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canary3d-obsessed · 4 years ago

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Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 08 first part

(Masterpost) (Other Canary goodness)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Rabbits

The Jiang kids have some quality time with the rabbits. Initially Jiang Cheng says it’s wrong for gentlemen to hold rabbits, which is definitely in no way related to gay-rabbit-god symbolism, but changes his mind when he discovers how fun men rabbits are to cuddle.

Jiang Yanli says, in a moment with zero foreshadowing, that if they take one rabbit away from the others, it will miss its family and be lonely. Also if a rabbit were to watch from the rooftop while a mean enemy rabbit poured wine on the corpses of its parents, that would be extra upsetting. For a rabbit. So let’s leave all the rabbits where they are. Check.

Speaking of cute fluffy creatures that are upset, we see this distressed look on Wei Wuxian’s face kinda often when he’s talking with Jiang Cheng.

There are some sibilng relationships where you will always do anything to help each other because you survived a shitty childhood together, but as adults you find you don’t actually share values, and that your interactions are kinda toxic -- for both of you. This seems like one of those.

Even though he’s younger, Jiang Cheng is in the role of the elder sibling who is being abused by the parents, and is handing the abuse on down the line to the “younger” sibling, in the form of constant criticism and casual hittings. Wei Wuxian isn’t actually younger, but he is lower ranked because he’s not a blood relation, and he gets plenty of parental abuse as well. It’s...not a healthy family.

(more after the cut!)

Lan Wangji has been lurking nearby during this conversation, and after the Jiangs leave, he looks at the rabbits and says farewell. He clearly means farewell to Wei Wuxian, or else he has a really unhealthy level of yearning being directed toward the rabbits. At least, for a vegetarian.

Uninvited Gusu Guest

Lan Xichen is meditating, and because the Director of Photography loves us, we get a bunch of nice closeups of his exquisite face. He hears a noise thing and tells Wen Chao to come in, which results in a dire bird scream and Wen Chao’s muddy feet intruding on his day. Why did Wen Chao bring the bird with him? He’s trying to be sneaky, right? So...ok whatever.

Wen Chao acts like a dirtbag and menacingly reminds Lan Xichen that his didi just hit the road all by himself. Lan Xichen gets so upset he curls his fingers slightly. His beautiful, beautiful fingers.

Is it slapping time yet?

Road Tripping

Fortunately for the Lan brothers, Lan Wangji isn’t going to be alone for long. Wei Wuxian is determined to follow him, and where friend-maker Wei Wuxian goes, an assortment of other helpful cultivators will soon follow.

Wei Wuxian leaves a note to say “I’m running away from home with the hot boy I met in summer school” and signs it with a smiley face, the dork. Jiang Cheng is angry, as usual; Yanli has confidence in Wei Wuxian, as usual, and Jiang Fengmian is autocratic and doesn’t explain what he’s thinking, as usual. JF is aware of the Yin Iron, however, so he may understand that WWX will be useful in protecting it on the road.

Lan Wangji has changed his hair, upgraded his crown, and put on the most absurdly beautiful outfit of the entire show to go on a solo road trip totally without any hot infuriating boys.

Quick, Lan Wangji, catch this callback to that time you rejected my advances back in Gusu! This time Lan Wangji catches the offered fruit and keeps it, presumably to consume furtively when he wakes in the dead of night, restless with unslaked thirst for Wei Ying. Or, you know, to have with his lunch while they’re riding on the boat.

This is a level of synchronized walking-with-shoulder-contact that would make the Guardian boys proud. Lan Wangji is all touchy feely now that he’s out from under the eyes at Cloud Recesses.

He also has upped his troll game, actually smirking after he says “boring” to Wei Wuxian’s declaration of I’m-gonna-come-along-you-can’t-stop-me.

He also...doesn’t seem angry? Like, he is still seriously on edge, but it feels like he left the boiling rage at home. Lan Xichen is right; having a friend IS good for Lan Wangji. And for whatever reason, Lan Wangji is ready, now, to accept Wei Wuxian’s friendship.

We Rate Birds

Wen Chao has the weirdest fucking pet. This bird has a resentful energy problem, obvs, but it also seems to be invisible except for resentful energy, but it leaves random feathers behind at places, and then when Wei Wuxian kills it, it’s a regular bird corpse with a little smoke. “Imbued with Yin Iron energy” seems to be the explanation. But Nie Huaisang said they see a lot of these in their neck of the woods. Did he mean “just a regular bird” and didn’t notice the billowing black visual FX? Either way I want to see a nest full of baby dire Yin birds, I bet they’re hideous cute.

Wen Qing has a new outfit and an elegant fiery golden crown. There’s probably some plot stuff happening here. Wen blah blah Yin Iron blah blah. She’s so pretty. I love her ears and her cool double hair parting. The girls’ hairlines are always nice and soft, presumably because they get to wear their own front hair instead of a lacefront like the boys are glued to stuck with.

I Call it Bondage

After the fun they had in the ice cave, it’s only fair that Wei Wuxian gets to have a turn tying up Lan Wangji.

One of the fun things in clipping The Untamed is that the show’s editors generally didn't drop any frames when they intercut the various scenes, meaning that some longer shots can be spliced back together by removing the other camera portions, as with these two string-pulling bits.

Lan Wangji totally lets Wei Wuxian put a leash on him, quickly declaring it boring and taking control of it, pulling Wei Wuxian along behind him.

Incidentally, at this stage about half of Wei Wuxian’s talisman’s are blue. After he loses his core, they are 100% red, but nobody notices that. Well, maybe Nie Huaisang does because he notices a LOT, but nobody says anything.

After they play around in the field for a bit, Lan Wangji’s magic bag of plot advancement goes off, sending them to Flower Town.

He’s Leaving Home Bye Bye

Meanwhile, at Lotus Pier, we get a nice view of the rooftops. I’d hate to be the guy whose job it is to hang up bells and tassels at any of these places.

Jiang Cheng sneaks out to go join his brother’s road trip. He gets caught, because his idea of sneaking is to walk out the front door in broad daylight and leave the door open behind him.

Jiang Yanli tells him to go ahead, though and he scampers off to have...the last carefree fun of his entire life, actually. Sigh.

Flower Town

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji go to Tanzhou and immediately run into Nie Huaisang, because sure, why not. China’s not very big.

Lan Wangji’s startle response

Wei Wuxian’s startle response

Nie-Xiong and Wei-Xiong are delighted to see each other, once Wei Wuxian explains that Lan Wangji isn’t there to bust them.

While Wei Wuxian and Nie Huaisang squee over each other, Lan Wangji ...tries to deal with that. His reaction is probably a mix of jealousy and social anxiety. This town has got to be overwhelming for him after the order and quiet of Cloud Recesses; he even admits--aloud!--that it’s too crowded for him at one point. Add in his boyfriend’s travel partner’s number one enabler, and it’s not a comfortable situation.

Oh great now they’re going to want me to get high and make out with them, ugh

However, with Lan Wangji in the mix, the Nie-Wei dynamic shifts away from mischief making, and they very quickly become a friend trio sharing a serious purpose. When Wei Wuxian, in his second life, refers to NHS as “that old friend of ours” when talking to LWJ, he’s not wrong. Nie Huaisang and Lan Wangji become friends during this trip, and arguably remain friends, within the limits of Nie Huaisang’s revenge remit.

From one point of view, Nie Huaisang is grown-up Lan Wangji’s very best friend (not counting his eventual husband). Everyone in the cultivation world knows what Lan Wangji’s heart desires most, after Nightless City, and Nie Huaisang gives it to him. By, uh, manipulating a crazy guy into ritual suicide. Hey, no gift is perfect.

Continued in Next Post! Soon!

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kairi-chan · 5 years ago

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Coffee Date?! - BoruSara

Art by: @emancipate-art my first collab with Manci!! <3 Please go to his profile and check out his stuff. Commissions are open, too. :)

Rated: K+

Genre: Fluff / Humor

Written for @borusaraweek2020 D7: Coffee

Beta-read by: @ss-tyytyy <3

...

“Come on, Boruto! Hurry up!” Sarada was absolutely ecstatic. The grin on her face, as well as the pink tint on her cheeks, were starting to look permanent. And if Boruto just wasn’t such a sore loser, he might have found it cute. Maybe.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming,” he muttered and stuffed his hands in his pockets. His lower lip jutted out as he watched her walk ahead with a spring in her step, short hair swaying along with the cool spring breeze, and that sweet smile on her face.

Yeah, he definitely didn’t find her cute. At all.

It was a bad idea, letting her taunt him into making a bet that she could hit more bullseyes than he could. But his stupid pride and his stupid want to look cool in front of her had won over. Sarada was the best at shuriken jutsu. Everyone knew that, including Boruto. But despite knowing the facts, he took her up on her bet.

“Loser buys coffee after training.” She grinned slyly.

“Ha! You’re on. But if I win, we go to Thunder Burger,” Boruto huffed.

“It doesn’t matter where you want to go, because we’re surely going to Ninbucks,” Sarada replied as she crossed her arms across her chest.

And that is exactly what happened. Boruto should have already known—Sarada was always right. Now he was standing outside the coffee shop, gazing up at the green logo and sighed. Of course, she would want to take advantage of her win and come here. Boruto could kiss that pack of Ninja cards goodbye.

He followed her into the store, the aroma of coffee enveloping his senses. Boruto took a deep breath and closed his eyes, and a small smile formed on his lips. Okay, maybe coming here wasn’t such a bad idea.

“What should I have, what should I have,” Sarada mused to herself as she tapped her lower lip with her index finger, those dark eyes gazing at the menu board overhead. “What will you be getting, Boruto?”

His eyes widened a bit, he hadn’t thought about it. All he thought about was getting Sarada her coffee. He didn’t think that they would actually be staying in the cafe. “I don’t know yet,” he admitted and stood next to her in the queue in order to see what they were offering.

“I think I want to get a cake, too.” Sarada looked at the chiller before her, her dark eyes going wide with excitement. “Their chocolate cake here is good.”

“Hey!” Boruto puffed his cheeks. “Our bet just involved coffee!”

“Yes, yes,” Sarada waved her hand at him dismissively. “This one’s on me. Let’s share.” She turned her gaze at him and smiled.

His eyes widened and turned his face away. “O-okay, fine.”

Sarada walked up to the cashier and said her orders. She then turned to look at Boruto and asked what he wanted. “I’ll have what you’re having.”

This surprised her, but she grinned. “Good choice.” She said before turning to the cashier to finalize her order. Boruto pulled out his wallet and handed the cashier some bills, and Sarada did the same.

They both walked over to an empty table and sat across from each other. The couch was surprisingly comfortable. Paired with the smell of coffee and Sarada’s warm presence, Boruto allowed himself to relax and lean back. The two of them spoke about their training routine, and it wasn’t long until they called Sarada’s name to pick up their orders. She made a move to stand, but Boruto stopped her. “Don’t worry, I got it.” He got up on his feet and picked up the tray.

Blue eyes widened when he turned and caught sight of her. The way Sarada was leaning back on the couch with a tired yet soft smile on her face as she watched him approach, the light from the window giving her an ethereal glow. His heart stuttered for a moment.

Okay… Maybe he did find her cute.

Boruto carefully put the tray down on the table in front of them, cheeks tinted pink as he was now so painfully aware of her attention on him. He peeked at her, deeming it safe now that she was cooing over the cake and coffee. Boruto swallowed and his cheeks burned all the more.

If buying her coffee meant seeing her smile like this, he wouldn’t mind doing it a little more often.

The cake really was good, and Boruto enjoyed sharing it with her. The coffee that Sarada chose was also pretty good, just the right amount of bitter and sweet mixed into one smooth hot concoction.

“Better than Thunder Burger, huh?” She asked slyly.

“What?” How could she even suggest such a thing? “No way!” He scoffed.

Sarada giggled and took a sip of her coffee. “It was worth a shot, but this is nice for a change, don’t you think? You shouldn’t be eating too many burgers, too.”

“I can eat what I want,” Boruto sulked, taking a small sip of his coffee. The taste was far from his favorite, but he had to admit, Sarada was right. “Though… I guess you’re right. This is nice,” he muttered.

That put a wide grin on her face, cheeks turning pink. “I’m happy.” Sarada scooted off the chair and pulled her phone out. “We should take a photo. The day that I almost made you admit Ninbucks is better than Thunder Burger, and treat me to a coffee date.” She took her glasses off, picked up the coffee cup and looked back at him. “Ready?”

Boruto was shocked, too little time to react to what she just said.

A coffee date?!

His cheeks burned. So this is a date. And with Sarada, too. He turned away, a pout on his face.

Sarada took a barrage of photos, and captured a portion of Boruto looking surprised, one with a pout, another peeking at her, a soft smile forming on his face, before finally turning into a wide smile.

If this is what dates were like with Sarada, maybe Boruto would want more of it.

Sarada stopped taking photos, put her glasses back on, and looked at the photos, laughing upon seeing his expression. “Boruto, what was that pout for?” She showed him the screen. “It’s not like you to be this way for photos.” She kept on scrolling and found the last photo—of her and Boruto with wide smiles on their faces. “That’s the smile I was looking for.”

She showed him a photo of the screen, and Boruto couldn’t help but smile warmly. “Send me that, would ya?”

“Sure. I’ll post it, too.” Sarada got on her phone, thumbs going over the screen, sending him the photo and posting it on Ninstagram.

Right when Sarada posted it, she put her phone away and went back to her coffee, chatting about what her hopes were for their next mission. Boruto did the same and took a slice of cake, happily exchanging wishes for a higher ranked mission next time as well.

Boruto walked her home, just when the sun was setting and the sky was painted with colors of pink and orange. He waved at her, and waited until she was inside before turning heel and walking towards his own house. The phone in his pocket started vibrating like crazy, and he pulled it out, looking at all the notifications his guy friends were sending in their group chat.

His eyes went wide and heat filled his cheeks as he read the messages from his friends, all filled with teasing—teasing him with Sarada. Boruto couldn’t even speak right, choking on words and feeling his face heat up from all of their messages. Boruto stuffed his phone in his pocket and marched away.

As much as he tried being huffy about it, whenever he would think about Sarada, his heart would feel so much lighter and at some point, he couldn’t stop smiling. He caught himself, groaned and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

Great. Boruto’s crushing on Sarada.

He kicked a rock on the pavement and pouted. Well, it’s not like he would ever admit it.

At least, for now.

...

If you like my fics, please do visit my profile. I have links to my Masterpost, FFnet, Ao3, Twitter, and Ko-Fi there. :)

#borusaraweek2020 #borusaraweek2020D7 #borusara #boruto #sarada #boruto and sarada #boruto uzumaki #sarada uchiha #fanfic #fanfiction #boruto fanfiction

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onlinemoneyculture · 4 years ago

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margridarnauds · 4 years ago

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I know you prefer a-cast, but what are some pros to buying m-cast instead? There's a bit of a war going on abt which is better. I heard m-cast is better bc the cast is more senior and experienced, but I don't know what to believe. Is a-cast or m-cast just a taste thing, or is it abt smthing else? Would you mind making a chart or smthing for the pros and cons of both versions? Maybe ratings per category? I know you have a preference, but I just think you are quite nuanced. Thanks in advance!

I am very honored that you would think of me as someone who’s fair and nuanced!

Before I begin, I’m going to say one thing that might or might not be considered....well. Very American of me, from the perspective of Japanese fandom: I do not believe, when it comes to spending the amount of money that these cost, on holding back information in order to appear diplomatic. I’ll try to be diplomatic, for the sake of people who might like anyone I criticize, but, also, if I dislike an aspect, I will try to find SOME way of making said displeasure known, because, again: The amount of money required to buy one DVD, let alone two, is quite a lot. I personally like to buy both, since it lets me compare and contrast, but my God, is it a bit of money (and this year, with the exception of the 2016 Elisabeth, I’ve had to cut down quite a bit while I’ve been abroad: I haven’t touched Frankenstein or Phantom...at least not yet.)

Also, I am always willing to arrange streams of either/both casts, since this musical is my baby, so that anyone reading this now can see whether what I say is true or not, as well as in order to determine your own preferences.

Alright, so that disclaimer out of the way, let’s start off:

I kind of disagree that M cast is more experienced, as a whole. Let’s compare:

Marie

Rena Sasamato (A Cast) - Had her debut when she was ten years old, in 1995. She is a Toho veteran with many, many musicals under her belt, including The Woman in White, Love Never Dies, Jekyll and Hyde, Les Miserables, West Side Story, Rudolf, Fiddler on the Roof, and, of course, the original 2006 production of Marie Antoinette, where she played Margrid Arnaud.

Hanafusa Mari (M Cast) - Almost needs no introduction, such is the fame that she has. And I say this as a detractor. My personal feelings about her personality, acting, and singing aside, I can admit that Hanafusa Mari is a living legend in the Japanese musical industry. She certainly lives up to her title of “Empress”, in all senses of the term. She had her debut in 1991 (after, admittedly, undergoing the training of the Takarazuka Revue, so I will give her that she had experience beforehand, just not in acting and singing on stage), and remained there until 2006, when she retired in conjunction with her fellow top star, Yoka Wao. From 2010 onward, she appeared in non-Takarazuka roles, including my very first exposure to Japanese theatre, Dracula, in 2011.

Now, of the two of them, I won’t deny that Hanafusa has more experience, however I also feel like saying that Rena has less experience is making it sound almost like she was some starving waif that Toho picked off the side of the streets in order to star in their new musical, as opposed to a seasoned actress in her own right who, on top of having an impressive number of musicals under her belt, also has experience in the musical itself. Hanafusa, when it comes down to it, only has four years’ more experience than Rena, though she is almost a decade older and undoubtedly, when she premiered, had more polish than 10 year old Rena. But, on the other hand, she DID remain with the Revue an impressively long time, which is very intense as far as how many musicals they perform on a yearly basis (most Top Musumeyaku only last about...2-3 years or so), she was the original Elisabeth in Takarazuka (a legendary role in its own right), and, my snark about her having the best career money can buy aside, I am willing to say that, for the most part, she’s earned her status as a legend.

