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girls-are-weird · 3 months ago

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MASTER LIST: One Fic for Each Fandom [J-Z]

continued from this post. please read that one first for a detailed explanation of how this list came about and just why in the seven hells i've spent so many (many, MANY) hours of my life compiling it.

back in the day, i had hoped this format could catch on as a meme type of thing, so that other people could take it as a template and make their own fandom recs lists. so i'd love to see yours! be sure to tag me if you decide to do this. :)

[ FANDOMS J-Z BELOW, A-I HERE ]

JOAN OF ARCADIA

after an afternoon, by angelgazing.

joan doesn't get it.

JONNY QUEST: TRA

jealousy (and sequels!), by debbie kluge.

the story that started it all. a new acquaintance causes jonny quest and jessie bannon to re-evaluate their relationship.

LITTLE WOMEN / PLUMFIELD SERIES

and i didn't like the ending, by readdyfreddie (M).

as soon as the post box came into view, she saw him there, reading the letter. and then, as if sensing her presence, he looked up, and jo knew nothing would ever be the same again.

NARUTO

on the symbiotic relationship, by hundredacresky (M).

somehow they ended up doing everything backwards.

NEON GENESIS EVANGELION

a glass of wine rebuilt, by toasterman.

shinji and asuka learn about themselves and fall in love, causing massive ramifications. a remake of the late 94saturn's quintessential shinjixasuka story, it is part tribute and part experiment, taking the structure and plot of the original wacky shipping story while attempting to maintain series-true characterization.

PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS/RIORDANVERSE

if you need, come build your home in me (and side stories!) by yrbeecharmer / @yrbeecharmer (T).

even though the world keeps falling down around him, will solace can't seem to help but keep growing up.

(a series rewrite starting with the events of titan's curse)

PITCH PERFECT

hooking up with jesse by catswandsandwalkers / @catswandsandwalkers (M).

when aubrey said to beca, "your attitude sucks, you're a grade-A pain in my ass, and i know you're hooking up with jesse," she was actually correct. slightly AU where jesse and beca are secretly friends with benefits throughout the movie. follows canon otherwise.

POKEMON

destiny, by nova.

carla says: this is a fic i read a long time ago, loved, and then lost track of. the plot is rather similar to the plot of the… second? third? movie (the lugia one!), but it was written pre-movie and the author takes it a whole different way. the characters are grown up and more mature (errrr… except gary and jazelle, maybe), and the story's AU (they all have different backgrounds) but it's very good, filled with action and adrenaline, and even some funny and romantic moments. good read. sadly, now i can't find it anywhere else in the 'net so i wonder if it's been finished since then. if anyone knows, please tell me.

THE PRINCESS DIARIES

me and you (is my refrain), by naladot / @naladot (T).

when he finally gets to the restaurant to meet his friends for a birthday dinner, the television mounted to the wall has the news on, and there’s mia disembarking from her plane, waving to the press with a practiced smile. he hasn’t seen her in five years—no, it’s got to be six, now—but he can still read the exhaustion written across her picture-perfect face.

years later, michael reunites with the love of his life. future-fic for first movie canon.

PSYCH

against all odds (take a look at me now) by shuuuliet (G).

ever since they broke up, shawn and juliet have done their best to keep their distance from one another. but now, one of their old cases has been blown wide open. a criminal that evaded arrest is back…and he’s targeting them specifically. can they make it out of this case alive? and can they find their way back to each other along the way?

(set during season 7, a few weeks after "deez nups".)

PSYCHO-PASS

beasts of all kinds by aroguegambit17 (E).

wolf and shepherd are ancient enemies, opposed in nature and design. a wolf breaks into folds a shepherd guards; a shepherd is duty-bound to fight and perhaps kill a wolf for what the beast cannot help but do to survive. but what is a shepherd without sheep, a wolf without a pack?

free, of course. what a terrifying proposition.

RANMA 1/2

ranma .05, by darren demaine.

carla says: ranma smut, and believable at that. lots and lots of story before the sex, so it's not plotless at all. and the characters are very in-character-- and that's a lot to say if he can have ranma and akane sleep together and still be in-character!

RUROUNI KENSHIN

christmas and chaos, by nooziewoozie (M).

his shirt opened down his front, showing golden skin like some kind of blue-collar wet dream come to life—he was brown even in the middle of winter and he smelled like motor oil and had hair that spiked out from his head, bushy and unruly and ridiculous. he radiated heat. some idiot part of her hindbrain wanted to soak it up. -megumi, sano; family, christmas, and sex on couches.

SAILOR MOON

adventures of the chibi-scouts, by "tuxedo" will wolfshohl.

many wish to be young again but how will the girls handle it when they get that wish?

SAINT SEIYA

la batalla de los doce tresors (aka el MEGAFIC), by marijose diaz.

carla says: sorry that it's in spanish, guys, but it really is THE best saint seiya fic EVER. written pre-hades saga, but they fight against hades-- just in a completely different way. the cycle has ended, and it's time for athena to die. only hades doesn't want to let her, and it's time for the saints to… save her? so she can die? i LOVE this fic. seriously, i've read it a thousand times, and that's a lot to say because it's HUGE! (it's not called the MEGAfic for nothing!). she manages to put in most of my favorite couples, which is quite rare, and well-- i was reading it a while back and this was actually what made me start this whole list. lol.

SAMURAI CHAMPLOO

nenju, by 3jane.

where do happiness and ever after intersect? post series, complete. fuumugenjin.

SEX EDUCATION

these are the days of their lives by howardtduck48 (M).

maeve wiley deserves to be happy. if only she can give someone a chance to explain.

SHADOWHUNTER CHRONICLES

i know you wanna go higher by orphan_account (M).

the first thing simon lewis saw when he arrived idris high school was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. however, he later discovered that if he wanted to date her, he would need to get a date for his grumpy brother, alec. and that's where magnus bane appears.

the 10 things i hate about you AU that every fandom needs. simon is new and pining for isabelle, and then he has the worst idea of his life. somehow, things work out. kind of.

SHAMAN KING

hygge, by fruitysmell / @fruitysmellz (G).

hygge. a danish word used for a special feeling of coziness and contentment, whether with friends or alone and at home or out.

SKY HIGH (2005)

the language of flowers by evergreeen / @everrgrreeen (T).

“i think he deserves to sweat about it for a while,” magenta said, reclining back in her chair. “maybe if he thinks that another guy is interested in you, he’ll come to his senses and see what’s right in front of him.”

layla’s head snapped up to look at her shapeshifting friend.

“magenta, that’s it!”

“what’s it?”

“i’m going to make will jealous… by pretending to date warren peace.”

THE SOCIETY

you don't scare me anymore by misschatelle / @misschatelle (M).

chief holbrook calmly held her glare for a few seconds. “do you mean to say that you have no memories of the past eight months?”

allie shrugged. “maybe it was all a dream.”

“can you tell me what happened in that dream?”

“why does it matter now?”

“because some of you never returned. and we’d like to understand why. We have parents who, for a second, were given hope, only for that to get brutally taken away. they’ve seen all the other families reunite with their lost children, and they didn’t get to do that. they want answers, and i don’t have them. i’m hoping you can help me.”

(four teenagers never made it back to west ham. emily warner. cassandra pressman. greg dewey. campbell eliot.)

STRANGER THINGS

be brave and kiss the girl by fatechica / @fatechica (T).

el hopper: beautiful, sweet, and instantly one of the most popular girls in the hawkins’ high junior class when she moves there after her dad takes the job of police chief for the small town. mike wheeler: king of the nerds, A/V club president, and completely invisible to girls.

naturally, mike notices the new girl - how can he not when she’s the most beautiful girl he's ever seen in his entire short life? but she’s so far out of his league, it’s not even worth dreaming about. so it’s completely and utterly confusing to him when el takes a lot more than a polite interest in him.

el, for her part, is instantly smitten with the cute nerd with gorgeous eyes, adorable freckles, and the most beautiful smile she’s ever seen. no one understands when she decides to pursue him, especially not the popular kids, but it’s harder than she bargained for to get mike to trust her, to let her into his heart. guess it’s a good thing she’s as persistent as she is popular, isn’t it?

TANGLED

her everything by fabulist / @thatfabulist (M).

being the part-time boyfriend, part-time babysitter of the princess isn't all it's cracked up to be, but eugene fitzherbert is up for the challenge. besides, he loves her. now rated M for extra sauciness.

VERONICA MARS

the orion protocol by annie174 (M).

in the immediate aftermath of the final bomb, veronica finds out things are not as they appear. a fix-it for the veronica mars season 4 final. spoilers for season 4.

X-MEN

kissing friends, by pirate turner (PG).

friends surprise each other under the mistletoe. kurtty.

X-MEN: EVOLUTION

playing with fire, by taekwondodo (M).

kurt (nightcrawler) and kitty (shadowcat) managed to get things worked out between them - mostly - but things have taken a decided turn for the worse and are only going to go downhill from here.

YOUNG ROYALS

and each slow dusk, by loyaulte_me_lie / @if-fortunate (M).

“he wishes for a time machine to turn back the clock, back to a world where his mother wasn’t on the end of the phone, saying grimly, “wilhelm, you need to come home. it’s starting.””

two months after wille’s arrival at hillerska, war breaks out. when his and erik's last-ditch attempt to leave the country goes badly wrong, he ends up stuck in bjarstad - with simon.

[ FANDOMS A-I HERE ]

#one fic for each fandom #cali loves fanfic #for future reference

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samijey · 9 months ago

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No I'm 100% with you. It's also not like Jey can't do the emotional shit because Jey was this companies emotional powerhouse for 3 YEARS. He was the emotional Backbone of the bloodline, like how many times did a bloodline omg segment end with a close up of HIS face because he could sell it. How many times did he give a gut wrenching promo. Sure he's fun now but Jey got over because he was a multilayered character that we saw struggle, overcome with not just with the script but the story written on his face and THATS who we fell in love with. If they like the money, merch and the pops he can still do that but be so much more and I honestly think they know that and it scares them. Like the story of Jey Uso one half of The Usos, the less known twin, on the roster for 10 years and just becoming something so beautiful. They should be proud of that.

See, I can't even find him "fun" anymore, because the Jey that's on TV these days is barely even a shadow of the Jey Uso I fell in love with and the compelling character I know he can be, so it just infuriates me to no end - these days he's just there to spew the same word over and over and pop the crowd while the "real" hand-picked stars get to cut the emotional promos and have all the character-driven talking segments.

His character was stripped of the complexity he'd built for over 3 years upon his move to RAW and only maintained a semblance of his former self in those small moments when he interacted with Sami backstage, where he would express doubt, discuss their shared past in a serious, thoughtful way, etc... so now that they don't even let him do that, he's just a walking catchphrase who's there to sell merch and be an afterthought and it hurts me to watch. He's supposed to be friends with Cody and even won the tag titles with him out of the blue yet they have NEVER spoken to each other on screen - he seemed to be building a tentative friendship with Seth too on the road to Survivor Series but they had a grand total of like one interaction before SS and another one after where Seth just dunked on him for no good reason. You can't just have two characters save each other from a beatdown, dust yourself off and be like "there! they now have a relationship!" It's a mess and I simply don't watch the main roster these days and just stick to NXT since Shawn doesn't insult the viewers the way Triple H is constantly doing.

