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medea10 · 3 years ago

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My Review of Zombieland Saga REVENGE

Yes, Franchouchou has come back after a two and a half year hiatus.

HISTORY: Zombieland Saga is an idol show.

I have already cut my readership in half with that one sentence alone. But this is no ordinary idol show! A maniacal necromancer named Kotarou Tatsumi brings seven girls back from the dead. A former idol from the 1980’s (Junko), a former idol from the 2010’s (Ai), a child star from the 2010’s (Lily), a girl with idol aspirations from 2008 (Sakura), a former biker gang chick from 1997 (Saki), a courtesan from the 19th century (Yugiri), and Yamada Tae! There’s no describing what exactly Yamada Tae is but we don’t question it as she’s best girl.

Kotarou brought these seven girls back to life in order to save the Saga area and revitalize it. Throughout the first 12 episodes, we watch these girls get the hang of being alive again after so long and become an idol group. With Kotarou’s make-up skills, he’s able to fool nearly everybody that these girls are living, breathing idols. Almost everybody! At the end of the series, we get one guy who caught on about Lily, Ai, and Junko. But enough about that! Let’s see how successful Franchouchou has gotten since we last left the series.

REVENGE: So this sequel begins with the girls doing odd-jobs trying to earn as much money as they possibly can. Normally, the girls would do odd gigs that Kotarou was able to conjure up and that’s been good publicity for their group Franchouchou. However, they came into some money problems when they gambled and lost. It’s no doubt that their performance in the 12th episode was a banger and gave Franchouchou a boost in the idol scene. However, they aimed too high by renting out a big amphitheater to have a concert and only 1.6% capacity was filled. So the performance that night was a crash and burn type of thing. The after-effect put the girls in the hole (money wise) and Kotarou spends his days getting drunk at bars.

Seriously, look at this guy! He looks like a drunk, fourth season Eren Yeager. Kinda hard watching Kotarou looking so sad, pathetic, and drunk! It wasn’t until the girls had to perform at a metal concert arena that Kotarou got a kick in the pants. The fool arrives to the performance hella late, screaming for an encore when the audience is totally not vibing for one. And the girls end up singing while the audience goes in (for a lack of a better term) a Blues Brothers style rumble. The important thing is that Kotarou is feeling better and is ready to send his little zombie songbirds out to save the Saga prefecture.

Throughout the season, we follow the girls of Franchouchou as they regain some popularity they obtained last season. Will they do it? In the first 4 episodes, the group gained their own radio show and Ai’s old group (before she died) Iron Frill considered them as rivals. I think they’ll be okay!

BUT WAIT…: What about that photographer fella we saw all last season? He was quickly catching onto Ai, Junko, and Lily looking a little too close in resemblance to the girls that died years ago. Slowly throughout the series, we see him get closer to the truth.

NEW IDOL?: Oh God, did Kotarou commit taboo once again by bringing another girl back from the dead?

No…It was sadly much worse.

While at a public bathhouse, a girl (not wearing her prescription glasses) entered the men’s side, slipped on some soap, and was knocked unconscious. Thinking she died, Kotarou brings her body back to the girls (who aren’t wearing their makeup) saying this girl will be #7 in Franchouchou. And just like I said, she is not dead and now she knows that the idol group she loves are dancing zombies.

Kotarou is truly fucking up royally this season.

Anyways, this is Maimai! She’s a fan of Franchouchou and ends up becoming a temporary member of the group as #7 (for the episode). And, she’s voiced by Kana Hanazawa! If you don’t know who she is by now, blow me. It’s a little scary knowing that there’s one person out there that knows about the secret. But Maimai is much too loyal a fan to ruin something for everyone and is totally chill about her favorite idol group really being zombies.

THE TWO UNSOLVED MYSTERIES: As much as many of us loved the first season to Zombieland Saga, there were two characters we wished got more play and we knew a little more about. Yugiri and Yamada Tae! Tae-chan has been the enigmatic idol from day one. And due to her possible mental disability, we might never know. However, in one episode we do see her stopping off at a cemetary and I do believe that was her own grave.

As for Yugiri, even the detective can’t dig up info on her. She was around in the late 1800s or the Meiji era and there’s only one known photo in existence of Yugiri before her death. This season, we got a two-episode saga to bring us the good word on Saga and its importance. We got a bit of a history lesson about the Saga prefecture during the Meiji era and even what it was like before then. And yes, we did learn how Yugiri died and her connection to Saga. It was quite sad, but definitely one of the best episodes of the series.

BEST SONG: Didn’t think I’d have one for this franchise.

Saga Jihen from episode 9.

Nuff said.

ENDING: Well, we learned some extra details on what happened during the fall and rise of Franchouchou. This mostly has to do with Kotarou’s gamble with booking a huge arena for the girls to perform in. First of all, this arena was the place of Ai’s death. You member! When she was electrocuted right there on stage! Second of all, they didn’t sell the tickets until the day of the concert. What was that end result again? 1.6% capacity filled! Even in Covid-19 times, that’s fucking small. Granted, the audience was full of those memorable fans from season one including Saki’s friend’s daughter, Lily’s father, and the two metal jackasses. But still, not a good! The girls hit a brick wall and felt embarrassed. This was the worst moment for these girls (aside from dying once). After the disasterous event, they were millions of yen in debt, they’re running out of essentials for the house, and Kotarou has gone on a two-month drinking binge. It was then that they decided to do makeup themselves and go out in the world to earn a living and eventually pay off the debt.

Thankfully, they were able to get out of debt and regained their popularity throughout Saga and further. Saki has managed to get a radio show. Iron Frill (Ai’s old group) sees Franchouchou as a worthy rival. Lily gained a lot of fame in a televised competition. So what’s next? Kotarou apologized to Franchouchou for his big mistake the previous year and him spiraling out of control. Seconds later, he announces that their revenge will be to perform at the very same arena that fucked up their career the year prior.

Boy, you do NOT learn your lesson, do you?!

More trouble is on the rise as that reporter who caught on about the girls being zombies has confronted Kotarou. We finally circled back to the final scene from season one. This guy has caught on to the fact that the girls of Franchouchou resemble girls that died. The only one that he couldn’t dig up dirt on was Yugiri. Possibly because the only known evidence for existence is a photo at the bar! What’s more, he has a sneaking suspicion that the girls of Franchouchou are all zombies. In a prior episode, the reporter snapped a picture at the right time exposing Yamada Tae’s head rolling around on the ground. Dude is ready to go public with the story of the girls of Franchouchou being zombies resurrected from the dead unless Kotarou pulls the plug on everything. Kotarou simply said that the girls will get their revenge and will perform at the arena.

And then…a storm hit Saga!

There was a lot of damage around town. And worst off was Kotarou’s place, as it was ripped from its foundation, thrown into the sea, and crumbled into nothing after coming ashore. Worst of all, the special makeup the girls use to hide their zombie state was in that wreckage. Meanwhile, Kotarou spent several days trapped in a bar with the bar owner and nearly drowned. The girls ended up in a safety shelter with nearly the entire Saga prefecture. The good thing is because they’re town celebrities that they were given a top floor to themselves for privacy. The bad thing is that they’ve been here for days and their makeup is starting to come off, exposing zombies. And to make matters worse, that nosy reporter who knows the girls are zombies is also staying at the shelter (though the girls don’t know he knows). The girls decided to use Junko’s doll-crafting paintset to make masks to hide behind. That lasted only five seconds while trying to entertain the children of the shelter.

This is it. The girls are exposed as zombies.

Actually, the kids and parents thought this was part of the act and thought Franchouchou was lifting up the spirits of the arena. And in comes Kotarou just in time! Man, right under the wire. Now we’re like a few days from this planned concert and Saga is still recovering from the huge storm. Morale is quite low and it’s starting to look like a worse outcome for Franchouchou’s revenge than what happened one year ago. Saki used her platform on the radio to reach all of her viewers to see if they could try to come to the arena for their concert that is now a charity concert. So will this concert be a big success or a bigger flop than last year?

Actually, the arena was packed with people. Fans we’ve met in season one and new characters we met this season were even in attendance. Lily’s father ended up clearing away a lot of the debris so that concert goers could get through. Even Iron Frill (Ai’s old group) came in attendance! The concert was a huge success! And can I say that I’m really enjoying Yamada Tae’s Freddie Mercury impression on stage.

Don’t think you’re that clever, Zombieland Saga. We all know!

Yes, the concert was perfect! A great revenge! They even made Kotarou (a grown-ass man) cry. Even the reporter is willing to keep his trap shut (for now) about the girls being zombies. And best of all, NO ONE CAUGHT COVID-19! Yeah, I have to bring that up. The date of the concert was March 8th, 2020. Ahem. March. 2020. But yeah, everything went great. Perfect ending for Zombieland Saga Reven…

AND THEN AN ALIEN MOTHERSHIP COMES IN AND ZAPS THE AREA!

Huh?!

Who wrote that in the script? Some jerkass from Gainax?!

The last 15 seconds of Zombieland Saga leaves us with some sort of unidentified flying object zapping the area. Only Zombieland Saga can get away with this shit. Well folks, let’s see what’s in store for season three, Zombieland Saga: Zombies in Space or Sagapendence Day Zomb-Trek: Deep Space Seven.

Yeah, I know nothing has been greenlit or announced yet, but you know Studio Mappa has something up their sleeves with that ending. Once again, I enjoyed Zombieland Saga’s charm. I didn’t know if there was much more they could offer us after the first season’s stories, like learning how the girls died, Sakura’s past, and especially Lily’s backstory. This season, I wish there was more Yamada Tae. Come on guys, we still don’t know how she died or anything about her past! And what’s up with Yamada Tae being buried next to Sakura? Did they know each other before passing away? I want some answers! But I was blown away when it came to Yugiri’s saga and the tale of Saga itself. We got a literal history lesson about what Saga was once, what it became after a long struggle, the pain some folks went to in order to keep Saga thriving, and all leading up to where we are now.

This was a fun season. I had a lot more fun with the music this season than the previous one. Yeah, believe it or not I liked the songs Franchouchou sang this season than last season. Never a dull moment, especially with Kotarou! Yeah, his crazy-ass was totally there making absolutely no fucka sense. Take that competition Lily entered.

What the fuck was Kotarou doing? That was an epic fail on so many levels.

Well folks, whenever season three or whatever sequel may come, I’m hoping for more information involving Yamada Tae. And you know what else was severely missing from this season, Kotarou’s past with Sakura. I didn’t forget that flashback from season one and those couple of seconds this season aren’t enough to satisfy my hunger. Those are the two things I would like to know more about in whatever comes of the franchise. Otherwise, great time had by all!

Once more, if you are not a fan of idol shows, this is the only one I would highly recommend Zombieland Saga. Crunchyroll has both seasons available for streaming. FUNimation is now dubbing the second season as we speak.

#anime review #zombieland saga #zombieland saga revenge #yamada tae #kotarou tatsumi #saki nikaidou #sakura minamoto #junko konno #ai mizuno #yugiri #lily hoshikawa

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papers4me · 4 years ago

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Fruits Basket SE02. Ep 14

This is a build up: to the teacher conference & catching up with the aftermath of the beach after hatori/mayu & student council break. Tohru has 5% of of this ep! & not the usual ‘moma tohru/sohma’s savior tohru/ happy tohru/ healing tohru”. NO!! It’s real person with real issues tohru!!! scared lonely teenage tohru!!! celebrating the crumbs thrown to me!!!!!!! XD.

(1) Haru!!! The lighter version of tohru’s kindness:

I was right!! haru was there for yuki!! He was 13/14 years old when he asked shigure to take yuki, putting himself in danger by sneaking few moments to sit with yuki whenever he can. As a kid, he’s done than all the adults. His support comes from genuine concern over yuki. Haru is a lighter & healthier version of tohru’s kindness. He supports yuki & can get in danger but he’s not neglecting himself. he faced his demons early on as a kid & got over his hate which was caused by the adult’s mockery of him. He learned to love/accept himself & found love with rin, he didn’t selflessly sacrifice anything despite her attempts to leave him. He showed selfless kindness towards yuki, kisa, & rin. He still can turn dark but this is part of him being imperfect. Moreover, haru didn’t hold on to yuki, imposing his guidance & his support. he stands in the near distance. I’ll support you but you need to go search for your path yourself. He also understands that yuki can’t do like him & stay around helping haru in his issues with rin cuz (a) romantic issues are mostly exclusive to the ppl involved & interference may cause harm, (b) yuki needs to focus on himself now & not escape into other ppl’s issues like tohru does. He needs to face his future & haru is there to tell him so. Again the writer is telling us yuki will do/choose right even in moments of doubt cuz ppl will be there to support him. This ep, it’s haru ushering him into focusing on his path & resisting the need to escape the pressure. we’ll see others step in for yuki until he can stand on his feet.

(2) Tohru!!! The abandoned/lonely teenager:

Her only loving relative might soon leave, he’s old & sick. Her mom wasn’t sick nor old. Yet, she left. Tohru’s fear of abandonment intensifies. From the moment she got the phone call, her face screams “Don’t leave me”. teacher conference usually involves parents. It’s supposed to be her mom that’s attending with her. it’s her mom’s dream to get into high school & she would’ve proudly visit the teacher to talk abt tohru’s future. except this time tohru goes with a stranger..not even her grandfather. Shigure genuinely cares for tohru, despite the ulterior motive of seeing Mayu. but he’s still a stranger who doesn’t know her or her future plans. Shigure’ll be present physically with her but she’s all on her own. Kyo saw that when he entered the house. He saw her pain despite the cheerful smile. Guess whose fault that kyoko isn’t here now? kyo. Guess who’s guiltily went to his room & stood there in the dark? kyo. Guess who couldn’t face tohru the next day? kyo.

-”why do they both have to pass away, I want to ge see them”!! Tohru begs her grandfather to stay with her, him suddenly dozing off caused her anxiety attack, it has been building inside her since hiro’s words. “ i want to see him” kyoko said!!! & oh she ended up really going to him..“its okay” it isn’t. “always together” they aren’t. tohru flashback is clearer. Kyoko abandoned tohru somehow around her father’ funeral. For some reason the door is locked literally & metaphorically between tohru & the sense of safety & being wanted!!. It’s too much for her!!. she” do anything, say anything, just don’t TAKE mom away!” alas~ Her mask cracks. Her legs fail. she can’t stand. she falls. she breaks. she’s alone. kyo’s here with her. Present physically & emotionally. Tohru’s angel. Except he’s real. if she reaches out, he won’t disappear. He’s not TAKEN from her (not yet). Tohru smiles genuinely without putting her mask back on. kyo, unlike haru, can’t hug tohru becuz of the curse. He uses head pats instead. lovingly, kindly & tenderly patting her head. “it’s normal to be worried when a relative is ill”, “don’t push yourself” is that like kyo’s 5th advice to tohru now?. “do you plan to sit here forever” carries more than the literal meaning, along with him actually holding her arm & pulling her up! followed by teasing her to ease her back into normality. Now it’s really “okay” for tohru cuz someone who cares is really here with her. present by body & soul. kyo teasing her shifted her focus from painful past into a flirty chat & musings in Arisa’s expense. It’s similar to when tohru helped yuki with his first encounter with akito in school by suggesting playing to cast away the fears. except this time someone is doing this for tohru!!Her struggles are seen despite the mask. she’s not a lonely teenager, she is receiving an emotional well-needed help. however...this is but the tip of the iceberg. tohru hasn’t opened her lid yet. she should or she’ll break down soon..

-The faulty/over usage of the Voice-Over technique:

Usually this tool is used by writers to send messages they believe is hard to catch for readers/viewers or for foreshadowing. It’s done mostly when (a) a character is watching a scene unfold in front of them & they comment internally, or (b) they are narrating a scene/story. However, that’s not the case in this ep. (I’m not talking abt internal monologue, that’s a different case & is totally suitable when character talks abt themselves when the scene only show them & doesn’t switch into a different place entirely). This ep is weirdly stuffed with voice-overs by kagura, yuki, haru & shigure done over multiple scenes & it was poorly done (in my personal opinion) as it caused confusion in the episode’s flow, especially the kagura’s part. Manga/still pictures are different from anime/moving pictures, therefore manga writers feel the need to insert lines said by this or that over another scene to connect what the still image might fail to express. Moreover writers publish monthly & there might be periods of hiatus, so they need to remind readers of certain themes. Anime/shows are totally different medium. The images moves with expressive facials expressions, colors, characters voices, & music to convey a message. How can you have all that & cause confusion? or over saturate a single ep with one tool?

-when kagura's voice is over kyo’s image in school, it shows kyo looking at tohru sadly. i really was confused on why kyo is still sad abt kagura, I didn’t notice tohru walking alone at first, then kyo went home before changing his mind. I kept thinking he’s gone to kagura!! or that he’ll go to Akito cuz kagura’s words expressed guilt?? or he changed his mind & would confess to tohru cuz of kagura’s words of illogical love?? when he didn’t tell tohru where was he heading for the longest time I was confused that he’s hiding sth!! it wasn’t until I watched the ep twice & omitted kagura’s part that I got it!! Why didn’t the show let us hear kyo’s thoughts directly instead of kagura’s confusing voice over?? it’s not like he’ll tell us kyoko’s promise? he’ll express what we already know! that he’s struggling to either let go of tohru or be there for her... why is that hard to express to viewers using kyo? If kyo’s thoughts MUST be blocked, then why NOT use the most effect method for shows/ moving pictures which is Show-Not-Tell???. They’re trying to do that but felt the need to insert kagura’s thoughts over to help us understand??? shame how the result is total confusion & loss of impactful scene for tohru/kyo unless you watch it twice to analyze. It was in my 2nd watch with omitting kagura’s scene that I understood why kyo was off/sad & where was he headed. Very poorly done.

