#i removed them - idk if anyone has seen Takes on this lmk)

[rubia-peregrinart]

one more that wouldn't leave my mind, sorry

[joekeeryswife]

joe keery has such strong dad energy, especially in recent photos from italy. can you write about joe traveling in italy with you and your baby daughter? i just know he’d be the type to wear his kid around and splash in the water with her, and fall asleep in the sun with her on his chest, and feed her little bites of pasta. with you, he’d make sure that your vacation was relaxing and that you felt treated like a goddess. insecure about wearing a bikini? joe can’t stop blushing when he looks at you in it even if you’ve been married for years. while the baby is napping, he massages your feet and cuddles with you. in turn, you set up reservations at his favorite restaurants and plan manageable but gorgeous walks around the city. idk man just dad!joe on vacation

Italy - j.k

a/n: hello angels. how have you all been? i’m so sorry i’ve been MIA lately but i’m back and better than ever! this request is adorable! let’s get into the imagine. it’s not proof read so please bare with me if this is shit lmfao, im still trying to get back into the swing of writing, i also can never seem to figure out how to end my imagines so if anyone has any tips please LMK!! for the ending the outfits are in the little collage🫧

taglist🫧

@johnricharddeacy @theshireisonfire @ssababe @phantomxoxo @livsters @hellfire1986baby @ladyapplejackdnd @alexxavicry @m-rae23 @sheisjoeschateau @kaverichauhan @missabsey @chxrrysprxut @thefrontofmymind @nightmonkeyparker @carinacassiopeiae @cherrymedicine13 @waratah-moon @minsugafour @k-k0129 @limelight23 @alwaysteveswife @krazykatkay456 @lma1986 (it’s been a while so lmk if you want to be removed 🫧)

“baby come on we wanna get to the pool, what’s taking you so long-” Joe barged into the bathroom without knocking making you jump out of your skin. after having your daughter Florence a year and a half ago you had been insecure about your new body.

you were curvier then before, had a few stretch marks scattered all over your body which had faded but in your eyes they were so visible. you just didn’t feel like yourself and with this being your first holiday since having her, you were nervous.

nervous that you didn’t look as good as you did before, nervous that you were gonna get papped and people online would say awful things about you, nervous people were gonna stare.

but to Joe, the sweetest man ever thought you’d never looked better. you had carried a whole human for 9 months and you looked incredible. “Joe, you scared me” you placed a hand on your chest and turned to look at him.

Joe looked at you, eyes darting across your body, seeing you in a bikini for the first time in over a year made him feel tingly. his face heated up “you look beautiful baby, jesus christ you’re gorgeous” he saw your eyes light up slightly.

Florence was in her playpen which you had brought along to keep her occupied, Joe had made sure she was safe before coming to look for you. even after five years of being together and three years of marriage, just looking at you made Joe feel giddy. he was so lucky to have you in his life.

you were the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and he couldn’t ever get over your beauty. Joe knew what you were doing in the bathroom, he had caught you one too many times and he hated that you felt insecure.

he walked toward you and pulled you into him “my pretty girl” he kissed your head as he hugged you closer. “you’ve never looked so beautiful” you smiled shyly. there was something about Joe, he always knew how to make you feel beautiful. he had a special way with words.

“come on, don’t want to keep you and flo waiting any longer” you said as you pulled yourself away from the hug. he ran back to Florence who squealed when she saw her dad, the two of them were best friends and although it made you jealous their relationship was your favourite thing ever.

seeing the two of them bonding was the most adorable thing in the entire world. even when she was in the womb he would spend hours and hours speaking to your bump with her kicking you in response. “my angel, let’s go. mama is almost ready” you heard him say as he picked Florence up out of the playpen, she squealed in delight as he did.

-♡-

the three of you were lounging around the pool, Italy was boiling hot and luckily the hotel you were staying at had a kids pool and an adult pool. Florence was a baby who loved the water, she never cried when having a bath, if anything she enjoyed it.

splashing around with her toys was her favourite thing to do. she loved your pool that you had back home, every time it was hot Joe would take her into the pool. your friends kids were a bit older than Florence and she loved watching them play in the pool too.

as soon as you and Joe got situated on your sun loungers he grabbed Florence and walked straight to the kid section which was thankfully right in front of you. you watched Florence splash the pool water with her toys, the biggest smile on her face.

Joe was sat opposite her with the exact same expression on his face. it was honestly scary how much Florence looked like him. they had practically all the same features except she had your eyes, she was a carbon copy of him.

aside from the fact that Florence and Joe where best friends and looked exactly like each other the worst of it all was when Florence said her first word which was of course ‘dada’. you had prayed that she said ‘mama’ first but nope. it wasn’t like it actually hurt your feelings, your daughter had days where you were the favourite parent and it made you tear up when she finally did say ‘mama’ for the first time.

Joe and Florence had only been sat in the kid pool for thirty minutes before his back started hurting but the look on his daughters face made it all worth it. other than you, Florence was the best thing to ever happen to him. before her, he didn’t really care about being a dad. it wasn’t something he had ever thought about. but that sunny Friday afternoon, the day you told him, showed him the positive test, he never thought he could love someone as much as he loved her.

“dada” Florence said as she looked up at him and lifted up a purple octopus for him to take. “oh thank you angel” he took the toy from her small hand. Joe watched Florence with the softest smile, she was the most adorable thing ever and he couldn’t get over the fact that you guys had made something so beautiful. Florence paused playing with her toys and yawned. Joe knew exactly what that meant, she only yawned when she needed a nap, it sounded odd because everyone yawns but the little eye rub after her yawn made it obvious. she was tired.

after waking up early (6:37am to be exact but who was checking? definitely not Joe) eating breakfast and all this playing in the pool, the girl had worn herself out. “come on sweetheart, you look like you’re about to fall asleep” Joe said as he stood up, picking up her few toys and shoving them in her pockets and then bending down to pick her up. she had her small arms lifted in the air, her eyes squinting as she looked up at Joe.

he picked her up and made his way back over to you. you where laying on the sun lounger now reading a book with your airpods in. you noticed Joe walking back with Florence hugging him tightly. you took one airpod out and smiled at the two of them. “you okay?” you asked, sitting up. Joe picked up the towel that was on his sun lounger and wrapped it around both him and Florence. “yeah, she just got tired. i mean, it’s around the time she usually has a nap isn’t it?” you looked at the time in your phone and nodded. “yeah, she’s actually stayed awake a lot longer then i thought she would”

Joe sat laid down on the sun lounger, making sure Florence was comfortable before he started running his hand up and down her back and through her hair. it didn’t take long for her to fall asleep, her breathing slowed and she was completely relaxed against him so you went back to your book, letting the two of them have their moment.

it was about 10 minutes after Joe and Florence had sat down and the soft snores was the only thing you could hear from the two of them, it didn’t take long for Joe to fall asleep. he was just as tired as Florence was. you turned your attention to the two of them and felt your heart melt. your two favourite people in your company were the moments you treasured the most.

-♡-

“come on Joe i know it takes ten hours to do your hair but we are gonna be late” you said jokingly as you picked up Florence who was dressed in a white dress with the cutest sandals you’d ever seen, it was the last night in Italy before you went home tomorrow night and you wanted to do something special for Joe. he had planned this whole trip for you, knowing you needed a break from your town and the paparazzi (it’s not like you hit a break from that because they followed you everywhere!).

he needed to be appreciated just as much as he appreciated you and sometimes you struggled to do that with Florence. you weren’t saying that you didn’t love being a mum because you did, however sometimes you and Joe hardly spoke to each other because you were so focused on her.

“i’m coming honey, sorry” he came out of the bathroom with his hair perfectly styled, per usual, and he was wearing a comfortable but smart outfit. black jeans, blue t-shirt, let’s just say he looked perfect. he sat on the bed and put on his trainers and started doing the laces up, he stood up and kissed you on the cheek “you look beautiful baby” you smiled and thanked him with a a passionate kiss.

“and look at my angel” he took Florence out of your arms gently “you look perfect my sweet girl” he kissed her cheek a few times which made her squeal and hide her face in his neck. “right, let’s go, we can’t be late for whatever your mama’s planned can we?” you had seen a a popular restaurant all over social media which about fifteen minute walk from the hotel you were staying at which you also remembered was Joe’s favourite. he had been to Italy a few times and had always gone there with his friends and you had told him a few months ago when planning this trip that you couldn’t get a reservation which he was actually a little upset about. you and him hadn’t ever been there together and he wanted to take you there because he knew you’d love it. it was a surprise for him that you actually did get one. it wasn’t the best surprise out there but you knew it would mean something to him.

as the two of you walked hand in hand, Joe had Florence on his shoulders laughing as her dad played around with her. after about twenty minutes (due to Joe messing about) you guys approached the small town where the restaurant was and Joe’s eyes lit up, he could see the restaurant sign and turned his head to look at you.

