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wefoundloveunderthelight · 4 years ago

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Wonderland by GleefullyCaptainSwan

Or on FF

Tagging: @kmomof4 @lfh1226-linda @teamhook @itsfabianadocarmo

Chapter 6: As You Wish

Emma wasn’t waiting for Ruby to get back to her room. Not at all. She was simply staring at the door in case anyone interesting walked by. At least that is what she told herself. She had spent the last hour convincing herself that she didn’t care what Ruby and Killian were up to. She could barely stomach the guy at all and if Ruby wanted to deal with his bullshit, who was she to stop her.

She peeked her head out the door and peered down the hall.

“Help you with something Emma?”

She jumped and grabbed her heart. “My God you scared me.” Graham was standing behind her with a grin across his face. “Um no, I was just waiting for Ruby to get back from…” She paused and bit her lip. “The cafeteria.”

“Bit late to be eating don’t you think? It’s almost lights out.”

Emma panicked. She didn’t want to get anyone in trouble. “Female issues.” She said with a shy smile. “Chocolate make the cramps go away.” She cringed at her own words and he put his hands up in front of him.

“Say no more.” He backed away quickly and continued down the hall.

“Ugh.” She groaned just as she heard voices coming from the other end of the hallway. She ran back into the room and jumped into her bed, grabbing a magazine, and holding it up in front of her, quickly flipping it again so that it was right side up.

“Thanks again Ruby, you really are a very sweet lass.” Emma rolled her eyes, staring down at the magazine.

“Well, you know what I said earlier, you come find me, anytime.”

“Goodnight, Love.”

“Night Killian.”

Emma felt like vomiting. It wasn’t that she cared about Killian and Ruby doing whatever they were off doing together, she didn’t. Not entirely. Maybe she was just lonely. That had to be what it was. She’d felt alone since getting to the island.

Well, that wasn’t exactly true either. She and Jefferson had become like kindred spirits. He had a way of making her laugh that made her feel free. She hadn’t felt that way in such a long time that she found herself looking forward to hanging out with him. Not that she didn’t think he might have a screw loose, or maybe even two. But he was very sweet to her and she enjoyed the attention.

So maybe it wasn’t loneliness that had her seeing red when Ruby walked into the room, her cheeks flushed, and her clothes still covered in sand. “Looks like you had an interesting evening.” She said dryly.

The girl looked down at her clothes, brushing them off with a giggle. “Oh yeah well, we were um…”

Emma rolled her eyes. “I don’t care to hear the damn details.”

“I was right about one thing though.”

Emma looked up from her magazine. The girl stretched her hands apart and mouthed ‘big dick’. Emma shook her head, her insides fuming as she gritted her teeth. “Don’t care, Rubes.” She tossed her magazine to the ground and rolled onto her side, pulling her covers over her head. “Turn off the light when you are done, please.”

She didn’t sleep well that night. She told herself it was because in the morning she would have to go to another group therapy session, but she knew that wasn’t entirely the reason for her foul mood. Looking over at Ruby still sleeping in her bed, she got up and quietly dressed for the day, sneaking out to grab some breakfast before their session. She didn’t feel like spending the morning listening to her roommate talk about Killian or the size of any of his damn parts.

She grabbed her tray, a short stack of pancakes and bacon, before settling into a seat in the corner of the cafeteria. It was quiet and she was grateful to have a moment to collect her thoughts before she had to deal with the entire group again. Apparently therapy patients were not early risers because she continued to be the only person in the room for thirty minutes. However, as soon as she heard his voice, she started gathering her plates and stood from the table, watching as Ruby and Killian entered the room, both laughing about something stupid she was sure he had said.

She threw away her garbage and walked toward the door. “Something I said again?” He joked loudly as she approached the exit. She paused for a moment and turned back toward him, extending her middle finger, before continuing toward the hallway. She didn’t know why she was being so childish, but it felt good.

She was still early for group, but she didn’t know where else to go so she made her way to the room and sat in an empty chair around the circle.

“You don’t get any bonus points for being early.” She looked up to see August enter the room. “But I’m glad to see you came back.”

“Ready for round 2 of my interrogation.” She said mockingly.

“We haven’t really had a moment to chat.” He looked around the room. “Seems now is as good a time as any.” Emma shrugged, looking apprehensive. “Look, I just wanted to apologize for last session. I want you to know it wasn’t personal.”

“Really? Because it felt personal.”

“Look I’ve been here four weeks now, I get it. It’s not easy coming from a life you know to somewhere like this where you are forced to face the darkest shit about yourself. It’s not always fun looking that deep.”

“Or having someone tell you who you are when they don’t even know you.”

“Fair point, Emma. But have you ever had anyone just tell it to you how it is, no bullshit, no sugar? Because that’s where you gotta get to here. You have to rip the bandage off and let it bleed.”

“That’s graphic.” She scowled.

They heard voices and looked up as the others entered the room. Ruby coming in and plopping down in the seat next to her. “You got up early.”

Emma shrugged but smiled at her.

Killian took the seat directly across from her, his dark eyes meeting hers as Dr. Hopper walked in with Will and Jefferson.

“Looks like the gang is all here.” Will joked, taking the seat on the other side of her. “Mornin’ beautiful.”

Emma scrunched her nose, watching him from the corner of her eyes. “Um hi.”

“Alright who wants to go first today?”

“I will.” Ruby volunteered and Emma happily turned to her other side to watch her roommate speak.

“My Grans is coming to family day this time. I’m really excited to see her.”

“That’s great, Ruby. That’s a big step. You didn’t think she would come last time we talked.”

“Yeah, I guess she’s still upset with me. Disappointed, but she’s willing to come support me.”

“How are your phone calls going with her?”

“Good, a bit short still. She doesn’t want to have to talk about all the um, men, I’ve done around town. Apparently, I have a fan club that comes looking for me at the diner.”

“Is it just you and her at home?”

“Um yeah, she took care of me for as long as I can remember.”

“Your parents are gone?”

“Dad passed when I was five, mom didn’t handle it well. She wasn’t around much and then it was just me and Grans.”

“So, you grew up without a man in your life?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“Do you think not having a father around might have led to an unhealthy obsession with men?”

She shrugged. “I guess. It’s not like I sleep with men because I want my daddy if that’s what you’re thinking?”

“Sounds to me like daddy issues is a common theme in this room.”

Emma glared at August. “Again, with that shit? Can a woman have self-esteem issues without you automatically assuming it has to do with a man?”

He held his hands up in front of his body. “Truce, please continue.”

“Anyway, in the beginning I liked being with them because they bought me alcohol. Treated me nice, bought me things. But then I just found that I wanted to please them, almost like I needed to, like it made me high anytime I was offering sexual favors.”

“I wish I had a sex addiction.” Will announced and every laughed. “Sure, sounds like a better way to get high.”

“Sex addiction is not a laughing matter, it’s very serious. It leads to unhealthy relationships, low self-esteem, depression.” Their therapist tried to explain.

“That about sums me up.” Ruby said with a shrug, a frown on her face for just a moment before her mask took over again and she plastered the smile back on her face.

“I don’t get how having sex is somehow a serious issue.” August rolled his eyes and crossed his arms against his chest.

“You know, you may not take it seriously, poor little rich girl, got drunk, had sex with a man who beat the shit out of her, took too many pills, and ended up here. Sex addiction seems stupid to you but try living with it every day. When the only way to feel good about yourself is if you please someone else.” Ruby had tears on her cheek and Emma reached over to take her hand.

August sighed. “I’m sorry Rubes, you’re right, it was wrong of me to say that.”

“I don’t need your pity. Or yours.” She pointed to Will. “Maybe yours, cuz you’re hot.” She winked at Killian and Emma flushed.

“Ok thank you for sharing today, Ruby.” Archie interjected thankfully before Ruby could continue her shameless flirting.

“Emma, why don’t you share something today.”

Emma sighed deeply. “I uh, not sure where I’m supposed to start.”

“Let’s talk about how old you were when you first started drinking.”

“I probably started when I was 14. I went to a party with a Neal.”

“And Neal is your boyfriend, correct?

She looked at her hands. “Um, yeah, he’s my boyfriend. We met when I was twelve and he was just always around.”

“Was he upset by your drinking?”

She laughed. “Not at all. Neal actually made me my first drink.”

“Are you and Neal the same age?”

“Nah he’s a couple of years older than me, so he was 16 when we went to our first party together.” She caught Killian’s eye and looked away.

“Emma, would you say that Neal was an enabler for your addictions?”

Emma flinched. “No.”

Her therapist squinted his eyes. “When did the drugs start?”

Her heart was starting to beat a bit harder in her chest. “I would say a couple years later. Maybe 16 or 17?”

“And where did you get them from? Was Neal part of the drugs as well?”

“Um, he had a dealer we would buy from.”

“Bloody hell.” Killian swore under his breath.

“What’s your problem?” She shot back at him and he glared back at her.

“Just seems like a real swell guy giving fucking drugs to a 16-year-old.”

She rolled her eyes. “That’s none of your damn business.”

“Apologizes, M’lady.” He bowed his head toward her and she felt the anger building inside her.

“Why are we apologizing at all? Killian has a point.” August interjected and Emma’s head snapped in his direction.

“Aye, he has a point.” Will mimicked.

“I’m the one in rehab, not Neal.”

“Yeah, but it sounds like he had a hand in getting you here. Did he even try and stop you when you started drowning?”

Emma bit her cheek, her knee bouncing in front of her. “Neal tried. He’s a good guy.” She lied. She knew they were right, but that was none of their damn business.

Killian snorted in disgust.

“I think I’m done sharing for today.” Archie nodded and turned toward Killian.

“Killian, why don’t we move to you since you seem eager to talk today.”

Emma smirked when he looked up at her. “Serves you right buddy.”

“Alright.”

Emma noticed how quickly his demeanor changed.

“When did you start drinking?”

“I was in a band.” Emma snorted and then covered her mouth. He peered through slanted eyes in her direction before continuing. “I’m just saying, it was different circumstances. I wasn’t a 14-year-old rich girl who could have anything she wanted.”

“I beg your pardon.” She scowled.

“It’s different, princess. I had nothing. We practiced in a broken-down garage with instruments we got from a pawn shop. My dad wasn’t around much and when he was, he was passed out drunk, my brother practically raised me. And when I wasn’t with Liam, Rob and I spent a lot of time writing songs and drinking.”

“Hypocrite.” She mumbled.

“Besides,” He said loudly. “We were just kids messing around. I didn’t start abusing alcohol until much later.”

“What do you think brought that on?”

Emma studied his face. She didn’t know why she was suddenly so invested in his story or why she cared at all.

“I guess it was probably all the pressure I was under to perform. The band was touring and as soon as the tour ended, I was expected to start filming a movie, I had just gotten engaged, and everything seemed to be spinning out of control.”

Engaged? Now that’s something she didn’t expect.

“Most of the time all that pressure comes from within, man.” Jefferson laid a hand on Killian’s shoulder.

“I guess, I mean the money I brought in was more money than my family had ever seen. At first it felt good to be able to provide but after a while, everything I did became about making sure that money kept coming in instead of just doing what I loved.”

Emma studied his face, looking for any sign of deception as he spoke, she found none.

The room got quiet and Archie finally spoke. “Ok you guys did great today. Let’s pause here and congratulate Emma and Killian on completing one week of rehab. Great job.”

Everyone clapped but Emma could only sigh. She’d only managed to get through one week. She didn’t feel like she had gotten anywhere, instead it was like she was frozen in place.

The group stood and broke off into smaller discussions. Will and Jefferson talking about the next visit to the gym and Killian and Ruby whispering in the corner, probably making plans for another roll in the sand, she thought.

She slipped out the back door while no one was paying attention and went in search of her refuge. It wasn’t until her feet climbed the hill under the pier that she let out a large breath. She sat down on the sandy embankment, watching the waves coming in and out with the tide.

“Permission to enter?”

She saw him standing at the edge of the pier, rays of sunshine brushing his hair. “Does my answer matter?”

“Of course, it does, Swan.”

She groaned. “What do you want?”

“I came to apologize.” He stood at the bottom of the embankment. “For earlier. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Which time.” She spat and then looked back at him; disappointment plastered across his face. “Sorry, habit. It’s fine. Seriously.”

He tentatively climbed the hill and sat down beside her. “I did not mean to make disparaging remarks about your boyfriend, Neal correct?”

She didn’t want to talk about Neal. She just shrugged and stared at the water. They sat in silence for a what felt like hours. It was comfortable, yet she couldn’t explain why.

“I started doing drugs when I met Milah.” He spoke softly.

“Is that your fiancé?”

He nodded sadly. “Aye.” He looked over at her and she noticed immediately that the bravado was gone.

“Is she coming for family day?”

He looked toward the ocean and released a deep sigh. “No.”

“Oh.”

“Can I tell you something?” Their eyes met and she nodded silently. “It was a car accident.” Her brow furrowed, not understanding him. “I had been drinking.” He paused, swallowing hard as if he was admitting something that was more for his benefit and not hers. “A lot. Milah and I got into a fight the night of my movie premier. I was angry and she was yelling at me. The road was wet, and I lost control of the wheel. I didn’t even see the truck.”

