. 

And then Steven just kinda. Ruins it? I appreciate his enthusiasm for tryna bulk up but to take what was starting as such a rich, personal song and broadcasting it to random strangers just makes me a bit sad. Almost a bit angry on her behalf?

28.) That Distant Shore

I KNOW this is gonna create some discourse, but I’m just not the biggest Lapis stan. I love her voice. I love the visuals of the song. And I get why she felt afraid and needed to flee.

But Lapis never got to take responsibility for her own actions. And, in the end, the song feels hollow to me- because we all know she’ll never talk to anyone about it, know she’ll burst back in and destroy the barn, and no one will ever question it. I like Lapis a lot, but I feel like her arc never was fully finished. She never got help. She never learned to feel safe.

29.) Dear Old Dad

I’ve yet to meet a single human being who likes this episode tbh. There’s some great discussion about what kind of parent Greg is from it, and what kind of dynamic he has with the Gems that he felt he had to fake an injury to hang out with his son. Honestly the first half was fine and dandy. It’s just that then they Greg just went out of his way to drag Steven away from missions and such. It never jived well with his character before or after.

Also, is it just me, or does Zach himself sound like he hates the song as he sings it? There’s no passion or heart in his voice. It sounds like they told him to read off cue cards and he did. Tom Scharpling’s best attempts didn’t save this one for being a skipper. But the episode, unfortunately, isn’t, so it gets a spot on here.

[justicerikai]

Charisma House - Superhuman Sharehouse Story “Charisma” - #29 Terra Conference

Please read alongside listening to the drama track on Youtube.

(Sarukawa walking by Terra)

Sarukawa: Huh

Terra: Hm? Ah

Sarukawa: What’cha doing in a place like this

Sarukawa: Thinking ‘bout stuff?

Terra: Mhm

Terra: Terra-kun’s awfully attractive, right?

Terra: So I wonder where this attractiveness exactly comes from

Terra: Which is why I’m double checking all his good points by myself

Sarukawa: Oh ok

Sarukawa: Seeya

Terra: EEEH!?

Terra: Hold on! Why are you leaving!

Sarukawa: Aahn?

Terra: Think about it with me

Sarukawa: Hell no! Do that madman shit on your own! Don’t drag others into it

Terra: Whatever, just sit down!

Sarukawa: Wait- stop- let go-

Terra: Let’s think about Terra-kun’s attractiveness together

Terra: There’s too much ground to cover for one person alone

(Sarukawa groans)

Terra: Alright, now say what you like about Terra-kun

Sarukawa: Haaah? As if I even care for that

Terra: First, he’s beautiful isn’t he

Sarukawa: Eeeh…

Sarukawa: Saying that yourself or what

Terra: He possesses such overwhelming beauty, and it’s not only about his appearance

Terra: After all beauty is something admirable

Terra: Yes, no doubt

Terra: What else?

Sarukawa: Eh? Hmm…

Terra: He has flair

Sarukawa: Eeeh…

Terra: You can feel the talent in all he does. And he has an outstanding fashion sense.

Terra: What else?

Sarukawa: Uum…..

Terra: He’s cute

Sarukawa: Eeeeh….

Terra: It’s obvious when you look at him but, surprisingly, there’s a playful side to him. That difference just gets to you.

Terra: What else?

Terra: He’s funny. Not only is he pretty and cool but he has a sense of humor. Being with him is fun.

Terra: What else?

Terra: He’s strong. This beauty is truly sturdy.

Terra: Facing so many hardships but overcoming all of it on his own

Terra: How noble

Terra: What else?

Terra: He’s nice, being strong leads to kindness, others might pass it off for being dry but that’s the flip side of strength.

Terra: What else?

Sarukawa: Do I even have to be here!?

Terra: Eh?

Sarukawa: Aren’tcha just rambling off on your own the entire time!

Sarukawa: You’re self-sufficient yet you kept me here!

Terra: That’s also attractiveness

Sarukawa: Hah?

Terra: He’s self-sufficient to the point of not caring about appraisal of others around him, living completely at his own pace.

Sarukawa: More in his own world than at his own pace.

Sarukawa: It’s annoying to those who’re at the mercy of your whims

Terra: That’s also attractiveness

Sarukawa: How!

Terra: By being a nuisance he’s showing others that such people exist thus being an example to encourage them to learn about the ways of society. Which makes Terra-kun a teacher on that part.

Sarukawa: Aren’t you just stupid!?

Terra: Cool

Sarukawa: You’re insane!

Terra: One and only

Sarukawa: Listen to me!

Terra: Cute

Sarukawa: Oi!

Terra: Embodiment of talent

Sarukawa: I said OI!

Terra: God has given to him with both, hundred, and thousand hands.

Sarukawa: ENOUGH! The hell you keep insisting on every single thing for while I’m against all of it!

Terra: Open your eyes

Terra: This is Terra-kun’s self-laundering!

Sarukawa: What is that…

Terra: You can deny as much as you want since all of it will be laundered and turned into affirmations.

Terra: With this skill I reached the ultimate stage and continue to live the most immaculate life!

Sarukawa: OI where you headin’ off to!

Terra: Eh? I had enough so I’m going home. Thanks

Sarukawa: ……EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!?

[jamespotterthefirst]

As Long as You Love Me So

aka the fake Christmas date (Ethan x f!MC)

Pairing: Dr. Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Dr. Lilac Allende) Word count: 2.9K Warning: some language 

Premise: She is in desperate need of a date for her cousin’s pretentious dinner.

Author’s Note: Back at it again at Krispy Kreme with the fake dating trope. This takes place during the holidays in book 1. Thank you to @aestheticartsx​ for pre-reading this 💖

Can you pretend to be my date tonight? 

The biting Boston breeze cut into her exposed skin with an unforgiving bite, leaving her fingers numb as she sent the text. All around her, chatting and laughing couples milled about, basking in the golden lights of the city's Christmastime decorations. Those who weren't affectionately enraptured in each other or studiously deciding which of the many restaurants to pick from threw curious glances her way. 

Please? It's a long story but I can tell you when you get here. I'll pay you. 

Vaguely, she regretted the pale pink cocktail dress that left her shoulders, legs, and much of her chest exposed. An hour ago, it had seemed like the perfect dress to force her pretentious cousin, Griselda, into quiet envy. And while her plan had been successful for the better part of five minutes, Lilac's arrival at the restaurant without a date had been enough for her cousin to revert back to her sneering, condescending, look-at-my-successful-broker-boyfriend ways. 

 I'm offended, Lil. I'd do that shit for free. 

Bryce's text brought Lilac back to her current desperate situation. With unfeeling, shivering fingers she texted back. 

You don't need to know why? You'll do it? 

Bryce's reply came in instantly which Lilac was grateful for. The sudden breeze that rustled through her hair and bare skin made her shiver uncontrollably. 

No need to know why. I'd do anything for you. 

Her triumphant smile lasted only second as her phone announced a second text from Bryce. 

But I can't tonight. I'm assisting Dr. Tanaka and he'll murder me if I back out now. I'm so sorry, Lil. 

Lilac exhaled sharply, her breath swirling into the night like fog. This was what she got for letting her anger get the best of her. Wincing, she recalled the lie that had hurled from her lips with vehement, unstoppable force. 

“Not that it's any of your business but I'm dating a successful doctor from work.”

Griselda's brief shock had been vindication enough but when it slowly ebbed into a wicked, challenging sneer, Lilac felt utterly pathetic.

“Fuck her,” Lilac muttered with a sudden rush of righteous anger.  

So help her God, she was going to march back into the restaurant and promptly inform her stupid cousin that her dating life was none of her business. So what if Lilac couldn't make a relationship last longer than a few months or if she dated around too much? She would be damned if she allowed her pompous, gold digging cousin to slut shame her. 

“Please tell me you're not a smoker, Rookie.”

The familiar baritone sent a white hot thrill through her body before her brain registered who it belonged to. 

Handsome as ever, Doctor Ethan Ramsey stood before her, eyeing her quizzically. He looked magnificently elegant in a dark suit, topped with a dark blue coat and scarf. The twinkling Christmas lights of the street sent his striking features into sharp relief, making him appear even more attractive than should be allowed. 

He waited for her reply and Lilac jolted with a start. Nearby, a small group smoked as they talked and laughed. 

“No smoking for me.” She grimaced and added as an afterthought, “Though if I were a smoker, I'd need a full pack right about now.”

“Rough night?” 

“You've no idea.”

“Is that why you're standing out here in the freezing cold with no coat wearing…” 

He trailed off, piercing blue eyes sweeping over her attire. Lilac held her breath, the heat of his gaze feeling like a gentle caress of his fingers on her skin. 

“...That?” 

His gaze reunited with hers and they looked at one another in the noisy street, a charged silence stretching between them. 

Then, too suddenly, Ethan looked away, busying himself with removing his coat and draping it over Lilac's shoulders without much ceremony. The pleasant waft of his cologne comforted her almost as much as the welcomed warmth of his coat. 

“I never took you for the type to like any of these trendy restaurants,” she commented when there was nothing else to say. “Especially during the holidays, with so many people everywhere.”

Ethan grimaced slightly. “I had to join Banner Health for dinner. It seems cozying up to them at the baseball game a few months ago was not enough to get a good deal for our patients.”

Lilac pulled his coat closer around herself but said nothing. 

“What about you? Why are you so determined to die of hypothermia?” His eyes briefly swiveled to her dress again. “Is your date going that terribly?”

Ethan added the last part casually enough but Lilac sensed that he was extremely interested in the answer. 

“I would take a horrible date over what's going on in there.” She gestured toward the window of the restaurant with a nod. At Ethan's evident confusion, she added, “Family dinner.”

“Aren't you close with your family?” 

“My mother, father, and siblings? Yes. My cousin?” Lilac allowed a look of disgust to be her answer. 

The crowd of people that moved around them on the sidewalk forced them closer together. Lilac's stomach fluttered but Ethan looked unfazed, peering down at her expectantly, waiting for her to go on. 

“It's my cousin Griselda's annual Christmas dinner at this ostentatious restaurant. Mostly because she can't cook for shit.” She explained this with a sarcastic flair. “But we're all supposed to forget about that when she shoves expensive meals under our noses.”

To her surprise, Ethan chuckled. “Sounds like fresh hell. Why even attend?” 

“Because it would be unspeakably rude not to show up? The family drama this would cause would be ten times worse.” Lilac glanced through the window of the dark restaurant, all tables lit by candle light. “So instead, us poor bastards who live in the East Coast are forced to hear all about how successful and beautiful she is.”

In moving her hands and arms when shit-talking her cousin, Ethan's coat began to slip off one of her shoulders. 

“You're a doctor, Rookie. And a damn good one at that.” 

Ethan's eyes fell to the curve of her exposed shoulder then back to her eyes. His gaze held such intensity that she was momentarily struck motionless. Very gently, gentler than she had ever seen him before, he reached over to adjust his coat around her, the sweep of his fingers against her skin leaving a trail of heat.

“And not to mention you're also quite beau—” 

“So you made it after all.” 

Griselda looked directly at Ethan as she emerged from the restaurant. There was no greeting, only bitter disappointment in her voice. Her cousin's dark, judgmental eyes swept the handsome doctor from head to toe, as though trying to find a flaw but finding none to her dismay.

“We all thought Lilita here was bluffing.”

Ethan stared at Griselda with brief surprise at being addressed so bluntly. His questioning gaze briefly moved to Lilac who grit her teeth in embarrassment, wishing for the ground to swallow her whole. 

The longest silence in Lilac's existence passed before he spoke again. 

“I arrived as fast as I could on such short notice.”

Lilac's head snapped to look at him, only belatedly remembering to hide her surprise.

“It's unspeakably rude to invite someone impromptu,” Ethan continued, matching Griselda's cool, haughty demeanor. 

Lilac could have kissed him with gratitude. 

“Yes, well.” For the first time in her life, Griselda Castillo had no retort. 

It was all too perfect. All Lilac had to do now was make up an excuse for Ethan to go and no one would be the wiser about her stupid lie. Not even Ethan himself. It was all going to work out—

“Forgive me, we were not aware Lilac was seeing someone. Easy mistake to make.” Griselda threw a faux saccharine smile Lilac's way. “When we heard about the famous boyfriend, however, we just had to meet you.”

Fuck you, Griselda. 

Lilac couldn't decide if she wanted to push her cousin onto moving traffic or if she wished to walk right into it herself. 

Beside her, Ethan remained very still. 

“He actually can't stay.” Lilac said, her voice hitching higher in barely controlled panic. “He has to finish some research for his next case study.” 

Griselda looked between Ethan and Lilac, clearly unconvinced. Her crimson lips slowly turned up into a devilish, triumphant smile that would have put the Grinch himself to shame. 

Ethan seemed to recover beside her because he cleared his throat. 

Then, he moved to stand closer to Lilac and to her utter, complete shock, he wrapped an arm around her waist with enviable grace. 

“My research can wait, love,” he said, leaning in to press a kiss to her temple. “If your family wants to meet your boyfriend then that's what they'll do.”

If someone had told him that morning that his day would end at the most pretentious restaurant in the city with Lilac Allende pressed close to his side, he would have recommended a brain CT scan. Yet, there he stood, being hastily introduced to people whose names he had no chance of remembering right away, not when Lilac's hand slid slightly down his chest, scorching him through the very fabric of his shirt. 

He glanced down at her and immediately realized what a mistake that had been. The glittering, sinful dress she wore was entirely too distracting on its own, but the charged way her green eyes studied his face... it made the energy between them crackle like an exposed wire.

“Everyone, this is Doctor Ethan Ramsey,” Lilac said to the curious and expectant table. “My…”

She trailed off, turning a bashful glance at Ethan. 

“Boyfriend,” Ethan finished without pause. He willfully ignored the thrill the juvenile word sent through him. 

As they took their seats, Ethan was still unsure what possessed him to pretend for her sake. All he saw was her cousin's mocking grin and Lilac's dejected, mortified frown and suddenly, he felt the urge to be anything she needed. 

“Pleasure, Doctor Ramsey,” Griselda said with as much enthusiasm as someone with a hernia. 

Ethan decided right then that if anything else, at least he would enjoy free food and alcohol, all paid for by Lilac's unpleasant cousin. When he looked over at his pretend girlfriend, pale dress glittering in the candle light and looking as radiant as ever, his blood buzzed with unbridled yearning.

“Ramsey?” the blonde man sitting next to Lilac's cousin asked with interest. “Why does that sound familiar? Where do I know you from?” 

“Ethan is a world famous doc—” 

“Wait,” a young woman with a mountain of curly hair and a kind face interrupted, enthusiastic. “He was in your Miami pictures, wasn't he?” 

Ethan blinked. 

Beside him, Lilac shook her head frantically at the young woman. 

“Natalia,” she hissed, but Natalia either missed this or ignored it. 

“You're so photogenic, Doctor,” she commented with a broad grin. “I messaged Lilita about it. The way she talked about you, it was so obvious she was into you.”

Ethan raised an intrigued eyebrow at the lovely, blushing doctor beside him. Lilac, however, studiously avoided his eyes, suddenly very interested in her wine. 

A young man sitting next to Natalia laughed. He shared many similarities with her, including the unruly curls. 

“I think we all called that one, Nat.”

“Has everyone tried the calamari?” Griselda interjected sharply. Ethan got the impression she didn't appreciate any conversation that was not solely about her. “It is divine.”

As Natalia rolled her eyes and challenged that proclamation, Ethan leaned in close to Lilac, the heady scent of her perfume sending his mind to less than honorable places. She had been leaning in too and they ended almost nose to nose. 

“You don't have to do this for much longer,” she whispered. “I can think of something so we can leave.”

Ethan ignored this and instead asked, “Miami pictures?” 

She blushed even deeper.

“Into me?” 

She was the color of her wine by now. 

Ethan had never seen this timid, demure side of her. Typically, the roles were reversed where he was the object of her teasing. As he watched her lovely blush spread down to her graceful neck, Ethan found he enjoyed this dynamic. 

It made him wish he could kiss her. Hard. 

“Tell her, Lilita,” the curly-haired young man called from his seat, making Griselda's eyes bulge out with indignation. “Aunt Margo's tamales are the only acceptable meal for Christmas.”

“Sebastian, you are making a scene,” Griselda muttered. 

“I'll let my mom know you miss her food, Sebas. She'll love you more than she already does,” Lilac laughed.

 The sound, accompanied with the fact that she looked so much more at ease, made Ethan's chest glow with contentment. 

Before he could stop himself, his hand moved atop hers under the table. Lilac stiffened in surprise but relaxed immediately after, keeping their hands locked. 

“I'm just not convinced tamales make for an elegant Christmas dinner,” Griselda was saying. 

“Bitch, you grew up in Guadalajara,” Natalia returned at once. “That's all you ate in the winter.”

The whole table laughed, much to Griselda's fury. The blonde man beside her rubbed her back soothingly to no avail. Instead, her sharp eyes zeroed in on Lilac like daggers and an air of conceit returned to her expression. 

“So how long have you two been together?” 

“A few months,” Ethan returned with ease. 

“Ooh,” Natalia commented. “The honeymoon stage! Where you can't keep your hands off the other and all you want to do is—” 

“Funny,” Griselda continued, eyes never leaving Lilac. “My cousin never really mentioned you.”

“She never really mentioned you either,” Ethan deflected. 

Sebastian almost choked on his drink. 

“How did you meet?”

Griselda's question came off as a challenge. 

“We work together.”

“Is that allowed?” 

“Yes.”

Below the table, Lilac gripped his hand. Ethan squeezed back, wishing more than anything that his lie was true. 

“Was it love at first sight?” Natalia asked with genuine interest.

“Have you seen her?” the blonde man joked before Ethan could consider the question or how much he despised the phrase "love at first sight." Something coiled in his stomach at the less than innocent smile the man was sending Lilac's neckline. 

His fist clenched at his side, itching to connect with the man's jaw in a swift undercut. 

“Keith,” Griselda chided, also looking thoroughly displeased. 

Keith did a poor job at looking abashed. This did not fly with Natalia, who Ethan liked more and more each minute, because she glared at Keith and scolded him in both English and Spanish. 