#carla answers a thing #if you like it more power to you but could never be me

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bellamysgriffin · 1 year ago

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The 100

Favorite episode and why

blood must not have blood aka the s2 finale!!! it's just so incredible. everything is building to this horrible decision that clarke has to make and i love how she's basically where she was in the first episode. like it was always going to end that way she was always going to have to pull that lever and she tried everything to come to any other outcome, she sacrificed finn, she let the bomb drop on TonDC and it didn't work, and as awful as it is, it is arguably her most heroic moment so. also i love how it sets up s3, the murphy stuff is great and clarke leaving is brilliant, the clexa betrayal is supreme and the blarke goodbye is amazing. even tho s3 didn't rlly deliver so well on those threads, it was just iconic!!

Funniest/crackiest/it’s-terrible-but-I-still-love-it episode/scene

oh god... i do like the eclipse stuff at the beginning of s6 even tho it was so out there just because it was kinda fun watching everyone go wild

It’s-terrible-and-I-hate it episode/scene

oh like all of s7 but you know, the highlights. like the series finale and That Episode

Best episode/scene for my favorite character

oh that's tough. hmmm i can't commit to one scene but the bellamy/clarke scene on the beach is great for bellamy specifically. i am in favor of the unpopular opinion that him siding w pike is actually quite in character so i think watching him overcome that was great

Best episode/scene for my favorite ship

it's gotta be 4x13 aka praimfaya!! my fav scene for blarke is probably the if im on that list ur on that list scene tho

Best episode/scene for a particular supporting character

oh boy. i really really love raven reyes and i think the scene where she is hallucinating sinclair before she stops her heart and then brings herself back to life is kinda everything !! i don't choose pain i choose life!!

Best episode/scene for a character I don’t usually like

i don't love finn, but i think the whole spacewalker episode is really beautiful

Most visually beautiful or interesting episode/scene

i always love when abby and kane land on earth and they look out across the lake for the first time and abby says "it's so beautiful." just stunning

Most emotionally affecting episode/scene

oh man that's hard bc all the season finales are pretty sad. i do think lexa's death is just so beautiful and so moving. her last words are just insanely touching and gorgeous

Most powerful use of music in an episode/scene

i mean. shout out to shawn mendes lmao but honestly it's gotta be knockin on heaven's door bc she just is that bitch!!

Episode/scene that changed my perspective on the show

i think everything kinda changed when i got to murphys law? after wells dies and charlotte dies the stakes go higher in a way that rules. also twilight's last gleaming and the culling. whew.

Episode/scene where the acting stands out

i LOVE eliza griffin's acting during the scene in the s2 premiere when jasper is trying to get her not to pull the lever and she's so distrustful.

Overall best-written episode

it's gotta be the s2 finale like sorry but she is that bitch

send me a show!

#dana answers stuff

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libraryleopard · 4 months ago

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i keep meaning to write out my thoughts on how to blow up a pipeline and forgetting but anyway here are some:

i know it's based on a manifesto but i don't know anything about that book but i did think the film was a pretty great heist story with a solid ensemble cast and some great tension

literally i was watching it with my sister and we were so stressed throughout that we forgot to eat the popcorn we'd gotten which is personally a testament to this film's ability to build tension

forrest goodluck and sasha lane being in this movie is great for me personally! cameron post reunion!

goodluck is also really talented at acting without a lot of dialogue–the scenes where he's constructing the homemade explosives had me on the edge of my SEAT

really solid ensemble cast in general–didn't take me long to get all the names/characters/backstories straight

i enjoyed the format of the film giving us flashbacks to the backstories/recruitment of the characters throughout the story rather than having a "getting the gang together" montage at the start because it worked really well to build tension about whether the characters were trustworthy and how they got involved

especially in regards to rowan and logan–i did NOT trust them from the start so i was legitimately surprised when it turned out they were actually committed to the mission (i admit that my sister and i spent some amount of time yelling "ECO-TERRORIST POSERS" when they were onscreen. sorry logan and rowan the film did a good job of making me misjudge you. but also why did you have sex in the middle of the heist my GOD.)

and i think the way that you're in the dark about the entire plan until almost the end worked well–like at first i didn't realize why theo and alisha had such an emotional goodbye when the team is splitting up after the explosives are all planted and then you learn that it's because xochitl and theo have planned to take the fall so alisha and theo may never see each other again and certainly won't be going back to normal lives

oh and also when you realize that the photos rowan took to send to the fbi only had theo and xochitl in them and how that was a calculated choice to keep the others as clear from suspicion as possible

oh and when logan got shot and rowan shoved him through the hotel window instead of bringing him around the front was like why are you doing this?? but then it became clear later it was to avoid him being in cameras so he wouldn't be implicated

i think it would probably be fun to rewatch this film at some point and catch details like that again

"it would take days to clean the place up" and then cutting to the house they were staying in being blown up was also a great moment utilizing the nonlinear form

i think the varying backstories of characters worked well (theo's cancer, xochitl's radicalization after the death of her mom in a heatwave, michael being from an indigenous community that is affected by oil mining) and the movie was pretty efficient at balancing backstory/current heist

though i have to admit the scene where shawn recruits logan by standing around in a bookstore reading the source material manifesto was so unserious lol

the scene where alisha's leg is broken and she's just said goodbye to theo and she's driving and kind of crying was so well-acted i need jayme lawson to be in lots of stuff after this

"this is an act of self defense" is such a banger of a last line also

i love well-structured heist movies woohoo

also did you know that dwayne's actor was in a movie about zombie beavers called zombeavers. wikipedia can teach you such beautiful things

i thought it was cool that the "a film by" title card at the end included the writers of the film and not just the director

#how to blow up a pipeline #lulu speaks #lulu watches things #lulu watches how to blow up a pipeline #movies

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thetoxicgamer · 1 year ago

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This Baldur’s Gate 3 scene lovingly outglitches Assassin’s Creed Unity

Certain risks come with rendering cutscenes in-engine. Players of Assassin's Creed Unity may be aware that bugs can ruin an otherwise exciting scene. Although Baldur's Gate 3 has it beat in terms of how crazy that game's wandering Frenchmen are. Watch as the clumsy bard of this epic role-playing game meets an unexpected and dramatic end in a fantastic Baldur's Gate 3 scenario. If you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about, then you’ve probably never laid eyes on Assassin Creed Unity’s magnificently glitchy cutscene. The scene starts normally enough but, about halfway through, two random NPCs spawn in and just start chatting away. If this was a movie set they’d be ejected and the whole scene re-shot, but the conversation just goes on around them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DzsFMsIZPM What it doesn’t have, however, is a massive explosion, which is why this new Baldur’s Gate 3 cutscene is so amazing. This shocking, bard-annihilating moment was encountered by Shawn Murphy, who posted it over on his TikTok. Going by the clip, Murphy is attempting to replicate the explosive shenanigans that earned the admiration of Baldur’s Gate 3 lead system designer. He uses explosive barrels to help clear out the goblin base and rescue the imprisoned bard Volo, who begins thanking his party. The catch is that the barrels haven’t quite finished exploding, so Volo is promptly wiped out by a massive explosion. It’s a beautiful moment. “Gods, I really thought I was…” are the final words to exit the bard’s mouth. @shawn_60_ Volo fuggin EXPLODES 💣💣#bg3#volo#baldursgate3#dndtiktok#dnd#bard♬ original sound - shawn murphy And just like that, poor Volo is gone. Maybe if Shawn has a Speak with Dead scroll he can apologize? Though, to be fair, there’s no easy way of putting a stop to situations like this. Larian could make Volo (and other NPCs) temporarily immortal but the explosion would still happen. Freezing time mid-conversation is another option though, as in some of the 3D Fallout games, you end up with everyone in the background becoming a statue. So, sorry Assassin’s Creed Unity, we love those wonderfully oblivious Frenchman but Baldur’s Gate 3 has claimed the cutscene absurdity crown. If you’re playing Baldur’s Gate 3 and you haven’t blown everyone to smithereens, you might find our Baldur’s Gate 3 quest guide useful. And here’s our Baldur’s Gate 3 barbarian build guide if you want to create a character who laughs at explosions. Read the full article

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zinepunk · 3 months ago

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First up on the playlist is Cutthroat by Imagine Dragons.

I think this song would work really well as a theme for season 2. Imagine Dragons did such a great job on the season 1 theme (Enemy) and I think this one fits the darker direction the show seems to be going.

The next song is Bang Bang Bang Bang by Sohodolls.

After that is So Below by Code Orange.

I think this one fits the sort of steampunk/cyberpunk vibe of the show, and I could see it being played while establishing a new setting (Like the way Playground did in season 1).

Then we have Empire Now by Hozier.

Hozier hasn't been in the Arcane soundtrack so far, but his music fits the tone of the world really well. I think it would also be a good idea for the series to feature some of his new music, and this song in particular seems to almost tell the tale of Piltover and Zaun.

I really like these lyrics, which talk about the hopeful future of an empire that is going through rough times. In a hundred years, the battles that are being fought now will be the foundation people build on. I think Arcane's story is going in a similar direction-- it may be scorched-earth levels of conflict now, but ultimately that conflict leads to a more hopeful future.

The next song is Teach Me to Fight by YONAKA.

This song has such Vi energy. It fits in perfectly with her personality-- I could see it being used in some kind of training montage especially.

Similarly, I picked Vertigo by Alice Merton for its vibes alone.

The song after that is Goliath by Woodkid.

Would it really be Arcane without a Woodkid song? I made this playlist before the trailer came out, so now we know for sure he will have an original song featured in the season 2 soundtrack, but out of his already released music, I think this one works really well.

These lyrics in particular are reminiscent of Vi and Jinx's relationship, with Vi eager to forgive and Jinx in a hurry to distance herself from the past.

Thousand Eyes by Of Monsters and Men is the next song.

I can see this one being used for a pivotal moment, something that builds up to a climax.

The song begins with “undo this storm” and builds up in intensity to the final verse with “I am the storm.” I feel like that perfectly reflects Jinx’s creation out of Powder— she started out as a victim to the horrors around her and ended up becoming the thing everyone feared.

The next song is Riot! by Arrested Youth.

I relate this one to all the characters left to scramble after Silco’s death. They’re angry, they’re afraid, and they have little more to lose. And they’re all gathering into a mob.

Through the Valley by Shawn James is the next song.

It may seem like an incongruous choice in genre, but that’s on purpose. The season one soundtrack had a couple songs that switched up the genre, and I wanted to do that in this playlist as well. This song mixes up the genre while still narratively fitting in with the others and with the story.

Destroyer by Phantogram is the last song.

I saved this one for last because it’s very tragic, very final, and hints at how I believe Jinx’s story is destined to end.

