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petite-ely · 4 years ago

Text

Afraid // JJ Maybank

Six - Too much to risk

Pairing: JJ Maybank x fem routledge! reader

Warnings: Mention gun, being shot at, swearing, slight mention of death, maybe some mistakes oopsie, tell me if I missed something

Description: A small improvised visits by Petekin leads to a hectic afternoon in the marsh.

A/n : Hellooo guys, gals and pals, this is quite a long part. I really wanted to finish the first episode. also I really don’t know how to had a little read mor thing I don’t know how. Sorry! hope you like it!

Previously next

Afraid masterlist

gif by @robinsbuckly

Song recommendation

It was now far later in the morning, meaning the sun had fully risen and it was a much more reasonable hour to be up at. JJ had left a while ago and John B was still peacefully sleeping (and loudly snoring). Y/n hadn’t been able to go to sleep after her talk with the blond boy and she was now sitting on the couch reading her book (actually reading this time). So, when she heard the front door open, she didn’t bother looking up, assuming it was one of her friends. Who else would just come in like that anyway?

"Hey, there’s coffee made in the kitchen if you want any,” she said, still not pulling her gaze of off her book.

“That’s kind of you to offer, but I’ve already had two cups this morning, I don’t think it would be reasonable for me to have more.” Y/n’s book fell to the ground.

“Sheriff Peterkin, I’m so sorry. I-I thought you were someone else-” she got up from her seat, “-do you, do you need anything, water or uh-”

“You don’t have to bother sweetheart, I’m not planning on staying that long. I just want to talk for a bit,” answered the adult.

“Okay,” she took a pause to swallow. “I’ll go get John B.”

“If you don’t mind, I’ll go get him myself.” Y/n nodded, watching as she disappeared into the hallway leading to her brother’s room.

She started pacing around the living room, ferociously biting the nails on her left hand. It wasn’t every day a cop showed up in your house. She had absolutely no idea why Peterkin would want to talk. Actually, she had about 25 different ideas, starting with the fact her uncle hadn’t been on the island for about 3 months. And the party last night, what if she knew about the gun? Would JJ be in trouble? Whatever it was, it wasn’t good, that she was certain of it.

The conversation went on for much longer than expected. Basically, Peterkin knew about their uncle being awol and she offered to help get dcs off of their back for a while if they helped her in return. She had also mentioned that it wouldn’t be good if they had seen a shipwreck, which of course they denied despite that being actually true. Y/n didn’t fully understand what Peterkin meant. But she knew that it meant there was something valuable in that boat. And Jonh B knew it too. Yet, he was afraid, which was understandable, considering everything. They were pretty much guaranteed to be put in foster care if they got caught. Not good at all.

“You know what? I'm calling it off,” announced John B.

Y/n raised her head from her sketchbook, dropping her pencil on the low table in front of her to listen to what her brother had to say. She had been drawing silently while the other pogues, all sitting in different ridiculous positions across the backyard, talked and did their own things. She was only half listening to what they were saying, sketching messily the outline of the château. It wasn't very good, but it was calming to do. When she heard the seriousness in her brother’s tone, she closed her sketchbook, otherwise she’d be too distracted.

“Peterkin told us that if we stayed out of the marsh, she’d help with dcs.” The girl grimaced remembering the woman’s words.

“And you believed her?” “Yes, JJ I believed her.”

“You really think that she’d help us?” asked y/n. “It’s been more than 6 months, bird. If she really wanted to help, she would have helped earlier, no?”

“Yeah, she’s a cop, an actual cop. And you think she’s telling the truth?” added JJ.

“Look,” John B glanced at y/n. “All we gotta do is stay out of the marsh for a couple days and she’ll help us.”

“I know, I was there.” Kiara snickered softly at her friend’s words. “But I don’t know, I feel like we’re getting tricked or something. What if she’s like trying to lure us out of there-” she gestured to the water behind them, “-because there’s something she doesn’t want us to see, uh? What if it’s about dad?”

J.B rubbed the back of his neck before turning his body slightly to face the ocean. “Look,” he addressed his sister. “I get that you’re curious and you want to know what’s down there, but I'm only trying to do what’s best for us. And I think it would be better if we listened to Peterkin. I’m just trying to keep you safe, to protect you, bug.” His voice softened as he finished his sentence.

“And it didn’t help that JJ was shooting a gun last night!” Y/n raised her eyebrows at Pope, her face clearly showing intrigue. She wondered where this conversation would lead, a fight between the two boys most likely. Her gaze shifted to JJ who seemed annoyed at the Routledge boy’s words.

“You know what, I should’ve let Topper drown your ass.” John B laughed. “Topper was gonna drown me?” “Sure looked like it.”

“Boys can you plea-” Y/n tried to stop the small bickers, miserably failing as her brother interrupted her. “Funny.” A loud sigh escaped the girl’s lips and Kiara beside her pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Have you looked in a mirror?” “Tell me some more. Come on.” “They always win don’t they, man?”

“Kooks versus pogues. They always, always win!” You could hear the frustration dripping from his voice. Which was understandable. He had a point, kooks always won, it was time for a change.

“Goddamn!” “Look, it’s okay!” Kie tried to reassure him. “No, it’s not okay!”

“He’s right,” agreed y/n. “They always win, or find a way to avoid the consequences.”

“Exactly, they don’t want us to go down into the marsh, that means there's something valuable down there and you know it.” He said to John B. “I know you do.”

“And I understand why you wouldn’t want to go,” he pointed to Pope. “You’re the golden boy, you got way too much to risk. And you,” he turned to Kiara. “I mean you’re already rich as fuck anyway.” Okay, that was an exaggeration.

“Why would you bother.”

“But us, you, me and y/n, we’ve got nothing to lose!” His eyes glowed with something y/n hadn’t seen in him in a long time. Hope. It made her sad to think about how JJ really had nothing in his life besides the pogues. But if he was hopeful, then maybe, maybe...

“We really don’t.” “Yes, we do have something to lose.”

“If something goes wrong and dcs comes in, y/n and I would be brought to the mainland in foster care. That means placed with families who probably only care about the check that comes in every month and her and I getting separated from one another and from you guys.”

Y/n thought about what her brother had just said. He had a point, if things went wrong, they could lose everything. Each other mainly and the pogues. It was the worst-case scenario. But if they didn’t get caught, it would make their life so much better. Was it worth all the risk though? That was the question.

“Do you understand what that means? How horrible it would be?” The girl got up from her seat and went to stand next to her brother. “I do,” she said. “I understand, bird.”

“I know that you’re scared and so am I. It’s a pretty big risk. If we get caught, we’re fucked, but listen to what JJ has to say. I think that it might be worth the risk. And if we do get caught-,” she put her hand on his shoulder and turned him around so that he faced her, “we’ll find a way to find each other again. We’re Routledges, we always find a way to solve our problems, don’t we?” Her hand squeezed his shoulder softly. “We’re gonna be alright, bird.”

A small smile drew itself on John B’s lips. “So, what’s the plan,” he said to JJ.

“You got the key to Cameron’s big boat, right?” “No,” J. B’s face scrunched in disagreement.

“There’s scuba gear. We borrow that and then we go down to the wreck this afternoon and that’s what’s gonna save you, man,” exclaimed JJ. “You don’t see rich kids going into foster care, do you?”

Y/n breathed out loudly. She was scared as hell. This was going to be pretty tricky, but she knew something was down there. And if it wasn’t money or something like that, then it was something related to her dad’s disappearance. She could feel it deep into her soul.

>>>

“This is empty, you took empty tanks,” announced Kiara to the group as she furrowed through the bag of oxygen tanks.

Y/n put her head in her hands. Their plan had seemed so perfect and now they didn’t have the one thing they needed for it to work.

“Okay this one’s a quarter full. It’s enough for one of us.” “Love it when a plan comes together.”

“Does anybody know how to dive?” asked the brunette but only to be answered by a chorus of shrugs and denying nods. “Anybody?”

“It’s kind of a kook sport,” JJ looked at her.

“I, … I read about it,” tried Pope.

“Great, Pope read about it, now someone’s gonna die,” exclaimed Kie dramatically.

“Look.” JJ’s gaze circled the group of friends. “You put the thing in your mouth and you breathe. How hard can it be?”

“I don’t think it’s that simple,” confessed y/n.

“Yeah,” agreed Pope. “If you come up too fast, Nitrogen gets in your blood and you get the bends.”

The girl’s eyes widened. She remembered a book she had read a while ago where one of the characters had the decompression sickness (and how tragic their death was).

“Bends like bend over?” JJ joked as he bent his body in a way to stick his butt up in the air. Typical JJ joke, weird and somehow always a bit sexual. Y/n slapped his arm as a way to tell him off.

“JJ, the bends is deadly,” she had a stern expression, “it kills you.” “Oh, right.”

“I can- I can dive,” announced J.B. “Yeah, you can dive I’m cool with that.” “Since when can you dive?”

“No, you can’t dive,” scoffed his sister. “I’ll do it, it’s fine.” “What? The hell?”

“Let’s do some calculations real quick.” Pope pulled out a pen and started writing some numbers. Y/n got up from her seat and went to stand beside him. “So, that boat’s about 30 feet down.” “okay.” “So, it’ll take about 25 minutes at most at that depth.” “Twenty-five.” “Which means you need to make your safety stop at about... 10 feet. Alright? For two minutes.” “Ten feet, two minutes got it.”

They all watched as Kiara jumped straight into the water, her shirt already removed. “Uh, what was that all about?” “I don’t know, but I liked it, a lot.” y/n nudged her brother on the shoulder to get him to stop staring. He cleared his throat.

“Uh, so.” “All righty.”

She sat down on the edge of the boat, waiting for her friend to resurface from underwater. “Yeah. Uh, when you- when you’re down there, you look for the cargo hold. You stick this thing inside and you twist and pull, okay,” explained JJ. “Stick it in, twist and pull.”

“You okay?” asked y/n, while the boys kept on rambling. “Needed a swim?” Kiara rolled her eyes, a small smile on her face.

“Hey!” she called to guys, John b more specifically. “I tied my t-shirt to the anchor about ten feet down. It’s where you need to do your safety stop.”

The Routledge girl admired her friend in the water. Her body moving gracefully as she swam back towards the boat. She seemed so, at ease. It used to be that way for her too, but now, even looking into the darkest part of the water gave her a feeling of vertigo. She wondered if she could still swim as good as she used to. It had been almost a year since the last time she had dove right into the marsh. It felt so far away. If only she was braver.

She hadn’t realised she had completely zoned out until she heard JJ speak. “Zen. Think Zen, you know.” She joined the group on the other side of the hms, her brother already suited for his dive.

“Hey, if we get caught out here in the marsh we’re basically screwed, so,” reminded Pope, “better get a move on.” “Copy that.”

Kiara got up and planted a small kiss on J. B’s cheek. Y/n looked at the two boys next to her with a confused expression. They both shrugged in answer, clearly just as confused as she was. “Diver down?” “Diver down.” She watched as his figure disappeared slowly into the water.

“All right.” “See ya, dude.”

She went to sit next to Kie. “I only love him as a brother,” she mocked her friend. “Yeah right, my ass.”

“It’s just a small kiss y/n/n, it doesn’t mean anything. I still mean what I said yesterday. It’s just that,” she took a pause, her eyes squinting at the sun, “I’m just worried for him, you know he’s going through a lot and then there’s the shipwreck and all.”

“Uh huh, I totally get what you mean,” ironized y/n. “Shut up,” Kie nudged her with her elbow. “No, but seriously-” started the girl before being interrupted by the sound of a police siren behind her.

“Shit, guys.” “Guys, that’s the police.”

“Oh no, no, no, no, no, that is not good. Not good at all.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” “Yep that’s the police.” “Just act fricking normal.”

Anxiety bubbled at the pit of y/n’s stomach. Hopefully he wouldn’t recognize her, otherwise she was dead. So dead. She sat down beside Kiara in a somewhat natural position, her legs crossed to keep them from bouncing.

The police boat parked itself beside the hms. Officer Shoupe behind the wheel. “Evenin’ officers,” greeted Pope. “Evening.”

“How you kids doin’ ,” asked Shoupe. “You know the marsh is closed.”

“No.” “No.” “No, wow.” “I didn’t know that.” They all feigned ignorance, hoping to fool the two adults. “Why- why is it closed?” questioned Pope, adjusting his cap nervously.

“Well, we’re conducting a search out here,” informed the man. “Boat went down.” “Oh.” “Oh, no.”

“Seen’ anything?” asked the deputy.

“No.” “No, boats. No.” Y/n’s fingers tapped rhythmically on the boat, trying to keep herself from looking at her brother in the water.

“Where’s your friend you always hang with?” The pace of the rhythm fastened. “He here?” She opened her mouth, trying to think of a good excuse for the missing presence of her brother, but nothing came out.

“He’s working,” lied Kie. All of their heads nodded softly.

“I’m gonna check your little boat out,” announced Shoupe before hopping on the hms. “Yeah.” “Yeah, hop aboard.” The rhythm stopped, y/n’s nails digging into her palms.

He picked up a safety jacket. “You got another one of these?” “Yeah, yeah.”

“Of course, it’s uh, it’s in the hold,” JJ pointed to where the girls were seated. They both got up quickly. “Show him,” instructed Kie. Y/n’s joints were turning white.

“Okay.” JJ opened the hold and pulled out one of the jackets. “Yeah, here we go.” “All right.” The latch closed loudly. Shoupe’s gaze inspected the teens suspiciously. The tension could be cut with a knife.

He climbed on the flat part of the boat. “Be careful.” “Be careful out there, you don’t want to slip.”

He put his sunglasses on, staring at the exact place where John B and the ship were. The pogues exchanged worried glances. Hopefully, he wouldn’t see anything. He stood on the very edge of the boat, his figure towering over the water of the marsh.

“All right,” he finally turned around. Y/n breathed again. “All right.” “All right.”

“Beautiful day, innit?” “Sure is.”

“You let us know if you see anything on your way out,” he ordered as he started the engine. “Will do, will do.”

“We’ll be gone soon, sir.” “Yes, you will,” finally said the man before he vogued away.

Once he was far enough, the group hurried to the side of the boat, all worried about their friend. He’d been under for quite a long time now, there was no way he had any air left.

“He’s definitely out of air,” declared Pope.

At that exact moment, John B surged out of the water. Y/n felt relief take over her body. She felt her whole body unclench and let go of the grip her nails had in her hand.

“There he is!” Exclaimed JJ. “Oh god, Jesus Christ.”

“God damn it, Bird. I’m so glad you’re okay,” spoke y/n.

“Don’t scare us like that!” All of the pogues exclaimed, all so happy that their friend was all right.

“How’d it go down there?” wondered JJ. “Uh,” John b groaned and his sister hurried to the side of the boat to help him get in.

“Did you find anything?”

“Did I find anything?” He repeated throwing a large duffel bag onto the boat.

“Yeah there we go, that’s my boy!” JJ exclaimed excitedly.

“Are you okay?” Y/n asked as he coughed rather loudly. “Yeah, I’m good, but I ran out of air.” Her eyebrows scrunched together on her forehead. God, they were so lucky, what if J.B had ran out of air earlier? Or what if Shoupe had figured out what they were doing? Things could have gotten so bad.

But they didn’t, the girl reminded herself.

“You scared the shit out of me,” confessed Kiara, though it sounded more like a reproach.

“Yeah, same for me,” replied y/n. “Need a hand?” she stuck her hand out at him which he gladly took. The contact of the water with the cuts her nails had made in her hands burned, but she clenched her jaw and ignored the pain. She didn’t want to bother anyone.

“Yeah, the cops were up here but uh, took care of ‘em,” informed Pope.

“My bad.” “You’re all good.” “Yeah, you kinda missed the show, brother.”

“Hey guys?” Kiara’s voice was tinted with worry. “Guys, bogey, two o-clock.”

“What?” They all turned in the direction she was referring to. In the distance they noticed a strange looking boat heading towards them.

“Do you recognize that boat?”

“I’ve never seen it.” Kie put her hand above her eyes to hide herself from the sun. “What are they doing back here? The marsh is closed.”

“Honestly, they could ask us the same thing,” pointed y/n.

“Well, I think it would be better if we didn’t stick around and find out,” said JJ.

“JJ, get the bowline.” “Yeah.”

“Should we wait on ‘em?” asked Pope.

“Uh, I don’t think that would be a great idea,” responded y/n. The boat was coming in very fast and the people driving it looked angry and dangerous. It was much safer to just leave. “Go get the stern, go!” Hurried John B.

The blonde pulled the rope as fast as he possibly could. “Guys, don’t wait for me. Go,” he said. Y/n inspected the unknown boat in the distance, nothing about it seemed familiar. Who could these people be? And what did they want from them? “Let’s go.”

She kept her eyes glued to it as the motor started. “I have a really bad feeling about this,” she confessed, turning her head to John B. behind the wheel. “Yeah, I don’t like this either,” agreed Pope.

“Are they coming for us?” asked JJ. “Sure looks like it.”

“Maybe they’re fishing?” proposed Pope. Y/n’s gaze paused on the two men. They were intimidating, to say the least. And their eyes, both had looks filled with something threatening. It wasn’t anger or hatred, no, it was the eyes of people who would do anything to get what they wanted and that was scary.

“Go, go, go, go!” “Go into the marsh.” “Let’s go!”

“I’m going. Act natural,” stated John B as he directed the hms towards the nearest channel.

The white boat sped up, the motor roaring loudly. “Hey guys, they’re following us,” announced y/n. “Oh, this can’t be good.” “Shit”

“Dude, you gotta go faster!” “I’m going!” “Gun it!”

The sound of a gun shooting in the air echoed in the silence of the marsh. The pogues all went down instinctively. “Holy shit, guys!” “Oh my fucking god, what the fuck!”

JJ grabbed the back of y/n’s shirt with his hand, bringing her closer to him. “John b get down!” almost hissed the girl. Another shot fired, y/n clung onto JJ.

“Oh my god, we’re gonna die!” yelled Pope. A third shot fired. Y/n’s eyes caught the net at the back of the boat and an idea sparked in her head. She looked at Kiara, who clearly had thought of the same thing.

“Pope, move,” ordered the brunette as her friend stood to go grab the green net. Another shot flew into the air beside her, the bullet barely missing her.

“Get down, y/n!” shouted her brother desperately. She headed towards the back of the boat and threw the net into the water. It slid down the current and got caught right into the motor of the men’s boat, making the engine come to a halt abruptly. It clanged loudly and the two men shouted in anger. A sigh of relief left the girl’s lips. Her plan had worked.

“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” hurried Pope. A last gunshot was heard but the hms was too far away to be reached.

“Oh my god!” “Whew!” The pogues all cheered and laughed at their small victory. They were all so glad to be away from these men and all in one piece. Kiara pulled y/n into a hug.

“Y/n, don’t you ever do something like that again. You fucking scared the crap out of me,” said John B as they approached the dock of the château. “I can’t promise anything. Who knows when someone else will shoot at us?”

They all hurried themselves onto the dock, excited to know the content of the bag. “What do you guys think it is?” “Maybe it’s like jewelry? Would be a weird place to keep it but who knows?” “Gotta be money, right?”

“That or a couple of keys with street value to the low- to mid-mils!” JJ’s eyes glistened with excitement. Y/n smiled softly.

“Can we please just open the bag?” burst Pope. The group all started at him.

“Wow Pope,” y/n giggled. “That was a rare outburst of emotions.”

“You guys are literally killing me with anticipation. Open the bag. We almost died over this.”

John B. pulled out a smaller bag which contained a metal canister. Every pair of eyes was fixed onto it as he pried it open and revealed a compass. Y/n kneeled next to her brother not believing what she was seeing. They exchanged a look, neither of them saying anything. They both knew what that object was and what it meant to their father, but what the hell was it doing there?

“Oh, wow. Yup, that’s about right.” Pope was clearly disappointed by their findings. “Good job, everybody. We found a compass.” Y/n raised a trembling hand to the compass, carefully taking it into her own hands to examine it. Was this really what she thought it was? How could it be? It didn’t make any sense.

JJ removed his hat in frustration. “Dude, what? It’s not worth anything.”

A small smile creeped on Jonh b’s face, his eyes still not looking away from the compass. “This was,” he started.

“This was our father’s,” completed y/n.

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145 notes · View notes

duhragonball · 4 years ago

Note

I was thinking about Goku and Krillin's friendship and it occured to me that they spent months training with Roshi together but then only saw each other for maybe a day every few years. Have you ever had a realization that tripped you out like this?

This is a really good ask, anon, and I just wanted to take a moment to say so.

I have had a few ‘a-ha’ moments like these, but I’m kind of blanking on specific examples. I’ll see what I can come up with.

1) For openers, there’s the whole thing where the Red Ribbon Army has a Dragon Radar, but it’s nowhere near as sophisticated as the handheld one Bulma invented. I think the same holds true for Emperor Pilaf, but his gang is only three people. You’d expect the RRA to have the best equipment possible, because that’s their whole deal, and by normal standards they probably do have the best possible Dragon Radar... but Bulma’s is simply that much better, because she’s on another level. And it’s easy to overlook that, because Bulma’s supposed to be a genius teenager, like Donatello in TMNT, but the RRA’s Dragon Radar is the first hint that she’s even more special than we could have guessed.

