#but for some reason it also felt really unsatisfying at the end

[bungee-gum-b1tch]

so 3.3 happened… what the fuck hoyoverse

rambling in the tags cuz i have way too many thoughts about this

[crazyyluvr]

Gotta put Some Color in the Miserable Place — Much to Dirtyhands' Liking

pairing: kaz x gn!reader

summary: A famous graffiti artist has been roaming around Ketterdam for a while now. It was about time you set your sights on the Slat, bare and just waiting to be painted on. A certain gloved man didn't exactly like that.

genre: idk how to label it but it's the beginning of something

wc: 2.3k

content: art-inclined reader, they/them pronouns, kaz getting annoyed, ooc kaz? not sure how to write him properly yet, spraypaint exists because I need it to, fighting

note: just a little something to get me out of my slump — it sucks, i'm sorry

oneshot under the cut :: not edited :: part 1/?

Ketterdam wasn't known to be the most luxurious of cities in Kerch. Yes, it did have places where people with money could settle down and quality napkins for them to wipe their buttcheeks on, but the "slums" part of the city overpowered that luxury. There were numerous criminals, thieves, pickpockets, and people of other illegal occupations roaming around the streets, especially the streets of the West Stave. At every alley, there would be at least some signs of a beating that occurred not too long ago. Even when people inhaled the air, it didn't feel clean.

One of your biggest concerns about the city, however, wasn't about how cleanly it was. What worried you the most was about how damn plain it seemed to be.

Where was the color? The flare? Come on, if people around the lands travel to Kerch for business, they might as well have some pretty things to look at as they cautiously walked on the streets.

You took it upon yourself to rectify that. Which was why, for the past two years, you have been one of the most sought-after criminals of Ketterdam that everyone called the “Painter”. Not because you murdered people or stole kruge, no. It wasn't even because of the fact that you decided to spray your art without permission.

It wasn't really the art that concerned other people (most of the time), but rather where you decided to put it up.

Plain old alley walls weren't the only victims of your spray bottles. Your style ended up on the main doorways of well-known brothels like the Menagerie, or the ground leading to the secret bases of different gangs. It made you a target not only of officers, but of other criminals as well. You may or may not have been the cause of the Dime Lions losing one of their main strongholds to a rival gang because you put skipping stones of Pekka Rollins' name leading to it.

You were flattered by the attention people were putting on you, but you felt unsatisfied. You had tried to put at least a little bit of your art on every visible wall of the West Stave and some of the East Stave as well, but there was something missing. Like there was one part of the Ketterdam map that hasn't been colored by you.

You got the answer to your problem one mundane day, while you were coming back from the market with a bag of groceries.

The Slat.

You had no idea why it hadn't hit you sooner. Sure, the Slat was the home of the Crows besides their bar "The Crow Club." Sure, the gang had been gaining a dangerous reputation this past year. Sure, the man calling the shots was scary as hell.

But it was just perfect.

You had long admired the Crows and their leader Kaz Brekker. You had spotted him going about business during late nights when you decided to test your skills by evading the Wraith that always pursued him (you hadn't been attacked by her, so you assumed that you were really good at sneaking around).

He was a man of business, a boss that liked getting his hands dirty — maybe that was how he got his nickname Dirtyhands. You don't see much of that in Ketterdam, and that interested you quite a bit.

Not to mention he was attractive in his own, ghostly way.

The Slate was also one of the very few canvases that you had left blank in this wretched city due to some unknown and unconscious reason, but now you had just the perfect artwork in mind for it.

—————

Kaz was in a bad mood today.

He woke up to his leg in pain. Well, it was always in pain, but it felt particularly worse that day. He almost face-planted while hobbling down the stairs in the Slat.

He had a small heist, with just him, Jesper, and Inej, but it was still messed up due to the unexpected appearance of a drunk group in the house they were robbing.

He got jumped on by some stupid pickpockets, idiots who were unaware of his identity and his reputation. He didn’t obtain any injury, but the blood that still stained his black gloves and his long black coat made him feel disgusting.

Just when he thought that he would find peace in the Slat, peace in just holing up in his office with no one to bother him, he limps down the streets of West Stave to the home of the Dregs to find a small crowd gathered on the side, murmuring to each other.

They were all members of the Crows, and they were all looking at something that was on the wall of the Slat.

His already creased brows creased further at the sight of the gathering. What were these idiots looking at this time?

Jesper was the first one who first saw him, eyes drifting over his blood-splattered clothes in slight concern.

“What’s going on?” Kaz asked, not giving Jesper the opportunity to worry over him.

“It seems that the Painter finally set their eyes on the Slat,” Jesper replied, his voice containing its usual mischief and mirth.

Kaz forged onwards, making the sharpshooter step aside to make way for Dirtyhands.

The small crowd parted for him as well, conversations dying down to small murmurs as Kaz got a better look at what they were ogling at.

He had to blink to make sure he was actually seeing what he was seeing.

When “the Painter” left Jesper’s mouth, Kaz wanted to run his fingers through his hair in frustration. The days when infamous the Painter set sights on establishments or gang bases were the days when gangs or businessmen would get publicly humiliated by the art on their walls. Normally, it would ridicule the head of the place (The Menagerie spent a significant amount of money to wash off and paint over the caricature of Tante Heleen in a horrid neon green outfit) or reveal some interesting gang secrets (two gangs were exposed to be stealing from each other and there was a little war between them).

Which was why Kaz had to blink twice to make sure he was seeing it right.

The artwork on the side of the Slat was a large mural of the Dregs’ signature crow perched on the lip of a cup, but a trail of black roses swirled around it in a spiral. Surrounding it was the Crows’ motto “no mourners, no funerals” in black and white. The irregular red and white shape behind it all emphasized everything, making it look like a banner rather than something someone actually took the time to spray on a wall.

It was unlike any artwork that was spotted anywhere in the city.

And even Kaz, who’s never had any particular interest in art, had to admit that it was nice. Flattering.

Beautiful, even.

"The Painter has their favorites, huh?" A Crow chuckled, making his mates laugh and shake their heads.

"If everyone's done having a staring contest with the wall," Kaz called, making everyone turn to their boss, "get back to work."

And just like that, they lost their interest in the artwork and dispersed. Some drifted away to different alleys to visit some gambling house, most passed by Kaz to finish some unfinished business of theirs, and others went back inside the Slat.

Kaz felt a familiar presence beside him. "Can you find this Painter, Inej?"

The Wraith that appeared out of nowhere replied, "I can try, but they're slippery."

Kaz rose an eyebrow, curiosity piquing. Someone who can evade his best spider? Now that caught his attention.

"Do it. Bring them to me," Kaz said, dismissing her with a wave. He didn't have to look to know that Inej had dissolved into the shadows.

He examined the mural once more, the barest ghost of a smirk on his face. Maybe you can come around to work for me, "Painter".

—————

You were having a good time.

If running away from some angry traders was something people would consider a good time.

"I'll kill you!" One of the men chasing you bellowed, hurling a stone that hit a wooden pillar dangerously close to your head.

You laughed, a manic cackle that only came from someone facing a certain death.

You leaped over crates, weaved through people with barely any gracefulness that would have made dancers feel second-hand embarrassment, but you didn’t care. Being chased around West Stave was one of the best things to do in Ketterdam, and you were enjoying every single bit of it.

You turned left into a random alley, only to find that it was a dead end. You looked upwards, but found only ladders that led to heavily-barred windows. You were trapped.

"Nowhere left to run, scum," A man laughed, his companion grinning as well.

You turned to flash them a charming smile. "Actually there is one way, but you're blocking it, so if you'd kindly move aside so I can peacefully make my leave."

They both looked at each other before turning back to you. "Not until we've got our money."

You pretended to think for a moment, not knowing what they mean, until you widened your eyes. "Oh! The money! That's what you were after? Why didn't you just say so?"

You rummaged through your deep pockets. "Here it is!"

You took a few quick steps forward and took out a spray can, squeezing it and drifting it over the closest man's eyes, creating a thick yellow line across his face.

The man yelled and stepped back in surprise, prompting you to catch his heel in yours and pull, making him fall.

You bent down to punch him twice before rummaging in his pockets, taking out a few loose coins and pocketing them.

You turned to face the other guy, who you found already on the ground with a figure standing above him.

The Wraith.

"Oh." Your gaze alternated between the sudden assistance and the man on the ground, before you decided to focus on the one standing and smiling at them. "Thanks for your help, Miss Wraith. Now, if you don't mind, I'll take my leave —"

You turned, only for Inej to block your exit, making you sigh. "What is it that you want from me this time?"

"For you to come with me to the Slat," Inej responded, grabbing your wrist and dragging you out of the alley.

You sighed again. This was going to be a long day.

—————

"Look, if this about money, I don't have any. I'm very broke." You stared at the man sitting in front of you, a desk separating him from your standing figure.

The Bastard of the Barrel didn't respond to your statement, opting to just look at you, his eyes examining your movements.

You let the silence drain on for a few more seconds before you lost patience. "What do you want?" You asked, frustrated.

"You're the Painter," He responded, putting his elbows on his table and lacing his gloved fingers together.

You waited for a moment, waiting for him to say more. When he didn't continue, you replied. "Yes."

"Everyone in Ketterdam is aware of your reputation to leaking powerful people's information," Kaz finally continued. "But that's not what's interesting. What intrigues me, is how you acquire the information in the first place, when the Wraith has never spotted you out in the open other than spraying on some random wall."

You shrugged. You had your ways, and if the Dirtyhands didn't know your methods, then there was no way you could reveal them. "I have my ways."

Kaz rose an eyebrow. "I can have you killed right here and now, did you know that?"

"And I’ve gotten out of these chains three minutes ago, did you know that?" You mocked him, shrugging the cuffs off and tossing them on his table. Inej moved, pulling out a dagger. Kaz put up his hand, and Inej paused, waiting.

You approached the desk, putting your hands on it and leaning forward, leaving half a feet of space in between your face and Kaz's.

"You want to know my methods so you can have the Wraith master them and use them," you said, leaning a bit more. "But then she can't. No one in this place can do what I can."

"I suppose there's an underlying deal somewhere in those words," Kaz hummed, seemingly unfazed by the distance.

You grinned. "Indeed there is. I can work for you, as long as I get paid. I'll do my thing, get your information, even infiltrate a few places if you like."

"Hmm," Kaz thought about it for a moment. "Two thousand kruge for each mission."

You paused. That would be enough to buy your food and pay your rent for a week or two, maybe even enough for some new clothes.

Yeah, you didn't have that good or luxurious of a lifestyle, but hey, money is money.

"Alright," You decided, sticking your hand out to seal the deal.

Kaz stared at your hand for a moment, before taking it. You pulled him up from his chair, face now barely away from yours. "If you think about double-crossing me and leaving me out in the cold, then you risk some of your own information being revealed... Rietveld." Your voice was barely louder than a breath, words only for Kaz’s ear.

His eyes widened, looking at you. Just the mere mention of his old last name, the one he shared with his brother, was enough for the water at his ankles to pool around his knees.

But you had already pulled away, brushing against the Wraith with a nod as you left the office without another word.

"What was that?" Inej asked — more like demanded.

Kaz didn't spare her a glance, his eyes glued to the door. It took him a long pause to reply.

"The start of another painful alliance," Kaz muttered, running his hand through his hair.

The start of something indeed.

[roosterforme]

You Deserve an Overachiever | Rooster x Reader

Summary: Bradley is forced to come to terms with the fact that he wants to replace your boyfriend with himself and give you proper orgasms. 

Warnings: Swearing, fuff, smut

Length: 2600 words

Pairing: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x Female Reader

This fic was written for a request! Hope you enjoy it, nonny friend! 

Check out my masterlist for more!

Bradley should have never agreed to let you move in with him. You did all of these things that made him go crazy. You walked around in tank tops without a bra. You sang and danced along to loud playlists in the kitchen whenever you were cooking. You made the entire house smell like flowers. And you occasionally invited your boyfriend to sleep over.  And whenever you had your boyfriend spend the night, Bradley was forced to listen to you faking orgasms. He was also forced to come to terms with the fact that he was interested in replacing your boyfriend with himself and giving you proper orgasms. 

