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love-takes-work · 10 months

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I've seen a fair number of people interpret Rebecca Sugar's (and the Crew's) decision to put Ruby in a dress as subversive, and I want to discuss why that feels like a clear miss to me.

Every time--every single time--I've heard Rebecca Sugar talk about the queer relationships on this show, it comes with this expression of wholesomeness, and often glazed with a sheen of wistfulness, flavored something like "I needed this as a child and young person, and I didn't have it." Much of Rebecca Sugar's work to bring this wedding (and other unapologetic queer relationships) to the screen was framed as an emergency--as in, we HAVE to get this out there for those kids we used to be, because we know they're drowning.

Yes, it's funny sometimes when people make jokes about Sugar deliberately "adding more gay" or "making it gayer" as a big eff-you to the people who spoke against it, but that doesn't sit right from where I'm standing. It took so much strength (and resulted in so much battle damage) to fight that fight, yes. But from everything I can see from the interviews and conversations I've seen and read, this wasn't served up in a "ha-HA, take THAT!" kind of way. These characters having these kinds of relationships should have been a non-issue, and the fact that their very wholesome kids'-show wedding and very sweet kiss and very adorable love for each other was seen as Political when it should have been just two characters in love is so sad to me.

I've seen dozens of people suggest that Ruby is in a dress and Sapphire is in a suit "to fuck with the bigoted censors in other countries" or "to give the finger to gender roles," but again, I think it is simpler and sweeter than that. Rebecca's said that Ruby in a dress is how she feels in a dress. Celebration and exploration of feminine-coded stuff felt wrong to Rebecca for a long time, like it wasn't hers, because she wasn't really a woman and didn't want it forced on her. As a result she was robbed of all the beauty that should have been a non-issue, from what TV shows and toys she was supposed to enjoy as a kid to what kind of person she was supposed to marry and what she should wear as an adult.

Ruby never got a choice about how she looked really. Once she got to choose her presentation for a significant event, this is what she chose. It means so much more to see that than to construct it primarily as a reactionary measure, as if it would somehow foil the sinister censors in more homophobic countries (who, incidentally, are not therefore forced to show Ruby in a dress even though they tried to hide that Ruby was a "she" or that she was in a romantic relationship with another "she"; y'all, they just don't show the episode).

We see plenty of other examples of gender-role-related expectations being casually stepped on and squashed, like when they took the trouble to give traditionally masculine and traditionally feminine "clothes" to some watermelons to make the audience think there was a husband and wife watermelon only to have the wife be the warrior and the husband stay home with the child. With stuff like that, yeah, sure, maybe it's designed to make you think "oh isn't that very feminist of them!" Or maybe it's more "well why do I see this as a 'reversal' when it's just a thing that happened?" This show is full of ladyish beings who fight and have power. And as for Steven. . . .

Nobody has negative reactions onscreen (or even particularly confused reactions) when Steven wears traditionally feminine clothes, and it is (of course) also not presented as a "boy in a dress gag"--it's not supposed to be funny. When they go all in slathering Steven in literal princess tropes throughout the final act of Season 5, we understand that it's because the powerful Diamonds expect him to be Pink Diamond, not because the show is trying to girlify him or embarrass him or even make the audience think positive thoughts about boys in girls' clothes. It's more neutral than that in my interpretation: "these are literally just pieces of cloth, and while some of them have meaning, they don't inherently have a gender." I don't see this as transgressive. It's just in a world where putting on what you want to wear doesn't HAVE to be a political statement. (Though obviously it CAN be, and plenty of people wear a variety of clothes as a fuck-you to whoever they want to give the finger to. I just don't see that as happening here.)

Don't get me wrong; Rebecca Sugar certainly knew about the politics (intimately) and has lived at many of their intersections. She was not ignorant of how queer people are seen in this world. She was silenced as a bisexual person because her identity supposedly didn't matter if she was with a man and planned to be with that same man forever. She was shunted into "omg a woman did this!" categories over and over again, which she wore uneasily as a nonbinary person while accepting that part of who we are is how the world sees us. But what is it like if everything someone like her embraces is seen as a statement synonymous with "fuck you" to someone else?

She is married to a person who happens to be a man and happens to be Black. Her relationship isn't a "statement" about either of those aspects of his existence; her love is simply something that is. She is Jewish working in a society that's largely Christian. Her cultural perspective to NOT center her cartoon around Christian holidays and Christian morals; her choices to make an alternate world in this specific way is simply something that is. Her queer perspective as a nonbinary bisexual person has helped inform the Gems' radical philosophy of "what if we learned to explore and define ourselves instead of doing the 'jobs' we're assigned and being told it's our nature?" Her decision to include queer people in a broadly queer cartoon isn't designed PRIMARILY as a battle against baddies, or to drown out all the relentless straightness, or to deliciously get our queer little paws all over their kids' TV. It's an act of love.

So this is just to say that though I DO understand that sometimes subversion and intentional transgression are very necessary, I do not think that's the HEART of what's going on at this Gem wedding. We got a wholesome marriage scene between two of the most lovely little flawed-but-still-somehow-perfect characters, and I very much want to see their choices as being about them. About how Ruby feels in a dress. About how Sapphire feels about not having to always wear a dress. About them incorporating a symbol of their union into their separate lives so they can have some independence in their togetherness. About them celebrating their love by letting Steven wipe his schmaltz all over them.

There are many choices in the show that ARE carefully constructed to counter existing narratives, you know, giving the Crystal Gems' only boy all the healing, pink, flower imagery; having a single-sex species that's ladyish with all the members going by "she"; featuring many nurturing male characters who cry and cook and raise kids without mothers; pairing multiple fighty ladies with gentler guys; and importantly, intentionally loading up the show with stories, characters, and imagery any gender will find appealing despite being tasked with expectations to pander to the preteen boy demographic.

But it's very important to me that the inclusion of queer characters and the featuring of their choices be seen primarily as a loving act, and way way less of a "lol screw the bigots." I want our stories to be about us. Yes, I know it's a necessary evil that sometimes our stories are also about fighting Them. But every time I see someone say they put Ruby in the dress to "piss off the homophobes" or "stump the censors" I feel a little gross. Like the time I picked out an outfit I loved and my mom said I only dressed in such an obnoxious way to upset her, and I was baffled because my aesthetic choices, my opinions, my choices had nothing to do with her. Yet they were framed like I chose these clothes primarily to cause some kind of petty harm to her, when not only was it not true but I was not even that kind of person who would gloat over intentionally irritating someone.

The queerness of this show isn't a sneaky, underhanded act trying above all to upset a bigot or celebrate someone's homophobic fury. It lives for itself. Its existence is about itself. It's so we can see ourselves in a show, and it's so people who aren't queer or don't have those experiences can see that we exist, we participate, we want very similar things, and definitely are focusing way more about celebrating our love at our own weddings rather than relishing the thought of bigots tearing their hair out and hating us.

It's dangerous to turn every act of our love into a deliberate movement in a battle strategy when their weddings just get to be weddings.

I think there’s this idea that that [queer characters] is something that applies or should be only discussed with adults that is completely wrong. And I think when you realize that talking to kids about heteronormativity is just like air that you breathe all the time, it’s kind of amazing that that is not true in any other capacity. I think if you wait to tell kids, to tell queer youth that it matters how they feel or that they are even a person, then it’s going to be too late! You have to talk about it—you have to let it be what it gets to be for everyone. I mean, like, I think about, a lot of times I think about sort of fairy tales and Disney movies and the way that love is something that is ALWAYS discussed with children. And I think also there’s this idea that’s like, oh, we should represent, you know, queer characters that are adults, because there are adults that are queer, and you should know that’s something that is happening in the adult world, but that’s not how those films or those stories are told to children. You’re told that YOU should dream about love, about this fulfilling love that YOU’RE going to have. […] The Prince and Snow White are not like someone’s PARENTS. They’re something you want to be, that you are sort of dreaming of a future where you will find happiness. Why shouldn’t everyone have that? It’s really absurd to think that everyone shouldn’t get to have that! --Rebecca Sugar

#steven universe #ruby and sapphire #rebecca sugar #queer relationships #long post #myblog

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lily-of-the-tardis · 3 months

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*sigh* This article is actually not trying to ignore Doctor Who’s history so let’s take a look instead of screaming about a headline.

First of all the headline’s been changed on the actual website but it doesn’t seem that Twitter reflects that.

The lede has always been about how they’re talking specifically about the Doctor only as they are aware side characters have had same-sex kisses. I can’t verify for certain but I believe they added “explicitly romantic” to clarify things as this section always existed in the article:

They always meant to discuss what’s actually new here: a completely reciprocal same-sex romance for the Doctor onscreen. We can argue about whether Nine was interested in Jack, but I think we can agree there was far more interest displayed by the Doctor when it came to Rogue. But it’s perfectly fine that they wrote an article detailing what actually is a huge moment for the show and honestly that should be encouraged. I want to see more articles writing about queer parts of shows instead of ignoring them.

And yes, this whole thing is a side-effect of Disney but only because their licensing rights (they don't have any control over the show) have made Doctor Who far more accessible in the US. Plus, they're doing some pretty serious advertising to put the show on more people's radars, which is likely why anyone at Deadline Hollywood was even aware of Rogue and wrote this article. No one is pretending Disney has erased the show's past and is doing all these new "firsts".

The issue here is primarily that the headline is disingenuous. Their article has always been about the Doctor’s first explicitly romantic same-sex relationship, but they wanted clicks so they wrote the headline to be vaguer and imply something much more groundbreaking. Even saying “first romantic same-sex kiss” is a bit disingenuous, as it doesn’t clarify the kiss is referring to the title character. (Edit: I somehow missed that the updated headline actually does clarify they mean the Doctor by saying "time lord". This new headline very clearly previews what is discussed in the article and is no longer disingenuous.)

Thankfully they corrected the article after receiving feedback from the fans, which is great.

But they did their research, which y’all would’ve known if you bothered to look at the article (which isn’t actually behind a paywall! A rarity these days, though I can’t speak to access outside the US). If something seems informationally off to you, go to the source and actually look at what they're saying, then find the facts. We're not going to get anywhere if we just continue to yell about headlines without reading the actual article that, you know, expands upon the snapshot headline.

The topic of critique should be their poor headline, not the supposed lack of truth in their article. It's great to call them out for poor reporting, as they claim to be a news source and those should be factual, unbiased reporting as opposed to a tabloid. But the issue in their reporting here is simply their phrasing. Criticize them for misleading, not for an assumed lack of information that was actually acknowledged and present in the article. They need to improve but they won't until the real problem is highlighted for them.

#doctor who #deadline hollywood #rogue #doctor who rogue #doctor who spoilers #dw spoilers #15th doctor #fifteenth doctor #doctorrogue #9th doctor #ninth doctor #jack harkness #fifteen

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sytokun · 2 years

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The year is 2025. RWBY may or may not still be in hiatus, or cancelled, or still ongoing.

At least 50 more useless side characters have been added to the cast.

Maria and Pietro are still missing. Ruby comments by saying "Huh, I wonder where Maria and Pietro are". Yang replies "Maybe they're off on a date", Blake replies "Oddly wholesome" and they all laugh together.

The current villain is a dark-skinned male Faunus who happens to be a working-class family man who is fighting for a social issue that is oddly relevant to some real-life events in 2025. But it's okay guys, bad people corrupting noble causes is still totally a valid way to write villains.

Bumbleby is still not canon. Yes, they are still calling it a slow burn.

Cinder is still fucking alive, oh god why

Rooster Teeth has officially exhausted their entire supply of bright-eyed creators who aspired to work on RWBY. They finally hit their goal of either firing or expiring the contract of every last one. That'll teach them for having dreams.

The merch now consists of $500 shirts with RQBY sewn in microscopic fibre on the inside of the fabric. The show name was misspelled in the first print run, but enough people complained about it that RT just went "alright, fuck you guys" and didn't bother to change it since.

About half of RT's legacy staff have confirmed to be in some sort of really fucked up scandal. The other half made callout docs and tweets, which caused the fandom to be angry for a week before they went back to sharing fanart as usual.

RT is now currently using a new production pipeline, where every single animator's contract only lasts for a single episode, before they leave and they find new people to animate the next one. They're hoping to further optimise this process next year by making it per scene instead.

There is a new RWBY side anime coming out, animated by prestigious animation studio Cocomelon.

An entire team of four unambiguously queer Hunters were killed onscreen. CRWBY has blamed the first death on a team of rogue, disobedient animators accidentally drawing her kissing a girl and confessing her undying sapphic love for her - she wasn't meant to be seen as a lesbian. The second death was blamed on the fans, the crew saying "this was supposed to be a side character, but you all started liking her and demanding more screentime for her, so fuck you" in the Volume commentary. The third was a monkey Faunus with comically yellow skin, squinted eyes and a long moustache named Mu Fanchu whose Semblance involves him making monkey noises and his weapon is a giant banana - surprisingly, he turned out to be secretly evil. The fourth just died offscreen because she was a fan character who won an OC fan design contest, but they had no time to include her in the show - in fact, the time her death was mentioned was the very first and only time the character was introduced.

Jaune says onscreen "Somehow, Ironwood has returned."

Green Dust is now Fire Dust, which Eddy confirms in a Reddit post - not in r/RWBY, but in an obscure reply in r/fantasygeology. No one found that post until 2 months later and when asked, the reply was "Green fire exists, I can see how you can get them confused".

Ozpin has now reincarnated into Oswald Pint, one of eight new boys currently with RWBY's group and for some reason have more screentime and agency than the girls. Oscar died in Volume 11 Episode 3 in a sickeningly distressing torture scene - that's the episode, the whole episode was the torture scene.

The fandom is abuzz over the newest queer rep in the show: a talking glass of water named Clear, who is genderfluid.

RT releases a RWBY mobile game only available in two postcodes, is not written in English and discontinues it after 3 months due to "stupid fucking fans not engaging with our products". Fans continue to insist that somehow, this must still be either WayForward or SHAFT's fault.

Jaune Vs. Aquaboy is slated to release next year. In fact, Volume 11 stopped in the middle of Episode 4 and will be on hiatus for the next 3 years until the crossover is out.

Speaking of Jaune, he just killed Nora. In fact, he did it just as I was posting this. Oh, he's killed Ruby too. And Clear our genderfluid queen, and Aquaboy as well. Oh god, he's looking this way, help me

The year is 2025, and if one thing hasn't changed, it's that hardcore RWBY stans are still around. When asked about the state of RWBY, they had this to say:

"RWBY is still amazing, and CRWBY is still amazing. Shame about those queer and PoC employees... oh well! I'm supporting manufactured fictional minorities so same thing, really."

#rwby #rwde

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watchmegetobsessed · 4 years

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Mine Again - Harry Styles

a/n: this is something i just thought about after my nap today lol, so enjoy this treat, a classic exlovers to lovers fic!

pairing: Harry x Famous!Reader

word count: 3.4k

masterlist

Seeing an ex is never easy. Whether it’s by your choice or not. Working together with an ex is even harder and now you brought a situation on yourself where this is your reality.

Arriving to the studio of The Late Late show you immediately get escorted to your designated dressing room where a hair and makeup artist are already waiting for you. Today you are here to promote your new movie, Don’t Worry Darling with your onscreen lover, Harry Styles, however, what no one else in the building knows is that once the two of you were real life lovers.

Your romance blossomed during filming, having spent so much time together on set, it didn’t take long for a relationship to form between you and him, the chemistry you shared was immense and undeniable, anyone could see that and you felt like you were burning in a bonfire of the most intense feelings you’ve felt for any man. It was passionate and intoxicating, it felt like something that could only happen in movies, but it was your reality.

However filming ended and you were forced to go your separate ways, you both tried hard to keep what you had and though your feelings never changed, distance brought the worst out of the both of you. Six months after you became an item, you mutually agreed to break it off.

You haven’t seen him since then, meaning that it’s been five torturous months without having any contact with him and now that promo has officially kicked in, you are forced to travel around and make appearances with the man you love, yes, still love more than anyone on this Earth. Not even five months and absolutely no contact could change your feelings for him, however he might already be over you at this point, having forgotten about feelings and memories you still hold close to your heart.

How has he been doing? What is he like now? Has he been thinking about you? Does he miss you? What is it going to be like to see him for the first time?

The questions flood your mind as you sit in the chair and let the professionals work their magic on you, covering up the dark circles under your eyes that formed due to the sleepless night you had the day before, nonstop thinking about Harry and what it’ll be like to see him for the first time again.

After careful elimination, you choose a dress for the appearance, it’s tight and short, the fabric is covered in glittering sequins down your body and the long sleeves as well and while the dress covers a lot up from the waist, it makes up in the lack of length on your legs as the end of it barely reaches the upper part of your thighs, ending it black feathers that tickle your freshly shaven legs. The nude heels add even more to them, making you appear like you could hit the runway any moment when in reality you are not high enough to be a model.

There’s still some time until the taping starts, James drops by to say hello and tell you how excited he is to have you and Harry on tonight and you chit-chat for a little before you go to take a quick business call outside. When you’re done with that, you head back to your dressing room to take a few quick photos to post later, but right as you near your destination, a door swings open down the hallway and Harry steps out, wearing a black suit, of course, head to toe Gucci. The crispy grey shirt’s first few buttons are left undone, allowing you a glimpse of his toned chest and his necklace with the tiny cross pendant on it.

He looks good. No, he looks absolutely stunning, just like he always does and just the sight of him takes your breath away, forcing you to stop in your tracks when you lay your eyes at him. He spots you as well, stopping to take a look at you before you see a small smile on his perfect pink lips.

“Y/N, hi! You look… gorgeous,” he speaks up lowly, his eyes raking your body up and down.

“I, uhh—Thanks!” you breathe out, feeling already flustered. How are you gonna survive the interview, sitting next to him, talking about what it was like to play a married couple?!

His hand moves a bit and there’s a moment of awkwardness, neither of you really knowing what to do, last time you saw each other you kissed as your hellos, but now it’s not an option, obviously. At last, he moves forward and goes for a hug.

He envelopes you in his arms as you wrap yours around his neck, the warmth of his body bringing you a sense of home and it hits you hard how much you’ve missed him in these five months.

You swear he holds you just a second longer than what would be appropriate before his arms fall from around your frame and you force yourself to let go of him, though every fiber in you is protesting against it.

“How—How have you been?” he asks, his beautiful green eyes finding yours.

“I’m good. I’m good,” you nod. “What about you?”

“Same. Just the… usual stuff.”

“Writing music?” you ask with a soft smile. You still vividly remember those nights you spent together after a long day of filming, crashing at either his or your place and you often found him strumming his guitar in a corner, scribbling words down into his notebook. Sometimes he sang you the songs he came up with, sometimes he kept them to himself.

“Yeah, I’ve been writing a lot lately,” he admits with a shy smile.

Someone calls his name down the hallway and his head snaps up before looking back at you.

“I gotta go, but I’ll see you soon, right?”

“Yeah,” you nod, stepping aside so he can walk past.

“And you really look amazing, Y/N,” he calls after you one last time before jogging down the hallway.

You walk into your dressing room and shutting the door you lean your back against it, huffing heavily as you try to recollect yourself. Somehow, this encounter went really well, because the two of you were civil and respectful, but it was also a painful shock to see him in the flesh again. It was one thing to see pictures of him here and there, but actually meeting him, hugging him, talking to him… you need time to process it all.

Unfortunately, you don’t have much of that. Twenty minutes later you are walked to your spot behind the curtains from where you’ll walk out when James calls your name. Just as you arrive Harry appears as well, casually talking with one of the camera guys, having a laugh and just as he sees you, his eyes fall down your body again and you swear you see him gulp hard before turning his attention back to the man.

“Ready?” he asks upon walking up to you, a hand coming to rest on your lower back. Glancing over your shoulder you look down at his hand, lips parted at the feeling of his welcoming touch. He sees your glance and pulls his hand back quickly. “Sorry, it’s a habit, I guess,” he mumbles, blushing softly.

“It’s fine,” you smile. Of course it’s fine, for what you care, he could throw you over his shoulder like a cave man and run out of the building, you wouldn’t say a word. You want his touch on your body, you’ve been craving it since the moment you last saw him, but are you even allowed to admit it? You have no idea what he is thinking or feeling, you can’t just come right at him like that.

Harry fixes the lapels of his suit jacket, but what he doesn’t see is that the collar of his shirt is kind of stuck under the jacket.

“Your shirt is… let me fix it,” you breathe out and he turns to face you, letting your delicate hands fix his outfit, perfecting the look to the tiniest bit. “There, you look great,” you smile, your hands sliding down his chest before they fall to your sides again.

