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dylanobrienisbatman · 3 years ago

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The main problem with the whole mal vs the darkling thing in regards to being possessive (or really when it comes to any of their traits) is the fact that throughout, the darkling is clearly framed as the villain and his actions reflect that, whereas Mal as supposed to be the good guy and best romantic partner for Alina, and yet he has all these awful character traits and tendencies. So its less about how awful the Bad Guy is (since he's supposed to be), and more about how awful the person that we're supposed to believe is the best option for Alina is. I don't ship either, just my two cents.

Okay well... two things. First, your comment about "its less about how awful the bad guy is, since he's supposed to be", takes every comment I've made about Darkles out of context, which seems fitting since everything Darklina's spout about Mal is out of context. Him being the Bad Guy is fine, and if you like him AS A VILLAIN, and acknowledge all the bad shit he does, then my posts aren't for you. I think he's a very interesting villain, and a lot of the terrible shit he does that I have to keep making posts about make him a good villain, the problem is when the terrible shit the "Bad Guy" does is romanticized and viewed as the reasons why Alina SHOULD have picked him. So, don't assume everyone gets that "hes supposed to be awful". The point my post was making is that Darklina's love to call Mal possessive, but then turn around and act like Darkles literally enslaving her in somehow sexy and romantic. It's fucking not, and it's transparent as hell that y'all romanticize and sexualize the actually possessive character, and then project false character traits onto Mal. It's so transparent, it's almost funny.

But, more importantly, to your second, very wrong point, I wonder how much of the narrative about Mal having "awful character traits and tendencies" is actually a commentary on Mal as a character, or is it just Darklina's lying about things Mal has done and everyone accepting that misinterpretation as canon. Because, if were making a list...

Fuck boy - False! Mal was not a fuck boy! He was an attractive teenager who hooked up with consenting girls his age when he could, and he was not in a relationship during that time. Alina had never told him how she felt, so he is not beholden to her. (Also, nobody seems to have an issue with the fact that Darkles hooked up with Zoya in the show, that doesn't make HIM a fuckboy... interesting) (also also, nobody seems to discuss Darkles literally sexually assaulting Alina, and lying and manipulating her to get her to be physically intimate with him so he can use her... double interesting).

Slut Shames Alina - FALSE! The ever favourite callout line from Darklina's "He's all over you" isn't him slut shaming her. First, he has no idea what their relationship is like at that point, but more importantly, he is making an observation of her status in the little palace and how she has become his tool. He has dressed her up in his colors, made her put on a show for his benefit, and has created a situation where Alina appears to be his. Mal is noting that after months of searching for her, believing she was being hurt, tortured, or worse, when he arrives to save her, she looks like the Darkling's pet. (and, even if he WAS angry because he perceived them to be romantically involved, boy just spent months fighting for his life, lost multiple friends, and almost died to find her, all while coming to the realisation that he was in love with her, and then he shows up, after not hearing from her for months... I'd be pissed as hell too.) Important Note: He even acknowledges that what he said was wrong and tries to apologise, before Alina tells him that he was right. (Shadow and Bone, pg. 286). He also then apologizes, completely unprompted, for what he said. (Shadow and Bone, pg. 297).

Fat Shames Alina - False! This one is particularly laughable to me, because its one of the Darklina arguments that falls apart the second you actually read the scene. They are running for their lives in the forest, and Mal has to hunt and gather to feed them. He is noting that Alina's appetite has increased since he last saw her, and he makes a joke (ya know, how you do with friends) about how it would be easier to keep her fed if she still had her more meager appetite from before. He makes no comment on her weight, or her size, and he is not actually commenting on her appetite in a negative way, he is just acknowledging that it's a lot more work for him now that she eats more. Right before he says the line, the quote even proves that he isn't shaming her or thinking badly of her: "With a bemused expression, he watched as I gobbled down my portion and then sighed, still hungry". He is noting a change in her, and complaining that its made more work for him. If you think thats the same as fat shaming, well... thats a you problem.

Hates Alina's Powers - FALSE!!!! How to begin... do we talk about it was Mal's idea to hunt the stag in S&B, because he knew she needed it to be more powerful so she could stop the darkling? Do we talk about how he vowed to find the firebird for her, even though he was terrified of what all that power would do to her? Do we talk about how he literally died so she could achieve the power she needed to save the world? Or maybe we could talk about how he believed in her power more than anyone else, like when everyone was making bets about her abilities with the Cut and he knew she'd go further and better than anyone else expected her too, or when he tells her that he was never afraid of her powers, only what seeking all that power would do to her (which is literally the theme of the books, that power corrupts and seeking unmatched power can destroy you)? Mal being afraid of what is going to happen to Alina, being protective of her and worrying over her, is not the same as him hating her powers. He exists to help remind Alina of the themes of the story, and to guide her into maintaining her humanity.

Abusive - ... Do I even need to explain this one? Must I deign an explanation as to why this favourite Darklina lie is so fucking stupid, and also totally hypocrisy? No? Because we all know Darkles is actually the abusive one and they're trying to project their own shit onto Mal to further their abuse apologist agenda? Cool. Moving on.

Possessive of Alina - False! Throughout the entire series, Mal is quite literally the opposite of possessive, but yall just cant read. Not only does he quite literally step out of the way and allow Nikolai to court Alina without argument, which is the most direct example of him not being possessive, he also spends two full books believing, and repeatedly saying over and over and over, that they can't be together because he is not good enough for her. Mal believes, fully, that Alina deserves more than him, better than him, because he's just a tracker and a soldier, just a regular man with nothing to offer her but his love and his protection, and she is a Saint and should be a Queen. Possessiveness is the wish to own and control someone, it is literally the opposite of Mal believing that he's not good enough and doing everything he can to ensure that Alina achieves everything and gets everything he believes she is owed. A possessive character would not tell her to tell him to leave because he has nothing he can offer her, no title or land or country or crown. A possessive character would not promise to be the blade in her hand, because he believed he had nothing but the blood he could spill to offer her.

Angry - True! Yeah, omg, you caught us, Mal is ANGRY! Heaven forbid a teenager who is traumatized beyond belief and has to give up everything in his life, his position in the military (he deserted for her), his friends and the job he loved (Mikhail and Dubrov died for him, and he can't be a tracker in the army... because he deserted... for Alina), and, most importantly, he has to give up Alina (she should be Queen, he believes, and he has to give up the future he imagined with the girl he loves, who he was pretty sure loved him back, because she's a saint and queen and he's just a man), and more, is ANGRY. He has to be the one to find the amplifiers that he knows will end up hurting her, because thats what she needs to save the world. He has to sit by while Nikolai treats him like the dirt on his shoe and tries to woo Alina for his own personal gain (because Nikoalai did not love Alina. Maybe he came to care for her, but he proposed and spent all of S&S trying to get her to marry him when it was obvious they were not in love. He straight up says its so that the next King of Ravka can be married to the Sun Summoner. It's a power grab.) and he can't do anything about it. So yeah, Mal is angry. And yeah, sometimes he's even angry at Alina, just like sometimes she's angry at him. But they always find their way back, always apologize and try to be better for each other, and if you think anger is a toxic trait, and not simply a natural human emotion, might I suggest touching some fucking grass?

Idk why you thought I'd stand for Mal slander on my blog, cuz I will not. So, I'm gonna stop there, because I have shit to do today, but I really do wonder how much of Mal's 'toxic' or 'terrible' traits, that make him such a 'bad' love interest for Alina, really comes from Darklina's who refuse to actually read the text critically at all, and instead take everything he does and says out of context to further their agenda that Alina should have ended up as the Darkling's fucking slave forever, because thats the "girl power feminist" ending somehow. Mal supports her, loves her, sacrifices for her at every turn, and does everything he can do, to the point of literally dying for her, to ensure that she can defeat Darkles and save the world. He protects her, and when they end up happy and safe together on the orphange that they've rebuilt to help the children that were victims of Darkles war and genocide, he spends his days bringing her tea and cakes and flowers, kissing her silly under the stairs in the view of all the teachers, and calling her names like beauty, beloved, cherished, my heart for the rest of their ordinary life together, if love can ever be called that.

#Malina #anti darklina #malyen oretsev #mal oretsev #shadow and bone #if yall could just learn to fucking read... i am begging you

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bri-in-ur-attic · 2 years ago

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Sending Love Through

Rock'n roll AU cuz y not

Heavily inspired by an extremely underrated movie called Rock and Rule w not only the story but the song too, the song used here is called “Angel’s song” and it’s soooo good, im so addicted to it,..,

A/n: this took me so long,, like 2 weeks :’)

Genshin characters (albedo, ayato, kazuha, xiao)x gn!reader

ngl i rlly don’t like albedo’s part, which makes me super sad cuz he’s my fav,..

Warnings: y/n’s current (soon-to-be-ex boyfriend is a dick >:/

Summary: You are part of a band with your boyfriend, Felix, a diva is what he is in short. Even you don’t know how you tolerated him for this long. The final straw for the relationship was during the show. But it’s ok, you are far better without him! And you earned the attentions of people more charming than him >:) <3

The band wasn’t that popular really, yes there were fans but only those in your town knew it. But you always appreciated the support regardless, your boyfriend, Felix was incredibly ambitious and had his head up his ass sometimes, never physically abusive but you didn’t feel loved by him sometimes, the other band members were chill but you arent close with them as you all saw each other as band collages rather than close friends.

Today was a special day as you were ready to perform your new song, unfortunately, Felix also wanted to perform his song as well

“Felix, can we just perform both of our songs?”

You reached to cup his face to which he scoffed and pulled away

“Whatever fine.”

As much as you were not happy in the relationship, there were sweet moments with Felix that you severely missed but now you rarely had those moments these days, if you were to break up with him, there were many possibilities as he could either straight up leave the band or he wouldn’t, and things would be extremely awkward and working together is gonna be harder.

