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coldflasher · 2 years

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Legends of Tomorrow Panels - The Ultimates: Crisis

Okay, so as we know because I’m never ever gonna shut up about it, I just got back from the Ultimates: Crisis convention in Birmingham. It was my first Starfury con and it was SO good. It was an Arrowverse con with a bunch of DCTV guests, and they had multiple daily Q&As with the cast members. As far as Legends goes, I attended all of the panels 😎 which you are NOT supposed to do lmao, they deliberately run the Q&As on both days so people can make it to one or the other and the panels clash with autographs, but I managed somehow.

We weren’t allowed to film at the event (some people definitely did, but the stewards were pretty good at cracking down on it) which means that obviously a lot of people won’t know what went down, but the panels were so interesting so I have written a huge post of everything I can remember them talking about! (Because it wasn’t filmed, they also got to dish a bit of dirt on the CW which I feel like they wouldn’t have normally lmao.)

I’ve tried to split these up into categories based on who said it, but there is some crossover because there were multiple people at the panels. Originally I tried to keep things chronological and remember what happened at which panel (there were four) but honestly it was hard to keep track and I just wanted to get down as much as I could possibly remember.

The guests in attendance from Legends were Nick Zano (Nate), Olivia Swann (Astra), Matt Ryan (Gwyn Davies/John Constantine), Jes Macallan (Ava Sharpe) and Caity Lotz (Sara Lance.) I will say now that I have fewer anecdotes from Caity - long story short, someone showed up in a full Beebo cosplay and Caity got a bit too excited cheering for them and lost her voice, so she wasn’t able to say as much on the second day of panels. (I suspect that the fact she met, talked to and had photos with probably over a thousand people also did not help lmao.) But her personality MORE than made up for it.

Anyway, here’s a huge list of all the things I remember from the Q&As, which i may add to if I remember more. I’ve legit spent like four or five hours writing all this 😂 so I hope it’s of interest to some people!

Nick

- There was a question about adlibs and improv, and they all said that Phil Klemmer was totally open to suggestions and encouraged them to try things and let them have a lot of input, which is nice because on other shows you would get in trouble for that. They would always just throw random things in and if something happened to be genuinely funny, they usually got to keep it in. Nick said that the joke about Nate disliking crossovers started from an adlib of his about hating crossovers and they liked it so much that they kind of made it a running joke. Matt also said that there were a couple of adlibs in the truth bug episode (The Getaway) that made it in. One was the part where John is shoving Nixon into the closet/whatever it was and he goes “let’s put dick in a box”, and he was amazed that made it in because he thought there was no way they’d be allowed to keep that. He also said that Dom fluffed his line about Les Miserables and that “I want to grow my hair and look like Fabio” was improv and Matt absolutely lost it when he did it.

- They made a LOT of jokes about Dom being grumpy on set. Nick said the first time he met Dom to film the first ep of season 2, Dom had already managed to be in a bad mood on the very first day of filming. Anyway, Nick said his line (something where he called Mick a silverback, I think? Not sure if it was in the ep) and Dom did a double-take and was like “was that in the script?!?” And at that point Nick said he thought “Oh man, I’m gonna have some real fun with this guy.” 😂 he fully admitted to deliberately pushing Dom’s buttons which I think is hilarious

- There was a question about who they would like to be in a body swap episode. Nick said he’d swap with Dom because all he did was come onto set, grunt, and leave again 😂 (he acted out the grunts).

- Nick said sometimes he used to laugh so much during filming that he couldn’t keep it together, and they would kick him off set and just stick a big green X onto the stage where he was meant to be.

- They talked a lot about Robo Nate and how everyone found him so funny that the entire cast and crew were crying with laughter for days straight. Nick says he tends to take things too far, and he kept taking it further and apparently Matt couldn’t even look at him whenever he was Robo Nate because he couldn’t keep it together. Nick also said he warned his stunt double (who is really nice and professional) that Robo Nate was a lot and he was gonna be going a bit over the top, and the stunt double was trying so hard not to laugh but he couldn’t keep this one tear from rolling down his face. (At the closing ceremony, Matt specifically did a shoutout to Robo Nate for how much joy he’d brought him. Witnessing Nick and Matt’s friendship was actually one of my fave parts, they’re genuinely super close and I didn’t even realise how much. More on that later.)

- Nick said he pitched a couple of things to the writers regarding Robo Nate, one being the arms, which he didn’t expect to get, but obviously did, and then the voice. He told them he wanted to do an Arnold Schwarzenegger voice. They told him he couldn’t do the voice, and he did it anyway until it was too late to stop him and they just had to let it happen. Olivia also said the arms were disgusting and they felt all spongy.

- Someone asked about Nate’s Steel costume and why they didn’t really use it, especially the helmet, and Nick said that the problem was that they fitted him for the costume and made it all, and then realised too late that you couldn’t actually tell he was Steel when he was wearing it because it covered his whole body and all you really could see was his chin and part of his arms. So they didn’t use the helmet. He also said that he wasn’t allowed to change his hair for six seasons because they’d already done all the photography and 3D modelling for the CGI for Steel and if he got a different haircut it would have cost the CW $120K 😬

- He talked a bit about Shotgun Nate and how the girls couldn’t even look at him while he was doing those scenes (not sure if he meant because they hated Shotgun Nate or because it was too funny).

- Someone asked Nick about an incident where he hurt his eye on set. At first he had no idea what they were talking about and he was really confused, but then he remembered, and he told the story. If I remember correctly, it happened during the s6 finale, during the scene when the aliens were trying to break in. There was prop glass blowing everywhere, and Nick said because he’s a dad, he went over to Shayan to warn him to watch out for all the glass. Shayan was like ‘oh, thanks,’ and moved. Anyway, Nick must have gotten too close to the glass himself, because later that night, his eye started swelling up, so they sent him to a doctor (who was NOT an eye doctor, they specified, so I assume that was relevant lmao). He was the ‘showbiz doctor’. Anyway, this doctor swabbed his eye and got a bunch of residue from the glass out, but then the eye swelled up even more because it was healing. He had to wear an eyepatch, and when he arrived on set the next day and took it off, everyone was like 😬 because it had swollen so much and they couldn’t hide it. For the rest of the day he had to film all of his scenes side-on, even the really serious ones. That should be a fun thing to watch out for on a rewatch.

- They were asked if they had taken anything from the set and they were all mad that they didn’t get the chance. However, Nick said that when they were dismantling Constantine’s mansion, ‘Matty’ (he kept calling him Matty, it was so cute) was already done filming his scenes for the season, and Nick wanted him to have something from the set, so he decided to steal one of the huge stone gargoyles from the stairwell in Constantine’s mansion. So he snuck over there and tried to shove this thirty-pound gargoyle into his backpack, and it made a really loud thunk. Then he carried it all the way to Matt’s trailer and was like ‘look, I got this for you’. Matt was like ‘I live in the UK, how am I supposed to get that home???’ 😂 but he said he did manage to get it home somehow and it’s now in his house, though he said it would have been cheaper if he’d just commissioned someone to make a replica of it.

- Nick told this super cute story about how one time, Matt had shown Nick’s then three-year-old son how to rub his fingers together on a rosemary plant and crush it so you can smell the rosemary, and apparently his son (who is now five) still shows all of his friends what Matt taught him whenever someone new comes over, which is FUCKING adorable.

- Speaking of kids, there was a little boy named Olly at the con, and he was the star of the show, honestly, they all loved him. He asked Matt and Nick what their favourite colours were 🥺 Nick said it was boring but his favourite colour was black, but his son’s was red. Matt said the same, but he also liked yellow, and they also chatted about that a bit and how yellow is the colour of the sun. They were both SO good with the kids (though there weren’t many there, thank god) and they tried so hard to keep everything PG. Nick kept saying ‘shizz’ instead of shit and stuff like that. Not that the other con-goers made it easy for them (someone started yelling stuff about tentacle kink at one point; more on that later) but they tried. Nick also apologized because he swore when he was meeting one of the other guests who they thought was in his twenties and he was actually like 13. He felt so bad about it, bless him.

- Nick said there was a scene with Zari and Nate in the totem in the finale, and they built the set and filmed it, but it was cut for time, which he was disappointed by because he said it looked like ‘the city from Thor’ and it was a really cool set.

- Someone asked about what it was like when Behrad showed up and they had to act like they’d known him for years, and Nick said it was hard because a lot of the friendships on the show are kind of influenced by their real-life connections. He said it was hard for him because they wanted him to kind of replicate the relationship he had with Brandon, but with Shayan. He said that was something you couldn’t force, and that he and Shayan needed to build their own relationship and make it different and then that relationship would grow organically.

- He talked about the Thong Song and apparently they were all a bit nervous when Sisqo was there cos they were very aware that they were parodying him a bit and didn’t want to offend him, so they toned it down a but until they were done filming with him. Apparently he was also gunning for a role on the show and kept pitching himself as different characters and they were like uhhhh maybe 😂

- There were a bunch of people wearing shirts that said ‘I ♥Gary Green’ and Nick said that he’d texted Adam about how crazy popular Gary is in the UK, and he’d tricked him into believing there was a whole merch table of people selling these Gary Green shirts 😂 so someone at the panel gave him one of the shirts so he could pretend he’d bought him one. Nick and Matt also joked that they should both carry on the bit by each taking a photo of themselves in the shirt and pretending they both bought one from the stall 😂

Matt

- I think Matt was my fave guest after Meagan Tandy. I’ve met him before so I was a little less intimidated, and he had some really interesting and insightful answers to the questions. Also shoutout to him for being a good sport about everyone demanding he do Al Pacino impressions for the whole weekend 😂

- So I actually went up and asked a couple of questions in the panels, which was THE scariest thing I have ever done. I’ve always said that I would never be that person and I don’t know how people have the guts to go up there. If you had asked me literally a day or two before if I would have done it, I’d have laughed in your face. Asking them a question is scary enough, but there were several hundred people in the audience as well and I have a terrible fear of microphones. But I did it, and I’m legit so proud of myself. Who is she??? Anyway, I went up and said (and I remember this because I rehearsed it 938282 times), “Gwyn’s feelings for Alun were a hugely fundamental part of the season, but we didn’t really get to see much of their relationship on screen. How do you think that relationship would have developed going forward, and would you have been interested in exploring that?” (If you are very invested in Gwyn and Alun, skip this next part haha.) Matt said that he was less interested in Gwyn and Alun’s relationship and more who Gwyn was outside of it, before he met Alun. Gwyn the warrior. He was interested in Gwyn’s identity as a gay man in 1925, when it was illegal, and him reconciling his sexuality with his religion, and that he’d been so hugely fixated on Alun that it would be nice to see him move forward now that he’d saved him, and for Gwyn to explore himself outside of that. And then he said that he thought that maybe Gwyn and Alun wouldn’t even have stayed together, and that would be okay, and it didn’t have to have been a happily ever after for it to have been meaningful. It was a really insightful and interesting answer and definitely not what I was expecting, but he genuinely went quite into depth with it and I was really interested in everything he said, which was all put far more eloquently than I can sum up here haha. Bear in mind that while he was saying all this, I was stood there clutching this microphone, nodding frantically while he made direct eye contact with me 😂 phew. Anyway, then Nick was like “I can’t believe you’re gonna break up with Alun. Does the actor know?” and Matt was like 🤷‍♀️. And they joked a bit about how he’d wait right until being gay was decriminalised and then immediately dump him haha. It was SUCH an interesting answer and I was so glad I was brave enough to go up and ask because I love Gwyn SO MUCH.

- Matt talked quite a bit about Gwyn, and how he thought that would be it for him after they wrote John out, but he got to do Gwyn instead. He said there was a lot of pressure because everyone was kind of waiting to see what he’d do, and how he was going to play it. He also said he did a lot with the physicality especially. Not method acting, but that even when the cameras weren’t rolling he kept up Gwyn’s mannerisms in terms of how he stood and moved. He also said that it took him a while to stop slipping into John’s mannerisms out of habit and that Nick would take him on one side and tell him if a little bit of John had slipped into his performance so he could take it down a notch. There was a bunch of interesting stuff about Gwyn this panel, actually, which was lovely. They said at one point he was going to be Australian, or maybe American, before they settled on Welsh, because it’s a very soft accent (and of course Matt is Welsh himself). He also talked about how Gwyn would be so amazed by everything they saw which made me so emo omggg.

- At Nick, Matt, and Olivia’s panel, someone asked if they had a Waverider, who would they choose to voice the AI? They all REALLY liked this question. Matt said Al Pacino and Nick begged him to act it out so he kept doing Al Pacino impressions. I cannot personally vouch for whether they were any good or not but I CAN confirm that even as someone who didn’t get the reference (I know the name but I do not actually know who Al Pacino is, don’t hate me) it was very funny.

- He said his favourite John Constantine plotline was John having lung cancer

- Someone asked if John would have been disappointed about having sex with Gary and not knowing he was an alien, and he said maybe John already knew 😏 Then someone asked about tentacle sex and if that’s what John meant when he said what he and Gary did didn’t count as Gary losing his virginity, and he said yes 😂 but he was very red at this point, bless him.

- Someone asked what they all learned from their characters. When it got to Matt’s turn, someone yelled “tentacle kink”, which honestly was a bit yikes, especially cos there was a young child at the panel and I thought it had already been made kind of clear from Matt’s reactions that he wasn’t too comfortable with the nsfw tentacle-related questions, but he said ‘no, definitely not that’ and he said something about how John just walks into things no matter how they’re gonna go and even if they’ll end badly and that he admires that.

Olivia

- Olivia talked about the cartoon episode and how becoming immortalized as a Disney princess was a literal dream for her, but she was nervous about the singing parts because she doesn’t consider herself a singer. She also said that they recorded the voiceover for that episode months before the animation was done, and that afterwards when she was watching it she felt kind of frustrated by missed opportunities and how she wished she’d done more with certain lines or changed her delivery.

- They talked about the scene where Astra is trying to fix the Waverider and how the field they filmed in was FULL of spiders. Poor Olivia had to lie on the ground and had them all over her 😭 she told them she’d do it, but if anyone screamed, it was game over.

- Olivia said one time she accidentally knocked over a candlestick in Constantine’s mansion and it made a really loud noise and she was really embarrassed, so rather than admit she knocked it over, she quickly lay down on the floor and pretended she’d tripped, and everyone came in and was really worried about her 😂 I don’t know why she thought pretending to fall down was less embarrassing than knocking over a candlestick, but hey 😂 they were all shook by this, she had never told them this before and Jes was like “WHAT??” Apparently she’d wanted to call a medic to check Olivia over because she was worried it had been a really bad fall. Olivia was like yeah I lied, sorry 😂

- Someone asked Olivia how Astra would torture the Legends. I was expecting her to talk about mental torture, like Ava’s purgatory in the ikea episode, but instead she talked about how in hell, Astra had earned some kind of qualification in flaying (there was a deleted scene where she talked about it). So she launched into this EXTREMELY in-depth description of how Astra would flay the Legends’ skin off and roll them around in lemon juice and acid. She would put thumbscrews on Sara and Ava. She said she’d have a LOT of fun with Gary, and when asked if she’d torture Behrad, she said yeah but she thought he’d enjoy it 😂 After Olivia was done with this extremely in-depth description of graphic torture, Caity holds up the mic and whispers “you guys are sick”. 😂 They were all very impressed with how much thought Olivia had put into the torture methods at such short notice but Olivia just shrugged like ‘I’ve done a lot of work with Astra, I know my character’.

- Apparently Meagan Tandy auditioned for Astra, and Olivia auditioned for Sophie on Batwoman. CAN YOU IMAGINE. They both told this same anecdote in separate panels.

- I asked what their favourite memories were of filming the 100th episode. I can’t lie, on my part this was purely an attempt to elicit an anecdote about working with Wentworth lmaooo, you all know it wouldn’t be me if I didn’t bring Len up somehow. I feel like Caity would have been the best person to ask this question, since she directed this ep, but unfortunately she’d lost her voice at this point, and Jes didn’t understand a word I was saying; she said she was glad Olivia was there to translate. I didn’t think my accent was that bad but I think I spoke too quickly because I was so nervous. Idk how I got out that massively wordy Gwyn/Alun question and fumbled a short sentence an hour later, but hey. Anyway, Olivia said that it was nice getting to meet up with everyone from the old cast and also that Caity did a really good job of directing and wrangling them all when there were so many people to work with. At another point they also mentioned how in the OG script, in the scene where all the old Legends are in the corridor, the script didn’t mention how that shot was set up, it was just kind of people popping up to say their lines, so Caity had to work really hard to figure out the staging when she was directing it, and that was how the corridor thing happened. So I didn’t get any Wentworth stories like I was hoping, boooo 😂 but my friend asked if there were any former Legends they would have liked their character to work with and Caity said she really enjoyed working with Wentworth and would have liked to do more with him, so there’s that. (As a side-note, Caity was the only person all weekend who picked up on my Captain Cold cosplay and she was really excited about it. I was like YES, SOMEONE GETS IT. Apparently me and Caity are the only person at that con who remembered that season 1 existed AND WAS GOOD, ACTUALLY. None of y’all have taste.

Jes

- Someone asked Jes if it was true that she was clumsy and kept breaking props, and she said yes. She told a story about how one time there was a TV on set with a green screen and she hit it with her fist as a joke, and it went off. The tech guys were panicking trying to fix it, and sweating, and the minutes were passing and everyone was stressed out about it (she said two minutes is like two hours in TV, or something along those lines) and they couldn’t fix it. So as a joke she was like “I’ll fix it” and hit it again AND IT CAME BACK ON. She also said they gave her a phone that I think had been blocked somehow (I didn’t fully understand the tech lingo haha) for a scene, and someone she accidentally called someone and the prop guy had no idea how she did it. She ALSO said that she kept forgetting about Ava’s wedding ring and the prop guy would come and give it to her while they were filming and ask her not to tell the director, and unless it was her or Caity filming, the director wouldn’t notice she wasn’t wearing it. So if you keep your eye out, there are some scenes where she doesn’t have the ring on.

- They were arguing about the cost of travelling in the Waverider. Caity was like “who pays for it??” and Jes went “not the CW anymore” 💀 (Just one of many incidents of shade thrown at the CW this weekend lmaooo).

- A few people asked the cast about certain fan theories. Someone asked Jes what she thought of the theory that when Time Mistress Ava was thrown out of the Waverider by Gideon, she landed in Gotham and became the female Riddler. Jes was shook by this and grabbed her phone like ‘wait I have to write that down to send to my agent’ 😂. Someone else also asked if it had ever been considered that before Ava learned she was a clone, did we have any guarantee that we had always been seeing the same Ava, or was it possible that they might have dealt with multiple Avas without knowing. Jes said she thought she remembered a scene where that was mentioned, and that it had been suggested at some point, but again, it was cut. Someone else asked her if she thought that there was the potential that the newly cloned Sara and Ava could be evil, and Jes was mindblown haha. She said, and this is verbatim because I wrote it down immediately for posterity, ‘all theories are correct.’ There you have it, folks. All your wildest Legends theories are true. You’re welcome.

- Someone asked if they could also do some ASMR. There was a joke that Caity was already doing it because she lost her voice over the weekend so she was whispering during the whole panel. Anyway, Jes said she’d do some, and she moved the microphone behind her. It looked like she was holding it against her bum, and everyone was like :O because it looked like she was going to fart into it, until she saw our faces and was like “It’s not gonna come out of my butt, guys, come on!” Then she cracked her back DIRECTLY into the microphone. It was one of the most satisfying things I have ever heard. Iconic behaviour, actually. (Olivia also did some with her rings and said wearing rings is her whole personality.)

