#and had friends who were super into it who gave me general overview

[aparticularbandit]

I don't know if you've seen Death Note, but I've een listening to the musical of it again with Danganronpa on the mind... so I was imagining Danganronpa characters to the songs. A lot of the L and Light songs remind me of Enogiri, which then got me thinking well who would be Misa, which... obviously it would be Mikan. So Junko as Light, Kyouko as L, and Mikan as Misa... sounds chaotic already. Though... honestly I think Junko fits Ryuk better personality wise, and if Light reminds me of anyone it's honestly Kyosuke. But that would completely wreck the Enogiri and Junkan angles so who even knows. (Mild death note spoilers, but) I honestly think the whole situation would be massively different with Junko with the Death Note than Light with it. So maybe everything would be much different in how it plays out - with Junko's motive being despair and world wide chaos instead of justice. And then how does Mukuro fit into this? (End)

I also just imagined regular DR to the songs, like not a death note AU, just regular DR to the songs. Kyosuke is "where is the justice?", Mukuro and Junko are both singing "they're only human" (with the line "I'm intrigued by their love" being about her crush on Makoto), "secrets and lies" I was actually imagining the DR3 killing game (with "familiar faces watch you, but with a perfect strangers eyes" being a reference to Chisa and her deal), and "mortals and fools" being a duet with either Ryota or Nagito in Rems role and Mikan in Misa, with either of them trying to convince her that Junko is bad news. Misa songs in general to Mikan... I also was imagining borrowed time to be a duet between Mikan and Nagito, with Nagito singing about Chiaki and Mikan Junko. Idk. The Death Note musical is good. I think all of L and Light's songs are great for enogiri ("the game begins", "stalemate", and "playing his game") and I can't get the idea of Misa!Mikan out of my head...

I, unfortunately, have not seen Death Note. It has its first chapter published in Shonen Jump around the time that my undiagnosed OCD was not doing so great (it ebbs and flows), and the premise of "once you use this Death Note as a human being, you can never go to heaven or hell," despite the fact that the protagonist didn't necessarily know that sent my brain alarms going off and bothered me so much that I determined to never read more of it. Or see it.

Which is unfortunate because I've heard so, so many good things about it.

Alas.

But! I enjoy your analysis and thoughts on who each character would be! And songs! And how to set all that up!

I just. don't necessarily get it on the level someone else who knows both canon would. ><

(But someone else around here probably does?????)

Sorry!!

[that-disabled-radfem]

Happy back-to-school y’all

I’ve attended and worked at a couple of super liberal universities. I avoid the gender studies departments for obvious reasons and I still had a lecture in which the female prof gave a brief overview of TERFs and proclaimed her hatred of JKR. Being openly critical of gender ideology, the porn industry, kinks, and ‘sex work’ are the kind of things that can ruin your future in academia. Not to mention the fact that any speech or actions that could be labelled transphobic (ie. defining woman as adult human female) can get you a suspension according to many universities anti-hate-speech policies. 

So, here’s a list of small and smallish (small in terms of overt TERFery, some may require more effort than others) radical feminist actions you can take as a university student:

(this is a liberal arts perspective so if you’re a stem gal this may not apply. but also if you’re in stem maybe you can actually acknowledge that women are oppressed as a sex class without getting kicked out of school. idk)

(Note for TRAs hate reading this: One of the core actions of radical feminism is creating female networks. This is not so that we can brainwash people into being anti-trans. This is because female solidarity is necessary for creating class consciousness and overturning patriarchy. It is harder to subjugate the female sex when we stand together.)

Take classes with female profs. Multiple sections of a class? Pick the one taught by a woman. Have to chose an elective? Only look at electives offered by women. When classes have low numbers they get cancelled. When classes are super popular, universities are forced to consider promoting the faculty that teach them

Make relationships with these female profs. Go to office hours. Chat after class. Ask them about their research. Building female networks is sooooo important!

Actually fill in your end of year course feedback forms. Profs often need these when applying for tenure or applying for a job at another university so it is very important (especially with young and/or new profs) that you fill out these forms and give specific examples of how great these women are. Go off about what you love about them! Give her a brilliant review because you know the idiot boy in that class who won’t shut up even though he knows nothing is going to give her only negative feedback because he thinks any woman who leaves the house is a feminazi b*tch. 

(note: obviously don’t go praising any prof - female or male - who is blatantly racist, homophobic, etc.)

(Also if you have shitty male profs write down all the horrible things they have done and said and put it in these forms because once a shitty man gets tenure they are virtually untouchable)

(also also, leave a good review on rate my profs or whatever other thing students use to figure out if they want to take classes. idc if you copy paste your feedback from the formal review. rave about the class to your friends. do what you can to get good enrolment for that prof for reasons above.)

Participate in class. Talk over the male students. Say what you mean and mean it. Call out the boys when they say dumb shit

Write about women. If you have the option to make a text written by a woman your primary text in an essay, do it. Pick the female-centred option if you’re writing an exam-essay with multiple prompts. (Profs often look at what works on their syllabus are being written about/engaged with as a marker of whether to keep those texts the next time they teach the class. If there are badass women on your syllabus, write about them to keep them on the syllabus) Use female-written secondary sources whenever possible. 

(pro tip: many women in academia are more than happy to talk to you about their papers. expand your female networks by reaching out to article authors through email and asking them about their cool shit)

Get your essays published! Many departments have undergrad journals you can publish in. This will ensure more people read about the women you write about and will demonstrate to the department that people like learning about women

Consider trying to publish your undergrad essay with a legit peer-reviewed journal. If you can do it, your use of female-written secondary sources boosts the reputations of the women who wrote those secondary sources. Also this helps generally to increase scholarship about women’s writing!

Present your papers at conferences! Many schools have their own undergraduate/departmental conferences that you can present at. Push yourself by submitting to outside conferences. Bring attention to women’s works by presenting your papers. Take a space at a conference that would otherwise be reserved for mediocre men

Talk to your profs and/or your department and/or your university about mandating the inclusion of female works in classes if this isn’t something they do already

Sit next to other women in your classes. Talk to them. Make friends. Form study groups. Proofread each other’s essays. Give each other knowing looks when the boys are being dumb. Just interact with other women! Build those female networks!

Be generous with your compliments. A female classmate and I were talking to a prof after class and the classmate told me (out of the blue) that I always have such interesting things to say. I think about that whenever I’m lacking confidence about my academic skills. Compliment the women in your classes for speaking up, for sharing their opinions, for challenging your classmates/profs, for doing cool presentations, etc.

Talk to other women about sexist things going on on campus. Make everyone aware of the sexist profs. Complain about how there are many more tenured men than tenured women. Go on rate my professor and be explicit about how the sexist profs are sexist

Be active on campus and in societies. If a society has an all male executive or is male-dominated, any women who join that society make it less intimidating for more women to join. Run for executive positions! Bring in more women! 

(Pro tip: Many societies’ elections are super gameable. You can be eligible to vote in a society election sometimes just by being a student at that university — even without having done anything with the society before. Other societies might just require that you’ve taken a class in a particular department or attended a society event. (Check the society’s governing documents.) Use those female networks you’ve been building. If you can bring three or four random people to vote for you, that might be enough for you to win. Societies have trouble meeting quorum (the minimum number of people in attendance to do votes) so it is really super achievable to rig an election with a few friends. And don’t feel bad about this. The system is rigged against women so you have every right to exploit loopholes!)

(Also feel free to go vote “non-confidence”/“re-open election” if only shitty men are running. Too often people see that only candidates they don’t like are running and so they give up. But you can actually stop them getting elected)

Your campus may have a LGBTQIA+alphabetsoup society. That society definitely needs more L and B women representation. It may be tedious to argue with the nb straight dudes who insist that it’s fine to use “q***r” in the society’s posters and that attraction has nothing to do with genitals, but just imagine what could happen if we could make these sorts of societies actually safe spaces for same-sex attracted women and advocated for our concerns

Attend random societies’ election meetings. Get women elected and peace out. (or actually get involved but I’m trying to emphasize the lowest commitment option with this one)

Write for the campus newspaper. Write about what women are doing - women’s sports, cool society activities, whatever. Review female movies, books, tv shows, local theatre productions. Write about sexism on campus. We need more female by-lines and more stories about women

Get involved with your campus’s sexual assault & r*pe hotline/sexual assault survivor’s centre/whatever similar organization your campus has if you can. This is hard work and definitely not for everyone (pls take care of yourself first, especially if you are a survivor)

(If your campus doesn’t have an organization for supporting survivor’s of sexualized violence, start one! This is probably going to be a lot of hard work though, so don’t do it alone)

Talk to your student council about providing free menstrual hygiene products on campus if your campus doesn’t already do this. If your campus provides free condoms (which they probs do), use that as leverage (ie. ‘sex is optional, menstruation is not. so why do we have free condoms and no free pads?’)

If you’re an older student, get involved with younger students (orientation week and such activities are good for this). Show the freshman that you can be a successful and well-liked woman without shaving your legs, wearing heels, wearing make-up, etc. Mentor these young women. Offer to go for coffee or proofread essays. 

Come to class looking like a human being. Be visibly make-up less, unshaven, unfeminine, etc. to show off the many different ways of being a woman

Talk to the custodial staff and learn their names. (I know there are men who work in this profession, but it is dominated by low-income women) Say hi in the hallways, ask them about their lives, show them they’re appreciated

Be explicit with your language. When you are talking about sex-based oppression, say it. Don’t say ‘sex worker’ when you mean survivor of human trafficking. This tip is obviously a bit tricky in terms of overt TERFyness, so use your best judgement

That’s all from me for now! Feel free to add your suggestions and remember that feminism is about action

[reidsnose]

buggin

overview: reader enlists the help of her neighbor (who shes never met) to get rid of a gnarly bug in her apartment

genre: fluff

a/n: thought of this today after i moved the shower curtain, saw a centipede crawl out, and screamed for my dad to come help me. anywayyyss i thought its be cute so as always lmk what you guys think :)

masterlist

-

you walked into your bedroom, fumbling frantically with the buttons on your shirt as you raced to leave your house on time. hair brush hair brush hair brush. where was your hair brush? you knocked over countless items trying to find it but with no luck. bathroom! you quickly made your way to the bathroom, opening the door so fast that wind blew through your hair.

and then you saw it.

a gnarly, long, nasty, creepy crawly centipede.

you let out a loud shriek and promptly shut the door. if you didn't get to the interview one time, it would surely be a bad first impression. but then again so would showing up with a bird's nest of hair on your head. you tried who knows how many times to go back in and kill it or catch it in a cup but each time you saw its countless, spindly legs you backed out. you checked your watch, 10 minutes until you had to leave.

you walked out into the hallway of the apartment building, and in a frenzy, you bumped into a tall, handsome man leaving the apartment across from yours.

he chuckled an apology before looking to meet your eye, breath hitching in his throat as he did. you were arguably the most beautiful woman he had ever seen (despite a very questionable hairdo). and when a surge of desperation ran through your body you rambled an explanation to the stranger, telling him about your job interview and time crunch then promptly begging him to come inside and get rid of the centipede for you.

and something inside him couldn't say no. he wanted to, i mean when an objectively crazy looking person lures you into their home to catch a bug, generally one says no and goes on with their day. however, maybe it was his complete an immediate infatuation with you or maybe his empathy for your situation, he decided to quickly help you and then try and get to work as fast as he can.

he couldn't help but subtly and subconsciously profile you based on your home as soon as he stepped inside. he liked it. your decorations, the small mess that makes it feel lived in, the general 'vibe' as morgan would say was incredible.

you gave him a sheet of paper and a cup, per his request, and led him to the dreaded bug bathroom. you couldn't help but watch in awe as he walked in with no fear, explaining to you in great detail how this was only a house centipede and it only had 15 pairs of legs which kind of counters the name. and how it isn't poisonous to humans and infact eats other bugs. you loved his facts so much and you followed him all the way to the window where he let the bug out, listening intently to what he had to say and swatting away the apology that came after the ramble, insisting that you genuinely enjoyed it.

"thank you so much,.." you trailed off, not knowing his name.

"Spencer." he filled in, offering a tight lipped smile.

"Spencer! wonderful. well again thank you so much and i owe you once I'm back from this job interview!" you smiled as you both walked to the door.

"oh you don't have to-" he began.

"no i insist! just knock on my door when you can and ill take you out." you stated, causing his eyes to widen, " not with a gun! i meant like ill buy you coffee or something!"

"i didn't think you meant with a gun?!" he laughed, handing you the hairbrush this whole ordeal was about. you laughed along as you closed and locked your apartment.

"I'm sorry i'm like completely fazzled right now! i have to go or else i'm never gonna get this job ill just brush my hair in the car! ok bye Spencer!" you called as you jogged down the stairs.

"wait i don't know your name?" he called after you.

"ill tell you when i buy you a coffee!" your giggle echoed through the building followed by the loud shut of the downstairs door.

he smiled to himself, wondering if he should tell the team about his funky morning encounter. he smiled the whole train ride to work, and then the walk from the stop to the building and then the elevator trip up. he just couldn't stop smiling. he thought about you brushing your hair while you drove and even giggled to himself on the train causing a few strangers to toss him some concerned looks.

how could he be living next to such a beautiful stranger?

when he walked into the bullpen, he saw the. whole team huddled around a desk, staring quite obviously at hotch's office. a new curiosity piqued his interest though his thoughts of you continued to be front and center in his mind.

"whats going on?" he asked, joining the group and craning his neck to try and see into the office.

"new agent interview." jj whispered.

"really? since whe-"

"shh!" Garcia shushed.

"you cant even hear them!" Reid defended.

"quiet helps us read their lips." prentiss whispered.

Spencer continued to crane his neck, moving around yet only being able to see hotch, who was throwing his head back in laughter. hotch laughing? wow this new agent must be pretty cool!

"oh my god! i've never seen him laugh like that before!" Garcia squeaked.

"she has to get the job now," morgan added.

"ah we have to wait for the handshake, thats when we see if he really approves," Rossi countered, "if he double hands the shake then its a done deal."

they all watched excitedly, waiting impatiently for the end of the interview. after a few minutes they saw hotch stand up and shake the possible new agent's hand with his right, firmly clasping his left over the handshake.

"was that the double handed handshake?" Garcia asked excitedly.

"yup." Rossi replied, popping the p.

as soon as the door began to open, the team tried ever so gracelessly to disperse, bumping into one another and murmuring fake excuses. a familiar outfit caught Spencer's eye as the new agent left hotch's office and he dared sneak a glance.

no way. his mind raced, thoughts of this morning flooding it a mile a minute. could it really be the girl from this morning? he watched as you excitedly left the building, beaming far to much to notice any other people as you left.

"bug?!" was all he could muster. not even loud enough for you to hear. unfortunately, loud enough for the people around him to.

"theres a bug? where?" morgan asked, looking around.

"no um...bug-she..is bug- um. nothing." he stammered.

"did you nickname the new agent bug?" jj laughed.

"what? no! do not say that in front of her!!" Spencer stammered.

after a couple teasing remarks, to Spencer's relief, they seemed to have let it go. the day was case-less and flew by quickly, the most exciting part was the morning interview and hotch's announcement that there would be a new agent starting tomorrow.

you sat at home, beyond excited about your successful interview, all thanks to handsome neighbor Spencer. you couldn't help but feel extra indebted to him. you feared you may have scared him off when you offered to take him out but it was the best way you could think to say thank you. but your nerves had transferred mainly to the upcoming first day of work.

as he got hone he debated knocking on your door but decided against it, knowing you were probably busy preparing for tomorrow.

when you arrived tomorrow a series of seemingly unfamiliar faces sat in the conference room, awaiting you and hotch.

when you stepped inside your eyes scanned over each of them, all looking very excited to meet you.

and then you saw him.

handsome neighbor Spencer was sitting RIGHT THERE. the stars have aligned and finally life is in your favor. after a brief introduction the meeting began and you took the only seat open which happened to be next to Spencer.

you gave each other polite smiles though both of your cheeks glowing red told a different story than two people who had just met.

"wheels up in 20." hotch concluded.

you all walked out together, the team making sure you felt included.

"so hows the first day feeling, y/n? or should i be like my friend Dr. Reid here and call you bug?" morgan asked slightly amused.

"oh my god you told?!" you laughed, looking wide eyed at Spencer.

after a high pitched denial from Reid and tears of laughter from the team as you told them of the events of that morning, you already felt like you were a part of the team.

as you boarded the jet, you decided to sit next to Spencer.

"you know, i still owe you a coffee," you mentioned nonchalantly as you pulled a book from your go bag, trying as hard as you possibly could to not blush.

he smiled slyly, picking up his own book to hide the rouge that fell upon his cheeks, "and ill hold you to that, bug."

-

-

ultra mega super cool taglist:

@mac99martin @imhreid @spencersmagic @hollydaisy23 @raelady1184 @a-broken-pact @padfootswife @star-stuff-in-the-cosmos @hey-there-angels @sonnydoesrandomshit @averyhotchner @laurakirsten0502 @reidyoulikeabook @rem-ariiana @spencerreid9 @vampire-overlord @takeyourleap-of-faith @s1utformgg @violetspoetic @b-a-utiful @aperrywilliams @eevee0722

[literateleah]

the paradox of emily prentiss’ audience perception and character design

some of y’all about to be real mad at me, but it must be said:

emily prentiss’ character design makes no sense: my personal opinion + an objective analysis

i think it can be challenging to separate the versions of characters we have in our little brains from actual canon content, but doing so is important for understanding what those characters are truly like, especially within the context of their environment and in contrast to others around them. plus developing a deeper understanding of the media we consume is super fun and interesting! with that being said: emily prentiss should not work for the fbi and here’s why (in three parts regarding who’s responsible: cbs, paget, and fans) (sit down and grab a snack i promise this is over 3k words)

quick disclaimer: i don’t dislike emily at all! that’s my girl, i just looked closer and realized some funky things the writers did and felt the need to analyze her of course: so let’s get into it

part one: what cbs did

cbs set the stage for emily’s introduction on the heels of the departure of lola glaudini as elle greenaway! lola has clarified that she decided to leave the show because filming in los angeles was not the best environment for her personally, and after one successful season on a major network (but not much established long term plot or drama beyond elle’s departure as a character) a consistent ensemble cast was required- particularly because the bau had been criticized for being predominantly male in the first few episodes of the show and not much development was given to penelope or jj yet. enter emily prentiss.

for the duration of seasons 2-3ish, emily was framed as a chip off the block that was elle greenaway, just slightly…richer? in her first few episodes emily was hesitantly polite but ambitious, clean cut, intellectually concise and held her own within the team. she seemed equal parts intimidated and frustrated by her male superiors (gideon, hotch) but certainly proves herself among other profilers. her childhood was explored only within reference to her strained relationship with her mother (which was only ever referenced once more after the fact) and we received a short overview of her educational and career history in her first few episodes. emily fit right into the hole elle had left, and didn’t have many major storylines yet.

seasons 4-6 brought a bit more development and depth to emily’s character! she begins dropping more snarky remarks, one liners, and socially deepening her relationships with the other team members. this seems more within the lines of elle’s design, but emily arguably took more time to grow into her place within the team. during the foyet arc she was vulnerable and supportive, and the doyle arc gave her some independence and agency she didn’t have previously. this era also solidified her appearance and persona as more edgy, which falls in line with general fanon perception of her character (especially when compared to jj or penelope). i can’t address this era or season 7 without mentioning that cbs was actively trying to remove paget from the cast, similar to how they did to aj cook as well. paget has spoken about this instance before, and i believe it slightly affected her portrayal of her character, and “lauren” was somewhat of a goodbye for both paget and emily (thus why she wished for mgg to direct since they were best friends).

season 7: in my opinion, one of the best seasons for emily. she was wisened and deeply wounded by her experiences with doyle, which was understandable of course. she returned to the team she loved and learned to appreciate life in a different way, remaining mature during this time period as well! though her departure was a bit less than graceful and sudden at the end of this season, it made sense compared to some other exits the team had seen.

now *sigh* all the rest.

paget as emily appears in two separate guest appearances (once in s9 and once in s11, and she is referenced offscreen as well) before permanently reprising her role as unit chief of the bau. these appearances were most likely to boost ratings and get the team back together (i.e. 200) or just to pepper in international cases (tribute). emily’s personality remains pretty consistent here, just more mature and comfortable in leadership positions (seeing as she is running an entire branch of an international law enforcement organization). then season 12 hit.

