#bonus points if you recognize the guest character!
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WB Animation Watch: Scooby-Doo and Krypto, Too! (2023) Watched: 01/02/2024 Format: Max Viewing: First Director: Cecilia Aranovich It's not to say Scooby-Doo and Krypto, Too! (2023) is particularly good - it has issues. But it was better than I figured, which is possibly damning with faint praise. Look, I'm just not a huge fan of Scooby-Doo, which is hurtful to Scooby-Doo fans, but here we are. But I do find myself checking out some Scoob from time-to-time as they do these guest-starring movies, like the recent one with Elvira. As a DC Comics nut, it has a lot to love. There's deep cut jokes exploiting a breadth of DC comics and animation history. You'll maybe recognize bits from cartoons and movies, and you'll see items like Kandor. Lex Luthor is a really funny supporting character here. Not notes. I laughed. Of course I'm a Krypto the Superdog fan, and he's in the movie, but he doesn't talk - which, look, Krypto hasn't had so much as thought-bubble in the comics since the 1970's. But that's a bit limiting for a show with other talking dogs. So it kinda sorta works, but. Maybe a bit confusing? Still, I'm just happy to see Krypto, so bonus points. As an animation fan, it has some challenges. My Scooby-Doo was made in the 1960's - 1980's, by the cheapest animation house outside of Filmation, so this looks like Star Wars by comparison. But my in-house Scooby-Doo expert has assured me that they've done better by Mystery, Inc. in recent years, so I'll just agree with that. But for someone expecting Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? style art and maybe Challenge of the Superfriends, it's... fine. Really, it looks like the art in DC's Scooby-Doo and Batman comics that I pick up once in a blue moon if Krypto or someone shows up. There's some funny bits in the movie - there was a Velma's glasses bit that kills. And I liked some of the gags about, like, the valet at the Hall of Justice. But some of the old, worn out gags from Scooby-Doo are no fresher in 2024 than they were in 1984. And there was no gag they couldn't stretch until you were like "I get it. Enough." And that included the finale "fight" that went on what seemed as long as any DC superhero movie ending - ie: way past the point where it wore out its welcome. Which may have been a gag unto itself. And, of course, any DC fan worth their salt could telegraph the ending twist. I did have a couple of moments watching this cartoon that made me just sort of stare at DC over the past twenty years or so and want to ask "why do you make it so hard when this is so simple?" Like, DC needs a Superfriends cartoon, or some version of the Justice League on Max or Cartoon Network, aimed at kids. I know they have some marketing research that tells them "this is for people between 16 and 24", but that is *nonsense*. They haven't even tried since I was in middle school. And I'm old now.* And seeing all the villains piled on Metropolis, which is treated as a gag, also made me realize why I don't give a shit about most DC events in the comics. They aren't just the straight up Legion of Doom vs. Justice League match-up that wouldn't just feel like some wank-fest that will be meaningless to most readers. If they can make DC Comics work better in a Scooby-Doo cartoon - where the characters don't even really appear - than in most DC media, it may be time for a rethink. *say what you will, but the Justice League cartoon was airing at 7:00 at night. That was not aimed at kids. And they buried Justice League Action, which was great, at like 6:00 AM. It was insane. https://ift.tt/gNLwxCV via The Signal Watch https://ift.tt/Ev8gqRn January 03, 2024 at 06:13PM
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The thing that no one tells you about recuperating from a broken leg and a teenage bomber is how incredibly boring it gets after, say, for no particular reason, four weeks. The point is that Buck is about two seconds from going absolutely over the edge and never coming back when his phone rings. Squinting at the unfamiliar number, he swipes to accept. At least if it's a telemarketer he can get some entertainment this afternoon.
“Hello?”
The voice that answers is one he surprisingly recognizes. “Buckley, it’s Lieutenant Carter at the Academy. How are you?”
“Uh.” His brain stalls out. Fortunately the reflexes ground into him during his training at said Academy take over. This means he sits up straight on the couch, swinging his cast onto the coffee table, and manages to answer with, “Good, ma’am. Thank you for asking.”
He hasn’t spoken to Carter since just before graduating. Honestly he hasn’t ever really expected to talk with her again despite the pivotal role she played in his decision to gun for a scale station. Why in the world is she calling now?
There’s a barely audible snort on the other end of the line. That, too, is familiar from the Academy. “A grounded firefly is often the farthest thing from good, whatever the reason. I’m glad that you’re as well as can be expected, then.”
Her words startle a laugh out of him. “That.. sounds about right.”
Carter hums, the noise that says she sees right through him and, unlike so many other people who have passed through his life, understands what she finds. “You are not the only one who has been there." Then, as brusquely as if she hadn't said anything at all, she continues. "I’m calling precisely because you’re out of the skies. What would you say to assisting at the Academy until you can recertify? We have a new batch of recruits scheduled to start their aerial training in two weeks.”
Buck freezes. For a moment his mind is stuck on the flash of light from the explosion, the scrape of his gloves against Bestia’s scales. How the twisted wreck pinned his leg to her side, pain screaming up his thigh as he screamed with it. “Uh-“
“I don’t intend for them to gawk at you," she says, reading his mind. "Certainly the last thing anyone involved in such an incident wants is to be paraded about or on display. But I believe your past two years would make for good material in an assistant instructor position and as it happens I’m not the only one who thinks that."
He feels his mouth quirk, his eyebrow lift. Would Bobby…? “Am I allowed to ask about that?"
“Buckley.” The exasperation is faint but there. It might even, if he believes his ears, be amused. “You are not the only member of the 118 going stir-crazy while recuperating. However, it is much easier to get you to and from the Academy on a daily basis than it is a heavyweight.”
Warmth suffuses Buck’s chest in a sudden, pleased rush. Bestia thinks he should be involved. She made the suggestion, or at least agreed to it. She -
“I- I guess,” he manages, trying to catch the thread of the conversation again. “I can’t drive, but I can ask my sister, or Bobby, or get an Uber, or-“
“Walk?” Carter suggests. This time she is unmistakably amused. “The Academy would of course cover your transportation costs. The course starts on the fifteenth and runs for the usual four weeks. We’d adjust your schedule as necessary, adding on time as your health improves. Not to mention you’d have access to the training facilities yourself during that time, although I know you wouldn’t use them until you were cleared to start thinking about recertifying."
He grins and it's sheepish even though she can’t see him. Hope is starting to taste like spring water on his tongue, feel like a break of blue sky between the wildfire smoke. “I wouldn't dream of it. And, uh, I really appreciate the offer, Lieutenant Carter. I’d be honored to accept.”
“Good.” Her satisfaction says she never had a doubt about his response, although given who he is, she probably didn’t. “I’ll inform my supervisor and send you a proposed schedule. We’ll start with two hours a day the first week and go from there.”
Buck has a protest ready on his tongue – he can do more, be more, accomplish more than just two hours – when Carter continues. “We’ll keep Bestia informed, of course.”
His jaw snaps shut. The odds of the gold dragon approving of anything more strenuous are absolutely zero, not to mention that what Bestia knows, the other 118 Wings will inevitably know. There’s no way he’s equipped to deal with the Disappointment™ of that many full grown dragons, even if most of it will come via FaceTime.
Then, “And my station? Are you going to tell them too?"
In their own ways, despite the mad press of their own lives and the jobs they still hold, his team has been keeping him company during this new, long fight in his life. Suddenly Buck doesn’t know if they’d be proud of him stepping into this role, into doing more than just - existing, healing, whatever - or if they'd have reservations. If they'd object.
“Buckley,” Carter replies, and her gentle tone makes him sit up straighter and listen. “Who do you think reached out to suggest an appropriate workload? They, more than anyone else, understand what it means to be grounded.”
Just like that he can breathe again.
“Yeah." Buck swallows, exhales. Starts life over again with the knowledge that she's right. "Uh, Lieutenant Carter?”
“Mm?”
“Thank you,” He tells her, and because she, too, knows what it's like to be denied the skies, doesn't particularly mind that his whole heart slips out with it.
#911 fox#evan buckley#skyscrapers AU#bonus points if you recognize the guest character!#she and her partner Indigo will be making appearances in the story of how Buck 1.0 doesn't survive the Academy#congrats 118 you get to meet Buck 2.0 from the get go#or at least Buck 1.5#daily writing#my writing
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Tips for fanfiction writers: boosting reader responsiveness
(Writers and readers, please add on!)
We've all seen plenty of posts about how writers often don't see the response from readers/followers that we hope for. We've all been there. And for newer writers especially, a lack of response can be very discouraging. What are some ways we can encourage people to come read and respond?
Ask for reviews. It's totally okay to have an author's note asking for people to review (or reblog, etc.). It's even okay to say how important/motivating reviews are to you, as long as you're not pressuring readers via guilt trips or threats. Just as you're writing for free, readers aren't obligated to give any response, so express your gratitude for reviews often.
Ask for specific feedback. Some readers simply don't know what to say. Give them some ideas:
-What do you think will happen next?
-What do you think of [new plot development]?
-What do you love most about [character]?
-Ask for constructive criticism if you truly want it, and be specific: Does this character's voice sound right? How is my pacing?
If you're open to a little audience participation, have fun with polls. Examples:
-Whose POV would you like the next chapter to be in?
-What's a scene or scenario you'd like to see in this fic/collection?
Make sure people see your work. Often. Post your fic updates on social media and reblog each announcement a couple of times, and then again a few days later. Readers live in different time zones, might only be online on certain days, etc. Think about how to make these posts eye-catching: experiment with text/titles, images, teaser quotes, brief summaries, etc. Make separate posts later on with just a teaser quote or one heart-wrenching paragraph (include a link to the fic itself). Link to certain fics/chapters in your regular headcanon posts. Make bonus content for your fics: art, playlists, moodboards, etc. In short, market your fic.
Watch your word count. Write the kinds of chapters you want, but be aware that many people won't stick with a chapter that's more than 3k words. On the other hand, if your chapter/one-shot is pretty short, consider posting the entire thing. (Please use a "Keep reading" line.)
Polish your intro. First impressions are important. Spend a little extra time checking your first chapter for grammar, paragraph breaks, consistent POV/verb tense, and general readability. Reading your work out loud is a great way to catch errors and smooth out rough spots. If you need an extra pair of eyes, try to find a writing partner or beta.
Give and take. Make sure you're reviewing other people's work. Promote fics you enjoy and think your readers/followers might enjoy too. Always respond to reviews (when possible) and make sure guest reviewers feel welcomed and appreciated, too.
Find ways to widen your appeal. Your readership might be limited if your fics are very AU, crossovers, focused on OCs or rarepairs, etc. Don't write what you don't want to, but see if you can reach new readers by stretching your wings a bit and reconnecting with the larger fandom. Examples:
-How would [scene in canon everyone knows] go down if these two characters had a romantic past? Or with this one difference in the lore?
-Challenge yourself to write a gapfiller scene that follows your AU but still fits in canon (mostly)
-Take advantage of holidays and fandom events/challenges, when readers are more likely to try something new.
-Try out "Meet [the OC's name]" posts. Be sure to connect them back to existing characters and themes/plot points the fandom will recognize.
Consider a collection. Like multi-chapter fics, one-shot collections have the benefit of allowing readers to get notified when you update. A one-shot collection is also a great way to keep your fics organized and accessible, and it can bring in new readers while also notifying returning readers.
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Please add on! Writers, what have you found to be effective in terms of growing your readership and encouraging readers to respond?
Readers, what makes you more/less likely to pick up a fic? What makes you more/less likely to review, reblog, etc.?
#I'd really like for people to add their own tips so please boost even if you can't think of something!#Fanfiction#Fic writers#AO3#FFN#Reviews#Comments#Readership#Audience#Fandom#Poll#Survey
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Harvey Dent bullet points
(AKA, why Two-Face is the best Batman villain, AKA why I am so freaking excited that Misha is playing this role.)
Disclaimer: I haven't kept up with DC for the last fifteen years, but the character has eighty years of history (one of the original Batman rogues from the 1940s), so surely some of this is still relevant.
Harvey Dent was a fiery, crusading DA whose objective was to take down organized crime in Gotham. A good man. A hero, even. But a mob boss he was prosecuting horribly scarred one side of his face with acid, and he had a psychotic break, becoming the vigilante, and then villain, Two-Face.
His gimmick was crimes involving the number 2, but his shtick was making crucial decisions by flipping a two-headed coin--one side pristine, one side marred. If the scarred head came up, he chose to do evil; if the other, good. This made him fantastically unpredictable--he's still a villain so he does the bad thing 80% of the time, but there's still that other 20%, and it's totally random. (And wasn't there a storyline, or perhaps just a fanfiction, where Harvey flips the coin and says, Okay, it's clean, guess I have no choice but to be a hero--but then we the readers see that the coin actually landed scar-side-up?)
In their youth, he and Bruce Wayne were best friends. (I think some continuities have it as childhood, others as college/young adults.) They were best friends! They were best friends. They were BEST friends. Bruce has never forgiven himself for failing to save Harvey from his insanity. (Have fun, slash fans.)
He knows that Bruce Wayne is Batman. I think that's because he knew Bruce so well that he recognized him. I'm not sure why he canonically hasn't told the whole world.
He has a tragic, tortured romance with his wife, Gilda. In the '40s it was the classic "How can she love someone so hideous?" trope (of course she still loved him, but he couldn't believe it). Apparently in recent continuities she was secretly a serial killer??? And Harvey took the rap for her crimes??? (Have fun, het fans.)
In his most-used back story, he had an abusive father, who used to threaten him as a child: "I'll flip a coin. Heads, I beat you; tails, I don't." This is the same two-headed coin that Harvey now uses. (Cheesy, maybe, but so chilling.)
In some more recent storylines, the childhood abuse made him develop dissociative identity disorder. So the psychotic break was not because of the acid attack; it happened earlier and the attack brought a more protective personality state back in charge.
Bonus bullets for Gotham Knights-specific stuff that I would love to see Misha sink his teeth into:
The GK premise is that Batman has been murdered, and his adopted (Mary Sue) son and some Bat supporting family/baby villains are framed for it. WIDOWER ARC Harvey. And there's obviously a good chance that Harvey is the actual killer. Remember that post about the best trope being "Your arch-nemesis is dead in your arms and you suddenly realize nothing in the world matters when he's gone"? Yeah. That.
Duela Dent is in the main cast. I did some Googling and apparently this character is ALL over the place and isn't actually Harvey's daughter in the latest continuity (like her shtick is pretending to be the daughter of any Batman villain--the Penguin's Daughter, etc.--but she's actually from a parallel reality where her father is the Joker but he's the hero?). But there's not much point in having them both on the show if he's not her father or father-figure. So we'll get Dad!Misha, only this time father and/or daughter will be evil or mentally disturbed or both. BRING IT.
I fully expect that 90% of Gotham Knights will be focused on the kiddies, but Misha being main cast rather than guest implies he's the anchor villain or anti-hero, so he should have plenty of meat to work with.
