#but it plays into my problems on how they treat willow and how she feels more like a prop than a character | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mdhwrites · 15 days

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https://www.tumblr.com/everysongineverykey/709979889023008768/the-owl-house-was-really-like-oh-yeah-by-the-way-a?source=share

Thoughts on this post?

So my immediate thoughts were two things: One was that I always feel awkward responding to other posts because I try not to shit stir most of the time. Two though was that I just agreed with it. The reality of the Hexside kids is purely played for laughs despite being horribly traumatizing on pretty much every level. That's just true.

Then I saw the tag saying it wasn't a criticism.

So was it okay for Hexside to be treated like this? Wartwood had a similar rebellion and it had its own silly things like a themed food Friday and people still being their quirky selves. It works there however because while dealing with what life throws at you is a theme of the work, trauma specifically isn't really. It's there, I've talked about how smart Amphibia is with it to keep its tone consistent but that subtlety also makes it so that not dwelling on it is fine.

If I were to give TOH S3 a theme of some sort... It WOULD be trauma. I don't think it does this theme well, at all, but it is a consistent motif. Hunter's trauma about Belos, Luz's trauma about... Fucking everything if I'm frank but her core trauma is resolved at least once in each episode, technically twice in the finale. They graft on trauma out of nowhere for Willow. She's never dependable Willow, soft spoken and never complaining at all times, but now she is so she has some sort of trauma to deal with while also dealing with Hunter's new trauma of losing Flapjack. One could even argue that Belos has it running throughout because his desperation is potentially fueled by trauma of losing his brother and having his world shatter around him by his brother betraying what ostensibly would have been both of theirs core beliefs. You even have the Collector going through his shit with having been trapped alone for so long.

And then you have Hexside where no one cares about how traumatic all of this has been... Except Boscha. And Boscha is played subtlely, much closer to Amphibia, rather than the capital t TRAUMA that the rest of the cast is going through. As such, most people who watched didn't give a shit and just saw it as a half baked redemption arc rather than continuing a theme because yeah, why would you? What does she even have to say about trauma? That you'll get kicked even harder while you're down and the only option is to move on by yourself and just pretend like it didn't happen?

And that's honestly a problem with the theme in general. So much of the answer to "How do I deal with this," for TOH is to go "I'm awesome and amazing and fuck you for ever thinking otherwise!" It's the conclusion for Hunter's trauma with Belos, we don't get a conclusion with Flapjack really, it's the statement that Luz makes for her character finish of just how much she wants the entire world to recognize she's a bombass nerd -_-, and it's even how the series wraps up with only Luz getting the Titan's power and only her, while she quotes her favorite books, actually attacking Belos. This is your reminder that all the co-op attacks with King and Eda were done far away from Belos, fighting random slime for literally no reason besides the fact that both Luz and the show got lost for about a minute. Willow is the only one where compassion for needing to actually, you know, process your pain and be supported and helped with it might be the answer but again, it's not a core trauma to the character. It's a clumsily grafted on element that also has Willow force Hunter to confront his trauma with Flapjack which IS the answer for him so it's also contradictory. It's not given nearly the same weight as the stuff with Hunter and Belos or ALL OF LUZ where their answers are just 'deal with it'.

(Bonus points to Luz's core problem theoretically being that she was WRONG about Philip and at least two of the endings to that trauma, with her friends and with the Titan, are her being told "You're wrong for worrying," like that would help at all.)

So then you have Hexside where their trauma is ignore and played for laughs so you can just do normal fantasy rebellion stuff mixed with teen rebellion stuff. It's not bad when measured that way but it's contradictory to many of the points that the whole abridged season is trying to make. It's an element that conflicts with your core theme. It's akin to how we're supposed to take Hunter leaving the EC seriously and as this grand pain of his... And then also have people mocking Lilith for it and even having her go "I'm realizing I was bad at my job" back in S2 because fuck her and her trauma I guess.

And don't tell me it's because it's a kid's show. Boscha could have easily been the surrogate for all of Hexside and then you kick out Miki and just have Boscha to deal with. Focus the episode around getting her to open up, be defenseless, maybe almost get turned into a puppet for it as it seems her fears were justified... Before she looks up to find she's behind one of Matt's pillars and everyone is coming out to help protect Boscha. Because the only reason they've gotten through this is together and while they're happy Boscha has actually helped them despite her pain, she shouldn't be dealing with this alone. All of them will do better if they share this pain and so we get them kicking the ass of one of the Collector's hunter stars and the plan be to ride it up to the Archive for the main crew before they get snatched off of it. It has more to say about the complexities of trauma and how you can't just power through it, allows an acknowledgement of what this world has done to these people, all while still allowing the rest of Hexside besides Boscha to be silly and upbeat because they've been doing what they need to handle all of this.

So yeah, I think the blog itself is correct. I think calling itself not criticism though means ignoring what all of these conflicting elements mean for the season overall. Yeah, it's a cute segment as is but when you have a show like TOH that is trying SO HARD to say something... Shouldn't we be critical of when it's failing to do that or even muffling it's own voice?

Because the hex on this side of the Isles could have been used to do something more but instead was treated like a cute charm to fill time. That's not okay. See you next tale.

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I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

#the owl house criticism #toh critical #toh #the owl house

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inconsistentlywrittensoul · 5 months

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I’m way behind on posting about my rewatch - there’s plenty I do want to say about S2, and there’s a whole essay about gender and Phases that I’m probably never going to write - but I’m into Season 3 and I really want to note how much early S3 establishes the issues that are going to drive Buffy’s long breakdown in seasons 6 and 7.

Firstly, Buffy's tendency to pull away from her friends, feeling she has to take care of everything for herself and protect them from her problems and her feelings rather than sharing them. It’s a consistent pattern, and we see it in her running away at the end of Season 2, and continually refusing to talk about what happened with Angel with both the Scoobies and Faith. When she eventually does try to talk to her assigned school counsellor about Angel, she explicitly says she can’t talk to anyone else about what’s happening (only to find him dead, which I’m sure didn’t help).

Of course, this isn’t just a flaw of Buffy’s - her friends have a pretty big role to play, especially Xander. His sanctimonious, judgemental whining about Buffy leaving, as well as anything to do with Angel, does a lot to push Buffy away. (Not to mention the first thing he does when he finds out Angel is back is try to manipulate Faith into murdering him.) It’s also hard not to suspect that Xander’s lie back in Becoming did a lot of damage - because of that, Buffy thinks even Willow hates Angel and wouldn’t understand her continued feelings for him. ‘Kick his ass’ made Buffy feel like literally no-one is on her side.

Regardless of the reason, here we see the beginning of the split that will make Buffy feel increasingly isolated and unable to trust or rely on anyone as the series continues into the depression years, especially Season 6. But we also see the start of a pattern that will become a central flaw in Season 7 - her inability to express empathy or care for anyone who she sees as a reflection of herself.

I’m actually not talking about Faith here - that’s related, but it’s also a whole can of lesbian worms I don’t want to get into right now. But aside from Faith, in the first few episodes of Season 3 there are two girls who mirror Buffy, specifically in her relationship with Angel. In Anne, we have Lily/Anne, who’s wants to spend the rest of her life with her older boyfriend, who has a criminal past and seems a little crappy but also genuinely loves her and is trying to be good to her, and who ends up being sent to hell. Then in Beauty and the Beasts, we see Abby, who started dating a guy who seemed nice at first, but who turned out to be an abusive monster. Both are very obvious parallels to Buffy in her relationship with Angel (in soul-having and soulless forms), and serve as ways for her reflect on that relationship.

But what I want to focus on is the fact that, while Buffy does try to help both girls, she’s also unusually harsh and unempathetic towards them. Her attitude is ‘This is how things are, and you need to set aside your emotions and just deal with it immediately and without emotional support’; it reflects how she treats herself, but it’s also a pattern in how she treats people whose challenges reflect hers. Which will come to a head in how she treats the Potential slayers in season 7, and the way she alienates everyone around her in part through her treatment of them (and therefore also her treatment of herself).

It’s just interesting to see these issues that will dominate the last couple of seasons come across so strongly in this early part of Season 3.

#my apologies #i've been terribly lax in my posting duties #will try to post more (energy permitting)#and i'll try not to hate on Xander #but by early season 3 I'm really understanding where the Xander hate comes from #it's not him at his best #btvs #Buffy the Vampire Slayer #btvs rewatch #btvs s3 #btvs s6 #btvs s7 #meta #Buffy Summers #Xander Harris #Anne #Beauty and the Beasts

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childofwonder · 5 months

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I started rewatching Buffy and forgot how much I HATE Xander. With a passion, I believe he is just the embodiment of gross and creepy. An incel before incels were a thing.

I have seriously no idea how Buffy and Willow stay friends with him other than for the narrative. If he was less toxic I think he would actually work as the character Joss Whedon tried to write him as. I think that there’s a part of his younger self that SHOULD be immature but beyond that he shouldn’t be so fucking PREDATORY. His relationship to women in this show is uncomfortable and gross. He never evolves out of his womanizer persona. He has basically no substance and is only in the friend group because of his toxic relationship to women. He never brings any real value to his friendships yet reacts horribly when he is dismissed by them.

His obsession with Buffy is just uncomfortable and NEVER ENDS. He acts as if he is owed affection by her when they first meet. He is only friends with her because he wants to go out with her and has sexual fantasies of her. That is doubled after he finds out she’s the slayer. His relationship with Buffy isn’t the only example. His dismissive relationship with Willow has always annoyed me. He basically ignored her until she started dating Oz, suddenly unable to hold himself back and play with her feelings for him. He is well aware of her crush on him and using that as an advantage to CHEAT ON CORDELIA. WHO HE HAD HARASSED AND MAKE EXPLICIT COMMENTS TO BEFORE THEY GOT TOGETHER. He treats all three of them horribly. It seems he is only ever friends with them in the goal of having sex with them.

Don’t even get me started on his predatory relationship with Dawn and the end of his relationship with Anya. It’s the exact same problem he has with every other woman in his life (other than his mother) AND HE NEVER CHANGES IN SEVEN SEASONS. HE IS BASICALLY JUST A PROP AND A WASTE OF SPACE WITH PREDATORY TENDENCIES. He is literally just Joss Whedon’s self insert because there is no other use or value to Xander.

Now I have previously liked Xander. I don’t think he’s evil but that doesn’t change his disgusting behaviour and lack of respect towards women in his life. I really wish this aspect of Xander’s character was changed to bring value to the story or deepen his connection to women to something more than just sexual. I think there are ATTEMPTS to do so but to me they usually fail and the result is the same as season one Xander.

This is an ever evolving opinion I have of Xander, one I have been sitting with for like 5+ years. With my current rewatch I’m gonna keep it in mind and expand on my thinking as I go through the seasons.

#buffy the vampire slayer #xander harris #Xander harris is a predator!!#buffy summers #buffyverse #willow rosenberg #btvs

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coraniaid · 1 year

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🔥 for an unpopular Buffy opinion please!

Okay, I actually posted about this a couple of days ago when I was feeling particularly irritable, but I still really cannot get behind the popular fandom idea that Giles is somehow the Scooby Gang’s collective parent. It is just not based on anything in the show. Or, rather, to the extent that it is based on the show it conflates things that are true about Buffy with things that are true about Buffy’s friends more generally. It feels incredibly reductive to assume you can flatten any positive relationship between adults and teenagers – in a high school, no less! – to “he’s their Dad!”. More importantly than that, it is boring.

Is Giles on some metaphorical level Buffy’s father? Sure. This is pretty much textual (especially between seasons 3 and 5, when the show really starts to play up how terrible Hank Summers is). “You have a father’s love for the child” and so on and so forth.

And yes, Season 4 somewhat retcons Xander into wishing that this was the sort of relationship he had with Giles too, although I really don’t think that’s something present in the earlier seasons. (It's not something I’ve noticed at all in my current rewatch, for example.) But if this is something Xander wants, it’s very much one-sided and has far more to do with Xander’s poor relationship with his own awful and abusive parents than it does with Sunnydale’s resident ex-librarian. Giles himself quite obviously doesn’t think of Xander as any sort of son. He honestly doesn’t even seem to like him much.

