#I wonder if he's going to avoid physical reflections in season 2

[triflesandparsnips]

Something something Ed seeks out or is confronted by his own reflections three times in ascending order of violent emotions (the hand mirror, the salver, the knife)--

And we see Stede being painted twice in his old life, not looking at the painter or the painting but at some distant other thing, and then finally seeking to see himself in the third appearance of his portraiture-- only to find he's been painted out.

I wonder if Stede will someday ask to be drawn, and how, and whether he will look at the artist while they work, or the other people in it (if any), and seek out the finished work and be happy to see himself reflected in it.

...and I wonder if Ed will avoid reflections now (remove the mirrors, avert the eyes, but sometimes he'll catch himself in still water and flinch away--) because he knows what he is, he made himself this way, he knows how others see him and he can see it in their eyes without needing any further proof (except what he sees in Stede's eyes doesn't seem to match, so better not look there, fuck, fuck--)

Stede will look so, so hard now, and Ed will look at anything but-- a switch now, from their season 1 selves, lasting, perhaps, until they can finally see themselves -- and each other -- fully.

(And maybe, after that, they'll be able to see themselves together.)

[red-the-ghost]

Tomura Shigaraki x Yn (part 1/2)

-this takes place in the season 4 timeline for those wondering!!!!-

You were taking a shower, cleaning yourself up after a mission. For a moment you just stood there, embracing the warmth surrounding you as you reflected on how the day had passed. You hadn’t seen Shigaraki or Dabi all day before or after completing your mission, you knew Dabi didn’t care too much for the whole ‘teamwork’ side of the LOV and apparently Shigaraki had a meeting with this guy ‘Overhaul.’ *what could he possibly want? Apart from being our new leader* your teeth clenched as you began to think of him. You remembered his face all too well, you remember his walk, and you remember the fact he not only took Mr Compress’ arm but also killed Big Sis Magne. Opening your eyes you switch off the water and reach for a towel before lightly drying yourself off and wrapping it around you. Taking a second towel you try to remove as much water from your hair as you could be bothered to before exiting and making your way to your room. After taking a few steps inside you knew he was there.

“Hm?” You say, letting him know you’re aware of his presence, that you’re aware of his very existence. It was funny, you could tell when he entered a room, or if he was behind you or if he wasn’t there at all- this slightly irritated him, it irritated him but also confused him how only you were able to tell where he was. “Bad timing?” Shigaraki croaks, turning away slightly as he watches you walk past to your drawers before pulling out a shirt, some Pyjama bottoms and underwear. “Not at all.” You look in his direction for a brief second before walking towards your bed. Shigaraki stood across from you, leaning against the wall. You double check that your towel is tucked around you- unable to fall down- before placing your shirt over your head then removing the hair now caught under your shirt, Shigaraki turns away and began staring at your drawers to avoid the awkwardness of seeing you as you finish getting dressed. You notice he’s wearing the gloves you bought him, they’re black and only cover two fingers, allowing him to touch things without decaying them, even when he’s in a bad mood. “How’d it go?” You question, now fully dressed and starting to towel dry your hair with the second towel you took. There’s a brief pause before he turns to look at you , “irritating” he began, allowing himself to lift a finger and scratch at his neck for a second. “He wanted you, Kurogiri and a few others for a while.” Your breath hitches for a moment as your eyes narrow, there’s a long pause now. You could tell that Shigaraki wanted to speak again, but wanted a response from you first- unusual as he normally loves talking at people rather than to them. You sit down on your bed and shuffle back a bit to rest your back on your headboard, dropping your towel to the floor forgetting about your slightly damp hair. “When do I go?” You question as you stare into his face, looking for an answer in his expression before he physically gives you one. Instead, he walks a bit closer and sits upon the bottom of your bed. He leans back, still sat up though, and looked towards the ceiling.

You watch as his hair falls down his face, revealing his jawline and facial features more clearly. You allow your eyes to wander around his face, tracing every inch of skin from his nose to his eyes to his lips, your gaze stretches across his jawline, slowly moving down his neck, passing over his bobbing Adam’s apple before reaching the collar of his shirt. You loop around again, glancing at every curve, every line and every feature on his face wishing you could reach out and touch them, or even kiss them. Your mind wanders and despite the conversation you two were just having you start imagining what it would be like to actually kiss him, to plant these kisses across his face before wandering down his neck, listening to whatever noises squeaked out of him. You wonder what he’d say, what he’d do- would he push you away? Yell at you? Call you names? Decay you? Or would he reciprocate? Would he kiss you back, deeply? Passionately? Softly? Would he trace kisses down your neck and where would he put his hands? *what the actual fuck am i thinking* you snap back to reality and you can feel how warm your face is, you shake your head a bit, trying to erase the clear blushing from your cheeks before watching as his head turns to face you, his eyes heavy from stress and lack of sleep, now staring at you. You wonder what he could be thinking, Shigaraki was always a wild card. However, your thoughts are interrupted by the movement of his mouth, “you’re not” he says, his breath shaky and unnerved. You tilt your head a bit to the left, now confused at what he was saying due to your lack of attention.

He sighs, “you’re not going” he begins, “Toga and Twice are instead.” You slightly jolt up a bit, fixing your posture. “What? Why? That’s not fair to put that on them. Just let me go-“ he raises his hand slightly to motion you to stop and let him continue. You weren’t scared of him hurting you because 1-you’ve been working with him for a while and 2-he was wearing his gloves, you thought it coincidental that he always wears them around you.

“It’s already decided” he finishes, allowing his hand to drop back down onto your bed. You watch in silence for a few minutes. “Okay” you say, “But. Why?” He stops looking at you, and looks at your door instead. “Why?” He begins “well, you’re a valuable asset, your quirk is important. Much like Kurogiri’s. We need it, and you. And you work better on missions than they do, I suppose.” You sigh, and look at the wall, “is that it? I’m just a ‘good asset’ to you?” You question, bringing your legs up to your chest and hugging them close. “No.” He replies. You turn your head to find him already staring at you. “No, that’s not it at all” his words rattle inside your brain and you don’t know what to say. You had a sense you ment something to him but you didn’t know what. You watched as, without saying another word, he stood back up and walked out your room, slowly closing the door behind you.

To be continued!

In the second part it will be his confession and maybe a bit spicy >:)

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hi,love your work and thoughts behind them.I was wondering if you would answer a few questions.You can skip any if your uncomfortable.

1: Favorite cliche or scenario to write for.

2:What got you into Twst.

3:Any other fandoms your involved with.

4:Who do you hope to voice any character in the upcoming Twst anime.

5:Is there any topic you want to write for ,but don't have the you can pull it off well

6: Thoughts on Grim.

7:Any things you want more of.

8:Are you into the Obey Me fandom

9:If so are you excited about season 4.

10: favorite flower.

That is all have a good day.

I don't know, 10 questions seems like more than "a few" to me--

My responses get a little lengthy, so I'll slap them under a cut!

1. I don't have anything specific in mind, but what I enjoy writing the most are character-focused pieces where the conflict is one's inner turmoil or coming to terms with one's own emotions instead of something physical. (To clarify, I do NOT mean pining or anything romantic here, I mean just a character growing and changing over time from impactful life experiences like Overblotting or losing a friend.) I feel like self reflection is very important, and something that's not often explored because it's abstract and doesn't have a clear answer or a definitive ending. Personally, I really like the open-endedness of these kinds of pieces, as they help me really analyze and understand the characters on a deeper level.

2. I wouldn't consider myself a Disney fan, but I do really enjoy Toboso-sensei's art style and storytelling! I had heard rumors online that she was working on a new project with Disney (which turned out to be Twisted Wonderland), and I've been following it since.

3. I play some other gacha games (since it helps curb the temptation to impulse pull in TWST), and I enjoy various shows/anime and manga/books, but I'm not actually that involved in other fandoms. I'm generally a casual fan that just sits and quietly enjoys content from the sidelines.

4. I mean, I thought the current VAs would just be reprising their roles for the anime? I don't really care to remember or to follow VAs (or celebrities in general), so I don't have anything to add.

5. I think that with enough time and research, I could write anything if I was interested enough in the concept. However, there are certain topics that I would like to avoid writing at all costs (not because I think I can't write them well, but because they are personally triggering). You can find a list of them in my writing request rules.

6. Honestly, I don't know why people find him to be so annoying (well, maybe except for his voice). The only reasonable explanation I can think of is maybe players are annoyed that Grim "steals the spotlight" from MC/Yuu, but I don't mind that because I think it's pretty funny. I really enjoy Grim's snark. He's not as mean-spirited as Ace, but he knows what he wants and how he's going to get it, even if it sometimes backfires on him. Grim is basically my first companion in Twisted Wonderland; he's been with me through it all, the good and the bad. He's really the one I truly consider to be my friend, not Malleus. In fact, I'm way more attached to Grim than I am to Malleus 😂 Grim being a cute, fluffy cat also helps his case, since I really like cats!

7. I'm always hungry for more TWST world and family lore! I'd really like a "parent-teacher conference" event where we get to meet each of the boys' parents and siblings! It would be super interesting to see what the students' dynamics with the family members are like, and how their families would react to hearing about how they're performing in school. It would really help to highlight the differences in each boy's upbringing and background, from healthy relationships to unhealthy and even toxic ones. Also, it'd be hilarious to see Lilia pull up as Silver's guardian--

8. I tried out Obey Me when it first came out, and it... well, it wasn't for me. That's not to say the game is bad, but it just wasn't to my tastes. I was expecting Obey Me to be something that it wasn't, so of course I was disappointed when it didn't meet those expectations. More power to you if you enjoy it, though! I can definitely see why it appeals to a certain demographic or why it's good as just some nonsensical fun. Here are my general thoughts on Obey Me:

The characterization and the jokes seemed repetitive. There's only so many times they can joke about Mammon being "the dumb one" or Beel eating so much before it loses its magic. There's also the problem of each boy being defined almost entirely by their "sin" or really basic character tropes (like Asmodeus's narcissism) rather than having any character outside of that.

In my opinion Barbatos, Simeon, Luke, Solomon, Diavolo, etc. are much better characters than the 7 brothers, because they don't have a single sin to rely on to be their entire personality. I stopped playing before those guys became "playable", so I'm a little sad that I never got to grab them.

I feel extremely weird about the plot twist about who the MC really is, and how all the brothers continue to aggressively hit on the MC despite knowing their true identity. Besides that, I felt like the main story and the events never took themselves seriously. I would have preferred it more if there was something more at stake instead of being 98% fluff.

If you hadn't told me the characters were demons, I'd have thought they were just generic pretty boy designs. Like... nothing about Asmodeus's looks screams "lust" to me, nothing about Satan's looks screams "wrath", etc. Meanwhile, you can take one look at Idia's gloomy face and stooped pose and immediately guess what type of personality he has. I felt like there was so much potential with the characters being angels and demons, but it was never capitalized on and therefore went to waste.

I never understood why everyone thought Lucifer was so hot? Maybe I just have shit taste--

Gameplay-wise, the events and new cards were too frequent. It was a very "pay to win" model, which required constant attention without allowing you enough time to properly save or to plan for new card drops if you didn't spend a cent on the game.

I'm not a fan of the general art style, but those little shadow demon dudes are super cute!

It's hilarious that the anime adaptation depicts the MC as a sheep ashdasidasibdagofuyabsdais;basd--

9. I don't know what "season 4" means, sorry!

10. Lilacs, gardenias, jasmine, and peonies are my favorites smell-wise, but I like all flowers. They're very pretty and calming to look at.

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed, Episode 01

(Masterpost) (Next Episode)

Warning: This is **FULL **of spoilers, not just for this episode but for the entire series. If you haven’t finished all 50 episodes, please don’t read it! 

Intro: 2020 continues to be much much too much while also being incredibly boring, and Im done with Shen Wei’s Lewks, so now I’m doing a deep meta dive into the Untamed. Let’s roll! 

Prologue: The Battle of Mordor

The Demise of our Protagonist

Unlike some other shows I won’t name, The Untamed kills its suicidal queer protagonist immediately, rather than waiting four seasons, so we know what we're in for. 

This is Wei Wuxian, who is about to yeet himself off of a cliff. He is having a bad day. 

Note: if mouth blood bothers you...C-Drama might not be your thing. 

Reasons for mouth blood: a sampler

Anyway...cliff time

Note: if (fictional) suicide bothers you...C-Drama might not be your thing. 

To be fair there are hardly any suicides in The Untamed. No more than ...five? As long as you don’t count the entire population of the Wen Corporate Headquarters in Yiling or those wall bandits in Qinghe or Madame Yu or all those Wens who supposedly threw themselves into the mud puddle or that Mo guy who broke his own neck. Plus watching Wei Wuxian’s cliff drop several more times from multiple angles. So, you know. Hardly Any Suicides. 

This is Lan Wangji, who is about to have his first losing encounter with physics. He is having a bad day.

In fact, if it is possible to have a worse day than the guy who is currently falling to his death, Lan Wangji is having that.

This is Jiang Cheng, who is feeling extra stabby from this camera angle. He is having a bad day.

Camera operator: why you gotta take it out on me? 

(Much, much more after the cut!)

The Amulet Situation

This is the Stygian Tiger Amulet. Yes, by all means, (Netflix) subtitles, let's use a 12-dollar word, “Stygian,” that every English speaker who is not a Shelley/Byron shipper will have to look up. Let’s not use a normal word like "deathly" or "corrupt" or you know... "Yin" which is clearly what they are saying on screen.

Why does this tiger amulet look like a chameleon crossed with a remora? Wei Wuxian can paint photorealistic bunnies on a flimsy lantern while sitting in a field having distracting teenage lust, but two months of meditating with super magic gets him a tiger that looks like a chameleon. And don’t try telling me this is a traditional-Chinese-art vibe because this jade tiger from frickin 1000 BCE is way more tigerish than Wei Wuxian’s attempt. 

Try harder next time, Wei Wuxian.

This is thousands of cultivators having a battle.  What do you mean, it looks like about 40-60 dudes?

 Any time someone in The Untamed refers to a number of people, it is like when you do your high school play and look off into the wings at nothing and say “Hark, A Ship Approaches!” and everyone’s parents nod indulgently.

Jin Clan Mountain Hunt:

*viewership nods indulgently*

This is Captain Blowhard, over on the right, courtesy name Clan Leader Yao. His job is to talk smack about Wei Wuxian and stick up for whoever is the biggest asshole in any given scene.  

He represents mainstream cultivation-world values so here he is shanking one of his allies to take the deadly amulet of evilness.

The Present Day

Spilling All That Yiling Laozu Tea

Down at the Exposition Tea Shop, the Lan juniors are chilling and listening to Tea Dude tell the story of Yiling Laozu. 

How did they get permission to take this field trip? “Principal Qiran, we want to go downtown to hang out with the local rabble and learn about your favorite person, Wei Wuxian.”

Waiting in the wings is the man with a fan and a plan, Nie Huaisan(g), who is paying tall loot to get these stories told.  

...Why? Is Mo Xuanyu having tea here and listening? Or is Wei Wuxian being summoned back by hearing all this smack being talked about him? *Shrug.*

Gank Your Soul

Drunk flag guy out here talking about spirits. Wikipedia tells me that In one school of Daoist thought, a human being has a collection of physical souls (魄 pò) and ethereal souls (魂 hún). Drunk flag guy is saying “hún ” at the moment. 

The many types of souls don’t translate well into English, where spiritual vocabulary has always been shackled connected to Christian beliefs, and is too limited for this context. So when the subtitles have conversations like “Is it a soul eater? No, no, it’s a spirit taker!” just roll with it. (Speaking of hún, if you have any interest in linguistics, do yourself a favor and go read all the wonderful meta @hunxi-guilai​)

The spirit-carrying flag looks a lot like Raava and Vaatu from Korra which...probably doesn’t mean anything.

