#it even fits the vibe of the movies or at least the early ones

[thesummerpetrichor]

𝓘 𝓷𝓮𝓮𝓭 𝔂𝓸𝓾, 𝓘 𝓫𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾:

𝒪𝒻𝒻 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑅𝒶𝒸𝑒𝓈

Javier Peña x afab!fem!reader

Summary: Its been five months since you started sleeping together, and you're having second thoughts about your "relationship" with Javier. But what does it matter to him? he hasn't even kissed you yet. 🍒 Continuation of “Off to the Races” and “Your Face is Shameless” but can be read alone.

Warnings: 18+ Only Minors DNI you will be blocked. Mentions of DEA, thicc age gap [Javi is in his 40s reader is in her early 20s], mentions of anxiety, major angst, situationship, guilt, unrequited love, self loathing, kissing [they did it!], Javier is emotionally unavailable, petnames, major dom/sub dynamic [dd/lg ish vibes], mean!Javi then soft!dom!Javi, degradation, dumbification, minor objectification, major size kink [Javi is bigger than and can lift reader], praise kink [finally some good girl action], daddy kink, choking, pussy pronouns, finger sucking, oral [f receiving], unprotected P in V [ do better!!]. Let me know if i missed anything 🫶

Word count: 5.4K

A/N: Hello!! I'm back!! thought it would be fitting to revisit these two post hiatus. Sorry in advance for the emotional torture that is about to ensue, but I couldn't help myself. Big thank you to @pixelsandothernonsense for being a big supporter of these two and fuelling their return on the blog time and time again. Lotsa plot, lotsa porn– as always. Hope you enjoy, nasties. Mwah

🍒Off to the races 🍒Your face is shameless 🍒Masterlist

You wanted it to be easy but it’s difficult. You wanted it to be over, but it was not. 

While Colombia seemed to be all fun and games at first sight, the longer you remained stuck in the American embassy’s city centre building the more you longed for home. 

Your research was hitting a roadblock, and things were hard. Funding was running out, and your professors were running away. Better jobs, better prospects. But your degree was the least cause for your troubles. 

You were smart. You were controlled. You didn’t know what you were thinking when you got yourself involved with Javier Peña. It seemed fun at the moment- fooling around, messing with a man double your age and four times more qualified. Trying to wrangle his true intentions out from under his furrowed brow and frown. 

Looking back you felt stupid. Embarrassed. A little ashamed of what you had become. How you let him treat you. 

He used you like a walking sex doll. Didn’t give you one look afterwards. Maybe a pat on the back but somehow that was more insulting. He had never kissed you. And there you were, fixing your makeup in the office bathroom after an evening under his desk had ruined it. 

It had been five months since the first time he'd bent you over his desk but you were only half way through your trip. Five more months seemed too long to bear. It made you sick. 

You glanced at yourself in the mirror. You looked tired, and sleepy and your clothes weren’t crisp as usual. You felt a little bit like the tissue you’d just dabbed against your cheek. A little flimsy and a little dirty. A little used, perhaps. 

It felt a little worse knowing it was all your doing. You weren’t expecting a man like Javier to change. Objectively, it wasn’t possible. But you still asked for more. For him to use and then forget about you. You wanted to leave. You wished he’d never seen this side of you. Frankly you wished you hadn’t either. 

Because you were smart and funny and interesting and could talk about all sorts of things. You liked music and books and movies and trying new food. But he’d never seen you that way. He never would. 

You hadn’t spoken to him once. Not about anything that wasn’t strictly utilitarian. Especially not after he started fucking you. It was far too awkward and far too intimate. 

For him. 

Your feelings flip flopped every day, from the casualty of the affair seeming rather appealing, to it making your chest ache. And yet you couldn’t seem to help yourself, unable to understand not only what this thing you had going on with Agent Peña was, but why you couldn't seem to stop. 

Five months camping out in the office and you hadn’t missed a single day. No matter how bad the hurt in your chest you rolled out of bed and reminded yourself of why you were where you were. It worked. It hurt, but it worked. 

But after five months it seemed like getting out of bed was suddenly impossible one morning and you thought it best to stay home. You got a few calls. One from Fiestl and Van Ness. Connie Murphy sent Steve over with soup when she heard you weren’t feeling well. 

No news from Javi Peña. 

You slept most of the day. With your computer shut and materials put away. You didn’t want to think about it. You fixed yourself dinner- instant noodles, and headed to bed once again. 

You thought it was temporary but the excruciating pain only lingered and carried you on to another day confined to the four walls of your bedroom. 

It was a bad idea- ignoring your work for as long as you did. You should have known that you wouldn’t be able to put it on the back burner- considering the neurosis surrounding your work, the fact you took a two day break was impressive. It wasn’t long before your anxiety was eating away at you, an impending deadline hanging over your head and reminding you the world didn't care about your little pity party. 

Stupid as it was, you found yourself crossing the street at the witching hour of 23:00- clad in the soft cotton dress you forced yourself into earlier that evening. The friday night had persuaded everyone out of the office, and you weren’t surprised when you found the top floor of the embassy building cold and empty. 

You were glad, and perhaps it was the only way you could stomach being there– alone. 

Your desk was exactly how you’d left it a couple of days ago- your books piled in one corner, papers thrown all over the place. It was disorganised and untidy– very unlike you. You swallowed a lump in your throat as you began to sort things out, a feeling of complete exhaustion and defeat threatening to force you into your office chair. You glanced over at Javier’s office, signs he was out for the week prompting the slight relaxation of your shoulders. 

When you finally sat down to get to work, your eyes couldn't help but flutter shut every few moments, the screen of your computer zoning in and out of your vision every now and then. The words seemed to escape you, four lines on your document all you could manage before you were pressing your forehead against the wood of your desk. 

After spending the past two days sleeping somehow all you wanted to do was climb right back into bed. 

Music, surely that would help! Or at least you thought, to no avail, a whole album played once, yet you could only manage another paragraph. Turns out burnout was real.. and it had decided now was the best time to get you. But you weren’t ready to pack up and banish yourself to your studio apartment just yet. So you upped the volume, and sat up just a little bit straighter in your chair, and got back to work. 

Something about the loneliness of working in that drab, white, characterless office was especially miserable. So miserable in fact it was almost comforting, it was so miserable it was funny. It wasn't long before you were sitting completely straight in that sad, uncomfortable office chair, laughing at yourself with a mixture of exhaustion and disbelief. You were stupid, and acted silly, and had all these big feelings, but what did it matter? It was diabolical; the capacity Javier had for ruining your life, but soon enough you’d be out of here and one day you’d probably be laughing at the whole ordeal. 

It was exhausting, but what could you do? The words came just a little bit easier from that point, and you felt yourself accept defeat and immersed yourself in your paper. At the end of the day you couldn’t control how he felt about you- you just had to take it or leave it. Not everything is that deep, you rolled your eyes at yourself, but you knew truthfully the lack of his care and affection was more than a little sting. You decided you were better off defining the “relationship” for yourself, and maybe showing a little bit more restraint. Who said everything had to be that serious, maybe you should've taken a page out of Javier’s book! 

Yes that was it, not everything was that serious, was it?

You really wished you’d had the foresight to gauge the stupidity of trying to drown out your surroundings in a public space in the middle of the night. Sure, no external threat could get you inside the excessively secure embassy building, but what did that mean when the real threat to your sanity was the DEA attache. 

Truth be told, you'd have jumped in fear if anyone had tapped their fingers on your computer screen, but when Javier rounded your desk with a raised brow and waved his hand in front of your computer, you were particularly startled. 

“The hell are you doing here?” 

Any other time you’d probably met him with a snappy reply, something to get him going, maybe rile him up enough till he was pressing your face against your papers and fucking you from the back. You wished you could have given him that response that day, but you were so completely out of yourself, you settled for a shrug and a normal “trying to finish this section”. 

“That why you disappeared these past two days?”

“I wish.. probably would have been done by now.” His brows kit, somewhat confused and just noticing your tired, puffy eyes now that he was closer. 

“When’s it due.” he leaned to sit on your table , and traced your features with his fingers. You felt your eyes flutter shut as the tip of his index ran along the bridge of your nose, and feared your new policy was at risk of being thrown right out of the window at his attention. Sighing, you leaned into his touch. Unhappy, but unable to resist it. “Next week.”

He pitched your damp cheeks between his fingers, gently shaking your head from side to side. “You've got time.” 

You hummed and took a moment to look up at him- yellow table lamp doing his golden features all sorts of favours, ones that he didn't even need to begin with if you were being honest.The weight of his hand, the roughness of his skin against yours had a soft sigh escaping your lips. 

Javier's hand moved slowly, almost hesitantly, to the back of your neck, and he gently guided you to stand. Your legs felt weak, but you helped yourself up long enough to watch him rise beside you, stepping closer. He stepped around you, positioning himself between yourself and the chair, his breath warm against your ear. 

"Sit," he murmured, his voice low and commanding. His hand moved to the back of your neck again, this time pulling you down onto his lap. The gesture was possessive, not tender. 

You obeyed, lowering yourself onto him,  your legs on either side of his waist, dangling off the seat. Javier's hands rested on your waist momentarily, heavy and harsh, before drifting lower to your hips, pulling you further into his lap till you could feel his bulge swell against you. You felt yourself get wet, he lifted your hips and then pulled you back down against him, allowing you the slight relief of the friction as you felt yourself embarrassingly throb against him. 

The proximity was suffocating, his scent—cigarettes, and aftershave. He leaned closer, and for a moment, in your delusion, you thought he might kiss you. Instead his fingers squeezed around your throat, breath fanning your lips. “You want to be daddy’s good girl, dontch’ya?” his voice was low, and biting, and you knew you were in for it, for avoiding him, when he tightened his grip at your lack of answer. 

Slick pooled in your panties, and he let you press your hot core against him, undoubtedly able to feel how easily he could unravel you. You shifted your gaze up at the ceiling to avoid his own. 

You squeaked out a feeble “yes”, already delirious. “Then why the fuck, did you think you could disappear without telling me?” He reached for the string that held together the top of your dress, rather aggressively tugging it undone, watching as it unravelled and revealed the soft cotton of your lingerie. “Busy” you whined when traced your skin with his pointer finger, palm coming to squeeze at your breast and then pull your bra aside. 

“Not looking too busy now, are ya?” your nipple pebbled under his palm, his hot breath fanning against your skin as he trailed open mouth kisses along your neck. You whimpered, reaching to tangle your fingers in Javier’s hair. Surprisingly, he let you tug on his locks, allowing you to ground yourself as he sucked your nipple into his mouth, swirling his tongue around your bud. He came up to nip at your jaw and you whimpered  a soft “M’ sorry”. 

“What was that?” Javier rolled his eyes and growled in your ear, grazing your earlobe with his teeth, and pinching the flesh of your thighs, prompting you to speak up. And speak up you did, heat seeping into your panties at his tone and words. He didn’t respond to you, just hummed his assent and pulled you harder against him. 

His hands found the backs of your thighs, hoisting you up and into his arms. You wrapped your legs around him and his big arms crossed under you to support your weight. Continuing to kiss along your neck he plopped you on the table, but you couldn’t lie, you much preferred being carried so gently in his hold. Thank god the desk had been cleared– giving him enough room to push you back against it. You didn't really want to unwrap your legs from around him, but he grunted disapprovingly before prying your legs from his waist. Your heart jumped as he took a seat on your dingy rolly chair, his large palms lifting your legs by your calves till your feet were planted on his thighs. You propped yourself up on your elbows. 

Javier's eyes caught sight of your untied shoelace, a small hazard in the midst of your hurried night. As usual, without a word, he leaned down, fingers deftly working to tie the lace in a swift, fluid motion, securing the bow with a final, firm tug, patting the top of your shoe before returning to the task at hand. 

His eyes were hungry like they always were, deep brown, alluring, the only readable emotion in them- lust. Those large palms parted your knees, making space for you between them. A tingle ran up your spine when he brushed the tips of his fingers against the inside of your thigh, dragging them along your skin till he was toying with the hem of your panties. He shifted forward in the chair, meeting your eyes as he planted a kiss on your calf, and then hoisted your legs up on his shoulders. 

Javier took a moment to admire you, letting his rough hands roam under your skirt. You always wondered what those hands were doing; how they wrapped around his gun when he ran out of the office with it, how small they made the cigarette he was smoking look. You watched him grab, and hold, and type from across your desk when he hadn’t fucked you in a day or two, imagined those hands grabbing at your flesh and wrapping around your throat. You imagined him pumping his fingers in and out your pussy with your own hands between your legs in the middle of the night- unable to go mere days without him fucking you, salivating at the thought of those hands wrapped around his thick cock, wondering if he too couldn’t go without your touch. 