It was late Sunday afternoon, and you were in the kitchen, wearing a tiny pink tank top with shorts, no bra in sight, and singing along to "Living After Midnight" by Judas Priest playing at top volume. Bradley was smiling in the doorway, thoroughly enjoying the view. You were singing into a spatula like it was a microphone and headbanging, and you had no idea he was there.  He watched you shaking your ass and jumping around, and he was mesmerized. You were gorgeous and so fun. And every time he thought about your lame boyfriend leaving you unsatisfied, it made him want to kiss you and take you to his bed. "Ahhh! I didn't know you were in here!" you squealed, turning the volume down on your phone a little bit and tossing your spatula aside. You were still shaking your hips along to the song, but you'd stopped singing. "I'm going to make dinner. Do you want some?" Bradley smirked. "I was enjoying the performance. Don't stop on my account." Then with a smile, you grabbed the spatula once more and danced it across the room to him.  "Your turn to sing," you instructed, grabbing his hand and wrapping his fingers around the spatula. Bradley smiled as you squeezed his hand before letting go. Then you danced around him and shook your hair all over the place.  Bradley danced and sang along, throwing in a little air guitar to make you laugh, and when the song ended you hugged him, your laughter making his heart soar. "That was fun," you said, a bit breathlessly.  Bradley let his hand rest on your lower back briefly before releasing you and clearing his throat. "So, is your boyfriend coming over for dinner?" Bringing up your dumbass boyfriend ought to keep him from touching you again. You snorted and headed for the refrigerator. "No." Bradley cocked his head to the side, playing with the spatula before setting it down. "You guys have a fight or something?" "No, I broke up with him on Monday," you said, completely nonchalant.  Bradley was startled. You had been dating that guy for a few months, and you really didn't seem upset by this new development.  "Why? Why did you dump him?" Bradley asked, wanting to know your reasoning.  You turned and looked at him, leaning against the open fridge door. "He and I were not completely compatible." Bradley took a few steps closer to you and raised an eyebrow. "Care to elaborate?" You licked your lips, and Bradley felt his cock twinge. He took a few calming breaths, willing his body to stop reacting to everything you did. "Well... he was expecting a lot from me, and I wasn't getting much in return." Bradley tugged you gently out of the way and closed the refrigerator door. "You mean sexually?" You just gaped at him for a second before nodding slightly.  "I could hear you faking it through the wall," Bradley told you with the tiniest smirk.  "Excuse me?" you gasped, cheeks flushing pink in embarrassment, but you didn't back away from him.  "I didn't mean to embarrass you, babe. I'm sorry," he apologized quickly. "You shouldn't be doing that though. Don't get me wrong, he was completely lame, so I'm not looking out for his feelings, but you were probably making him feel like some sort of king." You just stared up at Bradley. "What do you mean?" Bradley chuckled. "Come on, babe. No way he was good enough for you. You're a goddess, and every time you faked it, I'm sure he thought he was hot shit." "A goddess?" you asked, looking at him in disbelief. Bradley glared at you playfully. "Really? Just look at you. Plus you're cool as hell. And you always smell good." A laugh bubbled out of you. "What?" Bradley tipped his head back and groaned at the ceiling, before looking at your pretty face again. "I'm just saying, you're like the total package. You don't need to be with a guy who isn't doing it for you in bed. You deserve... an overachiever." "Oh," you whispered, examining his face. Now Bradley was the one who was feeling embarrassed. He might as well just tell you he had a massive crush on you and be done with it. Just get it out of his system and let you shut down even the tiniest inclination in his mind that you might want him back.  But now you were inching closer to him and nibbling on your bottom lip. Slowly, cautiously, you let your right index finger hook around his belt loop. You pulled him closer to you and he went willingly. He was gazing down into your eyes which were wide and appraising.  When your free hand reached up and wrapped around his bicep, he started to back you up to the kitchen counter. "Babe, if you don't stop touching me, I'm gonna kiss you," he rasped, and you literally moaned out loud. Your finger released his belt loop and came to rest against his abs instead. The expression on your face was needy, and his cock was twitching again. "You're still touching me," he whispered, and he noticed both of you were breathing heavier. "Yeah. I am," you told him confidently, and Bradley slowly lowered his lips to yours. He kissed you softly, and you kissed him right back. And when you slid your hand up from his abs to his chest, he pressed against you. Your body was amazing. You had no idea what you did to him. Then you separated your lips and your tongue delved into his mouth, tasting him and his hands immediately tangled in your hair.  You moaned into his mouth before you pulled back quickly. "This is probably a bad idea, right? Us hooking up? We have to live together."  Bradley let go of your hair and took a step back. Your nipples were hard and your lips looked extra pouty. He wanted to lay you out on the kitchen counter and make you cum on his face. He wanted to make you dinner every day for a year. He wanted you to sleep in his bed with him. "Fuck, I'm sorry," he said, running his hands through his hair. "I just-"  You lunged for him, wrapping your arms around his neck and devouring his mouth. Bradley grabbed your waist as you licked his lip until he groaned, letting you taste him again. As you ran your fingers along the back of his neck and up into his hair, you smiled against his mouth. Everything you did to him felt so fucking good. You were rubbing your body against him, and now he could feel your hard nipples.  When you started touching and kissing his scarred cheek and his neck, he couldn't even be bothered to be self conscious. Your fingers were so gentle and your mouth already felt familiar and necessary.  But now he was going into self preservation mode, because he never imagined this would be happening.  "Babe, we need to stop," he grunted as you worked your mouth up to his ear. "We need to stop, because I'm going to lose my mind." You pulled away from him this time. "Because we have to live together? And it would be weird?" "No, that's not it." Bradley had to run his hands through his hair to keep himself from touching you. You were biting your lip again and playing with the drawstring of your shorts. "Is it because you were just trying to be nice to me before?" You grimaced, adding, "By trying to make me feel like I deserved better?" Bradley pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned. The last thing he wanted to do was make you feel awkward when he was the one with the crush. He forced himself to look you in the eye and speak honestly. "No, babe, it's because I really like you. And if we sleep together, I'm going to want to keep doing it. And if we keep doing it, then I'm going to be very disappointed when you don't want to date me." Bradley turned his face away from you and shook his head while he looked at the floor. "No way," you whispered. "Come here, Bradley." His eyes snapped up to meet yours, and you were reaching for him again. "God, I would have picked you over my ex if I had known how you felt sooner." Bradley grinned and let his hands settle on your hips. "You can pick me now." "Mmm," you moaned, grabbing him by the back of the neck and kissing him. Your mouth was still needy but also so sweet and your hands were dipping inside the collar of his tee shirt.  "You'll let me take you out to dinner later?" he asked between kisses. You were nodding and moaning your approval of the idea and kissing his scars again.  Bradley let his hands drift under your tank top and gently rub your lower back, and then you reached down and pulled your shirt right off.  "Babe," he groaned as you tossed your shirt to the kitchen floor, and his hands were cupping your breasts before he knew what he was doing. You pressed yourself into his palms and reached for the fly of his jeans. "We can go slower if you want," he managed to say, but you were already reaching in and grasping his dick through his underwear. You squeezed and stroked him with a dirty little smirk on your face. "Fuck," he whispered. "No, this speed is good," you replied, looking up at Bradley through your eyelashes. Bradley picked you up and tossed you over his shoulder, grabbing your ass to keep you in place while he carried you to his bedroom. Your bright laughter echoed through the house as you said, "I could definitely get used to this, Bradley." But he didn't respond. Instead he set you down on his bed, removed your shorts and underwear, and settled himself between your legs.  "This doesn't seem fair," you whispered, a little short of breath before he was even touching your pussy. He watched as you pressed your thighs together to keep yourself from subtly thrusting your hips upward toward him. "I'm naked and you're not." "We'll get there, babe. Let me do one thing first." You licked your lips as Bradley let his tongue dip to your tits. "What are you going to do first?" you asked, moaning on the last word. He licked and sucked on your tits a moment longer before saying, "I'm going to eat your pussy until you cum on my face." The uninhibited moan that escaped your lips as Bradley pulled your thighs apart and licked your slit had him even more determined to make you orgasm. He settled into place, face buried in your pussy, as he licked and sucked and fucked you with his fingers. You tasted so good; he would stay here as long as it took, loving every second. You were thrusting up as your pleasure increased, hands fisted in the bedding.  You were babbling incoherently as he focused on your clit with his mouth. Bradley had to hold your thigh down as you were literally riding his face as he plunged his fingers into you harder before bending his fingers and bringing you some pressure.  "Oh!" you gasped, shaking your head back and forth against the pillows. "Ohhh!" you moaned, bringing your foot up to his shoulder as he sucked on you. And then he felt your pussy grab his fingers. You were soaking wet, leaving his index and middle fingers slick up to his knuckles as you came. Bradley released your clit and smirked, asking, "Better than your ex?"  You were instantly pulling him by his hair, leaning forward until his mouth was on yours. He let your tongue meet his, let you taste him all over his mouth. You licked the corner of his mustache before saying, "He never went down on me." Bradley pulled away from you. "He never ate your pussy?" he asked, completely shocked. You shook your head as your breathing finally returned to normal. Bradley ran his hands up your sides and looked at your pretty face. "Aww, babe. That's a crime, honey," he whispered, running lazy knuckles across your breasts. You collapsed back against the pillows, and he kissed your neck. "No wonder he wasn't getting the job done. A pussy as sweet as yours deserves a lot of attention." Bradley smiled at your loud moan. "You want me to give you attention?"  "Yes, Bradley," you groaned, pulling his shirt off and running your hands all over his shoulders and back as he kissed your neck and collarbones. He let you thrust up against him and rub your pussy all over his hard cock. "You want me to fuck you?" he asked, already reaching into his drawer for a condom as you reached for his cock again. Bradley was throbbing in your hand, begging for you as he looked at you spread out on his bed looking beautifully fucked out already.  "Yes!"  As soon as the condom was on, Bradley was sliding inside, filling you up with one fluid thrust. "God, you're so sweet and tight, babe. Feels like you were made for me." Bradley watched as you bit your lip and shook your head, barely able to speak. Your hair was such a mess, both from dancing around the kitchen and from thrashing around on his bed. And your cheeks were still flushed from your first orgasm. You were so perfect and pretty, he was going to suggest you start sleeping in here with him. He wanted to give you attention like this all the time. Bradley thrust into you slowly until you whispered, "Harder." Then he started to lose his rhythm as you verbally demanded more and more. Soon he was fucking into you hard, the sounds of his skin slapping against you was echoing through the room.  Your cries mingled with his as he flipped onto his back and whispered, "Ride me, babe." Your wicked grin as you bounced up and down on him hard had him smiling as well. You grabbed his hand and pressed his fingers to your clit once again, and Bradley took a deep breath, trying to hold back his own orgasm for you. And when you came, gasping his name, he came too. He let you collapse against his chest, both a little sweaty from your exertion, and Bradley thought that felt perfect too. He buried his fingers in your hair, and you ran the tip of your nose along his neck.  "So where are we going for dinner?" you asked softly with a smile. Bradley squeezed you tight to his chest. "Anywhere you want. And when we get back, you should move some of your stuff into my room. Anything you would need to sleep in here with me tonight." You grinned and kissed his cheek. "We're having a sleepover?" "Absolutely. I'm planning on giving you more attention later."

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

Attention from Rooster makes your brain go BRRRRRR.

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[mixtape-racha]

wow | hyunho

why did you have to run your mouth? you knew minho wouldn't go easy on you, but you never learnt your lesson. even when he got someone else to help teach you // minors dni, 18+

words: 1.57k // warnings: established minho x reader, brat!tamer minho, hard dom!hyunjin, hyunho makeout, bondage??, reader is a brat and gets called bunny, minho is referred to as sir and hyunjin as master

a/n: based on this request by anon!! i hope you enjoy ♡

you knew it was a bad idea to try and get under minho’s skin. he always knew exactly to have you shaking on your knees and begging for forgiveness, but for some reason you never learnt. it was even worse when you acted up in public, because you knew he wouldn’t stand for you making him look bad. everytime without fail it would end up with you both pissed off, you left unsatisfied and an unbearable tension. but still; you never learnt.

so when you pushed your luck tonight at a company party, minho was ready to punish you in front of everyone there. you kept acting up - flirting with all his friends, interrupting his conversations and whining when he wouldn’t leave just for you. but what pissed him off the most was the mutterings under your breath. when you’d had enough of his shrugging you off to continue a conversation, you had rolled your eyes before grabbing your drink and phone in a huff.

“maybe i’ll just go and fuck hyunjin instead. at least he’d give me attention.”

you honestly didn’t fully intend for him to hear it, but you knew you had fucked up as you felt his stare burning into your back as you walked away. but also, you were too pissed off to care. in fact, it made you even more determined to make him snap. at least that way you’d be able to leave this stupid party.

you were quick to approach hyunjin, who was stood towards the edge of the room with some work friends. hyunjin was exceptionally close to you - someone you trusted with your life, and wouldn’t have any qualms sleeping with him if you weren’t with minho. you wrapped your arms around him from behind, nuzzling your face against his jacket, which made him jump in surprise.

“hey there, love. you good? where’s minho?” he threw an arm over your shoulder, his entire attention on you in a second. it was nice - that he’d just drop a conversation for you. but still, you scoffed at the mention of your boyfriend.