-Yuki’s/Shigure’s/haru’s voice-over didn’t cause confusion but was excessively done in a single ep, Moreover, it carries the feeling of the shows flaw: the need to guide viewers’ thoughts to the door step in certain scenes or leave them without anything in other scenes. Again I’m not talking abt the monologues, I’m talking abt the images of other characters they showed over the voice when others are in discussion. It felt too on the nose for me this time.

Side Notes:

There are some moments in this show, more than other shows, where I feel like I’m reading more than watching or hearing audio book over still images, which is shame since the story itself is superb & the anime has all the tools it needs to express all themes visually. It also adds to the flaw of “imbalanced expression” that this show suffers from sometimes.

Rin & haru relationship..wow.. I’ll hold on talking abt them until I see more. Haru is a dear fave of mine. I’m sure Rin worth the wait.

Yuki’s Japanese VA is awesome! he’s one of my top 5 VAs in furuba.

I’m in love with tohru’s crumbs. Feed me more, show! plz.

#Fruits Basket #Anime Only #confused paper #tohru honda #precious tohru #SE02

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travllingbunny · 4 years ago

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The 100 rewatch: 5x01 Eden

One of my favorite episodes of the show. It’s incredible how much I enjoy it every time I watch it. Clarke being my favorite character certainly helps, but the episode is so well done in terms of cinematography, music, acting, direction, and 95% of the writing. (The only thing that makes it less than perfect are 80 seconds towards the end that are very, very badly written.)

The fandom is split on whether the time jump was good or bad for the show, but I think it brought more good than bad, overall (especially since it was necessary, so the actors wouldn’t still be trying to pass as teenagers well into their 30s). If nothing else, then for Octavia’s storyline and this epic beginning of the season - the first 3-4 episodes of season 5 - probably the strongest of all seasons of the show.

Full disclosure: I already rewatched season 5 and season 6 while waiting for season 7, so this entire season is pretty fresh in my mind, but season 5 is still the only one that I haven’t covered in my episode reviews (since I wrote season 6 reviews week by week as it was airing), and I want to get that done. And then I also wanted to rewatch Eden after 7x02 The Garden, because of the parallels and contrasts between the two episodes which I mentioned in my review of The Garden. (Review of 7x03 is coming soon.)

In light of season 7, when the main characters are also separated and the timeline is very weird, it’s also interesting to see how this season 5 premiere is structured:

The opening shot is the Rings seen from space, then we see the Earth from space, before zooming in and seeing Clarke coming out of the ruins of Becca’s lab, 42 days after Praimfaya. ^^^

Almost 25 minutes of this episode are a Clarke flashback, and most of it is just her, fighting against the nature and her own despair and isolation, until she finds Eden and meets Madi, almost two months after Praimfaya. This is the show’s first full uninterrupted flashback that lasts longer than a couple of minutes, but it’s also the first time the show has covered a time jump in a flashback - its previous biggest time jump was 86 days, rather than 2199 days. (And the next time jump will be 125 years. Things have really escalated.)

Then we go “6 years later” (actually 5 years and about 10 months later) and the remaining 16-17 minutes are all set in the present. And even though this is a very Clarke-centric episode, it actually manages to feature all the main characters. First we see Clarke and Madi in the present, then it goes back to the Ring, but this time we see Bellamy and the Spacekru for the first time this season, to check in with them and see how they have or haven’t changed in 6 years.

We see them noticing Eligius,, then we go back to replay the present days scenes from the end of the season 4 finale, where Clarke was expecting Bellamy and kru in the pod, and instead saw the Gagarin transport ship coming down.

We meet Diyoza, McCreary and Shaw for the first time. There’s a few more minutes of Clarke and Madi trying to defend themselves against the prisoners, and killing two of them, but also alerting Diyoza to their existence. Then we go back to the Ring to see Spacekru preparing to board Eligius 4, and, almost at the end of the episode, we get the “OMG look at this twist! You didn’t expect these two to be together, did you? Or maybe you did because you saw the clumsy hints in the season 4 finale, I mean if you stop someone from committing suicide and then you happen to fall right next to each other that counts as setup for romance. right?” twist-reveal of Becho in a 1 minute 20 second scene.

But - that’s not the last scene (you need something actually dramatic for the last scene), because - right after Bellamy says the ironic-foreshadowing line “Octavia is the least of our worries”. we get a cliffhanger-teaser ending - our first look at the fighting pit, with Miller, Indra and Gaia looking on (yes, they’re all credited for this episode, alongside Marie/Octavia, though they all appear for about a second or two), until the winner of the gladiator fight turns to Octavia, and we see her for the first time with her new Blodreina persona. Leading into 5x02 Red Queen (which I hope to rewatch and review soon, too) - unlike this episode, fully set in one place, in the bunker, and most of it is the longest uninterrupted flashback the show has ever done. It only jumps back to the present at the very end, with another teaser-cliffhanger that’s again set in the fighting pit (this time, the twist is that Kane is one of the fighters), setting up a “how the heck did they get there?” question for 5x04 and flashbacks from 5x11 to explain.

(I wouldn’t be surprised if in season 7 we get more of such cliffhanger-teasers where a character or set of characters only appears in an episode for a minute or two, setting up their longer storyline in another episode. I don’t think all episodes will be like 7x02 and 7x04, fully set in one place and with all other characters fully missing.)

So, the first 2 episodes of season 5 had the task of showing us what happened to the three set of characters in three completely different locations over the time jump - with the focus on Clarke, Bellamy and Octavia. But we got almost 25 minutes of Clarke flashbacks (about the time that was the hardest and most eventful for her - trying to survive on the ruined Earth in the first few months after Praimfaya, meeting Madi), a full episode plus later flashbacks in another episode (about 50 minutes?) of flashbacks of the bunker; and.... 0 flashbacks of Spacekru on the Ring. And that says a lot about what the writers considered important to show. The boring, everyday, humdrum life is what you skip in fiction. So, the show told us right from the start that there was nothing of note that happened on the Ring. While Clarke in this episode - after her “death”, goes through her 40 16 days in the desert before she finds Eden (literally paradise!), and the bunker is clearly Hell on Earth, the Ring is basically just 7 people being stuck in quarantine for 6 years and trying not to get too bored.

The cinematography on this show since season 5 has been so good! Here, the sepia, grey and pale yellow tones help make Earth look desolate and ruined, and like a real desert. Until Clarke finds Eden, which is in normal colors. (This contrast in the color scheme between Eden and the rest of the Earth is there throughout season 5. Later we get the almost too colorful Sanctum, and the soft light and blue-green tones of Skyring.)

With how often TV does the Beauty is Never Tarnished trope - where female characters have to look as gorgeous as possible even when their circumstances are such that it doesn’t make any sense - I love the fact that the show let Clarke have radiation burns on her face and wear a dirty top for half of this episode. This shouldn’t be an exceptional thing in TV shows, but sadly it is.

42 days after Praimfaya - that’s how long Clarke was in Becca’s lab, until she either ran out of food, or judged it was safe to go outside because the death wave had passed, or both.

Oh hi, Rover, maybe the most memorable inanimate “character”. It got a lot of memorable screentime in this ep. The sea is no more - the one good thing is that Clarke has an easier time travelling from the island. First stop Polis - back when Clarke was hoping to reunite with her mom and the rest of the people in the bunker. How much would things change if she had? That shot of the destroyed Tower in Polis is such a memorable symbol of not just the physical destruction that happened in Praimfaya, but the end of the old way of life. Even though season 5 will then weirdly try to resurrect the position of Commander.

I love the opening titles! I can’t believe I have never paid attention to them before the hiatus between seasons 6 and 7. Starting with the title shot of the desolate Earth with the ruins of the Tower, the opening sequence is showing the death wave as it’s happening in the area where the first 4 seasons took place, going from Polis when the tower was still there, to Arkadia burning (where the death wave came before it got to Becca’s lab and Polis), to various other shots including the one that’s clearly the remains of the Statue of Liberty, presumably already broken during the first nuclear apocalypse, to shots of sea and forest burning, to a shot of Earth from space with a green spot, to the really cool animation of most of the Tower disappearing. (The shot of Eligius landing is the only one that doesn’t fit.)

The temple collapsed 46 days after Praimfaya (according to 5x02 - I’ve written that down before). Clarke was trying to dig out the entrance to the bunker for quite a while, stopping occasionally to get some rest and eat. That moment when she desperately pounds at the bunker door and yells “I’m here! Mom!” is one we see from Abby’s POV as she hears the sounds and learns her daughter she’s out there and not in space.

While unsuccessfully trying to clear the path to the entrance, Clarke notices the remnants of Lexa’s throne in the other rubble. A broken throne, another symbol of the past. The Clexa theme starts playing for a moment as Clarke notices it and take out one branch - probably just as a remembrance, because I’m not sure it looked that useful for her current task. And that somehow (however unlikely) seems to cause the rest of the Temple to collapse (a moment we also see replayed in 5x02) - meaning that Clarke loses her chance of being with her mother and other people during the 5 years, and the people in the bunker lose the hope they’ll be able to get out after these 6 years (or maybe ever).

The branch does prove useful later when Clarke uses it as a walking stick as she’s walking through the desert when she’s at the end of her strength.... And... this could all be seen as a metaphor? She met Lexa at the time when she was desperate to save her people, then she became isolated from them, then in her traumatized state, her relationship with Lexa became a crutch but was also isolating her further from her family and her people.

Back to the ruined Arkadia, where Clarke says she was looking for food or water but only found ghosts. One of the most emotional moment of the episode when Clarke cries after finding a chest with Jasper’s goggles, Maya’s music player he had kept after her death, and his letter to Monty. Clarke probably learned about Jasper staying behind to commit suicide off-screen from Bellamy some time at the end of 4x09, and learned about his when she reunited with Monty and Harper, but we didn’t see her react to his death in season 4. (This scene would later be a flashback in 6x07 Nevermind, where Clarke used that same chest in her mindspace to hide her memory in the Dark Place.)

(Maya had really good music taste! And it’s a neat way to hear some good songs and for Clarke to be able to listen to them while driving her rover.)

The hardships Clarke undergoes here and the way she fights shows her strong she is - one of her main character traits is that she does not give up, no matter how desperate the circumstances are. Clarke’s way of fighting despair was to talk to Bellamy on the radio. Sometimes she told him very meaningful things - as when she thought she might die: “If this is the last time I ever do that, I just want to say... Don’t feel bad about leaving me here. You did what you had to. I’m proud of you”. (This reminds me of the time in 2x05 when Bellamy told her he knew she had to leave him and Finn outside to save the others when she closed the dropship door.) Other times she’s telling him about her current problems, musing about her life, chatting about Monty and Raven and all sort of things, imagining he could hear her, even though it must have become obvious to her pretty early on that he can’t reply, and probably can’t even hear her. She wasn’t at this point even sure if he was alive. As she says at one point: “God, this would be so much easier if I knew you were alive, that I will see you again.” But it’s in Clarke’s nature to hope. She was also refusing to believe he and Finn were dead after the Ring of Fire, she refused to believe Bellamy could be dead or captured even while she was worrying about him all the time while he was in Mount Weather. At one point right after getting out of Becca’s lab, she is trying to encourage herself: “You got this” - the way she sometimes tries to encourage others and also the way Bellamy sometimes does it. And other times, she definitely was channelling Bellamy, gently mocking her: “Positive thoughts, Clarke”. He was the one who told her they had hope as long as they were breathing.

And I must say I’m impressed that Clarke had Jasper’s letter to Monty for 6 years and never succumbed to the temptation of opening and reading it. But to do that, would have meant she was giving up hope that she would see her friends again and give it to Monty.

But it would be far less realistic if she hadn’t had a moment of complete despair. (Another character known for being a survivor, Murphy, had that moment after 86 days of sitting in a bunker alone.) Long isolation is a torture in itself and can drive you mad, as it was emphasized in 7x02. It’s not the first time Clarke has been isolated - she was in solitary for a year on the Ark when she was 16-17 (she only had the walls and her drawings to distract herself with), she isolated herself because of her trauma for 3 months, and now she was again forced into isolation. This time she was also losing hope due to the terrible conditions she had to fight, and the way everything seemed to be getting worse. “I’ve done! I’ve lost everything! My friends, my parents. I have nothing!” As Buffy would say - she still had something left, herself. But this is the first of the three times we see Clarke almost lose all hope and the will to live - but the other two times were under the influence of a psychosis, and when she had been bodysnatched. This time it was the tiny hope that there could be a place to live, with basic living conditions, that made her change her mind.

Who was Clarke talking to when she said “You think you can kill me? Have at it” and later when was yelling that at the sky? Nature? Gods or gods? (There has never been any indication that she was religious. Probably not.) It’s the only times during in her solitary moments when Clarke isn’t talking to Bellamy, or, occasionally, to herself.

Finding Eden saved Clarke from despair, at least for a while, I don’t think she would have been able to keep her sanity and her hopefor 6 years if she hadn’t met Madi, almost two months after Praimfaya. Having someone for company, having someone to take care of, is very different from being all alone. Still, even after meeting Madi and became her surrogate mom, Clarke still needed to keep talking to Bellamy every day, for 2199 days in total, to keep herself sane, to have something to look forward to.

These people from the Shallow Valley clan seem so cool, they’re already my favorite Grounder clan from the little we see of their way of life (at least this community - I wonder who the 100 chosen for the bunker were), and most importantly, from the fact that Madi’s parents must have had support from their community in keeping her from the Conclave and all that garbage. Of course they didn’t want to give their child away, so she would be forced to fight and kill other children, probably die at 12, or at best become Heda and be separated from her family tor the rest of her life, because ‘love is weakness’ etc.

The shot of the dead boy is so sad. But he and the other dead people look far too peaceful for radiation victims?

Poor Madi - 6 years old and already she saw her family and everyone she’s ever known die. Her mother died in her arms, and she was left alone. And even before that, she had to hide and learn to fight and lay traps to avoid Flamekeepers, whom she saw as her archenemies. She was another girl who had to hide from birth, like Octavia. No surprise she was a “child from Hell” when Clarke first met her.

Clarke’s world view has gotten so dark. Her old moral certainty from season 1 has been chipped away gradually, and, at this point, she has accepted the moral relativism idea that “everyone does things for their people” and there is no right or wrong - which so many of her enemies or temporary allies have tried to install in her. She’s started to see herself as the “Commander of Death”, too, believing fighting is all she does and can do. “I used to think that life was about more than just surviving… I’m not sure anymore. Animals don’t feel guilty when they kill. It’s kill or be killed.” Interesting - this is the same thing Pike said in season 3a. Clarke has more empathy for her enemies “ I told myself that every life I took was for a reason, but the other side had reasons, too", but the end result is now the same, as we see later...

“There are no good guys” - this line has been said in so many versions and contexts throughout the show, and many people seem to think it’s the show’s motto. But it’s more complicated than that. Those words have changed their meaning and been challenged and opposed. When Abby told Clarke “Remember that we’re the good guys” in season 2, she was telling her: don’t lose yourself, don’t become as ruthless as your enemy in order to beat them. When Clarke said “I tried... I tried to be a good guy” and Abby replied: “Maybe there are no good guys”, she meant that it may not be possible to keep your hands clean in a world like that. (Mind you, neither of them ever said there were no bad guys, or that Mountain Men weren’t that.) When Clarke said to same to Bellamy when he was wondering “What do you do when you realize you may not be the good guy?” in season 3, she was comforting him and telling him she knows what it’s like to hate yourself because of the things you’ve done, in a grey world where it’s often hard to see right and wrong. But Abby in 4x12 told Clarke something different: “I told you there were no good guys. But there are. You are.” Clarke needed to be reassured, so she wouldn’t hate herself, that she was a hero, because her motives were good and she was trying her best under the circumstances, where, as they both agreed, they were no good choices. Sadly, Clarke obviously didn’t take that to heart. In season 5, she does not consider herself a hero. And when Madi says “I think he may be a good guy” about one of the prisoners, the one who argued against killing a child, unlike his buddy - Clarke’s reply “There are no good guys” before she kills him, has a darker meaning: she has lost her faith in humanity (with a few exceptions, at this point), and this a different Clarke, one that isn’t ready to give people the benefit of a doubt. She as at her most murderous in season 5 - because she’s now ready to kill even when it’s not absolutely necessary and when she can’t see another choice, as pre-Praimfaya Clarke. It would take her the whole season to start coming back from that - and decide to try to be a good guy, as Monty asked her to.

First introduction of Diyoza, McCreary and Shaw. Diyoza has changed so much since. Her similarities to Octavia have been emphasized much more because they were the opposing sides in season 5 and because of the relationship they develop later, but she also has similarities to Clarke. She also used to fight for what she believed in against who she saw as bad guys, went through a lot, killed a lot of people, was considered a monster, started to fear she was one, became jaded, and finally decided to find peace and happiness and leave violence behind.