Lost in your thoughts you shuddered when you felt him drag his tongue up the cut of your slit, the already moist fabric of your panties sticking to your skin as he nudged your clit with his nose. Your head fell back involuntarily, and you felt your arms ache as you continued to struggle to hold yourself up on your elbows. Seemingly, he had decided that day he wasn’t going to make you work for it- you looked like you were working far too much already. 

“Look at me.” Javier sharply instructed from between your legs. Nipping the inside of your right thigh till you yelped in his hold. You weren't going to last very long at the sight of him, eyes glancing up at you as his mouth ghosted over your soaked pussy. You watched intently as his fingers pulled your panties aside, softly grazing your swollen flesh in a way that had you pulling your lip between your teeth to contain the pornographic moan that threatened to spill from your mouth and alert the security guard across the hall. 

Your leg twitched on his shoulder as he licked a long, firm stripe up your aching pussy. Both your eyes fluttered shut as his tongue softly explored your folds. The sight of Javier between your legs was enough to send you over the edge, one that would live in your head for a very long time. 

You struggled to hold his eyes with your own when he licked at your entrance, increasing his pace ever so slightly before he was softly sucking your clit into his mouth. Letting yourself lean back against the table you reached to continue to tangle your fingers in his hair, hoping he'd let you have his fluffy locks in your hold. Turns out you were lucky the first time, because as was more common, Javier reminded you of his “no grabbing at daddy” attitude by grasping your hand in his. 

“No grabbin at daddy, babygirl” he murmured against your wetness and you shivered. His fingers engulfed yours, stroking your skin and moving your hands to your chest. His large palm covered yours and squeezed your fingers around your breasts. You moaned, and arched your back against the table up into both your palms as his tongue achingly slipping inside you. 

The feel of his mouth against you was more than perfect, the way he expertly ate you out till you were wiggling your hips against his face, his nose nudging your clit as he fucked you with his tongue. Slow and soft then faster and rough, just how he knew you liked it. 

He seemed to be enjoying the feeling of you just as much,  groaning against your wet cunt everytime you twitched and shuddered against him, the taste of you prompting him only to bury himself deeper between your thighs, pull and grab at your hips, hold you close against him as your chest rose and fell. 

Javier lashed his tongue at your entrance, then plunged it into your slick cunt. You felt your core tighten, and you knew you couldn’t hold on much longer. “Please…” barely able to complete your sentence you squealed when he circled your clit with his tongue. You could feel him grin against the inside of your thigh, and you reached for his hands on your hips to tug at his fingers feebly. 

Making out the sound of his chuckle over your heavy breathing you whined, and then proceeded to melt in his hold when he responded with a rather gentle, yet delayed and somewhat playfully annoyed “You can come for daddy, babygirl.” 

The grip of your fingers on his tightened, and you sighed, finally letting go as Javier worked between your legs. Your cunt clamped down on his tongue as he finished you off, licking you through your orgasm and holding your hips down as you shook and squirmed above him. 

He kissed along your seam gently as you caught your breath, your breath hitching when he pushed two fingers in your still sensitive cunt to gently stroke your walls. He stifled a groan. You looked down between your legs as he withdrew those fingers and began to stand up. “She so fuckin wet for me, hmm?” He rubbed slow, soft circles on your clit, not caring to watch you intently for any giveaway that would instruct him on the perfect rhythm. He already knew what you liked- he didn’t need to bother. “Slutty little pussy achin’ to be fucked… after all these days, aint she?” 

He took a second to get a good look at you as he moved closer between your legs, and you propped yourself back up on your elbows and wrapped your legs around his waist to pull him in. 

“My good little slut” 

Bringing his fingers to your lips he urged them open, pushing in and watching you suck gently on his digits. You shivered at the taste of your own arousal. As always you felt a little fuzzy when he did something like that– letting your eyes droop until he nudged you to release them with a pop. He ran those fingers across your lips, watching you struggle to keep your eyes on him as his hand drifted downwards to wrap swiftly around your neck.  “That's better isn't it?” he pressed his clothed cock against your bare, swollen pussy, your panties surely on the verge of ripping the way they’d been pulled aside. Javier seemed to be thinking along the same lines as you, because in a moment he reached for them and urgently dragged them down your hips, unwrapping himself from your hold and holding your ankles in one hand as the other slid your panties all the way off of you. 

When you whined at the loss of his body against yours he tutted, raising his eyebrows at you in warning. 

He then grabbed your thigh with his hand once again, squeezing it and holding it in place against his waist. You heard the jingle of his belt as he undid it. A rough edge on said belt scraped against your skin, but it was difficult to pay attention to it when you felt him reach between your bodies to tease your dripping slit with his length. 

It was sad to admit, but nothing took the weight of your shoulders much like the feeling of his hard cock sliding against your wet pussy, head bumping your clit till you were shivering and then notching at your entrance. You heard him mutter a strained curse under his breath at the feeling of your cunt sucking him in. Javier didn't waste much time, as much as he seemed to enjoy the sight of you deliriously wiggling your hips under him. 

He leaned down and traced the curve of your jaw with the bridge of his nose, breathing in your scent as he pushed in– slowly and gently. Much slower and gentler than he had ever been before. Your legs tightened around him, hips lifting pathetically as you felt him stretch you open. It had been far too long since you’d had him inside you. 

“Such a good little girl..” His hips snapped towards yours. 

“Aren’t ya?” It was an out of body experience, so overwhelming and dizzying you could almost see yourself in the act. Your brain couldn’t comprehend that tone and that gentleness as is, forget when Javier’s cock dragged deliciously against your aching walls. 

Your elbows caved from under you, letting you fall completely back against your little desk. Your head went to fall back soon after, but Javier had managed to snake his hand behind your neck– cradling your head and shielding it from the hard wooden table. Instinctively, you buried your nose in the collar of his dress shirt. He let you seek respite, palm holding you against his warm body, and pressed a kiss to the nape of your neck. 

Your skin felt like pins and needles, little sparks bounced off your exposed waist and prompted you to wiggle your hips away from him at the intensity of the sensations. “Nah uh” yanking you back in his direction Javier squeezed your hips in his hands, refusing to let you escape the death grip he had on your body, pulling you towards him with every deep, slow, thrust. 

“Silly little thing” He laughed against your lips, so close they brushed against you. You couldn’t help it when your mouth fell slack against his. He took your bottom lip between his teeth. He releases it as your walls clench around him, brows knitting at the feel of your warm, soft cunt around his cock. 

“Mine aren’t ya? Daddy’s good little slut?” Unable to catch hold of anything on the table, your hands flew to his shirt, your fingers twisting the fabric as you gripped it as tightly as you could. He let you pull him towards you, one hand sneaking between your bodies to grab and squeeze at your breast. 

“Then you’re gonna take it like I give it to ya?” You tried to nod, head lulling side to side and mouth hanging open, desperate noises leaving your lips. When your back arched against the table he  pulled you into his chest, letting you wrap your legs around his waist so tightly you felt the leather of his belt cut into your soft skin. 

Eventually he picked up his pace, and you could make out the sound of your pens clattering to the ground as your back moved relentlessly against the desk. The dim grey flood light above you came in and out of your focus, the heat that swelled up inside you hindering your ability to concentrate on absolutely anything.  “Getting all cock drunk on me..” Anything but him. Yet another orgasm stirred in your tummy, your entire body hot and tingling with overwhelm. “There’s my good girl”. 

He pulled you into him with every thrust, his hard length throbbing inside of you. “Just how I like ya’– no thoughts in that head’ve yours.” Your bare chest pressed against his soft shirt, but you longed to feel the heat of his body against your skin. 

“Can't think ‘bout anything but daddy can you?” he managed to laugh, his thick cock dragging against your wet walls in a way that had your mouth falling open in a gasp. “Just daddy, ain't that right?” As usual he grabbed at every part of you he could, hands seeking purchase on any exposed skin. 

He grazed your earlobe with his teeth as he spoke. “Poor baby, going dumb on daddy.” All you could do was whine. “Can’t hear ya..” you whimpered again, strained and hasty “yes”s leaving your mouth at record speed as the tension in your core threatened to burst. 

“S’ how it should be” your dress made it easy for you to slide along the surface of the table as he fucked into your tight, wet heat, railing you as you twitched around him. You struggled to form a broken “daddy” between your lips. 

“Stupid little girl can’t do anything but be daddy’s little sexdoll hmm?” you shook your head, but he grabbed your cheeks between his thumb and forefinger and squeezed. “‘S okay babylove, s’ how daddy likes ya best” he shook your face gently, “when ya ain't runnin that smart mouth of yours.” 

He grunted and sighs above you, seemingly lost in his own pleasure, not bothering for the first time to make you beg. It was as if the two days you spent apart had him prioritising other things. “Better this way isn’t it, nothin you gotta worry that pretty head about…” you felt your cunt squeeze him. “Not when daddy’s fuckin’ ya’” 

You could tell he was close by the way his thick cock throbbed against your slick walls, the way his Texan accent came through just a little more than it usually did. Your thighs quivered against his waist as the heat continued to pool in your belly. 

You knew he was close when he straightened up again, hands wrapping firmly around your throat as he angled his hips to hit that sweet spot inside you over and over. “C’mon baby, be a good girl and come for daddy” he tightened his grip, thumb reaching up to swipe gently at your slack lips. 

You felt your pussy clench around his cock, finally letting go as you writhed under him. You heard him groan over the ringing in your ears, your own eyes rolling back as your orgasm rolled over you in waves. You gushed around him, your own release prompting his. 

Watching his brows knit as his thrusts got sloppy might have well sent you on a second release, aftershocks making your hips wiggle against his palms as he squeezed them, his cock throbbing inside you before he erupted with a shudder. A string of strained curses escaped his mouth, chest rising and falling rapidly as he rode out his high. 

You laid there, the heat from your exertion slowly dissipating. You felt Javier pull out, his spend trickling down your thighs, and slide your panties back up over your legs. A heaviness tugged at your limbs and made your eyelids droop. Every muscle felt loose, languid, as if all the tension and energy had been drawn out, leaving behind only a deep, satisfying fatigue. 

Javier put his hands on your waist and lifted you off the table, you returned to your habitual silence, this time albeit far more satiated than before. You were dizzy, feeling like a small ghost floating in front of him, engulfed by his towering form. The world around you began to fade, sounds muffling and blurring into an indistinct background hum.

Every blink became slower, your vision narrowing to slits before closing entirely. You let yourself drift into that warm state between sleep and wakefulness, the exhaustion of the week catching up to you in more ways than one, uncaring of the sense that Javier’s eyes had been lingering. You felt him trace the bridge of your nose, reducing any prospects of you actually getting off that desk. 

He fixed your lingerie and tied the bow of your dress back up, one hand returning to stroke your cheek. His other arm came to support your back as it wrapped around you, pulling you towards him. You looked up to find him watching you, with an expression you couldn’t bother to decipher at the moment. 

You couldn’t help but fall into his chest as he stood above you, his arms reaching behind you as he packed your things in your work bag. You felt your eyes flutter shut again, complete exhaustion taking over your weak form. He placed a kiss to your temple, lifting you off the table once and into his hold once again. Your legs instinctively wrapped around his waist, locking securely at the ankles. His hands gripped your thighs firmly, fingers digging into your flesh.

You felt cold again suddenly, and Javier readjusted his arms to hold you with his right while his left rubbed along your shoulders to warm up your skin, prickled with goosebumps. 

Your head rested against his shoulder, the steady rise and fall of his chest beneath your cheek a comforting, rhythmic lull. You nuzzled deeper into the curve of his neck, tilting your head till your nose was brushing the cut of his jaw. 

Javier shifted slightly, and you could feel the subtle change in his posture as he leaned towards you, and his face came level with yours– you could feel the heat radiating from his skin, a stark contrast to the cool air around you. His hand cradled your cheek. 

With your eyes still closed you felt his lips press gently against yours, so pillowy and soft you barely registered them. He tasted how you’d imagined so many times before– cigarettes, and whiskey. Melting into his touch your hands moved to ball the fabric of his shirt gently in your fist. His lips moved against your’s with a carefulness you couldn’t really understand, but the fact that they were at all was enough. Exhaustion aside, you had a feeling the triviality of the whole ordeal, its comfort and normality seemed expected. And just as quickly as it began, it was over.