“are we going in there?” he squeezed your hand slightly as his body filled with excitement. “yeah, i got us a reservation and wanted to surprise you. it’s not a huge thing but i knew you would like it” his heart melted, that’s one thing he loved most about you. always remembering the little things he had said and trying your best to get those things sorted. he had said about going here ages ago and honestly he had forgotten about it but you, you didn’t and you made sure you got one.

“aww honey, that’s so sweet of you” he let go of your hand and pulled you into his side and wrapped his arm around your waist. he kissed your cheek softly as the two of you continued walking towards the busy looking restaurant.

once sat inside the restaurant you sat opposite Joe with Florence in a high chair at the end next to both of you. she was babbling away in her own little language. Joe replied to everything she said as if he knew what she was saying but it made her happy, she had a smile on her face showing her four small teeth. “last night in Italy. is it bad that i want to live here forever?” Joe said as he turned his attention back to you.

you shook your head “no, it’s beautiful here” you smiled, if you could move to Italy you would, the houses were beautiful, the people were lovely, the views were gorgeous, so what was stopping you?. “maybe we could move here. i mean, not now obviously but sometime in the future we could” Joe said as he ran a hand through his hair.

“also just changing the subject, i really appreciate you doing this for us” he started but you rolled your eyes jokingly “Joe, all i did was make a reservation it’s not that big of a deal” you laughed but he took ahold of your hand and looked at you “it is to me. you went out if your way to get us in here and that’s just a small piece of what you do for us. you take care of flo when i’m away working which fucking kills me but you keep it together, make sure she’s okay and even make sure i’m okay and i’m not even there before you make sure you’re alright yourself. when we are at home together the only time we see each other is when we are in bed and at that point one of us is usually asleep. i know you miss up our date nights and even just being together in general” he was stroking your hand gently as he spoke.

“this vacation has been the best thing for us because we’ve actually spent time together which we rarely do. we have completely different schedules so i know it’s hard but after this movie is over i’m taking a break and i’m going to focus on you and flo. you’re my main priority and i need to spend time with you.” he kissed your hand and smiled.

“we do need to spend more time together and i do miss our dates, they were my favourite” his smile softened and his grip on your hand tightened ever so slightly. “i know, so that’s what we are doing. i’ll get someone to look after Florence and we will do something together” with happy your heart melting you leaned over the table enough to kiss him. you could feel him smile into the kiss which you always loved him doing, you didn’t know why, you just did.

“i love you” you said as you pulled away to sit back down “i love you more” you felt your cheeks heat up. you heard a small whine from the little lady who was sat next to you which made you both turn to look at her. she had the smallest frown on her face which made both you a Joe laugh “and we couldn’t forget our favourite girl” he said pulling her out of her high chair and placing her on his lap, smothering her with small kisses which made her giggle, making your heart melt at the sight. your favourite people in the world.

[blueprint-han]

[Image ID: A black picture with the title “HOW TO SUPPORT FANFICTION AUTHORS” written in bold caps lock, colored with a winter forest picture. End ID.]

Well, this post has been made countless times, but I’m making one too because I’ve seen a lot of people say they’re new to tumblr and don’t know the whole “reblogging is better than liking” rule and other stuff. So without any further ado, here are ways YOU can support the fanfiction authors. Now keep in mind this applies to almost every author out there, not just the stayblr fandom, so if you’re a silent reader (or even if you aren’t), I advise you go through this post. Warning, this is a fairly long post going into detail, so yeah. I still expect you, the readers to read this, and if you’re a writer, feel free to lmk if i’ve written smth wrong or if you want me to add something! ^^

In this post I’ll go into thorough analysis of the pros and cons of each of the methods listed here and how YOU as a reader can show the authors whose fics you read more love and motivate them to produce content.

WARNING; LONG POST! GOES INTO A DECENT AMOUNT OF DETAIL. NOT EDITED, EXCUSE ANY TYPOS.

#1 : LIKING !

I think this is basic common knowledge, and a lot of people tend to do this. When you like the post, the author sees it, you see it, and if the author has their liked posts accessible (which majority of the time they don’t), and if someone deliberately goes to check it, then they see it. See why so many authors say just liking does nothing? Only liking says “Hey, I’m gonna tell you your story is not that good by simply liking it and not sharing it with other people. :D”

♯ PROS:

You’re telling the author that you've read their fic, and either you’ve enjoyed it to a certain extent, or you’re just saving it to read for later.

Likes are seen by you, the author and anyone who has access to your likes (which, most people don’t).

♯ CONS:

If you ONLY like, you’re not really helping the author’s work reach a wide audience because this site isn’t Instagram. Reblogging is the only way people can SEE our works. I’ll cover more on that in the next section.

In a nutshell, liking is good! But you should most likely use it in a combination with the other stuff I’ve listed below, because just the like itself doesn’t really do much in giving the author any feedback or interaction on their fics.

To clear shit up; I’m not talking about those people who don’t read the story or appreciate it in the first place. I’m talking about those who appreciate the fic, like it, but don’t leave any sort of feedback to show that.

#2 : REBLOGGING !

This is SO, SO important. I cannot stress on this enough. Let me explain WHY so many writers stress on reblogging content: 

Tumblr’s tag system is inherently fucked up, and has grown more so over the year. I’m not kidding, at first, the fic either used to show up in the tags or it didn’t, but now, sometimes your fic can be REMOVED from the tags because of,,, idk tumblr tag shit. Anyways, as you can see, it’s very demotivating for authors at that point, because the major way for people to find their content and expand their blogs has been blocked.  

Due to this reason, tumblr authors need to RELY on you, their followers to help spread their works to a wider audience. Now again, before you get me wrong, I’m not saying you ae forced to rb our works regardless of whether you like them or not. BUT, that being said, if you DO infact like the story, there’s no harm in reblogging, right? By doing this you’re indirectly telling the author — “hey! :D I liked your fic! Which is why I am gonna share it to my followers so they can read it too :D” Trust me, you’re doing nothing but helping the people who produce content for you to read. Seems like a worthy cause to hit the reblog button, right? It’s only a one, or maximum two step procedure.

Leave tags in your reblogs! Trust me, as an author myself and as much as I know from all my author friends, we oft check the tags of your reblogs to see if you found any part amazing or even if you have anything to say about the writing we put so much hard work into. Even a key smash or a “This was so [insert adjective] 🥺” is enough to leave a smile on your authors face. 

♯ PROS :

You’re !! Sharing !! Your authors !! Works !! This leads to them getting more recognition, so for the content they’re so graciously providing for free, you’re promoting their blog and helping them expand it.

If the tags are being a shit, which majority of the time they are, then you’re literally making an author’s day by reblogging! You’re showing them that you, a follower and appreciator of their works are willingly sharing their content because it deserves to be seen by more people. Again before any dumb people decide to attack me, i am talking about people who like the fic but don't bother reblogging and are silent/ghost readers. I am not forcing anyone to read anybody’s work.

YOU’RE MAKING YOUR AUTHOR SO HAPPY WHAT MORE REASONS COULD YOU POSSIBLY WANT !! 🥺

♯ CONS :

Literally none, because as far as I remember no author is against reblogging of their works. It’s quite literally the way this platform functions. Reblogging is IMPORTANT.

#3 : COMMENTING/SENDING FEEDBACK !

This kind of overlaps with the previous section, but THIS IS SUCH AN IMPORTANT STEP !! When you leave feedback, you are directly giving the author something so much more valuable to them than high follower/note counts or money. Your feedback is literally our serotonin. I kid you not the number of times I’ve received a positive comment and smiled and it has made my day. There’s a reason youtubers (though not the best example, bear with me here because it was the only one I could think of) ask people to subscribe, like and COMMENT. The subscription is like a follow, the like is ofc like a heart, and the comment is equivalent to an rb with comments in the tags. 

You might argue and tell me that a comment is basically like an ask so the reblogging step isn’t necessary, but I’m sure 99% of you use YouTube and you know that more comments leads to people’s videos boosted in the stream/trending charts. This is what reblogging does. Reblogging shares the piece with other people like minded, which leads to a boost in reads. You are literally helping your author grow.

It’s quite literally the same thing as youtubers. Youtubers NEED validation to keep their content creation going, so do writers, so do other ccs on this site. This post is however, focused on WRITERS, so keep that in mind.

♯ PROS :

By doing this, you’re giving author valuable feedback! It’s similar to what you do in rbing with tags. Interactivity with their fics boosts their note counts and helps expand their audience, so srsly, now think of it: your one comment is playing such a massive role to help ccs create more content.