upon the departure of thomas gibson as hotch, cbs reached out to paget to see if she would be interested in fulfilling her role as emily within a longer term unit chief position. i’ll get into why this is wack in a few paragraphs, but the remainder of her time on the show is spent on a mature portrayal that seems very distant from her previous versions. emily is more authoritative, gives orders with ease, and has no qualms about leading a team of agents or even receiving promotion offers as director of the entire bureau.

thus concludes a general summary of the canon content cbs gave us as viewers. now let's talk about what they didn’t give us, regrettably

the primary aspect of emily’s design that comes to mind for many is her queer coding. though not much was to be expected from cbs, a prime time cable tv network, each of her relationships on the show (all with men) seemed oddly forced, and without much chemistry as compared to the SOs of other main characters. rumors of scrapped plotlines have floated around about what may have been, but the ultimate lack of acknowledgement of any queer characters in the main ensemble still leaves a feeling of disappointment to audiences, and leaves more to be desired as for how emily navigates social bonds.

part two (sidebar): what paget did

i think it could be agreed within audiences that paget brewster’s portrayal of emily made the role what it was! her dry witty delivery and emotional prowess combined with sitcom acting experience made her performance a mainstay for years. i think she did the best she could with a confusing and at times flat characterization, and brought the role to life.

paget also heavily contributes to fanon indirectly with her comments outside of the show (press, cameos, twitter etc). her general continued interest and fondness for the role post production affects fan perception, particularly in what she chooses to elevate and comment on. she and aj have both spoken about viewing jemily content, and paget and thomas have both also commented on hotchniss. most cast members feel free to comment on their characters in the appropriate timing, and seem open to discussing fanon ships and theories outside of canon!

part three: what fanon did

as we can tell from this fan space as well as the presence on insta, tik tok and twitter, fans LATCHED onto emily super quickly. she’s remained a favorite over the years, and this fan persistence is what brought her back so many times after leaving (so many times). in my opinion, queer coding and a bolder female trope (in contrast to her female counterparts) are the main pulls because they resonated with so many fans- new and old. with that being said, newer fans of the show in the past year in particular have been heavily influential in fanon, solely because of the large influx of fan content and popularity of it.

fan content began to take coding and bite size moments and snippets from the show as canon, and cemented it into much of the content and discourse they created. these small pieces of emily’s character are significant, but have become magnified by how easily they are to share and edit. for example, a collection of catchy one liners from emily over the seasons makes for a great video edit intro, or gifset! there’s absolutely no problem with this content, it just all combines to create a certain fanon perception no character escapes (this isn’t a phenomenon limited to emily or the cm fandom!)

these droves of content also solidified emily’s personality as much more defined, but at the same time, simplified it in a way that’s slightly harder to explain.

fanon: more emo/goth than canon basis

fanon: more introverted/anti social than canon basis

fanon: more violent/chaotic when canon emily is relatively well mannered and doesn’t start many conflicts (particularly in the workspace)

fanon: much less maternal when canon emily displays desire on multiple occasions (even crossing professional borders) for children, particularly teenage girls (possibly projection)

(again, nothing wrong with this interpretation at all and it still varies! This is just a generalization based on most of the popular content i have seen)

part 4: why it doesn’t work

let me start with this: emily prentiss does not like her job.

we don’t receive much in depth information about emily’s internal feelings and thoughts towards her mother beyond resentment. this stems from wanting to make it on her own, as a professional and as an individual (cough cough college deposits). this makes emily’s insistence on proving herself to authority figures in her earlier seasons is interesting to watch in different circumstances. she cites her experience and denies help from her mother when justifying her placement in the bau to hotch, she is extra vigilant about being helpful on her first case with gideon, etc. nevertheless, emily forges her own path outside of diplomacy and becomes a successful profiler and agent, with the help of her privilege, wealth and name whether she likes it or not. but if we read between the lines and fill in the blanks cbs neglected, these ambitions may subconsciously be oriented towards pleasing her mother.

example one: emily’s authority issues go further than just “rebellion” or “anarchy”, she frequently questions the ethics and sustainability of the work that the bau does. every team member does this, but emily much more so than anybody else.

in “amplification”, emily almost breaks federal protocol to inform civilians of anthrax threats. she butts heads with both hotch and rossi on this front, and ends the episode with having a conversation with rossi about the ethics of lying in their line of work. emily resigns to a solemn “it be like that” and moves along, accepting this reality.

on multiple different occasions emily laments to derek about the darkness she sees on the job, and it’s shown that this gets to her quickly on particularly bad cases. this is another contradiction of the design that she can supposedly “compartmentalize” better than others on the team, when she cannot unless the lives of others are at risk (doyle arc, s7 finale).

emily also responds in this way to many cases involving children, a similarity to jj many don’t notice upon first watching the series. “seven seconds” and “children of the dark” come to mind, during the latter in which emily is prepared to cross multiple professional lines to adopt a teenage girl left orphaned by the case, until hotch stops her and establishes that her emotions can’t rule her judgement on the job. regardless of hotch’s thoughts about her attempted caretaking abilities, these actions and impulses deeply contradict the typical bureaucratic pathways of the work the bau does.

the looming reputation of her mother’s diplomatic history hangs over emily, and after going to law school and working for the cia, she most likely did want to forge her own path as far away from being a socialite: being a spy. her inner nature doesn’t always reflect this profession, and leads me to believe that with her knowledge of psychology, law procedure and care for children: emily prentiss might be more inclined to working in social work, placing suffering children and teenagers in homes they deserve.

and finally, the hill i will die on: emily prentiss was an bad unit chief

this wonderful post touches on my general sentiment, but there were many reasons as to why emily prentiss’ career arc makes little to no sense (plot holes included).

first: her background. emily attended chesapeake bay university as well as yale and achieved a ba in criminal justice. keep in mind that though timelines evidently don’t exist in the cm universe, emily prentiss is ONE YEAR older than aaron hotchner (for context). in her first episode, she professes that she has worked for the bureau for a little under ten years in midwestern offices- something the audience laters knows to not be true. emily worked with the cia and interpol as a part of a profiling team and undercover agent up until roughly TWO YEARS before her canon introduction. plot holes and time gaps aside, this makes me wonder, why didn’t she just say the cia was a backstop without revealing the highly confidential nature of her work with doyle (similar to jj’s state department backstop and cover story)? penelope or hotch could have easily accessed her file and seen that she did not in fact have experience with the bureau in midwestern offices recently, and given the fact that erin strauss set up her bau placement, i’m presuming these formalities or references were overlooked.

second: her experience within the team. emily worked as a part of the bau with the bureau for roughly 6 or 7 years. after this, she is invited to run the entire london branch of interpol, one of the most renowned international law enforcement organizations. i’m surely not the most knowledgeable on requirements or standard timelines for such matters, but with the fact that emily had never led a team in her life (not in the bau or interpol previously) and had roughly 10 years of field experience, i don’t believe she would have ever realistically been considered eligible to run the whole london department.

third: her return to the bureau. fanon depiction of their relationship aside, if you believe aaron hotchner’s last wish before going into witsec was to entrust his team to emily prentiss, you’re dead mistaken. bringing emily back was clearly a pull for ratings after the loss of two main characters (hotch and derek), but logistically a bad decision. let’s suppose emily has had 4 or 5 years of experience in london now, this established authority position would be unlikely to change at the drop of a hat, even for old teammates or friends. also considering how close they were after a decade of working closely in bureaucratic and field contexts, i firmly believe hotch would have referred jj for the job of unit chief but that’s another discussion for another time.

emily’s reign as unit chief is odd, because of the many chaotic storylines crammed into it. but amidst bad writing and viewings plummeting, emily’s character is completely flattened. completely. emily is unrecognizable, both in appearance (that god awful wig) and personality. at times she acts as a complete wise authority, giving orders and delegating local authorities as hotch did. but at other times she makes multiple illegal, emotional, and incorrect judgement calls based on personal circumstances that lead to further chaos (deleting the recording of her and reid’s mexico conversation and reprimanding luke in “luke” for the exact same thing she did in season 6 even though she enabled her to do so come to mind).

i’m not sure if this is due to paget trying to find her footing in the role again, or the writer’s bad decisions towards the end of the show wrecking any previous design for their ensemble. then, there’s the infamous “wheels up” scene in s13e1. notoriously cringey, this seems like a vague caricature of something rossi would say many years in the past (the same goes for her pep talk in “red light” in the hunt for diana reid). these moments are meant to mature emily in the audience’s eye, but instead completely removed her from who we understood her to be, and made her an unreliable leader.

part five: and why it does

in theory, emily was a bolder foil to jj, similar to elle who she arguably replaced at first. she came into her own, and stands as a more uniquely developed character than almost any other in the main ensemble. she isn’t as maternal or domestically inspiring as canon jj, less bright and sunny than penelope, not quite as stoic or intimidating as derek or hotch. And yet at the same time, she’s a fairly blank slate. stripping fanon content away entirely, canon emily has few defining traits (all of which are constantly changing), and that may be the key to why we love her so much.

[cafecourage]

Hero of Legacy General Plot/History/Link Overview

Me and @flowercape worked pretty hard on this story and I really want to go through everything we’ve made. However that would be physically impossible so this is just a summary! I should also note that there is some Art work from @flowercape ! I love their art! Please give them some love!

(Also should note. Legacy is a LoZ Link OC and not a LU one though I have thought about their interactions its not canon.)

Ok! So let me bring up the timeline we are going to be following. It’s not that custom nor does the Timeline actually show the amount of time that has passed.

Alright so we got 500 years between BOTW and Legacy so here are the spark notes that I’ve been sending people:

- Zelda and Link rebuild Hyrule. Zelda made the old Castle rebuilt into an Academy. While another smaller castle was built next to it, this created a lot of jobs for the people and they slowly came back to rebuild the kingdom in general. Wild on the other hand founded and created an Adventuring Guild and started rebuilding the Army. (But his focus was more on the guild.)

- Zelda feeling like Link’s silence was her fault developed the Hylian Sign Language and made it the Kingdoms second language.

- The Kingdom had a Science and History boom after a lot of things where brought back up from the calamity. The only good things to come out of it was that these artifacts where brought back to the surface.

- History is important in the kingdom because Ganon kept coming back over and over again. So the stories of the different links were brought back in full force to remind people of the tragedy’s. However like what happen with our history, mythology and history meld so its hard to see what is right and what was just made up. (Ie. King Arthur. He might of been real but the story isnt.)

- 500 years later the Royal family is a figure head and people don’t really believe in the goddess thing anymore. So this Zelda is a lot more free and happy to do what she please. She follows Wild’s Zelda and becomes a Doctor of Science.

- Link and Zelda meet when there were 5. Zelda had a friend named Claus who was 7. In a small museum in the Academy’s Library. Zelda and Link had a share interest in history of Hyrule’s heroes. Well… Zelda had an obsession with the Champions, the Era of the Wild and Sheikah Tech because she really adores the Queen of the Wild. While Link had an overall love because of his Father and Mother being both historians.

- In Botw its was implied that the Gerudo's blood line was being mix with Hylian. For example, They now have pointed ears and not the rounded in OoT. So thats why Link is a male despite his mom being Gerudo. There isnt many males in the world but its slowly becoming normal. (It was the reason we gave on why link was a male, because its the one that made sense to us historical wise)

- The Gerudo Town we know in Botw, is still a female only town but there is a town with the males and husbands.

- The Academy is spilt into different tracks named after the Dragons and Hylia herself. Each class has only homeroom professor for their entire class year. (If that makes sense. They do this in Japan I believe. While the House concept is taken from England but edited to fit this.)

- Farosh: The track Link was apart of and later in life he is a home room and history professor. The course was made for those who want to explore and learn about the world through Adventure. Most if not all their Alumi go into the Adventures Guild.

- Naydra: The track that Zelda when into and sometimes teaches in as a guest! The course was made for those who mostly focus on science and technology. Most of the Alumi go into Hyrule’s Royal Laboratory or they head to the New Kakariko part in Hateno City.

- Dinraal: The track that Claus was apart of. This is the Knight coarse’s! Standard military coarse’s and such. Most of the Alumi go into the Army ether as soldiers or tacticians.

- Hylia: The track for the more spiritual and magic based people. All three coarse’s have to take some of there coarse but its not required. This is the hardest coarse to get into. Zelda got in but turn them down for science.

- All races are welcome at the Academy and because of the Queen of the Wild the tuition is free! The Academy promotes learning and curious minds.

Here he is! Our Son!

Summary on his Childhood then I’ll put some Bullet Points at the end: :)

Link’s deal is that, no one knows that he is the hero. There was a prophecy that claimed that there will be another tragedy. However someone started a rumor the the hero was Link's and Zelda's childhood friend Claus. So while his friends are full force doing training (light training in Zelda’s case because she was not having it.) Link was pushed to the side almost the trio was still super close! But there was something going on that they didnt know about.

(Now this part is weird, its one of the things I had control over but I still don’t know the exact idea on what happened. I have an oneshot I could post but it has old information on it that I need to remove.)

The Trio was 10 when the prophecy hit. At the same time Link had a Dream, though in his eyes it was a nightmare. As a child he had to find the Sky view temple and go through it. No monster, no traps, no puzzles. I should mention here that this Link while really curious and likes to discover things, is easily scared and has really bad social anxiety even as a child. So during this dream he was terrified, but he was force to go through it. Finally, when he reached the Spring of Courage. There is a man waiting for him. Link fully terrified at this point. Could not hear a word this man was saying. We the reader know its the First hero (The one from the Skyward Manga). After forcing himself awake from fear, Link would slowly start to see things. Spirits of different men in the corner of his eyes or he will go into, unknown to him ,dissociative states. In these states he would interact with these spirits. But he couldn’t hear them and barely see them.

We named it Farore’s Blessing because in Spirit tracks that Link could see the ghost of Zelda, then the idea of this being a thing that all links have because they see the unseeable normally came up. Legacy and Spirit just have a more powerful version of it.

Some Authors Notes about Link:

- Link is a History Professor and does part time archaeology work for the Adventures Guild.

- He has extreme social anxiety which lead selective mutism.

- Only has 2 years of sword fighting experience when he was 12 from his father.

- He loves ancient magic songs and has talked Zelda’s ear off about it.

- Is like 99% sure Nayru hates him.

- For the longest time he has felt inferior to Claus and Zelda.

- Is worried about the Hero of Time and Hero of Legend.

- Has regretted the Hero Spirit for too long.

- The thing about the Hero Spirit is that the Hero has to nurture it so they can grow into their role as a courageous hero. Legacy, because of his anxiety getting worse from seeing the spirits, the dream, dissociative states where he sometimes sees memories that isn’t his, and then lastly… finding his fathers body after confining in him about seeing things. He blamed himself. He blamed they people who he saw. He blamed the man in his dream. What he didn’t know was that someone else was pushing him to become a hero quicker then having him grow into it naturally.

- Link’s journey is based on the saying: “Learn from the past to make a better future.”

- So he needs to travel back in time to support and learn from each hero.

- Has a lot of regrets not telling Claus about being a Hero.

_____________________________________________

Thats basically everything? If you have any questions let me know!! I’ll be posting about Zelda and Claus soon after I finish drawing their reference sheet.

[thewraith8]

Shadow and Bone Netflix Show - Brief Analysis

In this post I am going to break down the things I liked, the things I did not like, and just a general overview of my thoughts on the Shadow and Bone Netflix show. This is coming from someone who has read the Shadow and Bone trilogy about three years ago, the Six of Crows duology about a year ago, and has just recently watched the show when it premiered. I am a big fan of the duology and I did find the trilogy decently enjoyable at the time that I read it. 

I would like to preface this by saying that, as this is an overview, I will not be going into a lot of detail with regards to every scene. I may do something like that in future posts where I discuss each scene or character separately but this is more of a general overview. I would also like to clarify that I will not be addressing anything super in depth about the racism in the show as I am not very educated on the topic. I know that a lot of people have many different views on it and as someone who is Asian, my personal view is that it was fine. Some pieces of dialogue would occasionally feel a little forced but I personally do not believe it was a bad idea to make Alina a mixed race character. I know sometimes it can really feel like the producers and writers are trying to be diverse by adding POC to the cast and having the character face some form of discrimination every other scene but this show did not feel like it was pushing it super hard. There was so much else going on in the show that I did not mind those few scenes where they did address racism. 

So this is going to be divided into three parts. The first is production quality. The second is casting, acting, and character portrayals. And third is the writing and storytelling. So now let’s get into it.

Production quality: 

This was one of the biggest things I feared would be terrible about the show and would greatly impact my opinion of it because in a visual medium it is very difficult to get past bad visual effects, sets, etc. I knew it would be the first thing I would notice upon starting the show and I was very pleasantly surprised to see that money was clearly spent in the production with the incredible effects, costumes, props, set designs, and cinematography. I will say I am not educated on the subject of filmmaking and cinematography but from the little I do understand I think it was done very well.

There were also certain aspects I noticed when comparing the filming of scenes between the two storylines.  Mal and Alina’s scenes such as when they are writing letters to each other or when we get flashbacks of them at the orphanage, are more slow and soothing almost like gentle waves swaying back and forth on a beach. Their voices and dialogue are also soft and warm and this really gives a good sense of their relationship and dynamic. In contrast, when you look at scenes involving the crows, the filming is a lot quicker and snappier and things are generally more fast paced. Their dialogue, which involves a lot of banter or back and forths, is also great in showing their dynamic as well as their own individual character. 

Moving on to set designs and costumes, I think these were done really well. The throne room of the Little Palace was almost exactly as I had imagined it to look and the palace in general with the rooms and hallways did appear to be high quality. The Fold was also very well done though something I found a little strange was the occasional bursts of lightning in the sky. I think that sort of defeats the purpose of it being this completely dark place. Other than that it was exactly as I would imagine it to look. Ketterdam was also exactly as I imagined it to be with the dark alleys and dingy streets. With regards to the costumes, I think they were beautiful. Alina’s costumes in particular were really well done. I loved the way they did her hair and make up in certain scenes like when they go through the Fold that last time. The Keftas that the Grisha wore were incredible and accurate to the books with the different colours of each for the different kinds of Grisha. The crows’ costumes were also exactly what I imagined each of them to look like and felt really connected to their characters. Overall I think the set designs and costumes were fantastic.

All in all I would give production a 9.5/10. 

2. Casting, acting, and character portrayals:

Casting was also one of my fears for this show since the characters for me are the most important part of any story and if the cast is not good then the characters will not come across in the best way possible. I was once again so pleasantly surprised with the actors and actresses chosen for each role. I was worried about cringy acting as well and I am so glad there was no point at which I was cringing at any of the acting. The actors all appeared to have great chemistry and it came across wonderfully on screen. I’m going to briefly go through each of the main characters and the actor or actress that plays them and my thoughts on the acting and character portrayals alone. Later in the thrid section of this long post I will talk about each character with regards to how they were written.  

Alina: I personally believe Jessie Mei Li played a perfect Alina Starkov. She really gave off the vibe of being this important figure, a Sun Summoner, without it feeling annoying or as though she knows she is the main character of the story. I think her acting and expressions were generally well done. 

Mal: Though Archie Renaux was not how I imagined Mal to look, I think he did a great job of portraying the character. His interactions with Jessie Mei Li also felt very natural and they definitely had good chemistry. 

Darkling: Again, I think Ben Barnes was the perfect casting for the Darkling and his portrayal of the character was very well done. There were times where he would get teary eyed when talking to Alina and I understand that it was part of his character in being manipulative but it looked just a bit weird because crying is just something that almost humanizes him which I think does not fit with the idea and aesthetic of his character. You can still have him be manipulative and appear a victim to Alina without him crying or getting teary eyed. I think he would be able to get that across better with a tragic expression and tone of voice. But overall I think he made a great Darkling.

Kaz: Once again perfect casting with Freddy Carter. And really for this one, props to the directors and others who cast him for this role because this was a diffcult character to get the perfect casting for. Kaz’s character is probably the one that I have the biggest problem with but that has more to do with the writing aspect of his character. With regards to the casting and acting, I think Freddy Carter was amazing. First of all, he looks exactly as I would imagine Kaz to look. Second, his expressions and mannerisms were on point. And third, he had really good chemistry with Amita Suman (Inej) and Kit Young (Jesper). 

