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residentlesbrarian · 3 years ago

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The Fourth Book I Read In the Dark: Of Expectations and Other Relatabilities

Of Gryphons and Other Monsters by Shannon McGee

Hey, guys, sooooo...this is aaaawwwkward. I wrote 95% of this review when I wrote the other Books I Read in the Dark series for the blog, but the ADHD hit me and COVID was still you know...a thing! So I am gonna post this review, finished of course, OH, but also pay extra close attention to the conclusion alright! Hmm...this is a bit like a time capsule...here are my concentrated thoughts from 6 months ago while I was slightly delirious on books and darkness. So go forth and uh yeah this one is...you can just feel the feral “I haven’t had access to proper internet so I’ve been curled in the corner like Gollum with my books” energy coming off it so...enjoy?

Okay, so yeah, I really didn’t have a reason to end my last review that way I just wanted to, so sue me for injecting a little excitement into a series of posts about me literally sitting in my house reading nonstop for 2 ½ days, my reviews my rules. Back to manufacturing my own excitement shall we!

It’s Day 2! I’ve just finished my last library book, whatever will I do! I could always reread The Neverending Story for the 1,273rd time, but I have a need. A need for GAY! I rack my brain, there has to be a solution. My town is without power, my local library won’t be open, but then it hits me. It’s so simple! It’s meant to be really! Like the universe knew this was coming and it made sure I was prepared! Like a prepper stockpiling mental SPAM for my stimulus needing ADHD riddled brain! I have an entire shelf of books that I haven’t read yet! Way back in Clexacon 2019 my best friend (Lookin at you @justalifelongphase) gave me way too much money from missed birthdays and Christmases all at once before the con started because the world has deemed it impossible for us to live geographically close to one another. Anyway, I went a little book-buying-crazy and have not had the time or opportunity to read any of them since then. Their time has finally come!

I figured after going full whimsy with The Lost Coast and sci-fi superhero with Dreadnought and Sovereign why not take a dip into more traditional fantasy, also this one was first in line on the shelf, yay for not having to actually make a decision! No more dawdling, let's get right into the review!

Unicorn Rating:

Blurb: Taryn always loves and hates gryphon season. She finds the lesser gryphons more cute than anything but the ever present fear that a greater gryphon might be just out of sight is terrifying, and this gryphon season proves to be the one that will change her and her families lives forever! Just let a girl herd her sheep in peace!

Disclaimer: I will try my best to not spoil anything from the book, but my book loving rambles may give more away than a traditional review. Here we go! Ramble time!

Review:

I genuinely enjoyed this book. It took me a bit longer to get through it than the others, but I think that was a combination of three things: A. I was starting to feel the fatigue of reading so much in such a short amount of time. B. Our local Wal Mart had power restored on Day 3 and our entire household went on a trip to buy non-perishable food stuffs and I was like a solitary confinement prisoner being let out into the yard for the first time in months when my phone picked up a wifi signal and it was a bit hard to get back into the swing of reading after talking to other humans, even virtually, that weren’t imaginary or in my head. C. Our power was finally restored on the afternoon of Day 3 so yet again I was inundated with the draw of technology and all of my friend-os I hadn’t talked to, but the book had drawn me in enough I did the most unmillienial thing and left my phone in a different room to charge while I finished this book before going back to the land of technology and interwebs. That should tell you something.

McGee was able to write this story in a way that pulls you in so you care about what happens to these characters and this little mountain town. You learn just enough about the world to understand where they fit within the overall weave of it, but you aren’t given a Tolkein-esc dissertation on the world lore. I felt the worries and the fears. I was concerned when the routines had to change. I mean she made me care about the freaking sheep! Sheep, people! One of the reasons I think this works so well is we are so firmly rooted in the head of our protagonist, Taryn. Imma use that lovely bridge I just built to skip right on over the plot section of the review to get to the characters first, don’t worry we’ll circle back round to the plot. I always do, but I just wanna talk about my newest set of brain babies.

Taryn is a character that, if the title of this post is anything to go by, I found very very relatable. Now I know relatability can be pretty subjective, some people can latch onto something with the all consuming, “It me!” While others just stare on dead eyed not understanding the appeal. I feel like Taryn could be that kind of protagonist. You are either going to really relate to her or you won’t understand where she is coming from at all. I obviously fall in the former category. I was the quintessential middle child, still am really, though my relationship with my parents has shifted now that I’m an adult. More mutual respect and friendship than parent to child. I always did my best to pick up the slack, if ever there was any, and just tried my best to be as little of a burden as possible to my parents. I see so much of that aspect of myself in Taryn and how she sees her place at the farm and even in the town, she has her place and her role, but those expectations are heavy. One of those expectations being that she will inevitably get married and help take over the farm from her parents and have kids to continue the line. The fact she finds the lesser gryphons that flock near the farm far cuter than any of the local boys that she will eventually have to choose from to fulfill that inevitable expectation is just...sad at best and down right tragic at worst. And her family doesn’t help matters either. They won’t let her forget that she will have to settle down with one of these local boys, a boy who would make a good husband and take good care of her and the farm. She knows that, logically, but she also wants to be in love, like her parents, and she just doesn’t feel like that for any of the boys in town. She doesn’t know how to make those two things line up. It’s a struggle between her head, the obligation of what she has to do, and her heart, what she really wants for her future, to be happy in doing what she has to do. Wow, I went off a little bit there, but this was my long winded way of saying I have never read a protagonist that really captured the utter confusion of being raised in a heteronormative environment without it being drenched in internalized homophobia and fear. Protagonists like this seem to always know something is off but just don’t have the words for it so they just hide it because they know it’s “different” and out of the norm, but Taryn is just livin’ her sheep herding life and ain’t got no time for these boy crazy fools. She knows her mom wants her to find a good boy to court her so she can marry someday but she’s still young. She’ll think about that tomorrow, and she just repeats that ad infinitum. The thought that maybe she doesn’t fancy any of the boys because well...girls...never even occurred to her. It's not how things are done in this small mountain town, not because of homophobia reasons, but just stubborn tradition reasons. We are even told there is a gay couple living in town who are staples in the overall dynamics in town, instrumental even, but the idea of having a lineage, being able to pass your land down is so ingrained no wonder poor Taryn was so in the dark about her own probable gayness till it slapped her in the face. As someone who was raised in a medium sized Oklahoma town...girl I feel you. I was 22 and in the middle of Appalacia, way up in the mountains for college when my gay awakening popped up and said “Hello!” Everything that never quite made sense in my life came into perfect clarity. Not quite what happened with Taryn, but the arrival of Aella surely helped, as pretty girls are want to do. Oh look a segue, good, cause I could talk about Taryn for literal hours and I’ve already gabbed about her too much for this review.

Aella, you smooth motherfucker. Like I wish I could possess a quarter of the smoothness that you do. Like I’m lucky to string sentences together around a pretty girl, but here you are just strutting about being the smoothest of smooth. Honestly, I just...I can’t with you Aella. On a serious note though Aella is a character that served as showing Taryn a glimpse at the world beyond her small mountain town, as much as she had no desire to leave, unlike her brother. Nope, sit down, we’ll get to you, Michael! Oh, we’ll get to you. She’s traveled and has stories from all over and she is fairly open about the fact that she only likes girls, but she doesn’t have land, responsibilities, and a family line to continue. She just gets to live her life the way she choses. And y’all know I am a sap for the hard dark characters that are totally softies underneath that rough exterior. I think Aella was a great foil to Taryn and great at showing her what she could have if she was willing to leave, to stretch what she was allowed to wish for, but of course the biggest issue with her wishing for anything was...Michael.

Michael was such an interesting character. I loved him. I hated him. I wanted to hug him. I wanted to punch him. Again as with the town and the people of the town I was so deep seated in Taryn’s head and feelings that her conflicted feelings about Michael and how he was acting became my feelings on the matter. Not enough to not separate a tad and see what was coming or at least try to predict it as I always do when reading, but emotionally I was right with Taryn the whole way. The one thing that really pushed Michael from just a character I was conflicted about to one I really wanna give a swift kick in the nads to, is that he knew. He knew all about Taryn’s absolute lack of romantic inclinations toward any of the boys in town and her doubts that she would ever find someone to love and marry to take over the farm. He was the only person she confided these fears in and he still selfishly followed his own pursuits with little regard to her or her worries. You sir, are a terrible brother and overall a shit human, so sit your ass down and shut your mouth.

The plot for this book was so embroiled with the characters and their journeys that I can’t talk on it much but the twists at the end and the final climax was very satisfying for me and left me excited to dig into the next book. Also something of note that I didn’t talk about in the character section cause I felt it was dragging on a touch, I really only talked in depth on our three biggest players but there is a very colorful cast of side characters ranging from Taryn’s nervous pony to the boy-who-cried-gryphon neighbor no one can stand to the troupe of hunters led by Aella’s mother to Taryn’s best friend Nia, all of whom play important parts in building that sense of caring about the people of this town and the town itself, which in turn made me deeply care about the outcome of the plot at the heart of the story. And the sheep! The god damn sheep!

One thing I do want to say before my final thoughts is that whoever designed the cover of this book in a genius because as I dug into the story I found myself constantly closing it to spout off about theories of what I thought was happening on the cover and what it all meant, I was kind of reader fatigue delirious for most of those theories but some of them I was right! I might have reenacted the Captain Holt “Vindication” gif IRL just because it felt too good not to. I just love when a “cool” cover turns out to be so much more than that once you’re “in the know”. So yeah, now y’all know to pay attention for that.

My final thoughts on this book are pretty positive. I can tell the author is building us toward so much more, hence the name of the series, Taryn’s Journey, and it feels like it. This is only the beginning and I honestly can’t wait to take the next steps with her.

Queer Wrap-up:

Hey it’s me from the future...present...whatever...so, this is when I stopped writing the review six months ago and there is a reason for that. I, kind of, agonized over what to rate this book on the scale. Multiple times having to call my brother and go back and forth just to then repeat the same arguments with myself as soon as I got off the phone. Now why was this such a hard terrible no good awful back and forth well...SPOILER WARNING...seriously anything past this point will be spoiling some character beats for the majority of the book...okay? We understand one another. DANGER ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE...or you know scroll on.

So, Taryn is never confirmed to be queer in the text of this book. Now you would have to be wearing the tightest hetero goggles in known history not to see the heavy HEAVY subtext saying THIS BITCH GAY! It’s basically a full grown elephant painted sparkly rainbow trying to hide behind a dead shrub aka not hiding at all. I so desperately wanted to give this book four of those darling unicorns but in this rare case I just don’t think I can justify it. We have a protagonist that is still figuring herself out, which is amazing that we get to see that and go on the journey with her. Some of the things Taryn does and thinks are queer coded as hell, especially if it involves Aella who is explicitly gay on the page, but Taryn herself never express whether she herself is queer. Which, fair, other really important and traumatizing things were going on and I love that about her as a character, she didn’t meet Aella and suddenly that was all she could think about. Aella, of course, is representation who I’m counting because even though she shows obvious interest (you smooth motherfucker) in Taryn she is so much more than just a love interest and her character isn’t just boiled down to her sexuality. Now in this wrap up I’m also including the doctor and his husband in the town. They are very minor characters but they give us interesting insights into the town and the people. They are accepted and treated well in town even if some do almost, pity isn’t the right word, but they seem sad that they won’t be able to have any kind of legacy or lineage. As I said in the review it’s not homophobia it’s being stuck in your ways and it’s an interesting take.

Links:

Shannon McGee Website

The Storygraph

Okay so this one is a bit of a mess. Pieces of it were written 6 months apart and most of it was written while I was kind of delirious but hey at least I can say it’s honest. I still stand by everything my past self wrote and I still really enjoy thinking and talking about this book and am excited for whenever I get around to reading the sequel to continue on Tayrn’s journey with her. This is a book I probably would never have known even existed without ClexaCon and trolling through artist alley for literally every table that had books on them. I guess, moral of the day is maybe you won’t just find great books on library shelves but on unassuming convention tables too and it never hurts to look. Trust me, I’m a lesbrarian.

Oh bet you thought this post was over. I did the sign off and everything but oh no no! I have some info and such to impart. I am WELL AWARE these reviews have been fairly inconsistent to down right sporadic. Well, this is just a little info dump letting you guys know I am gonna be putting up one more review after this one that I wrote ages ago and I mean AGES (think years, as in multiple) and just never got around to posting and then the old blog is probably gonna be going through a PLANNED dormancy while some pretty big stuff is coming down the pike. You may notice visual changes and other stuff before anything else is announced but just keep an eye out. To quote the Fates from Hercules, “It’s gonna be big!”

Okay now for the actual sign off, I got shit to do! No one look behind the curtain, it’s a surprise!

#Of Gryphons and Other Monsters #Shannon McGee #resident lesbrarian #3 unicorns #questioning girl #lesbian #heavy wlw romantic subtext #ya novel #ya fantasy #go to your local library #but wear a mask #and wash your hands #and stay 6 feet apart #be safe out there guys gals and nonbinary pals

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the-archxr · 5 years ago

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Can You Feel the Love Tonight? || S.H.

steve harrington x henderson!reader

Summary: Dustin, Steve and Robin have a good dynamic. It’s been that way for a while now. But now that you’re involved, well, let’s just say Dustin doesn’t quite know how to deal with that.

A/N: Okay so I know that the Lion King didn’t come out until ‘94, meaning the song Elton John released didn’t come out until then, however I was heavily inspired by rewatching the original Lion King and just recently watching the new Lion King (which I absolutely loved and cried majorly, by the way). This fic is based off of the version in the (1994 + 2019) movie and that whole dynamic because I’m Stranger Things and Disney trash. I highly recommend listening to either version of the song while reading this or prior cause idk it kind of put me in the romantic, wistful mood. Be prepared (hehe) cause this is some fluffy shit. Also I busted this out in a day, so here you are, babes x

Warnings: flustered Steve?? Jealous Dustin?? That’s pretty much it though

Song Inspo: Can You Feel the Love Tonight (The Lion King Soundtrack and Elton John)

•••••

“Unbelievable.” Dustin scoffs. “Un-fucking-believable!”

“Hey language, shitbird!” Robin scorns him from the driver’s seat.

“Sorry—I’m sorry, just...” The boy adjusts himself as best as possible to peer even more over the dash of Robin’s car. “Can you believe this?”

Dustin’s voice goes up a few octaves as he turns a crazed eye to his friend. Robin simply stares back at him with a rather disinterested expression.

It isn’t until Dustin let’s out another scoff and overly dramatic roll of his eyes that they stop staring at each other. But then again, Robin knew he wouldn’t be able to resist staring at their two friends in the restaurant for long.

Robin takes note of Dustin’s face, and she can’t help but shake her head in amusement. It was a nice evening, families and couples were walking around or into the diner that they were parked only a stones throw away from. Outside of her car, the atmosphere was gentle and calm, but inside the car, it was intense, humourous (on her side) and frustrating.

The stark difference in environments only added to Dustin’s annoyance and tension that she was sure would boil over soon like heated milk.

Dustin yanks the binoculars off of his neck and raises them in front of his eyes as he fiddles around with the eye pieces. “I mean...she literally just got back!” She literally just got back and now her and Steve are having fun. Without him.

She doesn’t even know him that well.

“Yeah, like a week ago.” Robin intervenes.

“Still!”

Robin looks over at her friend and rolls her eyes, beginning to play with the stereo in an attempt to relieve herself of boredom. “Why can’t we just go home, kid? I mean, they’re not hurting anyone.”

“Yes, they are!” Dustin had enunciated every syllable in pursuit of communicating to his friend that this whole situation, ultimately, was a mistake. “Robin, she’s literally ruining our entire dynamic!”

Robin leans back into the squeaky old seat even more, turning her gaze to the tacky carpeted roof of her tacky car. “She’s your sister, dude. Take a chill pill... I mean, aren’t you happy she’s back?” Robin finally turns to her comrade, still lying back however to broadcast to the kid that she was tired and didn’t care about the date occurring before them.

