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1dcraftawards · 4 years ago

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November Author of the Month...

Drumroll please.... our November Author of the Month is none other than the incredibly talented...

@all-things-fic !

Congratulations to a wonderful author, Liz! You can check out our interview with her below!

1.Did you start writing fanfiction for One Direction, or was there another fandom that you wrote fanfiction for before this?

I have one fic that I wrote for One Direction Fanfic Archive, that will never see the light of day. It was really awful, but everyone starts somewhere. I’ve shared it with two people on Tumblr and we just laughed about it.

I’ve also written a Niall Horan fic which has been flagged for how explicit it is, which is quite laughable as it’s tame in comparison to the Harry stuff (eek!)

2. How old were you when you started writing fanfiction?

I was a teenager when I first started writing fics. I don’t know if I would consider it “proper” fanfic though as it was riddled with cliches.

3. What’s been your favorite fic that you’ve written to work on so far?

For the longest time I was proud of the second part of Divorce Harry and specifically the second part. It just felt real to write. I can’t even explain what it is about that piece.

I think at the time it stemmed from an ask I received where I was asked if I was a parent - I’m not - but this someone said I portrayed aspects of a marriage and how children can tip the balance really well.

The sheer bitterness of two people in love and the juxtaposed feeling it brings was an interesting dynamic. Being bitter and in love? How? It happens. You love someone, but bloody hell don’t you hate at the same time.

And I think on the hand Quarantine Harry is the opposite side of the same coin. I love it because it’s so happy. When you’re smitten and basking. Your baby waking you up at 3am and meeting your husband on the landing with the freshly made bottle is a time to enjoy because you’re doing it together.

But soon enough the third child is sprawled out in your kingsize bed and their foot is pressed against your ribs and you're tired. This isn’t me saying the two stories are linked (I do get those theories quite a lot haha)

4. Do you prefer AU or OU?

Definitely more of an OU gal. I’m massively into writing things “realistically” because I think it’s so relatable and helps draw readers in more so. Especially if the writing uses and references visuals that readers are aware of.

5. What’s your favorite trope to write?

Would we call a long-term relationship / established relationship a trope? If so then this is my favourite. Writing characters who know how to push each other’s buttons, knowing what they can and can’t say to get the other going. Being able to write two people who can share as little as a glance and know what the other is feeling.

Sprinkle a bit of angst on the top for good measure.

That’s my kryptonite.

6. What’s your ideal space to write in?

I tend to write when I’m in bed quite a bit, usually really late at night and on my phone rather than my laptop. Often lying in the dark. Sometimes first thing in a morning.

7. How do you get motivation to write?

This one made me laugh considering I’m unable to finish a single piece of writing at the minute.

Pictures are quite inspiring. New images of Harry can usually start something in me. The images of him in the whacky joggers for example from set have inspired a scene in Quarantine Harry (who knows for which part just yet!).

8. Do you typically like to listen to music when you write? If so, what do you listen to?

Very rarely listen to anything when I write, I tend to like silence really. Sometimes this is so I can dictate into my phone.

9. Your dialogue is some of the best I’ve ever read on tumblr, how do you plan conversations in your fics?

Thank you for the compliment, it’s really nice to read that you think so highly of my dialogue. I don’t really plan them - conversations or my fics. I’m quite visual in how I write, so anything that you’ve read I’ve most likely had it play out in my mind and typed it as it’s moved. For dialogue I tend to speak out loud as I’m typing to try and get the pacing right for the conversation.

No, I don’t try to do a Manc accent… Just in case anyone is wondering haha!

10. What is your writing process like?

I write what I see and then hope it fits. Honestly it’s pretty chaotic. The only time I tend to plan is when I’ve got a lot of different scenes written and I need to know if they’re suitable for an update or what order to place them.

Then I read through them and think about the characters and how they would be a certain time and move the documents into another document. Then I close all the tabs and cry cause my motivation is nonexistent.

11. What’s been your favorite scene to write from Quarantine Harry?

One that hasn’t been shared haha! I’m joking (maybe).

From part one my favourite bit has to be the part where she makes up with him by taking him a cuppa and he gets a dig in about how she hasn’t brought any biscuits with her. Also the bit where he says “come an’ love me” meaning he wants to cuddle. I’m quite conscious I don’t really ever write soppy fics, so when I’m writing “fluffy” aspects they’re more so everyday affections. Like, you know someone is properly in love with you when they’re doing the washing up cause you’re busy, or they’re taking out the bins on bin day. That kinda thing.

From part two absolutely the entirety of the morning where she takes the pregnancy test. That was the part I had as clear as day and I worked backwards to the opening scene. I really loved the idea of Harry knowing his partner is pregnant before said partner knows. Him knowing his lovers body like the back of his hand so much so that he’s able to pick up on the smallest of things. I knew I had to write it.

And how he casually suggested she took the test, by pressing a kiss into her back. His face finding that test and then being an insufferable sod and pleased with himself cause he’s in the know about the outcome before the MC.

12. Is there a schedule you follow in terms of when you write? Or are you more impulsive and just write where and when you can?

So impulsive it’s actually embarrassing. I cringe at myself. I know I’ve mentioned this loads but I really write what I see. So if I’m not seeing anything, I’m not writing. It’s quite frustrating.

13. What is one thing you wish you would’ve known before you started writing?

To not talk about your writing before you’ve finished it. I feel like I massively let people down when I post sneak peeks and then I can’t deliver because life gets on top of me!

14. What do you prefer writing, multi-chaptered fics or one shots?

One shots and then if they develop into something more that can be exciting!

15. What's your secret to portraying such a complex and interesting relationship between your main characters??

Personal trauma…… *tumbleweed at another one of my poorly thought out jokes*

I’m a bit stumped on how to answer this one. I think being well read(ish) helps you create complex characters and relationships, not saying that I am but I’ve read a fair few books. Life in general helps too, sometimes personal relationships. Just growing up. My fic when I was younger was nowhere near the type of things I’m writing now but I’ve got a couple (okay, more than a couple!) of years on myself since then.

I think just apply your own lived experiences and call upon emotions you may have felt through certain times that you’re writing should you have experience it.

Partly I also think so many of us are a little bit nosy. Sometimes we all kinda want to be the fly on the wall in the home of couples to see if everything is a rosy as it seems or as intimate. Or whether it is just raw passion with a couple of arguments thrown in for good measure.

16. What Harry era/mood/look/vibe/song/etc. do you get most inspired by?

What’s weird is my favourite era of Harry is 2014, but I wouldn’t want to write him like that. The current Harry is quite marvellous. I’ve never known anyone like him, he really is fine wine (the real album title…. ‘we’ll be a fine wine’)

If you’re asking what mood I like to see him in, it’s either when he's pensive and looks a touch pissed off with a crease to his brow or when you watch his joke his eyes before he’s even said it and he’s amused/pleased with himself.

His current look, mainly late 2019/2020 is quite something (hence the quarantine fics)

I tend not to get inspired by his songs but my two faves if I had to pick would be Woman and TBSL. I think they’re massive Scorpio energy and would make great premises for a one shot sometime!

I’m not sure if I even answered this how you wanted it answer but hopefully it was something haha!

17. Who or what inspired you to start writing?

I’ve always loved writing, I think it’s because I do a lot of it with my line of work. The person that gave me the push on this site was actually an account called @meetyourmouths. The lovely Iz is no longer on tumblr but she wrote a Harry piece that just made me think ‘fuck it’ and I posted Practicing. If you go to that piece the authors note makes mention to Iz.

I would also say @stylishmuser was one of the first people to reach out to me and be encouraging which has always stuck with me. Massive love for, P and still talk to her all these years on.

I’m now sat here thinking about listing all the lovely lovely people who have been so nice to me both in regards to writing and outside of it and I’m conscious I’m not mentioning them. The troubles of being a bit of a people pleaser. Hopefully those people know I love ‘em… You know?

18. Some readers are wary of leaving feedback because they're unsure how the writer will take it, how do you personally like to receive feedback? Do you want to be critiqued, or would you like to just know if they did or didn't enjoy what they've read?

First thing I’d say is please don’t ever think as readers you can’t be negative. Sure there is a way to present the feedback to the author cause writing can be quite personal, but everyone has room for growth.

Just come chat to me. Can be about anything and everything. A simple ‘loved the update’ to ‘this bit was rubbish’. I’m open to all feedback.

One thing to remember is there are a lot of writers out there so there is something for everybody. If a fic isn’t for you there are tons out there waiting for you to go and grab ‘em!

19. Is writing a hobby or do you have aspirations of writing professionally outside of fanfiction?

I used to think it was mainly more so a hobby, and I do still lean towards this. However, now I’m not so sure. My problem is I tend to have long spells of not being able to find balance in my ‘real life’ job and the extra-curricular stuff.

I’m dragging myself here but I don’t think my fics have much plot to them. I’m more so about writing the everyday life and I don’t think there is a market for that really (unless you have something explosive happen somewhere).

20. And finally, What's your purpose for writing? What do you hope to accomplish?

For a while I wanted to write Harry being insufferably British. I found it quite hard to find writings that I thought wrote him using Britsh-isms (is this even a thing?) and types of phrases that are common over this side of the pond. I wanted to put that out there for someone who may have once felt like me.

Mostly, I just want to put pieces out that take people elsewhere, even if only for a couple of minutes. A lot of the world is a bleak place, if you find my little corner on tumblr and it makes you smile, that’s achieved something, hasn't it?

#author of the month #aom #November2020 #aomnovember2020

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sithisreadingcorner · 3 years ago

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Hi Sithi💗

I wanted to ask for some advice from the cards (and you, to be honest) about someone I am currently seeing right now. Intuitively I’m unsure of how I feel about him but so far he has revealed to me a lot of good qualities about him, yet for some reason I feel hesitant on initiating something with him. I am unsure of whether or not he has good intentions or if I’m even interested in him. He’s been so kind and generous, compliments me, and has treated me right (so far.) However, I’m still unfortunately not over BA but I know that that situation does not have any opportunities anytime soon or if any at all. I just want some advice on how to move forward with this new person and if it even is a good idea. Maybe any revealing insight about anything that I should know, at this point.

I’m in no rush to have this answered, so please take your time/come to this whenever you feel ready to do so!