Inej: I feel like I keep repeating myself but once again I think this casting was perfect. Amita Suman as Inej just felt very right. Her portrayal of the character was amazing, she looked just as I imagined Inej would, and her chemistry with the other actors was incredible. 

Jesper: Once again great casting with Kit Young as Jesper. He got across that charisma and humour that Jesper is known for extremely well through his expressions and body language. He also appeared to have great chemistry with the rest of the cast. 

Nina: Another great choice to cast Danielle Galligan as Nina. I think she captured Nina’s energy or “vibe” perfectly with her voice and body language. 

Matthias: Calahan Skogman is exactly as I pictured Matthias to look so I think he was a great choice as well. 

Overall I think the casting, acting, and character portrayals in this show were spectacular so I would give it a 10/10.

3. Writing and storytelling/ How it was as an adaptation:

This is, in my opinion, the section with the most issues even though they were very few. 

Overall I think the writing was great. There were a few cliche pieces of a dialogue but those were very few. The dialogue for each of the characters felt natural and never felt out of character. As I mentioned previously, Mal and Alina’s dialogue had a warmth to it and their dynamic of childhood best friends came across really well through their dialogue. It did not feel as though they were trying really hard to have that dynamic. I also think it was a great decision to have the letters they wrote to each other be narration for many of the scenes that we saw them in. This was a great method of really getting across what they were feeling while they were apart and allowing the viewer to empathize with them. On the other hand a similar sort of technique was used with the crows. Whenever they were carrying out some sort of heist or mission, Kaz would be narrating the plan while we were watching it physically play out on screen. The dialogue between the crows was generally good and mostly in character. Their dynamic came across really well in a lot of their banter. 

With regards to the storytelling and as an adaptation, I also think the show did a pretty great job. Alina’s storyline was coherent and had a logical progression from beginning to end, following the major plot beats of the book. The main issue I have with it is that it felt rushed. I think adding an episode or two may really have helped with the pacing. It felt as though Alina learns about her powers and is taken to the Little Palace where she’s conflicted for maybe an episode and then suddenly she feels at home and like she belongs. We barely get to see her training at the Little Palace with Baghra or Botkin or see the development of her friendships with Marie and Nadia as well as with Genya. That part of her arc, which was a major part of it, felt rushed. Other than that I think the show did a good job of getting her from point A to B in a cohesive way.  

The crows storyline, I thought, was incredible because, since I am a big fan of the duology, I loved getting to see the crows and how they were before the events of Six of Crows. I think it was fun seeing their lives in Ketterdam and the way they worked before Nina, Matthias, or Wylan joined them. I was worried about how they would be incorporated in the story and that it would not feel natural but I think the decision to make their goal be to get Alina was a great way to tie them into the main storyline. It made sense with their characters that they would do something like that to get money and it made Alina’s storyline even more interesting. Getting to see interactions between the characters of both the trilogy and duology was one of the best parts of the show for me. Think about it. These were interactions we could only have hoped to see in the books and the show brought that to life and gave us those interactions. The crows’ storyline did feel a little less cohesive than Alina’s but this also made sense with their characters and the mission they had to carry out. There were many parts of the plan that needed to be completed, different heists and side missions, in order for them to reach their end goal which was kidnapping Alina from the Little Palace so it made sense that their storyline was a little less straightforward. Overall I think they had a very interesting and captivating story.

As an adaptation I think the show did quite well. Further down in this post I am going to discuss the major issues I had with the show as part of this section where I am discussing writing, storytelling, and the show as an adaptation. But in general I think the show did well in adapting the characters as well as Alina’s storyline. The crows’ storyline was obviously something that was not taken from the books but something that I could definitely see them doing. I think the show also did a great job of adapting the world and all of its intricacies as well as giving off that atmosphere that you get a sense of when reading the books. I also liked that there were many pieces of dialogue taken straight from the books which really made the characters of the show feel exactly like those of the book. 

Okay, now breaking down the few issues I had:

Kaz’s character: I think if we look at Kaz in the books, we can break his character down into two parts, the two defining parts:

His intelligence, wit, and strategic mind.

His cruel and brutal nature.

I think the show got both of these wrong on different levels. One of these can be explained while the other cannot. In the show, Kaz is not nearly as intelligent or strategic as he is shown to be in the books. We see on a number of occasions in the show that he has been taken advantage of or that he is not in the upperhand of a situation. I think that is a major change from his character in the book where one of the things you remembered about Kaz was how he was always ten steps ahead of his opponent. But this is an issue that can be explained and given depth by considering that the crows’ storyline in the show takes place prior to the events of Six of Crows and that at this point in time, Kaz hasn’t become that quick-witted, mastermind, strategist we know him to be in the books. We can see the beginnings of that character in the way he is portrayed in the show and can understand that his natural progression would be to the character from the books in the aspect of his intelligence. On the other hand however, there is still the second major part of his character and that part is a little bit of a bigger problem. That has to do with his completely cruel and brutal nature from the books. This was one of his major defining features and was very strongly rooted in his backstory. It was his past with Pekka Rollins and the death of his brother Jordie that brought about this ruthlessness in him. And what made his character so interesting and dynamic was how he was very slowly becoming a more caring person. It was a very slow progression but it was there nonetheless. You could see it in the way he cared for Inej and the rest of the crew. By the end he was still no where near being a gentleman, but there was still a change in him from the beginning to end. This is where I think the show messed up a little and it is an issue that I don’t really think can be resolved. The show made Kaz more soft and kind in nature. He definitely wasn’t entirely nice but you could tell he was a lot nicer compared to his book counterpart. Certain scenes in which he is talking to Inej felt a little too soft in particular the scene in which it almost seems as though he is about to confess something to her when she rushes out of the room and he calls after her. I don’t imagine book Kaz would ever do that. Or when he tells her that no one is like her. These are all moments where he appears to be much softer compared to the Kaz in the books that was cold and cruel. This is also an issue that cannot really be fixed in future seasons because the natural progression for the show then would be that he gets softer then he already is which means we will not get to see the Kaz from the books at all or with any accuracy.  If future seasons do make him exactly as he is in the duology then there will be the issue of it not feeling consistent with the character he was made to be in the shows. However I will end off by saying that even despite his character not being entirely accurate to that of the books, I still very much enjoyed watching every scene he was in and this issue did not ruin the overall experience of the show for me. I think what they did with his character still worked really well with the story, so overall it was not a major issue for me in changing my opinion of the show. 

Nina telling Matthias why she got him imprisoned as a slaver: This I find to be a greater problem that could have so easily been fixed by taking out just a few pieces of dialogue. I think a big part of what made Nina and Matthias’ story so heartbreaking was this pivotal moment when Nina turns him in as a slaver to save his life. And he doesn’t learn the truth until they reunite in the present day of Six of Crows. He spends that time in Hellgate believing that she betrayed him and that she really was the deceitful and dishonest witch he believed her and all other Grisha to be. Then when he finally does learn the truth, it is this big moment and then he has a slow progression to eventually believing it. The show eliminated the entire part of what made their story so tragic by having Nina tell him the truth of what happened immediately after she has him captured. So there is no possibility of this slow journey that Matthias has of accepting that truth. In the show he almost seems mean now for not believing or at least trying to believe what Nina tells him. Overall this is probably one of my biggest gripes with the whole show.

The Darkling creating the Fold: Another issue that could quite easily have been fixed is how the Darkling created the fold. The show made it to be that he came across a small slip of paper, he read what was on it, and then he gained the ability to create the Fold. That is too simple of an explanation for how something as grand as the Shadow Fold was created. I think this could have rather easily have been fixed so that even if it was still easy it wouldn’t be as easy as just happening upon a slip of paper. They could have done it by showing a montage of him looking through all the books in the archive and figuring out that there is some sort of code that he needed to put together and when he does piece it together and perform some sort of ritual, then he gains this ability to create the Fold. That would have made it more believable and the scene would only have been slightly longer than what it was in the show. 

Crows letting Alina escape: This was another issue I had that sort of adds to how they changed Kaz’s character because book Kaz would never have allowed Alina to escape so easily. Even the Kaz in the show would not have been outsmarted by Alina. This was one thing that felt a little out of character for the crows because, fine, I can understand that Alina blinded them for those few seconds with her light and Inej was not in on the plan of capturing her anymore, but how was Alina able to run out of sight so fast that neither Kaz nor Jesper saw where she went. Then on top of that, they aren’t discreet about finding her, as Kaz is always careful to be. Instead they go around the streets describing how she looks and asking people if they’ve seen her. I am not entirely sure what they could have done to solve this issue but I don’t believe the solution was very difficult. Maybe they could have explained through a short piece of dialogue that Alina used her power in a way that blinded them for more than thirty seconds which gave Alina enough time to get out of sight. Whatever the reason, I think this should not have been an issue because, despite seeming small, I think it says a lot about the crows’ characters. And I definitely don’t think this was a bad scene at all because I loved seeing this interaction and seeing Inej’s reaction to Alina. I just think the issue of Alina escaping so easily should have been addressed. 

For now, after watching the show just once, those were the major issues in writing and storytelling that I had with the show. If I have more thoughts about this after watching it again, I will make another post about it. Now I want to talk about some things that the show added that were not in the books and what was changed or kept from the books, that I liked. 

Mal’s character: The change that was made to Mal’s character in the show was probably the biggest and best change that could have been made. One of the major reasons I do not like the Shadow and Bone trilogy anywhere near as much as the Six of Crows duology is the characters. Sure, I found the world and plot interesting when I read the trilogy a few years back and even at times the characters were good, but a lot of the time I was either annoyed with Alina or with Mal. Most of the time it was Mal because he didn’t really feel like he was a great friend to Alina because of the way he treated her for being Grisha. I think a lot of my frustration with him also came from the story being entirely in Alina’s perspective so we never got to see any of what Mal was going through. The times that we did see him, he was either angry at or overly protective of Alina and there were only few occasions where he was being a good friend. The show really changed that with allowing us to see his perspective and all the difficulty and trauma he was going through to be with Alina. The show succeeded in making him an empathetic character and I think that is one of the most necessary things in creating a likeable character. Through his dialogue and actions, we were able to see how much he really cared for Alina. There were never any long stretches of time where he was angry with her or, on the other hand, where he was being overly protective of her. He was continuously being a good and supportive friend and that made the biggest difference in my liking his character. It is also what made me really enjoy Alina’s storyline as well because there was no point at which I found either Alina or Mal or any other character involved in their story, annoying to watch. 

No mourners no funerals: I was overjoyed when this line came up in the show because it is such an iconic line from the duology that I absolutely love and it was great to see it said on screen. Similarly, I was so glad that we also got to see Kaz say the line, “The deal is the deal.” and say it to Alina. 

Interactions between S&B and SoC characters: This was probably one of my favourite things about the show. It really felt like watching two worlds collide. I loved watching Kaz and Inej posing as guards and trying to escort Alina so they can take her. Watching Inej’s reactions to Alina was one of the best things. Then, Mal teaming up with the crows when they are in the Fold was one of the strangest but coolest interactions. Alina giving Inej the knife that she later names Sankta Alina was one of the best interactions I could have hoped for with the crossing of these two casts of characters. And to end it with Alina giving Kaz that valuable piece of jewelry, an interaction I never thought I would see, was incredible. 

Conductor: The addition of this character I think was a great idea. He definitely added to the storyline of the crows and was an interesting character on his own. He was the cause of a lot of the funniest dialogue and moments in the show like when the crows are crossing the fold for the first time. Overall, I think it was a good decision to add him in. 

Now last but not least, the thing that stole the show and beat everything else by far was:

(Drum roll)

Milo the goat!

And with nothing more to say about that, we’ve reached the conclusion of this very long post. My overall rating for this third and last section, which is regarding the writing and storytelling, would be an 8.5/10, a very good score. 

If I were to rate the show over all, I would give it a 9.3/10 because I think it was spectacular in many aspects. The few gripes I did have were not anything too major, though if those aspects were fixed I think this would be a top-tier show and adaptation for me. 

What do you think about everything that I said? Do you agree or disagree? I’d love to have a discussion so feel free to reach out and comment!

[mediaevalmusereads]

When A Scot Ties the Knot. By Tessa Dare. New York: Avon Books, 2015.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Genre: historical romance

Part of a Series? Yes, Castles Ever After #3

Summary: On the cusp of her first London season, Miss Madeline Gracechurch was shyly pretty and talented with a drawing pencil, but hopelessly awkward with gentlemen. She was certain to be a dismal failure on the London marriage mart. So Maddie did what generations of shy, awkward young ladies have done: she invented a sweetheart. A Scottish sweetheart. One who was handsome and honorable and devoted to her, but conveniently never around. Maddie poured her heart into writing the imaginary Captain MacKenzie letter after letter … and by pretending to be devastated when he was (not really) killed in battle, she managed to avoid the pressures of London society entirely. Until years later, when this kilted Highland lover of her imaginings shows up in the flesh. The real Captain Logan MacKenzie arrives on her doorstep—handsome as anything, but not entirely honorable. He’s wounded, jaded, in possession of her letters… and ready to make good on every promise Maddie never expected to keep.

***Full review under the cut.***

Content Warnings: graphic sexual content, blood, violence

Overview: I came across this book while doing research for a blog post on Scottish fetishization in romance. While writing the post, I encountered YouTuber Jean Bookishthoughts’s video “ An Actual Scot Reads Highlander Romances,” and she gave this novel a fairly positive review. So I decided “why not? I’ve got nothing better to do.” Overall, the premise of this book was really enticing - the idea of a woman writing letters to a fictional sweetheart only to have a flesh-and-blood man show up at her door is quite the setup. I also think Dare does a good job of writing humor and moving the narrative along. But I ultimately couldn’t give this book more than 3 stars for a number of reasons: for one, the main crux of the plot felt like it could have been a bit more robust. Two, I didn’t find Logan to be a very interesting character. And three, some of the random “Highlander” references felt cheesy.

Writing: Dare writes prose that is quick, witty, and humorous. I very much enjoyed the jokes and the banter between our protagonists, and I appreciated that Dare didn’t get bogged down in some of the details of day-to-day life. If I had any criticisms, it would be that I think Dare moves almost too quickly at times. Some of the more emotional moments could have used some room to breathe or some more description of how the characters’ emotions are faring. But it wasn’t so bad that I felt like I was being rushed through the novel. Another way of putting is may be that sometimes Dare told where she could have shown, but the balance of telling vs showing didn’t feel egregiously off.

Plot: This plot mainly follows our heroine, Maddie, and our hero, Logan, as they try to work out an agreement. Maddie, in the attempt to avoid going on the marriage mart, invented a sweetheart at age 16 and wrote letters to a “fictional” Scottish captain in the army for years. Unbeknownst to her, the letters were actually being received by Logan, and when he and his men come home from the war, Logan is determined to marry Maddie in order to get her land in Invernesshire.

Personally, I found this setup to be quite intriguing and whimsical. I liked the embarrassment that arose from Maddie’s letters actually being received and read. I liked that Logan secretly looked forward to the letters from a stranger. I even liked the dilemma of negotiating a marriage of convenience. But I think where this plot fell apart for me was the whole challenge of consummating the marriage. Logan and Maddie agree to marry and live separate lives (it’s early on, so this isn’t really a spoiler), but Logan is adamant about consummating the marriage so that there’s no possibility of an annulment. Maddie, for her part, wants to avoid consummating the marriage because she finds that marriage will threaten her career prospects; as an illustrator, she finds that men will not hire her for work if they think household or parenting duties will interrupt her work schedule. To be completely honest, this challenge was quite good; I thought there was a real opportunity here for Dare to explore the sexist challenges women face in the workplace. Where I thought the challenge was weak was in the whole obsession with consummation. Unless there was such hostility between the Scottish and the English that an Englishwoman’s word would always be taken over a Scotsman’s, I found the question of “did they actually have sex or not” to be quite trivial. From what I know, annulments were notoriously difficult to obtain, so it wouldn’t matter much if Maddie and Logan had consummated the marriage. It seems like Logan could just say they did and an annulment would be near impossible. Nor do I think the law would care much if they only had non-penetrative sex. It seems like the whole plot hinging on whether or not they had “real sex” was a non-issue for me.

Instead, I would have liked to see more conflict in Maddie between balancing her desires for romance and a family with her career aspirations. Once Logan enters the picture, it seems like her career takes a backseat (except for a couple of scenes), and I would have rather seen it be more front and center. Either that or I think Maddie’s story could have mirrored her aunt’s more closely. Maddie’s Aunt Thea was long ago caught up in a scandal that ruined her, but later, Thea reveals that she had enjoyed the freedom. I think having Maddie be independent and struggle with the idea of being “tied down” by marriage could have also been good, and while there’s a little of that, I think it could have been more apparent to the reader.

In terms of small-scale narrative points, I think a lot of the scenes Dare writes are very funny and entertaining. I liked, for instance, the scene where Maddie falls into a bog, or when Maddie shows kindness to Logan’s friend, Grant. The scenes that truly did bother me, however, were some of the more “fluffy” ones that were a bit too cheesy for my tastes. For example, there’s a scene in which Maddie finds Logan reading Pride and Prejudice and he’s wearing spectacles. She makes a big deal about him being a reader and I had to roll my eyes. There’s also a scene towards the end in which Maddie attempts to make haggis, and I hated it because it felt like it was inserted so Dare could check off a “Scottishism” in a list. Tartan? Check. Brogue? Check. Haggis? Check. The scene also erupted in random violence, too, which felt out-of-place and inserted for pointless drama towards the end of the novel.

But I will admit, I did like the scenes that were very self-aware about what Dare was doing. For example, there’s a scene in which Logan is debating about what to do to get Maddie into bed. His friends give him suggestions like “offer your heart to her on a platter” or “throw in a lot of oochs and bonny lasses when you speak” or “dive into the loch and have her go looking for you. Then, when she’s found you, pretend you don’t notice her and have her watch you bathe for a while. Then emerge from the lock all dripping wet.” This self-awareness was a nice stab at romance cliches, though I wish Dare had done a better job herself at avoiding them.

Characters: Maddie, our heroine, is fairly likeable in that she’s bookish, generous, and a bit clumsy at times. I liked that there was a juxtaposition between her confidence and her social anxiety: while she wasn’t afraid to assert herself in some situations, big crowds made her nervous, and I think navigating those two scenarios made for some interesting characterization. The main thing I didn’t like about Maddie was how quickly she seemed to give up her career ambitions for Logan. There’s a point where she has to make a choice between letting Logan go and following her dreams, and she claims that she’s choosing Logan even though the choice is really made for her based on sexist norms of the day. I would have liked to see her wrestle with her ambitions a little more.

Logan, our hero, has some admirable qualities, but in the end, I found him rather uninteresting. He’s your basic roguish Scotsman with a tragic past, and though I liked the loyalty he showed to his men, I ultimately though he was a little too jealous and a little too used to his orders being obeyed. I would have liked to see him be a little less dictatorial so that his romantic appeal would shine through a bit more brightly.

Side characters are charming but, in my opinion, underutilized. I liked all of Logan’s army buddies and appreciated that all of them had disabilities in some way (and those disabilities were important but didn’t define them). I really appreciated Maddie’s relationship with Grant, the soldier whose memory resets every hour or so. She was kind to him and he was sweet to her; I just didn’t think his random violent outburst towards the end was necessary or in-character. Maddie’s Aunt Thea could have also been used more effectively, but I did like that Thea had this quirk of making a lot of cosmetics and remedies that were, ultimately, rubbish. It was charming.

Romance: Logan and Maddie’s romance was... ok. The premise started out really interesting, but over time, I lost some enthusiasm because I felt like I was being told that they had feelings for each other (rather than being shown). Sure, Logan does some things that challenge Maddie’s assumptions and vice versa, but I wanted them to have a stronger basis for a romance than just “they’re hot and I’m horny oh wait they were nice to me and aren’t exactly what I expected.” Part of the reason I wasn’t super enthused might also be the focus on sex and sexual attraction as well as Maddie feeling pity for Logan on account of his past. I prefer romances where the focus is on each person lifting the other up emotionally, and while there was a little of that, I think I would have liked to see it be more of a centerpiece within the plot.

TL;DR: When a Scot Ties the Knot is a funny, light, historical romance, but ultimately doesn’t have a “meaty” enough plot for my personal tastes. Some readers might enjoy the banter and the heroine’s determination, while others might be turned off by the cheesiness and lack of a complex hero.

