#and I can see both still plausibly leading to that after credits scene where it seems like he DOES remember atsushi

[leejeann]

All the theories are convincing me lol, I'm so torn now on whether I think Akutagawa's memory has actually been overwritten to some degree and that the "who the hell are you?" was genuine, or if the phrasing is a red herring for us and he meant "This isn't you. Fix that" but just doesn't really have the time to elaborate at the moment

[codthefishgod]

I absolutely agree with this tbh, I genuinely think Fenn is someone who, once he has his mind set on something, needs field experience to have it changed, like you said. That's probably why even though Oskar was around Fenn for much longer than Tobias and was encouraging the same ideas, Tobias is the only one who actually had any real impact on Fenn's beliefs, because Tobias IS a Vaylinian. He's physical proof that, as much as Fenn wants to, CAN'T be ignored.

And as for the battlefield thing... Yeah. Unfortunately I can really see it happening. Lennon has confirmed that Faroff will not be a tragedy, so I know Tobias and Fenn won't die, but a hell of a lot can happen without you dying, you know. Stuff that's arguably worse.

I do want there to be a Condessa arc, but I'd argue that them being separated and there being a time period where we see them each individually on their own paths after leaving the wall would be far more impactful. And the story has been set up in a way that makes that a plausible outcome as well, considering Fenn has been fighting to get sent out to the battlefield and Tobias' service is almost up. They're both in perfect positions to be snatched out of their posts at the wall.

Why do I say this would be more impactful? Well, first off, it really drives home the fact that literally everything is against them. The current arc, because it's mostly focused on trust and developing a proper relationship between Fenn and Tobias, is mostly pushing that into the background, in the sense that it's not currently a DIRECT threat (this is NOT a criticism, by the way! If their relationship isn't cultivated first they'll fall apart immediately under any sort of stress, this is an extremely important part of their plotline and it needs to happen before actual direct conflict does!)

If they were actually separated and thrown back into their roles for their countries, they and we as the audience would be very harshly reminded that their time at the wall... Doesn't actually change anything. Not yet, at least. They still have their duties to their countries. They can't even mention their knowledge of each other to anyone, let alone see that person that they'd started to genuinely care about over their time together.

PLUS! It would give us a lot more insight into their individual cultures and how their governments work, which of course WORLD BUILDING I live for this shit. We might be introduced to characters that clearly are meant to have relevance in the plot but haven't been properly introduced yet (Edward, Tobi's mom, the general, etc.) and learn more about their pasts and exactly what influenced them to be the way they are. More Fenn internal conflict struggling with what he saw through his interactions with Tobias vs. what he's being told, maybe he even starts to see the holes in their lies?

AND ALSO, I think Tobias is WAY more optimistic than we give him credit for. I genuinely think he still hasn't given up on his family. I believe everything he's done (flunking out of military school, etc.) was to try and show his family that he's NOT cut out for the future they keep trying to force them into. And... I think that he thinks that his service at the wall will be the end of it. Like he just had to do SOMETHING and now they'll let him do what he wants with his life. But... Obviously, it most likely won't end up that way. (ALSO IMAGINE IF THEY FORCE TOBIAS TO CUT HIS HAIR I MEAN WE KNOW IT'S ILLEGAL RIGHT- HOLY SHIT THAT WOULD BE SUCH A DEPRESSING AND IMPACTFUL SCENE OF REALISATION THAT THEY'LL NEVER LET HIM LEAD HIS OWN LIFE)

I mean just imagine the desperation. Especially since they've both gotten a taste of what a real healthy relationship is that they never got before. Fenn beginning to see the lies in Sona's propaganda and being on the battlefield struggling because when he sees the Vaylinians all he can think of is TOBIAS AND HOW HE WAS A REAL HUMAN BEING WITH A LIFE AND FEELINGS AND WHY WOULDN'T ANY OF THEM BE THE SAME WAY... And Tobias remembering how Fenn treated him and how he didn't see the things he made as worthless and how he really trusted him and didn't see him as incompetent... And comparing that to how his family is treating him and realising this ISN'T normal and NOT something he deserves but... Just not being able to do anything about it. IT WOULD BE SO HEART WRENCHING BUT SUCH A GREAT MOMENT OF CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT THAT WOULD REALLY DRIVE THEIR DISILLUSIONMENT ARCS HOME...

Dear god I did NOT realise how much I had to say about that. Enjoy this essay 💀

I'm about to pop in the shower but I just wanted to say rq that sadly I think the only (or at least the most effective) way Fenn can really change his mindset on things is by having field experience, stuff like, idk, meeting Tobi for example. He only starts opening up to new ideas once he spends time with an actual vaylinian and realizes he's just a normal human person just like him and not the image of a vaylinian Sona exposed him to his whole life.

Ans I say "sadly" because this means the way he might have to learn that fighting on the battlefield isn't the amazing, overly-glorified idea he has about it in head is by... you know. Actually being there.

[arctimon]

What If...? (Big Hero 6 Edition)

So the next Marvel series set to release is What If...?, a series of nine episodes that will focus on alternate events and timelines that occur within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  The series, based off of the comic series of the same name, will premiere on August 11th, running straight through October 6th. The show was suppose to have ten episodes in both Season 1 and 2 (which is already being worked on), but producer Brad Winderbaum mentions in an interview that they had to push an episode back because of, you guessed it, the pandemic:

"We had to push an episode into Season 2. It was just, honestly, like everything else, that was a COVID impact," Winderbaum told Collider. "There was an episode that just wouldn't hit the completion date, but luckily we do get to see it in the second season of the show."

Judging by both the poster and the trailer, we know of a few scenarios: Peggy Carter becoming Captain America, an alternate Avengers lineup battling at New York, Black Panther as Star Lord, Marvel Zombies (of course there’s zombies), and Spider-Man as the Sorcerer Supreme.  Inverse has an article breaking all of the possibilities down.

A lot of the actors who portray their characters in live action will reprise their roles for the animated series, including the late Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther/Star Lord.  Star...Panther?  Black Lord? That last one sounds wrong. Among those not coming back are Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, and Dave Bautista as Drax.  Bautista was, according to the man himself, wasn’t even asked to come back to voice Drax.  Others include Brie Larson as Carol Danvers, Tom Holland as Spider-Man, James Spader as Ultron, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Elizabeth Olson as the Scarlet Witch, Letitia Wright as Shuri, Gweneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, and various members of the Dora Milaje.  They have all apparently been confirmed to be appearing in What If...? in some form or another, but voiced by different people.

It will certainly be an interesting show, but I hope you can see where I’m going with this.

The Big Hero 6 fanbase has a lot of burning questions for the show and movie, and it’s not all just unanswered ones about what happens after the show ended.  I think collectively there are a few common “what-ifs” that we have in our minds about the team.  I think the most obvious one involves one of the Hamada brothers, and that branches off into other what-ifs as well.

Granted, not all of these are reality-altering hypotheticals like there are in the show or comics, but they can still change the course of the movie or show in a huge way.

1.) What if...Tadashi had survived the fire?

Tadashi being a survivor of the fire that takes down the exhibition hall brings up a few interesting conundrums.  Would he be scarred for life?  Would he even be able to complete school?

And if Hiro still made the team, would he end up becoming Sunfire like a lot of fans theorize?

The thing is that Callaghan knows that Tadashi died in the fire.  If he knew that he didn’t, would that change his motivations?  Would he still be using the Microbots knowing that the person that was trying to “stop” him was still alive? Alternatively, you also have...

2.) What if...Hiro had died instead of Tadashi?

Hiro was probably about two seconds away from being fully engulfed in that giant fireball.  It’s entirely plausible that he (or possibly both Hamadas) could have perished in the fire instead of his brother, which sort of leads to the same circumstances as the first question, just with different powersets.  Tadashi would no longer be tied to fire-based powers but the magnetic equipment that that Hiro currently uses.

But one has to think about whether Tadashi would be in the right state of mind to be a hero long term.  Seeing his kid brother perish in the accident would probably cause him to go insane, and perhaps the rest of the team would have to reel him in.

3.) What if...Baymax had killed Callaghan?

It’s worth noting that if Honey Lemon had been about three seconds later on getting the healthcare chip back into Baymax, this wouldn’t have been a “What If?” question.

And sure, the team would have saved the day, but at what cost?  The permanent scarring of a fourteen-year-old?  And what would have come of the major revelations after that fight concerning Project Silent Sparrow and Abigail?

Maybe they would have been the ones to build the portal to the other dimension to try to save her.  That would similar to what happened in the original manga (where Tadashi actually helps with the construction of the original portal and got sucked in as a result). 4.) What if...Baymax had saved Obake in “Countdown to Catastrophe”?

Obake dismissed Baymax after his hideout started collapsing near the end of Part 2, and you could tell that Baymax was seriously considering rescuing him before leaving him in his chair amongst the rubble.  Ultimately, however, he did leave him behind after Obake’s insistence.

Imagine what would have happened if he had gone against his programming and saved his life.

The relieved group hug on the beach would have been replaced with a disheveled (and probably a little damp) Obake.  Hiro would have been staring hiim down in disbelief.  Perhaps there would even be another fight, or at least the makings of one.

And then Obake would give himself up for arrest.

Maybe that’s where Chief Cruz could have been introduced.  It would have given a good lead into the next season, and it would give Megan’s meeting with Hiro in Season 2 a little bit more meaning.

And finally, because I’m a shipper and we have to go there:

5.) What if...Karmi had never left SFIT at the end of “City of Monsters”?

We know from the boards that Bob Schooley posted that “City of Monsters” was originally going to end very differently than what actually made the final cut.  It seemed that Karmi, in addition to getting a nonsensical boyfriend named “Flammarion”, was not suppose to leave SFIT in the early draft.

So what if Hiro had shown up to her lab, and instead of seeing this...

He saw this?

Or...something a little less dramatic?  Maybe just her packing up stuff because she’s in the process of leaving?  And Hiro had to say something in order for her to stop what she was doing? And how exactly would you achieve that? See, if that scenario happened, I think that this particular point would be where Hiro told her about being in Big Hero 6.  And of course Karmi wouldn’t believe him, even though she’s now in love with him crushing on him.

Then, he takes her to the base.

And she turns back to him with an incredulous look.

And roll credits.  What a cliffhanger to go into Season 3 with. I vaguely remember fanart depicting that exact scene (Hiro taking Karmi to the base), but I don’t remember who did it.  I would like to give them the proper credit. Season 3 would have looked totally different if that took place.  Maybe it would have been an actual season and not a bunch of mini stories.  Also...perhaps Karmi would have joined the team proper.

And maybe we would have finally had a giant canonical Karmiro moment.

...Now that is a big “What if?”.

(Marvel’s What If...? premieres on Wednesday, August 11th on Disney+.)

[dream-a-little-bigger-x]

Quarantine Lovers (Part Two) | Charlie Gillespie

Part 2 in the “Life in Quarantine with Charlie” / “Quarantine Lovers” series! You can find part 1 HERE!! Hope you like this!

Pairing: Charlie Gillespie x reader 

Warnings: Implication of sex, more sexually tinted scenes

A/N: I used some songs in this one too, none of which are mine. Full credit for those go to the creators of the songs! 

How Can I Say No To This? 

So far, quarantine with Charlie has been a blast. Though things are scary and you both get a little anxious at times, you still have each other, and for now, that’s all that counts. It’s all you have. But it’s more than enough. 

One day, when Charlie has back-to-back interviews, you -- being bored as hell -- figured it would be fun to surprise Charlie and you knew exactly how. There was only one person you could call to help you with it. Tori Caro. The two of you had talked on FaceTime before when Charlie had a bit of a reunion over Zoom with all of them and all of them wanted to meet you after Madi, Owen and Jeremy told everyone about you. 

“Hey, girl!” you greet when the girl appears on your phone screen. “Hey, Peaches!” she greets back, her smile nearly reaching her ears. “What’s up?” She settles herself onto her bed, leaning against the bedframe whilst holding her phone up to her face. 

“I am extremely bored and Charlie’s doing interviews all day, but I kind of had the idea to surprise him, which I need your help for.” Her eyebrows raise in intrigue. “Do spill.” You place your phone on the coffee table, letting it balance against a glass of water. 

“I want you to teach me Madi’s part of the choreo to Perfect Harmony, so when we listen to music while cooking tonight, I might be able to surprise him by doing the dance with him?” You explain, then laugh at yourself. “That sounds lame, doesn’t it?” 

“What? No! Not at all! I think it’s cute! I’ll definitely help you!” And with that said, the two of you spend about an hour teaching the choreography. “I bet he’s going to be extremely surprised by this, Y/N!” You giggle at her compliment, panting a little from the exertion. 

“Thanks, Tori!” You say when you hear the door to the studio/office open. You quickly take a seat on the sofa, grabbing your phone with you and sipping from the glass of water. 

“Please, film it when you do it!” she tells you, and you  just simply nod vigorously. When Charlie enters the living room,  you look up, offering him a smile. 

“Who are you talking to?” he asks with a smile before sitting down next to you and glancing at the screen himself. “Tori!” he exclaims excitedly, his face lighting up entirely. 

“Charlie!” Tori retorts, matching his level of enthusiasm. “How were interviews?” He wraps an arm around you as you lean further into his body, a habit you’ve accumulated over the course of being together. 

“Great! We’ve played a couple games as well. It was good fun!” He explains. Though there’s a smile on his face, you can tell he’s tired and would rather curl up on the sofa with you. 

“Hey, Tori. We’re gonna go, start on dinner and stuff,” you tell her, to which she shoots you a knowing look. “Thanks for helping me out.” 

“Helping you out with what?” Charlie asks, his fingers trailing up and down your arm. 

“Uhm… She helped me pick an outfit for our date tomorrow,” you lie. It’s a plausible lie. Ever since getting to know Charlie’s friends and cast members, you’ve been calling or texting the girls from the cast to ask for help with stuff like that. 

“Aw, that’s cute!” he says with that same, excited, beaming smile on his face. “You could come in pj’s for all I care, and you’d still look gorgeous to me.” Tori pouts at this, and awes loudly. 

“Alright, we’re gonna go and make dinner,” you say, patting Charlie’s thigh twice. “See ya, Tori!” You offer her a wave and the brightest of your smiles, Charlie doing the exact same. 

“Bye, Peaches!” You hang up the phone and get up from the sofa, turning to Charlie and reaching your hands out to help him up. 

“Do we have to cook? Can’t we order something?” he whines, placing his hands in yours. You pull him up to his feet, but don’t really move, causing there to be no space between you. 

“We’ve ordered last night,” you remind him and lace your fingers with his. “Besides, I already bought everything from the shops!” He widens his eyes, faking shock. “Yes, I went to the frontlines, to the most dangerous place on earth at the moment!” You retort dramatically before a giggle escapes you. Charlie lets out an airy laugh before dipping down and kissing you on the lips. 

“Alright, let’s get cooking!” He leads you towards the kitchen and starts grabbing everything the two of you need whilst you turn on the music. You’ve made a lockdown playlist together with all of your favorite songs, including the entire Julie and The Phantoms soundtrack, which is what it starts with; Now or Never. You quickly queue up a couple other songs before adding Perfect Harmony to that list too. The two of you sing along softly at first, until the chorus hit and you’re belting the lyrics at the top of your lungs. This has occurred a few times during lockdown already; the sing-and-dance-along parties in your pj’s or during cooking. 

By the time your pasta is cooking and still has about five minutes left, Perfect Harmony chimes through the speakers. Now’s your time to surprise him. 

“Step into my world Bittersweet love story 'bout a girl Shook me to the core Voice like an angel I've never heard before”

You turn him around and grab his hands, doing the choreography Tori has taught you today. He’s surprised, but dances along as if on automatic.

“Here in front of me They're shining so much brighter Than I have ever seen Life can be so mean But when he goes, I know he doesn't leave”

You push him away to the living room where he has a little more space to do the floor work he did on the show, and does it flawlessly. 

“The truth is finally breaking through Two worlds collide when I'm with you Our voices rise and soar so high We come to life when we're In perfect harmony”

He picks you up into the lift with ease, as though you’re as light as a feather. 

“Whoa-oa-oa, whoa-oa-oa Perfect harmony”

He looks at you in pure surprise and delight, softly singing the lyrics along with the audio. 

“Whoa-oa-oa, whoa-oa-oa Perfect harmony”

“Is that what Tori actually helped you with?” he asks when you reach the part without choreography since the song was cut shorter in the show. He’s still holding onto your hands.

“Yup,” you reply with a cheesy smile. “I was bored and wanted to learn that dance anyway since you and Madi made it look so cool on the show… Plus, I wanted to surprise you after your long day of interviews.” A tender chuckle erupts from his mouth as he shakes his head in disbelief. 

“You’re amazing, you know that?” he kisses your knuckles before turning you around, so you’re with your back pressed against his chest, and throws your hands up, continuing the choreo. 

“We say we're friends we play pretend You're more to me we create Perfect harmony”

He twirls you out and away from him until you reach the wall you carefully place your hands onto to stop yourself. 

“That’s such a fun choreo,” you say as you turn back to the pasta to check how it’s doing. 

“Yeah, I know,” he agrees whilst walking up to you and wrapping his arms around your waist from behind. “Can I tell you a secret?” he whispers in your ear, then presses a kiss underneath it. 

“Of course,” you whisper back, trying to keep your composure. 

“I like dancing with you better than with Madi,” he lets out a giggle after, and it’s the cutest thing you ever did hear. “Don’t tell her.” You turn around, wrapping your arms around his neck and kissing him on the mouth softly. 

“My lips are sealed,” you say and kiss him once again. “With a kiss.” He plants his lips on yours again, for a longer, more passionate kiss this time. “Time for dinner,” you mumble against his lips. 

“I prefer starting with dessert,” he says. You giggle at his comeback, and squeal when he picks you up and brings you to the living room. 