Dustin sighs and places his two fingers on the bridge of his nose. “Of course I am, Robin but like—seriously?!”

Robin notes that the almost-teenagers attention span runs shorter than that of a goldfish. But she humours him anyway and turns to what Dustin continues to be spastic about.

Dustin makes the scene before them out to be like a traumatic, vomit-inducing nightmare. If anything, however, the scene before the pair is actually kind of nice. Romantic, even.

And even with Robin pointing that out to him, Dustin continues to determine the display of affections as traumatic and vomit-inducing.

When Y/N came home from New York last week, the first thing Dustin did was take her to the video store where he wanted to join up his three favourite people in friendship. Because that’s as far as it was supposed to go.

He wanted Y/N to be friends with Robin and Steve, but not to be super close. Afterall, they were his friends. The three of them were a trio long before Y/N even mentioned coming home. The state of elite hierarchy among their group of friends was supposed to always be there with them. Not her.

It was Steve, Robin and himself that hung out on Friday nights and watched cheesy horror films. It was the three of them that went out for milkshakes. It was the three of them that went to the arcade.

But ever since he excitedly introduced his sister to Steve it was all of a sudden Y/N this and Steve that. Steve would always ask about Y/N, and Y/N would always ask about Steve. And, to top it all off, they even used the same tactic of hiding their rampant questions with the idea of it being meaningless curiosity.

They’re both idiots. But they’re idiots that should’ve always stayed fifty feet apart.

At first, the consistent inquiries were found to be harmless by Dustin. Yes, they were a little annoying. But harmless.

Everything was perfectly fine.

Until yesterday, when Steve Harrington (Dustin’s supposedly loyal mentor, advisor and comrade) asked his sister—Y/N Henderson out to dinner right in front of Dustin’s face.

To say Dustin was furious would be an understatement.

So, Dustin Henderson felt he had to do what he does best. Investigate. (With the intent of destroying.)

Thus, the situation Robin and Dustin are currently in.

Robin ultimately tried to decide against being there. Afterall, the dingus had actually gotten a point on the “you rule” side; and even though Steve’s flirting hasn’t improved, Y/N and him do seem to really like each other. For once, Steve “the Hair” Harrington wasn’t being an idiot. And (even though she’d never admit it) she was actually excited for both of them.

But Dustin wasn’t.

Dustin wasn’t at all.

Although Robin had desperately tried to convince her child friend not to do anything to compromise Steve and Y/N’s situation and to let the two have their space, Dustin still showed up on her doorstep with binoculars and a backpack muttering something along the lines of spycraft.

After mauling through her thoughts for a few moments Robin perked up. “Dustin,” she began.

The boy let the binoculars he had been gripping so tightly fall aimlessly against his chest. And although Dustin’s head was turned to Robin’s in complete annoyance, he was still listening.

For the first time that evening Dustin was actually paying attention to her, so Robin knew she had to make this quick. Thankfully though, Robin decided to actually refer to the boy by his name and not some random thing she came up with on the spot that may or may not have been mildly insulting. Rarely did she use his actual name, so when she did he knew he had to listen because she was being serious.

“I want to know, and you have to be completely honest with me...” He doesn’t nod, but he raises his eyebrows, which is enough of a response for her. Robin readjusts herself in the seat (although there isn’t much room to do that). “Why are you so against...that?” Robin waves her hand in front of her, signaling to the two smiling people tucked away in a corner booth.

Dustin pauses, and, for a moment feels as though he’s about to break. As he takes a glimpse at the setting sun and the soft glow exuding from the diners large windows—the windows that delicately outline the countless people who are smiling and genuinely having fun—Dustin does feel the slightest inkling of guilt about his position. But more importantly, he feels out of place. He feels a bit embarrassed and he knows that—

No!

That’s not why he’s here.

He’s here because they shouldn’t be here.

With a quick moment of rememberance for his previous intentions and the point of this operation Dustin ignores Robin’s statement and picks up the binoculars, zooming in on his target.

However his mind can’t help but register what Robin had said, and oddly he feels offended. Disasters in the air and Dustin wonders as to how Robin can’t possibly comprehend that.

She’s supposed to be on his side. Not theirs.

The binoculars he had picked up only a moment ago were once again let go of so he could start making wild gestures at Robin. “How can you not be against it?!”

“It’s sweet—“

“It’s bullshit.” Dustin’s body is now slightly leaning over the centre console as he stares Robin dead in her eyes. “Can’t you see what’s happening, Robin?”

Robin (being the literal smartass she is) responds. “Yeah, it’s two people who are attracted to each other enjoying a nice dinner.”

Dustin groans and roughly drags his hand down his face. He then slaps his hand on the dashboard. “Yeah, but guess what?! One date leads to two dates. Two dates leads to three. And eventually the more dates they have the more official they will become. Then they’ll start calling each honey and sweetie, and then they’ll move in together and then they’re gonna’ get married and have a shit ton of babies and I’ll be alone.”

Robin’s eyes widen at the knowledge of the boys confession. However, she isn’t sure he fully realizes what he confessed to because Dustin continues with his animated rant.

He feels the tone of his voice go down respectively, but not so much so that it disregards his conclusion. “The bottom line, Robin, is that they’ll fall in love, and our trio is down to two. Dos, Robin. Dos people. You. And me.” He jabs at the air between them. “And all of this bullshit will happen while Steven over there swaps spit with my sister.”

Robin laughs heartily at the words that leave Dustin’s mouth.

He turns to her in shock, mouth slightly open, and eyes squinted. He feels his baseball cap ever so slightly shifting lower on his head but quite frankly he doesn’t care about that at the moment.

“You think this is funny.” It’s more of a statement than a question, but it is just as aggressive with the same amount of frustration laced within the inflection of his voice.

Robin cackles and leans backward in her seat. Her seat squeaks again, therefore making Robin laugh even harder. The whole situation—she finds—is just too trippy and she knows it probably looks absolutely ridiculous.

Dustin shakes his head and crosses his arms in exasperation. He doesn’t understand why Robin is dying of laughter when there is a very prevalent and extreme issue at hand.

He snaps his head forward, his jaw and arms tightening in unison. His gaze travels up to the rear view mirror and he pauses...

Only for a moment though because he’s take a proper look at himself and he even admits he looks kind of funny. What with the huge pout gracing his mouth, his curly hair falling in his face and his arms crossed over his body so tight he just might cut off circulation.

But he won’t let anything distract him now. Not when—

“Shit!” He hurls up out of his seat and bangs his head on the roof of the car. His hand goes to the top of his head quickly, but it immediately retreats because oh my god, that cannot he happening!

“Hey, hey, watch the car!” Robin yells jokingly. She’s stopped giggling but she can feel the tight pressure in her cheeks and stomach from laughing. Robin lolls her head back, attempting to alleviate her giggly nature and get back on track.

Except she’s so focused on calming herself down that she doesn’t even notice that Dustin has opened the car door and has started walking towards the restaurant.

But when she does see him stomping in front of her car, his fists clenched, with the image of Y/N and Steve laughing, splitting a milkshake like the two cliche idiots they are, she lunges out of her seat, slams the door shut and runs after the fourteen year old.

He certainly walks fast, but she’s faster and thank god she is, because Dustin’s fingers are already wrapped around the silver handle.

Robin yanks Dustin by the collar of his vest and pulls him to the side, away from Steve and Y/N’s line of sight.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Dustin whispers angrily.

“Saving your ass!” She whispers back. She inhales deeply and smiles awkwardly at an older man that walked by them, eyeing the two strangely. She turned her attention back to Dustin, a softer look on her face. “Leave them be, Henderson.”

“No! I can’t let them—they can’t...” He runs out of breath and stops short when he sees himself in the glass window.

His reflection obstructs his perception of himself for a moment. And soon he’s actually studying himself. But...more importantly, he can see Steve and Y/N more clearly now. The two of them are in the furthest corner—the quietest and most reclusive part of the diner. He watches them sadly.

And then Steve’s arms are flailing everywhere. He’s telling Y/N a story; a funny one at that because she’s laughing hysterically. Dustin recognizes the way his sister tries to hide her loud cackles. She looks...happy. Genuinely happy. And so does Steve. And Dustin can’t help but see how good they look together.

His smile is faint until he looks at his reflection once again.

He looks like shit. There’s bags under his eyes; and as light as they were, they’re still there. He notices how tense and restrictive his body looks, provoking him to try and loosen up.

It’s hard.

But it isn’t even his fault.

It’s Steve Harrington and Y/N Henderson’s fault.

“It’s their fault!” He yells out loud suddenly. He feels defensive. He’s upset. Not even mad, just simply...upset. And he’s taking it out on Robin. Wow. What kind of friend is he? “It’s their fault because they just had to...you know...they just had to!”

“Had to what, Henderson?” Robin asks calmly.

She frowns slightly because her friend is clearly troubled by the notion of being left alone by not only his best friend and mentor, but by his sister too. She’s moved a little closer to him by now; her hand only gracing his forearm. She’s not used to showing sympathy (she’s never really been in a situation where she had to) so she hopes that this is enough.

“They had to go and—and...give in to that—that dumb sexual electricity bullshit.”

Robin sighs and tucks a few strands of hair behind her ears. The two of them are standing there completely still. The initial anger and frustration has died down and Robin can no longer feel the tension radiate off of her child friend. With a shaky huff he shies away from her hand and slumps against the side of the brick building, jaggedly sliding down to the ground.

“It’s just...everything’s...changing. Everything’s changing and this is just the universe trying to prove it to me.” Dustin wipes at the sudden wet streaks that line his cheeks. He didn’t even notice that he began crying, but it’s too late to hide it from Robin because she’s already sitting beside him, giving him her most sympathetic look manageable.

“Hey...” She nudges his foot with hers. “It sucks...I know. I felt the same way when I was your age, you know? Everything just changes around you, and it sucks ‘cause you can’t control it at all. You can’t slow it down or speed it up. It just...happens.”

She places her hand on Dustin’s and gives it a reassuring squeeze. “But it gets better in the end.” He nods slowly and softly. “Look dingus, Steve, Y/N, you and I are still gonna’ be the best of friends. We just...won’t be the three musketeers.” She looks at Dustin and the stains on his cheeks.

“Hey, you know what? We’ll be something even cooler! You can decide what our group name is, yeah?” She punches him softly in the arm.

Dustin sniffles but attempts a smile. “We’re still a team, Dustin... There just happens to be a new person. The groups larger now and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Even if you don’t like it now, train yourself to, because Harrington, he’s—he’s a good guy you know, and he really likes your sister. A lot. And I hate to be the one to break it to you kid, and I know it’s hard for you to understand, but...whatever’s goin’ on in there...” Robin tilts her head towards the door. “That’s not our decision. That’s theirs.”

Dustin smiles weakly. The two sit in silence for a few seconds. Then Dustin wipes at his nose, and sniffs. He takes a deep breath. “At least...it’s not...the worst decision.” Robin smiles with a slight shake of her head.

“See? Just look on the bright side of things.”

“She likes him a lot, too, you know. I read it in her diary. She thinks he has a cute butt and nice hair.” Robin laughs and wraps an arm around his shoulders.

The pair stand up and Robin guides them back to her car. “What do you say we go for ice cream, yeah? Kinda’ cool down. Relax a little.”

“Yeah, that—that sounds like a good idea.”

•••••

It was a beautiful night. The breeze that carried itself through Hawkins wasn’t too warm but wasn’t too cold either. The sun was in the midst of setting; the sky in transition between indigo and pale pink.

The sounds of crickets were melodic and delicate, and for once in your life they didn’t seem annoying. The lightning bugs that usually stay pretty dormant along in the bushes on the backroads were out in full force tonight; shining in all of their tiny glory.

The music from Steve’s stereo was soft. Loud enough to hear, but quiet enough to set a mood.

You felt like a child; giddy and weightless.

For some odd, inexplicable reason, the world tonight just seemed to work. You couldn’t tell if it was just sheer dumb luck, or if it was because what was happening between you and the boy next to you was meant to happen. Regardless of whatever higher power was working tonight, something out there seemed to understand. The universe around you seemed to understand.

The evening was peaceful, the atmosphere in Steve’s car was romantic and you’re positive that with all of this serenity, the world, and all of its living things couldn’t help but be in perfect harmony.

Bryan Adams voice gently moved in the space of Steve’s car. You could hear Steve begin to sing along and you felt your heart gently convulse with the butterflies in your stomach.

You look at him through the corner of your eye and you swear he isn’t real.

Honestly, how could someone who looks like that and is like that exist?

His soft brown eyes are focused on the road and you’re reminded of the fact that those eyes were staring at you all night. Steve is just so...beautiful. It’s simply unreal.

Your smiling like an idiot as you study him. You can feel it. You feel just as light and soft as the way his hair looks as it sways in the wind.

“Someone’s smiley.” Steve commented. You’re eyes widen as you snap back to reality. Your face grows hot. Your heartrate increases. Steve just caught you staring at him like a creep and you realize you couldn’t be anymore pathetic. But the second you see the curl of his lips and his eyes begin to smile at you, every negative thought you’ve had about whether or not you looked good enough tonight dissipated.

He’s an ethereal creature. And he’s looking at you the same way. He’s looking at you like you hung the stars and moon in the sky and you can’t think of anything else other than just kissing him. The only thing your body seems to know what to do though is smile.

But thats fine because Steve opens his mouth to speak, and you can feel yourself get lost in the tender tone of his words. “It’s okay, you know. I—I don’t mind.”

You laugh softly and make a measly attempt to cover your deepening blush with the sleeve of your sweater.

You somehow force yourself to look away and try to compose what little resolve you have left. But you’re still smiling.

And Steve from across the car is still smiling as well.

As you watch the brush fly past you, an unfamiliar warmth graces your fingertips that rest on the console.

Your head turns rather quickly to see what has just touched you and you come face-to-face with Steve’s red cheeks as his hand rests millimeters away from yours. “Can I—um...am—am I...allowed to, uh, h—hold your hand? Maybe?” Steve’s looking at you softly. You can’t function, so you don’t automatically respond. He turns to look at the dark road before him. The only place his eyes can be truly safe without giving all of his secrets away. “If you don’t want to that’s fine. That’s—that’s completely...fine. I—I don’t want to pressu—”

“Steve...” you whisper. You’re shocked that you can even speak because it honestly feels like you’re permanently breathless. You look directly in his eyes and relax your hand as your fingertips glide gently over his knuckles.

You feel his hand begin to shake slightly which calms down your nerves because he’s just as scared as you are.

There’s a reassuring feeling that sets itself within the cavity in your chest as your fingers intertwine with his. It’s a slow act; one that you both don’t want to jump into directly in fear of screwing it up. But in the end it works and it just feels so right and so magical.

You swear you have never felt this way in your entire life.

Steve’s hand feels exactly how you had imagined it countless times in the past couple of days.

Soft; pure; and breathtaking.

He feels the same way.

•••••

Steve pulls up in your driveway slowly. He doesn’t have to, but the closer to your house he gets, the closer you are to leaving and he’s not sure he’s prepared for that all.

The porch light is on and so is the living room light; confirming that Dustin has not yet went to bed.

Shit.

You frown as you suddenly try to figure out how you’re going to talk to him and what you’ll say. You knew he wasn’t too happy with the prospect of the date between you and Steve—he made that evidently clear. And you’d never admit it to him but it really hurt you a lot to know that you were hurting him. You thought he’d be overjoyed with the news but instead he became distant and moody.

But Steve had assured you that he’d talk to Dustin and the three of you would work it out. And from what you’ve seen of the close friendship between Dustin and Steve you knew if anyone could get through to your little brother, it was your date.

Steve opened the door for you and closed it once you got out.

You smoothed out your sweater (although there was nothing wrong with it) and you let your arms hang awkwardly at your sides. Whereas Steve shoved his one hand into the pocket of his jacket, and with the other one he hesitantly reached towards your hand that dangled outside of the sleeve of the thin white fabric.

He was nervous... Really fucking nervous.

But the way you easily accepted the embrace of his fingers made Steve feel as though he might pass out.