“Thank you,” he nods smiling back at you before offering an arm that you take gladly. He knows how much you hate high heels and that you are always scared of tripping and falling and being the gentleman that he is, he’ll be the support you need.

The taping soon starts and the two of you stand patiently behind the curtain as James introduces you.

“And now, please welcome the stars of the upcoming hit movie, Don’t Worry Darling! Ladies and gentlemen, Y/N Y/L/N and Harry Styles!”

The crowd starts clapping and cheering as the curtain moves and the two of you walk in, arms linked and Harry makes sure to slow down when you walk down the few little stairs. James welcomes the both of you with two kisses before everyone takes their place, James behind his desk, you and Harry sitting on the couch.

“Thank you so much for dropping by tonight, guys!” James smiles at the two of you.

“Thank you for having us,” Harry nods with a soft smile.

“You both have been guests on the show separately, but tonight you are here as a pair, since your latest movie, Don’t Worry Darling is hitting the theaters this weekend. How are you feeling about that, excited to see the film finally?”

“Very excited,” you nod with a smile. “I can’t wait to see the final version, because obviously we only know the version we envisioned while filming, but the actual movie is going to be something else.”

“Y/N, your role in the movie was originally handed to Florence Pugh who had to step back because she broke her arm,” James points out and you nod.

“Yes, I stepped in her place just about a week before production started and if I’m being honest I was scared that people would prefer to see her in the role, but I had a talk with her actually and she said she helped Olivia, the director to pick out the person to take her place and she said she instantly knew I would be perfect for it, so I trust her.”

“That’s amazing to hear, that the two of you didn’t have any rivalry going on,” James enthuses.

“She actually visited set a few times,” Harry chimes in and you nod.

“Yeah, we had a great time together.”

“Sounds like a lot of fun, the three of you together,” James chuckles. “So, the two of you play a married couple in the film and if I’m not mistaken you didn’t know each other beforehand. Was it hard to get into the roles with not much background on each other?”

“We met up a few times before filming started to get to know each other more and I think we hit it off right away, so it wasn’t hard for me,” Harry speaks up and you nod along.

“It was obviously a little different situation than when you meet someone and become friends, because as we got to know each other more, we had to go through scenes that were meant for a couple that was already years into their relationship, but I think it strengthened our friendship,” you answer, hands laid flat on your bare thighs.

No lie has been told, everything you said was the truth. You just left out the part where you become real life lovers and started dating a month into production.

“Y/N, you’ve been acting for a while now, have quite a few roles under your belt, what did you think of Harry’s acting?”

“I think that he is a wonderful actor and I hope people will give him his much deserved credit for it. He is often still seen as just a silly singer from a former boy band and they don’t take him seriously when he really is a very talented man. You’ll see in the movie as well, his role was a tough one, needed a lot of work and a wide range of emotions, but I think he did an amazing job.”

You dare to glance at him at the end of your little speech and for a moment you forget about the audience, James and the cameras. He is looking at you with so much gratitude and thankfulness. You remember every talk you had where he opened up to you about wanting to be taken seriously in the acting business, that he is not trying to be just a joke and another failed attempt of a singer to try himself out in movies. He told you how scared he is of not being good enough when you saw him every day on set and you were blown by his eternal talent and special take on his role. He deserves to be praised, he deserves every bit of it.

“It was easy, I had a great partner to learn from,” he smiles softly and you feel the heat crawling up your neck.

“You two really have the chemistry we’ve heard so much about, I can’t wait to see it on the big screen!” James sighs. “Tell me a little about what it was like to film? You guys spent a lot of time together, must have made a lot of memories.”

You take a deep breath as all those memories mentioned flood your mind. You had the best time of your life not just with Harry, but with the whole crew. Leaving after production was wrapped really broke your heart.

“It didn’t even feel like working,” Harry starts. “We always joked around, had lunch or dinner together, we were like a big family. It was so nice to have so many amazing, talented and hard-working people around you all day.”

“The jokes never stopped,” you add chuckling.

“I wish I could have been on set!” James laughs wholeheartedly. “That didn’t happen, but we have a little something. The crew has put together a short BTS video of the filming, so let’s have a look at that,” he announces and the video starts playing on every screen in the studio.

It’s a short little montage, but it captures the vibes of filming just perfectly. Clips shown from set are not just of you and Harry, but all the other cast and crew members. Goofing around, having lots and lots of laughs, dancing on set, which happened quite often and just all of you having a great time. Some of the slips however pain your chest, the ones of you and Harry.

This was very early into your relationship, no one on set even knew you were together, but seeing yourself on the screen you can’t deny the sparkles in your eyes every time you were around him.

A clip shows the two of you between two takes, doing a goofy dance in the kitchen of the home that was used as the set of the house of your characters, you are both wearing your costumes, Harry looks great in his suit and your long retro dress is flowing around you with every movement you make. He grabs you by your waist and spins you before you end up in his arms laughing crazily, you were so happy, so carefree. You wish you could go back to that moment…

Another footage was taken in your trailer when Harry took the place of Clare, your makeup artist and tried to do your eyeliner but miserably failed. In the video, he is gently clasping your chin, angling your face for himself as his other hand is working on the line, but it’s wobbly and way too thick, so you both end up just laughing when you check yourself in the mirror.

And there are some small moments of the two of you, moving around on set, lying in bed between takes, sitting in your chairs while eating, just tiny memories you still cherish so much and wish to live through again, but it’s the past. And it wouldn’t hurt this much if you knew Harry from the video was still yours.

When the video ends you need to blink a few times as your eyes have watered a little. You catch Harry’s gaze and he looks worried, he clearly wants to ask if you’re okay, make sure it was just the sentimentality of the moment, but he doesn’t have the chance, the cameras are still rolling.

“That looked like so much fun! Next time make sure to invite me on set too!” James jokes and you force a laugh out of yourself.

A few questions are asked about future plans and just generally about your careers before the taping finally ends. You thank James for the invite again and a photo is taken of the three of you, you standing in the middle with the two men on your sides. When everything is settled, you head to your dressing room, using the chance to slip away silently while Harry is still chit-chatting on the set.

In the comfort and silence of the dressing room, you lean onto the vanity, staring at yourself in the mirror, finding it ironic that on the outside, you look perfectly fine, healthy and pretty, but on the inside… you could scream. You miss Harry so much, you hoped that your feelings for him have toned down a little over these five months, but it was just the same if not even worse.

A faint knock is heard on the door and you quickly fix yourself before calling out to the person outside. The door opens and for your surprise, Harry steps inside, closing the door behind him.

“Hey, you disappeared so fast,” he softly says.

“Yeah, I’m just… a little tired,” you lie, though you know exactly he can see right through you.

“Y/N, I saw that look in your eyes after the video…”

“What look?” you ask with a huff. “What do you want me to say, Harry?”

“The truth,” he answers. “I’m not James, don’t bullshit me.”

“You want the truth? I’ll give it to you, but don’t blame me if it’s uncomfortable for you,” you chuckle bitterly, throwing your hands into the air. “I’ve been miserable, Harry. I miss you so fucking much, seeing you today was like Hell. I really thought it would be easier, but now I’m stuck with going from one interview to the other with red carpet events all around the world, seeing you every day when I terribly miss you and it fucking sucks, because you might not even feel the sa—“

You don’t get to finish, because Harry crosses the distance between the two of you, his hands grab your face and pulls you into a hard and passionate kiss. His lips move perfectly against yours and it feels like he is trying to squeeze every missed moment from the past five months into the kiss, making you melt into his arms completely.

He is everywhere. He is all you can taste, you breathe him in, his hands are everywhere on your body and your chest is pressed tight against his as you wrap your arms around his neck, locking him into your embrace. Your tongues dance, teeth tugging and pulling on lips, it’s a whole mess, but it’s the most perfect mess you’ve ever been. He takes your breath away completely and you don’t even want it back if it means you can’t have him.

Harry pulls away first, both your chests heaving wildly from the heavy make-out session and he looks down at you with hooded eyes.

“If you think I haven’t missed you like crazy… you can’t be more wrong, baby. I couldn’t stop thinking about you, I wanted to call you a thousand times and beg for you to come back to me, but I thought you already moved on.”

“Moving on?!” you huff with a tired smile. “Harry, I could never…”

“Alright, then I’m not letting you go again. No way you are walking out of this building without being mine again.”

A shiver runs down your spine at his words as you pull him down for another kiss, needing to feel his lips on yours.

“I never stopped being yours,” you whisper against his lips and he moans weakly before crashing his lips against yours again.

Thank you for reading, please like and reblog if you enjoyed it!

#harry #styles #harry styles #harry styles imagine #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles au #harry styles fanfic #harry styles oneshot #harry styles one shot #harry styles x you #harry styles x y/n #harry styles x reader #harry styles fluff #harry styles x famous!reader #harry styles exlovers to lovers #harry styles blurb

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pinkpetalwaterimagine · 4 years

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On the edge... (Charlie Gillespie) part 1

A/N : So sorry guys, I’m posting it again here, anyway enjoy. Don’t hesitate to point out any mistakes.

Bonne lecture ❤️

Summary : It’s not that you are insecure but seing Charlie and the onscreen chemistry he has with Madison is making you uncomfortable. And it obviously lead to a fight.

Word count : 2,1 k

Somehow you had passed your exam with a flying hand and you were ready to rest during your vacations. Vacations that were obviously well deserved. Charlie, your boyfriend, was currently shooting with Kenny Ortega in Vancouver. Living quite far from there you could not go see Charlie every other weekend. However you decided to go on set with everyone during your vacations.

You have already met the whole crew, they were really nice to you, and immediately you felt included in there tight knit group.

You were just so excited to see Charlie after months of separation. You had missed him just as much as he had missed you.

He did not know you were coming to surprise him, it was supposed to be, well, a surprise. You took an uber to Charlie and Owen’s apartment. Those boys really hide their key under their doormat. Do they know that this is dangerous ?

You enter the flat and were met with silence, the boys might still be at the studio or filming or whatever actors do. You took time to take a long shower to wash off the sweat from the flight. You even took a small nap to regenerate.

You heard loud voices in the hall and you just knew that one of the voices belonged to your boyfriend. A bright smile already on your lips as you waited for him to enter his house. Owen was the first one to acknowledge you.

« Y/N ! How are you doing ! What are you doing here ? We are so happy to see you ! » he embraced you in a hug, not for too long because Charlie pulled him off of you.

He did not say anything he just took you in his arms, for a long time, kissing the top of your head again and again. When he released you just a bit, he tilted his head and kissed you like it has been a long time you havent seen him. But he has been a long time and oh how you craved his soft and rosy lips. The others were doing anything but looking at you, it wasn’t that they were embarrassed it’s just that this was an intimate moment that the two of you hadn’t since a long time and they wanted to respect at least a bit of your privacy. Only Charlie and you were standing in the hall anymore, the others were already on the couch or on the floor, ready for movie night.

« I missed you so much, I am so happy you are here, you can’t even imagine » Charlie said whispering in your ear, sending chills down your spine.

« I missed you too, that’s why I’m here after all. » you chuckled in the crook of his neck.

He led you to the living room with all the others, never leaving you. He always had a hand on the small of your back, or on your thigh. It has been such a long time since you have seen each other that he didn’t want to miss a single thing about you.

You said hello to everyone, happy those familiar faces again. You were just ready to chill with everyone.

You were about to sit on the couch next Owen and Jeremy, when you felt a pair of hands grabbing your hips and making you sit on Charlie’s lap.

« Where do you think you’re going » you giggled at his act.

They were something about Charlie that always make you giggle or blush and more generally acting like a schoolgirl. You swear sometimes you think his goal is to make you blush so much that you were as red as a tomato. But you loved your goofy, cute man.

« Thank you Y/N for being here ! Really, we can’t hear Charlie complaining about not seeing you or how much he misses you. » Jeremy said and Charlie has a deep shade of red on his cheeks.

You thought he was really cute to go and talk about how much he misses you. You know that he wasn’t just on your part that those months of being apart were hard. The night goes on and the smile you had never left your lips. Charlie had his arms wrapped around your waist the whole time, and he was always making quiet comments about the movie you were watching or just kissing you under the ear and so on. `

Everyone fell asleep in uncomfortable positions and the next morning all of them has knots in their back.

« Ok guys, you need to leave or you’re going to be late on set ! » you exclaimed trying to wake all of those people but no one moved. « C’mon guys, you need to get moving » as you were trying to shake them all up, your arm was pulled by Charlie and you fell on him. He had still his eyes closed even though he was smirking.

« Do you want to come with us on set ? » Charlie asked with a groggy voice.

« Yes ! »

« You just waited for me to ask you right ? » you blushed at his words. You didn’t want to impose your presence to the staff and all the actors.

The day you decided to join all of your friends on set, they had to film the scene between Charlie and Madi where they sang perfect harmony. You knew that supposedly nothing was going on between them, but it was just the way Luke looked at Julie. You tried to convince yourself that this was nothing, it was just on-screen chemistry nothing more. But they both looked so pretty and handsome and you couldn’t not feel bad about yourself.

At the end of the scene everyone clapped and congratulated the both actors who executed perfectly the routine. Charlie made Madi spin, both giggling. You heart broke a little but you tried to not let it shows. Everyone was so cheerful and happy.

You put on a fake smile and got on with the day. You hung around makeup and costumes and tried to help as much as you could, from setting the buffet for everyone to painting some decors.

————————————

Everyday for a week, you accompanied the band to the studio, but as the days goes by you couldn’t not notice the constant banter between Charlie and Madi. It wasn’t that you were jealous or anything, of course he was « allowed » to speak to other girls. It’s just that they seemed to understand each other on a deeper level. On a music level that you could never understand. You could sing under the shower but you didn’t knew how to play any instruments or writing any lyrics.

« Don’t you think that this song is such a killer song ?! » asked Owen, excited, almost crushing you on the couch where you rested.

« Hum ? Which one ? Even though they’re all amazing! »

« Well the one Charlie and Madi wrote together » you looked at him in disbelief. « Yeah, perfect harmony ! »

A whirlwind of thoughts came into your mind and made your insecurities come back at full speed.

« Oh… no I did not know that. » you said quietly, like if you spoke too loud you would break down in tears. And Owen saw right through you.

« Are you okay ? You know that it is just a song ? »

« Yeah, yes I know, it’s just since this morning I’m not feeling good. I think I’m going to head back to the house. If Charlie asks … » you topped mid-sentence, was he really going to ask ?

You couldn't answered that question being a hundred percent sure.

You took your stuff and left the studio.

Charlie just ended another scene and went to look for you. « hey Owen ? Have you seen Y/N ? » he asked a bit worried and with a small frown on his forehead.

« She went back, said she didn’t felt well »

Well that’s weird, thought Charlie. She would've told him if she wasn’t feeling well. He shook his head and focus on the next scene he had to play before heading back home.

You were laying on your guys bed, crying your eyes out not really knowing why they were so much waterfalls.

You heard the front door open and you recognized the voices of the three boys that played the ghosts. You quickly shut your eyes, trying to make Charlie believe you were asleep.

Charlie entered the room and saw the girl he loved with her head buried in a pillow, she seemed asleep. He sighed and closed the door on his way out. He didn’t understand why all of a sudden you were so cold to him. He didn’t remember having done something bad or wrong. He tried to replay in his mind everything that happened that week without founding anything.

« Are you alright ? » asked Jeremy concerned at the face his friend was making.

« Yeah, it’s just I don’t know why Y/N is giving me the cold shoulder. » he sighed, his head between his hands.

After a few hours of hiding in the room, you decided to fix yourself, make somehow your eyes a little less puffy. You tried to pass by the living room without noise, not ready to confront the boys or anyone for that matter.

You thought you had made it to the kitchen without making your presence known. But as you closed the fridge’s door and turned towards the table you were faced with Charlie’s hazel eyes.

« How are you ? » he asked softly, you felt your throat tightened. « Fine » you croaked.

He knew they were something wrong.

« You know you can talk to me, I’m here babe » Charlie mumbled. You tried avoiding his gaze. He stepped softly towards you, almost chest to chest.

« I don’t want to talk about it » you muttered. « well I think we have to. You have that sad look in your eyes and it saddens me ! »

« I don’t want to do this now, the boys are just in the living room ! »

« But I want to help you, let me help you! » his voice was raising higher and higher.

« Ne fais pas ça maintenant s’il te plait » (don’t do this now) you exclaimed in French so that the boys wouldn’t understand what was happening, even if the knew that you were fighting, no need to be a genius to realize that.

« Oh so now we are talking French ?! Why ?! You don’t want our friends to know that we are not this perfect little couple they think we are ! » Charlie snapped.

« Ne m’humilie pas de la sorte ! Je pense que tu l’as déjà assez fait cette semaine! » (don’t humiliate me like that, you already did it enough all week) you seeped. Your head was beginning to spin from all the crying and the shouting didn’t help.

« Mais qu’est ce que tu racontes bon sang! » (what are you talking about for god’s sakes) Charlie spat, his Canadian accent resurrecting strongly.

« Okay, you want to know what I’m talking about ? I’m talking about you and Madison, I know that I should not be jealous but you are so close to her via music and filming and so close to her as well as in not far away. How do you expect for me to not see that. To not see the chemistry you two has on screen ?! » You were between yelling and sobbing uncontrollably. Charlie stayed silent for a moment not knowing what to answer to this.

« You know, and I’ve told you countless of times that we are nothing more than friends ! She is young » Charlie exclaimed

« Oh because if she was older, you would definitely take her on a date ?! » you exclaimed, hurt by his words. The both of you stayed silent for a bit of time. A heavy silence.

« Of course not, you’re the one I like. The only one I love. Yes, we are not together 24/7, but I love you Y/N. No one else but you, why can’t you see that ? » Charlie insisted, his hair tugging at his now shorter hair.

« I think I should go back for a bit. I’ll see you later » you said in a breath.

« Dont do this to me, don't do this to me Y/N! I’m begging you » he pleaded.

You knew you had to get away for a bit of time, you didn’t knew if your relationship could hold after this full blown out but you’ll live. At least you hoped. You ran straight into Charlie’s room and packed your bags not meeting the boys gazed. They heard everything, and it pained you to have them involved in such a fight.

As soon as you slammed the door of the bedroom, the boys ran straight into the kitchen, they found Charlie on the barstool looking down at his hands, a single tear running down his cheek.

They didn’t knew what to say, are you okay seemed a bit insensitive after what they all heard. They took a sit next to him and pat his back. Sometimes a small gesture is worth a million words. Charlie knew that he will always has his friends, they were like family, but so was Y/N. But apparently not anymore.

#charlie gillespie #charlie gillespie angst #charlie imagine #jatp fanfic #jatp imagine #julie and the phantoms #angst #fluff #charlie gillespie imagine

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noethicalconsumptionunderdisney · 4 years

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Ranked: Hannah Montana — Jake Ryan Episodes

Here we are at last: Jake Ryan. I think you all probably could’ve seen this coming, but I had to keep you waiting (and gather my thoughts a bit). Of Miley’s canon love interests, Jake (Leslie) Ryan is the one that gets the most screentime overall, and happens to be my personal favorite match for her, so it only makes sense to dedicate a Ranked post to him. As per usual, I’ll be revealing these rankings from Worst->Best, in reverse-order of how much I liked them.

Which brings us to probably the most unambiguous “Worst” ever:

“The End of the Jake As We Know It” (Season Four)

Yeah. Of all the episodes on this list, this is the only one I actively dislike. I don’t think this one was too much of a shock to anyone, but let me talk about why anyway:

This is the first and only time Jake shows up in Season 4. He’s barely shown in Season 3, which we’ll talk about a little more further down, but he really just seems to appear solely to be dragged through the mud, and then unceremoniously shooed out so Miley can ride off into the sunset with Jesse. I don’t even necessarily have a problem with them breaking up. I wouldn’t be happy about it, but you could at least give a better reason— you’ve done it before! Twice! And there’s a perfectly good reason right there in front of them: they’ve been apart for a while, they liked each other as kids, but now that they’re getting older and growing into separate lives, they’re growing apart. But no, let’s just have him randomly cheat on her, because that’s totally a satisfying conclusion to a multi-season arc. Calling one of your most beloved recurring characters a dick for 30 minutes is peak comedy, amirite?

This is also the only time in Season 4 that Oliver is actually an important part of an episode? He shows up for like 5 minutes in the Finale, but really, the Season 4 episode where he has the most screentime is this one. And while there’s nothing wrong with how Oliver is written here, it just makes a little extra mad, because most of his screentime is focused on this dumbass plot development. I can’t help but think, They brought back my man for this?! on both counts.

