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absolutebl · 10 months

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Pit Babe - it's time for a Trash Watch!

I had to. Well, no I didn't, but COME ON. It's like Thailand is negging me. Let's burn rubber, shall we? Burn rubbers...?

The things I had been told going in about this show:

it's about car racing (this bores me)

it stars Pavel (my BL ult bias, he is my icon for a reason)

it started as an omegaverse y-novel but the A/B/O aspects would be stripped from the BL series

it's high heat

(There some chatter about whether point 3 was a mistranslation of something the author said, but don't bother me with trifles.)

Here's a definition of omegaverse:

Omegaverse, also known as A/B/O (alpha/beta/omega), is a subgenre of speculative erotic fiction, and originally a subgenre of erotic slash fan fiction. Its premise is that a dominance hierarchy exists in humans, which are divided into dominant "alphas", neutral "betas", and submissive "omegas".[1] This hierarchy determines how people interact with one another in romantic, erotic and sexual contexts.[2] (Wikipedia)

In my experience and opinion, omegaverse archetypes and tropes are often used to strip out female characters (and The Feminine) and as a tool to excuse extreme hyper-masculine behaviors without a critical feminist lens (leading to lazy characterization). Just as heat is an excuse to get nkd quickly, A/O/B is often an excuse for taboo and dubious consent actions and behaviors. Do I get why writers/readers enjoy it? Yes I do. Do I personally like it? Not particularly. (Although there are always exceptions.)

Putting all that aside, the above represents my foundational knowledge before Pit Babe started.

Oh and that the familiar BL faces appearing in this show were follows:

Pavel Naret (aka Pavel Phoom) from 2 Moons 2 & Coffee Melody - Pavel is a fluent English speaker, a bit of a drama monger, and a motorcycle rider/car-dude, this role suits him

Nut Supanut from Oxygen & Something in My Room - has an amazing voice, his somewhat wooden acting has improved steadily since Oxygen

Pon Thanapon - one of Star Hunter's stable first seen in the Gen Y series (where he stole the appeal of an intended pair), also v good in Make a Wish, I wish he'd get a lead role as he has a likable screen presence

Pop Pataraphol from La Cuisine - he's playing the Alpha rival and I'm not convinced he's suited to this role

Michael Kiettisak from Love Sick, Oxygen, Call it What You Want, Till the World Ends - playing the comic relief this time rather than his usual tortured stoic... huh

All the rest are either fresh faces or older experienced actors. Interesting mix. They must have some money behind this.

And now, get out your marshmallows! The dumpster is on fire! Let's start the roast.

Episode 1 - Platypus, Pickles, Pavel, & other Smoking Hot Problems

This first segment told with a 4 day retrospect, because I decided to do a trash watch only after @aliceisathome said I should.

My initial reaction:

the sheer audacity of Thailand being like "PitBabe is not omegaverse" and then serving "Alpha" to us on a platter in the first sex scene is

how dare

but also

what the actual fuck is going on? what world are we living in where a/b/o is LIVE ACTION ON OUR SCREENS?

we getting heat, knotting & mpreg next?

apparently this is my reality now

I'm not sure what weird quantum time stream I've jumped into but someone was all,

yes the whole world is hella screwed, but also...

Thailand has decided live action mm fanfic is gonna win it the culture wars

and I'm beginning to think they may be right

BL is now the platypus of the film industry

4 days later:

Considering how much chatter this caused there's a part of me that wondered if it was all intentional and a marketing ploy (to say it wasn't omegaverse when obviously it is). In which case... brilliant Machiavellian tactics, production.

But Thai studios are rarely this calculated in their promo. So I think it's all accidental. But it certainly caused a raucous few days on Tumblr.

On a completely different note, Babe's house looks like it started life as a particularly inventive Olive Garden. Or is that just me?

More random thoughts:

Pavel has had work done, why honey? You were the definition of perfect.

The smell thing is great, I love stuff to do with scent and necks. If omegaverse brings this to the table, fine. But...

Being all Alpha perfect butch manly man = I do not like Babe at all, I kinda want him to be brought down a peg. (Woo... pegging!) I never like narratives that glorify the captain of the football team (side eyes Cdrama CEO romances and Love O2O), Babe better have depth and damage (forget the pegging) of some kind or his behavior will get old FAST, faster than he drives (also, forget the pegging idea)

Nut is ideal in the Beta role. I mean, that's Way's character right? We all can see that. If it's not intentional, it's a miscast. I love how soft he is as as screen presence. He's great in this part.

None of the other characters are sticking out to me yet, but I'm prepared to love the side dishes in this, please make them swoon worthy!

I'm glad they didn't hold the Charlie = trickster reveal off, I like knowing he is a double agent up front.

Finally, with respect to an adequate trash watch, I'm in a pickle.

How am I going to drink for this show when there is so much else airing on Frigay? I can't keep track, if I'm drunk.

I need a strategy for this trash fire if the puns and snark are to spout forth! (HA Fourth!)

Controlled burn?

Anygay, see you all next week.

Episode 2 - Side Dish Addiction + Second Lead Syndrome are both infecting me at once

[FYI I gotta have my backup computer to watch this so that's why Imma sometimes be delayed getting the trash out to the curb.]

3 minutes! 3 minutes in and I needed to pause and wax snarkful. (Ouch, bet that hurts. Is waxing snark similar to a Brazilian but for BL? Is that why they all so hairless in The Sign?... I digress, where was I?)

Okay so the subber said Daddy but I don't think that word means what they think it means. Because Way said simply nong paa.

Usually they'll use the English word Daddy (pronounced Dah-deee) for, ya know, Actual Daddies (tm).

Wait wait:

Calling Daddy Actual

(My dumb sci-fi loving arse will see myself out the back before I start drawing Battlestar Galactica = Pit Babe connections. TOO FAR ABL. Too far.)

Look, I like the tension in this show. It's good to set up an unlikeable Alpha dog and then immediately turn him into an underdog, makes him a bit more likable. I still don't like Babe, but now at least I'm on his side.

Charlie = cute but v sus. Fortunately for him, Babe = cute but v thick.

Everyone calls Charlie Babe's dek. Yes sounds a bit like what you think but also means kid/child and SHOULD be translated as boy in this show. Why doesn't the subber get that? They a sub...ber after all. (I'll see myself out.)

Honestly, the script writers might know what they are doing with abo but our eng sub translator sadly does NOT. I'm so glad this is coming now in my BL watching life. When my ear and knowledge of Thai is so much better than it once was. Others much be SO CONFUSED.

Snicker. They just fucking with us, but it's fun to watch the mpeg speculation abound.

File this one under: Thailand's trouble with ESL plurals and also "you should have Pavel helping with these subs" sweethearts.

Production knows entirely what it's doing with this show and its omegaverse shizz (even if the subber doesn't) and I am very much enjoying the online carnage that results.

This dumpster fire continues off screen into the blogosphere and I continue to roast things over it.

Meanwhile, hi Pon! You so adorable! When you gonna lead out a BL for us?

Is Idol Factory stealing all of Star Hunter's talent? Are they the Red Racers of the BL world? These are the questions I ask myself as I watch this.

Is that AGE GAP I smell before me?

Is the 20 yr old college kid meant for the pit boss? Cause you all know I am a slut for age gaps.

Moment of a/b/o: Jeff's fear of touch/heightened personal space would be a plot marker for "baby doesn't want Alphas close cause he smells like an omega" but of course this show it not omegaverse. Not omegaverse at all.

nuh-uh

Linguistic corner!

Lung (sounds a bit like loo) is uncle(ish) it means basically a male relation older than phi. So Alan is the oldest in the crew.

Alan calls Jeff nu (which the subber translated as boy I would have gone with cutie or little one). Nu is a diminutive affectionate term that's technically gender neutral but is most often used by/on cute girls/women. Jeff did NOT like it. Then Alan sort of dodges through pronouns/particles settling on phi for I, ger for you, and ja for a particle. This is interesting because ger & ja kinda lower his age and status into a casual sphere. Not more intimate more equal to jeff... fascinating.

I love the new "Korean" red racer, he drinks my brand of soy milk. He is now my baby snake in the grass.

Get it? Snake.

He and Babe should end up together.

The fight wasn't bad, do both actors have kickbox training in their backgrounds?

Who am I kidding, I care only about Uncle Alan and Nu Jeff now. All others are irrelevant to me.

Also...

WHERE IS A BOY FOR WAY?!!! Or a Daddy. I do not care. (Methinks nether does he.)

I am now captain of the Way Appreciation Society. Let's all find a way... to get him some dick.

Also the BTS stingers are tons of fun. Looks like the set was a blast.

Finally, and I mean this kindly. Why isn't Noh Phouluang in this? He should have been cast as Winner. Bah. I'm biased.

But one should be with Noh.

Episode 3 - Side Dishes Delux

Gayest bridge n Thailand has made its obligatory appearance.

How much do I love uncle & nu? They are SO damn cute. Also nu flustered is the best kind of nu.

I could not care less about Babe and Charlie. Except I do love the smell thing.

Way will break my heart by getting his broken. He is right tho.

Tra la la. I feel like this is a bit like KP 2.0.

Charlie is a such a princess (and ace manipulator). Good thing Babe clearly likes being buttered up.

Babe's backstory was more interesting than I expected, I didn't think we would go so far into the paranormal side of a/b/o. I like it and I hope they lean into it quite a bit more. Make it part of the plot.

Unlike the kissing thing which seems to have been gotten over rather quickly.

I gotta say I'm enjoying the corporate sponsorship jockeying and tension more than I thought I would. I'm curious as to who Jef and Charlie are working for and what their motivation is. The plot itself is keeping me intrigued and that is rare for me with BL.

So no trash talk this ep, I was largely absorbed and entertained. I didn't event need booze. Shocking behavior on my part.

#giveWayaboy2023

Episode 4 - I (who never ship) am shipping the impossible

Here’s the thing. I just want this to be a better story than it is. Right now it’s kind of like a soap opera. I don’t hate lakorn, I really don't. To Sir With Love is a glorious chewing of the diamanté scenery (completed with death glitter). But...

If this is gonna be a soap opera it needs to lean into the messy side more than the tailored high concept side. Support characters and evil needs more screen time.

Instead, right now, I don’t know where I am with this show because it doesn't know where it wants to be. I’m kind of dangling in the middle of a dirty situation. It’s uncomfortable for me, and the show feels uncomfortable for the performers.

Also... I have questions.

Yes, of course I want to know what Charlie & Jeff are up to. Why can Jeff see the future?

But more importantly I NEED to know why Babe has a flying saucer bed?

That kind of lighting makes nobody look good, especially not at that angle. It’s very traumatic and I’m not wild about the shag rug either. I have concerns about Babe's taste. I guess is what I am saying.

On a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT note:

There’s absolutely no chemistry to justify this, but I have decided that I am going to personally advocate for, and ship, Way and the interloping not-really-Korean. They are both sort of own-moral-code types. I have tiny crush on Kim, and Nut is the prettiest, and Way is Best Boy so there it is, I would like them to hook up, please & thank you.

#giveWay2Kim2023

Arrow guy is cute, too. Will we get to see him bone?

Is he going to be another one of the adopted alpha super-kid pets?

What the hell, throw Arrow Boy a bone! All hot boys in BLs deserve bones.

Plot thickens.

Hah.

Thickens.

(I am an immature idiot.)

Episode 5 - wait wait way-t, can arrow boy have Way?

Look, BLabies, I didn’t get any screen caps this episode because frankly there wasn’t anything worth capturing.

I guess Charlie really does love Babe? Very dramatic if idiotic saving from the burning car. But Babe has gone to the broken Alpha place of extremely unlikeablability (frankly he was almost there at the start). If I were Charles B Spectacled I would be OUT by now.

Is that?

NO.

Don't get the plastic bowl.

No white towel sponge bath. Please kill this trope.

I mean, it's not as bad as singing, but that's because NOTHING is as bad as singing in a Thai BL.

AND the main boys are back together.

I don’t find their relationship or Babe’s lack of senses a particularly interesting aspect of the plot.

Unless, of course, Babe is pregnant and that's why he lost his Alpha sniffer.

BUT I do love the sides.

Jeff = the introvert precog who can’t/wont do people and Alan = the extrovert people person who WANTS but doesn’t understand him.

Were Jeff and Charlie ALSO raised by Evil Daddy MacEvilPants?

I liked the way Arrow CEO & Way looked at each other. Way, hon, give up on Babe (he sucks) and get thyself a billionaire bf with great aim and BDE.

On a completely different note, the best thing about this show is the blooper reel. That thing with the green smoothie going down his pants was hilarious!

In conclusion, this was a green smoothie down the pants episode. I was entertained, and it’s probably gonna be good for the plot in retrospect, but it was kind of squishy and unpleasant at the time.

Episode 6 - Are they actually listening to us now? Is Tumblr bugged?

This was a fun ep full of like actual racing and shizz.

Whatever.

Charlie is on the team now. All the teams, apparently.

Can we talk about Jeff and Alan?

The apology scene! Did you hear that Alan dropped to chan/ger? Eeeee!!! So cute. (He equalized their relationship in a soft way.)

Get it with that language play hottie. Next up: lengua play.

Please & thank you.

Meanwhile, as all of the Internet knows, they went fully in for omegaverse - no bars.

I have to say, one of the greatest typos (or whatever) in existence is enigma instead of omega.

That's where I personally would rank in the omegaverse.

Hello, my gender is... enigma.

Apparently it's a/b/o and sometimes e! Also sometimes switch-ee

Oh I'm very proud of myself with that one.

Funfunfun

Charlie. Babes. When a man asks to be thrown up against the wall. You throw him against that wall.

OMG is that arrow boy looking at Way in the bar?

3 seconds later.

Noooo.

Wait come back.