The Demise of our Trill Host

Suicide #2 happens about 8 minutes in. 

Mo Xuanyu is that hippie roommate with the annoying wind chimes and bead curtains and blood spatter.

He is super mad at his terrible family and also at Jin Guangyao, who sent him home to his terrible family. I wonder if Fan Man Nie Huaisang influenced Jiggy’s decision-making there. Mo Xuanyu’s choice to die for revenge might be excessive, given how easy it actually is to murder the Mo family.

Being Alive Is Fine I Guess As Long As I Get To Fuck WIth People

Wei Wuxian starts his new life by splashing a little water on his face, which instantly makes his hair go from this

to this. 

He looks at his reflection and wishes he was dead, which--mood--but he gets over it as soon as he finds someone whose day he can fuck up.

And he is ALL in on being crazy. 

OP wishes she had the Wei Wuxian kind of crazy instead of the kind she actually has. 

Meanwhile, this is the sane Mo cousin:

This asshole is wearing one of the best fabrics in the whole show, incidentally. Asshole.

My favorite bit of Wei-Mo craziness is when Wei Wuxian does a meaningless 360 all the way around this dude before ducking in the opposite direction, which is like when I make 4 right turns around a whole block to avoid making a single left across traffic.

Perhaps I Do Miss One Thing In This Life

Wei Wuxian has pining thoughts about Lan Wangji, so he plays WangXian on a fucking blade of grass well enough for Sizhui to recognize it from his dad's guqin jams. 

Wei Wuxian is a better flautist than even Inspector Gadget BeatBoxing Flute Guy (Google it).

Our Many Many Spirit Lure Flags have Lured A Spirit, Oh Shit

Lan Clan has a Plan and Wei Wuxian is a Fan

Having one single lure flag stuck in Wen Ning’s torso caused spirits to basically eat him alive, so to catch one evil spirit, 6 disciples holding flags on the roof plus 8 more flags on the ground seems like a good amount. Wei Wuxian is like “yep, a single one of these will lure every spirit for five miles, carry on, younglings.”

Baxia Does the Heavy Lifting

Wei Wuxian is supposed to kill four people because of this curse situation, and in the course of the series they all die, and he kills exactly zero of them. The curse on Wei Wuxian’s arm should be called the scorekeeper curse. 

Baxia’s spirit pinballs around the Mo clan, rapidly killing three people on Mo Xuanyu’s list plus a couple extras for good measure.  Who's a good blade? Baxia is! Yess you are! Yes you are!

This here is the exact point in the show where your friend, who has listened to you squee about The Untamed for three months and finally agreed to watch it with you, will say “what the fuck am I watching?” and try to get up off the couch. Tackle them! 

This also the point where we all realize that the prosthetic and practical effects in this show were probably not made by the people who made the clothing, because the quality is...variable. The white eyeballs are pretty good, but the glove of death is ridiculous.

Camera operator: why you gotta take it out on me?

While Baxia goes to town on the Mo clan, the Lan Clan babies...watch? And tie up the various victims after they are already goners. 

Narrator: Her son is dead.

Meanwhile, 

Wei Wuxian, you motherfucker. You’ve been alive for like 7 hours and you’re already building a new zombie army. No wonder you don’t want them to call Lan Wangji.

Hanguang-Jun Cut It Up One Time

Lan Wangji shows up and very slowly kicks zombie ass with his guqin. If you are used to Hong Kong action speeds, you will find The Untamed very peaceful.

 All of the baby Lans fan squee up at Lan Wangji like he's the cultivation world's David Bowie and...they're not wrong. Jesus Fuck, he’s charismatic.

Lan Wangji is soft boi when he discovers this murderous sword full of dead-bastard energy, because it reminds him of his true love.

Like the talk about souls, the conversations about the nature of the murderous entity really don’t survive translation into English.

Servant: it’s a ghost! 

WWX: it’s not a ghost, it’s a spirit

Babies: It’s a spirit

LWJ: it’s not a spirit, it’s a [...] ghost

Our Protagonist gets the FOH

Wei Wuxian is soft boi when he sees Lan Wangji, but not so soft that he considers actually, like, sticking around. 

Wei Wuxian is also clueless boi, noting Lan Wangji’s white clothing and thinking, as in the past, that he looks like he’s dressed in mourning. The term he uses is 戴孝, which google tells me means the type of outfit worn by Jiang Yanli after Wen Ning rips her husband’s heart out someone who is in mourning. 

Actually, Wei Wuxian, you dumbass, he is in actual mourning, actually, for you. Dumbass. He probably packed away all of his blue outer robes 16 years ago and only takes them out occasionally to reminisce about that nice date you had on your mountain of corpses. 

On his way out the door Wei Wuxian manages to find a red ribbon for his beautiful hair, so things are looking up. 

Where to go next...hey I know, how about that one haunted mountain with the killer statue, you know, the one that all my executed friends and child came from? That’ll be fun and a great way to put the past behind me!

Episode 02 Restless Rewatch is here!

[skamamoroma]

I Promised You The Moon - Episode 1 Thoughts - aka did John Hughes direct this and not tell us?

Oh I had to wait so long today to see episode 1 as I was working but I am so very happy I waited till I was in bed and with a cup of tea... which I then cried into four times. So that’s where I’m at. This is going to be long, I’m not even sorry in the slightest!

For ITSAY, I made so many posts about this show and how moving and beautiful it was, how the symbolism and writing was exceptional, how the music was absolutely incredible and how much I adored BK and PP’s chemistry. P’Boss’ work is special and the feel of Part 1 was a delicious kind of awkward, indie movie full of metaphors, fraught pain and emotion and pretty breathtaking storytelling of love and growth. I fell absolutely in love with Teh and Oh and their story, obsessed with Teh as a character (as I see a lot of myself in him and I love when he spirals) and I just felt utterly moved by the whole show. So I never needed Part 2. Part 1, for me, is perfect. And I certainly didn’t expect to love Part 2 as much or feel as much emotion because I just thought it wouldn’t be possible especially with a change of director and city and storyline... but I genuinely think that was a good idea after seeing Episode 1.

I just finished it and I’m kinda tear stained and the first thing I couldn’t get out of my head was just how much it reminds me of the late dear John Hughes movies from the 80s. Those of you who are a little old like me born right at the beginning of the 90s, will have been brought up on those movies filled with 80s synth music, stories of growing up, artsy camera work and filled with colour and emotion. Those movies are some of my all time favourites and I absolutely felt their influence on Episode 1 and maybe the rest of the season, I don’t know! I really wonder if P’Meen used them or was aware, hahaha. Anyway...!

But first off, I cannot, and I mean CANNOT handle the music. Part 1 really did floor me with the use of the score and how it was such a huge part of the reason it was so beautiful. Phuket Dreams has me in tears about 3 notes in... so cue me crying at the remixes of the old score with 80s synth sounds and almost Dream Pop echoy sounds. That right there is my jam, my absolute favourite music and the way IPYTM is so clearly going to be full of it makes my heart very happy. Especially those last scenes with Oh, that sweeping 80s style music taking him from heartbroken pain to dancing to forget had John Hughes all over it and just felt so impactful. So I will bang on every week about the music I’m sure.

As for the beginning and the casual buying of condoms (yesssss god damn Nadao, thank you for safe sex lessons for LGBT+ youth and a nod to actual sexual expression, I’m mega proud) leading into the way Hoon and Suri were involved (they didn’t give me Tuty 😭) in transferring Teh, it felt like such a gorgeous transfer from ITSAY vibes to IPYTM... watching Teh’s mamma so proud, Hoon watching over him as always and then gently leading into the first moment that made me cry...

How dare they put a remix of the old score over Teh being told by his mamma that she accepts him as he is so casually and softly, in a way that not only lets Teh know he’s loved but welcomes Oh as someone she cares about deeply and is happy being someone her son loves. It was beautifully done and I couldn’t help but think of Teh’s teary face on the Cape at the end of Episode 5 and thinking how proud I am of him. The way Hoon stroked his hair - help.

Teh. Now I made no secret of the fact that I loved every moment of watching Teh go through it in Part 1, how his very physicality and struggle played out especially him writhing all over his rug! But we had to see him grow. He isn’t the same boy he was but he still feels like Teh, just a little more comfortable, a little more mature in some ways and just READY for life. He feels tentative but also prepared to grow more and I just adore him. Oh, on the other hand, the one who was much more secure in himself in terms of his self and sexuality in Part 1 is now absolutely thrown into the unknown and isn’t handling it well.

Oh was established so beautifully as a Phuket boy. His name is rooted in his home, he lives in shorts and by the sea, he’s shaped by that place and what it means to him... his signature scent is coconut! He literally embodies Phuket... so it doesn’t in any way surprise me that we are watching him flounder and feel lost. It feels so human and so many moments felt so moving. When he told Teh that the best part of his day was seeing him, when he imagined the waves on his mind, when he listened to his mamma talk about the coastal weather... it’s hardly surprising that he cried as he was asked to explain his name. That was the second moment that got me. I was a wreck. Watching him break down and fall to pieces infront of total strangers just because he was recounting the meaning of his name, the foundation of who he is, the thing he misses to very much... he doesn’t fit, he doesn’t feel at home and he didn’t feel himself. It was beautifully done, for me. I caught my breath the second he started crying because it was so utterly human and raw. I have felt the way he does and recognised every second on his face. PP has come so so far with his acting.

Then we get the mention of Yongjian. NOW SOMEONE TELL ME IS THAT TEH AS YONGJIAN IN THE TITLES? If so, how dare they spoil it?! I am going to weep uncontrollably if Teh gets his dream. But the way Teh spoke of their future, the way he tried to recreate their past with Yongjian’s speech. Their entire history as friends and boyfriends is rooted in that story, that character, the idea of being Male protagonists... and Teh is so sure of their future. Also, you cannot also avoid the meta of it all with BK and PP. That moment and their words felt so personal to them too and their own real lives!

Do not even start with how their first kiss in Phuket was underwater and arguably their first kiss in Bangkok is the same albeit in public. DO NOT LET ME THINK ABOUT THIS TOO MUCH.

The issue is that, Part 1 set out for us how they ended up where they are. Oh fell into acting, it was never his dream from the start. Then it all became a fight, a thing to win from his rival and in the end a thing to prove. We haven’t really ever see Oh show a passion for the stage and acting, not really. He worked so hard to get his place in Uni but there’s so much irony at play. Their entire story of rivalry has actually caused this current situation. Oh “won” the coveted Uni spot (helped in part by Teh) and Teh “lost” and was making do. But we see how that’s not how life goes. Oh never really felt he knew what he wanted and so he just ploughed on. He’s now in a situation where he has to start deciding, has to be his own person and he’s just... lost. I can’t wait to see him find it whatever it may be! The difference with Teh is that he may not have got his number 1 desire but his passion is ENOUGH. He loves what he’s doing and that moment where Khim (is that her name, I forget now, it’s so late, but Goy’s character) was explaining the lights was gorgeous. Teh’s passion was ignited, you could see that “oh wow” moment... and you can see the difference in how they’re going to progress, Teh didn’t need the top Uni because his passion can carry him and will help him succeed whereas Oh doesn’t know what his passion is and perhaps he’s where he is for the wrong reasons after all. The story telling is lovely to me, if completely heartbreaking.

The tears came again at “but I’ve already given so much of our time to other people”. Oh the tears. The boat scene from ITSAY is my favourite scene of the show and that line is one of the most beautiful bits of writing I’ve encountered for a long while... and to see Teh use it and remember it and effectively set out the issue they’re facing was heartbreaking. They made that promise on the boat and they’re breaking it. Oh-aew is trying to be what he thinks Teh needs and Teh is wide eyed and filled with this new world and getting to indulge his passions. They’re both so human and both trying the best way they know but they’re so young and so unsure and have so little life experience that they don’t know how to be adults or how to manage all of this stuff. They know they care and love and are each other’s person but they have such a lot to learn.

So the introduction of Q and the boys... and let me say they’re glorious... feels both beautiful and tragic because they look like they will be accepting and also potentially LGBT+ themselves or maybe Q (I see your gorgeous painted nails, sweetheart and the way you didn’t question Oh saying “partner” for a second)... but also they’re what Oh is using to fill the time he promised to Teh. It’s not Oh’s fault. He deserves friendship and a world of his own too but he was relying so much on the familiarity of Teh and Teh’s presence to keep him grounded and comfortable but he can’t do that all the time. He is trying so hard to be good and thoughtful and kind that he’s not telling Teh the truth. He’s doing what he said he wouldn’t do on the boat, but we can’t blame him in the slightest, he’s the sweetest boy.

I have so much to say but I guess that’ll do for now. I really loved the episode. Yes, it’s different but I think I realise now why it needed to be. In a way I’m kinda of happy about it because ITSAY stays sacred!!!! It stays as that beautifully fraught and emotional indie movie of my heart filled with metaphorical depth. It can’t be touched as far as I’m concerned but with IPYTM it feels just as moving, just as emotional, just as impactful but in a different way that reflects maturity. I don’t think it would have worked if it still felt fraught and characterised by ITSAY vibes. They’re not kids, they’re not insecure about who they are anymore in terms of their sexuality and they are moving into adulthood.

I know it’s going to break me. Episode 1 had me genuinely crying into my tea but I also know that it had the potential for its own special brand of symbolism and meaning. We can already see some special moments which seemed to be saying way more than the words themselves like the speech on light and how we see things and the way Oh even used it himself to see a different perspective at the end. That felt really very meaningful. They’re going to need to be able to see different view points as they navigate what will probably be a shit ton of pain! They will need to adjust to the light, to their circumstances to be able to survive and for their bond to be what is important without allowing other stuff to pass into their line of sight. Oh saw nothing. Empty stage, no Teh, not even himself... he opened his eyes too soon. He needs to learn to adjust and learn how to see the world and his place in it so that when he opens his eyes he sees what he desires and has worked for and made for himself rather than emptiness.

The last thing for me is the chemistry. What more can you say other than they’re perfect? They have the most natural, enigmatic, intense and sweet chemistry. They work so beautifully together. They sell even the smallest of moments and they absolutely destroy with emotion. I just feel every second of Teh and Oh’s emotion and that is such a damn skill. Their talent, man.

So I loved it. I am going to be dreaming tearstained in 80s synth music tonight! I can’t wait for the rest to emotionally destroy me a little more.

[txtdreamss]

mirrorball // [g.w.]

sequel to tolerate it

warnings: angst, fem!reader

summary: It’s been 2 weeks since George told you he has a date to the yule ball. As of now, it’s the night before and you are reflecting on your feelings for him and wondering if you can continue as his best friend.

word count: 1.5k

A/N: So, here it is! I am hoping to get this posted as soon as possible for those of you who wanted to see a part 2 to tolerate it. I had a really difficult time deciding on how I wanted to end this, and I really hope it pleases you guys (not sure I’m happy with the ending, but that is to be expected). Sorry in advance for any errors, as this is a one-woman show and I sometimes miss my own mistakes. :) Special thanks to @ajusquishy for being the first to ask about this addition to tolerate it!

*****

I want you to know I'm a mirrorball I'll show you every version of yourself tonight

The past 2 weeks had been the most difficult time of your life. George had been following Alicia around like a lost puppy, and even Fred was getting sick of it. Oddly enough, it seemed like George couldn’t get through one interaction with you without mentioning the girl’s name.

“Oh Y/N, we decided to match my tie to her dress!”

“Did you know she said I am the cutest quidditch player she has ever met?”

“I’m thinking about asking mum to knit her a sweater this Christmas!”

At first you could handle it. As his best friend of nearly 6 years, it was your job to handle it. Why didn’t that make any of this easier?