“Charlie!” you protest, detaching your lips, “At least let me put the food off the stove so it doesn’t burn?” He retraces his steps backwards, and plops you back on your feet, so you can take care of the food. “All right, we’re good to go,” you say as you turn to him. “Catch me.” With no time left to think, you jump into his arms, wrapping your legs around his waist as you resume the passionate kiss from before. For once, you don’t mind starting with dessert before dinner. You’ve been bored all day without him, the least he could do is make it up to you… In bed… 

“People are asking to go live on Insta,” you tell Charlie when the two of you are back in the kitchen, heating up the food you’d left out. You didn’t even bother to put proper clothes on. You just grabbed the closest thing you found, which is Charlie’s Canada sweatshirt. 

“Yeah, sure, we could eat whilst chatting to them…” he says, grabbing two plates. After being introduced to the rest of the cast, you’ve been interacting with them a lot more on social media, and -- along with Madi’s blabbing in interviews about Charlie’s secret quarantine partner-- the fans have figured out it was you. And that the two of you are, in fact dating. Especially since Meghan, Charlie’s sister, couldn’t help but jokingly call you ‘sister-in-law’ when commenting on one of your pictures on Instagram. 

Charlie hands you his phone for you to set up the live whilst he grabs dinner from the microwave. 

“Okay, we’re live!” you exclaim when Charlie hands you the plate and a fork. “Thank, babe.” He takes a seat next to you on the couch and sets his plate on his lap. 

“Hello, people!” He greets the now about 1k people watching the live. You watch as a dozen of comments yell back at you that the two of you ‘definitely just had sex!’, and can’t help but giggle at that. “Do you guys have any questions for us?”

At the same time, Alexander Hamilton from the musical Hamilton starts playing through the speakers. You’d forgotten to turn the music off, but it’s quite nice having background noise all the time.

You gasp, capturing Charlie’s attention, and start singing along flawlessly. 

“The ten-dollar founding father without a father Got a lot farther by working a lot harder By being a lot smarter By being a self-starter By fourteen, they placed him in charge of a trading charter”

Charlie looks at you with a surprised smirk on his face while the comments about Hamilton start streaming in, neither of you paying attention. 

“And every day while slaves were being slaughtered and carted away Across the waves, he struggled and kept his guard up Inside, he was longing for something to be a part of The brother was ready to beg, steal, borrow, or barter”

You smile down at your boyfriend as he simply watches you in admiration while stuffing his mouth with pasta. 

“Then a hurricane came, and devastation reigned Our man saw his future drip, dripping down the drain Put a pencil to his temple, connected it to his brain And he wrote his first refrain, a testament to his pain”

The song goes on, but you turn to the phone to see what everyone’s been saying. You laugh when your eyes catch a comment. 

“Someone said ‘Get someone who looks at you the same way Charlie looks at Y/N’.” Others asked if you could do the rap from Guns & Ships, to which you replied with a determined “Yes! And Satisfied too!”  

“We’ve watched the movie on Disney Plus about a dozen times. Of course she knows it!” Charlie adds after swallowing his pasta. “Now eat your pasta before it gets cold!” You comply and eat your food whilst answering some of the questions here and there. Some of them are about Julie and The Phantoms, which Charlie answers, and others are about your relationship. Most of them want to know how you two met and how lockdown is going for you guys. All of which you answer very honestly, chiming in to add something when the other’s answering. 

“Ooh! Tori’s here!” you notice, “Hi, Tori! I’m sorry I didn’t film the surprise!” Tori comments, ‘BOO!’ in all caps, which makes you chuckle. And then all the questions about the surprise started flooding in. “Tori taught me the Perfect Harmony dance, and I surprised him with it when we were making dinner.” 

Everyone’s telling you to do it again, including Tori, so, you obey and put the song on again, showing what you did earlier that evening. 

“AMAZING!” Tori comments with a bunch of hearts plastered behind it. Some other fans comment something along those lines as well, others tell you they liked it better with Madi, but the bigger part of the comments tell you they think otherwise. 

Then, a One Direction starts to play, and you can’t help but sing and dance along from the couch, which gives you an idea. 

“Babe!” you exclaim, gripping his bicep, “We should show them what we do in Quarantine when we’re cooking meals!” Charlie chuckles, shaking his head in amusement. “Yes! Come on!” You turn to the phone again. “Guys! Tell Charlie we have to show you what we do whenever we need a break from work or we’re cooking together!” Comments flood into the box at a fast speed, all of them saying “DO IT CHARLIE!”. 

So, with a groan, he gets up from the couch, taking the phone with him and placing it a bit higher, so you’re both in shot completely. 

“But I need you guys to vibe along, okay?” Comments of assent pile in, and Charlie turns the volume up a little whilst you get up too. The both of you start singing and dancing along to the One Direction song, knowing everyone at home is dancing with you. After that song, Dead Girl Walking from the Heathers musical starts playing. 

“Oh! Where are my Heathers fans?!” you ask the audience, glancing at the phone for all the Heathers comments to come in. “I saw the West End version when I was in London in 2018!” You tell them, and Charlie, though he knows that. 

“Yeah, I know, babe,” he tells  you with a smile before you turn back to him, standing in front of him with barely any space between you. He towers over you, like he always does, and it would normally get you weak in the knees, but not this time. Not with this song playing. 

“Ssh…” You press your finger to his lips, a teasing smirk tugging at your lips. 

“Had to see you hope I didn’t wake you See I decided I must ride you ‘til I break you” 

You wiggle your eyebrows, both of you knowing that already happened earlier. 

“‘Cause Heather says I gots to go You’re my last meal on death row Shut your mouth And lose them tighty-whities!” 

Charlie knew you could sing, but he had no clue you could hit notes this high. 

“Come on! Tonight I'm yours I'm your dead girl walkin' Get on all fours Kiss this dead girl walkin' Let's go, you know the drill I'm hot and pissed and on the pill Bow down to the will of a dead girl walking!”

You see Charlie swallow visibly, glancing nervously at the phone filming all of this and decide to stop before he completely melts down into a puddle of sweat. Now or Never begins to play when you skip to the next song. 

Charlie’s demeanor suddenly changes and fully starts rocking out now, forgetting anything just happened mere seconds ago. You follow his example and start jumping around like a hyper rabbit. 

“When all the days felt black and white those were the best shades of my life!” 

You throw your hands up in the air at this, stopping the jumping. “That’s my favorite line ever!” you exclaim loudly, making sure the viewers hear too. 

Comments of agreement flash onto the screen as you and Charlie lapse into the bridge. 

The next song is one of your favorite Hamilton songs to belt; Say No To This. Though not your favorite scene from the musical, it is still one of your favorite songs. 

“You know this one, baby!” You say to Charlie. 

“No, I can’t, I can’t do--” he cuts himself off and starts singing along with Lin-Manuel Miranda. 

“That’s when miss Mariah Reynolds walked into my life, she said,” he points at you, telling you to take over. 

“I know you are a man of honor I'm so sorry to bother you at home But I don't know where to go, and I came here all alone”

“She said”

“My husband's doin' me wrong Beatin' me, cheatin' me, mistreatin' me Suddenly he's up and gone I don't have the means to go on”

He struggles with the next line, not knowing the musical quite as well as you do. 

“You're too kind, sir,” you sing anyway with a smile on your face. He does know the next line. 

“I gave her thirty bucks that I had socked away She lived a block away, she said”

“This one's mine, sir”

You try your best to imitate Jasmine Cephas-Jones’ husky, warm tone. 

“Then I said, "Well, I should head back home She turned red, she led me to her bed Let her legs spread and said”

“Stay”

“Hey”

“Hey”

Then both of you started to sway back and forth, twirling around the living room, singing along to the ‘no’s and ‘go’s from the ensemble. 

“Ooh! This is my favorite part!” you say excitedly, preparing yourself for the belts. 

“No, sir”

“Half dressed, apologetic, a mess, she looked pathetic, she cried”

“Please don't go, sir” 

“So was your whole story a setup?”

“I don't know about any letter”

“Stop crying God dammit, get up”

“I didn't know any better”

“I am ruined”

“Please don't leave me with him, helpless”

“I am helpless, how could I do this?”

“Just give him what he wants and you can have me” 

“I don't want you, I don't want you”

“Whatever you want, if you pay You can stay”

You grasp Charlie’s bicep as a support to keep your balance while you throw your head back to belt out the note. This shuts Charlie up entirely, impressed with your singing abilities. 

“I knew you could sing, but damn, babe, you got pipes!” He turns to the phone where fans voice their impression and awe, complimenting your voice. 

Connecting with Charlie’s fans and doing things like this with Charlie is literally one of your favorite things you’ve ever done. There’s nothing better than rocking out with a bunch of friends, even if you don’t see 2k of them. 

“Alright, guys,” Charlie says, turning down the volume after a few more songs, “We’re gonna go.” He wraps his arms around your waist from behind, placing his chin on your shoulder to peer at the screen. “Thank you for jamming out with us today! We’ll see you later!” You offer a smile and a wave before ending the livestream. 

“That was fun!” You exclaim excitedly, bouncing up and down as you make sure to save the video onto his IGTV. Charlie turns you around, placing his hands on your hips and pressing a kiss to your forehead. When you’re done, you lock his phone and put it into his pocket, looking up at him with a happy smile on your face. 

“Can you hit that last note again?” he asks with hope in his eyes. 

“That gets you going, doesn’t it?” You wiggle your eyebrows as a teasing smirk creeps onto your face. He bites his bottom lip, which to be fair, gets you going. So, you cough and place your hands under his biceps on his ribcage, gripping at his shirt tightly. “Just give him what he wants and you can have me. Whatever you want, if you pay, you can stay!” 

“We ought to get you on season two,” he whispers before crashing his lips onto yours for a passionate kiss that leads you straight to the bedroom again. 

“How can I say no to this?” You mumble against his lips cheekily. 

This lockdown and quarantine thing isn’t as bad as you thought it would be. If you’ve got Charlie by your side, you’re good to do anything. 

Taglist: @hannahhistorian92​ @marinettepotterandplagg​ @thequirkybookaholic​ @bookdealer5​ @tenaciousperfectionunknown​ @hemmingsness​ @iainttakingshitfromnobody​ @ifilwtmfc​ @angryknightstatesmantrash​ @kiss-themoongoodbye​ @parkeret​​ @lukeys-giggle​ @gingerxarmy​ @lovesanimals​ @lolychu​ @perfectlywrongformend3s​ @luckylouiebug​

[nevermindirah]

I’ve seen Black Widow

thoughts below the cut

I loved it. I cried.

It’s pretty standard white feminism, nothing groundbreaking, but as a small story about a human being struggling with her identity and her place in the world, chef’s kiss.

There were enough callbacks that it didn’t feel like they’d taken Natasha out of her context, but it wasn’t an Endgame-style victory lap and rightly so. There were more callbacks to things that had previously happened in this one movie than there were to all 6 of the previous movies she’s appeared in. The fucking fireflies. They got to me. And the whistling? OUCH MY HEART

I didn’t realize until the moment Yelena handed it to her that that’s the vest Natasha wears in Infinity War. That’s when I started crying.

The set pieces were inventive as hell. I was genuinely surprised by: the avalanche, the Red Room being in lower Earth orbit, Natasha and Malina switching places with the masks from Winter Soldier, and especially, fuck, little Antonia who Natasha thought she’d murdered turning out to be the Task Master.

I loved that there wasn’t some big reveal like Malina was her birth mother or some shit. I loved that it’s left open how much or even whether Natasha keeps in touch with this one of her two families — while she and Yelena might be able to have an honest relationship after “It was real for me too,” Malina and Alexei showed realistic (which is to say, meaningful but fucking small) character growth. Those two are never going to be parents to Natasha, not how she deserved, not how every child deserves. I loved how honest this movie was about that.

The opening credits sequence was fucking traumatic, though, and here’s where we start the criticism of white nonsense. Yes, girls are probably the world’s greatest underappreciated resource. Especially girls of color. Who we see in this movie all over the place as nameless soldiers under the most extreme mind control yet seen in the MCU. Widows of color suffer and die repeatedly in this movie. It absolutely tracks that the Red Room would expand its post-Soviet operations and steal baby girls from all over the world, but they could’ve picked more of the white extras to be the ones to die painfully.

I know they did this so they wouldn’t be criticized for having an all-white cast. But they still had an all-white lead cast. I was charmed half-naked (of course my mask was still on, I saw this movie in a theater!) by the very pretty man who kept setting Natasha up with gear, but I can’t remember his name, and his only defining characteristics are pretty, charming, and frequently asleep. The moment at the end where she called him a friend would’ve been a fuckton better if she’d called him by name several times by that point so we could remember it, and if she’d, I don’t know, mentioned something that shows she pays attention when he talks, that shows she cares about him as a person even just a little bit beyond how he’s useful to her.

And you know what would’ve been a better way to get the Task Master off the field at the end? The Black teenager (fuck she looked so young) who went to her could have said, “Hi, my name is ___, I’m your sister and I’m going to get you out of here. What’s your name?” Instead her much shorter one line was entirely focused on helping the white girl. A different Black Black Widow was the one who said to Yelena something like of course we came back for you. We see Yelena holding her hand, but if we could only have one and not both, the screen time would’ve been better spent on learning this young woman’s name. A piece of her humanity that isn’t just using her newfound agency to choose to save the white lead.

They could’ve taken this opportunity to give us at least one Black Widow who was both Russian-born and visibly Asian. You know, since Russia is an enormously multi-ethnic country and even before modern immigration you don’t have to leave Russia to find people of color. We could’ve gotten a few sentences about the scientist who invented the deprogramming gas. We know she was in Malina’s age cohort so she was more likely to have been born in the USSR, and we know she had to have been exceptionally smart and brave even for a Black Widow to invent this formula and ensure it would free some of her sisters. Handled badly, this of course could’ve gotten into Asian math-nerd stereotype territory. Handled well, this minor character would’ve had a name — I think Yelena called her Oksana as she watched her die? — and a layered backstory. Malina could’ve even shared a memory of her, one thing that she and Oksana shared when they were baby Nat and Yelena’s ages.

Or they could’ve recast Scarlett Johanssson with an actress of any Asian ethnicity that could plausibly have been found in the USSR in the 80s, but, you know.

It is extremely not lost on me that both ScarJo and Rachel Weisz are Jewish and I wondered if they might do something in the direction of making Jewish Natasha canon. I’m relieved they didn’t go there in the end, and I’ll happily keep my Jewish Nat headcanons here where I can play with them and keep them safe from corporate bullshit.

To wrap this up, that post-credits scene made me so happy. I am so here for Yelena trying out every “the 90s are back” fashion trend she missed out on the first time around all in one outfit. What’s her name from Falcon & Winter Soldier turning up as Yelena’s boss or whatever and assigning her to kill Clint was exactly the right amount of crossover. We’ve only just met this character, I love her, and I’m fucking delighted that instead of spending yet more screentime on any of the white dudes who’ve already had plenty of it in the 23 previous MCU movies, we got to spend these last moments of the movie with Yelena.

Natasha Romanoff will return in my Sam Wilson and Nile Freeman are Cousins WIP (where she will be having a heart-to-heart with Andy)

Yelena Belova will return in Hawkeye (if Marvel knows what’s good for it)

[shimmershae]

My thoughts on Episode 3--Hunted.

 Most of you lovelies already realize this, but my thoughts tend to zig and zag quite a bit, lol.  So.  To save some of you the headache and spare you from seeing spoilers you’d rather not see yet, I’m again placing them behind a cut.  

First things first.  I have totally turned into Yvette Nicole Brown with her TWD notebooks, lol, and I’m not even sorry.  I just felt like it would be fun to go back when the final episode is in the books and see how well my thoughts from these early episodes line up with what I’m feeling when we say our (not-so) final goodbyes.  

But that’s enough about that. Let’s get to this thing.  

It really is insane how very much I love Melissa McBride.  Just hearing her doing the previously on TWD recap voiceover makes me ridiculously happy.  

Cole!  Dude!  We hardly knew ya.  

Not gonna lie.  That first shot of Maggie in all the chaos reminded of a shirt I’ve seen.  It says--”Well, well, well.  If it isn’t the consequences of my actions.”  

I have to hand it to Angela and the rest of her team.  These opening scenes--on all 3 episodes--have been BOMB so far.  They really hook you in right away.  At least IMHO.  

I realize I’m behind the game on this little tidbit, but how much do I adore the fact that Dog is now in the opening credits?  

Okay.  Alexandria might look like it’s been on some kind of post-apocalyptic bender but all our girls are looking beautiful as ever.  Maybe it’s Maybelline, lol.  

I love to see Kelly and Carol still gravitating toward each other.  It really speaks to each woman’s heart.  Carol wants to make amends so badly and Kelly just has the most lovely, warm, forgiving heart.  

Carol’s point about Alexandria still needing the horses to help with the heavy lifting and pointing out the walls and rebuilding won’t matter quite as much if they’re limited by their  hunger and what they can physically lift on their own isn’t wrong.  But I’m sure the same viewers that were okay with Daryl and Co. going out on Maggie’s suicide mission (using the same reasoning) and saying it made sense for the bigger picture will pretend not to recognize that the same element is there in Carol’s desire to go out there and look for the horses.  You know.  Because it was Carol’s idea and not that of their fave(s).  

Aaron, Man.  Or maybe I should say Angela.   You just had to put a pit of dread in my belly mentioning Buttons like that.  RIP, Buttons.  You deserved better.  I’m still traumatized.  

Look at all the babies bonding.  Look at RJ getting to sit at the big kid table.  

“My mom always comes back.”  She damn well better.  Those babies need her.  Until she does, though, Uncle Daryl and Aunt Carol (and Aunt Rosita and everybody else) are going to be there.  

Anyway.  Poor RJ.  He barely ever gets any lines, lol.  

Hershel and Judith are obviously the mini-adults in this group and baby Rhee is already more cynical and jaded than his sweet daddy was until they reached Alexandria and the wheels started to come off.  

So.  Does Maggie just think everybody’s already dead here or what?  Hmm.  

You know.  Any building can be creepy AF when the lights are off and it’s dark, lol.  Any building.  

So much darkness so far this season.  I’m going to have to invest in some blackout curtains.  I just know it.  

Where are all those stairs leading?  Why am I thinking of Hitchcock?  Am I mixing up my scary, suspenseful movies?  Probably.  