His initials are BS. Mine are KD, but Kas is completely fine! (Haha)

My date of birth: 08/07/2000 (I’m 21)

Welcome back Kas 💗 What I would advise, as a person, is that no matter what you do, be honest about your feelings with BS. If you feel unsure whether you are ready for a relationship yet, they should know. I know that the BA stuff is very recent and if I were in this situation, I would take a little more time for myself before doing anything, but I understand that everyone is a bit different, so idk.

ace of coins. eight of wands the star. eight of swords

The ace of coins in a love reading comes up often to indicate a new relationship in the very recent past or future. So this is kinda funny to me, as if the cards just said "Yep. He's there. That's the guy." But I think what the real information value is here, is what the cards are NOT saying. You kinda describe BS as if you were already suspecting him of committing nefarious plots against you. But if he has any ill intentions, the cards wouldn't know. Most likely he's just... a guy. You know? Just a person, like you and me. Is he going to hurt your feelings? Mmmmaybe? Don't we all sometimes hurt the people we love?

I think that this relationship has some potential to work out, but you will have to change one thing for that to come, and this is a little bit of a complicated concept, but I'll try my best to explain.

The eight of wands is both your encouragement and warning at the same time, and seems rather stern too. It's almost as if you were too stagnant and yet too quick at the same time. "DO make moves, but DON'T make them too rashly," is the message. You almost seem to float around like a tumbleweed looking for its next place to root. If you are not dealing with your insecurities, and instead want your partner to ease them or reassure them for you, that is like putting your roots on unstable ground. Not only will you be disappointed and heartbroken, but the very foundation of your whole personhood will be shaken every time you break up with someone. Of course you are devastated! So start questioning yourself... where am I putting this foundation in the first place? What are the things that give me self worth? It's not in the right place, at the moment. And I want you to understand very clearly that this is not about how little or how much time you wait, but it is something that you wilfully have to go out of your way to change, and put the effort into.

It's not your fault, but you are the only one who can deal with it. Not even the most magnificent heavenly level 20 soulmate twin flame can deal with it for you. If you don't, this will kinda just keep happening, you know? 😕

You got the Star, which is a wonderful omen for people who are looking to heal from a past relationship, but it came up as an advice card, so i clarified it with the eight of swords. You feel helpless and trapped. Honestly, I'm saying this for a fact, I can almost feel it. And hey, if your new guy is giving you bad vibes, DON'T go into anything with him! But what I think is the thing that you are trapped in is your feelings with BA. "Why can't I move on from this?" you ask. And, I don't know, I mean it always takes a little time but if the cards are true, there IS an answer to this question and it seems very obvious. Cause you put your self worth in BA and he vanished. I want to stress that the Star is an overwhelmingly positive card for you - it means that you will heal. But you have to stop picking on the scab first.

I hope that this will help, Kas. 💗 Take your time to recover, and treat yourself kindly in the meantime!

tip

#tarot #txt #spirit speak

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buildingshitwithcrab · 3 years ago

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Thought I’d give a “small living” recommended video a chance, and while that wasn’t necessarily a mistake, it led to absolutely nothing new. I had a comment written out, but it’s wordy and kinda takes the piss out of the guy’s sense of innovation. Not that he’d ever see it. So I’m just going to post it here, instead.

Not sure about so much focus on outdoor spaces in an area with snowy winters. What's perhaps great in the summer as 'extra living space' is suddenly missing and confining, when it gets cold. Access to the roof space will be gone, also. The "things to do" appear to be cornhole, sitting and talking, or spending money at businesses. Gardening is out, and it doesn't seem very private at all, unless you're inside. Even extroverts have days they'd like to just be alone, and confining yourself inside is the only option for that. Which, granted, is the situation in regular apartments/condos, but the sacrifice of living space (and number of residents) for green space--which should be good!--isn't yielding a different result, much less a measurably better one.

A personal matter of taste, but I'm really disheartened how it feels like 90% of the small living movement has just taken a lazy route of "unfinished pine everywhere". There's so rarely any personality to these spaces, from Tumbleweed trailers to off-grid cabins to pre-fab kits, because so few ever bother to personalize them. Not even pictures on the walls! "I bought it and stopped there" is not a personality, in the same way a bag of flour is not 'deconstructed' bread. A blank slate is meant to be written upon eventually, not remain blank forever. It comes off as extremely uninteresting, and reflects on the people living there. I feel bad for the children, in particular, who can't be creative or have collections because it would simply ruin mommy & daddy's minimalist lifestyle. I realize this company has business interest in showing off the laminated wood, but again, it all looks like every other small or tiny house, at this point. At least show people the wood can be tinted, stained, or painted, to be made their own and look less like living in a basic shed in a Lowes parking lot. Bare pine lumber does not equal "log cabin".

#tiny houses #pre-fab houses #fucking bare pine #how are kids NOT going to get splinters from that #just #for the love of fuck #think about more than the aesthetics #those cabinets are ugly as fuck in situ as well #whoever told him the pin striping went well with naked lumber was lying

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etheshadowlord · 4 years ago

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Sorry but I need to vent about Alien Worlds on Netflix.

Okay so let me preface that I love speculative biology and even speculative xenobiology but I’m no means an expert in the subject. I’m just someone who writes things.

So Alien Worlds is a documentary series kinda showing how life “MIGHT” evolve on other worlds. One of my first problems with it is that it spends a lot of time comparing it to life on earth which is fair since it’s the only planet we know that’s teeming with life but seriously it felt like it was talking more about life on earth than out there in the stars at some points. Nor do we need a

Not just that, there’s also the problem I have with their specificality of the evolutions which I will go into in order. Putting the rest into read more so as not to spoil it for anyone who....might be interested in watching it.

Personally I would put it as a skip.

ATLAS: So first world they show is a planet that has twice the gravity as earth and thus has a much denser atmosphere as the gravity pulls the air together so you get essentially these creatures that live aloft.

So one thing that annoyed me for this episode was the limited view of ATLAS’S biosphere. We were shown “SKYGRAZERS”.....the flying cows I’ll call them, Balloon falcons which have the wrong type of mouth and wrong size for their prey and pack size. And then we got the......meat tumbleweeds.

So first thing I’m going to rant about is the flying cows method of reproduction.

Essentially they land to give birth and the wee ones crawl their way to a cliff to jump off and start life anew while momma dies like a beached whale. What’s stopping the mother from giving birth to a flying cow calf in the air similar to a whale at sea? Or why couldn’t they just carpet bomb an area with reproductive materials? It’s probably gross as fuck but hey, life is gross.

Secondly we got the balloon falcons which like they’re name implies drop out of the sky to attack their prey....in a pack. So my first problem I have with this is the means by which they raise up to attack prey....with bacteria producing gas and expelling that gas to begin hunting. But I’ll forgive that to focus on their mouth parts.

From what I saw it looked like they latch on trying to bring prey down but what we see of their mouths it looks more specialized towards leeching onto prey. Like if you’re going to have hunters hunt prey they need the mouths to actually eat their prey and by extension the teeth for getting they’re nutrients.

Finally we have the meat tumbleweed which tumbles around eating anything it can get which....from we see looks to be pretty much flying cow offspring.

Now they tried to say that they were generalists and by being generalists they would survive say....a mass extinction event that would destroy both the specialized flying cow or the balloon falcons.

One problem, even this eldritch horror katamari needs food and if their food sources go extinct....so do they. The crocodiles and alligators didn’t survive on sheer spite they had to have something they could eat and that thing had to be able to eat as well and what we’ve seen of the atlas biosphere, I’m not confident in their survival.

JANUS: So this is a planet that’s gravitationally locked facing it’s star.... so one side is always day and the other always night and on this planet we have the pentapod....a super adaptable dominant species that’s like an alien roomba. Except a few issues i have with them from what the documentary was showing.

1) Them having venom ala scorpions.

2) Them eating small prey via the pick up and put into mouth method while having venom.

Look, scorpions are cool but here’s the thing regarding venom, the point of it is to immobilize prey to make it easier to eat. Picking up prey and shoving it into your mouth is inefficient especially if you’re eating prey the size of chicken nugget compared to you that can swarm and kill you.

It’s like watching a crab eat ants and then the turns have tabled. A more efficient show of eating is like a pangolin.

It has defenses against stinging prey in its scales and just slurps up prey with a sticky tongue. No need for venom when you can just be protected and slurp up your prey.

EDEN: Gods, so beautiful looking planet but spend the whole episode focusing on the relationship of these predator, their prey, and the fungus that binds them all together....

The biosphere focus is so on these three that I just want to scream. We can tell there are birds on that planet you have bird sounds. There has to be other creatures for the predator to hunt, plus and this is an important thing....if the grazers are spawning numerous of these....embryo pods that all seem to carry one of their babies in them, the forest should be littered with them...to make up for the whole....everyone wants to eat us...plight. And the sac being....some sort of.....tree climbing....whatever is....unrealistic.

Ugh...

TERRA: The final episode of the documentary and it’s talking about hyper advanced species....that have “Evolved” beyond the need of a bod-

OKAY! Let’s start with something basic. There’s no such thing as evolving beyond the need for a physical body. There’s no way I can think of to naturally adapt to being a mass of neural tissue in a box being taken care of by robots with advanced artificial intelligence.

The only paths leading to this...scenario involve either being the last of your kind trying to cheat death by just....cloning your own neural tissue. Or by essentially sentencing the entirety of your species to be brains in cases. Which could only work if there was no viable means to prevent extinction otherwise...or your a cruel dictator and all detractors were forced to be brains in cases.

Like....that’s the only thing I have to complain about is the fact the Terrans are just brains in glass boxes being taken care of by advanced AI robots that are preparing to transport them to a new planet.

If this AI is so advanced that they can self replicate and make their own decisions, they could logically just....leave the Terrans to their own demise. The robots are getting nothing from helping these masses of neural tissue. They’re even losing numbers to solar flares caused by the dying star the planet orbits.

Like this is what I noticed from the entire series is a vast misunderstanding of the intricacies of evolution and adapting to one's environment and how many species it takes to support a rich biosphere.

Cool concept.....poorly executed in my opinion.

#alien worlds #ranting #this isn't getting into the fact we're only focusing on life as we recognize it

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trashbinbackyard · 4 years ago

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personality and relationships for izkiel and ivana

The bounty hunter name starts with an i gang

PERSONALITY

What’s their alignment?

Izkiel is a chaotic good, good his morals on the right track but is rowdy about them

Ivana’s a lawful evil, a law abiding citizen mostly but she’s just selfish and often just looks out for herself

Which one of the 16 Personality Types do they fit into?