Noooooo.

That’s what I actually want to watch!

OMG. Who said nu was the first step to teelak?

I flipping love Alan.

Ah the boyfriend ep. Thank you, but I still don't trust Charlie.

Poor Way.

But nice crying jag, and I don’t say that often in Thai BL.

Now let him go, Way.

A boy with his arrows is waiting.

(source)

Note for the future: tumblr has a bug that stops allowing edits after a certain time/number, thus my full trash often occur in 2 segments as a result. Click on the "abl trash watches bl" tag for the full thing if you're reading this and later episodes are missing.

#pit babe the series #pit babe #thai bl #abl trash watches bl #Pavel Naret Promphaopun #pavel phoom #trash watch #2023 bl #currently airing bl #watch along #Nut Supanut #Pon Thanapon #พิษเบ๊บ

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donnapalude · 3 months

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one aspect i really enjoy about the beginning of the maroons arc is the deliberate subversion of the african savage cannibalistic tribe trope that is prevalent in pirate stories.

when flint and his crew land on the island for the first time, the way their capture is shot seems to be leading exactly to that trope.

we first see some inhabitants of the island watching the crew from afar. they are shown in the middle of a jungle, with painted faces, jewelry apparently made from tooth and bones and few clothing items, armed mainly with blades and spears. there is also a menacing and unsettling feeling around them and it is immediately clear that they are not going to be allies to our protagonists.

and of course there's nothing wrong with all of that per se, it's just that in western media those are common indicators that we are encountering an "uncivilised" population, especially contrasted with the mainly white pirate crew.

to be perfectly clear: i think if you see a scene like this in a piece of media and you believe these people are bad ugly beastly savages you have a problem. but there's a difference between this being your personal opinion and you recognizing this is what the show is trying to say through common western cynematic language.

anyway initial impressions seem to get confirmed when flint et al. get captured and imprisoned and they are told that they are going to be tortured and killed one by one. even if it has already been mentioned in passing that these people are escaped slaves and we may feel sympathetic towards them, the setting is still framing them as enemies here. and not only enemies, but brutal, unreasonable people. it matters little that we have already seen brutal unreasonable people in the show that were not members of an african community and were judged more fairly. the cinematic trope is pervasive enough that we clearly recognize its language and what we are (apparently) being led to believe.

the first subversion of our expectations comes when we see the queen. the scene is shot from her point of view as she enters the clearing where the pirates are gathered.

so apart from seeing that the group is organised under a leader, we subjectivize her a bit. however, in any other show this sign of minimal political structure would not necessarily be enough to make us consider the group "civilised" and therefore "good". the same goes for the existence of buildings, which however are shown to be rudimentary for the western eye.

and all of this context does not change at any point. the subversion does not come from the realisation that the "savages" were more "civilised" than expected. and i really believe in other shows they would have gone that route, by slowly revealing that the group was more compassionate or more "advanced" (whatever that means) etc. than initially seen.

the subversion comes from understanding that the idea of western colonial civilisation as a measuring stick for morality is rotten. when we understand that this group of people has escaped untold horrors to create a peaceful society where they can exist only because hidden from the imperial gaze and that they attack whoever arrives as the sole measure to protect their invisibility, we reframe the moral judgement proposed at the beginning.

they still kill and torture people, we have not changed that, but they have fair reasons. they are not beastly boogeymans made to terrorize white sailors. not only they are not the predators here, but the preys. but in typical bs fashion, the important bit is also that they are not the monsters in white people's stories. they have their own story. this is their story. and the monsters are others. and when the menacing fog is dispersed their choices of clothing, buildings etc are now free to be (as they always should have been) neutrally moral choices related to practical circumstances and preferences, that have nothing to say about the group's intellect, capabilities and inherent aptitude for good (whatever that is).

so it's not that they are not considered "savages" anymore, it's that the concept of savage itself is scrutinised and found wanting. and all of this without the text really saying anything explicit about the process of realignment that we are experiencing. show of all time.

#black sails #bs.txt

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cheapshrimpysheep · 9 months

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Hello! I saw ur request is opening so hope u don’t mind this^^

So! I’ve been thinking of the trope “he falls inlove to late” with the demon bros (OG! Timeline) a whole lot lately because it’s just that fitting for all of them and sometimes the heartache is just too good

And that’s it! I’m excited for what you could come up with.

Thank you <3

COMMENTS: Hi. There are a lot of tropes that I don't know well, so I did a little research with Bard's help first. 😅 I couldn't see this happening easily because some characters would confess immediately (Asmo). So I used a cursed book where they enter and forget that they had already confessed.

I enjoyed writing this, I thought the idea was interesting. I hope you and everyone likes it too. 📖🚂

CHARACTERS: Demon Brothers (Lucifer; Mammon; Leviathan; Satan; Asmodeus; Beelzebub & Belphegor)

TAGS: Fluff; GN Reader; Declaration

WORD COUNT: An average of 430 words per character.

CONTEXT: Diavolo asked you and one of the demon brothers if you could go get some books that had just arrived for the RAD library. Unfortunately, one of the books was cursed, and you two were transported inside.

Your memories didn't seem to have changed much. But in his case, he completely forgot all the love declarations he ever made to you. In his mind, he never declared himself to you. And, apparently, you were at the train station with Solomon, about to leave for the human world, never to return.

You won't hear anything from him until the last second. He will be there, right in front of one of the train entrances. Waiting for you. Somehow. Probably not even the book itself knows how he arrived at the station so quickly.

He walks steadily towards you. “You're late.” Lucifer says “I need to talk to you before you go.”

“But like you said, we're late.” Solomon says “We need go on the train.”

“I spoke to the train driver. It won't take long if you stop interrupting me and let me talk to (Y/N) alone.” Lucifer emanated that aura that not even Diavolo himself would dare to contradict.

Solomon took a few steps back and let Lucifer take you to a more secluded corner.

“Since the chances of you returning to Devildom are slim, there is something extremely important that I need to tell you in person before you leave. And it's something simple and difficult to misunderstand.” He looks you in the eyes with the greatest confidence and certainty of all three worlds. “I love you. And I know that whatever you feel for me is strong too. I'm not the type to fall in love for someone who wouldn't see me in a similar light that I see them. I hope you realize how special and important you are to me to the point where I tell you this sentence looking you in the eyes. And I will reiterate it: I love you, (Y/N).”

“That's what I wanted to tell you.” Lucifer continues “Regardless of what you do with this information, I didn't want you to leave without it. And I trust you with it. Regardless of how you feel about me, I am not ashamed or regret loving someone like you. You deserved it.” he crosses his arms “Now you have two choices, accept it,say goodbye and get on the train, or tell me how you feel about me back.”

If you choose the second option, you realize that there are no words better than an action. And you kiss his lips. You will feel his hands on your waist. and his kiss is controlled, as if he were treating you, And like saying that if you want more, you should stay.

After that, the curse will be broken and you two will return to the real world.

You didn’t receive messages from Mammon. And if you tried to send him one, he wouldn't receive it.

“Maybe his D.D.D. is dead?” Solomon suggested. “Don't worry. I'm sure he wouldn't ignore your messages on purpose.”

You two get on the train and sit in your seats. Calmly, the other passengers enter, sit down and eventually the train closes the doors and starts to move. Solomon offered to buy your favourite snack to try to cheer you up a little, and then you started to hear screams of fright and surprise throughout the train. You look around, the other passengers are looking out the windows. And then you heard a knock on your window.

Mammon was upside down, in his demon form, wanting to get in while the train was moving and moving faster and faster. He was using all the strength he had to not let go of the train. After also being startled by that sudden vision, Solomon used magic to transport Mammon inside the train.

Mammon lay down on the floor, exhausted from all the effort it took to get there. He could barely speak because his priority was breathing. “I couldn't... *breathe* ...message... *breathe* ...D.D.D... *breathe* ...dead...”

“Ha ha ha. I told you so.” Solomon says.

Mammon needs time to catch his breath, but as soon as he feels able, he gets on his knees in front of you. He still doesn't have that much strength to stand up. “Ya dummy! I needed to tell ya somethin’ very important before you left!”

You ask what he wanted to tell you and he blushes very hard, especially knowing that the other passengers are looking at the two of you. “HEY! Conversation is private! Go mind your own damn business!” Passengers move away slowly, returning to their seats with caution.

“You know, you might need to be quick.” Solomon tells him “It might not be long before someone kicks you off the train with all this commuting.”

“I...” Mammon hesitated and the train conductor began to be heard approaching quickly. “AH! NO!” The conductor arrives, grabs Mammon by the coat, pulls him to his feet, and pins his arms behind his back. “NO! WAIT!” he looks at you “I LOVE YOU! AND I'M SORRY I DIDN'T SAY IT SOONER! I LOVE YOU! PLEASE, DON'T LEAVE ME!”

This is your chance to kiss him before you part once and for all. And if you do, and kiss his lips, he will find enough strength to let go of the reviewer, to the point of pushing him back, and grabbing you with the greatest passion he feels for you.

After that, the curse will be broken and you two will return to the real world.

You were being bombarded with messages from Levi. He wanted to know if you were already at the station, how long until the train left, if it was late, etc. There was something he wanted to tell you, but it couldn't be via text, it had to be in person. Which is surprising coming from Levi.

Unfortunately, there came a time when you couldn't wait any longer. The train was leaving and you couldn't miss it. You and Solomon entered. You sent a message to Levi to tell him that. He did not answer. When the train started to move and you still didn't see signs of him, you sent one last message saying that the train had already left.

Just a few minutes later, the train stopped abruptly, frightening all the passengers. Someone shouted something about a giant monster on the line. You start to hear noises of something above the train carriage, until it reach the door that leads outside. And then, the door is broken down and Levi enters.

He almost freezes in panic when he sees all those strangers, but as soon as he hears your voice calling his name, he forgets everything and everyone and runs to you.

“(Y/N)!” He hugs you “Please, don’t go!” only to realize in the next second what he just did and break the hug with a completely red face. “I-I-I... I needed to tell you, No, I had to tell you, before you go, this feelings cannot be let unspoken.”

“That you don't want me to leave?” you ask.

“No. I mean, that to, but...” You all hear and see the train conductor approaching to, probably, catch Levi and throw him out. “I-I LOVE YOU!” Levi says like someone ripping off a bandage, knowing it's his last chance, and putting all his shyness aside. “You are my best friend and the person I admire and love most. I don't want you to go because I want to stay by your side forever. But if you really have to go and never be able to come back...” the train conductor grabs Levi's arms and holds his hands behind his back. “Urg!... please... don't forget me, ok?”

If you kiss his lips, you will feel him reciprocate with the greatest of passions. And if the conductor tries to pull him and separate your kiss, Levi will grab him with his tail and secure him.

After that, the curse will be broken and you two will return to the real world.

You received some messages from Satan asking if you were already at the train station and what time were you going to leave. You respond to him, but after that you don't know anything from him again.

You get on the train and sit in your seat. Satan didn't show up. Until the train left at least. Solomon notices that you are a little sad and tries to cheer you up. But then, just a couple of minutes later, the train stopped. Through the speakers, you hear the train driver's trembling voice asking YOU to please go to the driver's cab. Solomon goes with you, because the train driver's voice sounds scared and he wants to protect you in case it's a trap.

When you arrive, the train drivers are scared in the corner, yes, but that's because in front of them there is Satan in his demon form and in a very bad mood. Until the moment he sees you, and his eyes shine. When he sees Solomon, he gets a little grumpy again.

Fortunately, Solomon gets the hint and leaves you in the driver's cabin while he goes to another cabin. Satan tells the train drivers to leave too because he wants to speak to you in private.

“B-but, we are t-the train drivers. T-this is our c-cabin. Y-you shouldn’t-”

“Is the train moving right now?” Satan asks. The drivers say no with their heads. “So you are not needed here!”

The drivers get up and leave, closing the door behind you and leaving you and Satan alone. And suddenly, all his anger disappeared, being replaced by a light blush.

“(Y/N), I have something very important to tell you and I couldn't let you leave without you knowing it. I should have told you this before, but I don't know why I didn't. I think I was scared. That if it wasn't reciprocated I could get angry. But now it doesn't matter. I can't get mad at you anyway. So I just want you to know that you are very special to me. I love you and I always will. Wherever you go, I wanted you to know this. Of course, what I want most is for you to stay here with me, but if you really have to leave, know that you will always have my love. I will never forget you, so please do the same for me.”

This is your chance to show him that you love him too with a kiss. And if you do that, he will reciprocate with all that boiling passion he was trying to contain.

After that, the curse will be broken and you two will return to the real world.

You were being bombarded with, not only messages, but a lot of missed calls from Asmo. You and Solomon were rushing to catch the train and that's why you weren't able to answer his calls.

As soon as you managed to get on the train and sit in your seats, the train leaves. You pick up your D.D.D. and try to call Asmo back. But all calls go to voice-mail. However, Solomon's D.D.D. starts ringing and when he looks, it says that is Asmo who’s calling him.

“Aw, and I thought you wanted to say goodbye to me with a thoughtful call.” Solomon says after answering the call. “What? Why?” Asmo responds, but you don't understand what he says. “Yeah, that's really cute of you but I'm sorry, I don't believe that.”

And then you hear Asmo's voice loudly coming from his D.D.D. “JUST SUMMON ME THERE THIS INSTANT!”

Solomon jumped at the yell he received in his ear. “Fine, fine. But you'll owe me one after this, ok?” He gets up and summons Asmo, who appears in his demon form.

The moment Asmo sees you, he hugs you, almost crying. “(Y/N)!!! Please do not leave me! I love you so so so much! *sob* I don't know what came over me that I never said this to you before. I wanted to say goodbye to you so much! *sob* I wanted to show you all my love but I couldn't get to the station in time. *sob*”

The train conductor appears and heads towards Asmo. He holds him by the shoulders and breaks your hug. He says Asmo has to leave because he's not a passenger. Asmo looks at him in the eyes and you realize he's using that special power of his.