“We’re not alone”. Season 5 is really going for the callbacks to season 1. And I’m still not sure how I feel about this comparison between the Delinquents and the Eligius prisoners. Because there are two ways to look at it. If it’s a part of the “let’s see the humanity of these people rather than see them as one-dimensional villains” thing, I’m all for it. But it makes no sense to see it as an exact parallel. Because in one corner, we have the level of threat posed by 100 unskilled and (at first) unarmed teenagers who just went about, vs thousands of people who had hundreds and hundreds of armed and experienced warriors and who saw fit to immediately almost kill one of these teenagers and start terrorizing them... and in the other, a bunch of adult murderers with all sorts of powerful weapons and a military strategist at the helm, immediately moving in to take over a valley, and the threat they pose to a lone woman and a child...

Before we meet the Eligius prisoners, we get some sweet mother/daughter moments between Clarke and Madi. We learn that Clarke is telling her stories about her friends (Octavia is Madi’s favorite) and drawing events from her past (as they sit by the fire and look through her sketchbook, we see portraits of Octavia in the Conclave, Bellamy and Clarke looking as her friends are leaving her on Earth). Clarke says she doesn’t regret staying, because she met Madi. But she still yearns for them to come back and gives a longing look - and we get this transition:

Spacekru

When we see Spacekru after 6 years, we get the updates on what has changed and what hasn’t, and what the time on the Ring has meant for each of them:

Raven has been unsuccessfully trying to get them back to Earth for a year - which Bellamy, in particular, isn’t happy about. He has no idea that Clarke is alive, but he is eager to see his sister again.

Monty has been keeping everyone alive with his algae farm, although we get a lot of jokes and complaining about their taste (which seems so out of place after you have seen what was going in in the bunker in the meantime).

Emori has been learning to pilot.

Memori have broken up at some point (and Raven has had Emori as roommate since) and Murphy is the one person in the group who has been negative and bitter, to the point they have “exiled” him (history repeating, but in a much more benign way?) to another part of the station. It seems realistic that at least one person and one relationship would crack under the pressure of peace and boredom and being forced to spend time with the same people every day. According to Bellamy, Murphy needs to feel like a hero in order not to feel useless - and without dangers and conflicts, he can’t save anyone and feel like one. According to what Emori says later in season 5, their relationship is one that works better when there is some kind of danger they can face, and Murphy as a fighter and survivor is the version of him she loves.

Bellamy is the obvious leader, in spite of the easy camaraderie between the group - this will become more obvious when they start planning to board the ship and go to the ground, but even here, he is the one who gives pep talks and tries to inspire others - like Murphy, telling him he is not useless. This friendship has certainly developed in those 6 years - before Praimfaya, Bellamy still wasn’t even ready to trust Murphy and was constantly questioning his motives. And they have certainly come a long way from season 1...

Bellamy’s calmed and lighter manner has been discussed a lot. I’d say it made sense 90% of the time - it was simply a result of 6 years of peace, something he had never really had before. It doesn’t mean he was super happy - but simply that, for a change, he didn’t have to constantly fight and he under stress.

Two people who definitely were happy on the Ring are Monty and Harper. Monty is the only one who is even reluctant to go to the ground - scared that he will be pulled again in the world where he will have to fight and kill again. Earth has bad memories for him, from having to kill his mother - twice - to save others, to his best friend’s suicide. The Marper scene is the best of all the Spacekru scenes here. And when Harper tells him his strength - which he showed in all the hard things he had to do - is why she loves him, he has the best line in the episode: “No one should have to be that strong”.

Echo is friendly with everyone and has been teaching them to fight Azgeda-style. And oh, yeah, did we mention she’s been dating Bellamy for a while? Here’s a brief confirmation through a kiss and a conversation where we only learn that Becho is a thing, we don’t know how long it’s been a thing but it’s at least less than 3 years, since he took 3 years to even forgive her (and I don’t think it necessarily means immediately starting to date).; and Echo is worried if it’s still going to be a thing after they go to the ground.

Here’s a thing with Spacekru: the time jump worked much better with Octavia and Wonkru and with Clarke and Madi, because we saw flashbacks, and because we got a good idea what those 6 years were for them, even for things we didn’t see. But the complete lack of flashbacks for Spacekru means that the audience won’t be able to relate to their new “family” unit, because Show, Don’t Tell is the main TV storytelling principle. Even when viewers learn about something in dialogue (like the Farm Station’s tragic backstory since they landed on Earth), they don’t care because they haven’t seen it.

But with Spacekru, there is an additional problem: the show keeps giving us contradictory info about what those 6 years on the Ring were even like. Or rather, most of what we know is consistent with the idea that their biggest problems were boredom and lack of tasty food. *OK, the first batch of algae apparently put Murphy in a coma, but that’s the only traumatic event we hear about.) There were no other people, no one who could be a threat - and while they could have, in theory, had some malfunctions they had to deal with, we never hear anything about it. But the show also has characters saying things like “we kept each other alive” or that Echo has “proven herself on the Ring”, which makes it sound like there was something much more dramatic going on, but they never explain why.

As a result, the idea of Spacekru as a tightly knit family unit - comparable to what the Delinquents were like in season 1 - just doesn’t work so well. The relationships that work the best and are the most compelling are those that had already existed before - Marper, Memori, the friendship between the former 100+2. The Emori/Raven/Murphy trio works because we saw them already interacting in season 4. But Echo is the character who gets the short end of the stick, because all the development she was supposed to have, including her friendships and romantic relationship, happened off-screen. And with the way the show positioned her as a villain in seasons 3 and almost all of season 4, threw her pretty much accidentally (and because she had no other choice and the others accepted her) with the group, and then said “here, she’s one of the good guys now”. That’s really crappy writing. And it set up Echo to be hated, or at least irritate a large part of the audience. Imagine if there had been a time jump in mid-season 2 where Murphy went from being barely tolerated by everyone, to being everyone’s best friend and dating Raven. That’s pretty much that.

Most of these problems are concentrated in the Bellamy/Echo scene at the end. So much bad writing in those 80 seconds. Now, I’m not one of the people who say that this relationship makes no sense. It does make sense for what is it - two people got stuck for 6 years in the same place, with just 5 other people, 4 of which were coupled up. After so much time forced to spend together, you either have to start tolerating and forgiving someone, or your life will become unbearable. There’s a force of habit, the closeness that comes from seeing someone every day, and the lack of other options. There’s also the fact that Bellamy had mourned Clarke and was convinced she was dead. They are both physically attractive people, I’m sure they trained when she taught him Azgeda fighting and he taught her shooting. I have no problem with it as a placeholder relationship that the show is very obviously using as a plot device. And it’s not even subtle about it. Here we learn about the existence of that relationship as a surprise twist at the end of an episode that was focused on Clarke, Clarke being left alone on Earth and struggling, Clarke talking to Bellamy for 6 years and waiting for him to return. (And later episodes will keep making B.E scenes always about Clarke or connected to Clarke, in even more obvious ways.) There is no attempt to show what exactly it is that these two people like about each other, what drew them to each other, how they went from enemies to friends to a couple off-screen, anything apart from the mere fact that the relationship exists. Here, they are kissing, therefore you know they are in love. Maybe. As if the show is saying: no, it doesn’t matter and you don’t have to see it. Yes, you can conclude that it’s just a relationship of convenience and circumstance.

This kind of relationship and love triangle has been done to death in many TV shows. But even for what it is, it’s remarkable how little the show even tries to make this relationship compelling, compared to just about any other relationship in the show, including those of minor characters. I gotta say, as a Bellarke shipper, I kind of enjoy all the B/E scenes, because they are so devoid of chemistry, so forced, so empty. But as someone who appreciates good storytelling, they are pretty painful. When the show tires to focus a little bit on this ship, we get terrible dialogue like this:

"Wouldn't it be easier to just walk outside? This is Bellamy's callback to what he told Echo in 4x13 when he talked her down from suicide. He says it in a lighthearted way and she smiles.Her suicide attempt is a cute remembrance they joke about?! Really? Also, it;s been 6 years for them. Do they joke about that often? Or does he think going to the ground is a cool opportunity to remind her of her suicide attempt? Which is a cute memory for her, apparently?! I’m pretty sure this is not how human beings interact. This line may be even worse than the infamous "We found each other in cages".

."We kept each other alive". How? Unless it's just about that half an hour while they were getting to the Ring, they were never in danger of dying during those 6 years. Bellamy even tells Murphy "Up here, there are no heroes." Monty is the only one who kept them alive, with food. They may have kept each other sane, maybe. However, that goes for all 7 of them. And Bellamy does say “We are family”. Which extends to all of Spacekru and doesn’t really say anything about whether he and Echo will continue being a romantic couple. (Or maybe that was the whole point?)

Bellamy again, making light of the fact that Echo tried to kill Octavia and telling Echo that Octavia will not be a problem and will understand and forgive her easily - even though it took him 3 years. “I’m more stubborn than she is”. Oh come on, Bellamy! You know Octavia better than that! You know more than anyone that this is not true! Is he simply lying to calm Echo’s mind? I like season 5 Bellamy 90% of the time, but he just comes off so fake and weird in this scene - even if “Nothing will change on the ground” and “Octavia is the least of our problems” are enjoyable for their irony.

Body count: Two Eligius prisoners – the bad one (Baines) shot by Madi, the possibly “good” one (Janson) shot by Clarke

Two Wonkru members killed in the fighting pit

Rating: 9.5/10 (half a point knocked off for the B/E scene)

#the 100 #the 100 season 5 #the 100 rewatch #the 100 5x01 #eden #clarke griffin #madi griffin #belamy blake #monty green #john murphy #maroer #emori

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queenjanai · 4 years ago

Note

Allow me to rant(ish). So. Season 4. I promise this is not a theory. The saga was announced to the public in July. This was also the first time the cast heard about it, judging by their reaction at Comic-Con. This means that recording has not started yet, due to coronavirus restrictions. With the graphic novels and tabletop game coming within the next year. It is unlikely that season four will come out before at least late 2021. Ugh.

first of all, i love discussions like this, and second, while you are right about the cast hearing about the renewal for the first time in july, keep in mind that in the wizard world panel in may, they said season 4 is coming. however, if i understood jesse right in his stream, he said they haven’t recorded yet together. that could mean that they didn’t start recording at all, or that they did it from their houses, because they all have recording sets there

another thing to keep in mind- usually in animated shows, when the first season comes out, the second is already done or the writing is done (for example: dana the creator of the owl house said that when the first episode air they already finished writing the entire season. the entire 5 seasons of she ra were done when the first season dropped). season 3 dropped in november 2019, but it was finished in late in 2018, so i don’t believe the crew waited 2 years since s3 was done, or a year since it aired, to start writing s4. there’s just no way that they waited a year from 2018 to 2019 doing nothing, not even rough animations

going back to my first point, i’m not sure the cast are even allowed to say they started recording, so they might be withholding info because they have to (tho i don’t think they are)

now, let’s check some of our dates:

through the moon: october

book 2 novel: april

the game: ????

i’m obviously not an expert in marketing or whatever, but here’s the thing. they 99% not gonna release a season to close to other releases, because they want the graphic novel, the book, or the game to succeed, and a season might pushed the spotlight away. so, we’re not gonna get s4 in november, or december either. it’s too close to the graphic novel.

now comes the tricky part. december is ending. we’ve been in hiatus for a year and a month now. the next thing is in april. fans are losing interest. your fandom is getting tired and switching to other things. i’m not sure how accurate it is, but i saw a tweet after 3 saying that each episode takes 6 weeks to make, in groups of 3 or 4 people, and there are 3 groups. so, 3 episodes being worked on at the same time. that’s 4.5 months. i’m really skeptical they’re gonna drag us until mid 2021 (remind me to put my clown makeup later)

season 2 was released on february 15. if they’re gonna follow previous dates, i’d say s4 will come out on february/merch. that gives us enough time to relax from the new season and buy the s2 book (don’t).

and the thing i hate the most: this fucking game

what the fuck do you mean prior to s4 release. i really hope they mean the plotline and not the fucking date. but it’s not going to be in may 2021

this answer has no real point, i just hope they know that keeping us in a hiatus for over a year will shatter the fandom in ways that can’t be fixed, because people move on and forget things and i really doubt “casual” fans will remember anything from s3 in june 2021. the best thing we can hope for right now is a a mid winter release, and if we’re really lucky will get s4 in december

#i'm knees deep in info and theories #answered

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ask-the-munchkin-crusader · 5 years ago

Text

Amy’s Arrival Pt. 1

((Before we begin, this art was done by @mychaoticland. Check out Syd’s work; it’s really awesome! Thank you so much Syd! This looks amazing. Now then, on with the show!))

The elementary school bus pulled up to the last house on the corner with a layer of snow still covering the lawn. A small child with emerald green eyes waddled off the bus in her big green winter jacket, green hat, black snow pants, black boots, bundled from head to toe in warmth. Her blue and green backpack bounced on her back as she hit the ground and made her way to the house. She opened the door and was instantly hit with warm air instead of the bitter cold of the Wisconsin winter air.

Once inside with the door closed, she slid her backpack off her back along with her jacket, revealing her light green striped shirt she was wearing and her black skirt hidden beneath her snow pants. She slipped off her boots and her hat to reveal her curly brunette hair tied back in green scrunchie.

The young girl made her way to the kitchen to see a young teenager with faded red hair making some popcorn in the microwave. The child silently giggled as she went to sneak up on him. She used the kitchen island as a cover for sneaking and slowly crawled on the ground and around until she saw her target. She stuck her head out from behind the island and just as the teen bent down to look for a bowl, the girl rushed over to try and tackle him down in a hug. She didn’t knock him down entirely but she did cause him to wobble and waiver a bit in his balance.

“Got ya!” The small girl declared as she held onto the older boy.

The teenager rolled his eyes and went to pick up the girl and give her a proper hug. “All right, all right, you got me,” He stated and then set her down on the island counter. “Now can I please get back to making my popcorn, Amy?”

“Only if I get to have some,” Amy stated, a grin plastered on her face.

The teen rolled his eyes once more. “Well, fine,” He said as he poured the snack into a bowl. “Since we’re going to be watching Stardust Crusaders in a little bit.”

Amy gasped when she heard this. It had been over a month since they had finished Battle Tendency and Amy had become hooked on the show. Kyle, her older brother, had gotten her into JoJo after he was sick of her watching Steven Universe, My Little Pony, and Miraculous Ladybug for the umpteenth time. She became hooked instantly and was a huge Jonathan fan and cried at the end of Phantom Blood. She had such a blast with Battle Tendency though and instantly recognized Caesar’s voice actor as the same one who voiced Chat Noir. After that, she would constantly draw pictures of the Joestars and give them to her brother to hold onto since he was, in her mind, the one with all the foreknowledge on everything JoJo. Plus, she kept bugging him to let her see the next part even though he wanted to take a break from JoJo for a bit. Now they were going to actually get to watch Stardust Crusaders.

“Wait, how come you changed your mind?” Amy questioned, wanting to know the reason as to why they were now getting to watch the next part.

“Well, the schools sent out an email saying that there was going to be a snow storm coming in tomorrow, so no school tomorrow,” Kyle explained as he picked up the bowl in one arm and his sister in the other one. “And if we’re lucky, we might get the next day off too.”

The grin came back to Amy’s face as she was sat on the couch. Kyle gave her the bowl while he set up the DVD player and Amy couldn’t help but bounce with excitement at finally getting to watch part 3, which Kyle would say was a universally loved part in the JoJo community. Once the screen came to life, it went straight to the home menu and had who Amy assumed to be the new JoJo on the screen. He was a tall young man with a black school coat and black pants on as well as a bunch of belts around his waist and a strange hat that blended with his hair. “Is that the new JoJo?” she asked Kyle as he grabbed the remote and came to sit down next to his sister.

“Yep, his name is Jotaro,” Kyle said as he hit play. “Now, Amy, are you ready to enter the world of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders?”

“I’m ready,” Amy determinedly said.

“You’re weird, you know that?”

“So are you!”

Episode Commentary by Amy

“Wait, wait, wait….why does that guy have a chicken man behind him?”

“WHAT?! JERKY-MC-JERKFACE DIO IS BACK?! NOOOOO!” –EP1

“That red-haired guy reminds me of you, Kyle, except he seems cooler.”

“Ewww! Is that a zit on his head? It’s so gross!”-EP2

“Oh no! Poor Ms. Holly!”

“Wow, that was a really cool group pose. Do you think they practiced that?”-EP3

“I knew Joseph being on a plane was a bad idea. Maybe they should’ve taken a boat.”

“What’s up with that guy’s hair? Is it because he’s French? Or is it because it’s the 80s?”-EP4

“Do you think they have to pay back for all the food and the tables?”

“That’s really sad about his sister dying. Would you avenge me if I died?” –EP5

“Why do Jotaro and Kakyoin wear their school uniforms all the time? Aren’t they sweaty in them?”

“You know, I’m starting to like Jotaro more now.”–EP6

“Why do I have to cover my eyes again? It’s just a monkey, right?”

“Now I want gum.” –EP7

“Did that reception guy sound like DIO? That’s not good if he did.”

“What?! Kakyoin can’t really be a traitor, can he?!” –EP8

“Man, I forgot how intense this can get at times,” Kyle remarked as he got up and stretched himself out. He and Amy had practically been sitting for four hours straight. Plus, he needed to change the DVD over to the next disc.

Amy, meanwhile, still sat on the couch with a dumbfound look on her face while Kyle got up to get the DVD out of the DVD player.

“Amy? You okay?”

“…..That just can’t be right!” Amy shouted, coming back to reality and scaring her brother with her shout. “Kakyoin can’t be a bad guy! He’s like, the super nice one! He can’t still be working for jerky-mc-jerkface, DIO!” The girl crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. “We have to watch the next episode, Kyle!”