But let’s move on to less loathsome episodes, shall we?

“He Could Be The One” (Season Three)

Okay, I might catch some shit for this. I know. This episode’s very popular. I am aware of that. And I don’t actually hate this episode, like with the other one. I like the song, I like Miley asserting herself to her dad when it comes to her dating life, Lilly and Oliver are on-point (although that does kind of apply to the last episode too), and I even liked most of the interactions between Miley and Jake. That said, here’s why I’m ranking it so low:

THE ONLY REASON IT EXISTS IS TO SET MILEY UP WITH SOMEONE ELSE.

Everything from the start of the episode to the weird reframing of Miley and Jake’s complicated past to the focus on Miley bonding with someone else, thinking about that someone else when she’s singing to Jake, talking about how she wants to kiss that someone else so badly except for the inconvenient fact that she’s with Jake, to the episode treating them like equivalent options that are just so hard to decide between despite she and Jesse barely knowing each other and having no history outside this episode… every bit of it is designed to make you like the other guy better and root for the other guy.

And I guess if you haven’t watched the other episodes, or you have but it’s been awhile and you don’t remember them super-well, it’s easier to root for Jesse (ignoring all the problems that he himself has as a character, in this episode, even, but let’s not focus on that right now). But this show can’t trick me that easily, sorry not sorry.

I “should” like this episode more, given that this is when they get back together, but they could’ve gotten them together differently. Instead, we have Lilly berating Miley for going back to her ex after she rejects Jesse, we have Miley… tackling Jake? Did anyone else find that odd? Funny, yes, but weird as hell, and not really indicative of their dynamic. And worst of all, we have them completely rewriting history and hoping we don’t notice. It’s not respectful to list “we have so much history” as a reason to stay with Jake if you can’t be bothered to portray that history accurately. So before we delve into that history a bit, let me make one thing abundantly clear:

Jake did not break Miley’s heart. He’s also not the only one who’s ever fucked up or acted immaturely in their relationship. You wouldn’t know it from watching this, but she’s the one who broke up with him the only time they actually did date. Yeah, it was kind of crappy of him to make her think he was marrying her friend so he could “Gotcha!” her on TV, and it wasn’t great of him to kiss her and then leave in Season 1, but that’s a far cry away from “breaking her heart.” He literally never did. The fact that they framed it that way is not only frustrating, but also some gross foreshadowing for what they ultimately did to his character later on.

That said, the way Jake actually is when he’s onscreen (i.e. when you look at how he actually acts and not just how other people are talking about him) is pretty in-character, funny even. Miley and Jake still have their chemistry and their interactions are amazing apart from that weird tackling thing, and Jake reacting to the cat sweater was something I didn’t know I needed. So objections aside, I do like this episode. Just not as much as what’s to come.

“Jake… Another Little Piece of My Heart” (Season Three)

So while my previous entry was largely dedicated to explaining why it was ranked lower, this entry is going to be a defense of sorts, explaining why this episode, yeah might not be the best, but is a lot better than people remember, or at least is one I’m still very fond of.

In Jake’s last appearance before this, Miley agreed to be “just friends” with him. Here, we see them following up on that. She calls him “one of [her] best friends,” and not only that, she shows that she knows him well enough to know why he, of all people, should not be getting married young. “You change your phone plans every 6 weeks.” How does she know this? Because they kept in contact with each other. They contact each other frequently enough for her to know that he changes his phone plan all the time. They kept their promise! They’re exes, yes, and there’s still tension there as we see in the end, but they genuinely do feel like friends, and not just like they’re awkwardly forcing it.

Miley is understandably pissed when he pranks her, but that’s only because she cares so much, and I do think there’s genuine concern there as a friend, even if she very likely was also jealous. They’re comfortable around each other, they’ve gotten to know each other a lot better, and the hint that there’s still more lingering between them at the end is both promising and open-ended. They don’t get back together right then… but they show that they could, because those feelings are still there, despite everything.

I wonder, though, if this episode would’ve worked better had it aired earlier. We get indications that it was filmed earlier than some of the others, namely that scenes from it show up in the Opening Credits for that season, but for whatever reason, it didn’t air until much later. I’m not sure why, but I do think things could’ve been better had they reintroduced her relationship with Jake (friendship with some lingering feelings) earlier on, had a few more “regular” episodes without him, and then given the two a proper arc later in the season rather than just one episode where they’re like, “We’re back together now! But I also kind of like this other guy! Oh no!” and then he’s not there the rest of the season. But c’est la vie.

Now onto the good stuff:

“Good Golly, Miss Dolly” (Season One)

Honestly, the way the entire Season 1 arc unfolds with them is so natural and beautifully done, I almost don’t feel like it’s fair to dissect them individually and split them up based on personal favorites, because they work best in order and as a unit. But I still have my opinions.

I’ve expressed previously why I love Dolly Parton’s appearance here and why she kills it, but in terms of Miley’s development with Jake, this one remains the most stagnant and frustrating. Painfully realistic, of course, and very in-character for everyone, but of all the Season 1 Jake episodes, this is the one that has the least Jake in it? Which is not really why I’m ranking it lower, but it does put their dynamic into generic “girl clearly likes guy but is too proud and scared to admit her feelings” territory. Which is necessary for their story to develop, but isn’t as fun as the episodes where we actually see why she hasn’t been “falling all over him” up to this point (meaning, her aversion to his personality). And we pretty much end the episode right where we started: once again, Miley’s pining over him, wants to express her feelings for him, but feels like she can’t… only now she’s got a more solid reason not to.

“More Than A Zombie To Me” (Season One)

I was torn at first between this one and the Dolly one, but I ranked this one higher for a few reasons. For one, the storyline is a bit more complex and nuanced. Lilly teases Miley for being in denial of her feelings for Jake, Miley rejects him when he asks her out… but then Hannah Montana has to kiss him. She makes a case for why she shouldn’t have to kiss him… only to realize she wanted to when they actually listen to her. Jake respects her “no” and asks someone else… only for her to realize she wanted him after all. Miley fights with Lilly for Jake’s affections… only for her to realize that her friendship with Lilly is more important than whether or not she “gets the guy.”

Beat for beat, Miley is always one step behind, not because she’s stupid, but because she has too much pride to see what’s right in front of her, to acknowledge her own feelings. It’s not the most pleasant characterization for Miley, but it is very telling characterization, and it paints an interesting picture of her and her relationships to both Jake and Lilly— that she genuinely wants to mean what she says and say what she means, but her pride makes it harder for her to figure out what she actually wants. She genuinely wants to be a decent, down-to-earth person, but sometimes she’s too self-centered to realize how she’s coming off and how she might be hurting others.

What’s most interesting here, though, is Lilly’s characterization and development in the Jake arc. In this episode and the one before it, she’s among the girls who are “falling all over” Jake, even continuing to say “Sup” to him because he said it to her once like it’s their “special thing.” She alternates between starstruck awe over Jake and amusement over Miley’s aversion to him, teasing Miley that she may be protesting too much, and shamelessly drooling all over him to Miley’s annoyance. After this episode, we see her being the supportive friend and #1 Shipper On Deck for Jake and Miley… then firmly against Jake and Miley together after they break up the first time, and from that point on, genuinely over Jake and wanting what’s best for her best friend.

But this episode… this is where we see the switch. This is where we see Lilly giving Miley a fair shot, then taking Jake for herself when the opportunity presents itself. This is where we see her doing something for herself for once and going beyond that “best friend” role… only to realize it’s not meant to be. That Jake only ever had eyes for Miley. That she was the canned fruit cup he settled for after all. It’s painful and heartbreaking, and perhaps a less strong friendship wouldn’t be able to withstand it, but theirs does. Because Lilly does. Because Lilly knows that whatever Miley says, being with Jake would make her happy, and Jake wants Miley more than anyone else. And she’s willing to do whatever it takes to help them be happy together… even if it means she doesn’t get the guy herself. I think Lilly’s role in all this is so underrated, and she deserves massive credit for the maturity and development she displays here.

And of course, we have more characterization for Jake, where he’s… very much himself, but also better than Miley initially gives him credit for. Yeah, he’s still hiding behind his ego and bravado, and he does initially say Miley must’ve been nervous to reject him when he asks her out a second time on the beach, but we also see him accepting that she doesn’t like him back (or so he thinks). We see that he’s sweet to Hannah as a coworker, and then he confides in her that he likes Miley because she’s “cute, funny, smart, down-to-earth,” and because she sees him as a person, not as a superstar. I do think “moving on” from Miley by asking out her best friend, right in front of her, is kind of a dick move (or possibly a jealousy play), and he could’ve made a little more of an effort to be loyal to Lilly as she was his date, rather than being so obvious that he preferred Miley, but overall, I think this is a good episode for developing Jake as someone with hidden depths, and someone Miley could realistically fall for.

(Also, the subplot is comedy gold from start to finish.)

“People Who Use People” (Season One)

Their first kiss! Yeah, there’s no getting around it: this one’s amazing. Their banter is just on point from beginning to end. We have a continuation of Jake and Hannah’s pleasant costar relationship, a continuation of Miley’s ever-more-obvious feelings for Jake, and we have a culmination of the tension between the two in an incredible scene. Once again, this does one of my favorite things: it turns the narrative on its head. We know Miley used Willis to make Jake jealous, but now it’s revealed that Jake was doing the same thing with Holly all along.

“Holly? She’s not my girlfriend. We have a movie coming out, so we’ve been hanging out, it’s a publicity thing.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that before?!”

“Uhhh… well… I-I think I—”

“Wait a minute, I know why. Because you were trying to make me jealous.”

“Was not.”

“Was too. Admit it, Jake, you like me.”

“No, you like me, just say it.”

“No, you say it!”

“No, you!”

*cue Big Damn Kiss*

They spar with each other like this all episode, meeting each other on the same level beat for beat. And Lilly eating popcorn in the background and falling off her chair? Let’s not lie to ourselves, we were all Lilly in this moment. Ultimately, this isn’t the story of “how they got together,” because Jake leaves for a movie, but even that makes some sense. He feels good that he got to kiss her before he left and doesn’t have to wonder what it would’ve been like, she feels angry that he kissed her when he knew he’d be leaving soon, and ultimately his acting career comes before him having a normal life, as it always sort of has, which unfortunately means it also has to come before Miley. But once again, we have an open ending, a clear “not now” rather than a “never,” and a question to be potentially answered in the future: Will They, Might They, and Would It Work Out? And of course, what’s next?

But before we get into that, let’s talk about where it all began:

#3: “New Kid in School” (Season One)

Who doesn’t love a good First Meeting, especially one that starts off with two prospective lovers starting off on the wrong foot? What I love about them starting off on the wrong foot here, though, is that it’s not really due to misunderstandings. On the contrary, Miley is the only person who knows exactly what’s going on— even better than Jake does, I’d argue, because he doesn’t even realize how arrogant he comes across, and Miley’s the only one willing to call him out on it.

This isn’t even particularly a shippy episode, apart from “Also, he thinks I’m cute, not that I care,” but I’d argue it’s better because it establishes them as characters first, and as Foils. Both of them are celebrities attending normal school and who, in theory, want to be treated like normal kids, but while Jake talks the talk and still gets everything he wants, Miley walks the walk and has to lose her celebrity privileges in exchange for peace and privacy. It’s understandable that Miley feels she’s gotten the short end of the stick, and it’s only later, after she’s opened her big mouth of course, when Jake confides in her that sometimes he really does wish he could be normal, it’s only then that she realizes she’s the lucky one.

But of course it’s not too late for her, it’s too early in the show for that! So we see her family coming together in this hilarious scene where they pretend they’re all crazy celebrity-impersonators. As a side note, I like to think they didn’t buy the Elvis costume for this, but that Jackson just had it lying around already and was itching for an excuse to use it. (Maybe he was Elvis for a previous Halloween, idk.)

In any case, the reason I rank this higher is that even though it doesn’t show that Miley and Jake like each other all that much, it shows why they could like each other, which in my opinion is more important. I mean, ideally, you’d have both, but this does a good job of introducing Jake as someone who seems like just another egotistical celebrity Miley can’t stand, but underneath that, is someone who just might understand what she goes through better than anyone, and Miley is the perfect person to understand him right back.

#2: “That’s What Friends Are For?” (Season Two)

The return of not one, but two iconic guest stars in the best and worst way: together. Months after their breakup, Miley finds Jake at her doorstep after sparring with Mikayla, and is sure he’s only there to get her back… but he just wants to be friends. Great! Good, no drama! That’s exactly what she wanted… right?

Even better, he invites her on the set of a talk show so he can reveal his new movie… and his new costar, her archrival Mikayla. The worst part is, he chose Mikayla out of courtesy. He doesn’t know Hannah and Mikayla hate each other, because they act friendly when they’re on-camera. He did it because he values his relationship with Miley, and doesn’t want to ruin their friendship by inviting her to play his love interest. And Miley… well, we all know Miley isn’t as okay with this as she pretends to be, and it only becomes more apparent as the episode goes on.

What I love about this is the role reversal this puts them in. For once, Jake is the one being mature, and Miley is the one that needs to apologize and grow, and admits it. It’s framed that way and everything. It’s almost bittersweet to watch, because this was such a good step for them, and probably the most mature episode involving the two. To see them go backwards in development after this, to see Jake be raked through the coals by the writers, all that good will between them forgotten and retconned and burned to hell later on, there’s just something very bitterly tragic about it. This episode was so important for them, not just as a relationship, but as people, and I wish that good will they had towards each other had remained and gotten a proper follow-up.

Of course, this was itself an excellent follow-up to…

#1: “Achy Jakey Heart” (Season Two)

Was it ever even a question? Jake Ryan returns in glorious fashion: falling from the sky, in a tux, down on one knee begging Miley’s forgiveness, with chocolates from the sky. Say what you will, that man knows his way around a Big Romantic Gesture. And he doesn’t stop there: muffins, “Jake steak,” a cardboard cutout, and barging in the front door in a literal knight costume, he asks what more he can do. More importantly, he says, “You’ve dumped stuff on me, and you’ve yelled at me. The one thing you haven’t done is tell me you don’t care about me. Tell me that, and I’ll go away.” Even after all this, he’s willing to respect her if the answer is “no.” He just wants to make sure it’s “no” because she doesn’t want him, and not because she doesn’t believe he cares for her. He does care for her, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to prove it.

He gets tested for this pretty much right away, fails in private, and then passes in public when Miley least expects him to. After telling Miley he can’t take her to a movie premiere because he’s pretending to date his costar, he rejects his costar on live TV to confess his love for Miley. He doesn’t do it expecting her to come back, rather, he admits his fault and accepts that for him, there’s no happy ending. And Miley responds in the best way possible, showing up with a “Who says real life doesn’t have happy endings?” and a Big Damn Kiss of her own.

This is also when they confide in each other. Jake tells her his real name is Leslie, and Miley tells him she’s Hannah Montana. They’re vulnerable with each other for the first time in their relationship, and they understand each other better than ever. Unfortunately, it’s understanding, or lack thereof, that also leads to their demise.

Jake wants to be a normal guy, or at least he thinks he does. Miley feels to a certain extent that she is a normal girl, just a normal girl who happened to get famous. And that disconnect, that difference hurts them. Miley realizes that Jake doesn’t actually know what it’s like to be normal, and having to be with someone who can’t handle one night of it, as well as the pressure of being famous as Miley too, is what finally cracks them open. I will say she could’ve handled it a lot better, and good on Jake for calling her out on her lack of communication, but in the end, their relationship is left with a mutual understanding: that Jake respects her secret, listened to what she had to say, and wants to improve. Not so that he can get her back, but so that he can be “worthy of someone as terrific as” her.

This also has ONE OF THE BEST SUBPLOTS OF ALL TIME. Cheese jerky? Capitalist commentary? Jackson rolling in money and Rico being mad about it? Oliver and Jackson doing a rap together? Are you not entertained? Like its main plot, this does end up reverting to the status quo by the end, but it’s done in a way that’s both crushingly realistic and brutally hilarious. Overall, this episode? One for the ages.

So there it is— every Jake Ryan episode, ranked. I have a whole ton more I could say about Jake Ryan, Miley Stewart, and their overall dynamic (and probably will, this week lol nope), but I feel like this is a decent start that outlines my opinions in quite a bit of detail. While not a perfect couple by any means, they sure as hell made the screen a lot more interesting. And hey, the course of true love never did run smooth, why should they be any different?

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orsuliya · 4 years

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Many are saying, that there is no passion betweenAwu and XQ. That from the beginning they both behave like old couple that have been together for 50 years. Calm, respect and domestic bliss. No craziness, no passionate words and deeds, no nothing. And I feel so sad that their crazy passionate all consuming love is not obvious to everybody. I've been married for 12 years now and my hubby still treats me like I'm made of glass. There is no craziness, but the calm I feel in mt heart... It is invaluable. For me their love is the perfect one. And I honestly haven't seen anything so perfect on the screen before.

Many need to check their glasses prescriptions, because that passion is right there and small it ain’t, that’s for sure. I thumb my nose, oh ye doubting Thomases, at this alleged lack of passionate words or deeds. Don’t know about you, good people, but for me the Re-do Wedding itself maxes out the scale; as far as grand gestures go that one is just perfect: very grand indeed, utterly shameless, more than a little schmoopy and, at the end of the day, surprisingly useful. Do I even need to comment on all those timely rescues? For all that Awu is not exactly a damsel in distress, she sure has been a subject of a lot of those. I hear that dramatic rescues are supposed to rate among the most romantic things a male lead can do, was my info faulty...? And it’s not like that’s one-sided since Awu runs into danger without hesitation, declaring that should anything happen to her husband or father, Song Huaien will need to carry her own cold, stiff body back home. As far as passionate romantic declarations go...!

Also, let be me disgustingly prosaic for a moment: for all that nobody gets naked onscreen (well, other that Mi’er), it is rather obvious that Awu and Xiao Qi get it on. A lot. In probably rather adventurous ways. I mean, they see absolutely no problem with promising each other various... things. While in public. In the middle of the Imperial Palace. Where anybody can hear them - and they probably do! - but is there even a hint of genuine, non-playful bashfulness to be found in their demeanor? The answer is a big, fat NO.

At the end of the day, their relationship - as is yours, you Unbelievably Lucky Nonnie - is the eternal fire of the hearth and the steady heartbeat of the home. A love like that doesn’t throw us at the mercy of waves and storms, but anchors us to home, wherever that home might be. For all the things simple and domestic to withstand the withering effects of time and everyday adversities, there must be a great burning love hidden in that hearth; hidden does not mean non-existent, but rather treasured and carefully guarded.

Okay, that is getting a tad too sentimental even for me, back to more prosaic considerations! The reason why this particular drama doesn’t seem to resonate with a good portion of younger audiences is rather simple. Bloody Mouse from Hell. Okay, not only Disney, western pop-culture as a whole. See, we’ve been taught that all conflicts and sweeping declarations of passion come before the marriage or even before the first grand kiss. After that there’s only the Happily Ever After, a concept as mind-boggling as it is suspicious. Yes, I know that Disney has been stepping away from their straighforward romance formula recently, but I am a true millenial, I have a constitutonal right to point some very pointy fingers at dear old Walt. All the work gets done before the final declaration of feelings and it’s smooth sailing from then on. Any male who makes an effort is guaranteed to be rewarded with a female; the only healthy exception being Gaston, who, when you think about it, is the scariest villain of them all (and there is good reason for that). Moms die in mysterious ways and females supporting females is a thing that happens from time to time... but is by no means guaranteed. Oh, and if you are not a walking talking perfection with one, maximum two funny quirks, there’s no place for you among the heroines. Those are the lessons I learned in my childhood. Didn’t stick, let me tell you. Wait a bloody moment, Zitan totally watched himself some Disney!

Now, let’s look at what happens in a considerable portion of mainstream adult programming. What happens is that if a couple gets together in the first season finale (which is early all the same), there is little chance of them being left to simply... be, unless they get relegated to background characters. Happily Ever Afters are booooring. Fine, I say, maybe they are. You need CONFLICT. And that’s fair! But there is no reason why you can’t spice things up using external factors; have this couple form a united front against a common danger and there’s your conflict! Yeah, no. Internal conflict and especially romantic one is much easier and cheaper. I am not saying it’s all bad - couples naturally go through such obstacles - but there comes a point where you have to ask this question: why the hell are they still together when they would never be able to trust each other again? Forgiveness only stretches so far and does not mean a totally blank slate. This is not, by any means, an invitation to start fridging female characters! I see what you’re doing, you bastards!

