#you have to agree nothing beats that ep

[ms-cartoon]

I've been coming across a bunch of Hazbin spoilers and decided "screw it" and found the leaks to the full episodes. (I don't care how sensitive you leak haters are about it)

Of course, as expected, this show is already turning out to be trashy as I would expect it to be. Little retcons here and there, shitty writing, some crappy and pathetic characters who already lost whatever mojo they had back in the pilot, voice-acting is bitter as it will always be, etc.

There are a lot of issues with just these two eps, but I'm just gonna point out the ones that got my attention the most.

WARNING: THERE ARE SPOILERS/ MENTIONS OF HARRASMENT AND ALL THE 18+ BS.

-- Charlie- "Once upon a time, there was a glowing city protected by golden gates, known as Heaven. It was ruled by beings of pure light. Angels that worshipped good and shielded all from evil."

I beg to differ since it's established already that angels from heaven are nothing but fakes and are evil as hell, probably proud of it. Exhibit A: Adam and Sera. Now if they were anything like Frollo (someone who believes they are doing good but are not) I might be okay with it. Like say, they only resort to extermination because they're from heaven, they feel it is their job, and they have to do it even though it's wrong. Instead, however, I assume they exterminate because they just like to do it and they're evil like that. They probably have a feeling that some sinners are still good people on the inside and just don't care.

-- Charlie: As the numbers of Hell grew, so did its power. Threatened by this,

Heaven made a truly heartless decision that every year, they would send down an army an extermination to ensure Hell and its sinners could never rise against them.

I hear with my little ear another retcon!!

In the pilot, the only reason why extermination was a thing was because of overpopulation in hell. Now they're saying heaven is exterminating sinners cuz they're threatened by the overgrowing power and they don't want to be rebelled by it?? I going to guess that they only made this change so they can force evil on heaven while making Lucifer the innocent one. This is exactly what they did with Stella in the HB series where it was brought up that things were okay between her and Stolas only for the second season to say Stella hated Stolas the whole time they were together and treated him badly just so the writers can tell us viewers that she's evil.

Is this gonna be a thing now?

-- Angel: I'll have the horniest sinners knockin these walls down to get in!

This body was made to be exploited!

Seriously, guys, this is the same pervert we're supposed to feel bad for BECAUSE he's being exploited!

And leave it to Angel to completely miss the point of this hotel. What they want is to convince sinners to REDEEM themselves. Banging them is not a way to go about it, bud!

-- My predictions about Angel being a sex joke are correct. I'm mean- they've always been correct, I'm just saying I had a feeling they were going to show it off more in the show.

-- Vaggie: "No, we can't force sinners to stay here. They need to choose to."

Angel Dust: "Well, I chose to stay here and I think it's all stupid."

No shit- The only reason why u agreed to stay is for the free rent. So don't go marking yourself as a good example.

-- I don't totally have a problem with this show being a musical as long as the timing is right. Charlie is so quick to tell Vaggie about a meeting she'll participate in and is excited about, but before Vaggie can even question it and talk to her, Charlie immediately starts singing without even hearing Vaggie out. They kinda rushed this musical number a little too quickly. Which only goes to show how fast-paced this episode is. It's always fast-pacing with these shows.

-- I have the sudden urge to jump inside this show and beat the ever-loving crap outta Angel if keeps on moaning and getting horny . . .

-- Angel continuously flirts and touches an obviously uncomfortable Husk and fans are going to look at this as "cute" while I look in annoyance and disgust. And once again, this is the same guy we're supposed to feel bad for because he has a pimp who inflicts the same actions that he does and fans will choose to ignore it.

-- Adam is practically the most irritating character in this series so far. I was right with what I said about him before. For someone who's supposed to be an angel he sure as hell doesn't act like it. The whole time he's on screen, he's just making jokes, ridiculing the hell out of Charlie, and not listening to her at all. Continuously cussing and talking about dicks??? He has the most cringiest dialogue ever and I had the urge to skip it every time he's on screen. Something tells me he and Lute should switch positions since she seems more professional.

-- Charlie: Sinners make mistakes, but everyone makes mistakes.

Charlie, I know where you're trying to get at sweetheart, but I really hope you don't include all the rapists, murderers, abusers, and pedophiles down below. Do you really think they qualify as someone who can be redeemed? If so, I would have to side with the angels here despite their antagonistic behavior. I would understand trying to rehab drug addicts, alcoholics, robbers, etc. but definitely not the former.

Now that I think about it, Charlie is kind of acting like Viv in this scenario where she tries to excuse these criminalistic behaviors most of her characters committed when they really don't deserve anything good happening to them. That's like trying to redeem Valentino for pimping and abusing Angel Dust. Do we really think Val is capable of redemption??

Sorry to burst your bubble Ms. Morningstar, but the angels are in the right here. Hell exists for a reason and people who do bad things and like to do bad things deserve to be there. I wouldn't bother trying to rehab sinners who don't deserve it or are not going to try to fix their behavior.

-- Lute: Angels don't make mistakes . . .

Then what does that say about Lucifer? He was an angel who caused some actions that you guys would count as mistakes therefore expelling him from heaven. You guys never even attempted to exterminate him yet.

-- I'm sorry, I don't like Brandon Rogers as Killjoy. It's literally just a demon version of one of his characters. It's nothing original like the pilot.

So that is what I think about the first episode. If I forget to mention something, i'll just edit the post. Won't be too long before I make some comments about the second one, but for now, the gist of everything is . . . it's bleh.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me!!

[aphrogeneias]

are we still thinking about best friend!eddie? what about best friend!eddie who is writing the most devastating love songs for you and you’re just like “omg babe who’s the lucky girl?” and it’s not till you go see corroded coffin at the hideout and he finds your eyes in the crowd when singing one that you’re finally like “oh…”

Eddie would always insist that Corroded Coffin didn't do ballads.

"We're not sellouts", he'd say, enunciating the word like it was poisonous. The boys agreed with him, and being the main songwriter, that was quite definitive. Except you knew better.

You knew about the songs he'd write in his old, battered notebook. The ones he'd sing when it was just the two of you in his room, sitting on the edge of his bed with his black acoustic guitar on his lap.

This machine slays dragons, it said. It broke hearts too, sometimes.

Sitting on his floor, you'd wonder what those songs were really about. Who they were about. Songs about unrequited love, longing for someone you can't have. Waxing poetic about hair and eyes and a body admired from a distance, untouchable.

You'd sit and listen and wonder, praying that someday you'd know, even if it would break your heart even further. Eddie would finish his songs with a smile, looking down at you from where he sat, a golden halo around his curls coming from the window behind him.

"You really won't tell me who these are about? Do they know, at least?"

He'd tell you what he always did. "Does a song really have to be about someone?"

"We both know they always are. Whether the composer wants to admit it or not." You'd tease with a smile that wouldn't quite reach your eyes.

"This composer has nothing to admit." He'd set his guitar aside and join you on the floor, picking up his notebook to hide it once more. "Besides, you're my only muse."

Your skipped a beat everytime he'd say that. Changing the subject, you turn to him. "Do your muse a favor, then, and play this one on Tuesday? It's really good, Ed."

"I'll think about it."

On Tuesday, you and the five drunks scattered around the Hideout got to listen to a new song — a Corroded Coffin original, along with the other two they'd always play, straight from their EP. "Someone convinced me to do this one live. I hope she enjoys it."

And as his brown eyes, glinting under the weak spotlight over the stage, met yours across the room, and remained there through the first verse until the chorus, you knew. When his voice lowered and softened, crooning the words you heard earlier that week.

When the crowd around you disappeared and you were the only two people in the bar, and the sound of his voice and guitar were the only ones echoing through the walls, you knew.

You finally knew.

[dropthedemiurge]

Boys Be Brave [EP.5] // Translation notes

I'm back with my - I guess?? - already weekly analysis of something Gaga subs might've missed in this show. Because apparently, the silly show got deeper and I'm staying here until the very end :D

First of all, I was curious and checked whether there is anything about Kiseob's illness, and there is! There are two diagnoses:

상세불명의 심실중격결손 상세불명의 심방중격결손 Unspecified Ventricular Septal Defect, Unspecified Atrial Septal Defect

I am not a doctor definitely, but quick googling told me it's a heart defect (also called as 'a hole in the heart') which can have symptoms of heart malfunctioning. Which would! Explain even more! Why Kiseob has wrist watch that always measures his pulse and why on several occasions he was wondering why his heart was beating so fast next to Jinwoo (well, one for obvious reasons and another one is this).

And it's something you have since birth so he's been dealing with medication his entire life. Which would also explain further - after the scene with his sister - why the urge to be a people pleaser is so serious and so ingrained in him.

Another interesting language detail I noticed in this scene. Kiseob says "That's why I just agree to anything" but it doesn't translate well to english, because the verb 좋아/좋아해 can mean "I like" (eating medicine) and "I like (the idea)/I agree". So first he started lying that yes, he likes taking medicine, and that transferred to him saying that yes, he likes this, he agrees with this (whatever that is, anything he is proposed with)

"I cannot like anyone, right?" "Why not? You're a bastard with a lot of money"

This phrase references all the previous phrases that other people used to describe Kiseob, but Balgeum doesn't sense the real problem of his friend because the phrasing is general, it can also mean 'I have no chance of loving someone', and that's why Balegum thinks it's just Kiseob having low self-esteem or something. And also to him having money = being able to love, letting himself confess and date the one he loves, so of course, that's his answer. Kiseob has a lot of money, why wouldn't he confess to Jinwoo if he likes him?

But Kiseob can't because he doesn't even know his own feelings, and everyone around tells him he doesn't have the ability to love someone.

"Giving me (toilet paper) as if I moved to a new house"

Now, I cannot be the only one thinking years ago why the hell Koreans give each other huge packages of toilet paper when they visit someone xD But this is also a cultural thing!

When your friends move to a new house, you are supposed to come with gifts and usually with very practical ones, like toilet paper (very common gift). Rich friends can give you coffee machines or humidifiers or something like that. In my country, when you visit friends (not moving houses but still), you usually bring some desserts or food to have with tea. So for some countries, toilet paper is a norm :D

Balgeum has been living in his small apartment for a long time but it's the first time Inho visits his house so he's giving it a gesture of respect (but still an awkward one).

[Interrupting my broadcast to scream about cuteness and awkwardness of Balgeum x Inho AAAAAHHHHH Now back to the schedule]

...No, we will definitely focus on scribbling over Jung Kiseob's name for 100th time, absolutely distracted from any historical knowledge going in the background ^^

Oh! By the way! I remember being surprised that, apparently, some people on social media were uncomfortable with Kiseob seemingly 'feminizing' himself to be likeable by Jinwoo. Let me tell you that no, Kiseob doesn't do that at all!

There is nothing truly that indicated that he wants to be a ideal girl for Jinwoo (who has non-gendered perfect type list as I mentioned in my previous translation notes post!). He doesn't even use typical school-girl aegyo on Jinwoo (aka acting cute), maybe a tiny bit but it's not typical and it's not usually in his language at all. He talks gently and softly a lot! But he doesn't add typical cuteness in the way he talks (like there's no pouting, mumbling words and ending sentences with -ung).

I talked about dress = one-piece = jumper suit being the same in Korean but Kiseob literally only follows what Jinwoo wrote about a person he likes (not girl). As I described it, "he's using loopholes in Jinwoo's specific list in a true himbo way" :D He doesn't really do anything girly and doesn't pretend to be a girl as I can sense.

And I don't think I need to clarify another time, but falling in love during first snow/first sight is one of Jinwoo's list. Which Kiseob already fulfilled but he doesn't know that, and he just saw Jinwoo being with Hyejin witnessing first snow, which was the last straw for him to admit his failure and give up pursuing Jinwoo.

By the way, Koreans really think the first snowfall is a romantic event, like there are saying you'll fall in love with/be happy dating with someone you'll be with during first snow^^ It comes up in many Kdramas.

[acciotherapists]

Have a writing request-Watching episode 2 of season 2 opening scene (with Loki using his magic on someone) gave me an idea of an ask. Loki gets to know and care for a mortal girl but said mortal is going through a bad relationship (mean/horrible boyfriend) but the reader pushes it off all the time but it gets way worse and Loki finds out and gets very protective and uses his magic on the soon to be ex- boyfriend of the mortal (like ep 2 scene)

Sure thing! I hope you enjoy!

Loki x f!reader

Warnings: Abusive relationship dynamics, reader's boyfriend is toxic, abuse is implied, Loki being an adorable bean

“Everything alright?” Loki asked as my phone buzzed for the 10th time that night.

I nodded, swiping away the angry message. Where are you? Get home now!

Sam and I had been dating for nearly a year and he’d been slowly getting angrier and more out of control. The final straw was last night when he’d come home drunk and said some vile things. I’d left that night and asked Tony if I could stay at the tower for a few nights. He’d agreed without any questions and Loki seemed happy when I’d entered the library to read. We'd been friends for a few years, careful not to cross the boundary into anything more, though the flirtation was always there... at least until I met Sam. Since then things had been different between us. He was still my closest friend but I had to put distance there, afraid of angering Sam.

“You know I don’t believe you, right?” Loki replied, placing his book on the table and moving to sit next to me. “What’s going on?”

I stood, ignoring the pang in my chest at his proximity. “Nothing, Loki.” I grabbed my phone and book, leaving the library without another word.

****

I could hear the team laughing in the kitchen and I entered the room to find Wanda making a breadstick dance on the table as music blasted from the speakers. I leaned against the doorframe, watching as the breadstick moved to the beat of the music. Laughter escaped my lips and Loki turned to face me.

“Is she making a breadstick dance?” I laughed as he nodded.

He shrugged. “We were bored. Made for good entertainment while I waited for you to join us.”