ESTP, for sure. Extrovert who lives in the moment

INTJ, i feel kinda conflicted bc intj’s are sometimes the sterotypical ‘evil genious’ type but she’s just cool and calculating not-a-people-person

What are their hobbies and interests?

His hobbies used to include drinking and gambling but for Lyssa he’s doing that rarely, now he is a houseplant dad and tries to cook

She spends free time on shooting ranges and place where you can hit golf balls to your hearts content

Do they have any particular “favorites” (food, books, and so on)?

Seafood comes to mind, fave alcohol is some fruity cocktail

She has her fave gun, her go to drink is a whiskey on the rocks, she sometimes likes some light reading, like history books

What are they bad at?

Generally living on his own, risk assessment sometimes

Talking and dealing with people

What kind of things do they dislike/hate?

Doesn’t quite hate, but dislikes peeps running off on their own without backup, not being told important stuff (that concerns him)

People who expect too much of her, annoying people (that covers about 60% of the people she knows)

Do they have any vices/addictions/mental illnesses?

Not really, he always stayed on top of his gambling and never drank to get too drunk, he’s also a mentally healthy boi

She smokes, drinks too but not enough for it to be a problem, people might think there’s something wrong with her brain, I’ve been toying around the idea of some type of antisocial personality disorder (I did this with ipes too but kinda dropped it while she was on hiatus, might bring it back who knows, two top dogs on outer rim have the same disorder)

What are their goals and motivations?

Make a living, help his community while at it, be a good brother and boyfriend, watch out for his friends

Right now it is to whip the bounty hunters to shape she likes, prove to Orion he picked right, come to terms with her mother’s passing, come to terms with how badly her thing with hecca went

What are their manners like? Any habits?

He’s enthusiastic, manners sometimes slip his mind, but he offers help when he thinks someone might need it and say please and thank you, always helps Lyssa clean up after he comes in with a bullet in his ass

Straight to the point, no need to dance with niceties, among the top ranking hunters she is known as the cold bitch, bad habit she has is to tell people to shut up when she’s tired of listening, she doesn’t even pretend to hear what you have to say

What are they most afraid of?

Death, loneliness, pretty standard set

Never being good enough, he dad pushed her to be the best, her boss pushed her to be the best, now she’s the one pushing

RELATIONSHIPS

Do they have any friends? Would they consider anyone to be their best friend?

Yup, his gf, fellow hunters, Kenzo is particular

Not really, she’s kinda insufferable, her dad comes the closest

What’s their friend group like? What role do they play in it?

Loud, the one who would dare himself to shotgun a whiteclaw, dare himself to steal a stop sign, that kinda boi

If she had friends in the first place, she’d be the one everyone is always confused about why did they invite her again

What’s their love life like? (See also: ship question meme.) Do they have any kids?

Dating a perfect doctor... she/they meets a he/they, no kids

Tumbleweed moslty, was dating Hecca for a year top, while at it was the stepmom for ini

Who do they look up to? Who do they trust?

His parents, citadel higherups (the local ones are kinda eh on the rolemodel depatment), would still trust his life to outer rim comrades, trusts his gf too

She looked up to Orion, a horrible decision, really, figured once he better not get the hint of it or he’ll not promote her, trusts him and her dad, also would still trust Hecca to keep secrets

Who do they hate? Do they have any enemies?

Not really, plenty of little bad guys probably hate his guts

The number of people who give her a headache is too high. Specially hates Ipes, and hates how there’s no way to take her out without throwing an entire outer rim into chaos for power grabs

Do they have any pets?

The plants Lyssa gives him are his babies now

Nope

Are they good with kids? Animals?

Yeah, with both, somewhat prefers animals

Not great with kids, gave Ini some try but ultimately that didn’t go well. Doesn’t mind animals but doesn’t pay any extra mind to them either, like wouldn’t coo over a streetcat, just let it do its thing

#phone at 80% now #sleep time #or go lie in bed and watch tiktoks time #depends how nugget is doing #but behold!#ivana has a serious case of perfectionism and needing to prove herself to anyone and everyone #so what does she do when she's now on the very top and doesn't need to anymore #she's at Loss #her dad wasnt a great parent but his intentions were good #to make her strong and be able to fend for herself #also what comes to antisocial pd i dont know how semi-romantic relationship would work so i'll keep you posted once i do more research #space shitstorm #rowdy he/they and mean girl #is-that-what-i-think-it-is #actually quick google search #i will not be making ipes or ivana have aspd #solely for the reason i dont wanna make someone with that disorder ultimately a bad guy #ipes is not a good person and ivana is not a good person and i dont wanna portray that specific mental illness like this #for the audience of two people but still

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darkestwolfx · 5 years ago

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Tunnels of Time - Re-Review #10

So... there’s a lot I want to say about re-watching this episode, and I have little time in which to type it so I will try not to miss anything out.

Firstly, we got a rescue straight of the bat - even if Gordon did nearly get knocked out by a rock!

This is definitely Parker’s ‘I’m not impressed face’.

I love how Gordon arrives on the flat bed lorry behind instead of a cool Thunderbird... that must have been an interesting drive for the lorry driver... Gordon probably talked his head off.

“Why are you here, Gordon?”

Yeah, it always starts well when the other person has no idea why you’re there, and suddenly you look like you could have been strangely stalking them or something... if Gordon already had his crush on Penelope at this point then that would have hurt. Personally though, I like to take the view that the real crush comes during this episode - it makes more sense story wise.

It’s strange seeing Penelope/Gordon dynamics emerging as well as in TOS they always angled her towards Scott. I think I like it though, and they’re kinda canon at the end. It was a well-developed relationship over the course of the episodes from what I remember too.

“You called me remember?”

“I didn’t send you any message.”

“Yes you did.”

Yeah, that’s just really awkward... let’s allow the tumbleweeds to blow through and just move swiftly on.

“Because you think I need someone to look after me?”

“hExactly!” “hI mean no, not at all, M’lady. You’re more than capable hof fending for yourself. See what you’ve done?”

“I thought you weren’t going in?”

“hExactly! Then you harrived. hI ‘ad a five hin six chance hof hit being hone hof the hothers.”

“There are only five of us.”

“I was including your Gran.”

I really would like to know why Parker desperately wanted it to be anyone but Gordon... I know implications were made in Ring Of Fire that Gordon thinks Lady P and Parker have the ‘easy job’, but I don’t think that would be enough to cause that... Interesting.

I love how Parker doesn’t offer to help with Gordon’s bags either.

“Why, exactly?”

Ur, because he can and he wants to and the power is going to his head? Honestly, do half the people in the world think they need better reasoning than that?

“Shame the way his blocked. Nothing’s getting through ‘ere.”

Well done, Parker. That’s jinx number 1.

“I’ll get some help. Stay there.”

“Where does ‘e think we’ll go?”

I really love the family dynamics in this episode and the relationship between Penelope and Gordon (which let’s be honest at this point was all about one upping each other), but I also really loved the comedic timing. Whilst Lady P and Gordon carried some of this from the above reason, I really loved how much of the humour Parker carried. He was always a great source of humour in TOS, but particularly in this episode, his timing, lines and actions were just amazing!

“hIf hI’m gonna die ‘ere, might has well get comfortable.”

And there’s jinx number 2.

I love how suspicious John was! You can’t fool these brothers, after all they’ve probably seen most tricks in the books on each other or other rescues.

Seriously this moment was golden. I love how the series (this one in particular) balanced out the worry, anger and individual issues of the boys.

“People are just for a lifetime; history is forever.”

“You rat-faced weasel!”

“Woah, Scott.”

Yeah... don’t go punching people... in uniform, at least.

And then Virgil appears once again with some calm and logic and a rescue plan! Sort of.

Because it was all going so well until the camera bit the dust.

“hIt could be some kind hof maze, meant to mess with hour brains.”

I love Parker’s little bit of poetry here - the timing was so point and the meter was - sorry, I won’t ramble too much about poetry at this point.

“He says it means... ah... point of no return.”

“hI reached that ha while hago.”

Best tag on ever.

I liked that though - my science teacher used to have ‘Point of no return’ written above his classroom door in Latin. It made me laugh that it took so many people ages to work out what it said when they could have just asked me as I used to Latin after school!

“We only have a few seconds left, so it’s now or never.”

But it’s actually okay Gordon, you’ve still got another two series.

Although, I doubt Virgil could have been certain that would work. I mean it gave them a way in, but there was no way to know exactly how Gordon would be able to respond to it. But, hey, have a bit of brotherly faith.

Rescue count: 14 It’s stacking up now! We’ve had more rescues than we have episodes at this point!

Right, well I will be back with the Re-Review series on Monday! My focus for the weekend is getting my next fic up!

P.S. Never leave your car keys inside an ancient tomb.

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sell-our-skins · 4 years ago

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Day 4 of Paradise Motel Week Post Canon AO3 Link ~ Hum Hallelujah “Trying to honor the dead is really difficult when the person who killed them is *right there*”

The Girl was struggling to close her backpack. It was a fairly cheap thing, recently bought by her mom. The shade reminded her of apricots, and all of the times she used to steal fruit flavored candies with Ghoul. Actual fruits were impossible to come by in the zones, or at least they used to be, but with BL/ind being gone, she supposed that she could try a real one now.

It was hot in the car. She was sitting in the passenger seat and the sun was beating down on her through the windshield. Her door was open, occasionally giving a short gust of wind. ‘Mom’s getting the keys,’ she told herself. Soon she could crank up the air conditioning and try to relax. That was, if the bag would actually close.

The zipper refused to budge. She gave it another exasperated tug, “Motherfucker,” she hissed out. Stupid zipper. Stupid backpack.

“Motorbaby?” Maya poked her head into the front seat of the van. Her dark hair, which was streaked with the occasional grey, was pulled up into a loose bun and a leather jacket thrown over a plain green tank top, “You need help?”

The Girl sighed, silently handing her mom the backpack in defeat. Maya smiled warmly, opening up the glovebox in front of the Girl with a gentle click. It was filled to the brim with trinkets from their adventures so far. The older Killjoy pulled out a half melted blue candle and began to carefully rub it over the zipper lining.

The Girl arched one of her eyebrows.

“Don’t question me, child of mine,” she warned with a chuckle, setting the candle down on the dashboard. Maya firmly grabbed the stubborn zipper, and closed the bag with ease.

“I take back my eyebrow raise. You’re clearly a deity in disguise,” Maya rolled her eyes, handing the Girl her bag and buckling herself up. The Girl carefully set the fruit-colored-bag in the backseat.