2) Rewatching Dragon Ball in 2019, I gained a new appreciation for the filler episodes where Mr. Popo trained Goku. The first time I saw them, I was hoping we’d see Goku grow up and make progress over the three year gap, but instead they just focused on his early days on the Lookout, with Popo just saying things and Goku failing to understand. It was very frustrating to watch.

But in 2019, I noticed that all those episodes get paid off in the Piccolo Junior fight. Popo kept telling Goku to be “quicker than lightning” and “quiet as the sky”, and Goku just couldn’t figure out how to do that, let alone fight at the same time. He had to unlearn all the stuff that had helped him defeat King Piccolo, and he couldn’t do it... at first. But by the time he fought Piccolo Junior, he put it all together, as demonstrated with his big finishing move. Piccolo thought he had vaporized Goku, only for Goku to fly up into the air and crash into him. Why didn’t Piccolo sense Goku’s presence? Because Goku had learned to become as “quiet as the sky”. Why couldn’t Piccolo dodge it? Because Goku had learned to become “quicker than lightning.” So it vindicates those filler episodes pretty nicely. They weren’t just marking time, but they were setting up what the manga was going to do later.

3) I think last year, it hit me that Vegeta had probably never lost a fight before he went to Earth. That alone isn’t probably any big deduction. The only people stronger than him were all working for Frieza, and he knew to steer clear of them until he was ready. But it explains why he was so giddy about the zenkai effect. He had always known about it, but he never mentioned or cared about it until he experienced it for himself after losing to Goku, and then Zarbon.

Yeah, I think this occurred to me during a conversation about Vegeta killing Nappa instead of helping him. In theory, Nappa could have recovered and gotten a lot stronger, just like Vegeta did. But Saiyans Saga Vegeta didn’t care about that. He only gave his henchmen one chancemand discarded them as soon as they lost. This attitude would also explain why he never dared to challenge anyone at a higher level. He knew no one would show him any mercy, so the zenkai boost would have been meaningless to him.

So he might have regretted killing Nappa after he experienced the zenkai firsthand, although he was so drunk on his own increased power that he probably never stopped to consider it. But before Earth, Vegeta probably dismissed the zenkai as a crutch for lesser Saiyans. In his mind, a truly great Saiyan never loses battles in the first place. Or so he believed, until he lost a few times, and became stronger for it, and had to reconsider.

And that also explains how he warmed up to the Super Saiyan Legend over the course of one afternoon. He and Goku made such sick gains that week that he started to wonder if you could zenkai your way to Super Saiyan, and then he was begging Krillin to shoot him just so he could get a step closer.

4) In the same vein, it occurred to me at some point that Bardock was probably stronger than King Vegeta, and neither of them realized it. Maybe it was just a dub-ism, but I’m pretty sure “Father of Goku” has a line about Bardock’s power level being 10000. At the time it was released, 10k wasn’t that big a deal, but in the Saiyans Saga, Vegeta was somewhere around 18-24k. Later, he would claim to have surpassed his father as a child, so I think it’s fair to assume that King Vegeta must have been in that 10,000 neighborhood.

Which makes a nice subtle commentary on why the Saiyan Kingdom failed. They tried to breed better warriors, putting all their stock in the royal family, when the true secret lay in warriors like Bardock, who were constantly getting clobbered and healed. Prince Vegeta only started to make real progress once he began fighting on that same regimen.

5) Also about “Father of Goku,” Frieza only wanted Planet Kanassa subjugated because of the psychic powers of its inhabitants. I think the dub insinuated that the planet itself gave people those powers, but whatever the case, Frieza heard about these people with unusual powers and wanted them stamped out immediately. Just like he wiped out the Saiyans over the Super Saiyan Legend, and just like he planned to destroy Namek to prevent anyone else from using the Dragon Balls.

In short, Frieza fears and despises legends. Why? Because he’s so powerful that real people can’t hurt him, so his fears naturally turn to half-truths and folklore. He chases down ghost stories and rumors, because let’s face it, what else does he have to occupy his time. That’s why King Cold was happy to have the Saiyans working for him, while Frieza wanted them all dead. Cold didn’t share Frieza’s hangups. Cold barely knew what a Super Saiyan was, while Frieza thought about it all the time.

6) One day I thought about that timeline where Cell killed Trunks and took the time machine to find the androids. That specific timeline is pretty much empty. The Z-fighters are all dead, and so are all of the androids and Trunks. They don’t even have a Cell anymore because he went back in time and never returned. There’s still a population, I guess, because the Trunks of that world wouldn’t have just stood by while Cell absorbed everyone on Earth, but that’s about it. Bulma might have survived Cell’s attack on Trunks, but she’d be the only “name” character on the board. It just sounds like a pretty depressing world. Maybe this was the timeline Whis picked out to relocate Blunks and Future Mai in Dragon Ball Super.

7) It sort of blows my mind that the entire Majin Buu arc takes place over a couple of days. Like, episode 207 through 250 all takes place over one day. We know this because Goku only had 24 hours to be back in the living world, and that time was cut short by his use of SSJ3. Then the Elder Kai started doing his ritual to make Gohan stronger, and that took like 25 hours, I’m pretty sure. That wrapped up in #262, and there was no break in the action from that point onward, all the way up to the defeat of Kid Buu in #287. So yeah, eighty episodes over two days. It’s practically real-time footage, save for skipping over the Elder Kai’s ritual and Goten and Trunks practicing and sleeping.

It’s hard to catch on to this, though, because so much stuff happens in the anime version that leads you to think that it’s a much longer span of time. After Vegeta wrecks the stadium, the anime can’t decide whether or not Mr. Satan would stay there or return to his dojo. In the Fusion Saga, Mr. Satan wanders from Buu’s house to the nearest town, then he wanders to the next town over, doing his “Last Man on Earth” bit, except this all happens during the Gotenks/Super Buu fight, which barely lasts half an hour. In the afterlife, Chi-Chi is worried that she can’t find Gohan, but she wouldn’t have even been there that long, and wouldn’t she still be in line to meet King Yemma? She was one of the last Earthlings to die, so how did she end up in heaven so quickly?

8) I used to think Movie 13 (the Hirudegarn one) was canon, but the last time I watched it, I noticed all these glaring problems. They use the Dragon Balls in this one, which means it has to be set six months after the wish to make everyone forget about Majin Buum which means it’s been a year since Kid Buu was defeated. Okay, fine, except Gohan and Videl are still in high school. Shouldn’t they have graduated by then?

More importantly, their high school and Bulma’s house seem to be in the same city. I guess that’s an easy mistake to make. It took me a long time to even notice, but Orange Star High is in Satan City, which is a totally different place from West City. I mean, right? They’re not terribly far apart, but they’re not the same place either.

Then again, they seemed to make the same error in Episode 287, where Bulma’s out shopping and Great Saiyaman 1 and 2 foil a robbery. Are they in West City or Satan City? Maybe there’s more to this...

#ask duhragonball #dragon ball #Anonymous

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miss-nov · 4 years ago

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Freddie Lounds Headcanons Because She Is A Boss Bitch Who Deserves A Backstory!!! (NBC's Hannibal).

Was born and raised from ages 1-13 in Southern Connecticut (Westbrook) before moving to Lafayette, Louisiana where she lived before moving to Orono, Maine for College (The University Of Maine) and stayed there to go on with her Journaling Career.

She was born November 5th, 1976. (I'm assuming the show takes place in the early 2010s as the show doesn't seem to be necessarily in the same year as the books are per se). Her full name is Fredrica "Freddie" Lisa Lounds.

Freddie is vegetarian because in her younger years she couldn't stomach the sight of butchered animals of when her father went hunting and decided to not eat meat.

Freddie's father is named George James Lounds and he's a country man through and through and has worked as both a fisherman (in Lafayette) and a ranch hand (Westbrook). Comes from a Christian background. Only moved to a more urban area for his wife. They married September 12, 1969. Born January 23, 1956 in Westbrook, Connecticut.

Appearance: Pale Blue Eyes/Red, Curly Hair/ Pale and Freckled/ 6'3"/ Burly.

Freddie's mom is named Laura Lisa Lewis. While she's never worked a job she is know to volunteer and be active in her community. Very much a charismatic busy-body. Comes from a Christian background. Always dreamed of living in a nice cottage in the country side of France and seriously plans to in her retirement plan. Born July 17, 1957 in New Haven, Connecticut.

Appearance: Dark Brown Eyes/ Strawberry Blonde Wavy Hair/ Tanned/ 5'2"/ Slender.

Freddie's older sister is named Christine "Chrissy" Renee Lounds. Is a stay-at-home mom and mother of Danny James Turner. She married Grant Roger Turner in April 4, 2002. Lives on a small farm in Wolftrap, Virginia. Agnostic beliefs. Regal and able to hold a mean grudge. She has rather rocky relationship with Freddie. Born December 4, 1970 in Westbrook, Connecticut.

Appearance: Wavy, Partly Sunbleached, Red Hair/ Pale Blue Eyes/Tanned/5'5/Lithe and Slightly Toned.

Freddie doesn't know her grandparents on her Father's side because they're alcoholics. She knows virtually nothing about them, not even their names.

Freddie is/was close to her grandparents, Kenneth Hiram Lewis and Lois Renee Miller, on her mother's side. Kenneth was born March 30, 1930 and died in 1991. Lois was born June 25, 1928 and is still presently alive.

Freddie is Bisexual and while her parents are accepting it is difficult to them to understand everything that comes with it so it isn't a topic that comes up often at Family Events.

Freddie is a decent enough cook but the only thing she can bake is bread. Other baking things tend to burn.

Her father and her tend to be slightly emotionally distant.

Freddie bonds with her father by fishing though she never actually eats the fish or help gut and clean them but she likes the comfortable silence. It makes her feel close to him.

Freddie bonds with her mother by helping pick out knick knacks to cram into the kitchen and living room. Her mother insists she takes one to take home with Freddie everytime she visits. Freddie always caves in and does.

Freddie and Christine rarely bond and mostly fight and bicker but when they do it's mostly over watching/playing with Danny. Occasionally one of them reaches out to mend their relationship but it never ends up working out. They can go months without talking to each other but both sisters know that when it really counts they're there for one another.

Danny James Turner is a hyper and energetic boy who wants to be firefighter when he grows up and went as far to convince his mom to get a Dalmatian puppy which he eloquently named her Dotty.

Danny is one of Freddie's pride and joys. She isn't sure if she'll have kids herself but enjoys her visits with Danny. She taught him how to play basketball.

Freddie isn't close with her brother-in-law but she is polite and cordial with him.

Freddie visits her parents on every single holiday without missing a beat. It slowed once they got a cottage in France when she turned 30 but she still makes time for them.

Has no Aunts and has one Uncle, Jessie Hiram Lounds (May 18, 1954), on her Father's side but he only visits on Christmas.

Freddie tends to be an attention seeker as she felt Christine was favored more. Her envy of her sister multipled in high-school as Christine got better grades, was nicer and more well-liked, got all the boys' attention, and all the teachers' praises. Freddie felt she couldn't live up to her sister's standards and harbored a little resentment because of this and it caused the rift in their relationship. It worsened as Freddie entered college but evened out when she graduated.

It's because of her jealousy of her sister that she wants to be rich and famous so that can set Freddie apart from Christine once and for all.

Freddie calls Christine "Chris" to annoy her.

Freddie, since she was a young girl, had always been found eavesdropping and listening to the gossip that circulated between her mom, her grandma, and their friends. She was the type of person to stir the bot whenever she got bored because she found it incredibly entertaining.

Freddie contemplated going into law in her Junior before settling on Journaling as a Senior.

Freddie was in her high-school's newspaper club, photography club, and the lacrosse team.

In Freshman year Freddie would publish rumors in the school newspaper if you paid her and even made a gossip column for it. This lasted up until Junior year before getting permanently shut down after Freddie posted a raunchy rumor about one of the teachers. This almost got her expelled and kicked out of the newspaper club. In the end she got two months detention and had to write about school games instead.

Freddie has almost gotten suspended twice after getting into fights with people after she published cruel gossip about them.

Freddie took Advanced English classes.

Freddie favorite elective was creative writing.

Freddie is trilingual and speaks English (Native Language), French (Secondary Language), and Spanish (Third Language).

Freddie can sign almost all bad words in ASL and half the alphabet. She doesn't know anymore than that.

Freddie wants to go on a trip visiting all the hotspots of Spain before she turns sixty.

Freddie is a huge horror fan. Her favorite horror movies are Psychological ones.

Freddie LOVES trashy, reality television. The trashier and more dramatic the better.

She also enjoys true crime though the episodes where it ends up being a cold case makes her incredibly upset.

Freddie has a green belt in Karate.

Freddie enjoys Yoga and on a biweekly basis goes to a dance studio down the street of her apartment for lessons.

Freddie had a rebellious streak all throughout high-school and her Freshman year of College.

In College Freddie double majored in English and Journaling. Freddie minored in law and when she had a free period, secretly popped into the criminology classes. She was never caught. She played on the lacrosse team and the basketball team.

Freddie hasn't dated much and had only one long-term relationship (Two Years). She only is bothered by this when she thinks how much she wants a kid.

On three separate occasions had thought about adopting and raising a child on her own but chickened out; She's convinced she'd be a terrible mother.

Freddie adopted a black, stray cat fresh out of college, on the first night she moved into her apartment. She named him Pesky.

Freddie likes hyper-sexual pop and sorrowful balleds, there's no in-between.

Freddie writes poetry occasionally, sometimes about something important and other timesfor no reason at all, but it's always in the same format.

Format: Near rhymes/steady meter/rhythm/ short/ last stanza is always two lines.

Every poem she writes about Pesky is pinned all over the side of her fridge.

Favorite color is a tie between Sky Blue and Pastel Green.

Has a secret blog under the name "RedFred" where she critiques horror films.

Freddie hates serial killer with a vehement passion due to the fact that her best friend and first crush, Hannah Mayes, was murdered by one. The killer ended up in prison for life but Freddie felt like it wasn't enough. It was one of the deciding factors of the Lounds moving from Connecticut.

Freddie still has nightmares about it.

Anywho that's all I got for now!! I hope you enjoyed!!

#hannibal #nbc hannibal #hannibal nbc #freddie lounds #freddie lounds headcanons #freddie lounds hc #freddie lounds post

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yeonchi · 3 years ago

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Doctor Who Hiatusbreaker Update 2

Although the premiere of Doctor Who Series 13 is still a while off, let alone the announcement of a premiere date, there are a few things I’d like to talk about before that time comes. Let’s get right into it.

Filler series plans to talk about Series 1-10

Some time ago, I had plans to make a ten-part series talking about Series 1-10 in detail, but because I had a lot of stuff going on, those plans were reduced to something I call Doctor Who 10 for 10 - 10 Things for 10 Series, which was to state ten things about each series with at least 4 to 6 of these things being my opinions on each series. This was intended to be a filler series to bide the time before Series 13 comes out, but that may have to come at another time. I’m also continuing with Kisekae Insights if anyone wants to check it out.

The post-Series 13 forecast

Since Series 13 would be Jodie Whittaker’s third series as the Doctor, signs are pointing to this being her final series. There are also rumours stating that there will be two specials in 2022 that would serve as her final episodes. If this is the case, then it means that Jodie Whittaker would have been the Doctor for five years; a five-year-long ordeal of pain because series seem to be released pretty much every other year as a result of the almost-year-long gaps between them, not to mention the fact that less episodes are being produced as time goes on. Whether Chris Chibnall will be remaining on is still unknown at this time. Frankly, I’ll be glad when this is all over because I (and many other fans) have been kept hanging for so long. I just hope the Timeless Child payoff will be worth it.

At this point, the only reason why I’m still watching the series is mainly because I want to know how the Timeless Child arc plays out. The initial shocks have come and gone, but now this is where we wait and see if the aftershocks are as worse.

When I started my Thirteenth Doctor Reviews, I made a pact that I would cut off all ties with the series going forward if the Fourteenth Doctor was another female. Given the Timeless Child arc and the rumours that Olly Alexander would replace Jodie Whittaker (which would make him the first gay actor to play the Doctor) that came and went because his agent stated that he was focusing on music for the time being, I’ve honestly stopped giving a shit at this point. I’ll probably continue being a casual fan of Doctor Who, watching episodes as they come out, but regardless, all that this series will be to me is like what the Koei Warriors series has degraded itself to over the past decade. I’ll still be grateful for all the inspiration and opportunities it has provided me with over the years, but I’ll probably accept that the series has gone on a downward spiral with seemingly no way of coming back up. But hey, all will be revealed in due time, so the forecast isn’t that bleak for now.

The first look into Series 13 (added 26 July 2021)

So just today, two days after I originally published this post, the teaser trailer for Doctor Who Series 13 was released following the 2021 San Diego Comic Con@Home. Aside from the Doctor, Yaz and Dan, the only other character we see is Vinder, a recurring character throughout the series who will be played by Jacob Anderson. Recurring character, you say, and that’s because Series 13 will apparently be a single serialised story. This brings callbacks to The Trial of a Time Lord or more loosely, the multiple two-parters of Series 9. We still don’t get an exact premiere date, only that it will premiere “later this year”, but given that Series 11 and 12 took about 10 months to film, we can predict that filming of Series 13 will likely be wrapping up in the next month. Whether there will be a shorter run of five or six episodes (thereby reserving two of those episodes for the 2022 specials, assuming they won’t be filmed separately to Series 13) is unknown, but regardless, I’m looking forward to watching and reviewing the series for myself.

Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall leave Doctor Who (added 30 July 2021)

In news that will surprise no one, Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall have announced that they will be leaving the series in 2022. Technically, the news isn’t much of a surprise in terms of Whittaker than it is for Chibnall, as Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat have been showrunner for two Doctors each. But hey, with this, it means that my Thirteenth Doctor Reviews will also be a review of Chibnall’s run as showrunner.

My initial thoughts on this, which may or may not change coming up to Whittaker’s final episode - it was an okay run while it lasted, but honestly, good riddance. How’s that five year plan of yours going, Chibnall? If your plan was to divide the fanbase and leave them hanging with gaps between series, then you’ve really done it.

On top of this, Series 13 will be six episodes long, with the remaining two episodes to be broadcast as specials in 2022. The first of them will be a New Year’s Special (surprise surprise) and the second will follow in Spring 2022 (Northern Hemisphere). The Thirteenth Doctor’s final episode will premiere in Autumn 2022 (Northern Hemisphere) as part of the BBC’s Centenary celebrations. Some tentative dates I’m predicting are 18 October 2022, the 100th anniversary of the BBC, 23 November 2022, the 59th anniversary of Doctor Who, or 1 January 2023, which would make it another New Year’s Special (I’m not discounting 25 December 2022, I just think it’s less likely given how this era has been).

With this, the Fourteenth Doctor is expected to debut in 2023, the 60th anniversary year of Doctor Who. I just hope the new production team doesn’t disappoint the fans with that.

In terms of statistics, Jodie Whittaker has played the Doctor for 31 episodes, making her run the second shortest behind Christopher Eccleston. Peter Capaldi played the Doctor for 40 episodes, Matt Smith for 44 episodes and David Tennant for 47.

My hopes for Whittaker and Chibnall’s final episodes haven’t changed; I want to see what happens with the Timeless Child arc (and also Ruth). Whether the Fourteenth Doctor will be male or female (or played by a non-binary or trans actor), I have a few basic preliminary hopes for the next run; make each series 13 episodes again with a Christmas Special each year and put the series back on Saturday nights, like it was before Whittaker and Chibnall. Also, can we go back to filming in the 16:9 ratio? I can never get over how weird it looks on my screen (at full screen, it doesn’t look so weird when I have it playing on half screen, which is what I usually do when I write my reviews).

Jay Exci - The Fall of Doctor Who

Yes, it has been a while and I know I could have told everyone about this earlier, but better late than never I suppose. A couple of months ago, Jay Exci did a 5-hour long critique of the Chibnall era in his video, The Fall of Doctor Who. For some reason, there are those who see it as controversial because they’re NPCs who don’t want to hear criticism of the Chibnall era or they’re spergs who aren’t mature enough to sit through a 5-hour video they can watch in chunks, but hey, it’s pretty good. This is more in-depth than the reviews that people like Bowlestrek or Nerdrotic make, which essentially put Jay on their level in the eyes of the NPCs despite denying that they are on their level and being a sperg about how they’re better than them. Welcome to the party, Jay, you can check out anytime but you can never leave.

Anyway, you can check out the video below. Even if you don’t feel like watching the whole video, I highly suggest that you watch section 4.2 onwards (timestamped link here) as it does resonate with my feelings on the Timeless Child arc. I swear, this is just like Dynasty Warriors 9 all over again. I know the feeling.

youtube

Cancel culture comes for Noel Clarke and John Barrowman

The thing about cancel culture is that people can be petty about things other people have done or said years ago and they can justify it with the excuse that they’re doing it to hold those people accountable. Depending on the context, it can expose the fact that that person is a major piece of shit or it can be an overreaction to something, which in the minds of today’s society is normally the latter.