Thankfully things are changing. Not always and not always in the right direction. Disney in particular is doing something... weird with its main canon or was Mulan a one-off hiccup of terrifying proportions? Female-empowering that wreck was certainly not. Unless they meant Special Females, who are not like Other Females... okay, not the point right now.

The point is that Awu and Xiao Qi are married by episode 8 and in love by episode 14. Which is right where the end of the first season would be. And then... nothing. They are in love and form a rock-solid front against external enemies. The only real change in their relationship is that they grow stronger, first individually and then together.

It gets worse! We, the viewers, get a metric tonne of false leads of the kind, which we have been taught will inevitably lead to at least four episodes of conflict. So where are our four episodes of dealing with Xiao Qi’s household and uppity maids? Do as Wangfei says, that’s what we get. Where’s Xiao Qi’s burning jealousy over Zitan? I would prefer you not to go, but do as you wish, that’s the extent of it. By all known rules, he should start looking at Awu with suspicion once he guesses that Song Huaien is infatuated with her or at least take Huaien to task. There’s... absolutely nothing? This whole affair with Screecher? What do you mean you can simply ask your husband what happened and then trust his answer?! That’s not how it works! Get thee away to Turnip’s house for a couple of episodes at the least! And don’t even start me on the great performance of the Yuzhang Acting Company! There is a reason why people were loathe to recognize it as a performance and nothing but!

The Rebel Princess keeps purposefully missing those obvious cues for conflict and thus the viewer, used to much, much higher emotional amplitudes, simply nods off on this relationship. But that’s not on the drama, that’s on our erstwhile trainers.

#ask and answer #the rebel princess #okay sorry for the rant #and the preaching #but I simply had to #and don't ever start me on Mulan live-action Disney thingy UGH

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thekidultlife · 4 years

Text

THE RETURN OF SUPERMAN | Kwon Soonyoung

Author’s Note: This is definitely one of my most favorite writings! Sorry I’m behind the posting schedule a little bit. Unstable internet connections are THE WORST!

Genre: I KNOW I’VE BEEN HURTING PEOPLE WITH MY TROS SPINOFFS, BUT THIS IS DIFFERENT. THIS STORY IS A HAPPY PILL. IT’S FLUFF. LITERALLY.

Word Count: 5,840

6:47 P.M.

It is nighttime and cameras are panning around a very cozy nursery. The walls are wallpapered with a pastel kind of yellow filled with clouds, ponies, fairies and more animal pets, some of which double into night lights. A dresser is pushed up to one wall, where baby pictures of the cute little room owner are found, along with her parents in what appeared to be a photoshoot. A clock and little blocks that spelled out Y-U-N-A are also on the dresser. Airplanes, more clouds and stars hang on the ceilings, reflecting the soft glow of the lamplights. The windows are hidden by billowy cream-colored curtains.

One camera is panning down from the plush, carpeted floor, up to the center of the room, on which a massive, white crib could be found. A very cute, chubby-cheeked little baby girl with a jeweled crown on top her soft curls was on the crib, her chubby hands clapping with delight. Her squeals and vibrant peals of laughter filled the whole room. But it was another kind of noise that made cameramen chuckle.

Thud. “Ow!” Kwon Soonyoung rubbed his forehead in mock agony. He made a crying face and pretended to sob loudly, kneeling on the carpeted floor. But he peered behind his hands on his face, grinning, as the baby burst out laughing again, her hands clapping as she did so. Her cheeks had gone red with her giggles.

When the laughter stopped and the baby simply sat there, her whole face waiting and expectant for the next thing about to happen to her dad, Soonyoung decided to do it one last time. He drew close to the crib and pretended to bang his head on the wood. Thud. He rolled back on the floor. “Ow!”

The baby rolled back her head, tears rolling down her cheeks as her guttural baby giggles wracked her entire body. She slumped on the soft quilt of her crib, laughing and laughing.

“Wow, Kwon Yuna,” Kwon Soonyoung muttered, tired of having done the same trick for about thirty minutes now. “You never get tired, do you? Come here.” Soonyoung reached out to take the child. “Let me put you to sleep properly.” He looked at the clock on the dresser. “It’s almost past your bedtime!” Like the pro appa that he was, he cradled Yuna in his arms, which she was already starting to outgrow. How much time do I have left to carry you like this? He thought fondly, already nostalgic of the moment that his baby would grow too heavy for his arms. Then he softly padded to one side of the room, next to the windows, where a rocking chair was. Yuna liked to be rocked to sleep.

He sat there for a long time, rocking and rocking her in his arms. Yuna reached out to touch Soonyoung’s face with her tiny hands, wondering at his face.

Soonyoung smiled and kissed her forehead. “Sleep, little one! Sleep, Kwon Yuna!” He started humming a lullaby to lull her to sleep.

After a few more minutes, Kwon Yuna’s eyes began to droop. She cooed sleepily, and as her head dropped to Soonyoung’s chest, her little crown fell on the carpet. Soonyoung hoisted her carefully on his one arm to pick up the crown, all the while singing the lullaby softly. Soon, deep breaths told him that his baby girl had fallen asleep. Soonyoung carefully stood up, peered into Yuna’s peaceful, sleeping face again, and laid her down gently on the crib.

He stood there watching her for a few minutes before he smiled and whispered, “Good night, my baby girl.” Then he slowly walked out of the nursery and into the adjoining bedroom. He left the door open just in case Yuna might wake up in the early morning hours. Cameras rolled slowly as Soonyoung laid on his bed, exhausted.

He faintly smelled of milk, baby lotion and cereal, but he could not be bothered to get up from the bed. He closed his eyes and began to doze off. It was still early, just barely past 7 p.m., but he felt drained of all energy. He smiled as he thought of Yuna giggling and reached out his hand to grab you close to him, but then he remembered: right. He’s alone, and he’s going to be for the next forty-eight hours. He reached for his phone on the bedtable and pressed the speed-dial to call you.

“My love!” He whispered excitedly when you picked up.

From the other end of the line and a continent away, you grinned. “Hey, Superdad.”

“Hey yourself. Yuna’s sleeping now.” Soonyoung touched his shirt lightly. “And I think I should change my shirt because I got soaked with milk earlier but I’m too tired to stand up.”

“Are you sure she’s asleep? Already?”

“Of course!” Soonyoung smiled at the direction of the nursery. “Our baby sleeps nicely when I rock her to sleep. I think she really likes me more than she likes you.”

You scoffed mockingly. “Don’t kid yourself.”

“Jealous, are we?” Soonyoung giggled, almost very much like Yuna. “I thought we talked about not getting jealous when our Yuna likes one of us more.”

“In your dreams, Kwon Soonyoung.”

Soonyoung took a pillow and hugged it to himself. “I miss you.”

You lay back on your bed for the night, too, a queen-sized one that was very comfortable but seemed empty without Soonyoung beside you. “I miss you, too. But don’t be such a baby! The cameras are rolling and they might think you’re too crazy about me.”

Soonyoung laughed at that. “But aren’t I?” He snuggled onto the pillow on his head, still holding the phone to his other ear. “I really am crazy about you.”

You blushed. “I love you.”

Cries from the nursery made Soonyoung sit up on the bed. “Okay! I think I have to go now.”

You smiled and closed your eyes. “Bye.”

“Hey.” Soonyoung was sliding into his slippers and shuffling on to the direction of the nursery door. “I love you, too, by the way.”

You laughed. “Good night, Yuna-appa. And change your shirt. Really!”

INTERVIEW WITH KWON SOONYOUNG, 30:

SOONYOUNG: (Bows as best he could with a baby girl on his lap.) Hello, everyone! Most people know me onscreen as Hoshi from SEVENTEEN, but right now in this show I am simply Kwon Soonyoung. (Yuna squeals on his lap, and he grins.) That’s a hello from my eight-month-old baby here, Kwon Yuna! We are both very excited to be on this show. (Reaches down as Yuna fusses and brings a bottle to Yuna’s lips.) Among my SEVENTEEN bros, I’m the youngest dad as of the moment. We often chat each other up and they always give me advice about how to do things since I’m still a bit clueless. They say baby years are the best years because you bond a lot with the baby, and you get fascinated by how they just grow up before you know it. (Kisses Yuna as she is busy with her milk bottle.) I��m really happy that I get to experience being her dad. It’s both a terrifying and beautiful experience. I just hope to be the best dad I could be for her.

Q: Are you on an indefinite break from work just to be with your wife and baby daughter?

SOONYOUNG: (Nods and smiles brightly.) Yes! Actually, I did not want to do so immediately because I felt like I might leave them unprepared since we are also readying for a comeba—oops. (Lowers his head, laughing.) Omo. I can’t believe it. Even as a dad I say things I’m not supposed to say. Anyway. Um. The members all insisted that I take the time to go and take care of Yuna here. I do go with them every now and then, mostly on mornings, so I could catch up with practice. My body clock changed after months of being with Yuna. I wake up earlier and I sleep earlier but these days I also have to wake up in the middle of the night. Yuna is at the age where she sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night and cries for us. She knows we will come if she cries. (Ruffles Yuna’s hair playfully and Yuna smiles with her eyes at this, her toothless smile adorably seen as she stops drinking her milk to revel at her dad’s touch.) She’s pretty spoiled, I think. But who am I to complain? Looking this cute, I could not help but forgive her for waking her parents up at odd hours just so she could see us. (Grins at the camera.) Sorry. I know I’m being such a dad right now, spoiling my baby. But hey, that’s what dads do! (Laughs and takes the empty bottle from Yuna, and then bows again.) Please enjoy spending your day with us!

6:30 A.M.

NARRATOR: *Someone is having a very happy bath this morning! Let us see! The happy laughter is infectious! What lies ahead for a morning at the Kwon residence?*

“Ap-paaa!!! Wwaaaahhhbbbbiiiii!!!”

“I know! Your appa picked such a cute song! Good morning, too, Kwon Yuna!” Soonyoung happily translated as the Yuna played with the water on her bathtub. She giggled as bubbles erupted out of the water. Soonyoung scrubbed on her arms, her face.

Dad and baby are inside the bathroom next to the nursery. Both have been up for hours.

“Ggggurbbbbuuu app-paaa?” Yuna chatted with her appa, touching his cheek with a tiny hand filled with bubbles.

“Yes. The eyebags look awful, right? I had to stay up later for you!”

“Biiiii???” Yuna pressed, her eyes looking serious as Soonyoung rinsed her shampooed baby hair gently with warm water. “Bbbibbugabb???”

“Uh-huh. That late. But we’re still best friends! You slept very peacefully after I rocked you to sleep for the second time. Very good girl!” Kwon Yuna liked to wake up early and Soonyoung usually took that time to draw her a bath and get her things ready for the day. Once Yuna wakes up, the whole house wakes up, too! Who needs clocks? Yuna was one! My world literally revolves around this little person! Soonyoung thought to himself as he reached for a towel.

“Bbubbbubbbbbu,” Yuna babbled to her dad as he picked her up from the bubbly bathtub to dry her with a towel and dryer. “Gguggudduuuu!!! Ap-ppa, ap-ppa, appa!”

“Right! Your appa is so amazing, taking care of you all night and giving you a bath! He’s the best appa in the world! Isn’t he?” Soonyoung interpreted confidently as he playfully kissed his baby girl’s cheeks. “Wow. Eomma did a not-so-bad job at picking your bath soap. My love, if you’re watching this, I really dig this bath soap. Buy one for us, too!”

Yuna pinched Soonyoung’s cheeks playfully while he got placed her down the changing table. “Appa? Ggubbbuuu!!!”

“I know! You’re cute, too!” Soonyoung deftly got Yuna into her diapers and hauled her up into his arms. She squealed as they both got out of the bathroom and Soonyoung set her down on the newly vacuumed carpet, letting Yuna crawl around. Yuna gasped in delight at being let down. “Behave while appa gets out your clothes for you, okay?”

After dressing her up in a cute strawberry jumper that had green wings at the back, tying her hair rather clumsily with strawberry ponytails and securing her stray locks into another strawberry-themed hairband, Soonyoung grinned. “Cute, cute, cute!!!” He peppered Yuna with kisses. “Cute, cute, cute!!!”

Kwon Yuna did look like the cutest strawberry fairy, beaming at her dad, clapping her hands before ignoring him entirely and crawling around the nursery, gasping again as her quick little eyes found a picture book that was placed strategically by Soonyoung right where she could see it. She crawled faster with her hands and feet, straining just to get to the picture book. Upon reaching the picture book, she squealed out something like, “Gggaaaahhhhh!!!”

“Yas, girl! Like I told your eomma when we bought you stuff, that picture book is cool!” Soonyoung again translated, lying on his stomach next to his strawberry fairy, who looked like utterly amazed by the picture book, which contained different kinds of colors. Yuna stood up shakily, bouncing on her feet as she stood, before plunking down and sitting with her legs crossed, looking very much like a—yes, a strawberry. She babbled happily as she reached out to touch the book.

“Waaasss?”

“Okay. We’ve done this yesterday, remember?” Soonyoung sat up and imitated how Yuna sat. Then he pointed at the bright color on the book which Yuna was touching with her finger. “Red.” Soonyoung tapped the color again. “Red.”

“W-wed,” Yuna breathed out, her voice unabashedly wondering.

Soonyoung excitedly tapped it again and bent down to listen closer. “Red.”

“Wed!!!” Yuna giggled and clapped her hands, excited at mimicking Soonyoung’s words.

“Yaaayyy! Yuna deserves a kiss!!! Kiss!!!” Soonyoung picked her up and held her into the air, kissing her cheeks as she laughed in delight. “Good job, best friend!” Then he settled her onto his lap and took the picture book. He smiled at Yuna again before tapping another color. “Blue.”

Yuna puckered her lips and looked up at Soonyoung. “Byue?”

“Yaaayyy!!! Way to go, best friend! Yes!” Yuna giggled again as Soonyoung held her up into the air and gave her her reward: appa’s fluttery kisses. “Okay, let’s say it again!” Carefully, Soonyoung put her closer to the book balanced on his one knee so Yuna could touch it. He pointed at the color again. “Blue.”

“Byuuueeeee!!!” Yuna mouthed just like Soonyoung. “Byue!!!”

“Very good, Kwon Yuna!” Another flight up, another kiss. “What’s this color?” Soonyoung pointed back to the first color they learned about. “It starts like r—”

“—Wed,” Yuna said confidently. “Wed!”

“And this one?”

“B-byue!”

Soonyoung laughed and proceeded to educate Yuna about colors. Byue, wed, gweeen, pppink…you get the idea. The baby talk drove Soonyoung nuts but he was fascinated that Yuna was learning so quickly. She’s definitely persistent, Soonyoung noticed fondly. She would touch a color, hear him say it over ang over again, and then repeat. She loved getting kisses and she loved flying with her dad’s arms. Cameras zoomed in on the father and daughter as they forgot the picture book, doing something much more fun-filled for Yuna. She was hoisted up by her dad’s arms, flying around the room, her green wings fluttering, her ponytails whipping around as Soonyoung “flew” her around the room.

“AppaI Appa!” She giggled, loving her flight like the strawberry fairy that she is. Cameramen chuckled as her guttural giggles filled the whole room again. “Wheeeeeeeeee!!!”

Soonyoung stopped, cradling her back again into his arms and raining hugs and kisses on her. “Love you best friend!!!”

“Appa!” Yuna said in babyish delight. “Appa! Mmmnam?” Yuna gesticulated with her hands, suddenly fussing now. “Mmmm?”

“Now that,” Soonyoung murmured as he kissed Yuna again, “is Yuna talk for ‘food, appa?’ Such a bright little princess! Off to breakfast we go!”

INTERVIEW WITH KWON SOONYOUNG, 30:

Q: As asked to the other members, were you there when Kwon Yuna was born?

SOONYOUNG: (Nods happily.) Yes, I was! Unlike the other SVT dads, my wife’s labor pains came right on schedule. It was difficult for them because childbirth is very unpredictable at times. My wife used to have long phone sessions with other SVT mommies about how she might have an expected due date but that sometimes the labor comes sooner or later—we were both nervous. I asked for a break then, too, two weeks in advance, just so I could be there for her when the time comes. She got contractions as early as two weeks, so we were kinda expecting that she might give birth sooner. But Yuna came out exactly on the due date as stated by our OB/GYN. (Stares off into a distance, transported by the memory.) I remember phoning Cheol and asking him what to do. He was my closest neighbor since they live just a few blocks away from our house, and we had bonded quite a lot during the pregnancy because he was the one who gave me advice the most. (Breaks into a smile.) He offered to drive us to the hospital the moment my wife’s water broke that morning. Which was really great because I kept panicking and I was almost noisier than my wife during the whole drive to the hospital. Seungcheol-hyung was like, “Calm down, calm down, breathe” and I was like, “Does it hurt, my love? What do I do? You can punch me or slap me if you want if it helps” and I remember my wife laughing and crying at the same time because she said I was too hilarious to watch as I panicked. (Soonyoung sheepishly grins.) It was true, I was a bit too much. I remember pacing on the floor as she gave birth. She was in labor until evening. The members came to the hospital and waited with me, which became some sort of tradition whenever one of us gets to hold our kids for the first time. So all of them were there when I got to peek inside the hospital room. My wife was awake, and she was holding the baby. I remember taking the baby—(gesticulates how)—very carefully, and just staring dumbstruck at the tiny creature in my arms. I was like super amazed because there she was, my baby! I helped make this beautiful baby girl! I was also sort of terrified because I could already see my face in her. (Laughs loudly as he remembers his expression.) But all in all I was just, plain, simple happy…when her tiny fingers enclosed my thumb, I was like, in love all over again. The tears just started falling when she did that. (Shakes his head while smiling.) The members were telling me things like, “You should name her after you because you look so much like each other” but my wife objected thankfully. My wife and I named her “Yuna”.

Q: We’ve heard that there was a special reason why you named her, “Yuna.” Can we ask what it is?

SOONYOUNG: (Claps his hands together when he remembers why.) Yes, there was a reason! My wife was having these very strange cravings with food and movies and she just wanted to be with me most of the time. She even followed me around tours and fanmeets for a while. Wonu joked to me that that was probably why Yuna looked so much like me. Which is true, I think. (Laughs again.) Anyway, for about seven months, I would just lie with my wife on our bed, re-watching Kim Yuna’s figure-skating competitions. She was very much addicted to Kim Yuna. She’d never had a very keen liking for figure-skating or the Olympics before or any sport in particular, so I was really, really surprised. It was when she was already about four months pregnant, that we’d decided that if her Kim Yuna frenzy would not stop by then, we would name our baby after Kim Yuna if our baby would be a girl. (Soonyoung smiles at the camera and bows.) Kim Yuna-ssi, you were such an inspiration. Thank you very much!

7:15 A.M.

NARRATOR: *Let’s see what baby Yuna will have for breakfast! Looks like Kwon-appa is busy making something on the kitchen counter! What could it be?*

“Our Yuna, just wait patiently for your meal,” Soonyoung called out in a sing-song voice.

The strawberry fairy sat tapping her own spoon on her highchair table, making gurgling noises as she chatted with herself. She would squeal at times when she found a tapping rhythm that she liked, but every now and then, she would look up to the direction across her. “Appa?” she asked, her question understandable even by the other people watching from hidden places in the room. “Mmm, Appa?” How long are you going to make that breakfast, Appa?

Soonyoung was sterilizing the bowl that Yuna would use for eating, as well as her utensils. He put them into a saucepan and began putting in water. He waited until he had the water had already boiled for a few minutes before turning off the stove. Still humming (‘The Three Bears’ song was playing in the background) and eating his own apple—the half of the one he was going to use for Yuna’s breakfast—he poured the contents of another saucepan—chopped apples, oats, cinnamon and milk—into a blender. The sound of the whirring blender made Yuna drop the wooden spoon she was playing with.

“Ugh!” Her startled body shook, and her eyes widened.

NARRATOR: *Omo, she looked really surprised at the sound of the blender!*

“You’re still jumpy at the sound of the blender?” Soonyoung cooed as he munched his apple. “Don’t worry! Appa is here! It’s just a noise! Look!” Soonyoung pretended to bump his head on the cupboard. Thud. “Ow!”

Yuna forgot about the blender burst out laughing.

“Sometimes I wonder why we’re best friends, girl.” Soonyoung muttered. He pressed something on the blender, and it whirred again. Yuna once more looked startled. Soonyoung sighed and pretended to bump his head again. Thud. “Ow!”

