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panthera-tigris-venenata · 11 months

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Hunger Games & Descendants crossover

Aka me showing Descendants characters into vaguely hunger games setting because it sparks joy. Keeping one (1) Hunger Games character: Ceasar Flickerman, for the reason that Descendants Verse moderator (Snow White) would faint within a minute of having to share a stage with exhibitionistic pirates.

Also. Haymitch. I feel like he and Harriet & James Hook should meet.

Anyway.

(I hope you don't expect any plot)

The Hooks are the Fourth District. The sea side one. Uma, too, and the Smees.

James Hook is a Victor long past, and he lost a hand in his games. He had it replaced by a hook, because he's committing to the bit. Drama queen. He's a Capitol favourite and still very much haunted by the children he fought in his arena. (He's so perfect for this au, I can't)

Harriet is also a Victor, from two years prior.

She volunteered and didn't have a good time ever since. (Didn't have a good time ever ✨)

She didn't lose a hand. This does not stop the Capitol from styling her with a hook.

Both of them are rather heavy alcoholics by this point.

Harriet was a difficult Victor. Stubborn and way too happy to speak her mind. It took Capitol pointing at her siblings and going „If you don't shut up, they'll be next“ to get her to cooperate.

She shut up. She was not happy about it but she's not letting her siblings die in the arena – or otherwise.

Either way, after her, the Capitol needed a Good Victor (tm). They found their Victor in Claudine Frollo, a brainwashed career from District One.

She was ready to lie on her knife for her (District) people rebelling against the Capitol, but her Games were pretty heavily rigged. She was not allowed near sharp things by the gamemakers.

Her trauma from the arena is unsurprisingly not helping. Claudine gets unresponsive for huge amounts of time, and she's still not allowed near sharp things.

„You were raised in a fucking cult!“ „...oh.“ This conversation between Harriet and Claudine definitely happens. Harriet is this close to snapping at Claudine at live TV.

Either way, deal somewhat holds, right? Younger Hook siblings are not reaped.

... wouldn't be the Hooks if there wasn't more chaos, okay?

Next year, Uma is reaped, and there is no way Harry is letting her go alone. He volunteers before the boys are even reaped, threatening murder to career girls who didn't take Uma's place and career boys who would take his in the same breath.

This flies, because Capitol lives for drama.

Also, surprisingly, Uma's reaping wasn't rigged. And even if it was, she was not a part of any deal.

Ursula was an actress, a singer, dragged to Capitol from District four and tossed back when they got bored; when she got too old or otherwise unsuitable. She blames Uma for this. Her most famous role was that of a Sea Witch because Why Not.

Uma wasn't a career, but Harry was. He didn't graduate yet, and his older sister insisted he doesn't volunteer.

Anyway. Since this is AU, I feel like it should be possible for the Games to have multiple Victors if the people like them enough.

It's not something common, but it can happen. It has happened before.

Mulan and Shang pulled it off. Mulan while posing as her brother or male cousin all the while. It was one of the earlier games, but people loved it. (Consequently, their son got reaped the year before Harriet. Pure coincidence, you see. He survived, though.)

The other people winning together were Raya and Namaari, because I said so. They had no children for reasons called "they're lesbians, your honour."

And Uma and Harry are gonna win together too because this is MY self-indulgent AU with zero actual plot.

They're having way too much fun on the stage. Survival instinct (the bit that Uma has) gets overshadowed by the need to a) shock as much people as possible and b) drama✨

They end up making out at the tribute interview. Ceasar is having the time of his life. He hasn't had this interesting tributes since Harriet Hook and Ivy de Vil.

(they obviously make out at the Victors interview too)

De Vils now, yeah?

Third district. Technology, for Carlos. They're inovators, the driving force.

Cruella, much like Hook, is a victor of long past. She went mad in her Games. Her victor talent is fashion, obviously, and Capitol has no problems with the more unethical aspects of her designs.

Her reaping-age relatives have the unfortunate tendency to, well, get reaped. She lost a brother, two nephews and a niece this way.

You see, de Vils are rebels. They need to stand out, they need to be heard. (Much like Hooks, but in better clothes, thank you for asking.)

Ivy was the last one reaped. Now, she knew her odds – one in twenty four and worse yet. The Capitol is not letting a de Vil win again.

Consequently, she might have started riot on her tribute interview. I mean, what are they gonna do? Kill her?

Yeah, I thought so.

I'm getting lost, aren't I.

Tremaines. Officers family from District Eight that thinks themselves way too important (they really aren't). All accusations of Anthony's reaping being rigged will be denied.

Anthony is in the same games as Uma and Harry because Drama.

His stylist is Audrey Rose who got caught high in public one too many times. But hey. They're vibing. Also, this conversation:

Anthony, talking about Harriet: "... she's just so pretty-“

Audrey, an aro ace, just trying to do her job: „...I suppose? She could use to wear something different than the red, and a bit less eyeliner...“

(Ginny, barging in: „YES SHE IS.“)

(I'm projecting on Audrey and you cannot stop me.) (She isn't being mean, she's just struggling to see it.) (Struggling in general. Girl is dissociating more than not, but actually trying her best as a tribute stylist.) (She and Claudine should meet. Attend some therapy together.)

Ginny is Capitol, too. She's a medical student, a medic apprentice, whatever you want to call it. Aesthetics and cosmetics surgery specifically. She's shadowing some doctors at tribute-victor-centre.

Which, let's be honest, mainly means that she, Anthony and Harriet can meet ✨

Like Anthony, she thinks that Harriet is gorgeous. She thinks the same about Anthony.

She flatlines Anthony's medical tracker while he's sleeping but still very much alive in the arena. This goes unnoticed because Harry and Uma are kicking up too much drama. And Ginny and Anthony are pretty good at disguises.

Faciliers. They live in Capitol. With documents that are certainly both legal and theirs.

But hey. No one is gping to kick them out. They smuggle in expensive drugs and absinth and other interesting stuff.

They also know way too much blackmail.

Celia and Freddie have accidentally befriended the gamemakers while making deliveries and now the gamemakers let them play a bit and design new fun mutts!

(Stuff of nightmares, I tell you)

Mal is a way too Capitol-propaganda enthusiastic Victor from one of the poor Districts.

Jay is from District Two, a secret rebel. Jade died in the Games.

Oh! CJ sneaked into the Capitol with her older siblings despite being specifically forbidden to do so, and is now setting something on fire. Ceasar practically gave her a permission by calling her "a little firecracker" in the interview with Harry.

The Smees were supposed to watch her, but the Smees couldn't be paid enough for that.

I'm almost certain I forgot someone. Please, ask if I did or if you find something interesting and want me to elaborate?

#disney descendants #hunger games crossover #cj hook #harry hook #harriet hook #uma descendants #claudine frollo #freddie facilier #mal bertha #anthony tremaine #celia facilier #ginny gothel #audrey rose #ivy de vil

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blues824 · 1 year

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Excuse me, could you please make headcanons about the reader inviting Malleus, Lilia, Silver and Sebek over to their house in their world to watch Raya and the Last Dragon with them? If you haven't seen it, feel free to watch it before you can get started on the headcanons. Bonus points if they took the movie as inspiration for their next costume for next Halloween since it's inspired by Southeast Asia as Diasomnia's previous Halloween costume is inspired by Mulan (China/East Asia).

I had to watch it before I could write this, and now I’m wondering if it’s even possible for Disney to have a character with two parents that actually love each other, or are alive at the very least.

Malleus Draconia

He finds the film quite confusing, but funny at the same time. Usually, his land was filled with fae of all sorts, so being a dragon fae didn’t really mean anything besides the fact that he was larger and stronger than the others. He wasn’t that valuable because of his dragon form. He was valuable because he was the sole heir of the Royal Family.

He sees the close connection between humanity and dragon kind, and he wishes that the Briar Valley could be unified in the same fashion. Unfortunately, it isn’t as easy as Raya makes it seem. Diplomatic affairs were exceedingly complicated. (I mean, if y’all got married… then that would make it so much easier)

He notes the fact that he had drawn inspiration from the movie. He thinks you should dress as Raya when that happens because you care for the future and union of all the dormitories of NRC, and that sounds exactly like the hero of the film. He will definitely see if he can recreate the Sisudatu.

Lilia Vanrouge

He is dying of laughter at how much Sisu reminds him of how naive Malleus was when he was just a hatchling. Other than that, he finds it quite adorable. It was intriguing to see other takes on what dragons were capable of and looked like.

He also sees the close connection between humanity and fae (dragon) kind. His family (you and Silver) were proof that the two could be united. NRC was proof of that, actually. It might be worth convincing Queen Maleficia into considering that as a possibility.

He was intrigued by the different fashion styles, and realized that there were indeed 5 of you, just enough to portray each of the 5 regions. He will most definitely pitch it as an idea for next Halloween. He knows that they would most likely accept it, he just needed to come up with an idea on how to make a dragon because the dragon from the movie is much different than the type of dragon that Malleus is.

Silver

He tried his hardest to stay awake, and he beat his record by a few seconds… He made it 5 minutes into the movie before he passed out. He felt so bad afterward, but you understood that being one of Malleus’ knights could be absolutely draining. You did get a bunch of pictures that you definitely sent to Lilia.

Since he fell asleep, he wasn’t able to see most of the film. He was able to see that Raya loved dragons, which kind of reminded him of himself when he was younger. When he was a small child, his only dream was to become a knight of Lord Malleus.

He does like the different styles of clothing per the different nations. He might want to base his dorm’s Halloween decorations and costumes off of the film. You can’t tell me that he wouldn’t look absolutely gorgeous in the Heart Tribe clothing.

Sebek Zigvolt

This could go one of two ways: he sits upright like a plank as he watches the movie, or he yells about how Waka-sama is much better than Sisu. You don’t get any in between moments. I’m sorry, Sebek simps. Actually, if you fall asleep on him, that is the only way to get him to relax.

Younger Raya reminded him of his present self. He is a huge supporter in whatever Malleus does, so he kind of relates to the heroine when she goes all fangirl about Sisu. However, I would say that he didn’t really enjoy the film. He’s just a guy that prefers books (if the legend was in the library, he’d be a bit more excited).

He does think that the styles of clothing that differ from tribe to tribe are at least a tad appealing to him. More specifically, the Spine Tribe clothing. He’s a buffer man, so he would probably wear the outfit with pride. It makes him feel like one of those rough-and-tough warriors from the film. He definitely presents it as an idea for Diasomnia Halloween.

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strawberryeclips · 4 months

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Finally trying to use some Uchiha kid OCS that have been rolling in my brain, and trying to get some personalities out. Madara already loves them both~ xD

Susi was made with the ideas of Sasuke, and Kohaku (from Inuyasha), and Susi (from raya and the laat dragon) in mind(and shares the same name because it's funnly close to Shisui and made me giggle) the first two being young brothers of someone trying to kill them, but really doesn't want to, and loves them. Susi is very ambitious, slight manipulative, and determined and wants to be a power ninja one day even at the risk of her own health, her sharingan is permanently active due to a curse, but we'll get into that crazy shit later~ (Never train under Alex~) as for the dragon-Susi part heheh, she comes off as a fire fighting style type but she's actually water style! (She would also be Sasukes oldest child if she was on the timeline, sorry Sarada ;-;)

Inzo is supposed to be Itachi's youngest son, although I'm not too sure yet on all the other details on who to combine with Itachi, and his name might change, however, what is known is he's a bit fearful of many things, and doesn't really want to be a ninja after seeing what it did to his own older brother. He's never activated his sharingan in his life, and probably doesn't want to either (not that he'll always have that's choice:3) He does love doing ninja training with his friend since that's one of the only few times he gets to see them, he would definitely sneak away from home to spend time with them, even though he knows he might get in trouble. (Itachi probably wouldn't be too upset, but Inzo own guilt of wanting to have fun, and feeling like he's not allowed would upset Itachi more I think.)