And I want to say that I’m not ripping YOU apart when I say this, I want to make that absolutely clear. You’re asking me a very good question, but it is something I tend to find quite a bit of when I talk Japanese musicals, in the sense that there is often this...assumption that actresses who started off in non-Takarazuka musicals (also a moment of silence for the Shiki actresses, who I almost never talk about but who are kicking ass as Disney Princesses) are somehow...lesser, or that they have less training. Takarazuka is and remains very prestigious, but it’s hardly the be-all, end-all of all musical theatre, and, in many ways, I would argue that Rena has more experience than Hanafusa, in terms of the world of Toho musicals, which require a different style of acting and singing: Less stylized, less affected, more what you would expect from a Broadway or West End show. It’s actually something that I find quite a few Takarazuka actresses struggle with when they come to Toho, as they have to adjust how they’ve done things for a new audience.

Now, what does this have to do with the overall point? Well, a lot of people bought Marie Antoinette FOR Hanafusa to begin with, since she does have a huge following. I have seen plenty of people admit that they only bought it for her in the first place and didn’t bother with the other cast. I have even seen, in the past, people argue with me on the idea of a musical that DOESN’T have Hanafusa in it getting a proshot, simply because, for them, she IS the world of Japanese musical theatre. Coming from that perspective, of course Rena is less experienced, because she, simply put, isn’t Hanafusa.

In terms of their overall presentation of the characters, I found that their respective training really impacted how they portrayed the characters: Rena played Antoinette as being very elegant, with a pride that could turn to haughtiness. It made for an Antoinette that is interesting in her own right to watch, which is tricky, since I find that Antoinettes tend to be overshadowed by the other characters, especially Margrid, Fersen, and Orléans. She did include certain aspects of a Takarazuka performance in her performance, since her mother was a Takarazuka star in her own right, such as how to properly use an 18th century fan, but, for the most part, I’m willing to say that she played it much more naturalistically.

Hanafusa, meanwhile, emphasized the tragedy of Marie’s life. Throughout a decent portion of the musical, she can be seen crying, especially during the trial (which Rena played straightfaced, playing a Marie that is totally numbed by grief), and expresses her happy, joyful moments in a very exaggerated, almost forceful way, more what I would expect from a Zuka actress given that Zuka performances tend to emphasize extremes of sadness and happiness. (Keeping in mind, of course, that traditionally, it’s expected for musical/opera singers to act in an exaggerated way in order to be seen from the back.) If you are used to Hanafusa, then you’ll LOVE it, because she is very much there, and it’s very much what you’ve been accustomed to. She does show her training; she doesn’t miss a single note in the entire production, but I do find that, in this one area, her added age over Rena might be to her detriment, as I find that her voice has thinned somewhat with age, comparing her now to where she was in Dracula or during her Takarazuka days. Her vibrato also isn’t quite to my taste. Not BAD, but not for me. She isn’t UNPLEASANT to listen to, and again, if you are buying it to hear Hanafusa Mari’s voice, that is exactly what you’ll get, but I also do think the luster of it has faded.

So, in terms of overall ratings, here is what I would put them:

Rena:

Year of Debut: 1995

Acting: 9/10

Singing: 10/10

Hanafusa:

Year of Debut: 1991

Acting: 4/10

Singing: 6/10

Margrid

Sonim (A Cast) - Sonim’s history has been gone into detail here by my friend, @chibimyumi who, unlike me, has a native speaker’s understanding of Japanese (as opposed to getting lucky with Google Translate), so I’ll leave it to her. But, suffice it to say, Sonim had her musical debut about...2007 or so (she was involved in other stage projects, but for sanity’s sake I’m marking her appearance as Johanna in Sweeney Todd as her musical debut) after the idol industry decided to be cowards and kicked her out because she didn’t conform to their pretty pink princess dreams, was offered the title of Ogosho IMMEDIATELY upon her joining up with Toho, and, since then, has distinguished herself as one of their undisputed leading ladies. She has appeared, to my knowledge, on three proshots, two of which I own: Mozart, 1789, and Marie Antoinette, and has also appeared in Kinky Boots, Tanz der Vampire, FACTORY GIRLS, and Rent.

Natsumi Kon (M Cast) - Natsumi Kon is, admittedly, also no slouch in the world of Japanese musical theatre: She had her debut in 2011, with the coveted role of Juliette Capulet in Romeo and Juliet, and has since been in Les Miserables, Grand Hotel, the Addams Family, The Fiddler on the Roof, and The Secret Garden, as well as being the voice actress for Belle in the 2017 Beauty and the Beast. She has been praised as essentially being “the next generation of the musical world”.

By the same standard I’ve set re: Hanafusa and Rena, there isn’t THAT much in terms of their ages, since they have the same difference in debut time (though in this case, it’s in Sonim’s favor, and I also think that it’s much more dramatic in terms of younger musical performers as opposed to older ones.)

I feel like, of the two of them, more people would have come for Sonim, since she is an Ogosho herself, being at the same level of ranking as Furukawa and Hanafusa. What I suspect, in fact, is that Toho, in a CLASSIC Toho move, split the cast that most people would have wanted, with Hanafusa, Furukawa, and Sonim, but I can’t confirm and, honestly, I feel like Hanafusa’s very expressive Antoinette would have clashed with Furukawa’s more aloof Fersen, but that will be dealt with down the line. As it is, M cast has Hanafusa, and A cast has two Ogosho-level performers for the price of one with Sonim and Furukawa. (Meaning that, on a purely technical level, it has the most starpower behind it.)

Sonim has a strong belt and has a reputation for playing scrappy girls, possibly because she herself easily qualifies as a bit of a “scrappy girl” herself. Her Margrid is bitter and cynical, not necessarily kind. The years on the streets have warped her into someone who is primarily motivated by herself and her own personal revenge. She uses “the people” as a self-justification to pursue her own vendetta, only realizing by the end what it’s done and cost her. She doesn’t care for social norms AT ALL, and would be the exact type of person that you would see on a tabletop counter at 2 AM, legs spread out, trying to stuff an entire pizza down her mouth. She’s distrustful, especially towards men and, even for those that she trusts, she has a low level of tolerance for. She is, frankly, a bit of a bitch. And I adore her for it, because it’s more realistic to what I think someone would be like after undergoing what she has. She’s a kind of female character we get relatively little of, really. I do think that, on a few occasions, Sonim perhaps outbelts herself here but, in general, I feel like it suits Margrid’s personality more.

Natsumi Kon took a more tragic bent to the character. Her Margrid IS a good person, at heart, but she lets her desire for justice, along with her own revenge, steer her towards a course that just causes more suffering. She is more like an 18th century Eponine from Les Miserables, the street girl who, if she’d JUST had the upbringing that Antoinette had, could have been a great lady like her. She seems to play up the love triangle with Fersen more, getting a little closer to him at different times, giving him more longing looks, while also seeming to have...some sort of dynamic with Orléans, with the two of them often touching and laughing with one another. She does have a very smooth, strong voice, though I feel like, on some level, she has never quite escaped playing ingenues, and, rewatching it with a critical eye, I think that, as the musical continues, her voice starts getting a little breathy and strained. I don’t really know whether this is by intent or simply because of the musical being very vocally demanding for the Margrids, but I do think that, if Sonim overbelts at times at the beginning, Natsumi has some issues by the end; the notes aren’t coming out quite as clear or as strong as they should be. Her Margrid has a little bit more of a polish to her and, in general, seems a little younger and more naive compared to Sonim’s. I do give her credit for really being willing to go UP CLOSE to her fellow actors in stand-offs, giving her Margrid the sense of being a little bit of a bull in a China shop; during the duet that Marie and Margrid share, there’s one point where it seems like Natsumi is only INCHES away from her face. I know that it’s out of style to make Harry Potter analogies, but Sonim plays Margrid as a Slytherin; Natsumi as a Gryffindor. She didn’t do a BAD job as an actress, and in fact adds some nice touches to Margrid that I do like, but she doesn’t really do anything too new with the character.

Now, why does THIS matter? Well, for one, I think that, if you go in expecting the best of everyone, Sonim’s Margrid can be like a dose of cold water. Natsumi is more...palatable. Less conflict, less difficult questions, especially since it becomes that much easier to separate Orléans-As-Villain from Margrid-As-Heroine.

Overall:

Sonim:

Year of Debut: 2007

Acting: 10/10

Singing: 9/10.

Natsumi:

Year of Debut: 2011

Acting: 8/10

Singing: 8/10

Fersen

Furukawa Yuta (A Cast) - Probably one of Toho’s most bankable male leads at the moment. His presence in a musical is generally a VERY good sign to me that Toho is planning on a proshot, since they know that fans will buy anything he’s in. (To illustrate: I wasn’t PLANNING on buying Marie Antoinette, I had more than my fair share of doubts after the disastrous German run, but then I saw Furukawa Yuta and Sonim were signed on and I promptly got both casts. Best insanely rash move I’ve ever made in my life.) He had his stage debut in 2007 with The Prince of Tennis series, and since then he’s played in the Black Butler (Kuroshitsuji) musicals, Elisabeth, 1789, Romeo and Juliet, and Mozart. Though he initially made his name with his dancing and acting abilities, along with his personal charisma, he has since worked on his singing, putting himself through Hell and back to earn his spot as Ogosho. While Mozart was his official debut, I would argue that, in some ways, it was as Fersen and then, later, Romeo that he REALLY got to demonstrate what made him star material.

Mario Tashiro (M Cast) - Mario Tashiro, like Natsumi Kon, is absolutely no slouch either. He has a full, operatic voice that he uses to excellent effect, making him very recognizable even if you don’t know who exactly he is. Plenty of times, I’ll be listening to a trailer on Youtube and hear this BOOMING voice and go “MARIO TASHIRO?” He has been very prolific on the Toho scene, taking roles in Sunset Boulevard, Chess, Love Never Dies, Elisabeth (marking the first time in known history that Fersen is locked in a love triangle with Fersen for Marie Antoinette and then seduces Fersen’s son, Fersen), The Great Gatsby, Jekyll and Hyde, and Sweeney Todd, among others.

In terms of approach, both men took very different approaches to their role. Furukawa played Fersen as much more aloof and distant, which makes for a contrast with Marie’s sunny, naive personality. He has a dry sense of humor and has a long-running cat and mouse game with Orléans where both understand, on some level, that they’re on equal ground. His love of Marie, while definitely a real, true love, is also very idealistic: Marie represents a world that, for Fersen, is slowly dying out, she represents the best part of humanity for him, especially after being gone during the war. I do not believe, looking at Furukawa’s Fersen, that he and Antoinette ever actually slept together, rather that it was very much a courtly love. He cares for Margrid, entreating her to have compassion, but there’s just enough wiggle room to wonder how MUCH of it is genuine VS him needing something from her at the time, and he’s very aware of his status as an aristocrat and makes use of it. It’s really unlike any other take on Fersen I’ve seen, in any media, and it’s part of why I ended up leaning towards this production, since it’s generally a MASSIVE feat to make me like Fersen. Furukawa’s voice in the role is softer, lacking the strength of Tashiro’s but still making for some very impressive low notes.

Mario Tashiro, on the other hand, focuses more on Fersen as a romantic hero, full of dash and daring. He has a notably dramatic take on Fersen, with flourishes and exaggerated movements, which, as an opera singer, are probably part and parcel of his acting training. If he’s aware of Orléans’ general presence, he doesn’t seem bothered by him, with their being really little sign that Orléans has any respect for him at all. He loves Marie as well, but it is much more of a sort of fairytale, Rose of Versailles love. There’s not as much moral gray areas to his Fersen, even though he makes the exact same decisions as Furukawa’s and, like Hanafusa Mari’s Marie, tends to go through extreme emotions. His voice was, as always, phenomenal, I give him full and complete credit for it, however, unfortunately, when put up against Hanafusa Mari, I found that the two of them had the tendency of trying to outbelt one another, leading to a distinct lack of chemistry during romantic scenes. (And you’ll notice that, despite generally being weighted against Hanafusa, I am NOT giving her the full blame for this one.)

Furukawa Yuta (A Cast)

Year of Debut: 2007

Acting - 10/10

Singing - 9/10

Mario Tashiro (M Cast)

Year of Debut: 2009 (He had his singing debut in 2007, but his overall musical debut was 2009)

Acting - 7/10

Singing - 10/10

Louis

Takanori Sato (A Cast) - Probably the baby of the group, in the sense that he had his own debut a little while after the others, in 2015. In his case, and his case alone, would I say that there was a REALLY strong case for him not having as much experience compared to his counterpart. He has played in Titanic, Elisabeth, the Scarlet Pimpernel (the one with Kazutaka Ishi), Mata Hari, Legally Blonde, and Chess, the latter possibly most impressively since he did the entire thing in English.

Yuichi Harada (M Cast) - I’ll be honest, I’ve never in my life been tempted to look up his biography before, but when I did, I was impressed to find that he’s actually been working in the world of musicals since 1992, when he was in Anne of Green Gables and then again in Les Miserables as Gavroche. He has had a long career with Toho, too, being in musicals such as Les Miserables, The Sound of Music, Titanic, the Beggar’s Opera, and La Cage Aux Folles, none of which I literally had any idea about until today, but that is very impressive. Massive props to him, honestly, as well as working as a director for Bare: The Musical, which...well. Props to him for branching out. I will never understand the love for Bare worldwide, but you know what? Almost all musicals deserved to be loved by SOMEONE. He has an impressive track record, I’ll give him that. One of these days, I’ll probably have to dig deeper, since I suspect that there’s a lot more to him than meets the eye.

Takanori has a very smooth, strong voice, without the projection of Mario Tashiro. I found that his take on Louis was quite charming, tender to his wife, a normal man who Marie respects even if she doesn’t love him in the same way as she loves Fersen. (Honestly, can I just say: While we all know that Orléans has my entire heart....if Takanori’s Louis asked me to marry him....#PhilippeWho.) He’s a steady man, not really dumb, but well-intentioned and occasionally oblivious to the real danger, and it’s that that kills him, in the end.

Yuichi’s Louis is much more...confused throughout the thing and, while I think Antoinette has some compassion for him, I don’t really feel like it’s love so much as...affection, mixed with a certain amount of pity. He does show moments where it looks like he knows a lot more than he lets on, but in general, I think he did play it as much more humorous, a lot more...well, dumb, at least until the second act. He does have a solid voice, I give him that, but in general, it felt like there was a little less subtlety in how he interpreted the role. There’s something almost childish about the way that he grasps Orléans’ hands when he’s asking him to intercede for them, whereas in Takanori’s case, it’s more him realizing that his cousin is...well. Orléans, but knowing that he has to do a little bit of crawling if he’s going to survive.

Yuichi’s Louis DOES still get sympathy from me, but it’s in a way that is kind of insulting to him as a character, mainly because it’s less about HIM and more like “......god. Killing him is a bit like kicking a puppy. Like, you could do it, but my God, why would you?” Like, I do kind of want to write a fanfic where he can just......be safe........far, far away from everything, because I’m not sure if he would notice if they took him any place else, but it does kind of...take away his complexity? I will say, in his defense, looking over his entire performance, that seeing him constantly trying to smile as he’s being led while Marie panics, trying to let her know this is all going to be alright, is a tearjerker, though I still feel like his Louis is played a bit too much like the caricature of Louis that, at this point, I’m kind of used to seeing. That being said, while I don’t necessarily like all of the DIRECTION he took Louis, I can see that he put genuine thought into constructing the role, so I’m not going to nuke him too much in the acting category.

This one, more than any of the others, is probably YMMV, because I know people who were genuinely shocked to realize Louis is double-cast at all. Mainly because it isn’t like the role leaves THAT much of an impact, overall, having only one major song. I honestly think that the 2021 cast is making the right call in splitting Orléans and giving Louis one role, all things considered.

Takanori Sato

Year of Debut: 2015

Acting - 10/10

Singing - 10/10

Yuichi Harada

Year of Debut: 1992

Acting - 8/10

Singing - 8/10

The Case for M Cast

Now that we’ve gone through the rankings, it’s time for the original question: What are the pros of M Cast? And, if you just listened to me laying all this out, you would think that I wouldn’t have much positive to say. That being said, when I was back in the States and could spend an hour or two watching musicals every day, a LOT of the time, I would watch M Cast. There has never really been a point where I said “You know? I regret getting that cast, I wish I’d just had A the entire time.” If I was dangling off a cliff and I could only save one cast recording, I would HAVE to choose A (and then promptly sob), but I do, genuinely, like M on its own and would recommend getting both simply to compare.

- Mitsuo Yoshihara. Now, this is going to be odd for anyone reading, because I can hear it now: “But he wasn’t double cast! Wouldn’t you get him on A too?” Yes, you definitely would. But he is a very unique type of Toho actor in the sense that he changed up his performance for EACH cast he was in. If you look at M cast, he has a much warmer dynamic with Natsumi’s Margrid, either as a paternal substitute (making up for her own aristocratic father) or as a prospective love interest. He is MUCH more hurt in the final court scene, very clearly viewing Margrid’s decision as a personal betrayal. As the admitted and confessed Morléans shipper, I have to eat the angst up like it’s candy. The two of them have a nice amount of familiarity and chemistry with one another, presumably due to having worked with one another on other projects before.

- Mario Tashiro’s voice. This deserves its own section because it is REALLY, REALLY phenomenal. You know whenever you’re seeing Mario Tashiro in something simply because that voice is VERY distinctive and is totally overwhelming each time you hear it. I noted my misgivings in his section, but overall? It is very much worth the price of admission just to hear him.

- Different shots. I’m still figuring out exactly WHAT shots dramatically change from each cast, but M cast does contain some shots that A doesn’t have and vice versa. M cast doesn’t have this shot of Margrid and Antoinette, and A cast doesn’t have the one here of Antoinette and Fersen’s hands touching, which is a wonderful little bit of cinematography. I do think that, depending on the shot, you can get more or less of a character’s motivations in that moment. A personal favorite is Hébert trying to get Margrid alone during the scene just before the ball and Margrid shoving him off, which foreshadows what happens near the end of the second act.

