#episode 5 killed me on multiple counts | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

white-wolf-buckaroo · 4 months ago

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Chapter 5: I Plunge to my Death

This episode is what I call the 'turning point' of the show where Percy really discovers what he's capable of, and also the end of the first half of the first season! Can't believe we're already here. Hope you enjoy it!

Word count: 7500 ish

Warnings: Does the Chimera count?

Fic masterlist here!

The soothing rattle of the train put Emily to sleep almost instantly when they went to bed. She was exhausted, even if it had only been the first days of their quest.

They were back on track now, on their way to Los Angeles still in time for the solstice. They would complete the quest, and avoid a war between the gods. Yep, everything would be great.

Except her sleep that night: she was still shaken up from their visit to Aunty Em’s place, not as much because of fighting multiple monsters the same day (she was more than prepared for that), but because of their conversation with Medusa. Emily knew that not all monsters were brainless or soulless creatures, but having an actual talk with someone as the gorgon, who had been around for ages, and had different opinions than the ones Emily was used to hearing, had certainly been an experience.

Medusa’s words resonated in her head during her sleep: The gods want you to believe that they are infallible. But they only want what all bullies want: they want us to blame ourselves for their own shortcomings.

Emily hadn’t seen her father in years. Well, except in the official ceremonies like the winter solstice, when they visited Olympus. But she hadn’t spoken to him in years. Still, she thought of him every day when making her offerings, even though she knew he probably didn’t think of her maybe more than once a month, if he ever did. He was the one who had left, after all. He didn’t want anything else to do with her anymore.

It killed her not to know the reasoning behind his actions. What seemed more logical to her, is that it had been her fault. That’s why she trained to be better, and better and better every single day. Not to make him see he was wrong for abandoning her… but to demonstrate that she was worthy of his love.

She woke up earlier than expected, heart racing after her overthinking thought didn’t let her be even during her sleep – it was still dark outside. Above them was a pitch black sky, from what she could see from her place on the floor (after the flying shoes incident they had let Grover take one of the bunkbeds, and both Percy and Emily had lost against Annabeth on rock, paper, scissors, so the both of them were on mattresses on the floor). There were also stars shining above them, almost flying by with the train’s fast pace.

It was a relief that, wherever she would go, she could always look up to the sky and find the same stars she stared at every night at camp.

She realized then that Percy and Annabeth were awake too, because they were talking. Maybe she had woken up because of them; she could, and would, definitely blame them.

“… I gotta say, that doesn’t make a lot of sense to me”

“What doesn’t make sense to you?”

“The way you guys all talk” answered Percy “The way the gods want us to think… Gotta burn an offering to get a parent’s attention. Gotta beat up on Clarisse just to get my father to admit he’s my father. It isn’t supposed to work that way” he sighed, defeated “People who are close to you aren’t supposed to treat you that way”

The thing is, the gods weren’t close to their children. Demigods wanted them to be, sure, but they just… weren’t. That’s the sad truth behind it, and the reason why things worked like they did in their world.

Emily listened to Annabeth telling Percy how she ran away when she was seven, a story she had heard many times, years ago for the first time. Emily knew that Annabeth missed her father, but that her insecurities wouldn’t let her give in to his pleadings to come back to him.

If Emily still had her mother, she would leave camp half-blood to be with her in a heartbeat.

“It isn’t the gods who think that way” replied Annabeth, to Percy’s previous comment “It’s everybody. But at least with the gods you know the rules: show them respect and they’ll be in your corner no matter what”

“The gods didn’t help us when we were at Medusa’s, though”

“Gods can’t interfere”

Both Percy and Annabeth looked over at Emily when she talked, surprised that she was awake.

“What do you mean?” asked Percy.

“This is a quest. We have to get this done by ourselves. If we can’t deal with small problems like a monster getting in our way… well, then we shouldn’t be on a mission in the first place”

“A monster doesn’t seem like a small problem to me but okay, whatever you say” Percy shrugged “But still, we are kids. They are our parents. Dads and Moms are supposed to protect their children”

“The gods do… in their own way” Emily was staring at the ceiling, rather than at Percy, engrossed in her mind “Athena gifted Annabeth her invisibility cap. Your father transmitted to you the ability to heal when you are in contact with water. They care for you guys”

Percy took in her words, noticing she hadn’t mentioned herself nor her dad. He didn’t know what her relationship to Ares was like, but he did remember Medusa saying that the god had cared for his child, in past tense, but not in present tense. He did know how her relationship to Clarisse was, and some others of the Ares cabin from what he had seen at camp. He liked Emily because she wasn’t as brute as them, but he also knew that there was a lot about her he didn’t know yet – she was still a daughter of the God of War.

He wanted to ask her more about it, but he didn’t know how to be tactful. So he just blatantly did:

“What about your dad? Ares?”

“What about him?” she didn’t sound very keen on talking about that topic.

“Has he gotten you anything like Annabeth’s mom for her?”

“Yeah, he did. Some weapons, like my throwing knife. It’s been… years, though, since he’s gifted me anything. The last thing… was his ring. I guess that was his goodbye” she grasped at it with her fingers over her chest, biting her lip; it was attached to her camp necklace, ever since the day she had received it from him. She didn’t want to dwell in her feelings too much, so she quickly forced herself to recover “He also got me some emotional traumas, like for the most of us. The usual for the God of War”

Above them, on the upper mattress of the bunk, Grover groaned while he woke up, totally displeased to do so.

“You awake?” asked Percy.

“I am now, thanks”

“You okay?”

“He’s super grouchy when he doesn’t get enough sleep”

Grover mimicked Annabeth doing a high pitched voice, groaning again.

“Wow” replied Percy, unimpressed. That was a side of Grover he hadn’t seen yet.

“You’ve never been on the road with him before” said Annabeth “A little different than a froofy boarding school, isn’t it?”

“Who’s froofy? You’re froofy!” complained Grover, words slurred with sleep “… What’s froofy?”

“I think you need to eat, Grover” suggested Emily, holding back a smile. She shouldn’t be amused by his torture… but she kind of was enjoying this too much.

Grover did eat a lot at breakfast; at dawn, after they couldn’t sleep anymore, they had all gotten dressed and had made it out of their wagon. The train didn’t have a five star meal restaurant, but some apple juice, bread, fruit and cookies, which was more than enough for three demigods and a satyr – well, maybe not so much for Grover, but he got all the grapes in exchange for the sausages he didn’t want.

“Seems like Apollo is driving around fast today” mumbled Emily, watching how the sky outside the train was quickly turning lighter colours, with the sun almost up in the sky “If he decided to make the sun rise later than it should… we’d have more time to complete our quest, right? ‘Cause of the solstice”

“In two days we will reach Los Angeles, there is still plenty of time before our deadline to reach the Underworld”

“Can I ask a dumb question?”

Annabeth, Emily and Grover all looked at Percy with an eyebrow raised, unsure about what he was about to say.

“It’s like you need me to make fun of you” commented Annabeth, across from him. She was sitting with Grover, whereas Emily was with Percy.

“Annie, be nice”

“Shoot” added Grover, to Percy.

“I’ve never been to Los Angeles before. I’m guessing neither of you have been to Los Angeles as well… So, how will we have any idea where we’re going?”

“No idea” answered Grover. Great “But that’s like step thirty-seven, and we’re still on step four. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there”

Emily knew by Percy’s face that he still wasn’t convinced.

“Follow-up stupid question” ah, there it was.

“Dude” muttered Annabeth.

“The Oracle… it said ‘And you shall fail to save what matters most in the end’. Back in Jersey I told you the Oracle said this quest would fail. And no one’s mentioned it since. Seems like… something we ought to be taking a little more seriously, don’t you think?”

“Don’t think too much about what the Oracle said” Emily bit her lip, thoughtful “She’s super wise and stuff, but her premonitions are also super tricky. They’re more like… guidelines, but not something to be followed by step by step. Relax about it”

“Sounds easier said than done” Percy huffed, turning to look outside of the window… when he saw something that caught his eye “Hey… are those…?”

“Centaurs”

A family of four, riding through the field on the right side of the train. Wild, and free.

“No one even knows they’re there”

“Chiron taught us that there used to be herds of them, everywhere” explained Emily, watching the family of centaurs move into the distance “Now… not so many”

“What happened to them?”

“Humans” mumbled the satyr, bitterly “A few thousand years ago… the God of the Wild, Pan, disappeared. And ever since, without Pan to protect the natural world, humans have been trying really hard to chip away at it”

“The bravest satyrs volunteer to become Searchers” added Annabeth “To try to find Pan. None have ever returned”

“Your uncle… the one we found at Medusa’s, Ferdinand” Percy quickly connected the dots, for once “He was a Searcher?”

Grover nodded, sadly. Annabeth and Emily looked at him with pity, like Percy.

“The Oracle didn’t say the quest would fail” Annabeth wasn’t done with that conversation yet, apparently “ ‘Fail to save what matters most’ could mean a lot of things. It’s what Emily said: this is how prophecies work. That’s how fate works. It could mean a lot of things. The harder you work to understand, the harder it gets to understand. Sometimes you’ve just gotta’ let it come to you when it’s ready”

And then, they were interrupted:

“Excuse me” they looked up, seeing one of the train’s security guards next to them “Can I see your tickets, please?”

“Why?” asked Emily, defensive, as Annabeth took them out of her backpack and handed them to the security guard. He didn’t answer her, though.

“You’re in cabin 17B?” he asked this time, and they nodded “You’re gonna have to come with me”

“Excuse me?” Emily knew she had a problem with holding her tongue, but she was working on it. Most times “We’ve done nothing wrong”

“Please, follow me”

Annabeth shot her friend a look that screamed ‘shut up’, and they all obeyed the man, following him back to the wagon were the cabins were. There was a loud noise of wind whooshing, that they didn’t recall hearing before when they left to get breakfast. When the security guard stopped at their cabin, they noticed the door was open, they understood where all of the wind was coming from: their window was shattered, there was glass everywhere, the beds they had made were now undone, and all their stuff was upside down. Emily’s eyes also caught a mark near the ceiling, above the now demolished window in the wooden panel: four equidistant lines, four claw marks.

“You wanna explain?”

As much as they defended themselves to the officer, he didn’t listen to them. On top of that, he even had a witness who apparently said she had hear the window smash followed by children’s voices. Both Emily and Annabeth looked at the woman the officer was pointing at: she was talking to another security guard, giving her statement on what she had heard. Percy complained behind them to the officer, while they assessed the woman: she was tall, lean, well dressed. Her face was pretty thin, her jawline and her cheekbones prominent.

Emily thought she looked like the typical suburban mom who got into other people’s business. Then again, she hadn’t been outside camp in a very long time, so she didn’t really know where that thought came from.

“Are we under arrest?”

The officer didn’t like Annabeth’s tone. He liked it even less when she repeated the question.

Now they were under arrest.

They held them back at the breakfast wagon, the four of them sitting at the same table as before again. Emily glanced at the ‘witness’ who was still giving her statement, now to the officer that had arrested them, while the other security guard watched them.

“So… We’re just killing time until we find out that guy’s like a werewolf or something, right?”

Grover, Emily and Annabeth glanced at the security officer talking to the witness, who looked back at them at the same time, and then they turned back to Percy.

“Doesn’t seem like a werewolf to me”

“More like a grouchy man with a superiority complex” mumbled Emily.

“Emi, not helpful” scolded Annabeth.

“Come on, look at us. Look at me!” she made what she called ‘a cute face’; she was a cute kid so it wasn’t that hard “Who could ever think I could harm anyone? Or shatter a window like that?”

“You definitely are capable of that. Not saying you would” answered Grover, immediately correcting himself “But you can”

“Well, that’s my perfect cover”

“We’re losing focus” reprimanded Annabeth “But I’m with you, he doesn’t seem like a monster”

“Then what’s going on here then? Why would anyone tear our room apart?”

“Maybe they were looking for something” suggested, Grover, looking at Percy.

“But we don’t have anything”

“The people who think you stole Zeus’s master bolt might disagree”

“But it’s like Percy said, we don’t have it”

“Exactly. They’re not gonna find something we don’t have”

“We need to get out of this before we get delayed”

Annabeth was interrupted, this time by the woman who claimed had heard them shatter the window and put their room upside down. The witness tapped her on the shoulder, acting concerned, and asked them if she could sit across from them. She even got the security guard who was watching them to walk away, saying she thought she was making them nervous.

Emily thought the woman had no right to seem this nice when she was acting so suspiciously.

She had a bag with her, with a pet inside. It was closed, but the thing was trembling so much it made the whole bag shiver; it made Emily kinda nervous.

“You poor dears must be scared” the woman told them, smiling oh too warmly “Your parents aren’t here, aren’t they? You poor things… But don’t worry. I’m a mom. I know what it’s like” she shushed her pet, tapping the bag lightly before turning back to the three demigods and the satyr again “I want you to know… I don’t actually think that you made that mess back there. I just wanted a moment alone with you. There are some things I need you to understand-“

“You have something on your jacket” Grover interrupted her, signalling to her right shoulder. All of them looked at that spot, seeing small pieces of something shiny “It looks like… glass” the woman’s smile was becoming more unsettling every passing second “No one smashed out the windows from inside our cabin. Someone smashed them in, from the outside”

The pet inside the woman’s bag began grunting, whimpering for her, and she turned back to it, kneeling before the back talking to the animal:

“Yes sweetheart, I know, I know… You’re impatient” the animal sniffed again “Oh… But we’re almost there” she stood up then again, turning to the heroes “This isn’t your fault” her tone had switched to a much more serious one, less sweet “But sadly, you’re going to have to bear the burden of your parents’ mistakes today”

“Listen, lady” said Percy, next to Emily on their bench “I don’t know who you are, but I think I know what you are”

A pain in the ass, though Emily.