Avalance

- The first question at the Avalance panel was some guy who asked if Sara and Ava ended up in an island solely populated by women, would Sara remain faithful. This was NOT a popular question lmao, and for good reason, considering that Sara has literally never shown any signs of being unfaithful. Smells like biphobia to me. Anyway, Caity was like ‘of course she’d stay faithful’ and pointed out that Sara already lives in a world full of women and has never been unfaithful. I don’t know why he asked that question and everyone was appalled by it tbh.

- Someone else asked if Sara and Ava broke up, would Sara end up with someone else on the Waverider, and Caity said no, she thought she’d be done with that, and she wouldn’t shit where she ate again 😂 she was like “Romantic 😏” 😂

- Someone asked if they remembered any of the choreography from the tango scene, and could they do it. They said no, but they did remember some of the other dances, and they did some of the choreo for us :D it was adorable, I don’t have any pictures but other people do, so they’ll probably show up at some point.

- Someone asked about what they thought the Avalance baby would be called. They debated over last names and combining it as ‘Larpe’. Jes started singing ‘baby Sharpe do-do-do-do’, and later someone suggested ‘Laurel’ as a name, so she started singing ‘Laurel Larpe do-do-do-do-do-do’. I tell you this purely because this has been on repeat in my head ever since and I want everyone else to suffer along with me.

- They talked about the Avalance pregnancy, and how everyone thought Ava would be the one to carry the baby. Caity said she wasn’t happy that Sara got pregnant because she didn’t want to be fat 😬. Apparently there was also a pitch flying around that the pregnancy would be kind of symbiotic, if that’s the right word, and that Ava would actually be pregnant but Sara would be the one with all the symptoms, like morning sickness, so she’d have been puking everywhere while Ava was fine, which I actually think would have been extremely funny. Someone suggested maybe it would have been more of an alien-type pregnancy like Mick’s, so Sara wouldn’t have to be traditionally pregnant and they could fast-track it, but Caity said she didn’t want that to happen either 😂 Jes also said some really sweet stuff about how nice it was for Sara and Ava to have that experience and to be able to have a kid that was just theirs and had their DNA, which was lovely.

- Someone asked Jes a question about ‘playboy Oliver Queen’ and how she’d have reacted if she’d been there when he tried to take Sara on the boat. Jes had literally NO idea what he was talking about lmao, and after a minute of trying to explain, he was like “wait, have you actually SEEN Arrow??” Jes hid her face and did a walk of shame off the stage 😂 then she came back and admitted she hadn’t seen it (I was shocked people expected her to have. I think people forget that they’re IN the shows, they’re not fans themselves) but she said she would. Eventually he kind of did a tl;dr of how Sara ended up on the Queen’s Gambit and asked what Ava would have done if she was there, and Jes was like “I’d kill him.” Very matter of fact 😂. (As a side note, the panel the next day the guy came up to ask if she’d watched it yet and Jes did ANOTHER walk of shame off the stage 😂) like WHEN WOULD SHE HAVE HAD TIME. She did say her and her husband (who was also there, and who she said has been in three different Legends eps) would binge watch it on the plane ride home, and Caity said to skip to season 2 (the season she was in) and just watch that, which is valid tbh. Everyone cheered.)

- There was a question about rep, and Caity talked about how she loved that being bi was just a part of Sara’s character, and it wasn’t all that she was. They did also talk about the ace rep and Olivia said she didn’t want to speak for Lisseth, but obviously they’re close and they had talked about how Lisseth was very anxious about getting it right because she knew it was a massively underrepresented group of people.

Cancellation Stuff/Saving Legends

- During their panel, someone asked Nick, Matt, and Olivia what they were doing when they found out the show was cancelled. Matt said it was about 4am and he woke up to a bunch of emails from the cast and crew. They would have called him but you know. He was in the UK and it was 4am. So he just sort of rolled over and went back to sleep and it didn’t really register until afterwards. It was similar for Olivia, it was like 6am and it didn’t really hit her. I can’t really remember Nick’s reaction, but I think he said it was different for him because he’d already left the show and said his goodbyes as Nate and he felt bad that everyone else didn’t get the chance to do the same. The same person also asked if they were going to get more work after this and they were all like “uhhh, I hope so.” It was kind of uncomfortable I can’t lie; the person kept questioning them in a similar vein and it was a bit cringey. The panels were unmoderated and no one was vetoing any questions, and for the most part people were pretty respectful but there was the occasional question that was a bit awkward, though I don’t think it was malicious.

- Someone asked Jes, Caity, and Olivia, if Legends was picked up by another network, would they come back and do more. Jes was like ‘ARE YOU INSANE??’ 😂 The person also asked if they’d prefer it to be on Netflix or HBO and Jes and Olivia were like ‘anywhere. Anywhere that will have us.’ The same person also said she saw that Netflix were currently in negotiations to pick it up but I have no idea what her source was on that, and nobody really took her very seriously... Jes in particular seemed very resigned to the fact that it was over but very vocal that she would be 100% down to keep going if it was an option. She also joked about considering getting her real-estate license when it was cancelled, and about her frustration that they were all kept in limbo for six months by the network and couldn’t move on or start looking for more work because they didn’t know if they’d be coming back or not.

Okay, that is a LOT of stuff. Is there more? Definitely. They talked for four hours between them. I didn’t mention a lot of stuff when they were talking about other projects, for example. I have also been writing this for LITERAL hours so I am running out of steam, but I will definitely come back to it and reblog with any more stuff I remember if anything pops into my head, and if anyone has any questions or wants to try to jog my memory, have at it haha.

I’ll also be doing a post for the Batwoman panels so keep an eye out for that!

#legends of tomorrow #caity lotz #jes mcallan #nick zano #matt ryan #olivia swann #helen meets the lot cast

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immaturityofthomasastruc · 3 years

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IOTA Reviews: Wishmaker

Goddamn it...

It's bad enough Astruc tastelessly axed Lukanette, but now he just had to show up to give a sarcastic eulogy at the funeral.

Let's get into the fourteenth (chronologically the eighteenth) episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fourth season: Wishmaker

Right out of the gate, we get a “Chloe bad” joke with her insulting Marinette for being poor or whatever as she hands out flyers for an upcoming career fair. Chloe doesn't have much of a role in the episode, but she will be important towards the end, trust me. We also get a funny “Marinette stares lovingly at Adrien” joke while she sees him, so it's good the writers are at least trying to get their strange habits out of their systems now instead of later.

While reading over the flyer in his room, Adrien ponders a possible career as he doesn't want to keep being a model.

(The episode came out in English first, so I'm just going to be using quotes instead of screenshots of subbed scenes for this review)

Plagg: Don't you wanna continue to model?

Adrien: I don't think so, Plagg. I'm doing it now because my father asked me to. But now I realize I don't know what I'd want to do. I've never asked myself that question.

This is a really interesting dilemma for Adrien. Unlike other episodes that just have him feel sad for entirely superfluous reasons like Ladybug turning him down or generally moping about his mom, it feels like something you can really understand. He genuinely isn't sure what he wants to do with his life because he's had everything chosen for him before. I also like the use of the English dub saying Adrien modeled because his father asked him to, as if he couldn't actually say no. I also like how Adrien is still starting to lose faith in Ladybug for giving out Miraculous to everyone, which makes even more sense after his view of her was shaken in the previous episode chronologically, “Rocketear”. I also like how Plagg suggests ideas for a career for Adrien, like the two of them opening up a cheese shop together, which shows how Plagg cares for Adrien and wants what's best for him, ultimately highlighting how healthy their relationship is. He's almost like a big brother who gives advice to Adrien, even if it isn't the most sound advice at times.

On the other hand, Marinette already knows what she wants to do with her life, but the Kwamis start to argue over what she actually means by it by saying they know what she wants to do, a painfully accurate metaphor for the writers dictating Marinette's actions no matter how inconsistent they are.

Pollen: What's a career, dear Guardian?

Marinette: Oh. Well, it's... your job! Something really important that you do and gives meaning to your life!

Roaar: Oh! So, your job is being the Guardian of the Miraculous!

Mullo: Of course not! It's being a student!

Xuppu: Not at all! It's making presents for Adrien!

Marinette:Well...

Longg: She said “something important”, like when she crafted the big doll house to hide the Miracle Box!

Wayzz: Or when she designed the alarm for this room! What a masterpiece!

Marinette: Sure, I love crafting but—

Ziggy: You guys don't get it! What gives meaning to her life is to be in love with Adrien, or Luka, that's her job!

Fluff: Luka's the one with the guitar, right?

Kaalki: Her real career is being Ladybug and carve her name in history by her glorious deeds, of course!

Of course, their bickering somehow makes Marinette realize she isn't sure what she wants to do in the future after all.

We then cut to a reality show hosted by TV personality, Alec Cataldi. He's generally an asshole to the people on the shows he hosts and takes pleasure in humiliating or just being a dick to them, making you wonder how he still gets work with that attitude. Basically, he's the Alec Baldwin of the Miraculous Ladybug universe. The current show he's hosting is one where he roasts people for their jobs, making Andre a target by pointing how counterproductive his “business” is.

Alec: Here's a perfect example: Andre, the Ice Cream Maker, the ice cream man that is never around! Let me remind you how this goes: Andre doesn't have a shop, no one knows where he is, it takes forever to find him, and he gets to pick a flavor of your ice cream! You've gotta be kidding, Andre! Give me one reason why I should bother to chase after you when I could get my choice of ice cream in any corner supermarket!

Andre: Well, people don't just come for ice cream when they find me. They come to share their love and experience of magical moments! A supermarket cannot do what I do! I am a creator of magical moments!

Alec: “Creator of magical moments?” You've gotta be kidding!

I'm pretty sure that's what a lot of people thought of Andre when they first saw “Glaciator”. The idea behind Andre is that he chooses ice cream for you representing something about yourself, so he gives Alec a scoop of lime to represent his sour exterior and chocolate cinnamon to represent the dreams he still has within. Alec flinches a little at the ice cream, presumably because of how terrible of a combination that is, and decides to go to commercial to think.

Marinette talks to Andre about what he does, and he explains he used to be an office worker, with the only highlight of his days being making ice cream for himself after work. It eventually inspired him to quit his job and start making ice cream for everyone. It's a nice backstory, and I think a lot of people watching who are struggling to think about their future can relate to this like with the earlier scene with Adrien. It's also a nice touch for the flashbacks to reveal Andre has served ice cream to some of France's most famous couples.

(Jean Coutau and Jean Marais)

(Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin)

(Marion Cotillard and Guillaume Canet)

Granted, I'm wondering how old Andre is to have even met some of these people given Jean Cocteau died in 1963, but seeing how Master Fu is 186, I'm guessing the Miraculous Ladybug universe just has really good healthcare. Either that, or the people in this universe take Jay Kordich's diet very seriously.

Andre gives some ice cream to Marinette, who is soon joined by her ex-boyfriend who she never loved according to the writers. Actually, judging from her face when Luka talks about the very first guitar he made, the writers made another 180 regarding Marinette's feelings for Luka.

Of course, because the show wants to remind the audience Alec still exists, he makes fun of Luka for taking two years to perfect the delicate craftsmanship it takes to sculpt any instrument when you can just download an app on your phone. Your inner boomer is showing, writers, even if you were born after the time period for that generation. Luka retorts with some vague philosophical line he's known for that's one of the reasons why people are so mixed on him as a character

Luka: Musical instruments fill the space and space fills the instruments. No phone in the world will ever be able to do that.

Despite it being incredibly confusing, it gets to Alec, causing him to run off in tears. Luka and Marinette continue to talk, but it turns out that's Adrien decided to sit down nearby because of course he did. Though, like the last scene, it's a pretty interesting one as the three discuss what they want to do with their lives. There's also a really nice visual of a blimp with an ad Adrien was in passing by while Adrien talks about his father dictating his life, a really nice symbol. Of course, the scene is somewhat ruined by Luka suddenly deciding to be an Adrienette shipper.

Luka: You two will eventually find what's already in front of you, but you can't hear it clearly. Just let the melody flow.

He's referring to their uncertainty of their futures, but earlier on, Luka wanted to help Marinette be honest with her feelings about Adrien, and even before that, Andre was saying that Marinette and Luka didn't have to be in love to enjoy his magic ice cream. It's here when I realized this episode is subtly trying to end any chances of Lukanette still happening with so many little details. Right when the two spend time together, that's when they decided to help Adrien who showed up for no reason, preventing them from potentially coming to terms with their feelings for each other or at the very least discuss how hard it is to be friends with their history. And things only get more frustrating towards the end, where you'd swear someone decided to smother Lukanette with a pillow in its sleep.

Back to Alec, he's roasting a wig salesman (does he even have permission to film any of these people?) for his job, but as soon as the salesman puts a wig on him, Alec immediately gives us his life story.

Alec: When I was a kid, I used to have long hair, but everyone made fun of me. That's why I shaved it all off. I've been making the wrong choices my whole life. My TV shows are nothing personal. I make fun of people when they make fun of me when I was a kid. (Starts to tear up) I should've been the person I always wanted to be, trying to change the world instead of mocking it! (Falls on his knees) I've wasted my life!

I didn't paraphrase this at all. This is seriously what happened. He goes from mocking everyone he meets, to slightly doubting himself after seeing an ice cream vendor and a young musician, and then he starts having an existential crisis about his tragic backstory. It's not a bad idea, but if there was some more buildup in previous episodes, I'd understand. But this goes from confusing to straight out insulting towards the end. I'll get to that later on.

Shadowmoth notices Alec's emotions and akumatizes him into Wishmaker through his microphone.

Wishmaker has a pretty cool design. The grey skin color coupled with the mostly black outfit really highlights Alec's broken heart, and he looks pretty sinister. His powers... leave a lot to be desired. Like the name states, Wishmaker has the power to make everyone's childhood dreams come true, like this one guy's dream is to be Santa Claus, so he transforms into Saint Nick without any hitch. Wouldn't it make more sense if Wishmaker twisted the dreams of his victims like a genie and made them miserable while they ironically lived out their fantasies by twisting around their words? Instead, all of his “victims” seem pretty happy, which doesn't really do much to make him a threat in my opinion.

So the aforementioned Santa starts dropping presents like bombs near Marinette, Adrien, and Luka, and they're separated by a giant robot. Marinette quickly transforms into Ladybug, and gets Luka to safety, though as soon as she leaves, Luka goes to check on where he told Marinette to stay for safety, and doesn't see her there. Instead, he sees his deadbeat father (transformed into a crocodile) drowning and goes to save him.

Ladybug meets up with Cat Noir (who transformed off-screen) and the two easily incapacitate the robot before engaging Wishmaker, avoiding his blasts. Apparently, they'll get their secret identities revealed if they get hit, so Ladybug goes to get Luka to help out as Viperion while Cat Noir holds off Wishmaker. Ladybug goes to get Luka, leading to the funniest joke in the episode.

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She gives Luka the Snake Miraculous and he transforms into Viperion, immediately activating his Second Chance. For newcomers, Second Chance allows the user to set a point in time when activating it and if something goes wrong, they can go back to that checkpoint in up to five minutes. Ladybug also summons her Lucky Charm, a stuffed dinosaur toy.

Back with Cat Noir, as he engages Wishmaker, the Akuma starts to tempt him with the idea of living out his childhood dream, because he genuinely doesn't remember his. As Shadowmoth orders Wishmaker to use his powers on Cat Noir, Ladybug and Viperion show up, but in the chaos of the fight, Ladybug gets hit by Wishmaker, revealing her childhood dream as the “Knitting Fairy”, and exposes her identity to Viperion, who uses Second Chance to undo the timeline.

In the new timeline, Cat Noir's vulnerability gets to him, so he willingly lets himself get his by Wishmaker, not only exposing his identity as Adrien, but tragically reveals his childhood dream, to be whatever his parents wanted him to be. I feel like this works a lot better than some of the other moments where Cat Noir defied orders or screwed around on the battlefield because it's clearly framed as a moment of weakness on his part, and it was naturally built up over the course of the episode. The reveal of Adrien's childhood dream is a real gut punch too, as it shows just how much Adrien's life has been controlled by his family.

In the third timeline, Viperon deflects Wishmaker's blast meant for Cat Noir and redirects it toward a man whose childhood dream was to become a giant stuffed dinosaur. The stuffed dinosaur in question goes to give Wishmaker a hug, restraining him long enough for Ladybug to steal for Cat Noir to cataclysm (It's a microphone, how hard is it to break???) before she de-evilizes the Akuma. Ladybug uses Miraculous Ladybug to force everyone to stop living out their childhood dreams, she gives Alec a Magical Charm, and Luka decides not to tell Ladybug he knows both her and Cat Noir's secret identities. Why did Ladybug expect Luka not to know her identity when the whole reason she recruited him was to make sure nobody else found out her identity?

Now, while it isn't outright said, it's hinted at that now that Luka knows Marinette is Ladybug and Adrien is Cat Noir, judging from his dejected look after finding out the latter, he may be giving up on all attempts at the idea of getting back together with Marinette, and may or may not start shipping the Love Square now, just like how Kagami decided to ship Adrienette in “Mr. Pigeon 72”. I'm not saying the idea of Luka knowing someone's identity is bad, but it feels like this only happened specifically to stop him from having feelings for Marinette because now he knows Adrien loves her alter ego, and vice versa. Maybe it'll be touched upon in a later episode, but this was just a dick move by the writers in terms of ending all chances of Lukanette like this in order to ensure the Love Square has absolutely no competition.

So the episode ends with Marinette and Adrien deciding to focus on their futures while Alec starts a new show where he helps people live out their childhood dreams, albeit dressed like Style Queen for some reason.

Eh, he still picked a pretty cool Akuma to dress up as in my opinion. A lot of people have viewed this ending as evidence Alec is a drag queen with how he dressed up, coupled with the fact that he said something that was very similar to famous drag queen RuPaul.

Alec: And now, we're gonna love one another, starting with everyone loving themselves! Because how are you gonna love other people if you don't love yourself?

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Though Astruc, being Astruc, once again decided to be vague when asked about the subject on Twitter, though at least the subtext is better than when he said he didn't make Juleka and Rose girlfriends because of censors while making it seem like a noble act.

Overall, this was a really good episode, though there were some underlying issues that really kept me from actually liking it. For the most part, it had some good drama with the main character, a rare scene where Marinette didn't stammer around Adrien, a creative (albeit flawed) Akuma with some good action, and an interesting idea with Luka knowing everything about the Love Square now.

There are just two big problems that really got to me about this episode. Let's get the obvious one out of the way, Luka. Honestly, he really didn't need to be in the episode. Sure, he gave some sound advice to Marinette and Adrien about their careers, but it felt kind of strange to see someone their age talking to them about their future when Andre, someone who actually had experience struggling to figure out what he wanted to do with his life, was pushed to the side. And like I said earlier, I think the only reason Luka found out about Marinette and Adrien's identities was to discourage him from thinking about getting back together with Marinette. After all, now that he realizes how “made for each other” they are, he can't stand in the way of the Love Square.

The problem is that in the context of the episode, we don't really see what made him see things that way. At least in “Mr. Pigeon 72”, Kagami consistently viewed Marinette's attempts to get her and Adrien back together as a subconscious desire to be with Adrien. It was dumb with how she decided to go to Team Adrienette at the end of the episode, but it was something. I'm glad the episode didn't force in too many Love Square shenanigans, but I think more should have been done to contextualize Luka's feelings towards the reveal. I get the writers wanted to make sure Lukanette had no chance of coming back, but this just feels rushed.