Perhaps it had always meant a lot more to you, than it did to him. 

The hand that was cupping your cheek pinched it and then snaked around your waist to help you find your footing on the ground, the same hand coming down to slap your ass as he pushed you towards the door. 

In usual Javier fashion he checked his phone, uninterestedly murmuring a soft “you can start again tomorrow” as you stood in the elevator. He let you lean against him, his palm coming down to pat your head momentarily before it was back to sorting the files in his hands.  You looked up at him, his mind now completely diverted to whatever he had come to collect in the office in the first place, so unbothered by what seemed to transpire between the two of you. 

Perhaps nothing really did. 

You wished his words gave you some motivation, but it was turning out to be really difficult to want to be anything more than his dumb, silly, little girl. 

Who else is gonna put up with me this way?

I need you, I breathe you, I'll never leave you!

They would rue the day I was alone, without you

You're lyin' with your gold chain on

Cigar hangin' from your lips, I said, "Hon'"

"You never looked so beautiful as you do now, my man"

sakjdlakd I'm sorry I just can't let them be happy lmao. Hope you enjoyed this, and let me know what you think. Thank you to everyone who reblogs and comments on my content, you keep me writing. Dividers and banners by @/sardika 🐝✨💗

[pocket-notebook]

Ugh I wish I could edit videos

Because "In the End" by Linkin Park would make such a good Saw edit song?????

You know??!?!?!?!?!?!?

[angel-of-hunky-doryness]

The Conflicts of Disney's Hercules (Part 2): Hercules vs Hades

Or as I like to call it: why Hercules and Hades are the best example of a literary foil muddled and lost in its own movie.

LONG POST, sorry not sorry.

The hero vs villain dynamic is a Disney staple inspired by the many fairy tales and folklore from which Disney has long based their movies on. However, this dynamic went through a glow-up when Disney started their Renaissance period kicking off with The Little Mermaid (1989).

This era of Disney brought in much more personality and character to their protagonists, but also bringing in a new type of villain. Now this was a sharp departure from your atypical evil stepmothers and wicked villainesses that Disney was known from in their early days.

That's why when Disney decided to adapt Hercules (1997) the writers needed a formidable foe for Hercules to throws hands with to fit in to this new era where you had the likes of Ariel vs Ursula, Aladdin vs Jafar, Simba vs Scar, etc.

And in the Renaissance, Disney started leaning more into their Shakespearean influences. Nowhere is this more evident then Lion King (1994) and to a lesser extent- based on deleted scenes, the broadway version, and live action remake- Little Mermaid.

The reason I'm bringing this up is b/c, my dear reader, now we're getting to the Evil Uncle Trope.

Or at least a failed execution of it, b/c Disney did not utilize it well in Hercules. It's just barely touched upon.

Yes, yes, I know who the real villain is in the original myth of Herakles and that could be a reason it doesn't work. But Herakles vs Hera doesn't work well on paper when you remember that Herk was the affair baby and Hera is actively trying to smite him and this is a film meant for children. And something, something, she doesn't carry the kind of raw emo goth energy a walking-talking Bunsen burner can provide.

Jokes aside and the accuracy of the Greek Mythology presented, I think Disney Hercules was adapted well to a modern audience.

HOWEVER!

Now I've made it no secret in the past that I don't really view this hero/villain pair as the central conflict of Disney's Hercules.

That is mostly because whatever antagonism Hades and Hercules had going on it's very one-sided, and almost surface-level. Hades is over here having the biggest blow to his ego with a little bit of existential crisis thrown in for good measure.

While Hercules is absolutely vibing to the Muses singing the greatest mind-melting musical number of the film.

Not once do we get a character moment where this corn-fed farm boy ever stops to think, "Hey, Phil, I know Thebes is a bad place and all, but where do these mildly inconveniencing monsters keep coming from?"

In all two of his interactions with Hades(I'm not counting the opening scene, Hercules is a baby, fight me), Hercules never realizes in the entire movie how he was wronged by this tall glass of daddy issues.

Which are:

Flambe man kidnapped Baby

Lil sun spot is mortal now for plot relevance or smth

Attempted murder via the goon squad

Monsters keep coming out of nowhere after Herc saves the sassy lady from the Centaur(TM).

And Hades, to his credit, really doesn't care enough to tell him.

Why?

Because it literally never bothered Hercules. Hades is the obligatory monster of the week to Wonder breath. That kind of revelation wouldn't bother him, Hercules doesn't even know there's a prophecy about him. Hecc, home boy barely struggles with the Titans at the climax.

This is basically the Wanda-Thanos meme but the roles are reversed.

And I would like to emphasize, Hercules isn't bothered by the monsters Hades sends at all. He gets over it fairly quickly once he gets over his first battle jitters. If anything, the biggest issue Hercules is facing post-Hydra is that even though society has finally embraced him for his strength, he's still extremely lonely.

Which leads to this pivotal moment in the film:

What is the point?

He's still a freak, but this time after years of training he's finally useful. My pal Rudolph the Red-nose reindeer understands this predicament rather well. And the loneliness that Hercules feels b/c of his superhuman abilities is such a fascinating angle the writers of Disney Hercules go with that isn't emphasized enough.

And I can't stress this enough: The internal war Hercules grapples with, of being caught between two worlds, struggling with something he was born with and of doing everything in his power to fit into both of these worlds? Now that makes for a compelling demigod.

What's more, the strange shift in how society view his strength is such a interesting element that could have made a better antagonist than Hades was and I bet if this movie was made in this new era of Disney films (2015-Present) it would've executed it with this premise in mind. Since Disney has moved away from mustache-twirling villains and focusing on things like generational trauma and internal issues.

The fear and scorn Hercules once felt is now being turned to adoration, but wait, that's not what he wanted!

He just wanted to be treated like a person.

Take the discus scene, Hercules tries to play frisbee with the other teens in his neighborhood, but he immediately gets told to buzz off.

His goal of reaching Olympus isn't to reunite with his real family it's to finally be around others who are just as powerful as him, somewhere he wouldn't be out of place.

And the funny part about all of this is how well it ties in to Hades. Because Hercules upholding his duty as a hero is essentially what Hades did in his respective career until the moment he had his very own What's the point? moment.

Now first and foremost, I'm here to say Hades did his job. Regardless of how respectfully he did that in his later years....

No zombie apocalypses as far as I can tell, so kudos to you babe.

And that kind of job isolated him pretty badly when you consider Hades is with the dead instead of the other gods, almost making Hercules' dream the same as Hades'. However that dream has long since distorted and twisted from centuries of bitterness and anger.

Which adds another layer to their similarities. The dedication they had for their jobs isolated them even further.

And funnily enough, Hades and Herc were both assigned to this task by Zeus.

Now that we've established how similar H&H are let's see if we can glean how it played out for Hades by looking at Hercules' beginning. Hercules started out with so much determination and hope as can be seen in I Can Go the Distance (reprise). And as we follow Hercules to seek a teacher, to undergo years of training, and to follow through with all that he had been taught, Hercules never lost hope that he would finally be with people like him.

Well that is until Hercules' talk with Zeus.

And we learn Hercules has been putting himself through tons of risks and labors for nothing...?

He could've accomplished being a true hero back in his old farm town, and before you argue Zeus never explicitly told him to walk the path of a hero- then why did he send him to Danny DeVito???

And I'd like to make it clear I adore that Herc is being told off by his dad. Being Superman in Metropolis can go to one's head at his age especially now that he has proven time and time again how useful his strength is. Hubris is a major character flaw associated with greek mythology even if it isn't the flaw Herakles has in myth, keep this in mind for later as I explain what his flaw really is and how we see instances of it in the Disney film.

With that kind of journey mapped out, I bet about two drachmas and my 4 pound sponsor that Hades did the same as Herc. And as a result invested too much in his job for him to realize that he became disconnected to Olympus as a result.

Yeah, okay this is more conjecture and veering into fanfiction territory here and since I've been writing a fanfic on this guy for the past 6 years I tend to do that w/o meaning to. So if I ever start being a little too sympathetic on Mr. Brimstone Breath over there, take it with a grain of salt.

However, it is my personal headcanon since Hades did help Zeus in the original Titanomachy that my mans became extremely distant in his attempt to become a feared and respected god of the underworld.

And that came with its own reputation as mentioned in Gospel Truth Part II. Hades can get one-track minded and that applies very well to Hercules too.

So in the end, everything Herc and Hades were doing wasn't getting them any closer to what they really wanted: social acceptance.

And this was a big thing in Ancient Greece. The worst punishment a person could receive in those times was being exiled. Outcast. Permanent hermitage.

Let that sink in.

It can be argued that Hades always vied for Zeus' position, but I personally believe he did so because every other attempt he's made to change his circumstances after his What's the Point moment he kept hitting a road block either from Zeus or his arrogance to continue ruling a kingdom even if it isn't the underworld. Until he basically reasons, yup gotta take down the resident thunder dunder head.

And I think it's this factor of loneliness that both these guys share that really exemplifies or differentiates why each one is a great foil to each other. Hades is the dark reflection of what Hercules could be if he continued to toil after godhood/accepted into Mount Olympus to no avail for years and years and years.

It's a very similar trope we see in Kung Fu Panda with Tai Lung vs Po. And where Zeus fits into the role of Shifu.

Remember, both these two were serving their people, but Hades has been around far longer. After centuries, Hades grew sick and tired of serving ppl for basically nothing so he decided to put all his anger and frustration to force the world to bend to him instead.

But this is all hidden in between the lines so it doesn't hit home to the audience unless you take a deeper look into these two characters.

And all that I've talked about above is not even what we see in the film.

So, let's talk about what we do see.

Exhibit Alpha: All Hades Breaks Loose

As always, Hades is a showstopper. Don't tell him that btw he doesn't deserve it.

After executing a perfect 9.8/10 gymnastic spectacle, Hades shows up ready to pounce and do what he does best: Wheel and Deal with a trick ace up his sleeve.

It's so funny seeing Hercules talk to this guy, b/c he just had a falling out with his mentor and he's absolutely not in the mood to talk to this fast-talking flame head.

And Hades was ready to mop the floor with the guy, but b/c he can't get Wonder Bread's attention he has to whip out Meg a lot faster then he wanted to. He couldn't even savor the moment- it's like wasting a fine cigar.

But Hades doesn't skip a beat and like any mob boss, snaps his fingers, does a bit of blackmailing, and my beautiful boy catches on that if he loses his powers for 24 hours- talk about the confidence on Hades' part here- ppl will get hurt.

Hades, naturally, assures him things will be fine. I mean it's not like they're living in Greek mythology or anything. And after all, Hades assures him, Meg will be safe from harm.

They even shake on it. With left hands.....

And as soon as the two break apart, Hades doesn't hold back on telling his nephew how badly he screwed up.

Leave it to your estranged uncle to sucker you into a terrible deal and then outline why that was the worst mistake of your lifetime. Grade A uncle-ing I say. Wonder if he learned that from centuries of putting up with Zeus' offspring.

And while I have discussed this scene before in Meg vs Hades, we see here the same betrayal Meg had gone through with her ex, but now Meg is taking on the role of her ex. So let's look at it from Herc's perspective.

Anyone else feel their heart breaking when Hercules accuses Hades of lying????

But this is what makes the scene for me:

Despite everything, Hercules still chooses to fight.

You can really see the strength of Hercules' character here. Cuz despite his stupid decision, he still bares the weight of his responsibility even without his god-like strength.

Hercules faces the Cyclops as a normie. Hades would never.

This is the moment where Hercules rises above Hades in humility and upholds his duty despite the odds against him. This moment cements Hercules as a hero.

Finally the cycle of similarities is broken by Hercules' unselfish act. And it should've been in my opinion the moment he gained godhood and not the one below:

Yes, I know how important it is for Meg's redemption and to show how pure and true their relationship is. They're my emotional support OTP, okay, but what's more compelling?

Hercules being saved by the woman who just betrayed him, or Hercules risking his life to save the city of Thebes now that he's just like everybody else? He doesn't have his plot armor anymore, he's facing a giant that's already going ham destroying the populace while everyone is trying to escape. Isn't that true hero material? To stand and face the threat and buy the people time to escape?

But I digress.

And oh man, when Meg gets crushed we see a side of Hercules that was hinted at after Phil called out Meg for being a fraud:

We see Hercules' flaw.