There wasn’t a change in George that you had neglected to notice. Hell, your heart dropped when he showed up with a new bruise after quidditch practice. You were the one who had told him to grow his hair out (and damn, was that a good piece of advice). George had even been with you when he chose his first pair of dress robes for merlin’s sake!

Molly Weasley saw you as her stand-in while the boys and Ginny were at Hogwarts. Of course, she didn’t know that George and Fred had grown in their pranking abilities thanks to your sugar-sweet exterior, but that didn’t change the role you played in the Weasley children’s life. You were the responsible friend who also just happened to lead a double life when it came to the twins.  It was thanks to you that they had received only 3 detentions this quarter, and it was their fault that you now had an affinity for “accidentally” leaving dung bombs in the outer pockets of Cormac McLaggen’s bag.

“Hey, Y/N... I haven’t seen you around much. You aren’t avoiding me, are ya?” George’s baritone voice broke you out of your thoughts. He settled his arms on the top of your head, and sighed deeply, letting his head drop. “Fred and I need your help figuring out what the best escape route from the dungeons is.”

“Go ask Lee, he can do some math too.” Yes, you were being harsh, but George’s presence was enough to shatter any semblance of self control you still had left.  “Now, if you excuse me, I have a study date with some ancient runes and Hermione.”

As you stalked out of the common room, George couldn’t bear to bring up how he hadn’t been able to come up with any solid pranks in exactly 14 days.

*****

You'll find me on my tallest tiptoes Spinning in my highest heels, love Shining just for you

Tonight was the night; your hair was curled to perfection, and the gown your mother had sent you was the color of holly. The heels you had strapped on were a matte black dusted with the occasional piece of red glitter. Despite the fact that George was not your date, you couldn’t help my let your thoughts drift to him as you got ready. Would he think you looked pretty? Would he think you looked as good as her?

Lee tapped you on the shoulder, and you steadied yourself before letting him gently grab your hand. “Don’t let that prat get you down. You look like a goddess, Y/N. Now, let’s go show Georgie what he is missing.” 

Lee was a great friend for doing this for you; he knew about your feelings (Fred apparently can’t keep his mouth shut), and immediately became set on helping you get back on your feet. He had become your greatest cheerleader as of late, and claimed that George doesn’t know it, but he definitely has feelings for you.

As you both walked into the great hall, you couldn’t help but let out a gasp. There were snowflakes and all types of seasonal decor strung up across the room, and it was almost like the room had transformed into a winter dreamscape. Fred and George had beat you there, already sipping punch with Angelina and Alicia.

“You boys clean up nice.” The twins and Lee let out a chorus of ‘hey’s, clearly displeased with your mockery of their appearances.

“Oi, I was betting 5 galleons that Fred would show up in his trainers...” George’s voice was surprisingly meek, almost as if he was looking for your approval with his jabs towards his brother.

The boys immediately began discussing their plan to spike the punch bowl with firewhiskey, and Angelina and Alicia launched into a conversation about where they had purchased their gowns. You felt more than out of place at this point, and decided to relocate after notifying Lee that you’d be fine on your own for a bit. Almost immediately after, Angelina went to distract McGonagall while Fred and Lee snuck under the table of refreshments.

You went to talk with Hermione and the younger trio, and were drawn into a lesson in muggle dancing.

“No, Ron, that is not how you hit the woah.” (I’m sorry I felt so inclined to include this cuz the image makes me chuckle lol).

“Well, ‘Mione, why don’t you and Y/N show us how this is done then?” Harry and Ron crossed their arms, and Hermione slipped her arm around your shoulders.

“C’mon, Y/N. You look like you could use something fun.” She dragged you onto the dance floor, and you both began dramatically spinning each other to the sound of your wheezing laughter.

If only you had noticed a certain red-headed prankster gazing at you like you had hung the stars in the sky...

*****

You are not like the regulars The masquerade revelers Drunk as they watch my shattered edges glisten

Fred and Angelina had taken to the floor as soon as the waltzing began. After watching them twirl to the crescendos of the music, you finally decided enough was enough. All it too was a look at Lee, and he understood what you needed to do. You slipped out of the doors to the great hall, and found yourself wandering amongst the carriages powdered with snow, occasionally stopping to draw shapes into the piles of flakes.

Following five-ish minutes of mucking about, you finally decided to sit on the steps that bridged the courtyard and the hallways. Snowflakes continued floating, but you quickly realized the droplets of water on your face were from small tears and not the weather. Sniffles escaped your nose, and you crossed your arms in a poor attempt to keep warm despite your lack of sleeves.

Out of nowhere, you felt heavy cloth drop onto your bare shoulders.

“Be careful, love. Ya look like you’re halfway to becoming an ice lolly.” George shuffled his long, lanky body onto the steps. You looked at him through your lashes, and he seemed almost squeamish.

“Don’t you have Alicia waiting for you inside? I’m sure she wouldn’t be thrilled to see you out here.”

“Bloody hell, Y/N, I think we have been pretty dense.” Confusion evident on your features, George let his larger hand cover yours. “I didn’t want to ask Alicia. I wanted to ask you.”

“What do you mean? You’ve been talking my ear off about how much you like her for weeks now...”

“I was trying to make you jealous.” Silence overtook the interaction.

“So you’re saying that we both have been blind to our feelings?” 

George let out a small chuckle, and pulled his hand away. To be quite honest, you felt like maybe you had been ignoring the signs: the subtle stares, the extended physical contact, the willingness to be there whenever and wherever you asked him to.

“I think we may want to start over and forget the last few weeks.”

“I think I would quite like that.” You stood up, and brushed the snow off your skirt before extending your hand towards George. “Well, George, the yule ball is in... now... would you like to be my date?”

“I would enjoy that a bunch, Y/N.” He took your hand, and pulled you into his chest. “May have a dance to start off the evening?”

“...There isn’t any music.” You chuckled, but George simply grinned at you before beginning to hum.

“Problem solved. So, may I have this dance?”

“You may.” You dropped your head into the nook of his shoulder, and George began to sway and spin you, leaving 2 pairs of footprints in the snow beneath your feet.

From just beyond your view, Fred, Lee, Angelina, and Alicia let out somewhat of a “oomph” and high-fived each other before turning to go back inside.

Shining just for you.

[joneswuzhere]

hello join me in thinking about some books and authors that are, or might be, part of s5′s intertextuality

5.10 in particular offered specific shout outs, and also u know i’m always wondering what might be ahead so i have some ideas on that:

- first, as mentioned in a previous ask post, i know i wasn’t alone in keeping an eye out for 5.10 parallels to the lost weekend (1945) the film that gave episode 1.10 its name and several themes - or to the 1944 book by charles r jackson which the film is based on

- s5 has not been shy about revisiting earlier seasons, especially s1. altho i feel that 1.10′s parallels to the lost weekend centered characters other than jughead (mostly betty), a 1.10-5.10 connection involving jughead and themes from jackson’s story (addiction, writers block, self reflection) seemed v possible if not inevitable

- but like,, , for a hot minute after the ep, i was really stumped on understanding how anything from the book or film could apply, even tho the pieces were almost all there

- jackson’s protagonist don birnam goes thru and comes out the other side of a harrowing days-long drinking binge that could be compared to jughead’s one-night hallucinogenic writing retreat

- but jughead is struggling primarily with traumatic memories, not addiction and self control like birnam. and tho drinking activates birnam’s creativity, it paralyzes his writing as he gets lost in fantasies; he’s never published anything. jughead’s drug trip recreates circumstances that already helped him write one successful book. even the rat that startles him mid-high doesn’t line up with birnam’s withdrawal vision of a dying mouse, symbolic of his horror at his own self-destruction thru alcohol

- and maybe the most visible discordance: in the film there’s a romantic motif around a typewriter. first it’s an object of shame; birnam’s failure to write, tied up with his drinking, makes him flee his relationship. he tries to pawn the typewriter for booze money and finally a gun when shooting himself feels easier than getting sober. but with the help of relentless encouragement from girlfriend helen, he quits drinking, commits to her, and focuses on typing out the story he’s dreamt of writing. rd goes so far to avoid setting any comparable scenario that jughead has brought a wholeass printer into the bunker so there can still be a physical manuscript to cover in blood by the end, even without his own typewriter. the subtle detail of his laptop bg image is a little less noticeable than his avoidance of betty’s gift

- tabitha might be closer to a parallel than jughead is, but she’s still no helen. both refuse to take advantage of the inebriated men in their care, but birnam takes advantage of helen, financially and emotionally. jughead refused a loan from the tate family and now has resolved to deal with his shit before he considers a relationship with tabitha. instead of helen’s relentless and unwelcomed attempts to get birnam sober, tabitha reluctantly agrees to help jughead trip safely bondage escape notwithstanding. she even helps him get the drugs.

- whatever potentials exist for parallels to jackson’s story, they were not explored for this episode. ok so why tf am i even talking about this? what was there instead?

-  i have arrived at the point

- s5 has been revisiting s1, not directly but with a twist. and jughead’s agent samm pansky is back. u may recall, pansky is named for sam lansky

- jughead’s trip-thru-trauma is a story device tapped straight from lansky’s book ‘broken people’

- lansky is like if a millenial john rechy wrote extremely LA-flavored meta but just about himself no jk very like a modern successor to charles r jackson. both play with the boundary between memoir and fiction. lansky is gay; jackson wrote his lost weekend counterpart as closeted and remained closeted himself until only a few years before his death. both write with emotional clarity and self-scrutiny on the experiences of addiction, sobriety, and the surrounding issues of shame and self worth

- i feel like a fool bc after this ep i had been thinking about de quincey and his early writings on addiction (c.1800s), but i failed to carry the thought in the other direction, to contemporary writers in the genre, to make this connection sooner

- lansky’s second book, broken people, follows narrator ‘sam’, mid-20s, super depressed, hastled by his agent to write a decent follow-up to his first book, but too busy struggling with his self-worth and baggage from several past relationships. desperate, he takes up an offer to visit a new age shaman who promises to fix everything wrong with him in a matter of days. not to over simplify it but he literally spends a weekend doing psychedelics and hallucinating about his exes. jughead took note

- unless u want me to hurl myself into yet another dissertation about queer jughead, i think his parallel to sam - who, unlike jughead, has considerable financial privilege and whose anxieties center on body dysmorphia, hiv scares, and his own self-centeredness - pretty much ends there

- But,, the gist of the book could not be more harmonius with a major theme shared by the 2 films that inform the actual hallucination part of jughead’s bunker scene: mentally reframing past relationships to get closure + confronting trauma head-on in order to move forward

- so that’s neat. what other book and author stuff was in 5.10?

- stephen king and raymond carver get name dropped. i’m passingly familiar with them both but u bet i just skimmed their wiki bios in case anything relevant jumped out

- like jughead, carver was a student (later a lecturer) at the iowa writers workshop. also the son of an alcoholic and one himself

- i recall carver’s ‘what we talk about when we talk about love’ is what jughead was reading in 2.14 ‘the hills have eyes’ after he finds out about the first time betty kissed archie (at that time he does not respond as would any of carver’s characters)

- this collection of carver stories deals especially with infidelity, failings of communication, and the complexities and destructiveness of love. to unashamedly quote the resource that is course hero, ‘carver renders love as an experience that is inherently violent bc it produces psychic and emotional wounds.’ very fun to wonder about the significance of this collection within the s2 episode and in jughead’s thoughts. and maybe now in the context of the s5 state of relationships. or, at least, the state of jughead’s writing as seen by his agent

- anyway pansky doesn’t want carver, he wants stephen king

- i have too much to say about gerald’s game in 5.10, that’s getting its own post someday soon

- lol wait king’s wife is named tabitha uhhh king’s wiki reminded me of his childhood experience that possibly inspired his short story ‘the body’ (+1986 movie ‘stand by me’) when he ‘apparently witnessed one of his friends being struck and killed by a train tho he has no memory of the event’

- no mention of that in this rd episode but memories of a train could be interesting to consider with the imagery that intrudes on jughead’s hallucination. i still feel like it was a truck but the lights and sounds he experiences may be a train

- ok now we’re in the speculation part of today’s segment

- if jughead’s traumatic memory involves trains, then it’s possible this plot will take influence from la bête humaine <- this 1938 movie is based on the 1890 novel by french writer émile zola. this story deals with alcoholism and possessive jealousy in relationships, sometimes leading to murder. huh, kind of like carver. zola def comes down on the nature side of the nature-vs-nuture bad seed question (tho i should say he approaches this with great or maybe just v french compassion). also i can’t tell if this is me reaching but, something about la bête humaine reminds me of king’s ‘secret window’ which we’ve observed to be at least a style influence on jughead post time jump

- but wow a late-19th century french writer would be a random thing to drop into this season, right? then again zola also wrote about miners, which we’ve learned are an important part of this town’s history + whatever hiram is up to this time.  and most notably, zola wrote ‘j’accuse...!’ an open letter in defense of a soldier falsely accused and unlawfully jailed for treason: alfred dreyfus. archie’s recent army trouble comes to mind.

- since the introduction of old man dreyfuss (plausibly Just a nod to close encounters actor richard dreyfuss, but also when is anything in this show Just one thing) i’ve been wondering if these little things could add up to a season-long reference to zola’s writings. but i had doubts and didn’t want to speak on it too soon bc, u know, it’s weird but is it weird enough for riverdale??

- however,,,

- (come on, u knew where i was going with this)

- a24′s film zola just came out. absolutely no relation to the french writer, it’s not based on a book but an insane and explicit twitter thread by aziah ‘zola’ wells about stripping and? human trafficking?? this feels ripe for rd even outside the potentials here for the lonely highway/missing girls plot.

- that would add up to a combination of homage that feels natural to this show

- anyway pls understand i’m just having fun speculating, most of this is based on nothing more concrete than the torturous mental tendril ras has hooked into my skull pls let go ras pls let go

[fannishcodex]

Unpopular Opinion Maybe: Kipo had an Identity Crisis in S1

More and more I honestly get bothered when people are all like “ooh Kipo wasn’t affected by being a mega mute lab experiment due to her parents experimenting on her it’s so refreshing compared to other cartoons LOL” because it’s completely glossing over season 1 where Kipo absolutely freaked out over her body suddenly physically changing and suddenly looking like a mute for no apparent reason. Tad Mulholland gave her a dream that was largely about this, Wolf almost left her over this. Kipo was absolutely affected by this, it absolutely caused an identity/existential crisis for her, it absolutely freaked her out.

Kipo absolutely freaked out when her body started growing fur and exhibiting other extreme physical changes and showed indications she was somehow suddenly changing into a mute for no apparent reason. (This in no way indicates she ever harbored serious anti-mute feelings. This is literally about her body suddenly physically changing for no apparent reason.) So much of Tad Mulholland’s dream reflects her anxiety and yes, angst, about these sudden physical changes. Kipo’s allowed to get upset when her body suddenly starts physically changing and she has no idea why; and it’s happening on top of an already stressful situation where she’s separated from her father and the rest of her people in a world that’s still brand new to her and filled with as many dangers as wonders, etc. Kipo again has angst, or is reasonably upset over the whole thing when Wolf realizes she seems to be part mute and seemingly lied about it, and apparently rejects her for it; Kipo pours out her sadness and frustration and emotional turmoil to Jamack, who comforts her, and of course Jamack couldn’t comfort her if Kipo wasn’t upset or had angst and an identity crisis.

Kipo’s not automatically a cheerful sunflower all the time. She’s largely positive because she makes a concentrated effort to be (for example, Kipo does seem tired and ready to leave Jamack, but she decides to go back for him). Kipo’s an actual character with feelings and should be allowed to experience all emotions, even angst, because she should be allowed to get upset.

The only “refreshing,” actually different thing about this is the order--Kipo freaked out and had an identity crisis and angst when she got signs of an extreme change in her body before she learned the truth behind why this was happening.