Around the time that Noel Clarke was nominated for a Bafta at the end of March, allegations emerged of abuse and sexual misconduct against him. 20 women came forward with their stories and as a result, the final episode of Viewpoint was pulled from broadcast (but still released on Blu-ray and DVD) and Bulletproof was cancelled before filming on the fourth series would begin.

In May, video emerged of Clarke at Chicago TARDIS in 2014 talking about how John Barrowman would expose his genitals and slap it on people and things. This led to allegations about Barrowman surfacing, resulting in him apologising for his actions even though he had already been reprimanded for them over a decade ago and apologised in November 2008. Despite this, his contribution to the immersive theatrical event Doctor Who: Time Fracture was pulled and Big Finish have decided to shelf the release of Torchwood: Absent Friends, which would have featured David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor.

Now, I don’t care about Noel Clarke by any means, but this situation is honestly sad for John Barrowman because it shows that cancel culture spares no victims and leaves no fossil undiscovered. These PR stunts have clearly shown that the spineless people involved with those productions are so concerned with saving face that they are unable to just overlook these transgressions for the sake of fans who actually wanted to see him reprise his role as Captain Jack Harkness. But hey, what do I know? I don’t really care for anything other than the TV series, but it really shows how shameless corporations can be.

Once again, we don’t exactly know when Doctor Who Series 13 will premiere, but if you ask me, I predict that it will premiere in October or November. I’ll see you all again around that time.

#doctor who #thirteenth doctor #thirteenth doctor review

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inevitably-johnlocked · 5 years ago

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TOP 25 BOOKMARKS of 2019

See also: Top 20 Bookmarks of 2018

Hey guys!

Since this is the last Fic Rec Sunday of the year, I’m going to give y’all the list of my favourite fics that I’ve read this year! I think this is a great way to end off the year, by letting y’all know what I thoroughly enjoyed reading while on my seemingly-never-ending quest to rec you guys the stuff y’all should read! <3

And of course, I am reducing it to a small list or I will NEVER finish reccing fics because everything I’ve read this year have been fantastic, but these are the ones I’ve found myself going back to a couple times already :)

Hope y’all enjoy!

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JOHNLOCK BOOKMARKS

The Burning of the Leaves by blueink3 (M, 15,915 w., 3 Ch. || Post S4, Angst, Reichenbach, Parentlock, Past Jolto, Idiot John, Sherlock’s a Mess, Puppies, Fluff, Possessive / Jealous Sherlock, Pining Sherlock, Sherlock POV, Matchmaker Sholto, Melancholic Feelings, Emotional Sherlock, Domesticity, Love Confessions in the Rain, Kissing in the Rain, Pet Names, Panic Attack) – After the events of series 4, Major Sholto invites John and Sherlock to lunch one day. It nearly proves to be too much for their tenuous relationship as the past haunts the present, putting the future that Sherlock so desperately wants at risk.

The Palmyra Atoll by elwinglyre (E, 16,609 w., 3 Ch. || TSo3 Divergence / Episode Fix-It, Stockholm Syndrome, Kidnapped John Watson, John Whump, Evil Mary, Angst, Cuddling & Snuggling, Toplock, Limited 3rd John POV) – As John's preparing for the wedding, Sherlock is preparing to have his heart broken, and Mary is prepared to do the unthinkable. Intervention required. Enter Sherlock. Set before Sign of Three with a far different outcome. John is drugged, kidnapped, and left on an island, but not just any old island.

Wonderful, Etcetera. by VictoryCandescence (T, 16,955 w., 3 Ch. || Wonderful Life AU || Alternate Timelines, Brotherhood, Homophobia, Suicidal Ideations, Mentions of Drug Use, Friendship, Different TRF, Sherlock’s Past, Victor Trevor is Past Boyfriend, Depression, Hallucination?, Love Confessions, Christmas, First Kiss) – Sherlock thinks everyone would be better off if he had never existed, including and especially himself. When he finds himself in a world in which his wish has been granted, he begins to think perhaps even he could be wrong – but it takes an unlikely chaperone to make him not only observe, but understand.

The Kepler Problem by kinklock (E, 24,270 w., 1 Ch. || Sci-Fi AU, Alien Sherlock, Space Repairman John, Alien Biology, Horny John) – Working in uncharted space exploration was not as exciting as John had hoped, especially when it turned out to be mostly bot maintenance on uninhabited planets. However, the mystery of the repeated, unexplained malfunctions on planet BAK 2212 might turn out to be exactly the kind of adventure he'd been craving.

A Home for Us by sussexbound (M, 30,581 w., 12 Ch. || Scars, Bedsharing, Grief, Doctor John, Hurt/Comfort, Post-TRF, Implied/Referenced Torture, Sherlock POV, Pining Sherlock, Suicidal Ideation, Heavy Emotions, Clingy Sherlock, Hallucinations, Disassociation, Emotional Turmoil) – He has been on the road for two years, and he is exhausted. He’s almost accepted that he will never see London (John) again—almost. But then there are nights like tonight, where he is weak, and all he can think of is the warmth of the flat they once shared, the crackle of the fire in the hearth, the teasing smile playing at the corner of John’s lips, the boxes of half-eaten Chinese takeaway balanced precariously in their laps. He aches at the memory of it, at the realisation that it is something he may never experience again.

Chaperones by MissDavis (T, 34,114 w., 7 Ch. || 11 Years Post-S4, Fake Relationship, Parentlock, Disney World, Bed / Room Sharing, Friends to Lovers, Fluff, First Kiss, Obsessive Sherlock, Insecure John) – Right. Of course. Everyone assumed they were a couple and no one would question it. John put his elbows up on the table so he could rest his head in his hands. "You want to pretend to be a couple so we can chaperone a trip to Disney World with Rosie's class and you won't have to share a room with a stranger?" "Exactly." Sherlock beamed at him. "Don't worry about the cost. The Birmingham case last month paid more than enough to cover expenses for all three of us."

Only To Be With You by SinceWhenDoYouCallMe_John (M, 40,768 w., 4 Ch. || Black Mirror / Future AU || Character Death, Future Technology, Sickness/Cancer/Illness, Heavy Angst with Happy Ending, First Person POV John, Pining John, Heart-Wrenching Angst) – I tell myself that next time I’ll come near this same place again. Wait around for the mysterious stranger in his coat to dash past me, hot on the heels of a new criminal in black. I think this all the way back to my Exit, planning where I’ll wait and what I’ll say when I see him. Scheming on how to get his name. It’s only once I reach the Exit Point door that I realize two hours and forty-five minutes have passed, and I realize that this won’t be the last time I Visit. It won’t be the last time at all.

A Hundred Crimson Sols by elldotsee (E, 55,536 w., 16 Ch. || Astronauts AU || Mars Exploration / Space Travel, Slow Burn, Shy Sherlock, Scientist Sherlock / Biomed Engineer John, Alternating POV, Mutual Pining, UST, Angst with Happy Ending, Domestic Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Injuries, Suicidal Ideation, Zero-G Sex) – Will Holmes is a chemical researcher recognized widely for his contributions to the new Mars exploration program. Thanks to his ground-breaking developments, the IMMC (International Mars Mission Corporation) is one step closer to Martian colonization. Will and his team of scientists are headed out on the first of three manned missions before the first group of settlers arrive. Three days before launch, one of the crew has to be replaced. Will panics because...new people. The replacement is of course one John Watson, biomedical engineer and space hottie who was pretty sure he had retired from actual space exploration and was now content to work in the nice, quiet research lab. Can the crew survive this TOTALLY ROUTINE trip? Will they be able to endure each other for the looooooong trip in close quarters? Gonna be a wild ride... prepare for blast off. Part 1 of SpaceBois go to Space

White Knight by DiscordantWords (M, 69,840 w., 13 Ch. || S4 Compliant/Post S4, Marriage For a Case, Jealous John, Pining John, Janine / Sherlock Fake Relationship, Serial Killers, Case Fic, Undercover as a Couple, Weddings, John is a Mess, Misunderstandings, Wedding Planning, Jealousy, Drunkenness, Love Confessions, Angst with Happy Ending) – Green. The word green was used to convey a great many things. Illness. Envy. Inexperience. Standing there amidst Janine's chattering bridesmaids, watching Sherlock furrow his brow and study fabric swatches, watching him smile and simper and flirt, John thought it a remarkably apt colour choice. Because he felt quite sick to his stomach, he feared the source of said sickness might very well be jealousy, and he had absolutely no idea at all what to do about it. Or: Sherlock needs to fake a relationship for a case. He doesn't ask John.

Being John Watson-ish by elwinglyre (E, 69,902 w., 17 Ch. || Bodysnatcher AU || Author John, Cranky Sherlock, Angst, Sexual Tension, First Kiss / Time, Falling in Love, BAMF John, Past Soldier John, Feelings, Inside Someone’s Brain, Shy Sherlock, Sherlock Loves John, POV Sherlock, Switchlock, Slow Burn, Internal Dialogue, Mental Turmoil) – When consulting detective Sherlock Holmes steps on one toe too many at a crime scene, he's consigned to a desk job in an archaic office on the seventh-and-a-half floor of the New Scotland Yard. It’s in this bleak office that Sherlock discovers a portal into the mind of renowned author John Watson. Grander than his mind palace, this new wonderland affords Sherlock new vistas of experimentation. To learn more about the mystery behind the portal, Sherlock seeks out and befriends Watson. But then it all goes wrong when others find the secret portal door—including the man whose brain he visits.

Just To Hold You Close by sussexbound (E, 70,841 w., 18 Ch. || Alternate First Meeting, Sherlock POV, ASD Sherlock, PTSD John, Demisexual Sherlock, Bisexual John, Cuddling/Snuggling, Platonic Cuddling, Enthusiastic Consent, Bed Sharing, Love Confessions, First Kiss/Time, Sexual Tension, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Cuddle Negotiations, For a Case Until It Isn’t, Hair Petting, Sexual Negotiation, Anxiety, Trust Issues, Slow Burn, Panic Attacks, Frottage, Hand/Blow Jobs, Referenced Self Harm / Abuse / Suicidal Ideation, First Kiss/Time, Anal, Autistic Sherlock) – When a woman is murdered and the last person to see her alive is recently invalided army vet turned reluctant (and prickly) professional cuddler, John Watson, Sherlock Holmes is pulled into a world of intimacy and intrigue he never could have imagined. John is a conundrum and mystery: frank yet reserved, tender yet angry, open yet afraid. Sherlock is instantly drawn into his orbit, and begins to feel and desire things he never has before.

The Vapor Variant by 88thParallel (CanadaHolm) (M, 72,684 w., 18 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Post-THoB, John Whump, Protective Sherlock, Guilty Sherlock, Anxious/Worried Sherlock, Virgin Sherlock, Angst with Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, PTSD John, Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, Suspense, Virus, Sickfic, Big Brother Mycroft) – They stood face to face in the middle of a clearing. The dim light of the moon barely allowed Sherlock to see the glassy terror in John’s eyes and the sweat that glistened off his forehead. His nose was bleeding again, blood dripping in a slow stream from his right nostril. They were both gasping for air, John’s eyes locked on Sherlock’s. There was no recognition there, just wild animal fear. Time stood still for an eternal few seconds, and Sherlock took a shaky breath. “John—”Spell broken, John spun and bolted back into the woods. Still heaving for air, Sherlock took off after him

A Further Sea by i_ship_an_armada & ShinySherlock (E, 125,492 w., 23 Ch. || Historical Pirates AU || Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Doctor John / Pirate Captain Sherlock, Sailing, UST / RST, Masturbation, Action / Adventure, Mild Angst & Peril, Romance, Shaving, Molly/Janine, Bottomlock, Hand / Blow Jobs, Past Drug Use, Slow Burn, Mild Violence, Happy Ending) – Here be a tale of adventure for both body and soul, but beware if ye be not of stout heart, for this be piratelock, ya savvy? Luckless ship's surgeon John Watson takes a chance, and finds himself eye to eye with The Ghost, the scourge of the seven seas and a definite thorn in the side of the blaggard, James Moriarty. But when John finds there's more to this most cunning pirate than be meetin' the eye, he has to choose... is it a pirate's life for him?

The Adventure of the Silver Scars by tangledblue (NR [M], 142,458 w., 41 Ch. || S3 Fix-It, Post-HLV/ Post-TAB / Canon Compliant, Case Fic, No Baby, Angst, Humour, UST, Slow Burn, Angry John, Reconciliation, Not Nice Mary / Leaving Mary, Dependent Sherlock, Pining Sherlock, Caretaker John, Fist Fights, It’s An Experiment, Virgin Sherlock, Dancing, Drugging, John Whump, Pet Names, Sherlock’s Mind Palace, Scars) – It’s been thirteen months since Mary shot Sherlock and John finds he’s still pissed off about it. Sherlock had thought everything was settled: John and Mary, domestic bliss. But when John turns up at Baker Street with suitcases, the world’s only consulting detective might not be prepared for the consequences. A new case. Some old scores to settle. Certain danger. Concertos, waltzes, and whisky.

Proving A Point by elldotsee & J_Baillier (E, 186,270 w., 28 Ch. || Me Before You Fusion || Medical Realism, Insecure John, Depression, Romance, Angst, POV John, Sherlock Whump, Serious Illness, Doctor John, Injury Recovery, Assisted Suicide, Sherlock’s Violin, Awkward Sexual Situations, Alcoholism, Drugs, Idiots in Love, Slow Burn, Body Image, Friends to Lovers, Hurt / Comfort, Pain, Big Brother Mycroft, Intimacy, Anxiety, PTSD, Family Issues, Psychological Trauma, John Whump, Case Fics, Loneliness, Pain) – Invalided home from Afghanistan, running out of funds and convinced that his surgical career is over, John Watson accepts a mysterious job offer to provide care and companionship for a disabled person. Little does he know how much hangs in the balance of his performance as he settles into his new life at Musgrave Court.

GOOD OMENS

you can dance in a hurricane, but only if you're standing in the eye by be_brave13 (G, 1,456 w., 1 Ch. || Non-Linear Narrative, Light Angst, 6000 Years of Pining / Slow Burn, POV Crowley, 5 and Ones, Idiots in Love, Song Fic) – 5 times Crowley knew he loved Aziraphale and the 1 time he knew Aziraphale loved him back (romantically).

Where Heaven Begins by sussexbound (M, 2,515 w., 1 Ch. || Pining Crowley, Soft Idiots, Emotional Love Making, Hurt/Comfort, Crowley Has Healing Powers, Kissing, Bed Sharing, Crowley POV) – Aziraphale bleeds. Is bleeding. He’s wearing human skin, after all.

In the (Second) Beginning by cherryfeather (M, 2,661 w., 1 Ch. || Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Confessions, Soft Crowley, POV Aziraphale, Post-Canon, First Kiss, Wings) – Aziraphale realizes that Crowley's been saying something rather loudly for a week.

The Picnic; or, the Drawbacks of Loving an Angel by sorrowfulcheese (G, 3,776 w., 1 Ch. || Post-Apocalypse/Canon, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Misunderstandings, Moving On, Picnicking, Idiots in Love, Crowley POV, Cranky Crowley, Mutual Pining, Light Angst with Happy Ending) – Aziraphale lures Crowley out for a picnic. It doesn't go remarkably well.

The slowest moving object in the universe by chamyl (G, 4,996 w., 1 Ch. || God POV, Mutual Pining, Idiots in Love, Beach Day, Games, Light Humour, Tenderness, Embarassed Crowley, Soft Idiots, First Kiss, Love Confessions) – Crowley and Aziraphale have had feelings for each other for a very long time. It takes a date at the lake and a round of 36 Questions That Lead To Love to give them the final push.

a garden all their own by leaveanote (T, 5,436 w., 1 Ch. || Post Canon, POV Crowley, Emotional Turmoil, Aziraphale Takes Care of Crowley, Crying, Nightmares, Love Confessions, First Kiss, Heart Wrenching Pining, Pining Crowley, Wings, Tired Crowley, Romance, Healing, Massage, Light Angst with Happy Ending) – The aftermath. An exhaustion deeper than body. A secret too heavy to carry when when grief burned so close. Crowley has to tell him. "What am I to you?" A saving thing, an agony, a binary star, tenderness, an unhealed wound, a home, a home, a garden. Come to me, we'll heal together.

i want to hold your hand (goddammit) by PersephonesReign (E, 7,695 w., 5 Ch. || Crowley POV, Pining Crowley, Emotional Turmoil, Slow Burn, Soft Crowley, Angst and Fluff, Love Confessions, Nervous / Anxious Crowley, First Kiss/Time, URT, Wing Kink, Anal, Top Aziraphale / Bottom Crowley, Hand Holding) – Crowley just wants to hold Aziraphale's hand. What's so difficult about that?

A Brief History of Touch by chamyl (E, 11,849 w., 1 Ch. || Moments in Time, First Kiss/Time, Heavy Mutual Pining, Romance, Idiots in Love, Slow Burn, Masturbation, Almost Kiss, Touch-Starved Crowley, Angst With Happy Ending, Love Confessions, Blow Jobs, Emotional Love Making, Friends to Lovers, Body Worship, Promise of Forever With a Ring) – Six thousand years of pining, stolen glances, almost-touches, plummeting towards the inevitable end.

The Nice and Accurate Love Story of A. J. Crowley and A. Z. Fell by SealandRocks (E, 16,353 w., 1 Ch. || Pining Crowley, Implied Mutual Pining, Emotional Love Making, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, POV Crowley, Jealous Crowley, Crowley’s Plants, Kissing as Healing, Moments in Time, The Arrangement, Love Confessions, Bottom Crowley, Gentle Aziraphale, Slow Burn, Falling in Love, Crowley is Bad at Feelings, First Kiss/Time, Anal Sex / Fingering, Wings / Wing Kink, Porn With Plot, Praise Kink, Kissing in the Rain, Symbolism, Historical References) – Crowley and Aziraphale have been dancing around each other since the beginning. From Eden to London, it eventually becomes very hard to avoid the only other immortal around. And after so many centuries, having a physically body becomes a bit uncomfortable. Crowley is left to wonder what it is about Aziraphale that helps ease the ache in his soul. It would only take him 6000 years to figure out that it was rooted in something deeper all along. Part 1 of Love Stories for the Oblivious

Any Way You Want It by LieutenantLiv (M, 27,585 w., 5 Ch. || Holidays, Slow Burn, Fluff, First Time, Eventual Smut, Swimming, Dreams of Dancing, Kissing in the Rain, Self-Esteem Issues, Misunderstandings, Crying Love Confessions, Soft Crowley, Clingy Crowley, Virgin Aziraphale, Romance) – Saving the world is exhausting work. With Heaven and Hell off their backs, it seems as good a time as any for Crowley and Aziraphale to take a proper break. Neither one of them predicts the direction their holiday takes.Who'd have thought that sharing a cottage in Scotland would be quite so romantic?

#johnlock fic recs #go fic recs #ineffable husbands fic recs #my fic recs #fave fics #fic rec sunday

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talesofafangirlwithadvr · 4 years ago

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AUGUST PICKS!

And we’re back with another month wrap up! August involved a lot of TV watching (as per usual), but I feel like I watched a lot of things I’ve already talked about before (ex: The 100, Violetta). So it was a little bit harder to feature some new titles. I felt accomplished this month because I finished quite a few series. So, without further ado...let’s do this!

Spoilers!! But you knew that already :)

...

......

So I know I’ve spoken about some of these shows A LOT recently, but I still had to include them in this wrap up because they were a good amount of the month. (Even if they feel like they were so long ago.)

CURSED

This book to screen adaptation on Netflix following Nimue (AKA the Lady of the Lake) re-invents the King Arthur myth. It was an entertaining and enjoyable watch that makes me hope there’s a second season. There were certain parts that bothered me and I wish some characters had more time on screen, but as someone who likes King Arthur and fantasy TV I’d recommend it. 3/5 for me.

For more on my thoughts regarding the show check out my earlier post: **Spoilers** Featuring Cursed

DC’S STARGIRL

A show that I’ve often been documenting my reviews/feelings after watching each episode. (That’s how you can tell IT’S THAT GOOD.) While it was a bit slow in the beginning (mainly because of it having the quality of being on a streaming service-ending on a cliffhanger for you to binge the next episode immediately kind of feel), it picked up and has easily become one of my favorites for the year. (YEAH...I KNOW. I SAID YEAR.) You can check out my page for more specific reactions in my posts, but here are some of the moments that stick out to me the most when I think about season 1.

I can’t wait for season 2!!

AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER

June doesn’t feel like that long ago, but because I started season 1 two months ago (and because of the world of quarantine) it feels like a long time ago. Especially when this show is only 18-20 episodes that are each about 20/25 minutes. For me, I enjoyed season 1, but not as much as seasons 2 and 3. I definitely watched the first season slower because of this. Once the Ba Sing Se plot happened I was very invested. I enjoyed most of Book 2 in the Earth Kingdom before this, but Ba Sing Se was definitely the best. I was so impressed that they put that into a kid show. Then again, there’s so much in this show that is well done and brings up such relevant issues to a younger audience. I loved following Aang, Katara and Sakka and enjoyed Toph’s addition to Team Avatar. Overall I think Uncle Iroh is my favorite character in the show. I loved all the wisdom he had and how he saw the best in Zuko the entire time. Their team up was great and I am so happy he got his tea shop in the end. His escape from prison was amazing. I love a good redemption arc and from the start was excited to see Prince Zuko’s (it’s one of the ‘spoilers’ I knew going in). I think it was really well done and I liked how they showed him struggling with it. The last agni kai between Zuko and Azula was such a beautiful scene and the music score behind it was so chilling. I love how they chose a slow, instrumental song to play in the background. It’s not what I was expecting and it was such an awesome choice. Overall, I really liked the music and have added it to my writing playlist. I’m really glad I decided to watch Avatar the Last Airbender.

From one binged show starting in June to another....

VIOLETTA SEASON 2

It’s crazy; you don’t think 80 episodes would go by that fast, but they do. Once you hit episode 50, I just zip by the rest in the season. So many of the plots get SO GOOD, you can’t help but watch so many episodes back to back (to back). For season 2, episode 75 was one of my favorites for the whole season. I love how some of the cast actually got to go to Madrid. (Even the intro music changed when they were there.) Diego really grew on me. I loved the added plot of discovering who his dad is! Feels very telenovela. Gregorio’s reaction was priceless-such great acting-and I loved how much it has changed his character so far. I’m excited to see where he is headed for season 3.

Leonetta forever! The reason they weren’t together was a bit weak, but I get they needed the love triangle. Overall the Leon/Violetta/Diego love triangle was a lot stronger than season 1′s (in my opinion). It felt better developed. I enjoyed a lot of the couples this season. Frederico and Ludi are a pair I didn’t know I wanted till it happened. Olga and Ramallo actually got a kiss!!! I loved hearing Ramallo talk about how Olga is the only woman in his life. So rare to see such emotions from him. Fran and Leon’s friendship was adorable. I loved their moments in Madrid. She was their #1 shipper. I know in the beginning I said there wasn’t a lot of music and performances, but as the season progressed we definitely got a lot of new songs (which I cannot stop singing). I miss my time at the Studio and hope the third season will be streaming on Disney Plus soon. I heard it could be September 18th so fingers crossed!!

THE INBESTIGATORS

Filling the void that was left by Little Lunch (and produced by the same studio) is the InBESTigators! A show that follows 4 elementary students who live in Australia and solve mysteries. One of the things I really loved about Little Lunch was how serious they made really trivial, kid-like things sound. I have often described it as an Office-like children’s show, where they talk about their problems directly to the camera and give several ‘Jim’ stares and glances to the camera. With the InBESTigators it’s a similar set up where our four sleuths, Ezra, Maudie, Ava and Kyle, relay a mystery they solved directly to us the viewer, while we watch in flashback. All of the mysteries are typical things that could happen in school or home; from overwatering a neighbor’s prize-winning flowers, packages getting stolen, a lost notebook or catching a cheater during a test. All of the kids are entertaining and funny. They each have a different dynamic that brings something to the team. Currently two of the seasons are on Netflix, and there will be a third season (but who knows when it will be filmed-I’m just happy it will eventually happen).

If you’re looking for a fun/light-hearted watch look no further. You’ll have a good time.

UNITED WE FALL

This ABC sitcom fits well on the network and like it would be on Friday nights, but has a stronger day in airing thanks to the pandemic. I hadn’t really heard much about the show and then BAM it was advertised. It felt like the network had it in its back pocket. Nevertheless, I am really enjoying it. The actors have a nice dynamic and it is very funny and relatable. I like how it represents a family with two different cultural backgrounds, but doesn’t make that the main focus of the show. Instead it is discussed naturally. Overall, I don’t know how many people know about it, so I wanted to share it as one of my picks for the month and suggest you watch it if you are looking for something both funny and optimistic.

DOUBLING DOWN WITH THE DERRICOS

I LOVE this family! As TLC is a network with predictable choices in TV shows, one about a family with multiples does not seem shocking. However, this is not your average family with multiples. At the start of the show, Karen and Deon have a total of 11 children (with only two of them being what they called ‘singletons’). They have twins, quints, and another set of twins (that would have been triplets). Her last three pregnancies were multiples and then she becomes pregnant with triplets. AGAIN! This family is considered a miracle because she had no IVF or anything like that for her conceptions. I love watching them because they seem like a great group to be apart of. They are what the epitome of family should be like. There is so much love. I know when my family watches the show we are all so impressed by how well behaved all of the kids are. People with half the amount of kids often have trouble teaching them to behave. I highly suggest giving the Derricos a watch. New episodes are now airing on TLC.

SOME LAST MINUTE ADDS....

I know Ben Platt’s concert has been available on Netflix for a while now, but I just got the chance to watch it this month. It was SOOO GOOD and I was upset when it was over. It felt so fast! I had already added a lot of his songs to my playlists, and after watching added the last few I had missed. Now I’ve been listening non-stop. I loved how his concert welcomed us so much into his personal life. The added stories in-between songs helped to see why he created that specific one. Watching the concert was a fun time and something you should consider if you are feeling down during quarantine.

Every Saturday night we try to watch a movie while we eat dinner. It’s become a new tradition since quarantine began and we were unable to go out to eat or to the movies. This week Jojo Rabbit was the pick. Going into the film, I didn’t know much expect, but that it was a comedy and I assumed a satire. What I didn’t expect was how dark of a turn it would take. It’s amazing how a film can have you laughing uncontrollably at the start and then have you crying at the end. This is definitely a film I could see analyzing in a film studies class. There was so much foreshadowing and moments where so much more was going on then what was shown on the surface. I think it did a great job making the viewer think not only about the time in which it was supposed to take place, but also our current world. I know it’s a good movie when it still has me thinking about it days later. I even did some research into it after watching. Definitely can understand the hype about it and will watch it again in the future.

When I was putting this list together I was just starting to watch Umbrella Academy. I know, I’m late to the party, but with the newest season coming out this summer I knew it was now or never. (I just had to finish some of the other stuff I was watching first.) Currently, I only have 1 episode left in the first season and am really enjoying it. I was pretty good about spoilers going into it, so a lot of it was new to me. I made some theories on who I thought would be the cause of the apocalypse and so far I am right. I am very interested to see how this season ends and get into the next one because I heard that the majority of people liked that one more. I’ll have a more detailed review in my September Picks, I’m sure of it!

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mtvswatches · 4 years ago

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Jane the Virgin 3x04 Chapter Forty-Eight

Click here for previous recaps!

Stray thoughts

1) I usually cut Xiomara some slack, but this whole flashback where “Jane leaves the nest” because her mother just got a new boyfriend and is taking her kid to leave with him? Yeah, that makes her look bad, in my opinion. It’s one of those things that the show does to shoehorn a theme and make it relevant throughout Jane’s life… but it makes it look like Xiomara took her kid to live at a stranger’s house because he had a pool? If he had been a significant person in their lives, we surely would’ve heard about him before, right?

Other than that, I think it’s an interesting premise to dive into how Jane leaving will affect everyone else.

2) Rogelio wants to star in one of those Hallmark Christmas movies that my mom loves watching and that make me cringe so badly in order to raise his American profile, and is this the right move for you, Rogelio, my dude? I don’t think so. There must be some other way.

3) What is this douchebag turning the Marbella into, for fuck’s sake?

4) Anezka/Petra just told Jane she doesn’t like her and never has, and it kind of feels good?

Are you really that surprised, Jane?

5) So… Petra’s silent contribution to Jane’s rent could be the thing that reveals “Petra” is actually Anezka, right? I mean, Petra is the one who made the deal and Anezka has no idea about it – just like she didn’t know about the argument between Jane and Petra had before the wedding – and hence, she hasn’t been paying Jane’s rent. If she’s confronted about it, though, she could pretend and say she just stopped paying because of the argument, right? How long can they keep Petra paralyzed, though? How come no one realizes Petra is not really Petra? To be honest, if I was her, I’d feel terrible knowing literally NO ONE notices I’m gone.

6) Truer words have never been spoken…

7) First, Rob Lowe. Now, Rafael. Rogelio’s ego is getting destroyed lately.

8) Was that… a spark?

By the way, no wonder both Jane and Xiomara are so entitled and somewhat irresponsible. Alba just brought an old lady in a wheelchair to the Marbella just because she fancied seeing her granddaughter. Sure, lady, suit yourself. Do whatever you want while you’re on the clock.

9) She’s not wrong.

Of course she should be supportive, but I honestly can’t think of a more ill-fitted job for Xiomara than bank teller. I give her a day.

10) It’s America, so it sounds legit.

11) Jane was close to figuring it out when “Petra” said she bought the house when in fact she rented it, but then she pulled the “I stopped paying because of our fight.” Instead of getting busted, she got an invite to Jane and Michael’s housewarming party.

12) On the plus side, Magda’s prison buddy just showed up and pressured Petra into following through with their plan and sell the Marbella shares or else she’ll reveal her true identity. Anezka is not an idiot, though, she couldn’t have managed to full everyone FOR MONTHS if she were.

13) So… now that Petra’s not paying half of their rent, Michael and Jane have to cut their budget to pay for those thousand bucks. After a lot of debating, Jane suggests they should just go ask Rogelio for the rest, promising to pay him back. And while I think that’s okay, I feel it’s a bit OOC for Jane to come to that decision so quickly. She’s very proud and doesn’t like asking for help, especially when it comes to money. Although… since she’s rubbing shoulders with Rafael and Rogelio she’s occasionally taken advantage of the good life they can provide for her, so there’s also that. Is it OOC or is it completely in character?

14) Okay, now that Petra has told Rafael that she wants to sell her shares, he’s starting to notice there’s something fishy.

YES!

….

15) Weird dinner party does not go well, shocks no one.

16) Not only did Xiomara last only a day, but she actually pretended to like the job before admitting to her mother that she was right. But she’s not even good at pretending because she got caught immediately, and humiliatingly. Regardless, all I can think is about the poor old lady being wheeled around the city because Alba just doesn’t give a fuck about her job.

17) Michael figured Jane lied to him about one of the items on their budget, and to be frank, I’m on his side? Jane is keeping information from him as if he was a child who can’t manage his own money, but he’s got a point. She’s been living at her grandma’s house her whole life, her dad pays for her school, Rafael covers most of Mateo’s expenses, and she “survives” on what I can only assume is a part-time job – since she’s barely at the Marbella. So she might not agree with his filing system, but he’s definitely had more experience being financially independent than she has.

18) Ouch! Jane turned down Scott’s bribe, but Lina took it? Behind Jane’s back? And screwing everyone over because of it? That’s awful!

19) OMG Rogelio is babysitting the moron and why are we having these two interact with each other just now?

20) I really enjoyed the scenes where fantasy young Jane helped Alba navigate her relationship with Xiomara since she always was the glue that stuck that family together. I think the writers nailed this one. It was a great way to show that despite Jane not living with them anymore, her influence lingers, and they both have become better persons because of it. That’s a lasting impact that doesn’t simply go away.

It led to Xiomara and Alba having one of their most honest and mature conversations in a while – Alba encouraging Xiomara to take her time finding out what she likes and Xiomara encouraging Alba to go look for her own passion now that she has her green card.

21) Is Rogelio going to help the moron or break her? Either way, I’m in!

22) Rafael is getting slightly assaulted, isn’t he?

23) Both, I think. He’s breaking her to help her. I hope.

I'm a terrible sister and that's why I want to drink, so that I don't feel this. (…) Because all I do is cause Rafael pain. And I think my ex-lover killed his mother. (…) I just feel so bad, you know? My brother doesn't deserve this. No matter how many times I've failed him, he's always been there for me. And then now that he has no family, I still can't pull it together and be there for him.

Leave it to Rogelio to make me not only tolerate the most unlikable character in this show but also feel for her.

That being said, I can understand that this is why she wants to drink now, but there must be another reason why she started drinking in the first place.

24) Why do I continue to be surprised at Rogelio being the best character in this whole show? Not only did he give the moron the best advice anyone has ever given her (“Put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others.”) but he also helped her decide to go to preventative rehab. And then! He told Rafael that he truly is a good person and that he should’ve seen that earlier. And after Rafael told him he was probably not getting the part in the Hallmark movie, he simply shrugged it off and said that Rafael was more important than that. I just want to hug Rogelio forever, he’s such a lovely, wholesome man!

25) It’s not a telenovela without a catfight, right?

26) Jane and Michael finally decided to move to a smaller place until they can actually afford to move back to a bigger one. And then the narrator dropped this bit of foreshadowing…

And friends, they really believed that would happen... but we're not there yet.

Ugh, what does this mean? Will they break up? Will Michael die for real? Please tell me Jane is not getting back together with Rafael because I will culcutabitch! What other reason could there be for them not to follow through with their plans?

27) Okay, Alba just got a job at the gift shop, so I’m guessing the spark I saw is actually there.

28) “Angels guard the sun”. Those are the words that were underlined in the Bible Rafael’s mother was clutching when she was murdered. I will not try to figure this one out, but I hope it’s something smart.

29) Anezka is fucking ruthless. She demanded Rafael give her permission to sell her shares AND that he sign his own shares over to her.

30) FINALLY!

Ya think?!

But... Of all the things, this is what gave her away? Okay, I guess…

31) While I don’t feel this is one of the most iconic episodes of this show, it was still pretty enjoyable. I especially liked the Xiomara/Alba scenes and development as well as everything Rogelio as always, particularly how he managed to be the first person to make the moron seem human. I’m very excited at the prospect of having Petra back, although I have no idea how they’re going to give closure to the whole Anezka/Magda plot. We’ll see what happens!

32) Hope you enjoyed my recap, and, as usual, if you’ve got this far, thank you for reading! If you enjoy my recaps and my blog, please consider supporting it on ko-fi. Thanks!

#Jane the Virgin #Jane Villanueva #Michael Cordero #Rogelio De La Vega #Petra Solano #Gina Rodriguez #Jane the Virgin 3x04 #JTV 3x04 #recap #JTV recap #mine

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15001700tt · 4 years ago

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Descendants of the Moon

Descendants of the Moon Masterlist

Tag list: @chastja @multi-fan-trash @serpentityx @syublush @laadychat @whoissheff Dm me if you want to be on the tag list!

Word Count: Descendants of the Moon MasterlistTag list: @chastja @multi-fan-trash @serpentityx @syublush @laadychat @whoissheff Dm me if you want to be on the tag list!

Word Count: 8,753

Key: Italics- things that happened in the drama but do not old any importance to the story lineKey:

Bold- Dialogue said in the Drama

Armadillo

Episode 13:

Yoo Ji went to report to her work in the news station the next morning. It was really cold but Yoo Ji’s mood was very high. She was smiling and grinning at everyone. She went to meet with her supervisor to hand in all her work for the last 10 months. She sent him updates while she was in Urk but the articles she wrote were printed and in a formal envelope to hand in.

“Good morning” she greeted him at his desk.

“Hello, Mun Yoo Ji,” he responded, “take a seat” he gestured to the chair in front of him. She bowed and took a seat.

“I thank you for your hard work in Urk, and hope you keep that work ethic going now that you’re back” he started, Yoo Ji’s smile dimmed just a little. Her supervisor complimenting her work was a rare occurrence but it also means that he bears news.

“Thank you, and of course” she responded, keeping her tone light and formal.

“While you were gone, I had a few reporters try to take this case, but they haven't found anything useful that we can use,” he started to brief her. Yoo Ji realized that he wanted her to take another assignment. Usually, she would get a little break, but today is not the case as it seems. Yoo Ji nodded her head.

“Here is the folder that we have so far” he handed her an envelope, as she took it she felt that it was too light. Yoo Ji would have to fix that.

“I expect you to do your best” he finished as he looked at her with a hard stare.

“Of course, I will do my best,” Yoo Ji responded. She got up and bowed and took her leave.

She went to her desk, which was more like a cubicle than an actual desk. Her cubicle buddy peeked his head above the thin wall separating them.

“Yoo Ji! You’re back!” Jung Hye Jin exclaimed with enthusiasm.

“What’s up Jung?” Yoo Ji greeted.

“How was Urk? I heard that there was a lot to cover”

“It wasn’t too bad” Yoo Ji responded as she organized her desk and got out a few cleaning tools that she keeps in the bottom drawer of her desk. She keeps wipes and a dust Swiffer so when she comes back she can take care of the dust collecting on her desk and brush up her desk clean and start working again. She leaned back and observed the room, it seems everyone has not changed and still does what they have been doing.

Jung Hye Jin leaned over and whispered, “Dani broke up with her boyfriend, Steve is having problems with Mai over who will get to cover what issue tonight at 7 and Sung Ha is pregnant” he filled her in on how their co-workers are doing. Yoo Ji grinned at him and assessed each of the people they talked about. Dani looked exhausted and her face was a little swollen, she wasn’t wearing makeup either, Steve; the only foreigner that works at their station, was heatedly talking with Mai. Mai was rolling her eyes at the man and waving her hands discreetly. Sung Ha didn't look any different except Yoo Ji noticed that she walks a little slower and that her hands subconsciously keep brushing against her stomach.

“I have taught you well” Yoo Ji praised Hye Jin, although Hye Jin is a year older Yoo Ji had told him about a few pointers to improve his observation skills.

“So did you get the Armadillo case?” Hye jin asked curiously, Yoo Ji nodded taking out the file, she opened to find one single piece of paper. Yoo Ji raised an eyebrow.

“They didn't find out anything?”

“They don't even know if the crime was committed by a ghost or not,” Hye Jin scoffed. Yoo Ji groaned, she unlocked her phone and went to call Gwang Nam. She went outside to the office and into the lounge.

“Hello?” his voice came through.

“Please tell me you’re having a better time than I am” she rolled her eyes at the amount of digging she has to do when she goes back. She didn't even try to read the paper knowing how scarce the information is going to be.

“Are you okay? Are you injured?” he questioned with worry. Yoo Ji rolled her eyes extra hard this time.

“I am fine, I just got handed a case with nothing but one piece of paper and no background information.”

“Why do you always think I am in mortal danger? I am a reporter, not a special forces soldier” Yoo Ji joked.

“At this point are you not going to the police station? I assumed you were going to gather information using dangerous methods” he retorted back to her verbal jab.

“You know me too well” Yoo Ji smirked, she glanced at the door and asked him when his flight got back.

“In two days, I think it leaves at 3 AM but I am not sure. I’ll have to check it” he replied, she heard him shuffling paper on his end.

“Alright, just keep me updated, I have to go, I am meeting up with Mo Yeon for lunch”

“Alright, don’t make any trouble” Yoo Ji rolled her eyes, told him goodbye. Yoo Ji hung up and sighed, she’ll have to visit the police station.

“Was that your boyfriend?” Hye Jin teased as she sat back down at her desk.

“You could say that, but he could also be my drug dealer,” she said with a straight face, Hye Jin looked horrified, Yoo Ji broke out in a chuckle and told him she was just kidding.

“Yeah, I met him in Urk,”

“Oh, foreign man!”

“No he’s Korean, he was one of the soldiers stationed in the base I was at” she explained, taking the paper once more and skimming it, the victim died of blunt force to the head. Hye jin nodded, smiling cheekily but went back to his work.

The victim’s name is Lee Eun Ki and he’s 39 years old. Her eyes skimmed through the description of the crime scene, and what they were able to recover, her eyes found the detective assigned to the case and rolled her eyes. It was a rookie cop assigned to the case.

“I am heading to the police station” Yoo Ji informed Hye Jin, she grabbed her backpack.

“Greet Kang Rae Wook for me” Hye Jin yelled back as she got out the door.

Yoo Ji took the bus that went straight to the police station from her work, it took around 25 minutes to get there as there were three stops in between.

“I am here to interview Park Ji-Hun about the homicide of Lee Eun Ki” Yoo Ji informed the receptionist, she looked new, Yoo Ji peeked behind her to see if she could find anyone that she knew.

“He’s been taken off the case” the lady responded after looking it up on her desktop.

“Who has it then?” Yoo Ji questioned. The lady was about to read the name of the detective when a male’s voice cut in from behind Yoo Ji.

“I am the leading detective on that case now” Yoo Ji turned around and found Kang Rae Wook.

Kang Rae Wook is an old acquaintance of hers, he hates sharing information as much as he hates criminals. He is assigned difficult homicides all the time because his superiors hate him for his take-no-shit attitude. He is a middle-aged man, he can be seen as an attractive man but to Yoo Ji, he’s just an asshole that loves to withhold information when she investigates with him but he is an old friend and he has proved himself trustworthy on multiple occasions. Yoo Ji grinned.

“Hello Detective Kang, I am officially back” Yoo Ji exclaimed, she loves to annoy him, he’s very easily pissed off and Yoo Ji takes advantage of his short temper. It's been 10 months since she last saw him, and she might’ve not told him she was leaving so he looked very pissed off.