ALSO STORY TIME WITH GRANDPA MADARA!YAYAYY! Pfff Yes I know Madara wouldn't be their grandfather, Susi is being respectful and not calling him an 'old wind bag' basically, so let's be grateful for that. XD

Wow did you actually read all of that garbage? You get a gold star~ 🌟 thanks for reading my sillyness :3

#OCs #Uchiha #madara uchiha #Ai #being silly #trying to be creative somewhere atleast #itachi uchiha #sasuke uchiha #storytime #discord ai #discord

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nights-nonsensical-ramblings · 2 years

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Sonic X scu crossover: I could see Cream, scu Tails, and SonicX Tails excitedly watching cartoons together (Since SonicX Tails and Cream enjoyed that purple blob show in Sonic X.). But, here, they have streaming services so they can watch whatever and as many cartoons as they want. At least until their earlier bedtimes or times where they're made to take breaks.

I could see all of them discovering a love for Paw Patrol, since it's educational and involves hero characters (That are cute) doing stuff.

Maybe they also discover Clifford, Cyber Chase, SpongeBob, or some other shows for their age groups? But, Paw Patrol is spammed all over, so they might select it first due to that.

ooh yeah definitely

(there is also a minor existential realization that it's possible that some of these shows are going to come out in the future of chris' world and could be considered from the future. but anyway.)

another show i think they'd like is octonauts. it's educational, teaches about earth, has cool machines and heroics scu Sonic wants to like it but can't watch it because of the whole show taking place underwater. and scu tails is so happy that cream and his counterpart like it.

Scu Sonic wants to show them all his favorite action movies but gets told no and sulks. (i don't think all of them are age appropriate, but idk) but is happy when they let him show them lilo and stitch (it's a favorite of his.)

i think that one of Scu knuckles' favorite movies would be "raya and the last dragon." the search for a mystical and powerful gem, raya and sisu being the only ones of their family/kind, all the different fighting styles and importance of culture, the found family, enemies putting conflict to rest and becoming allies. it all just speaks so much to him. and the ending when everyone comes back always gets to him. and the whole film really speaks to X Knuckles as well.

#sonic #sonic movie #sonic x #miles tails prower #cream the rabbit #sonic the hedgehog #knuckles the echidna #tails wachowski #sonic wachowski #knuckles wachowski #sonic movie and x #night's sonic stuff #sonic headcanons #night's asks #raya and the last dragon #octonauts

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the-average-procrastinator · 2 years

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DD S2 E10:

Let's see how much I can fret:

Right right the people in cages under NYC, we all know of them

This scene is also "Things That Would Make Me Quit And Move Immediately"

Matt "I don't want to tell people there's a cult now" Murdock

Matt, Matt, Matt... Frank is literally the least of your worries atm

Look who's showing up at a work thing...

At least Matt instantly put the "Fisk got Frank out" pieces together

You still suck, Rayas <3

FOGGY NO

Well.... considering the circumstances... sorry Rayas... 😬

"Her career would have been over" "Shes *dead* now"

Dang it, now Foggy is going through an emo stage :(

MATT don't show your hand (being angry) like that!

AND FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT'S HOLY DON'T MENTION VANESSA

Kind of feel bad for the Fisk actor considering how often the characters call him (Fisk) fat

HOOOO HE BROKE THE HANDCUFFS HOOOO!!!

MATT YOU'RE SO DUMB

im so entirely stressed, my only consolation is that at least Matt didn't pull any DD moves and give himself away

this is why you kill some bad guys

Now there's French assassins, I've seen it all

Oh no someone got to the doctor already

Karen: No no no, this isn't Frank's style of killing, his is way better than this

Aw, newspaper guy feels guilty about Ben

Did the ninja cult make them monsters? There's no evidence of this so far, but I'm just scared and suspicious

And that look only makes me think this more

"Incubate" HECK they're monsters

Matt... you've already put them "in jeopardy" cutting your friends off now isn't going to help

Woo, Claire! Preaching sense! <3

Of course he doesn't take good advice

Oh dear... Karen....

Frank! :D

He's using his body to shield her!!!! <3333 ok anyway im normal

oh no.... Fisk want's to do more research on Matt...

Dude... fancy lil daggers? It's called a gun

Shoot, Stick wants her dead? Awkward

Dang it, I hate it when Matt is right after he was emo about it

FLIPPIN ZOMBIES I KNEW IT RUN CLAIRE

That's so many ninjas

AND ITS OVER???? DANG IT

#tiff watches #dd

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heartfeltstory · 1 year

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Who am I?

My name: Mayacita or Maya Writes (pen name)

How I describe myself: I am a millennial and and ex-programmer turn into a religious sister with the heart of a philosopher who ponders about Life, Truth, God, and Heaven. A missionary and a contemplative by heart.

Goal(s) in life: To die straight to heaven, without purgatory, seeing Jesus, my beloved spouse, face to face, to hug, hold, and have Him for eternity, to be able to be close to Him as possible. To become a Saint God wants me to be. To give souls to God as much as possible

What I wanted to do or became before I went on to become a religious: just having a normal life with a normal job and be happy about what I do or what I have. I used to think that I will live in The US forever. I just want to be successful and happy in life. Satisfied with my work and enjoying life and in what I do. I used to think that I would live in Northern California, a place where I dream of. If I ever become an entrepreneur I would open a: Massage Place, A Chicken Rice Store or Restaurant or Catering, a skincare or cosmetic brand.

If I ever re-live again my college years and just become a lay person, I would have chosen a major that let me work in The Beauty Industry. Be it Pharmacy or Chemistry or Chemical Engineering.

If I knew that I would become a religious in the future I would have chosen a Theology, Spirituality or Psychology major.

College Major: Computer Science & Engineering, B.Sc

High School Major: Science Studies

Places I have lived: Riau-ID, Jakarta-ID, Texas-USA, Ohio-USA, San Diego-USA, Madiun-East Java, Wudu-Flores, Palangka Raya-Central Borneo

My MBTI: INFP (Introvert, Intuitive, Feeling, Perceiving) / The Mediator, A peacemaker

My Temperament: A True Melancholic.

My character: A thinker, very analytical, quiet at times, serious, perfectionist, artistic, flexible, fun & silly at times when feeling comfortable, humorous, religious, work well alone, like finding truths, principles, and concepts, bad at managing people, simple & practical

Talent: Many! (As people say). I am good at acting, language learning, good at logic & analyzing but bad at many other stuffs

Language(s): English, Indonesian, Javanese (a little), Spanish (a little)

Hobbies: Studying, Reading, Reflecting, Praying, Meditating, Contemplating, Writing, Making Stories, Singing, Playing Organ, Drawing, Dancing for fun, Trying new Chicken Recipe

Favorite Saint(s): St. Therese of Lisieux and Mother Mary

The Book That Changed My Life: The Story of A Soul by St. Therese of Lisieux

The Prayer That Changed My Life: 33 Days Consecration to Jesus through Mary by St. Louis de Montfort

Favorite Webtoon of All Time: I Love Yoo by Quimchee

Favorite Comic Character: Yeong-Gi from I Love Yoo by Quimchee

The Comic Character That Resembles Me The Most: Shin-Ae from I Love Yoo by Quimchee

Favorite Webtoon Artist: Quimchee

Favorite Manga(s): Death Note, Eyeshield 21

Favorite Mangaka Art Style: Takeshi Obata of Death Note and Watase Yuu of Alice 19th

Favorite Countries: Israel, Italy and The US

Countries That I want to visit: Italy and other European Countries

Favorite Place To Stay: San Diego, California, USA

Favorite Singer: Taylor Swift

Favorite Korean Singer: G-Dragon

Favorite Group Band: Maroon 5

Favorite Korean Group Band: Big Bang

Favorite Album of All Time: 1989 by Taylor Swift, currently I am starstruck with Folklore & Midnights by Taylor Swift

Favorite Songwriters: Taylor Swift, Max Martin & G-Dragon

Favorite Music: All kinds of music that sounds good in my ear, mostly I listen to pop music and instrumental

Favorite Movie of All Time: The Lord of The Rings Trilogy

Favorite Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio

Most beautiful actor: Leonardo DiCaprio in His 20s

Celebrity That Resembles My Character The Most: Raditya Dika

Favorite Game Console: Harvest Moon and Suikoden II

Favorite Food: All foods but chicken wings are the best. For Sweets: Macarons are the best and Brownies (don't forget dem brownies, they're so good)

Favorite Chicken Wings Flavor: Original & Spicy Chicken Wings from Pizza Hut, Original & Garlic Parmesan Chicken Wings from Buffalo Wild Wings

Favorite Drinks & Sweets: All Green Tea Flavors be it Green Tea Cake, Green Tea Kit Kat, Green Tea Bars, Green Tea Coffee, Green Tea Latte, Original Green Tea, Green Tea Bread, Green Tea Poki, Green Tea Bubble Tea & Taro Bubble Tea & Thai Tea, Pistachio & Green Tea Macaron, Hot Chocolate Drinks

Favorite Taste: Sweet & Spicy, Spicy, Taro, Pistachio, Garlic Parmesan, Green Tea

Sweet or Salty: Salty

Least favorite food: chocolate bars because they stick in the teeth, but I love hot chocolate drinks, I just don't like chewing it.

Favorite Color: All shades of Red, I love the combination of Crimson Red and Shining Majestic Gold because it looks very 'Majestic', Turquoise or Mint Green because it looks very calming (my shower towel is in that color whenever I see it, it always gives me a calm feeling), and I love sunflower yellow because it gives me a happy vibe.

Favorite TV Show: How I Met Your Mother

Favorite TV Show Character: Barney from How I Met Your Mother

Favorite Pet Animal: The Red Lory Bird (Burung Nuri)

My Latest IQ Score : 110 (High Average)

My 13 abilities in order based on my own reflections:

Spiritual

Teaching

Logical

Intrapersonal

Linguistic

Interpersonal

Digital

and my not so talented abilties almost have a 0 or minus talent in these areas (in oder that I know of):

Leadership / Managerial, I prefer to work alone

Musical, although I can play The Organ

Movement /Kinesthetic, not good at any sport

Visual, I cannot imagine any image or do visualization

Mechanical, never done anything that have to do with mechanics

Natural, no attraction toward natural things, although I love all kind of flowers

Talents that I wish I had but I don't have: artistic skills like musical skill to be able to play and write music or drawing skill to be able to draw and color beautifully. Currently I have only limited skill in those areas. I wanted to be really good at one specific of art and really enjoy doing it.

#hobby #favorite #webtoon #saint #singer #album #taylor swift #language #describe

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0nlythrowharrybeaux · 2 years

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Keep Driving

OKAY, so I started this when I first heard the song and then fact checked the lyrics on apple music and I know he says “RIOT AMERICA” and not “RAYA”, IDK where in the world I saw the lyric “Raya” (probs TikTok or Spotify - they be slipping). Either way, the plot still follows “Keep Driving”. This'll be a 2 parter:)

WC: 6.4K

Also, I think I'm gonna keep making my own cover photos for my stories because this one came out soooo cute 😇

Y/N was hesitant to be on a celebrity dating app, but her friend recommended her and it seemed kind of stupid to turn down the opportunity. She wasn’t necessarily looking for love or a serious relationship, hence the hesitation. But it was a couple months into the quarantine and she was stuck at her rental home in LA and she was curious as to what kind of people she would find on there.

