#and not only doing that but in favor of someone who had his own surrogate father figure killed AND was behind Vander's kidnapping + death

[sage-nebula]

There has been a lot of speculation about how Jinx and Ekko will interact in the upcoming season, and as someone who both loves the tragedy of timebomb, but also loves both Jinx and Ekko individually as characters and wants to see them both respected, I want to speculate on how they might interact in the upcoming season with particular focus on Ekko, and how their interactions in season two can be handled while treating his character with the dignity and respect that he deserves.

So, with that said: Let's start with what he know about Ekko and how he feels about Jinx, and how that might inform how he interacts with her in season two.

Ekko did have a crush on Powder when they were kids, as one of his quotes from the card game says: "I used to have a crush on you, before you started talking to the gun." We know from the "Enemy" music video that they were childhood besties; they jumped on beds together, rode around on that circle bike mocking enforcers together, et cetera. And we know from their fight on the bridge that they played a game together involving Ekko's pocket watch and Powder's toy guns, that they then recreated in their actual fight. (And that while Powder always won as kids, Ekko won in their rematch as teens, because his growth and development wasn't arrested like hers.)

But we also learned something else on that bridge, from Jinx herself.

"Well, look who it is. The boy savior!"

Jinx says this in a mocking tone. In a Reddit AMA, we learned that there was originally going to be a flashback showing Ekko trying to save Powder from Silco, believing her to have been taken hostage / kidnapped. Powder, however, refused to go with him, telling him, "Powder is dead." This is why she mocked him on the bridge with the title "boy savior": Jinx was mocking Ekko for trying to "save" her from Silco. She was twisting the knife that she wanted to be with Silco, that he couldn't save her like he intended.

And how do we think that made him feel?

There's a reason that Ekko was so insistent to Vi that Jinx wanted to be with Silco, that she worked for him voluntarily and didn't want to leave. It's because he knew that from firsthand experience. He tried to get her out of there, and she not only didn't go, but she still mocks him for trying years later. She was his best friend in childhood, the only one he had left after Benzo, Vander, Mylo, and Claggor died (and Vi was arrested, but he thought she was dead too), and she essentially spat in his face, rejected him in the harshest way possible, and continues to mock him for even trying to rescue her, for even trying to still be there for her after they had lost everyone else.

And then, on top of that, in working for Silco, she also ended up killing a number of his friends in the Firelights. (Well, we know that she at least for sure killed the pink-haired girl; I don't think we know for certain that she killed others, but I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility.)

Suffice to say, Ekko has more than enough reason to raise his hand if someone asked, "Who here feels personally victimized by Jinx?" It's easy to see how Jinx has been traumatized and hurt, because we saw everything that happened to her; but Ekko also suffered traumatic losses, had no idea what happened to Powder the night everyone died, but he cared about her so much (even setting aside his crush, he just loved her as a best friend) and put himself in danger to try to save her, only to be rejected for no reason he could understand, then continued to be mocked for it years later while also losing his friends to, if not Jinx directly, than to the man she works for and decided to see as a surrogate father. Ekko lost everyone in that same night, too, for reasons completely beyond his control, for reasons he probably still doesn't understand or have closure on. And I'm not saying that Jinx needs to open up to him about her trauma, but I am saying that I don't think that this would make her very attractive to him as a romantic partner or even a friend at this point.

(As a side bar: I don't think that Jinx ever felt true malice toward Ekko. She did him dirty by mocking his attempt to save her on the bridge absolutely, and cutting ties with him after Silco took her in is a lot more complicated and messy than we have time to get into right now, but to try to tl;dr it . . . I think that Powder saw Silco as her only lifeline. He was an adult who took her in, gave her a home, and was promising to be her family. He also, crucially, didn't know her as the person she was before. Ekko, on the other hand, was a child who did know who she was before. So Powder felt she had to cling to Silco and push Ekko away for her own sake. But -- and this is headcanon on my part -- I do still think she cared about Ekko as her childhood bestie, and I think this because Ekko is still alive. I think that Silco would have killed anyone who would cause Jinx distress, even at that early stage, and Ekko definitely would have triggered Jinx's psychosis (albeit by accident) by asking about Vi and the others. And I think that Jinx/Powder, caring for Ekko, would have told Silco not to kill him, saying something like, "He's not worth it, he's just some guy, let him go," or something of the sort, to make Silco back off. Something that would make both Ekko and Silco think she didn't care, when she did. So I don't think Jinx ever hated Ekko, or held true malice toward him. She was absolutely out of pocket and mean with that taunt on the bridge, but I don't think she was ever actually malevolent toward him.)

So, what do I see possibly happening between them in season two?

Well, if we remember how their fight on the bridge concluded: Ekko was winning the fight, and was essentially beating Jinx to death when he got a really good look in her eyes for the first time in years and realized that Jinx = Older Powder. That made him hesitate long enough for Jinx to pull a pin from a grenade, intending to die and take him down with her. (I think it might have been Amanda Overton who stated that Jinx "does not have a healthy fear of death," and that she wanted to take Ekko down with her because he was the only one who never left her? Which is truly funny considering how he tried his goddamn hardest to stay with her and she actively shoved him away and then mocked him for trying to stay with her literally right before that fight lmao. But that's our mentally ill girly at her finest.) Ekko, of course, saw what she did and escaped enough to not die, but to still be wounded. And Jinx would have died had Silco not taken her to Singed, and, well . . . we all know how that turned out.

So, season two.

From the trailer, we can see that there are at least some people in Zaun who see Jinx as a revolutionary figure. Some have pointed out that the mural looks like it was made in the style of Firelight art, with some speculating that perhaps it was even Ekko himself who painted it. Given all of the above, I really, really, really doubt that it was Ekko himself who painted it. In fact, I would actually be pretty upset with the writers of the show if they did make Ekko the one to have painted it, because I feel it would be a disservice to his character. Again, quick recap:

Jinx rejected him soundly when he tried to save her from Silco / reconnected her after everyone else in their lives was killed.

Jinx continues to mock him for this to his face years later.

In working for Silco, Jinx helped pump Zaun full of shimmer, which actively harms the very people whose lives Ekko wants to make better.

In working for Silco, Jinx has killed at least one, though probably more, of Ekko's friends in the Firelights. (Silco's other employees have also undoubtedly killed them as well and, again, Jinx still aligns herself with them.)

The big revolutionary act that others in Zaun are hailing Jinx as a heroine for is blowing up the council tower, which is bringing the military might of Piltover down on Zaun, guaranteeing bloodshed that I highly doubt Ekko wants. He wants change, but not like this.

It simply doesn't make sense for his character for him to have painted the mural. More likely, there are some Firelights who see what Jinx did as "the base violence necessary for change," believing in her "cause" over Ekko's -- not realizing that Jinx didn't do what she did because of a grand, overarching cause, but because she was lashing out as a result of the sustained agony the system had been putting her through for her entire life. She isn't going to be leading a revolution in season two; she didn't ask for that mural to be painted and she isn't going to be raising a flag. She'll be raising hell, no doubt, but not a flag. That's not who she is. The person painted in that mural isn't Jinx, not really, and Ekko knows that better than the actual artists.

Instead, I see Ekko as being in a sort of 90 / 10 situation regarding Jinx. 85% of him still feels all of the negative feelings he had about her regarding everything in the past six or seven years, plus her recent murder of the pink-haired Firelight, attempt on his life, and blowing up of the council tower that brought the Enforcers down on him. (Because don't misunderstand, he doesn't care about the Pilties in the tower, but he does care about the innocent Zaunites that are about to get murdered by the Enforcers who are going to blow apart the undercity's streets looking for Jinx.)

But then 10% of him is going to keep thinking back to that moment on the bridge, where he looked into her eyes close-up for the first time in six or seven years, and realized that Jinx is Powder, just older, and be just wracked with sorrow. No, he doesn't want to date her. No, they can't be friends when she's doing all this shit. She's literally killed people that he cares about. Her actions have resulted in the deaths of innocent people and she doesn't seem to give two fucks. (Again, not the Pilties, but the innocent citizens of Zaun that the Enforcers are now killing, and yes Piltover and the Enforcers are choosing to do that, but the reason why they are choosing to do that does matter, and if other Zaunities can hail Jinx as a hero for it, then he can call her out as a fucking dumbass for it, too.) But Janna, he wishes she wasn't doing this shit. He wishes she wasn't like this. He wishes things could have turned out different. Why didn't they turn out different? Jinx is Powder. Powder is Jinx. So what went wrong? When she left that night, why did she come back under Silco's wing? Why did everyone die, with Vi in jail? What happened? Was it his fault? Could he have stopped it somehow?

But there's not enough time to think about that, and it doesn't matter when here, in the present, she is like this and she is doing this shit and it's not his fault that she, here and now, is like this and doing this shit. He's not responsible for her. And she made it clear she didn't even WANT him to be in her life, so -- !

It's messy. It's messy and tragic and painful, but since when are the relationships in Arcane anything but?

The point I'm getting at here is: I don't think that Ekko will be supportive of Jinx. And if they work together at all, I think it will be with gritted teeth on his part, out of forced necessity. Or more like . . . it seems, from the trailer, that Jinx and Sevika may be teaming up to take down the chembarons. (I say "may," because the idea of Jinx and Sevika teaming up is still very hard for me to believe. But like, Sevika has Jinx's gun, and her new arm looks like it was made by Jinx, and we also see Jinx standing at the other end of the alleyway when Sevika is fighting one of the others so like . . .) We also know that the distribution of shimmer hurting Zaunities is something that Ekko doesn't like. So it is possible that Jinx and the Firelights could potentially work together in order to take down the other chembarons, with Ekko seeing it as a "the enemy of my enemy is my ally" situation, and Jinx agreeing to those terms while also, in her way, still viewing Ekko as "the one who never left" and thinking, hey, maybe we could start over.

As with everything else in Arcane, I fear it can only end badly for her.

It's also possible that, because of that moment they had on the bridge (and because of Vi's insistence to Ekko that she could talk Jinx down), Ekko could use this temporary truce to try himself to talk Jinx down again, to talk reason into her to some degree, especially now that Silco is dead. He might see it as an opportunity, a sort of, "Now that he's dead you don't have to work for him anymore, you can start over." Which, again, would end badly because Jinx herself is the one who killed him (by accident), and he was the one who gave her the affirmation of unconditional love that she'd always wanted, and as such his death is something she deeply regrets and would not appreciate hearing lauded as a good thing. So again, yet another thing in Arcane that would go horribly wrong. Still, I could see him potentially trying that avenue if in fact they did work together. Not as a romantic or "let's be buds again" angle, but in a "it would be better for everyone if Jinx stopped killing people" angle. (And then, you know, maybe after years of no murders and less hostile behavior, maybe then they can be friends again.)

Of course, that would never happen, but I think that would be Ekko's thought process nonetheless.

Bottom line here is, if Jinx and Ekko do end up teaming up, my hope is that Ekko's feelings and character are respected. So far, the Arcane writers haven't given me a reason to think they won't respect him, thankfully, but I still wanted to put it out there regardless. Ekko's trauma and how the tragedy of arc 1 impacted him is often overlooked, particularly since he is one of the more well-adjusted members of the cast (especially on the Zaun side, good god), but he still was traumatized and hurt horribly by what happened and he deserves to be treated with as much respect and dignity as anyone else. He certainly doesn't deserve to have his character or motivations pushed aside or forgotten just to prop up Jinx.

But those are just my thoughts. Everyone else is free to have their own. :)

[adamworu]

Have you seen Codex Entry's video titled "The End of Evangelion Is (Not) A Happy Ending - An Analysis & Critique"? She makes a lot of interesting points in that.

First things first, it keeps hitting me how numerous the death threats were that GAINAX got. The contempt of man, followed by a disgusting lack of consequence has always been a central theme in Evangelion. Seeing just how painful the imitation of art to life is feels like opening old wounds. They were instrumental in EoE's conception among other things (Anno putting his feelings into film being another). The quick flashes of ire in written form really helps give EoE that unshakable bitter, pessimistic feel.

(warning for strong personal talks of suicide under the cut)

Anno's mental health worsened at the main series' end. People weren't satisfied with how it ended. They drove him to the point of contemplating suicide. If Anno's reflection of himself manifest through some of the characters, this makes Shinji's state before the infamous sequence even more haunting.

The interviewer asked 'What stopped you?' to which Anno replies 'The prospect of pain. I didn't mind dying I didn't want it to hurt.'

I didn't want it to hurt.

As someone with fluctuating highs and lows of mental health, this struck me more than I'd like to admit. During my periods of contemplating ending it all, one of my greatest fears was the pain. That death isn't the peaceful embrace from it all. That your lasting regrets die with you as your loved ones would eventually find you and become horrified at the fleshy shell that once had a name. You hear their faint screams, your strength is all but gone, and that flickering light within you is snuffed forever.

'Faced with the reality, I stopped.'

I think there's something even more painful about the end. There is no pain, but was lies on the other side...if anything?

EoE asks what if self-loathing becomes our being? Who you are affects your very being. And Shinji's self-hatred seeps into the cast, then the whole world. Considering Shinji's status as an audience surrogate, this sort of thing is very much aimed at the audience, especially those targeting Anno and GAINAX.

I personally don't think, however that EoE is an inverse to EoTV (series end). I do agree with her (Codex Entry), however that EoE is the horrifying reality of if the wrong person turns their back on humanity. EoE is more the explicit version on how humanity came to be in Instrumentality. I still wouldn't call it pessimistic even after all these years. EoTV sees the characters with more self-fulfilled arcs in the very end. There's a sense of catharsis from cast and viewer alike from having climbed a mountain of epiphany and acceptance. EoTV feels more convenient, albeit not unnaturally so.

EoE is more explicit with Shinji's flaws. They stare him in the face with no hesitation. These fears are far uglier and portray him less favorably. Less sympathetically. He views the girls and women around him as how they'd be of benefit. His ire isn't just about the realization that they're people with feelings and complexities deserving of empathy. It's also that those girls and women can as well as do hold the right to exist without him. He sentences the whole world to metaphorical death by way of relinquishment of the AT Field due to his own insecurities. His locus of control is viewed externally. His deterministic point of view harms everyone around him. The train scene is shown here and it parallels his talk with Leliel in episode 16. He blames his reality rather than hold himself accountable.

This is the importance of 'What is your hand for?' It's a gentle nudge into the prospect of free will. It's not just a doctrine of freedom, but one that argues that you are culpable.

My one and only pet peeve with the essay is the confusion of happiness and positivity multiple times throughout. EoE isn't happy, but it is positive. If we were to look at EoE as its own universe rather than a metatext, it is intensely depressing. It tells you that with your hands you can better the world around you. With the fact that it's self-aware considered, it acts as a cautionary tale, that intense self-loathing and disdain serves not just to poison you, but others. We don't all have the ability to damn the human race to metaphorical death until to bring them back because we don't exist. Shinji is understood in Codex' video to be an audience surrogate to great detail. EoE is the existence that did not want to be. Rather than being nihilistic and ireful, it grabs the audience with trembling fingers, saying 'For the love of God, be empathetic. It won't kill you! You are ruining everyone around you with your contempt for outside agency and your arrogance. Please...!'

End of Evangelion is Nyquil. It tastes strong and it tastes bad. Everyone needs bad tasting medicine if they want to get well. So drink the damn medicine.