Imagine how much of a difference the note counts will be in when every person who simply likes after reading the fic, reblogs, leaves a comment and sends an ask. the note counts would be high on each and every fic, which is validation in itself, but your comments would inspire the writer so much more! Please, don’t skip the commenting part. Even a simple one like: “this is so cute!” is wonderful. 

♯ CONS :

Remember, if you’re gonna give constructive criticism (which I’m sure you all are smart enough to know if different from hate), make sure the author is okay with it. Authors need to be in a specific mindset and must be ready to accept criticism, so if you’re gonna give constructive criticism to them when they’re at a low point, it may demotivate them.

Just commenting, instead of reblogging and commenting in the tags/ reblogging and then leaving an ask in their inbox, while it gives validation in plenty, will not lead to the author’s work being spread. Therefore I suggest either reblogging and commenting in the tags or reblog and then leave an ask, or comment under the fic!

!! reminder; I am not saying that if you don’t rb and just leave feedback, your feedback has no value. We authors truly appreciate every bit of feedback, but this post is aimed to help you learn how to interact with and support authors, and make them feel more motivated, because the current scenario of liking and scrolling is taking a toll on their creative abilities. Take it from a person who’s been writing for a year.

#4 : COMMSIONING VIA THEIR KO-FI/OTHER APPS !

Before any of you attack me, let me tell you that this is not a step that is 100% necessary to do. ONLY donate if you can and if you genuinely want to, and if anyone is forcing you to pay for something against your will, you need to get yourself out of there.

Regardless, if an author has a kofi and you’re able to and you want to donate, you definitely should! It’s also a valid form of support.

#5 : ADDING THEM ON REC LISTS/ RECOMMENDING THEM TO REC BLOGS

This is such an underrated option, to be honest. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen my fic was recommended onto some rec list and it’s made me smile so hard. If you like some fics, create a rec list! They’re oft very popular amongst the fans too. Making rec posts is such a great way to share your favorite stories with others. 

Rec blogs! I’ve seen a couple going around, and needless to say they are a great way to get someone else to read your favorite author’s work whilst also giving them your own feedback. These blogs oft accept recs via a form or ask box, and they leave your feedback along with their own, or else they’ll oft tag the author in the feedback post, so look! You’re basically helping your author share their fic to many more people, because you’ve given them feedback and a reblog.

♯ PROS :

Validation! Feedback! Reblogs! More exposure! Helping a blog grow! Spreading love! basically a run down of the stuff I’ve said before!

♯ CONS :

Literally no con of this. Unless, a one in a million case, this author says they don’t like receiving feedback/being tagged, and I’m sure NO person has said this before, at least none that I’ve heard of.

#6 : FINAL COMMENTS; MISC !

When an author points out about how the interactivity is drastically reducing, don’t just give them blind apologies. Yes, you feel sorry for not interacting as much, we understand, but rather show that you’ll become a better content consumer through your actions. We need to see that we’re not just throwing words into a void and that people are actually trying to be better content consumers. 

Understand the fact that authors don’t get paid for this, and 99% of the time, these authors don’t take commissions either. They’re giving you novel worthy writings for free. Take Percy Jackson: You think the author would have felt motivated to write the subsequent parts, let alone two whole series based off of it if literally no one showed that they were interested? Rick Riordan has sales, he is being paid, there are millions of people and big agencies who provide him feedback. Now take that huge amount and simmer it down to an audience of maybe 10000 people This is what fanfic authors want. They don’t want your money, nor are they telling you to risk your lives for them. All they want is, a reblog, some tags, some feedback, some INTERACTIVITY.  A sign that they aren’t throwing fics into the void and that people actually like them, some motivation to continue. Seems fairly easy to throw an rb with some tags, right?

Don’t bother to tell me that we do this for ourselves and we shouldn’t ask for likes and reblogs and feedback, because 1) you are consuming the content that we “write for ourselves” and 2) writers post their content here for interactivity and feedback. We could just not post and write and save our fics in our dungeon drafts for years. But we choose to post to entertain the readers, the consumers. And we aren’t even asking that much in return.

Don’t give me the whole “I’m scared that authors feel that comments are annoying” excuse either because seriously this has been DEBUNKED SO MANY TIMES. Istg, in the nicest way possible, if you still think writers are annoyed by interaction and feedback, after so many posts, long rants have been posted as to how we’re not, then you must truly be living under a rock. There, I said it. Please stop thinking this way, I’ll say it again, AUTHORS ARE NOT ANNOYED OF FEEDBACK, COMMENTS, TAGS, REBLOGS. WE LOVE IT. Saying this is like saying that the audience in a theatre play shouldn’t clap when the play ends because the actors would find it noisy. 🤡

I’ve seen some people saying they have anxiety issues and such, so pls note that I’m not invalidating your condition. If you’re trying to be more interactive, I really appreciate it! If you can’t, that’s fine too. You’re trying.

But for the people who have no reason other than feeling lazy to rb and comment, your lack of interactiveness is not excused. Please. Tumblr is a reblogging site. If you’re gonna consume content like authors are some sort of machines, I encourage you to go get some more perspective.

This site is not Instagram or the satan bird app. Your likes are appreciated but frankly speaking, they do nothing to the author except tell them “Hey i read ur fic but i'm not gonna support u :D” and honestly, that is detrimental to their creative capabilities and mental health. 

DON’T FOLLOW AN ACC JUST TO MINDLESS RB THEIR SIGNAL BOOST POSTS AND THEIR REBLOGS OF GIFS AND NOT INTERACT WITH THEIR WRITING AT ALL ! Trust me, authors prefer a lower amount of interactive followers than a high count that doesn’t even give them any feedback. Again your follows are appreciated, but when you’re following, you know the type of content the author creates, so the author expects that the more followers, the more interactivity. These days, this is just becoming the opposite. So don’t do it! If you’re gonna follow to read, interact with their works. I promise, this will make both you and the author happy. A win-win situation.

In conclusion: SUPPORT YOUR FUCKING AUTHORS! THEY ARE NOT MACHINES THAT HAVE NO FEELINGS TO PRODUCE CONTENT FOR YOU! FICS TAKE DAYS AND DAYS OF PLANNING, PLOTTING, OUTLINING, WRITING, EDITING, MAKING TEASERS. SO JUST SHOW THEM YOU APPRECIATE THEM WITH AN RB. IT’S THE L E A S T YOU CAN DO.

I will be liking this post here written by the lovely @chaninfused​ and @scriptura-delirus​ . Please take time to read it because if you weren’t convinced by my arguments, you will see how much frustration we as writers face on a daily basis. Please, just show support. Here is the post by @stayndays​ about how to get more people to read your work, because it also has a note on reblogging. Please educate yourself, and put an end to this mindless consuming culutre and bring up some interactivity.

If you’ve read this far, I want you to go to two of your favorite authors and leave some feedback in their inbox, and tag me in it (either tag me yourself or ask the author to do so, they won’t mind). Show your writers that our words are taking effect and you are becoming better consumers. I mean it. I’m serious. I want every single one who reads this post to do this. besides valid reasons, if you’re lazy to do this, you’re a part of the problem. PLEASE get more perspective.

Also, feel free to add to this post! I’d love to read your thoughts too, remember to be kind though. And, if I think your rb is somehow contradicting my points and is bringing down the reason I made this post, I will politely ask you to delete your comment, because this post is about being truthful about the harsh reality of tumblr consumers and how we can change it. I’m sure none of you will let it get to that point, though. <3 love you guys. 💓

And, just a reminder, don’t just blindly like this too. Do what I said before, and while I am not forcing you, I’d appreciate your reblog, because seriously, it took me 3 whole days to write this, plus, I’m sure this will help more of your followers understand the fault in consumer culture. haha, that’s it! This post was way too long uff.

also, this is ur cue to not be stupid in my inbox. You have something to say? Think I worded smth wrongly? I’m sure it wasn’t my intention to do so, point it out with manners. 

[monaownsmyass]

Girl Friends

Requested fic by anon. (If you have any fic ideas or requests you'd like me to write, you can leave me an ask!)

Book: Open Heart 2, (after) Chapter 15

Pairing: Jackie Varma x f!MC (Casey Valentine)

Genre: Fluff

Rating: PG13

Word Count: 3,145

A/N: Jackie has something special planned for MC. Okay ngl, I STRUGGLED with this one. Idk why but I did so I’m sorry if it’s not the best but dw, there’ll be more hopefully better Jackie x MC fics in the future! Also @playchoices make MC and their LI official challenge.