Maya started the van, and she started to head towards Route Guano. It was only now sinking in, what they were doing and where they were going. The Girl could feel her stomach flip with anxiety and her head filling with doubts.

It was apparently visible in her face, since her mom commented on it, “You know, we don’t have to do this. We could… make an altar for ourselves. Just a family thing.”

She actually considered it for a second, but no. She wasn’t going to let some asshole ruin her day

“I’ll be fine.”

--=+=--

The two Killjoys pulled up to the Ultra V hideout, which was formally some type of restaurant. A fast food place, most likely, but it was nearly unrecognizable. It was covered in spray painted tags and other interesting looking ornaments. However, today, it was also decorated with different types of desert wildflowers.

Pretty much as soon as the car had stopped, a teal haired Killjoy burst through the front of the restaurant, followed by their pink haired twin.

“KIIIIIIID! KID KIID!” the twins called out, running towards the car as fast as they could. The Girl felt a little smile appear on her face as she opened the door and hopped out of the van. Instantly, Vaya had pulled her into a tight hug and loudly exclaimed, “I can’t believe you actually came!”

“Yeah, glad you could make it, tumbleweed,” Vamos tried to play faer previous excitement off casually. Fae leaned against the van, a caricatured version of looking cool. Though they somehow made it work.

“Don’t scratch the paint, pup,” Maya piped up, hopping out of their car with a bag slung over her shoulder, “Can ya’ lend me a hand?”

“‘Course, Ms. Psychic,” Vaya called out, letting go of the girl and rushing to the other side of the van, their sibling following closely behind.

Merely a few seconds later, Vinyl came walking towards the group. The Girl gave him a wave, grabbing her apricot backpack from the backseat. Vinyl pointed at her backpack, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, uh, I got it. You can see if mom needs help, though,” he nodded at her words and travelled around the vehicle. The Girl glanced over at the doorway. The last member of the Ultra Vs was just standing there. Staring back at her and leaning against the doorway. His hair had faded slightly, turning a sort of pinkish red.

She sighed and looked up into the sky. Probably around 4.

‘You’ve been through hell and back you can deal with this,’ she ran a hand through her hair and made her way into the Ultra V hideout. Val’s eyes were practically staring right through her. Like a snake watching its prey. The Girl just tried to not acknowledge it.

She looked around at the now decorated restaurant. There were a handful of wildflowers in a variety of colors in cans and petals on the ground. A desk had been pushed out into the front room, making a makeshift altar. It was extremely plain, the only things on it being a faded polaroid of Volume in a soft yellow frame, a couple bad luck bead bracelets placed on the corners of the picture frame, a bag of chips, most likely stolen from Tommy, and a hair dye kit in Electric Frankenstein.

She opened up her bag and began to pull things out of it. Beads, photos, and other precious items. The Girl started to add things to their shared altar, making sure everyone had a section. Her family, her friends, no one was left out.

“Surprised you’re even here, halo head,” Val finally piped up, after what quite possibly could have been the most awkward silence.

‘Halo head,’ she mused to herself, ‘haven’t heard that one in a minute.’

“I’m here to help, don’t get sour,” she said with a sigh, carefully setting out both the battery powered and real candles.

“Help with what? None of this even… matters,” he moved away from his spot in the doorway and towards the altar she was working on.

She didn’t even dignify his sentence by turning to look at him, continuing to set out the picture frames. Val was just trying to get a rise out of her, she knew it.

“I mean, what deity is this for, again?”

“The Phoenix Witch,” the Girl strung a string of bad luck beads around the top of the desk.

“Yeah, the humanoid in a feather coat.”

She gave Val a somewhat annoyed look from over her shoulder, “Just a few months ago you saw me explode into a ball of green electricity,” she went back to what she was doing.

That seemed to set him off, really make him flare up, “I’m not gonna let some bomb with a silver tongue make my crew-”

“Heyyyyy!” Vaya announced their presence as they burst in through the front door. When they noticed how tense Val was, they cleared their throat, “Hope I didn’t interrupt your little get together.”

“Nope, we’re fine,” the Girl put on a fake smile. Apparently it was believable enough, because they let it go with a shrug.

Vaya was followed in by the rest of the Killjoys, all holding different bags filled with goodies.

Val’s anger seemed to fizzle out, since he practically slunk back into the background. It was like a sparkler, going from loud, bright, and fiery to silent in a matter of minutes. A sparkler in Poison Red hair dye. It still made her frown when she thought of it.

--=+=--

The altar was almost completely done, and Vamos was helping with the finishing touches. It was packed full of gifts and photographs, all meant to honor the ghosted. Maya, Vinyl, and Vaya were all in the restaurant’s kitchen, cooking both for the altar and for all of the other Killjoys. There was laughter coming from the kitchen. Well, Vaya and Maya were laughing, Vinyl was trying to fight the smile that wanted to appear on his face. The others were able to hear due to the openness of the restaurant. Val was hunched over on the couch, scribbling in his notebook.

“Lookin’ pretty shiny,” Vamos adjusted one of the frames near the back, since the glare of the lights had made it difficult to see. In it was a photo of Dr. Death Defying and Cherri Cola that the Girl had stolen out of Dr. Death’s station. Faer smile faded almost instantly.

“Christ, I kinda miss the old man,” fae mumbled, tone somewhat sorrowful, maybe even regretful. Fae brushed some of their neon hair out of faer eyes and continued to stare at the frame for a moment. Val shifted on the couch, no longer hunched over. No, now he was listening.

“Yeah, but, I guess… it happens… in a way?” the Girl struggled to find the words, she could feel herself getting somewhat choked up.

“It wasn’t his time,” Maya added, her tone laced with bitterness, “It’s a damn shame, but he’s with the witch now”

“God can you hear yourselves? He was a broken record. A dust angel. What’s the point of all of this?” Val’s voice snapped through the conversation. Everyone was tensely staring at Val, now. A stiff silence having come over the room.

“You wouldn’t know a broken record if you were hit over the head with one,” the Girl snapped back, after what felt an eternity, “The hell is wrong with you? Why can’t you just enjoy something for once?”

Val wrinkled his nose at her, storming out of the building without another word. Fuck.

“Guess you really blew up on him,” Maya tried, her joke falling flat.

--=+=--

It had only been around 15 minutes. The Girl hesitantly poked her head out of the door, looking at Val, who was sitting on the stairs.

“What?” he didn’t look up at her, like he thought the pavement was the most interesting thing in the zones. The stars were just starting to pop up in the sky, the sun sinking behind its spot in the hills.

The Girl just plopped down next to him and stared up at the sky, “You don’t have to like me, Val.”

Val looked up from his pavement, staring at the Girl with a look of mostly confusion.

“We just can’t keep pretending like we aren’t bothered by each other,” she ran a hand through her hair, focusing on a particularly bright star.

There was a beat of silence, “And I know you’re too stubborn to agree. It’s fine,” she hoped that her words came off as lighthearted. The last thing she needed was Val snapping at her again.

“You like the stars?” he finally spoke up.

She broke her staring contest with the bright star to glance at her fellow Killjoy, “Yeah, uh…” The Girl ran a hand through her hair again, debating whether to share what just popped into her head.

“Party, they used to tell me that when you got ghosted you would get turned into a star,” Val looked over at her, his face unreadable, “It always made me feel better, when I would hear people talking about claps going South on the radio. Made me feel like they were just… turning into stardust.”

He looked like he was processing her words, struggling to find the right response.

“Shiny,” is what he finally landed on.

“Yeah, shiny.”

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iamconstantine · 6 years ago

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RWBY CHAPTER 12: BLACK & WHITE (I SUCK AT COMMITMENT)

* Okay so we are leaping RIGHT into Sun and Blake talking together * Sun actually kinda-sorta sounds like Jaune with a deeper voice tbh but I’m sure it’s not the same VA * I was going to make a joke about Blake suspiciously sipping her cup while Sun smack talks the White Fang but then she actually did it * And there it is * I just noticed that Sun’s hair is yellow and his eyes are dark while Blake’s eyes are yellow and her hair is dark. Interesting contrast. * (Insert LOST flashback woosh) * YEEEESSS Different animation style! * The White Fang originally being a sort of “peace group” is actually way more compelling than just an all-out terrorist group. It’s a repeating cycle of hate of one side against the other. The things they do are way, way overkill, of course, but it’s also a reminder that things aren’t always b-- * I just realized why this episode is called “Black and White.” * ._. * Lil kitten Blake. Baby. * “And the New Leader’s first decree was that the old symbol wasn’t edgy enough, so we gave the animal fangs and claw marks and we made it red and people took us more seriously” * The image of the signs becoming weapons was very nice * The portrayal of prejudice and response and related topics are presented pretty realistically in the show, and honestly, credit to them for not doing some weird sugary stuff with it. Usually I see this kind of stuff as like “The other group had their fewings hurt so they hurt peopwe too but that’s not okay uwu” but here it’s just like “Yeah man we started being violent instead of peaceful and people started listening which was good but they were also afraid of us which is bad” * Blake’s explanation of why she left gives newer context to her fight with Weiss. It isn’t just that she has to once again experienced hatred just because she’s a Faunus, and it isn’t just that she has to keep her mouth shut about who she is out of fear. Blake left the White Fang because she hated how violent they were becoming, but after doing the right thing, she once again has to deal with discrimination just for being...Blake * No Sun she hasn’t told anyone but I think they know * Also HOW did Sun know she was a Faunus? Did I miss something? * The way Ruby hisses “Ugh...Weiss” was so acidic like she is 110% done with Weiss’ crap * Yang is trying to hard to be peacekeeper poor thing * Penny returns and everyone is scared * I’m assuming that either A) Penny actually SAW Blake’s ears, or B) Penny saw the bow and just said “yeah there some ears under there” which would kind of explain how Sun knew but not really * I didn’t hear what Ruby said at first but then I put on subtitles and “She does like tuna a lot” almost made me WHEEZE. Ruby’s VA has a really good grasp on comedic delivery * Ruby was like “fam?” but Yang and Weiss were like “peace” * Penny noting on how windy it is is funny but honestly is no one going to comment on the tumbleweeds? * Sun and Blake immediately teaming up is kind of heartwarming; I imagine Blake hasn’t met another Faunus who she could be open with in a while * That said isn’t Sun supposed to be hiding from police? Aren’t they just wandering around? * I still don’t side with Weiss but her line about how the innocent don’t run does remind me that she believes Blake is some kind of criminal. Yes, Weiss has a definite prejudice against Faunus people, but again, I think she’s been ingrained with the lie that all of them are dangerous terrorits * “Is she a MAN?” girl what * Ruby’s outlook on the situation makes a lot of sense. She’s not mad at Blake, not at all, and she’s definitely against Weiss in the argument. That said, she doesn’t know what to make of Blake just running off. I’m sure as the team leader she expects everyone to trust each other on top of being friends, so learning that Blake doesn’t trust her enough to talk to her must her. Of course, Blake has every reason in the world to keep her secret, but I get where Ruby is coming from * I admire Blake and Sun deciding to investigate but what is there plan there’s only two of them * I was fully expecting Sun to respond to Blake with some kind of cheesy pick-up line but him just clapping back with “Weren’t you in a cult or something?” honestly surprised and pleased me * Also Blake’s pout * Oh that animation isn’t...good...not bad, just...not good... * Speaking of animation I’m noticing a kind of recurring thing where characters are technically “walking” but they’re also sliding at the same time. I really, REALLY am not trying to nitpick but it is noticeable. * Speaking off the detail of Sun’s hair, his necklace, and his abs are all pretty good. Definitely a great character design * “See I told you our new logo was cool and edgy” “man u right” * I know I just commented on the whole slide-walk think but at least a few seconds ago it was kind of hidden by the ramp just now it was all up in my face * He’s baaaaaack * So is Blake implying that Torchwick might actually be a Faunus, or is something else amiss? * On the one hand I know Blake can take on countless robots and a giant bird monster but on the other hand I’m with Sun. What is she doing? * Was Torchwick about to drop the f bomb? * Blake talking to the WF as one of them is pretty clever * Torchwick’s VA is doing a good job but he still has that teeth-talk problem * I’m sorry did this guy just blast an actual star at her? * This once again brings me to my upcoming study: “RWBY: Everything is Gun” * Sun’s attack on Torchwick was animated very well, a definite step up from last episode where he seemed too restrained * Torchwick just spoke my thoughts. I do admire everyone’s bravery but come on. The bad guys WILL have backup. * Holy CRAAAAP Sun beating all the WFs with his bo staff is AWESOME and it is animated AMAZINGLY * On top of that Blake’s...I don’t know, “teleport” effect is really cool to look at * What I appreciate mostly about the fights in this show is that even though it’s all very energetic and fast-paced you can keep up with what’s happening. It’s not just trying to look “fight-ish”, it’s real and you can follow every movement * Sun’s bo staff splitting into nunchuks are really cool I wonder if it’s also a--