“Aw, but I just want to say goodbye to the love of my life. They’re leaving and I couldn't even tell them in time how much I love them. You're not insensitive, are you? I’m sure you understand and will let me stay here as long as necessary. Right~?”

The conductor let go of him. “My apologies. I understand perfectly. You can stay as long as you need.” Turns around and leaves.

Asmo focuses all his attention on you again. “Are you sure you can't stay? Here with me~ I will love you every day at all times. I need you. *sob* I need you so much. *sob*” Tears begin to slowly flow down his face. “Please, don’t forget me. Promise?”

This is your cue to kiss him. If you do so, you will surprise him. And then you'll feel his arms desperately around you, and a passionate kiss from someone who is already good at kissing.

After that, the curse will be broken and you two will return to the real world.

You received a message from Beel asking where you were. After telling him that you were at the train station, he asked how much time he still had to get to you before you left. Just 3 minutes. After that he stopped messaging you.

You boarded the train with Solomon and you took your seats. The train left and you didn't get to see Beel. Solomon noticed that you were sad about not saying goodbye to him and he tried to cheer you up a little by buying your favourite snack.

A few seconds later the passengers start to get agitated because something is happening outside the train. Over the speaker, a voice asks the passengers to remain calm. They know someone or something is on top of the train but they will sort it out.

At that moment, the door of the carriage you are in is broken down. And Beel gets in, walking directly towards you, ignoring all the other passengers.

“I knew it was you.” Beel says with that cute smile of his. “He says with that cute smile of his.” He looks at the snack Solomon bought you, and his smile starts to fade. “I don't think I'll be able to eat it again after you leave. It will remind me too much of you. And I'll be sad that I can't be with you. So I wanted to tell you-”

“THERE!” one of the three train conductors shouts, and all of them run straight towards Beel to catch him.

“I don't want to hurt anyone.” He says “But more than that I don't want to leave without saying goodbye to (Y/N).” He fights the three conductors, knocking them all out.

Then he turns back to you. “Sorry, I'm making a big mess.” Beel says, already regretting it, but knowing he had no other alternative. “But I can't let you leave without knowing one thing. You're very important to me. As special as my brothers. It hurts so much to see you go, but I need you to know that I love you. Whenever I eat something good, I will think of you and how much I would like to share that meal with you. Take good care of yourself, okay?”

This is your chance to kiss him. If you do, you will feel his strong arms around you, as if protecting and guarding you like his treasure.

After that, the curse will be broken and you two will return to the real world.

Solomon notices that you are sad about not receiving messages from Belphegor. “I'm sure he really wanted to say goodbye to you.” He tells you “But, you know him, maybe he took a nap and didn't pay attention to the time.”

Eventually, you both boarded the train and sat in your seats. You didn't have any sign of Belphie until the train left. Solomon tries to cheer you up a little. He can't stand there seeing you sad.

But suddenly the train starts to slow down until it stops completely. Through the speakers you hear someone informing the passengers that there has been an unforeseen event and that the train has to turn back. You see the drivers passing you to get to the cabin on the other side of the train. They looked worried.

The train returns to the station and the doors are opened for anyone who wants to get off or on. And it is at that moment that Belphie enters, calmly, as if it were just another passenger. He stops next to you.

“(Y/N)~ You were leaving without saying goodbye to me. That's mean, you know.”

“Belphegor!” Solomon exclaims. “What happened? Why are you here?”

“I'm here because I wanted to say a proper goodbye to (Y/N). As for what's going on, why don't you go see? I would really like to speak alone with (Y/N).” He had that sly, slightly menacing smile on his face.

Solomon gets the hint and says he'll be right back before leaving the carriage.

“Sorry, I let myself fall asleep.” Belphie explains with an apologetic look. “I was dreaming about you. I dreamed that you had stayed, that you weren't leaving. So, to be honest, I didn't want to wake up. But then, you in my dream told me that I still had time, that I could still try to make that dream come true. That's why I woke up and came here. I don't want you to go, I want you to stay here with me. I love you. Are you sure you really can't stay? For me? For us? You also looked very happy in the dream, by the way.”

This is your chance to kiss him. If you do, you will feel a reciprocal tender kiss, and his arms lazily around you as if preparing to cuddle you until you both fall asleep in each other's arms.

After that, the curse will be broken and you two will return to the real world.

If you want to know what book that was: It was the story of a man who, for never confessed his feelings to the woman he loved, regretted it for the rest of his life. Especially after discovering that she also loved him after she passed away.

The first couple to enter the book and confess their love for each other would break the curse and the souls of the never-lovers in life could rest in peace together.

And they... died?... happily ever after... I guess...

If you dropped in here out of the blue and want to read more from me, you can find it in my pinned post: INDEX

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waterlilyvioletfog · 4 months

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10 CDramas I Enjoyed Enough To Recommend!

1. Nirvana in Fire (2015) — 5/5 ⭐️ 54 Episodes. This is genuinely as good as its reputation. It is a political palace drama and it is insanely compelling. My mom agrees that this is good. You can watch it on YouTube, but I recommend watching on Viki (which you can sign up with for free) bc cdramas on YT can have weird issues with audio + I’m pretty sure the versions available on YT are heavily edited to cut out Zhang Zhehan.

2. The Untamed (2019) — 4/5 ⭐️ 50 Episodes 🏳️‍🌈 Owns me. Censored BL low-xianxia setting. None of my family believe me about how good it is because they keep seeing out of context episodes and scenes. The Untamed is something you have to just sit through. It is a boiling frog situation. Beats out #3 despite being of lower quality (look. Those special effects…) because this is my best friend my silly rabbit my blorbo my love. My stinky cheese, even. Netflix, YouTube, and Viki.

3. A Journey to Love (2023) — 4.5/5 ⭐️ 40 Episodes. A mixture of court drama, wuxia adventure, and romance. So so so many dramas WANT to be this show, to balance court politics and wuxia shenanigans and epic romance but, frankly, only AJTL manages to perfectly balance all of its genres, plots, and characters. I cried watching the end. I watched this on YouTube, but it’s also on iQIYI.

4. Love Between Fairy And Devil (2022) — 4/5 ⭐️ 36 Episodes. Xianxia romance. Despite outward appearances of trite banality and overdone tropes, this show is gorgeous, insanely compelling, and will sit with you. My mom calls this “the fairy show :D”. Suffers in pacing towards the end, but sticks the landing. Netflix, Viki, iQIYI.

5. Word of Honor (2021) — 4/5 ⭐️ 36 Episodes 🏳️‍🌈 Wuxia adventure censored BL. Lead actor Zhang Zhehan is… a bit of a touchy subject, but I still consider this one of the best cdramas I’ve watched and I do still recommend it. Like LBFAD, pacing suffers in last quarter, but sticks the landing. Netflix, YouTube, Viki.

6. Lost You Forever S1 (2023) — 4/5 ⭐️ 39 Episodes. Xianxia reverse harem romance. Now that description may not sound compelling. But. Idk how to tell you this but I’m insane about this drama. Is it ~good~? I honestly can’t say. I’m insane about it. S2 is probably gonna be a flop and kill my love for it but for now? We’re riding high, baby!! YouTube, Viki, probably iQIYI.

7. The Rise of Phoenixes (2018) — 4/5 ⭐️ 70 Episodes. Court drama/romance. Actually you know what I DON’T recommend this. But like I DO need people to watch it so I have people to talk to about it with 🥺 Watching this is an exercise in masochism. It is gorgeous. It is insanely compelling. Watch like. The first 50 episodes because pretty much the rest of it is just [muffled screams]. Apparently it’s coming soon to Viki which is good bc it’s not on Netflix anymore 🙃

8. Couple of Mirrors (2021) — 3.5/5 ⭐️ 12 Episodes 🏳️‍🌈 1930s Shanghai censored GL romance. Hardly the highest quality, but it’s really fun, and you know what. Does a thing have to be good, historically coherent, and have two full seasons? Is it not enough for a show to be about lesbians??? Who are wanted for murders they may or may not have committed??? YouTube and Viki.

9. New Life Begins (2022) — 3.5/5 ⭐️ 40 Episodes. Fluffy court romance. Is this actually good idek I haven’t re-watched at all. What it is is a solid, serviceable, fluffy little het court romance with Feminism 101 undergirding it all. I liked it perfectly fine. There are many kinds of women and they should all be happy and free to pursue their passions!! Women who are friends!! And you know what? So true, cute little cdrama. So true. YouTube, Viki, iQIYI.

10. The Starry Love (2023) — 3/5 ⭐️ 40 Episodes. Xianxia romance. For the most part, a lighthearted comedic romance drama. It’s cute. It’s fun. It is sometimes comically low-quality, but it’s mostly charming and I like the visuals in general. The main pairing, while fun, doesn’t interest me as much as the secondary pairing or the friendship/sisterhood aspects of it. YMMV with this one. Viki and YouTube.

Honorable mention— The Blood of Youth (2022) Probably better overall than at least a few of these entries, but I’m just still so sad abt my favorite character dying :( Could be gayer.

#cdrama #nirvana in fire #the untamed #a journey to love #love between fairy and devil #word of honor #lost you forever #the rise of phoenixes #couple of mirrors #new life begins #the starry love #I will eventually watch a bunch of iQIYI things I started on yt. eventually!!!

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bucksdaffy · 5 months

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okay, so i've seen some people claim that tim minear is an avid buddie shipper and that he's slowly but surely laying the groundwork for buck and eddie to become canon in the future and...

i'm just thoroughly confused about this assertion.

i'll preface this by saying i'm very new to the fandom, so i'm prepared to be wrong about this. i'm aware i may lack crucial context because i've been here only so long. also, i don't know tim personally, so i obviously can't speak to his true intentions, but i'll make my case anyway.

i'll cite two RECENT comments by tim that i assume people might draw this conclusion from:

[?: There is a sect of the fandom that just wants 9-1-1 to be the Buck and Eddie show, and any cut that removes a second of them is going to get the same reaction. Nothing short of renaming the show "Christopher's Two Dads" is going to make them happy.] T: I totally get that. I even appreciate it. Which explains the entire first act of last night's episode. I kind of did for the Buck/Eddie fans (I mean I really do it for myself in the end). I just thought... they'd like it? Shrug. I liked it, so whatever.

Minear tells Rolling Stone that he hasn’t just been aware of fan reactions, he’s actually changed storylines in the past to avoid being accused of queerbaiting. But rather than help, he says it made the show worse. “Nobody wants to be accused of queerbaiting so I kind of stopped writing those characters together. And I think it hurt the show because I was so afraid to be accused of something that I wasn’t going where I would naturally go with the stories,” Minear says. “I just decided that I just have to write the thing that I think is right. I just have to be honest with the story I’m telling and let the chips fall where they may.”

now, i may be biased, but this doesn't read to me like he plans on buddie endgame at all.

while it's clear he loves the bond between buck and eddie and enjoys highlighting it in the show, saying he totally wants them to end up together feels like a reach.

he discusses being accused of queerbaiting in the past, which led him to backtrack a little and stop writing buck and eddie together. how does this suggest he did it because he wants buddie to become canon? if that were his intention he could have continued to drop more (apparent!) hints that buck and eddie may love each other in a non-platonic way. he wouldn't care about the accusations of queerbaiting so much, because he would be planning to make them canon all along. sure, there are external constraints that could prevent this from ever materializing, but that doesn't mean he couldn't write the dialogue in a clearly ambiguous way so that once he gets a pass and everyone else involved is on board with it, he could confirm that "yeah, you were right; it was a good ol' friends-to-lovers slow burn trope all along. congrats!!" no. instead he backtracked because he didn't want anyone to think he was writing buddie as anything other than a platonic relationship. that's it. but he eventually realized it doesn't really matter because people are going to think what they want to think regardless. and he obviously loves buck and eddie's friendship so he might as well just make the most out of it at this point. and if he ever feels like maybe it is a good time to turn their friendship into something more because it feels right for story, he'll go for it. but if not, he won't.

i see a lot of people claim buddie is a six-season-long slow burn, being carefully crafted right now for future canonization. and they say tim basically confirmed this. but i really can't see his comments being a confirmation of the sort.

if there are any quotes i'm missing that suggest otherwise, i would love to go through them. so if anyone's aware of any, please don't hesitate to hit me up.

but at the moment i believe y'all are just setting yourselves up for disappointment.

#i'm half asleep writing this #i don't even know if this makes sense #anyway #i'm open to discussion #if anyone has any thoughts on this i'll happily read through them #bucktommy #not tagging the other ship for reasons #evan buckley #tim minear

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hellfire--cult · 1 year

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Baring Teeth {Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader} - Ch. 12

Edit of Eddie: pitifulbaby

Chapters: Masterlist (Go here to see list of chapters, plotline and general warnings.)

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader

Tropes: Enemies to Lovers, Non-Traditional Omegaverse, Slow burn, Modern!AU, Mechanic!Eddie

⚠️This chapter contains: Angst, billy x reader, nervousness, eddie crying

wc: 7.6k

A/N: Sorry for taking so long! and oof... next chapter is where everything goes coo coo

Anyways, Enjoy! ❤️ And don't forget to always support me by hitting the reblog button or leave a comment!

Taglist is closed

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CHAPTER 12

It started out of a pure mistake.

Your phone dinged with a notification from Instagram, a direct message from… You looked at the screen with an eyebrow raised up in confusion as you saw Eddie’s username and then ‘sent a video’. You haven’t talked privately with him since Jonathan's. Why would he send you a video? You put down your glass of wine on the counter and opened the message to see he sent you a meme.