With sigh, you wanted to focus on the show and drive the negative thoughts away

During the show, Felix sang his song that was full of hatred that it made some of the crowd confused and cringe with only a few handful cheering and fangirling over him, the crowd only seemed to only enjoy when you sung as the background singer but most of your vocals were drowned away by Felix’s harsh playing of his electric guitar

The final beat of the song concluded and you were ecstatic and nervous, it was your time to be the main singer

You set one foot closer on the stage ready to play

Only for Felix to interrupt you by continuing to play on his guitar harshly

Looking back at your band mates who were just as confused as you, you look back at Felix and strung a note on your instrument interrupting Felix back, causing him to stop and look at you with an annoyed expression

~“Oh what will the signal be

For your eyes to see me

Watching off side as I wait

Just in case you need me

So I still will set the stage

Send my thoughts to you”

While singing you reached out a hand for Felix to join only to see him walking back stage and causing a sad and disappointed expression on your face

But only briefly

You were sick and tired of Felix and his bitchy attitude

And so you continue to sing and raise the mic higher and had it close to your lips as the crowd gets more excited

“I’m receiving every wave

That send, send love through”~

The crowd goes wild and so does the electric guitar in your hands

Little did you know your song would make a huge impact on a couple of charming people

-----------------------------------------

ALBEDO

He came with Sucrose because she was a fan of the band and she invited Albedo to come as friends! Albedo was hesitant at first when he heard the band was on the rock genre, and well-

Let’s be honest Albedo doesn’t seem like a rock’n roll type person at all and probably listens to classical music or smth

But Sucrose mentions about a certain member that she adores for not only their voice, but their skills in the guitar as well!

With nothing else better than to do, he agrees to come

And he regretted it at first-

But only during Felix’s song! Albedo hated how Felix’s song was so loud and obnoxious, he was about to leave until Sucrose tells him to wait, you were stepping on stage to sing!

Albedo sees your figure walk towards the stage seemingly about to sing, he was intrigued

Until your rude boyfriend interrupts you

He saw how dejected you were and felt pretty bad for you

But when you strung the note on your electric guitar, which was nice to listen to compared to your wayward boyfriend

Oh and when you sang your song, Albedo was in cloud9, your voice sends euphoric shivers down his spine

Let’s just say, you gained a new huge fan who drew buttload of fanarts of you and would die for you to sign them <33

AYATO

Lucky you! The Kamisato siblings both are now your fans! Thoma invited them to the show, Ayaka immediately accepting to come, Ayato did too but he wasn’t as excited as his sister and really only came to spend some quality family time with Ayaka

Ayaka was one of the few who clapped after Felix’s performance not because she liked it, but because she’s kind like that,..

When you walked forward the stage, you had a completely different aura from your whimsical boyfriend, Ayato was actually quite interested in what you were about to play

So you can imagine his disappointment when Felix barged in very rudely

But then was blown away when you started singing, Ayato couldn’t stop staring at you as his expectations were blown away

And with his keen eyes, Ayato didn’t miss it when you offered a hand to your boyfriend, you were still offering a second chance to that douche! But still, Ayato admired your devotion, even though it was misplaced

Dare he say it, it was quite an attractive feature of yours along with your singing and cuteness ;))

KAZUHA

(BWHAHAHA IM GURANTEED HIM LEZZGOO)

As an lover of the arts, Kazuha enjoys every genre of music!

He's theater kid and found you practicing in the auditorium, and once you told him you were part of band Kazuha was hooked

Kazuha actually helped you w your vocal performance and writing some songs. Music bonded the two of you, forming a friendship! And may or may not have developed a little crush on you

Of course he didn’t like Felix at all since he believed that he was the reason you never reached your full potential

AND WHEN I TELL YOU HE ALMOST WENT UP STAGE TO BONK FELIX W HIS OWN GUITAR WHEN HE INTERUPTED YOU, I FUKING MEAN IT

Kazu, who normally is calm and never makes impulsive decisions, almost threw hands for you dammit >:((((((

But thankfully you broke out of your shell and interrupted Felix back like the baddie you are, not mention how much of a banger your singing was!

In the middle row, you could see Kazuha proudly smiling at you, missing how lovestruck he looked due to him being at a distance

Maybe Kazuha should make a move now that you’re back on the single market~~

XIAO

Originally came to the show w his gf

During the past days and months, the relationship wasn’t working out well (sound familiar? wink wink) and was hoping this date would help, lol nope

Later on the show, he had enough of her simping over Felix and gave up trying to fix the relationship to which he was going tell her, over text,.

Regardless, he stayed for the show because he noticed a certain cute h/c haired background singer even though they didn’t sing much (look whos a simp now ehe)

When they looked like they were about to sing, Xiao’s normally harsh expression softened

And cue to an asshole of a boyfriend taking the spotlight again

Xiao clenched his teeth and glared harshly at Felix

His expression morphed into shock, pleasantly surprised when you gave Felix a taste of his own medicine

Xiao watched as you reached for Felix only for him to walk backstage like a bigass baby, ‘you deserve way better than that jerk’ Xiao says quietly to himself

He seriously didn’t expect you to rebel back at Felix as you looked so quiet and shy, but his adoration grew tenfold

And it was as if a miracle had happened as both you and Xiao are now single after getting out of a toxic relationship <3

Fate is a funny thing

-----------------------------------------

I drew the bois on paper cuz i wasnt home and i had my sketchbook an was like “lol y not”

also i digital art has been hating on me these days >:/

#genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #albedo x reader #kamisato ayato x reader #kaedehara kazuha x reader #xiao x reader

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teresa-moyocoyotzin · 3 years ago

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short recap of my thoughts on 5x09

okay so i was gonna rewatch the whole episode and do a blow-by-blow reaction post but i’m not sure i’ll have time and i kinda wanna focus on watching my fave scenes from the show before tonight. also, everyone else’s reaction posts p. much sum up my thoughts lol

nonetheless, i just wanted to give my main takeaways on the episode a week later, in case anyone cares where i’m at going into the finale! gonna go over the things i liked first, anyone who wants to just remain positive and not see any salty takes might wanna just stick to reading the first part b/c i definitely rant a bit at the end lmao. we’re still having a fun time tho 😂

THINGS I LOVED

- i mean... i think we know LOL

- obviously. i loved james and teresa’s i love you scenes, and kisses, and OOF THAT SEX SCENE. if someone had told me we were gonna get that scene back in like 2017??? i probably would have started literally floating. i totally respect that people had very specific ideas of what they wanted out of those scenes and could have different feelings about it but NOT ME BABES I AM ECSTATIC!!! i did go into the episode with a ~feeling~ that we were gonna get at least one ILY in the episode, and i just had a feeling it would be james, or at least that he would say it first. i’ve already explained in my meta about the scenes why i think it makes sense that he said it first and why i love it that he did, so i won’t go into that here. but i went in having really no expectations for it other than that it was gonna happen! i was debating about whether it would happen really casually while they’re talking, or in like a big action scene, or really dramatic or what, and what i would prefer, and i came to the conclusion that i would love it no matter what lol, but i was really into the idea of james just. fucking. saying it. while they’re just talking about something really casually. so therefore i was pretty happy with it when we got sort of a mix! they’re talking about teresa’s insane death trap of a plan so there’s that drama of “i don’t want to lose you esp. not before saying ILY” kinda thing, but it’s also just. so simple and sure! and then teresa’s i love you is like the perfect scene for me where one character is super focused on something else (in this case, trying to protect the woman he loves! agh!) and the other is just like.. i love you!!!! SO GOOD

- let’s see, what the hell else happened in this ep?

- oh okay i really liked james and teresa’s vibes this episode, they were so focused on each other and had this very ride-or-die feeling about them like they knew that each of their plans was increasingly stupid and desperate and might not even get them where they wanna go, but they were IN IT TOGETHER no matter what 😭i wish we had gotten a callback to that line but at this point, i’m p. sure they Know they’re in it together, and we do too. so it’s okay. i love that teresa still asks his input and considers his opinions even if she does her own thing anyways haha

- oh on that note, i LOVED the moment where their plans to kill Kostya aren’t working and Teresa says something like “If I can meet with him in person, I can kill him myself” and James just has this LOOK that just is the epitome of the “I am in love with a women who is DESIGNED TO STRESS ME OUT” meme lol, it made me giggle, v classic QOTS moment

- oh and of course, I LOVED that scene with devon and james at the end!!!!!!!! i was also confused about how james was showing all his emotions in that scene esp. since he tries to be stoic about his feelings for Teresa around Devon, but now that i’ve read a few people’s thoughts about, it i’m fully on board w the theory that james and teresa already knew this was coming, b/c they’re smart, and b/c james knows devon wouldn’t have let him walk away to save Teresa at the beginning of the season without motivation (like having him in place to kill her when she’s no longer useful to the CIA) and THEREFORE james was sort of “overacting” to make it believable to devon (and the audience lol) that he didn’t know this was coming, didn’t want to do it, but felt like he had to, rather than the fact that they were already plotting a fake death. that makes a lot of sense to me and makes me really love all the layers to that scene. it does give me a little bit of hope that the finale ~teresa’s not really dead~ reveal will be at least a little well executed and not just shoved in at the very end. we shall see though!

- alright i think that’s what i loved about the episode, if u don’t wanna hear me bitching about the little things then u should probably stop here!! just have to get out some of my saltiness lol

THINGS I WAS ANNOYED ABOUT

- i’m just gonna get it out of the way, yes, i too was supremely annoyed at the amount of KA and Pote take suburbia; it was all 1000% predictable down to the raccoon and the cookies, and the point could have been accomplished in exactly 1 scene, maybe 2, certainly not like 10 or however many we got. whatever. ugh.

- okay. OKAY. chicho. we need to talk about chicho. i for one, am not mad that he called pote, my boy was stressed. I AM HOWEVER, mad at the writers for making pote come back after saying he trusted chicho to take care of teresa now. like. it totally devalued THE WHOLE THING!! imo, pote shoulda stayed his ass at home where we had to watch him settle all episode, and chicho should have gotten THE HERO MOMENT HE DESERVED (esp. cuz he’s on first name basis w teresa now??) which ALSO WOULD HAVE MADE THE SCENE WHERE TERESA GIVES CHICHO THE DISTILLERY AND THE BAR SO! MUCH! MORE! MEANINGFUL!!!!! or just made it make sense at all? like .... i’m just so confused by that whole plotline like what was the point? chicho does nothing but call pote and gets T’s whole legacy in NOLA?