#misha collins#harvey dent#gotham knights#two days ago in my alfred semi-joke post i said i'd kill for him to get this role and now he has it#and yeah cockles people have fun with bruce/harvey#op
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Dr. Hofnarr’s Horrible, No-Good, Very Weird 15 Years Of Being Dead.
a tribute to fanon interpretations/character study(?) that was going to be a bonus chapter in a post-canon/au comedy fic im working on! might come back to expand on this when i do start posting it (or if mpn gives him more background story lore that i’ll have to work with aoAHGHOAUGH)
happy madness day! :o)
“Where should I begin… Perhaps at the very beginning? OH! Christoff and I first met years before our Nexus days! Back in our freshman years of college, to be precise! You know, I was actually a theater major before switching to- ... A-Aah, too far back. Much too far... Let’s start from the point where the notes I supplied to you ended then, shall we? After our dissension...”
.. “Good luck, old friend...” ..
The first years on the run from Nexus was stressful to say the least. Hofnarr and Christoff had split up to better their chances of survival. He knew the process would be grueling, having talked to Christoff almost every night about it to calm his nerves. While he played calm for the cameras, Hofnarr truly wished he could have held him close one last time. No communications. No physical contact. Day after day, month after month, nothing. He would be separated from his husband for a very long time…
It wasn’t all bad after a while. He had a comfortable new apartment, went under a new alias, and his questionable new job paid him enough to buy food. His apartment even had cable! He could watch marathons of Slaughter Time whenever he got home! In hindsight, he wondered if that had an effect on his mental state at the time...
Hofnarr had taken the last of his S3LF regulator with him, having shipped them out to an undisclosed location prior to dissension. Dissonance exposure did a number on him and his research team, leaving them to track their “normality” through daily blood tests and injections. While they met their fates early on, Hofnarr had gotten lucky. That is, until the doses began to run out.
Stressful as it was, he knew what he had to do. Hofnarr rushed back to what remained of the labs, knowing it had been abandoned by now. It was ironic, he and Christoff’s work, the work that was turned against them, was the one thing keeping him alive. For days, he worked to make more doses from the materials he brought with him. But there was only so much he could do with limited supplies… Hofnarr made many attempts to prolong the inevitable, lowering his dosage amount, injecting it weekly rather than daily, but he eventually ran dry.
Refusing to turn to darker alternatives, he felt the only thing he could do at this point is record his final findings through video logs.
“It was… interesting revisiting the footage, to put it nicely. Christoff had actually kept the video files on a drive after he originally found all my things in the lab! I barely remembered what happened back then, so I rewatched them out of curiosity.”
On the first night, Hofnarr recorded a message for Christoff. One filled with sorrow, but also with gratitude. For the time that they spent together. How special he made him feel. All the memories they made together...
On the next, he recorded a log detailing his findings during Project Nexus. The effects of dissonance, the Other Place, what it did to him and his colleagues, everything and anything he could.
The next, he reported on the progression of his symptoms. Fever, brain fog, insomnia, joint pain. He felt like his organs were melting, his skin bursting at the seams.
The next night he saw something and remembered. Scars. The scars on his head. That week he was in the staff hospital. He thought it was a dream but the scars were there. Phobos. Director Phobos brought him somewhere that week. He knew he felt off when he woke up in the office that night. He knew something was off when Christoff asked him where he was. He thought he passed out from over-working. That bastard Phobos. Nausea was replaced with rage as he began to scream, his throat becoming raw. What did he put in him? What the hell did he put inside him!?
On the last recorded log, he was face-down on the ground. Groaning as his body occasionally convulsed. Until the video feed eventually cut off.
His body would lay there dormant, dead, for fifteen years.
But to Hofnarr, he felt like he was dreaming.
.. “LET’S GIVE IT UP FOR OUR NEXT CONTESTANT!” ..
“Huh?” The doctor sat up and looked around, the area around him pitch black. Wasn’t he sleeping just a moment ago? He got up and took a step forward in the seemingly endless void. “H-Hello? Who’s out there?”
“AWW, DON’T BE SHY NOW! ESTEEMED AUDIENCE, A BIG ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR OUR GUEST; THE UNFORTUNATE DOCTOR HOFNARR!”
A light shined down on him from above. A crowd seemingly began to cheer all around him. He was in the center of what looked like a talk show set. Hofnarr awkwardly scratched the corner of his face. “‘Unfortunate’? W-What do you mean? W-Who are you?”
“FIGHT FIRST, ASK QUESTIONS LATER!” The voice above him called out again. “AFTER ALL, IT’S…!” Hofnarr drowned out the noise while trying to think. It sounded familiar. Like it came from…
Hofnarr’s thoughts were cut short. He looked down at his torso. Terror set in as he recognized an entire stop sign had been lodged through his chest.
“DON’T GET COLD FEET NOW! THE SHOW’S ONLY JUST BEGUN!”
The words echoed in Hofnarr’s mind as he frantically tried to pull it out, his vision growing muddled, his hands slipping with blood until…
He blinked.
No stage. No sound. No pain.
Nothing around except for a single white door in front of him.
He stood up again, cautiously reaching for the doorknob.
When he entered he seemed to be in a vintage styled home. It was a kitchen with checkerboard flooring, a table with two chairs, and cheerful music playing through a small radio. It smelled of pastry and medical equipment. Suddenly, there was a knock coming from the door. A familiar voice called from behind it.
“I’m home, dear.” “J-Jeb?!”
Hofnarr rushed towards the front door. Christoff wasn’t trapped here too, was he? “Jeb! W-where are we!? What is this place? What happened to-”
As he opened the door, the clapping returned.
His husband was there, briefcase in hand, his face replaced with a black hole dripping with an unknown inky substance.
He slowly began to back away as “Jeb” moved closer.
The applause, the laughter, was deafening.
Before he could question or run away, Hofnarr was hit by something. His vision blurred, but refocused to be face-to-face with something. It seemed to be a shadow of himself. He tried to run again, but was pinned down by his doppelganger. The clone raised a clawed hand above him and then...
Like waking from a nightmare, Hofnarr quickly sat up once again. He gasped for air, dripping with cold sweat.
Was this really happening? Was it finally over? Was he free?
And then the spotlight focused on him again.
“It… got very surreal. Despite fight after fight, death after painful death... I would suddenly be somewhere else! There was a gameshow, our old apartment, a cat cafe, a... strip club of sorts, a tea room filled with these small armless doodles I used to draw on my research notes trying to offer me snacks… One time there was a sort of singing contest, but I won’t bore you with the details of that one. But when I wasn’t in those places, I felt like I was fighting for my life. It felt like an eternity! And the strangest part of it all? It… it became addicting.”
At first, he felt as if Hofnarr used all of his energy, physical and emotional, to fight back. It reminded him too much of his escape from Nexus. But as time went on, he focused less on escaping and more on surviving. The more he fought, the more he began to lose himself. He was anticipating what sudden whiplash of combat would be thrown at him next. He chuckled at the thought of what excitement would be heading his way. He wanted more. The fights became too slow. Too predictable. Too boring. He began toying with whatever was thrown at him. Turning his shadowy hunters into the hunted. Why let his audience watch the same old fights all the time?
Suddenly, the fighting stopped.
Why?
He was having fun, wasn’t he? He grew impatient.
“WHAT’S THE HOLD UP!” He yelled into the void, seething with anger. “AREN’T WE SUPPOSED TO BE FIGHTING? ISN’T THAT WHAT I’M HERE FOR?!”
He stomped his foot down, lodging something out of the ground.
The stop sign.
He looked over it curiously. How familiar…
Grabbing hold of it, quick flashes of memories appeared to him.
Nexus, the Science Tower, Phobos, the Other Place…
A man with long hair standing next to...
Hofnarr…
Who was that? Was that him?
No…
Only Tricky remained.
Footsteps echoed throughout the halls of the abandoned lab. Heels quickly clicking, cautiously stopping every so often. A lone Nexus Core agent entered through one of the doors.
Perfect timing.
“HAY! YOU THERE!!” A voice stuttered and glitched out, reverberating through the emptiness of the lab. The quickly soldier whipped their head around. “YEAH! YOU, STUPID. PLAY WITH ME!!”
“Who’s there?” The agent pointed their magnum towards the noise. “Show yourself!”
Gladly. The cackling figure emerged from the shadows, posing with a peace-sign, causing the agent to recoil. He grinned, slowly moving towards the cowering goon on the ground. They wouldn’t stand a chance.
“Who are you!?”
They couldn’t kill him.
“FIGHT FIRST. ASK QUESTIONS LATER! AFTER ALL…”
CAN’T KILL CLOWN.
“IT’S MURDER TIME!”
..
“My body had been there, regenerating and repeating the enmeshment process for years. And by the time I woke up, I was a completely different person. I became a creature of unfiltered impulse… A personification of chaos itself.”
The room grew silent before Hofnarr spoke up again.
“I-Is it horrible to say it was… kind of cool?” He said with a nervous chuckle, twiddling his fingers.
2BDamned was quiet for a moment. They recalled the many times they had to stitch their comrades back together due to Clown Moments. They placed their head in their palms and let out a sigh.
“... You have the right to your own opinion.”
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BONUS: songs i was listening to on loop while working on this instead of doing my damned writing assignment. Enjoy
lady gaga ft. dorian electra - replay
vestik - tricky's vengeance ft. monocronic
#madness combat#Madness Project Nexus#Dr. Hofnarr#Tricky the Clown#MY WORKS#MY FIC#happy madness day these old dudes are gay. [Vine Boom] gay as hell. [Vine B
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so, Akuber, huh?
my first post on the matter was... kind of making fun of it, but I love the Obey Me! UI a lot, so it’s kiiind of taking up all my thoughts. I realize there’s not much of a point in speculating but it’s really fun so I’m going to anyway. under the keep reading, of course, because if I know anything about myself it’s that I am long-winded.
initially I was kind of worried it would be a mini-event like Levi’s Otaku Bootcamp rather than a proper app, because I’m a chronic overthinker, but with the swipable home screen update (which I am currently NOT a fan of, I want LD back on the first page like yesterday :[ ) even I’m convinced. midnight PDT is later in my time, and I would be... lying if I said I didn’t think I would be awake then. I love the little delivery Karasu in the icon, I don’t have much to say about it other than how funny it is to me that they just called it Akuber-I guess AkuberEats would have been too on the nose? the background, however, I noticed pretty quickly seemed to be some kind of map. so naturally, I brightened it:
I don’t know if it’s a map necessarily, but there’s enough detail into keeping the aesthetic of the trees and houses (like in :D Jobs or some of the lesson backgrounds) that I’m curious. I don’t recognize the shape of the red or purple (blue tint makes it hard to be sure) of the house in the top left, it’s definitely not the House of Lamentation or any of the :D jobs locations. the gate also piques my interest, it’s in a strange spot, and I SWEAR I recognize the purple fountain but I can’t for the life of me remember from where. the train, I think, traveling the bottom of the image is what sticks out the most to me, though, I wonder if maybe that will be how you “travel”.
now this part in particular is purely speculation and mentioned in my last post, but during the season 4 countdown one of the days included these blurred chibi sprites akin to the dance battles-not the season 4 normal mode chibi cards, which have different proportions and outfits-but they quickly clarified that the new characters would not appear in the dance battles until they were “ready”, and that they would show up elsewhere in the game. it’s been roughly five months since and these sprites, as far as I’m aware, haven’t shown up anywhere. certainly not in :D jobs, not in memory cards or event menus. it stands to reason that if the sprites had been used in memory cards, they would have shown up in the original Chapter M card dump- event menus as well, I have to imagine they would have shown up already before the new character memory cards seemed to slow. they’ll likely only show up in :D jobs once they’re added as romanceable due to the intimacy bonus, and the wording of the tweet implies to me that the sprites are set to show up somewhere before they’re officially romanceable. given the Akuber app seems to be more oriented for MC to do it, I think there’s a chance we’ll finally see these there. why they asked us to guess if it was for an app that hasn’t released yet, I don’t know, but I guess I’ll have to continue speculation if I’m correct.
now back to the original Akuber announcement tweet, something else I noticed was the wording of “you can never have too many items”. items is relatively vague, but in the game it’s really only ever used to dictate Surprise Guest items or Devil’s Tree items. (the wiki extends to High Value Items, like demon vouchers and LD tickets, but I doubt the team would be so generous with daily rewards; Limited Items like the current Cursed Candy Apple-which seems awfully similar to Poison Apples, but not relevant-that seem like a hassle to upkeep for daily rewards; and Battle Items, the glowsticks, which I admit is another possibility, but feels especially specific and not like the kind of thing they’d be eager to give more of.)
I assumed first it would definitely be Surprise Guest items because it’s a food delivery app and that includes the food items, and the only way to buy them is through Akuzon, also carrying Karasu and the same suffix (I realize that Aku just means open/empty/evil, and AkuDonalds also uses this one, but it felt noteworthy). the more I thought about it, though, the stranger it felt? Surprise Guest items aren’t particularly necessary for adding an entire app, assuming you would get food items for... delivering food items isn’t shining logic, you can already get plenty just by completing the events (and I suspect they wouldn’t want to mess with the formula for those), :D jobs already supplies some of the surprise guest items anyway, and daily rewards suggests some level of frequency. I know despite playing daily and completing all of the more generous events like the Anniversary one, I’m always short on Devil’s Tree items, so it’d be something they could supply more of without royally fucking up game balance. then I thought I should check something:
these screenshots are before and after updating to the swipable home screen (I realize the items are different but I did check both before and after to the same results I’m just too lazy to go back and take another screenshot of the skull lol). it might have just been some sort of graphical glitch or commonplace with an older update, but it’s at the bottom of the list where the most recent are, and every other “currently unavailable” entry loaded in the icon and title just fine. I don’t think it could be one of those anyway, since you can pretty clearly see (or check for yourself) that there aren’t any other options below Treasure. makes me think that perhaps it’s because it’s for Akuber and hasn’t been added yet? which, if it is true, raises some questions about why exactly there are two options. two different areas for getting the item, I wonder? either way, exciting for this specific chronic overthinker!
#obey me on side#obey me#obey me shall we date#omswd#i crave validation but I'll spare you all the spam character tags lmaooo#akuber
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A hotpot of candies EP 1-2
It took me so long to find somewhere to watch all of the episodes of “Let’s hotpot together” that I only sat down to write this today. This is going to be a “compilation post” since most of the candies are already out there, but picking them and putting them together was still fun for me.
Disclaimer: fake fake fake.
1. Gongcai expert
The first big signal for this one is the director saying “only people who frequently eat Sichuan hotpot will order this”. Sichuan and Chongqing are very close and Chongqing cuisine is considered a derivative from Sichuan cuisine with local flavors (Henan, where dd’s from, has a cuisine that’s a mixture of Jiangsu and Beijing cuisine, and it’s known for being mild and a mixture of flavors).