“You don't have to answer Nat's question if she asks again, by the way,” Lilac said as her cousins argued.

Ethan said nothing, careful to keep his expression neutral. 

If he were to answer the question, the answer would be a resounding no. His feelings for the beautiful young doctor before him did not arise from their first meeting. As a matter of fact, after the thoracotomy, Ethan had walked away thinking her arrogant and impertinent, just like any other fresh-faced intern eager to impress an attending. Except this intern had done so by flirting with him. 

 Instead, he thought of her hand atop his in the NICU as they watched over Dolores's baby fight for his life; of the comforting hand on his knee as he told her about Naveen; of every kind, warm smile she gifted him with when passing each other in the hallway. 

It had decidedly not been love at first sight. The clichéd expression would never be enough to capture the way his heart ached for her every time he laid eyes on her, each time with much more force. 

“No amount of free alcohol or expensive food should make you feel obligated to act that much,” Lilac laughed, oblivious. Sparkling green eyes met his, taking in his expression. “What?” 

Ethan swallowed. He was unable to decide if he wanted to tell her he was far from acting or if he wanted to pull her close and kiss her. 

“We're leaving,” Griselda announced in a harsh and dramatic whisper as a way to end the ongoing argument. She frantically collected her belongings and rose at once. 

When she realized no one at the table was saddened by the announcement, she marched out of the restaurant with Keith at her heels. As soon as she was gone, Natalia cackled. 

“Well, that was one of the better Grinch-elda dinners.”

Sebastian threw Ethan an appreciative smile. “It appears Doctor Ramsey is the only one who can tame her. She finally met her match.”

“That was her tame?” 

The cousins laughed. 

After a final round of drinks, Natalia and Sebastian announced that they too had to depart. When they were out the door, Lilac exhaled and relaxed for the first time all evening. 

“Thank—” 

But Ethan shook his head, interrupting. “Don't mention it, Rookie.”

Lilac gave him a single nod and when she couldn't stand the heat of their eyes on one another’s, she averted her gaze to readjust the front of her dress. 

Soon they would each be going their separate ways and this brief fantasy would really be over. 

With a pang, he realized he didn't want it to be. 

“Lilac?” 

“Hmm?” 

Her eyes met his and Ethan forgot all coherence, not that he knew what exactly he planned to say anyway. Rosy, plush lips commanded his attention and Ethan leaned in, determined to feel them against his again. 

Lilac moved too, until their breaths mingled together, the distance separating them as insignificant as the million reasons they deemed this a bad idea.

They were so close now, Ethan's hand moving to the dip of her waist. She whispered his name, a silent invitation, and the last remnants of restraint vanished. 

“Oh shit. Sorry—” 

Natalia halted at their table, slightly out of breath, nose and cheeks rosy from the cold. Lilac and Ethan sprang apart, which only made Natalia wince apologetically. 

“I'm so sorry to interrupt but I can't believe I forgot to tell you. We're all spending New Year's Eve in Griselda's cabin in Vermont. It’s going to be this but ten times worse so we need all the backup we can get.”

Lilac tensed visibly next to him. 

“You two should come.”

Author’s Note: If you made it this far, thank you! 

I decided Lilac’s family nickname is Lilita because Latin American families do that all the time. For example, my cousin’s name is Teresa and they call her Teresita (in diminutive form with the -ita/-ito). Which is hilarious to me because they make the names longer rather than shorter. They do that with own full name too, lol. I love it. 

Anyway: Hopefully, my inspiration doesn’t vanish for a part 2! 

Happy Holidays to everyone! 

Tags: @openheart12​ , @takeharryandgo​ , @trappedinfanfiction​, @aestheticartsx​, @aworldoffandoms​, @paulfwesley​, @myusualnerdyself​,  @rookie-ramsey​, @ohchoices​,  @enmchoices​, @i-bloody-love-drake-walker​, @choicesfanaf​, @openheartthot​, @octobereighth​, @nazarihoe​, @utterlyinevitable​, @kites-in-our-skies​, @maurine07​, @schnitzelbutterfingers​, @doilooklikeiknow​, @snesdudes​, @kingliam2019​, @perriewinklenerdie​, @cinnamonspongecake​, , @queencarb​, @ethxnrxmsey​, @missmiimiie​, @jens-diamondchoices​, @adamsdumortain​, @apphia12​, @kalogh​, @lucy-268​, @binny1985​, @queenbirbs​, @honeyandsunfl0wers​, @newcolonies​, @lilyvalentine​, @rigatonireid​, @interobanginyourmom​, @parkerattano​, @custaroonie​, @nikki-2406, @lilypills​, @chasingrobbie​, @nooruleman​,  @lonely-mxxnlight​, @ruinedbypixels​, @shadynaturehilariouscookie​, @tsrookie​, @mvalentine​, @professorkingslay​, @drakewalkerfantasy​, @casey-v​, @helloblueeyedcat​, @mysticaurathings​, @blossomanarchy​, @thegreentwin​, @togetherwearerapture​, @rookieoh​,  @rookiemarsswiftie​, @natashajaniphilchoices​, @mysticalgalaxysstuff​, @hatescapsicum​, @choices-lurker​, @kiara-36​, @junehiratas​, @danijimenezv​, @macy-ray85​, @adrex04​, @canigetanawwjunk​, @sanchita012​, @overwhelminglyaquarius​ , @scorpiochick8​, @skylarklyon​, @starrystarrytrouble​, @mercury84choices​, @drariellevalentine​, @ethanrcmsey​,  @aarisa-frost​,  @udishaman​, @a-crepusculo​, @quacksonlover​, @caroldxnvxrs​, @ramseyandrys​, @whatchique​​, @openheartfanfics​​@varikasnuori​, @dimitriwife​​, @genevievemd​​, @shanzay44​​, @fabi-en-ciel​​, @trebondialanna​​, @lady-calypso​​, @ashiiknees​​, @dr-ramseys-rookie​​, @stygianflood​​, @bellcat2010​​, @iemcpbchoices​​,  @emotionalswift2,  @lion-ess24,

[macgyverseries]

rebutting and debunking frequently used arguments against macriley

I made this 10-page google doc rant a while ago, but I never ended up posting it. Today, however, I woke up and chose violence. So here it is: my thoughts on frequently used arguments against macriley.

I took some quotes and arguments that people put online (reddit, tumblr..), and I debunked them all :p I feel like I always see the same arguments all the time, and I’m honestly getting a little tired of hearing them. I’m here to settle this once and for all.

and yes, i did manage to cut down the google doc by 3 pages :D (but it's still long af so rip my brain)

1.”Mac and Riley are siblings because Jack is their father”

I can (mostly) get behind the argument that Mac and Riley shouldn’t be in a romantic relationship because of their super strong friendship. Some people really value that sole platonicness, and I get that.

But the argument that I can’t get behind is that: Mac and Riley are siblings because Jack is their father figure”

If you google the definition of “father,” the first result that comes up is: “a man in relation to his children.”

Now, Jack was definitely the father figure to Riley, and I would consider her his child. He raised her. He helped shape her ideals and upbringing.

Mac only met Jack when he left MIT. So it was pretty much after Mac was raised (by Bozer’s parents haha), that Jack really came into his life. Mac already became his own person. (also, I always saw Mac and Jack as more of a bromance)

So because Riley and Mac met Jack at different periods of their lives, and they were raised differently, I wouldn’t say that they were siblings who were raised by the same father.

2. “The show writers left the impression that there was a huge age gap between them”

I understand this a little. I do think Riley was introduced as pretty young and idk naive? Because she was literally in highschool, and then she went to prison, and then she got released into the wild. Personally, when I started watching the show, I googled the whole cast. So I started the show knowing that they were the same age.

And also, the more I got to know Riley, the more that I thought that Riley was more mature and had an old soul herself. I think it was because she was just a dynamic and round character, who is well-developed.

But, I get first impressions. I feel like once you get stuck on an impression, it’s hard to go away from that.

Also, Jack would’ve totally shipped macriley, and you can’t change my mind.

3. "Riley isn't ready for a relationship"

I honestly think that this argument should be more geared towards Mac. He needs to figure himself out and go to therapy ffs. However, this person targeted Riley (the literal queen), so I shall defend her:

I understand wanting Riley to take some time off, and figure herself out before going straight into another relationship with someone. But here’s the thing. Throughout the first few seasons Riley’s character was very well established, and she didn’t have any partners during that time. She has proven that she is a strong, well-rounded, independent woman (with or without a partner). So i think it is valid to say that she isn’t just some girl who only has boy toys. She is much more than that.

My next point is that Riley has made it clear that she wants a lasting relationship with someone who will support her. When talking with Mac in 4.04, we see her express her interest in a stable, healthy relationship. It’s not wrong to go out and look for that potential partner. This applies to everyone (not just fictional characters): It’s going to take a few relationships and self-discovery, to find a good relationship, and people shouldn’t be shamed for searching for that.

Riley has only ever had two major boyfriends that I remember. First was Billy; she took that relationship very seriously. She really did seem happy with him. It was a shame that he cheated on her. Second was Aubrey. She also took that relationship very seriously. She had been living with him for six months (and they even had the cutest date nights!) So I wouldn't say that Riley only has boy toys. She has meaningful relationships.

Lastly, I think this was written when season four started airing, but it’s been over a year (and a pandemic) since Riley has dated. I think enough time has passed.

*4. I had to split this one up because, oh boy, there is a lot to unpack here.

4a. “If that was the direction they’d chosen to take with that relationship from square one… My issue with it is that Mac and Riley were presented to us as friends/ found siblings for three years. There were NO romantic vibes to speak of between them..”

I actually felt the same way about macriley. The thought of them being together in season one, made me want to throw up. I don’t think the writers intended on having macriley, and I was perfectly fine with that.

I know that people look for different things when they ship. Some really like having instant gratification with the spicy, hot, sexy parts of a relationship, like macdesi (which is why I was fine with the idea of shipping macdesi in the past).

I always wanted to see macriley do more: have hot, flirtatious banters/interactions. it can be hard to ship people who seem to be missing that part of the love equation. So i agree. It's definitely strange. And I understand if you genuinely have a hard time seeing the romantic potential of macriley, when the writers have only dragged out and shown us the platonic potential of them.

Also, the reason why it is difficult to see macriley as romantic, was because they ALWAYS PRIORITIZED AND WERE DRIVEN on their friendship. A partner should be friends first, and then makeout buddies second.

But just because people start off as friends, doesn’t mean that they still don’t have that potential to be lovers. Because guess what?! Feelings change. It’s now canon that Riley has feelings for Mac, and Mac always had feelings for Riley (but never acted on it).

I'm sorry, but you like a boomer when you say “bAcK iN mY dAy, tHeY dIdN’t HaVe fEeLiNgS fOr EaCh oThEr.” like okaAAAyyYYyYY????? We are not “back in your day” anymore. We are in the present. We are in today. And today, macriley is real :)

4b. “There’s the incredibly tired trope where long-term coworkers suddenly catch feelings for each other out of nowhere”

Personally, I will never get tired of the friends to lovers trope. I think the fact that Mac and Riley had such a strong friendship and foundation is what makes them perfect. Again, I know that some people just like instant gratification, but I love when a couple can take their time to have depth, emotion, and realness in their relationship.

Obviously I am biased because I have so much love for this trope, it's my favorite trope, but I don't see why you would use the “it’s overused” as reasoning to hate a ship. Just because a trope is used a lot, doesn’t mean it is bad (that’s probably why it is so good lmao). I can understand getting tired of it, and growing a dislike towards a trope. For example, I have grown an extreme dislike towards the love triangle.

A bit of a tangent: But the difference between overusing love triangles and overusing friends to lovers, is that love triangles aren’t just commonly used tropes. They are cliches. They cause unwanted drama and unnecessary hurt to one character. Whereas friends to lovers doesn’t involve as much drama and pain for a character. It is more of just angst between two people. And we know that they will get together eventually with a happy ending. So it was never really problematic.

And even then, the great thing about overusing or utilizing tropes, is that they can act as a guide. It allows the show writers and cast to make it personal, make it their own, adding their own special flair to it

I just don’t see the “this trope is used a lot” as a valid reasoning for disliking a ship .It just seems like this commenter doesn’t like the friends to lovers trope for the sake of not liking it.

I could be very wrong in my assumption of this person’s thoughts on friends to lovers, maybe there is a deeper reasoning as to why they don’t like it, but the tone that i interpreted when i read this section, was that they don’t have a real reason to dislike it, it’s more of just because.

4c.“then there's the fact that Riley had a mostly single Mac in her life for 3-4 years and she never even considered him romantically until he was with someone else”

First: Riley didn’t CHOOSE to fall in love. You may recall that “emotions aren’t a science. You can’t control them.”

Second: Mac was broken up with Desi when she caught feelings for him. Plus, the moment Riley saw that Mac and Desi were getting happy together, she moved out and gave them space. She sacrificed her own feelings for his happiness, despite the fact that her heart was breaking.

4d. “and finally, Mac not only still doesn't seem to even have Riley on his radar in that way but he literally told another woman that he loves her just last week. Neither of them look particularly good here if they get together now.”

I'm assuming that this was written when 4.12 first aired. I'm also assuming that this comment was more directed towards the idea of Mac and Riley getting together immediately at the end of the season, rather than later down the road. I always saw of macriley as more of endgame material. That i would see them get together sometime in the future. So I agree. Macriley getting together during that time period, would be too rushed and unsatisfying.

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

So those were most of the supposed arguments that I saw for people who were against macriley, but I also wanted to provide some really good examples of people who were very respectable, and actually had valid reasoning for disliking them.

1. they just don’t like shipping in general

Ships can be annoying af. Seeing people ONLY focus on the ships is sometimes tiring. I, myself, even feel a little guilty making this post, because I need to chill and mind my own business lmaooo. I really should let people do whatever they want to do with their lives, and not get caught up in the ships, but here I am :p

Anyways, I know that there is a lot of unnecessary drama that comes with shipping, and it's tiring to see people constantly go on and on about romance, when there are other perfect things about the show.

2. No matter how hard they try, they just feel it.

This is literally so dumb (and a little hypocritical/self-contradictory), but if you have a gut feeling, and you just can’t get yourself to ship it, I get it. If you truly and genuinely believe that they are best platonic friends, I can't change your opinion. And I have respect for you (if you say it in a kind manner).

Here is a nice example of a person who expressed their opinion in a nice way, with no BS.

So the moral of the story: I can't control your deepest thoughts. I can't control your gut feelings. And that’s okay. But the moment that you start backing up your thoughts and insights with BS reasoning, is the moment that I lose respect for you.

[jiejie-eonni-onee-sama]

The only one I need...

For the sweet @stardancerluv 🥰🥰🥰🐇🐰

Hope you like it!

Sitting on her couch, (Y/N) glanced at the window of the penthouse with a thoughtful look in her eyes. She distantly stroke her slightly rounded belly. The young woman could not still believe that in five months, she would become a mother.

This perspective positively thrilled her, of course. She was happy to start a family with the man she loved... even if the latter was not the suited man for being a father, according to many Gothamites. Indeed, (Y/N) was married to Roman Sionis, one of the ruthless mob bosses of the city. Of course, when he was in business, he was cruel and wicked. But, when he was with her, Roman was the perfect husband.

The young woman sighed: honestly, he was happy to be a father. Well, she guessed he was glad. Since the beginning of her pregnancy, she cannot confirm if her husband was ready to start a family.

Moreover, she felt that he was distant from her. Roman barely even hold her when he was an insatiable hugger. Perhaps being pregnant made her look less glamourous in his eyes. After all, Mister Sionis was a man who showed interest in appearances. Sure, a changing body was not a pleasant view for him. He certainly preferred spending time with gorgeous women in hourglass bodies.

(Y/N) felt tears rolling down her cheek. Of course, she had everything she dreamt of, but she felt so alone.

"Hi, (Y/N)! You're alright?"

Wiping her tears, she turned around and saw Victor, who stood there, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Oh, hello, Vic. I am sorry I did not hear you coming."

"That's okay... Are you sure you're alright? You seem upset."

"Me? No, don't worry: I am just tired. Pregnancy mood swings, you know."

"I guess so. Well, I mean: I trust you on this one... Is there anything you want?"

She shrugged.

"No... Unless you know where Roman is?"

"He has a business meeting at the club. Stu and Joe are with him."

She nodded, a sad look on her face.

"I see... Thank you, Victor. You can go if you want."

Shaking his head, the scarred man sat on a chair and asked:

"Do you think I am going outside and leaving you like that? I may not be the smartest, but I am not blind. I see there is something that worries you."

(Y/N) stuttered:

"No, no, no! I assure you..."

The skeptical look Victor gave her made her stop. She sighed:

"Okay, you won. But I don't think that the wailings of a pregnant woman are interesting."

"I will see... Go ahead!"

She bit her lip before explaining with a quivering voice:

"I feel so alone. Since I told Roman the news, he acted distant towards me. It feels like he did not want this child or that he found me ugly. I cannot tell what he thinks... Argh, I am getting mad!"

The henchman gently patted her hand.

"Don't worry, (Y/N). Roman always acts like that when something new happens. I know him for years, and I can tell you that he would never think about having a family of his own... until you tripped in his life!"

"Do you just said that I am clumsy?"

"Maybe! Seriously, (Y/N): he always told me that no woman could compete with you, concerning beauty or cleverness! But he just tried to cope with this new situation. And you know that he does not easily share his feelings..."

She slowly nodded.

"I guess so... I wished that he opened up to me about his opinions."

She slightly grinned.

"I appreciate your help, Victor. Thank you!"

"Hey, you make my boss happy! It's the least that I can do!"

He looked at his phone.

"Ha, I have to leave: Roman needs my help!"

"Is there anything wrong?"

"No, no: he just needs my... special skills!"

"Okay, okay, I got it! See you later!"

"Bye, (Y/N) replied Zsasz before leaving the penthouse.

While (Y/N) relaxed, Victor drove to the warehouse where Roman and his bodyguards waited for him with their prisoners.

"Hi, boss!"

"Ah, Mister Zsasz! You come at the right time! You see, those gentleman tied upside down belonged to the gang of the Davinovitch brothers. And they thought messing with our dealers was a good idea. Anyway, peel off their faces! I want to send a warning to their bosses! Make sure they suffer!"