“You were waiting for me?”

There was a hint of red in his cheeks but he simply shrugged, placing a hand on my back and leading me into the room. My phone buzzed and I swiped away the message without reading it. It was Sam again. I tried to put it out of my mind and focus on the group’s conversation but my phone kept buzzing. I looked down at the latest message. When I find you, Y/n, you’ll regret it.

“What the hell, Y/n?” Loki asked and I turned, realizing he was looking at my phone. He’d read the message.

“What is it?” Tony asked as the team turned to us.

“Y/n’s boyfriend is threa-.”

I placed a hand over his mouth. “Loki,” I hissed in warning as Tony watched us, waiting for an answer. 

“My boyfriend is just messing around.”

Loki moved his head, freeing himself from my hold. “That’s not ‘just messing around,’ Y/n. He’s threatening you!”

“Dammit, Loki! Just leave it alone!” I shouted, standing up from the table and making my way to the guest room, locking the door behind me. It wasn’t long before I heard a knock on my door.

“It’s Loki… please let me in, little mortal.”

I rolled my eyes, opening the door for him. “What?” I hissed.

“I’m sorry, darling… I realize that wasn’t the best way to handle that but when I saw what he said to you…” His eyes flashed dangerously before he took a breath, calming himself. “Is he always like this?”

I shrugged. “We just had a fight. I figured I’d let him cool off for a bit.”

He scoffed. “You’re not going back there.” He brushed a thumb over my cheek, wiping away a stray tear I didn’t realize had fallen. My phone buzzed again and I looked down at the screen. Baby, please. Just come home. I’m sorry about our fight. I can make it up to you.

“See, he’s already starting to cool off.”

“Darling… that’s not healthy.”

“Just let it go, Loki,” I sighed, preparing to send a message but he grabbed my phone. “What the hell, Loki!” I reached for the phone but he made it disappear, grabbing my hands gently.

“I promise I’m doing this for you… it’s for your own good.” He placed a kiss on my forehead and disappeared from sight.

“Dammit, Loki!” I shouted but it was no use. He was gone.

****

Loki typed a quick message to Sam from Y/n’s phone, asking him to meet at a coffee shop not far from their home. The bastard responded instantly and Loki prepared to leave the tower, hoping Y/n would forgive him someday.

****

Loki scoffed as he saw Sam holding flowers, staring down at his phone, before searching for Y/n again. He seemed confused as Loki approached. 

“Laufeyson? What are you doing here? Where’s Y/n?”

Loki chuckled, crossing his arms. “She won’t be coming.”

“What the hell did you do to her?”

“What did I do to her?” Loki growled. “What did you do to her?”

“You know how Y/n can be sometimes. She probably over exaggerated our fight.”

“She didn’t say anything about it. What I’m referring to are the messages you keep sending her.”

Sam scoffed and Loki approached, towering over him. “You dare threaten her?” Loki growled, his voice low and dangerous. Sam backed away, his eyes wide with fear before beginning to run.

Loki chuckled, walking in the direction Sam had run. “I don’t mind a game of cat and mouse.”

It wasn’t long before Loki cornered Sam in an alley, surrounded by several duplicates.

“What the hell, man!” Sam shouted. “Quit with the magic and fight fair!”

Loki chuckled. “It’s not a fair fight… you saw to that the moment you threatened her.” Suddenly two shadows of Loki appeared behind Sam and grabbed his arms, restraining him to the wall.

“What do you want?!” Sam shouted.

“I want you to leave her alone. When she inevitably realizes you are no good for her… you are to leave her alone. Do not threaten her. Do not contact her. Ever. If I find you so much as within ten feet of her I will do so much worse than kill you,” Loki said with a threatening smile.

“And until then?”

Loki scoffed. “I’m sure it won’t be long.”

“She’ll take me back. She always does.”

The shadows pulled Sam’s arms tighter as Loki spoke. “If she chooses to give scum a second chance then so be it. I will respect her decision. But if you hurt her… or threaten her again I will find you. Understood?”

Sam nodded and the shadows released him. He collapsed to the ground, holding his arms which had been stretched too far.

“Get out of my sight,” Loki hissed and Sam scurried away.

****

I was pacing the room as Loki entered and handed me my phone.

“What the hell, Loki? Where have you been?”

“I had to take care of something,” he replied, grabbing a cup of coffee before turning to face me. “What do you see in him?”

“What?”

He took a sip before placing the cup back on the counter. “In Sam… what do you see in him?”

I shrugged. “He was a good guy when we met… he made me feel safe.”

“Do you love him?”

I sighed. “Why does it matter, Loki?”

“Because the possibility of you loving him is the only reason he’s still alive.”

“Loki… what did you do?”

“Just answer the question, Y/n,” he ordered, though his voice was soft as he approached me, placing a hand on my cheek. 

“No.” My breath hitched as he wiped away a stray tear I didn’t realize had fallen. “No… I don’t love him.”

“Then why stay? Why put up with that? You deserve so much better than him.”

“Like I said… he made me feel safe.”

“My little mortal… Please tell me you aren’t going back to him.”

“I don’t have anywhere else to go, Loki. I can’t live here for the rest of my life.”

“Why not?”

I chuckled, shaking my head. “Tony’s an old friend… and he puts up with a lot but I can’t ask him to let me live here.”

“Stay with me.”

I swallowed thickly as he moved closer, his lips hovering over mine. “Leave him… I can’t lose you and I’m afraid, darling… I’m afraid of how bad this could get.”

My heart was racing as his lips brushed against mine. So close… yet so far.

“Stay with me, little mortal.”

My eyes locked with his as I nodded and he sealed our promise. 

[reviewinghiccup]

DEFENDERS OF BERK | HTTYD SERIES | BREAKING DOWN HICCUP

Blog Post Series: Breaking Down Hiccup

Title: The Night and the Fury

Ep/Season: Episode 3, Season 2 (Defenders of Berk)

Premise:

Hiccup and gang set out on a training exercise on Dragon Island in hopes to train their stealth / combat skills without help from their dragons. Unfortunately, they run into a very, very unlikely "friend"...

IN ASTRID WE TRUST

It's no secret that the team needs some polishing. And we're hoping, Astrid's obstacles could do the trick. I love how they groaned, knowing that her tests is going to be difficult. It's very like them to do that and very like her to make things tough.

This exercise is fertile ground for individual members of the team to grow. For example:

(1) TUFFNUT TAKES ON THE RESPONSIBILITY OF WATCHING THE DRAGONS

(2) RUFFNUT GOES OUT ON HER OWN

(3) FISHLEGS, WELL, IT'S JUST ANOTHER DAY FOR HIM REALLY. I.E., DOING SOMETHING HE'S SCARED TO DO

(4) HICCUP, DEALING W DAGUR

(Can we also take a moment to appreciate the little confidence boost Hiccup gives to Fishlegs? We can? Ok. Here you go.)

If you started watching RTTE without first seeing ROB/DOB, you might wonder why Dagur calls him brother. Well, to be fair, I still don't know why he does, but at least from this episode, you'll know when the supposed familial relationship began.

P/S: Look at how small & cute baby is.

It's also really cute that Hiccup tries, for the most part, to keep the peace with Dagur, though for the most part, I hate to watch them pandering to him.

THE DAGUR FIASCO

This episode is where I feel DOB kicks off. Hiccup's in a very precarious position. The last time Dagur showed up, Stoick lied that Berk was still at war w dragons and that they still killed them. For the sake of peace, Hiccup didn't have much of a choice but to play along and reassert the lie.

This episode is definitely one of my favourites, especially in terms of the Hiccup-Dagur dialogue.

It's hard to not enjoy the "bro-mance" sequences. Just look at this one:

In fact, if you only watched RTTE, you might've missed where the Dagur v Snotlout situation also began. And it might surprise you to realise, that Snotlout was very much, a fan of Monsieur Deranged here.

HICCUP'S STAND

But nothing beats, that moment when Hiccup takes his stand.

It was such a DEFINING MOMENT, because Dagur has been looking down on Hiccup for years and NOW, NOW?! He realises what a genuine threat Hiccup could be. And more importantly, how easily his pride is wounded.

I'm all here for HEROIC HICCUP. And what an artistic way to show how much Dagur underestimated him. He even underestimate his shield! Much to his lost...

Also, don't you think that it is very Captain America of Hiccup sometimes, when he's wielding the shield?

And let's not forget, Hiccup is one sassy protagonist. I mean, you know you're an enemy when he burns you.

This episode is way more significant than I realised it at first. This whole time, Alvin was Berk's only viable threat. But his beef was with Stoick, initially at least.

But now, Dagur is another. And the person he's going after is Hiccup. Dagur is Hiccup's first archenemy.

And it doesn't help that he's insane.

So, what I loved about this episode was, it heightened the stakes of the entire show AND also, showcased how Hiccup can out-wit, out-smart and challenge Dagur, who I think, must've been a pretty tough contender to command the massive armada he ends up leading.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAY BARUCHEL (9.4.2023)

I know this may come off super random, but it is Jay Baruchel's birthday today. I think we can all agree that Jay is the life and soul of Hiccup. If you follow me on twitter @reviewinghiccup, you should know that I am down the rabbit hole of Jay Baruchel movies, interviews and podcasts.

And what I love so much about this guy is the respect and reverence he has for the show. I mean, he constantly praises it and not just because of his role, which he believes pales in comparison to the artists designing and working the animation, but its obvious that he's a HTTYD superfan.

I love it when an actor pays their respects to the franchise and I do enjoy his take on the work and how much the line between who Hiccup is and who he is, as a person, is blurred.

He's an eloquent speaker and tries to produce, write and direct movies now, instead of act in them. He's based in Canada.

Anyways, something interesting I learned about him was, in an interview w Tom Power, he talks about the book he wrote and what being a fan means to him. Him being a fan of hockey and how precious it can be to live within a franchise or something as massive as indulging interests. It sorta validates me a little, specially since I've dived deep into HTTYD fandom since changing careers.

And just like Hiccup, there is way more to this guy than it seems. He's funny, humble, kind and generous with his time. He wears his heart on his sleeve, and he's pretty jittery in real life too. But what kind of broke me, was finding out that even with his own father, he felt like he wasn't the kind of son his dad wanted.

Apparently, he had a complicated relationship with his dad which I believe may have bled into his work.

If you've watched enough of his interviews you'll know that he's had to support his mom and sister at 14-years-old with acting gigs because his father left and passed away when Jay was 21 following a drug overdose. Yet, he still remains so kind. I mean, his upbringing was tough, poor and difficult, yet you can still see him trudging through humbly, not wanting to draw attention to himself as much as he can help it.

In an interview article I read this morning, he explained that he wanted to continue being a good husband, son, brother, friend and I thought that was such a genuine Hiccup thing to say. He shoulders all these responsibilities and have been since he was a kid. Look, I don't know the guy personally, but from the expansive notes and recordings I've looked into, he seems pretty decent and I am such a huge fan.

As I grow older, I understand people on a different level. I accord respect so differently from how I would've years ago. And right now, I think what makes Jay Baruchel interesting is his sheer promise to do better for his family. And I think, in the absence of chiefing, running a village and saving the world, Hiccup is very much the same in that aspect too. A chief protects his own, which seems to be the mantra ringing in my head as I listen to Jay talk about his life.

You guys have no idea how much I know about this dude. I have possibly stalked him silly right now. And am a little embarrass as I admit this. Anyways, all I want is for him to succeed, in his work, life and family.

[freefromthecocoon]

I understand your thoughts about negative person. And I kinda agree. but I don't understand why me or anyone else should be satisfied with what was done in s1 DD? They purposely baiting Daryl and Isabelle. Zabel, Norman or someone else was fine with that. and maybe you like it or are satisfied with it or you blindly don't notice it - but it's not going anywhere...It's there on the screen. and people, ordinary people, noticed it. Do you think Carol and Melissa need to be involved in this kind of story over and over again? If she's okay with it, then it only means that we've been worrying for nothing all this time. and Kang, enemy #1, did everything that our beloved EP liked. and that means one more thing...which is not so positive. that we just didn't listen to what they were trying to tell us. and we were manipulated. which lead to nothing. and it still leads to nothing and according to your thoughts we should blindly follow. and not to do work on mistakes when we were so deceived before

Hello to my new follower who followed me from a random account shortly before I got this ask. I won't name the account here but it seemed to be a fairly random account. So I will address your concerns.

"Do you think Carol and Melissa need to be involved in this kind of story over and over again? If she's okay with it, then it only means that we've been worrying for nothing all this time. and Kang, enemy #1, did everything that our beloved EP liked."

In everything I have read by people who were in attendance for the episode and in all the videos of the panel I have seen, Melissa seems completely at ease with everyone that was on the stage and hell she even posed for pictures with just she and David prior to the event.

I have included a clip from Melissa herself on the panel on Saturday.

Melissa voiced the frustrations that so many of us have felt over the years, that because of the bigger picture of TWD, it wasn't deemed important that Carol's traumas were properly addressed. David went on to say that he spent a lot of time in discussion with Melissa to make sure they advance the character of Carol and not keep her stagnant.

Gimple and Kang were in charge during all of that period. Gimple oversees the bigger universe, but thank God during the time that Season 2 filmed, he was busy with TOWL on which he was the showrunner.

Anon, I am not sure if you watched Season 1 or not. I have read accounts by people who were in attendance and watched the premiere. They all say that it sets up a parallel of Daryl's journey in Season 1. I truly hope that after all of this is over with you can sit and watch every season and see how it perfectly tells their story.

The shipbaiting was clearly there in Season 1 and no one can deny that, but no, I did not..not "blindly notice" some of the beats in Season 1 that disturbed a lot of the fandom. But I also DID notice the subtleties in the story telling of Daryl wanting to return home to Carol which were undeniable.

