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ordinaryschmuck · 4 years ago

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What I Thought About "Through The Looking Glass Ruins" from The Owl House

Salutations, random people on the internet who most certainly won’t read this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck! I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons!

When Disney announced episode titles/synopsis for the new season (On a day that left my head SPINNING!), there was one episode that I knew deep down that would cause controversy and discourse amongst the fandom. And that episode was "Through the Looking Glass Ruins." Not because it would be bad, far from it. Instead, because the episode was a Gus episode with a Lumity subplot, that meant that discourse would start as fans decide which story they prefer more. A situation that, might I add, would result in no winners.

Do you prefer the Lumity plotline? Well, guess what! You're a racist who chose to talk about an overrated ship rather than a heavily underrated character who just so happens to be a person of color.

Do you prefer Gus' plotline? Well, guess what! You're a homophobe who decided to shine a light on a character who's underrated for a reason instead of praising a ship that just so happens to involve two girls.

Either side you pick is going to result in making people mad. The only way to avoid that is by explaining in heavy detail that you still enjoyed one side despite preferring the other. Even if you loved both, you'll most certainly have to explain to everyone that you mean it and that you're neither racist nor homophobic. And all I have to say is this: F that.

F that S in the A right now.

Because I, or anybody else for that matter, shouldn't have to explain myself when it comes to saying why I prefer one plot line or the other. I shouldn't have to prevent getting ripped apart by some bulls**t, black and white mentality of people who can't accept that others like a show for different reasons than they do.

You wanna know what I think about "Through the Looking Glass Ruins?" Well, continue reading to find out. You'll have to make your way through spoilers, but it's the only way for you to learn why I consider this episode not worth any discourse that I'm already certain is cropping up.

Now, let's review, shall we?

WHAT I LIKED

The Opening Scene: I'm kind of digging how snappy and to the point these opening scenes are getting. In the span of what has to be less than a minute, we're given all the information we need to know: Gus is insecure about his illusion magic because he accidentally got Willow injured. It's a great way of setting up why Gus wants to prove himself to the Glandus students and a great way of showing how much Willow's friendship means to him. Look at how he's reacting a few days after the incident. He's still mopey and guilty about it, and I feel bad for the little guy.

Gus in General: And while we're already talking about him, let's give this episode a round of applause for giving Gus the spotlight without having him screw over his friends...except for Willow.

"Through the Looking Glass Ruins" really fleshes Gus out much more so than past episodes. As I said, it plays heavily into his own insecurities while proving how he's capable as an illusionist. He's also the best possible outlet to explore more about what illusionist magic can really do. It can't hurt anybody or work well in a fight. Instead, its strengths lie in the act of convincingly tricking others into thinking that something that should be fake is actually real. And Gus got to prove he really is a super witch because of his illusions through a jaw-dropping scene that's as dark as it was enthralling. The fact that he did it all by himself, without the help of an illusion elder who was right there, is honestly even more impressive. A lot of people aren't that interested in Gus as a character, but I feel like, after this episode, he certainly won a few more fans over.

Willow Getting Injured and Missing the Episode: This is a smart move, in my opinion. Willow acts as the voice of reason in the friend group, so if she tagged along with Luz and Gus right away, she would have easily talked Gus out of joining the Glandus kids on a dangerous quest. I love Willow, she's a solid character, but writing her out is really the only way the plot could have progressed.

(I also love that she wasn't mad in the slightest over Gus getting her hurt. She has every right to be, but she also understands that it was an accident, and Gus wouldn't do anything to purposefully hurt her. And that's sweet!)

King’s Prerecorded Message for Gus: That's just adorable. We need more cute friendship moments between these two, DAMN IT!

Gus Being Sick of Luz’s S**t: Of all the characters I expected to get sick of the whole Lumity situation, Gus wasn't really one of them. I'd always thought it'd be Willow, primarily because the rest of the fandom latched onto that idea, but for Gus, I'd figured he'd be more supportive rather than annoyed. That being said, seeing him call Luz out for borrowing his library card to see Amity (Not ask her out. Just to see her) is not only a hilarious moment for Gus but also an adorable moment for Luz. It's something I would never have seen coming, but now that I have it, I want more. GIVE ME MORE!

(Sorry if I'm being a little intense)

Luz Trying to Cheer Up Gus: It's moments like this that prove why Luz is my favorite character.

Willow might have the most common sense out of the group, but it's Luz who still has the biggest heart. She knows her friend is down in the dumps, so Luz pulls out all the stops in cheering him up. Whether it's researching the first-ever human (really surprised he wasn't the tiniest bit excited about that, by the way) and lending him glyphs for his mission to help show up Mattholomule. She may be slow in the romantic relationship department, but episodes like this prove that she excels with a platonic friendship.

Bria: I consider Amar adorably optimistic, and I have no strong feelings for Gavin, one or the other. But with Bria? Holy hell, did the writers do everything they should with her!

At first, it seems like she'll be a generic nice girl for Gus to have a crush on. Only for that writing to be a perfect twist into how she's kind of the worst. You see hints of her true personality in the overly sweet way she threatens to force Amar to eat a bug he gets distracted by. A viewer's initial reaction to that would be to think that while she's sweet, she still means business. But no, it's actually a perfect way to reveal her true intentions while hiding them at the same time. Bria may be rotten to the core, but with how perfectly executed this twist was, I can't help but adore her contribution.

Mattholomule: ...I would sooner expect to have gone insane before believing that this little s**t weasel would make his way onto my good side. Despite that, here we are in episode five of the new season, and I like Mattholomule now.

The reveal that Glandus High forces students to believe that the strong survive and the weak are inferior explains so much for Mattholomule's thirst for power in "Something Ventured, Someone Framed." It doesn't excuse his actions, not by a long shot, but it definitely paints a clearer picture. It also explains his treatment of Gus, as well as Mattholomule's reasoning to help him. Because of Glandus High inserting a "the strong survive" mentality into Mattholomule, he belittles Gus due to thinking that illusion magic makes Gus weak. But after seeing how they're both stooges to Bria's mistreatment, he's quick to apologize and willingly helps Gus out. In the process, the two of them create a believable and cute friendship...a friendship that is absolutely going to be interpreted as something else by the fandom...which is something that I'm more than supportive of--HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?! I WENT FROM ONE OF THE BIGGEST GUSTOLOMULE DENIERS TO ONE OF ITS SUPPORTERS IN LESS THAN A DAY! HOW DO THESE WRITERS MANAGE TO TAKE ELEMENTS THAT WERE ONCE ON MY S**T LIST TO THEN MAKING ME MORE THAN OK WITH THEM!

IT'S INSANE!

Mostly impressive.

BUT ALSO INSANE!

Edric and Emira: More so than ever, I am so happy that the writers took their course correction with Edric and Emira. These two work so much better as supporting characters rather than minor antagonists like several fans thought they would be after their treatment of Amity in "Lost in Language." They're quick to pick up on Luz and Amity's mutual affections for one another and do their part to help their friend and baby sister out. It's wholesome to watch, and, you know what, I'm gonna go ahead and say it: Edric and Emira Blight are much better mischievous twin characters than Fred and George Weasley. As much as I adore Fred and George, there is an issue how they're always referred to as Fred and George, not Fred or George. It's because their personalities are as identical as they are, so separating them is pointless. With Edric and Emira, they have enough individuality that you could enjoy them separately as much as you could seeing them together. Emira is more emotionally supportive in how she listens to Amity vent her frustrations about her feelings, while Edric is more of a doofus who can't take a hint to save his life. It creates a great set of characters who can potentially work well on their own. I hope they get explored more at some point, but for now, I'm happy with the cute moments these two offered already.

Lumity Moments: BUUUUUUUUUUUUT, nothing compares to the cuteness of these two.

I don't care if I'll be called a racist for it because these! Moments! These moments are the highlights of "Through the Looking Glass Ruins" for me! Seeing these two interact in this episode, now that the pining is mutual, was everything I could have ever hoped for, and so much more. Seriously, how can you complain about anything about all of this when you get cute bits like:

Luz getting flustered of seeing Amity with her hair down

Amity risking her job to help Luz

Amity being motivated to find the diary due to the possibility of a date with Luz in the human realm

Luz going through hell and back to get Amity her job back

All of the blushing

And that F**KING KISS AT THE END HOLY SH--Don't you dare think I'm not going to further discuss that. DON'T YOU DARE!

Gus' story was entertaining with how it surprised me in all the right ways, don't get me wrong. But seeing Luz and Amity's relationship develop more and more always fills my heart with glee that, believe it or not, I'm always going to remember it more. I love you, Gus, but I love Lumity more.

Philip Whittabeen: So we finally have a name to the alleged human who was here years ago, and we get properly introduced to him through a really visually appealing animation change. I'm personally curious to see where the writers go with him, but it's too early to say if his inclusion will be worth something. But I will say one thing, though. One thing, and then I'm going to move on.

Here it is:

Philip sounds eerily similar to Emperor Belos to me.

That is all I'm going to say about that.

Luz’s Sentences in Spanish: I want to give a personal shout-out to mi buen amigo @l-egionaire for pointing this out because there are some things to analyze in what Luz says in Spanish in this episode. Knowing what she means, it's clear that they are ideals that Camila instilled into Luz. Ideals that possibly show a lot about Camila's personality on top of revealing where Luz got her hopeful optimism and sense of determination. It's the second sentence that Luz says later on that I really want to delve deep into:

"Nada funcionará a menos que lo haga funcionar."