- and don’t even get me started on how it makes ZERO sense that pote would have had to charge in at the last minute to save teresa when JAMES THE SNIPER W AMAZING AIM WHO IS LITERALLY. IN LOVE WITH HER. is standing outside like. ur telling me james and chicho (who again, is supposed to be her #2 after james now) just stood there like “oh hey pote yeah you go ahead we’ll wait here good luck” like WHAT also.. how did pote get past all the guards that made james stay outside? are we meant to believe pote is that sneaky? y’all. it just. doesn’t make sense. this whole plot situation maddens me more than anythings tbh UGH JUST MAKE IT MAKE SENSE

- oksana’s daughter..... what’s her name again? idk b/c we only MET HER THIS WEEK....okay this amuses me but i’m also annoyed b/c like. there were so many other women who could have taken that spot in the opening sequence... Lil T, Castel, hell even Isabela??? Like idk how they could have done it but they put so much effort into her plot in the first seasons that i really thought she was gonna end up w/ Teresa in the end.. idk that would have been kind cool, Camila’s two “daughters” eventually working their way out of the life together..again idk how they could have realistically done it but i really do wish it had been someone we met before. if it had to be someone new this season, they could have introduced her earlier instead of one of the seemingly dozens of random guys we knew for 1 episode before they died... like.. give her some depth please. is she even gonna be in the finale? honestly she better be after making us listen to pote welcome her into the family... like the family u were supposed to leave so u could have an actual baby pote? the family that’s literally dispersing as we speak? also.. since when did pote love oksana so much anyways? also...... just.. if teresa’s gonna have some sort of daughter figure or whatever she’s supposed to be, wouldn’t it make sense to have her be the one to give the big welcome to the family speech? idk y’all..... i’m amused but also baffled at the sheer lack of planning behind this. did no one realize they needed someone for the opening scene until like. halfway thru the season? did they plan to have it be castel but they couldn’t get her for filming (hence all the weird castel plots?) INQUIRING MINDS WOULD LIKE TO KNOW. it’s whatever tho lol

- i just hope that what’s-her-name gets a lil bit of plot in the finale esp. since otherwise it might just be pote running around being pissy (i don’t actually think that haha but i am a lil nervous that teresa won’t come back until the last few mins and i’ll have to spend all episode looking at boaz and devon and pote and KA.. i haven’t looked at any spoilers tho so i’m still hopeful! i will probably make a post about my hopes going into the finale a lil later, both realistic and unrealistic :)

#ik it's all been said before but i just had to get my feelings out before i could move on to the finale #the finale!!! wow.. crazy shit y'all #qots #queen of the south #jeresa #qots 5x09

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mxgilray · 3 years ago

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I... have some thoughts on the Loki finale. It was not what I was expecting, but I'm still hopeful for season 2.

This felt like a meh finale, like how a lot of season finales felt in Spring 2020 when they unexpectedly quit filming and had to cut things short by a couple episodes thanks to the pandemic. Only this was the planned out finale, they should've given a bit more oomph. I'm quite a fan of exposition and character development usually, but all the dialog was centered on He Who Remains, so it felt like our main characters were just side pieces.

Plus, the final "cliffhanger" of Mobius not knowing Loki and the statue of HWR replacing the Time Keeper statues felt quite lackluster. Not sure how they could've made it hit harder, but it didn't deliver the "oh shit" vibes they intended, but maybe that's cuz Mobius not remembering Loki has been an expected plot line on tumblr for half the season so it wasn't a blindside.

I get the point of the Sylki kiss. From what I've seen on tumblr so far I feel like the nuance of Sylvies actions was lost to most people (both Sylki fans and antis just Didn't Get It). It wasn't a big declaration of love like the fans are grasping onto it as, and it wasn't shoving selfcest into the canon to keep the heternormativity like antis are accusing it of being; it was Sylvie using Loki's attachment to her to trick him. She needed Loki out of her way, and she knew the only way to get past him and get He Who Remains' tempad was through emotional distraction. She used his love against him and betrayed him, a kiss was simply the most efficient way to do it. I did a whole post last week about Sylvie's feelings towards Loki, but to sum up I firmly believe that while Loki harbors some romantic feelings for Sylvie, she feels strictly platonic towards him, but is very aware of his attraction. She took advantage of his care for her to get the upper hand during their fight. Heck she even foreshadowed it herself in ep 5. "There are more important things than friends" "like taking down the TVA" she told Loki that taking down whoever is behind the TVA comes before everything; it's priority #1 in her book, above friendship or love or trust. Loki proved that his priority now is the greater good of the universe not her revenge, so Sylvie has no use for him anymore (partners only when it's convenient, because she is a Loki and that's how emotionally stunted Lokis behave).

I would like to point out the irony of her being worried about Loki betraying her, only to turn around and betray him. It's in the realm of "people who cheat assuming their partner is cheating" / "not using a turn signal when changing planes to avoid being cut off because when you see someone else use their signal you tend to cut them off", it's assuming other people will behave like you do. Sylvie feared in ep 5 that Loki would betray her in the end because she knew if it came down to it she'd betray him. But the thing is, he's actually grown past that. Loki is finally thinking about how his actions can damage others, not just his own wants and needs. Sylvie saw this moral change in Loki, realized there was no chance of getting him back on the blind revenge boat, and decided to exploit his newfound selflessness and emotional attachment to get him out of her path.

This whole season Loki has been maturing emotionally and growing into the best, most heroic version of himself. Sylvie, on the other hand, still has that deceptive, selfish, can't trust anyone persona that every Loki develops to combat insecurity. She hasn't had the emotional growth needed to see the bigger picture, she's still trapped in her own self centered mindset. As such, she disregards the impact her betrayal will have on Loki, the impact killing HWR will have on the universe. She doesn't even take a beat to consider whether revenge is still the right path cuz she doesn't practice self reflection yet; revenge has always been the goal and she refuses to give herself a chance of changing her mind. I hope in season 2 she'll get some character growth, now that her 1 goal has been accomplished.

Now on to Mobius. I enjoyed his scenes, I wish we'd been shown more of what he did to reveal the truth to the rest of the TVA. Again, I feel like too much time was given to HWR's monologing and not enough was spent on the other characters so Mobius and B-15 got very little screen time to display their plan. I am happy Mobius got the opportunity to throw Ranslayers betrayal back in her face, and his attemp at attacking her...my boy you work a desk job you ain't no fighter, she used to work in the field collecting variants, you had no chance. Also, where the F did she go??? I kept expecting her to show up at the end of time but she didn't. Where did Miss Minutes send her??

I'm sad Mobius doesn't know Loki anymore, but I can't say I'm surprised. I've got a few different thoughts on what the heck is going on with him and the TVA:

Sylvie accidentally sent Loki way back to a time early on in the TVA before HWR created the Time Keepers for anonymity. As such, this is a past Mobius who has yet to meet Loki or even learn of Loki's existence. If this is the case, then I think Loki and Past!Mobius's interaction at the end of ep 6 will be the catalyst for him becoming a Loki expert. The 63 branching timelines Mobius and B-15 are discussing before Loki interrupts are from some currently unknown disaster that'll be a plot line in s2. (This is my least favorite theory, but nevertheless a possibility)

HWR was correct when he said that if Sylvie kills him and destroys the TVA then another variant of him will just start it all up again. This variant didn't care to remain anonymous, hence the big statue of him, but kept all the memory wiped variants working there. Because time is a chaotic bitch, the changeover from one HWR variant to another may have been near seamless at the TVA and just involved a quick memory wipe of anything relating to the Time Keepers, Loki and Sylvie, or knowledge that the TVA are all variants. The 63 branches may be thanks to something Renslayer is doing like killing all the HWR variants in existence in order to negate the need for the TVA. The branching could also be from Sylvie's revenge still, we have no idea how much time has passed between her killing HWR and a new HWR taking over so the branching she caused could still be an issue.

There have actually been multiple TVAs running simultaneously, each in their own multiverse. Each one employs memory wiped variants, each one is in charge of a certain subset of timelines, and all work under the one HWR. Sylvie used HWR's tempad to eject Loki back to the TVA, but she accidentally sent him to the TVA of a different multiverse not realizing that's a Thing. The 63 branching timelines Mobius and B-15 are discussing are indeed from Sylvie killing HWR, but there's only 63 as opposed to the countless we saw diverging from Sylvie's perspective because this TVA only sees branches on timelines within their own multiverse. Mobius doesn't know Loki because he isn't our Mobius and in the multiverse he works in maybe Loki's aren't as much of an issue because none of them ever escaped the TVA like Sylvie did (or none of them have Tom's face so he doesn't recognize him as a Loki). If this is the case, then Loki is gonna have to find his way back to his own multiverse in order to be reunited with his Mobius, and that could end up happening thanks to Renslayer. Miss Minutes gave her a file that I suspect only HWR should have access to. Maybe it was tempad coordinates for other multiverses? It took til the 31st century for the multiverses to be connected despite Tony figuring out time travel in the 21st century because travel between universes is much harder, maybe HWR is still the only one who knows how to do that. (If this theory is correct then all the time travel done during Endgame was through timelines within one multiverse) Also just thought of this but what if the reason there are so many extreme variations of loki that grew to adulthood is because the criteria of "sacred timeline" is different in each multiverse. Classic Loki and maybe President Loki and Kid Loki are from the same universe as MCU Loki, but red haired Loki, Croki, Boastful Loki, etc are all from other universes. Think about it, Classic Loki, 2012 Loki, and MCU Loki all have an exact identical path up until their nexus event (or death in MCU Loki's case). I think other than identifying as female, Sylvie's childhood was identical as well and that her nexus event was coming to terms with her adoption as a child, which erased the catalyst of 2011 Thor's plot and would've changed everything for her future path. Had her adoption remained a secret and she grew up on asgard, I believe her story would mirror MCU Loki's. It mildly hit me weird that there would be such wild variation amongst Lokis, even with him being a shapeshifter, because there's a rigid sacred timeline (that supposedly the MCU movies have all adhered to) and they all felt like too big of a divergence to have been left unchecked so long. If boastful Loki was telling the truth about getting all 6 infinity stones then he should've triggered a nexus event as soon as he got more than the 3 he is "supposed to" interact with, unless in his multiverse the sacred timeline criteria is different. Another theory: the agents employed in each TVA are from multiverses other than the one they're working in. It would make sense, keep them from running into their own past by fully detaching each agent from their home timeline/universe. So the Principal!Renslayer that B-15 found will never in any future become the TVA judge we know. The one we know maybe came from the universe Loki got sent to, and that's how the two of them will end up crossing paths again.