Tag list: @ineedskyecrandall @kamilahsayeet2063 @avalawrencefl @lovekamilahsayeed @thequeenkamilahsayeed @heygmicheelle @djtjsmith14 @jjlover01 @soft-for-drake @dopeyouth @alexroyard @satrinadia @toalltheboysididntlove @mypegasifly @samanthadalton @playallthechoices @queensayeed (lmk if anyone would like to be included or removed in my next fics and if you only want to be tagged for certain pairings.)

"Do you know what's up with Jackie?" I asked Sienna and Elijah while we had brunch together at the dining table. Aurora and Jackie were at work but we were off today. "She's been a little jumpy lately."

They looked at each other then back at me.

"I mean I know she had that whole thing with Panacea Labs but I don't know... this feels... different," I explained further. "She won't even tell me what's wrong!"

Elijah let out a cough while Sienna just ate her cereal quietly, suddenly very interested in the little loops floating in milk.

I squinted at them. "You both know something."

Elijah looked away, not wanting to face me but Sienna's head shot up and her eyes widened.

"What? Of course not!" she exclaimed defensively. "Why would we? Right, Elijah?"

She chuckled nervously and I heard her murmur, 'oh god' under her breath. Elijah glared at Sienna and whispered to her 'shhh!'.

"I'm right here!" I threw my arms up in disbelief. "If you guys know something, you better spill! And don't even try lying to me."

"Okay, yeah we know something," Elijah admitted and Sienna gazed at him worriedly. "But we can't tell you, I'm sorry."

"Why not?" I questioned, feeling myself get annoyed. "I'm worried for her, I've never seen Jackie so on edge and it's stressing me out!"

"She's planning to take you out tonight!" Sienna blurted then immediately covered her mouth with her hands.

"Sienna!" Elijah shouted.

"What?" Sienna screamed back. "She was gonna find out eventually! Jackie's gonna call her anytime now!"

And just like magic, my phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Casey," I heard Jackie say nonchalantly. "What's up?"

"Just having brunch with Sienna and Elijah." I shot them a glare and saw them shrink a little in their seats. "Did you need anything?"

"Uh, yeah, actually," she replied awkwardly. "How do you feel about dinner?"

"I have strong feelings about it," I joked. "I don't have it every day but it is pretty important."

I heard her scoff on the other side and I could almost see her eye roll and smile. "I meant with me, doofus."

"Dr. Jackie Varma," I said dramatically. "Are you asking me out on a date?"

"God, I'm regretting it already."

She wasn't.

"That wasn't an answer," I teased.

"Hypothetically, if I were to ask you to put on something nice and get ready by 7 for me to fetch you to take you out for dinner, would you?" she avoided the question and I couldn't help the grin forming on my face.

"Hypothetically, of course!"

"So I'll see you at 7?"

"I thought you said it was hypothetical?" I messed with her.

"Oh my god," she groaned. "You're such a dork, I'll see you later."

I laughed at her frustration. "Alright, alright, bye, have a good day at work."

We hung up and I turned to find Sienna and Elijah looking at me cautiously.

"That's what's been bothering her?"

"Uh, yeah," Elijah sputtered out. "Yup, that's it."

"But I don't get why she's been jumpy, we've been out for dinner together before," I stated, confused.

The only response I got was Elijah shrugging while Sienna covered her mouth.

I narrowed my eyes at them. "Is there anything else you want to tell me?"

"No! Of course not!" Sienna squealed in a voice that was higher than usual.

Obviously, I didn't believe them but I decided to let them off the hook.

"Fine, I'll figure it out myself. But at least just tell me Jackie is alright. Tell me nothing bad happened."

"Nothing like that!" Sienna said immediately.

"She's fine, don't worry about it." That was Elijah.

"Okay. Okay, that's all I need to know."

They were visibly relieved that I dropped the subject but I couldn't help but wonder, what the hell was going on?

~*~*~

It was just before 7p.m. and I was touching up my make up. I leaned back and looked at myself in the mirror to make sure I was presentable.

I was wearing a black body-con mini dress with a plunging neckline that was covered in sequins, making it glitter. My makeup was done to perfection and so was my hair.

I turned to admire my reflection and you know what? Screw presentable.

I looked amazing!

I heard the doorbell ring and I grabbed my purse, rushing out to answer it.

I saw Elijah and Sienna sitting on the couch in the living room watching TV. I remembered him saying something to Sienna about showing her this action series he's been into during brunch but my mind was still too busy on Jackie to be focusing.

"Oh my gosh!" Sienna shouted when she saw me. "You look great!"

"You planning to make Jackie pass out?" Elijah joked.

"Thanks, guys," I laughed and grinned, moving to answer the door.

I opened it and there she stood, the woman I came to care for, who's always had my back and been there for me through thick and thin. The woman I adored and was the most important person to me in the world, staring at me as if she's be struck by lightning.

And I was sure I was looking at her the same way.

She was wearing a dazzling dark blue halter neck dress that ended mid-thighs, showing off her body. The collar was covered in rhinestones and she wore a bracelet to match.

Her hair was in her usual chignon style while her makeup highlighted her already strikingly beautiful features.

Jackie looked gorgeous!

"Damn," she whispered. Her wide eyes started to smoulder and her slightly agape mouth turned into a grin. She bit her lip.

She sauntered up to me and slid her hands to my waist, eyes running up and down my figure and finally landing on my chest. I shivered under her touch and gaze.

"You cleaned up good."

"Are you talking to me or my boobs?" I laughed and she dragged her eyes up to mine, offering me a mischievous smile.

Her hand grabbed onto the back of my neck and she pulled me into a kiss. Our lips met in passionate haste. Her other hand roamed my back as mine rested against her hips. I felt the familiar butterflies start to flutter in the pit of my stomach when she kissed me.

We pulled away when we heard Sienna shout, "Not again! Please!"

We burst out laughing against each other's lips and decided to stop traumatising the poor girl.

"Hey, Sienna, Elijah," Jackie greeted them, peering into our apartment.

They greeted her back and before we could walk away to head to her car, Sienna shouted, "Have fun! Good luck!"

Jackie shut the door in a hurry and placed a hand on the small of my back, leading me away from our apartment.

"Good luck?" I looked at Jackie questioningly. "What for?"

Jackie shrugged her shoulders. "Who knows with that girl."

My brows creased skeptically but once again, brush it off. Maybe she was right.

When we made it to her car, she stopped me.

"Wait, I got something for you." She opened the back door of her car and pulled out a bouquet of sunflowers. She presented them to me, avoiding eye contact and said, "Here."

"Aww, Jackie! This is so sweet!" My heart melted at the sight.

"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome," she murmured.

I accepted them and stepped closer to her. "Aw, you're embarrassed too!"

"I'm not!" she huffed and I giggled, placing a hand on her cheek to direct her gaze to meet mine.

Her skin burned under my touch. Yup, she was definitely blushing.

"You're so cute," I said and gave her a peck on the cheek.

"Not exactly my brand," she said with a sly grin. "But I'll take it."

She opened the passenger's seat door for me and I ushered me in, me still holding the bouquet.

She closed the door behind me and got into the driver's side. She started the engine and pulled out of the car park.

Throughout the entire car ride, Jackie was jittery. I noticed her fingers drumming against the steering wheel which I've come to learn meant that she was nervous even if her face was stoic.

"You okay?" I asked her worriedly.

"Oh, yeah," she said mindlessly and turned the corner.

"If you say so," I said quietly and the rest of the ride was silent until we reached our destination.

Jackie parked a few blocks away so we had to walk to the restaurant. Once again, she opened the door for me and this time, offered me her arm hesitantly.

To say I was shocked was an understatement. It was definitely a pleasant surprise but this was way out of Jackie's character, I wasn't even sure if this was the same woman.

Wordlessly, I looped my arm around hers as we made our way to dinner, trying to neutralise my surprised expression.

We stopped in front of a grand restaurant which definitely looked like a meal here cost more than our rent.

"Jackie!" I turned to her. "We're having dinner here?"

"Yeah, is it too much?" she asked hurriedly. "If it is, we can just go somewhere simpler."

"No! No, it's just that, can we afford this?"

Jackie's face fell into relief. "Oh, don't worry about it, I've been saving up for a while now." She bit her lip and she lead me into the building. "Also the parents of one of my patients owns the place and they said they'd give me a discount but that's not important," she said jokingly with a smile.

I let out a laugh as Jackie checked our reservations with the maître d'. A waiter lead us to our table and we took our seats.

We opened the menus and after a while, Jackie said, "Okay, I have no idea what any of these are."

"Me neither," I giggled, trying to make out some of the words. "I think this one is... duck?"

"How sure are you?"