In fact, the same flaw that Hades has as well:

Wrath.

Exhibit Beta: A Swell Consolation Prize

Hades loses. Big surprise there. I'm not covering the Titan scene since Hades and Herc just trade frowns and smirks, so imma leave that one be for this post.

But Hades really does sign his death certificate when he starts running away and reminds Johnny Beefcakes that he still managed to get him where it hurts:

And boy oh boy, when Meg died in his arms, Hercules has murder on his mind.

This is the first time Hercules has a vendetta against Hades (with 10 minutes left). A true, true vendetta. He was willing to let go tricking him by using Meg, but now b/c Hades knocked over the domino that led to Meg's death and the job title he holds, he's ready to go kick ass.

And Lord, the writers knock a home run to the impulsiveness that sits at this central character flaw of Herakles.

Hercules, our Disney version, is ready to cheat death, beat Hades to a pulp and do anything to get Meg back. Alcestis and Admetus style, baby.

So Herc grabs Cerberus and forces the bloodthirsty puppy to take him to his master.

And now realizing that he still has a chance of pulling one over on Zeus, Hades is willing to look over the abuse upon his pet and gets ready to use the wheeling and dealing technique.

And while Hercules does *convince*, and I use that word very loosely, to trade places with Meg, Hades agrees. While some have pointed out to me how clever Hercules can be this was not one of those moments.

Wow the son of my greatest rival??? Hercules made a really easy bargain that Hades was gonna propose anyway. Meg is insignificant in the grand scheme of things so who cares if she got a 'Get out of Jail' free card.

But, Hades messed up. Dude should've had his cake and eaten it too and just fished Meg out so Herc could take that dip and avoid what was coming to him.

Y'see Hades wasn't aware of the true hero clause Zeus randomly made up just like how Hades randomly made up a god-to-mortal potion.

So we get this ending with Herc's debt remaining unpaid.

I joked to myself as I was writing this post to include a post in my Hercules Conflicts series where it's Hades vs Hades b/c let's be real, Hades caused all of Hades' problems.

Self-fulfilling prophecies babyyyyy

Oy... Can you believe that now that Herc and Meg are alive and kicking as mortals they still owe a debt to Hades? Not the best ending, mind you. Sure, Hades isn't getting out anytime soon, so does it matter in the grand scheme of things?

But it is a sweet and well-deserved ending for our boy Hercules. Bc despite everything, Hercules realizes that the ppl who love him and know him for who he is: his adopted parents, his coach, and his girl that he would rather live out a mortal life with them instead of one with his bio parents. He knows now that the acceptance he has always been longing for has been realized and he'd rather have the life he knows than risk it all for a life that might make him all the more miserable.

And just like Hercules, Hades is now permanently stuck in the world he was forced into. Funny how they both ended up in the place they were actively trying to leave. It's a well-deserved punishment even if the dead are screwed without someone to keep the underworld in tip-top shape.

It's a shame Hades didn't meet Hercules sooner in the film because there is tons of material here that could've really had them be a formidable villain/hero pair up there with the likes of Aladdin vs Jafar. To have them actively oppose each other and force Hercules to grapple with the knowledge that this god is doing everything in his power to keep him off balance. imagine if Hades showed up early on just to gloat and mock the kid and confirm everything Zeus had told him?

Hercules could've grown up with that chip on his shoulder, wanting to be a fighter and a warrior just so he could take Hades on for realzies and take on the hoard of monsters he's sending to doom humanity. Just so it culminates in the classic: We're not so different conversation to mentally mess with the hero about his morals and life choices.

Could've been great.

Regardless, thanks for making it to the end, dear reader.

Till next time.

[aconstantstateofbladerunner]

Something I really appreciate about your writing is that you make the kids feel like actual teenagers. I have to ask, how do you get the characterization down when your writing? It's something I struggle to do, even when I go back to the original source.

Going back to the original source is a good start. Characterization goes deeper than simply ‘this character is nice’ or ‘this character is funny.’ Let’s look at Izuku for example. He’s kind and smart, but so are several other students. Something specific to him is that he doesn’t have much of a sense of humor; he doesn’t tell any jokes and rarely laughs at those made by others. Compare this to someone like Uraraka, who occasionally makes teasing comments about her friends, versus Sero or Mina who make jokes at the expense of their classmates pretty often. Back to Izuku, this fact about him contributes to a general sense of his social awkwardness, which my writing interprets in a few additional ways. I feel like his lack of humor and awkwardness would extend to trouble with nicknames, giving or receiving, further evidenced by his struggling in canon to call Tsuyu by the nicknames she wants to be called by. Kacchan on the other hand is out of habit, which combined with his issues visualizing One for All as a part of himself early on indicates he has a hard time breaking habits once he’s set on them. Even the fact that it took him so long to realize that he could adopt a kicking fight style is more evidence of this. And then a reoccurring feature in my fics is that Izuku isn’t a touchy-freely person. There’s not much evidence in canon for this, except that despite him and his Mom being close, they don’t touch often. This might not actually be the case, but that’s part of where my idea came from, and it fits back into that awkwardness. Little things like that can say a lot about a character and how they approach different situations.

As for writing teenagers in general, a common mistake i see in both fic and original content is the assumption that all you need to write believable teenagers is to throw in a bunch of modern slang and references. Think Riverdale, bad crack fics, and 90s anti-drug PSAs. Not only is this often handled poorly (incorrect slang use or misjudged references) it also quickly dates the writing. Memes can take years to reach big names in the entertainment industry, and then it takes another few years for a movie featuring those memes to come out. By then, the meme is dead and cringe. In this day and age, memes can have a much shorter shelf life, living and dying within a week. Even if you release an fic chapter during the peak of a meme’s life cycle, it’s only going to be funny to the people who read it then and there; everyone who jumps on the fic later will just cringe. And there’s no way to tell which ones with have the staying power of something like a rickroll or a classic vine.

The solution: don’t do this. Avoid overusing slang and meme speak, and instead implement more general/timeless dialogue. Slang like ‘dude’ has been in the lexicon long enough that it feels normal, and while ‘mood’ and ‘vibe’ are fairly new, they aren’t as obtrusive as ‘bae’ which is falling out of style, or ‘boomer’ which references a specific group of people. Basically, the more general and common, the better. And keep the time period of your story in mind; MHA for example takes place at least a century in the future, why would the kids of that era still be complaining about boomers? Teenagers still act immaturely sometimes and make jokes, but try and find the humor in the specific situation of the story rather than quoting something else. Teens are also more openly casual than adults. Teasing, touching, maybe saying something rude or inappropriate. One simple way to convey casual speech is to use more contractions; i.e. ‘can’t’ instead of ‘cannot’ or ‘we’re gonna’ instead of ‘we are going to.’ This is my advice for all dialogue: read it to yourself outloud and ask if it sounds like something a real person would actually say. Exaggeration is also good. ‘My life is over!’ when their crush doesn’t like them back, or a big group groan at a pop quiz.

As for the internal experience of being a teenager, the thing i remember most about being that age in the tension between suddenly being expected to be ready for things and take care of myself when i didn’t feel ready, but still being treated like a dumb child in other ways i thought i was ready for. You start understanding more things when you get older and want people to take you seriously as a result, but you’re also insecure about the things you don’t understand and maybe overcompensate. In short, being a teenager comes with a lot of confusing, frustrating changes, some of which are absolutely unfair, but there are a few you genuinely bring upon yourself.

Hope this helps you get started. If not, or you have other questions, the ask box is always open.

[atruththatyoudeny]

Happy 28th! Here are all the fics I read and loved this month:

Remember Me Before You | kingsofeverything | [293k] Desperate to find a new place to live after he comes home to find his boyfriend cheating, Harry moves into a loft with three strangers. A New Girl AU.

Eyes on the Horizon | yeah_alright | [12k] Freshly dumped, recently fired, and about to turn 40, Harry's friends insist on taking him skydiving to cheer him up. His younger and extremely fit instructor Louis makes him even more nervous than the idea of jumping out of a plane, but both may be exactly what he needs to turn his life around.

Late Night Talking | kingsofeverything | [54k] Louis Tomlinson has a new album coming out and a second world tour on the horizon. Promo season gets underway with a stop at Late Night Talking, the late night show hosted by Harry Styles, and Harry Styles just happens to be the man who blew a chance to date Louis a decade ago.

Unholy | wickedarcher_08 | [12k] When Harry Styles started acting different after his 26th birthday, Father Louis Tomlinson is the only one that may be able to save his soul. He has successfully performed exorcisms before. This should be easy. Until it isn't. Harry is more than he seems. The battle of wills test every bit of faith Louis has. And Harry? Well, he's just getting started. "Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."- Matthew 26:41.

Secrets, Santa? | indiaalphawhiskey | [20k] Right, okay, so Harry had confessed his deepest, darkest, dirtiest secrets to a stranger who turned out to be his boss. No big deal. This was probably just the beginning of Harry’s own hilariously heartwarming, wildly romantic Hallmark Christmas movie, come to life, right? …Right?

Moonlit Renault | softfonds | [38k] It's the early 20th century, and Louis Tomlinson learns just how much he is willing to do for a love that is considered wrong, but feels so right. A Maurice AU.

It's Thursday. Let's Get (un)Dressed. | bananaheathen | [9k] When Louis is peer-pressured into downloading TikTok over the holidays, he fully expects to hate it. And he does hate it. All of it. Well... except for aspiring OOTD influencer, @harrystyles.

Warm Chilling | Larry_you_know | [8k] Louis moves into a cosy cottage in the English countryside with his dog Clifford to look after his great-aunt's animals. His next door neighbour, Harry, is an eccentric young man who swims in the pond every morning, owns cats and chickens, grows his own vegetables and wears, according to Louis, grand-dad clothes. He's the opposite of Louis, who is a true city man and has tiny little troubles adjusting to life in the countryside. It's only a matter of time before Louis falls madly in love with his endearing neighbour.

baby, you're the end of june | disgruntledkittenface | [16k] “Up for it, Harold? We can go over the rundown when we get back. If you’re not busy then.” “Yeah, sounds good,” Harry says, closing his laptop and setting it on Louis’ desk. “It’s just Harry, though.” “You look like a Harold,” Louis says, standing up and brushing some brownie crumbs off his t-shirt. Harry briefly wonders how he’s still hungry for lunch after demolishing half the plate of brownies as he stands and moves into the hallway. “It’s the cardigan, I think.” “You guys can flirt on the way,” Niall says over his shoulder, beckoning for them to follow him as he strides down the row of cubicles. “Come on, I’m starving.” Harry looks at Louis, but he just laughs as they follow Niall. Oh. He thought he’d been picking up a vibe while they hung out, but apparently not. Well, it’s better to know how Louis feels now, so he can nip his growing crush in the bud. Louis is a great guy, at least they can be friends as well as coworkers. In which Harry courts Louis. Entirely by accident.

Something Blue & Someone New | littleroverlouis | [6k] Single Alpha Louis moves into a new apartment building and doesn't realize he misses courting someone until meeting his next door neighbor, a charming Omega named Harry. Louis is working up the nerve to officially ask him to court, but what if Harry secretly beats him to the punch?

These High Walls | LarryAlways28 | [69k] Harry Styles should have the world at his feet. Born to one of Seattle's wealthiest families, Harry was raised exactly as a Styles heir should be: sharp as a tack, witty, charming, and powerful. He was the ideal son - until he presented as an Omega. Now, barely a year after his old man dropped dead and running the family company, if he makes a mistake with the Tomlinson and Sons merger and acquisition, it's game over. ___ Louis Tomlinson is in over his head. After the tragic death of his older brother, Louis has no choice but to put his music career on hold and head back home to handle the family affairs. The family business is drowning and Louis doesn't know what to do. So... when the older, and wildly attractive Harry Styles offers him a deal in exchange for saving his family's legacy- how could Louis ever refuse that? But what happens when emotions get tangled and a good business deal turns into something much more powerful?

bitter ends turn sweet in time | me_her_themoon | [24k] “Are you…” Louis looks back down at the paper, voice almost getting caught in his throat, “Harry Styles?” Oh, fuck. Harry Styles.

Chicago | HelloLovers13 | [3k] They hadn't seen each other in four years, why was Louis still writing songs about Harry? Larry take on the song Chicago

I'm Weaker Without You | The_Halcyonic_Lachesist | [20k] Alpha Lord Louis Tomlinson is a rake who refuses to settle down. Will he settle down for the Society's most talked about Omega? What about the enticing scent that belongs to the Beta? How will he react to said Beta pursuing the Omega too?