The song is from the perspective of a narrator who can’t help but push others away and sabotage their relationships. They recognize that they’re making poor choices, but they continue to reject the help of others. In the end, they are truly alone— but that’s what they wanted, isn’t it?

And that’s the breakdown of the playlist! If you read all that, I appreciate you immensely. I put a ton of work into choosing the songs, and I’m really happy with how it turned out.

If you know any of the songs or have any thoughts, let me know! Reblogs and comments are super appreciated.

Looking forward to the release of season 2!!!

My Arcane Season 2 Fan Soundtrack!

A few weeks ago, I put together this fan soundtrack for what I imagine season 2 of Arcane to sound like. I love the first season's soundtrack so much, and I'm thrilled to hear what's coming next.

I put a ton of thought into this playlist, including analyzing the various components of the season 1 soundtrack, diving into the discography of some of the artists featured on it, and speculating what overall tone and themes I thought would come up in the second season of the show.

In the reblogs, I will be breaking down some of the songs on the playlist and why I picked them, as well as sharing a bit of my thought process.

I hope you enjoy!

#Spotify #no leak spoilers #no season 2 spoilers #fan soundtrack #arcane season two #arcane season 2 #arcane s2 #arcane #arcane league of legends

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thranduel · 2 years ago

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why byler being endgame makes the most sense and would be the most beautiful outcome

*these are my own personal opinions!!

before i start, this is what shawn levy said in the stranger things worlds turned upside down book: “our show is an anthem for the marginalised and imperfect, precisely because the duffer brothers know from experience that the popular and easy road is rarely the most interesting one, and that character, grit, connection, and soul are bred in the same moments that challenge us most.”

what better way to represent the true meaning of the show than to have a beautifully written slowburn queer relationship between two main characters that started out as childhood best friends and ended up falling in love? it would be SO beautiful and powerful. mike and will also have the closest and most genuine relationship in the show already, and i can’t think of any other characters that fit together so perfectly.

not only that, but usually when there’s a love triangle in a show, the couple that kisses and starts dating right at the beginning doesn’t end up together anyways. the endgame couple is usually slowburn with proper build up that makes it all so much more worth it (and the characters in this relationship are the ones that have known each other for much longer. in fact, childhood best friends falling in love is the most popular romance trope and that’s exactly what mike and will are). this also allows viewers to notice and appreciate all the details and subtext throughout the entire show which is exactly what the writers want. they create their story so that people can become fully invested in it. having things shoved in your face and accepting it without question is so boring and pointless, especially when it’s so forced and repetitive.

when it comes to writing, world building and film-making, you’re supposed to analyse the characters; who they are individually, their relationships, their behaviour, their actions. the writers want people to go back, rewatch and think “wow, it was there all along”, and they do it so well that it’s not completely obvious to everyone but it’s still clearly there. that’s what makes it so beautiful and powerful. it also makes you realise that these writers truly do care about their work and they think about every little detail. even if the actual characters aren’t fully aware of things all the time, it’s like they slowly discover it with the audience and it makes you feel like you’re a part of this journey with them.

but when you have the same couple in the show with the most repetitive storylines (argue, lie to each other, get split up, reunite) AND they don’t feel like equals and can’t even be themselves with each other (they both literally admitted this in season 4), people are going to get bored and frustrated. many people already are. it’s also quite heartbreaking to see characters you love in a relationship where they can’t even be themselves. both el and mike deserve better. they deserve to be with someone who they feel comfortable with and someone who can give them the love they deserve. and just because mike was the first person to help el outside the lab and el has saved mike’s life doesn’t mean they had to rush into a romantic relationship especially when el didn’t even know what romance was. they already had such a beautiful and genuine friendship, and it’s clear they love and care for each other so much, but the show has proven over and over again that they just don’t work together romantically. they both met during a traumatic time and they became emotionally attached to each other because they helped each other when they needed it, but that’s still not a reason to start dating someone. having a partner is SO much more than that. they don’t even feel like equals, they don’t understand each other, they don’t have meaningful heart-to-heart conversions, they lie to each other, they don’t share any similar interests or hobbies (i don’t even think they know what the other likes?) and they can’t even be themselves with each other. it’s not fair or healthy to either of them. that’s why i’m tired of people saying things like “oh, you don’t ship this? that means you hate the characters and don’t want them to be happy”. like what, are you kidding me?! we love them and we want them to be happy, that’s literally why we’re saying this!!!! seriously, understanding the characters and realising they don’t work together shows you love and care about them MORE because you want the best for them. how do people not understand that?

even the general audience can tell when a relationship just isn’t working anymore. so many viewers didn’t feel any sort of emotion during mike’s monologue. firstly, because it was forced and full of lies, but also because they’re just sick of seeing the same couple and mike’s character being reduced to el’s boyfriend. that’s literally all he’s there for at this point. and if his behaviour doesn’t get explained in season 5 and he just became an asshole to will AND el for no reason, that’s just horrible and inconsistent writing. “he’s just a teenager” or “he’s a bit dumb” isn’t an excuse anymore. if the general audience hates mike and he doesn’t even feel like the same character from season 1 and 2, that just shows how bad he looks and they need to fix that.

will has also been involved too much now which is why they can’t end it with him suffering. this child has been suffering his entire life, even before the events of season 1. including him in this love triangle just to use his feelings for mike as a plot device to force mike and el back together is not only horrible writing, but it’s just simply disgusting, unnecessary and cruel (but i don’t think they would ever do that. they know what they’re doing). they’ve also kept mike’s feelings ambiguous during all this and they’re dragging it out. if will was going to get rejected, it would’ve already happened by now. or if he wasn’t going to end up with mike, they would’ve introduced a new love interest for him or made him not have one at all.

they’ve also done an incredible job at slowly introducing the possibility of byler this season, because most of the audience felt sorry for will. we saw his POV throughout this season and he was in every single mike and el scene (except for their fight). this was definitely intentional. the fact that mike couldn’t even tell his own girlfriend he loved her (even when she was sobbing in front of him) until will confessed his OWN feelings for him and gave him the painting just tells us that will is the person mike truly needs and values the most. mike only confides in will and he can only be his true self around him too. they have the closest and most genuine relationship in the entire show and they’re focused on differently compared to the other relationships. from the very beginning, they’ve made it clear that mike and will have something special. not only that, but there’s so many unanswered questions with them too. mike hasn’t even realised that the painting was from will and that he confessed his own feelings to him, and when he finds out, i think it’ll change everything. mike and will need each other more than anything and they haven’t even realised it yet.

byler also has the most popular and well-loved romance tropes: childhood best friends, first friend, soulmates, slowburn, each other’s safe place, sunshine and sunshine protector, angst, thinking their feelings won’t be reciprocated when they already are, understanding each other better than anyone else, “it’s always been you”.

that’s why mike and will ending up together is the only thing that would make sense narratively and it would be best for all the characters too.

#in conclusion byler endgame #byler #mike wheeler #will byers #stranger things #byler analysis #finn wolfhard #noah schnapp

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chirpsythismorning · 2 years ago

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In reference to the script for 4x04 dropping, curtesy of @aurorabyler

STRAP IN FOLKS!

Basically, I'm now considering the possibility that Finn used notes separate from the script for season 4, which were specific to Mike and Mike only.

Because let's be real, there's no way the Duffer's gave Finn absolutely nothing to go off of, at all. Which is what this script here implies.

They themselves actually revealed that they gave him 'some pretty hard hitting stuff this season'. And I'm starting to think it's because his character was very difficult portray.

Until we get all the scripts for s4, we won’t know for sure, but if/when we eventually do, I think what we’ll find is that all of these important moments involving Mike this season, are never going to be from Mike's perspective, but from either Will's, El's or even Jonathon's. At best, Mike's inner thoughts will be vague or hidden in the subtext, but not even close to being fully acknowledged.

Luckily for all of us, there happens to be at least one scene in particular we may not have to wait for a script to find out...

Before Vol. 2 dropped, the one and only swiftlynavel said that the pineapple pizza scene was from Will’s pov (tweet since deleted 👀).

Although they weren’t right about everything, they were right about a few things that happened in Vol. 2, including:

Humoring the possibility of Byler is not something they're known for, so I'm not surprised they revealed this "Will's pov' leak, only to not think much of it initially. But the fact that they've since deleted this tweet, makes me wonder if they realized this detail ended up being not so great for their interpretation of things.

Still, if what they said is true, then this would only support the theory that we're witnessing everything mostly from Will's perspective this season, even in every M*leven scene potentially now. Well, besides their 'big' fight, because Will wasn't present (but, when we eventually do get the script for that scene, and it's from El's perspective and totally ambiguous in regards to Mike's feelings... then what?)

If the Duffer's are going through all this trouble to keep us in the dark, to the point where Mike's perspective is entirely missing from the script... to the point where even the most casual of fans are begging for s1-2 Mike Wheeler back... then it must be building up to something, and for a specific reason.

After reading the script for 4x04, we can see there are indeed little to no hints about what Mike is thinking/feeling. When it comes to him, the script focuses solely on his actions, literal expressions and dialogue. That’s it. Nothing much deeper though, especially not anything that could hint too much about his feelings/thoughts regarding Will. They don't want to give us any clear cut reason why he is saying/doing the things he is. They offer up the bare minimum, then leave the rest up to interpretation.

How convenient.

Now, Will on the other hand... his mouth, DRY AS A CALIFORNIA SUMMER???

So yeah, this is all very suspicious.

Oddly, what made this possibility of Finn having notes, separate from the script, sort of hit me, was that I noticed there was no mention in the script of Mike putting his arm up to Will during the shoot out.

Fans first noticed this subtly in the actual episode, but it was only a mere observation at this point. It was so fast, that I don't think any of us were all too confident it was a definitive creative choice by the director or anything...

But then Shawn Levy, director of 4x04 himself, posted a video of them rehearsing this exact moment, with Finn clearly putting his arm up to Noah in a way that feels, dare I say... scripted?

I think understandably, they all tried to be as exact as possible in their character’s movements during the rehearsal here, because the official shot needed to be done in one long take. They had to get it right.

But hypothetically, for the sake of this post, this could be just one potential example of Finn doing/saying something, that was intentionally left out of the main script, and understandably so, because it might hint towards Mike's thoughts/feelings towards Will.

And this alone may also disprove the popular fan theory that Finn is pushing for Byler all by himself, against the Duffers wishes (tbh I think dude is just doing his job the way they intended??). And even if that was the case, wouldn't it have made more sense for him to wait to pull this out in the final take, not outright during rehearsal? It's very clearly something he wouldn't do unless he was supposed to, directed to, especially given the implications with everything that’s going on in the plot during this episode.

Again, I think that if/when we get the rest of the scripts for s4, it's likely going to follow this trend of everything being from Will's perspective, or at least heavily ambiguous in regards to what Mike could possibly be thinking.

This would also conveniently explain why Mike’s behavior this season has been so confusing to the audience overall. Vol. 2 especially has people STUMPED. Which would make sense if only Finn and a handful of others know the true nature of his reactions. It’s possible most involved in the process aren’t entirely aware of Mike’s feelings as a result of them leaving everything out of the script. And I think that allowed for the story to come off so disjointed and confusing. That was the intention.