And then there's Alec's redemption arc. While it's not a bad idea in concept, the problem is that it flies in the fact of a recurring theme this season, that being redemption. Because, here's the funny thing: Alec blatantly said he became an asshole TV personality because of his history of bullying, and decided to retaliate as a result, but he eventually saw the error of his ways and turned over a new leaf. For long time readers of this blog, I apologize for bringing this up yet again, but what exactly makes this different from everything Astruc said about Chloe? You know, when he said that you make your formative choices when you're fourteen? Just like how Alec decided to become a reality TV host making fun of people after a troubling experience from when he was a kid?

Let's say that I agree with Astruc's views about Chloe. How is Alec different from what Astruc's said about Chloe for almost two years at this point? What makes Chloe, someone who was the victim of a troubled childhood who never got help, an irredeemable monster while Alec, someone who also had a troubled childhood and had even more time to get help while never getting any, capable of change? I thought he Alec made a formative choice when he was young and stuck with it, just like how Chloe started to fully develop at the age of fourteen. I mean, Astruc, you yourself said that Chloe's troubled childhood “was no excuse to treat people like shit”, according to you.

I'm just saying, dude, if Chloe can't be redeemed because of the stuff you yourself said, then that shouldn't apply to Alec either. When you really think about it, it's almost like Astruc either made up a bunch of excuses to not redeem Chloe, or he's a massive hypocrite for going back on his word. You can't really justify this kind of hypocrisy relating to Alec's redemption when you remember just how much of a hardass Astruc was when explaining why redemption was impossible for Chloe.

This coupled with the treatment of Luka really drags this episode from really good to blatantly insulting to certain viewers. Then again, these two choices just got to me personally. I feel like if those two things weren't there, things could have made this episode a lot better for me personally. I can see why a lot of people in the fandom still like this episode, but I'm honestly not a fan of it.

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godofsexdrugsandrocknroll · 3 years

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Streaming, Flaxen, Waxen; or Yang and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Jaune: *Storming in* Okay, it was kinda funny when you started hiding my scissors, Yang, but you gotta stop.

Yang: *Who had been eating her lunch, talking with Blake* Okay, what?

Jaune: My razors, Yang. Stop stealing them already.

Yang: *Genuinely baffled* Don’t know what’s crawled up your ass, Jaune, but I haven’t touched your razors. Or your scissors.

Jaune: Oh sure and I just happened to wanna grow my hair out.

*Sure enough Jaune’s blonde hair now reaches past his shoulders in a half up, half down style*

Blake: *Swirling a glass of water, eying Jaune* I think it looks nice.

Jaune: *High pitched* i tHinK iT loOkS nICe.

Yang: Hey, watch it. She’s being serious. It’s a good look--

Jaune: Fine, whatever, but the beard!? C’mon, stop playing games.

*Jaune also has a pale, almost metallic blonde beard that’s gotten pretty long - to the point where he needs a beard comb*

Yang: And I’m telling you *blows a raspberry, covers her mouth*

Jaune: *Opens mouth, closes it* Okay, not gonna lie. That kind of dismissal actually stings, Yang.

Blake: *Smiling behind her glass* Jaune. *Nods to the wall behind him*

Ruby: *Blushing*

Weiss: *Wide eyed*

Jaune: *Gears slowly start working*

Jaune: *Realization dawns, gasp overdramatically* IT WAS YOU TWO!

Yang: *Bursts out laughing*

Blake: *Giggles*

Jaune: *Gazing brokenly into the distance* Betrayed by my own girlfriends. Oh, I can totally understand why every singer ever has written about heartbreak now.

Weiss: *Eyes are still fidgeting, not looking at him directly and her cheeks have pinked* Oh stop. I-it’s just...*awkward pause* well it was Ruby’s idea so she should explain it!

Ruby: *Blushes harder and ignores Yang’s cackling* What!? Weiss you traitor! *Weiss refuses to look at her, clasping her hands* Well, uh, Jaune, i-it’s...ah, I know! How about me, you and Weiss go to the bedroom and I’ll fuck Weiss’ face on your dick while you eat me out!

Weiss: *Immediately goes bright crimson, shrieks* RUBY ROSE!

Blake: *Silently shaking from laughter*

Yang: *Freezes, lurches forward a bit* Oh. Well this is a new kind of pain.

*Weiss is slapping at a squealing Ruby, face burning and trying to get past the taller girls defenses*

Ruby: *Defending herself and peeking at Jaune from between her arms* H-howza ‘bout it!? Ow, Weiss, I’m sorry! Ow!

Jaune: *Crosses arms, gives disappointed stare*

Ruby: ACK! Not that look! OW WEISS, MY EYE! *To Jaune, hand over her eye* I only like that look when it’s cause I couldn’t hold my breath long enough or cause I came before Weiss *mutters* again. *Weiss slaps her on the top of the head* Ow, my soft spot!

Weiss: *Her neck is now red too as she finally, grumpily, crosses her own arms* Your entire head’s a soft spot.

Blake: *Has her face on the table to hide her tearful eyes, her body shaking*

Yang: *Clutches her heart* What happened to my sweet little baby sister who wanted me to braid her hair and brought me cookies and her stuffie when I was sad?

Ruby: *Defeated* Fine. I hope you know just what you were turning down--

Yang: *Crisis intensifies*

Ruby: --but if you have to know, it’s c-cause, well, *quickly* you look super hot with long hair.

Yang: *Distressed* She can shatter my entire world without blinking an eye but that’s what’s got her bashful!?

Jaune: *Blinks* Uh, thanks?

Ruby: *Blushing, looks away bashfully* Really hot. *Nudges Weiss*

Weiss: *Won’t look him in the eye* No matter how you wear it. Right now? You kinda look like a viking and i-it’s...yummy. *Ruby nods agreeing* Ponytail?

Ruby: Somewhere between starving, sexy artist and casual Jaune, which is just as sexy if not more.

Weiss: And g-gods help either one of us if you let it down because I don’t think you understand how good you look with a breeze running through your hair, just l-looking over the horizon.

Ruby: Even if you’re just thinking about what you’re gonna eat later. Trust me. It works. *Eyes glaze over* It’s like someone took hot guy and heroic knight and wrapped them all into one and *whistles and Yang flinches at it*

Weiss: T-the point is it looks good. Very good.

Jaune: *Shocked, very flattered and blushing* Oh. I had no idea. And my beard?

Weiss: *Face wobbles and she squeals, putting her hands over her face*

Ruby: Uh, that’s Weiss for she likes the way it feels. *Carefully puts an arm up, eying her girlfriend cautiously* Especially when you’re going down on her or she parks it right on you.

Weiss: *Screams into her hands, kicks Ruby in the shin and turns away* R-Ruuuubyyyy!!!!!! These things are supposed to be private! B-between lovers!

Yang: *Looking harrowed* Finally someone speaking sense in this broken, twisted world.

Ruby: Please, Yang knows I do stuff. She’s fine.

Yang: *Gapes, swallows* I think I understand how Dad felt when I started dating now.

Ruby: *Shrugs at Jaune* And I kinda love that too. Plus, just...mmmm.

Jaune: *Rubs his neck, looking away* ‘Mmm’?

Weiss: *Muffled* Yes. Beards suit you. Y-you’re handsome no matter what, but the p-pervert’s not wrong to suggest that this new look is very attractive.

Jaune: *Genuinely bashful* Oh. Then I guess it’s not so bad. But why didn’t you just say something-- *Looks at Weiss hiding while Ruby won’t stop cutely fidgeting* --aaannnddd nevermind. Got it.

*They all awkwardly stand there for a few minutes before Jaune nods, looks to Yang*

Jaune: Sorry for accusing you guys, I just figured this had practical joke written all over it.

Yang: *Weakly* N-no problem, Jaune.

Ruby: *Nods in the background* Okay, you got us both all worked up again - OW! My butt! I’m gonna make you kiss it better, Wei-OW-OW-OW! I’m sorry! *Focuses on Jaune, rubbing her recently slapped bottom* Jaune. Bedroom.

Jaune: *Immediately distracted* Well I guess if I’m having that much of an effect *trails off before smirking* but I think I know two girls who are in clear need of spankings. Faces down and asses up, you naughty girls.

Ruby: *Whispers* Oh gods we gave him confidence. *Shivers, salutes* Yes sir! *Scampers off*

Weiss: *Staring wide eyed, blush acting back up and she swallows, speaks quietly* You’re not the boss of me.

Jaune: *Smirks, walking forward* Oh? *Chases after Weiss who shrieks, spins and runs after Ruby, following her with his head held surprisingly high*

Blake: *Breathing heavily, hiccuping while wiping away mirthful tears* Oh my goodness. Those three are something else.

Yang: *Thousand yard stare* I want to die and never see the light of day again.

Blake: Oh please.

Yang: My poor, innocent baby sister! *Trying not to cry as Blake rolls her eyes, grabbing Yang’s arm to lead her outside and away from the house*

#rwby #jaune arc #ruby rose #weiss schnee #war of the roses #jaune x weiss x ruby #jaune x ruby x weiss #bumblebee #yang xiao long #blake belladonna #this is what happens when you let a drunk type #what's crack-a-lackin'

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hajimewhore · 4 years

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Body Swap 👫 (Iwaizumi Hajime/Reader) ➸Rated T, fem!Reader, 2.1k words ➷Humor, fluff, awkwardness, mild miild nsfw but not explicit, I will say I can only assume this kinda thing happens when you swap bodies lol ➷ Masterlist, Part 1, Part 2, ✈Part 3, Part 4

You initially dreaded the conversation with Hajime’s parents, wincing on the way through the door with a slight panic washing over you. But after a short and pleasant talk with them, you came to find the conversation flowed more naturally than you’d anticipated.

They’re not as doting to Hajime as they are to you, you note, but they’re friendly and pleasant and you feel as if you’re talking to your own family. Much like your own parents wanted a son, Hajime’s always wanted a daughter, so they often acted as your second set of parents. You feel a bit silly in retrospect, they’re as charming as ever with Hajime as they are with you.

They mostly inquire about Hajime’s day, and after a bit you excuse yourself to ‘study’, escaping to Hajime’s room. You’re beginning to feel positive about the next school day after the interaction, confidence boosted.

Who knew you would turn out to be such a good actress, better than you thought! Award winning, honestly. This whole body swap will be a cake walk. You can totally pull off being Hajime!

It seems you can definitely pull off the acting portion, but the sweat sticking to your clothes from your exhausting (emotionally and physically) practice is starting to make you consider the hygiene aspect of the swap. Which, has you feeling wildly uncomfortable.

This cosmic joke, shitty trope of a situation has you experiencing humiliation and embarrassment at levels you didn’t even realize were possible to achieve.

Normally after a grueling practice, you wouldn’t hesitate to hop straight into the shower and blast the hot water over your skin, feeling your muscles and aches soothed. But this isn’t your skin, or your muscles. You’re consistently reminded every hour, minute, and second, that it’s all Hajime. You should feel comforted that he’s definitely experiencing the same emotional crisis as you, but it only serves to heighten your distress.

Cheeks immediately heating at that, you recall the conversation with Hajime from earlier at the park.

“Just... let’s not think about it. And let’s definitely not talk about it. It’s a natural part of life.”

You know full well of the agreement you came to with red stained cheeks, but is there any way you could go without it? And drench yourself with Axe body spray? Or whatever it is guys like to use. You bet it would make a good repellent, no one would want to talk to you if you smelled like that.

You scrunch your nose, dashing the thought immediately, definitely not. Not only would it make you feel gross, Hajime would whack you first thing in the morning, and probably shove you in the shower himself.

‘No big deal, no big deal, it’s no big deal, you can do this!’

You find yourself chanting silent encouragements as you peel your shirt off, pitching it into a laundry basket. When you catch your reflection, a dark pink creeps across your features.

Yep, that’s still Hajime’s face,

‘Gaaah, don’t look at me like that!’

You press your hands to your face, but you end up peaking through your fingers anyways. The low sweats definitely don’t help, and neither do Hajime’s well defined abs.

You’d been true to your word when you told Hajime you hadn’t seen anything, but now you’re a little desperate to know what the deal is downstairs.

You won’t look. You shouldn’t. You don’t look. You definitely do not look.

You look,

pulling the sweats down, and shoving the briefs just past your thighs, you bite your lip at the revelation.

Okay.

Alright.

This is fine.

This is totally fine.

Hajime is just secretly packing.

WHAT THE FUCK?

You suppose it wasn’t necessarily a secret, it was always assumed of Hajime. You’ve also been privy to the third years’ cock talk at lunch, and he always did exude big dick energy, but damn Hajime.

Wait. Are you—

NOPE.

NOPE NOPE NOPE YOU ARE NOT DEALING WITH THIS RIGHT NOW.

You cover your face again, a recurring action today it seems, cheeks burning rampant and hotter than ever before. You feel a prickly hot and itchy feeling light a fire up your back to your neck, the heat of pure, unbridled, embarrassment coursing every vein.

Were you... getting a boner?

NOOOOOOO.

From being turned on by Hajime? While you are Hajime?

This is some paradoxical bullshit you are simply not having right now, not tonight, not tomorrow, and hopefully never again.

Despite the shame and humiliation beating down on your psyche, you risk a glance to see how much bigger he looks than before.

“Cold shower, yep. Cold shower helps, right?”

You immediately shove the briefs the rest of the way down, before hopping in the shower, starting it up at the coldest setting. Hopefully the freezing water will wash away not only your transgressions but also your mortification.

You squeak at the cold, bite your lip and shiver, tough it out, and will away the uncomfortable situation.

You sigh, hoping the morning will go smoother than the swell night you had, hopping down the steps of Hajime’s house.

You cross the street to meet up with him and Tooru, already seeing their figures across the road.

“Ha-Hey.”

You almost slip up with his name, but you make a clean save. Mentally patting yourself on the back, you glance to see Hajime’s bitter expression and—

Your jaw drops when you catch sight of... yourself. Your silent wish for a trouble-free morning is cast aside as you examine his appearance.

Hair unkempt, face completely bare, not even moisturizer or at least sunscreen to be seen, did he even try?

“Ha hey to you too, Iwa-chan.”

Tooru raises a brow at the odd introduction, clearly noting the slip up (and also the fact that Hajime usually settles for a short grunt and never a ‘Ha-hey’), but you can’t be bothered to entertain him right now with the current Hajime dilemma.

“Right, whatever,” you direct your attention to Hajime, “can I grab that thing I lent you yesterday?”

“What are you talking about? You’re being weird, Hajime.”

He warns you with a stern look, but you aren’t having it,

“I’m not, I know you have it, we can grab it right now. Tooru, you go ahead. I’ll see you later.”

You push Hajime back in the direction of your house, and Tooru frowns at his abrupt seclusion with zero explanation.

“Are you guys seriously ditching me?”

Tooru raises a brow, arms akimbo with a disgraced look.

“Yeah, we are, Shittykawa. Let’s go.”

You hate to diss Tooru without a solid reason, but it’s pretty on brand for Hajime, so you bite out the nickname with minor discomfort on your lips. You impatiently grab Hajime, before pulling him towards the steps of your house, Tooru’s complaints going unheard behind you.

“Hajime! You’re not wearing any make up! And my hair is a mess!”

You whine out, sitting him down at your vanity.

Hajime merely scowls,

“Seriously? That’s what this is about? Don’t scare me like that, I thought there was something wrong.”

He moves to stand, but you shove him back into the seat with a little more aggression than intended, you lowkey forgot how strong Hajime was.

And Hajime looks up at you with a incredulous expression, feeling a little scandalized, as a woman, that you would handle him like that.

“There IS something wrong though. I look awful! At least wear some foundation and mascara, that stuff is easy to apply!”

You pull out your make up box, flicking on the mirror light.

“I think you look fine this way,” he huffs, “you don’t need all that shit.”

A frown tugs at his lips, and you feel your heartbeat quicken at his earnest display. You bite back a wistful sigh, this is exactly the reason you’ve always been so drawn to Hajime. Rough around the edges, but there there’s no bullshit when it comes to him. He doesn’t disguise his intentions, doesn’t waste time saving face. He’s just genuine, unadulterated, Iwaizumi Hajime, what you see is exactly what you get, and you honestly wouldn’t have him any other way.

Setting aside your thoughts for another time to privately dwell on, you ignore the feeling.

“Really? That’s nice of you to say. Keep going.”

You smile, pink dusting your cheeks. You hope your expression doesn’t look too soft as you continue to apply the makeup to his face.

“Fishing for compliments now? No way, Shitty-L/N.”

“Nooo! Don’t call me that!”

You pause mid powder to cry out in your indignation, to which he masterfully ignores fixating his gaze on something more interesting than your whining, like the window sill.

After a bit of complaining, back and forth bickering about how uncomfortable the make up feels, you continue with a light highlight and mascara. You stop once you’re satisfied with your work, not bothering to deal with any extras like eyeliner or eyeshadow.

“All this for what? It tickles, and you can’t even touch it.”

Hajime’s hand hovers over his cheek, careful not to smudge anything. You must’ve smacked his hand away too many times, it seems.

“You get used to it. Plus it can be fun to try different brands and colors, and the little confidence boost isn’t bad.”

“Not that you need it.”

Hajime sighs out, standing from the seat to stretch. You’re sure it’s meant to be an insult to the crude ego you (and Tooru) tend to display, but you sense an underlying meaning that winds up boosting your ego even more.

“Anyways, we’re all done! And with time to spare.”

You chrip, gleaming with pride at your work. Add that too the list of things you should be, actress, and make up artist (next to pro volleyball player of course).

Hajime glances to the mirror, “’looks nice, I guess,” he hums in very faint approval.

That’s as good as a compliment to you, so you’ll take it!

He shifts to make way for the door, hooking his school bag over his shoulder.

“And it was definitely easier to do it on you than myself. Hey, maybe when you learn how to put it on yourself, you can do it for me when we switch back?”

You hover around him eagerly, and he rolls his eyes, resisting the urge to not smack his own body.

“No way in hell. The most I’ll do while we’re switched is that eyelash shit and the foundation or whatever,” he pauses, averting his eyes, “and only because it makes you so happy for some damn reason.”

You grin, ecstatic with his unexpected compliance, pulling him into a hug,

“And that’s perfect, eyelash shit and foundation or whatever is good enough for me!”

“H-Hey! Knock it off!”

It feels weird, being so much taller and hugging your body, but it still feels right considering it’s Hajime despite it all.

He tentatively returns the embrace, albeit awkwardly with one arm.

“We’re gonna be late if we keep bullshitting. Let’s go!”

He gently pushes you off and hightails it out of your room, and you laugh trailing after his awkward stomps.

“Also, wear your skirt higher!”

You call out behind him.

“What? No way in hell! This is the school standard, you always wear it too high!”

He spins around, uncomfortably smoothing out the skirt pleats as if the action could make it lengthier.

“I have nice legs, and I want to show it off!”

You growl, chasing Hajime down the stairs, grabbing onto the waistline of the skirt.

“That’s stupid and you know it. Just who are you trying to impress?! They shouldn’t like you for your legs!”

He holds a tight grip on the skirt and you scowl, prying Hajime’s hands away to yank up the garment.

“No one, it’s called fashion!”

You successfully tug the skirt higher, but a bit too much considering your panties are on full display.

You snort at the sight, “Hajime, you dog, are you wearing my strawberry panties?”

Hajime feels a sense of shame at the sudden breeze, mockery, and unfathomable humiliation.