“We will, we will,” Kyle said, grabbing the disc set and putting the first one away. “But Dad’s on his way back with pizza so I thought we’d take a bit of a break.”

“But-” Amy was about to protest when her stomach gurgled from hunger. She hadn’t realized how hungry she actually was until Kyle pointed it out. Plus, taking a small break would be good since she could talk to her brother and Dad about everything that was going on.

Just then, a car pulled into the driveway and Amy jumped off the couch in excitement. She raced to the front door to see her Dad coming up to the door with a pizza in his arms. She opened the door for him just as he was about to do it himself and hugged him. “Hi, Daddy.” She greeted her Dad, slightly shivering in the cold.

“Hi sweetie,” Her Father greeted back, walking into the house with the little girl hanging around his waist. He closed the door and handed over the pizza to Kyle while he started taking off his winter attire, revealing his black shirt and black pants for his mechanic uniform. There was a grease spot on his front pocket but overall, he looked relatively clean. He had brown hair like Amy cut to his ears and brown eyes that matched her brother. Once he had his boots off, he picked Amy up and threw her in the air, causing her to giggle. “Now what have you two been up to?”

“Watching JoJo,” Amy answered, heading to the kitchen island to sit down and get her pizza. “We’re gonna watch all of it before we go back to school!”

“Oh, well all right,” Mr. Armstrong said as he came to get a slice of pizza for himself. He wasn’t sure about all this “anime” but he saw no harm in it. Heck, he even worked with a young kid at the auto-shop who recommended this JoJo show to Kyle. “Just don’t stay up too late, all right?”

“Got it, Dad,” Kyle replied this time, grabbing some soda out of the fridge for the three of them. The red-headed teen also grabbed some red cups as well for them to use since none of them wanted to do dishes later. “How’s Mom doing helping Evelyn?”

“Well she’s warm, that’s for sure,” Mr. Armstrong said, a bit envious that his wife was all warm and toasty in Florida while he was freezing in Wisconsin. Then again, he and Mrs. Armstrong had an agreement that if he helped their eldest get to school that she’d go there to help out if a need arose. “But she should be back by the end of the week, if the weather permits.”

After finishing up most of the pizza- saving a few slices for later- Amy rushed back to the couch, practically jumping over it, and grabbed a hold of the remote. Just as she pressed the on button, the lights in the house suddenly went off and plunged the current family of three into darkness. Amy screamed at this sudden change of lighting and Kyle quickly grabbed his phone and turned on its flashlight, giving some light in the dark.

“Great, the power’s out,” Mr. Armstrong grumbled. He went into the kitchen and pulled out three medium sized flashlights and gave one to each of his kids. “The storm must’ve shut off the power. Kyle, you mind giving me a hand with the breaker? Otherwise we’ll be shivering all night.”

“Sure,” Kyle said, turning off his phone flashlight and stuffing it into his pocket for later.

“Amy, you stay here and man the house while we’re gone,” Mr. Armstrong instructed his youngest as she went to turn on the flashlight. “Holler to us if the power comes back on.”

“Got it, Daddy,” Amy saluted to her Father as she played around with the flashlight.

“That a girl.”

After her brother and Dad left to deal with the breaker, Amy continued to turn her flashlight on and off in amusement. She wanted the power to come back on so badly so she could resolve the cliffhanger of whether or not Kakyoin was indeed a traitor, which she couldn’t believe him to be. This was worse than when Steven Universe went on hiatus after revealing White Diamond. Come on, power, come back on,Amy prayed as she moved the flashlight around the room to illuminate all the objects in the dark.

Just as she was shining the light onto the TV, it suddenly sparked to life and caused Amy to yelp in shock. She quickly hid under the blanket on the couch but quickly came out from her spot when she realized that it was only the TV coming back on. “Daddy, Kyle!” She shouted over the couch. “The TV’s on!”

There came no reply. They must not have heard her.

She was about to go in person to deliver the news when the TV started to have static snow on the screen. The young girl turned her attention back over to it and watched as a figure appeared on the screen. It slowly came into focus to reveal itself to be DIO. “You’re watching me. Well watch this!”He said, pointing at the screen. Then it went back and looped him saying that over and over again.

Amy rolled her eyes at this, thinking that the last episode was on repeat again. She thought Kyle had taken that disc out…..Oh well. Amy tried popping out the DVD from the DVD player but the remote refused to work so the scene continued to loop over and over again. “Come on,” Amy sighed as she repeatedly tried turning the TV off with a remote. She didn’t want to keep hearing DIO over and over again. (In her opinion, she got enough of that in part 1).

After doing this for a few more minutes, Amy gave up on the remote and decided to go to the DVD player to pop it out from there. As she pressed the eject button, she failed to notice something slithering out from the TV and coming to her. Just when it seemed like the DVD would come out, she felt something grab her right arm that she had leaning against the TV. Amy looked up to see a purple vine wrapped around her. (Surprisingly, despite having thorns in it, didn’t hurt her). “What the-?” Amy gasped as she tried to pull her arm away.

Then, without warning, another purple vine pounced out from the TV screen and wrapped itself around Amy’s other arm. The little girl struggled to break herself free from the vines but her child-like strength was nothing in comparison to them. Suddenly, the vines began to pull back into the TV and started taking Amy with her. She tried grounding in her heels into the carpet to keep from moving, but again, she was a little girl and these were other-worldly vines. (You do the logic here).

So, to deal with this, Amy did the next best thing; she screamed for help. “Daddy! Kyle! Help me!”

Instead of hearing the sound of footsteps heading towards the room or her brother or Dad calling out to her, she heard nothing. How could they not hear her?

As the vines started to disappear into the screen, Amy’s hands started to faze right through it like there wasn’t even a hard surface there. Amy started to struggle even more as her arms up to her elbows started going through the screen as well. “HELP!” She shouted as her head was pulled through. Soon, her whole body was pulled through and the TV went back to being fuzzy.

**********************

Amy found herself falling down an endless hole that reminded her of the TV fuzz she had been witnessing on the screen moments prior to being pulled through. Her arms still had the purple vines wrapped around her and seemed to be pulling her down more and more. “Let go of me!” She shouted as she started using her feet to pry herself free. Once her left arm was somewhat free, she yanked it free and smiled at her success. “Nice! Okay, one more arm to go!” With her one arm free, she focused on her trapped one and after a few more attempts, she was able to break free from the vines entirely. “Yes!”

“So, you think you’re clever?”A voice echoed through the void.

The young girl looked around in confusion, trying to find the source of the voice. Was someone here with her? “Huh?”

“I’ll admit, your attempt in escaping me is amusing,” The voice taunted. “You weren’t originally apart of all this, but now that you are, I plan to take full advantage of the situation. I see a great opportunity in your arrival.”

Amy couldn’t get what this voice was saying at all. Opportunity? What on Earth was the voice going on about? And didn’t it sound like- Amy gasped when she recognized it! “You’re-”

Before she could finish, a smaller void seemed to appear and Amy was pulled through at a much more rapid pace than before. She screamed as she fell through the new funnel to end up who-knows-where.

*********************

The next thing Amy knew, she was on what felt to be a carpeted floor. She slowly sat up slightly bonked her head on a bed frame. It wasn’t bleeding or anything, but it still stung to hit your head against metal. “Oww,” She slightly winced as she sat on her knees, trying to keep from watching. As she sat on her knees, she noticed that there was some smoke in the air like a fire had just been put out. What the heck is going on?Amy thought as she went to look around.

“But, that can’t be true, can it?” A voice from behind said.

Amy wasn’t sure what to make of the unfamiliar voice and quickly ducked to the side of the bed closest to the window. Someone was in this room with her.

“You know as well as I do: Hermit Purple says Kakyoin is a traitor, a servant to DIO who will someday betray all of us,” Another voice added to the mix.

Slowly, Amy peaked up over the side of the bed to see who was actually in what she now figured to be a hotel room. As she slowly rose up, she caught a glimpse of what appeared to be two largely built men before she ducked back down in fear. She decided to listen more to what they were saying;

“It can’t be!” The first man growled.

What can’t be?Amy thought.

“There must be a reason!” The second man shouted. “I won’t believe Kakyoin is a traitor!”

Wait, Kakyoin? Now Amy was puzzled. Did she hear him right? Did he say Kakyoin? Slowly, the little girl poked up back up to get a better look. When she got a better look at the men, she silently gasped. Who she found before her were Avdol and Joseph?!

#amy #kyle #mr. armstrong #[amy's arrival]#((feel free to send in questions before pt. 2 drops))#jjba oc #jjba oc blog #origin story time #jjba au #jjba au blog #[blog event]#[written work]#jojo oc #jojo oc blog

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santiagoswagger · 6 years ago

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take me to your river

For week 17 of b99 hiatus creations.

The night of Dozerman’s funeral, Jake stays over at Amy’s apartment for the first time.

Set immediately after ‘The Funeral.’

The night of Dozerman’s funeral, Jake stays over at Amy’s apartment for the first time.

For the past six days, they’ve been going home together to his cramped, cluttered loft, partially because it’s a short walk to the precinct, but mostly because Jake can be very persuasive when Amy is starving and exhausted at the end of a long shift. But now that he’s made himself comfortable in her spotless and spacious third-floor walk-up, he has no idea why they haven’t been coming here for the past week instead.

He’s sitting on her couch and flipping through the channels trying to find something both of them will find acceptable to watch (she’s already vetoed Die Hard – he will never understand the laws of attraction) when Amy walks out of her bedroom. Her hair has escaped from the confines of her flawless work bun, flowing down past her shoulders, and she’s wearing sweatpants and an old NYPD t-shirt so faded and ratty it’s probably from her academy days.

One glance at her and Jake’s a goner, stupidly affected by the sight of her sleepily traipsing through her doily-covered living room in her pajamas. She has no right to look so beautiful in a shirt that’s nearly a decade old.

It hits him then and there that this is real, she’s his actual girlfriend, and he gets to see her at her most relaxed all the time now. He can see her in her pajamas and hang out in her living room, all without having to worry about his well-guarded emotions trickling out into the open. If you had told the Jake Peralta of five years ago that this would be his future, he would have laughed out loud and immediately gone back to chasing Charles around the bullpen in his desk chair.

She settles herself down on the couch next to him and he swiftly slings his arm around her shoulders, just because he can. She smiles knowingly at the move and he shakes his head, silently telling himself to knock it off; if he’s already feeling this sappy six days in, he’s so doomed.

They settle into a comfortable silence as they watch an episode of Property Brothers and it’s all so domestic. It’s hard for him to believe they were on the verge of a break-up earlier that day. His body tenses unconsciously.

She furrows her brow at his sudden shift and looks up at him, concerned. “Jake, what’s up?”

He nearly jumps out of his own skin. “Nothing, why would anything be up?” He laughs manically. “It’s all good, girl.”

Amy ignores his futile attempts at normalcy and levels him with a look that makes it clear she’s thoroughly unconvinced by his bad acting.

He sighs heavily and swallows his pride. “Okay, fine. I was thinking about how we almost had to break up today and how sad that would have made me.”

Her face softens immediately and she shifts closer to him, grasping his free hand with both of hers.

“Jake, I’m really sorry if I made you doubt my feelings today,“ she says, guilt evident in her expression. He squeezes her hand tighter in reassurance. “I just didn’t want you to jeopardize your career for us when it’s still so early. You’re too good of a cop and it means too much to you.” She smiles softly. “For what it’s worth, I can’t wait to see where this six-day relationship goes.”

He beams at her and pulls her closer, feeling an unnamed heaviness lift from his shoulders.

“Really? Even though I spilled marinara sauce on your fancy silk throw pillow earlier?”

She giggles brightly. He can’t believe Amy Santiago is giggling at him. “Yes, weirdo. Somehow, I’m not sick of you yet.”

His grin grows ever wider, threatening to overtake his entire face. “Samesies.”

They sit beaming at each other for a beat until she breaks the spell. “Come on, I’ll show you how to get the sauce out of my throw pillow. I bought this new stain remover last week that I’ve been dying to try out.”

She jumps up off the couch, pulling him with her.

“Nope, I take it all back. You’re the worst and I’m never coming back to your apartment again,” he groans as he begrudgingly gets up.

He follows her into the laundry room anyway. Six days is more than enough time for Jake to know that he’s officially past the point of no return.

#b99 #brooklyn nine nine #jake x amy #peraltiago #b99 fanfiction #short and fluffy!

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alleiradayne · 6 years ago

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Ever After

Summary: Making decisions. Characters: Jared Padalecki/Me, Ciffy Warnings: Mostly fluff, some indecisive angst Word Count: 1747 A/N: Seriously folks, single and no spouse hate.

The line for autographs dwindled over the hour, and most people headed for home once they had their last pictures signed. In my chair, I slumped on a table, lids heavy with sleep. After such a long day and too little rest the night before, I wondered how I had managed to stay upright. I had nearly fallen asleep there, slipped into that liminal space between states of consciousness, when calloused warmth covered my hands.

“Jeanna? Are you…”

I cracked one eye open, blinded by the florescent lights, and found Clif towing over me. “What's… what time is it?”

“Little after 10,” he said a he looked at his watch. “Truck is in back, you ready?”

I stood and gathered my bag as I rubbed my eyes with the heel of my palm. “Where are we going?”

“Nowhere, yet,” he said as he turned for a rear exit. “But he wants to talk with you before we leave.”

Leave. The end had finally arrived. Jared would go back to Vancouver. And then the marathon in Seattle right after Thanksgiving. A couple weeks later would be Jacksonville. Then winter break and the holidays.

Meanwhile, my life would return to normal. I’d drive the half-hour back home, crawl into bed, and pass out. Tomorrow, I’d mope around the house by myself all day. Tuesday, I’d go back to work and accomplish nothing as I relived every moment that I had shared with him. Thursday, I’d watch the latest episode. And by Friday, I’ll have polished off the remaining half of a bottle of scotch in an attempt to forget the entire weekend.

The metallic clang of a rear service door scattered my thoughts. Clif held it aside as I exited the building, sharp November air catching in my throat. Not fifty yards away sat a shiny black SUV, idling and otherwise inconspicuous but for its location. Over my shoulder I looked to Clif and he motioned me onward towards the vehicle.

I remained two steps outside of the convention center, boots fused to the cement. Everything about the situation screamed heartbreak. I knew better, had known better. There was absolutely no way this would work over any kind of distance for any length of time. Not that I wanted it to work. I had never wanted to get more attached to him than I already was. The best thing for me then would have been to go home and forget anything had ever happened between us.

Despite those thoughts, their endless cacophony of anxiety and anguish, I placed one foot in front of the other. Left. Then right. Then left again. Eventually I stood beside the black SUV and reached with a tentative hand. Point of no return. No going back.

With a deep breath, I knocked on the window.

The door swung wide and Jared all but leaped from the truck, clad in his grey plaid and grey beanie. Without a word, he scooped me up in his arms, and held me tight to his chest. I clung to him, face buried in the crook of his neck, terrified to let him go. He smothered me in kisses, neck and cheek and lips until satisfied.

“I was worried you’d left,” he started as he set me back on my feet.

“I… I won’t lie, I almost did,” I admitted, “several times. Jared, I don’t—”

“Stop,” he interrupted. “Before you go any further, I want to tell you something. I never planned on this. Of all the people to fall for, a fan was the absolute last on my list. But it happened. And I don’t regret it. I am so glad we met. I want to see you again. Soon.”

I wanted to see him again, too. Tomorrow. And the next day. I wanted to wake up beside him every day like I had earlier that morning. But to do that, I’d have to sacrifice everything. Besides, did he even want that? Or was it just some casual fling he wanted to hang on to for a little while and drop in a few weeks? “I want to see you again, too,” I started, “but I can’t… I can’t half-ass this.”

“I don’t want you to. I don’t want to,” he agreed. “But I realize that means you’ll have to make some major changes in your life.”

Thank Christ he understood. “Can we… dammit, dude, I want this so bad, but I can’t just quit my job and move. I don’t want to sit around all day and do nothing while you work.”

Jared curled a stray lock of my hair behind my ear. “And I love that about you. Your drive and dedication are admirable,” he paused, a thoughtful look in his eye. “I bet we could find you a gig on the crew.”

“Doing what?” I asked. “I only like to think I know how film works.”

“You could start as a runner or an assistant,” Jared started, “but I’d make a case for you to be an extra at the very least.”

“That sounds like a recipe for disaster,” I said, then imitated him, “Hey, Dabb, I fucked this girl on the con circuit and feel like I owe her. Can you put her in a tiny walk-on role so she doesn’t sue me?”

Jared reared back at that with a righteous glare, and I knew I’d gone too far. “Do you really think so poorly of me?”

“No,” I growled, “but that’s what other people would think! Especially once they find out that we’re together.”

Together.

The word was out of my mouth before I had even though to say it. And Jared smiled, damn him, with his dimples and lips and scruff. “You knew what I meant,” I grumbled.

He ran a nervous hand through his hair. “Yes, I did,” he paused. “We can find something for you to do, something you’re comfortable with.”

Maybe. It might work. “Jensen knows,” I stated.

“And he won’t say shit,” Jared said with a firm upper lip. “He’s got my back, and he’ll have yours, too.”

Damn, he was making it too easy. “And I’ll just… live with you?”

“Yeah, my apartment in Vancouver has plenty of space for us both,” he mused with a coy smirk as he wrapped his arms around me once more. “But I can’t wait to show you Austin.”