Everything I know about 201 from video clips I have seen that are floating around...from song choices to flashback memories, point to canon for Caryl. But if we have misread all of it and you and those who have chosen to look at the negative possibilities are correct. And we have been "deceived" as you say, just know that Melissa would be in agreement of friend-zone Caryl. If that is true she will have participated in the deception of all of us just as much as much as you all claim that Norman and the rest of TPTB have So my question to you, Anon, is that if that turns out to be the case, will all of you go after Melissa like you did Norman and TPTB or will you just admit defeat.

I don't recall suggesting that someone should blindly follow anything, but I do trust Norman and Melissa, if it turns out we were wrong about romantic canon, I will be disappointed, but I do not believe that is something we will have to worry about if I am being honest.

I hope you have a lovely day and I hope all of our Caryl wishes come to fruition.

[heeracha]

## something wrong? — p. jongseong

content/warning(s): s2l lmAO,, jay x gn!reader, swearing, sunghoon being a dumbass (its not a heeracha fic if theres no hoon slander, i love him), inspired by that one friends scene ep,,, yeah ive been rewatching again sTOP, unproofread hehe

wc: 1.3k (holy shit ???)

note: idk wtf is this again,,, word vomit ig ??? pls anyway,, hope u enjoy whatever the hell this is

sunghoon regrets everything. he regrets the fact that he asked you if you know someone who you could set him up on a date with. he regret offering that he can set you up with someone and you two could double date. and when you asked him about the guy he set you up, why did he have to say jay when he doesn’t even know anyone named jay? after making a lame excuse of why sunghoon can’t say jay’s family name, he runs to the nearest coffee shop.

sunghoon sighs, not believing himself that he is doing this. eh, what difference does it make? sunghoon did a lot of stupid things.

so, sunghoon goes in the middle of the coffee shop, pretending to look around and suddenly loudly call out, “jay!”

“yeah?” 

sunghoon turns around, seeing a guy around his age, wearing glasses with a classic uncle style. sunghoon’s more of a rich uncle. he looks at him, observing the guy. “are you in college?” sunghoon asks and jay raises a brow.

“um… yeah?” jay answers.

“what you reading?” sunghoon asks, nodding his chin towards jay.

jay, now weirdly looking at him, raises the newspaper. “the newspaper?” he says and sunghoon shrugs.

“yeah, you’re alright.” sunghoon says, walking up to jay and taking the seat across him. after hours of sitting and trying to convince the jay guy, he finally agrees to pretend that he knows sunghoon from high school. sunghoon promised that he will do everything, give him a year supply of his favorite food, anything. but the jay guy just wanted sunghoon to stop, so with a groan, he said “fine, i’ll meet you here later.” and sunghoon celebrates by being even louder and jumping up to go to his apartment to get ready.

“thank you! i owe you one, i’ll do anything!” sunghoon says as he leaves his number on the newspaper and leaves the coffee shop.

“i better get my year's supply of corn!” jay yells. with a groan, he falls back on his seat. “i’m not gonna.”

two hours later, sunghoon is in the restaurant, sitting across jay who sits there with a scowl. “hey, can you at least act like you’re happy or something?” sunghoon says and jay looks at him with a glare. “or not, your choice.”

“what’s their name again?” jay asks.

“y/n.”

“how old are they?”

“our age.”

“i seriously cannot understand why can’t you just tell them that you forgot about this date and that you—”

“hoon!” jay cuts himself off as he scowls deeper, looking at sunghoon.

“be cool.” sunghoon mutters as he stands up, greeting you. jay sighs, standing up as he turns to you, eyes widening as if he felt his heart stop for a moment, literally skipping a beat when he sees you. after greeting sunghoon, he turns you to jay who still hasn’t been able to move from his spot. fuck, sunghoon never told him he would get to meet someone so… beautiful.

“that’s jay.” sunghoon says, hand gesturing to jay. “jay, this is y/n.”

“hi.” you softly say, shy evident in your voice.

“h-hi.” jay stammers, chuckling embarrassingly. “hi. hi.”

“is there something wrong?” you ask, smiling, but genuinely concerned. fuck, sunghoon never told you jay was this handsome.

“nothing, nothing,” jay shakes his head lightly. then he softly chuckles. “he just… never told me he set me up with someone so…” jay trails off, feeling embarrassed. why the hell is he saying this? “...beautiful.”

you smile wider, cheeks getting red. “thank you. you don’t look bad yourself.” you say. don’t look bad? he’s literally sent from heaven, god.

sunghoon raises an eyebrow as he looks at the two of you staring at each other. huh, jay was a good choice then. “oh! uh,” you say, shaking your head lightly as you finally break your gaze from jay. “sunghoon, (name). (name), sunghoon.” you say as you gesture to your friend, sunghoon smiling at her.

after sitting down, everything was going well, everyone was getting along, but sunghoon was paying extra attention with you and jay, too nervous if jay says something wrong that doesn’t sunghoon-like. “where did the two of you meet, by the way?” you ask and sunghoon and jay look at each other.

“in a party.”

“high school.”

jay and sunghoon look at each other. “in a high school party. after graduation, we had a mutual friend that threw a party. kind of like, last hurrah before college.” jay lies through his teeth and sunghoon nods. you look at the two back and forth, eyeing sunghoon especially. 

jay almost forgot about the setup. throughout the night, he could barely take his eyes off you. jay could also feel that you’re about to catch them. 

“sunghoon,” you call and he hums nervously. “you did something, didn’t you?”

“what?” sunghoon chuckles nervously. “me? did something?”

“yeah,” you say and sunghoon shakes his head, grabbing his drink and drinking his nervousness off but it doesn’t work. “hm, what is jay’s last name?”

jay mouths “park!” and sunghoon reads his lips, smiling. “wait, we have the same family name?” sunghoon says and jay places his hand on his forehead, closing his eyes in disappointment. “i mean, park! park jay!”

“sunghoon!” you exclaim. “you set me up with a stranger? why did you—?”

“i forgot that we’re supposed to do this. i’ve been caught up with work, y/n.” sunghoon frowns.

“caught up with work, everytime i go to your apartment, you’re playing with jake!” you say and sunghoon sheepishly grins. “ugh, this is so embarrassing, sunghoon.” you say, grabbing your bag and exiting the restaurant. 

jay stands up, pats sunghoon’s shoulder as he runs out of the restaurant. jay looks at the possible directions where you could be and when he sees you across. jay sees you go inside the coffee shop. he pushes the door, going inside as he looks around to look for you.

“jongseong,” he turns to the  seat by the window where sunghoon found him eight years ago. you were there, smiling at him.

“hey, i’ve been looking everywhere for you.” jay says with a smile as he walks to you. he bends to your height, pressing his lips against yours. “the planner said she’s leaving the binder with us for a week or so, so we can properly decide.”

you nod, looking at the binder that jay placed on the table. jay watches you fiddle with your fingers, playing with the ring he proposed with—a habit you developed ever since jay popped the question—as he sits on the chair across from you.

“you okay?” he asks and you hum, nodding.

“great,” you smile. “i’m just glad you ran after me that night.”

jay nods, smiling as he holds your hands in his. “me, too.” he softly says. 

he found you sitting in this very same spot as well, fiddling with your fingers. you were embarrassed that night, but thankfully, jay calmed you down by talking to you. you asked him why did he even agree in the first place and when he answered that sunghoon promised him a year’s supply of corn (he never got it, by the way), you laughed, feeling your nerves ease down as you talk to him properly that time, no more lies and secrets.

you raise his knuckles to your lips, kissing them. “i should be the one doing that.” jay says and you chuckle, shaking your head as you let his hands go, opening the binder.

“so, i think we should put sunghoon as far as possible from the open bar in the reception.” you say and jay nods, agreeing.

“put jake with him.” jay says and you chuckle, reaching your hand out subconsciously to hold jay’s as your free hand flips pages of the binder. jay, just like the first night he saw you, doesn’t take his eyes off you the whole time, still astonished by your beauty if not more. 

you look up, smiling at him. “something wrong, honey?” you ask softly and jay smiles, shaking his head.

“nothing,” he says. “i just really love you.”

you smile back. “i love you more, jongseong.”

“debatable.”

rb, likes, comments and feedbacks are highly appreciated, thank you!

[achillesuwu]

Izzy death & The end of the golden age of piracy

I like the explanation someone gave here and I will add a bit to it (yeah Izzy death was rushed and the way they filmed it wasn’t…very good (Ed’s hand why do you suddenly appear, stede why are you smiling then sad, everyone why do you look like a pack of children in front of a tv playing boring ad—) :

basically, this show happens when the the end of the golden age of piracy is near (the real Blackbeard dying marked that end in real life). Izzy in s2 began to represent actual piracy; he grew to be a "proper" pirate.

He actually tell us that in the last ep :

"it isn't about glory, it isn’t about gettin’ what you want. It’s about belonging to something when the world has told you you’re nothin’. It’s about finding the family to kill for when yours are long dead. It’s about letting go of ego for something larger. The Crew. »

"You are not a pirate, lad. You are a spoiled, entitled bunch of twats dressed in puffy, blue nighties."

"Kill us. Kill us all. Our spirit will last throughout your entire fuckin’ empire because… we’re good. And you are a rancid syphilitic cunt."

"it isn't about glory, […] It’s about letting go of ego for something larger. The Crew. " izzy s1 was very much focused on his pride, on the way pirate should be. He cared about the crew but he is way too focused on Blackbeard, too focused on them living but not actually being happy (‘You see him as some sort of a…pet’, ‘you are not proper pirate’, the whole mutiny that happens because the crew was fed up with his attitude, ‘piniiiiiiing about his boyfriend […] Ed better watch his steps.’). Izzy in s2 learned that he has to let go of his ego for something larger, the crew, to be a community (the whole ‘you are born alone, you die alone’ & him getting his unicorn leg, La vie en rose ‘It’s him for me, me for him in life. He said it to me, He swore it to me till death do us apart.* And as soon as I see him, then, I feel him bringing me back to life.** Me being Izzy, Him being the crew. The crew give a purpose to Izzy.)

*the literal translation is more ‘It’s him for me, me for him in life. He said it to me, He swore it to me for life’ but it’s implicitly a marriage vow. (Native french speaker here)

**‘And as soon as I see him, then, I feel my heart inside me beating.’ But here in the context of ofmd I think the romantic meaning is remplaced by ‘this is my purpose in life and it makes me feel alive’

"It’s about belonging to something when the world has told you you’re nothing" Izzy s1 insisted that Edward was nothing, in s1 he also thought that he was nothing without Blackbeard, he thought the Crew of the revenge wasn’t his crew but just a bunch of moron. In s2 we see him learn that he is someone outside of his job toward Blackbeard & his dying speech show us that he learned that Ed wasn’t nothing either (something something about the cursed jacket being Blackbeard’s heart and Izzy agreeing that it isn’t cursed but for the crew [and Edward now] they have to let it go). + I don’t need to explain that we see him in s2 actually seeing the crew as, well, an actual crew where he belong too

‘It’s about finding the family to kill for when yours are long dead’ (I won’t spend a long moment on that because it’s more about Edward but something something Ed actually killing for the first time in ep 8 something something something Him accepting his darkest part fully (piracy) when he think Stede could be dead. Well actually it really fit—)

So, Izzy dying isn’t about the old way dying as some people seem to think it represents(the old way are already dead at that point as many pointed out). It’s about… well, piracy dying. The golden age of piracy is ending (merthur when will I get free of you—).

And yet, why did David said this ?

Well, people, again : Izzy speech !

"Kill us. Kill us all. Our spirit will last throughout your entire fuckin’ empire because… we’re good. And you are a rancid syphilitic cunt."

(Edit : also it’s interesting that the only other time syphilis is said in the show is in the cursed jacket episode)

So, him dying is about piracy dying. HOWEVER, community ( as we can see with the revenge) still seems to thrive because even if ‘piracy’ dies, the core of it will not. Community & their stories (the unicorn is an animal of legend) will still outlive everything else, expecially the assh*les [the British empire]. The seagull (Button) represent change. Piracy died because everything end at some point but what is death if not change? (The Sandman is this you ?) What if life began again ? Good will not just triumph against Evil, it will outlive it and if it dies it will rise again changed.

OFMD isn’t about the immortality of thing, it isn’t about staying miserable where you are, it’s about the death of thing. No matter how hard it’s you have to try, let go of the rope that bind you and change.

So yeah, I agree, that final episode was rushed but I disagree, Izzy dying wasn’t pointless.

[headfullofpresley]

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐃𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐈𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞

Pairing: Elvis Presley x reader

Word count: 8,7K

Summary: They say opposites attract and you and Elvis are living proof of that. Your music tastes are as far apart as can be, but since you are always front row at all his shows to be the supportive girlfriend, he finally joins you for a night out in your world. Time to get funky.

Warnings: 70s!elvis, elvis being a disco hater, strong language, alcohol consumption, inaccurate timelines when it comes to songs etc, reader and elvis fighting people in the club 👀, mention of the colonel, the media being a bunch of asses, smut; dirty talk, handjob (f. receiving), oral (f. receiving & a lil of m. receiving if you squint), anilingus (f. receiving if you squint), kissing after oral, lil bit of choking and hair pulling, facial, swallowing, unprotected sex.

A/N: the girly in the pic is white and blonde but that has nothing to do with the fic- as readers' appearance other than her outfit isn't described :). anyways, this is just one of my delusional elvis fantasies turned into a fic. enjoy, babies! 🕺🏻

masterlist | suggested playlist

You had been steadily dating Elvis Presley since 1968. The two of you met in Los Angeles at a dinner event thrown by some big name music producer and while Elvis usually didn’t like attending these things, he was glad he did four sweltering summers ago in ’68.