“Knock it off, it’s just a school uniform idiot! And what the fuck else was I supposed to wear?!”

He tugs the skirt back down and you click your tongue, grabbing a fist full of the fabric to hike it back up.

“What are you two doing, we’re gonna be late!”

Tooru swings the front door open with a huff, eyes locking onto the both of you. You freeze position, instantly dreading the conversation that’s sure to take place shortly, whereas the tall setter halts at the display before him.

His precious, dear, sweet, childhood best friend’s hands are grasping at his brutish, caveman, heathen of a best friend’s biceps.

Said precious bestie’s hands are trying to shove aforementioned despicable heathen’s grip from her skirt, cheeks bright red

“Uh, this... isn’t what it looks like?”

A/N: I had extra extra fun with this part hahahaa,, sorry for the cliffhanger but I had to do it to ya, next part soon!

taglist: @cybergovl

Masterlist, Part 4

#haikyuu!!#haikyuu reader insert #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu fic #iwaizumi hajime #iwaizumi hajime/reader #iwaizumi hajime x reader

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bestworstcase · 3 years

Text

farran rereads lost lagoon: chapters 16-17

back at it.

re: romance novel: “I saw a patch of red flowers, and I thought they would be striking against Cass’s dark hair. She wasn’t exactly a flower wearer, but maybe she’d let me pin one on her dress? The color would set off her fair skin so perfectly. And she could at least keep some in a vase by her bed. I refused to believe there was a person alive who didn’t feel better with freshly cut flowers in her room.” that’s gay rapunzel

i do admittedly have some ambivalent feelings about this passage. on the one hand it’s - yes, very gay. but also it feels to me like such a clear illustration of the difficulty rapunzel has with empathy and listening to other people when their experiences or expectations or needs diverge from hers; she acknowledges that cass isn’t into flowers, but follows it up with “but maybe i can get her to wear some anyway,” and of course there’s the whole refusing to believe anyone could feel differently about having flowers in their room than she does. and it also has this weird undercurrent of - god, i don’t know how to phrase it in a succinct way.

this specific passage was on my mind when i wrote this bit in moonless air chapter 4:

Still. She plucks at the stitches of her jack-of-plate, self-conscious.

It’s the nicest thing she owns. Soft green velvet sewn over sturdy layers of canvas and steel. Armor. She’d saved up for more than a year to buy it for herself on the anniversary of her adoption two years ago, and at the time it had been nothing but a frivolous luxury. Stupid, really. She’d never had real reason to wear it in Herzingen, not for anything besides teaching herself how to move with its weight and entertaining ridiculous fantasies—but last night, Moira had intimated that their destination in Vardaros is fancy as well as dangerous. So the jack seemed… appropriate.

Sharp. She twitches.

Clothing—fashion isn’t– Cassandra’s always hated dresses. It’s a trait that demands a certain amount of indifference to what other people think of her appearance.

And she can do indifference. Cassandra has indifference in spades. But nobody’s ever paid her a compliment quite like that before: baldly appreciative. Straightforward. Not like all the times Rapunzel coaxed her into tolerating crowns of late-summer flowers because the colors look so nice with your complexion! and not like the Commander’s gruff praise for how grown-up she looked in the hideous pastel gowns that had come with the lady-in-waiting gig.

because – like, cass is butch, and “not a flower wearer,” and here in lost lagoon we have this passage where rapunzel expresses this pretty straightforward attraction to cassandra but in the context of imagining cassandra presenting in a much more feminine way than she is comfortable with - in a dress with flowers in her hair etc - and it just... rubs me the wrong way a little bit. and this is not to say like cass can’t be butch and put a flower in her hair but when it’s paired with rapunzel specifically acknowledging that cass doesn’t WANT to wear flowers then it - yeah i feel weird about this passage.

and that translated into cass having a whole little crisis over being complimented for her appearance without implicit pressure to be more feminine for the first time ever

anyways

i still can’t get over the name monsieur lefleur

rapunzel summarizes hervanian culture as “brash but can be funny; distrustful but not mean-spirited” so, basically, they are americans

she is feeling very Prepared to meet with them, in contrast to every other time she’s met with foreign dignitaries or nobility before this. eugene tries to warn her that cass is PISSED with her and she just brushes him off, as one does, by saying that cass is “not all bubbles and moonbeams” but that she is “a softy” inside.

of course this leads up to cass blowing up and going off while rapunzel tries to calm her down and just - groan this line.

“People don’t change! You told a criminal a detail that puts my entire future at risk!”

how many times have i said “cass doesn’t act this way in tts” i feel like it’s a constant drumbeat. but i have to say, again, that cass doesn’t act this way in tts. i don’t think it’s unrealistic for her to think like this, given that her father is essentially corona’s chief of police and she idolizes him, but i feel the need to reiterate that there is zero sign of cass having this mindset in tts proper. and it does sort of bother me when people read this into cass’s character because it undermines and delegitimizes her dislike of eugene in early s1.

which like. tts itself sort of frames their mutual dislike as a mutual problem, but it’s... really not? and imo the best illustration of this is in this exchange from cassandra vs eugene:

CASSANDRA: Unbelievable. Did you eat all the cookies?

EUGENE: I’m not a pig, Cassandra. I ate all of your cookies; I’m saving mine for later.

CASSANDRA: Ugh– you are nothing but a self-serving, inconsiderate, arrogant freeloader!

EUGENE: [scoffing] You know, I can rattle off insulting adjectives describing your personality, too, but to do so would imply that you actually have a personality, and I just wouldn’t feel right about doing that!

this is the dynamic every time they squabble in early s1.

1 - eugene does something selfish or thoughtless - in this case taking all the cookies and milk for himself.

2 - cassandra calls him out for it, and he doubles down, often taking a potshot at her in the process.

3 - cassandra gets mad and calls his behavior what it is (self-serving, inconsiderate, arrogant)

4 - eugene gets defensive and insults her as a person, typically with variations on calling her icy / unfeeling / humorless / joyless.

which is to say, their fights are initiated by eugene’s poor behavior, and cassandra attacks his behavior but eugene attacks cassandra herself. like, eugene is the dude who insults you and then goes “pfft why can’t you take a joke” when you get upset with him. that’s what this is.

moreover, when eugene’s, for lack of a better term, residual flynn rider-ness starts to taper off, cassandra’s criticism of his behavior also tapers off, AND she gets much gentler about how she phrases this criticism once he starts to actually take it on board. but there’s no accompanying shift in the way eugene speaks to and about her - the jibes about her being humorless or cranky or soulless literally never stop and at no point does he ever seem to consider that cass might not appreciate them as much as he thinks she does.

(to be clear, i don’t think they bother cass very much if at all - but they do create and reinforce a perception on eugene’s end that cass Doesn’t Have Feelings and the background radiation of that contributes to the toxicity that develops in season 2.)

like again, pulling from cassandra vs eugene here, eugene is extremely insulting towards cassandra even when he’s ostensibly coming to her defense:

RANDOM THUG: Look at that, Fancy-Boots has got something to say!

EUGENE: Name-calling? Come on, we’re better than that, aren’t we? Sure, we could sit here and make fun of each other—tease Cassandra for her chronic joylessness, or me for my uncommonly good looks, or you for your poor dental hygiene, tragic fashion sense, robust body odor, and what are clearly woefully misguided decision making skills, but do you really want to go down that road?

ALL OF WHICH IS TO SAY - besides demonstrating an obvious willingness to give eugene another chance once he starts doing the bare minimum to not be a dick to her, cassandra doesn’t like eugene because eugene is an asshole to her and takes the enormous privileges he is given completely for granted.

saying “well she doesn’t like him because he was a criminal and she doesn’t believe criminals ever change” erases that completely and reframes the conflict as cassandra treats eugene unfairly because of bigotry that she needs to unlearn. lost lagoon takes this even one step further in that lost lagoon eugene is genuinely trying to be responsible, he is taking his new lot in life seriously. he doesn’t need cass to tell him off for acting like an ass because he doesn’t act like an ass. he shows actual interest in getting to know cass and makes an effort to break through her hostility in order to get along. unlike his tts counterpart, lagoon eugene really doesn’t do anything wrong, and that makes cassandra’s intense hatred of him on the grounds that he was a thief look completely irrational and, like i said, bigoted.

it’s just very frustrating to me.

anyways

rapunzel tries very hard to persuade cass that it’s actually totally fine that she told eugene the secret because she just can’t keep secrets from eugene (except the lagoon which she has arbitrarily decided is totes fine to keep secret and i am pretty sure this contradiction never gets pointed out) - and cass is having none of it, and of course arianna interrupts before anything can get resolved.

they rush out and monsieur lefleur interrupts them, asking questions about the lost lagoon. he reveals that he heard an ~elegant cloaked person~ inquiring about it in the library. he asks for the book. they say no. the red herring smells to high heavens, and the chapter ends with rapunzel subtly telling cass to hide the book ~for the safety of the kingdom~ and oh my god i just can’t handle the low stakes.

seventeen picks up from there with cassandra’s point of view; she’s suspicious of lefleur and angsts a lot about how she has no time to train and she needs to get out of corona yada yada. her plan is literally to just walk until she finds someone to hire her on as a guard which. lol. this kid.

i feel like this is the strongest passage in the whole book:

She said there couldn’t be any secrets between Eugene and her. But why—especially when it meant sacrificing my future and everything I held dear? I’d read about romantic love in poems, and it seemed to me like a spell. Sounded great for the lovebirds, but what about the other people.

Did I just not matter in the face of this love, even though I had been the one to risk everything to show Rapunzel the world? Was I just supposed to fall on my sword because Eugene was uncomfortable that he didn’t have every last piece of information about Rapunzel?

she has a brief argument with owl, who is a pretty obvious stand-in for her own doubts / feeling that she truly belongs in corona and doesn’t actually want to leave. but she has no choice! but it’s stormy, so she can’t leave! oh no!

(i think if tts really strongly felt she had no choice but to free corona, a measly thunderstorm would not be enough to stop her.)

#lost lagoon reread #cassunzel

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nightshade-minho · 4 years

Text

-Nightmare- (6)

Warnings: You’ll lowkey want to slap both Minho and Y/n for being oblivious idiots

Over the next few days, things went by as normal as they could. Out in public, the two of you held hands, kissed cheeks and foreheads and went on fake dates. By the time Saturday rolled around, almost everyone on campus was aware of your relationship.

It was a dreary morning. You sat in your room, watching a movie on your laptop as you munched on some strawberries. You could very well watch said movie in the living room- but you didn’t want to run into Minho. When in private, the two of you now barely said a word to each other.

Meanwhile, Minho didn’t know what to do. He wanted to apologize to you, but he never got the chance to. As soon as the two of you reached home, you would immediately walk into your room and slam the door shut.

He knew he had been an asshole, but he’d also gotten used to you forgiving him easily. He knew he deserved every bit of anger that you were directing towards him.

He was sitting on the sofa, scrolling mindlessly through his phone when he received a call. He checked the caller ID and realized it was Mera. Frowning, he answered it and pressed it to his ear.

“What the fuck do you want?” He sighed.

“Are you actually dating that skank? For real?”

He felt anger boil in him. “Don’t fucking call her that. She’s my best- I mean, girlfriend. If you’re just jealous and sore that you can’t have my dick anymore, there are plenty of other guys here that would be willing to fuck you. So leave me alone.”

She tsked. “Always so hot-headed. This isn’t a booty call, I’m just calling you so that I can warn you.”

“Warn...me...?”

“Yes. You haven’t always been very nice to me, but god you were good at fucking.”

He sighed, frustrated.

“Rina’s still pretty mad at you. She’s also desperately trying to prove that Y/n’s not your girlfriend. You two seem pretty genuine to me, but she’s convinced that you’re faking it...which is why she invited you and Y/n to her party.”

Fuck. He’d completely forgotten about the stupid party she’d invited them to.

“How exactly..?”

“I don’t know. Just be careful. Bye.”

She cut the call, and Minho grunted in annoyance as he walked over to your room, knocking.

You looked up from your laptop, frowning. You elected to ignore it, but then the knocks grew so loud that you pushed the bowl of strawberries aside, opening your door with an exasperated expression on your face.

He sighed. ‘Look, I know we’re not exactly on good terms right now. But, we have a crisis. I think Rina’s onto us.”

You exasperation melted away, replaced by confusion. “What? How?”

He explained what Mera had told him, watching as your expressions contorted.

“Can’t we just...not attend the party?��

“Are you mad? I go to every party. She would immediately realize that something’s up. We have to attend. We just have to be extra alert, okay?”

You sighed, rubbing your forehead, letting out a tired ‘Okay.’

He exhaled, shoving his hands in his pocket. “I’m sorry, Y/n. I really am. I don’t have any excuses. You’ve been doing nothing but help and I’ve just continued being a complete dickhead...”

You shook your head. “It’s fine.” You went to close the door. “Which time should I get ready?”

“About 10? And wait-”

You closed the door in his face. He groaned.

***

You didn’t come out of your room till about 9:45. Minho was still in his sweatpants when you came out, nonchalantly fluffing up your hair.

He groggily looked up, eyes widening when he saw you in your grey graphic halter-top and black ripped jeans. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out, opting to just stare instead.

You turned around, your eyes landing on him, eyebrows knitting in confusion. “Why aren’t you dressed yet?”

Minho cleared his throat as he tore his eyes away from you and stood. “I like being fashionably late. Also, where’d you get your outfit from? I’ve never seen you wear anything like that before.”

You shrugged. “Back of my closet. You were the one who told me that I had to match your aesthetic more, right?.

He nodded. “Well, you look hot.”

“Thanks.” You grinned.

He gave you an awkward smile before going to his room, finding a random grey turtleneck and leather jacket to throw on. He came back out, watching as you sat on the sofa, tapping your foot as you waited. There it was again...that feeling.

He grabbed his car keys, walking to the door. You looked up when you heard his footsteps, heart thumping at how good he looked. But then again, it wasn’t really anything new.

***

When you reached Rina’s sorority house, you grimaced at the loud music blasting through the speakers. There were people making out even on the lawn, and the place was fully packed. You fought the urge to cover your ears and curl up into a ball on the floor. Glancing at Minho, you rolled your eyes at how he looked completely at ease. This was his habitat, after all.

You stayed by Minho’s side, silent as he was continually greeted by a lot of people you barely knew. You recognized Chan and Jisung, but none of the others. Soon, the two of you were finally able to enter the heart of the party, and you were already exhausted...by the end of the night, you were pretty sure you’d drop dead.

Minho made his way to the kitchen, grabbing your hand so you wouldn’t get lost in the crowd. He filled a red cup with liquid before handing it to you. You shook your head with a look of disgust and he shrugged, chugging it down and quickly replacing his cup with more. You watched uncomfortably as he was greeted by yet another guy, who gave him a high-five before chattering excitedly. Looking away, you tiredly scanned the room, boredom quickly filling your mind.

An hour went by, and you finally gave up. You snatched Minho’s half empty cup and tossed the liquid back, wincing at the taste. He gave you a look of surprise. “About time.” He said, before turning his attention to yet another person who’d come to talk to him. Hyunjin was his name. He looked nice, you noted. You crossed your arms, internally groaning, the music giving you a light headache and the alcohol burning your throat. You couldn’t fathom how this could be enjoyable in any way.

Suddenly, your eyes became aware of the redhead in the very center of the throng of dancing people. She was grinding up against a boy you thought looked familiar. In a second, you realized her eyes were on you. She smirked at you before looking away.

You poked Minho’s arm lightly. “I just saw Rina. I think she’s dancing with Juyeon.”

“Ju-who?”

“The guy at the coffee shop? He was the waiter?”

“Oh, him.” Minho scowled. His eyes searched the crowd before he found the two. He shrugged, finishing his cup before glancing at you with a glint in his eye. “Hey, wanna dance?”

You shook your head firmly. “Don’t push it. I’m still mad at you. The only reason I’m here is because of this stupid lie we’re telling everyone.” You looked back at the crowd, wrinkling your nose at the way everyone danced as if they were in a strip club. So many skimpily clad girls...you almost felt bad for Minho, having to stand by his introverted ‘girlfriend’ instead of join in on the action. You could almost sense his longing, coming off of him in waves.

You shook your head, reminding yourself that it was you helping him, and not the other way around.

***

Minho hated that for some reason, parties didn’t give him the same buzz that he used to feel. When did his definition of fun change? The amount of people coming up to him and greeting him was no longer contributing to his liveliness...instead, it tired him. He glanced at you from time to time, noting your crossed arms and curled lip, regarding the party in complete contempt. For some reason, there was a part of him that could relate.

A few hours went by, and Minho couldn’t take it anymore. He was about to grab your hand and leave, especially because the party was thinning out. A majority of the people had already left with their respective hook-ups, or were passed out on the floor.

“Hey, guys!” He groaned at the familiar voice.

You turned around, smiling at Rina.

“Where do you think you’re going? Minho, you never leave a party this early...your ‘girlfriend’ is really changing you.” She hummed. “I’d like to invite you to a little after-party with my close friends.” She gestured behind her. There were about nine people in all, excluding you and Minho. You recognized Juyeon and Mera, and the two girls from the coffee shop, but that was about it. You looked over at Minho, before sighing and nodding.

***

Half an hour later, you were sat on the floor next to your best friend.

Truth or Dare.

You were gagging internally at it. You weren’t high-schoolers anymore...surely college demanded more maturity than this? You really didn’t want to participate in this stupid game.

Judging by the infuriating smirk on Rina’s face, you had a feeling that Mera had been right. You could feel a sense of dread surround you, and when you looked over at Minho, it was evident on his face as well.

Rina placed the bottle in the middle of the circle, spinning it eagerly. It spun around and around, coming to rest on Mera. Rina chuckled excitedly, pulling up her phone. “Truth or dare, Mer?”

She paused, feigning concentration. “Dare,” She said with a smirk.

Rina squinted at her phone. “Ah! It’s a good one. Take a fruit and eat it in the most sensual way possible.”

Mera rolled her eyes with a smile. “That’s tame as fuck.” She got up and disappeared for a while, returning with a banana.

She plopped on the floor, peeling it and getting to work. Disturbingly, she kept looking over at Minho as she did so, lewdly sucking on the phallic object while keeping eye contact with your boyfriend. (Well, fake boyfriend, but still!)

You pursed your lips, looking away...only to see Rina’s eyes on you, carefully gauging your reaction.

“Alright, that’s enough. Let’s move on to the next one.”

As the bottle was spun again, your mind drifted away. You weren’t thinking about anything in particular, but your brain was yearning for your soft bed and your plushie.

“Minho! Truth or dare?” You snapped back into the present, eyes wide.

Minho thought for a while. “Truth.” He said simply.

Rina tapped her chin with her finger as she read off her phone. “Ooh~ What’s the most unusual place you’ve ever had sex?”

He chuckled wryly. “There’s way too many answers for that, unfortunately...too many for me to count.”

She cocked her head to the side. “Fine. Let’s narrow the possibilities down a little bit. What’s the most unusual place you’ve had sex...with Y/n.”

A sudden coldness settled itself in you as Minho sputtered in response. “Uh...sex? Um...”

The silence that followed was too heavy for comfort. Slowly, one of the girls you didn’t know the name of spoke up. “You two...haven’t had sex yet....?”

Minho cleared hIs throat. “Uh...not yet. We’ve only been dating for like, a week...”

A dude in the corner of the room sniggered. “Come on bro, you can’t expect us to believe that you, Lee Minho, haven’t dicked down your girlfriend yet.”