It was entirely intentional that we didn't know a single thought that was going on in Mike's head.

But why? What could he possibly be thinking about, that would make it so worthwhile to hold off on...

Anyways... Highly anticipated Mike revelation in ST5, here we come !!

#byler #stranger things #byler proof #byler evidence #byler tumblr #byler is endgame #mike x will #will byers #mike wheeler #stranger things theories #stranger things theory #stranger things meta

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marvelmaniac2000 · 3 years ago

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Can you do a little story like maybe Shang-Chi & reader and also Kate & xu xialing

Reader and Shang-Chi have been friends for a while and they clearly like each other but are afraid of hurting or losing one other and Kate's just like "date already" and you know like at the end of the movie where Shang-Chi hugs Kate well instead of him hugging Kate he hugs the reader and the reader whispers I love you and they kiss and Kate just looking at them like FINALLY. and so we don't leave Kate out maybe xu xialing gives Kate a kiss on the cheek and Kate's like all pink. I'm so sorry if this is to much this idea has just been stuck in my head for days if you want to make it shorter by turning it into your own idea please do.

Spirit of the Heart (Shang Chi x Reader)

Side notes: This was requested a long time ago… I’m sorry this took a long time, I had to take a break from writing. But I hope you like it and I served you well!

Characters: Shang Chi x Reader, Xu Xialing x Katy Chen

Words: 654

Your heart pounded faster in your ears waiting for the right moment to let your last arrow go. A drop of sweat moistens your forehead as you hear the hectic noise of the village soldiers crumbled from the soul sucking demons. You muted everything else around you sharpen your sight. Now you whisper in your head and shoot the last demon in sight. You let a sigh of a second of relief as you lowered your bow and arrow.

The sight around you was hellish. The overwhelming sight of dead bodies and damaged buildings was in full display. Almost no signs of life were in your view. The little crowd Tao Lo scattered around to help the wounded people. In the near distance you hear your name being called by Katy and Xu.

“(Y/N)!” Katy ran across the sweeping grass to embrace you in a hug. Tears almost whelped your eyes knowing that they were ok. You gazed up and noticed Xu watching you both hug.

“I don’t really do hugs but I’m glad we're all alive” Xu gave your back a sly rub.

“Thanks I’m glad to see you guys are fine but where is Shawn?” you panic noticing everyone was here but your best friend.

“We both haven't seen him since he defeated the dweller,” Xu said. “There was this huge explosion that happened after he used the rings and I’m not sure where he went” Katy's voice became scarce. You looked over by the far north distance of where the gate closed. No sight of Shawn anywhere near. The sky was far darker and no sight of anything happening. You scanned all around the village’s field and spotted Aunt Nan but she was alongside fellow medical aid soldiers. For a split second you felt instant regret never having the chance to tell him how you really felt. The circumstances of him getting killed trying to do what’s right for the universe seemed at odds but he always managed to be strong enough to get through things.

A low grumble of water sputtered near the shore, and the icy turquoise dragon smoothly glided on the land with Shawn sitting on top. The mystic dragon locked it’s sharp eyes with yours before swimming off shore. You frantically ran to the man you dearly loved. As you ran closer to him, you noticed his father’s rings around his arms. Your legs almost gave out but Shawn caught you in time to hold you tightly in his arms.

“(Y/N) I nearly died fifty times and I thought about you” Shawn nuzzled his chin firmly on your shoulder.

You broke away from his hug and looked directly into his eyes. Your emotions were everywhere but one feeling for certain was made clear after this whole ordeal. “I love you” you said with a shaky voice.

“I love you too,” Shawn gave a weary laugh and lowered his head to give you a soft kiss on the lips.

In the far distance, Xu and Katy watched you two finally set it off. Xu watched in awe seeing how happy her brother was. She for once hadn’t seen him this happy since their mother died.

“You know I’ve been a third wheel to those bozos for years..when am I going to get my charming partner in crime? '' Katy pouted. Xu giggled and loved how adorable Katy was. Her whole quirky style and demeanor was something she had never seen before. Xu pecked Katy on the cheek leaving a faint lipstick stain.

“I’m your charming partner now” Katy looked at Xu with a beaming red face.

“Now all of us have to go on double dates from now on, you know that right?” Katy flirted. Xu snickered leaving Katy in a lustful mess.

#shang chi fanfic #shang chi fluff #marvel #mcu #fanfic #love story #simu liu #the legend of the ten rings #shang chi x reader #xu xialing #katy chen #dragons #requests #writing #disney plus #Shang Chi

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bloodonhissocks · 2 years ago

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Little sad thing about Psych, but my roommate and I just watched “One, Maybe Two, Ways Out” (5x9) and we talked a lot about the end of the episode. For context, this is the episode where Shawn has a “serious Shawn moment” and tells Gus that he can’t imagine himself happy without Juliet who overhears everything. Later, Juliet spontaneously kisses Shawn after he gives her a bittersweet speech about taking pictures to save precious memories.

This entire scene is portrayed as romantic and a big romantic climax. Finally Shawn and Juliet are getting somewhere and moving toward a relationship. The music paints their kiss in a positive, wonderful light. My biggest problem here is that Juliet literally cheats on Declan. No way around that one. She’s about to go on a 12-day vacation with her boyfriend who genuinely likes and cares about her to the point that he came clean about his profession and is clearly shown throughout the episode to be abiding by his decision honest with Juliet. But all of that is dismissed because she happened to overhear Shawn and Gus’s conversation.

This now gives up the impression of “the one all along.” Shawn and Juliet have been slowly (but directly) building up to a canonical romantic relationship. Since Juliet first appeared in 1x2, it’s clear that they were set up as characters who would ultimately get together (which is a whole other post about character archetypes but also romantic relationship archetypes). Now that it’s been 5 seasons, their journey has finally hit a climax and that moment takes over everything.

Like I said before, it overshadows the fact that Juliet is actively cheating on Declan. We know Juliet knows that her behavior was wrong because right before she kissed him, her facial expressions conveyed conflict. She overheard Shawn’s feelings, so she knows that Shawn is saying all these things to her because he’s in love with her and is projecting onto the situation his desires to capture these kinds of experiences with her. As a result, we are sympathetic to Juliet as she’s experiencing this cognitive dissonance where she knows she cannot do anything and that is what makes it sad from her POV. But then she kisses Shawn anyways and that’s where it gets bad given the way it comes off.

I feel like this scene influenced me a lot as a kid. It gave me a certain perception of romance and romanticized behaviors like these. The chemistry between Shawn and Juliet excused Juliet’s cheating in that one scene (I say this because it’s been a while since I’ve seen the next episode and I’m sure they address it and I know Juliet and Declan ultimately break up soon after).

Also during this scene, Shawn and Juliet stare longingly at each other after Declan returns to the room and hugs Juliet. The music heightens the longing and the close up shots to their faces further highlight them. Because of the music, Declan’s voice seems to be background noise as Shawn and Juliet are meant to be the focus of the scene. This longing is sad because the audience knows that they both finally know each other’s feelings (even though Shawn doesn’t know that Juliet knows) and are unable to be together because Juliet is dating someone else. This makes Declan a “villain” because he’s now in the way of Shawn and Juliet getting together and it’s been consistently obvious that they were “meant to be.”

Anyways, those are my thoughts on the scene, but I still love Psych and it was always be nostalgic to me and hold a special place in my heart. I’ve just started to notice some of these more intricate details and implications and I like sharing my thoughts

#if you read this wow thanks #I’m high rn and I’m having thoughts #I love watching psych with my roommate bc we’ve both seen it 25x and we can afford to stop saying attention for 10 mins while I rant #this is also definitely the influence of therapy lmao #I know so many things about myself now #if anyone wants to be tagged in more psych posts #let me know because I’m starting to share more of the high thoughts I have while rewatching #psych #psych tv #psych usa #shawn spencer #burton guster #gus #shawn #juliet o'hara #shules #jules #mkwg4271

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thenerdparty · 3 years ago

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The Batman - Film Review

Written by Shawn Eastridge

MINOR SPOILERS WITHIN

I didn’t need another Batman movie. As far as I was concerned, Christopher Nolan’s trilogy was about as exhaustive and definitive a cinematic take on the Dark Knight as you could get. (And this is despite his spectacularly dropping the ball with ‘The Dark Knight Rises.’) But, because Warner Bros. likes to make all the moneys, I knew it was only a matter of time before the inevitable franchise reboot. I just couldn’t have cared less.

Until Matt Reeves entered the picture.

Reeves who, with his ‘Planet of the Apes’ sequels, had crafted two of the boldest, darkest blockbusters this side of Nolan’s trilogy. Those films, along with ‘Cloverfield’ and his shockingly great ‘Let the Right One In’ remake, had affirmed Reeves’ status as a filmmaking force to be reckoned with. His involvement gave me hope for the future of the Bat-Franchise. And while ‘The Batman’ might not offer up as fresh an interpretation or redefine this character in the same way Nolan’s films did, it is still an exciting take that offers a compelling angle on everyone’s favorite Caped Crusader.

Perhaps ‘The Batman’s’ greatest accomplishment is that it feels like a legitimate film, less a product of Warner Bros. franchise-building and more the result of a great filmmaker executing a specific vision. That feels like something of a minor miracle in this day and age of cookie-cutter blockbusters, and big kudos to Warner Bros. for giving Reeves the space to make the movie he wanted. Aided by Greig Fraiser’s rain-soaked cinematography, James Chinlund’s grimy production design, and Michael Giacchino’s haunting score, ‘The Batman’ feels more in line with a gritty detective thriller than your average superhero action flick.

That’s right, for the first time in his big-screen history, Batman really gets the chance to live up to that ‘World’s Greatest Detective’ moniker. This emphasis gives ‘The Batman’ a hardboiled, noir quality that, while evident in prior Bat-flicks, was always relegated to the very back of the line. Here, Reeves and co-writer Peter Craig have made it the central motif, world-weary voiceover narration and all. (I never knew how much I needed some Bat-narration in my life until this moment.) And while the pacing here is more considered than your standard blockbuster, or even past ‘Batman’ movies, there’s still plenty of solid action to behold. The fight choreography in particular is arguably the best this series has ever seen. (Nolan never did figure out how to craft a truly exciting fist fight.) There’s a visceral thrill in watching Batman take out a group of thugs, because, despite his superior strength and abilities, he still ends up taking quite a few punches.

It’s that bruised, human quality that makes Robert Pattinson’s turn as the legendary character so compelling. His Batman/Bruce Wayne is unhinged in a way we haven’t truly seen before. Unlike Nolan and Bale’s interpretation, which went to great lengths to define who Bruce was and what motivated him to dress like a bat and take down criminals, the Reeves/Pattinson collaboration has homed in on the notion that Bruce himself isn’t sure who he is or why he does what he does, other than a deeply-rooted need to vent his unbridled rage. There’s a disturbed, dangerous quality to this version and Pattinson manages to act the hell out of that John Connor haircut and eyeliner. (I can’t tell you how much I appreciate a Batman movie finally acknowledging his application of eye paint.)

