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radramblog · 3 years

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Album Discussion- Floral Shoppe

Haha why do y’all let me do this.

It’s been almost a decade since Macintosh Plus (aka Vektroid, aka Ramona Xavier) popularised and codified vapourwave as a genre with its first actually popular release in Floral Shoppe. Since then this sub-sub-genre has developed its own subgenres and become its own flourishing marvel of internet music culture. But Floral Shoppe itself is worth examining- not to see where it all began (I haven’t even listened to Chuck Person’s Eccojams or Far Side Virtual yet), but where most people got into the genre. The lifting off point, as it were.

So grab your Arizona ice tea (don’t, it’s fucking awful) and lets dive in.

The first track, ブート(Boot), opens with a buttery smooth cymbal and saxophone line, obviously slowed down, but evoking a level of chill few songs manage to get to for their whole duration, in a total of approximately a minute. It’s a genuinely masterful piece of music. As the vocals come in, you hear them get twisted and chopped, distorted and looped, almost jolting you out of that trance, until it’s clear that the lyrics aren’t lyrics but another instrument, you get used to the nonsense, and you’re back in the zone. The looping with some of the instrumentation makes parts of it feel almost clockwork-like, in a very satisfying manner- especially as the majority of it gets muffled and you realise that opening bass/sax line has been running through the entire time. While the next track on this album tends to get most of the attention, I genuinely think Boot deserves just as much praise.

リサフランク420 / 現代のコンピュー (Lisa Frank 420/Modern Computing) is another one of those tracks where it’s just like, what could I possibly say about this that hasn’t been said. If you’re reading this, there’s basically no way you haven’t heard this song, so you know what I’m on about. It’s the quintessential vapourwave track, even if it’s showing its age a bit. It’s just so perfect. When I decided to write about Floral Shoppe, I didn’t really want to spend too much time here- me saying “hey I like this song everyone knows” isn’t the most interesting thing on the planet, I guess. I will say, it’s one of the few vapourwave songs you can actually sing along to, and that’s fun as heck.

Also, the lyric is “it’s all in your hands”, not “it’s all in your head”. To be fair, though, the distortion doesn’t help.

The album’s next track is 花の専門店 (Floral Shoppe, hey I didn’t know this album had a title song), a track that heavily relies on this really panned synth (you can’t even hear that on the left ear) and a lot of looping the same bit over and over again. Honestly, the first minute of this song gets a little grating, but it really picks up after that. It’s really fun and jazzy for a solid minute there, a lovely instrumental you can just groove to in your head. The fade out on this piece lasts wayyy too long for my liking, though- a full half minute of outro feels a little indulgent for this one.

Track four, ライブラリ (Library) is lowkey one of my favourites on the album- The slowed vocals work really well, and the instrumentation feels extremely deliberate and methodical. I think my biggest complaint with this song is just that it’s too short, considering Lisa Frank 420 is literally triple it’s length. But I suppose part of this project is how variable the track lengths are- it seems Vektroid was keen to work with these until she was out of ideas, and no longer, and I can’t help but respect that.

地理 (Geography) sounds substantially darker than the previous tracks, with incredibly low drones and a main line that�� I mean I dunno how low it is but that shit is definitely in a minor key, you know. It’s also the sparsest track so far, with much more restraint in layering than anything else I can think of on the album. The atmosphere of this is heavy- I don’t know why, but it reminds me of that really creepy loading screen on the fuckin Magic School Bus goes inside the body Edutainment game. That’s probably a bit of a weird connection, but if you played that shit, you know how fucking eerie it’s soundtrack was, and that’s a bit of the vibe I’m getting from this track.

Our next track is a direct nod to Floral Shoppe’s predecessors in ECCOと悪寒ダイビング (Chill diving with ECCO), a reference to the aforementioned Chuck Person’s Eccojams Vol. 1 (itself a reference to the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive game Ecco the Dolphin), and Chill is absolutely right. While many vapour/synthwave pieces are more about entering an aesthetic or a vibe than actually listening to the music, as far as Floral Shoppe goes, that’s most true with this track. It’s also the third longest track here (behind Lisa Frank 420 and the next song), and while it doesn’t develop as much as one would hope based on that (or much at all), spending so long vibing out in a track like this is completely appropriate.

I’m going to be honest, I don’t care too much for the next track, 数学 (Mathematics). It might just be because it comes on the heels of ECCO, but the meandering in this doesn’t hit the same chord as that does. While I enjoy the saxophone on this song, all the shit going on in the background just kinda gets my anxiety going eventually. And by eventually, I mean about halfway through this near 7-minute monster. You’ve got these very chill elements that slowly get drowned out by the steadily rising and accelerating chaotic parts of the instrumentation that just take over eventually, and while it does chill back down again, that’s still a long time focussed on the worst parts of the song. This also really didn’t need to be as long as it is, considering the second half of the track is just, like, the same thing again…

We’re at track 8, and at this point I started looking at the Wikipedia page for the name translation and realising that I have no idea which song this is supposed to be. Like, the track lengths on the bandcamp suggest that this is the 2011 release and therefore this is 待機 (Standby), but it has the name of track 8 from the 2017 release, 外ギン Aviation (Foreign Banks Aviation)? This is confusing as fuck, but since this is the only track here with that issue, I’m assuming it’s actually Standby and someone fucked up somewhere. Oh right, the song itself. Well it’s fucking short, barely past a minute long, and doesn’t have too much going on. I’d call it short but sweet, it doesn’t overstay its welcome. Jazzy, loungy, kinda chill. I dunno.

て(Te) feels almost out of place on this album. I mean, the vibe is similar, but the birdsongs really come out of left field. This sounds like the track you’d hear in a video game after you’re finally out of a cave you spent hours in. If the build in this weren’t so intense, I think it’d fit right in on the Minecraft OST. That’s a compliment, for what it’s worth. It’s also worth noting this light at the end of the tunnel bit was absolutely intentional, because this used to be the final track of the album. However, there’s two more here, added in a 2012 reissue (originally they were unnamed bonus tracks), so we might as well check them out.

…under no circumstances should you check out track 10, 月 (Moon). I don’t know what vocal sample that is, but it is loud, and grating, and obnoxious, and the instrumentation is not doing enough to carry the repetition through. Holy shit, this is 6 minutes long. I’m going to be honest, I skimmed through this one, and it never changes what it’s doing. This is… a bold play, I’ll give her that, but it absolutely does not pay off. This has gotta be one of the worst songs I’ve heard in a very long time. What the fuck, Ramona?

Finally, 海底 (Seabed). This… is just like Moon, in that it’s a fucked up vocal sample that is looped over and over with little changing instrumental. The key difference is this one is less bad- the vocals aren’t as jilting, the instrumentation is chiller, and it is mercifully only 2 and a bit minutes. It’s far from good, but it’s not as immediately awful. Okay, it is pretty bad. These should probably have stayed as extras- and seeing as they apparently weren’t on the physical versions of the album (in fact a bunch of these songs changed for that), Vektroid appears to agree.

So that’s Floral Shoppe, and it’s really one of those albums that kinda drags on at the end. Frontloaded with the good shit, I suppose. Moon and Seabed aside, it’s not like anything is completely awful, but after 25 or so minutes you’ve kinda gotten the point. With that said, the album is as influential as it is for good reason- the first couple tracks are phenomenal, and once you’re drawn in by those, you’re probably going to appreciate the rest of it at least a little.

Modern vapourwave basically sounds nothing like Lisa Frank 420/Modern Computing, or Floral Shoppe at all- the genre has moved past plunderphonics almost entirely at this point, and the aesthetic has shifted to a more consistent, less memeable tone. Even Macintosh Plus is going new directions- the single released in December 2019 as a teaser for Vektroid’s next project under the name sounds nothing like this album, though it is completely fucking awesome (and completely fucking batshit). While it seems like the genre itself has moved past Floral Shoppe, though, it’s still the touchstone the majority of people, especially those unfamiliar with the genre, recognize as the herald of Vapourwave. I’m pretty sure this was the first album to do the whole pink aesthetic, marble bust, computer graphics style, and clearly that’s the style everyone thinks of when they make bad vapourwave art. That’s the aesthetic this album inspired. Long may it reign.

(Ok seriously though guys go listen to VAPERROR or George Clanton or something)

#ramble #music #vaporwave #vapourwave #america stop being afraid of the letter u

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that-soft-earth · 3 years

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I’m up to MAG102 in my relisten, part way through Season 3, after Jon has been kidnapped by Nikola and found out a lot of stuff about the Unknowing. He knows that all the Entities have a ritual, and since Gertrude was trying to destroy the Archives, that’s probably the location of the Eye’s ritual. And he knows that he and his assistants are in a double bind, where helping Elias means helping the Eye, but resisting him, whether moving against him or simply by refusing to work, only leads to him making them suffer and bringing them back in line. They really have no way out. Here is one potential play Jon could make, though it’s massively risky and likely to fail, but it’s just a fun hypothetical. Jon says to Elias “I know what you’re doing. I know what your plan is.” and maybe let him sweat a bit (though you’re not going to get anything out of him that way cause he’s too good at mind games, but we like to see him suffer)

and then going along the lines of “All of the powers have rituals, so that means the Eye has one too, but I think I know what you want to do with it. You really are on our side, as much as you have horrible ways of going about it. Because the Entities feed on fear, and we’re most afraid of the unknown and unseen. Fear loses its power with understanding. You’re not just planning your ritual to serve the Eye - you’re trying to save the world from the Entities by unmasking them and breaking their power. And I’m in, even though I hate you. I’ll help with your ritual.” All of this, of course, just being lies. Just pretending to go along with Elias to find out more about the ritual and what Elias’ actual priorities are. And Elias would probably agree that the assistants shouldn’t be let in on the fact that Jon is working for him, because they’d never go along with it, so at least Jon doesn’t have to pretend to not hate Elias when someone else is present, and doesn’t lose the others’ trust entirely. And then Jon, once he figures out how to pass messages without Elias seeing, can reveal to the assistants that he’s now basically a double agent, and get them on board with him to take down Elias, because goddamn is he going to need help. Figuring out what he can and can’t see would be tough, too. Jon could fake evidence of another assassination plot, but would risk revealing his own motivations too. And Elias tends to wait until the last possible moment to act, so it wouldn’t be easy to test your theories. However, Jon is probably not powerful enough at this point to stop Elias looking inside his mind, or just Knowing something that exposes him, and if Elias figures out his game at any point it’ll be for nothing. Or just not being a good enough actor (yes Jonny is a very good actor but Jon Archivist probably isn’t) and Elias figuring out what he’s doing even without the Eye powers, just by being a very experienced Scheming Bastard. And even if he buys it, Elias would probably withhold as much as possible, as long as possible, out of caution. And, when you’re EXTREMELY TRAUMATISED FROM A BUNCH OF MORTAL PERIL, the complex thought functions of your brain are literally shut down, you are in no place to be putting together all those pieces and making complex plans. And Jon is more worried about the Unknowing and just hoping the Eye ritual will be far enough away that he doesn’t have to worry about it, not realising that he’s already on that path and needs to intervene soon. There’s no damn way I’d expect anyone to cope with that level of chronic dread and trauma with almost zero support and also be able to play a high risk double agent game against a Machiavellian clairvoyant whose powers they don’t even understand. Also, the Archives staff have been turned against each other by the events of the previous seasons. I don’t think Elias necessarily orchestrated that beat-by-beat since he can’t See the future, but obviously he did deliberately keep them fractured and distracted, so the times he intervened vs didn’t intervene with other Entities’ attacks was done with an eye to (haha) maximum disharmony, keeping the Archives crew divided and isolated. That’s my theory on why he picked Martin to work there - not because he knew exactly how things would play out, but just knowing that Martin had enough insecurities and personality clashes with the others to be a useful pawn to move in any direction, however things played out. He could probably have predicted Jon being annoyed and mean to Martin and then being guilty about it later once his assistants were being put in mortal peril. He probably had no idea they would both fall for each other, which did somewhat mitigate their total isolation, but actually just gave Elias another convenient way to manipulate Jon by putting Martin in danger. He basically planned the broad strokes of the whole thing, but also left plenty of manoeuvrability in the details. So uh... if you want to put yourself in Jon’s shoes, good luck with that. Hindsight, as they say...

#the magnus archives #relisten

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snowstorm808 · 4 years

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More than Friends review eps 9-16

I previously posted my review of the first half of the series because I could not contain what I felt. It was quite impulsive of me but I wanted to let out everything I thought and felt for this drama. It is becoming better every time in such a way that I see the little creative ideas the writer or director is putting into each episode along with the development of the story. Familiar yet refreshing. I decided to create a new post because I saw that the first half recap was way too long if I would still add the remaining episode reviews because I just could not help it. I do understand that the length could be frustrating but I want my words to be read too, so thank you for everyone patient enough to read my words.