You snorted loudly when it was a compilation of screaming cats with screamo voices from metal bands. At the third cat you threw your head back in laughter and then another ding caught your attention, getting out of the video with a smile on your face, small giggles escaping you as you kept remembering the screams.

“I DIDN’T MEAN TO SEND IT TO YOU”

That explains a lot. You snorted again as you double tapped the video to give it a like, to then reply back to him.

“I laughed so I forgive you 😆”

“Oh, so does it mean we have the same sense of humor Peach?”

“Don’t get your hopes up Munson.”

But the asshole was right, and the memes he sent to you made you laugh each time, and it came very apparent that you two did share the same sense of humor. You sent a few memes back to him, and then it was a back and forth thing, just memes being exchanged.

So now, you were giggling after a full week of just sharing videos with Eddie as you stirred the onions on your pan to start preparing lunch. You had the wooden spoon on one hand, and the other was holding your phone as you looked at the new video Eddie sent you with the words ‘This was us.’ And it was a video of two corgis just barking at one another aggressively and non stop, one on the couch, the other on the floor.

Spot on.

“What are you laughing about?” You heard Billy ask as he walks into the room with just a pair of sweatpants on, drying his hair with the towel, shaking it all over his curls. You turned your head as you kept giggling, showing the video to him.

“My friend sent me a funny video.” You say and the word friend sounds quite too much for someone like Eddie Munson, but it would be difficult to explain the relationship to Billy. Your boyfriend leans to see what you were showing to him only for him to tilt his head in confusion and then back at you.

“Why are they being that aggressive with each other?” Right, he doesn’t know the context of why you were laughing, so you put the phone away as you shook your head.

“It’s just funny to me.” You reply to him and in all honesty, Billy and you didn’t share the same sense of humor. He liked… dark humor. You weren’t going to deny that one joke here and there made you giggle or snort, but he liked heavy dark humor, and about topics that didn’t make you that comfortable, mostly about ho–

“Oh, you’re making pasta baby?” He asks with a smile to his face as his arms wrap around your waist from behind and you feel like melting under his touch, a smile spreading on your lips.

“Yes I am.” You say proudly to him, and he nods as he puts his chin on your right shoulder as you keep steering the onions on the pan, waiting for them to turn into a golden color.

“My friends loved you by the way.” Your breathing hitched slightly at that. You met his friends yesterday at one of their luxurious apartments, and it was just a few people, not that many, and you were happy to see Billy expressing himself with his friends and to see him in that new light. You were sort of relieved you had caused an impression on them…

Even if they didn’t cause one on you.

Billy’s friends were really narcissistic. Everytime you said something about your job, they always repeated the same thing: ‘You wouldn’t have it if we didn’t model’.

You wanted to rip Tommy Hagan’s head off.

Then Heather Holloway kept pestering you about getting her a column in your magazine so she could get more deals with important brands and the worst part is that Billy didn’t acknowledge any of it. He didn’t see the problem of what his friends were saying to you, nor what they were asking for.

So you didn’t tell Billy how uncomfortable you were at that place, not that he actually asked you what you thought about his friends. It’s okay, your opinion didn’t matter really, they were his friends and he wasn’t going to change them for you. You didn’t want him to do that of course, and you wouldn’t ask for that in a million years because you just weren’t like that at all.

“Really? I’m glad.” You say with almost a bitter tone, hoping he wouldn’t catch it, but of course, you were wrong.

“You didn’t like my friends?” He asks you as he lifts his head from your shoulder and you sigh, shaking your head.

“It’s not that, I just now met them. Can’t really say I like them or dislike them.” You say to him without taking your eyes off the pan in front of you. You didn’t want to start an argument right now, and much less today when it was Billy’s turn to meet your friends.

“Hmm…” He replies back and you clench your eyes knowing that he was already mad. This is another side Billy has. Whenever he is mad he simply shuts off and he is the one that decides when the argument or fight is over.

“I told you yesterday that some comments made me uncomfortable. I don’t share their same humor, so it’s just a matter of getting used to it.” You cringe at your words because it was the last thing you wanted to do, but you needed Billy to be in a good mood today. You wanted him to be in a good mood. You heard him sigh as he pressed his chin against your shoulder again, making you sigh out of relief.

“Yeah, I know… They are a lot to take sometimes.” He chuckles at his words and you melt at his voice. You wiggle in his arms as you laugh from how his stubble is tickling the bare skin of your shoulder.

“C’mon, get me the tomato sauce and put water in a pot.” He laughs at you and lets go of your waist to follow your instructions but then you jump up with a gasp as a loud smack could be heard across the room.

“Don’t order me.” He says to you in a hungry tone as he rubs your right ass cheek before walking towards the cupboards. You shake your head at him as you hear another ding of your phone going off.

It must be another cat meme.

You were nervous.

Scratch that. Really nervous.

You didn’t know where else to clean to calm your nerves. These were your friends, they don’t care at all how everything looks, but you were just fidgety. What if Billy doesn’t like them? What if they don’t like Billy? What if there is an uncomfortable moment at one point? What if your friends don’t include him in conversations, or what if Billy starts a topic no one is interested in and–

“You okay?” Your boyfriend asks as he walks into the living room with a nice black flannel, his hair tied up into a small bun, freshly shaved but keeping his distinctive mustache on, and you were hit by his fragrance which already made you melt away in the matter of seconds. You walked towards him and wrapped your arms around his neck to then dive your nose in the crook of your neck, making him chuckle as he held you close. “Needy?”

“Very much.” You pulled away to look at him. His blue eyes locked with your with a warm smile on his lips, and put a strand of your hair behind your ear.

“Now, why were you pacing around the room like a crazy person?” He asks you and you cannot help but bite your lip in embarrassment, sighing at your mind for being the bitch it was being right now.

“I just– I want you to like them and I want them to like you too, and, you’re the first boyfriend I introduce to them and I–” He cut off your rambling by placing a small peck on your lips and pulling away with a grin on his lips.

“Everything is going to be fine.” You take a deep breath at his words and you nod slowly at his reassurance. He takes a moment to look all over at you, a smirk appearing on his lips. “Though… I mean, we can always postpone…”

You rolled your eyes at him, giggling at his idea as you shoved him lightly by his shoulder. You were wearing a nice simple short black dress, thin straps over your shoulders and some low heels. It was a little formal for your friends, sure, but you felt like being an extravagant host today. You shake your head at your boyfriend who was still smirking at you with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

“No, they should be here at any–” The doorbell rings and you raise your eyebrows up in surprise, looking at the door and then back at Billy. “Minute.”

“Spooky.” Billy says with a roll of his eyes and you squint at him as you take a deep breath to walk towards the door. This is it. This is another barrier you will break with Billy. Another step that solidifies your relationship even more than before. Your hand grips the handle of the door and finally opens it to reveal five people smiling at you with drinks in their hands.

“Wassup amiga?” Argyle is the first one to greet you and you giggle at his excitement. You move aside to let everyone in, and you frown when you see Steve, Jonathan, Nancy, Robin… No sign of Eddie.

It’s not like you invited everyone personally, one by one. You just sent an invitation to the chat group you're all in and he didn’t say either yes or no, but somehow you were expecting him to be here tonight. You closed the door once Robin finally walked in as she wiggled her eyebrows at you. You turned to find everyone introducing themselves to your boyfriend with big smiles on their faces. You sighed with relief as you walked over to them and stood next to Billy.

“So, Billy, are you taking care of our girl?” Steve asks and you send him a murderous stare. Out of them all, the one you were scared the most of making things awkward was Steve, and here he was, not even ten minutes in your home and he was already making stupid questions. Billy frowned as his cheerful face fell for a second to a more somber one.

“I am.” You frowned a bit at the change of Billy’s tone and Steve noticed it too, making him start to open his mouth again, only for Jonathan to interrupt him.

“Baby, don’t strangle the guy with questions already.” Billy’s ears perked up at Jonathan’s voice and looked in between him and Steve.

“Baby?” He asks and you jump up in realization, making Billy look at you in confusion.

“Right, Jonathan and Steve are going out with each other and…” You look at Robin, raising an eyebrow up in question, and she just looks at Nancy and wraps an arm around her shoulders, making the curly headed girl blush an intense red.

“And we are in the works of it!” Robin cheerfully says and you giggle at how Nancy acts around Robin. She is usually cool and even when she dated Jonathan in the past she always looked like she was the calm one while Jonathan always blushed in embarrassment.

“Well, Robin and Nancy are in the works of going out.” You giggle and look back at Billy and your face fell as he looked at your four friends who were in their own world as they talked to each other with smiles on their faces.

There wasn’t a smile on your boyfriend’s face.

“I am a lone wolf.” Argyle was standing next to Billy with two beers in his hands and your boyfriend looked at the long haired man and then down at one of the drinks. He took a bottle and immediately took a long sip of it, making you frown with worry. Was he upset you didn’t tell him before about the relationships in your group? Maybe if he’d known he could have started some type of conversation first?

You ordered some pizza for everyone, except Billy who had prepared some salad for himself that afternoon. He didn’t want to eat flour two times in the same day. You understood that because he is a model after all, and he often does it when he is with you. You would eat a burger while he ate grilled chicken and veggies. Or you would eat fried chicken while he ate an omelet and a salad.

“Don’t you want a slice?” Robin asks him again, just to make sure and Billy could only give her a small smile as he shook his head.

“No, I’m good.”

“You can tell me to fuck off if you want, but don’t you have cheat days? Or–” Robin continues and you want her to shut up, you really did. At this point Billy hadn’t talked that much and just let everyone be and often listened to some conversations, so you just assumed he was mad at something that happened, or something you did.

“I don’t forbid myself from eating… It’s just that today we ate pasta for lunch, so that would already be my cheat meal of the day.” You didn’t want to think badly of your boyfriend, but the way he responded to your friend, almost annoyingly, had your skin crawling for some reason. Robin seemed to get the picture and gave you just one glance before going back to the pizza.

Your nerves start setting in as you realize that… your friends do not like Billy, not asking him any more questions or even including him in conversations… but your boyfriend doesn’t like your friends either, messing with his phone as you all shared stories about one another and he didn’t even ask questions about their jobs or how they all met each other, or anything to get to know them.

You clenched your jaw and you excused yourself as you stood up and walked towards your coffee table to retrieve your cigarettes and lighter and go into your balcony, shutting the blind behind you. You didn’t know when the night went so wrong, you couldn’t pinpoint it, but the anger against Billy was slowly rising each second it passed. You didn’t like his friends at all, but still made small talk with each of them even if you cared shit about their life. You made the effort and he isn’t even trying.

You lit a cigarette and took a long swig of it as you took your phone out of your dress pocket. You looked behind you to see Billy talking to Argyle, and it seems he is the only one that actually got a conversation out of your boyfriend. You shook your head and looked down at your phone again, and you sucked in your cheek as you went to Eddie’s direct messages with you.

YOU: Why didn’t you come?

You send the message as you blow the smoke out of your lungs. You look out into the city with a frown on your face, still trying to think of why everything went to shit. Your phone dinged after a minute and you looked at the screen to see Eddie messaging back.

EDDIE: Maybe you didn’t stroke it well.

You snorted at the answer and almost choked on the smoke. You shook your head at how immature he was and typed back to him.

YOU: What are you, ten?

EDDIE: Inches? Not even close.

“Oh for fuck sake.” You say out loud this time with a suppressed laughter. The fact that he was replying fast meant that he really wasn’t doing anything else, so the question popped up again and you typed it out to him.

YOU: Why didn’t you come to my house?

EDDIE: Didn’t think you’d want me there.

You frowned at the answer until you remembered that you and Eddie only bonded a week ago after a year of going at each other's throats. And the fact that you only bonded through memes made the friendship even thinner. You licked your lips as you took another swig of your cigarette and you sighed as you typed your answer.

YOU: Well, glad you didn’t, it’s a shit show.

EDDIE: What do you mean?

YOU: They don’t like him, he doesn’t like them.

You were becoming teary eyed each word you typed out and you took a deep breath in to keep the tears in, and another drag of the cigarette went into your lungs.

EDDIE: Seriously?

YOU: Yep. I don’t know why, but fuck, I hate that he is not doing the same thing I did for him.

EDDIE: Explain?

YOU: His friends suck Eddie. They are fucking stupid, and the most insufferable people ever, but I at least made conversation with them, not show my distaste in their faces.

It felt good to let all of that anger out, even if it were to Eddie, but somehow it felt right. You turned to see what was going on inside, and you could see Billy talking with Jonathan now. You could only guess that Jonathan was doing his best to include Billy into the group, but from your boyfriend’s face you could see that it wasn’t working.

EDDIE: Sorry sweetheart, but your boyfriend sounds like a dick.

YOU: He isn’t. I don’t know why he is acting this way.

EDDIE: Maybe talk to him afterwards? See what his problem was or is?

You sigh at his response and you were already planning on doing that, but you would have to wait until everyone is out of your home to do so and your anxiety was eating at you to know what was going on in your boyfriend’s head.

YOU: Was planning on doing that. I know the rest don't like him because he is being unlikable right now.

EDDIE: Damn, if I were there I would make his night a living hell, just talk his ear non stop. 😝

You snorted at that knowing Eddie would definitely bug the shit out of Billy if he were here. You sighed, wishing that Eddie had actually come and were doing exactly that and maybe, just maybe, the tension wouldn’t be as thick as it is now.

YOU: Sorry for ranting out to you.

You bit your lip at your message. You really didn’t expect to go into Eddie’s messages to actually talk to him about your feelings right now, but for some reason you felt he was the one you had to talk to at the moment, someone who wasn’t in the scene that was happening inside your home.

EDDIE: It’s alright, I don't mind it.

