#and therefore didn’t try to rush through any arcs | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

sydnikov · 3 years ago

Text

Sunkissed (pt. 2)

Link to Part 1, Link to Part 3

Pairing: Andrei Svechnikov/female!Reader

Word Count: 6.2k

Summary: It turns out that avoiding your feelings was hopeless when it came to Andrei. Full of guilt and sadness from the loss of one of your greatest friends, you flee from the confines of Raleigh to the coast of North Carolina, hoping to outrun your emotions instead of confronting them. It only works for so long, for suddenly the one you had tried avoiding the most is quite literally thrust back into your life when you least expect it.

Warnings: Cursing, angst, a bit of fluff, another cliffhanger

A/N: So remember when I said this would be the last part to this series? I lied. I know I even had a vote and all, but being on a break has really brought things into perspective and despite what everyone else wants, I know what I want and that’s to post a part 2 that isn’t an end to the series yet. I still love y’all though, so I hope you guys enjoy! 😌 Reblogs and commentary is very much appreciated <3

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. This is not meant to be hate towards Andrei and Julia who are a very happy couple together, which therefore means I'm happy for them as well. This is merely a work of entertainment that in no way, shape, or form represents real life.

Translations:

¹Не могу жить без тебя - I can’t live without you

²rapea - frisky

³rakkaus - love

⁴я сильно скуча�� по тебе - I missed you so much

The road to recovery was brutal. It wasn’t some colorful arc of growth that you see in those cheesy movies about break-ups, because the real world didn’t let you come to terms with the way everything had fallen apart in a mere day, and it especially didn’t make the job of trying to pick up the pieces of your broken heart any easier.

Anyone who's ever said otherwise is lying.

Your hangover that morning after was a bitch. And it became even more of a bitch when it all came rushing back to you why you let yourself get so drunk in the first place.

"What if I don't want to be just your best friend?"

"You're joking…"

"You think I'd lie…"

"You've lied about drinking, so…"

"Get out. Now."

"Please let me try and fix this…"

It was a good thing it was the weekend. Two days of blissful silence from the outside world until you had to face the reality that you had just caused the very being of your world to crash and burn.

With your heart freshly wounded and nowhere near close to pulling itself back together, you didn't know how you were going to handle walking through the hallways of PNC decorated with Andrei's smiling face and knowing that you alone were the reason you’d lost him.

You didn't really know what to feel after all of that, if you were being honest. You supposed you should have felt livid, upset, hell, even guilty about the words your drunken self spit at him.

Though he still definitely returned the favor. Sober, too.

All you felt was numb, though. You knew it was just your brain's way of compensating for the overwhelming emotion and trying to give yourself time to recover, but you knew hiding from your feelings was going to just come and bite you, and whoever tries to let themselves in, in the ass.

After all, it was never a good idea to walk in broken glass.

The annoyingly cheerful ringtone of your phone soon snapped you out of your thoughts, and when you confusedly checked the ID and found it to be Sebastian you eventually decided to answer, if not with a bit of caution.

Who the hell knows who Andrei told about your fight. You wouldn't be surprised if the entire PNC staff, including the team, knew about it.

Sebastian all but shouted your name in relief once he heard you pick up, and you couldn't help but sigh in relief at the familiarity you so desperately needed.

"Sepe?" You laughed, confusion momentarily forgotten as his relieved laugh made a small smile pop up on your face. "What's going on?"

"Svech told us what happened-"

Oh.

"-and before you freak out, by us I mean me, Martin, Turbo, and also Marty by accident because he can't not eavesdrop to save his life."

"That… Really isn't any better," You winced with a breathless laugh, exhaustedly running a hand down your face.

"I'd say it's better than the whole team knowing. Or Julia herself?"

Now that caught you off-guard.

"Julia doesn't know?" You immediately straightened up, baffled at the news. If anything, you thought his fiancé would have been the first person he told, not his teammates.

"He said he, and I quote, 'didn't want to worry her', which is complete shit in my opinion, but…"

You tried not to think into why your fight would worry her to the point that Andrei just decided not to tell her at all.

"Well, this is awkward…" You mumbled, slowly crawling out of your bed to make your way to the kitchen.

To be fair, any situation where your friend knows you shouted 'I love you' to their other friend would be awkward.

Especially if said-friend is engaged.

"Just a little bit," Sebastian admitted over the phone. "But... Are you okay?"

No. No, you weren’t, but you weren’t about to let Sebastian in on that.

“I… Yeah, I’m okay. Or, I will be, at least.”

“Mhm,” Sebastian wasn’t buying your excuse, that much you could tell, but luckily he decided to leave it be. “Whatever you say…” He sounded like he was about to say something else, but a muffled voice on the other side of the line seemed to snatch his attention away.

“Look, I have to go now, but… I’m here, in case you need me.”

You smiled.

“Thanks, Sepe.”

Sebastian hung up after that, and you were left to your own devices for the rest of the day, thankfully. Though you didn’t do much except wallar in self-pity, muting the notifications of your texts and social media.

Not that it did much good, considering Andrei’s contact name still managed to flash on your screen several times throughout the day. It was only several hours later that he seemed to get the hint that you weren’t going to answer, and at long last you were finally able to scroll through your emails without having to quickly decline an incoming call.

Sunday went much the same, too, except a lot more silent. You exchanged a few texts with Sebastian, a few with your mom and gave her a basic rundown of what went down with Andrei along with the promise to meet up sometime for lunch as soon as you could come down to her house.

Which, fortunately, was soon.

Because, unfortunately, you living in Raleigh was just no longer an option. You couldn’t do it. You had money saved up just in case a situation like this one arrived, ready to move at a moment's notice. Only you never expected it to be under these types of circumstances.

And god did you try to make it work, you tried to avoid what you thought were the eyes of your coworkers burning holes into the side of your face at your sudden withdrawal and quietness. Despite Andrei having revealed it to absolutely no one about your little spat, the paranoia was getting so bad that you had started to avoid even going out after games with the guys you once considered yourself to be oh-so-close to.

Stuck in your own world of distrust and worry, you never noticed Andrei’s lingering eyes on the rare occasion he’d see you outside of your office, or how his face would fall when Sebastian would look up from his phone with a solemn shake of his head when informing them on a night out that you would not be joining them.

How he was slowly starting to regret his outburst, when instead of looking into Julia’s sparkling blue eyes and feeling love, he’d see the unique color of your own instead and how there had never been a day since he joined the team where you weren't there for him.

He might have been hurting - he lost his best friend too - but he had Julia and his teammates to fall back on. In a sense, you had no one. Or at least that was what you kept telling yourself.

And you couldn’t take it anymore. The constant avoidance and vigilance, the late hours spent at work and the little amount of sleep you were getting… You couldn’t do it, so when you turned in your resignation to your boss with shaky hands it felt like more of a relief than it should have been when she smiled warmly at you and wished you luck, no questions asked.

It was as you packed up the few belongings you had in your office did you suddenly realize that leaving Raleigh maybe wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all. You felt like you had some clarity for the first time in months since the argument, because now that you were free from the trap you'd come to refer to as your job, you remembered that you had your mom, you had Sebastian… You’d been living under the pretense that Andrei was everything good about Raleigh for so long that you failed to recognize everything else that had been right in front of you.

Though instead of feeling sorry for yourself, you tried to recognize that this was a good thing. Because you didn’t need Andrei. You didn’t need the whispers from the interns talking about how happy Julia was with Andrei, you didn’t need the pitying looks from Martin or Sebastian, and you didn’t even need Andrei himself.

Not while you were still in love with him. And especially not while he was engaged.

If only your racing heart understood that as a deep Russian voice calling your name from far down the hallway stole your attention. You almost wanted to pretend that you hadn’t heard him because the elevator was right there, but the left winger knew you better than that and made sure to catch up to you in time.

A broken whisper of your name left his lips once he finally reached you, spotting the lone cardboard box of belongings from your office and the lack of papers he was so used to seeing you carrying to and fro the arena.

“Yes?” You broke the tense silence first, suddenly fascinated with the decorated wall behind him. Did they get a new paint job recently?

“What… What are you doing?” He looked so lost, so helpless, and you would have let yourself fall into his arms if you weren’t so guarded, just so heartbroken from that fateful Friday night that left your friendship in tatters.

You swallowed dryly, torn on what to say or do. Because how do you tell someone that they’re the reason you’re leaving your home? “Leaving. To my car. I’m not working here anymore.”

Andrei blinked once, twice, a good few times before he brought a hand up to run down his face. “You’re leaving?” he whispered so quietly it had your heart screaming out through the walls you had it forced behind. “I’m sorry,” he added quickly, trying to plead with his eyes for you to just look up and acknowledge him. “I didn’t mean-”

He didn’t realize how much he’d miss you until you were gone.

“Andrei, please,” You whispered, lips wobbling with the strength it took to keep your sobs at bay. This was the exact reason why you wanted to avoid seeing your former best friend before you left.

And suddenly he was panicking all over again, like the night he blew up on you, only now he realized you were really going to be gone, and it was going to be all his fault.

He ruined you. And there was no going back.

“¹Не могу жить без тебя,” Was all the hockey player managed to choke out, only his words did nothing but spur you in your movement to get the hell out of there, and he was helpless to do anything but watch you wipe the tears running down your cheeks as you backed away from him. “Is there anything I can do? To make it better?”

To make you stay? Was the unspoken question he wanted to ask, but you weren’t there to listen to his bribes. He didn’t feel the same. Which was okay. You understood. You just didn’t get why he wasn’t letting you go, why he had to make your leave as painful as possible.

“You can step out of the way so I can get to my car,” You eventually whispered out, eyes watery and bloodshot but never daring to meet his own. Without giving him a chance to respond, you took in your former place of work once more, took in your former best friend’s teary eyes as you swept past him for the last time.

And as you made your way down the cemented steps, the sun shining down upon you and filling you with its warmth, you felt a new sense of peace.

You weren’t okay. You weren’t happy. But driving away from the PNC Arena, away from Raleigh, away from Andrei, you figured that maybe one day you would be.

And when you finally moved out to the Outer Banks you just couldn’t help but compare your new home to your former one. But if you had to tell yourself that there were still similarities between the two places you lived in, you figured you could allow it just to make adjusting a little bit easier.

And you still weren't okay. You knew that it would be a while before you would forget your hockey family, Andrei, your old friends, PNC Arena, Andrei and the dark richness of his chocolate brown eyes that set your body ablaze.

But, over time, it became easier.

The first few weeks, Andrei was all you could think about. With vague texts to Sebastian asking how the team was doing - he understood you probably better than Andrei ever had - he thankfully indulged you with no questions asked, informing you how they were adjusting to the change slowly but surely, but it was hard. And it was hard for Andrei, too, who seemed to have lost his lively spark that had attracted you to him in the first place.

You told yourself you didn't care. But you did. At least for a while. But then those thoughts first thing in the morning wondering how Andrei was doing started coming less and less, perhaps instead popping into your mind while you were at your new job instead.

Andrei called you his little sun, and it was only months later did you realize you had taken that title a bit too literally.

During all this time you had forgotten how the sun had never actually revolved around the earth, but rather the earth revolved around the sun instead. And finally, finally, you were learning how to become your own sun, nobody else's.

The months passed by quickly, March to April and then April to August, and then next thing you knew you had been living peacefully at the beach for almost a year. You kept in contact with the boys - most of them - and occasionally called them, and lucky for you they mentioned nothing of Andrei's state there without you.

As if your leave would have affected him at all. He made it clear he didn't care.

Though strangely enough, you heard nothing of Andrei and Julia finally tying the knot. You would have asked, but opening that can of worms was something you didn't particularly want to go through again.

Which was why you were so nervous when you finally agreed to let Sebastian and a few of the others finally come down to the Outer Banks for the last week of their off-season to visit.

At least you'd be able to safely avoid Andrei when finally meeting up with the guys, because according to Sebastian, Andrei and Julia were still together. Which meant he'd be going on trips with her instead.

Until you got the call.

"I'm sorry, what?"

A stressed sigh came from the other end of the line, and you held your breath waiting for Sebastian to confirm what you already knew to be true.

"They called it off, just now. Or a bit ago. I don't know." A brief pause of tense silence, and then he spoke again. "It's all over the news, anyways, haven't you seen it yet?"

You cast a quick glance towards the broken wifi box in the corner of the room, thanks to your boss's failure to ever pay the bills on time, your phone was relying on its data to keep the call running. "Clearly not," you muttered, running an anxious hand through your hair. "Look, Sepe, you know I love you-"

"Ooh, ²rapea-"

"But why are you telling me this?"

"Because I figured you'd probably want to know."

"No, no, that isn't it." You let out a nervous breath. "I don't… I'm not in contact with him. Whatever he does with Julia is none of my business. I don't care."

"You know that isn't true-" He immediately rebutted, and you could just imagine the indignant look on his face even on the other side of the phone.

"He doesn't love me back, Sebastian!"

Silence. You pressed a hand to your chest, willing the anger inside of you to just wither away, knowing it wasn't right to direct all of your pent-up emotions onto your friend.

Sepe said your name quietly, and you responded with such. "He's coming with us, ³rakkaus. You're going to see him."

...and you caved. You really shouldn't have, should have just told Sebastian that you had already made the rooms for everyone else and had no space left, but you both knew that was a lie.

You always had a place for Andrei. Even if you were absolutely furious at him.

But you'd be lying to yourself if you said you didn't miss him. Your hands may have shaken as your mom helped you get your new place ready for the guys, graciously providing you with such advice only a mother would have, but you'd still missed it. Not necessarily the misery, but… You missed Raleigh and the memories that came with it.

You missed going out to bars with the guys after a win, you missed working late nights at PNC with your coworkers, and you missed game nights at Warren's where you'd be one of the first to lose until somebody took pity on you and essentially took over your game, but you never minded.

And you missed Andrei. God, you missed him so much. You missed his smile, his dark brown eyes that seemed to sparkle every time the light hit them just right, and you missed his hugs even if most of the hugging was going to Julia instead.

You felt bad at the way your heart skipped a beat when Sebastian delivered the news, but then again, you really didn’t.

The rest of the day passed slowly, the night following in similar fashion, leaving you staring up at your ceiling into the early hours of the morning, knowing that as you finally fell asleep you’d be waking up to a world you’d been desperately trying to avoid for almost a year.

That morning you rose along with the sun, trudging into the kitchen to make your coffee in front of the large window that overlooked the beachfront. One of your good friends at work was taking leave for vacation and offered you a stay in their parents’ beach house up in Corolla, knowing of your dilemna in which you had been trying to figure out how the fuck you were supposed to store four grown men into your tiny apartment.

Having settled in just a few nights before, you couldn't help but send a quick text to said-friend with a picture of the view and, for the hundredth time, thank them profusely for letting you stay. It was absolutely huge, and when you jokingly had asked if their parents were in the mafia for the unnecessary amount of money it would have taken to afford such a place, your friend had just smirked as if they knew something you didn’t.

“You really don’t want to know.”

“You’re probably right.”

When the coffee machine sputtered and choked out the last of the addicting liquid that you had grudgingly taken a liking to, you remembered to keep it running with a bag of coffee beans next to it for the tired group of men that were bound to be arriving later that day.

Well, mainly for the two Finns who would still drink coffee after sleeping for twelve hours if they wanted to. Martin also couldn't live without it, but Andrei had never been much of a coffee person last you saw him.

And, fuck, there was that familiar pang in your heart again.

You roughly swallowed the bitter liquid in your mug, turning away with a wince from the window when all it did was reflect the nervousness and anxiousness present all over your face.

You mindlessly went through the motions of getting ready for the day, your teeth finding a permanent place on your bottom lip to chew away in anxiety as you let your thoughts run freely.

When would they be arriving? You checked the clock. You still had a few hours of peace.

Was everything ready? You walked through all of the guest rooms again, and, unsurprisingly, found everything perfectly in place. Similarly, you found the kitchen to be well-stocked, leaving you without an excuse to head to the market.

It was useless questions like these that kept your mind company as the day passed agonizingly slow, the sun eventually sinking below the horizon until the dreaded time came where the sound of loud voices accompanied by several different knocks broke the fragile silence of the house.

"Fuck, okay," you whispered to yourself, standing frozen in place for merely a moment before rushing to the front door. You got this.

You opened the door, revealing Sebastian and Martin first with Teuvo just beginning to make his way up the porch. You tried to hide the way you immediately began to seek out Andrei first.

At the sight of your face, Sebastian was the first one to release an excited shout of your name before he practically swallowed you in his arms, the grin on his face so infectious that you couldn't help but return it. Martin was the next one to smush you into his chest with a suffocating hug, and Teuvo, as reserved as he was, merely gave you a warm smile before he immediately ran for the coffee with a hasty greeting thrown your way.

You wondered if you should have told him it was cold.

"I missed you guys so much," you breathed out with a laugh that you didn't expect to come out as easy as it did, picking up a bag that one of them had dropped on the porch to carry inside.

"Who wouldn't miss us?" Teuvo soon called out, a lazy grin on his face as he came out of the house with a fresh mug of coffee in his hands.

You rolled your eyes, having missed the playful banter between them all.

Sebastian threw an arm around your shoulders, sending a mischievous smile his best friend's way. "Don't mind him, he's got a girlfriend now and suddenly he's the most confident guy in the world."

"Were you not the same way when you met Rosa?" Teuvo retorted immediately, raising his eyebrows as he took a slow sip of his coffee.

"No, I was much better."

"The shirtless selfies you sent me that day say different."

Chaos ensued, and Sebastian and Teuvo chased after each other into the house as they shouted in incoherent Finnish that had you giggling with Martin until their voices faded into the background.

As you and your favorite Czech caught up, you could only pretend to be admiring the scenery bathed in moonlight for so long before attempting to speak the question that had been on the tip of your tongue the moment they had all arrived.

Martin, conveniently, just finished gathering all of his stuff before he patted your shoulder with a mischievous smile before slowly backing away to the door.

"He's in the car, getting the rest of his stuff."

And sure enough, you could see the faint silhouette of his shadow behind the trunk, looking to be prolonging stepping away from the car for as long as possible. Though you understood the feeling, you couldn't help the sharp pang in your chest at the thought that he was dreading to see you again.

Taking a deep breath and gathering whatever semblance of courage you had left, you cast a wary glance back towards Martin and watched as he gave you a small smile before disappearing into the house.