Episode 9 - Watching this episode made me realize a double standard I never really noticed before but I guess drama watchers would be able to relate to; the difference of pitiful and pathetic for female and male leads. I’m not yet certain if it’s deliberate but female characters locked in one sided love often seem pathetic but when it’s a male character they seem pitiful? Woo Yeon did seem pathetic in her one sided love in the earlier episodes so why does Soo get to be pitiful? It’s the same for the past dramas I’ve watched too. It’s just a food for thought. Based on last week’s preview, I really thought Joon Soo would punch Lee Soo after the drunk call but he held back so good job, Joon Soo. Honestly, I thought he wouldn’t be able to hold back because not only was he angry of the fact that Woo Yeon was getting swayed by Soo, but also because he knew how much it hurt, and hates the fact that she would still be hurt over the latter after a decade. This is why I keep wanting Joon Soo because he never thought selfishly when it came to Woo Yeon. I also love the fact that his character is being shown as someone seemingly perfect with a lot of flaws too. I love seeing his flaws and even relating to them! Being used to holding back is probably the reason why I write so much because I swear I can’t talk this much at all. I really hope he would stop holding back for his own sake. I think the most favorable Soo I have ever seen was him drunk calling his dad. I love the fact his parents went to his house to talk and console him. I also realized that Soo really closed himself up enough to have no one but his dad to drunk call. That was sad because the high school gang never really shunned him but he was the one who kept his heart closed. I half expected his folks to announce that hey would be back together because I feel that’s where those two are headed to eventually. As for Woo Yeon, I’m somehow glad she mustered up the courage to break up with Joon Soo after everything. As much as I was dreading it, I also felt that it was the right decision. She knew that it was too cruel to let him hurt quietly so I’m glad she had that decency; I could see that she was doing her best to be firm with her resolve. On her behalf, I get it why it’s difficult for her to let go of her feelings for Soo so I do not think she’s a weird one for that. I know that this is where my ship stops its sail but I’m satisfied that it’s not as I feared it would. The fight scene was reminiscent of Jealousy Incarnate, I just hope Dong Jun faked the punch because I know how athletic he has been from his Idol days which is enough for me to be scared for Seung Woo. Conveniently, it was only after this that Soo decides to take a break from pursuing Woo Yeon after ruining her chance to start anew with someone. Eventually, I know that Woo Yeon would not be able to defy the flow of her feelings towards Soo but I hope he can also grow up more because right now, I can still see him being selfish and self centered in his approach.

Episode 10 - How can one episode contain so much emotions? And it was all types of emotions at that! I mean one moment it’s awkward, cute, upsetting, lovely, funny then sad and even more! This episode was a roller coaster of emotions in my opinion. First thing’s first, the younger guy Jinju dated is a total loser and a scumbag. Good thing Sang-hyeok was there to the rescue. I feel so bad for Young-hee because every time she takes a step forward, she’s always dragged two steps back. She has a strong personality but it does not mean her situation does not wear her down too. So here comes the roller coaster because Lee Soo and On Joon Soo drinking together and ending up at Woo Yeon’s place is super cute. That includes her parents’ “interview” with the two men while they try to show off their “qualities”. I literally said “boom” when Joon Soo “let slipped” that Soo was the jerk Woo Yeon’s parents have been hunting for. That was really petty but I guess it’s his little revenge on Soo for interrupting their relationship when he used to date Woo Yeon. I am not going to lie about not loving the misunderstanding Soo had when he saw them together in the restaurant while he was with his parents. He tends to act so victimized which I really dislike then he readily blows up at Woo Yeon. But then again, it makes these characters more human then the usual kdrama characters I watched in the past. Lee Soo should really learn to express things more clearly so Woo Yeon would stop thinking that he’s simply bored or fooling around. As for Joon Soo, it’s a lost battle and I feel bad for him because he has become a masochist which is why I need to take care of him. I need Woo Yeon’s cooperation for this...

Episode 11 - Soo is finally given the chance he keeps on missing. As much as I am sad for my ship, I’m happy Woo Yeon and Soo are coming around although it isn’t the full circle yet. I do feel really bad for Joon Soo but it has always been clear how strong Woo Yeon’s feelings have been for Soo. I like how she at long last clearly stated that she will always give Soo the chance whatever he does because it has been evidently true for the past episodes. I guess that’s enough proof that feelings can’t be controlled easily. My favorite part in this episode would be her giving Soo an ultimatum because I always had a feeling he thought of her as a port always there for him. My second favorite in this episode would be Sang Hyuk and Jinju! He’s so sweet and caring which is exactly what she needs. Will they be my favorite couple? Hehe. I just want to take a bit of time to swoon over Joon Soo because he cares a lot for Woo Yeon though it isn’t returned, I appreciate him wishing her well. I can’t help but wonder if there will be another drama between Woo Yeon and Soo, because if he hurts her one more time then I would prefer her to be alone (I’ll be taking Joon Soo.)

Episode 12 - I never thought Soo and Woo Yeon together would be this mushy haha. They are making up for the lost time and I like seeing them happy and somewhat letting go of the inhibitions they had. And for the first time, I think I want to scold the writer for adding a character like Yura because seriously, those two no longer need another person to interrupt them. I suppose it’s to make up for the remining episodes? But then it could be expound on things like commitment issues for Woo Yeon and Soo, and taking the next step for their relationship. I do secretly hope for Joon Soo to make a comeback but not necessarily in a romantic light. Obviously, Soo is the one being careful now when it comes to dealing with Woo Yeon. I like seeing him nervous of losing her because it keeps him on his toes though I hope he would be more direct about it instead of acting cool so she won’t misunderstand anymore. I remember him saying he dated around too but Woo Yeon seems more like the one used to dating. I guess he never really thought of the other party when dating. I can sort of imagine his ex-girlfriends putting more effort than him.

Episode 13 - Lol, Soo should’ve been more sensitive when Woo Yeon insisted on going home by herself. I find it so cute when she defended Soo from her parents, she was so cheeky to point out her dad’s faults. After everything they have been through I hope they can do well from now on but something tells me otherwise. At least Woo Yeon finally said the magic words Soo has been so anxious to hear. It seems she was too nervous and being careful to say it though I had the initial impression that she must’ve had a stigma of some sort to those three words. I somehow feel nervous about Soo’s job offer from the airline because it might lead to a fight or even a break up. Speaking of a break up, I’m sad Hyun-jae and Young-hee had to part ways though it was one-sided. I do get the pov of his family but I can’t relate to the pressure of marriage. By the way, am I the only one who thinks Kwon Yura’s character is waste? I mean I don’t see much purpose for her character because she does not threaten the main lead’s relationship other than making Woo Yeon want to doll up herself. I must say one of my favorite scenes in this episode is when Woo Yeon went to the salon and told the staff she’s meeting with her boyfriend’s woman. I love how the customers and salon staff reacted even calling in their boss to style her. Was it a parody? I’m not sure because I have sworn to lay my hands and eyes off all dramas that deal with a husband’s mistress. Nevertheless, it was super witty and I had a lot of fun watching that scene including the one where she deliberately posed further behind Yura to make her face look smaller. Lastly, Sang-hyeok and Jinju are finally together! They look so cute together and make the perfect couple. In fact, all three couples seem to be perfect for each other because they complement each others’ personalities well.

Episode 14 - This must be the episode where everyone breaks up or gets rejected. But before that, I can’t get over the expression Woo Yeon’s mom wore when she said to pack up contraception for her trip with Soo. One minute they were having a lovely mother-daughter moment then she suddenly brings that up. As much as most people would find it awkward, I think it was so funnily straightforward. Her mom cares which suddenly reminds me of the reaction of Young-hee’s mom when she found tons of condoms in her drawer. Another reaction I really enjoyed was when Woo Yeon and Soo found out Jinju and Sang-hyeok are dating! The way she splashed water out of shock really showed how it was the farthest thing in her mind. From the time Soo’s work offer came, it already seemed ominous along with Woo Yeon’s offer so I was not surprised with the break up. Maybe it was for the better; I have been mulling over Woo Yeon’s reasoning that she might end up hating Soo if they stayed together. The loneliness was eating her up which I believe is realistic in a long distance relationship like theirs. Soo shouldn’t have readily agreed regardless if he was thinking of her or not. Considering these two pursued their careers, I think this would leave less regrets in their hearts because they were able to fulfill the dreams they had. Their feelings for each other will always be there because they are Soo and Woo Yeon. I just need to wait how they will get back to each other.

Episode 15 - While watching this episode, I couldn’t stop thinking that this is the episode I finally see Lee Soo as someone heartbroken and not self centered, also, am I the only one who thinks his hair styled up is way better than his hair down? At last, I got to see Soo’s feelings of longing for Woo Yeon instead of his attitude of forcing his feelings like earlier into the series. I think it’s his maturity plus his sincerity in wanting her back because he now knows how it is to lose her. Their break up might just seem like another ploy by the writer to extend the series but I also think it was helpful to both Woo Yeon and Soo. In the first place, they decided to be apart so their careers could flourish which made them busy and drift apart. It also brought to light the insecurities they had especially Woo Yeon who had been so used to be the only one who in love. I think her fears of having the person she loved and wanted the most surfaced which keeps her from returning to him even if he’s practically begging her back. I just hope Soo would’ve made efforts to contact Woo Yeon or get her back after that break up call just as he was when he was courting her instead of stepping back. I guess it was partly a good thing because they were able to achieve certain things for their careers during that time too. Meanwhile Young-hee’s mom’s death was inevitable but at least they got to resolve the hard feelings and she was able to convey her love for her children. I think among the deaths I’ve seen in kdramas, this is the most touching for me. I must really be getting old to be sentimental like this. I also felt envious of the leads’ friendship. This episode showcased it the most especially how they supported Young-hee through the most difficult time in her life. I also love how they quietly support the complicated relationship of Soo and Woo Yeon. They have never attempted to kill him so yup they are good people.

Episode 16 - Loose strings are tied up in a pretty bow as the friends gear up for each of their happy endings. Joon Soo decides to let go of his feelings for Woo Yeon (he’s finally free to walk towards me! Yay!) I really like their hug because it sums up the affections and friendship they had. Good thing Soo wasn’t there to tear them apart. I also like that Soo is still a bit jealous of Joon Soo because whenever I remember how arrogant he was about stealing Woo Yeon away, I still want to punch him. His mom’s pushing aka guilting Woo Yeon was indeed effective, heh. Seriously though, it seems to me that his mom did it because she did not want him to end up like his parents and perhaps it was her way of making up for their negligence and mistreatment of him. I love the fact that Soo and Woo Yeon continued to fight and make up even after getting back together, it was very much in their character. It’s also nice that Soo’s parents decided to give their relationship another shot. It makes me think that they too learned from their son. Jinju’s and Sang-hyeok’s wedding pictorial was super lovely, it was very smart of them to trick Soo into it haha. Young-hee and Hyun-jae are finally back together too! Thank goodness, they’re getting married instead of returning to dating. As much as I cringed with their cheesiness, it was very much welcome and cute to watch. All six of them had their own cringey and cheesy way of saying and doing things. I think this drama has one of the most satisfactory endings ever, now, if only On Joon Soo can find his way to me...

More than Friends has met the amount of romance and tension that I always look for yet refreshing and not too cliché. I love the little details and the way it explored different types and stages of relationships including of different age groups. I hope other viewers would also get to see how the writer tried to portray these in the drama. Watching the ending made me realize the drama’s title was probably referred to these couples because they started as friends and became more than just that. Honestly, their situation is quite idealistic but I think it’s so cute if it does happen in real life. I’m happy I watched this even if it was mainly for Kim Dong Jun. Literally before watching this, I watched Moment of Eighteen then even prior to that, I watched Meow, The Secret Boy. MoE was sad because Junwoo had to put off his dreams and relationship to help out his mom. I initially wanted to skip or wait till later to watch it but ended up being hooked to it. Hehe.

One of the things I find fascinating in this drama is the casting! Shin Ye Eun’s step mom in MTSB became her actual mom while her dad became Lee Soo’s dad this time. There lots of familiar faces which made me like the drama even more.

#more than friends #shin ye eun #ong sungwoo #kim dongjun #p.o.#ahn eunjin #baek soo min #choi chan ho

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idealisticrealism · 4 years

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So, who wants to hear me gush about something in Blindspot that was almost certainly completely meaningless?

What is it, you (didn’t) ask?

It’s this.

So, let me start by saying that this scene was one of my favourite scenes of Blindspot, like ever. I am living for the friendship that is forming between these two, and the way they are helping each other through their individual traumas. The added dimension of former CIA agent Tasha helping Rich recover from his torture at the hands of the CIA is just so perfect, not to mention they have the added connection of knowing what it’s like to be a ‘bad guy’ operating outside the law.

(I also like to think that Jane and Tasha talked together about how to help Rich, but since Jane was already supporting her hubby as well as carrying the team, Tasha took the reins on this one.)

But even though I totally could gush about that scene (especially that hug omg), that’s not actually what this post is about. This post is about me being a HUGE NERD for IMPRESSIONISM.

(Still sure you want to get into this lol?)

Alright then, here goes:

So, this absolute classic is probably at least vaguely familiar to a lot of people; it’s A Sunday on La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat, painted in the mid 1880s, and arguably his most famous work.

(While watching the ep I initially took it for a Monet at first glance, which is super embarrassing for me but also I can’t help that I have this like Pavlovian response to Impressionism that makes me go YO IS THAT MY BOY MONET YOOOO the moment I see any painting even remotely of the style lol)

But let me tell you why I am losing my nerdy marbles over the use of this artwork in the show (even though I am very certain that they probably just used whatever relatively recognisable piece they could find that didn’t have any like copyright stuff attached) because oh boy do I have Thoughts.

So let’s get analytical up in this biz....

First off, there’s the big one: it’s an Impressionist piece. The very foundation of the style is that from afar, all looks normal, but when you actually look closely, everything is blurred and distorted; nothing is distinct. Which is doubly appropriate for this show: firstly, the team is currently pursuing a mission that seems clear-cut (to clear their names and get their lives back, to free the FBI of Madeline’s corruption) but which actually involves a lot of uncertainty and murkiness and blurred lines (are we willing to break multiple laws? to potentially kill people deliberately, not just in self-defense? how far are we willing to go to achieve our mission, and if we succeed, will we still be the same? etc). Secondly, and more relevantly to this particular scene, the style is fitting for Rich himself following his experience in the blacksite. Look from a distance, and he seems alright, still normal (or as normal as Rich could ever be). But look close, and you start to see that everything is actually hazy and muddled, the cracks starting to show. He is not okay.