[ncwhereman]

Hi, I’m the person who sent you a message the other day. You’re so incredibly good at English, and your research is so thorough, I honestly thought you were a native speaker. My English relies heavily on translation tools, and I’m sure it sounds pretty awkward, but I had so much I wanted to say, so I decided to send this anyway. There might be differences in how we express things or give compliments because of cultural differences, so I’m sorry if anything sounds rude or inappropriate. If this message turns out to be unbearably embarrassing, feel free to pretend you never saw it and bury it in the depths of the internet:'-(

I just wanted to say thanks for adding more B/J content, I adore John and Brian so much!

John is such a silly, major baby, and at the same time, he’s like a devil who leaves everyone he meets either loving or hating him (or both), with scars that never really heal. The more I learn about him, the more I see this boyish, intense love he holds inside, torn between that and his persona as this tough, macho leader (or father figure). I think John wanted to act tough, but deep down, he was someone who’d only find real peace by letting go of control and dominance. Just my little headcanon!

Your line, "underneath all that, beats a heart so kind and gentle, so full of love, it could move mountains. If only you’d accept it and let it pour out." That’s exactly how I feel about John too. But your version of John isn’t just a fan projection or an idealized vision of him, he feels so introspective and emotionally complex, almost untouchable. It honestly shakes me to my core and makes me miss him even more. Your John is the kind of devil who breaks Brian’s heart, and mine too, but I can’t stop loving him for it.

I also love how your writing is so layered, with anecdotes and lyrics scattered throughout. It feels like watching stars form constellations. I’m sure I miss a lot of nuances because of my language skills, but the scene where Brian is rejected by John and ends up sobbing at him, just like a spoilt child throwing a tantrum, had so much depth. It’s something I’ve never seen before in B/J stories, and it’s absolutely brilliant.

Honestly, Brian is just as complex and hard to write as John. He’s this charismatic, sharp businessman but also theatrical, shy, and blushes easily. He’s refined and intelligent yet restless and unpredictable. He’s so devoted and deeply loving but also prone to fits of anger and melancholy when faced with reality. There’s this huge contrast between his optimism and his deep sadness. Then there’s everything else, his mental health, drinking, and his struggles with his sexuality. Brian is like a guardian angel for the Beatles, but his personality is as much of a rollercoaster as JPG’s. You’re the first to capture his tantrums and emotional swings in a way that feels so real. It made me think, “This is what Brian must’ve been like.”

I also loved how you portrayed Brian being so utterly smitten with John. It’s heartbreaking but so perfect. The line about John being a work of a Renaissance painter was so bittersweet and historically spot-on. And I really appreciate all the historically accurate details you include, like Brian’s preference for oral……

Brian always tried to love the boys equally, or so he claimed, but it’s clear from his writing that he favored John. I loved how you touched on that imbalance, it made me smile so much.

Personally, I think Brian was the only one who could’ve healed John’s deep wounds, like his BPD-type trauma, in the form of a surrogate father figure. Maybe this is just my brain being influenced by the “Mother” MV, but seeing Brian’s photo in it always hits me so hard emotionally. That said, I do think their relationship becoming fully consummated would’ve been a tough road, Brian had his own issues, and John was so defensive and avoidant. But your story doesn’t shy away from these themes, like John’s love-avoidance and internalized homophobia. The way you’ve written them opening up, confessing their traumas, and even addressing John’s sexuality is incredible.

I know it’s bad form to speculate while a story is ongoing, but I can’t help wondering how it will end. Will it stay bittersweet, or will they get closer to a consummated relationship? Either way, I’m so excited to see where it goes.

Lastly, I watched "The Hours and Times" because of you, and wow, I was floored. I didn’t expect it to be so well-written and layered. The metaphors and implications, combined with the sweet moments in the bathtub, the kiss, and the implied intimacy, made it so exciting but still bittersweet overall. I feel like this movie is so underappreciated even among John bottom fans, it deserves more recognition.

Anyway, I just want to say I respect you so much. Wishing you good health and all the best for your writing! Love and hugs :) <3 <3 <3

first of all, thank you so so much!!! it's beautifully written and it could've been an actual book review! i can't believe i'm so honored to have someone analyse and praise my silly lil fic so eagerly :'))

i agree completely with your view on john! this is the way i'm trying to portray him too- this constant dichotomy of marlon brando vs oscar wilde, the striving to embrace passivity that contradicts masculinity (and he did eventually i think, later with yoko, but he was far from it in 1963). also love that you mention bpd because i'm convinced both john and brian had it in some form irl and i'm writing them as having it, which isn't hard since it's so apparent from what people said about them and their own actions/quotes/feelings/etc. also this major theme of john refusing to acknowledge his feelings for brian as love has a lot to do with the way people with bpd struggle to understand their feelings and emotions and have black-and-white thinking. that's where internalised homophobia comes into play too of course and makes it even more complicated for him.

actually crying and screaming as if i'm at a beales concert at the way you describe your impression about brian in the fic !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i'm so so glad i managed to write him so convincingly. the main focus of this fic is john, but there's depths and depths of themes to be explored about brian- tbh my next dream project is to write kind of a biopic about his later years from his pov that would focus on him exclusively.

(also, the renaissance quote is from a cellarful of noise, where in turn it's attributed to a david ash of daily express, hence why john asks "where did you read it" lmao. and i think it's interesting that if they had something going on irl, which i'm convinced they did, it was probably non-penetrative due to brian preferring it so among other things. it leaves john a very convenient way to say that their "love affair was never consummated," because he probably didn't regard it as actual sex even in 1980 where i think this quote is from. but they'll talk about it in the fic later too.)

glad to hear you enjoyed the hours and times too! it's clearly one of the main inspirations for the fic, even though it came a long way away from the movie. i actually watched it long before i knew anything about the beatles, let alone john and brian, and i still think it's one of the finest films of new queer cinema.

once again thank you so so much for reaching out, it literally means the world to me!!! back to writing the next chapter :')

[dollypardonne]

for hyerim.

skills and special talents does your muse know when to rest, or do they push themselves?

for rowan.

your muses's thoughts on cops and other authority figures. how your muses respond to danger.

for haru.

concept of home and family. did your muse grow up too fast?

hyerim: skills and special talents

the home hyerim had spent most of her veiled life held an inscription denoting that the inhuman vilebloods, hunters and creatures of coldblood, first drew breaths under its roof. though this past was undeniably a part of her, it was one she had put a clear division in favor of one in benefaction; to never look back to earlier times of battles and sieges, to correct all misdeeds, to wash off all the blood that had accumulated in her hands by her own and the generations preceding her. some might call this betrayal but vindicated are those people as the stench of crusted blood reminds her of it; the heritable talents she had been cursed with at birth, forbidden blood delivering within her veins vampiric qualities without arbitrary weaknesses. a sharpshooter exceptionally skilled in the use of her pistol bearing quicksilver cartridges. raised to soldiership, she's learned the art of wielding the twin-blade. her weapon of choice was a trick blade of part saber and part dagger.

does your muse know when to rest, or do they push themselves?

between the bodies that lay beyond her care—guarding what were graves hosting her very own victims—and the artistic craft she had been trying to perfect, hyerim's colliding worlds offer her very little rest. as such, she has become someone who values the time she gets to have unwinding.

rowan: your muse's thoughts on cops and other authority figures.

if there was a version of catholic guilt involving the police force—the gut-wrenching kind, rowan has it.

how your muses respond to danger.

depending on when or where rowan is, either the cats are safeguarded at home, or a suppressed pistol is picked up. sometimes both. but rowan is professional, efficient, and detached. the feelings felt aren't of anger or fear, but an innate hard-wired tendency to figure out relevant cues.

haru the concept of home and family.

once, haru dated someone simply for the perfect family that they possessed. it was one he never had. he had never even gotten the chance to create an illusion of one as there was never any frame of reference for what it should look like, and what kind of flaws a family might have that would make it sit within the threshold of healthy. since little, he had always known something was wrong. despite not being sure what was customary, he felt his family's brokenness. he was young when he had the means to move forward on his own. but this fracture stayed with him, grew within him and taken a life of its own. a living death. a cadaver surrogate. it manifested in self-esteem issues and poor self-image. he started the race from behind with lead weights on his feet. while the lack of parental guidance pushed him to work hard for better, starting from behind still meant ending behind. and what stands in the way simply becomes the way. so while he has a community at present, it's not one whose foundations he could put full faith into.

did your muse grow up too fast?

growing up too fast in his case only really means that he was able to help himself financially at an early age due to his perseverance. but emotionally, he is still a kid. his ways of attention-seeking tend to include an escalating back and forth. he is wired in a way that demands an audience to notice him, hence his line of work. and when something is too mentally exhausting for him, he will simply shut down. apart from this, there are plenty of habits that he had never been able to shed and grow out of.

[trulyinspiringmovies]

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is vibrant and a whole lot of fun.

Mario and Luigi are two brothers, living in Brooklyn, who are starting up their own plumbing business. With everyone around them doubting them, the brothers want to make a name for themselves by fixing a city-wide manhole leak. This leads them to a mysterious pipe that transports them into a foreign world. The brothers get separated and it’s up to Mario to save his brother.

I wasn’t someone who played a lot of Mario games growing up. I’ve played some of the staples, but I was more interested in Pokémon. Still, I’ve always appreciated the iconography and incredible music of the Mario franchise. I also think I know more about the Mario franchise than the average viewer. All of this could have contributed to my bias toward this movie, but I wanted to disclose that before I got into my review. For starters, I love the character designs of this movie. They’re extremely expressive in a way that the video games couldn’t make. They’re familiar enough to be instantly recognizable, but also different enough to have their own identity. Second, the voice acting was my biggest fear going into this movie. When the cast was announced, people were laughing at the choices, saying that each choice gets more and more outlandish as the announcement video went on. I’m happy to say, the performances weren’t as distracting as I thought they’d be. Jack Black as Bowser was the stand-out performance for me. Keegan-Michael Key as Toad was also really great in my opinion. Voices like Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, and Anya Taylor-Joy are too recognizable for me, so it was hard to distinguish the character from the actor initially, but after a while, I stopped noticing. The only real voice actor I had a problem with was Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong. I thought the voice didn’t fit the character at all. The score is probably one of the biggest highlights of this movie... when it’s Nintendo music rather than licensed music. The orchestral renditions of classic Mario music were an absolute treat to listen to, but they were mixed in with generic licensed music that barely fit the tone of the scene. I don’t understand why the introduction of Donkey Kong Island had to be supplemented with “Take On Me” by A-ha. Another big highlight was the vibrant look of the movie paired with its extremely crisp resolution. This movie is just a visual treat. It’s exactly how colorful a Mario movie should be. The quality was so crisp that I could see individual hairs on the characters and even the texture of their clothing. The action set pieces were also really fun. There were lots of fight moves that were ripped straight out of the games. It’s all fast-paced, but still had a level of visual clarity that I could understand exactly what was going on at all times. Finally, the jokes were surprisingly decent. I thought this movie was going to cater to an extremely young demographic, but there were a lot of jokes that got a genuine laugh out of me. I know a lot of people felt like Luigi was sidelined and that the movie should’ve been about the Mario Brothers instead of Mario and Donkey Kong, but I understand why they made the decision. Some people also think that turning Princess Peach from a damsel in distress to a warrior princess was a bad decision in favor of appealing to the feminists. I don’t see it that way. The decision is pretty simple if you think about it. Mario is the audience surrogate. He’s the vehicle in which the audience learns about this new world. He’s the main character, so he needs to have some stake, which would be to rescue his brother. If Mario was with Luigi throughout this movie, I think their main objective would be to find a way back home instead of fighting a war for a kingdom of people he just met. Plus, it gives more screen time to Mario and Peach as a pair, which could also lead to their iconic romance in future installments. I do, however, understand the criticism that the writers basically came up with a bunch of references and wrote a loose plot around them. I can see why some people would be upset with that, but I thought the movie still worked. All in all, I think this is a movie for lifelong Mario fans and newcomers alike. It’s just a fun time and I’m looking forward to seeing more from this new movie franchise.

★★★★

Watched on April 8th, 2023

[woodcries]

HEADCANON 001. marian + family relationships ( reposted and added onto from an archived blog )

leandra. her relationship with leandra is… strained, to say the least. leandra’s a bit of a pageant mom and sort of uses her as a surrogate after bethany dies as someone to dress up and introduce to suitors, which is obviously something marian isn’t particularly interested in and the favoring of bethany inadvertently gave marian a bit of a complex when it comes to her looks and her more feminine qualities. marian still feels obligated to impress her though, especially so after carver leaves as the only child still around. her death and the lack of real closure leaves marian in a difficult mental state going into act 3 malcolm. her relationship with malcolm is a bit different. she remembers him much more fondly, likely since he died when she was younger, but his talk of magic when she first discovered her abilities was perhaps, a touch too fearmongering for her and for most of her life, up until… probably kirkwall and meeting anders, she treated her magic as a curse. she doesn’t particularly blame him for it though, because being an apostate is hard enough without having a magical child, but it stunted a lot of her magical growth and caused a lot of self loathing. the twins. everything marian does and everything she is comes from being an older sibling. her urge to protect, her urge to take on burdens, all of it was instilled in her by her parents when the twins were born and even more so when bethany’s magic started manifesting. since their birth, she was treated more like their guardian rather than their sibling and she took the responsibility very seriously. she loves bethany. it’s hard for her not to baby her given how much of her job was keeping her safe when they were kids from templars and the cloying village boys vying for attention who might discover her magic, and often times she is wrong about bethany and underestimates her. the tendency was passed on from leandra who clearly saw bethany as more of a daughter to be dressed up or prepared for suitors than marian was. though they look very similar, marian always thinks of bethany as the more delicate, waiflike one of the two which causes her to doubt her own desirability as being too brutish. in the case that she dies ( in my main verse i say both twins survive but marian is a mage so bethany would die in game ) marian finds herself being pushed into the role bethany once had for the sake of helping her mom grieve and giving her what she wanted. she loves carver no matter how hard he makes it. often times she doesn’t realize that, though leandra never doted on her the way she did with bethany ( the one she could project on most imo ), she still wasn’t put in the shadow like he was and that blindness to her position causes a lot of frustration. while most of the time she tries to just get him to calm down and settle with him, it’s when she gives more of a backbone they get along better. she takes him on the deep roads because she still trusts him more than anybody and when he becomes a warden and gets a chance to be on his own and make his own legacy, they get along a lot more openly. however, after da2 and inquisition she cuts contact with everyone and while their relationship is more solid, there's still a lot of work that she just can't bring herself to do anymore. i like to think carver is more empathetic towards her position but obviously that's up to interpretation.

[kikigeh]

I decided to write down the most striking information from the season 5 bible leak. DO NOT INTERACT if you want to go into the season blindly but do interact if you want to discuss it. Heavy spoilers under the cut.

A few things to note before we go on:

The document's final revision is from 2020, this means that THIS DOCUMENT IS NOT FINAL and the information might differ from what we will be seeing in the end product.

Also, a show's bible is meant to go over the key points of the story and characters, it's not necessarily a synopsis of everything that you'll see in the show so save yourself the immediate belief that the season is going to suck because character A or thing B are not mentioned in length here.

The bullet points go in order of appearance in the document, hence the jumps in subjects.

With that out of the way, let's start. FINAL WARNING, leave if you don't want to be spoiled.

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

It is revealed that Marinette had a crush on Kim prior to the show starting. Confessing was a bad experience for her (thanks to Chloe) and that's the reason as to why she's so hesitant to confess to Adrien.

At the very end of the season, Ladybug and Chat Noir will finally be able to use their special powers without transforming back. They'll be able to use Lucky Charms/Cataclysms more than once.

