#but like. people act like masculinity is a mark of the beast

[miqo-treats]

I will not get mad at the blatant transandrophobia that happened when Lanque was revealed i will not be upset I will not be upset I will not be upset I will not-

[zerosocialskillz]

It’s Amy’s brother Tsuku. What more can you say?

PS: Tsuku’s dark markings are a simplified version of the moon’s dark markings. This includes having a rabbit making mochi on his face.

PPS: color scheme may change later

Tsukuyomi is the avatar of the moon of the New World, and adopted brother to Amaterasu. Similar to his sister, he’s actually a girl using masculine terms thanks to a bet that is still ongoing to this day. Before that, his name was Nyx. He still responds to that name, but he would prefer Tsukuyomi.

Unlike his reserved sister, Tsukuyomi is more energetic and mischievous, not afraid to do things at all, like fighting and stuff. Even though he sucks ass.

In fact, he can act cocky, tends to say what’s in his mind without thinking, and can be rude towards people he doesn’t like. He also has a bit of an ego, but at the end of the day, he still cares.

Due to being born after Zero casted the curse and became a fallen god, Tsukuyomi was born with a human form, but he is unable to access it at all until recently. Even then, due to his inexperience, his human form may act in weird ways.

Amaterasu took him in after his avatar was formed in his cursed form instead of a human one, and they have been almost inseparable ever since. Amaterasu prevents him from doing anything reckless, while Tsukuyomi enables her to talk what’s in her mind.

In his free time, he is the mechanic of Wondaria, maintaining the machinery that makes the theme park tick. It’s hard work, especially as he’s unable to tap in to his true godly powers. Luckily, some of the Beast Pack offered to help, which Tsukuyomi is thankful for.

Due to his mischievous personality, he tends to tease and play pranks, even to his sister. However, he makes sure that all of them are harmless fun. But if it hurts? Then that’s an unintended something, and he will take responsibility.

And yes, he has freckles. Cry about it.

[nessinborderland]

Be Mine (01)

Pairing: Niragi x Reader

Genre: Smut, Angst, Fluff, Omegaverse

Word Count: 4.6k

Summary: You were able to stay unbounded throughout your life. You didn't want an Alpha; you didn't need one. You would rather die than to give yourself to some random male. But the man that saved your life thinks differently.

Warnings: Alpha/Omega, Dubious Consent, Vaginal Sex, Vaginal Fingering, Finger fucking, Rough Sex, Rough Kissing, Unprotected Sex, Creampie, Breeding, Pregnancy Kink, Other Additional Tags to Be Added

AO3 Link      Masterlist   

You can't do it anymore.

You collapse on the ground as you turn a corner, legs giving up on you. Whatever breath you have left leaves your lungs as you hit the floor with a hard 'thud'.

You can hear them behind you, running and howling like a pack of wolves on a hunt.

You happen to be the prey.

You had been careful until now; walking mostly at night, making sure no one was around when you went scavenging for food, keeping distance from others during games, masking your natural scent with all sorts of perfumes. Just avoiding people altogether. 

You had no idea how you got there, but you knew that, as an unclaimed Omega, you would be more at risk than anyone else. Alphas were rare, but if one happened to find you, you couldn’t imagine it ending well for you. Even Betas were a risk, as most could also distinguish you from a regular Beta.

And here you are, proving yourself right. Running from him.

You had been careless. You were tired, always on edge, always hiding. So you ate your portion of stale cornflakes after another sleepless night and headed out from your hiding spot. Completely forgetting about masking your scent. 

Your visa was almost over. You needed to find a new game. And so you did.

You are regretting that now.

A loud laugh from not that far behind you gives you the encouragement you need to stand up and run. Just run. If he catches you, you're done for. If he catches you, you're his.

You can smell him. That strong, masculine, unrecognizable Alpha scent. His is so strong that it almost overwhelmed you when it first hit your nostrils, back at the game.

Six of Spades. That was the game you had gotten yourself into; kill the predator or be killed by the predator. In a zoo. 

How fitting, you had thought to yourself as you climbed a tree to escape an actual wolf. You had seen at least four different species of predators. All animals that you were completely unprepared to defend yourself against, never mind killing. Your hunting knife could only do so much. Fortunately for you, wolves couldn't climb trees.

But tigers could.

You had felt the big cat's eyes on you before you could even see him. All you had managed to do was let out a gasp and close your eyes as the huge orange beast pounced in your direction.

Gunshots. A heavy body falling to the ground. A wolf whimpering; that might have been you.

And then it hit you; that overwhelming, strong, musky scent.

You had opened your eyes and, no more than twenty meters from you stood a tall man, dressed in black. Eyes locked on you. You felt a shiver run down your back, and the hairs on the back of your neck rose; you weren't sure if in fear or something else.

The tiger was dead. The wolf had run away. But there was a new predator. And he was looking straight at you.

An Alpha.

You had no doubt about it. Betas didn’t smell anything like that, but Alphas...Alphas were made to lure you in. To let you know who they were. Alphas and Omegas were biologically connected. It was almost impossible to fight the urge to possess and be possessed.

And you no doubt had the same effect on him.

You noticed when he took some steps towards you and then stopped. You saw how his eyes had sparkled, his body language shifting to that of a predator. You hadn’t dared to move, waiting for his next move. You doubted he was going to shoot you, but the man did have a gun. Before the stranger could give another step, a lion had appeared right behind him, taking his focus from you and allowing you to escape.

That’s how you got into the position you are in right now; running from the man with the sniper rifle. You had managed to keep yourself hidden until the end of the game, but he had somehow found your scent and was tracking you down, together with his crew.

You stop again, taking labored breaths as you hide yourself the best you can in an alley. If life taught you anything about Alphas, is that they don’t give up until they get what they want. You would know; you managed to be unclaimed through all these years out of sheer spite for your biology, and determination. And a lot of pepper spray. 

You try to think of a plan, a way to get them to lose track, but you can’t think of anything. If he got your scent, he will find you eventually. That doesn’t mean that you will just get on all fours and wait for him to take you. If it depends on you he can hunt you till he’s dead. You won’t be some Alpha’s bitch.

You hear footsteps getting louder, together with the voices of the people pursuing you. You can smell him, getting closer and closer. You have to act fast. You spot a ladder on the side of a building and try to get it down, climbing on top of some trashcans for easier access. He won’t be able to track you as easily if you go up. The ladder is rusty and doesn’t budge, even when you desperately pull it with everything you got. With a last angry pull, the ladder finally releases, and you start climbing as fast as your tired legs allow you.

“Gotcha!” exclaims an excited male voice as you feel a hand grab your calf. Your heart almost stops. “Niragi, over here!”

You glance down at the man grabbing you before kicking him right in the face with your free foot. The man falls back, holding his now bleeding nose in his hands, and you take that moment to continue climbing. You want the most distance from that Niragi guy as you can.

You don’t look back even when you feel someone climbing after you. You have to keep going. It's only four stories high. You’re almost at the top.

A loud gunshot. Pain sparks in your leg and you scream, almost releasing your grip on the ladder.

“You fucking idiot, who told you to shoot her?!” a voice growls, followed by another gunshot. “I want her alive and unharmed! Whoever touches her dies!”

You dare to glance down, and you see the body of the man you had kicked just moments prior, now with a bullet hole in his forehead. Then you lock eyes with him; your predator.

He's looking at you with fire in his eyes; like he wants to eat you alive. Your body feels his glare more than your mind ever could, and a warm sensation pools at your center. You can't look away.

He can smell it; of course he can. You're now much closer than at the zoo, and you can see his face clearly. How pretty he is. How his nostrils flare and his eyes go dark; scenting you. You’re glad that at least you’re not in heat; it would have been game over for you before the game even started. 

"You know I'm gonna get you, right?" he says with a malicious grin, voice low.  "I'm gonna catch you, and I'm gonna make you mine."

His words bring you back to reality, and you take the last steps up into the roof, ignoring the laugh of the man below you.

"Run little wolf, run!"

You pull yourself up and run as fast as you can. You're pretty sure the bullet only grazed the skin, so you ignore the pain in your leg as you jump to the next building. You are lucky houses here are all so close to each other. You keep running, not daring to look back.

You can hear him running behind you, catching up to you, and your eyes start tearing up. Your lungs feel like fire and your legs are cramping; you can't go on for much longer. You prepare to jump when a hand grabs you by the wrist. His touch feels like electricity against your skin. You both gasp and his grip soften. The sensation is so surprisingly new that you lose your balance and trip, falling. For a second, you wonder if this is how you die; falling from a building while in that hellish place.

The next you’re wondering how can someone smell so unbelievably good. 

He smells like spices; it’s delicious. You are pressed firmly against his chest, his arms around your waist. You’re sniffing his shirt before you can control yourself. Never in your life had an Alpha’s scent been so strong and so alluring. You want to lick him; to feel his skin against your lips and his taste on your tongue. You feel his face on your hair like he’s burning your scent in his memory. You let out a needy whimper when one of his hands slid up your body to grab a boob, squeezing the soft globe in his large palm. His hands feel so good on you. Warm and big and pleasurable

“I said I was going to catch you, little wolf,” he whispers in your ear, hot breath making a chill go down your body. His tongue licks a long strip of your neck and you let out a moan. He chuckles. “Now you’re mine.”

No.

Those words make you gasp like you have been burned, and you push him away from you. You belong to no one. And it will stay that way; you rather be dead than be bonded to some random man. 

“D-Don’t touch me,” you say, a slight tremble in your voice. “Stay away from me.”

His eyes darken and you gulp, looking around. You’re trapped; no way you’re able to run more. But you can fight; you have your hunting knife, while he seems to have let go of the sniper he was carrying earlier. You still have a chance.

“Now, why the fuck would I do that?” he asks with a lopsided smirk. “I can smell how much you want me. How much you need an Alpha to fill you up and mark you.” he gives a step in your direction; waiting.

Waiting for you to fight back.

You wouldn’t want to disappoint. You reach for the knife strapped to your hip, but...it’s not there. You freeze, eyes wide.

“Looking for this?” he chuckles in your direction, your knife in hand. He’s taunting you; playing games. You take a deep breath and lock eyes with him. How did you not feel him steal your weapon? You can feel your anger building up. You’re tired, you’re hungry...you’re furious.

“Give it back!” you command, fists closed, “And I don’t want anything to do with you so fuck off!”

The smile on his face falls, substituted by a scowl. You can feel the anger radiating from him. That only makes you angrier; he has no right in feeling that way. You’re the one about to be taken against your will. You jump and try to grab the knife, but he’s faster than you, trapping you against his chest. 

His skin touching yours makes a wave of heat spread through your core once again, but this time you ignore it as best as you can. You feel him press himself against your backside; hard and warm. Your mind fogs and you release the grip you have on his forearm.

Maybe you could...just for a moment. Your wolf mind keeps screaming at you to accept what you were born to do; be a baby-making factory to some random man with high testosterone levels and ego issues.

The back of your head hits his face with a loud crack; you hope that was his nose breaking. You crouch to grab your knife, now on the floor, but he’s on top of you before you can even touch the handle. You both fall on the hard roof, struggling to get a hold of the damn knife first.

“Stop!” he has you pinned down on the cement, one hand holding your wrists down. You’re trapped; now without a chance of escaping. His other hand has your knife, now pressed to your throat. His eyes burn like coals and half of his face is covered in blood. You feel a little pride at the sight, even if the blood has stopped falling due to his Alpha healing. He presses the blade against your skin. “What the fuck are you trying to do?” there’s a hint of confusion in his question. “Do you know who I am?”

“Don’t care, didn’t ask.” You reply, struggling against his grip. The blade on your neck nibs your skin and you stop. “Do it. Kill me.” You know he will never hurt you to that degree. He was biologically programmed to protect you; he has to be fighting every instinct in his body to even be able to hold that knife against your neck. You notice how his hands are slightly trembling. “I dare you. Slit my throat; it’s the only way I’m leaving this roof with you.”

His eyes go wide for a second before he lets out a sudden laugh. He buries his face against your neck, and you feel the sticky blood get on your skin. You don’t dare to move or take more than a shallow breath; you’re too scared of losing control of yourself again. He continues laughing against your neck, and you have to control the urge to moan at the proximity.

“I knew you would be fun when you just kept running, but this-?” he presses himself against you, firm and warm. You shudder; you can feel your control slipping away. “Refusing me even when I’m this close? Touching you?” his tongue is on your pulse. “Kissing you?” 

“Please stop-”

“-Biting you?” his teeth graze the skin where your shoulder meets your neck. You cry out, instinctively pushing against him, neck at his disposal. The marking spot; if he bites you there while knotting in you, you’re bonded. Your wolf is screaming at you to let go and let him take you. You need him. You want him.

The wolf is out.

Your legs are around his waist before you can control yourself. Your whole body feels like it’s on fire, and you can feel the wetness growing in between your legs. You grind your core against his crotch, groaning in displeasure at the lack of skin contact. His lips take yours in a rough kiss, his tongue pushing against yours as he kisses you senseless. He lets go of your wrists to handle your body, one hand on your breast as the other slithers down to your shorts.

You whine when his fingers finally manage to reach your throbbing cunt. He smiles in the kiss as he starts playing with your clit. You moan and your hands fly to his hair, pulling on the soft strands; you want more of him. He bites your lip and you pull his face further against yours. He chuckles when his fingers enter you without warning, swallowing your cries with a kiss. You move your hips against his hand, wishing it was his cock instead.

Alpha, Alpha, Alpha.

“More,” you whine against his lips. “Please- Alpha, please.” 

He doesn’t answer. His hand leaves your pussy with a wet sound, and you cry at the void he left with only his fingers. He doesn’t break the kiss as he gets rid of your shorts, throwing them somewhere. Your panties soon follow, and you moan when the cold air hits your swollen clit. His fingers go back to your pussy, now playing with the slickness that sticks to your thighs, spreading it up and down your slit. His lips move to your neck, where he sucks the skin right above your pulse. You whine and he chuckles, teeth nibbling your skin.

The hand on your pussy rises, fingers glistening with your slick. His eyes glint when he sticks his tongue out, licking his fingers clean of you. You gasp at the sight. He moans like it’s the best thing he has ever tasted. 

“Fuck, you’re so sweet,” he says, lust-filled gaze locked on you. “So beautiful.” You blush at the praise, wanting more. You want whatever he has to offer you. His fingers go back to fucking your wet entrance, and you feel your eyes filling with tears; you want more, more, more.

“Alpha, I need you-” 

“Now this is more like an Omega,” you can hear his belt as he fumbles with his pants. You open your legs wider; hoping. “All wet and ready for me to take.”

You scream when he slides inside you, thick cock replacing long fingers. The feeling is unlike anything you have ever felt before. The Betas you fucked during your exasperating heats can’t compare. Nothing can. You feel so full. So deliciously filled to the brim. You never felt pleasure like this.

You moan as he roughly thrusts into you, moving your hips in time with his shoves. His cock touches all the right spots, and he feels even deeper every time he penetrates you. You can feel the pain as the cement floor grazes against your back and bottom, but that doesn’t matter; you have something more important to focus on right now.

“You feel so fucking good,” he grunts against your mouth. You clench around him at the praise and he moans, eyes rolling back. “Fuck, do that again- oh shit yes! Good girl. So good, all ready to be filled to the brim with my cum.”

“Yes, yes, I- I want you.”

“Say my name, Omega,” his tongue starts licking your neck. “Niragi,” he gives a particularly hard thrust, and you yelp. “Say it!”

“Ni-Niragi!” You feel the name on your tongue. You’ll say that name until your throat turns raw. “Niragi, fuck me harder,” you beg. “Knot in me- please, please.” He does as you say, his thrusts becoming harder and faster. You arch your back as his cock abuses your g-spot with every shove. You see stars behind your eyelids; if you knew how this felt earlier, you would’ve let him take you right there at the zoo where he saved you. 

Niragi, Niragi, Niragi. Alpha, Alpha, Alpha.

“It’s such a shame you’re not in heat,” he grunts with a hard slap to your ass. You shudder and slid your hand in between your bodies, wanting to touch more of his skin. “I would love to knot and mark you right here.” He practically rips your t-shirt in a rush to take it off, exposing your hard nipples to the cold air. He buries his head in between your breasts, latching onto a nipple like a starved man.” Fill you up till I was sure you’re pregnant with my pups,” he continues with a lick to your nipple. You moan and clench around him again. “Make sure that everyone knows who your Alpha is, who you belong to. And I will. This is a promise”

Yes, yes, yes. You want that. All of it. All of him.

You can feel your orgasm growing, pulling at your core like it’s about to explode. He feels it too, and the hand previously pinching your nipple goes to press on your clit, taking you closer to the edge. You can feel how close he is too, thrusts getting sporadic and breath getting heavier. You stare at his face, actually looking at him; his eyes are closed and his mouth is open in a moan. You notice the glint of the piercing on his tongue, as you do the ones on his face. You take in the detail of his pretty nose, the shape of his eyes, his plush lips. Half of his face is still dirty with blood. He’s beautiful.

You feel a weird emotion go through you; something your rational brain knows is strictly biological, not real. But the wolf one is howling in happiness, absolutely delighted. You pull his face to yours and kiss him hard, wondering if he feels the same. Part of you is scared he does; the other is terrified he doesn’t.

“Come for me, Omega,” he moans against your lips. “I want to feel you come around my cock.”

Your orgasm hits you like a truck. You lay there as it flows over you in waves, legs shaking and mouth open in a silent scream of euphoria. It’s like fireworks inside you, consuming you. You wonder if you lost your consciousness when you feel him come inside you, filling you with his cum. You had never let anyone come in you before. But, as the warm sensation spreads inside you, you realize you love it. You want more. You feel like you will die if he doesn’t do it again.

Most of his weight is on top of you as you both regain your breath. He’s still inside, and part of you doesn’t want him to ever leave. But your wolf had what she wanted, so you’re able to regain full control of your mind again, fog dissipating to be replaced by shame and anger. How could you have been so weak? Now it would be almost impossible for you to escape; you weren’t bonded ('yet', your wolf happily adds) but now you had a connection. If bonding was like a marriage, what you had done definitely counted as engagement.

He feels when your body tenses up, raising his head from your chest. He looks at you through half-lidded eyes, waiting for your next move. 

“Was it that bad?” he asks after a moment. With a sigh, he kisses your breast before raising himself on his hands, one on each side of your head. He looks you straight in the eye for a beat, before sliding off of you with a hiss. You moan at the loss, especially when he stands up; you feel so cold without his warm body on you.

You don’t answer; he doesn’t look like he expects you to. Sitting up, you wince as you feel every pain your body has been ignoring until now. Part of your back and backside are covered in scratches from the cement floor; your cunt burns like it’s on fire, but now for a completely different reason, and your chest and neck are covered in fresh hickeys and small bites. Part of you feels like dying of shame, while the other is overwhelmed with joy by finally being marked by an Alpha. An uncomfortable feeling sits in the pit of your stomach.

You look around for your clothes, being surprised by your Alpha, no, Niragi, extending them in your direction. You take them with a mumbled 'thanks', doing your best not to wince as you get dressed. You feel his eyes on you, so you pretend he’s not there. You gather the courage to finally stand up, and his hands are supporting you before you can make a move.

His skin on yours feels again like a spark of electricity; only that now is familiar and, dare you say, wanted. You keep your eyes down as you stand up on wobbly legs, trying to ignore everything about him. But you can’t; not really. His scent is on your skin and hair; his cum is inside you and on your inner thighs. Even his blood is on your skin. 

After a moment of hesitation, you pick your knife from the floor; he doesn’t stop you. You feel like crying; this wasn’t how things were supposed to go. You’re just trying to do your best to survive while being completely alone. And now this. 

A sob erupts from you with such strength that you feel him jump next to you. You hide your face in your hands as you sob uncontrollably, tears streaming down your face. Your mind is a mess, everything hurts and you’re so, so tired. You miss home, you miss your family, you miss your bed. You need a nap.

“Oh fuck, did I hurt you?” you hear the slight panic in his voice as he gets closer. “Tell me, what did I do?”

You shake your head and take several steps back; you need as much distance from him as possible. You turn to leave, a still defiant part of you daring him to stop you. As you expect, he’s on you before you can take more than a couple of steps.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” his tone is angry and confused. “You’re coming with me.”

“N-no.” you manage to say, sobbing. “I’m not go-going with you anywhere.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” he grabs your hands, forcing them down so he can stare into your eyes. “You’re mine down, don’t you feel it in you?”

“We- we are not bonded,” you remind him. Remind yourself, “I- I can still leave.”

His eyes wide in an incredulous expression, like your words are the stupidest, most ludicrous thing he has ever heard. “Are you out of your mind?” he asks in a raised tone, “Do you actually think I’m gonna let you go?

“We don’t know each other!” you scream in his face. “I never- I never wanted this to happen,” your last words are barely audible as you keep crying. “We’re just two strangers forced together by something beyond our control.” 

You whimper when you feel him hesitantly touch your shoulder, before pulling you against his chest. You mumble a 'no' in-between crying gasps and lightly struggle against his grip; you have to get away from him. He ignores you, one arm going around your waist while the other awkwardly pats your head. You finally give up when you feel his lips on your temple, whispering something you can’t quite understand. Whatever he’s doing, it calms you down. 