“don’t know. too busy kissing asses to even notice i’m still here.” you tone conveyed just how annoyed you were and, while you should know better than to run to hyunjin, you just wanted to go home and have minho bully his cock inside of you like no one else could.

hyunjin, being the ever so vigilant dom he was, took note of your attitude and swiftly changed the subject to avoid you getting yourself in any more trouble. it wasn’t long before had had enough of you avoiding him, choosing to stick to hyunjin instead, and he came stalking over just as you fell into hyunjin’s lap laughing at something he’d said.

“hi, minnie!” you smiled sweetly, batting your eyelashes at him when you noticed him, you hand still resting on hyunjin’s bicep. he looked between the pair of you silently before clearing his throat.

“hi, my pretty bunny. hyun, boss is asking for you so i said i’d bring you over.”

something in minho’s eyes made you disbelieving of his boss really wanting to talk to hyunjin,and you expressed this by rolling your eyes and pulling minho’s wallet out of his pocket.

“fine. i’m going to get another drink.”

the smile on minho’s face didn’t quite meet his eyes, and something about it unnerved you.

“of course, love. go enjoy yourself while you can.”

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------

god why did you never listen? why did you always get yourself into these situations?

minho was furious when you left the party, you could tell that by the way his hands gripped the steering wheel as he drove you both back home. he would barely look at you, only responding to you in short answers and curt nods. it was scary, but also had you flooding your panties in a second. you knew whatever you had got yourself into tonight would be interesting, for sure.

and there you were. slouched against the bedframe, wrists cuffed to the metal behind your head. minho had rid you of all your clothes except your soaking panties, and they were so full of arousal they were sticking to your folds uncomfortably. you went to squirm, cuffs rattling on the bed post, but stopped as soon as minho whipped his head around to glare at you.

he was pacing at the end of the bed, hands folded behind him and shoes clapping loudly against the floor in the silence of your apartment. your nerves felt they were firing on all cylinders - you were overwhelmed but felt nothing, excited but scared. it was intense in the best way. you had no idea what to expect, but you knew wholeheartedly that as long as you got to cum tonight, being bratty would be worth it. it got you home early after all, didn’t it?

a soft knock on the bedroom door pulled you from your thoughts, minho smirking as he went and opened it to reveal… hyunjin. what was he doing here? oh god, had minho told him what you had said? you stared, bewildered, between the two men as hyunjin entered the door, quick to rid himself of his jacket and tie.

“min…” you started, but minho sent you a look that had you whimpering, burning under his gaze.

“now, bunny. be a good girl, you know that’s not my name, is it?”

“no, sir. sorry, sir.” you whined under his intense stare, goosebumps rising on your skin at being so exposed in front of hyunjin. something that minho picked up on scarily fast.

“come on now, pretty. this is what you wanted, wasn’t it? to fuck hyunjin because i wouldn’t give you the attention you so desperately crave,” he spat. “nothing but a cockdrunk little whore.”

“now, come on, minho,” hyunjin pipped up, tsking at the sight of you clenching your thighs together. “she won’t be cockdrunk tonight, will she? don’t get her hopes up.”

hyunjin’s eyes were dark as he stared you down, which made you whimper at the insinuation of you not being able to cum tonight. but little did you know, you weren’t even being allowed a dick near you tonight. nor fingers, nor a tongue. oh no, it was much worse.

“oh, you’re right, hyunnie. we better show her just how pretty you can be when you get attention, right? so she knows what she’s missing out on. what she could’ve had if she just behaved?”

you were confused, shaken up. what on earth were they planning? but when minho sat on the edge and the bed and patted his thigh, prompting hyunjin to come towards him, your heart dropped.

hyunjin fell perfectly onto minho’s lap, adjusting himself so he could sit comfortably while minho grasped the taller boy’s waist. you pulled at the handcuffs, the clanging noise drawing hyunjin’s attention to you, but not before minho could grip his chin harshly and force the dark-haired boy’s attention back on him.

“say you’re sorry to hyunjin, (y/n). tell master you’re sorry for talking about him like an object.”

“i–i’m sorry, master… please, sir, please-”

“hush.” hyunjin snapped, one of his hands trailing up to rest at the nape of minho’s neck. “you brought this upon yourself, and now you get to watch sir and master enjoy each other, yeah?”

you whined, but nodded anyway. maybe it wasn’t too late for you to be good. maybe if you behaved now, minho would show mercy on you. it was worth trying.

a gasp escaped your lips and minho brought hyunjin’s lips to his, the youngest boy letting out a surprised gasp. it was addicting and you couldn’t look away, the sight of your boyfriend swapping spit with his best friend. you almost thought you could cum untouched on the spot.

the way minho’s hands rubbed hyunjin’s hips, prompting the younger to grind against him ever so carefully. the whimpers and gasps that left each man’s throat as their tongues explored.

if only you were in the middle. if only it was you getting their attention, and enjoying their touches. god, you had to go and mess it up by misbehaving, didn’t you?

it only got more intense, hyunjin’s hips moving erratically against minho’s bulge as the elder trailed his lips down hyunjin’s neck, sucking perfect blossoming marks against the skin. you almost cried out when you saw hyunjin’s eyes flutter, rolling to the back of his head.

“fuck, hyung.” he whimpered, causing minho to smirk and bring a heavy slap down on hyunjin’s ass. the moan hyunjin let out wontonly was heavenly, and you couldn’t help the way you bit your lip and rubbed your thighs together.

just as it was getting good, however, just as you thought you could make yourself cum by yourself in your position, minho pulled hyunjin away from his lips by his hair. he turned to look over at you, a devilish smirk on his face as he took in the wreck you’d become. he was impressed you hadn’t lost it, but he had one final trick up his sleeve to make sure your attitude and bratty behavior would stop for good.

“now, you little slut,” minho spat at you, your eyes brimming with tears. “if you sit still and be good while i make hyunjin fall apart on my cock, i’ll undo the handcuffs and maybe you’ll be given permission to touch. got it?”

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[doll-elvis]

PRISCILLA (2023)

~ my thoughts as an elvis fan

(credit to @urpinkstargirl for the photo)

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD:

so I saw it last night and I’ve been stewing on it ever since as I wanted to be 100% sure in myself before saying this publicly

**brace yourselves**

After just one viewing… I feel confident in saying that I preferred this film over “Elvis” 2022 🤧. It was just so immersive and so deeply intimate that I walked away from the theater feeling like I had just lived a life with Elvis, and experienced all the ugly and wonderful things that came with it

I am seeing it again tonight and possibly tomorrow just to recapture that feeling (which made me cry… three times…)

And although I’m not the biggest fan of Sofia Coppola, there is simply no denying that she has perfected showing “girlhood” in film, and making the most unique experiences, like being Marie Antoinette and being Priscilla Presley, somehow universal to everybody. I haven’t felt being “14” since I was 14, which was a whole 5 years ago, but WHEW… I most definitely felt 14 again when watching Priscilla navigate life in Germany

Also- we all saw how Austin Butler was completely cheated out of an Oscar and so I’m begging that we do not do that again. Give the Oscar to Cailee Spaeny (who played Priscilla) right now 😤 There are no words besides “immaculate” to describe her performance. Her future is so bright as an actress, I just cannot wait to follow her career + she just seems like the sweetest person ever??

And I know it might seem insane to say that I preferred “Priscilla” over “Elvis” and some of y’all might crucify me for that take but my preference solely comes down to the fact that I appreciate Priscilla’s perspective much more so than the Colonel’s, who to me, has always been the least interesting aspect of Elvis’ story

My biggest gripe with having the Colonel narrative/tell Elvis’ life in the 2022 film is the fact that it made the film feel rather impersonal to Elvis as I don’t think the script or the storytelling ever fully allowed for Austin Butler to explore what he was like beyond the stage

And personally speaking, I have a much deeper love for Elvis the person as opposed to Elvis the performer, and I think that “Priscilla” showed the human side of him far more than “Elvis” ever did (like y’all we actually get to hear and see him reading his philosophy books in this!!!)

But before I get into what was actually depicted in film, and all my praises, I thought I would briefly state what I thought could have been done better. Don’t get me wrong, this movie was beyond amazing, however, it was definitely not without its’ faults:

1. If you have seen a lot of reviewers talk negatively about the pacing in this film- just know that they are unfortunately, completely right in that assessment. The whole timeline of Germany felt literally five minutes long, and the 70s also, felt maybe 10 minutes long which just made both the beginning and end feel rather rushed. Also there were at least 5 scenes that just faded to black before going onto the next one, and some very abrupt cuts in scenes which felt a bit awkward

2. Because this is a biopic, and because it’s based on a real life, there is no climax like you would be accustomed to normally in a film and so I think that the average viewer, like someone who may not really care about Priscilla or Elvis, will probably walk away from the film feeling unsatisfied- possibly bored. I saw it with my mom and my sister, and my mom was asleep in like 45 minutes 😭. The movie definitely got repetitive at some points but I acknowledge the fact that life is repetitive, especially for Priscilla in the 60s while Elvis was off making movies

3. While Priscilla (played by Cailee Spaeny) aged realistically and seamlessly, Elvis (played by Jacob Elordi) was essentially the same person (physically) for 95% percent of the film. For some reason, his hair was already dyed black in the Germany scenes, although we know it was brown at that time, and so there was no real transformation for him until Lisa Marie is born. The height of the actor was definitely jarring at first but eventually I got used to it…however…I damn near busted out laughing when they showed him in the Comeback special outfit 💀 His performance was nothing but incredible (ESPECIALLY THE VOICE) and so I learned to get over the physical disparities rather quickly

4. The ending of this film, particularly the song, was overwhelmingly sad and impactful but I was really disappointed that we didn’t get to see Priscilla’s and Elvis’ relationship after the divorce. This film ends with Priscilla leaving Graceland, starting her “new life”, which didn’t make much sense to me considering this movie was adapted from her book, which very much explores that part of her life, especially with Elvis

I would have really love to seen moments like this from Priscilla’s perspective ⬇️

excerpt from “Priscilla, Elvis and me” (avoid this book)

5. NO CIRCLE G RANCH!!! It is borderline criminal to make a film about Priscilla and Elvis and to not include their time spent at Circle G ranch ** which Priscilla has always said were their happiest times together **. I assume that this was likely an issue because of the budget and the fact that they only had 30 days to film but god… I would have really appreciated some of the domestic bliss that Priscilla and Elvis shared while living in the trailer on the ranch. There were many happy moments/sequences (y’all are going to die when you see the rollerblading/go cart scenes) in this movie, but I think their gradual separation/withdrawal from one another (post marriage) would have hit harder if we saw how happy they were together during their ranch phase

6. For those who have read “Elvis and Me”, we all know about the famed LSD scene that takes place and unfortunately, Coppola heavily missed the mark on it. We don’t see Lamar Fike making out with a tree, we don’t see Jerry Schilling in a closet- instead we see Priscilla and Elvis just kind of rolling around, laughing amongst themselves while the room around them turns different colors

There were definitely many key moments/stories like that missing from the film, and I honestly wish that the movie was an hour longer so that we could have seen the book more fully fleshed out

Lastly, here’s just a general synopsis of the scenes in Germany… I was going to do the whole movie but I don’t have the stamina to type it all out 😭. If y’all want to know something specific please feel free to comment below and I will let you know <3!!

