#+ the premise of it goes back to I can’t BELIEVE I’m learning this IMPORTANT NEWS from TUMBLR

[mdhwrites]

I think you’ve referenced it before, but could you explain some more about the found family aspects in toh? Like personally, I never found it very believable that Luz would consider Eda family especially when she already has such a loving mother. But when I watched Amphibia recently, the relationship between Anne and the Plantars (esp Hop pop) feels so genuine. And Anne does have loving parents as well but there’s something about the writing that makes it believable despite that. It’s like with Amphibia, I can totally understand why the character would risk her life and leave her parents again to go back and help this family, but with The Owl House, I only believe it because the characters are saying it if that makes sense. Like a lot of the dialogue mentions being family so we kinda just have to go with it even if it doesn’t feel earned (?) but with Amphibia, you can see that Anne has become part of the family without the characters even saying it.

I feel like this might just be an example of the old adage, show don’t tell. Thoroughly written stories can’t just have the narrator or protagonist tell us something; they also have to show us within the narrative that something is true. For example, I think of The Hunger Games. Katniss volunteers to be in the games in the place of her sister, and the narrative supports the decision. We learn about how Katniss took on a parental role with her sister after the death of their father which left their mom riddled with grief. We see how much she cares about her in the flashbacks and present when she spends the whole time wanting to win the games because if she doesn’t no one will take care of her sister. Like I wholeheartedly believe a character like Katniss would do this, and it’s because the narrative supports this.

Basically, I’m curious about how two shows with a similar premise both set out to explore the topic of found family but only one appears successful in my head.

Do you think it’s a matter of writing choices that hinder the success or is it a bias within myself that’s making me perceive these end results differently? For context, I watched toh first and fell in love. I watched Amphibia in the last couple of months and felt pretty indifferent to it, but by the end, it earned my respect.

So I have actually done a blog about this before! And I've talked a lot in the past that TOH has a very real problem that you just have to believe what the characters are telling you versus what they're doing. Their actions so rarely match up properly with their words after all or the context of a thing is just a problem.

An element I didn't talk about back then though, that Molly McGee actually gets right like Amphibia does, is that friction to me is necessary to sell a found family. Now, I know that might sound weird but hear me out. Everyone has heard of that meme that goes "A friend bails you out of jail, a best friend is in there with you," right? Or some variation of that?

Well, for found family, you need it to be "Your found family is in there despite being against it." It's the idea that even if they disagree, so long as the disagreement is just annoying and not harmful, they're willing to work past it because, well... You're family. Most people do shit for their family they would literally never do for anyone else because they're family. Not even best friends get this level of treatment because you don't live with them nor would you commonly want to.

Amphibia shows this off CONSTANTLY in the first season and not all of it is actually for the found family angle. Part of it is to showcase how Anne needs to grow, though the Plantars also accommodating for things like her being sick is important. But how about the cook off episode? That's pretty early in their relationship still but Anne recognizes how much effort they put into trying to make the pizza her way so when she doesn't have to join them, she still does. She suffers the consequences with them because that's part of being a family.

The episode to me though that highlights them as family instead of friends is when Sprig and Anne have to share a room together. They are very different people and don't get along entirely but there's an attempt at respect but family is frustrating. It's not perfect and it's not simple and the concessions we make to them aren't either. There is a friction but also a clear connection and care for the other. And again, that's early on.

Molly McGee's big episode on this is the CHORE BOARD! Scratch just doesn't want to do chores though and that causes conflict but also once his schemes end, he does them willingly. Just him being included in that is actually really heartwarming to me though because he doesn't have to be. You don't ask a guest to do chores after all. Even with your best friend, you might tell them not to do something because they're here to hang out, not to help. Family? You can inconvenience. Not be a real problem, not be a parasite, but you can inconvenience them.

As a note, that episode also actually shows just really great family stuff because I am competitive. I don't play multiplayer games because when I lose bad, it gets to me. But I also know my dad is competitive so when it's time for family games? I manage to not take it as seriously because if I get in a bad mood from losing, or celebrate too much from winning, it will put him in a bad mood and I don't want that, just Sharon didn't want to cause her family's competitiveness to get even worse.

None of this is really present in TOH. We get stuff like Luz and King liking telling breakfast puns to each other but I mean... That's just getting along with a roommate or a housemate. That's frankly a LOT of what TOH feels like. People who live in the same place just getting along. I've lived in a place with like twelve other people who all had to share a kitchen. You bump into each other and you start conversations and treat each other friendly because, well, you have to coexist.

But you don't have to inconvenience them. We never asked each other for anything. We never just buried the hatchet on something. You had a problem with someone, it STAYED a problem. But I also had HOURS long conversations with these people about politics, about their interests, etc. like that. Did that even make them my friends? Well, two years later and I haven't talked to literally any of them since I moved out.

That's the vibe, especially for the ENTIRETY of S1 that TOH gives with how the characters treat each other. They don't hate each other and they might do something nice for one another if they feel like it but they're INVESTED in each other. The closest that comes to it is the fact that Eda helps Luz get into school and then makes Luz her cloak but like... If your roommate was freaking out about a job that could help ease the pressure of rent and get them out of your hair more because they'll be gone more and you could help them? Why wouldn't you? And Luz is leaving and the experience has been nice and Eda seems to have literally nothing better to do so why not spend a lazy afternoon making a farewell gift?

Even come like S2 with Reaching Out, Luz is in pain when Eda wraps her Grudgby jacket randomly around her (why does Eda even have that on that day frankly?). If you saw someone sobbing, let alone a roommate, would you not try to do something for them? Give them a bit of comfort and some advice?

None of it's technically bad and if they just tried to sell it as friends I would go "Yeah, I believe that." But family? Family is more. And for the fact that almost ALL of Luz's relationships are incredibly shallow and quickly give up on having any friction in them, any contrast frankly as everyone just starts trying to become S1 Luz, saying ANY of them are found family, including Vee who only gets the title because Camila effectively adopts her, NOT because of her relationship with Luz... It's almost insulting to the fact that family does mean more than just that asshole who you make jokes with.

Found family must be found. You do not find something as important as family easily. You have to work to dig and find the treasure that is there. Anne worked. Scratch worked.

Luz? Was given. And that's the exact opposite of found family as the only family you're given in this, saddled with, is your biological one. The fact that TOH doesn't understand that means it was doomed from the start.

[doctorofmagic]

My thoughts on What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?

The very title of the episode sends a shiver down my spine. And this is where we’re going to start.

~ long post under the cut ~

A year ago, I wrote this post as an attemp to dive into one of the most important traits in Doctor Strange’s personality: love. Stephen is a being made of love, made to love, no matter which interpretation you have when you watch Infinity War. If you don’t read comic books, you’ll understand the moment you meet Donna. You’ll begin to understand how her death reshaped his entire subjectivity out of fear of failing, being powerless and unable to control everything around him (especially death), thus the arrogant and yet a disaster of a man we all know.

Where do I even start? Stephen loved her sister deeply and felt responsible for her death. And then, slowly, he also lost his parents and his brother. He fell in love with Clea but he also pushed her away. He loved Zelma platonically and lied to her, which was enough for them to break their bond. He felt attracted to Kanna but screwed things up, even though they remain friends. He was forced to kill the Ancient One, the only father figure he had ever since his father died. And lastly, the only person who would never leave his side... also left. Yes, even Wong. Stephen has SO much love to give but he’s also afraid because he’s cursed. He truly believes his love in poison. And would you look at that? What If really delivered a story where this is actually true.

What If Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?

The level of understanding when it comes to the character is... inconceivable. What could possibly reshape Stephen into following a dark path but love? The very premise of the whole episode. This is so much more than a love letter. This is literally too much, in all senses.

Fine, let’s begin.

What if the best of intentions has very strange consequences?

No. You used the word “strange” for the pun but this is not the word. Nah-ah. I’d go with ATROCIOUS, for starters. Things are gonna escalate so quickly, my friends.

Seriously, tho? Christine is SO SO SO SO beautiful, they’re so cute together. I have this feeling that MCU!Stephen was quite toxic because of his arrogance and this is why they didn’t work out. But WhatIf!Stephen???????? He’s always praising her, teasing her in a healthy way, respecting her and listening to her. HE TRULY LOVES HER, I’M GONNA CRY ALL OVER AGAIN, PLEASE, NOT THE CRÈME BRÛLÉE, PLEASE

I’m going to leave this shot here because we need to go back to it later. Hold that thought.

And bonus points to “Yeah, well, I would call that quite remarkable.” / “Well, I would say the same about you.”

GODS. THE PAIN. STOP THE PAIN.

So in this reality, Stephen didn’t caused the car accident because he was checking his phone while driving. Also it was not the reckless attempt to pass the truck. Well, maybe it was the consequence of this act? The fact is, the car behind them loses control, which makes them crash. Does it matter? We’ll learn later that no, it doesn’t.

And yep... Christine dies. Have you noticed the shattered heart? Ah, the pain only gets better and better.

Again, Stephen blames himself. More than anything, this is so important because Stephen is all about guilt. We still need to meet Donna so we can add yet another layer of guilt. But the feeling exists. This is what corrupts Stephen’s heart and soul in all his iterations. This is what makes him the character I love so much. I love this SO. MUCH. In addition, his stubbornness to accept his condition. Man won’t take a no. This, this is Doctor Strange in character. Stop complaining about NWH Stephen, it’s pathetic.

Okay, “grief-stricken”, Stephen found the Mystic Arts and became a sorcerer. That’s when he learned about the Time Stone, the Eye of Agamotto and Dormammu. Nothing changes, he saves the universe. But time does not heal his deepest wound.

I love Wong so much. Every time Wong does something, the world is healed. Really. We’re going back to him as well but for now I’ll just leave this shot.

BUT STEPHEN, DOING SOMETHING RECKLESS? HE’D NEVAH

Aaaaaaaannnnnnd then he did.

He goes back in time. It’s been two years since he lost Christine. I think he reacted pretty nicely, despite the circumstances. Now let’s go back to that shot I said I was saving for later.

Stephen is so light-hearted here. Also, during the first time he lost Christine, he had no idea what “The Price is Right” was. He knows now, which means he probably tried to learn more about the show because of her, because of grief. HAHAHA MORE PAIN

AND THEN HE

AND THEN SHE DIES AGAIN

AND THEN HE KEEPS GOING BACK IN TIME

AND SHE KEEPS DYING

AND THE MUSIC

AND HIS VOICE

AND HE TRIES TO CHANGE FATE BUT IT CAN’T BE AVERTED

HE EVEN TRIES TO STAY AWAY FROM HER LIFE BUT SHE DIES ALL THE SAME, WHY

AND EVERY TIME THEY CRASH, HE FEELS THE PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL PAIN AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN, WHY

I’M-- *ugly sobbing noises*

Apparently, not.

And this scene when he simply... closes his eyes before she dies again...?

This is where this episode had me in endless tears. It got me the four times I watched it. I’m dead serious.

Okay, so, next the Ancient One appears to Stephen, explaining that Christine’s death is an Absolute Point in time. It cannot be changed. Stephen needs the accident to become the Sorcerer Supreme and defeat Dormammu.

And this is where Stephen starts his journey into darkness. “Nothing is impossible, you taught me that. I only require more power.” Disobeying the Ancient One, Stephen then travels in time, seeking the Library of Cagliostro. Now, if you’re not aware of that, Cagliostro was a sorcerer who studied time in comics, and later became Sise-Neg (there’s a recent post on this because of the new Defenders run). It’s funny to think that Sise-Neg also destroyed the world when he became a god, however he grew past his pettiness and remade reality. Stephen did not possess such power, as we’re about to see.

PS: “Stop torturing yourself, Stephen.” Naur but he should use this line like a mantra. Especially comics!Stephen.

Not gonna lie, tho. This place reminds me of the Temple of the Vishanti from T&T (of course I was going to insert T&T somewhere, it’s me).

And of course they’d go for a pun with his name haha. I don’t know how to feel about this, tho. I feel like the episode is too heavy and dark for comedy. But it is what it is.

Okay but why some books are in cages??????????? And wow, it seems Cagliostro also gathered knowledge about several fields of magic.

And then Stephen learns that, in order to break an Absolute Point, he needs to absorb more power. This is when I went “oh-oh, here we go”.

And for real, is this Shuma-Gorath? Why are they keeping his name a secret? Is this the same creature from the first episode with Captain Carter, right? RIGHT? It has to be Shuma-Gorath.

Of course he tries to be polite and ends up all hurt haha. O’Bengh warns him about love but he will not listen. “Love can break more than your heart. It can shatter your mind.”/ “Is she worth the pain?”. Please, this is Stephen. He eats pain for breakfast.

Also, also, let’s take a break. We’re finally going to get monsterf0cker tentacle-lover Stephen Strange. It will cost us everything but here we goooooooooooo (yes, I went frame by frame for your more obscure fanservice needs)

Gods, I love this sequence so much it hurts. Okay, here we go.

Shmebulock???????????

AND HE STOLE THE CAPE??????????? AND DREW THE LINE ON BUGS??????

The grasp this man is holding on me right now...

Some of you will understand. I’m with you.

And here are the grostesque ones. These are hard to take SS but I had to.

Animation, sound effects, OST? CHEF’S KISS TO ALL

And lastly... the tentacles. Yeah, if you’re new... this is a thing.

Fanservice. Fanservice everywhere. (low-key the reason I also waited to write this review, I wanted to enjoy this part so badly but I was too sad for that lmao)

Okay so. O’Bengh is suddenly OLD and DYING, until we realize that Stephen spent CENTURIES absorbing mystic beings. CENTURIES. WTF STEPHEN. He had nothing in mind but the goal to save Christine. And people wonder why he went insane???? I’m sorry, O’Bengh, but I can’t take you serious when you still call Stephen Sorcerer Armani. Oh, and also because you watched him absorb beings for centuries in silence lmao. But I guess I have to because you said that Stephen is split in two since the Ancient One cast a spell on him, splitting the timelines and making them exist in the same reality before he could travel back in time. I know, it’s complex. Anything for the plot.

And now good!Stephen has an evil!twin who wants to absorb him back in order to become whole and break the Absolute Point. Cool.

I said I wanted to talk more about Wong because I think people are not talking about him enough. Wong is so important in this episode. He’s the one who’s trying to heal Stephen after Christine. He’s Stephen’s anchor.

Also, THEY FINALLY USED A SPELL WITH THE NAME OF THE VISHANTI. HOORAAAAY

So, for the sake of our understanding, I’m addressing the characters as evil and good!Stephen. Let’s go. Evil!Stephen summons good!Stephen and gods, he still holds such a strong grasp on me... unbelievable. THE DEEPER VOICE BENEDICT USES???? PLEASE, DIDN’T WE HAVE ENOUGH?

Imagine his strength to hold so many beings inside him, fighting to control him. BRO, THIS IS TOO TOO MUCH

Fine, I’ll not post SS about the fight because I’d be here all night long but I WILL say this: NOT CLOAKIE!!!!! NAAAAAAAAAAUR

Also if you ask me if I recognize any of the spells? Maaaaybe the Flames of Faltine, the not-so-crimson Bands of Cyttorak and a little trick Magik does with her portals. That’s how far I go.

I’ll not comment on the “seducing yourself to stay in the trap”. I will not. I’ll just say that the first person Stephen thought of when “Christine” was talking about the crème brûlée was Wong. That’s it.

And finally evil!Stephen absorbs good!Stephen and releases... UNLIMITED POWER (I love when the stone goes red as if it was bleeding aaaaaaa)

I can fix him...

This scene here? Poetic cinema. (I love his wings so much)

And when Stephen says her name and the other monsters’ voices echo “Christine”, AAAAAACKKKK

AND OF COURSE CHRISTINE WOULD FREAK OUT, BRO. LOOK AT WHAT YOU’VE BECOME BECAUSE OF YOUR TWISTED LOVE. I’M NOT DOING FINE.

Oh, but it’s too late anyways because Stephen broke reality haha. This scene is interesting because Stephen is the only one who sensed and/or talked to the Watcher until now. I read an interview that the Watcher kinda showed up but it’s also about Stephen’s keen senses. Bit of both, let’s say. Still, man, 616-Watcher is not that cold. 616-Watcher would watch this and say “how about I intervene anyway?”. WhatIf!Watcher is brutal.

The way Christine looks at Stephen one last time also KILLS ME, DESTROYS ME, BREAK ME INTO A MILLION PIECES.

And this is where my soul left my body.

This is how they end the episode. This is how you leave me speechless and with teary eyes. This is how you give me a whole existential crisis.

This... this was brutal to watch. Really.

What can I say after this? I’m used to reading painful things when it comes to Stephen. Aaron’s and Cates’ runs are heartbreaking on so many levels. Hickman’s New Avengers is not easier. Coincidentally, What If? Magik Became Sorcerer Supreme and The End. And now Death of Doctor Strange. And yet, after everything I’ve been through, I’d never expect to watch something so brilliant, so tragic, so heartbreaking and unexpected in the MCU. Never. This is top tier content and this is my favorite character with SO MANY LAYERS and SO MUCH UNDERSTANDING. I can’t put into words how meaningful this whole episode is to me, or how deep it touched my heart and soul.

I’ve been struggling to find the proper words since then, I still can’t. All I can add is, I cried for the 4th time now. This is too, too much, even for Stephen stans. Even for the ones who are used to pain, regardless of which media you’re into: comic books, live actions or animated movies. This is literally more than I can take and yet I’m so, so grateful. The voice acting, gods, how did Benedict manage to create a better Stephen than the one he’s literally playing in real life???????????? HOW

This episode really took the max potential Stephen had to offer as a character, added tons and tons of layers based on his grief, depression, arrogance and need to control everything and created a tragic masterpiece. In 7 years of being a Doctor Strange fan, I've never read or watch something that could go this deep into the character. The closest I can think of is Mr. Misery and the metaphor of Stephen's depression. This is a whole new level of respect and understanding. This is more than a love letter. This is peak maestry. It’s perfect, it’s heartbreaking, it’s... gods, I can’t.

Sorry for dragging you until this far. Before I wrap up this review, I just wanted to remind you all that Stephen will appear again, he will smile again, he will be surrounded by people again. So this is not the end. It was painful but be brave. We still have a few more steps to take.