You swallowed nervously. Walking down from the porch ever so slowly, you approached their car warily until Andrei finally looked up at the sound of your footsteps.

You hadn't been sure what you were expecting, but the brightness of his face sculpted out by moonlight and the healthy glow of his eyes definitely wasn't it. You stood there, frozen, completely and utterly enraptured by how good he looked. There was something older about him as you took him in the same way he was doing to you, a certain caution and hesitance making up the slight lines around his face.

You weren't sure if you expected him to smile, but then again, he was probably expecting you to yell at him or curse out his very existence. You didn't really blame him, because for the longest time you probably would have done just that, but now?

Well… You just missed your best friend. You were finally tired of hurting, of trying to hold a grudge against a guy who just happened to be in love with someone else. It happens all the time, right? Your feelings be damned.

It didn't matter what you thought anymore.

Andrei took a deep breath the moment he saw you approaching from the corner of his eye, a nervousness bubbling up in his gut at the fact that he was about to have a conversation with you for the first time in almost a year; for a moment, he wondered if he should have even bothered stalling to collect his luggage since it looked like you were determined to greet him anyway. He wouldn't exactly lie and say that he wasn't excited to see you, but he couldn't help but feel guilty about that fact since he had quite literally just broken up with Julia, his ex-fiancé, only days before.

Though that didn’t stop him from practically devouring your body with his eyes, taking in the healthy glow to your skin and the natural blush on your cheeks that could have only come from days spent in the sun. You looked happy, and Andrei wasn't sure if it was such a good idea for him to have come here after all.

It looked like you had moved on though, that's what matters. Right?

"Hey Andrei," You greeted quietly, squinting your eyes against the darkness that shielded you from prying eyes to get a better look at him, regarding him cautiously.

It took a moment for him to process the words that left your mouth, and Andrei didn't even think twice before he let himself succumb to the emotion of having missed you for so long, and it would have taken the power of a thousand suns to stop him from hugging you almost suffocatingly close, never letting you go again, ever, bringing you close to his chest and sinking his head into the crook of your neck with a shaky sigh.

You didn't even fight it. You didn't want to. Your breath was labored and weak as the man you loved brought you in without hesitation and you reveled in his desperate embrace, you threw your arms around his neck and burrowed your head into the comforting warmth of his chest, ignoring the voices screaming inside your head that this was wrong.

And yet it felt so right. Like a piece of your soul had finally been found, latching onto that void in your heart that had felt overwhelmingly empty since you’d left.

But it was okay because Andrei was back and he was right here and you were drowning in his arms, the small amount of tears trickling down your cheeks irrelevant as he murmured unintelligible Russian into your neck, because he was here again and he wasn't letting you go again anytime soon.

"⁴я сильно скучал по тебе," He muttered into your neck, voice quiet and vulnerable and full of emotion and one that had you pulling back almost immediately.

Fuck. Your heart couldn't take this.

You attempted a smile, a weak one but nonetheless it seemed to placate your emotional Russian. It was as if the moment he spoke the spell of reunion was broken, leaving you wondering how the fuck you were supposed to fall back into the rhythm of being friends again.

Especially since he knew how you felt.

And most of all, you were still hurt. No amount of time spent distracting yourself at the beach would ever make you forget the heartbreak that Andrei had put you through, intentionally or unintentionally.

Seeing him again sparked those same feelings you fought so hard to smother, foolishly thinking that if you never saw him again then they would just… Go away.

Seeing him standing right in front of you with a sheen over his eyes as he held you close catapulted you back into the earlier times of your friendship, when physical affection was your very own language and innocent flirting - at least on your part - made up almost the entirety of your conversations.

You were so, so fucked.

"I missed you too," You responded in soft Russian, and the brilliant smile that spread across his face at your remembrance of the language almost made you forget the pain he put you through, because this was Andrei and no matter how much he might have changed over your time away, he was still just your same old best friend.

Who you also happened to be in love with, but details, details…

The feelings of nostalgia soon became too much as the two of you stayed with your arms wrapped around the other, taking the other in until you finally managed to pull yourself away.

You smiled weakly, now avoiding his eyes. "They're probably waiting for us inside." You pretended not to notice the way his expression fell at your words.

Walking up the stairs and opening the door to the large beach house, you went ahead of Andrei and led him into the spacious living room and was greeted with the sight of Teuvo fiddling with the TV remote, Sebastian bundled up in so many blankets that he almost resembled a living burrito with a mug of coffee, and Martin unpacking the food they brought in the kitchen.

Ignoring the curious looks all three boys were sending you, you merely rolled your eyes before walking through the open doorway that led into the kitchen and began helping Martin sort through all of the food they - unnecessarily - brought.

"You guys know you didn't have to bring so much, right?" You huffed, trying to break through the tension that had come at the entrance of you and Andrei.

Sebastian, who had a knack at always picking up on the mood, laughed all the way from the living room. "We know you better than that. I can't even cook and my apartment has more food than you."

And as simple and unimportant the statement was, the fact that they had even remembered such small things about you was enough to bring tears to your eyes. Again.

You had missed them so, so much.

"Pizza boxes and soda cans don't count as real food, Fishy." Andrei chimed in with a grin, and Martin merely shook his head in amusement before putting away the last of the bags.

Ignoring the bickering between the two forwards, you merely hummed contently and couldn't resist sending a fond, sneaky glance towards Andrei at the way he still immediately jumped to your defense, no matter how miniscule of a defense it was.

Was he just trying to keep the tension bearable until he could leave? Or has he genuinely missed you and regretted what he said all that time ago?

"You're staring." A low voice whispered into your ear, causing you to immediately whip around with a startled squeak. And, not to your surprise, it was Turbo who had snuck into the kitchen next to you and Martin unseen.

You crossed your arms, tilting your head up with an indignant huff. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Martin and Teuvo exchanged an amused glance before, fortunately, changing the topic. You had missed simple conversations with the hockey players, talking about your day or what silly thing the other had done at practice. It was refreshing, and once a lull in conversation came, the three of you eventually turned to face the large window in the kitchen that overlooked the beach front, now pitch black with only the stars reflecting across the water.

"It really is a beautiful place," Martin hummed from beside you, and you were much inclined to agree. "How'd you manage to book it for so long?"

"One of my friend's parents owns it, and they convinced them to let us stay while they're all in Italy."

Teuvo raised his eyebrows. "Italy? Are their parents in the mafia?"

You bit down your grin. "I don't know, they wouldn't give me a straight answer."

You openly laughed at the look on both their faces, ignoring their questions as you finally began to drag them both away from the window to get settled in. While you were positive you could have stayed up until the early hours of the morning catching up, you wanted to give them all a chance to get settled into their rooms considering they were staying there for the entirety of the week.

And you also wanted some alone time so you could freak out over the first physical contact you’ve had with Andrei in ages, but that was irrelevant.

As you entered the large living room once more, the three of you arrived just in time to see Andrei and Sebastian rolling off of the couch simultaneously.

"Are we doing something tomorrow?" Andrei asked as you walked up next to them.

"My company not enough for you?" You teased, completely forgetting the fact that such jokes weren't exactly… Appropriate anymore since, well, your company hadn't been enough for him to accept the feelings you had for him, all that time ago.

The way his expression fell into one of guilt reminded you of that, and you quickly tried to remedy that sad look on his face you couldn't stand to see.

"I heard there were wild horses here?" Teuvo, bless him, thankfully spoke up, and you breathed out a small sigh of relief as the entire conversation shifted onto other things. "Those would be cool to see."

Martin immediately shot up at the mention of his favorite animal. "Horses?"

"Mhm," You nodded, laughing at the excited look in Martin's eye. "I'd have to sign us up though so we might not get to go immediately yet."

"That's cool," Teuvo shrugged, leaning up against the staircase. "Anything on the agenda for tomorrow?"

You shrugged bashfully. "The beach?"

Once the five of you seemingly determined your plans for tomorrow, the boys were finally able to seek out the quiet of their rooms and begin to get ready for bed. The many hours of traveling together must have really done a number on them, especially if Sebastian and Teuvo weren’t even bothering to play their video games together before sleeping like they normally would.

As you showed the rest of them where their rooms were, it didn't take a genius to notice the way Andrei was lagging behind, sneaking careful glances at you from the corner of his eye and trying to speak, but the words just wouldn't fall from his mouth no matter how hard he tried.

You didn't give him a chance to let them. You fled, whispering a 'goodnight' to all of your friends and retreated to the safe confines of your room.

Andrei sighed, accepting the defeat. At least now that you were here, he'd have plenty of time to figure out how the fuck he was supposed to tell you he, well... He didn't know what he felt, but it definitely wasn't what friends should be feeling towards each other.

He couldn't help but wonder if that love you claimed to have for him so many months ago was still just as strong now as it was then, though when he thought back to the way you avoided his eyes and fled to your own bedroom he had a strong inclination to believe that love had long since diminished.

He bit back a frustrated groan at the thought. Why were you acting so strange now when before you had hugged him like you were never letting him go again?

A hand clapped him on the shoulder, and Andrei turned around with a huff to face his other friend. "She looks happier," Martin spoke quietly, referring to how easily you'd welcomed them all back into your life.

Well, minus him.

"She'll warm up to you. Give her time, it's been awhile." He responded quietly, easily seeing through his friend's insecurities.

"What if time was not enough?"

Martin tilted his head, hiding his sly smile and thinking back to when Teuvo caught you staring at him back in the kitchen. "It is. Or it will be."

Andrei narrowed his eyes skeptically. "But-"

"Go to bed, Drei." The left winger laughed, grinning at the confusion in his friend's eyes as he reluctantly nodded his head. God, Sepe was right, the two of you were idiots when it came to each other.

Hopefully soon, one of you would man up and finally decide to address what the fuck had happened that night so long ago and any feelings that might have remained.

Andrei let out a curse from his room, and Martin sighed at his friend’s stupidity.

Hopefully soon indeed.

Taglist: @ballsakic @bbbbruins @takethewarning @girlmeetsamerics @bb-nhlqueen7 @iwantahockeyhimbo @sebbyaho @heatherawoowoo @nghtskyys @matsbarzal @carter91 @leafs-forever @nilspettersson @teuvomakesmesmile @canadian-girl87 @hockeypuckedmeup @tysonjost-taylorsversion @grittysbattinggloves @stars-canucks @nachodaze @besthockeyfics @juliasvechaho @joeljuice @ssebastianaho @drei-mrssvechii @tanninetanya @insomniren @kpopkenners

Add yourself to my 18- (SFW) Taglist here!

Add yourself to my 18+ (NSFW) Taglist here!

#andrei svechnikov #andrei svechnikov imagine #andrei svechnikov fic #andrei svechnikov fanfic #andrei svechnikov fanfiction #andrei svechnikov x reader #carolina hurricanes #carolina hurricanes imagine #carolina hurricanes imagines #canes imagine #canes lb #nhl hockey #nhl fanfiction #nhl fic #nhl imagine #nhl writing #writing #fanfiction #'sunkissed'

284 notes · View notes

gwynrielsupremacist · 4 years ago

Text

CONSTELATIONS

Read at AO3

The sound of the Shadowsinger’s heavy breaths plus the splashing from the bathroom echoed throughout the room

Azriel was fucked.

But really, really fucked.

His hands felt sweaty against the cool and soft fabric of his bedsheets, undone after so many times he had shifted his position while he waited for his mate to leave the bathroom and go into bed with him.

They had discovered that they were mates a few weeks ago, and they had agreed to take things easy.

But, the progress that was to occur that night, it overwhelm him

He raised his body, supporting his elbow and extending his muscled neck, trying to see if Gwyn would appear through the doorway.

He still didn’t believe that such a female, that priestess, was his mate.

He still didn’t believe his feelings were reciprocal.

Seeing she wouldn’t show up yet, he flopped onto the bed, running the back of his hand over his eyes, sighing.

Shadows crawled up his scarred fingers, trying to soothe his nerves, but nothing succeeded. He glanced at the time in the clock that sat on his nightstand. She had been in the bath for 30 minutes.

“Has something happened to her?” He asked.

“She will come, Shadowsinger” The shadows reassured him. “She’s as nervous as you”

He stretched the collar of his nightshirt to catch some air in his lungs. He normally slept shirtless and in simple black shorts that left little to imagination, but he supposed his normal clothing would make the priestess uncomfortable, and he didn’t want to be the reason for her discomfort.

He looked down at his hands, scarred and burned.

“You don’t deserve her. You’re just the bastard of an Illyrian lord”. His insecurities told him.

“That’s a lie, Shadowsinger. She loves you, and you’re worthy of her, as much as she is worthy of you” His shadows answered, attacking his own thoughts.

“You’re a blood-thirsty bastard, when she knows all your secrets, she will run away”.

“Attack those thoughts, Shadowsinger, those thoughts are nothing but your insecurities” They fought back.

“I am worthy of her. She loves me and I love her” Azriel thought, closing the insecurities with a padlock and tearing them outside, destroying it.

He sighted, placing a palm in his heart, noticing how his heartbeat was normalizing.

The shadows started to move, heading to the arc of his wings, settling there and calmly observing their master.

Azriel shifted, lying on his stomach, no longer hearing the sound of his mate splashing in the tub.

It had all started when Gwyn appeared in the training ring, while he was performing his night stretches.

Apparently, she hadn’t been able to sleep and had grown tired of reading the book she, Nesta and Emerie had started to criticize it, and had headed to the training ring to perform dagger exercises, finding Azriel there.

They had started doing combinations of lunges and dagger blocks and when they were both satisfied, thay headed to their room, hand in hand.

She had gone downstairs to the priestesses’ rooms for a moment, looking for a nightgown to sleep in, while he took a quick shower, wiping all the sweat from his body.

When he came out of the bathroom, dressed in his pajamas, Gwyn was already there, looking around the room.

His room wasn’t one of the largest in the House. He believed that Cassian’s was the biggest, with all his gadgets and gadgets he kept there, but his was cozy. He doesn’t need anything else.

Well, maybe a priestess sleeping everynight in his bed, in his arms. He wouldn’t mind.

In one corner was a study with two chairs, next to a three-seater sofá with a tea table in front of it. In the center of the room was where the huge bed was located, next to which were two chests, one with clothes and the other with weapons, in addition to the weapons that were hidden throughout the room.

The moment Gwyn saw him, she ran into the bathroom, and there she is currently.

The sound of footsteps startled him, sitting up and searching with his gaze for the gorgeous priestess, finding her grasping the edge of her nightgown uneasily, in the middle of the bathroom door.

The nightgown was a simple cobalt blue negligeé, with lace at the top, running down her creamy neck to the V of her breasts, ending below her knees.

It was simple, but fucking sexy.

He would already thank Nesta and Emerie for the purchase, because he was sure as hell it had been the choice of those two. He gulped, avoiding thinking of the bulge already forming in his pants.

Azriel smiled at her, tapping the spot next to him, inviting her to sit down next to him.

She smiled back, blushing as she approached the bed, sitting down and smoothing the hem of her nightgown, placing her cheek on the Shadowsinger’s shoulder, revealing part of her whitish neck and the curve of her breasts.

He was very screwed up.

“Are you okay?” Az asked, grabbing her hand and kissing her knuckles.

She nodded, letting herself be carried away by her touch, as she wrapped her hands around her body.

They felt silent, staring at each other while innocent caresses were made.

“Do you want a particular side or…? She asked, laughing quietly as she grabbed his hand and traced the scars on his hand.

“I have no problem” He shrugged, caressing her hand as he pulled her into his body, sitting her on his lap.

Gwyn blushed, realizing where exactly she was sitting, but he brought his legs together, letting her not to be sitting right on top of his cock.

“Thank you” She said as she brought her lips to his cheek, kissing it slowly, then hiding her face in the crook of his neck.

Azriel wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her cheek and murmuring “No problem” in her ear, then kissing her lobe, earning a shudder from her part.

Suddenly Gwyn raised her head and started looking around the room, her face puzzled.

“Where are your shadows?” She asked, searching the corners to see if they were there.

“Hidden, apparently” He explained.

“We’re here” Answered his shadows. “We didn’t want to trouble our priestess” They said as ribbons of night appeared out of nowhere, approaching the Spymaster’s neck, some of them touching and licking the wrists of the female sitting in his legs.

“According to them, they didn’t want to appear in case you felt uncomfortable with them” He explained, noticing how the shadows hid in the arch of his wings, observing from there the scene between the two lovers.

Gwyn chuckled, reaching out to a shadow, letting it surround her.

“I don’t mind if they’re with us” She admitted, as more shadows joined the already present. “They have never bothered me. In fact, they’re a comforting presence.”

Azriel laughed. A noteworthy laugh, out of the stomach.

“Do you consider my shadows a comforting presence?” A low chuckle came out of him, while he brought his lips to her neck and arranged small kisses in the area.

“Sure” She emphasized, noticing goosebumps on her arm. “Why should your shadows bother me?”

Azriel was silent, preferring to keep kissing her neck.

He noticed how she smiled, lightly grasping his hair, entangling her fingers in the fine strands of his raven hair.

He slid down onto the massive bed, getting Gwyn to straddle his thighs, earning a punch to the arm.

He feigned pain, grabbing his arm and twisting carefully from his wings, while he listened to her laughter and the whisper of the shadows running through their bodies.

“Enough of teasing me!” She yelled, red with embarrassment, as she climbed off his lap and onto her side, ignoring his laughter and attempts to roll her onto her back.

Finally Azriel circled Gwyn’s hips, pulling her closer to him, spooning, entangling their legs under the sheets.

“I’m not making fun of you” He lied, peppering her neck with kisses.

Gwyn turned, looking into his eyes as she teased him.

“Be careful lest I remove your tongue with my teeth” He flirted, earning a blush from her part.

She turned back, ignoring him.

Azriel lowered his gaze from the creamy porcelain skin on her neck to the area where their bodies nearly collided. discovering that the nightgown Gwyn was wearing had risen above her hips, earning a switch toward his cock from the sight of her panties, watching her long legs and thinking how they would feel if they were tangled around his hips as he slammed hard against her-

He noticed that the female in his arms began to tremble, realizing in that moment he had screwed up more than at any other time.

“Gwyn. Gwyn I’m so sorry” He apologized, moving quickly and putting a good few meters between both bodies, noticing the strong smell of arousal that was in the room. “Love, are you okay?”