Of fucking course, Maggie dropped her flashlight.  Thank goodness she had that lighter at the ready just before Ghost Face Reaper took a swipe at her.  

Is that Father G with a screwdriver impaled in his thigh?  Listen.  These people deserve a Mega Bottle of pain killers and a week just vegging out in a soft, luxurious bed.  

All these horror movie tropes.  Some of them are cheesy, yes.  But I’m totally here for it.  

LMAO.  That’s it, Maggie.  A good old punch in the nuts works every time.  

Alden really is having a terrible, horrible, no good very bad day.  

Negan is still Negan.  Self-serving and looking out for number one.  But I believe the man really does feel the group is his group too.  He’s like that long lost, sketchy uncle nobody wants to acknowledge much less invite to the dinner table, but that bond?  However thin?  Is there.  

I am both hating that Maggie is being forced to work with the man that murdered her husband (my baby Glenn) and finding it fascinating the lengths she’s willing to go to survive.  This your plan, Angela?  

Rosita and Carol!  How sad is it that the last really significant scene I can remember the two of these women sharing was way back?  Before Rick and Co. attacked Negan’s outpost and Maggie and Carol were subsequently taken?  If only the show had done more of these kind of scenes.  

How much do I love all the girls working together?  Gimps would never.  They’d all be stuck back at Alexandria minding the kids and the community.  

Shallow aside--Rosita is so pretty in this scene.  

Rosita being worried about Carol honestly makes my heart hurt, because it’s about damn time more of them actually did.  Her saying Abraham is trying to tell her something in her dreams is interesting.  Angela sure loves her dreams, doesn’t she?  

Where are Daryl’s dreams, hmm?  No.  Seriously.  I guess they want to give some viewers plausible deniability until the bitter end.  

“Really?  We’re just gonna go toward the screaming?  Cool.”  Hahaha.  You know.  Even the smart people in horror movies sometimes bite it, Negan.  Just saying.  Maggie really does need to “stop running up the staircase” when she could just run out the front door though, lol.  

Poor Duncan.  I think you could have been another Tyreese, Jerry type for me.  

WTF does this show have against horses?  Those poor creatures.  

Kelly is totally me right now.  I’d be freaking inconsolable.  

Carol needed that hug.  Thank you, Magna.  From the bottom of this tired fangirl’s heart, thank you.  

Why give us that beautiful, golden shot with the horses when you’re planning to stab us through the heart later and twist the knife.  Oh.  Yeah.  That’s exactly why.  

Oh snap!  Father G’s delivery when he tells that Reaper “I’m not.  God isn’t here anymore.”  Cold as ice.  

Judas.  That the Reapers’ work.  Or.  Damn.  Either way, that’s harsh.  

Back to what Alden was saying.  All these oprhaned children.  Who’s going to take on Adam if he dies?  That poor kid has had a rough go of it.  Knowing that, makes you wonder what Alden was thinking volunteering for the suicide mission.  

Omigosh.  There went Agatha.  Terrible way to go.  Right, Beatrice?  

I’m sobbing.  Carol with the horse.  That hurt my baby so much but she hurt herself for her family the same way she has been doing since the Prison.  Melissa Mcbride?  When she cries, I cry.  Every effin’ time.  Aaron being there just made it hurt more.  But at least someone was there to see how and really take in how she continues to break pieces of herself off to keep her family as whole and safe and happy as she can.  

Rewinding a minute--that Magna and Carol conversation.  I get Magna’s reasoning too.  I do.  But Angela is just making everything so dire right now so that the sun when Connie is ultimate found shines a ltitle brighter.  

Those babies know they’re eating horse.  I could never.  

That’s got to be a different Coco.  She’s even smaller.  But she’s gorgeous.  

Fucking finally.  Angela having the other characters notice after an eternity of being blind to it, just how much Carol sacrifices of herself for them.  It’s so long overdue and I imagine Rosita’s even more worried for Carol now.  It’s a shame it’s taken 11 seasons.  My baby’s had blood on her hands trying to keep her family safe and whole and happy and fed for a long damn time.  So heartbreaking watching her try to scrub the blood away.  

Sweet, sweet hug that Kelly gave Magna.  She’s such a sweetheart kid sis to all of them, isn’t she?  

Interesting place of refuge.  A gutted church.  A visual symbol, Angela, of where Maggie and the rest of our people are now perhaps?  

“It’s easy for you, isn’t it?  Being reckless with sombody’s life...”  Maggie.  Maggie.  Those words would have hit so much harder if we hadn’t spent the majority of the last 2.5 episodes watching you ignore sound advice just because it came out of the mouth of somebody you (justifiably) hate.  

But will Alden be there when Maggie and Negan get back?  That is the question.  Or will he eventually Lucille himself?  

That little bit of lineup Negan music to remind the audience of Negan lovers and sympathizers that he once took great pleasure in murderously swinging a bag at people’s heads was a nice, subtle touch there.  Like agree with her or not, Maggie  is literally left to rely  on the hope, however small it is, that Negan has changed just enough that he won’t try to finish a job he taken on years before--killing what’s left of her.  

Oh lawd.  Next episode sees the return of a character literally nobody asked for.  How excited am I not?  

Dog better not be harmed or so help me.  

Now for Angela’s weekly explanations of WTF she/there were thinking because they been doing this plausible deniability thing so long some people out there watching with biased, muddy stan glasses can no longer separate head canon from canon.  

Is Maggie worried at all about Daryl or does she just assume his superhero powers are in full effect in this episode?  

“You can’t really say it wasn’t going to happen anyway.”  Not Angela pointing out that simply laying the blame for literally everything bad that ever happens at Carol’s feet isn’t the answer.  Say it louder for those in the back.  Alpha was going to do what Alpha wanted to do.  

“There is love there.  There is respect there.  However, there’s also frustration...”  You damn skippy.  Friendships and human relationships are complex AF.  Like Carol. She’s honestly one of the most complicated characters on this show and any show, IMHO.  That’s what makes her so memorable and such a lightning rod for discussion.  

I know I might be in a minority, but I really feel like they need more of those little scenes between the kids to keep things real.  

Kang saying she always feels like she’s going to get murdered in a staircase or parking lot is relatable, funny, and sad all at the same time.  It’s a girl thing.  

Why is Carol’s story giving me Dark Knight vibes?  Like I feel like she’ll gladly shoulder the burden of their distrust, their hate, or their judgment as long as the hard choices she makes keeps them safe.  And she’s still ultimately going to come back to save their asses even when they forsake her.  Just like Bruce Wayne/Batman.  Am I reaching too far, lol?  Because sometimes I do that.  

Anyway.  This is the third episode of the season and the third episode in a row that I mostly enjoyed.  I don’t know if I’m just so relieved and happy to have all the characters and my show back or what, but overall?  I’ve been pleased with the episodes and found something to love in all of them.  

There’s a much stronger horror vibe woven throughout Season 11 so far.  I feel like it’s a return to the roots of the show and I like that.  Literally none of the characters are making perfect choices and this viewer is here for it.  My only complaint so far is there hasn’t been enough Carol but what we’ve been given has felt like a gift and significant in a way that Gimps’ version was not.  Also?  I really hope the trend of the ladies working together and supporting each other continues because they rule the TWD world, lol.  

Hope you enjoyed at least some of my TWD word vomit.  

Until next episode.  

[missfangirll]

Tie your heart to mine

Fandom: SCI Mystery Relationship: Zhan Yao / Bai Yutong Tags: Case fic, Angst with a happy ending Chapters: 3 Summary: Zhan Yao has disappeared.

Read on AO3

By night, love, tie your heart to mine, and the two together in their sleep will defeat the darkness.

--Pablo Neruda, Love Sonnet 79

Chapter 1: Descensus Averno

The world went to hell on a Thursday.

Bai Yutong couldn’t even remember the reason for the fight he had with Zhan Yao that Sunday. It was probably something stupid, like whose turn it was to do the dishes, and yet it was all he was able to think about later.

They had still been arguing the whole drive to the airport, Zhan Yao hadn’t even looked back or said goodbye when he had gotten out of the car, hauling his suitcase through the lobby, his whole body tense, shoulders square, his steps determined. Bai Yutong had watched him until he vanished in the crowd and wished he wasn’t so stubborn. They both were. He loved his cat with all his heart, but living together didn’t always bring out the best in either of them.

Because of the nature of their parting he hadn’t been surprised when Zhan Yao hadn’t called from the hotel that evening, or any other evening that followed. Sad, yes, angry and hurt, but not surprised. He had spent the whole Monday hiding in his office, going over some cold cases a good enough reason not to examine his feelings to closely.

The following days hadn’t been any better and by Wednesday evening he had been determined to pick up Zhan Yao from the airport and apologise immediately, maybe cook his favourite food or take him to see a movie, anything to make things right again.

And then, nothing was right anymore.

On Thursday morning, the hotel Zhan Yao had stayed in called to let him know there had been a mix-up in the reservation and his credit card would be charged twice, but it had been handled and he would get a refund. He hadn’t really been listening to the explanations and apologies, until the caller mentioned she hadn’t been able to reach Zhan Yao this morning and therefore had called him, which made him pause. Slightly alarmed, he tried to make sense of that information. “You mean you called his room and he didn't answer?” “No,” she said in an apologising tone. “He has checked out yesterday evening and I couldn’t reach his mobile phone. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

Bai Yutong felt his stomach drop. “He was supposed to fly back today. Do you have any idea where he might have gone?”

“Sorry,” the clerk said. “He didn’t say, only left last night.”

“Let me call you back”, he said hastily and hung up. While he dialled Zhan Yao’s number from memory, his mind went through a million possible explanations. Maybe he was still mad and therefore hadn’t called? Maybe he had taken an earlier flight? But why wasn’t he home already, a voice in his mind whispered.

The call went straight to voicemail and Bai Yutong stared disbelievingly at his phone, his heart beating painfully slow in his chest.

After this he didn’t waste any more time. He informed the team that their resident professor had gone AWOL and set everyone to work: He called the hotel again to make sure Zhan Yao’s room would be sealed and treated as a crime scene, then had Zhao Fu find the next possible flight and Jiang Ling trace Zhan Yao’s phone – the former with success, the latter not so much, since it apparently had been turned off all week.

Pinching his nose, Bai Yutong muttered a curse, took a deep breath and addressed his team: “Alright, Wang Shao and Zhao Fu are with me. Jiang Ling, you work best behind your own desk, so you stay, Ma Han and the little one”, he nodded to Bai Chi, “will assist you. Call me immediately if you find anything useful.” The chorus of “Yes, Sir!” did nothing to ease his anxiety, but he smiled at them anyway and nodded. “Let’s go. Let’s find him.”

The flight didn’t take long, and when Wang Shao hailed a taxi, Bai Yutong’s mind was already busy making lists and sorting through facts. They arrived at the hotel shortly after noon and immediately went to work, first explaining his case to the – very helpful – manager, who promptly offered a suite to use as a headquarter as long as they would need it.

Searching Zhan Yao’s room wasn’t really enlightening. He hadn’t left anything when he checked out – Bai Yutong noticed he hadn’t even taken the small shampoo samples and his heart clenched in fond exasperation. His cat was honest to a fault, really. Sitting on the bed in the quiet, empty room, he ran a hand through his hair.

Where are you, Cat?

----------------

Cold.

 He felt cold.

 It was a cold that didn’t feel normal, not like being outside on a chilly day or after taking a cold shower. It was odd, somehow, vibrating, like a living being, moving inside him.

 He felt it in his soul, his heart, his bones.

 How curious, he thought.

----------------

Sighing, Bai Yutong took out his phone and scrolled through his contacts until he found what he was looking for. Bai Qintang answered after the first ring. “Any news?” He sighed. “No, it’s… He’s…” He trailed off and sighed again, pinching his nose. “This is a nightmare, jie.”

“You’re going to find him, Yutong. I have no doubts about your abilities.”

“Jie, it’s my fault. We haven't spoken in a week. If I hadn't--”

“Oh, shut it!” Bai Qintang blurted. “It’s not your fault and you know it. Stop pitying yourself and start being useful. He’s counting on you, so you need to get your shit together.” Bai Yutong winced at the tone, but knew she was right. He swallowed hard. “Thanks, sis, I’ll try.” He could hear her smile through the phone. “That’s my baby brother!” He rolled his eyes and hung up. Feeling slightly more optimistic, he stood up to gather his team, leading them to the reception desk.

The clerk, the one who had called Bai Yutong and was now very keen to help, remembered Zhan Yao leaving shortly after 8 p.m. the day before. He had given her a rather good tip and asked about a store where he could buy some provisions, which she had told him.

Bai Yutong decided to pay that store a visit. After flashing his badge into the manager’s face – and hoping she wouldn’t look closely enough to see he was from another city – she produced a security tape from the night before, leaving him and Zhao Fu in the cramped store room to watch it. Hunched over the tiny screen, he saw Zhan Yao walk into the store, dressed as impeccably as always, carrying the small black suitcase that had been his birthday gift last year. He vanished from the screen for a few minutes, only to reappear at one of the self-checkout registers, piling his items haphazardly on the surface. Bai Yutong couldn’t make out all of the things he bought, but he recognised a few water bottles, cans of soft drink, lots of chocolate bars and something that looked like a CD case. He frowned. What on earth had his cat been up to?

After Zhan Yao had left the frame with his suitcase and a shopping bag, Bai Yutong ended the recording and stood up. That had been only moderately helpful. Nodding to the manager, he and Zhao Fu left the store and returned to the hotel room to meet with Wang Shao.

Two hours and a lot of empty take-out boxes later, he sat at the low coffee table in his room, socked feet on the table, a coffee mug beside him. The chairs next to him were occupied by his remaining team members, whose faces showed the same feelings that Bai Yutong was sure were on his own as well: frustration, anxiety, exhaustion.

Checking the nearest airport had proved utterly unhelpful. Zhan Yao hadn’t booked or taken a flight there and he didn’t show up on any of the video tapes. It was still possible he had taken a flight from another airport a city over, but Bai Yutong didn’t find that plausible. Zhan Yao was a rational and patient person, he would simply wait for a flight if it was delayed. So, he hadn’t taken a plane. What he had done, however, they could only speculate.

The only thing they were sure about was the shopping he had done before vanishing. And it didn’t make sense either. Why would his cat buy so much food? Shaking his head, he took a sip of coffee. Food. Music. He wouldn't have use for a CD, Bai Yutong pondered, because for all his old-fashioned antics, he didn't actually own a portable CD player. So, he had bought food he couldn't eat, and music he couldn't listen to, unless…

Unless.

“I got it!”

Wang Shao almost dropped his coffee mug and Zhao Fu startled out of his seat at this outburst, both looking expectantly at him. “Got what?”, Zhao Fu asked.

“What the cat did. Ah, I could kick myself for not getting it sooner! It's so obvious!” The other men looked at each other and then back to their boss. “And…?”, Wang Shao prompted. “The food! The CD! It is so obvious now! He wouldn’t buy so much food for a flight when he couldn’t keep it anyway.” He looked at them, feeling almost giddy with hope.

“He rented a car.”

[sierraraeck]

Dancing, Drugs, and Lies (Pt.1)

BAU x OC Aundreya

Masterlist | Series Masterlist

(This is my gif so please give credit if used)

Summary: Morgan’s cousin is in danger. Aundreya decides to use some of her ‘special talents’ to help the team find her. Story seven.

Category: Working a case with the team. A bit angsty, I guess.

Warnings: Cussing. Drugs. Implied drug abuse. Normal CM gore and situations.

Word Count: 3.1k

A/N: Just a reminder that this is all fiction and I don’t actually know about drugs or exotic dancers. Also, I didn’t want this to be 3 parts, but Tumblr told me that I can’t have more than 250 text blocks so … here we are.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

It was 3am. Three. Fricking. AM. And I was getting a call. I had finally gotten my brain to shut off for the best quality sleep of which I was capable not even two hours earlier, and I was getting a damn phone call.

“What?” I answered, my voice groggy and annoyed.

“We need you here, right now. Morgan’s cousin is missing.”

That was all I needed to snap me right out of my complainey mood. I was already out of bed and felt wide awake when answering, “I’m on my way.”

# # # # # # # # # # # # #

When I got to the office, everyone except for JJ and Rossi were there waiting.

“Aundreya,” Penelope said.

“Hi, I came as quickly as possible, what’s happening?”

“Morgan’s sister came to him saying that his cousin never returned home last night. She went to check her apartment and called her several times and nothing.”

“What about her phone? Can you track it?”

“I already tried but it was left at her apartment.”

“And there are no other places around that she spends a lot of time at?” I asked.

“No. If there are, no one knows about them,” Penelope answered. I saw Morgan standing a few feet away and I walked over to him.

No one wants to be asked how they’re doing, so I opted for, “Hey, we’re going to do everything we can to find her, okay.” He was clearly distressed, a hand on his head and he was slouching, something our big brave Morgan hardly ever did.

He met my eyes. “I don’t know what to do. Sarah and I split up and looked for her, Garcia tracked her phone, and none of us know where she was or should have been, or what she was doing.” He was trying to keep it together, but I could hear the panicked undertone.

“Okay, good to know what we can rule out. Do we have a picture of her that we can put out?”

“Yes,” JJ interjected. She and Rossi had just arrived. “I’m going to have Garcia get one out.” I nodded.

I placed a hand on Derek’s shoulder and looked straight into his eyes, “We’re going to find her.” That was a promise I intended to keep. No matter what. I walked back toward the rest of the group to see if there was any new information.

“Hey, how’d you get here so fast?” Rossi asked.

“I came as quickly as possible.”

“You live farther away from here than I do.”

“I said I came as quickly as possible.” I shrugged and he raised his eyebrows at me.

“I’m letting this go, only because we have more pressing issues.”

“I think that’s a good plan,” I agreed. I love Rossi, but sometimes he felt like a parole officer. Leave it to him to put together that I sped about 30 over to get here in under 10.

“Okay, we sent out a picture of her to the media as a missing person,” JJ said, rushing back into the room. I checked my phone and all the air inside me abruptly escaped once I saw the picture. I know her.