[daydreamerdrew]

An overview of Billy Batson’s relationship with Batman in the Post-Crisis canon:

Legends (1986-1987)

While they have no significant direct interactions with one another in this miniseries, it feels important to include because this is where they first met.

This series takes place a short while after Billy Batson first became Captain Marvel during which he was originally 15 years old when Shazam! The New Beginning (1987) was in continuity but then was retroactively made 10 years old when The Power of Shazam! (1994) replaced it as Post-Crisis’ definitive origin story for Captain Marvel.

The premise of Legends was a conflict based around the general public losing faith in superheroes. Billy’s role in the story was that he himself lost faith, he was tricked in #1 to believe that he had killed someone as Captain Marvel and vowed to never become him again, but then in #5 he finally transforms when he sees another child, one who had never lost faith in the superheroes, injured in the chaos of an anti-hero mob. In #6 that child and Robin (Jason Todd) lead a group of children that stand up to a mob attacking a group of heroes that includes Captain Marvel and Batman.

At the end of the series, Captain Marvel and Batman both join the newly-forming Justice League:

Legends (1986-1987) #6

Part of Bruce’s first impression of Captain Marvel would have been formed by hearing him say “It's part of our job to stand apart from humanity, to protect them from the threats only we can deal with! If you're looking for hero worship, friend, better look somewhere else!”

Justice League (1987) #1-7

Captain Marvel stays on the Justice League for a “few months” before leaving in #7 when it becomes the Justice League International, saying “I’ve really enjoyed my time with the League, but I’m still so new at this. I’ve got so much to learn about myself that I don’t think I can make the commitment an international league would require.” The member line-up while Billy was on the team was Bruce Wayne (Batman), Guy Gardner, Martian Manhunter (J'onn J'onzz), Black Canary (Dinah Lance), Blue Beetle (Ted Kord), Mr. Miracle (Scott Free), Dr. Fate (Kent Nelson), Dr. Light (Kimiyo Hoshi), and as of #4 Booster Gold.

Batman, as the then-leader of the Justice League, was bossy and demanding of all of the members, including Captain Marvel, which Billy was initially fine with and he even looked to Batman for guidance more than the other more experienced members did.

Captain Marvel had repeated issues with Guy Gardner which as the team leader Batman became involved in.

Early on Batman intervened in one of their disagreements:

Justice League (1987) #2

But the in-famous ‘one punch’ scene actually turned physical due to Batman saying that he would prefer Captain Marvel to lead the League over Guy Gardner. After that, Billy tries to get Batman to deescalate the situation, to no avail:

Justice League (1987) #5

Billy is still bothered by this interaction when Batman later gives him an order, though Blue Beetle then sticks up for him:

Justice League (1987) #5

But Billy’s monologue as he goes to follow Batman’s orders show that he did actually take Bruce’s comments to heart, even if he is bothered by the delivery:

“I hope Batman’s not mad at me. Though after the way I acted, I can’t blame him! Wait a minute! After the way I acted? What about the way he acted? I may be a fifteen-year-old kid in a superhuman body, but sometimes I think that Guy and Batman are the real kids! Yeah, but even so, I shouldn’t’ve said what I did. Batman’s right. He has got more experience. And I’m just starting out. Even if he’s wrong, I should respect him. And I do respect him! It’s just that... Just what? There’s something else eating at me, and I don’t know what it is. Or do I? Maybe it’s the simple fact that I feel like I’m in over my head with the League. Heck, I’m probably the most powerful member of the group, but sometimes I feel like a muscle-bound goof! It’s all coming back to those ‘years of experience.’ I think I need some under my belt before I’m really ready for this.

(Note that while Billy says he is 15 years old in this quote due to retcons he is actually 10 years old at this point in continuity.)

It seems that this interaction with Batman contributed to Billy deciding to leave the Justice League in #7.

The question of Captain Marvel’s secret identity was not brought up, and there weren’t issues around his age or people not knowing more about him.

For timeline reference, these comics came out in 1987 and Jason Todd would later die in A Death in the Family in 1988.

The Power of Shazam! (1995-1999) #22

The Power of Shazam! ongoing series begins about 4 years after his debut in The Power of Shazam! original graphic novel, so Billy is now about 14 years old.

Batman comes to Fawcett City in #22 and notably he now knows Captain Marvel’s secret identity as Billy Batson. He typically calls Billy by his full birth name, which is William, or Batson. Meanwhile Billy still does not know Bruce’s secret identity.

Bruce is brought to Fawcett City while following a lead on an investigation and approaches Billy while he’s eating lunch outside his school, his opening line is “William. Eating healthy now, I see. During the League days, you lived on Big Belly Burgers.”

He asks Billy some questions relevant to his investigation, then says that he’ll scout around for now and meet Billy after he gets out of school.

Bruce withholds information from Billy and, while he goes to investigate something that could be a trap, he thinks “Captain Marvel may prove handy after all, if only to watch my back.” showing that he doesn’t yet view them as equals.

Billy is nervous about working with Batman, thinking to himself in reference to a school bully, “Ryan Thomas is nothing compared to the Batman being angry with me for missing our rendezvous!”

When Billy does meet up with Batman, he sees him perform this move:

The Power of Shazam! (1995-1999) #22

Which Billy then repeats himself on the school bully:

The Power of Shazam! (1995-1999) #22

Billy think, “Batman is just so- cool. He always knows just what to say. He sure taught me to take care of-” but is is not explicit whether he learned that move from simply watching Batman or if Batman directly taught him how to do it.

In addition to there being an event in which Bruce learned Billy’s secret identity in between their time on the Justice League together and now, their relationship has changed in that Bruce and Billy can now work together on slightly more level dynamic as Bruce is no longer Billy’s team leader and Billy has more experience than he did before. But some things have not changed like how Billy admired Batman and how he was afraid of making Batman angry, and Bruce is still not taking Billy completely seriously.

Justice League of America (2006-2011) #1

In this issue Bruce, Clark, and Diana are discussing and voting on the possible new team line-up for the Justice League of America and the first hero they cover is Captain Marvel:

Justice League of America (2006-2011) #1

In the meeting Bruce is insistent on having Captain Marvel on the Justice League, while Diana has her reservations. She says that Bruce wants him on the team because he believes that Billy would be easy to control and brings up his age. (Note that this issue came out in 2006 and Billy was portrayed as 16 years old in 2003 and is likely still 16 or 17 from an in-universe perspective.)

But Clark thinks to himself that “Diana's wrong. Sure, Bruce loves control, but in this case... Bruce won't say it, but I can see the way he's staring at the photo. He wants to Captain because he's good. Not just a good fighter. Truly good. And on a dark knight, a little light always makes you feel better. Even if you won't admit it.”

It seems that sometime in the time between their last solo team-up and now, Bruce’s opinion of Billy has changed considerably. He now has a much higher opinion of Captain Marvel and believes that that “the league needs him.”

Justice (2005-2007):

I’m including Justice even though it’s not in the main Post-Crisis continuity because I find its depiction of Billy and Bruce’s relationship to be really compelling and I think it meshes well with their Post-Crisis dynamic.

While they have limited interactions within the main story of Justice, there are some real gems within the Batcomputer files that were printed as back-ups to the main story:

Justice (2005-2007) #9

In Bruce’s description of Captain Marvel in his private file on him there are multiple comparisons made between Captain Marvel and Superman, but there are also some significant ones made between Billy Batson and Bruce himself.

Bruce says, “Like Clark, like me, Billy Batson is still an orphan. But unlike Clark and myself, Billy is still a child. Perhaps that is why his story is more like a fairy tale. He did not have a home that was taken from him. He was a child on the streets, visited by a mysterious stranger, taken to a secret place, shown the primary weaknesses of man, and introduced to a wizard.”

(It is slightly unclear which version of Billy Batson’s backstory it is that Justice is using. The series draws heavily from the Silver Age of comic books and the Marvel Family was notably not being published during that period of time. I think it is more likely that it is using the Golden Age version of his backstory, though the Modern Age version could also fit in that description, as even though that Billy Batson did have a home that was taken from him, that happened months before he received his powers, whereas Golden Age Billy truly did not have a proper home prior to becoming Captain Marvel. However, it is certainly taking elements from his Modern Age origin story, as it clearly references Black Adam as a inciting incident to the Wizard giving Billy the power of Shazam which is a modern invention.)

What’s relevant here to Bruce’s relationship to Billy is that Bruce is making direct comparisons and contrasts between their origins as heroes. While they have common ground as orphans, he describes Billy’s origin story as like a fairy tale, whereas Bruce’s would much more aptly be described as a nightmare.

It’s also notable here that within the story of Justice, Bruce once makes a distinction between Billy and Robin, saying “Robin is here because he, like myself, has had a profound experience of crime and loss. What do you know about loss?” to which Billy responds with “More than you would think, Batman, I only want to help.”

In that scene Bruce is defending the involvement of Robin in the hero world while criticizing the involvement of Billy on the basis of him being a child. Bruce acknowledges elsewhere that Billy’s experience with loss is, in fact, similar to his own. Given that the Batcomputer file describes Billy’s history, and that Bruce shows no surprise at Billy’s young form in the story, it would seem that while Bruce is aware of the circumstances that led to Billy becoming Captain Marvel at that point in the story but possibly doesn’t think of them on the same level. Billy’s personal experience with crime is different. Perhaps in Bruce’s mind, Billy’s personal experience with crime isn’t as prolific as Bruce’s or Dicks’s because he wasn’t a witness to the death of his parents in the way that they were.

I also think that Bruce’s abrasive attitude towards Billy there can be attributed to his trauma and how he has dealt with it, something that would likely be a factor outside of Justice and in the main continuity.

Bruce also says, “His sister Mary has also been given powers. And there are others still in the mythos established by the magician. There is a sort of Marvel Family, as if it is the battle that forges community.”

Notably, there is also a sort of Bat-Family, where the battle in Gotham City had also forged a community.

Bruce also says, “Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if Billy had had a parent present. Would he have become the world’s mightiest mortal? Or would he have been told that he was not allowed to grow up to be a hero? I wonder if the same could be said of me.”

I would personally think that neither of them would have become heroes in the way that they did had they not lost their parents due to how that influences their motivations to be one in the first place. In Billy’s Pre-Crisis origin it is the way Billy has remained good despite what he was suffered that makes the Wizard give him powers. Bruce, of course, vowed to be Batman as a direct result of his parents’ murder.

But, in this musing, imagining that they would both still be driven to live the same lives that they do, it is interesting that Bruce would frame both their stories as “grow up to be a hero”. For Billy that is because he literally takes on an older form as a hero when he is in fact a child, whereas for Bruce that is because he became motivated to be a hero when he was a child.

Also important are some pieces from Bruce’s files on two of Billy’s villains:

Justice (2005-2007) #9

On Black Adam he says, “Like Captain Marvel, his power is an amalgamation of six different gods. But unlike him, the power corrupted the man chosen to be the Wizard’s champion. Perhaps this is why the Wizard chose a boy when he came to Batson. Children are easier to mold, quicker to learn, easier to put on a path from which they won’t deviate.”

I think that this idea, and how it is framed from the perspective of the Wizard, could be connected to Bruce’s relationship with Robin (Dick Grayson).

Bruce also says, “My life and Batson’s are so similar. Our losses are the same. Yet, there is a difference. My transformation came through years of training and discipline. His came immediately. When I think of Black Adam, I wonder, between Batson and myself, which of us might be more susceptible to corruption- the one given magical wisdom without earning it, or the one whose pride in his training and learning resents the other’s other-worldly wisdom.”

In this Bruce suggests a bit of jealousy towards Billy’s path, and well as a lack of respect towards how Billy’s power came to him in a single moment. I personally wonder if this could be how he felt back in their team-up in The Power of Shazam! (1995-1999) #22, but he then came to value Billy’s chosen-due-to-being-pure-of-heart origin by the time of Justice League of America (2006-2011) #1.

Also, while this is not in the same continuity as Bruce and Billy’s time working together in Justice League (1987), these feelings are reminiscent about how Bruce felt about powers back then.

On Dr. Sivana he says, “Thaddeus B. Sivana has fought Captain Marvel more often than any of the World’s Mightiest Mortal’s enemies. Just as the Joker, who mocks death and revels in the suffering and losses of others, is my antithesis, Sivana is the opposite of Captain Marvel. While Captain Marvel is a being of magic, Sivana knows only the secrets of science, only what the intelligence of man can discover. He has been widowed twice, and the pain of those losses led to his becoming twisted and embittered against the very humanity he once invented and created for.”

Here Bruce points out, admittedly somewhat inadvertently, that it is both the pain of Billy and Bruce’s losses that led them to work for humanity, as opposed to against it. He also has common ground with Billy in that their nemeses are both antitheses to them.

Bruce also says, “He has no physical power or strength, but he has developed a means to walk through walls by speaking a scientific formula of sorts. More magic words, even if they are clothed in science. I wonder if Sivana is even aware how affected he is by forces beyond his control.”

I think that Bruce thinking of Sivana as unknowingly being affected by forces beyond his control in the context of his magic word could suggest that he also thinks of Billy as being affected by forces beyond his control and not being fully aware of it.

In Summary

Billy Batson’s relationship with Batman was originally a team leader and team member dynamic, at times more positive than others with Billy mostly being fine with Bruce’s bossy attitude and actually looking to him for instruction. However, it soured a bit when Bruce also took part in the ribbing of Captain Marvel that Guy Gardner did. But Billy maintained his respect for Batman and ultimately decided to leave the team because he agreed with Batman that he was too inexperienced.

Years later we see them interact again with a new dynamic, where now Bruce knows Billy’s secret identity but Billy doesn’t know Bruce’s. Billy is still respectful (and fearful) of Batman and Bruce has more but not complete respect for Billy and doesn’t want to work that closely together in their team-up.

And some years after that later, Bruce’s feelings were changed to having an immense amount of respect and admiration for Billy and wants to be on the Justice League with him.

It seems that Bruce and Billy’s relationship would be complicated their different experiences and personalities, in particular Bruce’s more abrasive personality. While Billy is consistently depicted as admiring Batman, Bruce can sometimes be dismissive of Billy or not respecting the different path that Billy took to become a hero. Bruce can also have a lot of respect for who Billy is as a person, but it takes time.

[alyblacklist]

Hey, I know you are not feeling the most friendly toward Red and TBL in general right now but I can't help but wonder of Red was right. I mean Liz was killed by Van Dyke (was that his name) who worked for Townsend. Townsend wanted Liz dead because of whatever Ivan Stepanov told him. I assume that was Red's big secret. If so, wasn't Red right about not telling Liz the secret. I mean she has a history of trusting people even though she doesn't know them well. Example: she trusted Jennifer after they had just met. Jennifer could have been working for an enemy yet Liz trusted her because of a biological connection (which she had no proof of). Also, blonde Kat, need I say more. She has proved that she has no sense of loyalty whatsoever betraying Red and the task force multiple times:

1.21/ 1.22 (Though, she had just found out that Red killed her father. I think that can be excused)

Season 3- she faked her death- did she not consider what she would be doing to Red, Ressler, Cooper, Aram, Samar and Dembe or did she just not care ? using gifs to make my point

Season 6- She turned Red in, nearly getting him killed and putting the TF, including herself, in danger. What if the government had decided to disavow all of them??

Season 8- She goes on the run, betraying the people who've stood by her for years and dedicates herself to killing the man who's protected her since she was a kid and has literally traded his life for hers. All of this for a woman who claims to be her mother. She values this alleged biological connection so much she ignores all the horrible things she knows blonde Kat has don.

Liz says she values honesty above all else and hates Red for not telling her things, but she constantly lies to, uses and manipulates the people she calls her family.

Opinions?

Thanks!

im posting this on my blog too.

I've gone back and forth on whether I should even answer this ask because I'm like a week late due to life events intervening but maybe I do need to say it:

I categorically and emphatically disagree with the idea that Red was EVER right in not telling Liz his secret because Liz was somehow untrustworthy. Liz resorted to trusting virtual strangers such as Jennifer and the fake Katarina only after Red repeatedly and mercilessly withheld basic information about HER OWN LIFE from her for years, all the while killing her adoptive father, admitting he "hired" her husband, killing Mr. Kaplan, killing her "mother" as far as she knew until the very end, keeping Kirk and Tom and anyone else who ever tried to get her the truth from telling her to the point that Tom died, all the while telling her it was either none of her business but done for her "protection"....I mean, come ON. She was not a child! She was a 35+ mom of a child who deserved to know why she was in all of this nebulous, supposed "danger" her whole life. She deserved to be invested in Red's plans especially when he expected her to take over his empire. What - she was supposed to do that blind to its purpose? To figure it out from that stupid letter?

Red held all the cards from day one. He allowed Dembe, and Dom and Ivan Stepanov - the important MEN in his life to know his secret and yet he couldn't bring himself to ever tell Liz. This is probably my biggest issue with the show right now. It was like everyone BUT Liz got to know "THE TRUTH." Even in the end - even after his SWORN ENEMY Townsend learned "THE TRUTH" he had to condition LIZ learning it on that stupid letter and his requirement that she KILL HIM? Who does that? Why is that in any way acceptable? We don't know. The only reasons we (the audience) were even given were a whole bunch of none of your business and I'm not sure why I can't tell her. Nothing - NOTHING - that Liz ever did supports how Red treated her in the end. Nothing except Red's colossal ego.

If the bones were really her biological father's as we have been told, she had a right to know that and why.

If Red is her biological mother as they hinted, it's even worse. And no, I still don't accept that as canon but I can't deny that's where they've left us with the teasing. Because then there is no larger motive or purpose to protect her mother or innocent third parties. Then, it is exactly as presented in 8.21/8.22 - all of this only to keep her mother (Red) hidden and Liz "safe" (an abject failure in the end). What a whole lot of death and destruction to protect a woman who wanted nothing more than to know WHY she needed to be protected. Who desperately wanted agency over her own life and deserved to have it. Who was an ADULT with a child of her own.