Then ZHL adds that “this person must have a good understanding of me, and must not be very young”. This received a bjyx explanation, as apparently, as many parts of the Chinese cuisine, this is a dish better appreciated by older people, so it’d be rare for dd to know of this vegetable.
However, I think that he was just talking about age differences. ZHL follows an almost vegetarian diet, which would be known by people who know him well. He’s 45 years old, more than 20 years older than dd, so it’d be strange for dd to know that he prefers vegetables to meat in his dishes. That’s why, in my opinion, dd chose this dish just because he likes it, no deeper meaning.
Not just that, but for someone who struggled to remember the name of a typical dish of his hometown, he knows surprisingly well how to prepare it in a hotpot, and which is the best way to eat it. And he keeps taking bites from ZHL’s plate throughout the episode.
He also was the only one who recognized it in a TTYSJ episode (ttxs during quarantine).
2. The spicy hotpot (EP1) and the Sichuan pepper oil (EP2, more info in point 4)
This is the most telling one for me in the episode. When gg and dd were asked whether they preferred all-spicy or mixed hotpot/鸳鸯锅 (the photo is a mixed pot, whereas an all-spicy only has the right side) in CQL interviews, gg said “all-spicy”, and dd, “mixed pot”.
They also explained in other events/shows what kind of dippings they preferred for their hotpot. Dd liked sesame paste, while gg liked a mix of powdered spices (spicy as f***, really).
They both changed their hotpot tastes:
As shown in the episode, dd now likes to eat an all-spicy pot with a base of Sichuan pepper oil and garlic, “classical Sichuan hotpot” combination (EP2). Just look at his face after he says “this pot is so spicy”.
Gg, in more recent interviews, admitted that he now likes the mixed pot and that he now prefers the sesame paste. In one of the interviews, he admitted that if he ate a too spicy hotpot now, he’d have diarrhea.
They both said they like cow tripe (mao du) for their hotpot. Dd likes it so much he eats it anytime he has hotpot in a show and gg once said that it’s one of his “3 must have” for hotpot.
Dd’s change is very drastic. Really. In the variety show (极限青春) dd filmed in 2019, dd was uncapable of eating Chongqing’s spicy dishes.
If any of you have travelled to Sichuan, you’ll know that it’s hard to eat there (and in the surrounding provinces) if you’re not used to spicy food. When I was there, we asked every restaurant to serve food without chili or spicy condiments for us, but everything tasted spicy no matter where. Because the pots had been used hundreds of times to cook spicy food, no amount of scrubbing could take out the spiciness. Thus, whatever they cooked was spicy for a non-Sichuan person’s standards, even if they don’t add spices.
The kind of spiciness of Sichuan cuisine also takes time to get used to, because they boast a 麻辣 (málà) flavour that’s both numbing and spicy at the same time (dd said in the variety show that it was so spicy it made his stomach hurt. I confirm that it can happen to people not used to it).
What I mean with all of this is that it takes time and a lot of spicy dishes to change someone’s taste as much as it has changed dd’s. He couldn’t even have the spicy half of the mixed pot (which is usually milder) a year ago and now he eats it even when he shouldn’t (because of his cough).
It’s not just dd who changed his tastes. These level of spiciness requires frequent exposure to not lose tolerance (almost like what happens to people who drink a lot and stop for a while, after that their alcohol resistance is diminished). So gg had to tone down the spiciness of his food, but this is likely due to him being a professional singer now, and having to take care of his voice. I find much more meaningful that he prefers sesame paste now.
3. Sore throat
So it’s a really big thing that not only did dd get used to it, but he likes it so much he’ll order it even if he has a sore throat. You really have to like something a lot to eat it even if it hurts your throat (I dare you to try having a spicy soup with a sore throat... not a good experience, I assure you).
I talked about this somewhere (oh, here), but there are 4 prohibitions in Chinese traditional medicine for those who have to take care of their throats and/or voices: spicy, sweet, oily and alcohol. These flavours and foods can be overstimulating for the lining of throat and it’s also advised not to have cold food/drinks.
So seeing him gulf down a spicy hotpot and follow it with a bottle of frozen water it’s like (sigh).
4. Sesame oil and garlic
In EP2, the captains put their hotpot base together. Dd picked Sichuan pepper oil and garlic, which is mildly spicy, so one of the directors said: “this is classical Sichuan hotpot” (dd just nodded and said yes).
Director: Have you always eaten this combination? I saw your old interviews, and you said you liked sesame paste.
Dd: Yes, at the beginning I ate sesame paste, but I met a friend in a filming crew, who taught me this way of preparing hotpot. This way, the spicy pot won’t be so spicy, so it suits my taste.
Director: yes, it’s also better for the stomach.
This is one of the many reasons mtjj don’t like people mentioning hotpot 😂. Remember that time mtjj dug up a list of people born in October 5, just trying to prove that dd’s Colgate post wasn’t about gg? Well, bxg did the same and did a list of all the people dd has worked with in a filming crew and where they are from (I only have the list in Chinese).
And... surprise: the only two people in the list from Chongqing who could have taught him Sichuan cuisine, are gg and JL. And I love jcisthebestfightme take on JL 😂
5. Bo ge/博哥 (”older brother Bo”)
A few moments after, WJE says: “bo ge said it”. Inmediately, dd jumped in and said: “it wasn’t me”.
WJE was actually talking about HB, a guest for EP 2-3, whose name contains a character that’s also pronounced “Bo”, with the same intonation. They all laugh at dd, because he’s actually the youngest of them all, and no one would actually call him 哥 (ge, older brother).
BUT... we all know of someone older than dd who actually called him Bo ge quite frequently in interviews and bts. I’ll leave here a video with some of the instances gg called dd that, though in the s/na interview (when dd was typing) gg called him “bo ge” a lot more times than what the video shows.
He’s obviously used to someone calling him that, that’s why he reacts so quickly when he hears it. Most of the people he usually works with and the friends that we know of are older than him, and out of all of them, we’ve only heard of gg calling him “bo ge”.
6. Washing a little bit
There’s also speculation and theories about another of the dishes dd picked (chicken tendons), but I don’t find it especially meaningful.
The same thing happens with “being near-sighted is like opening your eyes under the water”. Bxg were saying that the sensation must have been described to him by gg, also very near-sighted, but well... I dunno? Besides, there’s no proof for these two.
(Sad bonus, not-bjyx related: I felt really bad for them when one of the directors announced that WJE’s mum was on the backstage and coming up and it ended up being a very bad joke. While they earn more money than I’ll ever see, they can only see their families like twice a year in a very family centered society due to work schedule. They all looked very expectant and happy for a moment, until it was announced as a bad joke.
Dd said: “I thought there were true feelings in humans, I thought true love existed”. They were all disappointed, even though they cover it with laughs, and you can see WJE rubbing the corner of his eye. Even the director that played the joke felt bad and said “this was a bad one, we can cut this from the episode”. WJE said it was fine.)
Part 2: EP 3-4
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Bits & Pieces, Themes & Evidence
Morning Everyone! So, below are just a bunch of bits and pieces that me, my fellow theorists and/or others in the fandom have come up. They don’t really fit into one, cohesive theory, but they’re most about or have come out of 10x18. I keep joking that this is the episode that just keeps on giving. We’re STILL talking about it and figuring things out about it.
Leah as a Hallucination/Daryl’s PTSD:
It’s been suggested that in 10x18, Dog never actually left Daryl. The episode is cut in a way to suggest that Daryl went long periods without seeing Dog (which is symbolic, of course) but maybe that’s not true and Dog was always there. Not only is that super interesting, but it works with one of my first observations. When I first watched the episode, I thought that the second time he sees Dog, first time as a grown dog and not a pup, and meets Leah, he didn't seem surprised to see Dog. So, I thought maybe he'd seen Dog a lot by then. I changed my mind for the sake of the symbolism. If it represents Grady, it makes more sense that Daryl simply recognized him as the pup me once met, but really had been separated from his for awhile. But I’m just saying this hallucination theory and the idea of Dog being there all along, just backs up my first impressions. That's all.
Also, weapon13whitefang left a long comment on my Tumblr post about Leah being a hallucination. It's really not so much about the show as about PTSD because they have some experience with it. I found it really interesting and enlightening, so it might interest some of you. You can read it HERE under the comments.
Why He Got Defensive at the Idea of Leah Leaving Him
A couple of my friends were talking about this, and this is just my contribution to the conversation. I think it's directly because Leah is predicated on his time with Beth. Even if he's not consciously aware of the delusion, some part of his UNconscious brain knows that Leah = Beth. And he knows Beth wouldn't have willingly left him. Not only because she said that, but because when she DID disappear, it wasn't her fault or her choice either time. So, when Carol says, "maybe she just left," Daryl's brain rails against that and he gets really defensive. And the interesting thing is that it's really not about him taking it personally or about his ego. It's about what he knows to be true of Beth. It's actually his brain being really logical in the midst of the delusion.
The Talk Dead to Me Podcast with Lynn Collins
I listened to the Talk Dead to me Podcast and this week’s guest was—no surprise—Lynn Collins. No huge TD smoking guns or anything, but it was interesting nonetheless. First of all, one of the really big C@ryl accounts was pretty much called out for being a toxic troll.
For anyone who doesn’t know, Lynn Collins gave a different interview a few days back (not this podcast; just a different one) in which she mentioned that Daryl and Carol’s relationship is very mother/son. Just after that, I won’t say the name but one of the most well known C@ryl accounts who can be REALLY nasty to…well…I was gonna say other shippers but pretty much anyone in the fandom who dares disagree with her, called Lynn an ageist for saying that Carol was mothering Daryl.
So, when the podcast began, Johnny O’Dell, who is the host, said that most TWD fans are super cool but a lot of the shippers can be toxic. He doesn't mention any particular ships in accordance to that (I actually think he briefly mentions all of them, saying people ship Daryl with Carol, Beth, Connie, and Rosita the most) but then after saying SOME of the shippers can be toxic, he talked about the post she made calling Lynn Collins ageist and said that was ridiculous and toxic and that we need to be cool to the actors. So, it's very obvious it was her comment he was talking about.
And of course, the ageist thing she accused Lynn Collins of is ridiculous. Not only is it true that Carol and Daryl’s relationship can be very mother/son at times, but saying so is not an insult to Carol. It’s a comment on the nature of the relationship, not on anyone’s actual age. Of course Carol isn’t old enough to be Daryl’s mom. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t mother him.
Then when Lynn Collins came onto the podcast, she addressed the ageist comment. She basically said everything I said above in more detail. She talked about how she was taken aback by being called that because, being a woman over 40 in Hollywood, she actually deals with a lot of ageism. And about how she's a mother, but became one a little later in life (in her thirties, rather than her twenties) and she was shocked that being called a mother can actually be derogatory to some people. It REALLY shouldn’t be. It’s really sad that people would take that as an insult. And then she went on to say that any character can be maternal, even if they're not the biological mother of the person they're mothering. She even said Daryl is somewhat paternal to Carol, teaching her how to gut a fish and everything.
Now, maybe this is neither here nor there when it comes to TD stuff. But one thing I thought was really interesting was that Lynn Collins said when she first started watching the show in S2 or S3, she was actually a Caryler. She wanted them together originally. She also said that eventually she realized that's not where they were going with it and kind of moved on.
But the thing is, it just proves to me even more that she's being told to talk about it in a particular way. If everything she's said is true: that she was a raging fan and has been in the tags and talking about it a ton (and she says that on the podcast again; that she would get really excited about it and watch with friends and they would tell her to chill, lol) then why on earth would you talk about Daryl and Carol as a mother/son relationship...unless you were instructed to.
She knows how passionate and sometimes toxic the Caryl ship is because she used to be one of them. So that just drove home for me that this isn't something she would just come up with on her own. And I did like what she said and how she said it. I honestly think she's trying to help the Carylers feel better about things, but also let them down gently. And of course there are some hardcore Carylers, like that account that said the ageist thing, that are just never going to give it up. Not much anyone can do about that.
The only other thing that struck me about the podcast, and also brought to mind stuff said on TTD, is that I'm more and more sure that everyone knows what's up with Leah's character. If she's an illusion (and I'll assume she is until we know different) I think everyone knows that. I think Lynn knows it, Norman, Melissa, all of them.
For one thing, she said in this podcast that she didn't know if or when she'd be back. That was kind of a slip of the tongue, I think, because we already know she's signed on for S11, and she's announced it. And they're filming. So that's just untrue. And I thought that about Melissa on TTD, too. She said she didn't know what the Leah story line would be, they only told her a little bit back in Bonds when she had to say "her dog." But Melissa is a long time, mainstream cast member. I just don't believe that she doesn't know where the story is going. Again, just something they're instructed to say. But something else occurred to me, too.
When Melissa talked about the "her dog" line on TTD, she said, "there was a line that became a thing." From that, I have to assume she meant that people started to obsess about it online and wonder what the "her" was about. I honestly don't know if anyone other than TD picked out that line, but they might have. Either way, between this, and their reaction to the Caryler's "ageist" comment, it proves that they read the online theories. And of course we all already know that, but there's proof. That ageist comment was posted like 24 hours ago. And already they're addressing it and obviously don't like it and don't want people thinking the show or its actors are associated with that sort of thing.
Which is exactly why I think they HAVE to know about our Leah-is-a-hallucination theory. Even others outside our fandom suspect it. But the writers aren't addressing that. And don't get me wrong: I don't think they will. The Bonds line was literally MONTHS ago, and they waited until the Leah episode to address it. Because otherwise, they'd have to give spoilers and they weren't going to do that. But my point is, if the hallucination theory was not a thing (kind of like Rick being on TWB was not a thing and Lynn Collins being an ageist is not a thing and Beth not being BBQed at Terminus was not a thing) they would be addressing and discrediting it. They aren't. I’m definitely side-eyeing that.
Daryl’s Search for Rick/Beth’s Search for Liquor
This is something my fellow theorists and I were discussing back and forth for a few days. I’m not going to give you the entire conversation, but someone said something about Beth searching for liquor in Still and couldn’t that be a foreshadow? See—you’ll probably hear more about this in coming weeks—but we’ve been rewatching old episodes like Still, Alone, and others, with an eye toward what we’ve learned from S10 and especially the bonus episodes. And we’re realizing there’s a lot more foreshadowing in them than we ever realized before. Most of what’s in them we’ve looked at in terms of the Bethyl romance and of course Beth’s return, but I for one have never thought to go beyond that. Yeah, I REALLY should have.
So here’s the thing. We always talk about Daryl searching for people, but Beth was searching for liquor in that episode. I've never really thought to connect those two things. It either represents the same template of Daryl's search for her, or it might represent her searching for him. But then, those two templates may be one and the same. I need to think on it more and make more connections.