“You’re dead serious, aren’t you?” I asked.

“Of course, I am,” he said, “I don’t take this sort of thing lightly. I know I’m asking so much of you, so I’m trying to make it as easy as possible. But you have to decide what you want.”

I know. It should have been an easy decision to make. But in that moment, for whatever reason, I struggled. To me, it felt like the most pivotal decision I’d ever made in my entire life. Resolve straightened my spine as I looked up into his eyes. “I want you. I want to be with you.”

His smile rivaled summer sunshine, irresistible, infectious, and a smile of my own spread across my lips. “We’ll make this work,” he said, “I promise. We can give it a try for a few months first. I’ll fly you out to Vancouver and Austin whenever you want. Then, when you’re ready, we can make a bigger commitment. How does that sound?”

“To be honest,” I started, “it sounds insane. I… I still don’t quite believe this is happening. I mean, I’m standing outside of the Minneapolis Convention center three days shy of my thirty-second birthday, and Jared Padalecki is asking me to—”

“Whoa, whoa, slow down,” Jared interrupted, “your birthday is next week?”

“Uh, yeah, on the eighth,” I said, “why?”

A long silent moment passed as Jared stared at me, and another clear, thoughtful gleam brightened in his eye. “Do you think you could take a week off work?”

“What?”

“Come with us to Vancouver.”

As crazy as it sounded, I needed a vacation. I hadn’t taken one in years. And work? Yeah, fuck that place. “Are you sure? How—”

“There’s room on the plane, yet.”

A week in Vancouver. “What will I do while you’re working?”

“There’s plenty to do in town. I can show you around the set, too,” he assured. “You won’t be bored, I promise.”

It was happening all too fast and the obstacles raced through my head. “Jared, I need to pack, I gotta get my car home yet, and I’m sure the flight takes off soon—”

“We’ve got plenty of time, Jeanna. Come with me.”

I know you hate me. You’re screaming at your screen, “Go, you dumbass, what the hell is wrong with you?!” But I hesitated. Again. All the implications and logistics and planning complicated matters so thoroughly, my stomach churned merely thinking about it.

“Jeanna? Are you—”

Impulsive. Despite all my anxiety, my impulsive streak raced into overdrive. I flew into his arms and my lips landed on his. Jared laughed into me as he returned the kiss, arms wrapped around me so tight my ribs strained against his strength. For one endless moment, I forgot every concern I’d had that day. We drifted in a sea of possibilities, illuminated by pale streetlights and oblivious to the world. But that world encroached in the form of a cleared throat interrupting our moment.

Jared returned me to my feet, and I looked over my shoulder to find Clif grinning ear to ear. “I lied. You’re coming to the airport with us.”

“How did you know?” I asked as Jared ushered me into the truck and slid in beside me.

Clif hopped in behind the wheel and started the engine. “Because I watched the two of you talk for two hours straight and I have never seen Jared look at someone the way he looked at you.”

In the seat beside me, I found Jared’s shadowed gaze illuminated by the dashboard light, his small smile brilliant despite the darkness.

Once more, Clif interrupted the moment. “That look.”

As the SUV pulled away from convention center, I laughed so hard, my stomach hurt. Jared shook his head as he avoided my eyes, his embarrassed grin hidden behind his palm covering his face.

In an hour, I’d be headed to the airport.

In a little more than five hours, I’d be curled up in bed beside Jared, fast asleep.

And in the morning, my entire life would change.

Tags: @atc74 @hannahindie @bevans87 @meganwinchester1999 @plaided-ani-on-hiatus @oneshoeshort @jonogueira @andkatiethings @elfinmox @wonderfulworldofwinchester @princessofthefandomrealm @just-another-busyfangirl @jmekitchens

Please like and reblog! Feedback is welcome, too.

Bang a Gong Master List

AlleiraDayne’s SPN Master List

#spn rpf fanfic #rpf fanfic #jared padalecki x me #alleiradayne writes

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lis-allwounds · 6 years ago

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New Year 2019 updates

Quick reminder that while All Wounds is on hiatus, it’s not dead! I put a lot of work into re-tooling the initial demo last spring because I knew the final product was going to be a WAYS off. I ended up feeling so emotionally exhausted from the story and so inspired by my new project, @arcadian-rhythms (which also does feature LiS characters, specifically Max, Chloe, and Rachel) that after months and hours and hours of coding/formatting the visual novel this spring/summer, I decided to take a break from All Wounds. My new goal is to have it done by the time Life is Strange 2 is complete. The base coding is actually finished -- you could theoretically read the entire story in visual novel form through to the end. This in and of itself has taken dozens of hours, believe it or not. The next big step is to start properly implementing choice-based elements into the story, which I have done some of for earlier segments like chapters 3-5. (ex. Max and Chloe arriving at Max’s home with her parents involves a number of different variations based on how the reader chooses for Max to ‘come out’ to her folks). And while there ARE plenty of musical options to cover BGM needs and I could probably come up with backgrounds on my own for most of the project...the matter of character sprites is a still a big lacking component. At this point, the majority of required sprites, mainly from the post time-skip section, which would entail a LOT of work from a singular artist (much less my original vision of commissioning different artists for each alternate reality, especially the Other timeline), and I’m in no position to be able to afford that kind of artwork. Not when I am still unemployed and my fiancee and I are STILL struggling to figure out how to live together across country lines. I did end up taking some donations received last year or earlier and put them toward specific pieces of art and sprites for the chapters leading up to the story’s time-skip (which I can probably still get away with), and a few folks have been supporting us on Patreon, which doesn’t look like much BUT has immensely helped us in our current state. We even have been doing some Let’s Play vids here and there, including Life is Strange 2, which we plan to continue covering (living together would turn this from a bit of an inconvenience to something we could do basically whenever) Jenny and I do both want to work on All Wounds together, but...when we’re struggling just to get by, separately, we’ve had to put other things ahead of it, on top of the emotional stress recent developments in the Life is Strange brand have given us. So until Jenny and I can afford the time to work on it, All Wounds can’t physically get completed for some time yet. When we’re in a more stable financial position, I can more reasonably set time aside to continue work on the visual novel. I have not given up on it, just please understand that I am...one person. And the majority of this project (which is massive in terms of the medium) has been handled by just that one person. Inbetween a dayjob, then inbetween trying to find a NEW dayjob, and other projects, etc. If you’d like to support us so we can build our desired future together, you can donate to our fundraiser to pay for visa application fees - or you can share it around!

tl;dr The visual novel is still alive, but currently sleeping, until life situations open up the opportunity to finish it.

In the meantime, please stay tuned for the debut of Season 1 of Arcadian Rhythms, a 100,000+ word chunk of fiction I’ve been working on over the past year, set to start rolling out in weekly episodes in early 2019. You can read the pilot here if you wish and follow that project at @arcadian-rhythms as well as try out a mini visual novel sample I created set within its universe. I also want to take a moment to specifically promote a finished, free to play visual novel by @brianna-lei that fans of this project will probably find a lot to love about!

BUTTERFLY SOUP

From the creator’s page: A visual novel about gay asian girls playing baseball and falling in love. Features: -harold they're lesbians* -3-4 hours long -memes *except not really, one of them is bi

The primary romance shares a lot in common with Max and Chloe’s relationship dynamic (only without like 95% of the traumatic events!) and all four of the protagonists are just wonderful. I STRONGLY recommend you check it out, it’s built using the same program as All Wounds and is a very uplifting, funny, charming story. So! Happy new year! Sorry for the wait on things. It may not look like it, but I’ve spent even more time in 2018 working on writing/programming than any year prior, it’s just been stuff that isn’t finished or ready for the public. Thanks a lot for everyone’s support, I hope you all have a good start to 2019.

#All Wounds #Life is Strange All Wounds #LiS AllWounds

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rwbyconversations · 6 years ago

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Why I Think the Fall of Beacon worked compared to the Battle of Haven

A long time ago, on a blog not so far away, I wrote a post during the Volume 5 hiatus about why I thought the Scuffle of Haven didn’t work on... well, any level, and in hindsight I stand by a lot of that post. I still believe that many of the points I raised against the Haven Battle remain valid to this day, though I could have expressed my points more efficiently, and as a consequence, I’ll be wary of any big conflicts once RWBY reaches Atlas or Vacuo.

But one of the points I mentioned during that post was that I thought the Fall of Beacon was a far better example of not just a season finale, but the climax of an arc. I’ve talked before about why I feel Cinder’s plan in the Beacon volumes remains rather underrated, and while the first half has some... questionable... fights, Volume 3′s back half was a sign that the crew could make fights on par with Monty even after his passing, while the writing and technical work behind the scenes showed that when the crew were firing on all cylinders anything was possible.

So this week, I’d like to write about why I think the Fall of Beacon worked so well in Volume 3, alongside a few anecdotes about where in contrast, Haven falls flat.

1) It changed the tone and status quo, and put team RWBY into perspective

Up until Volume 3, RWBY played a lot of its tropes straight, especially when it came to the setting of the show. We got to meet the characters and see them interact in a collection of light adventures, eventually leading to the most classic of anime cliches, the tournament arc.

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Long-time anime fans know that nothing of any real importance for wider plots happens at tournament arcs, so people went into Volume 3 expecting some popcorn thriller action- some light, breezy and fun fights to wile away the time. And while the early half of Volume 3 had some... less than ideal fights with the exception of Mercury and Emerald vs Coco and Yatsuhashi (RIP to the SSSN fans who wanted Sage and Scarlet’s only fight to be good), a lot of the character dynamics allowed the viewer to still derive some enjoyment. Weiss and Winter’s dynamic in the early episodes is a delight to see, to say nothing of Qrow hanging out with Ruby and Yang. All of this changes as we reach Chapter 6, Fall, but I have a separate point about how Chapters 6-9 build up to the Fall magnificently so we’ll get back to the current point we’re on.

“I suppose at least my fights can’t get much worse from here on out?”

“Oh COME ON!”

Volume 3′s first half set up a rather casual tournament arc after two volumes of it being built up in the background, and until Yang fights Mercury, that attitude sticks around. It’s after this that the back half begins to build up towards a disaster in the making. To take a quote from Ozpin:

There's an energy in the air now. A question in the back of everyone's minds. If this is the size of our defenses, what is it we're expecting to fight?

After the Fall begins though? Nothing is quite so certain, and the status quo quickly falls to shreds as Beacon begins to fall. The show takes an immediately darker turn with only Roman’s jovial antics providing levity- and even that requires reaching to the gallows for humor. Soon everything the show and audience took for granted is kicked to the curb, as Grimm swarm the school that we had become accustomed to over the past two and a half prior volumes of antics. The breezy tone is completely gone, with Battle of Beacon having several scenes of the horror of the Fall in plain sight- my personal favorite is when Ozpin is watching Vale security feeds and he sees a rooftop with people on it, waving for help as a Grimm slowly climbs up the side. It’s almost harrowing in how much the image says. And that’s not even the worst of it, as the Battle stretches on and the heroes become more exhausted, everything begins to turn against them- first the initial wave of Grimm, then the White Fang, then the Atlas mechs turn on the Huntsmen and finally Kevin himself begins airdropping reinforcements. It’s a never ending stream of enemies and most of the Huntsmen can barely stand by chapter 12.

Perhaps the most drastic change that the Fall of Beacon episodes provide is how RWBY are put into perspective against the villains, starting with Mercury casually swatting Ruby aside like an irritating fly. He’s hardly even trying and he manages to distract Ruby long enough for Pyrrha to kill Penny, even managing to land a hit on Ruby while she’s speeding towards him with her Semblance- a feat no one else had managed beforehand. And even when Ruby slips through and gets outside in time just to watch Penny die...

You know what they say, if you love something, never do it for free.

After an entire volume of standout fights, from Coco and Yatsuhashi, to Yang, and even a full-fledged Maiden in Amber, Mercury was a constant standout fighting wise all volume and he earned the right to grin like a loon as he watched Ruby break down.

Similarly, Adam was a juggernaut when Blake ran across him, easily cutting her down to size and, when Yang came running, made short work of her too. Adam had already built a reputation as menacing from the Black Trailer, and Heroes and Monsters did its part in reaffirming that he was a dangerous foe who was not to be trifled with. He effortless dominates the “fight” and isn’t even winded by the time he has Blake and Yang dead for rights.

Even our mightiest heroes fare poorly against the villains- Cinder with the power of the Fall Maiden is able to effortlessly kill Ozpin and Pyrrha, stripping the heroes of their mentor figure and their most powerful fighter in one fall swoop. Were it not for Ruby’s Silver Eyes, Cinder likely would have gone on to clean house with the rest of the Huntsmen barring some insane luck.

Volume 3′s final quarter is a sudden, horrifying and effective tonal shift that properly conveys the horror of the events unfolding, all while showing in the wider narrative where our heroes fall compared to the villains- and in every instance, the heroes come up short, with even Ozpin and Pyrrha themselves dying at Cinder’s hand. It’s a bleak image to end the Volume on as Team RWBY scatter to the wind while the villains get away with their pride and dignity intact, firmly setting themselves up as RWBY’s superior in direct combat for their next confrontation-

I’m not bitter.

Meanwhile the only status quo change that Haven brings to the table is “RWBY are back together and get a lamp.” That’s it. That’s the big change from this volume, since the only casualties are a bunch of one-off characters that are introduced in the same volume they die in. Much of the narrative stakes die in the first half thanks to Weiss’s impalement and many of the villains lose the intimidating credibility than they earned through Volume 3. It’s a joke of a climax that brings nothing to the wider narrative of the show and has far less of an impact than the Fall of Beacon, barring how it utterly destroyed the threat factor of most of the villains there and required for Adam an entire trailer insisting that Adam wasn’t a complete joke, the effectiveness of which still has yet to be seen.

2) It feels significant and carries throughout multiple environments

One of the smarter choices made about the Fall of Beacon was that the characters are split up across multiple different arenas to help create the sense that this is a large-scale battle. Ruby, JNPR and many of the students start in the Amity Arena where Port and Oobleck stay behind, before heading down to Beacon’s courtyard to hold that area. There, they meet with Weiss, Blake and Yang, before the latter two go to the food hall for the Adam encounter. Ruby herself goes to the airships to help take back the skies leading to her battle with Torchwick. We have frequent scenes of Ozpin in his office until he comes down to begin the Aura transfer with Pyrrha in the Vault. Meanwhile, Qrow, Goodwitch and Ironwood take to Vale’s streets (Ironwood not willingly) and fight the Grimm there.

Your token reminder that Ruby vs Roman and Neo has some of the best teamwork in the entire show and it’s being done by the villains who weren’t part of the original plans for the series

Breaking that down to its core components, we have the courtyard, airship, arena, food hall and streets. CRWBY use a lot of recurring environments throughout the Fall of Beacon episodes- the deck of the airship for Ruby vs Roman and Neo and the landing zone where Ironwood fights the Alpha Beowolf are the only wholly original fight arenas made for these episodes, while the courtyard, Vault, and streets were all areas we had seen previously. Not only did this save on area budget, but it granted a sense of weight to the fights- we had seen these locations before, had scenes in them that gave them an emotional weight. Scattering the heroes across these different maps spreads the Battle out, making it easier for the crew to work on individual scenes since it lessened the risk of having people just standing around doing nothing, but it gave each character an individual chance to shine in their own arena of combat. Perhaps most obviously, the different locals gave us new arenas to enjoy as well instead of just “a room a plaza and a cave.” Ironwood may not have gotten his two small but glorious mo,ments against the Grimm and mechs if he was sharing an arena with everyone else.

Here comes the general Ladies and gentlemen Here comes the general The moment you’ve been waiting for Here comes the general The pride of Atlas Here comes the general James IRONDADDY

... Meanwhile Haven just stuck everyone in a bland open room and had people standing around doing nothing for most of the Scuffle, if they weren’t teleporting around the room like ninjas.

Uh hi Mercury. You wanna... do something? Just gonna let them have their thing? OK? You do you buddy.

I don’t think there’s much more you can add to that.

3) The build up to the Fall is superb

As I’ve mentioned, while the first half of Volume 3 until Yang vs Mercury has some of the show’s weakest fights until Volume 5, the second half more than makes up for it on a fight level while also setting the stage for the devastating final string of episodes. Beginning of the End, PVP and Heroes and Monsters are all in my top 10 episodes for a reason, folks. Chapter 7 in particular finally gave the audience some much-needed background on Team CEM, as we saw Cinder recruit Emerald and Mercury in moments of weakness and plant the seeds for the Fall as she meets with Roman and Adam (while presumably getting the virus from Watts that allows her to initiate Order 66). Destiny lets us see the fallout of Yang vs Mercury, Jaune and Pyrrha’s last quiet moment together, and is the last calm before the storm as the episode ends with Penny about to fight Pyrrha and Mercury staring Ruby down. All the while, the sense of unease builds up each episode, starting relatively tame in the premiere before the dial gets nudged up a little each more every week until...

“Polarity vs metal. That could be baaaaad.” Look I like taking screenshots of Merc don’t kinkshame me.

Volume 3′s third quarter does an excellent job in setting up the immediate stakes of the Fall of Beacon, and separates Team RWBY so they’re scattered and confused once the fireworks begin to go off. Pyrrha’s arc continues and prepares itself for the conclusion awaiting her atop the Beacon tower, while Ruby gets to display some street smarts and quickly puts together some dangling threads after her talk with Velvet and spotting Emerald among the crowd. The major pieces are set up well in advance and given time to breathe ahead of the tidal wave that’s about to hit the shoreline.