She nodded, turning to find Azriel staring at her, eyes filled with remorse and concern.

“I’m sorry” She said, wrapping her arms around her body, tears falling from her eyes.

“She’s not angry with you, Master” The shadows commented.

“Who is she mad at then?” He answered them.

“With herself” They replied. “She’s angry for not having control of her body and therefore not being able to be intimate with you.”

He was silent for a moment, thinking about how to tell her what she needed to understand without her freaking out.

He reached out his hand, asking with his gaze for her to grasp it, taking both hands and intertwining them. That was exactly just what she did-

“It’s okay, love” He confirmed hers, soothing her skin with his thumb. “Let’s go at your pace, there’s no need to rush.”

She shook her head, looking at both clasped hands: “What if we can never be intimate because of me… because of my trauma?”

“Then we’ll not have intimacy” He assured her, bringing her knuckles closer and kissing them carefully. “I’m not with you for having sex, I’m with you because I love you. If we can’t have sex, then we won’t have sex.

She nodded slightly, moving closer to her body until they were nose to nose.

“It’s… my body… the problem” She confirmed.

He cocked his head: “Why do you think your body is the problem?

How can she think that her body, her gorgeous body, is the problem?

“Because you have had a multitude of lovers, surely with a better body than me, who will know how to satisfy you better than me” She told him. “I have… scars on the inner part of my thighs and hips and…” She replied while shallowly crying that little by little were falling down their teal eyes. “I have freckles all over my body and…” She couldn’t finish the sentence, preferring to hide her face on his neck while she tried to calm herself down.

He ran his hand across her back, making circles with his fingers to relax her muscles.

“Honey… Of course I have had many lovers, but I have only allowed one of them to know me thoroughly, and that’s you, my love” He replied, kissing the crown of her hair. “I haven’t seen your whole body, but I’m sure it’s just as breathtaking as I imagined it to be.” He murmured. grabbing her hand and kissing it softly. “And why the hell do you think I would hate your freckles?

She sniffed, looking into his eyes as he brought his scarred fingers closer and wiped the tears that fell from her eyes.

“In Sangravah they always compared us… Catrin and me” Gwyn recalled. “They always said Catrin was the beautiful one while I was the… cute one. I always assumed that it was because I had this hair and these stupid freckles.

Azriel had a painful time trying not to rip the head off those who said that to his mate.

“Well, that’s a lie, because you’re fucking beautiful and I love those freeckles”. He recognized as he traced patterns on her cheeks, following their path.

Gwyn began to blush, placing her mouth on the corners of Azriel’s lips, giving him small kisses and then hiding in the hollow of his neck again, leaving kisses there alike, earning a shudder from the male.

“This female is going to be the end of me” He thought, as he arched his neck to give her more room to kiss.

She laughed lightly, looking up, meeting Azriel's gaze locked in her lips.

The atmosphere suddenly was charged with the arousal of both, him and her.

They began to get closer little by little.

There had been very few occasions that they had kissed on the lips, and the tension of the moment could be cut with scissors.

They kept getting closer until there were only inches left for their lips to collide, breathing in each other's breath.

"Can I… Can I kiss you?" He asked. Always asking permission, always the safety of his mate first. If she wanted to leave things right then and there, Azriel would be happy just holding her through the night.

Azriel didn't discover that he had been breathless until she nodded, until both lips met in a noteworthy explosion.

It was a simple kiss, Azriel knew he shouldn't push until she decided to, but they were both too tired to deepen the kiss.

Gwyn parted her lips little by little, silently demanding the kiss to be deepened, and Azriel was perfectly willing to make his mate enjoy the experience to the fullest.

He parted his lips, letting both tongues collide shyly, kissing and kissing and kissing until they had to part to breathe.

They both smiled, peaking at each other's lips, until Gwyn dropped onto Azriel's chest, visibly tired and with her eyes almost closed.

"Are we sleepy, Berdara?" He teased her, kissing the top of her head as she nodded silently, burying her head deeper into his chest, inhaling the scent of cedar and night mist.

"Tomorrow we have training?" She asked him sleepily.

"Yes, we do" He replied, grabbing the sheets that had fallen by the side, leaving them on both bodies "I will wake you up, just sleep now, my love, you have earned it".

She smiled slightly, kissing his neck one last time as her breathing became more and more rhythmic. She had fallen asleep.

In his arms.

She had fallen asleep in his arms.

He smiled slightly, the only person who would allow to see that sensitive part of him.

"Good night, my love" He whispered in her ear, kissing the lobe and falling into the most restful and deep sleep he had in years.

——————————————————————————

Gwyn hadn't slept this well in a long time.

The morning sun filtered through the curtains of his mate's room, illuminating the entire room. She turned her gaze, finding his handsome mate asleep peacefully, with one arm under the pillow and the other resting delicately on her stomach, protectively.

She smiled slightly, her gaze running over the man who shared the bed. His hair was facing everywhere from sleep, her wings curled up behind him, the membranes catching the sun's heat and forming shapes on them. She perceived, not with a little joy and excitement, that part of his shirt had risen, revealing his tanned abs.

She didn't know what time it was, but he was supposed to wake them both up, so she decided to put her head back on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

She suddenly felt the arm that was on his stomach stretch, as did the other on the pillow. She had woken him up.

"You look like a cat stretching" She laughed, brushing away the hair that had fallen over his eyes, meeting Azriel's hazel eyes staring at her, clouded with sleep.

He smiled slightly, leaving kisses on her neck, causing shudders throughout her body.

"Let me sleep" He replied with a hoarse and dark voice.

"We have to go to training" She counterattacked, trying to lift his arm that fell under her hands again, without success.

"Five more minutes" He murmured, yawning.

"I can't believe the brooding Spymaster of the Night Court is demanding me five more minutes of sleep" She chuckled, pounding her arm.

He growled, nipping her shoulder playfully.

Gwyn gave up, letting Azriel lightly bite as much of her neck as he wanted.

They did not know how long they stayed in that position, the Shadowsinger kissing and nibbling the priestess's neck and shoulder, while she allowed herself to be done.

Finally he got tired, raising his mouth to meet hers, giving her a kiss.

"Good morning" He whispered between kisses, biting lightly on Gwyn's bottom lip, causing a sensation of heat to settle in the lower part of his stomach.

"Good morning to you too" She replied, stroking Azriel's back, careful not to touch her wings, the shadows nowhere in sight.

Gwyn had already received that talk about Illyrian wings from Nesta and Emerie, who were the first to discover that the two were "together". She knew perfectly well that she shouldn't touch Azriel's wings without his permission.

Suddenly Azriel tensed, and Gwyn feared that she hadn't been careful enough and she had touched something she shouldn't have until a shadow came to view and settled into his ear, telling him something.

The Shadowsinger grabbed the sheets that had moved, covering both bodies at the same moment someone opened the door.

"AZRIEL, GWYN IS NOT IN HER…" Nesta interrupted in the room, almost ripping the door out of her place, Cassian behind her.

But while Nesta's gaze was concerned, Cassian was trying not to laugh at that very moment.

Cassian knew perfectly well why Gwyn was not in her room that night.

"H-Hi" Gwyn greeted, watching her best friend's reaction.

Nesta was speechless, staring at the Spymaster, then Gwyn, and then her mate, realizing why Cassian wasn't the least bit worried.

"You knew it! You knew where Gwyn had been and you made me scared about her safety!" Nesta screeched, too loud for Gwyn's newly awakened hearing.

"I was imagining where Gwyn might have been," Cassian laughed, casting glances at Azriel, who growled menacingly at Cassian and Nesta, demanding that they immediately leave her room.

"See you at breakfast," Cassian announced, to which he was met with another higher-pitched growl from Azriel, closing the door and leaving both lovers in the room again.

Gwyn began to laugh, to which Azriel looked at her strangely, not understanding why his mate laughed when those two had caught them.

"It was very embarrassing" She said, wiping the tears of laughter from her eyes, getting up from the bed and approaching the leathers that she had brought from her room.

She turned to find Azriel sitting on her bed, staring at her with amusement in his eyes.

"Are you going to stay there all day or are you going to help me train?" To which she earned a crooked smile from her mate, getting up and heading to the bathroom to change clothes.

She left the room to change into another bathroom, meeting Nesta, looking at her with love, as if to say:

"I am proud of you, sister."

TAG LIST: @bookish-isha @imsointobooks @shisingh @feyretale @niaacotar @flora-shadowshine @tealnymph24 @trashforazriel

#gwynriel #gwynriel fic #azriel #gwyn #acosf #azriel x gwyn #acotar #gwyneth berdara #acowar

108 notes · View notes

chibimyumi · 4 years ago

Note

You brought up a great point that even though the entire series revolves around O!Ciel's revenge, he hasn't taken many steps to find out who the killers of his family are. There are a few obvious reasons, such as his obligation to fulfill watchdog duties and the Undertaker getting in his way. However, Sebastian doesn't seem to be rushing O!Ciel towards revenge. I wonder if Sebastian's lack of "revenge push" could be him trying to further cultivate O!Ciel's flavour, or if perhaps this is G Fantasy elongating the series. What are your thoughts? Thank you!

【Response to: How do you think the manga is going to end?】

Dear Anon,

Ah, I am very happy to see that I’m not the only one who finds it peculiar!

I personally really do think G Fantasy plays a role in there being such profound lack of active investigation towards the revenge. Though I don’t think it’s 100% their fault; Yana isn’t “innocent” either. In a long running series of 15 years, she could have shown more investigation. Especially earlier, before she became indispensable to the magazine. An initiated investigation with sporadic information is much easier to “drag out” than just... not address it.

The only time I think we’ve seen any active investigation was in chapter 85 (correct me if I’m wrong.) And that initiative was taken by Sebas; his master didn’t even know why Sebas wanted to go to the Somerset House at first. This shows it can’t be Sebas who is delaying the revenge, and that it was not Yana’s “active” choice to forestall the progress in-story through him.

On O!Ciel’s part, he can’t diegetically be stalling either. Yana has established very clearly that the moment O!Ciel even so much as considers “actual life”, he is raw food. If simply replying: “that’s not a bad idea either...” as an answer to “status, wealth and a beautiful fiancée” was enough to make Sebas attempt eating his master prematurely, I don’t see how “obligation to fulfill watchdog duties” would not be enough. That boils down to the same thing; just phrased a little less indulgently.

We must remember that Sebas is not the patient type when it comes to human “indecision”. Yes, he has a lot of time and is a bored soul, but he’s also impatient. So far we have already had two instances that showed that Sebas would rather eat a snotty egg than ones that were overcooked or left stale.

Sebas will “shoot for the moon”, so to say. But if the trip is so awful it doesn’t make the moon worthwhile, he doesn’t mind “landing on the stars” either. Had O!Ciel at the expense of his timely revenge decided on being a dutiful watchdog, he’d become an under-grilled hotdog 🌭 first.

It is also not the case that in the past Sebas was different than he is now. In a much later chapter when O!Ciel was CLEARLY in delirium and only therefore expressed his defeatism, Sebas also didn’t hesitate much to make a pounce for O!Ciel’s miserable little soul.

In short, neither Sebas nor O!Ciel are delaying the investigations for any in-story reason.

I also have fair confidence in saying O!Ciel’s lack of action/progress was not influenced by Undertaker.

For 6 whole Arcs Undertaker hadn’t even revealed himself as anything antagonistic towards O!Ciel. Then he did a “tadaa, I’m a mass-murdering maniac”, but that didn’t have anything directly to do with O!Ciel’s revenge or his actions towards it.

Otherwise UT also has not actively done anything to hinder O!Ciel in carrying out any investigation. If O!Ciel DID try to investigate, then UT might or might not interfere. But O!Ciel hasn’t even initiated any investigation for UT to interfere even if he wanted to.

In short......... I think Yana just kinda shelved the active revenge for her two protagonists, and G Fantasy isn’t helping either. They be like: “Our cash-cow hasn’t written any active revenging for more than a decade; why rush her now?”

To me personally the series is captivating enough to keep me very invested. Though the series is designed to revolve around the Phantomhive revenge... it’s basically a “slice-of-miserable-and-cunning-life” now. I love Kuro, my blog exists because of my love for Yana’s work. But DAYUMNNNN... Yanaaaa, Sebas not having grown impatient at all regarding this revenge is leaning DANGEROUSLY close to plot-hole now.

Yana... I love you. (ಠ_ಠ)

#Kuroshitsuji #Ending #Revenge #What revenge...?#G Fantasy #Yana you're not innocent either #LOVE YOU though #You mean SO much to me #but gosh #(ಠ_ಠ)

130 notes · View notes

thepiratearcinhamlet · 4 years ago

Text

Dead Apple Explanation:

Part Two: Dragon Head Conflict

---------

WARNING. If you do NOT want spoilers, then please do not keep reading. :)

Understanding what happened during the Dragon Head Conflict is key to understanding what happens in Dead Apple.

This section is going to be the longest, so bear with me.

6 years ago, (from the present timeline,) the Dragon Head Conflict broke out. It was the bloodiest day in Yokohama's history. Dead Apple starts on the last day of the conflict, Night 87/Day 88, but the Prologue explains the basic layout of the Conflict in pretty good detail. (If you want to skip my summary and just watch the YT videos, link in Part One of my explanation. There are five videos, the longest is 5 and a half minutes.)

What happens is as follows:

An unnamed ability user with a vast fortune died. At this time in Yokohama's history, there were many more rivals and gangs in the city and several different groups moved in to claim the treasure. The treasure eventually became just an excuse for the rival gangs to finally wage all out war on each other, even though they just called it a 'feud'. As the conflict dragged on into days and then weeks, turning bloodier and bloodier, the Special Division of the government decided to hire an ability user named Shibusawa, who became known as the White Dragon. They thought they could use him, but Shibusawa had his own agenda. (Obviously he didn't tell the government that LOL.)

Shibusawa has a many faceted ability - one facet of it allows him to create a mist, the Dragon's Breath, which separates a user from his or her ability. (There are users who are immune/can resist, but more on that later.) The ability will then turn on the user and kill them. (Please note that this mist was NOT the all-encompassing mist we see later in Dead Apple.)

I feel like this is the perfect time to explain a bit about what we know regarding his backstory. He is an incredibly powerful ability user, and incredibly intelligent, as well, predicting people's moves with even more ease than Rampo or Dazai. (Dead Apple makes this scarily obvious.) He is bored with everything: life, death, abilities, etc. One of the few things he couldn't predict was what would happen if he could get an ability that was in direct opposition to his. He was NOT interested in creating and collecting ability gems yet, he just wanted to find his ability's opposite. Like he tells Atsushi near the end of Dead Apple, the opposite ability could possibly show him the strength and tenacity of life, and it would do so by killing him. It was so alive and powerful, that he would enjoy death at its hands. But he wasn't /sure/, because he couldn't find the antithesis of his ability. (This guy is seriously messed up.)

KEEPING ALL THIS IN MIND-

Enter Fyodor. Yes, Fyodor had his hands in it the entire time. You thought Shibusawa was in control? Nooooope. Fyodor is an enigma; he has a lot of agendas going at once, and he's basically on the same intelligence level as Shibusawa. He uses Shibusawa, (a feat in and of itself,) telling him about an ability user locked away in an orphanage. This ability is not fully developed, but incredibly powerful; the rival to Shibusawa. Elated, Shibusawa rushes off to the orphanage. How he manages to torture the abilty user is a mystery - either he snuck him out of the orphanage, or the director of the orphange was just that much of an @#$%^&*!. Regardless, Shibusawa tortured the ability user to try and extract his ability - since it wasn't fully developed, and buried so deep inside the user who had no knowledge that he WAS a user, Shibusawa couldn't separate it with his Dragon's Breath ability, and was forced to use electrocution.

The ability inside the user /was/ the rival to Shibusawa's, and even in it's not-fully-developed state, it activated last-minute to protect its user, turning into a white tiger and slashing through Shibusawa's skull, killing him.

However, Shibusawa's ability was unique. It resided in his skull, and the skull was not destroyed by the white tiger's claws. With a little unexplained Fyodor magic, (seriously, someone explain the many facets of Fyodor's ability already!) Shibusawa was revived, but Fyodor withheld his memories, thereby making it easier for him to continue manipulating Shibusawa without Shibusawa's knowledge. His memories are gone, but Shibusawa does remember his lust for collecting and his boredom with the universe. (He's also basically a spirit in some sort of magical physical body, since his skull was kept separate from him, so he's not going to die conventionally.)

There is a bit of a gap here, as Shibusawa somehow went from being a revived dead spirit dude to being hired by the government, and this is not explained. My guess is Fyodor was involved. Shibusawa was vital to his plan, and this was the perfect time to start putting it in motion. (Fyodor's plan is not important right now, that's for the apple suicide section.) So yeah - let's assume Fyodor somehow got the Special Division to hire Shibusawa. (Asagiri, I know this is not the most important detail, but it would be great if you explained it~)

Fast forward to where we left off with Dragon Head Conflict. We are not sure when in the 88 days of conflict that the government sent out Shibusawa, but it was probably around the middle. During the time he was free to roam the streets, the bloodshed increased. Ability users started dying en masse. Rumors of a "White Dragon" start circulating,

Oda, the mafioso who wouldn't kill anyone and Dazai's friend, went one night to investigate a jewelry store that had been blasted apart. It also doubled as a base of operations for a blackmarket organization known as the Gerhardt Security Services, or GSS. (You'll remember them from the Fifteen Arc.) The place was known to be protected by some extremely dangerous combat ability users. While there, Oda bumps into Shibusawa, who pretends to be investigating the scene of the crime and shows little interest in the deaths of the ability users, saying that people die all the time, especially since there is a war on. (Shibusawa actually was the one who attacked the store himself, stealing the gems for a separate collection of his [normal gems, not ability gems,] and killing all the ability users. His boredom caused him to obsessively collect things, and the loss of his memories amplified it.) Oda asks if he's new here, because the murders make no sense and he /ought/ to be surprised. GSS was one of the few neutral parties in the current feud, and therefore, whoever attacked was a "thrill seeking fool". Oda then speculates that maybe it's the White Dragon's doing, a loose cannon who appeared out of nowhere a few days ago and attacks anyone in any organization, leaving no witnesses. Shibusawa comments that, if there were no witnesses, how would The White Dragon get a name? He then says that if it /is/ the White Dragon's doing, he has no business sticking around. Oda says that he's going to stay because he wants to find out the White Dragon's motive. Shibusawa starts to leave, then says he's going to give Oda a hint to the White Dragon's obvious motive. (Real subtle there, sir.) The answer is pure boredom - perhaps beautiful jewels would awaken feelings inside him. He then leaves, saying that if Oda survives, he'd love to meet up with him again.

