#but that lizzy also goes through it. and in such a funny way. character of all time i love her even more than i did before

[icecreamkink]

elizabeth bennet, when wickham turns out to be wicked: i too was swindled, bamboozled, led astray!!!

[anxious-witch]

I apologize for irritable tone of this post, but a portion of this fandom is starting to irritate me, so let's analyze catwin through the lens of how age works for ghosts and how situational irony is used in a scene where Edwin and Niko talk about kissing.

Let's start with age. Right at the beginning, when Emma asks Charles and Edwin to take her case, she tries to play it off as her being just a little girl. This is what Edwin replies:

And before anyone jumps the gun and says: "He said SUPERNATURALLY speaking! He is still physically 16!"

Okay. Let's unpack that. Considering how for people who are immortal, which ghosts essentially are, and as such unchanging, that isn't quite a proper argument, is it? Because the way I see it, there are two ways someone could argue this. Either your gripe is about the Cat King finding Edwin attractive despite him physically being a 16 year old or your gripe is that Edwin is mentally 16 and as such, cannot consent.

If it's the first, I think that argument is quite lacking here, because we know the Cat King is aware Edwin is older than 16. And as someone who is an adult and often gets mistaken for a minor, I think the idea that you can just always tell someone's age by looking at them quite funny. Also, by that logic, I shouldn't be able to consent either, because people generally gauge my age to be between 16-18, when I am in my mid 20s.

If it's the second, your point doesn't work because being frozen at 16 would mean being unable to learn and develop firther than what you did by that age. Which we know is false for ghosts, especially Edwin. He changes and develops constantly throughout the s1, and we have a front row seat to that! Human brains aren't clear cut, and before you jump under the post to say your brain isn't fully develop until age 25, I will kindly tell you that human brains, in fact, never stop changing and developing. And that experiences, traumas, etc hugely impact developments of individuals.

One argument I can sort of is perhaps Edwin and Charles having somewhat stunted emotional growth, but as we also see throughout the season, that has more to do with them stagnanting rather than them being unable to emotionally develop. And frankly, I know bunch of adults with the same issues, so.

Now for the "But Edwin said he doesn't want to kiss the Cat King!" argument. How about we look at what Edwin says before that, huh?

He says he has never been kissed and didnt understand the appeal, until recently. And you cannot tell me it wasn't the Cat King who made him realize it. Yes, he wanted to kiss Charles and I am not saying he didn't like Monty too, but if it wasn't for the Cat King getting physically close to him and playing into his desires, he wouldn't have realized that he too, feel physical attraction!

As for him saying "Absolutely not!" When Niko asks him if he wants to kiss the Cat King, I think that's laughable argument to saying "Well, see, he didn't want him!" Because first of all, characters can lie. Edwin most certain, lies about things he wants, both to himself and others, up until pressed.

Besides, if I am not mistaken, given English isn't my first language and I learned this stuff in a different language, this is also called situational irony, aka, someone say something won't/can't happen and then it happens. This is very often seen in romance plots too. A characters says they hate someone and then they end up dating them.

Think of Lizzy Benett and Darcy

And then she goes ahead and married him later, once her opinion of him changes. It's a classic romance trope!

Similarly, Edwin says he doesn't want to kiss the Cat King and what happens at the end? Oh yeah!

He kisses the Cat King. Shocker.

But yeah just like. Y'all are free to not like the ship for whatever reason, but for the love of god, stop making up stuff that's just blantantly untrue. There is an "anti catwin" tag for a reason, if you truly cannot stop yourself from commenting, but in all honestly, you could just enjoy your own ship without putting other ppl's ships down. Cat King is not perfect by any means, but this isn't a predator type of situation. I and many others have addressed the whole "coercion" bit quite a few times so I won't get into it again, but these two arguments I have seen pop up and I just had to address it. Thank you for coming to my ted talk

[salty-protagonist]

Our Ciel Will Die By Drowning.

The title is self explanatory as for what this post is.

We have reached chapter 201, there is still a long way to go. But through all the content we were given something is apparent: our protagonist (short one) will die before the series ends.

Now, I honestly think that it will include Sebastian (duh) and have something to do with the contract. But my gut says that our Ciel’s death will not be fully controlled by the demonic involvements.

Before I begin justifying why I think Ciel will die by drowning, I want to make it clear that I feel as though until we reach the hotel mini-arc, a lot of puzzle pieces will still be missing so any detail involving characters (other than Sebastian) are simply speculations.

Ophelia

In chapter 23, the police come to the Phamtomhive Mansion in order to conclude the crimes committed Indian Butler Arc by Agni. While touring the mansion, one of the police stalk about the drawings on the wall. He goes into detail about the painting titled “Ophelia”

Ophelia a is from Shakespeare’s Hamlet who upon learning that Hamlet didn’t choose to end up with her, goes out to collect wild plants but fall in water and drowns. (It is also written as a note in the English fan translation I found)

Here is the painting:

In the following page, the painter Waterhouse is also mentioned. I wasn’t able to decpiher which painting the police guy was talking about as he didn’t give a name and the image in the manga isn’t enough. Waterhouse has painted Ophelia as well.

Although it would be easier to assume this is just a silly reference, every little detail in this manga series can create avalanches that end up characters who have been presumed to be dead for years reappearing.

The rejection can be Lizzie’s relationship with them and choosing R!Ciel after everything. Or it can be applied to broader sense and be accepted as everyone turning their backs on O!Ciel after the true heir shows up.

Lau’s Omnipotence

Lau is known for always saying something serious then following it up with a random funny remark. It is still very noticeable that he always says less than what he truly knows. The following panels follow each other (right to left). They are in different pages so I had to separate the images.

(In the official translations I have, it uses “to drown” in the second panel directly in my native language)

There is a picture of someone (probably OC) sinking in a body of water (bog, as it is said here). It may appear as just a metaphor but the image and Lau’s general creepiness makes it seem like a variety of this will actually happen.

Anime Opening 1

The anime is very different from the manga with there being additional characters and storylines. Still, many of them still bear similarities to the newly introduced characters in the series. However, for this post I believe the anime is not a good justification for the theory. So I will just stick to the opening of the first season.

There is this very obvious scene of O!Ciel drowning. That, of course, is the first thing that needs attentions. Afterwards, Sebastian does extend his hands in as though he is trying to save him. But there is no scene that shows he does so. This detail only counts towards their contract’s dynamic. But it leads my to believe that this moment will be the “checkmate” for O!Ciel. Sebastian will no longer need to stand behind him anymore kind of thing.

The seconds evidence is the scene that comes just before the one mentioned in the paragraph above. O!Ciel is seen floating in a lake with flower petals falling. Notice how he is positioned to look like a body that’s in a coffin. He is motionless as well. Some religions/myths include water bodies being passageways for afterlife so it may be symbolizing that.

The flower patels are not from a white lily (the flower that symbolizes death and is seen on every grave in the series), but they are plain white petals. Them falling could be to create the same effect as in Madam Red’s funeral, when O!Ciel made red flower petals fall down in the church. I also think that the flowers make the image be perceived as the Ophelia paintings.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

I wrote this post 5 months ago, and been saving it as a draft but I decided to share it after all since I couldn’t continue writing it for a long time. There may be a part to in the future as this only includes evidence until the cruise tragedy and I think there can be a lot of clues after that too. Anyways, thank you for reading. If anyone else has already thought of these, please tell me and I’ll edit it accordingly.

[mayvora]

I love 💕💕💕 (/platonic) two people who answered this you are the best

SO, surely, Lizzie is very sus about Scars enthusiasm. She thanks him for help with finding where is her brother kept and goes her way (lying to Scar that she won't do anything until tomorrow but actually she plans to gather up the rebellion and rescue her brother today. at night.

Funny, cause "today at night" is Scars "rescue Codfather yaaay!" party! Not related to Lizzie, surely, he does it every year (ofc that's not a lie why would you worry). Secretly from Lizzie he makes a plan... and it actually works! when haven't drugging a guard with alcohol work and it's a very heroic and cool saving! why does he have beer WHERE DID YOU GET THAT why is the guard sleeping on duty buddy

(I'm very silly when I'm tired lol. cancel work it's very bad for my seriousness)

And what Scar finds in the cells is a man with very tired look but very bright and alive eyes. Someone he wanted to meet for all his life... Codfather looks at him with a spark of hope when he recognises the boy in front of him; the boy he adored so much and missed deeply.

Not all friendships need words - some are created just by understanding and care, and Scar and Jimmy need no words to feel that connection between them.

Scar tries to get Jimmy out of the prison, but he is stopped by... a figure with a pair of beautiful black wings on the back and a couple of small black-purple ones hiding his face.

The leader of the rebellion himself - Lord Xelqua who is only called Lord when Martyn and Joel are trying to piss him off and annoy him , the avian who has been chosen by the Fate himself to fight for justise and kindness... and also a sarcastic ass with the wicked sense of humor. Never question Fates choices, they are very logic and wise.

(It is important to know that while Fate is more of a Higher Force then a person it is indeed show in story through a character [ who is a "knight of Fate" sorta ] and the character will appear ;3 and I really like him)

Xelqua immediately tries to punch Scar but Jimmy stops him and tells him that Scar was actually saving him and he is a very good boy who definitely should be trusted. Xel (cmon we all know it's Grian he just has a fancy name for the story purposes) is really not sure that he wants to trust a human but he trusts Jimmy and doesn't try to kill Scar instead just asking Joel to take Jimmy away from Scar and watches over the boy. Shortly after Lizzie appears too and sees Scar... She is very confused why he is here but doesn't question it.

The beautiful part about this conversation is that Scar has a chance to see Lizzies real appearance - and he is deeply amazed by it. Blue and gold skin doesn't scare him away, pink hair is treated as perfection... and, of course, her eyes steals his attention again. He is charmed by her, but not only her - he giggles softly when Joel's wolf ears move and gazes at Jimmy's fish scales; he even looks at Xelqua and his wings and admiring golden dots on black feathers that looks like stars in the endless void.

And they all saw the way he looked at them... humans don't look at them that way. They fear, they burst in anger, but they never look at creatures with so much... amazement... like they were worth attention, worth admiring. Not calling them unnatural or weird or broken.

And this makes their soul tickle... being valued and admired by someone very different from them makes them feel loved by the universe. They are finally understood. That's what they were fighting for. That's what they wanted from people - not worship, nothing crazy; just being treated the same way. Not being hunted, or killed, or feared; being accepted as someone equal as humans.

They don't say it outloud, but they all feel it; it's the first mark of fate, the first sign that Scar belongs to their world. The first reason why they decided to accept him; the first reason they wanted to try to open their hearts for him.

I'm getting screamed at cause "no phone at work" so,,, coming back later lol

I fell asleep after work I wanted to write stuff but I was too tired...

A little tiny thing: who are who in rec2 au!!

Scar - human; Lizzie - spirit of the Ocean (she is not a goddess but she is deeply bonded to the ocean and quite powerful. like a demigod) and ex-emperess (HOW DO I WRITE DIS. like the emperor but the emperess?) of the Ocean Empire; Jimmy - river spirit, the Codfather (not as powerful as Lizzie but also bonded to the water and every living thing in his rivers and swamps, gets stronger when he is in his "homeriver"); Joel - a very young werewolf, actually the youngest of the group; Xelqua / Grian - avian, but he is marked by Fate itself and is destined to "do very great things", deeply connected to Fate and Void and has Void magic, leader of the rebellion.

so what if a made an au about magical creatures fighting against the inquisition... so what if this little rebellion is like a family... so what if they care about eachother so much they would die for eachother... so what if Scar is the main character but he is a human with a heart so bright that it can love any creature not caring if it's a human or not... so what if he saves Jimmy the Codfather who he was making wood toys for and throwing them into the river hoping the mythical Codfather will find them... so what if the revolution boys are scared to trust him but give him a chance anyway... and accept him into their group... and they all have their own stories they share with Scar... and he learns to love them... and they learn to trust them...

what if true magic is in heart at the end of all ?

so what if it's the au that is boiling in my head for a year but I'm not brave enough to tell about it but I really want to?

[jenojaemssss]

nct dream as your boyfriend

nct dream x gn!reader

fluffy boyfriend!nct dream headcanons because it's 2 am and i'm all up in my head <3 also because i have no motivation to work on dont need it and am holding it off as much as i possibly can before finalizing it <3

lee mark

just the softest boy

we already know he really enjoys playing the guitar

so i feel like he’s the type to wake up at like 3 in the morning with a melody in mind

like he wakes up in cold sweat because he has such a good idea and he CANNOT forget it

he’d record a snippet of it and send it to you after he perfects it

but this is rare because he’d rather hear your reaction

mark isn’t the type to facetime; he’d rather just call you or just come over to see you in person

so a lot of the time you’d get an incoming phone call

at 3 in the morning

because he forgets the time when he’s immersed in his craft

and because it’s a phone call, he can’t see you squinting at your phone

but you’d try your best to not make it obvious that you were already asleep

and then he’d go on and on about how he was in the middle of writing something and thought about you

his voice literally just wakes you up because he’s so excited over his creation

“ready to hear it?”

and after playing it for you he’d have the widest, goofiest smile on his face

he’d be so proud of yourself after you give him a personal round of applause

but his grin doesn’t stay on for long because there’d be banging on his wall from his housemates telling him to shut up

this happened so often that they don’t even have to say anything, just forcefully tap their wall and he’d get the hint

usually then, he’d finally realize how late-or technically, early- it was getting

“ah shit, fuck were you sleeping when i called?”

and you’d just chuckle because he’s so damn cute

and then you’d remind him how much you love and enjoy his hobby

and how it makes you happy getting to listen to him play his guitar

“you do know you don’t have to pick up, right?”

but you’d just smile even wider and he could hear it over the phone and he’d smile too

your smile is so endearing to him

and when he was the reason you’re smiling, it sends him through the clouds

because how could HE be the cause of such a beautiful smile

“hey, baby?”

“yeah, mark?”

“i love you.”

and you’d giggle so hard because he still gives you butterflies

“i love you, too, mageolli.”