#loki series #loki spoilers #loki #lokius #sylki #sylvie laufeydottir #mobius m mobius #tva loki #time variance authority #loki meta #mcu #marvel

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otomelavenderhaze · 4 years ago

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I was actually feeling pretty guilty in liking the “Seduce the Villain's Father” because of how the story starts off with a kidnapping and the marrying situation, that I will explain further. Not mentioning that Yenni, the female lead, has a real need to be around Eru, the male lead, if she doesn’t, she could die, like literally. Btw, spoiler alert ahead from the light Novel and the Manhwa.

So convenently and in a very pushy matter, everything on the plot try to tie them up together in the start.

The kidnapping and the marriage proposal from her part are the strings that tie Yenni and Eru together, so they would know one another better and actually fall in love. If wasn't for that, they wouldn't have spend any time together because, at first, there is no reason to. Then we found out that Yenni is sensitive to manaa and Erudian's devine's powers are the quickest and the harmless way to keep her from dying, since all she needs literally is stand besides him to get energized by it.

And basically that's when Yenni comes up with the marriage thing that I mentioned before, yep, she asks him to marry her numbers of times throughout the manhwa hoping that he could say yes... Because he is the perfect medicine for her condition and because she wants to save him... It's not because she is in love with him.

So the marriage for her is more a matter of convenience, than love. Which, I need to admit, bugged me so much at first.

But then I understood why they did it when I read the Light Novel and saw some of the spoilers.

Eru was bond to marry the real Villain from the history, Elard, for polititcal reasons. Elard’s plan is marry him for his divine power, so through their son, she could create a path that would lead her to control someone that has divine and dark power together (since she does have dark powers, that Eru KNOWS NOTHING OF). Her goal is reach the god’s world and be powerful. Of course, she would make their son kill his father, Eru.

Yep, my boi Erudian was bond to die by the ends of his own child, all planned by Elard that actually wants to kill Eru since the beginning.

Erudian is afterall, a direct descendent of the god Raulus, the being with the strongest divinity power and his children would also be born with those powers. That's what Elard wants, like I already said.

Yenni knows that, because that world actually belongs to a novel that she read in her previous life and got in by mistake after dying in another world (our world).

When she got into the novel’s world, she knew everything that could happen, everybody that would eventually die or suffer through it.

Starting for her pregnant sister that would be kidnapped by Eru, that kinapping would trigger a chain of events that would basically deeply hurt Yenni's new family and other characters around her, that she cares about because a) she read their sad story on her previous life and b) because now they're ppl that cares for her in this new life, so she cares for them too.

Interesting thing tho: Yenni should be a side-side-side character, she is a such minor character that none of those sad and hurtful events would actually harm her. So she could've lived a peaceful and good life if she wanted to.

DESPITE THAT Yenni, instead of letting Eru kidnapping her sister, hid her sister and tried to hide from him - but Eru actually found Yenni and kidnapped her, since his goal all along was just kidnapping someone from the royal family to use as hostage. I guess what he wanted was some vantage in an economic and political situation that Yenni's country created with his own, so that he would make tbe negotiations go his way.

I don’t know, the whole thing is complex, but I guess, Eru isn’t what you could exacly call as a good person or a benevolent Emperor.

He is actually kind of a jerk.

And problematic. I admit.

He never learned to have emphaty towards others, - since he became the Emperor in a young age and since he had no family around him that could've taught him how and care about something else besides the country’s political's interests.

With that, the romance was really settle in a weirdly way for me, very pushy, despite the art being so soft and the characters being really interesting, I was worried for where it would go from there.

Since yeah, Erudian is a jerk. Kidnapping. Marriage by convenience. Not really the most promising mix.

However, I think that Yenni is the character that really makes the difference on that type of plot.

She was really well placed and well thoughtout. Everything Yenni does comes from a base of personal interest, she have strong motivartions for everything, she’s quite brave too despite the weakness of her body and petite figure.

But most than anything, Yenni feels strongly responsible towards those characters because of what she knows all the awful/harmful things that could come out from the plot without her interference. And since he’s the only one that really knows the extension of their traumas, she feels responsable for doing something about it, not only for them, but also for herself.

Look, Eru won't always act like a hero, but Yenni always acts like one.

She isn't a genius, her plans fails and she don't really get always the outcome that she wants, but Yenni don't stop trying, because it's not only about Erudian's survival, it's about her survival too, it's about not letting someone meet a horrible fate when you have the means to do something about it.

Even so Yenni isn’t hopeless good.

She chooses to act upon the things that she knows that going to happen.

She isn't pushed towards it only for morality, it's for survival, it's for taking the chance and making a choice for the a better outcome, because despite being kidnapped by Erudian and him not being the most benevolent Emperor, dying by the hands of your own alienated/corrupted child and letting that same child be born to hurt her sister's baby girl (the actual heroin of the Light Novel that Yenni read before), is out of question to her.

But I will give it to Eru: everything he does towards Yenni is actually a reaction of things that he observe her doing.

He starts to take the action only after taking a like for her as a person. He doesn't care for her just because. He cares because she is something that he feels responsible for, someone that depends on him (since he was the one that kidnapped her) in a more personal matter than the rest of his subjects.

Yenni, on the other hand, since their first encounter, make him step back with every action and choice that she makes.

Yenni shaked his whole world with her determination, honesty and endearing careless manner, he sees everything good on her, everything he lacks himself and he loves it.

There is a moment on the Light Novel when even Yenni's plan of make Erudian marry her starts to backfire, because she actually starts to fall in love for real for him.

And the story progress to a point where: a) Yenni could be cured of her sickness without actually having to marry Erudian to do so; b) When Eru actually learns that Elard is trying to harm him and will not marry her no matter what and c) Yenni has the chance to come back to her country and be free from Eru and never having to meet him again if she wants to.

Despite that, and maybe because the same circumstances that put them together starts to force them to be apart, they actually do the last step to be together.

That's when their first kiss happens. When the ppl that are meant to take Yenni back home are at their doors and Erudian is thorn for having to be apart from her, because, dammit, he loves her already.

Erudian fells in love for Yenni, cuz she is harmless, he can relax around her and she actually makes him feel like having a good time, because she is so cheerful, always teasing and playing around, so different from how anyone has ever treated him, that he simply fell for her.

From Yenni’s side, Eru is actually far more unpredictable, far more fun and far more caring than she expected him to be, not mentioning that he is quite helpless without her, which is so cute as well.

So they get apart from one another by 2 years on the light novel.

On those two years they only exchange latters. Yenni has no obligation to marry Erudian and she is out of his hands, despite that, and despite having plenty of suitors around her, Yenni still chooses Erudian.

So he tries to propose to her this time (WHAT GOES AROUND COMES BACK AROUND, SON), despite Yenni’s country having nothing that could be beneficial to his country and despite her family hating his guts (haha, karma).

And just like that, they fixed the main issues of the story.

Mind you, this will happen in THE MIDDLE of the Manhwa.

Maybe the writer was mindful of all those plot's issues since the start, all the things that ppl are sick of and so many other Manhwas have no issue on doing, the writer decided to actually fix while delivering character's and relationships development.

I just love this surprise, I love Yenni's journey for survival, love and pursuit for her own happy ending. How everybody points her to be the weakest, but she still stands for what she wants and believe to be right, how brave and kind she is despite of being so powerless and how she changed everything around her, how she saved herself and the ones around her.

I saw a lot of ppl calling her clingy and boring, just because she isn't a villainess, but they failed to see that woman is normally perceive as the weakest and that's when we can take the stand and show our strongest resolves. That's why I loved the story so much.

I'm still so obsessed with it, I can't wait to see everything in the manhwa that btw, still has a really long way to go, even the light novel trasnlating still hasn’t catch up with all the spoilers that I caught on by other’s ppl translate from random events from the light novel in korean - that is done for what I heard of, the autor is just releasing side stories now.

It's a really good, strong and heartwarming love story, I love all the characters, I love how everything changed it's flow accordingly with the changes that Yenni caused and the new choices that all the characters made. It's shows that it's never too late to change, to take action and find happiness through diversity and pain.

Maybe that's why I'm so invested on it, because Yenni's and Erudian's love surprised me in the best of ways.

#Seduce the Villain's Father #personal #mahwa

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papers4me · 4 years ago

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Fruits Basket, SE02, Ep24

This is a buildup ep for the finale. looks like furuba’s tradition for awkward buildup eps continues as this ep is clearly divided into two parts: machi & zodiac banquet.

-Killing the Vibe (furuba style):

Usually when writers buildup an emotional moment, they either go with it right away or if it is not its time, they slowly dissolve it or gradually redirect the story somewhere else. But the most important thing is that you hold on to the feeling they worked so hard to build but know that it will be dealt with later. Usually this is done with minor visuals such as quick flashback to the main event & the character taking deep breath ignoring it. But it is acknowledged that now it is not the time. Furuba doesn’t do that. If they build high moment & decide it is not the time to continue with it, they drop it abruptly, using the ending ost as a closing sign....which is odd cuz this is not episodic eps but continuing plot. They did it twice now: (a) tohru’s nightmare ep 19. it was treated as cliffhanger, but the next, we opened with yuki’s narrative where we see tohru normal. I know tohru’s issues will be dealt with later, perhaps season 3. But the nightmare moment was left hanging weirdly!! we never saw tohru deciding not to focus on it or anything! then (b) the kyo/tohru moment on stage & the symbolic tearing image ep23. Big moment which I know will be focused on later. But it is so freakin odd that we see them so normal in their daily activities..as if nothing happened. Not a slight visual hint that either one is troubled... I praised how in ep, 23, they showed tohru face worrying abt bits & pieces here & there. These visual hints connects the plot.. For a moment I thought Cinderella play is a filler!! but I don’t think so, since 3 major things happened (Tohru’s near confession, machi’s opinion of yuki, arisa’s recorded outburst) two of which dealt with this ep. I know they want the focus to be on yuki, seeing that his plotline is moving smoothly without awkward breaks, but why not smooth out the other’s plotline with minor visuals without the jarring jumps. Ending ost is not automatic shifts in continued plot. Oh well, it is a minor thing I felt, no big deal.