Minho met your gaze uncomfortably.

“Wait...have they even kissed?”

Rina giggled. “Oh, they have! I saw it. It’s just weird because...”

She made eye contact with you. “I distinctly remember Minho pushing her away when she did it.”

You buried your head in your hands. Everything was swimming slightly, and you felt a little sick, perhaps from the alcohol you’d ingested earlier.

“Anyhoo, let’s move on shall we? Their relationship problems are none of our business.” Rina went to spin the bottle once more. “That is, if they even are in a relationship.” She added under her breath.

The rest of the room whispered to each other as you avoided Minho’s eyes, choosing to stare at the spinning bottle.

“Juyeon...okay Truth or Dare?”

“Dare.”

Rina tapped away on her phone before guffawing, a wide grin spreading across her features. “The dare is...you have to kiss the person right across you.”

It took you a few seconds to register that the person sitting right across him was you. Juyeon smirked and winked at you, before crawling closer, taking your cheek in his big hand and leaning in as you sat there dumbfounded.

What occurred next happened so fast, that you’d miss it if you blinked.

Minho pushed Juyeon away, grabbing you and pulling you to your feet, his lips slamming against yours. You squeaked in surprise, the shock quickly giving way to a neediness that threatened to swallow you whole. You quickly melted into the kiss as he licked your bottom lip, asking for entrance. Opening your mouth, you let his tongue dance with yours as you made out passionately, choosing to ignore the flurry of whispers around you. Minho pulled away, still holding you by the waist. His eyes were burning into yours, an inexplicable emotion shining in them. Your lips felt sore and tingly, and you breathlessly leaned back in, wanting more.

The kiss that followed was softer, yet every bit as sensual as the last one. His soft lips insistently moved against your parted ones, wetly sucking and biting as your limbs felt like jelly. He nudged his nose against yours as you seperated, lips swollen and kiss-bitten.

“I love you.” He whispered.

At that moment, Minho’s heart thudded loudly, feeling trapped in his ribcage as he realized that what he’d just said was true. He’d fully meant it. He loved you. He was in love with his best friend.

But all you could feel was pain. Cause there were those words again, those words you’d convinced yourself was a lie for Rina’s benefit, just as false as your relationship. You realized that you’d been stupid to think that this had ever been a good idea. Now that you finally got a taste of Minho, you don’t think you could ever go back... and it scared you. The kiss had been beautiful. It had felt like your whole life led up to this moment. But it was fake...spurious, like the rest of it.

Minho saw the tears in your eyes. He didn’t know what to make of them...or how to interpret them. It felt like feelings he’d been holding down and trapping for years were finally freed...yet he wasn’t happy. He had no idea how you felt about him. He wouldn’t blame you if you hated him. He deserved it. He hadn’t been a good best friend, so why would you want him to be more?

He grabbed your wrist, tearing his eyes away from yours and looking at the people still sitting on the ground, all wide-eyed and with expressions ranging from shock to confusion. His gaze traveled from Juyeon’s face to Rina’s.

“We’re going to be leaving now. Enjoy the rest of the night.” And with that, he dragged you out the door.

#AAAAAH #minho angst #lee know angst #minho fluff #lee know fluff #skz angst #skz fluff #stray kids angst #stray kids fluff #skz #stray kids #minho smut #lee know smut

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plounce · 4 years

Note

do u have any reccomendations for how to read only comics involving rictor and shatterstar?? i used to be into marvel comics so i am immune to the usual comic shenanigans but i would like to learn more about these boys

here is a guide to reading xmen comics for rictor and shatterstar, my favorite canon comics couple! they were the first on-panel gay kiss in a marvel comic! they’re very special to me!

OKAY SO... ok. for anyone else using this, here’s a standard disclaimer that obviously there’s gonna be a lot in these that just absolutely sucks because 1. the 90s, 2. comics are an extremely cishet white male dominated industry. i do not vouch for everything written in these comics, but i think the gaycoding that eventually gets canonized is worth wading through a lot of stupid bullshit and very ugly art.

quick backstory on these two: rictor is a mexican teenager who was kidnapped by an anti-mutant terrorist group and was rescued by x-factor (the original 5). he hung around their auxiliary teen group the x-terminators for most of x-factor, being a delightful little punk (wearing a sleeveless leather vest a lot of the time!) and hanging out with boom-boom (who i love) and then got put into the new mutants for a very short time (where he had a thing with rahne/wolfsbane), before it was dissolved and transformed into x-force when rob liefeld took over the title. rictor hates team leader 90sdude cable because he thinks cable killed his dad in front of him. he tends to be the snarky asshole on the team.

the first part of this article has a lot of little rictor moments i’m not covering here. if you want the full rictor experience, check out x-factor (1986) and !x-terminators! x-factor starts very slowly but it picks up and improves when the simonsons take the helm.

rictor left the team. shatterstar was introduced by liefeld - he’s an Emotionless Warrior Guy Who Loves To Fight from mojoworld (a planet run by a despot who produces tv. it’s Commentary), where he was forced to be a gladiator from birth and doesn’t know a lot of earth customs and doesn’t have emotions (or rather, he represses them).

x-force (1991) feel free to read through all of it, but in case you just want to skip to these two, all of these issues have one or two good little Moments - just do some skimming. i tend to focus more on rictor than star in this era because star is made more interesting than Emotionless Warrior Guy by butting up against rictor:

13-16 (rictor rejoins his old new mutants friends)

19, 21-26 (the first phase of their relationship where they don’t really get along. in one of these issues rictor stares at star’s ass. big moment of star being autism-coded in here too)

29-30 (rictor drives shatterstar around and they seem to get along better, you get to learn a bit about star’s past, adam-x the x-treme is there)

32-33 (just some little moments of them hanging out, a couple good rictor lines)

34 (VERY IMPORTANT - rictor backstory issue! AND this has the first big Subtext moment: shatterstar reveals he learned spanish from tv so he and rictor can have “conversations of a highly -- personal nature” HELLO?)

35 (some little moments where you can see star and rictor are now Friends and star is affected by that friendship)

39-40 (more good friendship - rictor asks if star has been watching dating shows and they just seem close. rictor also has gotten a haircut! we learn shatterstar’s mojoworld designation! they ride some motorcycles!)

43 (VERY IMPORTANT - the two go to a club. rictor tells star he’s a virgin then asks him if he has a dick. i am not kidding this literally happens. star learns what sexual attraction feels like and says ‘i don’t know what emotions im supposed to attach to that’, and rictor tells him he’ll help him learn.)

44 (VERY IMPORTANT - rictor leaves the team because he doesn’t want to have the team communicate telepathically (VERY interesting for a character who is eventually revealed to have been a closeted gay man). shatterstar begs him not to leave - “you’re my best and only friend.” rictor tells him that if he ever needs him, he’ll come back.)

cable (1993) #22 (follows up directly on rictor leaving the team - star accompanies rictor to the airport and has a lot of Feelings and has great hair. “julio. one last time. please, change your mind. what am i going to do without you?” oh so you’re dependent on your best friend who you’re in love with? oh?)

45, 47-48 (star’s weird biology, star brings up rictor as his emotional touchstone in a situation where he isn’t relevant at all. also, a plotline where tabby gets treated terribly by her friends and the narrative!)

49 (VERY IMPORTANT - star wanders around at night wondering why rictor hasn’t contacted him yet. he goes to the club he and rictor went to in #43 and turns down a girl who hits on him. he thinks “i miss julio...” (in an earlier issue, rictor tells cable not to call him by his first name - “only my mom calls me that”), then beats up some homophobes in an alley. I AM NOT KIDDING.)

51-52 (51 has more weird star biology. 52 has two pages of star and james talking that is a nice look at star’s developing emotional state - the rest of 52 is a fight with one of marvel’s extremely fatphobic villains, just a warning to skip the rest of it. although the letter page of 52 has someone go HEY ARE RICTOR AND SHATTERSTAR IN LOVE? thank you roeland looman from the netherlands)

54-56 (the start of shatterstar’s weird bad benjamin russell backstory that is quickly forgotten, disregarded, and uncared about by everybody. BUT in 54, there is some extremely loud subtext where star’s feelings for rictor are explicitly compared to a het romance subplot!)

58 (star is very chill and flamboyant for like two pages, it’s great)

59-61 (VERY IMPORTANT - rictor returns because star Needs him in the midst of his identity crisis!! it’s so joyful and sweet for them both, and the subtext is so LOUD here - there’s just. so much going on, i won’t describe it all, but it’s very good content and their emotionally intimate relationship is very apparent - really excellent gaycoding. the weird shatterstar backstory wraps up circuitously and to no great effect, but the art in the last issue is very nice, and rictor’s plain and uncomplicated concern for star is great.)

63-65 (some little moments - shatterstar and rictor time travel and beat up some nazis, star has a lovely conversation with siryn,)

x-force/cable ‘97 (the team goes to asgard! the important thing is that star says some goofy “ah... warriors...” things, and then rictor teases star for liking delivery pizza. it’s very charming)

67 (they hang out with tabby in a van. shatterstar has pigtails!)

70 (VERY IMPORTANT - rictor and shatterstar exit the team together to go take down rictor’s crime family in mexico! they seem very devoted to each other. shatterstar’s hair is all the way down!)

post leaving x-force:

76 (VERY IMPORTANT - ricstar return for one issue - rictor gets held captive to force shatterstar to fight domino!)

x-force annual 1999 (VERY IMPORTANT - ricstar get their own story about what they’re doing in mexico! shatterstar has an ugly little goatee, but rictor looks great! they choose to share a room rather than sleep separately and then it kind of feels like they shared a bed! rictor has learned star’s alien language! they genuinely just seem so close and comfortable with each other, it’s incredible.) (if you’re using RTO, it’s within the rest of xforce’s issues)

they’re both in comics limbo for the first half of the 00s besides a couple random flavorless appearances. shatterstar at some point goes back to mojoworld to help with the war against mojo. then we hit peter david’s x-factor run in 2006, known as x-factor investigations (xfi). this directly follows the “house of m” event - what matters is that the vast majority of mutants have been depowered by the scarlet witch. rictor is one of them.

rictor is a main character of the team from the first issue (the series opens with him about to attempt suicide), so if you wanna read the run you can start from the beginning. x-factor is... well, there are worse-written comics. it’s an okay read, but i find PAD’s writing insufferable a lot of the time (he writes multiple man as a pretty blatant self insert, and literally every girl on the team wants to fuck him at some point or another). i read the whole thing and it’s decent comics, but you might want to skip to the ricstar.

PAD canonizes ricstar, which is great! but unfortunately: 1. he writes star as “slutty bisexual just can’t stop wanting to fuck people besides his partner who is uncomfortable with that!”, which is biphobic and sucks hugely, especially since it feels so different from xforce original shatterstar (see this post). rictor also just seems so annoyed with him all the time, which also sucks - they’re best friends!! let rictor like his boyfriend!!

anyway. if you choose not to read all of xfi, here are the ricstar highlights:

first issue of xfi for rictor's horrible mental state after m-day

14 (jamie implies that star would be jealous of rictor hanging out with quicksilver)

43, 45, 49 (star reappears!! he’s mindcontrolled, but it gets fixed, and he and rictor have the first ever on panel gay kiss at marvel!! yaaaay!! then they talk about their relationship a little)

after issue #50 it changes the numbering, so if you’re using RCO youll have to go to xfactor (1986) #200 to continue

200 (SHATTERSTAR FIGHTS THE THING!)

continue to read between here for star apparently being unable to stop kissing people. sigh. star sleeps with adult layla, which... sigh. whatever

207-208 (rictor and shatterstar semi-resolve the stupid biphobic plotline, resolve to work on their relationship, rahne discovers them (she and rictor had been sleeping together earlier in xfi), rahne is pregnant and homophobic, rahne and star fight, star is a delightful bitch)

209 (shatterstar on a pirate ship. that's it)

210 (rictor confirms that he is gay and it wasn’t legit when he’s been with women. there’s a moment where it's like "oh star makes rictor laugh" which is epic)

211-212 (star is said to be frustrated about rictor and rahne, rahne’s baby’s actual dad is revealed)

213 (rictor and rahne mostly resolve their shit)

216 (star and monet hang out, star thinks monet tells him to pee on rictor, spiderman is there)

217 (there’s a joke about the longstanding theory that longshot and star are related, monet is revealed as muslim in a very dumb way)

220 (star and rahne have a pretty nice conversation about their relationships to rictor and rahne’s faith. rictor does an offscreen internalized homophobia)

221 (star and rahne continue to hang out but it’s not as good as the previous issue.)

222 (oh my god, rictor cares about shatterstar being hurt! rahne owns up to how she kind of treated rictor like shit!)

pop over to avengers: the children’s crusade (a young avengers miniseries with good ol’ billy/teddy and i like it! but if you don’t want to read the whole thing - rictor and shatterstar appear in #6, and rictor is the first mutant to be repowered! they’re more tender with each other over their five page appearance than they are in xfi, so it’s a balm)

225-226 (PAD decides the first thing rictor does with his powers is be a scab [DEEP SIGH], rictor and shatterstar discuss rictor getting his powers back, the biphobic plotline is resolved again kind of in a very PAD-y way)

235-236 (shatterstar gets to be the main character of a mini arc. fights a mojo guy)

238 (ricstar go with rahne to help her find her son)

242 (they find her son. not as important imo)

248 (oh my god... they joke together :) they like being around each other :) also shatterstar goodboy moment. then in 249 rictor’s life is spared bc of shatterstar’s goodboy moment)

259 (SHATTERSTAR’S CRAZY CONVOLUTED BACKSTORY THAT ACTUALLY MATTERS TO HIS CHARACTER! YAHOO! and star has a cute little bob)

after xfi wraps up, there’s a couple years of limbo before they appear in secret warriors (2017) #2-3 (end of #2 and most of #3), which is a big crossover event or something. i don’t know, it’s an inhumans comic, and as an xmen person i am contractually obligated to roll my eyes at the inhumans. ricstar both have mustaches, star doesn’t speak, and rictor has the ugliest costume ever (green tracksuit with no socks??) (tabby also has a terrible costume). it’s just more inhumans trying to be a match to the xmen and utterly failing to not look & act like total jackasses (except, of course, for kamala and moon girl). rictor’s jokes that daisy johnson should get more original powers (she also has seismic powers - rictor predates her!), and then daisy blows up the xmen’s jet. while it’s in the air. this is a very neat summary of most mutant-inhuman relations.

now we enter the current era of “on again off again” relationship limbo.

rictor appears next in iceman (2017). in #9 he states that he and star have apparently broken up offscreen! and then he hits on bobby! sina grace is a cool person but this writing decision is so... aghhh. the next issue he and bobby go out on a date and he’s immediately like “yeah i only have my eyes on star”, so it seems to be more “it’s complicated” than “we’re broken up for good.” he sticks around to help out with a mission in #10-11.

they’re on again in new mutants: dead souls, where rictor is a part of the team and he’s hilarious and has so many great lines! shatterstar also makes a couple cameos throughout and they’re all super sweet! they seem very domestic and comfortable and happy, i love their dynamic in this. my favorite shatterstar panel ever is in #6, where he is making rictor pancakes and is only wearing an apron. please ignore all the big plot things that happen at the end of this, especially everything with karma. they are stupid, dumb, and do not matter.

related to nm:ds, rictor appears in multiple man #1 as part of that team and looks very very cute. and he isn’t whitewashed like in nm:ds!

off again in the shatterstar (2018) miniseries. i have a lot of mixed feelings about this because i LOVE all the rictor stuff, the first issue codes shatterstar as autistic in a very characterful way, it doesn’t whitewash rictor for once, and the covers are GORGEOUS! but it also attempts to retcon a ton of star’s emotional backstory AND arc set out in xforce, casting a black woman as his emotionally manipulative ex. also star is a landlord (ew). my advice with this one is to treat all the flashbacks as not-really-canon since they suck.

star appears in extermination (2018) #3-4 and gets mind-controlled into trying to kill the time-displaced teen o5 (timetraveling baby cable is trying to put them back where they came from), and the art looks great and i feel really bad for him. rictor makes a follow-up cameo in uncanny x-men (2019) #9-10, where you can see that he’s at the school in order to visit shatterstar since he’s with cecelia reyes. he then goes to fight nate grey/x-man, where he gets sucked into the age of x-man pocket universe/event.

around half the xmen get trapped and brainwashed in that pocket universe where there is no love or family, merely friendship and comradery (it’s an attempt by nate grey to ‘fix’ the xmen by getting rid of all the soap opera stuff - it’s a bit meta wrt how xmen are the soap opera superheroes). there are a couple different titles for this event: rictor appears in age of x-man: x-tremists #4-5. people have mixed feelings about this title due to the gay characters (northstar and iceman) enforcing no-romance laws that very intentionally parallel anti-gay laws from real life, but rictor is just chilling and running an illegal romance movies theatre, and then he gets drunk and then starts a riot and he’s just delightful in this.

everyone outside of the pocket universe thinks everyone who disappeared was killed. shatterstar is part of the team in x-force (2019) (there are two 2019 x-forces: this is vol 5, written by ed brisson) who are trying to track down young cable (baby cable, or “bable”), who killed older cable, who formed good old 90s xforce. boom-boom is the best part of this entire run, hands down. the art is expressive and interesting but i Hate how they draw warpath (the one time he’s free from comic book limbo!). shatterstar is in full “i only like fighting please let me fight i am a difficult asshole” mode, and talks about grieving rictor in #7 and #10. this is never really resolved since age of x-man is thrown over for hoxpox (BIG status quo changes & current era of xmen comics), but aside from my little ricstar heart i can’t really mind.

rictor is currently appearing as part of the team in excalibur (2019), and has been very... cozy... with apocalypse. at the time of writing (halloween 2020), it’s very heavily ambiguous what exactly their relationship is besides “intense” and i still have no clue what to think about it. he and star have been stated by the writer to be exes, but i also know tini howard is a ricstar fan so im holding out for good things! and it’s cool that rictor is getting a ton of focus and a lot of powering up. i remember reading xfi #1 and being amazed at how rictor described how soul-deep his earth powers were and wanting more of that, and excalibur has that for him in spades. (i am still withholding a lot of judgment wrt rictor’s writing in excalibur until i see how things pan out)

after reading to excalibur #12, switch over to x-factor (2020). read the first three issues because i love northstar and prodigy and rachel. please ignore a couple cringe comments towards poor daken. shatterstar appears in #3, trapped on mojoworld, getting traumatized, and breaking my heart as i write this. that last data page... free my boy!!!!

after x-factor #3, read x of swords: creation. more rictor and apocalypse being Close. after that, read x-factor #4 for apocalypse being very Attached to rictor, and then rictor looking very good and freshly resurrected. then continue reading excalibur. in may, x-factor is going back to mojoworld!!

that’s all there is so far! i think within the next year there will be even more content for us, and im very eager to get to that content. i will update this post as things come out.

#ricstar #xmen #rictor #shatterstar #julio richter #chirps #anonymous

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incoherentbabblings · 4 years

Note

What are your favourite comics anyway?

Oh! Oh! Oh! Okay. Full disclaimer. We’re going for what comics I re-read over and over again. Are these comics...good? Eh. Are they bad? No, I don’t think so. Some were meh to wow! when first released that time has either been kinder or harsher to, but I don’t think I have a series or a run or a title which is I like which is like... hot guilty garbage. Though, of course, feel free to disagree. There are some authors on here which people will not want to touch with a barge pole, and I totally understand and encourage not touching them if you don’t want to.