Adrien will find the courage to tell Gabriel that he doesn't want to be a model.

Adrien realizes that he feels something special towards Marinette and, realizing that Ladybug will never love him back, he decides to pursue her instead.

Adrien and Marinette will have their first kiss on episode 23 "Collusion".

Gabriel, owing a favor to Tomoe Tsurugi, wants Adrien to be with Kagami.

Nathalie is described in the document as "eventually emerging as a surrogate mother to Adrien".

We will either see or hear what happens when Chat Noir uses his Cataclysm on a human being in the episode "Destruction"

Ladynoir's relationship will change; without Chat Noir's flirting and with Ladybug finally accepting that she needs him (no longer pushing him away), they become a perfect duo of platonic, supportive friends.

Lady Noire and Mister Bug make an appearance in Season 5 once more.

Ladybug will be merging the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculous herself becoming "BugNoire".

The merging of the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculous create a brand new Kwami whose ability is to grant a wish (Like Dragon Ball's Shenron). The magic formula is found within the Grimoire; Gabriel, however, does not know how to decipher it. This is why his goal is to find someone who does.

Ladybug/Marinette finds out Hawkmoth's identity. Chat Noir/Adrien, however, will NEVER learn about it.

Nathalie was introduced to the Agrestes by Mrs. Tsurugi. She was hired because she was a hunter of magical artifacts.

Nathalie is secretly in love with Gabriel and follows him blindly, however, she has a secret plan for herself and wishes to fuse the miraculous so that her own wish can be granted: Make Gabriel fall in love with her.

Monarch will akumatize people and then send out a miraculous their way this season.

At the end of the season, Gabriel will give up the butterfly miraculous and someone else will get a hold of it: Lila.

Lila has several identities and several families, somehow. She goes by Lila Rossi, Cerise and Iris Verdi for different scenarios.

Scarabella will make a comeback for the two episode special.

Chloe's butler's name is Armand; he's the only person who cares for Chloe. More about this will be brought up in the episode "Adoration".

Zoe has feelings for Marinette, but she doesn't dare to tell her. This will also come up in episode "Adoration".

Zoe will become the holder of the Black Cat miraculous during the two-part special.

Contrary to popular belief, there are no written implications about Juleka and Rose's relationship despite it being shown on-screen. Neither are there any implications about Marc and Nathaniel's.

Kim was ALSO in love with Marinette in 8th grade. He is said to be the root of Marinette's problems in the episode "Derision".

Kagami is described as having "powerful feelings" towards both Adrien and Marinette.

Luka will leave in Mid-Season 5 as to not compromise the identities of Ladybug and Chat Noir. He will leave with Jagged to Brazil, where he meets with Su-Han who will teach him Mirakung-fu. He'll go back to Paris in the finale.

Felix's new identity as the Peacock holder is called "Argos".

There will be several instances where we're reminded of Marinette's anxiety, mostly induced by her fears both as a civilian but also as Ladybug.

Marinette gives up on Adrien (or attempts to) and starts realizing that she may have feelings for Chat Noir, who has changed a lot since the end of S4.

Adrien asks Marinette out, which further complicates her feelings since she believes her crush on Adrien is detrimental.

Marinette is convincing herself that the one she loves is Chat Noir in order to forget about Adrien but he, who has given up on Ladybug, is intent on pursuing Marinette this time around.

There will be an apparent complete reversal of the lovesquare which may only culminate with Andre The Ice Maker's appearance to help them figure some things out.

Plagg and Tikki hurt from watching Marinette/Ladybug and Adrien/Chat Noir struggle with their feelings, which is why they opt for removing their miraculous and handing them out to other holders (Alya and Zoe).

Marinette thinks Zoe has a crush on Adrien. We know that that isn't quite the case and she is the object of Zoe's affection instead.

Lila and Chloe become the next class representatives. Lila is able to manipulate and control Chloe; because of their joint efforts, they become Monarch's strongest minions.

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

I think the only three things I heavily dislike are:

1. The fact that Adrien will NEVER find out about his father 2. Lila is not a compelling character, so the show is definitely going to suffer with her as the lead villain. 3. Felix is not mentioned much, if at all. Seems like the sentimonster arc might take a backseat but then again, things could've changed during production from 2020 to 2022.

But other than that, I don't see why anyone would read the document and firmly believe that it's underwhelming. If anything, I find most of it extremely exciting compared to the other seasons. Only time will tell.... but anyway, until then, don't miss today's release of episode 1!

[misguidedswagger]

Now, Sit Still. [riff lorton x reader]