-Machi pov is here!:

I never expected to see machi today! nice surprise! So machi is not only lonely, she lives alone! that’s odd & tragic! how can a junior high school student live alone? since when was she living alone? & her mom calling to check on her or insult her or scold her! I never wanted a phone call to end this fast. Machi’s monologue was amazingly done. Rather than describing her feelings to us or stating what we are already seeing, the words came cold.. automatic.. slow.. without much emotions. Exactly imitating how machi feels abt herself. DULL. She never thought abt things such as fave color or fave place. never thought abt anything that requires personality or preferences. The imagery they used while she was walking in the street is epic! It explained her mentality! honestly even if she said nothing around that time while she was walking, the image would’ve done enough! Machi was able to see the change in yuki cuz she was able to sense that yuki too was dull/boring or felt he felt so. Now he laughs, jokes, interacts, & joins outside school activities. Negating the dull persona. Now, it is only her. machi questions if she can do the same but her question comes out loaded with her negativity. Instead of can I do the same? it is “ why Am i here? Her bad habits are pulling her back & resisting the change.

- Since they’re deciding to embark into the romantic aspect of mach/yuki & to further add contrast to his interaction with tohru, machi is shown so struck by yuki’s presence, she falls. Typical romantic moment that I appreciate for machi who thinks she isn’t typical girl. but dull girl. Yuki finding the leaf & being happy that she treasures it adds to his self-esteem as it tells him that he is worthy to be treasured. I love machi’s indecisive responses! It gives her personality! as she is reluctant between denying or telling the truth. She was never in such situation, so she doesn’t know what to do!! blushing red like her leaf, machi didn’t only go with friends, she also learned her fave color! yuki, developing the future boyfriend detective sense like kyo, guessed it that machi likes red. You remember things abt ppl you find interesting! Machi felt that perhaps to yuki she is not dull, but interesting enough to want to learn things abt her!

-Tohru is a grown woman!!!

trust me to take 5sec interaction that involves my girl & write a deep analytic paragraph! Call it building sandcastles out of nothing but I don’t care! XD. tohru deserves some spotlight! I’m a bit disappointed that the scene is shown form a far to include yuki & shiggure..(WHY???. They can have their moment later! let my girl have a screenshot for a change!!) & the art quality is the lowest in the ep, lol & but whatever~~~ let’s focus on the positive side! my tohru bought sth for herself!! tohru who spent her hard earned money on buying candy ingredients for the filthy rich sohma’s instead of paying her tuition fees?!! tohru who wore a worn out swimsuit for school & didn’t see the value in buying new one ?! tohru whose school bag have seen better days as hiro said?!! tohru bough herself a scarf with pompom!!& she’s PROUD!! & she goes & shows kyo!!!! cuz she loves him & cuz in SE01 he was mad she doesn't buy herself stuff & cuz she knows he’ll be proud of her & cuz she want show off her cuteness & get his attention & cuz she wanna tease him!! Did you see my girl deliberately hit him with the pompom??? my girl is feisty!! She teases!! Tohru has this feisty, forward personality that she hides but peeks in certain instances!! Like when she teased kyo that he’s still scared of the stain on the wall..like when she calls him cute later this ep!! I’m so happy for every tiny teeny moment of tohru where she is herself & not the worrying mom or friend, when she is focused abt what she shows & what she wants & right now she wants kyo to notice her! GIRL HE ALREADY DOES! you are killing him already tohru..he’d be dead by now if he wasn’t a cat with 9 souls! XD.

-Yuki is leaving Akito’s side:

coming to the big moment in this ep. Akito is loosing yuki. Not only yuki decided by himself to attend the banquet that he avoided last year, he also talked to akito & forgave him for everything before. Yuki is letting go of the past. Forgiveness is a cure ppl! it’s the hardest achieved cure. it cuts the ties to negativity & free the person from the painful feelings. Akito knows she’ll be loosing a zodiac member soon! she reacts the same way she did with hatori! violently resisting change, violently making a statement that I’m the ruler of you. However, unlike when it was hatori, no one came to her. Kureno stopped her. but the rest went to yuki, to the rebel, to the one who caused her pain & rage. Akito is not only loosing yuki...she is slowly loosing all of them.

- Yuki continues the next step in his growth & frees hatori from his sins. By allowing himself to accept that he is not a helpless victim, yuki was able to see the others plain as well. Before, in his mind, he was the only one suffering, others are cruel, but now, he sees the criminal who erased his friends memories was also suffering all along. Perhaps yuki thinks that akito is suffering too? That’s why chose to forgive her & tell her that I don’t hate you anymore or hold grudge.

Side Notes:

I’m so glad kakeru had so little to do with machi & yuki interaction here. He is a character that demands spotlight & if his role was bigger, machi would disappear, it will be another yuki/kakeru moment. Also, since machi/kakeru parallel aya/yuki, you bet kakeru will be more involved between them in order to get closer to his sister & fix the gap like aya did, so I appreciate the moment of only yuki/machi now as it is unique moment without any parallels involved.

After learning of Shigure’s correct line, I can now see how things would’ve been better for akito, if she learned from yuki’s rebellion. loosing one is less painful than loosing them all, which she will. Shigure was eager for her to be spared the pain. or he might be eager for sth else entirely! but he wants this to end.

Shigure sure wasn’t himself this ep! he was restless & his jokes were all over the place, he nearly caused a misunderstanding between hatori & Mayko. I think shigure is hearing the curse breaking!!!!!

Rin & kyo!!!! I never knew I needed this!!! like last ep, I was celebrating hana & kyo, & the return of kyo & haru!! but rin & kyo is unique duo since it is not a teasing dynamics! it is a we-are-too-similar dynamics! XD

Kazuma is luv!! ugh!! my heart! what a man!! so caring & kind & ever so gentle! look at him going to rin to invite her! no kid should be alone in new years! look at him teasing his son!! look at him out polite tohru! just look at him!!!

I appreciate that the boys (kyo,yuki.haru,momiji) have different body types from each other. however, since kyo’s body changing is mentioned in the story many times, they focused on showing him growing since the 2nd ep of season 2 & more so in the beach arc & they steadily continued ever since!!! this ep, even with the low quality they showed his Adam’s apple & he is taller next to shishio. Also his baggy clothes help defy the lanky art style. With yuki, since his beauty is mentioned in the story, they’ve been focused on his face, giving him HD quality beauty all the time, but not much when it comes to his body. but today, he looked a lil bit older in machi’s scene? I duno if it is the new clothes or they’re finally allowing his body to grow?! I hope so. They are still making him so lanky as his legs were only a bit meatier than machi’s in the fight scene, but hey lankiness is the show’s art style, just look at hatori </3. They focused on making Momiji baby as it is mentioned in the story that he doesn’t look like a highschooler at all, but I swear he looks a bit older this ep!! right???

Speaking of hatori, hello there~ doc~ I never knew I needed hatori in Japanese clothes this much! It hid the lankiness & gave him the adult manly look he deserves!! so hot!!! I heard his grunt in my heart as he took his clothes off! XD. Soyou’re attached to the school sensie now~~ a lit bit worried your filthy buddy is putting hands on her..huh? oh!, if only you knew that your goofy pal is the master mind behind your new love story! I think he knows tho~

I never expected machi to be that cute!!! machi/yuki is so cute!

Rin sleeps sitting...like a horse? rin didn’t feel haru? i thought horses are as jumpy as cats! lol

Tohru & kyo are having quality flirting time with no interference from either shigure or yuki. lol.. shishio is amazing! XD

Kureno has the DVD now..let the war begins!!!

#Fruits Basket #Anime Only #SE02 #hungry paper

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cherryblossomshadow · 4 years ago

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Wonder Woman 1984 review

Long, rambly, and spoilery. You’ve been warned.

I saw WW84. I had thoughts. Let's talk about it.

I want to preface with the fact that it's amazing that we have another female-led superhero film! I loved Patti Jenkins' work with the first Wonder Woman (and this one too) and I'm so glad she's back for this one. There's obviously a lot to pick through, but first, a couple reminders.

No film will ever be "perfect."

Not every film is made specifically for you.

It is okay to vibe or disvibe with something. But that does not make it trash.

Also, please, keep in mind, what I'm expressing are my opinions. I'm entitled to mine as you are entitled to yours. I hope you have a lovely time on the internet, and I hope you wish the same for everyone you interact with.

Oh, and spoilers obviously.

Okay, with all that out of the way, let's dig in.

My overall experience with the film is positive! I had a great time watching it, it got me emotional, and I definitely want to watch it again. That said, I don't think it's better than the first one (although that would have been quite a feat), and that's ok. It's a continuation of a story we've already started, and it doesn't need to outshine the first.

Okay, after all the hyping up and disclaiming I've done, let's dig into what I didn't like about the film.

Number one is pacing. The storyline felt very erratic to me? Part of that, I feel, is because we have three (four?) main characters, and we jump between them pretty abruptly.

Number two is the themes. Now I do like the themes of WW84 (truth and sacrifice), I just don't think they were worked into the film as cohesively as I would have liked?

Number three is perceived character changes to Diana. And really, some of this is kinda circumstantial, I just thought it deserved its own bullet point. You'll see what I mean.

So, on Pacing.