You stay in his arms for some time. You hate how much you enjoy it; how safe he makes you feel. He killed one of his own, for goodness sake. You know nothing about him.

“Let me tell you something,” he says against your forehead. “I am not...a good person. I’ve done a lot of bad shit, and I will keep doing so. But if you come with me, I promise I will keep you safe.”

“I-.”

“Be mine,” he says. It sounds like a command until he adds a 'please', almost as an afterthought. “I don’t understand why you keep fighting, but I know you want me, even if part of you doesn’t know it yet.”

You let out a loud sigh; you’re tired of fighting with yourself. You review your options; go willingly or go by force. If you know one thing is that he won’t let you go. Quite possibly never. If you’re honest with yourself, a part of you doesn’t want him to. You don’t even know which one of you is talking; the human or the beast? Does it even make a difference?

You don’t think it does. Not anymore.

You raise your head to lock eyes with him. You can see hope in his gaze, but you also see determination and desire. You’re his now. And he’s yours.

“Okay,” you finally say. His eyes spark with something akin to satisfaction. “I’ll go with you. But I have some rules.”

He smirks, teeth spotted with blood, and you wonder for a moment if you made the right choice. “Sure,” he says. As long as you’re mine.” 

Next Chapter

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

People talking about jk wil never not be funny to me. Cause what did he said in that same live « live your live for you, do what makes you happy whitin reason ». And i can go back to i think 2019 that’s for ne maybe earlier for other people, since he has been saying that. Jk always said he does what he wants, he has been raised that way. If it’s something that’s doesn’t create any harm, go for it. And people think they can force him to think someway, or do something. Bunch of idiot i tell you, stanning someone you don’t even know, couldn’t be me.

Anyways how you feeling with your biases in unit photoshoot?

Of course they don't listen to him, they made up a Jungkook in their head and when he doesn't act like he's "supposed" to be, then he's thrown under the bus.

Anyway, let's talk about the Festa photoshoot. I think it was rather odd. I would have thought RM would be the one for the debut era, since it all started with him, but I guess Jungkook as the maknae who was so young at that time, fits as well. I'm more intrigued by Jimin, to be honest, given how Jimin looks back at his past self during those times. We've seen him cringe when he had to see a clip and especially how he talked about his early years in the group and what he tried to emulate. I wonder how he felt having to wear that outfit. Because it's not just about some clothes, no big deal, as they also represent a type of macho masculinity that Jimin had to force himself to be like that. Some sort of strong man, beast idol, with a flower boy face. It's evident that his journey since then meant a lot for him and being able to become a version that is more true to himself. If I were to choose a more significant era for Jimin in that photoshoot, it would have been Blood, Sweat and Tears because it marked the period in which he went through a big transformation and it wasn't an easy journey. Or something more recent, that would represent a period in which he is content with himself. Baby G era is such a mindfuck on Jimin basically. I have no idea how he felt, if he liked it or not, maybe he chose it, but it's just odd to me.

[sirenutsukushi]

Wanted by Foxes ; Kita’s Route

InariKami!Kita Shinsuke x Female!Miko!Reader

Summary: People sometimes say the Gods are good to good people, and who were you to disagree? You have been blessed by the gods all your life, serving them in return for their gifts and your good fortunes. Bad things don’t happen to good people, so why were you being chased down by one of the men from your village, and why was he so bent on hurting you. Only thing you can do now is pray, pray for the Kami to save you.

Warning: This story contains elements of attempted non-con, slight gore, possessive themes, suggestive content, non-consensual restraint, attempted physical assault and harm, and other possibly triggering topics. If this upsets you it is advised you scroll past.

Reader Discretion highly advised.

Quiet gasps passed through soft lips, fly away hair sticking to your forehead, zori sandals smacking against the soft wood of the temple floor. You kicked them off, letting them clatter to the ground as you ran, socks sliding across the polished flooring.

Don’t catch me. Please— don’t find me!

You repeated like a mantra in your mind, hand flying to cover your mouth as you ran out of the temple offering room, across the stepping stones in the zen garden, and into the honden. Staring at the beautiful golden statue of InariKami-Sama, you felt at ease for a moment. But it was shattered by the sound of loud footsteps. Wincing, you turned to run, but could only scream as a hand roughly grabbed your wrist.

“Not so fast, little one- we’ve got unfinished business, remember?” The man sneered, grinning down at you like a feral beast. You thrashed in his grasp, bringing your unrestrained arm up to punch at him. He grunted, holding your hands above your head before throwing you to the floor. Pinned down, face pressed against the soft wooded floor you cried out for help as the man behind you tied your wrists with your own hair ribbon.

“Just stay still, Yowainari.” He hissed your family’s name like it was venom, and your heart dropped. “W-… why are you doing this?” You gasped out, fear evident in your voice despite you doing your best to hide it. “Yer family isn’t exactly beloved, Priestess. All ya lot do is act like yer better than us, with yer constant praise towards the kami, disgust for those ya see as under ya. Ya get to live in nice houses, a big estate. A lot of ‘s don’t think it’s fair. ‘Nd yer a pretty little thing, aren’t ‘cha… yer not married yet. ‘A bet it’s ‘cos ya see everyone as beneath ya, huh?” The man spit, irritation lacing his voice as one of his hands left your bound wrists.

A quiet sob left your throat when he spoke again. “Tell ‘m, where are yer stupid kami now?” You opened your mouth to speak but didn’t get a word out before the man screamed, no, shrilled in agony and terror. You winced, squeezing your eyes shut as you tried to shut out the noise, unable to cover your ears due to your bound hands. Trembling, you lay there as something ripped your attacker to shreds, the gurgling, screaming, sounds of flesh being ripped from bone and sinew snapping against the fangs of… something. There was silence after, save for the soft padding of feet against the floor. You lay there stiffly, unable to look over from your position on the floor. You could move freely if you wanted, with your attacker no longer holding you down.

You didn’t want to. You didn’t want to face whatever had attacked the man. “Atsumu, Osamu. Enough.” A soft, yet masculine voice spoke, instantly calming you. The tranquility, it was something you’d only felt when praying or cleaning the golden statue you’d come to love. You shook yourself from your thoughts when a pair of zori clad feet stopped in front of you, grey hakama pants brushing above the floor. You glanced up, (e/c) doe eyes filled with unshed tears, a few slipping down your soft cheeks.

A male stood in front of you, foxish amber eyes soft as he looked down at you, kneeling to untie your bound wrists. His touch was gentle, and as he freed you from your restraints, you were able to get a good look at him. The man before you had to have been a yokai or something of the sort, with his sharp eyes and the fluffy looking pointed ears a top his head, red marks upon his cheeks beneath his eyes. Nine fluffy tails twitched behind him, the fur of his ears and tails a snowy white with smoky grey and black tufts. He was either a kitsune or an inari, that much was clear. The attire he wore was similar to the wedding kimonos worn by men, but he wore grey hakama pants, and the haori draped over him was a simple black color, with a faint, ombré smoky design trailing up a few inches from the hem and sleeves. A pair of hanafuda earrings hung from his pointed ears.

The male pulled your trembling body up from the floor gently, before tugging you softly into his chest and whispering soft words of comfort in your ear. Bringing your hands up to clutch at the fabric of his haori, you felt at ease again. As if you had met this man before. He seemed so familiar. “W…who are you?” You mumbled against him, and he grinned faintly before pressing a chaste kiss to the top of your head, the lotus and wisteria scent of your hair invading his senses. “Don’t tell me ya don’t remember me. Ya pray to me every day. Inari-Kami Kita is what ya mortals call me. Although, I prefer Shinsuke.” His voice was like honey, sweet, flowing delicately from his lips, he spoke with an accent… Kansai dialect. Your eyes widened faintly.

“You’re… inari-sama—“ You turned your head to glance at the statue, but it was missing from its pedestal. The shimenawa and talismans lay around the pedestal, along with the incense bowl. “H..why?” You speak breathlessly, glancing up at him with wide eyes. He hums, running his fingers through your soft (h/c) locks, his amber hues seemingly glowing down at you. “I don’t know… for some reason… Yer the first human I’ve felt this way for. I couldn’t let him get away with what he did to ya.” You shivered at the feeling of his breath tickling your skin, as he leaned his head down.

“After all… only I can touch ya like that… pin ya down like that. I should reward ya, for being such a devoted little Miko.” Shinsuke whispered heatedly in your ear, nipping at the flesh of your earlobe with a grin. The marble haired man was quick to scoop you into his arms, a foxish grin tugging at his lips, his sharp canines glinting in the light of the red paper lanterns. “And what better a reward than to make ya my bride?”

Notes: Yeah— I’ve definitely been in a Shinsuke mood lately. I’m especially weak for Kitsune!Inarizaki as well so this was definitely a self indulgent scenario. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed reading it. It’s a little darker than what I usually write but I had fun doing so. I’ll be working on the rest of the Wanted by Foxes/Wanted by Yokai fics as well as the third chapter for The Gods are Always Watching, and will have some out soon.

Akiko🦊🍁

[hoodoo12]

Elegy (5/6)

Desperate people, pushed by suppressed affection for each other, find some comfort. I’d say this is a chapter of nothing but NSFW smut, but . . . well.

Beetlejuice/Miss Argentina (by @clairjohnson)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

@turtlepated @thewolfisapartofmysoul @beejiesbitch @janitor-boy @angelicspaceprince @beetlewise-and-pennyjuice

She felt her chest tighten at his uncharacteristic compliment, and when his firm hand started to pull her back down towards him, she didn’t resist. He met her halfway this time and their lips crashed together in complete contrast from the first soft kiss. In a smooth, but hasty movement, Maria slipped out of her heels and tucked her feet up on the bed. The hand that had been fussing with his shirt was now flat on his chest, while the other braced her over his body. 

When their tongues met Maria momentarily tensed for whatever taste would follow - and was surprised. It wasn’t foul, just earthy. With a not unexpected mix of hard liquor and cigarettes. The tension in her shoulders relaxed and she pressed into him further, her hand slowly traveling up his shirt to the first button.

That she didn't fight him off but actually shifted to be closer and put more weight on him--pathetically, a tiny moan escaped his throat as the kiss deepened. 

For a moment he was immobilized by the sheer surprise of this turn of events. The hand that had brushed her shoulder found a resting place and he moved his thumb over the soft skin of her collarbone. His other hand was the problem. Although he felt her fingers walking a trail along the buttoned placket of his shirt, and although his first instinct was to reach around her and grab at her ass or hem of her skirt, he didn't. This wasn't a hasty lay in a back alley of the Netherworld. This wasn't one of the girls over at Dante's, who'd squeal at being man-handled. 

Beetlejuice fought his base desires and simply put his hand on back, below her shoulder blade, and slipped it along her dress to the swell of her hip. The fabric lay smoothly, like a second skin, and his hand felt large and coarse against it. 

He tried not to be too demanding with his mouth, but half-failed that endeavor; with no reason to breathe, it was easy to go a little harder and a little longer. When her tongue nudged passed his lips he immediately lapped at it, lifting his head to push into her.

If this was a drunken dream, he didn't want to wake up.

When the hand not placed on her shoulder reached past her view, Maria assumed it was going for her rear, or leg, or any other body part he could grip onto. When instead he gently placed it on her back and caressed down to her hip, she hummed appreciatively into his mouth. Though she never planned on being with Beej in this way, she’d thought about it. Everyone was allowed their ill advised fantasies - but none of them were like this. How delicately he was handling her, save for the hungry kissing, wasn’t something she thought he was capable of. Maybe it was because he was drunk . . . 

His tongue pressing deeper into her mouth interrupted her train of thought, and she moved her focus back to the buttons on his shirt. Without leaving his lips she adjusted herself on top of him, her slim stomach now pressed against his round one. She slid her knee, slowly, between his legs then sat up, tugging his partially undone shirt to say she wanted him to sit up, too. 

“Get my dress?” She breathed, indicating to the zipper on her back. Maria’s mouth still hovered against his as she spoke, her fingers working the last few buttons on his shirt.

Were there any sweeter words to be spoken than, "Get my dress?" Maybe, but in the heat of the moment he couldn't remember ever hearing any. 

Maria's tug pulled him into a seated position; her straddling one thigh made it a bit awkward but there was absolutely no way he was going to ask her to move off him. He had an underlying fear that if bodily contact was broken, she'd come to some kind of sense and bolt.

Besides, the slight weight on his leg, while not warm--no one in the Netherworld was warm--was welcome in a moderately intimate way. 

More intimate was her fingers freeing him of his shirt, and her lips still brushing his. To return the favor, Beetlejuice found the tiny zipper pull at the back of her dress. Topside, he'd just fling her garment away. Here, he gave it a gentle tug. The faint sound it made as it parted was a sigh of promise.

Maria arched into his chest as he pulled the zipper down. When his hand reached the small of her back the red fabric slid off and pooled around her hips. 

Her delicate hands pushed his shirt off his shoulders then moved to the hair covering his chest. Red nails raked down his skin without leaving marks, traveling until they met his waistband.

“Get the rest - take off the rest.” 

Her plea was mumbled against his lips and she lifted her hips from the mattress to let the dress fall the rest of the way. The beauty queen’s fingers worked the button of his pants with no success, and she broke the kiss momentarily to focus on it - her brows furrowing as she peered down.

Beetlejuice gaped as Maria's dress fell away from her torso. Any lacy undergarment was nice, but hers was more than he expected, although he wasn't in the least bit surprised it was beautiful and matching. He'd have put money down that they'd be red, and would've lost that bet when the fine black lace came into view. 

"Cariño--" he breathed out, then realized he'd frozen, staring, even as she had made a simple request and was doing her damnedest to work open his trousers. 

Upper arms slightly hobbled by the shirt pushed over his shoulders, he grabbed her hand and brought it up to his mouth. He kissed her fingertips and smirked. 

"Don't go breaking one of those nails," he admonished lightly, and dropped his own hands to his fly. 

Even with her pressed against him he made short work of the button and zipper, and shucked his pants as quickly as possible, not caring if they turned inside out in his haste. They did, of course, like an idiot; and instead of taking the time to properly extract his legs he got impatient, clicked his fingers once, and the whole mess was on the floor. He may not have all the power here as he did up top, but at least that was handy. 

"Sorry my underwear isn't as fancy as yours– wasn't quite expecting company– " he muttered half under his breath, cutting himself off as he found her mouth again.

Her breath hitched when he pulled her hands away and kissed her fingers, the act so shockingly tender all she could do was watch. It didn't last, though, and he dropped her hands to focus on his button. Beej made quick work of his pants, muttered out a self-deprecating joke, and kissed her. Maria kissed him back and smiled against his lips. It was good to hear him joking - it was one of the things she liked about him most. 

Now mostly bare, Maria took the time to run her hands over his shoulders and arms, delighting in the tense muscles that twitched under her touch. Their kissing had slowed but deepened, and she moaned indulgently into his mouth every time his teeth caught her tongue or lip. She was past the point of turning back now, not that she wanted to, and broke the kiss to lay back on his bed. Slowly, she lifted her hips off the mattress and slipped her underwear down her legs, tossing them to the end of the bed with her foot. The lace bra followed soon after and she was left completely naked. Her large brown eyes flicked up to his and she arched her back in invitation. 

Every fuck she'd ever imagined with him was quick and dirty –  bent over a desk or pressed to a wall. The delicate way he touched her? The slow, passionate kissing? Letting her take the lead? It was so far off how she'd pictured him that it barely seemed real. Real or not, she wanted him to touch her again.

He'd never admit it--even in his most drunken state or in his deepest despair he had a reputation to uphold--but any beautiful woman agreeing to be with him was almost incomprehensible. And for Maria, a renowned, official beauty queen, to kiss him first, kiss him back, undress him and then undress herself . . . something didn't add up in his fuzzy brain, but it was best to keep a gift horse's mouth shut. 

At the sight before him, a rose made prettier by the literal dirt around her, he swallowed and wiped the back of his hand over his mouth. She was a work of art: delicate frame, perfect breasts, slim waist, long legs even without heels--his eyes raked her, and like a slavering beast he knew he was, he had a difficult time tearing his gaze away from the junction between her legs. 

The subtle movement of arching her back only inflamed him more, and as loose as his briefs were, they were suddenly too tight over his aching cock. 

With less grace than her, he ditched his underwear too. She still waited with anticipation--he hoped--so he crawled up the bed, pressing a kiss to one knee, then the other, then to her inner thigh just above it, knocking her legs open. He glanced up the flat plane of her stomach to make sure she was okay with that, but he wasn't sure what he'd do if she wasn't.

The sight of him bare sent a shiver through her. He wasn't a model by any means, but he was masculine, with a broad chest and strong arms - and even though he was covered in a layer of dirt and moss - his face was always disarmingly handsome. The package he was carrying between his legs was disarming as well, arched at attention and thick. Maria's focus quickly moved to her legs when he kissed them, his soft lips marking a trail up her thigh. The brush of his stubble against her sensitive skin coaxed out a light gasp. 

When he glanced up at her, as if waiting for permission, she almost scoffed. The man who grabs at any women in arms distance checking to see if he can go further with the naked lady in his bed? He was...very drunk. But she wanted him - so she stomped down whatever rational voice told her to slow down, that he never was this kind sober. That this was a mistake. Maria swallowed hard and opened her legs wider - a soft whine of want escaping her parted lips. She reached a delicate hand up and cupped her own breast, kneading it gently as she peered down at him, her other hands balled up in his sheets.

Non-verbal permission was still permission. The slight relaxation of her legs allowing them to fall open, her cupping her tit as if to showcase how incredibly perfect it was--Beetlejuice smirked, licked his teeth, and made his way up her inner thigh with kisses that probably had a little too much bite to them. 

He had to remember this was Maria, not some random lay. 

At the apex of her legs, he paused for half a second, waiting just in case she came to her senses to haul off and punch him away from her--not that that's ever happened before, nosiree, just a hypothetical scenario that had no basis in his past--then without a word, he dropped his face at the altar of her pussy and closed his entire mouth over her to worship.

The smirk, and subsequent nipping of her legs, sent a spike of arousal straight between her thighs. Maria watched with pointed interest while he hovered over her, for just a moment, before sealing his mouth over her pussy. The instant, overwhelming sensation caused her to buck her hips up, but his strong hold kept her in place. 

“Oh my g-oh fuck.” Her words were gasped out, and the hand that had been gripping the sheets tangled itself in his hair. Her other hand continued to work her breast, harder now, with her fingers inching up to press against the sensitive nipple. 

“Don’t stop - please. It’s good, so good.” The words sounded desperate, but she didn’t care. All her focus was on keeping this man and his tongue between her legs. As she continued to murmur out encouragement, her thighs closed lightly around his head.

Her legs compressing the sides of his head and her hand deep in his hair only spurred him to go harder. Wrapping his arms under her thighs to keep her tight to him, he lapped the flavor of her as if he couldn't get enough. His tongue found the nub of her clit and teased it with quick flicks before he captured it between his lips to give it a little extra sucking pressure; before she could shove him away from overstimulation he delved further and slipped his tongue into her pussy in a poor substitution for the body part that was trapped achingly against the mattress at the moment. 

Her shoving him away was a low grade fear in the bottom of his mind, because a tiny but persistent voice kept informing him that this is a pity lay, or this is just a drunken dream, or this is a prime example of you making a fool of yourself, because she is thinking of someone else while you're between her legs. So he worked till his jaw was numb, relishing the sounds and sweet words Maria said aloud as if they truly were for him.

The way he was using his tongue had her seeing stars. Not that she should be surprised he was good at this, with a libido like his and 600 years, Maria was sure he’d been around the block (probably several times). A talented flick to her sensitive bundle of nerves had her letting out an embarrassing high pitched moan. Peering down her body at him Maria had the sudden urge to return the favor. 

“Stop, hold on,” she urged, giving his hair a small yank in the process. 

When Beej sat up and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, she could see a flicker of concern in his face. She didn’t wait for him to speak and closed her mouth over his in a deep kiss. Her lips moved from his mouth to his chin, briefly ghosted near the start of his neck, then her hand dropped from his shoulder to wrap slender fingers around his cock. 

Maria brought her lips back to his and gave him a few leisurely strokes before pushing him back onto the bed. Her eyes stayed on him while she leaned over and dropped her mouth to his cock, giving it a light lick up the center. Slowly, Maria brought the entirety of him into her mouth and wrapped her (now smudged) red lips around the base.

She pushed against him and told him to stop, and that was that. Beetlejuice pulled away, wiping his mouth, willing himself to commit the taste of her to memory. She could find her own way out; he was going to lay here and jerk off to the thought of her. 

He didn't know if there were going to be tears as he did it, but decided he'd blame any on the booze. 

But before he could turn away so he didn't have to see her leave, she kissed him. Kissed him. The taste of her lipstick was still intoxicating. Before he'd had enough, she'd trailed to his jaw, where he tipped his head back--then jumped as her cool fingers took his cock. 

The soft dry friction made him moan--one of which she swallowed in another kiss--then like he was a rag doll he let her push him back. He lifted his head to find her watching him with dark eyes, then her tongue and mouth were on him and he sucked in a breath. Her red lips around his cock, her hair framing her face and tickling his thighs, her looking up to catch his eyes--Beetlejuice slipped a hand into her hair and groaned, unable to stop himself from rocking his pelvis up into the inviting wet of her mouth.