She was staring at the invitation on her email. She could perhaps look at this as a networking opportunity, she was an aspiring personal stylist and maybe meeting someone who knew someone who was looking for a stylist might be able to help her get her foot in the door. Sure, it was a bit opportunistic, but from what her friend had told her most of the celebs on there were looking for a hookup and often offered up some of their celebrity or perks as a “thank you”.

Fuck it.

Next thing she knew she was filling out her bio information and browsing through her photo gallery to choose some images that she felt would accurately represent her. She didn’t want to appear too over the top or sexy, she also didn’t want to be warding off Hollywood’s biggest and grodiest lechers. She also had to choose a song for her profile; how was she supposed to choose just one song to back her photos? After about overanalyzing everything on there at least 50 times she decided to just save her profile and see what happened. She did “heart” a few people who she thought were cute or had interesting profiles, there were plenty of older men on there that she wasn’t vibing with, so after about 10 minutes of searching for anyone else who would interest her she got off of the app and carried on with her night.

It had been almost a week or so before she got notified that she had matched with someone. She was nervous and avoided looking at the app all day and then finally during the evening she decided to take a peek. Y/N’s stomach was all in knots as she opened up the app and clicked the icon with the notification indicating a request to message. It was from a “Harry Selley” and the profile picture was of a guy with a camera to his face. She remembered she liked that person because they had taken really good pictures and their song was good. They had a lot of similar interests, music, food, fashion, and he had labeled himself as a photographer. If he worked freelance or even for editorials maybe they could become friends, if anything, and she could get in as a stylist for sets or something.

She looked through the profile again before she made a decision on whether to open their message request or not. Again, the photography was striking, there was one that stood out to her, the only one with a human subject. It was a picture of Harry Styles on stage in concert. She assumed they had taken it at a show or something and it was incredible! She wasn’t necessarily a devoted fan of Harry Styles, nor had she or her friends in high school been bitten with that One Direction craze. She didn’t live under a rock though, she’d heard Watermelon Sugar, among a few other songs here and there, but despite her lack of knowledge on the subject of the photo, she could admit that having such a close shot of someone like Harry Styles was a big deal. This photo in particular was one of the best action shots she had seen in a while. She decided that this person seemed interesting enough and opened up the message.

“Hiiii, I’m Harry:) I like your song!”

That was all he said and she smiled, he seemed to be a bit shy. This could be a problem because she was too. But she decided to answer in a similar manner.

Hi Harry, I’m Y/N. And I too like your song choice:)

Also, your photographs are beautiful! I love the one of that Italian village, you captured that just right. Also the one of Harry Styles. I mean, holy guacamole did you have a press pass or something because ANGLES! Haha it’s incredible!

She sent the message and exhaled before continuing with her evening. She was in the middle of watching Legally Blonde, carefully stuffing French fries in her mouth to avoid smearing her avocado face mask, when her phone pinged from the bedside table. She turned it over to see it was another Raya notification and she bit her lip anxiously as she opened it up and read the message.

It’s nice to meet you, Y/N. Well, through the Interwebs at least:) Thank you so much!

She giggled as she read it and then saw he was typing again. She decided to reach for another fry as she waited for his second message to come in.

And well, I can’t actually take credit for snapping that last one because it’s of me. But my tour photographer did an amazing job with that one.

WAIT A DAMN MINUTE. Y/N gasped when the text processed and it caused her to choke on her French fry. She started coughing up a lung as she tried to clear her airway. She had matched with thee Harry Styles? There was no fucking way! Sure she wasn’t necessarily one of his devoted fans, but she knew who he was and she wasn’t blind. The man was gorgeous. He was interested in her? The thought seemed foreign. This had to be someone trolling her. When her throat stopped burning she picked up her phone again to ensure she had read that correctly; she had.

Oh wow…ummm why is your name not… your name?

She typed and sent without thinking and then groaned as she read over her message over a few times and rolled her eyes at her stupidity.

So that’s my mum’s maiden name and I just didn’t want to like heavily advertise it was me on here.

Not that there’s anything wrong with dating apps!

I’m just kind of private about my personal life. And you know, all it takes is one person to kind of blow it for others so I just decided to change it up a bit.

Well that made sense to her. She smiled.

Yeah, I can understand that. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. I promise! Haha

********

Harry smiled upon reading her message. He appreciated that this person was trying to create a space for him that felt secure and that she had even liked his profile because it was so vague that he genuinely didn’t get tons of matches. This app required for people to have at least one photo of themselves, so he went with a google-able image to be a little safe. And he liked that despite the elusiveness of his account she had liked him.

He then asked her about how she happened upon Raya and what made her decide to actually use it. And she explained that she was just a little bored over this stay at home mandate and that in all honestly she was also trying to network. She wasn’t sure about dating someone in the limelight; he could understand the apprehension. He appreciated her honesty, she wasn’t playing games or feigning interest because he was him. She was just bored and lonely, much like he was at the moment. And upon a bit more small talk he decided that he liked her enough to continue talking with her.

**********

Harry had been feeling really good the last few weeks, he was working closely with Tom & Tyler on some music now in Shangri-La, they were planning on staying for a while. He had taken his mental break from work and had allowed himself to relax, but he was now in “create mode”. This sudden burst of creativity may or may not have been catalyzed by a certain someone called Y/N. They’ve been speaking for close to a month and had recently graduated from chats into video calls. The last couple times they had cooked meals virtually and talked about the state of things. She would often share her goals with him and he’d also tell her what his next aspirations are. Things were going really great with them to the point where he’d feel comfortable calling her a friend now. He’s glad that he met her because she has kept him afloat through the really hard days when he can’t seem to get a hold of his mum, dad, or sister.

**********

Y/N was no longer actively seeking out friends or matches on Raya, Harry was a great quarantine buddy. He always checked in on her, he was attentive and thoughtful like that. She tended to be rather detached from people, but his warm and caring way of being made her reconsider her own approach to people, so she was putting a lot more effort into doing the same for her loved ones. It made her happy when his messages would come in asking if she had time to chat and she would always answer his calls. This one was going a lot differently as she laid on her couch, looking a bit rough, but he didn’t seem to mind it one bit as he talked about how he was practically moving into the studio currently and then he said something that threw her for a loop.

“I was thinking…maybe we can meet? I mean, if you’re open to that.” He followed up quickly and she was panicking inside as he said, “Obviously, we can like take a test and make sure we’re being safe and whatnot, but I don’t know, we can go for a hike if you’re not comfortable with coming here or me going to you. I don’t know, there’s tons of things. I also have friends who live on beach front property and like they can access it pretty easily and-” he was rambling off a bunch of ideas and she was just thinking to herself that she had no reason to be nervous, they talked almost every day and she liked him, it would most definitely be better in person.

“Ummm, yeah. Let’s do it.” She interrupted him and suddenly his lips formed the most adorable smile.

“Really?”

“Yeah. We can do a little hike and if you want to come back to mine for breakfast? I don’t really trust my car heading out to Malibu. He’s an elder.” She said and he laughed at the description of her car and soon agreed to meeting at a place to hike and then go to hers for breakfast. They scheduled dates to get tested for any illness and agreed to meet up in the next few days.

*********

It was only 7:30am on a Monday and Y/N wanted to throw up as she pulled into the place her GPS had sent her to. Not just because she was nervous, but because she was on her period and she felt like god hated her for making this happen when she had something going on. She could see a single other car parked up near the gate for the trailhead and decided to just park beside it. It was an expensive car, so she figured it had to be Harry. She pulled up in her old little Miata, his car could crush hers if it wanted to. She saw a message come in on the app asking if that was her and she responded with a simple “yeah:)” before putting her mask on and stepping out of the car, he was doing the same and it felt completely surreal as he stepped out of his own car and she assumed he was smiling.

“Hi!” He greeted enthusiastically.

“Hi.” She giggled as they walked over to the sidewalk. He was a bit taller than she expected and definitely slimmer than she would think.

“Is it weird if I want to hug you?” He asked.

“No, we can…hug.” She said a bit awkwardly before they just hugged, “It feels weird to actually have another person in my arms.” She spoke against his chest.

“I know. S’nice, I missed it.” He responded, not letting go just yet.

“I was never really a hugger before, but you hug really nice.” She pointed out as she pulled back a bit to look at him and he took that as his cue to let go.

“Thanks, for a non-hugger you hug nice too.” He assured and she giggled. A small silence came over them for a moment, “So, let's ummm, get going?” He asked and she nodded.

“I’m not a hiker, I’m more into leisurely walks,” she informed, “So sorry if I’m like going slow.” She explained.

“No worries, we can take our time. M’not in a rush.” He assured. Of course, it was a little weird to actually be there with him in the flesh, but soon, that awkward feeling flushed away and he started talking about some of the things he was doing and thinking about. He was extremely insightful and smart and she could tell he was well read. And then he asked her if she liked reading.

“Sorry, no. I actually kind of hate it.” She confessed and he chuckled.

“No, that’s OK. S’not for everyone.” He assured.

“I mean, I have tried…” she elaborated, “I mean, the Twilight Saga and Fifty Shades in high school…” she said through a laugh, “But those aren’t good at all, so maybe I just haven’t found something I like to read yet. I kind of gave up on it after those.” She admitted.

“That could be… if you ever need recommendations I have plenty of things I’ve enjoyed.”

“Yeah, I’ll let you know when I’m ready to explore that again.” She giggled, “I actually really like period pieces, biopics, and docuseries, I’ve been obsessing over that new scientology one on Netflix with Leah Remini.” She said, “And if you haven’t seen it, The Queen’s Gambit, best show I’ve watched in years!” She said, “It’s about this like girl whose a chess prodigy. It’s really great.” She said excitedly.

“The fact that you’re so excited talking about it is motivating me to give it a chance.” He chuckled and she nodded.

“You really won’t regret it!”

“I must confess I started watching this one called Love is Blind with my friend. God it’s so messy but it’s absolutely addicting. And I also watched the Tiger King one.”

“Look at you, trash TV and Tiger King?” She laughed and he did as well. And just like that, things started going more smoothly. It had maybe been about an hour of them walking before they started heading back to their car, their pace a lot faster since they were both getting rather hungry. Soon she was leading him back to her place and after about a 20 minute drive they were pulling into the drive way of her home. It was like one of those two home properties and she lived in the back house. They got down from the car and then Harry grabbed a tote bag from his back seat.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I’m kind of a pretentious prick when it comes to coffee.” He explained, “Brought my roast and moka pot.” He said as she waited for him on the little path to the wooden gate that would lead to her front door. She laughed at this and he chuckled.

“I love that, that’s nice.” She beamed, “I’m a coffee drinker as well, not as picky, but definitely an addict.” She assured as she unlocked the gate and held it open for him, “It’s that little one back there.” She stated and he started heading back.

“Oh that’s cute.” He pointed out the little outdoor eating area she had under a tree in the corner of the backyard.

“Oh yeah, we can eat there if you want.” She offered as she removed her face mask, “I liked doing little meals with friends there and I have eaten there a few times, but it’s definitely better with company.” She smiled at him excitedly.

“Yeah, let’s do it then. S’nice out today.” He commented as they kept going to her front door, “Does someone live in the main house?” He asked.

“Not anymore. When I first moved out here like five or six years ago the owner, Matti lived there. With the cost of everything going up her kids helped her turn this garage into a second home, really modernized it to get someone else here to get her a little more income as a cushion and I was the lucky tenant.” She explained as she let herself in and he followed, “She’s the sweetest woman, but like almost two years ago she was diagnosed with dementia and things just started getting really hard for her kids.” She shared, slipping off her shoes and he did the same, listening as she spoke, “I would help out when I could, but at the time I was still a newbie at work and was kind of the go-to for any errands or the fix-it person for any inconveniences that happened, so I couldn’t consistently check on her.” She continued as she dropped her keys into an ashtray? He smiled at the little quirk and she then guided him to the kitchen, “Her kids ended up putting her in an assisted living facility. They were planning on doing some renovations on the main home and are letting me stay here to maintain the property while they decided whether to sell or keep renting it out.” She explained and then sighed, “Sorry, that was a lot.” She said and he shook his head.