We jump between Diana (and Steve), Barbara, and Maxwell pretty frequently. And before I talk about that, I have to talk about my view on the characters.

a. Now, I love the Mandalorian, but I was not personally invested in Maxwell's arc at all. Again, this is my take, and I know people disagree. Many people feel like Pedro Pascal carried the film on his shoulders. That's cool. He's a great actor. I'm glad he was in it. I just kinda checked out of every scene he was in (when he wasn't with his kid) because I wasn't invested in him. He played a sleazeball on purpose, and it worked. I was sleazed. So the movie kinda dragged for me whenever the camera panned to him.

b. I loved the focus on Barbara. I don't know Cheetah from the comics, so this is from a movie-only perspective. But I know one of the criticisms of the first film was that Diana didn't really talk to women after she left Themyscira (even though there was a perfectly good villainess sitting right there for her to converse with and have morality debates/fights with! Even Steve Trevor got to talk to Dr Poison!), so I thought it was great that 1) they set up a villainess for her to fight and 2) it was a villainess that she knew, she had talked to, she had formed a relationship with. It honestly surprised me that Barbara was helpful for so long (bc I had seen the trailer and got spoiled that she would become a villain), but I love that she genuinely did want to help Diana, up until she hit her hard limit (giving up her powers). Now, that being said, the Nerd Girl Makeover has been done a thousand times. I knew what her vague trajectory would be from the second she appeared on screen with frizzy hair. I did like that her motivation was not solely "pretty people are mean to me, and I want revenge and/or for this hot guy to like me," but specifically, "I want to be like this really cool girl" and then "I don’t want to be like anyone else; I want to be the best/number one" for myself." But I felt like the absolute inattention that she was shown at the beginning and the absolute worship Diana and later Barbara would get was ... highly exaggerated? And I know this was another criticism of the first film, that yeah "Diana did so well in the real world because SHE'S HOT and that's actually not empowering to women" or something. But like. Watching that part made me uncomfortable instead of seen. Pandered to, instead of impacted. Showing how looks change how society treats you is important, but not to this caricaturized degree.

c. (and d?) And lastly, Diana and Steve. Or more accurately, Diana and Steve's soul or memories or ??? that has been transplanted into some random man's body with absolutely no one's consent (I don't believe that Diana "consented" when making the wish, because she didn't know 1. That it would even work or 2. HOW it would work.). So ... Yeah. The first problem with this (chronologically, not by importance) is that it's really unclear what's going on? Some rando is reciting Steve's lines from the first film, then all of a sudden he turns into Chris Pine? (Fun fact: my aunt actually recognized the actor from Hallmark 😂 Could you imagine being the guy who gets replaced by Chris Pine for half the movie? Like "yeah, I played Steve Trevor, but they had Chris Pine do all the important parts" 😂😂😂). So, Diana and Steve finally figure out that he's inhabiting some engineer's body because of the wish she made. And then they bang. Or do they bang before they figure it out? Either way, yikes 😬. Not a good look.

To be clear, the yikes part is that Steve is inhabiting Engineer Dude's body without their consent (without his own either tho so that part's not really his fault), but then he chooses to do things sexually with that body that Engineer Dude didn't consent to (because he's like, literally not home. Whether he's been subsumed into Chris Pine or taken out or dormant or whatever). Oh, and then like, probably doing death-defying stunts with his body is also yikes. I'm not really sure what the rules around body possession are. Cuz you know.

Anyway, that is a huge issue that is literally not addressed. At all.

Again, I think they may have been trying to address some criticisms from the first film about Diana "getting rid of the dreaded V-card so quickly in Wonder Woman and then pining after Chris Pine (lol) for the rest of her long life" and how that sets back female sexuality and stuff. Which I get. They actually lampshaded it in WW84, how Chris Pine wants her to move on because "the world deserves her." Which I know what they were going for in the scene, but I feel like they didn't flesh out the journey from Hippolyta's "the world doesn't deserve you Diana" to Steve's "the world deserves you (to date them)" enough. But I digress.

I'm gonna talk a little bit more about the possession and that "the world deserves/doesn't deserve you" line in my Themes section, but honestly? From the previews, I assumed that Chris Pine was revived from the dead via time travel or something. Body possession was NOT in the the trailers. I think the Dreamstone could have created a body for him out of nothing. Or like "time-traveled" him into the future. So like. Why didn't they? Why introduce body possession at all? So they could make fun of the dude's clothes?

Okay, back to the pacing part of the pacing section. These three (four?) characters have completely different things going on in their lives (I actually forgot to talk about Maxwell, but he wants to "be the best," and he's gonna do it by giving people what they think they want (maybe) and then taking from them whatever he wants. Yeah idk). And all three do interact at the beginning (brownie points) even if the attempted seduction of Barbara by Maxwell makes me want to throw up. But the themes aren't worked in as cohesively as I would have liked, and the tone changes were jarring, as the film switched between them all.

Another facet of the movie is that the Dreamstone is kind of a mystery. And that was a deliberate Choice™, not a mistake. We're guessing at what the rock is doing and how and why and by who and all that stuff, and that's on purpose, but that makes for a confusing experience. Their approach is to throw something confusing at you and then explain it later. Which is great for worldbuilding. But not always for the Movie-Watching Experience™. So to recap, we're switching tracks and characters with their own separate stories while also setting up several confusing plot points that take a while to unravel. This all contributes to the Experience™, good or bad.

Honestly, I wonder how much Covid affected this movie? My dad felt like a lot of scenes probably got cut for various reasons, and it probably affected the flow of the movie. If so, it could have affected thematic coherence, too. Speaking of...

So, Themes.

The themes that I got out of this film were Truth and Sacrifice. Maybe I missed some; I'm not an experienced Media Critic™. But these are the ones I noticed.

And actually, these themes are really strong. Universally applicable, and used in all three character arcs. It's just tied in a bit ... erratically?

So working backward, knowing that the Dreamstone is giving you a lie, you need to renounce your wish and accept the Truth™. This is echoed in Diana's flashback, where she needed to accept that she didn't win.

Working backward again, Sacrifice was a big part of the story for all three characters because Diana was willing to sacrifice her power to keep Steve, but he wanted her to sacrifice him so she could save the world. Barbara was willing to sacrifice her "humanity" or "empathy" or whatever she lost for the power and influence she got by emulating Diana, and she was unwilling to sacrifice that to save the world. Maxwell was willing to sacrifice time with his son to "become the best," but he did sacrifice that to save his son's life.

And then, full circle, he confessed to his son that he wasn't the best, he's actually a filthy liar. Which, yes, kudos for the themes, be honest with your children, but you can still sanitize it a bit. That speech alone would have traumatized the kid.

Speaking of speeches, Antiope's speech confused me in a similar way? Like, she stops Diana from "winning" the tournament after cheating, and goes on this weird rambly rant which goes from "accept that you're not a winner" to "cheating is bad and so is lying." Which yes, cheating is bad, but it's weird that she wouldn't have been disqualified at this point for not shooting that last target? Like, did she need to be tackled? Idk, I felt like they came up with the line they wanted Antiope to say first, and then just made her say it. (And also, in other stories, Diana would have been praised for being "clever" and "never giving up without a fight." So like, I needed a bit more preparation for which take they were going for, because the anti-cheating spiel felt jarring to me.)

And again, I wonder if this is a response to a criticism of this first film. (Warning: WW17 rant gearing up)

When Diana has her big motivational flashback during her fight with Ares, she thinks about Steve, this dude she just met a week ago, saying he loved her. When she could have been thinking about literally any of the women who had raised her. I personally think it would have been cool to hear some of Antiope's words at that point. Since they set up Hippolyta and Antiope to have conflicting ideas over whether Diana should fulfill her humanity-saving destiny, it might have been cool to see her saying something about humans and how they need her or how she should help them or something. They could even have done the whole thing with not being able to hear Steve's last words, but with Antiope since she dies earlier in the film and doesn't finish speaking. I also think it would have been cool for them to expand Hippolyta's earlier line about "They don't deserve you, Diana," here to like "They need you, Diana," or something. And then Steve's line in WW84 could have been something like "They're with you, Diana," or "They could get to know you, Diana," and her character arc could have been about actually living among society and maybe getting to know these humans that she's saved so many times (which they kind of alluded to when she and Barbara had their little date at the beginning of the film). But I digress.

So, yeah, I found both of these speeches to be ... Not great? Like I can tell what they're going for and how they tie into the themes, but they're so heavy-handed and they don't actually fit in too well to the moment they happen in. Like as soon as the speech starts, you realize that they started going meta on you. The character isn't really speaking to the other character, they're speaking to us, and they're telling us how this scene ties into the greater themes of the film.

Oh and they have this great quote from Antiope "greatness is not what you think" and then Maxwell's son wishes for him to be "great." And they do nothing with it :(

As promised, I want to talk about the body possession a little bit more. So again, one of the recurring themes is Truth™. Which is a great choice for Wonder Woman, what with her Lasso of Truth.

But it's tied in a bit haphazardly. They force it into a conversation about cheating in a flashback at the beginning of the film. And then they talk about how you need to accept the Truth™ in order to defeat the Dreamstone. I already talked about the cheating, and how the "accept that you're not a winner" was kind of a weird path to take to get your point across to a ten year old girl.

But the Dreamstone. Oh, the Dreamstone. I said before that the movie is a mystery. It shows you things but doesn't explain them. Well, this is a bit of a problem. Because they never actually explain that the Dreamstone is giving you lies. To my eyes, the Dreamstone is changing reality. Steve is back, Barbara is powerful, and Maxwell is doing whatever he wants with the powers of the Dreamstone. THIS DOES NOT LOOK LIKE A LIE TO ME. THERE IS NO "TRUTH" TO ACCEPT, JUST YOUR NEW REALITY. And that made the film less thematically strong (to my eyes, anyway. Other people probably picked up on stuff I didn't). But I feel like this might have been an easy fix? Like you already have Chris Pine in someone else's body (oh! So that's why they chose body possession! Because he's a Lie™! ... Still don't like it) I still think he should have manifested his own body or something but whatever. Barbara's appearance hardly changed at first. If they had people reacting to her as if she was hot when she really looked the same as she always does, then I would have bought your "but the Dreamstone only gives you lies." Instead, Barbara gained the power to walk in heels and then hotness and then the literal power of a God™ (a la Diana) which makes me think the Dreamstone is changing reality. Not bringing lies.