“bro, did hyuck teach you that?” he squeaks

another bang on his wall makes him jump and he ends up whispering to you for about another hour

huang renjun

this man loves to read, so whenever he’s reading a book he really likes, he’d annotate it with the intentions of giving it to you

sometimes he’d highlight funny things and write little notes like “this made me laugh and i thought you’d like it too”

so fucking endearing let me tell you

and when he comes across romantic lines, he’d highlight them in pink and write little notes on how it reminded him of you

when he’s done with the book and gives it to you, you’d find cute little highlighted portions with notes and messages directed for you

sometimes, he’d write you cute little messages on the inside cover, kind of like an introduction to his annotations

he’d also write a mini introduction to the content of the book, but in his own cute way

“i found this book really funny (those funny scenes are highlighted in yellow) and there were a lot of scenes where the interactions between the two main characters reminded me of you and i, so those are highlighted in purple”

and a bunch of other notes related to his annotations

the back cover has a mini summary and all his personal thoughts after finishing the book

“could they BE anymore stupid? he should have confessed to her when…” and many more angry-renjun reactions

there was one time he was reading pride and prejudice and came across this line

“in vain i have struggled. it will not do. my feelings will not be repressed. you must allow me to tell you how ardently i admire and love you.”

he was about to pull out his highlighter and smear the bright pink across it but pauses

and then he just slams the book closed because he remembers how much of an asshole mr. darcy was in this book

and how much he hated pride and prejudice

he was only reading it again because you asked him to read it with you

the two of you often picked out your favorite books and had the other one read it and discuss it with each other after you both finished

kind of like a personal book club

this time around you picked this wretched book and he was not having it

but then you pulled out the puppy eyes

he gagged in front of you and asked that if he’d read it with you, you wouldn’t pull that shit again

internally he loved it, he just doesn’t like showing it physically

anyways, after slamming the book shut he stood up from the couch but was so pissed off with the fucking book that he called you

“babe, why is lizzy so fucking idiotic?”

you’re just as confused as he is, but for a totally different reason

“i know we’re supposed to discuss when we’re finished but i just cannot read this book anymore.”

lee jeno

the type of boyfriend that has a really hard time expressing his feelings in words

so he’d show it in his actions instead

his love language is most likely physical touch

but at the same time he seems like the type to not enjoy too much physical affection in public

yet he still needs to be touching you: always

just small gestures to keep in physical contact with you

it reassures him that you’re still there

in public, he’d make an effort to hold pinkies

like he’d interlock them when you’re walking around the grocery store or just when you go on walks together

oh yeah, jeno really likes walks

like when the two of you are having a really rough day or when you’re both just not in the best mood, he’d ask to go on walks to clear your minds

it’s his way of telling you that he’s there for you

on the rough days, instead of holding your pinky, he’d intertwine your hands instead

and when you guys argue over things and he doesn’t know what to say, he’d leave the room for a bit so that you don’t say things you don’t really mean to each other

jeno is a good man, he was raised right

so he KNOWS when he’s at fault

and when he realizes what he’s done and takes all the things you say into consideration, you’d hear the sink running or the vacuum turn on

he’d clean your apartment for you as an apology

back to the physical touch aspect of him

rare *public* back hugs here and there but only around people he’s comfortable with

but when you’re alone??

he would literally CLING onto you, personal bubble does not exist to this man

wraps his arms around your waist when you cook or do the dishes, playing footsies when you eat, all of that

sometimes when you’re both on the couch doing work on separate laptops he’d make it a literal mission to be in physical contact with you

like even if it interferes with his work, he’s gotta be touching you

he’d have one leg thrown over your torso if your hands are too busy with something

it’s really endearing because if you moved at all, like even just a little and he wasn’t able to have a part of his body on yours, he’d start pouting

he’d reach his arms or legs out in a grabbing motion and not say anything

and then you’d have to reposition yourself so that the two of you would be able to work and he still be able to touch you

and his smiles, the fucking smiles when he gets to hold your hand after you guys finish working on whatever you needed to work on

his cuddles are top tier too, and he’d make sure you guys get at least 30 minutes of cuddles a day

lee donghyuck

the whiniest, most annoying (but adorable) boyfriend ever

like jeno, he needs to be in physical contact with you, but instead of quietly pouting or reaching for you, he’d YELL

“y/n! hold my hand!”

“but i’m typing-”

“babe, hold my hand!!!!” *intense pouting*

he normally drops it when he knows you’re actually busy, but when he knows you’re just watching a movie or something, he keeps pestering you until you hold his hand

and when you do, he takes the opportunity to POUNCE on you like he just deadass lays on top of you

and you let him because it’s actually really comforting having his weight on top of you

NOSE KISSES!!!!!! lots of those

and forehead pecks

it goes both ways, though, because he likes receiving those too!!!!! fairness!!!!!

he’s the type to play tricks on you, but never takes it too far because he doesn’t want to hurt you in any way

and he spoils you a lot

like not with materialistic things (though sometimes he does) but more with arguments and when it comes to picking what to do/eat for the day

he’s the type to always think before his actions, yet when he’s around you, all logic is thrown to the side

“you wanna go bungee jumping? bet!” (even though he’s afraid of heights)

he gets two of everything when he goes to the store; one for him and one for you

and when you first started dating, you got a bit shy because of this due to the fact that he’s spending extra on you

you felt bad he was spending extra money so whenever you were buying things, you followed his habit and do the same thing

and for the first couple months he’d say that it’s fine and everything but when you both got really comfortable around each other, he’d be really witty with his comebacks

“no, i don’t wanna share with you” or “pay me back then”

sometimes the casual, “no, you’re gonna eat all of it and leave me nothing”

soon enough, the two of you fell into the habit of buying two of everything wherever you went (besides the things that you both know the other person hates)

also, when you first started dating, a lot of it was just casually hanging out at a park or walking around a random neighborhood and getting food nearby

street food you can take on the go >>>> food from fancy restaurants

and also, when you first started getting snacks for each other and he didn’t know what you liked, he got one of everything

like for example, the first time you guys had a movie night at your place, he went to the store but didn’t know what brand of chips you preferred so he bought both kinds

(he learned that day what your favorite snacks and brands were and he remembered it forever)

na jaemin

HUGS!

jaemin is the king of hugs, like no one, absolutely NO ONE can beat him when it comes to hugs

they’re always so warm and he always knows whenever you need one

he’s kind of like a battery pack, so whenever you hug him, you feel recharged and energized

because all his hugs are full of love and you can literally feel it radiating off of him

“jaems, i need-”

you can’t even finish your sentence because he’s already engulfing you

“i know, baby”

sometimes you’d tease him and say things like, “i was gonna ask for some water” or some shit like that and he’d get all pouty

and when he’s about to let go, you just pull him into you more

so obviously, he’s another fan of physical affection

but unlike jeno and hyuck, he’s not quite the clingy type

he will give you your space and will not invade your personal bubble, but instead just show that he’s there by doing other things

whenever he sees that your water glass is half empty, he’d go refill it

would always ask if you wanted a snack

would feed you his food when you were busy working on your laptop

just little actions to show that he’s paying attention to you

you pick up on his habit and slowly become more tentative too

he’s also the type that shows the overprotective type of affection too

like, when it gets cold and he notices you shiver a little, he’d immediately take off his sweater/hoodie/jacket, whatever, and give it to you

or whenever your clothes seem to be bothering you, he’d offer you his shirt or pants or anything for you to feel more comfortable

he really enjoys cooking for you, so you’d have little cooking dates every once in a while where he teaches you a recipe or you teach him something

and it always either ends up in a disaster or a really appetizing success, no mediocre food in this household

the disasters are normally when you’re in charge of the cooking because you get distracted by jaemin’s crackheadery

he talks to the fucking vegetables and asks them how their day was before chopping them up, like what the fuck?

the normally tentative jaemin gets distracted because he’s making you laugh

he loves hearing you laugh, so he keeps doing what he’s doing to get to hear it more

so sometimes you forget you’re boiling something, you forget there’s something on the stove and shit starts spilling out

you’re both panicking and looking for the fire extinguisher

jaemin just ends up smacking it with whatever he’s holding and the flames go out and you both end up laughing and rolling around on the floor for the next 10 minutes

zhong chenle

can be the most evil or the most adoring boyfriend, there is no inbetween

like some days, he’d tease you to the point you ignore him while other days he’s all cuddly, snuggled up against you while hyping you up like you’re some sort of insta baddie

but a constant is that he will ALWAYS call you cute

you say something stupid? “cute.”

you CALL him stupid? “how cute!”

you drop your phone in the toilet? “cute.”

he has an obsession with that word, but it doesn’t really bother or annoy you because you really like hearing him say it

even when you guys play video games

you’re both beast at battle royale games, so you’re both constantly playing with one another

you guys normally don’t play when you see each other/ meet up because you spend that time doing other quality couple things

like bicker over what to order or where to get boba from for the day

so instead you guys normally play video games together at 3 in the morning after finishing up all your work for the day

whenever you’d knock down an enemy, you’d hear him from the other end of the phone shouting things like, “y/n that kill was so sexy!” (he picked that up from jaemin)

when you make noises after either missing or hitting your target, he’d chuckle to himself and mumble a little, “cute.”

soon enough you’re also picking up the habit and calling him cute all the damn time too

at first, he insisted that you stopped calling him cute because it was HIS line

“babe, i know i’m adorable, but stop calling me cute.”

“no.”

more bickering because he is so persistent

eventually got used to it and you two would have little squabbles over how the other is overusing it when you're BOTH doing it

not normally the type to be showing physical affection, but will cuddle when he’s sleepy

he feels safe when he’s holding you so he’s at peace and can fall asleep easily

he probably likes petting your hair when he’s the big spoon, and likes it when you pet his hair when he’s the little spoon

OMG WAIT he’s probably the type to have you lay on his lap (or vice versa) and just play with your hair (or have you play with his hair)!!!!!!!

like y’all are just chilling on the couch watching some basketball game and he just lays on your lap out of nowhere

“time for human contact!”

you’d just laugh and start combing your hand through his hair and he closes his eyes and ends up falling asleep

park jisung

the best friend type of boyfriend where the most couply thing you end up doing is going yo the zoo and feeding animals

he really likes when you guys go to the gift shop and play with the little toys they have

he’s super interested in the little things and is fascinated by everything big and small

you find that shit so cute and secretly take pictures of him staring at the miniature figures of lions

he catches on after seeing you changed your wallpaper to a picture of him holding a giraffe puppet and having it look at him

he holds your finger when you walk around so that you both don’t get lost

but his hands are really big compared to yours, so you switch to holding his finger instead and he physically melts because he thinks it looks so cute

i think your typical dates are the ones that involve a lot of walking around BECAUSE of the fact that you hold onto his finger

(jk, but like...he just thinks it’s really cute)

(so much so that it becomes a habit when you’re just hanging out)

(watching a movie? here, hold my finger. grocery shopping? here, hold it.)

you guys go to the amusement park often too

you hold onto each other’s fingers and wander around the park looking for rides that jisung can ride because he's scared of action

but you like roller coasters, and jisung always feels bad because you never ride them when you two go together

so one time, when there was one you really wanted to go on but you knew it would have scared jisung

so you decided to pass up on it because you didn’t want to leave him alone

but he was noticing how your eyes kept lingering on the coaster and he broke

“y/n, i’ll go on it with you”

and you’re shocked because you didn’t even say you wanted to go on it, like you just looked at it but he caught on

and you tried to brush it off and insisting that you could go on a ride you both liked

but he was so stern about it because he knew how much you wanted to go on it

i think he’s the type of boyfriend that normally gets over his fears when he is encouraged by his partner, and in this case, his form of encouragement was making you happy

he just likes seeing you happy in general

so internally, he’s hyping himself up while you’re cheering for him

and although he’s scared shitless, he goes through with it because he knows that this is a fear he needs to get over, so might as well get it over with while making you smile!

and so when it’s your turn to get on the ride, he gets cold feet, kinda, but you grab onto his hand, not his finger, and rub your thumb over it to reassure him that it’ll be fine

and it was honestly not that bad because he felt safe with you holding his hand the entire time

and when the ride finishes and he sees how happy you are, he thinks to himself that it was so worth it because you’re beaming

he makes a note

holding your hand > holding fingers

[chibimyumi]

Hey! I really liked your analysis and they got me back into the manga. Thank you so much! By the way, I was wondering what are your thoughts on Yana Taboso's writing? I think she's really good at foreshadowing and making strong characters but I could do with less fanservice. Anyway I'm curious and thank you for the blog recomendations. Also please take care of yourself and take the time you need. Self care is important!

Dear Anon,

Thank you for your considerateness and sweetness! (*ÓAÒ*) You take care of yourself too! After having indulged in your thoughtfulness, I now finally come to your ask (^3^)

The great things!!

I entirely agree with you that Yana is very good at foreshadowing and making strong characters. I personally find it amazing that Yana managed to take the super stale “secret twin” trope.......but made it INTERESTING AND ACTUALLY NICE!! I didn’t know this trope could be nice until Yana happened!

Another thing I find stunning about Yana is how incredibly skilled she is at language. Kuro is still really nice translated, but I cannot stress enough how goosebumps-inducing it is when read in the original Japanese. Hence my “Lost in Translation” series...

Obviously there are countless things I find amazing about Yana, otherwise I wouldn’t have this blog to begin with... but what truly blows my mind most is her ability to fix things. She clearly wrote herself into a corner at the beginning with characters like Lizzie, Meyrin, Grell - and to some extent also Lau - and yet managed to get herself out of those corners by just PUNCHING A HOLE through the wall.

Before and After

I am eternally impressed that Yana wrote Lizzie to be nothing but a foil for O!Ciel to show off his virtues, and yet managed to turn that around for most people.

Yana never pretended she did not write Lizzie to be the main source of annoyance for O!Ciel, but she did give Lizzie's past behaviour some substance at least. If anyone is interested, in this post I have gone into a bit more detail about how Yana has changed her writing of Lizzie over time.

The first time I met Meyrin I thought it was just English “Maylene” or something, and I had no idea why her language was so weird. When I first read in the Character Guide that she is supposed to be Chinese, I gasped. “Wait, is THAT supposed to be the indicator of her Chineseness......!? OMG.... YANA!?”

In Japan because Chinese people are phenotypically almost identical to Japanese people, the way Chinese people are stereotyped in Japanese media is usually bad Japanese. This choice of Yana’s betrayed her susceptibility to this degrading stereotype..... like she had against women... *points at Lizzie*, LGBT people... *points at Nina and Grell*.........