One thing it did make me think of, though, is that there's a theme about not accepting the first and only thing that comes your way, because there's something bigger, better, happier, more fulfilling down the road. So, Daryl didn't want Beth to drink the peach schnapps because that's a weak drink. He wanted her to have a REAL drink. And of course we've talked about this theme in terms of the peach schnapps before.
But we kind of see it everywhere, including in relationships. The small, short term relationships all follow this pattern. Maybe it’s not a terrible relationship, but it’s not true love, either. So they need to move on from it and find the more perfect relationship for them. The locations or homes do, too. So, in 4b, we saw each of the groups stop somewhere and try to stay. And it wasn't so much that they chose not to. More often than not, circumstances forced them to leave. But still. The theme is that it was better that they moved on so a bigger reunion could take place.
And on that note, Leah really still does fit the short-term relationship pattern. If the point was to always show short term relationships that weren't ideal and something better coming down the road, that's why they wanted to do something like this for Daryl. Beth is obviously going to be the much better, more fitting, more fulfilling relationship, where he belongs, etc. But I think they knew they couldn't do that without doing a disservice to Daryl's character. The only way to satisfy both criteria was to make her a hallucination. So the pattern is still there, but for him, it's not a real or literal relationship.
Find Me Theme
So, @wdway is the one who reminded me of this. Back in 9x05, Rick gets hurt and starts hallucinating right before blowing up the bridge and being taken to the CRM by Jadis, right? All on the same page? Well, in that episode, there’s a huge theme about Rick finding his family. In every hallucination, he tells the people he sees—Shane, Hershel, etc—that he’s looking for his family and needs to find them. Near the end, he hallucinates Michonne and the others being with him on the bridge, and Michonne tells him that they’re his family and he did find them. Then, just before he shoots the dynamite, he says, “I found them.”
And now we have this episode called “Find Me” where Daryl is obsessively searching for Rick, and there’s a ridiculous amount of Beth symbolism thrown in. Are we seeing the over-arching theme?
So, what does this mean? I don’t think I’ve really pinned it all down, yet. But I do think this is an over-arching theme for the entire show. I think in some ways, “home” and “family” are synonymous, because home is wherever your family is. It’s not a physical location.
But we started out with Rick looking for Carl and Lori. Then Merle went missing, and Daryl searched for him. Everyone searched for Sophia when she disappeared. And the list goes on and on. So it’s a big theme. I’ve always said Andy didn’t leave the show just to spend more time with his family. That’s a happy bonus, I’m sure. But this was always a planned part of the story. Now Michonne is actively looking for Rick, we see Daryl searching for his body. And the reason Beth symbolism is thrown in is because he searched for her, but they didn’t show us that and won’t because it would be spoilery. And Beth is alive, even if Daryl doesn’t know it. And yeah, I could go on and on. Just wanted to point out this theme and how important it is. Which leads me to….
The Three Spikes
The last thing I’ll mention is the grouping of the three spikes he sees both by the door and on the outside of the house that we’ve all been trying to interpret. I kind of had a breakthrough the other night. But the thing is, it’s not just a breakthrough on the three spikes.
It’s kind of a breakthrough on the ENTIRE rule of threes theme. It’s actually kind of epic.
So here’s how I came to this. I was going over the template in my head, yet again, that I mentioned is shown both here, in 6x03, and that will be in the spinoff. So let’s run through it. We’ll use this episode, 10x18, as the example. So, Daryl is searching for Rick, right? And Carol wants him to stop and come back with her to where Zeke and Henry are. Those are two possible choices for him. But there’s also a third: staying with Leah.
Similarly, in 6x03, Daryl goes searching for Rick, rather than staying with Sasha and Abraham. Those are the two things he’s trying to decide between, and he eventually goes back to Sashraham.
Now, there is actually a third choice there. It’s just that Daryl doesn’t seriously consider it. The third choice is going back to Alexandria to help them. And this IS addressed in the episode because they talk about how they don’t know what happened, but some loud noise pulled half the herd off the road. We, the viewers, know it’s the Wolves, but Daryl, Sasha, and Abe really didn’t know what was going on there. And who is back in Alexandria, spear-heading the defensive against the wolves? Carol!
So you see what I mean. There are three possible choices there: find Rick, go with Carol, or stay with Sashraham. And I’ve said forever that Sashraham = Beth/Bethyl. And of course so does Leah. So the third choice is always the one that represents Beth.
Do you see where I’m going with this? If not, I’ll just tell you. This represents three different paths for Daryl. They’ll diverge at some point and he’ll have to make a choice about which one to take. And then I realized—duh!—they’re all actually represented for us here in this episode. Not only because of what I said above, but because Leah lays them out in her ultimatum. Where do you belong 1) out looking endlessly for your brother 2) back at the communities with your family (i.e. Carol) or 3) here with me.
So those are the three paths that he’ll have to choose between during the spinoff. That’s what the spikes are about, because they specifically dealt with his three choices in this episode. But that may even be the reason they used the rule of threes around Beth to begin with. She’s the third and correct path.
Want more proof this is a thing? @wdway sent me this pic after I first told her about it:
And guys, go back and watch this. When he gets to the crossroads, the camera pans around him, showing him being unsure about which path to take.
Then, while writing this up, I remembered that this did this in 6x03 as well:
On the left is Daryl on his bike, rejoining Sasha and Abraham who are coming down from the top.
Yeah, 3 paths. 3 spikes. Rule of 3s. Who’s excited for the spinoff? 🙋
Now, just one more thing not add to this I think you all will like. In re-watching 9x05, there’s the part where Rick hallucinates Shane, right? Well, part of their conversation there is about the “third man.” And I’ve talked about this before, but probably not nearly enough, because it’s more important than most of us give it credit for. Rick and Shane talk about when Rick was shot in 1x01 before the apocalypse hit. They say they thought there was only 2 men, but there was a third they didn’t know about and “that changed everything.”
I always saw that as perhaps a statement about Grady. Because they should have had three prisoners for the hostage exchange, where Dawn only had two (Carol and Beth). But after Rick killed Lambson, they only had two. If they’d had three, Dawn wouldn’t have been able to demand Noah back, because it would have been an even exchange. So the third man would have changed everything.
Another way to think about it is that, if the shot that hit Beth didn’t come from Dawn—and it REALLY didn’t, y’all) then there was another threat somewhere that they couldn’t see and didn’t know about. If they had, they might have been able to guard against it. See what I mean? I genuinely believe they used Rick’s arc in 1x01 as a jumping off point for planning what happened at Grady.
So, when I rewatched 9x05 and heard this conversation between Rick and Shane yet again, it made me think of the three spikes and Daryl’s 3 paths. So what if he only knows about the two paths he can take: look for Rick or go with Carol. But there’s a third path he’s not aware of, yet. But the third path changes everything. Because that’s where/how he’ll find Beth.
Eh, eh?
Okay, well, I’ve given you enough to chew on today. These are just some things we’ve been discussing from the episode that just keeps on giving. ;D Meanwhile, episode 19 will be airing in a few days, and it will be fabulous, too. Probably not quite as epic as 10x18, but still fabulous. ;D Thoughts?
#beth greene#beth greene lives#beth is alive#beth is coming#td theory#td theories#team delusional#team defiance#beth is almost here#bethyl
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Fandom: Sk8 the Infinity
Characters: Shindo Ainosuke (Adam), Sakurayashiki Kaoru (Cherry Blossom), Nanjo Kojiro (Joe)
Warnings: None?
Word Count: 1.2k
Summary: In which Kaoru and Kojiro show up to support Ainosuke during a fundraising event. [And in which I am abominably late in getting this done, lol. It’s also not exactly on theme, lol.] [S Founder Trio Festival | Day 3: A Day at the Park]
The bell over the door rang, and Ainosuke looked up, starting to greet the new customers.
"Welcome to the ABC Cafe. How can I..."
His words trailed off as he recognized Kaoru and Kojiro, the latter of whom was smiling at him with a shit-eating grin.
"How can I help you today?" Ainosuke asked, recovering quickly from his surprise.
"Table for two," Kaoru replied, elbowing Kojiro. Ainosuke nodded, gracefully gesturing towards an empty table as he grabbed two menus before following them over. After his friends had each taken a seat, he placed the laminated cards in front of them. Then, taking the notepad out of his apron, he flipped to a fresh page before starting to speak.
"Today, we are running a special promotion. Ten percent of all sales will be donated to 'A Day at the Park,' a program that is trying to raise funds in order to build a new green space downtown. The plans for this include a playground, an activity pavilion, and a small skate park to provide an enriching environment for children to encourage their exploration and creativity. Furthermore, if you order something off the event menu--the smaller, white one--then an additional ten percent will be donated for each of those dishes. As a bonus, if you wish, you may also take a photograph with me, and I will sign it afterwards. Do you have any questions?"
"Yeah. How'd you get roped into doing this?" Kojiro asked, his voice teasing as he leaned forward on the table. Ainosuke sighed, tucking the notepad away and rolling his eyes.
"I suggested it. Should I give you time to look over the menu and come back?"
"No. This is too funny. Shindo Ainosuke, working in a cafe. Have you ever actually done menial labor in your entire life? How's the business been so far?"
"It's actually been going quite well, thank you for asking," Ainosuke replied smoothly. "Of course, since it's a promotional event, nobody expects me to be well-versed in the work itself. But there are many people who support this initiative, so they are stopping by to order something for that purpose. This also serves the purpose of supporting a small business, which will subsequently stimulate the local economy."
Though if he was being honest, there was also a large number of women who seemed to be coming by just to get a photograph with the young and charming politician. He wouldn't admit as much to Kojiro, though: what was the point of giving him more ammunition? And he was still grateful to those women; whatever their reason for their support, the fact remained that they were doing so.
In fact, his personal appeal had been a major consideration in planning this fundraising event. Nobody was interested in being attended to by dried-up old men, but with him, it was a very different story. Furthermore, by doing this sort of "menial labor," as Kojiro had said, his own stock would also rise by making him seem more relatable to his constituents. It demonstrated that he wasn't yet another politician in an ivory tower, out of touch with the concerns of the ordinary people. So really, it was a win-win.
"Stop teasing him, 'jiro. You know he's trying to do something good," Kaoru reprimanded his friend without looking up from the menu he was perusing. "Yeah, why don't you come back in a bit, Ainosuke?"
Ainosuke nodded, stepping away to attend to another table. For the most part, though, his duties seemed to be more about socializing with the customers than actually serving them. Of course, if a guest did require assistance when he stopped by, he did what he could to take their order or refill a drink, but the rest of the regular staff took care of most of the real work, carrying out the food and clearing the tables as he flitted around, chatting intelligently and amicably on a number of topics.
Thus, by the time he finally returned to Kaoru and Kojiro's table, the two of them were in the middle of eating. They'd both seemed to have ordered something off the special menu, which Ainosuke was gratified to see, and he pulled up a chair to sit down with them.
"So, did the two of you come here just to make fun of me?" he asked, resting his chin on his hand as he stared at his friends. "Or did you actually have some sort of other purpose?"
"We wanted to support you," Kaoru replied quickly, before Kojiro could respond. "Or, well, this initiative, at least. Do you mind telling us more about it?"
"Of course not!" Ainosuke smiled, leaning back in his chair with perfect posture, as if he was giving an interview. "Well, this is more of a pet project of mine more than anything else. But environmentalism is an issue very dear to my heart, as is providing opportunities for children's education and entertainment, particularly outside the classroom. As such, I established 'A Day at the Park' in order to create a model here in Okinawa that I hope will spread to the rest of Japan to push us toward a more sustainable future by promoting an appreciation for the outdoors. In our perpetual push for progress, we are starting to lose an element of the human spirit that we may not be able to get back, but I believe that this initiative will encourage people to take the time out of their busy lives in order to simply enjoy the world around them. In doing so, they will be able to better connect with others, so that our love will save Japan... What?"
Both Kaoru and Kojiro were laughing, and Ainosuke tilted his head slightly as he appraised them curiously. There was more to it, of course--it was politics, after all--but he did mean everything that he had said.
"Your image, Ad--I mean, Ainosuke," Kojiro explained when he'd finally managed to stop chuckling, gesturing toward him. Ainosuke glanced down at himself, still unsure of what was so funny. He was wearing the cafe's uniform, which seemed fairly normal to him: a T-shirt, black slacks, and an apron. Sure, it wasn't one of his suits or his skating costume, but he wasn't wearing cat ears and frills or anything strange like that.
"You still talk so stuffily. It doesn't fit you being a waiter at all," Kaoru added, and Ainosuke raised an eyebrow.
"Are you really one to talk? 'Repent and make efforts,' right? This is just how I am normally, but you're the one who acts all pretentious because you're a famous calligrapher. You weren't like that before."
Kaoru and Kojiro had suddenly fallen silent, and Ainosuke sighed. "What now?"
"You saw," Kaoru replied softly, and Ainosuke frowned slightly.
"Of course I did. I try to keep up with your careers, when I can. Oh, excuse me." The owner was waving him over, and Ainosuke got up, his expression changing to its usual bland smile as he walked over to where two older ladies were waiting for him, nudging each other like star-struck schoolgirls.
After taking a picture with each of them and signing the Polaroids with a flourish, he was soon caught up in more photos. And by the time the flash of the camera had faded from his eyes and he glanced over at the table his friends had been, they had already left.
#foundertriofest2021#sk8#SK8 the Infinity#skate the infinity#fanfic#fan fic#sk8 adam#shindo ainosuke#ainosuke shindo#sk8 cherry blossom#sakurayashiki kaoru#kaoru sakurayashiki#sk8 joe#nanjo kojiro#kojiro nanjo#mine
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@whumptober2020 Day 3 “Held at Gunpoint”
Characters: Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Howard Stark Tags: Tony has Issues, Young Tony, Bodyguard Steve, Misunderstandings Words: 3.689
Summary: The cold barrel of the gun feels almost nice against Tony’s pounding forehead, and he is not sure anymore whether it is meant as an encouragement to come closer or a warning to stay away. It doesn't matter. He only ever does what he wants anyway.
---
The pounding in Tony’s head does not stop even long after he has left the club. Not the rhythm of too loud music makes him move his feet but the instinctive knowledge that he will collapse somewhere soon and he desperately wants that place to be his bed. Bad things happen when he lets his guard down – and he could do without the lecture from Howard.
Tony knows the way to the mansion without having to concentrate on where he is going. He has made this trip hundreds of times in various states of inebriation. It does not feel like home but the demons inside are easier avoided than the ones out here.
The gate is closed and the wall of windows is dark, especially the one to Howard’s office. That is no guarantee that the old man is asleep and will not bother Tony, but he sighs in relief nonetheless. The only thing worse than a migraine is Howard’s booming voice increasing the pounding.
Without needing to look, Tony enters the code at the front gate, keeping himself upright by leaning against the cold iron. When the gate suddenly opens, it almost throws him down into the dirt. Tony is not sure he would get up again, so he fights to stay on his feet.