Having said that, here are my favourite popcorn comics (largely Titans and Batfam because I am... basic):

The Flash (2016) issues 39-45 + Annual #1

Having said that, Flash time first. People think Williamson is a real hit or miss writer and I do agree, but I think this whole arc is one big hit. It’s frantic in its energy, I love Gorilla Grodd as a villain, I love the modern Flashfam trying to help, I love how Wally coming in to help totally turns the tide and the mood. I love how everyone looks at Wally like… this guys is powerful, more powerful than any other speedster… but also noting there’s something very fragile about him. I didn’t include Flash War in this because I’m still waiting for the payoff for that angst regarding Wally, but this arc… mwah. Wallace Rudolph West being vindicated as the greatest Flash (whilst allowing Barry to be flawed and to lead his family)? Yes please. Also I love Carmine’s art. I gather it’s hit and miss for some folk but I love the line work. Also Carlos D’Anda’s issue (come baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack draw Dick and Roy again your work has gotten so much cuter this past decade) is a beauty too. Big ol’ eyes.

(Under the cut ‘cause this is LONG)

Batman Dark Victory

One of two Loeb stories for me. And yeah sure Long Halloween is objectively better but…jelly bean

Also, angry traumatised Dick smacking a dying man with a stick. What a legend.

Gates of Gotham

Cass! Damian! Dick!Bats! Tim! A mystery villain! World building for Gotham! Stuff exploding! Batfam banter! Trevor McCarthy art! This bizarre panel of Jim Gordon holding Tim’s hand like he’s checking the time?

It’s one of the last ‘pure’ Batman stories before the reboot – Bat Inc aside – so it’s how I like to read the Batfam’s relationship by the end of that universe. Everyone’s a lot more content, proud Dad Bruce, happy and settled Dick and Damian, Cassandra returning home, Tim chopping off the emo hair… it’s all good.

Grayson (particularly #5)

I know why people can’t stand it. The circumstances leading up to it are bog awful. Opinions on Tom King’s writing has only grown more spliced with time. The (sex) jokes are too on the nose and hit too close to home for many. The cheesecake art is too stilted for some. But! Issue #5 is my favourite single issue story. Ever. You never have thought boxes in this series, because everyone is lying, but you aren’t told when. You never know how genuine Dick is being at any given moment, until it is just him and the baby. I love how single-minded it allows him to be. I love how he flat out lies and manipulates to protect that little girl, whilst also caring for Helena. About how seriously he takes his job of protecting Bruce and his family (and that’s why he’s even doing the stupid spy thing in the first place). And maaaaybe it’s unrealistic that Dick could outlast Midnighter crossing the desert, but screw it. Bruce can be better than metahumans all the time. Let Dick get an issue to be so to. Saving a little girl who is probably going to grow up to be akin to Superwoman. Just because he’s given himself that responsibility. He’s going to double cross twenty groups at the same time and come out clean as a whistle. And he’ll cross a desert with a newborn to do it.

Light of my fricking life.

Infinite Crisis

I…I like that things go boom. John’s is very good for that. Also, the Nightwing and Batman moments howowheheheheheheeeeeeee. Almost wish Bruce had shot Alexander. I wonder what would have happened?

(Brief side note: Graphic Audio’s adaptation of this is great fun. I dropped a bowl of cereal at the part of Superboy Prime versus the Titans. Cassie’s scream when Pantha’s head got punched off was a bit…intense. The No Man’s Land one is very good too if you have cash to burn - the voice actors are the same in both and Nightwing’s voice actor has this lisp and I don’t know man... I love it. He’s now the voice in my head for Dick).

Titans/JLA and The Titans (1999) issues 1-25

The Titans are now known I think for not being a very proactive hero group. Books struggle with balancing team dynamics versus plot, and this one is no exception. I know people don’t want to touch Devin Grayson’s stuff with a barge pole. My justification for this is flimsy I accept that, however, the JLA/Titans comic was the very first comic I read when I was like six or seven. I was rummaging through my brother’s room as a nosy kid does and this was at the top of his pile. Thank god for the little info boxes as each Titan was captured/referenced. I fell in love with Kory, I fell in love with Dick, I fell in love with Donna (oh Donna…) and then I tumbled down a hole and pretended I hadn’t until about six years ago. So that’s nice. So yes, this one is one hundred percent nostalgia based.

But honestly, Linkara did a retrospective on this event comic and series years ago, and his reasons for loving it are the same as mine really, so go watch those if you have like five hours to kill. When Devin leaves the comic remains strong for just a moment then... absolutely plummets off a cliff. So I really wouldn’t bother with the second half of the series but hey. You do you.

Teen Titans/Outsiders: The Insiders

More Geoff John’s explosions. My first comic that got bought for me. My brother walked in to the shop and said: “I need a comic for my sister where Starfire gets a good showing” and the men went… ah yes.

Eleven-year old me was like EXPLOSIONSSSSS but also was intrigued by Kory and Dick’s bedtime convos (perhaps…I was a bit under the age bracket for this book - Kory gets a good showing huh?) but uh. Anyway. Also this is when I was thoroughly enamoured with Roy. This crossover is typical Winnick and John’s angsty angst with overly poetic narration and tropey tropes which, combined with what came before and what was to come for the Outsiders, can make both series such a slog to get through, but in isolation, I think it’s a real fun crossover which gave everyone a bit of time to shine and some real fan-ficcy moments (very self-indulgent, and I love that in a comic).

Teen Titans: Year One

I love Amy Wolfram and I love Karl Kerschel. It’s a good intro to those five characters with cute stories. Does exactly what it says on the tin. Batman is demonstrably a major prick in this, even after de-brainwashing, so it’s obviously going with the ‘Dick is only half as functioning as he is thanks to Roy, Wally, Garth and Donna’, which I can get behind 100% depending on what story they are trying to tell, but it’s just… it’s still sad to read. I just think the art is brilliant at giving each of the five very clear characteristics just from their body language, and you know immediately what each character dynamic is like with another.

Batman Hush

The other Loeb story. Again, it has what I like in a Batman story. A mystery, the family, appearances of villains, flashbacks and brooding, fighting, Jim Lee’s Nightwing being hunky… Ahem. It’s a fun read I think. Also, I really like Loeb’s Bruce? I don’t think people talk about it much. But he’s really chatty in his own head. And he’s witty and dry and funny. I like that! Also, Babs is such a backbone of this story. I adore that. She’s treated well here, I think.

Black Mirror

I flipping love this arc. I love it. I love the two contrasting but deeply disturbing in different manner art styles, I love the mystery, I love Babs role in the story, I love Tim’s little appearances and the banter with Dick, I love the weird villains and the terrifying ones, and how you think one is one of the two only to be revealed to be the other or both. I love Dick’s investigation and how he goes about it differently to Bruce. I love Dick’s relationship with Jim, I love the flipping reference to the vultures and owls seemingly following Dick (a whole reboot before Snyder got to tell that story), I love the monologue about how James thinks Dick is weird and weak for his compassion and love, when really that’s his greatest strength, I love Jim wanting so hard to believe James is trying against Babs’s cynicism, but also does try to get an unbiased opinion of someone who is proven good at reading people (Dick) and does what he needs to when his son is actively harming people, I love that ambiguous ending and the questionable science, I even love the Joker’s one (1) scene with Dick. I love this line,

I love Snyder at his best. When he’s good…mwah. Great.

…And yeah. That’s my story.

#dc #dick grayson #bruce wayne #wally west #koriand'r #roy harper #batfam #the titans #the fab five #I love talking about things I like I'm sorry this is so long!#ask and I'll babble #Anonymous

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spaceskam · 4 years

Text

warning: mentions of past bullying/homophobia because it kyle

Kyle Valenti had prepared for a lot of up and downs in life. It came with the territory of being pre-med.

What he had not prepared for was coming home for Christmas break after his very first semester in college to see that his father had moved in Alex Manes so he didn’t get shipped off to war. He was even further less prepared for the following two weeks of seeing Alex Manes in increasingly more compromising situations--bent over to get something out of the oven, reaching up to get laundry detergent, stretching in the morning, parading around shirtless before bed, choosing tight little biking shorts to run in, sweating after working out, working out, just to name a few.

By far, the last thing he’d been prepared for was, when his parents were at the station’s Christmas party, getting a little too drunk on whiskey with Alex Manes in a hot tub while discussing Lord of the Rings which somehow led to giving him head on the back porch like a fucking disaster who had no self control.

Now it was morning and Kyle was replaying the entire night over and over, staring at his bedroom ceiling with wide eyes. Up until college, Kyle had figured he was 100% straight. He’d seen cute guys, but no one he’d actually want to do anything with and, to him, that felt heterosexual enough. But those measly three and a half months that he’d spent at UNM had completely fucked up his world. Who knew so many boys got hot after high school?

But, still, he’d never really thought about acting on it outside of a fleeting, intrusive thought. Those thoughts got more frequent and stayed a little longer with Alex in his house, but he thought he had control. He thought it wasn’t a problem. Clearly he was very wrong.

In the next room over, Alex was sleeping in what used to be the guest bedroom. Disgust filled his mind as he remembered his parents explaining that having Alex around would be just like having a brother. You grew up together, they’d said, it’s no different than an adoptive sibling. There was nothing brotherly about the way he thought about Alex.

When someone knocked on Kyle’s door, he sat up and immediately started thinking of ways to explain himself. It was an accident, he didn’t mean to get on his knees. He simply fell. Alex went to help him, it was totally innocent when his shorts slipped off his hips. Water was heavy, you know? Besides, he wet ass-print on the wall had to be dry by now, there was absolutely no evidence that anything had been done for a long period of time.

“Come in,” he said, voice slightly strained. Funnily enough, he wasn’t even hung over. At least, not on the whiskey.

Alex peeked his head in, seeing a little hesitant as he stared at him. His hair was ruffled, his septum piercing crooked, and, instead of his usual shirtless morning body, he had on a baggy sweater that engulfed him entirely. Kyle wanted to die. Why the fuck was that attractive? Who was calling the shots in his brain? He’d like to have a talk with them.

“Hey,” Alex said, clearing his throat, “Could we, uh, talk for a sec?”

“Yeah,” Kyle said, fidgeting in his bed.

Alex entered the room completely and closed the door behind him. He seemed hesitant to come near him, but he did anyway. Kyle prepared himself for the absolute shit show about to come. He knew it would be bad because, honestly, he didn’t know what he wanted him to say. Did he want to be rejected? Did he want to find out what his lips tasted like? They’d skipped the kissing stage on accident.

“Um,” Alex whispered, his sleeves pulled over his hands as he tried to look natural. He just looked scared. “I just wanted to apologize about last night. I-If I made you feel like you had to do something you didn’t want to or just made you feel uncomfortable in anyway, I’m genuinely sorry. The whole lead up is blurry, so I don’t know if...”

“No,” Kyle jumped in, shaking his head, “No, dude, no. That’s, that’s not what happened.”

Alex eyed him and nodded slowly, not quite believing him. Which made sense. They had a weird time in high school. Or, just, bad. A bad time in high school. Why exactly was Alex the one apologizing again?

“I’m sorry,” Kyle added, “If I made you feel like-”

“No,” Alex said, voice soft and adorable and what the fuck, “No, I wanted it.” Kyle swallowed harshly. Was it getting hot in here? “I just, I know how you feel--or, felt, I guess--about me being gay and I wasn’t sure if there was some miscommunication happening. Because, like, I don’t actually remember any communication happening at all.”

“No, look, I’m sorry. About high school. All of it, I was stupid and confused,” Kyle told him, watching Alex’s eyebrows furrow a little bit, “I’m still stupid and confused. I do know I don’t... regret it. But I am still trying to wrap my head around it.” Alex didn’t say anything, simply nodding to show he was listening but didn’t want to put any words in his mouth. “Like, does this mean I’m gay now?”

Alex smiled a little in relief, shaking his head, “No.”

“Well, do you know what it does mean?” Kyle asked, “Because I definitely enjoyed myself, but I have never wanted to do that before the last, like, week. Then I get the opportunity and I throw caution to the wind. How’s that for impulse control?”

Alex gave a little laugh and it eased Kyle’s mind a bit more.

“Um, could mean a couple things. Could mean you were just experimenting which is normal. Could mean you’re bi or something. It, uh, it takes awhile to really find a good word. Even then, it’s hard to know if it’s permanent. Stuff’s weird,” Alex explained, shrugging his shoulders. Kyle licked his lips and then moved his legs to sit criss-cross, giving Alex a space to sit on his bed. It took a little bit of silent confirmation before he did so.

“So, I’m gonna be confused for the rest of my life?”

“Not necessarily,” Alex said, biting his lips momentarily and Kyle really felt like it was on purpose, “Like, for me, I know I’m gay. I know I only want to have sex with men. But sometimes I still am like, okay, am I really though? Which, I don’t know, I think it’s pretty normal ‘cause, you know, heteronormativity is a thing.”

“Heteronormativity?” Kyle repeated. Alex again gave that sweet little smile.

“You know, like, thinking being straight is the default in society and, because of that, it makes it hard to understand your own sexuality and your own outlook on life because, well, it’s different from what’s been instilled in you from a young age,” Alex rambled. Maybe he was a little hungover because it felt like he was getting a little too fancy for first thing in the morning.

“Right, so what I’m hearing is that wanting to see you naked and wanting to get your dick in my mouth was the beginning to a whole goddamn deconstruction of the way I view my own personality and, by extension, existence,” Kyle responded. Alex’s cheeks were a little flushed as the more blunt statement, but he nodded nonetheless. “Cool. Nothing quite like an existential crisis for breakfast.”

Alex gave a more genuine laugh this time and Kyle felt like, of all the things to be confused about right now, his mouth was not one of them.

“So, you’re not mad?” Alex clarified.

“No,” Kyle said honestly, “But I’m sorry I was a dick to you in high school for clearly my own issues.”

“It’s okay.”

“It’s not.”

“Yeah,” Alex agreed, licking his lips. He again pulled on his sleeves. “So... What now?”

Kyle didn’t have an answer. In fact, all he could do was stare at Alex and his lips and his cheekbones and his crooked little septum ring. He glanced up at Alex’s eyes for a moment before letting his gaze drift back down to his lips, feeling a little overwhelmed with desire. It was really hard to have a full freak out about things when Alex was literally sitting on his bed and looking too good to fathom.

Kyle lifted his hand mindless towards Alex’s face and was only remembered that it was weird when Alex flinched in response.

“Sorry,” he said, “Can I?”

Alex looked a little concerned about what he was asking for, but he gave a short nod to say that he trusted him not to be cruel. Kyle took that as the best thing he’d ever seen, but also acknowledged that he had a lot more to work on than just his own self-discovery. He should definitely work on making things up to Alex.

But, for that moment, he straightened out the little metal piece and rested his hand on the side of Alex’s neck. Alex just watched him, waiting for him to be the one to make the first move. So he did.

Kyle moved in slowly, telling himself he’d already gone way further than a kiss and so it shouldn’t be scary. It was still terrifying. He could feel Alex swallow harshly as he got close. Then they closed the gap.

The kiss was short and PG and, honestly, a little awkward. Yeah, they definitely need to fix some other things before this would be as fun as it was last night.

Alex gave a short little laugh as they pulled apart, eyes sweet and kind and really helping Kyle make more sense of the world. How the hell had he ever been mean to him?

“Maybe we should go downstairs so you parents don’t get any ideas?” Alex suggested. Kyle nodded, tempted to kiss him once more just because. He knew it would be a little weird, though, and wasn’t sure if Alex wanted him to, so he didn’t. “And, don’t worry, I’ll keep your little revelation to myself.”

“Thanks,” Kyle said, feeling a little relieved over that despite not having considered that he would’ve told anyone. This was so fucking weird.

“And, when you go back to school, you know you can always call me if you need to talk about it. I get that it’s hard,” Alex offered. Man, Kyle really wanted to kiss him again.

“Can I kiss you again?” Kyle asked. Alex laughed and rolled his eyes.

“Just a little bit.”

“Fair enough,” Kyle agreed, leaning forward with a little more confidence. The kiss was better than the first one, more comfortable and expected. It still didn’t go past anything you’d see on Disney Channel, but it had Kyle feeling ready to start his day.

“Okay,” Alex said against his lips, “Ready to go pretend like we didn’t defile your family’s backyard?”

“Yeah,” Kyle said, “But I can’t wait to do it again.”

Alex snorted a laugh and stood up off the bed.

“You sound so sure it’ll happen again.”

“Oh, it won’t?”

“We’ll see.”

And Kyle was definitely willing to wait.

#kylex #kylex fic #kyle valenti #alex manes #roswell new mexico #my fic

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stuckonvenus · 3 years

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𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 » Ellie & Becca

Ｊｕｌｙ３１ｓｔ，１９９８

The saying goes as such: the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb... or whatever. Honestly I have only ever applied this proverb to my relationship with my sister whenever we weren’t in mortal peril. While I have plenty of friends and acquaintances who I’ve shared battlefields with (i.e. the morning after a party), that never made me any closer to them in a real crisis. I would say about seventy-five percent of the time that the blood is thicker than the water, and the remaining twenty-five percent is when the water isn’t necessarily thicker, but more pressurized. That’s the only time in our lives when we’ve ever come together as sisters.

Well, this is the twenty five percent, and never has the feeling of being sucked and trapped against a fissure at the bottom of the Challenger Deep been more realized than now. It doesn’t help that my bladder is about to implode and leak the citrus-flavored toxic waste I’ve consumed in rapid succession over the past half hour into my visceral fat and contaminate all my vital organs.

I waddle awkwardly through the narrow doorway of Page One and slam my tiny palm onto the countertop. A bookkeeper who I can recognize as my lab partner from sophomore year chemistry pokes his nose out from the novel he’s immersed in. Moby Dick. Jesus, who reads school assigned books after graduation?

“Hey, Drew-Drew,” I greet him, a lopsided grin fitted on my lips as he brushes his hair out of his eyes and offers me a smile in return. He has a lot more charisma than I remember. I think his eyes have gotten bigger and bluer, too. It reminds me of the water’s surface I’m staring up at from the very bottom of the ocean. “Where’s Becky at?”

Drew dog-ears his page — which is kind of disgusting to me, do they not sell bookmarks in this busted ass joint? — and he points toward the graphic novel section. “Over there, we just got Spider-Man #76, she’s stocking up.”

“... Didn’t #76 come out in January? Of last year?” I ask him. He opens his mouth so he can answer but I stop him with a raised hand. “No time. You’re lookin’ good, Drew-Drew, considerably less like a delicious pepperoni pizza. Keep it up with the Oxy Pads.” I say before pushing away from the counter and venturing off to my destination.

Indeed, my older sister is crouched down and rustling with a display, slightly disgruntled by the symmetry of the copies of Spider-Man she’s stocking. I don’t really have any witty remarks as a smooth enough introduction, so I settle with, “Need help?”

She whips around and I can almost hear the crack in her spinal cord from the velocity. “Lily?” she half-whispers. I forget that I haven’t seen her since late May, and also that I swore I’d never see her again.

“In the flesh,” I confirm and do a curtsey, which threatens my full bladder. I really need to piss soon or else I’ll die a terribly death in the shittiest bookstore on the eastern seaboard. “Do you have a sec? It’s 9-1-1.”

Becca’s expression shifts from awe and minor annoyance to something resembling concern as she pushes herself off her knees. “What is it?” she asks me, crossing her arms over her chest as a last resort defense mechanism.