But wait, there’s more! Because this work isn’t just Impressionist, it’s Neo-Impressionist (specifically, Pointilist) which ol’ boy Georges was one of the pioneers of-- he was literally considered a renegade because of it, a rebel operating against the status quo, which I find very appropriate for our own little band of rebels lol. But the point (lol) of Pointilism is to create scenes filled with vivid colours, ones that almost seem to jump out of the canvas, which is achieved by combining small brushstrokes (points) of different colours which from further away appear to be practically just one bright colour. So again, looking from a distance you see one thing, and from up close you see that it’s actually more complicated than that. Like this team; they’re all individuals, all their own distinct colours, but look at the bigger picture and you see that they blend together to create a balanced, harmonious whole. And that same concept can be applied to them all individually, too-- each one of them is made up by a veritable rainbow of traits. Light, dark, and everything in between; every stroke makes them who they are.

But that’s just the style, though, which is only the half of it. Look at the actual subject of the painting; at its setting. Art is an escape from one’s own reality, and for someone practically trapped in a concrete box underground, what better choice of escape is there than a scene of people happily enjoying the outdoors, spending time in the midst of sunshine and nature, with no walls or ceilings in sight, no one being hunted or hurt? See, too, how the foreground of the painting is in shadow-- it gives the sense that the viewer is in shadow too, the dimness of the bunker and the shadow of the painting blending together, like if Rich were to stand in front of the painting and step forward, he’d be stepping out onto the grass. It’s a hopeful thought; the team might be in shadow right now, but the light of day isn’t so far away. A little longer, a little further, and they’ll be out there too, enjoying their lives and their freedom just like the people in the painting.

And speaking of the people in the painting... there’s a few other little things about this painting that makes me love that it was the one they chose. Firstly, I love that Tasha brought Rich a painting which was described with words like ‘bedlam’, ‘scandal’, and ‘hilarity’ when it was first exhibited, which are probably the exact words that would come to mind if you had to describe Rich and his life in three words lol (pre-blacksite, sadly). Though the painting looks very normal and serene to us, when you look closely, there are a couple of pretty weird things, especially for that time. For one, the woman in the foreground has a pet monkey on a leash, which I think is a fairly apt representation of Rich’s role in the team haha, particularly early on. There’s also a lady off to the left who is fishing, and if I remember correctly, she was thought to symbolise a prostitute reeling in her clients down by the docks/waterside lol, an interpretation which I feel like Rich would absolutely love. In a more Blindspot-specific sense, another character of interest is the man lounging right near the front-- I can’t be the only one who thinks he looks just like ‘old’ Weller, right down to the little hat? The fact that his outfit seems out of place for the time, and also the subtle... sexiness (for the lack of a better word lol) of his clothes and pose makes it feel like Rich’s consciousness could have conjured him there (bc lbr, we all know Rich loves some sexy Weller). And lastly, I can’t not mention the little girl in the center, who is famously considered to be staring right at the viewer of the painting, as if fully aware she’s being observed and totally ready to throw down about it. And I know that this one is extra silly and had obviously never crossed the prop-designer’s mind, but, well... this painting is French, and if someone asked me to think of an appropriate name for a little French schoolgirl, I would pick the name of the one I spent many hours of my childhood watching cartoons and reading books about: Madeline.

As a last, final bonus (and yet another totally irrelevant thing that I am ascribing my own meaning to), just look out on the water in the distance-- there’s what appears to be a steamboat. Or is it The Boat, and is it sinking, a plume of smoke rising from it as it goes down in flames?

But that’s the thing about art, isn’t it; there’s no limit to what we see in it. So when Rich looks at this gift, I hope he sees freedom. Hope. A future in the sun.

Because he’s earned it.

They all have.

#Blindspot #Blindspot spoilers #Impressionism #LOOK I KNOW THIS IS RIDICULOUS #BUT I JUST LOVE IMPRESSIONISM OKAY #AND SYMBOLISM #AND RICH #AND THIS SCENE #don't ask me anything about literally any other art style bc I would not have a clue #god I'm so curious to know if the choice was even slightly deliberate #it won't be #but still

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surveys-at-your-service · 4 years

Text

Survey #333

“imaginary chain / the one you never break / seething all alone”

Do you have any fears you would rarely admit to anyone? Nah, I'm pretty open about what I'm afraid of. What website do you spend most of your time on? YouTube. What class in high school did you struggle with the most? I honestly don't remember with certainty, but it was probably math or economics. At least, I think econ was my senior year. What could you talk about for hours? Mark, meerkats, a few game franchises... maybe a couple more topics. Who is your favorite character from Harry Potter? I wouldn't know. Do you salt your popcorn? Yes. Do you have a Steam account? Yeah, but I don't have many games on there and rarely touch the ones I do. Do you like gaming? I do, but not as much as I did for most of my life. I mostly just play WoW now, and even that I'm not that into anymore. Part of it though comes from not buying any new games that I'm interested in because 1.) no money and 2.) no proper console, and you can only replay games so many times before you're just... yeah, done. Do you like reading books? Some days. Do you like religion? All things considered? No. Do you like Grand Theft Auto V? Y'know, growing up, I actually liked watching my younger neighbor play one of those games, but I don't remember which. Though he never actually "played" it... just ran around wreaking havoc, lol. I do however think GTAV was the one that Jason and Jacob started playing together when we moved into the apartment, and I thought the story was okay; I don't think they ever got far into it, though. Definitely wasn't Jason's sort of game, and I don't think it was too much up Jacob's alley, either. Can you twerk? I haven't tried and you will never see me try either, lmao. Do you have a Spotify account? Yes, but I almost never use it. If the last person you kissed tried to kiss you again, would you start kissing them back? Yes. If your best friend of the opposite sex tried to kiss you, would you start kissing them back? No. Have you ever kissed someone who has previously kissed someone you hated? Yes, because of how badly she hurt him. I don't have any negative feelings towards her now, though. We're actually friends, haha. The irony. Are you an easy lay? What weird wording. But whatever, quite the polar opposite actually. When’s the last time you said you were sorry? A few days ago. Are there any songs you listen to everyday? No. Would you like living on the coast? As someone who lives in a state hit by hurricanes usually every year and has seen the incredible damage they usually bring to the coast, no. I don't like the smell or gritty feel of salty air, either. When’s the last time you were really late to something? No idea. That's usually not a problem with me. Why did you stop liking the last person you liked? The last person I actually stopped like-liking would be Girt, and that would be because I just came to the realization I saw him too much as my brother instead of boyfriend. It just always felt awkward. Do you still talk to that person? Yeah, we're good. No hard feelings or anything between us. Are you keeping a secret from someone who needs to know the truth? No. Do you trust easily? Fuck no. I'll be cautious, at least to some degree, about new people for a while. What is the last song to make you cry? Since I've actually behaved and not listened to any trigger songs, it's been a long while, but it was probably "Another Life" by Motionless In White. Last person you hung up on? I'm sure some automated message. I barely ever answer the phone to numbers I don't recognize, though. Where was your last car ride to and from? To Wal-Mart w/ Mom to pick up our order and then back home. Next big outing? *shrug* Do you find it difficult to stay invested in online relationships? Not really, no. Considering I'm by far my most authentic self online, I actually tend to appreciate virtual friends more, if I'm being honest. I try to keep up with those people. Are you the type of person who pays close attention to the release dates of movies, music, etc., and will, for example, go see a movie or buy an album on the date it is released? If so, when is the last time you did so? Not really, no. I think I saw Warcraft the day it came into theaters, though. Do movies often make you cry? What kind of films/scenes make you tear up most? Yep. Tragic romance tends to do it the most, I think. Do you use any apps to track your health or medications? I have one to track my menstrual cycle as well as another that tracks my daily caloric intake, but I'm bad at using it because it's tedious if I actually have to measure something. Whose opinions/recommendations do you value most? Ummm if you mean like, in general, probably my mom's. But this most certainly depends on the subject I'm taking feedback on. What is something society "expects" you to do that you don't want to do and/or don't plan on doing? Shaving my legs came to mind first. Granted, I will if there is almost any chance of someone seeing them, but otherwise, I just don't care. We respect women with body hair on this account and see them as no less feminine. Are you interested in architecture? Is there any particular style that you're drawn to? I think it's cool, yeah. I should have an answer for this, given architecture was a massive focus in Art History the last time I was in school... Roman architecture comes to my head first, if that says anything. What was one of your favorite things from the nineties? BOY OH BOY, SO MUCH!! I'm probably gonna say the toys. There was some dope shit, man. Do you collect things pertaining to an animal? ANYTHING and EVERYTHING featuring a meerkat!!!!! :''') Do you wish that people were kinder to spiders? Well, yes. I hope everyone in their heart wishes this, even if they're afraid of them. They're very important to our ecosystem, and none are out there to harm us; their existence does us a favor. Where do you normally order pizza from? Domino's (my favorite) or LIttle Caesar's for the price. Did your parents keep anything of yours from when you were a baby? Oh yes, loads of stuff that's stored away somewhere. Do you own one of those "____ For Dummies" books? No, but I feel like we had one at some point? What was the last VHS tape that you watched? Yikes, who knows. Did you watch Boy Meets World back in the day? I actually didn't, no. Our old neighbor though loved it so much that she named her daughter Tapanga (deliberately spelled that way). Who is your favorite Scooby Doo character? I never really had one. Maybe Thelma. If I were to give you a coloring book, what would you want its theme to be? Animals. Have you ever won a stuffed animal at a carnival? Possibly a small one. I can tell you I did however accidentally stab the guy who ran the dart-throwing booth though, lmfao. He was obviously fine, and it wasn't a bad wound. I felt SOOOOOO bad. Are you a fan of narwhals? I'm a fan of any animal. Narwhals are definitely fascinating creatures. Grape or orange soda? Orange. Grape-flavored soda ain't my thing. Have you ever wanted to vlog? Noooo. My life is so painstakingly boring and repetitive. Did you have a favorite Disney movie as a child? It was and still is The Lion King. Do you or have you ever owned a portable gaming console? Yeah, a GameBoy Advance and Nintendo DS. Is shyness cute? It definitely can be. Have you ever had alcohol poisoning before? No. Do you like to gossip, or do you prefer to keep your mouth shut? I'm not a gossip fan. Have you ever vandalized someone else’s property before? Most definitely not. Are your parents divorced? Yes. Have you ever been under suicide watch for 72 hours in a psychiatric ward? Yes; at least here, that's protocol when you're admitted for suicidal thoughts/tendencies. Have you ever gone through your significant other’s phone or social media accounts, or do you respect their privacy? Absolutely not. That shit pisses me off so badly. Do you wear any sort of clothing for religious reasons? No. What's something you worked extremely hard to get? My sanity back. Sounds so dramatic, but I'm literally not kidding. Have you ever been labeled negatively or otherwise been called something extremely derogatory? Not that I remember. How many kids do you want to have? I don't want kids, but to entertain the question, when I did, I wanted three. It's fuckin wild to imagine for even a second that I once wanted that. Do you believe that being gay is a sin? *eye roll* Are you any good at photography? If so, what’s your specialty? I mean it with modesty, but I think I'm pretty good. My favorite thing to photograph are animals, but I generally take most pictures of people by request or pay. Judging by my deviantART account, my nature pics definitely get the most attention. Have you ever been a member of a gang before? Fuckin yikes, no. An infamous gang tried breaking into my childhood home once, so you can probably gather that I would never take part in their "big bad guys" bullshit. Have you ever felt like you were neither male nor female? No, I'm comfortable as a cisgender female. Do you like oatmeal raisin cookies? NO. Anything with raisins = NO. Do you think you’re attractive? No. Has a teacher ever caught and read a note you were passing in class? No, not that I really passed notes to begin with. I'd be mortified, regardless of what it was about. Would you rather live in a tropical or arctic climate? Arctic. Do you have an older brother? Yes. He's technically my half-brother, but I don't see "half"s. Have either of your parents ever been to jail? No. Are your collarbones prominent? Bitch I wish so I could get the damn dermal piercings I've wanted for years. Have you ever in your life worn overalls? As a kid, yeah. So ugly. Do you love yourself? It's... weird. Therapy is making me realize that a part of me, maybe even the bigger one, doesn't, but at the exact same time, I know I have worth just like every other human. I just don't treat myself like I do. What TV shows do you keep up with? None, until Meerkat Manor returns this summer. :') When’s the last time it snowed where you live? A couple months ago we got a little bit of it. Is your belly button pierced? No, but it would be if I was actually skinny. Just in my personal opinion, I don't at all think that that piercing would look nice on someone as overweight as me. Even if my damn dreams come true and I lose all the weight I want, my stomach will never look "normal," even after I get the excess skin removal surgery that will be very high on my priority list for my own self-image that's been nothing but loathsome since 2016. What is your favourite dinosaur? Spinosaurus is the obvious answer. What do you remember the most about your childhood? Lots of imagination. Parents arguing. Playing with my little sister. What age did you get your first hair cut? I have no idea. Do you have a favourite toy from childhood still? No. I wish I hadn't gotten rid of it. Have you ever made bread? No. Would you ever consider shaving your head? Nah. Would you like to live in a realm where the zombie apocalypse is possible? Who says we don't now? Zombifying parasites already exist among insects and such, so like... it's not unimaginable to one day see one developed enough to infect humans. I sure as fuck hope not, but. What do you use to dry your clothes? (Tumble dryer, radiator, etc) We have a dryer. Do you ever play the built-in games on your computer? Which ones? Nah. What was the last spontaneous thing you did? I did this many, many months ago, but I guess watch an episode of The Witcher by my own volition. I don't really do spontaneous things with how routine I am, but I had a random urge to check it out one morning. How loud can you whistle? Not very loud at all. Does anything on your body hurt or itch right now? My knees really hurt. They're getting worse. When was the last time you built a sandcastle? There's noooo telling, it's been many years. Have you ever ridden a mechanical bull? No. Well, not a *real* one, anyway. Just the little ones for kids. If you had to appear on a game show, which one would you choose? Family Feud. What is your favorite hot beverage? Hot chocolate. Do you have an alter ego? Describe them: No. Food: Are you adventurous or do you stick to what you know? I absolutely stick to what I know. I am SO picky. Is there anything (out of the obvious) that makes you feel really ill? I'm not immediately sure, but there's probably something. Do you bump into things often? Yes. I've always had this weird habit of like... drifting when I walk, so I do this easily. I just kinda wander to the sides a bit without realizing it. What design is on your calendar this year? I don't have a current one. Did you enjoy playing Hop Scotch when you were younger? I did. Do you feel uncomfortable going to the movies by yourself? Nah, not really. I did that with Warcraft and it was actually pretty chill. When thinking about your dream home, what do you think would be your favorite thing to shop for? The ~g o t h i c~ decor. Do you ever listen to those lo-fi hip hop/study music playlists on YouTube/Spotify? No. Are you likelier to work harder if you’re being paid? If not, what drives you to give your best effort? I mean, yeah. I'd assume that's pretty normal. Does the fashion sense of a potential partner matter to you? No. Is there anything that you prefer to write down rather than type? I'm unsure. If you download/torrent things, do you remember the first thing you ever torrented? Oh, the Limewire days of music pirating... but no, I don't remember. What was the last thing you posted on Instagram? Something photography-related, but I don't feel like checking. What do you wish your hair looked like? I wish I could pull off pastel pink hair rn. It also desperately needs a trim. Do you still feel anything for the first person you fell in love with? I'm sure I always will, at least a little. Do you get any magazines in the mail? No. Have you ever paid for any kind of online membership? Uhhhhh have I? I don't think so. Who’d you last see in a tux? Probably the groom of the last wedding I shot. Do you record any TV shows and watch them later? No, but I used to do that big time because I loved "rewatching" stuff when I was on the computer. Out of everyone you know, who was the most heart? My mother, big time. Who’s the bravest person you know? Also my mother. Or Sara. What profession do you admire the most? Teachers might just win. The patience that must take, among so many other things. Have you ever made a fake profile, for any reason? No.