Meanwhile in Haven: RNJR sit around a house for a month and wait for the plot to invite them over to the climax, Blake just invites herself and most of the “stakes” are either set up in A Perfect Storm (AKA one of the two worst episodes in the entire show) or come up out of nowhere with little foreshadowing (see: Jaune being suicidal). I don’t know about you but I’ll pick one approach to seeing up a climax over the other every time and... I think it’s clear which I’ll side with

In conclusion, The Fall of Beacon is an expertly put together string of episodes, with the back half of Volume 3 wrapping up with a neat little bow and remaining the peak of RWBY (Heroes and Monsters is my personal favorite episode in the show). Barring the finale timeskipping after Ruby uses her Silver Eyes, depriving us of countless emotionally gut-wrenching scenes- that we never saw JNR reacting to Pyrrha’s death is the one massive black mark over the finale- it’s a near perfect collection that encapsulates what RWBY can be when firing at all cylinders. And that is a fact that becomes more amazing when one considers how Poser was actively fighting against the crew as they made the episodes due to not being ideal software for the episodes. In the midst of these episodes the villains reign supreme and firmly show how much stronger they are than RWBY. Their victories are ash in the mouth in the moment, but any writer worth their salt knows that villains winning now only makes their downfall and defeat that much more of a reward for the heroes when they come out on top.

It concludes several character arcs, sets up countless others as everyone recuperates from the Fall (most predominantly Ruby, Yang and JN_R), and set the seeds for RWBY to move beyond a generic high school battle anime and become its own beast, worthy of carrying Monty’s legacy with it to greener pastures.

The Battle of Haven meanwhile, only looks like more of a bad-taste joke when put alongside the Fall of Beacon, looking flatter and having a lot less color and visual range, alongside consistently weaker animation in all regards except facial. It’s all just the same open room for four weeks straight, mixed with a courtyard and a cave, all of which were locations we didn’t care about due to not spending any time in them or Haven at large thanks to being locked up in a house all season. It was a climax wrought with animation errors, a climax that destroyed the credibility of most of the participating villains and forgot that people watch RWBY to see fight scenes, not see them standing around watching offscreen fights or not doing anything at all. It was a climax where the heroes only won because the theme song was called “Triumph” and because the script said they needed to win.

I linked to it in my Haven video, but FloofArtist’s breakdown of the animation errors in the Battle of Haven remains an almost harrowing experience to watch. Information such as storyboard dates shown in some of the CRWBY episodes show that the Battle was still in storyboarding during December and early January, just a month before it was set to air, and... it shows. Painfully. The Haven episodes reek of being rushed out the door to satiate deadlines, less a product of passion and more a frenzied product of getting the last essential renders done before being sent out like a sacrificial lamb.

While Volume 6 has so far managed to move past the failings of the Haven Battle in that it’s actually good, we’ll need to wait and see for if the Battles of Atlas and Vacuo retain the flaws seen at Haven, and the fans will constantly have Haven hanging overhead like a specter, forever wary that such a sudden and sharp downturn in quality could happen at a moment’s notice. Based off the reaction in-house, between the sudden changing of the writing system, Conner Perkins becoming a co-director and the numerous shots taken at Volume 5 in pre-release for Volume 6, it seems CRWBY themselves have that specter overhead and are desperate to avoid a similar calamity. Only time will tell, and while I have hope based off the stellar execution of the Fall of Beacon, we’re one for two on good climaxes involving Academy wide battles so far.

But in the defense of the show, the Fall of Beacon remains the high-point of RWBY on a narrative and character level. The back half of the season makes up for the weak fights of the first half and allows for an emotionally gripping narrative that collects elements from all three prior volumes and combines them into an emotional gut-punch. The finale may have several black spots over it, but the ride to it contains RWBY at its absolute best, and certified that I would be an avid watcher of this show for years to come.

Thank you for reading. Sharing this article around is a great benefit to me if you appreciated it, and all feedback is much obliged. Please consider following if you enjoyed the piece and wish to see more. I hope you enjoyed it.

#rwby #rwde #rwby analysis #ruby rose #mercury black #james ironwood #adam taurus #blake belladonna #yang xiao long #pyrrha nikos #ozpin #rwby volume 3 #rwby volume 5 #the fall of beacon #the battle of haven #every time i think i'm done shittalking volume 5 #I GET PULLED BACK IN

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themagiciansreccenter · 6 years ago

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Author Spotlight: @kaci3po

Every week we interview a writer from The Magicians fandom. If you would like to be interviewed or you want to nominate a writer, get in touch via our ask box.

First things first, tell us a little about yourself.

By day I'm a health insurance claims processor and by night I'm a fanfic writer who has probably been in fandom longer than most people on this website have been alive. I have terrible taste in music and share my home with two dogs and five cats.

How long have you been writing for?

I've been writing fanfiction since 2005, but I've been writing in general since before Kindergarten. I was always a writer. Fanfic just helped me figure out where I was interested in aiming my efforts.

What inspired you to start writing for The Magicians?

I read the books years ago and liked them well enough until the last one. Julia and Alice were my favorite characters so when the show was announced, I put off watching it because I was convinced they would never do either of those characters justice. I eventually caved and binged it on Netflix and I'm really glad I did. The show is an entirely different beast than the books, and to be honest the show is way more in my wheelhouse. Watching 3x05 and then not having it addressed for the rest of the season left me really frustrated but I've always believed in writing the stories you want to see in the world so I dusted off my keyboard and got to work.

Who is/are your favourite character(s) to write? What it is about them that makes them your favourite?

Quentin is my favorite POV to write from. That voice comes pretty naturally to me. And I like writing him because I can identify with a lot of his issues and choices. But Eliot is my favorite to write from an outside POV because he has a very specific voice that you can have a lot of fun with. You can put some fairly outrageous things in his mouth and have it still be in-character, because that's the sort of guy he is. Even though I think I end up writing more drama than comedy, the latter is definitely my favorite to do and Eliot is such a great source for both.

Do you have a preference for a particular season/point in time to write about?

3x05 and 4x05. I'm not someone who comes up with great plots for fics. I admire people who can do that, but that's not the sort of writing I'm good at. What I like doing is "fix-it" or "fill-in-the-blank" type stuff. I like being given a situation and then figuring out how characters I already know would react to that circumstance. 3x05 and 4x05 are perfect for me because they showed just enough to leave the door wide open for speculation.

Are you working on anything right now? Care to give us an idea about it?

I'm toying with the idea of writing Margo's reaction if/when she ever finds out the full story about the mosaic timeline and the Conversation they had when they remembered. I find it interesting that until that moment, Margo was the person who had seen Eliot at his worst and still loved him, but she has no idea (as far as we know) about this new memory that Eliot himself considers his darkest and most shameful. Their friendship is one of the most important things on the show to me, so I am very curious about how she'll react to Eliot keeping all of that a secret if/when she eventually finds out.

How long is your “to do list”?

Not very long. Like I said, I'm not the sort of writer who comes up with tons of plots she'd love to write. I just ask questions based on canon and explore the answers.

What is your favourite fic that you’ve written for The Magicians? Why?

Probably 'all these young bodies turn,' which I did not realize was a title someone else had already used for a Queliot fic when I posted it so great minds, I guess. I liked writing that one because it let me explore the trope of quests demanding sacrifices and the fact that Quentin was very aware of that fact. I like the way the show twists and turns tropes on their heads and I liked getting to do that too, in my own small way.

Many writers have a fic that they are passionate about that doesn’t get the reception from the fandom that they hoped for. Do you have a fic you would like more people to read and appreciate?

Not really. Everyone's been super nice and supportive of my work in this fandom, probably more so than my writing actually warrants. I'm that person who (a lot like Quentin, actually) is sort of always surprised people like my work and want me around. Blindsided by it, to be honest.

What is your writing process like? Do you have any traditions or superstitions that you like to stick to when you’re writing?

I honestly don't have a process or rituals. I've never been the kind of person who likes writing from outlines or notes. I just sit at the keyboard and keep asking myself, "Okay...and what comes next?" I'm just as surprised by what comes out of my brain as the next person.

Do you write while the seasons are airing or do you prefer to wait for hiatus? How does the ongoing development of the canon influence and inspire your writing process?

I like to write while the episodes are airing, if possible. If I wait, I lose the inspiration and frantic drive to fix and fill in blanks. Once the entire season is out, it feels to me like it's been chiseled in stone and that's not as much fun for me to play with. Writing while the episodes are airing allows for interesting moments where your predictions turn out to be completely wrong but the canon spins you off in a new direction you never would've thought of.

What has been the most challenging fic for you to write?

"5 Times Quentin and Eliot Had to Have Uncomfortable but Necessary Conversations and 1 Time They Didn't Need to Talk at All." I honestly don't know why but writing that fic was like pulling teeth. I rewrote huge portions of it constantly and I'm still not fully satisfied with it.

Are there any themes or tropes that you like particularly like to explore in your writing?

I don't know that I've really gotten to explore this yet in The Magicians fandom, although after 4x05 I think I might, but my all-time favorite trope is the character who swears up and down they don't want to be in love and can't help falling anyway. Most of my all-time favorite couples fit into this trope and now with the reveal that Eliot rejected Quentin's interest in him, I can't wait to see them actually together once he gets his body back and decides to be brave.

Are there any writers that inspire your work? Fanfiction or otherwise?

Seanan McGuire is my biggest writing inspiration. If I could write half as well as she does, I'd be happy.

What are you currently reading? Fanfiction or otherwise?

The "Home For Wayward Children" series by Seanan McGuire is my latest obsession and I'm also listening to the audio book of "Anger is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro. Fanfiction-wise, I'm just devouring every post-4x05 fic AO3 has to offer.

What is the most valuable piece of writing advice you’ve ever been given?

This is a tough call because I've had some great mentors over the years, but the most helpful thing I've ever been told is to read everything I write out loud. It probably looks silly when I do it, but I do full-on dramatic readings complete with different voices and actually acting the parts of everything I write. I don't post it until I've done a complete read through with no complaints. Not only does this help you catch any grammar or spelling mistakes, but the biggest thing it does is help you make your dialogue more natural. I'm trained in scriptwriting, not prose, and in that genre all you really have to tell your story with is dialogue, so it's important to me that mine sounds like people really talk. I don't post something until I can read it out loud and think, "Yeah, that's how those characters actually speak."

Are there any words or phrases you worry about over using in your work?

I use ellipses way more than anyone probably should and I'm overly fond of pulling up sentences short with punctuation that's not grammatically correct but makes you read it in the exact cadence I want you to.

What was the first fanfic that you wrote? Do you still have access to it?

I don't remember what my first actually was about, but it was in the Friends fandom and probably Monica/Chandler. I don't have access to it anymore, and I tried googling around to see if it was still out there on the internet somewhere, but it doesn't seem to be. That's probably for the best because I'm sure it was absolutely awful.

Self-edit or Beta?

Self-edit. In a perfect world, I'd have stuff beta'd but it's been years since I had someone I trusted to do that. These days I just go over it with a fine-toothed comb and hope for the best.

Comments or Kudos/Reblogs or Likes?

Comments always make me happy and I obsessively read the tags on reblogs, but it doesn't bother me if someone doesn't take the time to do that. People have busy lives and sometimes you can really like something without having more to say about it other than, "This was good." So a like or kudos is fine by me.

Smut, Fluff or Angst?

Smut, then fluff. I don't really like writing angst. Fandom is my escape from the real world so I'd rather focus on happy stuff if I can.

Quick & Dirty or Slow Burn?

Quick and dirty as a writer, slow burn as a reader. I like to "get in quick, hit hard, and get out" as a writer. The fewer words I can convey something in, the better. But given the choice as a reader, I'll take a 100k+ slow burn any day. It's always so satisfying when you get to the end.

Favourite season?

Season Three

Favourite Episode?

4x05 and 3x05 are the obligatory answers, but I also absolutely loved the bank heist episode.

Favourite book?

The Magicians

Three favourite words?

Fuck, callipygian, & widdershins.

Want to be interviewed for our author spotlight? Get in touch here.

#the magicians #the magicians rec center #author spotlight #author spotlight: kaci3po

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jess-the-vampire · 6 years ago

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DON’T CREATE OR BE INFLUENCED BY FAKE EPISODE LISTS. THIS IS FAKE ON ALL LEVELS OF INSANITY.

Let me look at this in detail. First, really? A long hiatus. Premiering in 2019? This is completely unrealistic unless Daron and the writers want the fans to wait this long.

Saturday, January 12

“Butterfly Effect” (2-Part)

While Eclipsa frees her monster husband and starts her long plan to take over Mewni, Star sets off on her own to find her mother.

Saturday, January 19

“Pinky Up”

Star begins her long journey of royalty by having a tea party.

“Party Gurl”

Pony Head decides to open up her own hang out.

Saturday, January 26

“Prim and Proper”

Star decides to follow every rule in the Mewni Guide to Being Queen.

“Bad Choices”

Pony Head attempts to break a club record for causing the most trouble possible.

Saturday, February 2

“Two Timer”

Marco has been ditching on Star’s squire demands to hang out with Kelly.

“Princess’ Best Friend”

Star and Pony Head remember the first time they met.

Saturday, February 9

“Family Feud”

Marco orders Mewni to cut ties from Earth after he officially drops out of high school.

“Double Date”

Pony Head organizes a double date for Star and Tom as well as for Marco and Kelly too.

Saturday, February 16

“Only Child”

Marco wants Ruberiot and Foolduke to adopt him.

“Queen Pony Head”

Pony Head becomes Queen for a Day in the Cloud Kingdom.

Saturday, February 23

“Cheater”

Star gets mad at Marco for telling Tom about the photo booth kiss, so Marco decides to be Kelly’s boyfriend.

“Free Coupons”

Pony Head takes advantage of a coupon book by getting free stuff all the time.

Saturday, March 2

“Life of a Squire”

Star follows Marco as he goes through his daily squire routine.

“Superstar Pony”

Pony Head wants to be an actress, but she only ends up with a small role

Saturday, March 9

“Meet the Demons”

Star spends the night over at Tom’s Underworld Kingdom.

“Goblin Dog Contest”

Pony Head prepares herself to eat the most Goblin Dogs yet.

Saturday, March 16

“Corn Shakes”

Star and Tom go out on a date only to find out why they love each other.

“Zala Mountain”

Pony Head plans to climb Zala Mountain and then slide down with Star.

Saturday, March 23

“Mewni Turd”

Marco wants to legalize himself as a Mewni citizen.

“Pony Clones”

Pony Head finds a magical 3-D printer and makes clones of herself to prank her sisters.

Saturday, March 30

“Reflectacorp”

Pony Head can’t decide what new pocket phone she wants.

“Waning Moon”

Star finally found her mother until a familiar face plots revenge on her for attempting to kill her daughter.

Saturday, April 6

“Mold of a Moon”

Star admires her mother’s ruling so much she decides to be like her.

“Shonda and Shinda”

Pony Head peer pressures her twin sisters to start doing dangerous stuff.

Saturday, April 13

“The Queen Test” (2-Part)

Star answers a long line of Mewni citizens’ problems and concerns to prepare herself for coronation. Meanwhile, Eclipsa and her monster husband argue about which evil plan to use.

Saturday, April 20

“Falling Stag”

It’s King River’s birthday and Star orders him a night in the forest for a surprise.

“Pony Pranker”

Pony Head pranks the Magic High Commission.

Saturday, April 27

“I Order You”

Star forbids Marco from hanging out with Kelly and orders him to complete a bunch of tasks.

“Brunch”

Pony Head tries to be the first in line for brunch at St. Olga’s.

Saturday, May 4

“Hairy”

Kelly invites Marco to her place and have a sleepover.

“Binge Watch”

Pony Head binge watches “Bam Ui Pati!” and must stop her sisters from interrupting her.

Saturday, May 11

“Meteora”

Eclipsa sneaks baby Meteora into Butterfly Castle to make Star sick.

“One Year”

Star and Tom celebrate their one-year anniversary since they got back together.

Saturday, May 18

“Meat Blanket”

Pony Head finds a cape from King River and brags her sisters how superior she is.

“Globgor”

Eclipsa sets attack on Mewni by bringing Globgor to cause a giant rampage.

Saturday, May 25

“The Fate of Mewni” (2-Part)

Shocked to hear Eclipsa is evil, Queen Star must kill her once and for all. Marco questions his relationship with Kelly.

“Decision” (2-Part)

On the day of her coronation, Star accepts an unexpected surprise from Tom. Marco and Kelly take their relationship to the next level.

From some 4Chan comment, “censored” for SFW.

>Around half the episodes having Pony Head as the central character. >Marco going “lol screw earth i’m never going back” despite him promising to visit his family more in “Marco Jr”. >Marco being an asshole for no reason and somehow having the authority to ban interaction between Earth and Mewni. >More squire bullshit. >Star abusing the squire bullshit and being an asshole for no reason. >Some of the synopses sound outright retarded (“Eclipsa sneaks baby Meteora into Butterfly Castle to make Star sick”) >Canon Kellco despite zero evidence of Marco having an attraction to Kelly in season 3. >Tom and Star staying a couple.