After the beginning credits are shown, the film starts with Currie Grant (who was renamed as Terry West) approaching Priscilla in a diner, inviting her to a party at Elvis’ house. After talking with her parents and assuring them that Priscilla will be looked after by him and his wife, it cuts to her in the back of a car, on her way to meet Elvis. The scene is exactly like how it is in the book, Elvis asks her how old she is, he remarks that she is “just a baby” and so on- Elvis then plays “a Whole lotta shakin” at the piano and that is one of three musical performances we see from him

Priscilla is then re-invited by Currie aka Terry via Elvis to comeback to the house again. Elvis invites Priscilla up to his room, she looks around and sees letters from Anita Wood, and a poster of Bridgette Bardot just like in the book. After Elvis talks about Gladys and how he is still reeling over her death, and how lonely he has felt since then, they share their first kiss to the song “Crimson and Clovers”

There are some scenes of Priscilla at school and some scenes of her sort of convincing her parents to let her continue to see Elvis. And they do agree, but just like in the book, they want to meet him first. Elvis is questioned by Priscilla’s father on why he wants to be with her to which Elvis replies that she is very mature for her age and that he likes talking to her since she is from home aka the United States. He then assures Priscilla’s father that she will be taken care of. After that we see them going to the movies where Elvis expresses how much he wants to be a serious actor, and then they share another kiss on the car ride home. It then cuts to Christmas time where we see Elvis giving Priscilla a watch and then BOOM- Elvis and her are on the way to the airport where they say their final goodbyes as he leaves for the United States

The film really does follow closely to the book (at least from 59’ when they meet to 69’- again the 70s were really rushed) and so I really recommended to read that prior to watching the movie

As for the more sensitive scenes-

There is no explicit sex, no graphic nudity, and no scene where Elvis forces himself upon Priscilla. He does say “this is how a real man makes love to his woman” but all he does is kiss her before she pushes him off. There is a rather long “polaroid-taking” sequence where it shows all the outfits that Elvis would Priscilla dress up in but other than that, we only see Elvis and Priscilla make out

And it did show when Elvis accidentally hit Priscilla in the eye during the pillow fight scene in her book, along with the scene of him throwing a chair in her general direction after she expressed she didn’t like a demo of one his songs, and the scene where he grabs all her clothes from the closet and tells her that she should go visit her parents. I don’t think that the scenes made Elvis look abusive: Coppola was surprisingly nuanced in showing that he had reasons for his sometimes bad temperament i.e the pills he took along with the fact that he was frustrated with his film career

It also shows Elvis’ infidelities but really only through movie magazines that Priscilla sees. So it’s never explicitly shown, I would say it’s more hinted at than anything

And there are two scenes of Priscilla with Mike Stone but again, nothing that is explicitly shown, it’s just hinted at

Finally, to finish this up, this is what I wrote on my Instagram account which I very much stand by ⬇️

Just please give this movie a chance y’all, it was so beautiful and so sensitively done… I cannot wait to watch it again <3

[ganondoodle]

wait i just realized... the mastersword isnt even important enough to warrant zelda doing to such extreme lengths to repair it bc its NOT EVEN REQUIRED FOR DEFEATING GANONDORF

idk about you but the mastersword being not just this weak after all this but also not even required is like ... hurting the whole plot SO bad for all that zelda knew she was basically killing herself by doing the dragon thing ONLY for the mastersword, which isnt even needed to reach the end why do the dragon thing at all??? she could have put it in some other divine place for it to recover (she knew where the springs are, she knew where the krog forest is, heck she even knew where the forgotten temple is BC THEY WERE ALL THERE* and im not going to belive any of them came into existence afterwards), in botw it took 'only' a 100 years to regenerate the damage it took in botws past which, while not as extreme as in totk, was pretty bad! yeah it gets outright broken in totk but like ... really? far over 10 000 years to recover it? through ZELDA? one of the most divine being IN THE FORM of one of the most divine beings aside from the very gods themselves?? whats the use of it being able to regernate if it takes THAT long?? feels easier to forge a new one for that matter?? and the excuse that "it needed to be able to resist miasma" is like .. why tho? yeah ok fine i could do the entire bossfight with JUST the mastersword, but again, its not required! i can do it with anything else!! and its doesnt cleanse miasma either, like the sword did in tp when you could do away the twilight stuff when it got the super glow stuff so its really like ... she did that JUST for the sword? really? the fact that her becoming a dragon is the way to get her back into her time isnt something she could have known and it working out like that makes it feel like a massive fail of the writers bc it makes it feel less like an actual decision she made for good reason and more bc its a decision the writers made bc the writers already knew where it would end, the writers knew shed be turned back in the end no problem so they had her do the dragon thing despite it being pretty senseless from her perspective

(wouldnt it have felt more in character and logical to put the mastersword somwhere safe where it can recover over all those centuries and search for a way to return to her time herself? like in these two games ZELDA feels like the more important thing that the sword, -zeldas prone to sacrifice herself for other- WHY! its better for everyone if you are alive rather than dead! you got to this time by yourself and also somehow not jsut shifted the time but also PLACE bc you sure as hell didnt appear in a cavern in the middle of the land, you have wielded incredible magic before and are a researcher, surely theres some way for you to at least TRY to return on your own?? how cool would it have been to find little markers and spots where clearly she has left you some sort of message, maybe like a way for you to do something that helps her in the past, USE THE WEIRD ASS TIME BUBBLES FROM THE TUTORIAL AGAIN!! send back something she needs to return! go and talk with impa and purah to determine what shes trying to tell you, help her along the way and in the end she makes her triumphant return, having grown and learned with what she did instead of regressing her chaarcter to the big eyed maiden that you get as a reward at the end through unsatisfying bs reasons and hurray she doesnt even remember, perfect little fairytale of no consequences wahoo- im salty about this let me be salty-)

you can absolutely combine a free to explore open world with good story without restricting it by much, like locking the bossfight behind aquiring the mastersword doesnt feel like that big of a change and its not making it a whole lot more linear, most people do it anyway right?

(also a thing im doing in my rewrite of it is locking certain things for some parts, it just makes sense if you are trying to tell a story, but its pretty clear now they werent trying to do that, just throw you into a box of virtual toys, and i think thats just sad)

*yeah actually whats up with the sonau/rauru putting their little nuclear super weapon storage room inTO THE ANCIENT RELICT OF THE FORGOTTEN PAST TEMPLE BEHIND THE BIGGEST STATUE OF HYLIA IN EXISTENCE?? you cant tell me all those ancient ruins (springs, forgotten temple) were made AFTER all of the shitshow that went down in totks past; putting it behind that statue? building it into there feels incredibly disrespectful, maybe it makes more sense if you just see it as the devs wanting to put somethign new there, but if you consider it in universe its just ??? also HOW is any of it in such a good shape??, it looks like they buried sonia there a year ago, the structures look like they just came out of a 3d printer despite supposedly being older than their recorded history??

on that note ... how does the room with the order and location of zeldas tears make sense .. are you telling me someone of the past ran around after dragon zelda recording where her fucking tears went down and what markings it made on the ground and then built a room next to the nuclear weapon storage room with the laughably unceremonial grave of the fucking queen just to put all that into statue form? also none of the geographical things changed in ALL that time?? the castle is drawn on there too so i guess that was super fresh then since it "was built above ganondorf as a symbol of royal blahbla" at least in botw you had the photos on your SHIEKAH stone to recover them once you found the place they were taken in, it felt so organically integrated ..

[kosmicdream]

I love manga and comics, but I gotta say. So many of the series i have found most influential to my work either won’t finish, have not finished, or finished in a sort of unsatisfying way. Even if they’re fine, its usually not like.. IT. This is a pretty common experience. I have had a lot more luck watching movies that have endings that felt worth the experience and I’ve started to try to read in hopes to get more exposure to “good endings”.. But i do wish it was more common in my favorite medium to like, have that experience! Even when the endings are pretty good (and there are some, i personally think “paradise kiss” had a great ending that makes me return to the series multiple times over the decades) - I also am like.. I dunno. Its never the highlight of the story, you know. Its not the main reason why you’d read it, is the ending. I would assume most stories across all mediums, the ending isn’t going to be the “best part” anyway. However, after finally finishing watching UTENA earlier this year, I can say that at least for that series (no movie spoilers pls, i still havent seen it ;n;) the ending was in fact, the best part to me and made the entire experience even more memorable and worthwhile to watch. Months later, I’m still kinda amazed that happened! Wish it was not so rare, but also what a treat to get to see something like that felt like what i think an ending to a story should be. Still not a manga/comic ofc, but y’kno. Still good.

Other strong endings for me were: Paradise Kiss (as I said above), There will be blood, Monster, NGE (specifically end of evangelion) … umm!  I don’t know.. Is that really it for me? I like the 98’ Trigun end, but i also hated it as a teenager. So its more of a “nostalgic” one to me, same with Princess Mononoke. I’ll include those just for the sake of having more to think of. There’s plenty more i am fine with and enjoy fine enough.. but i guess its a lot harder for me to find ones that last in my head as what i find to be a satisfying & impressive end.. Of course, endings are all based on taste. Maybe i just haven’t seen enough endings. I think this contributes, along with a plethora of other elements, why writing endings are so hard! There’s just a lot you want to say and it is such a long journey to get there anyway. You are filled with doubt with your executions of ideas, or maybe find the ending you thought of less satisfying than you used to think it was. The longer you spend with something, the more you might find issues. Plus, it really is so hard just to get there. You’re usually falling over with exhaustion just to get to the finish line, let alone do the ending of your dreams. I know when i get to the ends of my chapters, i’m usually so desperate just to get there, i end up feeling like they come out poorly vrs my vision for them. 

Yes.. i have been thinking about endings a lot. Its just something that’s always on my mind, with NRD nearing its close. It still is going to take time of course, but as I revise the last chapters I’m still like left with a lot of feelings with wondering how it’ll come out, if i can even do it, ect. I know i will, its inevitable. But after that, well, my big struggle with FFAK will continue. I know that NRD has given me more tools to handle a series as long as FFAK, but its still getting older and it can be harder to understand all the things I wanted to say with it, what I still can say with it and what is the most valuable to say with it. I can’t do everything! And i certainly have more ideas for it than I could draw, I’m excited to have the story close too. Before it used to make me too upset to even think it i’d cry.. But now i’m like yeah! I wanna know too. I want to share what I thought of, even if its not what readers might have thought it was going to be like. Honestly, with every choice i make in the story, i always have had at least 1 or 2 other options, and I get attached to the other versions of the story that i dont get to make. They all end up very different ends, but still more or less the same story regardless. 

Anyway, just some thoughts on writing and comics today…

[ahdriking]

Mansuang Review:

Mansuang was amazing. I was particularly impressed by Apo's performance as Khem, which was emotional and complex and deeply moving. His story was riveting to me. I personally love characters with trauma in their backgrounds, who have been beaten down by the world into a certain way of thinking and behaving, and Apo captured that experience gracefully and expertly. There is palpable pain in his performance of the darkest moments. I will say that they could have expanded upon his character development a lot more. It would have been nice to have a bit more emotional nuance in his journey towards self-love and acceptance, but I definitely didn't feel unsatisfied by where his narrative ended up. The movie was already juggling so much they clearly just didn't have the time to dedicate to expanding upon the nitty gritty aspects of his healing.

I will say that I am honestly kinda surprised this didn't have any romance in it at all, because there is such a good foundation for it that it feels like they wasted? Like, Khem feeling that no one cares about him except for his body could have been the gateway to Chatra demonstrating care and affection for him outside of sex, proving that he's capable of being loved for who he is. That jumps out at me. That might have been an opportunity for them also to have expanded on Chatra's character, and given him more presence and personality. Khem is a protector, that's clear in the way he treats Wan, but he so often has to sacrifice himself in that role that it would have been devastatingly effective if Chatra had had an opportunity to take care of him in some way instead.

I loved the *bad touch* backstory, for whumping reasons, but it did leave me a little confused. Why did Khem have to have sex with those people? Was it because he's ambitious enough that he'll sell himself to advance his position? Was it because someone was forcing him to, like a boss or person in power? Was it because he felt he had no choice, or was protecting Wan from something? I just wish we could have gotten to know him better, because we get to see the impact of the trauma but we don't really get to understand it, and that leaves me wondering. It felt like, during the dance scene where Khem goes off script, that he did that as an attempt at seduction, because seduction is what he knows and what he expects. He's used to trading in on his beauty and sex appeal to get what he wants. That suggests so many characteristics to me that just... don't quite exist in the rest of the story. And there's no real conclusion to it other than Khem, at the end of the story, choosing to be a dancer because he's at peace with his place in society. Again, lots and lots of opportunities were built up that just didn't quite manage to hit a home run.

Mile did a fucking fantastic job with what he was given, but I was a little disappointed with his role in the story. I felt like the relationship between him and Khem was half-done and underdeveloped, but it had so much potential! He put in an absolutely solid performance, and knocked the emotional scenes out of the park, but I couldn't help but feel like he wasn't given the chance to really shine.

Tong killed it. Killed it fucking dead. That man has the screen presence of a King, which surprised the fuck out of me cos I thought he was a character actor based on his performance in KinnPorsche. But no, this guy has range. I was very impressed.

Bas did a great job playing a racist sad boy. RIP Wan.

In conclusion: a flawed movie, but still so enjoyable and so, so worth watching. I cannot fucking wait for Shine, I hope that it delivers in some of the areas Mansuang wasn't able to.

[americaswritings]

Chocolates

Warnings: period talk

Summary: You're on your period and Neil offers you a little comfort when he sees you're having a bad day.

Words: 2.2k

Pairing: Neil Melendez x Doctor!reader

A/N: It's ridiculous how much time I wasted searching for a gif and still ending up unsatisfied. But for some reason when I search for gifs on tumblr for my writing I just get reaction memes these days. It's so annoying! Anyway, this was requested. I hope you like it and it's the way you imagined :) I really want to write more again, because it felt so good to just sit down and start typing, but life is so busy at the moment and both my physical and mental health aren't so great too! Hopefully it will all get better soon :)

You should have known it would be ‘one of those days’ when you walked into work with a belly ache, but you didn’t think much of it, hoping if you just ignored it the pain would eventually go away.