Even if Red is NOT her mother and is still an unrelated third man (as I hope) it's not much better. Maybe then he's at least conflicted between protecting Katarina/others while keeping Liz in the loop but this again begs the question - why enter/re-enter her life at all? Why keep her in the dark on these nebulous threats when the biggest threat ever seemed to be chasing after the mother she wasn't even aware of until AFTER Red entered her life? She was FOUR when her mother died. She was never, ever in danger unless and until the world learned she was leverage to get to Katarina, which they never would have learned had Red not done what he did for his own selfish reasons.

From where I sit, there was never, ever a good reason not to tell her why she was in danger and what her connection was to Red and to let her be a full invested player in her own future, and Agnes's future. I think Liz could have been trusted if Red would have trusted her. Yes, I get we wouldn't have a show if they had chosen to fill her in. It's the premise. But to see any part of audience defend Liz remaining in the dark after eight seasons because they just love Red/Spader so much that he can do no wrong, nope, I'm not ok with that. As things stand now, there was never a reason for Liz not to know "THE TRUTH" beyond Red's ego. And I guess that is why I cannot look forward to S9 because if he gets to prance around and pretend like nothing happened and it wasn't all his fault, and everyone happily claps while he does his thing, I will still be seething and raging. Liz deserved better. We - the audience - deserved better than for Raymond Reddington to be the "strong female character" of the Blacklist (I can't believe I actually have to type that). What a mess.

[allthefilmsiveseenforfree]

Dear Evan Hansen

You may have seen some ~online discourse~ about the film Dear Evan Hansen, an adaptation of the 2016 Broadway musical, and you might have wondered what all the hubbub is about. I mean, it’s a feel good story about a senior in high school, Evan Hansen (Ben Platt), who has some pretty severe anxiety and depression. While trying to fulfill an assignment from his therapist to write a letter to himself, his letter gets picked up by another student, Connor (Colton Ryan) - and later that day, Connor kills himself. Connor’s grieving parents and sister Zoe (Amy Adams, Danny Pino, and Kaitlyn Dever) are desperate to learn more from the boy they think was Connor’s best friend - after all, Connor’s suicide note was a letter addressed to “Dear Evan Hansen.” And, as you can imagine, Evan tells them about the unfortunate mistake and sits with them in their grief as they struggle to pick up the pieces of their lives. 

Just kidding! He lies to them, repeatedly, elaborately, expansively for months, constructing an entire false friendship with Connor that never happened, and ingratiating himself into the wealthy nuclear family he never had, in large part because he wants to get into Zoe’s pants! THIS IS THE PROTAGONIST OF THE STORY. Oh, and it’s a musical so there is a lot of singing and crying and singing WHILE crying and sometimes crying and not singing at all. But the #inspiration, you guys. 

Things I liked:

Pretty much everything but the story and Ben Platt’s performance. The supporting cast is stacked, and all of them do a great job at elevating material scraped directly out of a diaper worn by someone who just chewed their way through a copy of the DSM-5. 

A couple of the songs are damn catchy - “Waving Through a Window” and “You Will Be Found” are standouts for a reason - and here’s the thing, Platt sings them well. But as you’ll discover, there’s a lot more to a movie musical than just singing your part. 

Stephen Chbosky, the man behind every deep thought I and a lot of people in my generation had in 2006 after he wrote The Perks of Being a Wallflower, is a pretty good director. I particularly enjoyed the fanvid-type cuts in “Waving Through a Window” in conjunction with the lyrics, and his use of interstitial shots to flashbacks (and sometimes flashforwards!) is a neat little bit of shorthand that I thought was used sparingly enough to be effective. 

Amy Fucking Adams. She’s holding on so hard, so desperately to the idea of who her son could have been, rather than the reality of who he was, and she is full of such deep pain that is masked by an almost endless supply of patience with Evan and relentless positivity. All this made me want was Enchanted 2 even worse than I already did. 

Super into everything Zoe wears - the costuming department did a great job, and now all I want to do is live in mom jeans and baggy sweaters.

Did I Cry? I teared up a couple of times because I’m not a completely heartless bastard and when Amy Adams offered Evan Connor’s college money, my heart broke for the lie Evan had thrust upon her, and Julianne Moore’s song got me good, because she’s just a single mom to Evan who is doing her goddamn best. 

Things I hated more than the time I dropped a frozen gallon container of fruit cocktail on my pinkie toe in my parents’ garage and it turned black and I thought it was gonna fall off:

Ben Platt is 28 years old. He originated the role of Evan Hansen on Broadway, so in many respects it makes sense that he plays the role in the movie, except for the one kinda sorta important thing where he looks like a wizened old crone standing amongst a sea of children doing his best twitching, cringing Hunchback of Notre Dame impression. If you want someone to convincingly play 20 years their junior, hire Paul Rudd. Otherwise, please don’t ask me to believe that this supposed 18-year-old has crow’s feet. 

And that twitching nervous energy is a huge part of the black hole at the center of this film - he’s playing to the cheap seats and walking through the halls of his high school like a wet chihuahua. It’s an excruciating acting choice to watch - he doesn’t just have anxiety, he is on the verge of a nervous breakdown seemingly every second of every day. Like honestly, where is only-mentioned-never-seen Dr. Sherman, because this young man’s meds are NOT WORKING DR. SHERMAN. 

There’s such a lack of self-awareness on behalf of the writing, directing, and performance by Platt. There’s one song, “Sincerely, Me,” that offers the only glimpse of commentary about what Evan is doing, by pointing out the malicious ridiculousness of him writing a series of fake emails as proof of his and Connor’s friendship. 

Also what high schoolers email this much?? I know this was written in probably 2014 or so, but has a bitch never heard of a text? Even a DM? This whole plot is constructed around the premise that high schoolers are just constantly, constantly emailing each other. 

Everything - and I mean EV-ER-Y-THING - about Evan’s relationship with Zoe is so creepy and disturbing that with a soundtrack change, this could easily be a horror movie. He attempts to get her to like him by describing to her all the things her brother noticed about her - oh wait, I’m sorry, all the things HE noticed about her while he was skulking in the shadows following her around for years, watching every move she made, and it ends with him singing repeatedly “I LOVE YOU” because following a girl around and never having a conversation with her or knowing her at all is love, right? This was clearly written by the same people who chose “Every Breath You Take” as their wedding song because Sting is hot and they never actually listened to the damn words. 

And it gets about 10 billion times worse when Zoe goes to Evan’s house alone, takes him up to his room, and sings “I don’t need reasons to want you” and that was the moment I was that person I hate in a movie theater and I pulled out my phone to Google who wrote the music and lyrics to the musical (we were in the back row of the theater no one was behind me THIS WAS AN OUTRAGE EMERGENCY) and of motherfucking course it was written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, 2 men who heard about meeting an actual human woman from a friend one time but otherwise are unfamiliar with the concept. 

Lastly, enormous serial killer vibes from Evan sending unlabeled flash drives anonymously through the mail with no note in an attempt to right his wrongs. That’s not catharsis, that’s how the next installment in the Saw franchise starts, with Evan in a Billy the clown doll mask showing up on the screen and asking if you want to play a fucking game. 

Also, I know it’s not possible for the narrative to justify this in a way that could be satisfying based on Evan’s actions, but what is with this thing where single working-class mom Julianne Moore is turning down rich people’s money for Evan to go to college? Like, obviously we can’t have that happen in the movie but in real life, fuck your pride! Take those rich people’s money!

I also know how movies work but nothing annoys me more than a giant group of high schoolers all getting beeps and boops to indicate text notifications all at the same time because I don’t know a single person under the age of 55 who keeps their ringer on. That shit is on vibrate AT MOST, and I feel like that’s a millennial thing. 

The emotional climax of the film is obviously Evan’s WAY TOO LATE confession, but the idea that it’s prompted by Connor’s family suddenly getting a lot of internet hate is, frankly, laughable. If Sandy Hook taught me one thing, it is that no tragedy is immune from trolls who live only to cause other people devastating emotional pain on the internet. That shit starts day 1. Apparently no one involved in this production has ever been on Twitter?

Also it feels like there should have been a dog somewhere in this movie and there was no dog, so points off for that too. 

Perhaps Dear Evan Hansen isn’t nearly as deep as it aspires to be. Perhaps it’s a morality play, a simplistic message of “Don’t lie, kids, lying is bad!” Major studio movies wrap themselves up with a nice bow at the end so everyone can feel good about themselves and leave with a happy ending, but the moronic cruelty on display here makes that feat feel impossible. We’re left with Evan in an orchard, reading Connor’s favorite books and staring into the big blue sky with all the self-actualization he’s earned now as a lil treat. And if Evan Hansen looked like an actual 18-year-old, it would be a lot easier to extend more empathy to him and his not-fully-developed prefrontal cortex, but it’s a little harder with this fully-grown, weathered man who was old enough to remember seeing Liar Liar in theaters. 

Dear Evan Hansen, 

Get some actual help and a haircut and maybe you can grow up enough to have an actual healthy interaction with any other living person, ever.

Sincerely, 

Me

If you liked this review, please consider reblogging or subscribing to my Patreon! For as low as $1, you can access bonus content and movie reviews, or even request that I review any movie of your choice.

[cardentist]

I haven’t been in the star trek fandom for very long (I’ve only just started binging the series in the last couple months), so it’s been pretty surprising to find out just how negative the perception of the reboot movies are.

this isn’t coming from the perspective of someone who grew up with the series, so it hit different for me than it might for people with a different relationship to TOS, but I thought it was genuinely clever and Respectful with how it was handled.

To quote leonard nimoy: “Well the alternative timeline gives them license to escape from canon concerns. I can’t see people saying ‘they shouldn’t do that because…’ or ‘that doesn’t tie in to such and such’ because it is a different time and place. Am I right about that?” [Link]

the entire Premise is that the original series happened as it was presented in TOS, but an event late in Spock’s life caused the creation of a parallel universe in which everyone’s lives were significantly altered through two key changes to the timeline. this gives them the freedom to Both revel in fanservice And explore different facets of the characters and their relationships. 

the destruction of vulcan Vastly impacts the characters and the plot moving forward, and its a detail that a lot of people take issue with. but the emotional impact of sarek admitting Directly to spock that there is value in his humanity, that his feelings Aren’t wrong, that sarek married amanda because he Loved her cannot be understated. you can read all of these things into sarek as he was in the original series, but he Never had an open conversation about these things with spock. this creates a Believable and Rewarding change in their relationship, where we get to see a different facet of them Because of the changes made. and that’s exactly the appeal. showing us pieces of these characters that we never got in TOS that are nevertheless undeniably Them.

everyone is Different yes, but they’re also fundamentally the same people at their core and that matters.

kirk’s personality obviously takes the biggest change, with him experiencing trauma at a young age, losing his father, and having an implied abusive father figure after that point. he has a harsher personality in reaction to harsher conditions, he’s spikier and harder to love. but he’s also still fundamentally a Good person whose willing to risk everything to help people. he still has what made kirk prime a good captain and a good friend.

I’m not gonna say that it’s the most nuanced story in the world, but it explores a version of kirk that was born from even Less fortunate circumstances than kirk prime, exploring a kirk brimming with potential who learned to bite back after he was kicked down. exploring those themes of trauma and loss, of insecurity and growth, and coming to the conclusion that Fundamentally He Is Capable Of Good isn’t a Bad thing. you don’t have to like it, but his growth into a better person is The Point. they deepened his flaws (all of which were present in a less exaggerated form in TOS) To Show That Growth.

and then of course there’s his relationship with spock.

people are totally justified in not liking that they had a rough start to their relationship, I usually don’t like to see that kind of thing in reboots or hollywood adaptations either, but the way people talk about it is just unfair.

Yes kirk and spock and bones have a very strong relationship in TOS, they also already know each other by the time the show starts. to look at them having to learn to get to know and trust each other when they first meet and say that it’s Bad because they were already full on ride or die for each other in the og series is silly. TOS kirk and spock had to meet and fall in love with each other too, it didn’t just happen over night kings.

secondly, the entire point of the first movie is that Even With reality itself being altered to pull them apart they are fundamentally compatible people that are Bound to each other. they meet each other on bad terms because of circumstances outside of their control, and yet they’re still pulled into each other’s orbit and find the other slotting into place next to them as if they always belonged. one of the first things that spock prime says in the movie is “I am and always will be your friend,” spock and jim are Meant for each other and the movie goes out of its way to explain that. which is what makes it so Weird to see people complaining about how they don’t like each other.

it’s a Different relationship, but it’s absolutely no less steeped in yearning or queer subtext. 

speaking of queer subtext ! some people are Very unhappy with spock’s relationship with uhura.

first thing I wanna say is that making the argument that they’re doing anything that the original series hasn’t done is just, completely untrue. kirk has fallen in love with more girls in the og series than he knew what to do with, leonard nimoy was a heartthrob in his time (and he deserves it, awooga) and spock reflects that ! Spock usually turns the women who come onto him down (or when he doesn’t it’s because a plant has literally altered his mind), but there are exceptions to even that. all of three of the main boys have plenty of romance subplots, it happens. if that takes the possibility of them being queer off the table for you (which it shouldn’t, m-spec people exist) then I’m sorry to say that TOS is not exempt.

now, I can understand why Specifically This Relationship could rub people the wrong way or being disappointed that they didn’t outright depict kirk and spock as having a relationship (if not in the first movie then in the following ones after they’ve gotten to know each other), but even in that context the way I’ve seen people talk about it comes off as insensitive.

no, the relationship did not come out of nowhere. they considered having spock and uhura date each other in the original show (and you can see signs of this in the earlier episodes, where uhura very obviously flirts with him and they spend time together in their down time) before they decided against it, and spock was originally going to kiss uhura until shatner insisted that he wanted to do it (because it was the first interracial kiss on tv). [Link 1, Link 2, Link 3]

nichelle nichols was asked about this exact thing (spock and uhura’s relationship in the movie), you can read the interview in full here [Link] but I’d like to highlight this paragraph in particular:

“Now, go back to my participation in Star Trek as Uhura and Leonard (Nimoy) as Spock. There was always a connection between Uhura and Spock. It was the early 60’s, so you couldn’t do what you can do now, but if you will remember, Uhura related to Spock. When she saw the captain lost in space out there in her mirror, it was Spock who consoled her when she went screaming out of her room. When Spock needed an expert to help save the ship, you remember that Uhura put something together and related back to him the famous words, “I don’t know if I can do this. I’m afraid.” And Uhura was the only one who could do a spoof on Spock. Remember the song (in “Charlie X”)? Those were the hints, as far as I’m concerned.”

the film makers looked at the fact there were Hints for uhura and spock, that they were Interested in exploring an interracial couple for the first time (both before and immediately after interracial couples won the right to legally get married) but Couldn’t because of the circumstances of the times and decided to Make that depiction. you don’t have to Like their relationship just because of that fact, but it’s Incredibly reductive to play down it’s significance as just a No Homo cop out. explicitly queer relationships are not the only progressive or culturally important relationships in fiction.

moreover, if you can’t imagine polyamory in the communist utopian future that’s on you.

moreover, this perception that this was a soulless cash grab is just, unfounded.

leonard nimoy returned to the role as spock for the first time in 16 years (since 1991) and this was Entirely because of the respect they had for nimoy, spock as a character, and the franchise as a whole. 

Lets look at some quotes from nimoy in interviews regarding the film:

Leonard Nimoy: When I first read the script (...) I immediately contacted J.J. and said “I think it is terrific…I think you guys have done a wonderful job. There is still work to be done, but it is very clear that you and your writers know what you are doing and you know how to do this movie and know what it should be about….and I am very interested.” Then as time went by we worked things out with Paramount, but the most important things were J.J. and the script. (...) I am very pleased about that and I am very comfortable with where this is going. I think the writers have done a terrific job. They have a real sense of the characters and the heart of Star Trek and what it is really all about.

(...)

TrekMovie.com: Now in the case of the new movie you have been retired from acting for years. What was it about this one that made you want to act again and go through the make up again? What was it that made you say ‘I really want to do this?’

Leonard Nimoy: You are right, this is a special situation. First it is Star Trek and so I have to pay attention. I owe that to Star Trek. Second place is that it is J.J. Abrams who I think very highly of, he is a very talented guy. Then came the script and it was very clear that I could make a contribution here. The Spock character that I am playing, the original Spock character, is essential and important to the script. So on the basis of those three elements it was easy to make the decision. So those three things: Star Trek, J.J. Abrams, and an interesting Spock role.

[Link]

Praising the cast playing younger versions of characters from the original 1960s TV series, he [Leonard Nimoy] said: “Let me take the opportunity to say this. Everybody at this table [the cast] are very, very talented and intelligent people.”

“They found their own way to bring that talent and intelligence to this movie, and I think it shows. (...)  When Karl Urban introduced himself as Leonard McCoy and shook hands with Chris Pine, I burst into tears. That performance of his is so moving, so touching and so powerful as Doctor McCoy, that I think D. Kelley would be smiling, and maybe in tears as well.”

“The makers of this film reawakened the passion in me that I had when we made the original film and series. I was put back in touch with what I cared about and liked about Star Trek, and why I enjoyed being involved with Star Trek. So, it was an easy way to come on home.”

“[In this Star Trek] they said things and showed me things, and demonstrated the sensibility that I felt very comfortable with, and I think that shows in the movie. I like it.”

[Link 1, Link 2]

again, you don’t have to like it just because leonard nimoy did, you don’t have to Agree. but the idea that nobody working on the film Cared is provably false. near everyone working on the project was already a fan of the series or were excited to be involved and did their homework. it’s genuinely a Miracle just how much of a labor of love this was, and in my opinion you can feel that through the movie itself. I’d highly recommend looking into interviews and behind the scenes details about the movies. they had a respect not just for the source material, but for leonard nimoy as a person.

there’s definitely more I Could say about this, but it’s 4 am now so I’m gonna shelve it jklfdsa

that said! it’s Fine to not like the movie, not everything is going to be suited to everyone’s taste, but the specific criticisms I’ve seen feel very off base

[the-ferocious-kittyrose]

My complicated opinion on Keith Kogane

Keith Kogane is definitely one of the more popular characters in the VLD fandom. People love brooding emo bad boys.

My feelings on Keith are... complicated. I definitely don’t hate him. I have a lot of problems with the character but I don’t think I could ever bring myself to actually hate him. Mainly because I kinda relate to him. We both have problems controlling our emotions, interacting with people, and making friends.