“I know her. I literally saw her last night,” I blurted before I could even think about what I was saying.

“Wait what? You saw my cousin last night?” Derek asked, chiming into the conversation.

“Yeah. Morgan, what does your cousin do for a living?” I wanted to be sure that this was the same person before I let on any more.

He looked perplexed, but answered anyway. “She’s a finance consultant.”

“During the day,” I mumbled.

“What? What are you saying?” Derek was on a short fuse and I was going to have to remember that.

“I’m saying that at night, she works in a strip club.” Everyone’s faces contorted around me into a variety of different emotions.

“How do you know that?” Emily asked.

“I went out for a walk last night-”

“Last night as in 24 hours ago, or tonight as in 5 hours ago?”

“Last night. I went for a walk because I couldn’t sleep and needed some fresh air. I walked by a strip club and saw her exiting it in a nice robe and I could tell she was wearing some dancing outfit underneath,” I said. It actually sounded like a pretty plausible story, but I still got skeptical looks from people.

“That had to have been just before she went missing,” JJ said.

“How do you even know it was her?” Morgan asked.

I held up my phone with her picture as if that was the answer. He was looking for more, though, so I simply stated, “I recognized her photo.”

“So if she’s been working at a strip club, that makes her a higher risk victim,” Prentiss said.

“Sure, but there are specific rules outlined for dancers. They do what they get paid for, and only what they get paid for. I don’t know a single dancer that would allow herself to go home with a customer,” I said. I gained more weary looks.

“So you don’t think there is any chance that she got abducted from the club or from outside of it maybe?” JJ asked.

“It’s highly unlikely.”

“But it’s possible?” Morgan asked.

“Yes. It’s possible. But if that is the case, this guy is super sophisticated. He’d have to get around all of the security cameras,” I answered.

“I’ll go check those now. What club?” Penelope asked.

“The Camelot,” I answered. She nodded and rushed as fast as she could in her nearly six inch heels to her bat cave.

“I can’t believe this,” Morgan said. It was Rossi’s turn to console, and I turned to follow Garcia to see if there was any way I could help her go through the footage. On my way, a familiar hand grabbed my arm and spun me around.

“You weren’t on a walk,” Spencer stated, confusion and, even a bit of anger, in his voice.

“Yes, I was.”

“What time did you leave?”

“11:25ish.”

“How far did you walk?”

“Down a few blocks and back.”

“What time did you get home?”

I did some quick math. “12:10.”

He studied my body language, trying to spot anything that would indicate otherwise.

“Why would you go walking by yourself at midnight?”

“I told you. I couldn’t sleep and needed some fresh air. Don’t worry, I had my gun with me,” I said. That part wasn’t a lie. I did in fact bring my gun.

“Fine.” He released my arm and stood there staring at me. I returned his gaze for a couple of moments before continuing my path to Garcia. Of course Spencer would decide to fact check my story for any inconsistencies.

The FBI hired me, which was great and all, but it wasn’t exactly like they were paying me. Kind of, but not really. I was as close to a volunteer as the FBI could manage. However, I needed extra money, just a little something that I could have for a rainy day. The best way I could think to achieve that goal, was to revert back to my old ways. My really old ways. Before I was thrown in prison, while I was in the gang and running the ring, I was dancing. I had been since the moment I landed on the streets. My stage name, and the one the ring came to call me by, was Alionth. I became one of the most well known dancers in the entire Chicago area, and even got prospects from clubs all around the nation. Once I got out of prison, it wasn’t that difficult for me to persuade the owners of certain clubs to let me ‘guest star’ here and there when I was available. One of those clubs was the Camelot. They allowed me to pop in on short notice (since I never knew when we’d close a case), and shift around their dance schedule. Of course, having me back drew more attention to that club, but my sketchy schedule actually worked in their favor. The manager said that they had more guys coming in, hoping to land on the right night that I’d be there. It kept customers in suspense and coming back for more. And they paid me really well.

Morgan’s cousin, Cinthia, or Thia as we knew her, was one of the girls that I worked with. She was there the night before and I saw her walk into a private showing room. After that, I don’t remember seeing her. I assumed she had just finished the dance and went home. Based on what Garcia found, or more like what she didn’t find, that wasn’t the case.

“Riiiiiight … there! Did you see it?” she asked me. There was a portion of the outside security footage that started over. The scene barely faltered, but with someone as good as Garcia, barely wasn’t enough to protect them.

“Yeah, I do,” I said. “This is not good.”

I returned to the rest of the team to give them the information.

“So this guy is sophisticated enough to hack into the feed and set it on a loop before he abducts the women,” Emily confirmed.

“Or worse. Someone on the inside is helping him change the footage,” I offered. Neither one was a good scenario.

“Chambers, Prentiss, why don’t you go down there and see if you can get anyone to talk,” Hotch ordered. Prentiss nodded at me and I followed her lead out to the elevator. Hopefully, without my wig and elaborate outfits, the girls wouldn’t recognize me.

# # # # # # # # # # # # #

We entered the club and it was strange being there at 4am. I was usually out of there at 2 or 2:30 at the latest, so I never knew how it looked when it was more calm. There were about a third of the people there than during the busy hours, but luckily I still saw some girls that we could talk to. We approached them and I recognized them immediately. They were the two new girls who unfortunately had to work the crappy hours until they moved up the ranks. Steph had huge, curly blonde hair and Heidi had short black waves.

“Hi, I’m Emily and this is Aundreya. Could we speak with you for a moment?” Preniss asked. I was definitely going to let her take the lead on this one. I wanted to stay as inconspicuous to both parties as possible.

“What for?” Steph asked.

“We were just wanting to ask you about a woman who works here, Cindi Burns?” Prentiss held out the photo to them.

“I don’t know a Cindi, but the girl you’re showing me is Thia. She works here,” Heidi answered.

“Okay, well have you seen Thia recently?” Prentiss pressed.

They both just shook their heads. “Why?”

“She’s been reported missing.”

“Missing? By who, I thought Thia didn’t have anyone,” Heidi asked.

“Her cousin.”

“Oh damn. We didn’t see her last night. Sorry,” Steph said. Both of them turned to walk away and that’s how I knew something was up. Most of us stuck together, and were concerned when we heard about something happening to one of us. Not only because we cared, but because we knew there was a likelihood that we could be next.

“Was she with someone?” I asked.

They slowly turned around to look at me, sizing me up.

“Don’t think so. Sorry, we don’t know anything.” Lies, more lies. I shot Emily a look. She’d caught it too. I tilted my head in the opposite direction of the girls, asking her to let me talk to them alone. She arched an eyebrow.

“Trust me,” I said. She complied and walked away. I chased after the girls.

“Please,” I called after them, “She is in trouble and I know you know what’s going on.”

They ignored me.

“Look, we don’t have a problem but we could depending on if and how you answer these next questions,” I threatened. That’s when they heard it. The sass in my voice that was always more amplified when I was here, playing my character.

Both of their heads whipped around. “There’s no way.”

“Steph, Heidi-”

“Alionth?” they screeched and tossed their arms around me.

“It’s me,” I confirmed.

“What the hell are you doing with the police?” Steph asked.

“I know the cousin who reported Thia missing. Somehow I never put together that they were related,” I said, avoiding their real question.

“Oh wow. Small world,” Heidi said.

“Yeah. So she didn’t show last night?”

“No. She was supposed to, but she never came,” Heidi answered.

“Do you have any idea what happened to her?”

“I mean, I saw her go into the private room with that guy, but after that, nothing.”

“Have you ever seen that man before? Could you describe him?”

“Not really. It was dark,” Heidi said.

“No, but I’ve seen him before. Well, I didn’t recognize his face, but he was wearing a long trench coat that I’ve seen before,” Steph said.

I was about to ask if there was anything about the coat that stood out when a girl came stumbling out of the bathroom. “Help,” she croaked.

Prentiss and I rushed over to her.

“I tried to stop it,” she said. Her breathing was labored and she didn’t look familiar.

“Tried to stop what?” I asked.

“I tried. I tried. He did it again.” She wasn’t making any sense and she looked high.

“Who? Who’s he?” I pushed.

“The guy in the coat.” She started coughing, then collapsed.

# # # # # # # # # # # # #

She woke up in the hospital dazed and confused. I stayed with her while Prentiss went back to report to the team and assist them with whatever else they needed.

“What happened?” she asked.

“You collapsed after we found you in the Camelot. You were high,” I told her. Once we got her to the hospital and she was stable, we looked through her clothes and found a small bag full of a white powder. The lab was running it to figure out what it was. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Amanda. I dance at the gentlemen’s club a few blocks away. Who are you?”

“I’m Agent Chambers-”

“Agent?”

“Yes. We are investigating the disappearance of-”

“Multiple women in the area?” she finished eagerly.

“No, actually. Just the disappearance of Cindi Burns, also known as Thia.”

“What? No,” she quickly became irritated. “This has been happening to exotic dancers all over the city.”

“What? How do you know this?”

“I’ve been tracking it. I bounce around a lot between clubs, and that’s when I realized that I kept seeing the same man. That doesn’t seem like a big deal, men go to multiple clubs, right? But it is weird if he wears the same exact coat each time he comes, and each time, he asks for a private dance with one of our girls, and then that very same girl goes missing the next day.” I was impressed at how observant she was. There’s a lot going on in a club, so most girls just tune it out and only focus on what they’re doing.

“Wow. How long has this been going on?”

“Probably four or five months. No one is looking for these girls because most of them don’t have people who are looking out for them. I tried telling the police but they brushed them off as run-aways.” She was very passionate, and I respected her dedication.

“Do you want to do something in law enforcement when you graduate?” I asked. Her eyes went wide and I knew I was right.

“Yes. How did you know that?” she asked in wonder.

“I’m with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit. It’s part of my job,” I smiled. These girls didn’t hear it enough that needing financial help to get them through college was acceptable, that what they were doing was an acceptable form of secondary income to get them a higher education. “You seem like you’d be a great addition to the system.”

“Thanks. You’re literally my age, how is it possible that you are already working in a top unit of the FBI?” Her excitement quickly diminished. “You’re probably looking at me and wondering what in the hell I’m doing.”

“No, actually. I’ve been where you are. Actually, I still am where you are. I dance at the Camelot occasionally.” Amanda looked at me bewildered, but it brought light to her eyes.

“You work for the FBI and dance?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Must be. What are you going to do about this?”

“Can I ask you a few more questions?”

“Absolutely. What do you need to know?” It gave me hope that this woman was so invested in helping.

“Walk me through what happened and what you remember.”

She told me that she’d gone for a ‘smoke break’ around midnight because that’s when the man usually showed up at the club. She looked around for him but never saw him. Amanda had only ever seen him at three of the five clubs she worked at, so she called the other two to ask them if a man like that was there. When the Camelot told her that someone there matched her description of him, she hailed a cab and drove over. When she arrived, she went straight to the private rooms, and found him forcing a girl to take drugs. When he saw her, he panicked and yanked her into the room and forced her to take the drugs as well. They immediately kicked in, she recalled, but she had enough wits about her to keep hold of the bag because the drug was nothing she recognized. She finally came-to in the bathroom, but by then, Thia was already gone and Prentiss and I had arrived.

I called Aaron and relayed the information.

“She messed up his routine and he panicked, causing him to get sloppy,” he told me.

“Yeah, but that means he might accelerate, which means …” I didn’t want to say it.

“I know. Hopefully we’ll get the toxicology report back soon so we can narrow down our search based on whatever drugs are in that bag,” he said, still trying to stay positive, even though deep down he knew this didn’t look good.

“How’s Morgan?”

“As expected. See if Amanda remembers anything else, then head back here.”

“Will do.”

Part 2

[imaginary-portal]

Resistance

Tom Hiddleston x Reader

Y/N = your name

Y/L/N = your last name

Masterlist

Enjoy :)

————

You step out onto the London streets, clutching your coat closer for warmth on this rainy day. You can see your breath in the air as you walk to the nearest coffee shop. You step in line and order your usual coffee with a muffin. You walk back outside and down another block to get to work. You work for a British marketing team for Marvel Studios. It is a lot of fun, but you have to keep so many secrets about the job. Anytime you start a new project you sign contracts to keep things underwraps until the company offically releases it. You enter your office building, show your badge to the woman at the front desk, and enter the elevator. When the bell rings for your floor you take in a deep breath to focus your mind for a long day of hard work. You step out the elevator and go into your office. You take off your coat and put it over the back of your chair. You sit down in the chair and log on to your computer. As you take a bite of your muffin, you see out your office window Tom Holland and Zendaya walking with a team of people. Looks like you have guests today.

You don’t even get halfway through your muffin when your boss comes into your office asking you to meet her in the conference room. You bring your coffee with you, alongside your notebook and your pen. You walk to the conference room and see your boss by herself. She looked a wee bit stressed which is out of her norm. “Okay, we have a team of people visiting for some marketing pitches, then in a small group, including you, will vote on the best one. Then you are going to lead the project with a team.” You nod. “Sounds good. Thank you for this opportunity. Where shall I sit?” She points right next to her seat. You place your items down in front of you, and a group of people enter the room. You shake hands and introduce yourself to everyone. In particular, you remember the third to last person. “Good morning, I’m Y/N Y/L/N.” You shook the handsome gentleman’s hand. “Pleasure to meet you. I’m Tom Hiddleston.”

Everyone gets settled and your boss starts the meeting. Everybody runs their pitches and you take vigorous notes. The fourth pitch was your favorite so you put a star next to it. When the meeting ended, everyone left except your boss, Tom Hiddleston, his manager, two of your boss’s assistants, and you. Your boss starts the conversation. “Okay, Mr. Hiddleston. I would like you to speak first. What are your thoughts?” Tom speaks about how he favors the second pitch, given how well he knows his character, Loki, this pitch best sets up the kind of path he wants to see for him. You couldn’t help but notice how when he speaks he often adjusts his glasses and plays with his beard. “Thank you, Mr. Hiddleston. Next, Ms. Y/L/N. What do you think?” You sit up a little more straight. “Well, while I think the second pitch is interesting, I believe the fourth pitch is the most logical, given the kind of work our team is going to have to put into this project, it is the most plausible and the most likely to attract the broadest audience.” Tom and his manager take a short moment to talk separate from the group. The manager uses a notebook to cover their faces. You look at your boss, who gives you a thumbs up. You don’t know how to feel about that. “Okay.” His manager says. “We’ll settle for the fourth pitch, so long as we can tweak it a smidge to meet Mr. Hiddleston’s requests.” You click your pen. “All right, let’s see what we can do for you. What requests might you have?” Then Tom starts listing them. They were all pretty small and simple things so you or your boss didn’t have to shut any of them down. His most important request was that he could be more involved in this project than he usually is. Your boss would have to consult her boss to make sure that was okay, but she said she has confidence they will let him join the team as he pleases. During the conversation, you and Tom made frequent eye contact because you two did most of the talking. After the meeting ended, Tom and you shook hands again. You said “Thank you for coming today, I am excited to work with you on this project.” He smiled. “Thank you making room in your schedule to do this. I am excited as well.”

A few weeks went by and you planned out the project almost entirely. It was now ready for execution. You contacted Tom’s manager to tell him that the project is ready to begin and Tom is welcome to join whenever he can. After the project was started for three days Tom paid a visit. The team and you were stuck, arguing over how to do something. It was great to have a fresh pair of eyes to give an opinion. Tom ended up siding with the option you were siding with, and that ended the dispute. You then split into subgroups. Your group consisted solely of Tom and you, and that was by chance because everyone chose their groups. Anyway, it was good to catch him up to speed on things. “I got to hand it to you, Y/N. You’re doing a very good job.” You smile. “Thank you, but it is a group effort, I am just the leader.” You flip through some papers on your desk. Tom steps closer to your desk and speaks in a lower tone. “Well what happens if something were to go wrong? Who is likely to get the most blame?” You mouth ‘me’ without looking up from the papers. “Exactly, so then if things are going well, you should get the most credit as well.” You shrug. Tom laughs, which causes you to look up at him. You noticed the glimmer in his eyes when he laughed. “You can’t take a compliment, can you?” You huffed out a laugh. “I guess not. There are always things to improve on.” You go back to your papers. “I appreciate that you are interested in some of the behind-the-scenes work. It’s not something you see everyday.” You put the papers in a stack and look up at Tom. He smiles. “Yeah, I like to be involved with my character, and this project makes a big impact on his future.” He adjusts his glasses. You take in his presence for a moment. He stood with perfect posture, looking all fine and sophisticated. Your phone rings, breaking you from your unprofessional trance. You answer the call. It was your boss, asking you to do something for her after your lunch. You write it down on a sticky note and end the call. The call reminded you that you can take your lunch break now. You get up from your chair and grab your coat. “Lunch time.” Is all you say. You grab your set of keys and your wallet. “Y/N, shall we have lunch together?” Tom asks. You look up, surprised like a deer in headlights. “Uh, sure. Why not?” You smile, hoping to soften your impression on him.

After you clock out, the two of you leave the office and enter the elevator. Things get quiet for a moment. Your heart races a little. “Do you have a place in mind?” You ask. Tom shakes his head. “No I do not. Do you?” You nod. “There’s this place on the corner, it has good lunch food. But if you don’t want to go there we don’t have to...” Tom interrupts you. “No, we can go there.” The elevator dings and you exit the building and off into the streets. You walk to the restaurant on the corner. You get a table and order drinks. You both searched the menus for a meal. Once you ordered you got to talking. You talk about your hometowns and your jobs. The food arrives and you get to eating. Tom liked the food which was a relief. Towards the end of the meal, Tom says “Y/N, you’re a career woman, huh?” You smile. “Yeah, I guess I am. It must be really obvious.” Tom shakes his head. “But that’s a very good thing. I admire that very much.” You blush and look down. “Well thank you. I also admire your work ethic.” You look up and you and Tom both smile at each other. Tom reaches over the table and puts his hand on yours. You feel the warmth of his hand for a few seconds but then you pull your hand away. “Um, I’m sorry Tom.” You frown. “No. I’m sorry Y/N, I overstepped.” The waiter comes and gives you the check. You take out your wallet. “I can cover it.” Tom offers. “No, it’s okay I got it.” Tom gently takes the check out of your hands. “I’m sorry, but I insist.” You felt a wave of guilt wash over you. When Tom finishes with the check, you get ready to leave. While on your walk back to the office, you apologize to Tom again. “I’m sorry about that, in the restaurant. It’s not that I’m not interested, it’s just not the right time.” Tom accepts your apology, but doesn’t make eye contact with you.