Only it didn’t. Instead it got worse, spreading into your lower back and making it hard to keep standing. All you wanted to do was sit or lie down and not move anymore, perhaps even curl over until the pain faded.

But you were on shift, the ER was buzzing and the hospital was understaffed. Sighing you grabbed the next patient’s file, scanning it quickly as you made your way over to where he was seated. Too late you realized someone was crossing your way and you bumped right into them, startling at the unexpected contact.

“Sorry!” You took a step back and glanced up at the man dressed in the blue scrubs, relieved but also a little nervous to find it was Neil Melendez. The two of you got along well, so well that it made you hope he would eventually ask you out.

But he hadn’t yet and you didn’t have the heart to do it yourself, fearing the humiliation of a rejection since you would have to keep working together.

Neil teased you and he flirted with you, but that didn’t have to mean anything. He was naturally charming. Still you hoped for the moment to come, your heart always losing its steady rhythm for a second when you laid eyes on him.

“It’s nothing.” He smiled at you and you tried to reciprocate it, but a sharp pain in your belly made your face twist in pain instead. “Well, I should get going”, you said once the pain had ebbed a little, but you didn’t make it far as Neil held you back by your elbow.

“You okay?” His brows were knitted and he watched you with a frown, his eyes darting over your face before he locked eyes with you again. You drew in a breath, tensing a little at the proximity and trying to ignore your galloping heart.

“Yeah, I’m fine”, you brushed it off, this time managing a smile. You saw Neil slightly narrow his eyes at you, but before he could say anything else you offered him a nod and hurried away.

-

You had never looked so much forward to your break, the imagination of finally sitting down and eating a meal keeping you going for the rest of the morning. But just as you handed over your last patient’s file, planning to head to the cafeteria, a voice called you back.

It was Dr. Lim. She was marching over to you and you could tell from her face she wanted something from you.

Not now.

“What is it?”, you asked, once she came to stand beside you, not hiding your frustration. The other doctor looked at you surprised, before holding an iPad out to you. “The imaging and report from Mr. Wellington’s CT just came in.”

You let your eyes flicker over it, not finding anything worth this fuss. “And?”, you asked, sounding as impatient as you felt to get held back. “That’s what I thought too”, Audrey continued unbothered, “but then I found this.” She used her fingers to zoom in on it.

“See this shadow?”

You squinted your eyes. “Could be anything.” “Right, but it looks like a small tumour. I already ran a biopsy. The results should be in soon.”

You glanced up at her, waiting for her to come to the point. When she didn’t say more you sighed. “So? Why are you showing me this?”

“Okay-“, Audrey snapped the iPad’ case shut, handing it over to the nurse’s desk, “Someone’s in a mood today!”

You winced under her glare, regretting how harsh you had sounded. It wasn’t her fault you were having a bad day and she didn’t deserve your attitude. “Sorry.”

You closed your eyes and took a deep inhale, trying to push away your annoyance. You really didn’t want to argue with Audrey today. Especially not over something stupid like this.

“It’s just-” You opened your eyes again, gesturing at the busy ER. “-My back is killing me and I have the worst cramps and I just want to lay down and suffer in silence.”

You let out a chuckle at your dramatic words and the way they came out as if they had been at the tip of your tongue only waiting to slip out, which probably wasn’t far from the truth, and Audrey offered you a sympathetic smile. “That time of the month?”

You nodded, surprised that you didn’t feel embarrassed to talk about it with her. Audrey always seemed so strong and unbothered and you couldn’t imagine her whining over a stupid period. But she seemed to know exactly what you were talking about.

“The mood swings are the worst for me. You might know I’m not the most patient person out there-”, you grinned, thinking of the many incidents she had proven what a short temper she coud have, “but during that time? You really don’t want to pick a fight with me then!”

You laughed. It was just too easy to imagine. “I bet Melendez and Andrews have made that mistake.” Audrey’s face lit up. “Oh, trust me they have!” She shook her head, smiling. “And they learn from it.”

“As they should”, you nodded, “at least they don’t have to attempt 12-hour shifts while it feels like their insides get twisted inside-out.”

Audrey laid her hand on your lower arm, squeezing lightly. “Ibuprofen’s your best friend. And if you ever need to take a break and lay down just tell me.”

You felt a lump forming in your throat and you had to will back your tears. Damn hormones! “Thank you.” You hoped she could hear how sincere you were, the thought of having an escape providing you with relief strong enough to give you a little energy back.

“We women have to stick together.” Audrey squeezed your arm again, before retreating and you looked after her for a moment, grateful to have a friend in her.

-

When you had finally made it to the cafeteria, your pager had gone off right as it had been your turn to order. “You can’t be serious”, you muttered as you pulled it out and read it. “Hey, are you going to order or what?”, you heard someone ask behind you, but without another word you took off, praying you would make it to your patient in time.

Luckily you had. But afterwards you had been pulled right into another case and before you knew it, it had grown dark outside and your stomach was growling at you.

The cafeteria was long closed and so you got a chocolate bar from the vending machine, promising yourself to get real food once you were off the clock.

The ER had quietened down as it often did at the end of your shift and since you had never taken your break you allowed yourself a moment to take a breath in the resident’s lounge.

Although you weren’t a resident anymore you still liked to come here. Perhaps it was the closeness to Neil’s office or the quiet it provided at the end of the day when the residents had all gone home. There was no one who could tell you off as you curled up on the sofa.

The chocolate tasted heavily in your mouth and you devoured it until the last crumb. “You look like you just fell in love.”

“Huh?” You glanced up, to find Neil at the door, casually entering the room and coming to stand in front of you.

He gestured towards the wrapper you had placed on the table. “The chocolate.”

Oh. You let out a chuckle as you realized you had stared at it longingly while you had contemplated whether it was reasonable to get up and get another one or if it wasn’t worth the effort it would take to search for a vending machine.

“That was probably the best chocolate I’ve ever had”, you declared and Neil chuckled. “Your standards are very low then.” You tried to look offended but failed. “Don’t speak ill of the vending machines. They are real life savers. And it’s been a tough day.”

You said it lightly, but you saw Neil’s jaw twitch at the last part. “What happened?”

He walked over to where you were sitting and you shuffled to the side to make space for him. He leaned against the armrest, his body angled towards yours. “Nothing I-”

But suddenly tears were clouding your eyes as all the emotions you had bottled up threatened to spill over. “Damn it!” You wiped at your eyes before the tears could spill, feeling your cheeks heat up in embarrassment.

You didn’t need to look at Neil’s face to see the worry on it.

“Sorry”, you let out an embarrassed chuckle and Neil smiled at you softly. “I’m usually not this emotional. It’s been a long day that’s all.”

“You have had longer ones and didn’t bat an eye.” It wasn’t an accusation, only genuine confusion on Neil’s part and your heart swelled at the hidden compliment and how much he cared to understand you.

“Yeah”, you muttered, closing your eyes as another cramp hit you. When you opened them again you hoped your face hadn’t betrayed you and given away your discomfort, but the disadvantage at working so closely together was that Neil could read you by now.

Before he could make any wild guesses, you decided to just tell him the truth.

You didn’t have to be embarrassed about it, shouldn’t feel that way, yet it was easier said than done. You didn’t want him to think you couldn’t take the hardships of the job, that you were weak or dramatic. But even as you thought it you knew Neil would never think that of you.

Or anyone.

He wasn’t like that, wasn’t intimidated by strong willed women or the reality of what it was like to be one.

Taking a long inhale and an even longer exhale you looked up at him. “I got my period this morning and I’ve been in pain all day.” Now that you had gotten the words out you suddenly had the urge to let it all out.

“And my back is like- so bad. But the cramps are the worst. And I snapped at Audrey. And then again at Glassman. And I almost bawled my eyes out when my patient made it out of surgery and his wife came to see him. And this-”, you gestured at yourself, “is the first break I have gotten all day and I don’t think I’m ever gonna stand up again.”

You stared at Neil in shock for a moment as you realized what had just happened, but then you let out a laugh. “Wow and that just came out like one long sentence!”

Neil chuckled in amusement. “That seems like a really crappy day”, he agreed and you nodded in relief that he seemed to take it serious. “Right? I mean, there are worse things, obviously, but still-” You clutched your belly again, letting out a hiss of pain.

When you looked back up Neil had shifted closer to you, his frown back in place. “Why didn’t you call in sick?”

“Really?” You shook your head, amused and a little frustrated. “I can’t just call in sick every month.”

“It’s this bad every month?”

You nodded. “Most of the time, yeah. Sometimes it’s better, other’s it’s worse. But that’s just how it is.”

Neil face twisted, clearly displeased with what you had said or the situation, perhaps both. “It shouldn’t be like that”, he said then and you looked at him for a moment, taking in his sincerity. “I mean, yeah”, you agreed after a moment. “What, you want to change the whole system now?”

Neil’s mouth curled up in the hint of a smile. “Not tonight, no. I have better plans.”

Your face fell a little as you felt a hint of disappointment at his words. Maybe he was just hanging out with friends or visiting his sister you tried to reason. But the thought of him having plans with another woman gnawed at you.

“Really? What could be better than that?”, you asked teasingly and he tipped his head towards you. “Someone needs to show you what real chocolate tastes like.”

Oh. Your hope arose so strongly you almost forgot to breathe for a moment. “And my sofa is even more comfortable than this one.” He patted the couch you were seated on, not breaking eye contact once.

You still looked at him in shock, unable to form words as you processed his. “You’re baiting me with chocolate?”, you asked once the shock had faded a little, cautious not to put too much weight into his words and Neil grinned. “I do give great massages too. I cook. And I have a big movie collection to distract you from, you know, the pain and all that.”

You smiled widely at him. “Now that wins me over”, you stated, although the thought of spending time alone with Neil was already enough. But it didn’t make his promises less appealing. And it made you feel warm inside to know how much he cared and that he had put so much thought into what he could do to make you feel better.

“Great.” He stood up. “So it’s a date?” For the first time he sounded nervous and it made your heart flutter to know it was because of you. That this, whatever it was between you, mattered to him too.

“It’s a date.”

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[specialagentartemis]

the becky chambers discussion/roasting is reminding me that i read several of the wayfarers novels, and liked them all alright, but i can't think of a single one where i found the ending satisfying. and in retrospect, you're right, it's a lot of the same thing over and over again

the one that's sticking in my brain at the moment is whichever one had that alien with the human boyfriend, which was a big taboo i think, who was on her way to see him when she hit a stage of fertility that's really rare in her alien biology, and would culturally normally involve going off and having some alien eggs or whatever before this brief period ended

and this was portrayed as like, a positive and fulfilling experience, not a coercive one or anything, but it was culturally Expected, and in the end she decided to go hang out with her human boyfriend instead even if that meant missing the fertility cycle and forgoing this big cultural expectation

and idk i think the point it was trying to make was about bodily autonomy, which is great, but i found the way it was written deeply unsatisfying, and looking at it now it feels like that same Dex and Mosscap attitude where Simply Not Feeling Like It is a reason to ignore all social obligations. like not that it was a bad decision for the character, but i simply did not feel like I was emotionally sold on why she didn't want to. "i just don't feel like it" doesn't seem like a big enough reason to ignore this big milestone in your culture you know

god this ask is so long and should probably have been a reblog of one of your posts or something. sorry lol

Hah no this is interesting, and I enjoy the book discussions!

Hmm I remember this character, but I don’t remember this plot point… was it in the most recent Wayfarers book? I never actually read it.

But, yeah, I see what you mean. There is power in exerting your autonomy, but making big life decisions mostly just because [shrug] you want to can feel… weak. From this description of this plot thread, it also feels like it reinforces what I felt about Chambers writing all her characters, alien or robot or spacefuture human, like suburban Californians—that is, with logic, values, and decisions that feel like they belong to a liberal, middle-class, urban-but-not-in-the-middle-of-a-city, white woman. None of those are meant as pejoratives, I want to be clear—by liberal I don’t mean it as an insult, I mean, with values of open-mindedness and progressive ideals, and in this case in a particularly suburban American way. This feels like a story about reproductive autonomy from such a perspective, with the values of someone who is a middle-class white woman in a liberal area of the US and this is what reproductive/bodily autonomy looks like—as opposed to getting in the head of an alien in the spacefuture and imagining what different cultural values might look like and how they might influence that character’s feelings and way of conceptualizing such a decision, even if that’s the choice she ultimately does make for herself. Y’know?

[billpottsismygf]

73 Yards

I have slightly mixed feelings on this one, but what it did well it did brilliantly. The episode was beautifully shot with a fantastically creepy atmosphere throughout. The Welsh landscape, the close shots, the out of focus semper distans, the mystery of what was being said. Millie Gibson's performance throughout was stellar and this is the most invested I've felt in her character so far. I did miss Ncuti's presence somewhat, but it says a lot that she was able to carry the episode on her own and I do love when the format gets shaken up occasionally and we get a Doctor-lite episode.