“No, it’s alright. It was sweet of you to help her out. She’s lucky to have had you be the tenant. Everything looks nice, do you do it all yourself?” He asked.

“Not always.” She shared with him as she opened up the fridge and pulled out a carton of eggs, butter, and little bowl of potatoes. “When I have a little more income I get a gardener to reshape the hedges and trim the trees and then a housekeeper to go and do a deep clean of the home. I mean, all the furniture is covered up now since renovations were supposed to start in February, but with the state of things who knows when they’ll get to start.” She explained.

“I see. Well it’s nice, I like it, it’s cozy and it smells really nice in here.” He said and she smiled.

“Thanks.” She replied timidly and he chuckled.

“Yeah, can I help with anything?” He asked her.

“Mmm, there are some strawberries in the fridge, if you want to grab some and just wash them so we can get a little fruit salad going.” She suggested and he nodded and found them and got to work on washing and she set out a cutting board and knife for him, “You can grab whatever from the fruit bowl to add to the salad.” She informed as she started shredding the potatoes on a grater.

“Perfect.” He responded. They were currently facing away from each other, so he wanted to keep talking with her to not waste any time, “So what is one thing I need to know about you?” He asked and she hummed pensively.

“Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. Well, maybe I just like breakfast foods, I could eat it whenever. Especially hash browns. They’re my favorite thing, with an egg sunny side up.” She hummed as she kept grating.

“S’that what you’re making now?” He asked.

“Yeah.” She giggled, “Do you like hash browns? Or should I reconfigure your dish?” She asked.

“No, I like them too. I like breakfast foods too, pancakes are a favorite.” He smiled as he shared.

“Yeah, pancakes are good, I like the fruity syrups. The blueberry one is everything.” She commented.

“Mmmm, that’s where you’re wrong. Plain old maple syrup is the way to go. Every time.” He tagged in and they started a discussion about that.

Soon enough, Y/N was cooking up the hash browns in one pan and the eggs in the other while Harry made them some coffee. Finally, they were plating things up and heading out to the garden. The metal, yellow dining set had some floral patterned pads on the seats and the top was glass, completely spot free. She did take care of everything so well, as if it were her own. It was nearly noon when they were washing up the dishes and soon saying their goodbyes. Y/N didn’t want him to go, he seemed to fit in her space pretty wonderfully.

“It was really great to actually spend some time with you. I had a lovely time.” Harry said to her as they walked side by side to the gate that would lead him back to his car.

“I had a lovely time with you too.” She promised.

“Maybe we can do it again sometime soon?”

“A little Monday ritual, perhaps?” She asked and he hummed.

“I like that!” He smiled brightly, “If you’re OK with that let's plan for it, yeah?” He asked and she nodded.

“Yeah, sounds good.” She agreed as she opened up the gate to let him out and he followed her through, tote bag on his shoulder, he smiled at her.

“Honestly, it was so nice to get out and spend time with you.” He said again.

“Yeah, you too.” She assured, “Hug goodbye?” She asked and he grinned boyishly.

“Thought you’d never ask.” He beamed before extending his arms and they hugged for a moment.

“Be safe out there and let me know when you make it back. Just to know you’ve made it safe. And ummm, we’ll keep in touch.”

“Yeah.” He hummed before releasing her and heading to his car. She waved him off before heading back inside. He did text her as soon as he got in and she was able to continue with the rest of her day calmly.

*********

“How’d it go?” Tom practically sung as Harry walked into the living area of the studio. Harry just grinned bashfully as he walked further in and plopped down into the giant bean bag and sunk into it.

“Really well.” He smiled, looking at Tom who was working on his laptop, “She’s so sweet and she’s beautiful. She’s funny, genuine, and fun to be around.”

“That’s good.” Tom smiled back, “You seeing her again?”

“Think so. We talked about maybe doing breakfast once a week. Maybe I can get her out here at some point, show her around…”

“Yeah, woo her with the music, show her what you do. Go down to the beach… have a stroll along the shore.”

“Or a nice little picnic out on the lawn?” He questioned and Tom smiled.

“Yeah, that’s nice.” He assured.

Harry had been having a rough time in dealing with his past heart break. He had been doing a lot of soul searching and was figuring out his place in the world and it was good to see him excited about something other than work. Who knew where things would go with this girl he had met, but he knew that people didn’t have to be in each others’ lives forever to make a positive impact, Tom had reminded his young friend of that many times. He hoped that for the duration of their time here Harry’d get something good out of it.

***********

It was the third Monday that Harry and Y/N had now met up for breakfast, when Y/N stepped out with the plates of toast, avocado, and roast tomatoes she smiled as she saw Harry snapping a picture of the current set up on the table. It was just the moka pot, his espresso and her mug, the soft boiled eggs and an orange he had probably picked from the tree planted near the other end of the yard.

“Cute.” She hummed as she approached and as soon as he finished up he turned back to her.

“What should I call it?” He asked as he set his camera down and walked over to grab one of the plates from her hand.

“Mmmm…Moka Pot Monday!” She grinned happily at her clever play on words and he chuckled.

“I actually really like that. Can I use it.”

“Yeah, alright.” Y/N hummed her agreement before they started assembling their breakfast toasts.

“So, I was thinking that maybe you can come out to Shangri-La next week?” He said, in the form of a question though and she started coughing as the food somehow didn’t pass smoothly down her throat, “Oh my god, are you OK?” He asked over her coughing. Reaching over and gently patting her back. After several moments she was able to catch her breath and groaned from the soreness in her throat.

“Bit off more than I could chew.” She rasped out jokingly and he chuckled as he handed her the coffee mug so she could drink some down to clear the uncomfortable feeling in her throat. Once she had she sighed and was able to relax.

“So what do you think?” He asked, “Would you like to come out there? Maybe on Friday afternoon? We could have dinner out on the lawn.The sea view is quite striking. I could show you around, show you some stuff I’m working on… or we can go down to the beach and walk for a bit.”

“Ummm, yeah actually that sounds really nice.” She smiled and he returned the gesture.

With each week they met up he’d been staying longer and longer. This day was no exception. Harry and Y/N had migrated back inside from their breakfast and he was laid out on her couch scrolling through Netflix, trying to find something for them to watch.

“One of my friends recommended Narcos: Mexico to me, if you’ve seen it, do you think I’d like it?” He thought aloud as he sat up and looked to the kitchen where she was reaching up to put some popcorn in the microwave.

Today she was wearing a cut-out tank top and with her reaching up like that he had a perfect view of the side of her breast from the enlarged armhole. It’d been a while since he’d been with anyone, and it’s not like he’d seen her whole boob. But just seeing the side of it had his mind drifting off to somewhere less than pure. Just that glimpse had him visualizing his large hands tearing off her top and groping at her breasts. Sucking his marks into the tender and warm flesh until they were littered in red and pink little blossoms shaped of his lips. Sucking at her nipples until the little buds were hard and extremely sensitive. To such an extent that she was nice and wet for him between her legs, nearly withering in her knickers from the way he would be tonguing at her nipples while guiding her to grind against his thigh. God, he’d been dying to find the perfect time to kiss her, he didn’t want to move too fast, but he just really liked her and he just wanted to do it.

“Well, I’ve heard from friends that it just gets real intense because the Mexican cartels got a little crazy with smuggling cocaine. Can’t imagine how it’s any different from the Colombia one. That one was brutal…have you seen that one?” She asked and he hadn’t responded and she glanced over at him and just saw him staring at her chest. She bit her lip to suppress her need to laugh. Such a boy… “Yo!” She called loudly and his eyes snapped up to her face and his face immediately went pink when he realized he’d been caught staring.

“Shit. I’m sorry.” He mumbled before looking away and she bit her lip again, holding back the grin that was threatening to split her lips as she made her way over to the couch. She wasn’t going to lie to herself, she had been curious about him too. About how it would feel to be wrapped in his arms, or hold his hand, or to learn how he kissed, and how, or even if, he’d put into action whatever little fantasy was swimming in his mind as he stared at her breasts.

“It’s OK.” She assured and he refused to meet her eyes as he shook his head.

“Should at least be discreet while sexualizing someone.” He muttered shamefully and she giggled.

“Hey, look at me.” She insisted. He breathed out loudly and let his eyes meet hers and she smiled, “S’not awful to occasionally be sexualized. It boosts the ego a little, to know someone you’re into finds you desirable in that way, no?” She reasoned and he chuckled a bit timidly.

“Yeah, I think that’s true.” He responded and then glanced to her again, “Wait.” He said, fighting off a grin.

“What?”

“You said ‘someone you’re into’. You’re into me?” He asked with a little grin still fighting for its rightful place on his face and it was her turn to get all bashful.

“I mean… yeah.” She shrugged, feeling nervous and her heart pounding a million beats a minute. Just then the microwave sounded off that the popcorn was ready and she was about to stand to head back over to the kitchen when his hand wrapped around her wrist.

“Can I kiss you?” He asked and she bit her lip and nodded almost dumbly and he moved up closer to her, the tip of his nose skimming down the length of her nose. Her breathing started to become shallow as her whole body buzzed with anticipation. His lips then landed on her cheek, close to the corner of her mouth, “There.” He mumbled before pulling back, looking into her eyes; they were full of need. Her pupils were blown wide and her breathing was still ragged with her bottom lip bitten even harder beneath her top teeth. He was testing her resolve, trying her patience, wanting to see just how much he could wind her up before she burst. She smiled at the little kiss he left on her cheek and didn’t push for any more than he was willing to give.

“M’gonna get the popcorn.” She responded and he nodded and let her go. After a few moments she was setting the popcorn bowl on the coffee table before settling into the couch beside him, at a normal distance.

“So what are we watching?”

“Ummm… I don’t know.” He said handing her the remote. He was the one with the intent to tease her but for some reason he was the one feeling frazzled and she was just acting as if nothing had happened. He was still in high tension, but maybe it's because he was already turned on to begin with.

“They have Inception… you ever seen it?”

“No actually.” He said and she stopped and turned towards him with her jaw dropped.

“How do you feel about mind fucks?” She asked and he grinned before he chuckled, “Like good ones, not ones that leave you all anxious and shit like Uncut Gems or Vivarium.”

“Like what?” He asked and she groaned.

“Harry, honey…” she sighed, looking almost pained at his question and he chuckled, “Well just to say the latter two films are like unsettling and Inception isn’t, it’s still a mind fuck but exciting and not in an awful and unsettling way. It’s like about using dreams to manipulate people, it’s actually really sick.” She explained and he couldn’t stop staring at her lips as she spoke passionately.

“Can I kiss you?” He asked again.

“Didn’t we already do this?” She asked with her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“For real this time.” He assured and she hummed.

“I don’t trust you.” She grinned and he chuckled.

“I mean, I get why, but the first time I just got nervous and I was trying to see if you wanted to kiss me as much as I wanted to kiss you, but you didn’t like, react how I expected so I just… kind of froze.”

“And how did you expect me to react?” She asked and he shrugged.

“Thought you’d fight a little harder to get an actual kiss. I didn’t expect you to just shrug it off.”

“You thought I’d just throw myself at you.” She stated factually.

“When you say it like that it sounds unsavory,” he scowled a bit, “but… kind of yeah.” He confirmed and she smiled softly and exhaled before speaking.