#survey #surveys #questions #lyrics: ''bornless'' by 3teeth

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gayregis · 4 years

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Oh yeah that reminds me of another question I've been meaning to ask (sorry to jump on you like this haha) but which vampire canon change in B&W annoys you the most? For me it's the whole 'even touching silver will harm a vampire' (when it's explained that Syanna figured out Dettlaff was a vampire because he wouldn't directly touch a silver candlestick). I just choose to ignore that detail bc I don't think it makes much sense haha

omg this is such a good ask im so excited to answer

first of all, i really agree with you, even when i hadn’t read the books fully i had read that one passage in lady of the lake where regis gestures with a silver fork at the banquet, and blood and wine tries to make it so like regis and dettlaff are the same “kind” of vampire, so this obviously doesn’t make any sense, and since it’s just such a small detail i tried to ignore it, like, maybe dettlaff just wanted to keep the silver candlestick fingerprint-free, ever consider that, syanna? you’re gonna pawn something, you don’t want like a billion fingerprints mucking it all up... and then syanna thought this made him a vampire, when in reality he was a vampire but the candlestick had fuckall to do with it

but yeah i think i’m gonna do like a top 5 style: TOP 5 THINGS CDPR GOT WRONG ABOUT THE VAMPIRES. im not gonna do a countdown because im a very direct person and think its best to get the worst out of the way.

1. their society and relationship with humans.

the thing that upsets me the most that cdpr changed is how vampires exist on the continent. stuff like tesham mutna and the unseen elder breaks canon lore so hard it makes me physically upset.

this is a bad thing because not only is the trope of “vampires control everything from the shadows as a secret society so they can feed on human blood” incredibly boring and overdone (it’s a trope, so it’s something that the witcher should stand to invert since that’s pretty much the purpose of the witcher), but it also has origins in antisemitism (the myth of the illuminati or “reptilians/secret societies controlling the world”, blood libel), so it’s super gross! i don’t want the vampires to be that trope, that’s completely unfair.

they already were something other than that trope, they already HAD their own society (or lack thereof) as part of the canon lore. maybe it is personal preference, but i think that their “anti-society” is super interesting. how does something like that function with no rules or figures of authority or customs? it’s incredibly different to the ways humans function in this universe, who are mostly bound around their nation, city/town/village, and home unit, and abide by strict custom and systems of authority. it’s really something to be explored from a lore perspective, there wasn’t a whole lot explained in canon (for good reason: see #2) so it has perfect potential to be elaborated upon in the adaptational spinoff that is the witcher games.

it makes them super boring and trope-y to have them all kowtow to One Figure Of Authority in the area. plus CDPR states that the reason toussaint is so perfect is that this secret society controls toussaint as an area to perfect blood, when toussaint literally existed as a fairy-tale duchy to be an OBSTACLE to geralt and his hansa in the saga. it was the “leave-your-quest” test. think of the island of the lotus eaters from the odyssey. it’s a perfect place, there’s no reason as to why it is perfect, it just is, and it keeps the company hostage there for months so they will get distracted and eventually forget what they came there for.

in canon as well, vampires do not seem to care much about humans. regis certainly does, but he is regis :). there was little conversation about how vampires view humans, rather about how humans view vampires and project their innermost fears and desires to them. further breaking some vampire tropes. in blood & wine. instead of that trope-flipping, we get... “vampires tortured humans out of curiosity and selfishness.” what? why would they do this? there is not much to gain, and it would take a lot of cooperation and effort to get to this point, which leads me to ask, HOW could they do this? as regis says in bof, there were only about 1,200 vampires when they arrived on the continent, so they were completely and utterly outnumbered as they were likely scattered around. they wouldn’t be able to build a castle and re-engineer toussaint to fit their needs. i understand that he is massively biased, but i feel like regis calls these first vampires “hapless survivors” for a reason, and also since regis is regis, i do not feel like he would feel this way about them if they committed massive crimes against humanity.

tl;dr for this point: not only is it fucked up for no reason but to be gross/shocking to the audience, but it also removes their purpose as a metaphor, which is #2.

2. the removal of their purpose as a metaphor in the story.

originally, the vampires are not meant to be the focus of the witcher series or even a smaller part of the series at all. they are simply a metaphor for aspects of human society so that regis can have a backstory. the vampires are nothing more than a fictional means of exploring the effects of alcoholism, and a thought experiment as to what an authority-less, family-less, custom-less society would be like. the question “what do youth do when they have no support and no guidance?” already is one of the witcher’s major questions as a saga, the vampires and regis’s backstory serves to be another one of the stories within it that fits this theme. except we add more conditions to the thought experiment this time, like “what if these youth never aged and were powerful enough to survive on their own?” there would be no reason for them to ever change or grow out of their behavior. it’s quite interesting, because it’s meant to reflect upon human nature, the vampires are metaphorically humans. there is no reason for regis to even be a vampire, except that he needs to be able to survive death and learn from his mistakes. a human would have died had he hit rock bottom like regis did, but since regis wasn’t human and could rise from the grave, he had the chance at a new life. humans don’t get second chances. this is the point of the entire story being about vampires.

now, i understand that the purpose of the witcher games is to entertain, unlike the point of the witcher book series, which are like any other books and serve an author’s message. so, it stands to reason that the vampires do not have to prove a strong point here, but they should retain their essential traits and serve as the metaphor which was already really interesting and deserves more explanation and thought. i think using a fictional lens to take a look at real-world issues can be helpful sometimes, when done respectfully and when still using creativity. even if it’s just to entertain, that doesn’t mean it should be brainless and throw all of the commentary out of the window.

the vampires as a subject for the game to focus on should really be a vessel for thought and critique. it should mean SOMETHING for them to be there, because they were originally a message and a metaphor.

but in blood & wine, they are incredibly shallow, only there to exist for the attention-getter of gore.

does it MEAN anything that dettlaff regenerated regis from his own flesh and blood? or does that just happen because we needed a convienient way to bring regis back and tie him to the antagonist? does it MEAN anything that dettlaff cuts off his own hand? or is that just because it’s cool and kinda gross. does it MEAN anything that the vampires attack beauclair? or is that just because there needed to be some violence and conflict.

there is no deeper meaning! it’s all just flashiness to shock the audience! it’s incredibly shallow and because it is shallow, it becomes boring and forgettable.

blood & wine focuses on details about the vampires that are gross, gorey or bloody, uncomfortable because of how nasty they are. and these elements have NO PURPOSE to the story other than to gross you out, like regis being regenerated, dettlaff skewering regis like a kebab, dettlaff cutting off his hand and that hand being handled by the bruxa, geralt, and regis, regis going crazy in a cage, syanna also getting skewered, etc. ... it’s this focus on the physical action that is happening on screen with little thought as to any deeper meaning that makes me tired and nauseous. why treat the vampires as savage animals?

as a mention in this topic, i am going to comment on how they deliberately changed the lore to “make childrens’ blood taste better than adults’ blood,” because that is mega-gross. why change it to focus on child endangerment? that’s nasty! why make orianna feed on children when it was LITERALLY canon that the “best” blood was that of strong adults? if you want to make orianna morally grey, she could have owned any other kind of place to get blood from. see #2 for more discussion of this.

3. their focus on the conjunction of the spheres.

the vampires never had this obsession with “returning home.” i... have no idea where this comes from. remember how i just said that i appreciate a metaphor for real-life when it is done respectfully? CDPR gave us this awkward metaphor for the vampires “wanting to go home” because they have to “assimilate” in this new world, apparently every vampire ever misses their homeland. ... it’s the story of immigrants who didn’t have a choice to be born in The New Land, but they were anyways, and now they want to go home. and it’s the story of minority groups, who are overshadowed by the society they live in, but cannot be themselves in, because it would mean violence.

this is an incredibly awkward metaphor just because it’s not done well, but also CDPR literally just focused on how extremely violent the vampires are, and how they also control everything so they can use the humans they were thrown in with to their own fancies. this is... i didn’t know that the metaphors for fantasy racism in the witcher could get any worse than sapkowski’s were.

also, there’s some weird lore-breaking moments when regis says he misses the vampire homeworld or whatever, and i just am left staring at my laptop like. you’re only like, 4 centuries old, regis. the conjunction of the spheres occured more than 3 times your age in the past. plus the fact that regis in baptism of fire calls himself a “descendant,” it’s obvious that someone at cdpr just didn’t do their research when writing those lines.

4. their power level and exactly how powerful they are.

let’s take a moment to think about a grain of truth. the second story in the witcher books, it was written before sapkowski had a lot of the vampire lore down-pat. geralt says things like “it’s silver, this blade is silver” and “an ordinary vampire couldn’t come out in the sun,” which are incongruent with what we learn in baptism of fire about vampires. but nevertheless, there’s a lot which is still accurate to the vampires, such as that VEREENA ABSOLUTELY KICKS GERALT’S ASS. geralt very nearly DIED in that fight, he was ABOUT to die, but nivellen saved him at the last split-second. geralt finds out that vereena is a bruxa, and he is alarmed, he shouts and then falls on his ass. he scrambles, he’s unprepared to deal with a foe THIS powerful. he manages to land his sword on her during the fight, but it barely harms her. she dodges incredibly, and swipes of his sword that should have hit do not. she screams terribly, and geralt is in incredible, writhing pain. he uses his signs to help him, this is no normal fight with a normal foe. flash forward to in baptism of fire, when geralt meets another vampire, one that is considerably more powerful and unique than vereena was. dandelion asks geralt, if ... potentially... maybe... and geralt responds that he sincerely doubts that he could beat regis in a fight, and he really does not want to have to try.

geralt was BESTED by vampires in the books. he was as close as a witcher can get to being INTIMIDATED by their power. but what happens in blood & wine? there’s like 8 bruxae and alpors ganging up on you and you can easily vanquish all of them with your silver sword and by knocking back maybe a glass of black blood and white raffard’s decoction. it’s fine, it’s easy to kill vampires. geralt doesn’t hesitate to fight dettlaff. he doesn’t worry, he doesn’t tell anyone that he sincerely doubts that he could beat him in a fight, that he doesn’t want to have to try. instead, it’s regis talking geralt out of the fight, trying to advocate for peace.

CDPR massively nerfed the vampires just to make them easier targets for the player. i think this is unfair to how the vampires were powerful threats to be reckoned with in the books, foes that even geralt, a witcher, did not want to face. not even out of geralt’s pacifism and apprehension to slay innocent and/or sentient beings, but out of not wanting to fucking hit that die button

i also understand that regis was supposedly less powerful now because he was just tired from being regenerated, but vampires like bruxae should have been able to turn into giant bats. there’s nothing stopping them besides cdpr not wanting to code it in, just like how they didn’t want to code in bruxae or alpors wearing clothes (because vampires do wear clothes in canon).

5. their classification: adding new vampire species, distinguishing between “higher vampires” and “TRUE higher vampires”

just plain annoying to me. there’s only seven types of vampires, as regis says in baptism of fire:

“In the case of higher vampires, never, I agree,” Emiel Regis said softly. “From what I know alpors, katakans, moolas, bruxas, and nosferats don’t mutilate their victims. On the other hand, fleders and ekimmas are pretty brutal with their victim’s remains.”

“Bravo,” Geralt said, looking at him in genuine admiration. “You didn’t leave out a single class of vampire, Nor did you mention any of the imaginary ones, which only exist in fairy-tales.”

so there are seven classes... five of which are higher vampires which can probably be classified by having sentient thought and not harming their victims, two of which are lesser vampires, which are quite violent with their victims and more animalistic for this reason.

also i am confused as to why CDPR made fleders the least likely to sustain flight, when their name i’m pretty certain is taken from fledermaus, the german word for bat, which just means flying mouse (feel free to correct me if i’m wrong, idk german), so “fleder” should just mean “flutter,” or “to fly.”