Behind closed doors | bluegreenish | [10k] “You should ask that whoever he’s currently fucking.” Liam’s eyes grow wide. “No.” His tone is unbelieving, just like Louis’ would’ve been if you had told him what turn today would take. “Yes.” “How do you know?” Louis’ room mate’s eyes barely leave him as he tries to untie his shoes without looking. “Went to his dorm earlier, found a sock on his door handle. He’s such an arsehole.” or, the one where omega Louis finds a sock on alpha Harry's door handle that causes a big misunderstanding but is also the beginning of something new.

lost in the sirens | akatomlinson | [53k] abo fic where alphas and omegas can’t cohabitate as friends and harry ‘supposed-to-be-a-beta’ styles presents a few weeks before he and louis ‘hot/spicy-omega-bestie’ tomlinson are set to move into their new uni flat. featuring sephora louis, a world run by abo stereotypes, and harry who just wants to know what it means to be an alpha

[voidsteffy]

Hey, could you rank every SSR movie from Absolutely Goated to Still good but worth watch again, and please provide reasons as to why you've ranked them as they are please? Pretty please 🥺👉👈

Ooo, what a task (I'm going to get beat up I'm afraid!)

but here goes, putting my life at risk: SS Rajamouli's movies (not in chronological order) with my ranking

Absolutely GOAT

Eega - Before he was Shyam Singha Roy in the body of Vasu, Nani was Nani in the body of a housefly and I find cinematic poetry in that. + The graphics, the music, the exaggerated comedy... Sudeep knows exactly what he's doing with his lines

Magadheera - (he really has it out for reincarnation stories doesn't he?) Charan's first real role (I hate Chirutha) The grandeur of the sets, the background here and there... Also the mass CGI with the gladiator audience was the new hot toy that SSR introduced. Anaganaganaga crawled so Ettara Jenda could run. (You know i'm right)

RRR - Just for Bheem's intro, it deserves an oscar. I'm one of the people who think Naatu Naatu was good, but not THAT good as they made it out to be. Also, RRR gave me the first himbo couple I could ship openly. My grandma agrees because the only dispute she had with RRR is that Ram had to pee and poop in that cell. No disagreement against RamBheem being the Tollywood IT couple

Chatrapathi - it gave teluguvallu fantastic inside jokes like: a. Tala tintada mondema? (will the shark eat his head or body first?) b. Suridu? YADUNDAVAYYA? SURIDUUU (Suridu, kaha ho? Suridooo) c. OKA ADDUGUUUU☝🏽👣 (one step, I want one step) d. Violin champakura babu (chatrapathi and simhadri kill our brain cells with the violin music in the climax emo moments, i always want to pull my hair out) - but also, Chatrapathi had a good bgs, worked fantastically for hero-uplifting moments like the interval and okka adugu scene

Bahubali: The Beginning - Only and only for the interval scene and the architecture of Mahishmati. TOP TIER. The loopholes and characterization of Avantika could have been way better. Pacha Bottesina was totally unnecessary

Good, Can Watch Again

6. Vikramarkudu - Chintata chita chita chintata TA! (teluguvallu can translate this into literally anything) 7. Yamadonga - just for the RAMBA, OORVASI, MENAKA moment I take away 5 points from the 10 points it earned. Tarak and Priyamani was a pairing I didn't know I needed 8. Maryada Ramanna - Sunil anna I love you anna but this wasn't your movie. This is the cycle's story, and that one song in the train. the screenplay is a cart wheel without the cart. It's funny in some places but Brahmaji dies FOR NO REASON. JUSTICE FOR BRAHMAJI 9. Simhadri - I didn't really feel for the characters. BUT. BUT BUT. I have to say this because it's been stewing in me for so long: Simhadri's interval scene ran so Bahubali 1's ending twist could fly. I said what I said y'all know it's the same vibe we all catching.

Eh, One Time Watch

10. Sye - it doesn't seem like an SSR movie, but it's not that good. Young Adult revenges were in trend when this was made and it fit well with its counterparts. Sometimes I even forget that Genelia and Nithiin did indeed work with Rajamouli 11. Student No. 1 - not that special, honestly early-career Tarak's movies just blend in my head: SN1, Aadhi, Samba... but hey at least SN1 started a long lasting kinship 12. Bahubali: The Conclusion - THAT IS NOT SIVAGAMI! HOW DARE YOU! this is beyond ooc, it's not a character at all. At one point I thought they'd bring out a tantrik doing black magic to change Sivagami... And Devasena is not the best written character in SSR's filmography. This movie makes me want to scratch my eyeballs out. If only my mom had the audacity and hardheadedness to talk to grandma like this. Also... Avantika's leader, who is killed by Bhalla in the seige, IS DEVASENA'S BROTHER. and she just LOOKS as he's getting the life choked out of him? oo don't make me start about this movie I can rant for a loooong time

and so.... *flaps hands* that was it ig? thanks for the ask babu!

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

we discussed why Ridley Scott's film is unlikely to be the way we would like it to be

so I have a question: what films/series about Napoleon more or less correctly represent real history? or just good in your opinion

oh man, I'm a bit of a picky person when it comes to Napoleonic films/series, but not in a logically consistent manner so people get a little confused sometimes. Which is fair.

I'll give you two rec's:

My favourite Napoleon movie is Monsieur N. I think what makes it work is that it's a historical AU, basically, and fills all my favourite tropes. Premise is that Napoleon, through a weird magic (?) thing, switches fates with his valet/spy Cipriani and manages to escape St. Helena.

As one can guess, it's only loosely, loosely based in history. The ages of some people are altered (Betsy Balcombe is aged up significantly so she can be an appropriate love interest for Napoleon; Barry O'Meara is in his late thirties/early forties for no apparent reason etc.). I feel like Albine got shafted in being cast as a bit of the Conniving Courtesan. Montholon is positioned as a poisoner, even though by the time the film was made that theory/story had been pretty heavily debunked. They omit Napoleon's crap treatment of Fanny Bertrand after she rebuffed his advances. Napoleon's still played too seriously - but that's a fault in literally almost every production ever.

That said, I love Bertrand in this. Gourgaud makes a rogue appearance and is suitably chaotic. I like Sir Hudson Lowe as well - I feel that Richard Grant was cast perfectly. The visuals are beautiful. It's just gorgeously filmed (I love the first confrontation/meet scene between Napoleon and Lowe - the playing with light, the choice of clothes, the switching through languages etc. it's masterful).

The historical inaccuracy aside, I actually liked the relationship between Napoleon and Betsy. I'm just like "clearly it's another Betsy Balcombe. Funny that two people have the same name on this small island!"

(Obviously, in reality, she was a literal child when she knew Napoleon. He was an uncle/older brother figure to her and she was clearly a surrogate daughter/niece to him. They pranked each other and teamed up to prank Lowe on the regular alongside playing silly games and mucking about.)

I love that it's a multi-lingual production so you have English, French and Corsican being spoken, as appropriate for the characters/people. The sound track is fitting. It's appropriately atmospheric.

So yeah, I am very fond of the film. But it's just a fun, stupid romp.

You can't go in expecting a Real Historical And/Or Accurate Account of Napoleon on St. Helena. Thankfully, the film never positions itself as such a thing. It's very clearly a What If + Fanfiction. I recommend going in and treating it like a slightly more serious Knight's Tale in its approach to history (vibes & essence over facts). If you do that, you'll have a blast. If you go in looking for Historical Napoleon or whatever, you'll hate it.

I also may or may not have a Thing for Philippe Torreton (who plays Napoleon). So. That might also inform my affection for this dumb film.

-----

I remember enjoying the 2002 French miniseries Napoleon (with Christian Clavier and Isabella Rossellini). As with all series and films, it has its issues (there are definite inaccuracies), but I liked it overall. I feel they hit the emotional beats between Napoleon and Josephine really well.

(While she's not older than him in it, at least the actors the same age and she's not like 16 years younger than Napoleon /eye roll.)

The scene when she reams him out during their divorce is powerful (she does this great thing about how he always wanted to make it clear that he's separate from the ancien regime and Not Like Those People but what is he doing now? He's marrying one of Marie Antoinette's relatives. And like, she is calling him out for his political inconsistency, and making the point that it's a bad decision in terms of Optics, but it's also so clearly much more than that. It's well done). Napoleon's reaction when he learns that she's died is heart breaking and well rendered/believable.

There is also humour and convivial moments that are often lacking in historical biopics with him, which I appreciate (love the "you need to take the Austrian uniform off the scarecrow or we'll have an International Incident on our hands" scene).

There's a rogue Coulaincourt who makes an appearance! Nice to see him. Same with Lannes - glad he makes an appearance. Though there's no Duroc or Junot, unfortunately. (Granted, I understand the need to keep the cast to a reasonable amount of people.)

So yeah, it's an entertaining series. It's a bit of a "classic" in the sense that I feel like anyone who has gone through a Napoleon Phase watches it.

----

Truly, the best representation of Napoleon is in Bill and Ted's Most Excellent Adventure. You're welcome.

----

I hope this helps!

[why-so-serious-lucifer]

K-pop Discography Deep Dives: Gfriend

A Disclaimer: I was planning, when I first started Tumblr, to be a lurker, but then I began an office job and needed something to listen to to keep myself occupied. And then, I started going through entire K-pop groups’ repertoires, album by album, and jotting down my thoughts. And then, I stumbled into K-pop tumblr and decided, you know what, there’s at least four people on this hell site who would read in depth rants about these discographies and at least five who wouldn’t read it and then get mad because it’s kind of our job as K-pop fans. My lukewarm takes should be taken with an entire silo of salt and the knowledge that this is completely for fun and occupying my very bored, very neurodivergent brain. With that being said, enjoy!

So, let me lay out my credentials for Gfriend: I’ve been a Buddy since I stumbled across MAGO in a compilation in 2020 or so, and needless to say I was crushed to find out that they disbanded. I still consider myself a Buddy, and in the last few years, I’ve listened to all their title tracks and a decent amount of b-sides. So, this deep dive is less of me getting into a new band and more of me seeing…hmm what else can I discover? Obviously, a lot of bias is involved here.

Gfriend debuted in 2015, in the heyday of 3rd generation, with a “schoolgirl” concept not unlike their peers Lovelyz, TWICE, and WJSN. Also, as a side note, their intros are all great, even from the beginning, and I wish that more of the interesting quirks that make them so great carried through into the rest of the songs.

Their first song, Glass Bead, has more of a classical spin than I remembered from their earlier work, and I enjoyed it, Me Gustas Tu, and Rough more on re-listen. Glass Bead is sweet: it’s good, but to someone who’s listened to as much k-pop as I have, it doesn’t stand out as very unique. From the album, Neverland is pretty good too.

Me Gustas Tu’s intro starts with gentle water and the song itself continues the feeling with an overall sunny vibe; it’s another nice one, but another that feels like a lot of others. As a hidden gem, Under The Sky has great drive and payoff, and would’ve made a better title track in my opinion.

I know a lot of people absolutely adore Rough. I’m…not one of them. Don’t get me wrong; Yuju’s belted power notes are always a pleasure, and her voice with the electric guitars makes such an excellent contrast. Eunha’s high voice also stands out, but Umji’s, Yerin’s, SinB’s, and Sowon’s are great too, and their different tones all harmonize well together.

I wish that the energy of the rock guitar or the orchestra carried through more, because there’s something about the song that doesn’t feel fully realized and I can’t say what it is. Rough is less a moment of standing apart from their peers and more a very gentle sidestep—but definitely a marker of what’s to come. Hidden gems from this album are definitely Say My Name and Someday, the second of which uses the classical touches quite well.

Their first few titles are a bit formulaic, but Navillera, despite at first fitting it, has much more drive and heft, and by the time we reach the guitar solo and the accompanying power note, it feels earned. It takes the best parts of the previous songs and melds them together into something great. I confess that I know this song by heart, and all in all, it’s an early highlight that I find myself liking more each time. Hidden gems from this album include Mermaid and Compass (with a special shout out to the harmonica in Distance).

Fingertip picks up where Navillera left off, with a good sense of humor in its 80’s action movie spoofing. It has one of the few dance breaks I adore, and I found myself bopping my head. And the catharsis! One of the things I love most about k-pop is when songs build to a point where everything just lights up, and Fingertip has this in spades. My hidden gem for this EP is definitely Crush.