And we both have trouble believing there are people who truly have our best interests at heart and won’t abandon us because we’re a burden.

What I do hate is the way his character was written and the way it negatively impacted the characters around him.

There are definitely a lot of factors that contributed to VLD ending up the way it did. But to me, Keith and the writers insistence on pushing him to the forefront was the poison that killed the show.

Ok, before we get into this whole rant I feel like I should talk about the things I do like about Keith.

I like the premise of Keith’s character. He’s half Galra and never really fit in on Earth. He didn’t act like the other “normal” kids so kids made fun of him and adults didn’t want to deal with him. So in order to protect himself from the pain of rejection he would put up a tough angry facade and push people away and reject them before they could reject him.

This is something that really resonates with me personally having grown up neurodivergent. It’s awful growing up in a world that isn’t made for people like you and not knowing how to interact with or connect with your peers. Especially when you don’t know why you’re like that.

You learn to avoid social interaction because it always ends up negative. You put up walls because you don’t feel like anybody understands you or what you’re going through.

I know the writers probably didn’t intend to code Keith as neurodivergent. They just wanted Keith to be a hothead with abandonment issues, but nonetheless, this interpretation means a lot to me.

I also really like his relationship with Shiro. Keith is so used to being left behind and abandoned that when he meets someone like Shiro who’s patient and genuinely cares it’s new and strange. He’s so ready for Shiro to abandon him, even telling Shiro to send him back to the home, but Shiro refuses to leave him and tells Keith ethat he’s never going to give up on him.

It’s also interesting to see how their relationship develops over time. It’s clear Keith trusts Shiro, but you can tell that that fear of abandonment is still there deep down. In S2, Keith tells Shiro that he’s like a brother to him, and then in season 6, he takes the extra step and tells Shiro that he IS his brother and that he loves him. And for someone like Keith, telling their friend they love them is a big scary thing.

And also it’s just great to see a platonic “I love you,” especially between two guys. Don’t be afraid to tell your bros you love them!!!

Now let’s talk about the stuff I didn’t like.

Keith doesn’t have much going for him in terms of personality. He’s just sorta brooding and serious all the time. He does make jokes occasionally but it’s rare. The writers were more focused on making him cool and badass rather than fun.

I always loved the idea of Keith as a cocky carefree asshole who doesn’t give a shit about rules/laws and is kinda rude/aggressive but has a heart of gold deep down and would do anything for the people he cares about. (Just like a cat.)

I would also make him more alien esc. In terms of design I like the idea of Keith having red eyes with narrow pupils and fangs. And also just small things like the way he walks and holds himself. He growls and bears his teeth when he’s angry, his hair puffs up when scared, he’s fast and agile, disappearing and reappearing without making much noise, small things.

Then you have his race and sexuality. I have no doubt in my mind that Keith was intended to be a straight white dude. A lot of people see him as gay and Asian but there’s no evidence for this in canon. Acxa was originally intended to be his love interest and his race was never mentioned in canon. His name isn’t even Kogane in canon. (And the race of the voice actor doesn’t equal the race of the character. If that was the case Shiro, Hunk, and Lance would be white.)

They should’ve totally made Keith Japanese like he was in the original. It would’ve been so easy! Just canonize Kogane as his last name and have the book say he’s half Japanese half Galra. They could’ve also done what they did with Shiro and keep his og GoLion name. Just have him be Akira Kogane. Definitely cooler than “Keith.”

And as for his sexuality, I definitely think they should’ve had Keith be gay. But well get to that Later...

I also don’t like how they handled the whole Krolia thing. Not only was it crazy rushed, but it completely goes against the shows theme of found family.

Keith’s arc should’ve been about overcoming his abandonment issues and learning to accept the paladins as family. But instead they just get rid of the abandonment issues by just giving him his mom back.

I know a lot of people love Krolia but I don’t feel like she should’ve been introduced in anything other than flashbacks. Because Keith’s mom isn’t really that important. The show is about found family and friendship, not blood relation.

You can definitely have Keith learn about his mom and his family, but I feel like giving him his mom back was too much.

Personally, I always headcanoned that Kolivan was Keith’s grandfather or just a close friend of Krolia’s, and when Keith showed up at the Blade’s base Kolivan recognized the blade as his Krolia’s. Keith could learn about his mom through Kolivan telling him about her, how she was a great person and warrior who died fighting to make the universe a safer place for her son.

Another thing I didn’t like was the whole Keith leaving the team for the Blades thing. I know why he did it, he felt like the team was gonna reject him, he wanted to be more useful, and wanted to learn about his family, but I feel like you could’ve touched on all that without having him abandon his team.

One of the biggest problems with the show is that they did a bad job at establishing the paladins as friends, they feel like coworkers more than anything, and I feel like Keith being absent for two seasons contributed to that.

And his absence is hardly addressed. The team forms Voltron perfectly without him and no one ever says they miss him. Keith doesn’t even seem like he missed them after being gone for two years.

And a lot of the weight was taken out of that Keith v Kuron fight by the fact that Keith and Kuron hardly interacted.

That whole thing amounted to four things, Keith meeting Krolia (which I don’t think should’ve happened), them finding the colony (which was a dumb plot I don’t think should’ve happened), Keith aging up two years (which was weird and unnecessary), and Keith meeting Kosmo (which is... complicated).

I don’t think this plot was necessary. Keith should’ve stayed with his team.

Then you have his relationship with Lance. I know people are very sensitive about this topic. People have very strong opinions about whether or not Keith and Lance were intended to be romantically coded.

Personally, I do like Klance but I don’t believe they were romantically coded. I think if you want them to get together some things would have to go differently.

For example, the bonding moment. In canon, Lance tells Keith, “we make a good team.” I don’t see this as referring to him and Keith. I think he was talking about the whole team. If you want it to be about the two of them, I feel like it should be Lance telling Keith something like, “ya know, you’re not so bad after all,” and then Keith smiles and responds, “you’re not so bad yourself.”

Another example could be the scene where Lance comes to Keith with his insecurities. (Whether it’s as a leader or a friend.) This scene was weird in canon, Lance comes to Keith for advice and Keith basically tells him to just stop thinking about it.

I would prefer if Lance brought up to Keith how he doesn’t feel like he’s good enough or that he doesn’t have, “a thing,” and Keith is completely dumbfounded like, “what are you even talking about?” He goes on about all the good shit about Lance. Talks about how Blue chose him, how he’s a great shot, how he’s good at dealing with people, meanwhile Lance is standing there in shock as Keith says all these nice things about him.

Over all you would just have to develop their relationship more. More meaningful interactions. And if you want the relationship to be romantic you would have to establish that early on. Establish that one or both has romantic feelings for the other in like S1/S2 because if you wait too long it’s gonna feel forced/out of no where.

And then... you have the Black Paladin arc... I’m gonna be real with y’all, this is the arc that killed the show for me, for a few reasons.

One, even ignoring the whole quintessence bond thing, it makes no sense for Keith to be the bp. He doesn’t fit the role. I adore Shiro but choosing Keith as his successor was a dumb move. I get that he saw potential in Keith but they’re are fighting a war, there’s no room for favoritism.

Shiro should’ve chosen Allura as his successor. Not only does she have actual leadership experience, but you would only have one paladin in a new Lion instead of three.

If a lifeguard breaks his leg and can’t work, he should choose an experienced swimmers to take his place, not his little bro that’s still in water wings in the hopes that it’ll teach him to swim.

Two, Keith being the bp doesn’t help his arc. Keith’s arc is about overcoming his abandonment issues and learning to be a team player, he doesn’t need to be the leader for that.

VLD should’ve been about the paladins growing into the best versions of themselves they could be. Their development shown by unlocking new abilities in their respective lions, new forms for their bayards, and new Voltron bayard power ups. They shouldn’t have to change lions and themselves.

Keith and Red have a strong bond and work great together. Keith and Red are both temperamental, unpredictable, and have issues with trust. Keith having to fight to get Red to trust and open up to him mirrors how others have to fight to earn Keith’s trust and get him to let down his walls.

It would’ve been interesting to see them grow together. Keith has no emotional connection with Black.

We never even get to see them bond. Keith just suddenly becomes the “perfect” bp/leader because he got over his mommy issues

Three, it’s a MASSIVE disservice to Shiro’s character. Shiro put all the work in earning his position as the bp, he literally fits fought Zarkon on the astral plane to earn her trust, yet Keith is the true bp? What?

It sucks. Sendak told Shiro that a monster like him could never be a paladin and the writers went and proved him right. Hell Shiro didn’t even get to kill Sendak, Keith got that too.

And don’t tell me, “but he got the Atlas!” REALLY!? A massive Deus ex machina that required absolutely no effort from him to acquire!? Filled with a bunch of rando background characters no one gives a shit about!? You’re totally right, that 100% makes up for it.

I could go on and on about how the treatment of Shiro in this show (and fandom) is blatantly ableist but that’s a rant for another time.

It sucks. I want to like Keith! He had the potential to be an amazing character but the writers just kept on trying to turn him into something he wasn’t and it ruined him for me.

They kept trying to turn Keith into the main character and ignored that ALL the paladins are the main characters. It’s an ensemble cast! You don’t have to have everything come back to one guy.

[velkynkarma]

Big List of FMA Parental Roy Mustang Fic Recs

Recently a family member of mine has been enjoying Fullmetal Alchemist for the first time. I’ve been revisiting it too for fun. While I was at it, I decided to poke through the fandom, revisit old fic favorites, and see if there were any good new ones. 

Turns out: there are!

I was always a big fan of Roy Mustang, and especially fics where he acts as a surrogate parental figure for Ed and Al, accidentally or intentionally. It was hard to find good ones though, so I thought I’d throw together a list of fic recs. 

Everything here is platonic, and does not focus on romantic relationships. Fics can be from the 2003 anime, Brotherhood, or the manga. 

To the Night Sky by Ranowa 

Summary: They tell him he lost his mind. He doesn't remember anything else, so he believes them. But if that's the case, then why does he sometimes feel like he doesn't belong here... and neither does that little, annoying, blond kid named Ed? 

Comments: In the author’s words, ‘not a traditional amnesia fic,’ and it sure isn’t. Long, eventful, has a ton of hurt/comfort but also a great background plot that ends up becoming more important the farther you go. This author also has a few other great FMA fics that are worth checking out, but this one stuck out to me the most. 

War Heroes by Akarii

Summary: Drawn by rumors of a Philosopher's Stone, Edward travels to North City along with Roy and the soldiers of Eastern Command who plan to compete in the North vs. East Training Exercises. However, Ed and Roy find their lives at risk when they get captured by a rebellion group who aim for the end of all State Alchemists and the entire Amestrian government.

Comments: Great adventure fic with some good hurt/comfort, but also plenty of Roy and Ed both kicking ass and taking names. This author also has some other FMA fics that are definitely worth checking out as well, but this was again the stand-out for me. 

Number Twenty Eight by Sevlow

Summary: As of today, Edward Elric had been missing for four months, two weeks, and five days.

Comments: An oldie but still a goodie. Ed goes missing, and when he’s found again, he’s a Nina-esque dog chimera in bad shape. With Al on the other side of the country chasing down another lead on his missing brother, it’s up to Roy to try and fix Ed, and take care of him in the interim. Chimera!fic was a dime a dozen back in the days of the 2003 anime fandom, but this was one of the ones that delivered on the premise. Years later, it still holds up and remains a personal favorite, with plenty of hurt/comfort and dark humor moments. Sevlow has a lot of other Roy-centric fics that are equally good, though not necessarily parental!Roy.

Warning: Parts of this fic do get super dark, with references to suicide, gore, and implied sexual abuse during Ed’s missing months. 

Bookwrm389: This author had some of my favorite FMA fics back in the day. Imagine my shock when I discovered their FF.net account has been completely deleted within the past year. Thankfully, they only orphaned their stories on AO3, so they’re still available. Since it is an orphaned account now, I can’t link to it for people to browse at their leisure, so here’s individual links to all my favorites:

Gold from Lead ~ There were whispers. There was absolutely no way to stop them. Ed would rip out his spleen if he knew what all those people were insinuating about the two of them.

Comments: Ed gets kidnapped by insurgents to be used as ransom against his father. The problem? Thanks to the rumor mill, everyone thinks his father is Colonel Roy Mustang. 

Your Son ~ "I'm not your father. It's not fair that you can affect me this much." A military function becomes a nightmare when Ed accidentally takes a poisoned drink meant for Roy.

Comments: Exactly what it says on the tin. Somebody tries to assassinate Roy, and Ed gets caught in the crossfire. Excellent hurt-comfort. Also features Maes Hughes being awesome, and Roy having an existential oh my god am I a dad????? moment. 

Tempest ~ Ed is adamant that he doesn't need a father. And it's only when he's about to lose the closest thing he has to one that he understands how very wrong he is.

Comments: Has a solid dose of both action-adventure and hurt/comfort and found family moments. It’s the full package. 

Shadow of a Doubt ~ It was meant to be a simple inspection, but a disturbing dream makes Ed uneasy and fearful. His anxiety intensifies when the mission takes a dangerous turn, putting his and Mustang's lives at risk. Can he hold it together long enough to save them both?

Comments: Another nice, long fic with a good combination of action, hurt/comfort, and family moments. One of my favorites.

Likeness ~ One morning mere hours before an inspection, Roy is amazed to receive absolute proof that his young subordinate is growing up.

Comments: A surprisingly adorable fic in which Roy ends up being the one to teach Ed how to shave. 

Bonus fics that aren’t specifically parental Roy but do still have some hilarious Roy and Ed interaction: 

Military Courtesy ~ Ed learns how to do a proper military salute and promptly drives the Colonel absolutely insane (or not)

Who’s the Alchemist? ~ A Who’s on First parody that goes exactly like how you’d expect but still had me cracking up

Name Calling by Lost_And_Longing

Summary: From the start, Roy Mustang had always believed in Edward Elric. Even after he'd learned the horrific story of their attempt at human transmutation, Mustang had just looked at Ed and offered him a chance. He'd come when Ed was despondent, weak, and helpless...and offered him a way out. Maybe that was why, out of all the men Ed knew, Roy was the closest thing he'd ever had to a father.

Comments: A 5+1 based on all the different names and titles Ed uses for Roy. Has a nice dollop of humor, hurt/comfort, and parental moments. 

Of Hospitals and Health by ReminiscentRevelry

Summary: Al is still recovering after the Promised Day, so Colonel Mustang pays him a visit.

Comments: Post-series (although not by much). A nice fic where Al actually gets a little moment with Mustang. Most parental Roy fics are with Ed, so this was a nice change of pace as well as as sweet little fic in which Roy shows he cares about both of the Elrics, even if only one is technically his subordinate.

Twelve Cups of Coffee by BeyondtheClouds777

Summary: Roy finds a sleep-deprived Edward in his office.

Comments: Just a cute little one shot in which a freshly appointed State Alchemist Edward Elric overworks himself trying to find the solutions to his and Al’s problem, and Roy makes sure he knows not to push himself too hard.

Point of Exhaustion by Took-Baggins

Summary: Roy never thought he'd be the one to be there when Edward finally pushed himself too far, but when the Fullmetal Alchemist suddenly collapses there's no one else to hold him down until he can stand again.

Comments: Another fic in which Teenagers Are Just Bad At Knowing How To Take Care Of Themselves, so the adults step in to make sure they do. Ed’s not eating or sleeping properly when he’s so obsessed with getting Al’s body back and makes himself sick. Features both a parental Roy and a parental Hawkeye, because both of them are fed up with the smallest youngest member of their team not properly taking care of himself and are not gonna let that stand. 

When the Rain Falls by Marcellebelle

Summary: Colonel Roy Mustang has two problems: Edward and Alphonse Elric.

Comments: Still a WIP, but the first two chapters are definitely promising. A sickly Ed calls Roy asking for help when his brother is kidnapped, and now Roy has to find one and make sure the other is taken care of. Really looking forward to seeing where this one goes.

As always, if you take the time to check any of these out, try to leave a comment or kudos for the writers and their hard work!

[rokutouxei]

family-friendly

genshin impact | T | 1967 childe/lumine | established relationship [ao3]

Childe and Lumine remember their first kiss very, very differently.

-

“We’ll go in the summer,” Childe had promised, and she had honestly believed that with all her heart. Remembered her adventures in the Golden Heart Archipelago with Klee and Jean and imagined all golden shores and blue skies and wide, open oceans. She was ready for that.

She was not ready for the bulky winter wear. She was not ready for the temperature that was like large hydro and cryo slimes all over her body, freezing her until there’s not much left to be frozen again.

(This is where she starts to doubt Childe’s rose-colored glasses.)

It is… quite the experience, to visit his home in Snezhnaya. There was no way she was declining the offer now that she was bound for the nation, and not with Childe giving her free pass into the country despite all the atrocities she’s done to Fatui agents across Teyvat. The least she could do was visit their little home, right? Say hello to his parents, his brothers and sisters, maybe stay for dinner, and then go to her hotel…right?

Wrong.

At this point, she is well aware of how Childe can be. Sweet and romantic when something in him softens, when that part of him that is always craving battle dissipates once his vulnerability sinks in. It’s a side of him anyone rarely sees, one she’s so proud of having the privilege to see on occasion. What slipped her mind is that the wall Childe sets up for the rest of the people in his life—other diplomats, other Fatui, other adventurers, the people he comes to just to have a fistfight with—is a wall he didn’t need to keep up with his family.

They arrive sometime past noon, after a long boat ride and a short trek up a mountain slope. The sky is an enthralling shade of blue. Quite like his eyes. It was snowing lightly—“it feels like it’s always snowing in Snezhnaya,” Childe had told her once—but it wasn’t the dreary kind of snow, rather the one that was a little exciting to watch. Childe knocked at the door and opened it with a yell, which she assumed was a greeting.

She mentally prepared herself for it, but she hadn’t expected Teucer, Anton, and Tonia to greet her with “sister!!” just as she walked through the premises.

Just how much had he told them in his letters?

(How much of her that they knew was the Lumine of Childe’s imagination, one that she would have to keep up with?)

She never peeked at the letters whenever he was busy writing them, never bothered because she felt like it would be an invasion of privacy, but now that she was here under the familiar sea-blue gaze of his entire family… she wondered if even just one look would have been alright.