I loved Kate's brief appearance and the way it sold the fact that this was a very serious situation. You think UNIT might be able to help here, but Ruby is once again left alone. The themes of abandonment in this one were incredibly potent and really tie into the themes of the series. Unsurprisingly, one of the most effective and upsetting parts of the episode was Ruby's mum also being affected by the mysterious woman. Her anguished screams for her mum were really quite harrowing, as was that awful comment about her birth mother not wanting her.

It also got far darker than I would expect in a Doctor Who episode. The far-right politician and the threat of nuclear war was plenty, but what was done to Marti was absolutely chilling, as was Ruby's apology for not doing anything. It gets away with it because it's all through implication, but that almost makes it more hard hitting. You don't always need to see the monster in action to know what it's doing. It also reminds me of my much younger self not picking up on the Master beating Lucy Saxon until I was a teenager.

The way time began to speed along was actually quite shocking to begin with - I actually gasped when we saw the 25th birthday cards - and it kept bringing to mind various other episodes where companions have been abandoned either in the real world or another timeline/reality, especially things like The Girl Who Waited, Turn Left, Forest of the Dead, The Lie of the Land, World Enough and Time etc. That things get undone at the end was again a little reminiscent of a few of them, but this is also where we come to my criticisms of the episode, because - while I loved the experience of watching it - the ending feels tacked on in a way that is very unsatisfying.

There were a number of things that just never get explained. For a minor example, why did the Doctor disappear? Disturbing the fairy circle released Mad Jack (I'll come onto him) and also made the Doctor disappear? And also made the TARDIS lock in a way that couldn't be opened with Ruby's key? I'm not as bothered by this as the below, but it feels messy and like an attempt to do a Turn Left without an actual reason for the Doctor to be gone.

A bigger gripe is Ruby being the following lady. That on its own would have been fine, but that combined with other elements just frustrates me. Mainly, if the following lady was Ruby, what is it she says to get people to run away? I don't mind things being left to the imagination - for instance, I quite like that we don't get an explanation for why she has to be 73 yards away; I can infer that that's got something to do with the fairy circle - but it appears that whatever she says specifically makes people think there's something horrifying about Ruby.

What could Old Ruby possibly say to that end and why would she? And why would the same thing make a Prime Minister resign? If we had never found out who she was, I would have been perfectly happy to infer that she was a force of some kind that drives people mad, but it's Ruby! Knowing who she is but not what she does or how or why she does it is the worst way round. I want to know neither or both, or possibly the latter but not the former, but this way round just frustrates me.

On that note, the friend I was watching with pointed out that, as she was dying, elderly Ruby had very short hair and suddenly has long hair when she becomes the semper distans lady. A small detail, perhaps, but one that further muddles the conclusion. Why did her hair change? Where did the coat come from? It's a different actress as well and, even at that distance, you can kind of tell. Did Old Ruby just end up embodying an existing spirit to do with the fairy circle? If so, I would have liked that to be a lot clearer. If not, why does she look so different?

Okay, so, Mad Jack. Who or what is Mad Jack? Is he a spirit of some kind that possesses Roger ap Gwilliam? Was he always Roger ap Gwilliam? Does Roger ap Gwilliam exist without him? If Roger ap Gwilliam does not exist without Mad Jack, how come the Doctor still mentions him? If Roger ap Gwilliam does exist without Mad Jack, what is changed by the Doctor stepping on the fairy circle?

In the version of the timeline we end up on (where the Doctor doesn't step in the fairy circle but Roger ap Gwilliam is still mentioned by him as a dangerous Prime Minister), here are a few possibilities and why they don't work for me:

Does he still become Prime Minister and get taken down another way? Perhaps, but it's not like Turn Left where we know the problems would have been stopped by the Doctor (who's not here). Without Ruby's infiltration and semper distans lady, what stops him? And why was that not able to stop him in the timeline we witnessed?

Is he less dangerous? The second time around of the opening conversation we don't get the line about the brink of nuclear war, though only because Ruby interrupts him to point out the woman, but maybe we can infer that this time he's a dangerous Prime Minister but not that dangerous? That seems quite weak and unclear, though, and seems to disregard the horror of the Marti stuff.

Does the timeline only change after the Doctor's comments about him being a dangerous Prime Minister? He does say that before stepping (or not stepping) in the fairy circle both times. I might be happy to assume that Roger ap Gwilliam never comes to power after that diverging moment has passed, except that things have already changed before the Doctor mentions him because Ruby says she's been to Wales three times. Maybe they've changed a bit but not enough until the moment she stops him from stepping on it, but that is not at all clear.

If it's any of these (or none of them), that's really confusing! It's just so messy and unclear. It would have been a simple fix, too! Keep everything the same and just add in a line as they're walking away at the end along the lines of "thank goodness he never got into power; people never found him that convincing". That would have clarified a) things have changed since a few seconds ago b) that Mad Jack is what allowed him to get to power and c) in this timeline, that won't happen and Ruby won't need to stop him.

Despite all my complaints, I did really love watching this episode. It's just so carelessly wrapped up, as if they didn't think about the implications of the otherwise very well told story. I'll be interested to rewatch it and see if my complaints bother me more or less on second viewing. I really want to love this episode because there were so many fantastic elements, but it just makes all the inconsistencies and loose threads and muddled logic particularly frustrating because they were only another draft or two away from being solved.

Misc small things

No theme tune! I feel robbed! Maybe it was meant to be part of the vibe that we're not in the usual timeline, but come on. It could easily have been slotted in when she left the TARDIS the first time or before she got to the pub!

Other episodes I thought of: Extremis with warning other versions of yourself; The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood with waving at future versions of yourself that disappear when things change; Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS with weird timelines and future selves and things being undone; Last Christmas with the companion becoming elderly; Turn Left for the vibes of "there's something on your back"; Under the Lake/Before the Flood with a silent message, since it looked like the woman was trying to sign things to Ruby; and The Sound of Drums/Last of the Timelords with the triple whammy of the companion having to 1) set off on their own to 2) take down a prime minister and 3) have time reverse.

It's also got a good old bootsrap paradox in it, which doesn't bother me in the way of the above complaints, but for the sake of completionism: How was Ruby warned about the future when that future hasn't happened? Would have loved Twelve to briefly pop his head in and explain it for us.

It's interesting that the snow stopped throughout this version of her life. It also seemed to snow while she was on her way to the pub.

Kate's comment about how "this timeline might be suspended along your event" was interesting and I wonder if it connects with the snow stopping.

For the first time I actually recognised Susan Twist when she appeared, but I'm not sure I would have done without Ruby realising she recognised her. I liked that! It felt very Boom Town and recognising Bad Wolf coming up again.

There was a little cameo from Mrs Flood.

[super-amogio-64]

Did anyone else find the ending to the Disney+ Percy Jackson series really unsatisfying?

The show wasn’t bad overall, though some of the acting felt a bit stiff and I didn’t like some of the changes. They removed a lot of the Cerberus stuff where he is neglected by Hades and just wants to play with someone. Percy and Annabeth were a lot quicker on the uptake about a lot of things, which was fine but removed a bit of the suspense from things like the Lotus Casino (I’m still disappointed they didn’t all get sucked into it like in the book - also, removing the taxi driver calling them Your Highness made me a little sad, though Percy learning how to drive the taxi himself made up for it) and Procrustes (they knew he was Procrustes from the start, and as such never got tricked into trying one of his beds). Other changes I didn’t mind so much (like the scene with Echidna) though I found it really odd how the had the whole thing around Medusa where it was like “don’t judge a book by its cover, not everything that looks like a monster is one” only to then turn around and go “actually yeah she is a monster”. It felt like it undercut the message a bit. Anyway, the main two issues I had were:

1.) Removing the scene where Percy makes the gods swear to claim their children by a certain age. It REALLY felt like a lot of the show was building up to that scene (Sally making Grover swear to protect Percy, emphasizing the importance of a sworn oath; the MULTIPLE conversations about how unfair it was that the gods treated their children this way; and the fact that it was solidly established that the gods have to obey certain rules) only to have Percy turn around and tell Luke, “hey, the gods are trying their best, okay?” Percy standing up to the gods had a lot more weight in the book, because he made his anger with the way they treated their kids clear to them, whereas in the show he did stand up to Zeus but then actively defends the gods’ actions in his subsequent confrontation with Luke.

2.) Perhaps my biggest issue in the show: Gabe Ugliano. When Percy entered his apartment, and Eddie said “I’m going out, you’re coming in. I should be apologizing to you,” I was fully bracing myself for a scene depicting how abusive Gabe could get. Instead, we got a Gabe Ugliano who is moderately annoying at worst. He’s an asshole to his wife and stepson, but SEVERELY toned down from the book. He’s mostly just kind of a jerk, who Percy and Sally have no trouble standing up to as he doesn’t really do anything but get annoyed when Percy stands up to him and quickly backs down when Sally stands up to him. They even removed the bit towards the end where it is revealed that he had been physically abusive towards Sally, leaving just about everything that makes the character so hate-able out of the show. He’s just… dislikable. That’s it. I couldn’t really bring myself to hate him because he’s just a dumbass. Now, from what I understand, the reason he was toned down was because Rick Riordan himself said that when they first tried to adapt the scene (in a more faithful way) it was uncomfortable to watch, which is fair: I don’t really like watching depictions of abuse (I had to walk out of Love Lies Bleeding, it’s a great movie but it was a bit too much) especially against children. Plus, I understand that this was meant to be a more kid-friendly show. But removing Gabe’s abuse means removing Sally coming into her own by killing him. Instead, Gabe’s death doesn’t feel as deserved, and it happens accidentally. Plus, even though they established that bad smells can mask a demigod’s scent from monsters, they didn’t include the reveal that Sally stayed with Gabe because his scent hid Percy. Again, I understand why they may not have wanted to keep the “woman sticks with her abuser” narrative for a kid-friendly show. But at that point, why even have him in the show? All of his narrative significance has been stripped away, leaving us with a character who adds nothing to the story. He’s just kinda there. They even made him unemployed, meaning the bit where Percy says on live TV that Gabe is giving away free appliances is gone too. TLDR: he isn’t as evil, so it doesn’t really feel like he gets deserved comeuppance when he dies at the end, and on top of that his plot significance is removed, leaving him as sort of a vestigial tail of a character that no longer has any purpose in the story but is still visibly there taking up screen time.

Idk, I liked a lot about the show, but a lot of aspects felt rushed. I wouldn’t mind waiting longer for season 2 if it meant it would be a more complete adaptation of the book it’s based on.

[dynamightmite]

What are your thoughts on Izuku lately. Is he alright? I have read other people being unsatisfied with how he has been in this last arc about his relationship with All Might and Katsuki.

I got this ask a few days ago and I wanted to spend a little time thinking about it, because, well, there's a lot of moving parts to my opinions regarding Izuku/Katsuki/All Might and I needed to try an sort them out. This will still probably be kinda long and rambly, though, sorry lol.

To start with, I understand why a lot of people were frustrated by the jump from chapter 423 to 424, and a lot of it has to do with this chapter confirming that Shigaraki's dead, which, understandably, pissed off a lotta readers. It's also pretty jarring to go from THE CLIMAX to... a week later in a hospital. And for people who are not super attached to the Katuski-Izuku dynamic, the emotional, wholesome childhood friend scene is just not what they wanted to see anyway.

On the other hand, from a purely utilitarian perspective as a writer, I totally get why Horikoshi felt he needed to show the audience, that, hey guys! The main character is still alive, here's the state of his quirk! Because based on the reactions of some people, if we don't immediately see a character after they get wounded, they are super dead. No other option, time to riot! Like no offense to the everyone who's been panicking about the League, but Dabi is not dead. That man is a fucking COCKROACH, he's literally fine. And Toga just got, like, a little exsanguinated. That's nothin' in shounen terms.

HOWEVER, I do agree with some of the complaints about the overall timing. I think there maybe needed to be more of a buffer between this chapter and the last, to help pad out Izuku's reactions to just, y'know, kinda killing a guy. Possibly also showing other parts of the cast/story, although I don't necessarily know that jumping to, for example, focus on the League immediately after would have been the right move either. And, like I said, it's not especially weird for a narrative to jump from the end fight to pay attention to the main character. That is... such an inoffensive choice to make with the plot to the point that it's almost expected. But yeah, with a little more time to emotionally process before showing it, I think people would not be upset about the contents of this chapter nearly as much.