But the others? There’s just nothing there. Yes, most of the Scoobies either have explicitly absent or neglectful parents or (like Oz) their parents are just weirdly not present or ever mentioned, but that doesn’t mean that we’re supposed to assume Giles fills a parent-shaped hole in their lives. Anya certainly doesn’t treat Giles like a parent, and why should she when she’s lived almost a thousand years longer than he has? Cordelia doesn’t seem to have any problem with her real father (at least until the tax fraud catches up with him). Tara obviously has very real problems with her biological family, but I don’t think there’s ever any suggestion she sees Giles as a replacement for her father (or that she would want one?).

And while Willow’s relationship with her own parents is not always super-consistent (because, again, this is not the focus of the show) she doesn’t seem to ever have any particular problem with her father specifically. It’s her mother she sometimes seems to wish made more of an effort to understand her. (Is Ira Rosenberg even mentioned in the show after Season 2?) Moreover, Willow explicitly had a crush on Giles in high school (as evidenced by: (1) the photo of Giles in her locker in I Robot, You Jane; (2) the way she pointedly doesn’t raise her hand along with Buffy and Xander to signal their disgust when Faith calls Giles “young and cute” in Faith, Hope & Trick; (3) the fact that in Where The Wild Things Are she outright says she used to have a crush on him). Giles is not Willow’s father.

Furthermore, to the extent that Giles is Buffy’s father he is -- despite his genuine affection for her -- canonically not very good at it! “Better than Hank” is a pretty low bar, and he doesn’t even consistently manage that. There’s Season 6, of course, and Helpless before that, but even ignoring those episodes Giles is often dismissive of Buffy’s interests and instincts and seems to think he’s entitled to a pretty significant say in her day to day life and to a significant amount of her free time. Beyond that, their relationship cannot help but be understood in the context that Giles’s role in life – the thing he has been trained for since he was a child himself – is literally to prepare Buffy to go and fight monsters alone in the dark and die young because of it. If that’s a parental relationship, it’s not exactly an enviable or healthy one.

As I said in my previous answer about Cordelia, I like Giles. He is sympathetic and funny and at times even compelling. I think his relationship with Buffy is an important part of the show. But I just find the constant urge to flatten him into a Good Dad to be incredibly hard to relate to. He is much more interesting than that.

#btvs #asks #thanks!

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cowboylikeekatie · 1 year

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here’s reddie lyrics: evermore edition!! (ahh i can’t believe this series thingy is almost done i’ve had sm fun!) if this post is super long don’t make fun of me this is my fav taylor album EVER i’ve annotated every song it’s just so easy to find quotes

“the more that you say, the less that i know, wherever you stray, i follow , i’m begging for you to take my hand, wreck my plans, that’s my man” - willow (eddie’s pov)

“show me the places where the others gave you scars” - willow (richie’s pov)

champagne problems is if eddie divorced myra after pennywise round 2

“your hometown skeptics called it champagne problems” - champagne problems (okay idk if this makes sense but myra’s pov?????)

“so inviting, i almost jump in” - gold rush (richie’s pov)

gold rush plays into my eddie kaspbrak when emma falls in love theory thingy idk

“at dinner parties i call you out on your contrarian shit” - gold rush (eddie’s pov)

ALL OF TIS THE DAMN SEASON

“and it always leads to you in my hometown” - tis the damn season

“i parked my car right between the methodist and the school that used to be ours” - tis the damn season (richie’s pov)

“so i’ll go back to L.A, and the so called friends who write books about me, if i ever make it, and wonder about the only soul who can tell which smiles im faking, and the heart i know i’m breaking is my own” - tis the damn season (POV DOESNT MATTER THIS IS THEIR BRIDGE. AHH)

“there’ll be happiness after you, but there was happiness because of you too” - happiness (richie’s pov)

“honey when i’m above the trees, i see this for what it is, but now i’m right down in it, all the years i’ve given” - happiness (richie’s pov)

“i can’t see facts through all my fury” - happiness (richie’s pov) (like when the losers wouldn’t let richie take eddie because they knew he was already dead)

“it’s never too late to come back to my side, the stars in your eyes shined brighter in tupelo (metaphor for derry??), and if you’re ever tired of being known for who you know, you know, you’ll always know me” - dorthea (richie’s pov)

“i’m sitting on a bench in coney island wondering where did my baby go” - coney island (richie’s pov) (i heard this live so i have to include a quote)

“id meet you where the spirit meets the bone” - ivy

“forever is the sweetest con” -cowboy like me

“takes one to know one, you’re a cowboy like me” - cowboy like me

(cowboy like me is my all time fav taylor song)

“i tried to pick my battles till the battle picked me” - long story short (eddie’s pov)

“pushed from the precipice, clung to the nearest lips, long story short it was the wrong guy” - long story short (eddie’s pov) (because he’s in love with richie not myra) (after leaving his mom, he CLUNG to the nearest person who made him feel at home)

“every scrap of you would be taken from me” - marjorie (richie’s pov)

“if i didn’t know better, id think you were still around” - marjorie (richie’s pov)

“what died didn’t stay dead” - marjorie

“it cut deep to know you right to the bone” - closure

“don’t treat me like, some situation that needs to be handled” - closure (eddie’s pov) (but about his mom not richie)

“this pain would be for evermore” - evermore (richie’s pov)

“guess i’m feeling unmoored, can’t remember, what i used to fight for” - SO EDDIE CODED (eddie’s pov)

“catching my death” - evermore (eddies pov)

“strangers get born and strangers get buried, trends change rumors fly through new skies, but i’m right where you left me” - right where you left me (richie’s pov)

“did you ever hear about the girl who got frozen, time went on for everybody else, she won’t know it, she’s still 23, inside her fantasy, how it was supposed to be, did you hear about the girl who lives in delusion?" - right where you left me (fits both of them in different ways)

" or that moment again, he's insisting that friends look at each other like that" - its time to go

"sometimes giving up is the strong thing, sometimes to run is the brave thing" - its time to go (eddies pov)

“he’s got my past frozen behind glass, but i’ve got me” - its time to go (eddie’s pov ab his mom)

#it 2019 #it 2017 #taylor swift #reddie #eddie kaspbrak #it 1990 #richie tozier #stephen king #losers club

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logicalbookthief · 2 years

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For the ask game:

May I ask 4, 13 and 27 for the owl house?

4. Do you have a NoTP in your fandom? Are they a popular OTP?

Alador & Darius. I know it has the ex-childhood friends to enemies to lovers angle, but for me, Alador’s rushed “redemption” didn’t really hit for me, and I still he’s a big too much of a subpar dad / dude to be paired with Darius.

HOWEVER I love to view them as enemies turned reluctantly civil PTA rivals because they still can’t stand each other but their kids are friends so they have to play nice for their sake and they hate every minute of it. It is way funnier to me.

13. Unpopular opinion about XXX character?

Idk how unpopular it is, but I feel with the exception of episodes like Any Sport in a Storm and Labyrinth Runners, Willow was sidelined way too much this season :(

Obviously, they were pressed for time with the cancellation, but I feel as if we never exactly got a satisfactory conclusion to her arc? Her conflict with Amity in the aforementioned episode was fine, I guess, though it never really hit on the emotional beats I wanted it to? The conflict was centered around Amity treating Willow like she wasn’t capable due to her own misguided need to protect her-- the problem is, this was established long already, as early as Willow’s debut in I Was a Teenage Abomination, or at least by Wing It Like Witches.

However, I think the bones of a better conflict were there. When Willow said Amity just needed to get to know the new her and Gus immediately corrected her, “You mean, the real you?” That, I wanted more of that! Because Willow was always capable! Even when she struggled with her spells as a kid, that didn’t make her any less capable than her peers! And Amity’s instinct to compensate and overprotect her, while it was with good intentions, reminds you how witches without magic/struggle with magic/use an “inferior” type of magic aren’t taken seriously, which was the case with Eda & Hunter & Gus at other points in this season.

And I also think back to Follies at the Coven Day Parade, where Amity was braiding Willow’s hair and lamented how they missed this, and Willow looks down, kind of pensive, kind of sad? To me that expression was always hard to read, mostly because we don’t get too much of Willow’s pov to decipher. In this case, I would choose to interpret it as Willow not really missing how their relationship used to be, since although she treasures her memories of Amity when they were kids and super close, she maybe doesn’t miss the dynamic of her being the screw-up who Amity had to bail out and look out for? So if Labyrinth Runners had built on that more, or if we had gotten more of Willow’s pov in general, I’d be happier with her arc this season.

Okay, lol. This got too long, onto the next question!

27. Least shippable character?

Philip Wittebane. Not because he’s the villain, in fact I love him as a villain, his backstory is marinating in my brain at all times. However, he is a Puritan. Who canonically gets no bitches and murdered his brother over getting bitches. I rest my case.

#asks #salty ask game #stripetkattelalala54

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adventseven · 2 years

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Ms. Marvel Series Review

This is… cosmic. Disney+’s latest addition to the MCU, Marvel Studios’ Ms. Marvel, is possibly the most refreshing show I’ve seen this year. Kamala Khan has made her debut, and she’s going to be a star.

Ms. Marvel stars Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel. Filling out the supporting cast is Matt Linz as Bruno Carrelli, Yasmeen Fletcher as Nakia, and Laura Marsden as Zoey Zimmer. Kamala’s family is played by Mohan Kapoor (Yusuf/Dad), Zenobia Shroff (Muneeba/Mom), and Saagar Shaikh (Aamir/Brother). Other characters of note include Rish Shah (Kamran), Nimra Bucha (Najma), Aramis Knight (Kareem), Adrian Moayed, and Alysia Reiner (Damage Control).

Before reviewing the episode, I want to talk about Kamala’s history. “Ms. Marvel” was created by Sana Amanat, G. Willow Wilson, and Adrian Alphona in 2013. In the decade since her creation, Kamala has been a central figure in many plotlines such as "Civil War II" and the “Marvel’s Avengers” video game.

Kamala, in the comics, is a Muslim American teenager living in Jersey City who was one day exposed to Terrigen Mist, unlocking her Inhuman abilities. The mist gave her the ability to stretch her body parts like Mr. Fantastic. She can also shrink or enlarge her body. In recent iterations, she can change the shape and hardness of her fists.

As the first Muslim American superhero, Kamala has given necessary representation to a marginalized group. And best of all, Kamala is just a relatable teenage girl facing the same problems as the readers. Some could consider her this generation's Peter Parker. Now, let’s talk about the Disney+ show.

Spoilers for All 6 episodes of Ms. Marvel

Ms. Marvel is probably the best Marvel/Disney+ show since WandaVision… for the first 3 episodes. The editing is pitch perfect. It matches the feeling and energy of Kamala. One of the most impressive aspects is how they implement text conversations, for example: having the words appear in neon lights near the characters. We are even occasionally treated to seeing how Kamala sees the world. When she meets Kamran for the first time, we see fire and 100 in emoji/doodle style. It’s a little cheesy but very fitting of Kamala’s personality.

The end credits for all the Marvel shows so far have matched the feeling and style of their shows. For me personally, Ms. Marvel’s end credits are the best. The references to Ms. Marvel's iconic comic book covers…chef's kiss. The Pakistani-inspired music is a vibe. There are also two versions of the credits: one in Jersey City and the other in Karachi.

Okay, let’s address the glow-y elephant in the room: Kamala’s powers. I understand that no one wants to deal with the hassle of making people stretch like Mr. Fantastic. The hard light they use instead is kinda cool and a nice dig at DC by Marvel. But I will never forgive Marvel for throwing out Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The show had a perfect explanation for why Kamala would be an Inhuman. At first, I was going to get over it because they decided to tie Kamala's powers to her culture. But they kept changing the origins: first, she was a Djinn, then a descendant of extra-dimensional beings, and finally, at the end of the series, she's potentially a mutant. Why!?!

My other complaint about the series is a complaint that many have for all the Disney+ shows. Most of these shows are not written as shows; they are written as six-hour movies. The real problem is that the writers have ideas for maybe 3 hours but still need to fill the other 3. There are always at least 2 episodes in these 6-episode series that are either unnecessary or kill the momentum of the series. These shows either need to be 13 episodes or made into movies.

What’s really upsetting is that this show had so much potential at the start. Episodes 4 and 5 were even okay for worldbuilding but do very little in advancing the plot. At first, it felt like this was a simple coming-of-age, superhero origin story. Then, there's a potential end-of-the-world plot that wraps up in episode 5. Then, the finale is all about protecting Kamran, not Kamala, from Damage Control. This show is still really good, but it suffers from whatever executive decided streaming shows can only be 6 episodes long.