Emma swallowed. Oh my God. What was he saying? Her mouth was dry, and she didn’t understand why he was choosing to share this information with her.

“That’s how you lost your hand?” She finally spoke, hardly at a whisper.

He nodded sadly. “That was only part of my punishment. I lost everything I loved that night.”

Emma came to a slow realization for what the implication of his statement meant. Milah couldn’t come visit him for family day because she was no longer here.

“Killian I’m so sorry.”

“Please don’t apologize, that’s my burden not yours.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I don’t know.” He whispered. “You called me out for lying previously. No one else even batted an eye.”

“I’m gonna let you in on a little secret. I’m pretty good at knowing when someone is lying to me.”

“Well now I’m not. And now you can admit the truth.”

She stared at him confused. “The truth about what?”

“Neal. It seems to me that he’s been there throughout your entire beginnings and yet here you are, alone. Where was he?”

“I fail to see how that is any of your business, but if you have to know, he’s waiting for me at home. He’s always been supportive of my recovery.”

“I see, so no one can lie to you, but you can lie to yourself. Seems quite cowardly.”

“I beg your pardon. Do you think because you chose to share something with me that suddenly that makes us…” She glared at him. “What? Friends?”

He stood and started to walk down the hill. She jumped up and chased him through the sand. “Did you think pretending to open up to me, telling me your secret was going to get you in my pants. Was Ruby not enough for you?”

He turned on her. “First off, Ruby is a much better friend than you are even capable of, but you can be sure, love, I have no intention of getting anywhere near your pants.”

“Good, because I have no interest in you.” She glared with her arms crossed.

“Nor I you.” He yelled.

They stared intently at each other, time standing still, fire burning in his blue eyes. He put his hands in the air and turned. “Forget it, Swan, I’ll leave.”

“Just stay the hell away from me.”

“As you wish.” He bowed, turning back toward the center, and jogging away.

She wanted to scream but didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. Instead, she fell back into the sand and cried. He seemed so sincere just five minutes earlier. It infuriated her that he could so easily get under her skin. She didn’t want to admit that he had seen through her, that he was right about Neal without even knowing the full story. She hated him for being right about anything, but she hated him more for being right about her. She was a coward.

Why was he trying to connect with her anyway? He was already having sex with Ruby.

It had never occurred to her that maybe he was just reaching out for someone to share his experience with. Besides, he did come to her in private, he wasn’t like August, going after her in front of everyone else. And how did she repay that? She yelled at him. Accused him of divulging something so personal with her in exchange for sex. It angered her that she may be in the wrong.

After all, she was the one who had kissed him. Perhaps he wasn’t interested in her at all. He had never made any attempts to kiss her since that day. And now she was pretty sure he hated her. As Emma walked back to the center that evening, she realized that even in rehab she was a complete and utter screwup.

#wonderland fic #wonderland #stacy's fics #emma x killian #killian jones #emma x hook #emma swan #captainswan #captain swan #captain swan au #captain swan fics #captain swan modern au

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lifeinthegladhouse · 3 years ago

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a note on odin (on that post/reblog I made earlier): I don't wanna scare people. I think anyone who follows me probably has had their own experiences and already knows - but I think if you "have never seen that side of Odin yet" you should consider yourself ... well in some part lucky, but also, my introduction to Odin wasn't "ooh scary". I mean, I had read on r/heathenry about people's feelings - reverently, not the majority, but a large chunk of people have/are/will be saying shit like "Odin did XY thing when I asked for XY, and you will get what you asked for, but only after heavy trial". I can't say they're wrong, but I also approach magick in this way, you are asking a DEITY for something instead of just doing it yourself, and they will likely, at least in Odin's case, push you to do do it yourself with plus bonus help. In Odin's case sometimes he will do it for you and you might not fucking like it at first, or he will make his take on the matter very fucking clear. After my trip, I was pretty shook. But I'm also a pretty heavy-handed and fatalistic person myself, so I'm sure that Odin felt his actions were... well, would be understood by me, since I made it clear that I was in the business of understanding him (I would like to say while typing this I am either smelling a weird smell due to something I can't track down in my house or am hallucinating a smell which I do not typically do but have done sometimes and so here we are...not sure if the smell of some kind of painting chemical which makes sense or shaving cream...). I think the issue here is simply fearing it, ... won't really gain you any favors. I had to fight this urge a lot. We faced a lot of times when like, for real, we were not sure if we were gonna make it out alive on this trip and I had to put my trust in something I couldn't see to make sure that didn't happen, while actively fearing it was partially due to him. Very weird dynamic and not my favorite. And some people will be quick to point out, the shit Odin sacrificed, of his own, or the lives of others,.... that doesn't count for nothing. Take that as you will. It doesn't have to be quite so bloodthirsty as like, the myths and brosatru's might have us believe, but uh, it... it kinda is at the same time. That being said, I have had many altar moments with Odin that were warm. I don't really "hang out" or "talk" to deities and I don't entirely understand it when people do or say they do in a casual sense, I certainly talk to them and am casual if I feel I can be, if not even crass (with Odin, at times), and I've had moments that were shockingly vocal in the mundane, I've even had some really funny tarot divination convos about some shit that maybe wasn't "the most important" and I was surprised at how honest and real the response was - very different than just "me pulling tarot" (I will say, I do feel like Odin can and will hijack my tarot but I KNOW it's him). I've felt his reassurance almost like a hand on my shoulder, and in the same sense, a warm and comforting laugh. I have also felt his absence in the time when I needed comfort most. In fact, when G died, the gods were fucking silent. And they had been for two months. This was after like, nonstop interaction. I settled with it, clearly there was a reason for this. Things were going awry anyways. It was the middle of winter. Then he died. There were things, in the month, and week, and days preceding, that were clues, but I wouldn't have known at the time. I even wrote a poem that unfortunately seemed a little too prophetic. On a Wednesday of course. Oh God, I cried the Wednesday before he died, I was biting my nails for everyone in the family, and it never crossed my mind that it would be big G and not someone else. Of everyone who was taken. Well. It's not a competition, but his loss has been a big one. One of the biggest ones. I still can't believe it. However, not only were the gods 'silent', I was dumb to the obvious signs. The guy who drank and almost died at my workplace, the robbery, the lightning strike *and the hopper, the blues

duo, long story, but if not even from Odin inherently, it was a collaboration of..well...something. Oh, and the pagan couple* who only showed up when trouble was abound but they showed up to wish me well, and then, well, kind of disappeared. The couple that only showed up when Loki entered in my life, when I asked for a 'sign of the hammer', and there they were. Odin, Loki, and I believe at times Freyja and Thor, were trying to desperately tell me, between his death and my quitting my job for this trip. I mean everyone in the neighborhood talked about that lightning strike for weeks.

They were loud on our trip. Just as they were on mom's trip. I wish I could remember what in the hell caused me to look up mom's ink. Her big strange O tattoo on the back with Cerberus which made only partial sense (now) and none (then). It was 2 months after she died - G's trip about 3 months after his death. I felt the space the gods gave while sending me urgency. But the kind of people who have shown up from Odin and Loki, the kind of sheer miracles of nature, it's not to be laughed at. And one of the wildest parts is other people don't get it, won't believe you, don't, and you can't really spend the time explaining it all anyways, nor should you, because it isn't their's to even know.

Well, I'm going on tangents, I can feel The Presence, when I write like this. The hooded drifting towards me, show shuffle and tall presence inside the house. It is neptune retrograde, and before I learned that, on the full moon in my own damn moon sign, I pulled the hanged man for today.

#do not rb #personalposting #odinposting #replies are ok tho #or dm's

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battlestar-royco · 5 years ago

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let’s talk about tropes

here’s a little (little?!) post on tropes, as promised!

some tropes i hate and why i hate them

love triangles: this one’s pretty simple and obvious. love triangles are unrealistic and toxic. they romanticize emotional cheating, and they cause nasty ship wars in fandoms, especially when two of the points in the triangle are women. often, the “losing” point of the triangle is a one-dimensional throwaway character who either gets killed off or accepts their fate and steps back for the “winner” to take over. this dynamic can get especially problematic when the “loser” is a woc and the “winner” is white, when the “loser” is an lgbtq+ character, and/or when the “loser” has no purpose other than to create drama for two other fleshed out characters. the character often ends up being hated for bad writing and “getting in the way” of the endgame ship. yikes. the only valid resolution to love triangles, imo, is a polyamorous relationship!!!

girl hate: it’s rare to see nice friendships and romances between women, and often this trope is used to drive an unnecessary wedge between two female characters who would have otherwise been great friends. i don’t mind when two women/girls are in conflict with one another for an interesting reason, but i absolutely hate when the conflict is based on something stereotypical and boring. the “girl hate” conflict is always based on something misogynistic, unrealistic, and/or stupid--like a man, looks, sexual practices, or a contrived competition. this is especially gross when the men in the story act as the voices of reason in the conflict, patronizing the women and teaching them how to be nice and use logic.

“strong female characters”: many writers mistake “strong” characters for characters who employ violence, sassiness, and masculine attributes to get what they want. I’m so over it. all I want is nuanced representation of women that doesn’t reduce them to a love interest or a sex object who looks down on other women. strength comes in many forms, and everyone defines it and identifies with it differently.

miscommunication: this has to be one of the laziest forms of prolonging drama, when two characters are fighting because of something that could easily be solved if they were locked in a room together for five minutes.

incest/incest-adjacent romances: this should go without saying, but we’re for some god-awful reason going through a period where incestuous relationships/fake-outs (ie, you’re in love with him? too bad he’s your brother. oh wait, it’s revealed that he’s not!/you two are blood related but you either never met or you went through a period of separation, so that means you can fall in love) are heavily romanticized or used to create extra drama, and it’s just unnecessary and not cute. i think authors use this to add some sort of edge or uniqueness to their writing, but it’s just so toxic and a complete turn-off for me.

aesthetic oppression: (term inspired by and similar to “aesthetic conflict,” thanks kat) when an author throws in some sort of oppression that is experienced by people in real life, but they either don’t address the oppression thoroughly or they only use it to add some sort of edge to their story and further a character’s romance, death, redemption arc, etc. for example, the homophobia in GOT season 6, which reduced loras to a walking stereotype of a gay man before he was subjugated by the church sept and blown up, and the patriarchy in ACOTAR that only exists to show how feminist rhysand is.

boys/men fighting, having tantrums, or expressing themselves through violence: it’s fine for male characters to fight every once in a while, but i just hate that this seems to be exclusively employed with male characters and it is used as a solution or reaction to problems when realistically, men are much more nuanced. men cry. they might be alone or in front of others. they might cry into their pillow or on a friend’s shoulder. fictional men add violence and anger to their sadness because the authors don’t want to emasculate them, but that’s a stupid goal and crying doesn’t affect someone’s gender. smashing your belongings when you are upset is unhealthy and potentially dangerous, and so is physically fighting others over trivial or patriarchal issues (ie a woman) when conversation could be/is probably much more compelling and effective. it’s important to show men that anger isn’t always the first emotion to feel under duress and that they don’t have to express their feelings by punching walls or throwing their belongings across the room. (also?! practically? YOU’RE RUINING YOUR OWN FUCKING STUFF AND/OR YOUR ROOMMATE/FRIEND/PARTNER’S STUFF, YOU ASSHOLE.)

sexy immortals: immortality can be used in clever and entertaining ways, but i feel like a lot of the immortals i’ve been seeing lately run in the same vein as the twilight vampires, which is to say: unearthly beautiful (aka conventionally attractive), overly sexy (aka stalking a love interest for the sake of “attraction”), apparently 16-25 years old (aka accessible to grown women who read/write ya).

uninvolved parents or non-existent guardian figures: sometimes young characters don’t have parents and that’s fine; some of my favorite books are about characters with one parent or no parents. but i still feel like we’re coming out of a period where it was very popular to kill off the parents (especially moms) at the beginning or before the story starts. i really want to see more exploration of characters with parents, or at least see the characters without parents make significant relationships with adults or react appropriately to the loss of their parents.

one-off character deaths: when a character enters one chapter or episode of a book/show just to immediately die for cheap emotional manipulation. this character is also sooooo often a marginalized person, and it’s super predictable and tired. try harder, author/screenwriter!

some tropes i love and why i love them

special snowflake/chosen one: I can’t explain it. I know it’s so cliche and one of the most hated ones out there, but I love when this trope is done right. I’m not a big fan of the chosen ones who have a special destiny, especially if the mc is a white boy, because that’s been done a million times before. but I’m a sucker for that one character who comes upon an unexpected special ability/object/creature or connection to a force of good/evil/nature and has to contend with that. They’ve been Chosen and they’re completely unprepared, and it’s gonna change their life trajectory and relationships and maybe even political climate.

woobies!!!: I feel like this trope is so underrated and it’s one of my favorites of all time. I absolutely love rooting for that one character who’s too good for any of the shit they’ve been through and Deserves Better^TM, but they manage to survive and grow against all odds.

found family: i love that authors are expanding the concept of family and unconventional narratives about love. the found family trope is so charming and relatable to many readers, and it’s great to see seemingly contrary characters come together to find a loving home together that isn’t necessarily romantic.