Once inside, he turns towards the garage. The way to his room is shorter from there and he wants to avoid waking his father at all costs. For some reason, only one Stark is allowed to get blackout drunk in this house and that is never Tony.
Once inside, he does not get far, shocked into a half-sober state by finding a strange man standing there, about halfway between the entrance and the door to the mansion. He is tall and blond and looks like he could break Tony with only one hand. The somewhat official looking, dark outfit makes it unlikely that he is a burglar – and it is well known that breaking into the Stark Mansion usually does not end well for intruders.
A new guard then, Tony guesses. For several years now, Howard has hired bodyguards for Tony, whose task was less to protect him and more to make sure he does not bring more shame down on their name. Needless to say, none of them lasted long.
The man notices Tony as soon as he steps into the garage, probably even before Tony notices his path is blocked. He straightens, which shows off his very nice shoulder line, and one hand goes to the gun on his hip. His posture is not yet threatening but a warning in itself.
“Wrong turn, buddy,” the guard says firmly but without aggressiveness. His voice is a pleasant surprise, not quite soothing Tony’s headache but not aggravating it either. “This is private property.”
A grin steals itself on Tony’s lips. He cannot believe that the new muscle does not recognize him. True, Howard’s features have slackened with the years and too much alcohol, but Tony still looks too much like him. even in ripped clothes. Beyond that, everybody knows Tony. He cannot take a single step outside without someone bothering him. And yet, a guy Howard probably hired to keep him on the right path does not even recognize his new charge. This could be fun.
“My, look at you,” Tony drawls and straightens his spine so he does not look like he will keel over any moment. “Are those muscles real?”
The closer he gets, the more mouth-watering does Hot and Blond look, even when his face darkens and his eyes narrow in indignation. Does Howard hire these people specifically for how easily Tony can bypass their defences?
A name is stitched onto the dark fabric of the uniform. S. Rogers. Not that Tony intends to use his real name much. He likes his nicknames.
“Mr. Stark is not entertaining guests tonight,” Rogers says instead of answering, standing much more stiffly now. Almost as if he is trying to take the emphasis off his muscles but managing the opposite entirely.
Tony is now close enough to realize that Hot and Blond does not only look tall but has at least a head over Tony. Leaning against a car, Tony looks him up and down with an openly suggestive grin.
“I’m sure he would like to be entertained by you.”
Perhaps Tony should not make an enemy out of the new guy. No matter that his career here will be a short one, considering nobody has the mental strength to deal with Howard and Tony for any length of time. He could still hurt Tony. The ones who believe they will have him easily in hand are usually the first to run to his father to rain down hell on him. Tony just cannot help himself, though. He is tired of Howard trying to control him, of people thinking they own him.
“Sir,” Rogers says with obvious strain in his voice. “I must ask you to leave.”
It might be an unconscious thing, but he widens his stance, eyes narrowing at Tony as if he is already picking out weak points. Tony is the weak point, the whole disappointing entirety of him.
“Oh, don’t be a bore and let me pass. I feel like puking.”
This would be easy to clear up. He could just tell Rogers his name or they could call for Jarvis. That would be too easy, though, and Tony does not like easy. He wants to know what the people around him are made of, how carefully has to handle them. Howard likes to hire those who are already a little trigger-happy before they ever meet Tony. And Tony, well, sometimes he feels as if he is made of gunpowder, ready to blow up at the first wrong move.
So, Tony does not give his name but just turns towards the door like he has already forgotten all about Rogers. It is a good thing he never let Rogers out of his sight because he has not even made two steps when there is rustling and Tony hears the familiar click of the safety of a gun.
It looks strangely hot, the way Rogers aims the gun at him. The muscles of his arm are much easier to look at. Tony could do without the pained determination on his face, however. If he will be shot in his own home, he wants it to be done with glee, not a tired sense of duty.
Tony stops and turns back fully to Rogers, openly amused at being pointed at with a weapon. The guy is trigger-happy then. Nothing in this situation calls for the use of a gun. Tony is obviously drunk and this guy could break him in half without even trying. It would be easy to simply pick Tony up and deposit him outside of the gate. But, no, Tony does not do as the nice man says and gets a barrel pointed at his face for the trouble.
Heart-rate picking up, Tony thinks that now they are getting somewhere. With just a spark of regret, he realizes he is not drunk enough to deal with this in a sensible way. Here he is, ready to be shot only to see if he can push a stranger into firing.
Perhaps people are right when they say Tony is sick. He should not be drawn to trouble like it is a magnet and he a simple compass needle, and yet that is where he goes all the time. Nobody has ever done it, either, actually pulled the trigger. Well, there was that one kidnapping where Tony got hit by a stray bullet. But, generally, people seem to think he is worth more alive and yet they never do anything to make him feel the same.
A smile spreads on Tony’s lips, growing with every thundering heartbeat. Maybe this is what it means to feel alive. His heart is stumbling, his hands are ready to grab something to fight or defend himself with, excitement stirs in the pit of his stomach – or perhaps that is fear. He does not know. Only that there is undeniably some life inside his body, for once more than just in his mind.
“Do you even know how to use that?” Tony asks and quietly calculates how quickly he would have to move to dodge a bullet fired at him at this distance. He would not make it, of course, but he has always liked numbers.
“I suggest you turn around and don’t try me.” Rogers’ hands remain steady, but, to Tony’s slight disappointment, he does not look like he wants to go through with his threat anymore.
People like this hate others being cocky, so Tony simply shrugs and says with a grin, “I like challenges.”
Then he walks forward, noticing the surprise on Rogers’ face when he manages to walk in a straight line. It also has him tightening his grip on the gun as if he only just realizes that Tony is not as drunk as he seems. Well, he is that drunk, but he knows how to pretend. That is one of the few useful lessons he learned from Howard.
“Come on,” Tony says and keeps walking until the barrel is only inches away from his face. He wonders if it would be cool against his forehead. “Shoot.”
Certainly, there are worse ways to die than getting shot in his own basement, drunk enough that he does not care for all the big and small hurts and disappointments piling up in his chest. It would be unfair to Jarvis, though, who would likely be the one to find him, the only one searching for Tony when he does not come home. That is, if Rogers would not proudly tell Howard that he has successfully eliminated a threat to their great estate. Tony wonders what Howard would do. Fire the guy, surely, but maybe give him a quiet bonus too, for dealing with his perpetual problem.
Nothing happens, so Tony takes the time to look. The guy is hot, more so from up close, even with his pinched expression. Tony wonders what he can do with these hands. That one thought sparks a flood of others, building the ultimate plan for revenge.
Slowly, suggestively, Tony sinks down to his knees. The hands with the gun automatically follow his movement, although it appears like the stranger is not quite aware of it. Like that, he looks far more menacing. His muscles are bigger, the barrel blacker. Tony likes the thrill running through him. It is something to feel other than numbness and disgust.
When he leans forward, his hands on his own knees, Rogers instinctively moves back, although he catches himself quickly.
“What are you doing?” he hisses, all amusement gone from his tone. He still does not make a move to shoot.
“What does it look like, honey?” Tony purrs, enjoying the brief panic flickering over Rogers’ face. Not his area of expertise, then.
Rogers freezes when Tony dips his head forward and muzzles at the crotch right in front of him. For a moment, the air is ripe with possibility. Then the man comes to life with a jerk and, suddenly, the barrel of the gun is pressed against the top of Tony’s head, pushing him away. It is cold, and almost as satisfying as Tony hoped.
“Mr. Stark has tasked me to keep everybody out of his home so I must ask you to leave,” he says, his voice rather pressed. Still, his hands do not waver.
The mere mention of his father has Tony rolling his eyes. It almost takes the fun out of this, but then Tony thinks of how they must look to someone else. He on his knees with a gun to his head, Rogers glaring down at him. If Howard found them, he might put that bullet in Tony’s brain himself.
“Of course, he did,” Tony says and does not hide his derision. “Mr. Stark is a raging homophobe. He’d likely fire you because you haven’t shot me already.” He pushes slightly forward against the barrel to emphasize his point. Then he adds, almost as an afterthought, “Depending on his mood, he’d give you a raise if you got rid of me quietly.”
Indignation passes over Rogers’ face, which disappoints Tony dearly. How does nobody see through Howard’s lies, his pretty façade?
“Mr. Stark is not in the business of hiding bodies,” Rogers replies stiffly.
Sharp laughter claws its way up Tony’s throat and it rings out hollowly in the garage. Their entire company is built on producing dead bodies. Granted, they do not have to hide them because people tend to applaud them for it, but the point stands.
“You must not have worked for him long then,” Tony says and looks up at Rogers through his lashes the way he knows people like.
Tony has not been home for a few days, but he certainly would have noticed eye candy like this wandering around. Which means he might be in the process of ruining this guy’s first day of work. Well, he will probably thank Tony for that, later. The great Howard Stark is only so nice to look at from a distance.
“Get up,” Rogers then orders, his patience running thin.
Tony grins and moves further in, presses his lips against the dark cloth in front of him. “Oh, don’t worry, he’s almost there.”
Tony knows he has gone too far a split second before Rogers moves. It is like a light switching off behind those blue eyes, making them frost over. One moment, Tony kneels in front of Rogers, ready to end his night with a bang, the next he is face down on the hard concrete, a knee in his back and the gun still too close to his face.
“I said, stop.”
For just a moment, Tony regrets his decision. Being pressed down on the floor, everything becomes too real. But then, that is what he wants, yes? Something real. Not Howards endless expectations for him to be someone else. Not the public’s ever-changing and ever-terrible portrayal of him. Not this carved out path that Tony is supposed to follow. Here he is, utterly human and just one wrong move away from getting some blissful quiet in his head.
He does not want to die, but he does not particularly want to live this life either. Over the years, he has done some stupid things, has even aimed a gun at himself. Nothing compares to the real thing, though. The flutter of his heart, the way time trickles so slowly. Tony thinks he can understand why people throw themselves out of planes or climb mountains without safety gear. He is alive only in this moment when that could quickly change.
“I heard you the first time,” Tony admits without showing any regret. This is his home and Howard taught him how to get what he wants – and he definitely does not want guards following his every step and judging him when he comes home too late or too drunk. It might be unfair that this guy got caught up in this ongoing war between Howard and Tony, but there is no helping it.
“Then I suggest you start listening,” Rogers growls, all out of kindness. “I’ll accompany you outside and you’ll leave without making a fuzz, all right? Then I might not have to tell Mr. Stark about this.”
That last thing is mostly self-defence, Tony knows, but that only makes him pity Rogers.
“You have much to learn if you think you can do anything to make the old bastard happy with you,” he says and means it as honest advice. “Fuck me right here or let me back out into the wild, you’re in for a lecture.”
Tony is not the only reason they never keep their staff long. People simply have enough options these days that they do not have to suffer through Howard’s terrible moods.
“He must be used to dealing with groupies,” Rogers says and does not yet make any move to haul Tony to his feet. He could, easily, and Tony would not mind being manhandled a bit if that would not end up with him back on the street. The whole point of coming through the garage was to not wake up Howard.
“Groupies?” Tony repeats, feeling the urge to laugh again, but he does not get enough air into his lungs for that, pressed to the ground as he is. “Please. The only people willing to kiss Howard’s ass are other corporate idiots or gold diggers.”
And the papers, lately, since they have found a better victim in Tony.
“Well, I don’t have to ask which one you are.”
That stings, strangely. This guy’s opinion should not matter and yet Tony has become overly sensitive to these things, if only because no one ever seems to have anything positive to say about him.
“You’re right, you shouldn’t have to ask who I am,” Tony says and wiggles in Rogers’ grasp until he can look up at him. “I hope you made him pay you in advance.”
Although that is never a problem. Howard might yell and throw around insults, but he always makes sure that people are paid, if only to keep them from talking. The new guy might not know that, however, and Tony is done being generous.
“Are you ready to leave yet?” Rogers asks instead of answering. He looks as done as Tony feels. “I can do this all day.”
Oh, Tony will destroy him. He is basically begging for it. With a small grin, he says, “I’m more interested in what you can do all night.”
“Stop talking.” The disgust flittering over Rogers’ face is sadly familiar, but that does not mean he will not crack.
“I know a way –”
Tony does not get to finish his sentence because the man pulls him roughly to his feet and gives him a shove that almost sends him down to the ground again. He groans in protest as his ribs ring with pain at the impact.
It is definitely time to end the game. Tony wants his bed and an Advil to stave off the headache he feels building behind his temples. He turns around to keep Rogers from ruining his own life any more, but does not get farther than that.
“What is the meaning of this?” Howard’s voice rings out over the garage, already on the verge of becoming angry. Depending on how much he heard, Tony will need more than an Advil to get through the night.
“Sir –” Rogers says but cuts himself off when Howard shushes him. He stiffens briefly, then straightens as if he wants to salute. The gun is back in its holster, and Tony wonders when that happened, but it is probably better for both their sakes if Howard does not know that Rogers pulled a gun on his son.
Tony turns to fully face his father – and show off his rather indecent clothes. They are not too revealing but still not befitting a Stark out in public.
“Just testing out the new guard dog, daddy dearest,” he drawls while keeping Rogers in the periphery of his vision.
The change on Rogers’ face is a revelation in itself. He looks between Howard and Tony, must see the likeness between them, and realizes how gravely a mistake he has made. It all plays out perfectly on his face, all his emotions displayed clearly.
“You are a disgrace, boy,” Howard snaps. These words have stopped hurting around the hundredth time he has heard them. “I should let him throw you out.”
He has done so before. Locked the doors and refused to let Tony in. “But you’re too afraid of which bed I’d end up sleeping in,” Tony replies sweetly. That was a hard lesson for Howard.
He must remember it too, because his face darkens further. “Get inside.”
Since he did not say Get in my office, maybe Tony cat get away with locking himself in his room while Howard deals with Rogers – who stands nonplussed in the background, likely not understanding the animosity between father and son. They are so similar, after all, and yet poised to destroy each other instead of conquering the world together.
“Don’t fire this one,” Tony says and pats Rogers’ chest as he passes him. “He wasn’t going to let himself be bought.”
That is as much of an argument he can offer on Rogers’ behalf. It is unlikely that Rogers will keep this job for long, but Tony does not want to get him fired the first time they met.
“What use is a bodyguard if he doesn’t recognize his charge?” Howard says, the words full of derision, but that is still directed at Tony.
“Well, you always say I’m nothing like a Stark, so you can’t fault him too much.” He should not sound so happy about this, should not reject the Stark legacy so often in front of his father. This is a cage, though, and he will keep rattling at the bars until they finally give.
“Get out of my sight.”
“Gladly,” Tony says and means it. A dismissal is the best ending for this night. Since there is always a little demon riding on his shoulder, however, Tony turns towards Rogers again. “Good night, gorgeous. And do come by my room if you want to get to know me better. Just so we can avoid you mistaking me for an intruder again.”
It is unfair to stab at someone who cannot fight back, not with Howard watching them, but Tony is all out of sympathy for the night.