And I love the way Reeves and Craig have weaved in the supporting cast of characters. As Catwoman, Zoe Kravitz is both vulnerable and fierce. It’s no wonder Battinson falls so hard for her - here’s someone whose personal suffering and acrobatic abilities mirror his own. True love in the making! I also love the relationship between Batman and Gordon (a perfectly cast Jeffrey Wright), the ‘us against them’ mentality and the way their friendship grows as they collaborate to solve the Riddler’s clues. An unrecognizable Colin Farrell plays the Penguin with such glee - he seems to be having the most fun of anyone here - and Paul Dano is absolutely horrifying as this Zodiac killer-inspired iteration of the Riddler. There is so much working in ‘The Batman’s’ favor, and at three hours, I never once felt the length.

So with all this praise, why didn’t I enjoy it more?

I guess it all comes down to the fact that all of this can’t help feeling a bit ‘been there, done that.’ Many of these same character beats have been explored in previous iterations, from Burton to Nolan. While Reeves’ take is compelling, it can’t help this ever-encroaching sense of familiarity. You’ve got the scene where the bad guy reminds the good guy that they’re ‘not so different’ after all; the conflicted love interest with a skewed sense of morality; Alfred’s insistence that Bruce needs to uphold ‘The Wayne Legacy’ (some of their exchanges feel pulled verbatim from ‘Batman Begins); yet another Batmobile chase; and so on and so forth.

And, look, while I am absolutely here for Pattinson’s disturbed, disconnected interpretation, his brooding Wayne is so emotionally distant, it nearly borders on self-parody. I mean, I love Nirvana as much as the next person, but I don’t know that I need scenes of him staring forlornly at his computer, journaling away while listening to their funereal ‘Something in the Way.’ It’s difficult to grasp what this Bruce Wayne actually cares about. Even his relationship with Alfred seems relatively estranged, but it’s barely touched on. (There’s an emotional beat between them near the film’s third act that doesn’t feel earned given the unfortunately small amount of screen time Andy Serkis’ Alfred has.) And we never get a true understanding of why Bruce chooses to dress like a bat and beat criminals to a pulp. It’s not that I need another origin story, (I really don’t) but it would have been nice to have at least a little more insight into who this person is and what drives him. He’s a bit one-note and stone faced. Even Bale’s Batman had something resembling a sense of humor.

ALSO…there’s a shameless, sequel-teasing beat near the film’s conclusion that is particularly grating and better-suited for Marvel’s Cinematic Universe than Reeves’ deadly serious interpretation. I know Reeves has explained in interviews that this scene doesn’t necessarily mean what we think it means, but it still feels silly in a way the rest of the movie never does.

All this said, I’ve only seen ‘The Batman’ once. There’s a good chance additional viewings might help balance my opinion without the weight of anticipation coloring it. While I’m not sure I’ll ever outright embrace this film in the same way I embraced Nolan’s ‘Begins’ or ‘The Dark Knight,’ that ‘The Batman’ manages to hold a candle to those entries at all is nothing short of impressive. I love this cast, I love the crew, and I love Reeves. The Batman’s future looks very bright indeed…if ‘bright’ can be used to describe anything about Batman.

FINAL RATING: 3.5/5

#batman #the batman #matt reeves #robert pattinson #paul dano #zoe kravitz #jeffrey wright #colin farrell #Film Review #movie review #2022 #the riddler #catwoman #the penguin #dark knight

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stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale · 3 years ago

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Top 5 Best Executed Deaths

A few weeks ago, I did a list talking about the Top 5 Character Deaths That Made Me Side-Eye the Writers and I thought it was only fair that I talk about some of the character deaths that I thought were actually done well. So consider this like a companion to that list.

Like I said in that T5F, this is TWDG, a game series all about people surviving in a world overrun by zombies. Naturally, characters are going to die. Some of these characters get pretty shitty deaths that only happened to fill a quota, some had effort and thought put into them and how they were going to effect the story and remaining characters. These are deaths that served their purpose, progressed the story, or are an understandable conclusion to a character’s arc.

Do keep in mind that when I say that I enjoy the way these were done/handled/portrayed/whatever, this isn’t me taking joy outta watching these deaths play out. Hell, I kinda hate most of the deaths on this list, but just because I don’t want this character to die or I wish they stuck around longer doesn’t mean I can’t recognize when it’s executed well, y’know?

5. Larry and the meat locker incident

So.... Larry’s an asshole, y’know? He made it on another T5F because he sucks. No one likes Larry.

He treats Lee like garbage, treats his own daughter terribly, and is overall just a piece of shit. That being said, he played his role well. He did what he needed to do which was be a antagonistic character within the group who posed a threat to Lee by threatening to expose his past. He creates a lot of tension within the group, he puts all this pressure on Lilly, you can’t even attempt to show any kindness to him because he doesn’t care about anyone but himself and Lilly.

That being said.... his death scene is pretty good. Y’know, you play through ep2 for the first time and you’ve just discovered that these people are cannibals and they have you locked in a fucking meat locker so they can butcher you later, and Larry is freakin’ the fuck out because he’s pissed. Lilly is sick in the corner, Kenny is desperately trying to find a way out because they have his family, and Clementine is terrified, and Lee is just waking up.

You go over and try to calm Larry down because he’s pounding at the door and this dude.... this bastard has the gall to be like “Fuck you, you must really hate me! I’m plannin’ on bein’ around waaaaaay after you’re dead! I’ll be the one to put you down!”

Then he has a heart attack.

And you’re stuck in this meat locker with him. You don’t know if he’s alive or not-- Kenny immediately deems him dead, Lilly is desperately trying to resuscitate him, and they’re both yelling at you. You gotta decide if you’re gonna help Lilly try to bring him back, or if you’re gonna help Kenny make sure he doesn’t turn.

Not matter what you do, Kenny smashes Larry’s head in with a damn saltlick because I guess he missed the opening of the episode where they remind you that your actions have consequences.

Larry’s death has lasting effects on your relationships with both Lilly and Kenny, though more so Kenny since no matter what, Lilly loses it a little and ends up murdering Carley/Doug and leaving the group. But boy, Kenny will never forget the time you didn’t wanna play hero with him and smash a guys head in right in front of his daughter.

It’s a damn good scene, I gotta hand it to ‘em. I hate Larry and I can’t say I miss him, but I can definitely see both sides of the argument on what to do there. Plus it’s... I dunno, a creative death? and I kinda like that? No one else is out here getting their heads done in with a saltlick, y’know?

Anyway, Larry sucks but his death? Well done.

4. Minerva and the tragic showdown on the bridge

Oh man, I really am digging my own grave with the Minnie crowd lately, huh? Ah well, I’m sure it’s fine.

Listen...okay, look. I have a lot of feelings about the bridge scene. On one hand, I hate it. On the other hand, I kind of love it?

Like, does it piss me off that Tenn dies here because I trust AJ? Yep. Do I still wish they had maybe put Lilly here so that she could actually do her job as a villain? Sure. Does it upset me that AJ ends up shooting his best friend in order to save Louis? Totally. Does it annoy me that Minerva just won’t fucking die even though I shot her and the walkers keep nom noming her? Absolutely.

That being said, I can’t pretend that Minerva’s death isn’t pretty great.... which I know will upset the Minnie crowd who always talk about how it’s bullshit she died here and she deserved a redemption arc... but lemme explain.

Looking at the game itself, the text and story progression, Minerva was never going to get that. She was never set up as someone we were gonna “fix” or as someone who would have a change of heart and switch to our side. From the moment we meet her, she’s too far gone. The delta have their claws sunk deep within her, they brainwashed her, forced her to murder her own sister, and she has completely given up. She never expresses any desire to go back to the school. Nope, the delta is her home now. Her family. And it’s tragic. She and Sophie proof of what would happen to the Ericson crew if the delta go ahold of them-- “which twin will you be?” y’know?

She fucks us over instead of actually helping us, we escape, the boat explodes, but Minerva doesn’t go down with the boat. Nope, she makes it to land and well... she fucking loses it. She sees her delta family get taken out by walkers and she goes nuts with her gun and gets half of her face chewed off by a walker.

So yeah..... she’s dead. Almost. They try to act like we’re supposed to believe that she’s really dead after she gets surrounded by walkers and throws the grenade at Clementine and all that but c’mon.... unless I see a body or a walker version, I don’t believe shit.

Which brings me to the bridge.... there’s a lot of dread building up to Minerva’s final appearance, and you just hear her singing the damn song and bringing a bunch of walkers with her. Not to mention that she already looks dead. She looks like a walker who can talk, and not gonna lie, I like it. It’s freaky and sad and fucked up and adds so much to her character at this point. I mean, she’s here to kill Tenn so that they can all be a family again. She’s smiling and relieved that she’s dying and boy she just can’t wait to take Tenn with her and it’s not great.

She’s here to die and to take someone down with her, and she’s not leaving until she does. Hell, if she can take Clementine out, that’s just a bonus at this point.

ALSO can’t forget that if AJ does shoot and kill Tenn, Minerva is still alive as she’s being eaten by walkers and she looks so damn happy as she reaches out and says, “Yes, come with me...”

Like..... it’s so fucked, and I hate that I love it. From a storytelling standpoint, it’s a fitting death to conclude Minerva’s character and it impacts everyone there in more ways than one.

3. Duck and incredible emotional impact

Oh, Duck... poor, poor Duck.

This one has stuck with me and I hate it. I was never one of those players who hated Duck from the beginning. It’s interesting to go back and see how people reacted to him in the first couple episodes because a lot of them didn’t like him. They found Duck to be annoying, loud, stupid, and would even wonder “yeesh, when can I kill this kid?”

Which is yikes but not gonna get into that right now.

But from my understanding, Telltale got wind of this and knowing they were gonna kill him off, were like “Okay, y’all dumb, so here--” and they added in that little segment with Detective Duck where he helps Lee figure out what’s been going on with the stole meds. It’s a cute scene where we get to hang out with Duck and he proves that he’s not stupid, he’s just... y’know, a child.

Then the motor inn gets attacked, shit goes down after they escape, and it’s revealed that Duck was bitten.

Oh man, let me tell you about emotional impact both on the characters and the player because wow.

Duck’s death is slow, drawn out...and since it’s early in the series, there’s a lot of denial, mostly from Kenny. They find the train and Kenny fixates on it because to him, if he gets it working and they can just get away, Duck can recover. Duck isn’t like the others, he’s just a little sick and everyone is making a big fuss about it.

Then you have Katjaa, who starts out in that denial stage but she moves into acceptance a lot quicker than Kenny does and well.... that might be because she made up her mind about what she was going to do, which that is a whole other layer of fucking despair to this situation.

They also do something that I like with Kenny by adding that depth of him believing he had something like this coming after what happened at Hershel’s farm. Y’know, when he grabbed Duck and took off, leaving Shawn to die? Yeah that.

He’s been so adamant about protecting his family to the point where he doesn’t have anything for the rest of the group, aside from Lee if he helps kill Larry. He did what he could to keep his wife and child safe and in the end, it didn’t matter. Duck still got bit, and now everything is shit.