Next up is a return to form in Love Whisper, which feels very much like Spring, and has a calming energy, but the song itself isn’t anything trailblazing. It’s a bit meandering and the orchestra isn’t used enough for me. It’s also a lot like Me Gustas Tu, which again, doesn’t mean that either is a bad song, but it does mean that both stick out less.

Summer Rain also has a nice opening, but it feels more dramatic and symphonic, which sets it apart from the rest of Gfriend’s songs at this point. It isn’t my favorite either, but I like it more than Love Whisper, Glass Bead, Me Gustas Tu, and Rough, which I classify in the same category. From the album, Rainbow is the definite winner, with Red Umbrella close behind.

Sunny Summer offers a different view of the same season; it’s upbeat and while carrying through the youthful energy of their earlier work, something about it also feels more grown up, as though a goodbye to their younger selves.

I’m probably reading way too much into what should be a fun song, but it reminds me of the feeling of a last summer vacation after high school and before adulthood. Either way, I’d say that my hidden gem from this album is Vacation (for its boundless energy)

With Time For The Moon Night comes the second big shift in Gfriend’s sound and the start of a new era. The intro, Daytime, sounds right out of a Disney movie, and the song delivers. It begins peacefully, and eventually gently glides into an introspective sort-of ballad that toes the line between sad and hopeful. The whole album is honestly great, and my favorite of the EPs so far.

That being said, I’d like to take a moment of your time to discuss Bye, which may be my favorite of Gfriend’s b-sides. It’s a ballad, yes, but so much more. It blends a full orchestra, an electric guitar, and some of Gfriend’s most affecting vocal work to date. All in all, it’s one of those album tracks that could’ve made an excellent single, and I’m so glad I rediscovered it in my deep dive, because I may or may not have replayed it three times.

Sunrise, perhaps appropriately, feels like Time For The Moon Night’s opposite twin, with lyrics that are just as sad combined with a far more hopeful and well…sunny spin on it. It’s many people’s favorite Gfriend song, and while it isn’t mine, I can’t deny that those choruses, especially the final one, is a hell of a knock-out.

Memoria, while technically a b-side, is also a Japanese single, but it’s so ethereal and lovely that it deserves a shout out. Hidden gems from this album include Only 1, and A Starry Night, but the stand-out has to be You Are Not Alone, both for the adorableness that is the title and for the surprisingly poignant follow-through.

Fever is a departure from the sound Gfriend’s been cultivating and seems like a bit of an odd choice. It’s not a bad song but it’s not great either; it’s pleasant, but it slips in and out of the ears, without any staying power. The girls’ voices feel underutilized, which is unusual for them, and I’ll never understand the impulse to have an anti-drop rather than a power note. I don’t have a hidden gem for this album, but I did like the whistling in Smile.

This album also highlighted something I’ve noticed: a lot of Gfriend’s b-sides start out with a really unique or interesting instrumental (like Smile) but don’t carry it through to the rest of the song, and thus leave it sounding like a lot of other songs.

Flower is the one song I really did like from the album, although it’s a Japanese single and so not technically a b-side. It also takes Gfriend’s music in a different direction (in this case, tango) but the gamble pays off! It’s a pretty good song; not their best, but a nice break.

After this, we finally reach the Modern Witch Trilogy, what I would consider their Magnum Opus, and unfortunately, the end of their time as a six-person group. Each part of the trilogy is magical in its own way: Crossroads is classical and grounded in emotion, Apple is ethereal and delightfully entrancing, and MAGO is empowering and warm at the same time.

The first song of the trilogy is Crossroads, which is definitely the most melancholy of their titles, finally giving the orchestra time to shine. The song’s best moment is undoubtedly the short section of a-capella before the last chorus’ soaring take-off, with the girls’ voices absolutely feeling like some sort of desperate plea to the stars.

My hidden gem for this album is definitely Labyrinth, which, in a 2023 world, I could totally see being a pre-release with a music video; not a title track instead of Crossroads, but with it. Here We Are is great too, and the other b-sides hold their own.

Next in the trilogy is Apple, which simply oozes magic and power. At first, I worried that it would be another Fever with a nothing chorus, but it proved me wrong! It doesn’t quite have a climax but it’s still absolutely engaging and unique.

This is another great album, and it was so hard to pick a hidden gem. The trio of the electro Eye of The Storm, the ballroom waltz of Room of Mirrors, and the dance floor of Tarot Cards are pretty neck-and-neck. But if I had to choose, Room of Mirrors is my favorite.

And at last, we reach MAGO! MAGO is, I’ll be honest, one of my all-time favorite k-pop songs (we’re talking Top 10), and I’ve loved it since I first heard it. To say everything I want to say would take forever, but if I had to name a few, here we go. The song has such great drive and heft and never stops moving, even when it slows down a little. It explodes with confidence and self-expression, and it’s a song that stands out because that empowerment doesn’t fall flat.

There are so many good songs from this album too: the rock in Love Spell, the brightness in Three Of Cups, and the R&B in Secret Diary, but my favorite without a doubt is Wheel Of The Year. Look, I’m a total sap, and it’s the exact kind of song that I adore: sad and happy, hopeful, emotional, inspiring, and all about the power of friendship. In the wake of their disbandment, it’s hard not to see this as a lovely farewell, to both the fans and each other.

It’s hard to overstate how much I adore the Modern Witch Trilogy. All three of these titles also feel so…queer to me? Obviously, as a queer woman, everything I view is through a queer lens, but between the found family separated in Crossroads, the forbidden temptation of witches in Apple, and the all-female be-yourself disco club in MAGO, I don’t think I’m reading too much into this. But I’d love to hear other opinions on this.

My top 5 songs are MAGO, Wheel Of The Year, Fingertip, Crossroads, and Bye. But I loved their whole discography, and as much as I ragged on Fever, there weren’t any songs I actually disliked, and it would be a highlight in a less incredible body of work. I’m also Wiccan, and the Wheel Of The Year is such an important thing for us that it felt like it was made just for me. I admit, when I started writing about their later songs, I even got a bit emotional and even more when I found out that the members themselves helped write some of them.

Gfriend, to the surprise of no one, gets a 9.5/10 from me. I can’t really imagine a discography more suited to me personally, although I think that anyone who appreciates great voices, disco, orchestral spins, or witches would find something to love here too. The only reason the score isn’t higher is because I haven’t done that many deep dives yet and I want to leave some room, lol.

So, I’ll see you next time, for a boy group!

[mkhyemi]

hello hello hello! i'm kalo (21, she/her, est) and this is hyemi! she does NOT want to be here, but surely her time at lumera will shape her into a perfectly suitable magickai... right??? until then, she just has to be the disney channel movie character who somehow missed the chance to say "no mom... this isn't my dream, it's yours..." and follow her real passion. tbh, that hasn't even crossed her mind at all! so she's simply accommodating herself to what's expected of her and will continue to do so until she either learns to like it or she dissipates into the ocean or something... three cheers for repression! a more detailed delve-into hyemi can be found below the cut! it's been give or take 2 and a half years since i last did this whole rp thing, so please bear with me while i shake the rust off! (and while i finish up with my semester... lol) i'm very excited to write and have a fun time with you all! feel free to give this post a like and i'll pop into your ims as quick as possible for some plotting!

profile | bio | plots (empty links will be filled when finished ;;;)

hyemi is the youngest daughter of her family, her mother is an untrained magi (her companion died fairly early after her powers awoke), her father is a human, and her older sister is also a human.

her mother is essentially living vicariously through hyemi's becoming a magickai, to the point where she moved with hyemi from ulsan to seoul so she could enroll in the memoria of seoul. very pageant-mom vibes. hyemi loves her mom though and is very much reliant on her approval, which is what led her to her compliance re: enrolling at lumera and pursuing life as a magickai.

in reality, hyemi isn't too thrilled with the premise of being a magical soldier, no matter what fancy kind of name it's given. she's very envious of the more normal kind of life her older sister is living back home

her companion is a hedgehog named needles, who is a big pain in her ass and only adds to the pressure to get serious about her training. hearing feedback from someone who knows that all of her studying and training is essentially a front hurts a little more than she'd like to admit, especially considering it's coming from an animal that can fit in the palm of her hand. suffice to say, they don't get along very well.

regarding her powers, her control over them is very finicky, and is very easily swayed by her emotions. please anticipate finding her half-submurged into the ground or various walls. to counteract this somewhat, she tends to wear wetsuits or other swim-shirt adjacent items to help keep her in one piece, to middling results. at least it stops her clothes from getting wet? #styleicon. her minor power lets her turn whatever part of her that's water into ice, but she mainly just uses this to punch things a bit harder. she's admittedly no strategist.

her fighting style is very upfront. her powers aren't conducive towards offense on an especially grand scale, and fit more towards the role of a facetank, as her water form absorbs most forms of pain.

on that note, has been taking boxing and self-defense lessons since the awakening of her powers (she uses it as stress relief, but it has synergized with her up-close fighting style and the fact that her weapon is a pair of gauntlets)

maintains a very packed schedule both to distract herself from her general sense of dissatisfaction but also to exert some form of control over what she's doing at lumera (ie: her classes, her extracurricular lessons, hiking club, working at soap and suds, etc.) she's very particular about her schedule and about punctuality in general!

on a social level, hyemi is very much a people-pleaser, and thus takes great pains to not show off her frustrations with her current lifestyle. however, this leads her to be evasive and pretty resistant to forming substantial connections with people... whoops! she tends to shape her behavior to fit with other people and is definitely more of a follower-type than a leader-type. however, her temper is a bit of a ticking time bomb at this point (though, the fuse is pretty long!) so it probably will all blow up in her face eventually. hopefully it won't all land on the wrong target?

some quickfire connection/plot ideas!:

anyone who also attended the memoria of seoul! study buddies/academic rivals/etc.

you think her power (or rather, her lack of control over her power) is hilarious, and try to devise increasingly outlandish pranks/ways of catching her by surprise to watch her collapse into a puddle. (whether this is friendly or antagonistic is up to interpretation!)

someone to help her work through her newly-developed fear of large bodies of water

bad(?) influence: or otherwise someone who wants to break her from her rigid routine-based way of living

she's a caffeine fiend, so if your muse either works at or also habitually visits the coffee shop, they could hang out there?

sparring partners / work out buddies

[lmelodie]

The Santa Clauses

Okay so the series has concluded, and this is my series wide review of the entire thing (Long ramble under the cut). And just as an aside, if you did enjoy the series all the props to you! It’s got some good stuff in it truly. But for me personally it’s complicated. 

Regarding the story, the writing was lacking to say the least. The story feels disjointed and the pacing is all out of whack, it feels like it was still trying to figure itself out in every episode. As is, I feel like it would've been better off as a movie, the episodic series format doesn't seem to gel with the story they tried to tell. But even still it was all ruined by THE ENDING. Nothing spoils a piece of media (good or bad) more than an unsatisfying ending. 

I LOATHE that Simon as a character was utterly wasted the entire time. He just got to go up to the pole, cause a big mess and then get “dusted” and not remember anything at the end. I was really rooting for him to actually be reformed in some way and to end up being the next Santa instead of Scott COMING BACK. In universe it's explained that he wasn't even supposed to retire that early anyway, but I got the vibes from the entire series that the Santa position was supposed to properly go to Simon, and he learns a valuable lesson about family and charity and he gets to be a good Santa after that, and then Scott can be with his family.

Another personally niche qualm that I have, is that this series has many callbacks and references to the first two movies, BUT THEN TRIES IT'S HARDEST TO SWEEP THE THIRD FILM UNDER THE RUG. In fact, the existence of Buddy and that one half mention of Jack in the first episode are THE ONLY indicators that the third movie ever happened in this series. And I just think that's a shame.

An unexpected saving grace of this series is to actually leave out the legendary council and the Miller family, so that they are all spared of the inevitable butchering their characters would have gone through, had they been included. Unfortunately I cannot say the same for Charlie and Bernard.

Overall, the series fits in well with the movie trilogy in that it has a lot of good ideas! It is chocked full of great concepts, THAT THEY DO NOTHING WITH. All of the good world building ideas are either heavily fumbled, completely unexplained, or utterly retcons other established ideas in the trilogy. 

Examples being Charlie and Bernard, whose appearances in the series were very welcome! I loved seeing both of them back. But I just wish that they were maybe written a bit better. Bernard especially, THEY FUMBLED BERNARD SO HARD. Also Carol's Mrs. Claus storyline was also extremely fumbled, it didn't have an impact, it raised a lot of questions but then gave absolutely zero answers.