Before I wrap up, I have to praise the entire cast. Besides the amazing representation of Southwest Asian culture and Muslim communities, Iman Vellani is a perfect Ms. Marvel. Like how RDJ is Tony Stark or Ryan Reynolds is Deadpool, Iman is Ms. Marvel in every way. She’s bright, funny, a superhero fan, and just the character come to life. I also give props to Matt Linz, Yasmeen Fletcher, Zenobia Shroff, and especially Mohan Kapoor. They all played their characters extremely well. I can't explain why but I think the dad is my second favorite character.

Here are a few other highlights of the series. Episode 1 is a perfect series opener. In episode 3, there's a whole Pakistani/Muslim/Bollywood wedding scene that is absolutely lit. How the Mosque behaves when Damage Control comes looking for Kamala and Kamran, felt true to life. Seeing Kamala's costume come together piece by piece made the wait worth it. Seeing the community rallying around Kamala against Damage Control, including the local police, was very satisfying. Also, she says, “Embiggen”.

The final moments of the series did something I did not expect at all. As some of you know, Ms. Marvel will be joining Captain Marvel and Monica Rambeau in The Marvels. We now know that part of that plot will involve Ms. Marvel and Captain Marvel switching places. This does make me a little more excited to see The Marvels in 2023.

All episodes of Ms. Marvel are now streaming on Disney+.

TL/DR: Ms. Marvel has a strong start, great acting, and a distinct personality.

Episodes 4 and 5 drag the show down a bit.

SCORE: 9/10

By: Tré Hanzy

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#ms. marvel #marvel studios #disney+#captain marvel #series #review #kamala khan #iman vellani

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whitleyschn33 · 4 years

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Not Everything Can Be Wiped Away With A Hug

Or why I’m not happy with Weiss and Whitley’s reconciliation.

Whitley and Weiss haven’t had a great relationship. From the first time we see him, the two are shown to not be comfortable with each other. Weiss’ tone when they meet is one of dismissiveness and wariness, even if the conversation ends on a technically hopeful note. As the show goes on, every interaction the two have is riddled with tension. Weiss accuses him of wanting her loss of status, Whitley gets angry and bites back. Whitley stops by her room to ask if she wants anything and twist the knife, Weiss asks if he’s jealous and slams the door in his face. When Weiss comes back at the party, she does everything she can to brush him off, clearly annoyed, while Whitley talks about what he’s been up to since she’s been gone. Weiss laughs when Whitley gets splashed with wine, Whitley storms off in a huff. Then Weiss comes back during the... siege(? I don’t know what to call this failed attempted at a Fall), commanders the house, shoves a weapon in Whitley’s face, sends him to his room like he’s a child, and then doesn’t acknowledge him again until he calls Klein. At which point she hugs him and all tensions disappears from their relationship.

See what’s missing here? We have point A of massive hostility between the two with both parties having grievances with the other and point B of both parties having found a balance in their relationship. What’s missing is a strong connection between those two points. What’s missing is the meat of the actual arc, something between set up and pay off, and that’s ultimately the problem with their reconciliation. It wasn’t worked for, at least on Weiss’s end. There was no effort for any of their grievances to be addressed, talked about, and worked through. There was no point where they took the grievances that had been brought up and had the characters discuss or react to them in any meaningful way. It just fell into their laps - or rather, it fell mostly into Weiss’s lap. That’s the short version, anyway. Let’s discuss the long version.

In Volume 7, Weiss and Whitley’s relationship is tense, Weiss clearly annoyed and dismissive of her brother for being a snot towards her, and Whitley angry that Weiss ignores him and abandoned him to their neglectful/abusive parents. In episode 7, though, Willow flat out tells Weiss why Whitley acts the way he does to her. Willow gives us Whitley’s motivations - that he’s hurt and resentful towards Weiss. This is the set up for a reconciliation; Weiss has been given insight into Whitley’s point of view (had it literally shoved in her face), and has the chance to contemplate it so as to be able to find common ground later.

Plot stuff happens, and the two are separated as Weiss deals with all that until Weiss needs a place to lay low. Armed with new information on Whitley’s disposition, Weiss...

Whitley: Oh, you’ve picked a fine time to--

Weiss interrupts by pointing Myrtenaster at him, and he looks at the blade in fright.

Weiss: Not. Another. Word. We’re coming in.

Whitley steps aside and groans as Ruby’s group walks into the manor.

...threatens him after saying 7 words. Not even words of “you can’t come in” or anything to suggest he won’t let them in but, “oh great, this is a wonderful~ time to drop by”, venting frustration. Weiss doesn’t try anything else before shoving a weapon in his face (the face of an unarmed, defenseless, civilian minor that physically can’t stop her from coming in anyway) and forcing her way inside.

Whitley: Things are already bad enough after what you did to father, now you want us to harbor fugitives too? Our family has a reputation.

He crosses his arms in annoyance. Blake, having set Nora down on the floor, looks at him.

Blake: That’s what you’re worried about? Your reputation?

Whitley: I’m just saying that we’ve already lost all the house staff, and Mother locked herself in her room.

Weiss: Maybe you haven’t figured out what’s going on, Whitley, but we’re busy trying to save Atlas.

Whitley continues to vent his frustration. Jacques, Whitley’s only source of familial attention, has been taken away by Weiss (”what you did to Father”), the staff has all vacated the estate (most likely a combination of their employer being carted away in the back of a military truck and then all hell breaking loose in Mantle and Atlas airspace), and Willow, the only other human being in the mansion, has locked herself in her room for several hours, up to almost 24 hours (I’m honestly lost on the timeline of this volume with how much it flip-flops between night and day, and I can’t be bothered to rewatch these episodes).

Whitley has been left completely and utterly alone, and Weiss comes back not for him, but to use his resources to hide herself and her friends, all of which are wanted by the military. I don’t know what Atlesian policy is, but harboring fugitives is a crime punishable with prison sentences in the US, dependent on what the fugitive is charged with. She’s forcing him to risk being arrested and imprisoned for her crimes, after destroying his family’s reputation with Jacques’ arrest and causing everyone to vacate the manor and leaving him utterly alone (the way he follows up Blake’s response with “I’m just saying we’ve already lost all the house staff” makes me think he’s tying those two things together. With Jacques’s arrest, their reputation is falling, and everyone’s jumping ship, starting with the house staff. Any other family allies the Schnees might have legally and politically are likely to follow suit to save their own skin (ah, societal politics of the rich). Harboring fugitives and Whitley and possibly Willow arrested as well? The Schnees are sunk, dead in the water. They’re not getting out of that, they’ll be left to the dogs.). And how does Weiss respond?

Weiss: Maybe you haven’t figured out what’s going on, Whitley, but we’re busy trying to save Atlas.

How in the absolute hell is he supposed to come to this conclusion? No, really, tell me. He knows two things: one, he knows there’s some kind of Grimm threat in the heatless Mantle and hovering around Atlas based on the news - maybe; we don’t know how much the news has reported about how bad it is outside of that one Mantle broadcast and how much Whitley has kept up with the news (he seems the type to absorb in as much information as possible, but he may not have been watching every waking second) - and two, he knows his sister and her friends have pissed off the military and are marked as fugitives. There is no way for him to know that the group of fugitives are doing anything to help Atlas, especially when he has no way to know what’s going on and what Weiss+co are up to. Weiss’ comment does nothing but imply that he’s too wrapped up in his own stuff to see the big picture, when he doesn’t have the knowledge that there’s even a big picture to look at. Rather than trying to reach out and reason with Whitley, Weiss snaps at him and treats him like he’s being self absorbed and shallow. His life is falling apart, he’s been left behind again by staff and his mother, and Weiss doesn’t just not respond to it, she gets mad at him for it. It’s Ruby that has to step up and tell him that they just need a place for their friend to heal and then they’ll leave (which turns out to be a bold-faced lie, but that’s another post).

Whitley relents then, and asks what they want him to do. Weiss then tells him to “go to his room”. Let’s set this up - we don’t know how old Whitley is, but we can guess based on Weiss’s age. Weiss is 19, and Whitley is likely 2 to 3 years younger, as he seems a bit older than Oscar but most likely more than a year younger than Weiss. That makes Whitley at least 16 years old, possibly 17. Whitley is either just a year younger or the same age as Ruby, the girl Weiss is blindly following as a leader. Whitley is not a child. A minor, probably, but not a child (I consider “child” to be 12 and under, and minor to be 13 - 16/17 (depending on what the age of maturity is in Remnant, which I’ve always considered to be 17 based on Beacon admission ages) btw to clarify). Yet, Weiss tells the boy that she has no legal or emotional authority over that’s about the same age as her leader to go to his room, treating him like he’s a petulant child. She doesn’t want to have to deal with him, so she shunts him aside - makes it clear that she’s not going to break his isolation, she wants him out of her way. Alone.

The relationship between Weiss and Whitley was already tense and hostile, but this pushes that to the next level. Before, it was hurt feelings and snipping - valid hurt feelings on both sides - but this has escalated it. Physical threats of violence, forcing him into committing a possible felony, and then dismissing him like he’s a child shows a lack of respect for Whitley, and is the exact opposite of working towards reconciliation. I wouldn’t be surprised if Whitley’s anger and resentment towards his sister grew after this; that would be my reaction.

“But wait!” You might be thinking. “That’s not really fair to Weiss - she’s worried about Nora who’s possibly dying and about being followed by Atlas’ military. She just wants to get under cover as fast as possible and then get to helping Nora! She’s stressed and tense, it makes sense that she’d be brusque to Whitley; we shouldn’t judge her so harshly.” To which I say - character is the choices you make under pressure, not when everything is just fine. Weiss resorting to the threat of violence immediately against someone she knows is no threat when faced with a tense situation where some diplomacy and respect would go a long way, it’s not a good look for who she is as a person. But alright, let’s play that game. Weiss is too worried about Nora to deal with Whitley at the moment. She gets Nora to bed, starts treating her as best she can, and then...

Nothing. Weiss doesn’t speak to Whitley again until he calls Klein for Nora, presumably a day later (once again, I’m not entirely sure. They arrive at what I believe is sunset, Amity happening that night, then the sun rising or setting in Midnight (?) and in War it’s night again as Klein arrives, so I think that this has to be the next night but it’s extremely difficult to tell and causes a crap ton of plot holes, thanks a lot CRWBY (I might skim through each episode to put together just how broken the timeline is)). That’s 24 hours where Weiss didn’t decide to ask Ruby or Blake (who I would have thought would be the one to have the most first aid knowledge of the three with her militia group experience) to watch over Nora for a few minutes while she seeks out Whitley to talk to him. 24 hours where she didn’t choose to apologize for threatening him, or go to talk to him about what’s going on, or follow up on Willow’s request, or ask if their mother is even alive still if she’s been locked up drinking for over a day, probably 2 (again, the timeline is fucked up). That’s not “I’m rushing and being harsher than I normally would out of concern for my friend”, that’s “I don’t regret or care about how I’ve treated my brother; I don’t see any reason to reach out to him” (And as side note - if Weiss had gone to see Whitley earlier, letting him know just how bad of shape Nora was in, Whitley might have called Klein earlier. By talking to her brother, Weiss could have gotten Nora the help she needed sooner, but she didn’t).

This is the next conversation Weiss and Whitley have after she threatens him and sends him to his room. I know I spent far too long breaking it down, but that was just one incident, the only one between between Willow telling Weiss to not forget Whitley and their hug.

Weiss: You called Klein?

Whitley: That girl needs a doctor. (turns away from Weiss) I didn’t do it for you.

Weiss: I know. That’s why it means so much to me.

Whitely gasps as Weiss steps forward to hug him. After some hesitation, he sighs and embraces her back. Weiss gasps when she and the others hear an explosion from outside.

That’s it. That’s their reconciliation. After this point, Whitley shows no anger towards Weiss or brings up his issues with her, so we’re meant to think that this is it, the Weiss-Whitley reconciliation is over.