Victor sadistically grinned.

"With pleasure, boss! Just let me pick my tools!"

And while Zsasz peeled off the faces of the prisoners, Roman asked:

"I wonder... Where were you before I called you?"

"I went to the penthouse checking on (Y/N)."

"Ah, my beloved wife! So, how is she doing?"

His henchman grimaced:

"Well, she is physically healthy. However, I am afraid to tell you that she is upset, to say the least!"

The mob boss started to worry.

"What do you mean?"

"Honestly, boss: she is on the verge of depression!"

"WHAT? AND YOU SAID THAT JUST NOW?"

"I just saw it today. I asked (Y/N) what's going on, and she confessed that something upsets her. Well, someone upsets her."

Roman turned towards his bodyguards and yelled:

"WHO DARED MAKE MY WIFE FEEL MISERABLE?"

The henchmen denied their involvement, shaking with fear: the last one who dared made (Y/N) cry rested in pieces with the fish.

"You better not lie to me because if I found the guilty, he would finish like those jackasses! Am I clear?"

His guards nodded.

Once Victor finished his job, they went to the club. The scarred man cleared his throat and said:

"Boss, when I said that someone upset (Y/N)..."

"Yes?"

"Well, I was talking about you!"

"I beg your pardon? How can I upset the woman I love, the mother of my child?" asked Roman, annoyed.

"Seriously, boss. (Y/N) feels alone, and you do nothing to reassure her! If only you saw her, she was down depressed!"

Roman frowned.

"To that point?"

"I'm telling you!"

The mob boss sighed.

"What have I done?" he muttered.

He turned towards Victor.

"Call Dean: tell him I have a specific order!"

"Consider it done, boss!" smirked Zsasz as he dialed the number.

The next day.

Thanking the driver, (Y/N) went out of the cab and entered the penthouse. Her appointment with the doctor went well. She was in good shape, and her baby was healthy. Moreover, she knew that she expected a boy.

The woman smiled: a mini-Roman. Let's hope that he won't inherit his father's temper!

She headed to the living room when a pleasant smell welcomed her. Intrigued, she went forwards and discovered a table perfectly laid with her favorite meals.

"Is anybody here?" she asked.

Suddenly, Roman appeared with a huge bouquet in his hands.

"Here comes my beautiful wife! How was your appointment?"

"Uh, it went well." (Y/N) answered, taken aback by Roman's behavior.

Yesterday, he was cold as ice, and today, he acted like at the beginning of their relationship. Something was fishy...

"Wonderful! Now, let's sit down and enjoy our dinner! Let me take off your coat!"

"Thank you, Roman. But I can do it."

"No, no, no: let me take care of you, darling. You must be exhausted!"

Once they sat down, they started to eat. (Y/N) ate a few mouthfuls, which confused her husband.

"Is everything okay, sweetheart? You don't eat that much. Yet, you must build your strength for the baby!"

"Can I ask you a question, Roman?"

"Of course, my love. What do you want to know?"

She sighed before requesting:

"Can you explain why do you plan this dinner? Do we celebrate something? A successful trade?"

The mob nodded before he put down his fork and said:

"So, Victor was right. Do you think that I neglect you?"

"WHAT? No, I would never say..."

She mentally cursed Victor: why did he need to tell Roman?

"My little doe, there is no need to panic. Besides, I owe you an apology..."

"What for?"

"I made you feel miserable. You, the only person who sincerely loves me for who I am and not for who I seem. And how do I thank you? By letting you alone with your insecurities and sadness!"

(Y/N) was impressed: she did not expect Roman to do this! 

She gently put her hand on his:

"You know, I appreciate your gesture. But I can understand that starting a family might trigger you, as you don't have good memories of your parents..."

"As it happens, it gives me a lesson: it taught me what not to do with a child! I don't want my offspring to suffer as I did!"

He paused before he explained:

"About my distant behavior, I know I have no excuses. But... I was scared!"

"Scared?"

"Yes, I know: coming from me, it sounds weird. But I feared to fail you and our kid. Imagine that I end up being like my old man: a pure jackass!"

His wife firmly stated:

"But you're not your father. You succeeded better than he would ever do! You just proved it: you have concerns about how to raise our child properly!"

He smirked:

"That proves I rightly choose my life partner. I don't know what would I do if you were not here!"

Roman leaned and gave her a small kiss on the lips.

"And don't ever think that you are ugly! No matter what happens, you're still the most gorgeous woman in all Gotham!"

(Y/N) felt her heart melt: she never managed to resist his sweet talk!

She hugged him:

"Thank you."

"No, thank you!" he muttered while hugging her back.

They stayed like that a few minutes before Roman exclaimed:

"Now, let's finish our dinner, and then, let's go to bed!"

An hour later, the spouses laid in their bed, in each other's arms. Roman gently stroke (Y/N)'s hair while she laid her head on his chest.

Suddenly, she felt his hand resting on her belly, making her chuckle.

"You wanted to check if the baby is alright?"

"Kind of... I just want to let them know that I am here for them, no matter what happens!"

(Y/N) beamed.

"I am sure our baby boy would appreciate it!"

"Indeed... Wait, did you just say...?"

"You heard it right: there will be another Mr. Sionis in Gotham!"

Roman happily laughed.

"Amazing! I can't wait to meet him"

"Let's hope he won't have your flair for drama!"

"What?" exclaimed Roman, faking shock.

They both laughed and talked during the night, planning what they would do with their son. 

In the end, while they drifted into sleep, (Y/N) heard Roman whispering in her ear:

"You're the only one I need..."

And as she closed her eyes, all her fears vanished in the air. She could not wait to write this new chapter with the two men of her life... 

Thanks for the reading!

I hope you like it and do not hesitate to ask for another story!

Take care! 😘🥰😍

[rorodawnchorus]

The Devil Judge, Ep.1 Meta

(On the re-imagined justice process, imageries, parallels in South Korea and our world today) 

As with all dystopian fiction, it is not exactly a far-fetched imagining of our world. Instead, it is a critique of our society which seeks to amplify the inequalities and suffering of society through some exaggeration. 

The Devil Judge is that: it "re-imagines" South Korea today with a sprinkle of cyberpunk aesthetics (a little too much bluish green tint) and dystopian imagery (of homeless people, a very dirty subway and dingy backalleys on a rainy night).

I kept thinking it was a dystopian "future" but was wondering why they were using only Samsung Note 20 instead of some Samsung futuristic prototype phone. So, those phones do keep audiences grounded in the reality it is portraying -- this is the alternative South Korea of today. 

We are barely halfway into the first episode and we've got this extremely charismatic, anti-hero male lead strutting red carpets and making verbose declarations like "I am the power. By the judicial authority delegated to me by the people of Korea, I will run this court. And it is the people who hold this power." (Not verbatim but that's the gist). 

Then, meet associate judge Kim Ga-On who seems to be against how the system is running. He seems to be the outlier who rose to his ranks from the bottom class of society (which his colleague Oh Jin-joo says, he looks like he's from the shanty town of Seoul). We start off, barely into the drama at this point, with a dramatic scene of a kindergarten bus ramming down barricades and charging towards the Court building. A group of kindergarten children crossing the road there (I've just no clue what businses kids would have near the court building tbh). A little girl tripping as they were rushed across the road, Ga-On jumping to the rescue, and unable to pick her up in time, shields her with his own body. Kang Yo Han is just there, taking a heavy gun from the guard and unhesitantly opened fire at the bus driver who was flooring the pedal. He misses the driver's head and hits the headrest before firing again. The bus swerves and flips. The driver loses consciousness and Ga On (again!) jumps to the rescue. So, here the tone is set. We've got this "devil judge" who seems to be the ultimate modern day anti-hero who's given immense amount of power. 

Much more interesting is that in this dystopian South Korea, we've got what seems like a publicly elected judiciary (or Kang Yo Han is perhaps the first?) and that has always been something that has been discussed in legal academic. Not the idea of electing the judiciary but that the argument of the judiciary not being publicly elected can be seen as slightly out of tune with democracy. (In legal academic, however, this is theoretically seen as being balanced by the separation of powers; ie. the executive branch (=government) and elected members of Parliament/Congress are supposed to be fully separated from the judiciary and should therefore never interfere with the judiciary. But, of course, these are all theoretical stuff. They look good on paper and when discussed in legal essays but in reality, it can often be different (if not, the exact opposite). This series takes things to yet another level by imagining the inception of a publicly televised and publicly voted trial. 

This goes against the nature of trials in general because in our world today, the judiciary (wherever it may be) typically have mechanisms (ie. laws and codes) to prevent manipulation by media. The principle of fair trial requires that no external influence affects the process of adjudication (ie. the judgement by judges). There also tends to be avoidance of trial by public opinion because the way the law is interpreted and applied can be rather technical and different from what people may say or think about a certain trials, the decision delivered and also sentencing. Trial by jury is the nearest it gets but that too can be a fairly technical process which do also include considerations like avoiding a two-day trial to prevent influence by the media or other agents on a jury member's decision. (A recent drama mentioning this is Law School). The thing about this idea of trial by the public is that standards of morality can be very subjective and varies from person to person. Judgement by judges are not entirely free from the influence of morality, but the process is a litle more stable through the processes of interpretative practices, case precedents and legal theories. Previously in another Kdrama, Miss Hammurabi (2018), Judge Lim Ba-reun became slightly frustrated by his friend's comment that having a jury trial is like "true democracy" because the "people gets to decide" and he even thinks the judiciary should be elected too. Lim Ba-reun sarcastically said he must have loved every elected politican since they were elected by the public. He tells him grimly that no jury has ever found a policeman who had beaten up a Black man to be guilty. He also pointed out that Nazi, the Holocaust and Hitler were all supported by the public. 

In this series, the premise allows all of these imaginings to be realised and played out. It is peak criticism, I think, when they portray the scenes of the TV producer being excited about the real-time ratings and viewer ratings. And also the scene of the broadcasting channel's chairman dancing in joy when he received realtime report of the ratings (vowing to treat his equally wealthy friends to a meal). Even when his other friend seemed appalled by the decision delivered by Judge Kang, the Chairman could not hide his joy in the skyrocketing viewership ratings. This really reminded me of the entire Produce 101 franchise which also heralded the shows for putting the decision in "The Nation's Producers" (ie. voters) and emphasised how it is the Nation Producers who put together ("produce") the National Kpop group that is bound for success and set to receive national love. All of this illusion collapsed (and the Korean franchise died along with it) when the court finds its producers guilty of voting manipulation. The Devil Judge seemed to have a similarly dramatic flair in its emphasis of TV production gimmicks, camera angles, cuts of a person's reaction, etc. The President of South Korea (who has a very light voice, a penchant for orotund speeches and a lack of concern for national policies) and all these top 1% of people tuned in were on the edge of their seats watching Judge Kang orchestrate this theatre of public trial. Kim Ga-On watched him closely and was sure that Judge Kang had something up his sleeves and was definitely up to no good, yet he couldn't tell. When he finally delivers a verdict (that yes, this was a case of professional negligence and not negligent homicide), Ga-On was crestfallen and frustrated because it carries a mere 5 year imprisonment maximum. But Kang turns the table and brings up the newly passed legislation which allows accumulative sentence which then resulted in 235 years of imprisonment. 

This sounded very much like how some Korean netizens had previously wondered (online) why Korea couldn't have a sentencing system like the US where the years of imprisonment can go up to 100 years or 500 years. Again, this was like realising an alternative South Korea that many have perhaps tried imagining. Episode 1 ends with Judge Kang stepping down from his high seat when a victim's family member bowed deeply with her hands clasped, as though in prayer, and even kneeled to him. This corresponded well and tied perfectly into the religious/godlike imagery represented in the justice's robes which is reminiscent of the pope's robes and resembles a priest's robe, and the app they named DIKE or Diety of Justice (正義의 神). When Judge Kang hugs the old woman with a compassionate smile, teary eyed and full of empathy, he ends up yawning barely a minute into consoling the weeping woman. Ga-On witnesses this and realises, all of this must have been a gimmick after all. He had his hopes up when Judge Kang serves the sentence of 235 years. The episode ends. 

I think this series is set to be a great one. (Just as Law School was amazing too!) It has tons of stuff to unpack, lots that goes into the cinematography and camerawork. While characters do seem a little more like caricatures rather than realistic people that are properly fleshed out in the narrative, there is still promise to push beyond these caricatures. I think there is also a lot in the imagery of dystopia and the constant bombardment of messages from the government (which is often the mainstay of dystopian fiction) which emphasises a certain narrative which they want the people to believe. For example, Kim Ga-On is travelling up the escalator when there were ads of the DIKE app, ads on electronic billboards on the justice system, paper posters plastered in the dark backalley where a high school girl is being dragged away by two men saying "The government will now create a safe South Korea". That last one is perhaps the most glaring one to me because when I was in Korea, it was repeated to me by different Korean individuals: "Your things are safe. No Korean will steal it. (Not sure about foreigners though!) You are safe. Crimes don't happen. I checked and there are no sexual offenders living in this neighbourhood." But... spycams can be anywhere. Men secretly follow women to their homes and try to break into them. Sexual harassment can happen anywhere. Robbery and theft can happen.

Personally, my paranoia and anxiety won't ever let me believe such words. No narrative, self-made or otherwise, can convince me enough to think that I am in a safe place. I would always have a nagging thought at the back of my mind telling me danger can be lurking just about anywhere. I think Koreans today do have high levels of confidence in their country. Most people do think it is safe to be walking around in the dead of night without any worry. (Again, I do not quite share the sentiment.) But this is a kind of self-made narrative because I also know my countrymen who travel to other countries like the UK and say "I feel absolutely safe walking the streets in the dead of night while I won't feel the same in my own country" when those are simply ideas they've planted into themselves through the mindset that [This country is better than my country and therefore safer.] There is absolutely no correlation between a "better" country and crime rates (or potential of becoming a victim of crime). Not to mention, being an Asian in a Western country sets you up as a likelier victim of hate crime... 

So, I was saying.... This narrative of "safe Korea" is already existing in South Korea today. The need for mass surveillance or a spycam detecting task force in public toilets don't add up with a "safe country" image but the sentiment planted into the people seems to be strong despite all of this. However, Koreans do call South Korea "Hell Joseon". Youth unemployment can be a concern is a country like South Korea and a graying population, increasinly empty gray towns like the one mentioned in the series are all concerns which are ever-present in the public conscious. The mention of plauge and unemployment too must be a major concern now. In a rather similar vein, this narrative of DIKE or trial by the public through app voting creates a sentiment that people can take into their own hands and deliver justice. But what about the people at the margins of society who are homeless and do not own smartphones? What is this concept of democracy that places power in the hands of people? Is it a mere illusion or is power really in the hands of people?

..................................................................................................

(A side note on how the indicted chairman of the company responsible for mass poisoning of an entire town had brushed off concerns about a failing filtration system and the move of industrial plants to Southeast Asia. As a Southeast Asian, it is also something on my mind how South Korea has moved out of China and moved most of its plants to Southeast Asia for cheap labour. But what about the pollution here, the appallingly low wages they pay Southeast Asians (both white and blue collars!) in comparison to the few Korean expat managerial staff or engineers they station out here? I remember how I was at the hospital at 2 am and a small group of blue collar workers in their work uniform came in with their injured colleague; this can only mean they were at work past midnight due to some accident and we are still in the midst of the pandemic. What kinds of welfare and benefits are these blue collars provided with?)

[pluviophile-bookworm]

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: The Rewatch pt. 4

I really need a pick-me-up after 2x11, and I feel like 1x7 might be what I'm looking for, so here I am again with another HSMTMTS rewatch. I'm genuinely so excited for both of these episodes, so without further ado, let's jump right into

1x6: She stands for... lies, pressure and very inappropriate suggestions (coming here after 2x11 might have been a mistake, actually)

I honestly don't get why Nini's reaction to seeing Ricky in full Troy costume was so big — he actually looked pretty ok to me. Sure, the wig is a bit too much, but so what, it's cute.

Ahhh my boy Reddy is so adorable in that talking head... 'click!' Gosh, I love seeing him so cheerful! Guess he's embracing his role as part of the crew. As he should.

'I'm home'. Yes, Sebby, and you look so good, too! Gosh, I love this scene so much. I can't believe I'd forgotten about it.

Gina looks beautiful, though — I mean, she looks beautiful in anything, but I really like the Taylor look on her.

Ok, I fully understand everyone's frustration about this picture — it's genuinely so hard to get a good picture of someone jumping up in the air, and I can only imagine what it would be like with six people. A bunch of my classmates tried to do something like that ages ago and, needless to say, it didn't go very well. No good pictures were taken that day.

Ah, Portwell: the early days. Ok, but wanting something and feeling like you have to get it is far from the same thing, EJ. Honestly, these two in their early days as accomplices... this is not the first time they've been like 'X is the same thing as Y' when it's obviously not. I mean, of course, that time they became accomplices because 'we want the same thing' — which, at that point, they didn't.

Ok, but they were in such unison with that 'Not now!'... couple goals! You know, even before either of them had considered the possibility of them being a couple for real.

That's a lot of pressure that Miss Jenn is putting on dear Carlito over there. I mean, he's one of the youngest at the drama club and he has to essentially do her job for her, all while she's not even sure if she'll be able to return to her job. I just... keep reminding myself that these kids are closer in age to my little brother than they are to me (except for EJ, who is precisely in the middle), and then the pressure they're under takes on completely new proportions in my mind. None of them should have to deal with all of this. And no amount of 'trust the process' is making it better.

'Should I just live vicariously through someone else?' Oh Reddy, you should just live for yourself. I mean, the truth is I don't practice what I preach most of the time, but I really do mean this. Just go out there and live your best life. You're not Ricky's therapy dog or anything (that being said, Ricky's getting a therapy dog when?).

What part of 'a forest of boys' does Nini not get? It's simple enough. Just help Carlos do his job, how about that? I mean, he shouldn't have to do everything himself anyway.

See? He cracked. That's what happens when you put all this responsibility on a teen's shoulders and be like 'deal with it'. He was just trying his best, you guys. He did not deserve all the clapback.