“Where the hell have you been?” Rae Wook asked signaling her to follow him down to his desk.

“I was assigned to a Korean base in Urk to cover their peace treaty efforts” Yoo Ji explained. Rae Wook looked at her with a deadpan look.

“How much trouble did you cause?”

“Hey! I am an angel, I didn't do anything...” she defended, trailing off.

“Three times but they weren't even completely my fault” she relented, telling him the truth.

“It was such a nice break from your nagging” Rae Wook sighed as they came to stop at his desk.

“Well, I am back now and you can't get rid of me” Yoo Ji grinned cheekily. She looked to the right side of his desk where his partner should be sitting.

“Where is Lee Hwa Dong?” she asked with a curious look at Hwa Dong’s desk. She got closer to inspect and flip open some folders on his desk when the said man walked in.

“No touching!” his deep voice startled Yoo Ji and she straightened her back and withdrew her hand.

“Hi!” she cheekily greeted, as the older man looked at her with raised eyebrows. She walked over and hugged him, his arms came around her.

Lee Hwa Dong was Kang Rae Wook’s partner, he is a man of few words, but he's very caring. Yoo Ji is almost like his little sister, they are very close. He is also one of the only ones that know about the Kim Hoon Jae case, he never brings it up and that makes Yoo Ji appreciate him even more. Lee Hwa Dong became Rae Wook’s partner after he got on the bad side of the chief and this partnership was his punishment, except they work great as a team and solve many of the hard cases they’re assigned.

Yoo Ji became their friend when she was tailing a suspect and they found her out. She befriended them, and Hwa Dong recognized her from the case. Since then she would hang out with them anytime they had the same case assigned and more often than not they work together since she deals with Armadillo cases in her station. The last time she had seen them was a few months before she left, she had written a particular article the higher-ups didn't like and her boss switched her to cover some petty fights between rich people which is why she was hanging out at the Haesung Hospital.

“I missed you, Firefly” he ruffled her hair, it was in a half up half down hairstyle with her bangs framing her face, but now it just looks like someone had flipped her hair upside down. Yoo Ji huffed and fixed her hair.

“I missed you too, but I definitely did not miss this” she pointed at her hair.

“Yoo Ji, why are you here?” Rae Wook said as he stared at Yoo Ji with a blank look.

“I got assigned another Armadillo case” Yoo Ji decided that she wouldn't beat around the bush and just told them why she’s here. She pulled out one piece of paper given to her by her boss.

“All they gave me was the autopsy report, which looks half-assed, to be honest,” she said as she handed Rae Wook the report.

“He only recorded vague descriptions, you need a new M.E.” Yoo Ji informed them.

“Lee Eun Ki, the probable cause of death is a blunt force to the back of the head” Rae Wook read out loud.

“M.E. also says that that's the only bruising he found on the body and I think that's bull” Yoo Ji continued.

“Okay, we’ll go talk with the M.E. to find out more” Hwa Dong decided. Yoo Ji’s phone rang, it was Gwang Nam. Yoo Ji quickly declined his call and texted him she’ll call him later.

“Who is that?” Hwa Dong asked.

“No one” Yoo Ji answered too fast, she mentally cringed.

“Oh, secret boyfriend” Rae Wook smirked. Yoo Ji stayed quiet not denying or confirming his assumption.

“I’ll go get his medical records to look them over. It will be just like old times!” Yoo Ji diverted the conversation away.

“He’s a doctor?” Hwa Dong teased.

“No, soldier, I was going to go have lunch with Mo Yeon anyway” Yoo Ji rolled her eyes, might as well tell them. They were going to meet him sooner or later.

“Alright disperse, keep us updated if you find anything” Rae Wook finalized, Yoo Ji bid them goodbye and left the police station.

Yoo Ji arrived at the hospital and went into the lobby to ask about Mo Yeon and where she would be. The nurse at the front desk told her that she’s probably in the cafeteria. When she spotted Mo Yeon and her friends, she went over to them. Mo Yeon sounded really angry on the phone, she slammed her phone down on the table.

“That sounds like a break up” Yoo Ji commented as Sang Hyun pulled a chair for her to sit in.

“Ugh, I can't believe I have to do this.” Mo Yeon groaned.

“Why? Captain Yoo isn't coming after all?” Doctor Song asked. Yoo Ji stole a part of someone's sandwich.

“What a shame!” Chi Hoon responded with a small smile on his face.

“Have you resigned yet?” Yoo Ji ignored the two men as they started snickering.

“Captain Yoo would be able to quickly go and get the resignation letter that's upstairs in the Chairman's office.” Chi Hoon answered while also not answering Yoo Ji’s question. He waved his snickers bar in front of his face.

“You got rejected for the loan,” Yoo Ji stated after swallowing the bite.

“Just go and plead.” Nurse Choi said.

“How can I go and plead after making such a scene?” Mo Yeon whined and Yoo Ji raised an eyebrow.

“I can’t believe I missed it!” Yoo Ji clicked her tongue in disappointment. Mo Yeon groaned and rested her forehead on the edge of the table.

“So then there's a professor's position available. Sweet.” Sang Hyun snapped his fingers.

“Then are you going to continue appearing on TV?” Sang Hyun continued to ask questions without letting Mo Yeon respond.

“Seriously, Sunbaenim.” Mo Yeon groaned, cutting off Sang Hyun’s ranting. The table rattled, Mo Yeon’s eyes widened, just like everyone else’s. Yoo Ji felt her heart jump into her throat and she held her breath as they all dived under the table. It took a few seconds for them to realize that it wasn't an earthquake but a few construction workers that were breaking up gravel on the main street.

“Damn it” Yoo Ji murmured as he heartbeat slowed down. A doctor passing by leaned down.

“Is there something down here?”

“I wish there was.” Doctor Song responded with a small laugh, which sounded more like an exhale of air to sound nonchalant.

“Should we try laughing like it was a joke?” Doctor Kang pondered

“No.” all five of them responded simultaneously. Mo Yeon nodded and they stood up and settled back into their seats.

After their lunch, Yoo Ji told them that she has to go to the lobby to get some information on a new case she has and so she parted with them.

“So what's the new case?” Nurse Choi asked.

“Deadman, no suspects” Yoo Ji responded as they walked to their destination.

“Interesting” Yoo Ji nodded with a small smile, it won't be a mystery any longer, she will get the medical records and have some clues on where to go from there.

“Can you give me the medical file on Lee Eun Ki?” Yoo Ji asked the receptionist.

“Are you related to him?” the nurse asked. Yoo Ji got out her badge, she had one made that mirrored Rae Wook’s and Hwa Dong’s. Yoo Ji doubts they knew about it but they will not be surprised.

“He’s dead, I need his medical records to investigate the cause of death,” Yoo Ji said with the most professional cop voice she could muster. Nurse Choi watched and shook her head. As soon as Yoo Ji got the file and the nurse left, Nurse Ha commented on Yoo Ji’s methods.

“You’ll get arrested for that”

“Not really, I’ve made friends with the whole police station” Yoo Ji stated, her eyes skimming through all the background information and all the other useless stuff. Her eyes caught on small details but it wasn't a big clue at all. The victim had a congenital disorder, it isn't specified which one which is strange usually it would say.

Yoo Ji focused on who she can talk to that would know his last interaction with any information about what kind of person he was. The important kind of background information, not this white noise that's been recorded. Yoo Ji quickly dialed Hwa Dong’s number, after the third ring he picked up. Nurse Choi waved at her as she left to receive the emergency victim that was coming in.

“Hello,”

“I got the relatives' information, but other than that, nothing really stands out” she informed him.

“The M.E. might not be sure if the blunt trauma was man inflicted, but the bruises on the face were definitely were and that's why he ruled it as a homicide.” Hwa Dong filled her in on their side of the investigation. There was a small pause before he spoke again with uncertainty in his voice.

“When we were down there, the M.E. told us that when he received the body, it seemed to be...too polished, almost like someone had cleaned up the evidence before he did”

“I’ll look into any of the family members that have a history with dead bodies, got it.” Yoo Ji nodded her head, she noticed Mo Yeon coming towards them. She hung up and watched as Mo Yeon put on gloves and started diagnosing the victim. Yoo Ji was still far enough that she can't hear them clearly, but it looks like she didn't get fired after all, just in the E.R. and Yoo Ji would bet that she was the on-call surgeon from now on. The chairman really had it out for her.

Mo Yeon acknowledged her as she got her gown and was explaining to Nurse Ha and Doctor Soong that she was fired from the VIP ward but was the E.R. surgeon all the time now. Yoo Ji bid them goodbyes and went back to the news station to start digging with the newfound information, no matter how little.

As she was on the bus, she remembered to call Gwang Nam back. It should be a night at Urk.

“Hello?” his voice came through.

“Sorry I couldn't respond I was at the police station” Yoo Ji looked down and picked at her backpacks loose strings.

“So I was right.” he chuckled.

“I found something but it's just a start, I have so much work” Yoo Ji groaned. She barely got back and she was already starting to feel exhausted, her body had barely any time to recover from all the physical strain it had been in Urk and now she had to follow leads that will lead to more dead ends then the actual killer.

“You’ll be fine.” Gwang Nam assured her.

Two days later

Yoo Ji had checked her phone at least 6 times at this point. Gwang Nam is supposed to text her that they arrived soon and she was itching to get off work and go to him. She missed him a lot. She was fidgety. If Hwa Dong and Rae Wook noticed, they didn't say anything, but Yoo Ji knew that Rae Wook would crack and ask. She was driving him insane.

“Stop. moving.” he gritted his teeth, glaring at her.

“Sorry” she apologized.

“Are you waiting for exam results? Why are you so anxious?” Hwa Dong set down the papers that they were looking at. Rae Wook was able to access some records of the relatives and they were reviewing their information such as their jobs and their relationship with the victim.

“I am waiting for a phone call” Yoo Ji responded, not telling them the vital information that they seek.

“From who?” Rae Wook asked, raising a questioning eyebrow at Yoo Ji’s mysteriousness.

“Uh- a friend I made when I was on my assignment” Yoo Ji’s eyes checked her phone again.

“Boyfriend” Rae Wook and Hwa Dong smirked as they agreed.

“What? No! It's nothing like that” Yoo Ji denied.

“Hye Jin told us you met a soldier and that you’re waiting for his call”

“Why ask if you already knew” Yoo Ji rolled her eyes, she picked up her phone from her desk and pocketed it.

“Are you not gonna tell us anything?” Hwa Dong asked.

“There’s not much to tell, he's a First Sergeant, he comes back today from being deployed at Urk” Yoo Ji waved off.

“When do we get to meet him?” Hwa Dong kept the conversation going, Rae Wook had picked up the forgotten papers and got back to reading while listening to Yoo Ji’s answers.

A small ping from Yoo Ji’s phone made her start grinning as she fished it out of her pocket and read the message. Gwang Nam had just finished meeting with his superior and could meet up.

“You can meet him if you give me a ride” Yoo Ji grinned as she offered. Hwa Dong nodded and tapped Rae Wook so that he can wrap up and they can leave.

“We’ll see if he’s worth it” Rae Wook muttered under his breath, he was walking behind Yoo Ji, she heard him and drew her elbow back and aimed a jab at his stomach. Yoo Ji got another text message with where they were supposed to meet.

“He is, he saved me on multiple occasions, not that I needed to be saved. But the thought counts” Yoo Ji replied to his skeptical comment. They all got into Hwa Dong’s car.

Yoo Ji was excited, it's only been a few days, but the new environment of their home feels more mysterious than the war-torn country they were in. Yoo Ji thought they could have more normal dates here, instead of minefield dates, although they sound cooler, Yoo Ji did like the idea of normalcy, just something about everyday life that makes her feel giddy.

“Aw, look at Firefly all excited to meet with her boyfriend” Rae Wook teased looking back at her in the back of the car as he sat in the passenger seat. Yoo Ji rolled her eyes, she focused on the scenery passing by. She wondered how he would react to her friends. She quickly texted him that she was getting a ride from her friends and he’ll meet them today. Gwang Nam responded that he doesn’t mind.

They arrived at the coffee shop, Yoo Ji jumped out of the car, she was swinging slightly on the balls of her feet. Rae Wook and Hwa Dong looked at her with chuckles and amusement in their eyes.

They walked in and Yoo Ji’s eyes swept around to spot Gwang Nam. Instead, Gwang Nam noticed her first and waved her over. Yoo Ji was taken back, she hasn't seen him in casual clothing in so long. He was wearing white shirt and black slacks. As they neared his table, she noticed a black blazer that matched his pants. He looked good, glowing even in the winter air. She felt herself slip into comfortableness as she subconsciously remembered how at ease he makes her. She didn't need to be on guard all the time when she was with him, she trusted him. It had little to do with actual protection even though she knows he can probably physically protect her, but also in every way emotionally.

Rae Wook and Hwa Dong were observing Yoo Ji closely, she watched as her demeanor went excited to relax, just at the sight of the man. They gave each other glances, and they came to an understanding that this man really had Yoo Ji’s complete or most of her trust, so he must be trustworthy.

“Let me introduce you guys, Gwang Nam meet Detectives Kang Rae Wook and Lee Hwa Dong,” Yoo Ji started as soon as they got settled at the table, “Rae Wook and Hwa Dong meet First Sergeant Lim Gwang Nam.”

The men shook hands and smiled politely, Yoo Ji scrunched her nose at the formality of the air, she’s seen both men be comfortable, the awkwardness is really unnecessary, in her opinion.

“How was your flight back?”

“It was fine, the turbulence wasn't bad” Gwang Nam assured her.

“Did you just come back?” Rae Wook asked, Gwang Nam nodded.

“Yoo Ji’s flight was two days earlier than mine, I had to leave with my team,” he explained. The two cops nodded.

“What do you specialize in?” Hwa Dong questioned curiously. Yoo Ji remained quiet but silently rolled her eyes, they were questioning him like he was in an interrogation.

“Sniping and hand to hand”

“How many confirmed kills?” Rae Wook fired his next question.

“that's confidential information.” Yoo Ji cut in, she raised an eyebrow at Rae Wook.

“This sounds like an interrogation, not a friendly get together. Stop,” Yoo Ji firmly ended the questioning.

“Alright, I apologize for my coworker’s behavior, we just care a lot about our friend” Hwa Dong relented first under Yoo Ji’s gaze.

“It’s alright, it’s good that Yoo Ji has friends that care about her,” Gwang Nam smiled.

“Well that's a first, usually we don't hear Yoo Ji’s boyfriends very happy that she's friends with two male cops” Rae Wook snorted, Yoo Ji mentally facepalmed. She should’ve taken just Hwa Dong, he doesn't cause as much trouble as Rae Wook.

“Ah well, it comforts me that there are people around her that can protect her,” he paused before adding, “if she can't do it herself, of course.” he grinned as he looked at Yoo Ji’s deadpanning face. The two cops chuckled at the couple.

“We see that you care about her very much,” Hwa Dong approved, smiling.

“How was Urk? Did she cause trouble? I heard that she fucked shit up at least three times” Rae Wook smirked as Yoo Ji sighed and groaned.

“It was good, she just kept on pulling out cards with ‘I do what I want’ on them and got kidnapped and escaped by herself” Gwang Nam chuckled as he revealed their adventures.

“Damn Firefly, you can't even let him play knight in shining armor for at least one night” Rae Woook teased Yoo Ji.

“I don't need saving, I handled it by myself just fine” Yoo Ji huffed.

“Oh I remember, you had the guy at gunpoint” Gwang Nam stated.

“You let her use a gun?” Hwa Dong demanded.

“We taught her how to use a gun, remember? Why are you so surprised? Wait until she uses it on a civilian and then be shocked” Rae Wook deadpanned.

“Hopefully that day won’t come” Gwang Nam responded, chuckling, Yoo Ji had her face in her hands in humiliation.

“Okay, we actually have to go do more research on the ongoing Armadillo case, but it was nice meeting you” Hwa Dong said as he checked his watch. Rae Wook nodded and both of them left the table. Yoo Ji excused herself to talk to them separately.

“Are you guys hiding something from me? I didn't know we had more information to look for?” she queried.

“We scheduled an interview with the person that found the body, just some routine stuff you can skip. We’ll tell you if we find anything” Hwa Dong assured her as he gave her a side hug and Rae Wook saluted her with a smirk.

Yoo Ji returned to her seat.

“They didn't tell me they were interviewing someone,” Yoo Ji explained to Gwang Nam when she came back. Gwang Nam nodded and sipped his drink.

“So what do you plan to do now that you’re back?” Yoo Ji asked. She didn't know what he normally did when he was his civilian self, she couldn't assume he would do routine checks on their weapons even in Korea.

“Well I am on vacation for three days, I haven't decided yet.” he responded, looking deep in thought.

“What about Shi Jin and Dae Young?” Yoo Ji continued, she stole his drink and sipped the iced coffee. Gwang Nam chuckled.

“They are embarking on their ‘No Nights and Three Days’ adventure”

“What is that?” Yoo Ji furrowed her eyebrows.

“They drink for three days and don't sleep or go home,” he explained. Yoo Ji’s eyes widened.

“That sounds fun,” Yoo Ji laughed.

“Will you be joining them?”

“Will you?”

“I don't know, I haven't decided yet. It depends on whether we’re going to do anything together.”

“Do you have any ideas on what you want to do?” Yoo Ji commented when she found Gwang Nam looking at her with a glint.

“Let’s go airsofting”

“You're not sick of shooting guns all the time?” Yoo Ji asked incredulously.

“It’s my job and hobby” Gwang Nam shrugged, “besides I never got to see how good you were, I always came at the end” he chuckled.

“Don't cry when I beat your ass,” Yoo Ji smirked.

It was the day after Yoo Ji and Gwang Nam’s small date. Yoo Ji was going to go investigate the family members. The two cops and Yoo Ji decided that the assailant was probably someone the victim knew seeing as there weren't any defensive wounds.

The victim’s parents own a barbecue place, and that's where Yoo Ji was heading. She wanted to observe them before she actually asked them any questions. Yoo Ji found that watching them in their natural habitat can tell you a lot about them, she can find out if they are financially stable, if they handle stress well, how they respond to rude customers. It all tells something about their character as a family.

She sat in the back of the restaurant and ordered like a normal customer, she spent hours watching the mother; Choi Jun Bae and the father; Lee Don Hee. they were in their late 60s. They served customers and made their orders. It was a very busy day, they were running around and didn't even have time to make eye contact. Yoo Ji huffed, this proved to be useless, It doesn't always yield results. She paid for her food and left.

As she was leaving she got a text message from Myung Ju to come to a certain food joint. Yoo Ji furrowed her eyebrows until the realization dawned on her, the ‘no night and three days’ the boys were doing. She quickly texted back that she’s on her way and got off the bus to take another that's going in the right direction. Yoo Ji mentally scowled, she should really invest in a car. She knows how to drive one but she doesn't own one.

As soon as she arrived she peeked in, she saw Mo Yeon’s back standing in front of a table where Myung Ju was sitting in her uniform sipping soup. She went inside with a smile, but her smile faded as she saw the boys completely wasted. Cheol Ho was resting his head against the back of his seat, Woo Geun was sleeping on Cheol Ho’s lap, and Gwang Nam was wearing a pink sweater passed out completely, head on the table. Yoo Ji raised an eyebrow with amusement

“Y’all didn't wait for me?” Yoo Ji’s disappointed tone made Shi Jin and Dae Young lull their heads towards her voice. Myung Ju and Mo Yeon looked at her with opposite expressions, Myung Ju was calm, unfazed, while Mo Yeon looked shocked and in disbelief.

“What is this mess? When did these men get here?” Mo Yeon asked.

“Why did you get here so late?” Myung Ju asked Mo Yeon, chewing on the food.

“It's because the night shift barely ended just now.” Mo Yeon replied.

“How did you get here so fast?” Myung Ju addressed Yoo Ji who was standing next to Mo Yeon.

“I was close,” Yoo Ji responded, her eyes never leaving Gwang Nam’s figure. Yoo Ji rounded the table and sat in front of Gwang Nam directly.

“Are these men usually like this?” Mo Yeon questioned, she pointed at the boys like they were aliens, which at this point they were probably drunk enough to think they were aliens.

“Why does our reunion have to look like this?” she paused, her eyes squinting with mild annoyance, “I was going to make a welcome placard with hearts drawn on it and go to the airport.”

“I bought some clothes, and I even put a facial mask on my face.”

“The kimchi stew here is really good.” Myung Ju nodded at Mo Yeon’s rant.

“Why don't you have a bowl?” Myung Ju offered the two girls, Yoo Ji reached over and poured some in an empty bowl.

“Where are you going?” Mo Yeon stopped Myung Ju as she moved to leave.

“I am going back to the unit. I am not on a break.” Myung Ju replied. Yoo Ji watched them as they conversed, she took small sips of the stew, her eyes fleeing to Gwang Nam’s passed out figure every few seconds.

“Why are you leaving by yourself? You should take Sergeant First Class Seo with you.” Mo Yeon stated. Yoo Ji rolled her eyes and softly snorted, ‘yeah, like that will happen’ she thought.