“We’ve run across a few monsters like you and we’ve sent them all packing”

“Monsters like me?” the woman scoffed “Well… Of course they’re like me. They were my children”

It all made sense then.

Well, to all except Percy. But Annabeth, Emily and Grover knew then who they had standing before them:

“The Mother of Monsters” mumbled Grover, afraid.

“Echidna”

The pet, or more like the monster, inside the woman’s bag, began growling again, harsher this time. Its mother shushed it, but they felt like it wouldn’t stay calm much longer.

“Monster is such an odd word” Echidna sounded like the typical teacher who tried to lecture her students about something “Considering my grandmother is your great-grandmother” she said to Percy, looking then at the girls “And your great-great grandmother. This has always been a family story” she shrugged “But… to my eye, the demigod is the more dangerous creature. Disruptive. Violent. If I exist for anything… It is to stand in the way of monsters, like you”

The four of them were starting to feel something unsettling in their stomachs when the monster growled again.

“My little one here… She’s just a pup now, bless her heart” explained the Mother of Monsters “Today… you will be her prey” she looked at them expectantly, excited “Are you afraid yet?” they were, but they wouldn’t show it “Oh, it’s alright. Fear is natural. It’s also essential to the hunt. Your fear, your doubt, your confusion…” the monster growled louder as she chuckled “I needed you to understand what was happening, so that she could track the scent. So she could… learn, and grow, because… that’s what a good mother does for her children. Not that you would know”

The monster stilled, but the bag’s zip began opening from the inside.

Emily felt a nervous feeling growing inside her stomach, and her heartbeat picking up. This wasn’t good.

They heard one final growl, and the bag opened.

“You should run now”

A giant claw leapt out of the bag right at them. Emily ducked immediately, her senses sharpened from years of training, but Percy wasn’t that fast, and so when Emily was out of the way the claw went straight into his left shoulder.

The claw itself was attached to a long tail that backtracked once it had stabbed one of them, and before it could attack again Annabeth jumped right on it, dagger in hand; with all the force she could muster she stabbed the monster’s tail with her weapon, hopefully hurting it enough to slow it down in its hunt for them.

“Go!” she screamed to them.

Emily, Grover and Percy ran to the nearest exit, Annabeth following swiftly behind them. The security guards yelled for them to stay put, while Echidna tended to her hurt child. The heroes ran as fast as they could to the next wagons.

The train was slowly stopping; they had only made it to St. Louis.

Annabeth stayed a few steps behind to block one of the doors, although they knew it wasn’t to much use; only by its tail, they knew that the monster that was chasing them was huge. At least the door would hold back the security guards.

“Percy!” Grover tore a stinger out of his left shoulder, where the monster had gotten to him.

“What is that?” asked the blonde, nervous.

“What kind of monsters have stingers?” asked now Emily, frantic.

“I don’t know, I mean… nothing good probably”

Percy felt okay, at least for now. He didn’t really feel any pain, but maybe it was because he was so full of adrenaline and fear for the monster chasing them. Something huge rattled the wagons behind them; it was getting close.

“We gotta move!”

The train stopped right on time for them to jump off to the rails. They put a few meters between them and the train, and then they looked back, trying to locate the monster. It was nowhere in sight.

“Why isn’t it chasing us?”

“Echidna said whatever she was hiding in that carrier, it’s young” explained Annabeth.

“What do you mean by that?” Percy didn’t understand.

“It’s still a pup, so it will stay close to it’s mother. She’ll tell the monster where to go, teaching it to hunt. In this case, hunt us”

“We aren’t gonna be able to outrun them for very long”

The began to move outside of the train station, trying to put distance between them and the Mother of Monsters and her child.

“We don’t need to” refuted Annabeth “We just need a safe place to hole up”

“And prepare ourselves to fight” added Emily.

“Some safe place. Okay…” Percy was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that he had been stabbed by a monster with an hopefully not poisonous stinger, although if he paid attention to the wound, he could feel it starting to get itchy. He hoped the feeling was only in his head “Any ideas where we might find one of those? Any of you ever been to St. Louis?”

“I know a place” answered Annabeth; her and Emily were walking between the two boys as they made their way through an ally “A sanctuary, dedicated to Athena, built by one of her demigod children a long time ago”

“There is an Athenian temple hidden somewhere in the middle of downtown St. Louis?” wondered Grover, incredulous.

“Yes… Except it’s not all that hidden”

They ran as fast as they could trying at the same time to not draw too much attention to them. Emily trusted her friend blindly, but she hoped they wouldn’t take too long to get to her Athenian temple.

Annabeth led them to a huge square, right below the arch of St. Louis:

“This is the temple?”

“A monument to Athena” she nodded “It’s six-hundred and thirty feet wide, six-hundred and thirty feet tall, both to within an inch. It’s got no internal support! Each side is balanced perfectly against the other. The arch is held up by symmetry. It’s held up by math! It’s…-“

“A safe place for us?” interrupted Emily. She knew how Annabeth could get when it came to architecture.

“It is” she confirmed, as they made their way in “Another cool fact is that it’s also earthquake proved, so Poseidon can’t ruin it”

“Nice” mumbled the god’s son.

They made their way through a group of kids who were visiting the monument, blending in. Emily glared at them when they stared at them passing through, hand on her dagger in case someone turned out to be a monster waiting to attack them; if they were regular mortals, the mist would make sure they didn’t see or get hurt by the blade anyways.

They stopped in front of an exhibition about hunting in the past, where there was a skull of a buffalo next to an old shotgun. Grover became upset seeing it, sad look on his face while Annabeth tried to remind him of the true meaning of the temple, who it was really for, not what the humans tried to make it about.

“I’m gonna go look for new train tickets” Grover looked at a picture on a wall where there was a picture of two huntsmen shooting down a buffalo, and Emily could see the sorrow in his eyes from where she was standing behind Annabeth, next to Percy “Just because we’re prey doesn’t mean we gotta be helpless”

He left then to the ticket stand, leaving the three demigods alone.

“He doesn’t like it… when people mess with animals” Percy tried to defend his behaviour, knowing that Grover didn’t mean to sound harsh. He was only upset.

“Yeah… We know” sighed Annabeth; Emily noticed that see seemed upset now too, but not with Grover. Probably more with herself “I shouldn’t have snapped at him… I just… I know”

Percy sighed too, looking at the two girls a bit uncomfortably. Until that moment, Grover had always been there to have someone to talk to or lean on to; he hadn’t been alone with the other two demigods yet. He had to try to break the ice somehow, because he was getting extremely uncomfortable with the silence.

“So… this is your mom’s place?” he asked Annabeth “Wonder if she’s around” Emily was about to tell him it didn’t work like that, but then he did the worst impression of a posh woman she had ever heard “Be right down! Just going to the potty!”

Emily let out a laugh and Annabeth smiled. Percy seemed more at ease then.

“Nice”

“I have a gift” he shrugged. He certainly did “I guess you were right, by the way. We needed a safe place and… you mom had one waiting. Pretty lucky we happened to be in the right city for it”

“Luck or fate?”

There was a heavy feeling on all of their shoulders, which was actually the usual for demigods; were their lived truly theirs, or was everything already written and thought through? Was destiny really real, fate and everything, or did they have some free range? Being children of gods wasn’t easy.

“I know you think it’s all just in my head” Annabeth began walking around, trying to distract herself, and the other two followed “That… That I tell myself my mother cares because it’s easier that way”

“I didn’t say that”

“Me neither”

“I know you haven’t” Annabeth looked to the ground, now feeling insecure, sharing her thoughts and feelings “But… I know it’s probably like that. What you really think”

“Look, I’ve only been a demigod since… last Saturday” truly, Percy was extremely new to their world “You shouldn’t listen to me. And Emily here, she’s your best friend. I mean I don’t know you guys that much but you seem pretty tight, aren’t you? I couldn’t imagine you thinking stuff like that about the other”

Annabeth knew so, under the doubts that had gotten to her, she did. Emily smiled at her reassuringly.

“You know… this is my mother’s place. But a temple, is a temple” she looked around, and then back at her friends “Maybe you could say hi to your dads while we’re here”

Percy shook his head, just as Emily, both of them rejecting the idea.

“He wouldn’t like it if I prayed to him in an Athenian temple” said Emily, still shaking her head totally dismissing the idea of doing it “And… I wouldn’t even know what to say”

That was a lie. Kind of. She had a few things she definitely wanted to tell him, preferably yell at him, but she also knew she probably would end up dead after undergoing his wrath. So she chose to better shut her mouth.

“I know” Annabeth held her friends hand, squeezing it softly. She turned to Percy then “What about you?”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea”

“What could it hurt?” insisted, the daughter of Athena.

“Your thing with your mom… I get it. It’s different. It works for you. But my father… I don’t want anything from him. He’s had his chances” he seemed defeated, although he pretended to be okay with it. Emily could see through it, and Annabeth probably too, but Emily felt his words deeper in her being; she knew what it was like to have a father who never showed up. At least Annabeth got signs of recognition from Athena from time to time… but Percy and Emily? Nothing “Honestly, you guys have done more for me in the past few days than my father has done in my entire life. And if I have to stick with someone, I…”

“Careful” warned Annabeth, face serious “I think you were about to call us friends” she smiled at him, and he smiled back “Somewhere around here the Oracle is laughing at us, but you know… Wow! Percy!”

Both girls caught him in surprise when the boy fell forward all of a sudden, pace pale and sweaty. They sat him on the ground, Emily checking him over right as Grover rushed back to them having seen Percy fall.

“What happened?!”

“I think… I think those stinger things…”

“Were poisonous?” guessed Emily, seeing him struggle to form words. She was kneeling beside him, and he nodded weakly, his blue glossy eyes glancing into her own amber ones.

“I have an idea” Annabeth rushed Grover and Emily, telling them to help her get Percy back up “Come, help me!”

And that’s how a few moments later everybody outside walking around the square in front of the Getaway arch, could see three kids sitting inside the fountain splashing a fourth one with the water, completely drenching him.

The water had healed him back at camp, so it should help with the poison too. At least, they hoped so. Percy didn’t look good. He was pale, even more than when he first collapsed, he had bags under his bloodshot eyes, he was starting to get a fever, and he was breathing heavily while he was still sweating. The water was helping him get some forces back, but he was still sick. Too sick.

“I think… I think it’s working” he muttered, getting water splashed straight into his mouth. Annabeth looked at him worried, just as Grover and Emily. He tried to stand up, but he slipped right back onto his butt, gasping “… Or not”

“Maybe it needs to be naturally running water for Poseidon to be able to heal him” wondered Annabeth out loud, thoughts racing in her mind at speed limit.

“Should we throw him in the river?”

“No!”

“Yes!”

Before they could make up their minds, the frantic horn of a car in the distance distracted them, followed by a loud crash. They perked up to the street, and saw a car being thrown and flipped in the air. People screamed when the car crashed, the windows shattering adding to the noise, and the heroes knew exactly what it meant.

“We need to get back inside. Now!”

“No, no, we need to keep trying to heal him” insisted Grover, splashing more water on Percy.

“This isn’t working, and she’s coming!”

“We can’t fight Echidna and her monster, not like this” said Emily, helping Annabeth to get Percy back up “We can find more water inside in a bathroom, from a sink or something”

“Please don’t dunk my head in a toilet” muttered Percy, but he was ignored.

“Will that be enough?”

“It’ll have to be. Come on!”

They looked back to the street once again, and a shiver ran up all of their spines: there was Echidna, making her way towards them walking slowly. They could see her creepy smile, once sweet, and it gave them chills even from a distance.

“Okay, look” Annabeth’s voice revealed how nervous she was, even if she was trying to hide it “We’ll take Percy inside, and we’ll go to the temple’s altar, all the way up”

“What’s that gonna do to us?” Grover didn’t understand what she meant.

“We’re gonna get to the altar, and we’re going to ask my mom for help”

Her friends looked at her in disbelief, recalling the moment she had told them they couldn’t ask for help, because heroes were supposed to overcome their troubles on their own when they were on a quest.

“I thought we didn’t ask for help” said Percy, still sitting in the fountain, completely drenched.

Annabeth didn’t answer. She resumed her attempt to pick him up, and with Emily’s and Grover’s help they managed, walking him to the entrance of the monument as fast as they could. She stopped then, looking back at the Mother of Monsters, frowning.

“Annabeth we have to go!” urged Emily.

“Didn’t you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

She had heard something. Whispers carried by the wind. Her friends hadn’t.

“Nothing. Come on!”

There were still school groups and regular visitors in the exhibition of the monument, all of them turning to look at them when they practically carried Percy inside towards one of the elevators. They had to make their way up to the very top before it was too late.

“She spoke to you didn’t she?” muttered Percy towards Annabeth, once they had made it inside an elevator. The four of them were alone, sitting in a circle around each other waiting for the doors to close. He was panting heavily, too tired to actually be talking that fast, but the adrenaline he had was still helping out for a bit “Alecto did that with me back in the museum in New York. When she first shew herself to me as a monster. What did she say?”

Annabeth didn’t answer. Emily followed her line of sight seeing a look of surprise and fear in her features, and outside, standing by a railing, they saw Echidna, followed by the terrifying shadow of a monster with horns.