soft characters: it’s rare (though increasingly less rare, fortunately) to find soft boys, aka male characters who are compassionate, funny, kind, pensive, and/or quiet instead of brash, loud, violent, and angry. i know so many boys and men who fall all along the spectrum of masculinity, and it would be great to see more characters who represent that, especially because male characters are typically forced to express their masculinity in one way. i also absolutely love seeing women being equally as soft and kind--with the exception of ASOIAF!sansa, i feel like this kind of character has been cast aside for the sassy, rebellious, empowered^TM female character who isn’t like other girls and wields a bunch of weapons. i’d really like to see more female characters whose strengths come from empathy, intelligence, and emotion.

unique relationships within a friend group/ensemble: this one is marginally related to my love of found families. not only do i really like tight, strong friend groups, but i also like when each of the friends within that group has a different and compelling dynamic (hostile, romantic, friendly, tragic, whatever may have you) that can carry a scene or an arc. unique relationships between all the characters in an ensemble adds so much dimensionality to a story.

complex guardian figures: this mostly applies to ya, but i think it can also be said for many adult books and tv shows. adult characters often get flattened or sidelined for romance or action plots when in reality almost everyone has parent/guardian relationships, and these relationships are the source of so much complexity. that complexity may mean love, found family, anger, patronization, manipulation, and more, and all these things will be expressed differently based on the characters in question. for example, look at the difference between eleven and hopper from stranger things and harry and dumbledore from harry potter. hopper and dumbledore are so different and each of them carry darkness and baggage that comes out on the kids for better and worse. bonus points if the guardian is a woman, because these types of relationships between girls and women are relatively rare to the ones between boys and men.

anti-heroes/anti-villains: i think this is another one that goes without explaining. we’re all the hero of our own story, after all. if an author can successfully convince me to root for a character who i know is wrong but believes they’re in the right, or for a character who does the wrong things for the right reasons, there’s a good chance that i think very highly of that author.

stoic, bitter, angry characters: if there’s one character in the ensemble who has any of these traits, there’s a good chance they’ll be my favorite, especially if that character is a woman. usually this character’s journey is about what makes them vulnerable and how they become close with the most unlikely companions or form a special relationship with a foil character. it makes the audience feel like we’re being let in on a secret, specifically about that character.

and that’s about it! my inbox is always open to talk more in depth about any of these and more, so let me know. thanks so much for 700, you all are great :D

#maxine talks tropes

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alketaire · 5 years ago

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stranger things 3 spoilery thoughts

watched the whole thing in a day, woo, need to rewatch the whole thing bc 1 was SO GOOD and i lichrally don’t remember most of 2 but anyways some thoughts

i approve the continuing trend of Steve the Butt-Monkey

i FURTHER approve the reversal of Dustin being Steve’s worried parent when he and Robin are fukt up for like a third of the season

i ESPECIALLY approve Steve admitting he was a bit of a shit and taking his change of lifestyle with a shrug and throwing himself into it instead of being all ‘o woe is me, to be a sole rich beauty among the working class’

like seriously steve’s redemption isn’t shown by knowing the right words or acting sensitive to people, it’s in not questioning that he needs to work to be better.

sure, maybe “work” shouldn’t mean “shitty minimum-wage mall job slinging ice cream” but he still absolutely gives it his best shot when he isn’t helping prevent the annihilation of the human race

bonus: his uniform looks stupider than Robin’s

ngl i don’t think the single almost-throwaway line by a young angry 80s teenager “it’s not my fault you don’t like girls” counts as gay representation or even an explicit statement of gayness so seeing that take going around just makes me ugh.

i say Will is aro, fuck you and let him enjoy his ttrpgs

also can we not spend so much time on the romantic inclinations of these actual children when I came here for a body horror apocalypse

Robin otoh when she comes out to Steve

very good

very very good

i could fucking feel both sides of that situation

Robin in general, fucking best

patience and sass? perfectly balanced

is 100% on board with The Nonsense from square one

competently handles The Nonsense when it gets thrown at her

“MO-ROOOOOONS”

bullshits in a language SHE DOESN’T FUCKING KNOW when her life is on the line

and it almost fucking works

seriously Steve had better fucking appreciate the quality of friend

if i have a daughter someday i hope she’s like Suzie

I demanded more Erica and I am so happy

as a certified baby sister, all that stuff about capitalism is exactly what i would have done at 10 if i wanted to mess with my sister/her friends (or if they wanted me to do their science homework or smth)

should have known something was up when i thought “wow, Hopper’s getting a lot of badass moments this season”

didn’t really connect until Joyce asked him out and behind the surface of ‘you both need therapy first’ was “...oh no”

“No, not the American” OH YES

feel like Jonathan and Nancy did not reach half their badass quota

except in handling conflict in a long-term relationship! hell yeah!

love love love the “only proven asshole douchefucks disregard the reports of someone based on mental illness” trend continuing as well

dan had an excellent question: does Scoops Ahoy not have a fucking manager

I maintain that Robin is the supervisor (see: uniform stupidity in point 1C), she and Steve are two of like six employees and the shifts never mix, and the manager is like the one at my first mall job who just swanned in to take the deposit once a week. never even knew his name. so if the whole show happens over a week or so, of course he wouldn’t notice if there was only one person working for two days and then two employees fucking disappeared off the face of the earth for two more right before the mall burned down

(Boney M voice) ohhh, those Russians

#stranger things #stranger things 3 #st3 #stranger things spoilers #st spoilers

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celticheartedfangirl · 6 years ago

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My OUAT Rewatch -- S2E17 -- Welcome to Storybrooke

Link to Rewatch Review and Ranking archive

Starting with basically the only scene in this episode worth a damn . . . . get out your trash bags, cause I’m about to fill them!

Under the cut is negative stuff, about the show, about Regina, and about the entire clan of Charmings, and this entire episode in general. If you don’t want to hear any of that, I highly recommend backing out right now. Not kidding.

Still with me? Okay then. I don’t want to hear any bitching in this post or about this post or about ME posting this post -- you were warned what’s coming. I am not responsible for your choices.

And that’s REALLY a point I’d like to make about this entire “who is responsible for Cora’s death” shit. Cause you know who is?

That lady right there. Yeah I know, this isn’t from this episode. Oh well. The gif works.

I will repeat myself from my last review:

Snow White is ONE HUNDRED FUCKING PERCENT RESPONSIBLE FOR CORA’S DEATH.

Rumple was lying on a bed DYING. SNOW found the candle. Snow stated, out loud, that she was going to kill Cora even before she found the candle OR spoke to Rumple. Also -- Snow already KNEW what that candle did. She did not need Rumple’s help to do ANY of this. None of it. She was basically . . . . to put on my The Good Place fangirl hat . . . . . facing a Trolley Problem:

Trolley Problem

Rumple -- AND the entire town of Storybrooke -- were the five people. Cora was the ONE. There was NOT a third option.

Snow chose to kill the one. What other choice WAS THERE???? ZERO other choices, that’s what other choice.

So the what in the actual fuck is THIS bullshit dialogue here:

Regina: You killed her to save your own life.

Rumple: Sadly, desperate times call for desperate measures.

Regina: Like getting Mary Margaret to trick me into killing my own mother?

(Me after that scene.)

Even if -- and I’m not saying I agree with this but EVEN IF you say that Rumple was a tiny bit responsible .. . . . he in NO WAY was responsible for Snow’s choice to give Regina the heart. Not AT ALL.

So FUCK YOU show for trying to blame Rumple for something he did NOT DO, and even if (which I don’t agree with) he is in a small way responsible -- the MAJORITY of the blame goes on SNOW FUCKING WHITE. I know what I watched. I know what I saw. Rumple has done a lot of shit. But not this. Don’t piss on my head and tell me it’s raining.

So there’s THAT . . . . . . and also the Charmings SUCK and this is exactly where they STARTED to suck. Because somehow, Snow’s ACTIVE role in murder is LESS than the role of the one sentence said to her by the guy who was dying. Whatever.

And then there’s my other issue with this episode . . . . a reminder of exactly WHY it took me so fucking long to not want to smack the living shit out of Regina.

Between Regina controlling Graham, abusing two innocent people who literally had nothing to do with any of this shit, and the repeated RAPING of Graham . . . not to mention her scene with Henry, which was just . . . . not good . . .

Look, it took me WAY longer than many to like Regina. And even knowing what I know is coming -- this episode is bothersome. For so many reasons.

And then you got Henry doing his best Wile E. Coyote impression . . .

The fuck you trying to do, kid? You’ve seen cartoons -- blowing shit up doesn’t work! JFC!!!!

Also, there’s NO BELLE in this episode. Because why would Rumple go visit the love of his life in the hospital when he can sit and fucking babysit Snow White, who . . . . don’t forget . . . was partying on down in Tiny not that long ago while Belle was being drugged and abused in the hospital.

But hey -- who gives a shit about Belle, right?

Allow me to repeat myself . . . .

So anyhow . . . . . at least we got this scene?

An entire episode of THAT would have been so much better.

Points tally:

40 points to start

10 points for Swanfire

10 points deducted for no Belle

25 bonus points deducted just for the clusterfuckery of everything above and anything I didn’t mention cause we’d be here all damn day

10 bonus points added for the coffee shop scene, the line “He’s your son,” and Rumple telling Regina where Dr. Hopper’s office was cause she was unhappy. I’ll give them that.

Total points: 25

Wow, still not in the negatives. And honestly, I don’t think the next one will be in the negatives either, as yawn as it is. We shall see! Anyone taking bets yet on what the first episode in the negatives will be?

Follow #celtichearted OUAT ranking tag for more to come!

#celtichearted OUAT ranking #welcome to storybrooke #anti regina #anti snowing #ouat criticism

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ask-joyce-byers · 6 years ago

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Anon request: Random fic request (this is crazy but I'm in a major alternative universe mood) Joyce is an evil master mind and Hopper has to stop her. Of course she wins him over easily (bonus points if she's a full on femme fatel with the leather gloves, dress and high heels or boots as well) thank you

{So sorry, in my infinite idiocy I wrote this whole thing and accidentally deleted it. So I rewrote it and hopefully its still okay! Full story below the cut, I gave it a bit of a twist...}

Tell me, is it the custom here for handsome men to show up unaccompanied?”

“Only when they’re truly lonely.” His eyes lifted to mine, and the vulnerability in them brought out a side of me that had to be quickly quashed. This was a not a job to be accomplished through sympathy, but through wiles. I lifted a hand and skimmed it down his jaw, saw him shudder.

“So easily swayed. Do you have no morals at all?”

“I feel silly,” I began, willing my heartrate to slow. I could feel it pulsing behind my eyes, and it was not the feeling one should have when attempting to rekindle their love life, even if that love life had barely existed before. I checked my appearance in the mirror and fought the nerves fluttering in my stomach. I was wearing a slightly off-white silk nightshirt that showed too much leg, and stockings that I had been embarrassed to buy at the mall. They came all the way up my thighs, and I'd donned some boots with a bit of a heel that I never thought I'd wear again. High heels and to-do-lists didn't usually go together, but I supposed that just for today, they were fitting.

“I look silly,” I added, and just then Hop came out of the bathroom, looking more dressed up than I had seen him since our high-school graduation. His shirt, if not starched, was at least ironed, and his trousers were snug, from earlier days, something which didn't bother me one bit. I felt a blush suffuse my cheeks, and when he caught me staring, his grin was wolfish, triumphant.

“You like this?”

“I don't know yet,” I groused, lifting a hand – clad in gloves, which I'd forgotten – to scrub at my cheeks as if that would help banish the blush. The thought sparked a new thought, and I went to my jewelry box. “Lipstick.”

“Lipstick?” He perked up. “I didn't know you even owned lipstick.”

I shot him a glance. “A femme fatale would never go anywhere without her lipstick.” I uncovered a bold red that hadn't seen the light of day in decades and applied it carefully, turning around at last and giving my hair a dramatic toss.

“Ready?”

“Like hell I am. You look amazing.”

“We're playing dress-up, Hop.” My enthusiasm wilted ever so slightly. “Is this really what... people do?”

“It's what we're doing. You remember how it goes?”

“I am a very rich woman whose husband died under mysterious circumstances.” That part was clear. Whether or not my acting would hold up under such pressure was less crystal. “And you are -”

“A random traveler who is easily seduced, lacking a little in brains, but not in dapper clothing.” Hop waggled his eyebrows.

“You can't be too random or why am I seducing you.”

“I'm missing the part where you're not seducing me already.”

“You have something that I want.”

His pupils blew wide. “You're getting the hang of this.”

I took in a deep breath and pressed my eyes shut, letting the fabric of reality shift. When I opened my eyes, the room was dim, hazed with smoke, and I saw across the room the man I intended to target. Mustached, hair slicked back, in a shirt that proclaimed him a foreigner to these parts. An easy mission. I made my way towards him, heels clicking on the parquet floor of the exotic lounge.

“Come here often?” I began, stopping just out of reach, letting his eyes rove me. That's how these things worked. He was vulnerable, I could have him in seconds but patience was key. Missions like these didn't get accomplished in minutes.

“You're not from around here,” he began, eyes skimming me, as I cast my own down. My dubious accent could easily be explained by my vast and varied travels.