Even though Yana had written herself into this corner which unfortunately established Meyrin as character, she still managed to SORTA save Meyrin. In this post “Lost in Translation IV” I explained how she did so. TL;DR: The flashbacks of Meyrin proves that Meyrin’s English is perfectly fine, and that her “Engrish” is in fact the result of her understandable failure at mimicking Sebastianese.

Though even at the beginning it was quite clear that Lau is more intelligent than he lets on, Yana did not do a great job at showing that Lau’s clown act was intentional. It seemed more like Lau was a clown most of the time, but had his bright moments every now and then... and then there is also the stereotype of THE Chinese man who is hellbent on making references to Chinese culture at every given chance.

Ever since the Mansion Murder Arc however, it became very apparent that Lau truly was using his clown facade to lower other people’s guards against him. That was very cool! But in the Weston Arc, it became explicit that Lau actively used Chinese stereotypes to use other people’s bigotry against themselves, and I applauded it! In this post I wrote a bit about me cackling at the relatableness of that action by Lau’s.

I have already written a lot about how Yana has been making amends for how dirty she had done Grell and who she is supposed to represent, so I shall not add anything anymore. Basically, this post sums it all up.

So.... these characters are more or less fixed.... Yana...redeem Nina or just yeet her please.... she is funny, but insufferable.

The not so great things......

Yeah... I really could do with less fan-service..... Yana, your writing and art is good enough to maintain a good fanbase... you don’t need to pander to creepos to hold down your job. PLEASE. This even actively goes against the message you seem like trying to convey. You portrayed an entire pedophilic cult, one narcissistic pedophile (Druitt), and another crippled pedophile (Kelvin) as revolting for preying on children, but then you do this yourself??? WHICH IS IT, YANA? STAHP. The minors who like this stuff are vulnerable to you sexualising them, and the adults who like and support this don’t deserve any more feeding........ STAHHHPPP!!!

Another thing I think Yana could do better is consistency.... ESPECIALLY with Sebastian ≽▽≼ At times his demon powers are just plot convenience... Click here for the most blatant inconsistencies in Kuro in my opinion.

The final thing I wish to mention is probably a very widely shared one... namely pacing. If you read Kuro in one go the pacing is in fact pretty good in my opinion, but the chapters are really short and there’s a month between every one of them. Whether a chapter is the old 40-50 pages per chapter, or the current 9 pages at worst nowadays... we still pay for the same price... Yana.... please take a break. We love you, and we will also after a break.

Well, that’s been it for me ^^ What do you all love the most and hate the most about Yana’s work?

Related posts:

Lost in Translation I

Lost in Translation II

Lost in Translation III

Lost in Translation IV

Inconsistencies in Kuroshitsuji

Nina......the predatory queer.... omg

Druitt.... the predatory queer-coded pedophile...omg

[wendystales]

Memories - lrh (Chapter Three)

Memories (also on Wattpad)

Chapter Two ※※※※※ Chapter Four

My mother spent the night with me and early in the morning I managed to convince her to go home and sort out her own things. Stephen was supposed to arrive at 8 am and I didn't want her here when that happened, she wouldn't like to see him at all.

“If there's anything I'll call, you can go, really.” I assure her, who goes reluctantly.

The clock struck five to eight and I was for the thousandth time running my hands through my hospital gown and my hair. My hands were sweating and my stomach was churning, I stared at the door as if I wanted to open it with the power of my mind, until it opened.

It was shocking to see him so different from what I remembered. His hair was shaved and bleached, almost white. Now he had a colorless rose on his neck that took up half of his left side and a piercing in his septum. He was a different person, just like me, it really had been years.

“Only Marnie McGonagall manages to remain exuberant even all run down.” he cracks a wide smile to break the tension. “These are for you!” he hands me a bouquet of daisies. They're not my favorite, but I thank him.

“Thank you, they are beautiful. Thank you for coming.” I try to control my breathing. It's all so strange.

“I was surprised by the call, I swore that after you left you would never speak to me again.” he throws himself on the chair beside the bed.

“So our breakup was real?”

“Yes, but not the way you were told, you met this famous guy and fell for him. We had already broken up when I started going out with Bethany.” he talks as if he is talking about the weather. The mention of him and Bethany together makes me nauseous, maybe it was jealousy.

“My mother talked about cheating, that I caught you guys.” I introduce the subject calmly, I know how much Stephen hates to be accused of anything. He rolls his eyes like he' s saying ‘I knew it.’.

“It impresses me that you buy that, Lizzie. You know how much your parents hate me. You broke up with me, that's true, but because you met this guy. He bewitched you, and it wasn't easy to get over you.”

I take a deep breath trying to control myself. It was too much information, too much information. I had broken up with Stephen for Luke, this didn't make any sense. I loved Stephen, I still do. Maybe this memory loss was a chance for us to get back to the way things were before.

“Did you and Bethany...?”

“No! It didn't work out, then she moved to Canada with her family, it wasn't going to work out, and deep down…” he comes closer, sitting on the bed and holding my hand. “I still love you.”

I open my mouth, but can't say anything, the statement takes me in total surprise. Stephen seizes the moment and kisses me. Nostalgia overwhelms me and all the moments we have lived through take over my mind, but deep, deep down, something screams in my head, it wasn't right, it didn't feel right. It wasn't him.

I lower my head breaking the kiss, feeling more lost than before. Stephen holds himself in place, but my urge is to push him away. Something bubbles up inside me and it is not happiness or passion.

“I think it's time for you to go.” I let out a harsher tone than I expected. I still don't face his eyes, maybe out of fear, maybe because I can't bear to look at him.

“You call me here and send me away like this?” he asks incredulously and offended. “You are unbelievable, Marnie. I don't know why I still waste my time with you. Your memory may have faded, but deep down you are still under his spell.” at that moment I abruptly turn my face to meet his. I know that my eyes are burning with anger, and so are his.

“I said, it's time for you to go.” I say in a broken voice, listening to my heartbeat rise.

Stephen stares for a few seconds before he gets up, picks up the daisies, and slams the door. I sink into bed, trying to calm myself. It really wasn't one of my better ideas to call Stephen here, but maybe it was necessary.

I turn on the TV and flip through the channels until I notice a picture of me. I go back to the channel and turn up the volume. They are talking about my accident and without me being able to prepare myself, they play the video of how it all happened.

I hold my breath as the pickup truck crashes into my side, causing my car to spin on the road and crash into the pole. They play it one more time, but in slow motion. The tip of my nose tingles and my eyes start to fill up.

Still watching the TV, my mind brings back the moment of the accident.

"I crank up the starter and before I can send the audio, I feel a loud impact on my left side. A deafening noise fills the entire car. Quite faintly, I watch the track spin and feel the shards of glass hit me, before I give myself over to that uncontrollable sleep."

The video changes and they show my attending, I cover my mouth, watching my unconscious body being pulled from the car.

My stomach clenches and I feel like vomiting from the nervousness. I turn off the TV and grab my cell phone, going back to researching my life in an attempt to distract myself.

Unlike yesterday, I Google my name and see what headlines pop up about me. Some sites give a brief summary of my trajectory, which helps me a little.

I watch some videos of rehearsals, interviews, fashion shows, even those videos of paparazzi leaving restaurants, with him. I look again at Instagram calmly, photo by photo, video by video, even the stories archives. There are several parties, trips, slumber nights, bts from photo rehearsals, and a lot of stuff with him, again. Of course, he is your boyfriend. Asshole!

I barely recognize myself on the screen. The Marnie I watch is outgoing, funny and charismatic, and I was never like that, at least as far back as I can remember. Which leads me to believe that this Marnie, model, famous and full of important friends, is a character.

Leah, Noah, Calum, Ashton, Mike and Kyleen. They don't just seem like friends, they seem like my family, brothers, I don't know. While it is fun to watch some of these videos, of all of us fooling around and messing up, on the other hand it hurts not to have any memories of them.

“How is my little girl doing?” I snap out of my trance and run my eyes to the door. I feel my eyes water as I recognize the middle-aged man.

“Dad!” I hadn't realized the urge to cry until I saw him. Until I felt his embrace.

“ It's okay, my love. I'm here. It's going to be all right, I swear!” he comforts me while I soak his shirt.

“ I'm sorry.” I pull away, trying to control my tears.

“For what?” he looks at me curiously. I shrug, not knowing what to say. Lately I feel I have to apologize for everything. “Honey, none of this is your fault. This amnesia is just a sequel, in a little while it will go away and you will remember everything.”

“I hope so. Even because everything I've forgotten has been very hard to remember.” I comment, playing with the bar of the blanket.

“ It's been a busy three years. You went from just my little girl, to one of the top models of 2019. That's quite a breakthrough.” he laughs, which makes me crack a smile. Only my dad could make me find that funny.

“Apparently I'm dating a rock star.” I join in with him.

“A very nice guy, I must say. He gave me a Gibson guitar.” he widens his eyes, emphasizing how awesome that was.

“Dad, you play guitar?” that would be nothing compared to what I couldn't remember.

“No, but it is amazing to have it on the wall.” for the first time since this whole nightmare, I allow myself to laugh.

My father spent the rest of the morning with me. He told me about his new job and how he was traveling the world now, helping his boss. I don't know how my mother was dealing with all this, she hated to be away from him.

“Mom must not like this new job of yours at all, huh?” I ask, scraping my red Jell-O.

I glare at my father when I notice his silence. We were sharing the bed space, he also had a Jell-O and we looked like two little girls gossiping while stuffing themselves with ice cream. I find his silence strange and wonder if something is wrong.

“Dad?” I call him once more.

“I was trying to find the best way to tell you this.” he sits up straight.

“What? Did you and Mom have a fight?” that was normal, not that big a deal.

“No! Actually, a little more than two years ago, your mother and I talked and we thought it was better to go our separate ways... with different people.” he speaks very slowly, calmly, and a little fearfully. I blink a few times, taking in the words and what they meant together. They got divorced?

I sit up like him, feeling uneasy. I start to breathe deeply. My relationship went down the drain. My parents broke up. Bethany disappeared across Canada. Nothing, absolutely nothing, that I had before had survived.

“Honey?” he brings me back to reality.

“Why? What? What happened?’ I ask. He opens his mouth a few times, saying nothing, trying to find what to say.

“Things were not going very well anymore. We were arguing too much and not even looking at each other anymore.” he takes a deep breath, visibly uncomfortable. “And I had an affair with a woman from my old job, that was the end of it.” he says so low, I can hardly hear, and honestly, it was better not to listen.

I always grew up thinking that my father was the best man in the world. My superhero. Prince Charming from all the Disney movies. The kind of man I would like to meet in my life. And then I find out that my father was none of these things. He is just like all the others.

“How could you?” disgust overflows in my mouth. “You have a family.” again something bubbles up inside me.

“I have no excuse, no justification, I was wrong and I regret the way things turned out. It didn't have to be this way. Okay, today your mother and I are friends and we go our separate ways, but there was no need for all that suffering to happen.” he stares again at the jelly, ashamed.

Silence fills the room. Nobody knows what to say. I don't recognize the man next to me. I don't even know what is going on in my head at the moment, there are so many thoughts and assumptions that I feel like I'm going crazy.

“Have you found someone yet? I mean, are you still with that woman from your old job?” I ask softly, poking the skin on my finger.

“No, she was just a fling. It didn't work out. Your mother was seeing someone until last month, but apparently it didn't work out.” he shrugs, which shocks me a little. I know it's so natural for them, but I'm still absorbing it here. “I met someone, Meredith. We've been together for a year now.” he gives me a beautiful, passionate smile. “Let me show you some pictures.” He gets as excited as a teenager. “Unless you don't want to.” he looks at me fearfully.

“I want to.” I crack a tight smile.

My father is back to being the excited teenager as he shows me the pictures of Meredith and her children. Children?

“They're yours?” I ask slightly jealous.

“No, Kendall and Samantha are from her first marriage, they are twins.” he smiles. “But I love them as if they were my own, the same way I love you.” he gives me a kiss on the side of my head.

He passes me another picture and my heart races as soon as I see them both, he on my lap and she on Luke's lap. I hold up the cell phone and stare at the picture with an ache in my chest.

“This was at my wedding, you both looked beautiful.” my father comments softly. I bite my lip, trying to control my crying and smiling at the same time. We really did look beautiful.

“I always wanted to have brothers, remember?” I ask with my voice shaking. I pass another picture and now my father and Meredith are posing with the four of us.

“They think you are the best big sister in the world.” I grimace, letting the tears come over me. They are not from sadness. Honestly, I don't even know what they are from, but the feeling is good.

Around lunchtime my father left, as he was exhausted, he had come straight here from the airport after a 12 hour flight. I was alone for the rest of the afternoon reading, until my mother arrived at 4pm to pick me up.

When we left the room, I noticed that Luke didn't come, which I find strange, since I remember my mother had commented that he was coming with her.

“He had an upcoming incident with the band, but he should be at your apartment later.”

The fact that I have to wait longer to talk to him makes me nervous and anxious. I just wish he would show up soon so he could help me with everything and clear up the sea of curiosity.

Along the way, I am talking to my mother about her and my father. I was so distracted by the conversation that I didn't even notice when we arrived in front of a beautiful building.

“Are you sure we are at the right address?” I ask looking out the window. My mother laughs and gets out of the car. I live here?

When we get to my floor, I realize that there is only one apartment per floor. We must be at the wrong address. My jaw drops as I enter the hall of the apartment.

Right away I find a huge painting of myself on the wall to my left. I was wearing that strange make-up and an even stranger outfit. The tone is black and white, but I am sure that the color picture is very colorful.

“This was the picture of your first magazine cover.” my mother clarifies with a huge smile on her face. I stare at my picture again, still frowning.

I follow my mother into the living room, once again letting my jaw drop. I had a living room right at the entrance, to my right was the living room with a huge TV, and to my left was the dining room. Slowly, I walk through the space, looking at everything breathlessly.

“Is this my apartment?” I ask in surprise. My mother lets out a short laugh before confirming. “I bought it?” she nods. “With my money?” she nods again. “As a model?” she laughs. “Okay! This is still too much for me.”