SO. it’s total bullshit to be like “there’s some higher vampires and then TRUE/REAL higher vampires, which cannot be killed...” and it confuses everyone as to who is ACTUALLY a higher vampire and who is not, when the system we had before wasn’t broken at all!

BONUS. general changes to vampire powers

it annoys me how they turn into puffs of mist/smoke instead of vanishing, simply vanishing. no deeper reason why, it just bothers me because you’re not supposed to be able to see them at all, that’s the point of turning invisible/incorporeal.

there was no mention or demonstration of how regis can hypnotize people, even though that was probably his most frequently used vampire power in the books asides from turning invisible/incorporeal. it showed that even though he was very powerful, he opted to use his passive powers and nonviolent routes of dealing with people.

i think it also makes the vampires way overpowered to be able to regenerate each other with each other’s blood ... and it takes away from the finality of stygga... also them just flying and turning into bats whenever they want, as if regis didn’t say that he can only turn into a bat during a full moon. they made them overpowered and still made it super easy for geralt to kill them. alright

#ask #vamp squad #regis #dettlaff #dol--blathanna #long post /

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softyoongiionly · 5 years

Text

Fear and Dumplings: Chapter Thirteen

(GIF isn’t mine)

Confronting your fears for a final grade sounds unappealing but, with Yoongi as your partner, things might not be so bad.

Summary: You’re in your final semester at University when your Abnormal Psychology professor assigns you a partnered project surrounding your greatest fears. Lucky for you, your partner just so happens to be a cute boy named Min Yoongi.

Pairing: Min Yoongi x Reader

Genre: Underground Rapper! Yoongi, Soft!!! Yoongi, Fluff!!!, some moderate angst (later), smut (later later), slow-ish? burn.

Word Count: 6.2k (lmao this was supposed to be a baby chapter)

A/N: I really hope you like this one friends, this particular yoongi means a lot to me and, I missed him way tooo much. Please let me know what you think! love you <333

Warnings for this Chapter: language, smut, there’s so many feelings guys, I want to scream

Warnings for the Fic: mentions characters confronting their fears, characters in uncomfortable situations, emotional moments between characters, mentions of bad parenting, explicit language throughout the fic, moderate angst, and very explicit smut later in the story.

Chapter 13: Showers and Suga(r)

BROS FOR LYFE (JUNGKOOK): This just in… having sex with the person you love is the shit. 10/10 would recommend.

You giggle to yourself, trying to keep quiet as your thumb hovers over your keyboard. The time on your phone read 9:53am and, given that you and Yoongi finally knocked out around one, you’re feeling particularly well rested. And cozy.

Very fucking cozy.

BROS FOR LYFE (TAEHYUNG): wait you guys are in love? THAT’S SO CUTE, CAN I BE YOUR RING BEAR?

It takes everything in you to hold in the laughter that’s threatening to burst out of your mouth and, you literally have to clamp your hand over your lips to prevent the noise from disturbing Yoongi’s sleep. He was completely knocked out beside you, head smooshed into the pillow, bleached hair completely wrecked, rosy cheeks and pouted lips on full display: he is the cutest boy in the entire world.

BROS FOR LYFE (JIMIN): Ring bearer Tae, not a ring bear

BROS FOR LYFE (JIMIN): Also, yes it’s very cute, we’re the fucking cutest.

BROS FOR LYFE (TAEHYUNG): ok, fine, can I be the ring bearer then?

BROS FOR LYFE (JUNGKOOK): You’re obviously going to be one of our best men, with Y/N being the other and, we’re not getting married until I get into the major league but, I agree with Jimin, we are officially the most superior couple on planet Earth. Call us Jimyonce’ and Jeon-Z.

BROS FOR LYFE (JIMIN): Damn right. Except minus the cheating…if Jungkook ever cheated on me, I would murder him in cold blood :o)

BROS FOR LYFE (JUNGKOOK): he’s so romantic :’’(

BROS FOR LYFE: no murdering allowed

BROS FOR LYFE: also, I love you guys a lot and, I would love to be ur best man are you kidding me?

BROS FOR LYFE: Tae, how did you end up getting home last night?

BROS FOR LYFE (TAEHYUNG): I’m still not home lmao

BROS FOR LYFE (TAEHYUNG): my friend is making us breakfast

BROS FOR LYFE (TAEHYUNG): and then, I’m going to pick up Jeon-Z so, we can head back

BROS FOR LYFE: is your friend the same girl you were talking to on the patio?

BROS FOR LYFE (JUNGKOOK): I imagine the girl he is referring to is the one who he was playing tonsil hockey with in the hallway

BROS FOR LYFE (JUNGKOOK): you scarred me for life by the way

BROS FOR LYFE (TAEHYUNG): haha yeah same girl

BROS FOR LYFE (TAEHYUNG): She’s pretty cool, I think we’re gonna keep talking

Before the next message comes through, your attention is pulled to the roughness of Yoongi’s voice, the sound alone, stirring something sweet inside of you.

“What’re you smilin’ at?” His words are slurred, sleepiness deeply rooted in his raspy voice. Your smile grows as you make eye contact with him, his cat eyes are narrowed in suspicion but, the tiny smirk on his mouth gives him away.

“Good morning…” You giggle, ignoring his question because, your focus is now far away from your previous task.

His grin grows as you open your arms, encouraging him to come closer. He obliges and scoots lazily in your direction, his arm securing itself around your middle as he buries his face in your naked chest.

“Mm goodmorning…” The glee in his tone is hard to miss and, when your arms cuddle him closer to you, he rapidly places kisses all over the tops of your breasts, lingering longer in some places than he needed to. You laugh, feeling the warm glow of bliss radiating throughout your body.

“Your laugh is cute…” He mumbles, kissing all the way up your chest, nibbling playfully into your neck before his eyes meet yours.

“Your face is cute…” You counter, still giggling as you tap your finger on the end of his nose causing the appendage to scrunch up.

“Shut up…I’m not cute…I’m…scary…” He grumbles, not fully awake yet, pointy teeth catching the side of your hand, smirking as he secures it in his mouth.

“Oh god, yes, how could I forget? Min Yoongi, the most terrifying man on Earth…” You can’t keep the laughter from bubbling over as you move your hand in his grip.

He chuckles then, dropping your hand before craning his neck towards your lips, “Please keep that rumor going, I have a reputation to up hold and, you’re the only one who knows my secret…”

His words hit you somewhere deep in your heart but, you do your best to combat the slight elevation in your pulse. Instead, you lean down slightly towards his pouty mouth, nudging his nose as you do.

“What secret is that?” You murmur against his lips, placing a chaste kiss against the bottom one.

Yoongi’s eyes flutter shut, a smile playing on his mouth, “Do you not remember last night?”

He kisses you then, not allowing you to continue, his hands coming up to pull you closer to him, his smile still prevalent as the two of you indulge in one another.

“I remember…” You giggle into his mouth, nipping on his bottom lip as he pulls the top half of you over his chest

“Mm…” He hums thoughtfully into your mouth, his hands still trying to maneuver you on top of him, “ so you remember me busting a nut in my pants because you bit me then? Don’t think many people would find that scary…”

“I don’t know, I think that makes you pretty edgy in my book…” You counter, smirking, assisting him in his endeavor to sit you on his lap.

Yoongi has a new pair of boxers on but, he’s completely bare everywhere else, his body littered with scratches and, other various marks that would reveal what the two of you had been up to. He looks pretty roughed up but, the expression on his face, blissful and relaxed, something you haven’t seen on him before, it assures you that he enjoyed last night just as much as you did.

“You look really pretty right now…” He murmurs, his cheeks darkening as they usually do when he says something sincere, he amends his statement before you have time to respond, his tone growing slightly nervous, “Well, you’re always pretty but, right now especially, you uh, you do…”

“So do you…” You giggle lightly, your hand reaching out to smooth his hair out of his face.

He frowns playfully but, his lids flutter with the sensation of your hand, his head pushing up against you.

“How can I be pretty and terrifying at the same time?”

You shrug, “You’re an enigma Min Yoongi, researchers in the future will spend years trying to understand your complexity.”

He snorts then, eyes rolling slightly but, his expression falters as you start to gently scratch his scalp.

“You’re so dumb...” He chuckles and, you place a hand on your chest, faking a sweet smile.

“When he compliments you on something other than your appearance...” You wink at him and, his head falls back as rickety laughter escapes his chest.

“Shut up oh my god!” He forces out through his laughter, hands coming up to pinch at your hips, causing you to laugh along with him.

Placing your hands over his, you secure them to you, enjoying the warmth of his grip.

“Thank you for letting me stay over, your bed is really comfortable.” You relay as the laughter between the two of you settles.

A playful smirk is on his mouth, “No problem...”

Your brows cinch together, head tilting to the side, “What?”

“Nothing.”

You eye him suspiciously but, decide to let it go, your eyes wandering towards his bedroom door, “Do you mind if I shower? I hooked up with this guy last night and, he kind of made a mess of me...twice.”

Yoongi’s smirk grows, his eyes flitting between your legs momentarily, “He sounds like a dick...”

You giggle, leaning down towards his lips, nudging his nose, “He’s actually pretty sweet but, don’t tell him I said that...”

Yoongi’s gummy smile makes an appearance then and, you immediately have to kiss it off, lest you melt into a pile of mush. He eagerly accepts your lips, kissing at you slowly, gently nibbling on your lip, his hands sliding over your hips and onto your ass.

You smile into his mouth, letting your tongue brush lightly against his, your hands braced on either side of his head. Its never enough though, you always need just that little bit more. You roll your hips into his slowly and, deliberately, feeling his dick twitch inside of his boxers.

He sighs out shakily through his nose, tongue stalling its movements, “You’re going to fuck up my plans...”

His statement is rather matter of fact and, it causes you to pull a few centimeters away from his lips, “What do you mean?”

He smirks, nipping at your bottom lip, “I promised you breakfast in bed, didn’t I?”

You return his expression, pulling back even further, your hips still pressed against his, “You could always do brunch in bed...pretty sure it's still early...”

Yoongi chuckles, one of his hands leaves your hips and comes to move your hair from your face, amused at your suggestion, “I don’t know how well I’d do in the kitchen after I’ve let you get a hold of me...”

Flirting didn’t exactly come natural to Yoongi, particularly when he was nervous and, although he was growing more and more comfortable around you, he still found himself easily flustered by your actions.

“Hm I’m not sure what you mean?” You feign innocence, placing a finger on your chin, pretending to be lost in thought.

Yoongi pounces then, cat like as ever, springing up from his position to push you gently onto your back. A shriek leaves your throat followed by a stream of giggles and , Yoongi hovers over you, rickety laughter puffing past his lips and onto yours, “You know exactly what I mean...”

You wrap your legs around his waist, causing his hands to buckle, leaving him to rest his body weight on his elbows. You grind up against him, causing him to shudder and laugh all at the same time as he buries his face into your neck. His teeth nip at the skin there as he tries to distract himself from the throbbing between his legs.

“Do you want to shower with me first?” You murmur sweetly into his ear, pressing a pert kiss to his earlobe.

You feel him grin against you, biting down a little harder at your question. He doesn’t trust his voice for the moment though so, he just nods, kissing up the column of your throat before settling on your lips, his eyes sunken and hazy with the beginnings of lust.

Moments later, the two of you are in Yoongi’s bathroom, stripped of clothing, waiting for the water to heat up. Yoongi had grabbed a t shirt and boxers for you to wear and, there is something stirring inside of you at the thought of wearing his clothes. Yoongi looks nervous as usual but, there is a new sense of calmness about him that you hadn't seen since before last night. He stays close to you, hand popping in every few seconds to see if the water is warm enough.

“I think it’s good now,” He notes, smiling softly as he pulls back the curtain for you. You step into the steam, already feeling relaxed at the prospect of a nice hot shower.

The water was perfect and, you practically melt as you step under the pressure of the water which, of course, was significantly better than your apartment.

“Downtown water pressure is so much better oh my god, I’m going to be the cleanest person alive after this shower…” You hum, content under the showerhead before, you notice Yoongi, chuckling fondly at the entrance, shaking his head at you, “Get in here, what are you doing?”

He obliges, stepping in but, he doesn’t fully move towards you. Yoongi was still an awkward boi at heart and, he knows it’s silly to be flustered over showering with you because, you two have literally had sex like 4 times but, there was something really intimate about it, it made his heart flutter in his chest.

You just smile warmly in his direction, hands reaching out for him, gently guiding him under the stream with you. He laughs, surprised by your actions but, he accepts them none the less, moving under the water, his hands wrapping around your waist.

Yoongi’s faded platinum hair was soaked, droplets of water dripping off of the ends of it and, before it could get in his eyes, you bring your hand up to brush it back.

His appearance literally devastates you: gummy smile, dark eyes lit up in wonder, hair slicked back, revealing his forehead, something you hardly ever see. You take advantage of it, leaning in to place a kiss in the center, ok maybe you place a few kisses there but, Yoongi doesn’t stop you. His eyes close at the sensation, his hands tightening on your hips, he was melting.

You had that effect on him.

You made him happy.

He doesn’t think he’s ever been this happy before.

In fact, he knows he hasn’t.

He kisses your chin, biting it lightly, cause you know, he’s literally a cat trapped in a human’s body, “I only have purple shampoo, Hobi told me I had to buy it for my hair and, I ran out of my regular one. I have conditioner though and, body wash, it smells like oranges…”

You smile, the fondness in your chest threatening to rip out of you Alien movie style.