"Not at all."

We laughed and Jackie spoke.

"Alright, alright, why don't I randomly pick something for you, just tell me when to stop."

She ran her finger up and down the menu.

"Stop!" Jackie stopped her finger and squinted at the menu item her finger landed on. "What is it?"

"As if I know," she replied laughing. "You'll find out later."

I did the same for her and after we ordered when the waiter returned, I asked, "So was this outfit what you were sneaking out in that garment bag this morning?"

"You saw that?" She gave me a surprised look.

"'Cuz I definitely couldn't see it behind your back when you came into my room this morning to kiss me goodbye," I grinned as I watched her soul leave her body.

"You were awake?!"

I nodded, trying to hold back my laughter. "I always am when you do."

"Oh god," she groaned and hid her face behind her hand. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was waiting for the perfect moment to reveal it so I can tease you and revel in your embarrassment. Which so happens to be now!" I stated proudly.

"That's it, I'm never giving you a forehead kiss ever again." She crossed her arms and slumped in her seat.

"Aw, come on," I reached out to take her hand in mine. "Pleaseeeee?"

She rolled her eyes but fought the grin appearing on her lips. "I'll think about it."

Just then, our food was placed in front of us and we just stared at our respective orders for a good minute.

"What is this?" Jackie asked.

"I wish I knew."

We looked at each other's plates and burst out laughing.

"After you," I said.

"No way, we're doing this together!" She smirked at me. "Unless the great Dr. Valentine is scared of a little..." she trailed off, trying to figure out what was served in front of us. "Whatever that is."

I grinned. "Of course you'd make a competition out of this."

"Hey, less talking, more eating."

We both cut out a small chunk of our food and lifted it to mouths.

"Okay," she said. "Three, two, one..."

Jackie and I bite into the forkful and braced ourselves for the worst. But it wasn't the worst... nor was it the best either?

"I can't tell if I like it or not.. or what this even is," I admitted.

"Me neither."

We looked at each other and started laughing again.

"Let's just stick to sushi next time."

"Agreed," I said, still giggling.

We talked as we ate but I could still sense that Jackie was tense.

"Am I missing something?"

"Hm?"

"The sudden dinner date, the flowers, the opening doors for me," I explained. "Don't get me wrong, I love it, and it's really sweet of you... but you, well, normally you don't do stuff like this. Is there a special occasion today? Did I forget something?"

She glanced at me then back at her food.

"I just wanted to do something nice for you," she said quietly.

I grinned at her, "Well, I definitely won't complain about that, so thank you, but is that it?"

Jackie started playing with her food, obviously trying to avoid the question.

"What's wrong?" I took her hand in mine from across the table. She let me intertwine our fingers together and I squeezed.

"Nothing, nothing, just a little tired from work."

"Jackie..."

She looked me in the eyes and her gaze softened from seeing my worried expression.

"Can we get out of here?" she asked.

"Are you done eating?"

"We can grab a hotdog or something if you want," she grinned and stood up. "Not like you were actually enjoying it, right?"

I chuckled and let Jackie guide me out of the restaurant.

When we got out, she turned to the opposite direction from where she parked her car.

"Er, where are you going?"

"To go get you a hotdog," she motioned me to follow her. "There's a stand nearby. Also, I need to talk with you."

Uhhh, that didn't sound good.

"Talk to me?" I puzzled, worried. "About what?"

"Nothing bad, don't worry, I'll explain after I get you some food."

She bought me a hot dog but didn't get one for herself.

"You don't want one?"

"Nah," she shook her head. "And I, uh, I'm not gonna lie, a little too nervous to think about food right now."

"Why...?"

She took a deep breath as we strolled down the empty street. "Promise me you won't say anything until I'm done? I just... I have to get it all out."

"Is that why you got me a hotdog?" I tried to lighten the mood even though I could feel my heart sink to my stomach. "To shut me up while you talk?"

She snorted. "Even if I did, would you complain?"

"About getting free food? Never."

"Exactly," she let out a soft laugh.

I glanced at her and I knew she was trying to gather her thoughts. I let her, finishing my hot dog in the meantime. Finally, after a few minutes, she spoke up.

"Okay," she began. "I think it's pretty obvious, I'm not one for romance. I'm not the most romantic and I'm no good at it. But it didn't matter, because I thought it was a waste of time, that relationships were a waste of time. I was used to hookups and one-night-stands. And when I first saw you, I thought it would be the same." She paused for a moment and glanced at me. "Except it wasn't."

My heartbeat picked up at her confession and my eyes never left her face even though she wasn't looking at me. A million emotions raced in me.

"I told you during our intern year that I was avoiding you because you were a distraction. Which was true, but I was also avoiding you because I couldn't remember the last time I felt this way about someone. Or if I ever have. I don't do the whole relationship thing, hell, the last was probably in high school. And I thought I'd never get into another one again... but then you came along. I pushed you away but you were still there for me."

She stopped walking and I followed. She looked me in the eyes, gaze never wavering and I stared back into hers. You didn't have to, but you did and suddenly, I could picture me doing all of this... with you. The romance, the commitment, everything. I've never cared about anyone more than I do you. You're the most important thing in my life, Casey. And I don't want to lose you."

She inhaled deeply and slowly let it out, steeling herself to say the next words. "So what I'm asking is... what I'm trying to say... ugh!" she slid her hand over her face and blurted out, “Will you be my girlfriend?”

She composed herself and cautiously took both my hands in hers, adding on softly, “And can I be yours?”

I looked at her, stunned. “Really?”

“Uh, yeah,” Jackie let go of hands rubbed the back of her neck. “Unless, you don’t want to,” she quickly said. “The forget I even asked-“

I cut her off by pulling her into me by the waist, smashing my lips against hers. Hers arms instinctively made their way around my neck to bring me closer. I could feel her racing heart drumming against my own as our lips moved in sync, passion crashing between us.

I broke off the kiss, feeling breathless, arms still around each other. "Yes!"

Jackie laughed blissfully into the night, "Yeah, I think you made it pretty clear."

“That’s why you’ve been skittish all week?”

Jackie scoffed. “I have not been skittish.”

“You so have been!” I argued. “That explains the flowers and everything!”

“That’s Bryce’s idea,” she muttered. “Blame the Scalpel Jockey for most of it.”

“More like thank him,” I laughed. “I can definitely see Bryce written all over this evening.”

“Ugh, I can’t believe I went to him for advice,” she smiled. “I must have been pretty desperate.”

I giggled. “And I’m guessing Bryce told Sienna and Elijah?”

“And Raf and Kyra. And Sienna told Aurora,” she went on. “They were more excited than me.”

“’Cuz you were peeing your pants?” I teased.

She rolled her eyes but let out a small grin. “I plead the fifth.”

“Whatever you say, girlfriend.”

Jackie beamed and pulled me back into her. “Shut up,” she whispered against my lips as she kissed me.

And so there we stood, under the streetlight with no one else in sight, trapped in each other’s arms as our lips locked in an embrace, with me finally getting to call this amazing woman my girlfriend.

(More fics!)

[theboardwalkbody]

So I wanna learn about Mandalorian culture and (before I dive into some YouTube videos and scour the internet) I kinda have a few things I hope to learn about in particular though I don’t feel I’ll find that information so if anyone knows LMK. (PS 90% of my info comes from The Mandalorian and it will be abbreviated TM to save my fingers).

1. Clothing: So all I know is that armor is Very Important and Valued. (and especially so in TM to the point where like no one takes off helmets or anything - which I understand is new). But that leaves me to wonder - recreationally? Like do they go swimming? IDK but I don’t imagine swimming in armor is leisurely. What do you wear when you’re just At Home. Coronavirus got me forgetting WTF pants are, so what do they like, just lounge in. 

I do believe there is information regarding marriage and helmet removal? Or maybe that is fanon I saw and I am misremembering. But even still it didn’t really shed light on anything.

2. Music. I always love to imagine what music I could introduce people in media to. Would elves like Indie? Would dwarves like Heavy Metal? Would Picard totally be into Hamilton? So of course I have to ask where Mandalorians fall in my iPod. 

3. Tattoos. Is body art a thing? Especially if one isn’t supposed to remove their armor for anyone? Branding VS Tattooing? Piercings? I don’t imagine anyone is wasting time going around coloring their hair if no one except maybe their S/O will see it but maybe?

4. What the hell DO they do for fun because so far I have seen just the very Strict and All Work No Play information but I haven’t gotten into the like Life in a Regular Day stuff.

5. Beauty standards? America is (*&^ed when it comes to Telling People How They Should Look to Be Attractive™. I assume Mandalorians are more Personality VS External and more Yeah We’re Compatible or Beneficial. But I’m still curious if there are physical standards as well. Other than, you know, not being filthy. 