On another note, here is a brief list of all the things that I actually enjoyed about the series:

Buddy as a character. His himbo energy was one of the few saving graces of the series, it kept me going through the entire thing and he was actually very funny. He takes a firm second place on my list of favorite characters.

FIRST PLACES GOES TO THE MARRIED COUPLE BETTY AND NOEL! They are my entire world and they will absolutely be included in writing stuff if I get the chance. Girlboss x malewife couple? Best decision this series made. 

La Befana also has my entire heart!! I love that SHE WASN'T A VILLAIN! She was just a chill cottage witch living in the woods the whole time and I love that for her. Her vibes are so on point as well.

Bernard brought THE SASS. Bernard's energy was very very welcome and I do very much enjoy his appearance. Could've done with more screen time, but I'm just glad he's here at all.

The existence of Krampus is also very welcome. I love this funky little goatman, and I'm glad he's cannon, I just think he's neat :)

[cantsayidont]

Movies movies movies:

THE WITCH WHO CAME FROM THE SEA (1976): Disquieting, bloody psychological drama, directed by Matt Cimber (later the founder of G.L.O.W., and the basis for the "Sam Sylvia" character played by Marc Maron on the 2017–2019 G.L.O.W. TV series), about a disturbed young woman named Molly (Millie Perkins, wife of screenwriter Robert Thorn), whose horrifying history of childhood abuse causes her to sublimate sexual attraction into dissociative homicidal fits, when she isn't doting on her two young nephews or drinking herself into a haze. Vibes like an exploitation movie, but too arty and surreal to really qualify as one, and it doesn't ever feel quite like a horror movie despite the lurid subject matter; probably the closest comparison is Abel Ferrara's MS.45, with which it would make an apt double bill. Demands strong CWs for CSA and suicide, both of which are pretty rough, but it definitely makes an impression, perhaps most strikingly in the later scenes where Molly's seedy boss (Lonny Chapman) and bitchy coworker (Peggy Feury) begin to grasp how unhinged Molly has really become, leading to a disturbing finale. Too unsettling to easily recommend, hard to forget.

ALICE GOODBODY (1974): Lightweight, smutty exploitation movie, written, produced, and directed by Tom Scheuer, starring Sharon Kelly as a starstruck Hollywood waitress who loves old movies and movie stars (most of whom the people she meets in the industry have barely even heard of) and who is determined to get a small part in a new musical about Julius Caesar, even though it means sleeping with almost everyone in town. A kind of cheerful low-stakes sex comedy they don't make anymore: The situation is obviously sleazy, but not in any way that ever puts Alice in any particular jeopardy (she's in far more danger on set, where she keeps suffering different workplace accidents). The movie's central running joke is that the men whose favor she's supposed to be cultivating are at least as fixated on their own weird obsessions and neuroses as on sex, something Alice just has to sort of work around as best she can, which ends up making her sympathetic and even relatable. More likable than you'd think.

SPICE WORLD (1997): Delightfully dopey Girl Power homage to Richard Lester's A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, starring the Spice Girls, Richard E. Grant at his Richard E. Grantiest, and a cast of thousands. (Just picking out all the cameos and guest stars is half the fun.) This is what I think the Greta Gerwig BARBIE movie was going for: obviously a commercial product, and making no apologies for its mercantile ambitions, but self-aware enough and full of enough sly piss-taking to be thoroughly enjoyable even if you aren't in (or never had) a Spice Girls phase. Goes on a bit too long, but Grant's outfits alone are worth sticking it out for, and the bridge-jumping climax is very funny.

KALIFORNIA (1993): Mordant thriller starring a disconcertingly young-looking David Duchovny as Brian Kessler, a young writer who blows his advance for a new book about serial killers on an old convertible for him and his horny art photographer girlfriend Carrie Laughlin (Michelle Forbes, with disconcerting bangs) to drive across the country, photographing famous murder sites. Along the way, they pick up a couple of hitchhiking hicks, Early Grayce (Brad Pitt) and Adele Comers (Juliette Lewis), to help pay for gas, not realizing that Early is a paroled convict who's just murdered someone and has no qualms about dropping more bodies along the way. Tim Metcalfe's script (with obligatory '90s voiceover narration) scores some points early on in its depiction of Brian and Carrie's obvious classism and brittle middle-class hipster intellectualism, but the story ends up validating their prejudices rather than questioning them, which keeps the film from being entirely satisfying despite its effectiveness as a thriller. The cast is very good, with Pitt and Forbes the real standouts — Pitt plays Early as a man who draws no line between aw-shucks Southern congeniality and murderous rage, while Forbes makes Carrie's mix of ambition, appetite, and roiling intensity so vivid that you come away wondering what she's doing with Brian, who Duchovny plays as a somewhat gormless jackass. As for Lewis, suffice to say this would make an interesting double bill with NATURAL BORN KILLERS, released about a year later, where she plays a variation on the same damaged theme.

[oldfashionedmorphine]

⭐ Directors Cut on curating your soundtrack for On The Same Frequency. How was the process for that and incorporating them into the story? What was the writing process like incorporating the songs? No pressure of course to answer this.🫂

hi hello!

this is an interesting question for sure…

i have to say it evolved a lot over the duration of writing.

but first, here is the playlist for anyone who hasn’t listened to it yet:

okay so…

very early on i decided i wanted to pick instrumental songs for this story over songs with lyrics…at least, i wanted the playlist to feel like it could be a soundtrack to a movie because the story is inspired by a movie…and initially i only had a few songs when i first started writing back in august (mostly songs from the big giant circles album there came an echo—which was because of the song outside the realm that plays during the “crazy together” scene, and i also had some from the stranger things OST too)

but in between writing i would spend some time looking up songs, usually starting with similar artists to the songs i already had and honestly i have to say it was kind of a rabbit hole situation with how i ended up with most of them—though sometimes i specifically looked something up, like “synth style christmas songs” which is how i found joy to the synthwave world and holiday nights and i also added a lot of the OST songs from the movie archive because i watched the movie in october and thought they fit well.

and after doing all that i ended up with a playlist that was close to 8 hours long and made up of 126 songs (the unofficial version)…but i wanted to narrow it down so it wasn’t so long (official playlist is like 53 songs and 3 hours)…..and my main reason for doing that was so that (if you’re someone like me) you could have it play in the background while reading to set the mood….

and i narrowed it down by simply reading through each finished chapter while listening to the songs to decide if they fit the vibes for the scenes (a rather time consuming process, haha)—oh and i even created separate chapter playlists while i was figuring this all out too (which outside the realm being a song for ch 4 shouldn’t be too surprising lol) because i took it a step further and tried to keep the duration/length of each chapter playlist to the average reading speed for the overall word count of each chapter (if that makes sense…like ch 6 being 10k words meant that i tried to add songs until the chapter playlist was somewhere around 30-40 mins long…….) of course, it doesn’t work for everyone because reading speeds are different, but each chapter playlist is timed for average reader speed (although i messed around with the songs for ch 5 after posting the fic and idk if that one still times well to average speed since i haven’t gone back and checked it, oh well) but uh……it was honestly a super ridiculous thing to try and do and most people don’t even listen to fic playlists (and especially while reading) but i had at least one person appreciate it (shout out to bre @magentamee) so that’s good enough for me!! 😅

oh and it also felt kinda obligatory to start the playlist off with the stranger things theme song…and after listening to several remixes of it, i found one that had an “end credits” sort of vibe and so that’s how i picked the final song :D

FUN FACT: the song “nightsky” by tracey chattaway was added sometime in september or october and i listened to it on repeat while writing so many times that it ended up being my top played song for the whole entire year according to my apple replay lol (it’s not my fault she put drugs in that song)

which songs did you enjoy the most? 👀 and please, feel free to send me another ask if you want! ;)

[marley-manson]

So I read a few chapters from Henry Jenkins’ book on vaudeville comedy (What Made Pistachio Nuts?), specifically the ones on anarchic comedy of the 30s which refers to both the style and substance, ie jokes and bits take precedence over plot and character, and the stories tend to be about the ‘clowns’ being unleashed onto the normative status quo and upending it:

"The clown personifies change, encapsulating all that is rebellious and spontaneous within the individual, all that strains against the narrow codes of social life. The comic antagonist embodies civilization, all that is stifling or corrupt within the existing social order, all that would block or thwart efforts toward individual self-expression and personal pleasure."

And in a lot of ways satirical Mash feels like an updated, more politically self-aware (if you take, eg, Groucho Marx’s comments that Marx Bros movies didn’t have intentional political agendas at face value at least) version of this type of humour. Early Mash is all about anarchic clowns mocking and subverting a rigid status quo. There’s of course more focus on plot and character because it’s a more grounded and realistic show than a Marx Brothers or Wheeler and Woolsey film, so there’s no actual stylstic/structural anarchism, but the vibes are there and very clearly deliberate.

It��s also interesting to note that Frank, Margaret, and even Henry are pitch-perfect examples of the villains of anarchic comedy. Jenkins outlined three types - the Dupe, the Killjoy, and the Counterfeit. The Dupe is the ordinary person whose thoughts are bound by conventionality, and unable to think outside the box, the clown can run rings around and talk them into anything. Henry definitely approaches this at times, especially early on.

The Killjoy is the rigid upholder of normalcy, representing stability as a loss of personal expression and individual spontaneity. “They cannot make a joke, they cannot take a joke, they cannot see the joke; they spoil the game.“ Margaret largely fits here.

The Counterfeit “suggests the bankruptcy of the conformist’s demands for social status. They claim an unearned respectability and hold others accountable to standards they refuse to obey.” Frank in a nutshell.

Idk, I just think this is a fun lens to view early Mash through.

[dullahandyke]

and now part 3 of the case 4 liveblog! during this one mam audibly commented on how much i was writing in my note book lols

ok yiss we're back boyssss it's been like a week? wowza

ah. i had forgotten i was still dealing with the garridebs when we left off. :grimace:

yeah i don't like dealing w them can we leave pls

sholmes music is banging tho

oh no susato do Not look to these fucks as an example of a romantic couple

SHAMSPEARE SPOTTED

hi shamspeare i like your vibe

god the costume jewelry is a sight to see in the 1900s tho. boy who gave you a sceptre

hiiiii natsume it's been too long... i also like your vibes

sholmes eavesdropping... girl weren't they speaking japanese????

love love love when susato turns to look at me. are you seeing this shit naruhodo-san

can't get over natsume's sopping wet pleading face

'natsume's room s cursed' are we sure that's not just a gas leak

i like sholmes's thing about belief it's v sweet

ASOUGI FLASHBACK!!!! hi asougi :)

sholmes's trout dinner.... pov dinner date w herlock sholmes he leaves you for a doohickey

love susato's fist pump sprite.... patron saint of 'we are so fucking back'

20th feb.... huh that's tomorrow. contemporaneous playthru stays winning

'do all literary people take things so literally' first off youre one to talk ryuu second off autism on autism violence????

christ bvz's cracking out the wine early

bvz you're not doing yourself any favours by toasting to the victim's death

also i love susato's description in the profiles.... a huge help to ryuu always <3

also nice to have a non0murder case for a change. usually have to go to the audio cds for that

christ they really did give us precious little evidence from that investigation huh

boooo bvz don't waste good wine like that

ok predictions: blunt knife tip + lack of actual death = green is in on a plot to frame natsume

literally where would we be without susato. god bless

also ryuu appreciation he's so cute. little shaking sprites... his kind cow-like eyes have bewitched me

bvz's blue eyes unnerve me... get him some brown contacts. or at least dark grey

ryuu going back to nervous sprites... dw my boy it will be ok

YES SUSATO THREATEN THAT VAMPIRE BITCH!!!

also donut lips juror 5... :frowning2:

love ryuu's little wall slam. him klav + mvk are a holy twinity

fairplay leading the jury is also for sure some 'get natsume found guilty + we'll find you innocent' deal

yes ryuu know your rights do the examination <3

gregson in the background of the courtroom during the summation examination... lol

banging music continues to be banging

juror 2's freakishly tiny mouth irks me... girl how do u eat

ryuu should have called juror 2 a racist idiot to her face

ryuu why did you think asking garrideb abt natsume's character would workout

u can tell i don't play new games by how impressed i am by the animation of ryuu pacing as the camera follows him. real movie magic right here

surely juror 5 would've seen natsume if he jumped the trench tho... bvz what's the plan

booooooo once again bvz is way less cool without the cloak

points. the lovecore fucks have been spotted

also according to jules, your man was originally irish so in my mind he continues to be such

points at roly. autistic as fuck to be chewing his chin strap

'patrolling the beat is the most demanding work in the world' clearly someone's never been in the tumblr trenches

if i knew the beates irl i'd literally die from romance repulsion but patricia gets a pass for being cute. she needs to divorce that cop and get herself a real man (me)

society if this game treated fat women with even an ounce of respect

disliking the persistant domestic abuse jokes(?) this case... so uncomfy

the beats theme does not... feel fitting. for either courtroom or investigative scene

love ryuu's confident smirk... he's so >:)

bvz you need to get susato tossed so damn badly

'one of britain's guiding principles is tolerance' lol. lmao even

bvz's scowl sprite looks like 'eat yo sandwich bitch! the fuck you looking crazy for

LEGSLAM

i can so vividly envision juror 2's instgram it's awful

my god a third abusive wife... i have a feeling it's abusive wives instead of husbands bcos abusive husbands are more likely to be taken seriously/not treated as a bit joke and i dont like it

[lucy-shining-star]

I have weird idea that is no ‘dracula au’ but ‘Nina really likes Dracula and wants to make Dracula play’. Probably musical on skates to be in spirit of show

Set probably at least like...two years after season three?