* There it is. * I also like that the fights make use of the environments * I felt like Torchwick laughing was a little too on the nose but the subtitles saying (evil laugh) just confirms it * Penny is not mad muffin * Let me guess Penny’s about to do a murder * Excuse me

* OH YEEEEAAAAH PENNY’S OFF THE CHAIN * SHE MOWING THESE GUYS DOWN LIKE GRASS * OH * MY GOSH * How is Ruby just mildly pleased and not losing her mind right now * Is Penny about to do a Captain America? * Ruby your question is legitimate but how is that your first one? * Bout time the police showed up * Okay. Moment of truth. How is Weiss going to handle this? * Gooooood. Good girl. * At the same time I appreciate (?) that Weiss almost slipped up on calling Sun something there. She’s going to turn over a leaf to accept Blake as a teammate but that doesn’t mean she’s cured, and she’s still super suspicious of Sun because, well, he is technically a criminal * Is Penny?? A criminal too? * “Hey Ozpin what cha doing” “Oh you know stalking students again; not getting involved or helping in any way” * Oh!! Qrow!! Ruby’s uncle!! * And so the season concludes! * Overall? Not bad. Did it blow my mind? Well, not necessarily. Am I impressed? Absolutely! * I still stand by what I said before about the pacing being a bit off for this first volume. * I do like Jaune. I like his arc and his relationship with Pyrrha and his struggle to be a leader. At the same time, the fact that he gets an arc before Yang or Blake, despite both of them being two of the titular characters, doesn’t feel right. If Weiss and Blake’s storyline had been running alongside it, I think that would have paced things better. Giving Jaune focus without stealing the spotlight from the leads. * Jaune’s arc also has the side effect of bringing things to a halt. It was an enjoyable arc, but following Ruby and Weiss dealing with their feelings on their new team, it more or less feels like a sudden roadblock than anything else. The fact that it really only includes Jaune, Pyrrha, and Cardin (who I wonder will show up again, creepy little sh*t) and not Ren or Nora is something I’ll get to in a second. * Yang herself didn’t get much attention at all, which is very disappointing to me. I don’t know very much about her other than that she’s a thrillseeker, a peacekeeper, and is just nice in general (as long as she’s not angry). I feel like she kind of got robbed here. * I also still believe that the lack of background characters, though explainable and really not that big a deal, is not a “good” thing. To me, it makes Beacon feel really, really empty, not the giant of a school it really is. Cardin’s team were shown, thankfully, but even then their designs are pretty bland and suffer from “Guess Who’s the Main Character?” syndrome * The animation has some highs and some lows, and I’m going to take a guess that most focus was given to the fights, which I will say again look absolutely fantastic. I completely admire the animation team’s work and direction, while at the same time I think other animations feel a bit rough and incomplete. It’s nothing that absolutely breaks my immersion, but there are times when it seems something is supposed to have a lot of energy and instead is too rigid or even too “smooth”, i.e. no sense of gravity or weight. * The designs of every character are always very nice to see--and I would like to once again reaffirm my opinion that character designs don’t always have to be realistically practical and “grounded”. I’d much rather Ruby be wearing see Yang wearing kerchiefs and short shorts than have her be in a completely unnotable outfit with muted colors. Each design also serves the character well. Even Jaune’s very simplistic design highlights how he doesn’t quite fit in at Beacon, and is just “average” compared to everyone else. * The VAs all did very well, even if I did feel at times that they were holding back. * Ren and Nora also did not get very much attention and more or less just feel like filler on Jaune’s team for now. Not absolutely boring, but they don’t nearly play as much of a part as everyone else. I haven’t even seen Jaune interact with either of them that much, which lessens the impact of his struggle to be their leader. * The backgrounds are a bit hit-and-miss at times. Beacon itself looks amazing and grandious, a fairytale castle mixed with a bit of a futuristic edge. Other times, the backgrounds are flat and textureless and don’t feel very real. * I really do wish the first season was able to do episodes of “average episode length” (18~ minutes), as opposed to snippets that could range from 3 to 15 minutes. Even though I felt that “The Stray” ended in a very nice place and set up the next episode well, the season finale doesn’t really feel like a season finale. It just feels like the ending of a typical episode. The only thing that tipped me off that it was a finale was the longer credits. * This is on top of the fact that a few of the episodes were very short and really only progressed one or two things. * I still don’t quite get Auras or what the point of them is. This is the first season, of course, but thus far I really can’t tell how Auras change anything about fighting. I guess it does kind of explain why everyone isn’t bleeding and bruised by the end of every fight, but still. Right now, it feels that if Pyrrha’s explanation of what an Aura is was snipped out, I wouldn’t notice a difference. * Just speaking broadly, even though I think RWBY has a lot of things going for it--design, fight animations, character writing, etc--they’re kind of like a bunch of different candies all jumbled into the same bowl. On their own, they’re good and I can appreciate them. Together, stuffed into the same season in uneven episode lengths, they don’t really work all that well together. * Anyhoodle I’ll be starting season 2 soon and I look forward to it.

#rwby #my thoughts

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lightsandlostbells · 6 years ago

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Druck season 2, episode 5 reaction

Sorry this is late! You can blame it partly on the ~polar vortex~ and partly on fatigue.

anyway, who’s ready to solve the great mystery of the ages, Whose Dick Is That

Episode 5

Clip 1 - Hotel Hardenberg

The doorbell is ringing. Mia wakes up in utter contentment, love that little shot of her foot stirring. The apartment seems to have been tidied up and Alexander’s bed on the floor put away.

Alexander has left her Post-Its as a parting gesture, there’s one on her phone with a heart. Charming move! He comments that she snores. Also charming from a certain perspective (that perspective is Mia is adorable). His other Post-Its in the apartment indicate that he’s made her rosehip tea and thank her for staying at Hotel Hardenberg, what a dork.

Mia gets up to go but then strips the bed. A sign of her compulsive neatness and need for order, especially after that order has been broken by staying at Alexander’s? Or just her wanting to be a thoughtful house guest? Or her wanting to erase the evidence of her presence? All three?

On the way out the door, Mia runs into Björn, who describes himself as a friend of Alex. So, probably not his brother. He’d tell her if he were his brother, right? Saying “I’m Alex’s brother” seems more trustworthy for most people than “I’m Alex’s friend.” And he gave his real name, we know that Alex is referring to a Björn in his text messages with Sam, so Björn can’t have been worried about Alex telling Mia about him and Mia knowing who he is.

Björn says he’s here to get something. I sure bet Alex doesn’t know about that! Something shady is happening! He asks her name and Mia gives it to him. Ohhh, dear girl, you don’t know it but that was probably not a good move. (The biggest plot twist would be if Björn was some totally harmless guy that Alexander had wronged, so Björn was trying to avoid him at all costs and Alexander was trying to find him and apologize.) (I 100% do not believe that is the case but damn it would be a trip.)

The clip started with the doorbell ringing so that must have been Björn. Was he trying to see if Alex was home so he could sneak in while the place was empty? Because evidently Björn got into the building fine, and usually there’s better security in those places, and he’s the one who opens the apartment door, not Mia, so he must have had a key. My guess is that Björn is like the sister’s boyfriend/ex/friend who would have had access to the apartment before Alex moved in.

Alexander sent her a text that he’s in London, doing business/real estate stuff for a few days. #ishereallythatrich - Heh, but what are the odds he’s doing something else?

So I bet that’ll come back eventually, that Mia saw Björn entering the apartment, and she didn’t tell Alex right away. But damn, imagine if Mia hadn’t woken up with the doorbell and Björn walked in on her while she was sleeping. Or if she hadn’t left yet and caught him rummaging around through Alexander’s shit.

Clip 2 - Linn the apartment ghost

One week later due to the hiatus, Mia and Alex are texting. When he asks her how she’s doing, she starts to type out a friendly reply but then stops herself, but unfortunately Alex can see when she’s typing

He asks her to go out for a drink, she says she has to study. They have some “banter” and I know they are flirting but it just makes me tired that part of their dynamic is “I won’t go out with you” followed by “Are you sure?” It’s an issue that extends beyond Winterberg, Noorhelm, or any other version of this pairing - men are socialized not to take no for an answer from women, and it’s too prevalent in real life to really get over it in fiction. Like this texting could’ve been about anything else, more banter about them snoring (Mia says he also snores) or her playing the piano or his Post-Its or literally anything other that this no-yes-no dynamic.

It’s exacerbated because it is a case of “Well, she doesn’t really mean no, she does actually like him.” Mia almost seems disappointed when Alex stops texting back. And again, one of my big problems with how Noorhelm and all its equivalents have been portrayed is that we don’t need more stories where a girl keeps saying no when it turns out she kind of means yes. You can’t separate this individual story from the larger cultural trend.

LMAO, Linn announces her presence by loudly slurping on a drink behind Mia She just wanted to see what’s up with Mia and has been standing there a while. This moment is played for laughs but I think it’s also meant to be a reminder that hey, Mia and Alex aren’t in their own little bubble, other people exist and are eventually going to find out that something’s happening with them. It’s almost like Mia has been caught.

New shot during the end titles of Mia in a hoodie looking dramatic. So far we haven’t seen any of these little end scenes in action. Are these just for promo? I think it’s more likely that they’ll happen in a later episode, I just find it interesting that none of them have taken place yet.

Clip 3 - Dicks in the air

Photocopies of boobs and blurred out dick drift by like tumbleweeds with nipples as Mia heads into the school. A girl hands her a boob picture for some reason, as if Mia needed one for personal use.

When she steps into the school, there’s boobs and ass and dick and the middle finger everywhere. We can hear a literal buzz as people observe. Accompanied is graffiti that says Abi Chaker Clan 2019 - 12 Years Family! Lmao, is that a teacher frantically trying to gather up copies on the stairs? You try your hardest, sister.

Kiki steps up and observes, takes a picture of the display. Where have you been, Kiki? Last we saw you, you were breaking Carlos’ heart.

Kiki thinks she recognizes Alex’s penis in the pictures, and Mia is like “get that picture out of my face plz.” Kiki hands it to Mia as she walks away, and Mia can’t resist a glimpse of the dick, which is blurred out for us viewers, by the way. I’m just laughing at the thought of Kiki the dick detective solving this whodunnit. Remember on New Year’s where Mia was kinda “???” about Kiki’s future profession and ended up with influencer? I would say Kiki’s true calling is solving phallic-related crimes and picking dicks out of a lineup except, as we learn later in the episode, she ain’t that great at it after all.

Hanna shows up in an echo of Kiki’s entrance and is like, WTF, we’re in trouble. They see Alexander and Jonas hugging it out in the distance and are like, when did they become friends? So I’m guessing this graduation prank is taking the place of the Yakuza fight, and it’s Alex and Jonas who have the suspicious friendship rather than P-Chris and Isak. I APPROVE. The Yakuza thing has always been out of place IMO, tonally, and I didn’t like how the fight ended up leading to excuses against William smashing a bottle on a dude’s head. This prank is something that’s serious but not so serious that I’d consider it a red flag/dealbreaker against Alexander. It’s also a lot closer to Mia personally, and affects her and basically all the characters - the Yakuza thing felt weirdly disconnected from Noora and the girl squad, only something that involved them because they happened to witness that one fight and some of their friends/boyfriends were involved.

It’s also a replacement for the Penetrators trashing the cabin, and I fully realize that this is hypocritical but I also prefer this somehow even though it’s functionally the same thing, destruction of property. Maybe because again, it’s more connected to the rest of the characters as a plot point.

There’s this rather extravagant shot of someone throwing a bunch of the copies over the banister and they float down around Mia, just a ton of boobs and butts and dick wafting like snowflakes, and it’s so ridiculous that I love it.

Clip 4 - Mia keeps some interesting things in her bag

Leonie’s leading a meeting, again. This time it looks like more of the graduating class, not just the committee. She explains that somebody, probably several people, broke into the school Saturday night and made copies of their …. She trails off and Carlos helpfully supplies the displayed body parts with anatomical precision.

Someone give Leonie’s actress an award for that brief look of disdain at Carlos after he says “You’re welcome” and before she turns away.

Because someone sprayed the Abi Motto on the wall, the school thinks someone from our year did it. Carlos and Jonas call it bullshit, fake news. Just as an aside, I’ve seen the term “fake news” pop up as a joke in SO many films and TV shows recently, including that Kurt Russell sexy Santa movie, and like ... I certainly understand why and I’m not opposed to “ironic” usage, I’m also just aghast that we’re at a point where it’s mainstream, you know? 2019, man.

Anyway, one of the new and expensive copy machines broke from the prank and “copy orgy”. Sam whispers to Amira that they didn’t just make copies - so was there a literal orgy on the copy machine? Or just the weight of people’s asses broke the machine?

Kiki says she thinks it was Alexander, and I thought it was extremely fishy for Kiki to be so quick to blame Alexander, and that maybe she was involved in the prank or even trying to frame him, but obviously that turned out to not be the case. So I think she just wanted him to be guilty so he could get in trouble. And she’s telling Mia, who she thinks will be an ally in blaming Alex.

So now they owe 4500 euros to the school. Either who did it owns up and settles it with their insurance, or the school takes it out of the Abi account. Leonie gives the culprits a chance to reveal themselves. Man, what if Leonie was involved? The perfect crime, the least likely suspect…

Alex smiles over at Mia but that expression fades, Sara waggles some xeroxed breasts at him and he smirks. So those are her boobs, right? She seems pretty proud.

No one confesses to the crime, so Leonie says they have to raise the money again, thanks for nothing. Lmao, Leonie is such a hall monitor type that she’s really growing on me.

There’s some tense music as Mia is exiting the room, and of course Alexander is waiting for her. She walks right by him, to the door. On second thought, she turns around, pretends to rummage in her bag (we see she still has the dick pic so I guess the possibility that it’s Alexander’s is enough for her to keep it around) and then pulls out what she was looking for - a middle finger. That’s so petty, I’m in love with her. She goes out the door and Alexander does not seem pleased.

I mean, to be fair to him, Mia did jump to conclusions right away. (Conclusions that happened to be right, although not about the dick pic.) And I think this was in a way about re-establishing the natural order of things, getting back to “Alexander’s a selfish asshole” territory rather than her liking him, in addition to the whole class being punished. To be fair to her, too ... it’s only recently that he’s shown some decency, and he has a history of doing crappy things.

Alex was texting Mia on Saturday, though, right? About wanting to go out and get a drink with friends? So maybe that will be used to exonerate him, he was busy with other people. (EDIT from the future: Lol, nah, his “drink with friends” turned into the prank, I guess.)

Clip 5 - Team Michi

Mia has handed over the dick pic to Hans for his opinion, I guess? Hans seems to be a penis connoisseur so I understand the sentiment. And his opinion is that it was a “heavy petting orgy” at least. He asks Michi for his opinion. Good, Michi is there! I think it’s nice if Hans is getting a little romance of his own, although he better be treating Michi right and not taking him for granted.

Hans teases Mia about why she wants to know so badly about what happened at the school on Saturday night, and if she isn’t a bit jealous. She says curiosity isn’t the same as jealousy. Sure, but the two aren’t mutually exclusive.

Mia goes to ask Linn for her opinion (Linn is sleeping already) and Michi feeds Hans. They have a little couple moment. Aww. HANS, TREAT MICHI RIGHT. He’s cute and he makes food for you.

I’m wondering if the whole Hans/Michi thing is going to be a parallel to Mia and Alex, where a relationship that didn’t seem feasible at first becomes something real, and maybe they’ll have some relationship difficulty when Mia and Alex do. Though in the beginning of the season Hans and Michi seemed to parallel Alex and Kiki quite clearly, or at least Mia was making that connection, so who knows.

Clip 6 - Always look before crossing

Mia is leaving for school in the morning, and who should be there but Alex with two drinks in his hands. Rosehip tea or cocoa if he’s feeling sentimental.

We don’t hear what he’s saying because Mia has her earbuds in, so it’s just the faintest sound of his voice over the music. She ignores him and goes to unlock her bike, he keeps talking, she points to her earbuds to indicate that she’s not listening. We see him mouth “please” and she finally takes out her earbuds and accepts the drink. Which I would too, because I’m shameless and thirsty and I wouldn’t turn down a free warm beverage in the morning.

There’s a little editing blip because in the clip, the music doesn’t cut out right as she takes out the earbuds, it’s a moment or two later when she puts them in her pockets. They fixed it in the full episode, though, and it cuts out when she takes out the earbuds.

Alex clearly sees Mia taking the drink as a victory and smiles. They walk along side by side by a moment until Mia calls him out for being spoiled and doing whatever he wants and not owning up to it. He says they were drunk. Wait, so he DID do it???? And he says she’s blowing it way out of proportion?? I’m surprised because I thought we’d learn that Alex didn’t do it after all. It seemed too obvious, Kiki was so eager to blame him that it seemed like a misdirect. And I mean, I don’t think it’s right that he and the others are making the entire graduating class reap the consequences, but I don’t think the prank is an unforgivable thing he did in itself.

They argue a little and she’s about to bike across the road when Alex grabs her and pulls her back just as a car goes by, honking. She’s like … this doesn’t change anything. Alex is like, well it kinda does. “I saved your life, Mia Winter!” Well, she was distracted by him in the first place, so consider it even? (I binge-watched Russian Doll on Netflix this weekend so I can’t help but think this moment could have taken a drastically different turn.)

Mia bikes away but is smiling, which is awfully chipper for someone who just had a brush with death. I would be in the fetal position the rest of the day.

Alex stares after her and walks in the other direction. Errr … away from the school? I assume he was going back to his car, parked closer to Mia’s place.

So that mystery was done solved pretty quickly and anti-climatically. Kinda disappointing because I think it’d be fun to drag it out just a teensy tiny bit more - the mystery element of Skam is something that’s really underrated, when you think about it, even though it’s a large part of what kept people watching in real time.

Clip 7 - Sam just drops a bomb

We get a closeup of Sam blowing a bubble with her gum and then popping it. Like how she’s about to burst that bubble about Mia and Alex?

The girls are discussing the prank and that Alexander was in on it. Kiki is like, I knew it. Damn, she really wants him to go down. I don’t blame her, though.