His heart felt like it was going to explode, and the fact that he damned himself by looking over to you smiling in the faint light emanating from the window...

God. He was an idiot. But...the thought that you might want him just as bad as he wants you; and that maybe one day, he gets to be your idiot made him weak in the knees.

Something he never thought could happen.

You looked even softer and prettier than you did earlier in the evening; which pained Steve because first of all, how could someone become increasingly more beautiful the more he looked at them; and how could he restrain himself from just holding your face and kissing you until the both of you could no longer breath?

“Well, this is me.” You say out loud, and curse yourself afterward because god, you sound so stupid.

“This is you.” Steve replies, sounding equally as stupid.

But, regardless of whether or not the both of you can talk doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you’re smiling at him with a sense of warmth and what he hopes is adoration. The realization that yes, for once he isn’t a screw up and he is finally going to get the girl causes him to shuffle closer to you.

The tips of your shoes are touching his and the butterflies begin erupting again because the act itself is small, yet whole-heartedly adorable.

Steve then takes his other hand and links it with yours. You try to hide the way your body is reacting to Steve holding both of your hands so intimately; but it’s proving itself to become increasingly more difficult when suddenly the two of you are inches away from each other. His warm breath fans over your face and you notice that all you have to do is just move your head forward a little more before you’re actually kissing him.

“I had a really good time tonight, Stevie.” He chuckles lightly at the use of his new nickname.

Coming from anyone else it would’ve sounded stupid, but since it’s coming from you, Steve feels as though he’s floating.

It isn’t a special nickname, but it feels similar to one because now it rests within him as a placeholder. You said it, and only you can say it from this moment on.

The feeling that he gets when you say, “Stevie” ignites a livid presence of emotion deep in his psyche.

“Me too.”

He’s falling. Hard.

And it’s becoming really fucking challenging because you are looking very beautiful. And you’re smiling at him. All wistful and delicate.

The lip gloss you had on refracts the light beside you lightly, enough to make your lips (the part of you that he’d been staring at for pretty much the entire night now) shine and stand out to him.

Oh, yeah.

He’s definitely falling.

“Are you two just going to stand there, or are you gonna’ get in the house already?” Dustin is standing in the open doorway, one hand on the door handle and the other on his hip.

He seems annoyed, which brings down your spirits a little.

Steve is attentive and picks up on your sadness. He frowns slightly, but tries to disguise it because he doesn’t want to make you anymore upset. Although the boy really, really wants to kiss you goodnight, he respects you and Dustin. He decides against it. For now, at least.

You let go of Steve’s hands, still smiling softly at him as you slowly step through the threshold of your house. “Goodnight, Steve.”

“‘Night, Y/N.” He replies with a soft grin.

You walk out of his line of sight, but you don’t leave. Instead, you quickly bound over to your couch, claw your way to the window and peel the edge of the white lace curtain away from the glass that you’re choosing to peek through. You stare at the boy who looks so gorgeous in the soft early moonlight that you swoon three times over.

The door closes, and you see Dustin (surprisingly) walking Steve to his car.

You watch the situation closely. It is as unintentionally comedic to you as it is nerve-wracking.

“Did you have fun?” Dustin asks Steve. Dustin is admittedly shocked when Steve looks him directly in the eye. Before the date, when Steve picked Y/N up, the poor boy wasn’t even able to meet Dustin’s gaze.

The date however went better than expected, and now that Steve knows he wants you (and he’s positive you want him back), he’s got all the confidence in the world prompting him to be willing to do anything. Steve smiles at his younger friend gently.

“Yeah. Yeah, I really did, Henderson.” Steve nods.

Dustin leans against the hood of the familiar BMW beside his best friend. He looks up at the older boy, the boy he had been looking up to for a good year now and he can see that Steve’s smiling more than he’s smiled in awhile.

A fragile breeze rolls by the two of them. The sun has officially gone down, making the ambient light around the two friends a pale gray and blue. Dustin can hear the recognizable cicadas humming all around. The empty night makes their sound even louder and more prominent, slightly knocking off the awkward edge between him and Steve.

Steve stirs making Dustin turn to him. He runs a hand quickly through his hair (a habit Dustin has noticed occurs a lot). Somehow, Steve’s dark hair bounces back in its original place without any effort at all.

“My sisters one hell of a girl, Harrington.” Dustin speaks up. Steve slightly moves his head to the side; enough so that he can see the knowing stare that his younger friend has painted on his face.

Steve nods shyly. “She definitely is.” Just mentioning you forces a smile on Steve’s features. He truly cannot control himself when around you.

And Dustin picks up on this. Steve’s really trying. You’re really trying. And maybe (Dustin figures) he can be a bit more lenient with the two of you.

The nights really doing something to him.

There are a few quiet moments that stretch by between the two boys. It isn’t awkward anymore, but it is filled with Dustin’s excessive pondering thoughts. His heads so full of them he feels like screaming in defeat into the quiet, dark night.

“Do you like her?”

Steve looks down at him. He’s not sure if Dustin stopped eyeing him up and down at one point; but this time around his friends face is softer. There’s something there, something hopeful. Something Steve hopes is forgiveness and acceptance.

“I really do.” Steve admits shyly.

He already knew that. Of course he knew Steve liked you. He made it blatantly obvious since day one.

Dustin sits comfortably in his own silence for a moment. Steve sits uncomfortably on the edge of anticipation and worry. There’s nothing silent about Steve’s thoughts at all.

“Well then...” Dustin begins. “The next time you see each other you better kiss her, alright?”

Dustin watches Steve cough and his eyes widen comically. He knows Steve is in complete shock, but Dustin soon grins, evoking a smile from his older friend.

“Just not in front of me though, alright? Or else I’ll kick your ass, Harrington.”

For once Steve’s mind is silent...

Until he mutters one word that carries itself with the wind. “Okay.”

Dustin nods once and reaches his hand out.

Steve smiles widely. He knows exactly what that means; it’s a sign of peace and a sign of approval.

Steve wraps his hand around Dustin’s and he quickly lets go signaling for the young boy to follow through with their infamous handshake. The two boys finish with partially silent lightsaber sounds that quickly escalate into booming, hearty laughter. Laughter so loud, even the night before them wasn’t ready for it.

“I still want you to pick me up tomorrow so we can go to the arcade.” Dustin jabs a finger at Steve teasingly. He pokes Steve in the centre of his chest causing the fluffy haired boy to swat away his finger. “Ten o’clock. Sharp. Better be on time, loverboy.”

“Yeah, yeah; I will... Thank you.” Steve finishes sincerely.

Dustin nods stoically, then turns to the window and sees your silhouette. You’re smiling at the two of them through the glass; the orange light behind forging a halo around your head. He suddenly grins and laughs gently.

Out of nowhere, Dustin’s arms wrap around Steve’s middle, and the older teen can’t help but hug him back with as much force.

He’s so goddamn happy.

As you watched the headlights of the familiar BMW drift off into the road, slowly bleeding and disappearing into the blue and gray hues of the forest and streets around your house, Dustin enters the house with a smile.

You turn to him expectantly. Your eyebrows are quirked up and your soft pink lip is tucked slightly beneath your teeth.

Dustin shakes his head with a soft sigh. “You two are gonna’ be the death of me, you know that right?”

Watching your face turn up into the biggest grin makes him smile equally as wide. He walks over to you quickly as you stand up and you tuck his head beneath yours.

You embrace your little brother tightly and earnestly. You place a delicate kiss to the top of the mess of curls on his head and he hugs you with even more strength.

Even with all of the nights uncertainties, somehow the world and all its living things, for once, truly did come together in perfect harmony.

1K notes · View notes

sugaabooga · 5 years ago

Text

A Familiar Hero | 2

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader

Genre: Fluff, Angst, spiderman!Jungkook, college!au, kinda f2l

Word Count: 4.7k

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: mentions of stitches, blood/wounds

Synopsis: With the occasional poor excuse of a girl, your best friend never seems to have time for you anymore. But maybe it’s related to the ever-increasing number of crimes and the reappearing superhero wearing the tacky red and blue suit, flying around the tall skyscrapers of Seoul.

“Y/N?”

Your face contorts in confusion, removing the phone away from your ear and looking at the caller ID which causes your eyes to nearly bulge out your sockets at the name.

“JUNGKOOK!?” you scream in surprise, fumbling with your phone and putting it up against your ear. “Jungkook!”

You hear a laugh on the other end that immediately makes you smile.

“Geez. I’ve never heard you call my name so excitedly,” Jungkook says, a smile obvious in his voice.

Your smile falls off your face, reminding yourself to calm down.

“I wonder why,” you say with an unintentional bite to your tone that makes Jungkook grimace.

After a brief second of silence, you regain a chirpier tone realizing that he might be drowning in guilt.

“I’m so-”

“Anyway, why’d you call?” you ask, unintentionally interrupting Jungkook’s apology.

After a brief pause, he continues. “Well. . . you’re done with classes for today, right?”

Your lips twitches, your mind jumping to conclusions at his simple question. You again remind yourself to not sound too enthusiastic before answering Jungkook.

“Hm. . . yeah, I am,” you try to say with little emotion, terribly failing and sounding way too excited.

You hear a slight laugh from Jungkook before he suppresses it. “Good. Let’s celebrate the end of the day with some food.”

“Pfft,” you laugh.

“Why are you laughing?” you can nearly hear Jungkook’s pout in his voice.

“Because,” you say. “It’s just another normal day. What’s there to celebrate?”

“Celebrate the fact that we’re alive another day,” he responds as if it were the most normal and obvious answer.

“I guess,” you mutter, mindlessly swinging your legs under the library table.

“Whatever,” he scoffs. “Should we go to Benny’s Place for dinner?”

You nod, then hum in response once you realize he couldn’t see you.

“See you at 6,” Jungkook says with a weirdly soft voice and hangs up.

“See you,” you whisper, despite the fact that he wouldn’t hear you.

Six o'clock. You hope he shows up.

“Why’s the food taking so long today?” you sigh with impatience.

To your surprise, Jungkook was the one who actually arrived earlier than you at Bennys. When you saw him scrolling through his phone while sipping on some water, you couldn’t help but grin and yell a greeting as you bust through the door.

“Right?” Jungkook agrees, briefly looking around the restaurant. “But. . . it doesn’t seem like anyone else got their food either.”

You squint your eyes suspiciously at the other people around you who were also impatiently waiting around. A family of four were getting up from their seats, the mom visibly frustrated, the dad indifferent, the younger boy whining and the older one with a deadly look on her face.

Interesting family dynamic, you note.

Over in the middle, there were two pairs of couples. The one by the corner looked quite sad. The woman was sighing, fiddling with her straw as the man in front of her was blatantly smiling down at his lit-up phone.

The other was much younger. They looked like high school students who were just beginning to date. You watch with a smile as they giggle at each other, obviously in their own little world, too infatuated with each other to have awareness of their surroundings.

Jungkook glances up at you as you observe the people sitting around. He can’t help but grin at how you looked as if you were drawing out each and every person’s life story in your brain.

Seeing a glimpse of Jungkook’s bunny teeth, you whip your head around and make startling eye contact with him.

Jungkook sputters out water, not expecting you to turn around so quickly.

You laugh as you reach for the napkin holder and pluck out the cheap, non-absorbant napkins.

“Are you okay?” you ask between laughs, unable to wipe the silly grin off your face.

Jungkook nods, letting out a breathy laugh. “Sorry. Your face scared me.”

You playfully scoff at his teasing smile. “Why? Too beautiful for you?”

Jungkook rolls his eyes despite the blush coming up his cheeks. “It’s blinding.”

You giggle as he plays along.

“Your ugliness,” he finishes with a short laugh.

“Hey!,” you softly shout in a scolding tone, grabbing your straw to flick some water at him.

You stick out your tongue as Jungkook yelps over dramatically.

At that moment, Jungkook’s phone lights up with a text message. You don’t mean to pry as your eyes automatically flit towards the light nearly finishing reading the caller ID, but it’s gone from your view.

Jungkook grabs his phone, almost frantically, shooting you an awkward smile before his eyes scan the text.

You grow slightly nervous at the exceedingly grim expression Jungkook’s smile was turning into.

“Is something wrong?” you ask, unable to hide the disappointment in your tone.

Jungkook winces at your voice, knowing that you knew and were expecting him to bail out. “Uh. . .”

You look at him expectantly as Jungkook gulps and heaves out a sigh.

You let out a laugh in disbelief. “Kook. Just go.”

Jungkook’s eyes widen in guilt. “What?”

“Go wherever you go whenever you bail during our hangouts.”

Jungkook face contorts with conflict. “Y/N. I’m-”

“I know you’re sorry,” you say sharply. “I don’t need your apologies anymore. I don’t need any excuses. Whatever’s going on with you, I don’t want to hear it because obviously I’m not worth it to know from the beginning.”

“No. Y/N,” Jungkook desperately tries to meet your eyes. “It’s not like that.”

You bury your head into your hands. “Just go, Jungkook. To Nari or to Tae, I don’t know. Just go.”

After a few moments of silence, you timidly look up, watching Jungkook’s eyes critically scan his phone and sigh with a deep frown.

Feeling your stare, he looks up, eyes immediately softening at the sight of you slightly slumped over in disappointment.

“Y/N, I’m so sorry,” Jungkook says with such sincerity that it takes you aback. “I promise I’ll make it up to you. Just. . . Stay here for like ten minutes?”

Yes. It was fine. He must have a good reason to leave. You recall the brief interaction you had with Spiderman about a week ago. Maybe Jungkook had a really good reason like Spiderman did that he couldn’t tell you.

“Okay,” you nod with a shaky exhale. “I’ll wait.”

Jungkook briefly smiles, feeling a rush of relief at your reply.

“Only ten minutes,” you state firmly, crossing your arms across your chest as Jungkook frantically nods, quickly rushing out the booth and stumbling out the door.

You sigh, ready to depressingly stuff your face with fries (if your order ever got to you), then get an idea.

Why not just follow him out?

Was it an invasion of privacy?

For your own sake, you shake that thought out of your head and decide quite recklessly that you were going to see what the hell Jeon Jungkook was up to for the past few months.

In fear of losing him, you whip out some bills to cover for the labor charge of the waiter getting water for the two of you, swinging your bag over your shoulder. You run out the doors of Benny’s and look around down the sidewalk. You quickly spot Jungkook as he turned a corner down the left sidewalk.

Good thing he hadn’t gone very far, you think with relief as you break into a run after his shadow.

You pant as you start to turn the corner and face a dead end.

Geez. You were completely out of shape.

You look around the short and narrow alleyway that’s blocked by a whole wall of bricks.

“Jungkook?” you call out, confused. There was no way he just disappeared. There was nowhere to go.

Swish.

You whip around at the noise to face the city’s superhero, once again.

Spiderman.

“AH!” you yelp, jolting back at the sudden sight of the contracting eyes on Spiderman’s suit.

“L-Lady,” Spiderman stammers, shocked. “What are you doing here?”

You stutter, trying to compose your figure by briefly combing through your hair and straightening your wrinkled shirt. “I thought. . . I thought I saw my friend running in here.”

You trail off, taking the short time to observe the man in front of you. He seemed to be similar to Jungkook’s height. No, he was Jungkook’s height. He had the same broad, built form, and the way he was standing was quite too similar to the kid you called your best friend.

A loud siren sounds from the distance, making Spiderman’s head whip around in alarm.

“Hey uh,” he states, starting to run out of the alley. “I’ll see you later, but for now, go back into Bennys. It’s not safe on the streets at this time.”

Your foot moves forward on instinct, hand reaching out as if you were about to stop him but as usual, Spiderman swings up into the air, webs shooting out of his suit and taking him off to save another damsel in distress.

Huh. Weird. His voice sounds so similar to Jungkook’s.

There was no way, you gulp, toying with the idea of Jungkook being Spiderman.

How? Why?

If he was Spiderman, that would explain the several times Jungkook had to abruptly leave during a hangout and why he was so tired all the time.