I walk curiously around the apartment again, looking at the kitchen, living rooms and, of course, the bedrooms. Two guest rooms and mine. When I reach the second floor, I am confronted with a hallway full of pictures. They range from personal photos to work photos. I pay more attention to the pictures of me and Luke. We are a beautiful couple.

I go into my room and find everything arranged. I let the excitement take over me when I see the closet. I look at the clothes, amazed, besides several boxes of brands like Gucci, Prada and Chanel still unopened.

On the last shelf, I see an older looking box, the slightly faded color catches my eye. I pull out a small ladder and carefully pull the box onto my lap, it wasn't heavy, but doing this with a broken arm and a twisted leg is not easy.

I sit down on the closet floor itself and open the box, wishing I hadn't seen it and maybe never opened it. I gently run my hand over those little souvenirs with tears in my eyes once again. I need to stop crying.

Movie and concert tickets, dried flowers, empty peanut cans, cards, cabin photos, and beer caps, everything I lived through with Luke. The feeling that takes over me is almost suffocating. My body feels and radiates all that it represented, but my mind would not let the image load.

Underneath it all, I pull out a diary and, at the same time that curiosity eats away at me, fear also takes over. I close my eyes and open to a random page.

"I can't believe I modeled at NYFW. OMG! OMG! OMG! It's unbelievable. I'm going to need to watch the runway show about a thousand times before I can believe it."

I flip back a few sheets and stop when I see Luke's name.

"I know it's not a good sign that I'm thinking about him and being so close to him, but I can't help it. Luke is amazing. The way he looks at me, how he listens to me, how he understands me, and his kiss...I can't forget his kiss..."

“Sweetheart?” I hear my mother scream. I wipe away the tears and put the little box under the skirt of some dresses. I get up as fast as I can and walk to the bedroom door.

“Yes?”

“I thought I'd help you in the shower, what do you think? Get rid of that hospital smell.” I accept the idea, which sounds very good.

After a good shower, I put on some pajamas and get to know my room, opening all the drawers, looking at all the makeup, everything. I decide not to go through that box anymore, because I still don't know how to manage everything it represents.

Once again my mother calls me and I believe it's for dinner, but when I get to the living room I find a brunette girl and a guy with red hair.

“Hi?” I nod gracelessly.

“Hi!” they return the greeting a little nervous too.

I ‘know’ who they are. Ashton and Leah. They are in several pictures in my social networks, in my hallway and on the living room furniture.

I watch the brunette with long hair, crack a huge smile. I watch her fingers tightening, like a child trying to control herself. I smile fearfully, but it was enough for her to apologize before squeezing me in a hug.

“I know you don't remember me, but I am your best friend and I am so glad that you are okay.” I look at my mother, who is smiling, and at Ashton, with my eyes wide and patting her on the back.

“Leah, you don't have to suffocate her.” Ashton comments without manner, scratching his forehead.

She walks away gracelessly. I give her a smile, but thank her for the space. Ashton approaches a little fearfully and holds out his hand, respecting my space, but it is apparent that he also wants to give me a hug.

“You can hug me, I don't bite.” I joke, trying to break the tension.

He says nothing more and surrounds me with his arms. Unlike Leah, I manage to return the hug in the right way. His hug takes longer and I feel some tears on my shoulder.

“I thought we were going to lose you.” he squeezes me one more time, before pulling away, drying his tears clumsily.

“You won't get rid of me that easily.” I blink at them both.

“Well, the reason we came here was not just to see you. Of course we were worried to death and everyone wanted to come.” Leah begins.

“But we thought it better not to come all at once so as not to frighten you.” Ashton interrupts quickly. I thank him silently.

“Deep down, we wanted to bring you this.” she hands me a pen drive. “It's not perfect, but we made a powerpoint to explain everything that happened in these three years.” Leah gives a closed smile.

‘You made a power point?” I ask incredulously.

“Of course we did!” Ashton shakes his shoulders. “We hope it helps and that you remember something. Anything at all, any questions, just call.”

“Thank you very much!” I smile in appreciation for both of them.

“Don't you want to stay for dinner?” my mother offers. I look at them expectantly. They both look at each other and give a shrug.

“We don't have an appointment, right? It won't be a problem. The guys will just be really pissed off that they didn't come.” Leah warns Ashton.

“It will be a pleasure to have dinner.” Ashton smiles in appreciation.

Dinner was very quiet, I did most of the talking. They were very curious to know what amnesia was like and how I was feeling and dealing with everything.

“Depending on how things go for you this week, we thought we would have a dinner on Friday. Then if you feel comfortable, of course, you can see everyone again.” Ash suggests.

There is still time until Friday, but just the thought of seeing everyone makes my stomach turn. I know they are my friends and they know me, but I still get nervous. Not to mention that they are famous, I don't know how to deal with these people. Although I am too.

“That's fine, we'll confirm by Friday.” I open a nervous smile. “Huh, Luke didn't want to come?” I question, upset at his absence today.

How am I supposed to get to know and get close to him if he doesn't come?

I watch the two of them look at each other and wrap up the beginning of their answer. In the end, Ashton sighs and answers.

“He is having a hard time absorbing all this. He just needs some time to sort it all out in his head.” Ash shrugs, signaling that it was no big deal.

I understand that it is hard for him. I don't know how I would handle it if I were him, but I'm not going to pretend to be upset that he's not here either, although I can't do anything about it, I'm not going to force him to stay here if he doesn't want to.

“It's really weird having Luke as my boyfriend, you guys as best friends. It's so out of reality. It feels like I'm in a dream and soon I'll wake up.” I comment, playing with the cloth napkin.

“Look, the first time you handled and accepted all of this well. I'm sure you'll manage again.” Leah squeezes my hand on the table.

“So, a powerpoint, hm?” I change the subject not being able to prolong my curiosity any longer. Even though I'm scared, I want to see it.

Leah cheers up again and begins to explain everything very excitedly. With their help we go to the living room and I put the pen drive on the TV, ready to see what they have done. It is strange to think that this small object has all the answers I am looking for. Not to mention the fear of the unknown, in this case, the forgotten one.

“Ok, so this is Michael…” I watch her standing beside the screen, explaining everything to me, with extreme patience and good will. My god, she is an angel.

I look at all my friends and the things we have done. I notice how Ashton was a kind of older brother, overprotective, and Leah was a kind of sister. Always holding hands or holding arms. Or when we were drunk, trying to climb on each other's backs.

They put all the trips we took, my fashion shows and photo shoots, some interviews. It was a great summary. I stare at the screen feeling something strange welling up in me, I see flashes forming in my head, and I begin to force myself to remember.

“Don't skip.” I shout to her, not wanting to lose the flow of memory. “Play that video again.” I ask desperately.

I approach the TV watching Noah, Leah's brother, walking in front of the camera with a bag on his head and complaining that the product was burning. He was bleaching his hair.

" “Why does this shit burn so bad?” I hear Noah shouting from the room, pissed off.

“Because it's bleaching.” I answer, grabbing another cookie from the plate. I sit down on the couch next to Calum, who is very interested in the package of bleach.

“What do you think about me bleaching mine?” he asks, still focused on the package in his hand.

I stare at him for a few minutes, trying to imagine the look. I pout, signaling that it wouldn't look too bad, in my opinion.

“For God's sake, you're not going to do that ridiculous lock of hair again, are you?” Leah shouts from the bathroom.

“It wasn't ridiculous.” He defends himself loudly. “But I really wouldn't do it again.” he comments softly, making me laugh.

“OH MY GOD.” I hear Noah scream. We run into the bathroom to find his white hair, with a few colored dots, just like the ones in the bag.

I cover my mouth in shock. Leah starts to record trying to hold in her laughter, as do I, but we simply can't stand it when Calum reads the name of the pharmacy in Noah's head.

I see him leaning against the doorframe laughing with his hand on his stomach and eyes closed. Miserably, I still try to hold in my laughter, not lasting long and joining Calum, becoming almost breathless.

“Oh man.” he dries his tears, laughing again next."

“Noah didn't want to go out anymore that night. We ordered burritos and stayed at his place. Calum and I spent the whole night laughing about it.” I speak too fast, running over a few words. I replay the scene in my head a few more times still flustered.

They both look at me and Leah starts jumping up and down in celebration. I remembered, I remembered! I start yelling at her, celebrating.

“What's wrong?” my mother comes running from the bedroom.

“I remembered. I remembered Noah with bad hair!” I shout, out of breath. The three of them hug me and again we shout.

[redstone-quinn]

I posted 4,065 times in 2021

46 posts created (1%)

4019 posts reblogged (99%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 87.4 posts.

I added 82 tags in 2021

#last life smp - 18 posts

#last life - 17 posts

#last life spoilers - 13 posts

#3rd life - 8 posts

#3rd life smp - 6 posts

#grian - 6 posts

#third life smp - 4 posts

#third life spoilers - 4 posts

#spotify - 3 posts

#hermitcraft - 3 posts

Longest Tag: 88 characters

#i know they used to be that way but i can’t see him with anything besides the anime eyes

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

I want Grian and Joel to be the final two

I want Grian to realize that for the second time it is just him and his ally

His ally who was the first red

I want him to realized can’t do this again

I want him to do as scar did and tell Joel that he can kill him

And I want Joel to not even hesitate and obliterate him

54 notes • Posted 2021-11-16 04:12:27 GMT

#4

Teams we got so far

Grian Mumbo Jimmy Martyn Impulse

Cleo Bigb slightly Lizzie

Tango Skizz

Scar Joel

Bdubs Etho

And Ren has a deal with Scar

Pearl has not started any alliances yet

59 notes • Posted 2021-09-21 15:37:21 GMT

#3

It worked for mumbo last time so this is me manifesting red Grian and the wither

I would also like to manifest jimmy as the first permadeath as it would just be funny for it to happen again

82 notes • Posted 2021-11-02 08:34:57 GMT

#2

Duos that will actually kill me if they end up as the final two

Scar and grian (I can’t go through that again)

Ren and martyn (renchanting my beloved)

Scott and pearl (the thought of them as enemies)

Jimmy and Scott (flower husbands my beloved)

Grian and mumbo (we can be friends again)

Etho and bdubs (their married your honor)

Cleo and bdubs (crastle my beloved)

Duo I want to get to the end because it would be funny

Lizzie and Joel

793 notes • Posted 2021-11-02 00:18:42 GMT

#1

I like the idea that everyone just disappears from their servers without warning when 3life/last life starts

So imagine cub wakes up one day but not to explosions or loud music coming from the neighboring boatem village but wakes to silence curious, he goes over to find the place completely empty. maybe they are having a meeting somewhere? but jellie is alone and clearly upset. So he sends a message in chat asking if anyone has seen them.

Blood runs cold when two immediate replies from doc saying that ren is missing and keralis saying that bdubs and tango are gone. Shortly after joe says he can’t find Cleo and iskall can’t find etho.

Is it happening again? Mumbo wasn’t apart of the group last time neither was pearl. Maybe mumbo is afk at a farm and pearl is probably in empires right?

X asks for someone to go check mumbo’s farms and for gem to head over to empires to look for pearl and hope no one is missing over there.

Mumbo isn’t at any of his farms. Gem just got back is pearl-

She not on empires either. in fact Scott jimmy Joel and Lizzie are missing as well.

It really has happened again and even more people are missing.

They can only hope that their friends are brought back soon, and in one piece.

1280 notes • Posted 2021-09-23 02:13:32 GMT

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[doyelikehaggis]

Ginny Weasley and Landon Kirby!!

So this is nearly like a month late! And I am so sorry for that!! I got very distracted, wrote half of this, then left it for like two weeks, so you have my sincerest apologies! But I hope you enjoy this!! ❤️

Ginny Weasley:

• Headcanon for their sexuality — Oh, she has the biggest bi energy out here. She probably figured it out really casually as well, like, she realized she had a bit of a crush on Tonks and was like, "Oh.”

• Have they come out? If so, how — She came out to Bill first, because she remembers him telling her about the boy he fancied when he was in fourth year, and she trusts he’ll be kind, so she waits until he’s visiting and slips it into conversation when they’re alone in the garden. Then she casually tells Luna while they’re reading a book that mentions this queer witch from centuries ago. Then comes the rest of her family, little by little. When it came to the media finding out after the war had settled however, now, that was a far more dramatic and hilarious story; the rumours flew around faster than her supposed secret lovers from her team! She definitely played them up and let people speculate for months, finding the whole thing downright ridiculous but at least entertaining.

• How their friends/family took their coming out:

Bill is as supportive as she expected. He smiles this knowing smile and hugs her, then they’re back to de-gnoming. “I’m happy you trust me.”

Ron is the second sibling she tells, because even though he can be a bit dense, she listened to him gush for hours about Krum, Harry, and his favourite Chudley Cannons player. He stares for a minute like he doesn’t quite know what she means, then he’s making her promise not to date any of the Gryffindor girls in his year because “Dean was one thing, alright, but if you and Lavender—“

George blinked for one second of surprise when she casually mentioned that she was thinking of asking Katie on a date to Hogsmeade, and if he thought she’d say yes, then he shrugged and told her she has a good chance. When she caught his eye, he shot her a soft smile. “If any of my other teammates catch your eye, let me know and I’ll see if they’re interested.”

Arthur was so understanding and supportive that she cried. They were talking, and she couldn’t keep it in anymore, and she just told him. He nodded, shifted closer in his chair as she rambled a bit to try and explain what she meant. When she wouldn’t look at him, he gently took her hand, and she lifted her eyes to meet his and he was smiling. She just started crying and he hugged her until she calmed down. “Thank you for telling me. I’m happy that you’re being who you are, and I will always love you for that.”

Fred grinned like it’s the best thing he’s heard all year when she told him about her date with Katie. He congratulated her, hooking an arm around her shoulders, and proceeded to ask many questions — mostly about her date. “Mum’s gonna accuse the two of us trying to end our lineage.”

She gave Fred and George full permission to tell Percy, because she honestly wasn’t sure about doing it herself. They do it in some really obvious but attempting to be subtle way, when Ginny isn’t there. He doesn’t react then, but he comes to find her later in her room, and he sits down with her. He tells her that it doesn’t matter to him, and he’s sorry that she didn’t think she could tell him. She assures him she was just nervous and he understands. “I will always protect you. Even when you don’t need me.”