Ricky's forced optimism about Miss Jenn and the show is too much even for me. Sure, I know everything turns out mostly alright at the end, but this just sounds like Ricky's on the verge of a breakdown. You know, every time someone's been too unrealistically positive on this show, it has ended in a breakdown. And that's the last thing I want.

I do agree about the simple acoustic version of the song, though. Sometimes simple is the best option.

Major props to Carlos for going up to Mr. Mazzara like that. If someone had bullied me, and especially if that someone was a teacher, I'd never have dared to call them 'Benjamin Mazarra!' to their face. Even when he's on the verge of despair, this boy is still the boldest. And we love him for that.

Is this where the 'Carlos Surname' joke started, though? I had forgotten. It was funny while it lasted.

Ricky doesn't know it yet, but he's seriously playing with Gina's feelings there. And I don't blame him because, again, he doesn't know yet, but I still feel bad for her.

'Despite the 4.3 GPA, I'm actually an idiot.' — EJ is high intelligence, low wisdom, confirmed. Not that this is news, but I really don't remember much about this season, so I'm pointing this out now.

Now forgive me if I'm not feeling for Miss Jenn after 2x11... she did some really unforgivable things there. Still, as much as I want to say a real qualified teacher would not do any of that, my personal experience suggests otherwise, quite unfortunately. Miss Jenn might not be very emotionally mature, but not having legal teaching credentials is not her biggest issue, really. It is precisely her lack of emotional maturity.

OMG, Big Red accidentally invited the entire drama club over! And that, I guess, is half of how Redlyn established themselves as the hosts of every out-of-school drama club gathering. Thanksgiving is, of course, the other half. Gosh, those two were the parents of the drama club even before they were a couple. Guess they're soulmates in that way, too.

Ok, so I didn't comment on this after 2x8 when Big Red did it to Ricky, but now that I finally notice that Seb did it to Carlos, too (I took my time, thanks), I need to talk about the knee touch thing. See, this is exactly the amount of touch I used to be comfortable with (since I'm very touch-averse) — both on the giving and on the receiving end — and it can mean so much when you feel bad. It's a subtle 'hey, I'm here, it's going to be fine', a sort of hug-without-the-hugging... I feel like this is a gesture we don't see enough of in media and it can feel just as intimate as, say, holding hands or cuddling. I don't want to talk about kissing because I don't know anything about it. But I just love how we've got the knee touch depicted by both a romantic pairing and a platonic pairing in the show. Ok, rant over. But I just really wanted to talk about this because, well, I saw myself in it.

'Her past is a little bit sketchy'... I see, Ash has already started writing Truth, Justice and Songs in Our Key, even if she doesn't know it quite yet.

Miss Jenn finding out Mike is Ricky's dad is just as awkward as it should be. Whatever they had going on should have ended right then and there.

'... people in the dramatic arts are insane' — 'Thank you.' — Umm, Miss Jenn, you are not really helping your case there. Quite frankly, you're lucky you've got the allegiance of the entire drama club. I don't think they'd have your back as much after 2x11, though.

Ok, but... Big Red wearing a longcoat just to take it off for the dramatic flair of it all? An icon if I've ever seen one. Also, mad props to Larry for apparently learning this number in record time after Dara got injured.

Oh, and... mad props to all the kids in-universe for writing, rehearsing, and learning this entire number in one night.

So both Seb and Natalie have solo lines in the song... and Seb was promoted to main in s2. So does this mean Natalie will get the same treatment in s3? I mean, that will probably mean they'll try to stick her in some sort of romantic plot, and I really don't need that, but I really, really want her to be a main character.

Also, let's not forget we had our first Redlyn moment in this number... seeing them dance together makes my heart jump with joy!

I won't lie, though, the entire dance number and everything was just a little bit uncomfortable to watch after 2x11... these kids do so much for Miss Jenn, and what does she do? Put insane amounts of pressure on some of them, shuts others down at every attempt to put in a word, favours yet others despite their abysmal performance at the audition, and then has the audacity to tell that same person to jump off of something high, with all the implications attached? Not that I'm naming any names, of course. Ok, this has taken a sudden and uncalled for turn for the dark, so I guess I'll just move right along to the next episode now.

1x7: A world where 'That was terrible!' and 'I'm so happy!' can both be true at the same time

My girl Ash is doing the recap! And she's a pun queen, too. 'Miss Jenn was in hot water, Carlos was a hot mess...' — not pleasant, but so true. But wbk. Ashlyn is the best.

And... Ricky and Nini's on and off chemistry is back on. Good for them, because after season 2, I really needed to see a good rehearsal. But I'm thinking EJ's joy at the end-of-school bell had little to do with Thanksgiving...

That look Reddy gave Ashlyn as she was walking out... might be me digging for breadcrumbs, but I think I just saw the exact moment my boy fell, and he fell hard. Ok, I realise now after I've said this that 'fall' probably isn't the best choice of words, but you know what I mean. Fell for Ashlyn. Not like... oh, never mind.

'So meek, so mild, sword!' I can't really explain it, but I love this line. And I feel like it describes Ash so perfectly: like, she might be meek and mild, but if you cross her, she's armed. Gosh, I love her!

Not the Caswell parents leaving their children alone over two holiday breaks! No wonder these two are the way they are. But they're about to get a beautiful Thanksgiving celebration. [Fun personal fact: the year I was born, my birthday fell on Thanksgiving day. That doesn't mean much in Bulgaria, but my dad works with a lot of Americans so my parents knew about it and I've known this and that about this holiday I've never celebrated since I was very young. I have no idea why I'm telling you this, but Thanksgiving has always reminded me of my birthday for this reason, so... ok, moving on.]

So I know she kind of suggested it, but... why does Carlos think it's his place to invite people over to Ashlyn's? I mean, this was part 2 of Redlyn establishing themselves as the hosts for any out-of-school gathering, but... oh well, it led to a beautiful party with everyone, so... I'll allow it.

I really liked Nini's talk with her grandma. It was really nice, and a very fitting way to remind everyone what Thanksgiving is originally about. I feel like people often forget that when it comes to... literally every major commercialised holiday.

Wow, EJ really is that person where once the tap is open, it can't stop spilling. And I kind of like that look on him. It's a transitional stage between EJ 1.0 and EJ 2.0, and I appreciate it for what it is.

Ahhhh it's Redlyn's first proper 1-on-1 conversation! I mean, it got kind of really awkward really quickly because of — surprise, surprise — Nini and Ricky (and EJ), but those two are so adorable! No more breadcrumbs — we're about to get an entire five-course meal here! Which goes really well with the Thanksgiving setting, now that I think of it.

Gosh, they've never really talked and my boy whips out the 'the only thing I'd ever throw at your face is a brighter spotlight' line right off the bat? Boy is whipped! But like, he is the master of grand gestures where Ashlyn is concerned. Still, in this first moment they shared, he really was like, go big or go home, and home isn't really an option here. But I should have known, it's in his name after all. Gosh, I love both of those two so much! Especially when they're together.

Ok, so... this is a really bad way to meet your mother's new boyfriend. Poor Ricky. As if ringing his mum wasn't hard enough already.

See, when I rewatch season 1, I get where the Rina stans are coming from, but then again, remember when I used to say I wanted Gina and EJ to just be friends? Yeah, that's changed too. Not that I ever shipped Rina romantically — I rarely ever ship a pairing unless they're explicitly stated to have something going on, just because I can't see that sort of stuff very clearly — but I really, really want them (Ricky and Gina, I mean) to be really good friends. Once they get past the awkwardness of their sort of history, I mean.

I miss the good old days when Nini was a nice person... I mean, we kind of (really) had a glimpse of that in 2x11 (I'm guessing she was making up for Miss Jenn's very inappropriate slip-up), but I miss the days before she was this big internet-famous songwriter and actually had to be convinced by Ashlyn that she should write songs for herself... wait, now that I think of it... Ashlyn might have helped create a monster there. Oh well. Still love her so much!

You know, I love the Choosical, but it's all a bit sad, if you stop to think about it for a sec. Just picture little single-digit-aged Carlito making this whole thing up in an attempt to participate in his favourite thing... only to not have anyone to play with for the next ten years. Great, I just made myself cry. The thing is, I relate to that story a bit too much. I remember in preschool, when the rest of the children would play together, I'd sit in a corner by myself and read the only book that was there... over and over, day after day. I don't even remember a single thing about that little book right now, but back then I clung to it like it was everything. And I couldn't very much share the experience with any of my peers, seeing as I was the only kid there who could actually read (my grandma used to be a preschool teacher and she taught me to read when I was 4). So yeah. I went off on a rather personal tangent there. Thing is, I know how little Carlos felt and I'm so happy that he finally gets to share this thing he made with a loving and supportive group of friends. Everything has its time and place, I guess.

'Look, I'm not following Big Red just because he paid me a compliment' — of course not, dear, you know your own worth and we love that for you — but see, when he said that thing that you're referring to as a compliment, he did not lie! You really are the brightest star and deserve the brightest spotlight. See, the thing I love most about Redlyn's compliments to each other is that they're so sincere and state nothing but the absolute truth. Those two just see each other for what they are, and love each other as they are. And I think that is beautiful.

It's so funny to me every time someone gets something wrong and Carlos just walks past them out of nowhere and corrects them without missing a beat. I kind of relate to that side of him, too. Except it's usually about grammar and language in my case, not HSM trivia.

If I were Nini in this scene, and was suddenly put face to face with Emily on the spot like that, I would not have been able to handle it. So props to Nini for handling it.

Yeah, sorry to break it to you, Emily dear, but whatever you're doing is not a Cockney accent. I don't claim to be an accent expert, but I know first-hand what Cockney sounds like and... that's just not it. Even Dick Van Dyke was closer to a Cockney accent in Mary Poppins, and that's saying something. (See, I feel bad criticising any aspect of Emily because her actress is no longer with us, but... I have no idea who let them get away with passing this off as Cockney).

Is this the beginning of Jennzara there? I am loving this.

Of course Carlos was obsessed with Glee as a kid... but wasn't he a bit too young for it when it aired? I know I was, and I'm older than those kids. I mean, I waited until I was emotionally mature enough to watch Glee, and that wasn't until 3 years ago, when I was 18 going on 19. Ok, I'm thinking too much into this. Moving on.

Ahhhhh, Redlyn! Just... all of their moments. But screaming the lyrics of What I've Been Looking For on top of their lungs while looking right at each other... was so beautiful to watch. Give me more of that!

EJ: 'That was terrible.' Seb: 'I'm so happy!' — Moods, both of them. Those two are real-life emojis, aren't they? And we love them for that.

'... without laughing... or killing each other.' — I feel like that last specification was needed given that it's Ricky and EJ we're talking about, and especially what happened last time they had to do a one-on-one exercise during rehearsal. The ensuing scene, however, is the most hilarious thing!

Root beer, huh? Is that the HSMTMTS code for 'awkward' now? I mean, Nini and Gina had a nice talk there, all things considered. I really want the two of them to put the Ricky thing past them and be friends... but we'll see.

Gina is trying to make the sleepover thing look like 'it's not a big deal' despite how big of a deal it obviously is to her... to which I say, good for you, girl, but I wouldn't know. The only sleepovers I've ever had have been with my little cousin who is 9 years younger than me and also insists on sleeping with a very bright nightlight on, which means I can't sleep at all. So yeah, I wouldn't know. But I'm happy that Gina is feeling included.

So this is the exact moment when it becomes clear that Big Red is not telling us the complete truth when it comes to his HSM knowledge... '14 and 10'? Even I didn't know that. I knew 14, but... for someone who allegedly 'hates musicals', my boy has very detailed knowledge of one certain musical movie... I love how it got him a certain girl's attention, though. Not that she wasn't already paying attention to him, if you catch my drift.

Ok, but this hits even harder now than it did the first time — just when Gina has finally managed to make friends, to feel included in their group, her mum has to move her away again. This is straight-up tragic. I'll say it now, and I'll probably say it again when it comes up in the rewatch — Ashlyn is an absolute queen for taking Gina in for the next semester.

'That's sort of what you always do, huh? Take care of everyone else' — yeah, Ash, and you do the same. You two just need someone to do for you what you do for other people. See, guys, this is what I mean. This is why they're soulmates. Because in a world that has more or less forced both of them to put others first, they put each other first. They each get to be the most important person to each other after they've been stepping back for others all the time. And if that isn't beautiful, I don't know what is. I know I'm repeating myself over and over saying this, but... they own my heart and soul and I'm not for sale.

Ok, but Ashlyn's little run after Big Red left was so cute! Girl is... I don't know why I keep using that word, but... falling.

Unpopular opinion: Out of the Old is the best Nini solo to come out of this series to date. Maybe I feel that way just because I relate to it most, but hey, that is a valid reason to like something.

Oof, EJ's losing followers. Oh well, if they're unfollowing him for being too honest, they didn't like the real him to begin with. So good riddance to them.

Yikes... Jennzara fell asleep with flammable stuff left unattended... we all know how that ended, but just the fact that they felt comfortable enough to fall asleep in each other's presence... speaks volumes. So I guess... well, I don't know what exactly I'm saying regarding the fire they caused, but I loved this big little moment they had.

So this is it. That was 1x6 and 7 and, well, they were beautiful, but there are some parts I can't look at in the same way anymore after 2x11. Guess that's the risk of a rewatch. The Redlyn scenes, though — still the best part of both of these episodes. That and a couple of other things for which I don't need to pretend like I haven't seen season 2.

[hyunrun]

Dream SMP/Batfam

This is my reasoning for connections between Dream SMP members and the Bats. This was all just for fun, but feel free to give feedback if you’d like! And do say if I’ve made a mistake. I haven’t done everyone, so if there’s anyone else you’d like me to do, lemme know! Please read, I spent a good while on this :D

Batman (Bruce Wayne)/Technoblade: Technoblade's Dream SMP origin story starts with his parents dying, so the backstory fits. He swears to kill all orphans because of the way they killed his parents (Similar to the way Bruce wanted to stop crime from running rampant in Gotham). Techno is also, technically, an orphan as Bruce was. I've always imagined Bruce's voice to be kinda like Techno's, especially that monotone tone he uses, and especially when he's Batman and not Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne is -Bat-man and Technoblade is a pig, need I elaborate? Both of them seem to stay up till ungodly times of the day, and I'm sure their sleep schedules are never on the same clock as anyone else's, Bruce's because of his vigilante lifestyle and Techno because... well, he's a Minecraft YouTuber. Both of them have a father figure, although not biological. They also have a friendly rivalry with a fellow content creator/hero (Cough Dream/Superman cough). We say Dick/Wilbur is dramatic, but you can't possibly mean to tell me Batman/Technoblade isn’t subtly more dramatic. They practically invented being dramatic in their respective businesses.

Alfred Pennyworth/Philza Minecraft: Is the father figure to Batman/Technoblade. Is really a force of chaos but everyone pictures them as a soft, loving dad because we all have parental issues and we need more father figures. Both of them are very badass in their own ways. Old and British. Here's a parallel I thought was pretty cool. Philza had been building up his hardcore world for 5 years before he died. It was like his home disappeared in front of his eyes as he fell away from his life. I'm not sure which continuity/arc this is from (Please do not hate on me, I am but a small child) bUT I do know that Alfred died of a heart attack/stroke at the same time the Wayne Manor was destroyed. His home was destroyed as he died. Just as Philza's had been.

Damian Wayne/TommyInnit: Is never really loved by anyone at first glance (From the fandoms). Tommy's the loud, annoying one, Damian's the grouchy, haughty one. But everyone eventually gravitates towards their characters later on. Their families were wary of them at first but grew to love them. Both of them are the youngest, and generally angriest child. Both are not American, Tommy being British and Damian, Arabic. They both have ICONIC mothers. MotherInnit is a queen, we all know this. If she can handle Tommy, she can handle absolutely anything. Talia Al Ghul has a reputation of her own right, and while she hasn't quite the pristine repertoire, she definitely strikes a strong mark on people. Now, this is a dumb connection between the two, but hair!! Tommy’s seems nice and floofy while Damian's is generally drawn spiky, and I think that's a cool contrast. Their love for pets is also important to note. Tommy's the one that's known for starting wars over the deaths of his pets, and it's easy to know that Damian wouldn't hesitate to hurt someone if they did anything to Titus or Batcow. It’s been shown on multiple occasions that he loves his pets a lot.

Jon Kent/Tubbo_: Best friends with Tommy/Damian. Do not try to argue that Jon and Damian aren't best friends because come onnn. And PLEASE do not take this as a dumb excuse to ship Tommy and Tubbo, as I know people ship Dami and Jon. Both are the embodiment of chaos wrapped in kindness, and both are definitely the more stable of their friendship with the other gremlin children. I am confident that both would probably refer to their parents as mother and father dearest. You cannot convince me otherwise. Tubbo has already done so, and Jon would never disrespect his parents, so this would obviously be the next best alternative for when he is upset by them. Jon’s powers fluctuate upon shifts in emotion and he can’t really control his powers, like the shifting of Tubbo’s alter egos. We never know when Toob or Big Law will creep out of the shadows.

Dick Grayson/Wilbur Soot: (Second) most dramatic in the family, though perceived as the drama queen because of their boisterous personalities. The one that was probably a theatre kid in school. The lighthearted one that keeps everyone cheerful, but also the one with the easiest path to a horrid descent into madness. They have a flair for drama, the glitter and sparkles to Batman/Technoblade’s sombre smoke and haze, which is why they work together so well. The closest family member to Tommy/Damian. Their little brother/big brother dynamics are just impeccable. Both are the most simped for by their respective fanbases (from what I’ve seen). The token pretty boys. Both artistically talented in different ways, with Wilbur’s music and Dick’s acrobatic skills. Also the ones that get constantly shipped with every woman they literally even look at. They also express their dramatic tendencies through their clothes, Dick with his jazzy Discowing suit and Wilbur’s dramatic L’manburg outfit.

Superman/Dream: The OP gods, need I say more? Friendly rivals with Technoblade/Batman. Very often perceived as ‘Perfect’ which they are not, but many refuse to accept that. A funny parallel I drew was the fact that both of them are famous in their own rights, but can just walk around and not get recognised despite millions of people knowing their online/superhero identities. Both are technically not human.