“Good night,” Rogers says with beet-red cheeks. Belated, he adds, “Sir.” It does not sound very sincere but it has Tony smirking. This one really will be fun. It Howard does not fire him on the spot. Tony might look for him in the morning. He bets those muscles look even better in sunlight.
#whumptober2020#no. 3#Held at Gunpoint#marvel#fanfiction#tony stark#steve rogers#bodyguard steve#my writing#ao3
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Fire Meet Gasoline Part One
Javier Peña x Reader
Words: 2690
Part One of ? Summary: Your life is put on the line when you decide to become a CI for the DEA. When your heart starts to influence your decisions concerning the agent that you’re working with, you get lost in the flames. Javi worries that his growing attachment to you could spell danger for the both of you when he discovers that your brother is the right hand man to Pacho Herrera.
Notes: Two imagines in one day? *gasp* That’s right, I’m posting double for a Pedro Birthday Bonus. I have an unhealthy love for this man. It’s really a problem. This series is inspired by the song Fire Meet Gasoline by SIA. (And if you don’t understand why I picked it, just go look up the video. You’ll thank me.) And again, I’m not using any real facts for this, I’m only using the character since I’m making a different side plot.
Warnings: Violence, Language, and I might be getting a little steamy for this series (nothing smutty, but definitely more than suggestive)
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It’s dangerous to fall in love, but I
Wanna burn with you tonight
“You look magnificent.” Pacho exclaimed as you ran your hands over the silky emerald fabric of the dress. Your brother sat next to him and looked bored out of his mind.
“Do you like this one best, or the orange one?” You looked yourself over in the mirror, but there was no question. Green was definitely the dress.
“Whatever you chose, is my treat.” He smiled and you nearly tackled him with a hug.
“Pacho, that isn’t necessary-” Your brother started, but Pacho held up a hand to silence him.
“Consider it a birthday present to the brightest star in all of Columbia.” You gave him a glowing smile and left to change back into your day clothes. Blood or not, Pacho had become your family over the past five years. Your brother was his most trusted right-hand man and he treated you like a sister. He definitely spoiled you like one.
He was throwing you a huge party for your birthday that night and was sparing no expense. There would be flowers and lights everywhere and plenty of wine. Of course, you made him promise that there would be no product anywhere in the vicinity. Although it was the source of the extravagant life that you lived, you hated cocaine. The vile substance is what tore your family to shreds when you were only eighteen. Pacho understood completely and avidly commanded his men to keep the coke at the door. Of course, that didn’t stop your brother.
The night glittered with stars and crowds of your friends and your brother’s associates flooded the garden space, filling the air with laughter and chatter. The green dress hugged your body in all the right ways and you earned many intrigued glances from important men- along with jealous glares from their wives. You were the envy of the night. After all, it was your party. You promised your brother that you would refrain from dancing with any strange men, but he also promised not to get high and he looked perfectly content snorting the white powder at the set-up bar.
You scanned the garden for someone to dance with until your eyes landed on a man sitting at a table by himself. His black button up was partially hidden by his leather jacket. You didn’t recognize him, but he didn’t look out of place. You cut through the crowd and his eyes caught you coming towards him.
Of course Javier knew who you were. You’d been seen with Helmer ‘Pacho’ Herrera at multiple events, including the wedding that was attacked by Pablo Escobar. Your brother was Pacho’s most trusted adversaries. Luis was in charge of finding and tracking threats to the Cali cartel. Occasionally, he was in charge of disposing of them.
“You don’t seem like you’re having much fun.” You noted, taking the seat beside him. He gave you a smirk.
“I am now.” Javier couldn’t deny it- you were stunning. He could understand why Pacho kept you around. With those seductive eyes alone, he was sure you could charm your way in or out of any situation. Mix that with the perfect hair, the lips, the body… you were a bombshell. He looked around, making sure that the kingpin didn’t leave his sight. Luckily, Pacho seemed busy talking up a young waiter. “You must be the princesa of the evening?”
“Don’t let my brother hear you say that.” You snickered. “He’d say my head has gotten too big. That I don’t remember where we came from.” Your voice trailed off, slipping back into those memories. Memories of a little girl afraid of the dark. You pulled yourself out of those thoughts and your smile returned. “Tell me, dark stranger, do you dance?” You stood up, the silky green fabric swaying loosely around your hips. Javier gulped.
“I really-”
“Consider it a birthday present.” You didn’t leave him much of a choice, holding out your hand for him to take. Javi stood and shed his leather jacket, letting you pull him into the middle of the dance floor. Dancing wasn’t really the right word for it, but whatever it was, you were spectacular. You put his hands on your hips as they moved with the rhythm. All he had to do was sway along. There was something about him that kept you wanting more.
There was something between the two of you that Javier didn’t recognize. It wasn’t just lust, which there was plenty of as his hands roamed your body. His heart beat faster every time you looked at him and everytime you flipped your silky hair over your shoulder, he felt the urge to run his fingers through it. What the fuck was wrong with him?
“There’s something different about you.” You whispered, your lips nearly touching his ear so he could hear you over the noise of the party.
The music was almost louder than the gunshot. Almost.
Javi grabbed your arm, pulling you out of the way of the stampede of screaming people. Another shot had you scanning the crowds for the source. One of Luis’ friends stood over the body of a bargirl, blood oozing from the gaping whole where her eye should have been.
“Shit.” The mystery man muttered. Every part of Javi was screaming to shoot the bastard, but he knew he would be gunned down before he could take two steps. He needed to get out of there. Javi put his hands on your shoulders. “I have to go.”
“What?”
“I can’t be here.” He insisted. Javier wanted to stay. Goddamn, did he want to stay. But if Pacho found out he was at the party to spy on him and Luis, he would be fish food. Still, a part of him couldn’t just leave. Despite all of his better judgments, he collided his lips with yours. Something ignited, starting the slow burn you were sure would destroy you. He pulled away too quickly. “Happy Birthday, Miss Y/L/N.” You watched as he vanished amongst the crowd fleeing the party. You hadn’t told him your last name.
“Y/N!” A voice rose above the chaos. Pacho was shoving through guests, his eyes blazing. For a moment, you were actually frightened, not of the crowd, but of him. His hand found your arm and he dragged you through the running guests like fish trying to swim upstream.
“Pacho…” You struggled to keep up, his fingers digging into your skin. “Pacho, you’re hurting me.”
“Do you have any idea who you were just dancing with.” He said the word dancing like it left a bitter taste in his mouth. Your fear returned and he didn’t let go of your arm, instead grabbing the other one, pinning them to your sides. You’d never seen him act like this before. Not with you.
“Pacho, I-”
“The fucking DEA!” He spat. You blinked, shaking your head.
“What?”
“His name is Agent Javier Peña.” You knew that name. He’d spoken that name before. “He was the agent that fed us information whe Los Pepes was trying to take down Escobar.”
“I didn’t know, Pacho.” You insisted, his tight grip now bringing tears to your eyes. “I wasn’t in Columbia during all of that. You know that. Please, you're hurting me.”
To ensure your safety, Pacho had had you stay with Chepe in New York during the whole Pablo Escobar debacle. You’d overheard little details here and there, including the names of the DEA agents hunting Pablo; Steve Murphy and Javier Peña. The anger in Pacho’s eyes faded and his grip loosened, instead running his hands up and down your arms to sooth you.
“You’re right.” He sighed, straightening your now rustled dress. “You couldn’t have known. I’m sorry.” He pulled you into a hug, but it brought you no comfort. Your body tensed in his arms and you had to resist the urge to shove away. He pulled away and looked down at the blood pooling on the porch tile. He didn’t bat an eye at the body. “Somebody clean up this fucker’s mess.” You stared down at the girl, disgust building inside of you. She barely looked 18.
“No,” You said firmly. You pointed at Luis’ friend, Marques. “I want him gone.” You held your head up, trying to look as authoritative as possible.
“You don’t give orders-” Marques started, but you cut him off with a slap.
“And you don’t come to my house, shoot up with coke, and shoot up my waitress.” You turned to Pacho. “I want him gone.”
“Don’t listen to this bitch, Pacho.” Marques snarled. Pacho seized the collar of his shirt and shoved him against the bar, bottles shattering as they hit the ground.
“Don’t you ever disrespect Y/N.”
“Pacho-” Luis started, but Pacho gave him that deadly stare, telling him to back off.
“I will deal with you later.” He spat, turning his attention back to Marques. “You heard her. Now get out.” He let go of him, shoving him hard to the ground. Marques gave Luis a pleading look, but Luis had his furious eyes on you.
“Fine.” Marques stood up with as much dignity as he could and left. Pacho clapped his hands together.
“Right, I think that you all have done well at ruining this party, so you can all clean up.” He put a hand on the small of your back. This time his touch was soft, caring. But that didn’t stop the shivers up your spine. “I’m going to make the birthday girl a drink.”
Walking back through the yard, you noticed a lonely leather jacket draped over one of the chairs. You paused, picking it up, feeling the heavy material in your hands.
“Whose is it?” Pacho wondered, watching you slip it around your shoulders. You shrugged to cover your lie.
“No idea.”
-
You didn’t know how early it was when Luis woke you up. It was still dark out, casting his face with menacing shadows. Since the party had ended early, you decided to get some sleep rather than deal with Luis and his bunch of now-angry high friends. Perhaps you had forgotten that you lived in the same house.
“What do you want?” You groaned, looking for the clock.
“Get up.”
“Luis, what the fuck-”
“I said get up.” He ripped off your blankets, exposing your thin nightgown to the cool night air. You were suddenly surrounded by men; more of his friends. It was until you saw Marques that your fear woke you up completely.
“What’s going on?” You raised your voice. Pacho was long gone, but maybe you could wake one of the servants. “Take your inmundicia out of here!” Marques covered your mouth with one hand and wrapped his other arm around your waste, carrying you out the door while you tried to kick your feet. Another man grabbed your legs, holding them together firmly. They took you all the way out to Luis’ waiting car. You were shoved into the front seat and Luis got into the driver’s side.
“You have humiliated me for the last time.” He spat.
“You’re high, let me go.”
“Shut your fucking mouth.”
“What do you plan to do, huh? Are you going to kill me, Luis?” His icy stare answered for you as he took off down the road. Your own brother. “Pacho will know.”
“Don’t worry about Pacho.”
You wanted to scream. You wanted to fight. But what could you do? Your only family was going to kill you.
Luis drove for another twenty minutes before picking a spot by the river. As soon as the door was unlocked, you figured you might try to escape one more time. You opened the door and ran as fast as your bare feet would take you, feeling broken bottle shards cut into your skin. Marques was faster and stronger, catching you in a matter of seconds.
“No!” You shrieked, fighting against his steel hold. Luis had the trunk of the car open and waiting. “You bastard!” You could already feel the darkness close around you even though the sun was starting to rise. “You’re just like him. You’re going to kill me just like he killed her!” Luis held up a hand for Marques to wait.
“That’s the thing, Y/N,” He grabbed a handful of your hair. “You’ll always be the little girl hiding in the cupboard. Still afraid of the dark.” He slammed your head down on the edge of the trunk and you felt the metal slice across your cheek.
“Luis, please. Don’t do this.” Him and his friends stuffed you into the trunk while one poured the gasoline. Luis threw the leather jacket on top of you.
“You liked it so much, you can die with it.” He snarled, leaning in one more time. “Say hello to father in Hell.” You screamed and he slammed the hood down. He was too high to notice that the sleeve of the jacket was caught in the mechanism, preventing it from closing all the way. But the dark was enough to make you feel like you were dying.
You’d been terrified of the dark since you were a young girl. Every time you found yourself in the dark, you went back to that night all those years ago. Even in the trunk of that car, preparing to die, you could hear his shouts and your mother’s screams, along with the sound of cracking bone.
“We have to get out of here before someone sees us.” A voice said.
“I want to watch the bitch burn.”
“Luis, we don’t have time, man.”
Luis let out a frustrated scoff and you heard the click of a lighter followed by the roar of an ignited flame. Tires squealed against the pavement, signalling your escape. The roof of the trunk was stuck and you pressed your hands against it, the metal immediately burning your palms. You recoiled, but you couldn’t give up. Smoke started to fill your lungs and you knew you didn’t have much time before the fire reached the gas tank and the whole thing blew. You winced through the pain and finally pushed the trunk open.
You wrapped the jacket around as much of yourself as you could and rolled out of the trunk, your legs only catching the flames for a moment. Hopefully they wouldn’t be as badly burned as your hands. You got as far away from the burning car as you could before your legs couldn’t move anymore. The explosion was deafening and would have knocked you off your feet if you weren’t already on the ground, feeling completely and utterly numb. The only thing you felt was the sting of the leather jacket slipping over the cuts on your arms as you put it on, trying to cover yourself. Your night-gown had torn and you were exposed in multiple places.
You felt something in the inside pocket and pulled it out. You cradled the small card in your hand, hundreds of plans suddenly forming in your head. Revenge on your brother, but more importantly, an end to the thing responsible for all the pain you had endured, as well as all the pleasure; cocaine.
-
Javier felt like an idiot. Not only had he kissed Pacho’s Princesa, he had left his jacket at the party. The jacket with his card in it. If they hadn’t already known he was there, they did now. He was on his second glass of whiskey of the night when his phone rang. It was either someone from the department or his death calling.
“Is this Javier Peña?” A small voice said on the other line. It was a voice he recognized.
“Who is this?” His tone was harsh and to the point.
You gripped the phone with a trembling hand, earning strange looks from the drugstore owner. If he wouldn’t help you, you were done for. You smirked, trying to keep the fear in your voice in check.
“Someone who knows that you’re one hell of a dancer.”
Group Chat(s)Tag List (You know who you are!): @rae-gar-targaryen; @jnniferjreau; @ladamari68; @libellule2001; @c-ly-g; @themandjalorian; @pascalisthepunkest
#javier pena x reader#happy birthday pedro!#two in one day#javier pena#fire meet gasoline#pedro pascal#start of something
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State of the Damn Wienerfic
I’ve finally finished the “thousand years ago” section of my OC’s backstory, which is a big relief to me. The first 141 chapters of Luffa: The Legendary Super Saiyan were intended to develop the title character as a protagonist in her own right, and not just a guest star or supporting player to the main cast, like Tapion in “Wrath of the Dragon”. I was always worried that I’d meet some untimely end before I finished, and no one would know how things turned out for her.
From 142 onward, I’m flashing forward to the events of Dragon Ball:Xenoverse. It’s not going to be a total adaptation of the game’s story mode, but I did like the notion that if I ever reached this point, the fic has a tenative ending, and a curious reader could run Xenoverse 1 on Steam and get a general idea of what happens next. But I’m still alive, so I guess I’ll go ahead and write my version.