“Tell me, is it a custom here for handsome men to show up unaccompanied?”

“So easily swayed. Do you have no morals at all?”

“None at all, madam.”

Danger hung in the air like smoke, and the metaphor gave me an idea.

“Spare a cigarette?” He handed one to me and I took my time lighting it, positioning it carefully between painted lips. Assuming a languid air, I did my best not to cough. Uncouth travelers and their unfiltered cigarettes. “Tell me,” I began, exhaling a swirl of smoke. “What brings you to these parts?”

“The same as you.” He had lit his own cigarette, puffing it slowly. “I know who you are.”

“Is that so.” I fingered a curled end of my hair. “I am lonely too, you know. A lonely soul searching the world for love.”

His eyes, holding mine, were keen, too keen for a random traveler. My cover was blown. I collared him, lips near his ear.

“What do you know?” I hissed.

“More than you,” he returned. “For example, if you are really are a lonely soul looking for love, then why do you have a gun strapped to your leg?”

My eyes widened. “Do I?”

“I think you do.”

“Do you want to check?”

“I think I'd better.” When he stood, his height dwarfed me, and I made an effort to stand tall in the heels, remind myself of the hold I had over this situation.

I caught his hand as it reached for me. “What do you say?”

His hand closed over my wrist, the grip like a vice. “That you're an evil mastermind, and that I'm not who you think I am either -”

“I was thinking something more like 'please'.”

He released me then, and the breathy request I elicited from his lips had a thrill running through me that was not the thrill of a job well-done.

The next half hour was a tangle of fine fabrics and slick skin, a blur of lipstick prints and nail marks and when at last we lay exhausted, sated in each other, I heard it begin to build, a low sound at first, and finally a full-fledged chuckle rising from his chest. I sat up and glared.

“What?”

“You're good.”

“I don't know about that.”

“No, I mean, we're good.”

“Don't sing your own praises, it's not attractive.”

His grin was broad. “I think we could do better with practice.” He rolled over and flung his arm across my waist. “We could practice more now -”

Just then, I heard the sound of the front door banging open, and Will's voice called, “Mom! I'm home!”

“Time's up for today, chief,” I began, swinging my legs over the side of the bed and searching for my clothes.

He swallowed thickly. “Now that's an idea for next time. 'Chief'...”

“Stop.” I swatted him. “Macaroni's for dinner, are you staying or not?”

#jopper #fic #au #jim hopper #joyce byers #stranger things #rp #st #st3 #chief hopper #hopper #fanfic

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deltaengineering · 6 years ago

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Winter Anime 2019 Part 2: My Fedora Weighs A Ton

Smash that hate-reblog button, because today I’m calling out another penily* challenged isekai copypasta. But first...

Dororo

What: Baby gets most vital organs stolen by demons due to his father’s dickishness, is now all grown up and back for revenge. He also picks up a spunky petty thief so this doesn’t get too depressing.

✅ Shounen manga in the 60s sure was some shit huh. Thankfully this is a Tezuka original, so it’s surprisingly lighthearted for how ultragrim the setup is. That doesn’t mean it actually is lighthearted on an absolute scale, of course, just matter of fact instead of unbearably miserable. I like it.

✅✅ This looks dope, yo. It starts with the character designs, which are nicely updated but still noticeably Tezuka-ish. Then there’s the animation, which is deluxe and super deluxe during fights. And the backgrounds are real pretty too.

✅✅ Bonus points for a fantastic OP as well. I would already crown this as the OP of the season (sorry, Boogiepop), but we’ve still got another Mappa show to come and it’s Kakegurui, which has a track record in that regard. Dare I hope we get something even better?

♎ Ah, yes, Mappa. Great openings and great first episodes is what they do. I dearly hope they don’t donk it again, or, failing that, only donk it in the very last minute like Zombieland Saga.

✅ This is absolutely not my thing subject-wise, but the evidence suggests that it’s just too good to pass up. Hot damn.

Pastel Memories

What: Akiba has become normal and a bunch of girls are just sort of wandering around in it looking for manga.

❌❌ Okay seriously, what is with this new trend of making the first episode of your anime boring, seemingly on purpose? The preview promises some action (note: more on that later), but this first episode is largely content-free and tedious as hell.

❌❌ I suppose they’re banking on their large amount of kawaii characters, but a character-focused show needs, you know, character. These girls are extremely bland and samey and the one memorable one is the one that says nya a lot. Gimmicks are not the pinnacle of effort, yes, but simply not doing anything is hardly more effort.

❌❌ It also looks like ass, which is why I’m not enthusiastic about this show attempting action in the future. It’s somehow consistently off-model, with all the characters having sightline problems that makes everyone have a constant vacant stare. It’s barely worth mentioning with problems like that, but the animation’s not much either. The whole thing exudes a distinct bootleg ambiance.

♎ The plot they’re hinting at at the very end (all these girls are dimension-hoppers going through different worlds) admittedly has potential to be at least mildly entertaining. But potential is nothing without execution, which this show anti-excels at.

Mob Psycho 100 S2

What: Quit frontin, you know what MP100 is.

✅ At this point I’m basically only in it for the glorious visuals, so S2 better not be a step down. It’s not, so that’s good.

✅ I was not at all impressed by Mob Psycho’s writing overall, but the aspect I liked the most was Mob’s awkward daily life. This episode mostly focused on that, so no complaints here either. Komedy with Reigen and what amounts to a grunge rock cover of Bleach will surely follow, but this is about episode 1.

❌ One of S1's strongest points was the amazing opening. The new one is a much inferior clone of that one, both musically and visually.

♎ I won’t complain at length about MP100′s content again, but yeah, I don’t have high hopes. I’ll watch it no matter what because it’s still worth it, and the most I hope for is that the glue between the kabooms isn’t too annoying on average. This is starting out on the right foot if nothing else.

Rinshi!! Ekoda-chan

What: A sort of experimental adaptation of an 4koma about an easygoing woman. The trick is that every episode will be done by entirely different staff and studios.

❌❌ You know, I don’t mind weird, not conventionally beautiful arthouse shorts. However, packing your 3 minute short with 20 minutes of staff interviews explaining why it’s good may be a bit too modern art even for me. Especially when done in a Japanese daytime TV style.

❌ Even on its own terms, the short itself is on the bad side of whatever. #relatable to some, maybe, but not to me. And well, it’s not a looker, not even unconventionally so.

❌ The idea here is intriguing, but it spectacularly doesn’t work out in the first episode. I suppose if this produces something amazing down the line (which, admittedly, it might), I’ll hear about it.

Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari / The Rising of the Shield Hero

What: 💩

💩💩 Features a complete catalogue of isekai tropes, including pointing them out because the writer is extremely intelligent. If I have called it shit before, it’s probably in here somewhere.

💩💩 Is a whiny nerd’s manifesto on the topic of how he doesn’t get respected even though he’s so nice and how women are gold-digging whores that accuse him of rape. Basically, this is the /r/incels to Goblin Slayer’s /r/the_donald.

💩💩 Fucking double length because just saying “isekai” is not enough, you have to really make sure everyone knows what that means.

💩💩 Oh yeah, Shield Hero seems to pick up a slave catgirl at the end, as you do. I hope she also gives him a swirly and steals his lunch money, but considering he can magically order her to stay in the kitchen, I don’t think that’s likely.

♎ Looks alright, if thoroughly uninspired. Kinema Citrus can do better, but thankfully don’t.

Ueno-san wa Bukiyou / How clumsy you are, Miss Ueno.

What: Ueno-san is a genius inventor, crush-haver and terminal-stage boke. Oh dear.

❌❌ Loud and obnoxious comedy short. But still not short enough (12m).

❌❌ The two jokes in this episode are 1. Ueno wants to make her crush/straight man drink her piss and 2. Ueno wants to make her crush/straight man look up her skirt while not wearing panties.

❌❌ In other words, it’s a more stylistically generic Asobi Asobase that also pulls its punches with magical piss-purifying/pussy-hiding technology.

❌❌ No.

Watashi ni Tenshi ga Maiorita! / Wataten!: An Angel Flew Down to Me

What: Useless neet girl pervs on her little sister’s best friend. “Cute or pedo? Why not both!”, says Doga Kobo, establishing a pattern in the process.

♎ Shockingly, that pattern is not a tremendously annoying character for once. Our lead here is annoying, just not outrageously so. So it’s no Uzamaid, and one might even consider this watchable and cute if you don’t think about it too hard, or preferably at all.

♎ It also looks plush and agreeable, as usual.

❌❌ What is exactly like Uzamaid is the loliyuri though, and no amount of Doga Kobo gloss will make that go away. Why not, like, pick one of the thousands of cutesy 4koma without that? It’s just creepy. Less creepy than Uzamaid, yes, but that might as well have been the most pastel colored horror TV show ever so that’s not an accomplishment.

❌ Even if it weren’t extremely questionable content-wise, what’s left would still just be a good-looking but utterly unexceptional moe show. Sort of like Sansha Sanyou or in fact the majority of Doga Kobo productions at this point. What a waste of talent.

* Yes, that’s a word. I looked it up.

#anime #winter2019 #impressions #shield hero #Ueno-san wa Bukiyou #dororo #pastel memories #mob psycho 100 #rinshi!! ekoda-san #watashi ni tenshi ga maiorita!

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trashmouthdiangelo · 7 years ago

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S01E01: Who was the most upset among their party while talking to Hopper?

S01E03: Who was the most upset when the body was pulled out of the water, enough that he left his friends behind and biked home alone?

S01E04: Guess who fought Troy after he made fun of Will during the assembly

S01E08: Who was the only one awake waiting for news on Will among their friends again?

S02E01: Who was the one that noticed Will’s absence in the arcade? Who was the one that noticed Will was being quiet before going to the lab? Who was the one best friend Will didn’t mention when saying how the others treated him like he was about to break?

S02E02: Whose name was the only name Will called when having a vision of the Upside Down again? Who was the only one Will trusted enough to tell about the shadow monster? “Crazy together”

S02E03: Who did Will come to talk to about Dart? And who was the first one to notice Will was missing in the bathroom?

S02E04: Who was the one that called Will’s from school, and later went to check on Will after school again?

S02E05: Who was the one that stayed with Will from Friday to Sunday, comforted Will about his new ability to look into the mind of the shadow monster, and reassured Will that he wouldn’t let the shadow monster spy back? At least Dustin had a life threatening excuse for not trying to contact Mike and Will when they didn’t hear anything back from either of them (speaking of which, I wonder where Dustin slept on Friday night)

S02E06: Who was the non family member one that Will recognized in the lab again?

S02E08: Who kept the promise, that he wouldn’t let the shadow monster spy back, by suggesting making Will sleep, and interrogating Will somewhere he doesn’t recognize? Who was the only non family member that tried to reach out to Will in the shed? “It was the best thing I’ve ever done”

S02E09: Who was it that Will look at when a girl asked him to dance again? Who had to freaking stomp his feet for his best friend to dance with another girl?

Bonus question: How many times did Mike, Lucas, and Dustin each asked Will “What’s wrong”, “What happened”, “Are you okay”, or any variation of the questions throughout the second season?

Consider this as a quiz if you like. I’m just pointing out the facts in the two seasons. You can try to explain some questions as being this or that, but to explain all of them, there’s only one answer.

#stranger things #stranger things 2 #mike wheeler #will byers #byeler #trashmouthdiangelo

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kyloren · 7 years ago

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Mileven post-S2 fanfiction recommendation list: PART II

This is a follow-up part II to the first Mileven recommendation list I made. I actually haven’t finished going through the entire Mileven tag on ao3, but as soon as I power through another good chunk of it, I’ll probably do another part of the rec list. If your fanfic isn’t featured, apologies. Message me and we’ll amend that grievance in the next rec list instalment.