“What is she doing here?!”

“She wasn’t supposed to be able to enter this place!”

“Was that the Chimera?”

Again, they all turned to Annabeth, except Grover, who kept on rambling about the Chimera and wondering out loud how the monster had even gotten inside the temple.

Really, how was that possible?

“Annabeth?”

Her look was set on the floor, features now tense and sorrow at the same time. It took Percy and Emily a few attempts to get her attention back to them:

“What did Echidna say to you?”

Annabeth sighed, and then she rose her chin up, her expression getting harder now.

“She said my impertinence wounded my mother’s pride. And that that will be my doom”

“Impertinence? What kind of-“

Percy realized what she meant mid-phrase. So did Emily.

“Medusa’s head”

“I embarrassed my mother” stated the girl.

“But I’m the one who sent it to Olympus!” replied Percy.

“And I helped” added Emily.

“And I signed the note!” Percy couldn’t see how this was fair. It wasn’t.

“And I went along with it” Annabeth shut both of her. She also saw how this was totally wrong, but she was trying to keep her head cool “It embarrassed her. Now, she’s angry”

Athena wanted to punish the ones responsible for getting on her pride, and she didn’t seem to care that she was putting her own daughter in danger to do that. If was Echidna told Annabeth was true, then Athena actually wanted to punish her too, for something she hadn’t done, only allowed. So much to modern parenting.

“Guys… What are we gonna do?” Grover hadn’t spoken since he had seen the Chimera (hopefully not the actual Chimera, but any other monster wouldn’t be any better, to be honest). Now he looked terrified, glancing at the numbers above the elevator doors signalling that they were close to reaching the end of the ride.

“She isn’t gonna help us when we get to the top to save Percy” replied Annabeth, referring to her mother.

“No! I meant, what are we gonna do about Echidna and Chimera?”

“We don’t really know if it’s the Chimera” mumbled Emily, nervously “She’s the Mother of Monsters, she has other children. Maybe it’s the Nemean Lion”

“The Nemean Lion is actually Echidna’s grandchild. The Chimera is the Nemean Lion’s mother”

“And still, would that be any better?!”

Emily glanced at Grover and shook her head.

“No, I guess not”

“They’re gonna be right behind us” insisted the satyr.

They reached the top too fast for their liking. The elevator bell dinged, and the doors opened revealing the final staircase that would lead them to the observatory platform at the highest point of the arch.

“We’re not gonna have much time” spoke up Annabeth, walking out the first after making sure there was no monster waiting for them. Emily and Grover walked behind her, helping a groaning Percy “They’ll be up here any minute. And if my mother isn’t going to protect us, then we’ll just have to fight it out up here”

The platform at the top of the arch had a curvy floor and small windows on the also curvy walls to look outside and appreciate the views from up there. It was also packed with people, chatting amongst themselves unaware of the imminent danger they would be facing any other second.

They had to get all the mortals out of there; there was only so much the mist could hide from them. A fight against the Mother of Monsters and her pup wouldn’t be easy to camouflage. Annabeth thought fast, and pulled the fire alarm next to the entrance. It got an immediate response from everybody, and an automated voice spoke from the ceiling alerting the visitors to leave.

“You guys follow them down” Annabeth turned back to them, hurrying them towards the group of people who were lining up to leave.

“What?”

“Are you mental?”

“We’re not splitting up!”

“Guys, come on!” Annabeth rushed them, pulling on Grover’s arm to get him to move, but on the other side of Percy, who was held up by Emily and the satyr, she refused to move “Emily, move”

“You’re crazy if you think we’re leaving you here” she couldn’t believe Annabeth was asking that of her “I’m not going anywhere without you!”

“We’re all getting out of here” added Percy. He was starting to look like a corpse; the poison was spreading faster “Together”

“We won’t make it!” the daughter of Athena kept on pushing them towards the exit as she kept talking “The Chimera is the demigod killer. Someone has to stay back to slow her down and buy everyone some time”

Gotta say, she did have guts for a twelve year old.

“Then I’m staying with you” insisted Emily, once they had reached the door where all the mortals were leaving.

“You have to go with them, to protect them” replied her friend, signalling to the two boys. This wasn’t any easier on her; she was willing to sacrifice herself for them, but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t terrified of the thought of dying, and leaving everyone she loved behind “You’re the best fighter I know. You’ll be able to keep them safe, and complete the quest” she hugged Emily when the girl moved forward to embrace her, but she had to push her back before they’d start crying. They were running out of time “Now help Percy down the stairs, and get to the river. And then don’t stop… Not until you get to Hades. Not till you have the bolt, do you hear me?”

Emily was starting to feel nauseous. Her best friend was sacrificing herself to get them more time to complete the quest. To avoid the war. To get them out of there alive.

“Annie no…” she mumbles, but Annabeth shushed her. All the training they had gone through couldn’t have prepared them emotionally for a moment like this, but they were both warriors. As much as it hurt, they knew it was the right thing to do.

There was noise on the other end of the platform. Something heavy was walking up the staircase they had just been on a few minutes ago.

“Okay, go!”

“Wait!”

Percy stopped her from sealing the door, looking into her eyes. He reached to his pocket, letting go of Emily, and he took out a pen. His magical pen.

He took off the cap, and then pen turned into his sword, Riptide. He flipped it over, blade hanging towards the floor, and he reached his arm out towards Annabeth handing her the sword.

“Take this” he urged “Please”

Annabeth set her gaze on the sword, then back to him, and she nodded.

But when her hand reached for the handle, Percy let go of Grover as well, and taking advantage of the ongoing motion and the element of surprise, he switched places with Annabeth having her stand between Emily and Grover, who were too stunned to react. Percy looked back at them for a second before closing the door to the platform, effectively locking them out.

Instantly they began to bang the door with their palms and fists, calling out for him desperately. He was sick, weak from the poison spreading through his system. He was in no condition to fight.

He knew that as well.

“Percy no!” screamed Annabeth “Don’t do this! They’ll kill you!”

“Poseidon’s never helped me before” he said. They heard his voice through the door, as he was leaning against it for support. He was panting, weakness taking over him “He wasn’t gonna start now”

“Percy!”

“Percy no!”

“I would’ve never made it to Hades” he added, in a defeated voice. They could barely hear him anymore “But you can… And now you will”

A roar distracted him, making him glance back to the entrance of the platform. Fear took over him, but also adrenaline. Mostly fear, to be fair.

Grover, Annabeth and Emily heard the roar too, and they glanced at the door as if they could see the platform behind it, imagining Percy facing the monster and Echidna. It was his final hour, and there was nothing they could do help him.

Once the monster killed Percy, they could go on with their quest; they wanted him because everybody thought he was the lightning thief. His friends knew he wasn’t, though.

Because that’s what they were, the four of them: friends.

“No, no, no, no, no, no”

Grover tried opening the door again, but it was to no use. They all stepped back when they heard a loud roar, and something heavy hitting the floor and rolling around.

“Please, no” muttered Emily, hearing the monster roar again. This time, the roar was followed by a horrifying shriek, and even from there they could sense the heat of the fire being thrown at Percy.

There was no doubt now: he was fighting the Chimera.

Then they heard the sound of metal shrieking, and then suddenly the roaring of wind, just as back in the train. Another roar from the monster was followed by a scream, Percy’s scream.

Then there was silence.

The monster stopped growling, there was no other sound from Percy… just the wind whooshing, and some metal creaks here and there. As if by magic, they managed to open the door; the danger had passed, and the lock gave away.

“Percy!”

They rushed to the platform, but the three heroes stopped when they saw a huge hole in the middle of the floor; that was what had made that horrible metallic sound a few seconds ago.

Echidna and the Chimera were gone. But so was Percy.

“Percy?”

He didn’t answer. Emily looked around the platform, but he was nowhere in sight. Annabeth and Grover looked for him too, hoping to see him hanging by one of the metal bars of that hole, but he wasn’t there.

“Is he…?”

“He can’t” stated Annabeth “He can’t have…”

But she couldn’t know. Had the Chimera really killed Percy?

“Guys” muttered Grover; he was on the verge of a breakdown. He couldn’t have lost his best friend “Look”

He pointed over to the other side of the platform, at the other end of the huge hole; there, on the floor, was Riptide. Its blade was stained with blood, so that meant Percy had hurt the monster.

Suddenly, the sword vanished; a second ago it was there, and now it was not.

“Where did it go?”

“It’s magical” Annabeth stared at the spot where the sword had been, barely blinking “It returns to it’s owner when it gets lost. It went back to Percy”

“So he could still be alive!” Emily felt like she could breath again a bit better.

“We have to go find him”

“But the other door is still unlocked” pointed out, Grover “And he didn’t walk past us”

That left only one other way out. The three of them glanced to the hole in the floor in front of them, massive, big, and with a six hundred thirty feet fall underneath it. If he had fallen from the arch…

“The monster’s gone” Annabeth was trying to keep her cool, but she was terrified of the possibility that Percy could have… she didn’t even want to think of it “Let’s get out of here and find Percy. He has to be down there… somewhere. He has to be alive”

They prayed to the gods he was.

----

Taglist: @strawberryys-stuff @ladysybilchronicles @kyuupidwrites @nhloversblog @beansficreblogs @priyajoyyy @zeeader @lightsgore @gengen64 @holb32 @therockywhorerpictureshow

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xerith-42 · 6 months ago

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Glenda

Remember Glenda? No you don't, only I do because The Tragedy of Cadenza Zvahl haunts me in my every waking moment.

Here's an entire essay about a character who shows up in a grand total of... I think 5 episodes? And yet she has one of the greatest and most forgotten impacts on the narrative.

For those of you who need a quick refresher, Glenda is Hayden's head guard in Meteli, first introduced in episode 26 of the first season, along with all the other Meteli characters. She's initially shown as a pretty strict, no nonsense guard. But in episode 27 we get to see her open up. At the time Cadenza is missing, and Glenda expresses great worry for her safety and says the following line

(sorry for how dark this is I took the screenie on my phone at like midnight)

So uhm. That's a bit of a big deal right off the bat, right? Cadenza is an orphan. Just before this Hayden speaks about how he found Cadenza picking flowers next to a burning village, about how she lost everyone and he took her in. And while Hayden acted as her father, Glenda acted as her mother. Cadenza had a mother.

This is where things get a bit... Mirky. I think a lot of us forget this, but Cadenza and Laurance being siblings isn't something that's revealed until [checks my notes] Episode 54. Which might not seem like a big deal, but Laurance has multiple conversations between episodes 26-40 (he dies in ep 40) about Cadenza, about growing up in Meteli, conversations where he could have said something, anything to indicate that Cadenza is his sister. But he doesn't.

He doesn't refer to Hayden as "our dad", he never refers to Glenda as Mom (which I'll get into later), he doesn't even say the phrase "Cadenza is like a sister to me" until AFTER they've both undergone their transformations. Me personally if I was the head guard of the swamp village, my sister goes missing, and my dad and her not boyfriend start fighting about it, and then some random woman shows up to help, I'd mention to the woman that this missing girl is my sister and this is a family affair. But Laurance... Doesn't.

This makes me think that them being siblings is an idea that came to the writers at some point after Laurance was introduced, but before he came back from the Nether. But this idea was either never incorporated, or they decided to put off incorporating it until after Laurance made his redesigned return.

Who knows. All I know is that Laurance and Cadenza were not intended to be siblings at first, and later retconned into that. And that's fine! They're not related, they're both adopted orphans, it's totally fine to make this retroactive change. But this change is important to remember regarding Glenda.

Yeah that's still who this post is about but there's so little to say that I padded it out with my whole tangent about the Zvahl family retcon. Anyways, Glenda, like everyone in Cadenza's family, is incredibly protective of her daughter, and clearly worried for her safety. This worry doesn't extend to... Doing anything, but that's because Aphmau had to show up and main character her way through things.

But it does lead to criticizing Aphmau when she seemingly fails as a main character. Aphmau does know where Cadenza is and knows that she's safe, but she lies to Hayden and Kenmur about it so they don't hurt Castor, and Glenda is PISSED. Not only because Aphmau promised she'd find Cadenza and failed, but she took one of their swords the last time she was in Meteli too! The disrespect of this woman! And she's the Lord of Phoenix Drop?! How low has this world gotten...?

Anyways the next time we see Glenda she's debating if she'll sign her life away. Now... I could go on about The Oath for... [glances at Oathbreakers word count] a while. But I'll try to keep it brief and focused on Glenda, who it actually has the most direct impact on. In episode 42 Garroth makes all the guards signing an oath swearing that they will take their own lives before they become a Shadow Knight and kill their lord, or to prevent themselves from doing so as a result of Shadow influences.

And while everyone else at the guard meeting is largely down with this, Glenda isn't. She's hesitant. Unsure. We don't get an explanation as to why in the episode, at least not the true one. But there are two things we can get from her. One, her eye color has changed. Which Aphmau doesn't notice at all or even comment on.

Two, she jumps immediately to leaving Hayden's guard, but stops herself because Cadenza is missing. And that's all that she says on it. Because after that, Glenda quits her job. She abandons the guard and we don't even hear about that happening until EPISODE 86. WE GO A FULL 44 EPISODES WITHOUT HER HAVING ANY RELEVANCE TO THE PLOT OR MENTION BY ANY CHARACTERS WHO KNEW HER LIKE I DUNNO

HER DAUGHTER???