I don’t hesitate to hold up the plastic Walgreens bag I’ve carted with me for two blocks. She recognizes the items inside and her eyes go all moony and her jaw slacks a bit. I jerk my brows up expectantly and she assumes the position of utter bewilderment.

“Do you have a place I can empty the biohazardous contents of my bladder? It’s about to necrotize,” I hiss at her. She reaches down, digs in her pocket, unearths a bronze key and walks ahead of me at full speed. I have to waddle after her like a newly hatched penguin chick. It would be more humiliating if over half the population of Eden were literate, but alas...

Becca jams the keys into the lock and just about bodychecks the door so we can enter the rectangular bathroom. It’s cramped and the lighting resembles something out of a Hitchcock film, but who the fuck am I to be picky about where I take the most important whizz of my life?

I place the bag on the counter and take out the three empty full-sized cans of Surge I used to fuel my bladder before picking up the grossest thing I have ever held: a pregnancy test. I keep it in my grasp for a few passing beats, nearly crushing the box underneath my iron-tight grip before man-handling it open and tearing out the plastic stick that will determine my fate.

“This is by far the most unholy fortune telling experience ever,” I decide to joke as I witness my sister cower in the corner. You’d think by the looks of it she were the one whose life was about to change forever. “You think if I shake it a genie will come out and grant me three wishes?”

“... Only if it’s negative, as a gift,” Becca chimes in at last. “Otherwise not even God can save you.”

I let out an involuntary snort, because while my reflexes register this as a funny joke, I am actually scared shitless.

I stare at the porcelain toilet bowl. I feel sicker now looking at it than when I’ve genuinely been at risk for vomiting up my lunch. I could still do that, I’ve been puking like a bulimic for weeks now. The thought is almost comforting. Almost. I bite the bullet instead and yank my pants down, my boy pants, which I normally wear as a boy when I’ve got slightly wider hips and more junk to hide and taller legs to protect with denim fabric. Fuck me.

“I just... Hold it and piss, right?” I ask her, as if she’s gone through this before. I know for a fact she hasn’t, or else this wouldn’t be our first time. I’m surprised it’s our first time, actually, thinking that karma would’ve caught up with me a long time ago.

“Just don’t get any on your hand.” Becca replies. Very helpful, I think, but rather than respond verbally I give a sigh of defeat and do what needs to be done. When my bladder is emptied an eternity later, I pull up my oversized pants and briefly grieve my dick before I place the test on the counter.

I glance over my shoulder at Becca, “It’s seasoned. Just gotta let it marinate.”

“Gross.” she says with a scrunched up nose.

I turn around and slide down the wall, an action she mimics a couple seconds later. I stare ahead, up at the light that’s screwed into a 70s pendant-shaped fixture, and pass the silence by making them flicker. I do this as a distraction from the materializing tension between us. Normally, this doesn’t happen, but then again our peril has only involved either extreme intoxication, pedos on AOL (during high school), or something about her and Gabriel’s arguments, which felt like walking through Reactor 4 in Chernobyl.

She’s the first one to say something.

“Whose is it? ... If it’s a thing,” she wonders, and as I look over at her I notice that her eyebrows are knitted together and her mouth is fixed downward. “... Please don’t tell me Topher’s.”

I chuckle at the idea. “I think if it were a thing and Topher’s, it’d have grown like a xenomorph baby and ripped itself out of my stomach by now,” I tell her. “I’d deserve that kind of karma for getting knocked up by him.”

“Xenomorph?” she says, and I open my mouth to offer an explanation before she finishes, “Alien. Right.”

“... Yeah, exactly,” I nod along. How in the hell did she remember that? We only ever sat through Alien and Aliens once, and I could’ve sworn she was too preoccupied reading a magazine to actually notice what was happening on screen.

I also notice that she’s wearing my favorite striped turtleneck. Stone cold bitch.

Some things never change, huh?

Shit, I think I might cry.

This is why we’re siblings, I think, so I can hate her for wearing my favorite turtleneck while sitting by her side as we await Satan’s final decision on the state of my cursed uterus.

Tears prickle my vision but I blink them away.

“Whose is it, then?” she wonders again. I visibly tense. This is probably where our unspoken, once-in-a-blue-moon loyalties end. How do you tell your sister that her ex-boyfriend is the reason you’re sitting in the dingy bathroom of her workplace with a piss-riddled stick inches away?

In the end, I don’t have to say anything at all. We look at each other simultaneously and she reads my expression with ease. Her features soften and I can see a glint of hurt in her eyes, and I expect ripples of betrayal to make themselves known across the rest of her body soon enough. But those ripples never come. The water I thought was loosening from around me doesn’t make a goddamn move.

I’m still at the bottom of the Deep, but she’s with me now.

Her hand grips mine. Tight. I can feel our pulses match up in our paralleling wrists.

“I think it’s been enough time.” I say eventually. She doesn’t release my hand. Our shared warmth creates a comfortable friction between us. “... Will you hate me after this?”

Becca squeezes my hand. A heart beat jumps out from her touch to mine. “I think I’ve hated you enough for one summer.”

A smile flickers on the corner of my lips and I slowly depart my hand from hers. My palm is slick with sweat but I don’t mind. I stand up and feel my equilibrium struggle to steady itself before I’m ready to approach the counter. The test is still there, so I know this wasn’t an abstract fever dream I’ve had after discovering so much eerily similar history.

I’m not a fucking coward. I’m looking this shit straight on, no matter what. Do you think I’m afraid of a sign? Totally not. I lean over and stare down, my gaze idling at the base before finally fixating on the panel.

Holy shitstickers.

“... Becca?” I call out, my voice half gone from unknown forces. She perks up and I see her reflection in the mirror with widened eyes. “Do you have five bucks? I’m gonna need more Surge.”

#self-para #teheheh i couldnt nap until i finished this

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cryptids-and-muses · 4 years

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Wally’s First Gay Panic

Ao3

Wally decided this was his least favorite mission ever. He’d been shot at, fought wizards, chased thieves, and plenty more inadvisable dangerous stunts. But standing there, by himself, surrounded by stuffy rich people, holding a tray of food he couldn’t eat had to be the worst. It was just so boring. Boredom was a million times worse than danger, which may have explained how he ended up on this career path.

Another person grabbed a snack off his tray without even a thank you. Dick had definitely been right about the staff being invisible, a trait he should be using to figure out to gather intel, but he could barely pay attention to what the people were saying around him. He made a horrible spy, but sadly he was the only one unrecognisable enough to play the role. Donna and Garth both got in on their positions as high ranking diplomats to their respective nations while Dick and Roy had already been invited. With all five of them it shouldn’t be hard to figure out where Luthor’s deal was going down. Except all five of them weren’t there yet.

Glancing over, Wally saw Donna and Garth making their way to the snack bar where Roy was already waiting. Under the guise of refilling his tray, Wally went to meet up with his team.

“Any news?” Garth looked at Donna when he said it, but it was clear the question was for all of them. “Our lead with Mr. Cosbur was a bust,” answered Roy, covering his mouth with a glass, “he let slip that the ‘new tech breakthrough’ he’s been bragging about is in the medical field rather than weapons.”

“Luthor mentioned keeping expensive spirits in his private study. I think that’s where it’ll take place.” Donna made a show of smiling as she said it, like she was talking about the latest gossip and not a potentially disastrous weapons deal.

There was a lag in the conversation as Wally refilled his tray, still looking around the ballroom. Roy cleared his throat and Wally realized it was his turn to share.

“Oh, uh, that guy in the horrible orange coat might be involved. Apparently, he just lost his contract with the military, but isn’t very broken up about it. Says he’s already got a new client.”

Donna turned to the crowd, squinting, “Mr. Worloven?”

“Yeah, him.”

“Are you alright Wally?” Garth looked over at him, brows knit together. “You seem distracted.”

A smirk formed on Roy’s face, “Worried about our little bird?”

“It’s just…” Wally let out a huff, “He should be here by now, shouldn’t he?”

Donna shrugged, “It’s fashionable to be late.”

Roy didn’t even try to hide his snort, “As if he’s ever been fashionable.”

“He could already be here.” Garth countered, “This is a very big party and we could’ve just not run into him yet.”

“I guess...” Wally picked up his tray and started working his way through the room again. He didn’t want to get yelled at for slacking. There wasn’t much to overhear; mostly talk of whatever trend was big or the latest scandal, nothing useful or interesting. God, Wally missed Dick. His friend always found a way to make even the most boring meetings fun. He continued to scan the crowd, but when he finally saw Dick, he froze.

He looked good. Like, really good. The suit fit his body perfectly, and the cool blue made his eyes stand out even more than usual. He was in a vest rather than a typical blazer, and had rolled up the sleeves to show off his toned arms. Dick's hair was in that intentionally messy style that Wally kinda wanted to run his fingers through. The only thought that registered in Wally’s head is when the fuck did that happen????

Because Wally had been to galas before with Dick. He'd tagged along plenty of times to make them more bearable for his best friend, his best friend who did not look like that. When did he grow into his lengthy limbs? His frame should be tiny, not lean and muscular. When did his rat's nest hair become so smooth and soft? It's supposed to be stiff and full of gel that's barely working, not loose curls that frame his face perfectly. The grace in his movements was nothing new, but Wally's never seen it used so casually. It was almost like a lazy dance rather than his usual energetic bursts.

Heat had begun to gather in Wally’s cheeks but he barely noticed, too focused on his best friend. How? How do you miss something like this? Dick was easily the most attractive person in the entire ballroom - maybe even the entire world, it was a little soon to tell - and Wally hadn’t noticed. Not until it was shoved in his face and was impossible to ignore.

Wally was snapped out of his thoughts when Dick noticed he was there and beamed at him. For a second he was caught up in how dazzling the smile was, better than the already charming smile he wore for everyone else, because this one was completely genuine and was directed at Wally, it existed because of Wally. That thought made him feel even warmer, but it didn’t last long because Dick was walking over.

Sirens went off in Wally’s head. He was NOT ready to confront this, whatever ‘this’ even was. Dick seemed completely oblivious to Wally’s internal meltdown as he made his way over, expertly navigating the crowd until he was right next to the speedster. He put his hand on Wally’s shoulder and for a second his brain freezes. Dick leaned over and spoke barely loud enough to be heard over the gala, “I’m really glad you’re here, I haven’t been able to find anything useful and this party has been miserable.”

After Wally’s brain finished processing what was happening he jerked back, his shoulder still felt warm. “Uh hi....hey, it’s good to...um, “ he held up his tray, “Mini sandwich?” Oh god he was being weird. Why was he being weird around Dick? Dick was the last person he should be weird around.

Dick frowned, “Is everything alright?” Something flashed in Dick’s eyes and his expression became more serious, “How’s the weather outside?” Their code phrase for asking if there was danger or if something went wrong.

Wally shook his head, “No! No, everything-the weather is fine. Uh...” he looked around desperately for some kind of distraction, "It's...It's these rich people. So annoying ya know?"

"I guess...." The frown didn't leave Dick's face, "You're sure you're okay?"

"Yes! Totally good! Why wouldn't I be?" Okay Wally needed to shut up now before he made this even weirder, "I just....needtousethebathroom!" He said it a bit louder than he intended and ran out of there a bit faster than he should have, but Wally couldn't care less as he shoved his tray on the sink counter and locked the stall behind him.

Time to deal with the fact that he found his best friend super hot.

Yay.

Alright, he was a teen, and a speester to boot, he gets worked up over even small things, this wasn't exactly new. Yeah Dick was a dude, which was new, but it's not like he'd never admired men in the past. The fact that he was Wally's best friend was more pressing. But he could handle this! Just some passing attraction. I mean who wouldn't be at least a little attracted to Dick Grayson? It was no big deal. Nothing he hadn't been through before.

Wally sighed, he couldn't even get himself to believe that.

This wasn't a small thing, Wally could tell that much. He's seen insanely attractive people before and they didn't make him feel like this. Like he felt when Dick smiled, when he touched his arm. Maybe he has felt something slightly similar in the past when Dick curled up next to him after a long mission, or when Wally can get him to laugh so hard he starts wheezing, or when Dick says some offhand comment about how much wally means to him. A blush began to creep into his cheeks. He thought that was just him loving his best friend, but it wasn't, was it?

If that was all it was he wouldn't be thinking about how nice Dick's arms would feel around him, that he wanted dick to smile at him like that all the time, wondering if his lips were as soft as they looked. The speedster let out a hollow laugh as he hugged himself. Guess it was 'Realizations About Dick Grayson' night.

After a few deep breaths he unlocked the stall and got his tray. He couldn't abandon the mission because he was having a bi crisis. His friends needed him. The fact that he may be in love with his best friend would have to wait. Besides, the only difference now was that he knew about it.

#my writing #fanfiction #birdflash #dick grayson #wally west #dickwally #titans #teen titans #fluff #Donna Troy #roy harper #garth #flash #nightwing #kid flash #fanfic

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harry-lloyd · 4 years

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In many ways, the horrible wig was the best thing to happen to Harry Lloyd.

The shock of platinum blonde hair, slashed to a sensible bob at his shoulders like a high-fashion Legolas, was the coif that tied Lloyd’s indelible, insufferable Game of Thrones character together: Viserys Targaryen, the petulant narcissist whose play for the Iron Throne melts along with the rest of him under a pot of molten metal poured over his head, one of the show’s first and most iconic gruesome death scenes.

The splashy HBO production was the biggest job the young actor had ever landed, and as a character with an unmistakable, unforgettable look, to boot— the better to sear into TV fans’ consciousness.

Blessedly, that unmistakable, unforgettable look in no way actually resembled him, a then-27-year-old rising star with short, dark brown hair and alabaster complexion. He played one of the most memorable characters in recent TV history on possibly the last truly massive global TV phenomenon, yet, by the grace of a wig, he was still unrecognizable.

“I kind of loved that,” Lloyd tells The Daily Beast over Zoom from the loft study in his North London home. “And I kind of loved that he died. He had this lovely arc, and he still has his place in this enormous and infamous canon.”

Given how vivid that arc is in Thrones lore, it’s almost startling to remember that he was only on five episodes of the show.

“I had my go,” he says. “I got in early and I got out early. And he didn’t look like me, which, number one, is good because he is a little shit. And so I was happy to not have people throwing stuff at me in the streets. But number two, and I didn’t notice at the time, but it has since become the biggest show on TV. It doesn’t make me worry about being typecast so much.”

In the years since becoming a scalded puddle of boiling jewels and flesh, Lloyd has been able to shapeshift through an impressive résumé of prestige TV series and award-nominated films—Manhattan, Wolf Hall, Counterpart, Legion, The Theory of Everything—relieved of the kind of limitations actors who play little shits in garish white wigs on TV’s biggest show typically shoulder.

The occasion for our conversation is yet another transformation, as Bernard Marx in Brave New World, the splashy adaptation of Aldous Huxley’s 1932 dystopian sci-fi novel. The series is the marquee original offering for Wednesday’s launch of the new Peacock streaming service, casting Downton Abbey alum Jessica Brown Findlay and Han Solo himself, Alden Ehrenreich, alongside Lloyd in an updated take on the classic work.

Brave New World thwarts the idea of a restrictive, Orwellian dystopia with one in which society is instead forced into surrendering their inhibitions. “Welcome to New London,” a prologue explains. “We have three rules. No privacy. No family. No monogamy. Everyone is very happy.”

The new series boasts modernized flourishes when it comes to style—if there had been this much sex in Huxley’s book, we would have paid far more attention to it in high school—and sensibility; some of the problematically racist and misogynistic themes and plot points have been corrected.

Lloyd’s Bernard is an upper echelon member of society, called an Alpha-Plus, whose job is to maintain social order. Throughout the series, he experiences a crisis of conscience, an existential awakening at odds with the blissful stasis he’s meant to both control and enjoy.

If a narrow escape from typecasting and a career playing snooty, megalomaniacal manchildren has meant a diverse array of opportunity for Lloyd, then Brave New World marks more new territory: It’s his first outright leading role.

Lloyd had never read Huxley’s book before being cast, but was impressed by the ambition of the script, “almost like a mega tentpole movie in scale” but esoteric and satirical at the same time. “I was like, this has the whole package if they can shoot this, but I don’t think they can.”

It took one day on set for him to catch wise to the technical prowess at play. “I was like, wow, this really is a brave new world,” he says.

Don’t worry. He promptly scoffed at himself and rolled his eyes.

It is one of the best opening lines to a profile that I’ve read, from a 2011 feature on Lloyd that ran in Britain’s The Independent: “There was a time when Harry Lloyd worried that he was forever going to be typecast—as a woman.”

It was in reference to Lloyd’s days as a student at Eton College, where the young teen’s voice had not yet broken and he was cast as women in a slew of all-male Shakespeare productions.

Here we were prepping to engage with Lloyd about the perils of typecasting following his Thrones stint, ignorant of the fact that he had already confronted the issue decades earlier.

Lloyd laughs good-naturedly when the era of fake bras and bonnets is brought up.

“I hated it,” he says. Just when he had vowed never to agree to it again, in his last year at school he was asked to play Rosalind in As You Like It, by all counts a fantastic leading part. He nailed it, and earned raves. “At an all-boys boarding school, it took balls to put on tights, as it was.” A perfectly-earned smirk at his own joke follows.

The truth is that being typecast or pigeon-holed is a stressor that followed Lloyd, who grew up in London with parents who worked in the book industry. “Sometimes it’s just the face you have at a certain age…” he says.

His first major role came at age 15 in the BBC’s 1999 adaptation of David Copperfield, opposite Daniel Radcliffe. (Adding another fascinating layer to the trivia: Lloyd himself is the great-great-great grandson of Charles Dickens.) One of his first jobs after that was playing a bullying prefect in the series Goodbye, Mr. Chips.

“I guess that’s what I looked like, and I did that a couple of times,” he says. “Then I was like, I don’t really want to just be that guy. He’s a bit of a dick. And then I think next up I played the murderer in some procedural police thing, some young kid that’s gone sideways.”

Each time he felt a box starting to close its sides around him, he actively sought out something different. Having Great Expectations, in which he played Herbert Pocket, “the loveliest, most benign chap you’d ever meet,” air months after his Thrones debut was key. But he can’t refute that, with or without a platinum wig, there’s something about the way he looks that telegraphs a certain kind of sinister character.

“If I turn up in a murder thing, it’s often me who’s done it,” he says, grinning. “I don’t want to give anything away from the stuff I’ve been in. But I don’t know, there’s something about my face that is like, ‘He could do it.’”

After he had finished filming his part on Thrones and the series was about to come out, he was cast in the buzzy West End production of the Tony-winning play The Little Dog Laughed.

If you’re familiar with the work, a satire about Hollywood illusion (and delusion) in which an acerbic, big-wig agent crisis manages her rising-star client’s pesky “recurring case of homosexuality,” you understand why it’s a fairly hilarious, if sobering, project to be involved in just as an actor’s own fame and industry profile is about to skyrocket.

“Because I was about to be on Game of Thrones, I thought, this is the time for me to get an American agent,” he recalls. “And so the American agents, when they were in London, would come and see me in this play, which basically looks at agenting and their ways with quite a big, angry magnifying glass. They would come backstage and say, ‘Look, I am not like that…’” He laughs. “It was always quite a funny way to start the proceedings.”

Having starred in episodes of Dr. Who and played Charles Xavier in Legion, not to mention his connection to Thrones, Lloyd has had his taste of the particular brand of rabid, Comic-Con fandom. Though he prefers to classify himself as “adjacent-adjacent” to that world.