It’s still surreal to me that I’ve reached this milestone. I’ve thought about it for so long and now it’s here. I wrote the bulk of #142 last November, and some other material that still needs to be organized, and my goal for this year’s NanoWriMo is to plow forward. A lot of things will be different, and I think one of them is that I feel like I can be more open about the creative process. So if you want to see how the sausage is made, click the read more. If you’d rather see how crayons are made, watch this video below.
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There’s a Sesame Street version of this, but those are all orange crayons, and I like yellow better. Also I like the way Mr. Rogers says “crayons”.
All right, now that those weird crayon people are distracted, let’s talk about Luffa.
I came up with the idea around 2004, I think. DBZ was done airing in the U.S., and I wanted to write some sort of fanfic about it, but I was having trouble coming up with ideas. I felt like the main story had wrapped up very well with Z, and GT only seemed to prove that you can’t top the original story. So I started thinking about the lore, and that led me to the Legendary Super Saiyan that Vegeta spoke of in DBZ Episode 66.
There were a few things that bugged me about the DBZ fandom at the time. Mostly I was just reading the GameFaqs boards to find any hot scoops about upcoming DBZ games, and no one really knew much of anything, so the board was mostly guys shooting idle speculation back and forth. Occasionally someone would bring up the fact that we never saw any female Super Saiyans, which led some to suspect that such a thing must be impossible. The one explanation that stuck in my craw was that “women can’t get angry enough”. Usually, misogynists are always saying women are too emotional to do anything else, so by that logic, you’d think it would be much easier for Saiyan women. They’d just flip out whenever a stray laser bolt fries their hair, like Daphne Zuniga in “Spaceballs.”
The other thing that bugged me was the Broly-worship in some circles. One way or another, Broly hype reached American fans well before the Funimation dub of Movie 8. I remember the official promotions from Funimation acknowledging that fans kind of already knew who the guy was. For a few years before 2003, I think Broly became this mythical figure, like your friend whose uncle works for Nintendo, or “Q” telling 4-chan all about how everyone you don’t like is going to get arrested soon. I’m pretty sure this is why you can still find Broly fanart where he’s beating up Galactus, Kid Buu, and Superman, to name a few. I think a lot of fanboys got it in their head that Broly could kick anybody’s ass, which is weird because he can’t even win in his own movies.
I think even the official stuff played into this idea, since Broly would often be used as a special bonus boss in a lot of video games, so you beat Kid Buu and then hold on, now you have to fight Broly. So it’s not hard to get the vibe that he’s the real final boss of everything. I’m curious how the 2018 version of Broly will affect the perception of the character, but it’s probably too soon to tell. In the mid-2000′s, though, it felt like a lot of people believed that Broly was a more legitimate Super Saiyan than Goku or the others, by virtue of being green and irrationally violent.
So this was on my mind when I thought about what to do with the Super Saiyan from 1000 years ago. I felt like there were people who wanted to believe that this character was a lot more like Broly than Goku, which is dumb, because the whole point of Super Saiyan Goku was that he was taking on the same role as the last guy. And, for my money, the moral of Goku going Super Saiyan was that he was the only Saiyan of his generation who understood the same thing all the old Super Saiyans did. Something about his upbringing on Earth helped him reach that level. All the other Saiyans were too contaminated by their own culture of ruthless dickery.
And so I thought that it would really flip the script if I wrote a story about that Legendary Super Saiyan and made him very different from the fanboy perception of Broly. And I’d make him a her, just to twist the knife. Not only is this not Broly, but she’s one of those women Super Saiyans everyone thinks can’t happen. I doubt anyone from GameFaqs in 2007 would even notice my fic, but I’d like to think they’d be pissed about what I’ve done.
I tried writing some of this down in 2006, but I didn’t get very far, mostly because I was intimidated by the scope of the idea. I didn’t think I could do a long story, but I wasn’t sure a short story could get the idea across. So I just didn’t do it at all, and kept thinking about it from time to time. I wanted to make Luffa as a custom character in a video game, if they ever made a game with CAC features. Ultimate Tenkaichi had it, but you could only make a Saiyan man... which just reinforced my motivations for doing this kind of a story.
Finally, Dragon Ball Xenoverse debuted a more robust CAC feature in 2015, and I could design the character properly. I didn’t have much in the way of ideas, so I just sort of let the gameplay take me where it would. The game is set in the future, and Trunks just wishes for an ally, so who’s to say that this ally couldn’t have come from the past? You do a lot of grinding in the game, and there’s a lot of exposition, and that gave me time to think about what what Luffa had been doing right before she got to this place. And slowly, I started to iron out what I wanted to write.
Her costume was just a convenience, really. I went with short hair because the long hair doesn’t “float” when you go Super Saiyan in the game. I wanted some sort of old-school looking armor, but everything in the game was based on costumes from the show, and the “Saiyan” armor in DBZ was Frieza’s thing. It wouldn’t have existed a thousand years earlier. I might have gone for something like Cabba’s outfit in Dragon Ball Super, but that wouldn’t be available until a few years later. So that left me with a choice between a baggy martial arts dogi or the skin tight Pilot Suit. The Pilot Suit is kind of... distracting, since it’s just a skin, and the developers make you stare at the character’s ass the whole time. On the other hand, a baggy dogi kind of made her look like Cell Games Gohan. So I went with baggy pants and fitted shirts.
The black and yellow color scheme was mostly so I wouldn’t confuse my character from the others appearing on the screen during fights. That ruled out purple, orange, and blue, since the Z-Fighters wear those. I resisted yellow, because that’s my favorite color, but later I realized black and yellow is perfect, because that’s the color scheme of the giant ape in Vegeta’s flashback.
Playing the game helped motivate me to actually sit down and write the story, because I finally had a fleshed out character that I could see and do things with. And making her fight DBZ characters got me to consider how she would react to those concepts. Would she respect Vegeta’s royal bloodline, or would she be unimpressed like Goku? How would she feel about Frieza’s destruction of their home planet? Would she even recognize it as her home planet? How does she feel about the fact that no one remembers anything about her?
My goal for the first 141 chapters was to build a world and a backstory that would set up the answers to those questions. The villains in that part of the story are all misogynists of one stripe or another. They view women as tools to be exploited, or as enemies to be eliminated, or as distractions to be ignored. They see Luffa doing her thing and they all say “She can’t do that,” and then she does it harder.
Now that I think about it, I suppose the appeal to the character, and the thing that frustrates her so much, is that she’s just trying to be herself, but all these buttholes in the universe are outraged by it, and yet they just can’t stop her. They want her to die, or go away, or become something else, something they can accept, but she just refuses to do that, and she’s got the raw power to tell them all where they can shove it. This whole thing is my ham-fisted attempt to write a feminist allegory with Saiyans in it, and I’ll never be good enough to get it exactly right, but you know, it’s not as hard as I thought it would be. Along the way, some LBGT stuff started to get into the mix, and I thought “Well, I’m really in the deep end of the pool now.” I’m sorry if I got anything wrong, but I think I did okay. I’m not breaking any records, but I managed to avoid drowning, right?
Anyway, that’s why the Saiyans hate her guts, because all the Saiyans in DBZ resented Goku as being weak and worthless. Even when Goku surpassed Vegeta, Vegeta still thought he lacked the killer instinct to be a “““true”“““ Super Saiyan. Luffa’s got plenty of killer instinct, but the Saiyans hate her out of jealousy and fear. Vegeta accused Trunks of lying about being a Saiyan, because his hair wasn’t the right color. I wanted to make a whole population of Saiyans who would quibble over those kinds of details. “The stone the builders have rejected has become the capstone.”
This is also why I made the Saiyan King the main villain, because I wanted to echo Goku’s conflict with Vegeta, and King Vegeta’s conflict with Paragus and Broly. If there’s a Super Saiyan every thousand years, then what happens to the second strongest Saiyan whenever that day comes? Does he stand aside like John the Baptist, or does he refuse to accept the changing times?
The purpose of all of this was to explain why Vegeta remembers the legend of the Super Saiyan, but nothing about the person. Why doesn’t he know Luffa’s name, or what color her pants were? Because his ancestors hated her, and suppressed the parts of her story that they didn’t like. Even as Vegeta recalls what little he knows, he thinks “I never actually believed it.”
Okay, but Luffa had friends, right? Wouldn’t they have left a record for future generations? Well maybe, but how long would it take to fade into obscurity? And Luffa’s kind of a private person. Everyone in her inner circle avoided the spotlight. There’s a move about her, but it’s filled with wild inaccuracies. Eyewitnesses to her battles can only describe a glowing blur. Close-up footage just shows an irritable Saiyan woman with a strange dyejob. Most civilians find regular Saiyans to be pretty extraordinary as they are. A Super Saiyan doesn’t seem that much more impressive.
What you wind up with is this legacy of battles that were fought and won by a single, mighty warrior, but no one can agree on what that warrior was exactly. At some point, enough time passes where the Saiyans are willing to reclaim the legend. “Yeah, that guy had to be a Saiyan. Who else could do all those things?” But the things she stood for and learned along the way, that’s all lost.
I just didn’t think it’d take me 647,471 words to explain all of that. But now I can finally write the part with all the popular characters in it. Right now, my big problem is that I have to slap together a few more OC’s and I need to figure out just what the hell Towa’s deal is. The Dragon Ball Wiki attempts to explain whatever happens in those Dragon Ball Heroes games, but it doesn’t seem like they wrote any of it to fit a coherent narrative. I’d like to use as much official Demon Realm lore as possible, if only because that’s what Towa and Demigra’s fans would be familiar with, but I’m not sure how this is going to look. I mean, they’re gonna get an ass-whoopin’, I know that part, but I’d like to flesh out their characters before the beating starts.
Anyway, I got my work cut out for me. But at least the soundtrack will be epic.
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#luffastuff#get lost orange crayons#yellow is so much better than orange#like#i know colors can't fight#but if they could#*if they could*#i'm pretty sure yellow could kick the shit out of orange#like if a lady wearing yellow fought a dude in orange he'd probably get wrecked#i think you see where i'm going with this train of thought#yajirobe and gt bulma are in deep trouble#wait
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S1E7: The Beauties and the Beasts
I type these as I watch; bonus points if you spot the scenes that made me hit caps lock.
-- welp, time to meet the king of Lusitania
-- welp, the king of Lusitania appears to be a spoiled prissy baby
-- wait, Mask Scumbag is a 'Guest General'? so...a mercenary? he's got his own plans and he's gonna fuck everybody up.
-- so, King Angryfists has always been a greedy, murderin' dickbag?
-- Guiscard radiates stress and the king of Lusitania is fucking unbearable. Guiscard, you should get Mask Scumbag to kill him.
-- Mask Scumbag is a fucking mage, i’m calling it. the fog was "the work of god"? i don't buy that for a minute, you weaselly fuck.
-- OH?! IT'S THE KID FROM THE FIRST EPISODE?
-- Kharlan, you better have a reeaaaaallly good reason for turning traitor. I want to believe you had a good reason, because now nobody trusts you.
-- yes, Golden-Eyes Boy, go find the Prince, let's get this inevitable confrontation MOVING
-- Elam, you make a pretty girl. the soldier is fooled, but I recognize your eyes.
-- YEAAAAAH ELAM, kickin’ BUTTS. we respect Elam in this house.
-- Étoile, you’re very brave and committed to your principles, but not amazing at planning, huh buddy?
-- Narsus is schemey in the best way. i don’t think he can get through breakfast without sowing political intrigue.
Hot Bard: oh hey, soldiers, I better lay low Hot Bard 2 seconds later: GOD SHE'S HOT, I'M GOING IN
-- she should smack him -- Hot Bard, you're barking up the wrong tree. Farangis has zero time for your shit. i bet you don't even know what Mithra is. -- oh, Hot Bard has a name -- where do i know Gieve's voice from, it's been bugging the shit out of me this whole time. fuckit, i'm gonna imdb it.
-- OH MY GOD HOT BARD IS VICTOR NIKIFOROV AND I'M DECEASED. it’s not fair, it’s just not fair, i will have to tie my boner to my leg if i ever want to go out in public again
-- i'd love to see a named lady character without a ridiculous boob window in her dress, but i'm not getting my hopes up
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Evie’s and Doug’s relationship develops the best, Pt. 1
Why do people hate Doug and his relationship with Evie so much?
I honestly don’t get it. Out of all the relationships, that one, hands down, actually develops the best.
Let’s start with the very first Descendants (Please confirm with me, however, that the events of the first movie span ONE month only), the introduction to both as characters and their start as a couple.
Take Evie first…
A vain, flirty, one-track mind wannabe-princess who was bred by her mother to be a spineless trophy wife to a prince. ANY prince. So spineless to the point where she tries to act dumb and highlights her cooking, sewing and cleaning abilities, thinking that this is what a prince could ever want. That there is no other reason anybody would ever want her.
Now Doug...
Insecure, somewhat (but not painfully) shy, scrawny and nerdy sidekick offspring. A commoner that is not even considered “good looking” by Disney’s princes standards. Son of a side kick, and not the smartest one at that, living with the kids of kings, queens, fairies and powerful magic-wielding beings. That must have added to his insecurities, being viewed as “less”. Even if he was friends with them, because he was.
He seemed to be the most welcoming and the least afraid (and reluctant) of all the AKs, except for Ben. But let’s take Ben out of the equation, its his proclamation, his decision and his passion project. But hey, Ben trusted and assigned Doug to be their guide to the school, that counts for them being friends and Doug being trusted by the future king. Friendship points right here.
And Evie… Well, he had his eyes on her from the start, blown away, admittedly, by her beauty and only her beauty at first. And that didn’t change when she introduced herself to be the Evil Queen’s daughter.
Out of all the different couples that Descendants have included (Mal/Ben, Carlos/Jane, Audrey/Jay, Lonnie/Jay), Doug and Evie are the only ones who can be considered direct enemies. He overlooked that, it didn’t even register to him, I guess. Which makes for a lot of very great hypothetical reactions from his parents/family to him possibly having feelings for their enemy’s daughter.
But as shallow as that was in the beginning, it wasn’t her beauty that kept Doug under Evie’s spell. But more about that later on.
Now, one thing I always respect about Doug is his protectiveness over her. He had her back a few times throughout the first movie alone. On introducing Chad jerkface Charming to her, he made a point to point out that while Chad inherited the charm, he didn’t inherit a lot of their there. Which could mean a lot of different things, I’ll give you that. But I’ll narrow it down to two traits, the first is Chad not being… bright. The second, I’d reckon, is Chad not being the nicest guy around, far away from Auradon’s straight and narrow norms.
Then the very next Evie-related scene, Chad is blatantly attempting to take advantage of her and she’s ignorantly letting him. While her ignorance is excused by the upbringing, Chad’s behavior is not. So, technically, Doug was looking out for her.
In correlation with the same two scenes, Doug saw the note Evie received from Chad, asking her to meet him under the bleachers. That visibly left Doug in a sour mood.
His next action was showing up to their meeting point to ask her out. After admitting he was technically stalking her. Sidekick offspring got balls; I’ll give him that.