“I mean, honestly, m’not desperate for anything to go physically further with you.” She stated, “Whatever you want is cool with me and if all you were willing to do on your own was give a kiss on the cheek then I’m OK with that and won’t push for more.” She explained her decision to just move on from their little moment, “Now, we can watch Inception. I think you’ll like it.” She decided as she faced the TV again and criss-crossed her legs onto the couch as she found the title and started it.

Harry was quite shocked at her response, this wasn’t an experience he had often. He somehow felt humbled by her, put in his place. He was shy and never wanted to be the person to pressure another person into something they didn’t want; it helped that people tended to be more forward with him. He was scared of pushing this from a friendship to more, he was kind of hoping she would be the one to do it, but it didn’t seem like she was budging. And if she was bluffing about not being desperate for more with him physically he really couldn’t tell, so he decided to go for it.

“Y/N,” Harry spoke and she hummed in acknowledgement and turned to him again, “you may not be, but I am absolutely desperate to kiss you.” He confessed before leaning, his hands coming up to grab her face gently, but she didn’t close the gap, she just grinned into the small space between them, “Really?” He mumbled in irritation and she giggled before she leaned in fully and their lips molded together.

Butterflies were erupting in both of their tummies as their lips continued to move together at a lazy pace. She was a great kisser and Harry didn’t want to stop. He felt relief when she moved to get closer to him and she opened her mouth for him as his tongue timidly rolled against her bottom lip before gaining his confidence and using heavier and more intention to thrust it into her mouth. She used her hands to press his body into the back of the couch as he helped pull her onto his lap. His hands were planted on her thighs now and her hands were resting against his chest, slithering up to rest atop his collarbones as his tongue slipped inside of her mouth again and she hummed before sucking on it, making him moan from deep in his chest. She wasn’t even thinking about it, just lost in the kiss when one of her hands was resting over his throat, right under his jaw, and her fingers were adding pressure to the sides of it making him groan deeper and for his fingers to dig into her thighs harshly, their eyes fluttered open and met as they slightly pulled apart.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to.” she rushed out as her eyes met his, they both were wearing these dazed and dark looks as he leaned back in to kiss her and before she even realized what was happening his right hand was wrapped around her throat and he did as she did to him, but intentionally; he squeezed at the sides her throat gently to restrict the airflow. Immediately her hand fell down to his chest again and her eyes fluttered closed as she moaned into the small space between them, stalling their kiss.

“Look at you.” He hummed, “Fucking love this don’t you?” He teased and she nodded as best as she could, her entire body was covered in goosebumps as he tightened his grip a bit more for just a moment before letting go all together and inhaling deeply as he sucked her bottom lip into his mouth and sunk his teeth into it before letting go. Y/N felt like she was on fire from the inside out, she was losing her cool, but she gathered herself once more as she stayed in his lap, staring right into his eyes as they both silently decided what was coming next.

“Need to stop before I get carried away.” He said quietly.

“Good idea.” She responded and he just pecked her lips once more before helping her find a more comfortable seat and then they continued with the film they were watching. After the film was over she walked him out, like she usually did.

“See you next week. And I was serious about you coming out to Malibu.” He reminded and she nodded.

“Yeah, I know. I’ll see you soon.” She smiled, watching as he reached for the car door and he stopped and hurried back to the gate where she was waiting to see him off and he grabbed her face and kissed her once more. But one quick kiss led to another and another until she was smooshed between the gate and his body as they kissed through smiles and giggles, they weren’t even sure how long they’d been standing there for.

“OK, ok, ok…” Y/N mumbled as Harry bit down on her bottom lip, turning her on beyond belief.

“Sorry, just really like kissing you.” He responded.

“Same, but you need to go. Your friends were expecting you.” She reminded. Right. He thought to himself. After all, he was in the middle of writing for a new album.

“Yes. Yes they were.” He confirmed and kissed her cheek before groaning and pushing off the fence and hurrying into the car. She smirked at him and he was doing the same as they stared through the windshield. She wiggled her fingers, waving him off as he pulled out of her driveway and he did the same before taking off. He couldn’t wait to see her again.

Read Part 2

#harry styles fanfic #harry styles #writing #friends to lovers #harry styles fluff #fluffy #0nlythrowharrybeaux #harry's house

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makapatag · 2 years

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Southeast Asian Fantasy, Scott Watanabe's Raya, and Gubat Banwa 5

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Gonna skip forward a bit to the other cool parts.

The dragon boat rowing stuff is arguably Southeast Asian, but it's still a traditional Chinese thing. And of course the armors and all are very East Asian, though from what I know the Dai Viet had very similar armors. Now I'm left to wondering if they could do a "Southeast Asian setting with Fantasy!China as a major player" as China was historically, during the height of the Maritime Nusantara Trading Network.

Here Scott starts enumerating each of the Five Cultures of Makara. Aside from the stellar art of course, Heart's clothing resembles Javanese or Thai or Cambodian even Balinese clothing! With that sarong like thing closed in by a belt. That's really cool. And with the hair style too, being that chignon style, is afaik also something seen even in Precolonial Philippines (which wasn't as Indianized as their western brethren, though they probably also had the sarong + belt combo). Fang can maybe pass of for Dai Viet, but Spine is not something I could confidently say passes for Southeast Asian. Maybe Mongolian? Tail could somewhat pass for Indonesian as well, although it's a bit non-traditional, with the belt and all, but the textiles and knots can work. Claw is reminiscent of the clothing of various Lumad (indigenous people) folk here in the Philippines, such as the Bagobo's and the Yakan, so that's another mark in their favor.

I think Raya's setting could've benefitted from it being a lot more huge than just Southeast Asian. It covers most of the Southeast and East Asian world, from the Steppes to the Seas. That would've been cool.

Here's the cool shit. Most of the lore isn't inherently tied down to any particular Southeast Asian folklore as far as I know, but its aesthetics are very Southeast Asian. Particularly the Hindu-Buddhist trappings of the Indianized states, like Angkor Wat and Majapahit.

It's cool af worldbuilding though.

This one in particular, the Mother Dragon Temple:

Now that looks like Angkor Wat. A huge temple complex. This shit rocks. Temples like this in Gubat Banwa wouldn't be found in the Sword Isles, but rather, in the places with larger landmasses, such as Madaki and Malirawat.

I also love this one. Some fucking good as fuck worldbuilding and some very Southeast Asian aesthetics. The compound reflects the compound of richer folk in kampung in the Malay and Indonesian area, and the roofs and walls feel very Southeast Asian. Like wow, especially with the pentagonal lore (irl SEA houses were decidedly square and being square had geomantic reasonings across many of the cultures (each side of the house must face a particular side etc. for good health etc., and among the Tausugs one would build a house facing a certain direction depending on the month, so that it faces the Naga as it circles the universe).

I absolutely love this piece of lore. On or beside a water source is one of the most obvious and common places for SEA settlements to be built on. Love this shit. Stuff like this makes me wish that Raya was a TV Series Epic instead sometimes.

Watanabe then goes on to detail various cultural details, like Pearl's greeting gestures (which are cool), and Talon here, which is a nomadic culture and are very much inspired by the Steppe nomads of northern Asia than any Southeast Asian setting.

Anyway, that's most of Scott's art. I skimmed over others (like the aforementioned hand gestures) so if you want to see those, head over to his site! https://www.scottwatanabeart.com/raya-and-the-last-dragon

Now I'll go on to talk a bit about anachronisms, idealisms, and consumerisms as I mentioned in the first post.

Anachronisms deals in the fact that so much of our culture is spread across large swathes of time, and this will inevitably lead to some anachronisms. A Precolonial Philippine setting with pancit canton or lumpia, for example, is anachronistic, since those two iconic dishes came in only during the Spanish Era, when trade with China boomed. I personally kind of love anachronisms, but only if they're there to heighten both the aesthetic and cultural experience of a setting. So for Gubat Banwa, I'm good with making it so that there are places that sell pancit canton like ramen shops, even though that's way out of the inspiration's timeline, because one: it looks cool and I love pancit, and two: it heightens the cultural experience. Pancit canton and lumpia are Filipino food staples, so I want to put them in for a hyper fantasy Philippine setting. This goes the same for other Southeast Asian settings: if you do Ancient Vietnam, will Champa be part of it? Because Champa was a huge part of Classical Southeast Asia. Much of Indonesian and Malay culture have been influenced by Islam, but their largest empires: Srivijaya and Majapahit, are both decidedly Hindu-Buddhist states, so there will be a dissonance of values and cultures if not taken into account.

Idealisms deal in "how we want to see ourselves". If I wrote an accurate Precolonial Fantasy setting, there would be a lot of things gone. The notion of huge cities fortified with walls would be scaled down considerably. The notion of giant towers and pagodas and statues would be gone. However, this is Fantasy. When going about writing for Gubat Banwa, I didn't particularly want to write something accurate. Rather, I wanted to write something idealistic. Fantastic. A fantasy setting that's inspired deeply and is founded upon our own ancestries and stories. I looked to the epics and found tales of the Seven-Roofed house from the Hinilawod, and tales of the great city of Mantapoli that grew so large that the angel Gabriel had to ask permission from God to teleport it to the center of the earth, and stories of the City that was brought to heaven. Idealisms in Gubat Banwa was about making a fantasy setting that could tell stories that were centered on us, and the unique stories that could rise from that. Southeast Asian fantasy settings would be more enriched if they do the same, because Southeast Asia is a land of stories, because of the vast amounts of ethnogroups, there are so many stories waiting to be told. Philippines in particular has had so many stories during or after the Spanish era, and while Colonialism is a valid part of our national consciousness, there is of course still room for stories that aren't built upon the backdrop of Colonial Oppression and invasive cultures. Stories about our people that willingly took beliefs and religions from other places, and indigenized them. And weren't taken advantage of of course.

Consumerisms tackle the hardest part of Gubat Banwa. With such a focused and specific setting, how can one sell it? How can you ask people to partake in it, something with such little representation that people still get it wrong? At this point, all I can do is two things: try to make things a bit easier for people's palate, especially the West (I've done this in Gubat Banwa, turning some terms straight up into English, and putting resources and comparisons to similar Western concepts). The other thing is ask. Ask others to trust us and our stories, and ask them to not be afraid to fuck up a bit, just revel in our vibes, in our stories. How else will our stories be heard? It's either that or we will languish in obscurity, until the inevitable wave of neocolonialism, imperialism, and capitalism erases our stories for good.

Thanks for reading all of that. I hope you enjoyed this series of posts! Check out Gubat Banwa if you have the time, that shit as painful as it is cathartic to write. Thanks again.

#fantasy #raya and the last dragon #philippines #filipino #rpg #ttrpg #writing #folklore #gubat banwa #dnd #d&d

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shy-peacock · 2 years

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SOME HCS FOR BENJA AND HIS HUSBAND AU THAT I MADE UP RIGHT NOW~

-His name is Joey

-Raya met him when she was three “officially” as Daddy’s partner. She couldn’t say Joey so she said “Dody” (doe-dee). They have no idea why she couldn’t say Joey but it was so cute and it stuck hard that even as an adult she calls him “Dody”

-Raya’s Mom, Benja and Joey have a great relationship. No animosity or awkwardness as they all love Raya equally. Benja has sole custody and her Mom gets to see her a few times a year at holidays or family reunions.

-However- her Mom’s family can be rude as they aren’t all too accepting. Making the reunions tense but the holidays chill as it’s usually hosted at Benja and Joey’s home.