-Hanafusa and Natsumi’s voices actually do go quite nicely together at the end.

-Mario Tashiro does make for a very splashy Fersen; yeah, you might not spend too long dissecting what he’s doing when he’s on stage, but he is fun to watch swish around in his 18th century officer’s outfit.

-My griping on Natsumi’s Margrid aside, I do think she has a lot of charm. No, it isn’t my FAVORITE take on the role, but I do actually like what she does, she adds quite a few nice touches to it, and she does make the song “Enough is Enough”, near the end of the first act, her actual bitch, adding her own riffs onto it to give it a sense of individuality. The parts where she’s smiling, hanging onto Orléans’ arm, make even my wrinkled, shriveled heart grow three sizes. I’ll be genuinely excited to see her return to the role in 2021 to see if there’s anything she changes, though I doubt I’ll be able to see any part of it in person.

-If you’re a Hanafusa Mari fan, you get to see the kind of performance from her that you’ve grown to expect and appreciate. If you’re not, you get to see her get splashed in the face with champagne. Win, win, win.

Overall, I think that it will depend on what you’re looking for. I really enjoyed the realism and the grit of the A cast, but not everyone WANTS grit, and in that case...I suppose M cast would appeal more, since M cast relies on everyone involved being much better human beings than A cast, though I do want to emphasize that everyone in A cast is still redeemable. (Except Hébert. Because fuck Hébert.) M cast is....easier to digest, in many ways. There’s a good queen, a stupid-yet-sweet king, a dashing hero, and a misunderstood-yet-angry-poor girl, manipulated by the siren’s song of the Revolution and her unrequited love for Fersen, who bullies the poor, downtrodden queen when she gets a chance before realizing the error of her ways. I think that, for many people, that’s perfectly fine, and that’s what they wanted, especially if they’re already used to Rose of Versailles. I do still LIKE it, because it’s a production of one of my top 2 favorite musicals, but I do think that, if it was the ONLY version of the musical available, I wouldn’t have spent so much time picking it apart. (Though I still would have thought it a MASSIVE improvement on the German.)

I do put a lot of it on Hanafusa Mari’s influence, though, because of the prevalence of her fanbase and the general belief that no one could ever come close to their star, so why bother getting another cast. Especially given how....devoted the Takarazuka fanbase is in comparison to the Toho fanbase, and the Thing I’ve noticed where fans try to argue that there is some sort of empirical reason for their bias as opposed to simply liking one more than the other.

#Anonymous #long post #toho stage #jmusicals

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randomahjummafan · 4 years ago

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Crash Landing on You

Well, who doesn’t know about this drama. I mean, I’ve heard it a lot, I was spoiled a lot of times but then it took me a long time to watch. It’s almost June!!! It was recommended by my cousin, my bosses and other friends but I didn’t watch it. I have a thing for overrated shows. But it kinda laid down so I decided to watch it. Before I watch it, I already know how Yoon Seri got to North Korea, due to paragliding but I did not know how it happened. I already know the Captain Ri every one is talking about. But, still, you should watch the drama. There is too much to know and watch out!

Crash Landing on You (CLOY) aired later 2019 to early 2020. It is about a rich heir/ceo, Yoon Seri, who was suddenly found at North Korea due to a paragliding accident. She got help from a North Korean soldier, Captain Ri Jeong Hyeok after landing on the North.

CLOY has too many casts and I have to tell you that every character is important on the drama. I won’t explain each character but I’ll drop their names here as I go on my review. Please read at your own risk. SPOILERS UP AHEAD.

This drama is not too heavy. I can even consider it a light drama even with all those issues that arises on the drama. A rom-com that would really warm your heart. Of course, we all know how fictional can this drama be and it really is an escape on reality. You would feel happy, you would feel all the kilig, and of course, you’ll be shedding a few tears on the drama. I understand how it became so big. CLOY team deserves all of it. Now, to share a few favorite scenes that stuck on my mind, I usually rewatch the drama so this can be edited later. I liked how the other 4 loyal soldiers under Captain Ri’s supervision always helps Seri to go back to the South. They always make sure she’s okay. Even though they say it’s Ri Jeong Hyeok’s words but on their own, I know they care so much for Seri that they can’t help think how she is. I also like how Ri Jeong Hyeok hide his family background that and how shocking it is for everyone when they found out who he was. I also liked the scene where in Jeong Hyeok drove the high-ranking official car. Like, yeah, I have this power. But kidding aside, you can’t deny the fact how worried he is for Seri that he drove from Pyongyang to their province just to make sure Seri is safe. Also, I liked how he bought South Korean stuff for Seri. Small actions, huge kilig!!! I also liked the part how Seri made her comeback in South Korea, like it was the perfect timing. Although I can’t help but wonder how the Ri couple would continue their love story since one is in the North and one is in the South. But of course, twist will always be twist. Capt Ri went to the South!!! Can you imagine that? How? Eottoke? Watch the drama so you’ll find out. Then a few days later, North Korean helpers of Seri arrives at the South! REUNION IT IS!!! I really feel that for Seri, the North people she spent time with are more important than her family. Also, watch out for the scenes where the North team are looking for the Ri couple. They almost found them but they had to make it difficult. It was too funny. What else is there? I’m talking about the Ri couple first, there is another couple to watch out. I’ll spoil later how meant to be the Ri couple is. I’ll talk about Seo Dan and Gu Seung Joon couple now. I have to add something. Capt Ri’s one year of schedules messages to Se Ri are so cute. He even asked the State Security of the South to help him. Also, it was funny when they were investigating why a North Korean Soldier was in the South. All they saw was how nice he was to everyone and how he and Seri was in love.

Alberto Gu/Gu Seung Joon and Seo Dan is the most unexpected couple. Tho you can feel that there will be a spark for this two. I just hoped that they had more time to spend with. Any, their meetings are always unexpected and funny at the start. But as time passed by, they rely on each other. They can’t help but take care of each other. I liked how Seo Dan is always like a snob on the phone but she just can’t leave Gu Seung Joon alone. She takes care of him somehow. Gu Seung Joon is quite the same. She rescues Seo Dan all the time when she knows that something might go wrong. Fave couple scene of this two, was when Dan met up with a few of her vain friends and at the end Seung Joon picked her up. Her friends was like, “OMO HEOL DAEBAK”. Dan was so cute whenever Gu Seung Joon calls her and asks her to come to him. She looks annoyed but then she gets ready and goes to Seung Joon. Dan is not an easy woman. She knows who deserves her.

I have to tell you also about the side characters and how great they are on the drama. North Korean F4 are the four guys whom Capt Ri trusted the most. You will never get bored on their scenes. They were the funniest when they arrived in the South. Then, we have the North Korean Avengers are the ladies from where Capt Ri stays. They love Capt Ri so much that whenever he gets his break, they make sure he won’t get hungry. They also love Seri that they make sure to defend her. Cho Cheol Gang is the ultimate antagonist. But he is also the best. I mean, he’s the reason why Capt Ri fled to the North. Lol, highkey he’s the reason but then lowkey it’s for Seri as well. Seo Dan’s mother is also a funny character. Watch out for her. Seri’s assistants and the insurance guy are also funny. They are the few loyal people to Seri. Seri’s family are so toxic at the start. You just want to punch them but that’s how heirs are usually. I’m really glad Seri’s second brother and his wife got what they deserve. These two are more annoying than Cho Cheol Gang. Seri’s first brother and his wife are just comediennes from the start.

My rating for this drama would be 10/10. I just can’t think of any flaws for the drama. I have to say, why to the people who said they skipped a lot of parts for the drama. I MEAN, EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED WHY WOULD YOU SKIP??? I just think the drama was sooo well made, I didn’t even hate one scene. I even liked the part where in Cho Cheol Gang was being the antagonist in the whole drama. Every part made sense for all the drama. Our North Korean avengers was always the best even though they’re quite easy to bribe. It was so funny. Our North Korean F4 was also the best. Watch the Lunar Special. I just these terms there lol. This might be the longest review I made, but then again, CLOY deserves it. CLOY OST IS ALSO THE BEST! I liked all the songs! Cameos from non-regular cast was also the best!! See, I just can’t find any scene to hate. I can’t think of any. Also, just because it showed the ending portion, it means it’s the end of the episode. Noooo, there’s more so watch till the end!

See pictures for some cute spoilers.

I almost forgot!! Seri and Ri Jeong Hyeok was meant for each other because they didn’t realize that they met years ago prior to their meeting in North Korea. They met in Switzerland, unknowingly, a lot of times. Seri even met Dan without any idea.

P.S. This is the hardest pictures I had to choose. I mean I can post a lot but I want to limit to just three. So just watch the drama. Plotline is good. Cast were great. Everything is good!

Ahjumma

#crash landing on you #kdrama #korean drama

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muziiek · 5 years ago

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Step by step instructions to Hire a Good SEO Marketer

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the workmanship and study of making search engines rank your site high in the characteristic search results when somebody types in a question. That is the purpose of SEO, in any case. Since SEO is as yet a rising field, there is no "overseeing body", and the principles at times change. A good SEO professional comprehends these evolving rules, and realizes how to appropriately apply them. An awful SEO specialist by and large commits errors, or deliberately attempts to beguile the framework to win "counterfeit" high rankings.

youtube

It isn't correct that you have no power over what shows up in the search engines. The content that you put on your site figures out where you show up in the search engine results page (SERP). On the off chance that your site is about "gadgets", you're likely not going to show up in search results about "transport passages". The most significant thing you can do on the web is to speak to yourself genuinely. In the event that your site is about "gadgets", and the content on your site discusses "gadgets" at that point you'll likely show up some place in the SERP for "gadgets". A good SEO professional can assist you with ranking higher for "gadgets", among other all around researched, and important catchphrases.

What is the Difference Between a "Good" SEO Service, and a "Terrible" One?

An awful ("blackhat") SEO advertiser resembles a merchant strolling down the road selling fake relief. You may believe you're getting it, yet you can't make certain of the outcomes. A good SEO advertiser resembles a drug specialist. They have concentrated all the dependable techniques to take care of your concern and likely have a good thought of how to securely and viably address your issue.

The Benefits of Hiring awful SEO:

Your site could shoot directly to the top, ranking #1 for your watchwords

You could procure a couple of new clients rapidly and make a brisk buck

The expense is far not as much as what your companions and rivals are paying for SEO

The Costs of Hiring awful SEO:

At the point when the search engines get on, your site could be punished (definitely downsized) in the rankings, winding up more terrible than previously

Your site could be incidentally restricted from the search engine (totally unfindable - anticipate 6 a year)

Your site could be for all time prohibited from the search engine (totally unfindable - for good)

At the point when any of the above happens, there will be lost efficiency from expelling all the search engine spam from your site

It could be difficult to track down all the stunts the SEO advertiser used to misleadingly support the rankings, and along these lines it could require some investment to get back into the outcomes pages

Once punished or prohibited, you will lose all the potential clients you would have picked up had it been done accurately

A professional SEO advisor will likely must be employed at extra expense to fix it and carry out the responsibility right

Try not to trust it? In February 2006, BMW was given the Google Death Penalty for utilizing blackhat SEO rehearses. They introduced a smooth plan to anybody with JavaScript, and indicated every other person (that implies the search engines) a catchphrase rich page. Demonstrating one content to guests and another to Google is a no-no. BMW Germany was prohibited from Google.

The Costs of Hiring Good SEO:

The underlying cost will be higher

There will likely be a progressing membership charge

The execution time will be longer (for the site to rank high)

There will be changes to the content of the real site, and most likely the structure, also

The Benefits of Hiring Good SEO:

Higher rankings by and large

The high rankings will in general remain there

The catchphrases you are ranking high for are applicable to your association and the individuals who are attempting to discover you

It is more financially savvy in the long haul

Future pages that you include the site will be simpler and quicker to rank higher

No power outage periods or client misfortune due to punishment

What Is "Terrible" SEO, and Why is it So Undesirable?

To begin with, how about we inspect a portion of the techniques accessible to the blackhat SEO advertiser. Here are only a couple:

Entryway Pages: Many pages loaded down with watchwords are set on the web, and all link back to your site

Shrouding: Showing one variant of the site to guests, and another to search engines.

Dynamic Content: Not all unique content is terrible; truth be told, most is entirely genuine. In any case, having the server produce huge arrangements of watchwords that change regularly is commonly a poorly conceived notion.

Scraping: Some sites visit high ranking sites, duplicate bits of the content that has the catchphrase they need, and post it on their site. This is an excellent method to really disturb different websites.

Shrouded Text: Keywords on a page that are a similar shading as the background, or that are covered up by CSS are a poorly conceived notion

Setting up links pages that utilization the catchphrase rich link content of different sites to increase ranking. This makes the link page give off an impression of being increasingly important for the ideal watchwords. This bothers the search engines, yet additionally the guests.

Watchword Stuffing: Writing practically pointless content in the site that is essentially an extensive rundown of catchphrases. Mindful SEO will utilize watchwords cautiously in the content, yet like all things, you can try too hard. Search engines acknowledge good language.

Exaggerating RSS: Go ahead and coop huge segments of your website. Be that as it may, coordinating the entirety of your website may raise a banner. There are bits of gossip proposing that there may perhaps be changes in the manner Google records RSS later on.

Sleight of hand: Submitting the search-engine benevolent page to the search engine, at that point after it's ordered, transferring the "real" page. This is an exceptionally brief lift in your rankings.

Unimportant Keywords: WHY might you advance the catchphrase "sex" on your site about "gadgets"? Do you sincerely think somebody searching for "sex" will see your site and state, "goodness hold up a moment, I think I needed a gadget"? In the event that you sell "gadgets", at that point advance "gadgets", so individuals who need to purchase "gadgets" can discover your "gadgets".

For what reason do Search Engines Dislike All This?

Search engines are in the data business. In particular, search engines give supportive responses to questions. Sites which utilize these techniques weaken the pertinence and helpfulness of the search engines. The search engine that permits their outcomes to get unessential is futile and out of business. Nobody will search that engine, nobody will tap on their advertisements, nobody will need to purchase or show their promotions, and inevitably nobody will need to put resources into them. Search engines are securing their ventures and their future by guaranteeing the proceeding with significance and handiness of their outcomes.

The most effective method to Hire a Good SEO Professional

Allows first gander at a portion of the signs that demonstrate the chance of a blackhat SEO advertiser

In the event that you hear anything like "we ensure top arrangement", don't recruit them. A good SEO advertiser can't promise you a good ranking anything else than your representative can promise you an incredible return. Everything they can do is a good job, or not.

In the event that the organization agent converses with you about the benefits of Meta Tags, don't employ them. Meta Tags are out of date regarding search engine advertising (SEM).

Get a rundown of past customers and check their present site and rankings. In the event that their rankings are currently low, or if the customer sites appear to have malicious content, or minimal content, don't recruit them.

In the event that first contact with the SEO organization is made through a spontaneous call or email, be vigilant. Why? SEO isn't a forceful advertising technique. SEO is the craftsmanship and study of furnishing individuals with what they were searching for at any rate. It is satisfying a need in light of a solicitation about that need. It could be said, it is a totally uninvolved showcasing technique, since it is possibly activated when an individual is really looking for it. Be careful about search engine advertisers that appear to be excessively forceful.

My own annoyance is the ones that call and declare that we are not at the top of the search engines however they can "help" us. Have confidence, we are recorded at the top for each keyphrase we've at any point really focused on. At the point when they are educated that we are at the top, they begin requesting to know which catchphrases we rank high for. Such significant keyphrases ought not be parted with so economically. I amenably hang up on these individuals.

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manifestation86-blog · 5 years ago

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One half Each Year With Manifestation Mind

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bbq-hawks-wings · 6 years ago

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King of the Roost

Mediocrity had odd places of hiding itself at times. Anything or and category always had its own “average” which never truly managed to stick out from the rest. There would always be the best of the best, the worst of the worst, the best of the best, etc.; but rarely did anyone ever notice how mundane the center of the bell curve was. Usually, if you didn’t notice it was probably because you weren’t the average of whatever you were observing at the time. If you were, though, you noticed how you were glossed over, never talked to, and never even talked about save in passing comments. Anyone could be the average anywhere, and for you it was being a lone daughter of a Marquis at the royal palace at the summer ball.

Actually, it wasn’t like you received no attention at all. You were young and single, so naturally anyone seeking an advantageous marriage pestered you as suitors; but you couldn’t help but note how all who approached you were men and families below your station seeking to climb up the ladder, inadvertently pulling you down. In this society where station was everything it was suicide on one’s reputation to marry below your own station less you be talked down upon because you were foolish enough to be swayed by “the first suitor” or “had exhausted better option and had to settle.” The fact that women were often seen more as bargaining chips for their families instead of people also made the ordeal all the worse.

Yet, here you stood, alone along the edge of the ballroom, fan in hand as you watched the cliches mingle amongst themselves. There were decent characters among them, but overwhelmingly were there simply psychological and political warfare to be had among these occasions. It could be fun if you were able to find at least someone to talk to or dance with, but alas, there was always someone to talk down about or to brownnose to; and you were stuck somewhere in the middle. All this melodramatic moping only served to bring to mind how the maids had tightened your corset too tightly in attempts to get you into that too small dress in attempts to turn heads and your feet hurt from the newly cobbled shoes on marble. What a bore!

The only upside to these events was watching the procession of the commissioned officers from the army presented and decorated before the nobility. Sometimes there was one or two characters that really caught everyone’s attention. One in particular stood out.

Most officers were noble-born, given station as a right of birth over merit. Over time a soldier could manage to work his way up the ranks, but so much politics on top of hard work had to be played in order to win any sort of title that it often took years to garner any respect, and by then their most eligible years had passed them by making them targets for some of the most desperate or infatuated women in the court. This year, though, among the grizzled veterans and the widely-known young officers was a fresh, young face no one had ever seen before. He was fair and not a particularly imposing figure; but there was an aura about his person that radiated an earned confidence and his golden eyes showed a fire burning up from the depths of his young, wild heart. He was born a commoner among the fishing villages to the south, but at eighteen he had joined the ranks of the royal army and left waves of astonishment in his wake.