You groan, the complicated thoughts hurting your head and instead make a mental note to have a serious talk about this with either Jungkook or Spiderman.

Whomever you ran into first.

“Hello?” you say in a groggy voice, hand reaching up to your face to rub away the bleariness of your vision.

“Y/N?” a clear, way too bright voice answers.

You remove your phone from your ear and tap it to see the caller ID.

“Jungkook?” you squint. “It’s four am. What’s the matter?”

“I uh. . . Bennys was closed,” he rambles. “When. . . When I went back.”

You sigh, way too tired for this talk. “Don’t worry. I barely waited ten minutes. I forgot I had an essay due anyways.”

You guess it was a half-truth. You did barely wait ten minutes. I mean, you ran after him then ran into Spiderman and decided to just go home on the suspicion that Jungkook was Spiderman which meant that he would most likely not make it in time.

“Oh,” Jungkook responds, slightly relieved. “Well uh. . .It’s pretty late, huh.”

“What’s your point, Jungkook?” you bluntly ask, feeling your eyelids droop. “Why’d you call at 4 in the freaking morning?”

Jungkook hesitates before sighing into the speaker as if he were having an internal crisis. “I have to tell you something.”

Your eyes shoot open from their half-closed state at his words that sound weirdly determined. Was he going to tell you. . . Spiderman?

You push that assumption that was probably not at all true and instead nod. Whatever it was, it must be pretty important for him to call so late/early. Whichever way you saw it.

“Okay,” you say, trying to calm your rapidly beating heart that was going to fail if you didn’t stop thinking that Jungkook was the nation’s viral hero, Spiderman.

Jungkook takes in a breath, leaving you slightly confused before he breathes back out.

“I’m uh. . . actually in front of your apartment building.”

You slight gasp and willingly step out of the comfort of your mattress and fluffy blankets to walk over towards the window that had a street view to the entrance of your complex.

You spot Jungkook right away, taking in the image of him in a tattered white shirt that had an odd black blob on the side and the pair of sweats he always wore.

“I see you,” you state, despite the odd visual appearance. “Should I go down?”

You see Jungkook shake his head as he starts to limp over to the entrance. “No. Is it okay if I go up?”

He’s limping. You gulp, afraid of the pain Jungkook was in and if he really was the superhero.

“Hello?” Jungkook asks, pausing in his steps and taking your silence as an indication that he had overstepped boundaries. “Shoot. Sorry. I should’ve asked before just showing up.”

“No no,” you say, forgetting that he had asked you a question because of his limping form. “Sorry. Still kinda tired. You can come up right now.”

“Okay,” Jungkook states then hangs up the call. You gulp, watching as Jungkook seems to flinch as he gently presses his hand against the blob on his shirt.

Was that blood? Was he hurt?

Alarm bells ring in your head as your legs take off out of your room and out your apartment door and into the hallway.

You anxiously wait at the elevator, hearing it whirr to life, indicating that Jungkook was making his way up to your floor.

The elevator bell dings and the doors slide open to reveal Jungkook leaning against the wall, obviously in pain as he clutches his side and tiredly looks up.

“Y/N?” Jungkook slightly gasps in surprise, not expecting you to be outside waiting for him.

You sigh, a deep frown etched onto your face as you slowly step towards him.

“Why are you. . . bleeding?” you ask, heart literally breaking as you see the physical wounds on his body.

Was he really Spiderman?

“Oh, this,” Jungkook nervously laughs, earning a firm gaze to the side of his face.

You sigh, eyes flickering away from the gash on his cheek and bloodied corner of his lip. You hurriedly move beside him to grasp his arm, mind finally catching up to the current situation of him bleeding out in the public elevator. “Hold on to me. Let’s go in.”

The words in Jungkook’s mouth seem to disappear as you gently take hold of his arm, your warmth spreading to the side of Jungkook’s cold, pained body that makes him unconsciously lean into your touch.

After a moment of struggling to get your front door open, you help Jungkook over to your room, setting him down onto the bed.

“Wait here,” you state and run out of the room to grab a glass of water. You place it haphazardly on your nightstand for Jungkook to drink then head right back out to grab a wet washcloth and the first aid kit.

Once you get inside, you see Jungkook shifting to get more comfortable and a nearly empty glass propped up on the nightstand.

“Lean against the headboard,” you say, crouching down on your knees so you were eye level with his wounds.

You nervously chew on the dead skin of your lips and tentatively reach over to the end of Jungkook’s shirt.

You glance up. “Can I?”

Jungkook nods, breath slightly hitching as you lift up his shirt to reveal a gash running across his side.

“Oh my goodness,” you breath out, dropping the shirt and looking away.

You weren’t very good with blood.

“I hope you’re aware that I have no idea how to take care of wounds,” you inform him, fiddling with the dusty first aid kit that you’ve never opened before.

You see Jungkook nod from the corner of your eye.

“I can do it,” he states in a tiny voice, making you whip around in surprise.

“What?” you yelp.

Jungkook shrugs in response, starting to reach over for the kit before leaning back in pain.

You let out a small noise and quickly move the first aid kit next to him so he can look through it to find whatever he needed.

You reach over again, lifting up Jungkook’s shirt higher and gently press the wet washcloth around the gash to wipe away some blood while he continues to dig in the box.

“Ow ow ow,” Jungkook whines, leaning away from your touch. “Be gentle! You’re putting too much pressure on it!”

You roll your eyes. “Shut up you big baby. This wouldn’t be hurting if you hadn’t gotten this cut in the first place.”

A few beats of silence go by as you finish up cleaning it up a bit and grab a swab and pour some alcohol.

“After this, you can do whatever it is to treat the wound,” you mutter, as you timidly tap against the cut with the swab. “My knowledge is limited to disinfecting with alcohol swab.”

Jungkook’s abs that you’ve never seen before and definitely refuse to oogle at right now, clench at the sting of the disinfectant as he weakly breathes out an okay.

“Are you not going to ask?” he asks, eyes gazing at you curiously as you focus in on the cut.

“Will you able to answer all of my questions?” you sigh, hopelessly.

Jungkook eagerly nods as you glance up at him.

You let out a breathy laugh at his enthusiasm and shake your head.

“Well, first things first,” you state, ignoring the way Jungkook nervously chews his lower lip. “How’d you get hurt?”

Jungkook hesitates as if he were having an internal conflict then sighs. “Do you want the truth?”

You look up at him confused, retracting the cloth and gesture for him to start stitching himself up. “I mean. . . Yes? Why would I be asking if I’m expecting to hear a lie?”

Jungkook busies himself with the spool of thread and needle, looking away from your pointed gaze.

The curiosity eats you up and you decide that you can’t hold it in any longer. “Are you Spiderman?”

Jungkook whips his head over to you, eyes blown wide, not having expected any word of Spiderman to ever be leaving your mouth.

“Uh,” Jungkook’s eyes dart away as he seems to realize that there was no way you were going to believe him if he tried to deny it after limping in bloodied up in your apartment at four in the morning.

“Yeah. . . No point in denying it now,” Jungkook half-heartedly laughs with a sigh.

“That’s for sure,” you sigh, quietly watching as Jungkook grabs the stitching tools to patch himself up. You shudder as he goes through the movements as if they were second nature. How often did he bleed out like this?

“How’d you know?” he asks, trying to distract you from watching him suture the gash. He clamps down his teeth to make sure no sound of any pain leaks out through his lips. If he was alone in his dorm room, he wouldn’t hesitate to hiss, but now that you were right next to him, Jungkook fears to make a sound in case that would be the one trigger point that makes you crack.

You shrug, immersed back in your thoughts by Jungkook’s successful attempt. “How can I not? I mean, I didn’t have a clue in the beginning. But yesterday, you disappeared like every other time and it perfectly lined up with Spiderman’s appearance in the back alley. Then I realized all those times you ditched were followed by another Spiderman spotting at a crime scene. Also, it’s not like your onesie has some kind of voice changer or anything. You should probably consider adding that. What if someone finds out?”

“You found out,” Jungkook states, making you roll your eyes.

“I meant someone like. . . Taehyung,” you say for example. “He would blab it all out to the press.”

Jungkook nods considerably. “I. . . never really thought of that.”

“Wait a minute,” you mutter, recounting the times you’ve interacted with Spiderman. Or - just Jungkook in a red and blue spider suit.

“Hm?” Jungkook hums, patiently waiting for the rusty gears in your brain to turn as he finishes up his stitching.

“You met me as Spiderman a total of three times!? And you still didn’t tell me!?” you ask bewildered.

He lightly chuckles, shaking his head. “I couldn’t.”

You scrunch your nose at his simple response. “What do you mean?”

Jungkook finally snaps the end of the thread, carefully grabbing the damp towel to dab at the now completely stitched wound. “If any of the criminals I fight with find out that someone like you knows my identity, you’ll be in danger.”

“What do you mean ‘someone like me’?”

Jungkook’s hands pause, eyes slightly frantic when they glance over to meet your confused pupils.

“Someone. . . that’s important to me,” he states, trying to contain his emotions from peeking out between his words.

You still, heart slightly beating a bit rapidly.

Oh frick. I’m important to him? ALERT ALERT ALERT. I’M IMPORTANT TO HI-

“What else do you want to know?” Jungkook asks quickly in fear that you would read too much into his words and find out his actual meaning.

You look up in surprise from his sudden interruption of your thoughts and sigh, standing up to sit on the edge of the bed beside him. “Well. . . how’d you even become Spiderman?”

Jungkook sighs, slightly frowning. “Yetrim called me.”

“Professor Yetrim’s internship that you did?”

Jungkook nods. “That was when he explained all these superheroes he was creating in other planets and he wanted to start off with me on Earth.”

“And you agreed?” you ask with shock. The idea sounded quite absurd and never would you have expected Jungkook to willingly agree with the proposal.

Jungkook looks at you with a lopsided smile. “He offered money and a place to stay. You know my family.”

You grow quiet at that. Of course Jungkook would do it. He would do anything for his struggling parents and brother who lived back down in his hometown.

“He gave you the suit and all?” you ask, trying to move away from the sensitive topic of his family.

“Yeah,” Jungkook answers. “And some web-shooters.”

“Web shooters?” you repeat with skepticism.

Jungkook slightly smiles at your confused expression and decides to show you. He lifts up his right arm and presses down making a white, slightly moist substance to shoot out from the gadget strapped onto his wrist.

You gasp, head whipping around to the web that was now stuck onto the opposite side of the room.

“A-And you just fly around the whole city using those!?” you ask, pitch rising as you realize how dangerous it was.

Jungkook slightly winces at your tone. “Yes?”

Your posture slumps over as you sigh in defeat. “Jungkook. I’m. . .”

He looks down, focusing his gaze on the wet towel that now lays limp on the nightstand.

You sigh. “Did you know that you were going to be doing this?”

Jungkook’s brows form a crease in thought. “Yes and no. Yes, I knew it was going to involve some type of interaction with the law since it was the superhero type of thing. But no, I didn’t know it would become my everyday life.”

You hesitate, taking in the way your best friend and crush was weakly leaning against your headboard with eyes turned away from you, stitched up and still bloodied up in the face.

“But I can’t stop, Y/N,” Jungkook states firmly. “It’s hard. Both physically and mentally. But there’s so many people who need help and if I have that ability I can’t just leave them and hope that the police will get to them in time.”

You let silence fall in between the two of you and finally decide how to respond.

“Well, I’m here to help you,” you finally say after an inner debate of what you needed Jungkook to hear. Jungkook looks up in slight surprise, not having expected you to offer him support.

Geez, were you that downgrading?

You reach back over to the kit and grab the Neosporin and a Q-Tip. You quickly squeeze some of the medicine out onto the swab and shift closer to Jungkook.

Jungkook holds his breath, head slightly tilting back closer to the wall as you gently grab his chin and lean forward to dab the small cuts on his forehead, cheeks, and lips.

He takes in your tired but focused form: eyes on the verge of being unfocused and droopy, lips slightly pouted in fatigue, the slight grayness of your eye bags, and frizzled hair.

“I would say to not be that whole spiderman thing and take care of yourself, but,” you pause, looking up into Jungkook’s doe eyes that stare back at you with fondness and hope. “People do need you.”

Jungkook slightly grins as you look away slightly flustered and remove your hands from his face.

“Just. . .” you sigh, hands fiddling with the frayed edge of your bed sheet. “Make sure you’re getting enough sleep.”

“Okay,” Jungkook responds with more energy.

“And keep up with your studies.”

“Of course.”

“You can ask me for notes, or others in your class,” you add. “There’s so many people willing to help.”

Jungkook hums, eyes observing the way your brows are furrowed as your thoughts get deeper.

“Get home as quickly as you can after one of your. . . missions or whatever you call it,” you continue, turning to give Jungkook a look. “You’re still human. Be care-”

Jungkook cuts you off with his shoulder blade, muffling the last of your words as his strong arms firmly wrap around your waist in a hug. You hear him sigh, making a shiver run down your spine as he slightly adjusts himself so his chin rests comfortably on your shoulder.

You force the stiffness of your limbs to relax and let your body go nearly limp in his arms, your arms going around Jungkook’s body as well.

This was new.

“Thanks,” Jungkook says, barely over a whisper.

“For. . . For what?” you stammer, hoping that he couldn’t feel your rapidly increasing heartbeat.

Jungkook breathily laughs. “For everything. Thanks for letting me in your apartment and letting me get patched up. Thanks for not being furious with me. Thanks for caring.”

The edge of your lips quirk up into a smile as you pull back from the hug. You find it odd how Jungkook’s arms hesitate, pulling away with reluctance as if he didn’t want to let you go.

You push that idea out of your mind, convincing yourself that you were once again, overanalyzing every single movement.

You poke Jungkook’s cheek, making him pull the face he always pulled whenever you treated him like a kid. “Of course, Kook. What are friends for?”

Jungkook’s expression slightly falls, but before you can ask what’s wrong he hums, reaching up to ruffle your hair messily.

It suddenly triggers a memory of him in the red and blue suit, tucking a loose piece of hair behind your ear with a flirty laugh.

“You know you’re awfully confident when you’re Spiderman?” you blurt, eyes narrowing as Jungkook smile confusedly.

“Really? How so?”

You shrug. “You’re just flirty I guess.”

Jungkook pauses, a slight smirk gracing his lips that were slowly getting closer to you.

Wait what?

The sheets rustle as Jungkook completely leans forward towards you, making you instinctively lean backward, hands propping up behind yourself to support your leaning body.

“I mean it’s not like I can flirt with you without a mask,” he murmurs bluntly, shocking you by his sudden confession.

“What?”

Jungkook’s eyes slightly widen as if he just processed what he said. He decides to ignore it and instead rushes up onto his feet, only to groan and slightly hunch over in pain.

“Jungkook!” you gasp, scrambling off the bed to tentatively hold onto his arm to help him towards the door, the previous interaction pushed to the back of your mind.

He shakes his head, gently waving you off, trying to get you as far as possible so you don’t see his hot, red cheeks. “I’m okay. Just a sting. I’m gonna crash on the couch if that’s okay.”

“No!” you say in a scolding tone, forcibly dragging him back to your bed. “You’re literally in pain! Sleep here tonight. I’ll sleep on the sofa.”

Jungkook opens his mouth to protest but you rush out the room before he can breathe out a word.

You sigh as you head towards the cabinets near the bathroom where you kept the extra sheets and pillow. You throw them out onto the couch and plop down into the cushiness of the fluffy blankets, snuggling into the surprisingly comfy couch.

Shifting, you stare at the warm glow your nightstand that was still on in your bedroom, your mind recalling Jungkook’s words he blurted out just a minute ago.

You shake it off, turning away from the light and shutting your eyes closed, ignoring the hopeful fluttering sensation in your chest.

All you thought about as you drifted off to sleep was how Jungkook was Spiderman.

Your best friend and the man you think you may love was the city’s hero.