Oh, also, they could have had Diana's Lasso of Truth stop working for her. I thought that's what they were going for at first, but it turns out that Diana is just losing her powers. They also started with "the Dreamstone will give you what you want most," but then Maxwell started using it to clear traffic? Which by the way, is NOT an illusion. That is reality-bending.

There were just so many ways to make it obvious that "the Dreamstone is giving you lies," but they didn't use them. Or at the very least, they didn't commit. I felt like they used a little bit of "be careful what you wish for" (mostly on randos that Maxwell is duping), a little bit of "what are you willing to sacrifice," and a little of "you can have what you want, but it won't be real." All of which are valid ways to take a Dreamstone kind of story, but if they wanted to rely so heavily on Truth™ as the main theme, then I feel like more of the wishes should have been showcasing that. Instead, it felt like a jumble of all the kinds of messages we're used to seeing with Wish-Granting Objects, with no emphasis on specifically the "it's all a lie" part.

Ugh, I'm actually mad now, because I'm trying to think of a story I've heard where this magical thing is granting wishes but they're Explicitly Not Real. Like all the money gets turned back to leaves or whatever (kinda like Cinderella's pumpkin lol). Oh, Aladdin does this, too, because yeah Genie is granting wishes and changing reality, but not permanently? Like, almost all of the stuff he uses magic to do dissolves as soon as we're looking away from it or gets fixed by the end of the movie? And the film is very very clear on the fact that Aladdin is not factually a Prince.

But this film doesn't do that. They make it seem like the Dreamstone can change reality, then berate the characters for not Accepting the Truth™ about themselves. Maybe if they had made a bigger deal out of Steve coming back in someone else's body, it would have been 1) less confusing, 2) less icky (provided they don't do the sex in Engineer Dude's body), and 3) more thematically coherent.

Lastly, Diana's perceived character changes.

This one is probably the most subjective. Diana, as a character, in the first film was very morally grounded and motivated. The Diana in this film felt ... different. Again. Subjective. And also circumstantial.

Diana is still morally grounded in this film. But she's also willing to sacrifice the world to keep Steve Trevor around. Which feels like a jarring change from her characterization in the first film. She was so idealistic and optimistic in that first film, I couldn't imagine her making that choice. It just felt like such a tone change for her character. How did we go from "Who will I be if I stay?" to "Why, for once, can't I just have this one thing, Steve? ... I can't give you up. I can't. So I won't."

Also, her motivation in this film seemed to center around her loss of Steve Trevor and wanting him, and less around "save the world." Which, to be fair, I'm all for women being selfish in film. Give me women of all motivations and desires. I don't want Diana to be Perfect™. I just want her to be consistent. And I didn't think this characterization was as consistent as I expected. Was her life so terrible without Steve (even though they only knew each other for a short time)? Not to say this couldn't be a valid take on Diana (reminder: I haven't read any comics, so maybe it's not in character at all 🤷‍♀️), but if that's what they were going for, they should have developed the journey from naive idealist to jaded romantic more in order to justify this character change.

Also, the body possession thing. She's really okay with her boyfriend possessing somebody else's body. I did like the "All I See Is You" line, since it's romantic, but up until that point, we as viewers aren't really sure why Chris Pine and Hallmark Dude are both playing this guy. Then we find out in a romantic line that Chris Pine is just Wonder Woman's view of him. He still looks like Engineer Dude because he is Engineer Dude. At first, I thought that they used a different guy for the first meeting because Diana didn't recognize him. That this was her perception of him until she realized who it was. (I thought this was supported by Chris Pine's more rugged look in this film. But actually they were probably matching him to the body he was inhabiting, since the character really didn't look like himself). Leverage does a similar thing in the Rashomon Job. All the characters saw each other at the same event, but they didn't know each other back then, so they had different actors play their parts until it's slowly revealed that actually the random people at the event were the characters we know and love. It's great. Anyway, that's not what they're going for here, and the ambiguous framing along with Diana and Steve's chemistry is supposed to make you forget that he is possessing someone else’s body! Against their will! (Again, Steve and Diana didn't consent to the initial possession either, but they absolutely consented to what they did together. Engineer Dude did not.)

Yikes 😬

I will say, she didn't kill innocents this time. One of my critiques of the first movie was that she was so willing to kill Germans. And I get it, Nazis are usually an "acceptable" target in American media. But as a character, she believed that they were innocents who had been manipulated by Ares. And yet, she was slaughtering them en masse. But, in this movie, they're really careful to make sure that she's nonlethal.

And yeah, that's it.

Asteria was of course awesome. That bonus credit scene was 👌

I'm glad they got Linda Hemming back for costuming after the disaster of Justice League. Unfortunately, being set in the 80's, the outfits are not quite so modest as the first movie. But the important thing was the lack of male gaze in those shots.

The movie definitely hit me in my emotions. I cried three times: first during the tournament, watching the Amazon's being awesome. Then during Diana and Steve's fight, and when Steve convinced Diana to let him go. 😭

As I said, I definitely plan on rewatching. It makes me sad to see how much negative press that the movie is getting when it's one of so few female-led blockbusters. A lot of people are comparing it to the original or to the comics or TV show, when those are just not valuable comparisons. Comic books and TV shows are completely different mediums. And a successful sequel CONTINUES a story, instead of rehashing it. And also, not all films are created specifically for YOU. A lot of the 80's references went over my head, but that's ok. They weren't for me. I don't begrudge their existence just because I don't vibe with them.

Again, no film is perfect! I think I talked through a lot of its weaknesses pretty thoroughly, but I still think it's a strong film, and I want it to succeed.

Anyhoo, I hope you had fun watching the movie (even though it's not perfect) and I hope you had fun reading my commentary.

(Fun fact: I actually ran out of space in my notes app and had to stretch it across two notes)

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xxskycrystalxx · 4 years ago

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Mystic Pop Up Bar Thoughts - Ep. 12 [FINAL]

SPOILERS AHEAD

Ahh, the last episode of MPUB has aired, and I’ve finished it with a heavy heart, filled with emotions. The last episode has basically answered all the questions, theories, and hopes that we had, and ended the drama off as a masterpiece. I was going to right a full on review of MPUB, but I think my thoughts are enough review, so I’ll end off my last thoughts of MPUB with a small review.

In the beginning of ep.12 it gave us more insight on the sacred tree, and further solidified the fact that Kang Bae IS Weol-Joo & Chief Gwi’s child. I wanted to see a bit more of the sacred tree, but we get what we get. Anyways, the sacred tree is rlly powerful and gave Won-hyung a run for his money in like .0001 seconds, the sacred tree clapped back! After the confrontation with Won-hyung, Chief Gwi & Weol-Joo bring Kang Bae back to his house, and Weol-Joo drops the baby bomb on Chief Gwi. His reaction is definitely not surprising, and his emotions are called for. I mean imagine finding out that you did have a child with the person you loved, but stuff went sideways and basically realizing that they’ve been there the whole time. After realizing that they’re both the parents of Kang Bae, their parenting radar went up, becoming protective parents, parenting 101. Then, of course, Won-hyung comes to mess everything up and kidnaps Kang Bae, while the whole squad puffs up and is ready to rescue him. Yeo-Rin stepped up big time and was being a g, while Chief Gwi, cool as always, brought out his glave and wreaked havoc with it. Can I just say tho, Chief Gwi is serving them looks. Give Choi Won-Young an Oscar, cuz he did an absolute stellar job as Chief Gwi. Once again tho, the drama showed off some amazing CGI effects and choreography! The fight between Chief Gwi & all the possessed people, was cool to watch + the fight with Won-hyung, and of course, cue the catchy action themed music to make it all the more epic! He was just completely bad*** in this episode!

Then here comes the angst, like HEAVY angst. When Kang Bae was confronting Won-hyung we learn that he already knows that he is Weol-Joo & Chief Gwi’s child. I was a bit surprised at first that Kang Bae knew, but then he said he knew after he fainted and I realized that, that was the same for Chief Gwi’s mother. So it made sense. Then Won-hyung put him in the dream world so he would be able to exterminate him, while Chief Gwi & Weol-Joo are trying to protect Kang Bae from the outside, with Chief Gwi dying in the process. He’s done so much already, and here he goes getting impaled by his very own glave, protecting the ones he loves. Ouch. Uh like excuse me, I didn’t ask to be hurt like this. Out comes the waterworks. Then there’s that “I love you” confession before Chief Gwi died, and that hit HARD. Like I cried more on this scene than the other scenes I cried on. But srsly, you writers should’ve given them more happy moments together before they got ripped apart from each other and making us all sad over it 😞 He didn’t even say I love you back tho, what blasphemy!!!

Going into Kang Bae’s dreamworld, Won-hyung is pushing Kang Bae over the edge when mama Weol-Joo comes in, real pissed. I mean the man she loves just died in front of her, and her child’s life is being threatened, who wouldn’t? She tried to push Won-hyung down, but he got a grip on her and dragged her with him, not before Kang Bae managed to grab onto Weol-Joo’s hand. The way Kang Bae was just crying and finally said “mom,” well thanks for that arrow. Weol-Joo letting go and falling into the darkness was just messed up, and my heart broke for this separated family. 🥺😭

Then some time passed, Kang Bae still not over the fact that Chief Gwi & Weol-Joo is gone, but I’m glad Yeo-Rin was there to help him through it and provide comfort and love. I was really hoping for a happy ending for the three of them, and my wish was answered. Weol-Joo was back, and plot twist! It was her grudge that was solved, and was able to fulfill the 100,000 grudges quota, and honestly that was a good move, so good job writers! Yeomradaewang came through, and wanted to reward Weol-Joo with someone that a) took her punishment unconditionally & b) rescued her from the void/darkness. Can you guys guess who it is? MY BOI CHIEF GWI 🙌🏻 He comes in with a smile on his face and his arms open wide. The hug was the best reunion I could ask for, we don’t always need a kiss to make a couple/ship work or show how strong they are. The way they connect, work with one another, actions, and sacrifices is what proves their love for one another. Get a love story like this. Precious bby’s 💕 Also, this is just my way of interpreting how Chief Gwi was able to come back, but in the end, it talks about how the heavens can be moved by even little things, and honestly, I’m pretty sure all the self-sacrificing Chief Gwi did, was what changed their minds, and they were moved by his love and determination to keep his loved ones safe and being good to his promises.