He was knighted and decorated this summer in front of the entire nobility for the speed and skill he showed in mounted combat, his leadership in some of the more desperate battles, his bravery in the face of danger, and his overall outstanding contributions to the campaign; and he earned the nickname “Hawk” for the deathly speed and accuracy of his wartime accomplishments. Impressed “ooh’s” and “ahh’s” echoed throughout the hall at the exhaustive list of achievements as well as several stiff and glassy-eyed applauds from members who turned up their nose at his station who so dared upstage their own lackluster merits. This man was exceptional and anything but ordinary, so far removed from the concept of average - an exact opposite to you, born to nobility with not a single notable merit to your name. You deeply admired his tenacity, but something in your heart ached at feeling like at this rate you were only a few years away from falling into obscurity and forgotten amongst the surge of emboldened youths sure to follow his lead.

You tried not to look too bored or glum as you stood there fanning yourself thinking about it. It was simply too depressing and your energy was better spent wallowing in the privacy of your own estate later.

“Pardon me, my Lady.”

The foreign voice startled you, and you turned to find none other than the source of your intrigue and current misery, bowing to your general direction with an unassuming smile.

“Y-yes,” you managed to compose yourself quickly “How may I help you, Sir Hawks?”

He straightened out and held himself at a respectful distance. “Forgive me for startling you, my lady. I merely approached you in hope there might be room on your dance card for me.”

There were no names on your card which was an embarrassment as that meant not a single gentleman had approached you so far to reserve a dance. Perhaps that was partially your fault as you could always be a little more forward, but then again you wondered about your reputation and didn’t wish to be seen as overbearing.

“Ah, please forgive me.Where are my manners? I haven’t even properly introduced myself.” Some part of his complexion actually seemed nervous though he hid it well. “I am Sir Astor O’Seighin, knight to the crown.”

Despite feeling like he may already know who you were, you were obliged to introduce yourself in kind. “Miss (Y/N) Clark, eldest daughter of The Most Honorable Marquis Clark.”

“Miss Clark, I am most happy to make your acquaintance. Again, please forgive my lapse in decorum. I would still very much wish to dance with you.”

You pondered a moment and offered him your dance book and pencil. He graciously took the book from you and didn’t say a word as he perused the dance list and penciled his name on his choice.

“Thank you, my lady. I hate to flit by and leave you so soon but I believe I’m being called away, though I’ll be sure to find you in time to dance.”

You nodded, but your heart sank. Was that all there would be to this interaction? You thanked him and let him be on his way. He was charming, all things considered - perhaps well in over his head. That was quite the slip-up, but you weren’t willing to let that completely spoil your impression of him. You continued to tell yourself that you weren’t just saying that because you couldn’t help but find him handsome.

You hadn’t long to wait for the dance he’d penciled in - you took note that he had claimed the next one on the roster, and all too soon he was making his way towards you again this time making sure to follow every proper step. He was a good dancer it turned out. His posture and form were excellent, and he knew the steps better than you did. He always kept eye contact and a smile, but these were considerably more comfortable than some other past partners you’d had the unfortunate pleasure of dancing with. It felt like a shared moment, something intimate but unobtrusive and fun between two in a room full of people; and when he offered you a refreshment afterwards you couldn’t help but accept.

“Thank you for the dance, my lady, you were a pleasure!”

You noticed yourself smiling considerably more openly than you were used to at these events which was a welcome, albeit disarming change.

“As were you, sir. Thank you for approaching me.”

“I’d like to come back for more, but unfortunately as this is my debut I feel like I should make a point to continue to introduce myself. Perhaps I’m being too forward after only just meeting you, but I hope I’ll at least have the honor to dance with you again at another occasion.”

“I’ll be sure to leave a slot open for you.” You offered beneath your eyelashes. He was doing well if he was a commoner, but you decided to test him. “I hope the other guests are treating you well?”

“Besides you?” Good aside, sir. “I’ve only just begun making rounds, but I hope I can make the best impression upon them in my pitiably short time here.”

He was clever. He avoided putting anyone down or singling anyone out. If he could really navigate the shaky court politics he might actually stand a chance.

“Well, then let me introduce you to my father. I’m sure he’d be more than happy to introduce you to more people than I presently can.”

“I’d be delighted, but more so if you’d be willing to accompany me.”

You led him across the crowd as you’d promised and he kept you in close enough company for a large portion of the night though you’d ended up separated eventually. You didn’t know what became of him, but you couldn’t help but hope you might see him again soon and that he might ask for another dance.

#hawks #bnha hawks #mha hawks #hawks x reader #bnha hawks x reader #hawks bnha #hawks x reader bnha #regency au #historical au #fantasy au #she writes

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comicgeekscomicgeek · 5 years ago

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Their Hero Academia – Chapter 48: Three More Stories

Presenting the next raw and unedited chapter of my on-going, next-gen, My Hero Academia fic, Their Hero Academia!

Earlier chapters can be found here

Shota Shinso in The Perks of Being a Fanboy

So far, this had been the best week of Shota’s life. He got to work with the Number Four Hero, Ground Zero! The guy who’d snuffed out Mustang Flame, blown Shatterstorm to pieces, and even out exploded the Living Bomb! One of Uncle Izku’s—Deku!—best friends! Who’d help take down the League of Villains!

He’d gotten to go on patrol with him! He’d gotten all kinds of extra training too! And he’d gotten to work with a bunch of different Sidekicks, including Sonic Boom! In fact, Ground Zero had been very insistent that he work with as many of his Sidekicks as possible. Something about “broadening his experiences as much as possible.” Shota had even found a new frequency for his Quirk that could make stuff explode by vibrating it just right! That one had almost gotten Ground Zero to smile.

Though really, Ground Zero didn’t talk to him too much, except in short, one or two word answers. Of course, Shota was asking him a lot of questions, about his fights, and his Quirk, and what it was like working with Red Riot or Ingenium or Uncle Izuku or… It was really weird how he didn’t seem to know all the details like Shota did.

Either way, it was so exciting! He was even being allowed to sit in on a briefing about a new crime wave Ground Zero was tracking. Though Ground Zero had been very insistent that he not speak. He was supposed to watch and learn. He could do that!

“Okay,” Ground Zero said, standing at the foot of the table. Counting Shota and him, there were eight people sitting at the table. A miniature projector hung from the ceiling displaying a map on the whiteboard. Multiple points on the map were highlighted and Shota gave them his attention, trying to see if there was a pattern. “Let’s take a look at it again.”

He pointed to a spot on the map. “Flash Freeze has hit here, here, here, and here. We stopped the last two, Shoto stopped the second one.” Ground Zero made a face at the mention of Shoto’s name. For the life of him, Shota couldn’t figure out why. Shoto was a great Hero!

“And the first one was stopped by Pinky, of all people. He’s not after money, he’s not trying to make some nutjob phony baloney statement, he’s just out to get his damn jollies making people scream. Bastard’s too smart to just be throwing out random attacks. But I can’t see the damn pattern.”

Shota stared at the map again. It tickled something in the back of his mind. Wait, the Villain’s name was Flash Freeze, right? He shot a hand up in the air.

“This ain’t school, kid,” one of the Sidekicks, a man named Step-Mine said.

“Shut it,” Ground Zero said. He fixed Shota with a serious look, crossing his arms. “This better be good, kid.”

“Which Flash Freeze is it?” he asked.

Ground Zero gave him a confused look. So did the Sidekicks. “…What?” he asked, flatly.

“Which Flash Freeze is it?” Shota asked again. “I mean, the first one fought Endeavor and All Might a couple of times, but that was when they were young and he’d be way too old now. The second one mostly operated in Hosu City and fought the first Ingenium a few times and even got beat by Native, but he liked to kidnap people and freeze them and hold them for ransom, he didn’t get into fights if he could help it and definitely didn’t go looking for trouble.”

He sucked in a quick breath and kept going. “Then there’s the third one, who only showed up twice, but he fought Creati both times, about twenty-three years ago. He was also the only one who didn’t have ice powers; he had a camera lens on his chest that froze people in place when he hit them with the flash. Then there was the fourth one, who was part of the second League of Villains, but he died in a prison yard fight after they all got capture, and then there was actually a fifth one about three years ago who fought Sequoia Rose, but she talked him down before he could hurt anyone and last I knew, he actually reformed after prison…”

“Is there a point to this?” another Sidekick, Bulleteer asked. Shota recognized that tone. It was the same way everybody sounded when he was talking too much. He’d done it again.

Shota looked down at the floor.

Ground Zero, meanwhile, approached him and bent down so he was eye level with him. “So,” he said, kindly, “lots of Villains have used the name, huh?”

Shota looked up and nodded. “Uh-huh. Lots of people with ice Quirks like to use it.”

Ground Zero looked over to Sonic Boom. “Can you look up the statuses of all those Flash Freezes?”

She nodded and tapped a few keys into the computer screen in front of her. “First one’s currently in a retirement home outside of Bespeen. Second one is still in prison. Third one was paroled years ago, but no criminal activity since then. Fourth is confirmed deceased. And the fifth is likewise paroled and working for a non-profit environmentalist group.”

Ground Zero made a non-committal noise. “Okay, still doesn’t tell us anything.”

“Told you it was a waste of time,” Bulleteer whispered to Step-Mine.

“Out.” Ground Zero growled.

“Boss, what?”

“I said out!” Ground Zero snapped. “You’re off the case.”

Bulleteer looked like she was going to protest, but a glare from the Hero shut her down. She left, but not before giving Shota a dirty look.

Then Ground Zero turned his attention back to Shota. “Kid…” he began, then stopped suddenly. He looked to the map then to Shota then back to the map again. “Kid, did any of those Flash Freezes have fights at those locations?”

Shota considered the map, wracking his brains. He hoped out of his seat and went over to it. “The first one fought Endeavor here. The second one was only in the city once, but he fought Present Mic here. And then the third one fought Creati here. The fourth one had a battle with Burnin’ here…”

He stopped and his fingers lingered over a currently unmarked portion of the map. “The first one fought Sequoia Rose here, but you don’t have anything marked there…”

He turned around and Ground Zero was smiling.

“Kid’s right,” Sonic Boom said. “And if he keeps up the pattern…”

“Then that’s where he’ll be tonight,” Ground Zero said. He punched his palm with his other fist. “And we’ll be waiting to kick his ass.” He paused for a moment, looking over his sidekicks. “Looks like we got ourselves a Villain fanboy. And Loud Kid here figured it out. …Why couldn’t any of you do that?!”

The Sidekicks looked distinctly uncomfortable, shifting awkwardly in their chairs. Ground Zero gave Shota’s hair an affectionate ruffle. “Don’t worry about them. I’ll deal with them later. But you, you did good, kid.”

***

Sora Iida in Flight Fight

Sora sat on the edge of a rooftop, legs dangling over the side. Carefully, she removed her helmet and placed in on the roof, running a hand through her hair. She unclipped the thermos from her belt and poured a coffee into the lid. She took a long drink, feeling the caffeine surging through her system.

“What the hell, kid?” Kestrel asked. The Number Twelve Hero let her white wings spread out behind her. They contrasted sharply with her dark skin and were the same shade as her hair. Which was somewhat curious. The moth-girl, Kocho, from the Sports Festival, had also had hair that matched her wings. Was that a common factor in winged Quirks? “Just the fumes from that are getting my heart racing. What’s in that stuff?”

She gave her mentor a little shrug. “Just my usual blend. A combination of several brands noted for their high levels of caffeine as well as a large quantity of sugars.” It was her mother’s recipe, useful for pulling long nights in the lab or otherwise powering past the body’s usual limitations and pesky habit of requiring sleep. Who could sleep when there was always so much to be done?

She missed working in the lab. The projects she and Tensei had been working on still required significant amounts of testing and fine tuning and every moment lost was difficult to get again (Theoretical exercises about manipulation of the space-time continuum had suggested they were more likely to break causality and destroy the universe, so they had abandoned that plan.). But she also admitted that she had learned a lot from Kestrel already. The Razor-Wing Hero was one of the few Heroes who possessed both flight and incredible speed. Her own practice drills had been invaluable, especially for high speed turns. Sora would have to work them into her own practice routines and share them with her brother.

She also found herself missing Toshi. Her very first boyfriend, possibly her very first serious one. She liked him very much, his smile, his optimism, the curious but also adorable way he flailed and had difficulty talking when she was physically demonstrative. And, of course, the feeling of his muscles.

Kestrel pinched the bridge of her nose. An unexpected reaction. “Kid,” she said, “you’re going to give yourself a stroke at this rate. That stuff ought to be characterized as a biological weapon!”

The repeated “Kid” nomenclature was also something of a puzzlement. Kestrel was only eight years older than she was, the daughter of former Pro-Heroes Hawks and Mirko. She’d risen through the ranks rapidly in that time, cracking the Top Twenty within the second year as a full-fledged Hero and holding that position all that time.

She took another drink of her coffee. “Perhaps,” she said. “But I am quite used to it. As I am quite tall, you can see the worries of stunting my growth are baseless.”

Kestrel laughed at that. “Good joke, kid.”

“Joke?”

***

“Couple of jaywingers up ahead,” Kestrel said, pulling her goggles down. “Might just be kids acting up… but we should check it out.”

Jaywingers was common police and Hero parlance, referring to people with flight Quirks operating outside of designated flight path zones. While some use of flight Quirks for travel by civilians was permitted, there were still regulations and paths to be followed. There was too much air travel and too many buildings for such to be otherwise. A regrettable, but reasonable, balance between the freedom to exercise one’s Quirk and the need for a safe and regulated society.

“You take the one on the right,” Kestrel said. “I’ll take the one on the left!” She flapped her wings extra hard and took off like a shot.

“On it!” Sora said, giving herself an extra boot from her Jetpack. She would probably need a long drink or two of grape juice to refuel after this excursion. Fortunately, she had designed her Hero uniform with several storage compartments for juice rations, as had her brother.

It was, in fact, a teenager, perhaps a couple of years older than her. A boy, with spikey green hair several shades brighter than Toshi’s. He was dressed all in black leather. He didn’t have any obvious flight enhancements, such as Kestrel’s wings or her Jetpack. No were there less obvious means of propulsion, such as manipulating explosions or flame, or even wind. Even their teacher, Skyline, used what was technically a telekinetic body sheath to fly.

Pure flight Quirks, like something out of magna, were quite rare. Fortunately, he kept moving, since her Quirk required forward momentum and did not allow her to hover.

She pressed a button on the side of her helmet, activating the sound amplification speakers built into it. “Attention! You are in violation of multiple ordinances concerning flight path and speed! Please land immediately!”

The boy looked over his shoulder, then rotated in midair so he was facing her, while still flying backwards. “You going to make me, robot?” he asked, a self-satisfied smirk crossing his face.

“I have been authorized to use all necessary force to detain you,” Sora replied. “But would prefer not to cause undue injury. So I am again requesting that you land.”

“Nah,” he said. “Don’t think so.” He made a rude gesture with his hand, then spun in the air again and added a burst of speed. “You can’t catch me, Hero!”

“An interesting hypothesis,” Sora said, realizing that her height and armor made her age difficult to determine. If he believed her to be a full-fledged Hero, then so be it. “Let us test it.”

She spread the fingers on her right hand, sighting along the length of her gauntlet. Then, the brought her middle and ring fingers inward, double-tapping a button built into her palm with a precise application of force. Instantly, a long cable, ending in a loop, launched, covering the distance between herself and the teen. She let it fly and it wrapped around his ankle, letting her pull it tight.

He jerked in midair, flailing for a minute, slowing down to float and look back at her. He made another gesture that was even ruder than the first and tried to remove her capture weapon, but to no avail. His features went slightly paler, but he took off again, trying to fly every which way.

Against his pull, she adjusted the engine pipes of her Jetpack, so that she was pulling counter to him. She had a pretty good idea of his velocity and force now from having watched him, and the math needed to calculate the best degree of counterforce was simple enough. Then, she pressed her palm with her index and middle finger, triggering the retrieval spool for her capture weapon. Against that and against her own thrust, he stood no chance.

His face turned to a snarl as he realized there was no escape and he instead put all his flight power into flying towards her. His fist hit against her helmet hard and knocked her back, but the padding inside and metal outside protected her nicely. His first, however, was not so lucky.

“You… bitch!” he snarled, clutching his hand.

“I gave you ample opportunity for surrender,” she said. “The time for niceties is now over.” Her own fist struck out and clipped him upside the head. His head spun around and his eyes went wide, before he simply collapsed in mid-air. Her capture weapon ensured he did not fall.

“And that’s what you get for such salty language!” she said to his unconscious form.

***

On a near-by roof, Kestel made a call to the local police. They’d be sending someone as quickly as they could to retrieve the two jaywingers. Though Sora doubted that was what they were. Not with how much of a fight both of them had put up. Kestrel’s opponent had possessed some kind of force protection Quirk, which he had been able to use for both flight and offense. Several of her feathers were still imbedded in his clothing from the fight.

“Ugh,” Kestrel said. “Gonna be a big stack of paperwork for these two.”

“A simple apprehension form is not that complicated,” Sora told her.

Kestrel shook her hand, then opened her fist, revealing a couple of vials on her palm. “Trigger,” she said. “We haven’t been seeing a lot of it on the streets. Someone’s been buying up the whole supply or even raiding other criminal’s shipments. So I really want to know where they got it. We’re just lucky they didn’t get to use it.”

Sora perked up. Her primary skills were in machinery, but her knowledge of chemistry was nothing to sneeze at either. “Perhaps a scientific examination of their sample may yield insight into why they have it or how they came to possess it? Assuming they do not reveal anything voluntarily.”

The winged woman grinned. “Knew there was a reason I went with an egghead for an intern.”

***

Chihiro Kaminari in Plug In, Turn On, Get Shocked

“Seriously, Aunt Momo,” Chihiro said, “this is way too much.” They’d spent a lot of the first day of her Internship going over designs for her new costume and now, on the third day, it was finally ready.

Creati was the Number Eleven Hero, having been the Number Ten until Aunt Pony had taken the Number Seven Spot. Her Agency was large, boasting a number of different Sidekicks with a wide variety of different Quirks. Aunt Momo’s managerial skill and intelligence made it one of the smoothest operating Agencies in the entire country. Even if she was her godmother, Chihiro knew she was lucky to be working with her.

She needed the new more than she’d been willing to admit. Her original costume had been bare bones, little more than a yellow track suit with lightning bolt striping. She’d looked like something out of an old movie. No Support Gear, no nothing. The closest it’d gotten for doing anything for her was the fact that the jacket had pockets.

And as various events had proven, she really needed more than that. Mom has all the sound systems built into her costume, Dad has his Sharpshooting gear, she just jabbed things with her Extension Cords and electrocuted them. Which led to her letting out too much electricity at once. Which led to her temporarily frying her brain. And there definitely wasn’t enough in the costume stipend for this kind of overhaul.

Sure, she recovered faster than Dad did… But it was hardly a good use of her Quirk and it left her vulnerable while it happened.

The new costume was something different entirely. A black bodysuit was combined with white torso armor and boots, along with a small headpiece and visor. Finally, additional bracers and black circuit lined-gloves completed the ensemble. The bracers primary function was to allow her to plug her Cords into them, so that she could fire her electricity long range. Her output would be monitored by the visor, so she’d know when to back off.

More importantly, however, was the tool belt, containing numerous small devices she could power with her own electricity, like a flashlight, a strong magnet, GPS, a more complicated communications rig, even an electric arc welder. Each could be attached to the bracers or run independently. She’d still have to be careful, of course, but it gave her a chance to actually do something.

Aunt Momo had worked with Mrs. Hatsume to design the whole thing. They were even talking about a miniature rail gun and some other ports to plug into on the torso armor and boots. But those were apparently still in development.

But this represented something. She was well aware that, while her Quick was reasonably powerful… it really was a poor draw of the limitations of both of her parents’ Quirks. Like Mom, she was limited by what she could make contact with, and like Dad, she risked brain breakage with overuse. The worst of both worlds. That anyone supported her dreams of being a Hero at all was a sign of their faith in her, but this…

This would let her make good on that faith.

“You deserve the chance to be the best you can, Chihiro,” Aunt Momo said.

“Well, yeah, I guess,” she said, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly. “So really, thank you. But all this tech… I can’t imagine what this all cost, even with the friends and family discount.”

Aunt Momo shrugged. “I always budget generously for research and development. One never knows what might be needed. And I can’t make everything myself. Think nothing of it.”

Pretty much everyone in Chihiro’s immediate circle of friends was, to put it bluntly, well off. Some simply came from money to begin with, like the Iida Twins. And nearly all of them had a least one family member in the top One Hundred Heroes or higher, which came with significant earnings, to say nothing of merchandising. Even Chihiro herself was far from poor. Mom’s co-careers as musician and Hero did very well, and Dad, well, even the lower hundreds still drew a lot of cash.

Aunt Momo and family were in another class entirely. The Yaoyorozu and Todoroki fortunes were significant enough even before Aunt Momo and Uncle Shoto had gotten married.

But she knew Aunt Momo well enough to know that “think nothing of it” translated into “more expensive than most people could comprehend.”

Chihiro filed that under things she wasn’t going to think about.

“Come then,” Aunt Momo said. “Get changed and we’ll give it a good shakedown.”

***

“You say you wanna be a Hero,

But you feel like you’re a zero,

Feels like you lost without a fight,

Feels like you can’t do anything right,

But what you don’t know,

What you don’t see,

Is all you gotta do…

Is believe!

Take a stand,

Say “this is for me”

You’ve got the power,

To shape your destiny!

When your back’s to the wall,

That’s where you’ll excel,

Tell all those haters

They can go straight to hell!

You might start out small,

Maybe breaking your bones,

But someday you’ll be the greatest,

That anyone’s ever known!

You say you wanna be a Hero,

But you feel like you’re a zero,

Feels like you lost without a fight,

Feels like you can’t do anything right,

But what you don’t know,

What you don’t see,

Is all you gotta do…

Is believe!”

Chihiro retracted her Cords, powering down the speakers that had been built into her costume. They were mostly supposed to be used for voice projection, but she could loop her phone into it too. The music snapped off immediately. She wasn’t as good of a singer as Mom was, but she could carry a tune and harmonize well enough. “Believe” was the best-selling song Mom had written and that had been on a dare with Dad on whether or not she could get one of the schlockiest songs to sell. She’d expected that no one would want to play it, ever.

So of course it had gone to number one and stayed there for months. Mom used to say it had paid for their current house.

Chihiro, on the other hand, agreed with Dad. It was a great song.

“I always did like that one,” Aunt Momo said. She nodded smartly. “I’d say that confirms all of your equipment is working well.”

Chihiro let out a cheer. “I’ll say! I still can’t thank you enough, Aunt Momo. I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”

“I told you,” she replied, “think nothing of it. But still… perhaps over tea?”

***

Chihiro really wasn’t much of a tea drinker, but when your godmother dropped a small fortune on you in new gear, you had tea when she said you should have tea.

Her private office was spacious and expensively decorated, looking more like a study in a mansion (And Chihiro had been in the Todoroki-Yaoyorozu mansion, so she could confirm this) than anything else.

“So,” Aunt Momo said, after taking a sip of her tea. “I truly hate to do this, but as a mother… I must ask. Tell me about Izumi.”

“What?” Chihiro asked, taken by surprise.

“You’re one of her closest friends,” Aunt Mono went on. “And, as a mother, I worry. She tells us that everything is all right, and I saw her do quite well at the Sports Festival, but you see her every day.”

She put her teacup down and folded her hands. “So please, Chihiro, tell me how is she doing?”

“She’s fine, Aunt Momo,” Chihiro assured her. She understood, of course, why Aunt Momo might worry. Izumi’s health had had its ups and downs over the years, but it had largely stabilized over the last few.

Hero training was intense and physically demanding. It required incredibly physical shape and pushed even physical paragons like Midoriya or Shoji to their limits. Her own Quirk was less reliant on physicality, but Chihiro was often left exhausted by it as well.

She’d often seen Izumi being helped back to the locker room by Kirishima-Bakugo, who’d shoot daggers at anyone else who came close, ratcheting back the venom only when Izumi made her. Chihiro didn’t understand the friendship between the two of them at all… but she herself was friends with both Izumi and Mika, two people who couldn’t be less alike, and so wasn’t in much position to judge. Mika also insisted there was something more going on there, but was committed to being tight-lipped about it. Though if there was, something there had definitely changed since school started…

“She’s good,” Chihiro said. “Gives it everything she’s got. Plenty of friends. Helps some of the rest of us study. Hasn’t collapsed since the first week, unless you count the Sports Festival, and frankly, anything than can make Kirishima-Bakugo collapse would take out anything short of an elephant.”

She frowned, feeling very uncomfortable with the question. She knew Izumi questioned every day whether she was good enough to be in the Hero Course, if any given day was going to be the day her body let her down, let someone else down. And she also knew she tried harder than anyone to keep up and go beyond.

“And I’m sorry,” she added, “but even if she wasn’t… I’m not gonna rat her out. That’s Izumi’s business, not mine to blab. But I’m not worried about her, for what it’s worth.”

Aunt Momo’s mouth opened in protest, then closed again. Finally, after regaining her composure, she spoke. “Thank you,” she said. “For your honesty… and your reassurances. I wonder sometimes, if I worry too much.”

Chihiro shrugged. “You’re a mom. Kind of your job. Pretty sure Mom’s always worried I’m going to shock my brains out.”

That got a smile from Aunt Momo. “She may have confessed that occasionally.”

The ringing desk phone interrupted any other questions. Aunt Momo saw the caller ID and answered it. “Hello, Denki,” she said, switching it to speaker phone. Worry tinged her voice now.

That was weird. Why would Dad be calling? Izumi was interning with him, though…

“Oh, ah, hey, Momo,” Dad said. “So, ah, we may have, ah, screwed up. Izumi knows about Plague.”

Aunt Momo went pale at that.

Who or what was Plague?

#my hero academia #their hero academia #shota shinso #sora iida #chihiro kaminari #momo yaoyorozu #katsuki bakugo #fan fic #fan fiction #my writing

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gascon-en-exil · 5 years ago

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FE16 Black Eagles (Edelgard) Liveblogging

Chapters 15-16. The plot, among other things, explodes.

I was wondering where all the Eagles character paralogues were, and all of sudden come Chapter 15 three of them get dumped on you. Edelgard’s is a fight on the border against Nader and the Almyran remnant. Wyvern riders are unusually overpowered in this game, even as enemies. They’re not a unit type one expects to be so fast. Hubert goes back to the Sealed Forest to save Those Who Slither from their own failed creations. Both of these paralogues play up Hubert’s own talent for slithering in the dark: the first because it’s heavily implied that he poisoned Hilda’s brother so he’d have to rely on the Empire to push back the Almyrans, and the second because he’s been investigating Those Who Slither on the side all the while your army is being strong-armed into doing their bidding.

Petra and Bernadetta’s paralogue meanwhile has been the first map on this route that I haven’t seen before, a heavily forested section of Brigid. Bernadetta’s role there is almost completely random, but it comes together in the end in a way that feels satisfying. The chapter itself on the other hand features a cheap fakeout win condition, thankfully avoidable via Divine Pulse, and another appearance by the OP Catherine.

Playable kills: Flayn and Seteth from the church, Felix and Ingrid from the Lions. Now that the Alliance portion of the story is done I notice that Raphael and Lorenz skipped out on showing up this time, along with Marianne who doesn’t appear in the Lions’ Part 2 either. Actually, I’ve read that she’s the only playable character who doesn’t appear in Part 2 at all unless she’s in your army, with the implication that her depression and/or the dark story surrounding her Crest killed her or drove her to suicide in the timeskip. That’s...something.

I’ve also read that if you don’t recruit Shamir and Alois they show up in Chapter 15 to be killed...and that Manuela and Hanneman only do so on the Lions route in Dimitri’s paralogue for some reason. Weird.

I can confirm that the dark merchant does not sell Dark Seals. He’s only available in the second to last exploration month of Edelgard’s route, so you can’t get much use out of him anyway. Sucks for Hubert, but if I’m understanding correctly how you can buy classes with Renown the next time I use him I can just certify him for dark mage that way and get one seal for dark bishop.

The brevity of this route sticks out more and more the closer I get to the end. Not so much for the story which is moving along at a brisk pace to match Edelgard’s resolve and concrete goal in contrast to Dimitri throwing everyone off with his unresolved personal issues, but for the gameplay. A bunch of my units aren’t going to make it master classes at this rate, and I’m tempted to not even touch Edelgard’s emperor class when it randomly becomes available after Chapter 15 (seriously, her armor just arrives from the capital? Are we timing lord promotions by the speed of parcel delivery now?) because there’s no timing and making her armored is kind of awful.

Story/Character observations

Chapter 15 opens with a bizarre interlude of Byleth coming upon Edelgard in her room at night, and an attempt at humanizing her by...telling us that she draws pictures of Byleth. That’s not even organic Avatar worship, come on. From what I remember her A support is more of the same, so I’m not holding out much hope for her big bi S rank.

Thankfully her two dorky subordinates salvage the character-based charm of this route. Ferdinand pokes a hole in the fourth wall and asks Byleth if they’ve thought about a world in which they chose another house or chose to side with the church, and while I can see the similarities with Conquest constantly dumping on Corrin’s choice this incident is isolated enough that I’m not feeling condescended to. Ferdinand’s A support with Byleth reveals that the first king of Faerghus - you know, the one with the very close *nudge nudge wink wink* friend akin to Felix - had a second very close friend who was just as indispensible but didn’t desire notoriety and so didn’t make it into many history books. Ferdinand compares this to what both he and Byleth are to Edelgard (I imagine this support is phrased very differently if gotten on any other route), but my mind went right to Kris, the shadow Avatar at Marth’s side who got left out of the original game historical accounts. While I believe that Byleth’s ending on Edelgard’s route actually is fairly out of the public eye, in other routes they’re either the archbishop or the ruler of the united continent. Byleth is very much not that type of Avatar who can just disappear at the end because how else could they sleep with the whole cast?

I can’t forget about Hubert either. Apparently he’s the one who gives Those Who Slither their infamously unwieldy name - thanks a lot, Hubie - during his investigations on how to out-evil them. When he’s not doing that he’s engaging in absurdly cute support conversations with Ferdinand where they’re both blushing and exchanging gifts with romantic music in the background. I also noted that they’re one of the couples who get special meal dialogue that evolves along with their supports. See, this is what I mean when I say that M/M and F/F subtext are on completely different playing fields. Dorothea will just come out and ask Manuela if they can live together and forget about finding men, or give Ingrid a ring and joke about owning her, etc. For the guys it’s watching them sputteringly make friendly gestures toward one another while blushing, or make promises to die together, or insist on the other using their given name (but in private!) to indicate that there’s going to be dick touching.

Nader dies during Edelgard’s paralogue. In combination with Judith’s death in Chapter 13 I think this is meant to indicate that this is the one non-Deer route that does not feature a large Almyran invasion after the credits roll. Even if you choose not to kill Claude as I did, without any of his close allies (who are also his parents, in the case of those two?) the implication is that he won’t have the strength to pursue his own dreams of continental conquest. Good on him to outright admit that he has them to Edelgard, though.

Speaking of the game admitting things that otherwise only go implied, let’s talk about those explosions. The Black Eagle Strike Force feints toward Fhirdiad but moves instead to conquer Arianrhod, with Edelgard and Hubert’s target being specifically Cornelia. Cornelia in this route hasn’t betrayed Faerghus to the Empire yet, but according to Arundel she was planning to as a member of Those Who Slither despite lacking their characteristic pallor. Arundel responds by using “pillars of light” - more likely those anachronistic ballistic missiles seen in a church route cutscene - to blast the fortress into oblivion and kill a bunch of people inside.I’m ignoring how petty it seems of Arundel/Thales to nuke a valuable military installation just to get revenge on Edelgard for killing a minion who was going to help Edelgard do what she’s about to do in the last two chapters anyway. No, what fascinates me about this situation is how Edelgard and Hubert immediately spin this for the rest of their army, saying it was Rhea’s doing and using it to motivate the Strike Force to conquer Fhirdiad as quickly as possible. Ever since I got her C support I’ve been curious as to why Edelgard harbors so much personal hatred for the church when Those Who Slither were the ones responsible for torturing her and her siblings for Crest research. Here she’s deliberately making that misdirection, which....doesn’t answer my question at all but does at least demonstrate that the writers are aware of it. How it will all play out, or if this is something that only makes sense when considering information learned from the church and/or Deer routes is yet to be determined.

Looking at this from the perspective of the Strike Force though I can see why they’d need some additional pushing to get invested in how evil Rhea is. She’s done very little so far to follow up on her creepy authoritarian vibes from Part 1, and the scene of her grieving Seteth and Flayn’s deaths only makes her regain some sympathy because of how personally she takes their loss. They have to be saving it all up for the finale. There will have to something to the antagonists we’re about to fight, because so far DImitri in this route has been even more of a non-entity. Of course I know that Chapter 17 brings not one but two flavors of gay tragedy, but in-universe I doubt anyone on the Strike force is squeeing over the Tempest King and his very devoted vassal.

#Fire Emblem #FE16 #Fire Emblem Three Houses #Spoilers

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lfthinkerwrites · 5 years ago

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The Day Arrives

Title: Tales from Gotham Academy

Previous chapters: 1/2/3

Summary: The day of the field trip arrives. Pray for these poor, damned souls.

Friday, May 5th, 2019

The Day of the Field Trip

The Day of Infamy

It was a bright, sunny morning at Gotham Academy. In the parking lot in front of the school, two long buses were pulled up, with a crowd of freshmen students and their parents milling about, preparing to board. As usual, Jonathan and Jervis were among the first of the faculty to arrive, standing in front of a bus and waiting for the others to show.

"Well, here we are, old friend," Jervis said, shuffling a bit. "Another year, another horrifying trip. How bad do you suppose it's going to be this time?"

Jonathan shrugged his bony shoulders. "Well, Kerr ain't here. That's a plus."

"I'm more worried about Dormouse," Jervis muttered. "He's been in such a mood about this trip the whole week. I'm half expecting he won't show up."

"Well, you'd be wrong," Jonathan said, pointing behind them. "Here he comes now."

Indeed, Edward and Ellen walked through the growing mob of people, Ellen wearing her knapsack on her back and shaking her head. "Do you have to wear socks with your sandals, Dad? You look like a dork!"

Edward sniffed. "Well, you know how I feel about bare feet!" The father and daughter came to a stop in front of Jonathan and Jervis, and Edward gave them a nod. "Gentlemen."

Jervis politely greeted him, while Jonathan took a critical look at the tacky Hawaiian shirt and cargo shorts his friend was wearing. "Which way to Margaritaville?"

"Oh, har har," Edward bit out. He pointed at Jonathan's own chicken legs, exposed as they were thanks to his own shorts. "When was the last time those saw sunlight? The Reagan administration?"

Almost on cue, the Dent family showed up next to the Nashtons, Harvey, Gilda, and Duela. Duela made a beeline to Ellen and the girls started whispering to each other. "Jesus Christ," Harvey growled. "We're not even on the bus yet and you're already starting a fight Nashton?"

"Oh, who asked you, Harv?" Edward asked, rolling his eyes.

Harvey growled again, but Gilda put a hand on his shoulder. "Sweetheart," she said. "Mind your blood pressure."

Harvey's face softened as it only did around his wife. "I'm fine, honey."

Edward turned his attention back to his daughter. "Ellen, did you put sunscreen on before we left the house?"

Ellen looked away from her best friend to look at her father. "You saw me put some on!"

"Well, you need to put on more! You're already turning pink!" Edward pulled a bottle of sunscreen out of his pocket and squeezed some onto his hand. "Come here!"

Ellen groaned but came forward. "I hate my ginger genes," she complained. She moved to take the bottle from her father, only for him to slather it on her face himself. "Dad!" Ellen wailed. "Do you have to do this here!?"

"Oh, how horrible! A father doing his best to make sure his only child doesn't get skin cancer! Someone call the media!"

Ellen looked beseechingly at Jonathan. "Uncle Jon! Make Dad leave me alone!"

"Edward, leave the child be," Jonathan chided. "You're embarrassin' her."

Edward finished and Ellen scurried off back to Duela, who was trying and failing to stifle a laugh.

"Duela," Gilda called out. "You be sure to wear sunscreen too."

"But Mom, I tan!" Duela protested.

"Doesn't matter," Harvey said. "Put it on when we get on the bus."

"When are we getting on the buses?" Jervis asked, taking a look at the ever-growing mob. Tim Drake and Stephanie Brown appeared by Ellen and Duela and became involved in whatever conversation the girls were having. "I think all of the freshmen are just about here."

"Just waiting on Gordon to show," Jonathan said. By the other bus, he saw Victor Fries and Miguel trying to get the kids lined up. "It's damn near nine now. Aren't we supposed to leave at 9:30?"

"Jim's going over the plans for the day with the teachers who are staying at the school," Harvey explained. "He's also probably telling Bolton to go easy on the discipline."

Edward snorted. "That'll be a first!

You might as well ask Goodman to stop being over-dramatic, or Karlo to stop being pretentious-"

"Or you to stop being such an obnoxious pain in the ass!" Harvey interrupted.

Edward's face darkened, but immediately lit up when he caught sight of someone approaching. "Darling!" Penelope came up to the small group, her usual serious expression only just softening as she approached her boyfriend. "Did you come to see me off?" Edward asked.

"Yes," she admitted. "Actually, I also wanted to ask you to-"

"'Try to have a good time'? That's not happening and we know it," Edward glowered.

Penelope rolled her eyes. "Actually, I was going to ask you to try not to get into any trouble today."

"Me? Get into trouble? I am a paragon of virtue! A role model for the children to aspire to!"

"You threw a big hissy tantrum the other day when the vending machine in the teacher's lounge ran out of orange soda," Jonathan drawled.

"After it already ate my money, Jonathan!"

Penelope shook her head, then grabbed gently onto Edward's hand, drawing him away from the group a few feet. "If you're right and this Mockridge is at the park," she said in a low tone. "Than he's probably going to try to bait you into a fight. Just for today, ignore it. Be the bigger man."

Edward huffed. "Fine. For you and Ellen, I'll try."

Penelope smiled softly at him then. "Are you sure you don't want me to come with you? I'm sure Jonathan or Jervis would be more than happy to trade places."

"No," Edward said, kissing her hand. "One of us deserves to get through this day with their sanity intact. Just promise me that you won't get involved in whatever mischief the Sirens have planned for the day."

"Have I ever?" she asked with a bemused expression on her face.

"No, but they'll try."

While the two had their conversation, Ellen watched them with an intent expression on her face. Duela gently elbowed her. "You think she might become your stepmom?"

Ellen shrugged. "Maybe."

"Where are you on the little brother or sister front?"

"I asked Dad again on Christmas if I could have one for my Birthday and he turned really pink and wouldn't talk about it." Ellen pouted. "I'm probably not gonna get one until college at this rate."

Tim scoffed. "Ellen, trust me. Siblings are overrated."

"Nashton!" Harvey called. "Jim's coming! Get back here!"

Edward's face darkened, but he and Penelope came to rejoin the group just as Gordon, trailed as always by Kristen, made his way through the crowd. As soon as got to the front of the bus, he cleared his throat and began to speak. "Good morning everybody! In just a few minutes, we'll be taking off, so we need all students to line up single file in front of one of these buses."

"Speaking of," Jervis pointed out, turning to his friends and colleagues. "We're all getting on this bus, right?"

"As long as Neil isn't on it we are," Jonathan replied.

"Where is Neil?" Jervis asked, taking a quick look around. "I haven't seen him or Basil yet."

"Maybe we got lucky and they called out," Harvey muttered. "Or they murdered each other."

"Harvey," Gilda lightly scolded.

Penelope shook her head. "Neil and Karlo on the trip together? What was Gordon thinking allowing that to happen?"

A loud whistle blew, interrupting Gordon while he was still addressing the crowd of students and their parents. The crowd turned as one and saw Neil at the school's entrance, in front of a portion of the school's marching band, dressed in a spiffy summer outfit and waving a baton around. He led out the band to an instrumental rendition of 76 Trombones, a wide smile on his face the whole time.

Jonathan pinched the bridge of his nose. "Jesus. Tap-dancing. Christ."

"Well," Edward said. "If nothing else, Neil certainly knows how to make an entrance."

Neil continued up to the second bus, the children falling into a single-file line behind him. As soon as he was at the front, he turned and bowed to the marching band. "Thank you, boys and girls! Enjoy your day today!" The band dispersed and the assembled crowd broke out into loud applause.

Basil Karlo chose that moment to make his appearance. He walked up next to Neil, looked at his outfit and sniffed. "Not bad. For a rank amateur."

Neil's face turned bright red. He looked like he was about to say something when Gordon spoke up again. "Anyway. We'll be arriving back on campus at 5 pm. Parents, please be here to pick up your kids. That being said, it's time to board." The students by the first bus finally began to line up after saying their goodbyes to their parents and guardians.

Ellen and Duela, by virtue of being daughters of faculty members, were the first to board. "Save me a window seat, Duela!" Ellen called after her friend as they scrambled aboard.

"Ellen, don't run!" Edward called after her. Tim and Stephanie followed their friends onto the bus. Soon, the last students had boarded and it was time for the staff to go. Jonathan and Jervis climbed aboard, while Edward and Harvey both turned to their significant others for their final goodbyes.

"Great. A day at a theme park with these nuts," Harvey grumbled.

Gilda leaned up on her tiptoes to give him a kiss. "Don't let it get too you too much, Harvey. Try to have fun with Duela today."

Harvey smiled at his wife, then got aboard.

"Remember what we talked about, Edward," Penelope said, lightly squeezing his hand. "Try not to get into trouble."

"Well, I can't speak for my illustrious colleagues, but I promise that I won't start anything," he said. He leaned in a bit closer. "In the meantime, I had a few more ideas of what you could do to reward me."

Penelope fondly rolled her eyes. "Reward you for behaving like you're supposed to? Really?"

Edward mock-pouted, only to catch someone approaching from the corner of his eye. "Oh no."

Penelope was about to ask him what was wrong, only for Harley's voice to interrupt. "Hiya, Eddie!" She bounded up to give him a hug. Selina and Pamela showed up as well, both of them looking at the bus with a smirk.

Edward groaned. "What are you three doing here? Come to rub it in one last time?"

"Actually, I needed to speak to them," Gordon said. He turned to address Selina. "So we're all clear on the schedule for the day?"

"Half-day classes, final bell at 12:30, kids in detention out by 2:30, clubs and activities out by 3:00, stay on campus until you get back and help with pickup," Selina rattled off. "Crystal clear."

Gordon nodded. "Good. Remember, Strange will be leaving campus at 12:30 for a meeting with members of the school board. Kristen, of course, will help out with anything you might need." His look turned grave. "Keep an eye on Bolton, but don't start anything with him. Understand?"

Pamela scoffed. "You should be telling him not to start anything with us."

"I did, as a matter of fact," Gordon said. "Alright, I think that's everything. Kristen, give me status updates every hour until school's out. Ladies, try not to have too much fun." He turned and walked towards the second bus to help them with boarding, leaving Edward with the Sirens.

"This is gonna be great!" Harley said, throwing her arms around Kristen and Penelope's shoulders. "After Strange leaves, we're gonna have a girl's day in the chem lab!"

Edward grimaced. "And just what nonsense does that entail?"

Pamela let out a cold laugh. "Wouldn't you like to know."

Edward's face fell, and Penelope shook off Harley's grip to reassure him. "I'm sure it'll be fine," she said.

"Relax Eddie, we'll take care of your girl," Selina teased.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Edward ground out.

Penelope rolled her eyes. "You're all ridiculous."

"Edward!" Jonathan called out. "Are you getting on board or do Dent and I have to drag your ass on?"

"I'm coming!" Edward snapped. He took one last look at his girlfriend and the Sirens and shuddered. "Remember me fondly."

Harley just gave him a cheeky wave. "Bye, Eddie! See you in the funny papers!"

Edward waved back, then took a deep breath and boarded. Gordon came back to the bus and gave the women a wave before he climbed on. The bus door closed and the remaining crowd of people took a step back as the buses started. The first bus pulled out of the parking lot, followed by the second bus. In a matter of moments, the buses had passed the main gate and were on their way to Mt. Olympus theme park.

God help them all.

#tales from gotham academy #the gotham rogues #high school teacher au #now that the set up is done #the real horror begins

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reyloforcebalance · 6 years ago

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Bonded Chapter 24: Just You

The newest chapter to my Reylo fanfic (rated T). If you want to check out the previous chapter’s, here’s the link to AO3!

“S-sir?” The technician stutters, sounding confused, like he doesn’t understand the question.

Kylo Ren sighs inside his mask. He stands at the end of the meeting room, his back to the man, facing a giant window that overlooks the bustling port below.

If he has to repeat himself one more time today…

He whips around abruptly, so abruptly that the technician nearly jumps out of his skin. The man is still trembling, every bit as much as when he first entered the room not five minutes ago.

“What,” Kylo articulates the word through gritted teeth, “can you tell me about the Lords of Asphodel?”

“Ah.” The technician widens his eyes as if he understands now, but he’s clearly still confused. “The Lords of Asphodel, yes.” He repeats with false confidence. “They are…” His eyes drift to the ceiling as his voice trails off. “A gang? In the Outer Rim?” He supplies tentatively.

Kylo stares down coldly in response, letting the room fill with a crushing silence.

“Where are you from again?” He finally speaks, sounding irritated even through the distortion of his mask.

“F-Fornax, sir.” The technician stutters timidly. “I-in the Mid Rim.”

“Get out.” Kylo commands tersely as he turns back to face the port. A second passes, and he hears nothing.

“Now.” He articulates the word at a low growl. Immediately, the sound of footsteps recedes to the end of the room. A door whirs open, then shuts just as quickly.

Kylo sighs, more heavily this time. He stands with his hands clasped tightly behind his back, gazing down at the port below, alive with the activity of throngs of black-clad figures— technicians, engineers, supply workers— anonymous faces darting to and fro in a frenzy of motion that looks like chaos but seems organized nonetheless.

He shakes his head.

Over a thousand. A thousand.

That’s how many names were submitted when he first put out the call to every officer and manager in the lower ranks of the entire First Order.

The request was simple. Identify at least one person per unit who’s overqualified for their current position— by education, by skill, or by intelligence. Someone who’s a strong communicator, who shows promise in leadership, and most importantly, is familiar with Outer Rim planets and politics.

A thousand names, a thousand possibilities.

A team of officers spent the last week vetting the pool, whittling it down to five hundred, then two hundred, then fifty, and now fifteen.

Fifteen finalists. Supposedly the best in all the lower ranks, precious gems in a sea of insignificant pebbles.

And he just spent the last hour watching twelve of them tremble like children as they stuttered out their histories and gave ignorant answers to his questions.

Kylo tightens his jaw.

Idiots. Small-minded fools.

He honestly didn’t expect anything different. This past hour… it’s only been a confirmation of what he already knew.

The lower ranks of the First Order are filled with rubes, people with no concept of the galaxy beyond their own little corner of it, their backwater home planets and their menial roles within this organization. They aren’t fit to represent the First Order and its mission in any capacity, much less to oversee a complex negotiation process with lawless, guerilla groups in the Outer Rim.

No. This was a mistake. A waste of time. He doesn’t need some moron who spends most of his life doing routine maintenance on supply transports.

He needs Rey.

Suddenly, his thoughts halt, interrupted by the crackle of his master comm at his belt. He reaches for the comm and presses a button.

“The next one has arrived, sir,” a voice announces through the static. “Shall I send him in?”

Kylo pauses, looking down at the comm in his gloved hand for a few seconds. Then he brings it up to his mask.

“No,” he commands decisively. “Send him away. Send them all away. The interviews are done.” He drops his hand.

“Yes, sir, straight away.” He hears the response just as he returns the comm to his belt. He clasps his hands behind his back, resuming his cold observance of the port.

He watches the black-clad figures scurry along their paths. Each one is focused intently on his task, on the tiny slice of responsibility allotted to him, oblivious to all else, blind to the bigger picture, how he is part of a much larger whole.

No.

These people… None of them are the kind of negotiator he needs. They’re no more fit than any of the superior officers.

These Outer Rim groups are a rough lot. Violent, aggressive, rebellious by nature. He needs someone who understands this, who understands how people can become this way. He needs someone who knows what it means to scrape by to survive, someone fearless, someone who could stare down the barrel of a blaster pointed in their face without blinking, someone who won’t be easily intimidated but also someone soft, someone personable, someone who listens.

And as far as he’s concerned, there’s only one person who truly fits this description, who is exactly what he needs.

He sighs as he thinks about her, pictures her in his mind. He sees her on the Falcon, criticizing his indiscriminate destruction of the Outer Rim rabble, challenging his use of holos to cast them all as violent gangs when the truth is much more complex. What was it she’d said to him?

“You may be able to fool the galaxy but you can’t fool the people living in these systems.”

He sighs, shaking his head.

She was right.

It gives him no joy to admit it. But she was right.

They’re already having problems in Salient and Felucia, especially Felucia. The vast majority of population was downright revolutionary after they took out the Brotherhood. They’ve had to flood the system with troops and set up a temporary blockade just to keep the planets from descending into utter chaos.

Salient’s not much better. There haven’t been as many riots, but it seems a Zidon-like network is already forming. Local minors are pilfering a significant portion of the Varium they extract to illegal traders. He just gave the order to discharge all local workers from their mining teams, a very unpopular move with the locals and an inconvenience to the First Order. The mines on Salient are particularly labyrinthine and difficult to navigate. The locals know it by instinct. But outsiders? It could take them years to learn…

Without thinking, Kylo lifts his hands and unclicks his mask, bringing it up and overhead, his skin craving a respite from its suffocating prison. He takes a deep breath as he turns from the window and walks a few paces to the long, rectangular table in the center of the room. He sets the mask carefully on its surface before pulling out a chair and sinking slowly down onto it, covering his eyes with a palm.

He sees it now. He sees his mistake.

He was so eager to consolidate power throughout the galaxy, control all of its resources, that he neglected to think in the long term, to truly consider the consequences of destroying groups worshipped as heroes by the local population.

He slides a gloved palm over his face, stopping at his jaw, gripping it between his thumb and index finger.

He thought it would be more efficient just to destroy them all and manage any large-scale blow back with holos. Now he sees it’s the opposite. Nothing makes this more obvious than comparing the resource extraction in Delphon verses Felucia.

The government, practically the entire population of Delphon, is bending over backwards to give the First Order anything and everything it needs to mine its ores. A quarter of the former slaves, people who were forced to spend years of their lives in the mines, have voluntarily joined their extraction teams to help them navigate its tunnels.

But Felucia? Despite gaining access to the system’s mines nearly a full month before Delphon, they’ve only just begun the extraction. With all the riots and bombings, they’ve spent half their time just trying to keep the damn mines open and safe to work in.

Yes, he sees it now. He sees that if he wants to establish a strong, lasting hold over these systems, it’s necessary to work with the local populations, not against them.

And to do that, he needs a negotiator. For organizations like Zidon and the Brotherhood… He needs someone who can get him access to a system’s resources without starting a damn rebellion.

But there isn’t a single individual in the whole of the First Order who’s up for the task.

He drops his hand from his jaw and rests it on the table in front of him, twitching inwardly.

It’s just one more sign, one more indicator of the cold, hard truth.

The First Order isn’t ready. They’re simply not ready for this transition, what they need to become.

For years, from the very beginning, they were only a war machine. Power was the goal, wrenching it from the feeble, incompetent hands of the New Republic to see the vision of the Empire come to fruition, achieving true order throughout the galaxy.

But they were so concerned with getting power, they rarely considered what they’d do when they got it.

Well, now they have it. And he is the one who needs to think about this question, about what to do with the power they worked so hard to achieve. He is the one who needs to transform a primarily martial organization into an effective governing body.

He must bring about a change.

He needs to invest less effort into war and more into diplomacy. He needs to stop making enemies and start making allies. He needs to make decisions not only for the benefit of the First Order but for the benefit of the galaxy because now these two things are aligned.

But this change, the necessity of it…

Sometimes he feels like he’s the only person who recognizes it.

So much of the leadership still sees the First Order as a war machine. They cannot think, cannot reason beyond the martial sphere, beyond the need to build weapons and armies, to squelch rebellions and destroy their opponents.

They still need to do these things. But this can’t be all they are anymore. Not if they want to actually keep the power they fought so hard to win.

Kylo sighs heavily, feeling crushed under the weight of this responsibility, under the reality that he must do this alone.

For now.

He sits back in his chair, crossing his arms. He gazes across the long, rectangular table for a few moments before rising and walking back to the window overlooking the port. He stares down, drifting, drifting deep into thought, so deep he no longer sees the image before him.

He only sees Rey.

He needs her. He just needs her.

It’s not that he can’t manage this transition on his own. He can. But things would go much more smoothly if she were here. He’d get things done right the first time. She would be here to help him see what he can’t, to help him think through all possible scenarios, all possible outcomes, and make the best decisions.

But she’s being so damn stubborn.

How can she be so blind?

How can she not see that she’s meant for this, that she is meant to rule beside him, to help him transform the First Order into what it needs to be?

She’s already doing it. Unofficially. She can’t seem to keep herself from doing it. He knows there’s a part of her that yearns for power, that yearns for ability to reshape the galaxy to be different, to be better. She just refuses to recognize this in herself, to honor what it means.

Does she really think she’s meant to devote her life to serving a lost cause? Or saving an insignificant handful of slaves on Outer Rim planets?

How can she not see that what happened on Delphon is just the smallest taste of what she could accomplish if she joined him? She claims to care so much about life in the galaxy… So why is it that she outright rejects a position that would grant her immeasurable power to serve life on the grandest of scales, to make decisions that would affect billions?

He just can’t understand it. He can’t understand her unwillingness to embrace her destiny.

This stubbornness of hers, this dogged blindness…

It is the only thing. The only thing holding her back from giving in to what they both want.

At this, he closes his eyes and bows his head, suddenly overcome by a rush of emotions, that powerful yearning tugging at his heart with the deepest, cruelest ache, an all-consuming desire, maddeningly unfulfilled, all the more maddening because he knows how much the feeling is shared, how much she wants the exact same thing. If she would just let herself have it, just open her eyes and see the truth…

It’s driving him insane. This waiting, having to restrain himself, to keep his desire at bay.

He just wants to go to her. Just jump on a ship right now and go to her, refuse to leave until she comes back with him.

He is so sick of waiting for the bond to bring them together. He wants her here. Right now. Today and every day after it.

He clenches his fists, focusing on this feeling, this desire, as though he could will it into reality through the power of his thought alone. It churns. It aches. It burns in him. It’s so intense that he hardly feels it, almost misses it, when that subtle feeling seeps in at his core, the gentle warmth that starts small then grows little by little, bringing the force of her presence with it.

He immediately drops his arms, his eyes flying open. He can’t stop the thought from flashing across his mind.

Did he just… trigger the bond?

No. Surely not.

He turns away from the port, already searching for her, this thought lingering in his mind, how uncanny it is that this is happening just when he was thinking about how much he wants her here.

Maybe it’s a coincidence. He’s thought about it before and nothing happened. But maybe something was different this time? Or maybe something’s changed, or is changing…?

Before he has time to fully consider these questions, he sees her materialize before him, just to the right of the long table in the center of the room.

She’s standing, calm and relaxed, head bowed, her arms hanging loosely at her sides. After a moment, she looks up, straightening a bit, her eyes alert and expectant.

Kylo can’t stop a smile from tugging at his lips.

He senses it.

She’s happy to see him.

Read the rest on Ao3.

#star wars #starwarsfanfic #starwarsfanfiction #firstorder #kylo ren #kylo x rey #kylo redemption #rey star wars #ben solo #ben x rey #romance #romancefanfiction #enemiestolovers #starwarsromance #reylo #reylo fanfic #reylo fanfiction #reylofanfiction

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fromtheringapron · 6 years ago

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WWF Royal Rumble 1999

Date: January 24, 1999.

Location: The Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California.

Attendance: 14,816.

Commentary: Michael Cole & Jerry Lawler. Shane McMahon joined commentary for match 4.

Results:

1. Big Boss Man defeated Road Dogg.

2. WWF Intercontinental Championship Match: Ken Shamrock (champion) defeated Billy Gunn.

3. WWF European Championship Match: X-Pac (champion) defeated Gangrel.

4. Strap Match for the WWF Women’s Championship: Sable (champion) defeated Luna Vachon (with Shane McMahon).

5. I Quit Match for the WWF Championship: The Rock defeated Mankind (champion) to win the title.

6. Royal Rumble Match: Vince McMahon won the match by lastly eliminating Steve Austin. Other participants included (in order of appearance): Golga, Droz, Edge, Gillberg, Steve Blackman, Dan Severn, Tiger Ali Singh, The Blue Meanie, Mabel, Road Dogg, Gangrel, Kurrgan, Al Snow, Goldust, The Godfather, Kane, Ken Shamrock, Billy Gunn, Test, Big Boss Man, Triple H, Val Venis, X-Pac, Mark Henry, Jeff Jarrett, D’Lo Brown, Owen Hart, and Chyna.

Analysis

The 1999 edition of the Royal Rumble may be one of the most memorable in the history of the event. Let me clarify, mind you, that memorable doesn’t necessarily mean great, as this show is far from it. But few capture the spirit of the Attitude Era quite like this one, for better or worse. The WWF is reaching enormous heights in popularity thanks to its brand of crash TV. The fans in the arenas are submerging under a tidal wave of crass, neon signage. The matches are constantly booked with run-ins and outside interference. Storylines move have more twists and turns than a Mario Kart course. When the product isn’t serious and gritty, it’s campy and oversexed. Everything has the vague feeling of a nu-metal concert. Sure, the era’s success carried on into the early 2000s, but you can’t deny the time period in which this show takes place is smack dab in the middle of the Attitude Era vortex.

And you really can’t acknowledge this time period without mentioning Vince Russo, the man responsible for turning the WWF into a barrage of Jerry Springer theatrics and all the bad taste that comes along with it. Under Russo’s watch, every member of the roster is given a storyline It’s wonderful to learn that, say, Steve Blackman and Dan Severn are feuding or that the J.O.B. Squad and The Brood are feuding. It should be noted, however, that this doesn’t mean every member of the roster is given a good storyline because it’s still Russo at the end of day and there’s going to be content that’s varying degrees of problematic. Still, giving everyone something to do is a great idea and certainly one of the hallmarks of the Attitude Era that WWE should implement today.

On the other hand, one thing is they should not implement today is basically try to stuff an entire episode of Raw into the Royal Rumble match, which is what happens here. As I explained in my ranking of the Rumbles, the match isn’t boring. There’s just so much going on that there isn’t really a lull but, amidst all of that, the actual Rumble feels like the least important thing. Sure, there’s all the intrigue of Austin vs. McMahon at its zenith, but it’s a story so big that it can’t help but overshadow considerable portions of the match. Plus, it leaves the winner options pretty limited. Either Austin wins for the third year in a row, a logical choice but wouldn’t fly in an era that would deliver swerves just to avoid the predictability, or McMahon wins, which everyone would know to be a ruse the instant it happens. Literally anyone else winning would seem out-of-the-blue.

The Royal Rumble undercard, no matter how good it may be, always feels like something to pass the time until we get to the main attraction. This show isn’t an exception to the rule, but it does feature one of the most legitimately brutal contests of its era: the I Quit match between The Rock and Mankind. We, 20 years later, know so much more about the dangers of unprotected chair spots but the late ‘90s was a much different time where wrestlers were upping the ante on risky high spots just to pop a crowd or a TV rating, much to the detriment of their own health. It’s weird how there’s a spot where Mankind gets thrown into an electrical circuit board and people kinda forget about that now. The real spot of the match is Mick Foley is shedding years off his career, and possibly life, by taking a series of legit, unplanned chair shots to the head. It’s hard to watch now, but it’s the rare occasion where an undercard Rumble match may be more remembered than the Rumble itself.

As a whole, Royal Rumble 1999 isn’t the most satisfying Attitude Era show, but it does gives you a good taste of an extremely popular time in wrestling history. Just don’t try to consume the whole thing all at once. For every good idea in the era, there’s a bunch that don’t work, and like Mick Foley on that January night, the WWF doesn’t seem to know when to call it quits.

My Random Notes

Of course, this show’s coverage on the documentary Beyond the Mat is a huge reason why it’s so memorable. Does it get any more real than watching Mick Foley take all those chair shots as his children look on in terror?

This show immediately got me thinking about the WWF Attitude game I had for the Game Boy Color, which I rage quit several times because I never knew how to pin an opponent or get up off the mat.

I had the privilege of watching this show live on pay-per-view and I was so pissed that Mr. McMahon won the Rumble that I swore off wrestling, which only lasted like two seconds because it didn’t stop me from watching WrestleMania XV. Whoops!

Ugh. I also wanted Gangrel to win the European championship so badly and he got so close on that botched pinfall. I was such a mark for him. Heck, I’m still a mark for him.

Oh, and looking back now, I wish Luna Vachon was women’s champ at some point. It’s actually next-level sad that storyline never came full-circle.

Kudos to the dudes in the front row bopping along to the Oddities and The Brood entrance theme. I bet they were delightful at, I’m assuming, the several Korn concerts they attended back in the day.

Imagine being so pathetic that you actually find the time to make a sign that merely says “Sable is Old!” and then wave said sign just so it can be seen in front of a live pay-per-view audience. Some fan was that pathetic on this particular January evening. I mean, wow.

I can’t just not mention the amazing Mr. McMahon training montages leading up to this show. I still quote the whole “I HATE AUSTIN!” thing pretty often.

Terri Runnels accompanies D’Lo Brown to the ring by, um, performing an interpretive dance?!?

You know what? Kane’s character development throughout 1999 is amazing to watch. They did such a good job of making him a more relatable, human character. Easily one of the best parts of the Rumble is when he wrecks shit and receives a major pop for it. For someone whose character is so prone to jokes and truly execrable storylines, it’s great to remember all the times when he’s been, excuse the pun, fire.

On Chyna entering the Rumble: This seems like a fairly minor step forward now in the time of the all-women’s Royal Rumble but for as much as Chyna is thrown in the discussion of trailblazers in the Women’s Revolution, she’s still pretty much on her own level. Sure, there’s all the talk of her as the first woman to do this and that, and rightly so, but nobody has quite thrown up a middle finger to the whole concept of gender quite like Chyna did. No wonder she’s a queer icon.

#royal rumble #attitude era #mick foley #the rock

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adrianna-m-scovill · 6 years ago

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The Invitation (Barson fic)

Rated T, 4400 words. Also on AO3.

A group text.

A group text. He couldn’t have managed a quick phone call? Or even a private text? She didn’t deserve that much?

Fucking coward, she thought, but she knew that was unfair. She also knew that he really didn’t owe her anything. And wasn’t a good portion of her anger actually directed at herself? For the burst of happy excitement she’d felt when his new number popped up on her screen for, what? The third time in the three months since he’d texted it to her? For the initial disappointment she’d felt when she’d realized that Fin, Carisi, and Rollins were all getting the same message?

And then. When she’d actually read the text, when the words had really settled into her, well…

She shoved those feelings aside, even now. She didn’t want to acknowledge them, not fully. It was easier to cling to the anger, even if she knew it was unfair.

She raised her hand to knock again, but the door was pulled inward. And there he stood, looking surprised and wary but…not unhappy. That trace of not-unhappiness in his green eyes made her want to cry, and she curled her hands into fists, using the bite of her nails into her palms to keep her stupid emotions in check.

“Liv,” he said.

“Barba,” she answered, and she saw his expression tighten—at her tone, perhaps, or just the use of his surname.

“Come in,” he said, stepping aside and holding the edge of the door. She wanted to refuse, to tell him that she had no intention of stepping into his hotel room, but that was ridiculous. What in the hell had she come for if she was just going to turn tail and run at the sight of him? She squared her shoulders and walked past him, glancing around the room to avoid looking at him. He closed the door and followed her. Cursing herself for her own cowardice, she forced herself to turn to face him. “I’d ask how you found me, but…” he said, offering a small smile. She shot him a look that made the smile widen, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“I didn’t know it was a secret,” she said.

“Of course not,” he answered, and she turned away to begin pacing.

“Are you here alone? When did you get back?” she asked.

“Yes. Last night,” he said, watching her pace the hotel room. She thought he might apologize for not calling, or stopping by, or texting to see if she wanted to have a drink, but that was ridiculous, too. He’d surely been busy. And not alone.

“You didn’t want to have the wedding in Florida?” she asked. Oh, that word—wedding—left a bitter taste on her tongue.

“No,” he said. She heard his hesitation, but she didn’t look at him, choosing instead to stop at the window so she could stare out at the city. Anything to avoid staring at him. She hated how terribly she’d missed the sight of him, and how even now she wanted nothing more than to—“This is her home,” he finally said.

She turned to look at him, after all. “Oh, does that mean you’ll be moving back here?” she asked, and while she tried to keep her tone politely casual, she knew she’d failed miserably.

His brow was knitted as he regarded her. “I always intended to come back here,” he said, and she could hear the caution in his voice.

“Hmm,” she answered, turning back to the window. “I guess I just wasn’t sure,” she said.

He was silent behind her, and for several moments her eyes burned with unshed tears as she stared out at the city. She hadn’t seen him in months, and this was how she was going to spend their brief time together? By being an asshole to him because of her own hurt feelings? What kind of friend was she, anyway?

He’s the one who left, she thought. She swallowed the lump in her throat and raised her chin a notch. Yes, he’d left, but he’d done what was best for himself. As his friend, she should be happy for him or, at the very least, supportive.

She turned toward him again, catching sight of the tux hanging on the closet door for the first time. Her stomach clenched and she shifted her gaze away. He was standing with his hands in his pockets, watching her with a small frown on his forehead. It wasn’t easy, but she met his eyes. And she hated herself for the concern in his. He didn’t need something else to worry about, and here she was, his supposed friend, showing up on one of the most important days of his life only to snark at him.

“I’m sorry for the short notice,” he said. His tone was still one of caution. He was unsure, trying to determine why she was upset. “It was all very sudden.”

“I guess so, you’ve only been gone a few months,” she answered. She was looking at him now, and it hurt. She wanted to touch him; she wanted to pull him into her arms and beg him not to leave her. But he’d already left. He might be standing in front of her, but he was still gone, and she hadn’t realized how much it would hurt to look him in the eyes and know that he wasn’t ever coming back. “I just thought that—” She stopped abruptly, horrified by the words that had almost slipped from her tongue.

I just thought that when you came back, you would come back to me. That you would be ready to talk about us. How could I have been so wrong?

“Liv?” he asked, taking a step toward her.

She shook her head and he stopped. “I’m sorry,” she heard herself say. “It really is good to see you, Rafael. I just…I’m just tired, you know.” She waved a hand and managed a smile. “And I came by to tell you that I can’t make it to the wedding.”

He nodded once, searching her face. “I’ll give your regards to my mother, I know she’ll miss seeing you there,” he said. The not-unhappiness was gone, and it was her fault.

He deserved to be happy more than anyone she knew. “I’ll send a gift as soon as I can, just let me know the address…” He was frowning again. “Have you found a new place in the city, yet?” she asked. She tried to tell herself that once he was back in New York to stay, they could still be friends. She wanted to believe that she was a big enough person to put her own jealousies aside for the sake of their friendship.

“No, I thought we’d—” He stopped, frowning at her. “Is there something you’d like to say to me?” he finally asked.

She was taken aback by the question, although she knew she shouldn’t be. He’d known she was upset since the moment he opened the door. He just wasn’t sure why, and she suddenly realized that that was what hurt the most. His confusion. He’d had no reason to expect her to show up full of jealous anger and pain, because he hadn’t realized she’d been stupidly believing they had a future together. His confusion made her feel like an idiot.

She crossed her arms. “I did think maybe you’d send me a private text, at least, or make a quick phone call,” she heard herself admit.

“Things have been a little hectic,” he answered, staring at her. “I thought it would be most expedient to just send the—I did think we’d have a chance to talk at the wedding,” he said, and now he sounded defensive. Perhaps even edging toward anger.

“Right, sorry,” she said. “If I’d had a little notice, I could’ve—I know, it was spur-of-the-moment.” She held up a hand to forestall his interruption. “And you don’t owe me anything,” she added. She saw his expression harden. The change happened quickly. “I’m just explaining why I can’t make it.”

“You tracked me down and showed up at my hotel door to tell me you couldn’t make it,” he said. He was glaring at her, now. “That’s it? You have nothing else to say to me?”

Her temper flared in response to his sudden hostility, even though she knew she deserved it. “Like what?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe why you came in here like—” He stopped himself again. He ran his tongue between his teeth and upper lip, taking a moment to rein in his anger. “Maybe just tell me what’s bothering you,” he said, quieter.

She didn’t mean to say it, but the words slipped out: “The fact that you don’t know is part of the problem.” Her eyes and nose were burning, and she ground her teeth together to keep the tears at bay. “I’m sorry,” she said, and she meant it. She never should have come to his room like this. “You deserve to be happy,” she added, and she meant that, too. “I shouldn’t have come here like this, I…don’t know what I was thinking,” she admitted, putting a slightly-shaky hand to her forehead.

“Jesus, Lieutenant, I’m not a mind-reader,” he said, making her rank sound like an accusation. “You haven’t responded to any of the group texts—”

“I muted them.”

He blinked, staring at her. “You muted them,” he repeated. “Because you were annoyed that I didn’t send you an individual text? I never knew you to be so petty,” he said. His eyes were flashing, now, his anger undeniable. But the anger was a front; there was something else behind it, a sort of hurt confusion, and she hated herself for that.

“I knew Carisi would be asking a bunch of questions—” She lowered her hand and sighed. “And I didn’t want to know the answers,” she admitted. “I’m so sorry, I’m a terrible friend,” she said. Her lips were numb, but her eyes were dry. She didn’t deserve to cry. This was her fault, not his. He’d never made her any promises, and he wasn’t responsible for her flawed inference.

She was going to lose him forever if she didn’t make this right. Yes, it would hurt seeing him build a life with someone else, but she would be happy for him in spite of her own pain. And having him as a friend, even if their friendship would never be as it was before, was infinitely better than not having him in her life.

“Can we just forget I was ever here?” she asked, managing a smile. “I really am happy for you, Rafa. I shouldn’t have come in here like this, I didn’t know I was going to react so badly to seeing you again.”

“I’ve been doing the best I could,” he told her, and she knew how painful it must be for him to say those words. “I thought…you understood…”

So did I, she thought with self-loathing. “I do understand,” she said. “You have to do what’s best for you.”

“What are you—”

“I have to go, I’m sorry,” she said, starting for the door.

“Go?” he asked. And then, just like that, his expression slammed shut. “Fine,” he said. His voice was cold, but not laced with anger; she could detect no emotion in his voice or face. He wasn’t about to beg her to stay, or to ask for an explanation, or to apologize when he didn’t know what transgressions had been committed.

“I’ll see you, Rafael,” she said.

“Sure,” he answered, the noncommittal syllable like a knife to her heart.

The selfish part of her—the part that had brought her to his door and ruined his big day with her petty jealousies—wanted to tell him that she loved him. Maybe the words would make a difference. Maybe there was still a chance. Maybe this would be the last time she would ever see him, and the declaration would be nothing more than a goodbye.

But she bit the words back, because she wouldn’t burden him with her heartbreak. She could feel him trailing her as she walked to the door, but she couldn’t bring herself to look back at him. She couldn’t breathe. In a little while, he would be married, and—

She stepped into the hallway, and he spoke behind her. “You might want to take a peek at those texts,” he said. “On the off chance you jumped to, I don’t know, an erroneous conclusion.”

She turned toward him, but she caught only a glimpse of his clenched jaw as he pushed the door shut with a click that spoke of heartbreaking finality.

An erroneous conclusion.

Benson sat in the back of the small church, away from the other guests—friends and family that she didn’t deserve to join—wondering how she’d managed to make such a mess of things.

She looked at the groom, standing near the altar, waiting for his bride, and she couldn’t keep the tears from spilling over her cheeks. When the music started, everyone turned toward the back of the church, rising to their feet, and Benson swiped at her cheeks. She was about to push herself up when, suddenly, he was right beside her pew. She froze, her teary gaze sliding up the length of his tuxedo to his face.

He looked down at her and she saw a myriad of emotions flit across his features in a matter of seconds. He swallowed, hard, at the sight of her tears, and she saw him make an effort to compose himself. He pasted a smile onto his face and turned away from her, leaning to press a kiss to his mother’s cheek as they started down the aisle together. Lucia Barba was holding tightly to her son’s arm, but her eyes were fixed on the man waiting beside the priest, and in a minute Barba would pass his mother’s hand to that of her soon-to-be-husband.

Sorry for the short notice, and it’s perfectly understandable if you can’t make it, but you’re each cordially invited to the Barba-Espinoza wedding at 5pm today…

She’d barely even registered the name and address of the church, or anything else after Barba-Espinoza wedding. One of the first things that Carisi had asked was why it was Barba-Espinoza instead of Espinoza-Barba, to which Barba had responded that the church would be marked with the latter but he’d put his mother’s name first without thinking about it.

Benson had already muted the conversation, though. She’d gone into an immediate tailspin of her own design.

All she could think of now was the look on his face when he’d opened his hotel room door. That not-unhappiness.

He was happy to see me, she thought, hugging herself as she watched Barba walking his mother down the aisle. And he had no idea why I was upset. He’d figured it out by the end, though. He hadn’t explained the misunderstanding, hadn’t corrected her erroneous conclusion, but she supposed she couldn’t blame him. She’d deserved to have the door slammed in her face; at least he’d closed it gently.

There were no bridesmaids or groomsmen; Barba stood beside his mother, and a younger man—late twenties or early thirties—stood beside the groom in a matching tux. Benson could only assume he was Mr. Espinoza’s son, and Barba’s soon-to-be-stepbrother. She wondered how Barba felt about that and cursed herself another dozen times over. If she’d been a decent friend, she’d know how he felt about it and his mother’s wedding in general. He must have feelings about the situation and he’d probably wanted to discuss them with her, his friend.

I’ll make it up to you if you let me, she thought, and Barba glanced toward the back of the church, his gaze meeting hers for a moment. His eyes slid away, but she couldn’t stop herself from watching him. She wondered if he could feel the weight of her eyes on him but she was helpless to look away.

The ceremony was beautiful, and shorter than Benson—thinking Lucia would’ve opted for the traditional catholic readings—expected. Benson had never met the groom, but she had no doubt that he was in love with his bride. Benson couldn’t be happier for Lucia, but the sight of their love only made her gaze return to Barba.

Lucia cried; Barba cried at the sight of his mother’s tears; Benson cried at the sight of his. And when the ceremony was over, after he’d kissed his mother’s cheek and shaken the hand of his new stepfather, once the bride and groom had disappeared in a limo and the guests had all shuffled out of the church—Benson’s squad, as much Barba’s squad, among them—then, finally, Benson found herself facing him, alone in the church. He could’ve avoided her; it would’ve been easy to get in a car and leave, and she wouldn’t have blamed him.

But here they were.

“Why didn’t you tell me I was being stupid?” she asked.

For a moment, his lips quirked in a smile. Then the smile slipped and disappeared. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, but I’ve never made that particular one,” he answered quietly. There was no anger flashing in his eyes, now. He was subdued, resigned; unhappy. She stepped toward him, and he regarded her warily.

“This must’ve been weird for you,” she said, with a small gesture toward the church around them. “Hard. You should’ve been able to talk to me, and instead I—”

“I didn’t ask you to listen to my feelings,” he interrupted.

“You shouldn’t have to ask,” she answered quietly. “What you hoped, I think, is that I would show up here, know you were upset and convince you to talk about it.” She saw his throat bob, a silent admission that she’d hit the nail on the head. “That’s what should’ve happened. I’m sorry.”

“How could you think I was getting married?” he blurted, seeming unable to keep the words from tearing their way out of his throat. She could hear the rawness—the hurt and confusion, still—in his voice. And then: “How could you think I was getting married and that I’d tell you by inviting you to the wedding in a group text?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t know what to think anymore, what to believe,” she admitted. “I thought…” She trailed off, shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter what I thought,” she said.

“Yes,” he answered. “It does. I’ve been working toward—” He broke off and sighed, running a hand over his hair. “You’re the only reason I’ve ever had for coming back here,” he said, the words barely audible, and she felt her heart stumble inside her ribcage. “And now, I feel like…I let my life slip through my fingers. I lost the only thing that really mattered.”

“You can rebuild your life, your career,” she told him. “You can do anything—”

“You know that’s not what I meant,” he said, and now there was a spark of anger in his eyes. It was small, gone almost as soon as it appeared.

“I don’t,” she returned. She knew she sounded defensive and, worse, accusatory. “You say I’m the only reason you had to come back? I thought…I was waiting for you,” she said. The admission was painful, embarrassing. But it was necessary. They had to talk about this. “But you never made me any promises, Rafa,” she said quietly. “I had no right to be upset with you for my own stupid assumptions. I showed up at your door half-cocked, fueled by my own self-doubts and…and hurt feelings, and you—you were happy to see me. At first.”

“Happy?” he asked, sounding incredulous. “Of course I was happy—Do you not know how much I—Well, no, why would you, right?” he asked. He turned and started pacing in the aisle, agitated.

“We’re the one thing we’ve never been able to talk about,” she said.

“You mean me,” he shot back, clenching and unclenching his fists as he paced. He glanced at her. “I’ve never been able to talk about it. I just left you…wondering and…and…”

She could see him trying desperately to hide the pain in his face, and she moved forward without thinking. She grabbed his arm, stopping him. “No, not just you,” she said. “Both of us. It’s not easy for either of us. And I don’t need a bunch of words, Barba. I only need one, a yes or a no.”

“Yes,” he said, staring at her.

She couldn’t breathe. “I didn’t ask yet,” she managed, trapped by his gaze. Even now, she was afraid to hope; she supposed that spoke to some flaw within her, some inability to accept the idea that she might deserve the love of a man like Rafael Barba—the most honorable, and honest, person she’d ever known; the best friend she’d ever had; the only man she’d ever loved with all of herself.

“Liv, from almost the moment I met you, it’s felt like you could read my mind. You’ve always seemed to know what I’m thinking, feeling. I’d like to say it made me complacent, but the fact is, I used it. As an excuse to avoid saying the things I was afraid to say. I told myself that you knew, that you understood, and then you showed up at my door, and I didn’t know why you were so upset, and it scared the hell out of me because I could feel you slipping through my fingers and I didn’t know how to…to tighten my grip,” he said, holding his hand up to curl his fingers in demonstration. “And then I figured out what you thought and it hurt.”

“I’m sorry,” she said.

He reached up and covered her hand, on his arm, with his own. He shook his head. The tears shimmering in his eyes matched those in hers. “No, Liv,” he said quietly. “It hurt to know how much I’d failed you, how I’d failed to protect the most important thing in my life—my relationship with you. This is not your fault. It’s mine. So let me say this now, even if it’s too late. I love you, more than I ever thought possible. I love you in every way imaginable. Me, marrying anyone but you? Inconceivable. I had no right to expect you to wait for me—”

She stepped forward and kissed him, and suddenly nothing else mattered. She felt his surprise quickly slide away, and then his arm curved around the back of her neck as he returned her kiss with as much desperation as she was feeling, herself. She clutched at his lapels, pulling his body flush against hers.

She opened her mouth to him, but she felt him hesitate in the moment before he pulled his lips from hers. He tipped his head back just far enough to search her eyes. “If you have time, do you want to come back to my room?” he asked. “We can talk more…privately,” he added, and she suddenly remembered that they were standing in the middle of a church and that anyone might walk inside.

“I haven’t shaved my legs.”

His brow wrinkled as he regarded her. “I…don’t know what that means,” he said. “I mean, I know what it means, but…are you saying…what? That you don’t want to sleep with me? Because I wasn’t suggesting—”

“No,” she said, and her vehemence made him laugh—a startled sound. “I just—I was just warning you,” she said, and he laughed again, this time with more amusement.

“Do you think I care?” he asked. “You could—” He stopped, and she watched his expression change as realization dawned. “You did think I was coming back,” he said. “That we…That you and I—”

“Yes,” she answered, and just like that, his whole face went soft. It made her want to cry, she loved him so much. “Until that text,” she added, with a little shake of her head. She saw that he was about to apologize again, and she raised a finger to his soft lips. “Let’s just pretend it didn’t happen,” she said. She moved her fingers to his tie and let out a breath. “I’ll knock on your door and you can let me in—If you want to,” she added, and he chuckled, his arm tightening around her shoulders. “And we can talk about the fact that your mother got married today, and anything else you want to talk about, and then you can take me to bed and make love to me and when you have to leave, you can look me in the eyes and tell me not to jump to any stupid conclusions while you’re gone.”

He tipped his head. “You want to say the middle part again?” he asked softly.

She smiled. “Watch yourself, Barba,” she said. “You’re in church.”

“I have no chance of hiding these thoughts from God,” he answered, and she laughed, surprised to feel a blush staining her cheeks. “And…I’m not leaving,” he added. “The city, I mean.”

It took a few seconds for the words to sink in. She stared at him. “No?” she asked, finally.

He shook his head slowly.

“That’s what you were going to say when I asked if you’d found a new place,” she realized.

“I thought we could talk about…me finding a place close by for now, until…eventually, maybe—”

“Let’s talk about it on the way to your room,” she said, pulling back and reaching for his hand when he withdrew his arm.

“Liv,” he said when she started to turn, and she paused, looking at him. He bent his head forward, pressing his lips close to her ear, and breathed, “I’ve missed you.” His fingers tightened around hers when he felt the shiver pass through her body. “I need you.” He turned his chin, his nose brushing against her cheek, and then his lips were hovering near hers. “And I love you.”

She hadn’t said the words. He wasn’t asking for them, but she wanted to give them to him: “I love you, too,” she answered, and she thought she could feel a weight slipping from both of them. His lips curved as they touched hers. “Let’s go,” she murmured against his mouth, and she felt his smile widen.

#barson #rafael barba #olivia benson #svu fic #angst #happy ending #fanfiction #the invitation

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mdomroe-blog1 · 6 years ago

Text

TecKed Out

OUTLOOK

Everyone has their own personal favorite social media influencers, whether that be Youtubers like, Keaton Milburn, Fitness Bloggers like Tammy Hembrow, or top models like Hailey Bieber. These three famous influencers have three main characteristics in common. They are tall, skinny, and blonde. Growing up I had a great childhood, I was carefree and never had a second thought about the way I looked. In later middle school when I became a part of the social media world these things changed. I started to see the differences that I had from other girls my age and noticed I never could compete with some girls.

[Keaton Milburn is a 21-year-old social media influencer, courtesy of AZ Foothills.]

I’m not here to tell you that skinny blonde girls need to be exterminated from society or to tell you to stop using social media. I’m writing this blog to raise awareness of future implications extreme social media and technology usage could bring to the next generation of young adults. Compared with other developed nations, Americans are more likely to have a higher amount of screen-time than almost any other western society. According to Common Sense Media, American youth, ages 8-18 spend an average of nine hours using any source of media. Instead of living an active lifestyle and learning lifelong skills, we are training our youth to live behind the screen while emphasizing the importance of technical literacy in the workplace. Brianna Crowley compared the older generation to be more of “digital immigrants’” rather than “digital natives”. However, we are not preparing the “digital natives” for the real world, we are teaching them to live like lifeless computer-oriented zombies. Employers are more inclined to hire someone with both computer and communication skills, however CLIMB professional Development and Training ranked strong communication as the top answer. As a society we need to be conscientious of the negative impact’s technology can bring, so we can work toward a well-rounded lifestyle.

[This illustration shows this woman’s struggle to detach herself from social media. (Thrillist)]

MENTAL HEALTH

In 2014 Nielson performed a study to show the negative effects technology has on the developing teen brain, this study showed how technology has negative effects on sleep patterns, self-confidence, social skills, emotions, and personality in teens. Nielson highlights the negatives of social media as a whole, rather than demonstrate what a person goes through on a more intimate level, which is so important to acknowledge. As technology has risen, personal hatred towards one’s own body became extremely prominent. Girls and boys saw true differences between their bodies and ones of famous influencers, which then made teens try and work towards a more “likeable” image. Teens will do anything to fit in, going anywhere from posting scandalous photos to starving themselves, because that is what their favorite celebrity does. The Girl Scouts Research Institute found that ½ of every teen women wish they were as skinny as fashion models. I think it is horrible to see how many girls are affected by social media, if they weren’t subjected to mass amounts of edited content then maybe it would be easy to differentiate between what is real and what is fake.

Body image is something that usually has a negative connotation. When you’re a teen you have so many different things to worry about. Teens stress about the craziest things, personally I have stressed about how my new perfume smelled for hours. I think with just simple posts a teen can completely misconstrue the meaning behind the initial post and work-up their emotions in response. Our brain has been rewired since I was a kid. According to Stephanie Hertzenberg; from Beliefnet, there is a direct connection between your brains ability to process a large influx of information, and the ability to retain information. This recent catastrophe is referred to as “popcorn brain”, and if the brain is subjected to a large amount of stimuli for long periods of time, then the brain will no longer retain large portions of information.

Not only does over indulgence of social media lead to poor cognitive function it also is a main trigger of anxiety and depression. It is so easy to see posts on your feed and compare the amount of likes you receive to another young teen, but while some of us just see that like as a number others take that number to heart. In 2017 the Child Mind Institute conducted a study that shows 92% of teens use or own a smartphone. The Child Mind Institute also found that in half a million high-schoolers depressive symptoms have increased 33% in a five-year span. In that same time teen girls experienced a 65% increase in suicide rates. Technology is a great thing and allows for millions of people to connect from all over the world, but when people feel bad about themselves after going online then why should we promote its use. We should not let cyberbullying be something in this world that could trigger someone to take their own life. Jennifer Mills; a renowned Canadian Psychologist speaks on body image and says teens "… felt worse about their own appearance after looking at social media pages of someone that they perceived to be more attractive than them...". Many are quick to see negatives within this quotation; however, I believe we need to not see it as a negative but see it as an opportunity to change young tech users outlook when on social media. Instead of viewing it as a competition, we need to teach developing youth that it is a form of finding information on others.

[This photo symbolizes how she sees herself based upon others words, and how they stick on her (Social Media Effecting Body Image).]

TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS

We have seen our society move up the ladder with new innovations, with large technology companies constantly working towards releasing the newest update. Apple is the leading tech company in the world and is a great example of a company with a fast turnover rate. Within the last decade, we have moved into the realm of smartphones. With technology at our fingertips our citizens live a very efficient lifestyle. You can completely live a paperless lifestyles if truly necessary, but that may lead to a dependence on any given device. Women and men are constantly on popular modes of social media like YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook. If our society is on average spending nine hours on a device, then a large amount of that time is spent on social media. Constant time spent on social media updates teens on the newest tech trends being released, this inclines people to buy more and more products that have very little differences. Zac Hall exemplifies the fast technology turnover rate, by showing how every September Apple releases a completely new model, then just makes small adjustments and rebrands throughout the year. This marketing scheme is what makes Apple and other companies so successful, however they do not show how the consumer is constantly updating to stay hip to cultural trends.

[This is a chart that shows the large increase of price on Apple products (Phillipine Peso.]

PERSONAL REFLECTION

When I was a freshmen in high school, I was completely naïve to all the mean girls in school and what their words could do. I was a pretty shy girl and did not really get into deep conversations with “the cool kids”. One day I had class with this beautiful popular girl named Rachel and she was seated in my table group. I was pretty excited to be in a cool table group, and for her to even know my name. A few weeks went by and I thought Rachel and I had really hit it off on multiple occasions. Little did I know that she was purposefully manipulating me for pure enjoyment. I had found out that she posted a photo on her Snapchat story of me wearing shorts with white paint on the butt. This white stain led to many sexual jokes that I was not expecting nor wanting.

In conclusion, although Rachel and I do not talk anymore her words still linger with me to this day. I feel that without the monumental tear to my self-confidence I would not have grown to be a strong independent leader. I am currently writing this from my hotel room where I am staying in Nashville. I was selected to attend a Leadership Conference here and I truly think back to that time where social media destroyed me, and how I have grown from that experience. Overall, I believe technology has allowed us to transform society and grow into what we are today, but without proper guidance it can go extremely bad.

[These are unfortunately the very old shorts that I got made fun of for when I was so young. Ironically, I brought them to wear to bed.]

[This is me and Jacquelyn Kelly pictured above at the Leadership Conference this past weekend.]

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