* marks the ongoing stories.

canon:

even outdoor rpgs in the sun have rules!* by christah88: ““It’s summer!” Dustin called over his shoulder, converting a deep lunge to a leapfrog. “The sun is shining, it’s hot but not too hot, we’re with all our friends, we don’t have to go to school, we’re young and we’re free!” He stood up and threw out his arms. “Why aren’t you guys running around screaming?!” They looked at each other. “He actually — you know, I think he actually has a point,” Will said, a bit shellshocked.” [This is the funniest fic I have ever read. Ever. Read it.]

devil’s in the backseat by ceruleanstorm: “Mike Wheeler is not a bad boy, but when he comes to school in a leather jacket, it’s the only thing anyone can talk about. Eleven knows something is up — if only he would stop avoiding her long enough for her to ask. Max, Dustin, and Lucas may have a gambling problem, and Will’s caught in the middle of it all, stuck keeping everyone’s secrets.”

promises to keep* by AriaCessair: “Unconsciously, the promises make their way into their lives. In the end, it is what keeps them together.”

watching through windows, you’re wondering if i’m okay by elsaclack: “The aftermath of the group’s collective brush with the Mind Flayer and his army.”

and i feel life for the very first time by quinnking: ““I wanted her to have something special,” he says, his voice rumbling. “To welcome ‘85 in with… people.” “With people,” Joyce repeats with a chuckle. “You mean with people who love her?””

paladin vs witch by Someone_else_before: “El loves Mike. Mike loves El. Kali has… concerns. On a visit to Hawkins, El’s big sister starts feeling protective and comes up with a few simple tests to make sure Mike is as good a guy as everyone says he is. The tests aren’t exactly ethical, but since when has that ever stopped Kali before?”

let your heart be light by evenhisfacewasanalias: “Takes place after the Snow Ball, with Mike introducing El to a few holiday traditions.”

smart things by Strange_Archivist: “Nancy reflects on love, the importance of female friends, and staying true to oneself.”

babysitters club by SmoothFluffle: “Mike and El (and Holly) as babysitters.”

but we could be safer for just one day* by dragonyfox: “See, the thing is, they figured they were done. Done with monsters, done with baseball bats embedded with nails, done with lighting things that are trying to kill them on fire, done with worrying about their people. Things go back to normal.”

like a distant star* by Someone_else_before: “Now that Mike knows El is alive, he’s not going to let even the scariest police chief in the world get in the way of seeing her again.”

i am small, and needy by kittenCorrosion: “As El adjusts to life in Hawkins, she dreads the impending trial known as “school”. Mike knows just what to do, as usual, and comforts her.”

stringe il cuore della stella morente by shipwrecks: “Months go by. Years go by. Everybody else remembers her only as a hero, there when they needed her. He shakes the core of a dying star.”

i’m not gonna teach your boyfriend how to dance with you by topangamatthews: “Mike Wheeler is not El’s boyfriend. So why is he so jealous of the boy who’s trying to be? (In which Mike Wheeler is an idiot and waits too long.)”

+ its sequel: and suddenly you’re mine* by topangamatthews: “There is nothing stranger than dating in high school. (A collection of one-shots of Mike and Eleven through their high school years, hand in hand.)”

july, july* by IrisVioletta: “Eleven adjusts to her new life, in her new family (now a life-spanning collection of oneshots.)”

senior year by serendipitous_rambles: “Senior Year is almost at an end which means College is right around the corner. El is still unsure and confused about what she wants to do when she graduates and it feels like everyone else is moving on with their lives. But when Mike gets some news, it could mean heartbreak.”

fake it ‘til you make it by TheMikeWheelers (jasongracefully): “Mike and El figured they would just mess with their friends a bit, they could get back at them for all the years of teasing. But fake dating never works out so easily.”

l-o-v-e in hawkins by JoMo3: “A 5-part Mileven/Jancy Valentine fic.”

alternative universe:

speechless* by BimeyMooMimey: “A new girl comes to Hawkins, and the entire town takes notice. Little does Mike Wheeler know that she’s about to turn his life upside-down...without even saying a word.”

survive the tide* by richiewheeler (jormaperalta): “After being rescued from a foster home run by a horrible man, “Eleven” is adopted by Chief Jim Hopper and tries to make Hawkins her home. But the schoolchildren are mean and she’s having a tough time fitting in, plus she needs a job for the summer. Then, she gets an opportunity to babysit Holly Wheeler, and finds her life entwined in AV Club President Mike Wheeler’s life as he navigates his last summer before he graduates from Hawkins High. As they start a summer romance, Eleven’s past starts to catch up with her as Mike’s future slams into his present. Can they survive the summer? Can their relationship?” No Supernatural AU.

everybody talks* by hannahberrie: “What was he supposed to say? ‘Hey, so, I saw you looking kinda lonely over here, and I thought I’d come sit by you, for no apparent reason. Yeah, I know, it’s weird. Yeah, I’m kinda a total wasteoid.’” an 80’s High School AU featuring punk!Eleven and nerd!Mike.

don’t stop believin’ by hoars: “In a world inspired by Dungeons and Dragons, the party comes to terms with their classes.” Magical Realism AU.

wrong house by richiewheeler (jormaperalta): “The Party has a plan to egg Troy’s house on Halloween, but they accidentally get Chief Hopper’s instead.” No Supernatural AU.

years that have gone, and years that will come by rileyhart: “Mike Wheeler has been able to feel his soulmate for as long as he can remember, and he’s been attempting to find her ever since. And he’s finally about to find her, after all those years of searching.” Soulmate AU where you are born with ability to feel the other’s emotions and pain.

miles from nowhere* by kittenCorrosion: “Mike Wheeler and his friends really just want their band to catch a break so they can hit it big. But the week long road trip to a battle of the bands in the middle of nowhere gets complicated when his sister’s rival band shows up, one of his band mates gets tangled in a dark force, and the girl he starts falling for along the way turns out to have a dangerous secret.” Band AU.

unpack your heart by mysterytwin: “They say home is where your heart is, and sometimes it takes a while to find exactly where that is.” Soulmate AU.

+ its prequel: beneath the stars came falling on our heads by mysterytwin: “Mike tries to figure out the beginning, the middle, and the end of his story with Eleven. Mike tries to figure out the beginning, the middle, and the end of his story with Eleven.” Soulmate AU.

ineffable* by princesspret: “An alternative universe where Mike Wheeler meets Eleven, “Jane Hopper,” in 1989. Unfortunately, he’s a little irritable, irrational, and rebellious but she loves him all the same.” bad-boy!Mike AU no-one asked for, but secretly kinda wished for.

the place i call home* by notreserenade: “If one was to ask Mike Wheeler’s parents whether their son had a girlfriend, they’d scoff. Awkward, lanky Mike speaking to a girl? That’s ridiculous. But little did they know, though, that their son was very much in love with a girl. A girl of very few words. A girl with very curly hair. A girl… whose heart was as fragile as the raw emotion one gets during a sunset. A girl that — to Mike, was like no-one he had ever met.” No Supernatural AU.

crossover:

lionhearted (we’ll make this right)* by bottlefullofarsenic: “Normalcy should be easy to obtain. After all, they closed the gate, they defeated the monster, right? Life should go back to normal. If only it was that simple.” Stranger Things x It (2017) Crossover.

curiosity door* by bananannabeth: “The Ghost Riders’ dimension isn’t the only one with portals into Beacon Hills.” Stranger Things x Teen Wolf Crossover.

kingdom come deliverance by TheFlirtMeister: ““You musn’t—” Mike kneels down in front of her, Endleofan cheeping in his ear, nibbling on the lobe. “You can’t touch other people’s dæmons.” “Dæmons?” The girl repeats. “Oh brother.” Lucas says. “You don’t know what a dæmon is?”” Stranger Things x Dæmon Fusion.

the upside down games* by peraltiagoisland: “Mike Wheeler lives in the Victor’s Village, thanks to his sister Nancy who won the games when she was 14 years old, allowing the Wheelers to live in the lap of luxury — or as luxurious as living in District 12 can get. Sadly, having a sister as a victor doesn’t protect Mike from the reaping. It also doesn’t protect him from getting picked to represent District 12 in the 83rd Hunger Games. Oh, and the thing about the arena that year? It becomes another dimension at night. It becomes the Upside Down.” Stranger Things x Hunger Games Fusion.

+ bonus: wherein Steve Harrington is a good Team Mom™:

that’s what friends are for by jibberjabber599: “It’s this action that seems to make his presence a welcome one when Dustin drags him around, even though he’d like to remind the little rugrats that he’s the one who got them out of that hole and saved their lives. Steve doesn’t really have a reference point when it comes to being a big brother—he’s an only child, never really willingly hung out with anyone younger than him—but he’s pretty sure it must feel a little something like this.”

crazy or impressive* by WitchWithWifi: “Steve all but adopts five middle schoolers, their weird telekinetic friend, and all the crazy shit they come with.”

the ache for home lives in all of us (a safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned) by Dontfloatthe100: “The six times Steve Harrington was a mom to the kids, and the one time he didn’t have to be.”

steve harrington’s guide to parenting* by untuneduke: “The adventures of Steve and his 6 adopted children (and the rest of their family).”

this is home* by PatchworkMedley: “The Party realise that maybe Steve is worth more than just driving a car and welding a nail driven bat. And Steve realises that when five pairs of eyes are giving you that puppy look, you don’t stand a chance. Now if only he had those looks when dealing with Hopper…”

guys, you know I’m gonna be pumping out these mileven fic recs until I feel like I’ve read every single fic in the ao3 tag, right? oh, god, what I have committed myself to? stay tuned for the next instalment.

UPDATE: part III is out.

#mileven #mileven fanfiction #mileven fanfiction recommendation list #mileven fanfiction recommendation #character: mike wheeler #character: eleven #pairing: mike x eleven #tv: stranger things #fanfiction recommendations #in this tag resides fanfiction #♔: victrix #*

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bellaciaobitch · 7 years ago

Text

Too much broken

Hello everyone! Thx for your support on my last post, it really meant a lot to me. I’m also open for jopper prompts so if you have some good ideas please do share! I’ll be really really happy to write them :) Ok, here we go. *deep breaths* Summary: After the parking lot scene. Hopper and Joyce share their thoughts and frustrations while waiting for the kids at the SnowBall and Joyce is too confused about her feelings. Mainly angst-jopper. ***

"Ya know I'll always be here, right?" Jim said placing a kiss on top of Joyce's head. She was so tiny in his arms that he was a little scared he would break her in half if he hug her too tight.

Joyce took a deep breath and hesitated before pulling herself closer and losing her weight in his chest. "I know" she said but it sounded muffled against the fabric of his shirt. In the distance they could hear Every Breath You Take echoing in the school’s gym and Jim could only imagine the kids teaching Jane how to dance. And by the kids, he meant Mike.

“I mean it.” he swallowed a little smoke and smiled to himself, picturing the big family they could built when all the trauma passes. “I’ve always been here… And i’ll be for as long as it takes”

Joyce looked up propping her chin in his chest. Her big eyes were full of confusion and maybe even a hint of fear. He cursed himself for the whole speech immediately, afraid that he was too invasive.

“Hop, if you mean…” she started, avoiding his eyes “No, sorry, forget it. I was just being stupid.” “You’re not stupid. It’s just that everything that happened is still so vivid in my mind, it’s hard to think about anything else.”

Hopper remained silent. He wanted to say that it was ok, that he understood her point and that he’d be patient. But the words got stuck in his throat and all he could do was stare at the lights that shined through the the gym windows.

Truth is, Jim was tired of understanding her point. He was doing that for more than 16 years now. He understood her when she started dating Lonnie in High School because he was a member of the basketball team and they “belonged” together. He also understood when she said they should stop hanging out because Lonnie was too jealous of her and he could get aggressive. He understood when Lonnie left and she was too worried about her children to answer his phone calls and finally he understood when she started dating Bob for the sake of her mental health.

Deep inside Jim felt horrible for thinking like that but he couldn’t avoid the frustration. Yes, he was going to wait for her. Always. But he wished she would cut with the excuses, he wished she would say the words he knew she wanted to, he wished…

“Look, I know we have… history.” Joyce said, letting go of his embrace to stand in front of him. She hold both of his hands to catch his attention. “And I know I’ve been letting you down for a long time. But I also know what my heart is telling me. And right now, I’m healing.” her voice was starting to fail and he caressed her hand with his thumb as she continued.

“It seems like everyone around me gets hurt somehow and I’m not ready to bring someone new into my life, it’s too risky. You’ve been around for a while now and you nearly died under that goddamn tunnel. I almost lost you there! I can’t lose you too, Hop”

Big tears were streaming down Joyce’s face and Hopper felt his heart racing. He wanted to make it stop, to make her whole again. To erase those two years of her life even if it meant not getting in touch anymore. But all he could do was comforting so he hugged her one more time, letting her cry on his chest.

“You won’t lose me.” he simply said, drawing circles on her back with his fingers, in and attempt of soothing her.

They stayed like that for a long time, hours. Joyce eventually stopped crying but didn’t pulled away and Hopper was too distracted listening the echoed songs and smelling her hair to think about anything else. It was only when they heard voices in the entrance of the parking lot that Joyce pulled away, afraid that it was their kids. He offered her another cigarette in silence and she accepted with a small smile.

“You said you’ll always be here” she said after a pause. “Are you sure you’ll wait? I’m too much broken.”

“Yeah.” He said, puffing out some smoke “I know that feeling, you know? Of being like a black hole and everyone around you disappears or gets hurt. I’m too much broken too, Joyce. So yeah, I’m sure I’ll wait. Maybe someday we can not be broken together.” Hopper didn’t have the guts to look at her when himself was feeling too emotional. So he kept staring at the cars around them while he felt her hand squeezing his in reassurance.

Dustin, Mike, Jane, Will, Nancy and Jonathan left the Ball not too long after that. They were laughing together as if nothing had happened just three months ago and Joyce and Hopper exchanged a look of cherish and love that only the two of them would understand. Those children were the only thing that made them believe that better days were about to come.

“Hey, how was it?” Joyce said kissing the top of Will’s head. “Oh, it was good! Will even got a date!” Dustin said winking and poking the boy with his elbow. “Yeah, and Dustin slow danced with Nancy” Will answered in the same joking tone. “He did what?” now Mike was the one to enter the argument sounding outraged as Nancy rolled her eyes. Joyce noticed he had one arm around Jane’s shoulders, mimicking the way Jonathan hugged Nancy, and she immediately narrowed a look to Hopper who folded his arms in response.