Charlie was delighted. She told him in a letter because she wasn’t sure when she’d see him but what he wrote back was nothing but love and support, and he actually came out to her at the same time, and promised to talk properly in person next time he visits. “If you need someone to talk to in the mean time, I’d recommend Tonks, she’s brilliant.”

Molly was the one she was most scared to tell. That’s why she waited so long before finally telling her while they were getting dinner ready. She stared at her back, waiting for her to respond while she dried a plate to set it on the table. When her mum turned to face her, she was wearing a small smile, and said, “Okay,” then handed her another plate and continued with the dishes. Ginny didn’t know what to make of it. Dinner was quiet. It wasn’t mentioned again, and Ginny decided that her mum tolerating her future relationships like she tolerates Bill’s marriage and Charlie’s lack of one was probably the best she was going to get.

As for her friends; she told Luna over a discussion about a queer witch from centuries ago, and Luna had smiled, chin in her hand, and said she was happy to have a friend who shared how she felt. Harry had sat in silence for a moment long enough for her to worry, then quietly asked, “If you’re allowed to feel like that in the wizarding world, does that mean... guys are allowed to feel that way about about other guys?” And she had indeed gone to Tonks once or twice, who was as delighted as Charlie, practically bouncing, and promised to be like a big sister if she needed her for anything.

• Do they go to pride? If so, with whom? — Ginny discovers that Pride is a thing through Tonks, who excitedly tells her everything about it at an Order meeting. She asks if Tonks will take her, which is the height of honour to her. Ginny casually mentions it to Fred and George in the passing, and they ask to tag-along. Bill trusts Tonks, but he still comes along. Just in case; those four out in the Muggle world is a recipe for disaster. She manages to convince Harry to join, too, so of course Ron’s there, and Luna was already planning to go with her dad anyway so they meet up.

• Do they show their colours? (Flag-wise) — After coming out to everyone she cares about, Ginny is happily confident in letting everyone else know. She wears the bi colours to Pride, and she got a few badges there courtesy of George that she has pinned somewhere on her outfits nearly all of the time around Hogwarts.

And now Landon Kirby!

• Headcanon for their sexuality — I just get very strong ace vibes? And possibly bi. It just makes Sense to me.

• Have they come out? If so, how — He told Rafael before anyone else. Just sorta blurted it out to him in their room after many, many days of overthinking how he’d say it. Telling Hope and Josie was then easier, as they were preparing one of their movie nights.

• How their friends/family took their coming out:

Rafael was the most supportive person in Landon’s life about everything, so this was no different. He picked up on Landon’s anxiety while telling him and approached his response with great comfort, assuring him that it changed nothing, he loves him unconditionally, and he would be right there by his side to stand up to anyone who said one word about it. His response actually made it easier for Landon to be more confident in accepting who he is.

Hope reacted in a similar way. She saw how nervous he was and told him that it didn’t make her feel any differently about him. He was a little more worried about telling her he was ace, but she smiled and hugged him, promised that they would never do anything he didn’t want to and she was okay with that.

Telling Josie didn’t feel as daunting; after all, he knew how open she was about her own sexuality, so easing it into a conversation made him less anxious about how she’d react. Sure enough, she gave him a soft, knowing smile behind the wide eyes, and they were joking about it within two minutes.

Lizzie was downright delighted. She claimed that she picked up on the “vibes” from him right from the beginning but couldn’t be sure, so she was just waiting to see if he ever said anything. He of course rolled his eyes at that, but he was grinning as she plunged into a seemingly endless well of questions — mostly about if they had the same taste in people, because they have Hope in common, so she wanted to see if it stretched to her two-week crush on Jed, or her infatuation with Sebastian. They got into a whole debate over Star Wars characters.

Kaleb honestly thought that Landon was already out, so that was more of a surprise to him. He swears hands-down that they had flirted a couple times, so he just assumed! It was a funny moment.

MG was bright smiles and literally just a ball of supportive sunshine. But actually, while talking about it, Landon kinda helped MG realize that he may not be too straight either. It was a nice, very insightful conversation that helped both of them.

Wade could not be happier. He had already come out to Landon a few months before during a D&D game— something that had given Landon a little push — and he’s so glad that Landon trusts him and sees him as someone important enough to share this part of him with. He, of course, also told him while they were playing D&D; he slipped it into his character’s story.

• Do they go to Pride? If so, with whom — Landon doesn’t really know what Pride actually is until he joins the Salvatore School, and after he comes out, Josie gives him a better idea. Mystic Falls hosts Pride every year (it’s a new tradition, really, but the town’s trying to pretend it’s always been so progressive), and so she invites him along. He’s unsure since crowds aren’t really his thing, but Lizzie is insistent (she admits she just wants to see if she can find the love of her life and maybe someone for him if he’s willing), and Hope says she’s going too, and after Wade, Kaleb, and MG invite him as well, it’s hard to say no.

He goes with them all and actually… it’s pretty cool. It’s the most colourful he’s ever seen the town, that’s for sure. And it’s fun!

• Do they show their colours? (Flag-wise) — He’s proud to be himself, obviously, but at the same time, he’s still more comfortable with keeping it quiet from anyone outside of his close friends, so he doesn’t tend to display either of his flags colours too often. He does make an exception for the second time he goes to Pride, though.

So, this was long. I don’t know whether to apologize for that for or not but again, I hope you enjoy some of these headcanons! I had the most fun with the reactions from the rest of the Weasley’s!

[danielleslegacy]

You know what they say about Hope? || Legacies x Reader

Chapter 4: Memories 

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3 

Request: yes / no

Fandom: Legacies

Summary: Hope and Y/N reunite properly and memory stuff occurs. Just read it it’s angsty. 

Word Count: 1.133

Warnings: None, I don’t think.

Pairing: Reader insert x Legacies universe

*GIF IS NOT MINE SO CREDIT GOES TO THE OWNER*

“Will you please at least give me a chance to explain?” Hope says, taking a step towards me, I pull my hand up to stop her coming any closer. Tears gathered in my eyes.

“We will see you guys later,” Alaric says quietly, and takes himself and Lizzie out of the room, closing the door behind him.

I wring my hands together as I raise my eyes to meet Hope’s. “Why can I remember certain memories?”

“I don’t know,” She says, taking a step towards me again, although this time I don’t stop her.

“Do you know the pain I’ve been going through?” I practically shout, taking Hope by surprise. I reach my hands up into my hair harshly, “I’ve been having these flashbacks for a week now. How long have you been back?”

“Just over a week.” Her eyes glistening with unshed tears, something within me snaps and tears flow down my cheeks. “No, please don’t cry, I wish I could help you remember.”

As if on instinct I wrap my arms around her waist, and I nestle my head into the crook of her shoulder, allowing the tears to flow. I feel her hands move up my back, one coming to rest in my hair, the other raking up and down in soothing patterns. Hope softly coos into my ear, “Sh baby it’s all going to be okay.”

And in an instant, everything goes away the world fades to black and I scream out in frustration. Suddenly flashes of memories of Hope run through my mind as if I was fast-forwarding through our life together. I remember fighting monsters with her. Harmless flirting, watching her, crushing on her. Hanging out beneath the tree. Her telling me stories about her father, and her mother. The tears we shed. Then everything slows down for a moment. And its like the visions.

I watch as Hope and the vision of myself as we’re sat on her bed. We’re laid down next to each other, fingers intertwined, and our feet hooked together. She begins toying with my fingers, and bursts out into giggles.

“What's so funny?” I hear myself ask, my eyes marveling at her beauty when she laughs.

She shakes her head, “Nothing, I’m just genuinely happy.”

We sit just smiling at one another for a few more minutes. I watch as I lift my hand and place it onto her cheek softly. My thumb rubbing across her cheekbone, as lightly as a feather. Hope’s eyes flick down to my lips and we lean towards each other, our lips meeting for the first time.

It’s the memory of our first kiss. Everything speeds up once more, flashes of dates at the movie theatre, sneaking out of classes and around our friends. The moment we were caught making out in Hope’s room by Lizzie and Josie. The teasing that happened afterward.

It slows down again to a day with Hope taking me to her parents' graves. We stop on the stones of Hayley and Klaus’ Memoriam stones, and we take a seat.

“Mum, Dad, this is Y/N, she’s my girlfriend,” Hope whispers taking my hand in hers. I bring her hand up to my lips and press a soft kiss to it.

“It’s so lovely to meet you,” I say softly.

“They never knew I was bisexual,” She says, as tears clogged her throat, “I wish they could have met you. They would have loved you.”

I press another kiss to her cheek, “Can you tell me another story about them?”

She nods her head and begins telling an elaborate story about her parents and her family, laughter, and tears along the way. Just as we begin to leave I stop, “I’ll be just a moment” I say, and Hope begins the trek back to the car, “Thank you for letting me love her,” I say.

The memories speed up again, there are a lot of dates and kisses and romance.

But not long after another memory slows down, It’s one of Hope and I in her bed again. We are watching some kind of movie on my laptop, but by watching I mean she’s staring at me. I’m laughing along with the movie, yelling at one of the characters for doing something, and her eyes are shining with something that can only be described as complete and utter love.

“Of course you’re going to get murdered you walked into the basement,” I shout, throwing my hand upwards in a moment of pure disbelief. I watch as I notice Hope doesn’t answer and when I turn to look at her, I remember the feeling of my chest swelling and heating up. The vision of me smiles widely at Hope, “What?”

“I’m in love with you,” She says pressing her lips to mine. And then the memories keep rushing past. I get to the day Malivore was destroyed, and nothing comes, there is still no memory for me.

I gasp in a loud breath and I’m back in Hope’s arms again. Except I’m no longer crying.

“Y/N, are you okay?” Hope asks pulling away so she can see my face, she scans me checking for any injuries.

I nod my head and place my hands on her face, “I remember.”

She breaks out into an award-winning smile, and a lone tear falls down her cheek, “Wow, I’ve missed you.”

As if our bodies were acting on instinct we both lean in and our lips meet in the middle. I tangle my fingers into her hair, holding her close to me. One of her hands rested on my cheek and the other on my hip. Our lips move together in perfect harmony, tears slipping down each of our cheeks. Each of us poor in all of our love and sadness and longing into the kiss. Realisation hits me like a truck, Hope had sacrificed herself.

I pull away from both the kiss and her, “I can’t believe you left me,” I say.

“I had to, please don’t do this,” She begs with her eyes.

“No Hope, you left me, alone.”

“You weren’t alone, you had Josie and Lizzie and Raf and MG and so many people,” She justifies.

“But I didn’t have you, you abandoned me. Did you even say goodbye? Did you even tell me? Because I still can’t remember that day,” I ask my arms crossed over my chest anger falling off me in waves.

“What do you want me to say? I’m sorry I did it, but I did do it. I was trying to keep you safe.”

“But what about you Hope? What about keeping yourself safe?” I say, our eyes locked. I wasn’t going to back down from this, “God, why couldn’t you be selfish just this once?”

________________

Taglist: @physically-a-cheesecake​ @hopemikealsen​ @bellagrayson-wayne​ @rachelsfandommess​

let me know if you want to be tagged, also requests are open :) 

[feuilly-cakes]