When Amira asks how Mia knows, Sam says Alexander probably told her. WHOA HOLD THE PHONE. Druck is throwing curveballs everywhere this episode. I did not expect to see Sam reveal this information so quickly and casually; I thought she’d save it for a more dramatic moment later on, after Mia and Alex definitely were a thing. Sam says Mia is always talking to him, and Mia rushes to explain that it was all because of Kiki (lies) and she told him what she thought of him (well, that part is true) and that Leonie told her about Alexander (another lie - not looking good for Mia).

All the girls get a text at the same time. Sam says her battery sucks so we conveniently get Hanna reading the text out loud for us viewers. Alexander has arranged a benefit concert to make up for the damage so no one has to pay extra. BOY SAM WILL BE PERFORMING, and there will be a surprise musical act, too. I’m just glad to see the toilet man again.

The girls are excited and Hanna’s like, TIME TO STOP STUDYING. I don’t think she needs much of an excuse, really.

Alex texts Mia to say if she doesn’t come tomorrow, he’ll cancel everything 😊 GODDAMMIT. I realize Alexander is supposed to be a dickhead, but do we really have to keep this manipulative crap? Can he not just be like … arrogant and jerkish without that element?

Kiki looks at Mia getting another text, and you can see the suspicion all over her face. Sam’s comment struck a match.

Clip 8 - Mia crosses that bridge, y’all

I love when we get a long-ass Friday clip, thanks, Druck!

Mia shows up to the benefit concert by herself, and Toilet Sam is rapping onstage. Hello again! She runs into Kiki and says she’ll join the group in a minute. Does she need to talk to Alexander first?

We see Mia putting on that bright red lipstick in the mirror. I am sure she’s doing it just because she likes the color and not because there are any Alexander-related motivations that she would never admit.

Mia notices Alex skulking across the club and staring at her like some kind of Edward Cullen wannabe. It’s only episode 5, I guess they still have time to pull off a sudden vampire twist. (And I mean ... Alexander did just pull Mia out of the path of a car ... a Twilight parallel if I ever saw one.)

Of course Alex sends her a text telling her she looks gorgeous. It looks like he wants her to drink with him; however, Sarah comes up to him and gives him a hug and kisses him on the cheek and talks to him. He doesn’t look very enthused, but Mia smirks and shakes her head at him. That Alexander, up to his old tricks! Between that and the copy orgy I’m sure she’s thinking Alexander and Sarah have a thing.

People dance and drink to Toilet Sam’s performance. We see Jonas getting really wasted, and Matteo seems kinda done with it, so it’s Hanna who pulls drunk Jonas off the dance floor, and he tries to kiss her. MY HEART. But she pushes him back and asks what’s up with him. He says, you’re what’s up with me. THE ANGST. I said this last season, but Anselm Bresgott is a great actor. He’s able to convey a lot of vulnerability with his eyes.

When this happened I thought that maybe instead of drunk Eva/Vilde makeouts we would get sad intoxicated Jonas trying to kiss Matteo in this clip, and I was all for THE ANGST that would bring. Either that or Jonas was gonna make out with Toilet Sam.

(He did not make out with either of them - yet - but it’s OK because there turned out to be enough of THE ANGST as it was.)

Alexander comes onstage and Toilet Sam gives him a shout-out for organizing, and that they beat their goal (by almost half, awesome). They’re giving the rest of the money to plant trees on campus, to make up for all the dead ones they spent showcasing students’ genitalia. How noble!

Sarah is the surprise performance of the night! So her contact with Alexander was not necessarily about them hooking up, but perhaps her thanking him for giving her the opportunity? Sarah sings idontwannabeyouanymore by Billie Eilish.

After some more eye contact with Alexander, Mia leaves the room and goes upstairs. But Alexander stands in her path and won’t let her go to the bathroom. Come on, dude. You’ve been doing some things right but this episode you’re doing all these little entitled things.

He’s like, Mia, what do you want. He fixed everything? Everyone’s happy, so what’s her problem? LMAO again at this entitled attitude. She owes him nothing! The thing is - even if she really really likes him and wants to kiss him and be with him - she still owes him nothing! She’s allowed not to act on her feelings because she feels it’s a bad idea! Get out of here with this attitude that Mia is doing him wrong because she likes him but won’t give in and be with him.

He lets down his hood and rakes his hand through his hair in a strangely vampire-ish way, and says there’s something between them. He likes her a lot, but he’s tired of these games. Dude, you’re the one starting many of these games now. Yeah, Mia is definitely responsible for much of what happened earlier in the season, and she could certainly be better about not contacting him, but he’s also the one showing up at her place with a drink and telling her he’ll call everything off if she doesn’t show up to the benefit. He gives her the lines about if she doesn’t like him, say it to his face and he’ll leave her alone forever. Just as he says that, Kiki comes out of the bathroom, and there’s some heavy eye contact between her and Mia, and oh right, that’s what Mia doesn’t like him, that’s why Mia can’t be with him.

Heh, he put down his hoodie to confess to her, because he was being open about his feelings, and then when she’s rejected him, he puts it back up. He’s ~putting up his wall again.

Mia then goes into the bathroom and has a mini-breakdown, as the song switches from the cover to the original. She’s teary, she’s wiping off her lipstick. Props again to Milena because she’s really selling this season. She looks for some toilet paper, but there’s only the cardboard for the roll. So she goes in her purse for something and comes up with the Post-It Alex left her about Hotel Hardenberg. Ahhhh, now that’s a nice little detail. I’m one of those people who just ... does not clean out her purse until she buys a new purse, lmao, so I can imagine Mia shoved it in there and forgot about it, without being very sentimental about it at the time. But I like that it came back at this crucial moment.

Mia grabs her coat and runs out of the club after him. When she catches up to him, they’re on opposite sides of a bridge, so we know what’s gonna happen. Someone’s gotta cross, or they have to meet in the middle.

She says it’s cold, he offers her a beanie, she comes forward and shows her own beanie, they both put on beanies at the same time. It’s a big beanie fest. What’s important that Mia crossed the bridge and closed the gap. The symbolism is obvious, but ... well, it’s there.

She says that she likes him, but doesn’t want to like him. He’s an egocentric prick, but then he was clever and funny and nice that one Friday, but then he disappears for a week and pulls that stunt copying his dick and plastering it around the school. Alex is like, who said that was my dick? Mia is like, well whose dick was it? Alex nods over her shoulder and we see Jonas stumbling around drunk as fuck. LMAO. Mia had Jonas’ dick pic in her backpack. She was going around thinking she got a glimpse of Alexander’s junk, showing it off to her roommate, and it was Jonas’ all along! And Hanna didn’t notice it was Jonas’ dick???

I mean, now I get why Alexander and Jonas bonded so quickly. They’re dick twins, if Kiki can mistake one for the other. I’m sure there’s some situation where that would come in handy (no pun intended?)

Are the two of you going to help out this completely drunk Jonas who’s by himself and who’s wandering into the street before he gets hit by a car or something...

Alex is like, do I look like someone who whips out his dick when he’s drunk? (I mean...) His penis needs to stay an enigma. Okay, goddammit, that’s funny. But Mia correctly points out that every other girl at school knows his penis, so it’s not an enigma.

When Alex is like, now what, Mia looks past him and says, “Fuck,” and when he turns back to her she’s kissing him. Damn, she’s so smooth. They dramatically kiss and he doinks his forehead against hers, it’s quite sweet. Then Alex goes off into the night, probably to find a few necks to drain. He rummages around in his coat for a moment, making quite a show, and of course it’s his middle finger he finds and flashes at Mia. Flipping each other off becoming their romantic couples’ gesture? I’m here for it.

He also does a little skip hop as he goes. Mia looks after him, smiling. Oh, Mia. Follow your heart, but take your brain with you.

So that shot during the end credits, of her looking outside at something, is not her in the first kiss scene! When will any of these moments happen?

Social Media/General Comments

The week long hiatus was explained in-universe as an “insta detox” among the girls. Matteo did not let that stop him from posting his regularly scheduled memes, though. #fuckinstadetox

Hanna texts Matteo about why Jonas and Alex are acting all buddy-buddy, which we see in the clips, too. Matteo says he doesn’t know. I thought it was meant to be a red herring and that Alex was probably not directly involved in the prank, but Jonas probably was, and maybe Jonas decided to bro it up with Alex since he liked his motto. Except then Alex turned out to have participated in the prank. I guess their friendship escalated when Jonas had his dick out on the copy machine.

But I like seeing a William have friendly interactions with other characters. That was something I thought was kind of lacking with him in Skam, that we didn’t get a ton of insight into his other friendships. He didn’t seem to care much about Noora’s friends, and he was close with P-Chris obviously, but there wasn’t a ton of detail there as to why or what their relationship was like outside of girl drama. I understand that not every character has to be extroverted and buddy-buddy with others, but it makes me think a lot more of Alex as a person when we see him forming bonds with people who he does not want to bone.

Matteo then texted Jonas about the thing between him and Alex, and Jonas jokes that he couldn’t resist Alex’s face. Matteo is jealous! But totally not really jealous, you know, JOKING jealous. Totally. And when Jonas teases him about it, he says there’s no reason to be, Matteo is the only little bitch in his life. I legit want to pass out. And I think Matteo did too, because he sent back a heart emoji. Six minutes later. What happened in those six minutes? Was Matteo just sitting there staring at his phone, wondering how the hell to respond to that? Getting butterflies and heart palpitations in his skinny stoner body?

There are pictures of the benefit with the girl squad sans Mia ... after she left to run after Alex, maybe? ~Foreshadowing?

I’m Mia right now. I was so annoyed with little things Alexander did in this episode, and I’m still pissed at some of his past behavior, and yet I am charmed by him despite it all. It’s heavily due to the performance. I can’t believe Alexander was one of my least favorite Williams across the remakes based on the first season, and he’s skyrocketing here just by virtue of having a personality.

I also can’t believe I had doubts about Mia in the first season. She has my whole heart now, fuckups and all.

Girl Sam and boy Sam were rapping together at benefit, according to IG. What if boy Sam replaced Kasper and made out with girl Sam in the finale, since it’s unlikely Manfred will fill that role (or at least I hope to God not)? I mean, if Kiki’s ultimately gonna be chill about Mia and Alexander, Hanna being chill about Sam and Sam wouldn’t be too much of a stretch.

In an alternate universe, this season turned into the German remake of American Vandal from here on out and we spent the next five episodes trying to figure out who covered the school in dicks.