Translated, that means "Nothing will work unless you make it work." Again, this proves the dedication that Luz has filled into her soul, but to me, it says a lot about Luz's dedication to Amity. She wants to make this relationship work but fully understands that it won't unless she puts in the effort. It's a sweet sentiment that says so much about how Luz feels about Amity that some fans might not be able to pick up on if they don't speak Spanish. Or, in my case, have a good friend who finds the translation for you (thanks again @l-egionaire).

The Galderstones: Pretty interesting concept, I'm not going to lie. It's also interesting that of all the types of witches in the Boiling Isles, it was illusionists who were the ones that guard over the Galderstones. Because illusion magic can't really harm anyone, it makes a weird type of sense that they would be the ones to keep the Galderstones out of the wrong hands. And, even better, it showcases Gus' strength as an illusionist when he was able to take down Bria, who was hopped up on Galderstone power, through that same "harmless" magic. It just goes to show that if you have a big enough brain, you don't need to overpower somebody. You need to outthink them.

Malphus Being a Surprisingly Cool Dude: What can I say? I'm a sucker for expectation subversion.

Luz and Amity Crying: First of all, a HUGE round of applause to VAs Sarah-Nicole Robles and Mae Whitman through their vocal performances in this scene! They really sold how upset and broken apart Luz and Amity were due to their feelings for each other messing things up. More so with Sarah-Nicole.

Second, this might be the closest these two have gotten to a confession so far ("so far" being the keyword). I specifically latch onto Amity's expression after hearing Luz agree that she's always weird around Amity. In one way, it looks like Amity is surprised to see she made Luz cry, but in another, it could be that she realizes that perhaps that Luz has feelings for her as well. Or, at least, that's how I interpreted things. The thing about art is that there's no one interpretation to agree on. And that's what this scene is: Art. It's performed, written, and animated well, that no matter how you look at it, it's a masterpiece.

“I’ll call the hounds”: One line. One line was all it took for me to love the Keeper of the Looking Glass Graveyard.

Amity Dyes her Hair: I always assumed that Amity would let her original hair color grow out as defiance to Odalia. But dying it lavender? Thus crafting her own identity without having her be compared to either Odalia or Alador?

...yeah, that's brilliant. Whoever thought of that, you are a genius and deserve all of the credit that comes from it.

ALL of the credit.

Amity Kisses Luz on the Cheek!: I'll save my "Wha-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo" for an actual kiss, but for now, THIS IS AWESOME!

This moment, much like other Lumity moments, was everything I could have ever expected and so much more:

Amity's instant panic after realizing she seriously just did that

Ed and Em looking fondly at their sister taking such a big step

The look on Luz's face, which may or may not hint that she realizes that the feelings are more than mutual

And the fact that Luz's legs give out soon after Amity leaves

It was adorable as all forms of hell, and it was a perfect way to end such a perfect episode...or, at least, an almost perfect episode. I do have some issues.

WHAT I DISLIKED

Mattholomule Helping Gus too Easily: The Glandus kids were right there, in-ear and eye-shot, yet did nothing as Mattholomule effortlessly helped Gus and the Keeper escape...how?

Gavin falling for Gus’ Illusion: I want to laugh at how stupidly easy that was...but it's too stupidly easy for me to forgive.

And that’s about it. Just two nitpicks that don’t really take away that much enjoyment from the episode

IN CONCLUSION

"Through the Looking Glass Ruins" keeps Season Two's winning streak going by being another solid A. It fleshes out characters, develops cute relationships, and keeps the story going despite being so character-driven. It's easily more than worth the time...but it's not worth any discourse that comes from some fans preferring one plot over the other.

I highly doubt that some people are racist for loving the Lumity plotline or homophobic for loving Gus'. Maybe some people are, but also consider that maybe, just maybe, a person loves a ship because it's their favorite, or a person likes a character cause he's their favorite.

Which.

Is.

Fine.

There's no definitive way to like a series, and demanding that people like it for the same reasons you do is not worth anything. Because, believe it or not, even Dana Terrace doesn't care how people love her show. In the AMA she did, when a fan asked if she's upset about fans obsessing over Amity's crush on Luz, this is her word for word reaction:

"Not at all! No, the main focus of the series will never be on any romantic thread but that doesn't mean those threads aren't important. And I'm thrilled that people connect to our characters!"

THERE YOU HAVE IT! The creator herself fully admits that she doesn't care what fans latch onto. She's just glad to have people who like the show in the first place! So don't create discourse just because some people enjoy a part of an episode more than others. The second you get that through your heads, the sooner we can all move on with our lives.

(Also, that's five episodes in a row that are hits. And, man, is that stinker going to hit harder because of it.)

#the owl house #the owl house season two #the owl house reviews #gus porter #mattolomule #luz noceda #amity blight #lumity #edric and emira #edric blight #emira blight #what i thought about

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lullabiesandgoodbyes · 5 years ago

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Tagging @madsdefencesquad, and thank you so much for the opportunity to rant about my girls, since this fandom pays little to no attention to them and that’s not right! *-*

So, Kate and Madison, where do I start?

I don’t know, maybe with the fact that they started at such a rough place. Kate wasn’t exactly impressed by Madison when they first met, and I’m sure that’s how we’re supposed to feel about her too ( “why is this skinny girl complaining about her weight amidst all of those obese people? surely she’s only there to make herself feel better...” ). We’re probably even meant to stand by her side when she snaps:

« Oh, for God's sake! Madison, you weigh 105 pounds! If you feel like a fat girl when you look in the mirror, why don't you step a damn scale? And when the scale reads "One, zero, five," you know that you're not fat. »

And this is only the second episode.

The thing I’ve come to wonder the most about that whole year they shared through the support group, though: Madison doesn’t seem to hate Kate back. In fact, the first time she eventually opens her mouth, here’s what caught my attention:

« Why do you hate me? »

It was something I didn’t notice on my first watch, since back then I too was highly suspicious of Madison, but she sounds frustrated when Kate stands up against her again; so frustrated, she actually follows her to the parking lot to confront her about her behavior, despite not being the confrontational type. And when Kate reafirms her core problem with Madison ( «Because you're annoying and you shouldn't be here» ), how does she backfire?

« Well, I think you're annoying. The way that you and your fiancé come here every week and smile and giggle at each other when some of us don't have anyone to do that with. »

Now that we know more about her, I think it’s plausible that Madison, a lonely girl with low self-esteem who joined a support group for body issues and got shunned because of her body, kind of envied Kate, who had no trouble fitting in because she was fat, spoke her mind without worrying about hurt feelings and even found love right under everyone’s noses. She could go to those meetings and talk about how miserable she felt, but I can imagine Madison thinking to herself that Kate was everything she wanted to be.

Well, we all know how that scene ended, right? They tap cars, Kate gets scared and eventually tells her she’s pregnant. I’ve always loved how a single word - together with Kate’s vulnerability - managed to dissipate all the anger and frustration that Madison was displaying just a few seconds before. And now that we know she had been told to be infertile? She could have hated her for it ( honestly, how many times have we seen it happening on screen between female characters? ), but instead chose to be happy for her.

And it’s the loss of said pregnancy that makes Madison approach her again. Notice her facial expressions as Kate opens up during the meeting. She tells them « You know, after the miscarriage, I just needed some comfort, you know? So I found that in Taco Bell. » and you can see she just gets it - Madison would later admit « I was really upset when I got home. So I ate. So much. » The truth is, at the end of the day, they’re not that different from each other: they get hurt or overwhelmed by life, they overeat, they feel terrible about it. Maybe she’s also feeling alone, as if no one understands her, maybe not even her fiancé, who used to be one of them and now is not - but Madison does and I think that made the difference.

I’ve always found it so endearing that she went to Kate after the meeting to invite her to shop for the wedding dress. <3 Not just because she was honestly trying to make her feel better ( «Let me help you clear this hurdle.» ) but mostly because there’s a chance she used her own experiences and ( we assume ) connections to make sure Kate would feel better: from assuring she wouldn’t have to try the dresses, that she was free to leave as soon as she felt uncomfortable, to book the appointment so they’d be alone and away from unpleasant looks, she knew how to make it a nice experience. And she did it because, following my previous interpretations, the girl who was getting all the things she wanted for herself had just lost her baby and was now on the verge of also losing one of the most exciting moments from her journey to the altar, and she couldn’t let it happen. <333

So, while they’re out having fun, we end up finding out not only what’s wrong with Madison but also that she’s currently relapsing. She did her best for Kate while at her worst ( is it possible that taking care of others is Madison’s way to care for herself...? ), and Kate notices it. Not happy about it, she actually has the guts to confront her. I don’t think Madison is angry at her for that, but I definitely believe she’s angry at herself for slipping and allowing her to see just how low she has reached. That’s probably why she calls later, after she faints - Kate ain’t easy and not yet a friend, but now she knows what’s going on with her. More than that, she sounded worried during the confrontation, almost as if she cared and was ready to rethink her opinion on her ( «When you talk in group, it's not about anything... real. Or, at least that's what I thought.» ). And it turns out to be the best decision: Kate ends up taking care of her and even starts opening up about her own experiences with weight and voices whispering crazy things inside your head. She even finishes with a very tender « So... I don't think you're insane », which seems like something Madison craved to listen for a long time. And that was the beautiful beginning of a beautiful friendship. *-*

I’m going a bit over the board now, but one of the things I think Madison does with their friendship is to live through Kate: she organizes her bachelorette party, throws a helping hand at her wedding, offers her support when Kate reveals she’ll probably never have kids and stays by her side all through her pregnancy and Jack’s first challenging year. It’s a shame we never got to see those moments ( fingers crossed for an episode featuring Madison’s backstory, I’d love to know more about her participation in Kate’s life ), and I’m especially fond of the reminiscence of them shopping for the baby:

« We were out after group a few months ago and we passed this baby store. She didn't want to go in. And I was like, "Kate, you need to show the universe you believe this is going to happen." So she got this Ruth Bader Ginsburg doll to give him as soon as he was born. Because she wanted him to be immediately surrounded by strong female influences. »

Found it very adorable that Kate, whose life has mostly been shaped by the men in her life ( her father, her brothers, her husband ), is finally recognizing the impact that strong women can have too. Maybe this wasn’t the interpretation the writers were aiming at, but I absolutely loved that her first thought was to have her son surrounded by tough ladies, so they can teach him to be strong like her mother, her best friend and even her sister-in-law at some point have taught her.