The two of you hit it off right away, talking about everything and nothing. As cheesy as it sounds, it was a match made in heaven.

You shared a lot of similarities with the man- sometimes you joked he was basically the male version of you and he always wholeheartedly agreed. But there was one thing the both of you simply could not agree on.

And that was music.

Disco was a part of your soul; it ran through your veins like blood. It was a way of life. Disco was you.

To Elvis, disco was something you maybe danced to a little when having too many drinks- it made him want to scratch his eyeballs out more often than he’d admit whenever you played it throughout the house or hotel rooms for most of the day, but he loved you and therefor, he was just going to have to deal with it.

You felt the same about most of his music. You didn’t exactly hate his taste nor the music he made himself, but it just.. missed something. He had a few songs here and there that you could move to, but you needed more than that- you needed beats to let loose to. Still, you were always the supporting girlfriend and there had never been a show you hadn’t been at the front row for.

Sure, discussions about music between the two of you was not a foreign concept but it usually happened whenever you had one too many of those colorful cocktails during his shows or a night out and he was high on adrenaline after performing, but it never turned nasty or whatsoever. Despite the differences, you could still acknowledge that your man was an amazing singer.

You nor Elvis were planning to let get something this silly come in between your relationship or let this become a serious problem and although you knew you could never persuade him to like the same music you did, it didn’t mean you’d give up trying.

 

Elvis didn’t mind to have you dance around the hotel suite at the International with your records playing in the background or you going out on the town with the girls after his dinner show, but he drew the line of joining you to one of those… discotheque’s.

Or so, he thought.

You and the Memphis Mafia’s ladies managed to persuade the rest of the guys to join you on one of Elvis’ nights off to a club and naturally, he wasn’t going to stay behind all alone. To be honest, he could use the rest but he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep until you’d come back anyways.

Elvis simply wasn’t one for nightclubs or drowning himself in alcohol to have a good time, but something told him he was going to need a few drinks if he wanted to survive the night.

“Oh, come on, EP! You gotta let loose, get down and boogie, man!” Joe grinned teasingly at him as he sat at the dining table in the hotel suite, nursing a drink. The smaller Mafia member was dressed in a pair of baby blue well-fitted trousers and an equally as blue and flower printed shirt that had more buttons left open than necessary. According to Joe himself, the best part of the outfit were the boots with heels Joan put him in- making him look taller and a little slimmer.

“Zip it, Esposito- hippie lookin’ fool,” Elvis threw at his friend in good humor, putting on a gold belt he wore on stage a few times before as well.

You were lucky your boyfriend had a somewhat more flashy sense of fashion. He always stood out in a crowd but maybe that could also be because he was Elvis Presley- nonetheless, he always dressed amazingly.

You put your thumbs at him as he spread out his arms, waiting for your approval. He wore a pair of well fitted white trousers and a pink colored printed shirt on top of it, leaving the first few buttons open to show off the tan he was still sporting from your recent Hawaiian vacation, his white blazer matching with his pants. On his feet he wore heeled boots as well, though smaller ones than Joe did, as he didn’t exactly need the extra height.

“Do I pass your test, ma’am?” he questioned with a raised eyebrow and a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth, making you nod your head and stand on your toes to peck his lips.

“Definitely- looking like a true disco king,” you teased, twirling around in front of him before placing your hands on your hips. “How about me?”

His grin grew wider as if his body was on automatic pilot as his eyes drank you in completely, liking very much what he saw. You always dressed well- whether it were dresses, skirts or pants like tonight, it always made him want to rip the pieces of fabric right off your body.

The red pants you opted for tonight hugged your curves perfectly, having him resist the urge to sink his teeth in your thighs. The silver shimmering halter top that only held itself together by a string around your neck and your ribcage didn’t leave much to one’s imagination as it dipped into a loose v-neck in the front and left your back completely bare. The equally as silver heels you wore on your feet and your colorful make-up you usually wore on nights out really pulled it all together.

And all he could think about was seeing you fall apart underneath him in the sheets, hair a mess and make-up smudged.

“You,” he smirked, placing his hands on your hips to pull you up against his chest, keeping your there as his hands slipped down to your ass to shamelessly squeeze the flesh through your pants. “look fuckin’ perfect,”

You hummed playfully, kissing him before he could you, neither of you really caring about the others in the room. If it wasn’t for Joe speaking up, you could’ve eaten your boyfriend up right there and then.

“Get a room,” Joe shouted, getting up from his seat with a laugh as everyone seemed ready to leave. Elvis pulled away from the kiss and looked at his friend, giving your ass another extra squeeze for show.

“You’re standin' in it,”

Joe just laughed, not knowing what else to say to that before turning to Joan. You giggled and pecked Elvis’ lips one more time before he allowed you to step away from him and hand him a pair of sunglasses, which he put on his face. You put on a pair of your own, pink heart shaped ones, and shoved the pack of cigars he handed you in your clutch before you slipped your hand in his and walked downstairs to the cars in the garage with everyone else following behind.

 

Boney M. was blasting through the speakers the moment Elvis set foot inside the club with you. He hated how he recognized the song and the fact that he actually knew the lyrics to freaking Daddy Cool, but he wasn’t going to complain.

You already seemed in your element, tugging him through the crowd and to the VIP section that was reserved just for “Y/N and entourage”. Maybe Joe was right- he wasn’t about to get down and boogie, but perhaps he could let loose a little bit and have fun with his girlfriend and his friends.

Besides, this was a whole different crowd than the people who visited his shows or even listened to his music. Some people turned their heads and pointed him out, but they seemed more interested in you. He knew you were a well known name on this scene- you did back up vocals for musicians he barely knew, but who were obviously big names in disco music. People also knew and loved you because whenever you visited a new nightclub, it became a household name instantly.

Elvis felt like he had stepped into a completely different world and he wasn’t too far off. He was in your world now.

You were already buzzing in your shoes the second you came inside and you could barely sit still- the kind of energy that usually radiated off of Elvis was now coming from you. It was so intense that it made him a little nervous, laughing at you as you swayed in your seat while lighting a cigarette.

“You wanna dance, honey?” he asked the obvious, already knowing the answer. You looked at him with excitement in your eyes, but then raised your eyebrows in suspicion as you blew out some smoke from the corner of your mouth.

“With you?”

“Nuh-uh,” he laughed teasingly, taking the cigarette from your hand to take a drag from it. “I need at least five shots before you see me down there,” he nodded to the dancefloor outside of the VIP section and you laughed, rolling your eyes.

The Memphis Mafia had the drinks flowing before you could even ask for it and drinks were poured for you and Elvis, which you greedily downed in one go.

Unlike your man, you didn’t need the liquid courage to dance your little heart out.

“You go take those shots- I’ll see you when you’ve grown a pair,” you told him in his ear so he could hear you above the music, laughing as you kissed his cheek and abandoned your clutch in his care as you got up and ran onto the dancefloor with the girls, making Elvis laugh and shake his head a little at your antics. You were probably one of the few girls he allowed to talk to him like that.

 

With the Donna Summer’s dreamy I Feel Love blasting through the speakers and colored lights dancing from one person to another, it didn’t take you very long to get lost in the atmosphere.

The sunglasses you had been wearing were stolen by Joan who was messing around with the others. They were dancing and enjoying the music, but they weren’t as captivating as you were.

Because to you, this wasn’t a simple night out to break the dullness of your weekly routine. This is what you did nearly every day, this is what you lived for. Not only did the girls, your boyfriend and the Memphis Mafia know it, so did the people that you were a familiar face to- they loved watching you and joining you on the dancefloor to try and get equally as lost in the music as you.

Your hips were rotating to Donna’s high voice, hands up and running through your hair as your head was thrown back, eyes closed. You were brought to a completely different world, so much so that you hadn’t even noticed Jerry and Red joining you. This wasn’t their scene at all but as The Sweet Inspirations joined the party, they wanted in on the fun.

“Here comes Elvis,” Estelle shouted in your ear with a laugh, making you open your eyes and look for him in the sea of people.

Strobe lights illuminated on his face and in his hair as he made his way through the crowd, having left his white blazer behind in the VIP section with Joe. The people around him barely gave him the time of day- they were either high on the music or some kind of substance and although this was new to Elvis, he liked it.

Just for tonight, he felt like a normal person.

Just as he reached you, the song ended and shifted into How Deep Is Your Love by the Bee Gees. He pouted playfully, slipping his arms around your waist and placing a flat hand on your lower back, pushing you against his chest.

“Damnit, I wanted to watch you dance, honey,” he laughed in your ear as he leaned down to you, placing an open mouthed kiss on the curve of your neck. You giggled as you swung your arms around his neck, looking at him as you swayed to the music.

“The night is still young,” you grinned, making him sway with you. He was a little stiff, but due to the shots he indeed took back at the table, he moved along with you. “Do you got enough drinks in your system?”

“What’d you think?” he grinned as he playfully crossed his eyes, laughing along with you as he pecked your lips. You knew you could never get Elvis to perform a whole routine for everyone to see with you, but the way he was swaying you to one of your favorite songs right now was already enough for you.

And when he started singing along, gently pressing his forehead against yours as his fingertips tickled your bare back, your heart skipped a beat.

“Have you secretly been listening to the Bee Gees?” you questioned teasingly as you pressed yourself against him a little firmer, letting your fingertips play with the hair in the nape of his neck. He grinned as he leaned down to your neck again, his hands running up your back as he planted a kiss on the heated skin of your shoulder.

“No, baby, you just play it so goddamn much that it gets stuck in my head,” he chuckled, his hot breath against the shell of your ear making goosebumps crawl onto your flesh. Your excitement was slowly turning into arousal- an effect Elvis always had on you, and he knew it so damn well.

He knew that if he’d gently sink his teeth in your earlobe and flick the tip of his tongue against it that it would get you to tug on his hair a little. A mean, teasing grin spread across his face as you moaned softly in his ear, which even above the loud music, was crystal as clear to him.

Rick James’ Super Freak suddenly blasting through the speakers reminded you that you were in public and in the middle of the dancefloor. You couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel, but right now the excitement and adrenaline of the music was coming back to you- when you pulled back and grabbed his hands, he immediately widened his eyes as he realised what you were trying to do.

“Y/N- hell no,” he warned in a low rumble when you were already dancing to the beat of the music, trying to get him to move along.

You were laughing like crazy, already knowing this would freak him out- you allowed him to pull his hands back and when he pushed Jerry and Red toward you, you held your hands out to them.

Red looked at Elvis, raising an eyebrow as he shrugged and took your hand, Jerry following his example. You’d much rather see Elvis get down to Super Freak, but you took whatever you could get- the Mafia guys, who obviously had already more to drink than Elvis did, danced with you to the upbeat song. Elvis didn’t mind you getting all up close and personal with the guys because he trusted you and he was laughing his head off, making his way back to the VIP section to not look like the only fool on the dancefloor who was standing still.

 

It was like inside these four walls, you were a freaking robot. You barely came to the table for a drink- he noticed you trying to make your way over now and then, only for you to talk to someone you knew or run back because one of your favorites were being played.

You just didn’t stop dancing. Not for anything or anyone.

Even when Jerry and Red made their way back and Charlie lasted on the floor for a total of ten minutes with you, and even when all the Mafia ladies were catching their breaths, you were still going. He wasn’t worried though, since you were mostly dancing with The Sweet Inspirations who took a great liking to you- for obvious reasons.

Elvis recognized the tunes of Le Freak by CHIC and sipped from the Margerita you and Myrna had ordered for him in good humor. It was one of the few cocktails he liked and it got him tipsy pretty fast- which was your aim, because you wanted his ass back on the dancefloor.

You were about to get what you want, but not for the reason you were expecting.

Elvis could see everything and everyone clearly from where he was- he had a good laugh at the way some people danced and guys trying to shoot their shot with girls but failing. It seemed like a couple of guys had their sights set on you and the girls, dancing closer and closer to you and Cissy as you were playfully twirling her around.

He waited and sat back for a second- he knew you were perfectly fine standing up for yourself and grinned to himself as he saw you ignoring the guys completely, turning your back to them. They either couldn’t take the hint or were a bunch of asses, because they kept trying to squeeze themselves into your little dance circle.

At one point, Estelle literally told one of them to “fuck off”, and it was then that everything seemed to escalate. Just as he got up, he saw one of the guys pulling the string of your top that was neatly tied around your ribcage loose and putting his hands on your waist- you were grabbing onto your top to keep yourself decent and the fucker took this to his advantage, grabbing your hips and pulling you back into his chest roughly.

Elvis was flying out of the VIP area and onto the dancefloor so fast, the others were left behind in confusion. Sonny and Red realised he wasn’t going to dance with the way he was shoving people out of his way and storming over to you- they followed as quick as possible, but couldn’t stop Elvis from pulling the guy off of you and punching him right across the jaw. People who knew you were getting involved now as well as the guy’s friends and you quickly tied your top back together, grabbing onto Elvis’ shoulders as he was now in a screaming match with your assaulter- when the guy went in for a punch, you realised he made the biggest mistake he could.

Elvis, with great experience in karate and being faster, blocked him and landed a sharp slap on the side of his neck. This took the guy back, but as he noticed Red, Sonny and Jerry getting physical with his own friends, he decided he wasn’t done with Elvis yet. At this point, girls were getting involved as well and you let out a shriek as you were suddenly yanked back and off Elvis.

Now you weren’t an expert at fighting, but Elvis taught you a thing or two. Unlike him, you didn’t like carrying a weapon everywhere you went but he wanted you to be able to protect yourself and made you spar with him twice a week. It wasn’t your favorite thing to do, but you were glad about it now.