I’m not German so please feel free to correct me/clarify stuff!

If you got this far, thank you for reading!

#druck reactions

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lavenderandsage · 6 years ago

Text

Behind the Scenes - Episode Two

There was darkness at first.

A bleak nothingness if anything.

But then, a slow, sluggish awareness. An ebbing spasm evolving into a stabbing pain in her neck, an achy stiffness in her legs that begged to be stretched out. She blinked, assessing her environment and groaning lowly. She tilted her head back to an upright position and found that she still remained upright against the wall, her lanky legs sprawled out in front of her. Next to her, Jughead slumped over in a heap on his side, his feet pressed up against her thigh and his right bicep used as a pillow. The screensaver on his forgotten laptop changed slide to slide still but remained toppled over in front of him on the floor.

She gasped loudly. It was morning. She didn’t need a watch to tell her she was already late.

The sleeping boy stirred and groaned lowly, pulling his knees into his body and attempting to sit upright. “Oh, god,” he rasped out. “Ow.” He rubbed the back his tender neck.

Sage jumped to her feet hastily, scrambling for her rucksack. “Oh no, I fell asleep. We fell asleep! Son of a bitch! I’m late!” she exclaimed.

Jughead sluggishly looked up at his panicked friend. “I don’t remember falling asleep,” he moaned sleepily, rubbing his eyes with the backs of his hands. The last thing he remembered, Sage had fallen asleep beside him and he resorted to typing out a few new paragraphs. He watched as Sage located her jacket and threw it on carelessly and swung her bag over her shoulder.

“Neither do I,” she said, frantically, realizing her feet were bare. “Where are my boots?”

He pointed at the end of his makeshift bed, crawling over and picking it up and tossing her one. “Hey,” he said softly.

She froze as she stood on one leg, hands fumbling to tie up her boot. “What?”

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

“I can’t be late Jug.” she furiously tugged on her other boot. “I have to go to school and I have a test. It’s part of my agreement with FP. I have to go. Maybe I'll see you around.”

With the mention of FB, Jug’s mouth instantly went dry. He nodded numbly, and before he could get another word out, she dashed out the door.

With a heavy sigh, he closed his laptop shut and got up and began to get ready for another mundane day at Riverdale High School.

For Sage, school didn’t hold much of anything. She didn’t get good grades and she didn’t like being forced to learn. It was simply an obligation and a bargaining chip. Either way, she found herself sitting at the Serpent’s table, munching loudly on an apple, when Sweet Pea and his best pal Fangs, plopped down beside her.

Both boys had food piled high on their trays and wasted no time digging in.

“You end up getting your beauty rest?” Sweet Pea asked through a mouthful.

Sage shook her head. “Not really. It sucks, cause I have a test in English today, that I’m totally going to fail.”

“Skip it.” Sweet Pea suggested, eyeing the table of people across the cafeteria.

Southside High had always been a mixed bag of colorful people. Southside had a strong reputation for drugs, gangs, and thieves which naturally begat, chaos. Anybody born of Southside usually stayed in Southside. Instead of being ashamed of it, most of the people were proud of their heritage. They embraced it and wore it as a badge of honor. For years past, the Serpent's had run the town, but as of late, new threats were encroaching on their territory, and the Serpents were weakened by the events of late. The rope was fraying, strand by strand.

“Stupid ghoulish fiends.” Fangs muttered, catching Sweet Pea’s glance.

“Does FP still have you tailing them?” Sage questioned.

Fangs nodded. “Yea, but so far, I don’t have much on them. I don’t know who or where they’re getting the heroin from. I just know that everyone wants what they have lately, not what we’re offering.”

Sweet Pea’s eyes clouded over, his fist curling angrily on the table in front of him.

“We’ll figure it out,” Sage said to diffuse Sweet Pea, swiping a fry off of Fang’s plate. “We always do. Hey, how’d you make out with the new girl, Sweets?”

Sweet Pea’s face lightened up immediately and he grinned wide, pushing his tray with his half eaten food over to Sage. “Swing and a miss. Toni said that she’s -and I quote, “more into girls.”

Sage and Fangs laughed boisterously. At the same time, Toni made her way over from the cafe line and plopped down with her tray and a pile of books. She looked between them bewildered when Fangs and Sage doubled over in another fit of laughter.

Sweet Pea shook his head. “Ignore them,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Toni, these are my friends, Fangs, and Sage.”

Toni smiled warmly. “Nice to meet you both. I think I saw both of you last night actually. I was there with my grandfather. Can anyone tell me why we’ve been having parties at the Twilight Drive-In of all places?”

“Ah, it’s just been our spot lately. We do a lot of deals there and it’s town property but the town’s given up on it finally. Sheriff Keller has bigger things on his plate, especially now.” Fangs explained.

That was true, but there was more to that statement which Fangs neglected to expand on. An outsider had paid the Serpents good money to trash the local spot, thereby decreasing the value of the land. Decreased value meant it could be purchased at a lower price. It was a win for everyone, except anyone that loved the drive-in.

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

“Toni, we’ll see you at White Wyrm after school? ” asked Sage. She liked Toni immediately.

A smile graced Toni’s lips. “I’ll be there.”

As promised, the four of them sat in a back booth at the Whyte Wyrm.

It was a large, grungy place, with bad lighting and a constant reek of liquor and beer, but it was home for so many of the Serpents.

“So, when exactly did you complete the Serpent’s Dance?” Fangs asked curiously, leaning in. “And how did I miss that?”

“Oh god, Fangs,” groaned Sage.

Toni rolled her eyes. “You mean that outdated and sexist tradition? Back in the summer, like the end of June,” she replied bitterly.

“We’ve all had to do it.” shrugged Sage, although she agreed with Toni.

“Not the boys.” Sweet Pea smirked, flashing a row of his perfect white teeth

“Misogyny dies hard.” murmured Toni, annoyed.

“Seriously, how did we miss that?” Fangs wondered aloud.

“That must have been when we were on that run, dropping off stuff for the Blossom boy to pick up.” Sweet Pea reminded him.

Sage’s ears instantly perked up. She remembered the boy, whose hair reminded her of the red licorice that she used to steal from the Penny Store. He had found his way to the Whyte Wyrm and asked for fast cash. It came at a cost of course, but he was willing to pay.

Did he know it would cost his life?

“Who are you?” Sage asked him from the wooden steps she was sitting on.

“I’m here to see FP,” he stated with false confidence as if he had rehearsed it prior.

“What does a Northsider want with the Serpent King?” she mused, standing up to circle around him. He was taller than her and watched her move slowly until still stopped into the front of him, sizing him up.

Fear and doubt flickered momentarily in his eyes before it was replaced with determination. “I need money and you need runners that don’t look like petty riff rats. I’m here to talk with FP.”

She gnawed on her lip for a moment, slightly impressed.

“Sage, inside. I’ll take care of this.” a voice from behind her boomed with authority. She turned to see the Serpent King himself, standing in the doorway.

“Jason Blossom…” his name rolled off FP’s tongue like honey before he greeted him with a sly smile.

“Let’s talk, boy.”

“Sage!”

She blinked coming back to reality. “Huh, what?” she stuttered, looking up from her drink.

“I asked you if you’re doing the drop with me tonight, or if you’re gonna sneak off to see Jughead again,” repeated Sweet Pea, with a raised eyebrow.

Her mouth dropped open slightly, but she couldn’t come up with a defense.

“Yea,” he continued, running the pad of his finger along the rim of his glass. “I saw you last night.”

“FP’s son?” questioned Toni. “You know him?”

“We all do.” shrugged Sage. “In one way or another.”

“I don’t get it. Where is he? Why isn’t he with the Serpents?”

Fangs leaned forward, folding his arms on to the table “He stays on Northside territory now. It’s kinda a sore spot.”

Sweet Pea made a noise of disgust under his breath. “Traitor.”

Fangs continued, “Things around here have been… tough lately. Gladys moved up to Toledo almost a year ago after FP lost his job and when on a drinking binge. Rumor has it, she started up her own business and it could very well be an extension of the Serpents.” he whispered in a hushed voice.

“But Serpents don’t abandon their own…” Toni trailed off.

“And nobody knows if that’s true,” added Sage.

Fangs shrugged. “I don’t know. Tall Boy and Mustang have been stepping in a lot with these new threats popping up.”

Toni fiddled and ripped her napkin in tiny pieces, scattering them across the table. “Think Jughead will eventually join us?”

“That prick?” scoffed Sweet Pea.

“Hey,” Sage’s head snapped up, her eyes narrowed in a tight glare at him, “Say whatever you want, if he chooses, he’s next in line to lead this club.”

“If he wants it, and he’s made it clear… he doesn’t.” Fangs resolved.

Silence fell among them for a moment.

“To answer your question, Sweet Pea.” Sage piped up, softer this time. “Yea, I’ve got your six on the run tonight.”

Sweet Pea nodded curtly, still sour at the mention of the long-lost Serpent Prince. “Good.”

Sage hated that Fangs was right. Absolutely hated it. Jughead had no interest or intention in getting tangled up in the gang. In fact, since his mother and sister had left, he’d become more brooding and introverted than ever, almost a shell of himself. A tumbleweed, blowing from one side of the town to the next.

Her mind drifted again to the night before. Up until last night, she hadn’t seen him in months. It was so good to see him again. Like a breath of fresh air after inhaling stagnant polluted water.

The long summer months with the Serpents had kept her busy and working long hours. All the while, Jug stayed close to his Northsider friends, buried behind a book, a laptop or a milkshake.

As much as she knew he was never too far away, and as much as she missed her friend, it didn’t change anything. He didn’t want the life she needed and he moreover, he didn’t understand why she needed it. She didn’t understand why he was reluctant to be a part of something that was his destiny and flat out denied it.

But what Sage didn’t know, was how true Jughead’s words from the night before would be.

The worst was yet to come.

Author’s Note: All mistakes are mine. I have other chapters posted on Wattpad and Fanfiction but am slowly re-writing it as I work on sharpening my writing skills. So don’t mind me!

In the meantime, two fanfictions I’ve really been enjoying/obsessing over/binging are @rivendell101 ‘s Focal Point (4 part WIP) and @princesweetpea ‘s I Found. Go give those a read and send some love. And send me some good reads to dive into too! Thank you!

#sweet pea #riverdale fanfiction #riverdale #jughead jones #jughead #southside serpents #tv show #writing #fangs forgery #where the fuck is sweet pea in season 3 #bring back the serpents

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