Again, the little strawberry fairy doubled in laughter. She hiccuped as she did so—another sign that she was extremely happy.

The blender stopped whirring. Soonyoung finished his apple and checked to see if the mix had been pureed well. “Yes, yes, here it comes!” A few moments later, Soonyoung gently laid before Yuna a plate of oat porridge and a sippy cup filled with unsweetened orange fruit drink.

INTERVIEW WITH KWON SOONYOUNG, 30:

SOONYOUNG: (Blushes at being complimented for being a good appa who knows how to prepare and cook baby breakfast.) I sort of cheated on that! I had to study very hard because even before we started taping for The Return of Superman series, my wife had to go on a very long trip for work. She’s a consultant for a technological company…which is kinda cliché by the way. I knew I fell in love with her when she showed me how to re-format my laptop. I just knew that moment! Anyway, she’s been away for almost a month now, but she’ll be back any day now. It’s just a matter of helping the company close that deal. (Shows a list on his phone.) See? She gave me this list of things to do with Yuna just in case I run out of ideas. But some of the ones at the top are a ‘must’. Like I really have to do it for Yuna whether I like it or not. Which involves cooking strange baby meals, crawling lessons—just kidding, of course, my love! (Blows a reconciliatory kiss at the camera.) You really researched these baby meals well! Good job!

“You are a very good girl this morning, so I took some time to find where Eomma put the recipe for your favorite porridge. She wanted you to eat something with spinach, but we’re going to have something more enjoyable!” The little girl clapped her hands, as if she really understood how her dad just disobeyed a direct order from Mommy Headquarters. “Let’s hope we don’t get in trouble, bestie! Who’s your best friend?” Soonyoung rubbed noses with Yuna, who giggled. “Who’s your best friend?”

“Appa!” Whether Yuna said that as a response or whether she just said it as some sort of reflex for her happiness. Nevertheless, these buoyant replies made Soonyoung smile even wider. His heart felt like it could burst inside him.

My baby just called me! Me! Or not. He tried not to look so happy, but the giddiness kept showing on his face. “That’s right!” Soonyoung eagerly said. “We’re best friends, girl. And we’re not gonna tell Eomma, right?”

Yuna’s eyes widened at that. Soonyoung nervously pulled the tray back a little bit. It was as if she understood! “Girl, you can’t tell on me, she’d be angry at the both of us!”

Yuna just kept looking at him.

Soonyoung stared back.

Uh-oh.

“Eomma, no-no?” Yuna looked thunderstruck that she would be asked to keep a secret from her . “Bbuggubbuubuu?”

Soonyoung stared deeply into his daughters eyes. “That’s right, bestie. This is just between you and me. Okay? Pinky-swear?” Soonyoung reached out to do a pinky-swear, but Yuna kept staring at him. Slowly, as if she was wiser than her eight-month-old self, she reached for her bowl.

“Ggaaahh.” She began spooning the cereal clumsily.

Soonyoung breathed a sigh of relief. This was probably nothing.

“Eat on, baby girl!” Soonyoung looked at his watch. We have to go for our walk soon!”

RECIPE FOR YUNA’S FAVORITE PORRIDGE (according to Kwon Soonyoung’s list on his phone):

Oats (instant) | 1.5 tblspn

Apple | ½ big apple

Cinnamon powder | ¼ tsp

Water | ½ cup or adjust depending on Yuna’s appetite

Sugar (optional, if the mix isn’t sweet enough but not too much!)

8:00 A.M.

“The walk” wasn’t actually anywhere far from the house. Using a stroller, Soonyoung would jog around the neighborhood, pointing out things that would make Yuna exclaim loudly as she curiously looked at the object of her attention. Sometimes it was a cat, sometimes it was a fellow baby being walked by a parent, sometimes it was a tree or a flowers or birds. They weren’t anywhere near a park, and Soonyoung usually had to make do with the neighborhood, which wasn’t so bad itself. It was very private and had walled, mostly traditional Korean houses. And it was a good way to get to know neighbors, too! They passed by Seungcheol’s house, which was one of the more modern-looking houses on the block and was empty. The family van was out, too, but Soonyoung saw cameras from windows. Probably at daycare, he thought to himself, before pushing Yuna’s stroller again.

After that walk with Yuna, who had gotten her much-needed Vitamin D from the sun, Soonyoung opened the back gate, where a playhouse that was connected to tunnels and assorted carpet squares, rugs and different type of surfaces were mapped out like a puzzle game on the manicured lawn. Soonyoung gently took Yuna out of the stroller and placed her on a pink carpet square.

“Let’s practice crawling, Kwon Yuna!” he said like a pro dad, already gathering different elastic balls. He then knelt, carefully watching as Yuna tried to place her hands on the carpet square. Her strawberry-green wings fluttered with the morning breeze. Soonyoung smiled broadly. “Yuna, look!” He placed a ball three squares away. “It’s a ball!”

“B-ball!!!” Yuna shrieked excitedly and began crawling on the towards as fast as her little limbs could carry her. Soonyoung excitedly bent down to help just in case she tumbles.

“Yes! A ball!”

Yuna reached for the ball with a hand and it bounced, sending her into more squeals. “Ball!” She clapped her hands as she sat up, her strawberry bottoms bouncing. “Ball!”

“Well…how about this one?” Soonyoung placed a stuffed star four squares away. “Star!”

“Tar! Tar!” Yuna excitedly clapped her hands again and began to crawl towards the star. Soonyoung was heady with excitement. Their lesson-slash-playtime session was going well for the first two tries! When Yuna reached the star, he began to put another object, this time, five squares away. It was Yuna’s favorite outdoor toy. If you know Soonyoung, then you guessed it: a stuffed tiger. “Tiger!”

“Hosh!!! Hosh!!!” Yuna screamed with delight, much happier than before, and was faster this time. The crawling took only about five seconds. She wasn’t hesitant about this particular object—she knew that toy!

Soonyoung thought of you then. “Blame yourself, my love,” you said loudly for the cameras, “our daughter is calling tigers by my stage name!”

Yuna grabbed the tiger’s nose clumsily with finger and thumb. Her face was red with excitement, and her cheeks looked very much like Soonyoung’s when he was younger. “Hoooshi! Hooooshi!” She hugged the tiger close to her, her wings fluttering with her bouncy movements again.

NARRATOR: *AWWW! Everyone’s hearts just fluttered at this show of affection! She must really love her tiger!!!*

Soonyoung smiled again, before taking the tiger from Yuna. Yuna pouted, having been deprived of Hoshi the Tiger.

“Hey, look! Hoshi wants to race!!!” Soonyoung scooted over the carpet squares and made the tiger “run” across the carpet squares and into the playhouse, with Yuna following happily as fast as she could, her giggles sending warmth into the cameramen who were filming the whole thing.

However, once father and daughter were resting on the playhouse, Soonyoung noticed a strange smell. Sniffing and looking at Yuna, who was looking up at him innocently with her mother’s eyes, Soonyoung groaned. “Okay! Playtime’s over!!! Let’s change your diaper.”

TIPS ON HOW TO CHANGE A BABY’S DIAPER (according to Kwon Soonyoung):

Make sure the diaper you are using is fit for your baby’s skin—no matter how good the brand, it still depends on your baby!

Always sanitize changing areas, whether at home or outside, and keep away stuffed tigers while changing—they might catch the smell. Not so good for stuffed tigers like Hoshi the Tiger!

Make sure you throw the used diaper in a proper waste disposal. And don’t forget to take out the trash at the end of the day!

NEVER run out of diapers. It happened once to me while we were at an ocean park—and it was a very bad experience. #NeverForget

Wash your hands before and after!!!

10:00 A.M.

The doorbell rang, and Soonyoung tiptoed out of the living room, where he was rocking Yuna to sleep. She had changed from her clothes and her diaper, and she looked extremely adorable in her new tiger jumpsuit.

INTERVIEW WITH KWON SOONYOUNG, 30:

SOONYOUNG: (Nods at the camera and smiles.) That’s right. I made my wife buy that jumpsuit. My daughter can be a tiger, too! (Does his signature roaring pose.) Horanghae!!!

“Bbbabbujji?” Yuna asked you, all traces of sleepiness vanishing from her face.

Soonyoung grinned at her. “You’re probably wondering a lot, huh? Well, let’s see…” Soonyoung walked towards the door and grinned. “Hellooooooo, playmates!!!”

Jeon Eunha stepped in and bowed. “Good morning, Hoshi-samchon!”

Jeon Wonwoo grinned at Soonyoung and pushed up his glasses. “Hello, Yuna! Hello yourself, Soonyoung.”

Soonyoung chuckled and made way for the visitors. “Come in! Come in!” He welcomed them into the spacious living room with a playpen on one side. Jeon Eunha immediately skipped away to the bookcase, studying the contents carefully.

“What’s she doing? And I’m so glad you made it, Wonwoo!”

“Let me see my goddaughter.” Jeon Wonwoo reached out like a fellow expert dad and drew Yuna to him. Yuna, who had begun to become aware of strangers just a month ago, didn’t seem to mind this handsome stranger who was now rocking her. “She’s getting even more and more beautiful!”

Soonyoung beamed like the proud dad he was. “That’s my girl right there!”

“Soonyoung-samchon,” Eunha gently tugged at Soonyoung, who bent down to ruffle her hair. The beautiful Jeon Eunha looked like an Athenian queen in the making, wisely holding a book again. “Can I read this to Yuna?”

“Of course!” Soonyoung smiled. “Yuna would love being read to!”

Eunha happily skipped again towards the playpen, where plushies were next to the bookcase. “Appa, take Yuna here! I’ll read to her!”

“Okay.” Wonwoo rubbed noses with the cute Yuna and said, “Let’s go to Eunha-unnie, Yuna!” And he went to where his daughter, who was opening the picture book she had. Yuna quickly warmed up to Eunha after a few minutes.

“Yuna loves her unnie,” Soonyoung commented, looking at the two affectionately. “Thanks for coming by, Wonu!”

Wonwoo grinned at him. “Hey, we planned this, remember? Our kids are going to play with each other. Eunha’s been asking and asking me when she saw Yuna on your Instagram while I was scrolling.”

“She’s a very wise girl.”

“She is!”

“I hope Yuna learns from her as she gets older!”

Wonwoo grinned and the two dads walked into the playpen as well, participating with Eunha’s reading session. She was reading “Peter Rabbit”, which had been translated into Korean. Yuna was paying close attention to the pictures as she sat on Eunha’s lap, touching the pictures of the rabbits and the fences and the letters.

Wonwoo and Soonyoung talked about dad stuff and SVT, zoning out of the little kids’ world as the cameras rolled.

INTERVIEW WITH KWON SOONYOUNG, 30:

Q: Does Jeon Wonwoo regularly visit your house with Eunha?

SOONYOUNG: (Beams.) Yes, and I’m very happy he keeps me company! We have always been close, but I think we got closer when we both became dads. He’s the second guy who gives advice to me about stuff. We usually talk on the phone, but as Eunha got older, she wanted to see other friends and go to places. She’s very sharp and bright for her age. (Soonyoung scratches his head.) It’s like Wonwoo carbon-copied himself on his daughter. I’m glad that Yuna has an unnie who takes care of her when they meet, someone she can learn from truly.

“Being a dad changes us, huh?” Wonwoo commented, staring at the two. Yuna has started to doze off on Eunha’s lap. “There’s a tenderness and strength to us that we never had when we were merely guys…husbands…this is different.”

Soonyoung nodded. “Yes. Really.” He sighed. “Yuna changed my life. Literally.”

Wonwoo smirked. “I bet.”

“Congratulations on the addition to the family, by the way!”

Wonwoo smiled wider. “Ah, could I get any happier?”

The two dads laughed.

Suddenly Yuna’s eyes opened and looked directly at Soonyoung. She looked like she was about to cry as her lips pursed menacingly.

Soonyoung knew exactly what to do. He leaned on the picket fence of the playpent and—you guessed it!—bumped his head on it. Thud. “Ow!”

Yuna burst out into a fit of giggles on Eunha’s lap. Eunha, too, did not look so much like the extraordinary three-and-a-half-year-old girl. She was putting her hands into her mouth, book forgotten, laughing as hard as Yuna.

Wonwoo was laughing, too. “You idiot. Stop doing that or she’ll keep asking for it! There are a lot of friendlier games.”

“What can I say?” Soonyoung stopped pretending to cry and grinned at Wonwoo. “Dads do stupid things sometimes, huh?”

Wonwoo nudged him with an elbow. “Not yet, please! I’m still not ready for the dad-jokes phase!”

“Now that I have been so ready for. But in the meantime,” Soonyoung bumped his head again. Thud. “Ow!”

Yuna, Eunha, and Wonwoo burst out laughing, along with the muffled laughter of everyone who was watching behind the cameras.

Judging from the thudding noises, it was going to be a great day for the Kwon residence.

EPISODES | Ep. 1| Ep. 2 | after-party | Ep. 3 | only us | Ep. 4 | afterglow | Ep. 5 | Ep. 6.1

- Admin Leanne

#seventeen #svtcreations #seventeen scenarios #seventeen imagines #seventeen fluff #seventeen drabbles #seventeen hoshi #kwon soonyoung #tiger hoshi #dad seventeen #svt dad au #seventeen wonwoo #jeon wonwoo #The Return of Superman

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mischiefandspirits · 4 years

Text

Doppelgänger (11/?)

Previously on Doppelgänger ~ Masterlist ~ Next time on Doppelgänger

Danny, Sam, and Tucker were just 14 when they took a look inside the portal Danny’s parents had built. From there, everything changed. They woke up with white hair, green skin, and powers they could learn to control. They were hybrids, halfas.

They were the hero Doppelgänger.

{Life Lessons, Part 3}

The two ghosts led Valerie through the Ghost Zone in a weaving path. They were going at a pace slower than she was used to when dealing with them, but still fast enough that Danny had to hold on to keep from falling off.

“You okay?” she asked when his grip tightened during a turn.

“Yeah, just not used to it.”

“Maybe I should take you flying with me some time,” she said, glancing back at him and was pleased to see his smile.

“Sounds fun.”

The trip was thankfully short and soon enough Valerie was following the ghosts through a swirling vortex, coming out in the Fentons’ lab.

“Last stop, home,” Danny joked as he hopped down.

“What was that?”

All four teens froze at the voice before the ghosts darted through the walls and Valerie retracted her suit. A moment later, Danny’s parents came running down the stairs.

“Danny!” his mom shrieked when she saw them and the two adults swooped in to hug him. “We’ve been so worried! Are you okay? Did that awful ghost hurt you?”

“I’m-Mom, I’m-I’m okay! I-Dad, I can’t breath!”

The two pulled away and his mom held him at arm’s length to look him over. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine, mom. Really.”

She didn’t look convinced, but turned to the other teen. “Valerie Gray, right? Are you okay?”

“Uh, yes ma’am,” she said, blinking. “Um, how did you know…”

“Your boss saw you and Danny get attacked and called it in,” Mrs. Fenton explained. “We tried to track it, but we found out this morning that it managed to get back to the zone somehow without using our portal. We were just preparing the speeder so we could come find you.”

“But you managed to escape on your own,” Mr. Fenton said, slapping Danny on the back hard enough that he stumbled forward. “That’s our boy!”

“The ghost didn’t hurt you?” Mrs. Fenton asked, looking Valerie over as she’d done Danny.

“No. He was some sort of collector or something. He just stuck us in a cage, like zoo animals,” Danny said.

“Well, I suppose that’s better than the alternative. I still want to be sure, though. Jack, why don’t you call Damon and the police and tell them the kids are back.”

“Yes, dear.” Mr. Fenton ruffled Danny’s hair then ran upstairs.

Mrs. Fenton checked them both thoroughly for injuries then grabbed what she referred to as a first aid kit, but turned out to be a large toolbox full of medical equipment. She used it to check their eyes, lungs, and heart before measuring any ectoplasmic radiation they were giving off.

“A 0.3er,” she read off after scanning Valerie. When she saw the girl’s curious expression, she explained, “Lower than I would have thought, which is good. It’s a completely healthy reading. It also means the atmospheric ecto-rad level of the Ghost Zone might be lower than we were expecting.” She then turned to Danny and scanned him. “A 1.18er.”

“Is that bad?” Valerie asked, worried.

Danny shook his head. “I run hotter than most. My whole family does, really, but I got into an accident a few months back so I run even hotter. That’s not much higher than my usual.”

“We don’t start worrying until a person’s ecto-rad level reaches 1.5er,” Mrs. Fenton added. “That’s when ectoplasm starts to negatively affect a human’s body.”

“Mom, Mr. Gray is here,” Danny’s sister said, poking her head in. Her eyes widened. “Danny!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny gave a pleased sigh as he cuddled up between his partners.

“Sorry it took us so long to find you,” Sam said, squeezing him.

He kissed her cheek. “It’s not your fault. Besides, it was kind of fun tormenting Skulker. I think he was actually tempted to send us back towards the end there.”

“Only you would think annoying the crud out of the homicidal ghost keeping you prisoner was a good idea,” Tucker chuckled, nuzzling into his neck.

“That’s why you love me!” Danny nuzzled him back. “How did you guys find us?”

“Someone found video footage of Skulker going through that random portal on their CCTV camera and turned it over to the police,” Sam explained. “Jazz told us when they were bringing in your parents to see the video so we were able to come along invisibly.”

“Weird as it is, Jazz is probably the hero this time,” Tucker said. “She also got you and Val an A on your baby assignment.”

“Wait, seriously?”

“Yeah, she came by that night and told us you were missing, then took both sacks with her. Said something about giving us time to process.”

“Which was good because we were up all night trying to find you.”

“Then the next morning after she gave us ours back she went to Tetslaff and explained what had happened. We don’t know what she said, but she turned in the sack and when Tetslaff handed out grades, she said you’d get As for trusting someone so responsible and mature to babysit for you.”

“Wow, score one for teacher’s pet Jazz. Maybe we should bring her in on the secret.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Sam snorted.

“She’s even more overprotective of you than you are of anyone. She’d never leave us alone,” Tucker huffed.

Danny’s nose scrunched up as he remembered how Jazz had hovered over him for two months after his parents had accidentally left him at the Christmas tree lot when he was six. “Yeah, okay, that’s fair. I’ll have to do something nice for Jazz, though. So how’d you guys do on the baby thing anyways?”

Sam smirked. “Well, I got an A.”

Tucker grumbled something and pressed further into Danny’s neck.

{The Million Dollar Ghost}

“Thanks for covering for me, Sam,” Danny said as he scrubbed ectoplasm off the lab’s floor. “There’s no way I’d have been able to get my chores done with all the extra work Lancer assigned me.”

“It’s fine. As long as we cover the next poetry night.”

“I will.”

“Did we charge the bazooka already?”

“Yes, Mom.”

“Did we change the ecto-filtrator?”

Danny paused then went to do just that.

“We’d be lost without us,” Sam chuckled. “Did we talk to our dad about showing up at school?”

“Jazz and Mom were taking care of it when -”

“GUYS!”

“Tuck?”

“Volume!”

“Did you hear?” Tucker said, thankfully quieter.

“Hear what?”

“Turn on the tv! Amity news!”

“We’re on patrol,” Sam said as Danny went to the lab’s tv.

“Switching to FaceTime.”

“-etent, non-Jack Fenton ghost hunters in Amity Park has never been more obvious,” the news anchor was saying while footage of his dad’s attack on Lancer played. It switched back to the anchor and she continued. “Luckily a mysterious benefactor has offered a million-dollar bounty on the head of Amity Park’s most famous ghost and invited the world’s best-known ghost hunters to track her down.”

Danny’s jaw dropped as a picture of Tucker in ghost form appeared onscreen. “What?”

“Who on earth would place a bounty on us?”

“Besides Valerie, but we know she doesn’t have that kind of money,” Tucker added.

“Valerie wants to hunt us down herself, same for my parents,” Danny said. Then laughed. “Oh man, my dad is going to go crazy when he hears about this.”

“Dude, this is serious.”

“Aren't we worried? These are the best-known ghost hunters in the world!”

“Sam, they’re the best-known, they’re not the best,” he scoffed. “Trust me, I grew up around these people so I have a pretty good idea who’s going to show up. It will be great.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“We’ll admit, they don’t look threatening,” the trio said, watching the gathering of ghost hunters from atop a nearby building. “It’s actually kind of sad.”

“Tell me about it.” The trio flinched and turned to Valerie as she landed next to them.

“Hey. Hi. You here for the bounty?”