Dazai appears shortly afterwards, and Oda tells him what happened. Dazai tells him he is lucky to have survived, since that 'investigator' was the White Dragon himself.

Fast forward to 70 days into the conflict. Chuuya confronts Dazai for napping and subsequently ignoring a call from Mori to attend an important meeting, asking him if he even understands what's going on because this is the biggest gang feud in Yokohama's history. Dazai first teases him, saying he needs to buy a microscope to use on Chuuya because he's so short, then tells him that yes, he does understand. An organization called Strain has had 80% of their members wiped out. Another organization, the Tasake Corps, has had their leader assassinated, sending their gang into chaos. He then rattles off several other organizations who have joined in the bloodshed. Old feuds, paranoia, lust for revenge - the conflict is just an excuse for everyone to lay everything on the table. It will only end with the death of everyone involved. Chuuya yells at him, that he needs to contribute to stopping the death. Dazai comments that rushing headlong into a fight is what everyone else is doing, thereby causing more death and chaos. He says they should leave the strategy of the Port Mafia's part of the war to Mori, the leader of the Port Mafia, and then shifts Chuuya's attention to something else.

Dazai shows him a photo of a corpse of a Port Mafia executive named "The Colonel." Chuuya is in shock that the older man, who had a very powerful ability, could possibly be killed. Dazai tells him it's the White Dragon - the White Dragon's ability is still unknown, but he appears to get stronger with every kill he makes. Chuuya says this war makes the perfect hunting ground to find and kill the White Dragon, and asks Dazai what the plan is to take him down. Dazai says he doesn't plan on hunting him down, and that Chuuya ought to be wondering about who will replace The Colonel as the next executive, especially since they both are potential candidates. Chuuya's temper flares again, and he punches Dazai, telling him he's going after the White Dragon and Dazai can go back to napping until he dies, before storming out. Dazai mumbles "how cruel", but smiles, obviously having more up his sleeve than he let Chuuya on to.

Two days later, Shibusawa is taking a stroll through a ruined section of Yokohama. Despite the bloodshed, a few pedestrians are still around - life must go on. He approaches a street vendor and tries to buy a bouquet of white flowers. The vendor asks him if they're a gift for someone. Shibusawa says yes, that he plans to leave them with his next encounters, as a parting gift. (Seriously, this guy needs to learn the art of SUBTLETY-) The vendor then says she will gift him "this", and pulls out a gun, aiming it at him. The rest of the 'pedestrians' pull out weapons and surround him, much to Shibusawa's surprise. Dazai then appears, telling him that these are the Mafia's best, and he shouldn't resist; this is just the "entertainment before the show". Shibusawa is impressed, and guesses Dazai's identity. Dazai informs Shibusawa that he (Dazai) is "on thin ice" with his partner for "sleeping all the time" and asks Shibusawa to come away with him. Shibusawa asks what will happen if he refuses. Dazai tells him that he was offering to let Shibusawa choose where he dies, but he could just stay there and die right now. He then tells him that he made two miscalculations: First, Shibusawa can't win against Dazai, because Dazai's ability will nullify whatever the White Dragon's ability is. Second, the Port Mafia never works alone - the White Dragon is a One Man Army, and that will always fail.

Shibusawa asks if that's why Dazai joined the mafia, (i.e., being stronger in a group.) Dazai affirms this. Shibusawa tells him that's unfortunate, but Dazai probably feels the same way. He goes on to say that groups are important, likening individuals to threads and a group to a whole cloth. However, if you have one black thread in a white cloth, the cloth is nothing better than ruined trash. (Ouch, much.) Dazai brushes this remark aside, telling him that he will show him no mercy. The White Dragon went too far by killing The Colonel, and Dazai will punish him for it. Shibusawa shrugs, and says that's fine with him, but Dazai will regret it. Dazai denies this with a smirk. But Shibusawa keeps talking.

He tells Dazai that if he kills the White Dragon, the feud will not end. Dazai comments that's a unique way of looking at it. Shibusawa says that only the death of everyone will end the conflict, (echoing Dazai's words to Chuuya two days prior,) unless of course… another feud happens to distract everyone from the original feud. Dazai asks how. Shibusawa tells him that to stop a fire in an oil ring, you set off a bomb.

At that exact moment, an explosion goes off somewhere nearby. Rare shock appears on Dazai's face and he asks where it came from. Shibusawa tells him that no longer is this a feud, but an all-out war, thanks to him. His declaration was just delivered to all the organizations involved. Dazai watches the Mafia Headquarters rise into the sky, confused and still in shock. Shibusawa continues to talk, telling him that he is going to reduce everyone's base to nothing but rubble. Dazai then yells out that no, the mafia headquarters is /falling/. The bomb flew part of the building into the air, and now it's going to crash into the square.

Smug, Shibusawa repeats Dazai's "You made two miscalculations" quote back at him. First, Dazai thought the White Dragon wasn't expecting an ambush. Second, Dazai thought the White Dragon was alone. Supernatural abilities appear out of nowhere, attacking the mafia members in the square.

Dazai's subordinates fall one by one as he watches in horror. Shibusawa casually comments that Dazai was right, superiority in numbers was a splendid idea. He decided to form his own 'group', to help distract him from his boredom.

(What is NOT specified here is if Shibusawa is using his ability, or if he recruited ability users to his side. However, as we know from the beginning of Dead Apple, Shibusawa /did/ have a bunch of people in masks and cloaks and hoods. As to whether he animated them with abilities from deceased ability users, or if they were an extension of his own ability, or if they were a mix of ability users and normal people, is unknown. ASAGIRI, PLS JUST WRITE A WHOLE DANG NOVEL CALLED 'DRAGON HEAD CONFLICT'-)

As he finishes speaking, the rubble of the mafia looms closer to hitting the ground. Dazai mumbles that "who would have thought the White Dragon would be so powerful?" (This comment makes me think that in this instance, Shibusawa /was/ using his ability, and his hired hands were the ones setting off the bombs around Yokohama.) Shibusawa says he's tired of that name: "I am Shibusawa Tatsuhiko, the explosion that will end this war. The bringer of death that will end all of the massacres. This is the grand finale. I hope you leave me yearning for more…" Dazai recovers his composure and says that it's all very interesting, and it's time they had some fun, but at that moment, the headquarters finally hits the square, engulfing Shibusawa and Dazai in rubble and dust.

That day, every organization watched their base be destroyed, and they all learned the name of their common enemy. The Port Mafia sent a search party out to find Dazai, but his body was nowhere to be found, and neither was Shibusawa's.

Fifteen days later, Day 87 of Dragon Head Conflict, Shibusawa is moping in his palace, Draconia. (This is yet another facet of his ability - it is a special place, sort of like Lucy's, except he can make his tangible in the real world. Draconia holds everything he obsessively collects. Draconia is technically the name of his ability, but like I said, his ability is many-faceted, and the novel and movie refers to the palace as Draconia, so that is what I am going to do. He created his collecting palace after he was killed by the tiger ability, in a desperate way to find meaning without his memories - Fyodor briefly mentions this in Dead Apple.)

Fyodor appears and asks Shibusawa what's wrong? He's defeated amazing ability users, his palace is full to the brim with beautiful and priceless things; isn't this what he wanted? Shibusawa looks around at all the treasure and the heads (yes, you read that right, HEADS,) of many very strong ability users who he defeated. He says he's obsessively organized, just like he obsessively collected, but he has some measure of regret. Fyodor says that of course he isn't satisfied; he's told Shibusawa time and again that the pleasures of this world will never fill the deep emptiness he feels. "Not even jewels or war?" Shibusawa asks dejectedly. "No, they will not. As someone who has known you a long time, I can assure you of that." Shibusawa agrees reluctantly, commenting on how he predicted the moves of all his fallen foes and it's just so boring. He likens it to children who look back at old, broken toys and wonder how they ever enjoyed playing with them. What did they hope to get out of it? Eventually, they will just feel hopeless and smash the toy to bits. Fyodor tells him to blame the gods, because that's just how the world was made. Shibusawa asks what he should do, "detest the gods?" Fyodor smiles slyly. "No, there's a far simpler answer. Break your toys and move onto the next." Shibusawa smiles and proclaims this an excellent idea.

This exchange of dialogue is eerily similar to Dazai and Odasaku at the end of the Dark Era arc. However, the parallel is striking: both Dazai and Shibusawa are too smart for their own good, but their friends handle it in different ways. Oda tells Dazai to make his world more beautiful, save people, be a good man. Fyodor, who has his own agenda, advises Shibusawa to basically burn his world to the ground and do whatever he wants. (Fyodor, we hate you.)

Back at the temporary Port Mafia headquarters, Mori is holding a brief meeting between Hirotsu, Chuuya and himself. Mori bewails the fact that Shibusawa is a one man army and so enigmatic. Mori cannot use mathematics and logic and normal strategies and manipulation against an enemy they know nothing about, not even his ability, let alone his motive or whereabouts. "It's like we're fighting the mist itself." He goes on to explain that the top four organizations next to the Port Mafia have been completely annihilated, and many Port Mafia members have gone missing, from new recruits to executive candidates, including Dazai.

Chuuya says they should forget about "that moron" and try to find the others. (Obviously he doesn't think Dazai is dead, and knowing Dazai's crafty ways, he can look out for himself.) Mori comments there's the possibility that the missing people may not even be alive anymore, before asking Hirotsu for an update on the White Dragon.

Hirotsu tells him they don't have much beyond speculation and rumors, and that "the White Dragon's supernatural ability" is "a bizarre power that defies expectations." It appears that any user who encounters him commits suicide in despair. Mori then asks if Dazai left any information behind before his disappearance. Hirotsu says he's investigated everything thoroughly three times and has found nothing but a microscope that Dazai recently purchased, but it doesn't even look used.

Chuuya's eyes widen and he demands to know where the microscope is. Hirotsu says it's still in his room. (From the background pictures of said room, it is evident that Dazai has finally upgraded from his frighteningly isolated and empty storage container. Thanks for that stab, Stormbringer.) Fuming, Chuuya rushes off to the room, Hirotsu in tow. Once there, Hirotsu indicates the microscope, and Chuuya grabs it, promptly smashing it. Hirotsu starts to remonstrate, but is interrupted. Annoyance flashes across Chuuya's face as he holds up a transmitter for a tracking device that had been hidden inside. "That jerk saw this coming and got caught on purpose." Hirotsu says the coordinates are probably where both Dazai /and/ the White Dragon are, and is visibly impressed. "And the fact that he put it in a microscope so only I would notice must mean I have no choice but to go rescue that piece of crap. Damn it, Dazai! You always know how to be as annoying as possible!" He starts to leave, and Hirotsu asks where he's going. Chuuya tells him he's getting his motorcycle, indicating he plans to go after the White Dragon and Dazai. Hirotsu protests that Chuuya can't take on the White Dragon alone. Chuuya's annoyance fades, and he becomes more serious. "Don't worry, I have something for him." Hirotsu can't believe he's serious, (hello, Corruption!) and asks if that's really his plan. Chuuya just leaves, gets on his motorcycle, and zooms off, muttering, "Hold on, Dazai… you damn idiot!"

152 notes · View notes

theopolis · 3 years ago

Text

Extremely long, extremely salty Kindred criticism post

Yk the thing about the Kindred storyline is that it failed at being everything it was trying to be.

It wanted to be like DeMatteis' Goblin Junior arc while simultaneously inverting every concept from that arc. Harry is a gentle soul going down a dark path and hurting not only others but himself in the process? No, he's the comically evil mastermind who would throw his friends - Gwen and MJ, who even by his own standards have done him no wrong - under the bus to get revenge! Norman is the looming influence that follows Harry and motivates him to bend himself into who his father wanted him to be? No, he's the repentant, permanently dewey eyed reformed Norman who we're supposed to feel bad for when he gets dismissed and punched around by evil Harry/his demonic clone vessels/whatever the fuck. Peter is the best friend who, despite of course feeling angry and betrayed, believes in Harry's softness and their love and wants the best for him? No, he's immediately and with zero explanation ready to believe Harry is a literal demon all of a sudden and, I quote, "through with helping him". And I don't even think this (later clumsily backpedaled on) change of mind in Peter isn't justified in-universe - Kindred did uh, dig up the skeletons of Peter's loved ones and put party city wigs on them and also smash him with a big rock a couple of times, so there's that. But that's exactly the problem - Spencer set the stage for a story that doesn't actually involve Peter, or Harry, or Norman. He created mostly completely different dynamics between mostly completely different characters, and decided to project that on the the three of them. While also periodically inserting hamfisted callbacks to the DeMatteis stories, as if he didn't just take a giant dump on everything they established.

And here's the thing, even if I did enjoy the idea of Harry forgiving Norman, or the idea of Harry returning to villainy, or the idea of Norman becoming a character we're supposed to root for - which I cannot stress enough how much I don't - the execution of all these ideas was perhaps the worst it could have possibly been. Rushed, convoluted, and hollow.

Norman's sudden goodness is the result of a supernatural, vague process that apparently "freed him of his sin", whatever that means. Like, how do you quantify sin? How can you take it out of a person when it's their moral ideology and conscious choices that make them sinful/bad/evil? What happened to Norman simply reads like brainwashing to me. He is aware he's done something really bad, but he hasn't actually learned anything, and that impression is only backed by the way he talks about his past actions. It's always "oh it's my fault you're like this Harry" and "oh I can never make it up to you" etc etc but does he ever actually recognize his mistakes for what they were? Recognize where the errors of his past convictions lie? Of course not, because Spencer has zero reading comprehension and therefore no clue about the intricacies of Norman's character, his abuse of Harry, or what motivated it, or what he demanded of his son. It's funny how these four panels from a recent What If issue managed to paint a more compelling, if brief, picture of Norman as an apologetic father than Spencer has in a year worth of comics:

Harry's sudden villainy and the way it evolved throughout this story is just a train wreck. He has not had a substantial role in the comics for a long time now, but suddenly he's back AND he's evil! Who cares about complexity? Who cares about how Harry's feeling? Why he's doing what he does other than some extremely vague idea of revenge on apparently both Peter and Norman? Even though he was neck deep in denial about Norman being a horrible father and person at the time he supposedly launched the whole (checks notes) "create clones from Norman's and Gwen's DNA to stick it to his old man AND Peter in the future" plan, which he concocted because he somehow (????) knew his father wasn't gonna stay dead, which begs the question why he was so torn up about it in the first place, and- Look I could sit here all day trying to decipher the whole Gabriel and Sarah Stacy twist. It's impressive what an inconsistent, incomprehensible mess it is considering it was only introduced two issues ago. ASM 74 sort of hinted that Harry was being piloted by Mephisto when he created the clones so they could later become his hellish lackeys? I uhm, think? It's impossible to tell because no part of that retcon makes any sense to begin with. It doesn’t want to make sense because it was written - most likely on a whim - with the sole intent to garner good will for undoing Sins Past. Harry, for this entire arc, was not a character but merely a tool to bait us with an OMD reversal and ultimately do a Sins Past one. And of course, there's the fact that post OMD Harry - one of the only good things to come out of OMD in the first place - was just a clone all along, putting into question how valid all the amazing and inspiring development he went through since his revival was. Thanks a lot.

Lastly, I don't think I have to say how insulting it is to not just use Harry's character as a cheap plot device, but eventually force him to sacrifice his life for the very man who ruined it in every way. The man who abused him since birth, betrayed him on every level, attacked and murdered so many people Harry loves, including almost getting Harry's son killed. Why? Because he’s had a suspicious sudden onset of goodness that Harry has no context for? Norman and clone!Harry have not even interacted for this entire arc, but the sole act of Norman offering himself up to the rabid Kindred twins makes Harry instantly forgive everything he’s ever done. There was no build up to this whatsoever. It’s bad writing. And I don't think the abuse apologism implications of all this are intentional, I think Spencer just thought up the groundbreakingly subversive concept of "what if Norman good and Harry bad" and ran with that. But those implications are there nonetheless, because Harry and Norman's relationship has pretty much always been about abuse, about being mistreated by your parents, about not feeling good enough for them and eventually realizing that you were wronged and you don't owe them anything.

Spencer had Harry, a man who fought for years to rise to his best, most authentic self and fully turn his back on Norman and his legacy, die to save the father who never valued him for that self. And to add insult to injury, paralleled that with Harry dying after saving his best friend who loved him unconditionally. The latter mentioned death being a direct consequence of the actions Harry took to fit the expectations said abusive father had drilled into his head. I feel like that ending explains everything about this plotline.

#Harry Osborn #theopolispost #I'm tired #long post

43 notes · View notes

miraculouscontent · 4 years ago

Photo

Always.

“Truth” is just... I mean, I want to say “garbage” but that doesn’t even do how bad it is justice? Like, okay, I take four major issues with it (my followers be like: just four? :P):

First is the writing in general and the continuity of it all. This episode looks like it’s been through multiple drafts and the final product is an amalgamation of a bunch of them with no coherency between any of them. I already could kind of guess it from the Adrimi kiss that the finale removed, but it’s obvious that there were going to be Adrimi/Lukanette arcs in Season 4 but then stuff happened (i.e: the staff being cowards) and they got cut. It’s totally possible that the plot with Jagged Stone being the father and Marinette having to keep secrets from Luka were still the same episode even in the original draft, but I imagine it at least wasn’t episode one.

There are other, more subtle hints as well, like the episode giving no time to Luka learning that Jagged is his father (making the fandom wonder if Luka remembered when he was Truth) and Ladybug being shocked when she realizes that the akuma is Luka as if she didn’t already see him be akumatized. Juleka also gets weirdly sidelined in the episode despite being Luka’s twin (Astruc has stated that both Luka and Juleka are older and Juleka got held back, which is why she’s in Marinette’s grade but Luka isn’t), so she’s Jagged’s offspring as well. One might presume that Juleka just never cared at all but that doesn’t mean she shouldn’t be allowed to interact directly with the guy or have any involvement at all. All it would’ve taken is for Luka to mention that Juleka never cared about who their father was but he did, thereby implying that Juleka’s reaction to Jagged would probably be more like, “oh okay.”