Breaking Dawn - 3* review

Oh boy was this a long one. Okay, I really don't know how to feel about this book, because on one hand I had lots of fun revisiting my old favourite and picking it apart but on the other hand I had a very big issue with a major part of the plot. If I were rating based on each book within this book, I would give book one 4*and book two and three 3*. It starts out strong, then gets progressively harder to keep track of, but then maybe my short attention span is the problem here. I learned many interesting facts and character traits in this book, and I also figured out something important to do with imprinting that's been vaguely introduced in the previous book but is explored in-depth here. Stick around if you want to see what that discovery is. As usual, I'll be putting interesting and relevant facts and things I found particularly offensive under sub-headings, but I'll be saying a lot about each book as if it's separate before then, because Breaking Dawn as a whole is too long to talk about with any coherency. So without further ado: There are only spoilers ahead. Book 1: Bella First let me just say that these books have such amazing prologues/prefaces that immediately grab your attention. If you didn't know she was going to get pregnant, it would probably seem like she's talking about Edward being the one killing her. Anyway, this book was shorter than I expected, but far more enjoyable. This one seems to be more family oriented in the language used than previous in the series; while before any of the Cullens would be described as 'Edward's adopted -' , in this they are simply his mother, his brothers, his sisters. Even Jasper, who always seemed to me to be the outsider of the bunch, uses the term "We Cullens" and it just feels more like a family than a vampire coven pretending to be a family. This is helped along by Bella suddenly knowing so much more about the history of the Cullens and their extended family the Denalis. She's ready to fit right on in there. This book deals with the wedding and the honeymoon. Bella reflects on how she told her parents, freaks out about getting married, has her wedding, abruptly changes her stance on said wedding, then they shoot off to the honeymoon and things occur. Basically, she gets pregnant. It's a huge commotion. Backtracking, both Charlie and Renee were weirdly supportive about the engagement and handled it super well, with Renee and Bella having such a lovely conversation I nearly teared up. She's a great mother even when she's not physically there for Bella. Bella, on the other hand, is doing that thing again where she's selfish and a bit mean without realising she's being that way. Poor Edward is stressed to his eyeballs about the honeymoon and the very real possibility of hurting and even killing Bella, and she just brushes him right off. More on that later, but that's not the responsible way to do things, Bella. Fast forward to the honeymoon, and Edward is now the one being dramatic, refusing to sleep with her again because he bruised her and not listening to her when she says she's perfectly fine. The way it happens is very funny. Then we get to see random things happening that oh so subtly turn out to be pregnancy symptoms, like strange dreams about vampire babies who look human, oversleeping, mood swings, strange eating habits, and last but not least, morning sickness. It wasn't subtle. When they figure it out Edward loses it and says he's going to arrange for her to have an abortion. Bella asks Rosalie for help, and screen fades to black. The big theme here is that Bella changes her mind. She doesn't want to be married until she suddenly does at her wedding, she doesn't want to stay human until she decides she can afford a few extra years, and she doesn't want kids until she's already pregnant. Even with Rosalie, their slowly evolving relationship wasn't going to be proper friendship until Bella asks her for help. She's changing so quickly it's like getting whiplash, but it's not unrealistic. That's how I make most of my big decisions too, like it simmers away unnoticed until it's ready to be addressed. Relatable, really. Book 2: Jacob Book 2 takes us through Bella's pregnancy from Jacob's perspective, as he goes from planning to kill the Cullens to becoming their biggest protector and an Alpha of his own pack. As much as I love multiple POVs in books this is one I couldn't get behind, and here's why. One of the main themes in this book is imprinting. I don't like it. While I adore soulmates as a concept, and even more so platonic soulmates, it's made clear that this isn't what that is, and it's icky. We get 4 pages of Quil interacting with his imprint Claire, who is 3. The whole time Jacob has a running commentary on how Quil is more devoted than a parent would ever be, how he wants to make her so very happy, how it's so very different from that of a parent, and how Quil has to wait like a "monk" for "a good fourteen years" until Claire was his age. This was never platonic, it was a waiting game. It's also grooming. This was also around the time it became apparent just why Quil imprinted on Claire in the first place: it was all a set up for Jacob's eventual imprint. It had to be a part of the story before it happened so people wouldn't question it, and for the most part it worked. Both Quil's story and Jacob's interactions with a pregnant Bella prove this: "the hold she had on me only got harder to break. Almost like it was related to her expanding belly" and "It feels... complete when you're here, Jacob. Like all my family is together." I hated reading that. He should've imprinted on that nice girl Lizzie, from the park. Surely Stephenie Meyer could've come up with something else to keep Nessie alive? Onto similarly disturbing things but less revolting in the long run, Bella's story here seems to be an attempt at pro-life propaganda that backfired. The reason? Bella makes a choice about her body, and though most of them don't like it, they don't force her to do otherwise. People seem to forget that being pro-choice also means the choice to stay pregnant even when it's best not to. Bella makes that decision and she's absolutely sure of it, at the expense of her life and health, but it's hers to make. She is pitted against Edward, who would absolutely force her to have an abortion if he had backup, and who is also losing his damn mind. He insists to Jacob that Carlisle would help him if not for Esme, and that Rosalie doesn't care about Bella's life, only the baby's. Carlisle himself tells Jacob he would never take the choice away from Bella, and context shows that Rosalie is protecting Bella's choices and bodily autonomy, and carrying out her last wishes to ensure the baby is brought into the world healthy. Remember that Rosalie had all her choices taken from her, and all she wanted for Bella was for her to make the right ones. Edward doesn't change his stance until he discovers the baby has thoughts that can be read, and loves Bella. Once again, this seems to have been an attempt at showing that babies have thoughts and feelings in the womb, but it does almost the opposite as Bella is a day away from full term and not once has anything been picked up by either him or Jasper before that point. It's safe to assume there was nothing to pick up on. The pregnancy ends with a truly horrifying birth scene that made my hands go numb and my ears ring from the violence of it all. Bella dies, Jacob imprints on a minutes-old baby and begins his journey as a child groomer, and then Bella comes back and begins her transformation. Book 3: Bella. Or as I like to call it: It all goes downhill from here. Bella has the most unrealistic yet brutal experience ever, and is now a super sexy, super perfect, super powerful, super smart vampire. She has a perfect baby, perfect control of her bloodlust, and somehow the perfect life. But oh no! The Volturi are threatening that peace! Who could have predicted that the last remaining villains would appear in the last book? Now Bella and the rest of the Cullens have to find their friends to stop the Volturi in their track, but peacefully of course, because they are the good guys really! Just a misunderstanding! I'm so glad that was addressed in story, because I would not have been able to deal with a pro-police/pro-dictator story in this political climate. The most unrealistic part of this is when the Volturi don't simply assert their vampire dominance over them by killing them all without taking their own witnesses. I didn't like how Bella suddenly became perfect and good at everything in this book. It's so unrealistic. Less than a month to become the strongest shield ever and be able to scare the ancient Volturi? Perfect control on her first hunt? I think not thank you. There was also a missed opportunity to have Bella be a psychic of some kind since she dreamt of the future accurately many times. Renesmee was very sweet though, and that's all I'll say on that. Now onto my lists! Differences between book and film This was mostly pretty accurate in terms of plot. - Edward's backstory that we see pre-wedding isn't a thing in the book. It actually isn't a thing in any of the main books, but I can't speak for the others. - Bella knows about the immortal children before the book even starts, and she's the one to realise that Irina thought Renesmee was one herself. - The wedding is inside. The film had it outside I'm pretty sure. - The whole part where Jacob freaks out and borrows a very fancy sports car to go and try to find his imprint was never in the films, and I think that's a tragedy. Vampires - The appearance of the nicknames Em and Jazz for Emmett and Jasper. It's not at all important I just thought it was cute. - Half vampire babies use their teeth to escape the womb. Also, Renesmee was trying to be careful to not hurt Bella while she was still inside her. She started reading when she was under 3 months. If I saw a baby read aloud in full sentences I'd never sleep again. - Edward called Jacob "Jake" in book 3. It's weird how their relationship changes throughout the book. - Poor Renesmee knows it's because of her that the Volturi are coming, and says "This is my fault." She's just a few months old at this point, and she's already going through a whole lot. - The volturi look like someone threw baby powder on them because they sat still for so long they started "petrifying". - There are 32 Volturi members, considering they took the whole coven with them to Forks. - Fun Bella fact: she was going to let Charlie assume what was up with her because she thinks he will never decide on vampire. Red Flags Most of these have been discussed in depth so I'll just mention them briefly. - Edward, pre wedding, is described as having a "panic attack" by Bella at the thought of hurting her, and instead of reassuring him she brushes him off and thinks "He wasn't getting out of this deal. Not after insisting I marry him first." This is beyond selfish and even cruel, because he has a point and genuine concerns that should have been discussed properly. - "We're going to get that thing out before it can hurt any part of you." Edward has decided this for himself, without Bella's input. - Jacob contemplates suicide over the thought of having to see Leah. This is absolutely not something that should be talked about like it's nothing. - The imprinting of Quil and Claire. - Every bit of foreshadowing about Jacob imprinting on Renesmee, and the act itself. - Rosalie calls the place in South America where the half vampire myths originated "a disease-infested swamp with a medicine man smearing sloth spit across your face" in relation to giving birth there, and it's more than a little racist. How would she even know what it's like? - "the Egyptians all looked so alike, with their midnight hair and olive-toned pallor, that they could have easily passed for a biological family" The white, blonde Denali sisters were never ever described this way, so why are the non-white people described as such? - Bella had "never met any vampires less civilized" than the Amazons. They have long black braids, so we can assume they aren't white. Why are only the non-white vampires being described these ways? - Bella describes the rough area where she met 1 person, who was working for J Jenks and happened to be Black, but was well dressed in rich clothes, as the "ghetto address". Upon googling, I learnt that this refers to low income areas of a city that are occupied by minorities. She met one person. How could she possibly know if it was the "ghetto"? It was described as the "downtown office" by Max, the man in question, so why wouldn't she just use that term? - Jacob gives Renesmee the Quileute equivalent of a promise ring. I want to throw up, because we all know what a promise ring symbolises. - Lastly but certainly not leastly, when learning Renesmee will be full grown at age 7, Bella feels a "shudder" from Jacob. I hate it, it's gross, it needs to burn. Disgusting. And that's that, sorry it's so long, I had a lot to say. If you have any opinions on this review, feel free to discuss with me!

[stephadoodles]

DOAFP Episode 1x04 Review - “The National Mall”

This was the episode that caused a lot of chatter amongst the people already watching and got a lot more watching, so it was interesting to go back and rewatch it, especially since the Bobby story line in particular has gotten quite a bit more development since then. There are also a lot of old-school Disney show vibes to the episode.

This episode doesn’t have a particular theme that connects all the story lines, but it does have the trend where one of Elena’s school lessons reflects something that’s going on in her personal life (which has some strong Boy Meets World vibes). Elena’s story line focuses on the concept of growing up and becoming a woman. It’s a continuation of the period stuff from the first episode, but this time it focuses more on bras.

The girls are only allowed to go to the Claire’s-equivalent store, and not allowed into the Victoria Secret-equivalent store in the mall. The girls want to prove that they’re mature and grown up after another run-in with Melissa and Jessi, who are once again bragging about how grown up they are. Interestingly, Sasha is the one pushing the issue, and later when Elena discovers she accidentally took the bra, Sasha also encourages her to hide it and forget about it. Normally Elena is the one forcing them to do things, so it was a bit of a switch.

Once inside the store, the girls proceed to prove that they are definitely not mature or grown up by goofing around with the bras and other lingerie items. They run into one of their teachers holding a thong, which promptly ends their goofing around.

This whole plot line has some serious Lizzie McGuire vibes, and it has a lot of similarities to that episode, down to running into a teacher in the bra store. As someone who grew up watching Lizzie McGuire, that particular episode is one that I remembered better than any of the others, and it’s great that Disney is finally creating content for the pre-teen age group again that isn’t super squeaky clean. There are ways to talk about puberty and everything that goes along with that in ways that are appropriate and still funny for those going through it.  Those types of pop culture experiences do have an impact on people, and I hope there’s more of that in the future.

In her English class, they’re covering The Raven, and the teacher points out that it’s meant to symbolize guilt, which connects to what Elena is feeling. It transfers over to her dream, which is told in the style of The Raven. It’s interesting to see how they use the school lessons as a metaphor for her real-life problems, and it’s a technique they use in the future too.

Ultimately, Elena’s guilt gets the best of her, and she confesses to her mother. Through a series of events, Sam ends up being the person who takes her to the mall, and he gives her a little pep talk about how the things that make a woman aren’t clothes or where they shop, but who they are as a person. While it’s a really nice talk and it does help Elena feel better, it’s a little weird that they had the adult guy give it to her, instead of any of the adult women, which would have made a lot more sense.

Sam’s story line, continued from the previous episode, is him trying to figure out whether he’s willing to be a part of a family with kids. He seems to think of himself as the cool uncle but has realized that it can’t be the case. After seeking out some advice from fellow co-workers (both of whom are gay, interestingly enough), he ultimately makes his decision when he steps in to help out with Elena.

Bobby’s story line with Monyca has progressed to the two of them attempting to kiss for the first time, with plenty of interruptions from various family members and friends. When his friends set up a hang out which essentially is just a make-out party, Bobby is pulled into a closet (insert metaphor here) by a very enthusiastic Monyca and emerges looking confused and out of sorts. Monyca is clearly thrilled by the experience, and Bobby’s reaction is a clear contrast. As has already been pointed out, it’s easily comparable to Cyrus’ reaction to kissing Iris for the second time.

However, it’s worth pointing out that at that point, Cyrus already had figured out that he had a crush on a guy, while I don’t believe that Bobby has yet. Cyrus was trying to figure out if he still liked Iris, and it was made abundantly clear that he didn’t. Meanwhile, I think this is the first time Bobby has really considered the fact that he’s not actually attracted to her. He kind of admits it in his conversation with Liam later, but he also tries to cover it up and give the response that Liam was expecting from him.

Gabi definitely got the least important story line this episode. While trying to impress her boss so she can get on a case that she’s very passionate about, she accidentally likes some of her boss’ old photos on social media. It was probably the weakest story line of the episode as well, and it turns out that all Gabi had to do was show that she wanted to put the effort in, and she gets the job. We do get some pretty great interactions between Gabi and Camila though, and I’m really enjoying their friendship.

The end of the episode is pretty great, and I really like how it was done. Elena was worrying about the whole period thing back in episode one, and it wasn’t really brought up again. And then, when she was least expecting it, she got it. It was a nice little endcap to her story line, and her starting to grow and mature a bit.

A few notes:

They really aren’t using any brand names in this show. The stores are all fictional, the pop culture references are fictional, and there are only a few actual name drops (Pokemon is briefly mentioned in this episode). I wonder if it was a financial reason, like with Andi Mack

Melissa snapping her bra strap threateningly makes me laugh every time I see it. I don’t understand why this girl is the way she is

We get another openly gay character who we met briefly before. Craig is another one of Gabi’s coworkers, and it’s another example of the show casually having LGBTQ characters

Alexandra Billings, the actress who plays Gabi’s boss Joy, is transgender. It’s not stated whether the character is or not, but it’s another example of the diverse casting choices that the show has made

The fact that Gabi has a number of coworkers and friends who are openly LGBTQ is interesting and will hopefully come into play later when Bobby’s story line gets to the point of him coming out. Knowing that your parents would be supportive of you because of the people they already have in their lives is really important, and I hope it does play a role in that story line

We see Bobby playing with the tennis ball in the bathroom, which we’ll see again in a more significant manner later on

Another mention of Camila having to hide her relationship from her parents

[xenophanatic]

Not my Austen???

Okay, I know this is going to be an annoying post for those who are much wiser and mature than myself. It’s like that college student who has taken their first Austen class and tells all Janeites ‘Did you know that the lake scene never happened in the book!’ 

However, I need to talk about two texts that are based in our reality, where Austen novels exist, that aim to celebrate Austen but - imo - they fail to either understand Austen’s original works or execute their mission statement poorly. These two texts are Lost in Austen and The Jane Austen Book Club respectively. 

In Lost in Austin, Pride and Prejudice avid-fan Amanda Price, who is unsatisfied with her modern life and romantic prospects, switched with Elizabeth Bennett. She finds that not all her favourite characters are what they seem and unintentionally changes the plot to her favourite novel. 

I didn’t mind the set-up. Actually, I found it quite enjoyable. However, some things were forced. Amanda, knowing Darcy’s arc, falls for it. By that I mean while before entering the world is in love with the character and wishes her boyfriend was like Darcy, when meeting him she instantly dislikes his rude behaviour, however then gets to know him and falls for him. THAT IS THE WHAT HAPPENS IN THE BOOK. So, as a fan - how can you not see this rude behaviour as just an exterior coping mechanism. Though I haven’t watched this series since it aired, that was something I remembered not understanding from a character point of view.