-Benja’s the Dad that cooks (and Joey drives them to McDonalds when he tries a “special” recipe that comes out awful)

-Joey’s the Dad that does her hair (Benja picks out her outfits until she’s old enough for her own style)

-Benja is into hiking, Joey is into basketball

-Benja is the passive/joking parent that can make Raya laugh with a simple “dad joke”

-Joey is the agressive parent that will walk Raya down to the bully’s house down the street and demand to see their parents (to get back the toy they stole from her)

-Benja “she needs to learn how to fight her own battles-she’s gonna be a toughie”

-Joey “No BOY is gonna make my daughter cry?!?!”

-both their teachings is why Raya is so headstrong (half because of independence instilled by Benja and half because Joey taught her to not take shit from people who wouldn’t acknowledge her worth)

-when Raya brings home different partners Joey puts them in the hot seat while Benja plays good cop. Ultimately Joey likes them more if he’s harder on them where Benja dislikes them more the nicer he is to them. But when Namaari and her date at last, both get along with her immediately (prompting Raya to know she’s “the one”)

-Joey is of Talon region. He’s got unusually light hair that is a mix of blonde and grey with dark skin. He’s average height and skinny and his hair is very short (thin like and above the ears) and dresses in more clean-cut formal/masculine style but loves all fashion styles as well.

-He loves the color blue and reads a LOT.

-he comes up with fascinating stories off the fly and tells them to Raya each night

(I’ll think of more later and again- just an OC I think would be neat for Benja’s partner 😂. Y’all don’t have to Stan him)

#ratld #ratld au #chief benja #Benja #raya and the last dragon #raya #princess raya #rayamaari modern au

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thedragonnerd · 3 years

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Rayaari headcanon - growing up in the foster system AU

(inspired by this lovely anon)

Raya is placed in a group home when she is five. She can't really remember her parents, or anything about the accident that led to her being placed at the orphanage, but she carries the scars on her face for the rest of her life - reminders of how her life changed so dramatically at such a young age.

She also can't actually remember meeting Namaari. Later, when she searches her memories, they are always simply 'Raya-and-Namaari', a rambunctious duo who do everything together.

Namaari lost part of her left arm in an accident, and carrying such serious scars at a young age is perhaps why they feel they are kindred spirits. However it happens, they are inseparable from the moment they are both placed at the orphanage. And if any of the other children try to tease either of them about their respective scars, the other will happily begin an argument, resulting in actual fist fights so often that they receive endless 'time out's from their carers.

Whenever Raya suffers from a nightmare, Namaari will shuffle out of bed, crawling instead under the covers beside Raya and whispering a quiet 'there, there' as she pats Raya's shoulder.

No child in the orphanage has many personal belongings, or a sense of 'owning' much. Therefore, at any available opportunity, there is jealous hoarding whenever books, toys or sweet treats are gifted. Raya will secretly save her sweets however, and happily share with Namaari, since she knows how much her friend loves sugary food.

When they are seven, they braid together bracelets out of string, and tie them around each other's wrist. 'Friends forever?' Raya asks, and Namaari solemnly shakes her hand. They agree to never remove the bracelets, as a sign of their vow of friendship.

When they are eight, they are moved to a foster home in order to have better care. Virana is a strict parental figure, but she loves all of the children in her home fiercely, no matter where they have come from, and how long they stay with her. Namaari and Raya never even considered there would be a possibility that they would be separated, so they go to their new home happily enough. Virana already has a couple of older children living with her, including a teenager called Sisu, who at first Raya assumes is a Cool Older Teen, but in the end is a dork who loves playing make-believe with them.

Raya has her very first real birthday party at Virana's house, celebrating her ninth birthday in style. She receives a beautiful dragon pendant from Namaari, who had dragged Virana around several stores before finding the perfect gift, and Raya wears it with pride. It's the first time she owns anything that is not just sentimental in value, but actually cost something significant.

A couple of months later, Raya is adopted. Her adoptive parents seem like nice people, especially Benja, her potential new father figure, and so at first she is excited. They bring her presents and seem happy to spend time with her, listening to whatever she wants to talk to them about, and showing her pictures of a boy called Boun who is apparently their biological son.

But when it comes time to actually join her adoptive parents, she has to be dragged out of the house almost kicking and screaming when it hits her that she will truly be separated from Namaari.

Virana holds onto Namaari's hand tightly as Raya gets loaded into the car. As it begins to pull away, Raya's tearful small face peering through the rear window, Namaari breaks free, running after the car desperately until it pulls into the distance.

Benja feels awful as he hears Raya's sobs from the backseat of the car; he had discussed with his wife about adopting two children, but they truly can only support one, considering they have another very young child at home already.

Raya is determined to hate her new house, and her new 'parents', angry at how they've brought her to a city miles away from Namaari. But they are genuinely good people who want to create a place for her in the family, and over the months she softens towards them.

A year later, she is forced to untie the friendship bracelet Namaari had made for her, as it is becoming too tight around her wrist thanks to a recent growth spurt. Benja finds her crying over the bracelet in the bathroom. 'Come with me, Dewdrop,' he says, gathering her up. They find an extra piece of ribbon to tie at both ends of the string braid, making a bracelet that can now be adjusted as Raya grows. Afterwards, Raya says 'I love you' to Benja for the first time.

Over the years, Raya tries to find Namaari again. But Namaari had no surname that she knew, and Raya cannot recall Virana's last name either. Her parents only dealt with the agency, so even with them all trying, their searches come up empty. Raya feels more despondent each time they fail to find Namaari, and at some point says to her family that perhaps she should give up looking, considering it always ends in heartbreak.

As he grows up, Boun sees how difficult this perpetual failure is for his older sister, and unbeknownst to Raya, continues his searching online, scouring social media platforms endlessly.

Two days before her nineteenth birthday, Raya receives a text from Boun asking her to meet him for coffee. When she arrives at the cafe, he meets her at the entrance, and before she can ask him what is going on, he points to a table in the far corner of the room, and then slips out the door behind her.

Sat in the corner is a beautiful young woman, with stylish and shiny dark hair, and a metallic-looking prosthetic arm resting on the tabletop. As Raya approaches, the woman tucks her hair behind her ear nervously, and Raya can see a slightly frayed braided piece of string wrapped around the woman's finger as a ring, in sharp contrast to the beautifully designed earrings being worn.

''Maari?' she asks, hardly daring to believe. Namaari's head shoots up, and their gaze meets for the first time in almost a decade. 'Raya?' she asks in return, and then they are hugging tightly.

#rayaari #raya and the last dragon #raya and namaari #ratld #raya #namaari #raymaari #raya ends up connecting with virana and sisu again also #namaari was never adopted but actually stayed with virana #sisu also continued to stay there when she hit eighteen #virana would never make them leave #this one was lovely to write #found family is just *chef's kiss*#i had foster siblings when i was a kid #all the headcanons #raya/namaari #raya x namaari #sisu #virana

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riddlerosehearts · 2 years

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just rewatched raya and the last dragon for the first time since it came out, so... here's some scattered thoughts on it. be warned that i didn't rewatch the movie until now because i felt very lukewarm to it on my first viewing and while i feel more positively about it after a second viewing, i’m still not giving it 100% glowing praise, and also be warned that this post is probably an absolute mess because i didn’t bother to try perfectly organizing everything or do much editing:

- i love the shadow puppet/2d sequences, like at the very beginning and when raya’s father asks what she knows about the lands and the couple of 2d scenes they do later on, those parts were so cool to see and i think they're my favorite bits of animation in the whole movie tbh

- i also love raya’s messy hair and sisu’s fur (mostly how well-animated it is more than the design itself), i love how the animation looks when raya and her friends transform back from being turned to stone, i love the environments all throughout the movie, the palace in heart is beautiful, fang is beautiful, i love all the gorgeous lanterns in talon, and although i’m generally a fan of bright colors i do i like how this movie’s more muted/dark color palette is really unique for disney!! thought some of the water animation was a bit weird--the water itself i liked, i loved the scene when sisu was swimming, but i thought sometimes the characters just didn’t look wet when they really should’ve?? i know water is pretty hard to animate though

- i hope a future kingdom hearts game adds more princesses of heart simply because i think it would be a huge missed opportunity if raya, princess of heart (honestly i forgot that was her title until now lol whoops), didn’t get to be one

- i really like that raya calls her father her ba. that’s an adorable word and i think it’s such a nice little detail. also the fact that his nickname for her is “dewdrop”. even though we don’t get to see much of it i really do like their relationship and how at first everything she’s doing is just because she so badly wants to see him again.

- the scene when raya summons sisu and all that water from the river becomes droplets of water suspended in the air that come together to form sisu herself?? another one of my favorite bits of animation in the movie

- speaking of sisu: i understand why people think her dragon form looks like elsa seeing as she has the same general style of face that disney’s been using for most of their 3d girls, and she’s blue... but i just cannot manage to look at her and see elsa and maybe that’s because their personalities and the ways they carry themselves are so incredibly different. and also because i like to think elsa as a dragon would definitely not be all fuzzy (dragon anna might be fuzzy though, i think that would suit her).

- however i also am not the biggest fan of sisu’s design in general and i’m sad about it because i was absolutely in love with this concept art they showed back in 2019:

i understand that concept art is just that, concept art, and will often drastically vary from the final product by nature, but we saw concept art of raya and tuktuk the same time we saw this and they stayed the same. why couldn’t sisu look more like this design :(

- i do like her human form though, i have to admit i think that design is very cute.

- apparently the novelization reveals that dep la means best friend?? that’s cool and all but i’m still pretending that it means beautiful like i heard it did when the movie first came out.

- i forgot sisu said cats have no souls. worst disney character ever 0/10 /s (that honor actually goes to john smith.)

- jokes that at least made me chuckle: “i still have a big chunk of it” “is that supposed to make me feel better? if you lost a puppy, and i said ‘well, we still have a big chunk of it!’, would that make you feel better?” (mostly for the way awkwafina delivered the line)

- jokes that did not land with me at all: all of the rest of them, unfortunately.

- i don’t... understand the scene at the talon port where raya asks sisu to lay low and stay on the boat and instead she walks into a trap with that old woman. like i don’t understand the point of it so maybe someone can explain it to me?? but what i saw was that she blindly trusted someone and faced consequences for it, quickly apologized to raya for betraying her trust (lol i wish) leaving, and then raya tells her the world is different now and you can’t trust anyone and it looks like they’re gonna have a little chat about that... but that’s immediately dropped in favor of cute little con baby shenanigans. sisu was undeniably in the wrong there and i not only don’t get why she wasn’t allowed to be wrong in the narrative, but if they weren’t gonna have an actual conversation about how maybe trust needs to be earned first or something, and sisu wasn’t ever gonna learn from it (like maybe by not doing the exact same thing when they go to spine), then i just don’t get why the entire thing was there and it seems to go somewhat against the lesson the movie is trying to teach? but maybe i’m misinterpreting it lol

- i also don’t understand the whole “maybe the world’s broken because you don’t trust anyone” thing sisu says ajkfdgfds the entire problem happened literally because raya did trust namaari when she shouldn’t have?? but you know who was wrongfully distrustful 6 years ago? literally everyone else. in fact, raya was raised in a world where nobody trusted anyone outside their own tribe and when she was willing to reach out and offer her trust, she was betrayed! if i were her i would feel the exact same way she does.

- “i know how to push namaari’s buttons” did they keep running into each other and fighting each other over those six years we didn’t see or were they originally supposed to be friends for more than like, half a day?? actually that’d be really cool tbh, if their friendship lasted a few months at least or even if they’d already known each other before all the tribes met up at heart.

- i think sisu’s design individually doesn’t bother me as much as just. this:

i just wish all the dragons together were more visually distinct from each other. if they have to all be fluffy, can’t they at least have slightly different faces? they’re not differentiated by anything other than their horn shapes and colors and i just think it’s a little boring, but not too big a deal imo.