Because the scene with Katsuki and Izuku was like... super predictable. None of the things they said to each other were surprising or out of character, and this moment has been built up to for-fucking-ever. Katsuki, needy bastard that he is, running to yell and cry at Izuku about being rivals forever? Izuku wailing KACCHAN while also crying and insisting that he's fine etc, etc? I have no complaints about any of that in terms of content.

I have seen a few complaints about the Izuku-Katsuki dynamic stifling Katsuki's personal arc, which. I mean, I can't tell anybody how to feel, but I don't really feel like the criticisms I've personally seen were something to take seriously. Because Katsuki, singularly, was an inspiration. To his class (who lead the search for Izuku and brought the class together?), to the previous generation of heroes (All Might, Best Jeanist, FUCKING EDGESHOT???? WHO GAVE YEARS OFF HIS LIFE BECAUSE HE BELIEVED IN KATSUKI'S HEROISM AND SACRIFICE AND WAS INSPIRED BY HIM????), and to the general public (Horikoshi did put in those shots of all the random bg characters and characters we met from other arcs for a reason). He protected Izuku, he fought with him side-by-side, he acknowledged the help other characters gave him (Shoto and his ice ramp sob). His arc has followed the path that Horikoshi has been laying out for years and years. And it's fine if you don't like the arc that Horikoshi chose for him! But it is internally consistent. Even I have some superficial complaints about some of the specifics, but broad strokes? I'm quite happy.

In regards to Izuku and his personal arc... some of it's hard to comment on because the story's still not over. Like. IF my assumptions about the overall intentions behind Shigaraki's death are correct, the narrative will clarify as such through Izuku's actions and emotional state.

And, based on chapter 424, there's already some seeds of Shigaraki's death really affecting Izuku long-term.

Idk man, does this really look like Izuku isn't struggling with what's happened? That he is totally cool with Shigaraki dying? Do you really think he isn't conflicted at all?

Frankly, Izuku being conflicted is quite possibly the most normal, reasonable response for him to have. I've always loved the idea of future Izuku and Shigaraki reaching out and bonding after the war, so some of this is directed at myself, but... there's no real basis for the idea that Izuku has any extremely personal, loving connection to Shigaraki. It isn't like with Touya and Shoto, who have a wildly personal, intimate connection. The only times Izuku and Shigaraki interacted, Shigaraki was either actively attacking Izuku or threatening to kill him T_T it isn't weird that Izuku isn't especially fond of Shigaraki as a person. He kidnapped Kacchan! He tried to kill Izuku! He tried to kill basically everyone Izuku knows and loves! HE BLEW UP HALF OF JAPAN?! It is absolutely normal for Izuku to not, y'know, be especially fond of the guy as an individual.

But also... he did kill Shigaraki. The person he was so dedicated to saving, he was willing to give up his hands, his life. And yet, those were his hands that ultimately (with Shigaraki's spirit help) killed Shigaraki's body, even if it was being possessed by AFO at the time. And I don't think he wanted to kill Shigaraki. I don't think he wanted to kill anybody! And if I'm right, the epilogue arc is going to uphold that pain, and use it to fuel Izuku and his desire to change the future of society.

IF Horikoshi is going for Shigaraki as a martyr who died and it was a tragedy that we, the audience, are supposed to be heartbroken about, then I expect him to continue the story with the idea that, just like it's a tragedy that Shigaraki died, it is a goddamn tragedy that Izuku was put in a position where he had to choose between saving the life of someone he wanted to save and stopping AFO from killing everyone. He is sixteen years old! He shouldn't be making a choice like that, and it is a travesty that he was forced to! That he was the only person capable of making that choice. He is a kind, caring, scared kid who just killed somebody. I want him to feel betrayed, even if he doesn't quite know how to express it. I want him to grieve. I want him to actively work towards a tomorrow where nobody gets put in Shigaraki's position OR HIS ever again. Because it isn't fair! It isn't fair to him, to Shigaraki, or the readers that love them both! And I want Izuku to be hurt about it and I want the other characters to care.

Which leads me to All Might.

I have a lot of complicated feelings about All Might. Because I simultaneously DO think that the narrative has actually spent a lot of time seriously criticizing him directly, and also feel like it's hard to balance the fact that he is a good person/hero who tried his best but ultimately failed (and was deeply, personally influential for basically all of the major characters) with the fact that he is super wrong about a lot of things and probably didn't need the amount/type of screen time he got. Like, I got the vision behind the Iron Might suit thing and Izuku inspiring him to be a quirkless hero, but also I think it took away from other characters who needed acknowledgement more. The torch should have been passed, and All Might could have been brought in a different way.

If you're asking about just this chapter? Honestly, I find it hard to criticize All Might for being proud of and kind to his proteges for doing the thing he couldn't: defeating AFO and stopping the destruction of Japan. They're wounded to the point of potentially life-long disability and emotionally wrecked. There was exactly zero chance that Izuku was going to wake up in his hospital bed to All Might saying "wow, it took you that long to stop AFO and both him and Shigaraki are dead now? You really do suck, kid. I never should have given you my quirk".

In terms of framing, I do see some people's concern over the fact that All Might's words (and the surrounding imagery) seem to be positive and hopeful and could be read as him (and therefore the narrative) brushing off the horror of Shigaraki having to die for the rest of the world to know peace. All Might has always symbolized the Old Guard, and the outdated heroic ideals that caused the current tumult and state of society. So to have him say "good job, you did it!" does sound worryingly like the story saying that everything is good and right with the world now. Which... if we want to be thematically consistent, it isn't "all good".

But ultimately, a lot of this is in wait-and-see territory. Until the manga is over, I'm not ready to be married to any particular opinion about the end, because we just don't know for sure where Hori's gonna take this. And while I do genuinely think that we have enough to be excited/optimistic over, I'm also not blind to the potential disaster that the ending could make the story. So. We'll find out in the next few weeks/months!

Sorry for talking so much, lmao. Thanks for asking!

[1eoness]

Could you make a Dom!Leon x trans ftm reader NSFW fic with some fluff thrown into there?

୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ author rambling; HI i am eating pineapple rn and i never forgot this request. just to clarify and for some context, i dont have experience of writing !reader anything out of sub afab so im sorry if this is super inaccurate or inapplicable or unsatisfying and im open to criticism on this :( :) idk im so sorry aghdfhdsfhdj i really need to work on this. oh and i read some ftm smut for this so ty to those writers :> pls criticize anything off (with reason ofc). [btw i feel like this is super bad im sorry im not feeling creative rn i have writers block :((( ]

anyway 'DOM!LEON KENNEDY X TRANS FTM READER NSFW WITH SOME FLUFF THROWN IN THERE' COMING UP. i'm sorry this took so long for such short content too :(

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

cw: fluffy dom!leon kennedy, trans ftm!reader (w/ bottom surgery) [i can always redo this if you don't like me mentioning top/bottom surgery]. praise, oral (reader receiving)

synopsis : re4r leon and he loves u and ur worried little face and he's gonna kiss it better (and fuck it better, maybe).

‿︵‿︵୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ -♡- ୨˚̣̣̣͙୧‿︵‿︵

leon loves you. he knows you're constantly worried over him being troubled over his trauma but he wants you to know, between every crevice of his clouded thoughts, that he loves you and it's the surest thing he knows. it's hard to admit but even when he loses himself, it will always, and forever be clear to him that you have his heart and there's a reason why.

you were about to get under the covers to go to sleep (after a day that felt longer than it should be.). though, you lowered your headphones to the lower end of the volume once you saw leon through the bedroom doorway.

"baby, i wanna tell you something." leon said, his quiet and soft voice only going a decibel higher as he crawls to you on your bed. he hated seeing you about to sleep with such a worried look on your handsome face.

you thought he didn't notice? even if you're his neutral-faced boy, he knows when the air around you feels more somber than usual. "do you ever feel.."

"like a plastic bag?" you quipped quickly. (i'm sorry if you don't get it)

"no, damn it." leon's mutter-reply followed with a quiet chuckle that you echoed. he likes that about you, your incessant annoying humor (but you'll never beat him in that). he sighs, and tries again. "you know, like... you're kind of.. stressed over someone else's troubles?"

to be honest, he doesn't really know how to go about it. he doesn't want you to think you're burdening him—though, you could never ever make him feel like that. leon nears you, hovering above you and adoring your face wherever his mind runs. for some reason, before you guys go to sleep he just does this. he also likes talking to you before you both go to sleep ♡.

you hum, just a little bit sleepy. "what do you meann?" you ask quaintly, and leon's heart melts at the tone of your slightly languid voice. you sounded so cute. a rather random yet soft laugh escapes before he dips down to give you a small kiss on your cheek.

"...y/n, i'll just be straight—i don't want you going to bed looking so.. upset." leon mutters softly, rubbing over the skin of your cheekbone with his thumb. maybe he shouldn't have gone into detail how heavy his mission felt. because when he was done talking, you gave him some short comfort and impulsively stood up and said that you needed to wash the dishes (and the dishwasher was literally running when you said that).

at first he thought he did something wrong and upset you, and the guilt immediately seeped in. naturally, he didn't want it to go undiscussed, that would murder him! so he went to find you ASAP. but when he went to check on you in that dim kitchen, he saw you with your back turned and trying to silence your tears. apparently, you felt so bad for him it was enough to hurt you, too. you were just too sweet—leon also felt bad. he gave you some space for a bit, though he's sorry because he really wants to be there for you and he can't afford to leave you by yourself sometimes :(

you looked a little to the side from his forward words. you didn't really know what to say in response, you were just.. tired, and also worried. leon understands this, picking up on it and showing it by giving you a reassuring, subtle smile. he wants to see you smiling, too, and he knows just how to do it. it's his favorite thing about his little boy ♡.

"..come, baby." he coos quietly as he began to take a hold on either sides of your face, knowing you don't need discussion right now. maybe loving is enough. and loving you is a way of reassuring himself, you just need to accept that :( so you be good for him and let him give you the praise you deserve (and so much more).

he kisses you on the forehead first. he loves cradling your handsome little face, placing safe pecks all over it. especially on that spot a little adjacent from under your eyes. leon hums when his lips reach your jaw, peppering it with innocent love. but will it really only go that far? "because you're the most perfect boy ever." he reasons hushedly, his left hand holding the side of your neck and caressing it gently.

oh, it's going to be one of those nights where he kisses you all over and doesn't leave you alone.. but you know better than to complain.

"y're so clingy..." you decided to joke, though you both knew you loved it. while you giggled at his antics, you can feel him smiling into the skin of your neck. he's so ready to spoil you rotten.. and you had no idea:( ♡

he moves his broad hands under your shirt, handling your being with tutelage. the fuss of the sheets make hush noise as he moves downwards, worshipping your body along the way by placing kisses over your clothed stomach. "...so?" he laughs softly against the skin of your lower inner thigh, the fluttery feeling of his lips planting a kiss on it making you shudder. he sees you, and how you turn so bashful all of a sudden.

"..tickles?" leon mumbles amusedly.

"yeah-" you mutter in response before he abruptly did it again on your stomach this time, which made you giggle. you were just too precious to him!

he holds your thighs in his hands for a minute, resting his head against your left thigh. you see the muscles on his arm flex subtly while he does so, your stomach tumbling at witnessing his strength at such a mild moment. for a minute he just gazes at you fondly, a hinting coyness hiding beneath his expression.

you were making it so tough for him. he just wants to kiss you all over . hell, he might even want to merge corporealities with you.

he doesn't speak, his eyes trailing down to your pelvic area while unnoticeably smirking to himself. you were so cute to him, so what else can he do but lift your thighs over his broad shoulders?

but he looks up at you, immediately. his fingertips are teasing at the hem of your bottom clothing, insinuating what he wants to do for you as he lightly taps at your skin. "baby, may i?" he asks with a sudden comforting tone. he'll never make you do something you don't wanna do. but like said, if you accepted, there's no promise that he's going soft on you.. but that's because he just wants you to be all nice and happy! a very innocent motive ♡

"mhm.." you hummed lowly, willingly giving him your greenlight. and has leon said he loves you?

"thank you, love.." he mutters shortly in reply before pulling your pajama bottoms just a little down. down enough for him to free your pretty shaft. he sees you blushing, covering the bottom half of your face with your sleepy hands.

and this man.. was so hard to predict!

the soft hunk of a man wants to wrap his right arm around your abdomen, pull your hips up to his face. "leon!-" you gasp abruptly with that same low voice.

"shhh, baby." leon mumbled while his left hand snaked around to cage your right thigh firmly to his shoulder. his knees dip on the comforters, pulling his boy's lower body up like he was challenged to lift a feather.

you quickly brought your hands up to take your headphones off, but leon suddenly spoke when you pried the muffs off your ears.