Stephanie (Batgirl/Spoiler)/Sapnap: Both of their names start with S! Not my only reasoning, but I’ll take it into account anyway. Both are basic looking in my head (Blue eyes blonde hair for Steph?? There’s at least 3 other girls that look EXACTLY like her in the nearby DC universes. And Sapnap blends in with every other white boy, though I love him regardless.) but both also have immaculate personalities to make up for it. They’re the most normal people out of all their co-streamers/superheroes in my eyes, also my favourites. (I didn’t realise as I put them together that I loved them most but here we are). They’re both great at dumb banter. They don’t have huge, hilarious bits often or any constant jokes that are pulled on time and time again, but their general atmosphere makes everything seem like a joke. They may not be the best at what they do in their friend groups but are actually really good nonetheless and do not get due credit for their effort and talent sometimes. Has a warring relationship with Damian/Tommy (Sapnap over the pets and Steph and Dami didn’t have the most friendly relationship at the start)

Jason/BBH- Same but opposite but same. Exists to cause chaos. I wouldn’t have associated these two with each other till the Badlands became a thing… but then the Badlands became a thing and I had to. Now, I know that technically Bad doesn’t have a grudge against Techno, but Jason would totally set up a whole empire just to mess with Bruce’s plans, just to get in the way, to instigate, to fan the flames of the fire till he’s driven Bruce to his breaking point. Bad isn’t exactly trying to do that, but he’s only around for the chaos. He’s only here for his own benefit, and he’s only here for that because of the hurt caused to him by the nation he came from. A parallel being Jason causing havoc because of the pain Bruce caused him. Besides, both have a cool red and black colour scheme, and both wear jacket!! Both are also technically not alive (If we're considering BBH as a demon).

Roy Harper/Skeppy: I have absolutely no explanation for this, but it just Fits. Besides, they have cool opposing colour schemes and are best friends with BBH/Jason!!

Aaaand last but not least

Jason/Technoblade: Now you must be thinking But Kaly you already spoke about them! And yes, I did, and they do go really well with their respective characters but I couldn’t simply ignore the connection between these two, so I thought I might as well write about it. Technoblade was an English major (If I remember correctly) before he dropped out to pursue his youtube career. Jason, though this may not be a well-known fact, was a definite literature nerd at school before he met his demise. Their cut off education in English is an interesting parallel to me. Both of them also have destructive tendencies, with Technoblade being an anarchist and Jason periodically running an underground empire to make sure he can do whatever the hell he wants to. They don’t generally care who they hurt on their way to reach their end goal. Jason’s reckless shooting and killing clearly shows this, as he continuously justifies his actions by saying he’s ending crime rather than just making it wait in line for its turn to pop up again, while Technoblade’s release of the withers and excessive use of his firework crossbow clearly shows that the deaths of the residents of L’manburg do not matter to him as long as he abolishes the government.

[cruzrogue]

The Rise of the Lamb

So very AU. The part of the past that Felicity Smoak has kept tight lipped. Even before Cooper Sheldon. She had a torrid affair with the darkness which led to having her handle across all that was the dark web.

Nothing, no one could stop her then. With a broken college heart, she swore off the darken ways. That is until she walked away from another broken heart that the league of assassins created.

Her light dimming. Turning her back to a living ghost. The animal spirit of a fox. It is time for the Goddess within her to awaken again.

It was not an end. If the league of shadows wants to play. She’ll ignite the true shadows of world to seek and hunt her prey.

Watching the patrol of this area pass by. Felicity Smoak waits silently. Keeping the aura of her wrist mainframe from emitting a glow. Switching a filter on her spectacles it allows her to see in the dark as she jumps down from her perch to land quietly before the door that holds what she requirements.

Easily unlocking the coded door to enter swiftly and take back something of importance to her that the police confiscated from the foundry.

Her first act of being back to a persona she thought she’d never be again. It is bittersweet. Taking important memorabilia from SCPD’s criminal storage. She rubs the fabric between her exposed fingertips. Taking the hood that meant something to Oliver is now to be imbedded into her own disguise. This way a piece of him will always be with her.

As quickly as she came into the evidence room she is gone.

  ~~~*~~~

Back at the loft that the Queen siblings shared. A lingering sadness with an abundance of an eerie silence have the occupants keeping to themselves. With some dramatic changes. Felicity steps out of what was Oliver’s room. Like in the past, Felicity shed her outer appearance. Taking back her once darker look. Shedding the large bright wardrobe that remains at her townhome.

It is easier to move in with Thea. It is the least Felicity can do for Oliver. Keeping his sister close. Making sure the young woman gets back on her feet. The turmoil of what Ra’s Al Ghul did. It is a living nightmare. Thea at the verge of death only to be pulled back and now be cursed with an urge to kill. Blood lust.

Even with Thea’s father’s sporadic visits. If the man doesn’t get in her way. She’ll pay him no mind. He is useful in keeping Thea occupied. It adds to helping Felicity go about her tasks.

“Thea, I’m heading out. Make sure the door is locked behind me.”

“Out again?”

“Yes. I have a few things to do.”

“With the team?”

Felicity just gives the younger woman a blank look.

“Felicity?”

“I’ll be back in a few hours. Don’t wait up.” Not waiting on a reply Felicity leaves Thea’s place.

 ~~~*~~~

“I’m not sure what to make of this new look, Ms. Smoak.”

“Wasn’t asking for your opinion.”

He huffs but asks with some joking flair if she’ll be wielding a bow in memorandum to her ex-lover. It gets him to move back suddenly as Felicity gets up close that she doesn’t need to speak above a whisper. The icy glare of her eyes speaks volumes. She still murmurs a few words that has Malcolm Merlyn frozen in place. He must hand it to her. Yet again, she is one of the most incredible, interesting, and remarkable individuals that Oliver has surrounded himself with.

If he didn’t witness some maneuvers of hers a few nights ago. He would not have believed she could be more than just the central wits of the Arrow team. It only brings him to wonder if Oliver Queen knew the real woman he was longing after. She can take control and give him a stare with choice words like she did when she drugged her lover.

Not backing down from her stare out of principal. As she may be an enigma. He is still the trained man that the league had once held. No stranger to combat. Especially mind games.

They’re at a standstill.

It is Felicity who breaks it, “Your daughter had a rough day. I doubt your presence will make it any better.”

“I disagree. I think my cheery disposition is a craving she’ll take as comfort.”

“If you mean narcissism. Sure.” Felicity is already on the move, “Don’t wait up.”

Malcolm doesn’t get a chance to answer as she’s already vaulting off the roof.

 Verdant’s basement still had the bare bones of what is needed. The foundry is quiet. Especially since the SCPD raided the club. Felicity just silently walks around the almost empty place. Allowing the memory of some of the hardest moments she’s had here. The Arrow isn’t in action anymore.

With the calming rhythmic noise of her servers coming to life she starts to add to its capacity. Using it as the center hub of every other server she has connected to just on this side of the Hampshire.

She doesn’t react as a voice is heard out of an unlit corner. The bright bubbly woman she’s drowned out would have screamed. This darken demure that is now in place can show irritation. That is if she didn’t have one of the silent alerts giving her a slight advantage.

“You’re operating again?” He doesn’t need to ask if it really is her. The long lethargic stretch of time is what he questions, “Why now?”

“Hello, Bruce.” He pulls back his mask and looks around to what looks like an abandoned hideout. “What brings you to Starling City?” He doesn’t mention that she’s the one who invited him here. “What gave me away? Was it tapping into one of your satellites?”

He chuckles lowly. Both know the only reason is because she left him a calling card. She’s too good. If she didn’t want him to find it. He wouldn’t have.

“You left your calling card.”

She doesn’t smile. She hasn’t since leaving her heart in Nanda Parbat.  

“I suppose I did. Didn’t think I’d get a live bat appearance.”

“I am a little disappointed.” She just keeps her eyes on him, “You took to working for Kord, Queen, Palmer, even a stint at Tech Village. Not once even entertaining my offers.” She can’t help but roll her eyes. “We could have done some amazing real work together.”

“We crossed paths enough in my youth. I know drama when I see it.”

“Yet, you settled for working closely with a toxophilite.” Watching as the corner of her mouth curl upward. It has him inwardly groan. It seems that man’s archery skills has an positive effect on her.

He raises a hand in defeat. “I get it.” He takes a seat near her side, “Are you really going to wage war on a formidable foe?”

“I am not going to lose him.”

“You may already have.”

“Oliver is a survivor. He is one of the strongest men I have ever known.”

“You mean stubborn.”

“With some of you. It always means the same thing.”

Their history is complex. He met her in his journey to becoming the Batman. She was still a child. An amazing kid-wonder. Though that is a tale-in-itself. Now she needs help.

“What do you need from me?”

“I want you to stand aside and let me do my thing.”

Observing how she is pacing this obsolete work area. He at least can fund her better equipment. He knows at least she’ll accept that kind of help.

She seems lost in thought. Maybe thinking of a few instances that they’ve worked on some life altering causes, “Felicity?” That gets her attention again, “I asked you to not interfere once and…”

“And if I intervened earlier. She would still be alive.” That memory agitates her, “It isn’t my guilt to carry around, but you loved her Bruce. If you had some help…” He just nods at those words. It’s a death that will always haunt him.

“I know.”

“If I need you.” She pauses. It is hard to ask for help, “I’ll reach out.” Not needing to turn around to see that he has left on those last words.

For now, he will respect her wishes.

[flightsoffandom]

Co-Conspirators Part 2

Pairs: Aaron Hotchner x Reader

Words: 8510

Summary: After agreeing to start a secret relationship with Aaron. Its time to convince your co-workers so you can make it through the workday and wait for your upcoming date with Aaron.

Warnings: None

Notes: Left completely gender-neutral. So here is the second part. No creative title at this point in time cause I stayed up till 5 am to edit and post this. If I come up with one later, I might change it. Hopefully, everyone likes it as much as the first part. I’m actually thinking about continuing this and turning it into a more long term project. No lie if I do keep this, smut will probably get written into this, ope.

Continuation of Co-Conspirators – Part 1–Part 2*–Part 3–Part 4–Part 5–Part 6

You sat at Hotch’s desk and helped out with paperwork, keeping an eye on your co-workers as they came in. When the last person showed up, you wrapped up the work in front of you. You stood up and smiled at Hotch, “Our audience is waiting, ready?” Hotch looks up and over to the window, “Everyone’s here?” You nod, “Mhmm, I am going to slam your door for a bit of drama.” Hotch chuckles, “If you break my door, I will actually have to write you up." You roll your eyes and nod, “I know government property and all that blah blah.”

Working with profilers means they could pick up on anything and catch you guys lying. Luckily since both you and Hotch were also profilers, you knew exactly what signs and body language to mimic to make it seem real. You stiffen up and cross your arms over your chest in a defensive fashion. Hotch watches you, stiffening up himself, “We should make at least part of the argument loud enough for Rossi to hear through the wall” You nod, getting ready to start this fake fight. Some of the team could read lips, so you had to actually say the right things to pull this off. You take a deep breath before starting, “You know that cop deserved what I said to him.” Hotch easily follows your lead, “It doesn’t matter if he deserved it. It's inappropriate behavior out in the field.” You and Hotch working together had built up a good flow with situations like this. There has been more than one occasion when you had to play off each other to get information from an unsub. You tapped your foot to appear antsy, “You already yelled at me for this, why are we bringing this back up?” Hotch raises his voice, “Their police department has been bringing it back up for the last few months. They are talking about disciplinary action.” Hotch crosses his arms and glares at you, “You represent the FBI when you’re out in the field. You need to remember that.” You lean forward defensively, “Does the FBI want to just let people walk all over them?” Hotch stares at you, “It is our job to build bridges with departments. Not burn them.” You roll your eyes and start distancing yourself from him, “Yes… Yes… we have to bend over backward to keep everyone happy, even the assholes.” You reach for the door. You know Hotch will say something as soon as you open the door to get the message across to the team. You open the door, and right on queue, Hotch shouts at you, “Watch your mouth, and that's an order.” You huff loudly and walk out of his office. You make sure to slam the door on the way out, just enough to sell it. As you trot down the stairs, it takes all your willpower not to smile. It was actually kind of fun to fake argue. You see the team starting to look around, trying to figure out what is going on. So for a little flair, you hiss as you pass the group, “Bite me, Hotch.” You practically fall back into your chair and start angrily moving papers around. When you see Rossi looking at you while walking to Hotch’s office, you knew it was working. When Reid poked his head up from his desk and started questioning, “What happened?” Reid looked a bit worried. Emily walked past him, chuckling, “Just because your parents are fighting doesn't mean they love you any less.” Emily tussles Reid’s hair as she passes. You glare at Emily when she looks over at you. Emily shrugs and smirks in response. Reid quickly moves away from Emily’s hand, looking annoyed, “Hey, that's not what I’m worried about.” After that, work continued on, with most of the team not really saying anything directionally to you. You did get questioned by both Penelope and Rossi.

Penelope got you when you went into her zone to get some information you needed to continue working. You walked into her room, “Can I get some extra info from you pretty please?” Penelope completely turned around to look at you, “When you ask that nicely, of course… but…” Garcia plays with a fuzzy pen in her hands, “I wanna trade.” You raise your eyebrows, sitting in the extra chair in her office, “I don't have any new comics to show you, so I’m not sure…” You let your sentence trail off. Penelope grabs a piece of bright pink paper with words written in glitter ink, “Well, I have some for you…” You take the paper from her, putting it into your pocket. Penelope waves her hands, “But that's not what I meant.” You lean back in the office chair, narrowing your eyes at the brightly colored woman in front of you, “Okay?” Penelope taps the pen on the arm of her chair, “A sweet chocolate little hunky bird told me that you and Hotch had a big fight this morning.” You make sure to let out an annoyed huff, “Derek…” Penelope throws her hands up in surrender, “I didn't name names… I’m no snitch.” You put your elbow on the arm of the chair, resting your chin on your hand, “So what's the trade?” Garcia smiles, leaning forward, “Dirt for dirt.” You sigh loudly, “Fine, ask away.” Penelope scoots her chair closer to you, “I heard you got mad enough you slammed Hotch’s office door. Are you guys really that mad at each other? I mean, you two are the dream team.” Penelope pauses and wiggles her eyebrows at you, “Well, Derek and I are the dream team, so you and Hotch would be like the dream team... reloaded... or something.” Your act cracks a little, unable to fully keep it under wraps around Penelope. You chuckle but quickly regain yourself, “Maybe things will start going back to normal when he stops being an ass. My mouth probably doesn't help, but that's not going to change too drastically anytime soon.” You shrug it off. Penelope watches you. She starts giggling, “There's a reason I call you 'sugar' all the time.” You put your hand on your heart in mock offense, “I thought it was because of how sweet I am.” Garcia gives you a loving pat on the head, “That’s part of it. The other part is you don’t usually sugar coat things.” You smile, leaning forward in your chair, “I think I’ll just keep pretending it's because I’m a sweetheart.” Penelope smiles, turning around in her chair, “Of Course you will. So what did you need?” After you got the information from Garcia, you leave to go back to work.

Later in the day, Rossi passed your desk. He puts his hand on your shoulder and talks quietly, “Why don’t you take a break? We can have some coffee in my office.” You look up and give Rossi a confused look. You could tell it was more of a request than an actual question. You stand up from your desk, “Sure…” The team tries to discreetly watch you and Rossi walking up to his office. Since almost everyone was watching, you make sure to stiffen up when you pass Hotch’s office to sell it. Rossi gestures for you to come into his office, closing the door behind you. Rossi walks over to his desk, “During one of my marriages me and my wife would shout at each other all the time. Over anything and everything.” You stay near the door, glaring at Rossi, “What does this have to do with me?” You cross your arms and smirk, “If this is a proposal of some kind Rossi, I’m flattered, but you're not my type.” You get an extra cocky tone to your voice. Rossi scoffs and chuckles, “I’m taking a strict ‘three strikes your out’ policy with marriages, no exceptions.” You shrug, “So, Why did you drag me in here with the false promises of coffee?” Rossi casually sits back, holding up his coffee cup, "Didn't lie about coffee, just none for you." You glare at Rossi, grumbling. Rossi continues, "You two only argue this much because there is tension, just like my ex-wife and me.” You narrow your eyes at Rossi, trying to figure out if he suspects anything. Rossi continues, “I personally think you’d be good together, but you’d have to make the first move. We all know Hotch can be a stick in the mud.” You shake your head, doing your best to convince Rossi. Rossi shrugs, “That's just my two cents, take it or leave it.” You laugh and get ready to leave, “I get it. You're the cool uncle who is totally fine with breaking the rules. Thanks, but you're projecting.”  You left Rossi’s office. Crossing your fingers that Rossi bought it as you go back to work. If you and Hotch could just keep this up, everything would be fine.

It was actually pretty easy to keep that up. It didn’t take much else to keep selling it with the two months of ignoring each other. The work for the day was mostly just paperwork. Which you were thankful for. Considering if you guys got a legitimate case, there would be a high chance that it would take the team out of town. Meaning you’d all have to give up your day off. This was the first time you had plans you were looking forward to in months. You and Hotch kept up the act throughout the day. Messaging each other every now and then when it was safe. When the workday was over, the team trickled out of the building. Until only you and Hotch were left. When you were sure the coast was clear, you grabbed your paperwork from the day and headed to Hotch’s office. You didn't even bother to knock. Hotch doesn't even look up from his papers, “The team better have bought it because Rossi came in here and questioned me for thirty minutes after our ‘fight’.” You put a guilty look on your face, “Sorry… Reid seems to have bought it, though.” You sit in your chair in front of Hotch’s desk, “If we got those two to buy it, we are pretty much set.” Hotch looks up at you, chuckling, “Rossi said we remind him of one of his old relationships.” You wrinkle your nose, “He said the same thing to me. I’m going to take that as a compliment even though the man has been divorced three times.” Hotch shakes his head, going back to work, “I’m choosing to look at it as a positive as well.” You hum softly, getting comfortable in your chair as you start working. The peaceful silence you two share falls over the room.