[luhlust]

Hi! I'm really happy because your writing is great! Thank you very much for headcanons about Akashi. May I ask friendship headcanons about Vorpal Swords team and reader in the training camp before match with Jabberwock? She cares about them because Riko and Momoi can't do it. Good luck!

Vorpal Swords' Friend HC

Anime: Kuroko no Basuke

Pairing: Vorpal Swords X Friend Reader

Overview: You are friends with the Vorpal Swords and are invited to their training camp before their match with Jabberwock.

Note: I am not sure if you like wanted to do it separately for each members so I just made it to be like you're friends with everyone hope that is okay. Thankyou for your feedback though, I am glad my writing appealed to you uwu. -Gin

•-–-•

Vorpal Swords Headcannons:

"You want me to come?" You asked, dumbfounded to your group of friends who just invited you to join them in their training. against the Jabberwocks. You have heard of the incident, the public humiliation they caused to your fellow seniors and Riko's dad betting his life on a line for a rematch hence the reason for this line-up. Who else is capable enough to bring them down other than The Generation of Miracles and Kagami?

You have been friends with the Generation of Miracles since middle school. You met them when you used to be the Vice President in the student council and of course, Akashi Seijuro was the President. You practically became Akashi Seijuro's Personal Assistant since the two of you were always together. You guys enjoyed each othet's company as most of your interests align with each other though you are older by 3 years since you got held back for being in an accident for 2 years.

Akashi introduced you to his friends and soon they all became friends with you. Being in the hospital for 2 years made you self-learn about First Aid so, you became the team's personal nurse. From light scratches to sprain, you treated them head on! You always read about medical books and Akashi even let you attend special training.

After middle school, you went to South Korea to pursue a more advanced education to catch up with your age range. You graduated early and got your license at the age of 19 (thanks to Akashi).

Now your back in Japan to pay a visit to your friends. Still with all that being said, you felt honored that your friends that you haven't gotten in touch with them except for a few messages and through the news. You were a little shy but they assured you. "(y/n)-cchi! We are serious! It's the first time we are all going to play again and you have to be there too!" Kise whined while eneveloping you into a tight hug.

You couldn't say no, they are your precious friends after all. You arrived at the camp late, you have gotten a little lost seeing how Japan changed in a few subtle ways. "Oh, (y/n)-chan!!" Momoi ran and jumped on you as soon as she saw you. "Satsuki! Ah, I missed you!"

"Everyone, this is (y/n). She will be aiding us medically." Akashi introduced you to the others. You then noticed Kagami, looking at you intently. "Kagami Taiga." He flinched upon hearing you call out his name. "Y-Yes!?" He answered, a tint of pink dusted on his cheeks. "Be careful on straining your legs whenever you jumped. You may not want to injure your Archilles Tendon."

You then explained what is an Archilles Tendon upon seeing how confused they were. Riko blew her whistle to continue their practice. "How did you know in one look?" Riko asked, looking through the clipboard that you brought out. "I'm a Rheumatologist, it is my specialty. Now, I have gathered these datas about their Physical condition since you guys tend to focus on their abilities. Right, Satsuki?" Satsuki nodded. "This brings back a lot of memories." She giggled, your files were always on point and thorough.

Riko and Momoi focused on training the boys, ability-wise, you on the other hand focused in maintaining a healthy condition for their body. But boi, they are such a handful.

"Shintaro, let me teach you another way to tape your fingers." Midorima dropped the ball and went towards you in an instant. "You have improved, nanodayo." He complimented and you snickered. "Oh, did Shintaro just compliment a girl~" His face blushed which made you tease him more. It ended up with him flicking your forehead, making up an excuse to distance himself from you. "I-I ne-need to practice more, nanodayo."

Kise was the biggest baby among them. He always cried to you and cling to you even to the tiniest scratch! "Ryou, you just scraped your knee. You're not handicapped." You sighed at his overly dramatic reaction whenever he hissed at the cotton you dabbed on his knee. "But (y/n)-cchi! I really missed you taking care of me! Plus these cat band-aids are so cute! Where did you get them?"

"I rather not tell.."

Aomine on the other hand is the most stubborn! Always acting like he doesn't need help when he clearly you can see his wrist is hurting him. "Sit. Stupid. When did you hurt your wrist?" You examined his wrists, checking for any injuries in the joints or stress in the muscles. "A few weeks back. It's not a big deal, it ain't hurting as muc-Fuck! That hurt!" You rolled your eyes at him. "Yes, yes, Mr. The Only One Who Can Beat Me is Me. Until the game, do not remove this wrist band. Okay?"

He sighed. "Such a pain in the ass."

"I beg your pardon but I think it's more of a pain in the wrist."

"Fuck you."

"I rather not." Aomine grinned, you were the only one who is not afraid to bicker with him like this. "Damn, where did the cute and shy (y/n) go? You were the only one who rivaled against my Horikita Mai collection you know." Aomine ended up having to put ice on his cheek the whole day.

"Atsushi, you should eat less of those. How about you try one of these?" You scolded Murasakibara from snacking on junk foods for the nth time. "But (y/n)-chin, they look disgusting." This boy has always been addictive and it is time you do something about it. So, you decided to recreate his snacks in a healthier version and you are the one who made meals for the whole team. Ensuring that they eat balanced meals. Whenever Murasakibra wanted something sweet, you'd pull out a candy made out of fruits or a iced pineapple popscicle. He still ate junk foods but you invented created snacks and meals that made him eat even the yucky vegetables.

Akashi is not that difficult to deal with, his body is always in good condition but it is very tensed. You always gave Akashi a massage with essential oils to keep his muscles relaxed after a long training. Giving him tips on what to do when cramping happens and offering new stretches. "Ah that hits the spot, you're excellent with your fingers." You also offered therapeutic excercise for his mental health.

Kuroko is able to handle things himself. You just helped him in strengthening his endurance. You spend a lot of time with Kuroko as you really want to unravel the mystery behind his low presence. "(y/n)-san, is this necessary ?" Kuroko asked everytime you experimented on him.

It was difficult to get a long with Kagami since he was super shy around you. You tried to break the ice by talking about his physical condition.

You enjoyed your time with everyone especially during those rest period where you guys somtimes play around and talk. Everyone cherish you in their own ways, you are like a big sister to them. They are glad you are with them after a long time. You can't help but tear up when you guys were playing a truth or dare game, this feels like home.

"Kick their butts! I did not prepare you guys like this to lose you got that?" You yelled once the game started. You heart remained unsettled throughout the game especially when the other opponent tend to be more physical. You observed their body's strength, noting them down for Momoi and Riko. "He has great upper body strength, Aomine can go against him."

When Kise entered the zone and collapsed due to exhaustion, you immediately raced towards him. You then recited your name, level of training, and asked for permission before proceeding to First Aid. You gave him a drink to replenish his electrolytes and he thanked you. "You did well Ryou, leave the rest to them." You cheered him up, making him grabbed your hand. "Ah, you really are my happy pill~"

The next to be injured was Murasakibara. He sprained his arm do you had to place him in a make-shift sling. "You got to get this check out in the hospital right away okay?"

"Eh, but you are a doctor."

"Still, you don't want anything complicated to happen right?"

Murasakibara slumped in his seat, he was still angry against Silver. You then grabbed his attention by giving him a pack of Maiubo.m and his eyes immediately sparkled.

The game ended with the Vorpal Swords winning! You congratulated them and invited them to eat out. You brought them into a fancy buffet, shocking everyone when you said it would be your treat. "(y/n)-san, are you able to pay for all of us?" Kuroko was concerned knowing everyone eating habits. "Don't worry, my friend owns this restaurant anyways."

Once everyone is settled, you stood up. "I have an announcement to make." All eyes were now on you as you continued on. "The truth is, the reason why I went back to Japan is to invite you guys to my engagement party!" Everyone became silent, you were engaged?!

"WHAT?!! YOU'RE ENGAGED?" They exclaimed.

"I feel betrayed, you haven't mentioned this before nanodayo." Midorima stated before drinking water. "So you managed to fool someone? I feel sorry for the guy." Aomine teased, in which Momoi immediately punished by stepping on his foot. "Now, now. We should be congratulating (y/n)!"

"Akashi-san, were you aware?"

"Of course. I was the first one she told about. Now, where is your fiancé?" All your friends are now on guard, ready to scare your significant other.

Before you could even speak, a tall black haired man wearing a suite with a white striped sleeves and holding a glass of wine wrapped his arms around your waist. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you, I hope you are enjoying the night." All their plan to torment your fiancé went down on the drain upon seeing not only your finacé but his body guards as well.

"Jumin, you're scaring my friends."

[popculturebuffet]

The Loud House review 4x29: Brave the Last Dance

In a months late review of a show I watch only on occcasion that i’m doing for some reason: Clyde gets the help of the rest of the Clincoln true to find out if his crush likes him or not: Hyjinks and my smouldring hatred of rusty insues. 

With Ducktales only arriving once a week, me missing reviewing and having a lot of time on my hands i’ve decided to branch out a bit.. maybe not a ton, but ocasionally review other animated shows and seasons. If you have any suggetions or any paticular episode you’d like me to look into, let me know. 

For now I decided to take a look at a show I mostly watch whenever the mood strikes; The Loud House. I do enjoy the series, but it’s a casual love... it also dosen’t help that I can’t go into the tags without finding reams of incest but I digress. I do still like the show and despite it’s ocasoinal terrible episodes and even worse creator, it’s still a solid series and deserves it’s spot as nick’s crown jewel.. I do wish nick would stop abusing everything ELSE in it’s lineup, but that’s a whole other story. The point is I like the show, but i’m not a super fan like I am for say Ducktales or Steven Universe where if there’s something new, i’ll go out and grabs it immediately. But I do like it.  And I do regret not knowing this episode existed for two months because 1) This is a holiday episode and I like to watch those around their holiday and 2) Because dance episodes are my shit. More often than not if i’ts a dance episode of a show, i’ts usually pretty good. Community, Big City Greens, Gravity Falls, She Ra, OK KO, Parks and Recreation.. I really COULD go on indefntiely, but I won’t.  Dance episodes usually bring out the best in a creative team, have adorable romance moments, or huge dramatic attacks and everything in between that just makes them awesome to me. So naturally I watched this as soon as possible and my thoughts.. well as with anything they take some context.    You see this episode follows a character who has kind of a .. problematic history to say the least and thus has kinda gone up and down in my opinon. Early on, as most of you probably recall, the series was more focused on LIncoln, the middle child and only boy in the the titular loud house among 10 sisters. And given it focused mostly on lincoln and his shenanigans and schemes to deal with living iwth 10 other siblings. Now the show has evolved since then and for the better in my honest opinon: now all 11 siblings share the spotlight and whose in an episode depends on whose needed, and thus each of the siblings has their own supporting casts of varying depths and episodes, sometimes with NONE of the other family members playing a signifgiant role. But since the show was originally Lincoln centritc, it also picked up an extra main character outside of the 11 loud kids and their parents: Clyde. Clyde is Lincoln’s best buddy, a glasses wearing awkward kid whose dad’s sometimes smother him but are still loving kind guys, and who often goes over to Lincoln’s to share in the feeling of having siblings outside of his surrogate brother Lincoln obviously. However early on Clyde, like most of the cast in the earlier days, had about three character traits: being an only child, being a dork and having a near pyschotic crush on LIncoln’s oldest sister Lori which gave him crippling nose bleeds.  This would’ve been fine, if a touch annoying, had it just been him fainting and nosebleeding.. but instead, it also causes Clyde to be kind of a dick. He perused her constantly despite her rejecting him for a number of obvious reasons, you know him being a decade younger, her being not intrested, him being more like a second kid brother to her, and of course the fact she has a boyfriend, Bobby. Bobby is the nicest guy around, was a great supporting character, and is probably the reason i’ll get around to watching the casagrandes on occasion. Clyde however treats him like garbage, tried to break them up, and in general was a dick to a guy whose only crime is being in a loving relationship with someone Clyde wants to be with but obviously can’t have. It was annoying with the only time it was tolerable was that episode where Bobby was mistaken for cheating and clyde spent an entire episode preparing to beat bobby up if it was accurate, then upon trying (It wasn’t it was just shenanigans), failed spectacuarlly. Bobby is nothing but nice to him by the way.  So yeah it was hard to root for Clyde for a while but eventually it stopped.. not because they had an episode of Clyde TRYING to get over it, they did it just didn’t resolve it, but it was just dropped.. likely because the writers realized it just wasn’t that funny and with bobby put on a bus to the spinoff, they had no real jokes for it and no one really liked the passing out gag. The fact that series creator Chris Savino got fired for sexually harassment is not lost on me and only makes the gag worse.  But thankfully the character did bounce back and by season 3, even before savino was thankfully fired, they put the joke to bed with Bobby’s exit, and it is thankfully buried deeper than the bunker where htey keep walt disney’s cryogneically perserved body... what you thought he just kept the head? Why woudl they? Disney was rich and belived in the future. He probably wanted his body merged with some sort of mechanical man. But with that gone Clyde thankfully became what he was in his better episodes: an adorable dork, with two loving fathers. Though now he’s not the only kid on the block with two gay dads.. he and Violet should get matching friendship t-shirts reading “Gay dad club”... and i’ll probably draw that at some point but I digress i’m several paragraphs in and I haven’t even gotten to the episode, and I STILL have one last bit of explostion for context that most of you may not need.  That last bit is that LIncoln’s episodes evolved a bit around season 3: instead of JUST being him and Clyde, though that can still happen, Lincoln soon got a circle of buddies, each of whom plays a role in the episode, for reasons i’ll get to in a bit, and part of my reason for reviewing it is to touch on my thoughts about them and my weird love of these episodes. So a breif overview since some of you may not know who they are.  Lincoln himself: The former lead and now one of 10, and a great character I enjoy following a lot even if I miss his Zack Morris-esque fourth wall breaks, minus the smug... no one can out smug or out sexually harass Zack Morris.  Liam: A country boy and the only one of the intial five besides Clincoln I actually like. He’s a kind hearted well meaning country boy and is always kind and friendly, and reminds me a lot of stinky peterson but with a tone down accent.  Zach:... I forget he exists, i’m not even sure this is his actual name. He’s just.. there for some reason and i’m not exactly sure why he’s been kept around now that Stella, who i’ll get to next, has been introduced. But he has goggles and wild hair and that’s.. it. Any of his lines could be said by the others without muchc hange.  Stella: My faviorite out of the group, a frieindly girl who was insitally introduced as Lincoln’s third love intrest.. before pivoting to have her not really WANT to be with any of the guys in an episode that’s really good and instead joining the group. She has more personality and energy than most of them, and thus I do tend to seek out an ep if she’s in it. I do also kinda lowkey ship her with lincoln, but only al ittle. her episodde was about hwo every girl who pays attention to you isn’t into you after all and it’s a lesson kids need. I wish I had it when I was that age honestly. Anyways... finally we have the bane of my existance.  Rusty: I hate this kid. I can’t stand his goofy face, and I love goofy goof so goofy faces are not a problem, obnovious wannabe ladies man smugness, or his basicaly being the useless asshole of the group. LIke Zach, I don’t get why he hasn’t been written out. Hell Zach I at least get as the generic guy they can slott in. Rusty is just terrible. it’s telling that his LITTLE BROTHER, who showed up in one episode as a love intrest for Lucy, is far more popular.. mostly because Rocky’s actually likeable and isn’t a dipstick. I just hate this kid and want this character written off already. He’s the weak link in the group and is SOMEHOW more obnoxious than Clyde during any episode bobby and him were in the same room. And tha’ts an acomplishment! Gah. I could rant about this little shit all day, but i’d prefer to move on.  The episode has a pretty basic setup: Clyde is on the dance comitte, and is a good chef which .. tracks. I do think h’es cooked before and his love of Dessert Storm, a in-series cooking show that the Loud’s love too, has been documented in one or two episodes and cooking does fit his personality: he’s a detail orinted kid, he has parents who have lots of money to spend and have been established to like coooking fancy themsevles, it makes sense he’d pick it up. But it’s the Valentine’s Dance and Clyde has a crush on Emma, one of the girls on the comittee. His friends pick up on this and stellas has an adorable “awww” type grin while the boys all have smug shit eating grins but are all willing to help. It’s part of why I like these eps: the 5 really seem to have a nice rapport and be genuine friends.. friends who all fought over a girl once, except Stella who was said girl, but friends nonetheless, who eventually put said friendship over that. Even if one of them’s a block of wood and the other the bane of my existance, you still get the sense their valued.  It’s from there the episode Segues into the standard loud house formula, which is one of the resaons I do only watch the show ocasionally: while the episodes can varry wildly, some just fall into a formula of “character or characters do various things in a row until they realize they were wrong or something”. Now the show HAS had good episodes out of this formula, L is for Love and Racing Hearts, and yes i’m a saluna shipper but the eps are good beyond that, but sometimes it can feel like padding. This is one of those times. Each of the squad tries something to help Clyde find out if Emma likes him or not, he’s too nervous to take it as a sign he should go for it, rinse and repeat 3 more times before the plot finally moves on. This is also why I went into detail on the Clinclon Crew: each one, except Zach because the boy is made of paper mache remember, gets a chance to try helping him out.  Rusty: As if you needed proof I wasn’t overreacting, Rusty SPIES ON EMMA WITH BINOCULARS for the plan.. he did not need them, and the joke dosen’t land like it should because Rusty sucks. And his plan is to drench Clyde with cologne and if she comments on it, she likes him. I do however like the joke about how clyde thinks Rusty’s cousin that gave him the plan, proving Dumbass is a genetic trait, had a girlfriend at a camp who probably dosen’t exist.  Liam: Liam’s plan is a bit funnier... not because of the plan which like the previous one not really that great but hey their 11 or 12 i’ll give all of them but rusty some slack, because he sucks. But the Clincoln Crew which i’m calling them now so there, head to the movies and Liam says ,d ue to a similar thing happening with his chickens, if a girl sits next to you, they like you back. It’s not entirelys ound but the chicken thing got a small chuckle out of me and LIam does have some odd charisma.  Lincoln: And Zach but i’m not convinced they didn’t just swap in a manquin with a tape recorder jammed inside for him for this or any scene. Lincoln uses one of lori’s magazines with some sounder, if flimsy but beliviebly for kids, logic: ask her for a pen: if it’s a regular one they have no intrest, it’s it’s fancy she likes you. like the other two it happens.. but in a resonable bit of writing like the last two Clyde isn’t sure due to a combinaton of insecurity and these plans being as flimsy as the paper they made Zach out of .  Stella: Whose grandma can read tea leaves and actually predicted her moving to royal woods, because stella is great. Stella is also damn good at it as she does predict Clyde at the dance, in a chef’s hat for reasons that i’ll get to in a moment. dancing with a girl. Tha’s lal he needs and this bit finally ends. As I said it’s the tedium. While what happens NEXT is intresting enough, you really didn’t need all of those or have enough jokes and were clearly padding guys, come on.  So Clyde, and crew, stages an elaborate frencha nd boat related danceposal.. that fails. As you probably figured. Emma is flattered, but shoots Clyde down gently. Clyde reacts as you’d expect: by fleeing the scnee as fast as possible, quitting the dance comitte off screen, and planning never to return, which while overracting, DOES feel realistic.  Clyde goes home for some mopey solo time and becomes a tad insufferable, ignoring his friend’’s texts and getting upset as his dad for watching the movie that clearly inpsiried his dance invite plan, depsite it being their valentine’s day he’s interrupting. It woudl’ve played better if he still got upset but iddn’t you know, run in front of their tv and call them out on something they coudln’t of known as he didn’t give them details.  Thankfully the mild annoyance is b roken when, after ignoring his friends texts, which granted for Rusty and Liam is probably normal as liam probably talks about drywall and Rusty uses the word dawg and unlike Lincoln dosen’t seem genuinely worried after Clyde, you know, got rejected in front of a large crowd.  He’s broken out of his mopey solo time by a call: the person he passed cake duty off to screwed up, and after some urging from Cheryl, the principal’s secretary who Clyde knows personally from past episodes and is head of the dance comitte and an utter delight this episode, Clyde does what any normal kid would do: dawn a flimsy disguise and sneak in there. We also get a cameo from Girl Jordan who hasn’t shown up in forever so that’s nice.  Clyde fixes the cake, and Cheryl compares his mustache to a dead caterpillar which was gold, and tries to sneak out only for Chole, another girl, to notice him and stop him. You can probably tell where this is going: She , rather than mock him finds what he did romantic, she also likes dessert storm, he asks her to dance, puts his chef hat back on because time loop,a nd the two dance and even have an adorable bit where they throw their hats to each other. Also Rusty is dressed like cupid and my eyes boil out of my head as the episode ends.  Overall it’s not a bad ep. Had a suprising amount to say about it, but overall it’s a decent, cute ep for valentine’s day with a nice amount of friendship and some nice character stuff for Clyde and plenty of gay dad’s and Cheryl. Overall not a bad way to spend 11 minutes in this ongoing apocalypse. Coming Soon: I feel like quacking so I think Iw ill.. take a look at an episode of quack pack that’s donsy related.  Until next time courage. 