You avoided a slap in the face by ducking when you saw the girls' hand coming toward you and grabbed her arm, roughly pulling it behind her back. Grabbing a fistful of her hair, you pushed her into the crowd as hard as you could- the random girl didn’t seem like she had enough and came back for more, literally running toward you. You panicked for a second, stepping aside and sticking out your foot- she tripped and landed right on her face, but before you could walk away and go back to Elvis, she had pulled you down to the floor with her.

God, this bitch was crazy.

You didn’t know where anyone was, because quite literally half of the club was fighting by now, but what you did know was that you had to get this monster off of you. She seemed drunk and her movements were sloppy, a little slow even, making it easy for you to avoid her nails which she tried to scratch you in the face with. Grabbing her wrists, you pulled your leg up and kneed her in between her thighs harshly, rolling her onto the floor. You didn’t want to hurt this girl because aside from attacking you for no good reason, she didn’t do anything wrong- she was just drunk and caught up in the moment.

But as you were pinning her wrists to the floor and trying to keep her legs still by sitting on her thighs, she was screaming and writhing as hard as she could underneath you. She looked possessed with the way she was moving her head from left to right so fast her face was covered with her hair- you did the only thing you could think of to distract her and get away, landing a firm punch on her nose.

She stopped moving, grabbing onto her face as you let go of her hands and quickly got up. You yelled a quick “sorry!” but doubted she could hear it, running back to Elvis.

The guy he had punched before was nowhere to be seen, but he was in a new screaming match with two completely different guys now. Before any more fighting could take place, you got in between them and planted yourself in front of Elvis. You placed a hand on Elvis’ chest and looked at the guys, telling them to walk away and softly pushing their shoulders- your intention wasn’t to start something new entirely, but this could never go right whenever alcohol was involved.

One of the guys didn’t like the way you kept touching him and suddenly grabbed your wrist, shouting profanities in your face- at the same time, you were still trying to hold back Elvis, which was getting more difficult the angrier he got.

“Get outta here, you Presley whore,”

That’s it.

Elvis knew something like that would set you off and he wrapped his arms around your waist, lifting you off the colorful dancefloor. You thought he was going to drag you away, but when he didn’t, you took the opportunity to bend your knees and kick your heels against the guys’ chest so hard it made him fly back against the DJ booth.

“We should probably get outta here,” Elvis yelled in your ear, making you nod and take his hand as he put you back down. You grabbed Red’s arm as you were pulled past him and as he noticed you were making a run for it, he got everyone else to follow as well. Elvis snatched his blazer from the VIP section and draped it around your shoulders, using the chaotic atmosphere to his advantage as he took you out of the club.

 

“Shit! My sunglasses!” you pouted as you sat in the backseat of the car with Joan and Myrna, pouting at Elvis through the rearview mirror as he sat in the passenger’s seat, Joe’s boots in his lap because he couldn’t drive with them.

The entire car was silent as everyone looked at you until Elvis suddenly started laughing, throwing his head back as his shoulder shook with vibration and tears stung in his eyes. Everyone joined in and you couldn’t stay serious anymore too, pinking away some tears from the corner of your eyes.

“What?! I loved those sunglasses!” you hiccuped, laughing harder when Joan was gasping for air, slapping your thigh in the process.

“You broke a girl’s nose tonight- I d-don’t think you’ll g-get them back, Y/N,” Myrna wheezed, making you gasp through your laughter.

Elvis turned around in his seat, laughing even harder when he looked at you. It was partly the alcohol in his system that made him feel this way and partly the adrenaline of what just happened- despite it all, he was still having fun. Tonight he hadn’t been Elvis Presley the performer, but just Elvis.

Goofy friend, protective boyfriend and apparently, someone who did karate at a discotheque.

“Baby, you broke someone’s nose?!”

“I guess so!” you doubled over, holding onto the front seats as you giggled, looking back up at your boyfriend. “I just did what you taught me- the bitch look possessed, I didn’t know what else to do!”

“Damnit- can’t believe I had to miss that,” he joked, leaning forward to you to capture your lips in a kiss. He allowed it to turn a little heated, making everyone in the car protest as Joe managed to get you back to the International safely despite laughing so hard behind the wheel.

 

You and Elvis were still laughing as you said goodbye to everyone and were riding the elevator up to the top floor, but as soon as you got in the room and pushed him against the nearest wall while crashing your lips onto his, he knew the mood had completely turned around.

And he sure as hell wasn’t going to complain about it.

Slipping his hands under the blazer and up your shoulders, he pushed the fabric off and let it land on the floor. You moaned softly in his mouth as he caressed his fingertips up and down your back and he softly but teasingly bit your lower lip when your hands traveled down the silk fabric of his shirt and down to his growing erection.

Palming him through his pants, he grunted and pushed his hips forward a little as his fingers found the strings of your top. He pulled the one around your ribs loose and didn’t waste any time as he did the same to the one around your neck, letting the skimpy shimmering fabric fall to your feet.

“You know,” you told him in between kisses, making him hum in response. “That was kinda hot- how you fought off those guys,”

You had seen Elvis do karate before when he was messing around with the guys or practicing with his teacher at the dojo, but you’d never seen him truly in action. You hadn’t had the time to get turned on by it when it happened because you were rather… occupied… yourself, but now that you thought back on it, it was just so hot.

“Oh yeah?” he laughed softly, slipping his hands over your ribcage and softly squeezing your breasts in his large hands, his thumbs caressing over your perked nipples. “You did most of it for the second half,”

“Hmm yeah, I was pretty good, wasn’t I?” you playfully wiggled your eyebrows at him, squeezing his cock through the confinements of his pants a little firmer. He groaned, chasing your lips with his own to nibble on your lower lip before sweeping his tongue across it.

“The best. We make a great team, baby,” he grinned, wrapping his arms around your waist and lifting you up. You let out a little shriek as he threw you on the soft king sized bed in the bedroom, blowing some hair out of your face.

Propping your elbows on the mattress, you watched your boyfriend take off his shirt and belt, dropping them to the floor. That belt was worth a shit ton of money and people would probably get a whiplash seeing how casually he treated it, but neither you or him gave a damn about it now. Kicking his shoes off, he grabbed your ankles and took your heels off one by one before crawling onto the bed, hovering on top of you.

You ran your hands through his hair as he placed sloppy open mouthed kisses on your lips and over your face, working his way down your neck and your chest- you wanted to reach down to take his pants off, but you were too late as he moved down lower, letting his tongue swirl around your nipple before taking it in his mouth and sucking on it softly. Combined with the feeling of his hand sliding down your stomach and easily flicking the button of your pants open, shoving his fingers underneath the fabric once your zipper was done, you couldn’t stay quiet and he hadn’t expected you to- you had never been a shy one.

Your eyes met his as he looked up at you with a small grin, lips still attached to your breasts as his fingers creeped in your panties and spread your slick around before rubbing your clit in a slow pace. The sight of you gasping and the sound of you letting out small whiney moans made his cock twitch in his pants and he quickly kissed and licked his way down to your lower abdomen, removing his hand out of your underwear so he could take your pants off.

Impatiently, you helped him by pulling it down your hips as fast as you could and he laughed as he pulled the fabric off your ankles, throwing it as far away from him as possible when he finally managed to get it off. Your panties followed quickly by your own doing and he decided to make himself comfortable by taking off his last pieces of clothing too, making sure he was back on the bed before you even had a chance to move.

Not that you were thinking of being anywhere else but here.

He grabbed your thighs, bending them backwards a bit more as you spread your legs for him- you didn’t have the strength to hold yourself up anymore, letting yourself fall back on the soft plushy pillows behind you when he kissed the insides of your thighs.

“Fuckin’ pretty pussy,” he mumbled to himself with a grin, your soft laugh turning into a gasped moan as he leaned in without warning and dragged his tongue through your folds, wrapping his lips around your clit. He sucked on it for only a few seconds before dipping his tongue down again and exploring every inch as if it was his first time down there.

Elvis liked to take his time with foreplay, so when he was pretty much making out with your pussy, you were definitely not complaining. Your hand found its way into his hair, nails scraping his scalp softly which made him moan right into your folds and sending vibrations right onto your clit- you moaned out his name, pushing his face firmly against your skin. With his hands still holding back your thighs, he allowed it and stopped moving as he held his tongue stuck out- you took the hint and held his head in place by grabbing a fistful of his hair, moaning as you shamelessly used his tongue the way you wanted to by twirling your hips. Most of his lower face and his nose were covered with your arousal and it only got him turned on more, thrusting his hips forward against the sheets underneath him.

Even when you let go, Elvis didn’t back away- instead, he went in more determinedly, pulling high pitched moans from you that came from your very core as he pushed two digits inside of you. With how turned on you were, it was an easy task.

“Oh my G-God, Elvis,” you groaned, your eyes rolling in the back of your head as he pulled his face out from between your thighs with a gasp for air, his fingers relentless as he pumped them in and out of you. He shot you a teasing smirk, wrapping an arm around your thigh and resting his arm on your lower abdomen to stop you from trying to get away.

You didn’t want to get away, but as his fingers rubbed fast, consistent circles on your clit, you were pretty sure the floor below you could hear you screaming your boyfriend’s name. He knew you were close to climax by the way you were clawing at the sheets and his arms, inhaling sharp breaths through your teeth as you groaned.

He knew he was a bit of an ass for laughing, but he just loved how out of your mind you already looked while he was far from being done with you. He braced for the impact of your foot that you planted against his shoulder, trying to break free from his grip, and just laughed as you couldn’t get him to move a muscle. You squeezed your eyes shut, accepting your faith as you felt your orgasm about to rear its head around the corner- before it could, he pulled his fingers out of you and let go of you completely.

“Elvis!” you protested breathlessly and a little annoyed, opening your eyes. You could see him grinning but then you were met with the pillows underneath you as he grabbed your hips and flipped you around, pulling your ass back.

“God, baby- you’re so fuckin’ impatient,” he taunted, landing a harsh slap against your ass that left your thighs shaking. “What’re you in such a rush for, hmm? We got all night,”

You giggled softly at his words, swaying your hips left to right impatiently- he responded to it by grabbing onto your ass cheeks with both hands, spreading them and letting a dribble of spit fall in between them. You gasped softly at the wetness slipping over your second hole and down the inside of your thigh. Elvis grinned at the sight, leaning in to drag his tongue over it a few times before he dipped the muscle down lower, shoving the tip of it inside your pussy.

“Fuck!” you let out a little shriek, grabbing onto the nearest pillow you could find and squeezing it in your hands so hard your knuckles were turning white. Laughing at your reaction, he sunk his teeth in one of your ass cheeks and pulled away- when you looked over your shoulder, you watched him straighten up on his knees and taking hold of his cock, pumping it a few times before rubbing his tip through your folds, teasingly slapping his cock against your clit.

“So eager tonight,” he laughed as you pushed your ass back a little, trying to get him to slip into you one way or another. He squeezed your ass before moving it to your hip, letting it rest there as he looked at you with teasing eyes. “I love it,”

You hummed as you grinned at him, not able to still your hips and still trying to get him where you wanted him most- he was still being a damn tease, covering his cock with your arousal by slipping it back and forth through your folds, making you more needy with his dirty talk.

You loved him and you loved whenever he took his time with you, but you needed to be fucked.

Right now.

“Good God, Elvis- do you ever stop talking?”

 

There wasn’t any malicious intent behind your words nor did you mean them, but you did make sure to sound extra bratty.

Elvis knew this, but it did light a whole new fire inside of him and it gave you exactly what you wanted. He didn’t go slow nor did he give you time to get used to the stretch like he usually did- he let out a deep, nearly animalistic, groan as he pushed himself inside of you and thrusted into you at a quick, steady pace. He grinned as you let out a “fuck yes”, seeing your eyes roll in the back of your head as you lowered your head back on the pillows, his fingertips digging into your hips as he held onto them.

The bed was used to the weight of the both of you going at it, but the headboard banged against the wall with every single one of his thrusts. As one of his hands traveled up your spine, it felt as if he was leaving behind a trail of fire, alerting all your senses- he twirled his hand around your hair, holding it in a messy makeshift ponytail as he pulled your head back in your neck, leaning forward to force his tongue in your mouth.

His thrusts never faltered once.

You greedily welcomed the wet muscle, moaning in his mouth- before you could teasingly bite his lip, he had already broken the kiss and pressed the side of his face against yours, letting go of your hair to let his hand rest around your neck, fingertips placed at your jaw. The feeling of the very light stubble breaking through rubbing against your cheek made your muscles contrast around his cock repeatedly. His breath was hot on your skin as he grunted and moaned, his hair messily framing his face- you could cum right there and then.

“Startin’ to believe those fuckers were right,” he grinned, lapping his tongue along the shell of your ear, biting your earlobe. “You are a whore,”

Roughly letting go of your jaw and leaning back again, he grabbed onto your hips once more and slowed down his thrusts. You looked over your shoulder, batting your eyelashes at him as you moaned when he allowed you to fuck yourself onto him when he stilled his hips altogether.

“Maybe I am,”

The way you were looking at him and giving him one of your little teasing smiles, he had to hold himself back from fucking you right through the bed. Rushing a hand through his hair to get some out of his face, he tilted his head and smirked.

“Not maybe- you are, baby. My whore,”

He bit his lip, cursing softly when your walls spasmed around his cock because of his words, pushing back onto him harder and faster.

“Y-Yes, only yours, El,” you whined softly as he grabbed onto your hips and pulled out of you- you took the chance to roll around, welcoming him back in between your thighs as he once more thrusted himself inside of you.

“That’s my girl,” he grinned, this time giving you the satisfaction of kissing him hungrily and making the headboard hit the wall even harder by placing his hands on either side of your head, fucking you as if it was his last day on Earth.

 

It were the little things that got you riled up when it came to Elvis. Things that might not be anything note worthy to some people, things that people might barely pay attention to when having sex with their partner.