*this will not follow the exact plotline of wss. pov will switch after line break.

~~~~~

“Valentina, are you sure about this? I can always stay later, you know that I-” 

Valentina waved Y/n’s offer off with a wave of her hand, “Ay, mi querida, do not worry. You know how those...boys...can get...I do not want you to be walking home alone so late.” She shivered at the thought of the two fighting gangs, before going back to organizing the glass box the cash register sat on. Y/n’s face scrunched up in worry before she walked up to Valentina, helping her organize.

“Valentina, let me help, por favor.” Y/n had been trying to work on her Spanish slowly, so she began integrating bits and pieces into her vocabulary slowly. She wanted to make things easier for Valentina for being so kind to her. “It’s the least I can do.” Y/n affirmed softly, causing the older woman to smile and playfully smack Y/n’s shoulder. “You are too much like your-”

The door of Doc’s slammed open so hard that Valentina could’ve sworn the window broke. Both employees rushed forward towards the door, but the older one stopped before rolling her eyes. 

“I told you, I do not want you in my store!” She said, a scowl resting on her face. For someone as kind and loving as her, any sort of displeasure on her was nerve inducing. Her eyes landed on the tall boy standing in the doorway. “C’mon, you know me. I’m not going to-” 

“You’ve been stealing from me since you were six. Now get out,” Valentina deadpanned. Riff completely ignored her, his eyes and attention finding her, “Hi there, gorgeous.” He flashed a smile at Y/n, “Don’t you usually get off earlier than this?” He questioned before walking a bit closer to her. As enticing as Riff was, she knew he had an ulterior motive. 

“What’re you hiding from now, Riff? Or who?” It was Y/n’s turn now to walk closer to him, causing him to scoff then swallow before looking at the girl nervously. “No one. A Jet don’t hide. Guys hide from me, it ain’t the other way around.” He spoke lowly before starting to walk towards the Milky Ways. 

“Wanna cover me, girly girl?” He asked holding up a Milky Way and shaking it a bit, his typical smirk back on his face as if anything he just said never left his mouth. Rolling her eyes, she opened her mouth to say something before an idea came to mind. It was time for Y/n to wear her own smirk to challenge Riff’s. “Hmm, only if you tell me why you’re really in here.” 

Clearly, Riff didn’t expect that. His eyes widened and Y/n had to fight very hard not to laugh. Riff didn’t expect Y/n to tease back, pleasantly surprising him. Riff swallowed his nerves and cleared his throat, looking at the candy bar in his hand. “Can we talk somewhere else?” 

Y/n was taken by surprise by Riff’s request. Skeptically, she glanced between her boss and the tall Jet, “Ir. Estar a salvo.” The older woman spoke, before smiling at Y/n and repeating herself in English, “Go, be safe.” At that, Y/n smiled nervously and nodded before grabbing her bag and leading Riff to the door. The two walked together before Y/n ran back to the cash register, placing a coin into the drawer before walking back over to Riff who was holding the door open for her. 

“Y’know, girly girl... I didn’t expect you to actually cover me.” Riff teased before shutting the door behind them, chuckling at her. 

Valentina held her hands in front of her mouth, watching Y/n and Riff walk off together. Her nerves were frayed enough, but watching her surrogate child walk into the arms of a gang leader frightened her. She trusted Y/n, not Riff. 

****

“Girly girl? And, yes, Riff, I had to cover you. Valentina is too sweet of a woman for you to keep stealing from her.” You reprimanded, causing Riff so smile. Has he always been this smiley? You shook the thought from your head and looked at your surroundings, “You’re not gonna try anything with me, are you?” She raised a brow, causing Riff to laugh. “Relax. I just didn’t want the old woman to hear me say what I wanna say. But, we’re here.” Riff kept walking to the edge of the park, to the river. He sat down at the edge and held a hand for you. You took his hand and sat next to him, looking out at the river. 

“So...Are you going to tell me what you wanted to say?” You queried, a teasing tone evident in your voice. Riff was staring out at the river as if you never said anything at all. You leaned forward and waved a hand in front his face, causing him to snap out of it. “Hm?” he hummed quietly, finally looking over at you. “What did you-”

You had never noticed the slight heterochromia in his eyes until now and you were at a loss for words. Riff was a magnet and you were being pulled in, fast. Riff swallowed, his eyes staring deeply into yours. “I wanted to tell you,” Your lips were almost touching at this point, but he finally finished his thought when your lips brushed, “I love you.”

Then your lips touched, and your heart soared. For the entire time you’ve known Riff, you had longed to hear those words. You kissed him deeply and leaned into him, a hand coming up to hold your cheek. Riff pulled you closer with his other hand, resting it on your waist. You were ecstatic, for so long you had acted like you hated Riff, and now you could actually show how you truly felt about him. 

Before you got too carried away though, a sudden loud whistle caused you to jump, “Ah, look at this. The Jet boy is taking our precious Y/n.” A voice said, causing your head to flick to it. “Anxious...?” You asked softly, looking at one of the Sharks, swallowing your nerves. You stood quickly, feeling Riff stand, a protective hand on your hip. You pushed the butterflies from your stomach out of your body and paid close attention to Anxious. You had no idea if he was alone. 

As comforting as you found Riff’s hand placement, clearly this angered Anxious. He stepped closer to the two of you, grabbing you by your dress. “Hands off her, asshole.” Riff said, shoving him off you. Anxious stumbled back a bit, before going head to head with Riff. He grabbed Riff and wound up for a punch. You ran to him and pulled on his arm, “It’s okay, Anxious, you don’t have to-” 

Too caught up in his own anger, he jerked his arm away and shoved you away, causing you to fly to the ground. With a whine of pain, both men’s heads snapped to you. You looked down at yourself and noticed your arm was scraped and bleeding, it dripping onto the bodice of your dress. You frowned as it was now ruined, as blood was next to impossible to remove from fabric. 

Your eyes flicked up to Riff and you had sworn you’d never seen him so angry. You were happy that it wasn’t directed at you, but you were nervous that Anxious would get beat to a pulp. Riff swung a punch directly into Anxious’s nose, causing you to flinch. “Now look at what you did!” He said, venom lacing his words. Anxious held his nose as Riff gripped his shirt and prepared to throw Anxious to the ground. 

“Riff!” You called out, standing up. Riff looked at you with sadness in his eyes and the anger in him returned at seeing the bloodstains on your dress. The dangerous fire of anger burned brightly as his eyes locked back onto Anxious. 

“Riff, no! Stop. Don’t--” You took a second to pry his hands off of the other man, “Let him go.” You kissed his temple softly and Riff tsked, “But he-” Riff tried, but you held a finger up to his lips, “Let him go.” You repeated to him. Riff sighed softly and shoved Anxious away. “I see you again, you’re fuckin’ dead. Got it?” 

Anxious spit out blood before turning around and glaring at Riff before turning t look at you. “I-” 

“Anxious, please leave while I’m still entertaining the idea of not telling Bernardo about this whole thing.” You said flatly, a brow raised and a hand waving him off. At your words, Anxious turned around and took off running.

As soon as Anxious turned around, Riff was on you in a second, examining your injuries closely. “I’m sorry princess, I shoulda killed him before he had the chance to-” You shook your head very quickly, “Violence is not the answer to everything, darling.” A light blush fanned over Riff’s face at the use of the pet name. He placed a kiss onto your forehead before nodding. “I’ll work on that, just for you.” He smiled, causing you to smile too. He leaned in to kiss you, holding your face in his hand,

“Ow.” Your sudden word of pain caused Riff to almost fly back. He had temporarily forgotten your injuries and he tsked once again. “C’mon...” Riff spoke, leading you away from the river by your uninjured arm.

Riff led you back to his home, showing you a plethora of first aid and tattered cloths you could only assume were used to wrap wounds and other injuries. “Woah...” You let out quietly, causing the boy to laugh softly. “Yeah, gang fights’ll do that to ya...” He trailed off before sitting you down next to his first aid station. “ ‘M sorry for the mess.” He mumbled before starting to get to work on cleaning you up. He looked around his room before handing you one of his spare shirts. “Do you want to change into this?” Riff asked, starting to stand. “I wouldn’t look, don’t worry.” He put his hands up as he backed up and inched closer to the door before smirking, “Unless you want me to.” he winked, causing you to blush dark. 

You took a second to think before reaching your hand forward to him, flicking your fingers to and from yourself. “Give it to me.” Riff did as you asked and turned around and leaned on the door frame, his eyes on the wall. You removed the dress and slid Riff’s shirt over your head, it draping over your underdress. “Ya decent?” He asked. You nodded, forgetting he couldn’t see you. “Yes.” You said shortly before he turned around and smiled at you. 

Riff walked back over to you and his smile only grew as he crouched again with you near his first aid, “You look good in my shirt. Maybe I’ll let you keep it.” You laughed softly, your heart swelling just a bit. Your laugh caused Riff to begin laughing too. Eventually though, your laughter died down and Riff began to frown, “Doll face, you know this is gonna hurt right?” You nodded and held your arm out to him, “It’s okay. I trust you.” You reassured Riff, smiling at him. “Gotta trust my boyfriend, don’t I?” 

Riff’s breath caught in his throat and he sputtered. His usual calm and collected personality had faltered, “Woah there, girly girl. And who said that’s who I was?” He asked quietly, his pupils growing in size. You could see the love in his eyes and you blushed before leaning forward and kissing him. 

You pulled away, much to his dismay. He leaned forward to catch your lips in his once again, leaving you to only raise a brow at him. “Okay...Okay, I say that’s who I am. Give me those cute lips again, doll.” He grinned, causing you to laugh and kiss him again. He wrapped his arms around you, pulling you impossibly close. He ran his hands up and down your body before you pulled away. “You’re getting carried away, darling.” You teased, causing him to only smile and kiss your nose before leaning back to look at your wound. “Can’t help myself with you, Y/n. You’re changin’ me, doll.” 

Another smile spread on your face, “And you’re changing me, Riff.” Riff turned your arm for further examination, “How could that asshole be so careless? I swear to ya, Y/n, the very next time I see that motherfucker, I’m really gonna-” 

“Riff?” 

“Yeah, baby doll?”

“Could ya just clean it please?” 

The two of you laughed and he nodded and finally picked up the first aid, “Okay okay, workin’ on it. Keep in mind how bad it’s gonna hurt though.” You nodded, “I know.” Riff picked up the alcohol and poured it over your open wound. 

“Ow.” You whined, a frown burning deeper onto Riff’s face. “I know baby doll, I’m sorry. Almost done.” The Jet reassured, cleaning the last bit of your injury. After wrapping up your wound, he took the dress you were wearing and walked to another part of his room, started to scrub at it. You smiled at his dedication and followed behind him. You watched him try everything he had to attempt to get the stains out. Ultimately though, he accidentally made it worse. 

“I’m sorry about your shirt.” Riff said sheepishly, frowning at the stained and soaked fabric. You sat next to him and rubbed his shoulder, kissing his temple. “It’s okay. I was going to throw it out anyways.” Riff smiled and laughed softly, 

“No you weren’t.” 

“Yeah, you’re right.” 

“That’s what I thought. Now, sit still.”

req. by @mikefaistmiamor “Hi hi can you please do a riff x reader for the prompt ‘I’m sorry about ur shirt- it’s okay I was going to throw it out anyways’”

pls give me more riff requests. love this man(’s actor) sm.

hope you enjoyed!

[izzythehutt]

Wait so you think Miguel and Johnny only view each other as Teacher/student? Interesting!

No, that's not what I said. I said that was the context in which their relationship began, and then it evolved organically from there. By the end of season 4 Johnny has literally told Miguel he wants to be a father to him (I am of the belief that calling him 'Robby' was a Freudian slip, not him literally thinking he was talking to his son, who at this point is unlikely to show up at his apartment late at night and help him to bed in a drunken state.) Miguel has said that he loves him back. They also had the conversation about Johnny as a potential future stepfather before this. Miguel would not have been so hurt by that name slip if all he saw was his teacher.

But in S1, that was absolutely what they were, which is why I find the frequent complaint "oh Johnny has prioritized Miguel over his own son the entire show" extremely grating. No, he hasn't. Teaching someone karate is not the same thing as parenting them. These are not equivalent levels of responsibility or commitment.

In a lot of ways, Johnny and Miguel starting out as teacher and student helped their relationship, because they both went in with zero expectations and were able to build from there. Miguel has no basis of comparison for male role mode, and Johnny has never taught anyone before. In his first lesson with Miguel he straight up word-for-word copies a Kreese speech. Johnny is still finding his own identity as a teacher throughout S1, and it's certainly not cuddly pseudo dad energy.

The point is that Johnny is not consciously jumping into Miguel's life to fill a "father role." When he starts teaching Miguel, Johnny doesn't even know that the dad is out of the picture. I don't think it occurs to Johnny that Miguel sees him as a surrogate father figure (which is ironic, since he confesses to Daniel that he saw Kreese as one.) I do think him learning that Miguel is being raised by his single mother helps him to relate to his 'dorky' student, but there's still some pretty clear boundaries between them. They don't hang out with each other unless it's training or recruiting for the dojo—Miguel asking his teacher for girl advice is a big step, crossing over into the "personal" territory. Johnny is uncomfortable with Miguel's mother inviting him over to dinner, he doesn't want to intrude or "bother" the family. The conversation about his history with Daniel is the first really candid chat about Johnny's past they've ever had. He has no idea his teacher even has a son in S1.

In S2, the relationship does change and deepen. Johnny begins to admit his shortcomings as a sensei and confides his desire Miguel not repeat his mistakes in karate. Miguel is hurt by the fact that Johnny never told him he had a son, not even when Miguel was fighting Robby in the tournament. Johnny confesses that his failure to be there for Robby is the biggest regret of his life and almost starts crying in front of him (a level of intimacy that makes Miguel visibly uncomfortable at first.) Miguel is still his student, though—it's just that he's now getting dating app/technology advice from the kid, too. The bond is strengthening. I love their relationship, but I would argue there's also a bit of emotional co-dependency going on. Robby refuses to pick up the phone when Johnny calls, Miguel is eager to learn from him and gives him an outlet for his dormant paternal energy, even if they aren't "labeling" it.

(Of course, when Johnny's actual son shows up on his doorstep, he is only too happy to buy him school supplies, drive him on his first day—he's eager, if awkward, about fulfilling formal, expected father duties. We see him reject Miguel's phone call in favor of continuing to speak to his son in the car before school. Presumably if the school fight hadn't happened Robby would not have moved back in with the LaRussos, he would have stayed with his dad.)

And then, of course, Miguel following his advice leads to him being critically injured by Johnny's son. The fact that Miguel and he have to navigate their relationship in a world where Miggy may never walk again, let alone do karate, cements that bond. By the end of S3, especially when his relationship with Carmen is rekindled, Johnny has begun to see Miguel as more than just a student. He loves him. It's not a formal stepson/stepfather bond yet, but that's the direction he's subconsciously moving—and then in S4 he has major roadblocks navigating it between Daniel as a rival mentor for Miguel, his baggage from his own terrible relationship with his stepfather Sid, and his biggest failure in life: the fact that his own son wants nothing to do with him.

I wrote at length about how Johnny's relationship with Miguel and Robby are parallel stories informing each other here. I think that these two relationships are the most important for him in the show (along with Daniel, of course), and they mirror each other, and certainly I can understand why the two boys in the context of the story and their developmental stage are competitive/jealous of one another...what I can't understand is people watching the show thinking there is an actual competition between them or that Johnny has "chosen" to prioritize one over the other at any point. It's such a bad-faith read of the characters and the situation. People talk about the hug outside the dojo as if it's actually a crime against one's estranged child to hug a boy the same age in the context of being their athletic coach who is proud of their progress. News flash: it's not! This show relies on misunderstandings and painful almosts/missed chances for much of its drama. They love making you sympathetic to multiple characters so you can have your heart warmed and broken in the same instant.

I see people use Kreese saying "He chose Diaz over you" to Robby or "You could have been with me and your real son" as evidence of gospel statement of truth as opposed to.....a villain clearly being emotionally manipulative by playing into perceived vulnerabilities??? Terry taunting Johnny about prom night over the phone like he's Jigsaw is not a "YASS KING dropping a truth bomb" moment, it's using Johnny's protectiveness of his son to lure him to his villain lair to ambush him.

Let me put it another way: Johnny dropping Miguel as a student just because Robby has beef with him wouldn't actually make his relationship with Robby better, it would just hurt...Miguel. These two relationships may be emotionally and thematically juxtaposed, but they aren't a binary choice. The boys relate to him in totally different ways for totally understandable reasons. PLEASE STOP PITTING THEM AGAINST EACH OTHER.

I think this fandom narrative annoys me because the entire show is built around the idea of teaching being Johnny's calling in life, his vocation. A man's job, how he earns a living, is where he derives much of his self-worth. When Johnny is told by Shannon essentially to eff off after he offers to move their son in with him, Johnny decides to focus on what he can change in the immediate with people who might be willing to allow him to help—Miguel and Carmen. Teaching karate is something a single mother might trust him to do with her kid, if being a full-time dad isn't. They aren't equivalent—it's not like Carmen would have accepted a proposal of marriage and an offer to be her kid's stepfather at that point. But him focusing on teaching was never "giving up" on being a dad, in my mind. He steps back and gives Robby and Shannon the space that he believes they both want and tries to focus his energy on getting his life back on track so that he will be in a better position to try again with his son (which we see him do...several times throughout the show, frequently waylaid by the hand of fate/his own demons/soapy shenanigans.) Teaching isn't something he does instead of being a dad, it's something he's doing to become a better person in general.

TL;DR: Miguel accidentally fell in karate dad love with Johnny, it wasn't some elaborate plot to ruin Robby's life or replace him as favorite Lawrence son.

[walviemort]

Fairy Godfather, part 2

Summary: The fairies have asked a monumental favor of Killian: be the surrogate for their babies—all nine of them. He’s been pregnant before, but this? This is a whole other level. What has he gotten himself into? And just how big will he get?

A/N: Another update! This is kind of consuming me so you’ll be getting these pretty often, I hope! thanks to @sancocnutclub for all her encouragement ;)

rated T / 2.2k words / part 1 / AO3