[shinyportalsandthings]

The Error of Your Ways - a Shang Tsung x Reader story

Seeing that Shang Tsung’s Mortal Kombat 11 design is based on the actor who portrayed him in the movie, I got very inspired. Thus, here’s a story for those of you think Shang is The Hot Stuff (note that this is based on a merging of the MK11 and movie versions and he may be a bit...more gentle but still stabby). If you like sassy, powerful sorcerers, this one’s for you.

Summary: You had an invitation and you showed up to the destination. The invitation was meant for someone else and the destination...another planet entirely. You are now a combatant despite having no martial arts ability and your only hope is to figure out a way to open the portal back to earth. That sorcerer, Shang Tsung, has your attention...and you, his. Can you use that to your advantage? Should you?

Warnings: Some violence, language, naughtiness. But it’s not SUPER naughty. Female protagonist.

* * *

The smile was cruel, practiced; it did not reach his dark eyes which were fixed unnervingly upon you. He stood with perfect posture, hands behind his back, long black hair pushed behind his ears. "A mistake?" the low voice rolled out. The ornate gold and plum armor did nothing to hide muscular arms. Surely those arms had throttled many a sarcastic warrior.

"Yes," you steeled yourself, willing your hands not to shake - at least for the moment. You gestured to the glowing doorway that, even now, slowly dimmed. "I was just…I was helping my friend, you see. He was the one who got the invite. I have it here." You unfurled the scroll and held it up. Truthfully, your best friend bribed you to see what the invitation was about as he was - shall we say - indisposed with his partner. Though he'd made it sound like they were on the brink of a love session, you know they were likely just watching Netflix and binging on ice cream after your friend won the state martial arts championship. How far away his cozy, nerdy apartment seemed now…

"Well," Shang Tsung said, "You possess the invitation, therefore, you are admitted to the tournament."

"But I don't want to be admitted to the tournament!" you yelped. "I don't practice any martial arts!"

His smile widened, showing teeth. "Well, then, this will be a short contest, will it not?" His eyes twinkled with dark amusement.

You already knew this was unlike any tournament on earth - the portal alone gave that way, as well as the strange warmth of the invitation's paper. Was it paper? Or leather? Difficult to tell but the ink glimmered unnaturally even when held still.

"But I'm not Darius," you said, waving the invite around.

Shang Tsung stepped towards you and held out his hand. You placed the invitation in his palm and his brows rose. He held it up, inspected it from all angles, and then rolled it back up. "I see no reference to the name Darius anywhere. Or any name at all."

You stared at him. "Shit." Thoughts whirling, you pointed to the portal, now a faint circle. "Can't you just throw me back?"

"Oh, I think not," he said, shaking his head. He placed one edge of the rolled invitation below your chin, tilting your head up to meet his gaze. "But I'll make you an offer."

His eyes held yours as you nodded slightly. "Ok, what…what kind of offer?"

"You may be the final combatant. Perhaps watching the others battle will give you some sense of strategy. And after that, you will fight…me." He smiled, lowering the invitation from your chin.

"I can't fight," you said quietly, heart hammering in your chest. Your curiosity had melted away to fear.

"Then I suggest you start learning." He laughed low, turning away and raising his hand in a half-wave.

* * *

"Are you..taking notes?" The tallest of the two brothers asked, pausing with his foot outstretched to his brother's face.

"Yes, yes," you nodded, hastily scrawling down the series of moves that got them to that position. You'd attended enough martial events that you had a general idea of most movements though never experienced the timing yourself.

The brothers looked scary in the traditional sense, with dark red claw marks on their arms (reminiscent of blood) and sharp armor protruding from their shoulders and knees. Their masks hid the upper portion of their faces, short metal horns protruding at the top. They knew your situation - in fact, everyone did. One woman scoffed openly at you and a tall, masked warrior said he looked forward to watching your skin melt. Thankfully, the brothers had been reasonably friendly.

The brothers in question looked at each other for a moment, then motioned you to join them. You eagerly set down your scroll and quilled pen (what was this place, evil Hogwarts?) and bounded over.

"Yeah, writing won't do you no good. Gotta get in there," short brother said. "I'm Gim. This here's Arch. You can call him Archie."

"No she can't," Arch groaned. "Stop it. It's Arch. Like Arch-Nemesis!" He struck a fanciful pose, one knee raised and his arms akimbo, chin raised and head turned to the side.

Gim sighed. "Yeah, anyway, heard about what happened. Sucks. Lemme show you some moves."

"Oh I bet you will," a voice said from behind them. In unison, they turned to see a shirtless, smirking warrior. A smooth metal patch covered the right side of his face, a softly glowing red eye punctuated the menacing look.

"Fuck off, Kano," Arch said, "Get out of here."

Kano grinned, then nodded to you. "See you later, sweet cakes. I'll be the one to fight you." He turned and sauntered off while the brothers glowered at his back.

"Stay away from that guy," Gim said.

"Don't have to tell me," you replied, shaking your head. "Bad vibes."  

As if on cue, you glanced over to a hill and there upon it was Shang Tsung, eyes trained to you and the brothers. He stood perfectly still and kept staring until you lost your nerve and looked away. When you looked back, he was gone.

"Hey," Arch said, waving a hand in front of your face to get your attention, "Let's do this thing."

The brothers did their best to give you a a rough overview of moves…but time was not on your side.

* * *

There was no small amount of food: fresh fruits, flavored waters, skewered meats. The festive platters and decorative ferns belied the nastiness of the situation: Most of the tournament battles would end in death. Oh, there was a choice, but according to the brothers, most of the combatants chose a fatality for their defeated opponent. Ruthless.

The tournament itself had already begun, though you did not attend the battles. Two warriors down already, many more to go. You heard the cheering just over the hill.

"So this is it? This is how I go?" Your fingers brushed over one of the island's flowering bushes.

"Perhaps," a voice said behind you. You spun around and came face to uncomfortably close face with Shang Tsung.  "Or perhaps not."

Scowling, and feeling particularly gutsy, you jabbed a finger at his chest. "You're a cruel monster!"

He glanced down at your finger, then back to your face. "Is that so?" he asked, but the voice carried no malice. Just amusement.

You really, really wanted to punch his stupid smirk. Instead, you jabbed his chest again. "Yes! You know full well I can't-"

His fingers wrapped around your hand, pulling it away from his chest. "Please don't do that." He said simply. "I'd not have the other combatants think such behavior is appropriate."

"What." Your face flushed as your gaze flickered to your hands, then back to him. He had not yet released your hand. "I, uh," you stammered, then yanked your hand from his grasp. He was handsome, dangerously so, and that only made the embarrassment worse.

His lips quirked into a smile, which made your face burn even more red. "It would seem you haven't watched any of the matches. A shame, it's quite entertaining."

"For psychos!" you barked louder than intended.

"Please," he drolled, "tell me what you really think."

Your hands balled into fists. You would not be treated so cavalierly, certainly not when there were men and women fighting for their lives (though Arch said many fought simply for glory and power). Gim had successfully taught you a punch move which you had perfected to the best of your ability (such as it was). You decided to use that newfound power and threw a fist directly at Shang's face.

So fast you barely registered the movement, Shang's hand caught your fist, twisted your arm behind your back, and yanked you close. Your eyes widened as your chest pressed to his.

"I think you need more practice," he said with an infuriating smirk as he looked down at you.

"Let me go," you said, mouth dry.

"As you wish," he replied, releasing his grip.

You rubbed your arm though it did not hurt, and took a few steps back, glaring, waiting for him to speak. Your anger had cooled significantly.

"Join me," he smiled slightly and held out his hand, "as I watch the next battle. I think you'll find it most invigorating."

"Do I have a choice?"

"Of course," his brows rose. "There's always a choice, my dear."

You placed your hand in his and allowed him to lead you towards the tournament site.

* * *

Your breath caught in your throat as Kano circled Arch, whose armor had done little to thwart the rough kicks and powerful punches. The brother was down on one knee, now, and struggled to stand.

Kano wiped some blood off his nose, grinning. "Got you right where I want you, fancy boy." He kicked at Arch's face, sending the helmet flying and Arch falling onto his back.

Arch's eyes held fire as he looked up at the bigger man. "Kiss my entire ass."

With that, Kano's upper lip curled and he raised his fists for the killing blow.

"STOP!" you yelled, leaping to your feet. Shang Tsung remained seated, slowly turning to watch you. You froze, unsure what to do now that you had the attention of Kano, Arch and the entire crowd. "Please! Don't kill him," you said more quietly.

"Are you fuckin' kidding me?" Kano barked. "It's my right!"

"Please!" You held up your hand and squeezed between some benches as you approached the men. "You don't…you don't have to kill him," you said. "He's beaten. It's over." Once, a long time ago, you'd talked a friend out of violence using this same tone of voice. It worked then, surely it would work now?

It would seem not. Kano laughed, full and loudly, then brought down his fists.

You did the only thing you could in that instant: You launched yourself at him, plowing into his dense form, and managed, through sheer luck and surprise, to knock him over.  The spectators let out a righteous yell, some booing, others cheering. Kano immediately leapt up, trying to kick at you, but you rolled away, then scrambled to your feet. He snarled, then launched himself at you - only stopped, at the last moment, by a firm hand on his chest.

Shang Tsung shook his head. "It's over, Kano. You won. She is not your opponent today."

"Like hell she ain't! I'm gonna tear her hair off and shove it up her-"

"Quiet," came Shang's command. Kano glowered at you, chest heaving, looking rather like a rabid dog straining against its collar. He backed off, however, and was declared the victor.

Shaking, you turned to watch as Gim helped Arch to his feet. They both looked your away and nodded their thanks as Arch dragged his foot behind him; surely it was broken. Lots of him was broken but he was alive. Gim might not be so lucky.

The crowd slowly disbursed, some looking at you and whispering to each other. A few shook their heads in disappointment for the lack of bloodsport. You sunk onto a bench and looked at your hands; they trembled.

"Here," came Shang's voice. You looked over to see he had produced a kerchief. "For your wounds."

Wounds? Oh yes. Skinned knees and elbows. You took the kerchief and winced, brushing away the grit and slight blood. "Thanks."

He sat beside you and leaned over, watching you. "A very brave act for someone who claims she has no fight."

You opened your mouth to say something rude, then thought better of it. Perhaps he had brought you to that fight to help somehow, or perhaps it was just chance. Either way, he hadn't let Kano pummel you to death. "I have fight, I just don't FIGHT-fight." You sighed and closed your eyes. "I like the brothers, they're nice. I couldn't let him die like that." You opened your eyes and looked at Shang for a moment, then continued. "Here," you said, offering the kerchief back.

"Keep it," he said, holding up his hand. "You might need it again." With that he rose, put his hands behind his back, and strode away.

You tucked the cloth into your pocket and sat for a while, alone, and listened as the wind moved softly through the plants and reeds. After a little while, you rose and found that the scratches on your knees and elbow had healed.

* * *

Four days. Four days you'd been at the tournament, eating your fill and sleeping fitfully in the dark castle-temple. Each combatant had their own room but there were no true doors. Surely some shady business occurred from time to time.

And just how did time work in this strange place? Four days here could be four minutes on earth…or four years. There was no way to know except to ask someone and the only two friendly faces were nowhere to be found.

You tried to make a new friend. "Excuse me, ma'am? Miss?" With her back turned, you couldn't tell the age. The woman slowly turned, eyes blazing red and mouth filled with monstrous teeth.  "Do…you…know…when uhhhh the next battle is?" Surely it wouldn't do to run away in fear.

"Nnnnnow," the mouth said, jaw moving strangely and fangs glimmering in the light.

You nodded and stepped backwards, managing to wheeze out a "thanks" before hurrying around a corner.

Pushing your hair back, you meandered through the halls, at last arriving to the conclusion you were frightfully lost. The building hadn't looked this large from the outside but this was, probably, the least surprising thing that had happened so far.  Well, time to backtrack-

A hand gripped your throat like a steel vice and slammed you against a wall. One glowing red eye blazed against the wane light, a sneer on Kano's lips as he leaned in close. "Gotcha."

You couldn't yell, could barely breathe as you clawed at his hand. He smelled like blood, though his face was clean.

"See, I thought all day what I should do to you." His fingers tightened their grip, "And then I thought…yeah. A shiv would be nice."  

With that, he released your neck but even as you gulped down air, your eyes widened. A sharp, cold sensation entered your abdomen, followed by a searing pain you had never before experienced. You looked down to see a knife sticking out of your side, your own blood seeping down.  Kano released the handle and grinned at you. Your knees wobbled, then gave out entirely and you fell to the ground.

"You look good in red, sweet cakes." He tapped his chin with one finger, a little of your blood staining his skin. "Think I'm gonna see how much red you got."

There he paused, however, the smug expression melting off his face as though he'd seen a horrific creature just beyond your edge of vision. He slowly looked down and put his hands over his stomach, where five blades emerged. He coughed, blood spurting forth from his lips, eyes wide with surprise. As he crumpled to the ground, Shang Tsung stood behind him.

He took a deep breath, then said without humor, "Fatality." With that, he scooped you up and proceeded to walk steadily and speedily down the hall.

The pain made your vision hazy but you knew full well that it wasn't safe to be in this position. Each step he took also caused the knife to jostle, bringing fresh sensations. "Put…me down," you gasped; talking was almost enough to cause you to pass out entirely.

"Nonsense," he said. "That is not a simple blade, it is magical and we must treat it with magical means."

"Magical," you whispered, "What, how?"

"It will leave a scar. Consider it a gift of survival."

"Please…" you started to say but the world fell dark and you could speak no longer.

* * *

You awakened with a gasp. You were yet clothed in the same outfit (desperately in need of a wash) and lay comfortably on a chaise in a reading room. The shelves were lined with books of many shapes and languages, most you did not recognize; did most cultures have the concept of a book?

The wound! You lifted your shirt - indeed, there was a bright pink scar a couple inches from your bellybutton. If Kano missed your intestines, it was luck. If he hadn't, and you were healed, it was certainly magic and skill. You felt none the worse for wear and sat up, then hopped to your feet….

…much too quickly. White dots flickered in your vision and you stumbled. Strong hands grabbed your shoulders and guided you back down to sit on the chaise.

You looked up at Shang Tsung; his eyes didn't seem to hold any worry or concern but his hands lingered on your shoulders overlong.

"Did you…" you waved vaguely at your abdomen.

"Of course not," he said sharply. "You may think me a monster but no real man would-"

"No, no, that's not what I meant! I meant, heal. Heal this. Me."

"Oh. Yes." He sat down beside you. Instead of his usual golden armor, he was clad in a long, black leather jacket, simple black shirt and dark plum pants.

"Thanks."

"I've brought you clothing," he said, and gestured to a folded pile on a table.

"I'm not going to wear one of those ridiculous skin-tight bathing suits."

His lips quirked into a subtle smile and an eyebrow raised. "I would expect not. No, I think you'll find these suitable though they are to…my tastes."

You were very curious as to the clothing - black and grey it would seem - but sat still for a little while longer. "Kano, he…" your voice drifted off.

"He was an evil man and died fittingly." Shang's shoulders lifted in a shrug.

"I feel like I should say thanks but you're also the one that brought him here." You looked at him pointedly.

"I did, yes." His eyes flickered briefly over your face.

"Why do you do this?" Your voice was soft; you genuinely wanted to know.

He seemed to choose his words carefully. "I have no choice."

"You said there's always a choice," you pointed out helpfully.

"Not for everyone. Not for me." With that he stood and held out his hand. "Come, you should rest further in your room."

* * *

You admired yourself in the mirror. While he might be mysterious and terrible, Shang Tsung certainly knew how to select an outfit. The sleeveless shift held leather panels at the front and back, which arched over your shoulders. The cloth was soft, black and came to a pointed V in the back, right at the midpoint of your calves. The bodice held a V though not nearly as daring as you might have liked. You smiled a little at the reflection, turning this way and that. Slightly intimidating, certainly comfortable and very-

"Breathtaking," came Shang's voice beside you.  

You startled, turning towards him, having heard neither footfalls nor movement.

His eyes trailed slowly over you. "I'm glad to see it fits so well."

Cheeks turning a particularly vibrant shade of crimson, you turned away from him and to the mirror. "I like it, I have to admit."

"You'll find that the cloth provides more protection than you might expect." He reached up, tracing a finger along the edge of the leather at your shoulder. He didn't touch your skin, but he might as well have for the shiver it gave you. "Magical, of course."

"Of course." You wondered if he'd truly let you die at the hands of a combatant. Perhaps not, since he saved you from Kano, and yet…there was much to consider. Not the least of which was the sensation you felt when he stared at you. "I should go," you said awkwardly. "To watch the contestants." That made them sound like they were in a pageant. You winced slightly and pivoted on your heel - the boots were also new, black, and delightful.

You felt his eyes upon you as you left.

* * *

"I heard he killed 100 men and drank their blood!"

"Nah, he's not a vampire."

"You sure?"

The combatant shrugged. "I'm not."

You smiled, listening into their conversation. You couldn't be certain Shang wasn't a vampire but their conversation gave you an idea. The next battle, you would sneak into his bedroom - assuming you could find it - and see what information you could find. That was, of course, even assuming he didn't invite you to sit beside him for the battle.

Fifteen battles, now. The stakes were becoming higher. You'd lowered your guard but hearing the guttural sound of someone's life being choked out of them, well, it had a tendency to bring everything back to laser-like focus. Your only chance now was if Gim was your opponent - or maybe that slightly friendly, monster-mouth woman.  

"Are you looking for something?"

The voice startled you from your thoughts and you spun to see one of the bare-chested, masked helper warriors. They didn't seem to have names. Maybe you'd give this one a fun name, like Bob.

"Yes," you said, feigning confidence. "I'm looking for Shang Tsung's room." You paused, then added, "I'm going to leave a present," and gave your best lewd wink.

Though you couldn't see the warrior's face, you had the distinct impression he looked confused. After a moment's hesitation, he replied, "Yes, this way."

He led you down a hall that seemed to go on for a mile. At last, you reached the end and gazed upon two ornate wooden doors. A dragon and a cobra were carved into the wood, interlocked in some eternal struggle. The warrior gestured to the door and gave a slight bow.

"Thanks," you said as you planted a hand on the doorhandle, then added, "Oh, you can go. Now. You can go now. Thanks."

Instead of leaving, however, something quite miraculous and terrifying happened. The warrior's form shifted, as though a mist was blowing away, and there before you stood Shang Tsung.

Your stomach gave an uncomfortable heave and panic trickled up your spine, coursing its way along every nerve. Your jaw dropped, eyes widened.

"Tell me," Shang said nonchalantly, inspecting his fingernails before looking up to meet your gaze. "What of this present?"

Caught. Completely and utterly caught in the act. He was no fool, surely he knew what you'd planned. You wracked your brain for some meager excuse. "I was..just…" you gestured futilely to the door. "Cleaning! Going to clean your room. Bet you didn't expect that." You smiled broadly, hoping the bead of sweat that trickled down your brow wasn't evident.

"Is that so," he said, then planted a hand beside your head, against the door, locking you in. He leaned closer. "Why would you do that?"

"As thanks. You know, for healing me. I assume you're a bachelor, I mean, there aren't a lot of women here who won't try to kill you, so you probably have a very messy room." Far, far too much babbling. Keep it simple, stupid.

His lips quirked into a small smile, eyes crinkling with delight. He said nothing.