“That’s ok, I don’t think it will do much if I only use it one time but, if it does, a little purple never hurt anybody…” You giggle and, press another kiss to his forehead before, pulling back to look around for the shampoo in question.

You spot it on the shelf beside Yoongi and, motion for him to turn around.

“What?” He murmurs, eyes soft but confused at your gesture

“I’m gonna wash your hair…”

He smirks, trying very hard not to scream internally at the thought of you washing his hair. He moves forward slightly so the two of you are out of the water before turning around.

Why is his heart beating so loud?

You’re just going to wash his hair? He doesn’t understand himself sometimes…

You allow your fondness to overflow in the form of a ridiculous smile once Yoongi’s vision is focused elsewhere. As you squeeze some of the purple goop into your hands, Yoongi pipes up, “Do you think I should keep the blonde?”

You begin washing at the end of his question, starting at his hair line and, slowly combing the shampoo back through the entirety of his hair.

“I think the blonde is really cool but, I know it’s a lot to keep up with. I really liked your black hair too…”

The tone of your voice is gentle and soft as you tenderly scratch Yoongi’s scalp, working the shampoo up into a sizeable lather.

“I kind of miss my black hair…I miss not having to do anything with it, that uh…” Yoongi sighs, words trailing off, completely disintegrating under your touch.

He’s never had his hair washed before…

He never wants to wash his own hair again.

“I could help you dye it back if you want, we can do it awkwardly in my kitchen for old times sake…” You giggle and, Yoongi follows suit, his eyes completely closed, goosebumps covering his skin as you continue to massage his scalp. He knows his hair is clean by now and, you know it too but, neither of you want it to end.

“Are you gonna pull my hair this time?” He smirks, leaning further into you, his hands moving behind him to pull you against his back.

You laugh again, bringing your lips to his ear, “Probably...” You tug once on his hair, smirking playfully and, Yoongi swears he feels his dick twitch between his legs, “…come back into the water, we gotta rinse it out…”

Yoongi pouts, “Already? Are you sure it’s clean? I feel like you may have missed a spot…”

Rolling your eyes, you press a kiss to the side of his head before moving it under the water, “Uh huh, I’m sure I did…lean back…”

He snickers before, following orders, tipping his head back underneath the showerhead and, you get to work at running your fingers through it, ensuring that all of the purple bubbles have left his locks.

Yoongi’s eyes are squeezed shut under the water but, his face is smoothed out in pure bliss, he’s putty in your hands but, what else is new?

“Can I wash yours too?” He braves, his voice not as strong as it was a moment ago.

You kiss his cheek again, smiling against his wet skin before nodding, “Yeah…thank you.”

The shampoo is rinsed from Yoongi’s hair and, upon placing a few more kisses into his skin, the two of you switch places. Yoongi rarely lets his eyes roam over your body, he considers it to be impolite but, he takes a moment to admire you, naked and, completely drenched in front of him. He took a deep breath to settle his body, the sight of you fucking with his ability to stay calm.

Yoongi thinks, no, he knows that you are likely the most beautiful woman he has ever laid eyes on and, the fact that you liked him literally stuns him. He still doesn’t fully understand how you could want him back but, he’s doing his best not to question it anymore.

You’re in front of him now, head leaned back slightly so he has access to your hair. Yoongi quickly squeezes shampoo into his hand before smoothing it over the top of your head, his fingers getting to work on rubbing it into scalp.

“Sorry my nails are kind of non-existent, I bite them…” He murmurs, the base of his voice rumbling against your back and, you smile softly at the sound, Yoongi’s voice is one of your favorite things about him.

“It’s ok…your fingers are working just fine…”

Yoongi smiles, kissing your temple as you lean further into his body. His heart is pounding in his chest, you feel that against your back too; he’s nervous, he usually is.

But, you don’t comment on it, instead you steal a kiss against his forearm as it moves closer to your mouth. Yoongi chuckles gently behind you, his hands bringing the shampoo towards the ends of your hair, something you wouldn’t normally do but, you don’t stop him, you just stand there, eyes closed, enjoying his touch.

“Step back under the water…” He urges, helping you underneath the stream as his fingers gently coax the soap from your hair.

He fills the silence again, another important question leaving his lips:

“Do you really think I should release a mixtape?”

His question makes you turn towards him slightly, an incredulous expression on your face, “Are you kidding? Of course, you saw the reaction of the crowd at Glacier right? People were going crazy for you...”

You’re turned towards him now, a genuine smile on your face, happy that he wanted your opinion.

Yoongi returns your smile, his hands immediately finding your hips, “They were? I was too nervous to look,” He chuckles but, there’s mischief in his eyes, he knows exactly how the crowd reacted to him and, it was one of the best moments of his life.

“Oh please, is that why you basically grabbed your dick during that tongue technology line? Agust D is a different man, I don’t know him…” You tease and, Yoongi kisses you again, chuckling into your mouth, attempting to silence you.

“Shhhh we don’t talk about that, my roommates still haven’t let that go…”

You can’t blame them although, you haven’t let it go for different reasons. Yoongi, spitting fire, sauntering around the stage, smirking and confidently gesturing to his dick? Truly, a sight to see.

“I’m serious though, you were so amazing…” You peck at his lips, trying your best to convey your sincerity “Is that song on SoundCloud by the way? I couldn’t find it…”

Yoongi’s heart swells as you relay that bit of information, “No, I didn’t put it on there yet but, I can send the mp3 file to you if you want, you can just add it to your phone from your laptop and, it should pop up in your music library…”

Your eyes light up at his suggestion and, you kiss him for the hundredth time as you nod eagerly, “Yes, please do, I need to learn the words before your debut concert and, you rap so freakin fast, its going to take me a long time…”

Yoongi’s gaze softens significantly, his mouth pulled up in a half smile, hair still dripping wet, the two of you likely pruney from how long you’ve been in the shower, “I’ll teach you, baby dragons gotta start somewhere right?”

You giggle at his reference, hands beginning to run over his back, “That was really cute Yoongi, I might actually cry right now…”

He nudges you, chuckling as he does, “Keep any cuteness between us, if I’m going to be a rapper, I really need to work on my street cred…”

Nodding, you pressing a finger to his lips, “You’re secret is safe with me…I’ll make sure everyone thinks you’re the toughest dude in town…”

“Thank you.” He says solemnly, a smile threatening his lips as he pulls you into a hug. The two of you stay like that for a moment, just enjoying one another before Yoongi nods to another bottle on the shelf of the shower, “Conditioner?”

Your eyes pop open, “Oh yeah, here I’ll do this really quick cause, I have to leave it in my hair for a few minutes…”

The two of you apply conditioner; with you applying some to your ends and, Yoongi applying just a tiny amount on his.

Yoongi’s eyes are closed as he finishes up his application and, with his arms ontop of his head, you take a moment to admire his body, stretched out and, soaking wet in front of you. Your mouth literally watered at the sight of him, you wanted him but, you didn’t want to throw yourself at him again. You wanted to appear cool and collected, just as he was but, you couldn’t help yourself, you had never been so into someone in your entire life.

“I can feel you staring at me…” He murmurs, mouth turned up into a smirk as he peeks one eye open at you and, you turn away, suddenly feeling embarrassed, something that was quite uncommon for you.

“Sorry, its kind of hard not to…”You point out, busying yourself with arranging the bottles on his shelf, trying to distract yourself.

“Don’t apologize; I want to stare at you all the time…”

His response confuses you and, you turn back towards him, inquisition in your eyes, “What do you mean you want to?”

Yoongi bites his lip, hand reaching out for you again, “Staring at you can be really distracting so I try to avoid it…or else I would probably never get anything done. Do you know how hard it was for me to insist on breakfast when you were on top of me?”

Yoongi’s eyes are playful but, his tone suggests that he’s completely serious.

“Hard but, not impossible…”You tease, biting his bottom lip, prompting him to pinch your ass playfully.

“It was impossible though cause look at me, I can’t stop touching you, this is the longest shower I’ve ever taken…”

This causes you to laugh and, Yoongi can’t help but, laugh with you. You two are in the same boat, both floating aimlessly amongst a sea of new emotions and desire.

It’s rather intoxicating.

You take advantage of the closeness, tucking your face into his neck and kissing tenderly over the aggravated purple mark you had left the night before. The water is washing over your head now and, Yoongi moves his hands up to rinse the conditioner from your hair, his skin erupting in goosebumps as you kiss him. He doesn’t say anything at first but, you feel his heart rate picking up in his chest.

Slowly and deliberately, you kiss tenderly around the column of his neck, your nails running gently over his hips, the motion causing his nipples to harden. He takes in a breath, attempting to control the whimper at the back of his throat, your touch doing major damage on his will power. His head is cocked back against his shoulders, eyes closing underneath the water as he lets you kiss on him. You slide your hands up his torso, stopping at his chest, your thumbs rubbing gently over his nipples. They’re sensitive and, you know this but, Yoongi’s dick twitching between your legs gives you further confirmation.

“I don’t really want to cook anymore…” He whispers, his face smoothed out in pure surrender, his brain turning to mush as it usually does when you touch him.

He’s never been touched like this before, not before you.

“No?” You giggle softly against his collarbone, your nails tickling down his torso, his stomach trembling underneath you, “What do you want to do then?”

“I want to do whatever you want to do…whatever you’re doing right now…” He’s blabbering, something he does when he’s turned on.

There is something you had in mind, something you intended on doing the night before but, other important things had gotten in the way.

You smirk, kissing up his neck before reaching his lips, “Can I give you head?”

Yoongi practically chokes; his eyes pop open then, surprised by your request and, if his dick wasn’t hard before, it certainly was now. He’s never felt your mouth before, in fact, he only remembers having good head one other time and, it was from Hoseok. Your mouth would destroy him as every other part of you did and, he didn’t want to be selfish but, how the fuck could he turn you down?

“Uh…I, um, you want to? What about you?” He stutters, dark eyes scanning your face eagerly, his hands roaming up your sides, towards your breasts.

“Just tell me when you’re gonna cum…I really want to taste you…is that ok?” You whisper, keeping your voice tender as you wrap a hand around his throbbing length, squeezing gently.

Yoongi bucks into your hand before nodding eagerly, eyes flitting down to his dick, “Yeah, please…uh, can you go slow for me though? I’m really hard and, I don’t want to cum without you…”

His request really fucks with you. Yoongi was a rare breed, so sweet and, caring, no one would ever guess how good he was.

The best boy.

Your boy.

“I’ll go slow I promise...” He nods, his heart racing wildly in his chest as he releases his grip on you. You place a kiss to his lips before slowly sinking onto your knees, causing Yoongi’s hands to come out in assistance.

“Here…I’ll help you, the floor is slippery…” He whispers, eyes tender and, you giggle at his gesture, pressing a kiss to his lower stomach.

“Relax for me ok? I’m gonna make you feel good…” You assure him as you bring a hand up to grip him at the base, his dick jumping as you do.

Yoongi takes a deep breath, nodding once again as he gently pushes your hair from your face, the water from the shower running slightly cooler than it did when the two of you first got in.

You have been in here awhile.

Licking up the side of him, you secure your lips over his swollen tip which is slightly tangy with the taste of precum. You suck him into your mouth, careful not to make any sudden movements.

At the sensation of your lips, Yoongi’s knees practically buckle and, he literally has to grip the shelf beside him for support. He can’t make a sound at first, the pleasure too overwhelming to vocalize. He feels his toes grow numb as you, slowly pull your lips up the length of him, hollowing your cheeks as you do.

The hand that’s wrapped around his base squeezes him, in a milking motion following your head as it bobs at moderate pace.

Yoongi is so quiet and, it unnerves you. You’re used to some noise from him but, all you can feel is his dick throbbing and leaking onto your tongue. At this observation, you suck him out of your mouth, your hand still pumping his dick as you steal a glance towards him.

The sight makes your pussy clench around nothing. Yoongi’s staring down at you, his slightly swollen mouth completely agape, his wet hair still slicked back to his head. His breathing is heavy, his nipples still rock hard on his chest, his left hand desperately gripping the shelf.

“Your mouth is so pretty…” He whispers, eyes hazy and, fucked out, his hips jerking as you squeeze underneath his tip.

He really likes that word…

You smirk at him, keeping your eyes up as you take him back into your mouth. You make a show of your eyes closing, ensuring that he knows you love the taste of him. He sucks in another breath as he feels your hand cuphis balls, applying a slight amount of pressure. Your tongue finds a place underneath against his frenulum that makes his toes curl into the shower floor. You find a pace then, your hand and mouth moving in sync, as you work him up more and more.

Yoongi breaks, a small whimper escaping his lips as he places a hand gently on your head, rocking ever so slowly into your mouth.

“I…I, it uh…fuck…” He’s trying his best to convey how good you’re making him feel but, the words fall short on his tongue every time.

You can feel yourself growing wetter as you pick up your pace. Sucking Yoongi off was one of your new favorite things in the world but, you had wanted him since you saw him staring at you sleepily from his pillow. Having his dick in your mouth was only making it worse.

“Baby…I’m…” He whimpers breathily, he hasn’t used this term of endearment much but, the shakiness in his voice as he does completely ruins you. “You’re gonna make me cum…”

Stopping the motion of your hand, you move off of him, giving the tip of him one last suck before, turning your attention upwards.

He wants to cum in your mouth but, he wants to be inside of you more and, he figures he can beg for you to let him finish down your throat another time.

“Do you want me to_” You begin but, he cuts you off, pulling you hastily to your feet and stabilizing you against him.

He hooks a finger under your chin and, kisses you, tasting himself on your lips as he speaks into them, “Did I taste good?”

His question surprises you, your eyes locking with his which were blown out by desire, his hands roaming freely over your body, “You taste amazing, I want more…”

He chuckles darkly, biting on your bottom lip, “I’ll give you everything I’ve got next time jagi…”

You smirk, giggling as he nudges his nose against yours, “What do you want now then?”