He didn’t wake until mid morning the next day, and was still fairly fatigued, but otherwise felt alright—just a bit tender about the middle. 

A shower helped dissolve most of the lingering soreness, and he took some time in front of the mirror to look for any changes. 

Given that his stomach had never returned to its previous hardened state, it was hard to notice any discernible change in shape, but when he poked around, there was definitely a rounded area that hadn’t been there before. 

He also took a moment to memorize his body as it was; it wouldn’t be long before the babes made their presence visibly known, and the changes that happened while pregnant with Hope were still fresh in his mind. He was both glad that Belle was keeping track of his stats, and already dreading it. 

But she was probably waiting for him, so he needed to get a move on—and something to eat; he was starting to feel peckish, but couldn’t tell whether or not it was more than usual. 

His normal jeans still fit comfortably, albeit a hair snug. It wouldn’t last long, but he’d relish it while it did. At least his shirts would last longer; he’d found a new appreciation for the forgiving cotton knits of this realm in his second trimester. 

Emma was already at the station when he got downstairs, but she’d left behind plenty of pancakes, and he ate a few more than normal; he wasn’t sure how to interpret that. 

Before heading to the library, he went to pick up Hope from her sleepover with her grandparents. David greeted him at the door, with tiny Ruth asleep on his chest.

“So, how’d it go?” he asked, hardly able to keep his eyes away from Killian’s midsection.

“Fine, as far as I could tell. Weird, but fine.”

“Did it hurt?”

“No, thankfully, but I’m sure there will be plenty of aches and pains later.”

David winced. “Man, am I glad they asked you and not me. This one was enough,” he said, patting Ruth’s back gently.

“I don’t disagree, but…”

“But you feel like you owe them,” David finished. 

“Aye.”

“Well, I think it’ll be the other way around by the end of this, but we’ll help you out as much as we can.”

“I appreciate it—and I’m sure we’ll need it with this one,” he replied, nodding at Hope, who was attempting to escape out a window.

She was easily wrangled, though, and happy to see him. He had no idea what fairy infants were like, but if they were half as charming as his daughter (who definitely took after her grandfather), this whole town would revolve around them.

As he thought, Belle was waiting for him, tape measure in hand. “Seriously?” he griped as he set Hope down next to Gideon in the playpen behind the circulation desk.

“You can’t possibly be surprised,” she threw back. “But if it’s any consolation, I won’t do it again until next week.”

“You only did it monthly last time around.”

“You were only carrying one babe.”

He sighed. “Fine.”

Though his waist measurement remained unchanged, his weight was slightly higher (more than could be expected by a few extra pancakes). “I can feel it,” he confirmed when she asked. “There’s definitely something in there, though I only notice it if I go looking for it.”

Belle made a note and then flipped back and forth between some pages. “That matches up with when you found out you were expecting Hope; so do your measurements, and that was, what 8 weeks?”

“Yeah, thereabouts.”

“Second pregnancies do show sooner, too.”

“Especially this one,” he grumbled. 

“Oh yeah,” she agreed.

The day continued normally, although his hand did gravitate to his stomach pretty often, without thinking about it. Even if it wasn’t noticeable, he still knew what was there, and his subconscious seemed to have already set out to protect it—that, or his hormones were already starting to affect him. 

Based on his reaction when Emma arrived that afternoon—particularly to his train of thought when she bent down to pick up a napping Hope—it was definitely hormones. His jeans felt a very different kind of tight then; something he acted on later that night, after a slightly larger than usual dinner. 

“Those hormones kicked in fast,” a sated Emma breathed as they came down from their shared high. “You haven’t been that voracious since we found out we were having a girl.”

“Are you complaining?” he panted. 

“Absolutely not.”

“Good.” And they went for another round. 

In fact, he was so insatiable the next couple of weeks that, despite his elevated appetite, no other discernible change in his weight was noticed; his waist actually went down a bit.

“Are you feeling alright? Keeping food down and everything?” Belle asked, worried, as she recorded his 2-week measurements, comparing them to his 10-week from his first pregnancy. “Last time, you couldn’t eat more than chicken rice about now.”

“Trust me—I feel more than fine,” he assured her. “Were it not for Emma’s implanted contraception, we’d likely need to be planning for a more traditional pregnancy.”

“That’s a very eloquent way of saying you can’t keep your hands off your wife.”

“I could have phrased it crudely—how many synonyms for ‘sex’ did you want Gideon to learn today?”

“None!” she exclaimed, covering her son’s impressionable ears. He was at the age when he repeated anything said around him—a fact they noticed when Gideon’s favorite phrase became “bloody hell.”

“What are uncles for, though?” he teased with a wink. 

Belle just groaned and threatened to teach Hope how to read with romance novels. Killian, however, was just glad she slept through the night so she didn’t interrupt the real thing. 

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

Where there had been some hubbub about town during Killian’s first pregnancy—and quite a lot of gawking—no one seemed as shocked this time around. They’d made no effort to keep it a secret, letting the Storybrooke rumor mill do its job, but either the town was more aware than Killian had been about fairy reproduction, or they had become jaded to such magical oddities (he assumed the latter).

That said—he had to assume the gawking would eventually return. 

Especially with the way Granny was feeding him. To be fair, she wasn’t letting him overindulge, but he’d noticed his portions were larger, and the amount of vegetables increased. He wondered if Blue had given her some nutritional instruction, or if it was just her innate grandmotherly instincts. 

The first time she slid an extra helping of broccoli over, he tried to protest, delicious as it looked. 

“Oh no—eat up, young man,” she commanded. “If my math is right, you’re eating for 10. I should probably be feeding you more, actually.”

Emma snickered next to him—they were on lunch break from the station—but he wasn’t sure if it was at Granny’s tutting or the fact that Killian had just realized the magnitude of…well, all of it. 

So when Granny slid some extra onion rings across the counter, he didn’t complain (but obviously shared them with his wife).

He wanted to blame it on those extra treats—onion rings, fries, pie, muffins—when they noticed an expansion in his waist measurement at 3 weeks, but it was definitely the babes; he could still wear his normal jeans, but was seeing some rounding behind his navel. 

And at 4 weeks—a month since the babes were transferred—it could finally be deemed a bump: there was a gentle curve to his whole stomach, from just under his pecs to his hips (which had been aching a bit as they widened some, likely in anticipation of the heavy load to come). Given the way he and Emma’s evening activities hadn’t slowed, he knew it was all the babies. 

Belle hummed as she compared the notes she’d just taken with those from last time. “Well, that’s interesting,” she commented.

“What is?” Emma asked; she’d joined them for that week’s check in, curious to see where things were.

“This week’s measurements match up with those from the end of the first trimester last time, which I suppose isn’t a huge surprise, but…”

“But I have a lot more to go than two trimesters,” he finished.

All eyes were on his stomach for a long while after that, likely all wondering the same thing: just how large would he get?

The only thing that took their attention away was the ringing of the bell over the door as someone arrived—Blue, it turned out. “Hi,” she greeted, clearly trying to be casual. “Just wanted to stop by and see how things were going.”

He wasn’t naive enough to believe she’d stay away from him for the duration of the pregnancy, although he had expected more subtle surveillance.

They chatted briefly about how he was feeling, and she studied his stomach with an outstretched hand, he assumed to do her own magical assessment. “Yes, they seem to be doing quite well; that’s good.”

“Did you think they weren’t?” Emma quipped.

“No, of course not,” Blue assured her. “Would it be odd to express my excitement?”

Well, they all understood that. “How long has it been since your last brood?” Belle had to ask.

“Over fifty years,” Blue answered. “They’re usually every five to ten, depending on the solstice.”

“And when you don’t have a series of curses in the way,” Emma added.

Blue glanced over Belle’s notes with interest. “That does seem to match up with past broods, though I don’t think anyone ever thought to take such detailed notes.”

“Are there any?” Belle asked. “I don’t have anything here, but if you had some back at the convent, it’d be great for comparison.”

“I’d have to check our library,” Blue answered. “There might be a few scrolls, but we’re not much for recorded history.”

“I can tell,” Belle complained.

After some more chatting, Blue excused herself, but did ask if it was alright if she checked in periodically.

“Of course,” Killian said. “It’s your brood. Plus, I’m certain we’ll need to take you up on the offer of help sooner rather than later, if this is where I’m already at after only 4 weeks,” he added, gesturing to his still-small bump.

“Absolutely,” Blue said. “Oh! I almost forgot.” She pulled her wand out of nowhere and twirled it at Killian’s midsection. His skin grew warm for a moment, but then returned to normal. “I’m not sure if the original spell will account for the size, as far as how it treats your skin; that should eliminate any damage.”

“No stretch marks?” he wondered.

“No—not any new ones, at least.”

“Oh, thank goodness.”

She then left as quickly as she appeared.

“Guess that’s something we’ll have to get used to,” he sighed, and then they went about their day. But he was starting to grow very concerned about what lay ahead for him; he knew this wouldn’t be a small feat, but was worried it would be more than he could handle.

As time progressed, his bump steadily grew, though not unnaturally so. At 5 weeks, it was yet more noticeable; at 6, he finally had to concede defeat and dig out his maternity jeans, though they were still plenty roomy. By the end of the second month, he wasn’t quite where he’d been at the end of his second trimester, but it was definitely a baby bump—roughly where he’d been around 24 weeks with Hope, even though he was only at 8 with this one.

It was around then, though, that he noticed the first flutterings inside. He thought he’d noticed it the week before, but chalked it up to gas or something like that; Granny had been feeding him a lot of black beans lately. But late one night, after yet another glorious session of lovemaking, Emma’s hand had drifted to his belly and even she took notice.

“Wow, they’re actually starting to move in there, huh?”

“Seems like it. You don’t suppose they actually have wings already, do they?”

“Normal babies hardly have limbs at this stage, so probably not.”

They lay peacefully in the afterglow for a bit, before he asked quietly, “You are okay with this, right?”

It wasn’t the first time he’d ask, nor was it likely to be the last. But it was a large undertaking and though she hadn’t exactly protested, he knew it wasn’t something she’d have volunteered for.

“For the hundredth time, yes. Even if this was partly fueled by guilt, I know you probably would have agreed anyway, and that big heart is why I love you so much. And can I say something else?”

“What’s that, love?”

“I was so attracted to you with that baby bump last time, even when you thought you were massive. So as long as your libido holds out, I think we’re both going to be very happy.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Mm, I think I might need some convincing.”

“Then let me show you.” And oh, she did.

Gods, he prayed he’d be able to do that for a while. The next several months were going to be very interesting.

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thanks for reading! tagging @wyntereyez @jennjenn615 @superadam54 @ashley-knightingale @justsomewhump @teamhook @88infinity88​ (let me know if you want a tag!)

[yesimwriting]

Anastasia (prologue)

A/n ive been talking about my Anastasia x SOC story for awhile and im finally ready to post the prequel,, ive also been working on some requests and thinking about my next multi-part fic (ive made some posts about it lol)

things to know before reading: i tend to like to make up my own countries when writing these type of politically/plot driven fics that revolve around a royal family bc i think it makes it not only easier to write but less confusing bc it takes out the issue of potentially conflicting with canon, so i made up the country ‘Anastasia’ is from,, this also follows the musical Anastasia a little more bc i feel like that version of the story is more mature and easier to write for SOC (the only difference is that not everyone is happy that Anastasia is alive and someone tries to kill her bc they hate the royal family)

Series Summary: y/n makes an unconventional deal with Kaz to save the life of her best friend. No one’s ever made a deal with the infamous Dirtyhands that resulted in them shedding the title of orphan from a revolution-torn country that can’t remember her life before the orphanage and taking on the title of Princess Anastasia. As time progresses, things are made more complicated as y/n has to deal with royals, revolutionaries, a grisha general who has a lot to gain from an alliance with a princess that doesn’t know what she’s doing, and potential feelings for a conflicted Kaz Brekker that has more to do with Anastasia’s disappearance than he’s ever admitted. 

--

The world seems to be made up impossible things. Each day, people defy odds, strangers fall in love, the universe expands, and the Saints watch it all. I am not the kind of person to sneer at a miracle, to try to explain it away instead of acknowledging it for what it is. 

But what this stranger is proposing is laughable. 

I lean more into the chair, doing all I can to get away from the desk that he sits at. A nervous kind of giggle threatens to escape me, a laugh at the expense of the foolishness of the situation. If his demeanor was any less brooding, I would have already laughed at the irony. Kaz Brekker, the Dirtyhands, creating a ploy so colored by the fairytale notions of dreamers.

The longer I go without reacting, the worse this situation becomes. I haven’t seen Verne since Brekker and his people separated us. I can see the world of torment my eldest friend must be experiencing at this very moment while I sit at this desk. 

“Me?” I’m the most ridiculous part of his plan. He said the only reason me and my partner are still alive is because I fit the general description of the kind of person he needs, and if I’m blackmailed into it he won’t need to waste kruge paying me. “A princess?” 

He blinks, as uninterested and stoic as he’s been since he first ordered me into his office. “A pretend one,” his correction feels like a slight, “a surrogate one.” 

My eyebrows furrow together. “But what--I know the odds of the real Anastasia coming back are beyond slim, but if we’re caught in a lie the Dowager Duchess of Avila will have all of us killed. She may be in Ravka now, and her title nothing more than decorative due to the revolution, but she still has people loyal to her.” 

“Anastasia can’t come back.” The graveness of his voice is so certain a part of me has to wonder if he could have anything to do with her death. I dismiss the thought almost immediately, I don’t know his exact age, but he doesn’t look much older than me. He couldn’t have been more than two or three years older than Anastasia when she died, and she was a child at the time. “No one remains missing that long unless they’re dead.” 

I awkwardly scratch the back of my wrist, “You’re the expert here.” No--I did not just say that out loud. “Sorry--I didn’t mean to say that out loud. Not that thinking it makes it any better, but at least then you wouldn’t know and I’d seem like less of an idiot and I wouldn’t be talking about it right now, and just rambling at a really inconvenient time for me to just...” I cringe slightly, opting to stare at his desk instead of meeting his judgmental gaze. “Sorry, again. Normally Verne is here, and he just kicks me in the shin or something to shut me up.” 

“If you’d like to see what apparently is your only source of impulse control alive and in decent enough condition to kick anything ever again, you’ll agree to what I’m proposing.” 

I straighten my posture slightly, nerves and guilt twisting in my stomach. “I’m going to be as transparent as physically possible.” The warning is for both of us, the urge to hide all my weaknesses bubbling in my chest. “Mr. Brekker.” That’s awkward--what am I supposed to call him? “I’m a university student that’s only in Ketterdam because of an academic scholarship. I’m from somewhere average--I’m not from a place nice enough to give me the manners I’d need to pass as a girl who spent her fundamental years growing up in luxury and I’m not from a place grimy enough to make me a quick enough liar to make up for what I don’t know.” I inhale slowly, ignoring the sting of the flaws I laid out for a cruel stranger. “I’m not particularly graceful or sly or talented in any field that someone like you would value. The closest thing I have to talent involves things that can be tracked on paper. I wasn’t even supposed to be here tonight, I was just doing a friend a favor.” 

“You claim that you’re not a decent liar or a thief and yet your closest friend is one who believed himself talented enough to challenge me?” 

I resist the urge to shrink back into my seat. “This is Ketterdam, you try finding someone that doesn’t dabble in crime and ambition.” He does’t reply to my retort, which I think means I won. “Cards on the table, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to save Verne, but you don’t want me for something like this.” 

He pauses, jaw locked and eyes too stony for me to interpret. “Every flaw you just pointed out, every reason you think makes you unfit for this job, is exactly the reason I’m offering you this.” I keep a thousand questions to myself as I wait for him to continue. “Those used to lying lack the warmth that will be needed to sell this. The Dowager Duchess is a grandmother first when it comes to Anastasia, that’s why she’s offering so much gold. She, and the rest of the royals that desire to know what happened to Anastasia, want to believe the story I’m telling. If you present yourself as someone real and warm and you understand table manners enough to not disturb the serene picture they want, they’ll squint at ugly details until they disappear.” 

Wow. I know that he’s intelligent, but what he’s constructing is so much more bullet proof than I thought it’d be. “I’ll admit you’ve constructed an airtight narrative.” 

I know my approval means nothing to him, but it’s the most agreeable I’m willing to be. “A narrative the background you told me of fits perfectly.” I shouldn’t have answered all those questions he asked me earlier so honestly. “A child born in Avila who was sent to a Kerch orphanage due to a war-relief effort during the revolution. A faceless orphan who was found during the height of the revolution with no memory of anything before the morning she woke up in a hospital cot.” 

I say nothing. My skin burns in protest of someone knowing so much about me. He must take my silence as a sign of me teetering the line away from what he wants, because he then says, “your friend is fortunate, if things aligned a little less perfectly he’d be dead already.” 

Dead already. The words elate my heart in a way that pinches. He’s still alive. Verne is alive. “If I agree, you let me see him and then you let him go.” 

“If you need a contract to believe me, I can have that arranged.” The words have an almost mocking edge. I guess it’d be a little ridiculous to get an official contract drawn up for something so small. “If you at any point change your mind, I’ll do the same.” 

The threat is clear. I back out and Verne pays for it in blood. Verne’s safety is once again in my hand. This situation is much more precarious than Kaz Brekker wants it to seem. “You need me to do something that will literally last the rest of my life. Tiaras aren’t something you can slip in and out of.” 

“Yes, I’m forcing you to give up a life in the slums for a palace for your friend’s life. This must be a difficult choice for you.” 

I look down to avoid rolling my eyes. “It’s still permanent, and it’s large because at any point I could reveal the truth and take you down with me.” 

“Remember who you speak to.” His voice has turned to pure darkness. 