"And I just thought well, I can help! I can do that." STOP TALKING. "You know, to….yeah." Your voice trailed off.

He took a deep breath, then laughed once, straightening and dropping his hand from near your head. You felt both relief and disappointment in equal measure.

"Well, you're neither a good thief nor a good liar. I hope you have another plan," he smiled slightly.

"Fine," you said, "Fine, I was trying to get into your bedroom to see if you had some documentation about the portal. OK?"

"You might have simply asked."

"Asked for the documentation?"

"Asked to enter my bedroom."  His lips quirked; truly he enjoyed watching you squirm.

"I," you started and looked away, "wouldn't know how to ask that."  The hallway had become unbearably warm all of a sudden. Didn't they have A/C?

He laughed again and turned, gesturing for you to follow him back down the hall. You fumed at his response, marching after him, hands balled into fists. Neither of you said anything as you exited; you sped past him and he grinned after you.

* * *

He had a silly name, The Shockening, but his attacks were devastating to his opponent. He seemed to evaporate into the ground, then reappear behind - what was his name? oh yes - Bexas, pummeling him with a flurry of fists.

Bexas' main weapon was a magical chain. It appeared to do his bidding when he whispered to it - sometimes it behaved like a javelin, other times a lariat. Shang seemed particularly interested in the weapon, eyes following its every move.

Unfortunately for Bexas, the chain, however magical, was still comprised of metal. The Shockening let loose his namesake power, sending a ferocious bolt of electricity up the chain and to Bexas' hand.  He convulsed, but did not let go. The Shockening grabbed the chain and whirled it up, sending Bexas flying directly into the crowd.

His smoking form landed at your feet - you were far too annoyed at Shang to sit next to him this time - and he lifted his head. You leaned down, a little afraid to touch him as a few tiny bolts of electricity trickled off him.

"Th…the name," he rasped quietly, "Wind…Windwillow." And with that, he gave his last breath.

You blinked, staring at his form, then looked up as Shang gleefully declared a victory…and fatality at that. He picked up the chain and roped it around his arm.

So, the name of the magical chain. You tucked that away in case it might be useful. What a lovely name for something so violent.

The crowd roared its approval and The Shockening paraded around the circle, arms held high. The nameless warriors quickly came to retrieve the body at your feet.

"I trust you are unharmed?" came Shang's voice.

You nodded. "He didn't land on me. Thankfully." You watched the warriors walk away. "Why do you do this? Really, Shang. Please tell me." You turned your gaze to meet his.

He took a deep breath and sat beside you. "Power. I wanted it so desperately."

"That doesn't really answer my question." The crowd had filtered out. You were alone with him now.

"There are powers well beyond that of human understanding," he said, looking over to the temple. "Events set into motion for millennia, every small decision an adjustment to the cogs."

You shook your head "I don't really get it but can't you just…leave? Stop doing this?"

He smiled slightly though it didn't reach his eyes. "Leave all this?" he gestured to the expanse of the island. "Whatever for?"

"You know exactly what I mean."

"Ah. It is not so simple," he said and turned to look at you again, "for me. I made my choice and this is my…" his voice hesitated.

"Punishment?"

"Trajectory," he said, then patted your hand. "I appreciate your concern."

"Well, I could be very wrong but I don't think you're nearly the monster you pretend to be," you said quietly.

You then sucked in your breath as his fingertips traced over your knuckles. Your cheeks again reddened.

He smiled lightly, arching a brow. "Are you certain?"

"N-no," you stammered.

His hand came to rest over yours, fingers interlocked. You cleared your throat, pretending not to notice. It did no good. "Maybe you just need a nice hug and you'll come to your senses," you joked.

He stood. "Is that your present to me, then?" That smirk, back again.

You stood, too. "What? No! I was kidding."

"I wasn't," he said. His eyes twinkled with delight, a more real delight than he seemed to exhibit at the end of gruesome matches.

"Fine," you said, cursing yourself for wanting to go through with it. "Maybe it will help." You stepped up in front of him and, before you could lose your nerve, wrapped your arms around him.

His hands alighted on your bare arms, then slid along and up them until they were solidly around you. He felt warm and far, far too good in this position. You rested your head against his neck and hoped he couldn't hear the hammering of your heart. You felt, rather than saw him smile.

"Is it helping?" you asked quietly after a little while, not yet ready to pull away.

"It may be," he replied and tightened his grip ever so slightly. His hands rested chastely at your back though your mind betrayed you terribly with thoughts of where they might go. Where you wanted them to go. Obviously, it was time to release him but you…couldn't yet bring yourself to do so. He was solid and warm, his cheek now resting against the top of your head and you felt your body might melt into a puddle.

His hand slid up to rest on the back of your neck. You pulled away a bit then, looking up at him, alarmed, confused, and uncomfortably aroused.

Blessedly (or cursedly), your eyes caught sight of movement off to the side: one of the warrior minions come to give a report on something of importance.

Shang's upper lip twitched in annoyance as he released you to deal with the intrusion.

"I should…I should find Gim! Make sure he's OK!" You immediately regretted your outburst but hurried away before you had to answer to Shang's incoming question.

* * *

Gim, as it turns out, had been training hard. He, too, knew the odds were not in his favor, and with his favorite sparring partner unable to spar (with seven broken bones, no less), he resigned himself to exercising constantly. He'd thanked you, grimly and profusely, for saving Arch. He told you he was filled with regret it hadn't been him - he was convinced if he interfered, Arch would be killed anyway. Afterwards, he survived two matches against truly vile opponents. You made another acquaintance, a woman, blond and strong but reasonably kind.

This, in turn, filled you with regret. What had you been doing with your time? Fraternizing with the enemy? Maybe even…flirting? You needed to remind yourself that he was, for all intents and purposes, truly wicked. Probably.

Eleven combatants left and no more would be arriving to the island. This was it. If there was a move to make, it had to be now.

* * *

You had a plan. No, you had five plans. Plan one: sneak into Shang's bedroom by climbing on some ledge (somewhere) from some other open window. Plan two: bribe a combatant to distract him; though he could change shape, he couldn't be in two places at once (that you knew of) and if you kept your eyes on him while bribing someone, well… plan three: some variation of plans one and two. Plan three: ask to go into Shang's bedroom and clobber him over the head. OK, you had two plans.

None of this prepared you for stepping out of your room and being cornered by Shang. He walked up to you, and you retreated until your back hit a wide column.

"Enough," he said and, before you could ask what he meant, slid his hands to either side of your face and leaned down, pressing his lips to yours. You were completely unprepared for the ravenous kiss he bestowed, the way his hands flowed down your face, over your neck, grazing your breasts, and encircled your waist to pull you close. You were also unprepared for how your body reacted of its own accord, returning that kiss with just as much passion, fingers curling around the lapels of his jacket. You lifted your knee slightly and his hand whipped down to catch it, pulling it up and pressing you against the column. You felt him, from lips to chest to shin, felt his hunger and need pressing to you.

You pulled back slightly, broke the kiss, and stared at him momentarily, panting. "Bedroom," you whispered.

He didn't even nod, but you felt a cool mist along your skin and the area around you seemed to speed by. So that's how he got around…. in just a moment, you both alighted inside his bedroom.

You'd expected sumptuous bedding, skulls and candles, but only one of those was correct. Indeed, the circular bed, pushed up against the wall, was adorned with a red quilt. The headboard was simple: bars that held up a plain, rounded, thick wood board. The walls were decorated with a few sparse tapestries and many, many bookshelves. The far wall displayed weapons of various types, presumably from fallen warriors. A table nearby held a couple blades, including the one used to stab you, and Bexas' chains. No candles but instead magical lights that floated in place, dimming now.

After glancing around, you looked back to him. He seemed to be waiting…perhaps for you? You answered him by grabbing the front of his coat and shoving it off his shoulders. He smiled momentarily, shrugging off the fine leather and throwing it onto a chair. His hand found your jaw, holding you still for a moment as his eyes trailed over your features. He then leaned to your ear and whispered, "Magnificent," before nibbling at your earlobe.

You giggled, ticklish, and squirmed against him, which he clearly found delightful. His lips then found your neck - not ticklish there - causing you to gasp and then let out a small, unexpected moan.

"Yes," he whispered to your neck, hands fiddling with the bindings of your shift, "You will be mine."

Emboldened, you pushed him towards the bed but just before it seemed like he would fall backwards upon it, he spun you and pushed you down gently, hands planted to either side of you. He smiled lightly, legs between yours as his gaze trickled over your form. "Again, and again." He placed a finger at the demure V of your bodice and pulled down lightly. Apparently, it held some secret, for it gave way at his touch, his fingers trailing over the space between your breasts, pulling it down all the way to your bellybutton. You were surprised…but delighted.

He did not push the shift apart, so you reached up to work his shirt out of his pants and tug it upwards. He obliged, pulling it up and off, revealing what you already knew to be true - he was exceptionally built. Lean, hard muscles, a few interesting scars, and all his attention focused on you.

But there it was: The chain, catching your attention on the table, beckoning. You didn't want to, wanted instead to simply enjoy time in this most primal of dances. But this was it. This had to be.

You sat up and planted your hands on his chest, guiding him to the side and rolling him onto his back. He looked surprised, eyebrows raising, but offered no resistance. You grabbed his wrists and pinned them above his head - obviously no danger to him but he also clearly liked where this was going. You put a finger to his lips and then held up the finger while you hopped off the bed and grabbed the chains.

He looked quite surprised indeed but remained as he was even as you returned and clambered onto the bed. The chains were much lighter than you feared, making the next part of this easy - from the physical perspective.

You pulled away and turned, just barely whispered "Windwillow" to the chains. The flickered with light. With that, you wrapped one end around his wrist. He started to sit up, so you sat on his hips - again, certainly no challenge for him but quite interesting. He smiled, one brow quirked, as you looped the chain through the headboard and brought the other end back through.

Here, you hesitated. This isn't want you wanted, not really. You undulated a little on his lap while you worked up the nerve to bind his other wrist. He hissed, pushing his hips upward and you genuinely considered giving up the plan and having your way with him right there.

And yet.

Swallowing hard, you created a chain loop around his other wrist, effectively keeping him in place. You leaned down and kissed him - hard. Soft. You slowly pulled back up.

"Whatever you want," he whispered hoarsely.

You hesitated only briefly. Then: "Tell me how to open the portal."

"What?" he said sharply, going still.

"The portal. Tell me how to open it. Please. After I do it, I'll come back and let you go. I promise." Even knowing he'd probably kill you for it.

His lip curled into a snarl. "Is this a jest?"  He yanked hard on the chains but they would not budge.

"No. Please tell me." You felt tears stinging your eyes.

His lips pressed firmly together before he snarled, voice low, "You will pay for this. I assure you."

You nodded.

And so he told you the words to whisper to the portal to take you back to your world - at least you assumed it was your world. Surely you couldn't stay here regardless.

"I'm sorry," you said as you slid off him, fastening your shift. He looked completely enraged, unsurprisingly, laying there prone and painfully aroused. "I promise I'll come back."

You hurried away and dared not look back.

* * *

Well, it was done. You told the other combatants they had the option to leave and return to their respective worlds - six took you up on the offer, including Gim (carrying his brother), the blond, and the toothy woman. Five stayed behind, excited to claw their way to victory.

You returned to Shang's room and were only slightly surprised to find a broken headboard and no sorcerer. The chains were also missing. This sent a feral surge of fear along every nerve. You hurriedly made your way back to the portal, looking around every moment, wary.

Of course he would wait until you'd whispered the opening words to the portal and the destination. Of course he would.

You heard the crunch of footfalls on rock behind you. Slowly, you turned. He stood with his hands behind his back, face stoic except for the slight frown-sneer. Goosebumps rose on your arms.

"You betrayed my trust," he said.

You nodded. "I did." There was no arguing it.

You stared at each other for a while until at last you broke the eye contact and looked away. "I'm sorry. I really am. I wasn't…I didn't intend for it to be that way but I had to save them."

He snorted.

You looked back to him. "Come with me." You held out a hand, inviting.

His eyes dropped to stare at your hand for a moment. Then, he let his hands fall from his back and rest at his sides. He slowly stepped towards you, not unlike a predatory animal approaching its prey.

Your hand trembled slightly. "You can start over. With…..with me." Why? Why offer that to him? Surely these few meager days weren't enough to justify such an offer. And yet.

He raised his hands and put them on the tops of your shoulders. His grip was strong. You weren't sure if he was going to draw you into a hug or reach up and throttle you so you let  your hand fall to your side.

Without another word, he shoved you backwards, into the portal and the last thing you saw was his scowl.

* * *

You awoke with a start. Where-? There on your couch, morning seeping in through the blinds. You let out a slow, shaky breath. In your hand, a crumpled flyer with crude lettering: Mortal Kombat!!! Fight and win!!! Come to the arena at Central! Personalities welcome.

So….so that was it. A dream, a nightmare, something. Had to be it. Had to.

You slowly rose and trudged to the bathroom to take a shower, stripping off your shirt and shorts. Looking in the mirror, your breath caught in your throat: There, on your side, a pink scar line, freshly healed where none had existed before.

* * *

Three months passed.

Darius proposed to his partner, won three more championships, and thought you were a complete nutso but loved you anyway. The season edged towards fall. You sorted your scarves and fall clothes, started to box away the skimpiest of summer clothing. The scar faded to a faint, angry white line.

Now you sat at a sushi bar, poking some edamame and considering your food options. The tea had long since grown cold.

Someone sat two stools down. You glanced over and gave a nod of acknowledgment, then did a double-take: By the Gods, he was a doppelgänger for Shang. The hair was shorter, pulled into a ponytail, and the build a bit lighter, but the face? The face was the same, the posture the same, even the slightly-arrogant eyebrows…the same. He wore dark pants and a fine, light grey collared shirt.

You gasped and stared brazenly.

He ordered a tea, then set about looking at the menu. Still, you stared. At last, he set down the menu and turned to look at you. "Hello, miss. Can I help you?" The voice was similar - not entirely the same, but so very close.

"I'm…I'm sorry," you started. "You looked like someone I know. Knew." You glanced away.

He must have felt sorry for you because his eyebrows raised. "Oh? How disappointing for you if it makes you look so sad."

"No," you held up a hand, "not at all. Sad yes, disappointed no. It's hard to explain." You considered your options - sound a bit crazy or a lot crazy. You opted for both. "I had an elaborate dream and it's bonkers. There was a man in the dream who looked just like you."

The Not-Shang smiled a little. "Oh? Well then, tell me about it. I'm very curious now." He swiveled fully on the stool to face you.

You took a deep breath. Hey, it's not like you'd ever see this guy again, maybe it would do some good to get this off your chest. You didn't dare truly explain to your friends. "I accidentally took the place of my friend in a martial arts championship on another world. Yes, I know, why another world? No idea. Dreams, am I right? Anyway, the man who ran the tournament knew I couldn't fight. I thought I'd die, then I thought I might not die, then I realized that I….well, I was drawn to him. We started to become intimate, and.." you paused here, clearing your throat.

The Not-Shang arched a brow and waited for you to continue.

"I tricked him. I tricked him and opened the portal and while I saved some of the warriors, I think I hurt him more than I realized."

"Oh, I see," he said simply.

"And, I think I really…came to care for him." You looked away, at the cup of cold tea. "I wanted to save him, too, but he wouldn't let me."

"That's a very sad dream," he said. "I can see why it stayed with you."

You nodded, feeling a surge of embarrassment. "Right," you blurted and slapped your hands on the bar. "I should go. Nice talking to you." You stood and gathered your things, then dropped some money on the plate.

"Hmm," he said, "As long as you're here, why don't you come to dinner with me, [Y/N]?"

You froze in place. "I didn't tell you my name."

"Oh? Well, how interesting. Lucky guess, I suppose."

You slowly turned and stared at him, unsure what to do or say.

He stood and smiled slightly. "One hour, I'll pick you up." With that, he turned, leaving you confused and alarmed.

* * *

The doorbell rang. You'd hoped he'd sweep you into his arms but no such dramatic event occurred. He was probably still mad and had questions or concerns. Still, he arrived dressed to impress in a black suit, black shirt and dark red tie. You'd rightly assumed he'd use the occasion to dress up so you chose a suitably sultry dress, one that draped low in the back and skimmed above your knees.

His eyes trailed over you and you felt your skin prickle. "A lovely dress," he said, brows raising.

You smiled a little. "Thank you."

"But not," he continued, "the kind one wears for very long. Shall we?" he extended his elbow and you wondered if you were overthinking his meaning.

He did not have a car, which was probably just as well since he wouldn't likely know how to drive it, so you took a taxi to a nearby restaurant. It was cozy, dimly lit, and provided a modicum of privacy.

You felt strange asking him about what happened so left that off your conversation. He asked you about Darius, and you told him, asked about your job, and you explained it.

Too much small talk. You brushed your leg against his calf. His eyes raised from the plate before him and held your gaze. Your lips quirked. "Oops. Sorry."

He nodded, then steepled his fingers and leaned in. "Tell me more about this dream. You say you came to care for the man?"

Your fork clanked on the plate with surprise. "Yes. I didn't know him long but I liked his company. A lot. Liked his spirit."

You glanced away, then, before slipping off your shoe and sliding it up his calf. "And of course, I enjoyed the way he looked at me."

"I see," he said, seemingly ignoring your ministrations. "Perhaps he was fond of you, too. However, from what you say, you betrayed his trust."

Your foot dropped back to the floor. "Yes," you let out a slow breath. "I did. That wasn't my plan at the start. I was going to…."

He raised his brows, awaiting your answer.

"Have my way with him."

Likely-Shang chuckled and lowered his hands to the table. "How bold. I can see why he liked you."

"Yes," you said, "maybe so, but he still shoved me back to earth."

"Maybe he didn't know what to do with you. Perhaps he wishes he had not done so. Perhaps he is still learning to tame his brash decisions."

You felt his foot slide along your calf.

"I think," you began, "he should still make some brash decisions."

Likely-Shang's lips quirked for a moment and he flagged down the waiter. "Check."

You kept your hands off him on the ride back to your apartment. He kept his hands chastely on his lap. As soon as your door was closed, however, he grabbed your shoulders and pushed you to the wall. He slid a knee between yours. You could feel the heat emanating off him.  You still had questions, many of them, but your head was fuzzy with his nearness and all of those thoughts could wait.

"Shang," you said, eyes flickering down to his lips and back up to his gaze.

"Yes?"

"Is this revenge?" you managed to say, placing your hands on his chest.

"Absolutely," he smiled and leaned down, kissing you with that familiar hunger as he slowly eased the dress off your shoulders.

And he did enact his revenge, several times, in fact.

* * *

So it was that you took the time to know him quite well after indulging your desires, and found that he was an equal match for you in most respects. But time was never on your side and soon enough, you would need to help protect him from those who claimed him as their own.

The End…for now

[judefan834-blog]

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[reconhq]

Do you have any advice for someone who wants to make a (very LGBTA positive) webseries of her own?.

oh boy! I sure do. I’ve actually been on a couple other projects other than Recon, all after the first season was written & mostly after the first season was shot, and ya girl has learned a lot because of and since season 1!

i am so sorry but this is going to be SO long. i am kinda obsessed with web series & digital content and it’s my actual professional career now so just… get ready. sorry 😅 i’ll add a TLDR at the end.