Reciprocally, I believe this friendship taught a lot to Madison too. She’s clearly more mature by the time she opens up to Kate regarding her own views on relationships and what she wants from them ( «What you and Toby have, what I dream of finding, is that intimacy. It's letting people see the worst part of you without being scared.» ), and yes, I think a lot of that stemmed from her interactions with Kate and the entire Pearson clan. She’s estranged from her family, so maybe it’s not far-fetched to assume she needed to feel part of one to understand their dynamics and, who knows, maybe gain the courage to finally start one of her own...?

I guess that’s part of the reason why the whole showdown at the waiting room when Jack was born hurt so much. Notice how the scene went:

« KEVIN: I'm sorry, what exactly are you doing here?

MADISON: Oh, I, um... No, it's, uh, it's weird that I'm here. This is a... family thing. »

And later, after she tries to justify her actions to Miguel:

« MADISON: But I should go. Kevin's right, I... it's weird that I'm here. I'm not family. »

I know you can say that Kevin made his feelings very obvious in that first scene, but he never said she wasn’t family, she did. Like, Madison has created strong ties to the Pearsons and feels like one of them but, deep inside, where her self-esteem and sense of belonging are still fragile, she knows she’s not. She’s still not sure she’s entitled to be there and Kevin, very unpleasantly, makes it very clear to her - you don’t belong here. But right when she’s about to leave, Madison’s loyal heart speaks louder, forcing her to stay despite her contraditory feelings, at least until Miguel helps her to find a way to do something for Kate and the baby.

By the way, I know I’m diverging from the main topic of this ask, but I love, love, LOVE how Miguel is the one supporting her on this episode. He wants to be supportive of Rebecca and his stepsons, but she’s basically away from there and both Randall and Kevin are refraining from him; then comes Madison, as lost and worried as he is, and she actually allows him to comfort her.

Also love how, by the end of it, they both get the same recognition:

« Thank you for putting up with us. »

I don’t know, man, I just can’t think it’s a coincidence...

So, you probably didn’t expect an essay on the matter and I’m sorry for it, sometimes I get too excited. ^-^’ I’m also not sure I made much sense through it, second languages can be too much sometimes. But this is where I’m standing so far, and I’m very glad for the opportunity to organize my thoughts about them. I’m now eager to see what S5 will bring us, with Madison becoming an official Pearson member - whether she’s Kevin’s wife or not, she’s the mother of his children and we’ll always have that - and how this will affect her relationship with Kate.

Oh, and let’s never forget my favorite quote related to these two:

« Is it that CrossFit bitch? I'll kill her. Is it Toby? I'll kill him. You just say the word, I will “Kill Bill” all of them and help you raise that child myself. »

I love my girls. <3

#Bel talks to people #madsdefencesquad #Kate Pearson #Madison Simons #Kate x Madison #This Is Us #TIU Talk #I love them so much!! *-*#Hope S5 will treat them nicely #and here's to a lot of great moments between these two <3 #Thank you so much for your ask girl #I'm sorry it took me so long to answer back #but I wanted to give you a nice one

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kareofbears · 5 years ago

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persona 5 royal: my thoughts after finishing it five minutes ago

disclaimer: the only reason im writing this is because 1) i have a lot of thoughts and feelings that i need to write down and if i dont ill explode and 2) i want to be able to find this when p5s eventually drops so i can compare my thought processes. if you do not agree with what i’m going to say, that’s cool! just block me or ignore this post.

now for the sake of sanity, i’m going to try and narrow down this entire list into chunks because this’ll probably be very very long and very much about me just screaming about stuff that i liked, loved, and don’t like. i will be spoiling both the original persona 5 and persona 5 royal, obviously, so i hope you finished both!

1) Akechi

so yes. Goro Akechi. Everyone’s favorite murderer. I’m going to by spewing a lot of hot takes, and this is probably going to be the spiciest: i am in the most intense love-hate relationship with this brown haired antagonist because jesus christ is he a complicated son of a bitch. I know i’ve complained in the past about how much Atlus often struggles with utilizing a character well, but that does not at all relate to Akechi in any way, shape, or form.

I’ll say this now: He is a character I genuinely, truly hate, yet he is the one I want to hear from the most. He is someone who is a bad person (yes, he is a bad person) but whenever he comes on screen he makes me sit up, he makes me pay attention to him because that’s just the aura he exudes. He is a character who i would never, ever waste my time defending or justifying his actions, but every minute joker spends with him is a minute i want to stretch out as long as possible because he is just that good of a character. He is interesting, he is well defined, he is smart, he is clever, he is sassy, he’s a motherfucking asshole who’s never had a vibe check in my life and i still hate him. Goro Akechi is what Star Wars wanted Kylo Ren to be, and that allegory may not make sense to many people but it works for me so i’m saying it. It’s to the point where writing akechi in a fanfic makes me sweat because in my opinon capturing the essence of akechi is near impossible unless you know what you are talking about (i do not mean that in anyway to discourage people from writing him, im just saying that I am a coward because i will never be able to write a good akechi). Anyway, bottom line is: i despise him but my eyes are always glued to him at all times.

back to the main point-- Atlus absolutely nailed this character and every single addition they put in for Akechi. I’m so damn thrilled that you actually have confidant hangouts with him because every single time you talk to him, it services not only the plot, but it perfectly does what it is supposed to do: it makes you like him, but also leaves the player slightly unnerved. they do it so casually that I might have trouble explaining it, but bear with me: everytime you hangout with him, he always does or say something that unhinges you just a little bit, it leaves you asking ‘wait why?’ or ‘but how did you know that’ or ‘why are you saying that?’. akechi is constantly playing mind games with you. and not only that, adding backstory to akechi (moreso than in the original) is just fucking fantastic. he’s always been a fully fleshed out character but after playing royal, goro akechi actually exists in my mind, and i still hate him (but also i dont. but also i do. anyway)

2) the ending

just finished the game and this is the point where i am at odds with p5r for the first time. the ending to p5, in my opinion, was flawless; everything was perfect and had meaning. from the shot of akira being shown to not wearing glasses anymore because he no longer feels the need to wear a mask (character development: he was very unhappy at the beginning of the game and now he’s happy with his friends--i love it), to his friends being the one to drive him home (amazing, he left his home town and came to shibuya alone via transit, and one year later he’s now leaving with all of his best friends in a van they rented just so they could stay with him as long as they can--it’s perfect, i love it), and also all of them seeing how large and infinite the ocean is (because now there’s unlimited options for them because they all have a new perspective on life).

But....none of that is there in p5r. it feels impersonal. no one drops him off at his hometown, he was still wearing glasses, and there’s no grand metaphor about what they all achieved.

Now, i am not a (complete) moron. I know why they had to change it: it’s because of persona 5 scramble (i think). they wanted to set up a plot for the next game and i feel like thats the reason why persona 5 royal’s ending suffered for it: they were too focused on the next plot that they forgot to focus on the sentimental ending for p5r. don’t get me wrong, seeing akechi in the train station absolutely made me lose my shit and made me scream at one in the morning, but i think they lost the core meaning in doing the other stuff. i did not like the focus on maruki and kasumi (will be talking about them later), cause i feel like it took away from the ending, and i also didn’t like the fact that the whole joker outfit in the reflection thing (but i will be letting it slide since it was during the after credits anyway). So while i do love one (1) new aspect of the final cut scene, i still adore and stan the one from persona 5.

3) the entire last semester

i’ll be quick: the final palace? the best palace. fight me. it’s fantastic, it’s innovative, it’s interesting, and most of all, the palace ruler is actually the best one in the entire game and i know i wont be the only one to say this. maruki is not a villain: i know for a godamn fact that im not the only one to say that i almost agreed with his deal of allowing the reality (damn i almost agreed twice) because why wouldnt you?? it’s literally a perfect reality! the only reason i didnt agree is because i knew the game wouldnt want me to agree and would force me to have the bad ending! anyway, i love the last section so much. the palace design is interesting, the antagonist is brilliant (who doesn’t love a morally gray antagonist?), and finally, the payoff of kasumi happened and it made me silent for ten minutes. the entire reveal of her being sumire and kasumi being dead is just so genuinely shocking to me that it nearly broke my neck.

what actually broke my neck was the initial incident for the third semester. seeing everyone in this wild alternate reality made me so unsettled that i literally got a stomach ache. i saw morgana as a human and nearly passed out. shiho in the underground? wig. ryuji saying he’s on the national pedastal for running? literally my eyebrows just popped off my head. fucking WAKABA? FLATLINED. brilliantly executed and i love the initial akechi and akira buddy cop movie vibes in the beginning it was just so fun.

one huge part of the third semester for me though, was of course, akechi. seeing him completely throw away his ‘charming ace detective’ speil was the most refreshing and interesting and not to mention, hilarious part of the game. he does not give a fuck about anyone and he is not afraid to let you know. he is the biggest savage and the most insane person on the phantom thieves group. he’ll roast you, he’ll roast your boyfriend, he’ll roast fuckin anyone and it’s fantastic. not to mention his dialogue is killer: he says the most bat shit insults ever and my favorite example is when you go up to him near the end of the game, you know, to hangout with him and be a nice guy, he just does not hesitate to say ‘what, you came just to see me? just the sort of brainless sentimentality i’d expect from you.’ i LOVE IT because why the hell would he try to be nice? the jig is up, he’s got nothing to hide. and he owns it. atlus seriously nailed akechi in this last semester and it’s brilliant and i love it.