And when she comes back in episode 86 we get the big reveal that Glenda was actually a Shadow Knight! And she framed Castor for murder all so she could draw Cadenza out, get her alone, kidnap her, and then sacrifice her to open a Nether portal and presumably return home.

There's a lot of questions this whole series of events raises, but not a single one of them are answered. I'm not even being hyperbolic, once Cadenza wakes up she is (understandably) more focused on the fact that her dad is alive and getting him back to safety. But she doesn't say anything about Glenda, doesn't give any sign of grieving or insight on the matter to Aphmau, she doesn't seem to care because her dad is safe.

The only details we're given are from Laurance, but these also raise questions. He says that Glenda must have become a Shadow Knight "at some point", and quit Hayden's guard because she planned to kill him to gain immortality. But... If that was the case, why fake his death? Why not have him actually be fully murdered with all the other evidence still stacked against Castor? Why not kill him, get immortality, and then kidnap your daughter and try to sacrifice her. Is it because she still cares about Hayden? Is it because she doesn't want to hurt Cadenza? She's about to kill her so I doubt it's that.

So much just doesn't add up with Glenda, so much that I have a never ending series of questions. When did she become a Shadow Knight? Was it in the Nether when they left Sasha behind? Was it before that? Did she go on that mission to save Hayden as a Shadow Knight and somehow not blow her cover? Or was it after that, in the brief window of time between Sasha coming back and Cadenza going missing, that she somehow ended up dead, in the Nether, and then back in the over world without raising an eyebrow? Or was she a Shadow Knight the whole time? Did Cadenza spend her entire childhood being raised by one?? Will I ever get answers as to any details regarding Cadenza's childhood outside of Laurance?! (The answer to that one is no)

But then one question made me really stop and think. One that matters more than any questions if lore, or continuity, or a series of events to follow.

Did the writers remember that they made Glenda Cadenza's mom?

And let's be clear, it's not like, a sin if they forgot. I'm a writer and I forget my own plotlines all the time. I go back through my drafts and other chapters all the time to make sure I'm maintaining at least some semblance of continuity, and I know that in a world as big and full of characters as this one, some details are going to get left behind or forgotten.

But it is mad disappointing because if the writers did remember that Glenda was a maternal figure to Cadenza, then they would also then realize that every member of her family has been either killed by shadow knights, nearly killed by shadow knights, or become shadow knights. Every. Single. One.

If Glenda was able to properly be Cadenza's mother there's a wellspring of character work to go down. It's never directly stated where Cadenza learned to sew from, so what if she learned it from her mother? One of her greatest forms of self expression is seemingly forever tainted with the presence of the monster who took the place of the mother who taught her everything she knows.

And how does Laurance feel about all this? He never refers to Glenda as a mother, even after he starts tossing around the Dad word around Hayden. It gives a sign that maybe Glenda didn't have an interest in raising Laurance, perhaps that while Hayden and Joh may have had some kind of co-parenting or gay marriage set up, Glenda was exclusively focused on being the mother of Cadenza. Or maybe she tried but Laurance pushed her away and she never tried hard enough. Maybe Laurance rejects the idea that he can have a mother. A father can be replaced, but a mother? Nobody can replace the woman who nearly gave her life just to bring him into this world. No one.

As it is in canon, Glenda is a footnote in Cadenza's tragedy. Just another shadow creature that tried to hurt Cadenza, without a proper recognition of just how significant her betrayal is. If Glenda's status as Cadenza's Mother was used to its fullest effect, we could have a family tragedy to surpass the Ro'Meave's, one where a single girl can be at the center of so much shadow and still barely manage to be a beacon of light in the darkness, even if her own family tries to kill her.

I've just. I dunno I've been thinking about Glenda a lot recently

#i actually have so much more to say #this post is the pre-requisite #once I get a sense of how much people like talking about Glenda Im gonna go insane #i didnt even get into how if you play with your imagination a bit Glenda and Hayden can be a parallel for Cadenza and Vincent #i have so many thoughts and ideas about Glenda you dont even KNOW #aphblr #minecraft diaries #cadenza zvahl #laurance zvahl #mcd hayden #mcd joh #mcd Glenda #shadow knights

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am-i-the-asshole-official · 1 year ago

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AITA for saying that I was worried a friend might be making his mental state worse

I (F18) and my now previous best friend (M18) have been friends since 7th grade, and graduated just last year. My friend has had mental issues for as long as we've been friends (anxiety, depression, DID) and has always been very, very drug adverse. Going as far as having drugs mentioned making him really uncomfortable for years and years. But this last year, our senior year, he started getting really friendly with the idea of starting to smoke. This caused an argument between us, as weed is known for causing mental issues to get worse, specifically its known for causing early onset psychosis, and considering he's had episodes similar before I was worried it would make things worse for him. He told me to step back and get out of his business. So I did.

About a month or so after this, he texted me and said that he was experiencing knee pain and asked if when I got to school (I was running late) if he could have some Tylenol, (I have a medical issue and I have to keep anti inflammatory's on my person or i risk paralyzation) and i said yes, because why wouldn't I, me and him have given one another over the counter pain meds all the time in the past. I had a brand new bottle of 250 pills of 500mg dosage, and well I was pulling out the bottle, I asked how many he wanted, (so I could give him one or two) but he asked if I could just hand him the bottle because both of us we're late to class and he didn't wanna be too late. And, as he's borrowed bottles of pain meds from me before for years, I said sure.

A little over an hour later I was called to the front office, where the bottle was placed onto the desk, and the administrator asked if it was mine, and I said yes, because it was my bottle of tylenol. and she gave it back to me, and told me to go back to class, I asked if my friend was in the nurses office or something, but she just told me to go to class. and that they dont give out medical information on students

I texted my friend asking what happened but he never answered, So at this point, I was freaking out. I texted his younger sister and asked if he was ok (we're also friends) but she didnt know that anything happened at all. At this point I entered a class I have multiple friends in and started having a meltdown worrying for the worst. his sister called their mom, and relayed to me that he was in the hospital. I poured out the entire bottle of tylenol and counted out every single one of them to find out that he took 12 500mg pills of Tylenol

I was called to the office again they had me give them all of my tylenol, and then they asked for any other drugs i had, I told them I don't have drugs, and then they confiscated my ibuprofen and the benydryl I keep on my person, and then because I kept them in my first aid kit, they confiscated my bandaids and neosporin.

he lived, was diagnosed with bpd, schizophrenia, and somethging else i dont remember. and there was a huge problem with the school, and they put me down as a drug dealer, made me do meetings with the student handler, called my parents. Its only the fact his mom didnt press charges that kept me from going to court. I suffered with severe guilt problems for months and months, relapsed into hurting myself, and it was just. bad. (months later, he went on to try to kill himself again, this time by overdosing on his perscribed anxiety meds in the school a second time)

during this time, he would start ghosting my messages, and when I asked him about it, he told me he wasn't mad at me, told me he didnt have any issues with me, he just felt bad we hadn't hung out in a while. So, I scheduled to hang out. and he cancelled. 5 times in a row. when driving a mutual friend home, I was discussing that I was frustrated, and worried about him. During this, I mentioned the argument we had about him smoking, and I mentioned that I thought it might be related to his mental state worsening. (he stopped smoking after the first suicide attempt) (and started smoking again a few monthes before the second attempt)

over the summer i would invite him to hang out several times, he declined every time, he invited me to hang out, but it felt like he intentionally planned for times he knew I couldn't make it for. (continualy on the day I work every week) Or on the few times we could. I would show up, and he would leave within the next 30 minutes, even if we had planed beforehand to be doing somethign for a while.

when I messaged him about 3 month ago (after three consecutive failed hang outs in a row) I found he had blocked me on everything. phone number, discord, instagram, tumblr. With no message, no word, didn't tell me at all what I did wrong or what hapened

just tonight I found out that he blocked me and wont interact with me because He says, that I said that it was his own fault that he tried to kill himself and that he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. (not what he said, he wont talk to me, I heard through third party source, so theres a chance that im not getting the message right)

I feel this isnt what I said at all. but, idk, I feel very guilty about it, I want to apologize to him. but I don't know how, its not like i can message him, and we dont ever see each other anymore because were graduated and doing different things.

am i the asshole?

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole #suicide cw #self harm cw

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finalgirlsamwinchester · 7 months ago

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David Simmons, “There’s a ton of lore on unicorns too”: Postmodernist Micro-Narratives and Supernatural in TV Goes to Hell: an Unofficial Roadmap of Supernatural

started writing this mostly as a reflection on the above chapter from TV Goes to Hell. the show from its initial outset is based around a particular formula. the brothers often rely on a postmodern patchwork of stories to 'solve' their monster-of-the-week. on this show, everything can be real all together, all at once: from alternate myths and histories, to movie monsters, to urban legends, cultural gods, and folk tales. this cultural melange gets 'tamed' through the frame of the show's monster-of-the-week format itself, where everything gets solved to fit a singular narrative: identify the monster, find a way to defeat it, and successfully eliminate it (there are rare exceptions to this formula: bugs is the standout)

there's a tension between the characters' research, drawing from unofficial sources, local legends and civilian accounts versus the show's format demanding, in a sense, that fear of the unknown (really a fear of difference) be conquered through the simplified logic of its formula. unofficial sources and beliefs become incorporated into an official narrative, so to speak. they gain legitimacy and authority through our heroes use of them, not the other way around. magic is evil when a witch uses it, but somehow the rituals and spellwork our heroes use to defeat them don't count. you feel me. and that same logic applies to what monsters count as real and what doesn't. on this show, everything becomes real when our protagonists are able to see it and kill it.

(1.01, 'Pilot')

so a common show critique i see tends to separate the more episodic plots of the early seasons (1-3) from the more serialised grand epic narratives of 4-5 onwards. well my argument is this - nah, that impulse was there from the start! the mystery of the show was always going to dissipate, because explaining away the mystery was always a part of its initial premise. the concept that - 'the monster under your bed is no longer scary when you can name what it is and learn how to kill it' - turns into -> a fear of death? heaven and hell and everything else in between are now real, tangible places! fear over external, powerful forces meddling in your lives? demons, angels, leviathans, god himself! now all real and tangible beings! the air of horror and mystery shrouding s1-2 was never gonna last. the murky horror was always a means to a defeatable end.

(5.19, 'Hammer of the Gods')

anyways. there's an obvious mythological hierarchy in this series and it's very funny to me. all gods and spirits and monsters, even the ones predating christian mythology, fall under its ruling (white, judeo-christian) narrative authority. the postmodern embrace of multiple narratives is a ruse. all incompatible things lead to a universal truth. the show doesn't dispell the existence of differences; rather everything is to be combined, united under a totalising front, despite the contradictory nature of that impulse. this narrative then, down to its bare bones formula, is a civilising mission. civilisation barreling in, banishing fear and uncertainty from the light. and in order to stay in that light, one must submit to its complete authority. by this show's logic, uniformity ultimately requires the subjugation of difference.

#re: note essay on the last post. well time to release this stupid monster from the drafts lol #Unity..............#also the reason why the show couldn't sustain its early balance between deutragonists #that totalising impulse also applies to the gradual singular focus on one brother over another #rather sam's defiance gets eaten away bc that was always the inevitable end goal #preserving civilisation = a suppression of difference = no change can be allowed to the social order OR the story formula #this show's unintended? partially intended? brilliance to me is how its ideology stacks on several levels:#through an interpersonal dynamic between two brothers. through its episodic formula. and on a grand mythological scale #a discussion on abuse to me falls under the same umbrella as a discussion on the show's ideology #supernatural is a modern western #my meta #j.txt

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dr-spencer-reids-queen · 8 months ago

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Nameless, Faceless: Part Two

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~2.6k

Summary: Not even four hours after the case in Canada, you're thrown into another one. This time, without Hotch. You have a sinking feeling he's not just blowing you off to get some sleep. There's something wrong.

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill

Author’s Note: welcome to the first episode of season 5! i hope you enjoy this series just as much as i loved writing it! <3

I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there are any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them. If you’ve seen the show, then it’s the same level of angst unless otherwise stated.

You arrive at his apartment building in ten minutes and immediately head to the floor his apartment is on. The second you step foot onto the floor, you know something is wrong. The feeling in your stomach hasn't gone away, it gets stronger. You knock on his door but he doesn't come to it.

"Hotch? It's me, Y/N. Are you in there?" you ask and knock again.

You take out your phone and call him but when you hear his phone ring from inside, you know something is wrong. You take out your gun and try the door knob which is unlocked. You push open the door and get hit with a wave of familiar energy--George Foyet's. You walk in slowly and notice a few things off the bat. Hotch's keys and briefcase are still by the front door, his phone is on the kitchen table, and there is a large bloodstain on the floor behind the couch. Upon further examination, there is a gunshot in the wall, tables and chairs are turned over, and Hotch is nowhere to be found.

If Hotch is dead, you would have seen his spirit here. Though, he has been stabbed multiple times by George Foyet. How he got in, you're not sure but the entire attack is played over and over to see exactly what went down between the two men. If you're going to have hope in finding Hotch alive or dead, you need help from someone you know who can track him.

"Overtime shift. Penelope speaking," Pen says when you call her.

"Pen, it's Y/N. I need you to listen really carefully. Something's happened to Hotch."

"What do you mean, something?"

"He's been stabbed. There's blood on the floor but he's not dead. I would have felt him otherwise."

"Oh, my God," she gasps.

"I need you to send police and FBI techs here right away. Everyone available."

"Do we need an APB?"

"Only on Hotch. I saw his car outside."