The first roll of his hips caught her off guard. When he rocked up a second time she relaxed her jaw and let him slide down her throat, the tip of her nose pressing against his mess of curls. Maria kept a steady pace, her head bobbing rhythmically save for the occasional moan around his cock. It was so easy to pretend he was warm like this, her lower body snug in his sheets and her arms pressed lightly against his stomach. 

When his thrusts started to become more insistent she pulled off - leaving a barely noticeable ring of scarlet lipstick at the base of his cock. Maria took him in her hand again and gave him a few long, slow licks, peering up at him in the process. There was something so perversely satisfying watching him come apart under her - twitching at her touch, at her lips, like he’d never had someone do this before. Which was silly, she knew, but it stirred something in her to imagine. She pressed a soft kiss to the head of his dick and flicked her eyes up to catch his, waiting to see if he wanted more.

The suction, the licks, the vibration from her moans, the light scratch of her nails against his stomach--Beetlejuice arched against her, his hips finding rhythm in time with her movements. She drew groans and gasps from him. 

When she released him it took a second for his brain to catch up, but before he could be too disappointed at the loss of stimulation her hand closed around him and her tongue went back to teasing. 

Lifting his head off the dusty mattress he looked down just as she looked up. The sight of her lips, her bright lipstick slightly smudged, pursed to kiss his cock seared into his memory. His eyes met hers. A faint lift of her brow, like an invitation, like a dare, made him lift his upper lip in a half smirk. 

In an explosion of movement, he sat up and grabbed her. She was light, and changing her position wasn't difficult, especially when she wasn't expecting it. Flipping her back to the mattress, ignoring her squeak of surprise, Beetlejuice slipped his hands under her knees and rotated her till he was situated almost properly between her legs. 

"No more teasing," he growled, and pushed forward.

Maria was on her back in a flash. It was exhilarating to be flipped so easily, so hungrily, and she let out a gasp of surprise. Beej wasted no time putting her exactly where he wanted her. She gazed up at him with eager anticipation when he quickly settled his significantly larger bulk between her legs. 

The words growled against her ear sent a wave of heat between her thighs, a sensation that was completely overshadowed when he pressed into her. Her mouth fell open in a silent moan. The foreplay had left them both soaked, and he penetrated her in a single thrust. The initial stretch was divine, and she dug her nails into his back in response.

Before he had a chance to start a rhythm she wrapped her legs around his lower back, holding him in place pressed against her. She liked being this close. Liked how she felt under the large cage of his body. Maria tipped her head up from the mattress and caught his mouth, her tongue pressing past his lips to meet his own. When he kissed her back, when she felt completely consumed, she let her legs fall to the sides.

The bite of her nails into his skin made him hiss in sharp response to the mild pain, but it barely muted the pure pleasure that radiated from this initial push. 

That she didn't continue to claw his back but instead keep him tightly to her and kiss him was a surprise. But as her mouth, still tasting of lipstick--he never knew red was a flavor--found his, as her tongue dipped intimately passed his teeth, as her thighs squeezed him but then relaxed, he gave into the overwhelming urge to rut into her. He groaned deep in his throat at the sweet wet friction created between them. 

Even as white hot bliss began shorting out higher brain function, that tiny voice in the back of his mind, the one that never quite took a rest, still made noises that this was simply out of pity, that there was nothing, meant nothing-- 

Beetlejuice lifted his lip in a half snarl and buried his face in Maria's hair, trying to shake loose that voice and simply focus on the pleasure he hoped was shared.

Maria broke the kiss and let out a choked gasp when he started to thrust. With each snap of his hips she moaned, her delicate hands gripping his shoulders for support. When Maria angled her hips off the bed, just slightly, he bottomed out - causing a white flash of painful pleasure to course through her. 

She could hear him, feel him, snarling near her neck while he pressed his face into her hair. With needy arms she tried to pull him closer so his chest would press against her own. Maria brought her mouth up to his ear and begged. 

“Please, god it feels so good - harder. Do it harder. Beej, please.” 

Saying his name between sultry, desperate moans was not something she’d ever imagined doing. Not in reality, anyway. Those were saved for the occasional office daydream - because actually sleeping with him was, had been, out of the question. It wasn’t just because she thought sleeping with him was a bad idea, she’d spent the night with plenty of bad ideas, but he’d never asked. 

They’d casually flirted for years, and not once had he tried to take it anywhere. Any other pair of legs, living or dead, was propositioned - but not her. It was humiliating to say it hurt her already fragile self esteem. The devastation of not being pretty enough, not being perfect enough, was what sent her to an early grave. Yet, he’d called her beautiful tonight. And a sinking feeling of being that easy threatened to creep up on her.

With her hips angled up, rocking them in time to meet each thrust, she draped her long legs over his back. How good it felt to be under him was obscuring any negative thoughts, and Maria continued to gasp out her encouragement to keep it going.

At least if this was a pity fuck she was doing her damnedest to make it good for him. Maria's moans, her tight grip, her legs locked around his waist all spurred him, and at her fevered words in his ear he could only obey. 

She'd pulled him down on to her so he couldn't shift an arm to slip between them and finger her clit, so he as her pelvis canted slightly he worked to press his pubic bone against her, which had the delightful side effect of keeping his cock buried completely. But he also did as she asked, thrusting until he found a rhythm that seemed to satisfy her request, that quickly--too quickly!--was going to be the end of him.

The harder rhythm was just what she needed. Combined with the rough stimulation on her clit Maria found herself close. She squeaked out unintelligible praise while his trusts stuttered and she dug her nails back into his back. 

“I’m close - Beej. Don’t stop.” 

Her voice cracked and Maria dropped her head against the mattress, sending a puff of dust up in the process. It took just a few more hard, well placed thrusts for Maria to reach her peak. She cried out, her muscles clenching and fluttering around him while she rode her high. Desperately she caught his lips with her own and kissed him, moaning into his mouth as she felt him follow her over the edge. She kept herself wrapped tightly around him in the process-- wanting to feel his weight, which was strangely comforting, on her while they finished.

Her words barely filtered through the ringing in his ears: a combination of what would have been blood pounding and the voice in his head that grew in volume, both fueled by the pleasure building in his gut. 

"She's lying. Lying. She's faking, to get this over and done with. You're a fuck up, you're an idiot for falling for it again--what is wrong with you? You know no one wants you like this--" 

Under him, Maria grasped at him, her nails digging into his skin, her legs squeezing him in a way that she had to have locked her ankles behind him. Her wordless cry and the clench of her pussy around him spiked his bliss and despite the sour bite of the words between his ears, his hips felt differently and they snapped into her brutally as he crested his peak. 

He cried out--it may have been her name, it may have been a wordless bellow, he had no faculties to know what sound he made, at the moment--and it was muted immediately by her mouth on his again.

For a moment, everything was right in the universe. Euphoria is a hell of a drug: her tight grip on him, their joining so intimately, nesting in the afterglow of shared pleasure. Then, sharper than her nails in the small of his back, that voice grew claws and dug into his thoughts.

Maria gasped in breath she didn’t need and traveled her fingers up his back and into his hair. With a ghost of a smile she leaned up to press her lips on his chin, a soft hum of satisfaction in her throat. She loosened the tight grip of her legs around his hips, only slightly, not in any rush for him to roll off. Having their bodies pressed together, with him still buried between her thighs, only made the afterglow last longer. 

She looked up from kissing his chin, her lips only dusted with a light pink now that most of the color had been smudged off. 

“Betelgeuse . . .” 

There was a long pause following his name as she tried to find the words for what she wanted to say - what did she want to say? That it was great? That she wanted to go again? That she’d fantasized about doing this in the office, where she'd watch him from her desk like a schoolgirl with a crush? A crush she finally acted on. 

No – that would be humiliating - and wouldn’t help his already inflated ego. Suggesting another round would stroke it just the same, but she was willing to make the concession if it meant he’d fuck her like that again. Any feelings she’d had about this being a bad idea were easily pushed away while so comfortably curled up under his large frame.

Not wanting to keep him waiting she opened her mouth to speak, settling on the safest route of suggesting a repeat performance, but stopped when his expression caught her off guard.

tbc . . .

[calliecat93]

Callie’s Disney Princess Retrospective: Beauty and the Beast

(Snow White) (Cinderella) (Sleeping Beauty) (The Little Mermaid)

The Little Mermaid was a huge success for Disney. It was such a big success that it began the Renaissance Era of Disney Animation and returned Disney to the top animation studio. While many people such as John Musker, Ron Clements, and Glen Keane can be credited for the film's success, the biggest player by far was lyricist Howard Ashman. He put his heart and soul into the film, and not just with song lyrics. He wanted the characters to connect to the audience. He wanted to play a part in the story. He wanted this film to be something special, and he succeeded. But he was also frustrated, could be argumentative when others didn't like his vision, and unknown to everyone, he was dying. After winning two Oscars for The Little Mermaid's music, Howard revealed to composer Alan Menken that he had AIDS, and he didn't have much longer to live.

However, Ashman wasn't going down before completing one more film. Though he had been writing music for Aladdin, he ultimately ended up as the lyricist of another film. A film that had been through many different iterations and was handed off to newbie directors. Little did anyone know just how impactful this film would be for Disney, and for the industry as a whole. Well, except for Ashman himself. The film that we are discussing today is the first animated film to ever, ever be nominated for Best Feature. That film is 1991''s Beauty and the Beast.

Overview

Belle is a beautiful young woman, but is seen as an oddity in her village due to her love of books and her utter disinterest in local heartthrob Gaston. When her father, an inventor named Maurice, leaves for a science fair, he ends up taking refuge in an old, abandoned castle. But the castle is actually enchanted and acts as the home to dozens of talking inanimate objects... and a fearsome beast. When Belle goes looking for her father, she offers to take his place as the Beast’s prisoner. But during her time in the castle, Belle discovers that this Beast may not be as much of a monster as he appears, and this may lead to both discovering true love...

Review

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I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that this is by far one of Disney’s most beloved films. It got praise form both critics and movie-goers when it came out, and it’s only become more beloved in the nearly 20 years since. Belle is praised as a feminist's icon and the film for it’s themes of toxic masculinity, judging a book by it’s cover, and some of the darker aspects of society like those we blindly praise. I... like the film, but I never loved it to the extent as others. Not because it’s bad, that is a ridiculous notion. I just liked other films more and Belle just didn’t interest me as others like Cinderella or Mulan or Ariel. But seeing it again as an adult who has seen the darker aspects of society since I was a kid, it REALLY rings more deeply than it did back then.

One aspect that no one can argue about is the animation. The film is beautiful. It has some of Disney’s best animators at the time such as Glen Keene, Mark Henn, Andreas Deja, and so much more. There was so much life put into the film and it is a true visual spectacle.I meant hey managed to take inaminate objects, and bring them to life. Sure they have faces to help humanize them, but to make us believe that these are talking, moving objects that were once human is still a VERY difficult task. But they have so much personality like the suave, passionate candlesick Lumiere or the stuffy, orderly Cogsworth. The backgrounds andf settings are also great fromt he Sleepy Hollow-esque village to the gothic castle of The Beast, to the creedy woods that look even more terrifying when it snows. There’s so much color and lighting that is used so well, especially with the castle eminating so much mystery and intrigue compared tot he plain village that Belle is from.

But the setting we all remember most of all is the ballroom. While Disney has been using CGI some before, such as Big Ben in The Great Mouse Detective (yes,t hat WHOLE setting was computer graphics), this is probably the biggest use to date. The ballroom is a gorgeous golden color and looks so big and vast. It takes you’re breath away. There’s a reason why this is the most well-remembered part of the film. The animaiton for this film was very straining, especially due to conditios to accomodate Ashman that we’ll get to later. It was stressful, but they absoluteley put their all into it. When you watcht he ballroom sequence, added to the dance and Angela Lansbury’s lovely vocals, you forget that you’re even watching a movie. It feels like... well, love. It’s by far one of Disney’s best looking features.

As I said in the intro, the film ultimately fell into the laps of two relatively rookie animators; Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale. This was after several various attempts to adapt the film, with none successful. Wise and Trousdale’s biggest claim to fame at the time was doing animaiton for EPCOT’s now defunct Cranium Command attraction (look up Who Stole Buzzy, boy is THAT a story) and while they had worked on other features, they had never been in the director seats. To make it more difficult, due to Ashman’s health continuing to gradually decline, Katzenburg decided to move produciton over to New York to spare him from having to travel. Which is a VERY noble effort and it’s sweet that they were willing to do so to keep working with Ashman, but as you can imagine this was quite a strain on the production team and as before, they would sometimes clash with Ashman and his vision. Still, they along with Menken returning as composer and writer Linda Woolverton, they reworked the then-script into something that they were happy with.

The setting is very reminiscent of another Disney work, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. One of two segments from the Package Film Era feature The Adventure of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. We all know the story of Ichabod and his infamous ride where he encountered the Headless Horseman. Here we have a similar quaint village where people seem rather simple-minded. Like in Sleepy Hollow where everyone took notice tot he rather strange looking Ichabod Crane, we see a similar notice of Belle who is an anomaly to them. Though unlike Ichabod, who had pretty much everyone under his thumb and is kind of a gold diging jerk, Belle is ostracized and is a FAR better person. Gaston bears a striking resemblance to Brom Bones in both looks and social status (tough Brom isn’t as bad in comparison or even compared to Ichabod, though still a Jerk Jock) and the Bimbettes bear a bit of similarity to Katrina. I wouldn’t be surprised if the crew used Sleepy Hollow as inspiration for setting and character design. Only thing missing is the Headless Horseman, which that would have been interesting XD

The film deals with several topics. There’s the standard ‘don’t judge a book by it’s cover’ and ‘true love conquers all’ messages. Both of which are handled very well. But there are also some that IDT Disney had ever really tackled to this point. There’s encouraging women to make their own choices, which Disney HAS tackled but this one does it differently with Belle rejecting the standard good-looking man and falling for the monstrous looking one. In fact there is really a strong theme tearing down toxic masculinity and male entitlement. It says that no, men are not obligated to a woman and that women have the freedom to reject them no matter the societal pressure. Especially if they act as despicable as Gaston. With how much more aware we’ve become of how horrible some men in power can be and how they use that power on vulnerable women, this remains a relevant message to todays audience. It let’s women be empowered, confident, and enjoy things like reading as well as have the hope of finding those who will be accepting. These are all important things, and the film does an excellent job in showing it and what actual love should be like. The Beast especially starts as a jerk, but once he decides to become better and wants to be better for no ulterior reasons, he proves worthy of Belle’s love. That’s how love should be and how a person should change themselves. Again, very well done.

Despite his health and being downcast about not completing Aladdin, Ashman still put his all into the film. As I said, they outright shifted production to another state at a time when social media and things like Skype and Zoom were a distant dream. Still, Ashman along with Menken put their all into the soundtrack, and it paid off big time. This film, along with The Little Mermaid, really set up the precedent for Broadway-style animaed films and considering that they continue to be successful, I’d say that that says a lot. There are a lot of memorable songs int his fimlm, and there’s even some that didn’t make it in. One in particular, Human Again, actualy got animated and added back for the film’s IMAX release and various home media releases (sadly it’s not in the Disney+ version). The score is also very well done, especially at the end. Just listen to the music when the Beast finally turns human again. It added to the outright magical animation will leave you in awe as much as Belle was.

But what about the vocal tracks? Good question. Let’s go over them:

Belle/Belle Reprise: Our first song which as the name suggests, is about our leading lady. It does a lovely job establishing her character as a book-loving, intelligent young woman feeling that there was be more than this life ans village that she remains stuck in. It also establishes the village’s rather simple-mindedness and socital expectatons, finding Belle a beautiful but very strange girl because of her loving reading more than getting married. It also establishes Gaston’s smugness, entitlement, and holding the entire village’s admiration, The music is optimistic, but there’s a lot here that’s gonna take a dark turn a the film goes on. The reprise is short and more somber, but let’s Belle express her unwillignness to marry a man like Gaston, wanting to find love on her own terms. Little does she know what’s awating her right after.

Gaston: No one can have a song named after Gaston like Gaston! Yeah, this inspired plenty of meme’s, didn’t it? Even Disney itself has gotten in on the fun haha! But seriously, this is a fun villain song. I gotta give Gaston this, he’s a smug, horrible person but he shows that he can back up many of his boasts. I don’t doubt that he can eat dozens of eggs a day or is as strong as an ox. The song also further shows the town’s utter blind devotion to this brute, not being concerned about his entitlement to a girl who clearly isnt interest and more because of how handsome and grand he is. Isn’t society fun kids?! But then at the end, after Maurice is kicked out, it takes a darker turn as Gaston makes his plans to essentially blackmail Belle with her father’s safety... and right back to blind praise! I feel zero sympathy for any of the villagers in this film. But yeah, a song with a lot of dark implications, but still a very enjoyable villain song.

Be Our Guest: This is a true show-stopper, and I’m not just saying that. Lumiere wanted to create a show, and BOY did he succeed. The song is the most like a Broadway number in it’s composition and grand feeling. The fact that we have a huge number full fo singing, dancing, stuntwork, etc is being done by a bunch of dishes and pretty freakin’ impressive. Yet the animators gave it all so much life and Jerry Orback sings with so much passion and energy and it is just SO much fun to watch! Especially with poor Cogsworth at first trying to get everyone to calm down, but by the end he gets real into it... well until Lumiere knocks him to the side. The only negative is that for being a song about serving Belle dinner, aside form a bit of The Grey Stuff she didn’t even eat dinner. For shame! So 1 out fo 10 of food servive, but the show was worthy of two thumbs up!

Something More: This was the song that replaced Human Again. It’s a sweet song about Belle and Beast beginning to realize their feelings the more that they spend aroudn each other. Belle sees that Beast may not be very well-mannered or much of a looker, but he does have a good heart and the more they interact, the more it begins to show. Belle’s kindness, intellience, and willingness to look beyond the surface has Beast falling in love with her, yet his fear of being a monster is still holding him back. Still as we see the two do things like have dinner, play in the snow, or even Beast letting Belle read to him, the more we see that spark of love slowly grow, even if they haven’t fully grasped it. It helps advance the romance, and it’s just really sweet.

Beauty and the Beast: The song that won Menken and Ashman another Oscar. It’s not hard to see why either. The song is beautiful. It’s performed by Angela Lansbury, and her gentle vocals accompanies by the gentle orchestra is just lovely. The woman outright did the song in one take. One take. That is insane, yet it happened. And I can see why because the song is just beautiful. It adds to much to the already majestic ballroom scene, being about two unlikely individuals finding love and ultimately making the other a better person. It’s just a work of beauty. There’s also the pop version by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson, which I also really love. It’s more commerical, but still very pretty especially with Celine’s gorgeous singing voice. Both versions are beautiful, and the first thing I think of when I think of this film... and no, not just beause of the name.

The Mob Song: This is exactly as you would expect with a song with that title. It’s dark, angry, and scary. Gaston rallies the troops to kill The Beast, convincing them that he is a danger to them all. They grab their torches, weapons, and there’s just this tense atmosphere throughout. This is the culminaiton of al the socital expectations and blind devotion to a person who doesn’t at all deserve it. It’s also a very accurate protrayal of the mob mentality, where you become a part of this hivemind following the rest of the crowd no matter how wrong it may be and despite your own senebilities. The only ones who don’t fall into it, Belle and Maurice, get tossed into a basement for their trouble. What makes this song sad though? In Disney+’s documentary Howard, produced by Don Hahn who also produced this film, it was explained how in the eyes of several of his colleagues, it seemed like Ashman was venting about the AIDS epidemic. That was a VERY dark time where the gay community was especially under fire, persecuted, hated, and so many other horrible things because the world chose to blame them for it. Ashman was a gay man. He had an ex partner die of AIDS, and had another partner at the time who talked about him in the documentary. Imagine being scapegoated just because of your sexuality, even though you never caused any harm, and society hated on you and others fell into he mob mentality, and they went as far as to either demand you to die or do the job themselves. All because you were different. Really adds a new perspecive to the song, doesn’t it? This can be applied to so many groups too, which makes the song even scarier, but also emphasize even more how dangerous the mob mentality is. Very effective song.

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Sadly, Howard wouldn’t live to see all of his numbers to completion. With his health declining rapidly, Menken and various others went back and forth between Burbank and New York in order to work with him. Ashman worked until he psycially couldn’t anymore. He was even giving notes to performers like Paige O’Hara despite barely being able to talk. He managed to complete his work, at least to my knowledge, before his passing on March 14th, 1991, just a few months before the film’s release. After a screentest, which proved very successful, Don Hahn and some other colleagues went to see Ashman in the hospital to say their goodbyes. Hahn told him of the reception, and jokingly asked who would ahve expected that the film would have turned out so great? Ashman’s response? “I did.” The work he managed to do for Aladdin would be included in the film, which we’ll discuss when we get to that one. The soundtrack won the Oscar which was awarded to Ashman (as well as Menken) posthumously and a dedication to him was including at the end of the film. It’s always sad to see such a talented individual leave us far too soon, but his work truly brought new life to Disney and is beloved even all these years later. That is a legacy that will never fade.