4) everything else

- one small thing that pissed me off in both games (but especially this one) is how many godamn fake out deaths there are. Morgana has one, Akira has one, Ryuji has one, Sojiro has one, Maruki has one, motherfucking Akechi has two. it just hurts me!

- sumire is an amazing character who has depth and she is lovely and my biggest complaint is that it feels like atlus shoved her in. like, she feels like a new addition to the game, you know what i mean? maybe its because ive played the original p5 first, but you know, it’s not a big deal. but i love her so much

- on the topic of sumire, i cant say that im completely super duper happy with how different she felt from the other thieves? im sure that’ll be explained in p5s but she just got so much screen time that it just truly made me confused?? maybe im just a horrible person, or that’s just a really hot take. but anyway, yeah maybe im bitter because i really wanted to see extra hangouts/school trips during royal, but didn’t really.

-baton pass? literally orgasmic. it made turn base battles so damn fun and the addition of darts and billiards made me foam at the mouth it was SO SMART AND INNOVATIVE AND I LOVE IT ATLUS I LOVE YOU ATLUS YOURE SO SMART SWEETIE

-small thing, but making spells like ‘dormina’ actually useful just made the game so much more fun and dungeon crawling became something i truly, genuinely looked forward to

-being able to give gifts to my bros? absolutely incredible. thank you. side note: seeing akechi happy from giving him a multi vitamin cracked me up. side side note: giving ryuji a fuck ton of weights and him just smiling made my heart so happy i love that boy so much

- ah this game just looked so GOOD! i thought the original looked good but they really went all out. im not kidding, the smallest details in everyday life or even just normal cut scenes were out of this world. especially stuff from the third semester its just OOF good JOB atlus i love you buddy

-ahhh thieves den! how can i forget? i love it. at first i was a bit iffy with it since it really felt like persona 5 (undoubtedly the biggest game atlus has created) was just jacking itself off. but as time goes on, it became a huge addition to the game and seeing characters’ insights and extra lines of dialogue became super duper interesting and a highlight of the game for me. and don’t even get me started on how much i love love love the photos they added of them hanging out! so lovely, a bunch of them made me tear up

- i know it’s literally impossible, but i feel like the game just forgot that akechi is a person who can wield multiple persona and i just wish that could’ve been messed around with during Palaces

- showtimes are so, so crazy and i get so embarassed whenever they play on my tv because they are just outlandish and unashamed but i love them so so much it just defines persona’s personality

-because i love ryuji: i prefer the final conversation you have with him aka ‘whaddya mean? you’re there’ but there’s still a lot of really tender and sweet moments like akira genuinely telling him that he’ll miss him, and also the fact that ryuji wants you both to send each other your times through the exercise watch so you can still race ahhhh i love him so much yall

so, overall, this game is better than the original p5 because of the extra content we get. if persona 5 was the perfect dinner, persona 5 royal is that same dinner and you get to enter the dessert buffet. it’s brilliant, it’s smart, it’s hilarious, it’s heartwarming, and it’s undoubtedly my favorite game of all time without exaggeration. while i do prefer the final cut scene (and final dialogues with some characters) in the original persona 5, in the overall experience, persona 5 royal is superior in my mind. i would willingly get amnesia to play this game again.

I didn’t get to cover everything, but this is definitely most of what i wanted to say. if you actually get to reading all the way to the end, thanks! it means a lot. i hope we can all enjoy persona and look forward to persona 5 scramble together :-)

#p5 #persona 5 #p5r #persona 5 royal #mine #such a long post but totally worth it

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some-cookie-crumbz · 5 years ago

Note

TodoDeku with a baby using prompt 10?

Guess who took this prompt and went way overboard with it? This dweeb! *points at self*

Also, Trigger Warning: Mentions/References to Experimentation on Children, Mentions/ References to Child Neglect/ Abuse.

Parenting was a strange, exciting event that, while Todoroki Shouto adored, occasionally left him grasping at straws.

His own upbringing had been anything but soft and comforting. There had been the brief moments of reprieve with his mother or older sister, but they were far and few between; especially after the scalding incident. As he grew up, however, he began to come out of his own shell and begin picking up the pieces from his shattered youth. He developed a very dry, sarcastic sense of humor that people seemed to enjoy. He went out of his way to bumble awkwardly through befriending people he admired, boasting a small but close social circle that his younger self had thought was only a dream.

And he fell helplessly in love with Midoriya Izuku, the man who started these changes in him, and the two had started a family together a few years after marrying.

He had been nervous but thrilled about the whole prospect. While his own experience with parenting was dark and scarring – literally – he felt good about how he and Izuku would manage. The two of them were a strong couple and were very vocal about their needs and wants. They had a great support system in their friends, Inko and All Might, Rei and Shouto’s siblings, and – to a much lesser and restricted extent – Endeavor. They had done their research into what options were available for them and then started on the grueling process of being approved through both means; the first being adoption, and the second being assisted by a medical professional with an accommodating Quirk. Due to reform acts in the justice system – and Shouto would forever be grateful for those changes, all things considered – the process was a bit more complex for Pros, and especially so for a married couple that were both Pros.

But, after a full fourteen months of paperwork, appointments, interviews and home evaluations, they received their approval letter. And then, a few months later, on November 12th, they brought home their son, Todoroki Satoshi.

Satoshi was born via the assistance of a Quirk user, meaning he was biologically related to Shouto and Izuku. Just based on appearance, his relation to the Todoroki family was clear; he had the crimson locks and steel toned eyes and pale complexion. His hair did, however, have that same natural curl that Izuku's did, making it a nightmare to tame as it grew longer. Aside from his appearance, though, as he got older, more of his behavior was also derived from his Papa. He had more confidence in him than either Shouto or Izuku had at his age but that was compounded by being incredibly emotional and a bit of a crybaby. Toshi was near as quick to tears as his Papa had been a long time ago, but a part of Shouto was grateful for it. He liked that he was comfortable enough with himself to be so vulnerable and transparent with his feelings.

And then, when he was just a few weeks shy of four, there had been the manifestation of his Quirk, which had been... Well, a shit show, to put it in the most honest of terms. They’d been over at the Todoroki estate so the kids could visit with their cousins, aunts, uncles and Rei, the little cluster of seven children running to and fro chasing a ball in the yard. Shouto had been pleased to watch his children get to play with their family, delighted by the excited squeals and shouts coming from them all. But then, after a few minutes, Satoshi had come running over, all watery eyes and choked wails about how his throat hurt and it was hard to breath, little fingers clawing at his neck as if that would soothe his pain. He and Izuku were immediately rushing to get him in his Papa’s arms for a leap to the nearest emergency room, when he suddenly squirmed and pushed away, putting a bit of distance between himself and Izuku, turned his head to the side and unleashed an impressive blast of fire from his mouth, scorching a large tree not too far off into nothing but smoldering kindling. He and Izuku had stared at the murdered tree before looking at each other and then down at their son, who had slumped back against his Papa’s chest with a small whine. “I thought I was gonna puke,” he mumbled sheepishly. They had nodded awkwardly, not sure how else to respond, before Shouto excused himself to get the little tot some water.

Rei had been the one with the most insight of how to help them manage his newfound abilities, citing how she had managed Touya and Shouto when their Quirks first presented and they hadn’t started training with Endeavor. She suggested some small game-like exercises that would help Satoshi figure out how to make the Quirk work when he wanted, as well as give him some insight to when his Quirk was activating and he couldn’t stop it. A few days later, Endeavor had approached Shouto with the information for a support tech group that specialized in making customized home materials - such as sheets and clothes and the like - for children still learning to manage their Quirks. “Let them know I advised you speak with them and they should offer you a discount,” he had said. And that was the end of it, much to Shouto’s surprised pleasure.

Furthermore, getting in touch with Izuku's father had been a huge help, too. Satoshi's fire-breathing Quirk was significantly stronger than the elder Midoriya's was, but it seemed the backlash was similar. Overextending the Quirk could lead to dehydration - which had been learned quickly, given how excitedly he'd shown his Quirk off initially - and, when pushed too far, had actually torn his throat up enough to make him cough up some blood. The bigger struggle with him was maintaining control of how far and large the blast was. Almost a year after the fact, Satoshi was still learning in regards to those aspects of it, but had made great strides in his ability to control when the fire was used. It had been a month since the last time his Quirk went unruly and almost set a fire while he was sleeping and that was no small accomplishment.

And then there was their daughter, who came home just a short while after Satoshi turned a year old.

She was found through work. Or, rather, Izuku found her as part of an investigation he was assigned to. Shouto didn't know the specifics since he wasn't one of the Pros on the mission, but he knew it was disgusting; something involving experimentation to see about accelerating the development process for Quirks. All 78 test subjects had been children - some as old as eleven and their daughter being the youngest at only three months old - and it had rattled his husband to the core, seeing the state they were all in and how they'd been treated leading up to the sting. For the next two weeks, Izuku went to the hospital every night to visit with the children, checking their progress and hoping for the best. Once Shouto found out why he was going, he would join him when he could.

It was through this he learned specifically of Girl 36, the label attached to the youngest victim.