“Alright, I see you all had tons of fun tonight but it’s freezing here, time to go home.” he said ending with the boy’s discussion. “Hm, Mrs Byers, would you give me a ride home? I didn’t exactly told Steve to pick me up” Dustin voiced a little embarrassed. “Sure, Dear! Anyone else needing a ride?” “Wait, where’s Lucas and Max?” Hop interrupted, looking around and not finding the two. “He’s taking her home by bike.” Mike explained “I’d do the same with Jane but…” “Yeah, yeah, we get it, Romeo. Let’s go then, I’ll take you home” Hopper said snitching his daughter from Mike for a semi-hug.

“Honey, aren’t you coming with us?” Joyce asked Jonathan who was already walking hand in hand with Nancy to his own car. “No, we’ll have dinner some place quiet. Hm… I won’t be late, promise” “Okay, just be careful! And drive safe!” she said but the teens were already on their way out. Jonathan placed a kiss on his mother's cheek and Nancy gave her a shy goodnight before entering in his car and leave the parking lot.

“Kids, you can go in, we’ll be there in a minute” Hopper said letting go of Jane. They all changed a look but the adults pretended not to noticed. “And I want to see everyone with their seatbelts on when I come” Joyce said to Dustin and Will after saying her goodbyes to Mike and Jane.

When the doors were closed and the kids were each in their cars, Joyce and Hopper put out their cigarettes. “So, see you around?” he said putting his hands on his pockets. “Yeah, I guess” Joyce tried to smile but couldn’t hide the hurting. It was too much like a goodbye and she was never good at those.

He was almost turning around when she called from him one last time. Joyce stood on her tip toes to frame his face with one hand and place a little pack on his mouth. Just like old times, under the stairs, between fifth and sixth period.

“Thanks for today.” she whispered near his ear and let him go. Hopper was smiling when he nod, briefly caressing her face in return.

They didn’t say a word walking back to their own cars. And if the children had seen anything, they chose not to comment, for the relieve of the adults, who drove all the way back home thinking about each other.

BONUS:

“Do you think there’s something going on there?” Mike asked when Jane closed the door of the back seat. “Hm?” she said, confused. “There. Between Hopper and Joyce” Mike pointed to the back window and Jane discreetly looked them both talking through the rear-view mirror.

“Something… going on?” Jane asked again a little bit impatient. She hated when the boys talked in codes like that. “Yeah, hum… do you think they more-than-like each other?” the boy explained, turning around on his seat to stare at the window “Like, love?” Jane asked staying in the same position as he was, looking at her father.

Inside the car, the kids could see the two of them putting down their cigarettes and talking awkwardly. Hopper seemed very uncomfortable with the situation and when he was finally ready to leave, Joyce smiled and touched his face before placing a fast kiss in Hopper’s lips.

“OH!” Mike said, his eyes growing big with surprise “I knew it, I KNEW IT! They are totally into each other, did you see that?” “Yeah” Jane said still confused and now a bit shocked. She really didn’t saw that coming. “If things keep on moving like this it means that soon you’ll have a new mom, El!” the boy seated straight to eye her.

“A new momma?” Jane now was more than confused. She was worried. She already had a mom and liked her very much. She didn’t want to replace her mom just because her mind was lost forever. But on the other hand, Joyce was always very kind to her, they shared a connection since that day in the school when Jane submerged into the upside down to contact Will. She loved Joyce and appreciated everything that she had done for her, but…

“Quick, he’s coming back” Mike poked her so Jane would sit straight like him. “Not a word!” Jane gestured for him to be quiet placing a finger in her lips. Mike just nodded.

“Alright” Hopper said sitting in the driver seat “You guys hungry? Should we pass on a drive thru before home?” “Yeah!” Mike said with excitement “Eggos?” Jane smiled, looking from Mike to Hopper

“Sure, kid” he laughed turning the radio on. Jim spent the whole way to the drive thru humming an old 60’s song and when Jane thought he was distracted enough, she got closer to Mike to whisper in his ear: “I think Joyce makes him halfway happy”

#jopper #joyce byers #jim hopper #eleven #jane hopper #mike wheeler #will byers #jonathan byers #nancy wheeler #dustin henderson #joyce x hopper #hopper x joyce #stranger things #iwritestuff

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inkognito97 · 7 years ago

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Can we have more of the mermaid jocasta au with her asking dooku about the objects she found with him being surprised at the theories she made about the objects. Like the hat being used for drinking water or just to name a reference a fork used as a brush and calling it a dingle hopper?

Also includes these prompts:

Can we have more of the drunken sailor au with Jocasta looking for a way to turn yan into a merman because she’s fallen in love with him and his tales about the land? Bonus points if jocasta can turn into a human too - anonymous

So can we have more of the mermaid jocasta au with her slowly turning yan into a merman? - @mostie01

The man, Captain Dooku, as Jocasta had learned during their third meeting, threw his head back and laughed, loud and roaring. “That, my dear lass, is a FORK.” He slowly pronounced the word, “And it is certainly NOT used to comb your hair.”

Jocasta hummed and blinked, before she took the ‘fork’ from the man again. “What is it for then?” she challenged.

His blue eyes shone strangely in the light of the midday sun. Jocasta wriggled a bit, making sure that her tail was wet, she did not want to dry up.

“Eating. You can put food on it and put the fork in your mouth then,” his voice was highly amused.

Jocasta rummaged a little through her bag. She had a few other things with her, some of them she had found just yesterday. But there was one thing in particular that she wanted to show him.

“What can you tell me… about this?” she pulled the desired object out, bringing it into her light. Upon first seeing it, she had been curios. It glittered silver and looked well crafted.

The man made a humming sound and took the object carefully. His features turned into wonder and he held the small thing as if it was beyond precious.

“Well, what do you think, lass?” asked the man, while looking at the silver thing.

“Is it for… fishing?” she had let Yan explain to her what fishing was for and that the humans needed it to survive. She could understand that, it was what her people did too.

“No,” he sounded scandalized. “This is a necklace, jewelry,” he waved it around.

“Jewelry?” the mermaid asked, moving slightly closer.

“Aye,” the stranded sailor slowly closed the distance between them. Jocasta allowed it, as well as the contact. She trusted this man, he was nice and if he meant her harm, he would have done so a long time ago. She was also fascinated by him… and more. “See? It is supposed to make people more beautiful.”

Yan pulled back again, looking at the necklace that was now around the female’s pale skin. In awe did the mermaid look down, she was barely able to see the ‘necklace’ as he called it and she hesitantly reached out to touch it. The thing was… colder than she had thought.

“Though if you ask me, then you don’t need it to be beautiful.” When Jocasta looked up, she was only a little bit startled to see the sailor’s face so close to hers. She had not even noticed him moving so close. Even their breaths were mixing.

“Yan… what?”

“Hush,” he said, closing the rest of the distance.

The feeling was… strange, but not unpleasant, decided Jocasta. The man’s lips moving against her own. He tasted… salty, but different from the ocean and his mouth was warm.

A sound that came out of the small forest on the island, startled the mermaid. She pulled hastily away and dived back into the water, just in case. Her sailor might be nice and full of adventures - he had told her about countless fights and trips - but others might not be. If there was just a way for him to join her, then Jocasta would not need to worry that much. And he could tell her more about his life, his life, before the island.

The brown haired mermaid dared to surface again. She was startled to see that Yan had risen to his feet. He was holding a slightly curved peace of metal in his hand and in his eyes was a fierce expression. Had Jocasta been bolder, she would have stayed and watched, but instead, she dived back into the ocean’s depths, where she was safe…

#star wars #shanty au #mermaid jocasta #pirate captain dooku #abandoned island #or perhaps not so abandoned #jooku #jocasta learning about humans #slowly falling in love #falling in love #prompt #anonymous #mostie01

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woojeez · 7 years ago

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a long-as-heck analysis of the “trauma” mv

i’ve always hesitated on making these kinds of posts bc 1) i’m REALLY good at reaching and 2) i’ve never been able to read into something deep enough to make a conclusion abt it but !!! i love this mv so much i decided to put on my Art Analysis Glasses and analyze this mv. some ideas are my own, some of them have come from others and i’ll try to source where i found them the best i can

(disclaimers: 1) i’m willing to admit that i might be wrong abt some stuff but speculating is fun anyways, and 2) if u don’t like theories ur probably going to hate this post !! it’s ok !! scroll right along friends)

sO ANYWAYS

1. Edward Hopper Lighting

(images via)

This has been brought up a lot, but I love Edward Hopper so I’m bringing it up again. The light and composition of these rooms is a reference to Edward Hopper’s paintings. “But!!” someone has probably said at some point, “VM Project Architecture said he’s influenced by classic contemporary art, and SVT doesn’t direct their own videos!! It’s not that deep!!” Okay, but most of Edward’s paintings were about sadness, isolation, regret and loneliness. He used light and shadow to emphasize the empty space of his environments that reflects the inner loneliness/isolation of the painting’s subject. It makes sense to choose him as an influence in a video where the central theme is being alone, right? (side note: again, I’m partial bc I love Edward Hopper, but I think this was extremely clever and well done, and I love that the director/SVT put their own twist to it)

2. Vernon and his “fans”

First of all - nice visual pun. Second, Vernon’s verse broke my heart. He talks about dropping out of middle school and how he “basically had no friends.” He’s surrounded by fans, and yet he has no friends. *clutches chest*

(quick note: some people have found a parallel between these fans and the windmills in his Al1 teaser. super interesting detail that’s worth pointing out)

Just to get this out of the way - I haven’t decided what the sand/salt symbolizes yet. I’ve seen a few ideas float around, but I’m not really gonna go in depth with it for now.

3. The Mattress Stack

This one has also been brought up a lot, but it’s worth bringing up again. This alludes to the classic Princess and The Pea story, in which a young woman’s royal identity is established by a test of whether or not she can feel a single pea beneath a huge stack of mattresses (spoiler alert: she does). I’ve heard two meanings for this:

1) no matter how much you stack on top of a problem to avoid dealing with it, it’s still going to bother you, and

2) no matter how much shielding we try to do for svt, they can still get hurt

I personally prefer the former, but the second one is also a great perspective that’s worth considering.

4. Seungcheol’s Bedroom

The general consensus of Seungcheol is that he’s lost his lover and is dealing with loneliness from that. I was kind of resistant to that idea at first, but if you look into his verse and his room more, it makes sense: his room is a bedroom with an empty bed, and most of his lyrics are about how much he misses someone. There’s not much I can add to it, but it shows that, in some way, a relationship is (or was) involved in this narrative of loneliness.

5. Mingyu’s Ropes

I’ve seen a number of differing theories about Mingyu’s room, but for now I’ve settled on the following: he’s trapped where he is and he can’t get out. He’s stagnant. That’s a pretty important thing to portray when making a song about trauma; it’s difficult to move on or get away from your problem(s), mentally, emotionally, and sometimes physically.

6. Wonwoo’s Empty Room

Wonwoo’s verse is mostly about his own internal struggle and a sort of mental spiral further and further downhill. As for his room, someone (I wish I could find the post now) pointed out that Wonwoo’s room kind of looks like a TV display. This would make a ton of sense, considering that he had a TV in his previous Al1 teaser. To me, that shows how his whole life - his struggle, his flaws, his mistakes - is on display for everyone to watch (and, more often than not, judge).

7. The Room of Mirrors

At certain points of the video, one of the members is in this huge room of mirrors reflecting a million projections of themselves. To me, it’s a show of self-reflection and conflict between internal struggle vs. external image.

8. Meanie Bound Together

Okay, I’m not going to lie, I got just a little kick out of this one because the imagery and the message it conveys is so blatant. However, I think this one goes deeper than just “shipping has gone too far !!!” One, this shows an unhealthy attachment; they’re literally tied together and can’t get away from each other. Two, notice the beam between them. There’s distance between them in this relationship, in spite of being bound together, and they can’t be freed.

9. Cat’s Cradle and Tightrope

Both of the visual metaphors in this image portray the same theme: having to be careful with your steps and your actions in a particular situation. In cat’s cradle, if even one part is messed up, the whole thing falls apart. And then Wonwoo (or Cheol?) walking along the string is a visual for the popular idiom “walking on a tightrope/fine line,” or, again, being extra careful of your steps/actions in an unpredictable situation. One wrong move, and the whole thing falls apart.

10. The Lonely Platform

I wasn’t going to include this at first, but since it’s in the MV for quite a few scenes, it’s worth considering. I get that platforms aren’t that deep, but...doesn’t this kind of look like they’re all standing on a little island in the middle of an ocean? Okay, so there’s no ocean, there’s just a void, but it conveys the same idea as many of the other visual metaphors in this video: being alone and isolated.

11. The Interconnected Rooms

Near the end of the video, after the walls that have been separating the rooms have been removed, it shows that they’re all in the same room, but still isolated in their own environments. Basically, they feel alone, even though they physically aren’t alone.

Bonus: 12. Have they moved on?