“Will you fuck me? Please?” He’s still kissing you, his swollen dick brushing between your legs.

“I can’t fuck in the shower, I’m not that athletic…” You tease and, he chuckles again turning towards the tap to finally turn it off.

“Yeah me neither, my balance is fucked right now…”

He doesn’t even bother with towels, he just leads you out of the shower and, pauses at the bathroom door, “I gotta make sure my roommates are gone…”

You laugh against his back as he peaks out into the hallway. The walk to Yoongi’s room is over in seconds as its literally across the hallway but, he doesn’t want to risk anyone seeing you naked.

“Are we clear?” You whisper and his eyes narrow momentarily, neck craned as he listens for any sign of life.

“We’re clear…c’mon..”

Yoongi pulls you out of the bathroom, clumsily shoving open the door to his bedroom and, nearly tripping over one of his speakers.

You’re both alight with laughter and dripping wet as your lips collide, breath heavy with urgency and anticipation.

“We’re going to get your bed soaking wet...” You warn him, still laughing into his kiss, as he walks you backwards.

“I don’t give a fuck about my bed, get up there...” He urges, his bossiness out of character, before nodding to his unkept bed.

As you turn around, he smacks your ass causing a squeal to leave your lips, “Watch it...”

He smiles boyishly, clambering onto the bed after you, his dick still hard and throbbing between his legs.

You look up at him, biting your lip, smiling coyly as you spread your legs, allowing him to see you completely bare and glistening.

Yoongi lets out a breath, “Jesus christ...”

“Is there something you like?” You tease, as your fingers roam freely over the inside of your thighs.

“If I wasn’t so hard, I swear I’d be begging to bury my face in between your thighs right now...” He muses, matter of factly.

What a good boy, never demanding, always assuming you’d be making him beg.

“I’ll let you beg to eat me out another time...come here.”

He crawls on his knees across the bed, so he’s slotted between your legs, his hand coming out to line himself up at your entrance.

Yoongi’s eyes flit to yours, his dick jumping as he leans into you more, “Can I?”

You smile up at him, bringing his head down so, his lips are level with yours. You make sure to hold his eyes as you nod, attempting to convey all of the emotions you felt for him in that moment.

"Yeah...”

Yoongi slides into you then, neither of you breaking the intensity of your gaze. His face falters for a moment as he feels you squeezing around him, no doubt a product of an entire morning full of teasing.

“Yoongi...” You moan cause you know he loves it but, also because, the way his dick curves up inside of you is sinful.

The pleasure is building in your stomach, careening down lower and lower as he fucks into you slowly. His gaze leaves your face then and, lowers until he sees where the two of you are connected, a dark smile graces his features then, his entire back covered in goosebumps, his mind covered in you.

“You’re making me loose my mind you know that? You’re too good to be true...” He confesses, leaning down to kiss and suck over the tops of your breasts, his pace between your legs increasing.

“I really like you...like a-a lot...” You whisper, hiccupping as he hits a particularly good spot inside of you.

You have no interest in taking the upper hand this time, you’re too wrapped up in your feelings.

You like this boy too fucking much.

“Yeah? Me too...I like you too, fuckfuckfuckfuck I really fucking like you....” He’s face is screwed up in pleasure, his brows furrowed with it as you squeeze around him, his lips stopping their motions as he gasps.

You tilt his chin towards you, your hips moving with his own, the two of you rapidly approaching your orgasms.

“I like you too...”

You’ve already said this, quite a few times but, the pleasure is too intense to think straight and, you feel almost queasy with the amount of endorphins running through your body.

Yoongi tilts his head so he can suck your thumb into his mouth, hips moving at an almost blinding speed at this point, “Don't want...I don’t want anyone else, just you...no one else...so good, you’re so good to me...”

He honestly feels like he could cry, he doesn’t know how to handle intense emotions but, rather than turn into a blubbering mess, he pulls off of your thumb and, tucks his face into your neck, nibbling on the skin there, trying to ground himself.

“Yoongi, I’m gonna cum, I’m gonna cum really hard for you...” You warn him, hands coming up to hold onto his back, nails digging in slightly as your orgasm begins it’s descent, “Oh my god...”

Your back arches, your nipples hardened and, everything you’ve been holding in all morning comes crashing down.

The tightening of your cunt is too much and, Yoongi whines your name into your neck as he cums inside of you. His hips jerk with the intensity and, you can feel your clit throbbing as you cum with him, the two of you grinding against each other to prolong the pleasure.

Heavy breathing and rapid heartbeats is all you manage to hear for the next few moments and, Yoongi makes absolutely no move to leave the crook of your neck, his body completely collapsing against yours. Your run your fingers through his wet hair, placing a few tender kisses against the side of his head.

The silence lingers for quite sometime before Yoongi’s raspy voice breaks the still atmosphere,

“I really do like you...”

He says it again but, this time, there’s something different in his scratchy tone.

Something you weren’t ready to touch on yet and, neither was he but, the feeling was there.

A really strong feeling.

“I really like you too.”

baby dragons gotta start somewhere right?

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undertalethingies · 4 years

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Self Indulgent Self Insert Fic, Part 2

Part one here

“Why’d you shoot fire at him?” I ask, partially to fuck with her and partially out of genuine curiosity. He hadn’t been attacking me, after all, so it was odd that she’d intervene. What did he do to get her to set him on fire just for being near a human?

Toriel purses her lips, and I note that her hands are clenched tightly. Must’ve been bad, then.

“He hides a wicked nature behind a congenial facade. Please, my child, keep your trust out of his reach,”

Oh, she’s just as formal in person! That’s honestly kinda cool. I’m pretty sure I’m the only one I know who’s ever used ‘congenial’ in a sentence, but for her it just seems natural.

“I definitely have more questions about that, but first, can you not call me your child, please? We literally just met,” Seriously, it’s weird. I know she’s grieving, but spontaneously adopting every child that falls without their approval or consent is kinda messed up.

If I manage to free the monsters, the first thing I’m doing on the surface is sticking them all in therapy. Seriously, these guys are worse than me, and I really don’t say that lightly.

Toriel’s face falls slightly, though she makes a valiant effort to hide it. (Seriously, what were you expecting me to say?)

“A-Ah, I suppose that is reasonable. May I ask your name, then?” Ok, people who are definitely reading this because I am 100% egotistical enough to assume y’all want to hear about my life. Listen up, because I’m going to say this as many times as the author wants me to. I know this is normally the part where I’d say ‘y/n’ but I want to make it clear that y/n is for reader inserts.

I am a self insert, which I know because no reader insert would ever have this much personality, those boring fucks. As a self insert, I am free to call myself Ebony Dark’ness Dementia Raven Way and dye my hair black with purple streaks if I so desire.

(I don’t, I really don’t, My Immortal is a fun read if you want something to laugh at but no way in hell am I emulating that MC in any respect other than our shared enjoyment of MCR.)

ANYWAY, back to my conversation with goat mom! I’m not saying my real name because I’ve resolved that if I ever end up getting isekai’d I’ll go by my middle name, due to its general awesomeness. (My first name is also awesome, but it has a different vibe and aesthetics are everything in fantasy worlds)

“My name is Solena,” I say, responding after a reasonable pause in actual time and a weirdly long one in mental time. Now, my name looks like it would be pronounced ‘sol-een-a’ but it’s actually ‘sol-ain-uh’ which I’m stating because again, I’m fully confident that these thoughts are being written down somewhere by some enterprising author who is also very likely me from another timeline because no one else in existence is fully capable of conveying the Wonder that is Me.

“Thank you for telling me, Solena. My name is Toriel, and I will be your caretaker while you are in these ruins,” Toriel says, conveniently leaving out the fact that she’d prefer to keep me in these ruins forever, probably because I’ve already demonstrated some leeriness towards her.

Now, I could bring up Flowey again, seeing as her explanation for fireballing him was more than a little lackluster and I’m still pretending not to know this world inside and out, but I already know stuff about Flowey and there are things I’m significantly more curious about.

“Cool! Toriel, got it. Hey, if you live in a cave underground, how did you get such a nice dress? Do you have farms down here? Livestock? Do you harvest fibers from animal monsters?”

Haha, you thought I’d ask more about the magic? Hell no! I’m way more curious about how society functions down here!

Toriel does a double take, her expression implying that she’s revising all of her expectations towards me. (Again)

“There are small plant farms in some areas of the underground. We have no livestock down here, as we were delivered to this cave system in a bit of a rush, but we do harvest some fibers from willing monsters, yes. How did you guess it?”

Let me tell you, the high I’m getting right now from those theories being correct? Very similar to what happened recently in the BNHA comic with Dabi’s true identity. I am living for this, just absolutely vibing with this new knowledge.

“Well, I don’t see how else you’d do it. How do you get the dyes?” Because I don’t see them having access to chemical dye, and it’s not like humans trash a lot of the stuff unless this is one of those illegal dumping spots, so what gives?

“Excellent question, Solena! There are professional tailors who transfer dye from clothes that fall from the surface! Many also simply wear clothes acquired from the trash, though mine are hand-crafted as befits-” She cuts herself off before she can let slip her (former?) royal status. I let it slide because I really don’t see a need to step on trauma landmines here.

“As befits someone who’s! Affluent! Anyway, we’ve entered the Ruins proper! There are many dangerous puzzles here, an old monster tradition, so I’ll need to focus more on guiding you!” Damn it, we’re at the first puzzle already? I completely missed the staircase room, which sucks because not only did I miss out on seeing one of my favorite rooms, I didn’t notice whether there was a save point!

Fuck!

I walk to the sign by the door. “Brave ones, foolish ones, both walk not the middle road. What’s that mean? I obviously get it in the proverbial sense, but it’s near this puzzle, so is it supposed to be a clue?”

It straight up took me until my second playthrough to understand that sign, man.

Toriel’s face just lights up. She looks absolutely delighted, and I remember that she’s always wanted to be a teacher.

“It is a misdirection! The sign tricks the reader into thinking about it metaphorically, when the answer is actually quite literal!” She demonstrates by stepping on all the buttons but the center two, before turning to smile at me.

“Oh, that’s genius! Because you’re supposed to ignore the tiles in the middle! It works as a puzzle while also having an easily remembered solution if you’re in a hurry!” It’s honestly my favorite puzzle in the game for that, even if you’re never given the opportunity to solve it yourself.

“That is exactly what I was thinking when I created it! It is wonderful to hear that the message came across to someone, even if my- my, ah, my friends had consistent difficulty with it!”

We continue chatting about puzzles as we walk into the next room.

Toriel explains the spike puzzle here and how you’re supposed to memorize the layout of the first room to safely traverse the spikes. She also explains that she locked the ‘incorrect’ spikes permanently in the ‘up’ position so that no one would get hurt, stating that puzzles should be fun, not dangerous.

Honestly, she’s giving way more exposition than she ever did in the game, probably because I’m a slut for knowledge. I only really half hear her explanation, though, because what comes next is going to be very important to knowing the kind of experience I’m going to have down here.

See, we haven’t gone down the hallway to the spike room yet, and I know full well there’s a Froggit waiting there to ambush me.

I have a few questions that this pseudo fight will hopefully answer.

One, are there options like there are in the game? Because if the battle system is the same, it could severely limit my choices when it comes to conflict resolution, especially if I have the same options as Frisk.

Two, do I have a narrator and is that narrator Chara? TwoA, do they have control over me in fights, as in some fics, or am I fully autonomous? TwoB, if they are here, are they evil or are they a person, because that’s also something the fandom intensely and frequently disagrees about. TwoC, can they hear my thoughts? I’m going with ‘probably not’ because I’ve made zero effort to exclude spoilers, but there's still a possibility and I need it confirmed. TwoD, can they hear thoughts deliberately directed at them? I hope so, it would be a huge pain to only be able to talk to them when no one’s around.

Three, are Froggits secretly cats because there’s a meme comic about that and I need it in my life.

With these thoughts in mind, Toriel and I turn down the hall, and the world goes black and white.

#undertale #undertale fanfic #undertale fanfiction #toriel #self indulgent self insert fic #trying to keep the chapters around 1800 words long #toriel is so fun to write dialogue for

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jade-marie · 4 years

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GG 2x04 Rewatch

Not gonna lie, this is probably going to be the only episode I rewatch. The rest has been kinda tainted by 2x13 and s3.

Generally, my opinions tend not to line up with the majority of the fandom - sorry, not sorry.

1. What was your favourite scene of the episode? Tell us why!

It’s a tie between the bathroom break and the vette smash. Bathroom break - for obvious reasons - I’m a hoe and I live for that shit. The vette smash - I just vibe with Rio’s petty energy and the way you could see how much he was enjoying himself, Dean being metaphorically castrated by the guy who just fucked his wife... chef’s kiss.

2. Was there any scene that missed the mark for you? And if so, how?

I WISH beth would’ve bit back when Dean brought up the shooting. It irks me so much that she contnually rolls over for him. She spitefully gets payback, but rarely puts him in his place (if it were up to me, his place would be by boomer-jeff’s side in the dumpster)

3. This episode starts with each of the girls trying to make amends in their own way – Beth through her family, Ruby through charity and Annie through Marion. What do you think this tells us about each of them?

I feel like Beth and Ruby’s attempts at making amends always feel incredibly shallow and I can never tell if it’s down to shitty writing or if its because they genuinely don’t feel guilty. If’it’s the former - I’m not surprised. If it’s the latter - I hope the girls own their lack of remorse, in future.

Annie strikes me as the one who feels genuine guilt over a lot of this, and it’s been pretty consistent - even when Lucy died in S3. I think it makes sense for her to be the most cut up about it because she always struck me as someone who’s ruled by her emotions - she doesn’t exactly think before she acts, and is typically pretty impulsive.