Then when you thought it couldn’t hurt even more, you find Katjaa dead in the woods and you still have to take care of Duck, whether you have Lee shoot him or have Kenny do it, or even just leave him to turn. Either way.... Duck’s death is just one big ol’ despairing oof.

It’s really good, guys. The music, dialogue, scenery, the pain....They really nailed Duck’s death in such an emotional way and it doesn’t just end there. This sticks with Kenny all the way through S2 and changes him as a character. It impacted Clementine and Lee greatly because this kickstarted Chuck telling them that Clem would end up just like Duck if things didn’t change.

S1 just... knew how to kill off its characters... well, for the most part.

2. Marlon and the death that had to happen whether we like it or not

Sigh.... okay.

So... Marlon. Lemme tell you some things about Marlon’s death.

First, I hate it. Nothing new there. If you know anything about me, you know that I am vocal in my desire for the Marlon redemption arc, for the “Marlon lives” AU’s and the “Marlon lives longer but dies differently” AU’s. I like Marlon as a character, I find him to be a fascinating character study. Ray Chase’s performance as Marlon brings so much personality and I love it. So naturally, I wanted more of him in TFS.

Here’s the thing. I may want all of those things, I may take a lot of joy from discussing these ideas with you guys and coming up with different scenarios, theories, AU’s about him, and I’ll always be the first one to be like “I hate that Marlon dies in ep1, I wish AJ hadn’t shot him! Woulda liked for him to stick around longer!”

But with the story TFS is trying to tell, Marlon has to die. AJ has to shoot him. I don’t like it, you don’t like it, no one likes it.... but that’s just how it is.

Marlon is presented to us as this chill and genuine guy trying to keep his group safe and together. He feels the pressure of being responsible for all the lives in this school and that’s a lot to put on a teen growing up in the apocalypse.

Then we learn that hey, the twins didn’t die. No, last year they ran into Abel and Marlon made a deal with him where he traded the twins in order to save himself, Brody, and the rest of the school. He wanted to plan a rescue mission, but he was too scared, so he and Brody kept it to themselves. They made up a story about the twins dying and moved on, but that continued to weigh down on them.

Then Abel comes back, Brody freaks out, tells Clementine the truth, and Marlon hits her so hard that it kills her.

And it gets worse.

You go through the whole confrontation with Marlon trying to cover his ass and blame Clementine for Brody’s murder, he’s waving AJ’s gun around and threatening to shoot Clem while everyone is gathered around watching. It’s raining, it’s super dramatic and tense and I love it.

In the end, Marlon gives up and he just wants to leave. Let him become a bad memory, he’ll never come back, just let him go.

Then AJ shoots him in the head unprompted. He just.... he just does it and then wonders why everyone is looking at him like he’s a murder baby.

Marlon’s death is crucial, not just to kickstart the plot but also for AJ’s character arc. His death affects everyone in that school. It makes Clementine question herself and if she’s raising AJ right, it breaks Louis’ heart, it pisses off Mitch, it sets Violet off on her bullshit. Everyone is hurting and confused because they don’t know what to do. Marlon is dead and AJ, this tiny toddler, was the one who pulled the trigger.

From the beginning, we’re told that AJ is always listening, watching, and what we do will affect him for better or worse.... and maybe you don’t think much when you tell him to always aim for them head, but when he says exactly what you taught him after murdering Marlon...? Yeah, you’re sitting there like “Well, fuck.”

But if this didn’t happen, if AJ didn’t kill Marlon, then.... there’s not a lot left. Sure the raiders are still coming, but AJ no longer has to go through what he has to or realize how much he hurt everyone. He’s no longer on that path that made him such an interesting and layered character.

Sure, you coulda made him shoot someone else, but the fact that it was Marlon is what made it impactful.

Ugh, it’s good and I hate it. I hate it so much.

1. Lee and the death that broke all our hearts

.......Just-

-y’know?

What else is there to say?

Well, alright, I’ll explain.

We play as Lee in S1, we go on this whole journey with him and develop him as a character, establish relationships, and care for Clementine. He’s a great character. I did a list on why he’s great, too, if you wanna check that out but all you really need to know is that we all loved Lee.

Lee’s got a lot of baggage, given that he was on his way to prison for murdering the dude who was sleeping with his wife. But then the apocalypse happened and he got a second chance to do some good... or I guess bad? if you do a scumbag Lee run?

Anyway-- no matter what, he cares for Clementine and it’s nice to see them bond over the course of the season... so when shit hits the fan and Clementine gets kidnapped by the Stranger, we’re just as upset as Lee is.

Then Lee gets bit.... and we realize that even though he’s our playable protagonist, he was never safe either. He gets bit and I can still remember the feeling of like... a bowling ball dropping in my stomach and my heart hurting because no... no, no, not Lee. I basically became Kenny like “No, he’s different! Lee isn’t gonna die! Being bit doesn’t mean death!” and while that is technically true.... had to face it: Lee’s going to die by the end of the season.

Ep5 of S1 is a whole journey... We’re dealing with trying to save Clementine while seeing Lee get worse and worse-- he’s passing out, he’s growing paler and slower and it’s hard to watch. You maybe get a little bit of hope if you decide to cut his arm off, but that’s just... it’s too late for that.

Not only is he fighting this, but then you got Ben who gets impaled and Kenny “dies” putting him outta his misery and Lee’s powerless to do anything. So great, that sucks.

But at least he’s got Christa and Omid.... until they get separated at the Marsh House and Lee’s gotta get through a herd of them by himself.

This slow burn is so good. His condition gets progressively worse but he’s so determined to get to Clem that it doesn’t matter. He doesn’t have time to think about what is inevitably going to happen to him, even if the player does.

And just.... the final scene... y’know, the actual death scene?

It’s so good. It’s a beautiful, emotional punch in the face. Like, way to end your game like this... Lee is trapped her with Clementine and he can’t walk, he can’t get up no matter how much Clementine begs him to try, he just- he can’t. He knows it’s all over for him and so he has her handcuff him to this heater so that no matter what, he can’t hurt her and just.... their final moments together where Lee is minutes away from death but is struggling to tell her as much as he can and I’m crying.

Then of course, the final choice-- Do you shoot Lee, or do you leave him to turn?

Both ending hurt my soul, but they’re both great in different ways. Shooting him is so heartbreaking... seeing little Clem sobbing as she points the gun at him and closes her eyes, then it cuts to black as the shot rings out and you hear Lee’s final breath....

BUT THEN YOU HAVE THE LEAVE HIM ENDING WHICH-

Lee manages to tell her more when you choose not to shoot him, but just watching Clementine get to the door and her little “don’t go” before Lee closes his eyes and falls over limp... falls over dead, I just--

Ouch... I am applauding this through my ugly sobs.

It’s the best death in the series. It has everything and then some- emotional impact, works to progress the story and characters, amazing dialogue and performances.... It still gets me to this day.

---

Honorable Mentions

-Mark’s death technically happens off screen, but I mean, c’mon... Mark wasn’t the most compelling character, but everyone remembers what happened to him. Everyone remembers walker Mark. What happened to him showed us just how fucked the St Johns were and it’s excellent. -Brody’s death is pretty good, too. -Abel’s death is an interesting one. He’s a garbage can, but they managed to humanize him just a bit by the way he hands his soon-to-be demise. -Badger when Conrad kills him. It’s super good. -I’m looking over this list now and it’s kinda funny that not a single S2 death made it here... it’s almost like all the character death that happened there was because a quota needed to be filled and who cares about complex character development when you got Kenny and nothing really matters I guess... ugh. The best deaths would probably be Carver, and Kenny when you shoot him but they’re not good enough to be in a top 5 so.... good job.

---

So... that was fun. What do you guys think? Do you agree with my choices or nah? Do you have a favorite death I didn’t list that you thought was well executed? Let me know, I’m curious.

Have any suggestions for future T5F’s? Feel free to send ‘em in! :D

---

Next week’s T5F

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freckledmountain · 4 years ago

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Lulling comfort

By @freckledmountain for @romeoandjulietyouwish

Rating: Gen

Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark

Characters: Peter Parker, Tony Stark

Summary:

"Music had gotten an entirely new meaning after that, from Disney songs to musicals to classic rock, and everything else in between. … He´d do anything to listen to Peter sing to them again."

Or, an AU where you hear whatever your platonic soulmate sings or hums! :D

For the @friendly-neighborhood-exchange

Read on Ao3

Chapter 1: Change

Some-

BODY ONCE TOLD ME

the WORLD IS GONNA ROLL ME

I AIN´T THE SHARPEST TOOL IN THE sHE-ED

Peter´s endearing screech and dramatics at the starting notes startles a fond laugh out of Tony, making DUM-E beep in curious surprise.

The bot has a screwdriver in his grasp and usually Tony´d chastise him for grabbing tools without permission (he has not forgotten the last lab incident, thank you) but right now he´s much too preoccupied resisting the urge to join in the kid´s slumber party via his own singing.

God bless karaoke.

Peter had looked sheepish when he´d mentioned it to him, the little get-together his scary girlfriend and Ned had planned this weekend at the latter´s place after a ridiculously long week of exams. Tony had absolutely no problem listening to his kid´s voice in his head, but it was still sweet of Peter to ask beforehand.

“You know I work best with music anyway.” He´d said, remembering all the times he´d listened to Peter perform dramatically to songs on the radio.

Peter´d hunched his shoulders a bit, smiling. “Yeah, okay, okay, I just wanted to make sure because Ned might ask me to duet to Take on me again, and last time I sang it you were on a meeting and FRIDAY sent me that video of you mouthing the words and Ms. Potts looked like the disappointed dad from that Shawn Mendes vine- “

…even if he had no idea what the kid was talking about sometimes.

He´d gasped and placed a hand to his chest, feigning offence. “Have you forgotten the time you had Call me maybe on loopin my head for an entire day?”

“…It was a dare?”

“Hmm” he´d said, raising an eyebrow playfully as Peter dissolved into laughter. “whatever you say, bud.”

His smile softens unconsciously at the memory as he methodically tweaks a few things in his nanotech suit, still listening to Peter belt out lyrics in his head. Truth be told, he misses the kid working alongside him like usual, but he knows how important spending time with his friends is to Peter.

(The parenting books say it´s imperative too, although of course he hasn´t ever read, purchased five on a whim or fret over anything of the sort. Obviously.)

He hopes Ned and Michelle´s respective other halves don´t mind the kids crooning 80´s rock on a Friday evening, but he guesses if they´re anything like them, they probably won´t complain. Soulmates are cool like that.

He remembers all the times Rhodey had told him about his soulmate´s voice inside his own head, how he´d suddenly perk up and grin at whatever melody he could hear, how he´d start humming randomly to join in.

Tony had grown up hearing nothing but his own treacherous thoughts for the longest time, almost losing hope completely at the possibility of having a soulmate right up until adulthood. Heavy metal music blasted over his speakers constantly whenever he was busy in his workshop, but he never joined in. There were moments when he´d thought his love for singing would be soured forever, since apparently the universe or whoever was in charge didn´t have a problem leaving him without someone out there to share it with him in his head.