I’d argue Kipo’s reaction is more about being so relieved to finally get some kind of answer for why her body’s been physically changing that she doesn’t try to challenge it too much, and that she’s also in denial about the gravity of the situation when she gets the revelation about what her parents did to her, and she also ends up pressured by time crunch/emergencies and just pushes her actual feelings over this aside because there’s no time. Kipo learns what her parents did to her, and then has a like a week to save her dad and her people before Scarlemagne’s coronation. Kipo really doesn’t have time to fully process the revelation; she has to focus more on using her mega mute jaguar powers for the practical use of saving her father and people, not actually take the time to really consider how she really feels about them and what her parents did to her.

And even when she’s just focused on practically using her mega mute jaguar powers, Kipo is in fact stressing and angsting over it. She may say she’s fine and express enthusiasm for her mega mute jaguar abilities and act impressed with what her parents did, but her mega mute jaguar abilities do adversely affect her whether she directly admits it or not. In the Deatherstalker episode, Kipo does show signs of the emotional pressure her mega mute status has put on her; with these mega mute powers, she has the power to help her dad and her people, so she keenly feels she has to, she feels responsible for this and probably feels that there’s no one else she can really turn to fully take this burden (of course she loves her dad and people and wants to protect them, and of course this is an all ages show with a number of kid protagonists, but still, she just turned 13, and lived a pretty normal, safe Burrow life until her home was attacked), and she stresses over suddenly being asked to successfully do a thing she’s never done before; Kipo gets super freaked out when her mega mute powers accidentally hurt Benson; and of course the Chevre Sisters have warned Kipo that she can lose her mind if she fully transforms, and much of the season is devoted to making sure that doesn’t happen. And later Kipo gets a concrete example of that threat when she learns her mother has been entirely absent in her life because she’s lost her mind to a mega mute transformation for 13 years and was also under Emilia’s control. (And while this probably needs its own post, to sum up: a lot of this is also again Song and Lio’s fault because of their experimenting, Song exposed herself to mutation, Emilia’s the worst but it doesn’t seem like she would weaponize Song if Song didn’t turn herself into a mega mute monkey susceptible to puppet pheromones torturously taken from Hugo.)

While it’s nice feeling like you’re seeing something new and refreshing, I feel like sometimes people fall into overly reactionary trends and don’t look at things on an individual basis or think of characters as their own individuals. Maybe people want to think it’s refreshing that Kipo’s not affected or not having angst over being a mute lab experiment due to her parents (but again, she has been affected by this) because they’re comparing this to other cartoons, but what about Kipo as a character herself and the show as its own story?

I also actually think the idea of Kipo getting upset over this makes more sense than many other cartoons and has much more impact, because her situation is actually really severe when you think about what the story’s done so far in terms of events.

I’ll probably do another separate “unpopular opinion” post on this, but to sum up: Lio and Song unnecessarily experimented on baby Kipo without her consent and pushed their own ambitions of “making the surface safe for humans” on her, also without her consent. It was canonically a dangerous experiment because they failed to realize Kipo could’ve lost her mind and been stuck as a mega mute, something that did happen to Song for 13 years; Song was accidentally mutated, and again the side effects were gravely underestimated because Song had a dramatic transformation where she not only lost her mind but destroyed the DNA Burrow, and Kipo could’ve been killed in that accidental rampage (and Hugo/Scarlemagne was literally scarred from it, he suffered literal physical damage from it--which also implies worse than injuries and physical scars could’ve happened).

I’ve read some people essentially say “well, not every cartoon has to get this emotional, it could just be cheerful,” and that just makes me think 1) then a cartoon should be written so that the more 24/7 cheerful tone fits, and 2) there are several cartoons you can already watch that don’t get so emotional. Just deal with the cartoons that do choose to be emotional, because cartoons can have a wide variety. 

And I don’t think KATAOW is the place to pull “oh haha she’s not affected by all this even though it’s super messed up because let’s be just different from others and not think about our own story and cast we’ve just gotta go against an apparent so-called trend without laying down the groundwork to actually support that reactionary rejection of an apparent so-called trend.”

And I do really hope and still think that on some level the show is actually gonna pull through and address this and do something really neat. Because while Kipo acts like she’s fine with what her parents did to her, again there was her severe freak-out in season 1 when faced with actual consequences of what they did and with no one to give her any explanation for what the hell was happening, and there are her struggles with her experimental mega mute jaguar side in season 2; and just as importantly, Wolf and Benson seem alarmed by what Lio and Song did. I think that’s critical. Even if Wolf and Benson aren’t explicit about it, it’s pretty clear that they look uncomfortable with what they learn from the Project Kipo notebook, even if they’re more focused on going along with Kipo’s cheer. I just feel like that will be followed up in season 3.

And it’s a 3-season show. Writers have said that they have told a complete story with the show over 3 seasons. I can imagine that in season 3 they’ll follow up on this in some way and better challenge what Lio and Song did and let Kipo finally freak out over what her parents did, as much as she freaked out by herself in season 1.

Because that also gets to me. As things stand now, Lio and Song have avoided the worst of the direct emotional fallout of what they did to Kipo. They did not get to see their daughter have a gradual meltdown over the sudden changes in her body, her confusion and emotional turmoil and fear that her friend-sister Wolf rejected her over the whole thing. Kipo’s only ever acted like “it’s fine” to them about it. And I find that really unfair, especially to Kipo. She should get to be upset, she should get to be upset with her parents and make them better realize the consequences of what they actually did to her. Lio and Song should also just deal with even more consequences. 

P.S. I also don’t really buy the half mute/half human as mixed race metaphor because it’s too deeply rooted in scientific experimentation on babies without any possible consent (and Kipo is already actually mixed race with a Black father and a Korean mother), and I have more thoughts on what it’s more about and its potential as a more unique story that’s specifically tied to the world of KATAOW, but I think that’s another post too.

[gstqaobc]

CBC THE ROYAL FASCINATOR

Friday, October 23, 2020

Hello, royal watchers and all those intrigued by what’s going on inside the House of Windsor. This is your biweekly dose of royal news and analysis. Reading this online? Sign up here to get this delivered to your inbox.

Janet DavisonRoyal Expert

The lessons of becoming Diana in The Crown

(Ollie Upton/Netflix)

For Emma Corrin, preparing to take on the role of Diana, Princess of Wales, in The Crown was something of a psychology lesson. The 24-year-old actor assumed the part knowing full well those watching her arrival next month in Season 4 of the Netflix drama will already have well-established impressions of a member of the Royal Family who grew from "Shy Di" to one of the most photographed celebrities and fashion icons of recent times. Those existing impressions made assuming the role “incredibly daunting,” Corrin said in an interview from London. It helped once she got the script and saw the story. But there was also considerable work with a coach on “understanding the psychology behind a lot of what was happening.” And a lot of what was happening to Diana was “incredibly unnatural and quite intense,” Corrin said. At the age of 19, Diana Spencer moved from an apartment she shared with friends in West London into Buckingham Palace after her engagement to Prince Charles, the heir to the throne and a man 13 years her senior. Diana thought “it was going to be the best event of her life and that they were going to live happily ever after, but then [she discovered] he was with another woman,” Corrin said. Along with that, there was the pressure that comes from being a royal in the public eye.   “All of these are very extraordinary circumstances, really, for someone to be operating in,” said Corrin. “These things that she was exposed to come with a whole lot of pressures that affect someone’s mentality, and that was really interesting.” Even so, there are still all those impressions viewers will have before they catch their first glimpse of Diana when the new season of The Crown starts streaming on Nov. 15. And what if Corrin’s portrayal doesn’t match those impressions? Does that matter in trying to create a successful portrayal of such a well-known person? Not necessarily. “If you talk to actors who have to play a real person ... especially somebody that is so world famous and familiar as Diana — [the challenge comes] because audiences are expecting that actress to look and sound just like the real thing,” said Bill Brioux, a longtime television columnist and commentator. He looks no further than the actor holding the central role on The Crown for Seasons 3 and 4 as an example of overcoming that challenge. “I think Olivia Colman [as Queen Elizabeth] has shown that you don’t have to be a carbon copy, that you might capture a nuance or an essence of someone,” Brioux said. “Certainly, Colman spent a lot of The Crown looking surprised and perplexed, you know, aghast at times.” And we certainly aren’t used to seeing the Queen looking that way in public. “So I think it will be interesting to see how Diana is received,” Brioux said. As she prepared for the role, Corrin said she became overwhelmed “by the amount of factual information out there about her and also … the thought that I would be portraying someone so well-known." Corrin said she “started work on her mannerisms and her behaviour and figuring out why she did the things she did or what she would feel about certain situations that I was going to be acting. “ Corrin also spoke to Patrick Jephson, Diana’s private secretary. “He knew her very well and was able to provide a lot of insight, which was wonderful.” With Diana, Brioux suggested, there may be more pressure on an actor than if the portrayal was of a person not so well-known. “People all have their own expectations of Diana in their minds,” he said. “You’re going to disappoint a lot of people no matter what you do, so hat’s off to this actress for taking it on. “I think that there’s potential, though, if you come close, to get a lot of rave reviews because everyone knows the subject and that’s how they’ll judge it."

For more on Corrin’s experiences preparing for the role, click here.

A rare day out for the Queen — and no mask

(Ben Stansall/Reuters)

Royal visits can typically give the royal guest the opportunity to see some cutting-edge technology or to meet individuals being recognized for their work or volunteer efforts in helping others in their community. But Queen Elizabeth’s first major public engagement since the coronavirus pandemic struck in March offered more than a chance for her to visit a new defence research centre west of London and check out the latest in explosives detection. The visit to Porton Down, where scientists are also helping in the response to the pandemic, seemed designed to offer a larger symbolism. “I think it was a really important message for her to send that even though … we’ve been in lockdown and we’re facing new restrictions, the Queen was still able to meet people involved in the COVID response,” Roya Nikkhah, a royal correspondent for the Sunday Times newspaper, told the CBC’s Renee Filippone. Still, the visit, which the 94-year-old carried out alongside her grandson, Prince William, sparked questions — and criticism — because neither of them was wearing a mask at a time when Britons must wear face coverings in stores and other indoor spaces. Those involved in the visit were physically distanced, and Buckingham Palace said safety protocols were followed. Reuters reported that staff at the research centre had been tested for COVID-19 before the visit. “Every precaution that could be taken was taken,” said Nikkhah. “That’s why the Queen didn’t have to wear a mask.” Royal author Robert Jobson told the Daily Mail that Elizabeth was sending a “message of confidence to the people.” “She’s going back to work, she'll go about her business in the usual way, but without taking chances. She is reassuring the public that things must go on as normal, wherever it is safe to do so.” The Queen has spent much of the time since the pandemic struck in isolation at Windsor Castle, considered to be her favourite residence. She has returned there recently after spending a few weeks with Prince Philip at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, and a shorter period on her Sandringham estate northeast of London. Throughout the pandemic, Elizabeth has conducted official duties via video or over the phone, and made two appearances within the walls of Windsor Castle — one for a considerably scaled-down recognition of her official birthday in June, and one to bestow a knighthood on Capt. Tom Moore, a 100-year-old honoured for his charity fundraising. Still, it’s unlikely there will be many other outings like her trip to Porton Down anytime soon. “I think [it] was probably a bit of a one-off,” Nikkhah said. “I don’t think we’ll be seeing a lot more of her on public engagements.”

A new portrait for Canada

(Chris Jackson/Getty Images/Government of Canada)

There is also considerable symbolism on display in Queen Elizabeth’s new official Canadian portrait. While the portrait is new to the public, the photo itself was taken more than a year ago, in March 2019 at Windsor Castle, by royal photographer Chris Jackson. He shared it on social media late last week. In the portrait, the Queen is wearing her Canadian insignia as sovereign of the Order of Canada, Jackson said, along with the Order of Military Merit. The diamond and blue sapphire necklace and earrings she is wearing were a wedding day gift from her father, King George VI, in November 1947, and were worn during her five-day trip to Canada in 1990. Jackson said on Instagram that it was an “incredible honour” to have the opportunity to photograph the Queen for the portrait. “I’ve been lucky enough to have visited Canada many times now with members of the Royal Family and have the fondest memories of the people I’ve met.”

Royally quotable

"My family and I knew nothing about it and were at a loss to know how we could help alleviate the terrible pain she suffered."

— Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall,

reflects on her mother’s death from osteoporosis

26 years ago, and went on this week to note the “huge strides” made since then in treatment and research into the disease.

Royals in Canada

(Hans Deryk/The Canadian Press)

When Charles and Diana came to Canada in late October 1991, it was the last trip they made to the country together. And in ways it was two visits in one for the couple, whose collapsing marriage was under intense media scrutiny at the time, as they went their separate ways for much of the seven-day sojourn.

One stop for Diana in Toronto took her to Casey House, a hospice for people who have AIDS.

“Diana had just begun to venture into the issue of AIDS, then repellent to much of society, but it was still surprising that she chose to see a hospice full of very ill people rather than some less harrowing AIDS setting,” Casey House founder June Callwood

wrote in Maclean’s magazine

after Diana’s death in 1997.

Callwood had a mixed view of Diana, but that visit to Casey House, where she sat and visited with hospice residents, left a lasting impression.

Diana “wanted nothing less than to change the world for the better,” Callwood wrote. “And perhaps she did. On that lovely afternoon … she made everyone at a small AIDS hospice in Toronto feel worthwhile. That’s quite a gift.”

Our friends at CBC Archives have taken a closer look at the 1991 visit, which was also the first time both William and Harry went with their parents on a foreign trip.

Royal reads

1. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, says she

avoids speaking about controversial topics

in an attempt to ensure she doesn’t put her family at risk. She also says she’s been told that in 2019, she was the

“most trolled person in the entire world.”

[BBC, The Guardian]

2. More than 60 years after Queen Elizabeth gave a pair of swans to a city in Florida,

it has sold off three dozen of their descendants

in a bid to ease a crisis in overpopulation of the birds. [The Independent]

3. Thirty years after Diana laid a ceremonial foundation stone for a cancer hospital, her son William

did the same

. [The Daily Mail]

4. Dutch King Willem-Alexander says he

regrets going to Greece for a holiday

after he and his family were criticized for taking a trip during the pandemic. [BBC]

Cheers!

I’m always happy to hear from you. Send your ideas, comments, feedback and notes to

royalfascinator@cbc.ca

. Problems with the newsletter? Please let me know about any typos, errors or glitches.

[thelazycreative]

Part 2

Untitled (for now)

By the time I reach the door my sister is there with the blanket I discarded on the balcony. “Bea, what are you doing out here?! Are you trying to catch your death?” Rea whispers. “He’s just arrived and here I find you prancing about like you’ve lost your mind” Rea huffs and pushes me through the entrance. She shuffles around me and moves through the kitchen area to the hallway.

“Bea, get some clothes on and come to the dining room. Dinner is being set and He’s waiting at the table.”

I move as quickly as I can to my room to change. I throw the blanket on the bed and reach in my wardrobe for a decent dress. I catch my reflection in mirror and just stare. My skin starts to dry and takes on the dark grayish brown complexion it usually is. My hair has already started to tighten into short coils. My eyes start to well with tears as I watch the gray patches appear over my arms, torso, and legs. As much as I want too, I cannot look away. My skin dries and cracks a little under my touch. I tear my eyes away from the mirror and snatch the dress that has fallen to the floor. I rip it over my head and try to move as quickly as possible to the dining room. The sounds of my feet echo through the hallway as I run/walk as fast as I can.