Don’t wince. Don’t wince. Don’t wince. “All I’m saying is that you’ve offered Verne’s life to buy my cooperation, but you have yet to mention the cost of my silence.”

His expression is sharp enough to draw blood. “The Dowager Duchess is old and sick, wait at most two years and you’ll have more gold than you could ever spend. The revolution took that family’s power, not the wealth the Duchess took with her to Ravka the night of the massacre.” 

I shift awkwardly. “I’m not trying to get kruge from you for me.” I fold my hands neatly on my lap to avoid fidgeting. “Verne--he’s beyond desperate for kruge, that’s why he risked angering you.” The urge to shy away threatens to break my resolve. I think of all the times Verne has saved me. “Let him keep what he tried to take.” The request is awkward from my lips. I’m asking for more when I should should be grateful any type of mercy came from him. Any type of offer. “Half. Let him keep half.” 

He’s silent for a long moment, weighing the implications of loss. “You’re already entitled enough to pass for royalty.” I don’t let myself shrink. “Deal, but not because you threatened me--try that again and you’ll find yourself wishing you had never left the orphanage you came from.” The relief is practically crushing. Verne is going to be okay. He’s going to live and my resistance earned him enough kruge to have a week or two without worry as he plans what he’ll do in my absence. “You better be as good a study as you made yourself seem to be.” 

I don’t understand the second threat. “Studying?” 

“You didn’t think you could wander into the Dowager Duchess’s home, use the excuse of amnesia to explain why you don’t even know your own mother’s name, and expect them to think you more than an Avilan orphan with a desire for wealth.” 

“I actually don’t know my own mother’s name because of amnesia.” 

He’s in no mood to be contradicted, glowering sharply, “not anymore, anything that doesn’t fit the narrative I’m constructing is no longer true.” He straightens slightly as he begins to pace away from me. “You’ll have five minutes with your friend and then we’ll see where your table manners are at. I know someone who knows enough to correct you.” 

I try to picture where someone like him would meet someone that knows about etiquette. My mind provides nothing useful, but it doesn’t matter--I’ve agreed. It can’t be undone, not without having the blood of my dearest friend on my hands. 

[delicioussshame]

Posting next part of sugar AU before going to bed; we’ll see if I still hate it tomorrow.

Luo Binghe had always hoped for this, had always known he’d have it some day, but all his waiting couldn’t prepare him for how happy having Shen-laoshi makes him.

It does make his mornings even harder. He had grown to resent Shen-laoshi’s tendency to rise late, but now that waking him up with wandering hands or a ravenous mouth could be on the table, it’s even worse. Luo Binghe would love to start his day with the taste of Shen Yuan lingering in his mouth and his moans fresh in his mind. Sadly, Shen Yuan doesn’t quite approve. The one time Luo Binghe tried, Shen Yuan had barely managed to keep his eyes open for a few seconds before falling back to sleep. Really, how had he managed to go to work like this?

By suffering from chronic lack of sleep. The lifestyle definitely hadn’t suited him. His current situation is just so much better in every way. Luo Binghe will certainly relish watching students return to class, knowing his laoshi won’t be accompanying them.

Not for now, at least. He’s not quite sure what Shen Yuan is planning for his own future. He doesn’t think his teacher has accepted him fully yet. Shen-laoshi is probably still thinking things through, considering whether to look for another job or returning to school.

Since Luo Binghe himself now has Shen Yuan in his house, in his bed and away from the high school he refuses to call his, he finds himself willing to be patient on this particular aspect. He will, instead, focus his campaign on another, probably more delicate, front. “The literature division is holding its executive retreat in two weeks. I’m expected to show up for a formal dinner.”

Shen Yuan lifts his eyes from the book he’s reading and winces. “I’m sorry Binghe has to deal with this.”

Shen-laoshi, thank you for the hook. “It would be much easier if Shen-laoshi were to accompany me.”

“No it wouldn’t. The pain of trying to explain away my presence would far outweigh its benefits.”

“What is there to explain? Executives are allowed to bring their significant other. So would I.”

Shen Yuan returns to his book. “Very funny.”

There is nothing funny with his request? “How is it funny?”

“Like Binghe could introduce me as his significant other.”

“Why not?”

Shen Yuan puts the book down on the table and gives him an incredulous look. “Do you want to tear your reputation to shreds? I don’t have anything against you being attracted to men, but I’m not the majority. It will hurt your business, and by extension, your employees’ livelihood. Not to mention any chance of me working in education ever again. It’s unfair, I know, but Binghe cannot make his preference public.”

Luo Binghe blinks, confused. “I don’t care about any of this? My first priority will always be Laoshi. Why would I care about how he affects the conglomerate? As long as it still generates enough money to support Shen-laoshi as he should be supported, which it will, even a huge hit would still leave me with more money than anyone would ever need, I don’t care what happens to it.”

“Binghe, you’d be the front page of every magazine, every website, every news show. Your life would be exposed to the public, every single moment scrutinised and published for all to see. So would mine, and that’s if someone doesn’t get into their head that I must have abused you when you were a minor, in which case I could be jailed. It’s not a question of caring. You cannot do this.”

“Shen-laoshi would never have taken advantage of me! He couldn’t even tell I had a crush on him!” No one would ever believe something this ridiculous!

“That doesn’t matter. Binghe, I gave you a lot of attention. You remained after class so many times I cannot remember all of them. Everyone knew you were my favorite student. Look at it from the outside. How could you explain you, stunningly handsome and just as rich, choosing me, a no-name teacher with neither of those qualities, beside the fact that I groomed you? At best, I’ll be labelled a pervert and a degenerate. You can’t tell anyone you don’t trust. You’d be ruining your life.”

Luo Binghe had always known that their marriage might not ever be recognised. He had been fine with going abroad to get married, and had already set up a few shell corporations to finance legal challenges to the current definition of marriage, but he knew the chances of those challenges succeeding were slim.

In the end, it didn’t really matter. The commitment did. He had lawyers ready to set up the legal situation as close to marriage as it could be as soon as Shen Yuan agreed to it.

He’d never considered he would have to keep their relationship private, especially not forever. He has nothing to be ashamed of. If anything, he wants to brag! Who wouldn’t be jealous of him?

But if it’s going to make his laoshi’s life this much harder, to the point that prison was a possibility…

The prospect is too terrifying to contemplate. “We can move.”

“I’m sorry?”

That’s a good idea! “If we live elsewhere, somewhere where it’s not an issue, it wouldn’t matter as much!” And it’s not like another country would care that Shen-Yuan used to be his teacher! How would they know?

“And you would manage your inherited, incredibly complex conglomerate from there? Your board is going to love this.”

“And I should care because?”

“This is ridiculous. Binghe needs to think those things through instead of living in a fantasy where everything works out perfectly! He needs to think about his position before he jeopardises it! And he needs to think about his legacy before throwing everything away for a man! Don’t you want children?”

“If Laoshi wants some, we can adopt or arrange for a surrogate. It’s not an issue.” He bets Shen-laoshi’s children would be adorable. Luo Binghe would never leave them alone.

“Your fellow socialites would never accept it!”

This is really quite a pointless fight. “Again, I could not care less. I’ve never wanted their approval, and I don’t need it. The only approval I’ve ever wanted is yours. You must have felt something similar, since you gave this world up to work the job you wanted.”

“It’s not the same thing! I didn’t, nor would I ever have, your status! I wasn’t even my parents’ heir! I have three other siblings! They didn’t need me around. Your corporation has no one but you to rely on.”

“It’s just a corporation. If it bothers you so much, I could easily sell all my shares, step down from my post and live off the wealth for the rest of our life.” It would have the advantage of leaving him with nothing but time to take care of his laoshi.

It would also feel like failure. He worked so hard to make himself into the kind of man his laoshi could be proud of, the result of his constant efforts. Giving it all up would leave a bad taste in his mouth.

He would still do it in a heartbeat if his laoshi requested it of him.

“That’s not what I…” Shen Yuan rises from the couch, walking around the room hurriedly. “I think I’ll never understand why you do what you do. Surely I’m not worth it. My family certainly wouldn’t think so.”

He wouldn’t say it, because he knows it wouldn’t go down well, but one of the reasons Luo Binghe had looked forward to going public had been to rub in said family’s face their abandoned son’s success.

Now, he just wants to do it more. “For myself, I’ll never understand why Shen-laoshi cannot see his own worth when it’s so evident to me.”

Shen Yuan stops, a barely visible embarrassed flush on his face that instantly distracts Luo Binghe from this unpleasant conversation. “Binghe can’t say things like that just to change the subject.”

He snorts. “I wasn’t. It’s just true. Maybe if I keep telling Shen-laoshi what a wonderful person he is, he will start believing it.”

He sees Shen Yuan shutting up as he grows more embarrassed.

Luo Binghe goes to pull him into his arms. “I just want Shen-laoshi to be happy. If he wants to remain private, that’s what we’ll do. Just give me some time to figure it out.” It’s not what he wanted, but it can’t all be what he wants all the time, can it? If anything, it might be a good sign. Shen Yuan barely implied the situation was his fault, and didn’t offer to leave to take care of it.

Shen-laoshi appears to melt into his embrace, hiding his face into his neck.

Luo Binghe still hasn’t developed a resistance to Shen-laoshi showing him any form of vulnerability or affection, not that he thinks he ever will. He discards the conversation for now in favor of returning said affection in the way he’s still getting used to.

[popculturebuffet]

Lilo and Stitch Crossover Arc: “Rufus” (Kim Possible) Better and Worse (Paid for by WeirdKev27)

Aloha all you happy people! It’s back to Kauai for the third of my look at LIlo and Stitch’s crossover episodes! This retrospective was made possible by WeirdKev27, who had the idea for it and paid for me to review these episodes. You too can buy reviews for only 5 bucks a pop. Just go to my ask, Direct Messages or discord.

Now with my plugging out of the way, this one, out of all four is the one I looked forward to the most, and out of the four shows in this crossoverathon to make the trip to the Kauai, this one is hands down my faviorite. 

Kim Possible was just damn good and having rewatched a handful of episodes and the movie (Easily one of my faviorite Disney movies and the best DCOM, I will not back down on either), I can say it holds up every bit as good as it did in the early 2000′s. Frankly like Danny Phantom i’m surprised I never thought to get to it till now. But no time like the present: The show proper is a fun super spy sendup, but still feels unique: Instead of i’ts Teen Superspy working for some knockoff of MI6 or S.H.I.E.L.D., Kim is self employed, simply helping people because it’s the right thign to do and not for any reward with the help of her bumbling  but loveable sidekick and future boyfriend Ron, though the romance angle wasn’t overplayed with the two, just hinted at here and there, enough to make it plausable for Ron to realize he has feelings in the movie and for Kim to return them and frankly it’s probably the best handled “Friends to lovers’ plot i’ve seen in a children’s cartoon. I”ll get more into that if I hit my stretch goal for it on patreon, more on that at the end of the review, but while it has no baring on this review I still felt it worth noting as that trope is NOT easy to pull off.

Point is, the show was smart, funny, engaging and had two great characters, a tremendously talented voice cast, and more anchoring it. It was a treasured part of my adolsence. It also had one of the only succesful “Save our show” campagins from fans i’ve ever seen. Despite So The Drama having been written as a finale and having reached Disney’s episode count, fan demand for a fourth season was so incredibly high we got one and it’s to this day one of the very few Disney shows to live past three seasons as a result. The show is in full on Disney Plus, along with the movie, which I HIGHLY recommend and hope I get to talk about, and the recent live action remake movie which .. is not bad. Not GREAT but the leads do make a good kim and ron, paticuarlly my boy Sean Gambone as Ron, and for a live action remake it really does get the spirit of the show. 

But obviously we’re not here to talk about the show proper, though I REALLY want to now, but instead it’s crossover. So far the crossovers for Lilo and Stitch have been, much like said live action remake, OKAY, but nothing amazing, often shoving in sideplots related to Lilo and Stitch proper we didn’t need, forced morals and not really having a good amount of character intraction. The good news is this crossover DOES fix a lot of that.. the bad is that it also has some new problems, and still falls into some of the same traps the other episodes have. See what I mean with the full review under the cut!

We open at night, with Lilo and Stitch playing hide and seek. Adorably though Sttich dosen’t quite get the hang of it and proudly announces where he is. However things are quickly interupted when he’s kidnaped by a mystery ship out of the blue. It’s a good hook to start with, leaving us wondering who it could be...

And thus, if you hadn’t gone into this episode knwoing it was a crossover, giving us a hell of a reveal with a cut to Dr. Drakken being the one to kidnap stitch!

Look I love this Doofus. He’s easily one of John DiMaggio’s best roles, up there with Jake and Bender, and the one along with Bender that cemented his career. as one of voice acting’s finest. He’s just so loveably incompetent, over the top and quick to bicker with Sheego, which leads to some of the funneist moments in his home series as she’d either skewer him good or he’d shove his boot in his mouth and help her point instead of his own. He’s just such a great character and he not only fits neatly into Lilo and Stitch’s world, but the writers clearly get him perfectly. We get a hilarious bit where, fed up with Hamsterviel, who he’s teamed up with, he simply fakes the radio going out, adjusting the dials purposfully to make it come in buggy something I GUARANTEE he put in for SHeego and I gurantee she saw right through. His plan is to create a clone army of Stiches.. meaning Hamsterviel’s big evil plan.. is a copy of someone else’s.

Lilo goes to Jumb and Pleakly, the latter of whom has been collecting magazines adorably. Lilo plans to go after Stitch but Jumba says she can’t go on dangerous missions without him and to get a professional and this part.. does not work for me. Most of the time Jumba ENABLES Lilo’s behaviors and while not wanting an 8 year old to run out into the night is a good call, he also suggests getting help.. instead of you know GOING WITH HER WHEN IT’S LIGHT. It sounds more like Nani’s idea... it fits her more to not want Lilo to run out and to want to get help versus Jumba whose admant about keeping secrecy yet very lax on things, and you know would BE concerned that his prized creation was suddenly stolen and actually think about it. He’s just so horribly out of character it hurts. 

And Nani’s absence really hurts the episode. See the last two, as much as I missed the lovely and talented Tia Carrere’s presence, didn’t really need her, though still could’ve included her: she could’ve made a cameo at the start since Lilo was there to visit her and she woul’dve made a better target for Spats than trudy, with Oscar fighting Jumba instead, allowing us some crossover interactions instead of having Jumba argue with a random asshole the episode wrote in. But it’s minor stuff. Here though? Her being the one to tell Lilo not to go would’ve made more sense: She’s protective by nature, and while she’s let go more since the movie, it’d make sense for her NOT to want Lilo to blindly chase after someone who beat stitch of all beings, as well as for her ot be the one to later tell Kim not to let lilo be involved. It’d be stronger coming from her sister and surrogate mother than Pleakly and it would’ve been a better arc to have Nani let Lilo off the leash so to speak and accept she needed to save kim. Instead she’s just gone for no reason and Jumba is grosly out of character and i’m disapointed. 

That said the setup is the best and most intergrated so far: Pleakly sees an article about kim so he reaches out to her via a message on her site, while Lilo is stubborn about not being help.. obnoxiously so to the point it hurts the episode. While her being inscure about someone else saving Sttich would be fine, the episode never adresses that and instead just has her say she can because shut pu instead of accepting help. The episode would’ve flowed better if instead she accepted kim but Nani had Kim push her away, and thus create more problems. More on that in a bit. 

But as I said this setup is great: it uses BOTH shows for once isntead of feeling like the first two, and honestly the next one judging by the blurb on the wiki, where its just “Hey x character visits Kauai”, here it blends both: The two main villians team up, and Kim is logically called for help since that’s what she does and they don’t want to risk lilo’s saftey. It’s good stuff. 

So our other heroes enter the episode, on a ritzy jet as Kim’s dad had an old college friend with an airline. I admit the episode weirdly downplays Kim’s penchant for getting rides, getting a helicopter that appears to be a touring one and getting this one via her dad instead of the usual person who owes her a favor. IT was a neat part of her character: that she got help from people she already helped on adventure’s we hadn’t seen to establish she can’t drive herself yet and to show she’s an experinced heroine with a lot of history before the show started. I also like how a handful of episodes after season 1 had returns from people we HAD seen before or linked to them, a clever way of having callbacks. 

It’s simple stuff Kim is ready for the wrold saving mision and ron hopes to get a vacation in. Nothing too out of the ordinary. 

So the next day Lilo tries to go it solo but is spotted before she can leave, while Pleakly has built a.. photo colloage of Kim’s face on the wall...

... no wait i’m getting paid for this. Nevermind. 

It is funny as it is unsettling though and Kim arrives and Pleakly faints.. Ron also arrives doing fake kung fu moves. This episode gets ron about half right... they overdo it a bit on the shenanigans, but Will Freidle’s natural charm and talent mean that even standard ron bits coughed up by a cat onto a page and used for this script still work simply because he’s that good at delivery. 

We also get the who’s on first bit you all knew was coming as Kim asking what’s the Sitch confuses lilo and i’ts .. pretty funny. Again you could see it coming from a mile away, but Daveigh Chase and Christy Carlson Ramano really sell the hell out of it and we get a nice runner after of Kim misprouncing his name and trying NOT to say her usual catchphrase. 

She also gets filled in on the alien thing... and while she admits i’ts a lot to swallow, she also admits she’s seen weirder. And given this episode would, by airdate (ignoring the one for So the Drama as that aired before the last batch of season 3 episodes but continuity wise takes place between seasons 3 and 4), take place around the same time as the season 3 intended finale “Team Impossible”, by this point she’s seen vengeful fishteens mutated by a horrifying summer camp, a rogue gentecist who basis her crimes against nature on a beanie baby knockoff, magical monkey based kung fu, a magican egyptian amulet, killer robot’s resembling teenage girls, a body swap episode, a plan using a barcode to destroy the internet, an attack on canada, a giant poodle, a complicated time travel plot, a trucker with a mullet, her sidekick getting turned into a surprisingly competent supervillian, and draken’s plan to use his rap career to promote brainwashing shampoo. And that’s just a handful of the things I was reminded of on the episode list. So yeah, this isn’t THAT much of a stretch. Oh and lest you think Kim never encountered aliens the series finale was an alien invasion by aliens Draken had pissed off earlier in the season. Suprised Lilo didn’t you know have Stitch and the family army pitch in. Maybe Leory and Stitch was going on at the same time? 