Of the 78 children, only 23 ended up surviving the ordeal; and of that, only 7 were reunited with their biological families while the rest needed to be rehomed completely. Girl 36 turned out to be biologically related to two of the main villains involved in the whole experiment who were still at large. Neither side of the villains' families wanted her, though, seeing her as a reminder of where their bloodlines had gone wrong. Her fate had seemed further sealed when a doctor had told them outright that she, as the youngest, was least likely to make it much longer. "While she hasn't been subjected to as much experimentation as some of the others," he said patiently, "she is very young and very small. For an infant of her age to have been this mistreated and neglected, the odds of bouncing back may as well be negative digits. We'll keep doing all we can, but we're mostly just trying to make sure she is as comfortable as possible when the inevitable occurs."

And she had been so small, so fragile, appearing as if an odd look would be enough to break her, that Shouto couldn't blame the doctor for his assessment. He peered down at her, tucked away in a little incubator of sorts, hooked up to far too many machines, and saw her little eyes crack open. Pumpkin colored slivers stared up at he and Izuku, a small spark there, and he knew. He knew that even if no one else believed that she could pull through, that she was strong and she would beat those impossible odds. That night, Shouto suggested they apply to adopt her. Izuku had wept in joy, confessing he had wanted to ask but wasn't sure how to approach it, and they started the process the following morning. It took six weeks for things regarding the adoption to be finalized, and then five more after before she was medically cleared to be discharged, but it was all well worth it.

Her birth date was determined to be some time in early May, with the doctor deciding the tenth seemed like a good day, and she sat at six months old when she came home on November 24th. They had selected the name Momiji for her because with her red-brown hair and orange eyes she seemed to be the living embodiment of fall aesthetics. So, naming her after the leaves that fell in the season she came home in only made sense. It was a little difficult at first, balancing their work with two children under the ages of two and one who needed a bit of extra care and monitoring, but they figured it out and were happy. Toshi enjoyed having a little sister to play with and Momiji started to thrive under the watchful eyes of her new, loving family.

But Momiji was rather different than Satoshi as she got older. She was easily excitable and an absolute chatterbox and seemed to have boundless energy. Furthermore, despite how much she had needed to be monitored, she was already significantly more independent than her brother. Part of that, though, could have been a side effect of how early on her Quirk ended up presenting. She had just barely been two years old when it happened, and while not unheard of, had become rather uncommon. The doctor explained that this was most likely a side effect of the experimentation she’d been put through, as it was a recurring theme with some of the other younger children that had lived. It had happened while she was in the bath before bedtime, as she was squealing and happily splashing about while Izuku laughed at her antics. One minute, she was in the tub, and then she suddenly perked up, her giggles cutting off as she blinked. “Momi?” Izuku had asked, tilting his head at her.

She patted at her belly and looked up at him, as if that would answer the question, and then she was enveloped in a yellow-white mist of light. It was brief - less than three seconds, Izuku swore - but when it faded, Momiji was gone. In her room, however, where Shouto had been pulling out some clean pajamas for her, the mist-light appeared, and suddenly Momiji was there, sitting on her changing table and dripping water all over it. Shouto remembered the two of them gawking at each other for a full five seconds before she took in a little gasp and said, nonchalant as a toddler could be, “Oh, hi Daddy.”

Teleportation, it was deemed medically, but Izuku liked to call it Peek-A-Boo, given its sporadic nature.

They'd had to do quite a bit of research to better understand her Quirk; specifically in that they had to drudge up the files of her genetic donors, since Shouto refused to apply the word "parent" to villains like that. Their Quirks were called Locator and Mistafy respectively; one could pinpoint a person's exact coordinates with enough information about them, while the other could briefly transform their body into a faint mist to move around or past things. Learning the limitations of their powers helped give them more insight with Momiji's own Quirk. She didn't have a particularly large range and she was limited to places she knew the layout of to a certain extent, so they didn't have to worry about her poofing off the property, at least. There had been one scare, though, when she'd teleported herself into a small crawl space under the house, where she had apparently burrowed into during a few rounds of hide-and-seek before. She could poof from room to room when visiting Inko and All Might or Rei and Endeavor, what with her being familiar with their homes, but she couldn't just appear in a neighbor's home or something.

And that had been a huge relief, really. They'd had to start working on her Quirk early on to avoid her “peeking” - as they preferred to call it - herself somewhere she shouldn't, or somewhere dangerous like the time with the crawl space. They had done it using little games, just like they did with Toshi, and learned that she could also teleport small objects, as well as that overworking her Quirk would lead to fainting spells. She was also a quick study, picking up on the same ticks of her power that her parents had and taking their advice or warning very seriously. Despite being younger, she was better with her Quirk than Satoshi, having reached a point where she seemed to have near-flawless control of it. Her last incident of accidental peeking was nearly three months ago.

But her Quirk was also part of what had Shouto's mind working in overdrive. He had voiced his concern to Rei and Inko, but the pair of them had merely giggled about what a mother hen he was being, fretting over his little chick running the roost a bit more. It wasn't about that, though! It wasn't about her being able to brush her teeth on her own without needing to be asked, or getting herself drinks or anything trivial like that! Shouto was fine that Momiji and Satoshi were already showing differences in who they were growing to be. What he worried about was what the catalyst for her to be so self-reliant at her young age was. How much of her independence was just part of her personality, and how much of it was out of a perceived sense of necessity? Had the need to get a handle on her Quirk led to her feeling like she was obligated to be more responsible, more mature? Was she feeling the same way he felt growing up?

That was what scared him. That she was carrying far too much weight on her little shoulders.

The thought was still bothering him as he dragged himself home after a late night patrol. He knew that by the time he got home, Izuku and the kids would most likely already be in bed. It was a quarter past eleven by the time he came through the door. He made a beeline for the bedroom, being quiet as he did so, and took a quick shower. It was as he was finishing up her pre-bed route that he noticed a quiet rustling sound in the bedroom proper. He rinsed his mouth and poked his head out, flicking the light off as he did.

There was a small squeak of surprise and then the soft patter of footsteps rushing from the left side of the bed towards the door. For a moment, he almost thought it was Toshi, but the figure was a smidge too short. "Momiji," he called softly, resisting the urge to dart over and scoop her up. He kept telling himself to just let her do what she needed to do, to trust that she'd speak up if needed.

She paused in reaching for the door before letting out a whimper, charging at him, latching to his right leg, and started crying. He was stunned by the act for a second, his body wavering slightly. Normally when she wanted one of them, she'd use her Quirk to get to them faster. He shifted to pick her up and cradle her against him, tucking her into his right shoulder. He kept one arm looped under her legs while the other stroked her back, trying to soothe her some. The quiet rustle of covers caught his attention and he turned to see a groggy Izuku sitting up, rubbing one eye with the heel of a hand. The minute he realized what was going on, though, he was wide awake. "What happened?" he mouthed.

"I'm not sure," he mouthed back. He moved over to the bed, carefully slipping into his side while keeping her close. Once he was settled, Izuku moved closer so he could rest against Shouto’s left side and reach out to help soothe their little girl, the three of them all squished together. After a few moments of soft words and gentle reassurances, she settled down a little. Her tiny body still shuddered with each breath in, but her cries had quieted down and her tears had subsided to just small sniffles. “Feeling a little better?” he prompted.

“Mmhmm,” she mumbled, letting out another little sniffle.

Izuku reached over and gently wiped away the last few tears from her cheeks. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“I had a bad d-dream,” she said, a hiccup causing her to stumble over the last word. She peeked her little eyes at them before tilting her head to nuzzle further into Shouto, hiding her face. “I kept peeking over and over and I didn’t know where I was and I couldn’t make it st-stop and it was s-su-super s-s-sc-ary!”

Shouto tilted his head to press a small kiss to the top of her head as she started to work herself up into another fit while Izuku started wiping away the new batch of tears. "Oh, Momi, it's okay. It's okay to have scary dreams," Izuku cooed softly.

"N-Nu-uh!" she protested, burrowing her face into Shouto.

Izuku let out a small sigh as he tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Oh, sweetie, everyone has scary dreams sometimes,"

"N-Not about their Q-Quirks!" she hiccupped, lifting her head to scowl at him. With the watery eyes and trembling lower lip, though, any attempt at intimidation was lost. "M-Mako-Kun doesn't g-get sc-scared of his Q-Quirk! A-And neither do Kaito or Reo or Isamu or Hibari!” The mention of Fuyumi’s kids was unsurprising, but the first one she mentioned did catch Shouto a bit off guard. Mako was the neighbor boy, a middle school student that occasionally walked Satoshi home and who helped his mom babysit them when neither Shouto or Izuku were going to be off of work on time or had anyone else available. His Quirk had something to do with generating poison and anti-venom, from what Shouto recalled, but he couldn't remember the specifics. Something to ask Izuku about later, since he'd most likely know.

"Well, Mako-Kun has had his Quirk a lot longer than you. I'm sure he was scared of it a little bit at first, too," Izuku chimed in softly, though he seemed a bit unsure of himself. Shouto knew that Izuku didn’t have any first hand experience with dealing with a Quirk at a young age, but they hadn’t discussed that fact with the kids yet. They were still only five and four, respectively, and they worried the pair would let the secret slip. They both knew that both kids tended to brag about who their dads were, after all.

Shouto hummed in agreement, carding a hand through her hair. “Papa’s right. Everyone's a little scared of their Quirk when they’re still learning about it. Why, I was afraid of my Quirk for a really long time,” he commented.

Momiji’s head snapped up lightning fast at that, looking at him like he’d just rocked the entire foundation of her world. “What? But you’re Daddy! A Hero! You’re not scared of nothing!” she squawked.