Getting the approval of the younger siblings was an easy task; all she had to do was give them a few of the souvenirs she and Childe had brought over from their travels and promise to sit down and tell them of her adventures for them to give her the thumbs-up. The less impressionable ones, however, were Childe’s older sisters and brothers, who were polite and homely but a lot curter, as if trying to gauge if she were a good match with their younger brother. If the way his eldest sister had gifted Lumine her own set of Snezhnayan clothing even before dinner is any sign, perhaps she had at least passed their preliminary test.

But family time is very important in Snezhnayan culture, and dinner—well, dinner was an entirely different affair altogether.

-

“You’ve known each other for a long time, Ajax has been writing letters about you since.”

Liyue and Osial and Rex Lapis seem so far away now. “It took us a while to get along,” Lumine admits, side-eyeing Childe, “but once we found our footing with each other, it was enjoyable company.”

Childe’s eldest brother laughs. “Ajax. Enjoyable company.”

“You must be one hell of a woman to persist like that,” his other brother jokes.

“Well, that just means he made a good impression on her right away,” a sister muses.

“He got me out of a tough spot,” Lumine answers, remembering Yujing Terrace and the Rite of Descension. “I owed him one for that.”

“Isn’t that sweet!” his mother coos. “Ajax has changed, to be so sweet from the start.”

“Sweet? It was more of Sexual tension and”—Lumine yells, trying to cover him up: “Hey?! There are kids!”—"aggression from the start.”

“Oh, honey, don’t mind him,” Childe’s mother says, chuckling softly. “His siblings are used to him being straightforward like that.”

“I’m not…” Lumine murmurs, slinking back into her seat, causing the entire table to roll with laughter.

Dinner lasts for what seems like hours, and Lumine sits there shyly poking at her food as questions get pelted at her and Chllde about their relationship. The question of marriage is inescapable too, and she and Childe share a glance at each other for the briefest of moments before answering “it’ll come when it’ll come.”

But while it is easy to shrug off the adults’ more serious questions like that, it is the children’s concerns that are harder to ignore. So when Teucer asks—“How did your first kiss go?”

—Childe instantly pipes up and goes: “Oh, let me tell this one, babe. We were at Liyue Harbor together—"

It only takes Childe a few sentences before Lumine screeches, “No no no no please stop!!”, covering his mouth with her hands.

The whole family just laughs.

-

It is only until after dinner, when Lumine is sure that most of her face had already melted off of her skull, when she gets to pull Childe aside while in their (shared!) bedroom and ask: “No, seriously, Ajax. How do you remember our first kiss?”

“Was my storytelling over at dinner not enough, my принцесса? Would you rather I give you a reenactment?”

She blushes fiercely at being called a princess, but she tries her best to ignore it. “What? No, all I’m asking is—”

Childe does not pay attention and holds her in position, pushing her backward until she’s sat on the bed and he’s standing in front of her, towering (and admittedly a little… delicious, now that he’s dressed down and fresh from the shower.) “We’d come from a fight—the best thing to do with you. Or second best thing,” Childe muses, but then shakes his head back into focus. He holds Lumine’s chin with his index finger and thumb and forces her to look up. “I beat you that time.”

She narrows her eyes, staring back at him defiantly. “Only because I was handicapped.”

“Sure, my love. Luck on my part.” Childe grins. “I was trying to get you to stop sulking.”

“‘Warriors must learn to take part in losses,’” Lumine quotes him, and he nods.

He comes closer to her, carefully switching so that his palm is cupping her cheek instead, wiping an imaginary tear or bruise on her cheek. “You were so strong, but I’d tired you out more than usual. You were slumped in your seat, so I went to try and get you to rest, and you closed your eyes and leaned your head on my hand—” Childe smiles, a genuine one, small and sweet it gets Lumine’s heart racing. “I couldn’t help it, you know? I didn’t know what to tell you—how to tell you, so when you opened your eyes, I decided—fuck, I’m going to kiss her right here.”

Childe leans forward and presses a kiss on her lips.

“And I thought, ‘she’s going to hate me after this,’ but you didn’t, and instead you put your hands on your shoulders and then my hair, and you kissed me back,” he sighs. “You should really be cute more often, my sweet. You were so needy. Like this, let me show you—”

And just as Childe is about to press his lips on hers again, she places the palm of her hand against his mouth and pushes him roughly away.

“That is not what happened.”

Lumine is sure and inconvincible.

“What?”

There’s a moment of silence between the both of them that seems to extend for miles.

Childe blinks, his mind finally settling back into place. “That is what happened. What do you mean? Did you forget how our first kiss went?”

“Did you forget how our first kiss went? That was not how it went.”

Irritation clouds Childe’s visage for a brief moment. “Okay, how did it go then?”

Lumine clears her throat. Childe gets off his knees and back to his feet, settling into position. Lumine takes his hand in hers to put it into place—

And squeezes her cheeks with it twice. Childe goes lax. Lumine holds it in place, just open enough so she can talk.

“You were teasing me. We did come from a fight, and I did lose. And you thought I was being a sore loser about it, but the only true part was that I was sore. And tired.” She squeezes her cheeks with his hand another time. “‘Aww, defeat getting in your head?”’ she says, mimicking his intonation. ‘Warriors must learn to take part in losses, you know?’”

Childe tries to pull away. “I did not—”

“You did,” she insists, holding him in place. “You wouldn’t even let me catch my breath. Do you remember what I did?” He shakes his head. “I bit you,” she answered for him, gently digging her teeth into the flesh between his thumb and index finger. “You yelped and pulled your hand back. Do you remember now?”

He blinks, the memory of it slowly coming back. “Oh no.”

Lumine snickers. “Yes, oh no, Ajax.” She takes him by the wrist and pulls him closer to her, back to his knees. “‘Feisty little girlie,’” she says, in his voice, mockingly. “I growled at you. You chuckled, you bastard. And then you pulled me by the chin and kissed me.”

She presses a kiss over his lips, shaking a little from holding back laughter.

And, with her mouth still on his, she continues—“And I bit you—”

She digs her teeth on his lower lip before pulling away.

“And that excited you because of course it did, and then we—”

“Made out on the mountainside overlooking Liyue Harbor. Holy shit,” Childe finishes, face pale. When he collapses onto the bed next to her, Lumine doesn’t even try to stop the full-blown laugh coming out of her.

“I can’t believe you made it into some sweet romantic memory!” she teases him. “That’s your taste, huh?”

“I swear, that is how I remember that moment!”

“Well you remember it wrong,” Lumine notes, grinning. “Since when have we been gentle kisses, Ajax? You said it yourself—it’s all sexual tension and aggression.”

“I can be romantic sometimes.”

“Sometimes. Not that time.”

When Childe sinks further down the mattress, she presses a kiss on her forehead and looks down at him with soft eyes. “But if that’s how you want to remember it, we can always make that how it goes.”

And when he smirks, for the briefest of moments she thinks she sees his eyes light up in a way she’s always wanted to see. “Really?”

“Really, you dummy,” is all she gets to say before Childe takes her lips with his, a slow, decadent kiss of gratitude. All sweet things, but Lumine knows better to believe that’s going to last any more than a minute, his hot breath already against her neck.

And she thinks, chuckling: maybe it’s better like this. At least they’ll have a version of their first kiss that’s the tiniest bit more family-friendly.

[house-of-cakes]

Jamais Vu

Masterlist || Series Masterlist

Prev || Next

Chapter 14: Consider it Done 😇

Jungkook x Reader: enemy to lovers AU

Word count: 1505

Warnings: Swearing and Jungkook is the official president of the “I hate Y/N” Club 

Premise: “There’s an opposite to déjà vu. They call it jamais vu. It’s when you meet the same people or visit places, again and again, but each time is the first. Everybody is always a stranger… Nothing is ever familiar” – Chuck Palahniuk, Choke

AKA Jungkook goes in search of the girl who got him expelled.

Author’s note: There’s a slight error in the dates for this chapter. All of the dates should read for the month of February and not January. I think my social media app had a meltdown and I realised too late 😅. 

If you would like to give feedback or be tagged in this story please send me an ask/message 😊

Tagged list: @inspinkyring​ @betysotelo18​ @kardia-apo-marmelada​ @casspirit0705​ @preciouschimine​ @therealsugababe​  @lucedelsole97​ @deolly​ @lexy9716​​  @thesweetest-peas​ 

STORY CONTINUED BELOW THE CUT

Y/N climbed the stairs to the balcony and scanned the area for her intended target. She smirked to herself when she found the ash-blonde bombshell sitting by herself and made her way over to her.

She plopped herself beside the girl and let out an overexaggerated sigh of relief. She leaned her arm on the back of the couch and rested her face in her palm. Y/N positioned herself so that her body was turned towards the girl and waited for her to look up from her phone to notice her presence.

The girl grunted in annoyance at the disturbance and looked up from her phone, ready to tell off the stranger who had interrupted her peace.  The girl swallowed the dry lump that had formed in her throat once she realised who was sitting next to her.

She was in deep shit and she knew it.

It was common knowledge that Y/N never socialised outside of her friendship group and when she did it was never for a good reason.

“Hey! How’s your night going?” YN’s voice and smile was so sugary sweet which was a totally contradicted the dark and piercing look in her eyes. “You must be having a great time, I’ve been seeing you up top a lot lately.”

“U-u-h yeah.” She stammered as she racked her braining trying to recall what she had done wrong to get on Y/N’s bad side like this.

“I bet you thought you’d be able to come in here, bat those cute little doe eyes a few more times and soon enough you’d be securing a permanent spot on the balcony, right?” The girl sat up straighter and shook her head trying to deny the accusations.

“No tha-”

Y/N cut her off before she could explain

“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t blame you for using your looks… I of all people know how far a pretty face gets you in a place like this” Y/N’s hand reached out to play with the ends of her short hair that perfectly framed her face. “But don’t think for a second your beauty act is convincing anyone that you’re anything more than a filthy thief.

“Is this because I like Tae?” the panic evident on the girls face “I promise I will leave him alone.”

YN realised why the blonde had chosen to sit where she did. From her spot she had a perfect line of sight of Taehyung where he sat with her friends and the rest of her brother’s crew.  

“Nah, that’s not it. Although it did piss me off to hear that you were harassing Sunnie again the other day for his number” Y/N shrugged it off nonchalantly even if she was filled with excitement, she was literally working a job that took care of a criminal and a thirsty-ass social climber.  “No that’s definitely not the reason why I’m coming after you…it sure does sweeten the deal though”

The girl started to sob, the jig was up. If Y/N exposed her for what she was she would be ruined.

If Y/N was aware about her sticky fingers she definitely knew about her other criminal activities. The girl knew that Y/N had her ways for digging up dirt on people and she was not afraid to expose them if it meant protecting her friends.  

She once heard a rumour that an older guy was bullying Jimin. When Y/N demanded he stay away from her friend he laughed in her face and said she wouldn’t dare touch him as he was the son of the local police chief. When the guy refused to listen to her warning, she got the guy expelled then exposed his father for his corrupt ways and got him fired.

“People are going to assume I’m exiling you because your one of Tae’s groupies and by all means feel free to continue that narrative...You’ll get to protect your innocent persona and people will continue to see how far I will go for my best friends.”

“You’re a crazy bitch! You know that right?!” she cried out

“Yes, I do and the more people who know that the better.” Y/N needed people to believe this take down was motivated by her dislike for groupies and not for the actual reason. She was very diligent in keeping the Magic Shop’s identity concealed and didn’t want her role as the Shop Keeper to be apparent.

“You can’t banish me!”

“Ahh you see, that’s where you’re wrong...I keep management very happy by keeping the Basement a trash free zone and they thank me by letting me do whatever the fuck I want.”

Y/N snapped her fingers in the air and pointed down to the girl next to her and immediately a security guard rushed over to throw the girl out.

“Thank you, Bounce.” Y/N offered her favourite bouncer a playful smile as she waved condescendingly to the disgraced girl.

From his spot next to Jin, Jungkook’s mouth fell open in shocked as he witnessed Y/N having an innocent girl thrown out. He thought whole scene was a disgusting display of an abuse of power.

“What the hell was that?!” Jungkook leaned over to whisper in Jin’s ear. He was very aware of the crowd he was sitting with and didn’t want to her brother or friends to overhear him.

“What was what?” Jin tore himself from the conversation he was having with Yoongi to answer him. Both of them turned their attention to him and waited for him to explain what he was going on about. When Jungkook didn’t answer immediately, Yoongi got the hint that the conversation was intended to be shared between the two cousins and turned to initiate conversation with Namjoon. Jungkook paused a moment longer, insuring the conversation was completely private before nodding his head in Y/N’s direction.

“Y/N just pointed at a girl and a bouncer came out of now where and threw her out!”

“Oh, that?” He replied nonchalantly, he hardly believed the question was so important that he needed to stop his conversation he was having with Yoongi. “You just saw your first Y/N take down.”

Jungkook’s face twisted in disgust at his cousin’s total lack of concern.

“How are you ok with that?!”

Jin shrugged in response.

“It’s not like she does it all the time or without reason. The people she kicks out are normally girls harassing Tae or Sunnie. She’s very protective and that’s what actually makes her a really good friend.”

Jungkook hated how quick Jin was to always defend this girl. From the moment she got him kicked out of the Basement to the time she kicked his ass at Reload, he saw no redeeming qualities in her. He thought the way she carried herself was rude and arrogant and the more he thought about how people let her get away with being a spoilt brat the more he grew irritated.

“Uh…what about the time she got me kicked out? What did I do to her then?!”

“I hate to break it to you kid but from what you told me…you bumped into her and Bounce kicked you out…she never asked him to do that”

“Everyone kisses the ground she walks on. She’s such a spoilt princess!” ��Jin’s face hardened at the hostility in Jungkook’s voice. He noticed the ever-increasing negativity towards Y/N and it was begging to wear his patience thin.

Jin was aware that Jungkook was very popular at his old school and he believed that through his former popularity he had grown accustomed to the arrogance that came with being a part of the highest social standing.

Things worked differently here and although the scene was growing quite fond of him, there was a lot Jungkook needed to learn.

It was easy to misunderstand Y/N. It was even easier to believe this imagine that Basement portrayed of her. From the years that he had been Namjoon’s best friend he had come to see past the preconceptions that followed Y/N along.

Y/N didn’t need to be protected by anyone, much less Jin but he helped Jungkook get into the Basement and he, himself would gladly get his cousin kicked out if that’s what is needed for him to be humbled.

“Cut it out, Jungkook.” Jin’s voice was stern. It was very rare for Jungkook to see Jin call him by his name. The way he spoke to him was much like a parent scolding a child throwing a tantrum.

“But Hyung -” He went to continued however the sentence was lost when the group erupted in cheers as Y/N made her way to the group.

“Hey fam!” she greeted everyone then plopped herself into Taehyung lap. Jungkook watched as she threw her arm around his neck and beckoned her friends closer to her. She whispered to the group and when they pulled back their faces were plastered with smiles. 

Jungkook shook his head in disapproval. 

Everyone else may be able to be fooled by her pretty face but he would not.

[meant-to-be-a-hero]

Ranger Rankings - Power Rangers Dino Charge/Dino Super Charge

Spoiler alert - these two were really great.

Premise - 4.5

The Energems give the team a reason to come together, and to stay together until everything's sorted. We've already had multiple dinosaur themed seasons, but this one really uses dinosaurs as a backdrop even moreso than Dino Thunder did, right up to the very end.

The mythology around the Energems evolves nicely, and it feels like something that's constantly important rather than just relevant when the plot demands it.

The museum setting works really well (although how many people need to work in a café at once?) and the idea of an intergalactic bounty hunter has been played with before, but these seasons really go in on that a bit more.

The only problem I have is that they could have been a little more serialised in the search for the Energems they didn't have, a la Operation Overdrive.

Character Dynamics - 4.5

This season's characters are all so good, I don't even know where to start. Everyone's totally different, and they take a little while to get to know one another and grow into their own. But they're all totally formed characters rather than just bullet point character traits, and they're all believable too.

Everyone has an arc, even people like Kendall who only really comes out of the cave when she needs to yell at people initially, and it doesn't feel like the story's weighted in anyone's favour particularly. Even Tyler, whose quest for his dad feels super-important, doesn't override everyone else's stories.

I just really love these idiots. They're all so good.

Sixth Ranger Arc - 4.5

If we just limit this to Ivan, then it's probably a 3.5 or something. He's great, but he does fade into the background a little every now and then after his initial arc. He gets some fun spotlights though, and I liked the relationship between him and Koda as men out of time.

But this season had the most Rangers ever on a team, so the entire series basically becomes a Sixth Ranger arc, because after Ivan and Phillip (who turn up in quick succession) there's James, Kendall, and Zenowing to take into account, and with each successive Ranger the team grows stronger and has even more interactions to balance.

Phillip's probably the least developed of them all - he has his initial arc of learning not to throw money and things and not to be a pompous ass, but after that he kind of just shows up as needed for Sentai footage. He's a good guy, but he does become a little faceless.

James' plotline takes its time to get going, but I liked his interplay with Tyler a lot. They actually had plausible reasons for him to go off and do his own thing too, I'm glad they took the time to explain his absences.

And Zenowing, who I thought would be daft, was actually a decent addition to the team. He's again totally different to everyone else, and he does have a role to play rather than just standing in the background.

Oh, and Kendall becoming a Ranger and just taking it in her stride and no one questioning her on it at all? Yeah, we like that.

Plot Development - 4

I'm proud of these seasons for having plots that thread through both Dino Charge and Super Dino Charge rather than just closing everything down at the end of one to start something new. Samurai did it too to an extent, whereas Megaforce you could basically cut down the middle. Dino Charge and Super Dino Charge really do feel like evolutions of one another.

The search for the Energems is a good impetus to keep everything going, and it presents good reasons for the villains to keep going after the Rangers specifically so they can take them back, rather than just attacking the Rangers because they're in the way.

If anything, there can sometimes be a few too many one-and-done episodes where the villains JUST go after the Rangers, which stalls the momentum somewhat, but you can't say that the threat doesn't escalate as the plot goes on. Compare where we start with where we end and it's such a huge difference.