To paraphrase all this, do not trust a list like this at all. It’s garbage. And this list will give people nightmares into thinking this is real.

oh trust me, if anyone had given me this i could’ve told you it was fake right away by just all the titles and premisens

for one, globgor is mentioned almost nowhere on this until the END, neither is there any indication of mina for that matter. Buff frog is gone as well and my god there’s WAY too many episodes that sound very unfitting to the aftermath of season 3.

and you know what else is missing? Moon, ludo. What are we supposed to believe star is not continuing to look for moon next season or ludo isn’t doing squat? Also what about marco jr? Whose clearly about to pop by the time we find out he exists?

like, nothing in here, makes sense with the last season.

especially since this entire thing would be spoiling the whole SEASON. Which, yeah…no.

and some of these plots sound so stupid.

the show tends to have very vauge plots send out to us and we all know it.

and look, i’m sure we’ll get some lower episodes and there are things listed here i would LIKE to be real eps. But this is no official list and we all know it.

the show just started pitching the finale of season 4 not even that long ago how the heck would this have been dropped so soon?

i could make a better fake list then this.

just guys, stop with fake show stuff alright? It doesn’t help

#submission #star vs the forces of evil

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medea10 · 4 years ago

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Medea’s Worst Year of All-Time Anime/Game Superlative

Nobody saw this year coming…except for maybe Barbara Walters! Who could have predicted that this year would bless us with Australia burning, the entire west coast of the U.S. set on fire, stupid people setting fires because they wanted to reveal a baby’s gender, murder hornets, Ruth Bader Ginsburg dying, an almost war with Iran, serial killer mascots arrested, policemen killing unarmed black folks for having a counterfit $20, policemen killing unarmed black folks for breaking up a fight, policemen killing black folks for holding sandwiches, policemen killing unarmed black folks for fucking sleeping, a wide variety of “Karens” coming out of the woodworks, the end of Bojack, the end of Steven Universe, the end of Empire, and a pandemic so huge it’s killed the economy, canceled fun, and given the U.S. president the dumb-fuck idea of injecting bleach to kill the virus!?

SERIOUSLY, WHO COULD HAVE PREDICTED ALL OF THIS WAS GOING TO FALL IN OUR LAPS LIKE HOT COFFEE ON THE CROTCH?!

At least there was anime this year.

…

At least there was SOME anime this year.

…

Biden won the election and Vickeblanca came out with Black Catcher this year.

Hey internet, it’s Medea here to give you her trashy opinion on this years anime and games that she’s watched or played. Because for some reason, my loser-ass loves to do out-dated as fuck memes! I shouldn’t complain, this shit brings a lot of attention to my page every year when I do this. Yes, 2020 was a complete dumpster fire so large that Domestic Girlfriend is crying foul. Many of us had to go on lockdown and ended up binge-watching the entire 957+ episodes of One Piece. I did no such thing. I am one of those “essential workers” so I didn’t hunker down for 9 months straight. But when I was home, I was watching anime. Actually, I would have done that even without the pandemic. I’m an introvert and find the human race to be deplorable.

You all know how this goes. I go over the best this year had to offer me. I had to search really hard to find the good in this year, especially in the anime world. Many things had to be put on hiatus or were delayed to a later date. Just a reminder, I don’t discriminate in what year the anime or game came out. If something came out in the happier times of 2007, that anime or game counts! Let’s get at it!

First Fandom of 2020: Interspecies Reviewers

Did anyone expect a fan-favorite of 2020 was going to be a hentai? Did anyone have on their batshit 2020 bingo card that a hentai was going to grab everybody’s attention? At the beginning of the year, my mind was set on the Railgun sequel and Eizoken. It wasn’t until licensors, streaming sites, and TV stations in Japan dropped this series that I started to pay attention. And got immediately hooked! It’s about three men going to different brothels and reviewing their time with the ladies. And these ladies are of different species! So with every bang comes possible enlightenment, new kinks, or a night of having your dick sucked off more than humanly possible. This anime blew away all of my skepticism and first impressions right out the window. Maybe it’s because I’m a degenerate and am often curious about sexual content, but this was a guilty pleasure of mine this year.

Favorite Main Character of 2020: Moroha from Yashahime

I know the majority of this story is going to revolve around Towa and Setsuna, but can we please focus a little more energy on the spunky, quarter-demon girl?! I know they’re pitting Moroha as the comic relief, but I’m hopeful that she’s going to surprise us one day. We fans of InuYasha would spend the past decade and some change wondering what InuYasha and Kagome’s daughter would be like. This year, we got our answer with Moroha. She’s got this wild side to her, probably due to the fact that she’s spent her entire life on her own. And while she’s silly at times, she can get down to business in a pinch. She has her father’s sense of smell. She has a sword. She’s able to shoot sacred arrows much like her mother. And to top it all off, she has this special rouge that if she puts it on, she’s able to unleash that ¼ demon power inside her and become Beniyasha! Yeah, I know the power only lasts a minute, she’s only 14, give her a break! I will gladly go through another week scratching my head at the confusion this story gives me if I get to see one more second of Moroha and her crazy antics or her bad-ass slaying.

Favorite Villain of 2020: The Devil Believers from Black Clover

This was one hell of a year for Black Clover. It would have been an easy choice to pick the devil and possible super devil that appeared during the elf fight. But I’d like to give a nod to the filler arc villains. And you can’t blame this group for wanting the power of the devil. They’re literally the bottom-rung of the Clover Kingdom and ones with little to no power or mana. So I can agree with why they would want the power of the devil. For one thing, they’d have more power. And for another thing, they’d be able to exact revenge on those who have wronged them. On some occasions I agree with exacting revenge and when it comes to the nobles and some characters in Black Clover, some folks do deserve death. I mean, have you met the king of the Clover Kingdom? Plus, this town and many other poorer towns get looked over by the kingdom. Peasant uprise! Anyways, I thought these people were really crafty in their crimes. I mean, they were able to knock Asta out on his ass with specially made poisons. I was actually hooked to this story of Black Clover (despite it being a filler arc). I know we’ll never see them again as they have been exiled, but it did have me semi-rooting for them.

Favorite Video Game Character of 2020: Honey from Pokemon – Sword & Shield (Expansion Pass)

Sorry Raymond from Animal Crossing!

Honey is the saucy wife of Mustard…I did not expect that to come out the way it did, but here we are! She has one hell of a team you can fight once a day. She looks out for her husband, the dojo, and the students of the dojo like they were her own children by providing food, drinks, and others. However that does come at a price as you do have to give up a sizable chunk of your watts that you collect in raid dens. I’m sure a bunch of MILF chasers were more than happy enough to give her all their hard-earned watts just so they can have their one-on-one moment on the beach with Honey.

What won me over was when that one guy from a rival dojo bad-mouthed her husband’s dojo and she…I think she kicked this guy’s ass herself. I don’t think she used any of her pokemon. Game Freak won’t show it, but we all know she kicked this guy’s ass to a point where he’s begging for mercy.

Honey, for the win!

Favorite Game of 2020: Animal Crossing New Horizons

This game was just Zen for me. I know the release of this game came with some controversy like Gamestop saying it’s an essential business and will remain open for people to get their copies of the game. Hell, I was one of those assholes in line waiting to get a copy on March 20th. Did I predict that a pandemic was going to rage out of control when I got a prepay copy of this for Christmas 2019? NO! I only predict political things, not deadly pandemics! The good news, we social distanced, didn’t catch the covid and got the game.

Anyways, this game has been a non-stop calming and fun ride. I can even forgive their botch-up of Bunny Day. They even have events for holidays I never thought they would ever touch. I mean, does anybody know when Museum Day is? Probably not until Animal Crossing had an event for it! I’ve been able to let my freak-flag fly with designing my island. And this goes way beyond New Leaf for the 3DS. I can make a sign post with the words “Fuck Trump” on it and post it in my yard. I can dig up trees and plant them elsewhere. I can poop in a toilet. I can craft furniture and put my own design on it. My furniture can have Tracey Sketchit’s beautiful mug on it. I can sit on Tracey Sketchit’s face. I am a sick fuck and I don’t care. I can give Raymond and Bob maid outfits. Magical time in my game! My hopes for next year…I don’t know, get the Festivale furniture, get Papi and Olivia to join my island, maybe visit Danny Trejo’s island, who knows, sky’s da limit!

Favorite Het Couple of 2020: Nasa and Tsukasa Yuzaki from Tonikawa

This is one of the most unorthodox marriages I’ve ever seen. But in this 90 Day Fiance world we’re living in, I shouldn’t pass judgement on these two getting married in episode one and not knowing much about each other. Nasa meets Tsukasa as he was about to be plowed by a truck. Tsukasa saves his life. Nasa says she’s beautiful. Tsukasa says she’ll be his girlfriend if they get married. He agrees. She disappears. Four years later, Tsukasa appears in front of Nasa’s front door with a marriage registration form. Congratulations buddy, you’ve got yourself a waifu! In some way, this felt like watching Yamato and Takeo from My Love Story. I was fascinated with them progressing through their relationship. The only difference is that Yamato and Takeo took the old-fashioned route. This couple did everything ass-backwards in terms of having a relationship. But I couldn’t take my eyes off Nasa and Tsukasa’s relationship during each episode. I find them cute.

Favorite Yuri Couple of 2020: Karin Asaka x Emma Verde from Love Live Nijigasaki High School Idol Club

AAAAAAAAAH! I’M IN IDOL HELL AGAIN! Yeah, no kidding! I came this close to putting Miu x Nicole from that abomination 22/7. But thank God for Love Live! There’s no telling if any of the girls from the Love Live franchise are confirmed to be lesbians. But fuck it, all of them attend all-girl schools, no males exist anywhere, and Sunshine gave us Kanan x Mari! Yeah, you know Kanan and Mari is canon as fuck, don’t at me. So naturally, I found more third-years to ship in the new Love Live series. Now I know I should have put up Ai x Rina or Ayumu x Yuu. Especially the latter due to recent events! But Emma x Karin is my OTP.

Now Emma is an exchange student from Switzerland and in coming to Nijigasaki, she first meets Karin and they became instant friends. When Emma said she wants to become an idol, Karin helped her quite a bit. Even though Karin had no interest in being an idol as her modeling career is starting up, Karin would occasionally help Emma out. And surprise, surprise, Karin ends up fascinated with the idol world and Emma helps her come to the light to be herself there. Okay, I’m totally reading this in some fragmented way, but I’m currently playing Love Live School Idol Festival All Stars and the app game has a lot more stuff involving stuff the anime has yet to talk about. Confirmed or not, Karin x Emma for the win!

Favorite Yaoi Couple of 2020: Eiji Okumura x Ash Lynx from Banana Fish

It took me a while to get here, but I finally made it to 2018’s overlooked gem. Forgive me for not being fully caught up, but from what I’m watching at the moment, I’m sticking to my guns and supporting the hell out of this. I mean, I could have mentioned The Titan’s Bride here…but fuck no, I ain’t goin’ down that mess! Ash has gone through a lot, I mean a helluva lot in his past. His cute boy looks have made him a target on the streets of New York, with mafia dons, and with prison inmates. But dude can kill if you mess with him. Then you have Eiji, who is just a literal example of a “pure cinnamon roll (until episode 8)”. These two are as opposite as you can possibly get. Ash is from New York and Eiji is from Japan. Ash likes hot dogs with everything on it. Eiji likes grilled fish and natto. Ash spent the majority of his life killing on the streets. Eiji was a track superstar. You get my meaning. But when we got these two together it’s quite adorable. Ash is really able to change when he’s around Eiji. Ash isn’t some heartless killer on the street about to kill a thug with prosthetic fingers. When he’s with Eiji, he’s a joker that can easily get scared of pumpkins. And even in later episodes, you got these two acting like a husband and wife.

Fandom That You Didn’t Expect to Get Into: Les Miserables – A Girl Named Cosette

Let me explain a little something. Les Mis! I have never seen the play, watched the movie, or read the novel prior to picking up this anime. Not a single one of those! And that’s a bit of a head-scratcher when you realize I was a bit of a musical theater nut in my teenage years. But one thing I do like is when Japan does an anime based on plays or historical events (like Romeo x Juliet or Rose of Versailles). The second I popped in Les Miserables the anime, I wanted to binge watch the whole 52 episode series. It is by no means a perfect adaptation of the Victor Hugo novel. Several key players end up surviving all the way up to the end of the story! But because this was my very first viewing of anything Les Mis, I took to the story of Cosette and was eager to see what was going to happen next in her tale. Unlike the movies and play, Cosette was the main focus of the story besides Jean Valjean and Javert. And thanks to watching the unfortunate stories of Cosette, Jean Valjean, the Thenadiers, Javert, Marius, and the rest, I thought it was time to watch the OTHER adaptations to Les Mis.

…

Russell Crowe sucks.

Fandom That Made An Unexpected Comeback: Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni

Higurashi or When They Cry is one of my favorite fandoms of all time! So naturally when we heard that it was making a comeback, I was excited. It was also very odd that Higurashi was given this sequel or reboot. Ahem! There’s another franchise that needs a face-lift. Umineko still deserves a better treatment. Plus, now that this series was out of the faulty hands of Studio Deen, Higurashi will get the special care it deserves. Believe it or not, it wasn’t just the anime that made a comeback for me, but the manga as well. Since 2009, I’ve read several volumes (out of order) and would every now and then come back to read the story. Back to the anime, this reboot or sequel…you know what, I’m gonna call it a “rebooqual”! This rebooqual sucked me back to the town of Hinamizawa and all the murders. Every week, I find myself comparing the current episode to one from the 2006 version. But then the fourth episode of each arc seems to catch me off guard.

Where are they going with this story and these twist endings to our favorite arcs? I did not expect Rena to turn a simple attempted murder into the end of School Days! I didn’t expect Rika to die in the most disgusting fashion they could think of. Could someone kill Teppei fucking Hojo? I will pay ¥5000 for someone to do that job. So yeah, because I know how much of this plays out and who does what, I’m usually watching and reading while making wise-ass remarks. But I still have fun with it.

Fandom That Inspired the Most Crack: Konosuba

In a year where I caught up with the popular Isekais like Shield Hero and Re:Zero, I found the wacky misadventures of Kazuma Satou to be amusing as all get-out. From the first 5 minutes, I found myself laughing at Kazuma’s misfortune. Seriously, how the fuck do you mistake a tractor for a car, have a heart attack, piss yourself, and fucking die in the first couple minutes to the series? You can only get away with this shit in gag animes! But it’s not just Kazuma’s dumbass, there’s a mage who only does explosions, but loses all her energy after one blow-up. Then there’s a busty, blonde who gets turned on by getting hurt and can’t strike anything with her sword. Anime’s biggest masochist or Cheryl Tunt incarnate, I haven’t decided which one to believe! Then you have this loud, crazy goddess chick named Aqua. She’s also useless about 86% of the time! Watching their unfortunate missions is all the crack that I need to get through this year. Seriously, Darkness is just all kinds of fucked up, but we love her.

Last Fandom of 2020: Yashahime

That’s right, the InuYasha sequel gets top spot here! Even though week after week I find myself asking more questions than when the episode started, I’m still hooked. If you’re like me, you watched and fell in love with the series InuYasha. So if they’re doing a sequel, you’re expecting to see all of your favorite characters from the prequel like InuYasha, Kagome, Miroku, Sango, Sesshomaru, Koga, Rin, and the rest. Actually, no! Quite the opposite! We’ve got Sesshomaru’s daughters, but no Sesshomaru. Rin is sleeping in a tree we think! We’ve got InuYasha and Kagome’s daughter, but they’re M.I.A. None of the girls even know a thing about their birth parents.

Now are these new characters a catch like the ones from the previous series? Some are! The three main girls, yes! Especially Moroha! I’ve already praised her name earlier in the superlative. Towa and Setsuna do take on some personality traits from their parents. Setsuna is definitely serious like Sesshomaru and Towa sometimes has a carefree yet loyal aura to her like Rin. I know I’m always skeptical when a series gives us a sequel featuring the offspring of the main characters. Especially when you’ve got some lame examples like Boruto and Eureka Seven AO (I might retract my diss on Boruto later)! As each week gives us a new episode, we’re unraveling new clues into a lot of things involving our old favorite characters, as well as the new ones. So I have high hopes for Yashahime for the time being!

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immortalcockroach · 6 years ago

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I’ll need ff to survive next two weeks. No Raven in the last episode, she was barely in the one before, and now two weeks hiatus. I can’t breathe. I need my dose of Zaven 😣😣😣😣😣😣😣😣☹️☹️☹️☹️

This season has a very prominent lack of Raven and as a fellow Raven + Zaven stan, I got you.

THE NAME OF THE GENIUS

summary: Raven and Zeke get to know each other while they wait on further instructions from Diyoza, after Zeke gave away the access to the missiles.

pairing: Raven x Shaw

words: 1,555

When Murphy leaves—escapes, Zeke reminds himself, he escaped—and Zeke breaks the news, and launches the missiles, and that’s all he has to do.

When McCreary offers to reclaim his place as Raven’s caretaker, Zeke jumps in without a second thought. It’s a little shuffle and Diyoza lets both of them know they should act like the grown men they are.

“He’s not one of us,” McCreary reminds her.

He doesn’t hear Zeke mutter ‘thankfully’ under his breath.

Instead of replying to McCreary, Diyoza grabs one of the pistols from the table and throws it at Zeke. Her face is steel and the scar on her throat shimmers under the lightning of electronics, and Zeke reminds himself that she’s the real danger here, not McCreary.

She nods at him. “Take care of our little prisoner. Maybe you even learn something.”

For a moment, Zeke thinks it might be a jab at him calling the prisoner a ‘genius’ only days prior. His gaze drops to the black, military-grade pistol in his hands and he realizes she meant that as in learning possible locations of their enemies.