Yoo Ji watched as Shi Jin grabbed the ladle and scooped some of the stew and fed Dae Young as he saluted. Yoo Ji grinned at the hilarious sight.

“It's no nights and 3 days, so I can't take him with me.” Myung Ju told Mo Yeon.

“No nights and how many days now? They must be crazy!” Mo Yeon exclaimed, turning to look at the men and Yoo Ji who started to pour alcohol into her glass.

“The girl that just came in is so pretty.” Shi Jin whispered drunkenly to Dae Young.

“You’ve got to be kidding me?” Mo Yeon moaned as she watched Shi Jin but her exclamation was towards Yoo Ji.

“What? It's free alcohol” Yoo Ji shrugged and drank her shot.

“The girl that just left is way prettier.” Dae Young glanced at Mo Yeon with half-lidded eyes.

“No way! This woman is so much prettier, you know.” Shi Jin refuted. The two drunk men kept their conversation going but Mo Yeon focused on Yoo Ji was behind them

“How did you even know about this?” Mo Yeon asked Yoo Ji.

“Gwang Nam told me yesterday.”

“Don't you have a job?” Mo Yeon scrutinized. Yoo Ji scrunched her nose and gulped a shot.

“I hit a dead end,” she scowled.

“So you’re going to be drinking the rest of the day?” Mo Yeon sarcastically commented.

“Yes, it’s time to celebrate their return” Yoo Ji responded with a chuckle, “I am kidding, I am not going to do that. I have to meet with the detectives to look at the evidence.”

The next day, she got a text message from Gwang Nam telling her that he had gone home the night before, hammered, and needed the morning to recover. So their coffee date was postponed to the afternoon. That was fine with Yoo Ji, she still had a lot of groundwork to do. She had to follow the victim’s sister, Lee Eun Yong, who worked part-time at her parent’s food joint and in a nursing home.

Rae Wook told Yoo Ji that it was useless to follow her when Rae Wook and Hwa Dong had interviewed her; she was crossed off the list because she was too timid and also had an alibi. Yoo Ji insisted that she might lead them to the killer. She works for a nursing home, she must have relations with a nearby coroner in case someone from the elderly dies. That would be her next possible lead, even if Lee Eun Yong wasn’t directly involved with the murder.

Yoo Ji recorded Lee Eun Yong’s movements and how she carried herself. Yoo Ji noticed the slight tremor in the girl’s right hand. Yoo Ji doesn’t recall reading about any illnesses in her file, but not surprising. People go years before they go to a doctor if they have a slight tremor or something wrong with them, especially if they are financially struggling.

Yoo Ji snapped out of her trance staring at empty space now that Lee Eun Yong had disappeared from her when she felt her phone buzz. It was a call from Hye Jin telling her to go back to the station because the boss wanted to talk to her.

“I am assigning you to cover the political dinner between the South Korean and the North Korea Presidents” he stated, not even looking up to make eye contact with her as soon as she opened the door.

“But I am following the Armadillo case that you assigned me” Yoo Ji protested, the case was going very slow, she didn't have any solid leads yet.

“Put it on hold, I want you to cover this. Don't mess it up” he waved his hand, dismissing Yoo Ji’s protest. Yoo Ji took that as her cue to leave. She walked back to her desk and scowled. There are too many leads and too many loose ends. She had to get to the bottom of this case.

Yoo Ji sighed, she’ll have to do what her boss assigned her to do. She started to pull up all the articles detailing the visit and when it will go down. She still had a week until she had to cover it. She knows that the South Korean President will be visiting North Korea tomorrow. Yoo Ji sighed and rested her head against her desk.

“What happened? You sighed like 5 times” Jung Hye Jin asked.

“He assigned me the political dinners on top of the Armadillo Case” she mumbled.

“Wow! He really hates you right now” Hye Jin cringed, “you shouldn't have written that article last year, you wouldn't be in this position” he added.

“It's not my problem one of the shareholders decided to kill their children” Yoo Ji refuted.

“You didn't have to write the article” Hye Jin reminded her, Yoo Ji picked up her head from her desk and narrowed her eyes at the man.

“What happened to freedom of the press? It's not like I slandered them. I wrote what happened” she snapped back.

“And look what happened to you, you got sent to a foreign country for 9 months and then assigned an Armadillo case plus a political dinner that's impossible to get into if you're not well known.” Hye Jin listed.

“I am pretty sure the shareholder’s life in prison is easier than yours right now” he added.

“I know” Yoo Ji whined, slumping back into her chair. Hye Jin looked at her with a pitying smile.

“It's fine, I can do this” Yoo Ji shook her head and said out loud, trying to convince herself. Yoo Ji gathered her stuff and went to the coffee shop she planned to meet Gwang Nam in.

She arrived earlier than Gwang Nam this time, she settled inside the coffee shop and ordered. She sighed as she waited for him to come. She was scrolling through her phone when she heard him pull out the chair that was on the opposite side of her.

“Hey, how was work today?” Gwang Nam’s voice asked. He set his drink down next to hers

“It was fine, I got assigned another article but I can manage”

“What’s it on?”

“Some political dinners.” Yoo Ji waved off, she wasn't interested in that topic.

“The case I am investigating is getting weirder”

“How come?”

“There’s no strong lead suspects and the family looks like it just moved on, like nothing happened” Yoo Ji stared off to the side, pondering what was the deal with the Lee family.

“I am sure you’ll figure it out,” Gwang Nam assured. He smiled at her, she could tell that he was hungover but only because his eyes were still rimmed with red.

“How was the night with the boys?” Yoo Ji asked. Gwang Nam looked confused.

“You came?”

“Yeah the kimchi stew was good” Yoo Ji smirked at Gwang Nam’s confusion.

“Wait, you actually came? Where was I?”

“Passed out on the table” Yoo Ji responded with a grin. Gwang Nam was about to say something when his phone interrupted him.

“Hello,” “yes, sir” “power of unity” Gwang Nam hung up and looked at Yoo Ji as she stared at him with curiosity.

“I have to go” he stated, his face calm but his eyes churned with worry. Yoo Ji wasn't sure what he was worried about.

“Work?” Yoo Ji sipped her drink. Gwang Nam nodded.

“I am sorry” he apologized. Yoo Ji shook her head, waving him off. He can't apologize for his job.

“I’ll text you when I am done. Okay? We still have to go airsofting” Gwang Na promised as he gathered his coat and drink and moved to leave. Yoo Ji nodded and told him to be safe, as he left. She sighed. This didn't last very long. She went back to the police station to work some more.

“Following her wasn't a total waste of time.” Yoo Ji stated as soon as she reached Rae Wook’s desk. He turned towards her and raised an eyebrow.

“She works at a nursing home,” Yoo Ji said with glee.

“So?”

“So? So she probably knows a coroner” Yoo Ji said with a matter of fact voice.

“How in the world did you come to this conclusion?”

“You said that the M.E. said that the body of the victim looked ‘polished’” Yoo Ji rolled her eyes, Rae Wook was too slow.

“Okay and?” Hwa Dong added as he walked to his own desk with a steaming cup of coffee.

“Come on guys! She works at a nursing home, where the elderly will soon die and will need to be buried” Yoo Ji elaborated, waiting for them to catch onto her train of thought. They didn't.

“She knows the coroner, it’s her cousin. Shin Young Won” Yoo Ji handed Rae Wook the coroner’s file.

“How do you do that?” Hwa Dong asked in amazement.

“Don't praise her just yet, this might lead to nowhere” Rae Wook reprimanded, Yoo Ji’s grin faded into a sarcastic glare towards Rae Wook.

“At least, I got us somewhere.”

-Shi Jin went to visit Mo Yeon at the hospital and meets the Chairman then they went to meet Dae Young and Myung Ju in the cafe-

A few days had passed and Yoo Ji was getting ready to sneak into the hotel where they were going to have the political dinner. Okay, that's a lie, she can't sneak in even if she wanted to, the security was going to be airtight and she would not be able to get in, so she used her second best thing, her connections. She called one of the major reporters in the area who she knew would definitely have a place in the press conference. He owed her a favor for helping him cover a story a few years ago. At this point, she can barely remember what he needed help with mostly because so many people owe her favors. It's the nature of her job, connections are everything.

Gwang Nam had come back from his mission and they were able to set a time to go airsofting. They didn't talk about work, well they tried not to on the way.

“How’s the case going?”

“Rae Wook and Hwa Dong are tailing the victim’s family, nothing yet though” Yoo Ji responded.

“I am not as involved as I want to be since I was assigned to another issue too.” Yoo Ji huffed in slight annoyance, tailing is her favorite part of an investigation, but she couldn't participate because she had to get her information and questions ready for the press conference/dinner.

“Are you ready to be obliterated?” Yoo Ji challenged Gwang Nam with a smirk.

“Are you ready to face failure?” Gwang Nam retorted back, as they put on their gears and chose their weapons.

As soon as they were ready and they were given the okay sign to go inside the arena, they both went opposite ways. Yoo Ji wasted no time trying to find a good hiding spot just in case things go south.

Gwang Nam waited with bated breath to hear the sound of the alarm going off to start the official game. The alarm blared throughout the dark arena. Gwang Nam waited and listened to footsteps or any movement. Since they both had goggles, his vision was a little obscured but still better than normal people, since he’s used to them. He has no idea if Yoo Ji is as accustomed to it, so he’ll have to be extra cautious because that counts as a weakness.

Yoo Ji had her gun pointed in front of her, and focused her senses, she zeroed in on hearing since the goggles weren’t allowing her to see much from her peripheral vision. She pivoted on her feet, trying to cover all her sides, it wasn't dark, but it was indoor, so some places had more light than others. She heard a shot near her and she booked it behind drywall. They were the only ones in the arena, they were able to book it for just them two because it's a smaller arena.

She peeked from behind the wall and aimed her gun towards the general direction of where the shot came from. She used the sniper scope on her rifle and looked for Gwang Nam. she spotted movement, she quickly shot at it and hid behind the drywall acting as a shield. For a few seconds she heard nothing and she waited, holding her breath.

The rule of this game is to see how many times they can kill each other. They don't die infinitely, it will take 12 seconds to come back ‘to life’. The timer is attached to the tactical vest, it blocks the guns from shooting at that time through transmitters on the weapons and the vest. Yoo Ji peaked and started moving, she wasn't going to sit in one place for too long.

As they played they stayed on the tip of their toes, no one really gaining an upper hand. As the game progressed, they were getting more competitive and harder to locate. Gwang Nam would get a good shot but she would reciprocate with a shot of her own a minute later. As Gwang Nam reloaded his gun, he thought that she would be a great partner, the only reason he wouldn't entertain that thought longer is that Yoo Ji had already spotted his hiding spot and he had to roll away from her rain of fire.

Yoo Ji kept her guard up the whole 30 minutes that they played. At some point, she forgot how many kills she has, and just focused on shooting the target. He was good, and he had to be. But Yoo Ji was growing frustrated and more competitive than ever.

Yoo Ji hid behind a tall hollow structure, there were cutouts, to mimic windows, she caught his figure darting between two structures. She pivoted to follow his movement and aimed to shoot him as he continued to run between the pillars. Yoo Ji cocked her gun to get a better grip, but after a few seconds he didn't come out. She lowered her arms and started to creep closer. As she turned to corner him with her gun at his chest. She looked up with a smirk, but it slowly faded as she noticed that he had his helmet and goggles off.

“I have to leave,” Gwang Nam stated, keeping eye contact with Yoo Ji.

“Where are you going?” Yoo Ji asked confused, she thought he was off duty for at least two more days.

“I have to go shoot real guns now” Gwang Nam tried to joke, to lighten the mood. Yoo Ji smiled back, she understood, his job was unplanned and had no personal boundaries and that’s okay. She gets that, she has the same drawbacks in her own profession.

“Okay, let’s go, but for the record,” Yoo Ji dismissed feigning leaving, but quickly shot him in the chest, she smirked when he yelped in surprise.

“I win.”

“Oh no, you did not! That was cheating!” Gwang Nam whined, stomping his feet stubbornly. Yoo Ji shook her head, acting like she didn't hear him, she skipped to the exit and started to take off the gear. She stopped midway when she felt his arms wrap around her from the back.

“I am going to get back at you for this later” he murmured in her ear as he buried his head into her shoulders.

“We’ll see about that, Piccolo” Yoo Ji teased.

After they were done giving back the gear and getting their belongings, Gwang Nam dropped Yoo Ji at the police station and went to the base.

Yoo Ji sighed and headed up, she was tired from the game that they played, but there was still time for her to look over some documents. She was hoping Hwa Dong or Rae Wook was still in the office. As soon as she reached their desks, she plopped into an extra chair, and grabbed one of the documents, and flipped through it.

“Jesus Christ, you scared me, why are you here?” Hwa Dong put his hand over his chest. He was caught off guard at Yoo Ji’s figure lounging on his chair. He had gone to make some noodles as a late-night snack as he finished paperwork of a previous case he had finished.

“Something doesn't make sense” Yoo Ji shook her head.

“Shouldn't you be with your boyfriend right now?” Hwa Dong ignored Yoo Ji, he knew that she was just thinking out loud, mostly because multiple times before he had tried to contribute to her thought process but she would cut him off, her brain working too fast or not at all, there's no in-between.

“He had to leave, his job called. How does the coroner make a profit?” Yoo Ji answered offhandedly.

“He makes a profit off the deceased” Hwa Dong answered obviously.

“No, not what I meant” Yoo Ji She waved her hand dismissing his answer.

“When I went around the nursing home, I asked who does the burials and funerals, and they said that Eun Yong has a cousin that does it at no cost for the elderly that have no families.” Yoo Ji recounted from her memory.

“So how does a coroner make a profit when he doesn’t charge from his major source of work?” Yoo Ji pondered out loud.

Hwa Dong dug in the big pile of papers on both his desk and Rae Wook’s, coming up with the background information on the cousin, Shin Young Won. his bank statement, his criminal records, general information like that.

Yoo Ji focused on his bank statements, he doesn't seem to be financially struggling as his cousins.

“He’s been getting big amounts of money from another account,” Hwa Dong analyzed.

“I’ll try to see if we can trace it to the original sender,” he told Yoo Ji as he inputted some kind of data into the computer. Hwa Dong is a detective but he also was very tech-savvy, he knew his way around a laptop and can extract any information he wants. He majored in computer coding when he attended college, but that’s all Yoo Ji knows about his history of messing with computers.

“The money was transferred from an offshore account, but the original sender was from here, Korea,” Hwa Dong paused, letting the data load.

“It looks like its insurance companies” Hwa Doong furrowed his eyebrows, that doesn't make sense, why would insurance companies be sending money to a person whom none of his family members died until recently.

“Insurance fraud?” Yoo Ji and Hwa Dong said simultaneously.

#Descendants of the Sun #descendants of the sun fanfic #descendants of the moon #Dotm Masterlist #DOTM #DotS wip #dotm wip update #ahn bohyun #ahn bo hyun #ahnbohyun #Yoo Ji (OC)#kdramas #kdrama fic #kdrama fanfic #kdrama #kdrama fanfictions

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b-listbadboy · 5 years ago

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Castlevania Season 3 was disappointing

(Spoilers for Castlevania Season 3, if you haven’t seen it yet it’s out now on Netflix. I suggest watching that first before reading this review)

I won’t say it was an awful season by any stretch of the imagination but man was it a drag to get through.

Almost nothing of significance happens for the majority of the season and the things that did happen felt extremely off and weird. 10 episodes, 25 to 30 minutes each, and every single one except for the fucking TWO LAST EPISODES were spent dicking around with a mystery that had little to do with anything from season 2 beyond a really out there twist that I’m sort of iffy on. Top that off with a lackluster arguably stupid ending to leave us off on a needless cliffhanger, and that’s the magic remedy that will leave me feeling pretty damn frustrated.

The best parts, in my opinion, were with Isaac’s massive undead crusade he was waging throughout his journey for revenge, and Trevor and Syph’s interactions with each other as well as with the little villagers. Isaac’s arc going from a servant of Dracula to slowing evolving into the master of the damned felt genuine, intriguing, and badass! I really wish he was the next main villain instead as it makes sense thematically. He carries out Dracula’s nihilistic views of humanity in a similar but now more direct way and that can lead into something really intriguing. However, for some reason, this season left him and his whole journey on a back burner, and virtually everything else that is implemented into main villain role fell flat on its face execution wise.

For example; The new vampires of this season are Camilla’s three other empress sisters, and while they do have a plethora of personality at the very least, that kind of comes at a cost of the main threat being extremely diluted. We go from this hurting sympathetic undead overlord with the power of an anchent GOD, to a couple of wicked sassy sisters who just wanna eat people forever? It’s a bit lame of a progression from what we once had, we know Vampires like to eat people that’s nothing new or exciting. There’s no real twist to it besides it being “led by women in the dark ages” and granted that makes sense here since it IS the dark ages, but come on we literally just had arguably the BEST adaptation of friggin’ Dracula! This shouldn’t be all they got moving forward from that.

Now, I have ZERO issue with the main antagonists being female or even two of the four sisters (not by blood don’t worry) being a lesbian couple. I hate that I have to emphasize this, hell I often defend Cinder Fall in RWBY more than anyone in the fandom at all despite her issues as a complex and sometimes flat out badly written character. However, The four of them in this season have the most basic of plans that it seems arbitrary status quote fluff at best. It felt like just because it’s Castlevania, we HAVE to have the vampires as the villains. Even though in the games the Belmont’s were literally fighting werewolves, dragons, skeletons, and the GRIMM REAPER??

Therefore, the sense of urgency and tense calculating plans of ‘survival vs extinction’ is completely gone. And yknow in a way, I can kinda initially SEE that working in a sort of “Empire Strikes Back” esque plot. Yknow, with Alucard and the gang go around cleaning up Dracula’s leftover horde only for Isaac or even Camilla to have this huge vengeful comeback of dominance? But there’s no one exactly “striking back” or even taking any kind of immediate initiative after Dracula’s death. It’s been MONTHS after the whole event and no one seems like they really care about that world changing event from the last two season’s. Everything is fine and dandy, no one has a single worry in the world! How enthralling...I miss Godbrand 😑

Besides the plan the four empresses have as well as Issac’s revenge, which I hope will both be more explored in season 4, no one really has any goal to warrant THAT kind of length of a season. This is more of a Netflix problem that I have with most of their shows and it’s one of the reasons why I don’t like watching them. Almost every singe show Netflix produces now, feels the need to overstuff itself with needless filler that gets us really nowhere until the very end where it SUDDENLY all comes together. But because of the nature of binge watching and considering how Netflix wants to desperately keep their subscriptions in fear of intimidating competition, they make these shows 12 episodes long with HALF HOUR OR MORE amount of filler content that’s supposed to satisfy us cause it’s “cute”?! No, stop this shit! Granted, Castlevania wasn’t nearly AS bad as the live action shows, but honestly, what exactly was shown to us that couldn’t have been reduced to like 5 solidly paced episodes focused on one or two plot lines ONLY like before? It worked perfectly back then, why change what ain’t broke?

As much as I don’t like the immediate rush of Trevor and Syph’s out of nowhere sexual relationship, I didn’t overall mind it too much since they still somewhat felt consistent. Their characteristics play off very nicely with one another and it’s pretty easy to see the chemistry between the two....HOWEVER I’M STILL GONNA COMPLAIN ABOUT IT SO HERE WE GO!

I get that they were setting them up as an endgame ship of the series, there’s no denying that, but they start fucking for what feels like (to the audience) two days after and I think that’s a bit ridiculous! Even if Alucard states that it’s been at the very least a month worth of time since the events of Season 2, there’s no real physical signs showing that statement to be true. Hell, Trevor’s beard and hair remains the same despite a HUGE passage of time where it would naturally grow out to indicate said time passing by. But both him, Syph, Alucard, and damn near everyone else looks the exact same as last season. So for all I know it could have been like a week since Season 2 and that to me doesn’t feel exactly earned. The Season 2 finale didn’t explicitly leave off Trevor and Syph officially a couple, they felt more like partners in crime more than anything else. Not to say that there wasn’t any chemistry there to develope INTO a relationship GRADUALLY, but going from a little spark of interest to the immediate jump of them sleeping together naked all comfortably as if they’re a goddamn married couple is a STRETCH! Even Trevor himself thinks so too so don’t jump down my throat about not being immediately swooned by the shipping fanservice given to us. I don’t dislike them as a couple at all, in fact I think their dynamic is cute! However, I would have also liked to have this couple feel natural and earned. They most certainly do not feel earned this way, at least to me.

Oh god, then there’s this out of nowhere sexual tension between Alucard and his new two recruits from another region hinted at in the previous season? Mind you, Alucard was doing literally NOTHING throughout the entirety of Season 3. Yep, literally the ONE DUDE WHO BASICALLY KILLED DRACULA gets about fuck all story progression afterwards out of the three. But what they DO give him are these two new vampire hunting student’s who look identical to one another (no racial they just literally look like fraternal twins) so I assumed they were either siblings or a couple, which makes it REALLY WEIRD WHEN THEY BOTH FUCK ALUCARD OUT OF NOWHERE?! I’m NOT making this shit up I promise! What makes even less sense is that it was really just a ploy for them to steal the Belmont knowledge of killing vampires to show to their people who have been enslaved. Which of course ends with them being killed so it really makes this entire conflict in his character damn near pointless besides “sad vibes check”, but here’s the thing...why didn’t they just keep doing training with Alucard?? There were virtually no downsides to having him teach you how to kill Vampires to save your village from being enslaved, he was teaching you both very well and gave you like the eternal knowledge of how to kill literally EVERY MONSTER and even let you live in the castle FOR FREE, food and wine included! What was the turning point for them to want to kill him all of the sudden? Cause he’s a vampire?? THEY FUCKING KNEW THAT ALREADY!!! Why was is suddenly not a problem at first but then coincidentally a problem now? If they wanted to use this to somehow depict this notion of “Oh my dad/Dracula was right humans are the worst” mindset, trust me, it was better conveyed with Isaac. These twins side plot not only made no sense, but also felt unjustified for Alucard to be an emo boi. I get that it’s supposed to be symbolic of him going through the same issues that both of his parents went through, but none of that really showed how bad human’s are. Just that those two twins didn’t think things through apparently. So the point of Alucard having this odd character convenience shift feels by the numbers cliché, and most importantly CHEAP.

It really makes no sense to me why they’re adding so much of this filler for such a long time, especially with some of this filler being oddly sexual. I don’t mind honest depiction of sex between consenting adults of course, but it just felt so misplaced and awkward at parts where it showed itself. I felt like I was reading a mediocre fanfic of Castlevania instead of the actual show itself! Granted, Season 2 had somewhat of a similar dilemma but the lull in between was still showing the character specifically doing things to further the story along. Towards the end, it gave us a way more satisfactory closure of that saga with Dracula that felt natural and well earned. This season however, felt like they were scrambling with different ideas here and there and didn’t know which to go with. Alucard training new recruits in his castle, Trevor and Syph figuring out an estranged (and BORING/GENERIC) cult of Dracula’s plan, Camilla setting up an army with her fellow sisterhood of evil vampires to gain ultimate power, Hector surviving captivity by using his wit and charm, Isaac raising up the dead for revenge on his deceased master, a new character introducing an all new world to the lore of Castlevania as we know it, all of these interesting concepts and ideas that could easily make up for a good season alone! And instead of focusing on one or two ideas to develope into something natural, they ended up saying “FUCK IT! Fucking I dunno what to- WE’RE DOING ALL OF IT I DUNNO!” and mixed the whole thing in a blender of different flavors that don’t necessarily blend together well enough for a tasty satisfactory meal. It just ends up being a mesh of okay at best, and gross at worst.

IN CONCLUSION, Castlevania Season 3 had a rocky start, an okay middle, and a kind of cool end. There was definitely some cool and exciting ideas implemented in here, but not enough to warrant that lengthy amount of time that Netflix seems to love to give to most of their TV shows. Sometimes less is more, and all that shiny cool glitter isn’t necessarily going to turn out to be gold. I’ll give this season a 5/10. It’s not the worst I’ve ever seen but it certainly could’ve been a lot better.

P.S. “Who Do Ya Voodoo” from Dead Island is Isaac’s new theme song, you can’t convince me otherwise.

#castlevania #season 3 spoilers #spoilers #unpopular opinion #review #netflix castlevania #critique

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thuskindlyshescatters · 5 years ago

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Team RWBY and the Very Long Day

Or maybe... not as long as you’d expect?

When the team reaches Atlas Academy and are brought on a tour, they’re dead tired. Now, as someone who’s gone on a number of college tours myself, I totally can relate. And plus, the team has had a really long day -- Volume 6 Chapter 10 through Volume 7 Chapter 2 have all been the same day.

However, it feels a lot longer for us than it should, since we saw it over a nine-month period, and they only experienced it in a day. But how long was that day specifically?

There’s a couple factors we need to consider: time zones, hour of sunset, flight hours, and actual in-show events. By evaluating this, we will determine: How long of a day were the past 6 chapters of RWBY? Is their exhaustion justified by canon events?

Spoilers, math, and lots of pointless reading below.

I) Time Zone

According to this map (the fifth image) from the second “World of Remnant” short, we get a pretty good approximation of the location of Atlas. Argus is on the U-shaped peninsula a third of the way from Mistral to Atlas. Ideally, time zones would work in 24 hour-wide increments, so assuming there is NOT a huge Pacific-like ocean around Remnant’s back half, there is approximately a two-hour time difference between Argus and Atlas. This means the sun sets on Argus earlier than Atlas -- however, Atlas is further North, so sunset may be earlier for them relative to someone at a lower latitude in their timezone. Additionally, it also means the team may experience around two hours of jet lag upon arrival.

II) Sunset

When the gang arrives in Atlas, it is night time. In Volume 6 Chapter 7, they arrive at Argus in mid-afternoon. Because the next episode’s scenes with Cordovin at the base and Maria in the garden do not have the same warm lighting, we can infer that those took place the next day, sometime during the middle of the day. They receive news that Oscar is missing and begin their search -- however, unless they were searching for him like in Volume 1 Chapter 16 (if you recall, that was 12 hours), it’s likely they were out of the house for no more than 4 hours. From the end of Volume 6 Chapter 8 to the end of Volume 6 Chapter 9 might have been from, call it, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM -- meaning sunset was sometime within those hours. It is wintertime in the Northern hemisphere of Remnant (quick summary, it’s been about a year since the end of Volume 3 Chapter 12), so assuming they don’t have daylight savings time, this is a pretty reasonable estimate for when the sun would set in a city whose latitude is comparable to that of Paris. If we take a quick look back at Atlas, it is MUCH farther North than Argus, and is pretty much in the Arctic. If we compare map distances, Atlas might as well be in Iceland, as Paris and Reykjavik are 1,396 air miles away from each other. In December in Iceland, the sun sets at around 3:00 to 4:00 PM. Therefore, it is perfectly reasonable that people would still be up and about when it appears to be night time in Atlas.

III) Flight Hours

What this means is that the team, in order to leave Argus during daytime (earlier than 5:30 PM) and to arrive in Atlas during nighttime (later than 4:00 PM) when there is a two-hour time difference between them, it works out to assume that the minimum time a flight on an Atlesian dropship would take from Argus to Atlas would be 4 hours. Even more generous would be to allow them 5 hours, considering the pace of the vehicle.

IV) Events

I’d like to start with the evidence we see in Atlas and work backwards to make a fair assumption about when they arrive in Atlas. The amount of people on the streets and the fact that Dr. Polendina’s pharmacy is open makes me want to believe it’s before 6:00 PM. The Faunus miners we see on the passing vehicle makes me wonder if this is accurate, however, because I would assume the miners would work more unreasonable hours than that. I will chalk this up to be a case of world details being more important to show punctually than consistently. Anyways, if we say it’s 5:30 PM in Atlas when they arrive, then it’s likely 3:30 PM in Argus when they depart (accounting for a 4 hour flight and 2 hour time zone difference.)

Now, for the real numbers:

Ruby’s role in the heist takes place more or less in real time, while Blake and Yang’s excursion with Adam is punctuated by breaks of which we cannot know the duration. Therefore, knowing that Blake and Yang rejoin the group in Volume 6 Chapter 13, I will only recount the “cliff-side” events, as it were, to calculate the duration of the heist itself.

Volume 6 Chapter 10

We have no idea when the heist begins. Cordovin, being a military officer, would probably want Weiss to arrive at a sharp hour, so let’s call that hour “X:00″ o’clock. Based off of our previous calculations, the end of the heist must occur at around 3:30, so depending on their length, this hour could be 3:00 PM. (Spoiler: it totally will be.)

The episode begins on the Rooster Teeth website at 2:08 minutes, and from there it pretty much goes in real time until 4:50, which is the moment when Weiss loses scroll signal with Ruby. Ruby loses signal with Weiss at 6:02, so we can deduce that those next 1:12 minutes of Ruby’s timeline are occurring simultaneously with what we see of Weiss. From the beginning of the heist to when Ruby loses signal is 2:42 minutes in real time (how efficient of Weiss!). From 6:02 to 11:02 is the next realtime sequence, at which point we cut to Blake and Adam, but again, we’ll be ignoring them for now. Now, the heist has been in progress for 7:42 minutes; it is X:07.

Volume 6 Chapter 11

The episode officially begins at 2:08 again. The first scene of them talking lasts until 4:01, when it cuts away from them planning to attack. Let’s be generous and give them 30 unspoken seconds where some offscreen planning occurs, making that first sequence about 2:37 minutes. Then, the sequence continues from 4:01 to 9:44 (no, I’m not counting slow motion because that’s dumb). Then, we cut away again. This episode’s total real-time stacks up to 8:20 minutes. Therefore, the heist has now been occurring for 16:02 minutes, so it’s about X:16 o’clock.

Volume 6 Chapter 12

This episode actually starts at 1:57 -- wow, wild. It runs continuously to 7:25 (no, cutting back and forth between dialogue doesn’t fucking count), making this section 5:28 minutes. We cut away to Bees, but we return to Cordovin at 11:42, pretty much exactly where it left off, and that carries on to the end of the episode at 12:54. The total of the episode comes out to be 6:40 minutes, since the Bees got a lot of murder screentime. We are also now 22:42 minutes into the heist, and it is X:22 o’clock.

Volume 6 Chapter 13

Cinder and Neo take up the first few minutes of screentime, so the episode starts for our main heroes at 3:33. It kind of carries over from the previous episode, but there’s enough fighters in the air that I’ll give them 90 seconds of cushion time to compensate for realism. I will also add 30 seconds between when Weiss says they destroyed the mech to when they’re all in the airship taking flight at 4:21. Since they like skipping time so much for dramatic effect, I’ll add ANOTHER 30 seconds between when Ruby realizes she has to face it alone and they hatch their second plan at 8:39. I’m going to stop the clock at 9:55 because Ruby yells for Jinn and stops time in-universe until her Silver Eyes moment at 11:16, which, while awesome, is the first event that occurs once time speeds back up to normal. So that whole first section, including padding, was 8:52 minutes. Then, from Silver Eyes to the end of this time section when they time skip to their arrival at 13:14 is 1:58. Finally, the episode cuts to credits at 16:51, the last line being “welcome home,” making the total for the episode 14:27.

I’d like to note that the episode was 10:50 minutes before they timeskipped to their arrival, so it was 33:32 minutes into the heist and X:33 when they left for Atlas. We said earlier it would be best if they left at around 3:30 PM, and what do you know: the number works out! We can therefore pretty confidently say the heist began at 3:00 PM, which will be important later.

Volume 7 Chapter 1

That’s right folks, we’re not done! Now in Atlas, it is 5:33 PM, just like we predicted it would be. The line “welcome home” is said at 0:38, where I’ll be starting the clock for this episode, but I’ll add the 3:37 of dialogue that occurred the previous episode. They cut away to some pretty Atlas shots while they descend into the city, so I’ll provide 60 seconds of offscreen time. From there, we stay in real time until they put the ship down, which I’ll again provide another 60 seconds for. After their encounter with the MAGA (Make Atlas Great Again, obvs) hecklers, let’s say they walk for another 60 seconds before reaching Piedro’s pharmacy. Continuing to the end of the episode, it’s pretty continuous, except for the extra 90 seconds I’ll provide for them being loaded into the airship. The realtime total for this episode is 18:24 minutes, so it’s been 4 hours and 51:56 minutes since they began the heist, and it’s now 5:51 PM in Atlas.

Volume 7 Chapter 2

The episode starts at 1:46. Let’s be generous and say they’ve been in the air for 2 minutes so far. The episode plays out pretty much in real time until 15:18 where we enter Penny’s montage, so I’ll add about 3 more minutes of travel time to and from Ironwood’s office within Atlas Academy and account the Ironqrow moment for the time it took offscreen for the rest of the group to start Penny’s tour. Then, because I’ve been on many a college tour myself, I expect they’ll be walking for about 10 minutes before they start to feel like they need to collapse. So, in total, this episode takes 29:02 minutes of real time, bringing the amount of time since the start of the heist to 5 hours and 20:58 minutes, making it now approximately 6:21 PM.

In that time, various members of the team have singlehandedly overwhelmed two Argus soldiers, taken control of an airship, fought brutally with their archnemesis, battled a giant mech, flown into the barrel of a cannon, murdered a man, entered a maelstrom of Grimm, obliterated a behemoth of a Final Boss, taken a 4 hour flight, fought an onslaught of new Grimm, reunited with former besties, sisters, and colleagues alike, been arrested, and worst of all gone on a college campus tour.

V) Conclusions

I don’t think the team is suffering from that much jetlag, but I’d definitely be exhausted with that much happening even if it was only 8:21 PM in “my time.” (International travel takes a lot out of you, man.) Additionally, they probably got up earlier in the day (maybe around 9:00 AM, Argus time, if it was a lazy morning), so at this point, they’ve been awake for 11 hours, assuming no one took a nap on the airship.

However, I was surprised to find that even though all 6 of these episodes happened in one day, the actual heist part took only 33 minutes, and their first day in Atlas was about 47 minutes, maybe actually longer. That means that a LOT of the bullshit I listed above was packed into 33 minutes, and the remaining time stretched out over a leisurely hour or so. This post also was made on 11/09, so it might even happen that the next episode CONTINUES this exhausting day, in which case, expect an update.

TLDR: In conclusion, the team deserves to be tired AF because of all the crazy stuff that’s happened to them today. However, they were not awake for an exceptionally long time, nor did the events in Argus actually take up much of their day, much to my surprise.

What was the point of this again?

#rwby #rwby7 #rwby spoilers #this was fun :D #why did I do it tho :DDDD #I could have been posting about something people actually cared about :DDDDDDD #8DDDDDDDDD

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goldstarnation · 5 years ago

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AUGUST 2019 GOLD STAR MEDIA SCHEDULES & REVIEW

Members may earn 3 points each (up to 6 points) for writing, by the end of August 31 KST September 7 KST:

A solo para of 400+ words based on their monthly schedule (does not count toward your monthly total).

A thread of six posts (three per participant, including the starter) based on their monthly schedule.

Threads do not have to take place directly during an important date listed on the schedule, but must be related to what the muse is mentioned to be doing in the paragraph explaining their schedule/the company’s schedule for the month and/or their thoughts on the mentioned activities or lack thereof.

These schedules may be updated throughout the month if new information needs to be added.

Overall Company

Their company concerts have finally come up at the end of the month after lots of rehearsal. They concerts are a big deal since they’re being held at the biggest venue in the country, one only Origin out of the entire company’s roster have ever held a concert at. Other than a ploy to lift third quarter profits, they’re a clear showcase of Gold Star’s status within the industry, so it’s expected that all idols will be perfectly prepared and the show will go off without a hitch.

Important dates

August 30 & 31: Gold Star Nation 10th Anniversary concerts at Seoul Olympic Stadium. (more details to be announced through an event!)

Gold Star Soloist 1

Album preparations take a back seat this month in order to use her wide appeal to bring in people who aren’t dedicated fans of any particular Gold Star artist to the company concert. She’ll take the lead as a host of behind the scenes videos for the concert again by being tasked with checking in with each act backstage during the concerts on video, once again taking on the role of a “caring senior”. She’ll also be doing fan outreach this month to reassure her restless fans that new work from her is coming soon with a specifically scheduled Q&A on her fancafe (reference of general tone, although the questions and answers don’t need to be assumed to be the same!).

Important dates:

August 13: Fancafe Q&A session.

Gold Star Soloist 2

She’s busy at work this month with concert rehearsals for next month and studio recording for her album. She’s been given permission to announce that she’s been confirmed for a full album comeback, which she’ll be doing on a radio guesting on August 24. She’ll do a radio guesting again a few days later on Arirang radio with Gold Star Soloist 3 where they’ll discuss his recent comeback and her approaching one and she’ll get the chance to make sure her English-speaking fans have also heard the news of her return.

Important dates:

August 24: Guesting on SBS Power FM

August 29: Guesting on Arirang Radio (with Gold Star Soloist 3).

Gold Star Soloist 3

His comeback is in the second half of the month, so for the first half, he films the music video and makes sure he’s got the choreography down. As Gold Star likes to do when they’re pushing for general public reception or when they’re promoting an artist that relies more on public streaming than fandom like Gold Star Soloist 3, he’ll get a radio push alongside music show promotions to reach out to both his domestic and international fans. Of note, he’ll be guesting alongside Gold Star Soloist 2 for one of his Arirang Radio appearances to promote his recent comeback and her recently announced one.

Important dates:

August 6: Runaway MV filming day one.

August 7: Runaway MV filming day two.

August 21: Release of “Runaway” single, promotions continue until September 21.

August 22: Guesting on Arirang Radio.

August 25: Guesting on SBS Power FM.

August 27: Guesting on MBC FM4U.

August 29: Guesting on Arirang Radio (with Gold Star Soloist 2).

Silhouette

Members begin recording for their upcoming mini-album this month, which is what most of their schedules consist of this month other than company concert rehearsals while the company brings in profits from their Japanese album coming out this month. Silhouette has also been selected to perform their singles “I Love You”, “DDD”, “Up & Down”, and “Hush” in a special show for the nation’s armed forces alongside some of the other popular senior girl groups in the industry.

Important dates:

August 14: Release of Japanese album Trouble.

August 18: Performance at K-Force Special Show (also performing: Lipstick, BEE, and Aria)

Aria

Aria will finish filming their Aria’s Parallel Universe series this month and it will begin to be released online for fans after they finish their music show promotions of Wag-Zak to keep fan attention. They have a number of performance and filming schedules for the rest of the month, and they’ve been internally confirmed to hold Seoul concerts in the fourth quarter of the year, so the members will have some early conceptual meetings about that and be expected to brush up on choreography that may make the set list. Aria has also been selected to perform some of their singles, “Wag-Zak”, “Ah-Choo”, “Mr. Chu”, and “I’m So Sick”, in a special show for the nation’s armed forces alongside some of the other popular senior girl groups in the industry.

Important dates:

August 7: End of music show promotions.

August 12: Idol Star Athletics Championships filming (also attending: Lucid, 7ROPHY, WISH, Fuse, Unity, and Knight, to air in September).

August 16: Performance at 2019 K-World Festa at Olympic Park KSPO Dome (also performing: Fuse, Alien, 7ROPHY, and Element).

August 18: Performance at K-Force Special Show (also performing: Lipstick, BEE, and Silhouette).

August 22: Soribada Best K-Music Awards at Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul (also attending: 7ROPHY, Unity, MARS, and Fuse).

Origin

Origin takes off again at the beginning of the month for their Osaka concerts, then return to Seoul to continue Origin World filming. Not all members will be filming every day, but the filming schedule is jam-packed and there’s very little time allotted for filming taking longer than expected. After they finish the second pair of Japanese concerts of the month, it’s just more filming of a different kind for the members as they take a “vacation” in Malta to film a VLive series of the members bonding and “resting”. Once they come back, the members go into final Gold Star Nation concert rehearsals along with comeback prep for their new album.

Important dates:

August 3: Speak Yourself Stadium Tour concert at Yanmar Stadium Nagai in Osaka, Japan.

August 4: Speak Yourself Stadium Tour concert at Yanmar Stadium Nagai in Osaka, Japan.

August 6-15: Origin World and “Heartbeat” MV filming.

August 11: Performance at Lotte Duty Free Family Concert (also performing: WISH).

August 17: Speak Yourself Stadium Tour concert at Shizuoka Stadium in Shizuoka, Japan.

August 18: Speak Yourself Stadium Tour concert at Shizuoka Stadium in Shizuoka, Japan.

August 19-26: Bon Voyage VLive series filming in Malta.

Impulse

Release of a new album and comeback means music show promotions as well as constant fan signs and an appearance on Idol Room. Despite the pressure that’s been put on Impulse, Gold Star isn’t packing promotion schedules too densely this comeback in order to prioritize tour preparation, since that will be the group’s real moneymaking endeavor this year. The members will be rehearsing songs, particularly ones that will be given remix versions for the tour, and doing promotional photo shoots for the tour in between Eclipse’s promotions.

Important dates:

August 5: Release of “Eclipse” & Spinning Top album showcase, promotions continue until September 5.

August 7: Idol Room filming (to air August 13).

August 10: Fan sign in Mokdong, Seoul.

August 16: Fan sign in Gangnam, Seoul.

August 17: Fan sign in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul.

August 18: Fan sign in Jongno, Seoul.

August 24: Fan sign in Seocho, Seoul.

August 25: Fan sign in Gangnam, Seoul.

Fuse

Music show promotions continue and the reception seems to be better than it was for “RBB (Really Bad Boy)”, if going off of music show wins, at least. Fan and public opinion still seems to be split and it doesn’t look like “Zimzalabim” will be in the running for song of the summer, but since Femme Fatale’s song did better than anticipated, Gold Star doesn’t seem to be laying into Fuse for it. They’ve been booked for a Weekly idol episode with the theme of female idols across different companies and generations. The day they end music show promotions, Fuse will also be hosting their fifth anniversary fan meeting, a one day event they’ll be preparing for throughout the rest of the month.

*Reminder: All members must be moved out of their dorm by the end of the month.

Important dates:

August 6: Milkshake MV filming.

August 7: Performance at the 17th Girl Scout International Camp at World Jamboree Center in Goseong.

August 8: Filming of Weekly Idol episode (also appearing: BC Soloist 1 and Gal.actic, to air August 14).

August 12: Idol Star Athletics Championships filming (also attending: Lucid, 7ROPHY, Aria, WISH, Unity, and Knight, to air in September).

August 16: Performance at 2019 K-World Festa at Olympic Park KSPO Dome (also performing: Aria, Alien, 7ROPHY, and Element).

August 22: Soribada Best K-Music Awards at Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul (also attending: 7ROPHY, Aria, MARS, and Unity).

August 24: End of music show promotions.

August 24: Inter-Fuse Vol. 5 5th anniversary fanmeeting at Olympic Hall.

Element

Management has been at work concocting new marketing for Element to help get them out of the shadow of Femme Fatale, their same year debut juniors. In addition to their Seoul concert and a festival performance, Element has been pushed toward a focus of continued online outreach, though it expands beyond their faithful VLives this month. First, they’ll be doing an Ask Me Anything on a Kpop-dedicated Reddit board, which will be filmed and uploaded online afterward. There will be a translator present to translate their answers to English when necessary and all answers will need to be approved by management first. The following week, they’ll film two videos reaching out to their Spanish-speaking fans, a demographic that Gold Star knows is one of their strengths, by filming a video where they try to perform their latest single “Bomb Bomb” in Spanish and a video where they compete at a Spanish vocabulary guessing game (Admin note: Ignore the teams in the video. The teams for Element will be main dancer/lead rapper and main vocal vs. main rapper/lead dancer and maknae/lead vocal/lead dancer. Main dancer/lead rapper and main vocal will win).

Important dates:

August 10: 4lement In Seoul concert at Sogang University in Seoul.

August 16: Performance at 2019 K-World Festa at Olympic Park KSPO Dome (also performing: Aria, Alien, 7ROPHY, and Fuse).

August 23: r/kpop AMA filming.

August 25: Performance at 2019 K-Asia Festival in Incheon (also performing: Decipher and 7ROPHY).

August 28: “Element Masters Spanish” filming and “Try-lingual Live” filming.

Femme Fatale

Now that music show promotions have ended, Femme Fatale turns their sights on preparations for their first ever tour, an arena tour in Japan beginning next month, to really prove that their moneymaking capabilities for the company extend beyond the CFs they’ve been raking in (like the Adidas Originals one they’re booked for this month). Amidst company concert rehearsals, they’ll also be deep in rehearsals and stage costume fittings for their own concerts, the setlist of which will include a solo stage for each member and two group covers to bulk out their current discography. The members will be asked for input on desired concepts, genres, and songs for their solo stages, but ultimately Gold Star will have the final word on what stages they do in order to keep Femme Fatale’s conceptual direction in check for their first major concerts. (Admin note: This means it’s up to the mun whether they had enough say to have chosen their own song(s) or whether management ultimately decided the muse’s songs against their input.) The solo stages are as follows:

Main rapper/lead vocal - Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You - (pt. 2)

Main vocal/lead dancer - Eyes Closed / Eyes, Nose, Lips

Maknae/main dancer/lead rapper - Lemon / Faded / Attention

Lead vocal - Sakurairomaukoro

Members will also be in more intensive Japanese lessons this month in preparation for the tour.

Important dates:

August 10: Adidas Original CF filming.

August 17: Performance at A-Nation 2019 in Osaka, Japan.

#fmdschedule #queued post

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sol1056 · 6 years ago

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season release & demographics

Alright, I’ve gotten several asks about the speed of the upcoming season releases for DW/Netflix. Most asks amount to roughly

are they releasing that fast because they want it over, or because more stuff is coming?

...with at least two asks attempting to make sideways snarky comments about the revelation of a canonically gay character.

Behind the cut: some stats on how DW groups and broadcasts its series, some data-based theories on VLD’s scheduling, who the ‘real’ audience demographic is, and some speculation about show timing independent of VLD itself.

how DW groups and broadcasts its series

First thing I should note is that dropping a chunk of episodes at once onto Netflix is relatively new for DW, compared to their years of traditional weekly syndicated format on Nick, CN, etc. (You can find a list of all past and present television productions here.) Starting around 2014, their Netflix/DW works were mostly the usual children’s fare -- episodic shows made for syndication.

Two shows changed this game: VLD and Trollhunters, both premiering in 2016. Each contain one continuous arc, requiring viewing in order, from the start. Unfortunately that means the only real comparison is Trollhunters, which had a 12-month gap between S1 and S2, and a 5-month gap from S2 to S3. Just before the final season broadcast, DW announced two sequels, which brings TH’s total ep count to 78. Remember that timing; it’ll be important in a bit.

Looking across even the episodic younger-set stories, it does seem like releases try to stick to a general pattern, give or take a month. Across 8 multi-season shows, here’s the breakdown of cours (because you know I had to throw a visual in somewhere). A single cour is 11-14 episodes, 5-7 eps is a half-cour, with 26 being a double-cour. (One series released a 16-ep season, which I counted as a single cour.)

I point this out just to make clear that half-cour drops are actually rather common, comparatively. Out of 31 episodes, 11 were half-cour. As for the length between seasons, the mode (most common) is 7 mos.

some theories on VLD’s scheduling

Now let’s look at the gaps between VLD’s seasons: 7, 7, 2, 5, 3, 2 (counting the upcoming release for S7). If we merge the half-cour seasons for comparison (so we’re dealing with consistent 13-episode seasons again), then we’ll posit the broadcast date would’ve been the date the 2nd half of the season aired. In other words, had we gotten the original S3 (now S3/S4) season as one, it would’ve aired on S4′s broadcast date, as one solid chunk.

With the consistent pattern of S1 through S3′s data, that’s a 7-month break between seasons. Assuming that this would’ve originally been set as the scheduled dates, let’s compare those dates to the actual broadcast dates.

scheduled Jun 2016 ==> aired Jun 2016

scheduled Jan 2017 ==> aired Jan 2017

scheduled Aug 2017 ==> aired Aug + Oct 2017

scheduled Mar 2018 ==> aired Mar + Jun 2018

scheduled Oct 2018 ==> aired Aug 2018

scheduled May 2019 ==> aired ???

Yes, I’m aware DW spun the split-seasons as getting more episodes, sooner. It’s the reverse. We should’ve gotten all of S3 in August, but S3 was completed 2 months late. Same for S4, which we should’ve gotten in March, but compared to the original schedule, S4 was 3 months late. S7 (the original S5) is the first time we’re getting anything ahead of schedule, 2 months earlier.

If we go by the usual pattern of 7 mos gaps -- and counting from the actual broadcast date of Aug 2018, that would put the concluding 13-ep drop at May 2019. However, at least two other series have dropped their final seasons with a much smaller gap: from 8 down to 3, 12 down to 5.

Which means that dropping S8 (the original S6) in December would be a gap of 4 months from S7′s broadcast, or alternately, a 2 month gap from the original schedule. That’s pretty dramatic, compared to half the time, which would’ve put us at March of 2019.

why the last season comes so fast

When Dawn of the Croods dropped its final season, it came with the announcement that this would be its last. When Trollhunters dropped its final season, it simultaneously announced that two sequels were in the works. And check this out, with hat-tip to @ptw30 for the sharp eyes:

Voltron’s got a film in development, and it’s under the aegis of the Dreamworks Animation team. (Oddly, that ‘S’ notation comes with a note saying the film will combine live-action with animation. I have no idea whether that means rotoscoping or actual live-action with lots of CGI.)

My guess is that on, around, or shortly after the final season of VLD drops, we’ll get an announcement about the upcoming film that will attempt to build on the series. That’s a matter of timing, though, so it’s just my guess (and things can change).

the ‘real’ audience demographic

When asks make comments about VLD being unsatisfactory to the ‘primary demographic’ (and doubly so now that we’re talking about a canonically gay character, cue asshat-sounding commentary about gay hookups)... the assumption is almost always that the primary demographic is men. Probably men aged 18-30.

Wrong. It’s women. Specifically women between 25 to over 50.

But since this is supposedly a for-kids show, let’s start with appealing to families. There are 73.7 million children under 18, and 69% of them are in two-family households. 23% of those children live in single-mother households. (The largest growing family demographic is gay families. Go ahead, explain to me why a kid watching television shouldn’t see a role model in a relationship like their parents have.)

Guess who does the majority of the buying choices for families? Women.

A few facts about women as a market, in the US: the estimated purchasing power of US women ranges from $5 trillion to $15 trillion annually. Women control more than 60% of all personal wealth in the U.S., and 75% are the primary shoppers for their families. Women are buying 66% of all tech purchases, 65% of all car purchases, 89% of all bank accounts opened, 93% of all food purchased, and 92% of all vacation expenditures.

Oh, and while I’m at it:

45% of all gamers are women.

Women over 55 spend more time gaming online than men aged 15-24.

Also, millennial women (roughly early 20s to mid 30s) have 3.4 social media accounts on average, compared to 2.6 for GenX women; 61% of them are online and sharing content at least once a day. However, Gen-X women spend more time onine (7+ hrs/week) than Millennial women (6hrs/week). And then there’s Boomer women --- of the age to have seen Voltron when it first aired --- with a market share of $19 trillion. They tend to spend, on average, 250% more than any other bracket -- which is pretty phenomenal buying power when you consider that every fifth adult in the US is a woman over 50.

A show pays for itself with merchandise and toys --- and if you can swing the women’s market, you’ve got it made, ‘cause they’re ones doing the buying. That means appealing to mothers who make the vast majority of their household’s purchases, or women up to and including the over-50 gamer pop-culture-savvy women with spare income (who are also the fasting growing online demographic, while we’re at it).

So, miss me with that 'primary demographic’ crap. If it doesn’t appeal to boys but appeals to women 25-50+, it’ll do fine. The reverse --- of appealing to boys but not to women --- is a visual media that’ll be lucky to break even. DW hasn’t made it this far by alienating the ones who are making the purchases. If they realized that Shiro appeals most to women aged 25 to 50+ (which he does; he’s that age bracket’s favorite character) then you damn well better believe they’re going to keep him front and center.

why else dreamworks might be wrapping up

There are other factors in play. In 2013, DW partnered with Netflix for the first time, and since then it’s produced 16 series for Netflix. Only two series were exempt, one broadcast in France, the other on Amazon video.

Of the 9 series currently in pre-production, 4 will be on Netflix (She-Ra, 3 Below, Wizards, and Fast & Furious). The remainder are broken up between Amazon, cable TV, Universal, and two most recent that don’t even have homes, yet. Dreamworks is moving out of Netflix, excepting the pre-existing contracts they can’t quite break.

This is the result of net neutrality, to be perfectly blunt.

Check out who owns whom, here. (Larger version at recode.net.)

Comcast owns Dreamworks, and a 30% stake in Hulu -- of which Netflix is a direct competitor. I’m on AT&T and already noticing throttling happening for Netflix, and at some points for Tumblr (Verizon-owned). Scuttlebutt says DW is going to be pushed into moving its content onto Hulu, to support its parent company’s business agenda.

*** ETA: there is no good business reason (at this time) for DW to switch to Hulu. Netflix’s market share is easily ten times the size of Hulu, and switching will cut DW’s products off from a significant number of viewers. ***

That means DW is probably being strongly encouraged to wrap up its Netflix contracts and start shifting to Comcast-owned or controlled markets. And that has nothing to do with VLD itself, or even how popular (or not) that it’s been on Netflix. It’s a command coming down from on high, and now that we’ve lost net neutrality, there'll be less and less gain from sticking with Netflix.

#vld #voltron #doing the data cronch #analysis #popular media

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thejakeformerlyknownasprince · 7 years ago

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Will you do your fave book? Or if you already did it, the next fave? And so on...

Short opinion: I am constantly torn between wishing that The Beginning was twice its actual length and being in awe that Applegate manages to cram so much into a sparse 156 pages.

Long opinion:

As I mentioned here, #54 is actually my favorite book in the series. I’m probably the only fandalite on the planet for whom that is true, but I am a complete and utter sucker for tragedy. And this is tragedy in its purest form. Tragedy is frustratingly hard to find in contemporary American stories, because it offers no happiness or culmination at the end. Bad guys don’t always get punished; good guys don’t ever get medals from princesses or happy retirements into the sunset or reunions with lost loved ones; the very notions of “bad” and “good” get irreversibly complicated. A tragedy is the story of well-intentioned and deeply sympathetic protagonist(s) coming to a bad end that is at least partially one’s own fault, at least partially the fault of random Shit Happens, and entirely coherent and fitting with the tiny cascade of random events that led to the fall of a lightning-struck tower.

The purpose of comedy (i.e. stories with happy endings) is easy entertainment. The purpose of tragedy is to inspire fear and horror through making the audience wonder whether it is possible for each of them to meet a similar end. With the arguable exception of Cassie, every one of the Animorphs gets his or her own tragedy in the end. This series is a war epic about the costs of violence. It was never going to have a happy ending.

Rachel’s loss, in the opening moments, is the most obvious character culmination of the series. She has been struggling for months if not years to define herself outside of the war, attacked on all sides (her best friend, her boyfriend, her cousin and field commander, her own mother) for the very role that they all nonetheless demand that she perform in order to keep them all safe, not only from the yeerks but from themselves. Rachel has been the team’s first and last line of defense since the EGS tower battle (#7), and has all-but taken on the title of trash collector since becoming the one to handle David (#22). Killing Tom is her final act of protecting her found family; completing the suicide run is her final ability to use her comfort with violence to do something good. She might have done and even become terrible things, but she ultimately succeeds in turning that terror against an even greater evil in her last moments of life.

Arguably the next domino to fall is Tobias. I’m with Cates: his is the ending I find the least satisfying, because it devalues his friendship-cum-familyhood with Ax. However, I also can’t say that Applegate didn’t set that ending up. As early as #13 Tobias shows worrying signs of codependency with Rachel; as early as #3 he proves willing to retreat into his hawk side when the going gets tough. The scene where “Ken and Barbie” disturb his self-imposed exile through their simple reminder of humanity suggests that Tobias’s retreat isn’t nearly as complete as he’d like it to be, but then he’s never been able to escape being human no matter how hard he tries (see: #3, #33, #43, #49).

Part of what I find so fascinating about Jake’s character arc (fascinating enough that I wrote a goddamn novel or two on the subject) is how much his family story starts complicating this hyper-normative idea of married-parents-two-kids-fenced-backyard-golden-retriever-nice-neighborhood-white-upper-middle-class familyhood starting right in the first book, and how it only makes things worse once the war is over. Jake’s family continues to look “perfect” (i.e. normative) from the moment he first gets home and joins his brother and parents (and resident yeerk) for a home-cooked dinner in #1 all the way up until the alien inside his mom is firing a dracon beam at him from the front seat of her minivan, putting the first scar on the otherwise flawless siding on the facade of their two-story McMansion in #49. So it’s only natural that Jake’s first thought on committing fratricide in the immediate aftermath of mass murder is to wonder “how would [he] explain this to [his] parents,” and it makes a fair amount of sense that he basically tries to retreat back to that safe haven he (unlike all of his friends) has before the war begins (#54). But Jake can’t go home; home isn’t there for him to retreat to anymore. His desire to retreat back to his childhood home borders on pathological, since in many ways he’s older than his parents have ever been, and he’s gone beyond the point where he could ever hope to give his burdens back to them.

And then there are three. And then two.

There are two details about Ax’s role in the final book that I find really fascinating. The first is that line (which I quote all the time, because I find it so revelatory) where Cassie describes herself and Marco as “the only two real survivors” of the war (#54). Why isn’t Ax included in the list of “survivors” along with Cassie and Marco, even though he’s alive and (physically) well at the time? My guess would be the hints that he is, in his own way, just as addicted to risk and violence as Rachel ever was. He doesn’t know how to survive without the war, which leaves him “looking for trouble” in his “boredom”—right up until he recklessly stumbles upon enough “trouble” to get his entire crew killed (#54). That chapter also contains the other fascinating detail: it’s labeled “Aximili,” not “Ax” the way his chapters are in all the Megamorphs books. Ax has at least partially given up on the identity he fought so hard to forge throughout the entire book series. He has retreated back into being what his society expects him to be: a leader, a warrior, and an andalite who does not concern himself much with alien cultures. He continues playing that role, apparently indifferent to what is happening with Tobias and the others on Earth, right up to his death.

Quick side note: I find it so cool (by which I mean excruciatingly painful) that each of the Animorphs gets what they wanted in the first books in the series—and that those dreams prove to be so hollow once achieved. Rachel gets eternal glory, and the ultimate thrill ride along the way (#2). Ax surpasses Elfangor in reputation and respect (#8). Jake fulfills his daydreams of being treated as a superhero (#2), and of going home to his family (#1). Marco gets to be not only “an entire episode of Stupid Pet Tricks” but quite possibly the most famous person alive (#2). Tobias escapes his life and manages once and for all to “fly free” (#3). Cassie finds a non-violent way to change the world (#4); she even gets to be a horse for a while along the way (#29). And it’s nothing like any of them thought it would be. None of their childhood dreams have much feasibility or even appeal by the time they are some of the weariest, most mature and worn-out adults of their generation. Only Cassie manages to find satisfaction in getting everything she ever wanted.

Only Cassie… because Marco’s not quite a “survivor” either. He brags about his fame and materialism, sure—but then we’ve never been able to trust Marco’s narration. (See: the amount of time he spends obfuscating and/or lying to the reader in #30, #25, #15, and #35.) If you ask Marco outright, everything’s fine and it always has been. But then Marco describes Jake and Tobias showing up with an offer of a suicide mission as “everything around me turned translucent, like it was all fake… an old reality emerged from beneath the illusion” (#54). Even before that scene, it’s striking just how much time Marco spends obsessing over Jake. Marco freely admits to Cassie that he acquired an eagle morph for the specific purpose of following Jake around to spy on him, spends almost half the alleged description of his own life talking about how poorly Jake is functioning, and actually talks Jake into leading his crazy suicide mission for Jake’s own sake. What Marco doesn’t mention—and what we can assume from Jake’s own narration doesn’t happen—is him actually picking up the phone to call Jake and ask him if he wants to talk. The flash and glam and seven cars and heated pool and personal butler are yet more misdirection; Marco’s not okay. He’s just telling us about all the ways Jake’s not okay because that’s safer than admitting his own vulnerability. Jake says “Marco, you were bored out of your mind” and Marco unhesitatingly agrees (#54). Marco spends so much time trying to convince everyone of how very happy he is with materialism and Hollywood glam that he fools Cassie, he fools Tobias, he all but fools himself… but he never fools Jake. Which is why he has to keep Jake at arm’s length, no matter how much his guilt at doing so might eat him up as he’s sitting around watching Jake watching Rachel’s grave in the middle of the night.

And then there’s Cassie. Cassie who I’ve compared to an anti-Susan Pevensie, Cassie who finds a man who treats her right and uses power for good without resorting to violence. Marco, who was the last to join the war effort, might have eventually been able to find equilibrium if he’d been willing to get a haircut and get a real job (X). Cassie, who is unafraid to work on her own and leave her team when something needs doing and they can’t help her (#19, #29, #43, #44), is already living a new normal. Jake is right when he says that Cassie’s “a one-woman army,” and he’s right that she’s “the soldier who has fought her war and moved on.” The two Animorphs with the least “addiction” to the war emerge from the other side the most intact (#22). Cassie’s never going to be the same person she was, but she understands that. She doesn’t try to hide from the past, she doesn’t try to retreat into it; she picks herself up and figures out a way to live on her own. She shows that there’s hope for life after war, but also that there’s no returning to childhood. She lives, and keeps on living, even after two (maybe three, maybe five) of her fellow Animorphs have been eaten alive by the war. Because right from the start, Cassie has been comfortable with leaving her team behind—and in the end, she leaves her team behind, and she can’t save a single goddamn one of them.

It’s not a happy ending. It’s not a comforting ending. It’s not the kind of ending that suggests people get what they deserve and deserve what they get. It doesn’t offer the comfortable reassurance that the right ends will justify any means. It’s the kind of ending that gets in your head, burrows down deep, reads through your memories, and won’t leave you alone.

Don’t get me wrong: I love these characters. They were my heroes and my idols and my ink-and-paper friends throughout my childhood. They’ve taught me as much as a lot of real people I’ve known in my life, and there’s a part of me that does want them to live happily ever after. But if they did, they would lose a lot of the realness that makes them so precious and so painful to love in the first place.

#asks #answers #animorphs reviews #54 #the beginning #animorphs spoilers #unculturedmamoswine #jake berenson #rachel berenson #tobias fangor #aximili-esgarrouth-isthill #wouldn't it be nice if cassie and marco had last names #i didn't even mention that moment with alloran #or that other moment with menderash #or that other other moment with erek...

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