I see Rea and skid to a halt to avoid running into her. She is wearing black shift and, like me, no shoes or other accessories. Her long hair hangs limply on both sides of her face. A false attempt to cover the mass of bumps and blemishes along her cheeks and forehead. Her dull black eyes wide with shock. We both stare at each other and start to count “1, deep breath, 2, deeper breath, 3 in breath and hold” We exhale at the same time and smile in unison.

She grabs my arm to steady herself and we turn to walk into the dining room together. Our short strides in line with each other. The candles on the table make shadows jump about. We separate to take our seats at the long wooden table, trying to avoid the sharp look he gives us. I feel his piercing gaze and I lift my eyes to meet his. Feeling the residual strength from the still raging storm, I hold his stare defiantly. I only break away when I hear my sisters silent snickering.

“Bea, you look stronger than I last saw you. How do you feel? He asks, his deep voice unwavering.

He looks at me with suspicious eyes as I reach for my water cup and take a sip. “I feel fine. No different in the months that have passed.”

“Rea, how are you feeling?

Rea looks down at her plate and murmurs “Fine, thank you.”

I bite my lip to keep myself from laughing. Rea only becomes polite when she is speaking to someone she would rather not speak too. We all eat and drink in silence. The chicken and potatoes are bland and dry. I want nothing more than to go back to the balcony to watch the storm. Our meals are usually a bit more festive and seasoned. Only He requires silence and lack of taste. We finish eating and the storm has passed to my dismay. Rea and I give him a kiss on each cheek and we walk in silence to our rooms.

I rush to the window and push it open. The smell of wet grass fills my nostrils and feel a flicker of the happiness I’d felt earlier. I plop down on my bed and hear the door connecting our rooms open and Rea sits at the edge biting her finger nails. “That’s such a nasty habit, Rea. You should really try to stop.” She gives me a rude gesture and starts to stare off and twirl her hair.

We do this a lot. Just sitting in comfortable silence. We never could bare to be apart from one another too long. Whenever He insisted one of us leave the house, an unexplained agitation in the pit of my stomach arose. Almost like an itching in my insides. Rea was the same. Even during our arguments, we’d huff and puff but never went too far from each other.

“I wonder if one day, he’ll just never come back”, Rea said after some time. I sat at my desk sketching the trees outside of my window.

“That would be a good day but then what would we do. We aren’t old enough to manage a household and where would we get money.” I said rubbing my forehead.

This was an often pastime of ours. Imagining life without Him. Our father.

I have never thought to call him any term of endearment and neither had Rea to my knowledge. We never knew our mother and any parental guidance came from Maya, our housekeeper. Maya has been employed by our family since our father was a child. His business keeps him away from home for long periods of time. He’s never shown emotion of any kind other than anger and boredom. When we rarely address him, we call him by his name, Nathan. He has never corrected us nor asked us to call him by anything else. Rea and I make it a point to avoid him when He is home, which isn’t very hard as he doesn’t seek us out. The only requirement is dinner on the night he arrives.

I watch my sister as she stares off, daydreaming, and I take in her features. We match in height and our facial features are nearly identical. Almond shaped eyes, large slightly pointed noses and large full lips. We have the same sturdy stature, though heavier in the hips, bottom and midsection than id like. That’s where our physical similarities end, she was lighter than me in complexion comparable to lackluster copper. Her oily skin with reddish black bumps and patches. Her eyes brownish black and usually downcast. Where my eyes a dull grey.

“Bea, we’re 16! How young is too young to manage a household? We’ve managed so far without him.” She huffed, throwing herself backwards onto the bed. I sigh deeply and just stare at the trees outside of my window. Rea doesn’t say anything else because she knows, there is nothing else to say. We live our lives on this compound, rarely stepping foot outside. Rea and I, have always been a sickly pair. According to Maya, our mother gave birth 1 month late. My father was away on business and only she and Maya were in the house. My father never let any of the of the help stay overnight, other than Maya. We came “too quickly and too late”, Maya says whenever she tells the story. To quickly for a help to come and too late to meet our mother.

@22herondale

[dianadragonfly]

Okay, hang on bitches, cause Imma bout ta rewatch “The Final Problem.” I’ve seen it once since 2017. And because there is no commentary on the disc I have, I will be providing the commentary.

[[MORE]] Since I started my “rewatch and comment” spree, I’ve been pleasantly surprised. Things that had previously stood out in my mind as being particularly not-good are really not that bad. Most were actually really short moments that stood out in retrospect because they seemed incongruous with how well-written and acted everything else was.

Up till season 2, the writers could do no wrong whatsoever. The exact moment I experienced a “well that was overdone” moment of questioning the writers was when Sherlock broadcast a picture of Mary on the outside of the facade in “His Last Vow.” From there, I had moments of doubt and questioning plot and directing choices that took away from the narrative. But, except for the moment John sees Mary die, I never ever questioned the acting choices. The actors are so amazing. And I’m not just saying that because Ben and Martin are hot.

As I prepare to watch the episode, there are several scenes that I dread. Opening with the girl on the airplane reminds me of how much I hated this trick. If the girl is Eurus messing with them, then why do we see it acted out? If we cannot trust that what we see is a reality, then all of the “Mind Palace” theories of TFP (i.e. that it actually took place in a dream or in the head of a character) have some authenticity to them. Ugh.

Damn. I’d forgotten the “Hello. My name is Jim Moriarty” part of the intro. No need for that if the girl is just something in Eurus’s imagination.

Oh shit. I hate hate hate hate everything about this scene of Mycroft.

First of all, there is security in Mycroft’s house.

Second of all, he would have skewered any of those actors with the umbrella sword or shot one of them with the gun.

Why are the paintings crying blood? John and Sherlock couldn’t accomplish that... once we add scary clown it’s just too much. Even for Sherlock.

Oh stop with the heavy-handed East Wind references. Dammit, I loved this show for its subtly. Killer clowns are not subtle, even in pranks.

Now with Mycroft here, in the client position, refusing to sit, with the Baker Street Boys in their chairs - this is what I came for. The light, the look on their faces, the composition of the shot.

Oohh Hudson throwing some shade. John’s half smile...

Is the skull portrait glowing? I can’t tell.

“That’s why he stays!” Fuck yeah. John’s half smile again...

“Middle child. Explains a lot.” As a middle child, I resent that remark. And sort of get it.

So the flashing back and forth in time, with the ashes of Musgrave Hall in the apartment, 5 year old Eurus answering grown-up Mycroft’s questions, the pebble: all of that would be okay, if not a tiny bit less than subtle, had we not just fought a goddamn clown in the scene before.

Oh goddamn. The stupid fucking patience gernade and that song.

Of course Mrs. Hudson vacuums to Iron Maiden.

It’s Sherlock’s turn to half-smile. Cute.

Beautifully shot here with the above view and all three of them at different points on a circle around it.

Ugh. I have to turn away at the “action shot” of them jumping out the window. This is not “Die Hard.” It’s not a cop buddy movie. We just got a really well played, fun little scene where they talked a about Oscar Wilde to avoid talking about the fact that they might die. That’s what I watch Sherlock for.

There was a fan fic written around 2012 that mentions “The Importance of Being Ernest.” Coincidence? Creators reading fanfic? I know Wilde and ACD were contemporaries, but it’s interesting. I can’t think of any other literary works that are alluded to in canon. It’s funny it should be this one.

And now we’ve commandeered a boat. Seriously.

All of the other episodes, I had more patience with on this go-around where I get a chance to type out reactions and reflect on how they are put together. But I’m finding that isn’t the case with this one. I’m just pissed. Give me one or two unbelievable moments or plot twists in an episode and I can sustain it. But between the airplane, killer clowns at Mycroft’s, the patience gernade, and this, I’m already done and we’re 20 minutes in. Sherlock looks like a goddamn vampire bat. And seriously, why does Mycroft need to steal a boat? And write a message in the sand? What the hell? Why dress up?

Sherlock’s security guard act cracks me up.

Oh his face when he sees Eurus. His. Face. Curiosity. Heartbreak. Empathy. Pain. Doubt. Fear. THIS is my show. Not patience gernades, killer clowns, dressing up like a sea captain etc in one damn episode.

She “enslaves” people... magical Eurus who makes people kill their family. Really?!

Oh no. He ignores “Vatican cameos.” I forgot that. He chooses to ignore John’s warning.

His face.... Jesus Benedict can act.

Big bouncy red alert! Okay, what was with the spinning John face when he gets knocked out?

This constant shift between wondering what the hell is happening, wondering if the show has become a parody of itself, and then bouncing back to this heart wrenching narrative — is that the point of this episode? Like “The Empty Hearse” or “The Abominable Bride”? But those episodes explained themselves after they pulled the rug out. As soon as something got to the point of absurdity, it was explained. Sherlock didn’t swing in a window at Bart’s and kiss Molly but we briefly were led to believe he did. Moriarty and Sherlock aren’t really kissing on the roof. (By then we knew what was up though). Sherlock didn’t really attempt to dig up a dead Amelia Rocoletti. We understand it’s a drug-induced dream.

This rapid jumping back and forth with half-assed explainations — I’m coming to believe this off-balance feeling is the point of the episode but I don’t like it. I like it even less than I did before.

Oh Andrew Scott. I love you.

The bastards wait till 5 minutes into the Moriarty scene to tell us it’s 5 years ago. That constant pulling out the rug — I will at least excuse that because there is a plausible explaination given. But it’s a cheap trick. This episode is one cheap trick after another, with only a few moments, here and there, of characters actually interacting.

So it’s late and I don’t know if I have the heart to make it through this whole episode tonight. To be continued....

Edited:

Starting at scene 5 on the DVD because that's when Sherlock sees Eurus for the sort of first time. I kind of just want to bask in Ben's performance here again.

After the last episode, clean-shaven Sherlock in a suit is a relief. He's back... at least a little.

His small smile when he asks her how she got out. . .

I'm realizing how much of this scene had to be Benedict looking directly into the camera and talking to Eurus. That had to be intimidating.

***I've skipped ahead to closer than where I was last night because the small people in my house will want food soon. Parentig gets in the way of fangirling. ****

I still love the Hungry Donkey story.

OH MY GOD! I forgot how much I love Andrew Scott here!!!

Are they making out through the glass?

And now the four of them wake up in a cell but this one has glass. Ugh. The plane again. I love how Sherlock changes his voice here to talk to the girl. He isn't incapable of reading people and reacting to them. He just usually can't be bothered. There’s a fan theory that says Sherlock is autistic. I was going to comment that this skill of his is evidence that he’s not but I stopped myself. He -knows- HOW one needs to act to get people to respond to him, but it’s a learned skill. Which actually might add evidence to the “autism” theory more than the sociopath theory.

Mark Gatiss - I forget what an incredible actor he can be. Whoa.

These scenes - these scenes where they have to apply themselves to a task that Eurus sets for them -- they are so fucking good. Tense and well-acted. I can see every emotion on every actor's face. The rest of the episode should have been better to make it worthy of these performances. It physically hurt watching John try to shoot the governor.

Someone said that Jim Moriarty went from a criminal mastermid to manical Thomas the Train Engine on this episode and I can't unthink that any time he flashes on the screen.

I had a moment, when Eurus was using such clinical language of behavioralism ("prompts") etc that I flashed back onto my life as an ABA instructor. Seriously. I know they are a million miles away but no one watching this would ever think, even for a second, that Eurus was morally right. Why, then, do we do a smiliar thing to autistic children? I had a moment of revulsion then. (Restirct physical liberty and autonomy, make them complete a command that's nonsensical for either reward or aversive. Give prompts. Follow through (deny reward) if one deviates from the prompt). She might as well been saying "Touch table, Sherlock." ("Touch table" is one of the first directives often given in ABA. It's easy to manually prompt (force) a kid to do and helps the kid realize the link between following the requests and obtaining rewards.)

Sorry. ABA rant is slightly off topic.

To be continued in comments ..

[dimensionsunited]

AUGUST 2020 DIMENSIONS ENTERTAINMENT SCHEDULES & REVIEW

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

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

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

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

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

Reminder: July schedule posts are due by the end of August 7 KST. Please do not post schedule posts in the fmdschedule tag.

OVERALL COMPANY

Last month’s photo sessions for the base Culture Complex were a success and it seems like the project is off to a solid start, although some idols may be called back in for reshoots, especially for the 3D imaging, as necessary this month. All of the idols under BC, Dimensions, and Gold Star have been tasked with a new duty for the building this month: filming videos that will accompany some of the museum exhibits. The videos will be once again filmed in a studio, this time in front of a green screen, and the idols will be asked to talk about their feelings about important career events like their trainee days, debut, song releases, and major achievements. They will be given all of the subjects they are expected to talk about beforehand to rehearse their answers, and the director may request different wording or delivery of their answers as seen fit. (admin note: Muns have freedom about the specific topics muses are asked to talk about here within the guidelines given above, but any talk about scandalous or negative occurrences will be avoided.)

Important dates:

August 1-August 31: base Culture Complex museum intro videos filming (admin note: muses may encounter idols from other companies while there).

DIMENSIONS SOLOIST 1

Her comeback single is recorded, so it’s time for her to get the choreography down and optimize her performance for the catchy dance performance and charisma she’s so known for. She also has her second fittings ahead of teaser shoots and music video filming next month to decide on the final comeback wardrobe, and at the end of the month, she’ll be joining the company’s other two soloists in Los Angeles for a weekend for KCON.

Important dates:

August 23: Second MV and stage outfit fittings.

August 29: Performance at KCON LA (also performing: Dimensions Soloist 2, Dimensions Soloist 3, 7ROPHY, and Gold Star Soloist 2).

DIMENSIONS SOLOIST 2

He holds two solo concert dates in Seoul this month, where he’ll include “When You Call My Name” in his set list to give his fans a preview of his next release (and so that Dimensions can monitor fan reactions and decide how much promotion budget to give the song). The following weekend, he’s off to Los Angeles with the rest of Dimensions’ soloist roster for another KCON, this time on the west coast of the US. 

Important dates:

August 22: Zero concert at Yonsei University Main Auditorium in Seoul.

August 23: Zero concert at Yonsei University Main Auditorium in Seoul.

August 29: Performance at KCON LA (also performing: Dimensions Soloist 1, Dimensions Soloist 3, 7ROPHY, and Gold Star Soloist 2).

DIMENSIONS SOLOIST 3

She continues to rehearse for her upcoming solo concerts this month, and will continue to be filmed throughout them for her reality show. The domestic market is by far Dimensions’ focus for her now since she’s shown such potential success in it, but they’ve decided to send their full soloist roster to KCON LA this month, which means she’s giving her first solo performance overseas this month, too.

Important dates:

August 29: Performance at KCON LA (also performing: Dimensions Soloist 1, Dimensions Soloist 2, 7ROPHY, and Gold Star Soloist 2).

GAL.ACTIC

August brings their ninth anniversary since debut on the 28th, thought Dimensions hasn’t organized any event for the full group to celebrate for fans in lieu of hoping to raise anticipating for tenth anniversary activities next year. Members are still encouraged by management to put some extra thought into reaching out to fans this month, though. In the meantime, they continue preparing their comeback by learning and rehearsing the choreography for the title track and the choreography for b-side “Bad Man Crying”, and attending fittings as usual. From August 23 to 26, they’ll be in Los Angeles for a festival performance.

Important dates:

August 10: MV and stage outfit fitting.

August 25: Performance at Korea Times Music Festival at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA, USA (also performing: Decipher, Unity, and Fuse).

ALIEN

Alien continue music show promotions throughout the month, alongside a busy schedule of fan signs. The album does well, only improving on their past sales, and the song is received well by fans despite going mostly under the radar for the public as most of their releases have since the lawsuit. The end of promotions signal continued work on their first English album as they’ve been doing for the past year or so now, as they film the MV for ”Middle of the Night”, which they’ll have finished recording in the studio earlier in the month.

Important dates:

August 1: Fan sign in Gangnam, Seoul.