You know, if they didn’t reduce her to incoherent mumbling.

Second is the timing of this episode. We had the New York special with Paris being destroyed, but it’s clearly fine here (so I guess it isn’t canon now; thank God honestly), and while it’s technically possible that enough time has passed (supported by the vague implication that Marinette having to miss out on dates with Luka has gone on for a while, given Tom and Sabine’s lack of reaction to them dating), it’s not supported by Marinette examining the Miracle Box as if she’s only just gotten it.

There’s also Shadow Moth, where we’re shown an extended version of the scene from the end of “Miracle Queen” where Gabriel repairs the peacock miraculous, giving the episode a “Volpina”->”The Collector” vibe but then why are the events lining up the way they do???

The narrative also does a really bad job at showing us why Marinette is so strapped for time. She has guardian duties now but you’d think it’d balance out with her not having to go to Fu anymore for guardian training (you know, that thing we never saw but was said to be happening or at least that it was Fu’s intent to have it happen). You could argue that maybe Shadow Moth is more active, but then Chat Noir should be affected by this too; Ladybug states outright that she’s been busy and Chat Noir responds with something akin to, “oh I know, because you’re guardian,” which implies that it’s her guardian duties keeping her busy and Shadow Moth is just interrupting her dates specifically.

But we don’t even see what responsibilities she has added on as guardian. I knew the writers would make it so her being guardian was a hassle, but it’s the first episode of the series and we’ve gotten next to no answers for what being guardian actually adds.

It’s almost like this was a rushed first episode to break up the only thing that unambiguously made Marinette happy for the sake of bringing the love square back and needlessly making her suffer because the writers think it’s hilarious.

Speaking of which, the third thing thing is the comedy because--just--I hate the comedy in this show.

Like, just to start, there’s the kwami, who clearly begin with their mob mentality from the later episode of “Furious Fu” and all proceed to act like children. No, I didn’t expect them to all be wise (I mean, Xuppu exists and is very much not that, having been implied to be a fit for Kim who is known for being a total himbo), but I don’t expect them to all scatter like they do. Kaalki in particular, who was shown to be more poised and refined, blatantly reveals herself to a bunch of civilians just for the sake of Marinette freaking out and needing to make up an excuse.

Same with Alya and her friends. Marinette is panicking because of the kwami and Alya “deduces” (while shading Marinette so blatantly that it’s insulting) that Adrien must be there in her house which--maybe don’t SAY THAT OUT LOUD in case Adrien is literally in her room???). Then Marinette gets a call from Luka, shouts his name, and the girls do a complete 180 in support of Lukentte. It’s not like I’m not for them supporting whatever Marinette wants to do, but the shift is so sudden (and contradicts “Frozer”) that it gave me whiplash and the entire scene ends up being pointless since the girls still go with the “Marinette is in love with Adrien” thing when Truth asks them what Marinette’s secret is. Like, we could’ve gotten small, stupid secrets that everyone thought only they knew about Marinette, but instead it’s just the same thing over and over again (which makes no sense since, by the time Alya blabs the secret - which Alya has already told Nino before anyway - it’s no longer a secret therefore making the answer invalid).

Heck, the whole “secret” thing could’ve even been the people Truth shoots finding ways of answering his questions in a way that is technically telling the truth but also not really, such as if Anarka had answered the, “Who’s my father?” question with, “someone you know/someone famous,” so as to avoid saying that it’s Jagged Stone. It’s just boring seeing characters answer with whatever the asker wants to hear instead of being able to find a way around it.

And then there’s Chat Noir, who’s just--ugh.

Like--okay, I’m going to be extremely petty for a moment and just go off because I hate Chat Noir’s role in this entire episode. The Season 3 finale went out of its way to have Chat Noir be all like, “I have a girlfriend,” when it was a lie, and then Season 4 just parkours around Ladybug telling him that she’s dating (Ladybug clearly took no issue with Chat Noir telling her he’s dating so it’s not like she’s worried about issues there; she’s gotten on his case before in episodes like “Startrain” so there are exceptions) because they want to keep having him flirt and not be sAd because this is Marinette’s episode of suffering and Chat Noir actually having to face the reality that Ladybug is dating (not just in love with someone else) would’ve actually been interesting. Chat Noir gets tons of unnecessary screentime in the episode - mostly for the show to shove in LadyNoir shipping fuel - and then actively avoids telling him the obvious thing because he would’ve actually been forced to grow/develop/stop flirting.

It would’ve been so cute and sweet to see him awkwardly trying to flirt without overstepping boundaries (so more like banter than flirt) or - you know - actually try to support Ladybug and want her to be able to finish her dates by him offering to keep akuma/sentimonsters busy, but no, he’s just left in the dark.

The finale had Chat Noir supporting her (terribly but I digress) and then doesn’t do anything with it at the start of Season 4, meaning his support of her was completely meaningless and just there.

His first appearance is him pranking Ladybug when she’s already overstressed and busy, which comes off as super poor taste and I’m both glad he got splatted into that window for it but also upset because it’s screentime completely gone to waste, and of course it’s just a lead up to him guilting her by being like, “nooo the only thing that hurts me is when you leave me alone during patrol!”

I know he’s teasing (...probably) but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth because we know (well, I knew because I know how this show works) that Luka and Marinette were going to break up because of Marinette’s hectic schedule, so it just comes off as insensitive to joke about it, especially when Ladybug’s busy guardian status just serves as a reminder that Fu is gone.

Even when he’s protecting Ladybug from Truth’s questions by cutting in and asking a question of his own, of course he asks about himself to forcibly fish compliments out of Ladybug because she can’t lie to him, and of course they have Ladybug compliment his humor most of all as if that trait hasn’t nearly gotten them in danger multiple times and she’s been repeatedly annoyed when he decides to joke during the worst possible times. It’s as if the writers wanted to pat themselves on the back for their own comedy, so they had Ladybug be a mouthpiece to stroke Chat Noir’s ego.

He claims he won’t force a truth out of her and then literally forces her to say what her favorite things about him are. I acknowledge that this can be seen as me nitpicking but we went from the finale where Chat Noir actually stepped up and took charge (because Ladybug was stressed but I guess him doing anything useful is just whenever it serves the plot) to this where he’s back to flirting constantly and jamming in as much LadyNoir shipping fuel as physically possible. It’s not that he’s useless but he’s annoying and takes up space in an episode that’s supposed to be about Luka and Marinette.

And that leads us into the fourth thing, which is the break-up and just the treatment of Luka and Marinette in general. I could go on and on about how the Season 3 finale built up their relationship just to tear it down in the first episode of Season 4, but that’s not the main issue here.

Luka brought Marinette comfort. He made her happy. He never judged her. He was happy to just date her regardless of any conflicted feelings she might have because hey, who is he to complain if she wants to give him a try and who knows what’ll happen?

And the season couldn’t even give one moment of them being unambiguously happy without ruining or interrupting it. I was ready for the break-up and I was even ready for it to be the first episode but I wasn’t ready for it to be so bad.

Marinette’s Adrien pictures appear out of nowhere (again, makes no sense for the timeline) when they’ve been gone for basically all of Season 3 and even “The Puppeteer 2″ specifically which makes a direct reference to “Troublemaker,” the episode that purposefully overdid it with her pictures (”Truth” has more hanging up and clearly used “Troublemaker” as a reference, by the way). They’re just there for force the love square and Adrien into the episode as much as possible to remind the audience that Adrien breathes. There is literally no purpose to any mention of Adrien and bringing him up isn’t even relevant to Marinette and Luka’s break-up.

It’s just upsetting to know that the umbrella scene from “Origins” (which is already flawed in and of itself) kickstarts this whole thing. Adrien did basically nothing there except for clear up a misunderstanding and give Marinette an umbrella when his ride was a few meters away and Marinette’s house was just across the street, but that actives Marinette’s absolutely crippling crush on him that lasts for 3-4 seasons. Marinette is in this eternal struggle of not being allowed to grow and change because the writers think her stammering/crushing on Adrien is funny while actively punishing her for having this crush in the first place (again, like in the scene with Alya, which insults Marinette for her crush when she wasn’t even panicking over her crush).

It’s the same with Luka, and I can’t believe that it took me until this episode to realize that he and Marinette are both treated the same way: tormented by episodes for having a crush on someone. Episodes will go out of their way to forcibly insert Adrien into the plot to both humiliate Marinette and make Luka feel awkward when the episode isn’t supposed to be about Adrien at all. “Truth” is just “Desperada 2.0″ except Adrien is barely on screen at all and they still felt the need to name drop him constantly. The writers are so sensitive to the idea of people jumping onto another ship or forgetting that Adrien exists that they’ll find any possible way to include him.

“Silencer” knew better. “Silencer” knew that Marinette’s life didn’t have to revolve around the mere mention of Adrien’s name and that she had other interests/desires/traits outside of him. Adrien isn’t brought up once and it was great because the show didn’t feel the need (for once) to throw Adrien into an episode that he had nothing to do with.

Even if I was a love square shipper, I would feel insulted by “Truth” because one half of my ship kept getting name dropped and used as a tool to humiliate the other half, which makes it all the more eyeroll-worthy when the love square stans of the fandom praise this episode for breaking Lukanette up when--oh, wait, they didn’t even break up “because Adrien.”

And that ends up being the real thing here. The writers had to invent a reason for Marinette and Luka to break up. We already know that Jagged Stone being Luka’s dad is a retcon (not technically in the show’s canon but in information we heard about outside of it), so they shoved in Luka having issues about not knowing his father specifically so that he would be pushed over the edge when Marinette couldn’t tell him about her being Ladybug.

When Luka and Marinette were just together and hanging out, Adrien wasn’t mentioned once. Say whatever about the Adrien pictures being on the wall and Marinette’s stammering (she always says stupid stuff when she panics - especially stuff she doesn’t mean - so I’m not upset with her so much as the writing for having her mess up in that specific way), but the only time Marinette talks about Adrien at all in the episode is when someone else brings him up.

She goes on a date with Luka to the cinema and they were having a great time without Adrien involved at all. I know I already stressed this point in a previous post, but one of the reasons that I find Lukanette to be so amazing is because the show actually focuses on Marinette’s interests and doesn’t force her to be the writer’s mouthpiece for gushing about their sunshine boy a punching bag for comedy. In every Lukanette scene that doesn’t bring up Adrien/before Adrien shows up, Marinette is either praised, able to be happy, or is showing one of her interests that isn’t aDrIeN, and whereas Adrien being on-screen around Marinette usually just means that she’s gushing about/stammering around him with no development, Lukanette features us actually learning more about Luka or other characters.

“Captain Hardrock” - lets her bond with Luka over a shared interest in Jagged Stone, and Luka is established as a sort of empath who uses music as a way to speak for himself

“Frozer” - gets to practice ice skating with Luka, who is actually good at ice skating and also can tie laces despite not tying his own because he’s a rebel

“Desperada” - gets to try out guitar with Luka and we learn that Luka has been playing guitar for as long as he can remember

“Silencer” - showcases Marinette’s interest in fashion and properly introduces Kitty Section; has a plot featuring all of them together doing something not even remotely love-related and we get actual confirmation of Luka’s crush on Marinette, along with Marinette’s reaction (blushy+happy; just saying, idk how anyone could watch “Silencer” and not think that Marinette was crushing on Luka)

“Heart Hunter” - Marinette gets a song written for/about her and Luka is established to have a job

“Truth” - brings up Lukanette’s shared interest in Jagged Stone, features Marinette’s interest in fashion when she gives him a gift she made + had Jagged Stone sign, and shows her raising her voice but not being judged by Luka for it, who’s happy with her just the way he is

When the show focuses on Lukanette, it’s all about lifting Marinette up, praising her, and making her feel good. When Adrien is involved or it’s hyper-fixating on Marinette’s crush on him, it’s about bringing her down and making her feel bad for a crush they keep forcing her to hold onto and humiliating her for.

Point being, the writers had to force their way into getting Lukanette broken up because of their precious love square and the fact that Marinette and Luka being happy is the opposite of what they want.

It’s embarrassing to watch a team full of old white guys (I’m convinced at this point that they just hang their female writer on a coat hanger so they can point to her whenever someone says that their staff is too male-dominated) treat their female biracial lead with such disrespect, and I can only presume that the mistreatment of Luka is because he’s supportive of her and they don’t like that, meaning that the way she’s treated ends up rubbing off on him.

It doesn’t come off as a fun or interesting plot; it comes off as cruel. When Adrien is sad, he usually gets people rushing to comfort him (”Party Crasher,” “Gamer”), but “Truth” has Marinette in tears over the fact that she can’t have a boyfriend due to being Ladybug and the writing has the gall to crack jokes about Kaalki not knowing what tears are, and then Marinette has to ask for the kwami to hug her for comfort.

When Luka gets akumatized into Truth, the episode doesn’t even hesitate at bashing away at him, from everyone saying that Marinette’s secret is that she “loves Adrien” (which, as Truth points out, isn’t a secret, and they could’ve had this somehow lead up to a twist ending where Marinette actually isn’t into Adrien anymore and the Adrien pictures were genuinely for reference, but she stammered about it because it was embarrassing that her boyfriend got sent it with no context) to one of Luka’s favorite songs actually being about how Jagged abandoned him to go on tour. Luka has to deal with Marinette ditching him constantly (not that I blame her) and not knowing who his father is despite wanting to know, and the episode treats him like trash for... what? Having a crush on a girl who’s secretly Ladybug? Because that’s all it seems to come down to in the end.

I also have serious gripes with the fact that Marinette has this huge schedule established in “Gamer 2.0″ and they don’t even try to explain why she can’t use it to keep track of her obligations. The episode has her say (in a roundabout way but still) that she’s forgetting stuff constantly because of all of her emergencies (the emergencies of which are not stated and I hate the subtle implication that forgetting something means you don’t care about it when that’s clearly not how things work and also not what Marinette comes off as because - again - they establish that she’s overworked) but fails to properly explain it. The episode hammers away at Marinette having all these issues and even has Tikki chide Marinette by asking her about leaving Luka alone while apparently neglecting the fact that Marinette HAS to go be Ladybug right now and what else is there to even do??

Both Luka and Marinette are punished for just having a crush and wanting to be together and I hate that the episode forces a break-up instead of coming up with a solution to the problem. Instead of “Marinette isn’t ready for a romantic relationship,” it feels more like she’s just not allowed to be happy.

Long-distance relationships are a thing. Relationships where people don’t get to go on dates frequently are a thing. Instead of forcing a break-up, the episode could’ve had a lesson/development where Marinette is told that she’s allowed to pursue a relationship and just needs to plan accordingly. but they just didn’t want to.

For example: instead of planning dates, Marinette could wait until an akuma/sentimonster is defeated to call Luka and ask him out, because Hawk Moth usually doesn’t strike immediately after one is dealt with. I’m positive that Luka would happily take impromptu/sudden dates over planned-but-inconsclusive ones. Heck, they don’t even have to date specifically and can just stick to phone calls (kwami can’t be picked up on technology) or hanging out in Marinette’s room/on Marinette’s balcony while they do their thing.

Relationships are a commitment, but that doesn’t mean they have to be a burden, and the episode absolutely drags Marinette over it. The whole thing with the kwami being released and stressing her out when they’re not supposed to be able to just come out normally is explained away by, “oh, the new box must be like you, Marinette; full of surprises!” when the reality is just that the show wants to take away everything that’s sacred to Marinette. The Season 3 finale had Fu’s letter telling Marinette that “life doesn’t always give you what you want, but the real gift is life itself,” then proceeds to turn Marinette’s life into a living hell.

Her room? She has to say good-bye to her privacy because now the kwami are always going to be around. The first thing one of them (Trixx) did was start reading her diary, showing that they have absolutely no shame or regard for Marinette’s feelings.

Her schedule? Conveniently pops away into the realm of non-existence so she can look bad for ditching Chat Noir on patrol and neglecting dates with Luka due to her responsibilities/stress.

Her boyfriend, the one person in the entire show who loved her, respected her agency, never judged her, actually apologized when he made her sad, and who she was genuinely in love with rather than just having the equivalent of a celebrity crush for? She had to break up with him because plot and needing to force her to go back to fawning over the guy who has only made her life worse by her crushing on him.

When I say the universe hates Marinette, this is what I mean. It created random akuma to attack Paris all for the sake of forcing Marinette away from Luka, and apparently didn’t realize what they were doing in the scene where Marinette hurries back to the Liberty when Kitty Section and Adrien are playing together when Adrien is Chat Noir so he should’ve been late too.

(Oh, and Marinette completely ignores Adrien in favor of waving at Luka and even tells Luka outright that Adrien isn’t even a factor in their relationship issues, further proving the “multiple drafts smashed together” and “the Adrien name drops are pointless” points.)

The whole thing in “Backwarder” where it was basically outright stated that Marianne could’ve been Fu’s confidant had Marianne not been outed by Ladybug’s mistake? Completely forgotten and left to the wayside. Marinette could’ve told Luka that she was watching the Miracle Box in Ladybug’s place (for any number of reasons, really: either Ladybug thinks it’s too dangerous to keep with her, or if the public doesn’t know that Ladybug is guardian, then Marinette can just say that she’s guardian) and that she has to run off to keep guard of the Miracle Box when an akuma/sentimonster happens in case Ladybug needs a miraculous.

Boom, done, episode solved. Luka gets to help Marinette with the kwami, Marinette is less stressed because someone knows half of her secret, and Luka and Marinette continue to date but are able to plan around akuma attacks.

But no. That whole thing in “Backwarder” where guardians (or at least Fu) can have a confidant was just there so Marinette could feel guilty about screwing it all up, because she’s not able to take advantage of that perk herself.

How convenient.

#category: salt #category: critique #episode: Truth #other: ml spoilers #other: ask and answer #((This is mostly incoherent because I am very tired.))#((''In general or at the episode--'' Yes.))

130 notes · View notes

mrs-tsunderemeitantei · 4 years ago

Note

Recently, the author Gosho Aoyama has claimed that the ending of Haibara will be " Surprising" for everyone ?? What does that mean ?? It is not clear if it is a bad or good ending !!! Do you think that Haibara will never come back to her adult form as Miyano Shiho and stay as a kid.. and make a relationship with Mitsu ?? And if Haibara take the permanent antidote.. do you think that she will be punished and jailed since she was a member of BO?? or she dies in the end ??