Though the series explored several secondary characters well, the main issue I have with this text is the ending. Amanda has taken Lizzie’s place and therefore her and Darcy have fallen for one another. Knowing the this is not how it supposed to end, she tries to get Darcy and Elizabeth together. Elizabeth this whole time has been living in the modern world and knows her existence as an Austen character who marries Darcy - umm... hello? this could have been a great existential crisis narrative, but lets ignore that for Amanda’s self-fulfilling prophesy. So, instead of ending up together, Elizabeth and Darcy decide to go separate ways and Darcy ends up with Amanda (leaving her modern day life), while Elizabeth goes to present time as a modern woman. 

Contrast Amanda’s arch to that of Catherine in Northanger Abbey. Amanda is obsessed with P&P to the point where she compares all men to Darcy and rejects living a her life to instead read about Lizze’s. This is similar to Catherine who is obsessed with gothic lit that is all she talks about and has not knowledge of what is happened in the real world. She also projects her knowledge of gothic lit (tropes and plotlines) to her love interest’s life - which cause a rift between the two and others around them. In the end, Catherine learns that she should not live in the fiction world and accept the reality of life. She grows mature and marries said love interest. While, through Northanger Abbey, Austen tries to illustrate the downfalls to individuals who engross themselves in fiction and encourage them to instead accept reality, Lost in Austen encourages audience to submit themselves into fiction and reject reality. I believe that the creators of Lost in Austen - or maybe just Amanda - has never read Northanger Abbey. In my opinion, Amanda should have returned to her reality and understood that while fiction is enjoyable, it is not where she belonged. Amanda crashes into fiction, makes many mistakes - derailing the original story - yet gets ‘rewarded’ by ending in her favourite novel and male hero.

What about your career Amanda? What about your right to vote? What about any autonomy or agency you will get in the modern world?  

In all honest, I would love to see a sequel where Amanda misses internet, electricity and Independence; or where Darcy thinks about what could have been with Elizabeth. I mean they were, in the world of Austen, created for one another. I dislike the ending and therefore dislike the series as it’s thesis statement is... Why can’t I be Elizabeth!  

It’s funny how this text wants to celebrate Austen by creating something that she would not agree to. Not because of the liberty they took with her text, but with the message they are trying to send.

The second text, which I recently viewed, is the film The Jane Austen Book Club. I had previously seen it, but didn’t remember it or why i didn’t enjoy it. I chose to re-watched it because of my love for Hugh Dancy and how his relationship was shown in trailer made me want to see it again.... yeah... not good. It feels the mission statement was ‘Friendship, Love, and Jane Austen’, but really it didn’t do any of it right.

The issue I have is that there is so much going on... but nothing at all. It is all surface level. Most characters are also unlikable, except for Grigg (Hugh Dancy) - mainly because I like the actor. None of the romances were appealing, the friendship was told not shown, and Austen was discusses on surface level as if just in background... like a jukebox musical. Again, the best one was Grigg with Northanger Abbey because he actually put effort into it and I did like the Henry Crawford discussion because I agree with it. FannyxHenry Forever! 

The friendship between the women, and the men, were so weak that I’m not sure why they are all hanging out after a year. Was the club that impactful to your life? This film was based on a book - which I haven’t read. However, here are some changes I would have made. 

1) Have it a mini-series rather than a film. Consisted of 8 Episodes. First episode called Juvenilia, introducing all the character and getting the book club set up. Each following episode is titled by the Austen novel and focuses on the person hosting the bookclub for that month. Giving the characters a whole hour to explore themselves and the novel, whilst building the over arching plot. And the final episode titled Love and Friendship, concluding each character’s arch. 

2) Have it more with strangers rather than friends. Or maybe even friends that have been out of touch - who got together because of an Austen class or something. Oh, maybe a recent death of a friend - therefore leaving the sixth place empty for Grigg. By having familiar friends talk about these books, there’s no character building - because the character known each other for a long time. The film also doesn’t given enough time for Prudie or Grigg to feel apart of the core-group.

3) Focus on female friendship. Prudie is an outsider and other often make fun of her or judge her relationship with her husband. I expected to see a scene where the friends help her out - like in Skam when the girls help Vilde and the iconic imagery of Sana carry Vilde. Have Prudie throw away this image she has and talk to the ladies about her fears and past. The girls talk to her and make her feel better and they all bound. But nope. Prudie’s arch was to make her husband read Austen... ehhhh....

4) Have someone else, other than Jocelyn, be the one to introduce Grigg to the group. From the trailer, it seemed that Grigg was someone Jocelyn didn’t want in the group because he was a man, but then saw him as a rebound guy for her friend and then end up liking him. I wanted that rather than Grigg clearly being interested in her and her stringing him along. I did LOVE the Grigg moments about science-fiction and Jocelyn’s arch of reading the sci-fi books as a symbol for letting him in. However, if we get this disinterest for one another at the start it would be similar to Pride and Prejudice, therefore fitting into the Austen theme. Though I liked Jocelyn as the Emma character, the P&P romance would have worked too. 

I don’t know... I just want to re-work this whole thing. Ideally a Sunny meets Jane Austen. Old friends, that have been out of touch for years, come together after the death of a friend and decide to re-connect through what brought them together... Jane Austen.They find that they no longer connect with the character/book they once love and instead connect to different characters and book. Dead friend’s younger brother, feeling he never knew his sister, joins the club to understand his sister more. 

Oh man I want to write this mini-series now! 

Anyway, hope you enjoyed my rant. If you feel the same or even disagree, comment! Let’s talk!

[unfortunate-stranger-losers]

What are your headcannons for the kids from the four main All the Wrong Questions series?

oh geez there are so many 

Lemony Snicket

Listen every character in the Snicketverse is autistic but Lemony? HIGH.KEY. This boy cannot stand sensory overload and also stims with verbal recitation. 

After several months in Stain’d-by-the-Sea, the Associates got used to him just showing up and taking food. He eventually stopped asking, and then eventually stopped using the door. Moxie has, more than once, come downstairs to find him sitting on her counter eating cereal. 

Beatrice snuck into town once to see how he was doing, saw him and Moxie trying to jump off the roof of the diner with a tablecloth parachute and Jake dragging them back and screaming, and she just turned right the fuck around and reported to their friends, “yeah he’s fine.” 

Kit made him promise not to tell Jacques that she was almost in jail. 

MODERN AU: Gets into twitter and tumblr fights with obvious trolls. Tried to call CPS on Theodora just to see what would happen. Can recite any “Unraveled” YouTube video on command. Has an extensive knowledge of Pokemon. 

Moxie Mallahan

listen this girl is a lesbian in denial and she wrote Ellington Feint a note that said “get out of my town” because she didn’t know what else to do

She always kinda knew that her Mother was never coming back for her, but she didn’t admit it aloud until after Lemony left. 

Moxie: I can eat ten marshmallows at once. Kellar: You are a hazard to yourself. Lemony: And a coward. Do twenty 

Moxie knows how to pick every kind of lock, and how to break into every window. She takes her journalism very seriously and will get the truth even if she has to flip the world off as she does it. 

MODERN AU: Blogger. Once spent a week straight putting together a project and then passed out for forty-eight hours. Still carries a typewriter with her everywhere. Had to physically stop Lemony from eating a tide pod. 

Ellington Feint 

Had literally no idea Lemony had a crush on her because she’s just that gay. 

Actually popped up around town inbetween books constantly, mainly to chill with Cleo, Jake, the Bellerophons, and even Ornette. They just all neglected to mention this to Lemony. 

She doesn’t remember anything about her mother. All she knows is what her father told her; that her mother used to make music boxes, loved coffee, and died in a fire. 

Goes through a huge rebel/outlaw phase after escaping with Kit, because she’s completely lost and has no idea what to do or who to trust; her own father never gave a shit about her, as she now knows, so how could anyone care? Eventually she made her way back to Stain’d-by-the-Sea, where Moxie found her crying in the attic of Black Cat Coffee and awkwardly invited her to live in the lighthouse. 

MODERN AU: Has been on the run from CPS for so fucking long. Quotes Gilmore Girls almost daily and will argue your ear off about why Rory/Paris should’ve been endgame. Once ate a tide pod. Cries while watching the Addams Family. 

Kellar Haines 

Even after the Train Incident, he basically lives with Moxie. He just can’t trust his Mom anymore, and while he claims otherwise, they didn’t really have a good relationship before then, either. Lizzie stays with him. 

His special interest is in codemaking. He would’ve been really valuable to VFD if he’d gotten recruited. As is, Moxie kicks the ass of anyone who tries to kidnap him, so he’s fine. 

He’s also super good at crafting, and can make really cool art projects whenever he has the time. Lizzie used to give him art supplies whenever she could, and still hangs his drawings on the lighthouse fridge. 

He just gets so tired of his friends’ shit. He’d be a Mom Friend if he made any effort to stop them but as is he just kinda watches crap go down. 

MODERN AU: Constantly goes to the movie theater just to chill. Addicted to YouTube. Is the only one of the squad not freaked out by the Watership Down movie. Asks existential questions at random to scare the squad and then immediately says “yeet” in a deadpan voice and throws Squeak across the room. 

Pip and Squeak Bellerophon 

They took over the taxi for their Dad when he fell ill. He died a few months later, and they kept claiming he was alive, in fear that they would get separated by whoever was in charge of their case. The only person they told is Jake, because he eventually followed them home to ask their Dad why the fuck he didn’t feed them and found that they were living alone, and Cleo, because Jake can’t keep secrets from her. 

Pip and Squeak used to fight a lot, though they never intended any real harm. They slowly stopped after they started living alone, and Pip started kinda taking charge of keeping him and Squeak safe. 

They used to be very tight with Qwerty, because they were constantly at the library. He suspected their situation, but never confirmed it and was alright just making sure the kids were okay. Squeak would sometimes climb on the bookshelves and knock them over, but thankfully Qwerty thought this was funny. 

Squeak likes to “adopt” stray animals he finds in the backyard. Whenever he walks in going “gUESS WHO OUR NEW SIBLING IS,” Pip has to guess whether he’s going to bring in an injured baby bunny he can nurse back to health, or a squirrrel he just caught who is still struggling and about to destroy half the house. 

MODERN AU: Pip has a Nintendo Switch that Squeak can only play Animal Crossing on. Squeak keeps posting photos on Instagram of him and Pip driving illegally but everyone thinks they’re edits. Squeak once very seriously told Pip that he would have to marry Jake so they could keep getting free food from him (before they found out he was dating Cleo). Have slept in library closets before and will again. 

Cleo Knight 

Identifies as Demi-bi. She and Jake met as preteens, when she wandered off and got lost, and went into the diner to use the phone and call Zada and Zora. Afterwards, she kept sneaking out to visit him. 

Was much closer to Zada and Zora than her parents. She used to hang out in the kitchen with them, laying on the counter and practicing calculations or studying advanced chemistry while they cooked. 

Also very very autistic. Can only eat certain things, because she has huge texture problems. Only Zada, Zora and Jake have ever gone out of their way to accommodate her without complaint. 

Is incredibly reckless and never thinks anything through. While everyone knows she can take care of herself, it’s still nerve-wracking to see her run out the window, leaving only a note saying she’ll be back in three hours after trying to find a chemical, and coming back covered in blood that’s not her own. 

MODERN AU: Was a Guardians of Ga’Hoole kid. Would exist on a diet of cheetos, cereal and sprite if not for her boyfriend. Once, Ornette helped her break out of the house to go to the movie theater to watch Lego Batman. Super into Stranger Things. 

Jake Hix 

Literally is the only reason the Associates are still alive. He gives them food and makes sure they don’t kill themselves doing some stupid reckless stuff. 

Surprisingly, though, Cleo has had to physically stop him from fistfighting S Theodora Markson, who keeps forgetting to feed her fucking apprentice

Jake: As soon as I hit 18 I’m adopting you. Pip and Squeak, not even glancing over: Lit. 

Has been in love with Cleo since they met. Since their relationship is technically “secret”, Hungry pretends not to notice, despite how increasingly obvious it gets. She knows she should technically discourage this, but he’s just. so in love. When he’s not working, he spends his time in him and Cleo’s garden. 

MODERN AU: Has threatened to put parental locks on Lemony and Moxie’s phones multiple times. Keeps quoting The Princess Bride at Cleo, to the annoyance of the other Associates around them. Actually super into Doctor Who. Also keeps beating everyone’s ass in Mario Kart. 

Ornette Lost 

Has never once understood what was going on, but honestly she just rolls with it. “Guess we’re doing this now? Okay.” 

Keeps bringing stray cats into her Uncles’ house and adopting them. She has twelve now. There is no stopping her. 

Super close with Cleo and Jake. Mainly because she doesn’t mind third-wheeling, and will just fold origami when she gets bored, but also because she’s pretty good at dropping life advice and also is shockingly hilarious. 

Lemony: Ornette. Why did the toaster blow up. Ornette: Hm?Lemony: Toaster. Blew up. Ornette: Oh. Yeah I blew it up Lemony: why Ornette:  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

MODERN AU: Very into anime, especially Fullmetal Alchemist. Lives on ice cream. Has OPINIONS on the Disney Reboots. She got expelled from school because she graffitied GAY RIGHTS on the side of the building, and then a couple of middle fingers. 

Lizzie Haines 

INCREDIBLY protective of Kellar. She had more part in raising him than their mother; she was reluctant to leave him for her apprenticeship, but he convinced her he’d be fine. 

Sharon was a huge perfectionist in regards to Lizzie’s talents and studies, so Lizzie always felt very distant from her. When she left for her apprenticeship, she ended up bonding with Sally Murphy, to the point where Lizzie saw her as more of a parent figure. 

Lizzie noticed suspicious activity going on around town, and started investigating, even though Sally didn’t think anything was wrong. Lizzie had a conspiracy board and everything. She was kidnapped just as she was piecing everything together. 

It took her quite a few months to break out, but once she did, she immediately went hardcore and figured out how best to knock people out and keep them away from her. She had a lot of trauma that emerged after the Train Incident, but Kellar got very good at figuring out how to calm her down. 

MODERN AU: Hangs Christmas lights around her room and glowing stars on her ceiling. Knows more about Sonic the Hedgehog lore than the other Associates could ever understand. Huge Marvel/Star Wars fan. She has memorized all of Chicago, Hairspray, Black Panther, The Empire Strikes Back and Mamma Mia. 

