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viviennevermillion · 2 years ago

Note

Hey! Could I have prompt 4 with Cyno x reader pls? thx :3

Life After You

notes: this work is part of my 3k followers event! check out my pinned post for the event masterlist and further info. I also sincerely apologize to the people who requested first for doing these out of order but I gotta write what I'm inspired to atm or else I'll never get started. Also once again, feel free to check out my genshin discord :3

prompt: all that I'm after is a life full of laughter as long as I'm laughing with you, and I'm thinking that all that still matters is love ever after, after the life we've been through; 'cause I know there's no life after you

song these lyrics are from: life after you [daughtry]

contains: cyno x reader, fluff

warnings: none

"Two Shawarma Wraps please!", you smiled at Lambad as you paid for the food you had ordered. It wasn't hard to notice your good mood. After all, you had enough reason to smile, given that the man you loved was coming home from work earlier today and had promised to spend the rest of his day with his beloved. So since you still had some time to spare until Cyno would return, you had decided to get lunch for the two of you to surprise him.

It was a beautiful day, however, if you were honest, you didn't have any plans to leave the house again before the sun set. You were looking forward to just spend a day alone with Cyno, away from the prying eyes who recognized him as the General Mahamatra.

Just as you were fumbling with your keys at the entrance to the house you lived in, you felt two arms wrapping around your waist and a soft kiss on the back of your neck before Cyno nuzzled his face into your neck. "Ah, there you are already", you chuckled and turned around to properly greet your boyfriend with a kiss. "I missed you", Cyno said softly and kissed your cheek gently multiple times. You held up the packaged Shawarma Wraps. "I got us food", you exclaimed triumphantly. Cyno kissed your forehead and held up a finger. "Thank you, love. I got you something too", he seemed more excited than usual and started searching for something in his backpack.

He handed you a book. "It's the newest Genius Invokation TCG novel", he tried to say this calmly but you could see how he was internally ready to jump up and down like a teenage girl who had just gotten a text back from her crush, "they changed back to the original author so now there won't be any controversies regarding the main character fighting with a card that was never even in the game." You had heard him rant about this part of the story multiple times. He was always a little conflicted whether it was still within the rules of the game or not.

Cyno had introduced you to Genius Invokation TCG and he made it sound so interesting, that you agreed to read all the novels he was ready to lend to you and he had taught you how to play the game yourself. Now it was one of your favorite shared activities to engage in.

You remembered how Cyno had asked you for genuine feedback on whether you found his jokes funny. Knowing that he valued honesty, you told him that they weren't always funny, but that you still loved them and they still always lightened your mood. They made you at least chuckle most of the time, not because they were hilarious, but because telling unfunny jokes was so unapologetically Cyno that you couldn't help but feel happiness. You loved the man with all your heart, after all. You always encouraged him to keep making jokes, so he could never be mad that you didn't find them funny quite frequently.

You had followed up your statement with telling Cyno that you also just really enjoyed his voice. "A lot of your jokes sound more like you're telling a story", you remarked, "and quite frankly, you'd be a fantastic storyteller. I'd listen to you read the entire Genius Invokation TCG novel. Hell, I'd listen to you read me an overly specific instruction manual." Cyno had taken that a little too serious. Or rather, he saw this statement as a wonderful opportunity to tease you.

You had recently bought a very simple kitchen shelf that was built together in less than 15 minutes. Nevertheless, the instruction manual was overly complicated, written in 5 different languages and had 20 pages. And Cyno was determined to read all of them to you. You were sitting on the couch, trying to write while Cyno was reading the very detailed description of the process for building a small kitchen shelf. "Cyno, I'm trying to write Tighnari a birthday card, you're distracting me", you pouted as he leaned closer and whispered in your ear with a very serious voice. "Turn the screwdriver 20 times counter-clockwise-", was all he got out before you softly hit his face with a pillow but couldn't help but laugh. "You're impossible", you shook your head seeing that Cyno was laughing too. "Make sure that the board is fixed within the shelf frame before moving on to the next one...."

"Shut up", you grabbed his shoulders and shook him a little, "please...."

You chuckled before continuing with the birthday card. Cyno did fall silent. Instead he was now trailing kisses down your neck and then guided your chin so you'd face him. He kissed you passionately, pulling you into his lap. After the kiss you rolled your eyes at him. "Now I wrote 'I got you this Inazuma from flower. Happy Birth, Tighnari!'", you chucked another pillow at him, "look at what you've done. We're writing a new card and this time you'll be the one writing." "Fine by me", Cyno gave in and let out a soft chuckle before picking up the instruction manual again so you'd shut him up with another kiss. Cyno suggested you could simply add a joke to the card to distract from the mistakes you had made. "I would, but Tighnari would probably strangle both of us."

This was a side of him only you got to see and you felt blessed everytime he showed it to you, even though he was a tease sometimes. But this was how he had promised to read the new Genius Invokation TCG novel with you once it came out. You were looking forward to listening to his soothing voice and being snuggled up to his chest while listening to the story. You were just as excited about discussing the lore and story with him afterwards, coming up with theories for the next edition, which Cyno always loved to hear.

"What are you thinking about?", Cyno asked curiously, snapping you out of your memories as you opened the door. "Just remembered that time you read an instruction manual to me", you snickered. "I can do that again", he gave you a wink as you walked up the stairs.

After a moment of silence, Cyno raised his voice again. "I don't trust stairs. They're always up to something", he was already anticipating your reaction before you laughed at his joke. "Okay that one was actually good", you rewarded him with a kiss before entering your flat with him. "I got a laugh out of you! Win for me!", he proudly exclaimed as you put the Shawarma Wraps on the kitchen counter.

"The food smells amazing", Cyno remarked. "I know right?", you grinned and gave him fingerguns, "it's a meal you simply can't Cyno to." He stared at you for a second before the punchline dawned on him. "You get it, what makes this joke funny is a wordplay of the words 'say no' and your name-", you explained. Cyno was basically wheezing at this point. You grinned, imagining the reactions of the other matra if they saw him like this. "God, I love you", Cyno whispered and pulled you close, kissing you once again. He even let out another chuckle as he was kissing you. You buried a hand in his hair and wrapped the other around his waist, beginning to gently draw circles onto his back with your fingertips which made Cyno sigh into the kiss and melt into your embrace. His tongue circled around yours and his hand held your cheek as he poured all the love he felt for you into his kiss.

You parted from him with a smile on your face. "Cyno, the- mmph", your words were cut off by Cyno once again pressing his lips to yours. You kissed him back for half a minute before pushing him away gently. "The food is going to get cold", you chuckled, "man that joke really landed, huh?" "The archons blessed me with such a wonderful significant other with a fantastic sense of humor", he linked his fingers with yours on the kitchen table as you were getting ready to have lunch. "I'm sure plenty of people would disagree with that, Cyno", you laughed before enjoying your Shawarma Wrap with him in silence.

The first time Cyno heard you make a dad joke was probably the moment he fell for you. It was your very first Genius Invokation TCG game night with Tighnari, Cyno and Kaveh and the four of you had dinner together before playing the game. Tighnari had talked about how legends said, that sometimes due to the Dendro Archons power, when someone in Sumeru was suffering, the forest would be there to comfort them. "The plants in the Apam Woods have actually been shown to respond to their surroundings, including the emotions of peop- y/n what are you laughing about?", Tighnari raised his eyebrows at you snickering across the table, "what's so funny?"

It took you a while to catch your breath before you whispered under your breath: "Oh my god....they photosympathize...."

It was the first time you heard Cyno laugh. Not a polite chuckle, like he usually let out when he was amused, but the General Mahamatra straight up snorted and started wheezing next to you while Tighnari was shaking his head in disappointment. "Out. Both of you. Get out of my house", Tighnari joked and buried his head in his hands. But you hardly registered that, as you were too busy staring at the man next to you, noticing how his laugh was the most beautiful sound you had ever heard. Feeling the urge to make him smile everytime you saw him. Up until now, none of that had ever faded. Your love for him only grew with every day you spent with him.

"I love you so much", you told him and put your hand over his after you had finished your Shawarma Wrap. "There's Tahini sauce all over your hands", Cyno commented dryly pulling his hand away to wash it. "It was a gift", you mused and followed him. "Wonderful. I feel so blessed", he replied sarcastically, pulling you back into his arms after you had washed the sauce off your own hands.

You cupped his face with one hand and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?", you smiled at him. "You tell me everyday", he reminded you, but it was evident that it still made him a little flustered, "I believe we have a novel to read." He got a big blanket from the drawer and wrapped it around the two of you as you were sitting on the couch and you were leaning against his chest, closing your eyes as his fingers gently ran up and down your back.

Cyno began reading the new Genius Invokation TCG novel to you and you loved how soft his voice sounded. Occasionally, you would interrupt to discuss several important plot points and express your feelings about the story.

"I can't believe they just killed this character off that early in the story", Cyno was baffled. "I'm an emotional mess", you hid your face in Cyno's neck and he gave you a headpat. "Shh, I'm sure they'll avenge him. Also there's still a chance he might come back with the super rare revival card."

You got through about a quarter of the novel before tiredness settled in and Cyno noticed you slowly falling asleep in his arms. He put the book down and wrapped both of his arms around you, pressing multiple gentle kisses to your forehead. Well, he thought to himself, we can always continue reading the novel some other time.

After all, you had a whole life to share.

#genshin impact #cyno x reader #cyno x you #cyno x y/n #genshin cyno #cyno #genshin impact cyno

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faithsbookdiary · 3 years ago

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Come Back to Me: BELLE is a journey of rediscovery

I cried in the theater. Ugly cried. I was by myself in a one o'clock showing on a weekday, so I figured I had every reason to be as loud as I wanted, and I did not hold back.

I'm an avid fan of Mamoru Hosoda and Studio Chizu's work. That, with the combination of Beauty and the Beast being my favorite fairytale princess story of all time, made the anticipation of Belle unbearable.

I've been waiting for this movie to come to the US since its announcement in December of 2020. I watched The Boy and the Beast in 2016, a trip that forced my sister to drive me some odd 50 miles to the nearest theater that was showing it. Mirai was an emotional force of nature (part nightmare fuel with that top-of-second-act train nonsense) that I enjoyed in the comforts of my own bed. We don't need to mention Summer Wars or Wolf Children or The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. We know.

These gorgeous films are just a few of the many that have risen in the wake of Studio Ghibli's success, and each one tells emotion-driven stories of rediscovery and family and wonder. Actually, I shouldn't compare them to Studio Ghibli; Hosoda has once again proven that his style and storytelling is more than capable of standing apart on its own two legs, and fantastically so.

GKIDS tagline for Belle, for those unfamiliar:

Suzu is a shy, everyday high school student living in a rural village. For years, she has only been a shadow of herself. But when she enters “U”, a massive virtual world, she escapes into her online persona as Belle, a gorgeous and globally-beloved singer. One day, her concert is interrupted by a monstrous creature chased by vigilantes. As their hunt escalates, Suzu embarks on an emotional and epic quest to uncover the identity of this mysterious “beast” and to discover her true self in a world where you can be anyone.

At the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, Belle received fourteen minutes of standing ovation. And rightly so. Belle tackles a heart-wrenching narrative of a freckled princess and her beast that have faced both trials and the need to escape them, and as much as this is a story of coming together to overcome obstacles, this is also a story of rediscovery, healing, and personal growth.

Buckle up for a very long and thorough deep dive as to why this movie was such a special experience for me!

THE FOLLOWING CONTENT WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS OF BELLE.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

What initially attracted me to Mamoru Hosoda's films was the beastly aspect to them. Belle from Beauty and the Beast was my favorite Disney princess growing up because she thrived in a story that focused on inner beauty and the process of forgiving past behaviors and mistakes, a "good girl x bad boy" cliche dressed up in beautiful gowns and monstrous creatures and books (lots and lots of books). It was another example of how love could heal deep emotional wounds.

Any version of this story was welcome in my rolodex of fairytales, so imagine my excitement upon discovering that most of Hosoda's films herald beastlike creatures, whether that's through internet personas or beast men in a parallel world or child werewolf transformations. Hosoda likes to approach humanity by contrasting people to their animalistic counterparts, because that's what we are: animals with our own version of order. It's especially telling when the true monsters of the film are human- that evil is a human-constructed concept, that you can't truly judge a book by its cover, etc. etc. I'd love to make a series of Hosoda's movies for this blog and address the use of beasts as one of his central themes, but that's for another post. I'll get there.

Where The Boy and the Beast touches on a world of beastsxhumans and loosely ties the narrative of Beauty and the Beast- because there has to be some connection there, a familial one- Belle is a direct retelling. I kept looking for the telltale signs of the classic and unconsciously made comparisons between the two. Belle's entrance to the castle was reminiscent of Disney's. The roses were present, though their functions were different. Beast's room was torn to shreds, a rejection of a past haunting him. There's a rescue scene; despite his harshness and initial inability to accept his mistakes, the Beast is altruistic, and doesn't let his negativity cloud his judgement when it's essential. There's a gorgeous, iconic dance between the two. I can go on and on, but my point is that Belle is definitely Beauty and the Beast.

But as well as the narrative keeps true to its plot points, Hosoda turns the classic on its head. This isn't a romance (this doesn't include the little side plots of crushes sprinkled in) but a story of platonic love, one rooted to a deep sense of care and empathy. One of Hosoda's strengths is his exploration of love outside of the romantic, as most of our own connections to the people in our lives lie in the realm outside of our significant other.

Belle's motivation was also a refreshing twist compared to the original. The Belle in Disney's film was led by her curiosity (and her eventual love) towards The Beast, which originates from the small seeds of kindness in him and her ability to transform his selfishness and pain into care. Hosoda's Belle, on the other hand, was motivated by her sympathy. She recognized the Beast's pain as her own, and unconsciously realized that if she could heal his emotional wounds, she could heal hers.

That's what I love about this movie, and why it's a stand-out among its collection of other retellings: Belle isn't a movie about fixing someone else but about healing yourself. Our titular character is not bored of her provincial town or looked at weirdly for reading books or belittled for her larger-than-life ideas- she's in her own pain, in her own castle, facing her own demons, "a shadow of herself."

There are many things to explore in this film. The animation? Superb. Gorgeous. We got whales- another popular Hosoda theme. Alternate realities/personas? Check. How media transforms the accessibility of a crafted world, and how that connectivity differs from large-to-small scales? Sure. Belle is also a story about a normal (albeit shy and detached) girl with the sudden pressure and burden of becoming a global sensation overnight, and as much as I want to tackle this and everything else, I've managed to pace myself and condense my many thoughts into the five concepts/themes that impacted me the most, disguised as songs from Belle's own setlist because I saw an opportunity and I took it.

"U"

Belle is built on a vibrant virtual reality called U, an alternate scape that boasts an expansive internet society full of countless possibilities. The avatars (AS) are "automatically generated based on personal biometric information", and promises an opportunity to start over, a second chance at life. It doesn't explicitly state that you can be whoever you want to be, but we can all read between the lines. U is everyone's dream escape from the cruel reality we live in, and when Suzu is given her chance, she takes it. Of course she does. She knows that her life isn't satisfactory.

Despite the appeal of a second life, it's interesting how users aren't given a choice over their persona. Some of the users look monstrous, and I wonder if it was a theme that some easily accepted knowing that it was their own biometrics that built that image. Suzu's biometrics give her Belle, the gorgeous princess that even she wasn't sure belonged to her (but sweetie those are your freckles!!), which ends up becoming a visual representation of what Suzu is like on the inside- she's kind, sensitive, talented, gorgeous. The beast is also a shadow of his true self- a poor kid angry at the world he has to endure. I wonder, however, if the two would have looked differently if they were given a choice?

U offers that escape from reality, sure, but it only does so by presenting a different one, one that almost seems more vulnerable. It touches at the deepest roots of oneself and draws out hidden strengths and potential, like Suzu's ability to sing in the virtual world instead of the real one. The initial idea I had about U was that it was that chance to be different, that there's a general fear of being "unveiled" and revealing your true self, but isn't that backwards? Isn't your true self the one that's deep in your core, the one that only you know? The one that AS ends up building?

I walked into this section totally ready to tear down the concept. I had this idea of "if U was about being anyone you want to be, then what happens to the theme of accepting oneself?" But what Hosoda did sent me on a loop. Suzu knew who she was all along, but her trauma and self-esteem prevented her from being that person. U gave her the chance to step out of that shadow, and eventually embrace it during her own unveiling.

The contradiction of accepting yourself by becoming someone else somehow contradicts itself: Suzu's transformation was not a step away but a homecoming, and allowed her to fall back in love with the person she already was.

Here, I'll introduce a common thread that I've found while listening to the songs I've chosen on repeat: all of the songs have a common line between them. Suzu's "lalalas" scattered throughout her music are symbolic of her return to singing, the skill that sent her into U to find. Our opening song "U" starts us off with a rapid "lalalai/lalalai", a confident bell-like opening ringing in the beginning of Suzu's journey to reunite herself with her passion.

"GALES OF SONG"

The reveal of Belle's arrival to U, "Gales of Song" is a number teeming with anticipation. Suzu had just brought the audience along for her traumatic backstory of loss and grief, and we got to know our mousy high schooler who didn't think much of herself in the wake of her peers. She has a desire to sing, but trauma prevents her (emotionally, psychologically, physically) from opening her mouth. It's tragic. The scene of her losing her mother ripped my heart out of my chest; I can still hear the screaming.