Oh good God there is a lot to unpack here but thank you for your questions and I'm soo glad you brought them up! I’ll try to answer them as best as I can 😄

So yes, Gosho did say Haibara’s ending will surprise everyone but I also remember him saying Detective Conan’s ending will be happy. Not to mention Haibara is a veryyy popular character (if not the most popular female character on the show), so I find it hard to believe that she’ll just end up being killed off. I don’t think Gosho would do that to us.

Now when it comes to her remaining as a kid, I kind of talked about how I feel about it here . In short I believe she deserves to regain control of her life as Shiho and not remain as Haibara. Also this fan comic about Shiho explaining to Shinichi why she didn’t want to remain as Haibara is beautiful in every way and I think you should take a look at it.

But to add to that, I refuse to believe she’s willing to remain as Haibara. Whenever people say she’ll get a chance to relive a proper childhood it irritates me 😂 I mean she’s still mentally an adult. I cannot imagine having to always act like a child, go to school and relive high school (diabolical if you ask me) when I’m mentally grown up.

Personal opinions aside, there is one moment where it was hinted she’d be willing to stay as Haibara. In the movie Captured in her Eyes she basically said she'd love to stay as Haibara IF she lost her memory. This is not canon and she did say after that she was joking but she tends to "joke" when she actually means what she says.

But since then, Haibara’s character has grown significantly. And these developments ⬇️ have me believing she's most likely going to take the antidote.

Jodie interpreted why Haibara refused the witness protection program was because she found a family in her friends. So with that logic, shouldn't that make sense for her to stay as Haibara? Ummm not really. She didn't just stay for the friendships, in fact she was so moved by Ayumi's words that she realised she has to face her fate and keep fighting. If she doesn't take the antidote, she's basically accepting what she was forced to become because of the organisation without facing her struggles and embracing her past. She'll technically be running away from her true self and erasing any link she has to her family whom she loves so much.

And tbh if Gosho decided she should lose her memory and remain a kid, I’ll be extremely disappointed. That would be a very poor and rushed ending and all her character developments would have been for nothing. Also I don't understand why some people equate her returning as Miyano Shiho to her cutting off the detective boys from her life. If anything, she'll probably continue living with the professor who she now looks up to as a father figure, while still remaining close and looking after the detective boys.

Now for the relationship with Mitsuhiko, I just can’t see how that can happen. He is a child for God’s sake! No matter how smart or responsible he is, he is still a CHILD. And whenever people say she should be with Mitsuhiko it makes me wonder, do they expect it to happen right now when she is still Haibara or are they saying when they eventually grow up? The first one is no way because she’s mentally an adult and he is a child and that is a crime waiting to happen. The second option means she’ll stay a child and I already expressed how I feel about that. Also I hate to break it to the AixMitsuhiko fans but Haibara loves all the detective boys like her younger siblings. She is the older sister / senpai of the group and she’s never displayed any romantic feelings for Mitsuhiko, nor do I think she’d develop them in the future simply because she views him as nothing but a baby brother.

Now on to the juiciest question that you asked, “Will she be jailed because she was an ex BO member?” I have a lot to say on this so please bear with me😁

We now know that Rei was planning on handing her back to the BO in the Bell Tree Train arc (see here). Thankfully, that didn’t happen thanks to Conan’s big brain thinking making Rei believe that Shiho died. Now, he is yet to meet Haibara and discover the truth about her (I cannot wait for this to happen!) but when he does, this is how I imagine things will go down:

He’ll despise her because he’ll think of her as a criminal who worked for the BO and developed a deadly drug. However, he won’t be able to hand her back to the BO since he was the one who confirmed her death. Handing her back would only have the BO question his credibility / loyalty and possibly jeopardise his future there. Therefore, he’s left with one option; take her into PSB custody and interrogate her. But, there’s no way Conan, the Kudo family and even quite possibly Akai would just stand aside and not intervene. At the same time, I doubt Rei will simply believe her if she said “she was forced to make a poison” (even Conan didn’t believe her when they first met). So how will he back off? These are my theories:

I feel the tapes Elena recorded packed way more than just the drug’s true purpose. She may have also recorded what the organisation forced her and Atsushi to go through. And with the fact that Vermouth seemed to blame her animosity for Shiho on her parents, it is quite possibly Elena mentioned Vermouth on the tapes. If Haibara brings up those tapes and Rei heard them, first of all he’ll get closure (because he loved Elena as his own mother) and finding out about Vermouth’s link to the Miyanos, he can investigate them more. I don’t think it’ll be difficult for him to uncover the truth about her family especially since he knows Vermouth’s secret and that couldn’t have been easy.

If Haibara doesn’t bring up the tapes, I think Akai will step in by asking Rei to hand over Vermouth (since she’s an American citizen) if he wants to take Haibara. Rei would never agree to that because Vermouth provides him with invaluable help and support in the organisation, so he’ll be forced to let Haibara go.

And for my final theory, just like how the Kudo family struck a deal with Rei to work with Akai (I reeaallly want Gosho to reveal what their talk was about), they’ll probably do the same thing to protect Haibara and in time, Rei will learn the truth about her past.

So basically in the end, I don’t think she’ll be arrested. I’d like to think once Rei learns the truth about her and her family’s past, he’ll be relieved to have received closure (because he loved Elena so much) and subsequently decide to protect Haibara. Also Gosho hinted Rei and Haibara will eventually get along so the probability of her being arrested is low.

Haibara’s ending is something I’m really looking forward to and I’ll be crushed if she isn’t given the ending she deserved (there is plenty of room for her ending to be ruined so fingers crossed that doesn’t happen). I picture her returning as Shiho, staying with the Professor, slowly warming up to Mary and Sera (I can’t begin to imagine how she’ll feel when she finds out they’re related) and maybe even go on to be a narcotics agent. Why narcotics agent? (All explained here ). When it comes to her love life, God knows what will happen, but the Mitsuhiko pair is highly unlikely to happen. Also, I don’t see why she has to end up with someone. Her happy ending doesn’t necessarily mean she’ll be with someone. In fact...

Having a family and friends she cares about.

Being free to live her life without constantly looking over her shoulder

Confronting Gin for killing her sister and whatever history they shared (I’m so mad GinxSherry has fizzled out without being answered. I need to know the truth about their past!!)

Finding peace and accepting her past

....are all enough reasons to give her the happy ending she deserves to have.

I hope this long speech helped answer your questions 😂. I honestly enjoyed writing it so, thank you so much for letting me do this 🖤😁

69 notes · View notes

sambergscott · 4 years ago

Text

notes from the palm springs commentary !! 🏝

i know not everyone has access to hulu and i know i'd be gutted if i couldn’t watch it too so bc i'm lucky enough to have an american friend who let me use her hulu account i thought i'd share the commentary with you all on here <3

- their first bit of commentary is “there’s a title” (cristin) and “there’s a goat” (andy)... 10/10 anaylsis thanks guys

- andy joked that they talked about waiting for an earthquake but decided they didn’t have the budget to wait that long (he said the glowing lights at the end were real tho 🙄)

- andy: “we’re gonna start off pretty racy” djfdjfkdjgh

- “for all those kids out there, the b99 fans, you probably don’t wanna watch this”.... but andy,, we absolutely Do

- andy was cristin’s least favourite person in the movie

- nyles spread eagle on the bed was in the script not an acting choice

- according to andy there were 700,000 bugs just hatched where they filmed the wedding scenes that they had to edit out in post (also it was suuuuuper cold and cristin was shivering)

- ANDY CALLED HIMSELF A BUTT UGLY WEIRDO. NO SIR. U ARE THE FURTHEST THING FROM THAT.

- the dance move when he clapped his hands over his head “lightly hurt his schlong”

- they had 20-30 options for orchid explosion by fournier, cristin pitched some too that she “does not remember!” (she said that very cute)

- they talk about how great june squibb is and how andy is impressed that she wasn’t complaining about the cold/shooting at 5am/the fact that they improved a lil bit. “she doesn’t not give a what”

- during the make out scene on the rock cristin goes “ohhh ~spicy~”

- they also had to have a snake wrangler come out before they shot that scene and he was like “uhh i think it’s good?”

- andy was excited about having to get shot by an arrow when he was reading the script (it was also the moment they realised this movie was zanier than first thought)

- the cave was the same place they shot the old batman movies

- they started working on palm springs on november 9th 2016…. hence the wedding date

- cristin said they did about 30 takes (at least) of her opening her eyes/sitting up.. basically the entire first half of the first day shooting she spent doing the same thing

- “i just think you’re the coolest cristin, way to go man!” “you too andy!”

- the beer is fictional and has a meaning behind it.. the tortoise is to do with a myth about the universe or smth

- andy wants someone to make the beer fr

- “so here is cristin in the desert pretending to be hot” “he means physically” “TEMPERATURE HOT… i have no opinions on her appearance”

- they wanted to skip past the set-up-y parts to avoid it being too groundhog day and add diff dynamics and comedic elements that come from that

- according to andy, nyles has been in the loop an “insanely long time” (cristin and andy like that you don’t know the exact number of years bc however many years it’s been nothing has changed for nyles)

- cristin’s fondest memories were spending days in that dusty ass car together (i too would like to be that girl in his car)

- “i like your hat” “of course you do” was improved by andy and jk

- andy said jk is a “national treash”

- andy loved shooting the montage w jk (and he thinks that montage + the scene at the end is why jk signed up to do ps)

- “i went full butt” - andy samberg, 2021

- HE HAS A STUNT DOUBLE CALLED SETH WHO HAS A SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER BUTT THAN HIM (but andy’s butt was funnier so they went with his)

- the very last shot of the movie was nyles getting the handjob in the car

- max or other andy i can’t remember who talked for a while about how talented our andy is. can’t wait for that oscar nom!!!!!

- if andy were in a time loop he’d try to catch up on shows for a few years (and then try and leave)

- cristin is horrified that he’d choose to watch all of MASH to get him through a time loop

- cristin LOVED filming all the deaths

- andy said that their dance scene in the denim jacket replaces every iconic dance scene ever like fame/dirty dancing/etc etc and he’s right

- he dropped her in that scene bc his arms are “weak and floppy like a baby calf”

- the tattoo moment was the only fully improved scene

- they REALLY wanted it in the movie

- cristin insisted on the hook hand and eye patch and they obliged and she said she kept the hook hand and put it on her mantle and andy was like “prove it prove it prove it prove it prooooooove it”

- she did Indeed prove it

- orange in the movie significies intimacy and that whole montage is coloured orange to show them falling in love

- they loved shooting the tent scene

- the first night they filmed it there was a sandstorm and rain and they had to hide under a tarp and they came back the next night and they were able to get looser with it bc it was the last day of shooting and they’d basically done the whole thing the night before

- the dinosaurs bit was a “symbolic moment between the characters - they are 2 people who don’t believe they can be loved so they’re feeling something impossible and therefore they should see something impossible”

- the wake-ups were like an acting exercise in a way bc each wake up was diff emotionally based on where they were in the loop

- nyles finally cares about something (her) for the first time in maybe hundreds of years and he immediately gets slapped down :(((

- “suck my dick officer bitch” was cristin’s ad lib!!! (if anyone makes a montage of her life’s work she would like it to either begin or end w suck my dick officer bitch, andy said why not both)

- “for some reason i rolled up one of my sleeves [after nyles woke up after their fight] and then we couldn’t get out of it so that was a lesson! it was a terrible choice”

- andy loves the overhead pool shot

- everytime andy watches the confrontation at the wedding he feels terrible for tala, we love an empathetic king

- re: roy’s arc andy talks about how important it is to relish what you’ve got and it was v v v v sweet

- everyone laughed so hard in the arrow/garbage bin scene

- apparently tyler’s shirtlessness in the shower was distracting for people in early tests and they had to tone it back w colour correction 💀

- cristin was like “did that happen when i had to take my shirt off?” and andy was like “uh huh yeah”

- the goat was on set for a couple of days + apparently cristin would talk to it in between takes 🥺🥺🥺 can she get any cuter

- max talked about how they lucky they were to get andy and cristin and how the movie wouldn’t have worked without them, they were so on the same wavelength and there was an early meeting where nobody else could get a word in bc they were talking so much

- nobody was in it for the paycheck, “it was for the love, and dare i say it, for the art” <3

- they took 3-4 nights to shoot the entire wedding, andy can Not stress enough how much they were rushing

- they haven’t busted out any bloopers yet bc they used pretty much every frame they could/reused them in different places

- cristin doesn’t want to know if nana knows bc the mystery of it is what makes the movie so great!

- andy said there’s no definitive answer to a lot of stuff bc a lot of the people working on the movie had diff opinions

- the french song w the slo mo bit of sarah in the bar was cristin’s choice

- andy is v confused why people think spuds is nyles’ dad,, he’s just tricking him into getting a ride and andy’s sorry to everyone who thought it was real

- cristin liked that the payoff at the end felt like payoff while still staying true to who nyles and sarah are and not just super romantic bc “it’s a romcom!” [andy said throwing his arms in the air]

- cloudbursting was andy’s idea from the very first meeting about the movie but we been knew

- andy: “here’s the ending! nobody knows what it means!”

- the family at the end was the producer’s family, they drove a very long way to do that 2 second scene lol

- andy and cristin were swaying to when the morning comes at the end 🥺

- andy clapped and shouted “WELL PRODUCED” when his/tli’s credit came up hahaha

#palm springs #andy samberg #cristin milioti #shoutout to caroline honestly #what an icon

129 notes · View notes

princessamericachavez · 4 years ago

Text

Fjorester Talk in episode 117

also known as Sofía goes buckwild and overanalyzes 10 minutes of conversation and body language.

ready?

Ok, first of all, Fjord looks so worried from the get go as he asks Jester if Lucien/Cree was speaking to her directly.

And when she confirms it he does this little grumpy sigh

He no like it. No like it at all.

Fjord: Does it seem like he’s keying in on you in particular?

LISTEN GUYS

I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR LIKE TWO WEEKS

HOPING FJORD WOULD GET PROTECTIVE OVER JESTER CONSTANTLY GETTING SCRIED ON/MESSAGED BY LUCIEN BUT I DIDN’T THINK TRAVIS WAS ACTUALLY GOING TO DELIVER

AND HE DIIIIIID

Ok anyway he goes on about how when they see someone else scrying it’s usually just a representation of the spell and wonders if Lucien is more powerful and therefor can see the person

and then he makes a pause mid-argument

because Jester makes this face and he realizes this is upsetting her, so he quickly backtracks trying to reassure her.

Fjord: I’m sure it’s just coincidence but...

and here’s where the idea comes and god how long has he been thinking about this???

Fjord: since we’re not in the sea... would you... want to wear this?

YES HELLO DO YOU SEE THE PARALLELS TO THAT ONE TIME HE WANTED TO GIVE HER AN EXTRA POWERFUL HEALING POTION TO MAKE SURE SHE WOULD BE SAFE??? PROTECTIVE FJORD PARALLELS!!!

and then he just brushes off the fact that he’s a huge Uk’otoa beacon everytime they are on water —baby, you died once already, don’t act like it’s whatever???

Fjord: maybe it would provide some protection if we were to keep checking in on him?

Jester: I mean... it’s worth a try.

Of course, as she points out, Lucien has already met all of them and he could just as easily scry on any of the M9 if he wanted to, but that’s not really what Fjord is worried about, what is bothering him. Fjord knew Lucien was watching and it’s not the first time they are scried on, but he makes it clear that he’s concerned about how centered on Jester that’s been lately.

Jester: Maybe it’ll keep me from getting seen next time I scry on him?

Fjord: I guess we’ll find out next time we try it.

The way he chuckles softly, trying to defuse the tension, and she smiles back even though this subject clearly has her nervous??? 11/10

Jester: Thank you.

SHE SAYS IT SO SOFTLY. SHE’S CLEARY SO TOUCHED THAT HE’S WATCHING OUT FOR HER AND HAVING HER BACK JUST LIKE HE ALWAYS DOES.

LOOK AT THOSE HEART EYES THEY BOTH HAVE WTF

THEY ARE BOTH SO SOFT

Fjord: Yeah. Just in case it’s not... coincidence.

Listen there’s such a heaviness in how he says the word.

Like the possibility of anyone —especially this very dangerous stranger with the face of a friend— purposefully targeting Jester is his worst nightmare. It probably is.

Jester: It’s also creepy. He did say that he kind of knew me, right?

NOTICE HOW JESTER IS STILL PLAYING WITH THE AMULET IN HER HANDS???

Idk why but that’s getting to me. She’s so nervous with this whole thing.

Fjord: He did?

Jester: When we got there he said he hadn’t met anyone except for me.

OH FJORD DOESN’T LIKE THIS AT ALL

So of course Jester tries to defuse the tension talking about how she must look like through the scry

AND HE’S JUST SO IN LOVE

And so he plays along

LOOK AT THE WAY HE MAKE HER SMILE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(same, Ashley, same)

And so, more reassured by the goofiness, Jester finally puts the necklace on.

Fjord: And of course, it’s Caleb’s...

Jester: oh

LISTEN SHE DID NOT LIKE THAT. She was clearly so excited to get a present like this from Fjord and you can see her face fall a little when it’s deviated towards someone else.

Jester: should I ask him if it’s okay?

Fjord: Well, he gave it to me to use it..

Fjord: and you seem to need it more.

AKA THE AMULET WAS FOR FJORD’S WELLBEING BUT THE WAY HE IS OK IS IF HE KNOWS JESTER IS PROTECTED

Jester, now that she knows this is something that he is personally choosing to transfer to her: Okay...

LOOK AT THE WAY SHE CLUTCHES IT TO HER HEART I’M DYING

Fjord: And just be careful.

Fjord: I don’t like the possibility of him keying in on you or using that connection between the two of you to manipulate something. His magic seems strange.

LISTEN GUYS LISTEN

THIS PART HERE IS HUGE OK?

This is the part where Fjord took 18 steps forward instead of one since Rumblecusp

Whereas before he could’ve hide his concern as something tactical, something useful that made sense and could help their mission... or could’ve hidden behind group speech to disguise his concern...

here he says “I don’t like the possibility of him keying in on you.”

here he is straight up saying “I am worried about you”

(quietly hopes Lucien does exactly that to trigger more protective fjord instincts in the future and lots of angst based shippy shenaingans)

Fjord: Alright. More adventures tomorrow.