After a few hours of quietly working away, you look at your watch, “Do you need to be getting home?” Hotch perks up and looks at the time, “Actually, yes.” Hotch looks down at the stack of papers he was wanting to get done. You smile, “Go, I can finish those up.” Hotch frowns, “I can…” You roll your eyes and interrupt him, “I got it.” Stubbornly you grab his stack of papers and pull them away from him. “Look, you finished your pile. You can go home.” Hotch glares at you, getting up from his desk. He stares you down, trying to gauge whether to argue or not. You smile at Hotch before going back to work. He decided against fighting you, “I’ll make it up to you tomorrow night.” Hotch starts grabbing his things. You watch him move about and laugh, “Looking forward to it.” Hotch goes to leave but then stops at the door, “Don’t stay too late.” You turn to watch him, smirking, “I won’t.” Hotch narrows his eyes at you and leaves the room. Right after he closes the door, he opens it again to add, “No sleeping in your car, either.” You roll your eyes but smile, “I've never done that before in my life.” Hotch stares you down, “I’ve caught you at least four times.” You sigh, shaking your head, “I promise I won't…” You tilt your head back and forth, “At least not tonight.” You grin at Hotch, causing him to shake his head. Hotch cracks a smile, “I’ll accept that answer for now. Goodnight.” As Hotch walks out the door, you call over your shoulder, “Goodnight.”

You diligently work through the rest of the paperwork in front of you. It goes by at about its usual pace. The stack dwindles down to the last few files, and you can feel yourself getting tired. You rub your eyes, trying to regain focus. You hear your phone go off. You reach for your cell and put it up to your ear, already knowing who would be up late enough to call you. You hold your phone to your ear with your shoulder so you can keep working. You tease him, “Now... now, Aaron. We haven't even been on our first date, and you're already being clingy.” You hear Hotch chuckle on the other end, “I’m concerned.” You keep writing away, chuckling, “Lucky for you, I like clingy.” Hotch’s voice comes across softer than normal, “Very lucky indeed.” You hear Hotch sigh before speaking at a normal volume again, “I thought I told you not to stay late.” You laugh, finishing a file, “Define late? This is a pretty normal time for me still.” You move onto the next piece of work, “Isn't it hypocritical, though? I mean, you're saying it's late, but you called me. Which means you were still up.” Hotch chuckles again, “You caught me.” You softly hum as you continue working, “What’s keeping you up?” You can hear Hotch moving around as he talks, “I still feel bad for making you finish my work.” You laugh, shaking your head, “You could be Catholic with the amount of guilt you lug around. I offered.” You finish writing and then flip the page, “I’m almost done. Also, I remember someone promising to make it up to me tomorrow night.” Hotch laughs, “What did you have in mind?” You scoff sitting up in your chair, “You're a profiler, I think you can figure it out.” Hotch sighs but you can tell he is smiling, “It's been a long time since I planned a date. Really want to trust me with that?” You finish the last file, “We trust each other with our lives, I think I can trust you with a date.” You start putting files away. Hotch chuckles as he replies, “Fair point.” You smile grabbing your things and leaving the room, “I’m officially leaving work now. Does that make you feel better?” Hotch teases, “I’ll feel better when I know you're not sleeping in your car.” You scoff, trotting over to your desk, “Fine, you're asking for it.” Hotch laughs, “Oh no.” You start digging through your desk when you find what you're looking for. 

Pulling out a personal wireless earpiece. You sync it up to your phone before putting it on, “There. Hands-free. Now you get to listen to my boring drive all the way home.” It sounds like Hotch is washing dishes as he replies, “Perfect. Someone has to make sure you take care of yourself.” You roll your eyes, heading out of the building, “Yeah...yeah… I’m a mess… Tell me something I don't know.” Hotch takes your comment seriously and thinks for a second, “It’s mortifying… but…” You make a curious humming noise as you get into your car. Hotch sighs, “I have been thinking about that kiss for that past two months.” Hotch lets out a nervous chuckle, “You had me worried when you ran away afterward.” Your cheeks burn. Glad you were talking to him over the phone so he couldn't see you. You start your car, “Clearly, my fight or flight leans towards flight.” Hotch laughs, “I’ve seen you walk into multiple dangerous situations without a second thought.” You make sure to focus on driving even as you chuckle, “I’ll correct myself. My romantic fight or flight leans to the flight side. I wasn't sure if you were interested in me or not…” You pause, smirking to yourself, “If I had known, I would have ended up getting us caught that night.” Hotch lets out another laugh, “It's probably for the best then, I definitely wouldn't have stopped you.” You pull into your parking spot, teasing “How scandalous… you're my boss.” Hotch teases back, “Which means I can give you orders.” You get out of the car, using a suggestive voice as you respond, “And if you ask real nicely, I’d be willing to follow them outside of office hours.” Hotch takes a deep breath, “I...I’ll keep that in mind.” You chuckle, walking to your apartment door. “Your duality kinda makes you the total package.” You pull your keys out, unlocking your door. “I get a sullen badass and a sweet romantic all in one.” Hotch scoffs, “Ahh yes, attached with a laundry list of problems” You hum happily as you walk in the door, “I assure you I have my own problems. We can exchange lists later.” Hotch makes a noncommittal noise as he seems to be taking care of a few things around his apartment. You let the door close behind you, automatically kicking off your shoes. Upon hearing the door, Hotch talks again, “Your home safe then?” You smile, dropping most of your stuff on the ground, locking the door. “Yep, safe, and sound.” You switch from your hands-free device back to your cell phone. You punch your security alarm code before bringing your phone up to your ear, “Feel better now?” Hotch chuckles, “Much.” He lets out a long sigh, his voice getting more serious, “Thank you, I know it might seem overbearing…” You peel off your clothes. Leaving a trail behind you as you interrupt him with a laugh, “Aaron… we both know what overbearing looks like. This isn't even close.” You strip down to your underwear and sit on your bed. “We have a spooky job that makes us rightfully paranoid, especially when it involves people we care about. So...” You flop back onto your bed, “You have nothing to thank me for.” Hotch’s voice takes on a happier tone, “When you put it that way…” He pauses before adding, “Maybe, I’ll just use this as my way of making up for two months of silence.” You grin happily, “Ohh, does that mean I can expect more extended phone calls?” Hotch chuckles, “Yes, as much as you tolerate.” You sit up, smirking, “That sounds almost like a challenge Agent Hotchner.” Hotch puts on a fake serious voice, “If you didn't take it as a challenge, then I’d have to make it an order.” You chuckle, dramatically gasp, “Using your position for evil.” You take a teasing tone, “You might wanna be careful threatening me, though.” You sit back up and head to your dresser. Hotch laughs, “Yeah? And what are you gonna do about it?” You pull on pajamas, grinning, “I have a date with an FBI agent. He is the best, and I imagine he wouldn't take lightly to you bullying me.” You can hear the eye roll in Hotch’s voice, “I recall someone mentioning you like it when I’m a bully.” You huff, “Should have never told you, now you'll use it against me.” Hotch chuckles, “For as long as I can.” You lay on your bed and let out a content hum. Closing your eyes, you tried to remember the last time you talked on the phone for this long. Or when was the last time you enjoyed a phone call this much. It was odd. Even through the phone, you could feel the special silence you and Hotch shared. Hotch broke the silence first. His voice came out soft and sleepy, “I think we both need to get some rest. I have a hot date I want to impress.” You tiredly chuckled, “Good night, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Hotch replied, “Sleep well.” Both of you ended the call, and you quickly passed out.

That night you got some of the best rest you had in a long time. After working for the BAU for two years and all the extra hours you put in, your body had gotten used to a particular schedule. To the point, you hadn't needed to set an alarm after your first six months with the Bureau. It wasn't unusual to sometimes get woken up by phone calls. It was almost always Hotch on the other end. So when you woke up to your phone ringing this morning, you instinctively grabbed it. You didn't even have to open your eyes to answer the call and bring it to your ear, “Please tell me you are not calling for a case.” What was utterly bizarre was how Hotch answered the phone. Hotch’s voice was happy, “Not calling for a case, just calling to talk to you.” He sounded wide awake. Making you curious as to what time it was but not curious enough to open your eyes. Hotch commented, “Did I wake you up?” You grumble, “You wake me up all the time, why do you sound surprised?” Hotch chuckles, “Because it's about three to four hours after you normally wake up.” Your eyes shoot open, “What? It’s 9 am?” Hotch sounded more than amused, “It’s closer to 10.” This time you shoot up out of bed. You mumbler mostly to yourself as you get up and out of bed, “What the fuck?” You didn't have any plans until your date later, but it was disorienting to wake up this late in the day. You could hear public background noise. Hotch sounded slightly out of breath as he spoke, “Clearly, I kept you up too late last night.” You scoff, sitting on your bed. “Don’t flatter yourself. If anything, I went to bed early last night.” You rub your eyes with your free hand, “I just slept a lot better than I normally do.” Hotch quickly gets a cocky tone, “I wonder why that is.” You chuckle and roll your eyes, changing subjects, “Why are you so peppy and tired, sounding at the same time?” Hotch chuckles, “I’m talking to you, and I just finished running.” You get up and head to your kitchen, “I bet that is quite the view.” You hear Hotch get into his car as he talks, “You're always welcome to join me.” You start making coffee, “I might take you up on that, but I don't want you getting sick of me.” Hotch chuckles, “After almost three years working together, I don’t think that could happen.” You smile to yourself, humming “That's very optimistic, I like it.” Hotch lets out a happy sigh, “I think I figured out our date tonight.” You chuckle, “Ohh… do tell.” Hotch teases, “The only thing I’m going to tell you is its dinner, and I would recommend dressing nicely.” You pour yourself some coffee, “Are we talking business, club, or just hot date nice?” Hotch laughs, “I’m pretty sure you don't even like clubs. I’m sure you'll know what to wear.” You grin and chuckle, “Are we meeting there?” Hotch playfully criticizes you, “Nice try. I’ll pick you up at 6 tonight.” You start drinking coffee, “I’m looking forward to it.” There is a short pause before Hotch lets out a sigh, “As much as I would like to talk as much as we did last night…” You smile to yourself, finishing for him, “ But you have important adult stuff to go do.” Hotch responds with a melancholy sigh, “Unfortunately, yes.” You play around with your coffee cup, “Well, you're free to call me anytime today… as long as it's not for a case.” Hotch chuckles, “I wouldn't dream of it.” You smile, “Now go be responsible, I’ll see you tonight.” You can once again hear the smile in Hotch’s voice, “See you then.” The call ends, and a large smile stays on your face.

You make yourself some food, ready to actually have a lazy day for once in your life. You may not have had a lot of free time typically. Using these few hours to do whatever you could to unwind. You had never been great at sitting around and relaxing, but today you were able to slide into it easily. You were eager for 6 to roll around. Putting you in a weird state of time, both moving too slowly and too quickly all at once. When it was finally 4, you started getting ready. Two hours early may have seemed extreme, but Hotch was good at staying punctual. So you just assumed he would be anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour early. Scanning through your clothes, you picked out the perfect outfit. Something closer to a ‘hot date’ look without being over the top. You finished getting ready for the date and sat on your couch. When your phone rang, you immediately picked it up.

Hotch was on the other end, already apologetic, “I know I said 6. I’m running a little late.” You chuckle, getting up off the couch, “How about I come to you then?” You grab your keys and stand by your door. You hear Jack murmuring in the background as Hotch talks, “I… Actually, that's a good idea.” You smile, “I’ll be there soon, then.” Hotch replies with a quick but sincere, “Thank you.” Ending the call. You chuckle and shake your head as you make your way to the car. You and Hotch didn't live too far away from each other. So it doesn't take long for you to drive to Hotch’s apartment. When you got to his place, you gave the door a rhythmic knock.

Hotch answered the door. He was in a suit, nicer looking than the ones he wears to work. The thing was that his hair was a bit of a mess, with the fabric of a bow tie laying undone around his neck. As soon as he saw you, Aaron’s face lit up, “Hey… Sorry, come in.” You couldn't help the giant smile that slipped onto your face. You weren't sure if you had ever seen him this disheveled in a causal situation. It was beyond adorable to see him like this. Aaron stepped back, opening the door fully for you. You walk in slowly, looking around, “Everything okay?” Aaron chuckles, closing the door behind you, “Jessica, Jack’s aunt is just running behind. So that threw me off.” As if right on queue, Jack peeks out and gives you a shy wave. You had met Jack quite a few times over the years. Jack was a sweet kid, and luckily he seemed to like you. You smile and crouch down, “Hey there, Jack.” Jack runs over, “Can you play with me before you and daddy leave?” Aaron goes to say something, but you interrupt him. You grin happily, “Of course, Lil’ man. Why don't you go find something for us to play with, and I’ll be there soon?” Jack smiles and runs back to his room, “Yay.”

You stand up and look back at Aaron. Aaron spoke to you with a sweet look on his face, “You don’t have…” You interrupt him again, “Did you choose a place that needs a reservation?” Aaron furrows his brow, looking more like he does at work, “Why?” You roll your eyes and glare at him, “Did you?” Aaron watches you, not sure what is going on, “No, I didn't.” You smile, “Why don’t you call Jessica and tell her not to worry about coming over.” Aaron crosses his arms, scanning your face, “Someone has to be here to watch Jack.” You fake gasp, “What is that a law or something, I’ve never heard of it before.” Aaron bores down into you with a glare. You shake your head and smile up at him, “I think me and you both being adults will be able to watch him.” Aaron watches you, thinking for a long while before speaking, “You got all dressed up.” His eyes rack over you, “You look great, by the way.” You give a cocky grin and eat it up, “Thank you very much.” You grab Aaron by his button-up shirt, pulling him away from the door. Aaron easily lets you lead him, a smirk slipping onto his face. You tease, “We dress nice at work all the time… maybe it would be fun to see each other in comfy clothes.” Once you get Aaron a few feet away from the front door, you stop. Aaron uncrosses his arms, and his face gets softer as he smiles, “That could be interesting.” You smile, rotating the two of you. So now your closest to the front door. You get a more serious tone, “Plus, it will give you more time with Jack. Our job is busy.” Aaron studies you again for a moment. You were sure he was trying to see if you really wanted this or were just saying what he wanted to hear. You tilt your head and reach behind you, grabbing the door handle, “I have a go-bag in my car. Let me go grab it so I can change.” Aaron smiles down at you and nods, “Okay, hurry back. Or Jack and I will start having all the fun without you.” You grin happily and reach up, giving Aaron a quick peck. Aaron does try to continue kissing you but pull away. You grin devilishly, teasing him before quickly slipping out the door.

Within a few minutes, you were able to grab your bag and be back at Aaron’s door. You give a rhythmic knock, and Aaron casually opens the door. Now he was in a plain t-shirt and a pair of shorts. You grin and whistle at Aaron as he lets you in the door. Aaron closes the door behind you, making sure to lock it. Aaron comes up behind you and grabs you by your hips before you make it too far into the apartment. You let out a startled gasp before blushing. Aaron chuckles as he leads you further into his apartment, “Payback for that peck.” He was leaning down to talk to you, “Use my bedroom to get changed.” Aaron motions to his room before letting go of you, giving you a soft, playful pat on the ass. You tried to hide your smile as you turned around to glare at him. Aaron just smiles back. Hiding your own smile becomes pointless. You close the bedroom door behind you. You look around, thinking about how the night was going to go. Not wanting to be too presumptuous, you put your bag against the wall away from the bed. You start quickly changing into your comfy clothes, a t-shirt and a pair of sweats.

Emerging from Aaron’s bedroom, you sneak over to Jack’s bedroom door, looking in. Aaron is sitting on the ground, playing with Jack. You smile and watch them for a second. It was nice seeing Aaron so happy, it gave you a fluttery feeling in your stomach. After enjoying the moment, you decide to move into the room, “So what's the plan?” You sit down next to Aaron and look at Jack. Jack was happily playing with action figures as he looked up at you, “I am choosing?” Aaron looks over at you with a smile on his face. You slide your hand across the floor until you reach Aaron’s. Aaron loosely wraps his hand around yours on the ground. You turn your attention back to Jack, “Yep, you know more about having fun than your dad and me, so you're in charge.” Aaron tassels Jack's hair, “That right, buddy.” Jack giggles happily before he goes off and brings over some things to do.

First, it was just playing with figures, after a while switching to legos. When Jack was ready to move on from toys, he chose board games next. With how much Jack looked up to Aaron, it wasn't surprising that the first board game he grabbed was ‘Clue’. Jack pulled the box over to you and Aaron, “Let’s catch bad guys like you and daddy do.”  Aaron makes a face and looks at you. You shrug smiling, “‘Clue’ is one of my favorite board games.” Aaron rolls his eyes, “Why am I not surprised?” You make a guilty face, “I suppose I shouldn't be surprised where I ended up career-wise. Though it was not my original plan.” You smile down at Jack as you help him set up the board game. Aaron also helps, “I’m glad you didn't choose a different line of work.” You chuckle, shuffling the cards, “You and me both.” You deal out the cards. You look down at Jack, “If you want, I’ll help you win Jack.” Jack looks up at you, “Really?” Aaron scoffs, “That would be blatant cheating.” You smirk at the man across from you, “Is it cheating when we get outside help? It’s called a consultation.” Aaron glares at you, smiling, “You're pushing it.” You put your hand to your chest in mock offense, “Jack, you're the boss. Would it be cheating or not?” Jack makes a face looking between you and his father, “We all help each other.” You hum happily, “You know you dad says the same thing at work, right?” You can feel Aaron watching you. Jack excitedly looks at you, “Really?” You nod, “Mhm, he always says ‘It doesn't matter who gets credit for it, as long as the bad guy gets caught.’” You smile at Jack, “That's how you know your daddy is a perfect guy.” Jack beams at his dad, “Daddy is the best!” You smile over at Aaron, “No argument here.” Aaron watches you with intense but happy eyes. You look away, blushing, focusing back on Jack, “Ready to catch the bad guy?” Jack rocks happily, “Yes, please.” You all start playing. Completely messing up the rules of the game in order to ‘consulate’ with each other. Obviously, you and Aaron slowly set it up so that Jack will end up winning.