Anyway I decided it would be done by those who were teens/really early in 20s during series, who are in intros.

It is kinda accodring to canon ships, but like...only in case of Nina’s and Luna’s ships. And even then not fully

(oh btw, I imagine Eric and Nina broke up, Nina and Gaston are back together and Eric is over it. Matteo and Luna also broke up) 

Also since Dracula has much more male characters I couldn’t give all girls lot-of screentime roles so. Jim and Yam would play lot off less important roles, and Ambar, Emilia and Delfi probably also will get some, maybe even some others

Anyway, starting with characters from Dracula, that are important enough that people who play them won’t have more roles:

Mina Murray/Harker-Nina. Well that was her idea and I think she would like to play Mina, and even if she wasn’t sure she could pull this off especially with skates thing, Gaston and Luna convinced her. Also she they are both good at making observations and drawing conclusions from them.  Also because they have names ending with same letters

Jonathan Harker-Gaston. Well, first of all he is Mina’s fiance/husband, and second. He was supposed to be in Transylvania way shorter than he was. So there is some similiraity here. With difference that Jonathan was being kept ouy of England and Gaston in England. Also I think Nina would love to recreate romantic jonmina moments 

Lucy Westernra- Luna. Well cause Mina’s best friend, and also they had sleepwalked. Also because they have names starting with same letters

John Seward- Pedro. ...I admit I don’t have much reason for that except for I prefer to give important role to Pedro than Eric?  (this sounds as I Seward was Mina’s suitor, not Lucy’s well he was Lucy’s but she wrote to Mina he would fit her if she wasn’t already with Jonathan so that’s why I kinda wondererd) Though maybe he does give some vibes especially early first season Pedro in love with Tamara

Arthur Holmwood-Simon. Well he is one of two characters who kissed with Lucy. And her fiance that’s why precised that Luna and Matteo broke up so it wouldn’t be too awkwardXD But also just Simon and Arthur give me more similar vibes that Simon and Quincey?

Quincey Morris- Matteo. Well he is one of two characters who kissed with Lucy. Also Matteo and Quincey give me more similar vibes that Matteo and Arthur. Also there is killing Dracula in team with Jonathan

Abraham Van Helsing-Nico. I dunno really. Probably cause I made Pedro John. 

R.M Reinfield-Ramiro. I dunno just imagine him being most likely to agree to be asylum patient who eat bugs but can also make educated converstations. Or maybe he is just easiest for me to imagine as that

Dracula-Benicio. I imagine him wanting that role after only watching some Dracula movies and thinking he is so cool and get the girls and Nina agreeing an thinking to herself ‘We are making it book accurate sucker’ (although she does have some doubts considering it’s her boyfriend who has most scenes with him) (He is kinda too short for this role to be truly book accurate but who cares)

Vampire woman from castle-Ambar, Delfi and Emilia. I think Emilia would dye her hair black and Ambar would play the blond one. I wondered if it shouldn’t be Jazmin instead of Emilia, but I can’t imagine Jazmin as this

Mrs Westernra-Jazmin. I just. Just vibes of throwing out garlic flowers without asking and calling someone maidenless check out

Captain of the Demeter-I think Eric

Mr Swales-I think Jim

Peter Hawkins-I think Yam

First mate of the Demeter-I think Yam 

Lady who gave Jonathan crucifix-I think Jim

Priest who married Jonathan and Mina-I think Yam

Woman who go to Dracula’s castle to get back her child-I think Yam

Sister Agatha-I think Jim

Zookeper-I think Yam

Pretty girl in Piccadily-Jim

So this is like roles I think are definitely needed to others I’m not sure. Okay so t just like Jim and Yam would play minor characters. And bigger group is needed than like going from most likely to play it-Eric, Delfi, Emilia, Ambar, Jazmin, Matteo, Simon (cause there is like 9 people on crew of Demeter) ...I don’t think more than nine people is anywhere? So anyway they all would need wigs and maybe some fake mustaches and beards

[bugsbenefit]

What are your Stranger Things 2024 predictions? Not like "What do you think will happen in ST?" NO. I'm talking: What do you think will be leaked this year? What drama do you think will take place? What rumors do you think will end up being true? What promo do you think we will get? Any scandals? Will the show/actors win awards? If so what awards or acors? I want hot tea predictions.

Sincerely, Prediction anon

ohohoho okay, now that's actually a good question

we'll definitely get some official table read content really soon, which the official twt account has confirmed. it's just kind of likely imo that we'll get those sometime this year because filming is already supposed to start in january if the most recent leaks are true

what's basically guaranteed to start with filming is softcore production teasers by the cast right off the bat. so basic, "back to shooting" instagram posts/stories, generally being on a set, getting make up done, hanging out with co-actors, and so on. we might also see some costuming/hair there, but it might also take a few months before we see concrete looks. also possible that we'll see a costume early on but then it never ends up being in the show because the picture was from fitting and the look didn't make the cut

but none of that will be too wild imo. i mean, i want to see the costuming but that's probably going to be all we'll really get, especially as 2024 starts

and in usual production fashion we'll probably also get typical teasers of things we already know will be relevant for s5 just to remind people of what's going on with the show, like "ooo Vecna ooooo". classic still shooting promo like that. but probably nothing really plot revealing

but that's all really basic. the thing i could see be the most interesting about official teasers in the early months of filming is getting a glimpse of the vibe s5 will have. like if we see more military props in a picture, how does the UD look, if someone posts a pic of like a destroyed house and so on

but yk, official teasers will hold back a lot. they'll get more interesting later on for sure but that's also where it's kind of hard to predict what they'll go for. like how they started with their evil grandfather clock teaser for s4. honestly i could see them continue that since they didn't actually answer any questions about the grandfather clock... i can also see them lean more into the "Hawkins will fall" line of s4. they emphasized it so much in the show and even in all the s4 trailers only for s4 to only be the set up for it. so in my opinion they'll go there again fr this time, now that they finally finished the build up to it (s4) and got to payoff (s5)

the most interesting will for sure be the unofficial leaks but those will also be the messiest. because pictures are always without context and text "leaks" are almost always fake, or at the very least (like, only 1% of leaks isn't fake honestly) missing context and facts

similar to how there were "photo leaks" pre s4, that had people going crazy but gave away nothing. like the byler cabin leak pic for example that i think had people think that would be a confession scene? only for it to end up being the s4 cliffhanger spores leadup and some people ended up being disappointed

and something like that will happen again for sure, 100%. like getting two characters in a leak photo and people make up their own theory on what will happen in that scene. and then it's something entirely different in s5 and those people will be mad. lmao. could happen with byler, mleven, something platonic. basically anytime we'll get a bts leak i'm guaranteeing there will be people who think it tells them what happens in s5 and it will be unbearable to wait an entire year with people around who are convinced they managed to predict an entire plot point by a still image of two actors looking at each other where we don't even know if they're in or out of character. it will happen and it's one of the worst parts of any movie/show fandom during production imo (not speculating about possibilities the pics give us tho, speculating is fun)

also the text leaks will be insane (bad). like usual, we'll get more and more as filming goes on, and all of them minus two credible sources will have the "i know someone who works on the show trust me" backing. so we'll get at leat 20 versions of "mleven is endgame and has two kids <333333", maybe 10ish versions of it with byler endgame. and that also goes for the supernatural plot. someone will say Vecna dies, someone says orderly Henry shows up and stabs El, the upside down starts spinning in circles, there's a dragon, no there's a demogoron but it's two stories tall, the school gets blown up, Steve trips and dies from hitting his nose on the ground etc. it'll be the wild west basically. also i'm expecting multiple "this character dies" leaks too, going into s5 the entire cast will be dead essentially. (most likely for this are probably Will. duh. reddit seems to Really want that guy dead. El -> sacrifices her for everyone else's sake. and Mike, which i unironically think is going to come from a) mleven hardcore believers who'll say he sacrifices himself for El b) "byler shippers" who actually only like Will and think he's too good for Mike, and c) people who just hate Mike and pick him for their "x character dies" leak since they'd like that, and we'll be left to guess which of these the original leaker is)

basically, March-ish to s5 release will be hell on earth because you'll have the people who have no experience with show production periods fall for every "leak" and be in a constant "we won" "we lost" cycle. not fun. unless your dash is normal which i'm recommending you take care of before you get the first people crying over a "my cousin who does the lights says he saw Matt Duffer say they'll kill El :((((((" leak on your dash, lmao

and tbh that'll definitely get worse once we actually get semi reliable leaks like we had for s4. because some things always end up being the opposite of what the leakers make it sound like. either due to lack of info on their part or personal bias. like how there was a leak about about the s4 sbp scene "mike confesses his love to el", and then we got.... that monologue, which was the opposite of the "cute" moment the leak described and made everyone and their mom hate the ship

funniest leak in that regard imo would honestly be a "scene of Mike and El talking about their feelings for each other <3" and then it ends up being a breakup. is that likely?.... honestly i can see that, that's exactly the way that would end up being telephoned to us in a leak😭

also i'm expecting the UD lore to get SO confusing next year. because someone will "leak" something that's entirely nonsensical. like "demodogs die when you shine a light on them", but then it ends up turning out the "light" is a blowtorch in s5 and we won't know until it releases

tbh what i'm most excited about leak wise is, yeah sure a) the costuming/outfits. that's always interesting and leaks will be the place we'll see the most of that. but more so b) actor combinations in different shooting locations. which will absolutely fan the s5 plot speculation flames. like with how there were set leaks during s4 about Steve/Robin/Max/Dustin at family video and so on (i think that's the department we're going to get the craziest theories from as well. like for example, if we got leaks of Jamie ever shooting out of studio with other actors, that would open the floodgates to speculation. honestly kind of want that. let him show up in some vision, or put his ass out in the open in the UD, i want people go crazy over speculating about the s5 vecna interactions. and same obviously goes for the relationship department, bc bts leaks usually tend to spoil either season group ups or at least a shared scene between characters. and i want to know the s5 group ups SO bad)

and tbh, i don't really know/care what the actors will do. i can only see them get awards post s5 in 2025 unless they're doing other projects on the side. same for scandal wise, i'm Assuming there won't be anything (said with a raised eyebrow and a frown), given that they all act normal, especially given they'll be busy actively filming and being instructed on promo posts etc

so my predictions would generally be:

regular socmed actor promo, mostly about bts of the actors hanging out (non work things), some costuming bts etc

i think they'll probably lean into the "hawkins will fall" slogan of s4, and i can see them carry the grandfather clock motif on as well when they start more official promo/teasers

also reminders of things that will be important in s5 semi frequently as well. like "remember when will went to the UD" and "remember how Steve and Jonathan both have feelings for Nancy" and so on

with the filming being exclusively in atlanta again i can also see set leaks getting more interesting again than they were for s4. like how they covered the irl trailer park with vines for the s4 UD. especially with things like the giant downtown replica set for s5 there's a lot of potential for us to see Something happen there. i can see them deck that prop out for the UD, or make it a "destroyed" version of downtown. etc

and obviously a shit ton of things that are baseless or straight up lies. a million mleven is canon vs byler is real ross duffer told me leaks. a shitton of leaks of A interacts with B and then it never happens. all the classic "source? i made it up" leaks that spring up around popular shows. hell on earth. i'm excited btw