BECAUSE THAT’S ALL OK

THAT’S IT

HE SAID HIS PIECE, HE KEPT HER SAFE, MADE SURE SHE LAUGHED A LITTLE AND THAT’S ALL HE NEEDS... THAT AND MORE ADVENTURES BY HER SIDE

But then Jester hesitates

AND LOOK AT THAT, THE WAY SHE PULLS BACK LIKE SHE’S AFRAID IF SHE SAYS THE WRONG THING HE’LL CLOSE OFF

THE WAY HIS FACE SCRUNCHES WITH WORRY OVER WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BE TROUBLING HER THAT SHE’S HESITATING TO SAY

Fjord: What?

Jester: H- How are you?

FJORD MELTING IMMEDIATELY:

The way he goes from super concerned to extremely soft in 0.2 seconds.

(i am ashley and ashley is me)

Jester: *explaining all the very valid reasons she has to be worried about Fjord too and all the crazy shit that happened to him only a few days ago*

Fjord: *bursting with feelings of love*

seriously travis pls have some mercy of my poor yearning soul

Also I wanna talk about the way Jester brings up Avantika.

Jester: She tried to pull you into the water... you guys had a thing... it must have been weird to see her all kinda dead and stuff... was it weird? And then you killed her... again...

The way she calls them “a thing” and the way she checks if it was “weird” for him to see her as undead really says a lot to me. I think Jester never quite got over the heartbreak during the pirate arc and part of her probably still thought that Fjord harbored some sort of feelings or attraction towards Avantika.

I think she believes whatever they two had was far more intimate than it actually was. Or, at the very least, Jester thinks it must have meant something to Fjord.

How could she not? The whole thing had her bursting with jealousy and pain and unresolved feelings... you can tell how anxious she is around this subject but also she needs to know if he’s alright because she cares too much

Fjord: It was weird. Yeah, it was weird, for sure. I wasn’t expecting that...

HE DOESN’T EVEN REGISTER IT AS AN “EX” THING I SWEAR

Fjord: I’m alright.

And so she finally relaxes.

Fjord: It feels like I keep trying to start newer chapters in my life and leave the old stuff behind and then it just... keeps popping up.

Fjord: It feels like it’s hard to... pursue something new, when the past is not dealt with.

YOU CAN’T SEE IT IN THE SCREENSHOTS BUT JESTER STARTS NODDING VERY GENTLY WHEN HE STARTS TALKING ABOUT NEW CHAPTERS AND MOVING ON

ALSO THIS

(ashley knows what I’m talking about)

Jester: Do we need to deal with the past?

SHE SAYS WE

BECAUSE AS USUAL THEY ARE A TEAM ALWAYS FIRST AND FOREMOST

AND IF THIS IS SOMETHING HE NEEDS TO DO SHE’S GOING TO HELP HIM AND BE BY HIS SIDE WITHOUT A DOUBT NO MATTER WHAT

Fjord: I think so.

Fjord: Yeah... I want to.

THE WAY HE LOOKS AT HER WHEN HE SAYS ‘I WANT TO’. HE WANTS TO HAVE A FUTURE WITH HER. HE WANTS TO LET GO OF THE PAST SO HE CAN HAVE A FUTURE WITH HER. HE’S LETTING HIMSELF ‘WANT’ THIS AND ADMITTING IT.

Fjord: I feel like I need to close all of that before...

AND THEN HE JUST GOES THROUGH THIS BLESSED FACE JOURNEY FOR 6 ENTIRE SECONDS

LOOK AT IT

AND THE WAY SHE SLOWLY SMILES LIKE SHE MIGHT KNOW WHAT HE MEANS

LOOK AT HER OWN FACIAL JOURNEY

ASHLEYYYYYYYYYY

And so Jester jumps into action mode offering her help.

and Fjord —once again— proves that he’s able and willing to open up to Jester about things that he’s keeping close to his chest... like Sabian.

Fjord: I um... I actually... I put a bounty out for S-Sabian.

IDK WHY THIS FACIAL EXPRESSION AMUSES ME THIS MUCH

THIS IS FJORD’S ‘IM ABOUT TO CONFESS SOMETHING PERSONAL TO JESTER FACE’ AND WE’VE SEEN IT BEFORE AT THE KILN AND IN RUMBLECUSP

Jester: A bo- When? How?

SHE’S SO BEWILDERED LMFAO

and a little offended that she didn’t know

and I think Fjord can tell by the way he quickly tries to excuse it as a way to keep Kotho occupied after the whole Vokodo ordeal

But Jester quickly gets back on track and starts looking for a way to help him with this. If finding Sabian is what Fjord wants —what he needs— right now, she’ll do anything to help him.

Jester: *describing how she would be able to help Fjord*

Fjord, who never had anyone be this ride or die for him ever and who is bursting at the seems with love for this kind and wonderful woman:

Fjord: Sure.

Jester: You want me to do it?

Fjord: Yeah.

THOSE HEART EYES SHOULD BE ILEGAL

Jester: *uses a sixth level spell to send a message for Fjord because this is totally her number one priority now and it’s not like they are dealing with stuff that literally drained her today or like they are stuck up north for god knows how long... nope... she needs to find a way to help Fjord right now*

Fjord:

okay okay okay

so after the message

you can see how Jester is worried that the news she finally found for him are bad news and not going to cheer him up

Jester: Oops

Fjord: No, no, no, no! No oops! That’s great! That’s great!

I love the way he rushes to reassure her, to make sure she knows that what she just did for him is amazing and means so much and please jester do not be sad about this because this already means so much to me you have no ideaaaaaa

Fjord: That’s... totally distracting but that’s great.

Fjord: Thank you.

Jester: You’re welcome! Now you know!

Fjord, with more feeling and emotion behind it like he wants to tell her that she and everything she does for him out of love mean the entire universe to him: Thank you.

Jester, blissfully unaware that he’s in love with him but delighted that she was able to help and that he is letting her in enough to help deal with his past: You’re welcome! I’m glad I could help!

Fjord, still not over how good she is and how diametrically different her kindness is compared to everything else he’s known in life so far and still after these many months shook and surprised by how wonderful she is: That’s very nice of you, I-

Jester: It’s just a (6th level) spell. Easy to do.

SHE HAS NO IDEA THAT WHAT HE MEANS ISN’T THE MAGIC NOR THE SPELL NOR THE INFORMATION... IT’S HER HELP AND SUPPORT THAT HE IS SO SHAKEN WITH.

Fjord: I.... will think about that all night.

Sure you will Fjord. We know you will. But we know it’s not about Sabien but about Jester’s kindness that you’re gonna be thinking all night. We know that’s what’s keeping you up. Not the past, the future.

AND OF COURSE

THE OBLIGATORY AWKWARD ENDING

Fjord: I’ll race you to the top!

Both: UP!

THEY ARE SO ADORABLE AND GOOFY AND PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER WTF HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO LIVE MY LIFE INSTEAD OF THINKING ABOUT THEM 24/7??

ANYWAY WHO IS READY FOR PIRATE ARC PART 2 AND MORE SHENANIGANS WITH THESE TWO WHILE FJORD GETS FINALLY READY TO MOVE FORWARD TOWARDS THE FUTURE HE WANTS WITH JESTER? I AM

#fjorester #fjord stone #jester lavorre #critical role #cr spoilers #sofia's nonsense

185 notes · View notes

shadowed-dancer · 4 years ago

Text

My Thoughts on the New MHA Opening and Ending

I have thoughts, and I will share them because oh boy if I don’t get this out I’m gonna explode

Vague Spoilers for the manga (up to chapter 258 and vigilantes) because I discuss the upcoming arcs, but I don’t discuss any major plot points in detail. Still, proceed with caution if you’re anime only

Keep in mind, this OP and ED will cover the Endeavour Agency Arc and the MVA Arc, so I will be judging them accordingly.

First, the OP

This is a good OP... in theory (that’s going to become my catchphrase for this post). It’s nice to look at and flows pretty well, but my biggest problem is that it doesn’t do it’s job. An OP is supposed to be a sort of... summary (?) of the Cour it plays for. That means any cool plot points, emotional beats, and important characters should be featured in some way, shape, or form. We’ll talk about that more later, but first let’s discuss the music.

The song is really good. I have a feeling it will continue to grow on me as I listen to it more often, but yeah my first impression is that the song sounds great. My only complaint about the music itself is that it ends kind of abruptly (I noticed this is the JT opening too). The previous openings used to have a bit of instrumental to “play us out” and lead us to the end card, but this one feels like it ends very suddenly and unnaturally.

As for the visuals...

Yeah alright I’ll admit, the visuals are stunning... in theory. I appreciate the variety in backgrounds and colours, it makes the OP really interesting to look at. This was actually one of my biggest problems with the JT Opening, it all took place on the training grounds, so there was no variety (everything was metal tubes with a blue sky, with only 3 shots set somewhere different). I appreciate the style of this OP.

But like I said, that’s only in theory, as in, through screenshots these are all pleasing to look at. The pacing of this OP is wild, and I truly don’t know who to blame for this.

That sunset shot above? It lasts approximately 12 seconds, zooming in every few to make it seem like something is happening (when in reality it’s still the same poses, angles, etc). While there’s nothing wrong with a nice, drawn out shot, it becomes irritating when compared to the pacing of the rest of this op.

At the 41 second mark, we are given the shot above. It has flowed directly from the previous sunset scene. We still have not moved away from the image of the trio (aside from the opening shot and the title card) yet we’re approaching the halfway mark of the OP.

The next shot is the MLA, which lasts about 5 seconds. Ok, perfect. Not too long, but also not short enough to be confusing. It cuts away a little fast once the dude on the far left appears, but does anyone actually know who that is? No, seriously, I’m asking. I don’t remember his name and he’s not on the wiki, so I can only assume he’s not important. Therefore, it’s not all that bad if the shot cuts away shortly after he comes into frame. The audience is able to take in the scene without having to pause...

... And then the problems start

While this shot is fine in theory, it pans up fast and cuts away quickly. You know how hard it was for me to get this screenshot? Really hard. You want to know why I struggled so much? Because, due to the timing of the cut and the way it pans upwards, it’s almost impossible to pause on Dabi’s face. I literally had to go frame by frame to get it, because he’s in shot for so little time that naturally pausing is guaranteed to miss him.

When watching this in real time (without pausing) the cut away makes you feel as if you missed something because “something was there, I just couldn’t register what because now it’s gone”. Unlike Compress, who wears a very colourful coat you can recognize the entire time, Dabi’s pants are more blended into the background.

It also doesn’t help that this shot is literally composed to draw your attention away from Dabi until the last possible second. Due to framing, your eye is naturally drawn to the brightly coloured Toga in the foreground, making it super easy to miss Dabi in the back (until, of course, his bright face appears and contrasts against the background, drawing your eye just in time for the scene to change, leaving you to wonder who or what you missed).

I know this sounds like nitpicking, but this shot is the only group shot we get of the League, and is also the start of a seriously weird trend for the villains in this OP getting the short end of the stick.

Anyways, then we get what I’ll call “The Carousel Shot” in which every Class 1A kid shows up and poses dramatically, as if they were on a carousel. It’s a lovely sequence and I really enjoy watching it but... why is it in this OP?

Seriously, this is a genuine question. Class 1A barely shows up in the Endeavour Agency Arc, and NONE of the students are in MVA. This sequence (not counting the three boys at the end) lasts 8 seconds. Why is this much time dedicated to characters who are barely in the arc? (Unless Studio Bones extends their work studies into fuller plot lines which oh my gosh please don’t do that, or if they do, do it quick).

We then get what I call the “Oh God I Blinked And Missed Everything” sequence, which lasts 3 seconds (not including the longer, moving shot of Shigaraki at the end) and features NINE INDIVIDUAL IMAGES, none of which are related to each other. Not only is this 3 images per second, but the fact that they are all unrelated means you can’t even use previous information to fill in the blanks.

What do I mean by that? Well, imagine if I show you 9 images of various pro heroes posing. If I play that in 3 seconds you’ll absolutely miss some of them, but as long as you catch some you’ll still get an idea of what I’m trying to show to you. Your brain is able to fill in the gaps that “I recognized 4 pro heroes, therefore the rest must have also been pros” even if you didn’t register every single frame.

That doesn’t work if every frame features a completely different subject. The shots in this sequence vary so widely that it’s impossible to find a through line. Some feature multiple characters, some feature one, some are closeups, some are super far away, some are character’s we know, others are characters we don’t. It’s impossible to get a solid read on what you’re being shown.

Now, again, there’s nothing wrong with these super quick shots... in theory. The problem comes from the fact that these shots are the only indicators for some of the major themes that will be explored during this Cour (like Twice’s growth and young Shigaraki).

That being said, let’s move away from criticism and talk about speculation, because hidden amongst this sequence are two... interesting images.

This All Might one is very reminiscent of the shot in Chapter 257, where Aizawa and All Might have a conversation while staring up at the stars. However, this is technically the start of the “War Arc” (or the “prologue”, if that’s what you want to call it), so this might indicate that we’re going to get farther into the series than a lot of us guessed.

(Many people suspected we’d get to that cliffhanger at the start of the season (if you read the manga you know the one), but after seeing the pacing for JT a lot of us assumed we’d be lucky to even finish Endeavour Agency. It seems we’re back to the cliffhanger now though lol).

This is another really interesting shot because it’s indicative of Shirakumo, meaning we might get to see Aizawa and Mic confront him some time this Cour (this also makes sense, since this confrontation technically happens before that All Might scene I mentioned in the previous paragraph).

But the cat specifically is a really strange addition. That cat is named Sushi and, correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think Sushi is ever mentioned in the main series. I think he’s only in Vigilantes.

This might just be a little Easter Egg for Vigilante readers, but I’m personally hoping that they’ll add at least a few Vigilante shots in there to really tug at the heart strings. I’d say I want a whole Vigilante episode but I don’t think they have the time (unless they really cram MVA, which I do NOT want).

I don’t have much to say about the last bit of the OP. The action shot between the 3 boys was nice, and it follows the sort of narrative through line they established from the early shot of them sitting at the sunset. I also like the shot of Endeavour fading in to replace All Might, even if it’s very simple.

But I want to talk about an overarching problem I touched upon earlier in that villain shot: the way the villains are handled in this OP.

This is a good OP... in theory. The problem is, it doesn’t represent half the arcs in the cour! Every shot of the League is so rushed that you can barely register that they were on screen before they’re gone.

I have no idea how many Episodes Endeavour Agency will take, but I’d assume 3 (4 if you count the Christmas episode). 12 episodes for this Cour minus 3 for Endeavour Agency = 9 episodes left. If we truly do get the prologue for the War Arc (and if we assume it’s only 1 episode) that leaves us with 8 villains episodes.

8/12 episodes (aka two thirds of the Cour) will likely be about the villains. And yet they’re pushed to the background so hard in this OP.

I want to dream, and I want to believe that this OP is going to magically change when MVA starts. The song fits super well, and I can imagine like an inversion of the OP but from the Villain side! Wouldn’t that be neat? Imagine right after the “it’s alright” part Shigaraki just freaking decays the title card... oh man that would be so cool. But, alas, I highly doubt they’d do that.

Side rant, but you know what was so fun about MVA in the manga? It’s that, for 21 chapters, we leave the kids behind and the villains become our protagonists. Suddenly Shigaraki is the one we’re rooting for, suddenly we’re learning backstories for everyone, and suddenly we find ourselves just as attached to the villains as we are to the kids. It’s an inversion that’s SO RARE to find, and I think many people (myself included) were hoping it would be reflected in the OP.

A big part of being the protagonist means featuring heavily in the OP, and a lot of us just wanted the villains to get that honour, even if only once. As is, the OP still treats them as the antagonists when... really they aren’t. Not right now, at least.

So yeah, final thoughts on the OP are that it’s good, it’s just not very representative of the arcs it’s supposed to cover. If this was just for Endeavour Agency, I’d say it’s actually really cool, but if we assume that this is what will play for the Villain Arc, then it simply doesn’t do it’s job. And it makes me sad to say that because, again, this OP is really well done.

If I had to rate it? Hmmm

If Studio Bones actually grants my wish and creates a different visual for the Villain Arc (while using the same song) and then this version only plays for the Endeavour Agency Arc and the War Prologue? I’d give it an 8/10. It’s really good, but it could use a few more elements that are clearly derived from the Agency Arc (ahem, Todoroki siblings).

But if this is the OP that will play for the entire Cour? a 6.5/10. It’s nice, but it’s not representative of one of the arcs it’s going to cover. And, unlike other arcs like Pro Hero or Summer Exams, the villain Arc is so important and takes up so much time that it honestly feels like a bit of a disservice.

Now for the Ending

I want to say that I appreciate how soft this ending starts. This cour will likely feature a lot of episodes that end on... heavier themes, and I think the sight of peaceful, falling raindrops is the perfect way to let the audience process their emotions before starting the ending in earnest.

The song itself is very nice, and I like that it’s a bit slower than the more recent endings.

(Side note, but the FUNNIEST moment in the entire series is when Sir Nighteye dies because it’s so emotional and everyone is standing around his bed in his heartwrentching silence, only for the ending to come BLARING IN out of no where. If you forgot how jarringly hilarious it was, go listen to the Eri ending and tell me that’s not the funniest thing this series ever did. Anyways yeah I’m glad that’s not gonna happen this Cour).

This ending is a bit all over the place in terms of it’s visuals, but honestly I think it works. Most endings usually have a theme tying them together (all the Class 1A girls, a fantasy AU, old photographs, planning a party, etc) but this ending’s theme is a bit harder to identify.

That being said, I think it’s just supposed to show everyone going about their day. It’s calm, it’s peaceful, and it’s just very sweet to think about

I like this shot. Actually, scratch that, I like this whole sequence. I enjoy anything that allows Class 1A to chill and have fun.

Hawks is featured quite heavily in this ending which, fair. He’s pretty important in this arc.

I really love the shot where Endeavour immediately switches to Hawks, I thought that was a lot of fun, and very good symbolism on how Hawks wants to be like Endeavour. I also love all the shots of Baby Hawks, because it’s adorable.

Something about this shot is just so cute. It’s the little domestic things like waiting for a bus that make this ending feel... idk the word, real? It shows a side of the characters that we’ll never see in the episodes, but we know have to exist.

Like yes, of course the kids have to wait for the bus. We never see it, but of course there are those moments of quiet. Agh, I love it.