Point is she’s in but goes with Pleakly in trying to keep Lilo out of it. And here’s yet another place the episode missteps: Kim’s REALLY patronizing to Lilo, treating her like she can’t do anything and later ignoring her advice when she brings up the current later, something that ends up getting Kim caught. The latter part especially bugs me since Kim normally listens to her clients pretty well, and had she doubted him could’ve at least asked Waid since she contacts him in the same scene. Speaking of which THAT’S why I feel her patronizing “not now kiddo” atittude dosen’t work: her spy master IS a child, her brothers have helped out multiple times, and the incident I mentioned from where she met her younger cousin who idolized her at an old west town was understandable: Her cousin was getting into dangerous stuff and throwing herself out there recklessly with no regards to her own saftey and impeding the mission with her well meant antics. Lilo.. knows who their looking for, knows the island well, and knows stitch’s weaknesses. And she goes from being annoyingly hostlile to kim to helpful, so it makes kim even more obnoxious for not accepting said help. It’s just.. draining as when this part of the plot ISN’T in play, Kim is fine. She’s her usual self.. not AS well written as the parent show, a bit too reliant on her catchphrases, but still not half bad and Christy Carlson Romanao, like Fredle helps paper over the weaker bits of the script.  She’s not even out of character in her actions, as she does have a tendency to think she knows everything or undereistmate people.. the problem is it’s written poorly enough she comes across as insufferable, and unlike the show, where she actually learned something here.. she just learns to work as a team? When she does on a regular basis with Wade and Ron? 

It’s just so frustrating because they almost had it just right, but instead just had to try and put some half assed moral about teamwork in there. They broke from the formula of having an experiment of the week but they still just HAD to keep to their own formula. And look Kim Possible has it’s own formula.. but it used that to great effect, often using the episode’s plot to shake it up in fun ways, and the plots were still diffrent enough and the villians bold and intrestin genough that it didn’t grate.  This is starting to grate. And I do remember good and intresting episodes of the show.. but i’m starting tor ealize why I don’t remember NEARLY as much of Lilo and Stitch as I do the other shows it’s crossing over with: it’s so bolted to the formula they all just sorta blend together. It’s really fucking disheartning to realize something you loved so damn much as a kid just.. isn’t as good as you remember. And with these other shows.. I don’t have that as much. I accept proud family’s fault, Jake Long actually seems MORE intresting than it was at the time, and rewatching kim possible it’s excellent, same with recess coming up. I really need to watch more Recess. The most disheartining thing about this arc is the crossover just shows how BETTER the other shows were. Lilo and Stitch wasn’t a BAD show, and it isn’t here.. but it’s a mediroce one. it has a good premise. but it feels like they just don’t break away from the premise enough. This just... hurts a lot to type and realize. I really loved this show and movie as a kid and while the movie likely still holds up this.. this just dosen’t. 

I need a moment... i’m breaking open the glass case containing my emergency patrick stewart clip excuse me...

That.. I needed that. 

So before the bicker sisters can head off, we get our goofy comedy subplot: Jumba thinks Rufus is one of his experiments, one that could destroy the universe if not cancel and is highly unstable. As for why this one wouldn’t of worked out, I get why: it’s TOO powerful. Stitch is a weapon of mass distruction in a cuddly package, but he’s also easily deployable, kind of like Wolverine if he was in the body of a cartoon mascot. Having the THREAT of destroying ap lanet is fine and good for the long term but it does you no good if you can’t control it and i’td just destroy you too. 

So he and Pleakly try to steal rufus without telling Ron why after Ron naturlaly refuses to sel land a chase insues. So while the boys and gender fluid person have their comedy plot, the girls head to where stitch was taken and find Draken’s glove.... they know it’s his because he put a note saying “return to dr. draken, his mother gave it to him”. That’s just.. fucking precious. And entirely in character. So kim aranges a ride, and dives into the ocean, but finds lilo in her parachute, and tries to send her back despite LIlo offering valuable advice both about the area , the current I mentioned earlier, and about stitch, i.e. Draken’s base is underwater (something Kim didn’t realize which feels odd for her), because Stitch can’t swim, something I genuinely forgot. 

So while Kim sends Lilo back, or rather intercut with that but I choose to compress plots for my own convinence we cut back to Drakken and Shego. And I WAS worried that Shego wouldn’t show up, she wasn’t in the synopsis or anything and was delighted to find that nope she’s here. Drakken just isn’t the same without her.. I mean I liked the recurring subplot in season 4 where other villians would break her out, that was great, but in the end the two need each other. I may not ship them romantically but as a comedy team one just needs the other: Drakken needs Shego to cut down his ego and Shego needs someone to snark at and complain about. Sullivan and DiMaggio just had perfect chemistry and it’s easy to see why Drakken and Shego went from just another part of the Rogue’s Gallery to Kim’s arch enemies. 

Which is why I am sad Gantu and 625 don’t show up for this one. I mean I can buy it: Hamsterviel likely is doing this on the sly to see if he can find a better minon, but the two sets of villians have similar dynamics and i’d love to see Shego and 625 dunk on their bosses together. It’s a really big missed opportunity but I do get it as they may of just nto been able to fit the two together or it may of been hard to block a lot of scenes iwth the human sized drakken and the giant sized gantu. So unlike a lot of missed opportunites in the other episodes, this one I at least can understand. 

We get some GREAT banter with the two though. Out of the four guest characters in this one the crew really got Drakken and Shego down and the two bicker like any episode of Kim Possible, with Shego pointing out the massive bill on Stitch’s cage and how Drakken’s tried cloning about five times now and it’s never worked, and of course how he’s 50 50 splitting with a hamster bellow his station. Seriously why get rid of Gantu and 625 but keep the annoying rodent, I don’t get you episode. 

Of course while they quack quack bicker bicker Stitch escapes and Shego gives chase. Sadly we don’t get a fight between the two like we did with Jake, another missed opprotunity but Stitch getting out of her grasp by licking her is objectively funny. Stitch finds he’s underwater though and gets recaptured. 

Kim gets captured for the first time shortly after as the current caught her, but luckily she has kimunicator gloves and calls waid to call ron. Meanwhile Ron finally catches rufus back and Jumba explains the situation.. but Ron understandably dosen’t want to give up his buddy especially since Rufus has shown no signs of being a planet killer before. He’s not mooncake... althought i do think those two could hang. God now I just want a final space kim possible crossover to wash this out of my mouth. 

So it’s down to Lilo, the really not all that ambigiously gay their pretty darn gay duo, and Ron to save the day. Lilo finally gets to do what she kept asking kim to do: use jumbas hot rod car spaceship thing to go down under the sea, and they send Lilo and Rufus in since hteir small enough to get in and suriive the pressures. Our heroes arrive and Drakken is nonplussed.. only for Lilo to prove WHY she can keep an alien in line by freeing stitch from teh leash drakken has him on using kim’s grapple gun, and then frees kim. The good guys win and the bad guys loose and the base starts to self destruct.. eh they’ll be fine. They still have the movie to get to. 

So time for the wrap up: Stitch sniffs Rufus and confirms what the audience knew... that he’s a naked mole rat not an experiment. Which didn’t make sense to begin with for either show: Jumba’s archive should’ve been able to scan him or something (And if not he could build something to do that), and Kim Possible not only implied from day one Ron had Rufus a while, long before the rain of the pods, but A Stitch in Time outright confirms Ron bought him years ago in middle school. It just makes no sense and while it thankfully dosen’t take up a ton of the episode it still takes up too much. 

But with that our heroes prepare to part on good terms but Pleakly decides to celebrate with  Luau. Kim’s repsonse “Well I can do anything...”

And we get a gratuitous luau sequence! I do love a job that allows me to type the phrase “Gratuitous Luau Sequence’ They clearly ran short and we just get a good minute of everyone doing hula dances for no reason. I mean.. you could’ve done a quick gag with the experiment who was mistaken for Rufus... who I now realize given the finale was befriended by someone. I’m headcanoning now Kim and Ron came back for that one and Kim had him sent to space as part of one her dad’s projects where he and earth would be safer and he could help with space missions or something. 

Final Thoughts: As you could tell I had mixed thoughts. As a crossover this melded things better, had a more original plot and the actors from Kim Possible brought their a-game.. but once again some disapointing characteteriztion and downright stupid decisions really let the episode down. These episodes just depress me every time and I’m looking forward to being done.. which given how excited I was going into this.. yeah. Like all of these despite their flaws I recommend checking it out if you like Kim Possible, if nothing else than for some extra drakken shego banter but.. keep your expectations low.

Next Time on Kim Possible: A team of spiteful assholes who are in a way repsonsible for Kim’s Career try to shut her down. It’s the intended finale episode outisde of hte movie people buckle up.. or you would if I was doing any of these. Though I should do “Team IMpossible” at some point. 

On the finale of these crossovers: The Recess Gang are the final visitors to Kuai as Lilo must find and stop a lazy monster... no i’m not guest starring too. 

Tommorow: Another kev one this time by patreon as I put two similar episodes of a show or franchise against each other and ask “Who Did It Better?” This time it’s two episodes of Celebrity Death Match, original versus revivial may the original.. probably win. 

If you liked this review, please consider supporting my patreon, YOU CAN FIND THE LINK TO IT HERE.  For just 2 bucks a month you get access to my discord, to pick a short each time I do one of my shortstravaganzas, and acess to my Patreon exclusive reviews! Next month I intend to do one for the show whose crossover gets the most likes within a week of it’s relase. Proud Family has already passed American Dragon so you have a week to get it ahed. And if you like Kim Possible, help me reach my 25 dollar stretch goal! At that i’ll review So The Drama, along with the Recess and Proud Family Movies. So check it out and i’ll see you at the next rainbow. 

[hopesbarnes]

Black Swan (14)

Summary: Y/N used to be a Russian spy under the code name Black Swan. But that was a lifetime ago, now she’s a part-time avenger, dance teacher, surrogate sister to Natasha Romanoff, and trainer to new Shield Agents. She’s come a long way from the days of killing targets and being tortured. But when someone from her past comes around will she be able to ignore her history anymore? Or will she end up falling in love with the only man her sister ever loved?

A/N: Next chapter is the last (and then an epilogue) I can’t believe we’re almost done!! 

When you woke up the following morning you had several text messages from Bucky. He was a little nervous, but supportive of your decision to tell Natasha. She was your sister and she deserved to know the truth. Even if a small part of you was worried that this could mean she would hate you. 

But a larger part of you knew she would be fine with it. She’s not who she used to be and neither is Bucky. It’s been a long time since Russia, and you’re not those people anymore. So with a deep breath, you get dressed and head to your shared kitchen.

“Good morning,” she says cheerily when she sees you walk out of your room. For someone who people feared, she sure was sunshine in the mornings lately. (Most likely due to a little bird she spent time around).

“Morning. Got any plans today?” you ask nervously tapping your hand against the coffee she hands you.

“All yours,” she says smiling, noticing your tapping but not acknowledging it.

“Can you do me a favor and sit then. Kinda need to tell you something,” you say. Better to just get this talk over and not have it nagging at you all day long. She sits next to you, placing her coffee mug down on the counter.

“Yes?” she says with a hint of mischief. Almost as if...

“I’m dating Bucky!” you blurt out in the least elegant way possible. 

“Oh, is that it?” she says with a look. One that screamed ‘you’re overly dramatic Y/N’.

“What?”

“I knew already.”

“You? What? How in the world did you know,” you say before adding “And don’t you say ‘spy sense’!” Knowing that’s her go-to answer.

“You do know someone goes over comm. transcripts right? Since I was senior in charge of the mission you went on to that gala I was the one to read over them. And babe isn’t really a standard term for your coworker. Put the dots together,” she says smiling proudly. 

“That shit,” you say quietly in regards to your boyfriend. “You’re not upset?” 

“Why would I be upset? I have a man I love deeply, and you’ve been significantly less of a pain in my ass since he showed up here,” she says with a laugh. “You seem happy, and that’s all I want.”

“You seem happy too Talia.” She reaches out and grabs your hand, letting you silently know you’re always going to have her. “So, now that we cleared the air. I have 17 costumes, 26 hair strips, and two pairs of shoes to rhinestone for next weekend’s competition. And I have a lovely sister to assist,” you say with a wide smile.

“You know we haven’t had team bonding in a while,” she says with a look and you think about it for a second before shrugging your shoulders. 

“If they mess up my costumes, I’m blaming you.”

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

Under the guise of team bonding, you get the avengers who were available  (which turned out to be you, Natasha, Steve, Bucky, Clint, Bruce, and Sam) to join you in the living room for help with finishing the costumes. You gave a quick tutorial of how to apply them and showed them the example of what you already did so that they could follow the design.

Steve was a natural, and you gave him some of the costumes to do. He gathered the deep blue rhinestones and happily went about gluing them to the fabric. Natasha had been helping you for years now so she knew the process and got to it. 

Sam and Bruce were a bit shakey but still were doing a good job. There was a few glue strings and the stones weren’t exactly straight, so you had them rhinestone the hair strips that sat on the girls hair parts (and gave a little bit of extra sparkle, but weren’t seen up close). 

Clint and Bucky were not so good, however. They each did one hair strip before you stopped them and forbid them from touching the glue anymore. Instead they sorted the rhinestones by color and helped decorate name signs for each of the girls doors at the hotel (it had been a tradition to decorate hotel doors the night before competition). 

You worked on the two solo’s shoes, adding sparkle to them before working on the costumes as well. While Steve and Natasha helped with the large group costumes, you worked on the solo costumes. 

With the help of the team you all finished within a few hours, and it significantly lessened your load. Competition season stressed you out, and this one was no different. The duet you choreographed meant more than any dance you ever did, and it was possible it could win the entire competition if they hit it. 

You shook the thought from your head, deciding not to worry about it now. There was still a whole week until they competed, and plenty of time to worry later. You look over at Bucky who was laughing with Sam about something. He caught your gaze and smiled looking at the team and then back to you. 

“Hey, thank you guys for all your help!” you say to them before adding, “By the way I’m dating Bucky. Good night!” And you try to get up and leave, but they all start a chorus of questions instead. 

“Since when?” Sam yells out and you smile.

“Few months birdbrain,” Bucky says and walks over to you wrapping his arm around your shoulders.

“I’m in love with Natasha!” Clint declares loudly, taking the moment to add in his own relationship news.

“We all know that,” Bruce says with a small chuckle.

“I’m in love with him back,” Natasha admits with a sly smile.

“That we didn’t know,” Steve points out and everyone laughs. It felt good for the team to all know what was happening. And for once, there was nothing bad in your life.

[sepublic]

Ideas for a Blight Twins Episode

          Continuing off of some ideas from a previous ask;

           Jerbo and Edric isn’t a very popular ship (not disliked, just not widespread), and I know there’s no canon basis whatsoever for Vinira, alas... But I really do like the idea of Edric learning to be his own person, apart from Emira, WITHOUT necessarily finding this through romantic love? It’d be a way of showing that other forms of love are perfectly valid… And it kind of reminds of some of those aroace headcanons I saw for Ed, a while back!

           Maybe it could even tie into his insecurity of not wanting to be alone… Thinking that because he’s aroace, he’s somehow unlovable, and incapable of feeling loved; And his clinginess is a desperate way to avert this view of himself and his identity! So having Edric find meaning and identity by hanging out with, say, Lilith, Luz, and King… I think it’d be a great way for him to learn that not only is romance not required to ‘be your own person’, that you’re not somehow less grown up for not being in love… It’d also make him finally getting a ‘pet’ for himself more meaningful, too!

           (And I see Edric as a kid at heart who never really got to be himself and had to grow up fast, and even as a rebel he still doesn’t let himself relax.)

           And Edric is able to find solace in multiple different relationships at once, instead of clinging extremely to the one he has with Emira… Relationships with different meanings, with Lilith being a surrogate mother, Luz being a regular friend/sister-in-law, and King… Well, I’m not sure WHAT King is, a little brother? Regardless, it’d really expand Edric’s horizons and allow him to experience ‘love’ in a different way that isn’t necessarily related to just being a blood sibling… Which could alleviate his concerns about never having a bond as close as his with Emira.

           THAT could then tie to Edric realizing and understanding Emira’s desire to be her own person more… As for Emira and any interactions with Viney, she might simply recognize how Viney and the other Detention Kids found solace through solidarity and shared similarities, and interactions; But still manage to be their own people! Though, they aren’t siblings, so there might be more of a desire to meet someone who can make it clear to Em that, no, you aren’t going to lose your identity by being close with your sibling…. Again, this ties back to my idea of Eda being a good mentor to Emira as well.

          At the very least, being around Viney, Jerbo, and Edric, who are understandably more sensitive, could lead Emira to being a lot more mindful and understanding of how others feel, and not necessarily steamrolling over that like her mother Odalia would… THAT could translate to her paying attention to Edric’s concerns and at least respecting them, instead of just casually throwing them to the side; Even if she still disagrees, at least she considered his side of the story first!