"Someone took him?"

"Yes, I believe so. There's a lot of blood here and a gunshot in the wall. Just get people here."

"Okay, I'm sending an army."

"Pen, I'm gonna have to tell Spencer because he and Em are expecting me back but you can't tell the others. They cannot be distracted. I'm only telling you and Spencer."

"Okay. I'm calling everyone."

You hang up on her and immediately call Spencer.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Listen, don't tell Emily this but something bad happened to Hotch. He's been stabbed."

"What?"

"He's not here but there is a lot of blood here and I felt Foyet's energy here."

"Wait, what are you talking about?"

"Is that Y/N?" you hear Emily in the background.

"I can't come back but just tell Emily and Dr. Barton that I'm away on an emergency. Don't tell the others. They can't be distracted right now."

"What's going on? Is this about Jeffrey?" Dr. Barton asks.

"No, it's unrelated."

"We only have a few hours left here."

"I'm really sorry, I have to take this phone call, okay?"

"What could be more important than my son right now?"

"I assure you, this will take one second. Please, I promise." Dr. Barton walks away and joins Emily's side to go over the files that Penelope has sent over. "What happened?"

"There's a gunshot hole in the wall. I'm guessing it's a .44 but there isn't any blood or tissue spray around it. Hotch wasn't shot."

"Any idea how he got out?"

"Foyet carried him. Hotch was stabbed but there aren't any blood drops anywhere. His body might have been wrapped in something.

"Is he...?"

"Dead? No. I would have felt him."

"Are bureau techs on the way?"

"Yeah, Penelope called everyone. She's the only one who knows."

"Alright, write down everything you see. We'll profile from your notes when you get back."

"How's Dr. Barton?"

"It's a huge list of cases to go through with him."

"Okay, I've got this here. You have Emily with you. Just stay focused."

"Alright, you too."

"What's wrong?" Emily asks when Spencer hangs up with you.

"Nothing. Y/N's been called away on an emergency not related to the case, but it's fine."

That answer seems to satisfy Emily but not Dr. Barton.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"I'm confident that the three of us can do this together. We know he's been killing Hispanic males as surrogates. Did you separate the case files?"

"Yeah."

"How many of the surgeries fit the criteria?"

"Eight-two."

"Let me ask you this. On how many of those dates did you operate on somebody else as well?" Emily wonders.

"Seventy-five."

"Did any of those patients die on the table?"

"Eleven."

"That's where we start. This whole thing is about choice. He's forcing you to play God with your son because the last time you had a choice, your decision devastated him."

"I'm a doctor. I save people."

"It doesn't matter to him," Emily says. "All that matters to him is that you had an alternative and you didn't take it. Now, how many of those surgeries involve patients under twenty?"

"Six. I get a lot of gunshot wounds, mostly gang-related."

"Has a gang or family member ever threatened you?"

"No. At first, when you lose someone it's mostly confusion and devastation. The anger comes later."

Emily and Spencer go through the case files that fit the criteria and come up with six dates that could have been the trigger for the unsub.

"Alright, we have six dates where you operated on a Hispanic male on the same night a patient under twenty died. What we're gonna do is read the names and dates off to you, and you tell me anything you can remember, okay?"

"Okay," Dr. Barton sighs.

"Let's start with January 22nd. I have Tyler Hayes with multiple gunshot wounds. The next day, Brian Douglas was a hit-and-run victim with a lacerated aorta."

"No, not that one."

"March 15th, Devon Marks who was a heroin overdose, and Angela Harris who is another car accident victim in a single vehicle, bleeding into her brain."

"No, this is no use. I would remember if I was threatened."

"Did any of them ask you about your family?" Dr. Barton looks at the clock that is ticking down. "We have time."

"Okay," he sighs.

He tries not to think about his son and the danger he's in as he recalls the patients he's dealt with. The entire school day has gone by without a hitch but there are still a few hours before school ends. Derek, Rossi, and JJ have been very diligent in making sure Jeffrey and the other students are safe from the unsub.

"I talked to Detective Walker," JJ says, "The final bell is at 3:10. He's gonna have a SWAT unit in place at exactly 3:00 to escort kids out. We'll need you to gather the students at 2:45."

"This could all be happening now," the principal argues.

"If the unsub sees us evacuate early, we feel certain he'll kill another random citizen, and this also buys us a day to try and discover his identity. So, we'll have school buses for evacuation, and teachers can brief parents who are here to pick up their kids."

"The key is to keep Jeffrey isolated and avoid panic with the other students. If we can do that, everybody gets out of here safe," Rossi explains.

"Have you cross-checked all the records of employees in the building against Dr. Barton?"

"Garcia's on it."

Derek calls Penelope who answers eagerly.

"Y/N?"

"No. Sorry, baby girl, just little old me. You're out of luck."

"Right. Sorry."

"Did you finish the background check on everyone in the building?"

"Yeah. There's no red flags, no felonies, and no connection to Barton."

"That's god. Alright, I gotta go. There's about to be a bell."

"Alright. Be safe," she sighs.

"Hey, is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just tired."

"Yeah, I hear you. Let's just get this kid home safe and we can all sleep."

"Right."

As soon as Penelope hung up with Derek, she called multiple hospitals in Virginia in hopes Hotch was in one of them. No one has seen or heard of a man named Aaron Hotchner, though one of the hospitals did have someone named Derek Morgan show up recently. With this news, she immediately calls you.

The FBI techs and police did come quickly while you stayed off to the side and replay what happened over and over again. You're not sure how Foyet got into Hotch's apartment but he waited for him and threatened him with a gun only to shoot the wall. They both got into it and knocked some shit over only for Foyet to stab Hotch multiple times. Every time you replay the scene, it leads to more questions than answers.

How did he get in? Why didn't he kill Hotch? Why stab him and take him to a hospital? Your phone rings and you pick it up when you see it's Penelope calling.

"Hey, what's up?"

"I called hospitals to see if Hotch had gotten himself admitted to an emergency room. He's not listed as a patient but someone dropped a John Doe off at St. Sebastian Hospital, and that someone's name was FBI Agent Derek Morgan."

"Foyet took Derek's credentials."

"Why would he drop him off at the ER?"

"I don't know. I'm headed over there right now. I'll call with an update as soon as I get one."

You quickly send a text to Spencer to let him know what's going on so he doesn't freak out about the state of his boss.

Hotch is in St. Sebastian Hospital. I'm headed over there right now. I'll call when I have an update.

Spencer reads the message as soon as it comes in. He knows Hotch is in good hands if you're the one looking after him.

"Are you sure she's okay?" Emily asks when she notices his worried look.

"Yeah, she's fine. She's just giving me some updates."

"I don't understand. These surgeries are all hours apart. I didn't have to choose between patients. If he's punishing me for my choices, none of these fit," Dr. Barton groans in frustration.

"Alright, look at the note again and compare it against the wording on the charts. A lot of times an unsub will unconsciously mirror the wording of situations." Something suddenly comes to Dr. Barton which is evident in his facial features. "Do you remember something?"

"I don't know. It was right after New Year's. There was a car accident. One of the victims was Hispanic."

"New Year? I have it right here," Emily says. "On January 3rd, there was a two-car collision. You operated on someone named Hector Ledezma. That was your only surgery that night."

"I remember that case. Someone else came in, but I didn't operate on him. His name was Jason Meyers."

Spencer calls Penelope to gather more information on Jason.

"Garcia, I need you to find a patient in the system named Jason Meyers."

"He was admitted on January 3rd on life support. Oh, no. He was taken off the ventilator and declared legally dead three days ago."

"Who is his father?"

"Patrick Meyers, age forty-five."

"Get a photo into the school immediately. I think he's our unsub."

"Okay, it's on its way."

Spencer texts you an update on the current case since you're doing everything you can to take care of Hotch, which you appreciate. You can't do anything about Dr. Barton and his son, but you can find Hotch and figure out what's going to happen to him. As soon as you checked into the hospital, one of the doctors met with you and took you to the room Hotch was in. The second you see him, tears form in your eyes.

"He was stabbed nine times, but no major arteries were hit. It's a miracle he's alive."

"When will he wake up?"

"The anesthesia should wear off within the hour, but he's bound to be out of it."

"May I stay here?"

"Of course."

"Thank you."

The doctor checks a few things before giving you some privacy. You pull up a chair next to his bed and stare at his unconscious body.

"You better not die," you say to him. "This entire BAU is my family and that includes you. Do you hear me, Aaron? Don't die."

You hate lying to your team and hope they're doing okay without you. Hotch's medical chart is hanging off the edge of his bed. Your curiosity makes you read over it as if you're going to understand what most of it means. You're very smart but you're not medically smart. However, the initial L.C. in the top right-hand corner grabs your attention. It's the same initial the unsub left on the note for Dr. Barton. You grab the chart and find the doctor at the nurse's station.

"Excuse me, what does L.C. stand for?"

"Living Children."

"Thank you." You walk back into Hotch's room and call Spencer. "I know what L.C. stands for. Living Children."

"Are you sure?"

"Hotch has it on his medical chart. It's administrative. It's when they're afraid a patient's gonna go on life support and they don't have a DNR order."

"What if the unsub was trying to tell Dr. Barton that he is actually the target and that he's gonna leave his son without a father?" The sound of a door opening catches Spencer's attention. "Barton!"

"What's going on?" There is commotion coming from his end and you hear something that chills you to the bone. A gunshot. "Spencer?" No answer. "Spencer, answer me. Please." Still, no answer and you get tears. "Spencer? I can't lose two people I love. Please answer me." Instead of trying to get him to answer, you hang up and call 911 to report the gunshot. "This is Special Agent Y/N from the FBI. I need police and an ambulance to 120 Kensington Road, Mclean, Virginia. Shots were fired and a federal agent is possibly down."

Spencer lays in front of Dr. Barton with a gunshot wound in his knee from the unsub. The unsub was targeting Dr. Barton but got Spencer instead.

"Are you hit?"

"No."

"Get my gun. Get my gun!" Spencer urges.

Dr. Barton scrambles for the gun before the unsub can fire off another shot. Spencer grabs his gun and points it at the unsub.

"Get away from him!"

"Whatever you do, stay down," Spencer says to Dr. Barton before facing the unsub. "Drop the gun!"

"Don't protect him. He killed my son!" Patrick says emotionally.

"He did not kill your son. Your son was killed in a car accident."

"Stand up!" he yells at your boyfriend.

"I'm gonna ask you again, please drop the gun. I do not want to shoot you."

"Stand up, you coward!"

"Mr. Meyers, listen to me. Dr. Barton did not kill your son. Your son was killed by a car, and this is not what he would want. Okay? So, drop the gun. Please."

His words seem to get through to Patrick because he lowers the gun. Tears are streaming out of his eyes, he looks like he's in so much pain, and he doesn't know who or what to trust. Sirens can be heard from down the street no doubt from the call you made to 911. The unsub raises his gun toward Spencer and Dr. Barton.

"Don't do it."

"I'm sorry."

Before Patrick can fire, Spencer shoots him in a spot that's not fatal. Dr. Barton turns to Spencer to help him but the young doctor waves him off.

"I'm fine. Go to him. Kick his gun away. Make sure his gun is not near him."

Dr. Barton kicks the gun away before assessing the wound on Patrick.

"No, don't touch me. Oh, I want to die. Oh, don't touch me," Patrick weeps.

"I need to stop the bleeding."

"Let me die."

"The medics are almost here. Can you keep him stabilized?" Spencer asks.

"Yes, I think so." Seconds later, the ambulance and police arrive. "Hold on, they're right here. Help is coming, alright?" They get out of their car and rush over with equipment. "We need a backboard and a C-collar. Put pressure on this right here. Call ahead to the ER and tell them they got a GSW to the thoracic cavity, and have him redlined to the OR stat."

"You got it."

"Don't touch me," Patrick cries.

Dr. Barton approaches Spencer and inspects the wound on his knee.

"It looks like it went clean through."

"You might have just saved his life."

"Keep pressure on this, okay?"

The team arrives with Jeffrey, and Spencer nods to the doctor's son.

"I'm good, I'm fine. Go to your son."

Jeffrey and his son embrace in a tight hug while the team joins Spencer's side with worry on their faces.

"Are you okay?" JJ asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"We'll get you to a hospital."

"No, you need to call Y/N. She's at the hospital with Hotch. He's been stabbed by Foyet."

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)

#spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid fic #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid angst #spencer reid fluff #criminal minds #criminal minds fic #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds fanfic #criminal minds fluff #criminal minds angst #criminal minds series rewrite #criminal minds season 5

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trashrattt · 2 months ago

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The autism beast is speaking so I must explain to you why Cyn and Uzi are direct parallels to Aelita and William and could potentially be each other in a different universe

⚠️Warning,⚠️

Anyways, Copper 9 doesn't take place in any sort of digital place, we can skip that part (unless you count episode 5? But I wont)

In universe, Aelita is currently one (?) of the main characters in this story, looking for her dad that unintentionally caused a deadly self-autonomic virus to spread (him being the creator of said virus)

In universe, Uzi doesnt focus on finding her as much, but encounters her mother that knows much about a self-automic virus, even being (unintentionally) used to spread it (the virus starts spreading after one drones was unproperly disassembled)

Both help out them in their time of need, though still rarely shown in show until the near-end

(Also I have to mention they had an extremely important backstory that led up to them leaving then finding their child again)

Both Uzi and Aelita are (temporarily) possessed by the virus at multiple points in show and the virus shows itself only in their eyes

(Also not something I really need to point out but both have abnormally colored anime hair),

Near the (startish-middle?) to two people who unintentionally will cross paths with said virus

(I don't nessicarilly need to point this out they both have black messy hair, whatever I can do what I want)

Anyways the only difference between the two is that William simply got posessed while Tessa- Uhm....Got herself skinned alive and worn as a cosplay for Cyn to wear, oops

Though these events don't happen, they both pretend they're fine and dandy for a bit

(I adore Cyns constant mentioning of being human in case she wasn't selling her point across, its silly)

Both eventually reveal who they truly are (that being Xana and Absolute solver) and spends their time active by chasing said character being helped out by their lost parental figure

Alsoooo story beats aside, Cyns ability to fast travel™ is simular to Williams supersmoke...in a weird way

Who cares if this is a stretch at least one other person will get it

(Sorrey I couldn't find a gif for Will)

ALSO ALSO

Idk if it's just me but like the said virus absolutely screaming in agony by the end of the series because they're actually getting killed is so weirdly specific towards each other?????