“Lucky for you, no.” She sat down on the edge next to them. “I don’t trust this bounty thing. I’m here for the same reason as you, the show. Danny said his dad would be here to show up the out-of-towners.”

The four watched as the Fenton parents ran over a pair of ATVs.

“And that’s only half the show.”

“What do you mean?”

“SAVE DOPPELGÄNGER!”

The four turned to see a horde of teenagers marching into the Nasty Burger parking lot, all waving signs saying things like, “Protect the ghost boy!”, “Freedom for the ghost girl!”, and even just their name or picture. Paulina and Dash were at the head of the charge with fierce looks on their faces.

“I found out the popular kids at my school were organizing a protest against the bounty.”

“Well, don’t we feel special.”

“Apparently Paulina and Dash, the most popular sophomores, both have crushes on you.”

“Yikes. Wow. We don’t know if we should be flattered or creeped out.”

“You’re dead. It’s creepy.”

“Rude. Do they think we’re a guy or a girl?”

“Dash is adamant you’re a girl. Probably to soothe his poor straight heart. Paulina thought you were a guy, but I think my friend Star said something to her after I let it slip you might be non-binary because she’s been using they pronouns lately.”

“That’s… more forward-thinking than I assumed she could be. Given she’s the popular type.”

“She’s bi. As long as you weren’t femme, she would have been game.”

“Oh.”

“She’s still in the closet, so don’t say anything to anyone.”

“We won’t.”

Screams sounded over the arguing and the four looked back to the crowd to see a trio of bird ghosts dive-bombing the hunters.

“Those are Plasmius’s vultures. Should have known he was behind this whole thing.”

“Plasmius,” Valerie asked.

“A fruit loop of a ghost.”

“Let me guess, he hates you too?”

“Worse, he wants us as his kid. Tried to kill our dad and kidnapped our mom once.”

“Seriously?”

“Unfortunately. Do you mind taking care of this? The out-of-towners are idiots, but we’d rather not test the Fentons.”

She shrugged and climbed to her feet. They watched her drop down and start firing on the birds until a voice sounded behind them.

“Not going to lend your father a hand, Daniel?”

The trio turned to see Vlad floating behind them.

“Wow, you look even stupider than we sai-remember. You do realize the modern interpretation of vampires is a hot person, right?”

“I see you’ve been working on your duplication then,” he said with a scowl. “You do realize you don’t have to talk together, don’t you ?”

“You do realize there are better uses for your time than bothering a teenager, don’t you? Shouldn't you be getting home to the love of your life? Oh, that’s right! Our dad married the love of your life. We’re trying to watch the show, do you mind?”

Vlad scowled and fired on them.

“Should we really be teasing the older, stronger half-ghost? Well, we do outnumber him.”

Vlad split in three.

“Now we don’t.”

Sam raised a shield around her and Tucker while he grabbed onto the GAV’s controls and used it to fire on Vlad. Meanwhile, Danny put his speed to use diving around the three Vlad’s.

“You’ve gotten better,” one Vlad said as Danny curled around his blast, a bit of frustration leaking into his voice.

“And you’ve gotten worse,” they said.

Was it just Danny or were the Vlad’s slower and weaker than usual? Did duplication cut their power?

Interesting, and good to know for Sam.

A green blast flew by and Danny looked down to see they’d gotten the hunters’ attention.

Danny turned back to the Vlads and fired at the one closest to him. A pink blast joined his and the Vlad disappeared.

“Your stalker?” Valerie asked.

“Yup.”

“I believe that’s my cue to leave,” a Vlad said and they teleported away.

“And ours,” the trio said as a few more of the hunters’ blasts flew past them.

Valerie turned her blaster towards Danny, who raised his hands. “Thought you weren’t going for the bounty.”

“I’m not. This is for me.”

Sam and Tucker shot away as Danny flew down towards the crowd, distracting all the hunters and waving at their fans before he dove straight into the ground. He came up in an alley where his partners were waiting and all three transformed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I knew there was something sketchy about this mess,” Valerie said as she looked over her pistol. “I didn’t think a ghost would be the one placing the bounty though.”

“Ghost?” Danny said, coming back over with a now-empty thermos.

“Yeah, some enemy of the ghost kid. They said he wants them as his kid, but I don’t even know how that works for ghosts.”

“No clue. Maybe he’s just insane.”

“Probably.”

Valerie’s phone went off and she pulled it out. “There’s an attack downtown.”

He leaned in as she brought up a live feed.

A large, t-rex-looking ghost was stomping through the street. Sam and Tucker were already there, firing on its head. The hunters, Danny’s parents included, could be seen chasing them in the background.

“You going to join them?” Danny asked, pulling back and grabbing Valerie’s grenade launcher. His partners looked like they had it and they’d give him a call if they didn’t.

“And risk getting into another ghost discussion with those pathetic excuses for hunters? Pass.”

“You should see them at one of the conventions.”

The two worked in silence until Danny’s ghost sense went off and a device on the counter next to them started beeping.

“Ghost?” Danny grabbed it and checked it. “It shouldn’t be picking up the fight from here.”

Valerie loaded the cartridge back into her pistol while Danny grabbed the only other operational weapons on the table, the thermos and Fenton Ghost Gloves.

The vultures flew through the ceiling, then froze. “You should not be here.”

Valerie blasted all three in the face.

Danny grabbed one in one hand and sucked the second into the thermos with the other before they could recover. The third dodged around another blast from Valerie, only for the Jack o' Nine Tails to come shooting out of the stairs and wrap around it.

Jazz slammed it into the floor as she came into the lab. “You guys okay?”

“We’re fine,” Danny said, sucking the last two into the thermos. “You?”

“Fine. I was just heading into the kitchen to grab a snack and saw them flying by.” She watched as Danny went to empty the thermos, then turned to Valerie. “What are you guys doing down here?”

“Well now, isn’t this a surprise?”

The teens looked up to see Vlad hovering over the lab.

“Great, another uninvited guest,” Danny groaned.

The ghost turned to him in shock. “Daniel?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Do I know you?”

Valerie shot Vlad before he could do anything else.

Jazz tried to grab him with the nine tails, but he caught it out of the air and yanked it away from her. Danny used the distraction to punch him in the back. He smirked down at the gauntlets when the older halfa was sent into the wall.

Valerie slid up to his side as Jazz grabbed the Fenton Foamer off a table and blasted Vlad. “Trade you.”

Knowing from personal -- bruising -- experience that Valerie was better at hand-to-hand, Danny passed her the gauntlets and took the pistol.

The kids didn’t give Vlad a chance to breathe, switching quickly between Valerie beating him into the ground and the Fentons shooting him out of the air. Soon enough, Danny was opening the portal so Valerie could toss him through.

“And don’t come back!” he yelled before shutting it. He turned and smiled at Valerie before meeting Jazz’s eyes. “Mom and Dad never hear of this?”

“Agreed.”

#danny phantom #danny fenton #valerie gray #sam manson #tucker foley #Doppelgänger au

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incarnateirony · 4 years

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Sorry abt all of the hate you’ve been getting recently. Here’s a (hopefully) interesting opinion to give you a break. I understand you believe DeanCas to be canon based on text. However, in a tv show, the script doesn’t equate to canon. In the end it’s the actors/directors interpretation onscreen. It’s fun to analyze DeanCas textually, but if there’s no onscreen payoff to the decade (?) long buildup. It’s queerbait. And knowing the history of LGBT+ cinema, it would be a very cruel thing.

Okay so this is a really uh, kinda cute attempt, but still about 3 years behind on things I’ve already addressed. In fact, your own take in a lot -- and I mean a lot -- of ways is far more self defeating than you think right here.

First of all, the script is the *base* of canon. I have always said, the script isn’t the complete canon and yes, it’s a collaborative work. This is not the winning argument you think it is. However, it is the base text. The base texts depicts the canon on page before the collaborative part presses it to on screen. (In fact to show how Not New Yet Backwards this take is, I've included a post at the end about social codes where I openly address how hysterical the fandom's limited idea of text is, and that whether inside or outside of Spoken Dialogue Only eg script the argument falls on its face and surrenders itself to reveal internalized queerphobia.)

For the record, I assume you went with the “script is just script” angle because I recently nailed down all the authoritative statements and receipts, but we’ll move on to your other points.

Now while not every-single-director has ever spoken up, some have. In fact, director Phil Sgriccia was one of the first people--in so far as being on the S8 DVD commentary--talking about Dean’s biromantic potential. Dick Speight also has been openly supportive and his framework is consistent. Many others don’t engage, like wright, but wright very obviously consciously framed things as per his previous work with Jensen on Dark Angel. We could go on. We could go on about set design, we could go on about all kinds of things.

We could go on about the way this fandom has a terrible warped way of reviewing AV media, wherein they used to chase curtains or assume certain lighting meant things it didn’t, *against* what crew said in some points, and then yell about interpretation.

In fact your very evocation of the collaborative elements make this even more absurdist even if you really did pose this in innocence: after all, when this year a soap opera reporter who doesn’t even watch the show caught the 15.03 breakup, she gave swift review of the full cinematography being the classic framework of the Dark Points in the Romance. Because you’re right. It’s collaborative text. And especially as of season 15, that collaborative text--and in AV, visuals DO count as text--is painting them in romantic methods, in ways previously not done no matter what someone’s 8 year old meta sheet told them violet light meant. In fact, if you follow the actual crew’s statements of that violet light’s meaning, and look at 15.13, and then read through what I’ve been talking about on endgame speculation and where it fell, it falls into the fated twined paths of Dean and Cas at the end of the road together. No, the violet isn’t inherently romantic. Yes, it’s part of a large story. And yes, that story is leading them down a road together which I’ll bring up at the end of this post. Letting a romance speak for itself in the midst of mytharc is a whole other thing, and actually like, how it’s supposed to go? When it’s... literally an integral part of the structure?

All of this, all of this, is fundamentally true and I have actually made dozens if not hundreds of post to show how fandom has actually been -- in their attempt to be woke, to claim queerbait or not canon, or to whatever else -- persistently deleted creative commentary, turned it into accusations, or just defied basic AV crit standards both for and against itself.

Are we really going to start talking about actor interpretations in the year even Jensen Ackles called it a domestic dispute, and turned a Samstiel question into Dean’s taste in Cas? Or Misha and Jared’s long histories of commentary? Or the other actors on the field over the years, even Emily Swallow or Curtis? Should we go as far back as to go to the showrunner note of when to play it like a jilted lover?

None of this is a new angle that I find interesting, it was interesting a few years ago when I first shared it, but here’s where your line breaks:

Jumping from that, any of that to “if there’s no onscreen payoff” isn’t just a nonsequitor, it buries your intent.

Even I have said, it’s true! The only base definition of queerbait is to create a bunch of queer-leading content without intent to follow through! Good job on that.

But you’re missing a whole bunch here.

I’ve simply said that setting ridiculous goalposts based on personal wants is not what makes canon. I don’t care if you want a kiss or sex on the map table or a rainbow farting unicorn pony for them to ride into the horizon--those are your goalposts, and those are not the only ways, nor the only valid ways much less, to have follow through.

The lack of intent to follow through is a hilarious presupposition. And follow-through does not only transmit one way. Hets get plenty of follow throughs like, I don’t know, at the end them implicitly asking someone to dinner and that’s it, that’s their happy ending. (Detty comes to mind.) Some hets never even kiss. Nobody gets to set that specific *goalpost* and then erase all the other canon and text. That’s queer deletion. That’s regressive. And frankly that shits on the LGBT cinema history you’re trying to reference here vaguely, to which I point you to my entire LGBTQIA+ tag where I discuss a hundred years of queer cinema history and have a nagging feeling your head would actually spin for trying to break that out as an argument. Because you’ve got that backwards.

If the authors have intent to follow through on a romantic pairing, but do not give *your specific preferred thing* for *whatever* reason (in this case, from corporate interference snaring them back, for example), that is /not/ queerbait. It’s low visibility text and it’s still canon. There is no form of mental gymnastics this becomes anything else. If they have the intent to follow through and do follow through, it’s not queerbait.

I don’t care how you cartwheel, how you reframe it, and how you try to nurse your mental wounds having to face that, perhaps, the alt right and terfy propaganda that has infested this fandom under the veil of being woke to get kids to repeat it has, also, influenced you. It’s hard to admit mistakes. But your entire statement here doesn’t even add together, it’s random assertions you’ve assumed are new, but actually fall contrary to what you think they add up to.

If, for example as I speculate, they can’t kiss, for example, but squeeze in a love you under limited parameters only to go off as a unit into eternity together on their own path, decided together, and that’s as far as the writers were allowed to go? Sorry, they still had intent to follow through, and followed through to what limit they have. Ergo, by your own definition, not queerbait.

Also, regardless of the ending, that doesn’t remove *text*. I can’t emphasize this enough. You can be dissatisfied with the ending, you can even feel baited if it does or doesn’t go to a specific landmark you set your personal faith on, but that doesn’t make previous text elements suddenly subtext, because that isn’t how it works, and never has been.

Regarding unlevel social codes and how many ways this fandom has shown its own ass unwittingly, confusion over what is text, subtext, and how they all fall into a canon

https://occamshipper.tumblr.com/post/190728796970/were-gonna-try-this-again-canon-is-accepted

Being regressive and deleting your own stuff isn't helpful and often varies based on preferences rather than objective observations.

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uncloseted · 4 years

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did you watch april's and dakota's live and her confession about by Bryan Elsley telling that frankie should be more sexy etc?

Yes! She’s doing an instagram live right now as well. She just mentioned that she was offered a series 7 episode but turned it down. I’m hoping she’ll upload it as an IGTV because I missed the beginning (edit: she did).

Edit: For those of you who haven’t seen it, here are some of the takeaways:

- Bryan Elsley stopped being part of the Skins UK team for series 5, in favor of getting Skins US up and running. The producers of the show were largely in charge of its direction for series 5 and 6.

- Episodes 2 and 3 of series 6 were filmed before episode 1, so the cast had no idea what had happened to Grace when they filmed episodes 2 and 3.

- The initial change in Franky’s appearance for series 6 came from Bryan Elsley when he returned from filming Skins US. For episode 601, the costume designer originally had picked out a vintage, Victorian looking striped one-piece for Franky. Bryan Elsley said, I’m bored, make it sexy,” and Franky was given a bikini instead. Dakota hinted that she had other inappropriate encounters with Bryan, though she didn’t elaborate.

- Dakota talked about being confused when Franky entered into a relationship with Nick. She told the producers that she felt like Franky was becoming “a whore” and that it didn’t mesh with the character Franky was in series 5, which was a shrinking violet, never-been-kissed type. She said she was yelled at for expressing this opinion and told she had no say in what would happen with her character.

- Dakota wasn’t told that Franky and Matty had been carrying on a relationship over the summer until the filming of series 6, episode 1, and was confused by it.

- The producers had Dakota do an acting workshop with Jack O’Connell, because they intended Luke’s character to be like Jack. Dakota says she felt like they were trying to turn Franky into a character like Effy, and I think they were trying to recapture the Cook/Effy dynamic that people liked so much by reintroducing Luke.

- April and Dakota talked about how there was so much potential for Franky’s character, both as one of the first pansexual characters on a teen drama and potentially as someone’s who’s non-binary. Dakota said she felt like she owed Franky more, because Franky made a lot of people feel represented. Dakota expressed a lot of regret about where Franky’s character ended up.

- April and Dakota both talked about how they felt a pressure to live up to their characters’ crazy antics off-camera, including partying after they finished shooting for the day.

- Dakota mentioned that originally, she considered leaving the show after series 5.

- Dakota was a fan of Skins before she auditioned for the show.

- There was a lot of back and forth on whether Mini and a Franky were going to be a couple or not, depending on the writer, which is why their relationship sometimes seems romantic and sometimes platonic. She feels like it would have been a nice conclusion to both Franky and Mini’s storylines. She thinks they didn’t end up writing them as a couple because so many people wanted them to be one.

From Dakota’s Q&A on her Insta:

- Dakota was offered a series 7 episode but turned it down. She talked a lot about how she felt exhausted from the experience of being on Skins.

- She thinks the best things about Franky’s character is that she’s very forgiving and sees the best in people, and that the worst is that she can be very selfish.

- Franky’s “dark past” (as Dakota understood it/interpreted it) was that Franky, having grown up in the foster system, had experienced “unpleasant things” in her childhood, as well as having been bullied in her previous schools, that had a sexual undertone to it. She equates sexuality with something that’s scary and feels persecutory. Dakota mentions that she thinks it’s a shame that Franky never got a chance to break down her barriers onscreen.

- Dakota said that she has done volunteer work with domestic abuse victims, and she wants to be clear that Luke/Franky is not a healthy or romantic relationship. She’s not a fan of that relationship. She’s also not a fan of Nick/Franky and said it was hard to ‘get her head around” it.

- Dakota says that Franky didn’t kill Grace, and she’s upset when people say that Franky did. She says she feels like the blaming of Franky is born from a misogynistic view that because she was “cheating” on Matty, everything that happened after that was Franky’s fault. Dakota says that Franky had a much bigger reaction when they originally shot the scene- there was a lot of Franky urging Luke to stop the car, and she had a much bigger “Jackie Kennedy” moment, where Franky looks back at the car and looks horrified. They shot a whole sequence of Franky’s response that got edited out.

- Dakota would have liked to see Franky get to be happy and to deal with what had happened in her relationship with Luke (since it was never really spoken about again).

- Dakota likes to think that now, Franky would have “sorted her shit out” and be in a happy relationship and works in the film industry on the production side.

- All of the characters continued to develop after the actors were cast and well into the series. Series 5 was not fully written before they started filming, so the actors influenced the writers and the storylines. Franky was written more punky, but she got softer and more androgynous.

- Originally, they wanted to shave Dakota’s head to play Franky, but they ended up going with a less harsh, punky look instead (to suit Dakota better).

- She says the crew on Skins were really sensitive and supportive, particularly during sex scenes, and that Jess (Grace) supported her through the filming of the rape scene in series 6.

- Dakota mentioned that a lot of the cast are still very close. Alex Arnold (Rich) and Will Merrick (Alo) lived together for a period of time (and maybe still do). She said that she was closest to Jess Sula (Grace). But she personally doesn’t hang out with the cast much.

- Dakota had to bind her chest to get the androgynous look Franky had in series 5.

#Anonymous #effys-closet #effys closet

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spiralledcupid · 4 years

Text

‘ people say friends don’t destroy one another (what do they know about friends?) ’

Peter Lukas/Elias Bouchard, 1947 words.

Peter and Elias watch The Weakest Link.

CW for toxic dynamics and british game shows

They’re almost always busy. Organising the apocalypse was hard work, and when Elias wasn’t submerged in paperwork and plotting, Peter was out to sea and mourning his failure – and when Peter wasn’t on the Tundra, Elias was too busy laying traps for his Archivist. It was nothing personal, though Elias sometimes liked to act like it was, just to bait a reaction. It was simply hard to schedule time for relaxation, hard to plan when getting hold of each other was near impossible. But, on the nights where they both happened to be available and in England, Peter always ended up on Elias’ doorstep. Somewhere along the line, Elias would let him in, they’d pour drinks – cider for Peter and red wine for Elias, the latter stocked high and the former with just a few cans gathering dust in a corner – and they’d end up in front of the television. And Peter would put on a game show.

They’re an odd little fascination, one Peter developed during a horrid interval when the Tundra was trapped portside for a week, or maybe two. Though he’d expected his enjoyment of them to pass when he was finally free to sail on his silent ship once more, the habit stuck and more often than not he found himself watching one quiz show or another. Not the silly ones like Eggheads or Pointless, when it all boiled down into teamwork and collaboration, but the truly cutthroat ones, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and such, where the contestants were pitted against each other from the start. The ones where they were all so obviously praying their fellow contestants would fail so they could get their chance at whatever meaningless award was offered.

Elias – though he had been James Wright at the time, if Peter remembered right – had called Peter for the first time ever when that couple cheated Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, gloating over how they’d worked together to snatch the top prize from ITVs helpless hands. It took all the fun out of it, really, working together. It robbed the shows of that intoxicating isolation that populated so many of them, the terrifying knowledge that there would be no help given, that everything had to be done alone. That was quite wonderful.

Peter allowed himself to sprawl over their shared sofa. For once in his overlong life, Elias had decided to be pleasant, only complaining twice when Peter commandeered the remote to put on a rerun of The Weakest Link. And he’d kept quiet during the best bits, when the contestants nominated the contestant to leave the show that round.

“You are being kind tonight.” Peter remarked, when the second-rate replay channel shoehorned in yet another ad break.