Villains - 4.5

I don't think I've had as much fun with villains in a season since Lothor or Dai Shi.

Sledge could easily have become one-dimensional, but his relationships with everyone else on the ship kept him interesting. I never knew whether he was going to yell at Poisandra or kiss her.

Speaking of, Poisandra was hilarious. Again, she could have been far too one note, but they made her interesting in her own right by giving her her own plans, and Curio, while a tad bland, was a good straight man for her plots.

I did get a little bored of Fury by the end, but at least they kept him relevant by having him face off with other generals. It's nice when the good guys get along, but it's better when the bad guys don't. I also really liked Wrench, who wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty even though he was the tech guy.

I do think Dino Super Charge has the better villains though; Heckyl and Snide were a good pair, and Heckyl's eventual face turn was actually a nice surprise. The idea that he wasn't evil at all until the Dark Energem was well handled, and while his redemption arc came right at the last minute, it did feel complete and earned.

I also really liked Lord Arcanon and Singe; they ran the risk of being too little, too late, coming in with only like 8 episodes of a season left, but they had history with the other villains that made them relevant, and Arcanon's overblown sense of self-importance made him fun too.

Overall - 4.40

Hottest Ranger - Oh god, this one's far too hard. It's like a four-way tie between Tyler, Chase, Riley, and Koda, all for different reasons. Stick them in a blender and give me the perfect Ranger.

Notable Episodes:

When Logic Fails - A crystal maze-esque episode which shows off Riley's unique talents.

Wishing For A Hero - The Rangers make wishes that all go terribly, terribly wrong.

Love At First Fight - Mostly for Beauticruel's terrible accent.

Freaky Fightday - Body swap episode? Body swap episode.

Edge Of Extinction/End Of Extinction - World-wide Zord fights! Time travel! A black hole! A happy ending!

I'd also like to mention how good all four holiday specials were. They're all clip shows, but they have such good, fun set-ups that they're not a chore to watch like the holiday specials usually are. Trick Or Trial was especially good.

[unforth]

A Non-Definitive and Certainly Incomplete List of the Differences Between the Qianqiu/Thousand Autumns Danmei Novel and the Donghua

@blacktigersprings commented on one of my Thousand Autumn Liveblog posts, asking about the differences between the donghua thus far, compared to the book - they'd seen the 16 episodes, but hadn't read it yet. After I wrote down what I could remember I was like...ya know what, I should just make all this into a post.

This is non-exhaustive. I am a tired person with a bad memory and a lot going on, so I am sure I forgot things. I'm gonna ping @baoshan-sanren since they're the main person I know who is in Thousand Autumns fandom also, and I'm willing to guarantee they will think of things I didn't, and also probably be able to correct me if I mixed anything up. I'll try to edit this based on new info, if I have the time, and I might post it as meta on AO3? I did that with my list of differences between CQL and MDZS and people found it helpful so...yeah. I'll add a link if a do.

Note that all posts like this rely to some extent on interpretation; what I write reflects my interpretation and understanding of events (...to the extent I remember them...) and others may have read/watched the same sequences and reached different conclusions. I've made specific notes where I think I'm raising a point that's more subjective than others.

This contains spoilers for all 16 episodes of the donghua, and for the equivalent parts of the novel. I did my best not to put in novel spoilers for past when the donghua ends, but there are allusions to subsequent events.

Anyway - vaguely in chronological order of when they happen?

(read more)

Overall, the basic premises of the donghua and the novel are pretty different. In the donghua, there are several primary conflicts - the intrusion of the Beimi/Tujue, the competition over access to the Solarity, the competition between different sects' top masters, and the search for that ring that Yan Wushi has. In the novel, these are all things that exist, but they're not the primary plot, and they're all at least somewhat difference. While the novel has multiple plotlines that focus on different things, looking at it as a whole, the main plot is a political one about control of the Empire, and how different sects are pulled into that conflict as a result of how the Emperor relates to Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist sects. Which tradition each sect follows is much more important and relevant in the novel. The Beimi/Tujue plot is still relevant and involved, but it's just one thread in the political milieu. The Solarity, which has different and long name in the novel that I never remember - it's like, "the complete works of (some master who's name isn't in my brain" - is in six volumes, and it's definitely still important, but it's importance kinda fades as the novel progresses (though it's still a main piece at the point where the donghua leaves off). The ring is basically non-existent in the novel - instead of it being in Yan Wushi's possession, it's in the possession of the woman who's birthday party Shen Qiao goes to (...Madam Su? Might be her name? I'm sorry, I'm not great with names, and I usually rely on fandom wikis but this one is sparse) - in the novel, she was a disciple of Hulugu, and then she stole the ring and returned to the Empire. That other Beimi/Tujue disciple (...Dong something??) takes it back and returns with it to his clan, if I recall correctly, so it can be used to unify those clans to make war against the Empire.

In the donghua, Yan Wushi is just...generally portrayed as pretty nice, and the YanShen vibes start pretty early - there's an early sign of playful flirting from Yan Wushi that actually seems sincere? At least it did to me. As a result, the YanShen vibes feel a lot stronger than they do in the novel at a similar point in the narrative. In the novel...I'd personally say Yan Wushi has zero interest, romantically or sexually, until well after where the donghua left off, and their relationship isn't canon until nearly the very end, and is always left more implied than...outright. I would personally say that in the novel, Shen Qiao has some feels for Yan Wushi pre-Sang Jingxing, but Yan Wushi doesn't reciprocate (except maybe at a deep level he refuses to acknowledge). It's not until he's healing post-almost-dying (as in, during the time immediately after when the donghua leaves off - I'm trying to be vague to avoid giving spoilers to people who haven't read it) that there start to be some real clear signs that Yan Wushi may have caught some feels, and even then it's complicated. They're complicated. They're also complicated. It's part of what I love about them, lol.

In the donghua, the fight between Shen Qiao and Kunye is shown "on screen" instead of only being described afterwards, and it's revealed almost right away that Shen Qiao was poisoned. Also, a lot of people help Kunye and they all fight Shen Qiao together. In the novel, this fight is off-screen. It's strictly a one-on-one battle between Shen Qiao and Kunye, and the reader doesn't learn that Shen Qiao lost due to poisoning until Shen Qiao goes to Mount Xuandu to confront Yu Ai.

In both the donghua and the novel, when Yan Wushi is trying to turn Shen Qiao evil, he sets up a mission for Shen Qiao and Yu Shengyan, The object of this mission is to kill a family that serves the Hehuan Sect. Shen Qiao refuses to participate, and helps them escape. In the donghua, they don't actually escape, and the "they serve Hehuan" thing turns out to be a ruse; they actually serve Yan Wushi. In the novel, they're actually Hehuan spies, and Shen Qiao still helps them, and they actually escape.

(RAPE MENTION TRIGGER WARNING) In the donghua, Chen Gong betrays Shen Qiao when that jerk noble whose name I can't remember right now (and it's not in the wiki, god the wiki is so slim, I wish I had time to help with that) hunts him for sport, and he doesn't want to die. In the novel, Chen Gong betrays Shen Qiao when that same jerk noble, who as a reputation for using pretty boys as sex slaves, tries to kidnap Chen Gong as a sex slave, and Chen Gong is like, "no no you don't want to fuck me, I know someone WAY prettier for you to rape." (The fall out remains the same in both - Shen Qiao beats up the guy, nothing bad happens to him, and he and Chen Gong part ways).

In the donghua, Shen Qiao goes to confront Yu Ai at Mount Xuandu by like. Literally walking up to the front gate. And then all the disciples for some reason get mad that Yan Wushi comes, even though he...also walked up to their front gate. Why do they even have a gate??? In the novel, Shen Qiao uses a super sneaky back way, only known to disciples, and so it actually makes some kind of sense when Yu Ai et al are like SHEN QIAO WHY ARE YOU SHOWING THE EVIL GUY OUR BACK DOOR?

(NOTE this one relies more on subtext and thus is very open to interpretation. What's written here reflects my personal interpretation, and others may disagree). In the donghua, when Yan Wushi hands Shen Qiao over to Sang Jingxing, they have a chat that heavily implies that Yan Wushi is kinda-sorta-not-so-secretly thinking that Shen Qiao could win a fight (and is probably expecting Shen Qiao to do so by using the demonic core that has been implanted in him). Sang Jingxing also says things that indicate that he thinks that Yan Wushi is setting a trap for him. In the novel, while it's never all that clear what Yan Wushi's motivations are, it becomes pretty clear by the point of the Sang Jingxing fight that Yan Wushi was serious when he said he didn't care about Shen Qiao, didn't consider him worthy, and doesn't care what happens to him. He definitely handed over Shen Qiao with every intention of Shen Qiao getting tortured and raped, and had no interest in saving him. Shen Qiao only becomes interesting to Yan Wushi afterwards. Yan Wushi is never only playing one game, so he may have thought that being pushed into a corner would force Shen Qiao to use the demonic core, but it also seemed to me like he genuinely didn't care - he'd gotten bored, and was done playing with the "new toy" that was Shen Qiao.

In the donghua, there is a shot of someone - the clothing is pretty unmistakably Yan Wushi's purple robe of ultimate purpleness - pulling Shen Qiao out of a river after he plunges to his almost-demise in the fight with Sang Jingxing. In the novel, Yan Wushi doesn't pull Shen Qiao out of the water, after Shen Qiao destroys his meridians in the fight against Sang Jingxing. Instead, Shen Qiao collapses in the mountains, where he is found by Shiwu and brought back to the monastery for treatment.

In the donghua, Yan Wushi is fighting the four masters who have it in for him, and before the end of the fight, Shen Qiao arrives and tries to help him; he fights the four masters solo to try to keep Yan Wushi from using his powers and harming himself, and when he's about to lose, Yan Wushi...uses his powers and harms himself. In the novel, Shen Qiao doesn't arrive until after Yan Wushi has been defeated; he finds Yan Wushi almost dead and brings him to a small village nearby, where he stays with a nice girl and her...grandfather, iirc...and tries to keep them safe while nursing Yan Wushi back to health.

In the donghua, it's kinda implied that Shen Qiao goes to rescue Yan Wushi because, like...he likes him? There's not really a reason given, just that he wants to, or maybe to keep the ring from going to the Beimi/Tujue? In the novel it's pretty explicit that Shen Qiao goes to save Yan Wushi because he believes Yan Wushi's position in the Empire is critical to the stability of the world - and he wants the world stable, so that there won't be more refugees, starvation, etc. That he also may like Yan Wushi is the case but is almost incidental; Shen Qiao is focused on doing the most good for the most people, and that means saving Yan Wushi, because Yan Wushi is critical to the Empire, and the Empire is critical to the common people. (this is a major part of the political themes that are more prominent in the book than in the donghua).

I can't actually remember when Bian Yanmei was introduced in the novel? But I was pretty sure it was around when Yan Wushi sends Shen Qiao to that birthday banquet? Anyway, Bian Yanmei isn't in the donghua at all thus far; in the donghua, Yan Wushi's only apparent disciple is Yu Shengyan.

[imreallyhereforkataang]

I'm unsure about how's the best way to articulate this, but I'm kind of surprised there's not more fan content highlighting the otherworldly aspects of Kataang, and a part of me wishes we could see a bit more of that.

I'd expect that most if not all fandoms frequently have an affinity for glamorizing aesthetics of characters and ships, and content creators who I know often look for ways to convey that sort of thing. I've also witnessed lots of people on this site claim that they first became attracted to a ship for its aesthetic because they saw embellishing artwork that didn't really highlight much about the characters' personalities, but was still gorgeous and impressive to look at.

And yeah, it makes sense that content creators and consumers in fandom engage with works that make epic an idea that may be primarily based off the “what” of the characters, or the situations they find themselves in, rather than the finer details of the “who.” The resulting creation is similar to what happens when the personal elements of a legend get lost over time, while the sensational aspects continue to be retold and glorified. That sort of thing makes for extremely intriguing depictions of the original source material, even if it’s at the expense of some of the subject’s humanity. Though, even when that depiction becomes so far removed from the original that it's totally unrecognizable, I do think it's often still fascinating and creative, and maybe should be its own celebrated thing altogether.

It's just surprising to me, and kind of disappointing if I'm honest, that, based on the relative lack of fan content doing this, many people seem to either not recognize or not act upon how Kataang has that exact aesthetic potential.

If you were to keep the basics of their story intact but tell it through a different lens or genre, maybe dramatize it a bit, it would be so easy to emphasize how Kataang is literally like a demigod and a mortal falling in love. That on its own to me sounds like the premise for the epic love story fandom culture would traditionally find appealing. And it's really not much of a stretch -- that is one legitimate way to look at the pairing if you broke it down to its objective pieces, even if it's not the most focused-on part of their relationship in the original material (though it certainly is alluded to). The source material is much more detailed and personal, like watching a show where Oma and Shu are the main characters versus hearing the major beats of their legend.

For Kataang, we can definitely take it further with drawing out their major beats. The mortal comes into her own and is shown to be a force of comparable measure to the demigod, as she is his self-appointed protectress. She releases him from dormancy, bringing him back into the world to fulfill his grand destiny, and on their quest, she would become his teacher, both in training and in reacquainting himself with the new era. At one point she would even revive him and his line of divinity after watching him be struck down and killed. This mortal is his first devotee, and his personal connection with her makes her his attachment to the world and, in extension, the mortals he protects.

Meanwhile, the demigod is the personification of the mortal's faith, a vessel of the compassion she feels so deeply for others. He takes her places, literally and metaphorically, she never could have gone before, teaching her in turn about lost practices and new perspectives. He can legitimately bring her to the skies with a unique ability that no one else in the entire world possesses -- an ability that also defines much of what he stands for and what her world has been missing in his absence.

Not to mention how the mortal was one of the only people who believed this demigod would resurface, and the only person by his side from the start of meeting him in their warring environment. The two were born nearly 100 years apart, yet their connection and love is shown to transcend both time and space. Their elements and roles to the world and to each other can be represented by synergistic air and water, which are associated in canon with freedom/peace and change/virtue, respectively. And if one were going to dramatize Kataang's relationship and what it stands for, their exchange could reasonably be depicted as the bridge between the heavens and the earth (moon and ocean).  

Like, truly, their story is so mythical. The pieces are there. Think about how their theme is called "The Avatar's Love" and segments of that theme are reused for LoK, pointing to Aang's reincarnation cycle and how the love he feels transcends so many lifetimes, but he chooses Katara in this particular one. Think about what Yangchen says to Aang about the reason the Avatar is born a human and not a spirit, that the Avatar must live amongst humans and experience human emotions to recognize how precious the life is that the universe entrusts him with protecting. Think about Aang's chakras in The Guru, and not just the Love and Thought Chakras but nearly all of them, and how truly tied Katara is with his energy, his spirit. That can't be faked -- that's real, genuine influence, her touching his life in ways that highlight his humanity. Think about how Aang has a real-time vision of Katara without even intending to, and the only other being we see Aang do something similar (but intentionally) with is Appa, to whom Pathik says, "You and the Avatar's energies are mixed. You have an unbreakable bond."  

Think about the Pietà pose in The Crossroads of Destiny and all that symbolizes about Aang and Katara (honestly that alone should be enough because it speaks volumes), including their world savior/first believer dynamic. How Katara brings Aang back to life and says, "I don't know what I did exactly," thus giving fuel to the idea that saving him didn't just constitute normal healing on her end. Think about the visual parallel between her resurrecting him and her releasing him from stasis in the first episode. Think about Katara's extended opening narration in the pilot and how it evolves to when she meets Aang, with just as much trust in an idea as in what ends up being the real thing.  

Think about their relationship when Aang goes into the Avatar State, embodying his most divine form. How Katara is able to speak with and approach him, and how he can hear her and respond to her while in that state, honing all his past lives. Think about when Aang deals the heavy attack at Fong's base that would continue to haunt Aang for so long afterwards, which showcases how out of control he is here, yet his blow from all Avatars completely and deliberately avoids Katara while targeting everyone remotely near her. Think about how Katara is so unafraid of a raging demigod, even when the person underneath hasn't been acting like himself lately, that she doesn't flinch at the output of his anger and just goes to him as everyone else runs. Think about that visual where she grabs onto his arms and pulls him from the air that only he can bend to the ground she's tied to and into her arms. Think about how she always tries to catch him when he falls, because she is adamant about being his cushion to the earth.

Think about how Aang is the reason Katara gets to touch the heavens. Think about how he takes her on an epic journey across the world so she can learn waterbending and make the difference she's always wanted. How being with him, the one person with a divinely granted duty to the world and who will always choose her, puts her right on the foreground for making that difference. Think about how they can still waterbend together even if Katara can't airbend -- no one can besides Aang. Think about their push and pull of the water and how it highlights their equal footing, and that although, as the demigod he is, Aang can master all the elements, Katara is the mortal who teaches him mastery in the one they share between them.

I don't know, to me it's all so cool and awe-inspiring. Obviously the most important part of Kataang's relationship is how their personalities play off each other and how they treat each other, but in terms of this kind of grander depiction, I think of it more like Oma and Shu. We don’t know the details of how Oma and Shu acted towards each other, yet we hear the story about the power of their love and take inspiration from it.

So yes, I unfortunately don’t see this pronounced demigod/mortal iteration of Kataang very often in fan works, but it makes for a pretty dang fascinating legend to contemplate anyhow.

[rahleeyah]

When do you think Elliot fell in love with Olivia? I can never truly pinpoint when Liv did. There’s a couple spots starting from s1 on when I’m like “yeahhhhh she’d happily date him if he didn’t have a family”. But Elliot? I don’t think that happened to him for a bit. (This is my theory, but really curious what you think!? I love hearing everyone pinpoint when they think it happened because I love talking about love sick Elliot 🤣)

My theory? After Alex got shot/finding out she was alive and in Witness Protection. S1-4, they’re pretty close but definitely not overly close like they were in the end (besides the s1 touches). I think after Alex got shot and the fact that she got shot while she was with them, really fucked them up so Elliot spent that first night with Olivia. After leaving the hospital that night, he brought her home and just never left and they mourned quietly together. And then finding out she was in Witness Protection? I think they spent a solid week together hashing it all out after because who else were they going to talk about it with??? And we learn later they really didn’t tell a SOUL. (As they shouldn’t have but also (as me and my best friend call them, husband privileges) wouldn’t have been surprised if they did.)