Thankfully, he always did have Rhodey, and boycould he kick-start the fun in singing again with his flawless Mariah Carey impressions. He´d loved the few times he´d heard Pepper sing too, and there´d even been one memorable instance where he´d surprised Happy vocalizing in an unexpectedly pleasant lilt.

Hearing Peter sing though...simply put, there was nothing else like it.

-and we could aLL use a little changeeeeeeeEEE

…Yes, nothing was quite like it.

Tony shakes his head, smiling, and grabs his phone to text May about the kid´s shenanigans. She´d been more than a little concerned when Peter and him had figured out who the other was, (that was one heck of a superhero fundraiser) but now they´ve become much closer, and Tony can genuinely say they´re friends. He´s glad to have her on his side, because May Parker is, in Peter terms, a very kind powerhouse, and not someone he´d like to mess with.

He´s about to press send when the lights in the room flash red.

Tony´s up and summoning his gauntlet attentively in a second, right as FRIDAY pulls up screens around him, showing footage of the emergency.

“What am I looking at, FRI?”

“Around 30 heavily armed machines have emerged in Midtown Manhattan, boss.” She responds, as the room fills with projections. The robots on screen are huge and ugly as heck, about the width and height of three school buses together. They´re making their way through the streets surprisingly quickly for how heavy they look. People run away, steering clear of their illuminated blasts. “They appear to be releasing high frequency blasts approximately every ten seconds. Local police have just arrived at the scene and are requesting backup, since the blasts are causing structural damage to the surrounding buildings. The source of these machines is unknown.”

“Tell the team to suit up and meet me there.”

“They have already been alerted, boss, but I´ll relay your message as well.”

The rest of his suit materializes around him, and he makes haste to get to the nearest window, half worried and half downright annoyed at whoever was behind this.

“Another one for the robot bingo card on means of world domination.” He says to himself, unimpressed. Just one week without this crap…

He soars above the sky nonetheless, blasting his way towards the fight.

Please stay put kid, he wishes, even as the singing stops.

---

Three blocks.

He´s three blocks away from where Peter is making his way back when it happens.

As big and fast as the robots are, Tony can tell they weren´t exactly made by the finest of the loons who regularly try to take over New York. Not to mention they´re absolutely appalling to look at, whoever designed these things had absolutely no taste, Tony thinks, crushing his twenty-second bot with the suit´s repulsors. It hasn´t exactly been easy, since the wretched machines have no real apparent motive but to blow up everything in their path, but within an hour it seems they´re done with the worst of it.

He can see Nat and Wanda dealing with the remains of one of the last ones below, while a little way away Cap´s talking with a few cops, scoping out the damage. Even though the air is permeated with smoke and there´s rubble in some places, there are no casualties, and they´ve thankfully emptied out the buildings that got wrecked. SHIELD will take care of the rest.

He flies over the skyscrapers, keeping an eye out for any other bots, but it seems like FRIDAY´s finished identifying all of them. He activates a private line on the comms to talk to Peter.

“Done securing the area from whatever that disastrous colour scheme was?”

He can hear Peter´s good-natured groan as his location pops up on Tony´s screen, six blocks away.

“I know, right? I can wear mismatched socks for a week and rock them no problem, but blue with like, eye-melting neon? Yikes.”

“Exactamundo. Couldn´t agree with you more, kid. But hey, it looks like you might actually be able to get back to your sleepover after all. Can´t wait to hear what alarming chorus is going to keep me up until midnight.”

“Oh you just wait, we´re doing ABBA next and it´s gonna be so-“

FRIDAY tears through the conversation with an alarm, but it´s precious seconds too late.

A gasp. An abrupt thud resounding through the comms. A scream. Peter´s.

Tony´s blood freezes in his veins.

“Peter? Peter!?”

He gets there in less than a minute and sees one of the bots with its blaster pointed at Peter, still smoking from the shot.

He obliterates it without a second thought, his mind swirling with fear and rejection at FRIDAY´s next words as he runs towards Spiderman´s crumbled figure.

“No heartbeat detected, boss”.

Chapter 2

The first time he´d ever heard Peter´s voice, he´d been running on three hours of sleep, a frankly heart-attack inducing dose of caffeine, and no motivation whatsoever to sit down with stuffy board members for five hours.

It didn´t exactly come as a surprise that for the first few milliseconds of the “Itsy bitsy spider” chant in his head he´d thought, confusingly, that it might just have been his mind finally resorting to the resurface of old nursery rhymes as a way to tell him to go the frick to sleep.

His heart however, was another matter.

As ridiculous and improbable as it sounded, a new something in his chest rose even before he knew what was happening. He might not have been a machine, but something slowly and irrevocably clicked into place the more he heard that gentle voice go on about water spouts and suns.

He´d stopped short in realization. Blinked.

And then smiled wide enough to lose himself in the mirth of it.

He´d run back to his workshop right after that, laughing like mad with the absolute mayhem of emotions coursing through his whole being, almost crashing into Pepper in the process. She´d looked back at him in concern, questions already forming in her lips, before Tony had frantically mimed at her to keep quiet, wanting to listen to the soft voice´s final notes.

Once the song finished, Tony may or may not have let out a loud shriek of sheer joy and told an increasingly delighted Pepper all about it, practically bursting with excitement.

“Pep! Wait, what do I do now!? Do I- Do I sing it back to him? Do I sing another- crap I don´t even know any children´s songs, JARVIS, JARVIS!”

In the end he´d had to phone Rhodey to yell the news ecstatically to him, because he´d just found maybe the universe hadn´t wanted to screw him over after all, and he felt like screaming it from the rooftops. The little voice was sweet and shy and boyish and happy, and about the best thing Tony had heard in his damn life. He couldn´t have contained himself if he´d tried, and heck if he was going to any time soon.

(“Tones, what- “

“Rhodey!”

“…was that you or a screech owl.”

“It happened! There´s- a little kid! Somewhere! Spiders! My soulmate!”

“The- wait what-? “)

Music had gotten an entirely new meaning after that, from Disney songs to musicals to classic rock, and everything else in between.

…

He´d do anything to listen to Peter sing to them again.

Burning.

He´s burning all over.

Screaming in pain, he tries to escape from the scorching heat, but it´s everywhere, it´s everything, he´s the pain, he´s the fire, everything hurts-

And then as soon as it appears, the pain is gone.

He opens his eyes, blinking woozily.

“Oh, thank God.”

His vision blurs all over for a minute. There´s dampness in the corners, left over from tears.

Tears?

He makes an attempt to sit up, but there´s a hand holding his shoulder gently. He blinks again.

Tries to decipher his surroundings.

He´s laying down in a mostly deserted, grubby looking street. A figure kneels close to him, some sort of red and gold robot type thing. He narrows his eyes at it, trying to figure out why it feels so familiar…but finds, to a detached kind of surprise, that he can´t.

He has no idea what happened.

The robot seems to be very relieved for some reason, just staring up at the sky for a couple of seconds, taking a deep, wheezy breath.

Even with his head feeling like wet cotton, he looks at him with concern. The robot sounds seconds away from fainting. Is he…alright?

When the robot´s face opens and a man´s head peeps out (cool!), he almost jumps back in surprise.

And then…

Well. He still doesn´t have a clue who this person is, but as soon as he sees the man´s expression of utter joy and relief, something inside him settles. Safe.

He blinks in confusion at the feeling. He knows this person. He does.

But who is he?

“Pete? You´re back bud. Do you feel okay?” The man´s (man? robot? man-robot? cyborg? figment of his imagination?) smile fades slightly, looking at him in worry. “FRIDAY” Friday? Who on earth is he talking to? “didn´t you say the CPR made his vitals-“

“I´m- I´m fine” he says, because enormous confusion aside, he is. Maybe his head is scrambled, and he feels exhausted, but he has a feeling he´s been in worse shape before.

A feeling.

The man (he´s decided on man) starts going on about robots, and getting him to a tower with someone called Dr. Cho, but all he can do is blink back, his confusion increasing.

“I´m really sorry” he interrupts, knowing he´s probably going to disappoint the man, but needing to push forward even so, “who- who are you? Are you-? “

He tries to put a word on the feeling seeing the man´s face had evoked in him before, tries to remember who he is or what he has to do with the man or why he feels so…safe. So safe. With him there, even with all the questions going round and round inside his head.

“Are you my dad?”

The man´s face stills. For a second, it looks like his brain short-circuits.

Mood, a thought rings out in his head, unbidden.

That´s when he hears it.

A huge metallic…thing coming through the street towards them, and he doesn´t know why but it makes his heart thump like a rabbit´s in a cage, and suddenly he gets a flash of remembering pain, and he knows these machines, these machines are dangerous, and what if the man gets hurt too-

He pushes the man behind him as he desperately tries to look for somewhere they can hide-

-but the man grabs his hand first and hurries them both towards the sturdiest-looking car on the street, crouching so they´re out of sight.

“Uh, alright. I- this must be really weird for you, but it´ll be okay. Just stay here for now, ´kay? I´ll- We´ll figure this out. You with me?” The man holds his gaze for a second, and it´s so sincere, he finds himself nodding.

The man smiles. “Okay. Give me a sec.” And then he gets up and turns towards the robot.

What the-what´s he doing!?

He reaches out clumsily to drag him back, but the man´s face gets obscured by his robot mask once more and he…

Flies?

The frick? He thinks in bewilderment, as he sees the man lift off and attack the robot with blasts coming from his hands. My maybe-dad can fly!?

Either he lives in a sci-fi novel, or he´s going absolutely nuts.

Could be both at this point, frankly.

The whiz of gold and red fighting the robot is almost quicker than his sight can keep up with, but he persists, looking out anxiously for any opening the robot might have to take the man down so he can try to warn him about it. There is none though, the robot might be exceedingly fast, but the man remains unyielding. He takes another look at the giant machine and sees it´s blaster-

And then it´s like someone takes his brain and shakes it around everywhere, and the throbbing is so sudden he kneels and clutches his head tightly to keep it from falling apart. His thoughts feel shattered and tampered with, and the pain-

He cries out in agony, and tears fill his eyes again.

The man! I have to look out for him!

He tries to listen to the fight again, but just as he tries to focus in on it it´s like a tsunami of yells and police sirens and voices washes over him, and noise, why is there so much noise-

Overwhelmed, he kneels until his forehead touches the grainy concrete, and wishes he would just pass out.

He doesn´t, though.

Among the oversaturated ocean of noise, one adds to the mix.

Except this one isn´t grating. This one doesn´t make everything seem like too much.

Because it feels like it´s coming from within himself.

He´s at a loss for what´s happening, but the voice slowly and lightly blocks out all the other noise, grounding him in a gentle tune. In a flash, he recognizes the song. He knows where he heard it last.

Mr Stark.

And he remembers.

“Kid? What are you doing up?”

He shrugs, sinking deeper into the couch cushions. Baby Tarzan laughs onscreen.