Working in the office with Tom got real awkward after that lunch flop. You tried collaborating with others on the project, but you still had to work with Tom. You were all flustered and you still felt guilty for pulling your hand away. Thus, communication amongst the group became increasingly difficult, and you had to make everyone break for the day to recompose yourselves for tomorrow. You felt bad because you kind of scorned the entire group, and ended another half hours worth of potential work, and it was mainly your fault because you were distracted. You left to go to your office. One assistant got you a cup of coffee and you took a breather. You got a knock at the door, and you looked up. It was Tom. You could tell he was being extra careful, as if he was walking on eggshells. “May I come in?” You say yes, and Tom enters. He takes a chair and pulls it over to your side of the desk. You had your elbows on the table to prop your head up. You were massaging your forehead. You weren’t quite near tears, but you were visibly stressed. “Y/N, what is wrong?” Tom whispers. You let out a deep breath. “I’m just trying so hard to focus right now.” You hear Tom swallow a lump in his throat. “Y/N, is it because of me? I didn’t mean for this to happen.” You shrug. “I don’t know.” Tom puts a hand on your shoulder, sending tingles down your spine. You move your shoulder back so his hand slides off. “Y/N, do you want to know what I think?” You ask him what. He replies “I think you are a sucessful and talented person, and so much that I think you should cut yourself a break and stop resisting to something you may want.” He pries your hands off your forehead and holds them in his. You had no choice but to look into his blue eyes now. “I think that if I can read body language correctly, you’re interested in me. I think you should give me a chance, Y/N. I think you have already gotten yourself so far in life that you should reward yourself, and let someone special reward you too. Y/N, I will be that special someone, if you let me.” Your heart melted from his kind words. “Okay.” You say after a few seconds. “I’ll stop resisting so much. I’ll give us a try.” Tom cracks a smile and you smile back. Tom wraps his hand around the back of your neck and presses your forehead onto his. You got extreme butterflies in your stomach. You felt his breath on top of your lips. Tom leans in closer and kisses you, short and sweet. Your hands cupped his cheeks, finally getting to feel the texture of that attractive beard.

[katrou1894-blog]

Frozen 2 Movie Review (No Spoilers Until Partly Through)

*All rights to this photo belong to Walt Disney Studios Hi Everyone!

Welcome back to Katie’s Messy Little Blog! I want to do something different (again) for this blog post. A movie review!

I, like many others, flocked to the movie theater the weekend before Thanksgiving to see the greatly anticipated Frozen II. (Sorry it took me so long to get this review out btw. The end of November and beginning of December has been super busy! 😅 )

[FYI the first half of this blog will be spoiler-free, so it is safe to read the first half of my blog if you haven’t seen the movie yet and you don’t want spoilers. It will be super obvious when we hit the spoiler part of the blog 😉]

I’m going to start by sharing, I LOVED this movie! I think it is one of the best films that Disney has produced this decade! (Not quite the best because I actually think that spot belongs to Coco, but this would be a close second!) Although Frozen II is a sequel, it really didn’t feel like one to me. Frozen II, of course, has the same cast of characters (with a couple of great additions like Lieutenant Mattias and Bruni), but this film also had almost an entirely different feel to it than its predecessor. Everything from the high fantasy elements of the film to the (at least in my opinion) much more mature soundtrack felt very different, but “good different.”

Frozen II also did an excellent job of tying the two films together. There are quite a few specific call back to the first film, both serious and humorous, which makes the jump from the first to the second film much smoother than it might have been without these specific references. Plus the storyline of Frozen II really is just a continuation of the first film, full of plausible and likely next steps for each of the characters.

Other then plotline, I also really loved some deeper Nordic cultural references and influences that Frozen II includes, the absolutely gorgeous animation (seriously one of the visually prettiest movies I have ever seen!) and the incredible, heartfelt and meaningful music. I could go on about all of these topics for a bit, but I strongly encourage you to go out and see the film and see what I mean for yourself!

SPOILER WARNING!!!!

(If you read past this section and you haven’t seen the film yet it is your own fault that you got Frozen II spoilers 😉 You have been warned.) For those of you who have seen Frozen II or to those of you who don’t care about reading about spoilers, welcome to the spoiler section of this blog! I am going to start my spoiler section by sharing my only real complaint about the film.

Frozen II leaves some VERY IMPORTANT sections of the film unclear. They chose to vaguely tell/hint at major reveals, leaving (I believe) many moviegoers somewhat confused until they later explain what happened in the film. There are two key moments, in particular, in which this happens.

The first being when Elsa awakens the spirits of the forest. This supposedly occurs at the very end of Elsa’s song, “Into the Unknown,” when she reaches out to the phantom voice that has been calling to her and she conjures the weird floating, ice-diamond, element symbols throughout Arendelle. Although this scene was showcased in promotional materials for the film, I was still very confused by this moment until Elsa tells Anna a few minutes later (after the entire population of Arendelle is evacuated to the nearby cliffs) that she had summoned the spirits of the forest (okay…). Admittedly, upon the second viewing of this film (Yes, I have seen it twice already. Judge all you want, I am content with my life choices. 😂) this series of events made much more sense because through the course of “Into the Unknown” Elsa actually dances/interacts with each of the elemental spirits which (at best) hints at Elsa potentially awakening the spirits. (I guess…) I think this really didn’t make sense the first time around because the film hadn’t yet explained what the water horse, hopping flame, the rock giants and the gust of wind were (it had only implied). So (I believe) between the overall vagueness of the scene and the lack of prior explanation of what the spirits are that’s why at least I was (perhaps many others were too) scratching my head at this point.

The other key moment that was unclear was when Elsa discovers that she is the fifth spirit. This occurs during Elsa’s other show stopper tune, “Show Yourself.” I really just don’t think this scene is very clear because one moment Elsa is in the large ice room surrounded by images of her memories, then she is singing with one of her mother’s images. (Who turns out to be the voice calling her?? Also unclear about this, however, the actress who voices Queen Iduna for Frozen II, Evan Rachel Wood, is credited for singing this song so I guess so??) Then suddenly the elemental shape appears (which not so discreetly is in the shape of a snowflake (We all see what you did there Disney)), Elsa steps into the center of this shape, and then she gets, yet another, dramatic makeover while she is singing an epic song. Don’t get me wrong, this is a stunning sequence and a super cool moment, but other then the makeover, a giddy face by Elsa, and a glowing snowflake, but there is no direct explanation on what is happening in this scene until about 20 minutes later when Elsa explains it to Anna. When I first saw this scene I guessed that they were trying to imply that Elsa is the fifth spirit, but it just wasn’t clear.

Now, in defense of this scene, I really am not sure how they could have made it more clear other than maybe Elsa saying to herself, “Of course, it was me all along!” However, I understand why the filmmakers may not have wanted to do this since it would seem quite narcissistic if Elsa had stated this, especially at this exact moment. Nonetheless, this scene did lose some of its power because of the lack of clarity.

I will also say that the overall spirit plotline/origin story is very vague and it leaves me with quite a few questions, specifically about the spirits. I am willing to, for the most part, overlook most of this vagueness because I did overall enjoy the film that much and I think that Disney is really striving for a different kind of storyline with this film because of the spirits and high fantasy elements. [However, if Disney actually answers my questions about the spirits (especially more on why Elsa is a spirit) I would not be opposed to a Frozen III. Assuming, of course, that they stay true to their commitment to high-quality storytelling. Seriously Disney, please don’t just make Frozen III for the money. If you do it well then you can both make great art and make a ton of money.]

Okay, now that I have shared my only real frustration with Frozen II, I want to get back to sharing about the film’s strengths.

The character development in this film is truly amazing! The majority of the film’s focus was, of course, on Elsa and Anna, but there was some really great character development for the beloved side characters in the Frozen gang. Both Olaf and Kristoff really grew in this film and took some maybe slightly unexpected, but interesting and crucial roles within the film.

Olaf in this film is “growing up” and “maturing” which leads him to ask a bunch of questions, to research, and to essentially become a walking and talking fun fact machine. Olaf represents children that have endless questions about the world and how everything works. I love that this is the direction that the filmmakers chose to progress Olaf’s character. Plus they use Olaf’s curiosity of life as an important vessel of key information that the film needs to explain in order for other parts of the film to make sense. This primarily being the concept that “water has memory” which Olaf shares with the group and keeps insisting on throughout the film. (And which he turns out to be right about, at least according to the film.)

[Also I really love Olaf’s silly line, “Samantha?” Towards the beginning of his song “When I Am Older.” It has been reported that Josh Gad, the actor who voices Olaf, did, in fact, improvise this line and the filmmakers loved it so much that it stayed in the film. However, I am burning with the question of Who is Samantha??? For now, I choose to believe that it must be the name of the promised, but not delivered upon, girlfriend of Olaf which was suggested during early discussions of the film who clearly was cut from the end result. ‍💁 ] Kristoff also has some truly incredible character development himself! Kristoff has always had an interesting role within the world of Frozen. He starts off as the brutish, but lovably dorky companion of Anna in her original search for her sister, then through the course of their journey he turns into the true love interest for Anna (leaving Hans already not looking super great before he reveals he is evil). Essentially, this is his entire arch for the first film. Naturally, Frozen II deals with Kristoff’s next character steps. It was absolutely no surprise to me that Kristoff spends the majority of the new film attempting to propose to Anna, however, what is so revolutionary about Kristoff in this film is both his open expression of emotion (since society has for generations and generations told men the bull crap that it “it isn’t manly to have emotions”), the fact that he doesn’t actually journey with Anna through the entirety of her journey and that Kristoff is also extremely supportive of Anna and he really doesn’t try to “save her.”

Kristoff has this amazing love ballad, “Lost in the Woods“ about halfway through the film. I love this scene for two reasons. Firstly, because this is a scene where Kristoff is free to express his emotions and frustrations. Secondly, because this scene is ridiculously funny! Kristoff sings in the woods with the help of his reindeer friends (especially Sven). This song pokes fun at pretty much every boy band ever and every weird and overly dramatic music video ever. Plus, I love the subtle hint at Queen’s famous “Bohemian Rhapsody” music video where Kristoff and his reindeer friend’s heads are highlighted on a black background.

I also love the fact that Kristoff very much has his own journey in this film. He is left behind by Anna, Elsa, and Olaf for the majority of the primary adventure of the film. Now, to be fair, the group (or at least Anna) didn’t want to leave Kristoff behind and the only reason why he was left behind was his own fault because of his weird proposal scheme with a bunch of reindeer. Yet, Kristoff’s alone time allows for his dramatic, but powerful emotional expression. This separation from the rest of the group also allows for Kristoff’s key positioning towards the end of the film in which he is able to help Anna in her mission to destroy the damn.

Kristoff’s unique positioning in the film not only allows him to help Anna destroy things, but it also allows for a subtle, but powerful moment in film history. It is not very often that a female lead is “allowed” by a male lead to go off and just be able to do what she needs to do without the male questioning her. Kristoff in this epic battle sequence does not question Anna at all. He allows her to take control of the situation and supports her in her efforts. This is HUGE! Now, don’t get me wrong, there are other films that have allowed for this before, but not many.

Kristoff also gets huge kudos for delivering (at least in my opinion) the best line in the film. After Anna apologizes for leaving him behind on their journey, Kristoff states, “My love is not fragile.” I love that Disney chose, in this moment of potential conflict, to show the strength of love and a solid relationship, rather than show a potentially distracting fight. I hope this moment will sink into young children’s heads and hopefully help them understand what a healthy and strong relationship could look like.

Anna also has a powerful and interesting journey in this film. Anna is incredibly protective of Elsa throughout the majority of the film. It is clear that Anna is struggling with a massive amount of change that she is facing in the film and she desperately wants to cling to her strong bonds (which she finally got at the end of the first film). Anna is this sort of overprotective, semi-controlling mess throughout the majority of the movie and it isn’t until she loses a couple of these dear bonds that she starts to face and accept her new reality of change. This leads me into possibly my favorite part of the movie, Anna’s song “The Next Right Thing.” This song is directly after Anna loses both Elsa and Olaf, two of the people (I guess I and counting a snowman as a person in this…) that she is most close to. I LOVE the fact that Disney actually dared to create a song about grief and the realities of loss. This is such a powerful and honest song about grief and the grief process. Anna mourns and struggles to find motivation to go on, yet still keeps stepping forward (both metaphorically and physically). This song acknowledges so many of the thoughts and struggles of losing loved ones, but also the active choice to keep pressing on, to do “the next right thing.” This scene is so full of meaning! Everything from the fact that Anna is trying to find her way through a cold wet cave through the course of this scene (stumbling towards the light at the end of the tunnel), to the fact that her costume changes slightly at this point, she loses her purple cape which she wears through the majority of the film and is now left in her black dress (a morning dress perhaps?), to the deeply meaningful lyrics. This is, by far, one of the most powerful scenes in the film and I so deeply value that Disney included this scene about such a difficult topic in such a high profile film. This scene (at least for me) made an already good movie, into a great one. A movie full of meaning and one that genuinely reflects life in many ways. Another favorite aspect of Frozen II that I really love is that each of the major characters in this film goes on their own paths of discovery. I have already discussed most of them. Olaf deals with “growing up” and how to process the world around him. Kristoff struggles with his emotions and feelings of rejection (although he is not actually being rejected, but sometimes we can feel like that even when it is not true). Anna struggles through her co-dependent nature and loss of control. Actually, looking at all of these major themes in the film really makes it quite clear to me that Frozen II is not only an enjoyable film but is also a very mature one.

Now, I’m sure most of you have noticed by now that I haven’t yet discussed Elsa’s journey in this film. I have saved this one for last primarily because Elsa’s journey is, of course, the primary journey of the film, but also because this is the journey that resonated the most with me personally. Elsa experiences this call, one that in the film is literal, but in real life can be a concept that might deeply resonates with some people as this kind of internal call. At the heart of Elsa’s call is the call for deeper meaning and a greater purpose in life. A call “Into the Unknown” of our lives. A craving to go out there and do what we are meant to do. I love that a children’s film brings up this “call.” I know (although I don’t have voices in my head) I personally have experienced a similar kind of craving to go out and do what I am “meant to do.” I believe that this very much can and does exists, although maybe not everyone has it or listens to it. I love that Disney also chose to include this kind of call in a children’s film. Perhaps this will help people to better understand this concept and help to motivate those who hear it, to pursue it. (Such as a young writer working on pursuing her dreams 😉 )

Before I conclude this blog post, I would love to just bring up a few short notable mentions of various other things that I really loved about Frozen II.

1. First off, I deeply appreciate that Disney did NOT take the “long thought to be dead parents are suddenly alive” approach in this film. This is done just a little too often in children’s film and I don’t like it (although some do it better than others, How to Train Your Dragon 2 for example I believe did an excellent job with bringing the long lost mom back, but I digress...). If Disney had taken this approach then it would have totally ruined the blow of the parent’s death in the first film. Plus it would have personally really pissed me off. Primarily because why would parents (especially ones that really needed to be there for their children (particularly a child with special needs) and their kingdom) just not come back? Or at least fight and work their butts off in order to get back to their loved ones? It just wouldn’t have made sense and I am really glad that Disney did not take this root. If anything they confirmed that Anna and Elsa’s parents did, in fact, die at sea. This is tragic, yes, but necessary. (I’m also a firm believer in the concept that the mentor has to die in order for the protagonist to grow to the point they need to be. Frankly, Anna and Elsa’s parents had to die in order for both of them to grow.)

2. I also love the fact that Anna and Elsa don’t actually stay together at the end of the film. They both have larger responsibilities/calling that they have to tend to. Although they, of course, love each other, sometimes physically staying in the same place as your loved ones hold you back from what you are capable of. The end of the film also shows a good example of how to stay connected even when you don’t live together anymore.

3. Okay, this one isn’t directly connected to the film actually because it is about one of the songs that got cut from the final product. So if you listen to the full Frozen II Deluxe Edition of the album (Available on Spotify if you are wondering) then you will come across the song “I Seek the Truth.” I have found this song quite delightful and I highly encourage people to go check it out! This song has intriguing lyrics and gorgeous music. It doesn’t quite have the powerhouse quality that “Into the Unknown” and “Show Yourself” have (which I am guessing is the main reason why this song was cut), but it does have a clever tune, plus it is very enjoyable and meaningful (at least in my opinion).

Overall I LOVED Frozen II and I am super excited for it to join the Disney library. The film is both highly enjoyable and deeply meaningful. Kudos to Disney for yet another masterpiece!

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[tanadrin]

Actually managed to see Endgame tonight; thoroughly enjoyable, a solid entry in the franchise that met or exceeded all expectations. There is no post-credits scene, though, so don’t do like I did and sit through the credits on the off chance and nearly miss the last train home.

Individual thoughts that are not spoilers:

1 )Brie Larson’s haircut hoooooooly shit

2) I mean hoooooooooooooly shit

3) I have plenty of thoughts about like the characters and the way the plot was constructed and how it was all carried off

4) but can we just talk about Brie Larson’s hair for a minute please

Thoughts which might constitute spoilers:

5) Absolutely nothing about this movie was a surprise; it in fact hit all the expected notes in the expected order. That said, it did it well: Even with the opening scene, where you 100% know exactly what’s going to happen from the moment you see what’s going on, it still manages to hit pretty damn hard--doesn’t hurt that it’s basically one of the ur-Adult Fears come to life. Like Infinity War, it juggled a frankly huge cast, it built on ongoing narrative and character arcs well (and closed them!), and it worked very well both in its context in a larger franchise and as a standalone move--although it’s probably not narratively inseparable from IW for obvious reasons, I think those two together work as a fun, big, goofy, two-parter superhero movie.