6. State of Affairs. Take a Mandalorian. Stick them next to you. Tell them the current state of affairs in the US. Are they wondering WTF is wrong with the country for Being That Way? or are they wondering WTF is wrong with the PEOPLE for Being That Way? 

From what I have gathered of the very little I have gotten into history they have a very complicated one. Their own planet was destroyed. From what I understand there were a lot of political and power changes. A lot of infighting. A lot of people choosing their Own Side. But then of course you read other things and it seems very ALL FOR THE COUNTRY militarism. But I am wondering if it’s more so ALL FOR THE PEOPLE instead. Like - it’s not the location, the land, the country, its the creed, its the people, its the way of life. Is it the Gov is never wrong, fight the people or is it the Gov is wrong and support the people. I am beginning to feel like it is the latter but maybe that’s personal bias?

~SELFISH - Below this line are things I wanna know just because I struggle with my own identity and always wonder where I would fit among the characters I find interesting.~

A. I assume all occupations are very important. Naturally there is a need and someone needs to provide. I can’t help but wonder - Nurses/Doctors/Medics? Are they all ranked the same? Is there division among medical professionals? Would they all be considered of high caliber due to being beneficial not only to the community in general but also on the battlefield?

B. In the SW universe I have always wanted to “pick a side”. Jedi/Sith was what I was presented with. Or like Grey Jedi and stuff. But no matter how much I read into everything and analyzed neither fit. Sith? No, I’m not that violent and brutal. Or mad. Jedi? Nope, I have extreme emotions and strong bonds to people and things. Grey Jedi? I GUESS but it still doesn’t feel right.

And then I was introduced to Mandalorians. And I went ... Hey, I think there’s something for me here.

I highly connect with their value on Family - AND most IMPORTANTLY to me - the fact that your CHOSEN family is what has a higher meaning rather than your BLOOD family. (I have LITERALLY said to an abusive family member “you are misusing that quote the FULL quote is actually The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb” and gave them a verbal middle finger.) Adoption, caring for children especially, accepting those who are willing to learn. All of those things hit incredibly hard for me.

Value on education. I teach. Not professionally but I try and teach children. I am never going to answer a “but Why?” with a “because i said so now go away”. I try and educate people on topics if they ask me. If I don’t know I will help them find out. Education in general - if school was free (higher education incl.) I would go just to learn things. Yeah - I have a degree for my career, but hey, I want to learn History and Marine Biology and take more classes for subjects unrelated to my field but that I find interesting. 

Language? From what I read it is not only important to speak Mando’a but it is also important to learn other languages? Which is pretty awesome, if you ask me. I may not know, myself, how to speak a multitude of languages but I do highly respect those who teach their children or themselves multiple languages. It’s hard. But it’s important and it helps you connect with more people.

And (this ones super personal) but I struggle with my identity and place WAY too much value on my independence. I have been told by multiple (yeah you guessed it -) men that I am short and therefore weak. I am ugly therefore weak (idk how that translated but ok). I am a GIRL therefore weak. I am single. Therefore weak. However, as a victim of child abuse and having to Grow TF Up by the time I was 13.... well.... I may get viciously angry at anyone who calls me weak or says I can’t do something because of who I am or how I appear to them. I will 99% of the time NOT ask for help and angrily REFUSE it when it’s offered even if I need it because I don’t want to seem weak or Like I Need Help. I don’t like to be called Cute. I don’t like to appear Delicate or Fragile. I don’t know if any of that would make sense to anyone else or if someone with that kind of thinking even has a place among Mandalorians because of I guess the subconscious lack of confidence but I think it would be nice to know where I would stand with them? Idk

If anyone’s got any other info please please share. :) 

@izzyovercoffee  @mykingdomforaneraser

(I hope you don’t mind I tag you just I don’t know anyone else on this site who would have insight.) *Ignore the rhyme. lol

[ifonlysj]

heyyyy i'm a relatively new elf and i loooove sungmin but i have a question. you said sungmin "made a mistake in the way he treated fans who were supporting and even helping out his wedding". what is that about? i only know that he got hate for marrying which is bullshit but what happened with supportive fans? thank you, love your blog

hey anon! as promised: here is my opinion about how sungmin handled the situation~ and please take it with a grain of salt and form your own judgement.

just wanted to remind everyone reading this that i still think sungmin should come back to super junior too! if there is something you wish to correct/disagree with under the cut, let me know nicely. we don’t have to fight, okay? let’s do this like civilised people :)

it’s known that leeteuk and heechul have acknowledged that fans would rather hear about dating/marriage news from the members themselves rather than through articles and rumours. this of course makes sense, idols who have “asked for their fans’ blessing” have seen a much better response from their fans than those who got “exposed” by dispatch/sasaengs/whatever. sure, this isn’t a blanket generalisation, but you kinda get it right? i wouldn’t want malicious rumours about someone i like getting involved with someone else, not because i am “possessive”, but because i think the relationship between an idol and their fans can be trusted so that you know, we can celebrate together and stuff.

there are also other rumours about the ‘controversy’ surrounding his marriage, but they were mostly cleared through an article on naver. you can find it here. it should be pretty accurate, because sungmin posted a link to it on his instagram as an instagram post. 

here’s something that i don’t know if it’s been cleared ; sungmin allegedly changed his signature by replacing the star he normally uses with ‘Mi’, which is a nickname for saeun (his wife). this part is really a little bit weird. i don’t think he should have done that, considering how the fan who requested for the autograph has a name that doesn’t resemble ‘Mi’ in any way or form. you can find the original post on pann here. look at it this way, you travelled all the way out and did x number of things and basically worked hard so you could meet someone you liked, and the person gave you gift, that was actually a secret message for someone else. that’s just... not right. again, anything regarding sungmin and the controversy has been grossly warped by people to the point where it is difficult to check if anything is right/wrong. correct me if you want. 

something else; sungmin’s apology letter was released ahead of his army discharge. he handwrote it and apologised for hurting fans by getting married before his enlistment. i think he missed the point. fans aren’t stupid. korean fans aren’t stupid. i believe the ones who are possessive and think they own him is a minority. but i think it’s understandable that these fans felt angered by how he handled it. he didn’t apologise for the signature and he didn’t apologise for ’sharing’ his fan gifts with his wife.

this is a difficult post to make and this part is the worst bit of it, because i’m going to share about why i felt uneasy about his marriage. i’m not saying i’m against it. i’m just. i don’t really know, i had really bad feeling about this when the news first came out. disclaimer: i do not pretend to speak for fans or for anyone at this point, this is just my personal opinion and maybe you disagree with it and that’s okay. this is how i felt about it in 2014-5 and it was a long time ago. with age comes wisdom LOL and honestly i don’t feel anything when i think about it now. 

i felt uneasy when the news broke out because of the timing of it. the timing was, quite frankly, quite terrible. there are some issues that made it worse that sungmin himself couldn’t control, but i don’t think it would have hurt to think it through a little more before releasing the news. 

sungmin confirmed he was getting married in between super shows. i don’t know what kind of impression that gives you, but i’ll be frank: it gives me the impression that he’s acting more individualistic and not putting his group activities as a priority in his life.

for international fans, this could seem like a shock to you. of course he should put his personal life first, he’s in love! he’s finally found someone he likes enough to get married, and we should support him because we want him to find happiness. that’s an opinion, and you’re entitled to it. but what we’re looking at is the confucian principles of community and society that are upheld by most of the korean community. this is a culture that mandates military enlistment laws for all males (with very few exceptions). so really, through their perspective, the outrage could be perhaps more understood. it is also important to know that when the news first broke, the general opinion ranged from congratulatory messages (that hoped for a better public opinion of idols getting married/falling in love), to speculations if it was a shotgun marriage and if saeun was pregnant. consider that sungmin had not enlisted in the military at this point. for korean men, entering the military is a rite of passage into “manhood”. it was already bad enough for idols themselves to still enlist, and fans were already dreading his enlistment. to suddenly spring the news of marriage on them? it made the timing of the whole thing even worse. what’s worse is that the fandom was trying to support them, but sungmin antis and even some of sungmin’s sasaeng’s gave false reports about the whole situation (see: rumous about the wedding, etc.). 