He half expects Mr Stark to push him for more details, but he seems to understand Peter´s not in a talking mood and walks up to him solemnly.

“Scoot.”

He does, and Mr Stark plops down next to him, wordlessly extending his arms out in invitation. Peter falls into the hug gratefully and sighs. Exhaustion pulls down on his bones, but he´d rather not get back to the nightmare he woke up from. Mr Stark snorts softly at something in the movie, and then they both jump a bit at the sudden loud gorilla roar. They keep watching the movie, and Peter´s curls are brushed back gently in a soothing motion.

He wants to sleep. But he can´t.

But he´s safe here, isn´t he?

His chest grows heavier as he thinks of the dream, and when he blinks, his eyelids dampen. He hasn´t shed a tear yet, but Mr Stark must sense something again because his hand at Peter´s hair stills.

And then he starts singing.

It´s a lulling comfort, and Peter melts into the embrace, allowing his tired eyes some rest.

He´s safe.

Come stop your crying

It will be alright

Just take my hand

Hold it tight

I will protect you

From all around you

I will be here

Don't you cry

He´s safe.

With a final shot from Iron man´s repulsors, the robot powers down, and Peter runs out to meet Mr Stark, almost crushing his ribs in a hug.

“Woah, woah!” The helmet´s visor pulls up, revealing a grinning Tony. “Did that actually work? FRIDAY told me you were freaking out and I thought it might help calm you down.” He says, hugging him back. “But it did more than that, didn´t it?”

Peter´s too relieved to do anything but nod happily into his shoulder, but he gets the point across.

They stay there for a full minute, just holding on to each other. Until Tony grumbles out a “and I can´t believe you remembered Phil Collins before Iron man, seriously.” and Peter bursts out laughing, lightening the mood.

“The man didn´t sing that soundtrack in five languages for nothing, Mr Stark. It slaps.”

Tony hides his smile in Peter´s curls, and hugs him close.

#Writing #The friendly neighborhood exchange #WHOOO #irondad and spiderson #I love them #platonic soulmates

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ot3-watch · 4 years ago

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Episode 1: The Nigerian Job Rewatch

Nate is so far beyond done at this point it’s hilarious. “I want to hire you” “FUCK OFF MAN I’M BUSY DRINKING MYSELF TO AN EARLY GRAVE”

“I need you to steal them back…” WTF DID YOU THINK WAS GOING TO HAPPEN VICTOR? WHAT, DID YOU THINK THE BEST INSURANCE INVESTIGATOR WASN’T GOING TO FIGURE OUT YOU WERE GOING TO DOUBLE CROSS HIM? He’s so stupid I can’t.

“Parker is insane.” No. She just has a little trouble. Don’t DO THIS to her Nate.

“They work alone,” not for looong.

And… there it is! IYS. The most overused villains and this coming from a doctor who fan who sat through the daleks coming back EVERY SINGLE SEASON after being destroyed

Why do they all sound so weird? Like the dialogue does NOT sound normal

How tf did Eliot win in that scene tho? We see how long it takes him to fight later on like I just do not get it. ANd the tea isn’t even scathed? How? Everyone talks about The Big Bang Job’s shootout scene as being super unrealistic, but honestly, it barely registers compared to this one.

“You’re precisely why I work alone.” Yeah, because you’re at risk of falling in love otherwise Mr. Heart Eyes.

I’m remembering how much I did NOT like Parker in the beginning and I don’t like that. I love Parker but early Parker was eh.

PARKER YOU CAN’T JUST THROW THE GLASS. THAT’S EVIDENCE PARKER. YOU COULD KILL SOMEONE PARKER. SOMEONE’S GOING TO KNOW PARKER.

You expect me to believe that Parker is a world class thief who wouldn’t think to count the haircuts? They keep making everyone else look dumber to make Nate look smarter which makes NO SENSE because honestly, it makes it hard to believe that the other three survived on their own without Nate to guide them. WHICH THEY DID! AND THEY WERE THE BEST IN THE WORLD AT WHAT THEY DID. WTF

“That’s what I do.” AKA THE MOMENT ALEC HARDISON BECOMES AN ELIOT STAN

JENNY 8675309????

“I know you children don’t play well with others” He’s already a dad i can’t.

If they knew about this plan and had the materials to pull it off, why did no one think of it?

ALSO HOW TF DO THEY GET THE MAKE UP ON SO QUICKLY IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE

How did the burn scam even work? Like i get it, make him uncomfortable so he won’t ask questions but like… they thought no one was in the building? The elevators were shut down? Why did he not question it? How stupid????

The black king/white knight metaphor was honestly the worst part of the first episode like it bothers me so much and I cannot effectively come close to explaining why

Where does Nate live? Why is his place so fancy? HE’S UNEMPLOYED RIGHT NOW AND BANKRUPTED HIMSELF TRYING TO HELP SAM. “It’s a hotel,” my sister says. IN WHAT WORLD DOES THAT LOOK LIKE A HOTEL ROOM? ANd that doesn’t explain how he affords a hotel room that nice.

….Why didn’t Eliot just disarm Hardison? We know he can. I don’t get it.

If you knew the place was gonna blow, why didn’t you run Nate? WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS NATE

Eliot’s already putting himself in danger to help Hardison up. YOUR HONOR THEY’RE IN LOVE. THEY’VE KNOWN EACH OTHER LESS THAN 24 HOURS AND THEY’RE IN LOVE.

“Do you trust me?” NO. NO NATE. NO I FUCKING DON’T.

I feel like passing that phone through the grate should not have worked.

YEAH HARDISON. MUG IT FOR THE CAMERA

Eliot’s accent I LOVE HIM “Can you hold, son?” FOREVER FOR YOU.

How are the state police so fucking stupid i can’t

They literally… they just dumb everyone down to make Nate look smarter and it SUCKS

Ah, the first Hardison safe house.

“You won’t get within 100 yards” HE’S ELIOT FUCKING SPENCER I BET YOU ANYTHING HE CAN

“He didn’t pay us… I take that personally.” I-- Parker if you’re dead you can’t make more money. Parker? It’s important to me that you know this, Parker.

The websites they’re looking at are so obviously fake.

Nate? Nate it’s just a picture. DUbenich can’t hear you, Nate.

“He used my son” I cannot explain how much overexposure has made me NOT CARE ABOUT FUCKING SAM

“What the hecks a Sophie” That, Eliot. That’s a Sophie.

Honestly? My favorite character introduction in this episode.

WHY DO THEY ALL TALK SO WEIRD IN THIS EPISODE? THEIR VOICES ARE SO OFF WHAT THE FUCK?

“I’m a citizen now. Honest.” YEAH FUCKING RIGHT IN WHAT WORLD

Eliot with the snacks, he’s always bringing food to his fam it’s amazing

“That’s an odd thing for you to know” “That’s an odd place for you to be” ...why am i reading a sexy sort of tension in there???

And Nate’s SMILING at it

Ok but how does Nate know about plane schematics?

Sophie’s accent… none of them are that accurate but this one felt especially weird

Eliot playing the IT tech is everything

Also the reference to the IT Crowd by Parker is *chef’s kiss*

HE’S SO CUTE THOUGH

I’m just a simp for Eliot Spencer okay?

“I know you’re manipulating me, Anna.” Yeah but you’re still gonna fall for it, aren’t you? You stupid, stupid man.

Eliot’s so sweet though. He’s just trying to make friends.

Like really though, he’s so standoffish and stoic, but the second he has the chance, he tries to bond and he’s so gregarious. Like, it makes so much sense that he has so many friends all over he place.

“Eliot, we’re not friends,” STOP BEING AN ASSHOLE NATE. I HATE YOU NATE. HE’S JUST TRYING TO BE YOUR FRIEND NATE.

Hardison gliding by in the wheelie chair… he’s such a goof and a mood and i love him.

...Hardison… Hardison you can hack anything… Hardison why didn’t you put them in the building directory? IT’S A DIGITAL DIRECTORY YOU COULD HAVE DONE IT THIS WAS SO UNNECESSARY

Nate, EVERYONE CAN SEE YOU!! hoW DOES HE NOT GET ARRESTED???

THERE”S A COP CAR RIGHT THERE HOW THE FUCK DID THAT WORK

...is there anyone Sophie doesn’t have sexual chemistry with in this episode? Like, seriously, i think it’s just Hardison. She and Nate are obvious, and she and Eliot have that moment, and then… did they not put them in the directory just to have Parker and Sophie make heart eyes at each other for a few seconds?

HOW DID ANYONE WATCH THIS SHOW AND EVER THINK SOPHIE AND PARKER WERE STRAIGHT THO

Dubenich sounds like Wallace Shawn and looks like Stephen Moffat and I HATE HIM. Wallace Shawn is great, and i love him but DUBENICH CAN DIE

This looks like such a boring party why would anyone want to be there. THERE’S DAY DRINKING FOR GOODNESS SAKE EWWW WHY (okay maybe i just hate alcohol. I hate it more in professional settings.)

“Sir, I can take your underpants.” OKAY HIGGINS. WEIRD FLEX BUT OKAY.

Parker and Hardison look so smug walking out of the building i love it.

...why don’t you want the money Nate? YOU COULD GET A LOT MORE MONEY NATE. TAKE THE GODDAMNED MONEY NATE

And today on “I Will Never Understand the Way the Stock Market Works…” Like i get the basic idea but like… how do you make money if it’s gonna fall that much? HOw.. how does this work?

NO THAT IS NOT AN INVITATION TO EXPLAIN ECONOMICS TO ME I DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE STOCK MARKET

“Somebody kiss this man so I don’t have to” you will. One day, Eliot, you will.

So, fun fact. Supposedly, their score was $32,761,349.05 each. Which doesn’t really seem like a lot of money to me? Like, at least definitely not enough for Nate to do with it what he does? Like, maybe I just have a really difficult time fathoming that much money? Like, don’t get me wrong, I’d love just a taste of that but like, also? It really seems like not so much? … And further on “This blogger does not understand budgeting.”

ELIOT JUST ADMIT YOU WANT PART OF A TEAM

WHY DOES SOPHIE SOUND SO WEIRD??? WHAT THE FUCK

Okay, also, i have a question. These people, at the end, this is their first client, right? So why does it look like they haven’t seen each other since they took down Dubenich in the homecoming job? WHAT?

The SUITS THO

OKAY FINAL THOUGHTS: 6/10. Not the best Leverage episode, and certainly not the best character episode. There were a LOT of kinks to work out. Things got sorted too well. And I REALLY HATE NATE THIS EARLY ON. I’ve also never loved the “this guy is an asshole but he’s smarter than everyone else and really good at what he does so it’s fine” trope that you see in so many shows like Leverage. And they really really dumb people down early on to make him seem smarter. But like… there’s a reason I kept watching, you know? Also... I remember why it took me a while to warm up to Parker and Sophie. LIke, they’re badass but I still took a while and I remember why.

#leverage #leverage ot3 #leverage rewatch #eliot spencer #alec hardison #parker #nathan ford #sophie devereaux #pilot episode #the nigerian job

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