6) As to the general plot: Thanos isn’t a stupid villain, and although his motivations are incoherent after five seconds of thought (”Hmm, killing half of all living things--wouldn’t that cut the economic and biological productivity of all inhabited planets by half or more, thus meaning in fact the survivors would be no better off after? Why would they be grateful to you?” At least in the comics this was a secondary motivation for another goal--being in love with Death--which mean it didn’t have to stand on its own as a premise), he goes about executing his plan competently. So of course he destroys the Infinity Stones right after he wins! And we get to watch the heroes impotently murder him in revenge, which does nothing to bring their friends back and only serves to highlight how traumatized they are by their loss. The movie doesn’t really explore much of the post-Snap world, but it doesn’t have time to, and what we see of it serves to reinforce what it’s really focused on in the beginning, which is the microcosm of the surviving Avengers’ grief. That works very well. I’m a little bummed they played Thor only for laughs, because “alcoholic loner too consumed by grief to lead his people” could also be full of pathos; but I think Thor was doomed to be some kind of comic relief after Taika Waititi’s makeover. It’s not a super objectionable choice (the movie badly needed its comic moments!), but I would like to see Thor be done justice as a dramatic character.

7) The time travel aspect was nonsense, but fun nonsense; I usually hate time travel plots with a passion, but this one was done very well. Specifically, it avoided you wondering whether it was creating alternate timelines where just as many people were doomed to suffer as in our prime reality, which always undercuts the whole concept; and because this was a capstone film on 11 years of a franchise, it provided the opportunity to revisit iconic moments and characters--but it avoided being a dumb clip show. It did that by making a nonsensical hash of causality, but Marvel movies in general make a nonsensical hash of physics, politics, history, biology, and astronomical scale, so w/e. Also Thanos being like “well, future me was a dumbass; clearly I should kill the entire universe this time” upped the stakes nicely in a very organic way. Although now there’s gonna be a little voice in the back of my head going like “This universe has been proven to have TIME TRAVEL which DOESN’T EVEN FUCK UP CAUSALITY, why do you not just recharter SHIELD to raid the future for super advanced technology.”

8) The post-snap world is gonna be a bureaucratic clusterfuck though. Half the population is five years younger than the other half. Will they avoid the mess with Peter Parker’s classmates by just assuming they were all dead too, or just ignore it?

9) Thor dual wielding! Holy shit!

10) That cast list at the end! Holy shit!

11) I like how they had to work really hard to keep Captain Marvel offscreen so she didn’t just meteor Thanos into the ground when he showed up

12) Can we get an undocumented Captain America next??

13) I like that the Infinity Stones are powerful, but costly to use; and that many of the deaths in the previous film weren’t fixable, so that there was a clear cost, and those stakes aren’t retroactively reduced to zero. It’s not really clear why Hulk couldn’t have brought back, say, Vision, given that he died just before the snap and by mundane means, but I’m glad (from a critical standpoint) they didn’t.

14) Pepper in an ironman suit FUCK YEAH

15) “I am inevitable!” “And I am Iron Man.” Great line--great sendoff for the character--and the reversal with Peter watching Tony die instead was friggin’ heartbreaking. They could have plausibly killed Cap, and I don’t think anybody would have been surprised if they’d killed Barton (I think they really wanted it to be ambiguous who would have to die to get the Soul Stone), but it was nice that some characters got their happy retirement.

16) Actually that whole giant fight scene was great. I’m a sucker for huge climactic battles, and the moment where you see Strange’s portal forming and you know the fight wasn’t all in vain, that they actually clawed back their redemption from the abyss, is really really satisfying; the Asgardians and Wakandans and everybody else showing up just looked really fucking cool, and the ensuing battle did not disappoint.

17) Peter’s nanosuit is also hilariously OP though

18) Tessa Thompson on a flying horse with a giant fucking spear HOLY MOTHERFUCKING SHIT

19) Tony/Cap/Thor was a good character triad to build the movie on, given their respective relationships, but I think that shot of all the women together showed the directors were aware that most of the movie wasn’t working with an exactly diverse cast.

20) I like that “just explaining what the fuck is going on like a reasonable person” gets tried at least once during the time travel, and that it works--but Bruce and Tilda Swinton are probably the two most reasonable people in the Marvel universe. (My headcanon is that Tilda Swinton is actually playing herself in all her Marvel appearances.)

All in all, I really liked it. Nothing there for someone who doesn’t enjoy the Marvel movies, but I don’t think anybody who appreciates the underlying premises of big, dumb superhero movies will be disappointed.

[gurguliare]

... It is, uh, rare and out-of-character for me to say this, but I do disagree pretty much across the board with everyone’s criticisms of this episode as an adaptation---or rather, I get where the backlash is coming from, I think the story in the manga is excellent and lots of minor and major grace notes got lost here, but I also think splitting it across two episodes (or 4 and 5 across three episodes) would have been unworkable. The ramp up-resolution ratio needed to be what it was to communicate the strangest thing about the Mogami arc, which is its double-jointed climax: it’s not interminable (as with world domination), but every time you’re sure the end is close, it opens up a new frontier. Like most nightmares it finally breaks, rather than cresting down to a recognizable finish. Mob has his big moment of reclaimed identity, and then... he has to keep going! And through much of it he moves as kind of a disdainful sleepwalker, there’s this perfunctory 1-2-3 tempo to his process even while he questions himself about what he’s doing, who he’s saving, and why, which absolutely feels mechanical and dancelike in its compression. A timesaving move, but one which also happens to capture the constant disjunct between his reasoning and the lagging, overblown emotional reality that it takes all his energy just to participate in. IN THIS WORLD, EVERYTHING I SEE IS AN EVIL SPIRIT. I HAVE TO EXORCISE THEM ALL. Mob can’t stop destroying himself + his preconceived ideas, but his internal narrative is starting to catch up to the fact that that’s not always negative. Sometimes you just have a ton of baggage to shoot lasers at (and a ton of temporary selves to let fall apart.)

Things I missed:

Minori with the box cutter

the explicit “what do you want?” / “power” exchange

“it’s not fair!” Mob wail re: the cruelty of the world, some depth from his reactions there in general, although to be clear I think the anime version is internally consistent and interesting in terms of shifted emphasis, and I’m glad to have both

how brutal “Mogami and Asagiri-san taught me that people can change” is: some of this is communicated, I like in general how they draw Mob’s face in the last scene because it’s appropriately fisheyed, flat, and opaque, but I think the music kind of smooths over the neutral, double-edged starkness of Mob’s chosen takeaway. Like, yup! People can change! People are changing all the time! From some perspectives it’s an incredibly bleak thing to stake your developing moral worldview + optimism on, in good old Pratchett fashion. Of course it’s also lovely, it’s just... you know, in a story that’s very much about the bigness and unmanageable complexity of the everyday, and what you have to learn to keep up with it, “people change” is such a fucking... kicker to the hope that you’re ever going to get on top of shit. You’re not! You have to keep running alongside the giant crusher wheel!

Other notes:

I actually did not like Minori blushing, which is unusual for me since I love “blushing while crying” as a piece of awkward bodily realism that tends not to jive with the scripted atmosphere of many fictional breakdowns. But I thought that for most of the episode (and with Minori’s apology!) they did such a good job of keeping her ugly, banal mannerisms consistent, it was a shame to then bust out something that looks, even superficially, like a transformation.

However they made up for it with her fucking hospital bed flouncing in the post-credits scene, I loved that SO MUCH. GOD. MINORI.

In general I’m ambivalent-to-positive on the toned-down violence and the cat’s survival; yes, I think the scene loses a bit in terms of directness of storytelling, but I also think there’s a corresponding gain in terms of... the closeness of Mob’s nightmare and actual realities, the very thin margin of normal social support that separates him from this boring, insignificant hellscape. I don’t know that it makes as much of a difference to Minori’s portrayal as I’ve seen people claim, and I also don’t see that it makes Mob’s forgiveness less pointed, since Mob, while dumb, has enough of a clue to distinguish between ringleader and lead. (Plus it helps highlight the distinction between Minori and, say, Teru, as like, an existential threat from the world of normal shitty influencers vs psychics who at heart are all children who want to brawl. Not that Minori isn’t also a child who wants to ... do others injury, with her own two hands if she’s feeling spooked enough. But. The weird thing about losing Minori and the boxcutter is I would say it makes her less sympathetic, or at least, less aligned with other sympathetic child characters who we see do terrible things out of a mixture of fearful impulse and habit. It’s definitely a change, but not one that breaks the logic.) 

But yeah, the point of Mogami arc is and it isn’t “Mob is made of such extraordinary stuff that it takes all this abuse to break him”: there’s an element of that, Mob is a special person, but it’s also supposed to be about how plausible all this continues to feel to him even after he “wakes up,” and how hard he has to work to convert Mogami’s lessons into something usable, rather than just discarding them out of hand. It’s not that I think any of that doesn’t work in the manga, but I like the even more tightly narrowed scope here. Both are at least functional, and given other constraints on time I can’t think what I would have sacrificed to get more back-and-forth in the confrontation scene with the bullies. Maybe SOME particle physics could have been cut. 

I surprisingly wasn’t in love with the ???% starscape. My favorite thing about ???% in Mogami arc is how it’s simultaneously the showstopper but also a lot more incidental than it is in other arcs where it appears/looms in characters’ minds, so I was a bit “shrug” on visual attentions paid, even though I like the more sublime/cosmic! take on everyone’s favorite eldritch horror.

seriously could we not get a second longer and the slightest glowup on the flower 

100% COURAGE NOT ENOUGH OF A SPARKLY, OVEREXPOSED EYESORE. THOSE WERE LIKE. DARK-PALETTE SPARKLES, WHAT THE HELL

... and that’s about it, honestly, I loved, loved, loved most of the other specific choices, from Reigen and Dimple’s animation outside to the spirits racing the long rays of Mob’s power. “I still have to save that awful Asagiri-san”: music to my ears!! Can fiction even have enough contemptuous dutybound rescues. I love................... anime. And Mob. 

[paperclipninja]

Younger post-ep ramble 5x12

Ok, we made it, we’re here. Now proudly donning my ‘I survived Younger Season 5’ commemorative t-shirt, there were moments in the lead up when I thought the anticipation for ‘Lizability’ might actually be the end of me. But nope, managed to survive that and then, miraculously, survive the finale itself (though there were a couple of parts that had me teetering, can you say FOUNTAIN SCENE). As always, I have many thoughts and feelings, all of which I will lay out in this final episode ramble for the season. So switch out your night driving glasses for your reading ones, there is a lot to unpack.

Straight off the bat we get my favourite terrible person, Cheryl Sussman. Taking Liza on the tour of Plaza, she does her best to try and remind us why we should hate her by talking up her company while dissing our beloved Empirical (her calling it a floundering family publishing house felt akin to when you’re snarky about your own family but if someone else says a bad word, HELL NO). But then, as she’s complimenting Liza on her work at Millennial and Liza once again points out she didn’t do it on her own, Cheryl comes out with ‘now’s not the time to hide your light under a bushel’. So now my feelings are confused. I know Cheryl is a bad egg (oh yes, I am HERE for the Chick(y) puns) but her unabashed directness means that she also sees Liza’s talent and won’t let her credit all the success to Kelsey and you get the sense that she might actually be legitimately valued in her own right in this workplace (not to mention Cheryl outright saying that theirs is not an ageist company).

Cue the offer to run her own imprint with the most cringe worthy name a marketing team ever spent ages coming up with. It’s so bad it’s great (I could just hear someone from marketing saying, “I know, let’s put the ‘y’ in brackets for…wait for it…the y chromosome so that it’s clear we’re not just an imprint for women” and the team all high fiving each other before cracking open a bottle of sparkling rose that was left over from the Christmas party). Of course no matter how peachy it’s all sounding, we know that the fact Cheryl knows about Liza’s relationship with Charles is going to be used against her at some point, so any confused feelings are quickly quashed when Cheryl throws her own pun into the mix, that this Chick(y) is ready to hatch, and struts off. Ugh, she’s the worst. I love her.

Back at Empirical, Kelsey is blindsided by the news that there is a Captiol Letters party being hosted in Washington that she knows nothing about. Zane enjoys every moment of questioning Kelsey in front of her colleagues and Kelsey’s attempt to save face by telling Charles she’s heading there leads to a conversation I was hoping would happen this season. I suspected that Charles knew there was something going on between Jake and Kelsey and Kelsey and Zane. Peter Hermann is really such a remarkable actor because in the eps leading up this one, during each interaction with Jake or Zane about the book, and even last episode when Kelsey squeezed Zane’s cheeks at the cabaret show, a contemplative expression flashed across Charles’ face as he was piecing together these separate interactions and conversations. Him confronting Kelsey about her relationship with Jake, and also indicating that he knew she and Zane had something going on, was what I needed. It was ensuring she was held accountable as well as an opportunity to make her aware of Zane’s actions in refusing to poach the book.

While we’re in Charles’ office, I’d like to touch on a scene that I really loved and that was the Charles, Kelsey and Liza moment talking about what’s going to happen, following Charles’ meeting with Quinn. Admittedly, Kelsey not understanding what Charles initially says raises some questions about her business acumen, but the conversation between the three of them once the news of Millennial becoming the flagship brand is revealed was the first time I’ve seen them talk together like this (and I really enjoyed seeing Kelsey and Liza’s disbelief and elation). Liza pointing out she’s been perpetuating fraud and that both of them are complicit and the glance Charles shot at Kelsey, Kelsey saying in front of Charles that Liza can’t leave, that she can’t do this without her, it’s like these three are bound by the shared secret and their care of Liza and I felt like I caught a glimpse of the potential for the three of them to hang out. I’m not suggesting that Charles and Kelsey are suddenly going to have a blossoming friendship, rather that Charles being out for drinks or the like with the gang, a notion that I’m dying to see but can’t quite wrap my head around, suddenly became plausible and possible in this moment for me.

The most striking part of this scene was the way both Liza and Charles changed the moment Kelsey left the room. You could see them both relax into the comfort of just the two of them, the way Liza says, ‘you know I’m right’ immediately readjusted the power dynamic to that of two equals and transitioned the conversation to one between partners rather than colleagues. Liza reminds Charles of her desire for a career and his smile when she says that by leaving they’ll have ‘us’ was a sweet bonus. Charles trusting Liza’s judgement about Kelsey and talking through his next steps with her further reinforced that he values and respects her opinion and guidance. The one thing this scene absolutely solidified for me was how much I would give (read: A LOT) to see these two team up and become a publishing power couple, seriously, I know that won’t ever happen on Younger but I would be all over that and am already picturing a good cop/bad cop nerdish negotiation scenario and yes, take my money, I’m here for it.

Speaking of negotiations, our billionaire friend Quinn reappeared this week and I thoroughly enjoyed hearing her actually conducting business and talking about putting together a group of investors etc. Don’t get me wrong, in her lunch meeting with Charles the flirt was on as she told him she wants to put her money where her passion is, but I liked her assertiveness around having a specific strategy for saving Empirical. I love this character, she is like the good witch version of Cheryl Sussman (I think. I want her to be good so I’m sticking with this until I see otherwise). And I especially loved her after the conversation with Liza. Quinn and Liza together = yes please. I want them to become friends or at least have some kind of relationship where they go out for drinks together or SOMETHING, because Quinn in business mode not accepting any of Liza’s reasons for leaving Millennial and not relenting until Liza came straight out with the truth….YES! This moment was so so good. From Quinn’s reaction (a shout out to the expression on Laura Benanti’s face in that moment) and Liza saying that the optics aren’t good now that Quinn knows, to Quinn’s response that the optics aren’t good either for firing someone who’s fighting against ageism then offering to celebrate it, it was such a glorious unfolding of events. Of course Quinn goes straight to how it can be beneficial for business and I LOVE that Liza shoots back with the fact it’s good for Claw. And possibly my favourite part of this scene, when Quinn feigns that she never even thought of that, Liza throws chapter 4 straight back at her and Quinn says see, you already know I’m not going to let you go and this kind of intelligent, witty back and forth between two women who clearly respect one another is what I want to see Liza have in her friendships. Make this happen Darren.

The other person I need Liza to be going out for drinks with is Diana and this was reinforced by their interaction the morning in the office when Diana believes the relationship with Enzo may be over. I love that Liza can tell something is wrong and when she asks, Diana tells her rather than shuts her out. Oh how far these two have come! Diana’s hurt is so deep and real and Liza’s attempt to console her with ‘even when you know it won’t work, it’s still hard when it doesn’t’ (which of course is very applicable to Liza’s current conundrum) does not fall on deaf ears, despite Diana’s stone faced request for espresso. The cause of this angst is of course the fallout of the Fatburg Five conversation in Enzo’s new apartment the night before. A few weeks ago I was convinced that there would be a Diana/Enzo (what are we calling them? Enzana? Dizo?) proposal, but that idea took a back seat considering the big move to the big smoke and I’m cool with that considering the events that unfolded between Dizo (maybe?) this ep. 

Diana’s first reaction to Enzo’s big news, that she’s proud of him, was lovely but that quickly spiralled downward as the Fatberg Five scenario was outlined and Diana lost it (‘alliteration is just my Achilles’ -  same Diana, same). Diana laughing at duty, omg, seeing her be so juvenile and giggly was bizarre and hilarious, but juxtaposed with Enzo wanting to be taken seriously and feeling like Diana thinks he’s ridiculous was heartbreaking. So this scene was just an emotional washing machine really. What it did pave the way for though, was a panicked Diana fleeing the office upon seeing the Fatberg Fracas breaking news shouting, ‘nobody flush anything!’ in a way only Younger could pull off, before arriving at the scene to declare that she’s his girlfriend and barging through the barricade. Diana Trout in that gorgeous coat and that necklace hugging a sewage soaked Enzo as her relief radiated from my screen will forever be etched in my mind. I mean, if clubbing eels to death wasn’t enough of an indication of her feelings for this man, cupping his face as she stood there with actual shit on hers certainly is. This is a woman in love and I’m moving my Enzana (feeling it or nay?) proposal prediction to season 6.