(Aaaand also the things that led to their point of being used as a ploy to said virus had a clear animal motif, that of a jellyfish and that of a snake but I digress that isn't really imortant...)

Anyways this was my weird stretch of an analysis, I'll now go and sit and die off slowly just like Tessa did

#code lyoko #william dunbar #aelita schaeffer #murder drones #uzi doorman #tessa james elliot #cynessa #cyn #this is an absolute stretch ignore if if you think so #im autistic I haf to post this sorrey.....

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dreamsy990 · 1 year ago

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so 358/2 days, amiright? heres my thoughts

this game is just. god its an emotional rollarcoaster

i guess ill start with the things i dont like!! which is mostly the gameplay. i dont really mind the mission structure shockingly (i like being able to roam around but having a clear goal makes things easier for my adhd ass, and i think the miniature storylines are very good for the most part) but i simply could Not get into the combat. especially coming off of kh2 it feels so stiff and unfun to play the only part of the game where i enjoyed the combat was fighting riku at the very end. i think the panel system is okay but i dont like that levels take up space. why did they do that.

story-wise, i dont like the retcons!! a lot of the ones i take issue with are very minor but things like roxas only fighting riku once instead of the implied multiple times (even the dialogue doesnt make sense when you change that, why does roxas say 'how many times do i have to beat you' when theyve only fought once?) are the kinds of inconsistencies that just annoy me.

im also a little bit annoyed at the very concept of this game at all. i think roxas worked just fine as a character without this game. it feels sort of unnecessary in the grand scheme of things. also, xion. i love xion, dont get me wrong, but i dont think she adds anything to the series over all. thats not to say she doesnt add anything to this game because shes a great character and i love her, but shes just. kind of like this game in that if you got rid of her i dont think it would really change the narrative so much.

BUT DESPITE THAT ALL!!!!!!!! i fucking ADORE this game. it is genuinely so full of charm and soul that i just cant bring myself to dislike it. i think this is one of the best written games in terms of dialogue. every scene (at least for me) hit exactly as emotionally hard as i think it was meant to. i was laughing at demyx's antics and crying at xions death and yelling at saix and i think thats exactly how the game is meant to be seen.

days at its heart is a slice of life. its working a 9 to 5 its going through a depressive episode its losing friends its grieving its making fun of your coworkers its living. its a game about life and i love that.

this game really did make me forget that axel roxas and xion dont get a happy ending. i spent so much time looking forward to them making up that i forgot that roxas ran away. hell i almost forgot that xion died.

days is emotional and its story and its characters are just so fucking good. the conflicts all felt very real and you can tell exactly where everyones coming from. the way axel roxas and xion fall apart hits so fucking close to home. but god damnit if axel had any good communication skills like half of this could be avoided

its also one hell of a love letter to axel's character. hes always been one of my favorites (he recently earned first place) and i think this game does him a lot of justice. hes trying to do good. he wants to keep everything together he wants to be there for his friends he wants to make things right but he just cant. its just AUGH its so fucking good

that thing about axel's characterization really also applies to roxas. i dont have much to say about him beyond the fact that i think it does his character very well. also tism. hes so autism.

i kind of like the very limited graphics too. sue me i enjoy low quality games. the hands are not animated and they all have two expressions (blinking and not blinking) and their weapons are flat and im living for it. the very few fully animated cutscenes are good too!!

the (real, i dont count riku) final boss is unfortunately very easy. you can just stand directly in front of her and mash a she wont hit you its too easy but vector to the heavens did mess me up a bit. also earlier scene but "ill always be there to bring you back" with the other promise playing over it? fucked me up man. yoko shimomura is once again killing it

i cant believe roxas didnt get to go to the beach.

i have to give this game a 9/10. its writing is incredible but the gameplay could use a lot of work. its just not fun to play. but again the characters, emotions, and music all make up for that tenfold.

#kingdom hearts #kh 358/2 days #doodles #roxas #axel #xion #kh review

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damagedintellect · 2 years ago

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Nakahara Chuuya x Reader

💌 Would this be considered a social suicide? : Chapter 1 💌

Summary: You knew it was dangerous to take walks at night but hearing the water rushing under the bridge was calming to your nerves. You didn’t imagine you’d ever fall into the river and somehow wake up in your favorite anime. The isekai that I’m sure will come back to haunt me. It’s kept me up all night but I might as well get the brainrot out.

Notes: Reader is Isekai’d into BSD, Slow to start, Chuuya is endgame but there’s a fair bit of reader & Dazai moments too

💌 Word count: 2,348 💌 Available Chapters [You are here] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

You stood over the bridge looking out at the sunset. You would have to return home before it got too dark but the tranquil sound of the rushing water underneath you always calms your nerves after an episode. Things have been pretty rough lately but you’d live. As a writer you were your worst critic. You were almost done with your first big manuscript and you just needed to get past the final hurdle before you could start seeking out publishing companies. At the beginning your novel came easy but as the ending chapters were approaching you started to dread finishing it. The unknown future was a scary thought. Multiple what if’s flooding your mind. The fear that you would have wasted the better of a year and a half writing a story for no actual gain was one of them. It shouldn’t be considered wasted time because writing it helped you in many ways but the ever looming thought that you could have accomplished much more in the same amount of time is a burden that will never leave you alone. If only things could be as easy as the media you consumed. Your recent obsession with a certain anime series wasn’t helping either but it’s captivated your heart and it’s all you think about nowadays. Which is what spurred on the little tiff with your writing. All you’ve done recently is play the Bungo Stray Dogs mobile game trying to pull the rate up Chuuya unit to the point where you were actually no lifing it. While you agree that you might be going overboard just a little, you might actually have formed an addiction to playing marbles. You honestly preferred when you were analyzing and fantasizing about the contrast of the strong bonded characters. Not to mention how much you can see yourself in everyone. The amount of character study is comforting to you and one day you wish to write something that makes others feel the way you do when you read BSD. From your perspective this was just research but to the rest of the world haha whoops just your autism is showing. It’s a limiting belief you weren’t sure how to get rid of either. The need to constantly do and be productive with your time otherwise you fail at society when ultimately success is subjective.

Before you could turn around you were harshly grabbed by the arm. You were pushed against the railing as your assailant threatened you to stay quiet. A knife was brandished against your neck but almost foolishly the wrong side was being pressed against you. The man reeked of alcohol so maybe he wasn’t all there right now. Mustering as much rage and aggression you’ve been bottling up for years you think to yourself that this was now or never. If there was one thing you have been thinking about since childhood it was pulling off a Miss Congeniality. Shouldering him in the gut, stepping on his foot, elbow to the face, and finishing it off with a swift kick to the dick. Panic was starting to kick in. You didn’t think that would work but that doesn’t matter right now you should start running. As you were about to bolt he grabbed your leg and your dumbass clutched onto the railing trying to use your bodyweight to break free and it worked due to the thug letting you go but your momentum was already set in motion. You threw yourself over the railing crashing in the icy water below.

—

“Dazai I swear if this was one of your planed double suicides I’m going to kill you!” a voice rang out. You could still feel the sensations of floating your memory murky.

“I assure you if it was, me and this lovely lady would already be dead but unfortunately Atsushi here ruined that miracle for me.”

You choked, you recognized those voices “D-Dazai?” When your vision came too you were in Atsushi’s lap as Kunikida was shaking his partner. This couldn’t be real.

“Ah so sleeping beauty’s awake. Kunikida as a gentleman you should ask her if she’s alright and stop strangling me.”

Reluctantly the blonde did as he was told and let go, kneeling in front of you “Are you alright my colleague said you were floating in the river?” his eyes were full of concern.

You looked dazed, glancing around to see the familiar riverbank that Atsushi starts at during the very beginning of Bungo Stray Dogs. You looked at your hands. You were still wearing the same clothes you put on this morning, admittedly they were much soggier than you remember but you had no memory of the day or how you ended up in the river. For some reason you knew who these people were and what seemingly happens to them in the future. The most notable thing was you were grossly aware of the fact that this universe belonged to your favorite manga that currently was on its 108th chapter? This had to be a dream. If you played along maybe you’d eventually wake up. You’ve had lucid dreams before, it wasn’t too far fetched but the ache in your heart didn’t want you to wake up. Finally you looked up at Kunikida who was patiently waiting for your answer but before you could give a response your stomach growled. How embarrassing, now you really wanted to die.

Dazai keeled over laughing “I guess introductions can wait till we get something to eat, how about that?” He offered you a hand over his partner's shoulder to help you up. You snapped out of your haze to grab his hand and say “I can’t remember much so I think that’s for the best.”

What have you gotten yourself into?

At dinner Atsushi spent no time at all stuffing his face as Kunikida and Dazai bantered back and forth. Dialogue you remembered from when you watched the show originally. You forgot how furious Kunikida was over the whole ordeal and you felt bad knowing what Atsushi was going to say next. He really needed a hug.

“I came to Yokohama straight from the orphanage. I’ve had nothing to eat and nowhere to sleep since. I thought I’d starve to death.”

“You came from an orphanage?” Dazai questioned. He was sitting across from you casually and despite being hungry you noticed that he didn’t order anything to eat. You had ordered one out of solidarity. You’ve always wanted to try tea on rice but never bothered trying to find a place that makes it in your area. Atsushi was already on his twelfth bowl or so as he continued the conversation.

“I was yes but they kicked me out.”

“Sounds like a real philanthropic organization.” Dazai turned his attention from Atsushi to you “How about you? Remember anything now?” He rested his head on the back of his hands.

You nodded “I think my name is (Y/N), (Y/N) (L/N). Still trying to work out where I came from and how I got in the river but it’s something to start.” Being vague was probably for the best right now. Although you would have to find some way into the Armed Detective Agency eventually. After that you could be a little more bold with your knowledge. Without an ability though, it would be by the skin of your teeth and your memory of the events to come. Not everyone in the agency had an ability or combative skills but they had plot armor, you sadly do not. Being caught up with the manga was great for knowing everything to come but you'd have to remember things you've read and watched months ago. There was no room for error as it stood currently. Your life literally depended on it. You wondered if you could pull it off. If you didn't you could always try the port mafia. It would be more risky and twice as dangerous but at least you could hopefully get a glimpse of a certain redhead before you died. Who knows, could be fun.

“Dazai we’re not a couple of do good-ers going around helping hard luck cases. We’ve got a job to do.” Kunikida nudged the other with his book leading Atsushi to question “That reminds me. You said that your current job involves the military. What kind of work do you do.”

“We’re private investigators” Dazai gave his signature smirk bringing his hand up to rest under his chin. What an absolute dork you loved this waste of bandages.

“Investigators?”

“But we handle more than lost pets and cheating spouses. Our office has uniquely gifted investigators, we’re the Armed Detective Agency.”

You sat upright with Atsushi. While he was having his little monologue you softly muttered “The Armed Detective Agency.” trailing off you made your eyes as wide as you could like you were seeing a vision before you shook your head staring back as Atsushi. “Tiger?” you stated in a hushed tone. Hopefully you were acting strange enough for Dazai to notice, it was the only way your plan was going to work out. You needed a reason to be kept around but not to upstage Atsushi's importance. Not like that could really happen since he is the tiger but still. You needed your bases covered without being too off the wall. The harsh bottom line was this was your only chance because you have no idea if your choices affect the story yet. On top of that you have no money, no friends and no shelter so they were your only option.

“You guys are looking for a tiger.” You stated it as a fact, regaining their attention after Dazai’s little health hanging prank.

Kunikida stopped strangling Dazai as the two exchanged looks. “We never said what the job was, it's not supposed to be a secret or anything but how’d you come to that conclusion?” He pushed up his glasses for emphasis.

You tilted your head for effect. “I don’t know it was just a feeling I got when I looked at Atsushi kinda like a weird deja vu.” you played it off quizzically like you were also figuring things out as they progressed.

Atsushi stared across the table “You’re looking for a tiger?” You could feel him tense.

“Yes, a ferocious man eater who's recently appeared in the city. Well not that we know for sure it's devoured anyone but it’s ransacked warehouses, eaten farm animals and caused general chaos. The authorities have received all kinds of scary reports about it” Dazai sighed, slipping back into his uninterested mood. In Atsushi’s panic he knocked over his chair and a couple of bowls as he tried to crawl away. You watched the scene play out as Kunikida pinned him to the floor and the interrogation started. You sat patiently as Atsushi was then asked if he was free to be bait.

“Forget it no way!”