You took the last puff out of your cigarette as you put it out in an ashtray that was on the little table in your balcony. You gulped as you looked at your screen, fingers hovering over the letters. Would it be too much? Would it be too forward? Well, he was the one that followed you first last time, so might as well have the same amount of balls that he had.

YOU: Okay, but I prefer phone messaging rather than instagram DMs.

EDDIE: Is this your way of asking for my number?

YOU: Is it working? 👀

You wondered what Eddie’s face was behind his screen, your heart racing a little in nervousness, feeling as if you were overstepping this new relationship you two had, but the message you received made you smile again.

EDDIE: Surprisingly, yeah

You were washing the last bit of dishes as you heard Billy tidying up the room, putting the chairs back in place as well as the couch and throwing away the pizza boxes. He hasn’t talked to you since everyone left ten minutes ago. You put the last glass on the drying mat and then dried your hands with a kitchen towel. You turned around to see Billy turning off the TV and you crossed your arms over your chest.

“What happened?” You asked him and he looked at you with that same blank look he had all night.

“What do you mean?”

“You… You didn’t even try to socialize with my friends, and whenever they did try to talk to you, you replied in the most… disgusting of ways.” You replied to him and he sighed, shaking his head at you.

“I didn’t sound like that.” And you rolled your eyes at him, which made him frown at you.

“It did. You acted like a jerk all night! I didn’t like your friends either, but I at least tried to get to know them!” He scoffed at your response and paced around the living room as he kept shaking his head.

“So? We have different ways of acting towards people we don’t like.” What?

“You disliked them from the first moment you saw them! I at least got to know them first! How do you dislike someone without knowing about them?” You knew your voice was elevating itself, gradually, and Billy wasn’t talking in his same low tone either.

“Oh for the love of– I don’t care what you did with my friends. I don’t have to act the same way you do.” This was the first ever big fight you had with Billy, and you weren’t liking where it was going at all. Your heart was breaking slowly as you stared at him.

“Then… If I don’t like your friends, but I do try to keep it civil… And you don’t like mine but you don’t even put a single ounce of effort… Then what’s the point Billy?”

At that, Billy finally stopped his pacing and turned to face you. He inspects your face and his shoulders relax when he sees a tear rolling down your face and his heart was about to jump out of his throat. He didn’t want to lose you, not because of this. He sighed and started to slowly walk towards you.

“You’re right. I should have… tried a little harder.” He almost winced at his words, but he really didn’t want to leave you because you were the best thing that has happened to him in a while, and if he had to make a small sacrifice to keep you, then he would. “I just, didn’t feel connected to them so I–”

“It’s no excuse… I didn’t feel connected with your friends either, but you didn’t see me grimacing at every single thing they said!” You yell out and he clenched his eyes in frustration, giving a nod towards you and you felt your heart racing and something deep in your gut was telling you something was wrong. Something isn't adding up but you couldn’t pinpoint what it was.

“You’re right, you’re right, you’re right… I promise I will make the effort next time…” He tries to tell you and you are listening to him but the tears were filling your eyes as you remembered how badly he treated your friends. You cover your face with your hands, and all you could think about was that it felt too good to be true. Billy was too good to be true. Something had to happen for this happiness to shatter into pieces sooner or later.

He came rushing to your side, getting hold of your cheeks into his hands, trying to lift your head up in order to look at your teary eyes, his heart breaking a little bit more because he was the reason for them. He sighed and pulled you into a tight hug, kissing the top of your head.

“B-Billy…”

“I promise, I will do better… I don’t want to see you get hurt, so I will get my stupid personality a kick in the ass for you.” You couldn’t help but giggle into his chest as he talked, a smile breaking on his lips at the sound. He pulled away from the hug but kept you close with his arms still around you. “Seriously though… I’m sorry, and I will apologize to your friends as well.”

“Oh…” Your heart melted at that. You didn’t really expect him to apologize to your friends, but here he was, offering it completely. You smiled up at him and got on the tip of your toes to land a soft kiss on his lips, in which he smiled into. “I would like that… Thank you…”

“Anything for you sweetness… Anything.”

And he really meant anything.

The next time he met your friends he apologized to every single one of them, telling them he didn’t have a good day, which was a lie, but he just didn’t want to upset them. Argyle immediately wrapped an arm around Billy to cheer with him as he started telling him about everyone and how they met.

You were really grateful to have Argyle in your group.

You knew he didn’t like Billy either even though he was the most talkative with him, but it didn’t mean he was pleased with the way he treated your friends and how he treated you. Argyle now was the one that is trying to mend the group back like a bandaid, and it is slowly working as Billy listens intently to each of your friends. He was surprised to know that Jonathan had dated Nancy before Steve, and now Nancy is dating, or going out, with Robin.

He also found out that there is a missing friend in the group. A friend you’ve been talking to for the past week through messages.

After the successful night with Billy and your friends, you were headed towards the mall to actually get some new foundation and maybe a new mascara as well. But of course, everything couldn’t go to plan because your lovely car had started making a really weird noise. You were afraid of driving any further and you wanted to at least leave the car at a mechanic’s so that you wouldn’t have to wait for a tow.

You bit the inside of your cheek and you shrieked when smoke started coming out from the side of the front of your car. Your eyes widened when you spotted a mechanic’s shop in the corner of the street and you were begging your car wouldn’t explode as you rode it towards the entrance of the shop. When you killed the engine, the car made a ‘poof’ sound and you got out of it to go to the front.

You winced when you still saw some smoke going up and you knew you would burn your hand if you pulled the hood up without a glove. You turned and saw the Shop’s name, making you scoff at your luck.

‘Munson’s.’

“Just my luck.” You say and you walk over to the door and stare at the doorbell but then you see the garage’s door slightly open and you look around to check if there was anybody outside. You slowly walked over to it and pulled the door open, stepping inside the modest shop. There were car parts hanging on the sides, a car in the middle with the hole at the bottom to fix it, cranes.

You made an approval nod to all of it as you scanned the room, actually impressed by Eddie’s shop. You didn’t think it was like this at all. You believed it was a shop in the middle of the dirt with the walls made of cheap steel and wood. But you were met with concrete, cement floors, the appropriate emergency fire extinguishers and the exit signs beaming in red.

“Hello?” You muttered, but heard no response at all. If the door was open, someone must be in here, right? You stop in your tracks. What if there was a robber? What if you just walked into a burglar breaking in? Oh, fuck, shit! You turn on your heel to make a run for it only for a deep voice to stop you.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

Your eyes widen, stopping you completely from bolting away and you turn around to find Eddie, leaning against the doorway of an office, arms crossed and… his eyes are red. Glossy even. Had he been crying? Did something happen to him?

“I uh– My car… It just… poof?” You were at a loss of words, completely. He blinked at you a few times, shaking his head in confusion.

“Poof?”

“Poof.” He stands there, mouth agape as he stares at you. Were you serious right now?

“Okay, rewind a bit with me–”

“Have you been crying?” You ask out of nowhere and he stills again. He licks his lip as he looks away, clearing his throat.

“Is your car outside?” His low voice made you take a step back and realize the boundaries you still had with one another. You look down at the floor in shame, your stomach turning a bit.

“Y-Yeah… I managed to drive it here… Smoke came out.” You say in a small voice and Eddie looked at you again, sighing and heading over to his table to put on some gloves. He then grabbed a tool box and walked out of the garage, you following right behind him. You didn’t know how to interact with Eddie in person. It was different from talking on DMs or text messages, and him giving you a cold shoulder was not helping your nerves.

He popped the hood of your car and he coughed as black smoke came out, fanning all around and you stepped back, covering your face with your arm in order to not inhale any of that smoke. Just what the fuck happened to your car?

“I realize now what you meant by ‘Poof’.” He says with a chuckle and a cough, and you almost sigh of relief as he breaks the ice for the both of you. You walk over to him, still covering your mouth and nose with your hand.

“Yeah, it was making a weird sound and it suddenly, literally, did Poof and then it exploded as I put the brake here.” You try to explain the best you can but you’ve never seen anything like this happen to your car before. He tilts his head and leans forward to check on something.

“Who put in this battery for you?”

“Uh– I think Rick’s–”

“It’s a rigged battery.” Your mouth falls open as you look down at it and back at Eddie.

“What do you mean?”

“He sold you, what he claimed to be, a brand new battery from a known supplier most likely… This is just… a cheap off brand battery.” He finishes and you stand there shocked, looking at him. You were scammed!? What the actual hell!? Fury engulfs you as you curse at the sky.

“Jesus fucking christ!” At your curse, Eddie chuckles and you couldn’t help but sigh. You hadn’t slept that well and now you couldn’t get the foundation you needed at all and the beers you were going to drink to relax at home by yourself.

“I just know Rick. He rips people off.”

“This was the last thing I needed today.” You scratch your forehead in frustration as you look at your car. “Did it break anything else?” Eddie leans forward and puts his hand in to start checking the rest of your car carefully, and he hums in approval.

“No, thankfully. Just the battery exploding, but the cables might be busted as well.” You groan to the sky and you lean back onto the wall of his shop while looking at your busted car. You cursed at nothing because your pay might have to go all the way into the car now, fucking amazing.

“Great… I just wanted to go get some foundation, maybe a purse, go home, have some wine and relax in my solitude and now.” You finish by banging the back of your head on the wall in complete defeat. Eddie took off his gloves, inspecting you, and then sighed.

“I may not have wine, but I do have some beers inside.” Your eyes almost widened. This would be your first private gathering thing with Eddie. Alone. Just like you sometimes do with Steve, or with Robin. But you were tired, not wanting to overthink it, so you simply nodded at him. He guided you both back into the shop and then into his kitchen area for him and his workers. You looked at the nice fridge, the microwave, the coffee pot, the utensils… Eddie had everything for his colleagues.

“Wow… I didn’t think it would look like this.” You see Eddie opening the fridge with a frown to his face as he takes two beers out, closing the door and looking at you.

“I take offense to that. Did you think my shop was trash or something?” He asks and you shrug, taking the beer out of his hand and you couldn’t help but smirk at him.

“Maybe.” He only shook his head at you, opening his can and taking a sip out of it. He walks out of the kitchen area and then heads up on some stairs you didn’t see before. You frown in confusion until you reach another door on the second floor, and he opens it up to reveal his office, where all the archives of his clients are, a desk in the middle, computer atop of it, and it was all decorated with posters and car parts. “Holy fuck…”

Eddie looked at you and he almost spat his beer as he saw the amazed yet confused expression on your face. You really thought his shop was just a garage with some tools. He also thought it was like that, until inspections came up and he had to start upgrading everything with a kitchen, emergency exits, fire extinguishers, first aid kid, and even having CPR lessons for him and his workers.

“I take that, once more, as an offense.” He walks over towards his desk, grabbing onto his chair and pulling it at front with the other one he has. You were still amazed, looking around as you slowly sat down on the chair, absentmindedly taking another sip of your beer. He scoffed at your reaction and sat down in front of you with a huff.

“Well, this is a… huge surprise to me.” Your eyes go back to look at him and he shakes his head as he takes another sip of his drink.

“Took a while, but I got it right.” You nodded in acknowledgment and looked down at your hands as you kept drinking your beer. Eddie could see there was something in your mind, he could sense it even. “What’s on your mind?”

“I just– You didn’t come last night either.” You looked up at him, and he was frowning at you in doubt.

“I… something came up.” He softly says and you noticed the twitch of his eyebrows and he hid it by taking a long sip of his beer. What was going on in his head?

“Well… Yesterday went smoother… Billy talked with everyone, gladly…” You inform him in a cheery tone and his eyes meet yours, a small tug of his lips on the side.

“Told you he would make things right.”

After that night where you DM’d Eddie about the situation with your group and your boyfriend, your conversations escalated to private messages. You were looking for advice on how to make the night go smoother, and how could you know if Billy actually liked your friends or was faking it.

He explained to you that no man would fake something like that. If his dislike is apparent, he would have made it known by now since he got to know them a second time. Billy got to his senses of his bad behavior and he redeemed himself and asked for forgiveness to your friends instead of you, and that says a lot.

“Yeah… I just hope that it’s real.” Eddie can still sense the doubt in yourself, in your boyfriend. He doesn’t have any advice for that, other than she should just trust Billy.

“I bet it is, but you can’t expect them to become besties who talk about their dicks in just one night.” Your eyes widen at that and you look at him who had a smirk on his face, waiting for your response.

“I bet you would make it your job to make him uncomfortable if you ask something like that.” You giggle at him and he chuckles, giving you a nod. This interaction didn’t feel strange at all. It felt natural, funny, as if you were talking to a long lost friend that you never lost the trust in.

“Of course! That’s why I can’t wait to meet him next time we all get together.” Your excitement grew at that. He was formally accepting the next invitation you give him to meet your boyfriend. You smiled at him and took a sip of your beer. His eyes locked with yours for a second and he shifted in his seat as he took another sip himself. Your smile faded and you inspected his face as he looked at the top of his can. Your curiosity was winning the best part of you, and you bit your lip, hoping that you wouldn’t go over the line.

“Why were you crying?”

Eddie’s breathing stopped at your words. For some unknown reason, he felt his chest start to put pressure on his lungs, his throat closing in as his guts turned with anxiety. He gulped the lump in his throat but he could already feel his eyes burning. Why were his walls crumbling so easily with you? It shouldn’t be this easy. It shouldn’t happen this quickly, not after the whole year of despising each other's guts thing.

“I don’t…” And you realize that you may have stepped on a line that you don’t have the right to, at least not yet. This is a territory maybe Steve can go into, but not you.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t ask something like that–”

“It’s my Uncle.”

You freeze at that and you keep your eyes on his face as he keeps looking at the top of his opened hand. His uncle… it couldn’t be… He talked about his uncle two weeks ago, how could it be possible?