I’m adding this real quickly because, even though it might be a reach, I still wanna mention it. So, of course, this video and the next couple videos will be Chapter 0.5 of this whole narrative; DWC is Chapter 1...and then “Changed Up” is Chapter 2. “Changed Up” is a much more upbeat, confident song about success and potential. I could be wrong, but I sense character development here. In Chapter 2 of this narrative, it seems like the members (or at least leader line) have moved on from their past issues and are ready to be new people, do new things, and show the world their potential. It gives me just a little hope that their comeback single will have a similar vibe of positivity and confidence, but it’s too early to know now. It’s worth mentioning, though.

There’s some other elements I haven’t touched on yet, but you’ll likely find others who have covered things I haven’t covered yet (this thread in particular mentions some more details from the MV that are worth considering).

tl;dr: hip hop unit is further emphasizing the concept of sadness, loneliness and isolation through numerous visual motifs and symbolism. there’s also mentions and implications of relationship anguish - possibly a toxic relationship? - in this song/mv. things might start making more sense as more MVs are released.

#seventeen #mun commentary #mun material #i know i've read way too much into this video but !! i love analysis !! i love it sm #so like why the heck not right #feel free to add stuff on if u wanna #but yeah enjoy this long ride of a post #woojeez analyzes stuff

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mdwatchestv · 7 years ago

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Game of Thrones 7x05: Suicide Squad

Gather children for it is time for ye old Game of Thrones. We got people zippin all up and around this great land of Westeros, just zappin from one side of the world to the other. I guess they finally unlocked all the fast travel check points on the main map. After last week's dragon battle we are back to our regularly scheduled plotting and planning. Plans were planned, revelations revealed, and players travelled around the board at rapid pace. So let's break down everything we learned and bore witness to this week!

First off it is immediately revealed that Jaime and Bronn survived their dive into the drink and conveniently floated a short distance away out of harm's way. I had thought they would perhaps be taken prisoner by the Dragon Queen herself, but turns out they were able to (swim?) to safety just in time. But not all of the Lannister Army were so lucky, and the notably downtrodden survivors were marched in front of Dany's congregation. Dany offers the singed soldiers a "choice" to either bend the knee (her fav) or meet with fiery death. This is about as much of a choice as cake or death, but those pesky Tarlys opt for death rather than defect their loyalty. We hardly knew ye Tom Hopper and now you are ash. RIP Tarlys. Tyrion is notably disturbed by this turn of events, even though Dany claims to be a benevolent ruler she is exerting her rule in the new land by using fear rather than mercy. For Tyrion this iron fist approach to conquering feels a little too reminiscent of Cersei or the Mad King for comfort. Although Dany clearly sees herself as the tough but fair type, Tyrion is still left wondering where he is going to draw a morality line in the sand. This is still a guy who killed his old man on the shitter though, so I think he can grant Dany some wiggle room for now at least.

After dealing out some fire and brimstone justice Dany jets back to Dragonstone and meets up with Jon who is back brooding on his brooding cliff. Khaly K lands her giant sky lizard in front of Jon and what does this fool do? He reaches out to pet that scaly monster like it's the only cat at a house party. Not only is this a nice friendship moment (let's keep it platonic here people), but it seems like Drogon has also gotten the memo and is acknowledging Jon's true lineage (more on that later obviously). As always there's a lot of beautiful storytelling being done in the mise-en-scène, and I particularly liked Dany's fur-lined gown which hinted at her newfound Stark alliance. Anyway Jon gets the memo from Winterfell that Bran the Seer of Sucktown has seen the Night King's Army descending rapidly on the Wall and he gots to go. Dany's war council decides that, rather than finishing off Cersei in a blast of magma and death, they are going to negotiate an armistice with the Lannisters in order to focus on the undead. To be perfectly honest I wasn't 100% clear on why we are doing this and not just invading King's Landing, but whatever. The new game plan is to go North of the Wall, kidnap a zombie solider, and bring it back to King's Landing to show Cersei. Again, not totally sure what the most desired outcome here is, Cersei surrender? Ceseri alliance? Cersei go into the corner and be quiet? I feel like even when confronted with a wiggling, murderous, undead corpse Cersei is not going to play nice with the new kids. Look, I'm not totally sold, but please don't bring a zombie to my apartment in order to convince me.

First step of this new plan is to establish communication with the inhabitants of the Red Keep. This plan has a lot of steps, and I am already exhausted by it. But Ser Davos gamely smuggles Tyrion to have a bro-to-bro chat in the Dragon Skeleton Room and talk living dead. While Tyrion and Jaime exercise their dramatic acting muscles, Ser Davos goes to casually pick up GENDRY. When Joe Dempsie's name popped up in the opening credits I shrieked like a banshee for I knew the day had finally come for Gendry to return unto us. If you recall (and how could you not) last time we saw good old Gendry he was rowing away from Dragonstone after Melisandre attempted to assassinate him for his sweet, sweet royal blood. Many a meme has been made surmising old Gendry has just been rowing around aimlessly for the past 4 season to one day wash up on the shores of plot once more. Well today is that day, and boyfriend has been in King's Landing THE WHOLE TIME. He just went right back to blacksmithing and has been hammering away drama-free for YEARS. I am not even mad though, I am just happy to have Chris Gendry back in my life. Welcome back young man.

Jaime and Tyrion have a semi-productive secret conference, productive in the sense they effectively communicate their ideas to one another, not productive in the sense that it is in any way a secret. Cersei lets Jaime know she is on to his sneaky shit, and then drops the bomb she is pregnant with his baby and doesn't care who knows it. This emotional assault of intimate news sandwiched between two scary threats binds Jaime even more tightly to Cersei. However one does have to wonder if Cersei is truly carrying a child or simply attempting to secure one of her last remaining loyalties. Only time and fashion will tell. Boy, she’s a scary hugger.

Step number one of the 50 Step Zombie Plan completed, Davos, Gendry and Tyrion zoop back to Dragonstone where Gendry is introduced to Jon Snow. Their dads were friends, they're both bastards, they're bros, good times, let's get on the boat and hammer some zombies, wham bam thank you Sam. Except, wait, hold on, I'm getting a breaking news alert- let's cut to our correspondent Gilly for more on this developing story.

"Hello yes, this is Gilly reporting live from The Citadel. I am reading a book about steps, shits, and various other statistical sundries and I have just come across a word I don't know. That word is annulled, and it is next to another word which looks like a name, and that name is-"

GREAT JOB GILLY NOW SHUT YOUR BIG LADY MOUTH. As you clearly heard here first it looks like Jon Snow is NOT A BASTARD, I repeat, NOT A BASTARD. But seriously, while Sam is busy feeling sorry for himself Gilly stumbles upon a pretty major narrative bomb that Sam proceeds to COMPLETELY ignore. Samwell really blew the chance to be one of (arguably two) characters who know the truth of Jon's lineage. What Gilly discovers is that Rhaegar Targaryan (aka Jon's real dad) annulled his marriage to Elia Martell and was remarried to, presumably, Lyanna Stark (Jon's real mom). Now we knew that R+L=J, but this new info means that Jon is NOT a bastard! He is a legitimate son! And most important the REAL HEIR TO THE IRON THRONE. Sorry bout it Khaly K, but if we are going by Targaryan inheritance rules it's all Jon all the time. Not that this matters much to Jon, he's going North of the Wall to get a zombie pet, obviously.

Before we get to the Zombie Acquisition and Retrieval Task Force (ZARTF) and it's many members, let's skip on back to Winterfell. Game of Thrones characters can apparate all over the map, and so can I. Back on the ranch Arya is growing increasingly suspicious of Sansa's potential ulterior motives. So much for a happy sister reunion. Arya thinks she is being super clever following Littlefinger around and getting proof he and Sansa are secretly attempting to overthrow Jon. But Arya's been gone a minute and she has forgotten she is not the creepiest creep in the creeper anymore. Yes Arya learned some sick skills from no one, and can wear other people's faces, but Lord Baelish has been perfecting his spy game since before she was born. Baelish plants an incriminating letter written by Sansa for Arya to find (like come on Arya you think Lord Petyr Baelish hides shit in his mattress? Girl) hoping to further drive a wedge between them. Littlefinger knows that a Sansa without allies is a Sansa ripe to be preyed upon, because he’s gross and a predator. Hopefully Arya will figure this out and rather than lash out at Sansa instead form a positive bond of sisterhood with her. Hopefully.

As you can see a lot of plot happened, there were revelations, machinations, and congregations. A plan to kidnap a member of the walking dead was hatched and set into rapid motion. Jon does not pass Winterfell, and does not collect $200, but rather hops right up to the Wall where he assembles an A-team coalition of male supporting characters who are all vaguely the same. ZARTF ROLL CALL:

Jon Snow! Ginger Beard! The Hound! Ole One Eye! Top Knot McGregor! Papa Jorah! Gendry!

None of them really like each other, and certainly more than one is going to die. TBH I would be fine with losing any of them except Ginger Beard (I just love him okay). Next week they're going on a zombie hunt, they're gonna catch a big one etc etc.

Stuff I didn't get to:

Chronic quitter and non-listener Sam peaces out of the Citadel

Daddy Jorah came home!

MVP: Gilly

XO MD

Bonus Daddy time:

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aion-rsa · 6 years ago

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The Umbrella Academy Review (Spoiler Free)

http://bit.ly/2UGi03k

Netflix's The Umbrella Academy is an admirable attempt to bring the comic to the small screen that ultimately misses the mark.

Books

This Umbrella Academy review does not contain spoilers.

Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba's The Umbrella Academy, which opens with the spontaneous birth of 43 superpowered babies right at the moment a wrestler elbow drops a giant space squid in the ring, might be unadaptable. Despite its best efforts to capture the delightful weirdness of the comic as well as expand on some of the storylines only hinted at in the book, the new Netflix series is ultimately too grounded and sluggish to really keep us invested. The series never quite finds its rhythm until the very end and is surprisingly dull throughout, especially in the first few exposition-heavy episodes.

The Umbrella Academy is the story of the Hargreeves orphans, a super-powered group of kids mysteriously born at the exact same time in different parts of the world, who are trained by their cold and manipulative adoptive father, Sir Reginald Hargreeves, to save the world. Originally a famous superhero team of seven -- Luther, Diego, Allison, Klaus, Number Five, Ben, and Vanya -- the family slowly begins to decay as the years go by. One sibling dies during a mission while Number Five capriciously travels far into the future against his father's wishes, never to be seen again. Most of the others eventually pack up and leave the Academy when they're old enough.

When the series begins, it's been 12 years since the team was together. But when Sir Reginald suddenly dies -- seemingly of natural causes, although Luther (Tom Hopper), the loyal leader of the team, is not so sure -- his adult children are forced into a nightmarish family reunion and back into old habits. As you would expect, things do not go well.

It should be said up front that viewers expecting an action-packed superhero romp or something akin to Netflix's Marvel lineup will be sorely disappointed. The Umbrella Academy is not that kind of show, trading in the action sequences (of which there are very few) for slightly long-winded family drama. Of course, this won't surprise fans of the Eisner-winning series, itself a deconstruction of iconic superhero teams such as the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, and most importantly, DC's Doom Patrol, one of the comic's major influences. While the Netflix series does an admirable job of trying to captivate its audience with this particularly dysfunctional family of super-weirdos, it does so at the expense of its pacing. The Umbrella Academy is incredibly slow.

The show's biggest problem is that it tries to stretch the book's six-issue first volume, "Apocalypse Suite," into 10 50-minute episodes, with bits and pieces of the second arc, "Dallas," thrown in. It's clear two or three episodes in that the show doesn't have enough material to keep things moving to the end, so showrunner Steve Blackman (Altered Carbon) and writer Jeremy Slater (Fantastic Four) crafted new storylines and expanded others while also remixing a few of the comic's character arcs. Unfortunately, these "bonus" scenes and new subplots rarely work. At times, they're actually detrimental to the characters.

Further Reading: Gerard Way on Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion

This is largely the case for protagonist Vanya Hargreeves (Ellen Page), who is inexplicably thrust into an unnecessary romantic subplot. In the comics, Vanya is an outcast, neglected by the emotionally abusive Sir Reginald and sidelined by her narcissistic siblings. When her father dies, she's lonely and without a support system, harboring a quiet animosity towards her brothers and sisters, who are too busy dealing with their own drama to notice her. They've never let her in, even with her father removed from the equation. So when Vanya makes the choice to leave the family behind and go her own way, it's not really all that surprising.

The show, on the other hand, puts Vanya in an awkward relationship in order to flesh out another major player from the comics. The problem might be that the show never fully commits to the relationship, spoiling a big twist before we're ever really even invested in Vanya's love life. In the end, Vanya's story feels diluted by the additional subplot.

It's all in service of getting this show, which could have easily been two or three episodes shorter, to the finish line. Other annoying additions include a murder mystery surrounding Diego (David Castaneda), the family's robotic caretaker Mom (Jordan Claire Robbins), and their super-intelligent chimpanzee friend Pogo (Adam Godley); and an extended look at time-traveling assassins Cha-Cha (Mary J. Blige) and Hazel (Cameron Britton), who also falls victim to a strange romantic storyline. In the case of the murder mystery, the family members search for Sir Reginald's missing monocle -- which might provide evidence of foul play in connection to his death -- but it never really goes anywhere. To make matters worse, the show basically gives up on the yarn in the third act, giving the audience the answer with a few lines of exposition.