But it was the way the cross on his necklace hung in your face and the feeling of his rings on your skin as his hand squeezed at your breast or was resting around your neck that got you moving one of your hands in between your connecting bodies to rub your clit in the same pace he was still thrusting into you.

You couldn’t look away from his face when he pulled back from the kiss to inhale a sharp breath of air, upper lip raised a little and hooded eyes boring into your soul. He looked absolutely stunning with pleasure written all over his features, some strands of hair sticking to the sides of his face and a thin layer of sweat on his forehead.

You were very aware that you weren’t the first one to see Elvis in a position like this one and perhaps you wouldn’t be the last, but all that mattered was that you had him now. And you’d be damned if you’d ever let him get away and allow someone else experience this force of a man.

Elvis knew you were close and he wasn’t going to deny you this time- he watched you arch your back a little, letting you cross your ankles behind his lower back to keep him trapped in between your legs. It was hard, but he managed to postpone his own orgasm as your muscles clenched around his cock frantically, his name rolling off your tongue in a mantra.

Just like he knew you, you knew him and you could see he wasn’t able to last very long anymore. His thrusts were getting sloppy, grunts louder and raspier- you didn’t hesitate when he told you to get on your knees as he pulled out of you and he stood up on the bed, rapidly jerking himself off in front of your face as he held onto the headboard of the bed with his other hand.

The way you sat there with your hands placed on his thighs, eyes closed and tongue stuck out, made him let out a shaky laugh. You knew it was coming, but the feeling of a few spurts of cum landing on your face still startled you- Elvis moaned as he watched you move a little closer, letting his cock rest on your tongue as he came, painting the back of your tongue white.

Your eyes fluttered open to look up at him as he tapped his cock against your tongue a few times before pulling back, closing your mouth and swallowing what he fed you. It wasn’t the first time you did it, but it was a sight he could never get enough of. As you grinned and showed him your tongue for proof that you swallowed it all, he laughed softly, catching his breath.

“If I knew we’d end the night like this, I would’a joined you to your little disco parties sooner,”

He got on his knees again and let himself fall back on the mattress, pulling you along with him and onto his chest. You smiled as you crawled on top of him, running both your hands through his hair while kissing him. You shivered as he caressed his fingertips up and down your back and ass, taking his lower lip in between your teeth to tug on it playfully.

“Disco makes me horny- why do you think I go dancing so much?”

He raised his eyebrows as he looked at you, not knowing if you were serious or not. While the music didn’t get you humping everything in sight like a damn fool, it was true that losing yourself in the music made you feel… some type of way.

Maybe that was a little secret you were going to keep to yourself, because you knew Elvis would never let you hear the end of it if he’d find out you were serious.

When you started laughing, he rolled his eyes and laughed along with you, giving your ass a playful squeeze. “You little slut,”

“I prefer the term whore,”

He looked at the finger you held in front of his face and grinned, sucking it in between his lips before he got you underneath him again and attacked your face and neck with kisses.

Thank God you hadn’t had too many drinks earlier, because something told you the night was far from over.

 

The next afternoon, a knock on the door woke you out of your slumber. Sitting up in the bed, you needed a few seconds to acclimate- you heard the shower running, which explained the empty spot in the bed next to you. With clothes scathered on the floor and one of Elvis’ sunglasses sitting crookedly on your face, memories of last night replayed in your mind, bringing a smile to your face.

You didn’t have much time to reminisce about your sexual adventures with your boyfriend as the person at the door knocked again, a little louder this time. You shot up from the bed, grasping your kimono like robe from the floor and putting it on while jogging to the front door.

You were glad to not be met with any of the guys, but with an employee of the hotel instead, bringing you the room service Elvis must’ve ordered before he went to take a shower. You gave the kid a generous tip after he rolled the cart with food in the room and closed the door behind him. Realising you were still wearing Elvis’ glasses, you laughed at yourself and pushed them up in your hair- stealing a croissant from one of the plates, you grabbed the newspaper and let yourself fall back on the couch in the living area.

As you noticed the front page of the paper, you nearly choked on your croissant- quickly sitting back up, you threw the croissant on the coffee table and ran into the bathroom.

Elvis nearly jumped out of his skin as the door swung open and you came running in, immediately stopping himself from humming a Donna Summer song.

You and that damned music- it was rubbing off on him.

“Have you seen this?!” you questioned although you doubted it, plastering the newspaper against the glass of the shower door. Elvis frowned and wiped away some fog, pushing his hair back as he squinted his eyes, looking at what you were showing him.

The King of Rock ’n Roll caught in Vegas brawl with his Disco Queen

“Read it to me,” he ordered, immediately turning the shower off. You looked at the picture of you and Elvis that were taken on a different day, sighing deeply as you looked at him, a bit doubtful to read it. “C’mon, read it!”

You sighed at the impatient tone in his voice and took a step back so he had enough space to step out of the shower and wrap a towel around his waist, opening the paper on the right page.

When you read the first few words, you looked at him again. “It’s just bullshit- let’s call Joe, he’ll know how to make this disappear,”

He sighed and shook his head, grasping the paper out of your hands and spreading it open in front of him. You grabbed onto his arm as you stood next to him, reading the words for yourself even though he was reading out loud.

“Elvis Presley and his hip-shaking lady Y/N L/N were spotted at Kaleido last night along with Presley’s entourage and back-up singers The Sweet Inspirations. They started off the night in one of Kaleido’s luxury VIP sections, enjoying drinks and conversation, but Presley and L/N didn’t seem to enjoy each other’s company like they did in the early years of their relationship – could there be trouble in paradise?” Elvis read faster and faster with every sentence and you gasped at the dumb things the media was writing, taking the newspaper out of his hands.

“Presley’s girlfriend of four years had no problems with leaving her man behind with his friends as she showed off her signature dance moves to the many on-lookers. Read: men. Not even Elvis’ friends were safe from her flirtatious behavior,” you continued as you paced around the bathroom, your fingertips crumbling the paper with how tight you were holding on to it. “Those fuckers!”

Elvis took advantage of your little outburst, stealing the newspaper from you once more to continue reading. His eyes traveled across the lies that were written about you enjoying male attention and continued at the part where they were writing about the fight that took place. They even had pictures that were taken by someone in the club printed on the page.

“Listen to this,” he told you, making you stop pacing and cross your arms in front of your chest as you looked at him. “Like his music, Elvis Presley is still stuck in old times. Just like back in 1956 during an unfortunate gas station accident with.. blablabla, he was the first one to throw a punch. He laid out three guys by showing off his expertise in karate, a sport he has been practicing since early on in his career, and according to one of our sources it was all done in a flash of jealousy after he saw his girlfriend getting a little too cozy with other party-goers. The same source told us that once everyone was too busy to notice, the couple got in a fight themselves too, screaming at each other and Presley dragging L/N out of the club like a rag doll. It would come to nobody’s surprise if after last night Elvis Presley has stopped diggin’ the Dancing Queen,”

Elvis barely read the newspapers anymore but he had no idea when they started putting polls with articles, 70% of the people having voted that his relationship with you wouldn’t last for another week. And since when were newspaper journalists so damn nosy about a celebrity relationship?

He tore his eyes off the photos covering half the page- photos of the moment he grabbed you and lifted you up, photos of him pulling you out of the club. To an unknowing eye, it did indeed seem a little like you and him were the ones arguing with each other. He knew everyone in his and your close circle knew better though, but this could damage both his and your reputation.

“What do we do now?” you questioned, letting out a deep sigh, letting your head fall against his chest as you stood in front of him. He kissed the top of your head, wrapping his arms around you.

“Let’s call Joe,”

 

For the rest of the day Joe and The Colonel worked hard to keep today’s newspaper out of everyone’s hands, talking on the phone to God knows who- they were doing anything to get this story to disappear, which was reassuring, but you knew people have seen it already.

The Colonel, who usually went by the motto of “bad publicity is publicity too”, even made a visit to the Vegas Sun office himself to set things straight. Some bullshit story was one thing, but he wasn’t about to let the public think Elvis laid a finger on you, a woman.

He also suggested that you and Elvis go out on the town again tonight and see a Tom Jones show at the Flamingo, so the public could see you were still together and in a healthy, happy relationship.

So, after Elvis’ midnight show, you were sitting in a booth in the showroom of the Flamingo Hotel with Elvis, Joe and Charlie. Elvis usually sent photographers away after they took a couple of shots but this time, he let them linger around.

“My cheeks are about to burst,” you whispered to him as you kept smiling brightly, not wanting to let the camera’s catch you looking “grumpy” or “uninterested” as the media would twist it into.

Elvis laughed as he sat close to you, one hand wrapped around his glas on the table and his other arm resting around your shoulders. He leaned in to you and kissed your cheek, moving down lower to talk in your ear.

“That’s what you get for draggin’ me to your silly little disco parties,”

You nearly rolled your eyes at his teasing, but stopped yourself just in time when a camera flashed in your face. “Oh shush, you loved it,”

“I loved the afterparty more,” he hummed in your ear, flicking his tongue against your earlobe before kissing your neck, making you giggle. Caressing your nails over his thigh, he moaned softly in your ear as his hand found its way in your hair, hoping you were about to feel him up under the table when he felt your hand creeping higher and higher.

Though, before your hand was where he wanted it most in this moment, you tapped his thigh teasingly and placed your hand innocently on his knee.

“You’re gonna have to wait a few more hours then,” you grinned, removing your hand altogether to raise your glass from the table and bring it to your lips, watching Tom Jones sing his heart out while engaging with the audience.

Elvis squinted his eyes at you, grinning from ear to ear. “You little minx- you’re gon’ get it once we get back,”

You didn’t look at him but laughed, swaying to the music a little. He put his chin on your shoulder, kissing your cheek and then signed for Joe to send the photographers away. Both you and Elvis visibly relaxed a bit more and you turned your head, pressing a kiss on his temple.

“Can’t wait, babe. Maybe we should make a video, let ‘em know we’re extra in love,”

He knew you were joking, but now that you suggested it, it was all he could think about. Obviously it would be for his own personal collection only.

He knew it would take a bit of convincing, but luckily for him, he could be very persuasive.

taglist: @breadsquash @generoustreemystic @woundmetender @returntoelvis @prayerstopresley @ab4eva @marriedtopresley @steph-speaks @wonka-gifs @notstefaniepresley @ellie-24 @dollksj @webbedwebs @re3kin @wivette @eliseinmemphis @18lkpeters @rosepresley @septembersghost @ccab @angelborn-1998

[dangermousie]

How to do character studies in a scene that is ostensibly about nothing much

The weiqi game between FL, cousin and 17 is my favorite scene in these two eps because it so brilliantly illuminates all three characters (and shows why cousin would be such a bad fit for FL while 17 is a good one.)

Basically, Cousin wants to play weiqi with 17, who is apparently known as a weiqi genius. But FL is grumpy because she’s the one who wanted to play against cousin (who is not interested because she’s terrible.)

For cousin, of course he wants to play against the best; it’s insane for him to play against someone who is useless (he can’t hone his skills or learn against a bad player.) It’s sort of a parallel of him only being interested in people in this village if they are useful to him. But 17 has no interest in that. He wants whatever would make FL happy.

The thing is, this does not come across as weak or codependent or pathetic in the least. This is a man who is secure in his priorities - and for him playing a game is immaterial in the grand scheme of things, but making FL happy is important. That does not impinge on his dignity or his will or his masculinity. He just someone who cares about the wellbeing of his loved one and making her happy is way more important than some random game. He has no particular ego interest in showing off how good he is or beating some other dude or w/e, not even in a “if I show off how smart I am, she will dig me” way - because he assumes the utterly sane but so rarely practiced position that you know what would make my loved one happy? They know that better than I do so why don’t I listen to what they say will make them happy. Quite different from cousin who is very much “I know what’s best for you” type.

What sticks out here is twofold - FL’s dedicated attempts to deny she cares (her very denial confirms she does) and the teeth 17 shows to Cousin as compared to his meting look at FL. This is very much a dog thing to me - he may be loyal as hell to his owner but anyone else he can certainly bite!

Heeee, they agree on her playing cousin but 17 advising and I love the positioning with FL and 17 a team against cousin.

This is honestly so brilliant! 17 advises her but when she wants to go a different way, he doesn’t even demur, he is fine with it and easily agrees. The utter indignant shock on cousin’s face is glorious. But that’s the thing, I can’t see cousin ever acting like this even if he knew FL was his long lost XY. (Or if he did, he’d make a show of it - he’d act this way because he wanted to consciously demonstrate his caring - as opposed to 17, where it’s not showing off or demonstration, he’s genuinely not sacrificing anything because the point of this game to him is making FL happy and nothing else.) Even cousin’s question highlights that he does not understand 17 at all - 17 does not “let” FL do anything because “letting” would imply a degree of control or desire for same and 17 never feels that, he just wants to love her and make her happy and if there is any ownership thoughts it’s his wanting to be owned by her not the other way around. 

The above is your future life cousin ahahahha (he’s a great, complex character who reminds me a lot of LCY from Goodbye My Princess but I do NOT like him as a person.)

And once again she ignores his advice and he Does. Not. Care. His priorities in this game are so different from cousin’s that they might as well be playing two different games. He knows what move is better (and it’s his) but he is fine with her picking her own move or agreeing with his - what matters is that she gets her choice, whatever that choice is.

Cousin keeps trying to center it back on him and 17 just refuses.

The moves were hers but he is the one who takes the responsibility for losing and I love that so much. The whole calm acceptance of losing, the whole taking responsibility on himself tho he didn’t have to - I just love the man.

And then we get the below little coda:

This man, with his good heart and utter lack of ego is a total keeper. 