You laughed at Atsushi’s outburst trying to lighten the mood. “I don’t know Atsushi. If it’s after you I feel like this is the perfect opportunity to get it off your back for good. What if I tagged along? Strength in numbers right?” He stood up and defended himself “That doesn’t make it better! I’m not doing this okay. I know what you’re thinking, you’re planning to use me as bait-”

“There’s a reward you know.”

From there Atsushi’s fate was sealed and you all made your way over to the warehouse. You waited around for hours, everyone keeping to themselves. This was something they didn’t show you in anime but you figured time would pass as normal anyhow. You were laying on one of the crates that was across from Atsushi. You had been staring up at the ceiling after staring at Dazai became boring. He was literally reading his book. You saw his eyes move across the page. You really weren't sure what else you expected. As soon as Atsushi opened his mouth you rolled your eyes.

Finally, show time.

It’s not like you’d actually be of any help, you just needed to make sure you didn’t die or get in the way. Hopefully the groundwork you set prior would be enough. If you were in Dazai's shoes and some girl you've never seen before who has amnesia but happens to know the details of your mission, it would be pretty strange. It's not as strong as Atsushi’s but fingers crossed it was enough. When Atsushi started to turn, you stretched and said “Guess that’s my cue to leave, I’ll let Kunikida and the others know.” Dazai only smirked and continued to monologue to Atsushi who would not remember the speech later. You casually strode out of the warehouse seeing the others already surrounding the building, hearing the ruckus inside. You didn’t speak, only waved them in as you made your way back to Dazai seeing that the dust had already settled and Atsushi was already on the ground. After everyone else got to take a jab at him the brunette finally spoke.

“I’ve already made my decision. We’re going to make them one of us.”

You sighed in relief when he gestured to you as well. You didn't want to be presumptuous and assume he meant "them" as in plural when that's not always the case. Regardless, your personal mission was accomplished. It was enough to be lumped in with Atsushi but you weren’t out of the woods yet. It was enough to get you through the night. If you didn’t wake up from this dream you’d still have the entrance exam to worry about. Then the matter of how much you give away about possibly having an ability and next being able to live the lie you’ve crafted. As a writer it shouldn’t be that hard to craft yourself a solid backstory but there was still no proof of your existence outside waking up at the riverside. You’d have to be careful but you were up for the challenge. After all, what have you got to lose?

Chapter 1 | Next Chapter =>

#BSD isekai au no one asked for #nakahara chuuya x reader #bsd x reader #bsd imagines #chuuya nakahara x reader #don't mind me just playing around with BSD like dolls #xreader #x reader

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eirenical · 1 year ago

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Mysterious Lotus Casebook | Lian Hua Lou | 莲花楼 | Episode 5

Poor thing. None of the people she loved loved her. And none of them wanted to leave her alive.

[Do not repost. Do not remove caption. Thank you!]

Gif IDs and meta babble under the cut.

[ID: Three gifs of Li Lianhua from episode 5 of Mysterious Lotus Casebook. He is shown from mid-chest up in the first gif and from the shoulders up in the last two. He is speaking of the murder victim in the case they are investigated (text in the main post). He looks a little sad, also a bit resigned. There is a brief cut in the first gif to Fang Duobing looking equally sad.]

So this rewatch is going... SO WELL. I keep finding these ridiculous parallels in places I don't expect to find them and losing my entire damned mind about it. This episode struck me the first time as existing mostly to establish that LLH is, in fact, a good detective. He's wily as hell and has the knowledge to back it up. It's also the avenue by which we're introduced to the Jinyuan Alliance and some of the other side players that come back later on. But I didn't think much of the mystery itself. Of the parallels that are going to be drawn later on.

Yu Qiushang died twice, victim to the people who supposedly loved her most, because she was in the way. Because it was too dangerous to leave her alive with the things she knew.

...kind of like Li Xiangyi.

Only it wasn't about what he knew, it was about who he was. He was inconvenient, and too righteous to be left alive to interfere. And he, too, was killed multiple times over the course of the story:

Once by Jiao Liquiao and Yun Biqiu with teh Bicha Poison.

Twice by Di Feisheng over the Eastern Sea.

Thrice by Xiao Zijin and the rest of Sigu Sect when they disbanded the Sect rather than try to rebuild.

And one final time when Shan Gudao set out to destroy his legacy and reputation.

All people he loved (yes, I'm counting Di Feisheng in that category, fight me ^_^). All people who didn't (or at least who he thought didn't) love him back in the same way. All people who betrayed him.

And if you watch that last gif: there's a breath that gets punched out of him; that hitch before he says those final words; that twist to his features like he's just now seeing this parallel himself.

This one hit home.

And then to find Di Feisheng in the back mountain so soon after when he's helpless to confront him? The way his fist clenches because he's practically DRIVEN by the need to do SOMETHING... but he can't. He isn't strong enough. He's hurt. It would be suicide.

But this case has brought all of that roaring to the surface and he's not ready for it.

It's no wonder he passes out.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment to go cry in a corner about this man YET AGAIN. 😭🥺😭

#mysterious lotus casebook #li lianhua #yu qiushuang #parallels #li xiangyi #eirenical.gifs #eirenical.meta #mlcb meta #DON'T MIND ME #I'LL JUST BE OVER HERE CRYING #AGAIN #and i have more coming #but i think i'm done fighting with gifs for the day #XD

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zedpercyfan · 4 months ago

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Why I M O, Pokeshipping is dead. ( kinda hot take, sorry pokeshippers. )

So, pokeshipping. The very 1st ship in the Pokemon anime’s history. I personally am not a fan of it, I did watch the original anime, and I personally don’t like misty’s character. It was off putting to me.

Now as to what your here for, what killed pokeshipping. There are 3 main contributors to the death of pokeshipping.

1.) The length of time from when misty was replaced to now,

2.) Serena and Amourshipping

3.) The Pokémon sun and moon anime

The length of time from when misty was replaced to now. Now while this might not have been much of an issue if the other 2 bullet points didn’t exist, it has been over a decade at this point, since we last saw misty, meaning that we have a severe lack in character development, and that gives time for other potentially better ships to be created, which leads me to my next point,

Serena and Amourshipping. Possibly one of the biggest ships right now, (which at this point isn’t going to fizzle out anytime soon. ) With Amourshipping going so far, as to introduce a major plot point in ash’s story by having Serena be his childhood acquaintance, many other points that multiple poketubers like Catch ‘Em All Saul, bring up in their videos from years past, to the kiss, and even the writers basically confirming the darn thing.

Amourshipping Confirmed?

So at this point, ( unless they throw all that away, which please. Don’t. ) there is next to no hope of pokeshipping to ever become cannon, which is only further proven by my last point,

The Pokémon sun and moon anime. Now, this is honestly the iceberg that sank the ship, because Brock and Misty returned twice in the Sun and Moon anime, which I’m pretty sure was for let’s go promotion. Now this is where all hope is lost for pokeshipping because even though they returned twice, Misty had literally zero emotional moments with ash whatsoever. No pokeshipping pandering, no flashbacks, nothing. Here’s another video explaining that further.

They did Misty DIRTY!

Now while the only good thing to come out of the re-return episodes was Brock possibly finally finding a girlfriend,

Brock x Olivia

This was the point of no return for Misty and pokeshipping in general. Misty, even though she returned twice, in the most recent anime, had literally no development, and nothing to show how she grew as a character since her absence, her return seems pointless and devoid of substance, and with another ship still gaining popularity at an exponential rate, I’m sorry pokeshippers, but,

It’s time to pay your respects, and move on.

RIP pokeshipping

1997-2023

Hey dawg, don't worry. I too struggle with rememberin' that it ain't 2017 or '18 or whatever is more than 5 years ago. Counting years, appearances, or remembering what words like theory, or transport, fiction, shipping, Plato's cave or whatever are defined or what they mean is pretty difficult too - I don't get it, it all flies over me head.

Also, Pokemon, especially the anime, last I checked isn't really a romance related show. Beyond a few hints for the sake of teaching kids what falling in love is like, I don't think Ash having a girlfriend, let alone a wife, is ever in the cards. Especially since, y'know, he ain't the protag anymore.

#pokeani #pokemon #zedpercyfan #anon response #anon ask #Pokeshipping

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hikennosabo · 1 year ago

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#tristampparty day 7, episode 7: wolfwood

this is another episode i've watched multiple times, but mostly just the first half for Livio Reasons. once again... LET'S GOOOOO

i've seen ppl say this is razlo at the start of the episode... i wonder... he is more razlo-like in his movements, and he starts yelling a lot... but his expressions are still livio-like, i think... i mean he is more expressive BUT he's not grinning like razlo usually does? sigh... see the problem is that we ALSO have a level of EoM brainwashing (and whatever the fuck else is going on) on top of everything which throws a wrench in trying to figure things out. I Just Wanna See My Boy.

i love vash holding his gun backwards and using it as a bludgeon and i love going frame by frame to get cool screencaps like this 💖

wolfwood vial count: 4

at the very least, by the time of this next scene, it's definitely livio and not razlo because he's mumbling about "catching up" again which is a livio thing

when i saw the corresponding manga panel for this my brain neurons activated so hard LOL i wonder even more how orange will adapt razlo... since originally livio was trying to catch up with razlo. which i love and think is super interesting. so what is orange planning? ...is livio even aware razlo exists at this point...?

oh also livio looks a bit older here. which once again has me wondering about the timeline. the way the experiments were presented with rollo and nicholas, it looked like they were just on that table forever. as in there were no breaks in between. so... when is this? how long is it between livio volunteering himself for EoM and the experiments on him taking place?

i think it's cute that nico bumps into him :(

let's take ibuprofen together

i wonder who these people are... i thought they might be the EoM soldiers that razlo killed, but those aren't EoM uniforms... it looks like the prison uniform wolfwood was wearing... wolfwood tried to run away, so it makes sense that he wouldn't be the only one, although the phrasing "stand in our way" more implies they tried to stop the operation altogether. but... hmm... they just had regular goons as guards at the time of wolfwood's escape attempt. livio is special... would they really give him a job like guard duty?

CHAPEL JUMPSCARE

razlo sweetiepie there you are!!! mwah mwah mwah mwah mwah

HE'S SUCH A FUCKING DRAMA QUEEN HE'S SO FUNNY

since zazie is the one talking, our attention is drawn to them, so i'm glad i paused on this because the fact that legato is also looking up at wolfwood and smirking is so funny to me. EYES ON THE ROAD BESTIE!!!!

this line is always so funny to me. shonen protagonist ass

i love the scene of vash at the spaceship controls, the animation when he's working the keyboard is so smooth. hmmm, it also reminds me of wolfwood's introduction episode in 98... serves the same narrative purpose of Vash Knowing Things He Shouldn't about spaceships

i love that wolfwood thinks shooting the base of the cannon will do anything. like that's the first thing he tries. shoot first ask questions later i guess

going frame by frame on scenes of legato because i'm unwell... his eyebrows are surprisingly thick! and his eye color is grey... it was gold in 98... oh, i just noticed his eyelashes are light blue!! cute!!

i just think this is a handsome angle for him. his facial features are so pretty and delicate

this is why he buckled his seatbelt :)

... i need to stop posting legato pictures

no because what the hell is this

wolfwood vial count: 5

episode 5 had me asking about the wind... legato asks zazie if they were the one who caused the sandstorm (which they deny)... could it be... is it possible...?

my dumb ass watching this for the first time: damn it's so sad that livio is dead and now they're even gonna use his corpse for nefarious purposes :(

vash's plant markings are so pretty fr <3 orange was big brained for this too

everyone always points out the episode title card being a gut punch but THIS was an unexpected one:

this is how wolfwood is credited this episode and because i'm insane i immediately had to go back and check - this is also how he's credited in episodes 5 and 6: as "nicholas d. wolfwood/nicholas the punisher". in episode 4, he's only listed as "nicholas d. wolfwood". haha ouch!

this post ended up being a little less substantial than expected LOL but we'll soon be getting into the episodes that really give me psychic damage so :^) looking forward to it!!

#tristampparty #trigun talk #june speaks

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variousqueerthings · 1 year ago

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DOCTOR... WHO???? (siiiigh)

ok. ok. so. ok. alright let's do this. i have a sneaking suspicion this will rate higher than some other M*ffat episodes, but don't let that fool you about me thinking it's good"

sexism rank objectification (female character is ogled/harassed/turned into a sex joke by the doctor and/or a lead we’re supposed to root for and/or the camera): 8/10

sexism rank plot-point (lead female character is only there to serve plot, not to have her emotional interiority explored): 3/10

interesting complex or pointlessly complex (does the complexity serve the narrative or does it just serve to be confusing as a stand-in for smart, this includes visually): 1/10

furthers character and/or lore and/or plot development (broader question that ties into the previous ones, at least two of these, ideally three should be fulfilled): 5/10

companion matters (the companion doesn’t always have to be there, but if the companion is there, can they function without the doctor– and overall per season how often is the companion the focus or POV of the story): 3/10

the doctor is more than just “godlike” (examines the doctor’s flaws and limitations, doesn’t solve a plot by having it revolve entirely around the doctor’s existence): 3/10

doesn’t look down on previous doctor who (by erasing or mocking its importance, by redoing and “bettering” previous beloved plotpoints or characters, etc.): 6/10

isn’t trying to insert hamfisted sexiness (m*ffat famously talked a lot about how dw should be sexier multiple times, he sucks at writing it): 4/10

internal world has consistency (characters have backgrounds, feel rooted in a place with other people, generally feel like they have Lives): 1/10

Politics (how conservative is the story): 3/10

FULL RATING: 37/100 (if I can count….)