Now we get to characters, and we have quite a good number of them. We have of course the village that Belle is from. On the surface, they seem like pretty plain people, satisfied with their way of life. But this also causes them to at least not think highly of those who break from that way of life. The men work, the women care for the children. If men don’t work, they’re jerk slobs. They all especially fall into blind admiration for the strong, handsome Gaston who is hailed as a local hero. So much so that no one gives ANY of his terrible actions an ounce of consideraiton. Selling Maurcie tot he looney bin? Well he’s alreafy viewed as crazy, so ah well. Belle trying to tell them that The Beast isn’t a monster? While their first imprression of him is defeniteley a bad one, the fact that they listen to Gaston and not the woman who actually interacted with The Beast says a lot about how simple minded they all are. I hope they learned their lesson after all was said and done, but even if not Belle doesn’t have to pay them any mind anyways.

The only person who is accepting of Belle is her father, Maurice. He’s viewed as a crackpot, but Maurice is a good-hearted, smart, and perfectly sensible man. He’s a bit of a goof with how his inventions can go haywire, but otherwise is no diferent from any other person. But like his daughter, his interests have him judged instead of what he’s like as a person. It’s especially sad when he tries to get help to save Belle, and he is merely laughed at and thrown out because of his status. Maurice is a loving father, accepting of Belle and of her interests and choices. She isn’t interested in Gaston? Fine with him. People view her as odd? That’s utterly ridiculous. It’s really nice to have a parent who is supportive and involved int heir kids life, especally compared to Triton last time who may be caring, but is utterly against everything that matters to Ariel. In fact it’s the firs ttime we’ve had this since Snow White and Cinderlla’s parents are dead and their stepmothers are horrible, Aurora grew up away from her otherwise caring parents, and Ariel... it’s complicated. Maurice is a good guy and it is good that Belle has someone who accepts her unconditionaly. She loves him so much that she sacrificed her happiness for him twice to protect him, which really shows how strong their bond is.

That brings us to our villain, Gaston. He is a hunter who is muscular, handsome, and has physical skills that he can back up. However he is also entitled, egotistical, sefish, and just a horrible person. He wants to marry Belle only because of her beauty and instead of trying to get to know her or shifitng atteniton to any of the girls who would gladly grovel before him, he pursues her despite her not liking him. It’s especially bad when he goes to her house, sets up a huge engagement party, and gets into her personal space in his attempts to charm her. She not only rejects him, but promptly humiliates him. Yet instead of thinking that he had tried far too hard and jumped the gun, he blames Belle for daring to reject him. He reflects exactly how society can view someone like him. No one thinks about the woman, they only see a good-looking man get rejected despite us not knowing anything about ther perosn or their relaitonship. Especially if that man is essentially a celebrity, which makes people look past anyhing.

But none of these things are indicitive of an evil perosn. An arrogant jerk yes, but not evil. That all changes when, after Maurice tries to get help, Gaston comes up with a new plan. He decides to have Maurice admitted to an asylum for being crazy, and to use this to force Belle to marry him. This is what shifts Gaston from a jerk to a true villain. This is how far his entitlement and selfishness goes. He is willing to take Belle’s own elderly father and use him and his freedom as blackmail to force her to marry him. Even compared to the four villainesses before him who committed horrible acts such as attempted murder, mental/emotional abuse, and even attempting world domination, this is utterly despicable. Then there's him deciding to kill The Beast. Despite what he says, it's not because of the potential risk to the town, it's solely because he sees that Belle loves him and can't stand it. He outright calls her crazy AND locks her and Maurice up out of pure entitlement and selfishness. He doesn't give a damn about Belle or her though and well-being. Only about his own.

Gaston is entertaining, but very much evil. As I said above he bears a lot of similarity to Brom Bones from Disney's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. A muscular jock-like figure often the most beautifiul girl in town. Only while Brom was a jerk, he was arguably less bad than Ichabod Crane depending how you looked at it. Gaston essentially has Brom's muscles an Ichabod's selfishness. He cares only for himself and his own pride. Admittedly he put up a decent fight against The Beast, but that's only because Beast wasn’t fighting back until he saw Belle. When he did, Gaston whimpered and begged like the pathetic man that he is. Then he stabbed him despite being spared out of pure spite. An act that cost him his life. Fun fact, originally he survived the fall and was truly killed via the wolves. They ended up saving that for Scar's death in The Lion King. But yeah, Gaston died in the undignifiedmanner that he deserved. A despicable but memorable villain who was perfect for this film.

Then we have the castle characters. You’d think that it would be difficult to give life to a bunch of furniture and appliances... and it probably was. But this movie makes it look easy. They do give most of them humanoid features, like eyes and a mouth, but not all of them and even then it would be so easy to make it look creepy. But the castle staff is just os much fun and beaming with personality. We’re gonna discuss the main four: Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, and Chip.

Lumiere is a candlestick, which matches his passionate characterization. He’s a showman. A romantic. A more daring, out-going character compared to his frequent frenemy Cogsworth. Cogsworth is a clock and I think he’s implied to be the Beast’s butler or some other kind of advisor. He’s stuffy, nervous, and the most lawful of the characters. Though he CAN get into the fun of things with a little provoking as demonstrated in Be Our Guest and the big battle during the climax. Hoenstly, Be Our Guest is a great number to demonstrate the two’s contrasitng perosnalities. Belle has been banned from eating and Cogsworth doens’t want to both break the Beast’s orders nor cause a bunch of noise that would anger him. Lumiere however? He’s dead set on getting Belle to fall for the Beast, so she should be treated as their guest, not a prisoner. Plus he and the other staff are tired after ten years of being stuck as they are and all alone, so cue the extravagant show number. Lumiere is having the time of his life while Cogsworth tries to convince everyone to stop... but by the end gets caught up in it and joins in ont he fun. Too bad that Lumiere knocks him off the center stage at the end haha. But yeah, their constant banter is amusing but they are clealry friends, especially in the fight where Cogsworth saves Lumiere. They’re both also performed wonderfully by their VA’s, Jerry Orbach and David Odgen Stiers, the latter of whom would appear in several more Disney films, including one for this series that we’ll get to fairly soon.

Mrs. Potts is a teapot and her son Chip is a tea cup. I guess that Chip ended up that way to match his mother, which her being a teapot matches her mothelry persona. She’s very kind and consoling towards Belle and seems the most understanding about The Beast and why he acts ike he does. Which since I think that she was essentially the house caretaker, makes sense since she’d have likely been the one looking out for him. Plus she herself is a mother, and since Beast has the emotion coping skills of a child, she’d know how to deal with it. Chip is the token child character, though not a bad one. He’s a nice kid with a huge curiosity. It’s really cute how hen allt he adults are seeing the bloomign romance between Belle and Beast, he’s uttelry confused like any kid would be haha! He takes a liking to Belle quickly, though more like he sees her as if she were an older sister than any kind fo crush or the like. He’s also smart, figuring out how to use Maurice’s inveniton to free Belle and Maurice quickly...and him wanitng to do it again got a good laugh out of me haha! Mrs. Potts is a nurturing mother and her with Chip is so sweet,e specially when they’re truly human again. Plus her advice of how things will turn out alright in the end is advice that I look back on sometimes. it’s really comforitng.

So... as I’ve mentioned in these reviews, a big issue is how underdeveloped that the prince has been. The first two were plot devices only. Phillip and Eric were better int hat they were active int he plot and Eric had some more perosnality and motivation than the other three did. But it just didn’t feel like the male elads were... quite at their full potential yet. They generally didn’t recieve any character development and were mainly there for the sake of being a lov einterest to the heroine. That all changed in this film with our hero, The Beast.

Beast is one of the most well-developed male leads in a Disney Princess film. A few like Aladdin, Naveen, and Eugene rival him for overall best (though tbf the former IS the lead of his movie so that may not count) but Beast helped make the princes more equal to their princess without overshadowing her. Beast is the co-protagonist to Belle and the character that recieves the bulk of the character development. The opening tells us all that we need to know: Beast was once Prince Adam, a spoiled brat. When he turned away an elderly begger, it turned out that she was an Enchantress and she cursed him into his monsturous form. Since he looks like a monster, he subsequently acts like a monster... or more accurately, like the child that he never truly grew out of emotionally. He’s angry, lashes out constantly, and roars at the top of his lungs when at his limit. Like how a child screams and throws a tantrum when things don’t go their way because they lack the social and emotional coping skills to handle their feelings properly. Becoming a beast left Beast isolated and ashamed to face reality, and thus he didn’t learnt he proper coping skills. He accepted that he would forever be a monster, and succumb to acting like one.

That is, until the day that Belle arrived. When she offers herself to free her father, it’s the opportunity that Beast never beleived that he would get. If he can win her love before the rose petals all fall, he’ll be human again. He’ll be free. While he begins still acitng agressive and even bordeirng on emotionally abusive, e isn’t heartless. When Belle is crying about not getting to say goodbye to her father, Beast seems to legit feel bad for hurting her. It doens’t change his behavior, but it’s still a small moment that shows some humanization. It’s important to add moments like this and his despair when using the mirror to hear Belle talk about him. She’s justified in disliking him at that point, but it’s his reactions that matter. It shows his insecurity, his fear, his utter despair that he’ll be cursed for the rest of eternity. He’s already succumbed to acting the part of a monster and is already struggling to act more polite. As amusing as the scene of him yelling at Belle through the door is, it demonstrates just how hard this is for him but if he can’t improve his behavior, then he has no chance. He knows it, and views it as hopeless. It helps humanize The Beast, showing that despite his appearance there IS a human soul in there somewhere. Someone who on some level does want to be better, but he doesn’t know how. If not for these moments, Beast would have been utterly unsympathetic, but they pulled it off.

The turning point comes after Beast rescues Belle from the wolves. Remember, he’d already pretty much given up on winning Belle over and being human again and the confrontation on the third floor certainly didn’t help matters. He could have just let Belle to her own devices... but instead he went to save her. I sincerely do not believe it was because she was a prisoner or because he needed her. He had given up. He had succumbed. But he did it anyways, showing that he isn’t a bad person. It’s something that Belle sees and she gets him back to the castle to treat him. She called him out on his temper, but is sincerely grateful and Beast is stunned by this genuine act of kindness. She didn’t fear him. She wasn’t disgusted by him. She didn’t even leave him to die despite having pretty good reason to leave him and go. Belle still chose to save his life as he did her’s, showing Beast probably the first true act of love that he ever experienced in his life. We know nothing of his family and while I’m sure that staff members like Ms. Potts certainly cared for him, clearly they didn’t do much to quell his spoiled behavior. Belle was kind because she’s a kind person, and Beast finds that he wants to be kind to her in return.

From that point, we see Beast in a new light. He calms down significantly. He’s happier. He carries himself less like a wild animal and more like a person. He’s outright excited when he prepares the library to surprise Belle with. He’s still awkward as shown with his table manners and interacting with birds durign Something There, but he is trying. He’s trying for Belle. He activly enjoys her company. He sees how beautiful she is physically, but that’s not why he likes her. She’s kind, intelligent, independant, and she makes him feel in a way that he never has. He still feels that she can’t love him because of what he is, but the change that she has caused is so evident. He’s fallen in love and the ballroom scene only strengthens that with himt he happiest that he’s been all film. But the crowner that truly demonstrates htis? When Belle expresses missing her father, he lets her use the mirror. Not only does he seem legit concerned when they see Maurice freezing to death but when he sees Belle’s clear distress, he decides to let her go. He’s sad when he does so, knowing that she may very well never return. But Belle’s father needs her. he can’t force her to say and be miserable. He loves her so much that he decided to let her go. But it does mean that he gav up his final chance at being human after feeling more human than he had in ten years, and he is left in despair.

His despair is so strong that when Gaston and the mob arrives, he doesn’t even try to fight back. He just waits and is prepared to let whatever happens to him happen. Fortunately Belle coming back restores his will to live and he fights back. When Gaston grovels for his life, what does Beast do? He grants it, simply growling at him to leave. It is that moment hat shows how much of a better person that Beast is compared to Gaston. He was an angry man bordering on abusive, but he changed. He met someone who wasn’t willing to take his behavior, but was also willing to see the good that was in him. He changed for her, and it made him a kinder, more selfless person. The only thing that remains is his self-loathing, even saying that maybe him dying is for the best after Gaston has stabbed him. Fortunately Belle confesses her love, and it not only saves his life, but breaks the curse just in time. Beast is restored to Adam, having earned the right to having his humanity back. It was a lovely way to cap off his development, and allowed him to earn his happily ever after.

Beast was very much Belle’s equal. Even nowadays they’re both promoted and marketed pretty equally. One’s story would have been incomplete without the other. They gave each other what they each wanted and needed. I’ll go into specifics for Belle when I get to her below, but in the Beast’s case he needed someone kind, but also independent. Someone who wouldn’t tolerate his behavior and push him to change himself, but still kind-hearted enough to see that there is something there and be willing to help. Belle treated him in a way that no one else had. She was defiant, but also caring. She pushed him to rediscover his humanity. She got him to want to be kind. She got him to want to be a better person, and he not only treated her better but he was kinder to his staff as well. He finally grew up from the spoiled brat that he was before. He had found a reason to, and his love was so genuine that he let Belle go to be with her father again. It’s a beautiful story of growth and did enough to make Beast’s issues clear and not excusable, but sympathetic enough that we wanted him to be better and feel happy when he does so. He’s the best developed male lead in a Disney Princess film up to this point and helped pave the way for equally well done male leads. Ones not there just to fill out a plot beat and be the princesses’ reward, but to stand at her side as her equal.

Boy did THAT one get long. there’s other minor characters. Le Fou, The Bimbettes, the psyche ward keeper voiced by the late, great Tony Jay, various other castle characters, etc. all of them are entertaining, I just don’t have much to say about them. So then... we have one more to go.

Belle Analysis

https://youtu.be/M4ne1A1aNrI

Belle is one of the most praised and beloved Disney Princesses of all time. She is smart, playful, independent, and kind-hearted. I feel like she gets overly praised at times, mainly because some like to use her to bash her four predecessors since she didn’t have the goal of falling in love. I won’t repeat what I said about the four, you can read the reviews, but it’s a VERY unfair argument not just to them, but to Belle as well. She’s used as a tool to bash other female characters instead of being loved for herself. Then agains he also gets bashed for the Stolkholm Syndrome argument, which we’ll get to that aspect here soon. But for now, let’s just discuss Belle piece by piece and see where the path leads us.

Belle’s intro establishes everything right off the bat. So much so that the intro sing is literally titled Belle. She’s bookish and cheerful, but it’s clear from her interactions witht he villagers and their own gossip that she’s seen as weird. The only people who seem to like her as she is is the bookshop owner and her own father. The women are jealous of her beauty, the men only see her for her beauty, and both sides are confused at her lack of conformity. Belle lives in a town that clearly has very old-fashioned views regarding gender roles. The men work, the women get married and have babies. They all seem content with this... except for Belle. She enjoys books and adventure, musing about wanting more than the provincial life that she has. She strolls through the village with her nose stuck in a book, but has no trouble navigating at all depsite the distraction. Books provide her a source of adventure and thrill that her limited life does not. She breaks those old-fashioned norms and he village is uttelry baffled at to how she can be this way. But what truly makes her a bafflement to everyone? Her utter rejection of Gaston. While just about every other women swoons at his feet, Belle couldn’t be less impressed if she tried. She’s familiar with how he is and if she had’t recieved his advances before their first scene, she’s probably seen it enough times to know that she doesn’t like him. Him dismisisng her passion for books and insulting her father did him no favors.

On the surface, Belle does’t seem bothered by these things. But when home, she does express some hurt about ti to her father, the one perosn who loves her for her unconditionally. She knows that she doesn’t fit in. She knows that she’s not happy with her life. She wants someone to understand her besides her father. She wants more to life where she can be herself. She wants to find love on her own terms and not have to deal with the advances of men like Gaston. None of this stops her form being able to handle herself, as demonstrated when Gaston goes to her house to force a proposal. She handles kicking him out with utter grace and her “I don’t deserve you” line is icing on the cake. But none of that changes how she feels. If anything, it enforces it. The village is all on Gaston’s side and at that point, her father has left for the science fair. He won’t be there forever, hence why she wants to find someone who will love her for her. To control her own destiny. To those who feel forced into their gender roles or being forced into a relationship that they don’t want whether by an agressive person or by peer pressure, Belle’s struggle is very relatable. Her independant spirit is also admirable as while she is dismayed with where she’s at, she still is able to smile and live her life as she wants. She’ defiant. She makes do with what she has and is able to handle what’s thrown at her with pure wit and ingenuity. Gaston nor anyone else can bring her down... at least, not until her wish for adventure ends up unexpectedly granted.

Before we progress forward, let’s pause to discuss Belle’s VA, Paige O’Hara. When Beauty and the Beast was beginning casting, O’Hara was already a rising Broadway actress and Disney happened to be seeking Broadway talent specifically. After several call-backs, she finally earned the part. She’s credited Howard Ashman as a huge help in guiding her to finding her voice as Belle, and she performs the role beautifully. She captures Belle’s independence yet playfulness very well, as well as her defiance and heartbreak in certain scenes. And her singing? Beautiful. Maybe not on par with Jodi Benson, but you can tell why she was a rising Broadway star. Today, O’Hara works mainly as a painter with Belle very much being one of her main muses. Sadly due to how much her voice has aged, she rarely plays Belle herself anymore, the role nowadays being primarialy done by VA Julie Nathanson. While she also does a lovely job at the part, O’Hara will always be the first to bring the character to life. Fortunteley she still shows a lot of love for the role and has attended multiple events and even got to reprise Belle at least one more time during Ralph Breaks the Internet. She had reprised Belle multiple times between various DTV films, TV appearances, and other events. So even if she is limited nowadays, her large body of work will live on forever.

Back to the film, Belle discovers that her father is in danger and ends up at the castle. We all know what happens at this point. Belle offers to take her dad’s place, Beast agrees, and Maurice is kicked out before Belle can so much as say goodbye. She’s distraught at this, and who can blame her? In a matter of hours, her life as she knew it was ripped away from her. Now instead of her old provincial life, she’s a prisoner in an enchanted castle ruled by an angry beast. Even when given the nicer room, she doesn’t feel that much better. She’s never going to get to see her father again or even know if he’s safely back home. She has no reason to believe that a rescue is coming. Some may say that she should try and get out, but isn’t she allowed this? To be upset and at a loss of what to do? It’s not like she just cries the whole time, she calms down enough to refuse to go to dinner despite the others insisting that she does. Even when Beast yells at her to do so, she refuses. She may be a prisoner, but she’s not going to play the victim. She’s going to be as she normally is; however she wants to be.

Soon, Belle’s able to calm down enough that she decides to go explore the castle. She is ultimateley a curious, adventurous spirit. Regardless of the circumstances, she can’t help but want to learn more about this new, strange place and these new figures that she’s encountered. You can tellt hat she’s warming up reatly during Be Our Guest where despite not actually getitng to eat anything, she is just havng far too much fun to care. It gets her spirits back up and now she can’t resist exploring more. Even if it risks The Beast’s wrath, one her curiosity has peaked, she can’t resist it. It’s a great strength, but also probably her biggest flaw. Despite having been told not to and knowing by now how Beast will react, she slips away from Cogsworth and Lumiere to go explore the West Wing. This ends with her seeing the trashed area, finding the Enchanted Rose, and getting yelled at by an enraged Beast. That is the last push needed to make Belle decide to escape.

So now that we’re at this point, we have to talk about one of the big topics that comes up when discussing this film: Stockholm Syndrome. To put it simply, Stockholm Syndrome is when the victim becomes emotionally attached to their aggressor and doesn’t want to leave them and tries to justify their actions. So when the vicitm is rescued, they may react negativly or even aggressively towards the rescuers in favor of the agressor. it’s a psychological response. This is actually a case where I was able to go to a professional to ask about it,: my own mother. My mom is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and currently works as a therapist. I’m fairly sure that she’s never treated anyone with Stockholm, but it is something that she knows of. I did ask her about if the film did glorify Stockholm Syndrome as some accuse it of. The gist of what she told me is... well, there’s enough in-film that either side can use it to prove their case. After all she DOES develop positive feelings towards Beast while a prisoner, so one can take the context and use it as an example, and same for the side who don’t agree. Ultimately Belle is a ficitonal character. We can’t sit her down and give her a psychoanalysis because she’s not real, and most of us doing these analysis’ aren’t therapists, psyologists, or mental health experts anyways. I’ll leave some sources below if you’d like further reading on the topic, but doing research isn’t the same as being a professional trained to go over these kinds of things. My mom said at most, Beast can be viewed as emotionally abusive, though it is because of his own trauma and he did ultimately improve to be a better person.

I fully agree that yes, if someone wants to make the arguent that the film promotes Stockholm Syndrome, they can. It’s their opinion, this came out in a diferent time than now where we take things like emotional abuse in cinema far more seriously, and in the end it’s a piece of fiction and people are free to view it however they wish. But the same also applies to me and in my opinion, no. Belle does NOT suffer from Stockholm Syndrome nor does the film glorify it. Now I am not an expert by any stretch of the imagination. This is strictly my opinion going off my understanding of it. I may be wrong and if that’s the case, I apologize. But from what I know and understand, the case in the film is not a straight forward situation like the various case studies in the real world. Plus I think we see enough of Belle being defiant and not feeling positivly towards Beast to see that she certainly hasn’t developed any psychological attachment towards him to cope with her situation. We’ll be seeing her feelings towards him change, but I’ll explain why I don’t feel that it counts down below. But again, I’m not an expert. This is just my understanding of it.