I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating. I am so impressed by the screenplay, the directing and Deng Wei’s acting because it’s so hard to make unalleviated goodness interesting but 17 is so layered and complex and fascinating and real and yet utterly good at the same time.

[ms-cartoon]

Warning: This post will contain mentions of assault or anything along the lines of it. You get the idea.

My review for HH ep 2 was supposed to be out by now, but there are some things I have to say first. My reasoning for sticking around for Hazbin Hotel is all gone except for Vox right now. I love Husk too, but they really just kinda ruined him for me in ep 4. I'm probably being dramatic but that's just how I feel. If he's supposed to be this wise bartender who's meant to make people feel better and help reach an understanding of some sort, he really just failed at that.

EP 4 of Hazbin Hotel is probably the worst one out of all the eps released so far. There are PLENTY of flaws to point out, but they can be said for some other posts I'll upload soon. What I'm mainly concerned with as of now is that "Loser Baby" song sung by HuskerDust.

So it's revealed that Husk was once an overlord and was always gambling. He betted his status and powers when playing against Alastor and lost. Now I guess he's forced to do whatever Alastor wants such as being a bartender. . . .

Sorry to get off topic here but. . . . Husk was an overlord??? I don't like how they just suddenly reveal that. It caught me off guard. I know they sorta foreshadowed it in the pilot, but they should've given most newcomers to the show a hint or something. It honestly feels like the writers just pulled that revelation out their asses just to add some positivity and similarity between Angel and Husk's relationship (because Viv and the fans just love idea of this ship oh so much)

Also, since he was previously an overlord, how come nobody's heard of him??? Everybody will get shocked when they hear or see Alastor or recognize him by his radio shows. Everybody knows the Three Vs, Camilla, etc. but not a Husk??? The Overlord with a gambling addiction?? Charlie and Vaggie will get shocked when Alastor comes in the picture but look at Husk like he's some random dude that just popped outta nowhere?

Plus, Alastor didn't force Husk to work as a bartender. In the pilot, he was easily convinced with cheap booze.

Speaking of his gambling addiction; well we all know he likes to gamble judging by his appearance. But gambling being his addiction?? Since when was that implied?

Anyway . . . . At this point, I don't get what the idea of that song is or what Husk meant by it. Maybe I am overlooking it, but its pretty hard not to believe knowing how Viv screws up her writing skills and how she went about it. According to all the Viv defenders, the song was meant to say Angel isn't alone in being stuck in a situation he feels he can't get out of and that Husk can understand where he's coming from and what he's going through. Well sorry to burst y'all's bubble, but even if that was, they just did wrong ENTIRELY. (Sidenote: If you Hazbin lovers wanna see it how u see it, then fine. But Imma stick with what I believe and there's nothing that could be said to change my mind, so don't bother trying to correct me.)

Husk makes it seem like he knows exactly what it's like being in Angel's shoes; signing a contract and being forced to do something against his will. That part seems to be the only thing they have similar. Except what happened with Husk in the past should NOT count as a similarity!

Husk: Loses a bet against Alastor, costing his soul and status as an overlord. Agrees to commit to Alastor's biddings apparently, including being a bartender for a hotel (which he wasn't really forced to do. He doesn't seem to be afraid in refusing Alastor's requests. I partially don't even believe it was apart of the deal to do what Alastor wanted)

Angel: Is a pornstar. Forced to be a pornstar and do whatever Val wants him to do. Including submitting to him and his sexual needs, getting beaten, r8ped, assaulted (sexually even), exploited, drugged, etc.

What part of Angel's problem should Husk be understanding? Alastor doesn't beat or r8pe Husk! It's never even revealed what Husk goes through with Alastor. I doubt it's anything bad on his part, since he clearly isn't afraid to talk smack to the powerful radio demon who could kill him in an instant. They just . . . had that past and now Husk is doing him a permanant favor. What Husk is doing now isn't even anything bad. He's working as a bartender for a hotel and is being paid to do it. He may not like, but it's nothing bad. What ANGEL is going through on the other hand?? The word "bad" doesn't even begin to cover it.

Husk may not know what Angel goes through (though he should connect the dots since Angel hinted at him when he revealed he gets drugged all the time) but Angel just full on agreeing with him and accepting that he's a loser for what he goes through and having to embrace his situation????

Ummm . . . . NO!

Bro! You just saw Angel about to get drugged!! He should NOT have to accept that!!

[shortpplfedup]

Only Friends Character Rankings Episode 11

The end is nigh! Everybody takes a giant leap of faith in the mother of all transition eps, and we end on several cliffhangers of how those leaps will land Will Ray finally get his threesome? Will Nick agree to be Boston's boyfriend? Will Mew move in with Top? What is the actual factual deal with Boeing? WILL CHEUM GIVE BOSTON THE APOLOGY HE DESERVES? Last week y'all were split on who you were rooting for, with Boston and Boeing tied for your hearts. Here's the runners and riders this week.

🔺1. Nick (2)

I'm not sure I'm ready to be anyone's boyfriend.

So many boys to choose from, that's my baby. I chose Nick as my fighter from jump and that was so the right decision. Baby boy is beating them off with a stick, and committing to nothing and nobody in the process. He might be in love with Boston, but he's actually thinking about what 'in love' means to him, after the mess his 'love' caused. He likes Dan, but won't lead him on. Helping Boston with Atom let him see a version of his own feelings and actions that have made him a bit contemplative it feels like, and I'm curious to see what decisions he actually makes in the finale.

🔺2. Boston (3)

But you might be my exception.

Speaking of contemplation, Boston is definitely calibrating and rethinking some of his basic assumptions about life and people. Atom is an avatar of how and why Boston probably landed on his 'I HATE DRAMA' train, while Nick is an avatar of 'oh, I might have conflated people's feelings with 'drama' when they aren't quite the same thing'. He wants to maybe try monogamy, and you know what, that's his right, and he feels safe to try it with Nick. I have a lot of thoughts about how much Boston must trust Nick to take that leap, even on a short-term/trial basis, and I love the nuance in how this has been written.

🔺3. Yo (and Plug) (10)

I should protect my heart first, shouldn't I?

MOM AND COOL STEPDAD ARE BACK TOGETHER! This has been a very tight runner, but I love it. I love that Plug was able to take a deep breath and swallow his hurt over Yo wanting to protect herself. I love that Yo was able to step outside of herself and take a leap of faith that Plug does love her. Using Yo and Plug as a thematic reinforcer has been effective for me, and I hope we get to see them one last time in the finale.

🔺4. Top (8)

I'm gonna make you love me even more.

Force has been doing a thankless job incredibly well playing Top. When I tell y'all I know Tops, big dick swinging Big Men On Campus, Roc Nation Brunch types, successful on the outside but a total mess within, looking for a saviour, convinced that this One Thing or One Person, if they could just get them, it would mean that they're winners and not the losers they have nightmares about being...and Force is playing that so well. The other thing about these types is that the hole inside they're trying to fill is always an empty space, no matter who or what they try to stuff in there. There will always be a next thing that could save them. I've legit never seen this type portrayed this well on screen, and I look forward to seeing where he lands because he could literally go either way.

🔹5. Sand (5)

Well, someone who's completely my type dumped me for someone else.

YES SAND SPEND THAT MAN'S MONEY THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN TRYING TO TELL YOU ALL ALONG! If he's going to call you a whore whenever he gets mad at you, and you're gonna accept that and forgive him every time, at least reap some goddamn benefits. On the other side of things, we see that Sand's simpness is not confined to Ray; this is just what he's like when he falls for somebody. Boeing reappearing makes that clear. That man cheated and dumped him and he still can't send him packing when he turns up again. 'We can be friends' NO YOU FUCKING CAN'T GUY, THAT MUCH IS OBVIOUS.

🔹6. Mew (6)

You asked for a chance and I gave it to you.

As I said earlier this week, there's nothing wrong with Mew that couldn't be solved by giving him a pair of stilettos and a flogger, and I stand by that. Mew is struggling so hard with the feeling that he has somehow lost, and it's making him lowkey crazy. Top abasing himself and Mew getting to punish him would go a long way to making these two work, if that's what they want. Sometimes kink is 100% the answer to a complicated relationship, and these two are COMPLICATED. So much ego and image is wrapped up in these two's expectations of each other, they are never actually vulnerable, even when performing vulnerability. But one thing kink absolutely requires is vulnerability. I'm voting for Mew to realise his dom desires before the end.

🔹7. Ray (7)

If you say so, then I won't be jealous.

Ray makes a valiant attempt at proper boyfriendism this ep, and it's actually pretty effective...right up until he's faced with the prospect that Sand's squishy centre is more about who Sand is than it is about Ray being extra special somehow. Sand's mom told him: this is how he is with people he cares about. So when somebody Sand clearly cares/cared about, Boeing, shows up, Ray gets a front row seat and he doesn't like the view. How he handles what happens next is gonna tell us whether or not Ray has learned a goddamn thing.

🔻8. Boeing (1)

I just want to be with someone tonight.

There's a definite pattern to the rankings at this point, in that a character hitting the #1 is doomed to take a nosedive in the next ep, and Boeing is no exception. His game remains unclear at this point, but he does give the sense of having had plan A fail and moving on to plan B, taking a not-unrealistic leap of faith that Sand will allow him back into his life. This show has been pretty good about writing real people not cartoon villains, so I'm pretty sure Boeing's got his own human story animating his actions, and I'm curious to find out what it is.

🔺9. Atom (10)

He didn't do anything to me.

Well he apologised and told the truth in the end, even if he had to be threatened to do it, that counts for something...

🔻10. Cheum (9)

What did he do to you this time?

...but if she doesn't apologise for the fucked up things she said to Boston I'm gonna lose it I swear.

[simslegacy5083]

NSB (Straud Legacy) Gen 9 Ep 73: New Year, Old Problems

The Story of a Family

The morning after the wedding, Luigi woke up with a splitting headache. Rising to grab some pain meds, a wave of dizziness practically overwhelmed him, leaving him struggling to stay upright and cursing his luck. He knew this awful feeling all too well.

His old nemesis the Bloaty Head virus had returned to try and ruin another New Year’s Eve.

Luigi chased a cocktail of vitamins and meds with some juice, then texted Uncle August that he couldn’t do New Year's Eve at the arts center after all.

Resigned to a night of feeling ill at home, he pulled out his pre-work for next semester and prepared to power through his discomfort when his phone dinged twice in quick succession. He opened it to find texts from Noemi and Amaya, both wishing him a Happy New Year.

He replied that they were likely to have a better New Year then he was, since old man Bloaty Head had decided to pay him a visit.

His device immediately chimed again with get well wishes. Noemi’s invitation to “come be sick with some company at my place“ made Luigi's heart swell with gratitude. It felt doubly nice next to Amaya’s shorter: “let me know when you aren’t contagious!” He couldn’t blame her, she’d just gotten over a nasty virus herself, but by contrast spending the day with Noemi instead of moping in his lonely room sounded fantastic.

Thanking her and telling her he'd be right over Luigi tucked his homework into his inventory, spun into his cold weather clothes, and slowly made his way down the stairs and over to the nearby teleport that would take him into the city.

Noemi greeted him at the door of her apartment. Ignoring the rash that had bloomed across his body she gently kissed his cheek in greeting before leading him to a desk that was setup in the spare bedroom to continue his studies while she went into the kitchen to make them some lunch.

As Luigi had learned in his youth, Bloaty Head was no joke. Despite his best efforts the illness soon overwhelmed him.

With his brain refusing to process any new information he gave up studying and went to find Noemi in the kitchen. She was just serving up big bowls of a thick and hearty stew onto a small table and waved him to a seat with a lovely view of the city below.

As they ate, he told her how his papa would always make a big pot of his special family recipe Matzo Ball soup when anyone felt under the weather. With cheerful frankness, he went on to say that nothing could ever beat that cure all, but her lovely rice-based dish was nevertheless quite tasty.

Noemi chuckled, thanking him for the compliment. She told him that her parents had split when she was young, so it was always a toss-up which of their homes in Chestnut Ridge she'd end up in on a sick day. Her dad could make a mean grilled cheese, but her mom wasn't much of a chef, preferring to spend her time with her beloved horses over "slaving away" in the kitchen. That soup sounded better then the options she’d had.

After the meal Noemi suggested they settle on the couch to watch some TV. A spirited debate about what to watch followed. Luigi thought nothing could compare to the adventures of Captain Lancaster while Noemi said that she didn't hold a candle to the suave and daring Captain Roberts.

Finally, they agreed to a "captain vs captain" face off, each picking their favorite episode with the goal of convincing the other how good it was.

Luigi insisted on watching his show first. The captain and her crew had barely had time to make landfall on the planet they'd been summoned to assist before Noemi found herself being used as a pillow, her sick companion having laid his head on her shoulder and drifted off to sleep.

Noemi briefly closed her own eyes, smiling at the comfortable weight of his body curled up against hers before turning her attention back to the TV.

There were certainly worse ways to wait for the new year to roll around than snuggling with a friend, watching her second favorite sci-fi series.

View The Full Story of My Not So Berry Challenge Here

[digitalgate02]

I'll be annoying once again, about people slandering my boy Daisuke and my favorite episode in 02.

i'll be quoting my long thread from bsky/tweeter.

The premise (of this episode) is to show how Daisuke NEEDS something to focus, or else he will be running in circles. And when he's running in circles, he's setting up to call for Hikari's attention.

As I said previously, Daisuke respects Hikari too much, so he NEVER had made a move before. He does NOT claim her to be his girlfriend or something. All he does is to want her attention and to impress her. And she does NOT feel uncomfortable around him despite everything.

"But there's times he asks her something and she just dodges by agreeing with Takeru!"