When Jack won, he proudly announced it, “I got the bad guy.” You help Aaron cleanup as he talks to his son, “Good job, buddy. Even beat two professionals.” You laugh, finishing putting the game away, “You know what we get to do when we catch the bad guy?” Jack looks at you, curiously. You start standing up, “We get to fly on a special plane.” You gently pick Jack up before fully standing up. Jack giggles as you hold him. Aaron watches you with a smile, and you wink at him. You carry Jack out of his room, as you start making plane noises. Once you get to the living room, you dramatically fake fall onto the ground, keeping Jack safe the whole time. Once you're on the ground, you lay on your back, holding Jack up above you. He holds out his arms with a smile, and you continue making plane noises for him. You laugh happily watching Jack have fun, you didn't really care how silly you looked. After a few minutes, Aaron walks into the room, watching you two for a minute. Aaron walks over, “You having fun?” You smile up at both the boys, nodding. Jack squirms around, you move him to the side and let Jack stand on his own. Jack runs and tackles his dad with a hug, “So much fun. Can they come over more often?” Aaron crouches down to pick up his son, looking at you. Aaron smiles, “I think we could do that.” You sit up on your elbows, “Maybe you and daddy can even come sleepover at my place sometime.” Aaron raises his eyebrows, smiling, “That would be really fun, wouldn't it?” Jack beams, “The most fun.” You chuckle, watching the two. Aaron kisses Jack on the cheek, “Why don't you go play while we make dinner?” Jack nods happily, running off as soon as Aaron sets him on the ground.

Aaron walks closer to you, officially towering over you now. You flop back down onto the ground, “The view from down here is pretty nice… I like you in a suit, of course, but…” You grin, “Shorts are also a perfect look on you.” Aaron looked down at you with a smirk, “I’m liking your casual look as well.” You reach your arm up towards him. Aaron leans down and grabs you by your upper arm. You duplicate the action so he can pull you off the floor. It was a simple enough gesture, considering you both had helped each other up in the same way both in the field and during training exercises. You stood up on your feet, coming chest to chest with Aaron. You look up at Aaron and can’t help but smile, “I like how happy you look when we aren't at work.” Aaron smiles back at you, “I have a few good reasons to be.” You smirk as you add, “I thought that scowl was a permanent feature on your face.” Aaron rolls his eyes before lending down to kiss you. You kiss him back, wrapping your arms around his neck. Aaron’s hands rest on your hips. Easily getting lost in the moment until Aaron pulls away, “We need to start making dinner.”

You huff pulling away as well, “I suppose we need food to survive.” Aaron chuckles, walking into the kitchen. You follow behind him, “I have a confession.” When Aaron gets into the kitchen, he turns around to face you. His brow already furrowed, worried. You nervously rub the back of your neck, “I don't know how to cook.” Aaron laughs, “You don't? How have you survived this long?” You shrug, “If it has a box with instructions on it, then I’m good but passed that I’m useless.” Aaron chuckles as he starts pulling some things out of the cabinets. You sigh, “In college, when I probably should have been learning how to cook like an adult should… I decided my studies were more worthwhile.” Aaron smirks, watching you, “That is something Reid would say.” You glare at him, crossing your arms, “Well, that was how I became good enough to get hired at the BAU so jokes on you. If I had not neglected to learn adult stuff, I wouldn't have been good enough for you to hire me.” Aaron laughs again, “You have the instincts. I’m sure you would have still made it in.” You roll your eyes and huff again, “When do we ever have time to make actual meals anyway?” Aaron walks over to you, backing you up until your ass hits the counter. You keep glaring at him. Aaron kisses you softly, “I can cook so you'll be fine.” Aaron pulls away and starts working on dinner, “Just don't tell Rossi… He might stop speaking to you or demand you be fired.” You laugh and pull yourself up to sit on the counter, “We could tell him we were dating, and he would cheer us on. We tell him I can't cook, and he would be pissed… Sounds right.” You sit back and watch Aaron cook.

The dinner was delicious. Sitting at the dining room table with Aaron and Jack gave you the feeling you were a part of a family. Maybe you were moving too fast in your mind. You knew Aaron’s history and would never rush him into anything. You'd have a talk with Aaron later about it. But for now, you couldn't help how you felt. Sitting at this small table, having a nice dinner. Watching Aaron, who you've had feelings for since almost three years ago, looks so happy. While Jack cheerfully talked to both you and Aaron. It felt right, and it made your heart feel so full to be a part of it. So you couldn't help but feel like this is where you belonged.

Once all three of you were finished with dinner, you helped clean up the table. Aaron gently grabs Jack from the table, “Time to get you cleaned up.” Aaron carries Jack back towards the bathroom. You take this chance to start doing dishes. Walking over to the dishwasher, you pop it open. You start looking through the cabinets, figuring out where all the dishes are supposed to go. Aaron walks back into the kitchen, “You didn't need to snoop around.” He teases you. You chuckle, “You caught me, trying to find out all your secrets based on what food you buy and how you organize things.” You turn to him and smile. Aaron started walking into the kitchen, “I can take care of that.” You growl and move quickly enough to physically block him from moving further, “Don’t you dare.” You glare up at him, “You cooked, so I’ll take care of this.” Aaron glares back down at you for a moment before he cracks a smile, “Fine.” He leans down and kisses you softly. You smile as you kiss him back. Breaking the kiss so you can get back to the dishes, humming as you put them away. Aaron goes to check on Jack in the tub every now and then. While you're filling the dishwasher with the dirty dishes, the apartment is filled with Jack’s happy giggling and even Aaron’s laughter. The nice domestic feeling was a pleasant change from anything you were used to.

Right as you finished loading the dishwasher, you heard Aaron and Jack talking. You listen to the water start draining as Aaron speaks, “Pajamas and then bedtime for you, buddy.” Jack whines, “I wanna stay up with you.” Aaron sighs, “It’s getting late.” Jack resorts to begging, “Please daddy, just a little bit longer.” Aaron chuckles and caves, “Fine. Once you get dressed, you can pick a movie.” You chuckle to yourself as you hear Jack making excited noises which are shortly muffled by fabric.

Moments later, Jack comes bolting out of the bathroom, wearing superhero pajamas. Jack runs right to you, “Daddy said we could watch a movie.” You crouch down and smile at Jack, “That's exciting.” Jack tackles you with a hug. You scoop him up in a hug as you stand up. Aaron walks in, seeing you two and smiles. Aaron kisses Jack on the forehead before the three of you head into the living room. You set Jack down, “What movie are you gonna pick?” Jack goes over to the small collection of movies, very carefully looking through them. You sit on the couch, getting comfortable. Jack picks a movie and hands it to his dad. Aaron gets it set up while Jack joins you on the couch, taking the middle cushion. When Aaron comes to sit down, he takes the other end of the sofa. Leaving Jack between the two of you. As the movie starts, you rest your arm on the back of the couch. Jack snuggles up to his dad. Aaron then mimics your gesture and rests his arm on the back of the sofa. He then intertwines your arms. You and Aaron exchanged a smile as the movie starts. You lazily glide your fingers over Aaron’s upper arm. Jack picked Captain America, not surprising considering how much he idolized his dad and the association Jack made between the two. The three of you happily watch the movie.

While you and Jack made it all the way through the movie, Aaron fell asleep at some point. When the movie was over, Jack gave a big yawn, rubbing his eyes lazily. You look over at Jack slowly getting up, he looks from his father to you. You give Jack a small smile, whispering, “Mind if I tuck you in bed tonight since daddy is tired?” Knowing how much Aaron worked and how little time he had, you didn't want to wake him. Jack nods at you. You very carefully untangle your arm from Aaron’s. You wait for a second to see if Aaron starts waking up. When he doesn't, you gently reach down and pick up Jack, “Come on, sweetie.” You smile as you see how tired Jack is, already resting his head against your chest as you carry him. Slowly navigating your way to Jack’s room. When you get into his room, you pull the blanket back. Kneeling down and gently helping him into bed. Jack immediately gets comfy, moving around a bit. When Jack settles, you tuck him into bed. You're about to stand up when Jack looks at you and mumbles, “Read to me?” Jack yawns again, “Daddy does.” You smile down at him, “What book are you currently reading?” Jack shakes his head, “We finished.” You hum softly, “Okay, let me find another one.” You move so you can grab a book. Glancing through the titles, automatically ruling out any books you remember Aaron mentioning before. You land on ‘James and the Giant Peach’, grabbing it and sitting back down by Jack's bed. You open the book and start reading to Jack.

Jack only lasted maybe five pages before he officially passed out. You smile and sit for a second quietly, making sure he doesn't start to wake up again. When he stays sound asleep, you re-tuck him in before standing up. Placing a bookmark in the book before setting it to the side. You look down and watch Jack again for another moment. You had seen so many horrible things at work. It was nice to be able to see good, peaceful moments like this as well. You started heading to the door only to get startled and instantly freeze up when you see someone in the doorway. Aaron had a huge smile on his face, his arms were crossed, and he was leaning on the doorframe leading into Jack’s room. You glared at Aaron, annoyed at yourself for not noticing someone had been watching you. You walk to the door, whispering when you get close enough to Aaron, “How long have you been standing there?” Aaron moves out of your way, “Long enough.” You roll your eyes and walk into Aaron’s room. Aaron follows behind you, quietly closing his bedroom door. You stand there and stare at your bag for a moment, not sure how to proceed.

Before you figured out whether Aaron wanted you to stay the night or not, a question just fell out of your mouth, “I… uh… I wasn't overstepping or anything, right?” Aaron stops next to his bed. His features harden a bit, showing that he is studying you. You quickly add, “You were asleep, and I didn't want to wake you… but I know that…” You let yourself just trail off, not sure how to phrase it. You knew that this situation became a bit more complicated now. It was one thing when you hung out and spent time with Jack when you and Hotch were just friends and co-workers. But now that you and Aaron had expressed romantic feelings for each other, the whole dynamic had shifted slightly. Your hand crosses over your body to nervously rub your arm. Aaron’s features set a bit more before softening. Aaron smiles, “No, your fine. Jack likes you, and you're really good with him.” You smile softly, but your nerves win out. You shift back and forth on your feet. Aaron immediately notices. His eyes shift between you and your bag. Aaron was reading into it, “What's wrong? You haven't moved away from the door, and you put your bag as far away from my bed as you could.” You bite the inside of your cheek, avoiding eye contact, “I want to make sure I’m not moving too fast.” You let out a sigh and look back at Aaron, “I know your situation and history… and I…” You adjust yourself again, “I'm totally fine with the speed we are moving at. I mean, we have basically been dating for two years without the direct flirting… and without the whole having sex part... “ A smile twitches on your face before you blush and continue, “So… I want to make sure I’m not moving too fast... for you.” You watch Aaron for what seems like an eternity. Aaron's face softens up, and a comforting smile slides onto his face, “I will let you know if we start moving too fast.” You start feeling better, stepping closer. You smile, “So… You  want me to stay the night?” Aaron grins and nods, “If you don't get in this bed, I will pick you up and put you in it.” You chuckle and glare at Aaron, standing your ground. He walks over to you, looking down at you, “Last chance.” You shrug and still don't move. Aaron chuckles and sighs. In one quick motion, he grabs you by your legs. Draping you over his shoulder. You gasp and start laughing, “Aaron!” You playfully hit him on the back. Aaron turns off the bedroom light before he moves to the bed. He gives you a light smack on the ass before gently flipping you onto the bed.

You grin up at Aaron. He smiles back down at you before leaning down. Giving you a soft kiss before sliding into his bed next to you. You roll over to face Aaron, “You remember when we had to share a room on a case?” Even in the dim light, you could see Aaron narrow his eyes at you, “About a year ago? Yeah.” You chuckle, “It was a hotel with a huge bed, so we ended up sharing the bed.” Aaron smirks, “I was hoping you forgot about that.” You grin devilishly, “Kinda hard to forget, waking up with my boss spooning me.” Aaron chuckles, covering his face with his hand. “That was a complete accident.” You grin and tease, “It was a HUGE bed, we slept so far apart. That's one hell of an accident.” Aaron moves his hand and glares at you, “How do I know you didn't move closer to me first in your sleep, and then in my sleep, I ended up grabbing you?” You gently grab the front of his shirt, pulling him down for a short kiss, “If that's true, then both of us are at fault.” Aaron kisses you back, his hand moves up to hold the side of your face. Letting yourself get lost in the kiss. When you both pull away, you grin up at Aaron, “Still like being the big spoon?”  Aaron just smiles in response, so you roll over. He wraps his arm loosely around you, pulling you close to him. Your back pressed against Aaron’s chest. A content hum leaves you as you melt into Aaron’s hold on you. Easily your eyes fall shut. You let yourself enjoy the secure and comfortable feeling as you slip into sleep.

Continuation of Co-Conspirators – Part 1–Part 2*–Part 3–Part 4–Part 5 –Part 6

Tags: @dr-reid-ismyspiritanimal​

[eddie-redmayne-italian-blog]

photos by Frank Ockenfels

The Long Journey and Intense Urgency of Aaron Sorkin's 'The Trial of the Chicago 7'

by Rebecca Keegan September 23, 2020, 6:00  am PDT

The director of the Netflix film, which stars Sacha Baron Cohen, Jeremy Strong, Eddie Redmayne and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, reveals why it took nearly 20 years to get the project about the politically motivated prosecution of protestors made and why it couldn't be more timely: "I never imagined today would go so much like 1968."

In October 2019, hundreds of protesters marched down Chicago’s Michigan Avenue toward the Hilton, chanting phrases like "No justice, no peace!" and "A people united will never be defeated!" as police in riot gear descended on the crowd with billy clubs and tear gas. Earnest and energized, clad in 1960s period costumes and flanked by vintage police vehicles, this group thought they were acting out the past, staging a scene from Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7. As it turned out, they were performing the future, too.

Sorkin’s film, which opens in select theaters Sept. 25 and hits Netflix on Oct.  16, tells the story of the riots at the 1968 Chicago Democratic National Convention and the circus-like trial of political activists that followed the next year. Thanks to Hollywood development hell, the movie is arriving 14  years after Steven Spielberg first mentioned the idea to Sorkin but just as its themes and plot points — civil unrest, a self-proclaimed "law and order" president’s vilification of protesters (Nixon then, Trump now), the police’s excessive use of force, tensions within the Democratic Party over how far left to move — have become bracingly current."I never wanted the film to be about 1968," Sorkin says in an interview over Zoom from his house in the Hollywood Hills on Labor Day weekend. "I never wanted it to be an exercise in nostalgia or a history lesson. I wanted it to be about today. But I never imagined that today would get so much like 1968."For only the second time in a career spanning nine films as a screenwriter, Sorkin serves as director with Chicago 7, helming a sprawling ensemble cast that includes Eddie Redmayne as anti-war activist Tom Hayden, Sacha Baron Cohen as Youth International Party (Yippie) provocateur Abbie Hoffman, Succession’s Jeremy Strong as counterculture figure Jerry Rubin and Watchmen’s Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Panther party co-founder Bobby Seale. There are undeniable parallels not only between the film and the present political moment but also between the performance-art activism of the actors and the men they’re playing, most vividly Cohen, who, like Hoffman, has made a career of political self-expression through comedic stunts, including crashing a far-right rally in Olympia, Washington, this summer while pretending to be a racist country singer. (Cohen, who shoots most of his satirical projects incognito, impishly calls reports of his appearance at the rally  "fake news.")Eight months after Sorkin filmed the protest scenes in Chicago, Abdul-Mateen was marching in Black Lives Matter protests in West Hollywood, as was Strong in Brooklyn. "There’s power when a lot of people come together to protest out of anger, out of frustration," Abdul-Mateen says. "Everybody has a role in the revolution; this film shows that.

"Though the movie feels crafted for this political moment, it was born of another. At Sorkin’s first meeting with Spielberg, "I remember him saying, 'It would be great if we could have this out before the election,'" Sorkin says. The election Spielberg was talking about was 2008’s, when Barack Obama and Joe Biden faced John McCain and Sarah Palin.The film hit multiple roadblocks, beginning with the 2007-08 writers strike and continuing as financing faltered repeatedly, a fate illustrated by the more than 30 producers who can claim some sort of credit on Chicago 7. It took another unscheduled detour this summer after Sorkin finished it as the pandemic worsened, and the odds of original distributor Paramount mounting a successful theatrical release before the Nov. 3 election seemed increasingly slim. For some involved with the film, there is a question about the ethics of Hollywood inviting audiences to return to theaters before a COVID-19 vaccine is widely available. "

There’s a moral quandary that we, the motion picture business, have to be careful that we don’t become the tobacco industry, where we’re encouraging people to do something we know is potentially lethal," says Cohen.Before his visit to Spielberg’s Pacific Palisades home to discuss the project on a Saturday afternoon in 2006, Sorkin knew next to nothing about the Chicago 7. The federal government had charged seven defendants — Hoffman, Rubin, Hayden, David Dellinger, Rennie Davis, John Froines and Lee Weiner — with conspiracy for their participation in the protests against the Vietnam War outside the Democratic National Convention. (Originally the men were known as the Chicago 8 and included Seale, who asked to have his trial separated from that of the others and postponed so that he could be represented by his preferred lawyer, who was ill; that trial never took place.)

When Spielberg proposed a movie about the riots and the trial that followed, Sorkin, who was 7 in 1968, said, "'You know, that sounds great. Count me in.' As soon as I left his house, I called my father and said, 'Dad, do you know anything about a riot that happened in 1968 or a crazy conspiracy trial that followed?' I was just saying yes to Steven."Despite his ignorance, Sorkin was a logical choice to write the project: Having penned Broadway’s A Few Good Men and its 1992 film adaptation as well as the long-running NBC series West Wing, he’d shown a flair for dramatizing courtroom procedures and liberal politics, and he turned in his first draft of the Chicago 7 script in 2007. Originally, Spielberg planned to direct the project himself, but by the time the writers strike was over, he had moved on and a number of other potential directors circled, including Paul Greengrass, Ben Stiller, Peter Berg and Gary Ross, though none was able to get it off the ground. "There was just a feeling that, 'Look, this isn’t an Avengers film,'" Sorkin says of the studios' move away from midbudget dramas and toward action tentpoles in the 2010s. "This isn’t an easy sell at the box office. And there are big scenes, riots, crowd scenes. How can this movie be done for the budget that makes sense for what the expectation is at the box office?"As the project languished, Sorkin tried writing it as a play, ultimately spending 18 months on a fruitless effort to fashion a stage treatment. "What I didn’t like was having a script in my drawer," he says. "I was just thinking, 'Jeez, this is a good movie and it feels like it’s stillborn.'"It was the confluence of two events that ultimately revived the film with Sorkin in the director’s chair in 2018 — the 2016 election of Donald Trump and the 2017 release of Sorkin’s well-received directorial debut, Molly’s Game, which doubled its production budget at the box office. "This is before George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and police protests or confrontations," Sorkin says. "This is just when Donald Trump was musing nostalgically about the old days when they used to carry that guy [a protester] out of here on a stretcher and punch the crap out of him."With Trump’s throwback rhetoric lending the subject matter a new timeliness and Sorkin’s directing chops confirmed in Spielberg’s eyes, the movie moved forward with its screenwriter at the helm.