So... why the long tangent there? Well we’re now at the wolf attack scene. The turning point in the relationship. Belle’s effort to escape ends with her cornered by a pack of vicious wolves. Fortunateley, The Beast rescues her and drives the wolves away... but he is inured in the process and passes out. As I said in Beast’s character breakdown, he didn’t have to do it at that point since he’d given up, but he did so anyways. It showed that he isn’t a bad person. Something that Belle also saw. The Beast had been aggressive and rude to her throughout, and she had every good reason to continue on her way now that the path was clear. But Belle didn’t. She got Beast onto her horse and took him back to the castle, the closest shelter, to treat his wounds. Is this because she feels compelled to do so after forming a psychological dependency or attachment to him? No. We see as she treats his wounds that she still isn’t going to tolerate his temper and rudeness towards her. She stands up for herself and talks back at him until he calms down. She very much retains her independence. So then... why did she save him? Because Belle is a good-hearted person who just saw this seemingly hateful beast save her life when he didn’t have to. She isn’t the kind of person to leave an injured person to die. She did it out of kindness and gratitude as we see when she genuinely thanks Beast for saving her life. She’s seen a new side to him now, and it’s made her reconsider her earlier stance. Thus Belle remains at the castle.

The characteristics of Stockholm Syndrome include positive feelings towards the captor and belief of goodness in the captor, no real effort in escaping, learned helplessness, and feelings of pity to the captor. You can read the list and learn more here, and the link will also be with the sources. So you’re probably looking at that and going ‘...uuuggghhhh’ at the movie right now. Which fair enough. However let’s also look at where we are now. This is the part of the film where Beast makes an honest effort to improve himself. He’s nicer, trying to be more polite, and treats Belle as a person. She’s really not a prisoner anymore at this point and while mybe theposisbility of being human again is motivating Beast, for the most part I think it’s because he genuinely grows to like Belle. As for Belle, I think that she likes the castle. It’s enchanted and full of intrigue and mystery, just like in her books. It’s the escape form that provincial life in the village that she’s been longing for. It’s a temptation that she just can’t resist. The staff all like her and treat her kindly and no one tries to force her to be something that she isn’t. Beast especially loves Belle’s love of books, even giving her the huge library to repay her earlier kindness. Belle is able to be who she is and be around those who are accepting of her. Even fi for the staff it’s for ulterior motives, IDT that they’re faking liking having her around and Beast certainly isn’t. This isn’t really a straight-forward captive or abuse situaiton that Stockholm Syndrome would apply to in my opinion, especially since Belle never once succumbs to the Beast’s terms. She only respects and acts friendly with him when he does so towards her, and they are both clearly benefiting positivly from it. We know that Beast has no malicious intenitons regarding Belle and it’s Lumiere and co. insisting on the relaitonship happening moreso, and that’s because they want their humanity back so it adds a bit of complexity. It’s just not a straight forward case where we can easily apply Stockholm Syndrome to and get an accurate reading, at least in my opinion. She certainly is FAR from helpless.

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So then let’s discuss Belle’s feelings for The Beast. We know how much Belle’s influence changed The Beast. But what about Belle? She really doens’t change during the movie, nor did she realy need to. She’s already confident about herself, likes herself, and she knows what she wants with her life. Sure her curiosity can get her into trouble, but otherwise she didn’t realy need a character arc like Beast did. What Belle needed was acceptance. To find someone who would like her for who she is and not see her as weird for it. Beast doesn’t at all view her that way. He enjoys being around her because she’s smart and independant and even gets her to read to him. It’s that kind of acceptance that Belle hasn’t recieved from anyone outside her father. The more that she sees Beast try to be better, the more that she sees how sweet and endeairng that he really is and she’s more than happy to help him. I think that seeing this kinder side bloom and that acceptance and even enjoyment of her is what makes Belle fall in love with him. It’s what helps make the ballroom scene so magical. Two people considered outsiders coming together and dancing the night way happily together. It’s beautiful, magical, and the perfect culminaiton in everything prior. They brought out the best in each other. Made each other happier in a way that no one else had ever done. They’re better now because of the other, and it’s just lovely to see.

But of course, we know what comes next. While happy with Beast and being at the castle, Belle still misses her father. When she sees him in the snow and horirbly sick, she’s distressed. Seing this, Beast allows he to go. Honestly I think that Belle could have left whenever she wanted at that point and Beast wouldn’thave fought it, but she was staying willingly at that point because she was happy. But her father needed her now. If she truly had Stockholm Syndorme, I don’t think that she would have done so. But she doesn’t really give it any kind of thought here. While sad to leave The Beast, she has alreayd mad eup her mind when told that she could go. She leaves to save her father, The Beast giving her the mirror and unbeknownst to her Chip tagging along. Belle fortunateley gets Maurice home safely... and just in time for Gaston to initiate his plan to have Maurice locked away. Belle is of course shocked and outraged and in a panic, uses the mirror to confirm The Beast’s existence. Despite her insistence that he isn’t a bad person, it’s too late. Gaston realizes that she’s in love with the ‘monster’ and we get the iconic line: “He’s no monster Gaston, you are.” Beast treated her like a person and improved himself from his more toxic behavior. Gaston treated her like the prey that he seeks during his hunts, refusing to let up until he’s won. Beast had even kept his word about letting Maurcie go and returned him to the village safely, and of course let Belle go to help him and even seemed to feel guilty for what he had done previously. Gaston though? He shows no guilt over trying to use Maurice to blackmail Belle. He continues his horrible behavior not only by forming the mob, but locking Belle and Maurice in their own cellar for simply speaking against it. Belle didn’t call Gaston a monster because she’s been conditioned or due to a coping reflex. It’s because Gaston is a genuinely despicable person while Beast grew to become a good person. She saw this and stood her ground as she always has, but this time at the point where she won’t tolerate it anymore. Which if it was your parent being shipped off to the insane asylum by some jerk just because they want to marry you, woudln’t you call them a monster in comparison?

So we reach the climax. Belle and Maurice arrive after Chip frees them with Belle rushing to get to Beast. She makes it and seeing her reignites Beast’s will to live... but he’s stabbed by Gaston. Belle saves Beast from falling over the roof, but there’s nothing that she can do to stop him from dying. She’s devestated, blaming herself for it. Beast’s final words to her are that at least he got to see Belle one last time, and if she hadn’t figured it out before, I think that this was when Belle realized that Beast loved her... and that she loved him. We knew that Beast certianly loved her but we needed it confirmed from Belle as the curse was still intact. As Beast lay motionless, Belle cries and at last confesses that yes, she does love him... just as the last rose petal falls. With that confession, the curse breaks and Beast is ressurected/becomes human again. Belle is shocked as she sees not The Beast standing before her, but Prince Adam. You can tell how confused she is. is this reallyt he same person that she loved? Adam confirms it and Belle looks into his eyes... and that’s all it takes for her to finally smile. yes, it is the same man that she had fallen in love with. They kiss,a nd the curse is truly broken. Everyone becomes human again,t he castle is restored to it’s original state, and Belle and Adam dance happily, free to live happily ever after.

Belle is a role model character. She’s there for girls to look up to, and I think that the amount of fans that she has proves that she succeeded. She encourages girls to be themselves. To be independant and not bend to social norms or pressure. To find love for themselves and not succumb tot he pressure of unwanted admirers or the pressure to marry them. Something that happens far too much in reality. She doesn’t change, but there was no reason for her to. As I said, Belle’s not one of my favorites. Not because I dislike her by any means. if anythign I like her much more now as an adult now that I have a stronger understanding of the film. I just have princesses that I like more, and that’s really it. I also don’t like how some insist that she’s the best Dsney Princess compared to her predecessors because as I hope I made clear in those reviews, the previous four pricnesses are NOT badly done. If anything, I think it’s more anti-femenist to use a woman to bash other women without just cause. Saying that belle is better because she didn’t fall in love witht he guy at first sight or didn’t sell her soul for a guy without caring to analyze those characters isn’t empowering, it’s saying that if you don’t act a certain way as a woman, you’re anti-feminist. Which is a terrible stance. No woman is the same and women shouldn’t be used against women in this kind of way. Regardless, that’s an issue with certain ‘critics’, not Belle herself. She’s a great character and someone that I can admire. Maybe not as much as others, but I can certainly see why she’s left such an impact on so many and not even just little girls. To many people of all kinds. Who could be upset about that?

Final Thoughts

Beauty and the Beast is a lovely film. Is it my favorite? No. I didn’t watch it all that much as a kid. As an adult I have a greater appreciation for it. It’s beautfully animated, it’s themes are well-protrayed and still relevant, the characters are memorable and fun, and it’s music is phenomenal. I can absoluteley see why this as the first animated film to ever be niminated for Best Picture. It’s a tragedy that it lost, but it still proved that animation very much had staying power as Walt proved all those years ago. And of course the film is the final testament of Howard Ashman. He may not have been part of the Disney Renaissance for long, but his contributions single-handedly changed the company and their films for the better. Even today this style of musical films is very much going strong even over 30 years since it began with The Little Mermaid. We lost Ashman far too soon, and who knows what amaizng things he could have one if he were still alive. We can never know the what ifs, but we can always appreciate what came during his lifetime. He, Kirk Wise, Gary Trousdale, Alan Menken, Don Hahn, various animators, and so many more did so much to bring this film to life, and it will forever stand as a true Disney Masterpiece.

The film was a giant success, and Disney wasn’t slowing down one bit. The very next year, another animated feature would come out. A film about a dashing street rat who found a magic lamp and unleashed a magical genie who would make all his dreams come true. But wait you may ask, isn’t this a Disney Princess retrospective? Yep. So why am I talking about a dashing hero? Well there is a princess in it, but she occupies a bit of a unique place in the line-up. She is the first and so far only Princess to not be the main charater in her film. But she still left a huge impact and i included in the main lineup so we are NOT leaving her out. So next time, come along as we enter a whole new world to discuss 1992’s Aladdin, and in particular Princess Jasmine.

Image Source: Animation Screencaps

Further Reading on Stockholm Syndrome: Healthline, Medical News Today, GoodTherapy, WebMD,

[gisachi]

Aaah hi ! Can I please request 45 or 14 of the shinran prompt ? 💓

Hi, thanks for the request! 🧡 Sorry it took a while! Hoping you don’t mind that I combined your asks since I’ll be doing #45  ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Admittedly, the only scenario I can think of for this prompt is another semi(?)-nsfw so I hope you’re ok with that! Again, it went longer than I expected, so it may sound a bit rushed at the end because I had to cut it short lmao, but I do hope you still enjoy reading!

45. Kisses exchanged as they move around, hitting the edges of tables or nearly tripping over things on the floor before making it to the sofa, or bed. (1,878 words, slightly nsfw)

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His girlfriend doesn’t wait for the hotel room door to close shut.

Using her weight to pin him to the cold, concrete wall, she drives her lips against his in what seems like the boldest, the roughest, the most brazen she’s ever done in her entire life.

She’s never one to initiate; it’s always him. So the moment this happens, he doesn’t push her away, and instead embraces her closer, surrendering himself to the thrill.

He feels her body rock against his, outlined by her gown— oh, that long, sexy red satin gown, elegantly tailored to a slim fit that it hugs every prominent curve of her body, neckline plunging so low it exposes a generous amount of her cleavage;

That gown poking the corner of his eyes as she sat beside him quietly the whole duration of the TMPD awarding ceremony, her noiseless presence a stark contrast to her breathtaking aura that screams ever so loudly, catching the attention of everyone in the grand ballroom, men and women, even those on distant tables;

That same gown that’s causing all his willpower to dissipate as he tried to display the straightest face he could ever make while he waited, impatiently, for his name to be announced just so they could get this over with, for deep down his animalistic tendencies thrive from the dangerous thought of slamming her down their table and stripping her bare... right then and there.

It’s funny, now that he thinks about it. The modesty they displayed in that event — how she respectfully thanked the courteous gentlemen assisting her there while he interacted with other fellow distinguished guests; how he politely shook hands with his women fans and willingly gave them his autographs and selfies as they exited the venue — all gone the moment they step in the hotel elevator, her arms loop around his firmly as if she’s honestly intending for her chest to choke his arms. The smile they’ve been projecting replaced by tightly shut, parched lips, curses restrained behind teeth, breathing warm and fervid, tension palpable…

It’s not just him. He feels it.

Inside the elevator where many people other than them gather, they mutually relish this energy.

This raw, titillating energy, swirling in the air between them, so apparent yet so undetected.

They reach their floor and they step out, and Shinichi knows. His plan of ending the night with a romantic champagne session with her on their balcony under the stars? Not gonna happen now. Something else will. Not in any way how he expects but perhaps... how he prefers.

Very much so.

He would’ve wanted to do this to her first, shove her against the wall and all, and though he's not complaining that it resulted the other way around, as to why she initiated this rash, unprecedented act, he wants to know.

“Ran…” he groans, nails digging into her hips while her lips assault his neck, leaving trails of red lipstick from the underside of his ear down his collarbone. “What’s... with you... tonight?”

“No,” her hands yank the collar of his fine black shirt underneath his elaborately masculine, padded coat, “what’s with you tonight, Shinichi?” She kisses him again, rougher and harder than before, and while he thoroughly enjoys her doing this, a clear answer is what he needs and this isn’t exactly it.

“Wha- uh, fuck,” he tries to speak coherently in between their kisses, but her hands quickly travelling down his chest to the front of his pants make it difficult to do so, “What did I, ah- do…?”

“You,” she breathes heavily, “in that suit,” he feels a hand unclasp the metal buckle of his belt, “in these slacks,” and watches her throw the belt in the open. “I’m quite... annoyed.”

“Annoyed?” He speaks in fragments, “Of who...” throwing his words in between their hungry kisses, “...of me?” She shakes her head.

“Mm, then who?”

She separates from his lips bitterly, looks at him with dark, impassioned eyes, so uncharacteristic of the gentle Ran he has ever known his whole life. Not that he’s complaining.

Did she drink? No. Was she in a bad mood prior to this? No.

Another possibility crosses his mind.

“...Of the fangirls?”

She sucks sharp breaths of air, face somewhat glowering.

Is she...jealous?

Ran grabs a fistful of his hair, pulls his head down to meet her stare.

“You can’t just put your arms around them for a selfie in that tux...” her eyes flicker to the lapels of his jacket and the half unbuttoned shirt, his lean, glorious chest beneath it teasing her, and further down, his black trousers, prim and ironed, now without the belt and now loose enough to shove a hand in...then back his eyes, unconsciously biting her lower lip in the process, “without letting me see you alone first.”

Oh. Scratch that.

Is she massively turned on by him in an all-black formal suit…

so much so that she wants him all to herself?

Yes.

Holy shit, yes.

He spots their reflection on the full-length mirror across them — his lips smeared with her cherry red lipstick, hair he’s gelled so carefully now a disheveled mess as her fingers wind roughly onto it. Her backless gown does his eyes favor, allowing him to freely marvel at the sharp curves of her shoulder blades, her lithe spine, her arched back, and all he can think about now is how much he wants to mark them later with his nails, with his teeth...

Lips pulling into a naughty smirk, he decides to up the heat by a notch.

“Yeah?” He squeezes her ass fondly, preventing himself from salivating like a wild beast as he sees from the reflection how soft and supple her cheeks are under his hands. “What about you then?”

Ran audibly gasps as his hand lowers to her thigh, lifting it a few inches so that it slips between the high slits of her gown. He makes just enough room between his legs to slide it in, pressing their lower bodies closer until she’s aware of the visible strain in his trousers.

“That dress,” he grunts, his other hand hiking to her waist, gripping her so possessively he might’ve bruised her, “is so perfect on you it frustrates me.”

His tongue languidly traces the inside of her lower lip before nibbling it so hard he tastes blood. She whimpers, so he soothes it with a soft lick and a gentle suck.

He’ll apologize to her after, not now when his carnal drive is at its strongest.

Parting her lips with his thumb, he sighs into her lungs.

“...mind me taking it off?”

She moans from his words alone.

Heart thundering to a frenzied rhythm, she pins him back to the wall and reclaims his lips, and he can only surmise that that’s her way of saying yes.

Yes. Take everything away.

Her fingers twine his hair, playing and swirling around it the same way her tongue does with his. Tilting his head, he indulges himself deep in her, reaching and tasting every corner of her, and he feels her throat vibrate from a soft groan that echoes so deliciously in his mouth. Without breaking the kiss, his other arm joins the other on her waist, coaxing her to step her feet back, to move, and she almost trips on her stilettos, which she finds no more need for as she awkwardly removes them one at a time, all while he guides her blindly to the inside portion of the hotel room.

She hits and bumps every wall as they sort their way through, and he doesn’t want her to get hurt so he turns them around, offering his back as the first line of defense against the unfamiliar setup of the room. Dragging her with him, they totter to the nearest flat surface he can sense, unmindful of the chairs and random furniture his legs inadvertently bump into as he moves. And when he does feel the edge of some kind of counter touch his lower back, he lifts her up and hoists her there, almost toppling over the complimentary drinks and champagne glasses placed above it.

They break off the kiss and stare each other down, outrageous heat in their expressions apparent. He takes this time to shrug off his expensive suit soiled with sweat and drops it to the floor, leaving him with his disheveled black button-downs, looking more informal now than it is formal. His arms cage her body to the minibar counter while her hands secure her weight, one overlapping his right hand and the other on his right shoulder. One leg wraps around his hip, making sure her dress doesn’t rip due to overstretching.

“You know, I…” he pants, voice low and husky, “I was so close to stabbing some colleagues in the eyes.”

“Really now?” she replies, thumb caressing the underside of his right hand, heel digging into his calves.

“Yeah...” his pupils wander to where the neckline of her gown dives, to the teasing slit that reveals her silky thigh. “No one else’s supposed to look at you like this,” he returns his gaze to her, and, like a cat cornering a mouse, hoods his eyes and licks his lips. “Only me.”

Ran’s heart rate skyrockets, chest feels like combusting as her boyfriend scans her entire being with pure, unadulterated lust. She tightens her leg around him before surging into his lips once more, and he moans, loud.

Loud, raspy. Guttural.

Hot.

If that doesn’t make her damp the first time, then she’ll just make him do it again.

Not a problem. They have the whole night.

She squirms her way out from where his hands trap her, descending the minibar. He honestly would’ve wanted her there longer but her comfort is more important. On tiptoes they twirl to the direction of the king-size bed, skipping over the lump of coat on the floor. Their lips mold hotly, all while he works his way out his shoes, kicking them somewhere far. Her dress is such a bother; it’s impossible not to step on its length while they get it on— all the more reason for him to make haste to the bed just so he can finally take that whole thing off of her body.

Only when the back of her knees hit the edge of the bed does she speak again.

“Shinichi...everything under this,” she flits down her gown, then back his face, her blue irises glinting like firelight, “is for your eyes only.”

In the middle of his high, Shinichi cannot help but soften his expression at his girlfriend’s honest-to-goodness statement.

She bites her lip, giggles. “So better promise me the same.”

“Of course.” He kisses her softly. “All you see in front of you,” he leans down, traces the shape of her collarbone with his lips, “are all yours.”

He cannot see her face but he’s sure of how red she’s gotten. Not sparing any more time, he lets their intermingled bodies collapse to the bed, he on top, she beautifully sprawled under.

“Now will you show me?” His right hand hikes the slit of her gown, going under it, “What’s for my eyes alone?”

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[insanityclause]

1) There are no togas. That’s a big tick from me.

Otherwise, however good the acting, it’s hard to keep the mind off all those knobbly knees.

Tom Hiddleston. Photos by Johan Persson.

2) It's more topical than you might think. Don't believe me? Hear me out.

It's the story of a great Roman general who is so steeped in aristocratic values that he despises the new institutions of democracy and the need to seek favour from the citizens. He describes them as curs with stinking breath even as he solicits their votes. Inevitably that leads to self-destruction. The thing that kills him is not the anger of the people but his own arrogance. He’s a man used to getting what he wants and when he doesn’t, he refuses to listen or compromise. Sound familiar?

3) Of all of Shakespeare’s heroes and anti-heroes, Coriolanus is the most isolated and alone. Yet also the least self-reflective.

Is he the perfect lock-down anti-hero? It will be interesting to view the play through the context of the current situation.

4) It’s a real beast of a play but director Josie Rourke tames it with a revival that goes for swiftness, intimacy and clarity. All difficult things to achieve in a play that is epic in scale and sweep.

5) Tom Hiddleston, so brilliant in Betrayal last year, is very good too.

When he played Coriolanus in 2014 he had just been voted the world’s sexiest man. But, despite the shower scene, he’s definitely not just a pretty face. As Maxie Szalwinska wrote in the Sunday Times: “He is almost literally a golden boy: you'd swear the lighting doesn't bounce off him so much as radiate from his pores and designer stubble. Yet Hiddleston knows that, as Zsa Zsa Gabor once said, "Macho isn't mucho". He's possessed here of confidence and masculine grace without being a strutter, as well as such gobsmacking beauty that it's no surprise the plebeians gaze at him goggle-eyed, even as he insults them.”