4. Rio offers Beth the keys to the kingdom! This scene is always hotly debated in the fandom! What do you think he meant in the moment of it? Do you think he ever actually saw or even wanted Beth as a partner?

Straying from the general consensus, as usual - I don’t think he was playing her and I don’t think he planned to take a cut of whatever Beth came up with.

Personally, I don’t think it makes much sense. He’s already learnt that he gets further with Beth through praise and reward, as opposed to intimidation - more flies with honey, yada yada yada.

If the whole thing was just a manipulation it would have made more sense for him to convince her that he had faith in her and offer her a 25% cut of any cash washing operation she could come up with. She would’ve bit his hand off at the opportunity.

I think he was telling the truth when he said that he was done, I think he was genuinely flipping his game from cash to pills. At this point, Turner was looking closely and so it would make sense for Rio to want to distance himself from the counterfeit operation. He literally explained back in season one that it’s how he avoids being caught, he flips his game before the feds get too close.

I get the feeling that he probably didn’t intend to have much contact with Beth going forward and was going to leave her to do whatever she wanted with the rest of the money. It’s not that I think he wouldn’t manipulate her, he absolutely would. I just don’t really think it makes sense in this context.

5. Do you think Marion had any idea that Boomer was taking advantage of her?

I think it was probably similar to the situation with Beth, regarding Dean’s cheating: the thought was there, but she never really confronted the idea and lived in a comfy little denial bubble.

6. Dean’s attachment to the corvette is played in many different ways in s2! How do you interpret this?

I think it’s the perfect display of his narcissism and toxic masculinity. The car is as grandiose as his ego and he thinks it’s going to save the dealership, much like he thinks he’s going to be the one to save his family from ruin.

7. Why do you think Beth kept the money from Ruby and Annie?

I think she’s hugely manipulative and likes to be the be the one holding the cards. She only wanted to rob the store when she had her own problems to worry about and then convinced the girls to go along with it, she went to Rio to ask for more work back in season 1, she asked him to up their drops, the list goes on.

She tends to call the shots and drag them along for the ride, so it seems consistent with her personality that she’d keep the money to herself until she needed it, and then inform the girls.

8. The birth of the cars for cash business! Is this Beth’s best idea? Her worst? How do you rank it, both in general and among the girls’ other schemes? And do you think it could’ve worked longterm if Turner wasn’t so fixated on Beth?

Probably the best idea she came up with tbh. The others were pretty poorly thought through, as far as long term strategising goes. It could’ve worked really well if they had an accountant keeping the books looking kosher.

9. The Beth and Dean arc this episode is perhaps one of their most frustrating (in spite of the extremely cathartic resolution, haha). Do you think Dean’s belittling of Beth and his feelings of Beth emasculating him are new to their relationship or have been around for a long time? How do you think they really see each other?

I think they lived in a state of blissful ignorance and their initial interaction (love you, tunafish) was really indicative of that. Him belittling her was probably prevalent in the beginning of the relationship, but I think she probably just placated him and got on with her life. Now she’s clearly growing tired of his shit, just not. fast. enough.

I don’t think they’re in love though. I think Dean’s feelings for her are fuelled by narcissim. She’s obviously good looking and from the outside, he has it all. The house in the burbs, kids, hot wife, family business etc. That’s what he cares about - the image. I don’t think Beth is too dissimilar. I think she probably looked up to Judith as a teenager and idiolised that life, which Dean could provide. I don’t think she ever had deep, romantic, feelings for him. But she probaly does care for him, to an extent.

10. The Annie and Beth arc is also pretty telling of the characters’ history. It’s also one of the few times we’ve deliberately seen Beth seek out Annie for comfort (often it’s incidental that Annie’s there). What do you think this tells us about their relationship, both historically, and where they are at this point in the series?

I think it’s one of the few moments that their sibling bond is believable. It’s pretty accurate that, as Annie is maturing, she becomes less of a fuckup baby sister who needs everyone to clean up after her and grows into someone that beth can turn to for comfort/advice. Makes sense that this happens later in life, considering the significant age gap.

11. Ruby’s scene at the Quick Cash with JT is really significant – both in terms of it being a generally delightful scene, but also as a touchstone demonstration of Ruby’s increasing unwillingness to swallow her pride. Do you think Ruby prior to the series commencing would’ve reacted to JT’s goading in this way? And how do you think this scene compliments the scene earlier in the episode with Stan admitting he’s taken another loan too?

I thinks she would’ve wanted to, but literally couldn’t afford to. She had the means and opportunity to give him a dose of karma. But it’s always been in her nature to talk shit - diner dickweed in season 1. She refused to swallow her pride and apologise.

That, along with Stan taking another loan, seems to fit in well with the Hill’s entire arc of trying to be good people and being consistently shit on for it.

12. THE. BATHROOM. BREAK. That’s it. That’s the question. Please elaborate on your thoughts and feelings.

Am i supposed to be able to form thoughts or sentences that adequately express my feelings?

Petty king is also king of consent, he let beth take the lead - love it.

Judging from the papertowel dispenser, stroke game was strong.

Penis levitation is now a part of my vocab, thank you for your service, Rio.

10/10 - would definitely recommend being railed in a bathroom by this man.

13. Greg and Annie have what’s their last break-up in this episode (at least up until now). Why do you think this particular one stuck? And do you see any sort of future for them?

I feel like the key difference was Annie putting her foot down and saying “no”. Idk if I can see them getting back together, becasue I don’t think she’d have another affair when there’s a child in the mix and he’s too much of a pussy to divorce Nancy unless he has a guaranteed backup plan aka Annie. Still kinda ship it though.

14. Annnnd lastly, what do you make of the final scene at Boland Motors? What do you think Rio thought following both the bathroom break and this moment?

I think that Rio was genuinely flipping his game and moving away from cash and, in turn, Beth. But the bathroom break changed his mind, so he got curious and wanted to know what she came up with for the money, only to find out that she gave it to Dean. Given how possessive Rio is of his money, in combination with the feelings for Beth which had just been stirred up, I think his jealous side came out and he took back the money.

Up until this point, the entire Brio dynamic was him holding the power and exerting it whenever he saw fit. The second he followed her into that bathroom, he gave up whatever semblance of control or power he had left. The man is a very obvious control freak and so I don’t think he does well or feels secure in those situations. Him smashing up the car was basically an attempt to re-establish dominance and convince himself (and Beth) that he was still in control; with the added bonus of emasculating dean and making money.

And daaaayyyyyyyuuuuuuummmmm if I don’t enjoy watching that scene. The emasculation of Dean, Rio being petty, Beth malfunctioning at the possibility of Dean finding out she got dicked down in the bathroom, while he sat outside trying (and failing) to get the waiter’s attention. I DIE

#4am thoughts #rio's stroke game is obvs fire #would def care to experience it #dean is trash #hate him #die bitch #stan deserves the earth #petty ruby is iconic #annie is way smarter than anyone (including the writers) gives her credit for #gg rewatch 2x04 #gg rewatch

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innerchorus · 5 years

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Arslan Senki Chapter 79

ZANDEH 😭 ❤️

Yeah, this is mostly going to be a Zandeh Appreciation Post please tell me that you all love him at least a little bit by now.

So, as expected, this chapter picks up where the last one left off; the supernatural earthquake continues, Hilmes’s men are terrified, and Gieve deliberately provokes Hilmes with some harsh truths about his priorities as the supposed ‘rightful Shah of Pars’, which of course only serves to enrage him.

I knew going into this chapter that it would be an important one for Zandeh’s character so right from the start I was paying a lot of attention to him even where he’s in the background (okay I’d probably do that anyway because he’s one of my favourites but whatever). I really liked the panel where he’s stood behind Hilmes as Gieve is criticising him for knowingly risking the resurrection of the Snake King; the inner turmoil is just so clear on Zandeh’s face right then.

This confrontation is really interesting in that it’s the first time Zandeh does not react in the way he usually does to someone criticising or insulting Hilmes. Zandeh’s views may seem absolute, but his often explosive reactions (e.g to someone not treating Hilmes with the proper respect, or referring to his father as a traitor) point to the strength of his need for certain things to be true (and also probably a deeply-buried fear of the possibility that they might not be). So far, Zandeh has loudly refused to accept any criticism of Hilmes or his father Kharlan, but the situation he finds himself in now is different. The consequences of refusing to confront reality are too high. That’s why he lets Gieve continue to speak.

So yeah, Zandeh would go to great lengths to see Hilmes take the throne, but even he has his (very reasonable) limits, such as NOT UNSEALING THE FUCKING SNAKE KING

Poor Zandeh. For the first time, he’s watching Hilmes make a bad decision, and he can’t quite understand why Hilmes doesn’t see it. He voiced his concerns to no avail, and now despite Hilmes’s assurances that it would all be fine, the ground won’t stop shaking thanks to a force beyond their understanding, and though Gieve’s words are still intended to provoke, there is truth to them, a truth that Zandeh can see but Hilmes refuses to acknowledge. I feel like in this moment he’s both waiting for Hilmes to understand the danger he has placed them in (because surely he must see it soon...?) and realising that is not going to happen.

I said this would be a Zandeh Appreciation Post and I meant it.

let me list out the other Zandeh moments I liked even though that’s basically the whole chapter ahaha

when Hilmes is determined to make Gieve pay for his insolence, Zandeh doesn’t immediately follow the order to go after him but instead notices that rocks are falling into Kaykhusraw’s open sarcophagus and hurries over to close the lid before grabbing Rukhnabad’s scabbard and going after Hilmes. first, he’s STRONG! he lifted that thing all by himself. that took four men to lift it off before. second, Zandeh’s actions here (which were added by Arakawa btw) show an understanding that something needs to be done to fix what is happening. his later actions don’t come out of nowhere.

(also just remembered that many chapters ago, Zandeh invoked the protection of Hero King Kaykhusraw to watch over Hilmes. Kaykhusraw was obviously a revered figure to him, the same as for all Parsians.)

given that most of their men seem to be in a fear-induced panic by this point, i’m honestly impressed that Zandeh kept his head despite his own fear being evident (especially because I have a headcanon that Zandeh is very afraid of supernatural stuff ever since he was young... mostly based on how he reacted to the mention of gahdak in the novel lol)

there’s a real contrast with how Hilmes is blind to anything other than pursuing Gieve while Zandeh sees the reality of the situation in full and realises that they have to act to stop it. rocks falling, earthquake continuing, men trapped and dying and falling into cracks in the ground, snake king may be coming back and yet all Hilmes is concerned about is killing one insolent musician with his shiny new magic sword? HILMES WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

the part where Zandeh tried to get Hilmes to go to safety but Hilmes isn’t even listening because he’s so fixated on killing Gieve. :(

pretty sure he was about to try and convince Hilmes to sheath his sword and gtfo of there when he caught up with him outside, only Hilmes immediately shoved Rukhnabad into his hands lmao.

haha he literally can’t shove it in its scabbard fast enough

Zandeh must have realised by now that Hilmes isn’t going to give up the sword, so I think he had probably just hoped to convince him to leave the mountain and retreat to safety.

but with Hilmes engaged in combat with Gieve, leaving him to hold on to Rukhnabad, there’s one other option left.

I LOVE HIM

This must have been so hard for Zandeh to do. There really was a lot of bravery in his actions here. And it’s not a rash decision made in a moment of fear; he may be scared but he knows exactly what he is doing and why he needs to do it, and he also knows what the consequences of going against Hilmes’s wishes might be.

That moment afterwards where he’s justifying his actions while kneeling but speaking so boldly and with such conviction while directly meeting Hilmes’s gaze is 👌

he DID NOT DESERVE that blow to the face. I hope your hand hurts now, Hilmes. (another small change here; in the novel Hilmes struck him with his sword, the level of damage was the same though. as for what the significance of that is, i’d say it’s that having Hilmes choose to use his fist rather than the weapon he already had in his other hand shows that he was holding back from doing more serious harm)

you know, I was very anxious about this chapter because (as you all probably know by now lol) I love Hilmes and Zandeh and I ship them so I was dreading the damage this incident might do to their relationship, but...in the end it was about as good as it could have been, I suppose.

As Zandeh is speaking, the tremors of the earthquake stop. Hilmes seems to calm down from his initial rage. I hope, now that the sword has been returned to the earth and he’s not being affected by its power, he can see that maybe taking it wasn’t such a great idea after all, even if he won’t admit to it. As for what he says to Zandeh, there’s not much else he could have said, given the sort of person he is. He believes that he is the rightful Shah of Pars, and a subordinate who disobeys royalty to such an extent surely have been seen as deserving a severe punishment or even death. Hilmes doesn’t want to kill Zandeh (he would already have done it if he did), but he can’t exactly let him off without being punished further unless he has good reason for it. So I don’t believe that he spared him only because of Kharlan (though it’s worth noting that he really does feel some guilt about Kharlan’s death so it’s definitely a factor here) but that he uses it to save face in forgiving Zandeh.

basically even if Hilmes did come to the conclusion that taking the sword might have been a bad idea he can’t admit that he was wrong because he’s ~royalty~ and his authority should be unquestionable

...that little tear in Zandeh’s eye as he realises he’s being give a second chance, omg. 😢

even Gieve knows that Zandeh is good

HILMES HAD BETTER APPRECIATE WHAT HE’S GOT

at least he genuinely does seem to forgive Zandeh even if he’s still greatly displeased by what he did.

This moment lightened the tone a little, and I was glad for it. Hilmes is definitely going to be sore about what happened for a while, but he’ll get over it.

#arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #arslan senki spoilers #zandeh #hilmes #gieve #zandeh deserves all the love #he did a good thing here #long post #and i haven't proofread this one so sorry for any typos

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