“Will do.”

McCreary gives him a side-eye that Zeke ignores. Once he’s inside the cell where they’re keeping the girl, he unloads the pistol and puts it in the back of his pants.

“Hi.”

At first, she pretends to be sleeping. Her body is sprawled across a small bed with only a thin, uncomfortable mattress between her and the metal. It’s a cell, not unlike the ones Zeke used to see in the movies — empty, dull and claustrophobic, with no personality or anything.

And metallic bars separating the prisoner from the visitor.

Checking no one’s around—why would they be, he reminds himself, they only have one prisoner, and no one cares about her—he takes a key out of his pocket and inserts it into the lock on one of the bars.

“You know,” he says, “back when I was on this planet, over a century ago, we used to do this with no electricity. It was just – you have a key, insert it into a lock, and the prisoner’s free.”

The bars move apart, gliding into the walls. All that’s keeping the girl from running is a remote control in Zeke’s hand that connects to the metallic ring around her neck.

She opens her eyes. “That sounds like a dumb way to keep someone in place.”

“Well, yeah.” He raises the remote control. “That’s why we evolved.”

Without saying anything else, the girl raises herself into a sitting position, resting her back against the cold wall. Her dark eyes trail to the lack of bars and he can see it, right there and then – she’s making a plan.

He hopes he’s done enough to have her consider not killing him, perhaps. She looks dangerous and with that mind of hers, he isn’t doubtful she could come up with a decent plan.

Unless she’s waiting for something.

Or someone.

Zeke runs a hand through his hair, feeling it beginning to grow again. It’s been almost a century since he’d grown hair. That thought itself is… hilarious and concerning at the same time, somehow.

“So,” he says, “what’s your story?”

She cocks an eyebrow at him, looking all serious, and Zeke realizes she’s younger than he expected her to be. Judging by her expertise, he’d put her education far ahead of his own. She might be only a year or two younger, but he’s already—was, he reminds himself—one of the best of his generations.

And now she’s there. Looking all …

Zeke tries to find some words to say, but he can’t find any that don’t make him feel the same as he did when he realized she’s beaten him at his own game.

Damn, he might just be into girls more intelligent than him.

“What’s my story?” she asks. When she’s not being electrocuted or begging for her friend’s life, her voice is raspier than expected, with a hint of sass. “How about we hear your story, Lieutenant Shaw?”

“Fine,” he says. “I was born Miles Ezekiel Shaw, in Brooklyn. That’s… not actually very far from here. But anyway, I was the youngest of five, so I got to play with my brothers’ computers and fix their destroyed stuff and I had a beautiful, astonishing Harley Davidson—”

“A Harley? An actual, real-life Harley Davidson motorcycle?”

The astonished—and impressed, he realizes—look on his face brings a smile to his own. “Yeah. She was a real beauty.”

“Holy shit,” she says. “I’ve always wanted a Harley.”

“You didn’t have those? On your ship?”

“The Ark?” She scoffs. “Necessities only.”

“Same for us. No fun allowed. My Harley’s destroyed now, even though I put her in one of my brothers’ care.”

He sees wheels turning in her head. It’s an interesting sight, because her eyes never leave his yet he feels like she’s scanning him, up and down. If she’s half as smart as he thinks she is, she must’ve figured out exactly what it would take to dismantle both the controller and her necklace.

He finally enters the cell, sitting on a bed that used to be the other guy’s. They were lucky – he managed to warn his people.

“They survived, from what we can tell.”

Zeke sees her chest drop and realizes she was waiting for him to talk about it this entire time. For that, he grants her a small smile.

She smiles back, for a moment. Then coughs, frowns and composes herself, back to a poker face. “Thank you. For telling me.”

“You’re welcome.”

He watches her for a while and she avoids his eyes. He sees her counting the steps between her bed and the end of the cell, between her and freedom. His finger hovers over the button on the controller and he knows her eyes catch that, too.

Then he puts it away.

“Look, I want to be able to trust you. I’m not one of them.”

She laughs. It’s more of a short ‘ha!’ than a laugh, and he doesn’t want to admit it, but it does hurt a little. “That’s what they all say.”

“I’m putting my life on the line here. You may be self-righteous, but my life matters to me a lot.”

“And you’re not self-righteous?” she asks, tilting her head. He notices her ponytail is a wreck, half of her hair falling out of it, and wonders why she hasn’t fixed it more than he wonders about her words. “You risked your oh-so-precious life to get Murphy out.”

Murphy, he makes a mental note.

“You risked your life because you didn’t think they should kill those people. Because you don’t want a war.”

“It’s the last survivable place on the entire planet,” he snaps. “No one wants a war!”

At first, she doesn’t say anything. She watches him with more certainty and force than he thought was possible, eyes intense when they meet his.

He thinks she can see the intelligence in her eyes. They’re dark but crystal clear, even after all the torture she’s endured, and he realizes it might not be her first time.

She’s strong. McCreary could’ve tortured her for as long as he wanted without getting the other guy—Murphy—in and she wouldn’t have talked, even if she had the info.

Damn.

“It’s Raven,” she says. “My name. I was born on the Ark and I’m the best mechanic on the planet.”

She smirks a little at the end and Zeke asks himself if he’s crazy, imagining a challenge in the soft curve of her lips. His own lips mimic hers.

“In that case, nice to meet you, Raven. I’m Zeke.”

“Thought you were Miles?”

“Eh,” he says, “I’ve always preferred Zeke.”

That part he keeps to himself, but he has never preferred Zeke over Miles. It’s only that Miles was a boy who dreamed of outer space and flying a ship, Miles was the boy who became a man in space, Miles was the man who thought no one could beat him at his own game, and he isn’t Miles anymore.

“Nice to meet you, Zeke,” she says, the smirk still hanging in the corners of her lips. “Thanks for saving my friends.”

He nods and leaves with a quick goodbye, telling Diyoza he’s only managed to learn the guy’s name and that she wouldn’t cooperate at the moment. He relaxes when Diyoza doesn’t doubt his words and doesn’t order McCreary to look after her, and Zeke promises to try again in an hour or so, says he’s building trust.

Diyoza believes him. He’s gaining Raven’s trust and she seems like a powerful ally to have, or at least someone he can have decent, intellectual conversations with – he’s had enough of the murderers around him.

So when he goes back to his post, his mind still goes back to her smirk, to the challenge she gave him. And for the frst time since he decided to join this dooming mission, he feels pumped, energized, ready to do whatever it takes to save the human race.

Zeke Shaw feels alive.

And all because of a girl.

A damn brilliant, impressive, challenging, he reminds himself, genius of a hot girl.

Zeke Shaw goes back to work with a smile on his face, counting down minutes until he can go talk to her again.

#raven reyes #zeke shaw #miles shaw #zaven #the 100 #the 100 fanfic #zaven fanfic #zaven fic #fix #paxton mccreary #charmaine diyoza #my fic #Anonymous

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orpelia · 6 years ago

Text

Air: “Endgame”

Eleven episodes and a two-week hiatus later (oops!)~~

My praise, my wishes, and my feelings of the season finale of Book I.

[Heart eyes.]

Oh, Bo. What would we do without you.

As always, he gifted us with his silly and endearing humor,

but he also starred in some fantastic collabs.

Bolin x Naga

Bolin x General Iroh

Honestly, Bolin x Any Character <--- now that’s my kind of ship.

General Iroh is just as stupidly fearsome and heroic as his grandfather.

This is fact.

His stunt with the planes?

Cray.

I’m looking forward to seeing more of him in the future, preferably in the same scene(s) as Zuko because that’s something I desperately need in my life.

My favorite Mako: protective and powerful.

Let’s not forget, he can break free of Noatak’s bloodbending!!!

Korra---the freakin’ Avatar---couldn’t even do that! At least, not at first.

Amon admits it himself: “I'm impressed. No one has ever gotten the better of me like that. It is almost a shame to take the bending of someone so talented.”

I hope Mako’s talents become focal points in the next books. Please, oh please don’t revert him back to a frustrating, lovesick puppy who can’t make up his damn mind. It really doesn’t do his character justice.

Speaking of lovesick puppies...

Without a doubt, Mako and Korra had the most compelling scenes of the entire episode (and not because they were fighting Noatak).

Canon couple or not, these two make a great team. They obviously care about each other, but they’re fiercely protective of one another as well, and that’s what makes their chemistry so palpable.

Although I wasn’t over the moon about dropping the love bombs, even I recognize how heartwarming their moments were.

Take, for example, the penultimate scene of the finale:

Recap: Mako tells Korra he loves her, Korra dramatically runs away with Naga, and Tenzin tells Mako they have to be patient with her, which is old people code for “give her some space.”

If you ask me, that’s shitty advice.

In real life, I want someone to go after me, even if I say I want to be alone or I tell people to go away.

Yes, I am that person.

So you best believe my heart SOARED when the boy chased after the girl:

At first, Mako’s shocked.

No surprise there.

He just witnessed Korra in the Avatar State, which means 1) her bending is back and 2) the Avatar State is no joke!! The glowing eyes!! The command of the four elements at your fingertips!! That’s hardcore, bro!!

But then he fondly smiles at her, which I wholeheartedly interpret as “Ah, yes. That’s my girl.”

And look at her face!!

These two aren’t endgame, so I’m allowing myself to savor in the swoon.

FYI: If there’s anything you should know about me, it’s that I’m a sucker for cheek caresses.

Twirling hugs also make me a lil weak in the knees.

Running to someone and barreling into their arms is just stupid cute.

[Heavy sigh.]

I was really rooting for Asami.

After Chapter 7, I thought we were going to see how Asami was coping with the reveal of her father’s conspiring nature. Instead, her character seemed to revolve more around the love triangle (or whatever shape you want to call the ridiculous Asami x Mako x Korra situation). When Asami does mention her father, it’s only a sparse comment every other episode or so.

Thus, the showdown between father and daughter lacks an emotional weight, and it’s partly because we haven’t explored enough of their relationship to truly feel for these characters.

That isn’t to say their sequence doesn’t have powerful moments.

I just want to take a moment to holla at ma boy @Jeremy Zuckerman, sole music composer.

Your music is always stunning, but the accompanying track in Asami and Hiroshi’s showdown (plus the music in the boat scene and everything in the third act) is what carries the entire segment.

Your melodies tugged at my heartstrings in ways the story couldn’t.

Their final fight, for instance:

Asami is so caught up in the battle---defending herself against her father, no less---that you think she might actually do it, she might actually hurt him.

But then he’s looking at her like this,

and she starts to hesitate (this is her father after all),

which is the exact moment Hiroshi strikes.

In the end, Asami captures her father, but not without remorse: “You really are a horrible father.”

Dear Creators,

Please give your characters the emotional depth they deserve and explore the nuances of their relationships.

Trust me: they can lift the weight of their stories just fine.

I am unbelievably disappointed in Noatak’s arc.

I just---

I mean---

How?

How are you going to build the foundation of a character on a lie?

How are you going to develop that character’s arc for ten episodes, then discredit almost everything with deceit??

How are you going to completely undermine your character like that???

And to add insult to injury, Noatak keeps lying, going so far as to reveal a fake, painted scar:

Here’s the thing: Zuko is my world.

Of all the characters from Avatar: The Last Airbender, I found pieces of myself in his story the most. Scars, then, are sore subjects for me; sometimes, I feel like I’m as sensitive about his scar as he was.

Yes, I jumped in my seat upon first seeing Noatak’s “scar,” but make no mistake---I’d rip that lie off his face in a heartbeat.

Undermining your character with lies is bad enough, but this shit felt like mockery, and while I’m certain that wasn’t the creators’ intents, I’m taking it personally anyway.

However, attention should be paid to Noatak’s last scene:

Again, the music is so beautifully somber, but the dialogue here is probably some of the episode’s best.

From Noatak’s “I had almost forgotten the sound of my own name,” to Tarrlok’s "It will be just like the good old days.”

From the tear that rolls down Noatak’s cheek,

to Tarrlok's decision to sacrifice them both.

It doesn’t make up for butchering Noatak’s arc, but this was, quite simply, a beautiful ending to a sad story.

Dear Creators,

Please don’t make the same mistake twice.

You compromised the integrity of your character the moment you sacrificed a fleshed out plot for woaw!shock factor.

Villain or not, he deserved better.

Also, I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU.

It was at this moment that I wanted to jump into the screen and rescue Tenzin and his beautiful children myself.

LOOK AT THEIR FACES.

I WAS SO MAD.

LIKE:

HOW COULD YOU.

It should be said: I loved Korra in this episode.

I mean, she was pretty daft to think that hiding under a table would keep her safe from a bloodbender. A bloodbender (a psychic one at that) can feel your blood, Korra, of course he knows you’re under there.

So just for that:

Yeah, don’t you look all silly and fuzzy.

Aside from this idiotic little slip, she was pretty badass, unlocking her airbending and fighting against Noatak’s bloodbending:

What a crappy screenshot of her airbending, haha. Would you believe me if I said this was genuinely the best I could do?

And unlike Asami and her father, I actually felt for Korra. I was devastated when Katara couldn’t repair her severed connection to the other three elements.

Though I wonder if I felt more for Korra because she acted just as I would. That is, she’s clearly distraught over losing her bending, but she wants to spare her friends and family the trouble of making a scene:

So she waits until she’s alone to let it all go:

:’-(

As I said, I loved and felt for Korra in the finale, and I don’t have a problem with her...

I have a problem with the writing.

Korra’s airbending was very badass, but I completely forgot about her airbending struggles.

The first four episodes show Korra’s conflict with the element (i.e., it’s literally the plot line of Chapter 2). If anything, these episodes have small moments that remind us of Korra’s airbending training---practicing in the temple’s courtyard or doing exercises with the kids, to name a few examples.

Then, in Chapter 8, Tarrlok insults her with the “half-baked Avatar” comment, snidely remarking on her less than satisfactory airbending. It’s in this same episode that Korra reminds Tenzin---and the audience---that she’s never been able to connect with her spiritual side. (More on this later!)

And... that’s it.

After the eighth episode, she’s kidnapped by Tarrlok, who reveals himself as a bloodbender; she’s rescued but then Amon and Hiroshi attack Republic City, separating Korra and the teens from Tenzin, his family, and Lin; Korra decides to take Amon on her own (but not really because Mako decides to tag along) and the two of them bump into Tarrlok, who reveals that Amon is actually his long-lost, waterbending, psychic bloodbending brother, Noatak.

It’s not necessarily a bad thing. If the creators were prioritizing awe! and shock! and woaw!, then unlocking Korra’s airbending this way definitely did the job. But it felt a little too... convenient? Plus, there was no explanation for why her airbending worked when it did.

I mean, saving Mako obviously had something to do with it, and they didn’t have time to get into the details because, duh, they were trying to restore Korra’s bending.

Still, the audience shouldn’t have to interpret everything.

(Or perhaps I’m just being petty, lol.)

For a book titled after the element, I guess I just expected more.

Ultimately, I wish we saw Korra practicing more airbending; I wish we got an explanation for how and why she airbended when she did; I wish her success in unlocking her final element had not been overshadowed by the loss of her water-, earth-, and firebending.

Which brings me here, to this special moment:

I cried.

100%.

And the gentle, yet all too familiar Avatar theme playing in the background? Yeah, I was a puddle of tears.

However, as nostalgic as this was, I wasn’t too pleased at how quickly Korra’s bending was restored because it felt like the creators were taking shortcuts again.

For the record, I like that Noatak took Korra’s bending away (though I would have liked a more epic battle?), as it debunked the whole “the Avatar is invincible” concept. But, really? A quick touch of Aang’s fingers and her bending is restored, just like that?

Maybe it’s just me, but I would’ve loved to see Korra struggling to get her bending back. Perhaps we could’ve seen her retraining and relearning the other elements, which is something I still feel we were robbed of.

Furthermore, as much as I enjoyed seeing Aang and all the former Avatar reincarnations, I didn’t like that this was also the moment Korra connected with her spiritual side. Similar to her airbending moment, I forgot about her spiritual struggles; the issue is last mentioned in Chapter 8 and, before that, all the way back in Chapter 1. But, honestly, I think the ease and convenience of this moment lends to the problematic pacing of Book I as a whole.

Dear Creators,

While I thank you for restoring Korra and Lin’s bending, please don’t resort to convenient endings. I recognize that you only had twelve episodes, but please, no more shortcuts.

Your story will suffer.

Your characters will suffer, too.

p.s., I’m sorry for being so mean to you. I have a lot of feelings, is all.

Cheers to Book II, though!

Parting Thoughts

Before sitting down to write the finale’s review, I took a two-week break.

In that time, I rewatched (and re-rewatched) the entire first book.

I even had time to indulge in the fifth season of The Great British Baking Show.

Shameless Plug:

I absolutely recommend this charming baking competition.

You learn quite a lot about the science and precision of baking, endure (but also adore) countless baking puns, and witness what true competition looks like. That is, genuine camaraderie, rooting for your fellow bakers to succeed, and sometimes, lending them a hand if they’re pressed for time.

Warning: do not watch late at night. You will reach for a baguette.

And yet, I still feel meh about Book I.

The season has its share of success: the music is as impeccable as ever and the technological and industrial components of the Avatar-Korra universe are developing and expanding nicely.

However, it will always come down to the story, and the writing just wasn’t up to par.

Truthfully, the real triumphs are the characters, who---after only twelve episodes---have built a home for themselves in my heart: