#but wild to see an entire KIND OF IMPORTANT plot point just get left in the dust.

[benbamboozled]

Funny that DC just went “nah she was lying,” LIKE THE WHOLE REASON THEY ENDED UP WITH SHEILA WASN’T BECAUSE OF BATMAN GIVING LADY SHIVA THE “tRuTh SeRuM”!!!

Source is Batman #428

[2manythoughtz]

Reasons Why Nate Is The Most Misunderstood Character Of Euphoria

Nate is probably the most misunderstood character of all the series, people both adore and hate him, but why is that?

When you think of Euphoria the first characters that come to mind are Rue, Jules, Maddy and Cassie. While they’re all very well-defined characters, I think we can all agree that Euphoria is great at leaving a cloud of mystery around these people. So, while you take in their backstories and see what they’re up to, you might question their actions and their reasoning since they don’t exactly show you everything you want to know.

While plot holes and mischaracterization aren’t new to fans, what seem like small mistakes when talking about the main characters can later become big trouble for other secondary characters like Nate.

To refresh your mind, Nate is the youngest son of a very important and wealthy family, his great looks and athleticism made him one of the most popular kids in school. He’s the usual asshole jock you can find in any kind of movie, only in Euphoria you can see so many different shades of him that you end up confused and you don’t know what type of person he is.

Why is he so misunderstood in the series?

As I said earlier, he is your typical jock. He’s a douche who plays football, gets the girl, throws wild parties and is overall a pretty bad person. That is until we see his backstory and realize that something is wrong.

1. Sexuality

I’m gonna stop on this point for a while because I feel like no one ever cared/understood what was going on. Ever since we got our first look at Nate’s backstory, during episode 2 of season 1 “Stuntin like my daddy”, I think people have entirely misunderstood his character based on his sexuality.

As we get to see, his psyche is very dark and twisted because of his father’s influence from a very young age, though it was indirect it didn’t stop him from getting this obsession with sex. We can see this through his whole relationship with Maddy which is very sexual and almost obsessive, which to me feels like kind of an anchor to his heterosexuality. But that doesn’t mean that he is homosexual, differently from what everyone in the series seems to think as soon as they find out that he has dick pics on his phone.

So what is he? Truth is, it doesn’t really matter? I don’t think people should concentrate on the right label as the show is good at portraying the fact that sexuality is fluid. If you think about Rue, everyone was so quick to accept her and her relationship just because she’s the protagonist, Jules also gets acclaimed for her initial confusion but Nate gets immediately ridiculed and seen as this weird boy.

Another thing that I see a lot of people talking about is his obsession with Jules in the first season, which to me doesn’t sound like a romantic interest at all and it just goes so far as for the sexual part. They’ve only shared nudes and Nate was no stranger to receiving nudes from other people, both men and women apparently, so there was never something special between them. Yes, they texted a lot and he seemed genuine in getting to know her, but let’s all remember that it all started because Nate knew Jules had hooked up with his father and wanted to protect his family’s name.

I really like how in the first season no one really talks about his preferences that much because we’re all focused on his toxic side after he attacked Maddy.

The second season was a hot mess, that is no secret. I’m not surprised he went for Cassie, if you think about it really hard it makes sense. She is everything he liked and everything Maddy wasn’t. At least at first, in the end, we’re left with a lot of questions after the school play which makes fun of Nate being gay for no apparent reason. We’re left with this curiosity, is Nate really gay and hiding his preferences because that’s what he’s been taught? Or is he simply confused and still trying to understand himself?

2. Trauma

As much as everyone hates Nate’s ways, we must remember that everything happens for a reason. In his case, Nate’s father is the real reason behind his behavior. This is in no way a reason to excuse what he did in the series nor justify him, just trying to understand the reasoning behind his character.

Euphoria has done an incredible job of showing the different traumas that affected most of the main characters, it’s amazing to see how their childhoods impacted their teenage years regardless of how serious you think their problems might be. In this sense, Nate’s childhood is very well described.

Not only he had an emotionally absent father, but he’s only seen his dad being obsessed with having the perfect family while hiding away every flaw they might have. Nate is born with this unexplained anger inside of him that we later find out is passed down by his father, that alone makes it hard for him to grow up without anyone ever noticing it.

The rest of his family is messed up as well, but the father is the real reason for how he behaves. Nate finds out about his father’s sexuality through the recordings of his random hookups with gay men and trans women, this significantly impacts little Nate’s mentality.

Not only does he learn that his father is cheating on his mother, but he also tries to hide his preferences meaning that they’re wrong. Of course, we know that that is not the case, but everything is very well explained in season 2 when we see Cal Jacobs in his teen years having difficulties with his sexuality as well, but that’s another topic to look into.

Nate’s constant obsessive behavior is just a replica of his father’s desperate tentative to have a perfect family while hiding himself. One of the main reasons why I don’t think Nate is necessarily gay is that he is never shown to have a genuine interest in men romantically speaking, just trying to fill his father’s shoes.

3. Toxic Relationships

As I said before, he is in a very toxic relationship with Maddy in season 1 and in yet another toxic relationship with Cassie in season 2. That definitely goes to define his view of love and relationships, not only that but his only example of a regular couple is his parents who barely talk to each other.

Maddy can be labeled as his first love, he goes as far as saying that he would kill for her. But it is also shown that they argue a lot and have many differences that cause them to yell at each other and become physical and that only goes to reinforce his idea that with love comes anger and it’s ok as long as it’s not out there for everybody to see.

That is shown when Nate reacts violently to Maddy insulting him in front of his family and everybody standing there. But when faced with the question about his sexuality he breaks down because he doesn’t know what acceptance is, he feels like he has failed.

With Cassie everything seems to be perfect, she’s gentle and delicate and he thinks she would be perfect to be his future wife. But as their relationship develops, we can see that he quickly regrets his decision once he sees just how broken she is. She’s perfect on the outside but she may be worse than Maddy on the inside and I believe that will definitely shape his view of relationships in the future and he’ll think twice before getting with anyone.

This can also be proved by the fact that even if he and Maddy broke up, they kept meeting up and acting like a couple, even when he was with Cassie. To me, this shows that he’s not comfortable getting with new people and would rather stay with the old toxic ones.

As I said earlier, Nate seemed genuine in talking to Jules even if he wasn’t honest with her. When she finds out that the boy she has fallen for is none other than the school’s jock she is disappointed and scared which is understandable from our point of view, but I think that left Nate bittersweet. He knew he was blackmailing her but from his point of view as long as she kept quiet he wasn’t going to do anything to her, what might’ve developed into a friendship became a hate relationship.

Going into seasons 1 and 2, Nate never tries to hurt Jules again and seems kind of melancholic that they’re not talking anymore. That might be just another way for him to see that he is not fit for friendships with the other sex and keep his view of women as these objects for his pleasure and status.

4. Self-esteem issues

Throughout the series, we can see that Nate is not this big confident jock as everyone think he is. In fact, he is very self-conscious about himself in every way. We can get a first glimpse of this in the second episode of season 1.

Nate has been working out ever since he was a child to get the perfect body, he is ashamed of his insecurities and tends to hide from others. He doesn’t like changing with his teammates in the locker room, he doesn’t feel comfortable having people around him and he needs to be in control of the situation and also everyone close to him.

His sexuality of course is his number one insecurity, he doesn’t know how to hide it so he tries his best to focus on finding the perfect girl. As I anticipated before, his relationship with Maddy feels like an excuse to feel and show his heterosexuality even though we know he isn’t. As soon as that facade is over he doesn’t seem to care about anything, not Maddy, not Cassie and definitely not Jules.

His aggression, his jealousy and his need to protect those he cares about all come from the fact that he is insecure, he fears they will leave him and he’ll lose the only people he actually accepts. At the end of the day, he is still a teenager and feels just like most teenagers which is something I feel like most people completely forget and see him just as this grown asshole that only cares about himself.

In conclusion, while Nate is probably the most hated character in the series, he is so complex and has a lot of potential, it’s a shame that it was wasted in the end. There is so much more to say about him that I think was completely missed throughout the second season. There is so much people want to know about Nate’s future, is he going to hide all his life and play pretend like his father? Or will he break the cycle and finally be himself?

What do you think? Feel free to join the discussion with your personal thoughts! Do you agree? Do you disagree? Let me know!

[prettycottonmouthlamia]

It's kind of wild that FF7 Remake's Honeybee Inn gets this reputation as like a truly progressive piece of media, unique in the landscape of video games when its just. A flamboyant gay rhythm game. I get it, that's great, but it's missing the context of what that scene ended up replacing that bothers me a lot.

In all but stated terms, the Honeybee Inn in the OG FF7 is a brothel. It's a place where sex is sold. Arguments on whether it was overall handled tastefully or not aside, the fact it was presented is really fascinating. It is, at minimum, a very frank depiction of sex work. To a certain extent, it makes the resulting scenes with Don Corneo more narratively consistent as well. It's not really out of the question that Wall Market is the way it is, why it has a brothel very openly, when you consider how Don Corneo is.

In Remake, it's basically a nightclub with fancy outfits. It loses, frankly, a lot of its bite. The change in tone with the Honeybee Inn isn't followed up with a change in tone regarding Don Corneo, which is really fascinating, because that actually gets expanded upon. The owner of the Honeybee Inn is involved in what is essentially human trafficking to a legitimately awful man, and...that's fine. But having a brothel would cause "physical unease" to players? Really?

Ultimately, one of these is an important plot beat and the impetus for the Cloud crossdressing bit, so we have to keep it in. Honeybee Inn is non-essential. I get that. But I don't think the replacement we get is actually good, especially since because of Ms. Folia, it is clear to me on some level Remake wants to have its cake and eat it too. It still wants the Honeybee Inn to be scandalous, but it doesn't really want to commit.

This is made really all the more funny by Yakuza: Like a Dragon. When one major franchise was turning away, another one was stepping right into it. The main protagonist, Kasuga, was literally left in a brothel as a baby and raised by the sex workers there and by its proprietor. There's an entire scene where Kasuga confronts protestors, of honestly the well done group name of "Bleach Japan", and its really interesting how ultimately the game takes the side of a positive view on sex work. It's not pretty but sex workers are still people, they don't produce broken kids, and that they're often the target of gross, conservative organizations.

I was so legitimately surprised to see this in a video game. I had never seen ANYONE talk about these scenes, and I know several people who played Like a Dragon. It's really odd to me that this went untalked about. So you have one popular series who really began to turn its corner around this time embracing the dirty and the complicated and the uncomfortable, and the other...honestly making a token effort to avoid it. It's avoiding making a statement.

It's taken me a while to actually sit down and like, settle my thoughts enough to get to this point so I'm curious what other people think.

[presidentdisastraofgallifrey]

My Top Ten Nu Who Episodes

Now that I finished all the reviews, I figured I would put my 10/10 episodes in order. I had 22 that were the top rated, but this post is just the best 10 of those.

Blink (Ten): I love the utter creepiness of the angels, especially this first time, and the found footage thing! The Doctor is barely even in it and it's one of the best episodes of all time.

Dot and Bubble (Fifteen): The messages about modern, tech-savvy racism in a way aimed at white people who don't think of themselves or their friends like that were powerful and made this episode the best, but it wasn't just that. The bright, poppy, colorful aesthetic added to it. I loved that the AI was the villain but also in the right. I love the slugs so much, it makes it even funnier that the AI absolutely could have just zapped everyone. Also Ncuti's acting and the pain and confusion of the Doctor experiencing this kind of illogical bigotry for the first time, it was so intense. Also I like that the Doctor cries and yells in general now.

Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead (Ten): Also very creepy and very sad, and one of River's best episodes because we know nothing about her yet, except that she loves adventure and the Doctor and, somehow, he will love her. I just have a lot of fun with it.

The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances (Nine): Much like the angels, the empty gas mask people are so creepy and I love that the story is from the perspective of scared street kids in the middle of a war. But it's the best because, after all the terror, love and truth won and everyone lived.

The Girl Who Died/The Woman Who Lived (Twelve): Alright, I might have a tiny bit of a theme going for things that are eerie and sad. But I don't think I'll ever be over (1) the idea that she can never die, and she will always be herself, but if part of yourself is who you know and what you've done she has also completely lost herself, and (2) that the Doctor caused something so awful through an act of compassion. And that scene at the end of the first part where the days whisk by and she turns from a happy young woman to someone sad and torn apart without physically aging at all lives rent free in my head.

Turn Left (Ten): You knew there had to be at least one internally-created AU story on this list. I like this one in particular because the world falls apart so fast without the Doctor, at points we specifically recognize as plots he now missed, and how Donna deals with this. Also Rose-as-a-mystery-visitor is fun. And Donna is important, in the end, for her practical nature.

The Beast Below (Eleven): Space whales will always get to me. The knowledge that the entire populace was made aware of a horror that they could change and chose to forget because the cost was too scary. Two last of their kind aliens who came because the children cried. And, as rarely happens, the best choice the Doctor could make was wrong. He was going to stop the whale hurting or being aware because he wasn't willing to take the risk anymore than the ship's populace had been. Also Liz 10 is an iconic badass.

Eve of the Daleks (Thirteen): Time loop stories hold a special place in my heart like AU ones. I like seeing the characters trying desperately to make it better with less and less time. I like the eerie, frankly weird setting of the storage units. And I like the daleks being just as confused as the people.

Fugitive of the Judoon (Thirteen): The Fugitive!Doctor is SO iconically the Doctor, but I like how she's different. Colorful, wild and silly, and yet. She's a spy. She knows what's at stake (something we never actually find out). And she's running from the Time Lords, something that I don't even care shouldn't really be possible (something something time lock, why we never see pre-war Time Lords running around) because it's exciting. Plus judoon are fun! Their language is stimmy! And the fact that this episode starts off with the vibes of any other episode and then breaks all the lore is my favorite thing ever.

Once, Upon Time (Thirteen): It's not really an AU story, but the way it cuts to planets we've never seen with characters we only met this season who are unconnected to the Doctor makes it feel a little like it anyway. Plus, more Fugitive lore, which I was hungry for. Double plus, we actually got more lore for the companions too.

[chainofclovers]

Ted Lasso 2x11 thoughts

For an episode that ends with a journalist Ted trusts but has (understandably) recently lied to warning Ted that he’s publishing an article about his panic attacks, it was fitting that this episode seemed entirely about what all of these characters choose to tell each other. And after most of a season of television that Jason Sudeikis has described as the season in which the characters go into their little caves to deal with things on their own, it turns out they are finally able to tell each other quite a lot.

Which is good because, um, wow, a lot is going to happen in the season finale of this show!

Thoughts on the things people tell each other behind the cut!

Roy and Keeley. I absolutely loved the moment during their photoshoot in which they bring up a lot of complicated emotional things and are clearly gutted (“gutted”? Who am I? A GBBO contestant who forgot to turn the oven on?) by what they’ve heard. We already know that Keeley and Roy are great at the kinds of moments they have before the shoot begins, in which Roy builds Keeley up and tells her she’s fucking amazing. From nearly the beginning of their relationship, they’ve supported each other and been each other’s biggest fans. But their relationship has gone on long enough that they’ve progressed from tentative arguments about space and individual needs into really needing to figure out what they mean to each other and how big their feelings are and what that means in relation to everything else. Watching these two confess about the uncomfortable kiss with Nate, the unexpectedly long conversation with Phoebe’s teacher, and—most painfully—the revelation that Jamie still loves Keeley didn’t feel like watching two people who are about to break up. (Although I could see them potentially needing space from each other to get clarity.) It felt like watching two people realize just how much they’d lose if they lost each other, which is an understandably scary feeling even—or especially—when you’re deeply in love but not entirely sure what the future holds. Not entirely sure what you’re capable of when you’ve never felt serious about someone in quite this way, and are realizing you have to take intentional actions to choose that relationship every single day. I’m excited to learn whether Roy and Keeley decide they need to solidify their relationship more (not necessarily an engagement, but maybe moving in together or making sure they’re both comfortable referring to the other as partner and telling people they’re in a committed relationship) or if things go in a different direction for a while.

Sharon and Ted. I’ve had this feeling of “Wow, Ted is going to feel so intense about how honest he’s been with Sharon and is going to end up getting really attached and transfer a lot of emotions onto the connection they have and that is stressful no matter how beneficial it has been for him to finally get therapy!” for a while now. And Sharon’s departure really brought that out and it was indeed stressful. But the amount of growth that’s happened for both of these characters is really stunningly and beautifully conveyed in this episode. Ted is genuinely angry she left without saying goodbye, and he doesn’t bury it some place deep inside him where it will fester for the next thirty years. He expresses his anger. (I also noticed he sweared—mildly—in front of her again, which is really a big tell for how much he has let his carefully-constructed persona relax around her.) He reads her letter even though he said he wasn’t going to, and he’s moved. I don’t think Ted has the words for his connection to Sharon beyond “we had a breakthrough,” but Sharon gets it, and is able to firmly assert a professional boundary by articulating her side of that breakthrough as an experience that has made her a better therapist. And is still able to offer Ted a different kind of closure by suggesting they go out before her train leaves. No matter how you feel about a patient/football manager seeing their therapist/team psychologist colleague socially, I appreciated this story because IMO it didn’t cross big lines but instead was about one final moment in this arc in which both Ted and Sharon saw each other clearly and modeled what it is to give someone what they need and to expect honesty and communication from them. I liked that Ted ends up being the one saying goodbye. (The mustache in the exclamation points!) I like that whether or not Sharon returns in any capacity (Sarah Niles is so wonderful that I hope she does, but I’m not sure), the goodbye these characters forge for themselves here is neither abandonment nor a new, more complicated invitation. It’s the end of a meaningful era, and although the work of healing is the work of a lifetime, it’s very beautiful to have this milestone.

Ted and Rebecca. So, maybe it’s just me, but it kinda feels like these two have a few li’l life things to catch up on?! (HAHHHHHaSdafgsdasdf!) I really adored their interactions in this episode. I maintain that Biscuits With The Boss has been happening this whole time (even when Ted’s apartment was in shambles, there’s biscuit evidence, and I feel like we’ve been seeing the biscuit boxes in Rebecca’s office pretty regularly too), even if it might have been more of a drive-by biscuit drop-off/feelings avoidance ritual. It was really lovely to see Ted on more even footing in Rebecca’s office, joking around until she tells him to shut up, just like the old days. And GOSH—for their 1x9 interaction in Ted’s office to be paralleled in this episode and for Ted to explicitly make note of the parallel in a way Rebecca hears and sees and understands?! MY HEART. In both of Rebecca’s confessions, she is not bringing good news but it is good and meaningful that she chooses to share with Ted. In both situations, Ted takes the moment in stride and offers acceptance equivalent to the gravity of what she has to confess. And in both situations, he’s not some kind of otherworldly saint, able to accept Rebecca no matter what because he’s unaffected by what she shares. He is affected. When he tells her about Sam, you can see a variety of emotions on his face. Rebecca is upset and Ted is calm, and even if I might have liked for him to try to talk about the risk the affair poses to the power dynamics on the team or any number of factors, I also really liked that he just accepts where she is, and—most importantly—does not offer her advice beyond examining herself and taking her own advice. A massive part of being in a relationship with another person (a close relationship of any nature) is figuring out how to support that person without necessarily having to be happy about every single thing they do. It’s so important that Ted connects what she’s just told him about Sam back to what she told him last season about her plot with the club. These both feel like truth bombs to him, and he is at least safe enough to make that clear. These are both things that impact him, things that shape how he sees her and maybe even how he sees himself. He cares about her and is capable of taking in this information; he has room for it. But it��s not something he takes lightly, and neither does she. See you next year.