“What… happened?” You were afraid of asking, really afraid, but you didn’t want to assume the worst.

“He had a stroke yesterday. That’s why I couldn’t go to Robin’s.” He finishes saying and you can see him clutching onto his can. Your heart beats in pain for him, not knowing you feel this way with him, but maybe you two were meant to have this friendship all along, and that’s why it’s natural, that’s why you felt his pain, and his sorrow at this very moment.

“Eddie… I’m so sorry…” You raised a trembling hand up towards his which was resting on top of the desk that was next to you both. He flinched slightly at your touch and you almost drew back from him, but you were surprised when he gently got hold of your fingers with his.

A year ago you would have never guessed this is where you would be standing with Eddie Munson today. Never imagined you would be holding his hand, tenderly, in order to console him as you see his eyes fill with tears, threatening to spill out.

“He is fine… I just had to drive to Hawkins to sign some papers… But…” He winced at how weak he is feeling. He didn’t intend to break down in front of you, hell, he never intended for it to happen ever in this lifetime. He feels your fingers holding his even tighter, and the first tear slips out of his eye. “God, I am just… not ready to face it all alone.”

You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. You always saw Eddie as this strong, big and intimidating man… but now you realize he is the same as everyone else. He can cry, he can be afraid, he can do good, as well as bad… Your heart sank at his words, and you shook your head at him.

“No… No, you aren’t alone.” You try to talk to him but he simply shook his head and his eyes locked with yours. Brown eyes, filled with water, showing you a pool of sadness behind them.

“He is the only family I have… There’s no one else.” He saw how your eyes became watery as well, and he sighed as he tried to swallow another hard lump down his throat. You exhaled a shaky breath, putting your can on top of the desk so you could grab his free hand with both hands in order for him to pay attention to you.

“You are not alone… You have more family. Steve, Nancy, Robin, Jonathan and Argyle…” You didn’t dare to say your name. You don't really think that you deserve to be in that spectrum of Eddie’s life, even if he is telling you about it. “And they are all going to be there for you, no matter what.”

Eddie kept looking at you, frowning in his eyebrows, and your eyes were still locked with his. He felt fire in his hand at your hold, but it was something warm, something inviting. He felt safe with you. That’s why he could be vulnerable right now, that’s why he would let the walls fall down. He didn’t care anymore that they did, and he wasn’t going to question it either.

“You know what Wayne asked me when he could talk to me again?” He suddenly says and you tilt your head.

“What?”

“That I put my shirt on backwards.” Your eyes widened at him and he suddenly snorted, wiping his tears away. “I was in such a hurry that I put my shirt on backwards. I didn’t even put socks on and I mismatched my shoes as well.”

You couldn’t help but let out a snort of your own at the image that came to your head. He started laughing alongside you, feeling his chest slowly decompress from the anxiety and pain he was feeling from yesterday, remembering that small moment with his uncle, that even in his worst state, he still manages to rile Eddie up in some way to show him that he is still kicking.

“Well, he does seem like he still has many other things to say to you.” You smile up at him and he just stares at you in amazement. Is this what platonic soulmates were like? Like Robin and Steve? He stared a bit at your face and then down at his hand which was still being held by yours. You followed his gaze and a deep blush spread on your cheeks as you pulled away and got hold of your beer can again.

“Um…” He cleared his throat. “I have batteries here, and the cables. I can probably have it fixed by tomorrow.”

“Huh?”

“Your car that went poof.” He chuckles at the word and you bite your bottom lip to hold in a smile.

“Thank you. You don’t have to do that on a weekend, really.”

“I just guessed you needed it for work on monday.” Your heart definitely thumped at that. You looked up into his eyes and he was gazing at you with a look you couldn’t quite describe, but it wasn’t uninviting, or evil at all. It was kind and understanding.

“I– Yeah… thank you.” You reply to him and he gives you a nod, taking a long sip of his beer can and putting it on the desk.

“I’ll tell you how much it is later. I’ll text you, alright?” You quickly nod at him, finishing your own beer and placing it next to his can on the desk. You stand up from the chair and he does the same but gets hold of your shoulder to stop you from walking.

“Huh–”

“You didn’t say your name.” You blinked at his words in complete confusion. He sighed at you and continued. “When you mentioned everyone else, you didn’t include yourself.”

Oh…

“W-Well… I didn’t think it was my place yet… to include myself in there.” You humbly say to him and he understands your doubts but–

“Well, we’re friends now… right?” Your heart stopped at that and an immense happiness rushed through your body. You didn’t think you would be this delighted to be his friend, but here you are, almost jumping up and down at the new category you have in his life.

“Yeah…” He just kept looking down at you, a soft smile on his face and you felt your knees buckling a little bit at his brown eyes. You cleared your throat and decided to change the mood. “Do friends get discounts?” You wiggle your eyebrows at him and he chuckles, pushing you away by the shoulder he was holding.

“So you’re becoming my friend to get benefits from me?”

“And beer, don’t forget the beer.”

End of Chapter 12

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A/N: Reblogs always help more than likes. Please support artists that way! Oof, what do you guys think is going on with Billy?

Taglist is closed!

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spop-romanticizes-abuse · 9 months

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(tw: abuse, noncon, implied SA)

this is something you wouldn't want to think about for too long but i think part of the appeal for c//a is the fact that it's completely one-sided and forceful.

let me explain.

if the writers really wanted to imply that adora enjoyed her fights with catra or that she was aroused in some way (which is gross, because she's a minor but they don't care about that) they could have shown that. they could have shown adora smirking or blushing or anything that indicated that she wasn't entirely against the way that catra treated her.

but no, the main appeal of c//a is that adora cannot fight back, not that she doesn't want to. catra not only attacks adora, like enemies usually do, but she does it in a weirdly intimate way that makes adora feel uncomfortable and humiliated.

this extends beyond the whole “creepy villain” persona that the other villains in the show has. like sure, both shadow weaver and horde prime have used unwanted touch to manipulate their victims. but catra seems to use it to a greater extent and more frequently, AND she mostly only uses it on adora.

it's unnerving but some people do seem to like romance tropes that are non-consentual. just look at the amount of media that has sudden forced kisses, because apparently asking for consent “kills the mood”. look at the entire trope of “chase them until they like you back”. people find this hot, for whatever reason.

and now look at how c//a incorporates these tropes into an “enemies to lovers” romance where adora is constantly made to feel scared, humiliated or uneasy. where adora is often in a position of weakness and vulnerability while catra has full control. there are too many frames in spop that has adora on her knees, either restrained or somehow rendered helpless, and catra towering over her, touching her or delivering some vaguely flirtatious dialogue that is often taken out of context.

this is why the whole “it's enemies to lovers, it's supposed to be like that” excuse doesn't work. if spop stans really wanted a classic enemies to lovers romance, they could easily ship glitra. if the writers wanted to write a good enemies to lovers ship, they could have made adora and catra fight the same way catra and glimmer did.

whenever glimmer and catra fought, they were always one on one. neither of them were stronger or weaker.

watch how catra never uses the same tactics on glimmer that she uses on adora. the only time catra made glimmer feel uncomfortable in some way was when she licked glimmer's arm. and she did this to make glimmer let go of her, it had a purpose.

so yeah, it's no wonder that c//a fans are often gushing about how “catra is the top” or making it seem like their relationship is a fetish. it's not just toxic, there are very heavy implications of SA, whether that was intentional or not. of course, it's not straight-up SA because this is a kid's show. but the fact that “catra loved adora all this time” and the fact that catra only treated adora this way gives all of these scenes a much darker and creepier implication.

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carlyraejepsans · 1 year

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i lowkey disagree w u on ur position on fictional ships and certain portrayals of topics such as incest and pedophilia, but oh my fucking god to have the fucking. AUDACITY to accuse someone of real life pedophila and incest because they MENTIONED being NEUTRAL on a certain topic?? like you didnt even say you think fictional incest is cool and rad or wtvr u afaik (which. even if u did that ask would Still be abhorrent) but ur explicitly Neutral and are VERY carful to tag shit and i just. 1/2

cut for length and also sensitive topics

i cannot fucking imagine accusing someone of such a horrid act with such conviction bc u SLightly DIsagree on a topic. jfc. i block tags and if ur conversations ever drive me over the edge id Unfollow. im so so sorry people are such fucking assholes man. i hope people gain some sense abt these topics im so sorry

yeah no i completely respect your opinion. and i do know where it's coming from. to tell you the truth (basic decency of tagging triggers aside), i DO find most of those fanon portrayals to be cheap and uncalled for a good majority of the time, at least from a literary standpoint. things like dating a minor or your own sibling have serious implications on a character's moral code and interpersonal dynamics where most characters would... not fucking do that! and the moment you don't engage with those implications, it becomes either incredibly ooc or altogether shallow. some people act like a topic being problematic makes it inherently complex and rich, when it can be as tropey and flat as any other "safe" topic. being problematic doesn't make you interesting etc. my point isn't arguing over literary value, it's more like... there's people behaving horribly and cruelly towards the AUTHORS, and making disgusting assumptions like the one that was made against me, all because of fiction you can always filter out at the end of the day (assuming basic tagging etiquette is respected ofc) and like. that's too far. nobody deserves to be treated like this.

not to mention, the "incest fiction recs"/"pro incest posts" those freaks mentioned were literally 1) me gushing about revolutionary girl utena, a deeply feminist and self-aware series that unpacks the misogyny behind anime incest tropes by treating that abuse REALISTICALLY as patriarchal manipulation from a male relative and showing how the female victim suffers and emancipates herself from it and 2) me being annoyed that hs showed one of its characters suffering from csa without acknowledging it AS abuse, even when it would've been not just the morally decent thing to do, but also a genuinely good addition to his character arc (apparently it does do that in the endstory, but i didn't know it at the time). those are both posts about realistic, condemning, and well-thought depictions of incestuous abuse in fiction—which is the only way i ever enjoy the topic btw—but that didn't stop these people from deciding i had an incest fetish and harassing me for weeks on end to the point of accusing me of sexually abusing my teenage brother. like you said, it would be a ghoulish way to treat someone even if their assumption had been right (and it wasn't), but it's like they saw the topic being mentioned and that fact alone was unforgivable, regardless of context. and this crap happens to people all the time! if that's not fucking stupid i don't know what is

#answered asks #csa mention #incest mention #biscia hater moment #BAH. all of that aside thank you for reaching out. that was extremely thoughtful of you and i appreciate it a lot

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marley-manson · 5 months

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Xena Episode Guide

Xena is an episodic show with a few ongoing arcs, both plot and character, so some episodes are very standalone, others are part of ongoing continuity. This guide will have four categories, denoted by symbol: * must-watch for plot or character development reasons + not essential but very good and/or gay, I recommend these ^ average non-essential episode, not notably amazing or awful, watch if you want more xena, skip if you want to get to the good parts faster # episodes I actively recommend skipping, not too many of these because I'm easy for this show lol.

I'm also going to link this site which has a lot of info and resources, including very thorough episode synopses under "episode guide," if you want more info before deciding whether or not to watch an episode.

It's also worth noting that it's a spinoff of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, a show I've seen exactly one episode of. You don't need to watch it to watch Xena, but occasionally it can add some context, and it's worth knowing that some plot elements are developed in Hercules rather than Xena, particularly parts of the Dahak arc in season 3. They'll have the characters explain the plot relevant stuff briefly, eg why Callisto is a goddess now, but yeah if you feel like you're missing things, that's why, and it's not a big deal.

So without further ado, here we go, starting with Xena's introductory episodes in Hercules.

Hercules: 1x09 The Warrior Princess, 1x12 The Gauntlet, 1x13 Unchained Heart# I haven't seen these, it's not necessary, and afaik some of the characterization and general vibes are incompatible with the Xena we know and love in her own show. But feel free to watch them if you want to see her introduction as a character.

1x01 Sins of the Past* 1x02 Chariots of War^ One minor highlight of this episode is that Xena and Gabrielle's respective flirtations with a man of the week each mirror their new relationship with each other - Xena and some peaceful village dude, Gabrielle and a wannabe warlord. Otherwise basic and uninteresting. 1x03 Dreamworker* 1x04 Cradle of Hope^ 1x05 The Path Not Taken* 1x06 The Reckoning* 1x07 The Titans^ 1x08 Prometheus^ Hercules and Iolaus appear if you skipped Xena's Hercules intro and want to meet them, but there's not much to recommend it 1x09 Death In Chains^ 1x10 Hooves and Harlots* 1x11 The Black Wolf+ I don't remember it too well but I remember enjoying it, and there's some cute baby les Gab stuff 1x12 Beware Greeks Bearing Gifts+ Idk if it's quite essential, but a character in this ep recurs later and this episode is referenced. It's a pretty great episode though iirc, I'd rec it. 1x13 Athens City Academy of Performing Bards^ It's a clipshow so not much of substance, but this episode is referenced in a lot of fic as a path not taken for Gabrielle 1x14 A Fistful of Dinars^ Apparently Xena's former fiance is in it but frankly I had no memory of that so I don't think it's important enough to be considered essential 1x15 Warrior... Princess^ It introduces a recurring character (and trope) so worth watching for continuity purposes but p inconsequential otherwise iirc. 1x16 Mortal Beloved+ Controversial categorization because it's het, but what can I say, I like it 1x17 The Royal Couple of Thieves^ Pretty fun and introduces another recurring character, but otherwise not especially important 1x18 The Prodigal^ Not really a fan of this one personally but I wouldn't say it's bad 1x19 Altared States+ Gets a plus sign for blatantly gay Gabrielle <3 1x20 Ties that Bind# I personally hate this ep, but it does have somewhat significant character exploration, and I wouldn't necessarily say it's bad so much as not to my taste. Up to you whether you watch. 1x21 The Greater Good* Most of the ep isn't essential but it leads directly into the next one which is, plus it's pretty good. 1x22 Callisto* 1x23 Death Mask^ Gets into Xena's past and surviving brother, but not in a way that really has much of an impact? Might be worth watching for that, but I don't think skipping it will affect much 1x24 Is There a Doctor in the House+ Gay, good, and establishes one detail that recurs later on but not a particularly important detail.