OMFG NO IT'S THE LOWEST RATED BOY OH BOY OH BOY AND IT DIDN'T EVEN DO BAD ON OBJECTIFICATION RATING AND YET!!!!!! IT'S SO STUPID!!!!!!!!!

OBJECTIFICATION: Amy wears a suit in this one. River Song is also wearing a suit in this one. because this secret society thing? (I am unclear what they're doing in it in this world, but I mean... the world-building is rated one out of ten so we'll get to that) people wear suits

there is this weird fucking interaction between sci-fi Churchill and the Doctor:

Churchill: What’s she like? Attractive I suppose The Doctor: Hell.... in high heels Churchill (leering): Tell me more

PLOT-POINT: ok so like. this episode is called "the wedding of River Song." it's about... not River Song. it's technically about how River Song (REMEMBER HOW RIVER SONG IS SECRETLY AMY'S AND RORY'S KID AND SHE WAS STOLEN AFTER AMY WAS FORCED TO GIVE BIRTH TO HER IN ORDER TO BREED THE "PERFECT PSYCHOPATH FOR THE DOCTOR" SO SHE WOULD KILL THE DOCTOR FOR A REASON WE STILL DON'T KNOW BUT LET'S FUCKINDFG DKLJSLÖKGFHSK BUT THEN OFC SHE BREAKS HER PROGRAMMING BECAUSE SHE FALLS IN LOVE WITH HIM BECAUSE SHE'S INFORMED SHE WILL FALL IN LOVE WITH HIM AND SO SHE DECIDES NOT TO KILL THE DOCTOR BUT THEN THEY FORCE HER INTO AN ASTRONAUT SUIT THAT WAS BUILT IN 1969 BECAUSE THIS SECRET SOCIETY SENT HUMANITY TO THE MOON SO THEY COULD DESIGN THIS SUIT FOR RIVER SONG TO KILL THE DOCTOR THE MOON LANDING WAS ABOUT THE DOCTOR SDFJJJLKJÖARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH OKAY AND SO EVEN THOUGH SHE'S NO LONGER INTERESTED IN KILLING THE DOCTOR THEY CAN JUST KIDNAP HER AND FORCE HER ITO THE SUIT TO KILL THE DOCTOR BUT ALSO NOW SHE'S NOT BECAUSE LURVE MAKES HER BREAK TIME TRUST ME BRO JUST DON'T THINK ABOUT I- *tears M*ffat apart With My Fucking Teeth*)

okay so it's about how River Song broke time in order to not kill the Doctor, which is supposedly a fixed point in Time, even though it definitely is not in show canon up until this season decided it was, and then the whole episode is the Doctor building up to telling River "actually I've found a way to not die," and she's like "oh good" and then he doesn't die

that is the plot. why is this a season's worth of plot and then 48mins? I will get to the FUCKING MONTAGES in a bit

so River's Thing is like. she's in love with the Doctor. in fact according to this episode "I cant let you die without letting you know that you are loved, by so many and so much, but by no one more than me"

which, if you're into River/Doctor is fine, personally I think Matt Smith looks like a child and Alex Kingston for all her acting (and hindered by so much bad "sexy" dialogue) cannot convince me she's into this baby-looking person. maybe if they'd done this during Capaldi, but that would require doing more things with River Song and M*ffat isn't really interested in her beyond the fact that a. she's in love with the Doctor and uh... 2. she was raised by a secret society. or she lived with her mother while she was growing up? (how did that work, when she was a child, weren't there people wondering who this kid's parents were????) and 3. she's sexy and she knows it

it does not fucking matter how she feels about the brainwashing of it all. it Does Not

I give this SOME points, because finally Amy got to have an emotion about her baby being taken away from her, I had fully forgotten that: "You took my baby from me and you hurt her and now she’s grown up and she’s fine (is she, we'll never know), but I’ll never see my baby again," and then she straight up, deliberately murders the villain who's helplessly tied to a chair

wonder if her feeling about murder will affect the plot in the future (they do mention it at the end of this episode), and she hints that "River didn't get it all from you" so like. Amy care to explain the execution you just committed?

she also mowed down a bunch of The Silence, but they're creepy monster people and not real people, so that's fine

uhhh what else for Amy? idk, she's there, she still loves Rory

COMPLEXITY: Stupid! Fucking! Plot! wait I already did this in the above point, okay so after River Breaks Time to not kill the Doctor at this supposed fixed point (lol, no it still fucking isn't M*ffat, there's loose continuity, and there's not caring at all about making your shit make sense, because LOLLL it's scifi after all and you can do what you want I fucking guess), Time just... stops

and all of Time happens at the same Time, except some people are noticing (are people ageing? or experiencing the same day again and again? or.. hte same second again and again? why is Churchill really the guy we want representing this idea??? why are there cars being carried around by big balloons????? why is it all earth? no time to explore any of this world- wait that's below point IT ALL BLEEDS INTO EACH OTHER BECAUSE IT'S SO STUPID)

WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO EXPLORE ANY OF THIS BECAUSE WE NEED TO GET TO THE REALLY INTERESTING PART OF THE EPISODE!

montages

the Doctor is explaining what happened up to a certain point and does so through the artistic format of montage. that means that Every! FUcking! Episode! M*ffat wrote for this season has a montage at the beginning!!!!!!

and then at the end of the montage, they're like oh no there's The Silence around us, for some reason, and then the Doctor gets kidnapped by... Amy, who's in the secret society now?

but now they're good guys, dedicated to figuring out why Time has stopped (except it... I mean it clearly hasn't, things are moving and changing and why is this done in the Stupidest way possible)

and they captured some Silence. but actually they were never captured just waiting, and now they're free and they go up to the top of a pyramid, the Doctor gets married to River, time restarts, River shoots the Doctor, but the Doctor had a Plan all along, using the little guys in robot-people we met in Let's Kill Hitler to get that body shot instead

the end

except for setting up THE NEXT STAGE OF THE MYSTERY because aaaalll of this happenned from WAY back in s5, because of a Question that mustn't be asked... and that question is Doctor Who

this episode is doing like. 2 things. "I know I'm going to die, and I stopped it easily (not so fixed a point after all I Guess, M*ffat)," and River and Doctor got married

oh and Amy KILLED PEOPLE but this will not be important, that was just to make her More Badass

and for all that it is presented like it's so fucking complicated

CHARACTERS/LORE/PLOT: um so plot as above is nothing, as said, it's just another bit of silly mystery on top of an already unwieldy house of cards standing in a drafty room

characters. not much actually, I mean, yes the Doctor and River got married now, but it's like. anti-dynamic. it's just there now the characters are meant to get married for the set-piece

lore um... checks notes. fucking. "Doctor Who." Trenzalore is a place something is going to happen. yeah so, fuck off nothing

COMPANIONS MATTER: lol see above. nope they're still basically "The last Centurion and the Girl Who Waited"

which, defining Rory as the Last Centurion outside of the particular episode in which another version of him was the centurion never made sense to me, sure that's something he did in a part of the story, but it's not really what his character... is. it's just that M*ffat loooves a moniker and it sounds impressive, and also in the last episode, the Doctor said "it's time to stop waiting" there's just nothing! new here! they're never going to be anyone else, or like... just their flipping names

Rory in this version of events/this other different universe is a soldier, and Amy doesn't remember him (I'm assuming Amy remembers the Doctor because they have a bond from back in s5 where her remembering him brought him back from non-existence, I can accept this as an already-established thing), but she does remember someone who she draws completely differently to Rory (hearkening back to Rory not being as manly as Amy's ideal fantasy and I thought we were past that but whatever)

anyway, the Doctor goes up to soldier-Rory and says this: Loyal soldier waiting to be noticed, always the pattern

IS Rory a soldier ever outside of two episodes in s6, both written by M*ffat????? M*ffat has a different, less caring, more "masculine" version of Rory that he writes that is so different from Rory in near every other episode... I don't like this Rory much, because he has no personality outside of "shoot gun/be badass and run after Amy"

I do appreciate that he is about to die and Amy returns to save him (although I have questions about how easy it is to kill "the bad guys" in M*ffat's era)

I will take this from the same exchange as above:

The Doctor (trying to get Rory to go for Amy): she said you were a mr hotti…ness and she would like to go out with you for… texting and scones..."

“GODLIKE” DOCTOR: this episode is all about how the Doctor is so special that everything bends towards this Moment In Time, but wait, That Moment is actually all about an even more important Moment that is still to come, also about the Doctor

and the tension of the episode is simply everyone waiting to see what clever thing the Doctor has already done in order to stave off the events this whole season has ostensibly been building up to

River Song at the Doctor: You’ve decided that the universe is better off without you, but the universe doesn’t agree

I mean yes, I enjoy the narratives favourite chewtoy type characters as much as anyone, but the thing is this Doctor isn't that, because the Doctor already has the solution. it's just. doing the exact thing that the episode The God Complex was deconstructing! S I L L Y ! ! !

PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO: there's a moment here that's kind of quick succession, and goes like this -- the Doctor is avoiding the moment of his death (that is easily avoided), and has a throwaway bit in which he say that Liz the First is forever waiting in a grove to elope with him (gross, stop gross stop with the ongoing Elizabeth the First banged the Doctor jokes stop! It!) or he could just "go and help Rose Tyler with her homework"

I can read this either as M*ffat's penchant of writing whatever he wants in terms of how the timelines of this series go (which is how he does it with Eleven constantly jumping forwards and backwards, up until the point it suddenly can't be done, because M*ffat only has rules when they serve a particular plot point), but I also can pretend/enjoy it from the perspective of "actually I could never go back and help Rose Tyler with her homework, because it's not possible to change how things went down or mess with her timeline, and that's the point, I'm pretending I can do what I want, but I know I can't"

ofc the episode then undermines this point, but still... it's a sweet point

also Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart dies. I didn't remember this in the episode, but I assume it just didn't land with me back in the day because.... who is the Brigadier if you haven't seen classic!who? it's something for the classic!who fans I suppose, but it's literally the moment that makes the Doctor stop running and it's completely unestablished why the Doctor cares about this character or even really who this character is

I'm being pedantic now perhaps, but I think if you're going to bring up classic!who (which I do enjoy) it needs to either be an actual Easter Egg/not affect the plot, oooorrrr it needs to be re-established in this text why this matters, and this does neither

I was sad watching it this time, because I've met the Brigadier now, but it's easy and lazy nostalgia bait

“SEXINESS”: so like. this isn't the worst episode for this, but the worst episode for this is so bad!

aforementioned gross mention of "Liz the first," River Song and the Doctor do boring, annoying flirting in which she mentions his past with Cleopatra (strike two, but at least??? Marilyn Monroe isn't also mentioned)

INTERNAL WORLD: none. nothing. montages of places that will never matter and a pocket universe world in which it seems like they thought two seconds about the functionality of it, I went on a rant above, I'm resisting ranting again, this whole thing is Stupid

POLITICS: there's not really politics. I mean, it's not a very big episode, it's just pretending to be, but in the end it's a couple of specific plotpoints inside a carnival that's on fire

but let's see, there's obviously the complete lack of interest in exploring female characters (including in episodes in which their names appear in the title)

oh and they mention psychopath River again

River: Take a child, raise her into the perfect psychopath, introduce her to the Doctor… who else was I going to fall in love with? fuck offffffffffff fuck off with all of this forever

also the plot culminates in a marriage -- now I was more annoyed when I thought the marriage literally solved the problem, when really it's more a sort of... segue into solving it, but the idea that this is a more important relationship than any the Doctor ever had or is ever going to have is what this plot works so hard to make the central conceit, and the way to prove this is by getting married, which segues into Fixing The Universe

and to be fair, it walked itself into this corner (on purpose) from the moment River Song was introduced, but the way it pretended at mystery as if the answer wasn't always "yeah they got married I guess, in an episode so boring, trying to be so big, that presents the Idea of marriage as the event that is more important than any other in the Universe (not like... individually, in the Universe) that for the Doctor in the same season as we had The Doctor's Wife is framed as more important than any other relationship because it is now defined by Getting Married...."

it's kind of a central problem with River Song and the Doctor, in the end it's... terribly normative. it tries not to be, but its structures struggle to break out of it, even when we get told that River has other partners (never seen, never important, often more of a throwaway innuendo to show how sexy she is), even with the tragedy of them moving backwards (sort of) in their respective timelines, it's still performing alloromantic heteronormative relationship hierarchy (big words meaning They're Straight TM writing)

the possible upside (we shall see) is that maybe now the stupid flipping marriage build-up is done River can be doing other fucking stuff, like being a character

FULL RATING: 37/100 (if I can count….)

okay so, the good. low on literally objectifying female characters on the whole, and isn't the worst on previous doctor who (except for of course saying a big fuck you to every past Companion and important relationship the Doctor has ever had)

and the bad is. that it is bad. bad across the board. it's a bad episode, made worse by everything that was bad before being doubled down on, so that in hindsight all the other bad stuff is also worse, like a horror ride funhouse mirror of non-linear watching reflecting backwards and forwards in time (kind of like M*ffat wishes the River Song and the Doctor's story managed to do, but in bad)

and that is s6. what a wild ride. epic highs and lows indeed!

#im watching nu!who #im watching eleven who #the measurement #the wedding of river song #enjoy my rantings and ravings #there is so much ranting in this and it is totally unedited #i am the charlie day meme just.... be prepared

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