Now, on Weiss’s side, I could see this putting Whitley in her good graces (maybe). Weiss’ grievances with Whitley boil down to hurt feelings over him being a snot about her loss of inheritance and being annoying. Whitley was being a jerk about it when he came around in V4E9 to twist the knife, but we know why he did that (he was pushing his own situation in Weiss’s face, a “see how you like it, being stuck here alone like I was” type thing), Weiss does get an explanation for it later from Willow, and at the end of the day, that’s all he did. He didn’t betray her, act against her, try and get her in trouble with Jacques - he didn’t do anything to her. Gloating at the role reversal is petty, yes, but it’s not like Weiss doesn’t attempt to fire right back, and it’s not like she wasn’t plenty rude to him when accusing him of wanting it to happen. Weiss mentions “you never liked me” in V4E7, but we never get anything more specific than that, and implies that he was just bitter and snippy with her like he is in V4E9. Theoretically he could have been an absolute terror before, but since we’re never shown any of this or given any examples, it’s difficult to factor in anything Whitley may have done before V4 as a piece of Weiss’ attitude towards him. Point is, since I’m starting to ramble, is that ultimately Whitley hasn’t done anything but hurt Weiss’s feelings, and him calling a doctor for Nora purely because Nora needs one feels like it might be enough to put Whitley in Weiss’ good graces, even if it raises some uncomfortable implications - that Weiss only extends her love and affection when Whitley does something she likes and can revoke it if he does something she doesn’t (like make a light joke).

On Whitley’s end, though, this scene is an absolute mess of an ending. At the end of Volume 7, Whitley is angry and resentful towards Weiss (and Winter) for abandoning him to abusive and neglectful parents, and then arresting Jacques, taking away his only source of attention and dealing a huge blow to their family’s status. In Volume 8, Weiss comes back, threatens him physically, dismisses his concerns, treats him like a child by sending him to his room, and leaves him alone again until he does something she likes. At no point does Weiss do anything that would make his attitude towards her shift to the better; in fact, she does things that should only further alienate him. Why is Whitley no longer mad at her? Because she gave him a hug? That doesn’t change that she still (from his point of view) abandoned him without a second thought, blamed him for things he didn’t do, threatened him with a weapon, forced him to harbor them, and then talked down to him and pushed him aside when she didn’t want to deal with him - abandoning him again. Weiss has done nothing to make Whitley any less resentful. She hasn’t acknowledged how she’s hurt him, they haven’t discussed why he was so hurt by her leaving, there’s been no attempt for the rift between them to be mended. Weiss just hugs him, and somehow that makes everything better. I didn’t realize that Whitley was so completely starved for affection that a hug makes him forget everything leading up to it - a hug that he initially backed away from.

He has his hands raised defensively, he starts backing away, and his expression is completely shocked. His posture is completely stiff, his arms falling to his side and hands clenching into fists. He’s clearly not comfortable with this initially, before giving in with a sigh and hugging Weiss back - giving in and giving Weiss what she wants.

Weiss is happy with him now, so Whitley can’t be upset. Weiss gives her approval, Whitley has been useful to her, so Whitley is “redeemed” in the eyes of the characters and the audience. What Whitley wants, what Whitley feels, what motivates Whitley? They don’t matter now that Weiss cares about him again. They aren’t discussed, they don’t continue to effect how Whitley acts and views Weiss, Weiss has forgiven him, so Whitley isn’t allowed to still be pissed with Weiss. Weiss didn’t have to do anything to reconcile with her brother, she doesn’t have to be humbled or acknowledge her own role in this dysfunctional relationship. She got to treat him with violence and like a child, and then hug him and act like everything is forgiven when by all reasonable logic, Whitley should be pushing her away, repeating that he didn’t do this for her and to back off.

Weiss didn’t work for this; Weiss didn’t earn this. Whitley’s own emotions and motivations were stripped away to let her get her brother on her side without her having to confront her own mistakes, because RWBY refuses to let its main girls make mistakes.

This isn’t the first time this has happened in RWBY, far from it. This isn’t even the only example of this happening with Whitley. Next episode and a few later, they do the exact same thing with Whitley and Willow! Whitley starts episode 8 rightfully pissed at his mother; she’s left him completely alone for two days straight to drink in her room, being less than useless, straight up neglectful. This anger carries on when she tries to call him, him turning to the door as the Hound approaches with anger. During the Hound attack, Willow grabs onto him, and he lets him. That makes sense, both of them were extremely frightened by this Grimm unlike anything they’d ever seen. What doesn’t make sense is that in episodes 11 and 12, Willow is still hanging onto him. I haven’t watched episode 11 for personal reasons (RWBY’s pissed me off), but I’ve seen the screenshots.

Willow’s holding onto him like she’s showing him off with pride. It’s a cute image - but why is Whitley allowing it? Why is Whitley not pulling away? Whitley was rightfully angry at his mother for neglecting him, for leaving him emotionally and mentally, right up until the Hound attack. Now, I know what you’re thinking; Willow saved his life. They killed the Hound together. Something like that, it can being people together. I agree - and I would even buy that being the spark for Whitley giving his mother another chance if there had been any kind of scene or even conversation on screen where we get to see this transition from rightfully anger at a drunk neglectful mother to a son giving a proud mother another chance at being his mother. It would have been incredibly easy to slip in, too! Like, and I’m just spitballing here -

Willow after the Hound is killed: Are you alright, Whitley?

Whitley: Oh, so you suddenly care. That’s nice to know.

Willow: I have always cared -

Whitley: Then you haven’t ever shown it! Whitley gets visibly angry. You’ve done nothing but leave me alone in this house with him while you drown yourself in your wine. You haven’t cared about me since I was 7 years old! Stop acting like you’re my mother! Whitley starts walking off.

Willow: Whitley - ! Willow reaches out for Whitley and stops him I - she deflates - You’re right. I have been a horrible mother. I’ve left you alone, all this time, and if I had been even slightly more drunk tonight, you might have been killed. ...I might have lost you for good, and it would have been my own fault. I’m sorry...

Whitley: He pauses, and falls silent.

Willow: ...Please. I almost lost you tonight, and I don’t want to lose you to something I can fix. Is there anything I can do? Can I... Can I get a chance?

Whitley: .....he turns back to Willow, taking a deep breath, and looks up at her. ...One chance. You can’t - You can’t fix all of this, but... Whitley looks away ...I’ve wanted you back for 9 years. I don’t want to lose you either if I might get you back.

Willow: Willow looks surprised, before giving him a weak smile and pulling him into a hug. Thank you, Whitley. And I am so, so proud of you.

Whitley: Whitley stiffens with surprise, looking at his mother with shock, but returns the shaky smile and hugs her back.

One minute for this conversation, and I would be completely on board with Whitley and Willow seeming to reconcile as well. The same goes with Weiss, except a longer conversation.

If Weiss and Whitley had had even one talk where they both admit their faults and failings, apologize to each other, and agree to try again, I would be all on board with this Schnee family reconciliation. As it is now, though, with how it’s been written in the show, neither Weiss nor Willow have had to work to repair their relationships with Whitley; Whitley’s anger has just been wiped away. They set up the potential for reconciliation between Weiss and Whitley, between Willow and Whitley, acknowledging why Whitley is angry with both of them, but rather than have any of the characters take that knowledge and use it to reach out to Whitley, the writers skip all of that and let the characters treat Whitley however they want until they end up reconciled with one act. A single summon is treated like it makes up for years of neglect. A single hug because Whitley was useful to Weiss is treated like it makes up for abandonment, disrespect, and threats of violence. They don’t, and the lack of respect the writers’ have for the emotions of a male abuse victim sickens me.

#rwby #rwby8 #whitley schnee #weiss schnee #willow schnee #man this got long

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rinharu-purple · 3 years

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Emmm 👉👈 can i request Gavin's spring festival date analysis?! Ehem especially when Gavin said "I've waited a long time for today.." 💙

But Of course if you're not busy.. I'll wait patiently.. I just.. love read your analysis 💙 like i can feel your love and dedication for Gavin.. a lot of Gavin stan is very smart and loyal.. just like Gavin itself

Hello nonny and of course you can! Thank you for your lovely ask and reading my posts. It makes me really happy to hear this 💞 I can also double up what you've said, Our birdcop is smart and loyal and I really love being a part of Gavin-standom which includes so many talented writers, artists, analysts and it has @cheri-translates! There are so many great posts from various accounts and one can feel the love, passion and loyalty towards Gavin in all of them! 💫

An analysis on Spring Festival date is so overdue, so it is me who should apologize for not having written this before. I will more than gladly include your request scene, I hope you enjoy it ^_^

MC Testing Waters: Spring Festival Date

At the beginning of the game, MC is a young woman with lots of love in her heart, however without much experience in love. Fortunately this starts to change when she meets LIs as adults.

Spring Festival Date takes place after Firework Date and before the Romantic Date, although the timeline is quite messy, which I will come to by the end of this analysis.

If you look closely, you can see MC checking Gavin's romantic feelings towards her by using this "boyfriend game" and also uses the opportunity to get beyond his hardened exterior and touch his vulnerable side 💗

Spoilers start below this line

This date comes to, because MC lies to her aunt about having a boyfriend to avoid arranged blind dates and even promises to visit her on New Years with her boyfriend. Speculatively it seemed like a solid play, until...the time literally came.

Thinktanking about a way out of this with Kiki and Willow, they weight different options as to tell them she broke up with him, leave the city or call in sick but then the best wingman on earth Minor saves the way and suggests that she just takes a "fake boyfriend" with her, surely enough with Gavin in his mind.

MC goes through her contacts list to search for a suitable candidate, but her heart Whispers her the answer by skipping a beat as her fingertips scroll down to one name.

... Gavin

As such... MC has chosen her player for the game and Gavin's Heart Trial with MC's family commences...

---Press Start---

Creativity Test

Unluckily Gavin actually shows up for this highly important date late, with his phone off! From the storyline he arrives a couple of minutes late to MC’s aunt's place, thus starting the game one point behind. He was late because he was buying presents for the whole family! With the spot on gifts which are well received by the family because they're expensive, imported goods, limited products, cute and thoughtful he makes up for the lost points.

But it's just the first stage and he has 3 more stages to clear, the pressure is slowly rising.

This gray suit has a lovely story behind it, which you can find by the end of the story.

Decision Test

Gavin has passed the creativity test with flying colors, but in the second stage more challenging questions are on the menu. The eldest aunt wants to know Gavin's age, occupation, salary(?!) and possessions(?!). The last two questions are fairly over the line and is a no-no in my country. Asking people about their financial status as well as bragging about it is perceived as rude and insolent, that's why the way Gavin answers these questions skillfully without bragging about his wealth adds just another brick on my Gavin-temple.

Age: 24

Occupation: Police Officer

Salary: Covers the bills

Possessions: A flat in the city and a motorcycle.

In my Prank date analysis, I've mentioned about Gavin's ability to deal with impertinence and also here, he stays friendly, but only answers the questions necessary to get through with the situation. MCs family is checking whether he's wealthy enough to take care of MC (which is sad that in the 21st century that in some countries women need to be financially secured by men). So Gavin just gives them just the right enough of information to pass the test and pass he does.

There is another aspect to his way of answering though. You see, Gavin is an unmaterialistic man. He doesn't care about money or any other meta. He doesn't touch upon the fact that he's coming from a wealthy family, or that he inherits his grandparents house or that he can afford designer dresses, overseas travels or gems without giving a second thought. That shows just how humble Gavin is and I love him for it. What defines him is not his wealth, nor does he allow anyone define him on his financial status. It's his character, the values he stand for, the vision he embodies, the way he treats MC.. Ehm.. And.. His champion body and drop dead gorgeous looks (comes as an extra;))

But the game is far from over, because the family council is now going to challenge him on...

Affinity Test

This is where things get rosy as the family would like to know how they've met and whether they've been together since high school.

Look, Gavin is actually not playing a game, but living the moment. He is well aware of the fact that once he and MC become an official pair, he will be standing on the same spot a year later. He is serious...

So when they ask about their affection, he gives them his genuine answer and confesses his crush on her during high school and says that they've been going out since fall. This dazzles MC, as if she hasn't been dazzled enough lol.

The three glasses of drink he gulps surely has a role in this sincerity and taking three glasses of a drink as a punishment also becomes a tradition for MC and Gavin in the future.

And so, he proudly passes the Affinity Test with flying colors, effortlessly. Only one more stage and he's done it!

Execution Test

Every hero has his moment, when the fight takes a gloomier turn against his favor and the odds don't look good as before when he gets a strong blow, that is when the family hits him with the question "Don't you get alone well with your family?".

This is Gavin's weak spot, his cryptonite, his bleeding wound and MC's family just pressed on it. What makes this scene so heartbreaking is not just the topic itself and we know why it is a sensitive topic for Gavin but also that Gavin actually tries to signal them that this is not his favorite topic. He tells them he doesn't go home for holidays (friendly warning number 1), the aunties pushes by telling him to take some meal with him to which he replies "Thanks, but that's okay. I've been away for a long time" (friendly warning number 2) the family pushes further and as a one last resort he tells them that during college he rarely went there and spent holidays working afterwards (friendly warning number 3). Sadly the auntie than ignorantly ask whether his family doesn't worry about him and now because he's given three fair warning shots which, he downright gives them a brief and resolute answer:

- No.

That's usually the latest where people with common sense stop digging in further. Unfortunately then the auntie asks whether he doesn't get along well with his family to which Gavin no longer responds. This is the perfect way of dealing with such people and Gavin has a very intuitive talent for dealing different people from different mindsets. Give them three friendly and fair warnings, still pushing? Then give them a last chance by one final brief and to the point answer, they choose to ignore the signal? Stop interacting, you can only waste time beyond this point.

The only problem with this situation here, is that these people are not just somebody, Gavin wants to win these people over, so he cannot just ignore them. But also he cannot do it without a timeout, so he goes to grab some wine. (God it makes me so sorry everytime he has to face his family drama or is misjudged. I just wanna hug him bring him hot cocoa, give him a backrub and bring spicy food for him. Luckily he has MC ^_^)

But let's not talk only about about Gavin, because MC is struggling too. And we should recognize her stick up for him with the most cherishing words:

-Auntie, you got it wrong. He is a decent and pure man and has come to my aid many time and in quite dangerous circumstances.

When she comes back however cannot find Gavin, once she does, a heartwarming moment blooms between them.

This scene is very crucial in Gavin and MC's relationship because this is the first time MC sees Gavin tired and flustered. She feels sad for him but also happy for herself, for she feels as though she gets closer to him, thus seeing the real Gavin. By the way she show him her genuine care, Gavins heart melts and kisses the back of her hand as a gesture and so the first intimate moment involving them having a kiss ensues. Furthermore, they show each other their mutual care, which brings them one step closer and this gives Gavin the only courage he needs to tackle the situation.

When our hero gets the courage and the stamina he need from his girl, nothing can stop him now. Having gatherer his strength, Gavin returns to the dinner table:

“I am so happy to be here with you all today. In fact, I haven't felt this atmosphere of family in a long time. I have a very strict father and a brother I seldom see...I don’t even know when I turned into such a loner. Eating alone, sleeping alone, doing everything alone...until I met her. It was a beautiful autumn day. The gingko leaves were floating in the wind. I was also going through a pretty dark time. But she saved me before I hit bottom...It’s she who told me I could live a stronger life. And it’s also she who told me I could live a more tender life. I never felt lonely before, until I met her. I started to get used to star-gazing with her, having dinner with her, spending the New Year’s with her. In the future, I'll give it my all to stay with her, to take good care of her and love her. I wanna make up many times over for all the times I wasn't there”

MC’s heart stopped, aunties eyes teary, the elder Aunt want his actions to back up these words and thus Gavin has a pass from MC's family. Now that he's won the game, it's time to collect his prize.

After they leave MC's aunt's house, our lovebirds walk together in the night full of fireworks and Gavin tells Mc that Minor has mentored him on being the perfect son-in-law, hence he was late. He also asks her what she would do if he didn't show up, to which she says that her intuition says that he won't fail her and he murmurs quietly:

- I've waited a long time for today.

Of course he doesn't repeats himself when MC asks him about what he just said. But that's what kept him going all night long.

He has waited for six whole years to meet her again, to stand by here, take good care of her and love her. Tonight, he could do them all by being her "boyfriend", giving his word to her family and having their blessings. He could see that she also cares a lot for him, worries about him and wants to be there for him. He landed his lips for the first time on her delicate skin and could give her warmth.

He could finally confess his feelings for her and say the genuine things he will only say to her.

So yes, he has waited for a long time for this moment to come and when it came, he made sure to grab it tightly.

----—----—---

Timeline issues:

- The order of the dates in the game doesn't always reflect the real course of events. The grey suit that Gavin wears is actually bought after Romantic Date, which takes place after this date.

-Even though MC plans this whole game to avert blind dates, but she still gets set up later on a blind date by another aunt lol.

Thank you once again for your patience nonny and I hope that the analysis proves to be worthy of your wait 💗

Masterlist

For MC's confession let me take you here

For Gavin and MCs relationship milestones here

For a fun trivia about this date you can click here

#Meeting the family is important #Gavin preparing for being the perfect son in law #And getting help from Minor #Anon asks #mlqc #mlqc gavin #mlqc bai qi #mlqc haku #mlqc baek gi #mr love queen's choice #koi to producer #Meta #Analysis #Saturday night #Saturday

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incorrectlumityquotes · 4 years

Text

FULL REVIEWS: “Wing It Like Witches”

Damn, that last episode was something. It was so much of something that the hype for this episode didn’t come until after they released a screenshot of Amity in the grudgby uniform. Everyone predicted that this was the episode that had Amity join The Owl House squad and...they were right.

The Lumity Trilogy ends with a sports balls game.

The cold open starts with Boscha of all people.

It’s grudgby season again and all I can think of is “Wow how lucky is Luz to enroll in Hexside during the semester where shit happens.” Is the first semester the boring one with no holidays and/or events?

Anyway, I grew up in South Texas where high school football was treated like the biggest deal. I get why Boscha is being treated the way she is, and so does she.

Boscha goes to school expecting a hero’s welcome, but gets pissed when the attention is given to Willow.

Willow tells Luz that ever since she patched things up with Amity, she’s been feeling more confident. That’s really good character development. Without her resentment toward Amity (who was her oldest friend), Willow feels like a weight has been lifted off her shoulders. All that hate and sadness was bringing her down, but without it, she’s free to blossom.

I don’t mean to quote Penn & Teller but, “And then there’s this asshole.”

Boscha is so not okay with Willow being happy with herself and just picks on her harder. Especially since it’s grudgby season and she knows she can get away with it.

Amity tells her to grow the fuck up, and Boscha lets it slip that ever since grom Amity has been “getting soft.” This does fucking nothing since Boscha literally spends all day following Willow and friends all day picking on them like crazy. Like damn bitch, don’t you have anything else do do? Don’t you have any life outside of Willow’s?

People ask why I don’t ship Willow and Boscha and this is why. I get enemies to lovers. I get the bully becoming the love interest. Hell, it’s happening with Amity right now. But this is too needlessly cruel for my taste. There’s not way the Defeat Equals Friendship trope is going to work here. Not for me. But hope comes in the form of a useless lesbian.

Amity literally gay panics after getting ‘nam flashbacks of dancing with the girl she likes in the moonlight. Luz asks Amity for help about Boscha, and based on Amity’s answer, I don’t think Amity has ever liked Boscha. She agrees that Boscha is difficult to tolerate. It’s even worse during grudgby season because it becomes all the thinks about. Luz gets the wrong idea from that.

After literally pelting Willow with garbage, Luz challenges Boscha to a grudgby match for Willow. Again Luz’s character flaw of overstepping her bounds comes back. She never even considers what Willow might want or the fact that Willow has never even played grudgby before in her life. And that’s when another of Luz’s character flaws comes back hard. This time it’s Luz expecting life to play out like a story, or more specifically, a sports movie.

Holy crap. Is that the thorn-vault? I’ve never noticed that before.

Luz thinks that if they just try really hard they’ll beat someone who has been excelling at the sport for years. No. That’s not how life works, sweetie. I’m starting to think that maybe Luz’s mom was on to something sending her to camp.

Luz manages to convince Willow and Gus to be on board, but Amity...

She’ll be in her bunk.

Meanwhile in the B-plot (that should be my t-shirt by now), Eda is talking about her time when she was star player of her grudgby team when Lilith makes an unexpected appearance to arrest Eda. Lilith notices that Eda is wearing her old ass grudgby uniform and Eda’s response made me laugh.

“No reason. It’s laundry day.”

Lilith gives Eda a quick reality check to remind her that while Eda was good...

Lilith was better.

This photo really confused me and took me a while to realize that that was Eda and Lilith. Lilith gave herself a serious make over after school. Straightened her hair, darkened it, got ride of the glasses. I didn’t even recognize her.

Since we all got grudgby on the brain, Eda makes a bet. She’ll go with Lilith to The Emperor peacefully if she can beat her in a game of grudgby. Luz is always pulling stuff like this and it works out for her, so why not? Speaking of which.

Willow and Gus teach Luz about grudgby. Luz teaches Willow and Gus about montages and it does not go well at all. The grudgby, I mean. The montage was great.

In fact it’s so bad that Willow confronts Luz about the thing I was just talking about earlier. You can’t just shonen hero through all your problems. Willow and Gus give up and just leave.

I hate comparing shows because I believe they should stand on their own, but this really does remind me of when Lotte got mad at Akko in Little Witch Academia: The Enchanted Parade. Being innocently insensitive plus expecting life to play out like a movie is not a good combo.

Luz and Amity have a heart to heart. Luz’s character flaws do come from a place love. Willow is one of the best friend’s she’s ever had and it hurts to watch her get picked on. She’s not trying to make things worse but growing up on a diet of movies and cartoons, this is the only thing she can think of.

Amity reveals that she actually used to be a jock. No joke. She was the captain of the grudgby team before Boscha. But Amity decided to make the game all about her and her teammates got hurt. So felt so bad that she never played again. Amity is rough around the edges, but deep down she’s always cared about people.

Another gay panic later, and Luz gets the right idea this time. Luz forfeits the game and agrees to take all of Willow’s punishment so that Boscha will stop picking on her.

Bitch, works for me! Think fast!

Amity senses the obvious and immediate danger and goes for help. She reminds Willow and Gus that Luz always has good intentions and needs help because that’s what friends do.

This isn’t about “friendship” is it?

Gus and Willow show up to save Luz but you need three on a team. And in true sports movie fashion, the hero arrives in the eleventh hour to save the team. I.E. the only player who is actually good at the game gives the good guys a chance to win.

Let’s get it on!

It’s game on and for a bunch of nerds the game is actually pretty competitive. It’s a magic sport, so Willow focuses on the magic while Amity focuses on the sport. Luz being Luz, even congratulates the other players when they score. Luz discovers every RPG players favorite spell, fire.

It looks like our heroes pull off the victory in true sports movie fashion when this happens.

I stand by what I said last time. Someone on The Owl House thinks Harry Potter is really fucking stupid. Boscha catches the rusty smidge which means she automatically wins and Luz let’s out two decades of Harry Potter frustration.

But she has a point. If the golden snitch gives your team 150 points and ends the game then the only way to play would be to play defensively and focus all your efforts on finding the snitch. It means there’s literally only one decent way to play the game if you want to win.

“That just invalidates all our efforts! If catching that thing is so important, why do anything else!? There’s no reason to watch any of the other players! THAT’S SUCH A STUPID RULE!”

You tell them, Luz.

But in a twist that everyone saw coming, all the other players (Skara, Cat, Amelie) all had so much fun playing that they invite Willow to join the team. Willow politely declines because Boscha.

But we can’t have Amity help with the season finale so she hurt her leg. Amity panics at the thought of Luz carrying her, so of course Luz picks her up.

“Oh. Wow. Sports.”

Speaking of sports.

It’s game on at The Owl House and Lilith and Eda have a one on one match that’s really close. Eda decides to cheat her way to victory until.

Dammit, Luz!

Eda wins and Lilith vows to return.

The episode ends with Amity joining the fam at The Owl House.

FINAL SCORE: 5 - LOVED IT!

This episode was the best of fun episodes combined with the development of Amity episodes and you get probably my favorite episode. This was so fun and touched on most of the major characters. Even the B-plot is important because now Lilith knows the location of The Owl House. The jokes were funny. It was cute. Just everything.

The Lumity Trilogy ends on a high note. Amity is officially crushing hard on Luz.

#THE OWL HOUSE #my works #full review #full reviews

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mdhwrites · 1 year

Note

So, what did you think of the scene in Escape from Amphibia which made Marcy's stab into a total joke with Anne's mom pretending to stab Anne, and playing that for comedy with Anne showing no sign of being affected by that (does this mean Marcy's stab didn't matter in the long run)? Like there's comedy and there's just being insulting. Possibly the most serious moment in the show gets turned into a complete joke, it's a pretty terrible moment.

So the moment in narrative is just fine. It's a cute family moment that explains why Anne has a lightsaber later to fight the FBI. With the idea that it makes Marcy being stabbed not matter that's just... dumb. For a couple reasons. The first is simple: Why would this trigger Anne? If Anne had been the one to be stabbed, this should be traumatic. Anyone grabbing her from behind honestly would be. She only saw it from the front though. I will admit that yes, they do make it a different type of sword likely to reference back to it on a meta level but not only is this so fast that Anne probably wouldn't appreciate the yellow blade, if they were really trying to have Anne be accidentally triggered (which would NOT have fit with the normal tone of Amphibia, let alone what's going on that episode) they would have had her Oum go "Look what you made me do." Instead she partial quotes Star Wars as a fun moment of family bonding. It's not the best joke, I think the decision to change the blade to make it more explicitly reference the stab was not a great choice but it doesn't trivialize the stab.

No what trivializes the stab is the fact that Marcy is fridged by doing it. Actually, she's fridged TWICE in the span of half a season as becoming the Core is effectively the same and the fact that the writers were willing to do this does highlight my one major issue with Amphibia's writing as a whole.

Marcy is not seen as a character, kind of like Willow. She's better because she has a much clearer personality and is genuinely more fun to have on screen than Willow but that doesn't stop her from being mostly for other characters. Her first two appearances both are all about Anne telling us character traits about her and how those traits affect her rather than actually playing off of Marcy. The First Temple is exactly the same because we're told about a problem with Marcy that even by then, you can clearly see isn't true and is trivially solved during the episode as it mostly revolves around Hop Pop and Anne.

Even Maddie's episode with her is much more to use her as the moral compass for Maddie rather than explore her finally making a proper friend in Amphibia. New Wartwood is her best episode BY FAR because it's genuinely about her and her struggles.

Speaking of, let's get back to the fact that she was fridged, TWICE, just to make Andrias feel bad. She is effectively written out of the show for almost an entire season for the sake of adding depth and inner conflict to Andrias. It creates my one real issue with the finale where you just have this uncomfortable feeling everytime Marcy talks because she is literally the SAME as when we met her at the gates. Nothing has affected her and she has no real opinions on anything and with how brutally they treated her, it's kind of messed up.

It's actually part of a theory I have, that I won't go into too hard here, that Marcy is vestigial. She comes from the fact that three friends were a base part of the concept before they figured what to do with all three. They even make a point of it in the show that Anne and Sasha's relationship is so dynamic and complex and deep that it literally leaves no room for Marcy.

She is the worst part of the show to me because of this treatment... Which is also probably why I don't care about the meta reference to the stabbing of her with Oum's sword. It's awkward but it's not really all that different from how Marcy is treated so I care more about the fact that the scene flows decently well and that it emphasizes Anne's love and connection with her parents during an episode where she has to wrestle with saying goodbye to them.

And I wish that wasn't my best defense for the scene because yeah, if there's one thing I'd change about Amphibia, it would be to treat Marcy better.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

#amphibia critical #marcy wu

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rainydayhogwartsimagines · 4 years

Text

Falling in love with Draco as A Gryffindor (Draco x reader)

Side note: HAHAHAHAHAAAAA

You were a firey little thing, you.

Draco noticed you when you went to go get something from the cart

And oh boy he fell hard

He sat there in that great hall "Please be Slytherin please be--" "GRYFFINDOR!" "oh come on."

You ended up spending a lot of time with Fred and George, those two were practically your best friends.

Draco noticed you, always seeing that smile on your face as you talked to Hermoine.

He would usually find Hermione with you.

She would be trying to make you study and you'd be doodling or doing origami instead.

Draco would smile to himself as he would hear your giggles from Hermione's frustration.

Course he'd never admit that. God no.

He was always a class A dick to you and the trio

Then there was the "TROLLLLL IN THE DUNGEEEOONNN"

And you were forced to sit in your common room with the Slytherins.

"Bet one of the Slytherin kids let it in as a joke." Fred yawned.

You shook your head and leaned to him

"There's no way, none of them have the brain cells for that." You said making both of the twins snicker

Still though, something felt off. Really off.

"Hey wait a minute... Where's Harry and Ron-- Where's Hermione!?" You asked making the entire common room silent.

Mcgonagall was shocked when she was made aware of the situation.

Course when they all came back you started asking questions like "So you took down a troll... How do you feel besides absolutely epic?"

Christmas rolled around and you stayed with Fred, George, Ron and Harry

Molly made you a sweater and you usually wore it if you were cold.

Draco didn't go home for some reason and you took notice.

"Yo. Draco." You said walking over. "Oh God, what do you want?" He asked.

You rolled your eyes. "I wanted to say Merry Christmas. Here." You said handing him a paper crane.

He took it and stared at it for a while as you walked away.

"Y/n." He called. You rose a brow.

"merry Christmas." He said making you smile.

His heart almost beat out his damn chest and he quickly turned back around.

He found a note though on it's wing

"you should try smiling once in a while, I've seen you do it and it's nice."

Draco turned back around and you gave a wave with a laugh.

He shook his head... But he smiled.

And that's when your heart went "BAM. YOU LIKE THIS BOY NOW."

When the school year ended you walked over to Draco.

"Hey. Draco." You said making him turn around.

"What L/n?" He asked. "Write to me sometime. I'm usually bored over the summer." You said giving him your address.

He blinked a few times as you walked away.

Well he actually did. His letters at first were more aggressive

"Why in the world would you give me your address?!"

"Seriously why?"

Then over time as you wrote back he actually became... Likable.

He actually formed inside jokes with you and was actually... Friendly

The week before school you both had a much needed conversation though

"So I take it I'm going to be ignored when I say hello to you?"

"Why would you assume that?"

"Because a Gryffindor fraternizing with a Slytherin? Isn't that... Beneath you?"

"You're my friend Y/n I really don't care."

So when he saw you in Diagon Alley you said hi and he gave you this "DON'T COMMUNICATE WITH ME" stare making you confused

That's when you saw his father and was like "Oooohhh. He's terrifying!"

What you didn't realize is that you said that out loud

And you immediately had to duck behind Fred who was walking by.

"Hey Y/n what are you--" "SHHH. YOU DON'T SEE ME!"

He looked at Lucius malfoy and then you and nodded.

"Gotcha." He nodded before George stood in the way of Lucius' view.

"So what did you do?" Fred asked.

"Accidentally looked at him and said 'oh he's terrifying!' out loud." You mumbled.

Fred laughed and George snorted.

When he left you sighed with so much relief before you felt someone tap your shoulder.

"Imsorry-- Draco! Hi!" You said panicked.

He rolled his eyes with a chuckled. "I wanted to make sure that was you. Father has a problem with me talking to Gryffindors." He said.

"Ohhh." You nodded before Fred turned around. "You two are getting along? Damn I must've drank something strange this morning" he said making you shake your head.

"I have to go, will you sit on the train with me?" He asked. "Yeah sure!" You nodded. He walked towards the door "Y/n." He said making you turn back around. "It's good to see you." He said sincerely.

Your face turned so red and George laughed. "Someone has a CRUSSHHH!" He said making you smack him. "Shut it!" You hushed.

You did sit with him on the train, laughing at some stupid joke.

Harry walked by and then froze.

"Are you... Actually--" "Harry join us!" You said.

"What!?" Both of the boys said. "Join us! We're having fun and you two need to get along, join us!" You said.

"But--" you shot them both death glares and some how some way you actually ended up having fun.

Harry could almost find Draco... Enjoyable!?

None of you had any idea on how bad this year would be

Your father's a wizard. Your mother... She isn't.

When the chamber of secrets opened oh boy...

Draco was a nervous wreck, every other class period he'd be walking you to it.

"Draco, really I'm fine-- We CAN SIGN UP FOR QUIDDITCH THIS YEAR!?"

So uhm... Funny story you ended up on the quidditch team.

You stood in for Harry when he couldn't play, which was a lot more common than expected

Honestly? You could give Harry a run for his money.

The only issue? Draco hated competing with you in a setting as brutal as that could be.

Didn't stop him from playing as hard as he did though.

Then that bitch Lavender decided to hex your broom.

"WOAH!" You said flying. Draco noticed you jolt and nearly fall. "SHIT!" you gasped as you nearly fell off it, seeing the golden glint beneath you. That's when you had a plan.

You let go.

You naturally hit the ground hard, you sprained your wrist

But then you held up that snitch and the crowd went WILD

Your wrist was fine within a week so you weren't worried.

Draco acted pissed but truth be told: he was happy you were okay.

Then it happened. You had studied with Hermoine until you two were booted from the library.

You forgot something and turned back, walking as fast as you could because to be honest, the castle kind of scared you at night.

You left a magnifying glass, you used it because of the fact that THE TEXT WAS TOO SMALL (seriously who can read that small?)

That's when you saw this reflection on the glass and you blacked out.

The next morning everyone found out about it, Draco was losing his shit and told Harry to "FIGURE THIS OUT! PLEASE!"

That was the first anyone had heard him say "please" and he was basically thrown into the investigation.

He was there for it all, Gilderoy being a complete MORON, Fawkes, the chamber-- Draco was there.

When you finally came to the first words out of your mouth was "BASILISK!"

Draco booked it to you when he found out you were awake and he hugged you.

"Woah woah woah-- what happened to you, you look like hell?" You asked.

"Found the chamber of secrets-- that's not important, you're awake!" He said.

"Yeah-- wait what?"

So you spent that summer at the Weasley's and my God was it fun

You, Fred and George had a blast together

Then came news that Sirius Black escaped from prison

Draco was panicked when he found out that he was possibly near hogwarts

Letter after letter he was basically begging you "Homeschool. Please. I almost went insane when you were attacked by a basilisk, now there's a convict on the loose"

To which you were like: "I'm not homeschooling, Draco I've got you, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred and George, I think I'll be fine!"

He found you in the leaky cauldron and while he was happy to see you he was also worried sick about you being here.

Everyone at Hogwarts was treating you like a child playing in traffic and it began to piss you off.

The only person treating you normally was Cedric after he found you kicking a tree.

"Woah there, that tree didn't hit you did it?" Cedric asked.

"What?" You asked confused.

"I'm genuinely paranoid about the plants on this property because of the whomping willow, did this tree attack you?" Cedric asked making you laugh.

"No no... I'm just angry that's all." You sighed.

"Really? Why?" Cedric asked.

"Well... Everyone's been treating me like a little kid because I was amongst the few who was petrified." You said.

"Ohhh." Cedric nodded.

He listened to you talk and he told you if you ever needed to get away from everything you were welcome to go to Hufflepuff's common room

Fun fact: Draco felt jealous for the first time

He saw you two hanging out by the lake and he just felt so jealous.

"What's with Draco?" Fred asked, noticing him being grouchy.

"he's been like that all day." Ron said.

"Probably because Y/n and Cedric started hanging out." Hermione said.

"What?" Everyone asked.

"I was walking by and heard them talking. She's tired of us basically treating her like she's a walking hazard. She has a point, we've been hard on her." Hermione agreed.

So they all eased up on it but Draco was still upset and wouldn't tell you why.

"Draco can you please just talk to me!?" You asked.

"I don't want to talk, I'm going to my room." He said.

You began to feel really hurt by this and then that damn lesson came along on Boggarts.

It got to you and it turned into Draco just... Leaving?

You stared at it for a while and Remus just handled it before you took off.

Draco thought that the boggart was just him so of course be was genuinely worried.

He went after you and found you having a meltdown.

"Y/n." He said kneeling to you.

"I'm sorry." You whimpered.

"I don't know what I did but I'm sorry Draco."

It was then that he realized what your boggart actually was.

You were afraid of him leaving you.

He never left your side again from that point on.

Draco began to sit at the Gryffindor table more and people of course took notice.

No one dared to comment on it though because uhm.

Draco could be scary when he wanted to be.

Course when he cried like a little bitch because Buckbeak attacked him that wasn't intimidating.

"I swear, you treat me like a child but you're the dumbass that just walked up to a Hippogriff!" You sighed.

"You're the one that managed to fall walking up the stairs. HOW DO YOU FALL WALKING UP THE STAIRS!?"

Madame Pomfrey had to listen to this argument the entire time

Hogsmeade was the best

You, the trio, Draco, Fred and George all having a blast

Snowball fights and butterbeer

Sitting around telling jokes

Then witnessing Harry have a break down because he found out Sirius was a friend of his parents'.

You all comforted him, fuck even Draco felt bad.

When you all got back to school you all agreed to stay in groups in case that bastard really was lurking around.

Then came Lucius going "Well that creature just tried to hurt my son so... Let's kill it"

You were PISSED.

You actually had to be pulled back and you were kicking and screaming.

That's when Hermione said "I have a time turner!" And you were like "Well shit why didn't you say something BEFORE I INSULTED MY BEST FRIEND'S DAD"

Draco went all protective mode and was like "Guys I don't think this is a good idea--"

And then he was dragged into this adventure too.

So You didn't expect Harry to produce a patronus

you didn't expect Remus to be housing a convict

You didn't expect Remus to be a werewolf

And you didn't expect that damn rat to be an actual PERSON

Your head was spinning and by the end of that night you felt like you were insane

"So... Never talk about this again?" You asked.

Everyone exchanged glances

"Agreed." They all said in unison.

Summer was again, really fun.

You spent it with the Weasley's and you helped Fred and George with their business

You were always writing to Draco in your free time

And uhm...

Sometimes Draco would sneak out and go to you guys.

Molly enjoyed having him over and promised not to say anything about him being there

Arthur and Molly both recognized that look whenever he'd look at you though

That was love.

Both of you would whisper things to each other and then laugh

Molly would smile to herself knowing damn well that you two liked each other.

When he left one day you were helping Molly with cleaning.

"So how long have you liked him?" Molly asked making you almost drop a plate.

"Wha- no-- I-- uhm-- That's absolutely crazy-- I--" you saw the "You're really going to lie?" Look on Arthur's face as he put down the paper. "... How'd you know?" You asked.

"It's quite obvious darling." Molly said.

"Well to everyone but the boy." Arthur said.

You both asked them not to say anything and they agreed

You all went to the world quidditch game and had to pretend to hate Draco.

Course he wasn't the biggest fan of Cedric being there with you

Course the group noticed the smiles and flirty glances from you two across the damn stadium.

When it ended you were hanging out with Ginny when Draco ran in.

"You all need to leave." He said out of breath.

"What's going on son?" Arthur asked.

"Death eaters, everywhere. They're scaring the locals-- it isn't good." He said.

"What about you!?" You asked.

"I'll be fine Y/n, go." Draco said.

You hesitated but he put a hand on your cheek and looked into your eyes.

"Go." He said.

You and the Weasleys booked it and got the fuck out of Dodge

You all made it back to the burrow and were exhausted.

Draco snuck out to you guys and you hugged him immediately after seeing him.

That's when it clicked for the rest of the crew that "Ohhh so she likes him likes him."

The school year began with talks of something weird going on

Then the cup was introduced and you just got this gut feeling something was wrong

Fred and George were hellbent on getting their names in that goblet though

Draco stood there next to you watching those two jackasses try to put their names in to the goblet

You were standing next to a statue and his elbow was resting above you as you both laughed as those two not only failed but were launched back and taken off by Madame Pomfrey.

You two laughed and then looked at each other and just... Something changed. Something in you just nearly fell apart looking at that boy and your words were just jumbled.

You two spent most of your free time together though, always laughing or you showing him how to do origami.

Then came finding out who was going to be in the trials

Fluer, Viktor, Cedric and Harry-- wait what

Ron got upset but you could tell this wasn't planned and was bad.

Harry accepted it though.

Hermione had a little buddy following her around though

Viktor.

Nice kid, really. But did he have to be here all the time!?

You finally just decided to start studying with Draco.

Then came one day where Cedric sat with you and Draco had to deal with it.

It became a regular thing.

Then the second trial came and you were the one Cedric had to retrieve

When he came back up you both were out of breath and soaked.

Draco ran over and helped you up.

"So there's a Yule ball coming up." Cedric said making you look up. "Yeah?" You asked, slightly shivering from the weather. Cedric noticed the "Don't you fucking dare" look on Draco's face.

"Would you like to go with Draco?" Cedric asked.

Draco opened his mouth for a threat but when he realized what Cedric actually said he just started blushing.

"Uhm... Sorry did you just ask... Me... To go with... Draco?" You asked.

"Yep." Cedric nodded.

"Did you two plan this out or something?" You asked.

"Yes." Cedric said.

Draco was still reeling. "Uhm... Y-Yeah we did." He lied.

"Then... Yeah sure." You nodded with a laugh.

And so Draco was spending even MORE time with you.

The dance class was so much fun to you

Plus, Draco you being close didn't hurt either.

SO MUCH FUN! RIGHT!?

You both danced with giggles and exchanging smiles.

The Yule ball finally happened and Draco was at a loss of words when you and Hermione both walked down together.

"Y/n... Wow." Was all the poor guy could muster.

You smiled and tucked a loose strand of hair behind your ear

You two danced for a bit, smiling at each other

Then you two walked through the grounds and Draco gave you his coat.

You looked at him and something just took over

You kissed him.

You two started dating from that point on

Draco would walk you from class to class even if his classes were on the other side of the school

Everyone loved seeing you two so happy.

It was now a common occurrence to see you two in the library together

He'd be doing origami while you studied.

Draco loved seeing that focused look

Course he always made sure you weren't too stressed too

The two of you had no idea how bad the next few years would become

Part 2 coming soon

#draco fuckingmalfoy #draco imagine #draco malfoy #draco x reader #draco x y/n

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prose-for-hire · 4 years

Text

UC Sunnyhell: Part Two

Hell is a place on Earth

Previous Part // Next Part

Pairing: Spike x reader

Request: College AU where Spike is the campus bad boy who secretly is a softie that writes poems and reader is the new transfer who just moved into Spike's apartment since it was the only available room on campus (no one wants to willingly live with Spike). Spike constantly having one night stands over, reader always trying to study. Things appear to go from bad to worse.

Originally requested by: @sunflower-stan

Other tag: @fictionalhoomanofnowhere

Warning: Sex references. Swearing.

The first semester had been and gone by this point. You were settling into life at UC Sunnydale, found your friendship group in Buffy and the others. But one thing you still weren’t accustomed to, was living with Spike. He was hard to get along with at the best of times but living with him was a whole different thing.

He appeared to stay up most of the night and sleep well into the afternoon. He played loud punk music almost every waking hour and he smoked like a chimney. He never appeared to listen to a word you said and he pretty much did the opposite from whatever you said or thought anyway.

It was becoming really hard to live with him. Especially when he seemed to do everything he could to make you want to move out. He found it easier to live alone. To hide in the depths of what he knew than

Because of your current living situation you had started to branch out and pursue some of your interests. It beat staying in all the time and you really wanted to find someone that you could relate to.

You were a fan of musicals and the theatre. Poetry and literature. You liked reading and the way a writer could weave such intricate feelings. Scenes and spoken word able to explain your own feelings better than you ever could.

Your new friends didn’t really share your enthusiasm – even Willow was more into science and computers. Although your friend group were kind enough to listen to the way you spoke about your interests. They certainly didn’t make you feel bad about expressing your passions. But they just didn’t share your love and so you began to try to search out people that you could connect with. On some kind of deeper level.

You had been frequenting different bars that held open mic nights. Watching plays and listening to monologues. Letting the intricate wordplay wash over you. It could make you feel so many emotions. So many feelings were conjured.

Your favourite were the open mic nights. You pretty much never got up yourself, you usually would just listen. You were working yourself up to performing something of your own. You wrote things too it was just a matter of working on your performing skills. You were thinking of joining the clubs, maybe to improve your confidence in your writing. In your performing.

You walked back home from a play you had watched (and cried at) to find Spike sat there scribbling something. It was the first time you had ever seen him actually writing or appearing to do any work.

You were about to make a snide comment about it and then he noticed your presence. He almost jumped five feet in the air in surprise. He then hid the notebook behind his back and immediately got up to leave now you had returned. He left muttering something about you being a nosy bitch.

Spike had taken the opportunity, while he finally had time where he felt comfortable since you had actually left the house for once to write. This was something he didn’t like people knowing about. He wiped his eye as he stormed away. Hoping to God you hadn’t seen that. He couldn’t bear you knowing him that way. Laughing.

It was Friday evening and you had some friends over. There was a sudden knock at the front door. Spike had taken a baseball bat from his room and held it up as if he was ready to swing it.

Willow and Buffy’s eyes bulged at the object in his hand as they peaked from your bedroom doorway. Buffy was pleased they had convinced you to come to self-defence class now.

He walked slowly to the door, meeting you in the hallway skipping happily past him. He grabbed you back looking at you as if you were mad. He was expecting debt collectors. Again.

“Spike, it’s the pizza guy” You moved your shoulder from him before carrying on back to the door with the dollars in your hand, “What is wrong with you?” you muttered.

He scowled, jaw tensing as Buffy and Willow giggled at the way he had been so tense and he stormed away smacking the edge of the bat against the wall in his frustration. Leaving a small hole there.

You brought the pizzas back into your room (so you didn’t have to face spike again) and shared them out with your friends.

After you finished your meal and managed to calm yourselves down from whatever had just happened, talk of course turned back to Spike.

“So how is it… y’know…” Willow asked before mouthing “with Spike”. You hadn’t realised how much built up rage you had inside until you launched into your conversation.

“Well, I can tell you that Hell really is a place on Earth”

“That bad?”

“I can’t believe I’m stuck with him – if I even breath in his direction he has a problem with it!”

“Yeah, he’s always been a complete pig. Some people are just born evil” Buffy shrugged.

“Buffy! He’s not evil! He’s just… mean spirited”

“In the most evil way” Buffy added. She had never liked Spike. He was cruel and treated her as if she was dumb just because she was in a sorority and enjoyed cheerleading.

What you and the two girls didn’t realise, was that Spike was eavesdropping. You had all been laughing really loud and he was about to take his chance to kick Buffy and her little loser friend out. Until he found he was interested to hear what you all had to say about him.

You groaned, thinking about the way things had been. You needed to vent. So, you took the chance while you were in the company of your now closest friends.

“He’s inconsiderate and rude and also I’m pretty sure he never washes his clothes... but he always smells good. Weird”

“Totally weird”

“Well, we did like, warn you”

“And oh my God! He walks around naked all the time! There’s always some stranger he’s brought home and they are always so loud! He never studies and the plates are always piled high in the kitchen! It’s disgusting – he’s disgusting!”

“He’s always been so arrogant and gross”

“Hey, don’t wig, next year we can find a place. The four of us – right Buffy?” Willow offered, including her girlfriend. She comforted you as you caught your breath from your outburst. Willow rested her hand on your shoulder to reassure you.

“Really?” You asked with a smile as Buffy nodded. She was going to move out from her sorority so she wasn’t distracted for her last year she had already decided.

“Don’t worry, y/n. We’ll keep you sane” Buffy insisted.

Spike scoffed. The way Buffy acted as if she was saving you from him. As if he was a fate worse than death. You angered him. The way you had determined his character over a few fleeting conversations. The gossip your silly little friends told you.

You became enemy number one. Even more so than you had been before. He hated gossip and the way people would laugh behind his back. You reminded him of this every time he looked at you now, not that you knew this.

The annoyance for the other just kept growing. Yours had originally been fuelled by your friends rumours, but his actions were now getting worse. Spike was seething at your dismissive tone against your character. He didn’t even want a roommate, he only agreed the landlord to put the room up so he didn’t put up the rent again.

So he decided to try and make you leave. Properly this time. He didn’t care anymore, you reminded him of everyone out there. Everyone that he hid himself away from. Distanced himself from.

The tension rose uncomfortably. He was more rude. More gross. And he made sure to do everything he knew that he could to annoy you. It was petty, he knew it, but he knew it would get a rise out of you.

One afternoon, you had been scraping off some congealed red liquid that you had been concerned was blood. He hung out with a weird crowd, you only hoped some poor thing hadn’t been exploded in there. Although, upon further inspection it appeared to be tomato soup. But you would probably embellish the story a little to your friends.

You washed your hands and scowled at him. He had moved to lean against the doorway and just watch you clean.

“God, Spike, you’re so lazy”

“’Scuse me?”

“You don’t clean, you don’t study – what exactly do you do with your life?”

He was affronted by this. By the way you spoke to him. How he felt like you acted like you were better than him. In your frustration you didn’t care what he thought. He just didn’t care. You were trying to live your life.

He could hear Buffy or even Angel’s voice through your own. The way they had always berated him.

“And what? I should be like you? You’re not exactly making a proper go of it are you? Haven’t seen you do much of anything ‘cept follow them brainless bints around the shop. When you’re not doing that you sit in your room as life passes you by, livin’ through your little Musical shows rather than living in the real world - You’re boring. You’ll live your pathetic little life, stuck in your lame little ways until you die”

“Spike-”

“You’re all the same! You and your preppy little band of misfits looking down your noses at everyone and yet you can’t see the obvious, can you? You’re so bored with your pathetic, frigid little lives that you have to make it my bloody problem!”