#networkbangtan #bangtanhq #bts #bts fanfic #bts x reader #mine #jungkook x reader #jungkook fanfic #superhero!au #this was so fun to write #spidey!jk gets me #actually planned this fic back when endgame came out #kinda late but yeesh #thank you for the support for this two-chaptered fic!

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it-will-not-last-the-night · 4 years ago

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PQ2 - End

As I did expect; making sure I was able to comfortably beat the Velvet Rangers first did mean Enlil, though visually impressive, wasn’t a difficult fight. I simply equipped Ryuji with the Omnipotent Orb and had him All Guard every turn and this left Enlil unable to do anything whilst the Joker, Mitsuru, Chie and Ann wailed on them.

The ending was honestly good though, very emotional, heart-tugging, I honestly haven’t had this much fun finishing a game since J.J. Macfield and the Island of the Missing.

PQ2 is honestly a gem I feel. Beyond fun mechanics that I found easy to get back into even after long gaps, it balances the character development of an enormous cast very successfully, with only some issues.

Even though I knew nothing of P3 or P4 the game conveys their characters in a way I found enjoyable and easy to sink into, and that is really no small feat considering that the cast is, honestly, just insanely large by the end.

I enjoyed Enlil as an antagonist for the most part, though they could definitely have used a little more substance in the plot, but this game, overall, was less focused on it’s villain and more on it’s protagonist, and that’s fine.

To that end Hikari: the game is honestly the story of her character development and I loved her. It’s a pity we don’t see much of her in the fandom, because I honestly adore Hikari and find her enchanting and relatable in a number of ways.

Her farewell to the friends she made at the finale of the game was genuinely touching.

In general the farewells at the end are emotional, and I enjoyed them all, event he little nod to Akechi’s own mixed feelings, clearly dealing with something, as he is the most hesitant of the Phantom Thieves to finally exit the theatre after they have learned they will forget everything once they are outside. A nice touch!

Of course, because it is me, I do wish to gush briefly about Ryuji: OH MY GOSH I love his dynamic with Hikari? But, also, I just love him in this game? He comes across in PQ2 as if he has matured from his incarnation in the vanilla game. Not only is he the character, along with Futaba, who spends the most time supporting and speaking with Hikari, but even in the ending when most of the Thieves all express varying degrees of excitement or forced enthusiasm about returning home, Ryuji is the one who most noticeably feels sad about the whole affair, expressing how he suddenly misses everything they’d gone through.

On the note of Ryuji and Hikari’s bond: I had thought it mostly just an accidental outgrowth of Ryuji’s common role as an externalization of Joker’s words, but when I watch the ending perhaps it is more intentional than I thought. Noticeably Futaba and Ryuji deliver the closing lines to Hikari, Ryuji is the one who, as she tears up, tells her to remember to keep her promise to invite them to see her movies and in the post-credits scene Ryuji is the character who feels they NEED to see her movie when they find a flyer for it, going so far as to clutch at his head because he, without knowing why, just knows he HAS to go do this. Furthermore, the cutscene as Hikari says her final goodbye and leaves, is framed around a small group of characters: Ryuji, Futaba, P3FemPC, Yukari, Mitsuru and Morgana. Among those Ryuji, Futaba and P3FemPC are the characters with the largest interaction with Hikari throughout the game, and I honestly have adored those four together.

I honestly have no idea why I am typing this, the game is dated and I believe interest in it limited, but I’d recommend any fan of Persona who hasn’t given it a try to do so, if only because the story and characters are honestly well executed, better in many ways than Vanilla.

To be frank; whilst Vanilla has moments that legitimately make me depressed, the scene in Shinjuku and the scene after Shido’s Ship, even at it’s worst PQ2 never has it’s characters be that mean to each other. Even when they jibe or insult they never cross a line to abusing or accosting, and they never all single out one character to relentlessly, constantly, deride.

A breath of fresh air really!

Anyway; I loved the game, I had fun, now I guess I wait for Scramble to become available, and I hope we get to see more of the P5 cast still in future (ALSO ATLUS JUST LET ME HOOK THE PT’S UP WITH EACH OTHER OR DATE THE BOYS PLEASE I WANT TO GIVE THEM LOVE TOO THEY DESERVE IT).

For fun below the divide I’m just gonna mention the relationships, romantic or platonic I’m not going to bother much with a distinction, I really have come to like following this game even though, I am sure, they are all crack.

Enjoy:

Chie/Yukiko: Whether best friends or girlfriends no pair of characters in the P4 cast seemed to, from the outset, come across as obviously as if they are close. The two seem to complement each other well, know each other well and play off each other well and are always delightful and entertaining to watch.

Mitsuru/Junpei: I talked about this one before; I just honestly loved their Ticket and found it endearing how both, in their interactions with each other, were almost Tsundere-ish in admitting to private desires to get along, and take care of each other dearly, but struggling to break through the shell of the other to confess this.

Ryuji/Hikari: Talked about this one at massive length already; suffice to say I honestly loved their interactions so much and, along with Ryuji’s interactions with Sophia I have seen now in Scramble, Ryuji radiates enormous, powerful, Big Brother/Father energy. Which I think is great? What better arc for Ryuji than, a person who’s life is overshadowed by his awful father, to turn out to be a wonderful father himself.

Yusuke/Yukiko: These two just get each other. Honestly they just click. They tune in to the same cosmic wavelength and leave everyone confused as they naturally just synch up. It is a pity as the game enters its later stages we see less of them, in the early game they are a treat.

Ken/Akechi: Ken and Akechi just are perfect, wonderful, foils to each other and it’s almost a pity the game can’t actually go the full way with it because Akechi’s secret can’t come out. This leaves it as a tease, the suggestion, of what could be, but that’s still plenty good. I also find it always interesting to see Ryuji and Akechi, two boys heavily formed by an abusive father, both in their own explicit words state outright they relate themselves to Ken in some way. With Akechi, because he is so good at wearing masks, I wonder how true it is when he relates himself to Ken, it’d be interesting to know if this is one of his lies to maintain his façade, or a bit of his true self creeping out as it often does.

Joker/Junpei: I don’t know why I like these two? But Joker comes across as really fond and supportive of him with his consistent chances to shout out “Junpei! Master Detective!”

Yukari/Junpei: As I said in my head I go back-and-forth whether this would be endearing or a toxic hate-love relationship. There’s no denying, though, that these two interact more with each other than anyone else in the P3 cast, they’re the Yukiko/Chie in that sense, if Yukiko/Chie consisted of a lot of barbs and harsh words. We actually get a glimpse of what, I feel, is a healthier dynamic for the two in P3FemPC’s world in the epilogue, where Yukari is still barbed but rather than deflating Junpei ripostes back, this automatically makes it seem less mean-spirited heckling and more two people, comfortable with each other, bantering.

Futaba/Hikari: This one is the obvious choice since the game is obviously going out of it’s way to make this an important relationship. Futaba sees herself in Hikari and appoints herself like an older sister to help her. It is adorable and amazing character development as the socially reclusive and shy Futaba clearly forces herself out of her comfort zone to prove to Hikari that she can change and that she is not a lost cause. Along with Hikari it is, perhaps, Futaba who is the true MVP of this entire game.

Futaba/P3FemPC: Futaba gets some lovely Sister-like sequences with the incredibly fun and social P3FemPC, who Futaba is clearly in awe of. It is a pity that these really only happen in the early game, I’d love for them to continue, but P3FemPC as the big, fun, sister figure of Futaba is fun.

Ryuji/Yukiko: This one is just because the ending of Haru and Yukiko’s ticket has one of the funniest bit ever when Haru and Yukiko decide they want to ‘play’ with Ryuji and Yosuke. Yukiko’s ‘Will you devote all of your being to the name of the Amagi Family?’ is wonderful and I can just imagine Ryuji’s reaction to such a frank proposition.

Mitsuru/P3FemPC: This one was actually surprising to me but Mitsuru really has something of an almost maternal instinct for P3FemPC. She seeks to console her and let her know she is valued, even if Mitsuru is poor at expressions of affection, as seen in Junpei’s case as well. In many ways it strikes me as a more sympathetic Sae/Makoto. Mitsuru clearly cares for the P3FemPC and is aware of her disconsolate feelings, but struggles to find the words to comfort her, but doesn’t let that stop her trying.

#persona 5 #persona #p5 #pq2 #hikari

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in-for-a-drama · 5 years ago

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Extraordinary You (2019)

The drama has been released in October of the last year. This review contains loooots of spoilers for both webtoon and drama. I watched it in spring since it’s so full of hope and youth and vibrance, but it is warm enough to save you from autumn melancholy and winter snowstorms.

Extraordinary You is based on Daum webtoon “July found by chance” which was the highlight of 2018-2019 for me. And I still patiently wait for every single chapter.

Actually I hesitated watching this drama ever since I heard of the release. So far I’ve encountered lots of webtoons turned into dramas I wanted to unwatch. I felt the writers would go all astray with the story and characters and I would feel angry because of my favorite scenes and characters.

First of all I have to assure you, I really enjoyed this drama, I binge watched it, like, 16 episodes in 2 days, and for the record, usually even if I like the drama, I still finish it over a week, about 2-3 episodes per day.

Secondly, the creators did completely rewrite the plot, the scenes, the characters. Some of the scenes and concepts still remained but overall the changes were big enough so that I could watch this as a separate work.

Still, there were changes in concepts I personally deem unnecessary.

The plot. The rich schoolgirl with a weak heart since birth and a one-sided crush, Dan-Oh, gradually realizes there’s something wrong with her. It turns out she’s actually a character in a romance shoujo comic book. And she isn’t eve the protagonist, more of an extra character. Such a pitiful fate since the author can get rid of her anytime. She decides to change her own fate. Later she gets to know another extra without a name, her classmate. Dan-Oh realizes that as an extra without much presence in the story he is capable of affecting the story in his own small ways. They become close and Dan-Oh gives him a name - Haru.

Haru and Eun Dan-oh

Have to say, I loved the main couple. They’re so cute!!! I also really love when the protagonist isn’t introduced from the very beginning and isn’t obvious, we can see some clues of Haru in the first episode, but we actually get to see him only in the second. And I love Haru way too much both in the webtoon and in the drama, at the beginning he is so mysterious, a bit dazed and yet so warm. And as his character develops, he shows different traits, determination, despair to save his beloved, jealousy etc. Yes, Haru is definitely my favorite.

Dan-Oh had a different interpretation from the webtoon, but different is not bad. The actress is not too beautiful but she is charismatic and cute. Her smile is absolutely charming. And I love the way she cries - it’s real and her face becomes a bit ugly but I can totally believe her grief. As a sarcastic person I would have liked to say she cries too much, but actually every single time she cried - there was a proper reason, I mean, who wouldn’t cry, I would totally wreck my nervous system with all those meta rollercoasters.

Compared to the webtoon the dynamics in the couple have changed because of the changes in Dan-Oh character. Dan-Oh in the webtoon is more serious and strong-willed. Dan-Oh in the drama is more light-spirited. The drama creators decided to do the classical trope where the heroine is often in the dark.

Have to say I liked and not liked at the same time what the writers have done with the story. I personally am really fond the concept of nameless extra becoming aware and falling in love with Dan-Oh. Without there being some kind of fate and dark story behind it. And then in the drama they show the scar and like how come the nameless extra with no features except for handsomeness gets to have a scar?

There wasn’t such a thing in the webtoon so obviously I started to suspect something like past connection from the very beginning. I still loved the storyline, the way they brought in the previous book, Trumpet Creeper. And I just loved the characters in all-those... um... Joseon? clothes (sorry if I’m wrong about the time).

Another thing I have to point out - the characters’ motives. In the drama Dan-Oh originally became close to Haru because of his ability to change the stage (comics scene). And it’s in the second half of the story when she realizes her feelings for him. They have such good chemistry from the very beginning. And then Dan-Oh goes all “Omg! I love him! That can’t be!” and I find myself facepalming a bit. I mean. In what way she is different from all those classic romance novels heroines? Thank god the writers didn’t drag that for way too long, not enough to get annoyed.

Still. what I really like about the webtoon. It’s not that the webtoon Dan-Oh wanted to rebel by completely changing the story. No. She wanted to find her first love by herself, from the very beginning. And that’s how she found Haru. They’re such a couple from the very beginning. And that’s just a biiiiiig difference.

In the drama Dan-Oh mentions somewhere in the last episodes that Haru is her true first love. But that was not her intention from the very beginning, just the way it turned out. Ad the actors look so cute together, their difference in weight is adorable and I’m also satisfied with the acting.

To sum it up, I thoroughly enjoy the dynamics in the Haru-Dan-Oh relationship both in the webtoon and in the drama. They’re just different. I personally recommend first watching the drama and only then reading the webtoon.

Baek Kyung

I think I mentioned but I really love the cast. The actor playing Kyung did his best. I mean if it were another actor I would have seen Kyung as no one but a total asshole. But I could really see the confusion and internal struggles here. Also the previous book storyline enabled us to feel more for Kyung, how he was written by the author as nothing but a really bad character for two books straight. I could feel his loneliness and despair to find out who he truly is apart from his character. In the webtoon I simply can’t feel anything for this character XD

Also I really loved the way they introduced Kyung’s little brother. Maybe I have missed some of the scenes but I don’t remember him in Trumpet Creeper? But he is definitely a very interesting and mysterious character. I hope he stays by Kyung’s side in the next book and the spend lots of good time together.

Do-hwa and Juda

I can’t believe I enjoyed their storyline so much. Jung Gun-joo, the actor playing Do-hwa was nominated for the best new actor for this role. And no wonder. He was truly extraordinary as Do-hwa struggling within his boundaries of supporting character. His one-sided love and inability to do what he want in the stage was just heartbreaking. Do-hwa is definitely the highlight of the whole drama. And I laughed because of his violin dilemma. And I cried because of his love for Joo-da.How he slowly came to realize that his actions cause hurt to the other characters. Ouch. I really hope in the next books he finds happiness. With Joo-da or with someone else.

And Joo-da. I really hoped she will get her ego. But honestly I couldn’t see their story with Do-hwa ending in any way but heartbreak for Do-hwa. Still. I really enjoyed the way Joo-da turned out to be once she got her ego. Every scene with her was delightful since then. And the way she herself admitted she wanted to date both... I really want to hug Do-hwa.

Namju didn’t leave any impression throughout the story except for the last episode strawberry jumper. And I laughed at the scene Joo-da gave Namju the spending diary (I myself wouldn’t mind one, have been anxious of my spending habits lately).

Miscellaneous

The Squid Fairy and his lover storyline was cute though too short. Glad they didn’t have much drama and got to spend time together in Secret.

The finale of the story left many questions but overall I got the picture. So they’re still together in the new book. But. Where’s Do-hwa??? And it seems Joo-da will still go for Namju... And I can’t tell who the protagonists are. I made myself think that this is some loooong new series by the author based on the students’ calm everyday (except for exams) life and that Haru and Dan-Oh can live happily ever after in this and next books as extraordinary characters.

Some concepts I really missed in the drama which are in the webtoon

1. The sky

The scene in both the drama and the webtoon where Haru gives Dan-oh the starry sky. The webtoon thing is that all the scenes in Secret happen during the daytime. And that’s why Dan-oh would like to see the starry sky. The not disappearing hole in the curtain holds a special meaning for Haru and Dan-oh. In the drama the creators made it so the whole give me the starry sky wish comes from the previous book. And there’re night scenes in the Secret. Though without the stars, yes.

2. The flying furniture

In the webtoon there’s a special place for Dan-Oh and Haru - the flying bench, a mistake made by the artist (and as I draw myself I can feel this deeply, sometimes you just don’t calculate something right and then that box or bench is way too high). In the drama there’re just random things flying everywhere in the shadow. And there’s also that black hole that appears in all the right places, gives scars and shows previous lives... I mean... *long sigh*

3. The artist presence

What I really love about the webtoon. We all know that artists and writers have to stay objective and do what they want to the story without listening to anyone’s opinion. But at the same time they can’t help to see the comments, what makes the readers annoyed or what they would like.