The villains also make an appearance and I’m very happy about that (I’d love to see more of the villains just chilling around, I think they deserve it). I kind of wish they weren’t sitting in a dark room for the sake of being edgy, since I think it would be nice to see the villains just... sort of existing, but honestly it’s still a nice shot. I also like how this shot sort of mirrors the first one with Class 1A (someone coming in while everyone else is sitting and waiting for them).

That being said, as much as I love looking at Dabi and his stupid face (affectionate)... why is Dabi the one getting the closeup?

Mind you, endings don’t need to be connected to their Cours (they can be, like the Eri one, but they don’t have to be). But this ending does seem to be connected to the arcs it intends to cover, given all the Hawks appearances, the boys wearing their work study scarves, etc.

So, I ask again, why Dabi? Out of the six League members, we learn the backstory for four of them in this arc (Shigaraki, Toga, Twice, and we very briefly learn about Spinner). The only two left out are Dabi and Compress.

I can only assume they chose Dabi because he’s constantly in contact with Hawks, and therefore that makes him important? If the OP told us anything, it’s that Bones values the Endeavour Agency Arc over the Villain Arc lol...

... Oh my gosh please tell me that’s not actually the reason Dabi is focused on here BONES WAI-

Anyways, the ending comes to a close with Hawks watching over the kids and Endeavour. The relaxing time is done, it’s time for work studies.

Overall impression? It’s great. It’s hard to screw up an ending, so as long as you have something pretty on screen, it’s wonderful.

I’ll give this a 9/10

#bnha #bnha season 5 #dabi #keigo takami #bnha season five #katsuki bakugo #shoto todoroki #mha season 5 #mha season five #bnha op #bnha opinions #izuku midoriya #bnha hawks #ok to reblog #actually yes please do reblog if you found this interesting #I worked hard on it

30 notes · View notes

dukeofonions · 4 years ago

Note

i’ve seen people on here talking about how virgil and logan’s characterizations are getting screwy, but can we talk about janus in POF? c!thomas listened to him way quicker than he ever did with pre-AA virgil, and roman was put in a really bad light for not trusting him. like i get that the other characters’ attitudes towards acceptance may have changed, but still. also, the whole “snake boy” thing just felt very uwu-ifed imo, and i’m afraid he’s gonna turn into another virgil in that regard

Oh I have been waiting for this ask anon. I made an actual post discussing how off Janus was in POF awhile ago but I am more than happy to discuss it again.

First off, when you compare Janus and Virgil's "arcs" you can tell right away that Janus's character development is being rushed through.

Virgil got an entire season to grow and develop, Janus was introduced five episodes (if you count both parts of moving on as separate episodes) into season two, and given that the finale will be two parts, it looks like this season will consist of 14 episodes.

The problem? Well, after Can Lying Be Good Janus only appears in 3 episodes (two of which were only short cameos) until Putting Others First where he's suddenly on the road to acceptance. And seeing as it's likely he'll be in the finale, this will mean that out of a 14 episode season, Janus is only present in 7 episodes.

(That's if the finale is a two parter btw although that's what they've been saying and if they change it now I'm gonna scream)

But considering two of those appearances were just brief cameos that did nothing to give us any information about his character and how he interacted with the others and therefore don't really count in my opinion (one was literally just him giving Thomas the bird and the other was an end card) Janus has only shown up officially twice before his big moment in POF.

And we, the audience, are just supposed to believe that Thomas, who took an entire season to accept Virgil, is willing to start trusting Janus just because he revealed his name?!

(Thank you for being useful for once Virgil as I cannot think of any words to describe the confusion and frustration I feel)

Janus has hardly had any development and we, the audience, haven't had a chance to get to know him at all! He was introduced as Deceit, an antagonist. A threatening but still somewhat dorky villain who was always hiding in the background and pulling the strings.

We didn't have any time to get to know Deceit before he suddenly became Janus. The noble hero who would put himself in harm's way to protect Thomas and only wants what's best for him because he just cares so much and hold the duck up did I miss something here?

And guess what? It gets better! Because if you thought it was bad enough that we hardly get any time spent with Janus, we're suddenly introduced to a brand new one only 6 episodes after Janus!!!

We now have Remus who just so happens to be Roman's brother because I guess that's now possible in this universe, but but worry about him all problems with him were pretty much resolved in one episode thanks to Mr. Exposition.

So now we have Remus to focus on, after hardly getting any time with Janus, and we all know another Side is coming soon, somebody hit the breaks on this thing! The four main Sides hardly get along as it is and have hardly had any development on their own and now we gotta deal with three new characters all at once?

I know it seems like we've had Janus and Remus for awhile due to the long wait between episodes, but when you stop and look at what we have of them within the series there's hardly anything there. Heck, their first interaction on screen isn't even canon!

Thomas, buddy, what the heck are you doing???

You can't just throw a new character at us, barely show him at all, give him one full episode in the spotlight, throw a new character in, then have the first character suddenly do a complete 180 with absolutely ZERO BUILD UP.

Like bruh, I don't get it.

Ya got four characters that have had less development with each other despite having been together since the first episode and now you're just doing a speed run through all these new guys while still ignoring the issues that have been prevalent with your main cast for ages now.

Sorry to derail your initial ask anon but this has been bothering me for awhile now and I'll try and get an actual post about this out soon because I have plenty more to say about the "snek boi"

Ugh, guess I need to throw a Patton gif in here too. Uh...

There we go.

#dukeofasks #sorry i got a little carried away #maybe i should transition to tik tok #then i just scream into my camera for 60 seconds

56 notes · View notes

more-than-a-gentleman · 4 years ago

Text

Sanji is just any other guy for Nami? What B.S....

There was a time where people thought Nami hated Sanji🙄(some still do🤦🏻‍♂️), there was also a time where people admitted she does not hate him but they said she couldn’t care less🙃. It stuck to me for a while because all I thought is “Bullshit...”.

So, as a SaNami shipper, I was skimming through some arcs that may contain some moments or just simple things that I may have to consider.

And let me say.... I am intrigued to say the least.

Skypiea:

I know some might say: “Well he took the huge blow for both of them so of course Nami would worry about him first”.... true but remember Ussop got shocked twice as well. Not to mention Enel beat the crap out of Ussop to the point he couldn’t move, and all of that in front of Nami. But as we can see she was a bit more concerned about one than the other. (I used “a bit” cuz I know she cares about Ussop, I’m a fan of OP to begin with so I am well-aware)

Dressrosa:

She was just screaming to get the help from Law, but once they appeared she was only concerned about one. And once again, I know some people’s argument would be: “Sanji is a member of the crew, it is only natural for her to do that”. Once again true and sure whatever. But what I want highlight here is Oda choosing Nami for Sanji and Brook for Law. Why? This might make sense in the one I will mention later...

WCI (1):

Once again here we have another strawhat member calling out Luffy (Chopper) this time but who was already with Luffy and saw how beat up he was while rushing through danger is concerned about Sanji first and foremost.....

If you are not having it, then that is fine by me... it is already in the manga. I dont need to say anything now do I?

WCI (2):

Ok.... People say that after Pudding came and took Sanji they considered her as an ally. And we saw, yea she did help in baking the cake. But once again like in Dressrosa, Brook is happy to see BOTH Sanji and Pudding, but with Nami it is a different story. As we saw, both Sanji and Pudding baked the cake and delivered it at the last moment, and Nami was happy about that but more so about him arriving in the nick of time rather than the cake.

Now these are the moments that I didn’t even need to explain as they are pretty straightforward. But there are some other moments that are not so clear, so I am only going to mention them but always take them with a grain of salt.... nothing wrong with being honest.

I am trying my best not to make any reaches, because I know those put people off... including me.

Enies Lobby:

In this moment, she knew from the note and from the very first thing Sanji says in the call that Ussop is also there. But instead of saying “Will they be ok?” she is concerned about him specifically. He did say that thanks to the two idiots (Ussop and Franky) that things got complicated, Ussop is in danger too I am just saying

Zou:

Now why do I think that this moment is very important to consider and should not be overlooked soo easily? Think about it.... have we been in this kind of situation before? Where Nami is told to head to safety or she looks for one by herself? Lets see:

-Luffy told her to go back to the ship because a battle will break out and it will be safer for her to back up. She does that and does not look back.

-With Zoro he didnt even have to say anything😂, she was already gone. No need to tell her anything.

-To help Camie she immediately took herself out of the picture, because that is Nami. She is always looking out for her own safety.

-In Fishman Island, after she completed her task, she stayed close to the ship and once Franky said he had a weapon she jumped right inside of it because it is safer than being outside.

-In Dressrosa, even though there is no safe place per say, but protecting the ship had the least risk (at the time😅) and therefore she is apart of that team. Because it was the safest option.

So when Sanji told her to stay back because he wanted her safety, all of the sudden “She got curious” in other translations she says “she got worried” but it doesnt matter either which.....

Putting herself in danger after being in a safe place is soo un-Nami-like. It is weird but that is why I am taking it with a grain of salt, there might be other moments that I forgot to mention but that is the premise of my assumption...

We already saw time and time again that Nami considers Luffy, Zoro and Sanji to be monsters.

We already saw the times where Sanji uses his brain and is more of an intellectual than the other two, and she is there to see that.

I already showcased in one of my other posts about how Nami does not treat Sanji like Luffy and Zoro pretty much all the time except for some instances.

So if Nami knows that Sanji is powerful, smart, capable and dependable.... why did she get “curious” or “worried”?

#nami #sanji #one piece #sanami #sanji x nami #sanjixnami #sannami #vinsmoke sanji #black leg #cat burglar nami

147 notes · View notes

kimistorm · 4 years ago

Text

It's All a Little Strange || Chapter 5 (Dr. Strange x Reader)

You yawned and made your way through Kamar-Taj. You had just come from an overnight shift and even though it was just starting to get bright, you were already tired. You were on your way to your room to change out of your scrubs when you passed by a certain dark-haired man, “Strange!” you yelled at him and his head perked up at the sound of his name. You waved a hand and he noticed you, “meet you at the courtyard when you can!” he gave you a thumbs up to show he heard it and you continued on your way.

Once you were safely in your room, you changed out of your scrubs and pulled on the layers of blue and green fabric. You then changed your sneakers for the leather boots that were a part of your outfit. You tightened a belt here, straightened the shirt there and you exited your room and back out to the clearing.

“Mordo wants to spar with you later.” You explained when Strange entered the clearing in the courtyard. You didn’t wait long until he showed up. “So, I’m going to help walk you through it before you face him.” The air around you crinkled into reflective fractals as the mirror realm made itself known. “That way, you won’t be completely obliterated.” You added smugly and walked into the mirror realm.

“How’s Christine?” he asked when he entered the mirror realm.

“Really?” you asked in exasperation and placed a hand on your hip, “I’m about to teach you how to spar and you ask me how Christine is?”

“She hasn’t answered my email.” He explained.

“She’s fine.” You frowned, “she’s justified for ignoring you.” You drew out a glowing blue shield in your hand and ran straight at Strange who just barely managed to dodge out of the way. “Always be prepared.” You tsked and with a flick of your wrist the shield transformed into your weapon of choice. An icy chakram. Typically you wielded two, but you figured you’d go easy on Strange. Just for the warm up. You ran at him again with your chakram coming around to land a solid hit.

“What am I supposed to do?” he cried out in a panic and dodged your weapon.

“Conjure a weapon,” you sliced at him, “a shield,” you sliced at him again, “or, just dodge them all.” He ducked under a third slice and you dropped to the ground. You placed your free hand on the ground and swiped your legs at his legs and caused him to topple to the ground. You jumped back onto your feet and lightly placed a booted foot on his chest. “I win.” You stepped off of him and walked away as he scrambled up to his feet.

“That wasn’t fair, I didn’t have a weapon.” He protested.

“Not everything will be fair.” You chastised and dismissed your chakram. You turned back to look at him, “do you know how to summon a weapon?”

“Not something like that.” He gestured to where your chakram was and shook his head.

“I wasn’t asking if you could summon a chakram,” you turned fully to him and crossed your arms across your chest, “I was asking if you could summon a weapon.” After a moment of him looking at you dubiously you continued, “have you figured out how to use a spell? A whip? Have you been attending the classes at all?”

“Of course I have.” He retorted and pulled his hands apart while summoning strings of bright red energy in between.

“There you go.” You smiled. “Again!” you summoned your ice chakram again and ran at him again. You did the same moves as you did before but this time he blocked your slices with the strings of energy. When you went down to swipe his feet out from under him he jumped above it and onto you. You transformed the chakram into a shield and held it above you to keep Strange from getting any closer than an arms length from you. “Better.” You nodded. You brought one hand away from the shield and then shoved it at the shield. The shield burst out with a burst of air and Strange was thrown off of you as you jumped up to your feet.

“Mordo likes to use the Staff of the Living Tribunal.” You explained and drew out a glowing red staff in the air.

“The Staff of the Living Tribunal?” Strange questioned and looked at you in confusion.

“I’m sure he’ll explain it to you.” You dismissed his question, “for now. Make sure you can counter these attacks.” You ran at him again with the staff raised above your head for a downward strike. You whirled around him last moment and prodded his shoulder with the staff. The two of you continued this dance of you giving light (or not so light) jabs everywhere on Strange’s body while he valiantly tried to block the hits. One good hit to the back of his knees and he fell to the ground.

“Do you know how to make a shield?” you questioned and dismissed the staff to imply to Strange that you weren’t going to attack him again. He got back up and dismissed the strings of energy as well.

“No.” Strange shook his head.

“That’s really no surprise, shields are much harder to conjure than weapons.” You agreed.

“Why?” Strange asked.

“Summon your weapon.” You nodded to him and he complied. “Now notice this,” you got close to Strange and pointed to the strings of energy, “your weapon is very wild. Flicks of it are going here, there, everywhere. It disappears here, but reappears here.” You stepped back and made eye contact with Strange, “you don’t need to have perfect control over the other dimensions to create your weapon.”

You drew out a circle for a shield and grabbed it. When it came into contact with your hand intricate patterns of arcs and circles appeared within the circle to form a solid shield. “This requires more focus.” Strange carefully scrutinized the glowing blue shield in your hand. “Notice the lack of flickering within the shape and the lack of sparks flying off of it.”

“It’s a different material.” Strange observed the different color from the standard red.

“Yes.” You agreed, “I like this material, but it’s also a different way to form a shield. This way is one of the slower ways. However, this way proves its own advantages. It’s a little less complicated, and it’s much easier to transform from a shield,” you flicked your wrist and spikes protruded from the edge, “to this chakram. Of course, it’s a matter of personal taste.” You dismissed the chakram and it dissolved into blue and white flakes, “you can do it with the red interdimensional matter.” This time you stuck your hands out and twisted them around with a few dynamic movements and two shields appeared in your hands. “Even with it being the same material as your weapon.” You gestured to Strange, “it doesn’t shed sparks.”

“And this is all because you have better control over the matter?” Strange clarified and examined the shield in your hand.

“Yes and no.” You shrugged, “the nature of the shield is also not one where it sheds sparks. Look at the Ancient One, she has extreme control over interdimensional matter, but the portals she creates still sheds sparks. But, her control over the matter allows her to create the shield. Does that make sense?” you questioned.

Strange nodded, “because of her control, she can summon a shield.”

“Exactly,” you agreed, “look at it like a requirement. You need to possess a certain level of control to create the shield.”

“And you can form this into a chakram?” Strange questioned and backed up a bit so he wouldn’t get his head chopped off when you transformed the shield.

“Correct.” You confirmed and with a flick of your wrist the shield transformed into a chakram. “Would you like to learn how to do this?” you questioned.

“Teach me.” Strange demanded.

✯✯✯

The two of you had been practicing for quite awhile. Strange was obviously getting frustrated and you were finding it hard to be patient. “It’s my hands!” Strange cried out and held out his trembling hands, “they can’t control it.”

“It is not your hands.” You snapped, “you’ve seen Master Hamir. He can form a shield no problem. He has even more control over interdimensional matter than me.”

“Yes, but his arms are stable.” Strange retorted exasperatedly, “mine shake!”

“This isn’t a physical thing Strange.” You shook your head, “think of it as your astral projection is controlling the matter.”

“How does that even work?” he asked incredulously.

You were finding it harder and harder to deal with his frustration and endless questions, “it just does okay?” you nearly shouted at him, “try thinking about it like this. Your astral projection is unaffected by your damaged nerves in the physical realm. Therefore, you can’t chalk up your inability to do this because of your shaking hands.”

“But-”

“The Ancient One proved you wrong did she not?” you shouted, “your shaking hands had nothing to do with your inability to create a portal! I already explained to you that it’s very difficult to make a shield, it took you a long time to even figure out how to pull matter from another dimension, you can’t expect that you’ll be able to figure out how to form a shield in less time!” you took a deep breath and walked away from Strange.

“(l/n)-”

“Give me a second Strange.” You forced through your teeth. You took more deep breaths and tried to walk off your frustration and anger. You then decided to sit down and try some meditation. So that’s what you did. You sat down on the cold stone, closed your eyes, and counted your breaths. In, 2, 3. Out, 2, 3. In, 2, 3. Out, 2, 3. Your anger quickly dissolved into fatigue as the stress and exertion that you’ve been placing upon yourself for the past few days. You tried to stay awake, but your eyes were already closed and you felt yourself fall asleep.

Strange noticed you sway a bit before you fell forwards as you drifted out of consciousness. He rushed forward and caught you before your face collided with the rough stone. He fixed his hold on you and then picked you up bridal style while your head lolled about. You were completely out of it. He gazed down at your sleeping face. Your (e/c) eyes were unseeing to the world around you and your (h/c) hair splayed out neatly in his arms.

He didn’t know where your room was; you never showed him. So he decided to bring you to his room. He attempted to hold his hand out while the other made a circle to the portal and surprisingly enough, it worked. The portal opened up directly into his room. He entered through the flickering circle out of the mirror dimension and into his room where he laid you on his bed. You curled up on yourself like you were cold and he pulled the blankets over you.

“What have you been doing?” he murmured to himself and sat in a chair and opened one of the new books Wong had given him, “sure hope you didn’t do that at the hospital.”

Masterlist

#dr strange #doctor strange #dr strange x reader #mcu #mcu x reader #marvel #my work #kimi's writing

42 notes · View notes