[spongeguyandlelouchvibridankia]

SpongeGuy Reviews Every Disney Sitcom!: K.C. Undercover (1.1): “Pilot”

Yeah guys these have been really slow this week, I know. But hey, at least now we know that Zendaya’s back hurts from carrying this show!

K.C. Undercover is what you get when you want live action Kim Possible but you don’t want to actually try, and you also don’t understand that Kim Possible wasn’t just jokes and main character does awesome thing.

I guess the Kim Possible DTV movie is also what you get when you want live action Kim Possible but you do what I wrote above.

The show focuses on K.C. Cooper (played by the always great, even here, Zendaya) and her life as a spy, just like her parents (OH BOI WILL WE GET TO THEM) and after an episode her brother Ernie. There’s also a robot sister who’s annoying and is there for no real reason after episode 1 because OF COURSE.

But we are not talking about her, we are talking about the pilot for this show, and well... I am very disappointed. Let’s just get this over with.

SUMMERY:  During her first undercover assignment as a spy, K.C. Cooper gets ready for her first mission. Her parents, Kira and Craig Cooper, are also spies. However, her younger brother, Ernie Cooper, is unaware about K.C. and her parents being a spy, and her best friend Marisa is also unaware about her best friend's secret life. For her first assignment, K.C. is supposed to catch another teenage spy and crack down the code that is used for a dangerous virus. Unfortunately for her, K.C.'s first mission is also on the night of her high school dance, and she is challenged on whether to go through with her mission or go skip the mission and go to her school dance.

COMEDY: 1 Out of 5

It’s hard to find different ways to say “This wasn’t funny”, especially when such things are subjective. But I think a way to make it clear why this one isn’t funny is that for a spy sitcom, they barely make SPY JOKES.

This is a SPY SITCOM. CLEARLY inspired by KIM POSSIBLE. And they make almost no SPY JOKES. Sure, you have your disguises at one point, your mission impossible “sequence”, your weird gadget or two, but those are treated more as props than jokes.

No, the jokes here are, you guessed it: Stock sitcom jokes. With the added flair of ASSHOLES.

I’ll talk more about this in Characters, but suffice to say that most of the jokes in this show are about what assholes everyone but K.C. are. (I understood K.C. gets like this too, but so far she’s the only one I like here).

If you haven’t seen a joke before you’re just cringing at how mean the cast is to each other. And I think it’s best I just move to the next section to talk about that because that’s the main problem with this show.

CHARACTERS: 2 Out of 5

I guess it’s kinda funny that the main problem with this show has a point more than comedy, but whatever. K.C. Undercover is a family sitcom with a coat of spy paint over it, and the problems start when you realize what it’s trying to be and how it’s failing at it. Zendaya tweeted before the show’s release that she wanted K.C. Undercover to be like the Disney Channel of Old: That’s So Raven, Lizzie McGuire, Kim Possible, Proud Family. Well, here’s the thing: those shows (that i’ve seen at least, or that I know enough about to be able to tell) had sass, had characters being jerks, and had sitcom type jokes and behaviors, but they had a premise and they stuck to it, AND those characters were likable in the end (even though Proud Family has some problems with that).

Unfortunately, K.C. Undercover is anything but. Every single character outside of K.C. is an unlikable douchbag who the moment you think for a second about their words and actions becomes terrifying.

Well, that’s unfair. See, there’s Ernie, K.C’s brother, and he’s not an asshole. His role, however, is one of the most tired cliche’s in the book: Punching bag. To an extent that’s truly depressing. We’ve covered some pretty bad parents so far in these reviews, and Davenport from “Lab Rats” still is my least favorite, but giving him stiff competition are Craig and Kira Cooper. Everything they do is either not funny, old hat, or absolutely horrible! Playing favorites is bad enough as a joke, but the extents the show goes to make this “funny” only heighten the horror! They forget to drive Ernie from school because they can’t recognize his number. They blatently declare K.C. to be their favorite. They wipe his mind so he won’t know the family are spies, which also wipes out the one time he’s ever felt good about himself. They are totally fine with sending their daughter into a dangerous mission, and when she understandably asks not to do it, they’re disappointed in her because they are the only ones who see her potential!

AND THAT’S WITHOUT TALKING ABOUT MARISSA, K.C.’S BEST FRIEND! While she is less horrible, she still sucks ball! Her whole role is to be the ditzy blonde who tries to turn K.C. into a “Real Woman”. Now, Zendaya is sort of typecast as a nerd/outcast, so I guess it makes sense that she would have a friend try to make her more... Outgoing. But hearing her say things like “She’s a girl!” when K.C. wants to go to the dance, or saying that she’s happy this antisocial loner is no longer the way she is makes you wonder: How the fuck are they best friends if all she wants to do is change her?

Thankfully K.C. doesn’t listen to her. In fact, K.C. (or should I say Zendaya) is the only one here with a shred of comedy (I pity Ernie, but he’s a meh character). Zendaya’s genuine reactions that feel real even when you know they are scripted (like laughing at a silent but deadly fart weapon she has or trying to be girly) add so much to the show. You can tell she’s trying her best, and you can tell she’s carrying the show on her own. The only one with acting chops, comedic talent, anything. Easily the one thing this show has.

So we have bullshit characters who are somehow worse than the usual disney channel stock characters, comedy that sucks, what else can go wrong?

STORY AND HEART: 1 Out of 5

Oh yeah, this can go wrong too. The pilot of the show is all about how K.C. became a spy, starting off with perhaps the only good scene in the show: A cold open showcasing K.C. kicking a bad guy’s ass and being a cool spy. That’s actually pretty great! It’s a homage to the genre, and it’s a good way to set the stage for a “K.C. should believe in herself” story.

But here’s the thing: The story shoots itself in the foot. Teens being superheroes and spies and stuff is a hard subject to dangle, especially in a post Steven Universe Future world which very rightly showed that a character this young would have SO MUCH trauma. Of course, some find ways to deal with it cleverly (Spider-Man stories never shy away from how fucked up Peter’s life is) and you don’t HAVE to deal with it to make a good show (i.e Kim Possible), but there’s ignoring it so that the show can be fun and then there’s maximizing on how bad it is and saying laugh, or worse, that’s it’s ok.

Look, the show repeatedly tells me K.C. is extraordinary, smart, tough. And she IS, don’t get me wrong. But seeing her parents, two people who surely want her safe, be disappointed that she doesn’t want to fail this mission, because well she’s not good enough is horrible! The show claims only a teen could get the phone in the dance, but that’s just bullshit. A custodian clearly spies for the “bad guys”, and adult chaperons exist. Heck, all this tech and no one has facial software to look like a kid? WHY AM I ASKING THESE QUESTIONS?

I normally LOVE Characters learning to be confident stories, and thankfully K.C. doesn’t need to change herself for that, but... Like... I shouldn’t be thinking of how horrible the implications are in a fun spy show for kids.

Add that absoulute hate for Ernie and just a totaly lag of a story that could be fun if it weren’t for everyone else, and the only point goes to K.C. again for keeping me sane while watching this.

FINAL SCORE: 4 Out of 15

Bunk’d and Dog With A Blog, with all their falings, were better than this. Think about that.

Next time we have The Buzz On Maggie, the long awaited New Adventures of Winnie The Pooh review and...

Hannah... Montana...

(”Megalovania” plays)

...Oh SHIT. (For the record, I used to hate it for how overexposed it was and I have no idea if I’ll love it or hate it)..

https://docs.google.com/document/d/100qHOP9aQ1AmKbrYuc--CQAP3LQnHfsS/edit

[thelevelsman]

The Great Game + Five-Act Structure

me and @messedupsockindex did a TGG rewatch (i think we’re gonna do the whole show hell yeah hell yeah) and I did some liveblogging that turned into several metas on things i think are important in this episode, with the five-act structure being a Theme (though i went off on a real tangent RE: solar systems/framing and metaphors too). Read on if you dare.

First of all I learned that this was the first episode of the show that was filmed? I find that very interesting, I don’t know much about how to shoot a tv series, BUT if this was the first one that was ready to shoot, i wonder if that means it was the first one finished, and if it was the first one finished, is it because it’s The One that lays out the five-act structure of the whole show? 

link to @fellshish ‘s most brilliant meta here

another small spot of evidence for this “TGG is the layout for the whole show” theory is that lots of little shots in this episode are also in the title sequence (could be a coincidence if they did indeed film this episode first, but also maybe not)

Throughout this episode, we are shown an ongoing conversation between Sherlock and John concerning Sherlock’s lack of basic knowledge about our solar system. It effectively frames the episode - one of the opening scenes being their “domestic” (fight), and the penultimate scene (before the pool scene) being the infamous “I won’t be in for tea” / “I’ll get milk and beans” tragedy. I want to liken this episode-long conversation to a technique I saw in a different show. 

In this show (Masters of Sex starring the brilliant Michael Sheen and the formidable Lizzy Caplan), a man and a woman are having an affair with each other, but justifying it by saying they are simply “working” and that they’re not emotionally attached to each other (they’re sex researchers, so they “collect data” whenever they meet...it’s dumb.) Anyway, there’s a beautiful episode entitled “Fight” during which they are watching a boxing match in their hotel room while engaging in elaborate sexual roleplay with each other. While the boxing match plays in the background, they riff on what their lives would be like together if they really were the husband and wife duo that they pretend to be for the hotel staff. It’s intricate, and loaded, because you never know when they are acting within the roleplay, or talking honestly to each other about their feelings and pasts. They metaphorically duck and weave like boxers around their feelings and around each other. Their conversation often talks literally about boxing, too - The Fight is a tool through which the writers explore the characters’ bond for the viewer.

I see Moftiss using this same technique when I hear Sherlock and John going back and forth THROUGHOUT THE EPISODE about knowledge of the solar system. The first time they discuss it, you can feel John trying to understand why Sherlock comprehends things the way he does - why can something as basic as the solar system (or attraction) be allowed to slip through the cracks of his otherwise daunting intellect? And you can also feel Sherlock’s frustration with the way John perceives him - why should it MATTER if he doesn’t know the exact details of how the solar system (attraction) works - shouldn’t the fact that he knows it exists be enough, and if or when when he needs to, he can figure it out from there? They continue to explore the concept with each other as the episode goes on. 

Here, John has accepted that Sherlock doesn’t (or thinks he doesn’t) care about the mechanics of something as basic as the solar system (attraction). So he asks, why comment on it? Sherlock says even if he doesn’t understand it, he still appreciates it. Telling. 

In the final instance of this conversation, the penultimate scene of the episode, John tells Sherlock that maybe a little knowledge of the solar system might have come in handy after all. But Sherlock also has a point:

John’s knowledge of something so basic as attraction has been useless to him thus far. 

If we’re gonna accept food = sex, I found it funny that John was “starving” and he found a head in the fridge. John, there’s head for dinner, if you want it! Even funnier that Sherlock’s response to “I’m starving” was that he was researching saliva. (I don’t love the food=sex thing, I just don’t think it’s intentional, but I do feel like it’s a valid interpretation here that Sherlock is subtextually begging John to let him suck it)

I’m too tired to figure out what Mycroft’s dental appointment could possibly mean but both of us were like??? My half-baked theory right now (borrowing from M theory) is that the “dental appointment” was actually Mycroft getting the shit kicked out of him by Moriarty/Mary/whoever the mastermind is, so that Mycroft would plant the missile plan crime for Sherlock? 

okay so I never really realized this but Sherlock knows Jim is gay bc he uses hair product and then season 4 John has hella hair product....huh

Sherlock’s security outfit is queer coded but suddenly I can’t find any evidence of this I just...have it somewhere in my psyche that a police/security costume outfit like that was claimed by queer people and I can’t remember why?

For hostage number 3, the old woman, Moriarty (or whoever is on the other end of the computer) calls her “a funny one.” @messedupsockindex​ told me while we were watching about the midpoint of the five-act structure being the breakthrough, the point of no return, the point at which key knowledge is gained (from John Yorke’s Into The Woods, also brilliantly discussed here).  I can’t help but think of this seemingly offhand line as a tiny clue to the importance of series 3 of BBC Sherlock. (In case you didn’t know, the midpoint of the whole show, if there are indeed going to be fifteen episodes, is...you guessed it...the best man speech).

The last Greenwich pip case that is solved, a case in which we have a hostage on the other end of a phone, is the fake painting. The solution to this case is “the Van Buren supernova” aka part of outer space, seen from our solar system. As I’ve argued above, the solar system is a metaphor/framing device used in this episode to subtextually discuss the engine of this entire show - Sherlock and John’s relationship. How very telling that Sherlock, even Sherlock, very nearly doesn’t get to this solution. But, when he does...

(me reading about the five act structure and realizing series four is fake)

Moriarty’s last few lines - I find this whole scene to be absolutely vital to understanding the point of the whole show, but especially the last bit. 

There is probably already someone who has explained/noticed this but...the exchange that Moriarty is responding to, that happened before he re-entered the room, was Sherlock and John getting the closest they ever get in the WHOLE show to discussing the sexual tension/attraction between them (I think I’m again standing on the shoulders of the legendary M theory here). John has taken a huge leap in choosing to bring up what “people” might think about Sherlock ripping his clothes off in a darkened swimming pool. Sherlock responds jokingly but not dismissively, and the logical next step would be to discuss what they themselves think about it...until of course they are interrupted by this, by literally being held at gunpoint.

Moriarty’s lines here are apparently some pretty famous lines in ACD canon. I didn’t know the canon context, so it’s a little easier to just parse the lines in context of this scene. Moriarty wants to stop this discussion that Sherlock and John are about to have, and more broadly, whatever that conversation might lead to. He would try to convince them that they can’t be allowed to continue, but everything he has to say, all the convincing he could possibly do, has already crossed Sherlock’s mind (or both of their minds - it’s actually not specified who he’s talking to here). This is true because Sherlock and/or John are afraid to “continue” - discuss their feelings for each other - because of trauma and internalized homophobia. All the reasons that they shouldn’t “continue,” reasons that Moriarty could cite out loud, have already crossed their minds, probably more than once. I think this unspoken meaning makes so much more sense than taking Moriarty’s “you can’t be allowed to continue” to mean “you can’t be allowed to continue to solve crimes,” which is what it meant in ACD canon. And it’s a fantastic rework of an ACD canon line. 

So... the end, I guess. I probably should have split this up into different posts...