“Am I?” Elias asked, swinging his long legs into Peter’s lap. Peter shuffled away to the tune of Elias’ laugh. The last thing he needed was Elias ruining the delicious pain of second-hand isolation by forcing Peter to remember his presence. He regretted talking at all when Elias began prodding his toes into the worn jean of Peter’s thigh. His socks were covered with eyes, tessellated together into some sickening collage of sight.

“Can you see from those?” Peter asked without thinking. On the television, some pointless celebrity offered up a brand of washing power in a variety of scenarios, her face never losing a bland smile, her eyes clinging to hollow vacancy. Peter’s heart rose. There was nothing more enjoyable than the knowledge that this woman, whoever she may be, would have left the recording studio for a flat far too big for her in the centre of a bustling city, the open plan forcing her voice to echo and rebound from the stock-photo walls should she try to call any of the fake friends she had. But there were still millions of women across the country watching her vacant face and wishing with all their lonely little hearts that they could be her, convinced that if they just had her hair or her face, her money or her family, they could wash the loneliness from their lives for good. They were wrong.

Peter hoped no one told them.

“Can I see through my socks?” Elias mused, closing his eyes. Seconds, minutes later, he blinked them open again, “Your trousers are terribly frayed.”

“I don’t need to see through my socks to know that.”

“You should fix them.” Elias suggested, in the voice that meant he wanted Peter to do no such thing. Elias fed from making sure Peter always felt his Eye on one of his flaws or another and Peter, in turn, fed from never listening to Elias’ opinion when he chose to give it. It made Elias feel terrifically, terrifyingly lonely, when people didn’t care what he thought about them.

A five second clip of the introduction music signalled the end of the nauseating ad break. Peter was very conflicted about ad breaks. On one hand, it didn’t really seem fair to exchange five minutes of mediocre television for five minutes of mind-numbing adverts displaying things no one person could possibly need, even if they lived as long as Elias had. On the other hand, advertisements were built around the need to make the viewer feel inferior, a gateway drug to loneliness if there ever was one. Where there was inferiority there was insecurity, the fear of being left out or left behind, and both of those were fears The Lonely found delicious.

Yes, Peter would adore ad breaks, if he didn’t have to see them too.

“How could they cancel this?” Peter sighed, as onscreen Anne Robinson belittled a contestant for enjoying wrestling.

“It’s possibly the only good thing the BBC has ever done,” Elias said, purely to provoke a reaction, “I mean it. I’m not antagonising you.”

“I didn’t think antagonising, I thought provoking,” Peter said pleasantly, “I would prefer it if you stayed out of my head, though.”

The thought of Elias watching his thoughts, taking a personalised tour through his brain like a tourist at an isolated art gallery, sent Peter’s skin crawling. It was the worst thing about spending time with Elias, the knowledge that he, should he feel inclined, could dip into Peter’s head and watch to his heart’s content, dig up every little secret and throw them back into Peter’s face just to see how he’d react. And the knowledge that any reaction Peter gave would feed Elias’ patron.

“What a shame.” Elias remarked, tugging Peter’s attention back to The Weakest Link.

“What happened?”

“She didn’t bank. Lost them almost all of the money.” Elias clicked his tongue in a sham of sympathy.

Peter groaned, “You made me miss it.” The frustrated looks of the other contestants weren’t nearly as satisfying without the memory of the woman’s mortification to back them up.

“What a shame.” Elias repeated. His feet were still pressed against Peter’s thigh, a constant, bony reminder that Peter wasn’t alone anymore, would never be alone again should he ask. He wondered if he should be happy about it.

“You think,” Elias said, “far too much. What does it matter if you’re not always lonely? I’m not always Watching.”

“You had your Eye on that archivist of yours not ten minutes ago.” Peter said, taking Elias’s sudden frown as confirmation of his hunch. But that was all wrong too. Surely normal people wouldn’t be joking if their partner had spent a night with them watching one of their co-workers. Surely they’d be upset about it.

“We’re not partners.” Elias reminded him.

There were two contestants left, vying for the money that hadn’t been lost by their idiotic competitor. Peter tried to focus on them, and not on the way Elias was looking at him, on the half-smile playing across the lips Peter liked so much. When they were together, of course. When they were apart, Peter thought, Elias’s mouth was just another mouth.

“Liar.” Elias hissed. The bolt of insecurity that darted through him was honeysuckle sweet. In retaliation, Elias dug his heel into Peter’s leg as he stretched out over as much of the sofa as he could, crowding Peter against the arm. Peter didn’t look away from the television.

“The man on the left wins,” Elias snapped, “It’s a question about Hadrian’s wall and he snatches it right out from under the other man’s nose. He spends his pathetic gains gambling himself into worse debt then he started with.”

“Oh,” Peter complained. Anxiety swelled in his gut at the show of Elias’s power. He didn’t know Elias could dip into the minds of people on television too. Was there anything he couldn’t See, any secret he couldn’t Know as soon as he wished to?

“I can’t. I’ve just seen this one before.” Elias said, observing Peter’s wide eyes with barely-concealed delight. What did Elias care if the power he’d hinted at didn’t exist? Peter’s original rush of fear had been enough to make them even.

“You,” Peter said, “are a bad boyfriend.”

“I don’t care, as long as I’m not yours.”

Careful, Peter closed a hand around Elias’ ankle, covering some of the eyes that danced and winked along it. Elias’s smile widened.

Peter tugged, and Elias let himself be moved.

Peter lifted, and Elias let himself be raised.

When he sunk his fingers into Peter’s hair and pushed his nails into Peter’s scalp, Peter didn’t protest. Instead, he placed Elias in his lap and let himself be kissed.

Kissing Elias was a little like breathing in a burning building. It was a little like Christmas, or existing on a crowded ship. In other words, it was unbearable, but Peter wanted, needed it anyway. It was choking and over-hot and crowded and pushy and Peter wanted it more and more and more and more, until he couldn’t breathe without Elias pressed firm against his chest.

Elias pulled his mouth away, because it wasn’t enough for Peter to just feel his smirk apparently.

“Your metaphors are ridiculous.” He wiped his mouth with one hand and smoothed his hair with the other.

“I never was fond of words.”

“That much is clear.” Elias said, as if they hadn’t had this conversation a thousand times before, as if they wouldn’t have it a thousand times again before they were finally done with each other. Peter caught his breath as Elias rolled his shoulders, blazer slipping down from the movement, before craning his neck to glance at the television. Peter watched the credits reflect in his shiny, dark eyes.

“Can we put Big Brother on? After all,” He patted Peter’s cheek, “You’ve had your fun.”

“If you want.”

All those people trapped together but encouraged to hate, to isolate even when there was nowhere to go, to say one thing when they thought and felt another, to not trust anyone they were confined with. It was lonely enough for Peter.

“Everything’s lonely enough for you,” Elias said, rubbing at the faint red of beard rash decorating his cheeks, “You’re very simple to please.”

The familiar panic washed over Peter again, the fear encapsulated in the knowledge that Elias would always, somehow, Know Peter better than Peter knew himself. The fear that, whatever Peter was, Elias could See it and take it and keep it for himself.

Peter pushed Elias from his lap.

They split a pack of biscuits, though they were both hungry for something more sustaining, and Peter wondered if he could never get used to having all his secrets laid out in a glass cabinet, for Elias to view as he pleased.

The look on Elias’ face said that, even if he could, Elias wouldn’t let him.

#tma #the magnus archives #peter lukas #elias bouchard #lonely eyes #long post #fanfic #fanfiction #spoon writes #did this a few nights ago n forgot to put it on here whoops

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empty-as-the-sky · 4 years

Text

Edward and Bella romantic comedy in Twilight is GOLD

Okay HOT TAKE.

TL;DR - The banter/comedy between Edward and Bella in Twilight is SO GOOD and it deserved to be kept in the movies and it’s a crime that it wasn’t.

As we all know, Twilight is mostly really problematic BUT re-reading the first book and the Midnight Sun draft I am DYING reading about all of the times Edward laughs at Bella or any time she says something sassy to him and they banter back and forth. It’s genuinely SO CUTE. When I was a young teen reading the books I loved their banter, and tbh I really didn’t think it would hold up years later, given how much of the books really DON’T hold up, but the banter absolutely does.

I think one of the reasons that the movies didn’t quite work for me - besides Chuckesme, the nightmarish CGI, terrible accents in BD pt 2, and the bad wigs - was that we didn’t get the humour of Bella and Edward’s relationship, and we didn’t really get to see the process of them falling in love. It just kind of . . . happened?

I’ve heard about that famous story in which Rob almost got fired from the first movie because he refused to be more light-hearted and smiley, and listen. I love Rob Pattinson because he is a chaotic boy and I love every interview he has ever done, but he really hated the books SO MUCH (fair) that he refused to play Edward as anything other than a depressed, ultra-serious boy. And sorry, but that sucks. Just do your job. Like yes, Edward is dramatic AF but he also thinks Bella is so funny that he’s ALWAYS laughing at her. In Midnight Sun, other kids in his class frequently give him weird looks because he is laughing OUT LOUD or smiling to himself at the shit that Bella does and says. The director/producers were TOTALLY RIGHT in highlighting all of Edward’s light-hearted moments in the book for Rob because there are so many of them, more than a lot of people seem to remember. And yeah, I think that maybe Rob should have been fired so that someone else who would have taken that direction could have played the part. In Romeo & Juliet, the rule with doing that show is that the angst and tragedy is only compelling if the first half is fully played as a rom-com and if it’s actually funny. You can’t play the end at the beginning. Same goes for Twilight, and most things tbh. Otherwise, you don’t really root for the central couple if it’s all melodrama and angst all the time. No one wants to see characters predicting the tragedy. I think that’s part of why, on top of all the actual legit criticism, a lot of people criticized Twilight for being too teenage angsty or mumbly when that wasn’t really the book at all, and the comedy allows for a lot more self-awareness to come through.

I’m not even going to quote all of the times that Edward suppresses, or tries to suppress a laugh or a smile at Bella’s expense in Twilight. There are way too many, but they are constantly roasting each other.

Maybe I’m projecting my own feelings onto the books that aren’t really there, but hear me out:

- In the early days, Bella keeps parking so far away from Edward in the parking lot and in Midnight Sun, Edward is upset and confused by it EVERY SINGLE TIME. And they’re both frowning about it but for different reasons. Bella’s frowning because she’s trying to stay away from his dramatic, beautiful, mood-swinging, abrupt ass and he’s frowning because he doesn’t understand why she is avoiding him and he’s sad about it. He’s like, “Why?? Did she park so far away from me?? Do you think she’ll come talk to me? Hopefully she will. Hopefully she won’t?? DO YOU THINK SHE’LL WALK PAST ME? SHOULD I TAKE A DEEP GULP OF AIR JUST IN CASE??

- In Midnight Sun, Edward is so amused at Bella getting emotional over the snow chains that Charlie put on her tires. Seconds before he sees Alice’s vision about the van, he’s just like, “This girl?? Is getting emotional?? Over her truck?? Why is this human?? So weird??”

- Bella FUMING about Edward just getting to waltz right through the hospital doors like a normal person and not having to receive medical attention after the accident. Edward even betrayed her by telling them that she hit her head and maybe had a concussion, because she DID hit her head, but she is SO GRUMPY that he showed concern for her physical health, cause we all know this depressed bitch wouldn’t have. And she is SO EMBARRASSED about having to wear a neck brace and loaded into an ambulance, that she has the balls to take off the neck brace and chuck it under the bed when no one is looking. We stan an iconic queen. Like babe, they put that on you for a reason but you just like throwing your own safety out the window I guess.

- Edward realizing that he never noticed how clumsy Bella is as he watches her through the eyes of her classmates? Also iconic. “Goddamn, this clumsy ass human, how does she?? Survive??”

- EDWARD CUTTING BELLA OFF IN THE PARKING LOT AFTER SCHOOL SO THAT TYLER ASKS HER OUT IN FRONT OF HIM IS ALSO SO FREAKING FUNNY. And Bella being tempted to scratch the paint on his car when she sees him shaking with laughter? So good.

- Edward trying to irritate Bella by making her think he’s going to be the fourth person to ask her to the dance, only to ask her to go to Seattle instead at the last minute

- “THE WASTING OF FINITE RESOURCES IS EVERYONE’S BUSINESS”

- Bella being too embarrassed to tell Edward her comic book-inspired theories but Edward dazzling her into telling him anyway, and then he just proceeds to roast her about her lack of originality

- Edward almost RIPPING THE DOOR OFF HIS CAR when he sees Mike lowering Bella to the ground after she faints in Biology because EDWARD THINKS SHE’S DEAD? And then Bella sees him approaching and IS SO EMBARRASSED and just tells him to go away? Chapters 3-5 of Twilight in terms of ComedyTM are *chef’s kiss*

- Edward just scooping up Bella and being super entertained at the irony that the sight of blood makes her ill.

- “He absolutely loathes me” - Edward about Mike, CHEERFULLY

- Bella calling Edward pushy when he insists on driving her home, which is just really accurate, because he absolutely is

- Edward making Bella lean in and then asking her not to fall into the ocean in La Push and Bella. Is. SO offended.

- Bella grabbing her own throat and pretending to be terrified when Edward says “Breakfast time” IS SO FUNNY and then her making a bad joke about “watching her hunt” and all she gets is CEREAL, while Edward looks on in confusion, like this girl has a sense of humour

People, the first half of Twilight in terms of rom-com material is fantastic. Yes there are still problematic elements and there’s a surprising (and worrying) amount of ableist language in the text, and there are obviously other issues with Edward and consent for sure. BUT the the banter is comedy gold and the problematic bits can be so easily edited out for adaptation. The banter makes Edward and Bella way more compelling as a couple because it makes them more human (no pun intended) and real, and it definitely gives them more personality.

In the movie, I just feel like we missed how gradual them falling in love really was and how reluctant they both were about it, and their belligerent banter was a big part of the sexual tension between them. Otherwise, I’m not really sure where it came from other than the fact that Kristen and Rob are really beautiful humans. Even though they were a couple at the time, I really missed that part of their chemistry onscreen.

I’m aware that for the movie, a lot of it came down to having to cut stuff in the script for time’s sake. But I still think they could have kept the spirit of the banter while cutting what they needed to.

Look, there’s a lot in the Twilight canon that’s not compelling at all, so it makes me really sad that one of the genuinely compelling things didn’t make it into the movies at all.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

#twilight #twilight saga #stephenie meyer #midnight sun #twilight renaissance #comedy #romantic comedy #edward x bella #edward cullen #bella swan #books to movies

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yankyo · 5 years

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Promised Fic

That fic I still don't have a real name for where you peg Beej yay

Warnings : mention of pet play, denial, beej begging, soft domming fun with the bby

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You loved Halloween movies, every year the tradition was to gather up bags upon bags of candy, make a happy little fort in your living room and just binge the classics until there was just nothing more to watch - and every year more and more spooky movies joined that list. This year, however, instead of adding another movie, you added a companion. Curled up in your lap, happily purring as you ran your fingers through his hair was your beloved demon: Beetlejuice. The past new nights, he had talked through the grisly slashers, giggled through the psychological horrors, and had gorged himself on all of your candy - not a surprise, Beetlejuice simply adored being a little shit and irritating you. What was surprising was the movies he shut up to watch: The Addams Family. Of course, you weren't complaining, they were great, feel good comedies, but not even a giggle was a little strange. You found yourself watching him more than the movie, watching the way he stared at Morticia everytime she was onscreen - honestly, you agreed. Morticia was a babe, and the actress did a phenomenal job, in fact she was part of your bi awakening as a kid - along with Debbie, of course. But every so often, Beej would glance over at you with this thoughtful expression that told you he was mulling something over - which could be anything ranging from, goth gf, or tiddy noice or isn't it interesting how the Addams are treated like they're dumb but they really know that people are trying to take advantage of them and are more amused than anything by the attempt. Beetlejuice was an enigma that way.

But as long as he wasn't saying anything, you weren't pressing, he would speak up in due time. So you simply focused on stroking his hair, there was one spot if you scratched just right, he would go completely limp and purr all the louder - he refused to admit that he purred, something about 'I'm a demon, not a house cat, babes!' but he also wasn't about to admit how he nuzzled into your lap and sent you that expectant look whenever you didn't immediately begin petting him either. As much as anyone could see just how needy your little bug was, his pride was verbal but he still flopped in your lap without even the moments hesitation for more cuddles. Looking down at the happy demon, you couldn't help but lean in and kiss his cheek if just to see his cheeks flush green with happiness. Too cute.

"That's the look of a woman who's gonna be breaking out the strap later." He spoke up, lifting his head slightly to send you a grin as he pointed to the screen. With a soft smile of your own, you tilted your head in mock confusion.

"There's a specific look?" You asked, only for him to practically shoot up with an overenthusiastic

"Yes!!" He fumbled for the remote to pause the movie at just the right moment. "See? The little smirk, the way she looks at him as if to say 'imma fuck your brains out', the way he looks back at her like a dude who just had his brains liquidated out of his skull. That's a dude getting his bussy fucked up." You snorted at the explanation, but he was still going. "You give me the same look before you dom." The blush was back and stronger than ever, the slight pink in his hair telling you just how excited he was really getting.

"So, basically, she reminds you of me?" Flattering, really, and the way Beetlejuice peeked over at you with that look of neediness had you shuffling forwards to take his cheeks in hand. "Is that why you've been quiet all movie? How long have you been thinking about that?" He squirmed in place, refusing to meet your eyes for the moment.

"Since when she was clipping roses." You laughed,

"So since the beginning? Oh, Bj, you know... you shouldn't be torturing yourself like this." You pressed him down into the couch with a hand as you straddled him, "that's my job." Your voice had dropped into a husky purr, a poor imitation of Morticia, but Beetlejuice whimpered all the same.

When Beetlejuice subbed, he was either extremely bratty, or, like today, he was like limp and willing under your touch - eager to please. Either was cute, but his obedience was absolutely endearing. Especially when he was trying to hold back from bucking up into you as you slowly ground your hips into his. Cupping his cheeks, you kissed him until you both were breathless before you pulled back just enough to whisper a single word, 'bedroom'. Before you could even blink, the room snapped away and the two of you fell onto your bed - and your comfortable sweatpants and tank top had been swapped out for a form fitting black bodysuit, the pattern not unlike a spider's web. "Bug? What's this?" You sat back with your hands on your hips - the words almost scolding if not for the amused twist to your lips.

"It looks good on ya, doesn't it?" Not completely obedient then. You sat back on the bed, giving him a look that made him fidget in place before you stood to make your way to the toy box at the far end of the room. "B-babes?" The nervousness in his tone making you automatically give him a reassuring look - bad dom bitch persona aside, you didn't want to make him too anxious. At least, not in a bad way. Once he had relaxed again, his tense expression smoothing out, you snapped your fingers and pointed to the floor.

"Where do bad boys belong?" You asked, your voice stern, he almost fell flat on his face in his eagerness to kneel next to your bed - if you gave permission you knew he would already be at your leg - but you didn't want your puppy just yet. "Now stay." He went ramrod straight and still - if not for the fact that his tongue had lolled out of his mouth as you bent over to rummage through the toy box. You were fairly certain there was new things added, but that wasn't all that strange, you didn't know where he was getting them, but Beetlejuice was constantly bringing home various sex toys that either interested him or just made him giggle. He had used to just show up with them and toss them your way, but after accidentally beaning Delia in the head with a dildo that looked like it belonged to freaking Sauron, you had told him he was to keep such things in the bedroom - and then made him fuck himself on said dildo until he came all over himself. Good times. Of course, Beej loved the bigger toys, the ones that were textured and thick and filling, and being quite the size queen yourself you were more willing to oblige. And watching him come undone on such a dildo was always so entertaining, but not the way his eyes just lit up whenever he saw you pull out the harness was just so much more fun.

"Which one do you think I should use?" You asked, pulling out two different straps - one was small, thin, pink in color and the other was green with black stripes, long, thick and was textured. You didn't really need to ask, you knew which he would pick and weren't all that shocked when he shyly spoke up,

"The green one."

"What's the magic word, baby?"

"Please?" Oh that word was just so pretty on his lips, but you remained silent. It took but a few seconds for Beetlejuice to realize his mistake and hastily correct himself, "please, miss." Better.

"I don't know," you sighed, giving a slight shake of your head, "you've been pretty bad lately, talking during my movies, eating all my snacks and not even cleaning up after yourself. Do you really deserve this?" You asked just to hear that whiny little sound he made whenever you denied him what he wanted.