- narratively i like this scene, though!! i like how raya and sisu’s relationships with trust are contrasted with each other as she explains that her siblings putting their trust in her was deeply empowering and that’s why she has so much faith in others and specifically in namaari. i like how raya shows that deep, deep down she does still want to trust namaari again and bring back kumandra like her father dreamed of, but she’s been hurt so badly that she just doesn’t know how at this point. i like how sisu gives her the hope that she needs...

- and i love the scene after where namaari reveals to her mother that seeing sisu has given her hope as well, that she too wants to fix things and now believes they can, because she never actually wanted to hurt anyone. she really is a dragon nerd and at least on some level, her initial friendship with raya was real. i love the way her mother ends up convincing her that working with raya to bring everyone back would be a bad thing because fang will be hated and blamed for what happened, leading her to think she has no choice but to betray raya a second time. i find her mother’s characterization a little confusing tbh and i personally wish she was a bit more villainous than she is, but i love namaari herself. she’s a very interesting and complex antagonist with an awesome design.

- although i’ve gotta admit i don’t really understand what her mother’s plan was--either at the beginning or later in the movie--and i wish fang was developed better in general?? like. fang did in fact cause the problem at the beginning of the movie, whether they meant to or not, and they seem to be very safe and prosperous from what i can tell which confuses me because was the rice thing namaari mentions at the beginning just a ruse to get sympathy or are they genuinely struggling that terribly with resources, that they can hardly afford/access something like rice? i wish it was clear that they were and that namaari was driven by her people actually really struggling and starving while her mother was afraid of things being even worse for them if everyone came back and then hated them, or something along those lines. maybe that was the intention but if so then i feel like it wasn’t very well explained.

- AND i also wonder, what is sisu’s special power?? maybe this is just me being stupid because i know she’s a water dragon and says she’s a strong swimmer but is that literally it? is that really even a power? i kinda wish there was a thing where like. she didn’t have any and had an inferiority complex about it and that’s why her siblings trusting her was so meaningful to her.

- the whole “we don’t have sisu’s magic anymore but we can still put the gem together and use it because it’s not about magic, it’s about trust” thing is admittedly very cheesy but i also think it’s very cute and i kinda love it tbh. i love that in that moment, namaari has to be the one to trust raya that putting the gem together will work even though she has no reason to believe that, and raya has to trust not just that namaari will do the right thing but that her companions will trust her and be willing to follow her lead. resulting in the antagonist of the movie standing up and fixing her own mistake as she understands that she is worthy of trust and love. also she did not have to put her hand on raya’s shoulder before being turned to stone but she did anyway?? gay

- honestly i just know that if one of them had been a man this would’ve been that one emotionally charged moment where they suddenly realize that somewhere along the way, despite everything that’s happened to them and between them and what a long and difficult road it was for them to get here, somehow they fell in love, and then they kiss:

- i mean, come on, just look at them??

- seeing namaari pulled into the hug at the end was so heartwarming and sweet. i wish there was time to flesh out her character and her motivations a little more and show more scenes of her being a sympathetic character prior to the last 10 minutes of the movie, but i honestly don’t care that she didn’t say the words “i’m sorry”, i think she showed well enough that she was through her actions and facial expressions.

- but for someone who has trust issues as a result of trauma that came about when she trusted someone too deeply too quickly, i wish raya had been able to spend longer than a single scene distrusting boun... or anyone for that matter?? she trusts the con baby immediately after getting her stuff back, though to be fair the con baby is an orphaned baby, but tong had them tied up and was threatening them and less than 5 minutes later raya trusts him to stay back and keep everyone safe just because he revealed that he was the only one in spine who didn’t get turned to stone. idk i just felt like all the scenes of the people from the different lands joining raya’s group were a little rushed (as was namaari’s redemption to be completely honest, even though i did like it) and i guess i wish the movie was like 10 minutes longer, maybe.

- especially because like, i kinda didn’t even really care very much about tong or noi or the three monkey things? i think boun is adorable, fun, and full of personality but the rest of them fell flat to me and i don’t think it’s just because this movie was juggling a bit of a large cast, because encanto showed that it’s possible to have tons of side characters in one movie who all feel memorable and get some time to shine.

- also i wish there was some sort of hint that the way all these people from the different lands came together helped inspire and unite everyone at the end, and that all the people of kumandra were now going to be generally friendly and willing to reach out and help each other, which is another thing i felt was rushed--i remember the first time i watched it i was just like “wait, that’s it??” when it ended. i know we can expect that everything works out since it’s a disney movie, but i just would’ve liked to see a bit more of the aftermath.

- overall, i think... the message the movie is trying to tell about trust is a little messy (as is the general tone of the movie imo), but i think what it’s trying to say is not that you should immediately trust everyone no matter what but that sometimes people may do bad things for misguided reasons, such as because they’re all alone in the world and will do anything to survive, or because the people who raised them taught them that they’re only doing what’s best for their people, but you shouldn’t immediately write them off and even if you don’t think you can trust them anymore, they just might surprise you if you’re willing to give them a chance and get to know them. and i think with the scenes with raya trusting the different group members so quickly, they were trying to do a thing where they’d gradually build her trust: sisu is someone who she’d obviously wanna befriend, boun is more neutral, and from then on she meets people who show increasing levels of hostility until she’s able to talk to them and come to understand them. as a concept i like that, i just think they did it too quickly, but... *sigh*, it’s a disney cartoon with an hour and a half runtime. it’s fine, i guess.

- i haven’t talked enough about raya herself so here we go: i actually love her anger and resentment, her trust issues, and her character arc. i love how her character shows that anger, on its own, is... pretty neutral. anger at namaari’s betrayal caused her to be blinded by rage and rush to fight namaari on her own despite the danger everyone, including her friends, were going to be in. anger channeled into fear caused her to hastily toss her sword out and, together with namaari, accidentally cause sisu’s death (i mean if i’m being honest i think the blame her is like, 80-20, but the movie wants us to think they’re equally at fault... which i hate, but oh well--i guess the point was supposed to be that they messed up together so they have to fix it together, i just wish that was executed a little better). but anger at her father’s death, however, gets channeled into hope that she can fix the world if she can only find sisu, and then she does. i love that she’s not the optimist here, that’s sisu’s role, but she’s still able to take her bitterness and pain and let it drive her to do all she can to try and get her father back. her anger at the injustice that occured and desire to fix it is what keeps her from giving up for those six years, and without it she may have never found sisu and ultimately saved the world and brought kumandra back.

- (and on that note i also think it’s interesting that trust ended up seeming like a bit of a neutral thing, but i’m not sure that’s what the movie was going for and if it was then i wish that had been shown a little better, such as, like i said before, with the scene at the talon port having more of a payoff and effect on sisu’s character. it would’ve been nice to see her have a bit more development. not to mention that there’s a difference between sisu’s own siblings trusting her, and raya having to trust complete strangers in a broken world or people like namaari who’ve hurt her before--it would’ve been nice to see this brought up imo.)

- anyway, raya is a very relatable and complex character and i love that she has this arc of learning to let go of her anger and hurt and learn to trust again. her entire character has a lot of traits i tend to love in other characters, and if only i were more attached to the movie she comes from she might’ve been one of my favorite disney girls. maybe someday she will be, because it’s very possible that raya and the last dragon will grow on me more over time. i probably need to give it another rewatch in a little while, one where i don’t think too hard about the movie’s pacing or morals and just try to enjoy the ride. because ultimately this is just a disney movie and it is a fun one! i like it! it just didn’t grab me and make me fall completely in love with it like luca or encanto did, but i am still glad it exists and means a lot to the people who do really love it.

- i’ve never seen any fanart or gifs of boun, which admittedly may be because i haven’t really looked and wasn’t actively on tumblr when this movie came out, but i have seen posts about raya, namaari, and sisu on my dash and none about any of the side characters and i am definitely about to go look for some boun content because again, he’s an adorable and fun character and i love him.

- also i’ve never read any raya fics and probably should, so if anybody has any fic recs feel free to send them my way. there’s probably still even more things i could say about this movie, but this is already long and messy enough as it is so i’ll end it here!

#disney #raya and the last dragon #long post

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rayaofheart · 3 years

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Combing

(Sequel to Braiding)

Raya doesn’t speak to Namaari for the rest of the day, although they both attend the dinner in her father’s palace. This appears to be the engagement Raya was styling her hair for- she wears formal clothes, although no one but herself and Chief Benja do- and walks around, speaking to leaders of the other regions of Kumandra. She is beautifully regal in every step, her back straight and eyes forward, not roaming when she speaks to someone in the way they often do. She must have been practicing while Namaari was gone.

There is guilt in the time Namaari spends away from Heart. She is needed in Fang, of course, but she misses the days spent in the warmth and prosperity here, often at Raya and Sisu’s sides. She’s wanted in both places, though she thinks she may have been made to stand here, at Raya’s right hand, looking up at her lovely face and soft smile.

Raya eventually makes her rounds to speak to Namaari’s mother, who has made the journey here for the political dinner, but doesn’t say a word to Namaari. Her braids are still tightly in place, a reminder of the moments spent at the river bank when Namaari did her hair, felt the silky strands in her fingers, learned the way it feels to do something so intimate for someone she cares about.

The silence stretches between them across the room, enough so that she sees Chief Benja pull Raya aside to whisper something to her, watching Namaari the whole time. It occurs to her that he has the power to tell her to get out of Heart, never to return, for the simple act of upsetting his daughter (though she doubts he would do such a thing). Her heart pounds in her chest every time she catches Raya’s silhouette against a window or hands jumping as she speaks to someone. She blew it. She lost not only her fragile fantasies, but the friendship from which they bloomed.

Later that night, Namaari curls up in her guest bed in the palace. It’s near Raya’s room, because of how close they’ve been, so that they may often comfort one another when the nightmares come. They can hear each other’s screams, and cross to the next room to comfort the other in the middle of the night, much better than any other could think to provide. This is another reminder of what Namaari threw away.

At least, this is what she thinks until Raya knocks on her door, walking in as soon as Namaari opens it. She takes a seat on the bed and sets about combing the tangles that have appeared from her hair. Namaari watches with wide eyes. She didn’t expect to see Raya in her chambers again, especially not so soon after the disaster that was earlier that day.

“I thought you hated me.”

Raya raises an eyebrow. “Why would I hate you? We had one argument.”

Namaari shrugs. In her experience, fights are usually catastrophic, relationship destroying things that wreck her for days. But Raya doesn’t see it this way, something Namaari is incredibly grateful for as she joins Raya on the bed.

“Do you want me to comb your hair for you?”

Raya hands her the beautiful, hand carved comb- something Namaari never had growing up- and crosses her legs under her. She sits still, even when the comb tugs at snarls, as Namaari carefully combs through her hair. It’s dry, unlike earlier, but just as soft and with an action just as intimate. There is a certain love to taking care of someone like this, especially when it’s Raya. Namaari fights a shiver when her fingertips brush Raya’s shoulder or the side of her face.

She imagines what it would feel like to cup Raya’s warm face in her palms and kiss her. There is beauty in every part of her, but especially in things like the gleam of her eyes or the curve of her lips. She’s sculpted by some higher power to make her the most beautiful woman in all of Kumandra, yet walks as if she’s never seen nor studied her reflection to understand this. Namaari herself has spent a long time scrutinizing her own features, deciding which ones are acceptable and which she tolerates, but Raya seems as though she’s never considered the elegant construction of her own face.