This is not about being uncomfortable with him, but mostly her simply not liking to be put on the spotlight. Hikari had serious issues to voice her own needs/thoughts when it comes to herself.

The times Daisuke asked her something, or made an attempt to be hella cool have nothing to do with her feeling awkward around *him* -- it's about *herself*. Because when you reach to Kizuna drama CD... Hikari is very vocal about what *she* wants to do. And in the same story we also get her witnessing Daisuke being so cool and himself, to the point she praises his determination and efforts to achieve his dreams.

Anyway, back to ep 22.

This episode is to be a comic relief after all the heavy atmosphere from the previous chapters. To balance with the next episode, which is about Ken and Ken ONLY and it's more a feel-good ep. Daisuke is a funny character so of course a light-hearted ep like this works.

The premise here is basically Daisuke trying so hard to be cool as well that he ends up putting himself and V-mon in legit danger. But one of my friends noticed something: he and V-mon are NOT in sync at the beginning of the ep.

If you don't know... Digimon evolution is triggered when the digimon and partner are usually in sync -- be them in danger, or be them willing to protect someone (like Sora's case in OG Adventure, or Miyako's in ep 25) So basically Daisuke couldn't evolve V-mon AT ALL.

Another factor is the fact Daisuke had no malicious intentions -- he never wanted to "beat" Takeru, his entire focus was to impress Hikari. As far I'm concerned, wanting to impress someone does not sound mean-spirited enough to make Daisuke fill himself with negativity and thus dark evolve V-mon.

Also he legitimately apologized to V-mon, asked for the others' help and was definitely not showing such an arrogant aura. Remember that Taichi was acting weirdly in Adv'99 case? He made everyone give their food to Agumon so he could evolve. He wasn't even taking in consideration Agumon's wellbeing and feelings either.

Ken Kaiser was also arrogant, forcing Agumon into experiments, and he only managed to get MetalGreymon *because* he cheated with a gimmick. Anyway, back to the ep 22.

There's also the factor that, since Daisuke got in legit real trouble by consequences of his own shenanigans, it's quite obvious he would've evolved V-mon normally there in the end. Again, he lacks malice.

Even when facing Tortomon, he had no bad intentions. And yes, he literally meant it when he asked Tortomon about washing hands before attacking. Yes, that's Daisuke. Yes, he meant it literally. This kid really has no fear of looking pathetic sometimes.

Basically, Daisuke had no second intentions the whole episode (just acting weirdly) -- the closest to something "bad" was him intentionally making V-mon mad and then tearing the bridge. BUT, SURPRISE! The next scene is him explaining to V-mon AND APOLOGIZING!! So yeah, he's not a bad person.

To sum up, Daisuke did not dark evolve V-mon in ep 22:

Because he had no malicious intentions with it

He never was rude for real, or conceited

He put himself in real danger in the process

He wasn't in-sync with V-mon for a half episode

Also, Dark Evolution and how it works is not about forcing your digimon evolve in a vacuum. There's more factors involving it -- like mixing it with STRONG NEGATIVE EMOTIONS.

Dark Evolution is:

A punishment for raising your digimon badly (it does not mean something evil always!)

It is mixed with strong NEGATIVE feelings (pride, wrath, cowardice, etc)

It does NOT mean:

Forcing your digimon to evolve only.

Mandatory for character development

[mysteriouslybluepirate]

So... Can we talk about Zheng Yi Sao please?

I absolutely adored her and she was so much fun (and love the polycule) but I am absolutely failing to see what her role in the larger narrative was.

She unites the pirates only for everyone to get blown and the pirate republic destroyed in one stroke? Because the woman who conquered China is stupid enough to trust a"gifts" British Navy minor prince whom she is blackmailing?

She is basically Stede's more competent side kick for the rest of the episode?

Another one I'm sure will be a controversial opinion! I'd love to hear what y'all think, don't be afraid to leave a comment below.

Funnily enough, my 2 remaining asks are both wanting to discuss Zheng Yi Sao (and to a lesser extent, Archie) as how both of these characters were meant to impact this story and/or failed to do so! Given that the writers looked at the limited amount of time they had and decided to write BRAND NEW characters instead of further developing the people we already liked.

I will be combining the asks, as the other person was anonymous but they spoke more to how Archie and Zheng didn't add much that was new to the story. If that anon would like me to still post their thoughts, let me know!!

First: Archie

I hate to say it, but for the most part, she feels like the response to the common criticism that S1 didn't have any leading women.

Which, yes. Is absolutely valid. This is where I feel we can sit with Archie. She's fun, and hot, and has the same Violent energy Jim had in S1. But by the time episode 8 rolls around, what is she? We know almost nothing about her, to this day. She was in a snake cult...um. She can fight, and is Jim's arm candy? Beyond that, it feels a bit hollow. Especially as Archie enters a relationship with Jim before we as the audience know Jim and Olu are in an open relationship. Yes. Jim thought Olu was dead, but I didn't really like Jim joking about Archie's tits when bringing up the fact they were dating Archie as well now.

NOW-

Onto Zheng Yi Sao! (and to a lesser extent Auntie)

Zheng had 2 rolls to fill this season, character and narriative. Her character roll was-

1.) To be an Ed mirror. She's a badass with a record, a Navy at her back, and yet we can't make her a badass without giving her the same romantic arc as Edward fucking Teach. Seriously. I was bored watching her scenes as soon as it was obvious Olu liked her. Because I could put the pieces together.

Auntie is Izzy trying to hold the legend together, Oluwande is Stede a stranger to this brand of piracy, and Zheng is Ed 1-1 from S1ep4. Congrats welcome back to Season 1, but this time faster, and with a more interesting side interrupting it every other scene.

Zheng is open to new experiences, letting herself be soft, when it comes to her new boy toy. Cool. We're repeating story beats, which I don't love... But then she gets defeated by Olu distracting her and leaving her behind mirroring Ed in ep 10. Stede and Ed's romance is condensed into 3 ish episodes. When we see her again, her arc isn't focused on her conquering the sea. Not really. It's more on how she really misses Olu. For a badass pirate we enjoy watching, I cared more about her slipping into good graces with the pirates of the Republic than her missing her 'quiet part of the day'.

The story also felt a need to parallel the mentor relationship of Zheng and Auntie, with Ed and Izzy. A thing that for the most part I don't agree with. Zheng respects and mourns Auntie in a way Ed doesn't to Izzy. Rewatch S1, does Izzy EVER change Ed's mind? Or does Ed talk down to him like he's a pesky mosquito in his ear. Ignoring him and trying to show off to Stede.

Zheng's personal arc repeats that of a character we had a lot more time with. I wish they just stuck to the cool strategy shit with her. Ironically she's a strong character because she can fight and because she cares about Olu. Which...ew. Just make her a threat, y'all. That's all you had to do.

BUT I FELL IN LOVE WITH HER IN EPISODE 7/8. OMG.

I went from being all right with her and Olu's story to seeing her as her own person. Someone who is very overwhelmed and competent. I also love her actress, so that always helps. It just sucks that she starts to have her own things going on at the very end of the story. Again, we get the Ed parallel of her throwing herself into a suicide mission after Auntie dies, but it doesn't FEEL like a direct mirror the way the romance obviously was.

She was always going to be a plot device, just like everyone else this season because-

2.) She's the reason Stede goes from being stranded on land back on the Revenge. This is the OVERALL reason she was needed here. I wish they handled this differently. I've seen some say the reason she didn't see Ricky as a threat is because the 'point' of Ricky was that you shouldn't underestimate people. But given how she treated Stede's crew like criminals awaiting trial (besides Olu), I fail to see how she would 'underestimate' the people whose claim she was trying to take over. All the characters of this season exist to push the plot forward, even if it doesn't align with how they should behave.

Given that yes. England had a STRONG foothold in the colony of a colony called 'Carolina' at this time(Florida and Georgia were held by the Spanish until the Spanish-American war), the English Navy specifically could send enough troops to push her out in around 2 months. Or hell. Maybe they'd team up with the Spanish and finally clear out the republic.

Zheng needed all the pirates in the area to match the power of their army, and at this point, she didn't have that yet. So why was she so cocky? (Oh. This show ignores history, right.)

[Fanfic concept of an alternate story for this season where Zheng isn't just another love interest that wasn't properly built up]

Personally, if I knew my budget was slashed, I'd save money by cutting unnecessary sets and using the actors I have VERY wisely. So. REWRITE TIME. In episode 1 Stede struggles to make ends meet. ACTUALLY struggling not comedic struggling. Working all hours of the day, not seeing an end in sight, the crew not wanting to go back and find Ed. Hell, some of the crew threatened to leave and get on new ships. The works. Then suddenly he is given a deal from Auntie. She knows who Stede is, and wants to bargain. He'll get a small ship, in return for his future loyalty, and potentially that of Blackbeard. Hint that this was all from the 'Pirate Queen', and BAM. No need to have the entire plot on Zheng's ship, a plot that dragged compared to that on the Traumatized Revenge, and it gives the audience something to get excited about!!

Who is this pirate queen? What will this 'loyalty' mean for the next few episodes? Etc. Maybe find Lucius early in Ep 1 at the Republic recovering, having recently been left for dead by his nearest pirate ship. This way we have another thing Stede is keeping secret from the crew and Ed, and show how Stede would react in this situation. PLUS! Epic badass Zheng slowly being hinted at taking over the Republic from episodes 6-7 before she's foiled at the end of episode 8? Yes, this gets rid of us DIRECTLY SEEING that she was betrayed by Ricky, but instead of focusing on Zheng, focus on Stede and Ricky's dynamic in ep 1. Make us see how slimy he is. Then in ep 7 show Ricky making a deal on a ship we've never seen. Think Ed in ep 3 S1, dark, smoky, and when he enters the office? ZHENG YI SAO! Badass pirate trying to expand her grasp across the ocean to fuck over the worlds militaries.

THAT is a pirate threat. Not like Jack and his story of a mutiny, or Anne and Mary of however they left the life. Or Ned whose crew was a singly conversation of Mutiny. Pirates are clever bastards who aren't to be fucked with. Zheng is new, and a different way to control the area than we're used to. Then, we the audience can see JUST how fucked over Zheng will be. Zheng goes to land and still wipes up Stede's crew thanks to legend, and maybe a betrayal after finding out about the deal. Ep 7 bar fight, leading into episode 8. Hell, maybe have her and Olu flirt. This way the audience already knows Jim's alright with it AND we get to see more wingman Jim. Which was already a DELIGHT.

My big issue with Both Zheng and Archie's romances is that their Olu and Jim didn't feel like our Olu and Jim. Oluwande S1 was nervous, clever, and good with people. Very protective of Jim, I always got the opinion that if shit ever started to look bad, he'd do everything he could for him and Jim to flee. Jim was a hard egg to crack, but sarcastic and closed off even when you got to know them. Which they RARELY did.

In S2, Jim and Olu almost feel like the same goofy characters. The twist is that they still love each other and love someone else. Which is cool, just an odd choice. Given that their reunion felt...dull. But it's obvious the writers will only develop a character if they are in a romance. (Lucius and Pete? Let's talk about trauma and recovery. Olu and Zheng? Let's discuss kindness and softness? Jim and Archie? Loyalty and compassion built by blood.) That's all they had time for, and honestly, I'd rather deepen what we know about characters like Frenchie and Wee John than see another shallow romance. Lucius and Pete worked better because, AGAIN, they were ALREADY ESTABLISHED.

Much like how the rest of this season is too fond of callbacks, Zheng's entire character can be summarized by 'diet Ed' and I hope the fandom sees her harsh, willing-to-do-anything to get the job done, attitude and expands on THAT versus a carbon copy of the main show's romance. Her roll was to get closure with Auntie in a way that Ed couldn't with Izzy. Which...yikes.

tldr: good characters, but were sadly thrown away without much development.

[jams-sims]

Putting Ara aside again because interesting shit happens around him. Not so much to him-

I'm starting to think Mahoro comment was a little deeper than I gave it credit for the first time. So-

We all agree that Matakara brother coming back is either going to be the best thing or the worst thing right? That he's either gonna be super nice or it's going to turn out he is fucking insane. An has been lying to Matakara the whole time.

Leading to Zabu who really fucking cares about Matakara trying to get between the brothers to save his friend. Only to get his ass beat and have to go running to Ara. And fucking beg him to save Matakara from having to go to Juvie like his brother or something like that.

Because maybe just like Mahoro, Matakara has this idealized version of his brother. That is not at all true. Listen- Marito cares about his sister but in a normal way. He doesn't want her all up in his business. He wants to talk and joke with his friends. She is his sister who's really fucking weird about him and I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out they have a fucked up childhood. (if not then good on Bucchigiri for just making home girl fucked up for no reason.) That he is for the most part trying to make sure she has a normal fucking life. Because if you noticed none of the guys fuck with her. She got beat up on her own accord of course. But when it comes to the 2 gangs. We saw both blue and yellow coming to pull Mahoro off of Outa who was not pressed about Mahoro yelling.

It's weird because as much as Matakara talks about wanting to be a honki person. Just like his brother- no one fucking talks about his brother. If he is as awesome as Matakara say he is.

Like it's weird that there seems to be this tension that happens when the brother is brought up. The only reason that seems to truly care is Matakara. An I could be wrong we only got 12 eps to work off of. To take a serious turn would work against the show. But their something weird happening behind the scene with some characters.

I know everyone else felt weird about the fight right? How we had a whole ass gang war but now everyone fucking buddy buddy??? An I feel like that's may be brought up like all you kids are playing at being in gangs but none of you are committed to doing so. It just the vibes are off and I may just be fucking begging honestly. This could all be nothing. Serious shit like breaking your arm is treated like a gag so *shrug.*

I wanna make a post about how everyone else perceives Ara and Matakara relationship. Because this ep was an eye opener.