August 2: Fan sign in Yongsan, Seoul.

August 9: Fan sign in Mapo, Seoul.

August 10: Fan sign in Yeouido, Seoul

August 17: Fan sign in Gangnam, Seoul.

August 20: End of music show promotions.

August 21: “Middle of the Night” MV filming.

August 29: Performance at KCON LA (also performing: Knight, Alien, Lucid, and Gold Star Soloist 3).

MARS

Preparations for MARS’s Japanese comeback continue as they’re taught the choreography for “Can’t Say” in the early weeks of the month. The wardrobe is simple for the music video this time, so they won’t have full fittings before the filming day for the music video comes on the twentieth. Mid-month, MARS are also met with the news that they’ll be making a Korean comeback in the fourth quarter and they’ll record the album in the second half of the month with a return to form of what they’re most known for: a darker concept.

Important dates:

August 20: “Can’t Say” MV filming.

7ROPHY

7ROPHY are fully dedicated to focusing on filming Queendom this month. For the cover song task, they’ll be covering a song originally performed by the group the NPC Soloist competing on the show originally belonged to, so the stakes are high to prove what they’ve got, especially after coming off such a successful first round for them. Full details of Queendom filming for this month can be found here. From August 28 to August 30, they’ll be in Los Angeles to perform at KCON LA.

Important dates:

August 24: Queendom episode three & four filming (cover song stage).

August 27: Episode one of Queendom airs.

August 29: Performance at KCON LA (also performing: Dimensions Soloist 1, Dimensions Soloist 2, Dimensions Soloist 3, and Gold Star Soloist 2).

UNITY

It’s comeback season for Unity after a full year without a comeback and it seems the wait has paid off. The comeback earns them not only the best digital charting of their careers, but also A-tier boy group physical sales and a music show win. There’s no questioning that they’re now the best-selling boy group of the company physically, even if MARS still outdoes them in the public recognition that earns high digitals. Dimensions grows more eager than ever to see the heights Unity can reach as the month draws to a close, and the general attitude of staff around them reflects both the pressure and relief of a successful comeback.

Important dates:

August 7: “Kick It” MV reaction video filming.

August 7: Release of “Kick It” & Unity Zone album, music show promotions continue through September 7. 

August 8: Fan sign in Mapo, Seoul.

August 9: Fan sign in Gangnam, Seoul.

August 15: Fan sign in Seocho, Seoul.

August 23: Fan sign in Songpa, Seoul.

August 25: Performance at Korea Times Music Festival at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA, USA (also performing: Decipher, Gal.actic, and Fuse).

August 29: Fan sign in Gangnam, Seoul.

         ↳ CHAMPION

As Decipher finishes promoting their comeback and Unity makes their own comeback, a hold is put on touring, but BC and Dimensions have managed to land the members of the sub-unit a deal with Korean Air and they’ll be recording a special CF song for a music and safety video collaboration to bring more international attention to Korean Air following CHAMPION”s success overseas and to bring more domestic attention to CHAMPION, who are still not wholly accepted as a unit by fans of their main groups.

Important dates:

August 27: Korean Air x CHAMPION “Let’s Go Everywhere” MV and Safety Video filming.

LUCID

Lucid wraps up their Welcome to The Dream World tour on the second and then they fly back to Seoul to finish preparing for their comeback. They film their music video on the sixth, but in addition to comeback rehearsals, they also begin rehearsing for their LOL Showcase tour, which will tour Asia and focus on the “normal realm” side of their concept instead of the nightmare one they just toured for. This tour is far less performance-focused due to having a more fanmeeting-style set list with games, longer talk sections, and a hi-touch at the end of each show, so the rehearsal period is much shorter. Their comeback on the seventeeth proves they weren’t a one-hit wonder as Navillera soars to the top of the charts like “Rough” did and “You and I” failed to.

Important dates:

August 2: Welcome to The Dream World concert at Teatro La Huaca in Panama City, Panama.

August 6: “Navillera” MV filming.

August 17: Release of “Navillera” & LOL album, music show promotions continue through September 17.

August 23: LOL Asia Showcase tour at Yes24 Live Hall in Seoul.

August 30: Performance at KCON LA (also performing: BC Soloist 1, Knight, Alien, and Gold Star Soloist 3) 

[biconpolo]

Stupid Fucking Glasses

Summary: Polo’s having a tough time after Marina’s death, and it’s becoming quite obvious. One day he breaks down and reaches out for help. Christian answers.

Relationship/Characters: Polo x Christian x Carla(mentioned)

Note: polo-centric; post-season 1, ignoring the hints of a possibility of the trio getting together at the end, they broke up and stayed broken up after polo cheats w/ christian, ignoring everything from the season 2 trailer as this was written beforehand

inspired by a convo i had with @leaderofthebadguys regarding polo and his glasses in the flashback scene about pablo

tw: suicide mention, suicidal thoughts, murder mention

Polo had begun wearing his glasses again, something that had not been seen in over a year. This was the first hint that something was off. He had always felt as though his glasses made him look juvenile, so the replacement with contacts gave him a more sophisticated and professional outward appearance. Polo had not gone a day since he received his prescription without them… until now. Now he wore glasses almost daily.

It was a steady decline, not immediate or sudden, but after the first day he left the house in glasses, it just seemed easier for him to continue the trend. Some days he looked better than others. On those days he would smile, and it would almost reach his eyes. He was like a hermit over the summer holiday, only making appearances when his mothers or best friends needed him. One could chalk this all up to symptoms of depression relating to the loss of Marina. God knows he and Guzmán had been friends since childhood, so it made sense for him to grieve her loss to a similar extent.

From an outsider’s perspective, Polo’s life had been going downhill, and he seemed to be stuck in a negative spiral. His four-year relationship with his girlfriend ended, and she gave off the appearance of having no trouble bouncing back. His best friend’s sister had been murdered by his (friend?, ex-friend?, classmate?, ex’s new boyfriend?, something else?)’s best friend. It was a clusterfuck. An outsider would say: “No wonder Polo hasn’t put much effort in his appearance lately.” But the truth is far worse than that.

Polo no longer seemed to care about anything. It was hard for him to get out of bed, and he hated the sight of himself. Anytime he looked in the mirror he saw memories of himself sobbing, covered in Marina’s blood. It was enough to make him want to shatter every reflection he encountered. His eyes were dull, no longer the sparkling blue they used to be. His hair grew longer, and he didn’t seem to care. His mothers set up an appointment for him to get it trimmed, and he wouldn’t have gone if it weren’t for the look on his mother’s face when she reminded him the day of, when she said to “please try and leave the house today,” eyebrows drawn in concern and worry for her son. He did, and he made it to the appointment. The following days he was determined to try harder to hide his true mental state for the sake of his mothers and his friends. It’s hard enough to pull through such a traumatic loss without having those around you display zero apparent motivation to recover or even attempt to fight the depression. He tried for Guzmán’s sake. But Polo still found it too tiring.

He still loved his best friend, that was the sick twist. When he spent time with or even saw Guzmán he felt nauseated. Guilt would seep in. ‘I’m a terrible human being. I don’t deserve the love he is extending to me. If he only knew…’ Polo had seen Guzmán’s anger manifested in physical assault before, and there was no doubt in his mind he would be the victim of a far-worse outburst should Guzmán ever find out. Self-preservation alone kept him from confessing.

Well, that and his duty to protect his confidants.

Carla and Polo occasionally crossed paths during their holiday, really only at social events they had been forced to attend by their parents. Their families would not interact more than was necessary at such an event in order to spare their children: a greeting, small talk, and a parting. Carla would check up on him inconspicuously during these interactions, making sure he was maintaining the charade. This would remind Polo to fix his sad, drooping hair and smile a bit more. Of course, these smiles never reached his eyes, but it’s the thought that counts. Every interaction with Carla made his heart feel like it was being squeezed as he was unable to run into her arms and cry, releasing all the frustration and fear pent up inside him. But she wouldn’t have had it. They were no longer together. She had made that perfectly clear.

Sometimes Carla would bring Christian along. On those days Polo would avoid the pair at all costs. It was all too clear to Polo how much Christian resented him, and he didn’t need to see his face and the clear rejection present in his body language. How could Christian have any positive thoughts about Polo when he is the reason his best friend is back in prison, wrongfully convicted? Those thoughts were too painful. Polo stayed away, and his mental state continued in its downward spiral.

By the time the new school year started up the difference in him was quite apparent. Polo’s stuttering appeared more and more frequently, so much that he nearly stopped talking altogether. Guzmán didn’t seem too into talking anymore either, so no one seemed to mind his silence. They set up a memorial to Marina in the main hallway of the school. Polo refused to look at it. Rarely a day went by when Polo showed up to Las Encinas without glasses.

Polo had gotten lazy. He was too tired, too tired to care what people thought, too tired to care if people found out. He couldn’t live with himself anymore. He was a monster, and he couldn’t stand himself.

It was hard. Polo was constantly ready for someone to come into class and announce that he was the murderer. And he wouldn’t have fought. They would find out eventually, and Polo would pay for his crimes. It was only a matter of time.

He rarely paid attention in his classes, and his grades started dropping to nearly failing. Everyone could see that this was not his normal behavior. Principal Muñoz spoke with him about making sure he was taking care of himself and attended the appointments with his therapist. Not that those appointments ever helped, because Polo couldn’t talk about what was really going on.

Seeing Carla and Christian together only made it worse really. They put on a show, Polo knew that, but it still hurt. He could see they weren’t fully there. They were off, Carla’s smile not as bright as it once was, Christian much less disruptive and chaotic than normal. It was Polo’s fault. And still he watched as they sat together, watched as they shared affectionate looks, watched as they kissed.

And then one night it happened: Polo broke. He was at home, his mothers off at yet another event for the rest of the night. He was grateful they were gone; he didn’t know what would come out of his mouth if he had someone to cry to. Today had been no different from the others; it just felt like too much. Maybe it was the way Guzmán had kissed him goodbye when he left school that day. Maybe it was the way Carla and Christian softly looked at each other during lunch. Maybe it was due to him accidentally seeing the memorial of Marina for the first time in a while. Whatever it was, he had hit a breaking point.

When Polo returned home he broke down immediately. Lying face-down on his bed he sobbed, his glasses thrown to the side. He half-heartedly tried to undo his tie, but gave up half-way through. He stayed that way for a while. Time passed, or maybe it didn’t; didn’t matter much to him. He tried to calm his breathing. His head was pounding and his throat sore. When his breathing evened out enough, he pulled out his phone. He knew he needed help. He didn’t know who he could turn to. The only ones who knew about his true situation would hate to hear from him, and if he confided in anyone else they would tell the police, putting both Carla and Christian in danger for helping him.

He knew it was a bad idea, but he didn’t care what happened to himself. If they refused to acknowledge him, that was that. Polo wiped the tears from his eyes, and returned his glasses to his face once again. He opened his phone to his group chat with Carla and Christian, unused since before the breakup. He started recording.

“H-h-hey. I know you don’t wanna hear from me. I’m sorry, but I need help. I-I feel lost, and I think I’m going crazy. I don’t deserve your help. I don’t deserve your love. I’m a monster. B-but everything hurts, and I can’t stand to live like this any longer. It’s all falling apart, and I feel like I’m drowning-“ He broke off, his breathing heavy with tears. Polo regained his voice. “Please.”

The message was sent as he broke down into sobs of anguish as he tried to escape the turmoil in his mind. He waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Polo drifted off, resigned to the darkness and apathy overcoming him.

Suddenly he woke to pounding at his front door.

“Open up!”

Christian.

Polo made this way over to the door and hesitated. The anger in Christian’s voice only terrified him more.

“Polo, open this fucking door!”

As if on autopilot he reached for the handle and opened it. The other strode past and rounded on him. He looked like he would have busted down the door if he had been kept waiting a moment longer. Polo shut the door but was unable to meet Christian’s eyes when he turned around.

“You fucking idiot. What do you think you’re doing sending messages like that? Do you ever think about anyone but yourself? Huh? Did you even stop to think how Carla would react to a message like that? Do you know what kind of state she was in after she heard your message?”

This caught Polo’s attention, and his eyes snapped to Christian’s. They were fiery, full of anger and… fear. Christian was afraid.

“We were together, thank God, when we got it,” he continued. “Do you have any idea what that sounded like? She thought you were going to kill yourself! She broke down sobbing thinking this was a suicide note. She begged me to go check on you, but she was hysterical, and I couldn’t leave her like that. I have never seen her so torn up; I didn’t know what to do! And now I’m here, so I’m gonna ask again. What. The fuck. Were you thinking?” Christian stared at Polo, breathing heavily. He must’ve sped straight from Carla’s house.

Polo’s eyes had never left Christian’s, and when he heard how his ex-girlfriend had reacted to his message his eyes had begun to sting. That was all he was ever good for. All he ever did was hurt others. Why did he think they were going to be able to save him? He could never be saved. All he could do was hurt people.

Christian stared at him, eyes cold, waiting for an answer.

Polo took a breath. And then another. He tried to respond. He really did. No words came. He looked away.

Christian fumed. “What the fuck did you mean? You don’t deserve our help? What? Did you think you were in this on your own? Are Carla and I not a part of this at all? Have we not sacrificed anything? Does it mean nothing to you that this has been been eating away at us all summer too? You’re not the only one who’s hurting, Polo. Honestly, you’re just a coward. You’re a coward, and I can’t fucking stand what you’re putting us through. And now you act like the burden is all on you?? My fucking best friend is in jail for something you did.”

“Then why are you here?” Polo had found his voice. “Why do you care? I-I said it before. I don’t deserve your help. I ruined your friend’s life. Why should you forgive me for that? I don’t understand why you haven’t run off to the police yet. P-probably to protect Carla, but you know I wouldn’t hurt her. I would never bring her further into my m-mess.” He took a breath, as if he was steeling himself. “Actually, please, do me a favor. Go to the police now. Tell them I did it. Tell-tell them you didn’t know anything until now, b-but the voice message prompted you to come see what I was talking about, and I confessed to you, so you immediately ran off to the police. Then both you and Carla are safe, Nano gets out, and I get what I deserve.” He sounded so defeated, so tired.

“Are you an idiot?” Christian spits out. “Seriously, are you fucking stupid? Why would I do that?”

“Because you hate me and what I’ve done to you.” Some fire returned to Polo’s voice. “So, please, just go. I-I won’t mention you; I won’t mention Carla. I’ll say I did it all on my own; I promise you. I just can’t do this anymore.”

“Shut up. Honestly, Polo, just shut the fuck up. Are you for real right now? Okay, yeah. I’m pissed Nano had to take the fall. I’m pissed you got us into this mess. I’m pissed that the system completely fucks over whoever they feel like, especially if the poor sons of bitches can’t pay them off. I’m pissed that I’m worried about you. And I’m pissed that Carla still cares so fucking much about you. But there’s gotta be another way to get him out. There has to be a way. Yeah, it’s terrible, and there are times I hate you for what you’ve done to completely screw my life over. There are times I wish Carla and I could actually work out or even attempt a stable relationship, just the two of us. There are times I really wanna cut the charade, but….” He trailed off, breathing heavy, as if his mind had just caught up to what he was saying.

“But…?” Polo prompted. “Why can’t you turn me in? Why are you here then? Because it sure as hell doesn’t sound like it was really just for Carla’s sake.”

Christian was silent for a moment. His eyes drifted around the room as he searched for an answer. Exhausted, he breathed,“Why can’t I fucking hate you?”