Meanwhile, troubled, drug-addicted Klaus (Robert Sheehan) gets much more screentime than comic fans might expect, and Sheehan is excellent in the role as if it were written for him. But too often, perhaps inspired by Sheehan's outrageous performance as Nathan Young in Misfits, the character is played for laughs. The result is a joke that begins to feel repetitive. Klaus is nowhere near this dim-witted in the comics. One thing that does work in Klaus' favor is his ability to communicate with the dead, which adds a horror element to the show. When Klaus learns to finally use this power to his advantage in the climactic battle, I absolutely cheered.

Further Reading: The Umbrella Academy Cast on Creating a New Kind of Superhero Show

While all that's going on, knife-wielding Diego, the rogue of the family, also gets a love interest, and it's by far the least interesting love story of all. Why Blackman and Slater felt that the only way to explore many of these characters was through romance is beyond me. In Way and Ba's comic, introspection doesn't come from the romantic, but through the familial ties that bind. For example, in the comic, Diego has to figure out a way to work with Luther, an altruistic hero who is sort of incompetent at being the team's leader, and while at first Diego despises his brother, they end up growing together. In the third arc of the comic, it's Diego, a loner by nature, who has to convince a depressed Luther to get the team back together.

It's clear that everyone involved with this adaptation has real love for the comic, from the way it accurately recreates the young Umbrella Academy's costumes to the camera angles that recall the work of film auteur Wes Anderson, who is a clear influence on both the book and the show (you could almost imagine this as Anderson's very own take on the superhero genre, with all of the beautiful shots and retro zaniness). Blackman and his crew really took the time to make the show look and sound great -- one particular shot of helicopters flying over Vietnam comes to mind -- but it also feels like they don't fully understand what makes Way and Ba's fast-paced, minimalist, vignette-heavy family drama so effective.

Despite my complaints about Vanya's extended storyline, I'm happy to say that Page's performance as the timid and anxious main character of this family tragedy is top notch. She makes the best of every scene she's in, even when her romantic counterpart isn't quite up to the task. Page is subtle in scenes with her over-the-top siblings, layering in claustrophobic loneliness over her deep-seated anger at being the sister everyone always ignores. I loved watching Vanya absolutely lose her shit later in the season, and Page has already given us so much by that point that it's impossible not to sympathize with her character, even as she takes a dark turn that she may not be able to return from.

Number Five, played by Aidan Gallagher, who's spent most of his career on Nickelodeon kids shows, is also a highlight. Gallagher is well-cast and is able to convey the wisdom beyond his years necessary for the role of a 60-year-old hitman trapped inside the body of a 10-year-old (although he's slightly older than that on the show). He rarely cracks a smile as the self-serious Number Five, or partake in his family's childish shenanigans, but when he does let loose, it's entertaining and very funny.

Further Reading: Everything You Need to Know About Avengers: Endgame

This trigger-happy hero-turned-assassin is also one of the few characters who benefit from an expanded storyline. The show dives much deeper into Number Five's backstory, giving us colorful pieces of his backstory the comic never has. Along the way, we learn much more about the secret organization Number Five worked for before rejoining his family in the present day. His interactions with this faction of time-jumping assassins are among the best in the entire series. Here, the show doesn't rely on romance to flesh out a character and it's really refreshing.

Surprisingly, Luther and Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman) get the least to do. While at the forefront of the comic, Luther takes a backseat to the characters the people behind the show are really enamored with, like Vanya, Klaus, Number Five, and Diego. On the show, Luther is a bit more bumbling and I had a hard time believing that any of these characters would actually follow him into battle, but there are some high points for him, too. His story is one of self-discovery, as he steps out from under his father's shadow for the first time (this is a man who's never had a drink or done a drug or rebelled against his dad), and it's in Luther's search for clarity as an independent adult for basically the first time that this character shines.

Allison is in the middle of losing a family, even as she regains another. "Hotel Oblivion," the current comic's third arc, begins to explore why Allison, who can alter reality at will by telling lies, has become alienated from her husband and daughter. The show expands on that, showing what created the rift, and it perfectly fits the character.

As the credits roll on an enjoyable final episode, it's hard to call Netflix's The Umbrella Academy a success, but like its troubled family of freaks, it's not a lost cause. There are parts of the series I really liked -- the latter half of Klaus' arc when he's given a bit more depth, a hilarious showdown involving an ice cream truck, and a character's complete infatuation with the torso of a mannequin -- that hint at a freshness that could set it apart from other superhero TV and movies. The Umbrella Academy is at its strongest when it commits to the weirder elements of its story and world, such as the aforementioned talking chimpanzee, and does itself a disservice by trying to ground its characters in needless romance and the menial. Like Vanya herself, there's potential here, the show just needs to go off the deep end first.

John Saavedra is an associate editor at Den of Geek. Read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @johnsjr9.

2.5/5

Netflix

The Umbrella Academy

Gerard Way

Review John Saavedra

Feb 4, 2019

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sentrava · 6 years ago

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Beyond Savannah’s Historic District: Activities for Every Travel Taste

Earlier this month, we headed back to Savannah for three nights, something that’s becoming a bit of an annual tradition. It’s hard to believe that I’d never been to this romantic Southern city until my late 20s—and now I’ve visited five times in the past six years. And while eating and drinking are typically the top of our list when traveling to this coastal Georgia enclave, there are plenty of activities in Savannah that don’t actually include five meals a day (though, no judgment here if that’s your preferred travel style!).

I’ve been asked by many how long one needs to fully soak up Savannah’s charm. With more and more flight options available—Allegiant recently introduced a seasonal direct flight from Nashville to Savannah that we hopped aboard—it’s easier than ever to jet down for a long weekend. And if three days is all you have, then by God, get yourself to Savannah. But if you have a full week, even better—there’s so much to do that you’ll never grow bored, and over the past 20 years, the city has evolved into a bona-fide vacation destination worthy of much more than a mere weekend. Bunk in a vacation rental on Tybee or make your base in downtown Savannah; either way, you can’t go wrong.

I’ve done Savannah in just about every way you could: with my husband, with friends, on a bachelorette party, you name it. My trips have ranged from do-all-the-touristy-things-on-River-Street to only-go-to-the-insider-spots-with-locals. And while you could easily spend an entire five-day visit exploring the Historic District by foot—despite being just a square mile, it’s chock-pack with restaurants and bars, museums and historic homes—I encourage you to get outside of it, at least for a day.

Here are seven ways to incorporate various neighborhoods of the city and beyond.

For the Fitness Buff: A Class at Savannah Cirque

You know I’m always up for anything acrobatic. I think the fact that I wanted to be a gymnast growing up but was neither short enough—I hit 5’5″ in elementary school and wound up gaining another two inches in height later on—or flexible enough to do so led me to fall in love with aerial arts and AcroYoga as an adult. So when my local friend Susan told me that Savannah’s first circus center opened a year ago, I knew how we’d be spending our first morning in town.

Savannah Cirque is the brainchild of fitness professional Sabrina Madsen, who spent much of her life as a gymnast and now competes in international pole competitions. This is not your average circus studio; there are a ton of classes on offer. I thought we were going to be joining your standard aerial yoga flow class (read: gentle stretching with the assist of the hammock), but nope: We elevated it a level by taking aerial dance. And SVV may or may not have known what he was getting into, but he was a good sport nonetheless! Not only was it a great workout—I was sweating buckets by the end and my thighs were sore for days—but it was a whole lot of fun. SVV, Susan and I giggled our way through the 60-minute workout. This would be a really fun activity for a Savannah bachelorette party or any girls’ getaway (or hey, with your husband like I did!). If aerial dance isn’t your thing, Savannah Cirque also has classes in lyra, aerial hoop, trapeze, pole fitness and hand-balancing.

For the Beer Drinker: An Afternoon in Starland District

I first visited the Starland District on my inaugural visit to Savannah as it boasts one of the city’s most famed residents: Back in the Day Bakery. But now, the Starland District has earned its name as it’s blossomed into a neighborhood popular for its artist shops, great eats and, most importantly, brewery newcomer. Two Tides Brewing Co. was started by the ocean-loving couple James and Liz Massey after some critical laws changed in the state of Georgia in 2017 that allowed direct sales to customers. This brewery occupies the top floor of a grand old house and specializes in small-batch beers—with plenty of sours on tap, much to SVV’s and my delight.

Bonus: There’s an eye-catching mural of bees located on the back of the building in the parking lot and a stunning interior mural that wraps around the space by Alexandria Hall. Savannah has another excellent brewery, Service Brewing Co., that I’ll be talking about in the next post for all of you brewery-hoppers out there.

For the Historian: A Walking Tour

Genteel & Bard came about when broadcast journalist T.C. Michaels lost his radio show, an unfortunate outcome of the media industry’s unstable nature this past decade and one that plenty of my friends and colleagues have seen, too. Instead of letting the news get them down, he and his wife Brenna took that experience and spun it into Savannah’s most interactive tour company, peppered with personality and Southern grace and accentuated with a top-notch audio integration by way of earbuds that connect to T.C.’s microphone and iPad (I even stopped for a bathroom break and could hear him in my ears a block away!).

The result is a laid-back and immersive dive into the culture and history of a quintessential city in the American lexicon. I’ve taken plenty of Savannah tours and this was my favorite so far; the audio effects—music, readings and more—really enhanced the experience. And I take my time with photography, so I love that I could wander around and snap while T.C. talked without feeling rude or missing out on any clutch details.

For the Beach Bum: A Day at Tybee Island

It took me until my fourth visit to Savannah to venture out to Tybee Island, which is just bonkers given that it’s less than a half-hour’s drive from downtown. On this visit, we were met with cloudy skies much of the time, which just meant, apart from the surfers and fishermen, that we had the beach relatively to ourselves.

Tybee has gorgeous tracts of unblemished sand, marshes filled with wildlife, and a lovely lighthouse that dates to the 1700s and was also the site of a major turning point in coastal defense during the Civil War, with the bombardment by Union troops of nearby Fort Pulaski introducing the rifled cannon to the world of warfare.

Filled with brightly painted cottages, bed and breakfasts, hotels and some camping/RV spots, the island town has plenty of options by way of lodging, and there’s nary a chain in site. It’s truly the bohemian vibe that Millennial and DINK travelers like us crave, while also well-suited for families of all sizes.

For the House Nerds: Architectural Tour of Savannah

The very last of the original 13 colonies, Georgia was founded at the height of the Enlightenment and during a period of rapid expansion of the European powers into the New World. Named after King George II, the province was established under the leadership of an English general named James Edward Oglethorpe for the British crown in the early 1730s as both a bulwark against the French and Spanish and, originally, in Oglethorpe’s vision, a place for the poor, jailed debtors and others in London to get a new start.

It was an idealistic place from the beginning, and featured, among other paternalistic decisions, a ban on slaves and rum, a rarity for the nascent colonies. The town plan for Savannah, the first settlement in Georgia, conceived a series of geometrically laid out wards, with a central square anchoring each one together. Twenty-two of these squares remain in the city and lend this moss draped town a unique flavor of urban design that’s often heralded as the benchmark for smart social planning.

Jonathan Stalcup, a 2004 alum of SCAD, the premier design school of the south, runs an impressively thorough 90-minute Architectural Savannah tour that breaks all of this down and opens your eyes to the system that Oglethorpe had in mind. Jonathan’s historical knowledge of these buildings makes this tour riveting.

For the Nature Lover: Isle of Hope

Looking for your postcard-perfect coastal Georgia scene? It’s right there on the Isle of Hope. Our friend Susan, a local, took us here on our spring visit last year, and it remains one of the prettier places I’ve seen in an area widely known for its natural beauty.

While the peninsula (not actually an island) largely comprises residences, the Isle of Hope Marina is worth a visit; on a warm, sunny day, plan on nabbing a table outside at the Wyld dock bar and enjoying the weather—and the view. Note: Wormsloe Historic Site Isle is also close by.

For the Designer at Heart: Visit SCAD

SCAD—or Savannah College of Art and Design—is responsible for infusing the city with the creative energy that pulses throughout it. So many architects, designers and entrepreneurs are products of the private university, which was founded just 40 years ago, and its buildings, numbering upward of 70, are now scattered throughout the Historic District. You’ll see them just walking around, but worth visiting is the campus store ShopSCAD with its collection of original art for sale, as well as Poetter Hall in which it is housed.

Another fun place to wander inside if you merely want to ogle some impressive art is the Mansion on Forsyth Park, now owned by Marriott. This 1888 building was once a funeral home—so I’m dead certain ghosts reside within!—and opened as a hotel in 2005. Even if you aren’t a guest or a patron, you can enter the restaurant side at 700 Drayton and climb the stairs to see the whimsical paintings and other fun accents that give this famous spot some color.

Looking for more Savannah travel ideas? Start here:

Your Ultimate Weekend in Savannah

Eating and Drinking Our Way Through Savannah

Planning a Bachelorette Weekend in Savannah

Shopping Till You Drop in Savannah

The Inside Scoop on Savannah’s Famed Ice Cream Shop

A History of the Girl Scouts in Savannah

This post was produced in partnership with Visit Savannah. All opinions are our own.

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