In the webtoon “July found by chance” sometimes we’re given glimpses of the comments to the webtoon “Secrets”. That gives us another perspective, how the artist thinks, how the readers react. And that’s just so exciting! Compared to the webtoon, in the drama The artist seems too distant.

Oh. I’ve really written a lot.

Hope you enjoy/ed the webtoon and drama as much as I did.

And now I’m off to watch “Touch” while I still have some time off *_*

I’ll also have to do the best 2019 dramas list at some point (at least for my own use).

#k drama #korean drama #tv show #korean drama review #extraordinary you #july found by chance #daum #mbc tv #mbc drama #romance drama

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mybullshitsensesaretingling · 6 years ago

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Perfect Aim

Request: OOOO I see you're taking marvel requests? how about a Thor X reader where the two are normally paired up on missions and they become close and the reader just randomly falls asleep on him and everyone (the rest of the avengers) starts making fun of him because he's speechless, but loving every minute of you asleep?? I have no idea if you still write marvel or for Thor but it's a idea if you want too?

A/N: I was a little wary of writing Thor but this was a blast! I really enjoy coming up with this dynamic. Hope you guys enjoy reading it

You tugged your gloves over your hands, the tight black fabric sliding snuggly over your fingers, and clapped them together, rubbing your palms. You knew that the level of excitement you got when there was a disaster so big the Avengers had to get involved was morally questionable, but it was hard to care. You loved almost every part of it, the action, the danger, the chance to show what you could do. It’s what you lived for.

Lifting your head, your eyes locked on a head of golden locks and a red cape. A grin over took your features and you picked up your pace from a brisk walk to a full sprint. You sprung from the floor, wrapping your arms and legs around the man’s broad back.

“You ready to kick some ass?” you yelled.

Thor’s hands caught your legs with ease. You felt his laugh more than you heard it.

“Always!”

“In that case,” you wrapped one arm around his neck and pointed the other out in front of the two of you, “onward!”

With another laugh the young god took off, carrying you down to the jet. He let go of you and you dropped lightly to your feet. The two of you took seats next to each other as the jet roared to life.

Steve waited for the two of you to settle down and “act like adults” before he started the briefing. You only caught about seven words of it. Your attention had been yanked away from where it was supposed to be by a long finger jabbing into your side. You swatted at it but it had already disappeared. A near silent chuckle sounded from beside you.

You kept your eyes on Steve, trying once again to focus. A focus that didn’t break when you heard Thor shift in his seat or when you felt him lean in closer. No, it wasn’t until you heard him whisper that your concentration broke.

“You should be wearing your seatbelt.”

“So should you,” you said, still not looking at him.

“I am an Asgardian; I do not need a seatbelt. You are a fragile Midgardian.”

“I can regrow my entire arm. I think I’ll be ok.”

“You think? I have heard these metal birds-”

“Planes.”

“-Crash all the time. It seems you are taking a large risk on ‘I think’.”

“(Y/N),” Steve called.

“Yes, my liege?” you answered, covering Thor’s face with the palm of your hand and shoving him back.

“You’ll be-”

“With Thor,” you finished for him. “Yeah, I know.”

“Don’t assume you know my battle strategy,” he chastised.

“It is not an assumption. It is a logical conclusion,” Thor said.

“Are you saying we’re not teaming up?” you asked.

Steve sighed. “No, you are.”

“Nice!” You raised your fist and bumped it against Thor’s.

Wind whipped your face as you watched the helicopter holding the briefcase you had been tasked with collecting take off. The briefcase held, at least according to the report you had been given, eight small devices no bigger that a cell phone but with enough power to bring down the Empire State Building. If they remained in the hands of these men, A.K.A the wrong hands, there was no telling what kind of doomsday would be brought about.

There was a lot of people who, upon watching the object of their mission fly further and further away, would call it. Take the opportunity to regroup and come up with a plan to win another day.

“Thor!” you shouted.

You were not one of those people.

He didn’t need an explanation. He always knew the game plan without you having to say it.

He wrapped his hands around you and lifted you off your feet, holding you more like a football than a person. With in seconds you were flying through the air and tumbling into the helicopter.

God bless that boy’s perfect aim.

“Sorry, to barge in like this, boys, but it seems you’ve taken something that isn’t yours.” You ignored the assortment of guns now being pointed at your head, keeping your focus on the task at hand and wrapping one of your hands around one of the men’s wrist and your other hand around the briefcase handcuffed to him. “Now I don’t know your mothers personally, but I doubt they raised you to steal.”

You zeroed in on his wrist.

This was always a risk. Every part of your job was a risk. But you’d take being shot at and thrown a hundred feet into the air by a god over manipulating another person’s anatomy any day of the week. Your powers were still relatively new and the list of things that could go wrong with biological manipulation was far too long to count.

“Put it down, sweet cheeks.” You felt the barrel of a gun press up against your head.

Releasing the briefcase, you twisted at the waist and tapped your forefingers to the forehead of the owner of the gun. He slumped to the floor, motionless.

“The next time someone tries to break my focus, I’m gonna start throwing punches,” you grumbled returning to your work.

“What did you do to him?” shouted the man in front of you.

“Oh, relax. I just put him to sleep.” The man’s hand and wrist turned to something that grossly resembled putty and you slipped the handcuff from him. “You should be more worried about what I did to you,” you smirked, clutching the briefcase to your chest and jumping out of the helicopter. You shut your eyes tightly and let yourself fall.

You weren’t falling for long however. Two large, strong arms found their way around you and moments later you felt the owner hit the ground.

“You were successful!”

“Did you ever have any doubt?” you asked, opening your eyes.

“Never.” Thor grinned.

He set you on your feet, but held on to you as you wobbled slightly. Thor was one of the few members of the team who knew how much using your powers wore you out.

“You fought well, little warrior,” you complimented as the two of you started the walk back to the jet.

“I’m not that much smaller than you.”

He let out a loud laugh.

“I’m a normal size for a person,” you persisted.

“Yes.” You hated that he was agreeing with you yet still winning. You shoved him, but he just laughed harder.

“What’s your count?” you asked, changing the subject.

“35. You?”

“Counting the two in the helicopter?” you smiled up at him and he knew he had lost. “36.”

He groaned but he knew better than to try to deny you your winnings. “Very well. The last Poptart is yours. You earned it.”

“You guys do know that I can just buy more Poptarts, right?” Tony asked as he flew past you to the jet.

You straightened your shoulders in an effort to not look quite so beaten down.

“But that could take hours, even days!” you justified.

“And I think I have first world problems,” he joked as he took his helmet off.

“You do,” Clint said as he set his bow down. “And I thought I called dibs on the last Poptart.”

“Count beats dibs,” Natasha reminded him.

“I won the Poptart fair and square,” you proclaimed, dropping to your seat with a sigh. You let your head loll back and your eyes drift closed.

“You doin’ alright, (Y/N)?” Tony called as he sat down at the controls.

“Broke my leg. I’ll be fine in ten,” you answered.

“I threw them at a helicopter,” Thor explained.

“Thought that was you,” Natasha said.

You hummed, but didn’t have the strength or concentration to participate further in the conversation.

Once Sam and Steve had joined you on the jet, Tony took off.

The last thing you heard was the sound of Thor clipping your seat belt and making a joke about you being a fragile Midgardian, before the sound of the engine lulled you to sleep.

“I gotta agree with Clint here,” Sam said. “She-Hulk would win.”

“Valkyrie is...” Thor started to argue, but the point he was about to make, in fact the whole debate left his mind when you slipped sideways in your seat, causing your head to land on his shoulder. His eyes drifted down to your face.

He couldn’t speak. He barely remembered that there were other people in the jet to speak to. He was completely mesmerised by the softened lines of your face, your mouth just slightly agape, the small bruise starting to form under your left eye. He couldn’t remember a time when you had looked so peaceful. Not that he minded seeing you rowdy - starting fights over snack foods or video games, laughing loudly at all the wrong times, shoving him when he made a joke - or seeing you angry and competitive, always ready and eager for a battle. He loved all of those things about you, but this? This soft, unguarded side of you that he only got glimpses of? This was something entirely different.

“Keep staring at them and you’re gonna bore holes in their skull,” Natasha said.

Thor looked up at her, blinking.

“Well, at least we know he’s still in there,” Clint joked at Thor finally responding.

“Watching people in their sleep? That’s a little creepy,” Steve told him.

“I was not watching. I was,” Thor looked back at you, “glancing.”

“Glancing is quick,” Sam said. “There was nothing quick about what you were doing.”

“You don’t become the god of fertility by being quick.” Tony called out from the cockpit.

The rest of the team fell silent. Thor just smiled.

#thor #thor odinson #thor odison imagine #thor odison x reader #thor imagine #thor x reader #marvel #marvel imagine #marvel imagines

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witcheskin · 6 years ago

Text

To the man I call ‘boss’

I remember the day we met like it was yesterday. You walked through the door and your presence engulfed the room, my body broke into a sweat and my heart began to race. You smiled at me as our eyes met and offered an apology. You took a seat and I could feel your eyes boring into me and the heat rushing to my cheeks, but I plastered a smile on my face and kept talking. A mixture of thoughts flooded my mind. Instantly I was drawn to you, was it chemistry or was self-destruction? I felt a touch of arrogance and something that made me anxious and fearful and yet there was compassion.

Fast forward to October.

You saw that I was struggling and you offered me what I believed to be a lifeline at the time, but I think you bit off more than you can chew. You knew I had problems, but you didn’t know how to deep. You only saw my surface and you thought you could manage the superficial layer long enough to get what you wanted from me. You said you wanted to mentor me, but you never expanded on what that meant and at the time I was still me. I was still in a good place mentally and I checked you on that bullshit because my intuition told me you had other things in mind and I said no. You looked taken back and you had to shake your head as if you were physically wiping the look off your face and discarding your emotion.

Time passes and I revisit the topic with you. My world is spiraling out of control, i’m oscillating mentally and i’m falling into the rabbit hole. I wanted something, I wanted someone. I needed hope and support and I forgot about the feelings when I was with you. The excitement, the fear, the anxiety and all I knew was that I felt you were the only one that was seeing me. That you saw past my facade and saw how hard I was falling a part, but little did I know then that there was more to come. I still had a way down the rabbit hole. You agreed to mentor me, but we never really spoke much on the subject until after you disappeared.

It’s December now.

I reached out to you on social media and sent you a friend request. I kept opening my chat several times a day and looking at your picture thinking of what to type to you, but everything seemed inadequate. I couldn’t find the words and so I would leave things as they were and I let you bridge the gap. What I thought was then an investment and acknowledgment now feels empty and like you were grasping at straws trying to find something to let me make a connection t o you and it didn’t take much for me to do so. I sense you knew that already though, there’s something about your smile that feels warm and inviting, but there’s something to you that’s frightening. Regardless I took the bait and my honesty got the best of me. I opened up to you because I had no one else and I thought you believed me, I thought you cared about me. Even now I’m not sure. There’s a part of me that felt and saw the emotion in your face and could feel it engulfing me when we met in person, but I also question was what I felt real or was it the aftermath of extended emotional abuse?

We’re out for lunch and you tell me about some work experiences and I feel like you’re masking the truth. Then I catch a glimpse of rage and my blood runs cold, you are just as dangerous as I first sensed, but then you swallow it and bury it deep inside you again and you are yourself. Calm, composed and warm again and somehow I find myself forgetting what I’ve just witnessed. I feel like i’m in a cloud. Always in a fog with you, what was it that I just saw? What did I wanted to say.

Were in your car and you ask me why I wanted to meet you out and I find myself speechless, I don’t know. I never know what I wanted to say to you. In reality I was afraid that if I told you the truth that you would turn out to be the man I feared you were. My actions never mattered much in this scenario. It was only ever about you and what you wanted. I cry, and this may be when you hug me or try to kiss me. I don’t remember. I wanted it and I hated. Wanted it and I feared it. Wanted you, hated you and feared you.

January we met in a house you were fixing up. It was like you forgot you had invited me, if you wanted me so badly why did I have to text you to make sure we still had plans? I arrived and you never came to the door, you didn’t even have your phone on you. I walked into a place I had never been and stopped to take it all in. I hear your music streaming from your phone and noise off in the distance. I walk to your phone to turn off the music but i can’t access your device. I scan searching for you and decide you must be upstairs. I climb up the staircase you’re sweeping the floor and your back is turned to me. I remain quiet and just stare at you. There’s something pleasant about this moment, maybe because when you’re back is turned to me you’re not threatening. You’re vulnerable. After a few minutes pass you turn and see me and you’re startled and jump back. You didn’t hold still, just kept moving from room to room. Hardly talking, but occasionally making small talk. I couldn’t tell if you wanted to talk and for me to listen or if you wanted me to, but one thing is certain you couldn’t stand the silence. I follow you from room to room like a lost puppy, the theme of our relationship. A power struggle I had no chance of winning. Time passes we’re sitting on the stairwell, you had planned for me to make the first move and had anticipated me knowing what I wanted and I was never certain. I wrestled with my intuition while drowning in my mental illness and clinging to the idea that you were my white knight on shinning armor when you were another dragon I needed to slay. Unfortunately, I never listened to myself.

You bent me over the counter and fucked me from behind. There were a lot of superficial thoughts. Time passes and once you’ve finished I feel content and whole for a brief period, however after several minutes the euphoria subsides and my mania kicks in. I wanted more of everything, but you put a wall up and I convinced myself that you did it because you cared about me and you didn’t want me to hurt and that maybe had we both been in different places in life it would have worked out.

I’m surprised I didn’t choke on all the bullshit I fed myself over those months, but oh no, this journey isn’t over yet. That was January, let’s go to April.

In April I’m still starving for your attention and I send you some explicit photos to get your attention. I sent them during the “safe time” you had previously told me about, however you daughter has your phone and sees them. Time passes and I don’t remember how much now, it felt like an eternity then, but you didn’t respond and when I reached out to you I offered numerous apologies and took ownership for the mishap and pulled away from you thinking of how I had hurt your relationship and caused turmoil in your life, but you never did reach out to me..I always had to be the one after the initial contact. Why was that? Did I not live up to your expectation? I wasn’t any fun after we fucked the first time? Maybe all of the above and more..and maybe just maybe you never cared where it came from, maybe you just went through a list.

In May we’re supposed to meet for the second time, I lost track of how many “second times” this would have been, but I was still dangling on the string you wrapped around me. I told you about the progress I had made in my career and you seemed please on the surface, but my gut told me you didn’t care..it was all becoming clear and I knew I couldn’t keep lying to myself longer. The last chance I decided would be this day, but you never told me in advance whether or not you’d have to cancel and your cop out this time was something you’d know in advance. The fifth of May I deleted you off social media and blocked you. Archived our messages and removed your number from my phone...Phone, weird..you never asked for my new number, but you cared about me right? You cared about me but your motivational speeches literally stopped after our first series of text messages. If I wanted anything from you I had to beg you for it. Any time I questioned the power dynamic you blew me off....

It’s August now and we haven’t had contact and it’s still hard. It’s hard because I have to exist in the same physical space we once shared. It’s difficult because there’s a part of me that still wants you despite knowing I shouldn’t and that conflict is awful. It’s difficult because in the brief time we were together my mind became conditioned to think of you any time I struggled, you were my safety net..and some days you still are. These memories..the ones i’ve shared above and the ones i’ve kept to myself aren’t as vivid most days. Your image is fading and your imprint on my soul fades with it as well. I’m doing better without you and I never needed you and I knew that all along, I needed to trust myself because all along my journey were so many warning signs. It’s hard because I let myself feel safe in that fact that I could see you on my blocked list and had some odd connection to you, because you were there, but you weren’t...you were tucked away in a box for safe keeping and occasionally I could peer in and still find you, still see you, but now you’re gone and the panic set in..because you were missing and I felt a part of me was missing too, but you can fucking keep that broken part of me. I never want to see her again.

So to the man I call ‘boss’, I love you, I hate you. I fear you, I want you. I resent you and I am grateful for you. In the pain you gave me I found myself again.