You decided, seeing as that’s how he viewed you that you would treat him exactly like that. Like he treated you. Things got worse.

He started to invite people over all the time. You would call it a party but there was nothing celebratory about it. You were confined to your room most of the time as they all laughed and screamed along to their music. They were always drinking and playing music no matter what time of the day you saw them.

You usually avoided them, locking your door, but you had needed to slip out of your room for a moment.

“Who’s this?” One of the guests pointed you out as you tried to make it to the bathroom without anybody noticing you. Now everyone’s eyes were on you.

“Oh don’t mind them, they’re just for show hasn’t had an original thought their entire life” Spike shrugged.

“Aw, no, Spike. Another mindless automaton” One of his friends spoke up and he laughed. It was a cold laugh, there was no humour in it.

“Do you, like, want to-”

“Don’t, love. They’re nobody” Spike stopped the blonde girl from speaking to you more kindly than the rest. They all laughed at this and began to tease you.

You left, slamming the door and you heard them laughing, jeering at you for your reaction. It made tears sting the back of your eyes. You collected yourself, shrugging on your jacket. You walked to a place you knew you would be welcome.

You knew that you weren’t going to get on. But this was getting out of hand. You hated him. Hated the way he treated you. The way he judged you, despite him knowing exactly how that feels.

As you thought this, he appeared to be thinking the same thing. Which made Spike scoff and frown. Was he really better than any of the people he hated? He shook that thought away. Downing his beer and looking for another rather than reflect.

You had called Buffy on your way over and she had been quick to contact the entire group to tell them there had been a major incident. Everyone piled around to her dorm room so that they could support you. You had sounded upset on the phone.

You explained everything that had happened and they all comforted you the best that they could. Xander then showed you the stack of films he had brought to try to cheer you up. He had even found some Musicals just for you.

Buffy explained that she had called Angel but he says he’s sorry but he’s busy right now. Buffy appeared disappointed and when you asked her about it she explained. They used to date when they were seniors in college but they had broken up despite still both having feelings for each other.

She explained it had seemed the right thing to do at the time, but now she wished they were back together. You insisted that you would make it your mission to help them get back together which made Buffy grin at you. She really did value your friendship.

As the night wore on your friends began to discuss the idea of you taking your revenge on Spike. It had made you laugh as they suggested ridiculous pranks and ideas that wouldn’t bother him at all. But then they began to take it more seriously. Insisting that you should get even.

You said you weren’t sure. And left it at that. But they thought you had better do something or he wouldn’t stop.

You eventually went back to a trashed house after staying for the weekend with Buffy. You stared at the mess. Maybe you would have to do something.

It had been unusually quiet the few days prior and you should have known better than to hope he had stopped. You had heard a girl, one of Spike’s partners that came around more than most (Harmony but her sex noises were nothing close to harmonious). She explained that if they were to have a threesome it would have to be boy-boy-girl. Apparently, neither of them had been able to swing Charlize Theron.

You had overheard this conversation over breakfast one morning on. A rare occasion they were both awake (they hadn’t gone to sleep yet). You had immediately spat out your food in disgust of their blunt discussion.

It had been perhaps in slight exaggeration but you felt like you were allowed. You were fine with people having sex and having fun but you really didn’t want to have to hear about it over your breakfast. They could have at least let you rub the sleep from your eyes first.

He had scoffed at you at the time and now he had set this up seemingly just to rub you up the wrong way. As opposed to the right ways he was rubbing his partners.

He tried to push the thought down that this had been solely planned because of you. With you in mind. To get a reaction from you. Because that would start him questioning his intentions. His actions. How you made him so angry it was now near obsessive.

So, it appeared they had finally agreed on the logistics of it. And were now giving you a live audio performance. On some random Thursday afternoon just as you had settled down to study.

You swore they were doing it on purpose. Being as loud as possible just to get a rise out of you.

You pounded on the door. You could smell sex from where you were stood out on the landing. He opened the door and stale cigarette smoke appeared to pour out of the room with him. He had opened the door almost immediately. As if he had been waiting.

“Spike!”

“Problem, pet?”

“I don’t care that you’re having sex, the walls are just so thin – I have an exam coming up can you just be quiet? Or go to one of your, uh, friends’ houses…”

“Mm, someone’s jealous”

“I’m not-”

“Just ‘cause you’re not bloody gettin’ any” He prodded before he thought about it a moment, changing tac, “Oh no. I know what this is… You want me, you need me…” He teased, knowing it would make you flustered.

“I just- I just want to-”

“If you wanted a taste all you had to do was ask” He smirked, moving his hips slightly and moving his head smugly along with his words. Drawing your attention to his naked form. The people in his bed were calling him back and you were just staring at each other. All he was wearing was a single silver chain around his neck. He was attractive, you couldn’t deny this and he knew it too.

You were both furious at each other. Silently trying to gain the upper hand.

“You’re a pig, Spike!” You suddenly screamed, stepping towards him angrily. Which made him smile and just close the door in your face. That was what he had wanted. To get such a big emotional response from you.

You were so angry you threw one of your precious book at his now slammed shut door. He winced at the name you had used, one often used against him by people like Buffy. She even managed to get to him in his own home. You angered him. You angered him.

But he turned back and the noises started up again and you knew for sure that they were doing it on purpose now. It was getting louder and louder. He couldn’t be that fucking good, you were sure of it.

You ran into your room and rummaged through the stack of CDs you had brought with you, selecting the perfect accompaniment. The soundtrack from your favourite musical. You turned the volume up fully and let the entire score play out.

You never wanted to see his stupid smug face again.

#UC sunnyhell #Spike btvs #Spike x reader #Spike imagine #Spike x you #btvs #btvs x reader #btvs imagine #btvs x you #Buffy The Vampire Slayer #buffy the vampire slayer imagines #gender neutral #gn #college au

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lizzie-wendigo · 3 years

Text

Well, this takes a long time as a WIP, but after the Abyss redesign, I decided to change the pose of Abyss. Well, I decided to do the story of how they met. By the way, if you pay attention to the book Abyss reads, it's a pun on the name of the author of the book: "Mary Shelley" ------------------------------------

After a long day, Spade was preparing to rest in his favorite place, an old weeping willow tree near the park. This willow tree was special, it was quiet, the breeze blew warmly and it was near a lake that led to the sea, and the best thing is that it was isolated, without being disturbed by anyone. This day would be different, because when he arrived he found a strange girl sitting in his place reading a book, at first spade got upset and thought about leaving, but he really wanted to rest for a while, and the girl didn't seem to be noisy or annoying, so decided to try to talk to her... "Excuse me, do you mind if I sit here?" Spade said approaching. "This is my special place." "I have no problem, go ahead..." Abyss said without taking her eyes off the book. They were silent for several minutes, each lost in thought, yet Spade couldn't help noticing the book Abyss was reading. "Good book, a classic" Spade said.

"Excuse me?" Abyss said. "The book, Frankenstein, is a classic" "Oh right, it is..." Abyss said without looking away from the reading. "I have read it 4 times, this is the fifth" "Your favorite book?" Spade asked "Something like that" Abyss commented "I feel identified with this book, reading it brings me comfort" "Well, you don't look very comfortable" "why do you mention it?" "You're reading a book alone under a tree away from others... Maybe you are sad" Abyss became annoyed and stopped reading, throwing an annoyed look and a little growl, which made Spade jump. Abyss immediately calmed down, again changing his expression to a sad one. "I haven't had a good day" Abyss said with a sigh. "Of course uhh... it was just a guess" Spade said a little uncomfortable and sitting up again in his place "We all have a bad day"

"I just decided to escape from everything for a moment and get distracted with a book" Abyss said as he took back the book that he dropped a few moments ago. "Dr. Frankenstein's monster. A creature made from putrid parts of the random dead buried in a graveyard, confused and trapped living in a world that wants to kill you just for being different. He will never be able to rest in peace because of a mad scientist who only wanted to play God and create life. He did him like this, unable to find friendship or love, making him suffer because he treats him like a beast... Victor Frankenstein is the real monster..." There was silence and spade looked at her indifferent and at the same time moved by what Abyss had said... "Sorry, I'm crazy, don't listen to me" Abyss said, looking away "It shows that you want to talk about it" Spade said very chivalrous "Yes, but nobody cares, I have no one to talk to" "I can make you at least choke on what frustrates you" Abyss looked at him a little doubtful, but she really needed it and she couldn't refuse, so she sighed deeply... "Today I had a fight with my cousin..." Abyss said sad with downcast eyes "Your cousin?" Spade asked "I have no siblings, and to me, he is like my older brother: Gum, him and my second cousin: Sheriff. We always played together, and neither of us could make friends, 'cause we are mixed race, that's why we had each other. Time passed and Sheriff got a girlfriend, and spent a lot of time with her, we were happy for him, at least he has someone else. But... the problem started a month ago... Gum started making friends... they were friends his age, and almost the same as him. They were also mixed race and male, they soon became friends with Gum, and little by little he was moving further away from me. I have been practicing to show the native dance show in the park, I'm part of the dancers. I wanted to invite him to see him more often, but when I went to see him, I was with his friends... and he was negotiating to meet me. He said he didn't know who I was" Said Abyss holding back the tears in her eyes, while Spade listened to her with attention" I argued and fought with him, and now I only borrow books the library to read away from people. I'm alone." There was silence, while Spade thought about it... "If your cousins could get friends, why do you think you couldn't?" Spade asked somewhat indifferently "Look at me! people don't even want to get close to me. They thinks that if they look at me I'll turn them to stone for pleasure, that I'll devour everything they give me like a wild dog, or that I'm too stupid to understand a damn simpler game than tying their damn shoelaces. Not even those from the native show want me in the group, they accepted me just because I have a mermaid descent and I dance very well... anyway... I plan to quit the group... "You shouldn't do it. If you like, just do it without caring that others judge you" Spade said looking into her eyes. "You shouldn't let what people think of you affect you either, believe me, I recognize a damn beast when I see it. I live with hateful creatures, and of all of them, I think you are the most civilized person I know. "you think so?" Abyss said as her eyes lit up

"Of course. Besides, I don't mind your company. I don't usually live with many people, or with people who are too happy, they're not to my liking. But I wouldn't mind living with you" "...?" "WAIT! NOT IN THAT WAY!" Spade yelled blushing "I mean! just for company!" And that silence was broken by the laugh of Abyss, who seemed more animated now, showing her true personality and smiling at her new friend, As Spade gazed at her sharp-toothed smile and lake-lit eyes, it seemed beautiful to him... "You know, there're other books that I have read, and I would like to talk about them one day. Maybe some of them you like" Abyss said with a smile "What..? Oh, sure! the books... Uhh..." Spade answered a little nervous while he blushed" Sure... It would be good, to meet again soon. "Then I'll see you soon" Abyss got up and extended her hand to Spade as a sign of farewell, and he took it shaking it... "By the way, we haven't formally introduced ourselves. "Sapde said "I'm Spade Dice you can call me Spade" "I am Abyss Maria Mug. Call me Abyss. I have to go... I have a show where to dance. And if... if you want to go... you can attend, it's public. See you soon spade!" Abyss ran away, while Spade watched her from afar sitting under the willow tree ... "Abyss... What a peculiar name. Very... elegant" He thought. "I wasn't at all interested in being her friend when I saw her, but... I think I wouldn't mind spending more time with her..." Spade watched her go as she blushed slightly, letting out a light sigh... ----------------------------------------------

My writing is HORRIBLE! I know... but at least I tried. Well, as you saw, this happened 2 years ago, so Abyss was 11, Sheriff 13 and Gum 14. All teenagers do that at some point in their lives. (Besides that I was watching Onward and the younger brother inspired me, I hate him) But Gum was sorry, he really felt very bad for having denied his cousin, and obviously he learned the lesson, since currently he doesn't deny it at all and he loves her as she is, that is a sign of maturity, don't you think? By the way, Spade developed an almost immediate crush for Abyss. Cute :3

#cuphead #cuphead au #au cuphead #cuphead fanchild #fanchild cuphead #cuphead fanchildren au #cuphead fanchild au #fanchild #cuphead fanchildren #fanchildren cuphead #cuphead oc #oc cuphead #lizzie aguilar #lizzie-wendigo

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