While his advances were not exactly rejected, they were not welcomed either. Skipping game day, their next interaction takes places at the next Chemistry exam (BTW, what kind of school has an exam the day right after a big game? The announcer said the Auradon Knights were winning back the trophy, this is a final game of some sort.).
So any way, the next two scenes are basically what establish Evie and Doug as a couple, making her see him in a new light, if you will. Sappy as hell, but I loved it.
Yeah, so, Doug stands up for Evie after Chad jerkface Charming steals her magic mirror and turns it in because she was using it to cheat (which she totally was, but that’s not the point).
I hope you are seeing what I am seeing.
Yeah, I do mean Evie’s complete confusion over anyone standing up to defend her. Particularly, an AK, the supposed enemy. Especially Doug, the person she just blew off two days ago. She obviously isn’t used to people sticking up for her, seeing the good in her that she wasn’t even sure was there, acknowledging her intelligence and gambling her entire stay in Auradon on it.
He believed in her so much, so completely, so BLINDLY and in so little time. He believed in her smarts before she, herself, recognized she was all that. When she said that maybe for the first time, she felt she was more than a pretty face, he replied “A shocker, huh?”. He knew. Then she started to trust him and be somewhat affectionate towards him, telling him he was great [in there]. He suggested getting together to study and she almost spoke over him, eager to do so and excited for it. She was genuinely happy and for, maybe, the first time; her happiness was caused by someone outside of her inner circle.
Presumably a few days (weeks? I mean it’s the day right before the coronation) later, the crisis that was family day occurred. Now, let’s break that down.
In the Be Our Guest number, Doug is included. Ben flicks something off his shoulders, Chad grins at them both in idiotic happiness and… Jane is not included in the number. So, Doug is actually in the AKs’ inner circle with the royals while Jane isn’t, opposing several theories that Jane and the rest of the AKs were friends before the VKs came along.
Anyway, the fact that Doug is supposedly close with Chad is important for the very next Evie/Doug interactions.
Now after Queen Leah freaked out, Chad went OFF. He had a few points of course, and Evie retaliated peacefully (well, as peacefully as it can get after Chad’s outburst) with an insult using the mirror, Chad pushed her hand away because he is a jerkface (as previously established), Jay got involved and Evie sprayed him with the sleeping potion meant for the limo driver.
And Chad fell straight into Doug’s arms.
See where I am going with this? Not yet? Okay, no problem, I’ll get to the point. A while later, when Ben is speaking to the VKs, Doug is seen pacing back and forth, visibly conflicted about the entire situation. And rightly so.
He attempts to apologize to Evie, she apologizes back acknowledging that is was indeed her fault, however Chad jerkface Charming interrupts them and peer-pressures Doug back to his side.
Now while that is questionable behavior by Doug, the earlier events have to be taken into consideration. To the AKs and to Doug, while Chad provoked the VKs, Evie had a SLEEPING POTION in her PURSE at a FAMILY EVENT. So, Doug’s actions are completely justified, there is a valid reason for the seed of doubt now to grow. He sits back at the AKs table, glances at Evie then looks away when she is shown to be visibly upset, pushing away her tray of food that she was only picking at anyway.
BUT they obviously made up somewhere between the coronation and the after party. They danced together and after the number they bowed to the king, then skipped into each other’s arms.
Now with these gifs below I rest my case for the first movie…
Bonus gif from rehearsals and I am legit mad this entire sequence got cut:
I also blame everything on Sofia Carson and her ability to be so lovable...
#disney descendants#descendants#descendants 2#descendants 3#evie#evie grimhilde#evie descendants#doug descendants#evie daughter of evil queen#doug son of dopey#devie#king ben#ben florian#character study#relationship analysis#sorta#Sofia Carson is everything#malvie are soul sisters#friendships are good too#this is not over#in this essay i will#power couple
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Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season Five
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-Greetings and thanks for joining me for my semi-annual coverage of marching through Star Trek: The Next Generation. Today I am covering season five (trailer) of the BluRay collection that I continue to ever-so-slowly progress through at one or two episodes a week. I started season five off in February and wrapped it up a couple days ago by watching at this rate. Part of the side effect of that was taking advantage of extended free trials of CBS All Access and binging through all of Picard and the first two seasons of Discovery within two months while keeping up with an episode or two a week of season five of TNG. There happens to be a couple episodes of this season of TNG that play a notable role in Picard, so the timing of it all gelling together was a lucky coincidence. I gave brief recaps of both Picard and Discovery in my annual TV season recap blog that can be found by click or pressing here. I apologize in advance for the questionable-in-quality pics in this entry from my ancient Samsung Galaxy S7 which makes it worth it to grab so many subtitle moments from this season! -The only notable cast change this season is the addition of Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes). She becomes a recurring character this season as someone who is essentially introduced as coming off work release after a court martial and working her way back into Starfleet in the lowest rack of Ensign and serves primarily at the helm of the bridge. Forbes is fantastic as Ro and she has a few landmark episodes this season with my favorite of hers being “The Next Phase” where Ro and Geordi (LeVar Burton) are de-moleculed and appear as ghosts to the rest of the ship who responds by throwing a funeral for them in the form of a Mardi Gras-esque party at Ten Forward. Forbes is absolutely sublime here in Ro’s pining curiosity at how Riker (Jonathon Frakes) will eulogize her.
-This was a big episode for other recurring characters this season too. That is kind of a big deal considering season five is the only season of the series without a Q (John de Lancie) episode. I like how they find new ways to bring back Denise Crosby, who was shown as a mysterious cliffhanger to the end of the two-part arc of “Redemption” that finished off season four. It picks up in a big way with how Denise Crosby’s new character is connected to Tasha, and how the Romulans get involved in the never-ending civil war of the Klingons that eventually has the gratifying conclusion of Worf winning back his honor among Klingons. Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) has her biggest role yet in the series this season in the two-parter “Time’s Arrow” that has the first part wrap-up season five where we discover the origin of Guinan in the 1890s as the Enterprise crew time travels back then and also encounters an antagonistic Mark Twain in an intriguing episode. Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) returns for two episodes this season. One is an oddball episode where all on the Enterprise but Wesley and Ensign Lefler (Ashley Judd) are mind controlled by a mysterious augmented reality game. The other episode is much better as Wesley and a few of his squad mates deliver prepared depositions as they are ruthlessly interrogated on the death of one of their peers. The annual Lwaxana (Majel Barrett) episode is about the expected chore to get through in her continued struggles to find a partner where she sets up an arranged marriage that is doomed from the beginning. Props to Chief O’Brien (Colm Meaney) having a kid this season! -Season five marks the addition of two major personal belongings to one Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). One is the iconic jacket he dons throughout most of the season. I have no idea yet if he wears it in the remaining seasons, but it is a slick jacket and gives him a space cowboy type of vibe to him! I bet it sold boatloads in merchandise! The other item is a special flute that is gifted to him in “The Inner Light” when Picard’s mind engages in a Inception-like lifetime of memories in the span of under a half hour where he experiences an all new culture and life. It is a delight of an episode I appreciate the more I reflect upon it. I later learned in the bonus interviews that this flute melody became a common occurrence at weddings.
-I want to make sure to give kudos to some of my other favorite episodes this season. I loved seeing Spock (Leonard Nimoy) finally make an appearance on TNG. At this point of the show, appearances from the core Original Series crew has been extremely rare and limited, but TNG gets the most out of Nimoy with him playing a major role in another two-part arc where Spock tries to reunite the Romulans back into the Federation of Planets. One of the top episodes this season is “Ethics” where an accident leaves Worf (Michael Dorn) paralyzed and according Klingon ritual must self-sacrifice himself for the greater good. This results in some of the best speeches of the season where Riker and Picard implore Worf to reconsider before Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) impresses with her surprisingly improving doctor skillset to resolve Worf’s paralysis. An episode that initially appears to have a silly premise, but I outright loved by the end is “Darmok.” Picard winds up stuck on an island with an individual of an undiscovered species that only speaks in metaphors. Picard is as baffled as me trying to decipher the metaphors at first, but gradually picks up on it and by the episode’s end forms a kindship with him as the duo team up against a new threat. “I, Borg” is an episode that plays into Picard later on that sees the Enterprise take in an injured Borg and give it the ability to have independent thought again.
A guilty pleasure TV theme of mine in recent years is the time loop episode theme in the form of Groundhog’s Day. Discovery had a terrific rendition of it in its second season. I was thrilled to see TNG do their version of a time loop episode in “Cause and Effect.” It has a banger of an opening that sees that Enterprise exploding and eventually the scenes start to repeat that sees the crew start to recognize their situation and attempt to find a way out of the time loop. I came to discover in the bonus interviews that this episode preceded Groundhog’s Day by nearly two years, and unlike that film and all the TV shows that have pay homage to it over the years, TNG plays it in a serious manner and not as a comedy, but the writing for it is so well done that it works and is pulled off in a way that had me invested until the end! -While there were a fair amount of standout episodes this season, I would be remiss if I were not to go this far and fail to mention there were several clunkers. Some of the ones I recommend skipping is where Riker falls for an androgynous being that has a non-committal ending and the episode plays out totally differently today than it was intended then. Another dud is where them dang Ferangi are up to no good again in failing to kidnap a seductive being that has a strong desire for Picard. The biggest abnormality this season is where according to my notes I surmised the episode as ‘imaginary friend comes to life, blargh!’ Trust me on that being all you need to know on the astutely titled episode, “Imaginary Friend.”
-I want to once again give a shoutout to the podcast, Star Trek: The Next Conversation. Hosts Andrew Secunda and Matt Mira breakdown every episode of TNG and help provide ample background, facts and insight with their analysis of each episode. Because of re-watching TNG and combined with their podcast I have been able to better pickup on countless TNG references in other TV shows and podcasts over these past couple years. Click or press here to give them a listen if you have not already. -There are nearly four and a half hours of extra features that are nicely spread out across all six discs. In addition, there are also four episodes that have commentary from cast and crew with one noteworthy highlight being Orville creator, Seth McFarlane guesting on the commentary for “Cause and Effect.” A lot of the bonus extra are carried over from the original DVDs, but like previous seasons there are a couple of new HD bonuses for the BluRay. Mission Overview deep dives into the production of a couple of my favorite episodes of the season, “Darmok” and Spok’s return in “Unification.” Tribute to Gene Roddenbury has clips of speeches from various Star Trek luminaries at a building dedication to Gene and has fond memories from the cast and crew of Gene. Intergalactic Guest Stars interviews many of the aforementioned recurring characters on why they keep coming back on.
These next two are new HD bonuses for the BluRay. The Music of TNG is an in-depth 75 minute discussion with three composers from the series that I truly appreciated hearing the composers dissect some of the most memorable scores and melodies of TNG history. Finally, Requiem is a two part, hour long look about writing the controversial conflicts that have been touched on throughout the run of TNG, and also has additional tributes and testimonials on Gene Roddenbury. Both are excellent thorough takes on both subject matters, and if you dig bonus features as much as I do, then I highly recommend both of them! -Season five of The Next Generation continues the success of seasons three and four. I would only mark it a notch under those two strong seasons because there seems to be a few weaker episodes this season than in the previous two. I gathered from the bonus interviews that it seemed that this season tried to go all out exploring new conflicts and themes, and sometimes it worked exceptionally well in the cause of “Cause and Effect” but other times it worked against them a few more times than usual this season. Overall though I would still rank this in the upper tier of TNG season and hope to see the final two season keep up this high bar of quality.
Past TV/Web Series Blogs 2013-14 TV Season Recap 2014-15 TV Season Recap 2015-16 TV Season Recap 2016-17 TV Season Recap 2017-18 TV Season Recap 2018-19 TV Season Recap 2019-20 TV Season Recap Adventures of Briscoe County Jr: The Complete Series Baseball: A Ken Burns series Angry Videogame Nerd Home Video Collections Cobra Kai – Seasons 1-2 Mortal Kombat: Legacy - Season 1 | Season 2 OJ: Made in America: 30 for 30 RedvsBlue - Seasons 1-13 Roseanne – Seasons 1-9 Seinfeld - Final Season Star Trek: Next Generation – Seasons 1-7 Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle Superheroes: Pioneers of Television The Vietnam War: A Ken Burns series X-Men – The Animated Series: Volumes 4-5
#star trek#star trek the next generation#Patrick Stewart#jonathan frakes#gates mcfadden#Marina Sirtis#levar burton#Wil Wheaton#Leonard Nimoy#whoopi goldberg#Michael Dorn#Ashley Judd
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@zelotae said :
👫 for Luna~ You can also chuck Anton in as a bonus if you got any!
Send a 👫and I’ll write four headcanons I have about our muse’s relationship.
oh mars, ye of little faith agfsghgfjh--
After Zelos has been introduced to the main household (i.e. Anton and the three hellhounds Grear will come later), Luna considers Zelos as someone under the veil of her protection, if only by his own strength of character and association. She will never admit this out loud, of course; but she grants so few people permission to enter her home as a guest that she sees it as bestowing him an honor. Not that she gives it freely from the kindness of her own heart, no - but in the interest of preserving a worthwhile asset that she has temporarily acquired.
Anton is more relaxed and open with Zelos after their first introductory sit-down, and after spending some time together Zelos sees just how monumentally different his and Luna’s personalities are when put up against one another; one a cheerful, bombastic teen with too much energy to spare and a love of piano, and the other a calm, demure, slightly terrifying demoness with a penchant for power and manipulating the upper class. Zelos sees firsthand just how the two of them bounce off one another in their day-to-day life, both the good and the bad, and begins to realize they have this sort of unspoken balance and symbiotic relationship in spite of their differences, and surprisingly help keep each other grounded.
Anton and Zelos run into each other on the street from time to time, where one day Zelos happens to find Anton with a group of fans huddling around him and asking for his autograph. Anton doesn’t like to purposefully draw attention to the fact that he is an active pianist with a small following, but sometimes his fans will recognize him in passing and politely ask for an autograph or even the occasional selfie. And most of his more dedicated fans are in fact women, both young and old, of which Anton treats them all with the same level of decency and respect when answering questions and so forth. Anton is definitely not the playboy type looking to walk away with a girl on each arm, unlike possibly Zelos... and Zelos can do whatever with that information as he sees fit.
Some day down the line, Zelos will meet Grear, and chances are it will get ugly. Grear is even less trusting than Archimedes, and for an imp is even louder and more obnoxious to boot - and will put up fisticuffs while shouting unintelligible drivel and profanity in a thick, Scottish accent. Case in point, their first meeting will probably go along the lines of something like this. But after Luna knocks her down a few pegs and puts her in her place, she’ll calm down... eventually.
#❛ headcanons. ﹙Luna﹚#❛ headcanons. ﹙Anton﹚#❛ headcanons. ﹙Grear﹚#zelotae#❝ two black eyes from loving too hard & a black heart that matches your blackest soul.﹙v : main﹚#long post cw.#here u go mars#ur wish is my command
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