To anyone that reads this and reads it in it’s entirety, thank you. This was difficult to write and even my words fall short in comparison to the memories that replay in my mind..I wish I could take you all into the space in my head where these exist...I wanted to write it to help release him and all the conflicting thoughts I have. I wanted to find acceptance, compassion and love for myself in myself and not in him or anyone else anymore and I have. So Thank you.

And to myself,

It’s okay to feel conflicted about him yesterday, today and tomorrow. There were actually good things he did for me and for others, but there were also a lot of fucked up shit he did to me and that’s not okay. The point is we’re all human and complex and I need to breathe and embrace life and let all this pain go with this post. I am getting better and tomorrow I will be even better than I was today.

#mental health #my journey #my struggle #emotional abuse #lies #personal #raw emotion #thoughts #word vomit #self love #compassion #healing #self growth #acceptance

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coalitiongirl · 7 years ago

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ive been watching your scenes to rewatch and ive been crying at literally all of them. out of curoisity, what are your favourite ouat scenes? either sq or general? also side note, i love your latest fic, such an interesting premise. i get so scared every time someone says an order and emmas forced to comply, that scene with the trolls had me on edge. and the fact that cora must suspect something about emma now - im so scared but excited ahah :D have a nice day :)

OH I super dropped the ball on those omg, i have so many others!! but i haven’t been able to rewatch in a long time, it hard 😩

of course i LOVE almost every swan queen scene!! it’s hard for me to pick favorites because nearly every one pings something else inside me omfg. I don’t think there’s a single sq scene I couldn’t write an essay about WHOOPS. so lemme try to answer this with just some of my favorite non-sq scenes 😅

Emma in True North: hoo boy, this is probably in my scenes to rewatch but that scene on the road, MAN. there’s so much careful buildup with emma’s abandonment issues and how much she sees herself in nick and ava. and they have a chance she never does and dammit, she fights for them!! she fights for two kids just like her and they get their moment and jmo turns that realization into agony with sheer artistry in emma’s FACE in their final moment. god.

Regina in We Are Both: this was the episode that sold me on Regina! tbh i’d marathoned s1 as soon as they announced mulan was going to be in s2 so i hadn’t been focusing much on thinking before that?? and then suddenly there’s Regina, in all her rich and layered stories, and i fell hARD. the whole narrative of the episode- Regina resisting parental abuse until she becomes what she’s always feared to be free!! and that translating into her saying ‘no, this isn’t going to continue to the next generation. even if i lose the only thing that matters to me.’ do u ever stan!!! I DONT KNOW HOW TO LOVE VERY WELL. END ME.

Emma in Firebird: listen. never follow ur idols to ur next fandom or you’ll suddenly realize they actually hate women and then get ‘’’muted’’’ for ‘’’yelling at her too much’’’ but jane espenson did a GOOD with the flashbacks in this one (present day still literal and figurative hell tho!!). The concept of Emma’s jacket as armor isn’t an original one, but the execution was honestly stellar. Emma forging this connection with an older hardened woman who can’t let go of the past either!! emma destroyed and remade into the lady we met on her twenty-eighth birthday. GOD. SHE FINDS HER DAUGHTER. and i gotta say, the vulnerable-tearful-young thing jmo was doing w emma in s5 didn’t work for me in terms of what present day was trying to convey, but it’s a perfect fit for that flashback, i WEPT.

Regina in Quite A Common Fairy: Lana OWNS the cave scene with Tink, god. The depth and breadth of emoTION. The episode and the narrative itself builds it up from episode one! because this regina on the road to redemption but finally giving us a glimpse into the emotional and mental state she was in as the young queen- she has all this rage and she’s SUSTAINED by it, it’s her only real truth and constant and she’s terrified of what might happen if she lets it go for even an instant and chooses hope instead. (Lana’s voice when Regina says she’s afraid that without rage she might just ‘—float away’ is something that has stayed with me for a long, long time.) REGINA PULLING OUT HER HEART TO MAKE A POINT. far from the last time she will, but how affecting!! god!!

Emma and Snow in S1: There are a few moments i’m thinking of (and i’m literally writing this on the treadmill so pls forgive the lack of episode names) and all of them are so stellar, god. The moment when Snow finds Emma living out of her car early on. Snow and Emma sitting at the table at the loft holding hands. Emma lying down next to a crying Snow. Snow yelling at Emma for being so selfish when she tries running off with Henry?? EMMA SHOWING UP AT MARY MARGARET’S DOOR SEARCHING FOR A ~PERSON~ AND MARY MARGARET SILENTLY LETTING HER IN. Snow and Emma work best in S1 in the silences and the fights, where they’re allowed to just care and be family, and I treasure each of those moments as much as they do.

Regina and Zelena in the Kansas: There’s a lot of effort put into this dynamic right near what seemed like the end, playing with how exactly Zelena perceives her happy ending to go- and then Regina strikes it all down by being different, by changing, by being someone Zelena hadn’t believed either of them capable of. And then Regina goes to Zelena’s cell and offers her!! sisterhood!! my god. i instantly fell in love with the dynamic in that moment and i’m forever pressed that the ‘it’s nice to have family in town’ line was cut. because you can tell that regina craves family and craves unmaking this second monster of her mother’s and zelena was going to TAKE that second chance and hey! this seems the perfect time to go off-message and

Belle in Family Business and Heroes and Villains: imma be honest, i like belle just fine in the early seasons but i have zero interest in rumbelle, which means a lot of fast-forwarding through her scenes. But these two scenes were ENCHANTING. Mirror Belle preying on Belle with the truth that she’s afraid to face! Emilie does such a fantastic job conveying so much cruelty in that scene, I was gaping and enthralled and hoping shattered sight was going to work exactly like that (and tbh props to ginny for doing a hella creepy snow at the start of Shattered Sight). And that town line scene!!! What a stunning, evocative scene. Belle reclaiming agency and taking action in such a 100% cold-blooded but necessary way!! that’s my ravenclaw babe!!!

Mulan and Aurora: I was young, and I Believed, and I Believed for a very long time. I am appalled at my naïveté too, don’t worry.

Regina in Enter the Dragon: LOOK it’s not about the leather but it’s a lil about the leather!!! I really appreciate both Regina in the past and present in this one and also how gay it is, and I’m most charmed by lil evil pep talking nugget Regina who just wants you to be the very best villain you can be! It’s such an artful melding of the exuberance of young!Regina and the delight in chaos of eq!Regina and i, for one, am a fan.

Emma (and Henry) in The Stranger/An Apple Red as Blood: my gOD. Okay I think one of the first times I cried while watching this show was in Emma’s desperate, hysterical denial to August about the curse. She’s so clearly hit rock bottom and she’s TERRIFIED of believing and it’s breaking her. SHE DIDNT ASK TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERYONES HAPPINESS. SHE DOESNT WANT IT. THAT IS CRAP!!!! i love her!! i love emma swan!!! i do!!!!! and then moving into the end of the next episode when she tells henry she’s leaving and just!! ‘henry! life isn’t a story!’ man this show had some incredible early work. sigh. emma kneeling in front of henry begging him to listen! my god.

Regina in the Cricket Game: so i’m leaving out all my fave sq moments which severely limits the number of regina and emma scenes i can talk about here but the flashbacks in this one SURE ARE SOMETHING. regina has hit rock bottom in this set and you feel it in every moment, in her REGRET THAT I HAVE NOT CAUSED MORE PAIN and frickin stABBING snow and that dark scene with the candle oh god. this is a regina who doesn’t think about looking back anymore but who doesn’t think about looking forward, either, and she’s terrifying. it reminds me a lot of the scene later this season in Welcome to Storybrooke where she takes out snow’s heart and ‘see? i can have everything’ but there are tears sliding down her face. regina in enraged despair is something to behold!!

Henry (and Emma and Regina) in Operation Mongoose: Henry doesn’t often get lengthy times to shine that aren’t about other characters, but he was literally a YA hero in the author’s universe! man! what a kid! and his scenes with bandit Regina are some of my all-time favorites, as is that heartstopping moment when he reaches the top of that tower and flings the door open and Emma KNOWS him. reader, i wept. i wept hard. talk about your earned moments!!!

Emma as Dark Swan: posture! clothing! positioning! voice work! dark swan was a revelation i’m still rightfully bitter about, because she was EVERYTHING in those early episodes. the way she caressed snow’s face in first episode of 5a. the faux-innocent with the calculating eyes on the ship with whats-his-name. every interaction with henry where she was trying to be a PERSON. the way she moved! the way she felt more reptilian than human! i wanted to know everything about her!! (then i did and quit the show lol) honestly some of jmo’s best acting to date, i’m forever in awe.

That Still Small Voice: look, this is an episode about a cricket and it remains one of my favorite quality ouat episodes. Archie sells it best as an adult influenced by his past without quite knowing it, and Archie and Henry make for a really engaging dynamic in here. There is nothing about Archie’s professional behavior that doesn’t make me want to scream but this remains a very, very good episode.

Emma in Sympathy for the De Vil/Lily: okay this is cheating a little because so much of this is also Regina but!! Emma individually shines in this narrative and throughout 4b. From the moment she finds out about what her parents had done, you can watch it slowly draining a part of her?? yes her eyes got redder but there was also this kind of apathy about EVERYTHING. And tbh the Cruella episode is pretty awesome on its own (I love the slow revelation that Cru is the villain, what a stellar execution of a fave trope) but WHEN EMMA KILLS HER. In the exact moment that Cruella says ‘heroes don’t kill’. that’s what pushes emma over the edge!! and then emma ready to kill again the next episode because she feels like she’s sliding into an abyss, i couldn’t BREATHE. emma is incredible when the narrative lets her be angry, and i wanted So Much More. Speaking of which, Emma getting angrier and angrier and almost losing it in The Snow Queen was more of that anger!! i am HUNGRY for it.

Regina and Snow in The Evil Queen: This episode is messy af but damn did my heart skip a beat when a hooded hero saves Regina and tears off her hood and it’s SNOW. This episode does so much of what makes Snow/Regina so fascinating and frustrating, both in the present and the past. Their interactions in the woods moved me! changed me! and Regina had already crossed the point of no return but oh man, oh man, the way they’d almost gotten somewhere for a minute there.

Regina and Henry in Save Henry: A classic, a work of art, and I’ve said so much about it in the past that I’m exhausted just thinking about expressing it all again now. But what a STORY of an evil queen who falls in love with a little boy. What a narrative!! The promo pictures from this episode came out when I was sitting in the hospital for a checkup while I was expecting my daughter, and I was tearing up and the nurses thought it was about the ultrasound. I’M NOT PROUD. This is a love story!!! And it culminates again in A Curious Thing, by the way, which put another ten years on my life, an Epic !

Emma and Henry in New York City Serenade: boy was this a journey, but I was absolutely spellbound omg. This was a love song to a fantasy but it’s a fantasy that never unmakes Emma– she’s afraid of commitment and happiness and everything permanent in her life that isn’t Henry, but she’s still going to take that leap despite herself. It’s a wonderful character study that captures Emma’s essence in a new world, with a new past.

Snow in The Miller’s Daughter: Snow is at her best when the show isn’t painting her with rose-colored glasses and we get to see her darker side, and I don’t think she ever gets quite as dark in the first three seasons as she is when she’s standing there, smiling earnestly at Regina as she tells her that the key to Cora loving Regina is in the poisoned heart she holds. My god. It’s so incredibly cold-blooded and vile, and it’s absolutely the kind of manipulative pragmatism that suits Snow best. I am enthralled and horrified.

Neal and Emma and Henry and Gold in Manhattan: This is one of those really cool scenes where even though I don’t particularly care for half the characters within it, everyone acted the hell out of it and it’s so GOOD. There’s so much tension and you’re holding your breath through the squabbling, and then Henry shows up and you KNOW. You know what’s going to happen and you’re terrified for Emma and it’s so visceral, right up until the instant when Neal demands Henry’s age and Henry shouts ELEVEN and my god, my god. What a reveal. What a scene.

There are more!! so many scenes and moments i’ve loved over the years. Emma and young!Lily! Snowing in Snow Falls! Anna of Arendale!! Snow and Emma in Lost Girl!! Ruby in Red Handed! The David/Emma dragon fight in A Land Without Magic! Regina tearing out that heart in The Doctor and meeting Daniel again?? Regina and her father in hell. all of Hat Trick. i think twenty is a good place to stop, but hoo boy, when this show was good, it was GOOD. alas.

#ouat #Anonymous

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orhelponefaintingrobin · 7 years ago

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Star Trek: Discovery - Episode 5 - “Choose Your Pain”

It’s Star Trek time again!

Going straight into my main point, I definitely enjoyed this episode more than last week’s. While I don’t want to criticize the show too heavily for having one slightly off episode (and even then it was only a couple of issues), “Choose Your Pain” definitely went back to what I had enjoyed so much about “Context is for Kings”.

Again, we’re faced with an episode that does an excellent job of matching some more classic Star Trek ideas with a fresh set of concepts.

“Choose Your Pain” was a well-executed example of an often-used episode, in the ‘Captured crewmember’ style (TNG’s “Chain of Command”, DS9’s “The Search”, Voyager’s “Renaissance Man”, and probably others I’ve missed). And it really worked. Captain Lorca’s capture by the Klingons left us with two distinct plot points, both of which provided a way to push the plot forward in a nicely paced way. We had Lorca on the Klingon ship, which provided us with a way to introduce Lieutenant Tyler, a regular cast member who we hadn’t seen for the first four episodes and Harry Mudd, a classic character who I admit I don’t know much about, but who was entertaining enough to watch through Rainn Wilson, not to mention giving us our first proper insight into Lorca’s backstory. Meanwhile, on-board Discovery, the need to rescue the Captain gave us so much character information, from reinforcing Michael’s sympathy for the Tardigrade, to Stamets’ less grumpy side, to Saru’s desire to be a good First Officer and, in his potential future, Captain.

In my opinion, they totally nailed all of that character development in this episode especially. We’d seen glimpses of Stamets’ sensitive side, his desire to help people, last week, when Lorca played the transmissions from the colony, but this week pushed that one step further, with him putting himself at risk so that the Tardigrade didn’t have to be hurt any more. The conversation at the end between Michael and Saru was brilliant, and really expanded their dynamic past them just arguing all the time. We got our first look at Stamets and Culber’s relationship, in a really nicely written, very natural feeling way.

I’m glad we’ve finally met Lieutenant Tyler, and I do think I’m going to really enjoy him as a character. Shazad Latif seems to be a really nice fit for the role, and I’m really looking forward to seeing where he goes as a character. I don’t have too much more to say about him yet, but I do want to point that out. I think he’ll be interesting.

As far as smaller details, the only think that really stands out is THAT KLINGON INTERIOR. Fine, I guess if you want to be picky, the EXTERIOR didn’t look a whole like the D7 that they said it was (I mean, given the D7 is a fundamentally crappy design, and the old long-necked Klingon ship design has been proven nicely by the Sarcophagus ship’s neck getting so badly damaged, I think it’s a wise design, but I know some people are going to be annoyed by it), the interior felt perfect to me. That almost sewer-esque feel absolutely screams Klingon to me, and I appreciate that.

Overall, I really enjoyed the episode. I don’t feel like there’s much else I can say past that. I watched it, I enjoyed it, and I’m still excited about next week’s episode.

And, as usual, specific Spoilery comments under the cut.

Line of the week (Screw it, I might as well make that a thing): “This is so fucking cool” Yes, they said “fucking” in Star Trek. And from Cadet Sylvia Tilly, of all people. It was kind of perfect. I approve.

The Tardigrade lives! I was expecting this plot line to be spread out for a couple more episodes, but I am glad they didn’t drag it out further than they needed to. It’s clear that the writers have a good grasp of how long plot points need to be dragged out, and I’m glad they didn’t overplay it. I was also expecting to just end up dying, so it’s nice to see that the show isn’t adverse to happy endings.

Still think Burnham’s going to end up in command in the future, especially with the conversation she had with Saru at the end. It’ll cause nice conflict, if it ever does happen, though I’d doubt it before the second season at the earliest.