And I think that started it all. And then sometime in the last two episodes of season six, I think they hang out a lot. Because they have no one to go home to! They have no one to help remind them there is something else in the world besides this job! So they talk to each other because they understand what they are going through but also it helps them connect with the world again. And they go to each other’s places and sit at the counter or on the couch with some beers and they spend their nights just talking. Sometimes they chill at a diner and then suddenly it’s been four hours. And they learn a lot about each other. (I’m reminded of your post where you talk about how they stand on separate sides of issues but they have some of the same core values, I think this is when they really learn a lot about each other is during s7)

And then Fault makes him realize that. And THAT’S what gets him. I think Elliot always knew how much he cared about Olivia, even before then. That he knew if there was a situation it would be hard because really he cared for her so much even before he loved her. I think they probably thought of each other as best friends starting late s4/early s5. (If not earlier honestly. Season 2 wouldn’t be a stretch. Maybe even late s1.)

But when Elliot picked Olivia over Ryan? When the panic that had gone up his spine is more about her falling to the ground than not getting to Ryan in time? THAT’S what scares him. Because his love for her had slowly intertwined its way through his entire being unknown until he thought he would never have it again. And he can’t believe he never even noticed it.

This is a question we've had before but this time I have just got up to s12 in my rewatch and i have had more time to think about 1.0 and i wanna come at it again

first off, i love your take about all this hitting him post Alex. I think that's the premise for a damn good fic tbh. Just digging into all those feelings bc the three of them had a special bond and now Alex is gone, and this show doesn't kill a lot of mains, like there's a lot of collateral damage but they don't kill a lot of fan favorites, so a lot of the people close to eo haven't actually died - and of course Alex isn't actually dead but they don't know that initially - so it's more realistic that they'd be devastated to lose their friend, and Liv doesn't have anybody to go to, and El's marriage is on the rocks, and yeah. that's fucking perfect.

there are moments where I think Elliot's mask starts to slip. in 2.0, when he's in the middle of his HIV scare and Liv asks him to go out for a drink and he says no and she says see you tomorrow and he says you will all warm and reaches for her, there is a softness in him, there is something knowing in him. her heart is in her eyes, her fear for him, her desperation not to lose him, and he reacts to that with aching fondness and physical touch. it's notable to me bc they have stopped touching so much, after the s1 love fest. but he goes home to kathy.

there's the end of s4, when she comes to him, turns up at his door, and they have a heart to heart; the difference is you can walk away, and no I can't. I think he is trying, then, to save her, bc he can see how the work is killing her and he doesn't want her to burn out, and there is a quiet, familiar intimacy to them in that moment that feels heavy.

but really I don't think he has it in him to actually consider her as anything other than a friend until Kathy leaves in s6. He cares for her, she is important to him, she is the other half of him, but he is too focused on be a good man, be a good husband, be a good father, I don't think he can spare the breath to want her, whether he could articulate it to himself or not. but then Kathy is gone, and I can't pinpoint the exact moment but everything shifts. the trapdoor has just given way beneath their feet.

I think we all agree that Fault is the lightbulb moment, for both of them. That is the point at which they cannot ignore it, cannot hide from it, cannot pretend that the connection between them is anything other than what it is. they both know, in that moment. Gitano's gun to Elliot's head, and Liv can't pull the trigger, they are stripped bare right in front of each other's eyes. He knows he loves her, and chose her over Ryan. And she knows she loves him, and chose him over Rebecca. But in that moment they both see the other's love, too. He sees her love of him. She has seen his love of her. They are exposed.

But they button it back up; Liv leaves him and maybe they could have gone for something more but he can't do the job without her and she doesn't want to do the job without him and she comes back, and when she sits down at her desk she is saying i am here to do the job with you, and that means that the rest of it, the love has to be put aside. they have to choose which side of the coin they get, home or work, love or partnership, and they choose the job.

But the love is there, now, and it keeps rearing its head, over and over until he snaps and leaves. They can't hide from it.

I watched intentionally trying to pinpoint a Moment, but no great revelation came to me as a specific point at which it became clear that it was love. It's just. one day you look up and it's there, and it's like it's been there all along.

I was in the middle before I knew I had begun.

[fullmarvelheart]

Crossing Lines (3/?)

Pairing: mob!Bucky x fbi!mob!Reader

Word Count: 2,601

Recommended: 18+ readers 

Summary: A sudden and unsettling event rocks the underworld, and Y/N is immediately called in to prepare for what’s to come. What she isn’t prepared for is James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes, also known as the new head of the Brooklyn mafia clan. When these two get shoved into a world of danger and deceit, will they ever learn to trust each other? Or will they be doomed from the start?

Warnings: Blood, gore, violence, angst, swearing, implied torture, kidnapping, suggested smut, mentions of familial loss

A/N: Ok, so I’m a bit nervous for this one, but I’m just happy I was able to get it out today. Now, to start packing so I can get back to my college! All mistakes are my own. The GIF is not mine, so credit goes to the original creator! 

Series Masterlist

Two days after I had barged into my father’s home, my phone rings, and I stupidly answer without checking the caller ID first. If my father knew, he’d have my head for being careless.

“Y/L/N here.”

“You need to come in as soon as possible.” Coulson’s voice sounds serious, and I straighten up instinctually. “Fury has requested you.”

“On my way.” I tell him before hanging up. A quick message to my bodyguards later and all four of us are piling into the car. Hunter gives me a small glare as he moves into the driver seat. I smirk back.

“See, Hunter. You’re driving me. Don’t look so upset about it now.” He sends me another glare that has me chuckling, easing the prickle of nerves that rests under my skin.

During the drive to the estate, I find myself zoning out. The moment I step out of this car, the moment that a plan I’m not entirely aware of will fall into action. A feeling in my gut settles heavily and some part of me knows my hands are going to get dirty soon.

Like usual, we pull in front of the stairs leading into the estate, and my guards escort me in. Once I’m in, I’m led the familiar path towards my father’s office. Three out of four of my group stop where the other guards are posted, and I head through the door. I falter slightly, seeing both my siblings, Hill, Coulson, and my father but continue on just as quickly.

“You have a way in.” Fury starts, not wasting time, while also pushing a thin file towards the edge of his desk. I grab it and flip it open. “Your team will stay here during your assignment. Hill will drive you to where your vehicle will be, your new identity is in the glove compartment. Once you leave the premises, you won’t be able to have any contact with anyone in the Clan. I thought you’d like to see the twins again before you left.” I give him an appreciative nod, keeping myself firmly planted where I stand so I don’t run to my sister and brother.

“Who’s he?” I ask, in reference to the man in the folder.

“A known HYDRA affiliate. Your way in is capturing him and delivering him onto the Barnes territory. Oh, and they just want him alive when you get there. Better for information.” I smirk slightly. There it is.

I look over the file again, memorizing everything about this guy, before I close it back up.

“Can I say my goodbyes, now?” I ask with a slight hitch in my voice.

That’s all Wanda needs to hear before she’s sprinting over to me. I stumble slightly when she reaches me, then lock her into a tight embrace. I feel a third party join the hug and move to let Pietro in as well. It’s not long before I feel the chill of tears seeping through my shirt. The sting of fresh tears burns my nose, and I will them not to fall.

“Please, be careful.” Pietro practically begs. In order not to start sobbing, I can only nod into his chest.

I eventually push myself away with a shaky breath. “I will try my best. Promise me you two will stay safe.”

“It’s not us,” Wanda sniffs, drying underneath her eyes. “That you should be worried about.”

I give her a sad smile before it suddenly drops and I’m looking between them. “Promise me. I need you to promise me you’ll be ok.” I whimper as a single tear rolls down my face. The reality of what is being asked of me comes crashing down and I need to make sure I don’t worry about them. I need to know my little siblings will be safe from HYDRA.

“Promise.” Pietro and Wanda whisper sadly with tears streaming down their faces.

I nod while drying my face before looking directly at Maria.

“Hill.” I start, masking my vulnerability. She nods once in acknowledgement. “I assume there is a bag with my necessities for this mission.”

“Yes, and the Barnes family also has some things for you on arrival.”

“Then let’s go.”

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

A semi-long trip, an outfit change, and an equipment exchange later, and I’m on my way to some second-rate club on the outskirts of NYC. When I pull in, I’m not shocked when I find the parking lot mostly empty. After coming to a stop, I run through the mental file I have on this guy.

Target: Ian Quinn (with his brown hair and smug smile I memorized from his photo)  Occupation: Disgraced billionaire, but still has money. Is believed to be working with HYDRA for extra money as well as to help his business; has most likely been given access to classified info Location: Club Atlas, low security on premises, cameras only at the front entrance and boss’ office door Other: Seemingly a sucker for a damsel in distress

I groan to myself as I throw the car door open. My simple black heels, with one strap over my toes and the other around the ankle, click on the asphalt as I fall into the role of the meek and timid persona I am adopting for this part of my op.

I try to tug the dress down as I walk closer to the bouncer, making me seem uncomfortable. He eyes me skeptically before asking for my ID. I pull out a fake and hand it to him. With only a quick glance, he nods then motions for me to head on in. I slowly walk across the sticky floor as I make my way towards the bar. The bass of the music send strong vibrations into my ears that seem to resonate through the rest of my body. The few patrons that are here either sit at the booths lining the walls or writhe on the tiny dancefloor. However, Quinn is nowhere to be found.

I adjust my dress again once I reach the bar, then continue looking around.

“Can I help you, little girl?” The bartender asks in a condescending tone.

Yeah, I’ll take a glass of the fuck off, please. “Oh! I- uh- I wa-.”

“Is Mikey giving you a hard time?”

I turn around with wide and fearful eyes to meet two blue ones. Ian Quinn.

“I-I, no! No, I was just startled is all.” He smiles softly but with a twinkle in his eye that unnerves me. I turn back to the bartender. “I’ll just have some tonic water with a lime for now, please. I’m just waiting for someone.” I tell him softly even though I want to punch the sneer he gives me right off.

“So...” Quinn says grabbing my attention. “Who are you waiting on?”

“Oh, uh, I was supposed to meet a date here that I met online. But, uh, this isn’t how he described the place.” I chuckle shyly.

“Well, until they get here, why don’t I keep you company.” He states with a smug grin. It wasn’t a question.

I giggle, my fingers tucking on a loose strand of hair. “That’d be fine.”

“My names Ian. Ian Quinn.”

“The billionaire?” I question with a gasp of awe that I force out of my mouth. “I can’t believe it. I’m Rissa.”

We shake hands before my drink is placed in front of me. After 30 odd minutes of Quinn talking about himself and flirting, I glance at my phone and sigh.

“Ya know. I don’t think he’s coming after all.” I mutter sadly.

“I’m sorry, Rissa.” Quinn says with concern, though I’m sure it’s just an act. “You don’t deserve to be stood up like that.”

I hum thoughtfully. “Ian, I don’t usually do stuff like this but there seems to be no point in us just sitting here. Would you, I don’t know, possibly, want to come to my place? It’s, uh, it’s not far from here.”

He smiles. “I’d love that, Rissa.”

I smile back, ignoring the bile rising in my throat. We pay for our separate tabs before I’m leading the man to my car. He closes the passenger door and I turn towards him. He faces me with a flirty smile before leaning in for a kiss, only faltering when he feels a prick on his neck. Before he can understand what’s happening, he’s slumped forward in the seat.

“Thank fuck.” I breathe out, pocketing the needle, before driving off.

I’m able to find a rather vacant one-star motel and get a room for one night. Luckily, it’s on the ground floor making it easier for me to drag Quinn in without causing any raised eyebrows. I hastily change out of my dress and heels into a pair of jeans, a tank top, my leather jacket, and some combat boots. I give myself a once over before I hear a faint groan come from the bathroom.

I smirk then throw the duct tape and zip ties I had taken out once I got Quinn into the room, tossing them into my backpack. At the sound of another soft groan, I saunter my way to the bathroom.

Ian Quinn is barely regaining consciousness from his place in the bathtub. My eyes glance over his ankles, five layers of duct tape and two zip ties binding them together. I used two layers of duct tape and a zip tie to bind his wrists behind his back so he can’t try to escape. Not to mention the duct tape I put over his mouth.

“Morning, sweetie.” I chirp as his eyes begin to flutter open. “We have a lot of work in store for us. Well, for me. Bet this isn’t what you had in mind.” I smirk down at him, well Rissa does.

Quinn starts squirming while attempting to glare at me, eyes still half-closed because of the drug I gave him.

“You can’t get out of this.” I purr, sensually dragging my finger down the side of his face. “I want an in. And you, you’re how I get it. And don’t take this too personally, you were just the easiest of HYDRA’s scum. Still important though.” His brows furrow as he thinks over the information I just gave him. Good, that’s the point.

While he’s distracted, I pull out my switchblade.

“Now. They just need you alive.” I quip, flicking the knife open. “Not unharmed. And don’t worry, I won’t let you die. Not yet, at least.”

His eyes widen in fear right before I’m digging my blade into his side. The duct tape muffles his screams as the blood drips into the bathtub.

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

I take a big gulp of the coffee I had purchased through a drive through, glaring at the sunlight. I really do hate pulling all-nighters.

I cross the line of my father’s territory and take a deep breath. There’s no turning back now. As I inch across the Brooklyn Bridge, No Limits by Zayde Wølf plays through my speakers. While the lyrics only sort of apply to my situation, the beat is enough to keep me awake as I inch through traffic. Well, maybe it’s the double shot of espresso I had added to my coffee.

The occasionally soft thumping of an item, or person, shifting in my trunk is enough to assure me he hasn’t escaped. Though, I doubt he could, especially with the drugs running through his system at the moment.

The neighborhoods are bright and lively as I drive by, but I keep my guard up. I cannot get caught now, I’d receive no help if that was the case.

Following my father’s directions, I eventually pull in front of a warehouse. The second I get out, five armed members of the clan approach me.

“Who the fuck are you?” One asks, pulling the cigarette from his mouth.

“I’m here to speak with your boss. I have something that is of interest to him.” I tell them as I cautiously round my car.

“You don’t deal with the boss man. You deal with us.” Another pipes in, giving me a slow once over. I resist the urge to shudder or punch him.

“What’s goin’ on here.” Another man walks out of the warehouse. His blond hair is pulled into a half-ponytail while the rest brushes his shoulders. I note that he’s slightly taller than Steve is, if I recall, and has a slightly broader build.

“I’m here to speak with Barnes.” His men all stiffen at the mention of his name. “I have a gift for him.”

“Show me.” Blonde says. I shake my head.

“It’s for your boss, only.”

With an annoyed snort, blonde turns around with a shake of his head. “Your funeral.” I hear him mutter as he walks in, causing the men to chuckle.

A few minutes later, I lean on the side of my car with my arms crossed, tired of having to wait. Five minutes later and I get annoyed.

The doors finally open as a flood of people I don’t recognize walk out of the building. Sam and Steve follow. The group causally surrounds me as I hold my place against my car, showing I’m not intimidated. The two men I know stop closely in front of me.

“You have some nerve, I’ll tell you that.” Sam quips before movement behind him catches my attention.

“Some nerve indeed.” Barnes adds. I give him a smug smile. “I hear you have something for me.”

“Something or someone.” I state as I push off my car.

The men immediately go ridged, watching every step I take towards my trunk. Barnes follows me with his eyes. Blonde stops me before I throw the trunk open and does so himself. His eyes widen when he sees my gift. Rolling my eyes, I push past him and drag a semi-conscious Quinn out of the car. I pull him to his feet and walk him forwards before throwing him down in front of Barnes. James’ eyes rake over the blood-stained clothes, and the cuts and bruises on his face.

“Ian Quinn.” I start. “Known HYDRA affiliate who’s been able to pay off any arrest warrant issued. He’s said to have been in contact with the top brass as he’s been a critical part in their financial endeavors.”

“So why give him to me?” Barnes questions skeptically.

“I’ve heard what they did to your father and I knew if I had any chance of being able to take them down with any help, it would be with you and your clan.”

“And why would you want to be part of the Clan?” Steve pipes up.

“HYDRA killed my parents in cold blood. I want every single one of them to rot six feet under.” I tell them, maintaining the cover Fury gave me, though there’s still an element of truth.

James nods looking back at Quinn. “You do all this yourself?”

I roll my eyes but nod back. “He’s only valuable alive, that doesn’t mean unharmed.”

He hums. “What’s your name?”

“Rissa, Rissa Maximoff.”

“Thor, show Rissa to my office while I deal with him.” Barnes says, motioning towards Quinn.

Blonde, Thor, nods then roughly grabs my arm and drags me inside. Once inside, Thor sighs.

“You’re a brave thing aren’t you, fiery one?” I chuckle at the nickname.

“I guess you can say that.”

He leads me through the warehouse and past a few offices until he opens a door and ushers me inside. It shuts with a soft click, locking me inside.

Part 4

Tag List:

@the-ss-horniest-book-club

@broco8

@tcc-gizmachine

[twoidiotwriters1]

Family Outings (Five Hargreeves x Fem! Reader)

A/N: Another five fiction, lol. In this Five can be 13 years old, hahaha. Hope you like.

Btw, we still have places in case you want to order some blurb or one shot, from our prompt list or if you have another idea.  300 Followers!

Words: 3,998

"Diego!" Five yells from his room.

Diego shrinks into one of the kitchen chairs.

"Now what did you do?" Allison asks in front of him, with a mug in hand.

“I left some knives in his room,” He answers with a grimace.

“Bad idea, bro. Our dear Five has been very sensitive these days,” adds Klaus.

"I don't think it's that bad–“

A blue flash appears in the kitchen, causing Diego to jump back. Five raises one of his knives and glares at him.

"You think it's fun to stab my notes and maps?" He asks through his teeth.

Diego grimaces.

"I'm sorry, I forgot. I won’t leave them there again,” Five pushes his hand away.

“The problem is not that you forgot. Stop practicing in my room!" He yells, stabs the wooden table and then disappears. Klaus whistles.

"What was that all about?" Ben asks.

"Diego almost died... again,” Allison takes a sip of her mug calmly.