6) Deborah Findlay is superb as the original tiger mother, Volumnia.

She is even more in love with violence than her son. “Anger’s my meat; I sup upon myself.” The Times described it as a performance of “brilliantly casual ball-breaking elegance,” and the Independent spoke of her as being like a proud mum bragging about her son’s wounds “as if they are school cups brought home to please her.”

7) None of the politicians get off lightly.

They are all dissembling devotees of double speak. It’s like Listening to Radio 4’s Today programme.

8) Mark Gatiss is excellent value for money and slyly funny as Menenius, Coriolanius’ old friend who is always trying to make things better and stop Coriolanus from taking the next step towards disaster.

9) It’s nice to see a theatre director and her production’s star not being too precious and recognizing that watching theatre on-line is a different experience than watching it with others in an auditorium and trying to bridge the gap.

Josie Rourke and Tom Hiddleston will be doing a Coriolanus Watchalong on Rourke’s Instagram on Thursday (June 4) for those who, as Rourke puts it, “to take Shakespeare’s tragedy a little less tragically.”

Josie Rourke. Photo by Chris McAndrew.

10) TS Eliot was a big fan, rating the play above Hamlet, and calling it “Shakespeare’s most assured artistic success.”

Mind you that is from a man who wrote one of the most tedious and unpleasant plays of the 20th century, The Cocktail Party.

You can watch Coriolanus here on Thu 4 Jun and it will be available for a week.

[twistedapple]

Bianca Bosconero - Snow White stayed in the wild

Biographical Information

Gender: Female

Age: Rude.

Birthday: November 1st (Scorpio)

Height: 158cm

Eye colour: Golden

Hair colour: Black

Homeland: Valley of Thorns

Family: Neve Bosconero (twin sister), unnamed parents

Professional Information

Dorm: Pomefiore

School Year: Second 

Class: 2A, Student no.5

Occupation: Student, Part-time worker (NRC’s library)

Club: Writing/School newspaper

Best Subject: History of Magic, Defensive Magic

Appearance

Petite but fit and light on her feet, Bianca moves gracefully and learned to look regal in most circumstances. If one were to solely judge by appearances, it’d be very obvious that she is in Pomefiore. Her natural beauty is amplified by the various contrasts between her snow white skin, hair dark as night, red lips and eyes like golden amber. Unsurprisingly, she learned to work around it all to enhance her features with the help of solid routines and a proper knowledge of makeup. As a personal rule, she favours styles that are simple and efficient, that create a line, a memorable silhouette. It is both reflected in a rather minimal makeup - smoked, deep brown and some eyeliner to intensify her cat eye look, some clever pin point correcting and a bit of red added to the lips - and her choice of outfits, especially in the way she wears her regular uniform. 

Her school uniform underwent modifications, either subtles - such as the higher collar of her dress shirt and the sharper waist line of the Pomefiore purple vest - or straight up individualised, with a skirt tailored to emulate Edwardian walking skirts with a shorter, more modern length right below the knees, but the ever present pleats in the back to give her silhouette an iconic S-shape (also achieved with the use of boby shaping underwears). Opaque black stockings held by garters, as well as black high heels in a fine suede leather to maintain a visual continuity, complete the overall tailored look, elegantly mixing a rather masculine top with a more feminine bottom for a sharp look. 

Her dorm uniform matches the standards, with long purple robes over a black adjusted outfit. However, she deemed the height of the boots over her ankle ill-fitting and managed to have them become thigh-high instead. There may or may not be regular bickerings about that.

Her PE uniform has a purple, long sleeved undershirt to protect as much skin as possible, as well as matching leggings under the school overall - which she wears with short sleeves and legs. With this outfit, she wears grey trainers with orange details and laces.

Her ears are pierced - she removes her earrings for PE class -, she has a beauty spot below the right eye and she uses a deep red nail polish on her carefully manicured nails - not too long, not too short, the ideal length for her slender hands without having her nails in the way on a daily basis. Her long hair is partially pulled up in a cleverly messy bun, with braids and golden ornaments to animate the updo. She keeps it in a simple braid for PE.

Personality

Bianca knows how to provide a good first impression and as such tends to be fairly laidback and willing to interact with her surroundings. Polite and pleasant, she enjoys having fun, be it with other people or at their expanses. This relaxed, go-with-the-flow type of behaviour makes it easy for her to fit with all sorts of people, and she’s probably that one person who’s more or less familiar with half the school, since she’s decent with people and excels at them. 

Perceptive and adaptable, she keeps going back and forth between an active behaviour and a more observant position. Her habit regarding people watching means she pays a great deal of attention between what is said and what is shown. With a detail-oriented nature, she tends to pick up on subtle cues and signs that quietly provide her informations regarding the persons she interacts with - whether they like it or not. Paradoxally, it puts her in a situation where people may be tempted to question her logic and wonder if she’s dense or whimsically clever. It’s especially visible in her not-so-equal results as a student: she may be clueless while facing simple tasks, while pulling a full mark off on delicate exercises, because she possesses an out-fo-the-box line of thinking that isn’t always suited for the conformism required by a school. This is because being perceptive is fine, but being interested matters just as much for her. If she’s not interested and/or doesn’t get the logic behind what’s presented to her, failure is more likely to happen. As such, despite her adaptability, she can also demonstrate a fickle, stubborn nature that’s not the easiest to handle. 

Independent and bold, she has a good head on her shoulders and is quick to take informed decisions. This behaviour is especially informed by certain events in her life, that forced her to grow up faster in order to move forward and deal with certains issues. As such, she’s a fast learner and demonstrate a level of wisdom and maturity that isn’t exactly common in a school full of teens. In consequence, her insight tends to be valued, especially since she tends to provide her opinion while considering as many angles to a problem and its solution as possible, thanks to her out-of-the-box type of thinking. She has the grace to provide her advices without giving a judgement - unless one abuses her patience and keep slamming a wall without considering her suggestions, in which case she’ll be prompt to tell that person what she personally thinks. This side of her personality has been feeding her Local Reliable Big Sister sort of reputation. 

However, while people tend to come to her to talk about their problems - and she’s not going to spill anything out -, she remains very secretive as far as her own life is concerned. The smallest handful of people knows what’s going on privately, and half of that handful if the NRC staff because certain events recently affected her to the point she had to put her school life between parenthesis for a time before coming back. Despite her pleasant, if quite fickle, personality, she tends to bottle a lot of things up and isn’t a fan of nosy people. She’s quick to catch up of these people, and even quicker to tell them to mind their own business. As far as she is concerned, she picks who she’s going to confide to, and that choice will be carefully informed. Nobody decides for her, not anymore.

Magic

Her Unique Magic is called Forest Queen. It allows her various levels of summonings on a “territory” she can expend up to a certain degree to make the summons appear. She can declare herself the territory (which she usually does because it’s the most economic method magic-wise) or make it as large as a magift stadium (though she’d only do that as a last resort for now, as it’s really taxing). In this territory, she can bring forth up to seven dreadful beasts - each having its own characteristics and appearance. Some can hide and strike before retreating to the shadows, others can straight up be wild, brutal beasts out for a hunt. When fully expanded, her territory takes the appearance of a dense primal forest where one could easily feel lost. 

She very rarely deploys her full strength because it’s dangerous for her and puts her at a very high risk of overblotting - however when it happens, don’t expect her to pull any punch. She will become as wild as her territory - revealing that side of herself she usually keeps in check to put people at ease.

Most of the time, she declares herself the territory and summons up to two beasts. Using the territory recently added new strange effects, as she improved her skills: it seems she’s become “closer” to her magic and gained a passive ghost-like presence, while the forest itself seems to act more and more like a locked space. It seems she still has some things to uncover in regard to Forest Queen.

Fun Facts

Dominant Hand: Ambidextrous (initially left-handed)

Favorite Food: Apple and cinnamon tart

Least Favorite Food: Anything greasy or overly sweet

Bad With: Authoritarians, noisy places, mathematics

Hobby: TTRPG, reading, people watching

Talents: Writing, singing

[paragonrobits]

when it comes to “okay how much of a grimdark edgelord who might write everyone as too terrible for you to care about them’ writers, and their handling of characters, Hulk is something of a mining canary.

Much like the canary that sickens or dies as it gets close to gas (and thus, its lack of health alerts people to the danger), you can tell a lot about writers in supposedly mature settings with how they handle Hulk.

For example, Mark Millar notoriously portrayed Hulk in the ultimate setting as some sort of bizarre combination of ultimate toxic masculinity and extreme callousness, often treating his horrific behavior as comedic; for example, he was a cannibal who routinely ate other people and it was often played for laughs (save in a brief Ultimate X-Men appearance), making disturbingly sexual threats to Betty Ross, with it being played off as Bruce’s repression finding a logiical opposite extreme.

Combined with the way he often bounced between hurting other people to feel better about himself, vaguely homophobic jokes about his masculinity, and the way he alternated between possessiveness of Betty Ross and pleading for her not to leave him alone, he comes off more as if Brian Banner was the Hulk instead of his son. But that’s another topic.

So that was the writers of the Ultimates for you; the same people behind the Authority, who wrote superpowered beings engaged in massive fights that routinely caused mass deaths without really caring too much about it, or even playing it off as jokes. They wrote Hulk as a vicious, cruel monster and self-absorbed bully. And the Ultimate setting, eventually, declined into a grimdark for the sake of grimdark setting obsessed with shock value kills, gory scenes, and unlikable characters.

Hulk is a monster. He is a brutish, ferocious creature of pure rage. If writers are allowed to show gore and violence, the impulse among the Millars of the writing world is to make him as horrible as possible, and that impulse will be reflected in their work, and thus they’re best avoided.

However, this is not authentic to Hulk; even when he’s in a writing situation where he is allowed to kill, competent writing does not normally have him do this. During a conspiracy-inspired storyline, with a fairly gritty writing tone and a theme of assassinations, the impetus for the story was that Hulk had supposedly killed someone, on accident. This was notable!

Al Ewing does this the best; Immortal Hulk is a horror story, with the Hulk returning to his roots as something out of a horror movie, but he himself is not a grotesque or violent being. Even the Devil Hulk, at his most gruesome, is a far cry from the nastiness of Ultimate Hulk; he shows genuine kindness under a veneer of leering frightfulness, and its emphasized that his willingness to kill is extremely atypical of most Hulks. (And even so, he still does hero stuff.)

Hulk is a character that seems tailor made for edgelord writers to remake into a cruel and vicious beast, so it can be a careful balancing act to make him a monster without making him genuinely out of character, but the point is that it’s valuable to study how writers actually handle him, since it makes for a useful test on how much they indulge their grimdark aesthetics.

[verobatto]

Destiel Chronicles

Vol. XLI

It was a love story from the very beginning.

I Want You Here

(9x02/9x03 2nd part/9x04/9x05)

Hello my friends! This is the second Destiel meta from season 9.

We are gonna talk about how Dean was worried about Castiel and he wanted him in the bunker ... Obviously we will talk about how their reunion was cocklblocked by Zeke (Gadreel).

I want to say thank you to my friend @agusvedder she made the gifs for this meta! Love ya girl!

Let's start...

Human!Cas and sex

In episode 9x03, Castiel ended at the street, frozen, under the rain and hungry.

That's when April appears, showing him kindness, she offered him a jelly and peanut butter sandwich. I know it has to be the most delicious food in the world for this hungry poor ex angel, and also the representation of human's kindness.

But Castiel was deceived by this woman/reaper.

She showed him good actions, she took are of his wounds... She even listened him...

He felt comfortable with her, because she made him believe in her. Castiel opened his heart and confessed why he had ended like this... He talked about vanity, now, after his fall, he understood a lot of things...

Sorry... I just... Was drooling a little over Misha's perfection....

I'm back now.

APRIL: Well, all patched up, but, God, your delts are in knots. You got to relax.

Yeah, bitch, any excuse is a good excuse to touch our beautiful angel, right? 😒

CASTIEL: Ah, it's all new to me. Hunger. Cold. This feeling, being all alone.

APRIL: You're not alone tonight.

Aaaand you know what happens next.

But let's just stop in Castiel's words... He was feeling alone, a very cold sensation he wasn't use to. He was always that self secure angel, not needing anyone to do anything. And now, feeling the most sad side of humanity, our miseries, he feels a lot of things... But one of them was LONELINESS. (I just can't forget season 14 when he recalls this and said to Jack HE WASN'T ALONE, HE HAD SAM, DEAN AND HIMSELF, I just love his improvement.)

He had sex with April, when she lied to him. And not just that, but she began to torture him and she even killed him. It was a horrendous violent act and Castiel was exposed to that.

Next scene was Dean and Sam arriving... But it was too late...

The despair in Dean's face is eloquent. He is desperate, his voice cracked, and he's touching Castiel's shoulder and face. His Express changes when he realizes Cas is dead.

But we know what happened next, Zeke/Gadreel saves Cas to win more confidence from Dean.

Now... Let's continue with the sex over here...

The burritos scene is a classic between Destiel shippers because it's sexual innuendo and Dean's blatant facial expressions. And we had jealous!Dean too.

This had been analyzed by a lot of meta writers, so I won't add any new, because it was obvious that when Castiel came out from the shower ...

A very horny Dean imagining his hot "buddy" enjoying the water falling over his well formed naked body, and there you have that face there. Just for our inquisitive and attentive eyes... Why the camera would focus Dean and not Sam after the shower line? Because Dean is affected by that... And that's why we got that quote from the hunter, suggestively bitting the burrito (may a say a dick mirror? 🤣🤣) "It ain't all just burritos and burritos, my friend," like... There's dicks too, may I show you?

Dean feels more free to make this kind of approaches to Castiel, because he knows the boundary that was there separating them for being more, is gone now. Cas wasn't an angel anymore. And maybe Dean could teach him some about sex life.

Then, the scene switched to jealous!Dean when Castiel mentioned April.

Look at this, a very classic, we love this, that's why I will talk about it, even if you readed a lot of references... We are Destiel trash and we love it...

Watch... Cas says he had sex, Sam and Dean are surprised, but both of them reacts differently. Sam grimaced an UH! And immediately drifts his eyes to his brother, why? Because he wants to caught his brother's reaction, why?, Because he suspects his brother feels something more than just friendship for Castiel.

And Dean chocking with that burrito, hilarious, his serious and jealous face is fantastic, like if he was scolding Castiel for that, he even points at him "You had sex with April?" Is like YOU CHEATED ON ME?

Just for a few seconds, because, is good, is good for Castiel. He isn't a Virgen anymore... So he had tasted having sex like any human? That's a good thing!

Dean is proud and happy to have Cas there. Happy because maybe he will have an opportunity with Human!Cas who already had had sex with another human. Like... Possibilities are huge!

Obviously we had Zeke/Gadreel cockblocking the possibilities.

Not comfortable with the L word and ...

Let's jump a little to episode 9x02, at the beginning, Dean and Sam were talking about Cas, they were waiting still for him to arrive, Dean tried to show himself cool, saying Cas was a big guy.

But when the episode keeps going, we ha d a very important encounter between Dean and Abaddon. The dialogue was a foreshadow of Demon!Dean plot.

Abaddon wanted Dean's body to use it like meat suit.

She even asked...

ABADDON: It can get worse. Trust me. 'Cause once I'm on top, I'll make you watch. And I'll use your body. Have you ever felt an infant's blood drip down your chin? Or listened to a girl scream as you rip her guts out? Because you will. It's you and me, lover. We'll have a grand old time.

The infant blood just recalled to when Dean, with Cain's mark, killed the boy from the Steins family in the bunker.

But after this, we had Zeke/Gadreel saving the day, and this dialogue between them...

Dean is uncomfortable with the use of LOVE word. Maybe bc he isn't used to talk about it, or feel it. Or because his toxic masculinity, doesn't leave him to talk about it. So is a uncomfortable word, and it shows in his face.

In 9x04, after Dean kicked out Cas from the bunker, I will talk about this later (no, I didn't forget 🤣), Sam was confused about that fact, and the brother had a tiny conversation over it... And Dean said this important lines...

HE WANTS CASTIEL IN THE BUNKER WITH HIM, MORE THAN ANYONE, MORE THAN SAM OBVIOUSLY, BECAUSE SAM AND CAS ARE JUST FRIENDS, BUT FOR DEAN, CASTIEL IS MORE THAN FAMILY, HE IS IN LOVE WITH CAS AND HE IS DISAPPOINTED AND SAS BECAUSE HE CAN'T HAVE HIM THERE, WITH HIM. And because he had wished to be more than friends, maybe physically, now than they didn't have any attachments or restrictions to do that.

Later, on the same episode, we will see Charlie and Dean in his room, and Charlie noticing this...

Okay, this is very exppsitional for Bi!Dean over here... Because Charlie (as always) is pointing that he has that collection of boobs but... He... Like... This isn't the real you.

And Dean says... Don't judge me.

Perfect my friends... I loved it.

And because Dean is still in the closet, as we saw with Charlie and the whole toxic masculinity, in 9x05 Dog Dean Afternoon, we had this piece of dialogue from the one talking dog, the Yorkie.

YORKIE: Ohh, a – a cowboy hat, leather pants. The dude's a total closet case.

Okay this reference is applicable to Dean too! Even in that freaking episode... We had a couple of things...

The Sad Destiel Scene

Okay, before ending this meta, I want to talk briefly about Dean kicking out Castiel from the bunker, because to me, it was a manipulation from Zeke, but it was a tool to keep Cas and Dean separated and create a little fight an resentment between them... Because the drama and everything... 😒

But we'll the scene is very sad, because CAS even made it word saying this...

My sweet little ex-angel there... He even pull back a chair for Dean... He likes to talk with Dean... He's such a cute and sweet and educated little ... Awwwww but he didn't know his heart was about to be ripped apart.

Look at his face!!!!!!!!!! Was Dean breaking his heart or what? Damn...

Okay... Circular narrative in which in season 8 Dean was in one sided love and Cas broke his heart, now in season 9 is in reverse. Castiel aknowledged by now his feelings, so I suspect he recognized his attraction to Dean was love. But... Now... Dean is kicking him off from the bunker... Without a good reason... Lying to him.

Can I die here... I won't bother you...

More Demon!Dean foreshadow (Miscellaneous)

I just wanted to out here two things I noticed...

In episode 9x04 we had a two man of letters from the past. They were partners and they were Sam and Dean mirror. One of them under the witch's powerful spell, tried to kill to Sam's mirror, and this was a foreshadow for Demon!Dean plot again, that time when he was trying to kill Sam in the bunker too.

Another little detail was what the monster said in episode 9x05 when he was fighting with Dean.

CHEF LEO: Well, I didn't mean to kill anyone – at first. But if people got in my way, they became collateral damage. Guess you eat enough predators, you start to become one. You are what you eat, right? [laughs]

This is a reference to Dean future transformation into a monster (with Cain's mark on him) and later into a Demon. The hunter that becomes what he hunts.

To Conclude:

Castiel's innocence and despair leads him to April, the reaper that deceives him by taking advantage of his human situation.

Dean wanted Cas to be with him in the bunker because he knew Human Cas and him could have maybe an opportunity to develop something more than just friendship.

Toxic Masculinity in Dean is manifested through a lot of piece of dialogues, showing us how hard will be for him to defeat that... Persisting till now... I hope not for too long. I guess episode 15x07 was very important to show us that toxicity is ending, and the whole Healing!Dean plot in season 14.

There were too some foreshadows for Demon!Dean and Cain's mark.

I hope you enjoy this one, see you in the next Chronicles!

Tagging @metafest @magnificent-winged-beast @emblue-sparks @weirddorkylittlediana @michyribeiro @whyjm @legendary-destiel @a-bit-of-influence @thatwitchydestielfan @misha-moose-dean-burger-lover @lykanyouko @evvvissticante @savannadarkbaby @trickster-archangel @dea-stiel @poorreputation @bre95611 @thewolfathedoor @charlottemanchmal @neii3n @deathswaywardson @followyourenergy @dean-is-bi-till-i-die @hekatelilith-blog @avidbkwrm @anarchiana @mishka-the-angel-of-saturday @dickpuncher365 @vampyrosa @foxyroxe-art @authorsararayne @anonymoustitans @mybonsai1976 @love-neve-dies @wildligia @dustythewind @wayward-winchester67 @angelwithashotgunandtrenchcoat @trashblackrainbow @deeutdutdutdoh @destiel-is--endgame @destiel-shipper-11 @larrem88 @charmedbycastiel @ran-savant @little-crazy-misha-minion @samoosetheshipper

@shadows-and-padlocked-hearts @mishtho @dancingtuesdaymorning @nerditoutwithbooks @mikennacac73 @justmeand-myinsight @idontwantpeopletoknowmyname @tenshilover20 @teddybeardoctor @pepevons @helevetica

If you want to be tagged, just let me know

If you want to read the previous volume from season 9, here is the link.

Buenos Aires December 11st 2019 4:59 PM

[balioc]

This article is Bad Analysis on the “not even really worth engagement” level, but I’m spiritually obligated to address this topic -- Metanarrative Analysis of A-Woman-Is-Romantically-Drawn-to-the-Monster Stories -- whenever it comes up. 

So, in brief:

1.