"I'll be good, miss! I swear! I'll clean up and everything." He was crawling forwards tentatively until he was at your feet. "Please, I want..." he looked wrecked without you even having to lift a finger, his cheeks flushed, his pants strained, his breath coming out sharp and fast. When you reached down to pet his hair he let out a shaky moan and pressed into the contact.

"I think you can ask better than that, Bug, what do you want?" He hesitated and your gentle touch turned hard, your soft fingers digging into his hair to yank his head back and force him to look up at you. "Come on, baby, tell me what you want." Despite the rough touch, your voice was soft, barely more than a whisper, yet he hung ok each word.

"I want you to fuck me, Miss." He practically moaned the words, you had no doubt he would cum untouched if you were to pull his hair any harder. "Wreck me, use me, I'm yours." You leaned in and kissed him softly.

"Then why are you still dressed, baby?" The urgency in which Beetlejuice ripped off his clothing was amusing, to say the least. He was more than capable of just snapping his fingers and rid himself of his clothing, but he was so focused on you that the idea probably didn't even cross his mind. Within moments, his already tattered clothing lay in shreds and your eager demon sat squirming before you. "Good boy," you praised, kneeling to give him the attention he deserved, as well as to show him the cock ring you had pulled from the chest. The sight made him shudder and gulp, but he leaned back and set his hands at his sides all the same. He always came far too quickly when you fucked him, so the cock ring was something of a necessity if you really wanted to have some fun with him. And there was no better sight than when he had been denied one too many times and was begging you in tears to please please just let him cum.

He let out a shaky sigh as you stroked his cock, once, twice, one more time just to see the precum beading at the head. His eyes trained on you as you slowly slid the ring over his cock to press it firmly down to its base - he hissed at the pressure, his thighs already shaking. One more reach into the chest and you pulled out a long silk rope, soft gray in color. Automatically, he held his wrists up for you to tie, letting out an excited exhale as you pulled the rope tight against his skin and used it to lead him back towards the bed. As your thighs hit mattress, you took a seat, your demon crawling between your legs to lay his head reverently on your thigh. For a moment, you regarded him quietly, as if trying to figure out just exactly what you wanted to do with him before you raised your leg and placed it on his shoulder. You knew he didn't have to be close to you to smell your arousal, but he took in a deep breath all the same, his pupils narrowing into slits at the smell of you. It didn't take long for him to start to squirm, drool already dripping from his chin as he tried just so hard to hold himself back. Control had always been something of a problem for him, but he had come quite a long way from where he was. Now, even as he twitched and gave you those longing puppy dog eyes, he waited until you gave a slight nod of your head to lunge forwards and nuzzle against your clothed core. His teeth grazed your inner thigh gently, soft nips quickly followed by his tongue as he tried nosing aside the fabric blocking him from you. After a moment, you took pity on him and peeled away the tight fabric yourself and no sooner was your pussy revealed to him did he rush forwards to taste you.

Beetlejuice always said that eating you out was his favorite pastime, and really, actions spoke louder than words with just how much enthusiasm he put into the task. At first, the wet sounds of him slurping up every single trace of your arousal his tongue could reach had been embarrassing - but after so many months of dating and the many, many, times he had his head between your legs, the embarrassment was long gone and your immediate reaction was to lace a hand in his hair and rock up into his eager mouth. His tongue slithered it's way inside of you, full and quickly swelling up as his teeth ever so gently scraped your clit, your thighs trembling as his tongue wriggled against your g-spot insistently. Sometimes, Beetlejuice was something of a tease, pushing you closer and closer before pulling away mere milliseconds before you could actually cum. This, unfortunately, was one of those times as the smug little bastard yanked back to grin at you, his face all slick with your arousal. Unamused, you scowled back at him, making trembling limbs pick yourself back up to stalk over to the forgotten harness.

"Up on the bed." Of course he followed that order without playing around, crawling up onto his hands and knees, raising his cute little butt up in the air for you. You took your sweet time in stepping into the harness and attaching the strap, pausing for a moment to pick up a bottle of lubes before you meandered your way back over to the bed and your waiting boyfriend. You ran a hand up his back, pressing forwards to maneuver him into just the right position for you before you noticed something. "Babycakes, when did you put this in?" You pressed on the plug currently stretching your boyfriend out and he mumbled into the pillow. You didn't even have to look up at him to know that he was blushing - or to know that it had probably been there since the moment he started thinking of you taking charge for the night. Impatient as he was, he never did want to waste much time in prepping when you could be plowing him instead. Which was ironic seeing as he would, could, and has spent hours eating you out and fingering you. But, of course, after being denied yourself, you weren't about to just give him what he wanted! Oh no! There was a lesson to be learned here!

His whine echoed through the room as you slowly tugged on the plug before pressing back into him, his cock bouncing as you fucked him with the plug.

"Babe, please!" He cried out, even as he automatically pressed back as you nudged the plug forwards. Of course, you knew it just wasn't enough.

"I have to make sure you're ready, sweetie! I don't want to risk hurting you, right?" Pain really never was a worry with Beetlejuice, sure, certain things could hurt him, but he always healed far too quickly for it to even matter. But proper etiquette called for prep and who were you to ignore etiquette. In, out, in, out, in, in, swift pull out, Beetlejuice's whimpers and pleas fell on deaf ears you played with him, the sounds growing sharper as you reached underneath him to slowly stroke his cock. It didn't take long for him to be absolutely shaking, his cries getting desperate as you just barely missed his prostate with each push inwards. "Oh baby, what's wrong?" You asked, your voice soft and sweet. "Is it not enough? I mean, you chose it! Surely you must like this plug, right?"

"No! Want you! Please!" He was almost sobbing now as he pushed back in vain. You took pity on him this time and actually pulled the plug out of him this time to set aside.

"Its ok baby, I've got you." You crooned as you rubbed his tense back. "I won't tease you anymore." With one hand you grabbed onto his hip while with the other you grabbed the base of the strap-on and once you had applied an adequate amount of lube, you began pressing into him. His babbled words of thanks were sharp and high pitched, your hand on his hip possibly the only thing stopping him from just shoving back to sheathe the whole thing. Soon enough, your hips lay flush to his, your body curved over his so you could take the end of the rope to tie his hand to the headboard. "How we feeling babe? Green?" You asked, leaning down to press a tender kiss to his back.

"Beyond green, fluorescent green, neon, fuck me already, -" before he could say more, you pulled out slowly before swiftly slamming back into him, making him choke on whatever words he still had left. After that, there was simply no mercy given, you kept a hand on his hip while reaching up to lace a hand in his hair to yank his head back so you could sink your teeth into his neck. There were days you felt bad for your neighbors, after all, Beej and you weren't the quietest of lovers and they surely heard everything - this was not one of those days. No, you were way too invested in the indulgent, appreciative moans you were pulling from your boyfriend as you fucked him.

"Look at you, drooling already." You purred, pressing your fingers into his open mouth, "so wrecked already and I've barely even started." You breezed your wet fingers down his chest til you just barely brushed the tips of your fingers along the length of his cock. The headboard creaked as Beetlejuice pulled on the ropes, already begging for you to touch him more, please, please, please, touch him! And really, how could you deny him? Wrapping your hand around his dick, you jacked him off in time with your slamming hips and his cries only grew louder.

"I wanna cum! Please, fuck, let me cum!" You toyed with the cock ring, twisting it this way and that before you let out a soft tsk and kissed his cheek.

"Not yet baby, patience." Not like this, at least! You pulled back, ignoring his sharp whines as you pulled out to guide him onto his back for you. "Relax, baby," with him laying down, his cheeks flushed, his eyes wet with unshed tears, his hands bound above his head - you just needed to take a picture! So, you hopped up off of the bed to swipe up your phone and took a few quick shots of your boyfriend. There was just one thing missing in this shot... and the whimpers your boyfriend was letting out while sending you abandoned puppy eyes did tug at the heartstrings. Alright, you had teased him long enough - not really, but you couldn't help but be weak to him.

As you settled on the bed, he pulled you in closer with his legs, and you just had to lean in and kiss your squirmy demon before you took your strap in hand once more to guide it back into him. This time, you didn't tease, you didn't hold back, with sharp strokes as deep into him as you could manage, you pulled the cock ring off of him and began stroking his cock. The cry he let out echoed throughout the apartment, his back arching up so high you would've wondered if he was going to pull something if he weren't already - you know, dead. As worked up as he had been all night, the stimulation proved too much for him to last and soon enough he was moaning garbled praise and pleas once more. "Its ok, Bug, you can cum."

"Thank you! Fuck! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" His moans grew higher and higher until he cut off with a choked gasp and came. Hard. The slightly fluorescent cum reached up to his chin and yet cum still dribbled past your fingers and onto his stomach as you worked him through the orgasm, praising him all the while. Now, you took another picture of him, cum splattered on his chest, his eyes dazed, his expression damn near ascended. Perfect. While he was still coming down, you untied his hands and stroked his hair,

"How we feeling, Bug?"

"Like you fucked the life back into me." You both giggled softly as he reached up to kiss you. "Give me five minutes and I'll return the favor..." he grinned, his thumb stroking softly across your cheek. "Cara mia." You snorted softly, but placed your hand on top of his and sent him a warm smile in return.

"Don't be gentle, mon cher."

#beetlejuice smut #beetlegeuse #beetlejuice #beetlejuice x reader

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flying-elliska · 5 years

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Ok I caught up with wtfock s3 because well, it felt weird to leave unfinished (except a few clips i just didn’t want to watch, like the attack one). here’s what worked and didn’t for me (i’m pretty critical so don’t read if that sort of thing upsets you or you’re not in the mood) because i still think having this story remade so often is an unprecendented storytelling experiment worth thinking about even when it doesn’t entirely work (and i think argumented criticism is good, but if you post hate about the actors/fans etc you really suck tbh) :

- to start with positives : like many said, the acting was pretty damn good. overall wtfock has a really solid cast. the willems have succeeded in creating an onscreen queer intimacy that feels very believable, no holds barred and no awkwardness, and they have to be commended for that. there’s a lot of chemistry and tension at first between them, which then turns into something very soft and sweet and puppy-love-like. it was nice seeing Robbe evolve and the sweet bean energy that emanates from how the actor plays him is very very powerful. i also loved the warmth of the flatshare, and as a Dutchie I just adored the Sinterklaas bits, it was so funny and i loved the found family vibes. warmth is just something they do really well, esp with the last clips, perfume shopping, playing board games, the party at the end. They use the Christmassy vibes really well. the cinematography has its moments too, contrasts between warm and cold, the episode at the beach is gorgeous, the sequence in the tunnel, the light on their faces when they are in that classroom surrounded by drawings. wtfock as a whole is also good at creating some very lovable secondary characters, be it Milan, Yasmina, Noor, or especially king Senne. So, I do understand that there are things to love about this remake, which is probably why my disappointment feels so strong. I really wanted to care about these characters in their journey.

- on to the controversial : i don’t necessarily fault them for wanting to show a more prononced aspect of homophobia. i think the debate about this often lacks nuance. on one hand, this is the sixth remake, and homophobia is something that is still often prevalent, and having one remake show that out of six is not in itself a problem. on the other, yes, happy fluffy stories are important, but sometimes people who have gone through stuff like this also need to see their experiences represented. the power of skam is that it shows difficult experiences BUT ALSO a happy ending. that can be very healing, i think, compared to other stories which focus only on the drama. the trouble is, i don’t think they dealt with it very well, or put any effort into processing the consequences of these harrowing things. and if you don’t, it feels cheap.

- on to my main gripe : the writing. previsible, i know. but to me, essential. and this is not about them ‘changing things’ - i like when remakes change stuff, when they do it well. the thing is, i have been burned too many times before. and when i sense that the writing is being wack, it makes it automatically much harder for me to invest emotionally in the characters. and simply put there were signs early on that made me distrust the writers. for starters, the first two episodes gave me a feeling that they didn’t have their priorities in order. the POV-immersion and depth is one of the most powerful aspects of skam, and it was lost. too many early clips felt out of Robbe’s perspective, and when it was him it was about Noor ; a few clips to show his discomfort were on point, but there were too many of them, and there were repetitive, losing time on what isn’t really an essential part of Robbe’s journey. and while they were spending time on clips that felt like misery flavored filler, they decided several times to condense original clips focused on Isak and Even, together ; like their first meeting and then their first hangout, or later in the series OHN and the minute by minute talk. and i think their story suffered from that. i think because they don’t have a real discussion early on, the buildup of their relationship feels mostly based on physical attraction. and while it certainly is a thing that happens, it just isn’t my fave love story thing. i missed the sweet pining from afar and tension that makes later drama believable. it felt like they brought the drama comparatively too fast without enough character work to make it worthwhile. Also there is just too much time spent on Zoenne drama, and their breakup seems like it foreshadows the dreaded s4 love triangle, which, yikes. the focus is all over the place, the rythm felt incoherent.

- what’s more, they decided to introduce pretty grave elements of plot, like Robbe using slurs against Sander, the homophobic attack, the suicidal urges on both their sides, Sander kissing Britt while he was still saying I love you to Robbe in the morning, without either proper build up or resolution. It made it all feel cheap, jarring, and unearned, especially when they didn’t put trigger warnings or made jokes about it on insta or waited forever to give news about the characters being ok. it felt like drama for the sake of drama, and definitely not written with a vulnerable audience of queer teens in mind. and at the same time, when it came to the ‘big scenes’ of their relationship, like the first kiss or the universes talk or sander’s episode, it felt more or less lifted from OG without a lot of effort made to adapt it to them. i actually quit live watching/blogging after the first kiss scene, because of how similar it was, and how uninspired it felt, and lukewarm. it felt like a lack of imagination. when it came to OHN, the scene in itself was lovely, but the weird time gap, random timing and people seemingly doing nothing after a suicidal Sander disappeared, sort of broke it for me. In the OG the combo of buildup, longing, realisation, fear, release works so well in a sequence, and splitting it over time really diluted it, to me. Similarly the quickly thrown out ‘life is now’ at the ending felt sort of out of nowhere, while in OG it was such a lovely bookend, him apologizing to Eva and reflecting on his growth. The symbolism, which ties everything so beautifully together in themes of rebirth, salvation, baptism, union, faith, deciding your own narrative in OG, here feels inconsistent. There is an attempt I see, something about wasteland vs. warmth/family, but it’s often absent of main clips. It’s nowhere near as coherent as it could be.

- all of this builds up to the main problem for me, of the season. which is, i didn’t really get into Robbe and Sander’s relationship. Or their individual arcs for that matter. When it comes to Robbe, I guess he just isn’t my type of character. I feel like he is missing the fire of an Isak. A lot of the time he just felt too passive, like he let other characters make his decisions. I was waiting for him to stand up for himself more than he did. And there are too many scenes of another character doing his coming out for him. And then Sander ; I have to say I don’t understand all the love his character gets. Maybe because that’s because he sort of gives me Dutch fuckboi vibes...but there were several times he just came accross as a flat out asshole. I found him intriguing in his intro clip, chaotic and charming, but that never really went where i expected it to. i didn’t get his passion, what drew him to art. the symbolism around his character - basically Bowie, and drawing Robbe, and Chernobyl (which is a bit tasteless imho, turning a tragedy like that into a cutesy romantic thing), feels ...disjointed, and shallow to me. Like I never really got into it. And maybe some people did and noticed deeper links but to me, I got stuck at the surface. I saw a lot of interesting theories with what was going on with him but in the end they just copied OG. And I’m sad to say, but he ended up feeling like a manic pixie dream boy cliché to me, and i just didn’t understand what drew them to each other so strongly. Yes, Robbe is caring and Sander is in need of care, but that feels like a very reductive reproduction of OG. Beyond that...i don’t know. Certain complexities of the OG i loved just...were sanded away, like Isak being ignorant about MI and learning compassion. This just...didn’t feel like it had the same depth, and often felt like soapy teenage drama, leaning too hard and too lazily on the actors’ chemistry. i like my romances wordy and solidly enmeshed in character development, and this was not it. It never felt like they had a real conversation about things, esp after the drama.

- i think this is the first remake that made me actually angry for reasons not related to problematic cast shit, and so i’m trying to analyze that emotion. for me it comes down to too much drama, too heavy handed. Too much of the boy squad being shitty to Robbe, too much Noor, too much filler clips without any deeper meaning, too much things distracting from getting to know the main characters and going into their issues in depth. They changed stuff, but didn’t have the guts to actually follow through. They broke the mold but only in ways that ended up feeling shallow and unconsequential. Like I would have loved seeing Robbe go to therapy ! see his mom ! Zoe and Robbe go to the police together ! Sander have a complicated home situation ! or doing a Bowie related art installation to express his feelings of alienation ! seeing more of the underground graffiti scene ! or just...something, idk. And them also removing the faith-related themes also felt disappointing. and the ohn clip taking place in the place where sander draws feels very....basic to me, even if it was pretty. very ‘oh he’s an artist, here is his safe place’....hm, okay. I didn’t like that they made Britt into such a villain, I didn’t like how the boy squad showed no care for Robbe whatsoever for weeks until the plot said it was time for them to be redeemed in a way that felt too jarring, and I didn’t like that they made Moyo so horrible but redeemed him so easily. I actually thought they would show that it’s okay to separate yourself from friends who are that bigoted, because it just shows they are not willing to care for people. And him suddenly saying those sweet and mature things felt too out of characters and a ahah ‘gotcha’ rather than depth . I didn’t like that Robbe, too, was made so virulent by his internalized homophobia but got over it so quickly. I think what disappointed me most, in the end, was that I kept picking up potential and the show kept doing absolutely nothing with it, or confirming my fears, and it made me feel stupid and out of tune with whatever they were doing. And it’s, to me, symptomatic in modern storytelling of a trend to privilege shocks and twists over inner coherence and build up. And it makes for...Very underwhelming stuff, in the end.

- all in all, i think this remake illustrates why s3 of OG is not as easy to remake as it sounds. it’s very intricate machinery, with a pitch perfect rhythm (and an extremely passionate nitpicky fanbase lmao). and if you don’t get all the parts of why it’s so great, you’re going to lose a lot of it. (and all the remakes ended losing up stuff in translation ; more or less compensated by inventivity and charm of their own.) so many mainstream press articles praise the real time/social media format and the ‘real talk about teen issues’ which, yeah, is part of the success, but doesn’t explain the devotion on its own. there’s the way the story uses real time to build up a storytelling rythm that feels organic and makes sense as if it was part of the lives of the viewer. There’s foreshadowing and aftershocks. Wtfock often feels like they wrote the clip numbers on darts and randomly threw them at a week planner. If an episode of a regular series ends on a cliffhanger, we can be thrilled and frustrated and put it aside for next week. but if you end an episode with a character shown to be suicidal, or you don’t show them being okay after a beating, for hours or days, that’s the emotion you leave your viewers with, because skam is a continuous experience. and remakes who pile on drama moments without respite (looking at you too skamfr s4) don’t get how tiring and disengaging this can be, in this format. skam worked so well because of how benevolent it was, on the whole. and also, cheeky, with that ‘don’t take it too seriously’ deflating humor. grumpy isak in ‘hate me now’ mode getting bumped into. this lightness and comedy often feels missing here. also my god the social media is absolutely terrible. plus...there is too much filler. honestly, them having more time, on the whole...ended up being a bad thing. Plus Wtfock feels like it has so much more unadressed plot points, like...why did Sander change his mind exactly and kiss Britt again ? How did Robbe’s mom react ? Who did the attack ? What is happening w Senne now ? etc. And it feels like they just missed the fact that OG, however subtly, did adress those things.

- now, don’t get me wrong, i’m happy it’s popular in Belgium. On the whole it’s still a beautiful story of love and acceptance. and that people found something in it that spoke to them. but as a remake, it’s probably one of the most disappointing yet, to me. and i sort of...don’t get the hype. and i don’t want to be too ‘oh cute boys kissing’ cynical about it. but i think this illustrates why in the end, this is also very subjective. there are probably things i missed because i didn’t feel the need to examine it in depth or do the extra emotional work that comes with being a devoted fan of something. and some of their choices made me angry, and i’m not forgiving when it comes to these things. i still wish them success for s4 and whatever else, but i don’t think i will watch live, at least unless it gets really rave reviews about their treatment of Yasmina’s season. i mean they got s2 right, who knows?

#wtfock #also i'm willing to discuss this reasonably but any sort of hate will be deleted on sight lol #i thought a lot about posting this or not but then i was like well this is my blog and i have a lot of emotions about this #so i needed to process

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