(p.s. this is just advice from me, Emma, and not the rest of the Recon team who may have different/additional advice, maybe someone will add on after the holidays) 

write your bible before anything! depending on if you’re co-creating or just co-producing/writing, this should be done before you bring on additional folks. if you’re co-creating, this is obviously a collaborative process. when i created recon, i did it on my own. i pitched the original idea to some dear friends (one of whom makes a cameo as a security guard in ep 20!) and got their opinions, adapted from their advice, and once i had a solid format, main character, and general plot, i started on the bible. it took probably a month of fucking around before i felt ready to write a bible. 

the basic components of a bible are a log line, short season overview, character breakdowns for your characters (mine are ~paragraph or two for main characters, with shorter ones for less central characters), a summary of the show’s main themes, genre and tones, and the format of the show (if you’re mapping out multiple seasons, it may be relevant to do this for each season as well as the overall show), as well as the most important part of your bible– the episode breakdowns. i’ll touch on those in a minute. 

i do all my original brainstorming on paper, because i am adhd as fuck and it’s easier for me. your bible isn’t the place to brainstorm. separate them out. not saying you have to write on paper, but have a separate doc for brainstorming so the formatting for your bible can be easy to follow. 

if you’re co-producing or having someone else produce your work, it makes sense to have your co-producer or producer right there with you as you work on your bible to give feedback. does this mean they’re writing it? no. is it useful as hell? yes. 

my partner-in-creative-crime justice and i tend to share bibles and brainstorm docs with each other when we’re working together on a project. depending on which roles we’re playing on each project (e.g., i’m producing his podcast COSMIC under our company name but not co-creating or writing, so i mostly gave notes on his bible. we’re also working on a series called Inked, and we’re more like co-creators there, so we both write in the doc.)

your bible is the holy doc of your show; it’s what you show to any writers, producers, designers, any creative working on your show so that everyone is on the same page. it is your main reference and guiding light through the whole season; make it clear, organized, and as easy to read as possible. i personally use google docs for my bibles, and use the hell out of the outline function. highly recommend, but everyone has their own system.

break your ENTIRE story before before you write a single script, before you write your pilot, before anything. it’s part of your bible.

if you’re not super familiar with tv/screenwriting, breaking a story means figuring out the beats. the breakdown of reason s1 started as messy af writing on whiteboards, and turned into this:

this is absolutely not what your first outlines or final drafts will look like. we changed…. a ton while writing our scripts. you can see even in this sequence– episode 8 and 9 got blurred, and we barely touched on ava’s past because there wasn’t room. regardless, this doc & breakdown served as the basis for all our writers and kept us all on roughly the same page. when we disagreed, we could go back to this and sort it out from there! 

find your people. two roles were crucial to me when we made recon: a mentor, and collaborators. having good people behind me was so so important; i could have never done this on my own.

i got…….. so lucky with my mentor, bernie su. he not only gave me incredible advice, read scripts, and reviewed cuts, he purchased the damn show, accounting for 75% of our funding. i feel like it’s important for me to acknowledge the luck and privilege i have here: the show would not happened without him, and i only got that chance because i live in LA, went to USC, and applied for the right job at the right time. HOWEVER, aside from the funding that made recon possible, bernie’s expertise seriously helped. after principle photography, we were left feeling lackluster, and bernie gave me advice that led me to make changes that transformed the show. having someone with experience– whether in tv, film, web series, any sort of writing– is invaluable. 

while i created recon on my own, i did not develop or make it on my own. the episode breakdowns? half me, half other people (mainly justice lol). the look of the show? EP/DP christa, production designer amanda, graphic designer hal, and justice as costuming lead. i did not write season 1 on my own. i recruited friends from USC and even one from high school to write episodes i didn’t think i could do justice (no pun intended). 

once you’ve found your people, trust them. there will obviously be cases where you disagree enough with someone’s creative opinions that you shouldn’t, but except in extreme cases, trust your people. try to only chose people you trust in the first place. letting go was so so so hard, but many of the best parts of recon happened because i got over myself and trusted my cast and crew. episode 16, player vs player, was justice’s baby, and i almost didn’t let him roll with the animations because i was too nervous. holy fuck, i’m so glad i trusted him. same with reflections (ep 15), written by my now-fiancé, which no one else could have written. hal was a bit unsure going in, but the episode is phenomenal. my production designer’s choices were amazing, and i had little to do with them other than being like “yes that is so cool let’s do it”

seriously. trust your people. watching bernie on artificial & emma approved trust us, his crew of mostly 20-somethings, with creative decisions taught me a huge lesson. i was 19 when he hired me, 19 when he bought the show, and he actually fucking trusted me and the rest of his team to do things. my initial reaction was what the fuck, but it worked. it also let him focus on the big picture while giving us the space we needed to feel creatively and emotionally fulfilled. trust your people.

this also applies to your actors. we had a google drive specifically for our actors to throw up ideas/backstory for their characters, and we’d read through it and give feedback and contributions. it led to better performances and characters with more depth. we also met with actors where we could to discuss their ideas for directions for their characters– video game nerd taylor came from convos with joré. 

katiemichal and kat were just like, the same people as their characters, so there was less of this, but there is definitely value in casting the irl versions of your characters as them.

edit your episodes individually, then read through the WHOLE SEASON at once to edit. repeat that until you read it and it’s cohesive. 

keep track of your timeline and your canon, even canon that’s not explicit in the show. there’s so much recon lore that we kept to ourselves that informs several decisions in the first season. 

unless your character’s race/ethnicity (even gender) is a key part of their character or the show, cast with an open net. ava was originally a white girl name jody. ana, the actress who played her, originally auditioned for riley, and we changed the character’s entire backstory for her, which added an amazing dimension to the show we get to see in reflections (and an upcoming podcast shh). lesson fucking learned on my part– almost too late. don’t be like me.

ren, on the other hand, we were 100% sure was non-binary, and although we opened auditions to all genders, we specified from the start it was a non-binary character and we’d give priority to queer/nb actors. it was the right choice.

PRODUCTION DESIGN IS FUCKING IMPORTANT. cinematography is great, and we obviously focused on it a lot w the style of our show, but PD tells so much of your story without saying a word or taking up a second of airtime.

sound is the single most important thing on set. you can make an ugly shot work, ugly sound will bring people immediately out of the show and possibly abandon it. we fucked up scheduling for Punching Bag, and had to delay its release (it was originally episode 13, not 14), hire a sound editor, and put a goddamn disclaimer on it because we didn’t have time to get good sound because of our own mistakes. arguably my biggest regret of the season, because the script and acting for that episode is so good, and we low-key ruined it. GET GOOD SOUND. 

only exception to this is probably coverage and continuity; although those can be fudged a lil more. get a script supervisor or have your AD do it so you don’t miss anything crucial. always get your masters first. 

schedule more than you think you should. like, down to the 15-minute block. it won’t work, but it will work worse if you don’t. do your best to stay on schedule (hint: AD/producer on set)

trust your gut. this is your baby, and your choices should service the story you want to tell. let that be your north star, and while you should let your story evolve with time and the contributions of your cast and crew,  

TL;DR: write your bible & break your season first. find a team you trust, and trust them with their choices (both cast & crew). if you can, find a mentor/someone with experience to give advice. edit your show both as individual episodes and as a whole season, multiple times. continuity is crucial, backstory is crucial, coverage is crucial, scheduling is crucial. GET GOOD SOUND. and always keep sight of the story you want to tell.

i am so sorry. this is a fucking essay. 

[lostinthewoods-kristoff]

Kristoff Eindride Bjorgman Character Sheet

Birthday — December 31, 1990 Zodiac Sign — Sagittarius MBTI — ISTJ Enneagram — 9 Temperament — Phlegmatic Hogwarts House — Hufflepuff Moral Alignment — Neutral Good Primary Vice — Envy Primary Virtue — Diligence Element — Earth

Overview:

Mother — Anna Bjorgman (née Olsen) Father — Ole Bjorgman Mother’s Occupation — translator, with knowledge of Sàmi, Swedish, Danish and English Father’s Occupation — Park ranger at Hardangervidda National Park Family Finances — comfortable bit not particularly wealthy Birth Order — oldest Brothers - none Sisters — Freya, 12 years younger, and Agnetha, 14 years younger Other Close Family — The Stone trolls! Best Friend — He doesn’t have one :( Other Friends — The Stone trolls! Enemies — All humans Pets — None, but growing up he had a dog called Kipper and the trolls kept bringing him little baby badgers and deer and things and he just kept calling all of them kipper Home Life During Childhood — serene honestly like he grew up in a valley between two mountains, he spent all of his time outdoors playing, he got to spend a lot of time out in nature Town or City Name(s) — he was born in Oslo, but they moved to Odda for his dather’s work when he was very little Any Sports or Clubs — He played ice hockey and his mam was teaching him to play the guitar Favorite Toy or Game — Schooling — he never went to school! He was too little when he went missing Nationality — Norwegian Culture — uhhh Stone Troll? Religion and beliefs — None

Physical Appearance:

Face Claim —  Boyd Holbrook Complexion — paler 👏🏻 than 👏🏻 pale 👏🏻 Hair Colour — himbo blonde Eye Colour — listen Boyd’s eyes are blue but kristoff’s brown eyes are so important to me so we aren’t talking about it Height — 6’2 Common Hairstyle — sort of long-ish like longer enough to get into his face and v floppy he only discovered scissors like a decade ago Clothing Style — comfy and warm in the winter, comfy and cool in the summer. Fairly basic boring clothes to be honest Mannerisms — mumbles to himself a lot! has a habit of whistling songs the tolls taught him. Yikes face constantly.

Health:

Overall (do they get sick easily)? — he’s probably had a few colds and sniffles since coming to swynlake tbf Physical Ailments — none Allergies —  None Grooming Habits — oh you wanna talk grooming habits with a man who is essentially a yeti? Honestly even tho he probably really enjoys a hot shower after years of bathing in a freezing cold river all that water probably still feels super wasteful so he’s deffo an every few days kinda guy, and yes he is also a seven-in-one conditioner-shampoo-shower gel-lotion-toner-toothpaste-hair removal cream kinda guy why have lots of bottles when you can have one (1) Sleeping Habits — a surprisingly heavy sleeper for someone who lived in the open, but then maybe that’s because he had the trolls to protect him (and also they wouldn’t shut. up.) Eating Habits — eating CONSTANTLY the best thing and one of the only good things about living in town is FOOD what the hell is a cronut and why isn’t there one in his hand right now but honestly lots of fruit and veggies surprisingly healthy Exercise Habits —  he treks in the woods like for a living I guess that’s it Body Temperature — warm always big tall radiator Sociability — he’s trying but it’s early days 3/10 Addictions — none Drug Use — what is a drug Alcohol Use — I figure he once found like a bottle of whiskey or smth in a backpack im the woods one day when he was like 11, took a sip and was like ew and that’s been it ever since

Your Character’s Character:

Bad Habits — being moody af, constantly distrustful, and also nail chewing, and whistling too that’s annoying Good Habits — thoughtful!! Fixes things without being asked, helps old ladies cross the street Worst Memory — probably getting dragged out of the woods by the rescue team when he was 16; the trolls were his family by then and had been for longer than he’d known his birth family so he would’ve been traumatised by getting pulled away from them like that Best Memory — I think probably a more bittersweet memory, one he looks on as being positive is the trolls finding him when he’d gotten lost Proud of — himself, for making it this far Embarrassed by — everything and nothing he’s a complex dude Driving Style — awfully good. Not like *posh British accent* “awfully good” like “he’s simultaneously good at this and going to get us all killed”. He was taught by a farmer one summer so whilst he can’t legally drive, he can actually drive pretty well, but he goes very fast and he doesn’t believe in checking mirrors Strong Points — independent but deeply caring about the people he loves, very resourceful Temperament — he can be quite moody at first but he’s very Soft once you get to know him Weakness — again he can be quite moody and he also pushes people away a lot he isolates himself even if he doesnt necessarily want to be isolated!! Fears — being completely on his own Phobias — enclosed spaces Secrets — i guess he doesn’t have any?? He was like Big News at one point so I guess people know his business Regrets — I honestly don’t know? Like maybe sometimes he regrets not being around for his younger sisters but honestly he does Not regret leaving his family sooo Feels Vulnerable When — he’s not in the forest/with the trolls Pet Peeves — People talking loudly in public places/generally being rude in public places Short Term Goals and Hopes — get a job, make sure he can hold a roof over his head Long Term Goals and Hopes — manage to live in town and be less of a strange in between yeti mam Sexuality — he doesn’t know yet!! He’s never really bwen part of society he doesn’t really know what sexuality is!! He’s had a few Experienxes in the past (he has had his first kiss and that is It) but he needs to learn! Day or Night Person — day Introvert or Extrovert — introvert king Optimist or Pessimist — pessimist tbh

Likes and Styles:

Music — he likes cheesy old 80s songs he remembers them from when he was little and he’s been rediscovering it now, loves it Books — he’s a pretty slow reader so he doesn’t really have any favourite books. But he has a lot of favourite stories that the trolls told him! Magazines — again he’s a real slow reader but he loves those magazines you get from the supermarket that are like,, free and have loads of recipes and shit in Foods — all the foods. All the big ones. Loves ‘em. Will put literally anything in a sandwich because society has not taught him what is and is not acceptable to slap between two slices of bread Drinks — he complains that tap water in town tastes wrong but he’s taking a real liking to coffee, love that shit Animals — all of them!!!!! They’re better than people!!! Color — green and/or blue Jewellery — he doesn’t actually have any jewellery but he does have lots of really cool pebbles that his stone troll fam gave him

Where and How Does Your Character Live Now:

Home — he lives in benbow now in one of the ground floor apartments and he’s still getting used to it Household furnishings — minimalist af the only furniture he has is what was in the place when he got it so it isn’t much but there’s lots of decoration!! Lots of trinkets!! Favorite Possession — the aforementioned rock collection Relationship with Family — he’s still very close with the trolls, even though he’s living in town now. He misses them a lot!! As for his biological family he doesn’t ever rlly think about his parents but he does think about his sisters every so often he wishes he knew what was going on with them Car — be doesn’t have one but he would like one! Career — is there a word for someone who goes and gets things from the forest for a Price Dream Career — I think he’d like to do smth in nature he honestly isn’t too sure Dream Life — honestly I don’t know, and I don’t think he knows either!! Love Life — nonexistent lmfaoooo Talents or Skills — survival skills? Puts Bear Grylls to shame. Singing voice of an angel.  Intelligence Level — honestly like he’s fairly smart just not Book Smart Finances — get this man a full time job STAT

[whistlevevo]

characters — jade kristine qi

GIVE ME THE STRENGTH AND HEIGHT OF GLORY

full name:

— jade kristine qi

nicknames:

— none. jade likes her name and prefers to be called by it.

date of birth:

— july 16, 1998

age:

— as of july 17, 2016, jade is 18

nationality:

— american

ethnicity:

— mexican, cuban, filipino, and chinese

place of residence:

— new smyrna beach, florida

languages spoken:

— english

— spanish

— enough tagalog to get by

— jade also knows how to count to ten in chinese and thinks it counts as knowing chinese even though it really doesn’t

sexuality:

— bisexual

GIVE ME GLORIOUS LIFE, THE STRAINING AND THE STRIFE

general:

— jade is honestly, pretty hot. she’s got that trendy instagram look that makes even the straightest of girls question. she has an oval-shaped face with a sharp jawline and defined cheekbones. her nose is thin, but rounded and points up into a button nose. her eyes are light and almond-shaped, with thick eyelashes and eyebrows to frame them. her lips are thick and surly, and her skin is dark and clear, only peppered with freckles. 

hair color:

— naturally, brown, but jade likes to dye it all sorts of colors. she did most of her experimenting as a pre-teen and for now, is sticking with a bubblegum pink hair color, but she’s been known to dye her hair green, silver, blue, purple...the list goes on.

hairstyle:

— jade’s hairstyle varies from day to day. jade’s hair is naturally slightly wavy, so she normally either leaves it like that or puts it back in a messy low ponytail. jade’s not the one for extravagant hairstyles.

eye color:

— jade’s eyes were bright green when she was born, but as she’s gotten older, they darkened down to green and eventually, to her current hazel.

body:

— i hate to be crude, but jade has a rockin’ bod. she’s one of those people that works out for fun. like, she’ll go to the gym and have fun. wild, i know. not only that, but she excelled at sports. i’m talking field hockey, cross country, track, basketball, soccer—jade did all of it, and it gave her a pretty high metabolism, hence her smokin’ hot body. she has a pretty small waist with toned abs, muscular arms, and thick legs.

height:

— jade stands at 5′6″ or 168 centimeters

weight:

— jade weighs 130 pounds or 59 kilograms.

LOVE, PASSION, HOPE IN THEIR DIVINEST SCOPE

casual style:

— jade’s everyday wear is simple. she dresses like your typical “instagram baddie,” just with more comfort. i’m talking sweatpants, crop tops, and sneakers. most of her clothes aren’t that expensive, mainly because jade is super broke, all the time, but it looks fine on jade. it’s nothing special, really.

formal:

— jade rarely goes anywhere where she needs to dress up, but when the occasion arises, she also usually goes for a simple look. jade would normally dress in an unadorned, long dress, maybe with spaghetti straps or a leg slit, but jade prefers to keep the attention on her face and not on her clothes. she’d probably wear some nice heels, too, or at least ones that look nice, and some jewelry from claire’s, probably.

sleepwear:

— jade’s sleepwear isn’t anything fancy. she usually just wears a big sweatshirt, even if she has people sleeping over. no one important’s really gonna see her anyway, so...

swimwear:

— jade’s swimwear is pretty much just the basic bathing suits you’d find at target, your simple bikinis with a few fun patterns or interesting cutouts. living in florida, she goes to the beach often, so she’ll pretty much wear any bathing suit that’s cheap, functional, and looks somewhat decent. she’s not really too picky.

athletic wear:

— jade’s workout clothes are pretty much based on comfort and they don’t really deviate from the usual “leggings-and-sports-bra” thing that most people have going on. no one’s going to see her, so what does it even matter?

dreamworld style:

— jade’s subconscious favors clothes that are a little more rugged than your typical dream keeper. she can be seen in short, dark green skirts and capes. they’re not exactly armor, but they’re easy to move around in, and they allow her to blend in with the other dream keepers. they’re adorned with gold pins.

— however, when the time comes, jade wears as much protective gear as she can. that is, while looking cute. her armor covers her up much more than her casual clothes. there are few rules of physics and science in the dreamworld, so often, armored clothes look exactly the same as normal clothes, similar to the uses of vibranium in black panther. normally, one would wear whatever armor is available, as there aren’t very many battles in the dreamworld and therefore, not a lot of armor, but jade likes earth-toned ( usually green ) armor that hugs her body and doesn’t weigh her down too much. she will often wear a cloak, a cape, or a poncho, just because most of the battles take place near the nightmare realm, where it’s much colder. she also wears a black gas mask, to try to protect her from hallucinations and any attacks that may affect her face.

HIGH WINDS ON MIGHTY SEAS, NOT SHELTERED BAY

personality overview:

— jade is kind of a confusing person. on the outside, she seems extroverted and crazy. she’s reckless, insane, and honestly, kind of mean. she’s egotistical and refuses to think about anyone but herself. anything she does is for her immediate comfort and benefit, even if it hurts someone else. she seems stupid on the outside too, and she kind of is. she focuses on the present, which makes her terrible at making plans and getting out of situations, but either way, jade picks up on social cues very well. she just doesn’t care. jade doesn’t look for anyone else’s opinion on her, which is both a blessing and a curse. she’s rough around the edges, and seems like an open book, when really, it’s just the tip of the iceberg.

— once more, jade isn’t stupid. she knows that people wouldn’t fear her, listen to her, or really even like her if they knew who she was at her core. so, she bottles everything up. she doesn’t disclose her past, her emotions, or her pain to anyone. she’ll whine about papercuts like nobody’s business so people think she’s open, but she’ll suffer in silence if she suffers from anything bad. at her core, jade is a cunning girl that prefers being alone, but she turns on her facade of a happy, extroverted, life of the party when she has to. maybe she feels like she has something to prove. maybe she doesn’t want people to see her weak. who knows?

personality type:

— istp-a

strengths:

— energetic // jade is a seemingly, endless ball of energy that doesn’t seem to get stressed out over much, only if she believes that something will seriously have consequences.

— creative and practical // jade isn’t super smart, but what she does know with a combination of her anxiety, makes her combine creative solutions with practical information to figure things out. 

— spontaneous and rational // jade doesn’t think much before making decisions. she doesn’t overthink things and sees a crossroads sort of like a multiple choice answer. she thinks through all the scenarios and chooses the most logical one.

— knows how to prioritize // jade tries to focus on the task at hand and moves everything else to the back of her mind until she can come back to it later, which usually works pretty well.

— tough // jade’s really good at repressing all her emotions and only complaining about stupid, petty things. she can remain pretty relaxed during a crisis, giving her the impression of toughness.

weaknesses:

— stubborn // jade does this fun thing where she disagrees with anything you say, even if she doesn’t really believe it. that’s how stubborn she is.

— insensitive // jade cares little for the feelings of others and uses logic and her own personal agenda to get what she wants, even if it hurts others.

— private // as i said before, jade seems like an open book, but most people who think they know her really don’t know anything important about her.