And the final scene! Stamets and Culber! As I said, I’m really glad that for something as high-profile as Star Trek’s first ongoing same-sex relationship, they’re playing it just like they would any other relationship. I assume now they’ve started it, we’ll see a lot more of it, and I’m looking forward to seeing where that goes. But, from this first scene, I think my hopes that we were going to see something similar to The O’Brien family in DS9 seem accurate.

So. Don’t. Kill. Culber.

Also I am a little confused about his position. He talked about the CMO, so he clearly isn’t in charge, but his badge reads as his rank being equivalent to a Lieutenant Commander. That means that the CMO is probably ranked Commander, which, I think, is higher than we’ve ever seen in someone of their position before. Just a weird little observation. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if a confrontation with Klingons left Culber in that position anyway.

#Star Trek Discovery #Star Trek #Star Trek Discovery Spoilers

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ordinaryschmuck · 3 years ago

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What I Thought About “Together Again” from Adventure Time: Distant Lands

Salutations, random people on the internet who certainly won’t read this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

When Cartoon Network/HBOmax announced Adventure Time: Distant Lands, there were only two of the four specials that got my attention. There was "Obsidian" for the undeniable factor of sweet, sweet Bubbline content and "Together Again," which marks the return of Finn and Jake. And honestly, it was hard to tell which one had me the most excited.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for seeing two gals being much more than pals, but there has always been something about Finn and Jake that I just adore. Their brotherly dynamic is as endearing as it was realistic, and I couldn't help but smile whenever I saw them goofing around in the original series. So, seeing one last adventure between the two of them is an idea that I'm all for. After watching it a second time...yeah, it was everything I could have ever hoped for and much, much more.

Unfortunately, to explain why means that I'll have to go into spoilers. So, this is your last chance to watch "Together Again" if you haven't already. It is a heartbreaking yet funny special that requires an in-depth look to suitably explain why "Together Again" is the perfect send-off for Adventure Time: Distant Lands, as well as a much better end to Adventure Time as a whole...Yeah, I know it's not actually the end. But it's so clearly meant to be the end, and I will treat it as such because of it.

So shut your pieholes.

WHAT I LIKE

Return of the original intro: This makes sense for a story and for an ending (shut your pieholes).

Narratively speaking, it adds to making it clear that it's Finn and Jake's adventure. They're the only two characters mentioned in the theme song, and they're also the ones who prominently take the spotlight in the special. It makes sense to play this theme song one last time.

This also makes sense for why it works for a finale (shut your pieholes). If this really was meant to be the end of Adventure Time as a whole, why wouldn't they play the theme song one last time? Dozens of fans everywhere have memorized every frame of that intro, and I feel like they would feel cheated if they don't watch it play out for the final episode (shut your pieholes). And, c'mon. You had to admit that your poor, little nostalgic heart didn't feel something when seeing it again. It's a sweet moment that adds to the episode while still appealing to fans in the most subtle ways.

Finn and “Jake’s” little adventure: This was a ton of fun to watch. As I said, it's endearing to see Finn and Jake act as the bestest of bros, and it just felt nice seeing a classic F and J adventure again, even if the real Jake isn't present. Although, on the one hand, a part of me wishes it wasn't too obvious that it was just Finn going through an illusion and played more into the idea that it's a flashback with only subtle hints that it isn't. Because the second they showed Gumbald as a snow golem, it is clear from the getgo that this wasn't one of their past adventures. But, on the other hand, we still get some solid foreshadowing with the fifty-flavor ice cream, on top of really stellar performances from John DiMaggio and Jeremy Shada as Finn is forced to see Jake die a second time. Seriously, that hit HARD as it not only sets the tone of the special but also perfectly explains Finn's motivation. Speaking of Finn...

Finn: The first thing I want to get out of the way is that Finn is, like, eighty or something years old in this special. It's easy to forget, given how he looks like his young (or rather, identifiable) self throughout most of the whole thing, but it's true. The Finn we see is one from the far off future of the series. And I'm gonna level with you, it is all kinds of pleasant to know that he hasn't changed a bit with old age.

The second he believes to be trapped in a dungeon, he wastes no time trying to get out while also saving those he thinks are trapped with him. When he realizes he's actually dead, Finn almost instantly looks at the bright side with the fact that he gets to see Jake again. Then after finding out the afterlife is being run by some buttface, Finn takes a break from finding Jake to kick New Death's a new one. And even once finding out how bad things are, Finn does everything he can to teach New Death a lesson. It's that last part that gets to me the most because it's the idea that even in death, Finn still finds a way to serve justice. Which makes way too much sense.

Plus, going back to what I said earlier, Finn's motivation is set in stone from that fake adventure he went on. Even if his actions come across as selfish, you understand why. Look at how devastated Finn was after thinking he saw Jake die again. It's clear that his brother's death heavily affected our boy, and I can't blame him. Especially with how well Jeremy Shada does at voicing some heavy scenes (Seriously, the guy's come a long way). The amount of raw emotion and identifiable motive help elevate Finn into one of the best things about "Together Again" while also making the special one of his better stories. More so in the fact that he has no hang ups over a lady ONCE in forty-five minutes (which is impressive in itself).

“Cause of Death?”/”Who gives a toot?!”: Agreed. I don't need to know how Finn died. Knowing him, it's either employing a heroic sacrifice, or he just kept adventuring until his body couldn't take it anymore. The reason doesn't matter. Besides, it leaves room for all the angsty fan-fics from writers who want to play around with how exactly Finn bit the dust, cashed in his chips and bought the farm. So, you know, there's that.

Adventure Time’s version of the afterlife: I'm actually into the notion that Adventure Time doesn't subscribe to a single idea of the afterlife and instead combines several concepts made by different beliefs. The thoughts are still the same: You act like a good person, you spend eternity in peace. You act like a dillhole, and you spend eternity in torture. Speaking of which, it's a pretty cool callback that the inhabitants of Dead World #1 are past villains. And it's also funny that Tree Trunks share the same Dead World with all of her lovers, except for Wyatt. Which I would feel bad about...if it wasn't Wyatt.

And, to any conservative people who believe the show is disrespecting your religion, here’s what I have to say: Nobody knows for sure what's going to happen when any of us die until we...well, die. The knowledge we have comes from a collective belief and no farther. Besides, Adventure Time is a work of fiction. Therefore, its version of the afterlife is also fiction. Meaning that complaining about something that is definitely fake is nothing short of a waste of time. Seriously, I'm Lutheran, and I even take a moment to appreciate that the writers created an excellent and easy-to-understand explanation for what happens to these characters after they kick the bucket.

Return of Mr. Fox: I'm actually cool with this. Mr. Fox has always been a chill character and might just be the most normal person in the entire series...ironic, given the fact that he's a talking fox...and now the living embodiment of Death. But hey, it's still nice to see him again on top of it being sweet to see him get some semblance of a win.

(Even if the sick, twisted bastard in me can't help but chuckle at the idea of Mr. Fox icing souls by smothering them with a pillow.)

All the callbacks: "Together Again" might just have the most callbacks out of all the Adventure Time: Distant Lands specials so far. Whether it's through brief cameos of classic characters, the swift return of Shoko, the Waving Snail making a comeback, and some tiny tidbits like Finn doing that clapping thing that Jake randomly came up with within some episode. It all makes being a fan rewarding as you get the inside jokes while incredibly fitting seeing how it's the end of Adventure Time (SHUT! Your pieholes).

Tiffany: Finally, we get some official closure with this character. I had no problems with Tiffany in the past, but I find it weird how we never got a solid ending to his character/arc aside from this half-a-second-long glimpse of him being a cyborg in a wasteland. Here, not only does he have some form of redemption, but Tiffany's story feels like it has concluded. Technically, you could say that it did in "Preboot" when he sacrificed his life to save Finn and Jake. But at least this time, he gets a much happier ending.

Also, tell me a better secondary antagonist that would work best against Finn's journey to find Jake. Go ahead. I'll wait. Until then, let's move on.

New Death: This might just be one of the best one-off villains that Adventure Time has ever had. Sure, his goals and motivations are pretty standard. But except for a select few, the series never had complex and thought-provoking villains. Adventure Time was one of those shows that knew personality, and sometimes even cool designs are enough to make a baddie work. That is certainly the case with New Death. His dude-bro persona never failed to be entertaining, principally when you remember it's the living embodiment of death itself.

And his design. Goodness gracious, his design! You know that a show is doing something right when the first thing that comes to mind when looking at a character is, "Well, they look awesome." Which he does! New Death looks like the most over-the-top, heavy metal-esque thing that the character artists have ever come up with for the series, making a villain look about as epic and ridiculous as he acts. He might not be as tragic as Ice King or as terrifying as The Lich (I know, and I'll get to that), but he's certainly entertaining. And sometimes, that's good enough for me.

“So, y’all are...eating each other. Ok.”: ...There are some people on the literal Hell we call the internet who would love to go to that Dead World...and those people are sick.

Joshua and Margaret: Gonna level with you: I love these two so much. Their love for each other is quick to understand, just as much as it is easy to see how Finn and Jake turned out how they are. Joshua taught them to be brave, strong and always remember to have fun. Whereas Margaret taught them to be practical, kind, and always remember to be prepared for anything. You see that just through their personalities, which are just so charming to watch. So I'm glad that they have a more significant role in "Together Again" other than a brief cameo, and much like Tiffany, get a more official end to their story other than just dying off-screen. Because I adore them and wouldn't mind at least one more story with these two if it was possible.

“Right. Right. I’m just messing with you fern.”/”...Are you still messing with me?! *cries*”: You call it a sick joke. I call it kind of funny.

(It's also the most subtle of callbacks in the entire special. RIP Fern.)

Jake: As much as it is unsurprising to know that Finn still finds a way to kick butt even in death, it is just as easy to believe that Jake found nirvana after passing on. He was always this relaxed and wise character, even if he did come across as greedy, selfish, and lazy at times. Look back at what he said about having a chip stuck between his teeth: "To live life you need problems. If you get everything you want the minute you want it then what's the point of living?" Jake might not get everything right, but he definitely understands how the world works better than most characters in Adventure Time.

Also, while it's great to see Jake has achieved ultimate peace, it's downright heartwarming to know that all it took to snap him out of it is to see Finn get hurt. Seeing Jake immediately destroy anything that harms his boy has always been delightful, and it proves he also hasn't changed with age either. Just like Finn, this the best story Jake has ever had, as the writers kept what we liked and ditched the rest.

(Thank goodness too, because Lazy Jake is easily the worst Jake).

Princess Peppermint Butler: ...I'm choosing to believe that Bubblegum left Pep Butt in charge while she and Marceline ran off to clone gay babies together in a cave that's shaped like home somewhere. Because I want those two to be happy, and I refuse to accept any possibility that Bonnie's dead and that statue is memorializing her instead of reminding people who their best princess is. So, ZIP IT!

But in all seriousness, I'm glad to see Peppermint Butler make a return. There's no one else from the living world that Finn and Jake could have contacted that's better than him, and with his quick appearance, he gets the second funniest moment in the special (I'll talk about number one later). Peppermint Butler asking for Finn's bones is the right amount of creepy/weird to make it funny, and it reminds me so much of how hilarious this character became after the writers leaned into his surprising expertise with magic and demons. He also acts as a solid expectation subversion. We usually associate P.B. with Princess Bubblegum, and not many people expect that Finn and Jake meant Peppermint Butler. The result is a pleasant surprise that may offer more questions than answers, but it's still a blast nonetheless.

Life: Life is a pretty neat addition to the special. Her design references how two snakes intertwined symbolizes fertility and regeneration, which shows how keen the cast and crew of Adventure Time really are. There's also this fantastic attention to detail of how plants grow wherever she walks, being something that can't have been easy to keep track of. And I just love how she immediately loses it after finding out that New Death is cutting off reincarnation. Hell really does hath no fury like a mother scorned, does it?

Speaking of which, I adore the fact that Life fell in love with Death. Not only is the irony just *chef kiss*, but it's another callback to the original series. Not many fans know this, but this short called "The Gift That Reaps" was about how Death tried to win Life. "Together Again" shows how things lasted well for them, even if it inadvertently resulted in Old Death's demise. It might be one thing to reference past episodes and characters, but a short that some people might not have watched shows how much the writers genuinely care about the canon. Adventure Time might have had its fair share of retcons and redirects, but stuff like this shows that not everything has to be forgotten.

Finn and Jake just whacking New Death with a stick: This is the funniest moment in the special. It's a battle against the living embodiment of a state of being, and it's decided by two idiots taking turns twatting him around with a stick. If you didn't lose your s**t to that, there's either something very wrong with you or very wrong with me. And because this is my Tumblr, I'm deciding that it’s you who’s a part of the problem.

The Lich returns: ...You know what, sure. Why not?

Some people might take issue with this as the Lich isn't all that necessary of an addition, especially with New Death doing a great job as a solitary antagonist. But, the Lich is still as terrifying as ever, and I won't lie when I say that I got goosebumps when he still referred to Finn as a child, despite how our boy is a grown man now. It shows how the Lich acknowledges Finn as an opponent but not more dangerous than himself. And while it makes too much sense to know Finn and Jake are still kicking butt in the afterlife, the same can be said with the fact that the Lich is still trying to conquer everything even after his...is it fifth death?

The point is, while he might not be essential, he is still just as well-written as ever.

Finn and Jake fighting over who becomes New New Death: This showcases how selfless Finn and Jake are, on top of how strong their bond as brothers is. The two of them literally fighting over who takes the reigns of being the New New Death isn't done out of how "cool" the job might be. Instead, they realize that being Death is not only a curse but a curse that neither wants anybody to go through, especially each other. And even when their motivations are the same, their reasoning is just slightly different. Jake is willing to be New New Death for the sake of Finn getting the best life, whereas Finn wants the job knowing that it won't matter unless Jake's not by his side. It proves that while they're both true-blooded heroes, they're still two different characters. It's the little details like this that make me appreciate this strong writing all the more.

Finn and Jake getting reincarnated together: ...Gosh dangit, I'm gonna miss these two :'[

Yeah, like everyone else, I got a little emotional during this moment. I didn’t full-on bawl my eyes out like others, but a few tears did manage to leak out. Which is the most Adventure Time has done to me since "I Remember You." Still, seeing Finn and Jake getting reincarnated together, sharing one last fistbump as they do, is a potent moment that can make new and old fans' hearts break in all the right ways. It's just the perfect emotional conclusion that "Together Again" requires, and I couldn't have pictured a better ending to Adventure Time as a whole...Too bad it isn't the end of Adventure Time.

WHAT I DISLIKE

It should have been the last special: I know, I know. It's petty, it's pointless...BUT IT'S HOW I FEEL DAMNIT!

Finn and Jake are the main characters of the entire series, with "Together Again" being their last adventure. So having it be the last special in Adventure Time: Distant Lands would have been perfect! Because after "Wizard City," that's it. No more of this series until some idiot decides to reboot the whole thing (which I believe no one wants). To be honest, I feel like this decision will really hurt "Wizard City" in the long run. It might be fun, but having it come off the heels of "Together Again" will result in dozens of people saying it's weaker in comparison. Hell, people are already saying they're not going to watch it because of how perfect an ending "Together Again" was. And I can't blame them. I mean, the end of Adventure Time as a franchise is going to ride on Peppermint Butler? Peppermint Butler? Over the main characters?!

...Yeah, someone f**ked up. I don't know who specifically f**ked up, but someone f**ked up.

But to be fair, this has nothing to do with the special itself. It has everything to do with network meddling, given how the network decides when which episodes come out. And given how my only complaint of "Together Again" isn't an issue with the actual special, you know that's a good thing.

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"Together Again" is easily an A+ in my book. The characters and story are solid and endearing, the comedy is hilarious, and the callbacks make up a pretty fitting finale, even if it isn't actually a finale. Because while the fun has yet to come to an end, this is still one of the best stories of Adventure Time.

#adventure time #adventure time distant lands #finn the human #jake the dog #what i thought about

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