While there are certainly those who will know right away that he was a Targaryen, what he gets more of is a “Wait, how do I know you?” awkward conversation. “Genuinely, people are like, ‘Hey, did I go to school with you?’ I’m at that level of renown. You can’t quite place why you might recognize me.”

Asked how life under the coronavirus shutdown has been, Lloyd is very British about the months spent with his wife and their almost-2-year-old. “We’ve done alright,” he says. “We learned how to finally kind of plan our fridge. And now we know how to do our shopping tactically. We cooked some good stuff.”

For fear of sounding “solipsistic,” to use a word employed often in Brave New World, he identifies the extended time home with typical feelings actors have throughout their career.

“You have accelerated times in your life when things happen like a dream,” he says. “Things are so fast and our whole world’s rebuilt entirely every time you get a job. And then is the come-down and the fallout.”

He remembers that feeling from when he was doing plays: the energy and pace of putting on the show, and then a few weeks after it ends there’s a massive crash.

“It feels a bit like you’re in lockdown. You stare around on a Tuesday afternoon. You don’t want to watch anything. You don’t know what to do or who to call, and you kind of lose your style. There’s been a bit of that.”

Just when things got to the point that he felt like he might lose his mind, he was contracted to record an audiobook. So for a couple of days a week, he would sit up in his “sweatbox made out of duvets” and read Great Expectations aloud for Penguin. “That saved me for sure.”

On the subject of works by his great-great-great grandfather, Lloyd used to be at a loss for what to do when people brought it up. Often they would say, “Congratulations!” on the relation, as if he had accomplished something himself by being born into Charles Dickens’ lineage. “But these days, I’ll take it, I’ve decided. ‘Yeah, thank you so much.’ It’s a nice thing to celebrate.”

The 150th anniversary of Dickens’ death was in June. There had been plans for a commemoration ceremony at Westminster Abbey that, because of the shutdown, became a Zoom event instead.

“I don’t know how many people’s deaths get a 150th anniversary,” he says. “The fact that I have any kind of personal connection with that is very much secondary. But something that I’m very proud of.”

At risk of belaboring the point, we ask if working on any of the Dickens adaptations he’s starred in on TV or recording this audiobook makes Lloyd feel any sort of profound or poignant connection to him.

He laughs. “I can’t point to a physical sensation like hairs in the back of my neck standing. ‘I feel him. It’s me and Chucky D in the room right now.’”

#harry lloyd #interview

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sluttyfluffartist · 4 years

Text

Yo I'm finna wait for Tumblr to delete this shit but let's go

Kurt Franz fanfiction

Note: I don't support the Nazi ideology and I only write stories like these to make fun of the perpetrators of the Holocaust

Today is a beautiful day Franz thought, why you must ask well today he had shot ten jewish prisoners, had beaten up 20, and had sent 1800 to the gas chambers and had not a single slip up, to which he will put on his personal record. While he made his usual rounds with Barry he came across something that caught his attention a new guard by the name of Walter Schmidt who, to his embarrassment to describe, had very nice shapen body and extremely good looks. Walter had a very feminine body if you could describe it; he had very nice thick thighs, very curvy and round hips, and to top it all off he had a nice juicy plump ass that if you asked nice enough or order to would let you squeeze.

However Walter's body isn't the only thing Franz enjoyed fantasizing about he also enjoyed his face, his round cheeks, his ocean blue eyes, his peachy complexion, his golden hair, and his nice plump lips. Franz felt embarrassed about imagining fucking the new guard and he felt even worse coming home, greeting his wife, and imagining to fuck him while talking to her, but he couldn't help himself Walter just looked so hot especially when his pants would closely fit him and it hugged his ass in the right places or when Walter would drop something in front of him and when he would get on his knees to pick it up Franz would imagine him sucking him off or AAAAAHHHH FUCK I'M GETTING DISTRACTED Franz thought I just need to focus on my job and get through the day that can't be hard right.

"Hello Untersturmfuhrer Franz how has your day been going" Walter greeted fuck Franz thought as Walter ran up to him Franz noticed how Barry was getting excited and started to wag his tail you and me both Franz thought.

"Um today has been fine" Franz said and greater now that your here he thought

"Oh I'm glad to here that Untersturmfuhrer, I just came to say that we took care of those gypsies you wanted to be shot and not a single one stepped out of line"

"Great"

"Also I'm sorry if I seem bothersome but may I please pet Barry" Walter pleaded. Franz contemplated for a moment until he realized he would finally get to have a closer inspection of Walter's ass so out of impluse Franz said Yes

"Thank you Untersturmfuhrer."

As Walter bended down to pet Barry Franz's eyes immediately went to Walter's ass and holy shit was it plump, it was like staring at two soccer balls in a very tight knitted bag and god did he wanted to grab his ass, but Franz knew that if he were to grab Walter's ass he would not only be in trouble with his superiors but he would also would be shot for being gay. Even though he wasn't gay or at least he believed he wasn't I mean Walter is the only guy he has ever been attracted to and he's pretty sure it's because he shares to much similarities to a women.

While Franz was having a existential crisis he started to feel something soft on his crotch he looked down to noticed that Walter had unknowingly placed his ass on his dick SHIT SHIT SHIT Franz thought what if someone noticed Franz looked around and hoped nobody saw what was going down and to his relief no one did. Oh god what am I going to do Franz panically thought but then he came to a conclusion if Walter isn't paying attention to what's going on maybe he won't notice this Franz cautiously grabbed Walter's hips and to his surprise Walter didn't react Franz smiled then started to grind on his ass.

Oh shit Franz thought while biting his lower lip he held back a moan oh fuck this feels so amazing and as Franz went to grab Walter's ass two things happend one Franz was amazed on how squishy Walter's ass really was and two he heard a squeak Franz looked down to see that Walter had stopped petting Barry and was extremely red in the face. Walter turned his head a little and as he stared at Franz, embarrassment written all over his face, he said

"um Untersturmfuhrer what are you doing" Franz had never felt this damn embarrassed in his entire life

"uh" I sound like a fucking idiot Franz thought

"I'm just uh" there was no explanation for his behavior then him acting out on lustful desires

"I umm shit I was"

"you can finish if you want to"

"what

"you can finish if you want to I said"

Franz had not believed what he heard and so make sure he gave Walter's ass a firm squeeze and as a confirmation of reality he heard Walter squeak again. What the hell was going on why was Walter ok with allowing him to carry on with his lustrous behavior Franz looked around to make sure there was no witnesses to their crime and when he made sure there was no one he carried on with his grinding. Walter let out a surprised noise when he felt Franz's hard on and so he quickly stood up then whispered

"Franz we can't do this here follow me" then it dawned on Walter holy shit he thought I'm about to have sex with my boss Walter looked back and saw a very hot and bothered Franz, who was biting his lower lip and had very expanded pupils, and took a big gulp then thought well here we go.

Walter dragged Franz to the back of the building of the medical wing and from there they just stared at each other

"So what do we do now-" but before Walter could finish Franz grabbed his waist lifted him up and on instinct Walter wrapped his legs around Franz and then Franz slammed his back against the wall

"I'm going to fuck you until you can't walk that's what I'm going to do."

All Walter could feel at the moment was heat, heat from the massive blush that had spread from one side of his face to the next, heat on his neck from Franz's breath, heat in his crotch from the close proximity of Franz's penis to his, and heat all over his body because right now Franz was radiating heat from his body and if you looked closely in his eyes you would see a fire buring in his soul to which Walter thought no wonder he's so hot.

Franz slammed his lips on Walter, which took him off guard, so out of instinct Walter yelped which gave Franz the perfect moment to slip his tongue in Walter's mouth; Franz thought wow Walter tastes like chocolate and cheese how peculiar Franz smirked but I'm more interested in what kind of sounds he would make.

Walter started to tug on Franz's hair not for pleasure but to tell him he was running out of air but his meassage was ignored because Franz wanted to test how long before Walter started to act out. Which didn't last that long maybe 4 or 5 minutes then Walter began to buck his crotch up which shot pleasure through out Franz's spine making him groan in the kiss giving Walter a chance to cough and breathe.

"What's wrong Walter can't take it" Franz teased

"You're being too rough on me maybe you can be a little gentler"

Walter will soon learn that asking Untersturmfuhrer Kurt Herbert Franz to be gentler would be the biggest mistake of his life, Franz gazed at him for a moment and Walter saw the fire in his eyes dimish like a light, but soon to replace it was something much worse. Walter saw something in Franz's eyes that only a jew or a gypsy would ever see before they took their last breath of life Walter saw nothing but pure hatred. Soon Walter started to perceive a never-ending amount of an icy chill down the course of his spine making him no longer questioned how the prisoners felt without coats during winter.

Franz slowly brought his hand around Walter's neck then faintly questioned

"What did you just ask me"

"I asked if you could be more gentler" Walter whispered so quietly that you would have had to be right next to him to hear it.

Franz studied Walter's face searching for an answer to his question only to find nothing, he tightened his grip around Walter's neck then said

"You have to earn gentleness from me bitch," tears started to well up on Walter's face for two reasons one he could hardly breath and two he was genuinely scared for he did not know what would happen next. Franz kissed Walter's cheek then he started leave kisses lower and lower down his neck until Walter sucked in a breath Franz smirked

"Is this a sensitive spot Walter" Franz mocked

but Walter had not answered for he was still being chocked. Franz loosened his grip around Walter's neck then started to nibble on the spot that was sensitive. Walter let out little mewls of pleasure until Franz bit down then without any thought Walter let at a loud moan, Franz bit his lip then started to grind, Walter released a shaky breath afterwards stating

"Ooooohhh.....fuck me daddy," Franz stopped what he was doing and glanced up at Walter

"What did you just say" Franz panted.

Walter grew to be cold and hot at that very second for heat had went and spread throughout his whole face again and a freezing chill sat at the pit of his stomach from Franz's freezing glare of hatred, Franz sneered at him, then lowered his hand until they were at the button of his pants then he began to unbuttoned his pants. Walter detected anxiety had grown throughout his stomach and as a coping mechanism he bit his lip and looked away

"Whore don't you look away from me" Franz demanded

"You begged for this and now you've got what you wanted"

Walter felt Franz's other hand grab his face and turned him to look at him straight in his eyes his cold, icy, intoxicating, eyes, and honestly he didn't want to look away. At this point Walter no longer had pants they were quickly discarded so now the only think keeping him from getting fucked was his boxers but Walter predicted those would be gone soon to. Franz began to pawn at Walter's clothed dick then stopped Walter looked down in confusion then yelped when Franz impulsively dug his hand in his boxers then proceeded to jack him off.

"Do you like it when Daddy plays with you kitten" Franz remarked however Walter could not answer for the lust had clotted up in his brain hindering him unable to create a single comprehensible thought

"ANSWER ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU" Franz shouted, Walter let a trembling moan before saying

"Yes sir"

"Good boy."

Pride soon began to well up in Walter's stomach after that praise making Walter yearn for more praise more praise from his boss, his Untersturmfuhrer, and most importantly his Daddy so he began to thrust his dick in Franz's hand allowing pleasure to fester in his spine and stomach. Franz looked in amazement at Walter is he really fucking my hand right now Franz pondered holy shit that's hot, Franz used the hand that was grabbing Walter's throat to unbuttoned his own pants giving Walter a chance to take in a breath and let the tears fall down his face.

"Stop fucking crying" Franz commanded

"I'm sorry" Walter pleaded but it was no use for the tears just kept coming in vast amounts, so Franz finally unbuttoned his pants, took a deep sigh, glared up, and tenderly kissed him on the cheek taking Walter by surprised

"May you please stop crying Walter" Walter was flabbergasted Franz had never addressed him by his name hell he never addressed him by his title either it was always hey you or he would just order him to do something but this he could hardly described the emotion that Franz evicted out of him. Was it desire,that's it, pure unauthorized and unadulterated desire while he didn't understand why however all he knew was that he enjoyed that feeling and he wanted more. So while tears rolled down his cheeks, pupils dilated, and mind clouded he passionately kissed Franz and to his shock Franz kissed back.

Walter felt Franz lick his bottom lip so he opens his mouth letting Franz explore it allowing Walter to really think about how Franz taste; orange flavored schnapps and caviar how predictable. While Walter was letting Franz explore his mouth he felt his boxers being taken off, well here we go he thought, as Franz stop to take a breath and to throw his boxers Walter shivered as a cool breeze blew on his dick making his dick twitch. Franz lifted his hand to Walter's mouth

"Suck" he stated and without any thought that's what Walter did hmmm Walter thought his fingers taste like dried blood, gross, soon Franz took his fingers out of Walter's mouth and inserted two in his ass.

Oh Walter thought that's a new feeling I never thought I would've experienced in my life, you see Walter had never slept with a male before and the reason he is allowing Franz to fuck him was because he was afraid Franz would hurt him or torture him, so as Walter felt Franz's fingers inspect his ass Walter grew to enjoy the feeling until Franz inserted a third finger then the feeling of comfort grew to pain and when the fourth came pain went to immense pain.

"Ow fuck that hurts" Franz drew his eyes up at Walter with an annoyed look then he gave him a crooked smile before spreading his fingers

"OOW THAT HURTS" Walter squawked as his eyes clamped shut tears welling up then his hands went to Franz's back scrapping his nails against the clothed skin. Franz seethed as he felt those nails pierce his back even with my shirt on that shit hurts he thought,

"Quite bitching I'm trying to make sure it doesn't hurt when I fuck you," Franz became more and more aggravated with Walter until he heard sniffling. Walter was crying for the second time

"You are one sensitive person aren't you" Walter didn't respond he just looked away and bit his lip. Franz sighed and kissed his forehead, then his tear stained cheek, next his jawline, lastly his neck

"God no wonder I'm attracted to you"

"Why"

"You remind me of my wife" Walter starred at Franz for a minute before getting flustered and looking away again Franz chuckled then he plunged his fingers deeper making Walter cry out in pain and soon he felt something round. He pressed down on it lightly and he heard Walter hitch his breath so he smirked and applied alot more pressure

"Oh fuck right there Franz" Franz felt his dick twitch then he bit his lower lip fuck he thought that was so hot so he began to thrust his fingers in and out causing Walter to spread his legs wide and arch his back.

"Oh mmmmm oh fuck yes right there"

Walter's pants started to become louder and louder until they bacame moans and then those moans got louder and louder until Franz realized shit we could get caught so he kissed Walter to keep him quiet but then Walter lowered his hand till it was near Franz's dick then he plunged his hand in his boxers and jerked him off. Walter stopped kissing Franz and put his lips to his ear and whispered

"I want you to fuck me with your cock Daddy" then bit his earlobe Franz stopped everything he was doing, raised his eyebrows, and looked at Walter's face, he was astonished at what he saw Walter's eyes were half lidded and dilated, his hair was a mess, and he was covered in hickies that Franz didn't remember giving him, all in all he looked like the perfect personification of sex and holy shit was it hot.

Franz and Walter peered at each other then Walter started to peel off Franz's boxers just enough to expose his dick and not expecting the girth of Franz's dick Walter yelped when he felt the tip slap his stomach

"What's wrong Walter" Franz snided

"Didn't expect it to be this big."

Walter gapped at how long and wide it was, it had to be at least 7 inches long, Walter started to get nervous and consider there is no way that dick is going to fit,

"I want you to relax Walter or this is going to be more painful then it needs to be ok." Walter shook his head yes and Franz smiled

"Good" Franz then aligned his dick with Walter's entrance then roughly thrusted into him

"OH FUCK" Franz and Walter said in unison Walter being louder than Franz.

"Oh god oh fuck you feel so tight Walter" Walter wrapped his legs tightly around Franz to get leverage from the pain as well as stabbing his back with his nails

"God fuck don't move Franz please"

"I can't even if I wanted to you're to tight" as Walter started to adjust to Franz he started to loosen up giving Franz the option to move and as soon as he did Walter's legs relaxed around his waist.

"You feel amazing Walter" Franz moaned. Walter had not answered him for he was reflecting how the hell did he fit he thought how in the hell did he fit inside me and why the fuck does it feel so awesome. Walter relaxed his head on the wall while Franz thrusted into him

"Oh fuck daddy yes right there"

"Do you like this my little kitten"

"Yes daddy very much"

"Then show me much you enjoy my cock, I want you to moan out my name so the entire camp can know who you belong to" Walter bit his lip and looked around he was scared someone was going to hear them.

"Are you sure-" Franz wrapped his hand around his throat then squeezed

"That wasn't a question it was an order" Franz seethed, Walter nodded ok,

"Good boy"

"Your first name"

"What"

"You want me to moan your first name"

"I would prefer it that way"

"Well what is your first name" Franz blinked in surprise and came to a quick conclusion that in all the time that he knew Walter Walter had hardly known him hell he didn't even know his first name. Franz blushed bashfully

"It's Kurt" Walter saw for a quick moment of humanity in Kurt's eyes then it was gone and in that millisecond Walter had grown to admire his superior not in a romantic kind of way but in a way a son would look up to a father.

"Ok" Kurt and Walter gazed at each other then Kurt went and started to nibble on Walter's neck

"Oh" Walter squeaked, Kurt smirked, for he had found another sensitive spot on hid neck and to make sure Walter actually followed his command he angle his cock to hit his prostate, thrusted, and bit down on his neck.

"OH GOD KURT FUCK YES" Walter noticed that drool was streaming down his jaw but he didn't care all he cared about at that moment was pleasure and the yearning for more of it. Kurt picked up the pace in his thrusting

"Oh Kurt yes just like that don't stop" Walter's body started to tremble for he was close to climaxing so he went to grab his dick but Kurt slapped his hand

"I'm only allowed to give you pleasure do you understand me"

"Yes daddy"

"Louder"

"YES DADDY"

"Good boy." As Kurt picked up the pace on his thrusting he saw Walter widen his legs, arch his back, bite his lower lip, and lean his head on the wall evoking a strange erge in Kurt to mock him.

"Do you like it when Daddy fucks you like a whore kitten"

"Yes Daddy" Kurt bit his lip

"I bet you would love it if I were to fuck you in front of the whole camp" Walter tensed up at the accusation and wondered would he really enjoy that and then his cock began to accumulate cum at the imagery.

"Yes Daddy"

"Of course you would because your a whore kitten, but Daddy would never do that because you belong to Daddy and Daddy doesn't like to share, do you understand"

"Of course Daddy"

"Prove it to me that you understand" Kurt then began roughly thrusting into Walter

"I want you to chant who you belong to right now"

"You I belong to you"

"LOUDER"

"YOU I BELONG TO YOU"

"AND WHO DO YOU BELONG TO"

"UNTERSTURMFUHRER KURT FRANZ"

"Good boy" Kurt was nearing his climax.

"Nobody can fuck you like I can" Kurt mumbled

"Nodody" Walter moaned, Walter could feel the pre-cum sliding down his dick on to his stomach,

"I'm so close Kurt" Walter groaned out as he felt that tight knot in his stomach get tighter and tighter until it popped. Kurt strengthened his hold around Walter's legs indicating he was close as well so as a last chance of speaking before Walter's mind became a cloud of mushy lust he desperately groaned

"Oh fuck Kurt cum inside me please fill me up Daddy." Kurt rammed his lips on to Walter and slamming his tongue into his mouth before giving one final thrust and climaxing inside Walter. He gave a few more thrust while coming down from his high until he realized cum had gotten on shirt, boxers, and shoes

"Shit my clothes are stained" Kurt cursed

"I can get them cleaned if you want" Walter giggled.

#kurt franz #ww2 #wwii #nazi #nazis #third reich #treblinka camp #treblinka #treblinka guards #oc #fanfiction #fanfic

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