But that’s exactly what happens in Beauty and the Beast and all the other monster love stories. The woman is drawn to the man’s raw sexual energy and, in loving him, allows him to harness that energy to become someone worthy of her love. She takes the “enormous risk” of loving the beast and the beast becomes a man. It turns out it was a risk worth taking. 

Look, I don’t know whether you’ve ever read Phantom of the Opera, which you yourself cite.  Or Dracula, for that matter.  If you haven’t, you shouldn’t be writing this essay -- they’re absolute bedrock foundational entries in the genre.  And if you have, you know perfectly well that falling for the monster’s charms is definitely not always “a risk worth taking.” There is a fundamental dynamic to be explored here, and it ain’t that one. 

(Usually I have to direct this critique at soppy trendy leftist folk, who take it as a given that the Beast is always a cuddly squishy lovable woke-as-you-could-ask-for bae who’s just misunderstood by mean patriarchal Gaston.  But, jeez, your take manages to screw this up in precisely the same way while coming from the other direction.)

2.

The pure masculine vitality that Fallon thinks is pushing women away from men is exactly what the monster’s monstrousness represents — and that is what draws the woman to him, even in his ugliness. 

Again: have you actually read Phantom?  Because Erik is an emaciated opera geek who dreams tremblingly of getting to hold a girl’s hand in the park.  We are not talking about an avatar of machismo here.  And, well, uh, you were the one who brought in Twilight.  There are versions of this story where the Beast’s monstrous attributes can in fact be read as a sort of hyper-manliness, but it’s far from universal -- and whether or not that’s the Beast’s shtick, the narrative has pretty much the same kind of power.  You’re really, really missing the point here. 

(Hint: the point involves the monster's unshakeable devotion being underscored by the fact of his being too broken, too scary, for anyone else to be able to love and accept him the way that you can.) 

3.

The really sad thing is that The Shape of Water, in particular, provides some really interesting insight into the kind of cultural argument that you’re making here.  And it sailed straight over your head. 

See, The Shape of Water is actually different from all those other Beauty and the Beast stories you cite, in an important way.  And, because of that, it’s vastly worse as a Beauty and the Beast retelling -- and as a narrative, in the general sense -- than any of those other stories.

“Pure masculine vitality” is missing the mark by a lot, but it’s very true that the monster’s allure is always tightly bound up in his being dangerous.  Most of the time this is directly coded as “sexually dangerous” in one way or another -- whether that’s Dracula’s exploitative charm, the Beast’s barely-contained animal passion, or Phantom’s edgelordy pedestalizing obsession.  All of this is underscored by the monster having loads and loads of bizarre memorable charismatic personality, so much so that the entire work is suffused with it. 

The Shape of Water doesn’t do that.  The merman is totally powerless for almost the entirety of the story; he proves himself capable of defensive violence right at the very end, but mostly we see him being carted from one captive situation to another, being abused or coddled depending on who his captors are.  There’s no danger to him, at all.  And he’s silent.  Or “silenced,” if you prefer, in the way that damsels-in-distress and plaything-women were in certain films of an older style.  Not just symbolically / diagetically silenced the way that the mute heroine is -- he can’t communicate in a way that the audience can understand, he has less verbal power than Koko the gorilla and none of the simian facial resonance, and as a consequence he’s less of a personality than something like King Kong. 

Why?  You’d really want to do a full-bore exegesis on the film to answer that question, but I’m happy to take a tentative stab: it’s partly because del Toro’s “the monsters are the real woobies” themes are getting out of control, and partly because the movie is actually trying to be a woke version of Beauty and the Beast for a woke age.  It makes the high-status audiences feel real icky now when you conflate “this guy is alluring” with “this guy is sexually dangerous,” so instead the merman is presented as a perfect oppressed ally boyfriend: martyred and tortured by a cruel system for reasons that impute no impurity or guilt to him whatsoever, perfectly sensitive and perfectly yielding to female desire, perfectly incapable of screwing up your narrative with any male bullshit. 

(There’s a counterpoint to this with the non-monster dudes.  Normie men often don’t come off super great in Beauty and the Beast stories, it’s true, Gaston is not admirable by any means and Raoul is kind of a putz, but...The Shape of Water takes it to dizzying new heights.  Every single human male character who has any visible interest in women turns out to be horrible and disgusting.  The villain is a remarkable every-bad-thing-about-patriarchy-jammed-into-one-man pastiche -- he’s a prudish inquisitor and a sleazy womanizer, he’s a violent loose cannon and a heartless enforcer for the Man, on and on and on.  Non-awful men include the gay neighbor and a scientist whose presentation is totally asexual.   HuffPo is right, at least when it comes to this movie: “straight men are the worst, ditch them and go for a weird monster instead” is a totally viable reading of the message here.)  

And it doesn’t work.  At all.  The relationship is a total flop, and it kind of kills the whole story.  The Shape of Water has excellent cinematography and excellent acting and it deserves all the positive critical attention it got, but it’s inescapably flawed, because at heart it’s supposed to be a Beauty and the Beast romance and no one really gives a shit about Beast. 

For years now, feminist literary critics have been making the point that you can’t have a compelling love story where the woman is a total cypher.  And they’re right about that.  This is the part where people like you are supposed to come in and show why it is that you can’t have a compelling love story where the man is a total cypher either, no matter how ideologically convenient that would be. 

Christ.  Get it together. 

[dimples-of-discontent]

Reporting in from Paleyfest

I have returned from Paleyfest (and some drinks with friends afterwards so sorry for the delay)! It was a great experience - the crowd was psyched and it was all super fun. I’m glad you all got the livestream so you can enjoy the whole panel too. I’m actually pretty surprised that there wasn’t some kind of announcement made, either about possible Season 14 (although Singer alluded to it with “maybe we’ll go there next season” it’s not a confirmation and he could just be assuming) or about Wayward. It seemed like with this much PR going on there would be something substantial to promote BUT the crossover ep itself is a big deal and a long time in the making so I guess it was the occasion.

Speaking of the crossover episode, I’m going to break the rules (or the very polite request that they gave us) to not spoil it for anyone else. @tinkdw asked me to and I’m guessing there are other people out there who’d like to know some the details in advance. (I’m also not a member of the press or anything or else I’d have more qualms about making public stuff they asked to keep on the DL since it would be job-related.)

SO - I am putting my thoughts on the episode below a cut. If you read on, know that I will spoil the whole plot and also give you my initial analysis of it from the perspective I usually have (Destiel-positive, endgame-positive). And if you’d rather not spoil, just scroll on.

@elizabethrobertajones @naruhearts @sactownbrowns3 @amwritingmeta @postmodernmulticoloredcloak @mittensmorgul @amyoatmeal and any other meta writers (who I forgot b/c it’s 4:30am to my body clock) I’m alerting you to the existence of this post in case you want the episode details ahead of time BUT in your position I probably wouldn’t so don’t feel in any way bad if you don’t want to read now. (I’ll reblog once it airs.)

***SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT LIKE WOAH***

I loved this episode!! It was a ton of fun. It was slapstick and silly but did some heavy lifting too. Honestly, it worked the way a lot of our favorite crack episodes did and alluded to at least one of them explicitly (”Changing Channels,” obvs, and I think there may have been more subtle references to others). 

I’m too tired to do a full meta analysis but here’s a kind of bullet recap, first of the most plot-based elements:

The plot turns on the fact that the Scooby Doo world, suddenly, ends up functioning like the world Sam and Dean inhabit. The boys enter the cartoon assuming all usual cartoon rules would apply (and Dean’s ready to have a rollicking good time with them) only to discover that the first murder in the haunted house is real. Ghosts are real. Death is real. Sam wants to tell the Scooby gang about it from the get-go but Dean wants to protect them and preserve their innocence. 

It’s already obviously about childhood, and losing it, but Dean makes it explicit by talking about how much he loved Scooby Doo because no matter where their dad had dragged them it would always be on. They were his friends and constant companions. He is really being thrown into the best part of his childhood....and you can see why it would be the best because it’s probably his fantasy and deepest wish that the ghosts, demons, etc. of the world he inhabits would turn out just to be bad guys in masks, death wouldn’t be real, etc. It’s Dean safe place in childhood because it takes his actual life (ghost hunting) and makes it safe and even fun. Dean wants to keep his safe place safe and is shocked and horrified when the rules of his universe invade.

It’s Sam who wants to tell them the truth about monsters from the word “go” even before it’s been revealed that death can come to Scooby Doo. (Dean laments, heartbreakingly, that it doesn’t matter if he dies...what’s important is that they make sure Scooby doesn’t die because clearly he’s such an innocent creature.) Sam, who did not have his childhood cut as abruptly short as Dean and who did not have to seek solace in a cartoon world because Dean helped him make a safe space in the real world, doesn’t see the point of lying about ghosts being real. Dean, who worked to keep Sam safe from this knowledge for YEARS of his own stunted childhood by acting as a parent, does want to keep the gang in the dark because he wants them to retain their innocence. It’s a huge lampshade to the different experiences Sam and Dean had as children and as sons.

They do eventually have to tell the Scooby gang and, wonderfully, it induces an existential crisis in them. Watching Daphne question the existence of God based on what she has inferred about the afterlife is amazing. It is not what I expected. Dean brings them back from the brink by reminding them of all the good work they had done before.

I’m going to tell the ending now and then double back to some other observations: the phantom they are chasing is the ghost of a small boy who is being manipulated, through a cursed object (a pocket knife given to him by his beloved father before he died), by an unscrupulous man (the real estate agent who we met in the beginning) who unleashes the boy’s anger on whoever he chooses for his own purpose...to scare people off of property he wants to buy. This way, the villain of a typical Scooby episode actually becomes the villain of this SPN episode...the evil real estate developer. 

Before heading back to their world, where they burn the pocket knife and free the ghost, Dean convinces Sam and Cas to lie to the Scooby gang and tell them that they were right initially--ghosts aren’t real. He goes so far as to stage the unmasking of the cartoon villain (the one from the original Scooby episode) and helps them to explanations involving wires, cornstarch blood, etc. Sam is grumpy about it but does it anyway. It’s crucial to Dean that they leave the Scooby gang as they found them and not saddle them with the world the Winchesters live in.

Let me just reiterate...the ghost that has been terrorizing them is frightened little boy. Who kept a pocket knife (much like the one we see being used to carve the Winchester’s initials into the Impala) as a token of his dead father. His father is symbolized and memorialized by a weapon. The weapon is the object the little boy is tied to and that another man--a bad man--can use to manipulate him into hurting others because “I just get so angry sometimes.” To be free, the knife (weapon, father’s legacy) has to be burned. There are closeups on a very sad Dean while this happens (some sad Sam and Cas too).

It is blindingly obvious that the little boy, who is wreaking havoc on the cartoon safe space of his childhood, represents Dean. To stop the destruction Dean has to let something go (he starts the episode referencing Elsa and EXPLICITLY SAYING THIS LINE I CAN’T EVEN). Something that is keeping him angry. Something that is tied to his father. Something that can be used to manipulate him, employed as a weapon to hurt other innocent people (Mark of Cain/Demon Dean plot lines). Dean is full of anger and of self-loathing and it’s coming from the same source. That source is toxic masculinity. Let it go, Dean. Let it go.

Is it also tied to issues of sexuality? I think so. I’ll reflect a little bit below, but I wanted to do the whole plot-based analysis first. 

And now the less plot-based stuff:

Ok, so can the ghost represent repressed sexuality/a different form of masculinity? SO MUCH YES. Point one: Cas is the only one who stops to take a look at the ghost and is thisclose to seeing through it’s big ol’scary disguise and finding a vulnerable child. He stops and squints at it, Cas-style, and says “I’ve never seen a ghost wear such a ridiculous costume. Unless...” and then he reaches out to it, starting to push aside the veil only to be pulled away. Now if that isn’t metaphorically precisely what Cas did, and does, for Dean and his performing facade I will buy a hat so that I can eat it. 

Point two, there is a scene where the ghost is chasing everyone through a series of doors on either side of a hallway (you know the scene...they run across the hallway, doors open and shut on either side, feet flying everywhere). They successfully shut the ghost in a closet with iron chains, though it’s close to breaking out. Daphne presses her body up against the door to hold it. Dean checks her out very obviously in a way that is both superfluous to and inconsistent with the plot. This means that the silhouette of a conventionally sexy woman is QUITE LITERALLY holding the closet door closed on the ghost. Metaphorically, it shows how Dean is able to use his attraction to conventionally sexy women to hold back what’s haunting him...attraction to men, ideas about a certain type of masculinity. Does it work? BIG FAT NO. The ghost breaks out anyway. (<Puts on professor cap> Have you guys read “The Beast in the Closet”? It’s by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick and is about "intense male homosocial desire as at once the most compulsory and the most prohibited of social bonds.” It’s about Henry James’s work but I think you would all dig it. <Takes off professor cap.>)

I wanted to start with that because I can tell that people are going to be very upset about Dean’s excessive flirtation with/pursuit of Daphne. And, yeah, I almost injured my eyes by rolling them so hard at some of the things he says. BUT THAT’S THE POINT. What he’s saying is a child’s idea of how a grown man would act with a woman he likes. And it bears a great deal of similarity to how Dean does act sometimes. We call it performing!Dean and wonder to what extent Dean is conscious of his performing. Given this episode I’d say..maybe .not that conscious? I feel like the overstated heterosexual dudebroness was done specifically to give us an over-exaggerated literal cartoon version of heterosexual Dean to compare to regular Dean so that anyone who doesn’t know Dean performs in his own life will have a lens through which to see it.

Also, Daphne is his childhood crush. OF COURSE he’s going to act like a moron around her. If I encountered [insert childhood TV crush here...for me it was Kevin from “The Wonder Years” for whatever reason] I’d act dumb as fuck! But you have to remember that she represents innocence for him...it’s established that all the Scoobies do (heh - puns!). Even if he’s kissing her hand or putting an arm around her or whatever there is no danger there, just like there’s no danger in the ghosts. Sexuality to Dean isn’t scary in Scooby Doo because it’s simple: it’s just a girl he likes. Except, just like how the ghosts are also dangerous, the love plot isn’t going to be that simple or that straightforward (heh - straight). You see where I’m going. Dean would rather be in a universe ghosts weren’t real because it’s safer and easier and kind of a fantasy land but they ARE real and he will have to deal with them; Dean would also rather be in a world where he was a suave, irresistible ladies’ man because it’s safer and easier and a kind of fantasy....but he’s not. Jensen even said so in his interview. Granted, Jensen’s comment may have just meant that Dean’s not suave like he thinks. But the actual episode draws a parallel that’s pretty damn clear.

Another reason to not worry: Daphne is zero interest in Dean at all. She has negative interest in Dean. Her lack of interest in Dean has created a void that is sucking all the air out of the room. She may not even know that Dean is hitting on her. She is so focused on Fred that no one else exists for her as a romantic interest. They are so obviously a pair, even though they are never shown to be together as a couple explicitly. <Stares directly into the camera like I’m on The Office.> Can Dean not see that? Is he blind? Well, he does see it, but he thinks Daphne is “settling” for Fred who represents a kind of masculinity that makes him uncomfortable (more in a sec). In point of fact, no one is romantically interested in Dean in this episode...unlike Sam who gets a lot of appreciation (and an eventual kiss) from Velma.

 As for Fred, Dean begins by really hating him (so much that Sam remarks on it) and when pressed about why he attributes it to Fred’s self-confidence despite things like his “stupid ascot.” Dean comes to like and admire Fred and, ultimately, have the confidence to wear an ascot himself BECAUSE HE LIKES IT. It didn’t make Fred less of a man. It doesn’t make Dean less of a man to wear it with his plaid shirt. Fred helps Dean along the way to some self-acceptance. It’s nice. Fred is there to serve as a contrast to Dean’s overblown notions of what is “masculine” and offer another form of masculinity that is, manifestly, still appealing to the ladies.

Now, remember the Scooby Doo universe doesn’t have sex in it. It’s a cartoon. And they bend those rules only the tiniest bit here. All of Dean’s advances and even his jokes are PG. That innocence on the part of the Scoobies is played for laughs, Daphne remarking that Dean is silly for not knowing that “boys and girls don’t sleep in the same room” for example, but it’s also integral to the plot. (There are some other jokes too and, for a glorious second, I thought that they were legitimately going to reveal that Daphne and Velma were a thing but sadly not.) No one would want to ruin the Scooby universe by telling them about sex...not even Dean. Again, it contains a child’s conception of relationships.

I’m imagining some people will also be upset about how the episode treats Cas. I was especially stung that, right at the outset, Dean says flat-out that “Cas is basically a talking dog.” I made a noise of indignation that made people look at me. BUT let’s also remember how much Dean loves that talking dog. He’d die for him. He wants to protect him at any cost. He doesn’t want to spoil his innocence. So, yeah, that’s not a nice thing to say but it’s also not the whole story. Cas is grouped with Scooby and Shaggy the whole time and he bonds with them, SMILING (ALERT ALERT CARTOON CASTIEL KNOWS HOW TO SMILE) AND LAUGHING when he has to leave. He thanks them for showing him the importance of humor even in dangerous times. I think it’s a good lesson for Cas and his real affection for them reminds me of what a soft character he is inside, wanting to get a cat or save monkeys or keep bees. That’s been missing from Cas lately (even though I do LOVE bamf!Cas) so maybe this will help him recall it.

I want to say again that Cas is the one who can see through the ghost and its “ridiculous costume.”

Interestingly, both his entrances (his first appearance after Fred and Dean take off to drag race; when he reunites with the boys in the haunted house) frame him as a scary villain. The first is from behind and you just see the coat billowing out (though this did remind me of the girl running the drag race in “Grease” which...lol); the second he’s silhouetted in a window, approaching it in the rain, and is then covered with a sheet before he’s “unmasked” by Dean and discovered to be a friend. This is...pretty much Castiel’s character progression always. Looks like a threat but is discovered not to be.

Once they get back to their regular world Dean makes a remark about how that was the most fun he’s ever had “including that time with the Cartwright twins.” Cas studies him and asks “What did you do with the Cartwright twins?”. There’s a long beat in which Dean looks shifty and grins and shakes his head and turns away. Sam says “I don’t think I want to know.” Cas says nothing. Cas does want to know. This is new and part of a general progression that @amwritingmeta wrote a great analysis of where Cas is becoming able to think something like Forget that sacred oath...I must know what Dean did with those twins.

There was probably more, you guys, but it’s super late for my poor body clock. Please feel free to pass this on to anyone you think would like it but bear in mind that a) there are MASSIVE SPOILERS, b) this is just my interpretation of the episode, and c) I only saw it live once so my details may be wrong. 

I thought this as a fantastic episode the more I think about it and I’m SO EXCITED for all of you to get to see it too so I can hear your thoughts!! <3

[wewerepromisedsomuch]

Live Review: IDLES @ O2 Institute

Artist: IDLES

Venue:  o2 Institute, Birmingham, UK

Date: 26th October 2018

Rating: 9.0/10

Right now, is there a more important, vital and necessary band than IDLES? Simple answer: no. IDLES are the antidote to the dissatisfaction of modern life; they call out toxic masculinity, they speak out about the fear of being vulnerable and the ability to embrace flaws, they’re pro-immigration and of course, they sound fucking immense. Their own brand of twisted post-punk is equal parts violent as it is joyous; this is a unit that make one hell of a racket, not just for the sake of it but because it provokes attention and when they have your attention, it’s their message of positivity that romances you. Having kicked off their world tour in Tokyo and then throughout the USA, it’s time for the Bristol-based band to take second album ‘Joy as an Act of Resistance’ to the UK masses.  We join the five piece in Birmingham for a night of beautiful chaos framed by joyful caustic noise.

With an album opener like ‘Colossus’, IDLES would be daft not to kick off their set with it and luckily for us, the quintet are no mugs as the sprawling, cinematic curtain raiser duly announces the band to the Institute’s stage. Teased out as a lumbering, droning beast, with singer Joe Talbot menacingly perched at almost touching distance from his band’s baying masses. As the track’s crescendo gathers more pace, the jittering first half of the crowd begin to collide, forming the first of many mosh pits that’ll be seen throughout tonight’s gig. The pensive drop into silence only fuels the fire just before the band explode, full-tilt into ‘Colossus’s raging, fired up punk final third. With ‘Colossus’ laying waste to the Institute, ‘Never Fight a Man With a Perm’ comes charging in with a devastating left hook – as it does on ‘Joy as an Act of Resistance’. And with this punishing opening one-two combo the scene is set for a night of screamed singalongs, crowd surfing and scenes of all out bedlam.