something to understand in korean netizen culture is that they literally live in a culture where paparazzi are so normalised and entertainment journalism literally puts out close to fifty new reports, news, and scandals out every day. on top of that, korea is notorious for their efficient, workaholic cultures that spares no time for research. imagine being bombarded with news about sungmin’s ‘misdeeds’ every week and every month. obviously your impression of him worsens. then he goes to enlist in the army, effectively disappearing, not making a statement until he nearly discharges, then going back to promote himself as per usual. you only have ten minutes a day, maximum, to see the news. you don’t have time to check for yourself on the internet what is happening. if you’re a fan, you go on twitter to check with the big fansites what is happening, and then you see that they are all quarrelling between themselves about writing petition letters. every single thing sungmin does gets uploaded as ‘breaking news’, paparazzi zoom in onto the other sujus’ “apologies” and “opinions” regarding their fellow member, and public opinion builds the impression that sungmin just doesn’t give a shit about his group. and remember! he’s literally getting married and having a honeymoon in between concerts, when the rest of the members are practising/rehearsing/working hard on TV to get more acknowledgement. gosh, sungmin really is throwing his group under the bus all for love... 

that’s a thought process i went through. i can hardly emphasise more about how this shit isn’t about me getting pressed and possessive about how he’s my oppa and he shouldn’t get married because i’m going to marry him one day. it’s not! it’s about me loving suju to the point where sungmin seems like he’s just going off on his own without caring about the group image. quite frankly if any of the sujus reveal tomorrow that they are dating someone, my response would be something like: “oh thank God!”, and if next year they say something like “y’all, we’re gonna get married”, then i would be like: “FINALLY!” because the sujus deserve nothing but happiness and i just want them to be happy after all the shit they’ve been through. [of course sungmin deserves happiness too. everyone does.]

i started rambling but... i just want to say that i really wish sungmin eased us more into it. the whole thing was aggravated because of how saeun handled it on TV also. sungmin enlisting right after was a good move, considering the damage already done. it would have given the whole thing to die down a bit, for fans to think things a little bit more through while sungmin basically removed himself from society for a bit. but while he was gone, saeun said some shit about how sungmin is really touchy and good with skinship, how sungmin drank 9 bottles of soju just to get the courage to ask her father for his blessing, and so on. that’s not right sis. why would you keep making headlines about your man when you should just lie low and wait for the hatred to pass... she then went on to like really controversial pictures, like the one where someone is slapping someone else. the slapper is labelled “international ELFs” while the one being slapped is labelled”K-ELFs”... that shit just ain’t cool bruv... obviously this started another internal fanwar, and i’m pretty sure a lot of ELFs have bad impressions of her. idk i feel like the sudden attention went to her head or something... why would you talk about alcohol... gosh...

anyway i don’t hate her or anything and i’m happy that she brings our boi happiness but i just don’t have a good impression of her... maybe she’s a really nice person IRL but you know, she’s a celebrity and we’ll never meet so i won’t pass judgement on her.

that’s... kinda it i guess? congrats if you made it all the way to the end. i just wanna rehash the point about sungmin returning to super junior. i think he should. he’s been away for long enough and i think that’s enough ‘punishment’, but i do think it would make it easier for the public to try and accept him again if the both of them just admit to what they did wrong in the past and apologise and then just move on. that shit is old as heck, i think. there’s what i think happened. lmk if i made a mistake or missed something, i wrote like 60% of this post thinking back to that time period and considering how, uh, i don’t live in korea, there might have been something i missed. the other 40% is stuff i searched online to double check, but you know. take everything that isn’t an article with a bucket of salt. lord knows how messed up everything is after those sungmin antis started spreading rumours and stuff. 

if you need a clarification about something said above, you can send me a (nice) ask and i’ll answer!

one last thing, i’m not saying what the sungmin antis did to sungmin (with regards to trying to kick him out of suju, threatening his wife, etc.) is justified by whatever i said above. i’m just saying it makes it a little bit more understandable. but it doesn’t make them entitled to such actions and i 100% believe that their actions are unjustified.

[beccaland]

What are your opinions on the RTD era's companions' relationship with the Doctor? 'Cos personally, they bother me a little sometimes, and I was curious what your opinion was.

Yeah, they bother me a little too. I’m actually going to share some thoughts about the characters themselves, as well as their respective relationships to the Doctor. Partly, I want to do that because not to do so would be an injustice to the characters. So, here goes.

Rose (and Mickey a bit, because you can’t really separate an analysis of their characters and he’s a companion too):

Rose is a charismatic character, and I think just right for relaunching the series. She’s young and displays many of the flaws of young people, yet in other ways is more mature than other adults, including her own mum–indeed Rose is often seen taking on a role of parenting her parent. While Jackie seems content to live off the dole, Rose has a job. It’s not a particularly good job, but she seems to be given a fair bit of trust and responsibility, probably above what her official position warrants, which suggests that she’s earned the admiration and reliance of her boss–and given her home life, that’s not surprising. Rose is clearly used to having to be more responsible than her peers. She’s vibrant, curious, compassionate, and brave.

She also takes advantage of Mickey’s affection for her, perhaps without realizing it (at least at first). She’s pretty judgy generally, and she’s not above using the Doctor as well. This suggests that despite (perhaps in part because of) being brought up by an emotionally immature parent and having to take on a lot of responsibility before she was really old enough to bear it, Rose is quite selfish.

Now, as to her relationship to the Doctor, meeting him does two things for her: it gives her an apparently easy escape from a life she feels trapped in, and it gives her the opportunity to develop a relationship with someone unlike anyone she’s ever known, who seems to see potential in her far beyond what any other person in her life has ever shown (especially Jackie and Mickey), and who is both willing and able to protect her and to care about what she feels and wants. Am I saying the Doctor started out as more of a parent-substitute than a boyfriend? Yes I am. Is that kind of creepy? I think so. But not necessarily more creepy than him being her boyfriend, given the age gap.

OK, so Rose gives Mickey a kiss and obliquely tells him “thanks for nothing” before swanning off with the Doctor. By the time she comes back, a year has passed for everyone she knows but just one day for her. This causes ENORMOUS problems for Jackie and Mickey in particular, and she does seem genuinely sorry (well, sorry to Jackie–she seems mostly annoyed with Mickey’s anger AT BEING SUSPECTED OF MURDERING HER. BECAUSE SHE RAN OFF WITH AN ALIEN). This gets swiftly brushed aside by alien shenanigans, and Rose swans off again–leaving Mickey apparently in some doubt as to their relationship status. The nature of her relationship to the Doctor is also left ambiguous at this point, but she’s clearly not thinking of him as “substitute for parental acknowledgement and affection” anymore. She flirts like crazy with Jack who flirts like crazy with both her and the Doctor and both she and the Doctor seem vaguely jealous of the other’s attention to Jack. Back to Mickey meeting them in Wales, who apparently STILL DOESN’T KNOW that Rose has basically dumped him, and does she make that clear? No, but the Doctor is acting more and more like a jealous boyfriend (and really doesn’t stop treating Mickey like garbage until the poor guy saves them and stays behind in Pete’s World, thus earning his respect, I guess, and also removing the threat), and none of this is Mickey’s fault. He’s astute enough to see, at least, that the Doctor and Rose’s relationship is destructive to others.

After the Doctor regenerates, they’re 100% in couple mode, with Rose referring to the events of S1E2 as their “first date” and the Doctor happily assenting to this characterization (has Rose actually broken up with Mickey yet? Honestly can’t remember, but I don’t think Mickey knew it if she had). The Doctor and Rose have a deeply codependent relationship. We might attribute this to her dysfunctional relationship with Jackie and the Doctor’s recent PTSD. They latch onto each other like needy puppies, and this isn’t a criticism, because there are really people who fit these profiles, and they are not bad people, and it does make for interesting characters and good storytelling, but it’s by no means a healthy depiction of a relationship.

Consider, for instance, that the Doctor tries to send her away (no doubt he felt he was making a noble sacrifice, but he did this against her clear and repeatedly expressed wishes, and with the complicity of Pete). Rose ignores the Doctor’s clearly expressed wishes and comes back, which, fair enough I guess, but it all ends in tragedy anyway. So what does he do? HE BURNS UP AN ENTIRE SUN just so he can say goodbye. I mean, I’m sure he verified it was not an inhabited solar system, but seriously. In that goodbye chat, he specifically tells her that they cannot get across the barrier between universes because “the whole thing would fracture. Two universes would collapse.”

Does Rose accept the judgment of the person who is unquestionably the foremost person in either universe able to evaluate the risk of such an attempt? No she doesn’t. We learn in series 4 that even before the stars started going out, she was having Torchwood build a DIMENSION CANNON to P U N C H. A. H O L E. IN THE UNIVERSES!!! like presumably as many as it took for her to find the right one. Just so she could get back to him. AFTER HE MADE IT CLEAR THAT IS NOT WHAT HE WANTED. BECAUSE IT WOULD DESTROY THEM. This is portrayed as romantic rather than horrific. Seriously. And then he dumps his problematic clone on her and goes back to his own universe. SO ROMANTIC. Sorry, I try not to be rude about Rose’s relationship with the Doctor. I think it’s actually an interesting dynamic that makes sense in context, but it really bugs me that so many people view it unproblematically, and it bugs me even more that people don’t imagine both Rose and the Doctor growing out of it. Like, I can’t lie: I think that’s wacked and super unhealthy, in much the same way (though to a lesser degree) as the Twilight series and its fans are, except Doctor Who is still better-written and far more interesting.