— dislike commitment // jade has a really hard time forming meaningful relationships with the people around her, especially romantic ones, because in jade’s mind, a relationship would only weigh her down, so she just....doesn’t commit.

— reckless // jade is bored easily, which leads to terrible decisions and unnecessary trials that could’ve been avoided had she just sat still for a few minutes. with jade, situations often escalate quickly and she can quickly lose control of a situation.

STILL LET ME SNATCH THE CROWN

stats:

— strength : 10 // jade was a boxer for a few years. not only that, but the endless sports she did as a child and many, many fights she got into left her with a lot of brute strength.

— agility : 3 // while jade did many sports, gymnastics and/or dance was not one of them. she’s not very graceful and the little agility she has came from jumping hurdles.

— stealth : 2 // jade is a classically loud person, and very clumsy. stealth is definitely not her forte.

— intellect : 5 // jade is also fantastically bad at thinking ahead. she’s not good at planning ahead. she is good at deducing things, though.

— hand to hand combat : 7 // while jade is strong physically and her boxing and karate skills do come in handy, jade isn’t particularly good with weapons, so her hand to hand combat skills are merely average.

— weaponry : 0 // jade doesn’t even know how to shoot a gun, and jade’s far too clumsy to be good with swords and knives.

physical disabilities:

— a bad punch in her left ear left jade slightly hard of hearing. she should probably use a hearing aid, but didn’t really ever have the money to fix it.

mental disorders:

— jade has severe anxiety. it can always be seen in one way or another, usually by bouncing her leg and going through every worst possible scenario in her head.

— jade also has adhd, hence her not-so-great report cards. jade initially wanted to learn in school, but her adhd made it so difficult and she got so little help that  she simply lost her motivation. 

OF ALL LIFE HAS TO GIVE

friends:

— jade doesn’t need friends. they disappoint her. also, her commitment thing...

family:

— ana paulina rosales : mother // jade’s mother was always busy, which wasn’t her fault, but they never formed a meaningful relationship. jade learned from a young age to stay away from her mother, as to not bother or inconvenience her, so while jade would certainly like to protect her mom, she rarely talks to her about anything important.

— christopher andrew qi : father // jade never met her father. she detests him for leaving her and her mom. plain and simple.

past relationships:

— god, where do i start? jade’s had countless relationships, but none that really lasted more than a week. again, fear of commitment, so...

pets:

— jade’s family never had the time or money for any pets, so none.

AND TO CRY BUT ONCE

pre-conception:

— jade’s mother, ana paulina rosales was the daughter of a filipino immigrant and a poor mexican farmer. neither of them had anything, which meant that neither did jade’s mother. determined to break the cycle of poverty, jade’s mother tried her hardest to finish high school and actually did. like many immigrants, jade’s mother knew that she had to the united states if she wanted to do anything more than be a beggar on the street. so, she hitchhiked and walked all the way to monterrey, saving as much money as she could to finally get a visa and buy a plane ticket to dallas, texas, where she met christopher andrew qi, a cuban-chinese lawyer who promised ana paulina the world. she got pregnant, and when he found out, he bailed, leaving her broke, homeless, and pregnant.

— jade was born nine months later, and lived in dallas for the first few years of her life, until her mom managed to get back on her feet and save enough money to move to new smyrna beach, florida, a quiet and quaint town filled with retired white people, so if you’re a maid, basically prime real estate. jade used to help out, too, until she had to go to school. she was diagnosed with adhd at around seven years old, but no one really did anything to help jade learn, even though she really did want to. eventually, she simply lost interest which just led to jade listening to hours worth of green day during school, which didn’t help anyone at all.

— jade realized she was bisexual when she was in seventh grade and kissed a girl in her class, which was a lot less fun than it sounded. jade spent the next few years denying her sexuality, and her town wasn’t the most accepting of gay people, especially not lgbt+ women of color, which is when jade started to get into her first few scrapes, which began escalating. jade was keeping to herself, frying ants with a magnifying glass in eighth grade-ish, and before she knew it, people were punching her. she punched them back, but she didn’t have enough time to react, and the kid hit her left ear, hard. it sent her to the emergency room, and to this day, jade’s still hard of hearing. but life went on nonetheless.

— that fight was the first time jade went to juvie. she was accused of assault and battery, and come on, this is florida. who are they gonna believe, a straight white male kid or a bisexual woman of color? yeah, jade went to juvie. after that, it mostly went downhill. no one trusted her, so she was convicted of various things that never happened, for example, drug possession and distribution, resisting arrest, trespassing, and burglary. jade pretty much stopped caring at that point, and was arrested a total of 27 times, mostly for things she hadn’t done. after that, she figured that if people thought she was guilty, then she might as well live up to their standards and started regularly breaking the law. she only got caught sometimes.

— jade had originally made her instagram account in 2013, when she was 14 years old. obviously, most 14-year-olds are ugly and disgusting, so jade didn’t have a lot of followers from the start, but as she got older and prettier, her pictures started gaining recognition. she even did a few modeling gigs, which is where she found her passion. sadly, she had to drop out of high school her senior year to work and help her mom. she did help a lot by getting sponsorships on instagram, though, which brings us to present day. i can’t say much more because it’d give away the plot, so i’ll just leave it at that.

BUT ONCE I LIVE

likes:

— shopping // jade doesn’t go shopping often because she’s super broke, but when she does, she enjoys it.

— modeling // jade finds it relaxing and it helps her focus. plus, she’s good at it.

— boxing // out of all the sports jade has done, boxing is her favorite. it lets her harness her anger and frustration into something productive.

— the beach // who doesn’t like swimming, getting tan, and getting sand up your buttcrack for weeks?

— meat // jade tried going vegetarian, but she lost so much muscle mass that she had to keep eating meat. she got a taste for it eventually.

dislikes:

— creative writing // jade is only good at things that make sense, things that have a formula to them. creative writing does not.

— insects // they’re weird and disgusting and jade does not enjoy them.

— children // jade has a little bit of a potty mouth, so kids around jade is a sure recipe for disaster.

— fish // jade eats meat, yes, but she can’t stand the smell of fish, so even cooked fish is something that jade definitely stays away from.

— police officers // they’re annoying and kind of a nuisance and definitely a wrench in jade’s illegal shenanigans.

extra:

— jade can play the drums. not well, but she can carry a beat.

— jade auditioned for america’s next top model, but didn’t make it.

— jade met chris hemsworth once. or, rather, she broke into chris hemsworth’s house and tried to get an autograph. he kicked her out and she did not get her autograph and is now not allowed within 100 feet of chris hemsworth.

[ladyloveandjustice]

Fall 2018 Anime Overview: Double Decker! Doug & Kirill

Double Decker! Doug and Kirill follows a special police force devoted to dealing with cases involving “Anthem”, a highly dangerous super-drug that can be both fatal and grant uncontrollable superpowers. The squad is divided into three pairs of partners. The eponymous Kirill is a enthusiastic newbie who partners with a deadpan, “kind of an asshole” veteran named Doug.

It’s hard to say when a show crosses the line from “dumb in a fun way” to “just mind numbingly dumb” but I’d say Double Decker crossed that threshold around about the midpoint of the series. Which is a shame, because I was rooting for it. It seemed like an anime with a lot of potential- it was humorous, irreverent and bombastic, it seemed fun and colorful with a varied cast, it had a nice variety of ladies in the squad, and two of the ladies, Max and Yuri, were heavily coded as a couple right off the bat-

-with Max (on the left) in particular going putting off some Impressive Lesbian Energy with her aesthetic...and early on Doug announced that his life goal was to “eliminate poverty and class”, indicating the series intended to deal with social issues. 

It IS possible to be a cheesy, fun show that is also inclusive and deals with social ills, but Double Decker’s clumsy, simplistic attempts to balance this with the larger goofy plot ultimately meant it fell short of being an truly entertaining romp AND was utterly disastrous at being socially aware. 

Double Decker acts like it wants to say something about tolerance at points, but is ultimately gutless, toothless and halfhearted, sometimes verging on offensive. It became apparent the show wasn’t going to be truly LGBT inclusive with a character’s uh, “gender reveal” scene midseries that is a just...a mess. Some characters reactions to the “revelation” are just blatantly transphobic (thinking its hilarious, saying the character in question should “tell the truth" about their sex, etc) and this was never called out or challenged. It’s finally explained (baffllngly late in the series) that rather than actually being trans, this character is a cis man who just disguised himself as a woman for flimsy plot reasons, it doesn’t make how the reveal scene was handled and how it was painted as being “funny” any better. It’s not my lane so I won’t really go into it, but this article at Anime Herald covers the whole mess in detail. The whole thing is SO stupid and honestly there was no reason for it to be a plot at all.

If that “reveal” episode had me feeling wary about the show, the episode following sunk any hopes I had for it. Double Decker didn’t even have the guts to have Max and Yuri be explicitly romantically involved, instead just giving vague, baity hints. What’s worse, the episode focusing on Max was boring as sin. It was painfully bland and on the nose “critique” of high school proms SO rote it even had the girl who wanted to be popular transform into a literal “queen bee” (GET IT). The only thing we actually learn about Max in her supposed focus episode is that she hates proms because a bunch of kids rejected her trans friend at one which caused her friend to turn to drugs and disappear forever. Yep, not only can the show not bother to give us actual lesbians, trans people are just tragic props (and the attempt to say a thing about how trans people are treated badly would have felt a LOT more sincere if transness hadn’t been treated as a joke in THE EPISODE JUST BEFORE THIS ONE).

Doug also only became aware of poverty existing because of a tragic prop- his backstory amounts to a dead little shoe-shining street girl so one dimensional and cliche I’m surprised she wasn’t found frozen in an alley clutching a book of matches, and that one incident made him realize Poor People Shouldn’t Be a Thing so now he’s, uh....well, he’s not really doing anything about it, but he says he wants to, and that’s good enough right?

Yeah, that’s about the level of nuance we’re dealing with here. It’s nice that Double Decker tried, I guess, but if this was going to be the level of its effort, I wish it had just stuck to being a goofy sci-fi show. As it was, even the “goofy buddy cop” aspect felt really hollow because the show didn’t give us a reason to be invested in these partnerships or these characters.

I wanted to be invested! I was SO ready to appreciate the punk butch and her robot girlfriend, but instead we barely learn anything about them or see them interact. I was READY to be tremendously invested in the straightlaced office girl and her vulgar pink haired partner, but we didn’t learn anything beyond their surface personalities- nothing substantial about what drives them or where they come from or anything. Doug had his eye-rolly dead-little-girl backstory and admittedly sometimes amusing snarky asshole personality, but he spends so much time being insincere there wasn’t much to latch onto with him.

 Kirill was pretty much the only one in this show who felt like an Actual Character, and I did find him extremely likable- he was utterly sincere in everything he did, full of heart, dumb and enthusiastic in a fun way, and incredibly sweet and supportive to his friends and loved ones (he was also the only one who was chill and accepting about the not-really-trans character too so that earned him some points) but all the stuff going around him was so empty it didn’t matter.

(ending spoilers here)

The show didn’t put the work into making you connect with these characters, but it DID still expect you to be invested in them. One of the kinda-lesbians appears to have died at one point in the show, but it makes zero impact because you knew basically nothing about that character anyway- it instead just feels annoying, like “wow, you’re just gonna kill that gay without bothering to develop her huh” but the show clearly expects you to be devastated. Then when it’s revealed at the end “PSYCH she’s alive for this ridiculous jokey contrived reason haha really pranked you huh” it’s just even more annoying. Just because I’m relieved you didn’t actually bury the gay doesn’t mean you pretending to bury her wasn’t insulting and pointless. All you did was bring my attention to how little you bothered to develop this character and how willing you are to use her and her kinda-girlfriend’s pain as a plot device, so thanks?

(spoilers end)

The humor of the show basically followed “you thought THIS thing was gonna happen but instead WACKY TWIST haha now the narrator makes a snarky comment about it” and while that was fun at first it just got old without anything going on besides that. And as for the plot, it’s...generous... to call it a plot. At the end it jumps straight to “AND SUDDENLY THERE WERE ALIENS” with almost zero foreshadowing and it just gets stupider from there. Such a ridiculous development would work on a show that was either a) a pure farce or b) something super wacky but with enough heart, drama and character to keep you invested, but DD was neither of those things. It was an anime that wanted you to care, but gave no fucks itself. 

(Also this show is supposed to be related to Tiger and Bunny but I honestly have no idea how these two anime are connected in-universe. Is this a prequel? sequel? Are they happening at the same time? WHO KNOWS, THE CREATORS SURE DON’T)

The animation was also nothing to write home about, with a lot of awkward CGI shots and pretty ugly clothing designs- it was colorful enough to distract from it a lot of the time, but definitely not winning any aesthetics awards.

So yeah, Double Decker is very far from the worst anime I’ve ever watched, and I like the concept I think it was GOING for- but what we ended up with was something completely mediocre. The first couple episodes were fun, but by the end it was a chore to watch. I finished it because “well I’ve come this far might as well” rather than any real investment in the show. It wasn’t painful (except for the clumsy attempts at dealing with trans issues), but it was so completely stupid and forgettable, which is sad, because it seemed like it had so much potential at the start.

[terresdebrume]

Pensieve post

Because it’s a way to practice informing people about my life rather than not say anything for week and then ask people for news when I’m not feeling well (which is probably better than barge in demanding emotional support but still probably not as healthy as it get). Plus, if nothing else, it helps me sorting through the stuff I’ve been dealing with recently which is a goo thing to do in conjunction with therapy. Today’s update is mostly going to focus on the crushing situation because that’s what I’ve had on my mind for most of the week and easier to deal with than the whole family situation (1) so….follow the cut to read about my life, I guess.

So, remember on October 1st, how I rode in on the high of coming out on Facebook and feeling like a functional adult (ish), and said I was thinking of maybe asking my crush out? Well it may come as no surprise to you that I then proceeded to Not Do That. And you know, perhaps my friend Julie had a point when she said I didn’t do things by half (and perhaps I had a point when I worried it might be a little too much to undertake in one go) because not only did I Not Do That, I proceeded to sink in a long week of stress, anxiety, and depressed thinking. Because why not.

Context: when I made both these decisions on October 1st, my workplace had just finished four days of big examinations in which I had to overview exam preps and be a jury in oral examinations (which, fyi, is super tiring) and capped it off with an end-of-the-week meal with coworkers and the new boss (2). So, pretty intense week, coming on the heel of a holiday weekend with Julie, Julie’s fiance and the Crush...which I’m only now realizing might have been a little too much excitement in one go because, like I said, the next week kind of went off the rails a little.

I’m gonna spare you guys the exact rundown of things I gave my therapist because that was two thousands of words long and I don’t feel like going back through it. Suffices to say I felt tired, stressed out and kinda miserable all week, with a combo flavor of ‘can I even do something right’ and ‘maybe people secretly hate me and maybe the Crush specifically grew tired of me and wishes I were out of his life because if not then why does it feel like he’s putting a distance between us that wasn’t there before?’. Which, now that I write it down, I’m wondering if I wasn’t projecting a little there.

I mean, it would make sense. I was feeling miserable and un-viewable (3) which I dealt with by not talking to/looking at people when I could avoid it, keeping myself absorbed with my computer to avoid seeing...I don’t know, confirmation that people who have previously expressed that they liked my company (explicitly so and in written form, in the case of the Crush, no less) suddenly found me pitiable at best and contemptible at worst. Which I do realize is not rational but somehow didn’t at the time (4) and still have trouble believing it now (emotionally speaking).

After that uh...interesting week, let’s call it, came Pchum Ben. It’s one of the major holidays observed in Cambodia and like a lot of major religious holidays around the world it entails people going back to their families to celebrate and spend time together. What that means, when you live in Phnom Penh and don’t go away during the holidays, is that you suddenly find yourself living in a literal ghost town. 95% of businesses close down, people leave, etc. It’s actually pretty cool and impressive, really.

Except, if you’re like me (aka: doesn’t generally travel on your own for reasons unknown and spent too much money the previous month) that means you went out of your flat exactly twice in the last five days. Which, I fully agree, is not ideal at all but that didn’t prevent me from doing it (5)...and so, what that means in practice, is that I had five full days of nothing to do but alternated between worrying about the Crush and then find ways to trick myself into thinking I was not worrying/obsessing/go into catastrophe-thinking about the Crush! Yay! :D

Not Yay. (6)

Because the end result of all this obsessing-but-pretending-I’m-not-but-kinda-obsessing-anyway is that I shot my sleeping pattern to the ground (again), stressed out for nothing, didn’t see direct sunlight for a while, and slept badly enough last night that I woke up twice and got maybe seven hours of sleep.

On the plus side, it did give me time to talk about all this with my therapist, which is always good if only because it allows me to get some things out of my head (I swear sometimes it feels like this whole online therapy deal is the closest thing the real world has to a pensieve) and also get my mind blown. Why you ask? Because in the middle of all my catastrophic thinking and imagining the worst, my therapist pointed out that I completely failed to consider to possibility that the Crush might be interested in going out with me and seemed emotionally distant because I wasn’t making a move.

Which.

You know.

Somehow I haven’t considered that at all.

So basically my brains exploded a bit, but in a good way. It actually boosted me enough to try and actually send a message to the Crush, not to ask him out (I wasn’t there yet) but to apologize if I’d made it feel like I wasn’t interested in spending time with him last week. I mean, I know it most likely did but the goal was just to get the conversation going. He didn’t answer, which was actually not surprising because, again, major holiday time so it’s not like I wasn’t prepared for it. Did that help me not stress out/panic about the lack of answer? Not as much as I would have liked, but a little.

Of course, stressing out about that meant the prospect about seeing him today was enough to stress me into a terrible night last night but at this point I figure it could have been worse (as in, I could have not slept at all), and I’m still not done picturing the worst-case scenarios (hence, also, the need to write this post so I could stop obsessing about things). But I do feel...a little better now.

Funny how spending two hours and a half trying to type out a coherent summary of a situation calms you (or me, at least) down. It’s actually kind of why I miss writing, even if I somehow can’t get into it these days: stories are a great way to dig into how things feel and why, and that’s a pretty nice mean of catharsis.

Anyway, the good point of this little exercise is, I started writing this post feeling like I was five minutes away from tears and now I’m just exhausted (early bedtime tonight, yep) but actually more balanced, so that’s cool and maybe something I should do a little more often.

(I mean, I know I said a few weeks (months?) ago that I was glad I made less feels-vomit posts (pensieve posts? I might start calling them pensieve posts) but also that translated into me restraining myself from making one when I felt the urge and that turned out to maybe not be as unilaterally good as I thought it was. So. I guess I need to try and find a balance there.

Also, since I’m going into the good points of making this post now: I’m trying a new policy in the way I talk about my issues where if I know a word or phrasing would make me angry in someone else’s mouth, I won’t use it to talk about my feelings. I think it’s going to be a tough one, but if nothing else it can’t hurt, and considering that was a problem I had with a previous therapist, I hope it’ll be helpful.

Anyway, congrats if you’ve read up until now. If there was a point to this post I‘ve sort of lost it now, but I feel better now than I did at the beginning of writing it, and I have a less negative name for that kind of posts than ‘word vomit’ so, again, let’s count it as a win.

I mean, let’s all be honest here, if I want to delve into that particular problem I’m better off making a separate post for it, anyway.

Said dinner included fun gems like being seated in front of a colleague who, I’m pretty sure, dislikes me (which I tend to not do too well with), coming out as trans to the new boss, and drinking more alcohol than I should have. I mean, it went well overall, but I remember leaving the restaurant with a distinct nope feeling so in retrospect it’s completely possible that my bad week started there. I might need to try and come up with preventative measures against that kind of things in the future.

You know, that moment where you feel like a dumpster fire and wish people could avoid looking at you while you burn in shame, because you’re afraid they can’t have anything but contempt for you after witnessing that? Yeah. That, but for a week.

Side note: why is it that we can know the thinking pattern of doom our brains use, and still fall for it? I want a refund.

There are many reasons why I didn’t leave the house these past few days but I’d say the main two would be that all my friends were out of town, so what’s the point (not a dig against them at all, I just don’t tend to go out on my own) and I didn’t have an adequate means of transportation available because most of the rickshaw drivers and moto taxis were also out of town.

Okay if I really want to go in detail I do have to mention Julie and I spent the afternoon together yesterday and that helped a lot, even if I still obsessed.