Tumblr user chainofclovers and the TV show Ted Lasso. My brain is going wild thinking about all the ways the next “truth bomb” conversation could go in 3x11 or whatever. Maybe they go full consistent parallel and Rebecca confesses something else, this time about her and Ted or some other big future thing that impacts him as much or more as the other confessions have. (The same but different.) Maybe the tables turn and Ted has something to confess to her. While the 1x9 conversation ended in an embrace and the 2x11 conversation ended with a bit more physical distance (understandable given the current state of their relationship and the nature of the discussion), the verbal ending of both conversations involved voices moving into a sexier lower register while zooming in to talk specifically about their connection to each other, so I have to assume there will be some consistencies in s3 even if the circumstances will be completely different. I don’t really know where I’m going with this and I obviously will go insane if I sustain this level of anticipatory energy until Fall 2022 but I have a feeling my brain and heart are going to try!

Sam and Rebecca. I know there’s been a lot of criticism about whether this show is being at all realistic about the power dynamics and inevitable professional issues this relationship would create. On some level, I agree; I like that pretty much everyone who knows about the affair has been kind so far, but you can be kind and still ask someone to contend with reality. But I also think that in nearly every plot point on this show, the narrative is driven by how people feel about their circumstances first and foremost. (It’s why the whiteboard in the coaching office and the football commentators tell us more about how the actual football season is going from a points perspective than anyone else.) This episode reminded me how few people know about Sam and Rebecca, and how much their time together so far has been time spent in bed. The private sphere. I thought this episode really expertly brought the public sphere into it, not—thank goodness—through a humiliating exposure or harsh judgment but through an opportunity for Sam that illustrates not only all his potential to do great things but how much Rebecca’s professional position and personal feelings are in conflict with that. Could stand in the way of that. I don’t have a strong gut feeling about where this will go, but I do think Sam’s face in his final scene of this episode is telling. He started the episode wanting to see Rebecca (his most recent text to her was about wanting to connect), and Edwin’s arrival from Ghana really exploded his sense of what is possible for his life. If he’d arrived home to Rebecca sitting on his stoop prior to meeting Edwin, he’d have been delighted. Now he’s conflicted, and whatever decision he makes, he has to reckon with the reality that he cannot have everything he wants. No matter what. And Rebecca—she has taken Ted’s advice and is attempting to be honest about the fact that she can’t control Sam’s decisions but hopes he doesn’t go, and even saying that much feels so inappropriate. And I’m not sure how much she realizes about the inappropriateness of the position she’s putting him in, although maybe she’s getting there considering she exits the scene very quickly. I’ve honestly loved Rebecca’s arc this season. I think it’s realistic that she got obsessed with the intimacy she thought she could find in her phone. I think it’s realistic that her professional and personal ambitions are inappropriately linked. (They certainly were for Rupert. It’s been years since she’s known anything different; even if she’s done some significant recovery work to move on from her abusive marriage and figure out her own priorities, she’s got a long way to go.) I know there are people who will read this interaction between Rebecca and Sam as a totally un-self-aware thing on the part of “the show” or “the writers” but what I saw is two people who enjoyed being in bed together and now have to deal with the reality that they’re in two different places in their lives and that one has great professional power over the other. If that wasn’t in the show, I wouldn’t be able to see it or feel so strongly about it.

Edwin and Sam. I really enjoyed all the complexities of this interaction. Edwin is promising a future for Sam that doesn’t quite exist yet, though he has the financial means to make it happen. He offers this by constructing for Sam a Nigerian—and Ghanaian—experience unlike anything he’s found in London. Sam is amazed that this experience is here, and Edwin’s response is to explain to him that the experience is not here. Not really. The experience in Africa. Sam has of course connected to the other Nigerian players on the team, but this is something else entirely. I’m really curious if Sam is going to end up feeling that what Edwin has to offer is real or not. That sense of home and connection? So real. And so right that he would want to experience that homecoming and would want to be part of building that experience for others. But at the end of the day, he went to a museum full of actors and a pop-up restaurant full of “friends,” and is that constructed authenticity as a stand-in for a real homecoming more or less real than the home he’s building in Richmond? (With other players who stand in solidarity with him, and with well-meaning white coaches who say dumb stuff sometimes, and an a probably-doomed love interest, and a feeling that he should put chicken instead of goat in the jollof, and the ability to stand out as an incredible player on a rising team.)

Nate and everyone. But also Nate and no one. Nate’s story is so painful and I’m so anxious for next week’s episode. For a long time I’ve felt that a lot of Nate’s loyalties are with Richmond, and a lot of his ambitions are around having given so much to this place without getting a lot back, and having a strong feeling that he’s the answer to Richmond’s future. But now I’m not so sure; his ambitions have transferred into asking everyone he knows (except Ted, of course), if they want to be “the boss.” But Nate is all tactics and no communication. When he wants to suggest a new play to Ted, he hasn’t yet learned to read Ted’s language to learn that Ted is eager to hear what he has to say. And while Ted has been really unfortunately distracted about Nate and dismissive of him this season, he clearly respects Nate’s approach to football and was appreciative of the play. Nate just can’t hear that. The suit is such a great metaphor of all the things Nate is in too much pain to be able to hear clearly. Everyone digs at him for wearing the suit Ted bought him (including Will, who’s got to get little cuts in where he can, because he’s got to be sick of the way Nate treats him), but when he gets fed up his solution isn’t to go out on his own and find more clothes he likes; he asks Keeley to help him. And then crosses a major line with her...and no matter how kind she was about it, she was clearly not okay. Everything is going to blow up, and I’m so curious as to whether Nate will end up aligning himself with Rupert in some way or if he’s going to end up screwed over by Rupert and in turn try to screw over his colleagues even worse than he’s already done. Or try desperately to make amends even though it could be too late for some. Either way, I’m fully prepared to feel devastated. (And there’s no way I’m giving up on this character. If he’s able to learn, I truly believe he could end up seeking forgiveness and forging a happier existence for himself. Someday. Like in season 3 or something.)

Ted and Trent. Trent deciding to reveal his source to Ted is a huge deal, and I’m torn between so many emotions about this exposé. I’m glad it’s a Trent Crimm piece and not an Ernie Loundes piece. I’m glad that Trent made the decision to warn Ted and let him know that Nate is his source. I fear—but also hope—that this exposure will set off a chain reaction of Ted learning about some of the things he’s missed while suffering through a really bad bout with his dad-grief and panic disorder. The things Ted doesn’t know would devastate him. I wonder if Ted will want to figure out a way to make Nate feel heard and reconcile with him, and I wonder how that will be complicated if/when he realizes Nate has severely bullied Will, gets more details on how he mistreated Colin, etc. I wonder if Rebecca, whom Nate called a “shrew” right before she announced his promotion, will be in the position of having to ask Ted to fire him, or overriding Ted and doing it herself. So many questions! I have a feeling it’ll go in some wild yet very human-scaled, emotionally-nuanced direction, and I’ll be like “Oh my GOD!” but also like “Oh, of course.”

This VERY SERIOUS AND EMOTIONAL REVIEW has a major flaw, which is that none of the above conversations include mention of the absolute love letter to N*SYNC. Ted passionately explains how things should go while dancing ridiculously! Will turns on the music and starts gyrating! Roy nods supportively! Beard shouts the choreography like the Broadway choreographer of teaching grown men who play football how to dance like a boy band. Everyone is so incredibly proud when they nail it. I love them.

I cannot believe next week is the end. For now. I’m kind of looking forward to letting everything settle during the hiatus, but I’ve really loved the ride.

[ethernetchord]

lets talk: popular iwwv criticism

(disclaimer: i know criticism is subjective and thats why im doing this, i wanna look at some common points made against iwwv and dissect them just a little bit in the opposite direction. also none of this is directed at any individual- it’s all based on the general talking points i’ve seen surrounding the book.)

SPOILER WARNING !!

lack of exploration into james and oliver (+ gay characters feel performative)

i’ve seen loads of people say that oliver and james’ relationship felt very performative, a way of including the queer romnce which clearly is very important to the plot but not actually giving it any space in the novel, nor developing it to the same extent which meredith/oliver was.

oliver and meredith had a very strictly physical relationship and while he did love her, he wasn’t in love with her the way he was with james. the juxtaposition in the way that oliver/james is delivered and the way meredith/oliver is delivered is, i believe, far too repetitive to not be intentional. i actually realised upon re-reading how much focus there really is on meredith’s sexuality, even in subtleties in the book. meredith and oliver get more blatant sex scenes, get more physical parts because oliver was (to an extent) using his attraction to meredith to distract himself from his infatuation with james.

we also have to remember that oliver and james didn’t get their real moment of honesty about their relationship till extremely late into the book. i’d honestly see it as more ‘performative’ to then after or in the middle of kind lear throwing in some wild sex scene between the two. it wouldn't have fit.

“why didn’t james and oliver get together earlier then >:(((“ because the slow burn between them, the subtext, the subtle-ness, the yearning, they were all crucial to the decision which oliver made at the end. the fact that they burned so bright for each other but (oliver particularly) were so desperately repressed, that was what made this such a tragic romance. yes its tiring to read stories about queer people being repressed, yes its tiring to see the bury your gays trope. but like oliver says, it goes beyond gender.

if oliver’s second love interest was a girl, and treated this way, we’d be a lot more on board with these tropes- but the fact that james is a man, and this therefor becomes a queer relationship, makes it feel performative. i can’t convince you of anything- but i like to believe that their relationship being treated like this not only makes it so much more “heart wrenching because why! why couldn’t it work out, why couldn’t it be better!” - not because its a queer relationship but because they were soulmates.

alexander wasn’t performative. not in the slightest, rio just didn’t make being gay his entire identity. same goes for colin. just because they’re queer doesn’t mean it needs to be the only thing about them. this isn’t a lgbt novel- characters dont have to be gay just for plot. they can just be gay.

i’ve also seen people complain about not just making oliver bisexual. guys. did you read the book? he was bisexual. he was emotionally and physically attracted to both meredith and james. guys that’s literally what bisexual means.

i'm totally on board with the coming out scenes! and realisation of feelings and all that stuff- but again, not an lgbt centric novel and also- these were things oliver probably did and realised far before this book. remember that its set in 4th year, at an art school. he knew he was fruity ok. not every queer character in every queer book have to have these grandious coming out scenes or realisations. the lack there of doesn’t equal performance.

the ending was rushed and bad

believe what you will, but i don’t think james is dead. there’s a little too much ambiguity in that ending, in the extract he leaves oliver, in the “his body was never found.” so if your main quarrel with the ending is that “bury your gays” situation- please know there’s a chance- and that giving it that chance opens up so much more discussion and reader response.

yes, the ending is sad. but it’s not rushed. “but that is how a tragedy like ours or king lears breaks your heart- by making you believe the ending might still be happy until the very last second.” doing king lear, doing macbeth, doing romeo and juliet, the plays are chosen not only for reader convenience (they’re plays readers will most likely be familiar with) but also because they all, so very deeply, foreshadow a “bad” ending. killing james, makes sense. as much as people don’t want to hear it, from an authorial perspective- from the reader’s perspective and as a human being it makes sense. why do keep arguing that he “should’ve stayed alive for oliver” or that “if he really loved oliver he wouldn’t have done it” - why are we limiting a character’s entire existence down to their love interest. yes, they were best friends, yes they were set up as lovers but that doesn’t mean that that would be enough to keep james around. james was a fragile character- he was always checking with oliver if he had upset him, he was always worried, overthinking, james wasn’t strong minded- and he was suffering. the only person he had left to depend on was in prison, he was plagued with the guilt of causing the death of a classmate and letting oliver take the blame, if he did kill himself, it sure as hell doesn’t have any reason to sound forced.

“its not nearly as good as the secret history!!!!”

to be honest here buds, why the fuck do we keep comparing them so insistently. they are not the same book. iwwv wasn’t trying to be tsh 2.0, yes there are similarities because hey! guess what! books in similar genres tend to do that! always comparing it tsh when they have different motives, different plots and vastly different execution makes no sense. the only reason that they are compared is because tumblrtm dark academics like to group the two together. and yea- makes sense, but stop trying to belittle iwwv because it isn't as grandiose as tsh, because it’s a little more literal, because it’s not as intertextual as tsh. half the people saying iwwv isn’t as good as tsh are practically just subtly going “shakespeare isn’t as complicated as ancient greek huehue” stop forcing the two together and let them be separately appreciated.

the characters were flat/archetypes/etc

sigh. okay.

these characters are actors. this book shows us their transition from themselves entirely into a conjunction of the roles they’ve played and the stereotypes they’ve portrayed.

“we were so easily manipulated - confusion made a masterpiece of us.”

“for us, everything was a performance”

“imagine having all your own thoughts and feelings tangled up with all the thoughts and feelings of a whole other person. it can be hard, sometimes, to sort out which is which.”

“far too many times i had asked myself whether art was imitating life or if it was the other way around”

“it’s easier now to be romeo, or macbeth, or brutus, or edmund. someone else.”

are you seeing it now? this focus on their archetypes, this focus on the character they are; the way they see themselves not merely as human but as a walking concoction of every character they have turned into and out of. they depend on their archetypes to give them meaning. rio uses these archetypes to remind us of the submersion of her characters. they weren’t flat, their intentional lack of dimension due to their pasts is what makes them so intricate. furthermore, there's an evident subversion- the tyrant becomes a victim, the hero becomes a villain (they all become villains really), the ingenue becomes corrupted. like mentioned before, i think we forget ourselves easily reading this book but there is a great deal of emphasis on this being their last year- which is so important. the damage has been done and a lot of the issues people have with the content (or lack thereof) in this book has to do with the fact that it’s all things that would have occurred in books focusing on previous years at delletcher.

“it didn't live up to expectation” (also leading on from read tsh to this and being ‘disappointed’)

i cant argue this because its entirely subjective. whatever expectation was created for you, i cannot know that and appropriately respond however- if you liked the secret history and understood the secret history then there's a good chance you also liked and understood this book- even if not to the same extent but you must be able to recognize the authorial approach and its significance. i think a lot of ppl read iwwv (and a lot of “dark academia” texts and films) and hope to be able to romanticize the aesthetic or the concepts and then are disappointed when they are presented with mildly unlikeable and overwhelmingly human characters who aren’t easy to romanticize.

a great majority of these books are criticisms of the very culture you’re trying to romanticize, and the only time you’re willing to admit that is when boasting about the ‘self-awareness’ of the people indulging in them, and then a moment later complain about those same qualities because they don’t serve this idealized expectation.

bad rep for arts/liberal arts/ humanities students as being pretentious/cultish

as a humanities student with a great love for eng lit- all of these things are indeed pretentious and cultish. not all the time and not always and not every person- but it is a common theme. academia is overwhelmingly obsessive and extremely white-washed. people become so fast to believe that they are indulging in finer arts and are therefore a higher standard of person. academia is problematic. and the recent influx of people interested in it is good, very good because hopefully, we’ll be more diverse, more open-minded, more accepting. that's what i hope at least. if you know, as an individual, that you’re not a pretentious academic who places themselves above non-academics then that's wonderful- but there are dangers and negative sides to academia that need to be understood so that we can see to not perpetuating them.

i cant refute all points, mostly because there's a lot of good and well-explained criticism because no book is perfect. and my intentions are not to belittle anyone's opinion. these are merely opposing arguments, food for thought and to be fair- a critical look into why not everything is always going to be what we expect of it and why every ‘problem’ can be assessed.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

#5: The One With Astruc's Self-Insert

In my introductory post, I said the main inspiration for this blog was @hypocrisyofandrewdobson​. For those who don't know, Andrew Dobson is an infamous webcomic artist known for drawing webcomics that tend to demonize people he's come across in public or people who disagree with him online (either critical of his art or his political views), while portraying himself as the victim or wise man calling them out on their differing beliefs.

If you want to learn more about this guy who I consider to be far worse than Astruc, check out the blog in question. And no, I don't know why he draws himself as a blue bear.

Why am I talking about this? It's one thing for some schmuck on the internet to use his work to respond to criticism, but the creator of a popular animated series dedicating an entire episode to attacking his critics and trying to get others to feel bad for him is another story.

The second episode of Miraculous Ladybug's third season, “Animaestro” served as a wake-up call for fans (myself included) to make them realize how immature Astruc could be. The plot centers around the premiere of a movie about Ladybug and Cat Noir directed by Thomas Astruc, who voices himself in the original French dub.

And this isn't just a brief cameo like what Stan Lee did in the MCU. Astruc is the Akumatized person this episode, so there's naturally a lot of focus on him. Throughout the first half of the episode, Astruc portrays himself as this timid man who nobody recognizes or respects, like this idiot who doesn't know what animation is.

Doorman: This is a private event, sir.

Astruc: Huh? Excuse me? I'm Thomas Astruc, the movie director.

Doorman: You filmed Cat Noir and Ladybug? What are they like in real life?

Astruc: Er, it's an animated movie. It's all cartoon characters. We don't actually film anyone. See, there's this whole team that draw the chara—

Doorman: Whatever. Who would want to see Ladybug and Cat Noir as cartoon characters?

Get it? Wasn't that meta joke hilarious? This is how much I was laughing:

And Astruc continues to get about as much respect as Rodney Dangerfield when he interacts with other characters like Jagged Stone and Chloe.

Jagged Stone: Ladybug is one of my best buds! I can't wait to see her movie!

Astruc: Well I—I'm the director, so actually it's more my movie, so to speak.

Jagged Stone: Oh, so you're the one who created the story?

Astruc: Well, technically the screen writers wrote the story, inspired by Ladybug's exploits.

Jagged Stone: Oh, okay. So you did all the drawings?

Thomas: No, no. The animators do all the drawings.  

Jagged Stone: So what do you do then?

(Later on...)

Chloe: So you're the one responsible for this movie?

Astruc: Yes, yes! Exactly! That's me!

Chloe: Then you were the one who left Queen Bee out of the trailer. You're lame, utterly lame.

I can't believe Astruc had a scene where he interacted with Chloe and didn't insult her at all.

The episode is determined to make the audience feel bad for Astruc. Nobody respects him and what he does. Isn't that saaaaaad? Nobody cares about animated film directors like Walt Disney or Tex Avery anyway. Not even these stupid children understand how hard Astruc works.

Several Children: Ladybug! Where's Ladybug?

Astruc: Hey there, kids!

Teacher: Ladybug isn't here children. We came here to meet the director of the movie. Children: (frowning in disappointment) Aww.

(Astruc looks visibly disappointed.)

Way to insult your primary demographic, Astruc. I thought you said kids have a better understanding of these stories when people criticized the writing of a certain episode (It's that scene in “Puppeteer 2” if you're curious/don't value your sanity).

It's almost like you're using that as an excuse to half-ass your work while still getting to claim this show is so groundbreaking.

In case you can't tell, “Animaestro” is one of those episodes. The ones where the showrunners decide to dedicate an entire episode to attacking critics of the show in a blunt fashion. Whenever a show addresses criticism, they either create an obvious strawman character to parrot the opinions of fans who don't like their work, or have someone defend the show and insult the critics directly.

The problem isn't that they're ignoring criticism. It's their show, and they aren't obligated to listen to critics or fans who don't like the direction the show is taking. On the other hand, they aren't obligated to fight back like this and treat their audience like crap. Any show that does something like the three clips I showed you usually comes off as petty and immature because they dedicate so much time to insulting the critics. 