           Emira is someone who got defensive, in her attempts to be ‘herself’, by feeling like she had to push Edric away and become closed-off… When Edric suggests discussing their worst fears, Emira looks away as she says something that shuts him down- Even if it WAS likely honest, she low-key discouraged any further openness between the two at that point. And while it’s important for Emira to be her own person… Perhaps by opening up to Viney and the others, she could realize she’s still her own person, and better able to appreciate that- Especially since Emira opening up allows herself to be, well, herself around Viney, instead of just the confident mask she’s put up as a charming Blight!

           And because the twins are more honest and open with each other… It could lead to them being even closer, as again- They no longer fear having to hide or suppress parts of themselves, in fear of jeopardizing their conformity (which they mistake as synonymous with their bond), and in turn, they can enjoy one another while being happier individuals… And NOT worry about losing themselves in the process, because they know who they are, they know the other twin respects that, and they have other connections as well!

           …Legit, I have to wonder how Amity would react to all of this. If she may feel obligated to step in, or just stand back and let the Twins figure themselves out… Obviously she’d CARE for the two and be concerned. But at the same time, they ARE closer to one another than Amity… And I can see Amity being afraid of either twin singling her out as a new sibling-bond to form in the absence of their other one, for Emira to get away from Edric’s in her case, and Edric to replace the one he can’t back with Emira. Maybe it could lead to either twin trying to be more appealing to Amity, being less themselves to get her approval; And Amity, who initially may find it amusing, quickly shuts them down because she sees herself in them… And she does NOT want to make others feel obligated to change themselves for her approval, because they feel like they have nobody else!

           Which, that’d likely lead to Amity either participating in encouraging either sibling to mature, to grow… But given how she’s got her own issues, more than likely she’d recognize that it’d be mutually health for them both to split off for now. At the very least, she doesn’t want to risk taking advantage of Emira or Edric… And either twin might feel disgruntled at Amity, but then remember they were also cruel to her in the past ‘for her own good’, but on the other hand, THAT hadn’t been for her own good after all- So who was to say that Amity was correct, pushing away the other twin and not accepting their friendship (laced with dependency) ‘for their own good’?

           Regardless- It’d probably make Amity feel worse if one twin, or both, began to depend on her. She already feels like she has to conform to what her parents expect of her, what Boscha and the others expect of her as the top student… So it’d just put more pressure on Amity to take care of others, VS herself; Especially since she admittedly is not responsible for Emira and Edric’s identity issues this time, unlike with Willow. Plus, she may not be in the right mindset to help them either, as she’s still figuring herself out with Luz…

           Not to mention, Emira and Edric may or may not have reservations about having to depend on their own little sister for help; And they might be too aghast at forcing Amity to take care of the other. Maybe they wouldn’t want to keep bothering her after everything else, after seeing how much they already hurt Amity, who tried to be both like AND unlike them, paradoxically, at the same time (tried to have the same talent but not be a rebel). There might be the insecurity from Ed and Em both that as lonely individual who barely have their own identity, they might just screw over Amity further… Amidst some pride and shame at being seen like in front of their little sister.

           Though, I can ALSO imagine a hilarious scenario where Emira and Edric viciously compete for Amity’s affection, offering incentives and favors, maybe aggressively downplaying the other and holding a bit of a grudge… Until for her own health, Amity tells them to STOP, and leave her alone and figure their own issues out, on their own- Or with literally anyone else!

           I can totally see them going to Luz for help, though… Or again, maybe not- They might see Luz as too cool for them by this point, since Emira and Edric DO seem legitimately fond of Luz, as someone who is likely their only friend outside of the family, and the only person who actively reciprocated friendship with them and wanted to earn approval! Emira and Edric might feel obligated to still be those too-cool-for-school twins, so they may avoid telling Luz about their own problems to ‘live up to her expectations’, afraid Luz would no longer like them as much for being so ‘pathetic’… When in reality, Luz likes the twins as whoever they are, whoever they choose to be! She’s interested in getting to knowthem, whether or not that identity matches the façade the Twins have put up or not; It makes no difference to her.

           Still, I can see Emira and Edric trying to start ‘fresh’ with a total stranger… But as I said before, Edric isn’t identical to Emira and vice-versa. So ultimately, while I think Emira would have more of those reservations about opening up to Luz, as I mentioned earlier; Edric is someone who’d just want companionship, and thus be more liable to others’ opinions for approval. In this scenario, this could be good for him, as then Edric would be more receptive to genuine, positive feedback from Luz… as well as Lilith, etc.

           Like, I’m just imagining a hypothetical episode of the Blight Twins doing some soul-searching, beginning with the separation and following Emira and HER misadventures with Viney… Emira assumes it’ll be oh-so-easy, that she can rely on that charm and confidence and just that, no being open or honest and vulnerable… Which then leads into that fan concept of Emira trying to connect with Viney, but because Em refuses to be up-front about her feelings because she thinks she has to be ‘cool’ to get affection from a stranger, Viney just thinks the girl is out to murder her!

          Emira gets more and more frustrated, ends up accidentally tormenting Viney while Jerbo and Barcus are forced to defend her… And eventually Luz or somebody else, maybe Willow, just throws in their two cents and tells Emira to be straight-forward; Exactly like that ‘Stop lying, stop manipulating, just be nicer’ meme, and Emira is just utterly lost and baffled; But she finally obliges and it works out! And after experiencing happy, formulating relationships, Emira appreciates Edric’s concerns more, and then wonders what happened to him and how he’s doing…?

          And then once THAT ends, we immediately cut to see what Edric was doing; And how alone and dejected after she basically ‘ditched’ him, we have a humorous montage of Edric wandering Bonesborough like a traveling vagrant without a home, connections, or identity…Even though he’s not, but he’s being dramatic! And as he sits by himself alone, he ends up picking up a pet or two that he befriends, because it just strolls up to him and sits down besides Edric in mutual solidarity, as he starts talking to it… Openly appreciating the company, and then maybe projecting some of his own insecurities regarding him and Emira.

          Then maybe the ‘pet’ leaves him by that point, and Edric starts crying out in abandonment! A mean yet hilarious wake-up moment, perhaps alluding to Edric pushing people away for being too clingy and projecting his needs onto them. Maybe Ed DOES find a proper pet, then or later…! Either way, his wandering leads him to the Owl House- Either he sees Eda and the others selling stuff and follows them, he just ends up there on his own, or he deliberates on his other connections, dismissing going to Mittens as ‘too desperate’, even for him; And then he brightens up and remembers Luz, remembers how she always makes people happy, including Mittens of all people! If Luz can help Amity, she can help Edric… And somewhere along the way, Edric is surprised to find himself valuing an unexpected bond with Lilith, and maybe the other Owl House residents as well!

           Certainly not Hooty, though, even if him and Edric may share issues of being ‘desperate’ for companionship. Hooty is a freaking war criminal. Actually… perhaps like Eda in Episode 9, talking to Hooty will help Edric realize where he messed up, and/or come to an epiphany of what he might become, or do to others! In turn, he appreciates Emira’s decision more… Maybe Ed bolts off, understanding how Emira may have viewed him, but he also still needs to figure out how to value himself, and Emira’s desires VS Emira just not wanting to be with someone so ‘desperate’, as it leads to Edric thinking he needs to be more confident just to win back his sister. Either way, Hooty is left in the dust mid-sentence, RIP. Maybe Edric even narrates his realization aloud, ending on him declaring that he doesn’t want to be like Hooty, right to Hooty’s accursed face!

           As Edric gets along with everyone, maybe he picks up a pet, possibly with Viney’s help… And he learns to respect wild animals as their own creatures with their own lives, and not just toys for him to kidnap and take into his own possession! Edric respects the autonomy of these animals, that they don’t owe him anything and he can’t just force a bond… And like with Emira, he better understands how his sibling felt!

          The two meet again, talk awkwardly, mention to their individual journeys in passing, possibly with the others watching- And they have a tearful reunion hug! Maybe Amity even joins in, because why not- She’s happy to see her older siblings healing like Luz did for her, and this could make all three Blight kids better with one another. Of course, Ed and Em ‘ruin’ the moment by teasing Amity but messing with her, but in the end everybody is happy, and Luz does that ugly-crying face from the end of Understanding Willow, reveling in and appreciating wholesomeness.

[aros001]

Going in blind: Watching season 2 for the first time. Random thoughts.

Huh. Only 7 episodes. Not complaining necessarily. For series with an ongoing plot I've definitely become more in favor with their seasons only having as many episodes as they need rather than them having to stretch themselves out to full up a certain number of episodes, which can lead to padding and just bad character moments.

Episode 1: Jeez. Catra visiting Shadow Weaver's cell just to rub her success in her face and verbally abuse her back for once. It's like a twisted version of Zuko and Ozai from ATLA. Catra's upbringing under her was abusive but this is far from a healthy way for her to deal with it. She's basically deliberately swimming in her resentment.

Episode 2: It's not that I'm rooting for her but by-golly was it fun to watch Catra act like just the absolute worst she could while she was Glimmer and Bow's captive.

I touched on this in season 1 but part of the drama of the heroes feeling guilt over leaving Entrapta behind is kind of lost on me a bit simply because it was her own fault it happened. She deliberately went back into the purge room because of her machine obsession, which then closed on her and erupted in flames. It was more than reasonable to assume she was dead and no one but her was to blame, so I'm not really able to be invested in their guilt over it.

That said, weirdly enough I do like that her "abandonment" doesn't seem to be even a blip on the radar for Entrapta herself. She hasn't joined the horde because she resents the heroes or felt left behind, she simply is so obsessed with machines and experimentation that she'll be on the side of whoever lets her do the most of that. Like, it's selfish and irresponsible but it's very in-character and I'd far rather have a traitor motivation be based in that over something stupid like a misunderstanding.

Episode 3: I love the mental image of Shadow Weaver thinking up princess-themed ghost stories to tell Adora as a child.

So, if the previous She-Ra Mara separated Eternia from the other realms/planets/whatever she did and that's what cut off the She-Ra line for 1000 years, I'm guessing Hordak may be from the time before that happened, thus his drive to create portals and calling Eternia a backwards world. Either he's naturally long-lived or his technology is extending his life.

Episode 4: You know, you could maybe argue it was vague enough that it could be taken other ways but I'm definitely getting some vibes here that Scorpia is crushing on Catra. She literally refers to the two of them as soulmates at one point. I know she says she's trying to be friends but this feels a level beyond that.

Fun little reference to the original She-Ra cartoon thrown in there (and maybe Cowboy Bebop...? James Bond...? What was Glimmer's art style supposed to be?). I like how it is more like just playful ribbing than anything outright dumping on the original. Again, I've never seen original She-Ra but whenever remakes/adaptations go out of their way to trash to the original I always kind of wonder why they bothered doing an adaptation if the original is just that bad? Also, I was having trouble sleeping so it was about 2am when I watched this episode and the very Eartha Kitt Catwoman Catra made it very difficult for me not to lose my **** and stay quiet. With how much of a contrast that version is from the one in this series, that was hilarious. Bonus note, it's a nice touch that Frosta's version of Catra is a pretty crasher in that sweet suit, since that's the only impression of Catra she's ever had.

Adora being a chosen one is definitely elevated up simply by how much the pressure of what she's supposed to be is getting to her. I'm likely going to keep making Avatar The Last Airbender comparisons throughout the series but that's partly because I went into this series figuring it'd be at least structured similar to ATLA (season 1 being more episodic and a little more kid-friendly as it builds up the world before getting more serious later). Adora and Aang are interesting to compare here. Aang's worries early on were less apparent because he was more in-denial/choosing not to think about his problems that much, which fit with his character as a free-spirited Air Nomad. While Adora is much more military-minded. She can't keep herself from thinking about her problems and trying to prepare for the worst-case scenario. And jeez, that idea of who/how Catra is in her mind. Not only beating her but making her watch as she takes everything she cares about away. Not Shadow Weaver, not Lord Hordak, but Catra. That whole Lion King Mufasa/Scar moment between them in episode 11 and their fight in the S1 finale really did a number on her mental image of her old friend. Not reasonably so.

Minor note: I'm sure I'm the only one who got this impression but by the look of it, the way the robot's eye moved, and the music, after getting the soda spilled on it that little spybot gained sentience for half a second and then immediately died. It was so darkly comedic I had to laugh.

Episode 5: So that red disc is basically She-Ra's Red Kryptonite, having an effect on the mind rather than the body. The drunk Adora joke doesn't really do it for me but it did get some nice interactions going between Scorpia and Sea Hawk, two characters I certainly wasn't expecting to bond. I did really like Catra's panic when berserker She-Ra nearly beheads her. The implication is that is Adora really wanted to kill her Catra would already probably be dead. It's a thing I like about powerhouse characters like Superman or Aang, who could just demolish everything around them and don't simply because they're a good person...which in turn makes them the scariest person on the planet when they're well and truly ticked off. I'm not going to lie, I do kind of want to see a She-Ra version of Aang when Appa was stolen or when Superman fought The Elite.

Also, Catra's line of "I have control over Adora. I'm not giving that up for anything.". There's a lot to read into there.

Episode 6: I guess my prediction was sort of right. Shadow Weaver became basically a magic parasite and while it did increase the power she's capable of the implication seems to be that she needs a constant fix of magic to keep herself going, thus her attachment to the Black Garnet.

Have we seen Micah before? Given how long ago the flashback seems set, the fact that Shadow Weaver didn't kill him and thus he probably becomes someone important later in life, I'm guessing he's Glimmer's dad and the queen's late husband, since I think he's the only important male character whose face we haven't seen yet. Also, he's voice by Ezra from Star Wars Rebels and that cracks me up for some reason. It's the exact same voice and a relatively similar character.

I compared Catra and Shadow Weaver with a kind of twisted version of Zuko and Ozai and that definitely still fits here. Both Catra and Zuko confront their parent and call them out for the inexcusable abuse they put them through but while that moment was the start of Zuko's upwards journey this and SW's betrayal seems like it's going to cause Catra to spiral even further. Makes sense why Adora leaving affected her so much. She's probably the only one Catra's ever had that she could consistently trust and rely on, even if she did somewhat resent her.

Not surprised Hordak is getting along with Entrapta. She's not socially aware enough to be scared or intimidated by him, so she'll speak frankly, and since all she wants to talk about is the machines, experiments, and how they could get them to work Hordak probably doesn't take much issue with that. She's producing results, which is what he cares about, thus also why Shadow Weaver and Catra started losing favor with him. I wonder if Catra is going through imposter syndrome? Shadow Weaver had that line that Entrapta earned her place next to Hordak and, if you think about it, Catra hasn't really "earned" anything. We saw that she didn't really take her training or studies that seriously, showing up late to combat practice and even getting partial credit for what Adora beat. She wasn't promoted to Force Captain because of her own abilities but because Adora had defected when she was supposed to get that title. She's come close to a few victories but never really had any except for Glimmer and Bow's kidnapping...whom she then basically let escape when she returned Adora's sword to her. She doesn't have the slightest clue how the horde's bureaucracy works when trying to get things done, like simply getting troops armor. Given how much better than her Adora always was and how little she herself has to her name, I wonder is subconsciously Catra believes she doesn't deserve her current position and thus why she's fretting so much over trying to prove herself.

Episode 7: Am I mistaken or did Bow's parents say that he's the youngest of TWELVE siblings? I was going to ask whether Bow was adopted or if his dad's used a surrogate or if maybe there's even just simply magic in She-Ra's world that allows two people of the same sex to have a child together but now I'm just focused on the 12 kids thing. I get nervous just imagining myself having more than one. You should see me when I'm with two cats. I have to pet both of them because I'd feel like I'd be making one feel left out and like the other is the favorite. I'm a mess with kids.

The dad with dreadlocks (Lance?), his design looked familiar to me and I finally realized it reminded me a of a fanart design for a human Grim from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. Very different voices between those two characters though.

I wonder if there's any significance to the robot protecting the crystal having the same design as those in the artic in episode 5? Obviously both have the connection to the First Ones but the robot in the forest who was also protecting First Ones' tech had a more insect-like design over these more worm/Graboid ones.

I'm kind of curious what Hordak would have done if Catra had told the truth. Given his interactions with her and Shadow Weaver he doesn't seem like the time to tolerate failure but I suppose the implication here is that he at least would respect those who own up to their failures. Or I suppose more simply he was just testing to see if she would lie to him and since she did there's little merit in keeping her in a position of authority anymore where she could lie about important things again.

Season 2 verdict: Still enjoying it. Another person on this reddit recommended I view seasons 2 and 3 as one since they are basically just one season split in two. I was going to do that but this ended up longer than I thought I would, so I'll just do 2 and 3 separate to keep them semi-organized and easier to read.

I think overall Catra is my favorite character since she has the most interesting backstory, interactions, and just general path through the story out of everyone. She's like Pearl from Steven Universe or, well, Zuko. There's just so much baggage there that she's trying and kind of failing to deal with. I'm always invested in whatever's happening when she's onscreen. Hordak so far is a good big boss villain for Adora to face but Catra is a good archenemy for her.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/PrincessesOfPower/comments/o027y3/going_in_blind_watching_season_2_for_the_first/