He laughed quietly, gently stroking her hair again to coax her to lie back down. “I wasn’t a Hero back then; I was little, like you. And even now, I might be a Hero, but there are still things I’m afraid of,” he mused.

“Like what?” she chirped, slowly settling back down, resting her chin on him and tilting her head so she could stare up at him.

“Well, I’m scared of something happening to you, or Papa, or Satoshi. I’m scared of not doing a good job as a Hero, or as a parent,” he admitted.

“And scorpions,” Izuku chimed in helpfully.

Shouto cast him a side glance before lightly pinched his belly in retaliation, causing the other to throw his face into a pillow with a muffled giggle. “Scorpions are icky!” Momiji agreed with a little shudder.

“Yes, they are,” he agreed, turning his attention back to her. “But back to the Quirk thing… I was very scared of my Quirk when I was around your age. I was always worried about hurting someone with it.”

“So what did you do?” she mumbled softly. “When you got scared?”

For a moment, he wasn’t sure what to tell her. He didn’t want to lie and pretend that he had parents that he could actively seek comfort from, but he also didn’t think that unpacking his childhood trauma on his daughter was responsible. His own childhood coping mechanisms also weren’t the best. But, he realized, there was something he could offer up. “Well, I would take a little break from using it,” It was a half truth at best, since he was pretty sure that ‘a little break’ didn’t extend to ‘nearly a decade of non-use’, but it was mostly true once he started actively using his fire. It had taken him time to get used to it and, sometimes, he’d struggle and get frustrated or scared. “I’d go do other things, like reading a book or studying notes, and just not really think about my Quirk until I felt ready.”

She hummed and nodded quietly, shifting to nuzzle closer to him again. “Mkay,” she said simply.

“Do you feel better, baby?” Izuku asked softly, resting his head against Shouto’s chest and getting himself comfortable.

“Mmhmm,” she hummed before opening her mouth wide in a yawn. She smacked her lips a bit and burrowed into Shouto, little hand curling in the fabric of his night shirt and her eyes sliding closed. “Can I sleep here?”

The pair of them exchanged amused looks. As if they were going to shoo the poor thing back to her room, especially when she was already so comfy and content. “Of course you can,” Shouto hummed, pressing another kiss to the top of her head.

“Love you, Daddy, Papa,” she yawned, eyes cracking open briefly as she flashed them a little smile before they fluttered closed again.

Shouto carefully curled his arm around her to keep her close while Izuku settled one of his hands on top of hers, thumb gently stroking the top. Once her breaths started to come in even, steady puffs, green eyes flashed upwards with affectionate exasperation. “This little girl, I swear. She just jumps from hysterical to dubious to exhausted like it’s nothing,” he chuckled.

“Well, she is our daughter. Emotional extremes are kind of our thing in this family,” he teased back, grin widening when Izuku whined and ducked his face into his shoulder. “And, I mean, I don’t blame her for being exhausted. Being scared can be very tiring.”

“Hmm,” Izuku agreed, turning his head to look at her again. She was completely peaceful now, little sleepy snores escaping her. “Do you think that part of it is because she doesn’t spend a whole lot of time with other kids her age? I mean, she has play dates with everyone elses kids when we can find the time, but the kids she sees the most often are bigger kids. Or perhaps it’s a matter of her Quirk being so different from the rest of the family and her friends? I mean, most of the other kids have more expansive Quirks that aren’t so directly tethered to their spatial awareness.”

“I’ll call Momo tomorrow and see what preschool program she and Kyoka are thinking about putting Shikako in. Perhaps being with a peer that she knows whose Quirk also has an element of unpredictability will help her feel comfortable. Or at least give her someone her own age that relates to help her feel better about it,” he commented. Shikako had been another of the rescued survivors from the same incident as Momiji, though she was a few months older. She had been living with a different family for the first six months after the incident, but then her Quirk presented. It turned out to be Projection; she could temporarily bring things she imagined to life. Because of how similar her Quirk seemed to work to Momo’s, she and Kyoka had immediately jumped to take her in when her first family admitted to not knowing how to manage her Quirk, happy to offer her a safe and loving home.

“You’re amazing,” Izuku said, leaning up to kiss him quickly before settling back down. Shouto smiled and relaxed into the bed, basking in the weight of his husband and daughter pressing down on him. There was going to be some phone calls to make in the morning and there was still work to be done, but he felt relieved to know their daughter wasn’t afraid to open up and seek comfort from them.

He held her a little tighter, though, just in case the lingering fears tried to disturb her again.

#crumbles grumbles #TodoDeku #my fics #TW: Child Abuse #TW: Child Neglect #TW: Experimentation #UGH I am WEAK for writing my ships with children!#And I have Too Many Feels about Shouto as a Daddy #Hence why this was kinda Shouto-centric

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joe-mazzello-archive · 5 years ago

Text

Agape - Chapter Seven

A Joe Mazzello x Fem!Reader fic

Rating: 18+

Chapter Seven

Warnings: Language, Alcohol, Drug Usage, Flufffffffffffff Word Count: 2684 A/N: Shout out to getting stuck in an airport for five hours. I present to you wrap party drunken karaoke Joe aka one of the best Joes. Enjoy.

You went your separate ways to head home to get ready for the party. You had been looking forward to the wrap party since it was planned; it was a cocktail party at a rooftop bar in downtown Austin. You felt like you were on cloud nine as you pulled out the dress you had purchased for the event. It was a strappy shift dress in a gorgeous burgundy color that had fit you perfectly when you tried it on in the store.

As you got ready, your head was still spinning from the events of the day. You had never experienced a kiss like that before. Kissing Joe felt like it was destiny, like your lips were made for his. And you always loved the feeling of being in his arms. It was the most comfortable you had felt with a person in years.

Suddenly those fears about telling him how you felt were starting to seem ridiculous. Why should you hold yourself back from something that could be really amazing? Fuck what the tabloids say. Fuck what your exes had done or said. Joe was nothing like them. He was different.

You also had a sneaking suspicion he had feelings for you too. The way he continued to hold you after each take ended felt like something stronger than just friendship. And you and Joe had always flirted in a playful way, but now you weren't sure if it was just friendly or something more.

There was only one way to find out.

You finished off your outfit with a black metal choker necklace and black heeled booties. You put on more makeup than usual, adding a deep burgundy lipstick to match your dress. Once you were happy with your look, you grabbed your phone to double check the address for the party. You noticed you had two texts. Both from Joe, both almost a half-hour old. You realized you took longer to get ready than you thought.

Pre-game? My place or yours?

The butterflies immediately returned to your stomach, your excitement for the night’s events running through you. You also loved how he didn’t even wait for you to say yes before following up with the second text.

Just saw these. I don’t have any drinks here so it’d have to be your place.

A group of us have already started. Come catch up.

He followed up with the address to his place. You grabbed your purse and keys and headed towards Joe’s condo.

You barely knocked once before the door opened, revealing a tipsy Joe holding a glass of wine in his free hand. You both smiled at each other while you took in each other’s appearances. Joe was wearing a white dress shirt buttoned all the way up, black slacks, and his signature leather jacket. He had actually styled his hair and shaved off his scruff.

He looked like an absolute snack.

You noticed he was eyeing you just as much as you were eyeing him.

“Damn, Mazzello. You clean up good!” you finally said.

“Look who’s talking. Have you seen yourself?” Joe countered before stepping aside to let you into the condo. Leah, Briana, and the actor who had played Desmond’s best friend, who’s name was escaping you, were spread throughout the living room and kitchen. On the coffee table sat an empty wine bottle, a newly opened wine bottle, a few joints, and an ashtray. The smattering of actors cheered your name once they saw you enter.

“Where have you been?” Leah shouted, waving you over.

“Well you guys have certainly been busy,” you replied, grabbing an empty glass from the kitchen. Joe walked over with the wine bottle, pouring you a glass before clinking it with his own.

The five of you chatted and joked around as you finished the second bottle of wine and a joint or two. You had your eyes on Joe most of the time. He was even more relaxed and goofy than usual, and his smile and laugh were extremely contagious. You found yourself going out of your way to try to make him laugh.

Eventually you all made your way to the rooftop bar. The venue was beautifully decorated, with globe lights strung above the patio. There was both an outdoor and indoor section, each section boasting plates and plates of hors d'oeuvres. The outdoor patio featured a large bar stocked with everything and anything, while the indoor room featured a smaller bar and a small stage already set up for karaoke.

Your group had arrived fashionably late, so the party was already in full swing. You all made a beeline for the bar, ordering your first round and toasting to a great shoot. After a few minutes, you lost sight of Joe, whom you were hoping to spend most of the party with.

You started to wander around and make idle small talk with some of the crew members and other cast when you found yourself talking to the actor who had played Desmond’s best friend, who you now knew went by Casey.

“So what are you thinking? Are we looking at Oscars here?” he asked.

“Oh I don’t know. I mean I’m really proud of what we made. But who knows?” you replied, subconsciously swirling your cocktail around, eyes scanning the crowd for Joe.

“Well I mean I can definitely see you getting a best actress nom. I mean I saw an early cut of the pills scene with Joe. You were unbelievable,” Casey commented. You smiled and blushed a bit.

“That’s really sweet of you, Casey,” you replied. “And honestly, an award nom would be cool. But mostly I’m excited for the response from the general audience, you know? For me, it’s all about telling a story.” Casey nodded in response.

Suddenly an arm snaked around your shoulders.

“Come pick out a song, partner!” Joe said, pulling you towards the karaoke room. You laughed and gave a quick wave to Casey as you were dragged away. You noticed Joe struggle with the door, and realized he may be a little more than tipsy now.