Polo took in a shaky breath. “I murdered my best friend’s sister. What’s wrong with me? What kind of fucking monster can live with himself after he does something like that?” Polo’s legs started to shake, and he dropped down onto the sofa, unable to hold himself up any longer. Tears began to spill. He breathed. “Carla was right. I-I do want to kill myself. W-what’s the point of living knowing I ruined the lives of everyone I care about? I don’t deserve to live after doing that…”

Christian crouched down in front of Polo, and clasped their hands together as tears started to burn his eyes as well. “Fuck… Polo, don’t you dare cry. Stop crying right now, and listen to me, okay? You’re not a monster. You’re wonderful and brilliant and emotional. You love fiercely. And we need you here. I… I need you here.” His eyes glowing with a soft passion fully directed at Polo, urging him to understand. “So don’t you dare say any of those things. Don’t you dare kill yourself.”

Polo leaned forward, towards their clasped hands, towards Christian, and leaned his head against the other’s shoulder. “I just wanted us to be together.” Polo continued to sob. “That’s all I wanted. I never tried to hurt Carla. I never tried to hurt you. I sure as hell never wanted to hurt Marina. But I f-f-failed. Everything fell to shit, and I can’t handle trying to pick up all the pieces anymore. All I do is hurt people. The world is better off without monsters like me. You’re better off without me, both of you…. A-and what would be the point of living without you?” He trailed off.

“You fucker, you’re not allowed to die, and you’re sure as hell not allowed to turn yourself in,” Christian scolded the young man in front of him, grasping his hands with newfound passion, forcing Polo to lean back so they could meet eyes. “You know what? I don’t care if I’m better off without you! I don’t care that you made terrible mistakes! What I do care about is you!” He brought his hands up and held Polo’s face, urging Polo to look at him. “So don’t you dare die. Don’t you dare leave me.”

As Polo brought his eyes up to meet Christian’s the latter surged forwards, and captured his lips with his own. When they separated, Christian’s face softened, and his thumbs lightly brushed the other’s cheekbones, lightly bumping the frames on Polo’s face as they wiped his tears away.

“Do you understand what I’m saying now?” His voice gentler than ever before.

Polo stared, stunned, unable to believe what had just happened. The two gazed at each other for a moment.

Suddenly Polo regained his senses and lightly removed Christian’s hands from his face, pulling away. “You can’t do this to Carla. She doesn’t deserve this. Go and be with her. Check up on her; make sure she’s okay. She doesn’t want me; she can’t trust me. It’s no use getting our hopes up.” He sniffled, trying to regain his composure, a fake smile graced the corner of his mouth.

Christian threw his hands up in exasperation, “How many times do I have to call you a fucking idiot? She loves you. This breakup hasn’t just been bad for you. We try, and we do love each other, but there’s always sadness in her eyes. She misses you. We haven’t even had sex in weeks. She doesn’t say it, but you’d have to be blind to see how much she misses you. Is that enough proof for you? She’s crazy about you, man,” Christian grabbed Polo’s hands once more, “… and so am I.” He smirked, “Even with your stupid fucking glasses.”

Polo cracked a smile and stared back at him for a moment. “…For real?”

“For real,” Christian responded offering a small, genuine smile.

It was Polo’s turn to crash their mouths together, and he didn’t hold back, for once in his life. The two finally broke away smiling.

“So now you see why you have to keep living. You can’t give up, and you can’t turn yourself in. I don’t know what I’d do with myself without you here.” Christian’s serious tone was not dulled by his joy. “We’re gonna keep going, and we’re gonna get through this. You’re not going to jail. You’re worth more than all the pain and troubles caused by that one disaster of a night.”

Polo looked at their joined hands and rubbed his thumbs along the other’s hands thoughtfully. He finally spoke: “Will you ever be able to forgive me?” A hesitant look in his eyes as he looked at Christian, waiting for his answer.

“Babe, the only way you’re not forgiven is if you don’t come here and kiss me right now,” he smirked before softening for a moment. “You’re safe; we’ve got you. We’ll get through this together.”

Polo nodded, feeling a sense of relief for the first time in months.

“Besides, we do have quite a bit of making up to do.”

Polo smiled back and leaned toward Christian, “Yes, we do.”

[ober-affen-geil]

This is probably going to be less analytical than the rest of my metas, because I want to talk about an aspect of Roswell that affects me personally. (I do plan, eventually, to do a post about the writing on this show and while this does address some of the impact the writing has had on me it is not about the writing *overall*. Just to make that clear.) 

There have been several overarching concepts that this show has done a wonderful job of addressing in various lowkey ways. As a female viewer, I am invigorated by the strength and variety written into the women on this show. As a queer viewer, I am encouraged by the depth and focus given to the queer characters on this show. But this isn’t about either of those things (though they are important to me, obviously). This is about how Roswell depicts the military aspect of the show.

*A caveat, I have never been a member of the US military. I am a dependent and I come from a military family; I am approaching it from that standpoint.*

To me, Roswell is the first time I have ever seen the military represented in TV in a way that relates almost exactly to how I see the military in my actual life. And I’m not talking about the detailed stuff, there are issues with that as with all things. (Seriously, can we please settle on a rank for Alex? But in all fairness, they did correctly use the word “airman” instead of “soldier” in dialog so I will give them that.) I mean for the first time the military is not depicted as a force for good or evil, it’s just there.

Alex is a good person in his own right, not because he’s in the military. Jesse is a bad person in his own right, not because he’s in the military. It is emphasized, several times, in dialog that the government is responsible for Project Shepard and all the horrors it brings with, not the military. The way I’ve always seen the military, and the way I interpret this show as depicting the military, is that it is a weapon. But whether a weapon defends or strikes out is entirely dependent on the wielder, which is and always has been the US government. 

When Michael asks Alex how he knows about aliens Alex answers “Massive government conspiracy.” When Alex is talking to Kyle about the massacre they witnessed at Caulfield he says “You just watched your government blow up a building full of elderly people. Your brain is trying to justify the slaughter so that your government can be right.” Military resources and personnel are involved, yes. But the military is a tool, not the engineer. 

And the way that military service is written as having affected the characters is also telling in its variety. It is clear that Jesse Manes has taken the lessons of discipline and structure the military teaches and interpreted them in a very different way than how Alex has. And it is also clear that this is, as in real life, a reflection of the character of the individual, not a reflection on the lessons themselves.

While I’m on the subject of Alex I want to expand on him a little more, because he is to me the most direct link to my personal experience with the military. Alex has a complex relationship with his service. He admits, to Michael, that he may not have entered the Air Force for the best reasons, personally. He indicates several times that going to war has changed him mentally (I left “nice” back in the Middle East) and active combat has also obviously changed him physically. In his speech to Kyle, he talks about “the coldest reality of war” is that “you realize that the evil is you”. Alex is very aware of the negative aspects of military service. But he never once actually blames the military for what has happened to him. In fact we see him wearing an Air Force t-shirt in 1x13 and actively using his military training/resources at various points throughout the show.

This directly relates to the mindset of one of my immediate family members who has served (coincidentally also in the Air Force). I have had a conversation with them about their experience where they have told me, almost verbatim, exactly what Alex tells Kyle. “I saw things that made me think we’re not the good guys.” They have been affected negatively, both physically and mentally, by their active duty service (though not in the same ways as Alex). I can personally attest to the fact that this person, whom I love dearly, was called to war and did not return the same. And yet they are proud to have served. They wear Air Force hats and t-shirts all the time and continue to use surplus pieces of gear (like socks and PT uniforms) in their day to day life. (Though as anyone associated with the military can tell you, it’s actually very difficult to avoid picking up a crapload of excess clothing through your service.)

tl;dr Alex Manes is one of the truest, most honest characterizations of a service member I have seen in fiction. Ever. (If I’m being realistic, so is Jesse Manes, but he gets less focus/development.) And the way the military has been written as simply an entity is perfectly indicative of the way that I relate to it in my personal life. For that I give Roswell a lot of credit, and I can only hope it continues in season 2.

[skiller0dani]

Forgive and Forget | Niklaus Mikaelson

Summary: You come from a family of Werewolves that lived in the French Quarter when the Crescent and Kenner Families were in charge. Seeking revenge for Klaus’s family taking over once the Werewolves were driven out your Family plotted to murder Klaus, you begged Klaus to show them mercy. He didn’t. 

Pairing: Klaus Mikaelson x Werewolf!Reader 

Word Count: 4.3k 

Warnings: Yelling, Arguments, Swearing, The Originals Spoilers, Violence, Physical Fighting, Mentions of Blood, Mega Fluff, Angst, 

A/N: I haven’t done a TVD related one yet!! Send me requests if you want me to write more! Klaus is my absolute favorite character, he’s so complex and broken and has so many layers. Every time you peel back one, there’s another one to unfold. Love him. He’s my precious angel baby. I should mention I haven’t finished the entire Originals Series, I’m barely in Season 2 so I might just make up my own little plot that works with this little thing I’m writing. I’m sorry if it’s not correct or doesn’t line up with the Show! 

Also I use the nickname ‘dove’ in this story. I just don’t think Klaus would say ‘baby’ but he would say something cute like ‘dove’. Plus I think that nickname is really precious and adorable. 

Masterlist

It was hard for you to be in the same room with him, let alone living in the same house. There was nowhere else for you to go, you relied on him so much you didn’t have a backup plan if thinks went sideways- they did. This time worse than all the others. It wasn’t hard to love Klaus, but it was even harder to forgive him when he let you down. It took some time but you normally came around and forgave him after a few nights of avoiding him and drowning your sorrows. This time was different, this time you believed he would keep his word. This wasn’t as small as ‘you lied to me’ this was bigger than that. Granted you had severe issues with your family, and it had gotten to the point you didn’t even know if you loved them or tolerated them, but never have you wanted them dead. You didn’t know what to do this time, you didn’t have anywhere else to go. So you stayed, it’s not like you had much other choice. Like clockwork the three gentle knocks that come every night sound against your door. 

“Darling? Can’t we end this silly little fight? How long will it take for you to speak to me again?” Klaus said gently, with a slight edge to his voice. You stayed firmly on the bed, using all your willpower to ignore him. If you opened that door- it would end ugly. What he did cut you deep, ripped a wound open in your heart and this one was worse than all the rest. You love him, but you’re not sure this can be fixed. You feel a swell of emotion rush up on you, twisting your insides and forcing tears to your eyes. Klaus is impulsive when he’s angry, and he often forgets that his actions hurt the people he loves, and the part that hurts the most is that he doesn’t care. To him it’s a means to an end, a necessary evil. He assumes you will understand when he betrays your trust because he feels it’s necessary, but you’re losing faith in him. 

You hear his gentle footsteps as he moves away from your door and one tear snakes down your cheek before you can stop it. You need to get air, go for a walk but when you’re upset with him he hovers around your room. In fear you’ll leave him if he lets you out of the house- so you often have to sneak out. Klaus is overbearing, and paranoid and it hurts you that he doesn’t trust you enough to come back. If he would only let you go once, just once so he can see that no matter how angry you are with him you wouldn’t leave him. But he’s driven you so far away from his heart you sometimes wonder if he loves you at all or just keeps you around so his bed stays warm when he’s away. You carefully slide the window open and climb down the terrace when you’re certain he isn’t outside your door. You let out a deep sigh as the cool night air hits your face, prickling your skin like small needles. 

Pushing your hands in your pockets, you stroll down the stone streets, watching the stars twinkle, and the crescent moon shine. You watch mournfully as a young couple laughs in the street, leaning into each other. Living their perfectly mundane and normal lives, entirely safe and unaware of all that goes bump in the night. You envied that, you wished you and Klaus could have fallen in love in a different circumstance. Being with Klaus makes you feel eternally at peace, and forever in agony all at the same time. You embrace the crisp wind, loving the feeling of it stinging your skin. Sometimes you didn’t know if you were losing him, or if he was losing you. You know Klaus lost himself hundreds of years before he met you, but a small part of you hoped that the lost little boy carving gifts for his sister was still somewhere inside him. You love him, God do you love him. Every time he touches you it feels like you’re on fire, scorching on the outside but completely warm on the inside. It’s both riveting and painful, a combination of lively and dead. Yin and Yang, loving Nik is yin and yang.   

“Thought I’d find you out here.” A voice says smoothly from behind you, but you already know who it is. “Elijah,” you smile as you spin on your heels to face him. He smiles in return as he opens his arms for you- and you practically collapse into his chest, feeling nothing but security in his embrace. “Niklaus was frantic when he noticed you were gone.” Elijah states, “not the first time.” You say numbly, and Elijah squeezes you a little tighter. “Expect broken furniture when you return.” He says and in your mind you think if, if I return. “I think you know what I’m about to say,” Elijah begins and he’s right. You know he’s going to implore you to speak to Klaus before you make any decisions. Deep down you know he’s right but you just don’t know if you can do that this time. “You and Klaus have forgotten what love feels like, truly. You know it means protecting each other from harm and the inescapable fear of losing each other but other than that, you’ve forgotten,” Elijah starts and you feel taken aback. That’s not at all what you thought he’d say. “All of this, the witches, the curses, the vampires you’ve forgotten how to love each other. Give him another chance, maybe he’ll surprise you.” 

Elijah presses a kiss to your head before he turns and walks away, hands in his pockets leaving your heart and mind a tangled mess. You let yourself remember why you fell in love with him in the first place, his undying loyalty to his family. He doesn’t always show his affections in the best ways but deep down you know he has an unbreakable bond with Elijah and Rebekah. He wants to protect you, and sometimes he even wants to do the right thing he just doesn’t always know how to go about doing it. You fell in love with the artist, the man who would drag the brushes across the canvas with such ease. You’d see him standing by the window, brush in hand in the late hours of the night, where the moon was at it’s peak. You’d see the light reflect in his eyes, and as he painted the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen he looked utterly at peace. You fell in love with the boy who loves music, the man who would close his eyes when he heard a song that he loved. He’d just sit and absorb it, smile upon his lips. You’d hear him humming when he was in a good mood, his fingers drumming against the railing as he glided down the stairs. 

He would take your hands when it was just the two of you laying in bed, he’d put a record on and you’d sway. He’d pull you close to him, breathe in your scent and feel peace just knowing you were there in his arms. You fell in love with that goofy kid you see on the inside, the way he would tease you to make your cheeks heat up. Or nudge you in the side to hear you giggle, or give you that look at dinner when you say something silly. A slow smile would make its way onto his lips when you realize how foolish you sounded, and you’d be embarrassed but when he laughed it would feel okay. You smile fondly at the memory, remembering him sit at the table across you and you felt...normal. You remember how normal he looked, like a regular guy taking his girl out to dinner. For one night you weren’t a Werewolf, and he wasn’t an Original Vampire, you were just you- and he was Niklaus. That lost little boy he thought died a thousand years ago. 

Before you even realize it you’re turning around and heading back towards the house. Klaus made a mistake, and you haven’t forgiven him but Elijah is right. You and Klaus haven’t been like that in a while, you’re growing used to being upset with him and he’s growing used to being defensive and angry. You’re losing the lighthearted happiness your relationship used to be, and that feeling was cloud 9. It was so good you’re willing to fight for it. You push through the doors and make way for the stairs, pretending the smug little smile on Elijah’s face. Damn him, how does he always know how to fix it? You push open the door leading to Klaus’s room and when you see him you stutter to a stop in surprise. He’s painting, and humming along to one of his favorite records. On the canvas, you see a beautiful portrait of you. Your mouth hangs open, “Nik?” You say softly and he turns, his expression shifting from sad to worry. 

“Nik please, promise me you won’t.” You beg, watching him pace back and forth. His fists closed and his jaw clenched, he’s taking deep breaths. His eyes are almost glowing, “please don’t hurt them. You can fix this without hurting them.” He gives you a look that makes panic seep into your heart, and when he turns for the door you’re up like a rocket. “Klaus, don’t!” You cry as the door slams shut. 