Speaking of predictions, in lieu of a proposal, I had thought we might get an ‘I love you’ moment between Diana and Enzo but instead that (well, sort of that) came from the last place I was expecting, Zane. When Kelsey confronted him about not poaching Jake’s book feeling all affronted, because she seems to think that people only ever do anything to get one over her or undermine her (I have had issues with Kelsey this season and I won’t unload those here, but seriously, she needs some introspection and maybe some help with that insecurity), and Zane dropped the ‘because I was in love you’ line I was very much in the WTF??? camp. I’ve only just started getting to know you Zane, I’m not ready for that kind of declaration! Kelsey’s response, that ‘you don’t say that to someone in the past tense for the first time unless you’re trying to make them feel like an asshole’ was pretty astute, because I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what he was trying to do. I realise I sound way harsh here, but other than enjoying their professional competitiveness, I have little to no investment in their relationship outside the workplace, so for others this may have been a bigger moment than to me. I did like that it brought home the fact that Kelsey’s actions do have ramifications and that it’s not always about winning, as Zane pointed out (I also liked that he knew about the new structure and says that he talks to Charles too, it was a nice reminder that he is her equal. Well, was). My favourite moment between Zane and Kelsey this episode was when he quit and Kelsey realised he already has another job (I SO want it to be heading up Chick(y)), the way he flashed that smile as the elevator doors closed was a pretty boss move and one heck of a way to exit. Game on between these two next season.

I appreciated that Josh and Maggie’s conversation opened with Maggie apologising for Malkie asking for his seed over dessert, as only Maggie could. It provided a nice bridge and showed that the events of ‘Lizability’ followed straight on from the last episode. I do enjoy Josh and Maggie’s friendship and Josh saying that for Maggie, he would have gone through with the donation, was such a sweet moment. It’s moments like this that remind me how much I like Josh as a character, when this sensitive, loving and kind side of him is on display. Josh and Lauren’s is another friendship I so thoroughly enjoy (as you may recall, I just love Lauren in general) and her response to Josh’s deliberation about impending fatherhood when Josh suggested talking it out over some tacos, ‘adorable, but no’, lead to the calling of the cacao mother, a concept so absurd that it should have provided a giant lol but instead provided a poignant and rather beautiful sequence. Now I feel like I need to provide a huge disclaimer here, so please bear with me.  I am on Team Charles until the cows come home and I will be the first to jump on the float leading the Charliza parade when these two get their HEA, however I try to watch and ramble about these episodes as objectively as possible, which believe it or not, sometimes takes numerous re-watches (it’s a tough job but someone’s gotta do it…actually, they probably don’t but whatever) just so I can distance myself from my own shipper bias. While I don’t condone or like the way Josh has behaved towards Liza on countless occasions and I have made it known that the love triangle trope is one that I am tired of and needs to die, I am still invested in Josh’s character being revived and given his own life and happiness. Which brings us to THE dream sequence.

The crafting of this scene and the follow up comments to Lauren and later Maggie, are so brilliantly ambiguous and while on one hand the intention (to provide a crutch to the limping corner of the triangle, ugh) drives me nuts, the brilliance comes from the fact that I can also see this scene as closing the triangle off. This is undeniably a gift to the Team Josh fans, a chance to see their ultimate hope for the show realised and you know what, after this season, if I was a fan of that pairing I’d be beside myself with happiness to be given such an image, except for the baby part. Because no matter whether I was a shipper, a casual viewer or was just here for Diana’s necklaces (I mean let’s be real, who isn’t?) as someone who is invested in all the characters and actually saw and heard the very clear articulation by Liza on numerous occasions that she does NOT want another baby, I cannot accept that the writers would ever push that point again. I have to have faith that the writers would never support the persistence of changing a woman’s mind over something so significant and reduce her choice to something that can be altered through some misguided notion of romance. And that includes raising a baby with Josh that isn’t hers and I swear to god, if I see the argument again that if Liza is with Charles she’d be a step-parent so it’s the same, I would ask you to kindly spend time with a new baby vs. a 7 and 5 year old who also have a mother they live with half the time, because one of these things is not like the other. Ok, now that’s out of my system, back to my point…

While in one way the dream sequence ignites hope for those who feared Josh’s tattoo cover up signalled the end of his feelings for Liza, to me it is simultaneously sad and moving. The reality is, the two things that Josh wants are mutually exclusive and he knows that. Lauren and Josh’s, ‘did you get your answer?’, ‘Yeah I think I did’ exchange was laced with enough ambiguity to leave Josh shippers beside themselves and Charles shippers, well, beside themselves. There is enough room here to inject your own interpretation and bend it to suit your desire for this show, which, regardless of how you feel about the outcome as far as a pairing goes, is brilliant writing and execution. So what is my interpretation? The follow up conversation with Maggie (Josh’s ‘I cacao-ed about it’ was so fab), in which Josh says that he’s decided that when he does have a kid, he wants it to be his kid and wants it to be with somebody he really loves, cements for me that Josh and Liza’s future will be one of platonic love and support. I’m not suggesting that they’ll be parked in that space any time soon, I’m optimistic not deluded, and as much as it pains me, they clearly want to draw out this illusion of a triangle for as long as possible.

There’s a very good chance I’m over-analysing (who, me?!) and I’m clearly projecting my own hope onto this, but Josh doesn’t say he wants to raise a child with someone he loves, he wants to have that child with them. And as we know, that door has closed for Liza. So back to my point about Josh knowing that he cannot have a child with Liza, that those two pieces, child and Liza, cannot go together. To me, he is confirming in his conversation to Maggie that his answer to Lauren’s question is in fact, that the piece he is sure of is the child. So I see this dream signifying that Josh’s desire for a child is unwavering and his desire to find someone he loves the way he loves/loved Liza to share that with is ignited; that Liza appearing in that dream represented the kind of love he wants to have with and for the person he has children with.

Then of course Lauren’s hysterical scream and declaration that ‘the cacao mother, we called her and she is here’ led to the most predicted ‘surprise’ of the finale, pregnant Clare at the door. I know some people are saying that maybe it’s not Josh’s baby but why would she be there if it wasn’t? The only reason would be if their divorce wasn’t finalised, but I feel like that would be a cop out (not to mention, what person would fly when they’re about 5 minutes away from popping out a baby to just catch up with the ex or sign some papers? Puh-lease). When Clare and Josh were together in season 4 I actually thought they were a great match. I mean, I was a bit ‘meh’ on her character, but they seemed to work well, had common interests and I was up for seeing where that would go. So I am very curious to see how this plays out next season.

Now I find myself at one of my most favourite scenes of the entire series of Younger. Last ep I was on fire and this ep I was reduced to a puddle of emotions, so grab a mop and bucket, this swoon-fest is about to get real. Charles and Liza strolling through the park at night near the fountain, SWEET LAWD this scene is more than I ever imagined in my wildest dreams. First of all, we have been transported to a time and place where Charles has fallen out of the classics section of a bookstore and stepped straight from his horse and carriage with rolled up sleeves to become the narrator of his own love story. As he paints Liza and us the picture of how their romance will unfold, the way these two bounce off one another is effortless and playful, there is such ease in their banter. Liza screwing up her face, in response to Charles’ assurance that the two protagonists of his tale do not share a secret past, led to her jovially taking aim with a whole lot of the criticism that has been levelled at Charles on social media from time to time, ‘hmm, well, he’s a little stuffy, recently divorced, will they have any chemistry? Is he fun?’ (and can we please talk about the Charles Brooks facial expressions during this?? ARGHHHH) and no jokes I AM DYING at how meta this is. Seriously. DYING. The fact that Charles gets a right of reply and simply but firmly states, ‘well, she’ll just have to find out for herself’. This is EVERYTHING.

Then this scene takes it up a notch, with Liza prompting a page turn by adding her own offering, ‘let’s say she says ‘yes’. They go to dinner, and…’ Charles becomes so animated and alive in this moment, with the look on his face as he responds, ‘maybe they click’ leading to commencement of melting into a puddle stage 1. He brings the story to life in all its third person narrative glory, through the vivid imagery and tender delivery of, ‘maybe he can hold her hand at the office, and in the street, everywhere. The way he has wanted to do, for as long as he can remember’ and it’s nothing short of sublime (time of death: now) and LIZA I’M GONNA THROW YOUR DAMN PHONE IN THAT FREAKING FOUNTAIN SO HELP ME WOMAN. Though I do love that Charles asks, ‘is she going to get that?’ to which Liza replies, ‘she’d rather not’.

But what I love even more is that when asked if everything’s alright, Liza says ‘of course not’, shows Charles the messages from Cheryl and he then pulls out his own pun in response to all those chick(y) emoji’s with, ‘you can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs’. It takes a special kind of person to be able to bring wordplay and an idiom together with such precision to provide actual encouragement relevant to a given situation, but Charles Brooks is that person. And Liza’s initial laugh in appreciation is only amplified by Charles adding, ‘it’s Hamlet’ and I just can’t with these two, honestly. I initially thought that the Hamlet reference was purely to be absurd, but as some astute people pointed out, the musical ‘Something Rotten!’ contains both Shakespeare and the song ‘Make an Omelette’, so I have no doubt this was a nod to that and the fact that Christian Borle (who you may remember as Don Ridley in eps 4 and 5 this season, as well as being Sutton Foster’s ex-husband) was the star of this musical, I am going to be sweeping up the fragments of fourth wall that shattered in this scene for days.

Liza must of course then go and break those eggs and provide us all with a good dose of second-hand awkwardness as she arrives at the Chick(y) party, discovers she’s the guest of honour (we were all with her as she muttered ‘Oh God’ at spotting the peep of chicks awaiting her arrival) and gets to tell Cheryl, who is gulping wine while yelling ‘did you bring the contract?’ that actually no, she won’t be taking the job after all. Angry Cheryl is angry and it’s not long before we discover the ramifications of Liza turning down the role.

When Quinn greets Charles with ‘we have a problem’, you just know that it’s not to do with acceptable font sizes in the workplace. As Quinn shows Charles the blind item claiming that he is having a torrid affair with a 27 year old assistant, we all know exactly what Cheryl decided to do following Liza’s rejection and I tell you what, the vindictiveness exceeded even my expectations. Firstly, Cheryl knows that Liza is not 27 so putting that in the blind item can only be to bring Charles into disrepute and oust Liza to anyone who knows her as a 27 year old and secondly, Cheryl emails this to the investors whose money Empirical is relying on for survival. That’s right, Cheryl Sussman is willing to topple an entire company because she’s butt hurt that someone rejected a job she offered them. In this moment, she has achieved legit super-villain status and I love-hate her even more.

As Quinn confirms with Charles that this is in fact true, the reality of him having an affair with an assistant in his office, despite it being consensual, cannot be spun in any way that makes it not controversial (and I need to comment that I loved Charles saying ‘Liza is not 27, as you know’ - it was a little snippet that let us know that Liza told him she revealed the truth to Quinn, that she and Charles continue to talk openly and honestly with one another). Knowing that as the public face of the company the investors will pull out after this revelation, Charles’ decision to step down is him doing what he has to in order for the company to survive and I cannot tell you how happy I am that this decision was driven by the business, not his relationship with Liza. Yes, the decision is a consequence of the relationship, but that is something he is willingly a part of, it is not Liza’s lie about her age that has caused the issue. And I’m not meaning to diminish the idea that some people have that this was some kind of purely romantic gesture, but he really did not have a choice in that moment but to remove himself from scrutiny if Empirical/Millennial was to continue to operate. And I’m glad. The pressure on the relationship and on Liza had this been a sacrifice made purely for her or them would be so enormous and no doubt lead to serious problems down the track.

When Charles and Quinn announce the news about Millennial becoming the flagship brand and Kelsey’s promotion to Publisher, Diana’s look summed it up really. It’s ok Diana, it’s not just you, Kelsey in that role is flat out bonkers, but on the flipside, if Millennial is now the main brand it does sort of make sense that she take the lead. I have no doubt that Charles’ questions to Liza over the past couple of episodes about Kelsey’s ability to run Millennial will play out next season, just as the fact Liza is there would have factored into Charles feeling comfortable suggesting Kelsey take on the role in the first place. When Charles’ new role is announced, the way he looks at Liza in that moment, as though he is reminding himself why this will be all worth it, omg. puddle. me.

Diana isn’t buying it and I wonder if she thinks Kelsey and Quinn set this up, her disbelief that Charles would accept being put out to pasture serves to enlighten Liza about what actually just went down (oh Liza, you sweet innocent unicorn you). Diana definitely notices Liza’s reaction and her running out of the office, I feel like surely Charles and Liza’s relationship, at the very least, will need to come out pretty quickly next season and at this stage, Diana being left in dark about Liza’s age feels a bit off too. I know that Diana’s role won’t really change at work, but I just really dislike that she doesn’t fully understand the whole context around her and the reasons for these changes taking place.  

As Charles is walking away from the office he’s shaking his head, as though he hasn’t had any time to process any of it and is in disbelief at what just happened and the fact it’s real. This is probably not unreasonable considering that this enormous change has occurred within the space of about a day it would seem, so you know, the uprooting of all you’ve known for the majority of your adult life is bound to require some processing.

Which brings us, of course, to the final scene of the season. Liza discovering that Quinn was going to pull the investment because she found out about the relationship leads to Liza’s despair that ‘this isn’t a good thing, this is your life’, to which Charles reassures her that ‘it was, but maybe it’s time for a new one’. With her (puddle). Oh and his kids. As Charles asserts that he has everything he wants, you can see Liza scrutinising his face to see whether he is telling the truth or trying to put her at ease, so when he adds, ‘I’m happy’, she exhales, realising that this really is what he wants. Their shared moment of realisation that this is it, accompanied by her small laugh of disbelief and relief before she adds, ‘then so am I’, transposes their relationship from the place of longing and one day, where it has resided until now, to the world Charles described in the story he told beside the fountain; a place where they can hold hands in the street, everywhere. In that moment they look at one another as if to say, we’re finally here.

As Charles reaches out to caress her face it’s as though he’s bridging that gap between where they were and where they now find themselves. Seeing them kiss in broad daylight in the middle of the park, I realised that despite all their wonderful, beautiful moments since being together, the secrecy has been emphasised by the evening rendezvous or stolen stairway kisses and the impact of the daylight to highlight their relationship being brought out into the open is significant. When Charles outstretched his hand and took Liza’s I’m not gonna lie, I shed a tear. I was suddenly so struck with emotion in that moment, yes, because the dream outlined in the story earlier in the episode was realised, but it also felt like the culmination of every time that Charles and Liza almost were but weren’t, their seasons of un-synchronized passion and desire all building to this moment when they could take one another’s hand. And as they walked, hand in hand, the only sure thing being that they are finally together, the uncertainty of everything else suddenly dawns on them.

Their expressions in those final seconds are not of regret or remorse to me. They are of two people who have had zero time to process any of the events and upheaval that have occurred in the past 24 hours. Only moments earlier Charles was donning a similar look of contemplation before he was intercepted by Liza. Liza has only just heard the news that Charles is stepping down and she and Kelsey will be running Millennial. Walking hand in hand, in the comfort of each other’s company, they are able to begin working through the events and ramifications and what that means for each of them. Their desire for this to work is unwavering, I believe that they both had expected it to transpire quite differently and so, of course, they will now readjust and navigate this new normal. Together.

[ace-and-spade]

Gym Class Heroes || Akito || Trial 2.1 || Re: Everything, mainly Eighteen, Wisteria, Moriko, Kaito

Logic dictated that he wait until there was a suitable lull in the discussion to start offering his opinions on the matters at hand. Problem was, with how everyone in the trial room seemed to be going a mile a minute with presenting the physical evidence that they had found, Akito found the words quite literally snatched out of his mouth as he waited to use them. By the third time, he accepted that it was not his place to jump into the conversation by offering physical proof, and kept quiet as his mind simply tried to piece the ever growing number of puzzle pieces together and make sense of these senseless killings.

(There was, incidentally, a moment he could have theoretically jumped in. However, said moment happened to have come after one Yuna Avila-Kim, and Akito wasn’t foolhardy enough to try, no matter what she insinuated)

Things clicked warily into place. It wasn’t a sure shot, or the murders would have been solved faster than KiraKira could take credit for them, but the more he kept thinking about it, the more likely it appeared to be. Even if he was wrong... Well, the others would correct him. Best to get it out while it still held water.

“I... don’t think it would be substantially hard to topple that bookcase. At least, probably not as hard as you think it was, Sawashiro-san. Lifting it is one thing, but toppling it only really requires a bit of physics. The weight of all the books would allow momentum to finish off the rocking process, once you started pushing and pulling. It would explain the scuff marks as well, the person who brought down the briefcase might have been caught underneath it, or at least had something that prevented it from falling as they placed Hanagawa-san. On that topic though... I’d like to present a hypothetical on a possible sequence of events that might explain how Hanagawa-san ended up with both an unknown cause and time of death.”

(cw: mentions of strangulation)

He takes a deep breath, sorting through what he knows, and what he found out. “The reason the gym’s as messy as it is, is because I think it’s the actual place where Hanagawa-san was murdered. Unless the schedule has changed any, 8 a.m. in the gym happens to be a session titled Jump Roping Wakeup. That already explains why the jump rope crate was overturned, but let’s go one step further and say that one of those jump ropes was the murder weapon. Hanagawa-san and his killer must have been present at the gym at the time, and fearing for their important loved ones’ lives, I can see them taking one of those ropes, and thereby strangling him to death with it - it would explain the line of bruises across his throat, along with a reason why the gym was in disarray: Hanagawa-san fought to escape or fought back, yet ultimately overpowered.”

Akito holds up his gloved hands, miming a length of twine between them. “In the case of using something like that as a murder weapon, you wouldn’t need a lot of strength or skill. Of course, if you needed to hold Hanagawa-san down as he was choked, why not use one of the weights? They were all on the ground.” He acknowledges, putting his hands down.