The two of you flipped through the song choices, arguing about what song you were going to sing. After a few minutes of debating you settled on Love Shack by the B-52’s. And before you knew it, you were pulled onstage and the song was beginning.

“If you see a faded sign by the side of the road that says fifteen miles to the --”

“LOVE SHACK!”

You belted your way through the classic 80’s tune, going back and forth with Joe. The song was a perfect choice, as you could definitely tell Joe was beyond tipsy and all he had to do in the song was talk-sing. He also showed off some dance moves, which you couldn’t help but laugh at lovingly. The crowd loved the two of you, cheering and singing along. Once the song finished, you both took a bow while the audience applauded.

Suddenly Joe wrapped his arms around your middle and gave you a wet kiss on your cheek. The gesture shot heat to your core, which you figured was probably because of the alcohol in your system. He let go of his embrace, helped you down from the stage, and led you back over to the bar.

“Okay, it’s only fair that since I forced you to sing with me that I buy you a drink,” Joe slurred, waving down the bartender. You laughed.

“First of all, it’s an open bar. And second of all, you didn’t force me to do anything! I wanted to sing with you,” you replied, patting his shoulder.

“Oh get out of here with your logic,” Joe countered before the bartender appeared. You both ordered another cocktail. The barkeep delivered your drinks before disappearing to the other side of the bar, leaving the two of you alone.

You turned to Joe, who was already looking at you like he was about to say something. You looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to speak. But instead he looked down and took a sip of his drink.

“You okay?” you asked. “You looked like you were going to say something.”

“Oh I’m fine, and I just lost my train of thought,” Joe replied, taking another sip of his cocktail. You nodded understandingly.

You watched the man in front of you continue to sip on his drink, feeling a sense of adoration. You couldn’t help but smile. You thought that maybe this was a good time to make your move and confess to Joe what you had been keeping bottled inside for the past two months.

You opened your mouth to speak and were cut off by Casey calling your name. You looked over to see him, Leah, and Briana stumbling towards you.

“They have cornhole outside! Come be on my team and help me win a bet against Leah,” Casey said.

“You’re going down!” Leah shouted, clearly drunk. You looked back at Joe, almost as if you were asking for approval, but he wasn’t paying attention. You watched Joe down the last of his drink and signal the bartender again.

“Come cheer me on in cornhole!” you called at him, while being pulled away by Briana.

“I’ll be there in a bit,” Joe replied, barely looking back at you.

You and Casey made a pretty good team, absolutely destroying the ladies in every round. As you played, you kept an eye out for Joe, hoping to show off your skills for him. But he never appeared.

After an hour of playing, you bowed out, on the lookout for Joe. You scanned the entire outside patio, but he was nowhere to be found.

You went back inside, eyes peeled for a drunk ginger. You ran into Julia and a few other crew members and asked if they’d seen him but they hadn’t. You worried he had already left. You pulled out your phone to text him and found you had five texts already, all from Joe.

11:02: Where are you 11:05: I’m v drunk 11:06: I lvoe open barssss 11:17: I cant find u 11:35: where r u!!!!!

Shit, he was even drunker than you thought.

I’m looking for you. Where are you now?

You continued to wander around and look for him. Suddenly someone wrapped their arms around your waist from behind.

“I found you!” Joe slurred, using you to steady himself. You turned and grabbed his arms, attempting to keep him steady.

“I see someone has had a lot to drink this evening,” you commented, leading Joe to a table to sit.

“I had to!” Joe replied once he sat. You wrinkled your brow in confusion.

“No one forced you to get drunk, Joe,” you replied. You caught the eye of the bartender and signaled for a glass of water.

“No, but I had to,” he repeated. You had no idea what he was talking about. You got him to drink some water while you assessed how drunk he really was.

“How are you feeling? Do you think you’re going to get sick?” you asked.

“I’ll be fine, I’m just tired,” was his slurred response. You had him sit and drink water for a bit before you decided to take him back to his condo. You slung one of his arms over your shoulder to help him walk. The two of you said your goodbyes to anyone you passed on your way to the exit. You happened to catch Leah’s eye, who gave you a knowing look as she waved goodbye.

Luckily Joe’s condo wasn’t a far walk from the venue.

“Thank you for taking care of me. You’re the best,” Joe mumbled as you walked.

“You’re welcome. And I’m very aware,” you replied.

Before long, you reached his condo. You helped him over to his couch before leaving him to grab him another glass of water. You sat next to him as he sipped from the glass. You suddenly remember what he had said to you at the party.

“Why did you say that you had to get drunk?” you finally asked. Joe put the glass down on the coffee table, laid back on the couch, and gave a dramatically loud sigh as he draped his arm over his face.

“Because I’m a huge chicken!” he replied, voice muffled by his jacket sleeve. You laughed at his dramatic actions. “Don’t laugh at me!”

“I’m not laughing at you,” you said, though you were clearly still giggling. You tapped his leg to get him to look at you. “What do you mean you’re a huge chicken?”

He quietly sat up, his face beat red. He looked right at you.

“Because I’m in love with you and I needed the alcohol in my system to finally make a move,” he admitted.

You froze, your body in absolute shock. Your heart felt like it was going to leap out of your chest.

“Joe…” you started to say before you were cut off.

“I totally get it if you’re not into me, and I really don’t want to ruin our friendship--”

“Joe--” you tried to cut in but the man was on a roll.

“And you mean the world to me and I don’t want to lose you--”

“Joe--”

“But I also completely understand if this makes you uncomfortable--”

You did the only thing you knew you could do to shut him up. You grabbed his face and brought his lips to yours.

He froze at first, but relaxed after a moment, kissing you back hard. The kiss was just as magical as it had been earlier that day. But this time you weren’t pretending. Neither of you were.

After a few more moments, you gently pulled away, letting go of his face.

“You wouldn’t even let me have a chance to tell you that I’m in love with you, too, you dork. So I had to do something,” you said smiling.

He smiled back, gently reaching up to caress your face before kissing you again. He kissed you deeply as his hands ran through your hair. Your hands slid their way up his sides, the smile never leaving your face as you kissed him. You could feel him smiling too.

His hands reached for the zipper of your dress and you stopped him. He pulled away in confusion.

“How about we continue this when both of us are sober?” you suggested. He sighed and nodded.

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. Damn you and your logic!” he replied.

You had him drink a little more water and take some ibuprofen you had in your purse before you both made your way to the bedroom. You helped him out of his clothes, leaving him in a white undershirt and his underwear. As he climbed into bed, you slipped out of your shoes and dress, leaving you in your bra and underwear. You could feel him watching you undress and you shot him a look. He turned away realizing he was caught, and you laughed.

You placed another glass of water on the end table next to Joe before sliding into bed beside him.

His arms immediately reached for you and pulled you close to him. He spooned up behind you before placing a soft kiss on your shoulder.

“I like that I get to hold you for real. And not just because a script told me to,” he whispered. You giggled.

“I don’t know, when we were filming earlier today and you kept holding me long after Julia called ‘cut’, it felt pretty real,” you countered. This time Joe giggled.

“Yeah, I was so done for at that point. The way you looked at me each time before you kissed me...I knew I was in trouble,” he replied as he squeezed you tighter.

You sighed, filled with that familiar feeling of comfort in Joe’s arms. You felt safe and loved. And this time it was for real.

It only took a few more minutes for you both to fall asleep.

#joe mazzello x reader #joe mazzello x you #joe mazzello imagine #joe mazzello fic #joe mazzello fanfic #joe mazzello #joemazzmatazz

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8bitsupervillain · 4 years ago

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End of the Year pt. 2

Games of the Year released before 2020!

Remnant: From the Ashes. The addition of the survival mode in the Swamps of Corsus DLC was quite the shot in the arm to this game. Overall I felt this game was a really fun shooter, the final boss is kind of a dud, but on the whole I greatly enjoyed the game. It's got a really satisfying core to the gameplay. This was originally sold to me as a game similar to Bloodborne, but really it's just a fun Action RPG shooter. Except for some parts with the swamp area, and the fact I got horribly lost in one single dungeon in the desert area I liked this game a lot.

Doom 64. I have never actually played this game on the console it was explicitly made for. I recall being rather harsh on this game when I played it originally a few years ago, but I had a blast with this game when I played it on the PS4. Some of the levels are quite samey looking, but I like the sheer amount of enemies the game throws at you over the course of the two campaigns. With the exception of the Lost Souls and Pain Elementals, I found them particularly annoying through out the bulk of the campaigns. With the rerelease of Doom 64 on to PS4 and all the other consoles they did make a new shorter campaign that takes place after the ending of regular Doom 64. I found it to be really brutal to play through, but honestly it was a grand time to be had.

Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star. This is going to seem like a real back-handed recommendation but honestly this game illustrates just how hard it is to make a really good Musou style game. I like this game well enough, but honestly I can't help but get somewhat fed up with how the game plays, especially playing as Tamamo no Mae, she plays rather poorly compared to literally any other character in the game. Also I don't particularly care for the actual story in the game either. Despite not being a particularly big fan of the game when I played it I have gone through it a couple of times. Even though a lot of the servants are relegated to the ancillary bonus missions (and even then I'm pretty sure they only get one a piece) I liked playing as them. My hope is that Extella Link irons out some of the problems I had with this one. It's still well worth playing, just set your expectations accordingly I'd say. Prepare for at best a seven.

Kingdom Hearts HD Final Mix. I vaguely recall playing this game way back when it first came out, but this was the year I actually stuck to it and played it to completion. I liked it a lot actually, much more than I figured I would. I like the story, and while the gameplay is very primitive I had a ball playing around with it. I plan on playing the rest of the series, probably this year, but who knows. I kind of started Chain of Memories (I have the PS4 collection), and that seems alright. I positively adore the song they used to advertise this game listening to it at the end of the game here was a massive shot in the old nostalgia. Regardless of how the rest of the series goes I'd recommend Kingdom Hearts 1 at least.