The theme of unity and positivity ripple throughout IDLES’ Birmingham gig; there’s the celebration of immigration via the uplifting ‘Danny Nedelko’ (which sees the man himself appear on stage with Talbot) – there’s something to be said when thousands of people are joined in perfect union and holler the words “he’s made of bones/he’s made of blood/he’s made of flesh/he’s made of love/he’s made of you/he’s made of me/UNITY!”. ‘Samaritans’ follows suit, a song birthed to destroy ‘man-up’ culture; you can sense catharsis in the air as the collective hordes help denounce macho-bullshit behaviour. ‘Great’ despite being about BREXIT (the biggest fuck up in modern day UK politics), is strangely positive, as if to say, we’re all in this together – we’d better make the best of a truly shit situation. ‘Exeter’s mangled ode to a dead-end town culminates with a full-blown stage invasion, with two lucky gig goers finding themselves on guitar duties, as guitarists Mark Bowen and Lee Kiernan abandon their instruments and the stage to get up close and personal with the throng down front. ‘Divide and Conquer’s serrated assault is dedicated to the NHS, while set closer ‘Rottweiler’ is announced as a stab against the UK’s gutter press “don’t read The Sun, it’ll give you cancer” declares Talbot. Older cuts from debut LP ‘Brutalism’ sound as visceral as ever with ‘Heel/Heal’ prowling like a snarling animal and of course, ‘Well Done’ is greeted like an old friend. The likes of ‘Mother’ and ‘1049 Gotho’ grind and whir with a mechanical menace that instigates further singalongs and more scenes of jubilant bedlam.

In a time of turgid facsimile music, fake news and socio-political instability, we need a band like IDLES more than ever. Do yourself a favour, get yourself to an IDLES show; it’s a life affirming and a life changing experience. All Is Love.

Photography by Naomi Abbs-Williams

[real-life-pine-tree]

Leo Will Never Know: Stranded and Separated (9/?)

In an alternate timeline, Yugi indirectly prevented the events of Arc-V from ever happening. But how could this small change have an impact on a few selected people? A spin-off of the Arc-V Aftermath series. Based on the hilarious comic by @justanotherotakuandartist​​​​. Co-written with @violetganache42​​​​​.

Suddenly, a familiar face ran in. "Adrien?" Jesse asked. "What are you doin' here?"

"I'll explain later," Adrien replied. "Someone's coming in this direction!"

“What?” Jesse responded out of surprise.

Outside the Academy, Jesse and Adrian, along with Jaden, Alexis, Chazz, Syrus, Hassleberry, Jim, Crowler, and Bonaparte were all standing near the tan upper edge of the entrance to get a better view. They all reacted on who the person could be, but the students knew they have to help them whoever they are.

“Who is that?” Bonaparte asked as Jim, Adrian, Jesse, and Jaden all ran towards to the person’s location.

“Maybe it’s maintenance,” Crowler answered.

Off in the distance, their appearance became a bit more noticeable as they paced closer to Duel Academy. Sure enough, they were actually a “he” because of his teenage and masculine figure, but he looked like he had seen better days. His gray hair has gotten longer and reached past his shoulders and even sported spiky bangs messily sectioned off enough for his eyes to see. His face developed a five o’clock shadow and was scratched up on his cheeks, nose, and chin. He had a long, tattered, sandy-colored cloak over his shoulders, which was as long as his attire, consisting of a long-sleeved, green turtleneck shirt with torn cuffs of his sleeves, grayish-brown pants with rips and tears on each leg, desaturated yellow shoes, and goggles with orange lenses around his neck. With a twisted wooden cane in his hand for support, he stopped walking and gasped to see a sight he never thought he would see again.

“Duel Academy,” he muttered before waving his hands in the air to signal attention. “Anyone? Can you see me? I’m over here! I made it back!” Before he could continue, his eyes caught something flying against the direction he was heading. “Uh, oh. No! What are you? Where did you come from?”

Immediately after finishing his question, a Harpie Lady charged down and soared back up, knocking the teen off his feet as he yelled. She then turned around and aimed right back at her pray, who was worried that he was going to meet his unfortunate fate until…

“Get down!” Adrian yelled out as he pushed the teen to the ground to avoid getting hit. However, Harpie Lady’s claws on her feet penetrated Adrian’s clothes and dug into a few layers of his skin, leaving behind six scratches that could start bleeding at any second. He let out a pained shout as both teenage boys rolled on the sandy dunes before coming to a stop.

“That was quite the acrobatic maneuver,” Jim stated after he and Jesse met up with the two. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Adrian responded. “Just a minor flesh wound.”

Not satisfied with what she just did, Harpie Lady chuckled as she swerved back around to where the four were all grouped, believing that four preys would be better than just one.

“She’s comin’ back for seconds!” Jesse exclaimed. Once the remaining student caught up, he ran up in front of them, activated his Duel Disk, placed his deck into a compartment, and drew the top card. “I summon Sapphire Pegasus!” Rays of light shimmered from the image as a sapphire gem materialized into the dimension from a sparkling blue glow, which then bursted into tiny shards to reveal Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus. With his Main Phase complete, Jesse declared, “Take her down.”

“Okey doke,” Sapphire Pegasus acknowledged with a nod. He flew up to where Harpie Lady was and began his attack. “Try sticking your claws into this, you bird brain!” he shouted as he moved his head to use his sapphire blue horn as a sword to get her away. She flew farther away from him and was now higher above the ground, but her stone-cold gaze from her green irises was still locked onto the sand and a chuckle was heard from her devious smirk. She raised her left arm and moving kaleidoscopic images of her head faded in from behind her.

At that moment, Ray had rushed over as well. "Jesse, I told you I'll handle the minor threats!" she repeated as she activated her Duel Disk. "I'll handle the Harpie Lady my-"

Suddenly, a flash of golden light appeared on Harpie Lady, causing two more Harpie Ladies to materialize next to her. Ray gulped as she started looking through her deck.

"Still think you can take them down?" Jesse asked.

"O-Of course I can!" Ray stubbornly insisted. "You need to rest for bigger threats!"

"I hate to interrupt, but what's all this about?" Bastion questioned.

At that moment, Ray had an idea. "Bastion, do you still have your decks?" she asked.

"Of course," Bastion answered. "How else could I have survived being in this realm for so long?"

"Then get one of them out and give me some backup," Ray replied. "I hope you have a deck that can counter these Harpies."

"Very well," Bastion agreed. "I suppose now might be a good time to test out my new prototype Flamvell cards."

Prototype? Was that what he has been perfecting on ever since he started working with Dr. Eisenstein? Ray wondered what this Flamvell archetype is and Bastion explained it is going to mark the next chapter of Duel Monsters history; because it is not finalized, he added that there will be great changes to it in the near future after demonstrating it and tackling this major predicament they are all currently in.

Jaden noted on how Bastion needs to put the Flamvells into use because Harpie Lady is not done with her assault. Jesse agreed and for a good reason; although he has been listening to what the prototype is, he has also been getting a better understanding of what this dimension is. After watching Harpie Lady bring out two more of her, he realized not only can Duel Monsters and Spirits can come to life, but Spells and maybe even Traps can be utilized as well. It would explain why they’re now facing off against the Harpie Lady Sisters because she had just used Elegant Egotist to special summon them. What’s worse is the appearance of a golden yellow beam of light that rained down on them and equipping them with yellow plates of armor on their bodies. Once the light beam vanished, Harpie Lady and her two sisters all hovered above the group of Duelists as their ATK raised from 1950 to 2450. Jesse instantly recognized it as Cyber Shield and concluded that all the rules of the Duel Monsters card game applies to this dimension, and with their opponents using it to their advantage, they’re now stronger than Sapphire Pegasus.

The three Harpies all dashed to Sapphire Pegasus’ location and used their claws to slash and scratch him in all directions. Jesse yelled out his monster’s name out of concerned as he was forced to watch him easily getting overwhelmed. Rising back up in the air, the Harpie Lady Sisters all chuckled and finished their attack on their prey, using a total of three slashes to send him ricocheting to the ground. Bastion witnessed everything unfolding before his eyes and complied with Jaden about how he has to act fast if he was going to use his new cards to save his friends. He and Adrian both got up from the ground, and while the latter was receiving assistance from Jim, he asked Jesse if he could borrow his Duel Disk. Naturally, he obliged, taking it off his arm and handing it over while keeping it activated; there was no way they were going to end this battle right now because they need to turn it around.

"Ray, I need you to summon Hope Dragon Bird," Bastion said.

"Why her?" Ray asked.

"Because in order for my strategy to work, I need to borrow her," Bastion explained.

"Um... Okay," Ray agreed, not sure what Bastion was planning. "I summon Hope Dragon Bird!"

Hope Dragon Bird appeared on the field in a whirlwind of feathers. But when she saw what her opponents were, she looked surprised. "My goodness..." she said. "You expect me to take care of these monsters by myself?!"

"Calm down, Hope Dragon Bird," Ray said. "Bastion said he has a plan."

"Indeed, I do," Bastion confirmed. "I summon Neo Flamvell Hedgehog!"

A swirl of fire jetted out of a gleam of light and its flaming streaks spun around into a spiral until it condensed itself into a fiery ball, which then popped open to reveal Neo Flamvell Hedgehog, a Level 3 FIRE Pyro-Type monster with 800 ATK and 200 DEF. If it gets destroyed by battle, a card in the opponent’s Graveyard is removed from play, but if it’s destroyed by a card effect, a FIRE monster with 200 or less DEF in its owner’s Graveyard, except this card, is added to their hand. However, Bastion has no intentions of using it in battle as he was about to show them what he has been designing on right now.

"Okay Neo Flamvell Hedgehog, tune with Hope Dragon Bird!" Bastion commanded.

"Wait, tune...?" Ray asked. "Don't you mean fuse?"

"Not quite," Bastion explained. "I thought of a different type of special summoning, one that doesn't require Polymerization. Don't believe me? See for yourself."

Ray looked back at the two monsters, who were both in the sky and undergoing something new. Neo Flamvell Hedgehog changed into three light blue illuminating stars, which all shrank and regrew as three green rings that all aligned themselves and descended to Hope Dragon Bird. The rings proceeded to scan her, converting her into a glowing orange-yellow outline of herself and transforming into four more light blue stars. In almost an instant, a narrow green line of light passed through the rings and struck all four stars before rapidly expanding in size.

"This is the future of dueling!" Bastion announced. "Introducing a new type of card: Synchro monsters! Come on out and show everyone your power, Ancient Flamvell Deity!"

A silhouette of a monster emerged from the bright green light and jumped towards the ground, planting its left fist into the dunes and knelling on his right knee. It got up from the ground and crossed its arms; it appeared all shadowed, but that was due to the glare from the three suns this dimension has. The glare shifted angle to unveil a gargantuan being with brownish-bronze armor and golden linings all over its body and flames on top of its head and on its shoulders, elbows, fists, lower torso, knees, and feet. That monster was Ancient Flamvell Deity, a Level 7 FIRE Pyro-Type Synchro monster with 2500 ATK and 200 DEF. It requires a FIRE Tuner and one or more non-Tuner Pyro-Type monsters, but this summoning condition will not apply to any more Synchro monsters in the future. When successfully Synchro Summoned, it can remove from play cards that are in the opponent’s Graveyard equal to the number of cards in the player’s hand and gain 200 ATK for each card that has been removed from play.

Everyone was absolutely flabbergasted. "Wh-Wh-Wh-" Jaden stammered, his jaw dropped in surprise.

"What the heck is that thing?!" Jesse asked.

"A Synchro monster," Bastion repeated. "I created these cards as a side project. So far I was able to complete a few Flamvell Synchros, but the rest are currently in their beta phases. The developing process should be completed within a few weeks."

"You actually developed a new type of card?" Adrian asked. "That's incredible!"

Jaden, however, was still at a loss for words. "N-N-New...cards..."

"So why that monster?" Ray asked.

"Because Ancient Flamvell Deity has higher attack than the Harpie Lady Sisters," Bastion answered. "Now to demonstrate the power of Synchros! Attack with Volcanic Fire Eruption!"

The gold linings on Ancient Flamvell Deity's body signaled the commence of its attack as they luminated in a bright golden marigold hue and the flames increased in intensity. It rotated its body and stared directly at the Harpie Lady Sisters; the combination of the heightened glow and patches of fire led to the bronze armor to give off the impression that it was heating up. With a swift movement of its arms, it lept off the sand and aimed its fists at its opponents, where molten lava erupted from its body, rained down on each Harpie Lady, and and severely burning them to the point where they all exploded as a result of them being weaker than Ancient Flamvell Deity by only 50 ATK.

"So Ray, care to explain why you're out here when you should be in the nurse's office?" Jim asked.

"I guess I recover faster than I thought," Ray admitted with a shrug.

"That doesn't sound too good," Alexis said, voicing concern. "We need to take you back."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Ray insisted. "I'll be fi-"

Before she could finish her sentence, a sudden jolt of fatigue struck her head. She was having trouble keeping her eyes open, and as fast as it occurred, it began spreading to her entire body, making her limbs—especially her legs—feel weak and decreasing her balance stability. She tried to walk a little in order to head to a spot to rest until the fatigue subsides, but any movement as small as only a few steps only made her lowered balance worse. Right as she was falling into the sand, Chazz and Alexis caught her body and held onto her for support. It was obvious she woke up not because she rested up at a faster rate, but maybe because of something else that had recently took place back inside.

"Ray, you can't keep going like this," Alexis advised. "You're going to end up exhausted from overwork."

"But...I have to keep going..." Ray insisted, still being stubborn. "Bastion and I are the only ones without Bio Bands..."

"Bio Bands?" Bastion repeated. "What on earth is going on?"

"We'll explain everything back in the school," Adrian answered. Several minutes later, the students returned to Fonda’s office to report another injury, the identity of the person who was approaching Duel Academy, and a sleep-deprived Ray. Once everyone got situated, Bastion was given the information from his friends on how the school year has been going for them in regards to the Bio Bands and the dimension they are stuck in as of now. Although he was glad to see they are alright, he now has a better understanding of why he and Ray should handle the minor threats for the time being.

"I see..." Bastion remarked. "Very well. I'll help Ray out. I still have my six decks, so I can switch between them depending on the threat."

"So what brings you out here, Bastion?" Jaden asked.

"It's because I started working alongside Professor Eisenstein," Bastion explained. "While I was able to use his technology to create Synchro monsters, it was only a side project to the bigger picture: the idea that's based on the presumption that there exists 12 different dimensions. And one of them has a world where Duel Spirits live. That's where we are now."

"That explains a lot..." Chazz muttered as he glanced at his Ojamas.

"As we explored ways to this dimension, something went terribly wrong," Bastion continued. "It appeared that we had pierced an interdimensional vortex, thus triggering an incredible force of cosmic energy. The entire lab was consumed by a powerful light. When I regained consciousness, I found myself in a sandy no-man's land. And you, Jaden? How did you and the others arrive in this desolate world?"

Ray looked embarrassed. "Ray?" Bastion asked. "Why do you look so flushed all of a sudden?"

"It's kind of...my fault..." Ray admitted. "I defeated this crazy snake person in a duel and there was this huge flash of light afterwards."

"Come on, Ray," Jaden reassured. "It's not your fault. None of us knew he had a Bio Band."

"So there was a flash of light there as well?" Bastion questioned. "Interesting... So it seems we're all stranded here in this dimension."

"For the time being," Jaden added.

"Luckily my new Synchro Flamvells have provided protection against enemy Duel Spirits," Bastion continued, taking out his deck. "But I fear there is a greater threat coming."

"My Hope Dragons sense it too," Ray spoke up. "That's why I wanted to deal with minor threats. If those Bio Bands are still draining energy, it's best to duel wisely."

"So Ray, where's Michael?" Bastion asked. "I haven't seen him at all."

Meanwhile, back on Earth, Michael has been roaming around the island for quite a while, specifically in the vicinity of where the Academy used to be. He tried calling Ray—at least maybe a few times—see if she was okay and all of them had a common reply: there wasn’t any reply. Fearing the worst, he had been making desperate attempts to contact any of the students he has known the past few years to see if they could respond to him, but so far, he hasn’t gotten a single response because there was a high chance something was preventing the calls from being received on the other end. Every attempt he has made have been feeble until his eyes shifted away from the ground and up into the sky when he spotted something far away in the distance. It was getting nearer to the island, the sound of the propellers was growing louder, and if his guesses were correct, it was planning on landing on the helicopter bay where the dock is. Whoever is in the helicopter, he needed to inform them on what just took place while they were gone, so he proceed to run through the dense trees, taking a path that is closest to the Slifer Red dorm because it is adjacent to the bridge that leads to the dock.

As the helicopter approached the island, the massive crater came into the pilot’s viewpoint, who was left dumbfounded by the sight. “Chancellor Sheppard, you might want to see this,” he said while preparing to land the helicopter.

Less than a couple minutes later, Sheppard had gotten out of the helicopter, analyzing the crater in front of him. “I know the school was there when I left,” he recalled. “Oh, boy. Parents won’t like this.”

At that moment, Michael rushed over to Sheppard. "Chancellor, what's going on?!" the Magician user asked.

"I was going to ask you the same thing," Sheppard admitted. "What happened to Duel Academy?"

"How should I know?!" Michael asked in response. "I ended up oversleeping for nearly the whole day and when I woke up, everyone was gone!"

"What?" Sheppard asked. "Where were you?"

"I was-" Michael started to say. But then he remembered what happened to him last night and his eyes widened. "In my dorm room."

"So you were oversleeping in your dorm room?" Sheppard asked. "That means everyone else was still at the school."

"Including Ray," Michael added. "And I tried contacting the others, but they couldn't respond."

"That's good to know," Sheppard remarked. "Hopefully we can try to figure out what happened."

“Don’t move.”

An unfamiliar female voice cut their conversation short before they could deduce the cause and experiment with some kind of resolution. Sheppard and Michael faced at the landed helicopter, and without any time to react, a pale-skinned, gray-eyed woman dressed in a dark green marine attire charged out from below the vehicle. She initiated her attack by grabbing Sheppard’s yellow shirt collar and effortlessly flipping him onto the ground despite his size.

“Dear me!” he yelled as he was risen off the bay and landed back first. “I just had this pressed.”

"Quiet!" the woman threatened. "You're gonna help me find a student that was at this school!" She noticed Michael. "Who are you?"

"I'm Michael Lindonson," the Magician user answered, introducing himself. "Obelisk Blue, Senior Year."

The woman released her grip on Sheppard. "Lindonson, huh?" she repeated. "You must be one of the two famed Obelisk students everyone talks about. Where's the other one?"

"I'm not sure," Michael replied. "But-"

A strong gust of wind blasted the trio out of nowhere and it was quickly followed by the sounds of propellers. “What in the—?!” the woman called out.

Up in the sky, another helicopter had appeared during their dispute, hovering over the bay. Two ropes were thrown out of the doors and two men dressed in black suits and shades—one with a black buzzcut and one with spiky brunette hair—held onto them as they descended near Sheppard, Michael, and the woman were. They were ready to engage in counterattacks because of how she was willing to take Sheppard as hostage just to find who this student is; seeing them as a threat, she ran towards them and threw a couple punches, which proved ineffective since they easily dodged them and relocated her arms behind her back.

With her now restrained, Sheppard got up to see where they came from. “Who are you?” he asked.

Michael pointed up to the airborne helicopter and told him to look at who was in it. There stood a fair-skinned man with straight, silver hair that covered his left eye while leaving his right brown eye exposed. He also wore a red suit underneath a long-sleeved, white, frilled shirt with a thin, black bowtie around the collar, and white shoes. They both instantaneously recognized him the moment they laid eyes on him.

“Pegasus?” Sheppard surprisingly questioned before smiling as he continued. “To what do I owe the pleasure? I’m so honored.”

Michael’s jaw was left ajar, not believing what he was seeing. He recalled him and Ray seeing glimpses of Jaden helping him and Chumley retrieving the prototype copy of the Winged Dragon of Ra from a renegade Industrial Illusions card designer and heard rumors last year of how he dueled Crowler and Bonaparte later on. One year later and he is now meeting the man who created it all at a time of need. The president of Industrial Illusions and the creator of Duel Monsters, Maximillion Pegasus himself.

"I received a rather urgent message from KaibaCorp," Pegasus explained. "They said something about the academy, or lack there of."

"Do they know the whereabouts of the school?" Sheppard asked.

"Currently there isn't much information to share," Pegasus reported. "But we do know that many of the students are missing, including Jaden Yuki and his gangle of friends. Now then, we need to get to the bottom of this, and I think I know where to start digging."

But before he could have the pilot land the helicopter in order to commence investigation, he turned his head away from the crater and to where Michael was standing, who was still rendered speechless at being in the presence of one of the biggest icons in Duel Monster history. Pegasus wasn’t entirely sure if he has seen this particular student before yet there was something about him that reminded him of something he heard about last year.

"Have we met?" Pegasus asked.

Michael took a deep breath. "Sort of," he answered. "I'm Michael Lindonson. Obelisk Blue, Senior Year."

"Michael Lindonson..." Pegasus repeated. "So you're the one Seto Kaiba met. Didn't he give you a new Fusion dragon?"

"He did," Michael confirmed. He took out Starving Venom from his deck. "He gave me this card to help me defeat the Society of Light."

So it was true. He had a feeling this teen was the same Michael who obtained Starving Venom, but for the purpose of defeating the Society of Light? He must be a really powerful Duelist, especially since he and Ray are the two best students in Obelisk Blue and two of the best in the entire Academy. Now that he thought about it, he was uncertain if Ray was still around; Michael explained she hasn’t been around ever since he got up, and if what Pegasus said earlier was true, then she is most likely with Jaden, his friends, and the many other students who have vanished. Much to his embarrassment, a part of him felt like he was not going to live this down for a while.

"Don't worry, Michael," Pegasus said. "I'll help you get your friends back."

"Thanks...sir," Michael replied as he bowed slightly.