(cw over)

“From there, in order to hide both the cause and time of death, the killer headed upstairs to the bookstore. Their plan would have been to topple it on his corpse and thus leave the scene without risking both it being found early and hopefully pinpointing how he died, but unfortunately, they hadn’t counted on Fujiwara-san passing by at the time. It leads me to conclude that the person who toppled the bookcase, the culprit behind Hanagawa-san’s death, was not present in the movie theater at the time she came to get us. Does that sound plausible to you guys? I know I’m skipping over Hatomi-san’s death right now, and for that I apologize to her memory, but I would like to clarify one before we try to tackle the other. After all, I believe this second killer did not know of her death to begin with, given how long ago it happened and the remoteness of her body, otherwise they probably wouldn’t have gone ahead with this at all.” And with that, Akito’s long recapitulation finally came to a blissful close. Thank god, it almost felt like forever.

[its-just-like-the-movies]

Tom & Viv (94, C+)

Why this film: Because it lined up so perfectly with this month’s Smackdown! So how could I not?

The Film: Who exactly was the predicted audience for Tom & Viv back in 1994? I don’t mean this exclusively as a dig on the source material or the finished product, but it’s hard to picture that the story of T.S. Eliot’s tumultuous marriage would’ve inspired that much fervor back in the day. The adaptation of the original play began nine years after it debuted on the West End, receiving one Laurence Olivier nomination before getting an off-Broadway run and vanishing from the stage for over twenty years. This lack of fanfare seems even more exasperated by its legacy nowadays, if it can be called that, saved from obscurity by way of two surprisingly high-profile Academy Award nominations that would still only attract those who’re deeply invested in either of the nominated women, Oscar completists who are doing it just cuz, folks who like watching period dramas about unstable women, or T.S. Eliot fans.

Of those groups, I’d imagine that the Eliot fans interested in a portrait of the artist would be the most consistently underwhelmed by the film, if only because his work is kept strictly in the film’s periphery. It’s talked about but rarely read aloud or shown, the focus on the Eliot’s marriage so predominant that his rising success and the income that comes with it is dramatized through their material wealth more that it is explicitly referenced, at least not to the degree of any of their personal lives. In fact, Eliot’s personal life and family ties don’t seem to exist outside of Viv until his fames grows, while Viv’s relationships to her family is one of the film’s central points of tension. The repercussions of Eliot’s fame are certainly discussed, as Viv worries that Tom is replacing her with his new poet friends and having affairs with  women in those circles who’re dazzled by his work. There’s also the complication that Viv frequently claims to be his muse, his editor, and his sounding board, demanding credit for having given The Wasteland its name. This is not a hagiography of the artist, but the film’s focus on Eliot’s marriage and interest in Viv’s artistic credentials might keep this from being the deep plumbing of the artist someone might be hunting for.

Then again, an even bigger preclusion for Eliot fans to get into the film is how unfathomably dull Willem Dafoe is in the part. Any potential into getting a portrait of the man alongside or even superseding a portrait of the artist is stopped in its tracks by Dafoe’s soft-spoken, milquetoast take on the part. The man simply comes off as boring and stuffy, never worthy of the intrigue posed by Viv, his fellow poets, adoring fans, or anyone who presumes him to be a worthwhile figure. Dafoe is so passionless in the part, speaking his lines as softly as possible while infusing them with zero emotion, refusing to cling to any sense of intellect or to make his accent sound remotely natural, that there’s simply no believing that he might be having an affair with any of the women Viv is terrified of and antagonistic towards. What on earth could have drawn Viv to him in the first place?

Dafoe’s performance represents one half of the dichotomy of problems that best defines what makes Tom & Viv such a palpably uneven experience. If he stands in for the moments where the film could easily shape itself up more, Miranda Richardson’s energized but dangerously overmannered take on Vivienne Eliot emblematizes the film’s worst indulgences into overstatement. Richardson is more than capable of conjuring an air of instability and roiling inner turmoil, writing our her character’s thoughts through the darting glances of her eyes and jittery movements, but her madness becomes so prescriptive that it loses almost all spontaneity. In her best moments, which see her being more clearly guided by the director or by her costars, Richardson is able to temper herself slightly without sacrificing her tics, though it’s clear in these moments how little modulation is actually in the performance, aside from the moments where she makes a point of showing us that she’s modulating the performance in a lower tempo. True, she genuinely calms down in the film’s last act, but her impact before this point is ultimately limited, her scene-by-scene choices too obvious for them to build in any interesting way.

The film itself seems to follow a trajectory from being too hopped-up on its own, sporadically ostentatious filmmaking techniques all the way to almost dangerously non-cinematic, not so much a filmed play as just unimaginatively put together. This is not to say that the film is ever a showcase for its makers - director Brian Gilbert seems more than happy to slap his actors in period wares and let them carry the picture - but it’s still noticeable when the editing or the score become the primary method for the film to goose our responses. Its earliest scenes are by far the worst, as the almost 40 year old Dafoe is so heavily made up to impersonate a college-aged youth that his face loses any and all distinguishing features. He looks like a doll whose face has had any gendered characteristics smoothed away, as if he were an uncanny valley animation of an androgynous doll. Richardson’s makeup is fine, but she’s forced to pantomime the free-spirited behavior of a young person by running around with her arms outstretched as though she were a plane, galavanting on a lawn with a sign asking passerby not to galavant on it. In the next scene they meet, and in the next they pack their bags to get married. These scenes are relatively calm, something the film compensates for by showing Viv undergoing an abject breakdown, destroying their hotel room and taking a lot of her prescribed medication after an unsuccessful roll in the honeymoon sack, dramatically cross-cut with Tom’s furrowed brow contemplatively paces the shoreline of a beach.

If the establishing third of Tom & Viv is ultimately its shakiest segment, there’s something to be said for the film’s middle third, as all the pieces start sparking against each other in unexpectedly bracing ways. Even if Dafoe is unforgivably bland and Richardson semi-predictable in her brazenness, the shifting textures of their relationship are more interesting to watch play out than expected. It helps that Brian Gilbert’s direction finds an appropriately undemonstrative but still semi-active mode of shaping his story. Neither truly imaginative nor fully perfunctory, he finds the right distance from Richardson’s whirlwinds that they become more impactful as character beats rather than harried actressing. Watching her mix a boiling vat of chocolate, grow more and more vocally irate at a dinner party, draw on a mannequin with lipstick, all these actions are more compelling for how they’re shot. Simple and effective, enhancing Richardson’s work and feeding into the story with unexpected poignancy as we start to grasp how threatened Vivienne must constantly feel by these invaders who can provide something for her husband she cannot, knowing all the while that they know it too and are talking about it behind her back. This is not to suggest too much of a sudden transformation in the film’s overall style or impact - Dafoe is still left to softly murmur on in his scenes, and the cadres of artists and admirers that pop up around him are never as distinct or entrancing as they might be. Especially as he starts to seriously consider kicking Viv in a sanitarium, growing increasingly weary of her behavior, Dafoe’s performance remains as damp and demure as ever. Her fears of adultery never ring as plausible, Dafoe even drags down Richardson and the script with as little effort as possible on his part. A hot-blooded Tom might’ve really tapped in to the script’s dramatic potential, but the sight of Viv fighting so hard against people who could all have a legitimate claim to her husband’s attention, borne from paranoia that doesn’t seem borne from absolutely nothing is frankly more compelling than it has any right to be. There’s clearly a version of this story about an unreliable man sending his unreliable wife to a sanitarium on dubious grounds, one stifled by a weak leading man and half-baked direction but still able to burst through the interpretation we’re getting at odd, unexpected angles.

There is at least one unabashed bright spot in the film, in the form of Rosemary Harris’s subtly affecting performance as the matriarch of the Haigh-Wood clan. Without ever working to undermine Tom & Viv’s leading actors, she nevertheless coaxes stronger, more consistent performances from Dafoe and especially Richardson, stabilizing the latter without forgoing Mrs. Haigh-Wood’s own characterization. The film is at its best when it follows the lead of her perfectly contained but still very palpable anxiety, and is never better than in the uncomfortable sequence of Tom having dinner with Vivienne’s immediate family for the first time. Viv spends most of the meal asking provocative, blatantly upsetting questions of her loved ones. Her family telegraph exhaustion at having had this kind of dinner table conversation too many times already but still irritated by her behavior, before Rose takes her daughter aside and gets her to actually calm down, only for her lucid confession about her feelings for Tom to startle her poor mother. It takes real intelligence to project a stable grasp of her daughter’s neuroses, worrying about her future with this new man while still finding room to be elated and disappointed by both of them without overacting. Particularly in her last scenes, hurt and confused after realizing that Viv tried to stab her - even if it was with a fake knife - but perhaps even more wounded that Tom packing Vivvie off to an asylum has proven how badly this man has failed Rose and her daughter, Harris proves herself an unfussy and emotionally sincere performer within a film less stable than its central marriage.

Harris is more of a face in the crowd in her second-to-last sequence, as one of several family members and doctors present for a verbal test to see if Vivienne is certifiable for sanitarium care. This is surprisingly the film’s weakest stretch, beginning with Tom trying to warn Viv before the doctors arrive as the two engage in unexpectedly romantic talk about the state of their relationship. Here, Richardson is the primary source of that romance, which comes across as sentimental and unearned considering that Viv is suddenly without her livewire physicality and higher pitched emotions. Now she speaks in a soft voice, speaks warmly, but she undermines any of the film’s complications by stating its theses in such a loving way. She’s not wrong to judge Tom for his own lies and put-ons and for not being able to face the music the way she wanted him to, but the fact that the Viv who’s saying this is so radically unlike the Viv we’ve spent the previous hour with undermines these ideas. And yet, her affectations return in an oddly performative key once the doctors arrive, as if she’s a deer caught in headlights and trying to hurl herself at them as the last defense mechanism she has left. That they even bother with the test instead of carting her right off after Viv attempts to stab her mother with a rubber knife is pretty bizarre in itself, but Richardson’s playing strips the scene of any dramatic potential or ambiguity as she intentionally answers one of the questions incorrectly. More than that, the filmmaking is complicit in romanticizing her last act of self-sabotage, as the score swells under close ups of Tom and Viv exchanging meaningful glances before she gives the wrong answer, the scene abruptly ending as if the test actually ended on the second question.

I said earlier that the film transitions from Viv-like over-enthusiasm to Tom-ish stultification, and though the scene above certainly fits that bill, a better description for the last third might be that they simply have no other function except as being the end to a story. Both partners, gracefully made up into middle age, speak of their devotion to each other despite the fact that Tom has not visited his wife or made any attempt to contact her at the sanitarium in ten years. Dafoe’s last scene is almost completely carried by the overwhelming, piano-heavy score as he gives the cold shoulder to an old friend Viv once said wanted to sleep with her. Meanwhile, Richardson finds the right tempo between containing the energy that’s defined her performance for most of the film while suggesting some genuine recovery over the past ten years. She’s relaxed and unsentimental in her final scene, giving a fond yet forceful line reading to “Chin up.”, as her brother tries not to cry, that’s more impactful than a line so blatantly structured as a farewell forever aimed at the heartstrings has a right to be. There’s little here that’s interesting in the way that the preceding half hour was, and Gilbert ranking the volume on that orchestra as the credits roll certified that I was far less moved than he was clearly expecting. If Tom & Viv ends as unevenly as it began, I’m not sure if what painfully doesn’t work is enough to dismiss the moments where it comes to some kind of bracing life. In the moments where Harris shows the pain of a mother watching her child implode, where Richardson’s neuroses click into place and the script’s darker subtexts are able to be furnished show the rich potential that this story ultimately has. Tom & Viv isn’t crying out for any retreads, and I’m not sure how much this story deserves to be saved from the unusual legacy of almost complete anonymity that only pedigreed English adaptations of biographies of poets resulting in two high-profile Oscar nominations can truly earn. But it’s not without its merits, and something this uneven has the kind of quiet but sturdy highs that can stand against its more visible and ungainly lows.

[azamukuna-blog]

withoutalignment replied to your post: Holy shit I think me and my friend are onto...

// TELL MEEEEEEEEEEE

Operation: Usurp Chapter 6. Two major points to be made.

One: The cast is all real. Two: Tsumugi is a big fuccin liar.

And with Ouma’s words:  Trick the entire world, and it will become the truth. The real truth isn't that great anyway. The world could be tricking you right now, and you wouldn't even know it.

Thanks Julian for opening my eyes. Except he states he takes no credit and all of it goes to Harumaki because she’s best girl. Let’s head under a read more!

So a large chunk of this is making sure you remember the flashback lights and turn the table on the way you’re seeing things. The first thing you need to come upon this is that the students are all real people. They are not fiction. As Kodaka said: the theme of NDRV3 is lies. I wouldn’t be surprised. However, they are still normal high schoolers. The cast is not SHSL by any means. That’s their true identity.

However, there is one SHSL. Tsumugi MUST be the SHSL Cosplayer.. except, it’s very plausible she’s telling a lie. If we take it a step back to her cospox: what is it? She states that she can’t cosplay real people. Now that makes you wonder -- but hey, she cosplayed Kaede that one time and broke into cospox!

Turn the table. Let’s say she’s lying -- and unless disproven, it stands -- Tsumugi cannot cosplay fictional characters. This is actually an extremely crucial point. And if you’re wondering, cosplay doesn’t even have to stick to fictional characters, anyways... you can cosplay real people. Costume play, boys. However, she twists it into a lie and says she can’t cosplay real people. So from now on, consider that Tsumugi cannot cosplay fictional characters and can only cosplay real people.

I have not seen Tsumugi’s FTEs myself, but my friend has. He states that she talks about making cosplay for her friends and tries to get Saihara to cosplay, too. It’s possible she does that for fictional characters because she can’t do it on her own. Before you start saying that perhaps Tsumugi cosplayed fictional characters before because it’s part of the past, those memories could very well be fake along with her own lies twisted into it. Regardless, Tsumugi being unable to cosplay fiction but rather real people is a thing.

So then why does she break out into cospox? Remember how I said they’re all regular high schoolers with no SHSL talent? So when they impose these costumes upon them with their fake memories and all -- that is literally what fiction is. Their talents are made up. Therefore, Tsumugi tried to cosplay Kaede, the SHSL Pianist in that scene. Kaede the SHSL Pianist is a fictional character, but Kaede herself is a real person. Essentially, the story and the costume are what are fictional. This causes Tsumugi to break out.

Continuing on. Let’s examine the relevant memories here. Memories of auditioning for Danganronpa, getting kidnapped, and before they enter cold sleep as the SHSL students. Try it in this order. The Danganronpa team is real and they do produce Danganronpa seasons, without a doubt. However, these high school students are kidnapped and taken into Danganronpa without consent. Instead, the audition videos are fake. So who’s in those videos? Tsumugi.

Tsumugi is without a doubt a godly cosplayer and it’s mentioned that she can be versatile in cosplaying men to women. In fact, she literally DOES it in the chapter 6 trial. She cosplayed every character from the last few games. Of course, this would mean that 1 and 2 are real ( and i never doubted otherwise ). This being said, she’s completely capable of forging the audition videos. Not only that, it’s clear she can imitate voices as well. She can almost completely impersonate another person.

The memory of the kids going into cold sleep can easily be forged. Considering the powers of the Flashback Light, it should be viable to forge those memories and trick the kids into believing they were going to participate in a great game, forgetting about being kidnapped and all. 

Another thing that should be mentioned: if they’re regular high school kids, how can they have their talents? This is where things go the SLIGHTEST bit iffy, due to Angie and Miu. But let’s continue with the rest. The truth is, none of them are talented. Think about it for two long, hard seconds. None of them, excluding Angie and Miu, were given a chance to show off their talents. Before you call Harumaki -- she screwed up in chapter 5. Not only that, but she could simply be strong. Anyone can be strong, but she was simply convinced with her fake memory of being an assassin. It played off well.

A few other notable things. Kirumi is really what sets this theory in motion. Kirumi is portrayed as perfect. A maid must be perfect, so her plan must also be perfect. Perhaps with some margin of error, which I can allow that one piece of black fabric that fell in the pool. So what is UP with the inner tube? Why does she dump the inner tube in the pool when it’s a DEAD GIVEAWAY? Kirumi is portrayed as smart and perfect and she should know well that this would give her away. We can only assume then that she is not as perfect as she should be. She essentially disproves being the perfect maid here.

Also, you can’t say Saihara makes for a good detective, either. It’s clear he doesn’t know what he’s doing. If you think that him being able to investigate and solve crimes is enough to make him a detective, then what is Naegi? Naegi is ALSO a normal student. Yet he’s the main character of the first game. Saihara and Naegi are both completely normal. You can say the same for Hinata that forgot his memories of being Kamukura. At that point, he was also a normal student, and all three were able to lead the investigations.

For the rest, none of their talents are shown on display. They’re all words but no action. However, this becomes shaky when Miu and Angie come into play. Angie’s wax dolls and Miu’s inventions do throw this off balance. There are three ways this can go.

One: They were already talented but never a Hope’s Peak student for some reason. Perhaps not scouted, perhaps they turned it down, who knows. Two: The autosuggestion mentioned by Tsumugi. It’s possible that they happened to learn some through their memories. Three: It’s... reasonable. It just happens to be reasonable, for whatever reason.

Anyways, none of these kids should be special students. Those SHSL talents are all fiction. However, it’s likely they had SOME form of knowledge of what they’re “talented” in. After all, Kaede mentions having some sort of skill she devotes herself to, each student shows interest in something, etc. But instead of them being hobbies, they’re twisted into becoming their real talents. Whatever their interests or skills lie, they are turned into talents.

Oh and uh yeah Keebo’s a robot. I suppose he was just built up some more, that’s fine.

Also, it’s likely that Tsumugi is correct saying that there’s nothing going on with the outside world. The meteors and Ultimate Hunt is all bullshit.

Anyways, this is all we have for now! We absolutely have to look into much more and pick out everything we can. If anyone wants to come forward saying I’ve slipped something and I need to double check, come ahead!

Also, we’re STILL trying to understand three things. Autosuggestion, Tsumugi calling herself the “Copycat Criminal”, and Saihara’s final hunch that Hope’s Peak should be real. Anyways if I come back with more stuff then I will. Enjoy!

 Side note: My friend recommends that if you want to see how off things are, go play the prologue again after finishing the game. It’s what messes things up hard.