Control. The story stuff is really very good, and I think the majority of the gameplay is fun. I like using the telekinesis to throw things around, and floating around is always a good time. The DLCs are kind of a mixed bag, you might love them if you have a large love/appreciation for Alan Wake. I don't unfortunately, so the second DLC didn't really do anything for me. I kind of hope the trend of Remedy working on games that aren't Alan Wake continues. I find their other games to be vastly more interesting.

God Eater 3. The design work in this game is positively great, I love the way the monsters and the weapons look. The story might be a bit of a wash, but I still enjoyed what happened in it. It's a nice alternative to Monster Hunter, even if it lacks some of the polish from it. This might sound shallow but I liked the anime look of the characters in the game, and I think that it helped carry the game a fair amount. I eagerly look forward to whatever comes next in either the God Eater series or what the developers do next (Scarlett Nexus I think).

Pathfinder: Kingmaker. Since my DnD group scattered to the winds with the resolution of the campaigns we were running I found this to be a good replacement. It scratches my desire to play a tabletop style RPG. I don't really know much about the Pathfinder system, but I do like what Kingmaker does in replicating the tabletop experience. Probably there are better games that do the pseudo-tabletop thing better, but I liked this a lot.

For Honor. Back when this game first came out years ago I had rented it from a Redbox cause I was curious to see if it was any good. For whatever reason when I put the game in my system it kept giving me an error message saying that I couldn't actually play the game. It claimed that the game wasn't actually available yet, not that this stopped my friends from playing it. So years later I came across it free and decided to give it a whirl and was blown away by the combat system in the game. While there is a singleplayer campaign it is firmly in the backseat, because the combat is the star of the show and clearly where the effort went. I like having to physically maneuver your sword in to position to block incoming attacks, I love duping people in to misplaying and cutting into them. I wish the multiplayer were more alive than it is, really justify the season passes, but as it stands I like playing it every now and then.

Final Fantasy VII. Back when I was but a wee child I made fun of my older brother for playing this game. It looked so lame to me back then, why would he play this when he could play better games like Medievil, or other action games. Young me was an idiot though, that dink liked the Sega Genesis Lost World game. Fast forward to February 2020 and I decided to give the game a shot because I wanted context for the remake coming out. I didn't think it was going to be one of the best games I had played this year, yet here we are. I absolutely love this game, the story is so great and I love it to pieces. Despite having had knowledge about what happened in the game for well over two decades I was absolutely gripped by the story. Hell I was even emotional over the big event everyone knows about. It is an absolutely compelling game and I fully understand why it has endured as one of the most beloved games since its release. So good in fact that despite having two full playthroughs and the platinum trophy I still think about replaying the game fairly regularly. I do have one controversial opinion though, Birth of a God is a much better song than One Winged Angel.

Death Stranding. I was so worried about this game ever since I played The Phantom Pain. I thought for sure Kojima had lost whatever touch he had, that his good games were squarely in the past. It is always such a good feeling to be proven wrong like this however, because outside of MGS2 I think this is probably the best Kojima game. The story stuff in this game is some of the best I've seen in a good long while, it is entirely outlandish stuff that seems kind of high on itself. But some parts towards the end of the game are some of the most emotionally striking things I have ever seen. It's really surprising to me how he could take a script with characters named Deadman, Heartman, and Die-Hardman and make it all come together so well. Then again, even outside of the story the actual gameplay is some of the most soothing and relaxing I've encountered in a while. Acting as a post-apocalypse delivery man is great and deeply satisfying, especially the act of rebuilding roads to zip across the country. It is a surprisingly great experience and one that I fully am surprised to love as much as I did, because for the first five hours I was feeling rather cold to the game. I am so glad I stuck with it.

#end of the year #pre-2020

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brokenmusicboxwolfe · 8 years ago

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Television wise I’ve been rewatching The Prisoner to celebrate it’s 50th anniversary this year. Since the show is so significant to me I am going to have to ramble about it!

Growing up my parents talked about various shows they watched back before I was born, and for folks that weren’t into tv much it was a pretty good list. Star Trek, The Avengers, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Smothers Brothers, The Saint, The Twilight Zone, Mission Impossible, etc...whether they knew it or not they were geeks at heart. I get it honest, as Mom would say.

Two shows always mentioned together were Danger Man/Secret Agent (depending on which country you’re from) and The Prisoner. Danger Man was the more serious sibling of the mainstream tv spy genre of the time. It was a bit closer to LeCarre than James Bond, if you know what I mean. When the star tired of it a very different show was created, one where to this day people debate whether the main character actually is the same person. The Prisoner was not an ordinary show but a thing of art, of myth even.

I was convinced I would never see this mysterious show. It had aired before I was born, and my parents were under the impression that there was something preventing it from every being reshown. But then, when I was about 14, our local PBS station showed it. I was incredibly excited.

Now I love a great many things, but some strike something deeper than others. Once in a very, very long time something hits something at the very core of your being, something primal and personal. It

I mentioned before about reading Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass when I was six and how it expressed something absolutely true to my perception of the world. It was just right in a way no other book ever had been. My reaction to The Prisoner was something like that.

Something like but different. Visceral and overwhelming, not comforting but a scream of recognition of something dark and powerful. I have never in my life reacted as intensely to any work of art or pop culture as I did to that first episode.

Put simply, I freaked. I identified with the main character so completely I was raging. I stomped around the house, shouting, reacting with a ferocity of someone personally experiencing the events of the fantasy.

If you are unfamiliar with the show, it involves a man, most probably a spy, that has resigned from his job. He wakes to find himself in a place known only as “The Village”. It’s designed like a vacation resort, but is in fact a sort of prison where everyone is constantly monitored and mind games are the order of the day. Instead of names everyone is refered to by a number, so while our hero is constantly questioned as to why he resigned, he in turn wonders “Who is number 1?” Answers are as elusive as escape.

One of the beauties of the show is that even though for all the ‘60s surrealism many episodes can function as an adventure show, much else about it works best when viewed as an allegory. My best friend was the only other person I knew that watched it** and yet you would think we were watching different shows. To her it was that adventure show that got too weird at the end, to me it was fodder for an epic essay in English class about how the Village represented the world, blah, blah, blah with those weird episodes my absolute favorites.

At heart, the show is a study in the dynamics between the individual and society. Society, through it’s various structures, attempts to make an individual part of the whole. The individual, instinctively as much as anything, attempts to maintain separate identity. It’s a sort of dance between pressure and resistance, where our hero, as ultimate expression of that conflict, can hold onto the self but can never escape society.

Or that’s my take today! LOL

No, really, it is open to interpretation. The Village could equally be seen as an internal cage, the struggle not between society and the individual but one within a person for identity. Or it could be...

But I won’t rattle off how to read it. How you understand a peice of art, and I do think the show counts as art as much as any group creation for mass consumption can, depends on the person taking it in. The show is half the creation, and you the viewer are the other half.

In a way that is the secret for my meltdown. I reacted to powerfully not because of the show but because of me. It might sound odd for a 14 year old girl to find her purest fictional identification character in the form of a middle aged male spy from a tv show from before she was born, bit it does make a sort of sense.

I have all my life had a intensely strong sense of self. I’ve known who I was, even when I don’t really like it. My unshakable sense of identity had always placed me in a situation of conflict. My refusal to pretend to be other than who I was or deny my views for the sake of unity had caused me trouble from the start. I lived in a small rural community with a great deal of expectation for conformity and social unity, but still I refused to compromise my expression of self. It didn’t matter if it was counter to my seeming well being, my instinct was always to an inner truth that would be read as rebellion or weirdness by others. I watched the first episode and saw myself and my world.

So there I was, finally watching the first episode and going nuts. I could not taking it. It stirred things, those personal resonances, so deeply that I was overwhelmed. When the next episode was shown a week later my family watched without me. That was a first, me refusing to watch something because it got to me. In fact it wasn’t until months later when the reruns started over that I watched again. I was prepared this time. I’d hold my emotions in check and watch rationally. And this time it was love.....

I cannot tell you how many times I have rewatched the series over the years. As we were watching the episode Once Upon A Time I pointed out to Mom I actually have the dialog memorized! Admittedly the episode, in which our hero (I never call him Number Six...I dunno, I just can’t) and Number Two (one of the ever changing rulers if The Village) going into a psychological pressure cooker situation, is a particular favorite. Still the same applies to other episodes. Dance of the Dead, Free For All, A Change of Mind, Fall Out ( that controversial last episode I adore)....actually only the episode Do Not Foresake Me Oh My Darling, where star Patrick McGoohan went off to a film a movie leaving the character to be mind swapped in a story that always felt off to me, just get rewatched on series run throughs.

And so here we are in the milestone year, a 50th anniversary to a show that still connects with me on a primal level. There aren’t going to be mountains of celebratory memorabilia or even magazine covers trumpeting the event. That’s okay. Much as I wish more people remembered it as more than some dusty old footnote in tv history, it doesn’t change the fact it’s a masterpiece.

One day I may even get up the nerve to watch that remake series of a few years back.

Maybe....

**Most people around here did not have cable yet, so it was still four channels, five by the time I was in high school and there was Fox...if the weather was right. Despite the lack of options it seemed NO ONE watched PBS outside my family. I was a child when they started showing Doctor Who, eventually six days a week. You would think with only four channels at the time I wouldn’t be the only Doctor Who fan in the entire school. You would be wrong. LOL

#the prisoner #television #patrick mcgoohan

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