Namaari finishes combing Raya’s hair and returns the object to her, their fingertips skimming one another in the lightest of touches. It makes Namaari’s heart skip a beat as she meets Raya’s gaze. It’s open, loving, adoring, a million things that Namaari cannot accept nor acknowledge. She averts her eyes first. She cannot stand the idea of being wanted by Raya, no matter how badly she craves the adoration of someone she has longed for since they were children sharing rice on the floor.

It took her a long time to recognize her feelings as love, and as long as she has lusted after Raya, she has denied herself the possibility of more under the guise of not being enough. She certainly doesn’t feel as though she deserves Raya’s affections, but she knows she ought to accept them if given, not only for her own sanity, but to give her heart a reason to keep beating in her chest.

“Tell me what was wrong, earlier?” Raya prompts.

Her voice is low and tender, like she already knows. Namaari swallows and cups her face, thumb rubbing over the jut of her cheekbone. It is a touch she has never experienced. It makes her heart sing and her eyes wet to be given this opportunity, especially as Raya leans into her palm with a gentle smile.

“I wanted to kiss you,” Namaari admits. “But-”

She doesn’t get the chance to express her doubts before Raya’s lips are on hers, just as velvety soft and warm as Namaari always dreamed they would be. She drowns in the sensation of kissing Raya, in the hands that settle on her waist, in the heat of being wanted. Her heart attempts to beat out of her chest before they finally part, each breathing heavily in the same shared small space.

Raya kisses her again.

#raya and the last dragon #raya of heart #ratld #namaari of fang #raya #namaari #rayaari #raymaari #emwrite

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boeswhore · 2 years

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Hi s! Congrats again on 1.7k! May I please have a ship? Tbh idk how to consolidate a description of myself. I’m apologizing now. This is as consolidated as I can be. I’m a sun june born Gemini and moon and rising scorpio so I’m all the crazy and chaos.

I’m 5’4” ish. Dark brown curly hair but I have bleached highlights so I’m fake blonde withy natural roots. Green eyes. Eyebrow game strong ish. Pretty light skin despite living in Arizona lol. Very expressive face. I hated my hair growing up but I learned to love it and properly take care of it. Reasons I’m a sucker for curls.

Also a fruit cocktail according to my grandma since I’m mixed with a whole lotta stuff. Reasons I relate to turning red more than expected. Also why I screamed when Raya was announced since Southeast Asia doesn’t get a whole lotta representation. A giant family on all sides I know of. Also family in 13 states. They’re crazy but I love them. I’m the self proclaimed black and rainbow sheep.

My style isn’t very consistent tbh. Like one day I could be in my pop punk/emo clothes but the next in super bright and colorful east coast prep vibes clothes. But then I have a variety of clothes to disneybound in. And Disney and other pop culture shirts and such. I wear pretty much whatever I want. My sweatshirt collection hit 50 finally. I think. I live in my Birkenstock’s during the summer and my various boots in the winter. Also for games. I collect loungefly and similar fandom purses. Mostly tangled and Disney.

Hobbies besides hockey: arts and crafts (so many mainly - watercolor, stamping and embossing, printmaking (making stamps and stencils and such), drawing, cricut machine, card making, etc), bullet journal (art/junk/mindfulness journal and planner), music (will elaborate), Disney (tangled and turning red), crime and medial and first responder shows (greys, station 19, castle, the 9-1-1s), horror, coffee and tea, self care, writing (duh), milkshakes, and traveling.

Main hockey teams: flames, kraken, Canucks, devils, avs, canes. But I love various players on teams throughout the league. The sh*t list: Pittsburgh, Edmonton, TB, Boston, chi town.

My music tastes gives me whiplash. Disney, pop punk, show tunes (selective but six is queen), metalcore, pop, emo and other similar genres, bimbocore, alt, indie, more subgenres than even I can remember. I have a record player and my vinyls are only albums I’m willing to listen all the way through. I love(d) going to concerts. I’m a flower princess. Glitter, sequins, flower crown. Top artists: set it off, grayscale, ice nine kills, Taylor swift, scene queen, as it is, with confidence, the summer set, and softcult.

24 almost 25. Seattle native, uni outside Philly, currently a desert queen in AZ. Energetic ball of chaos. Unhinged. Vibes of: Mabel pines, rapunzel, like half of the castle cast, dug form up, april and Amelia and Meredith with a dash of Arizona from greys, mei and Abby and Miriam from turning red. Sarcastic and slightly dark and definitely self deprecating sense of humor. Chronic migraines with anxiety, adhd, and insomnia thrown in. I put my heart and soul into everything I love and do.

Thank you again and I am very sorry for how long this is but anything shorter won’t capture my true self. You can ask ally lol. You are absolutely amazing for reading all of this and for hosting this event. 😘 stay fabulous

hihi m, i love you so much always 💗

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─── ─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

i ship you with matthew tkachuk !

i read that you love curls hair part and my mind immediately went to him once i saw you like the flames ! the style you have goes so well with matthew. this guy has no solid outfit plan, he’ll be dressed up so sophisticated one day and literally look like he just rolled out of bed the next day but i can see you both having complimentary outfits ! i can see him living in sweatshirts so that makes the two of you as well ! when it comes to hobbies; he would love that you know the rules of hockey and would love for you to come root for him during each game he plays !also i know he would be so supportive and sweet over any art make ! omg i can also see him crafting with you and both of you having like little competitions on whose work is better (obviously yours duh) but it will legit become his favourite past time hobby as well, just creating all of these art works (you’re so freaking creative it’s insane) he would also love that you don’t like oilers since the battle of alberta and all so that’s also a plus side ;) definitely lots of concerts together, i can see him belting to disney music with you ! when it comes to ur migraines i just know he’s super caring and will try his best to comfort you and get you anything you need ! overall, the cutest couple in my eyes <3

#s’ 1.7 k celly

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a-dumb-sarcastic-bisexual · 3 years

Text

My thoughts about Raya and the Last Dragon because I want to talk about it so bad.

I did like the movie

It was a gorgeous movie like possibly the best Disney film when it comes to animation

With pretty compelling characters

God I adore Kelly Marie Tran’s voice acting

I did have some problems with the humor

Mostly Sisu it was very jarring to be in dystopian southeast Asia then hear about group projects

But for the most part, I think they did a pretty good job of balancing the humor with the most serious aspects

I brought my mama to see this movie and it was really sweet to see her eyes light up when she saw something familiar

She would just point at the foods and go “Look Satay, look Duran, look rambutan, look shrimp paste” as if she didn’t raise me on this food

Raya asking Namaari if she’s eaten is possibly the most Southeast Asian question I’ve ever heard

If you didn’t know this Southeast Asians really show their affection through food

At any and all gatherings we bring food

Food is a major part of our culture so its something I’m glad they got right

I really love Raya she’s such a thought-provoking character

And I love how she’s not the typical princess

Also, I don’t know about anyone else but her mindset is incredibly accurate to my family

The second I was out of the womb my family forced trust issues onto me

My mindset ever since I was little was “never trust anyone or anything new”

God I wish it were a tv show

Almost every single bad thing I have to say about it could have been fixed if it were a tv show

Obviously, I have other gripes with it like how it’s not even available to most of southeast Asia

And you cant really take multiple cultures and mash them together and go “boom representation!”

And I am sad that most of the voice actors weren’t even southeast Asian

The lack of southeast Asian voice actors paired with the smushed together cultures really made the representation feel very fake

Like “here’s you’re princess now you can stop complaining”

As someone of Southeast Asian descent, it kind of felt like a slap to the face

But back to my less heavy gripes with the movie

Making it a tv show really could have fleshed out the characters

I know we would have had to give up that gorgeous animation but I would have loved to see a more rough animation style if it meant more lively characters

Something a friend and I were talking about is all of their character development felt very rushed

Because here’s the thing Raya is an incredibly selfish character

During the entire movie, her main goal was to bring her father back

She really didn’t care about her people which was a really interesting thing to see because that almost never happens with royal characters

But anyway around the end of the movie when she was helping the people of Fang escape during the entire scene the only thing I could think was “but why tho?”

She was never given a scene before this where she could go “ah-ha! Maybe just maybe my father isn't the only person in the world that deserves to be saved!”

So when she was being the typical Disney heroine it felt very rushed and fake

Like she was only doing it because everyone else was

If these characters were given more screen time where they could spend time in the different lands and learn their stories then Raya’s journey could have had more dept

Like we could have seen it slowly go from “I want to bring my ba back” to “I want to bring this person back” and “I want this person to have their parent back” and “this family deserves to have these people back”

And so on and so on until she has a ten-page list of promises to people

I also think it would be interesting for her to lose some people she met and bonded with along the way

Obviously not from the main cast but maybe an ally she made through joint trauma

This would have made the end scene all the more heartwarming because all those people would be there for a reason

I don't think the found family lived up to their full potential

Because as cute as their dynamic was it felt very shallow at some parts

She had no reason to trust them and they never gave her a reason to and vise versa

So when they were all huddled together before turning to stone it kind of felt very shallow

Like don't get me wrong it was a sweet scene that made me tear up a bit

But could you imagine seeing them bond over the course of a season or two

We could have seen them fight side by side and help each other and make sacrifices for one another

And see them really grow into their roles of the older sister or the father or the little brother

Like I said it was a cute scene but it could have been so much more heartfelt

Another thing I want to point out is Raya and Namaari’s conflict

This was another thing that felt very rushed for me and something that could have been easily fixed if this was a show

Because here’s something that kind of bugged me Raya brought Namaari to see the dragon gem hours after meeting her

And yeah I know that she was 12 and she was trying to trust people because she wanted to help her father in his journey to make Kumandra a reality

But could you imagine how much more Namaari’s betrayal would hurt if she and Raya had bonded over the course of years

Like can you imagine watching Raya and Namaari grow up together to a point where they were inseparable

And then Namaari backstabs her and pulls the “in another world we could have been friends” line

I feel like that scene would have hurt so much more if they really knew each other

Another thing I would have liked to see is Raya through that six-year period

Just seeing her grow increasingly frustrated at not being able to find Sisu while also having an Aang and Zuko like bond with Namaari

Like year sure they fight and stuff but they also save each other from life or death situations

Because no matter what the other did they still care for each other

So if they decided to write them as lovers their relationship as a whole would have much more depth

Which honestly would have made the scene where she gives Namaari her gem piece more powerful

Because it kind of reaffirms what we all knew throughout the entire series that no matter what they say or do to each other they still to some extent trust one another

But in the movie again it felt really shallow I think my friend explained it best when she said it kind of felt like Raya was only trusting Namaari because Sisu told her to

There was no emotional backing there was no real reason to trust one another it just felt very rushed

Next, I wanna talk about Namaari

She’s one of my favorite things about this movie

Which is why it sucks that we don't get to see more of her

I think this movie did something really interesting by making the typical Disney princess Raya’s enemy for the majority of the movie

And what I mean by typical Disney Princess is she cares about her people to a fault

She did everything for her people she stole the gem because she thought it would help her people

She tried to stop Raya from collecting the gems because she didn't know her reasoning and she thought she might be a threat to her people

And she has such an interesting perspective of this story which I again really would have loved to see over the course of a season

I would have loved to see her watch Fang slowly fall apart and see her grow more desperate to save it

To a point where she would have to hurt Raya in the process even if she didn't want to

Because as she briefly mentioned Fang looks pretty but it has a lot of holes and I would have loved to see what she meant by that

Like how bad Fang truly was

Like I said most of my gripes about the movie were its pacing and how it would be so much better in a tv show format

But these are just my opinions y’all can love the movie or hate the movie

You can agree with me or not I’m just putting my opinions fully on display for all to see and judge

#raya and the last dragon #raya #namaari #I love these girls #I wish we saw more of their dynamic #wow this is long #like maybe the longest thing I’ve ever posted #which is saying a lot

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