Even during the Akuma fight, Astruc has to call out Ladybug for having problems with his movie in-universe, obviously representing critics of the show Astruc claims have no right to criticize the show while it's still airing.

Ladybug: What's with that trailer too? I am not scared of cats, at all.

Astruc/Animaestro: You haven't even seen the movie and you're already slamming it?

Cat Noir: He does have a point, you know.

Ladybug: I wasn't slamming it. It's called constructive criticism!

Yeah, how dare Ladybug be angry that this movie is portraying her as a powerless coward dependent on Cat Noir as opposed to a confident and brave superhero. She just doesn't understand the genius of Thomas Astruc!

And of course the character Astruc claims is “perfect” is the one to take his side.

And that's another problem with this episode, the metatextual references. Before he gets akumatized, Astuc says he spent three years of his life working on his movie. I get that time in this show is weird (we somehow had episodes taking place on the first day of school, Christmas, Valentine's Day, and the first day of Summer), but how did Astruc's self-insert work on a movie based on a superhero who has only been active for a year? Meta-wise, it's an obvious reference to the scorn Astruc has gotten from fans after working so hard on his show, but the only people who would get that reference are the ones who are aware of Astruc's reputation online.

Self-Insert aside, I actually think the titular Animaestro is one of the more visually impressive Akumas featured on the show. Animaestro takes on several forms based off several different forms and eras of animation, like flash, anime, rubber hose, and they all stand out. Granted, some of them are obvious parodies of other characters like Goku or Sailor Moon, but the actual Akuma fight is fun to watch. According to the Mexican Miraculous Ladybug Twitter account, this episode took two and a half years to create, and it shows. It's too bad the story behind it is completely insufferable, almost like the cartoon equidistant to Pixels.

But then comes the part that honestly makes the episode worth it, mainly for how unintentionally hilarious it is. Do you want to know what Animaestro's weakness is? Do you really want to know?

Animaestro is physically incapable of moving unless someone is watching him. I am not making this up.

Ladybug and Cat Noir literally defeat Animaestro by getting everyone to stop paying attention to him.

I could make so many jokes with this, but I can guarantee you're already thinking of something just as good, if not better, than whatever I write.

And there's the end where Astruc gives Marinette his ticket to the movie, which prompts Marinette to kiss up to him for no real reason.

Astruc: Sorry, I guess you don't know who I am either.

Marinette: Of course do. You're Thomas Astruc, the movie director!

Astruc: She recognized me. Somebody actually recognized me!

Nothing happened to make her change her opinion on the Ladybug movie, she didn't really say anything to him earlier in the episode that connects to this exchange, and outside of a few lines Animaestro said, she doesn't even know why he got akumatized (even though ironically she and Chloe accidentally contributed to it because of the awful subplot involving Kagami I talked about last time). If anything, it comes off less like she actually appreciates Astruc's work, and more like she's stroking his ego just to keep him from getting akumatized again.

So yeah, this episode is awful, and the fact that it came out right after the controversial “Chameleon” only proved to show what kind of direction the show was taking this season.

But honestly, even if Astruc still wanted to make about how he doesn't get enough respect the episode could have potentially. All he had to do was make a simple change: Instead of making it about validation for Astruc as a creator, make it about validation for animation in general.

It's a common misconception that animation is only used for shows and movies aimed at children, so the episode could reflect it. Instead of the huge turnout where several celebrities appear at the premiere, instead, the turnout could be a lot smaller, with the media dismissing it as some stupid kiddie flick. Instead of getting akumatized because he gets humiliated in public/getting no respect from anyone else, Astruc gets akumatized because he sees the audience didn't go wild for the movie after the premiere. All he can hear them say is that it's just “kids stuff”.

So when Astruc is Animaestro, he goes on about how important animation is. How it's helped produce propaganda since World War II. How it helped improve special effects in big blockbusters. How the medium is used to create movies that simply can't be filmed on a physical set.

After defeating Animaestro, Ladybug shows up to talk to him. She had seen the movie earlier, and actually enjoyed it. She had a few problems with the story, but they were just minor nitpicks and inaccuracies Astruc wouldn't know about, and she was blown away by the animation. She tells Astruc not to be deterred by his critics, and continue to do what he does. As a designer in her civilian life, Ladybug knows the joy creating brings her, and both she and Astruc want to spread that joy through their work.

Back at the premiere, Astruc thinks about what Ladybug said to him when he sees some kids reenacting a scene from the movie. Astruc walks over to them and asks what they thought of the movie. They said they loved it and how energetic it was. When he tells them he is the director, the kids' faces light up and they say they want to do what he does when they grow up, bringing a smile to Astruc's face.

Isn't that a much more humble approach instead of what we got? It would have helped Astruc come across as more sympathetic, especially with animation fans. But instead, we got an entire episode of Astruc whining about how misunderstood he is.

And you know the footage used for the movie at the beginning? Remember that, because I have a huge rant about it saved for a later post.

For now, here’s an example of a creator appearing in his work done right.

[lunar-wandering]

i don’t wanna fight alone anymore - Chapter 5

if you pick up on the 5d chess level plot line i hint at in here i platonically love you

Word Count: 2.3k

Read on Ao3

-

Wukong sighed as he walked into the ship's common area, taking in the sight before him.

"Y'know. I was honestly kind of hoping that what happened yesterday was a dream." He said, "Or, well, I guess it would be a nightmare-"

"Aw, you consider me to be a nightmare?" Macaque said, from his rather uncomfortable looking position of being sprawled on the couch. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"It wasn't intended as one." Wukong sighed again, looking over at MK and Mei. "And what are you two doing?"

"He kicked us off the couch." MK said, his arms crossed and a pout on his face. Mei wore a matching expression. "We're trying to convince him to give it back."

"Pouting doesn't work on me, kiddo." Macaque said, "I'm not easily swayed, unlike someone I know."

"Oh c'mon." Mei said, moving over and getting closer to the shadow monkey. "We're friends now right?"

"....I don't recall agreeing to that-"

"And friends will let their friends use the couch!" She continued, nudging Macaque's arm. "Please? We'll even let you sit with us."

"Absolutely not." Macaque said, pulling his arm away from her nudging. "I'm quite comfortable where I am, thank you very mu-"

He didn't get to finish that, as Wukong, having had enough, easily climbed behind him, and shoved him off the couch, knocking him to the floor. Macaque yelped, as MK and Mei cheered.

"Hey! I'm still injured you know!" Macaque hissed, fur bristling.

"If you can annoy people, you're healed enough." Wukong said, crossing his arms as he looked down at Macaque. "You need to get ready anyways."

"Ready? Ready for what?" MK asked.

"To go get the next object of course! I gave Sandy the coordinates last night, we're almost there already." Wukong said.

"What're we getting this time? A shovel, to go with the rake?" Mei joked. Wukong paused for a moment, before he gave a little laugh.

"Oh, it's uh, nothing like that, this one is more of a back up than anything-"

"Back up? Back up for what?" MK asked, concern starting to form in his voice.

"You don't need to be concerned about it bud, it's really nothing important, in fact we probably won't even need it! Everything will be fine. Just.... fine." Wukong said, chuckling a little, a very familiar smirk starting to appear on his face.

Or, well, familiar to Macaque at least.

"You're lying." Macaque said, elaborating when MK and Mei looked at him with confusion. "He always makes that face when he lies."

"I do not." Wukong hissed, but despite his denial, he stood up, turning around so that the others couldn't see his expression. "A-anyways, we're wasting time here, so uh, let's go!"

-

"...Why am I here again?" Macaque asked, sulking a little as he walked with Wukong, MK, and Mei through the entryway of the temple.

"You, are here so I can keep an eye on you." Wukong explained, "If you think I'm trusting you anytime soon, you'd be dead wrong."

"...Point taken." Macaque said, as they turned the corner into a room that practically glowed with various objects. Some of them were on pedestals, some just laying on the ground. More hallways connected to the room, each of them with even more hallways and doors.

"How're we going to find the object you're searching for with all of...this?" Mei asked.

"Oh, I'm sure we'll know it when we see it." Wukong said, "I'm sure it's somewhere in this temple."

"And how can you be so sure? Where are your sources Wukong, go on, pull out your list of references, I'll wait." Macaque said, crossing his arms and smirking as Wukong sputtered. MK tuned them out, instead focusing in on some of the various treasures the room held.

Over on a nearby pedestal, a small mirror stood, innocently gleaming alongside the rest of the treasure. Curiosity started to take it's hold, and MK reached out-

"Woah there kid-" Macaque said, grabbing hold of MK's wrist, stopping him just before he could reach the mirror. "Hold on there, this place is full of mystic treasures, remember? You don't want to go about activating some magic trap or something, we can't risk that kind of thing, right Wuk- ........you've got to be kidding me."

MK turned, following where Macaque's gaze was-

To see Wukong, standing on the other side of the room, sheepishly holding a golden cup.

"....Uh, Macaque's right, shockingly enough." Wukong said, nervously chuckling as he set the cup back down on the pedestal he'd taken it from. "We wouldn't want to risk it."

"Don't- don't just put it back like you didn't do anything." Macaque said, letting go of MK's wrist to march over to Wukong, glaring at him. "We all saw you pick it up-"

Mei started to record.

"What, I didn't do anything..... I'm better at controlling my impulses than that." Wukong said, a nervous smirk starting to form on his face. Upon seeing it, Macaque reached over and pinched the other monkey's cheek.

"You're making that stupid face again." He said as Wukong yelped, smacking away Macaque's hand. "Seriously though, be glad nothing happened, I would've killed you if you'd activated something-"

Almost as if on cue, there was a faint click, and a magic circle appeared on the ground, a barrier rising up and trapping the two monkeys within the circle.

There was a moment of silence.

"....Yep, I'm going to kill you-" Macaque said, tackling Wukong to the floor. Mei cheered, excited for a fight, but MK quickly stepped in.

"Woah, woah, hold on-" MK said, and both monkey's paused mid-fight. "Are you two okay?"

"....Wukong don't you dare say it-"

"We're just peachy kid!" As soon as those words left Wukong's mouth, Macaque went back to attacking him with extreme fervor. In response, Wukong leaned back, planting his feet into Macaque's chest and shoving him away. Macaque's back slammed against the barrier, and he growled, moving to attack Wukong again-

Only to pause as Wukong pulled out a piece of chalk, humming quietly as he drew a line on the ground.

"....What are you doing." Macaque asked, all the fight leaving him as confusion took over. Wukong hummed in satisfaction as he finished drawing the line.

"We can't just fight the whole time we're in here, that'd be counter-productive." He said, tucking the chalk back into his pocket. "So, you stay on your side, I'll stay on my side."

"That has to be the most childish solution I've ever heard-" Macaque started, only to be cut off as Mei cleared her throat.

"Not that this isn't very entertaining, but like, how exactly are we supposed to get you out?" She asked. Wukong and Macaque paused.

"Uh. I'm not entirely sure-" Wukong started.

"I found a switch over here." MK said, drawing their attention to where he stood by the wall. "D'you think pressing it would let you out?"

"No." Macaque said, a surprising amount of certainty in his voice. "There's another switch, probably in some kind of control room or something like that. You have to flip it before you can flip this one."

There was a moment of silence as everyone stared at him.

"....What? I traveled a lot, I've seen a lot of traps." Macaque huffed, putting his back against the barrier and sliding down to sit on the floor. "I know what I'm doing."

"...Well it's not like we have any better options." Mei said, shrugging as she grabbed hold of MK's arm, turning down a random hallway. "We'll be back!"

Wukong sighed as he watched the two of them walk further into the temple, before turning and glaring at Macaque.

"You better not have just sent them off on a wild goose chase." He said, mirroring Macaque's pose by sitting down on the ground.

"Please, do I look like I want to stay in this circle forever?"

-

"Why is this temple so hard to navigate!" MK yelled in frustration, as he gripped onto the stone wall. He and Mei were slowly climbing down, hoping to find some kind of control room deeper in the temple.

"Probably to deter thieves." Mei said. She wasn't struggling nearly as much with this as MK was. The perils of loosing super strength.... "Either that or to make the adventure more fun for, y'know, adventurers."

"Couldn't they have set it up so you could choose a difficulty setting?" MK mumbled, "This would be so much easier if we could do this on easy mode-"

MK missed the next grip point, his foot sliding. He startled at the sudden lack of support, scrambling a bit in his panic, which turned out to be a mistake, as he ended up slipping and letting go of the wall entirely, tumbling back.

"MK!" Mei yelled, reaching out a hand to grab at him, barely missing by a few inches.

MK tensed, bracing himself to slam against the stone floor of the temple-

Only to feel himself get caught in someone's arms.

"Red Son?!" Mei yelled, incredulous, and MK opened his eyes to see that she was right, Red Son had caught him. "What are you doing here?!"

"I'm getting something for W- ah, my parents." Red Son said as he set MK down on the ground. "Yep, I'm picking up some random mystic artifact for my parents."

"....Do your parents actually know you're here?" MK asked.

"Of course they do! Why wouldn't they?" Red Son said-

And then proceeded to rush forwards to catch Mei just before she could hit the ground.

"Ha! That was fun!" She said, laughing as she jumped out of Red Son's arms.

"Why would you do that?!" Red Son hissed.

"I knew you would catch me."

"A bit of warning might have been nice!"

"So you admit you would catch me?" Mei asked, laughing as Red Son paused, before he huffed, crossing his arms and looking away, his necklace jangling as he moved.

"....What's with the necklace?" MK asked, and Red Son froze, before quickly hiding the necklace behind his shirt.

"It's nothing." He mumbled, before grabbing hold of Mei and MK's hands, and starting to walk. "C'mon, you're looking for the switches to undo the magic barrier right?"

"How'd you-"

"Just a.... lucky guess." Red Son said, dragging them down a long series of hallways. As they passed a darkened hall, MK paused, staring intently. "Hurry it up MK, you don't have all day."

"Sorry I just....thought I saw something." MK said, slowly turning away. He could've sworn that he had seen- no, that wasn't possible. "...Wait, did you just call me MK?"

"I think he did." Mei said, smirking. Red Son didn't even look at them, but his hair started sparking at the edges.

".....No, I didn't." He said, "You two must be hearing things. Now hurry it up, we're running out of time."

-

"What is wrong with you?" Macaque asked, sitting on his side of the circle.

"Excuse me?" Wukong said, glancing over at Macaque in confusion. Macaque sighed, before standing up, and crossing over the chalk line, despite Wukong's protests.

"Normally, you could get us out of here easily. So, I'll ask you again." Macaque said, leaning over, nose almost brushing against Wukong's. "What is wrong with you?"

"I- uh, well, what's wrong with you?" Wukong countered, "Why don't you use your shadows to break the barrier?"

"You seriously think that she left me unscathed?" Macaque hissed, before quickly backtracking. "Or, well, I mean, not unscathed, but like-"

"So it was her." Wukong whispered, "She's the one who hurt you."

"....Don't think about it too much." Macaque said, walking back over to his side of the circle, sitting down and pulling his knees to his chest. "It's....not important."

"Macaque-"

"We're back!" MK's voice interrupted, and both Wukong and Macaque visibly startled at his sudden presence. "We flipped the switch, all we need to do now is just flip this one!"

"Oh thank goodness." Macaque said, making a show out of standing up and stretching. "Any longer in here and I think Wukong would've driven me insane."

"Hey-" Wukong started to protest, but then stopped as he registered who was with Mei and MK. "Uh. Who do you have there?"

"Ah, Red Son just. Kind of showed up." MK explained as he walked over to the switch on the wall. "Said he was getting something for his parents."

Wukong leveled Red Son with a look of suspicion, and Red Son looked away, nervously rubbing his arm. MK flipped the switch on the wall, the barrier falling down. Both Macaque and Wukong let out an audible sigh of relief as the magic faded away-

Only for the ground to shake.

"Well, looks like time is up." Red Son said, oddly calm, as he walked by them, turning to head deeper into the temple. "I'll see you guys later."

As he passed by Wukong, he paused for a moment, leaning over and whispering something Mei and MK couldn't hear. Macaque's ear twitched, and a look of horror briefly flashed over Wukong's face, but it was gone as fast as it had been there as the floor shook again, this time knocking some rocks loose, the sound of them tumbling making Wukong wince. He rushed forwards, picking up Macaque (despite the protest that he could "run on his own") as he started towards the exit. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mei do the same with MK, before hurriedly catching up to him.

"Wait- what about Red Son?" MK said, watching as the aforementioned demon continued to walk back further into the temple, with a walk that was far too calm for someone who was in a collapsing building.

"He'll be fine, I'm sure he's got a plan." Wukong said, skidding to a stop once he reached the outside, setting Macaque down and turning to watch as the temple collapsed completely, sealing the entrance. Mei softly set MK down on the ground beside her.

"...We didn't end up getting that thing you wanted." Mei said, staring at the collapsed temple. Wukong sighed.

"It's fine. Like I said, it was more of a..... back up plan anyways." He said, turning to head back to the ship. "We shouldn't need it anytime soon."

[pokemoncreepypasta]

Nasty Plot

[STORY SOURCE]

Does anyone remember that old Celebi event from 2011, released around the end of February?

There wasn't really anything notable about the Celebi itself, it wasn't shiny or anything, and its moveset really wasn't all that notable or special... Well, except for that ONE move.

When you put it on your HeartGold/SoulSilver game, it triggered some sort of in-game event that I had no idea how to access. Nobody ever told me what I was supposed to do, but I had no idea that it'd be anything like THIS.

It all started after I eagerly rushed in and out of GameStop to receive my adorable Celebi. It was one of my favorite Pokémon, and I was ready to play with it as soon as I got home.

When I started up my game, I gasped when I didn't see it in my party. I panicked for a moment, until I remembered I just had to go to the Pokémart to get it, and was relieved. I happily hummed to myself as I ran to the Goldenrod City's huge Pokémart place.

I talked to the delivery man. I didn't even pay attention to what he said and just skipped through all of his text.

Once all was said and done, I opened up my party. I went into a squealing fit when I saw Celebi sitting at the bottom.

I switched my new Celebi to the front of my party and then exited out of the menu. I ran out of the store and immediately turned around and talked to it.

”CELEBI seems to be feeling great about walking with you!”

I talked to it again.

”Woah! CELEBI suddenly hugged you!”

I squealed as I read that text. My Celebi already loved me!

I raced out of the town and went into the tall grass. I ran into a wild Drowzee.

"Psh, that's easy to beat..." I whispered to myself.

I selected fight and looked at Celebi's moveset. Leaf Storm, Recover, Nasty Plot, and Healing Wish.

I clicked on Leaf Storm. Leaves started swirling onto the screen, and knocked out the Drowzee in one hit. Celebi's Special Attack lowered afterwards. The battle ended.

I opened the menu and looked at Celebi's summary. I clicked on its moves. I then realized that Leaf Storm was the only move that did any damage, and it only had 5 PP. I decided that I wouldn't use Celebi for battle much, but I still wanted to play with it.

I took a moment to think about what I could do with it that didn't involve battling.

Then an idea hit me, "Pokéathlon!" I shouted out loud to myself. I ran to the Pokéathlon Dome and entered the Speed contest.

Celebi, Yam Yams the Yanma, and Dune the Dunsparce practically owned the entire competition.

I entered the contest again. When I next checked the clock I realized I had been playing the game for an hour already. I decided that maybe I should take a break.

Just as I was about to turn off the game though, I received a call from the Daycare Man. He had an egg for me.

I remembered that I had a Ditto and Eevee in the Daycare that I had forgotten about, so I raced back to Goldenrod City and went to the Pokémon Center.

I put all of my party Pokémon in the PC except for Celebi, just in case I wanted to hatch more than one egg.

Once I was done, I went to the Daycare Man. After hurriedly skipping through his lines of text, he handed me my egg.

"Alright, now we just gotta hatch it!" I told my Celebi, despite the fact that I was speaking to an inanimate object. I ran in circles for several minutes, then into Goldenrod, then back out.

I clicked on the egg's summary and sighed. This was going to take a lot longer than I originally thought.

I decided I would randomly battle a Pokémon for the heck of it. I ran into the tall grass and another wild Drowzee appeared.

I clicked on fight. I was about to select Leaf Storm, but I decided I would try out Nasty Plot just for the heck of it. I selected the move.

Puffs of smoke and questions marks appeared around Celebi. Then a hand pointing upwards popped above its head. Its Special Attack rose.

Drowzee tried to use Hypnosis, but it missed.

I selected Nasty Plot again for no reason. The smoke and question marks appeared once more, then the hand. Drowzee used Hypnosis again, but missed.

I used Nasty Plot one more time, just because I could. Same animation as before. Drowzee still attacked and missed.

I used Leaf Storm this time around. The Drowzee fell with no problem. Celebi gained its boosted experience, and the battle ended.

Not thinking anything of the battle, I went straight back to walking around to hatch my egg.

I walked over to the Daycare Man and noticed that he had another egg for me. I talked to him and skipped through his text like usual and received my egg.

As soon as I got my egg, an exclamation point appeared above Celebi's head. It nudged my trainer. She turned around.

My trainer turned south and stared down the route. Celebi slowly inched towards my character, then quickly retreated. Nothing happened for a minute. Then I realized I was in control now.

"Well, that was weird..." I muttered to myself.

I talked to Celebi again.

”CELEBI is a picture of innocence!”

I didn't really understand what that meant.

I opened the menu and clicked on my party. Instead of two eggs like I was expecting, there was only one.

"Where's my other egg..?" I thought.

I exited the menu and talked to the Daycare Man to see if there was some mistake of some kind. He informed me that my Pokémon were doing just fine, and that they didn't seem to like each other. I pouted.

I turned around and talked to Celebi again, to see if maybe it could help me.

”CELEBI is a picture of innocence!” 

That information didn't help me much.

I sighed and gave up. I couldn't think of anything else that could help me get my egg back. I decided I would just run around and try to hatch the one egg I did have.

After a couple of minutes of running in circles I got another call from the Daycare Man. He said he had another egg for me. I was already standing by him, so I walked a few steps and spoke to him. He said the usual, then gave me my egg.

As soon as I received it though, an exclamation point appeared above Celebi's head. It nudged me the same way it did last time. My trainer turned to it, saying that Celebi pointed to something in the distance.

My trainer turned down the path again, and Celebi slowly inched towards her, and then I was in control again.

I immediately went to my party. Again there was only Celebi and one egg.

"What keeps happening to my other egg..?" I asked to myself, which lead to nothing. I exited out of the menu and talked to Celebi.

The same text appeared as before. I scowled, and talked to it again. "CELEBI is a picture of innocence!" Again, "CELEBI is a picture of innocence!" No matter how many times I talked it kept saying the same thing over and over again.

I really didn't know how to react. I was a little creeped out, but not much. I decided it would be best to just shrug it off and keep playing. I started running around a bit more, not really knowing what else to do.

After a single minute I got very bored, and talked to my Celebi again.

”CELEBI is thinking.”

”CELEBI got an idea!”

I waited to see what it would do, but nothing happened.

I checked on my egg to see how close it was to hatching. It was turning out to hatch a lot sooner than I had expected. I exited out of the menu and took a step.

"Oh?" The textbox appeared.

It took me to the scene where my egg hatches. I squealed as I waited for my new baby Eevee to hatch. It cracked, cracked, popped open...

“Nothing hatched from the Egg!”

Nothing was in the egg.

"Hey, what gives?!" I yelled at my DS as the screen started to fade away.

Once it was back at the overworld, I looked at my party. There was only Celebi. I exited and talked to Celebi.

”CELEBI is a picture of innocence!”

I glared at it, wishing that it would fess up and admit it had done something. I kept talking to it over and over, but this time it kept saying the same thing over and over.

I eventually gave up. I ran into Goldenrod and went into the Pokémon Center. I went inside and talked to it one last time.

”Huh? CELEBI is holding something...”

“Would you like to take it?”

I was a bit shocked, and clicked yes.

”Oh! It seems just too important to let go!”

I scowled and went to the PC.

I put Celebi in and replaced it with my female Umbreon, Angel.

I left the Pokémon Center and went to the Pokéathlon Dome. I thought that maybe if I played there for a while and left Celebi alone for a bit, then it might go back to normal. I entered a couple of contests, but failed at most of them. I couldn't focus straight.

After playing for only about thirty minutes, which isn't long for me, I decided I wanted to pick up the rest of my team and proceed with the game's story.

When I went into the PC, I gasped. None of my Pokémon were in there.

Except for Celebi.

I selected Celebi and put it in the first of my party.

I was on the verge of just releasing Celebi, but before I could consider it, I realized that Celebi was holding an item, which it was suspiciously hiding behind its back, no doubt.

"Stake..? What the heck?!"

”Stake can’t be taken away.”

I tried taking it away to investigate, but it didn't work.

I was now completely confused at everything that was going on. I scowled and exited the menu. I talked to Celebi one last time.

”CELEBI is a picture of innocence!” 

I highly doubted that.

I walked out of the Pokéathlon Dome. Not long after I had taken a couple of steps I got a call. It was from Joey. He talked about his top percentage Rattata, as usual.

”CELEBI wants to meet Joey!”

When he was done talking, Celebi nudged my trainer and prompted this text, along with a Yes/No option. I selected no and continued walking. I was still pretty fed up at Celebi having gotten rid of all my Pokémon, and I wasn't about to cater to its requests.

But after a few more steps Celebi nudged my trainer again. I selected no once more, then walked a few more steps.

But I was stopped again. I sighed and selected yes. I didn't really have much left to lose anyways.

My trainer started to spin like when you use an escape rope. She teleported in front of Joey. He started talking to my trainer without me pressing anything. I wasn't given a yes or no option.

Instead Celebi snuck up behind Joey, then quickly flew back to my trainer.

I was then given a yes or no option. I selected yes, thinking it was the best answer.

The battle started. Joey threw out a Pokéball.

“Youngster Joey sent out nothing!”

But instead of his prized Rattata coming out, nothing appeared on the screen.

My trainer threw Celebi out.

Before I could select anything, Joey's sprite moved back onscreen.

“My RATTATA! Where is it?!”

The battle then slowly faded to black.

Once it got back to the overworld, Joey spoke.

“My RATTATA... It’s gone...!!”

Joey's sprite started moving around, as if he was searching for his lost Pokémon. I immediately turned to Celebi.

”CELEBI is a picture of innocence!”

I was getting really annoyed at this Celebi, even more than I already was.

Celebi suddenly flew away from my trainer. I was wondering what it ran away for.

That was when I noticed the POKÉDEX, trainer card, BAG, and POKÉGEAR options in the menu were missing.

I growled out loud and started to chase after Celebi. It was waiting for me just off screen. As soon as it saw me though, it started to fly away. I chased it in circles for several minutes, but it was always much faster than my trainer.

I eventually just stopped.

After a few moments, Celebi floated back over to my trainer. I talked to it again, but the only thing I got out of it was the urge to strangle that legendary so badly right then.

I opened the menu and looked at my party. Angel was missing.

"Alright, that's the last straw..!!" I gripped my DS so tight I nearly broke it in two. I exited out of the menu and thought about what to do for a moment. That was when one of the biggest light bulbs ever went off in my head.

I turned my DS off.

I hadn't saved the game since I had received Celebi from the delivery man, which I was very thankful for now. I sighed in relief, thankful for it all to be over.

I turned my DS back on. When I got to the menu, I selected "Continue".

When it had finished loading though, my trainer was standing in the middle of virtually nothing. Everything was black.

Before I could react properly, Celebi floated up to my trainer.

I talked to it, prompting its now signature catchphrase. A heart icon appeared above its head.

Then it quickly floated away, and my game froze. I tried moving, pressing every button, but nothing would work. I turned my DS off, hoping that my save file would work this time around. When the title screen loaded back up, I pressed start.

”The save file will be erased due to corruption or damage.”

I threw my DS to the side and screamed into my pillow. I wildly thrashed my arms and legs about like a possessed child.

Once I had finished letting my anger out, and my throat had become sore from too much screaming, I sat up. Tears began streaming down my face. I sat there and cried my heart out.

After several minutes, I had stopped crying. Although still sniffling, I grabbed my DS. I went back to the menu and selected, "New Game".

When it loaded, I was shocked to see that I was in Goldenrod City, with Angel right behind me.

As soon as I took one step, I got a call from the Daycare Man. He said he had an egg for me.

I ran to the Daycare. I talked to the Daycare Man, slowly going through his text this time, and I received my egg. Afterwards, I opened my party to look at my egg, just to make sure it was still there.

When I opened my party, I breathed a sigh of relief. My game was back to normal, and I could finally hatch my long-awaited Eevee.

Maybe it's just because I had gone through so much emotional torture just to obtain it, but I had a really good feeling about this egg.

Whatever this Eevee was when it hatched, I vowed to cherish it.

After running around for several minutes, my eyes sparkled with hope as it prepared to hatch.

But I was met with a horrifying wake up call...

“CELEBI hatched from the Egg!”

"No... Nooo!!!"

I scowled to see that familiar face next to me in the overworld. I checked my party, and Angel was gone yet again.

I spoke to the little devil just to see what it had to say for itself, and it replied with one simple thing...

“CELEBI is a picture of innocence!”

[pilothusband]

A lit torch to the woodpile high (part 2)

A Paz VIzsla Bartender!AU

Rating: T (for now)

Pairing: Paz Vizsla x F!Reader

Warnings: Alcohol, pining, some vague descriptions of wanting to be plowed, vague threats of violence

Word count: 2.7k

Description: More pining ensues, we see a lil skin (@softdin​ 👀), something eerie happens, two idiots who don’t know how the other feels. 

Author’s note: Let me know what you think!! Please go here to be added to the taglist!

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

The next few weeks passed by without incident. You still hadn’t seen Orso since he initially hired you on, which was kind of strange, but you figured it was because he was busy and had other ventures he had to keep an eye on.

So far your favorite part of working at Bear’s Den was working with Harlow. When it was slow you would pass the time chatting and getting to know each other better. You found out that Harlow was in the middle of getting her Master’s in Business Administration at the local school. She wanted to open her own bakery someday and worked at the pub to help pay for her degree.

Dillon was a little more frustrating to work with. In other words, he was lazy and he tried flirting with you (and every other woman around his age) every chance he got. It was harmless, but after a while you couldn’t help but roll your eyes at him. 

Paz was almost always at the bar, but it seemed like he was busy most of the time. In fact, he had barely said a word to anyone all day, other than grunting a short “hello” as he stormed in.

“What crawled up his butt?” Dillon asked after he had slammed the office door. You and Harlow looked at him and shrugged. He seemed pretty surly in general, from what you could tell, but this was a whole new level, even for him.

A little while later, some customers had trickled in and there was a low hum of conversation around the bar. You were wiping down some glasses that had come out of the dishwasher. The damn  thing never dried the glasses completely, and Donny never dried them himself before carting them out to you.

Harlow came out from the back, coat and purse in hand. You instantly deflated, realizing she was heading home for the day.

“I thought you were closing up with me tonight?”

“I was going to, but Paz switched with me. Said something about a meeting he had later on anyways,” she said, applying chapstick.

Oh, just great.

“Don’t worry,” she said, almost like she could read your mind. “I’m sure he’ll be less grumpy once Madge brings him some food from the kitchen later,” she laughed.

“Yeah, he could use a Snickers or two.” You both dissolved into giggles.

It was as if Paz’s ears were ringing. As soon as you had made the comment, he stepped out of the office. He still looked pretty angry, so you figured whatever was bothering him hadn’t gotten any better. Harlow could sense his mood and all but ran out the door, throwing a quick goodbye behind her shoulder.

You waved after her, distracted for a moment. That’s when you heard your name being called, rather impatiently. You whipped back around and walked over, not wanting to sour his mood any further.

“Sorry about that, what’s up?” You asked, looking up to make eye contact.

Big mistake. You could feel your stomach clench up with desire as soon as his eyes met yours. You could have sworn you saw his expression change momentarily, but as quickly as it appeared, he blinked and it was gone.

“I have a meeting later today. If you see a couple guys wearing matching white coats walk in and I’m not out front with you, come out back and get me. Don’t talk to them.”

You bit your lip and nodded. Paz’s gaze followed the movement and he swallowed heavily. You didn’t catch yourself watching his Adam’s apple bob up and down until he cleared his throat.

“Remember. Don’t talk to them.”

“Roger,” you said, turning on your heel to get back to the bar.

You had no idea how to feel about that interaction. He either didn’t trust you enough to talk to some important business associates, or something else was going on. You felt a little uneasy, but chalked it up to Paz’s fowl mood.

Was Paz involved with some bad people? Did this have anything to do with Orso not showing up to the bar for weeks? More customers were trickling in, distracting you from all the wild conspiracies your brain was coming up with. 

Orso and Paz were in a secret society and were plotting to steal an important government document. Orso and Paz secretly swapped faces and were living each other’s lives.

You really needed to stop watching Nicolas Cage films before bed every night.

After a while, Paz came out of the office to tend the bar with you. He wasn’t much of a conversationalist, but it was almost hypnotizing to watch him pour drinks. He knew the layout of the bar like it was the back of his hand. There was no hesitation to look for the correct liquor types when a customer ordered a cocktail that required a vintage bourbon. He didn’t struggle to remember which spout to use for cranberry juice vs. orange juice (like you did).

There was a point in the night where he was serving 5 customers at the same time, when you struggled to juggle just two of them. It was almost embarrassing, to be honest.

You heard a woman’s voice in your peripheral, snapping you out of a detailed and vivid daydream where Paz bent you over the bar to have his way with you.

“Excuse me, can I get a glass of Merlot?” She was probably in her mid-50s, wearing a slinky black dress that looked stellar on her, with leopard print heels. Basically, you wanted to be this woman when you got older.

“Of course,” you said, turning to the shelf.

Before you could even ask for Paz’s help, you heard him in your ear.

“Red wine?” 

You had to suppress a pleasant shiver. 

“Yes, please. The Merlot,” you looked over, giving him a sheepish grin. His face was still close to yours, you could see the flecks of amber in his deep brown eyes.

You stepped back, allowing him room to get to the shelf, and tried not to drool as he reached up towards the shelf, his shirt riding up his back with the movement. Time seemed to stop as you caught a flash of skin, toned and smooth. 

“Here you go,” he said, handing the bottle over to you. “We’ll keep it over by the register in case she wants another glass.”

You nodded, your mouth too dry to come up with words. Once the bottle was opened and the glass filled up, you handed it to the woman as she handed you her credit card.

She gave you a wide-eyed look as you accepted her card.

“That man is an occupational hazard,” she said, taking a big gulp from her glass.

You laughed, but didn’t say anything in response.

“Do you want me to open a tab for you?”

“Yes, I think I’ll stick around for a while,” she said wiggling her eyebrows.

Later on that night, it was about 15 minutes past closing time and all of the customers, as well as your bouncer Rick, had long left for the night. 

Paz had gone out back to count the till and you were organizing the liquor bottles when two men entered through the front door, which was strange because you could have sworn you had locked it.

They were wearing long, cream colored trench coats with some sort of emblem on the front pocket. It looked like a cog with six spokes. Something about it made your blood run cold. You had every intention of running out back to tell Paz they were here, but something about these men had you frozen in fear.

They weren’t like any men you had seen before, with short, cropped hair that was slicked back and eyes as gaunt as their thin faces.

Good evening,” the taller man said as he reached the bar. He gave you a smile, trying to appear amiable.

“Um, hi. Paz is out back, I can go get him for you,” Paz was going to lose his shit when he found out you talked to them.

“We’re looking for Orso Van, actually. Do you know where he is?” 

“I haven’t seen him for weeks. I can go get Pa–”

“I don’t want to speak with his whipping boy,” he interrupted, his tone growing cold. “I want to speak to Orso. Now.”

You were grateful at Paz’s immaculate timing as the back door swung open.

Paz looked more formidable than ever. He seemed to grow even taller, if that was even possible.

“As I told you last week, Dax, no one’s seen him in weeks.”

The silent man who was not Dax scoffed.

Paz continued, “and I thought I told you never to speak to my staff.”

Dax gave Paz a sickly, unnatural smile. It didn’t look like it belonged on his face. “I figured she might know something, seeing as she showed up right as Orso disappeared.”

You felt as if your entire body had been plunged into ice cold water. A deep, dreadful feeling took over the pit of your stomach.

These men have been watching us.

“Leave her out of this, she has nothing to do with any of it.”

He stalked towards the men threateningly.

“Now, if you want to talk to me, we can go ahead and talk in the office. Otherwise, get the fuck out of my bar.”

The other man scoffed again and nodded towards Dax.

“Come on, let’s go. We’ll be back next week to check on Orso’s whereabouts. If he doesn’t show his face soon, you know what will happen.”

They turned, their pristine white coats whipping behind them. The door swung shut with a bang.

You could only gape after them, so many questions spinning through your head. You weren’t sure if you wanted to know the answers to any of them.

“I’m going to drive you home tonight,” his tone left no room for argument. You weren’t about to object anyways. Even if you had to endure a tense car ride, you were a hell of a lot safer with him than by yourself.

You both locked up as quickly as possible and made your way to his truck, slamming the doors shut harder than necessary.

The air was thick as a blanket, filled with so many unanswered questions. If you weren’t so rattled from earlier, you would have realized this was the closest you had ever been to Paz.

“Are you going to tell me what that was about back there?” You asked, already knowing his answer.

“No.”

“If I’m in danger, I want to know why,” you told him, voice trembling. Your pulse was going a mile a minute.

“The less you know, the safer you are,” he said. His tone was still final, but not nearly as hard as you were expecting. 

He looked over at you. All you could do was stare back at him, mouth agape. His face was half bathed in the moonlight, painting his face in a pale blue light that contrasted with the dark that surrounded you.

“I won’t let anything happen to you.” He said quietly.

You felt like your lungs couldn’t get enough air, as if the wind had been knocked out of you.

“Okay,” was all you said back. You weren’t sure if Paz even wanted to be here with you right now, but you trusted him.

He regarded you for a moment, seemingly trying to read your expression that gave way to any trepidations you had. You looked back at him, having every intention to tell him you trusted him, but the words died in your throat when you saw his expression. He looked so open, so raw.

You let yourself bask in this moment, in the dark cab of his truck. There wasn’t an opportunity before now to just look at him freely. He had a scar below his right eye, and his nose was just a little crooked. You wondered if it was from getting in fights. You wondered what, or who, he had fought for.

He was quite beautiful, in a hard, unrelenting kind of way. You wanted to find out why he had built a thick wall around himself. You wanted to trace the lines of his jaw and feel the contours of his lips. 

His lips. Your eyes were laser-focused as his tongue came out to wet them. You found yourself thinking about what it would be like to taste them, to chase his tongue with yours.

He let out a shaky breath, snapping you back into the reality of the moment. You looked away, staring out the windshield, still watching his movements in the corner of your eye.

“We should go,” you wanted to flinch at the anxious edge to your voice.

Paz looked down at his lap and nodded.

“I’ll need you to navigate.”

You were grateful that Paz had stuffed a wad of cash in your hand last night before he dropped you off at your front door, mentioning to use it to Uber to work the next day. That meant you didn’t have to rush getting ready this morning to catch the bus to work, since you had left your car there.

It only took one tense night of locking your doors and windows, double checking the locks, drawing up your curtains and checking the locks again, followed by tossing and turning for hours on end only to fall asleep an hour before your alarm went off. It only took that one night for you to overthink everything.

It’s not that you were thinking about the creepy men that came in after closing. You had spent enough time to fret about that while you were trying to force your amped up body to relax last night.

This morning was spent overthinking every single interaction you ever had with Paz. He already had so much weight on his shoulders, running a business while his boss was off doing fuck knows what, while some seedy men were breathing down his back and basically stalking him at work.

Why should you add yourself to that list of responsibilities?

You had every intention to say good morning to him when you first saw him. He was walking out from the office, looking just about as exhausted as you were. You must have looked like a deer in headlights, because his eyebrows were raised in question, his head cocked to the side.

“I um, I was just going to the kitchen,” you said in an almost robotic voice.

You hightailed it out of the room before you could see the expression on his face.

Your heart was still pounding as you burst through the kitchen doors. This crush on your boss was really getting out of hand, and it only got worse after being in such close proximity last night. God, you probably looked ridiculous right now.

“What’s got you bursting in here like a bat out of hell?” You almost jumped out of your skin. Had Madge been next to you this whole time?

“I um, need coffee?” You said, accidentally wording it as a question. “If you have any extra, that is,” you added quickly.

Madge smirked, seeing right through your lie, but she didn’t question it.

“Just brewed a fresh pot. Knock yourself out.”

A little while later while you were back out front, stacking glasses between sips of coffee, you saw a plate slide into your peripheral.

“You look like you need this,” Madge winked. You looked down, mouth watering at the large pile of french fries.

“You’re a fucking saint, Madge.” You deadpanned. She cackled all the way back to the kitchen, throwing you another wink.

You didn’t see Paz much that day, and you were kind of grateful for it. Every time he entered the room you found some way to keep yourself busy to avoid his gaze.

He could probably tell you were being extra squirrely. Hell, everyone could tell. 

Donny had taken you aside earlier and offered to let you take a hit of his cousin’s homegrown, to which you politely declined. Dillon remarked on how tense you looked and offered to massage your shoulders, to which you told him to fuck off. 

Harlow didn’t say much, but she looked concerned. You pretended not to notice the sideways glances she was giving you.

A little while later, you were hunched over the bar, in the middle of writing out a supply order when you heard a throat clear from above you. It was a distinctly male sound. You almost dropped the pen in surprise when you looked up and saw Paz was standing before you, arm resting just a few inches from where yours was resting on the counter.

“I um,” Paz trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck. “I just wanted to see how you– how things are going out here.”

He sounded unsure of himself. He was standing a little less tall today, with his shoulder slumped over. Weary to the bone.

“I’m great, so good,” you babbled. “Nothing going on with me. Feeling peachy.” 

“Uh, cool, yeah. Okay, I’ve got to uh...” he removed his hand from his neck and gestured towards the office before making his exit.

You collapsed, letting your head hit the bar with a thump. God, you hoped no one saw that go down.

“So, what the fuck was that?” Harlow said, walking over. 

You sighed dramatically, your entire body feeling like it was being held down by bags of sand.

You lifted your head up a little, giving Harlow the most pathetic look you could muster.

“It was nothing,” you told her. You stood back up fully and busied yourself with organizing the coasters on the bar, hoping she would let it go.

“That didn’t look like nothing,” she said, trying to hide a smug smile.

You had two choices here. Tell Harlow about the sketchy men from last night, which was not an option, or tell her about the pathetic crush you were harboring for your boss.

You turned around to make sure no one else was around. Thankfully, Dillon was on his lunch break, Paz was holed up in the office, and Donny and Madge were both in the kitchen.

“Please don’t tell anyone–” you started, but were interrupted with a squeal.

“Harlow, shhhh!” You admonished her, desperately trying to reach out to her to clap a hand over her mouth to no avail. She danced away, wiggling like a toddler at a birthday party.

“You guys are totally fucking,” she whispered, her brown eyes wide as saucers.

“I– what? No we aren’t.”

“Come on,” she scoffed. “I saw that little trainwreck of an interaction back there.”

“No, really, we aren’t,” you told her, and added with a whisper, “though, I kind of wish we were.”

“Well,” she said, chewing on her lip in thought. “Judging by the way Paz was bodysnatched back there, he’s in the same boat.”

You rolled your eyes. No, that was absolutely because of the threatening men from last night. He just felt guilty you were now in the middle of all of it.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me, missy,” she admonished, good-naturedly. “He totally looked scared shitless back there. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

You frowned in thought. He must be really freaked out by those men. You felt bad that you hadn’t noticed.

“No, I think it’s just a big misunderstanding,” you told her. “I think he thought he offended me last night because I was in a bad mood.” You were kind of impressed with the lies pouring out of your mouth at the moment. “I’m going to go talk to him.”

“Okay then,” Harlow  said, smirking at you. 

You charged towards the office and barged in before you could talk yourself out of it. It was Paz’s turn to look like a deer caught in headlights.

This was the first good look you had at him all day. The scruff on his chin was longer than usual. His eyes, despite being open wide in surprise, had dark shadows under them.

“I’m sorry, I should have knocked,” you said, turning to leave.

“Wait–” Paz reached out, grabbing your shoulder. He let go almost immediately, as if the touch burned him. “Come in.”

“I just wanted to see how you were doing after last night. I didn’t ask you how you were doing and I– I’m sorry.”

“That’s why you’ve been avoiding me all day? Because you feel bad for not asking me how I’m doing?”

You blanched. Yeah, you felt bad but that definitely wasn’t why you were avoiding him.

“I guess, yeah,” you said, huffing out a laugh.

“I wish I could tell you more, I really do.” Paz said, sitting on the edge of the desk. It immediately groaned in protest, so he stood back up. “I don’t want any of the staff here getting involved with Orso’s bullshit. The less you all know the better.”

You nodded in understanding. You really did understand it. But something nagged at you.

“But what about you?” You asked him. “You’ve already been dragged into it.”

The sad, fleeting look on his face was devastating. You could tell he wasn’t used to others worrying about him. He must have caught himself, because his expression hardened in resolve a moment later.

“I can take care of myself,” he said. “I’m working on getting a hold of Orso. Once he’s back they’ll leave us alone.”

You weren’t sure if you believed him, but you let it drop for the time being. You would just need to keep an eye on him in your own way.

“You should get going,” Paz said, changing the subject. “Your shift was over 10 minutes ago and I’m sure you need to get some sleep.”

“Yeah, I really do,” you said, giving him a tender smile. “Make sure you get some sleep tonight too.”

“I’ll try,” he said, his smile matching the one on your face.

Taglist: @tenderclio @softdin @maybege @recklessworry @cannedsoupsucks @pocket-pudding @simping-for-clones @gallowsjoker @idiotonastar @seratoninforyouseratoninforme @devanthus @legally-a-bastard @my-awakened-ghost 

[pyrrhiccomedy]

the People have requested my book report on The Library at Mt. Char so this is now a Mt Char book club.

if you have not read The Library at Mt Char there is no reason to keep reading. I hope you're having a nice day, stay safe and don't do drugs.

So Mt Char has a couple of problems, but in my opinion only one grave problem.

Not a grave problem:

Erwin doesn't need to be in this book. An astonishing amount of ink is spilled on giving us Erwin's POV and I am at a loss in regards to what that's supposed to bring to the story. I mean, it's kind of neat to see Carolyn's "trick shot" from the POV of one of the people being manipulated, but that perspective could have just been provided by Steve. Everything Erwin does of any plot significance could have been done by Steve, a character who actually matters.

Please note that I don't hate Erwin, he's perfectly fine as characters go, he just contributes nothing, and it is baffling that he and Carolyn get the last scene in the book (instead of just ending on her reunion with Michael, a scene that was emotionally affecting and felt like a natural end point to her story). We are taking no questions, Erwin needed to be cut.

Also not a grave problem in my opinion, but I am sure others feel differently and I understand why they would:

Yo, the scope of what the catalogs cover is mad vague. I mean, I get that that's the point: when you have a character whose magic powers are "anything that has to do with death or murder," that's a broad license, and I'm fine with that. These are supposed to be demi-gods. I don't require a rigorously explicated magic system.

But then like...why can't Jennifer, the healer, also heal minds? That seems weird. Or like, it's implied that she kinda can, maybe, but none of the kids talk about their therapy sessions with Jennifer: they explicitly call out that she heals their bodies. But then she talks about how Margaret and David are sick (meaning mentally) in a way she can "no longer help?" Aren't you supposed to be the God Of Healing? Why can't you help anymore? And were you actually trying to help them before - or anyone else? That's never shown. You could have just said you only healed bodies, not minds, but then it's repeatedly implied that she CAN diagnose mental and emotional problems (and therefore should probably be able to do something about them).

So that's weird.

Or like, why is there Alicia, who "sees the future," and Rachel, who "sees possible futures?" That, uh, just sounds like the author was running out of ideas. Also, if Alicia could see the future, she probably shouldn't have been in that house when the SWAT team hit, yeah?

Stuff like that. The magic the kids can do is very "they have the powers the author needs them to have when the author needs them to have them, and they can't do anything the author would find inconvenient for them to do" but that's not a deal breaker for me because overall the vibe being put off by their various magical specialties works for me. Still, there were ways of getting us where we needed to go without begging quite so many questions.

Also not a grave problem, although more of a problem than the other stuff:

You know that anime trope where a super-genius character is having an entire conversation with another super-genius character through a screen, and it's revealed that the whole conversation was a distraction and pre-recorded so that Character 2 could Complete His Scheme against Character 1? And used his super-genius brain to predict every single thing Character 1 would say? And your suspension of disbelief staggers bloodied into the alleyway and collapses because you're really trying to hang in there, Code Geass, but that's fucking stupid, you're asking for me to believe that this character's intelligence is flat-out supernatural now and you've given me no reason why that should be?

That's how I feel about Carolyn, by the time she takes over the Library. Like, okay. The kids canonically have not even been at the Library long enough for any of them to master their catalogues except for Jennifer. None of them but Jennifer are masters of even their own subject.

Carolyn has been studying in secret from multiple catalogues - which is cool! I like how she slowly reveals over the course of the latter half of the book that she has powers from other people's specialties.

...But like...

She seems close to mastering her own catalogue. She is a competent healer and can raise the dead (Jennifer's catalogue). She can block attempts to read her mind, beats David in a fight, and understands how to kill Father (David's catalogue). She speaks lion and controls the dogs that surround the Library (Michael's catalogue). She could make the mathy "Denial That Rends" thing that kicks off the whole plot, and she can make a new sun and correct orbital rotations around it (Peter's catalogue). She can predict the future with such specificity that she knows how to cause Steve to drop a clip of bullets while he's being attacked by dogs exactly where Erwin will need to pick it up later (Rachel's catalogue, also this one is stupid, she could have just given Erwin an extra clip or something, but whatever).

That's half the catalogues. Carolyn doesn't seem prodigiously more intelligent than the other kids. She's smart, sure, but they're all weird demi-gods with a genius for their specialties. The rest of them haven't even mastered their own catalogue, and I'm supposed to swallow that Carolyn has attained 'competent or better' status in six? When she has to research five of them in secret? Without falling behind in her own studies?

It would be fine if they had all been masters of their own catalogues for years and years; that would mean they would begin to stagnate, while Carolyn kept learning. But that's not the case. By the end I wasn't impressed anymore at Carolyn's resourcefulness, it just felt like she could do anything and everything, shh, don't ask questions, she's the Chosen One so she just can.

The reason this isn't a grave problem to me is because Carolyn's journey isn't about becoming more powerful: it's about her emotional journey, which isn't affected by her being stupidly OP for no reason by the end of the book. She still sucked at the things that mattered, like "feelings" and "relationships" and "not being a shitty person." But I do think it hurt the story. I should be cheering on my protagonist when her wild schemes come together, not rolling my eyes.

Anyway. All that was the aperitif. Let's talk about

THE GRAVE AND GLARING PROBLEM AT THE CENTER OF MT CHAR.

So everything that happens in the book stems from Carolyn's thoroughly justified hatred of Father (and David, but David was made that way by Father). Father treated her, and all of the other kids, with extravagant cruelty. If you haven't read the book in a while, here's a sample of the kinds of things Father did to the kids, or, if David did them, that Father did nothing to prevent:

- Cooked David alive over 2 full days in a giant bronze bull (and made the rest of the kids bring the fuel)

- Put Michael's eyes out with a hot poker every night for 2 weeks (and made the rest of the kids watch)

- Murdered Margaret every few days, often in drawn-out and painful ways

- Made Rachel repeatedly give birth, raise the babies to about 9 months, then murder them with her own hands

- Allowed David to rape all 11 of the other kids (except Jennifer, probably because she was the healer and he wanted to stay on her good side)

- Allowed David to crucify, brutalize and rape Carolyn and Peter

- Gave Carolyn a loving new family for a year when she was nine years old (those two deer), then had David murder them in front of her and blame it on her for not remembering her homework well enough, then served the two deer at a feast to 'celebrate' her returning to the family

- Whippings, skinnings, and bone-breakings as standard disciplinary actions

Whoo-ee! Okay! We are talking about mythological cruelty. I am fine with this! The story takes place on a mythological scale. As outlandish as all of that is, the cruelty feels proportionate in a story about killing and replacing god. Father is cruel, indifferent, controlling, and alien. I have no questions, Carolyn please proceed with your revenge. We seemed on track for a tale in which Carolyn defeats Father, but in doing so she runs the risk of becoming him. Will she step back from the brink and retain her humanity after all of the trauma and brutality she's endured? Let's find out!

And then

and then.

Oh boy.

And then.

...It turns out, Father is a good guy after all.

And let me be clear: THIS IS NOT, IN AND OF ITSELF, A PROBLEM.

By the time you learn that Father is actually benevolent, and loved those kids, and cares about being a responsible steward to the world, and tried to leave the universe a better place than he found it, and genuinely regretted the suffering he inflicted on them when they were growing up, it feels kind of...natural? Like, I was surprised, but also not, because there were 90 pages of book left and Carolyn had already become god. This seemed like a thematically meaningful place to take the rest of the story.

It turns out Father was training Carolyn to replace him the entire time. He had to make her hate David because it was important that she "defeat a monster" on her path to becoming god. (It's not explained why she had to defeat a monster, but sure, okay; it's the kind of mythic feat that fits with the story we're in.)

Why did he choose Carolyn to be his successor? Well, originally he chose David, but David wasn't strong enough: every time Carolyn was the monster in David's story, she defeated him, and went on to rule the universe as an unspeakable tyrant. Since Carolyn always won, Father swapped their roles. He knew he had made the right choice when he put David into the bronze bull, and heard David begging for mercy: because when Carolyn had been the fated monster, she had never begged.

...Okay, so...hang on.

Hang on.

The only rule that we've established on "how to become god" is "you have to defeat a monster," right? I'll even grant you for free that it has to be a monster who is personally meaningful to you, although that part is never stated. Overcoming a great evil which has cast you down and abused you many times before, sure, okay.

...Why the FUCK did all that other awful shit have to happen??

I did not have this question when Father was just evil! That was a good enough explanation! But now that he's not evil, you HAVE TO EXPLAIN why he treated all of the kids so brutally!

Like dude you're GOD. If you need a monster for Carolyn, I'm sure you can make that happen without TORTURING CHILDREN FOR DECADES.

There didn't even need to be any other children! You could have two kids: the languages-kid, who is the chosen one (the chosen one has to be the languages-kid so they can read the Onyx Codex or whatever it was called at the end, the one written by Original God), and the war-and-murder kid, who is the monster. They could have just been forbidden to read the other codices, if it's important to you that your chosen one still prove her resourcefulness or whatever.

Why include all of the other kids??? It wasn't to give your chosen one a sense of family: Carolyn didn't feel close to any of them except for Michael (who I liked, but whose contribution to the plot was negligible).

Or keep the kids! But then why make them, and Carolyn, hate you?? You could just say, "Hey Carolyn, I am raising you to be my successor, you have to figure it out yourself because part of proving your worthiness is this kind of abstract, big-picture thinking, but I love you and whatever you end up deciding to do, just believe in yourself." And meanwhile you're off torturing the fated monster in order to get him piping hot and ready to be served.

Was the idea that Carolyn had to endure so much horror in order to prove she was 'tough enough' to be god?? Because that's not how trauma works! Kids who have been brutally traumatized are usually not made tougher by the experience! A fact that even the book understands, because 10 of the 12 kids are completely destroyed by their upbringing (I'm giving marginal exceptions to Michael and Carolyn herself).

And like

if Father doesn't have a good reason for having treated them so badly, the whole book falls apart!

Because getting revenge for that cruelty is Carolyn's whole motivation!

We are clearly supposed to feel okay about Father going to make a new universe at the end of the book: he's going with his cool tiger friend and that little girl with the connection to the elemental plane of joy who used to be the sun, he's happy to see Carolyn embracing compassion and kindness, which means he cares about compassion and kindness. He invented light and pleasure. Carolyn does nothing to try to stop him from going. He seems like a pretty good candidate for god. And I do feel okay with him leaving! I was convinced! Father is not evil after all!

But then you have! to explain! the abuse!!

It can be a throwaway line!! "Carolyn realized that everything she and her siblings went through had to happen the way it did, because [X]," embedded in the middle of a paragraph! That would have been enough! But I need an explanation!

"They were raised the way Father was raised himself" WHY? He was raised by the Emperor, an on-the-record awful fucking dude! Father proceeded to rule the universe in a far more benevolent way than the Emperor did, why would he feel like he had to raise his kids the way the Emperor raised him?

"Carolyn needed to overcome challenges on her path to godhood" how is TRAUMATIZING HER SO BADLY SHE ALMOST BECOMES INHUMAN - SOMETHING YOU WERE OSTENSIBLY TRYING TO PREVENT, see Steve being preserved as something that could give her hope, etc - A "CHALLENGE??"

Again, none of this is a problem if Father is just evil! YOU CHOSE to make him not evil! And that's fine!! I think it's a good choice for the story actually!! But then you have to, you have to, HAVE TO explain why all of that bad shit happened!

Because all of that bad shit is the reason Carolyn made there be a story.

And it turns out it doesn't make sense.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 289: Looks Like the Gang’s All Here

Previously on BnHA: Horikoshi was all “you guys don’t really need to know what’s gonna happen to Deku and Shouto right now” and cut away to Toga and Ochako before anyone could get a word in. Skeptic utilized the power of Freak Shounen Coincidence to magically zero in on Ochako and Tsuyu amongst the fleeing crowd. Toga was all “IS THAT OCHAKO” and immediately leaped down to fight them, ignoring Spinner’s heartfelt speeches about Villain Found Family because fight now, hug later!! Down in the streets of some unidentified crumbling city, Ochako was approached by a sweet old lady and was all “I better help this sweet old lady who is definitely not leading me into a trap”, which unfortunately turned out to be poor decision-making on her part. Anyway so now she and Toga are going to throw down. AND ALSO, P.S., BEST JEANIST IS STILL ALIVE, and that doesn’t really have anything to do with anything right now, but BY GOLLY I JUST HAD TO SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS.

Today on BnHA: Iida and Hadou are all “is it our turn yet”, and Horikoshi is all “yes”, and so the two of them finally burst onto the scene and are all “hello Shouto, Gigantomachia is on his way, btw do you need help” and so they all get ready to fight Tomura together. Meanwhile in Unnamed Ochako And Toga Fight Town, Toga is all “what’s up Ochako, oh is this the All Might doll Deku gave you, I guess you must like Deku as well, just like me, we truly are the same, btw I can use other people’s quirks now” before she vanishes in a flurry of knives and ambiguity, as mysteriously as she came. So that’s a thing that happened. The chapter ends with Gigantomachia and the League STOMPIN’ ONTO THE SCENE, JUST IN TIME FOR ENDEAVOR TO WAKE UP AND BE ALL “OHHHHH SHIT.” YOU’RE DAMN RIGHT, “OH SHIT.” Finally the pieces are in place for Dabi to reveal his true identity to Hadou and Iida, JUST LIKE WE ALL EXPECTED.

before I start, thank you so much to everyone who sent birthday messages on Wednesday!! I had a good day; my quarantine impulse purchase guitar that I ordered months ago but had been backordered finally arrived, and so now I can do something productive with my time as I continue to while away these months in isolation! not to say that capslocking over fictional characters and their shounen escapades doesn’t also count as being productive lmao. anyways, my fingers hurt so typing is kind of a bitch right now, but I’m having fun still. IF KAMINARI CAN DO IT THEN SO CAN I

anyway so let’s see what mishaps my various catastrophe-prone children are getting up to this week

okay there are several things happening in this panel which I want to comment on

IIDA!!!

HADOU!!!

“some time after” jesus fucking christ though, how long have Deku and the rest actually been fighting?? like it’s absolutely absurd to imagine that they’ve been managing to hold off Tomura for more than a few minutes, and yet everything we’ve seen these last couple of chapters suggests that this is indeed the case. which is just pure insanity tbh. excuse me sir, but I have an emotionally maturing son, a homewrecking grandpa, and a sleep-deprived one-legged platonic husband who are all in DIRE NEED of medical attention just FYI

lastly, I direct your attention to these two cool cats in the background who are both riding on hover surfboards. living it up like it’s Back to the Future. why are there two of them. do they both just happen to have the exact same quirk. what are the odds. ARE THEY TWINS. I want to know everything about them dammit

anyway so Hadou is asking Iida why he’s tagging along, because unlike the others, he can’t fly and is thus vulnerable to Tomura’s attacks and such

well Hadou I’ll have you know that it his DUTY AS THE CLASS PRESIDENT to tag along and THAT’S WHY

oh shit you guys IIDA SAID “FUCK THE LAW”

“plus Bakugou-kun, whom I am not particularly close to, but nonetheless hold nothing personal against!” well uh, kind of a weird distinction to make there bro, but okay. listen everyone, it’s a tense situation; if Iida feels the need to clarify the ins and outs of his interpersonal relationships with each of the people he’s rescuing then please just respect that okay

anyways though have I mentioned how much I fucking love Iida Tenya though you guys. feels like I haven’t mentioned that enough. I LOVE HIM. there

FINALLY

AFTER THREE WHOLE WEEKS WE FINALLY CUT BACK. OH MY GOD. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG OF A TIME THAT IS TO BE HOLDING YOUR BREATH. [EXHALES]

is it bad that my immediate reaction to this page was A LOT OF LAUGHING, though. fkldlksh this entire situation is SO ABJECTLY TERRIBLE that if I were Shouto I would almost be fighting the urge to look around for a hidden camera at this point. ASHTON KUTCHER WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING HERE. OH THANK GOD, IT WAS ALL JUST A PRANK

anyway so uh. heh. how screwed are we at this point, exactly. oh and also, whose speech bubbles are these. who the fuck would look at this situation and these bleeding children and say “HA!” what kind of monster. just ignore that paragraph right before this one please

OH SHIT, OH SHIT, OH SHIT

TOMURA I CANNOT BELIEVE I’M SAYING THIS, BUT PLEASE LISTEN TO AFO FOR ONCE AND JUST LEAVE

pretty please. we kind of have a situation here. not that I wouldn’t love to see what this icy flamey boi could do if push came to shove, but I also have had just about enough of watching children get maimed for today though

OH SHIT

THE TIMING OF THIS MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE AT ALL BUT I DO NOT CARE!! THE CAVALRY HAS ARRIVED THANK GOD

“WHAT UP GUYS, WE BROUGHT YOU SOME TERRIBLE NEWS” FKLSHLKHLK

WELL GEE IIDA THANKS SO FUCKING MUCH!!

lmaoooo a wild Lida has been spotted what the fuck is this translation though

I don’t know which is better, the “Lida” (DO YOU EVEN READ THE SERIES BRO), or the “CHRIST” gkfhkg. CLASSIC LIDA

OH SNAP HADOU

sobbing at Manual cradling the still-warm corpse of Gran Torino like a tiny baby khlk;h. BUT ANYWAYS HADOU SAW HER TEACHER ALL BLOODIED UP AND IS READY TO THROW DOWN, YESSSSS, THE MY LADIES ACADEMIA ARC CONTINUES

(ETA: listen you guys, there were many things at the end of this chapter that brought me joy, but perhaps none more than the inclusion of Hadou in the final two page spread looking all serious alongside the Todorokis, as if she has any fucking clue at all wtf is going on slfkhlkhgghsl. what I wouldn’t give to see her and Deku and Iida all making frantic bewildered eye contact at each other throughout the next chapter lmao.)

GOD FUCKING DAMMIT DEKU

ARE YOU PROPPING YOURSELF UP WITH YOUR ARM THAT’S IN SPLINTERS, I CAN’T EVEN BELIEVE YOU RIGHT NOW. SOMEONE PLEASE SLAP SOME SENSE INTO THIS CHILD. SIT YOUR ASS DOWN

LMAO TODO’S READY TO TAKE AFOMURA ON. THE SHARED HERO BRAINCELL HAS ALREADY EXPIRED. FUCK IT LET’S DO THIS

“true, I already watched him murder my dad, my boyfriend, my other boyfriend, my teacher, and dozens of other people, but gosh darn it, I just feel like the fifteenth time’s the charm you guys.” shit, I ain’t even mad. who’s up for yet another episode of Todoroki Shouto Attempts to Murder a Bitch

-- “TIME TO CUT AWAY!!” laughs Horikoshi as he gleefully dodges out of reach before I can punch him, that SON OF A --

goddammit. you’re just lucky that I’m invested in the girl power fight too

YESSSSS OCHAKO

DON’T BE SORRY FOR KICKING ASS! NEVER BE SORRY FOR KICKING ASS

damn, looks like she managed to touch Toga’s shirt but not Toga herself. both of them are so fast

now Toga is monologuing from the shadows

we’ve all been there, Toga. sometimes you see someone you really like and it’s just like, ahhhhhh gotta kill them am I right

lol I love Toga so much you guys, but I’m also kind of wincing in anticipation of whatever essays are gonna materialize out of the fandom this week explaining how hero society has failed her utterly and she is just a victim here. CAN YOU NOT SEE HOW SHE JUST WANTED FREEDOM TO BE HERSELF AND MURDER A BUNCH OF PEOPLE flhkklhl

OH SNAP SHE WENT AND TOLD HER THE THING!!

and it was fucking awesome and scary as shit, Ochako. like damn, still sends a chill up my spine just thinking about it

anyway so now Toga is continuing to explain that she can use the quirks of whoever she transforms into

and Ochako is kind of freaking out, which I don’t blame her for, since it’s probably really upsetting to hear that your stolen blood and quirk were used to murder a bunch of people. shit

so now she’s all “WTF WHY WOULD YOU EVEN TELL ME THAT”

??? was this somehow the wrong answer?

for fuck’s sake. Toga you literally came down here to ask her if she would be willing to kill you, and here she is telling you “I would never be happy about killing someone, that’s fucked up”, and you’re all “......”

like come on though, what else do you want her to say?? and why does Ochako look so shocked now

OOP

LMAO

THEIR FACES DKSLHFKG. TOGA NO THAT IS MEAN. and jesus christ Ochako it’s just a toy. I know it has Sentimental Value and shit but is this really the thing to be getting distracted about right now

FOR FUCK’S SAKE

JIN-KUN WHOM OCHAKO HAS NEVER FUCKING MET?? THAT JIN-KUN??!

OM NOM NOM

this entire confrontation makes absolutely zero sense to me you guys. just. Horikoshi was all, “this is the kind of stuff girls talk about when they’re battling to the death, right?” just, are you okay my dude

anyway so Toga has somehow deduced that Ochako got the doll from Deku, which means that she and Ochako are exactly alike in every way, and this is somehow an important plot point, and now they’re finally getting back to the fight lulz

OH SHIT

OCHAKO BOUT TO SLAP THE SHIT OUT TOGA WITH THIS BOOKCASE ON A STRING AND THIS LOUIS BAG OH FUCK

so now Toga’s all excited and she’s all “THERE’S SOMETHING I OUGHT TO TELL YOU, I’M NOT LEFT HANDED EITHER” oh snap

fuck, it almost feels like she’s trying to warn her. Ochako idk maybe you should run shit I do not like this ( ﾟдﾟ)

but of course she is not running, and she’s all “I’ll have you take responsibility for your actions”

HEY NOW

WHAT IS FUCKING HAPPENING, DID TOGA JUST FUCKING MURDER TSUYU, WHAT THE FUCK. I AM TERRIFIED, I DON’T WANT TO SCROLL DOWN, SHE THREW LIKE FOURTEEN KNIVES INTO THE DARKNESS, WHAT THE FUCK

OH

IT’S POSSIBLE THAT I MAY HAVE OVERREACTED

so did Toga just Swip a bunch of knives for no reason and then abscond, lol what. CAN ANYBODY PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT THE PURPOSE OF THAT ENTIRE SCENE WAS. ASIDE FROM GETTING TO SEE OCHAKO TRY AND YEET A BOOKCASE AT SOMEONE

fuck, she was crying??

DID MY GIRL TOGA JUST KILL AN OLD WOMAN, NAKEDLY LURE OCHAKO INTO A BUILDING, ANTAGONIZE HER INTO SAYING “I’LL MAKE YOU TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR KILLING A BUNCH OF PEOPLE JUST BECAUSE YOU FELT LIKE IT”, STEAL HER DOLL, GIVE HER DOLL BACK, TELL HER “OH SO YOU LIKE DEKU TOO HUH? BTW I CAN USE OTHER PEOPLE’S QUIRKS”, AND THEN RUN AWAY CRYING??? BRUH

-- OH SHIT, OH FUCK

[SIRENS BLARING WILDLY] [AUDIENCE LEAPING OUT OF THEIR SEATS] [T-SHIRT CANNONS BOOMING IN THE AIR] [VIKING WAR HORN SOUNDS IN THE DISTANCE] FUUUUUUUUUCK

well never the fuck mind about Ochako and Toga and WHATEVER THE FUCK THAT ALL WAS SUPPOSED TO BE, I guess, BECAUSE!! MACHIA MADNESS HAS ARRIVED. SPEARS SHALL BE SHAKEN!!! SHIELDS SHALL BE SPLINTERED!!

AND LOOK WHO WOKE UP FROM HIS NUMBER ONE HERO BEAUTY NAP RIGHT ON CUE, TOO!!! ATTENTION ALL PASSENGERS... IIIIIIIIIIT’S TOUYA TIMEEEEEEEE

[ocalaghan]

I juuuuust finished watching Shameless (US) which I started... less than 6 months ago, I think? And I just. Have so many thoughts.

That show was crazy. It's been on my list for years and I've seen various emosh clips of it on Tumblr from its very early days but I finally began watching it when I did because @agaytoremembr told me to and boy oh boy.

I started out really loving it but it gradually got worse (read as: the characters' stories were bullshit 80% of the time) and then Fiona left and it officially sucked. She really made the whole show and after she left, all of the Gallaghers somehow started to suck more so the last season in particular was a struggle (and I also watched Shameless: Hall Of Shame just because I hate myself apparently). The finale ended on such a garbage note. I realise it was meant to be a parallel to the opening scene of the pilot but it just... sucked. Sometimes parallels don't hit that emotional nail on the head and this was one of those times. I also really didn't need it to be a COVID season, we have enough of that in real life and none of them even donned their masks properly when they were meant to so what was the point of including them at all?

I was happy they mentioned Fiona in the finale but I feel like it wasn't enough. It was Frank that mentioned her and I think the siblings should have also talked about her, or mentioned calling her, or just something. Instead of, you know, seemingly forgetting she existed. She's their sister and they loved her so that was fucking annoying. But then again, we rarely saw good sibling interaction/intertwined plotlines towards the end between any of them. It was like they were all housemates that mildly tolerated one another. Which was... stupid? The whole point of the show is about that family banding together through thick and thin lmfao.

Overall I'm glad I watched it but very disappointed with how much the entire plot for nearly every character went in the toilet at the end. Character development? We don't know her.

Don't get me started on the plot-holes either, I don't have it in me. Their ages and birthdays almost sent me into an early fucking grave, never mind everything else.

Anyway there were so many characters over the course of the show sooooooo I have to word-vomit my feelings on all of them obviously. I'll start with the Gallagher family and then other characters.

FRANK & MONICA

Wild. Terrible selfish parents, obviously. Was kind of sad that Monica died, especially right beside Frank. She was a bad mother but I totally did not expect her to die. Frank, on the other hand, I was friggin' desperate for him to just bite the dust already by season three. PLEASE SIR. JUST DIE. FOR THE SAKE OF HUMANITY. I get that his antics were supposed to be funny and ridiculous but I hated watching the majority of his storylines - they were either stupid, annoying, disgusting, or just downright depressing. Truly an awful father, truly hated that many scenes of his seemed to try and evoke empathy for him from viewers. NO. NO THANK-YOU. I did feel sorry for him at the end though, it's a rough way to die. I felt like the way his story closed out was fitting but they could've made his demise over the final season so much more emotional (the way the kids found out about his alcoholic dementia, for example). We didn't even see them read his suicide note (which actually was also really shit and just insulting so maybe that's fine) or find out about his actual death which I think would've been important to show, considering they all joked about wanting him to be dead, so like... actually seeing those complicated emotions play out would've been a great closing chapter IMO.

SAMMI & CHUCKIE (& QUEENIE)

Sammi was literally one of the most annoying female characters to ever stumble onto my television screen and I HATED her after a while. I wanted someone to fully beat her ass. I hate her more than I hate Rachel Berry from Glee and that's a lot. But it still bugged me when she faded into the background and stopped being mentioned. No idea how long her prison sentence was meant to be but I assume she eventually gets out and learns about Frank's death? Can't really see her having much contact with her half-siblings unless she comes out of prison with a major attitude adjustment. It's probably a good thing Chuckie was living with his grandmother. Queenie seemed ever so slightly less deranged. I did feel a bit sorry for Chuckie though, and maybe it'd be nice if he got to know the Gallagher side of his family some day? I feel like he and Carl could be good friends lmao.

FIONA

Fiona Gallagher supremacy. I loved her from day one and it baffles me that there are watchers that hate her. HOW CAN U HATE HER. PROTECT HER. SHE DESERVES EVERYTHING GOOD. She was diverse and loveable and relatable and I felt closer to her when she got an abortion too because I don't see a lot of shows where it's an adult woman that chooses to do that (instead of a high schooler). I just loved her and her arc was so good. I wasn't even sad that she left because I wanted her to get out of Chicago and do something great with her life, but God did the show suffer when she went lol. The last couple of seasons would've been much better with her presence but at least with her not there, I can picture her living a great life in Florida, having a good job and a nice place, staying in touch with her siblings and Kev and V obviously... getting into a healthy relationship, finally? And I think this is probably an unpopular opinion but I was rooting for her and JimmySteve. I mean, he was a compulsive liar, but I was also rooting for him to stop doing that. So in my head they are endgame but in a healthy way lmao.

Side-note, Fiona's Hall Of Shame episode was craaaazy. I feel like she would never go on a reality dating show but all of the other episodes for this companion series were canon so that must be too. And I am pretending her new Florida pals were the ones that put her up to this. Because it does feel very un-Fiona, or at least the Southside Fiona that we knew.

LIP

I loveloveloved Lip at the start of the show and then the last few seasons, he just pissed me off most of the time. They did him so dirty. I like to think he makes something of himself but the fact everything was hung up on a question mark as to whether he would cope financially and job-wise, and whether he and Tami would keep their possible second baby was just so... ANNOYING. No answers, just straight-up ended the show on a weird cliffhanger for so many of the characters. I will say, I am delighted he did find a way to sell the house after all even if it was for less money, because then he can tell Debbie to suck it.

IAN

I thought I was going to like Ian a lot at the beginning but I never fully warmed up to him... partly because he was gonna be in the army or whatever it was. Some of his opinions and overall attitude just bothered me and I didn't like him a lot of the time, and he was a dick to Fiona CONSTANTLY over nothing, but I also wanted to see him do good things? It's a Complex Relationship(tm). Anyway, I hate that he and Mickey were endgame. I feel like the majority of the fandom loves them together? But I fucking hate it. They had passion but they were not healthy for one another. The implication is they remain happy on the West Side and end up adopting some stray infant or two eventually so I guess that works out but ugh. Also, a real swing and a miss that the show reveals Ian's biological father is actually one of Frank's brothers... and then that just never gets explored. Missed opportunity, IMO. I like to think maybe Ian decides to get to know Clayton after Frank's death and maybe even has a decent father/son relationship with someone for once.

DEBBIE (& FRANNY)

Girl bye. I fucking hate this one almost as much as Sammi and Frank. Actually maybe more than Frank. Debbie had so much potential to be a fantastic, feminist, cool character and they just fucked her up so badly. What was with giving her a 20-year-old boyfriend when she was barely a teenager and then making her accidentally rape him? What a weird fucking plotline??? And then everything she did after that was just insane or fucking stupid. She's a terrible mother even though she thinks she's not and I feel bad for Franny. She's a terrible sister too, especially to Fiona. And randomly had her be extremely homophobic over her whole crisis about thinking she caught AIDS when she slept with a gay man which was the most bizarre addition to that plotline. They tried to appoint her as the head of the family and be Fiona 2.0 after Fiona left but she was always a bratty bitch so it didn't really work. I thought she and Sandy would be endgame (and that made me feel bad for Sandy because I actually liked her) and then at the last second they brought in a random ex-con that invites Debbie across the country to do some criminal shit and let her daughter tag along AND DEBBIE WAS CONSIDERING IT??? WHAT. W H A T. Awful mother, just Monica all over again except with excess mommy issues and less drugs. Her story ended so much worse than I could've imagined. I sincerely hope she does not stay together with Heidi and just... you know, has a total personality makeover and gets together with someone fucking normal that she isn't a dick to for a change. And if she's so desperate for Franny to have a big family, she can man-trap a few more random guys. audisghiijkof[dgj I just hate Debbie.

hate hate hate, double-hate, LOATHE ENTIRELY

CARL

I hated him at the start because he was a weird little bastard who also abused animals and it was just...? And then he got older and somehow did not turn into a serial killer and actually started being nice to animals (interesting turnaround that never got mentioned) but he also wanted to do army shit and I was just thinking great, another flag-shagger like his big bro. AND THEN HE WANTED TO JOIN THE POLICE. WHY. THIS CHILD SHOULD NOT HAVE A GUN. His story seemed to be going well in the final season where he was having this whole revelation that cops ain't shit and I thought he was gonna quit and make a big statement but then he just... didn't. AND THAT GIRL THAT RAPED HIM ACTUALLY DID GET PREGNANT WITH HIS KID? AND THE SHOW JUST GLOSSED OVER THAT? And apparently his future is for him to buy the Alibi with his co-worker and make it a cop bar? So garbage. I figure he's probably gonna get in touch with what's-her-face about their illegally conceived child but I don't have much other hopes for Carl. The writers did him mega dirty too. Not to mention, he already has two kids wandering around in the world from that time Frank literally stole his own son's sperm. HIS LIFE IS SO FUCKED UP.

LIAM

Liam was one of the best Gallaghers for years because he was a baby and did not speak. And then he got old enough to have proper plots and the writers had him "struggling with his identity as a young Black man in a white family" but it really... came to nothing? It didn't feel like that plot achieved anything for him personally, they just sort of... fucked around with his character because it seemed like they did not know what to do with him re: his huge age gap from the other siblings. And also, that opens up a massive can of worms because Liam is meant to be Frank's biological son, meaning ALL of the Gallagher kids are canonically mixed race regardless. Which was... a choice from the writers' room, I gotta say. Not a good one. Not a good one. But whatever. Liam was meant to be under the care of Fiona until he turned 18 which was conveniently forgotten about when Fiona left and I honestly think they should have had Liam leave with her because that just... would've saved some really boring, stupid plotlines from almost ruining his character. But they didn't so... whatever. I do like that Liam is going to live with Lip, Tami, and Fred. And their potential second child. That's a cute, satisfactory ending for him, at least. I also liked that Frank's "Ghost of Gallagher Future" was Liam in his Hall of Shame episode because we got a little snippet of how Liam's life will turn out as an adult, and in his own words, he's doing well for himself, and so are the other siblings. So I liked that too, knowing there's a little look into their future and it's bright despite everything.

And now, other characters. Fuck, there were so many.

KEVIN & VERONICA

LOVE THEM. LOVE THEM SO MUCH. They kept the show bearable after Fiona left. I loved their ending. Was really happy that they were moving somewhere close to V's mom and her brother-nephew Dominic and her other family, and obviously other Black people that V could relate to. Happy lil life with their daughters. Obviously I like to think Fiona will always keep in touch with them. Their storyline as a couple was the only one I was super happy with at the end lmao. Though personally I would've liked to see more of Kev visiting Dominic or like... mentioning that he was visiting Dominic or showing him having days out with Amy and Gemma. Like, yeah, it might be a weird dynamic because Kevin is his dad-uncle and Amy and Gemma are both half-sisters and cousins to him but it's very on par with what Shameless is like and Kev isn't the type to just abandon his son. So I would've liked to see more of that, but I also imagine they all become closer as a family by living right next to each other in this new chapter of their lives anyway.

CLYDE YOUENS

I liked Youens a lot! And I liked he and Lip's relationship. Probably the best father/son-type relationship Lip was ever going to get. I was genuinely gutted when Youens died, I wanted better for him and Lip needed him. Sad. But I loved that Lip named his son in honour of him.

JIMMYSTEVE

As stated, I loved JimmySteve. Hope he's good and less of an asshole. I do think he's a good person at heart. JimmySteve stans, where u at?

MANDY MILKOVICH

Remember her? Wild. I never much liked her, and she was kind of a psychopath, but also hope she's fine and doing better than when we last saw her getting out of an abusive relationship.

MICKEY MILKOVICH

Hated him to start with, then was kind of indifferent because he became the comedy relief of the show. He was funny and it was a nice change-up from all the drama; he does have some great one-liners that I genuinely laughed out loud at. But he was still dumb and racist and full of internalised homophobia by the time the finale came around and I feel like he and Ian are just not a good couple and the character development was just not there BUT WHATEVER. I feel like I may be burned at the Shameless stake for saying any of that because I cannot find anyone else on Tumblr that doesn't like him/doesn't ship him and Ian.

SANDY MILKOVICH

I loved Sandy and I'm glad she and Debbie broke up because Debbie is shit and Sandy deserves nice things. I hope one day she's maybe able to have a relationship with her son but overall I just liked her a lot and I think the writers did her dirty with having her just... break up with Debbie and leave. Like what was the point in her? She had potential. Her relationship with Debbie had potential, if Debbie didn't suck obviously.

SVETLANA YEVGENIVNA (& YEVGENY)

I both liked and disliked Svetlana. She had some bad takes but overall I really enjoyed her character, and the wild polyamorous relationship that she, Kev, and V had for a while. I guess we never really know 100% that Yevgeny is Mickey's son and then he never gets mentioned again after Svetlana remarries so... that's kind of annoying. It was laughable in the finale listening to Ian tell Mickey he would be a good dad. DID YOU FORGET YOU ALREADY HAD A SON? WHERE IS HE? If we know anything about Svetlana, though, she's gonna hustle and provide for her kid lmao.

SHEILA JACKSON (& KAREN... & JODY & HYMIE)

Sheila was the best. I kept hoping she would come back onto the show but it wasn't to be. I loved that she finally said fuck Frank and drove off in her big-ass RV to see the world like she wanted. I assume she ends up in Arizona so she can be close to Karen, Jody and Hymie (and I'm just gonna assume Karen and Jody got back together even though their relationship was really fucking weird from the get-go). I enjoyed the Jackson family's antics and I think Sheila was up there as a character I missed the most after she left. Second to darling Fiona obviously.

TAMI TAMIETTI

Is it not child abuse to name your daughter Tami if your last name is already Tamietti? Anyway, didn't like Tami to start with. She was another character that had a shitty attitude/bad takes that didn't seem to match the rest of her personality sometimes? But by the end of the show, she was probably one of the characters I liked the most. She had actual common sense and I wanted to bop Lip for her so many times. She was a good mom and I enjoyed her a lot and would still bop Lip for her no questions asked. Manz is dumb.

BRAD YOUNG (& CAMI)

As above, Cami Tamietti? Wtf. Anyway, I liked Brad, I liked his friendship with Lip. Glad that he's happy with his little family with Cami, but they're nothing on the baes Kev and V obviously.

ETHEL & MALIK (& JONAH & TAMIKA)

Ethel was a really interesting character and it always made me really sad she didn't get shown to get back in touch with Kevin and Veronica. So I like to think she and Malik are a happy little family with their kids and that she reaches out to Kev and V one day, 'cause I really think that would make Kevin in particular so happy to know how she and Jonah are doing, and to have a relationship with them all again.

TONY MARKOVICH

Remember Tony? I almost didn't until I was looking at a list of Shameless characters. I was most amused to find he ended up being gay sooooo wherever he's at, I hope he's thriving since he obviously got over Fiona lmao. It would've been kinda cool if he popped back up when Carl was entering the police force?

TREVOR

Would die for Trevor. Hope he's happy as can be. Ian missed out by screwing him over and I'll die on that hill.

That's all the significant characters that I really gave a shit about that I can think of.

THE PLOTS THEY SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN

This has been plaguing my brain for the entire final two seasons so now I gotta write down how I think their storylines should have went throughout the show. I don't care enough about it to turn it into fic, I just want to get it out my head.

So, I present, the storylines that EYE think should have happened instead of the trash that actually did happen.

FRANK

As much as I would've loved for him to die WAY SOONER, I guess the show and all their trauma and dramatic scenes wouldn't be as impactful without Frank there. Soooo his story can remain pretty much the same, have him die in the finale, but just... make the final season more painful! The way they all find out about his dementia, the way he dies! Make it hurt! He was the worst father but he was still their dad and they had some good times so it's gonna be a lot of mixed, painful emotions. SHOW THAT SHIT.

And also, don't make his actual cause of death be COVID. No COVID season!

I haven't thought it all through but just... a more harrowing storyline to play out for the family relating to Frank's ultimate demise.

FIONA

I don't know that I would change much about Fiona's plot... maybe less focus on the men in her life because she was always jumping from one relationship to another that always ended in tears and it didn't seem to serve her progression in any way. And less of her siblings treating her like straight-up trash.

Like I said before, I would've loved to see her and JimmySteve work out but I don't know if I necessarily needed to see this on screen? I don't know.

LIP

Okay. So, he has an affair with his professor (honestly she was a freak ew), he gets kicked out, he becomes an alcoholic, Youens gets him into rehab, that can all remain canon. He gets into fixing bikes as a hobby, meets Brad, meets Tami (earlier in the storyline, and maybe a slightly nicer version because they really had her acting like a whole bitch at the start and not in a fun way). BUT Lip was not only smart, he actually liked learning and thriving academically. And that college admissions dude way back in s1 or whatever told him don't get some girl knocked up and blah blah... and the writers have exactly that scenario happen to him. It's bullshit.

So, in my eyes, his goal would be to ultimately get back into college. Not only for himself but maybe for Youens too because he looked up to him. He spends a year or two fixing up bikes, volunteering, trying to make himself look like a respectable member of the community (with difficulties for Good Television(tm) because it's the Southside and he's a Gallagher). And he shows his college that he's done the work and that he'd like another chance, he can manage his anger, etc. And voila, he goes to college, completes a business degree or something that would open a lot of doors for him.

And in his final season, he's graduated and been offered a prestigious internship a couple of states over. So he and Tami are preparing to move. It's bittersweet and he's back and forth about it because he doesn't want to leave his siblings. But, then he mentions that he had a phonecall with Fiona (because she deserved to be more involved in the finale, let's be real) and that's what ultimately helps him realise he would be dumb not to take the internship. Then maybe a little line between Lip and Tami about how maybe they'll get married in a few years and have kids after he makes "lots of money." And they laugh and Lip's like, "Yeah, I'll give being a dad a go, can't be any worse than Frank." And they mention that they like the name Freddie - just so he gets a little mention since he ain't gonna be born during the run of the show lmao.

Ta-da, Lip's story makes more sense now.

IAN

I feel like it would be fine for everything in his life to remain canon up until he goes to prison (maybe add in some more outrage over his adult boss fucking him as a teenager though cos that was heavy creepy and nobody seemed super fussed about it).

I honestly think Mickey going to Mexico or wherever he ran away to should've been his exit from the show. So, that happens, bye Mickey.

Ian does the whole Gay Jesus episode, sure, but ultimately doesn't go to jail because he was, I don't know, off his meds at the time and it was a mental breakdown and he had a decent lawyer to plead that case (funded by savings from Trevor, which makes Ian realise Trevor really cares about him, because it was a chunk of the money that Trevor had squirrelled away in case he wanted to get bottom surgery at some point).

So Ian spends some time in the psych ward, has some community service hours, gets back on his medication and he's dandy.

Maybe Trevor keeps his distance during all of this because it's a Lot but Ian realises he's in love with him and ultimately strives to get him back.

They get back together, Ian's a little lost for a while personally because there's still residual online fame (and hate) from Gay Jesus and he doesn't know what he wants to do. I think it would've been ideal for him to then try to get his paramedic job back, or something similar (working in a care home? idk) because he enjoyed helping people and he was good at it. So he does that, feels more satisfied career-wise.

Ian's final season could have revolved somewhat around him deciding to connect with his biological father, Clayton Gallagher. Maybe this causes some tension and hurt feelings among his siblings because he actually ends up getting along really well with Clayton and it's healthy and the others don't have that with Frank. It all ends up working out, maybe Clayton says he would like to make more effort with his nieces and nephews too, whatever. Maybe this has the potential for a painful scene with Frank because he comes over and Clayton is there and Frank is confused and thinks Clayton is their father, and there's yelling and it's sad.

Ian's finale could involve him and Trevor planning to move in together, and Ian proposes to him, yaaaay. Gotta get a proposal in there since there won't be a queer wedding.

DEBBIE

Alright. Debbie's story, I would make completely different.

Starting with her not accidentally raping her adult boyfriend when she was a child and not man-trapping her age-appropriate boyfriend when she was also a child.

I'm gonna say she does get pregnant by accident while still at school and wants to keep it BUT. BUT. After her talks with Fiona and finding out Fiona is pregnant too, ultimately decides they should indeed get abortions together and it's nice and they bond. None of the bullshit pro-life idiot nonsense that actually happened.

So she graduates school with promising grades, and goes to her welding degree thingy (bring in plots about her feminism and fighting for equality in the workplace/class/overall desired profession). Starts having a sexuality crisis and thinks she might be a lesbian, and Ian is actually supportive towards her (unlike the canon (((((: but anyway) but he brings up that bisexuality is valid too.

So at age 19 or so, Debbie tries dating a man one more time to see how it goes. They have sex, it's fine, but she ultimately decides she doesn't really like it and decides she likes women only and that is that.

ENTER SANDY.

Now, side-note, Sandy coming in could create drama for Ian and Trevor because Ian asks if she knows how her cousin Mickey is doing and Trevor gets jealous/concerned about this, just as a sub-plot for an episode or two.

Anyway, Sandy and Debbie fall for each other really quickly, it's going great, Debbie's really happy despite being surprised she's fallen for a Milkovich. THEN, gasp, she realises she is pregnant from her date with that man and she considers aborting again but realises she can't go through with it a second time. Maybe the scene of her finding out ends with her calling Fiona and going, "Fiona, I'm pregnant again." And later mentioning to someone, "My sister really calmed me down and we talked about another abortion but I just can't do it again." Because, again, I want it shown that Fiona is still involved in their lives and loves them (and that they love and turn to her in times of need).

Anyway, it's a whole panic, she thinks Sandy will leave her (and in my timeline, Sandy isn't married with a kid of her own), and she doesn't know what might happen with welding school. But Sandy is actually really happy and says they will make it work. Debbie tells the father, maybe there's some drama there because he asks for a paternity test but ultimately ends up being supportive and says he will be involved.

In the canon timeline, Debbie seemed to name her daughter after Frank because he was the only one who was supportive of her pregnancy. This time around, so that Franny can keep her name, let's say it's because she goes into labour in the finale and gives birth shortly before Frank dies. So Debbie names her daughter Frances 'Franny' Fiona Gallagher.

Maybe she and Sandy already live together by this point because they wanted their own place before the baby came, and Debbie's worked it out with school somehow.

TA-DA. A much more likeable Debbie.

CARL

Carl... I don't know, man. I would probably change almost everything about Carl's personality because wtf but just so I'm not entirely redoing his character from day one, let's his say his life pans out pretty much the same (maybe minus the animal abuse bc I am a big baby, and minus Frank STEALING HIS SPERM AND MAKING ACTUAL BABIES WITH IT). Except, in his final season, he's on this journey of realising cops ain't shit (and let's also say, to get around a plot-hole, that he's on, like, a junior training course that allows young people the chance to potentially become officers when they're of age). And he realises he doesn't want to be a cop any more because it's kinda bullshit, but he wanted to do it for a long time so he's struggling with just walking away. AND THIS IS WHERE TONY COULD COME IN. Carl talks to Fiona on the phone about it and Fiona suggests he ask Tony why he became a cop because Tony was one of the few nice ones. So Carl tracks down Tony and it turns out Tony's not a cop any more either so that conversation plus seeing more racial injustice and a shitty attitude towards poor people from his co-workers has Carl feeling really down about his career choice. Maybe he sees one of his superiors cussing out a young Black boy on the Southside that reminds him of Liam and Carl steps in, enraged, and that solidifies his decision to quit. And his final episode is him like... getting involved in local community work and an organisation for minorities, and maybe he gets advice from Trevor and it links into what Trevor does, so they're gonna cross paths frequently in their jobs. And in the process of selling the Gallagher home, Carl's not sure where he's gonna live and Trevor and Ian invite him to live with them. Or Debbie and Sandy. One of them.

LIAM

Liam should've went with Fiona when she moved away to Florida. She was still his legal guardian, it would've made sense, and it would've saved Liam from some really ridic plots in the final seasons. However... even if Fiona couldn't come back for the finale, maybe they could've had Liam back visiting and he gets into some funny antics. I don't know.

And then I haven't really thought through the final scene or where Frank's death would fit in or anything but I thought it would be entertaining and fitting if, right after they manage to sell the house, there's an accident and it goes up in flames. Still parallels the first episode but it's a climactic end, they all are devastated at first and then find it really funny. Maybe Frank's body is inside! Who knows! They FaceTime Fiona to show her and it's just a lot of yelling and laughing and there's no insulting Frank voiceover.

And just... obviously more sibling interaction and love throughout all of this. That's what I needed to see!!!

I'm done now.

[shadowed-dancer]

My Thoughts on the New MHA Opening and Ending

I have thoughts, and I will share them because oh boy if I don’t get this out I’m gonna explode

Vague Spoilers for the manga (up to chapter 258 and vigilantes) because I discuss the upcoming arcs, but I don’t discuss any major plot points in detail. Still, proceed with caution if you’re anime only

Keep in mind, this OP and ED will cover the Endeavour Agency Arc and the MVA Arc, so I will be judging them accordingly.

First, the OP

This is a good OP... in theory (that’s going to become my catchphrase for this post). It’s nice to look at and flows pretty well, but my biggest problem is that it doesn’t do it’s job. An OP is supposed to be a sort of... summary (?) of the Cour it plays for. That means any cool plot points, emotional beats, and important characters should be featured in some way, shape, or form. We’ll talk about that more later, but first let’s discuss the music.

The song is really good. I have a feeling it will continue to grow on me as I listen to it more often, but yeah my first impression is that the song sounds great. My only complaint about the music itself is that it ends kind of abruptly (I noticed this is the JT opening too). The previous openings used to have a bit of instrumental to “play us out” and lead us to the end card, but this one feels like it ends very suddenly and unnaturally.

As for the visuals...

Yeah alright I’ll admit, the visuals are stunning... in theory. I appreciate the variety in backgrounds and colours, it makes the OP really interesting to look at. This was actually one of my biggest problems with the JT Opening, it all took place on the training grounds, so there was no variety (everything was metal tubes with a blue sky, with only 3 shots set somewhere different). I appreciate the style of this OP.

But like I said, that’s only in theory, as in, through screenshots these are all pleasing to look at. The pacing of this OP is wild, and I truly don’t know who to blame for this.

That sunset shot above? It lasts approximately 12 seconds, zooming in every few to make it seem like something is happening (when in reality it’s still the same poses, angles, etc). While there’s nothing wrong with a nice, drawn out shot, it becomes irritating when compared to the pacing of the rest of this op.

At the 41 second mark, we are given the shot above. It has flowed directly from the previous sunset scene. We still have not moved away from the image of the trio (aside from the opening shot and the title card) yet we’re approaching the halfway mark of the OP.

The next shot is the MLA, which lasts about 5 seconds. Ok, perfect. Not too long, but also not short enough to be confusing. It cuts away a little fast once the dude on the far left appears, but does anyone actually know who that is? No, seriously, I’m asking. I don’t remember his name and he’s not on the wiki, so I can only assume he’s not important. Therefore, it’s not all that bad if the shot cuts away shortly after he comes into frame. The audience is able to take in the scene without having to pause...

... And then the problems start

While this shot is fine in theory, it pans up fast and  cuts away quickly. You know how hard it was for me to get this screenshot? Really hard. You want to know why I struggled so much? Because, due to the timing of the cut and the way it pans upwards, it’s almost impossible to pause on Dabi’s face. I literally had to go frame by frame to get it, because he’s in shot for so little time that naturally pausing is guaranteed to miss him.

When watching this in real time (without pausing) the cut away makes you feel as if you missed something because “something was there, I just couldn’t register what because now it’s gone”. Unlike Compress, who wears a very colourful coat you can recognize the entire time, Dabi’s pants are more blended into the background.

It also doesn’t help that this shot is literally composed to draw your attention away from Dabi until the last possible second. Due to framing, your eye is naturally drawn to the brightly coloured Toga in the foreground, making it super easy to miss Dabi in the back (until, of course, his bright face appears and contrasts against the background, drawing your eye just in time for the scene to change, leaving you to wonder who or what you missed).

I know this sounds like nitpicking, but this shot is the only group shot we get of the League, and is also the start of a seriously weird trend for the villains in this OP getting the short end of the stick.

Anyways, then we get what I’ll call “The Carousel Shot” in which every Class 1A kid shows up and poses dramatically, as if they were on a carousel. It’s a lovely sequence and I really enjoy watching it but... why is it in this OP?

Seriously, this is a genuine question. Class 1A barely shows up in the Endeavour Agency Arc, and NONE of the students are in MVA. This sequence (not counting the three boys at the end) lasts 8 seconds. Why is this much time dedicated to characters who are barely in the arc? (Unless Studio Bones extends their work studies into fuller plot lines which oh my gosh please don’t do that, or if they do, do it quick).

We then get what I call the “Oh God I Blinked And Missed Everything” sequence, which lasts 3 seconds (not including the longer, moving shot of Shigaraki at the end) and features NINE INDIVIDUAL IMAGES, none of which are related to each other. Not only is this 3 images per second, but the fact that they are all unrelated means you can’t even use previous information to fill in the blanks.

What do I mean by that? Well, imagine if I show you 9 images of various pro heroes posing. If I play that in 3 seconds you’ll absolutely miss some of them, but as long as you catch some you’ll still get an idea of what I’m trying to show to you. Your brain is able to fill in the gaps that “I recognized 4 pro heroes, therefore the rest must have also been pros” even if you didn’t register every single frame.

That doesn’t work if every frame features a completely different subject. The shots in this sequence vary so widely that it’s impossible to find a through line. Some feature multiple characters, some feature one, some are closeups, some are super far away, some are character’s we know, others are characters we don’t. It’s impossible to get a solid read on what you’re being shown.

Now, again, there’s nothing wrong with these super quick shots... in theory. The problem comes from the fact that these shots are the only indicators for some of the major themes that will be explored during this Cour (like Twice’s growth and young Shigaraki).

That being said, let’s move away from criticism and talk about speculation, because hidden amongst this sequence are two... interesting images.

This All Might one is very reminiscent of the shot in Chapter 257, where Aizawa and All Might have a conversation while staring up at the stars. However, this is technically the start of the “War Arc” (or the “prologue”, if that’s what you want to call it), so this might indicate that we’re going to get farther into the series than a lot of us guessed.

(Many people suspected we’d get to that cliffhanger at the start of the season (if you read the manga you know the one), but after seeing the pacing for JT a lot of us assumed we’d be lucky to even finish Endeavour Agency. It seems we’re back to the cliffhanger now though lol). 

This is another really interesting shot because it’s indicative of Shirakumo, meaning we might get to see Aizawa and Mic confront him some time this Cour (this also makes sense, since this confrontation technically happens before that All Might scene I mentioned in the previous paragraph).

But the cat specifically is a really strange addition. That cat is named Sushi and, correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think Sushi is ever mentioned in the main series. I think he’s only in Vigilantes.

This might just be a little Easter Egg for Vigilante readers, but I’m personally hoping that they’ll add at least a few Vigilante shots in there to really tug at the heart strings. I’d say I want a whole Vigilante episode but I don’t think they have the time (unless they really cram MVA, which I do NOT want).

I don’t have much to say about the last bit of the OP. The action shot between the 3 boys was nice, and it follows the sort of narrative through line they established from the early shot of them sitting at the sunset. I also like the shot of Endeavour fading in to replace All Might, even if it’s very simple.

But I want to talk about an overarching problem I touched upon earlier in that villain shot: the way the villains are handled in this OP.

This is a good OP... in theory. The problem is, it doesn’t represent half the arcs in the cour! Every shot of the League is so rushed that you can barely register that they were on screen before they’re gone.

I have no idea how many Episodes Endeavour Agency will take, but I’d assume 3 (4 if you count the Christmas episode). 12 episodes for this Cour minus 3 for Endeavour Agency = 9 episodes left. If we truly do get the prologue for the War Arc (and if we assume it’s only 1 episode) that leaves us with 8 villains episodes.

8/12 episodes (aka two thirds of the Cour) will likely be about the villains. And yet they’re pushed to the background so hard in this OP.

I want to dream, and I want to believe that this OP is going to magically change when MVA starts. The song fits super well, and I can imagine like an inversion of the OP but from the Villain side! Wouldn’t that be neat? Imagine right after the “it’s alright” part Shigaraki just freaking decays the title card... oh man that would be so cool. But, alas, I highly doubt they’d do that.

Side rant, but you know what was so fun about MVA in the manga? It’s that, for 21 chapters, we leave the kids behind and the villains become our protagonists. Suddenly Shigaraki is the one we’re rooting for, suddenly we’re learning backstories for everyone, and suddenly we find ourselves just as attached to the villains as we are to the kids. It’s an inversion that’s SO RARE to find, and I think many people (myself included) were hoping it would be reflected in the OP.

A big part of being the protagonist means featuring heavily in the OP, and a lot of us just wanted the villains to get that honour, even if only once. As is, the OP still treats them as the antagonists when... really they aren’t. Not right now, at least.

So yeah, final thoughts on the OP are that it’s good, it’s just not very representative of the arcs it’s supposed to cover. If this was just for Endeavour Agency, I’d say it’s actually really cool, but if we assume that this is what will play for the Villain Arc, then it simply doesn’t do it’s job. And it makes me sad to say that because, again, this OP is really well done.

If I had to rate it? Hmmm

If Studio Bones actually grants my wish and creates a different visual for the Villain Arc (while using the same song) and then this version only plays for the Endeavour Agency Arc and the War Prologue? I’d give it an 8/10. It’s really good, but it could use a few more elements that are clearly derived from the Agency Arc (ahem, Todoroki siblings).

But if this is the OP that will play for the entire Cour? a 6.5/10. It’s nice, but it’s not representative of one of the arcs it’s going to cover. And, unlike other arcs like Pro Hero or Summer Exams, the villain Arc is so important and takes up so much time that it honestly feels like a bit of a disservice.

Now for the Ending

I want to say that I appreciate how soft this ending starts. This cour will likely feature a lot of episodes that end on... heavier themes, and I think the sight of peaceful, falling raindrops is the perfect way to let the audience process their emotions before starting the ending in earnest.

The song itself is very nice, and I like that it’s a bit slower than the more recent endings.

(Side note, but the FUNNIEST moment in the entire series is when Sir Nighteye dies because it’s so emotional and everyone is standing around his bed in his heartwrentching silence, only for the ending to come BLARING IN out of no where. If you forgot how jarringly hilarious it was, go listen to the Eri ending and tell me that’s not the funniest thing this series ever did. Anyways yeah I’m glad that’s not gonna happen this Cour).

This ending is a bit all over the place in terms of it’s visuals, but honestly I think it works. Most endings usually have a theme tying them together (all the Class 1A girls, a fantasy AU, old photographs, planning a party, etc) but this ending’s theme is a bit harder to identify.

That being said, I think it’s just supposed to show everyone going about their day. It’s calm, it’s peaceful, and it’s just very sweet to think about

I like this shot. Actually, scratch that, I like this whole sequence. I enjoy anything that allows Class 1A to chill and have fun.

Hawks is featured quite heavily in this ending which, fair. He’s pretty important in this arc.

I really love the shot where Endeavour immediately switches to Hawks, I thought that was a lot of fun, and very good symbolism on how Hawks wants to be like Endeavour. I also love all the shots of Baby Hawks, because it’s adorable.

Something about this shot is just so cute. It’s the little domestic things like waiting for a bus that make this ending feel... idk the word, real? It shows a side of the characters that we’ll never see in the episodes, but we know have to exist.

Like yes, of course the kids have to wait for the bus. We never see it, but of course there are those moments of quiet. Agh, I love it.

The villains also make an appearance and I’m very happy about that (I’d love to see more of the villains just chilling around, I think they deserve it). I kind of wish they weren’t sitting in a dark room for the sake of being edgy, since I think it would be nice to see the villains just... sort of existing, but honestly it’s still a nice shot. I also like how this shot sort of mirrors the first one with Class 1A (someone coming in while everyone else is sitting and waiting for them).

That being said, as much as I love looking at Dabi and his stupid face (affectionate)... why is Dabi the one getting the closeup?

Mind you, endings don’t need to be connected to their Cours (they can be, like the Eri one, but they don’t have to be). But this ending does seem to be connected to the arcs it intends to cover, given all the Hawks appearances, the boys wearing their work study scarves, etc.

So, I ask again, why Dabi? Out of the six League members, we learn the backstory for four of them in this arc (Shigaraki, Toga, Twice, and we very briefly learn about Spinner). The only two left out are Dabi and Compress.

I can only assume they chose Dabi because he’s constantly in contact with Hawks, and therefore that makes him important? If the OP told us anything, it’s that Bones values the Endeavour Agency Arc over the Villain Arc lol...

... Oh my gosh please tell me that’s not actually the reason Dabi is focused on here BONES WAI-

Anyways, the ending comes to a close with Hawks watching over the kids and Endeavour. The relaxing time is done, it’s time for work studies.

Overall impression? It’s great. It’s hard to screw up an ending, so as long as you have something pretty on screen, it’s wonderful.

I’ll give this a 9/10

[sepublic]

NEW EPISODE TITLES!!!

           NEW EPISODE TITLES YEAH!!!!

           We have, as follows, right after Through the Looking Glass Ruins;

           Hunting Palismen

           Eda’s Requiem

           Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on Hooty’s Door

           This leaves us with; “Seek the k”, which leaves us with THIRTEEN letters left for the Season 2 titles! “Seek the Key to the Portal” sounds sensible to me… Luz already HAS the key, but this could in reference to Belos! And who knows; Maybe he needs different keys, to access different worlds from the same portal/door? So he’d have reason to seek another key, while Luz’s key is important because it leads specifically to the human world!

           That would add new significance to that shot from the trailer, with Belos using what looks like either the normal key but grafted with his own technology, or a new one entirely! Perhaps Belos will try to make an artificial key to access another world, or he’ll modify Luz’s key to take him where he wants!

          Perhaps we’ll have a plot point of Belos trying the artificial and/or modified method, only for it to backfire horribly… Maybe this will connect to Camila, who’s slated to appear in Season 2A? I think “Seek the key to the portal” makes sense, because last season’s message was about the portal, in the sense that it was Luz’s true way back home… So talking about a key, in reference to that lost way, makes sense!

           There are other possible options, but… I’m really feeling this one, honestly! “Seek the Key to the Portal” just makes a lot of sense to me. As for the individual episode titles, I’ll get to them later in their own separate posts… It’s worth noting that we have EIGHT titles so far, and Season 2A is ten episodes! So we only have two more episode titles left, and thus only two more episodes really up in the air; The trailer we got recently was for Season 2A only! Keep that in mind…!

           The door being able to lead to other portals would make sense with this shot of Young Eda opening it in the promo, to a place definitely not of Earth…

           Again, this could explain the show calling significance to Luz’s key; That’s HER way back home, that’s HER key, the key back home… But that portal, that door is variable. She needs to recognize its specific nature; Luz will need that key and the portal to get back to Earth, it can’t just be any key!

          As for Belos… Well, he lets Luz keep her key, because that’s the one for Earth, HE doesn’t need it! And it seems that he’s rebuilt the destroyed portal into a more technological form with his own aesthetics, one he can modify to be more useful to him; Like how Belos might break the staffs of wild witches to convert into the mechanical kind we see him wield for himself and the Golden Guard?

           Breaking stuff, just to put it back together in a way that Belos prefers, recycled and in his eyes ‘better’… Sounds a lot like Construction magic, which connects me back to that one idea I had that Belos specializes in Construction magic, uses it to construct monsters from that flesh-mold, etc., and how Construction magic uses demon and building materials to create House Demons. Hmm…

           In the meantime, I’ll talk about the other individual titles in their own posts!

[stayinzencity]

check out the other works written for The BBH Day Event hosted by @supermwritersnet ♡

member: birthday boy baekhyun (yes he's 29 now- it's for the alliteration)

pairing: none 

genre: humor (idk what else to call this)

word count: 1.3K

warnings: sehun doesn’t wear a seatbelt (car safety is important!!), kpop references galore, suspension of disbelief is required to read this, there is no actual plot

summary: baekhyun doesn't remember what day it is. then he does. chaos ensues.  

a/n: i sleep wrote half of this. idek what this is. please don't take this too seriously.

He only has one eye open, his head propped up by his hand and it's too early in the day for Baekhyun to be sure of anything, but he's pretty sure he isn't sitting with his friends.

He'd walked into the lecture hall and flung himself into what he'd thought was his usual seat, but he was sitting next to someone he'd never seen before. 

On second thought, perhaps he did know him. Wasn’t it Chanyeol’s friend? Kim Myungsoo?

Speaking of Chanyeol… Baekhyun twists around to check if the rest of his gang was seated somewhere, laughing at him. Yet they were nowhere in sight. Was this even the right hall or had he gotten that wrong too?

"Excuse me." Baekhyun makes an attempt to get Myungsoo’s attention, however he’s too absorbed in his work to notice. Baekhyun tries again with a louder voice and waving a hand in front of him. "Excuse me!"

This time Myungsoo turns towards him, taking out an earbud and giving him a questioning glare.

"Sorry to bother you,” Baekhyun says with an awkward laugh. He runs a hand back through his hair. “Could you tell me which class this is? I think I might be lost." He apologises again. Just to be safe.

The student sighs and pushes his book towards Baekhyun so that he can read the title. Baekhyun rubs his eyes and tries to focus on the words. Oh. His name was Kyungsoo. And Baekhyun was in fact in the correct class.

Maybe today was bunk day, and that's why there weren’t as many students. Or maybe for once Baekhyun had arrived early. 

This morning he'd woken up, noticed his roommate had already left, and hadn't checked the time as he rushed to get to class. He wasn’t even sure what day it was. Was it the third day of May? Or was it still April?

Suddenly, his friends pop up from the benches in front of and behind him. “Happy birthday, Baekhyun!” Oh right. It was May 6. 

They place the ice cream cake before him. Twenty nine candles were arranged haphazardly on it. His face was on the cake.

At least the cake wasn’t on his face. Yet. There’d by cake flying soon if this went anything like the usual birthday celebration. 

However they were still in the lecture hall. Which was equipped with cameras. That were (un)fortunately working. So maybe the caketastrophe wouldn’t happen. For now. It was always possible that they had something else planned for him outside. Maybe he should stake out in the campus until it was safe.

Someone screams. Soda splashes over him and soaks his clothes. 

Kyungsoo hadn’t escaped either and if looks could kill everyone around him would be dead. Especially Chanyeol who was behind the spill. 

It wasn’t entirely his fault since someone had tripped and bumped into him which had sent the cup in his hand flying. But Kyungsoo did not seem to be in the mood to debate technicalities.  

Baekhyun wakes up when the alarm ring ding dongs. 

He checks the time and the day. It was May 6. And he’d be on time to class if he hurries.

But did he really want to be there? His so called friends were waiting for him to arrive so that they could sacrifice him to the birthday demons. Maybe it be wiser to sneak away while he could.

Also how did he forget his friend? Does Kyungsoo already know somehow? Is Baekhyun going to live to see tomorrow?

With these thoughts racing through his head, he runs out the door, straight into Jongdae. Literally. Head banging, air knocked out of his lungs, man on man. Jongdae shoves him off. His sinister smile makes its appearance.

That was Baekhyun’s cue. He doesn’t wait for whatever Jongdae was about to say and tunes out the screeches as he runs for his life.

At one point he realised he was heading towards the campus. Was that the right choice? He’d be found there, for sure, but maybe the cameras would give him the protection he needed until the day ended. Or would it be better to hide somewhere they had less of a chance of finding him?

“I’mma shake it, shake it, shake it, like it was my birthday.” A car comes around the corner blasting a song at an obnoxiously loud volume.

The front window rolls down and Chanyeol pokes his head out. “Get in,” he shouts.

Kai sports his evil grin from the driver’s seat and Sehun lays asleep in the backseat. Which was definitely not safe. At the moment Baekhyun did not have the time or will to point that out.

Of course, Baekhyun doesn’t get in. He sprints into the woods. Which almost seem to appear out of nowhere. Wasn’t there supposed to be a park there?

When he finally stops to catch his breath, there was no sight of his pursuers. Also he was off trail, and very lost. Plus it was getting dark.

He slumps against the tree and slowly slides to the ground. He was going to perish all alone, he thinks as he becomes one with the soil on the ground.

Someone sticks a flashlight in his face. A security guard peers down at him. “Hey! What on earth are you doing here?” It definitely isn’t a judging look he’s giving Baekhyun. “The park is closed for the night.”

Oh. So Baekhyun hadn’t wandered into a forest where the wild would chew him up and spit him out. It was a park like he'd first suspected.

The light was getting awfully bright. Soon all Baekhyun could see was white. He closes his eyes.

When he opens them, he found himself in a laundromat. There was a woman doing aerobics? Zumba? Where was the door?

Baekhyun walks out and finds himself in front of an apartment complex. There’s a group of boys serenading and dancing. He’d take the time to appreciate their performance, especially since they were being nice greeting everyone hello, however he didn’t have time to spare. His friends were after him. Who knew where they’d come from this time?

Somehow Baekhyun wanders into a warehouse. It’s raining inside even though there isn’t a cloud outside. A group is performing some kind of angsty interpretive dance. There’s mud, sweat and rain. One of the guys rips his shirt open and starts laughing diabolically.

It’s definitely time to leave. One of the doors leads to a room where what seems to be a sing/dance off is taking place.

“Tell me your wish. I’m genie for you, boy. Tell me your wish.  I’m genie for your wish. Tell me your wish. I’m genie for your dreams,” the girl group sings.

Meanwhile, the boy group sings, “It’s your birthday. It’s your birthday. It’s your birthday. It’s your birthday. Now make a wish.”

Slightly flustered, Baekhyun contemplates making a wish. Getting the day to end sooner so he doesn’t have to endure this?

The performances are fine- he hasn’t forgotten his friends are still after him though, even if he hasn’t seen them since he run run run himself into the woods. He is currently convinced all of this is a fever dream.

“Cheer up, baby!” A cheerleader cheers. Baekhyun has no idea how he ended up in a gymnasium.

Someone hands him a paper, he signs his autograph and hands it back to them, before he hurries out.

He finished high school years ago, and he did not want to go back to those times.

There was a group of five boys performing outside on the lawn with sprinklers on. Baekhyun was once again felt the temptation to stay.

How much longer until the day ended? He might actually escape this time.

Hands grab him from both sides.

“I don’t think so.”

© 2021, stayinzencity