2x01 Orphan of War* 2x02 Remember Nothing+ Arguably essential viewing for character stuff, but I don't think skipping it would hurt your understanding of anything. Solid episode though. 2x03 The Giant Killer^ Referenced in a later episode so worth watching for thoroughness, not bad but not stand-out. 2x04 Girls Just Wanna Have Fun+ Gay 2x05 Return of Callisto* 2x06 Warrior... Princess... Tramp^ Introduces another occasionally recurring character, fun, not essential otherwise 2x07 Intimate Stranger+ 2x08 Ten Little Warlords+ These are direct sequel episodes and I really enjoy both, but they're not immediately relevant. The latter is arguably somewhat essential for Ares character stuff, but ymmv on how important that is to you. 2x09 A Solstice Carol# 2x10 The Xena Scrolls+ Clipshow, not essential, but please watch it bc it's an absolute delight. Basically a canon role reversal AU, and it's one of the episodes that spawned a thousand lesbian romance novels in the form of published Xena AU fic. 2x11 Here She Comes... Miss Amphipolis^ 2x12 Destiny* 2x13 The Quest* 2x14 A Necessary Evil* 2x15 A Day In The Life+ Not technically essential but widely considered one of the best episodes of the show, wildly gay, don't skip it. 2x16 For Him The Bell Tolls^ Joxer heavy, Xena light. Most would probably categorize it as # but I'm easy for the comedy episodes 2x17 The Execution^ 2x18 Blind Faith+ 2x19 Ulysses^ Warning for dumb het, skip if your tolerance is low. After this though it's pretty clear sailing in terms of male love interests of the week, thankfully. 2x20 The Price* Amazing episode overall, imo essential for character exploration, but warning for v prominent racist tribal stereotypes 2x21 Lost Mariner+ 2x22 Comedy of Eros* It's not really essential for the most part, but it establishes a certain character beat that lasts for the next 3 seasons, and imo it's fun. Skippable if you're not in the mood for a mostly het comedy ep tho.

3x01 The Furies* Explores some of Xena's family history and introduces us to how the Furies work, since they show up in a few other episodes, but not huuugely important? Waffled between * and ^ for the record. 3x02 Been There, Done That+ One of my personal faves, not stand-out gay, but incredibly fun imo 3x03 The Dirty Half Dozen^ Basically the show's lone aware statement on feminism and it sucks lmao. Aside from that it can be fun, so I didn't mark it as a recommended skip, but it's on the cusp. 3x04 The Deliverer* 3x05 Gabrielle's Hope* 3x06/7 The Debt* 3x08 The King of Assassins# Very dude-centric and forgettable imo, but has Gina Torres as Cleopatra and introduces Joxer's siblings as a thing, so ymmv 3x09 Warrior... Priestess... Tramp^ 3x10 The Quill Is Mightier^ Fun episode for Ares and/or Aphrodite fans, not important and not notably good or gay tho (though at this point we have a relative base level of gay established so yk, p much every episode is gonna have some vibes) 3x11 Maternal Instincts* 3x12 The Bitter Suite* 3x13 One Against an Army+ 3x14 Forgiven# I skipped it my first watch and didn't regret that after watching it this time around, but fyi it does implicitly touch on the emotional fall-out of the last few episodes a little bit 3x15 King Con# 3x16 When In Rome...* 3x17 Forget Me Not* It's a clipshow, but the framing device establishes some surprisingly significant character and plot stuff 3x18 Fins, Femmes, and Gems+ A fan favourite for a lot of people, it's silly and fun with some great gay moments. 3x19 Tsunami^ 3x20 Vanishing Act^ 3x21/22 The Sacrifice*

BONUS: Hercules 4x13/14 Armageddon Now This is the sole episode of Hercules I watched, because Part 2 features the inspiration for an entire subgenre of Xena fic that I love - Conqueror fic. An AU where Hercules was never born, featuring a subplot in which Xena never turned good and went on to conquer Greece. You don't need to watch it to understand the conceit, and most fics don't follow the strict events of the episode but rather the general premise of Xena ruling a nation, but it is fun, and it has some bonus Callisto character stuff too. I've put it here because it aired alongside Xena season 3 and broadly fits into it continuity-wise.

4x01/2 Adventures in the Sin Trade* 4x03 A Family Affair* 4x04 In Sickness and In Hell^ A divisive episode, some find it funny, some find it obnoxious. I came down in the middle. 4x05 A Good Day* 4x06 A Tale of Two Muses^ 4x07 Locked Up and Tied Down^ Has some character backstory and thematically relevant stuff, but nothing super significant. 4x08 Crusader+ Features the ongoing arc of Xena's future vision and good character stuff, so somewhat relevant, but not quite enough to be essential imo. But it's extremely gay and one of my faves. 4x09 Past Imperfect^ Flashback episode to Solan's birth and Borias' death, but we don't learn anything particularly essential afaik, and it's not a super strong or gay episode. Worth watching if you enjoy learning about Xena's past though. 4x10 Key to the Kingdom^ Meg, Joxer, and Autolycus heavy comedy, great for Meg's character 4x11 Daughter of Pomira^ Sort of a sequel to The Price, same racist depictions of a native american coded people, tries to be progressive and manages to be, like, a step above The Searchers lol. 4x12 If the Shoe Fits^ 4x13 Paradise Found* Essential for character stuff but also fantastic in general. 4x14 Devi* We're in the India episodes, so expect stereotypes and cavalier treatment of Hinduism that caused enough controversy back in the day to necessitate a disclaimer. But they're important episodes plot and character-wise. 4x15 Between The Lines* The other episode that launched a thousand lesbian romance novels. 4x16 The Way* 4x17 The Play's The Thing^ 4x18 The Convert^ Najara's return, a big downgrade from Crusader though imo. Introduces another character who returns later, and Joxer gets some drama, but I still wouldn't say it's necessary. 4x19 Takes One to Know One^ 4x20 Endgame* 4x21 The Ides of March* 4x22 Deja Vu All Over Again+ Canonizes Xena/Gab in a censored, network-friendly way that may have you cheering or booing depending on your perspective, but it's worth noting that it was the best the crew could get away with. The characters return in a s6 episode but one I haven't seen lol so I can't say it's essential, but I like it.

A note on season 5: widely considered the worst season, esp for Xena/Gab shippers, but if you're a fan of Xena/Ares at all you might enjoy it more. There was some behind the scenes upheaval with the writing team I believe, and a plotline originally intended for Hercules got shunted here, where it's not a great fit. So it can feel a little "off." (Season 6 is generally considered a return to form, ftr.)

Focuses a lot on the unrequited het with Xena and Gabrielle's relationship somewhat sidelined in terms of dramatic focus. But it's very arc-heavy so many episodes are relevant, and tbf Xena and Gab still have a v strong married couple vibe. My advice is to either power through, or skip freely while reading a synopsis.

5x01 Fallen Angel* Silly but v important plot-wise, also pretty gay. 5x02 Chakram* Categorized as essential for some character-statement and thematic stuff, and some minor continuity re chakram, buuuut you could probably get away with skipping it. 5x03 Succession^ 5x04 Animal Attraction* 5x05 Them Bones, Them Bones^ It's arguably essential for a secondary character's storyline, so watch if you care about Amarice, but otherwise not missing much here. 5x06/7 Purity/Back in the Bottle^ I don't thiiiink there's anything super important here, and it's not super amazing, but it's a bit of a sequel to The Debt if that interests you. 5x08 Little Problems^ 5x09 Seeds of Faith* 5x10 Lyre Lyre Hearts on Fire# I found this painful to sit through. Others enjoy it so ymmv, but it adds nothing but bad vibes imo. 5x11 Punch Lines^ Good if you're a fan of Gabrielle/Aphrodite, but otherwise pretty mediocre. 5x12 God Fearing Child* 5x13 Eternal Bonds* 5x14 Amphipolis Under Siege* 5x15 Married with Fishsticks# Widely considered the worst episode, with good reason. 5x16 Lifeblood^ Basically just a way to recycle some portal fantasy pilot that didn't get picked up, mostly a waste of time but inoffensive 5x17 Kindred Spirits# Not really that great, often annoying, but Xena and Gabrielle are emphatically married so it gets the gay points 5x18 Antony and Cleopatra^ I don't thiiiink there's anything super necessary here, skip to avoid het in the form of plot-induced manipulative seduction 5x19 Looking Death in the Eye* 5x20 Livia* 5x21 Eve* 5x22 Motherhood*

6x01 Coming Home* 6x02 The Haunting of Amphipolis* 6x03 Heart of Darkness* 6x04 Who's Gurkhan?* 6x05 Legacy* 6x06 The Abyss+ Racist stereotype cannibals unforch, but v gay. 6x07/8/9 The Rheingold/The Ring/Return of the Valkyrie+ Gay romance straight up. 6x10 Old Ares Had a Farm^ Great if you love mortal Ares episodes 6x11 Dangerous Prey^ I believe this is the sole mortal dude who poses a challenge to Xena, and they really aped the Callisto format for it lol. 6x12 The God You Know* Only mildly essential in that it explains why Aphrodite is mortal now, but while I think it's somewhat divisive, it's an episode I enjoy personally so I'd recommend it. 6x13 You Are There* 6x14 Path of Vengeance* 6x15 To Helicon and Back* 6x16 Send in the Clones+ I actually haven't seen it yet but I have it on good authority that it's v gay 6x17 The Last of the Centaurs^ 6x18 When Fates Collide+ Not essential but unskippable, iconic gay romance 6x19 Many Happy Returns+ GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY 6x20 Soul Possession^ Almost a # but it does have canon reincarnated Xena/Gabrielle. 6x21/22 A Friend in Need* Very controversial finale, many hate it, but it is the finale so it's essential. One tip is to watch this before When Fates Collide, to make WFC a fixit lol.

#marley on xena #text post #xena #for anon who asked <3 #fought for my life in html to get the bolding correct btw because the fucking new post editor is so incredibly glitchy >:(#buuut then it fucks up again when you just re-open the post to edit anything else so i give up lol fix ur shit tumblr

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hollyhomburg · 5 months

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What’s forced caretaking?

it's a trope where a main charecter looses their rights to take care of themselves. like- picture a charecter that overworks themselves, doesn't feed themselves properly- ignored their needs- suddenly getting plucked out of their circumstances when their lack of self care becomes apparent (usually by a governmental figure or authority, sometimes they're kidnapped too) and deemed too incompetent to make big life decisions. And is then made to take care of by a more dominant party that usually has dubious ideas about the main characters capabilities.

usually this is coupled with a loss of autonomy that the character begrudgingly starts to admit they enjoy and need- after some struggle and humiliation, and then fully embraces their fully submissive charecteristics and surrenders themselves to the control of another party.

i've seen this trope done with littles, omega's, and subs in a biological bdsm context! it's not exactly darkfic or extreme- but it can certianly read that way depending on whose writing it and what they want to get out of it! hope that answers your question!

it's not a widely circulated trope like if you try to look it up on ao3 there are litterally 4 fics with it tagged, you'll see it tagged 'forced-infantilism' alot- but that's not entirely accurate to the trope. there is a forced-caretaking fest thats currently going on/about to be going on on twitter right now! i'm not sure when it starts but i do know that alot of really good writers have signed up for it.

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meikuree · 9 months

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FINALLY someone who didn't 100% love BES. I did enjoy some of it but I lean on the "disliked it on the whole" side and it's been so weird seeing everyone praise it to high heavens. I take it that you enjoyed it more than I did (I did not like a lot of the 3D visuals, unfortunately, so the visuals don't really redeem it for me), but I'd love to see some balanced takes from you anyway <3

anon, you're in good company! honestly i've been baffled by the blandly, one-note positive reception to this (30% of my grief has to do with BES's base story, and 70% has to do with uncritical fannish responses), because... to be uncharitable... I have some big problems with its construction. feel free to come off anon and kvetch in my DMs if you want, I'll probably share your sentiments. sorry for how long i've taken to answer this!

to be fair the show does some things right and I think its achievements/innovations in art style and animation are to be lauded; I'm not going to speak over that when I'm not an expert on animation or media theory, but it's a bad sign when praise about any media amounts to "well, it looks pretty" or hinges so heavily on its aesthetics. to be extremely clear this doesn't fully apply to BES, because it does have deft character work, compelling characters, and some impressive cinematic instantiation/inhabitation with its attention to setting and detail -- i was pleasantly surprised by the inclusion of deets like yaki-ire etc etc. -- but even on its purported selling points of japanese historicity and nuanced narratives about race, sexuality, gender, revenge, etc. I think it fails. it has glaring blindspots.

tldr: BES suffers from some (white) american/french narratorial sensibilities that kneecap the full potential of its story

or: BES pinged as an insufferably american and/or ahistorical rendition of its japanese building-blocks to me in some ways

it's probably just a case of misaimed audiences, and This Show Not Being For Me, but I've been baffled by:

how seamlessly some scenes around sex work and brothels and eroticism in this show slide in with orientalist tropes about japan being the Weird Sex and Kinky country despite the japanese-american creator at its helm, who's also spoken out against tropes like that -- until a buddy gave some context that those undertones seem to have been inspired by bande dessinées (french comics) with not-unsimilar tropes that may have been transplanted carelessly into BES by the studio

and this is what I mean by 'american/french' sensibilities -- I don't mean american/french in the most skin-deep representational sense, as in the studio that made it is an american-french one or whatever, as 'representation' is too often conceived on tumblr to be limited to, but on the deeper epistemological level of its worldview, frameworks of sexuality/race, and the cultural terrain it's working off or conversing with. BES includes storylines/arcs/even mawkish dialogue far more reminiscent of those in american cartoons. which is not an issue except of one of taste, but fannish responses holding it up as a groundbreaking commentary on race are orbiting a different universe imo

more egregiously it sustains overtones of that american favourite about the grand, Super Existential! Super Inevitable! and intrinsic clash of Cultures and Civilisations with a big C (a highly discredited idea in critical academic circles now, thankfully, no thanks to samuel p. huntington)