So what does losing your mother in an accident have to do with losing yourself? Great question. We can always delve into that well-known narrative of a loved one always being a part of you, even when they're long gone, but I'd also like to touch on the opposite- that when someone leaves, they take a part of you too. In this case, Suzu lost her music, a gift from her mother. Her happiness stemmed on that part of her life, and suddenly she had no access to it.

There's self-depreciation here, too. The climax of this movie anchors heavily on one sentence that's mentioned in act one, when the news of Suzu's mother's death is being played in the back of Suzu's mental anguish of not being able to compose. She asks herself, "Why did you choose to save that girl instead of stay with me?" And it was that question that became her undoing. It was such a small line, I would have missed it if I never felt the same before. There's a reason I'm writing this post. This movie touched a part of my soul.

When you believe you're not worth it, when someone's choice puts your value into balance, you minimize your impact on the world so that no one has to make that choice ever again. You make that choice for them. When Suzu denies her love for her childhood friend in order for a more popular friend to get a crack at him, she breaks down, but she'd rather nip a loss in the bud then experience it out of her control. When sadness is manageable it's easier to carry, even if it consumes you.

That's why this song is so powerful. It's ranked 3rd in my top 3, because it's Suzu's release from her sadness. I gasped audibly- "thank god, she can breathe now" is what I must have thought. She's finally detached herself from that shadow she's trapped herself in, which is why the entire scene afterwards sees her grinning from ear to ear. She's finally found herself again. Things are working. Living has become a bit easier.

There's a desperation in this song, of her hoping that the "gales of song stay by her side", as it's a plea for happier times. This song starts with our "lalalas" as a tentative step into a new world, a test to see if her wishes will come true- and when they do, she embraces herself, and the love for what she does spreads to those who watch her. She has finally found her voice.

"LEND ME YOUR VOICE" (+ draft)

THE. BEAST.

I love foils in relationships. Give me a good girlxbad boy pairing and I swoon. The reason that bad boys are attractive (to me) is their confidence, a tangent I can go on for a long time if you'll let me. But I won't subject you to that. Not here. Here, we talk about The Beast.

Our dragon is a large, monstrous creature, defined by his ruthless victories in battle and the bruises muddling his back. The narrative spends much of its time deciphering his true identity, a search that seems strangely motivated at first. Because why search for the beast? What draws you to him, Belle? What makes an angry, violent guy like that worth paying attention to?

Suzu has a special way of looking at the world, that's why. She's seen things she wishes she hadn't. Her world is a dark and lonely one, a place where she shies away from a group photo with her friends or a microphone at karaoke or talking to the boy she likes. And when she spots our beast for the first time, she doesn't see him for the monster U makes him out to be, but immediately his eyes stray to the bruises on his back. He's hurt. He's hurting. Who is he?

He's you, Suzu. He's hurting just like you are.

Belle's motivation to help the beast is led by her empathy to his pain rather than her kindness, and this detail is what makes Belle a powerful narrative. She goes out of her way to uncover his secret not because she's swept up in the craze of his identity, but because she sees someone who needs help- desperately- and there's an internal clock ticking in her to reach out before it's too late.

It is later revealed through a strenuous search that the beast is a fourteen-year-old boy who spends the days after his mother's death protecting his brother Tomo from their father's abuse.

Despite experiencing similar losses in their lives, Suzu and Kei deal with their trauma differently. While Suzu minimized herself and navigated her life with indecisiveness, lack of confidence, and stifling self-inflicted loneliness, Kei lashed out as aggressively as he could. The world wasn't fair to him, and he wasn't going to live by the rules because of that. He became violent so that violence could not be done to him.

Belle mentions that the bruises on the Dragon's back are a sign of strength, but it's one of endurance, a lonely strength. It's the layering of pain that hardens one's shell. This pain does not lessen- it really can't- but instead, the body gets used to that suffering and gains the ability to carry it around. It's a method similar to how Suzu carries her grief, but these are defenses against attacks, not from a world reaching in to help. The fact that these bruises come from verbal abuse (it's hinted, but we're not sure if it's physical) shows that Kei is just as affected by the cruel words of his father as he would be if he was struck.

There's another lesson of worth here, too. Kei's been protecting his brother for who knows how long, but those words are nasty, and the saying "sticks and stones" has no power here. There's a point when victims start to believe their abusers words, because it's what they're used to hearing, and nothing has happened to prove them wrong. Kei's dragon persona may be a version of his strength, but I wonder if it's also the version of himself that he's convinced he is. He certainly acts that version when he pushes everyone away.

"Lend Me Your Voice" is our "Beauty and the Beast" of Belle- #2 on my list of top songs. Here, we see Suzu using what she's best at to reach the heart of someone she feels attuned to, and it's incredibly important. Not because of the dance sequence. We all loved the dance sequence. It was gorgeous. But this is our penultimate midpoint to our film- Belle's intentions change for the better.

Let's start with the draft of this song. Suzu is given the idea of writing a love song to Beast from her mother's choir friends, and on her way home she gives it some thought. Under her breath, she starts to hum a tune. That "lalala" comes in, shaky, and she trots along, but she's singing. This song is the first song that Suzu sings in the real world, and it's a powerful moment because she's singing for somebody else.

What made Suzu's detachment to music unbearable was that her mother was no longer there to listen to her songs. Sure, Belle has an audience of 5 billion people, but what got Suzu composing again was that she knew her song would touch the heart of someone that mattered to her, and her understanding of the Beast is a mirror to her getting to know herself a little better. Suzu is undoubtedly at her brightest when she sings songs dedicated to others.

And THE. BEAST. He's so taken in during her performance. This moment is just for him. It is a labor of love, a girl asking permission for him to open his heart and be vulnerable for him because she'll accept everything. And that's so important for fourteen-year-old Kei, who had to handle the burden of taking care of a broken family, of being dealt pain and abuse and suffering. He probably forgot that he was worth loving, too.

Belle asks the Beast to lend his voice to her, so that she can become his strength and source of love when he himself can't muster it.

And this. The light in his eyes. The pure adoration and wonder of this hug. She accepted him. This was everything.

"A MILLION MILES AWAY"

"But she cried in the theater, didn't she?? Where? Where did she cry??"

I cried at the climax. Obviously.

I wasn't the only one that cried. Didn't you see? The entire universe of U did too. Wonder why? Let me break it down for you.

Desperate to search for Kei in order to help him from his abusive scumbag father, Suzu has to take the leap and sing as herself in order to gain his trust. This decision was highly debated by the friends who rallied by her side for support (which I loved to see, because even when you make yourself small and insignificant there's still so many people who love you). Hiroka, her bestie and producer, is terrified of what'll happen if Belle's true identity is revealed, because all of Suzu's self-confidence will return to what it was before. Shinobu (oh handsome heartthrob Shinobu) urges her to take that step- not for Kei, but for herself. It was necessary to unveil herself, because she needs to be vulnerable to reach him. He has ulterior motives, which we'll get to shortly.

Suzu makes the move to unveil herself, and to everyone's awe the famous global superstar is... a normal high school girl?? What a power move. There were snickers from those who thought ridiculing her would make them somehow superior (she's just a normal girl), but I HAVE to mention Peggy Sue, her briefly mentioned rival who at the sight of Belle whispered, "She's just like me...."

Suzu starts to sing an emotionally charged song. She's asking Kei to reach out and return to her. "Come back to me." She's turning herself into a beacon so that the wounded boy can find her- and in turn, find solace.

Right?

Remember what the title of this movie is?

Belle is a story of rediscovery. It's a story about a girl who's lost her way, who finds a boy who's lost his. It's a story of this girl saving this boy, but she is not worthy of saving him until she is able to find the courage and strength to save herself. Shinobu knew this. That's why he told her to sing.

"A Million Miles Away" landed as my favorite song for a reason. It is not only a call for The Beast's trust, but it is a song for Suzu. Suzu's love for herself- one that could stand alone from her mother's affection- drifted out of her reach alongside her mother's death. There's a stark image of that child in the river during the middle of this song that stops Suzu in her tracks and dries her throat. She's asking for her happiness to come back to her, but does she deserve it? Is she worth that happiness, for even doubting her mother's decision in the first place?

When depression takes a hold of you, there's a desperation for returning to what once was. Happiness is a faraway dream, and you forget what it feels like. Even in my own dark moments, I wanted nothing more than to be able to write again, and it was hard knowing that the inspiration just wasn't there. But being desperate for happiness shows just how important is- the desire for light, for an unbothered breath of fresh air, for a moment of peace. Suzu's been in the dark for so long now. When she sings "come back to me", she's begging for that pain to finally leave her.

She gains an understanding. Just as her mother sacrificed herself for that little girl in the river, Suzu sacrificed the security of her persona in U so she could save Kei. This was never about worth- in order to save Kei, she needed to save herself, because how could she live with herself if she didn't?

The "lalalas" of this song are the most prominent. Her breath is shaky. She's startled by that flashback. She wavers, confused, unsure of herself, but its then that the voices of U's users sing back to her. They're all crying. We're all crying. They know that this world is an escape for them, and the desire for healing is strong and overpowering. They're rooting for her. They want happiness to find a way back to them, too.

The voices of those around her urge Suzu to be strong. They care. She matters. She's worth it. A celebratory motif sweeps into the soundtrack, her hope returns, her voice builds. Suzu urges herself to sing. She's found her voice, and she's never been happier.

Community is also a strong theme Hosoda carries through his films. It's a security blanket that wraps the protagonist in warmth and care. They're never truly alone, despite what they believe. Kei isn't alone now. And Suzu isn't, either.

"FACES IN THE RAIN"

There was one thing I was looking for in the final act of Belle, and I'm properly convinced that everyone else was looking for it, too. What happens, now? Will our antagonist get what he deserves?

Because we have an antagonist now, don't we? Kei's father is abusing his kids, and abusers must be punished so everyone can have a happy ending. Right?

Suzu makes it her mission to save these boys, despite the negative reaction from Kei when she offers her help. He's convinced that this is a situation he can never escape from, and he has to endure. Endure. Endure. So when Suzu does everything to find him against impossible odds, it's a moment of shock for everyone. Belle came for them. She's here.

But what can a high school girl do?

Scare the crap out of a grown man, that's what.

I love how this was handled. I know that there's a sense of dissatisfaction to the resolution- because their father wasn't arrested or even punished, as far as the audience knows. I was hoping to see that bastard in the back of a police car or behind bars- and maybe that's what happened to him.

But this story is about Suzu.

She arrives and takes both of the boys in her arms, and when their father tries to claw her away, she stands firm. Suzu is not that cowering girl in the beginning of the film. She doesn't say a single thing. She holds onto those boys as tight as she can and protects them with everything she has, and when she turns and stares down the true monster, he cowers. How could he not? This girl comes out of nowhere and sees him for the monster he is. She is not one of his victims. He has no power over her, and that is a terrifying realization for a man pushing people down for his own... ego? It's an awful thing to find a reason for why people hurt others, and I'm not here to find that out.

The open ending of the brothers is frustrating, sure, but Suzu's grown so much throughout the story that it's forgiven. She's found her voice. She's standing on her own two feet. She's protecting those that need her. "Faces in the Rain" is only her "lalalas" drifting against an orchestral accompaniment, and here we know that Suzu is who she's meant to be. This is her song. She's filled her voice in quite nicely. I love her for it.

Belle is a call for self-love and healing. It's a wonderful addition to Hosoda's collection, and I'm grabbing at it as soon as it gets a home release. It touched me deeply as someone looking for reason to return to better days, and I highly recommend it for those who haven't watched even though this post totally spoiled it for you. I hope you get as much out of it as I did, even though watching for the sake of the animation and the gorgeous music is a wonderful experience in itself!

I could say so much more about the importance of rivers or the cute sidebar of Ruka and Kamishin or even do a cute little post about avatars because how fun are those!!! But I'll leave you here.

This is my first post for my new blog, Faith's Book Blog, and even though I started out with a movie analysis post, I hope you can stay for future content! I'll also be doing some more deep dives on the other Hosoda movies because they're very near and dear to my heart, so a follow would be much appreciated!

Thank you for reading this ramble. Have a wonderful rest of your week!

(My favorite shot in the movie for your viewing pleasure.)

#belle #belle rambles #belle hosoda #mamoru hosoda #belle: the dragon and the freckled princess #movie #film #anime #anime movie #studio chizu #belle 2021 #belle movie #faiths book diary #movie review #animation #film review #u

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friendlyneighbourhood-parker · 3 years ago

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this song talks about us

Pairing: Steven grant x reader / Marc Spector x reader

Summary: glimpses of the life of an ex mersenarie, the little english man that lives withing him and their partner (or Marc Spector is so wipped with you and this are moments that prove it.)

Word Count: 3.6k

Warnings: n/a

A/N: I didn't mention Jake because I knew deeo in my hear that I would end up writting about him instead and I really wanted to write about Marc this time around. here is the Spanish version and it's also in ao3

London, a city that’s big as it was cold where the tea was fantastic but finding a good cup of coffee was almost as hard as finding someone to enjoy it with. The streets were crowded with people who preferred to walk before taking the tube or the bus, recurring rain and grey days in which you’d have to grab your coat and scarf from the hanger on the entrance, the ones who entered your life the moment you stepped a foot into this place.

The line between days started to merge into each other, looking and sounding the same, the rain hitting against the window while you rested on a chair. Working at a library wasn’t the reason why you decided to move to London but it was a very good place to start, writing was something you’ve loved since little, losing yourself for hours without end in stories and fairy-tales. Storytelling calling you in your sleep and waking up with ideas to fill countless journals.

With stories.

Your stories.

Stories needing to be told, fairy-tales and novels filled with the dreams of a nine year-old that needed to tell them but never brave enough to actually share them, filled with the fear of being told they weren’t good enough, your master piece wasn’t finished yet.

So working at a bookstore gave you the opportunity to spend most of your time reading, the working discount wasn’t that big but it gave you the chance to buy more books that you would without the job. It’s alright to spend the money if it’s an investment to your future job, studying from the words of people who’ve made it or at least that’s how you justify it. Besides the people are nice, at least the ones who come and go enough times to quickly become face and names that you can recognize.

Some of the few advantages of working somewhere tiny in a not so visible place.

That’s how you met Steven, never actually spoke to the guy but it intrigued you how often he would walk in and take about five books at a time, you always wondered how he found the time to actually read all the books he buys. At this point your boss should be the one prancing in his flat to see which books he should take with him, walking into his home probably felt like walking into a library. He wouldn’t admit it to a stranger but his books where his priceless possession (Besides his one fin wonder), most of them filled with his shaky handwriting on the corners and important facts highlighted in yellow.

‘The poor guy probably doesn’t sleep’ was a recurrent thought that comically crossed your mind.

Until you found out it was true, he doesn’t sleep; the shame on his face when he confessed you that in the middle of eating dinner he cooked for you was huge, it was your fifth date together (not like you’re keeping count) and he had offered to cook for the both of you in his flat, after all you cooked for him the last time so it was only fair for him to prepare the best meal he could to the lovely person he had his eyes on.

On your eighth date he told you about Marc, about how he found out about his condition and how everything slowly started to make sense about his life, throughout the whole story his hand rested on top of yours, you could see the fear in his eyes and feel it in his words, fear of how it would affect your relationship.

Maybe you thought he was making it all up or that he was crazy, maybe you would never want to speak or hear from him again. He was terrified of losing the only person who’s shown real compassion towards him, the person that he’s been slowly falling in love with.

That night you kissed him, it wasn’t the first time your lips crashed against each other, that his hands trailed to the crane of your neck playing with your hair, that you heard him breathlessly telling you how much he liked you against your lips. But it was the first time you’ve done it to shut him up, to stop him from continuing talking senselessly about himself, all the bad thought drivelling out, you couldn’t take the way his face went red as his words came out faster and faster without even letting his brain process what he was actually saying about the situation.

After pulling away Steven heard you smile, your foreheads against each other. He couldn’t help but to smile too.

You asked Steven if you could meet him someday, to give you the opportunity to fall in love with each and every part of him, to being able to the possibility of finding the perfect person to share a cup of coffee with, Maybe Marc would be the one to ease you on those nights where the storms wouldn’t let you fall back to sleep. But you didn’t say all of that because you didn’t have to, you only asked for him and Steven nodding promised you that you would.

You were his partner after all, the person who he shared his favourite tea with and the one who made his lazy mornings even better. It was important for him that his two favourite people in the entire world get along.

The next time Marc was the one who crossed the door once you opened it, letting himself in as if it was his own home, which was a good thing, right? You wanted him to feel like home. It only took any person a second of knowing both of them to realize that to him Steven was the most important person in the entire world (you didn’t know this at the time but for Marc he was even more important that himself), you realized in the was his desperate gaze tried to find something wrong with you, an excuse or reason good enough for you to stop seeing Steven, to prevent the possibility of finding him with a broken heart and having to help him to pick up the pieces, but he only was able to find that special glare in your eyes, the one that left him wanting more.

Loosing himself in you.

Both souls bound to yours. You didn’t believe in soulmates and you wondered if your boys shared the same opinion, but when you were together you realized that no matter how hard you looked there wouldn’t be another person in the entire universe who would make you feel the way they did and at this point searching for another seemed like a waste of time.

“Bashert” Marc spoke in words of love and compassion, nothing less because he felt like you didn’t deserve any less. The words of a man that after keeping his head under water for a long time finally being able to breathe again and he cherished that, the peace you brought to his life.

It wasn’t uncommon for them to stop by at your work, every now and then they would walk in so Steven could buy some new books or with the excuse of Marc wanting to find a book about space, one of his favourite topics to talk about (that and Star Wars, which has a whole bunch to do with space). What was uncommon was the huge bouquet of your favourite flowers that Marc walked in with, and you could feel your hearth starting to beat faster and faster thinking that you forgot a special occasion.

Your birthday?

No, no. That was a while back and you remember it well, how after stepping into your shared flat finding Steven wearing an apron, flour smeared on his face and his eyes focussed on the cake he was decorating for you. ‘Great! Another year’ was written on it as suggested by Marc, at first he didn’t appreciate the input but after giving it some thought he realized your amused look would be enough to make his day ten times better.

Then your anniversary…

No, absolutely not. There were some months to go before you and Marc get to say that you’ve been together for a full year and your anniversary with Steven was just a few weeks back.

But apparently there was no special occasion, not a real motive besides the fact that your smile grew at the sight of the flowers, you placed a strand of hair behind your ear when you leaned in to smell them closing your eyes. You didn’t know but those little things made Marc’s stomach twist into itself, a gesture you would make every time you saw that kind of flowers in a flower shop and he loved to watch every second of it.

~☽☾~

You arrived with the bouquet to your home, his flat, it’s been some months since those two words had the same meaning and you fell into the habit of trying to sneak it in your everyday conversations. “Because your place is too far from work…” Steven told you that day after kissing you one too many times “And we love having you around” Marc said while cuddling you on the sofa.

You greeted him with a kiss on the cheek when you walked by his side, he had replaced his jeans for a pair of sweats and his t-shirt for a much more comfortable jumper, the one you usually steal when they go away for too long, the one that smells like both of you.

The flowers ended up in a jar as décor on the kitchen table, throughout their short life span both of you decided to take turns changing the water, sometimes you did it before going to work and sometimes it was Marc who did it after getting back home from protecting the travellers of the night.

It wasn’t uncommon to feel him slipping away from you in the middle of the night, at first you would wake up and ask him to stay but soon realized there was no use on wasting your breath, he had to keep his part of the bargain he made no matter how much the three of you hated it. With time you got used to it, still waking up just to feel his lips pressed against your forehead reassuring you he would be back and telling you to go back to sleep.

One of those many nights when you felt his hands trailing gently inside your t-shirt caressing your skin and tickling near your ribs, his face hidden on the crook of your neck and his breath clash into this making you smile even if your body was still half asleep. His arms pulled your back closer into his chest leaving as many kisses as he desired into the nape of your neck.

“I’m home my love” his voice was tired and raspy

“I’m glad” you turned hugging him back, your face against his chest living a tired kiss there “Sweet dreams”

Then both of you feel back to sleep like many other nights, with your arms and legs linked to each other. There wouldn’t be force in the vast cosmos who would be able to tear you from his side in a moment like this and part of that was the reason he held onto you like that.

With strength, firmly against him, with desperation, fear. Fear of waking up and finding an empty bed.

But that never happened and would never happen. After opening his eyes he always found you there laying in the same position as last night, in his arms calmly breathing, messy hair, open lips, beautiful lashes, a sight so addictive and he was totally hooked.

~☽☾~

“Can I wash your hair?” you frowned with a funny smirk plastered all over your face. He was laughing at your reaction pouring shampoo into his hand and gesturing you to turn around.

You shook your head following his order, there were few instances where you could take a shower together in the mornings, your work schedule started very early and he didn’t return home until very late in the night, so you held this few moments very close to your heart.

The steam from the hot shower filled the room, the way he hummed while massaging your head relaxed you making all the weight on your shoulders drop just as your eyelids closed, the fears and doubts that filled your mind went away.

After many years of hard work and sleepless nights you finally finished it, the book was done and it felt like almost unreal. Steven asked you for many weeks to let him read it but you always said no, feeling uncomfortable with sharing that part of you with someone else.

But it was only a matter of time until you had to.

“I just… I don’t want you laughing at it, and if you don’t like it?”

“I would never laugh my love… not when is something so important”

You spent the rest of the afternoon cuddling into the couch with him, your laptop on your legs and your back against his chest. His hand played with your hair while you read to him with fear of judgment that slowly became words filled with pride.

“Marc?” your eyes still closed feeling the water running through your back, his hands washing away any rests of soap.

“Yes baby?” his voice was smooth and calm

“You know how much I love you?” you tilted your head when hearing his sweet laugh.

“I have an idea” he admitted with ease, something that he struggled to do. It was almost two years since you met each other, two years filled with hard work until becoming the people who you are today.

Your hands rubbed the water out of your face before looking at him. You reached for the shampoo and mirrored his act of love, carefully washing his curls.

“Well, I love you even more than that”

~☽☾~

The morning was perfect, one of those few occasions where not only the sun was out but the temperature wasn’t really low, where it was enough with just wearing a jumper and not having to turn on the heater.

It was weird waking up without your boys next to you, something that happened really scattily in the span of your relationship, sometimes you would find the sight of Steven with his reading glasses on reading his more recent purchase and others it was Marc on his laptop watching a movie with his headphones on not to disturb your sleep. But mostly it was any of them still hugging you, his fingers barely brushing along your spine, from your nape to the arch of your lower back.

But today it wasn’t like that, after celebrating last night sealing the deal with a publishing house you woke up to his half of the bed unmade without a trace of your lover, Marc probably went out, Steven always did his side before even starting to get ready for his day. So you decided to occupy your time making breakfast, the CD player that you found at the flea market last week was besides you playing a song full volume, the CD gifted from your mother being something that you had long forgotten like the words from songs whiting it.

And yet the melody seemed capable of dragging you back in time, when the music swooned into your house while your family cleaned around, it was chore day and your mom sang to the top of her longs along the music and your dad danced at the rhythm of her sweeping, his hands on her hips. The strident laugh from your mom left you knowing how real love sounded like and you couldn’t wait to experience it.

Your hips swung from side to side following the melody, making enough food for you and whichever boy came through the door, sometimes Steven felt guilty for having you making a different meal for him but you loved seeing him enjoying the recipes you learned just for him.

You didn’t noticed when he stepped in, only repairing on Marc’s presences once you felt how his hands reached for your hips and his chin rested on your shoulder startling you.

“You look beautiful baby” You turned facing him, hitting his shoulder softly with spatula still in hand making him laugh “Did I scare you?”

“Of course you scared me!” you frowned but you weren’t angry, it was easy to tell by the way your lips curled up and how you tried your best to contain the laugh threatening to escape.

He reached to turn off the stove and take the spatula out of your hands before pulling you away from the kitchen, his hands guiding you to follow along the song as he started to sing the lyrics under his breath, the sweet sound of his voice made your heart race. You placed your head against his chest letting his voice swoon you completely, with closed eyes and your hands around his neck you kept him close, both hearts beating at the same pace.

~☽☾~

When you saw the books arriving at the bookstore it felt like a breath of fresh air.

You made it.

Your boss, an old man around his 80s had ordered your books, having you rearrange a table just for them. He wouldn’t admit it but he knew how hard you’ve worked.

You tried your hardest not to cry while setting them up, thinking about the younger you sitting in their room dreaming, thinking about your mom reading to you, the many tales that inspired you and realising how far you’ve become. You took a picture to the stand sending it to your boys and family. After a few moments the little grey dots popped up in his chat before suddenly disappearing just to be followed by them calling you.

“Congratulations my love! We’re really proud of you” Steven sounded as excited as you were and probably a bit more, it was really hard not to cry just form his words alone. “I can’t wait to get a copy so my favourite author can sign it”

You smiled not being able to ignore the butterflies that appeared in your stomach, even after so long of dating Steven still found the way to make you feel like the beginning, completely in love with him.

“I can’t wait to see you”

Marc didn’t let you wait at all, asking for the rest of the day at Steven’s job faking being sick. It took him a while to convince your boss to let you go early but after noticing that today wasn’t going to be a busy day he accepted and that’s how you ended together at the café.

“Café-sitio” was the name of this place, the one you found around a year ago and quickly became your favourite spot for dates with Marc, the only place you found where they served the coffee exactly how you liked it.

With a slice of pie next to your cup you enjoyed the drink, he took a spoonful near your lips.

You took a sip from the mug, your eyes closed enjoying the taste of the warm beverage and the breeze of the afternoon. Maybe if you had opened them in time you would’ve ween it coming

it was written all over his face, the way his eyes got lost in you, how your hand reached to pull away your scarf before placing a strand of your hair behind your ear, failing to keep it in place thanks to the wind.

He reached to place it for you.

“Mary me”

It was enough for you to choke into your drink coughing loud trying to feel your lungs with new air and making people stare at you, panic grew in him as he reached for napkins to give you.

“What?” your eyes were wide open, in any other situation Marc would be scared that it was a mistake, that you would tell him off and go away but right now that thought didn’t even cross his mind, completely sure of his words. His minds was full with the instances where he managed to make you laugh, how your eyes almost disappear behind your cheeks when you smile and the way your hands never seemed to get enough of him, having to be on his person all the time.

He knew how much you loved Steven and it was a relief it didn’t came when you thought about him, because every part that made him was completely in love with you.

“Mary me” he said once more as if where the simplest thing in the world “Well, us… apparently Steven had this big plan that I didn’t know about and I just ruined it so-“

“Are you joking?” you didn’t realise your hands where shaking until you felt his on top caressing you.

“I wouldn’t joke with that Bashert. I want us to share the rest of our lives together and I need to know if you want that too”

“Yes… I do Marc” they were few the instances where you saw Marc cry, every time it happened worry and fear grew in you. Right now there was none, only a huge smile plastered in both of your faces.

He leaned on the table to reach for your lips and you knew there wouldn’t be another person you wanted to share a cup of coffee with.

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adhdfixations · 3 years ago

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Ink and Ingress

@plugnuts had an amazing prompt yesterday that sent me into a spiral and I had to write it out I'm not sorry. I don't think I've written fanfiction since... gosh, maybe 2014. I'm literally a published poet, but heaven forbid I write anything else haha.

2,400 words, no warnings apply. Dipper Pines x Wirt pairing.

Wirt finds himself at the receiving end of a variety of unusual letters from a Dipper Pines, and, while he isn't sure how he got them, he wants to make sure Dipper gets a worthy reply.

7:45 in the morning.

He stood at his window, watching the sky quietly. He’s never awake this early, but he needed to know. The strange, battered journals lay at the foot of the bed next to him, one open to a hand-drawn page of dinosaurs preserved in amber. He glanced down, breaking his intense concentration for just a moment, to look at the scribbled handwriting telling the fantastical story of underground pterodactyl chases and a heroic rescue of a pet pig. He looked back quickly to scan the sky again, his mind still filled with that handwriting. He hummed in nervous thought.

It’s been nearly six months since the journals fell from the sky. Absently, he rubbed the top of his head, fluffing his already ruffled sienna hair as he remembered the sting of the book dropping directly onto his head. He had yelled and turned to look behind him, expecting to see Greg, but his kid brother was still inside, loudly playing a set of toy drums. The second journal had fallen, then. He had looked up just in time to see the third. If he didn’t, he might have assumed someone was pulling a prank. The contents of the journals, although wildly improbable, felt a little more believable after seeing them fall from the clouds.

He wanted to believe them. The monsters were sometimes scary, sure, but he wanted to believe they were real anyway. Because he wanted to believe he was real. The author.

Dipper Pines.

Young, at least at the time of writing. The dates on the journal suggested they were about two years old now, which put him at about the same age as Wirt. The drawings of himself heroically fighting off a monstrous “gremloblin,” the intense detailed records of ghosts and vicious psychic children, and an unbelievable Mystery Shack mega-robot fight against an all-powerful demon absolutely entranced him. He had spent days – weeks – pouring over the journals in quiet, reserved awe. His love for his family apparent, his desire to help others bold, his bravery a beacon, and his fantastic storytelling… it made Wirt, in some way, feel a newfound hope.

The Unknown had been terrifying for Wirt. Greg reminisced on the good parts – helping a school of animals and playing with a band of frogs. He didn’t talk much about the more horrifying parts of the purgatory they had found themselves in nearly a year ago. The only time the now 7-year-old would acknowledge it was after his occasional nightmares, when Wirt would come running into his room to console him. But Wirt couldn’t focus on the fun Greg had. Every time he thought about any part of The Unknown, his mind would immediately turn to Lorna’s horrifying teeth, or Enoch’s looming frame, or The Beast’s cold, vicious eyes. He felt, then, truly alone. No one else would bear the weight of what he had witnessed.

But maybe Dipper would.

Wirt, in some disconcerting way, began to fall for the author. He liked the more educated, informal musings of Dr. Stanford Pines, of course, but Dipper had so much emotion. As he read, he would gently touch the letters written in blue pen, feel the slight indent it left on the paper, and try desperately to absorb what Dipper felt. It’s so much more personal, Wirt had mused to himself, to see someone’s thoughts when they write with the firm belief that no one else will ever read it. Dipper was erratic, at times, and spontaneous. He had goofy adventures with his twin sister, which Wirt was very fond of. She seemed to closely resemble Greg. It made him wonder if Dipper and Greg would get along. He liked to think so.

Wirt could see a lot of similarities between himself and the enigmatic Dipper Pines. His shy admittance to his great-uncle that his name was really Mason showed that he was still scared to be truly seen. Wirt’s heart had fluttered pleasantly over that detail, and he won’t admit to himself how much he liked the sound of Mason Pines. But he could also see – and appreciate – how different they were. Wirt believed himself cold against the world – at least for a while. When life got hard, he would hide. He wanted nothing more than to be a shadow; he wanted intangibility and insignificance. If no one saw him, he could avoid the inevitable confrontation when they became disappointed with what they saw. Dipper, however, wanted to scream at the world. He wanted to prove he was worth something, and that the things he has seen were real and that he was right. Where Wirt was a shadow, Dipper was brilliant, shining light.

Wirt lifted his eyes to his ceiling in mild mortification at that thought, his cheeks dusting pink. It’s a little embarrassing, he supposed, to love someone who may not even exist. He could be fictional – the musings of someone who wants to be someone they aren’t. He doesn’t even really know what he looks like. But he feels like it was inevitable – as inevitable as being hit on the head with the heavy book.

He had expected nothing after the journals fell. The last page of Journal 3 had a finality to it that had left him with the somber reality that he would never hear of the Pines’ again. The next Sunday, however, he had found a single, crumpled-up piece of lined paper. His heart had leapt into his throat and his hands had shaken when he recognized the writing. His joy had been overwhelming. He had refrained from taking the paper and hugging it to his chest like a love-stricken schoolboy. But only barely. The writing was simple. Still in his seemingly signature blue pen, in all capital letters, large and centered, was the single word, “TESTING.” What did it mean? Did Dipper know he had received the journals? Should he respond? How could he respond?

He had never seen anything actively fall since the journal that fell painfully on his head, but every Sunday he’d find more pieces of crumpled paper somewhere in their backyard. Sometimes other things would accompany Dipper’s letters. Once it was a small chest that Greg got to before Wirt did, and in a terrible accident Wirt will not think about, Greg managed to shatter the wooden chest completely, revealing a set of false golden teeth (which Wirt promptly threw away and made Greg wash his hands thoroughly afterwards). Another time was a single, dirty sock that looked much too large to belong to any teenager. The most recent was a bottle of a viscous, murky fluid in a clear bottle that Wirt had perched delicately on the top of a very tall shelf, out of the prying grabby hands of Greg (in an attempt to prevent the same catastrophe that is referred to as “The Chest Incident” at their house). He never bothered opening it, just afraid enough of the potential contents to keep it out of reach. He wasn’t sure if Dipper was dropping these things down, or if it was Dr. Pines.

The only thing he knew that belonged to Dipper was the writing. After the first letter, more came. Some looked like crumpled research and various advanced mathematical calculations that Wirt couldn’t even begin to understand (despite endless hours of searching online). Some were extensive, well-planned to-do lists that Wirt would get a chuckle out of. His current favorite is the “Plan to Keep Sev’ral Timez Out of Our Trash” and included a variety of uses of mouse traps that might have only been conceived by a mad scientist (why a formerly popular boy band that mysteriously dropped off the face of the earth was in Oregon rummaging through trash was beyond him completely). The ones he loved the most, though, were ones that Dipper seemed to pour his whole heart and soul out, just to crumple it up and throw it down what Wirt assumes to be the described “Bottomless Pit” at the end of Journal 3.

He liked to try to imagine Dipper quietly writing these fast-paced confessions of various things at the same time, every Sunday. Was that the only time he had alone to vent? Wirt almost felt guilty for reading them. They were so personal, he felt like he was reading someone else’s diary. And in a way, he was. But they were quite literally being placed in front of him, and his curiosity and admiration of Dipper Pines wasn’t going to let him simply throw them away.

The most recent was a confession of a nightmare he had the night before. The dream demon, Bill, was a major part of it, and seems to be the main antagonist of most of his nightmares. Dipper confesses on the paper that he struggles to find the separation between nightmare and reality, and Wirt’s heart aches with both the familiarity of the situation and the desperate, romantic part of him that wants to hold Dipper close and console him with gentle words and soft touches. To tell him he’s safe and loved.

Before this letter, Wirt had found an angrily scribbled page-long rant about Dipper’s twin sister. He claimed she was loud and obnoxious, but Wirt couldn’t find any malice in any of it. It simply sounded like an all-too-familiar sibling’s exasperation. At the bottom of the page, Dipper had hastily written, “I still love her, though. But don’t tell her I said that.” And Wirt had clutched the paper to his heart, stomach fluttering, and fell in love again. It felt, despite his good sense, like Dipper was personally trusting him with his secrets. He wanted to be worthy of that trust.

Throughout a several month period, there had been some hastily-written letters regarding his struggle with his sexuality – something Wirt also found himself relating to. But he will never admit to anyone that he grinned like an idiot for the rest of the day over his newfound, naïve surge of hope when Dipper came to the eventual realization that he was bisexual.

Another that Wirt enjoyed was an angry four-page tirade about a rich girl named Pacifica Northwest. Dipper had every right, it seemed, to dislike her, even though Wirt knew this was a one-sided story. But he found that Dipper could be outright sassy, and he had to stifle his laughter behind his hand when he read the petty onslaught of Dipper’s insults he had laid out for her. It was so expressive, Wirt imagined Dipper right there next to him, yelling about decorative peacocks and mini-golf escapades. He wondered what he sounded like.

Dipper vents through writing just like Wirt does, albeit more straightforward than poetry, and Wirt desperately wanted to reply. He didn’t know how. What would he say? How would he even get the letter there? But he made a plan. He needed to let Dipper know that he was listening, and that he cared. He wrote and wrote, crumpled and threw away and wrote again, days on end, until he came up with a letter he deemed “good enough.” He wasn’t necessarily proud of it, but he couldn’t think of anything better. He wanted to make a good first impression.

Last week, he had gotten up early and waited. He was not a morning person, and he certainly did not get up early of his own volition, especially during summer vacation. But he wanted to see when the letters fell. He had watched the letter fall a few minutes after 8:00 am, and decided his plan needed to be put into action. He wasn’t a scientist, and he certainly didn’t think himself as smart as Dipper, but the romantic in him wanted so badly for this to work.

The letter he had finalized (after nervously proofreading nearly seven times) was laid gingerly next to the open journal, folded into the best paper plane he could manage. He checked the clock. 7:55 am. Dipper was probably already writing about whatever was weighing heavily on his mind somewhere in Gravity Falls right about now. He bit down on his lower lip to hide his smile at the thought.

He picked up the paper plane with unnecessary care and quietly tiptoed past Greg’s bedroom and out the back door. The morning air was cold on his skin, and he listened for a moment to the chittering songbirds to try to calm his sudden spike of nerves. This is ridiculous, he thought to himself. Am I really doing this right now? He almost turned to go back inside. But a slight breeze blew from behind him, and he turned to face it and looked up at the sky. He imagined Dipper in that moment – the face he’s only seen in drawings lighting up as he read what Wirt had written to him. The same cool morning breeze that Wirt feels now kissing his face and gently tossing his bangs. Ignoring the butterflies that inspired, Wirt shook his head and took a deep breath to steel himself. I can do this. I need to do this.

His watch read 7:59 am. He watched the sky for a few more seconds, as if willing it to part for him. Please work, he begged the universe. He then looked down at the paper airplane cupped in his hands, as gentle as if it were made of the most fragile glass. Despite himself, and despite the self-mortified blush spreading over his cheeks and nose, he let his eyes flutter shut and gently kissed the wings. Keeping his lips close enough to the pristine white paper to brush against it with feather-like tenderness, he whispered, “Your secrets are safe with me. Please write back soon.”

A timer that he had set on his watch beeped for 8 am as he gripped the paper plane a little tighter. He reared his arm back and put his whole body into throwing the plane as hard as he could. He stumbled briefly in his effort and hissed at himself in frustration. Looking up quickly to try to find the letter he worked so hard on. But the plane was gone. He felt his breath hitch, his heart light in his chest with optimism. It never came back down. He wasn’t entirely sure if it worked, but he smiled affectionately at the slowly rolling clouds, trusting them to carry his message to the sweet, kind, brave boy that stole his heart.

And somewhere, in a forest filled with pine trees and monsters, a brunette boy angrily scribbling on a piece of paper with a worn, blue pen gets tapped in the temple with a gently soaring paper airplane.

#pinescone #dipper pines #wirt #over the garden wall #gravity falls #crossover #au #ship #wirt is a sap #dipper writes himself cooler than he really is even when hes venting #part 2???? not sure #pay me in cheese and craisins and maybe you'll see it #fanfiction #my post

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stanknotstark · 4 years ago

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Astral Pt. 13 (Loki x Reader)

I’m introducing ANOTHER character :D Morgan is very interesting and her powers are like Kang’s I’m very curious as to who would win in a fight tbh i wish i could’ve written an action scene because she can mind control and OH the drama that I could have played with! You guys are lucky cuz i had something worse written >:D

You and Loki are eating breakfast together in silence. When you finish your plate Loki tells you to grab a book from his quarters, while he finishes, so he can help you research Asgard. Then meet him in the common area since no one is there right now.

Loki likes to teach you and watch your curiosity flare as you read up on Asgard, its customs, how healers work, how royalty works, instead of telling you. It’s the least he can do since you’ll never actually see Asgard in person. He’s a fantastic storyteller but you know he has a weakness, that weakness being that when you truly concentrate on something sometimes you stick your tongue out a bit and narrow your eyes. Other times you look at the book with guileless fascination. Plus, Loki knows there’s more satisfaction from learning on your own. He’s always there to answer your questions and debate with you though.

You walk back into the common area after grabbing the book, Loki looks at you, then a cloud of dark green appears between you both. Before you can react accordingly feminine arms are yanking you into the cloud of magic and you’re in someone’s arms definitely not at the tower anymore. You can only imagine what Loki is thinking. The last thing he probably saw was the book fall when you dropped it. Now he’s probably thinking the worst is going to happen, that you’re going to die, and honestly you don’t know what’s going on. For all you know you might actually be about to die.

You try to wave off the nausea and dizziness following the teleportation you endured and assess your surroundings but someone is roughly pulling you somewhere. Just as you get your wits back there is a tight rope constricting your hands behind your back and around your ankles. You’re shoved into a rocky wall, twisting, back first causing you to let out a breathless grunt and slide into a sitting position on the ground.

Looking up you see a beautiful woman. She stands tall, her chin out in confidence. Her pale, petite face is framed by pitch black hair, the long tendrils held in braids resting on her chest and trailing to her hips they’re so long. She wears a green and black corset that flows into thigh armor that is engraved. No not engraved, made of actual scales, you shiver at the thought of what could have scales that big, nothing from Earth that’s sure. To end her amazing outfit, her green with black lace boots are thigh highs. You can faintly smell leather and something sweet you’ve never smelled before. You’re pretty sure this woman could be a really good dominatrix if she wanted to.

“That was much easier than expected. If the Avengers are Earth’s best defenders I’m disappointed, to say the least.” The woman tells you looking at her nails in boredom. You pick out her British accent.

You realize you’re not in immediate danger and say, “While I don’t mind getting kidnapped by beautiful women I usually like to know their names first, maybe take me on a date before you bring me back to your place.”

The woman chuckles. “My name is Morgan Le Fay of Britain, the world’s strongest sorceress, Morgana. That is until you came along.”

You frown. “That’s a mouthful.”

Morgana shakes her head with a small smile. “Cute.”

“Look I’m not that powerful, I think you have the wrong person, most of the magic I use I can’t use for long because it gives me migraines.” You say while shifting around to get more comfortable.

You finally take in your surroundings. All you can assess is that you’re in a cave, no telling how far from New York City, home. You know Loki could track you down if you could astral project but you don’t trust Morgana enough to take your eyes off of her. Maybe Tony is tracking your cell phone which you feel sitting in your back pocket.

“Such a shame you’ll never discover your true potential. I’m here to kill you, child, but I had to get a taste of what runs through your blood before I do.” Morgana says kneeling in front of you.

Morgana brings a hand to your head and when she touches you she gasps and closes her eyes. You simply watch from under her hand as she shivers. When she pulls her hand away her eyes are bright with curiosity but far away in thought.

“Why would your mother want to kill someone so powerful, I would think having you on her side would be more preferable.” Morgana says under her breath. You only hear her because she’s so close to you.

“My mother sent you?” You say trying to stall now that you know her intentions.

Morgana hums.

“I know my mother doesn’t love me but I never thought she’d send a glorified assassin after me. I’m honored, honestly.” You say your fingers playing with the rope around your wrists seeing if you could escape somehow. “How does my mother know you anyways, she doesn’t have any powers why would she know a sorceress?”

Morgana frowns at you, “I like your humor in the face of death.” She quips with a hint of annoyance at your nonchalance of the situation, “When a celestial tells me to do something I tend to not question it.” You look at Morgana like she’s crazy then you watch as realization dawns on her face.

“My child...You truly do not know?”

You stop fiddling with the rope and look at Morgana with a raised eyebrow. “Know what? And I’m not a child.”

“Your true birth mother, celestial Madonna.” Morgana says ignoring your plea to be respected.

At this you freeze and lose all the breath in your lungs.

Thor was right, you’re adopted.

“It was prophesied that celestial Madonna would give birth to the most powerful being in the universe. Kang wanted to be father to such child and hunted her down. He impregnated her, held her captive until she birthed you. She fled when she had the chance but couldn’t take you with her.” Morgana explains while standing and pacing the cave’s floor. “Kang, who was being chased by the Avengers, planted you in an alternate universe and time. No one has known where you were until a few years ago when you used magic for the first time.” Morgana finishes, stopping and looking down at you.

She gives you a look of pity as you process everything. It all made sense now. Kang wants you to be his weapon of destruction. Why your parents have always hated you and treated you like shit.

“My mother wants me dead and sent you to do her dirty work...Meaning she’s alive somewhere?” You ask trying to not panic with the influx of information.

“She’s here on Earth until she knows you’re dead. Said you’re more of a liability than anything. I’m being paid handsomely for your head.” Morgana says. She then brings a hand up and flicks it. Dark green magic flows and through the smokey magic you see a quin jet then see flashes of Loki, Steve, Natasha, Tony, and Thor talking, concerned and frightened looks on their faces but hear nothing.

“Your friends are near.” Is all Morgana says like it’s an afterthought. She makes the magic disappear and looks at you with determination. “I have a proposition for you, child.”

You’re not really in the position to argue so you nod at her.

“Promise me you’ll hunt down Kang and right before you deliver the last strike on his miserable life you call on me and let me do it. While I love your mother dearly I have a penchant for revenge.”

“Fine.” You say. At this Morgana looks at you, sizing you up, but decides you’re harmless enough and makes the rope around your wrists and ankles disappear. When you stand she magics a gold ring with a square emerald on it and gives it to you.

“When the time comes throw this on the ground and stomp on it with your foot then stand back, I shall appear where the ring is.”

You nod and slip the ring onto your right ring finger finding that it fits perfectly.

“Do not use it for anything else, it is a one time use. If you use it for something trivial I will kill you without hesitation, our deal will be void.” Morgana says, she frowns and without asking places a hand on your head again. This time you feel her magic search your mind and gasp when she does something that makes you feel energetic and calm.

When Morgana pulls her hand away she explains, “Your powers were behind a barrier, I simply destroyed it. You should be able to wield magic without headaches now but you’re going to use your full power unless you learn how to tame it. Do not kill yourself or I’ll bring you back to life just to kill you again.”

You look at Morgana in disbelief and annoyance because she keeps threatening your life.

She gives you a sympathetic look. “I’m truly sorry such a fate has fallen on you, child.” And then she’s gone and you’re left in a dark cave.

You hadn’t even realized Morgana had used magic to light up the space you both inhabited until you’re left standing in pitch black. Without hesitation you light up both fists with fire and start to make your way out of the cave. You plan to contact Loki when you truly know where you are. However, when you reach the entrance you see the quin jet landing in an open field not that far from the cave’s entrance on the side of a mountain. The first person out of the ship is Loki and he is sprinting towards you, Thor not far behind with Steve and Nat pulling the flank.

When Loki reaches you you open your mouth to tell him you’re ok but he pulls you into his chest hard and squeezes you till you’re breathless. Then he holds you at arms length and looks over your face first, then body.

“Are you hurt, did she use any magic on you?” He asks urgently.

“I’m fine, Loki, we just talked, she’s not a danger to us.” You say with a small smile that you’re sure doesn’t reach your eyes because Loki doesn’t lose the concerned look on his face. He doesn’t push it either though. Thor stays suspiciously silent when he reaches you both. He touches you as if to check that you’re real but drops his hand and claps Loki on the back more for calming him instead of camaraderie.

You look at Steve and Nat with a small wave and embarrassed grimace when Loki, Thor, and you reach them as you all walk towards the quin jet. After you’ve told them multiple times that you’re fine they all relax a bit but not by much. You mostly feel embarrassed you were taken so easily. You didn’t even put up a fight.

You’re sitting in the quin jet quiet other than to answer their questions without going into details because you’re still trying to unravel what you’ve been told.

“Why did she take you?” Steve asks, standing in front of you, arms crossed, with Nat next to him while Loki sits at your side, holding your hand. You know he has questions because his fingers keep playing with the new ring on your hand and he gives you looks you can’t decipher. Thor is speaking with Tony in the cockpit so you’re free of their questions until later thankfully.

“She wants me to find Kang so she may kill him.” You say.

Thankfully Loki and Thor had told the group of superheroes who Kang was after the incident with the Growing Man. They told them what they knew of the man which honestly wasn’t much.

At your words you feel Loki stop playing with the ring. He understands its purpose now. He must have used his magic to look over the ring and see if it was a danger to anyone but especially you, sensing it had magic dwelling in it.

“That doesn’t explain why she took you specifically. She could have told all of us. She didn’t have to kidnap you.” Natasha says knowing you enough to know you’re hiding valuable information.

You frown and look at your feet. “I-”

You go quiet and everyone stays quiet too, you listen to the engine of the quin jet and Thor and Tony bickering in the background. You think about how Loki’s hand fits perfectly in yours and is soft but has rough patches of callouses from his use of daggers. You take a deep breath in through your nose, closing your eyes, and smell leather, sweat, and that smell the quin jet emits like a new car.

When you open your eyes you look up at Steve and Natasha and ask, “How did you find me?”

Natasha frowns at your very obvious deflection. Steve answers. “Tony tracked your cell phone but it’s thanks to Loki we found you so fast. He used his magic to track your magic or something.” Steve says uncrossing his arms and shrugging while glancing at Loki.

You look at Loki who raises a brow at you. “Our bond.” Is all he says at your inquisitive look. You nod in understanding.

“Where are we, exactly?” You ask them.

“The border of New York and Pennsylvania.” Steve says. That explains why they were able to reach you so quick. If Morgana teleported you so close that means your stalling is the only reason you’re alive. She planned to make you a quick death.

When Nat opens her mouth to ask you another question you shake your head at her. “I’m exhausted can I take a nap before I tell you everything?” You ask, realizing you’ve got at least 45 minutes of free time since the jet isn’t going full speed.

Nat looks a little apologetic and Steve nods and says, “We’re happy you’re ok.” and then they both make their way to the opposite side of the quin jet.

You and Loki settle into the quin jet’s seats as comfortably as you can. He stays suspiciously quiet about everything but brings an arm up and around your shoulders and lets you lay your head on his shoulder where it meets his neck. When you’re settled he keeps holding your hand but his free hand around your shoulder comes up to stroke your hair. It doesn’t take long to fall asleep.

Pt. 12.1/Pt. 13/?

Tage list: @justfangirlthingies @emelieh99 @high-functioning-lokipath @loveableasshole

#astral #astral pt.13 #loki x reader #loki #reader insert #my writing #loki odinson #sorry i debated writing a 12.1 and didn't know if i could add it without disrupting the flow of the story #there will be a 13.1 though!#anyways i wanted to answer the questions that have been thrown around recently #loki isn't freaking out #yet #he will in 13.1 #lol i wanted to save the angst #but he definitely freaked at your disappearance #no worries all shall be resolved #disregard the whole 12.1 not happening i decided last minute to write something up #i actually might not write a 13.1 and instead write the angsty fluff with pt 14 plot #cuz like if i write a 13.1 it'll skip over the plot where you answer their questions #then if i went back to it in 14 it would be confusing to say the least #so you'll get two parts in 14 :D #disregard the timing of everything when i wrote this i totally forgot about about time even existing so i gave lame excuses XDD

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itsclydebitches · 3 years ago

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YYH Recaps: Episode 4 “Requirements for Lovers”

Hello, everyone! It's been quite a while, huh? Ah, the endless cycle of wanting to write and yet, astoundingly, not writing. I know it well.

Good ol' writer's block has skedaddled for a time though, so let's make good use of that and dive into Episode Four: "Requirements for Lovers."

Ohhh, YYH getting spicy with its titles 😏

Actually wait, I shouldn't be making dumb jokes just yet. First I want to acknowledge a slight change to future recaps: YYH, RWBY, and anything else I might try my hand at. Namely, a lack of pictures moving forward. A few weeks ago — months? I honestly can't keep track — tumblr implemented a new limitation where no post can have more than ten images in it. It's a move that, while I'm sure has its justifications, makes sharing analyses of visually-based media all the more difficult. I'll be doing my best moving forward to describe scenes as needed, as well as combining connected images together to stretch out my limit, but I'm not going to pretend that it'll be the same as getting the visual play-by-play we’re used to.

Tumblr certainly is a website, huh?

Anyway, we open on Yusuke once again lamenting the difficulty of hatching a spirit beast that doesn't immediately devour him from the head down. On the one hand this is an admittedly easy way to reset the story over the course of this arc — the storytelling equivalent of waking your character up each morning — yet I cannot deny that if I were undergoing a resurrection test, it would consume my every thought too. Can't really blame Yusuke for endlessly bringing the conflict up when the conflict is this deadly.

Well, deadly for a ghost, anyway.

Specifically, he's worried about how embarrassing it would be to get eaten by something that came out of an egg this tiny. I'm torn between reminding a fictional character that things grow — a pissed off chicken could kick my ass and it started out in an egg too — and just shaking my head over the absurdity of worrying about embarrassment when, you know, you would cease to exist. It's not even a matter of, "What if I die and then I'm embarrassed about it in the afterlife :( " Yusuke is already IN the afterlife. He's got nowhere to go but oblivion!

Luckily, Botan takes a more practical approach to these worries, pointing out that he'll be just fine provided he does some good deeds. Yusuke starts a rant about how do-gooders are only ever out for themselves.

Yusuke, you dumb-dumb, you're a do-gooder now. What was all that help for Kuwabara, hmm? As said, these early episodes exist in a semi-reset loop, where Yusuke needs to stew in his main character flaws for a while before any real growth starts to stick. Those flaws being, primarily, "I'm a pessimist" and "also I hate myself."

Case in point, Botan accuses him of always seeing the glass as half empty. Which, while true enough (outside of his confidence in fighting, anyway), by now we've got a pretty good sense of where Yusuke developed this attitude. He affirms this by talking about how Koenma's got him by the balls, "just another idiot abusing his power!" With an alcoholic mother and those teachers from last episode, it's no wonder Yusuke thinks this way. Mr. Takenaka's interest and Keiko's care aren't enough to combat the rest of Yusuke's experience, not when Takenaka is an outlier and Keiko is Yusuke's peer. Her desire to keep him on the right track reads only as an inevitability at best (the downside of having a perfect childhood friend), or a legitimate annoyance at worst. Or, as we'll continue to see in this episode, a way for them to flirt.

Is it any wonder Yusuke would sneer at Koenma's offer then, expecting the worst? The fact that Yusuke is still undergoing the challenge at all, no matter what he says, speaks volumes to me.

However, Botan is less than comfortable with his criticisms. She panics a bit at Yusuke insulting the (junior) ruler of the underworld so blithely. That, and the fact that he's carelessly tossing his egg around.

(Yes we’re using precious picture space for memes are you SURPRISED?)

Anyway, Botan isn't just concerned for the sake of concern. She cautions Yusuke against speaking too freely because there may be investigators checking in on his progress. No sooner does he ask what those investigators look like than one appears.

Thunder! Lighting! An energy so intense that Yusuke is briefly blinded! It is, as he says, quite the entrance. What kind of being could possibly be at the heart of such an astounding show?

Why, this teeny-tiny cutie, of course.

Remember, few appearances in YYH coincide with the character's true self. Would you ever assume this is the all-powerful investigator who holds Yusuke's future in her hands? Of course not. That's the point.

The investigator introduces herself as Sayaka and immediately demonstrates that she has no more patience for Yusuke's attitude than Botan does. "These damn kids," he mutters and my brain briefly blue screens because Yusuke. You're fourteen.

Plus, Sayaka and Botan clearly have some sort of eternal youth situation going on, so there's that too.

Sayaka is, in a word, fantastic. She pulls no punches with Yusuke, teleporting away from him with what can only be described as a shit-eating smile, all while refusing to tell him what exactly she's investigating. “I’m sorry, but that’s a secret!” However, Keiko is clearly at the forefront of her interest. She refers to her as Yusuke's "girlfriend."

Botan is more than happy to point Keiko out — because of course they're still following her around! — and pulls a Et tu, Brute? on Yususke, leading Sayaka right to her. Like most of the Underworld, Sayaka is rather shocked that the pretty, popular, scholarly girl is supposedly into the delinquent. It's the power of childhood friendship, you fools! Specifically, Sayaka references the "positive markings" that Keiko has accumulated, but the audience already knows by now that such markings are suspect at best. Yusuke himself is proof of that. So if his terrible marks don't preclude him from being a young kid's savior, should we really view Keiko's as proof of superiority?

I mean, Keiko is fantastic, but that's not really the point here.

Starting her own investigation into Yusuke's life, Sayaka begins with one hell of a bombshell: "There's no point in doing [the resurrection] if the people closest to you don't care." WOW. Not only is that a harsh assessment, it's one I don't think I can personally get behind. The offer to restore Yusuke to life is built on the acknowledgment that their system is flawed (even if there's no work to change or dismantle that system): they thought he was worthless, his sacrificial death seems to have proven them wrong, and now they want further evidence, in the form of this trial, that Yusuke is a good person at heart. The whole point of this challenge is to give him a second chance, with testimonies like Mr. Takenaka's emphasizing that Yusuke has always been capable of more, so long as he applies himself. This, as we'll see throughout the series, applies to relationships too. The Yusuke with one friend he play-fights with, a distant mother, and a school worth of kids who are terrified of his very name is not the future Yusuke they expect him to become, so... why base his resurrection on what he's already (not) accomplished? Granted, the show is very unclear about what, if anything, Sayaka will do if she decides that Yusuke doesn't have a life worth going back to (even if I have my own theory discussed at the end), but the fact that this is suddenly a factor at all seems grossly unfair, not entirely unlike Kuwabara's rigged promise. We as the audience know that people love Yusuke. Yusuke himself is beginning to acknowledge that. But if this fourteen year old delinquent truly had no one that wanted him back from the dead... isn't that all the more reason to allow a resurrection and give him the chance to build a life where he would be missed?

This stupid shonen got me thinking too much istg.

Yusuke, ever the self-deprecating pessimist, bypasses all of the above thoughts and jumps straight to, "It's clear if [Keiko] had any sense she'd want me gone." I'd find that attitude incredibly sad if I wasn't distracted by how cute Botan and Sayaka are, sitting on the oar together. The spirit girls who fly together, thrive together!

Botan starts teasing Yusuke about having a crush, which just feeds his temper and Sayaka's confusion. Deciding that she needs to gather more info, they follow along for an average day of school because these earlier episodes are, apparently, ghost-stalk Keiko hours.

We see her reading aloud in class from Heart of Darkness (not the easiest book for some middle schoolers), scoring a point during volleyball practice, refusing to let one girl cheat off her homework, but happily helping another who runs up with a question. So she's pretty, athletic, and academically successful, the trifecta for any good love interest. Sayaka is impressed not just with her "nearly perfect" scores, but also the maturity that Keiko demonstrates, such as maintaining her morals about cheating while remaining compassionate.

Actually, I really love the contrast this provides for us, the viewer. Meaning, Keiko is shown to be at her least mature when in Yusuke's presence. Not that her responses aren't justified, but watching her dramatically snatch gum from his mouth, slap him across the face, or pull crazed expressions as she yells at him is a far cry from this calm, poised, soft-spoken Keiko. It's a way to visually show us that she's comfortable in his presence, despite the suspect humor attached. Not that the Keiko we see at school is faking or anything — she is legitimately that kind and articulate — but we see that being with Yusuke allows her to relax in a way she doesn't with others. School!Keiko is, as Sayaka says, pretty much perfect, 24/7. Yusuke's Keiko is a little rougher around the edges, in a way that implies a multifaceted personality shining through.

However, the only conclusion our trio draws is that, given Keiko's accomplishments, any attraction must be one-sided.

Poor Yusuke lol.

In a plot move that is so ridiculously contrived, just as Yusuke is grappling with the accusation that Keiko couldn't possibly like him back, a "handsome boy" arrives to ask Keiko out. He says that he couldn't bear it when she stopped reading Heart of Darkness because he's fallen in love with her voice. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

Please excuse me while I lose my shit over how ridiculous this is. I legitimately straight up cackled when I watched this scene.

Luckily for Mr. Absurd, Keiko takes him seriously — and lets him down easy. She says she can't be his girlfriend and when he presses the "Why?", asking if she already likes someone else, Keiko confirms that she does. This is done through a shot of her feet. Not a POV shot given the angle, but close enough that it feels like we're stepping into Keiko's shoes (haha), shyly staring down at the floor in embarrassment and regret.

Rejection complete? The guy screams.

I mean he screams.

I mean this nobody we're never gonna see again unhinges his jaw and lets out an unholy shriek the likes of which makes me shriek in utter GLEE.

It's insane. It's wonderful. I'm going to use one of my coveted image spots to show you his face:

Look at that and tell me this show isn't amazing.

Okay, I'm focusing again. As Keiko runs off Botan and Sayaka start dragging Yusuke, teasing him about how Keiko chose him over that "charming handsome boy."

...Please scroll up and look at that image again. I find YYH's definition of "charming" and "handsome" to be hilariously wrong.

Yusuke, as per usual, throws himself into damage control, claiming that Keiko didn't say who she liked, so really it could be anyone. They're not buying it. “'I like Keiko' is written all over your face!” Botan crows. Meanwhile, Sayaka is scribbling in her little investigator's journal that feelings on both side are severely misunderstood. "Suggest serious counseling."

Fantastic idea, Sayaka. I'd personally suggest counseling for the whole dying/best friend getting resurrected thing... but relationship woes work too!

We cut to later when school is out and Keiko has gone over to Yusuke's. To say that Atsuko has done a poor job of keeping the house clean lately would be a serious understatement.

Keiko points out the old food and broken glass specifically, cluing us in that this isn't just a messy environment, but a dangerous one as well. This is proven when she accidentally knocks a stack of books over and a used bowl falls onto Yusuke's face. What's interesting is that Keiko says that things are "back to normal" now, though I'm not sure if that's in reference to the state of the house, or just the note Atsuko left behind, asking Keiko to take care of Yusuke while she's out. I'm inclined towards thinking it's just the note, partly because of Keiko's shock when she first arrives, because the house wasn't shown to be in this state prior to Yusuke's death (first image above), and because the note is accompanied by a great voiceover that makes Atsuko sound quite sloshed when she left. That's what's normal, the drinking and carefree attitude, not the state of her home. If we buy that reading, it allows for another fantastic look into Atsuko's mental state. If she's already an alcoholic, the trauma of her son's death and the following revelation that he's coming back might make her struggle in other ways. Like finding cleaning to be an impossible task.

She's depressed. It doesn't excuse the state she's left Yusuke in and, as previously acknowledged, YYH is definitely not a show interested in this nuance, but I still find it fun to take what little we've gotten and run with it.

However, Keiko is firmly on team "WTF Atsuko." She hurries to make sure Yusuke wasn't hurt by the falling bowl, bemoans him being "covered in garbage," and says that leaving him in this state should be considered a felony. Knowing it's far beyond her power to fix Atsuko's failings, Keiko swears to come here after school every day until Yusuke regains his body. It's as she's cleaning him of the dust that's gathered that Keiko becomes entranced with Yusuke’s features. Particularly his lips. The soft lighting returns, their theme song swells, and Keiko gets thiiiis close to kissing Yusuke for the first time.

Which is a little weird, right? I mean, we know why Yusuke is freaking out. Beyond the embarrassment of a middle schooler receiving his first kiss while two ghost girls eagerly watch on, he's made a hobby of denouncing his interest in Keiko to anyone who will listen. But for the average viewer — for Keiko herself — don't we care the he's, you know, dead? Or if not technically dead, very unconscious? Don't get me wrong, I fully understand the appeal of this situation in a generalized, cultural sense (with the side disclaimer that I'm reading a Japanese product through an American lens). Sleeping Beauty exists for a reason and there's definitely an element of that here: a gender-reversed setup where Keiko’s kills may break the "curse" of Yusuke's untimely death. Even his in-between state of being mirrors the "death like sleep" of the fairy tale. But when you strip away those Disney-esque thoughts, we're left with a girl about to kiss an unresponsive body, not as a common gesture of care (the parent who kisses their child while they sleep), but as a first time, romantic milestone.

It's a little weird lol.

But embrace the romance! As well as its inevitable interruption. Just as Keiko is about to land a peck, the neighborhood watch committee announces a heat and fire warning, startling Keiko out of her thoughts about Yusuke's "beautiful face." (There's another gender reversal for ya.) She gasps at her almost-action, conveniently remembers that her mom wanted her to do some shopping, and hightails it out of there before embarrassment can really kill them both.

So she runs off for food... in a sweater? The outfit is cute and all, but I wonder what the animators were thinking, putting Keiko in a puffy pullover during an episode all about a heat wave.

It's about at this point that the plot goes from cute romance to absolutely buck wild. The fires the neighborhood watch committee mentioned are not, in fact, due to the overwhelming heat, but an arsonist that's going around tossing molotov cocktails through open windows. Why is he doing such a thing? I don't know. Arsonists be doing arson, I guess. The important bit is that Yusuke's place is his next target, considering that Atsuko forgot to lock the windows when she went out. Within seconds all that garbage is set ablaze, quite obviously putting Yusuke's resurrection chances at an all time low.

"Wake up, stupid!" he shouts at his unconscious body. Mood, Yusuke. That's me every morning.

So this is a full scale emergency now and everyone is scrambling trying to think of something to do. Yusuke comes up with the idea to possess himself like he did Kuwabara — nice attempt at a loophole there — but since it would technically count as his resurrection, no dice. Botan decides to go get Kuwabara himself, even though he's too far away to do anything. It's still worth a shot. Sayaka, meanwhile, watches all this unfold with a somewhat clinical detachment. She's not quite indifferent and she's definitely not cruel... she’s just not as emotionally invested in this as the other two. Which not only re-emphasizes her purpose here, as an observer judging Yusuke, but also highlights the bond Botan is forming with him. As mentioned before in regards to her hanging out with Yusuke rather than ferrying souls, Botan is well past someone assisting Yusuke simply because it's a part of her job. He's her friend.

We get some shots of the growing fire which includes a hazy texture to the animation I quite like and then we cut to Keiko several blocks away, shopping bag in hand. Word of the new fire spreads, with one bystander mentioning that it's the twelfth today.

"This is eerie.”

“Yeah, I can’t help feeling we’re under attack.”

That's because you are! Someone stop that man!

Sadly, I don't think the arsonist is mentioned again, let alone captured. We'll just have to relegate that to my incredibly niche fic wishlist.

Keiko also overhears that the latest fire is on fourth avenue, which of course is where Yusuke lives. Recognizing that he might be in trouble, she takes off at a run.

Meanwhile, Botan finds Kuwabara practicing his kicks against a Yusuke dummy. Amazing resemblance, right?

Watching for the purpose of recapping, I'm picking up on a lot of details in the animation I quite enjoy. I don't think anyone would claim that YYH, at this point in time, has the most impressive or flashy animation (the fight scenes later are another matter entirely), but there's a clear love for the product that shines through. The scared expression on Kuwabara's dummy. His unexpectedly dainty kick, complete with pointed toes. Botan's more translucent coloring to emphasize her supernatural status compared to Kuwabara. There are a lot of nice touches despite the overall simplicity.

Plus, you can't forget the lovely irony of Kuwabara fighting a defenseless "Yusuke" while the real guy actually lies defenseless amidst a fire. We already know that despite his tough talk, Kuwabara would be horrified to learn that his friend rival had died (again) in such a manner.

Capitalizing on that transparency, Botan runs a hand through Kuwabara's back to catch his attention. He gets his "tickle feeling" and instinctively looks around towards Yusuke's house, seeing the smoke. "Something tells me I should go that way." Gotta love a guy who drops everything to chase a vague, supernaturally induced hunch.

As Kuwabara leaves we cut back to Keiko arriving at the house, staring in horror at the blaze. We get an audio flashback to her talk with Yusuke where she promised to take care of his body until he got back. So she tries to run in, only for a couple of the onlookers to snag her, quite correctly keeping her from undergoing a suicide mission. We learn later that Keiko absolutely would have died without Yusuke's sacrifice, so her "You cowards!" is born more of emotion than justified accusations. It's not cowardly to look at the raging inferno in a small apartment and realize that recklessly running in will only result in two dead teens, not one.

I mean, the flames are already right there, licking the door. Even if Keiko somehow managed to avoid burns, the smoke alone would do her in. Still, Keiko tries to mitigate the damage by dumping a bucket of water over her head. As a kid I remember thinking this was the smartest thing ever. Utterly inspired. Keep that in the back of your mind, kid Clyde, for future reference. As an adult... I have no idea whether this would actually help or not lol. Any firefighters doubling as YYH fans?

Recklessness and iffy precautions aside, I can't express how much I appreciate the story giving Keiko things to do. Yusuke recognizes that she's the only one with the maturity and open-mindedness to believe in his resurrection. She's the one picking up Atsuko's slack regarding his day-to-day needs. She never hesitates for a moment, heroically throwing herself into this blaze for Yusuke's benefit. Yeah, a lot of that still falls into the emotional/domestic sphere — what we expect of the love interest in a 90s anime — but too often action stories don't have a clue what to do with their non-action characters, not even when it comes to just supporting the fighters. They're simply... there. Keiko, however, isn't window dressing. Whether it's helping Botan survive an upcoming, supernatural plague, or cheering the team on at the Dark Tournament, Keiko is an important part of the story, despite lacking the fighting prowess of the rest of the cast.

Just as important, this episode establishes a core equality between her and Yusuke. We just watched Keiko reject a (presumably) accomplished guy for him, telling the audience that these surface differences — academics, power levels, popularity, looks — don't matter to them. Yusuke is not Keiko's lesser just because he doesn't have the same scores in Sayaka's book and Keiko won't become Yusuke's lesser just because she doesn't have spiritual power like he does. The only important thing here is that they love each other and they're both willing to sacrifice everything for the other. In the span of about ten minutes, Keiko nearly gives up her life for Yusuke and, in turn, Yusuke gives up his resurrection for her. The level of care they show towards one another is balanced, despite those differences.

They’re a good ship, y'all. Even if this recapping's got me noticing Yusuke/Kuwabara potential lol.

To get back to the plot, a drenched Keiko charges into the fire, yelling Yusuke's name for the drama of it because we all know he can't respond. Despite the audience (hopefully) recognizing Keiko and Yusuke's equality, that memo hasn't reached Yusuke yet. "You're a lot more important to this world than I am!" he yells, hammering home that despite everything — knowing he instinctively saved a child, watching his loved ones grieve for him, helping Kuwabara just because he can — Yusuke still, deep down, believes that he doesn't deserve to come back; that he doesn't measure up to those around him. The self-sacrificial nature this insecurity produces shocks Sayaka. She points out that if Keiko doesn't save his body, he's not coming back. "What's the point of being alive if Keiko has to get killed for it?"

Keiko means more to Yusuke than the rest of his living existence. Jot that down in your notebook, Sayaka!

Kuwabara arrives and runs into one of his friends who informs him that Keiko just went inside. “Yusuke’s girl? The one we saved from those thugs?”

BOY does that tell us a lot about their rivalry! I mean yeah, we've already established several times over that Kuwabara — just like Yusuke himself — is not the cruel street thug he'd like to present himself as. If these characters actually wanted to hurt each other outside of a martial arts challenge, don't you think Kuwabara would capitalize on the "Yusuke's girl" bit? Everyone seems to know that they have feelings for each other, but Kuwabara never once wields that as ammunition against Yusuke. There are no taunts about him not being good enough. Or rather, I should clarify there are no serious taunts — Kuwabara is well known for his teasing. There's also no attempt to steal Keiko out from under him, the common treatment of the love interest as a "prize" that many stories fall into. Indeed, later this episode YYH will deconstruct this a bit. Yusuke sees Kuwabara grab Keiko's hand and yells that he better not be getting "fresh" with her. But it's purely Yusuke's worries shining through. The audience gets a crystal clear picture of the situation and knows, categorically, that Kuwabara has only the most innocent of intentions in holding Keiko's hand.

(Well, running from the police isn't innocent, but...)

I keep getting sidetracked. Plot! Keiko makes it to Yusuke's room and finds that he is already on fire. She then proceeds to try and put it out by patting it with her hands. I take back what I said about Keiko's smarts in this scene. Now we know where that supposed recklessness comes from though. Apparently they're both immune to fire! Nothing to worry about here, folks.

JK she's actually in danger, despite the animation choices. By this point everyone, including Keiko, realizes that there's no way out: the fire has blocked the door. Sayaka then reveals that there is one way to save her. If Yusuke throws his egg into the fire, the energy of the spirit beast will release and guide her to safety. The catch? Hatch the egg early and it won't complete its intended function of guiding him back to his body. This beast is gonna guide one person and that is it.

Cue Yusuke's near immediate decision to sacrifice his life for Keiko's. Granted, it's not precisely one life for another. Yusuke's resurrection was always contingent upon the beast not devouring him whole — something Koenma claims would have happened at the end of the episode — meaning that it's not technically a fair trade. Yusuke might have sacrificed Keiko's life for his own... only to fail to get that life back anyway. (There's a tragedy for ya.) To say nothing of how Yusuke is currently dead and has been for at least a couple of days, whereas Keiko very much is not. There's some sort of philosophical discussion there about potential being pit against current reality.

BUT that's not the point! The emotional point is that he sacrificed his life for hers — the potential of his resurrection, the potential of that life he might have led — all technicalities aside. And I, for one, think that's very neat of him.

A blue light shines as the egg's energy is released, providing a lovely contrast to the fire surrounding them. A path forms to the door and Keiko, recognizing Yusuke's presence, follows it. "We'll make it, Yusuke," Keiko says, which is one hell of a sucker-punch now that we know she's just carrying a corpse. Unbeknownst to Keiko, Yusuke is very much not making it. That's the only reason why she is.

Kuwabara appears to help them the rest of the way which is also a pretty awesome thing considering that, from everyone else's perspective, the fire is still raging and blocking the door. Despite his spiritual awareness, Kuwabara gives no indication that he noticed this strange light, or Yusuke's hand in the rescue. Which basically means he lunged into a bunch of deadly fire for Keiko and doesn't question how in the world he isn't burned.

Keiko's hands are fine, Kuwabara's whole body is fine... fire immunity must run in the friend group!

Yusuke has another rare moment of vulnerability — "They're both okay" — and I cackle happily at the "both" because see. You love Kuwabara too, Yusuke! All this bluster about hating him and finding him annoying. The second he rushed into that fire you were crawling up the walls.

Except then that happiness gives way to something that sounds a little more shocked. Devastated. "Well, I sure am... relieved..." Kudos to Cook's voice acting. You can hear the exact moment Yusuke realizes what he's done. Not that he regrets it, but the consequences are finally sinking in. He's relieved that they're safe, yes, but now he's never going to be able to rejoin them.

As Yusuke has an(other) existential crisis, Kuwabara peels back the blanket Keiko had wrapped Yusuke in, revealing his face. “What are you doing with Yusuke’s body?! Are you some type of sick grave robber?” he shouts. God I love when a story actually keeps track of who knows what. Kuwabara, for all his recent involvement in the plot, doesn't actually know what's going on. From his perspective Yusuke died, he made a scene at the wake, he saved "his girl" from a bunch of thugs, lost a huge chunk of time only to wake up with her randomly hugging him (then slapping him), participated in a bet with his awful teacher and had a couple weird, Yusuke related dreams while studying, and has felt the presence of ghosts perhaps a little more frequently than usual. Now he's trying to help save Keiko from a fire only for her to reveal she risked her own life for Yusuke's body. Of course he's freaking out! What's she doing with that?

What's utterly fantastic though is that Kuwabara takes all of five seconds to process this and then enters immediate Ride or Die mode for Keiko. She's been hoarding Yusuke's body for undetermined reasons? Well, who is he to judge? The important thing here is that people are arrested for keeping bodies, so they've gotta skedaddle before the firefighters show up.

Hence, hand-holding and avoiding arrest.

As Yusuke starts threatening Kuwabara not to get "fresh" with her, Botan sadly reminds him that he no longer has a say in who Keiko does or does not fall in love with. The switch in tone is jarring. Whereas before Botan would have teased him mercilessly for the crush, now she knows that nothing can come of that — and it would be cruel not to remind Yusuke of that too.

"Oh no. I didn't think..." Yusuke whispers, further establishing that he knew the risks of using his egg, but hadn't allowed them to sink in yet. Now they have.

He gives a fake little laugh with, "Just when it was getting good" and I cry at the development in the span of just four episodes. Despite what I said at the beginning about the show resetting each week, there has been a lot of change thus far. Yusuke wants to live now! He wants to be there for Keiko! He looks down on his tiny family and screams at the unfairness of it all! They're talking about how they can't wait for him to come back and now that's never gonna happen!!

It hurts, friends. It hurts a whole lot.

During this conversation between Keiko, Atsuko, and Kuwabara, we see that a couple of hours have passed (it's nighttime now, the fire is out) and Atsuko is apologizing for putting them all in danger like that. And by that I mean yes, she does technically apologize with an "I'm sorry" and everything, but it's also a one sentence apology pit against... well, near death for the three people standing (and sitting) before her. Atsuko seems just as concerned by Keiko losing her hair as she does Keiko nearly burning to death and she kneels by Yusuke's wheelchair, baby-talking to him about how he forgives her, right? I love Atsuko, she's great, but objectively speaking she is not a good mother. Not right now, anyway.

Oh yeah, and just to reiterate that: Keiko's hands are fine after patting down Yusuke's on-fire body, but her hair, which I'm pretty sure never catches, has to be cut short. Ah, anime logic. Funny thing is, YYH isn't the only story to take the love interest and give her a cool, short cut thanks to a traumatic event. Anyone read Ranma 1/2?

During this conversation we also learn that, sometime between the fire and now, Keiko filled Kuwabara in on everything that's happening with Yusuke. Makes sense. He kneels beside the wheelchair, joining the others in telling Yusuke that they'll wait patiently for his return. Yusuke, above them, continues yelling about how they're waiting on a dead man.

“It can’t be helped. He made this decision on his own."

Except it can, in fact, be helped!

Just as all hope is truly lost, Koenma appears and announces that Yusuke will be returned to life. Why? Because sacrificing his egg for Keiko is a better indicator of his worth than the egg itself could have been. Despite feeding on his negative outlook and heading towards biting Yusuke's head off — something the animation backs up by showing us teeth during the fire

— Yusuke's act demonstrates a tendency towards being a "decent human being" that is "so rare." Wow. That's depressing. Still, yay that Yusuke has those qualities! And this, to my mind, helps explain Sayaka's presence. Koenma recognized that judging Yusuke couldn't be left to the egg alone and indeed, Sayaka took note of his worth before he ever threw the egg into the fire. First it was questioning why someone as amazing as Keiko would go for him, then it was solidified through the shock of Yusuke announcing that coming back to life was meaningless if she wasn't in it. Even if Keiko had somehow, miraculously escaped the fire before Yusuke's sacrifice, I bet Sayaka's report would have tipped him in resurrection's favor anyway.

Everyone is, of course, overjoyed and my heart swells at the intense gratitude Yusuke displays. My favorite part though is when Koenma cryptically says that “Your added experience with death could make you very useful" (a nod towards future events that goes right over Yusuke's head) and his response to this is a yelled, "YOU THINK I'M USEFUL?" This poor kid. The God of everything ever is chucking out revelations left and right, about resurrections and spirit beasts, but the only thing that really penetrates is the realization that someone thinks he's useful. Talk about relatable.

You know, I've been thinking about why this moment works so well. I mean, there are a lot of other stories where undermining the consequences our hero faces — either with humor, or by erasing them completely — can feel like the audience was cheated. I think YYH dodged that with a couple of crucial factors. First, Yusuke's consequence isn't something new that he's now avoided, it's just a permanent extension of something he was already dealing with. We did get to watch him inhabit the space between life and death, grappling with whether he'd ever be able to return. The story didn't deny us that growth, it just confirmed something we all instinctively knew: this tale won't end here with Yusuke permanently going to some afterlife. Second, the Deus ex Machina fix doesn't happen too soon. Yeah, it's only a couple of minutes in a single episode, but we (and Yusuke) still get to sit with that outcome for a while, soaking it in before its removal. Finally, there's no doubt that Yusuke earned this reprieve. Koenma's timing might be sudden and (if you're not genre savvy) unexpected, but looking back at the series as a whole thus far, we're able to agree absolutely that Yusuke deserves this. Far from feeling like we were cheated, this solution invites just as much celebration as we're seeing on screen, for the simple reason that we can buy into Koenma's reasoning. We know now that Yusuke is a good person. We saw him selflessly sacrifice his future for Keiko. We agree that he deserves a second chance.

Thus, the episode ends with Yusuke flying up to fill the screen in his joy, a far better, final shot than Harry Potter and The Prison of Azkaban managed 😰

And that's it for Episode 4, folks! See you later for Episode 5 💕

#YYH #Yu Yu Hakusho #YYH Recaps #mymetas

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kaizokuou-ni-naru · 5 years ago

Text

Some Reasons I Love One Piece

So I set up a poll to ask what I should do for my 4000 follower milestone, and something like 85% of the responses to my poll said you wanted me to do a compilation of stuff I love about One Piece! So hell yeah, get ready for me to talk about pirates for way too long (a sentence that could also serve as an accurate blog description).

Before that though, lemme just say- thank you all! Seriously! When I started this blog I figured I’d be extremely lucky to end up with like a thousand followers, and now I have four times that and it just keeps growing, which just constantly baffles and amazes me. I adore every one of you, and you’re providing me something fun and productive to do in quarantine, and I love you for that.

Anyways! Let’s talk good shit.

Let’s start with Luffy. The whole story starts with him, after all.

I love Luffy, just as a character. He’s one of my favorite protagonists in anything, ever, when ordinarily protagonist characters don’t really appeal to me all that much. I genuinely think he might be my favorite character in One Piece now that I sit down and really think about it. I love how unconventional of a main character he is- he actively shuns the idea of being a hero and is in fact the most chaotic neutral motherfucker on the planet, and yet he’s so friendly and loyal and fun that you straight up can’t not love him both in-universe and out.

I also love the Strawhats just in general, both as a group and individually. Found family is one of my all-time favorite story tropes, and they do it better than like, the vast majority of stories out there. They’re all so completely unique from each other and play off each other so well and they really do feel like a family. I love how often Oda just shows them fucking around and hanging out. (One of my only gripes with post-timeskip is how much time they spend split apart.) I think it says a lot about them that I struggled so much when someone asked me to rank the Strawhats a few months back and had to rearrange the list like four times. I just!! Love them all!!

One of my favorite things about One Piece is that it’s the story of Luffy’s rise, and that it occurs in a world that’s so solidly scaled and well-developed that all progress he makes actually feels tangible and impactful. Some of my favorite moments in One Piece are the ones where we can see how far he and the crew have come and see other people’s reactions. His reappearance at Sabaody after the timeskip is my favorite scene in the manga, full stop. His entrance at Marineford and all of the Decks of the World cover stories delight me for the same reason.

Speaking of the worldbuilding, god it’s so good? I think one of the greatest potential strengths of a long manga is that its just got so much time to establish and build on so much information, and sometimes that leads to mangaka kind of tying themselves in knots with too much lore and explanation, but Oda just fucking nails it.

I recently read a conversation during Zou where the Strawhats are talking to Inuarashi, Nekomamushi and the Wano folks about all their mutual acquaintances on the Roger Pirates- Brook asks about Crocus, Franky mentions Tom, etc- and I had a moment where I realized how in pretty much any other series all those connections might seem contrived, but in One Piece it works so well. So much time has been dedicated to establishing all these facts and characters and connections over years and hundreds of chapters that when they do come together, it just feels so satisfying.

Like, at Twin Cape Crocus mentions he was a ship’s doctor and then mentions Roger as the Strawhats leave, at Thriller Bark we find out he’s Brook’s friend, at Sabaody in conversation with Rayleigh we find out for sure which ship he was a doctor on and that he joined them to look for Brook’s crew- and it all just falls together so nicely. One Piece is maybe the strongest series I’ve ever read in terms of how it establishes its characters and concepts and how they all fit into the world and cross over and connect with each other. The world of One Piece is huge, but it also feels so alive and interconnected, and that’s just wonderful.

I love how hopeful One Piece is. I was talking to a friend a couple months ago who doesn’t watch it, and she kind of dismissed it as ‘a show where nobody dies.’ Which- setting aside the fact that that’s just not fucking true- my first response to that was, “So?” I think it’s nice that we can all know for pretty much certain that the Strawhats will achieve their dreams in the end. There’ll be a happy ending, and Luffy’s going to be Pirate King, we’ve known that from the start. The fun is in seeing how they get there.

Aside from a few specific cases, I also really like how Oda does his character writing just in general. The female characters in One Piece generally get a bad rap, largely from people who haven’t watched the show and judge it on the (admittedly exaggerated) artstyle, but fuck if I haven’t seen such a widely varied and developed and flawed female cast writing-wise since- I don’t even know. Oda does a really good job of giving his characters, both male and female, unique and memorable personalities, which is super fucking impressive considering just how many there are. Similarly, I’m impressed by how new characters are introduced without getting repetitive or annoying, and very often those characters are really fantastic. I could talk about all the different One Piece characters I love and why, but we would legitimately be here all day.

I also love how unlike a lot of long-running series like this, characters don’t just go away when their time in the spotlight is done. In just about any other series, characters like Buggy and Coby and Crocodile would just be gone and never to be heard from again after they’ve served their purpose. Instead you have the stupid clown villain from the second arc becoming a fucking shichibukai several hundred chapters later, and it makes sense in the context of the story! The whole concept of the cover stories works really well towards this aspect of One Piece, letting us see what all these other characters are up to without taking attention off the main story. This fits in with the interconnectedness I mentioned earlier, too.

And I like how (and I know there are people who will argue this, I have had them in my inbox, but I do not care) One Piece has stayed so strong for so long. I’ve mentioned before that both of my favorite big arcs are pre-timeskip- Alabasta, for the civil war storyline and great supporting cast and villains, and W7/Enies Lobby, for the epic emotional highs and lowers + ANOTHER great supporting cast. But like, I’ve been enjoying the more recent arcs just as much! Honestly, now that I’ve finished Dressrosa, I think it definitely ranks up there among my favorites as well, for how chaotic and fun and high-stakes the whole thing felt when I was binging through it. I’m only a few chapters into Whole Cake Island so far but it seems very promising, and I’m really excited to get to Wano from what I’ve seen of it.

I haven’t even really touched on the art yet, either. I know the artstyle turns some people off of the series, for how kind of cartoony it is sometimes and how different it is from most other series, but honestly I just love it. I wasn’t sure about it at the start but it grew on me very fast. Hell, I have a whole tag (which I should use more) dedicated just to appreciation of pretty panels.

And the action scenes in One Piece are so fun and expressive and creative and almost always at least a little silly just by the nature of Luffy’s powers. I don’t think I’ve ever been bored during a One Piece fight. And the splash pages are frequently just breathtaking. I’m a writing person, not an art person, so I’m bad at putting this kind of thing into words nearly as well, but- yeah. One Piece Art Good. (My friend Narramin also has a really, really good series of posts about how great the visual storytelling in OP is starting here that I highly recommend, if you’re interested.)

Finally, I think my favorite thing about One Piece is that it’s all one story, start to end. I kind of touched on this above with the worldbuilding thing, but you can see what a ridiculous degree of thought and planning Oda has put into his story, and how well everything comes together. It’s the main aspect that got me to give One Piece a try in the first place- I heard how good and thought-out the long term storytelling is, and I just eat that shit up. I don’t think I’ve ever had the level of trust in a creator to handle and end their story satisfyingly that I have in Oda. It’s a good feeling.

#took me so long to write this post that im now like #a third of the way to 5k #which is ridiculous #feel free to ask me to elaborate on any of this!!#i write better meta when i have a single topic to focus on fjdsh #which is one of the reasons this took so long #so yeah ask box open!!#jonny talks #one piece #not japanese #long post #opmeta

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goblins-riddles-or-frocks · 4 years ago

Note

top 10 hellsing scenes?

All of them

Okay but seriously:

1. The entire fight sequence leading up to Anderson’s death

It’s animated so beautifully in the OVA and I fucking love all the many layers to it. The “vampires are weeping children” flashback that happens during it is one of my favorite moments. And just... everything this scene reveals about these characters, and the story itself. The fact that Alucard attempts to warn Anderson away from becoming like him, the implied grief that drove Anderson to this, the bittersweet element to his defeat. Also “my beloved nemesis” is like... yes.

2. Rio murder spree

I’ve talked about this at length before, but it showcases some amazing nonverbal storytelling. And the sudden shift in like... the narrative perception is so well done. Where before Alucard was our Cool Guy Protagonist and his fight sequences were meant to be fun, suddenly his bloodthirstiness is played straight for horror and I fucking love it.

3. Van Helsing flashback

So a) I love my boy Van Helsing, his one appearance in this series is def going to be a favorite, especially how he’s fucking reading Dracula for filth and b) it has SO MANY interesting implications. It opens up the door for so many questions, and is also one of our first glimpses at emotional depth in the series, especially in the OVA. It marks the first shift from cheesy murder romp to “in this house, we only have extremely tragic backstories.” Also both the manga and OVA have this scene directly after an Anderson scene and I lurve me that ✨symbolism✨

ALSO BLOOD TEARS GOOD

4. Pip’s monologue about London

Honestly all of Pip’s lines are solid gold, and he’s quite frankly too cool for this series. That being said, I looove how he brings to the forefront the sheer cost in human life. The series often employs a trick of gleefully using characters as cannon fodder, making it look cool, then turning around and actually contextualizing that and its cost. Sometimes it’s more successful (rio sequence), and sometimes it falls flat (the hellsing soldiers’ deaths following the Valentine brothers’ attack). Pip’s monologue is the most successful in the series imo. And I also very much enjoy his analysis of vampires during the land mine sequence.

5. The Major’s war speech

So, this is a pretty notorious scene in anime. It’s so fucking long. It’s so fucking self indulgent. It’s an entire chapter. And it has a fantastic slow build from vaguely silly, to annoying, to eventually chilling. There are some fantastic lines in this, and I absolutely adore the OVA dub’s translation of it. Hellsing in general is just really deft about narrative weight and when things have to matter, and the war speech by the end is fucking horrifying.

Also major props to Hirano for referencing a fucking twelfth century Bertran de Born poem.

6. Seras vs Zorin, and her power up moment after Pip’s death.

I actually wasn’t a huge fan of how this was handled in the OVA. Unpopular opinion but lol I fucking hate the random song that starts in the middle of it. But Seras’ power up is so damn good. And it’s so satisfying to see her fucking destroy Zorin. (RIP that expensive wallpaper tho)

Seras had been in a pretty weak position through the story, and when she did occasionally go into a blood rage it was often framed to be out of her control, and a thing she immediately shied away from afterwards. So her completing her arc, and embracing her powers, especially after how harrowing that entire fight sequence was, is so much fun.

7. Level Zero baybey

I’m counting the entirety of Alucard’s entrance in OVA 8 in this. The Demeter reference is SO GOOD, the melodrama of his return is SO GOOD. I love how horrified everyone is when Integra tells him to go nuclear. I love that they all just fucking start attacking, almost in a blind panic, because they do NOT want to see what’s coming next. The army of familiars is very cool (though the CGI is like lol) and I love that Hirano chose to bring back all the previous red shirt villains in fucked up, mindless zombie form. Alucard’s own Dracula get up is ridiculous and over the top and I love it.

8. When Integra’s cornered by Millennium; Iscariot entrance.

I love alllll Integra and Iscariot interactions. I love that she’s just cornered and alone and choses to get out of her fucking car and decapitate a nazi vampire, when there’s a ton more staring her down 😂😂 I love that Anderson & co were apparently just going to watch until they were like “Wait she’s OUR enemy, you don’t get to kill her???” Also slightly later but the LIGHT ME SCENE???

9. The museum scene

Enrico’s bitch ass entrance. Everything about his interactions with Integra. The fact that he crushes his own damn glasses because he’s that extra. That this is technically a friendly?? meeting?? but they both sic their attack dogs on each other anyway. Enrico being SUCH a bitch about giving Integra information.

10. MAAAAAAARS

#hellsing #hellsing ultimate #alucard #integra hellsing #alexander anderson #major #iscariot #millennium #pip bernadotte #i ramble sometimes #all the bendy punctuations #a mysterious stranger has appeared #long post #meta #I guess?#nazi mention tw

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suwya · 4 years ago

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Till the Stars Had Run Away - Chapter 4

Summary: Killian Jones was a voyager. Actually, he was many things, or at least he had been - a lieutenant, a brother, a loving boyfriend - until everything had turned upside down and his life had hit an all time low. So, he gave up. Aboard his spaceship he abandoned Arcadia, his planet, navigating the stars and other solar systems in search of... well, he still didn't know what he was searching for, but his rule was "never remain in the same place longer than necessary."

Rating: M

Prologue; Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3

AO3

A/N: Thank you @thisonesatellite for being the best beta I could ever ask for . And thank to all of you who are reading this.

Chapter 4 . .

But I, being poor,

have only my dreams;

I have spread my dreams

under your feet;

tread softly because

you tread on my dreams.

(W. B. Yeats)

Days passed quietly. Emma and Henry went back to their usual mother-son relationship sooner than Killian had expected and he enjoyed all the domestic moments with them. Especially at night. Not that he didn’t care about the boy, Henry was always a ray of sunshine, and Killian felt he was starting to bond with him deeper than he could have ever imagined. But at night, after Henry had gone to sleep, Emma always spent some time in the main cabin, sitting next to Killian: sometimes just staring silently at the starry sky, other times listening to him explaining all the different constellations they passed through, even though Killian wasn’t sure whether she was interested in his knowledge, or she was too well-mannered to stop his blathering.

Emma Swan. This beautiful and somehow mysterious woman had invaded his life and had fascinated him since their very first meeting.

More exactly, she had tormented his nights and thoughts from that moment on. A bittersweet obsession that had accompanied him for years. He had almost convinced himself that he was over her, during his reckless years with his friend Robin. But that wasn't entirely true, and he couldn't lie to himself. She used to appear in his dreams when he least expected and left a hollowing feeling in his soul for the rest of the following days whenever it happened as if he wasn’t entirely complete without her.

The night he had found her again, thanks to Henry, his heart had skipped a beat and he had known he was in trouble. But it was a cross he was willing to bear. It was not only a physical attraction he felt towards her, even though he couldn’t fool himself, she was a very good-looking woman; but he was also determined to discover every single detail of what she was, no matter the effort. From that moment on, he cherished every minute, every second spent with her.

When they finally arrived at their destination, permission to land on the new planet was easily granted. Nevertheless, the day was coming to an end and they decided it was better to sleep inside the ship in the hangar than to find an available place to spend the night.

The next morning, from one of the lockers in the entrance of the spaceship, Killian retrieved the package that he needed to trade in exchange for the item he had to recover for his client.

It was still early and Killian was surprised to see Henry coming out of his cabin, still wearing pajamas. “Are you already going?” The boy asked him, trying to suppress a yawn.

“Aye, but I will be back soon.” He assured the lad.

Henry threw a glance at the closed door behind him and stepped closed to Killian. “Mom is still in the shower. May I ask you a favor?” He whispered, conspiratorial.

Killian made a great effort not to linger on the thought of a naked Emma under the shower jet, he breathed deeply and concentrated on the boy in front of him. “Sure, lad.”

“Today is my mom’s birthday.”

“Is it, now?” Killian was both surprised and amused by this piece of information.

“Yes. We have this tradition, my mom and I,” the boy explained. “When it's my birthday she tries to celebrate it with a cake... or something… It's not always a big thing, I remember once we just had a couple of biscuits with frozen spicy cream on them.” After a small pause, he added, “mom doesn't want to make me worry, but I can see she’s in some kind of trouble. I’d like to make a little celebration for her this time. But she won't let me wander around an unknown planet all by myself.”

Killian nodded in understatement. “You want me to purchase something sweet for your mother.”

“I know you have your job to do, but if it's not much of a problem, could you look for something?” He asked hopefully.

“Not a problem. At all.”

Henry's grin widened. “Of course mom doesn’t have to know anything about it. And we are going to need a name!”

“Come again?” Killian couldn’t follow the boy’s thoughts.

Henry extended a hand to shake with the man in front of him “Operation Candlelight is on!” He exclaimed.

Killian chuckled and retrieved his hand just in time to see Emma appearing from another door, fully dressed for the day.

She was wearing a pair of stretched dark blue jeans and a thin white v-neck blouse with a skinny light brown leather vest over it. Her hair was still damped and Killian had to swallow a groan when his eyes followed a drop of water running down her cleavage.

“Oh, Henry, you’re already awake.” She said surprised.

“I was just saying to your boy…” Killian came in help to a puzzled Henry, who wasn’t so quick in thinking of a good excuse why he was already out of bed. “I've heard there's a fair in town.”

He turned to Henry “Maybe you and your mother could have a look while I’m attending my duties.” And then back to Emma “What do you say, Swan?”

The boy looked hesitantly at his mother.

"I think it's a good idea," she agreed and was rewarded by a big grin on Henry's face.

~·~·~·~

. The trade went smoothly as predicted, which gave Killian enough time to deal with the assignment that Henry had sent him on.

Finding something sweet to celebrate was more difficult than expected, it took him a few rounds through narrow streets and alleys and after asking a few passers-by for information, he finally found something that in his opinion could serve as dessert. But the hardest part was to discern the right thing to buy as Emma's present. Henry hadn’t mentioned anything about a gift, but Killian thought it could be the right excuse to surprise her.

The problem was that he had no clue what she would like.

Killian tried to think about the time the two of them had spent together. All right, maybe it wasn’t the best idea to linger on the memories of their first encounter. And maybe it wasn’t good either to think about their second one. But since Henry entered his life things had changed. When the boy was in the same room with them, she seemed more relaxed, more condescending, less closed up inside her inner barriers. Killian would say she even seemed happier.

And the moments shared at night in his cabin had been... well, some had been carefree and others had been intense, very intense. In the short amount of days they’d spent together, Killian had already revealed to Emma too much information about his past, something he had never done before with anyone, not even his best friend Robin. And that was alarming. He knew he had a soft spot for her, but to which extent?

Bloody Hell, man, you’re so screwed-up! He said to himself. That Lady Swan is going to be the death of you. Killian sighed and passed a hand through his hair as if that simple gesture could be enough to clear up his mind. Swan. He thought and realized that he never asked her why she chose exactly this surname while changing her identity. He assumed that it had to mean something of significance to her. And there it was: the perfect idea for a gift.

When he went back on his spaceship it was already late evening and he found his guests sitting at the table in the entrance playing hologram chess.

“Who's winning?” He asked, securing the locks of the main gate.

“Henry is a much better player than I am,” Emma admitted.

Killian took a seat next to her and whispered something in her ear. After that Emma studied the board. “Oh. That's an interesting move,” she exclaimed carrying out what Killian had just suggested.

“It's not fair. That's cheating.” Henry complained.

“Come on, lad, your mother is at an evident disadvantage. Let me give her some advice.” But when Henry made an unsure face, “just this time?” Killian added winking at the boy.

“Ok...but only this once.” Henry surrendered.

Emma looked at them perplexed, sensing that something was brewing between them, but didn't ask for further explanations.

Dinner passed by telling how their days had gone. It was clear that Henry had enjoyed the fair quite a lot, especially some storytelling he’d had the opportunity to attend. “Have you ever been to the NTH-Confederates planets, Killian?”

The NTH-Confederates planets belonged to a very far galaxy and they were shrouded in layers of fabulous legends. Killian had always had problems discerning the truth from the myth, but he knew the large hand of The Industry had touched them somehow, and they had succumbed to it, dark times awaited those planets. “I've heard about them but never had the luck to land over there. From what I know, it's a very different place now than what it was in its glorious days.”

“This man, he told us of so many fantastic creatures he saw!”

“I wouldn't believe every word the storyteller said, kid. They are just stories.” Emma tried to rationalize.

“Yeah. I suppose. But it would be cool if a place like that actually existed.”

“One can always dream about marvelous lands and wish they exist, right? Talking about dreams and wishes…” but Killian didn’t finish his sentence, he stood up from the table and went to rummage in some of the kitchenette lockers. When he turned to face his guests, he was holding a sort of a brown whole cupcake with colorful cream and a single lighted candle on top. He deposited it in front of an astonished Emma with a grin on his face, and he sat down again on his chair. “Sorry, it was the only sweet food I’ve found on this planet.” He said apologetically.

“Killian...?” Emma started to say, but Henry was faster: “It's perfect!” The boy was wearing a matching grin to the man in front of her.

“How...? What does it mean?” Was the only thing she was able to put into words.

“Well, some fleeting rumor told me that today is some sort of anniversary. Correct me if I’m wrong.” Killian explained. Before she could answer him, he lifted a hand to stop her. “Before blowing out the candle, don't forget to make a wish!”

She looked up at her son, then at Killian for a brief moment, then she closed her eyes. When she opened them again there was resolution and something Killian identified as hope in them. She blew out and the candle went off.

Cheers and applause rang out. Henry was glowing, hugging his mother fiercely, while Killian smacked his forehead, as if he was suddenly remembering something, and then he retrieved a little package from one of his pockets. He offered it to a puzzled Emma.

She extricated herself from her son's arms and took the wrapped item Killian was giving to her. “What is this?” She asked cautiously.

“Customarily, a surprise is part of the fun of gift-giving.” He answered smiling. “Open it.” He urged her.

Opening the paper wrapping Emma found a small dark swan pendant made of polished meteorite rock. “It’s beautiful,” she whispered with shiny eyes, close to tears.

~·~·~·~

Later that night, Killian was resting on his hammock with his arms behind his head. The door opened and closed and Emma entered his cabin as she had always done the last few nights while they were flying. But tonight was a bit different. He wasn't sitting at the controls, but already lying on his bed.

She approached him with a serious look.

“Everything alright, Swan?” He asked as she stepped closer biting her lower lip.

She seemed to consider the situation for a few seconds before climbing into the hammock and lying next to him: her head on his chest and an arm resting across his torso. “Thank you.” She spoke so quietly that Killian wasn’t even sure he had heard correctly.

He didn’t know how to react, he felt paralyzed. But when it seemed she was feeling comfortable with the proximity, he put his left arm around her back and released a breath he didn't know he was holding.

They spent a few moments like that, neither of them wanted to break the spell of silence. Killian’s mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions. Of all the questions he would have liked to make her, to help him solve the puzzle this incredible woman represented, one came out of his mouth without really thinking about it “What happened the day we met? I mean after I left.”

She kept quiet for a few minutes, and he began to believe that she was in no mood to speak, but then she started with a soft voice almost audible: “Just after you left the room, that man, Neal Cassidy, he entered declaring that it was his right to… you know. He just wanted the reward money. I haven’t heard from him since. He’s probably not interested in his son at all. He just used me for his benefits.”

Killian clenched his jaw; if he had that Cassidy guy in front of him right now he would have punched him in the face. “Did he hurt you?” He asked, trying to control his rage.

“Well, I wasn’t exactly an expert in that matter, given that I was raised in strict privacy and all.” She sighed. “I knew I had to relax, but my mind wasn’t on the same path as my good intentions. So I’m not sure it was entirely his fault.”

“Son of a bitch.” Killian couldn't repress a curse.

“If it makes you feel any better, that wasn’t even the worst day of my life.” She stated. “The night you found me on the shore… I was so furious with you. I went back to the Palace to talk with my lawyers, to see if I could banish you from the planet, or put you in jail, or something like that. But it was late and I didn’t find anyone in their office. What I did find were some papers about me, ready to be signed. You were right. The King and Queen of New-Tolemac wanted full authority on my child, they weren’t interested in me or my future.”

“I should apologize for the horrible things I said to you that night.”

“Don’t. At least you were the only one who never lied to me.” Her gaze seemed lost in the memory of those days. “I also found a document, an old one. I discovered I was adopted, or rather, I was sold. My real parents gave me away when I was only a few days old. They probably needed some money and they used me, as so many others did.”

After a small pause, she added: “Henry is the only person in my life that cares about me for who I am.”

“I never intended to use you.” Killian assured, but he soon corrected himself: “All right, maybe I did. But that was before meeting you.”

She seemed to ponder her next words. “I know. This is why I told your name to my son when he first asked me about his father.”

“If there's anything I can do for you…” She had told him the night Henry entered his life.

But Killian dismissed her with a wave of his hand. “No problem.”

“Thank you for bringing him home.” Her tone was genuinely thankful.

“It was the right thing to do.” And when she didn't reply he felt it was the moment to say goodbye.

He started stepping back but suddenly stopped and turned around facing her again. “Uh... now that I think about it. There is a thing you could do for me.” He tilted his head arching an inquiring eyebrow. “I have one question,” he said, emphasizing his words lifting one of his fingers, “why does your boy believe that I'm his father?”

At those words, she lifted her gaze to look straight into his eyes. “I wanted Henry to believe his father was a good man.” Emma had answered, staring at him with sincerity before entering her house and closing the door behind her.

#cs ff #cs au #Till the Stars Had Run Away #alternative universe - science fiction #space au #My writing

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oosteven-universe · 3 years ago

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Bloom #3

Bloom #3 Hero Tomorrow Comics 2021 Created, Written, Layouts, Coloured & Lettered by Ted Sikora Illustrated by Buthc Mapa The Origin of a Prophet Part III It was supposed to be a simple photoshoot, but now Ramsey, the comic book artist, and Regina, his body-painted muse, have become hopelessly lost in the forest. Ramsey desperately wants to go home and forget the madness of these past twelve hours, but his surreal and psychedelic muse insists on going ever deeper into the strange! I know way too many of you are sleeping on Hero Tomorrow Comics and you need to fix that. These books are way too good for you to be missing out on. This arc is all about a comic book creator who in creating a character paints a model with these symbols and unbeknownst to him it imbues Regina with strange and wondrous powers. Personally I also think someone else inhabits her body and takes over her mind in the process as well. See now this is just way too good to pass up because while it is out there there is something to be said about rashly acting on impulse without knowing what the consequences would be. It really engages the reader in some fabulous ways and it will stay with you long after you put the book down. I love the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exquisitely well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they behave then act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter. All this really brings new facets of their personalities to the forefront. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story we’re so entranced by what’s happening it’s better than an LSD trip. How we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen is magnificently rendered. What I love about the layers here are the new avenues they open up and how we see these and the established ones being explored. With Regina’s new powers emerging along with this new personality we see how this great depth, dimension and complexity is added to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is impeccably achieved. The interiors here are utterly fantastic. MInd you the duo is lost in the woods during Woodstock so the clothing we see is so retro cool and how we see them dressed is a huge bonus to me. The linework is clean, crisp and strong and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level & quality of the detail work we see throughout the book is completely and utterly fabulous! We see some great use of backgrounds throughout the book and they enhance and expand the moments perfectly. They also work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is marvellously rendered. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a tremendous eye for how colour works. This is such a delightful book. How we see the events unfold and as Ramsey begins to realise what is actually occurring his fear starts to rise, and it very well should. There are so many things we see happening in this issue and it does really engage the reader and make you think in ways you might not expect or be prepared for. With such smart, intelligent writing and frighteningly good characterisation wrapped up in these beautiful and charming interiors will decidedly thrill and entertain you.

#Comic Books #Comics Reviews #Hero Tomorrow Comics

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fearsmagazine · 3 years ago

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BROADCAST SIGNAL INTRUSION - Review

DISTRIBUTOR: Dark Sky Films

SYNOPSIS: For three years, James has been haunted by his wife’s sudden and inexplicable disappearance. His best distraction is work—specifically, archiving old videos. While watching decade-aged TV news footage one night, he sees a video interference that’s deeply disturbing. And it’s not the only interference he’ll see. As his obsession over these strange clips increases, and he submerges himself into their mysteries, James discovers troubling connections to his missing wife. Which will these broadcast intrusions bring him, though: long-desired answers or a never-ending nightmare?

REVIEW: There are too many independent genre films that strive to be a homage to the filmmaker’s favorite film and/or director. It often even has a similar theme. Today the technology is available to anyone who aspires to make a film. While a good independent film can get buried in the pile of new genre films being released, a good film can rise up and be recognized. What makes a film stand out is artistry and storytelling, plus a good cast can help.

BROADCAST SIGNAL INTRUSION blends a variety of narrative elements and a visual style that will remind the seasoned genre viewer of the early works of De Palmer, Cronenberg and Fincher. At its core, the screenplay by Phil Drinkwater and Tim Woodall, has the feel of an 80’s film. The main character has suffered a trauma he is unable to overcome and comes across something in his profession that he becomes obsessed with as he feels it might bring him closure or relief to the pain he still suffers. As he goes down the rabbit hole in search of answers the story takes on a surreal feel and like a chilling Kafka tale the lines blur and the viewer is entranced and horrified as it unfolds.

Director Jacob Gentry does a breathtaking job of creating a gloomy, nightmarish world that envelopes the narrative. He employs a variety of angles to keep the viewer off balance and add tension to the scenes. There are some nerve wracking edits that build on the unease the film emulates. Within the film there are these raw and primal Broadcast Intrusions. There are basically two, but it is the combination of the psychological terror they represent and the frequency with which the main character views them that it assaults the subconscious and primes the viewer.

It is Ben Lovett’s fantastic score that makes this film. It fully embraces the narrative and visual atmosphere and brilliantly stokes the viewer’s emotions and expectations. It is rare when a score becomes such an integral part of the viewing experience. I can think of Herman’s score for “Psycho,” Donaggio’s for “Dressed to Kill” and “Carrie,” and Cliff Martinez’s “Drive” or the scores of Harry Manfredini and Charles Bernstein. This is a score I want to own and have in heavy rotation on my soundtrack playlist.

I’ve heralded the praise for all these folks behind the camera, and the talent in front are equally as amazing. Actor Harry Shum Jr. carries the film and takes the viewer on this character's quest that unravels into a nightmare as his emotional state comes undone. At first you feel for the character, which quickly turns to horror. Shum does an excellent job of maintaining a balance that keeps the viewer guessing as to his state of mind and the true reality of his situation. I loved the entire cast. They create a variety of performances and extremes that offer a warning to James to cease his pursuit for answers. Each one is unique and memorable.

BROADCAST SIGNAL INTRUSION is an unforgettable, creepy, eerie and unnerving viewing experience. The film’s ending offers few answers and leaves the viewer with even more questions as to the meaning of the ending and the entire film. It’s one of those great cinematic moments where it horrifies and leaves the door open in the viewer’s mind so that it lingers in the psyche for weeks to come. This is a rare cinematic wow moment. Based on what I experienced here I can’t think how the future films of these talented people will lead audiences back to this film and leave them wondering how they ever missed this film.

CAST: Harry Shum Jr., Kelley Mack, Chris Sullivan, Jennifer Jelsema, Arif Yampolsky, Justin Welborn, Michael B. Woods, and Steve Pringle. CREW: Director - Jacob Gentry; Screenplay - Phil Drinkwater & Tim Woodall; Producers - Greg Newman, Brett Hays, Giles Edwards and Nicola Goelzhaeuser; Cinematographer - Scott Thiele; Score - Ben Lovett; Production Designer - Sarah Sharp; Costume Designer - Sarah Sharp; Special Makeup Effects Artist - Brian Zurek; Creature Effects Designer - Dan Martin; Visual Effects Producer - Samantha Amoros. OFFICIAL: darkskyfilms.com/film/broadcast-signal-intrusion FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/DarkSkyFilms/ TWITTER: twitter.com/darkskyfilms | #BroadcastSignalIntrusion TRAILER: https://youtu.be/JE_4LeNfYxg RELEASE DATE: In theaters and on digital October 22nd, 2021

**Until we can all head back into the theaters our “COVID Reel Value” will be similar to how you rate a film on digital platforms - 👍 (Like), 👌 (It’s just okay), or 👎 (Dislike)

Reviewed by Joseph B Mauceri

#film review #movie review #broadcast signal intrusion #broadcastsignalintrusionmovie #dark sky films #jacob gentry #phil drinkwater #tim woodall #Harry Shum Jr #horror #surreal #urban legend #disappearance #joseph mauceri #joseph b mauceri

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officialwagnerrant · 4 years ago

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Wagnerrant Review #1: Double Parsifal

(Picture Source: here)

Work: Parsifal House: Vienna State Opera Date of performance: 11.04.2021

Team: Director: Kirill Serebrennikov Conductor: Philippe Jordan With: Jonas Kaufmann, Nikolai Sidorenko, Ludovic Tézier, Stefan Cerny, Georg Zeppenfeld, Wolfgang Koch, Elīna Garanča

Notes: This is not technically the first review posted on this blog. Still I decided to tag it as the No. 1, as it’s the first review ever since I (Admin Dichterfuerstin) decided to post reviews somewhat regularly. By that I mean that I plan on doing on or two per month, depending on my schedule and my mood. Most reviews will feature productions that have been around for longer, but I promise that I will watch and review every new production I can. I also take requests.

Trigger warning: The following review of the new Vienna Parsifal discusses self-harm as it’s a prevalent element in Serebrennikov’s production. I ask you to keep this in mind when reading my text or watching the production. Don’t do either of this if you know you currently cannot deal with the subject.

Review: @dichterfuerstin

In the matinee talk preceding the premiere of the Vienna State Opera’s new Parsifal, director Kirill Serebrennikov announced a production that rather caters to an audience that doesn’t find the idea of devoting one’s whole live to serving a grail particularly appealing and struggle with the heavy role religion plays in Wagner’s monumental final work: According to Serebrennikov, his Parsifal portrays physical salvation just as in Beethoven’s Fidelio rather than religious one and focus less on myths and religion than on the development of the titular character, which is achieved by featuring two versions of the character. It is a rather radical concept, turning away from Wagner’s idea and calling for Serebrennikov’s own characters and storytelling. The director delivers a strong set-up in act one, but can’t avoid plot-holes and flat arcs.

The opera begins with Jonas Kaufmann’s face on a video screen. He appears on stage shortly after, as the old Parsifal, that watches act one from the front of the stage, reacting to all of his younger self’s decisions, mockingly lip-syncing Gurnemanz’ lines and singing his owns. He is supposed to recollect the events from act one and two and is already remembering, even though his younger self only goes on quite late into act one. Until Parsifal’s entrance according to the libretto, the young Parsifal only is present on screens above the stage, where he is eventually shown killing another prisoner nicknamed “Swan”. Having Parsifal kill a human instead of an animal works. Not only because it fits Serebrennikov’s setting better. It also creates a bigger contrast between the young and the old Parsifal. However this is the only occasion where the projections on the three screens serve the plot. During the rest of the opera they show images underlining the cruelty of prison life, creating an atmosphere but having no impact on what happens on the stage whatsoever. By act three they’re even somewhat distracting.

Behind Kaufmann, under the screens, is the huge and elaborate set, a prison, in where the young Parsifal such as all the knights are inmates. The audience watches them working out, fighting, and bribing the guards for cigarettes. One prisoner sleeps on a bench, to give Gurnemanz a prompt for his wake up-call. Even though Gurnemanz’ position is lower than usually, when he’s not a prisoner but instead the factual leader of the grail’s knights, he’s the character changed least in this production. He may hide his cigarette’s from the guards, but he still commands over the knights and pages, and tells the story about Amfortas, while tattooing the other prisoners with mythical and religious symbols to remind the audience of Wagner’s plot and setting, and maybe to establish Gurnemanz as a somewhat religious character, as he proceeds to proclaim Parsifal the new king in a very holy service-like ceremony in act three, after singing at a random metal pole, since a spear isn’t needed in this production. Amfortas, some kind of a leader of the resistance, as we learned in the matinee talk, was never hurt by someone else but instead suffers from mental illness and self-harms. He needs to be saved from himself. Amfortas’ father, Titurel, is long dead, he seems to speak to his son from above. He is partly responsible for Amfortas’ illness The unveiling of the grail is substituted by a mental breakdown, in which the prisoners try to stop Amfortas from giving himself even more wounds and pain.

The last main character to appear in act one is Kundry, in this staging a journalist investigating the prison and smuggling medicine for Amfortas. She is sung by Elīna Garanča who delivers an impressive role debut. While some journalists who had the opportunity to see the opera live claim that she seemed to struggle with combining the staging and the score, both her singing and her acting came across amazing on the recording. She plays Kundry not like a singer but like a good actress.

It’s not Garanča’s fault that the character of Kundry eventually falls flat. According to Serebrennikov she was supposed to be a strong woman with a conflicting past, but not much of this is present throughout the opera. She starts out as the seemingly independent Journalist, who later turns out to be an employee at Klingsor’s magazine “Schloss.” He assaults her, she shoots him. This is also Klingsor’s entire role in this Parsifal. He doesn’t have any interaction with Parsifal and also seemingly no impact on him at all, a consequence of stripping the plot of Parsifal of important story elements such as the grail, god, and the celebacy of the grail’s knights. Kundry seems interested in Gurnemanz’ tales, collecting pictures of the prisoner’s tattoos, being clearly interested in the myths and the prisoners, but we never learn her motivations. Eventually her arc is completed by her walking off the stage, arm in arm with Amfortas, who freed himself from his father by throwing out his ashes and was then healed through Kundry’s kiss. This would be a satisfying ending for an action film, considering the source material and the set up from act one it’s a lazy, far to easy way to resolve both of their character arcs.

Unfortunately, the entire ending is dissatisfying. Parsifal returns to the prison as his old self, yet his young alter-ego appears later on and kisses Kundry, the old Parsifal doesn’t mind, no matter how determined to separate them he was back in act two. After that Serebrennikov makes a surprising return to the libretto: Kundry washes Parsifal’s feet, he is made the king and baptises her, before fulfilling the production’s premise as a salvation opera. All the prisoners can finally leave the prison and reconnect with freedom, this production’s holy grail. Gurnemanz even takes his time to wave Parsifal good bye, who remains inside the prison. It’s a symbolic ending, in the libretto Parsifal is now responsible for the grail, a prisoner of the grail if you will. However this third act end ending fail to connect with the preceding acts.

The production falls flat on more than just a few occasions, however the cast and music manage to make up for it. Most outstanding is Georg Zeppenfeld as Gurnemanz. Not only is his beautiful bass voice made for this characters, no other Wagner role is so incredibly fitting for him, he also manages to combine the prisoner and commanding Gurnemanz through his acting. Overall the acting is strong for a bunch of opera singers, who still have a reputation for being great singers but struggling with acting. There’s Elīna Garanča delivering her impressive role debut, as well as Ludovic Tézier as Amfortas, appearing perfectly hurt and pained as he drags himself over the stage. Parsifal Jonas Kaufmann is neither a debutant nor a born Wagner-Singer. His approach to Wagner’s music is rather italien, he values emotion and beauty over heroicness. It’s melancholic, well-fitting for this old Parsifal remembering his youth. Kaufmann and his alter-ego actor Nikolai Sidorenko work together to create a character and they do it well. The only downside of having two Parsifals, besides some confusion on who is the active parsifal especially during act three, is that next to the fantastic actor Nikolai Sidorenko it becomes obvious that acting isn’t Kaufmann’s strong suit. He often resorts to a preset set of gestures, other than most of his colleagues who are their characters throughout the whole four hours long performance. Last but not least, it’s the orchestra that is the center of nearly all of Wagner’s music. Philippe Jordan, the new musical director of the Vienna State Opera, leads his orchestra through this exhausting opera fluently, making every single Leitmotiv and their variations perfectly clear. But especially the solo parts stand out. But it’s also the unexcelled charm and emotionality of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra that makes this performance so fitting and so beautiful. Even on screen, through speakers, this orchestra feels live, and alive.

This Parsifal is mostly worth listeing to, but also worth watching. While Kirill Serebrennikov couldn’t quite do justice to the setup for a deep and thoughtful story he created in act one, he was able to create a captivating production, with an ending that is good for Parsifal nights, where you want to leave the theatre or laptop with the feeling of having watched a happy ending instead of having been confronted with four hours of Wagner’s music-religion.

#wagnerrant reviews #parsifal #richard wagner #opera #wagner opera #review #vienna state opera #not a rant #officialwagnerrant

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