"keep them on." he cuts your actions off. the subtle demand of his tone says you're going to keep them on. he, somehow, reaches to turn the volume up on your headphones. you were puzzled, not knowing what he was aiming to do with such-

"a-aah!-" you yelped in utter surprise. a dribble of spit threads from his pretty lips and down onto your length..

he's hunched over as he takes your tip, then more in his mouth. he glances at your dumbfounded eyes, and you swear you could see him smirking to himself. but before you could think further, he was suddenly suckling onto your cock so firmly you started to squirm.

but that's why leon's holding you so tightly, so you can take it the way he needs you to~

you felt restricted. leon wants to steal your senses, inject pleasure in your veins like he were trying to fucking save you. he's beginning to get so hard that it makes him whine against your shaft, and he's so hard that you're making it difficult for him to think rationally.

"l-leonn! slow down!~" you cried without sense, which only urged his fingers pressing into your skin as he held you in place. he takes an inch further, his mouth working eagerly, making sure you can understand his carnal urge of making you cum with his mouth. "uh-uhh!-.... nghhh-hh..."

"mhmm..mmmm..." he hummed roughly, following with a soft growl as he slurped you up stupid. you kept moving. why were you moving so much? you were so sleepy just a minute ago.. oh, well; leon thinks. but is this man really oblivious to the fact that he can make you feel so, so good?

of course he wasn't. your erotic whines got louder and louder by the minute as your headphones disabled you from being conscious of your tone at all. your voice fell muffled upon your ears but leon was devouring it, using your moans and sobs as a motive to eat you up until you're heart-eyed. you couldn't even make sense of the music anymore as leon's mouth clouded your empty mind.

i'm gonna drown you in pleasure, baby.. leon thinks to himself while he's busy adoring you and the way your cock twitches onto his tongue :(

you were flailing slightly while leon went down on you, seeing you and your eyes struggling to keep open. he trails his left hand up and down your thigh, the sensation feeling a little ticklish. your chest rose and fell warmly, trying to reach out to stop him with a weak hand but he wouldn't let you and he feels (mildly) sorry. but it doesn't make him halt— he looks at you with sweet eyes that say 'please cum for me~'

you whined weakly at this, voice going raspy as you full on started to cry. you felt so vulnerable and so good at the same time and you trusted leon so much. you could feel it, could feel him about to siphon your orgasm out of you. just the way he wanted it..

the faucet began to spill and you were crying, the tears trickling down your cheeks messily and around your headphones, too. leon looked at you with mostly with affection, but also with a bit of sympathy. you must've had such a hard time, huh? he's so happy he can make you feel better..

"u-uhh, f-fuck, leon!! n-nno- nggh..a-ahh!-" you didn't even know what you were blabbering or retorting for anymore, but your hips twitched in his grip as you began to tremble within the fuzzy feeling of your orgasm. you were being such a pretty boy for him like this, all sensitive and crying after one minor blowjob. how were you going to handle the rest of the night like this?

it was hard to ignore his boner at this point. "mm..mhh, fuck- such a good boy f'me, huh?" he groans while he sucks on you at a slower pace, trying not to overwhelm you too hard (but still overwhelming you :( he's sorry, he swears.). "god, you're so cute.. but you have him so horny and frustrated now, what did you just do to this boy? he isn't frustrated at you.. but..

he isn't letting go of your thighs any time soon.

[corvusalbus93]

Thoughts & Feelings after the TBB Finale

Loved the show, but there are a couple of things I wish had been different/added. We still got damn good finale; pretty tense at times, action was great, Hemlock died (and Hunter and Crosshair got to do it together. Remember; sharing is caring), the way Rampart and Nala Se met their end, we even had a pretty happy ending for once, lots of good stuff.

However, I am disappointed Rex and his rebellion didn’t really play a part, despite being the reason Echo was gone for so much of the show and the screen time they got in season 2. They were also looking for Tantiss, determined to free their brother, so I’d been hoping Echo would manage to get a message out. Just imagine Rex with his boys showing up clutch, keeping troops occupied, evacuating the prisoners, giving the Batch the opening they need to get to Hemlock or something.

While I like how the show stayed focused on the Bad Batch, and didn’t drag in too many characters from other stories, this could have made Echo’s absence/working with Rex feel more vital. Maybe the Rex-storyline was dropped and they’re saving some of these plotlines for another Rex-centred show; those might also show when Wolffe switched sides or what happened to Cody, after he went AWOL.

Now, am I sad Tech is really dead? Yes and no.

While I am sick of every other character in Star Wars returning from the dead, part of me had hoped he’d survived somehow. As mentioned in previous posts, it felt like he died in the middle of his character arch (which his death certainly didn’t complete); Romar in the first episodes of season 2 gave him inside into the value of culture, and how people weren’t defined by what side they were on during the war. Phee added to this with her own love of history and culture...and then it didn’t go anywhere. They also teased the possibility of a romance with her, but it was ended with an awkward goodbye and we didn’t see her react to his death. She mentions him, but its business as usual for everyone at that point. Tech could have been on vacation the way everyone acted most of the time in season 3.

Seriously, the main reason I’m unsatisfied with his death is the lack of reaction and consequences in this season. Even in the episode he died in, it was kinda overshadowed by Omega’s abduction 5 minutes later. Not to mention that it ended with Emeri revealing she was her sister; you lost a science-inclined sibling with glasses? Well, don’t worry, here’s another. Bit overdramatic on my part, I know, but I really didn’t like that reveal, not at the time. Should have been in season 3.  Though honestly? Emeri didn’t need to be related to any of them; just have her be a not morally bankrupt person and the story wouldn’t have changed. She didn’t need to be related to the other kids to care about them, so what really was the point of her being another clone?

Going back to Tech, it’s a shame we didn’t see Crosshair or Phee react. Like, did Crosshair blame himself for what happened? I’m sure he did on some level, but we have not really seen it. Even in episode 5, when he argues with Hunter, Crosshair says he risked everything to send the message, but Hunter ignored him and allowed Omega to get abducted...but nothing about Tech’s death. They all just silently look down a few episodes later, when Tech is mentioned, and in the final episode Crosshair points out the team died with Tech. It’s something, but I wish there had been more. Maybe show different ways they deal with loss and how to support each other. Maybe Phee and/or Shep show them what funeral rites on Pabu are like, as a way to say goodbye to the departed. Compare how clones and civilians handle death, something like that. We had a little mourning in season 2, but again, was abruptly ended/undercut by Omega’s abduction.

Concerning consequences; the team operated pretty normally, once Crosshair was back with them. I think it would have added weight, if there had been more things they weren’t able to do at all without Tech. Really make his loss be felt/shown in the way they approach their missions, but there was only like one instance, when they were trying to find out about M-count and otherwise they operated pretty much as usual.

Now, even if Tech had survived there still should have been consequences. I have made posts like a year ago, talking about the possibility of him being permanently disabled (e.g. paralysed below hip/unable to walk), but still able to help the team, as his mind has always been his greatest asset. Still, I’m okay with him staying dead, so I’m not going expand on this further here.

Moving on, we never learned why Omega was created the way she was. We know why she was useful for Hemlock, but why did Nala Se made her to begin with? Did she have similar goals/did the Kaminioan have a similar project at some point? Was Emeri like a failed test-version of Omega? Just things I wish they had answered, rather than spending two episodes on finding out what M-count means, something the audience already knows.

Which brings me to my next point: why Ventress was in the show? The Batch found out what the M-count was, which honestly is a piece of information Shand could have given them at the end of her episode. Testing if Omega was force sensitive or the taming of that sea creature, didn’t set up anything in the finale as some suspected, so despite enjoying Ventress’ episode, I wish they’d used the time on other plot points. 

We also never did find out what exactly Project Necromancer tried to accomplish (though we got a good idea), or how close Hemlock was to achieving his breakthrough. Could have added tension, if we’d known how far along he truly was, added catharsis to see him fail so close to his goal.

Overall I’m not quite happy Omega got brought to Tantiss and escaped twice with minimal help (really undermining the place as a whole). Why did infiltrating Tarkin’s “summer home” feel more dangerous/consequential than the secret mountain-base they built up so much? I love we finally got a happy ending, but one named character on the good guys’ side should have died, not just nameless prisoners we only just met. This is where the clone rebellion could have come in, some sacrificing themselves, helping the Batch, or maybe have Phee (who felt underutilised) get shot down, after getting them to Tantiss.

If you’ve seen previous posts, you know I’m pretty mad about what they’ve done with Scorch overall. What happened in the final episode can be summed up like this:

He’s unrecognizable from the games and books, to the point I wonder why they even bothered to include him. He didn’t even really do anything. Was it just because he was recognizable? And where is the rest of Delta? We never got closure concerning Sev and now this, a waste of a pretty fun character.

Speaking of clones working for Hemlock.

While I don’t mind the CX-clones being no one special, they had no personality, and except for CX-2 perhaps, no rivalries with the Batch either. They didn’t even get voice lines, so they looked cool for 5 minutes of screen time and died, but were pretty forgettable overall. They are this far down on my list, ‘cause I legit forgot about them. If only they’d been introduced sooner.

Anyway, those are some of my thoughts. I still like the show and would recommend it to any Star Wars fan, but there were a few things I just needed to get off my chest.

[soupdots]

Hey, I haven’t posted on here in a while, but! I read Azula in the Spirit Temple (finally) and I wanted to give my thoughts on it.

Overall rating, 7.5/10

Things I liked:

• These two panels:

I love how her humanity is shown in both of them. I don’t know if we’ve EVER seen Azula given the humanity shown in the second panel— fear, specifically trauma-motivated fear (and a traumatic experience not frequently discussed, her institutionalization). It’s significant because she’s showing fear without anger, which is rare for her. And I was blown away by the first panel. I didn’t expect them to be so explicit about it. It’s almost too explicit, but honestly, it’s needed (because people clearly don’t pick up on subtext). It made me very happy to see what we’ve all been saying stated outright and in canon. These two panels pushed the comic up from more of a 6/10.

• I liked the idea of spirits and avatars (no pun intended) of Azula’s past friends and family talking to her (This is something that’s planned for my fic, if I ever get that off the ground again). It allows Azula to directly confront what has been done to her and what she has done, which is important for a redemption arc. It also allows for some healing, because she’s able to talk to those who hurt her.

• Azula is not given a quick redemption arc in 80 pages. Thank god. While of course she deserves a redemption arc, a rushed Kuvira-style redemption arc would be awful.

• I like that, true to her classic hair symbolism, Azula has her hair down throughout her time in the temple but puts it back up when she goes back to meet her Fire Warriors.

• She looks like a child in most of the frames. It’s good.

• This may have been unintentional, but I like that it’s Zuko who yells at her about how she’s hurt everybody, she’s a monster etc; then he turns into something of a monster himself. This shows that Zuko has hurt her, that he’s not perfect.

• I think the writing in general was better than past comics (definitely better than Yang’s writing) and it bodes well for the future. I think, all things considered, Faith Hicks did a remarkable job with the barely salvageable remnants of Azula’s character.

Things I didn’t like:

• Azula is still hung up on her “rightful place on the throne!” She never showed any real desire for the throne in the show, and yet for some reason that has become a key piece of her identity. It really doesn’t make sense. Also, didn’t she drop that in S&S? She is still seeking to destabilize Zuko in AITST, but appears to also have regained the desire for the throne. It’s confusing and weird.

• I think Azula could’ve been shown being a little nicer to her ‘Fire Warriors,’ given that she doesn’t have the same pressure to keep them by her side as she did with Mai & Ty Lee, but it’s fair that she’s not. In S&S she’s a pretty terrible person and takes several steps back in her redemption arc (several extremely OOC steps), and while I want to forget the Yang comics ever existed, Hicks still has to adhere to them and that means not suddenly making Azula a lot more chill.

• It felt rushed, but of course it did, it’s 80 pages long. Still this did affect the satisfaction I got from it.

• Azula ought to have been more distressed when she found out that her friends left her given that that’s literally her biggest wound. However I also kind of like that she wasn’t, especially at the end, because it hints that she’s getting tired of the whole friendship through manipulation thing.

• I wish Azula had gotten to talk to the spirit in its monk form a little bit; we could’ve had an Iroh moment for her which would’ve been cool to see.

• In general Azula’s character has really been through the ringer so it’s hard to get anything good out of it, but again I’m impressed at what Hicks has been able to pull off. Still, it felt kind of unsatisfying that at the end of the comic Azula said that she would “find new followers, a new place to rule,” which is like, oh okay, so you kinda haven’t really learned anything? It would be nice to at least get a bit of an idea that she’s on a path towards redemption and healing.

Again, overall, 7.5/10, I really enjoyed this, honestly. There were some parts that made me roll my eyes but ultimately I was surprised at the amount of kindness given to Azula (not a lot, but more than usual). I’m thankful to Faith Erin Hicks & the rest of her team for doing the best they can with our girl. I hope this means she’ll get more good content in the future.