That said, I’d be willing to read a well-written fix-it fic that depicts them growing out of their unhealthy codependent dynamic while staying together romantically. TBH I’d be more interested if it were Rose and Tentoo because then it would be canon-compliant, but I’m not too picky on that point. I AM picky about it not even remotely disrespecting the relationship the Doctor had with any other companion though. And it would have to have a whole “you were so obsessed with me that you were willing to destroy an unspecified number of universes, INCLUDING THE ONE YOUR FAMILY AND BEST FRIEND WERE IN, just to see me again for a brief period of time before this universe also collapsed WITH US IN IT and honey, that’s actually CREEPY AND GROSS even though I thought it was super sweet at the time, but in my defense the universe was already ending at that point anyway and you don’t have that excuse because in your case it was PREMEDITATED” conversation because otherwise I won’t believe they’ve actually grown as people. Also it’d be nice if it were funny more than angsty (but lbr you can’t write what I’m talking about without a fair amount of angst). So, y'know, if anyone has actually written that fic lmk.

Meanwhile, there’s MARTHA.

OK so I’m on record about how awesome Martha is. This is already getting long so I won’t belabor Martha’s total awesomeness as a character, but even though I got a bit tired of dysfunctional family relationships in New Who, it was novel to see them have any ongoing family relationships at all, and Martha’s was particularly rich, partly there were so many of them for her to interact with, thus revealing lots of different facets of her character. And despite her fractious relationship with them, she remained fiercely loyal, which was an interesting source of tension between her and the Doctor, and one that diverted attention away from the dental-drill painfulness of the unrequited love subplot.

It’s super gross that the writers made her hung up on the Doctor all the way through series 3. Not because it’s ridiculous for an intelligent, perceptive, professional young woman to be hung up on an emotionally unavailable man. No, that really happens to actual human beings (and again, possibly related to serious parental issues, so it’s not even without narrative justification). Handled with any sensitivity at all, it could have made for a lovely level of complexity. What really bugs me, and I’ve also written about this before, is how the Doctor treats her like GARBAGE, and this is barely addressed as a problem that he is responsible for. In the end Martha realises her mistake in sticking around for so long, but her attempts to call out his bad behavior in the past fell on deaf ears. Martha is the rebound girl but he acts like he doesn’t even know he’s doing it. Which, IDK, maybe he really doesn’t know? Like for all his 900+ years the Doctor has little previous actual relationship experience and also he’s super blindingly hung up on his high school-esque sweetheart Rose. And it’s not just in regards to Martha’s romantic feelings that he treats her poorly. He also dismisses her VERY VALID CONCERNS about her own safety and well-being when traveling in the past for the sake of his own whims. And he brushes off legitimate questions about how stuff works. Anyway. This is well-trodden ground. As is the fact that RTD later inexplicably fobs Martha off on MICKEY, the only other black companion in the series up to that point, despite having already paired Martha off with a cute, sweet doctor who seemed like a MUCH better fit, and there literally being no narrative reason for them to be a couple in that scene.

Donna! Well, as we all know, Donna is among the best-developed companions ever.

She didn’t start out that way though. She started off as a Deeply Problematic (read: disgustingly misogynistic) Stereotype who was never meant to be more than a one-off, but CT and DT got along so well that they brought the character back full-time, and so we got a lot of deconstruction, exploration, and development of that first impression. And I’ll forever be happy we did. But even in The Runaway Bride, she had moments of surprising depth and pathos. Deep down, Donna was always better than she seemed. The fact that she was the last person (other than her mother) to realize that fact is part of what makes her so compelling.

Her relationship to the Doctor is also the least problematic, because they’re both on the same page about being platonic bffs. To be fair, part of the reason he does make sure this is clear from the outset is because he has finally realized how he hurt Martha (NOT THAT HE EVER APOLOGIZED TO MARTHA FOR THAT–for a guy for whom “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry” was basically a second catch phrase, Ten actually sucks at apologising to the people close to him). Unlike Martha, the Doctor doesn’t overlook Donna or brush off her concerns. Unlike Rose, he is not codependent with her. Donna calls him on his BS, and he listens. She helps him to face his emotional vulnerability rather than running from/shutting out potentially scary personal relationships (like with River and Jenny). The Doctor helps Donna to see that she really is brilliant and important, and she grows to believe him.

That’s not to say that Donna’s character was handled perfectly. No, indeed. Even after her first story, we’re repeatedly subjected to jokes about her desperate need for and inability to get a man. Even the Doctor, who is otherwise kind to her, takes these jokes for granted and sometimes participates in them. At the end of series 4, we’re shown that the one person in the universe that Mr. Pansexuality Personified, JACK HARKNESS has no interest in flirting with is Donna Noble, the man-hungry middle-aged slightly overweight loud temp from Chiswick. And then, of course, the Doctor denies her agency and takes away her access to the memories of everything she saw, everything she did, everything she discovered about herself while traveling with him. Just so he wouldn’t have to see her die. It was selfish of him. She made her choice and he ignored it to spare HIMSELF pain. But, y'know, at least the Doctor cheated the lottery to make her rich as a wedding present to a very attractive, kind-looking, and clearly adoring man–right before he regenerated. So she did get a happy ending.

[justpedropascal]

I posted 433 times in 2021

35 posts created (8%)

398 posts reblogged (92%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 11.4 posts.

I added 180 tags in 2021

#my ramblings about pedro pascal - 68 posts

#pedro pascal - 46 posts

#in text - 36 posts

#the mandalorian - 10 posts

#tlou - 4 posts

#the last of us - 4 posts

#star wars - 3 posts

#wonder woman - 3 posts

#wonder woman 1984 - 3 posts

#din djarin - 3 posts

Longest Tag: 115 characters

#it’s sad cause when they announced the tv show everyone got very excited and the end of the game was spoiled for me

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

I’m rewatching The Mandalorian and it turns out that Fennec and Boba reappear on episode SIX of season 2

Like, that took SO LONG, I had the sensation that they had been around for the entire season

25 notes • Posted 2021-02-12 15:58:25 GMT

#4

Okey, let’s tackle an important issue

Joel from TLOU has a BIG BEARD

And we all know all too well that Pedro can’t grow a proper beard for the love of god

The picture I found with more “beard” is this one

So yeah, it’ll be fun to watch him playing such a bearded character, let’s see what they come up with

34 notes • Posted 2021-02-11 09:40:27 GMT

#3

Not me crying watching the DC Fandome interview where Pedro says that the Wonder Woman cast tricked him into a Zoom meeting and everybody sang happy birthday to him during his lockdown birthday last year

54 notes • Posted 2021-02-05 10:31:42 GMT

#2

Let’s talk Pedro’s tattoos

I think it’s common knowledge that Pedro has several tattoos

The flower with a petal missing behind his left ear (his older sister has a matching one)

The bullseye in his left hand (that’s a doodle that he used to do on himself when he was younger)

The VP that’s her mother signature in his right wrist

And three elephants scattered around his body (one on the left inner mid-thigh, another on the right outer thigh above the knee and the last on the right inner thigh)

So, I think it’s clear the meaning of most of them, or at least I’ve seen people speculate on them and the theories seem legit. The only tattoo that Pedro has explained the meaning online is the one about his mother signature.

The ones I’m more curious about are the elephants cause those are the ones that seem more “random” and the ones that I haven’t found any solid theory explaining their meaning.

But my theory is that they’re not random.

Each elephant represents a sibling. Three siblings, three elephants.

Now, idk if this is completely false (I haven’t found any source that explained the meaning in detail, so it could be wrong) so if anyone has sources or other theories, lmk. But it kinda makes sense given that all his other tattoos are related to his family or to his past in one way or another.

So there, that’s my take on that, what do you think?

74 notes • Posted 2021-02-11 17:57:58 GMT

#1

I’M REWATCHING THE MANDALORIAN ON DISNEY PLUS AND THEY’VE CHANGED THE DEFAULT IMAGE, THEY’VE REMOVED CARA AND GREEF, NOW IT’S ONLY DIN AND GROGU

GOOD RIDANCE GINA

102 notes • Posted 2021-02-14 20:14:34 GMT

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