"That boy’s crazy! I've always practiced in all the rooms, I don't understand what the problem is now," says Diego taking his knife.

"Maybe Five is on his period," says Klaus.

"No, he's yelled at us more than usual lately and only leaves his room to eat," Ben adds thoughtfully.

“Perhaps he’s lost his mind officially…”

They were all thinking that was the most logical reason.

***

The next day all the siblings finish eating and help collect everything. When Five finishes his part, he decides to make himself a cup of coffee as usual, but taking a sip his face twists.

"Agh! Who do I have to kill to get a decent cup of coffee?" He complains looking at his siblings.

Allison, Diego, Luther, Ben, Klaus and Vanya look at each other without knowing what to do.

"You bought another kind of coffee yourself," Vanya says. Five shakes his head.

“No, someone must have changed it. It tastes awful,” He says, throwing away the coffee and washing the cup almost furiously.

The siblings share another worried look, they know it can get worse if they do something. Luther raises his hand and winks at them, the others tried to stop him, but it was too late

"I'll take care of it," he says, approaching his brother. “Five," He touches the boy's shoulder and he turns, raising an eyebrow. "Don't you think it's time for you to learn to control your anger?"

He says it with a reassuring smile, which doesn't last long as Five's features tightened.

"Control my anger?" He says, laughing cynically. "Oh brother this is nothing. Do you want to know what I can do when I'm really angry?"

Luther shakes his head repeatedly and babbles nervously.

“Five," says Vanya and her brother looks at her, finally noticing the fear in the others. He sighs.

"I'll go for a better coffee," he says and then disappears.

"I think Luther wet his pants," Diego says holding back a laugh as Allison slaps his shoulder.

***

Three weeks later.

"Guys!" Diego yells running to Allison's room, the largest of all, and calls his siblings to meet there.

"What's going on?" Ben asks.

“Is it important enough to interrupt my bath?" says Klaus dressed with a towel.

"You're okay?" says Vanya.

When everyone is together -except for Five- Diego thinks well what he has to say.

“You won’t believe what just happened.”

"Say it," Allison complains.

"I was practicing with my knives, I’m using a new technique that I have perfected–"

"Diego!" The others say at the same time.

"Yes, okay– I was practicing and I didn't realize that Five had entered, so by accident I cut his ear a bit. It was just a scratch! I think I panicked a little when it all happened.”

"And now he's looking for you to kill you?" says Ben crossing his arms.

“No, that's what I have to tell you. I apologized but he just... smiled. He said there was no problem, it was just an accident, and continued on his way.”

"Didn't he yell at you?"

"Threats? Revenge?"

"No, it's not- Do you think he's planning revenge?" He says, suddenly more nervous.

"Wait," says Allison. "You're telling us that Five,” points outside her room. "That little maniac we have for a brother, didn't do anything to you?” Diego nods.

"This is very strange," says Vanya.

"Do you think he's drugged?" Luther asks.

"No sir," says Klaus. "I would know.”

When everyone is silent, they hear the faint sound of a record: Dancing in the moonlight.

The Hargreeves brothers stay still in their places.

"Does the music come from..?” Diego says.

"Five's Room," Ben finishes for him.

"Maybe he is high," adds Klaus.

***

The next day Klaus grabs his walkman, puts on his headphones, and starts dancing around his room until he goes out into the hall.

Everything is fine, the music takes him to unimaginable places -just like his drugs- and from time to time he looks in the rooms of his siblings; Ben is reading, Vanya’s practicing on her Violin. Klaus smiles at them, but everything changes when he passes by Five's room, where he stops at the door frame.

For a moment he thinks he sees Five walking from one place to another fixing his outfit. He laughs at his own thoughts, but he can't help but hide to spy on him better and what he finds surprises him even more.

Five is dressed in dark jeans, a navy blue T-shirt, sneakers, and a leather jacket. Klaus can't believe what he sees, his brother in front of a mirror, combing his hair and adjusting his jacket.

Never in his life had he seen Five worry about his appearance and the worst thing is that he wears normal clothes! And not the uniform of the academy that he has become used to.

Klaus is gaping, but he knows he can't be there any longer, so he runs off to Allison's room and tells his sister everything he just witnessed.

"You've got to be kidding me," Allison says without taking her eyes off her magazine.

“I swear I'm not lying. I know I'm a genius at lying, but not this time."

His sister sighs and looks up.

"Okay, suppose that's true. Why do you think he’s doing it?"

“I don't know, that's why I came to you, little sister. I have no idea what is going on. Let's see it with your own eyes.”

She rolls her eyes and they both leave the room just as Five leaves his. Allison also can't believe what Klaus said was true.

"Five?" She asks.

“Hey," answers the boy with a half smile, causing chills in his two siblings.

"Are you going somewhere?" Ben and Diego peeked out their doors to find out what’s going on.

"I'll go out,” replies Five with a shrug and walking towards the stairs to avoid further questions.

“Five's not wearing the uniform..." says Diego, meeting with the others. "Did you also see him or am I going crazy?"

"This is so strange," adds Ben.

"Where do you think he went?"

"I don't know, but we have to follow him," Allison answers. "He didn’t use his power.”

The four of them were silent for a few seconds, until they ran to their rooms and grabbed their coats. Allison told Luther and Vanya on the way out. Diego hurried forward to look for Five and found him walking into a flower shop.

"What's happening to him!?" Klaus exclaims.

Five leaves the premises with a red rose in hand and a big smile before continuing on his way. Cautiously, the other Hargreeves followed him until he reached the cinema. The boy waited at the entrance next to the small cubicle where tickets are bought.

"He seems nervous," says Luther.

“What're you planning?" Diego asks in a whisper.

Klaus, Allison, Vanya, and Ben roll their eyes at their brother's question.

"Look!" Vanya points out the moment a girl calls out for Five.

He smiles at her and scratches the back of his neck nervously. The girl hugs him and he corresponds, then gives her the flower. They chat for a bit and then head off to buy their tickets.

"No way…”

"What?"

"I can’t believe it!”

“Shit."

"Five is–“

"On a date!"

***

Three weeks before.

"I'll go for a better coffee,” he says and then disappears.

While his siblings plan to avoid Five's anger. He appears outside the Griddy’s shop, where he and his siblings used to go often when they were younger.

He fixes his uniform, walks into the store and sits at the bar, ignoring the people. After a few minutes Agnes, the waitress takes his order, just black coffee.

While waiting, Five decides to look around: to his right were two gentlemen, talking and laughing. To the left, in the background, there’s a girl, perhaps the same age, sitting with a cup at her side and a notebook in front of her, she’s drawing, deeply concentrated. And further on are a group of four teenagers laughing and joking, every now and then one of them turns towards the girl.

His thoughts are interrupted by the cup of coffee Agnes brings him, his focus now on caffeine. That’s why he doesn’t hear the laughter increases.

Five is oblivious to what happens behind his back: A boy rips a napkin into small pieces, makes them into balls and begins to throw them towards the girl to attract attention.

Little by little the girl loses her patience with the teenagers, who have been visiting the store for three days only to annoy her while she tries to focus on her drawings.

A napkin ball falls on her table, another falls into her notebook, but when one touches her face and the laughter of the boys increases, she decides that’s enough.

Sighing, she doesn't want to leave the cafeteria, she's only been there for a few minutes and she really wants a moment alone, as she always manages to do. She looks up and looks around her and sees the two men who are about to leave, so she looks at the bar. A boy in uniform she’s never seen before is there.

It seems that they’re the same age, so she takes her cup, her notebook, pencil case, bag and walks towards the bar, on the boy's right side. She clears her throat and he looks at her sideways.

"Excuse me, does it bother you if I sit next to you?" says politely, pointing to the bench.

Five just shrugs. Y/N frowns at his reaction, she was expecting something more, but doesn't want to push, so she puts her things on the counter and reopens her notebook.

"Hi Y/N, can I get you more chocolate?" Agnes asks. And the girl nods.

Hearing the girl's request, Five can't help but roll his eyes thinking how childish it is to drink chocolate. After a few minutes, Agnes returns with the cup and offers it to the girl, who thanks with a smile.

"Now why did you change places, Y/N?" Agnes asks while cleaning the counter. "You always sit on the back."

She makes a face and points behind her.

"Oh, those children. They have come three days in a row, haven't they?"

"Yes, unfortunately.”

Five raises an eyebrow at the conversation. Agnes leaves to continue cleaning the place.

"Don't your parents say anything to you for drinking coffee?" Y/N asks him.

“No," He says curtly and she makes a face.

"Personally, I prefer chocolate," She adds with a smile.

"Good for you.”

Her smile falls at the boy's responses.

"Sorry, I just wanted to make conversation…”

The girl takes a sip from her cup, takes out the pencil she was using earlier, and goes back to her drawings.

Five is a bit surprised when the girl next to him no longer tries to get his attention, usually people nags until he loses it, especially about his uniform, or even recognize him from the academy. He turns a little and sees the delicate strokes the girl makes, along with some loose pages that almost fell off the notebook. Without thinking, Five asks.

"Did you do all that?"

She raises her head and watches the boy, who points to the paper.

“Oh yeah –uh. I did it,” She takes out one of the sheets and shows him a pencil drawing of a swallow.

Five takes the sheet.

"You're good," He says simply and returns the drawing.

"Thank you,” she answers with a smile. “I'm Y/N.”

"Five," he replies, nodding, she looks at him confused.

"What?"

"My name is Five."

“Oh…”

“Yeah."

Y/N shrugs, looks down, and notices his blazer.

"What school do you go to? I think I have seen that emblem before, but I don't remember…”

Five rolls his eyes, but knows it's his fault, he hinted to continue the conversation.

"A private one, it's not very well known,” He says, turning to the counter and taking his cup.

Y/N frowns trying to remember, but is unable to do so, as her thoughts are cut off by another ball of paper crashing against her nose.

"Ugh, you have to be kidding me," She complains, drawing the attention of Five.

"You know? If you say something to them, maybe they’ll stop bothering you.”

She snorts. “I already did, the first day they arrived. They invited me to be with them and when I said no, they did their best to annoy me, it has been like this for days. Every time I say something it's worse,” She rolls her eyes. “I guess they can't understand much when they have a brain the size of a walnut…”

The comment makes Five smile, remembering that he once said it to his brothers.

"Trust me, I know what you're talking about," he says.

"You do?" she asks.

"My brothers are not the smartest in the academy.”

She laughs.

“It must be fun going with your siblings to the same school. I’m an only child,” She adds.

"Sometimes it is…”

She opens her mouth to continue the conversation, but one of the annoying guys arrives at her spot, between Five and Y/N.

"Hey kid," He says, tapping Five's arm. "Why don't you just leave and go back to your stupid school?"

His friends laugh and Five turns completely still on the bench, looks at the boy with a tight smile.

"And leave Y/N in the hands of four idiots who don't know what a 'no' is?" He says sarcastically.

Y/N looks surprised, while the other boy clenches his hands into fists.

"Surely she’s bored with you, friend. I'm doing you a favor.”

“How considerate of you. What’s your next altruistic action of the day?"

That makes the girl laugh and Five raises an eyebrow, annoying the blond boy further.

"Do you want to fix this problem outside, kid?"

"I don't see why,” answers Five. "And you?" He asks Y/N and she denies. "You see?"

“You and me outside. Now.” The boy mutters.

“No, thanks.”

The friends get up. That puts the girl on alert, touching Five's shoulder and he notices it too.

"Just leave us alone," She says.

"Shut it, princess,” answers the blond.

Before anyone could do anything else, the blond grabs Five by the collar of his shirt and forces him out of the store. Being taller and stronger than Five, it was quite easy to pull.

Y/N quickly packs up her things and pays for her chocolate and Five's coffee. When the blond lets go of Five, he walks away laughing a bit.

"What's so funny, you idiot?"

"Oh nothing. Only- it's funny to think that you guys want to fight me.”

"Oh, let's break you up," says another of the guys.

Five laughs again and the four boys approach him, but he uses his teleportation power to dodge them. In less than five minutes, the boys are on the floor complaining. Five sees the end of the ‘fight’ and fixes his tie.

"I can't believe it," Y/N says, surprised by what she just witnessed.

The black-haired boy turns to see her and shifts somewhat uncomfortably instead.

"You're a freak!" Yells one of the boys on the ground, then stands up  and runs through the streets with his friends closely following him.

"You're okay?" asks the girl, getting closer.

“Obviously," He raises a brow.

"That was amazing!" She exclaims surprising the boy. "You're one of the Umbrella Academy, aren't you?"

"Uh- I, Yeah,” he says, there’s no point in denying it.

“Great!"

He frowns, then rolls his eyes and walks back to the store to pay for his coffee.

"Oh, I paid," she says.

"You didn't have to do it.”

"Come on, it's the least I can do," she says, smiling. "They won't go back to the store now. Thank you.”

Five looks her straight in the eye and smiles a little.

"You're welcome.”

"I - uh, do you have something to do?" She asks with a slight blush. "We could go to the park that’s nearby.”

Y/N hopes she doesn't sound like one of those desperate or intense girls, while Five thinks about his options. Go home to put up with his siblings or go to the park… with a cute girl.

"Sure, why not?"

She smiles again and they both walk into the park while talking about whatever comes to their minds.

After being together all afternoon, Five realizes that Y/N’s a funny and smart girl, when he tries to explain something to her about his power and how it can work using unusual terms, she tries to understand, and asks the right questions. She knows how to listen and takes it seriously. While she tells him about her art and some techniques that she has learned during her classes, getting all of Five's attention.

Both are happy to have met and although Five is not used to these new feelings, his curiosity wins and he wants to know more about her. The boy can't remember the last time he felt so… happy.

Throughout the remainder of the week and those that followed, Five returns to the store and meets Y/N, always in the same place. In a short time they know about their families, favorite activities, tastes…

The girl's company makes Five's anger and frustration dissolve quickly, he no longer takes it out on his siblings.

Five finds himself looking at every detail of the girl's face who’s telling him… something. His thoughts go beyond her voice, now every time he thinks of her, positive adjectives accompany it. Every time he walks to the store he gets nervous and Five knows that this is not normal.

So after three weeks, he works up the courage to ask her out to go to the movies. Y/N accepts, avoiding acting in a shameful way.

When the day of the date arrives, both teenagers are excited, but also anxious: Five decides to dress in 'normal' clothes when remembering that Y/N once asked if he was always wearing the academy uniform. He wanted to surprise her, while she’s dressed in a flowered, loose dress along with a denim jacket. The first to arrive is Five, after a few minutes she arrives with a beaming smile. The moment he sees her, he hides the red rose that bought her behind his back while smiling back.

"Wow, you look very different without wearing the uniform!" She says upon arrival.

"Hello to you too," He says, making her laugh.

Y/N hugs him by the neck and he reciprocates the hug. When they both part, he offers her the rose.

"I brought you this," he says with a little blush.

"It's beautiful, thank you,” She answers taking the flower.

"Uh- I was thinking the new action movie, but I don't know if you want to see it..?” He says nervously.

“It’s cool.”

The two of them get tickets, buy popcorn, and enter the room, oblivious to what is happening not far from them.

Five's siblings enter the cinema, after a discussion of whether it was right to spy on the boy, in the end, the idea of ​​Klaus won. Inside the room, the film continues without problems, while the teenagers share from time to time a look, touch hands and laughs, the rest of the academy can not believe the attitude of their brother.

After the movie ends, Five and Y/N walk out of the room holding hands.

"It wasn't that bad, but it wasn't that interesting," She says.

"I think the same.”

"Can you hold this? I have to go to the bathroom…”

He nods and takes her jacket along with the flower. When Y/N disappears, Five's smile falls.

"I know you're there, come out now.”

Several complaints are heard, but in the end the six brothers come out and approach Five.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"How did you know we were here?" Luther asks.

"I heard how you argued with Diego over the popcorn,” Ben and Klaus roll their eyes with ‘I warn you’ scowls. "I would recognize your voices anywhere," he says seriously.

"Oh, but that’s not the important thing here, little brother,” says Klaus as he walks to his side. “Who's that cute girl you have a date with?"

Five's cheeks flush, but he tenses his body at the question.

"It's none of your business.”

"Come on, Five. We don't want to ruin your date, just tell us her name,” says Allison.

"I'm sure you won't leave either way, sis,” replies Five with his usual ironic smile.

“Try us," Vanya adds with an amused smile.

He sighs. "Her name is Y/N, now get out!” The six laugh.

"Five?"

The boy tenses again when he hears her behind his back. He turns and smiles nervously at her as he hands her his things.

"Everything is alright?" She asks seeing the six kids who look at her excitedly. “Hello?" She says uncertainly.

Five closes his eyes for a few seconds cursing his family. There’s no escape, so he turns to his siblings and puts a hand on the girl's waist.

“Y/N, this is my family. They spied on us while we were watching the movie.” Now the girl looks at them surprised and a little embarrassed.

Five introduces each and she reciprocates the greeting.

"It's great that there’s someone who supports our dear brother,” says Klaus, approaching the girl and then hooking his arm with hers.

"It's not that bad,” She says looking at Five, who tries not to smile.

The six Hargreeves want to get to know the girl Five is dating, not knowing that this was their first date. So they followed the couple for the rest of the date.

Y/N gets along with the family with great ease, thinks Klaus is funny, discovers that she has things in common with Ben and Vanya, thinks that Luther’s protective of his family, Diego teaches her his power, and had a good conversation with Allison. All this under Five’s uncomfortable gaze.

The boy can’t deny that he’s happy to see the girl who likes to get along with his family, but he’s also frustrated at the interruption of their date. Only in the evening, when she said goodbye to everyone, did he have a moment alone to accompany her home.

"I like your family,” She says.

"I'm sorry they interrupted our date," He scratches the back of his neck.

"Next one will be just the two of us," She says, causing him to raise his eyebrows.

“Next one?"

"Yeah, why not?"

He smiles in relief.

"I can't believe my family hasn't ruined something in my life, I assure you that Diego and Luther's fights are always-"

Five is interrupted when Y/N stands on her tiptoes and kisses his lips chastely. The boy blushes just like her, but they both smile and Five leans in to kiss her again, shortly.

"See you tomorrow?" He asks when they part.

"I'll wait for you,” She answers.