I almost wish the show had maintained a greater separation from IRL analogues or just invented a fresh fantasy universe because why set it in edo-era japan if you're not going to engage with the sociocultural norms, or narratorial traditions of that era

see: literary genres around jitsuroku (revenge narratives), how revenge would have been treated as a tool of sociocultural legitimisation then, the apparent forgettance of the entire history of nanban trade and the fact that japan as a geographical entity was not technically ethnically homogeneous, or only homogeneous from a hegemonic pov, given the existence of the ainu, the kingdom of ryukyu, and northern communities of hokkaido although tbf japan's borders probably didn't include them

i was hoping for an internal critique of or just more nuance about the 'japan = ethnically homogenous' narrative in the show and was more disappointed as it went on -- imo it's a narrative often most stridently parroted by the japanese government for nation-building interests and by others to avoid interrogations of the actual complexity of striations, divisions, etc in japan e.g. with burakumin (lower-'caste'* peoples)

* note: caste is an imperfect and not fully accurate descriptor

a significant part of my ire is reserved for the handling of 'whiteness' in this show although it's mostly hand-wringing over the complexity of intended audiences in this show, which might not be fair to blame on the creators; yes, whiteness is foreign and Other and bad, but what about the material and historical precursors that gave rise to that Otherness in the first place, where are they?; and look! whiteness is demonised; but the cartoon's being released in the USA and europe. it's certainly true that japan is institutionally hostile to foreigners and xenophobic, kudos for depicting the politics of that, but BES's american audiences mean i'm ambivalent about its in-universe premise that what is in fact an oft-fetishised trait in mixed race children (blue eyes) is bad (and the show's aesthetics don't support it; mizu's eyes are portrayed in the most beautiful way possible even though she's diagetically meant to be hideous and monstrous)

#blue eye samurai #long post #bes critical -#meikuree answers

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horizon-verizon · 3 months

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https://www.tumblr.com/forgotten-fossilised/755642012938747904/the-h0td-writing-is-so-bad-how-can-they-go-on-and?source=share

I really can't understand why someone hates the targ so much that you just want to see them muddied, forgotten and destroyed and watch a show centered on them as protagonists while they get offended because *checks notes* They are treated as protagonists 🙃

These people realize that Arya being "AA" was a hole the size of the sun, right? Do they realize that Arya's girl boss moment was great on screen but it was done for shock value?

Martin can play and subvert tropes but he never breaks with the meaning and structure he is building 🙄

this stupid prophecy pissed me off on so many levels. "he called it the song of ICE and FIRE" ok but why tho. did it change its meaning over the years or what. I wonder if it's gonna be explained at all or did they just throw it in bc its the lazy convenient way to justify Rhaenyra's actions.

"Song" refers to war...as "dance" does. It's poetic language about the movement of swords in the air "singing" used almost like a metonym for war. And it refers to that final war b/t dragons/Dany/Westerosi against the unnatural figures that are the Others, or that person may know them as the "whitewalkers". This is something that has been known for literal YEARS before either show popped up from what I learned. This is what ASoIaF has always been about and what it's leading up to, ya dunce!

And Rhaenyra's actions? Why not Aemond, who was the one to truly end all possible means of peace by killing his own nephew...HER SON. For God's sake, he's known as the Kinslayer for all time in Westeros just as Cole is known pejoratively as the Kingmaker! Aegon is known as "grasping" by a highly respected and agreed-with Grand Maester in his tome called Lives of Four Kings. Aegon dies poisoned by his own council members, wanted a "better" Sunfyre, raped at least one girl, etc. PREWAR. He was always going to be bad locally and "nationwide". Meanwhile, what has Rhaenyra actually done to others unprovoked pre-war? Give it a rest, already!

The greens collectively, not her, triggered & enabled this war so they can disrupt the already established transfer of power. This is not a lie, but what happened.

if they really wanted to include it the great way would be to tie it with Cregan and Jace somehow? (their alliance being literally called Pact of ice and fire...) but nah apparently they just cut out the whole northern storyline.

...The Pact of Ice and Fire only exists and can exist bc the Song of Ice and Fire exists...it's meant to refer back to the Song and say the Starks and their northern MAGIC (direwolves, warging, greenseeing) will all be instrumental in the fight against the Others. No, the Starks are still not the main protagonist of this series even if they appear first and are focused on as one of the houses that has enjoyed the most privileges that now is divided and split due to bad decision making internally and out. The "whole northern stroyline" only matters within THIS context...otherwise GRRM is writing them to writer them. F&B is meant to contextualize Dany and her dragons; that includes all the Targs' purposes.

on a side note, as far as I remember the prince that was promised prophecy isn't inherently tied to the targaryens at all, and it definitely doesn't originate from Aegon, so I wonder if they changed that in the show canon (like Dany's dragon eggs coming from Syrax) or do the targs just believe that bc of course who else would be the chosen one if not them.

Already noted how this was a stupid ass take. Where else would the Song of Ice and Fire originated when it's been constantly tied to various Targs from Dany to Aemon the Maester to Aegon V to Brynden Rivers to the Dance to DRAGONS?! Who has dragons? The Targs.

Aegon is said to be the only source of this Song through his motivation to conquer Westeros, where does that person think elsewise the Song came from?

People really be sacrificing their already-paltry literacy skills for sexism, classism, etc.

#aegon's prophecy #asoiaf asks to me #fandom critical #asoiaf fandom #hotd fandom #asoiaf writing #asoiaf #hotd

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fantomette22 · 5 months

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(For Bloodborne)

10, 16, and 18?? 💀

I answered 10 here ! As for the rest it is quite long so putting it under there. Hope you ready 😅

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

Hm... wait I need to remember all the things I don't appreciate... and try not to make ennemies 😓 (it's really not my goal it's just personal preference mostly. Seriously depending how things are explained and presented there's lot a thing I can actually enjoy! While I would dislike when it's just throw and spam without context.)

Hm well you know as for characterisations when it's reduced to like 2 traits or extreme good / extreme bad it's hm... yeah. I mean I know I ain't a good exemple but I barely share dark headcanons 😓 but they do exist hehe.

Of course absolutely don't mind and love silly shenanigans (when you're hanging with your friends and having fun it's not always very serious) and also more dark and matures ideas. When people share it doesn't mean it's all they think to the characters! Gotta take the all picture!

But it does bother me when people believe in almost caricatural interprets like it's canon and talk down on others with different views. Somehow like they are the worst thing...like wtf.

Also well typical extreme talk about Gehrman, Maria and mostly Laurence I suppose (maybe a bit Lulu aka the holy blade but it bother me a bit less because people are generally not spamming to or being annoying as much as the others. Oh Micolash too). When people reduced them to just 2 things or an extreme. I feel it really doesn't fit with the infos within the game. I'm not a fan at all. They are all morally grey and humans. They are not clearly all black or all white. they are morally gray, they are humans!

In more details now. Well for Gehrman you know my stance already. Clearly yeah he had some issues in his life and did bad things but clearly I don't think he was a misogynistic asshole and all the stuff. Like it just don't make sense to me. I don't even wanna vent about it today XD

As for Maria well. Look I don't have a problem with the headcanon of her being a butch lesbian. I mean it's even one of my AU actually. (to put it really really simply. Bc I like having several interprets disconnect to each other in their own settings). It can be very interesting in an overall big story I think. The problem I have is when it's apparently her only unique traits and if you think or headcanon otherwise for any reasons you are apparently the worst shit to exist and getting block. Being labelled as sexist, homophobic etc. Well idk but that kind of reaction kinda tell me who the real -phobic one is 😕 really that is sad like wow who hurt you people?! to have this much anger to people just trying to have fun. Thankfully it's clearly just a minority of people who are agressive like this. And I hope they will grow, gain maturity and realise there's really no need to be that mean about such a thing. But it's been a while saw smt like this so I prefer to put this behind me there's hope.

As for Laurence I'm not really a fan of him being the ultimate bitch devil (or angel but nobody has that take almost. That would be a change. the tragic vicar who only had good intention but accidentally fucked up and try his best until the end😔 I mean I don't agree with that either but that's a change). I mean by this, that I think he did both. Good and bad things. That he had honorable intentions at first but overcome by a bit of ego and pride he fucked up really bad. And then realised his mistake but it was too late to correct it... his theme inspire great strength but who end in tragedy and pity. So overall tragic these too. Him being depicted as just a smug unlikable bitch is something I have a hard time with. I mean yes I like to imagine him being a smug bitch too at times for sure! it's fun but not like all the time and making it his entire personality. If that make sense. I don't see how he could be an important religious figure, doctor and having so much support by just being a manipulative ass all the time. Especially if he start from ground 0.

And hm... i have nothing again it and people so that we're clear but hm EXCEPT in certains very specific context* I am not personally a fan of Laurence being drawn with horns on his head. It just isn't my cup of tea. I'm not sure to understand what's the interest don't make sense to have Laurence looking normally human + just horns but it's just me.

*EXCEPT WHEN : symbolism and symbolic art (no prob I like those actually. Horns + when he's burning in human form for exemple onlooking like religious symbolism) ; "decoration" like lil detached horns, like you would put flowers or sparkles or little emoji next to a portrait of a characters ; before he transformed but with other signs of beasthood (actually him human with horns can be nice but I prefer when it's like mini horns not full cleric beast ones + idk a giant arm with claws and fur growing, eyes looking weird, teeth growing, his hair being longer and messy etc).

Now last I will stop after...

I think a whole fic or interprets on a really dark and realistic Bloodborne universe like our world can be super interesting! But I don't enjoy when people seem to think Bloodborne is 100% our 19th century with just a couple of eldritch things in it? Ok it's closer to us compared to medieval fantasy like DS or elden ring. But I feel it's fantasy too. if we had a map I won't be surprise if that's not Europe or a map that existed in real life. Lot of things don't fit to be actual victorian era. It's just inspire by it : invention and technology aren't on the same lvl. Either they are missing important inventions or are too advanced. (Molotovs appeared during spain war and were named like this during WWII) people don't seem to have 10 children working in factories or mines as well. Women are doctors, academic, hunters etc No steam machine or electric bulb but who knows. I could make an entire things... Looking at all the real life inspirations for the game is great! Create a very realistic story is very cool! But I would personally be more on the side that's it's more of a victorian fantasy. Like Sekiro can't be in our world or how Dark souls is a medieval fantasy as well and isn't medieval age accurate.

Oh boi i forgot about victorian london. Jokes are fine but bloodborne is more inspired on Prague and eastern europe i feel. You and Katy developed it more anyway

18. it's absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on...

Ok I don't know how to answer this so have a list (of ideas in my head I need to share /write one day lmao) :

Maria backstory (no seriously I want stories on her childhood, her family, what happened, how she felt toward them. Conflicted? Good terms but separate ways? Actually work for them for a while? Disowned? I wanna know! If she's actually close to Annalise ? More important in royal family that we know? Or really a random noble related to them?) Is her pyromancer real?! why she dislike blood blades?

How she got her Rakuyo

How she met Gehrman? her training? WHAT HAPPEN I NEED TO KNOW uxkcblkDOLFMBOEAMl: (sorry XD) work for Laurence & co too

Important lore Charcacters backstory before this whole mess (Laurence, Gehrman, Ludwig, Willem etc yeah basically everyone lol I won't do the entire list XD but how did they meet each other what bound them what happen.)

Stories how the healing church + blood transfusion actually came to be?

Byrgenwerth era (yeah sorry I love it XD)

So yeah overall timeline before the hunter arrive (help)

Cainhurst, Annalise, vilebloods, potential KING of Cainhurst

So yeah Logarius too

Loran, Isz and pthumerians lore??

Dores and Gatekeeper my beloved

Caryll (yeah just Caryll)

Izzy and bestial hunters. How the bestial rune was forbidden, why Laurence had it etc

Ok is everyone except 5 persons gonna ignore the fact freaking Gehrman can make more than just weapons?! well wood stuff are oblivious but how did bro can make such refined clothes hello?!?!

Religion practise how it works in Yharnam, how citizens and clerics actually practise it.

What's their history, their legend, how the geopolitic within the country is and others XD (it's more a critic about the game in itself than fandom really) In truth I'm a bit sad we know lot of countries and regions within Dark Souls but almost none with Bloodborne! Like many people are from foreign countries and we have 0 names compared to the dozens in DS. we just have like vaguely Yamamura asiatic country, Eileen's one, Valtr's city, Loran and Isz. As for Gascoigne Gilbert Brador and all the others we don't know anything. In Dark Souls we have names and we know where people came from : Catarina, Astora, Forossa, Mirrah, Carim, Vinheim, Lordran etc)

Event being seen by random citizens or young characters growing up could be interesting!

I mean many characters again

I might stop here or it will never be over sorry... I'm not even sure it's really slept one but I wish we have more. There's just so many possibilities and things that can be created!

#my asks #ask game #couldn't talk about everything but I think it's enough for today #again I can be fan of many different ideas if it's presented an interesting way & even if it's not my thing I will always try to respect it #I just don't like when people disrespect others for their take when nothing contradict it #I'm sorry if that make no sense Crow it's late I write this since so long with what passing in my head #sorry it was post at 1am

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