Cross Creek Pictures came in to finance, and Paramount bought the domestic rights. But all those years in development had left an expensive imprint on the project — a jaw-dropping $11  million had been spent on casting costs, producing fees and the optioning of Brett Morgen’s 2007 documentary about the event, Chicago 10, leaving just $24  million for the actual 36-day production.

One way Sorkin attempts to achieve a sense  of scope despite that budget is by intercutting real black-and-white news footage with his dramatized protests. He rounded out his large cast with a deep bench of experienced and award-winning actors including Oscar winner Mark Rylance as defense attorney William Kunstler, Oscar nominee Frank Langella as Judge Julius Hoffman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as prosecutor Richard Schultzand, Oscar nominee Michael Keaton as former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark — with the filmmaker and many of his actors working for scale. (Abdul-Mateen and Strong both became first-time Emmy winners Sept.  20.)Sorkin shot the protest scenes on location in Chicago and built a courtroom set in an old church sanctuary in Paterson, New Jersey, because none of the available courtroom locations in the Garden State conveyed the scope he wanted. "If we’re saying the whole world is watching, I want a packed courtroom for six months full of press and spectators," Sorkin says. "I wanted the big, cavernous feeling of the federal government and its power coming down on these people."

Julian Wasser/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images           "The movie is tribute to the bravery of the protesters of 1968 [pictured] and today in Belarus, on the streets of America, in Portland," says Cohen.            

Among the vestiges of Spielberg’s original plan was the casting of Cohen as Hoffman, which required the London native to affect a Boston accent and return to a subject he had studied as an undergraduate at Christ’s College in Cambridge, where he wrote a thesis paper about Jewish activists during the civil rights movement. At 19, Cohen had interviewed Bob Moses, the leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which Hoffman was involved in before he founded the anti-war Yippie movement. "Honestly, I was very proud of the fact that Jews were involved in the Black civil rights movement in the '60s, and there wasn’t much written about it," Cohen says, explaining his youthful scholarship.

There’s a clear line to draw between Hoffman’s 1960s theatrics — which included throwing fistfuls of money into the gallery of the New York Stock Exchange and vowing to levitate the Pentagon — and Cohen’s contemporary TV and film pranks. Perhaps among Cohen’s most memorable and pointed gags was getting Vice President Dick Cheney to gleefully autograph a waterboard kit, which the comic did while posing as an admiring Israeli anti-terror expert for a 2018 episode of Who Is America?, his Showtime series. “What I wanted to do was to show that he was proud of torturing," Cohen says. "I could not believe how happy Cheney was to be sitting next to an uber-fan. So, yes. Ultimately in the shows and the movies that I do, I’m trying to be funny, but yeah, I’m trying to get out the anger that I have within me."

Cohen sees Hoffman’s unorthodox protest methods as pragmatic. "The Yippies were underfunded, and he was using theatricality to gain attention for his aims," Cohen says. "He wanted to stop the war. And how do you do that? You use stunts and absurdist humor to try to effect change." The actor estimates that, after researching Hoffman, he pitched Sorkin hundreds of lines the activist had really delivered. "As an annoying person with a lot of chutzpah, I was emailing Aaron every other night until morning, 'What about this line? What about this line?'" Cohen says. The writer-director, known for his exacting prose, politely tolerated the suggestions while largely sticking to his own script.

As Rubin, Strong is playing Hoffman’s conscientious jester sidekick, a role wildly different from the tragic, wealthy approval seeker he portrays on Succession. Strong added some of his own dramatic flourishes, including painting words on his chest for one courtroom scene and bringing a remote-controlled fart machine to disrupt Langella’s imperious judge. "I wanted to channel as much as possible that spirit of the merry prankster and of joyous dissent," Strong says. Hoffman and Rubin’s real-life personae were so large that Sorkin at times asked his actors to dial down their faithful portrayals, requesting, after one particularly jubilant take, "less cowbell."

Sorkin’s script draws a sharp contrast between Hoffman and Rubin’s campy methods and Hayden’s more reserved approach to the anti-war movement, with the tensions between Hoffman and Hayden supplying the film’s key relationship in a kind of begrudging brotherhood of the peace movement. To learn more about Hayden, Redmayne studied remarks that Jane Fonda, who was married to the activist and politician from 1973 to 1990, made upon his death in 2016. In his own life, Redmayne is cautious when it comes to discussing the role that he, as an actor at the center of a huge studio franchise (Warner Bros.’ Fantastic Beasts) might have in political life. "I find it endlessly challenging," Redmayne says of navigating his public activism. "There’s the elitist thing. It’s speaking up on climate change but being conscious that you’re traveling a lot. One has to be aware of one’s own hypocrisies, because they can be detrimental to something you believe in. So sometimes I find that I have to live my life and speak to my advocacy in a way in that it’s around friends, family and people I know rather than making something public."

Abdul-Mateen has begun his acting career largely associated with fantastical roles, like Dr. Manhattan on HBO’s Watchmen, Black Manta in Aquaman and Candyman in the upcoming Jordan Peele-produced remake of the slasher film. Playing Seale represented a chance to do more grounded work and to depict a man who had loomed large during Abdul-Mateen’s childhood in Oakland, where Seale co-founded the Black Panthers in 1966 and later ran for mayor. Seale’s inclusion in the original Chicago riots indictment was controversial and strange — prosecutors accused him of conspiring with men he’d never met after visiting Chicago that week for only a few hours to deliver a speech. For the prosecution, Seale functioned largely as a prop to tap into the fears of white jurors and white Americans watching the news coverage, and during the trial he had no attorney. "I wanted to key in on, how did Bobby Seale survive this trial?" Abdul-Mateen says. "How did he survive the gross mistreatment by the United States government, and how did he go through that with his head high and not be broken? It was an exercise in finding my pride, finding my dignity."

In one scene, Seale is brought into the courtroom bound and gagged, and throughout the trial he is kept separate from the white defendants. "Although it was meant to be a humiliating act, I walked out with my chest high, with my head high. Bound and gagged and everything else. It would be very dangerous for a Black man in that time, even sometimes today, to show the proof of the wear and tear that oppression can take on a person, because that can be seen as a sign of weakness, and a sign of weakness is an open door that it’s working." For the moments of lightness that Cohen and Strong bring to the movie, Abdul-Mateen supplies ballast. "It’s important for the right reasons and at the right time to make art that makes people uncomfortable," he says.

Niko Tavernise/NETFLIX. On the set, from left, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Mark Rylance, Ben Shenkman, Aaron Sorkin and Eddie Redmayne

Spielberg has remained involved in the film "in an emeritus role," Sorkin says, "from giving me good script notes to casting to notes on early cuts of the film." He also showed up to the New Jersey courtroom set. "When you have to direct a scene in front of Steven Spielberg, you’re not at your most relaxed necessarily," Sorkin says. Spielberg did not, however, take an executive producing credit on the film and declined to be interviewed about it.

The decision to switch to a streaming release came after an early summer marketing strategy call between Sorkin, Paramount chief Jim Gianopulos, other Paramount execs and some of the film’s producers. "At the end of the call, Jim said, 'Listen, we don’t know what the theater business is going to look like in the fall. We have troubling data telling us that the first people back in movie theaters are going to be the people who think that the coronavirus is a hoax,'" Sorkin says. This was clearly not the intended audience for a movie whose heroes are liberal activists. "I said, 'I don’t think the Idaho militia are going to be the first people coming to this movie,'" Sorkin says.

The group agreed to explore alternatives and gave Netflix, Amazon, Apple and Hulu 24 hours to watch the film. After a bidding war, Chicago 7 landed at Netflix in a $56  million deal against its $35  million production budget, with a robust marketing campaign and promise of a theatrical release. "We knew we didn’t have the option of 'Let’s wait a year,'" Sorkin says. "This is what we’re thinking about and what we’re talking about right now, and it just would have been a real shame to not release it now."

After Chicago 7 opens in limited release, Netflix will add more theaters in the U.S. and abroad throughout October, expanding upon the film’s premiere on the service, a strategy akin to what it provided Oscar best picture nominees The Irishman and Roma, albeit in a wildly different theatrical environment.

As Hollywood opens up to more production, Sorkin, and many of the Chicago 7 actors, have begun returning to work. Abdul-Mateen has been in Berlin for The Matrix 4 and Redmayne in London for Fantastic Beasts 3, while Sorkin is shooting a West Wing reunion special at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown L.A. that will premiere on HBO Max in October as a fundraiser for When We All Vote and include video appearances by Michelle Obama, Bill Clinton and Lin-Manuel Miranda

For the real-life Chicago 7, the denouement consisted of ultimately being acquitted of conspiracy. Judge Hoffman sentenced Seale to four years in prison for contempt of court, one of the longest sentences ever handed down for that offense in the U.S., but those charges were overturned on appeal. Just three of the original eight defendants — Seale, Froines and Weiner — are still alive, but the legacy of the case lives on in contemporary protest movements. "The movie is tribute to the bravery of the protesters of 1968 and the protesters of today in Belarus, on the streets of America, in Portland," Cohen says. "These people now are risking their lives, and they’ll continue risking them."

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/the-trial-of-the-chicago-7-aaron-sorkin-and-stars-on-films-timeliness-to-election-and-why-everybody-has-a-role-in-the-revolution

[boymeetsweevil]

SS3 - MYG, Fluff, 1791w

You’re not even supposed to be on the pay roll anymore because you’re supposed to be phasing yourself out of work entirely. There’s a new intern that you’ve been training a few days a week to take over for you until he’s competent enough to let you fully withdraw from your position as secretary to the CEO of Min Corp.

Said intern has just called you with what sounds like tears thickening his voice to inform you that Min Yoongi, said CEO, is terrorizing the employees.

“Jungkook,” you use the same tone you might use to calm down a lost toddler in a grocery store. “Take a deep breath for me please.”

A shaky breath crackles through your phone speaker.

“Good. Now tell me what Yoongi’s doing. What do you mean he’s terrorizing people?”

“Yoongi—I mean, Mr. Min has made three separate IT workers cry because of jammed printer and he sent the head accountant into a panic attack with a request for a two week advance on the quarter reports.”

You sigh and lift a hand that was submerged in the fragrant bath you’d drawn to pinch at the bridge of your nose.

“Did you read the 3rd section of the binder I gave you? There should be stuff in there for when we need to increase speed in specific departments. There’s outside agents we can enlist—”

“I called them, and they’ve agreed to come help out and I’ve gotten the paperwork for their payments ready.”

“Okay. What about the printer?”

“I unjammed it myself. It s-seems to be working fine.”

“Good! So just tell him and I’m sure that’ll solve things.”

“I don’t—I don’t feel super comfortable talking to him right now.”

“Jungkook, I told you that Yoongi is normally very rational. If you tell him the problem’s solved, there’s nothing to be scared of.”

“Sorry, you’re right.”

He’s quiet then. The sound of paper small clinks in the background grab your attention.

“What’s that sound?”

“It’s nothing!”

“Jungkook.”

“It’s not a big deal. I just...he also,” Jungkook sniffs a meek little sound, “knocked over my lego replica of the office. It was an accident though—”

“I’ll leave in 5 minutes. Don’t let him leave his office, barricade the door if you have to.”

It’s defeated tone of voice that makes you get out of the tub you were soaking in. Water gets everywhere and the calming atmosphere you had painstakingly set up so you could have a lazy morning and afternoon is long gone.

Jungkook barely has any time to protest or beg you not to mention him calling you before you hang up.

Normally Yoongi is all bark and no bite. There’s no need to bite when his reputation as a former gangbanger preceded him so well. Too well, in some cases. Yoongi came from almost nothing and turned to illegal activities as a child in an act of desperation to care for his ailing mother. He’d learned about (legal) business after one of his elderly bosses took a liking to him and showed him some of the ropes.

Even after he started getting out of the gang and getting interested in business, it took years to get past the fearful glances and rejections that so many people in the industry sent his way. It was only after a lucky investment that he was able to start building his business from scratch.

Now, he’s able to care for his family and provide means for his employees to do the same while running a successful head hunting firm. When you were fresh out of college and looking for work anywhere, he was the only one that took a chance on your meager application. He was ruthless back then, but so were you.

So in 9 years of acting as his right hand, it was inevitable that you would learn about his past. No one else at the company knew that it nearly cost him his life to start this new chapter. He has the scar on his shoulder to prove it. Sometimes when it gets close to a certain time of year the memory of what he almost lost creeps over him.

When you finally arrive you find Jungkook gnawing on his thumb as he eyes the door to Yoongi’s office unblinkingly. The walls of the office are soundproofed to protect the confidentiality of his clients when he has important meetings and phonecalls, but you can still hear the way he snarls into the phone.

“How long has he been like that,” you ask as you hang up your coat behind Jungkook’s desk. The lego office lies in a heap of probably more than a thousand pieces in a pilfered custodian’s bucket. You can’t help but frown.

“About 20 minutes on the phone. Maybe a few hours today in general.”

“Alright. I'll go in.”

“Is that safe,” he eyes you with poorly hidden awe as you move towards the door.

“Is a zookeeper safe when they enter a tiger’s cage?”

“No?”

“That’s your answer, I guess.”

“Seokjin, I don’t give a flying fuck about the new cases. I gave those to your team weeks ago. Bring me an update on the Simmons case, or I swear I’ll come down there and pull it out your ass myself.”

The sound of the door to the office closing has him rushing to end the call so he can redirect the yelling. He tosses his phone back onto the glass surface of his desk with a harsh crack and turns to face the skyline in the window, his back facing you.

“I thought I told you I don’t want any more of that shit you call tea. It’s doing fuck all to calm me down so why don’t you—”

“Mr. Min, please take a seat.”

The line of his shoulders, already grimly hunched, shoots up further. He clearly wasn’t expecting you. It’s your day off. Technically.

“What are you doing here?” His voice is still low and tense, but the volume is significantly softer.

“Please take a seat, Mr. Min.”

There’s no need for pretenses when the two of you are alone. You could curse him with the foulest language you have for being an ass to the people who keep his company functioning like the well oiled machine that it is. But you know that your message is that much louder by using your professional voice with him.

He turns then, dark brows set heavy over stormy eyes. It would be incredibly intimidating if it weren’t for the slight turn in his lower lip giving him a subtle petulant expression. Someone’s having a bad day.

Grumbling the entire time, Yoongi takes himself to the long leather sofa that rests off to the side of the office. You make your way over to the couch as well after peering at his desk. It’s covered in papers as if he dumped onto the table one of the folders that he normally organizes with great care. The collection of expensive fountain pens that he’s received as gifts from various successful deals lay strewn about as well. And there’s a hairline crack running through the surface of the ornate globe he received as a birthday gift from one of his old bosses.

When you finally come to stand behind him, the grumbling has been replaced with silent fuming. His arms are crossed and his silk tie hangs like a dead snake around his neck after being roughly undone.

With no words, you reach forward and slide the shoulders of his jacket down  his arms. 

“You don’t have to,” he sighs a moment later. If you listen closely you can already hear the embarrassment from letting his emotions get the best of him.

Ignoring him, you dig your fingers into the meat of his shoulders. He jumps and lets out a hiss as you drag the pads of your fingers over the raised skin of his scar beneath the fine cotton of his button down. A low curse leaves his lips but nothing more comes out as you continue to untangle the muscles that had somehow knotted up impressively during the few hours of the day that had passed. You can only imagine how painful the actual injury is despite it having healed a little more than a decade ago. 

It takes a while and your hands cramp up with the amount of force you’re using to massage the pain away. When there’s merely a phantom ache, he raises a hand to grasp one of yours. The action has you freezing up this time. He turns his head so the soft skin of his cheek brushes against your wrist. His cheeks are damp from a few pained tears he shed. His lips press dryly against the back of your palm and he turns more so he can pull your hand forward. It’s awkward but he doesn’t care. So long as he can pepper small kisses against your hands.

“Come back to work,” he says finally. 

“No.”

“Marry me, then.” There’s no flair, no drama. He says it like he’s asking you to run an errand with him.

“No. And stop always asking me that.”

“I’ll stop asking when you stop saying no.”

“That doesn’t even make sense.”

“Well, you’ve never given a reason. I deserve that at least.”

He turns to face you then with eyes that are just a tad bit shiny. All of the sharp, feline essence gone when replaced by frustration that’s still plenty fond.

“Because I don’t feel like it yet. And it’s fun to tell you no.”

From this angle, you can see the very top of the tiger tattoo he got when he was not yet a man. It peaks out of from underneath his collar. You pick up his tie and loop it back around his neck while he’s distracted.

“Have pity on me” he lays his cheek back on your wrist as you finish up a simple Windsor knot. “I’m just a simple man who wants to settle down with the love of his life.”

“How about you go apologize to everyone for your outburst,” he winces but looks properly ashamed. “And then maybe I’ll think about it.”

“Fine.”

“And make sure you give a special apology to Jungkook for ruining his replica.”

“To the temp, are you kidding me? The kid put it on the edge where it was begging to get broken. I’m pretty sure the tail of my jacket did it.”

“Just do it, Yoongi.”

He leans in then, nose brushing against yours. “Say yes and I’ll even hire someone to rebuild it for him.”

“Go apologize already.”

He huffs but strides to the door with purpose.

“Promise you’ll think about it?”

“I’ll think about it.”