“Y/n.” He says simply as you remain frozen in your spot. Neither of you know what to say, you feel such pain when you look at him. Pain because of what he’s done, pain because you wanted to leave him, just pain. “Let’s go somewhere.” You blurt and his eyebrows raise in surprise. Klaus places his brush in the glass of water he has and takes a tentative step towards you. “Let’s just go. Me and you. For a little while.” You say again, slower in fear he would reject the idea. The look on his face isn’t helping because you have absolutely no idea what he’s thinking. He turns to your shared dresser and begins to throw clothes into it, and you watch stunned. You don’t know what you’re doing but if you and Nik are going to fix this, then you need to get away for a little bit. Just you two. He takes your hand and leads you down the stairs. You don’t know where you’re going but you know you want to go with him. You love him, you want to fight for him with every bone in your body. 

The walk is long, and you stand a few feet apart as you follow to him an unknown location. You don’t say anything and the silence feels so heavy, so many unspoken things you’re too afraid to say. Klaus seems different than he normally is when you’re upset with him, he feels distant. Almost like he’s thinking and that scares you. He’s definitely not angry but when he’s angry you can usually guess what he’s thinking but now? You have no idea. You feel stings to your heart when you remember what he did, and you don’t know if you’ll ever be able to forgive him for this. You expected him to at least try to explain himself, or to check on you- you expected him to say something. But he didn’t say anything which concerned you more than if he was angry. You want to say something to him but every time you open your mouth your throat goes dry and it’s like there’s cotton in your mouth. 

You stumble into the Bayou, seeing the blood and hearing the cries. “No,” Your eyes are wide in horror. “Mom?” You call, your eyes wildly dancing around for her, you hear coughs and sputters as the injured wolves spit up blood. He didn’t kill any of them but he hurt them, bad. “Y/n?” You hear her weak voice and you whirl around to see her huddled under a tree clutching her side. You rush to her side to see a deep gash slowly healing in her side. “Who did this?” You asked but you knew deep down who it was- but every single bone in your body was praying you were wrong. She takes your hand, you and your mother never got along and you were never around but seeing how much pain she was in brought tears to your eyes. “Klaus.” And you feel your heart break in your chest. 

Tears spring in your eyes at the memory, your poor mother. He could have killed them and you begged him not to hurt them. You stop walking as tears fill your eyes and spill over your cheeks, why did he have to hurt them? You trusted him, you really believed he wouldn’t do it, but you were wrong. Klaus stops, having heard your quiet cries as he slowly turns to look at you. He doesn’t know what to do, this is his fault. He lets his anger completely take over, and he doesn’t feel satisfied until he’s punished those who’ve wronged him. But by punishing them, he punished you- and he hates that he hurt you. He would take it back if he could, but it’s too late for that. You stand and cry, lamely wiping away tears as they fell down your cheeks and Klaus feels more lost than ever. You pick up your pace and walk past him, just needing to get some space from him. Klaus follows you, knowing how dangerous the streets of New Orleans are at night. “Y/n,” He finally says when he sees figures gathering in the allies around the street. You ignore him and keep walking but when you hear footsteps you look up and see you’re being surrounded. 

“Dad? What on Earth are you doing?” You ask as two of your cousins grab your arms and pull you backwards. Klaus gets a violently angry look in his eyes, “release her or you won’t have any hands to hurt her with.” He threatens, his gaze sharpening. Your Dad smiles, “oh Klaus, I don’t have any intentions of hurting her, but rather saving her from you.” He smiles and Klaus eyes begins to glow yellow and you know if you don’t get your Dad to back down then Klaus will kill them all. In the corner of your eyes you see it, the curved blade that you’ve seen used twice. Once on Klaus when it sunk into his chest and caused him unspeakable agony and then again on Elijah. “Dad stop, don’t do this. Don’t be Klaus,” You beg, pulling against your cousins trying to break free. The circle they’ve created around Klaus tightens and gets smaller, my Dad carrying the blade behind his back. “Klaus he has Papa Tunde’s Blade!” You cry before your cousin clamps a hand around your mouth. Klaus’ stance changes, as he prepares for them to lunge at him. Your heart pounds in your chest wildly as you watch your Dad glance around at all the other Werewolves Klaus injured. 

“Now!” Your father cries and they all lunge forward at once, the Blade being passed around as each of them try to get close enough to use it. Klaus easily fends them off, throwing them down the street and breaking their arms. You fight against your two male cousins, desperately trying to get to Klaus to defend him. You see daggers the Wolves are holding slice Klaus’s back and arms, only making him mad as he kicks in their knees. There’s got to be more than 20 up against Klaus, and they can barely lay a hand on him. You stomp on your cousins feet and kick their shins, claw at their hands and arms doing anything you can to break free. Then your younger sister stabs Papa Tunde’s Blade deep into Klaus’s chest, his eyes flicker before he collapses to his knees. Tears spill over your cheeks as you use all your strength to throw your cousins off you. “Get him,” your Father instructs as the Wolves prepare to grab him. “No!” You cry as you push through the Wolves to get to Klaus. “He hurt us Y/n. He could have killed us-” You Father begins but you stand up, eyes wild with rage. “How are you better than him!” You yell, hearing Klaus’ grunts and cries of pain. “Go. Before I take this Blade out of him because if you’re still here when I do I promise he will kill you, and I won’t be able to stop him.” You snap, crouching next to Klaus again. “Come with us.” Your Father implores, “I never want to see you again.” You snap softly, your voice choked with tears seeing Klaus in so much pain. 

The Wolves reluctantly leave you behind as you cry, grabbing your own dagger. “T-This is going to hurt, I’m sorry.” You cry softly, knowing he can’t respond. You cut down his chest where the Blade sunk in and you take a deep breath before plunging your hand in, reaching for the handle of the Blade. You wrap your fingers around it and yank it out of his chest and Klaus gasps, in both pain and relief. He lays his head back, gasping for air as you cut your wrist and place it over his mouth. He pulls your arm close to him as he drinks from you, you wince at the pain but you don’t fail to notice how gently he held your arm. Once his wound heals he releases you, and you help him sit up before you throw your arms around his neck. He pulls you into his lap as he winds his arms around your shaking body. “It’s okay love, I’m okay.” He breathes but you just hold him so tightly. Your body is trembling as tears steadily flow down your cheeks. “Y/n, I’m alright dove. Really.” He says again, rubbing your back and beyond grateful for your worry. A big part of him thought he’d lost your affections forever but seeing how you reacted when he was in danger made his worry ease. 

Gently he pulls you away from him, but your arms are still secured around his shoulders. He looks you in the eyes as you hold tightly onto him, “I have the perfect place for us my love.” He says standing, and carefully setting you on the ground. You link your arm with his, on high alert in case anyone else attempts to launch an attack on him tonight. He leads you to the edge of town where a beautiful two story little cottage sits and your eyes widen when Klaus pulls out a set of keys. “This is your house? I thought-” “That’s mine and my siblings home. This is my home.” He smiles as you follow him up the porch steps. When he opens the door and turns on the lights you smile, his artwork is hanging from the walls and a piano sits against the back wall. It’s not a big grand house, it’s small and cozy. With a cute little kitchen tucked in the corner and two large couches sat in front of a TV. It looks like a family home, not a Klaus home. 

Klaus takes your bags up the stairs as you take it all in, when you see it. A painting of a child, with curly dark hair and a smile upon her face. Her eyes are a bright green and shes sitting in a bed of flowers, the sun upon her face. “Who is this?” You ask, looking at the clothes he painted on her. They’re old, a style popular in the 20s. “A young girl by the name of Penelope, I met her when I lived here. She died in the fire at the theater.” He said as he gazed at the painting with me. “She was sweet, she loved singing and she loved to watch me paint. So full of life, and meeting her was the first time I ever desired to have a family. When she died- I was suddenly reminded why I can’t do that.” He says, a sad look on his face. You wanted to ask him about her, how did he meet her? Why had he never mentioned her before? But you didn’t you reached out and grabbed his hand and you felt him relax. Looking back at the piano, you pull him towards it. “Play me something.” You ask and he smiles sitting at the piano and pulling you down next to him. His fingers begin to dance along the keys, playing something beautiful, “is that Canon in D? by Pachelbel?” You ask and he nods, smiling at you. You’re taken aback by the feeling of this moment, you never knew he could play so beautifully. 

You rest your head against his shoulder as his eyes flutter shut, a smile on his face and you see him- that little boy you fell in love with. The little boy who loves art and music, the little boy who loves to create things and makes little gifts for his sister. The little boy that isn’t full of anger and pain- the little boy who has faith in the people he loves. The little boy who has faith in himself, the little boy who lets himself love openly and freely, without hindrance or restraints. Your heart swells so big you fear it’ll burst with all the emotion you feel right now. You place your hands on the keys and play the Canon in D Duet, your heart feeling full. You play with him, feeling so close to him- like you’re getting a glimpse into his heart. Getting to see who he really is, on the inside. When the song is over he jumps right into Nocturne No.2, one of your favorites. He seems completely lost in it, and totally at ease, you’ve never seen him look so relaxed. Then he plays something heavier, something sadder, and you look at him- the most raw and vulnerable look on his face. That’s when you recognize what he’s playing, Moonlight Sonata. 

You lean against him again, looking at all the art pieces he has hanging. There’s a painting of the ocean, and another of two blurry figures dancing in the moonlight, a purple hued mountain with snow melting off of it. They’re all so beautiful, and Klaus painted all of them. You feel your heart growing bigger and bigger for all the love you feel for this man. How have you never truly seen this side of him before? Has he kept it hidden away inside him, afraid of showing weakness to anybody? “You’re going to be such a good Dad,” you whisper, catching him off guard as he stops playing. His eyes flutter open as he looks over at you, “I mean look at all this. How did I not know you could be so gentle? That you could create such beauty, you painted Penelope. She looks so happy, so relaxed. How did I not know you were good with children? If you let your walls down just for her, your daughter, and she will be able to see all of this beauty and compassion. You don’t have to be defensive and guarded all the time, you can be this person. You don’t have to be him when you’re by yourself, you just have to trust me enough to stop being so defensive. You don’t have to pretend you don’t care around me because I want you to care.” You say, looking into his eyes. 

Klaus stands and reaches for your hand, and you follow him up the stairs. At the very end of the hallway is a closed door, which he brings out a key to unlock. He looks nervous, like something behind this door is really special, you don’t know what it is but you know it’s taking him a lot to show it to you. When the door swings open, your mouth hangs open and tears spring to your eyes. The entire room is empty, but it’s been painted to look like the galaxy. It has actual lights in the ceiling, walls and floors. Bright white lights for stars, and the rest is black and purple and blue and beautiful. “Did you do this?” You ask and he nods, his hands in his pockets. “It’s beautiful.” You whisper, standing in the middle of the room watching as he closes the door, and you see the back of the door painted as well. “I did it for you, something secret I’ve been working on.” Klaus says and you look at him, his eyes sparkling as he looks around the room. He knows how much you love looking into the night sky, he knows how beautiful you think it is. You almost forget that angry violent man from a few days ago, the man that nearly ripped your family apart- literally. He looks vulnerable, scared. He stands nervously by the door when you approach him and press your lips to his. You lean into him, feeling him all around you- he is your home. “I love you,” You whisper when you pull apart. Klaus begins to lean down again when his eyes focus on the window- which he has also painted so you can’t see anything out of it. “What is it?” You ask when you hear a whizzing sound- as if something flew by you. You turn around when you feel a searing pain in your stomach, blood soaks into your shirt when you see it’s a bullet wound. Rage and panic overtake Klaus’s face, “Nik?” You ask before the whole world goes black. 

[moomingitz]

i always thought the hate directed towards Chris was overkill and really mean spirited. people have made a good point that Chris should suffer some consequences for keeping Sonic from going home but it usually just really mean spirited or involves Sonic being OOC. how would you have Chris deal with consequences for his actions?

Lately I’ve been thinking for Chris’ backstory in the Sonic Boom cartoon universe(since he’s actually supposed to be the same exact character from Sonic X post season 3), to make it where one of the main reasons why his universe went bye-bye, and why it couldn’t be saved, ties back to Chris stopping Sonic from going back to his home planet.

But, it wasn’t the act of him running off with Sonic that did it, but Chris shutting off that teleportation gate before that portal connecting Earth and Sonic’s universes closed on it’s own.

Because Chris had the portal shut off prematurely, his and Sonic’s universes actually never fully split a part from each other. At most the process of the “death of time” caused by their worlds merging back together was reset, and the process of it happening this time around took far longer. But it didn’t start to actually become noticeable until some time after the events of season 3. This whole thing is also half the reason why Chris, and Shadow, can no longer physically age in that old 12 year old body the Master Emerald had stored away for him.

Not only did Chris loose his family, friends, and both his and Sonic’s universe, it’s also what caused Shadow(the only other survivor) to not want to stick around with him, after him and Chris found their way into the Sonic Boom universe. Chris kept seeing Shadow blame himself, feeling like he failed to keep Maria’s promise and just failed everyone else in general. Knowing full well what would happen, Chris told Shadow that it wasn’t his fault, and he told Shadow all about what he did all the way back at the end of season 2.

Shadow was, understandably, pissed at Chris. But all he could do was just leave Chris to stew in what he helped cause. Beating him around wouldn’t bring everyone and everything back. Chris wasn’t denying or trying to defend any of his actions and he was ready to take the full brunt of whatever was about to be verbally thrown at him. So Shadow just told Chris that he was now on his own and he left. Chris didn’t even try to stop Shadow. In the future, Shadow would eventually be kicking up shit with that universe’s version of Sonic and his friends.

Before he was scouted by a very persistent T.W. Barker to join the circus, Chris was all by himself to wonder some familiar but still alien planet he knew nothing about for god knows how long. He had to be saddled with the guilt and shame, even all the way up to the present.(Of course, besides Shadow, no one else knows about all the stuff that went down, since everyone else in the former X universe no longer exists.) If it wasn’t for pretty much being homeless, hungry, and just plain tired, Chris would have continued to turn down Barker’s offer. Thankfully, from observing his actress mother and mogul father growing up, with some help Chris was able to get the hang of being in Barker’s circus faster than he would have otherwise, and he got on Barker’s good graces. But the memories of his mistake and what he lost still haunts him, all the way up to him befriending Dave the Intern, and learning the existence of Boom!Sonic opening that wound back open....

Okay, I may have taken the long way to explain all of this stuff, but I thought it would help to better get across the why and hows the consequences of Chris’ actions affected far more others beyond himself in this scenario. It’s not mean spirited and it doesn’t require Sonic or his friends to act disgustingly out of character in order to be used as the fandom mouthpieces. Shadow being unforgiving of Chris is well within his character, too. Most importantly, it’s something that can happen well within what was established in Sonic X.

I think not only would a possible for sure apocalyptic scenario actually fully taking place makes sense within the context of Sonic X, but I think it ties in very nicely with what Chris wanted to avoid in the first place by keeping Sonic from going back to his world. The mistake he made years ago eventually came back to bite him hard in the ass. By never wanting to be alone and away from Sonic again, Chris’ decision to shut off that teleportation gate only just made that a reality for him in the worst way imaginable. Sonic’s friends would have forgiven Chris for that whole thing, but, time and space don’t care about human(or mobian) emotions or intentions. Chris is given more than enough time to reflect and reevaluate himself after they’re all gone, but it’s rough.

This whole take of mine isn’t a “look at what an irredeemable monster he is. Crucify him!”, thing, it’s a, “he made a very big mistake, whether he meant to or not, and now he has to live with the consequences”.

Also, the concept of alternate universes is a thing in both Sonic X and Sonic Boom, and the pre-reboot Archie Comic series the X continuity was part of the multiverse that existed outside of the “prime zone”. So even when working strictly within canon, crossing over characters between different series is still something that doesn’t require much of a stretch to make sense in-universe.

Any opinions?