Their reunion was so heartwarming to see, the way Chief Gwi & Weol-Joo look at Kang Bae, like the adorable and loving parents they are, and Kang Bae is like “I’m home.” Ugh, my heart 😣❤️ I cried a bit here too, but who wouldn’t am I right? 😂 It was a good and happy ending, that I’ll take, and I’m glad the writers were able to do these characters justice and bring about MPUB to what it was.

Btw, is it just me or did I not see this scene like anywhere in the last episode? I wonder if it’s a deleted scene or if I really just missed it in a blink of an eye, but Chief Gwi with those sunglasses... 😳 Just hits differently you know?

Anyways, wrapping up, MPUB was an overall amazing drama from start to finish. It had me engrossed from the first episode to the last episode, and the attachment I have with the three characters is saying a lot for me, since I don’t get attached as much. The only times I get attached to a drama and their characters is because I rlly rlly like it, and because I like it, it grows on me. The OST’s, cinematography, CGI effects, characters, story, and basically everything else was well done and crafted! The writers did an amazing job on the story, and being able to deliver plot twists and revelations that actually make sense, and for the actors and actresses that were able to make the drama for what it is. I mean, just spectacular performance to the main actors/actresses, especially Choi Won-Young! I’m really going to miss MPUB. It made me sad, happy, relieved, thoughtful, and surprised all at the same time. Chief Gwi & Weol-Joo is my fav couple at the moment, and them with Kang Bae is the most adorable and loving family ever, our found family/chaotic family trio. The only thing I’ll complain about is the fact that there was only 12 episodes. In all honesty, I rlly wouldn’t mind if there was a second season. I also wish they explored the sacred tree a bit more, and gave us a scene or two of Weol-Joo & Kang Bae finding out that Chief Gwi took her punishment instead, but that’s just me nitpicking out of an amazing drama. It was a wonderful journey to go through while watching MPUB, and I’m also thankful for the MPUB fandom. So very wholesome and filled with lovely people! Thanks to all who have read my thoughts and enjoyed my content! 💕

#mystic pop up bar #my thoughts #chief gwi x weol joo #chief gwi #weol joo #kang bae #ill be revisiting mpub soon 100%

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dlwritings · 5 years ago

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Got Your Six | Tom Holland | pt 8

series masterlist found here

general masterlist found here

pairing - mob!Tom x reader word count - 4,198 warnings - swearing, oral (f receiving), fingering, choking, m/f sex, dom!Tom

summary - A thunderstorm wakes (Y/N) up, and Tom decides to keep her company.

(previous) (next)

About three weeks passed, and things were going smoothly for the most part. Tom, Harrison, Harry, and Sam took turns accompanying us to work. Everyday when we got home, Tom and Harrison would help us train. Tom and I went to the shooting range on Fridays, and April was still unaware. It was all working really well.

But at the same time, it wasn’t. And there was only one reason it wasn’t working, and that was Tom.

Because I no longer hated Tom. I really, really liked Tom. Everything was so much easier when I hated him.

Now that we were no longer at each other’s throats, I saw how fun he actually was and how much he cared about the people around him. He was funny and witty, and we were able to keep up our banter without the malicious intent behind it.

Also, he was sexy. Had I mentioned that he was sexy? Had I mentioned that, when he wasn’t being an asshole, he was irresistibly, mouth-wateringly sexy? And he was never an asshole anymore. It was completely infuriating. If I wasn’t afraid of destroying his character development, I would’ve started being rude to him again. I just didn’t want to be the reason he was back to square one.

So, we got along well. And it was fun. And the six of us became really close.

If April and I were going to watch a movie in the living room before we went to bed, 99% of the time, the boys joined us. Harrison and April would cuddle up together on one side of the couch, and I would use one of the other boys as my pillow.

Of course I didn’t have a preference as to who I was using.

I found out that Harrison loved Batman movies, Tom liked 90s comedies and any action film, Sam was a Star Wars fan, and Harry was a secret sucker for rom coms. Not only that, but we had bonfires two Fridays in a row, and April and I even dipped our toes in their pool from time to time. It felt so much like a vacation, I started to forget that there were people out to get us.

On the third Friday, we were all prepared for another bonfire, but Mother Nature had a different idea. It had been raining all week, and we were really hoping it would let up. While there were peaks of blue behind the clouds throughout the day, by the time the sun set, it was raining harder than it had been all week. Rainy weather seemed to make everyone lazy, because we all retreated to our rooms before midnight.

The minute the first rumble of thunder sounded, I knew I was a lost cause. It had been years since I had been capable of sleeping through a thunderstorm. The minute there was a slight boom, I knew my eyes wouldn’t shut until it was all over. At 22-years-old, nothing had changed.

By the time 1:00 rolled around, I was still awake. I decided to get out of bed and make some tea. Harry had been telling me that chamomile tea was his number one go-to drink when he couldn’t sleep. I figured there was no harm in trying it. I crept quietly into the kitchen, remembering quickly that I was the only bedroom on the main floor. As long as I didn’t drop any pots or pans, I was sure I wouldn’t wake anyone up. I started the kettle on the stove and stood on my tip-toes to get down a mug from the cupboard. As I was getting a teabag from the pantry, I heard someone coming down the stairs. I plopped the bag in my mug just as Tom walked into the room.

“Hey,” I said. “Did I wake you?”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said offhandedly. “The slightest noise gets me up. Think I’m paranoid.”

“I think that’s justifiable,” I said. There was a particularly loud rumble of thunder that made me jump and squeeze my eyes shut. The kettle whistled around the same time, so I reached to stop it.

“What, you afraid of thunder or something?” Tom asked, his voice teasing. I smiled softly and poured my tea, jumping again at the next crack in the sky. When I looked up at Tom, I saw that he looked a little concerned.

“You want the truth?” I said. He nodded, and I hesitated but decided to explain anyway. “When I think of storms, I think about my parents fighting.” I took a sip of my tea, hoping that Tom wouldn’t ask any questions, though I knew the statement was too vague to not warrant any further discussion. It had just been a long time since I told anyone about my parents. Now that I thought about it, maybe I never had.

“Why is that?” Tom asked. I pressed my lips into a tight line as I leaned up against the countertop.

“Wanna make some tea?” I asked him. Tom nodded and got himself some tea from the cupboard while I got him down a mug. The water was still hot, so he poured it without turning the stove back on. I spoke while he wasn’t looking at me.

“Growing up, my parents always fought during storms,” I said. “Like, it seemed like they saved every screaming match for a thunderstorm.”

“Why?” Tom asked, blowing on his drink as he brought it to his lips.

I shrugged. “I think they thought April and I couldn’t hear them. But we could. We would always fall asleep in the same bed, and I’d just hug her and talk to her to drown out my parents until she fell asleep. I’d stay awake until the storm was over. I think I was really waiting to hear the end of the argument. Sometimes I could make out what they were fighting about -bills mostly- but usually I just heard their voices. Like they weren’t even speaking our language.” I took another sip of my tea. “April got over it as we got older, but I guess I never really did. Now I just can’t sleep during storms.”

I jumped onto the countertop and winced at a rumble of thunder. Tom sat beside me. I needed to keep my mind off the storm, so I kept talking. I figured I was word-vomiting, but as long as Tom wasn’t going to protest, I was going to continue. “I think a lot of people see me and April and think we have these really lovely and cushy lives,” I said. “I’ve always felt that romanticizing people based on what you see on the surface is really toxic, but that’s what people do. They see us working at a cute bakery and laughing with our parents, and they think, Those girls must have it all, but we don’t. Like, we may not dress like it, but we don’t have money to toss around, you know? Any nice clothes we get came from garage sales or thrift shopping or presents for holidays from family. We live paycheck to paycheck, and I’ll be in debt from college for the rest of my life. And every meal April and I eat with our parents ends in a screaming match over something stupid. But that’s not what people see. They see this Instagram-ready cafe with the cute family and the peppy baristas.” I scoffed. “This picture that we paint of ourselves, these cute and bubbly people we both pretend to be, that’s just it. It’s pretend. They’re not real. At least mine isn’t.”

I shook my head and stared down at my mug. “April’s such a better person than I am. She always has been. People always liked her more, probably because she isn’t closed off and cold to strangers. She just trusts and loves with everything in her.” I took a sip of my tea before shaking my head again. “It’s naive.”

“Has it ever bit her in the ass?” Tom asked. “Being cute and bubbly instead of closed off and cold?”

I chuckled dryly. “Look at where we are now. This all happened just cuz she tucked her hair behind her ear and flashed Harrison a pretty smile and believed he was a normal person.”

Tom cracked a grin. “Fair enough.”

Thunder rumbled louder than it had before, and I almost spilled my drink because of it. I sighed and took another sip from my tea. I rested my head on Tom’s shoulder, and he put his cheek on the top of my head. “It’s weird to think about how we got here,” I told him.

“What do you mean?”

“I dunno,” I said. “Just, like, if you guys hadn’t come in that day, you know? We wouldn’t be here.”

“I hate putting it like that,” Tom admitted. I moved my head to look at him.

“Why?” I asked. Tom jumped off the counter and leaned against the island in front of me, then folded his arms across his chest. He stared down at his feet.

“Because I still think about how this is such a shitty situation for you to be in,” he said. “And everyday that you’re still here, I feel guilty that we walked into your shop and dragged you into this.” I furrowed my eyebrows and shook my head.

“Tom,” I said, kicking my foot out to hit his thigh so he’d look up at me. “I don’t want you to feel guilty about this anymore. I’m not mad that I’m here, and neither is April. We’re doing fine. I’ve learned a lot about life, and I think that’s super valuable. And come on-” I scoffed. “-I met you, right? And I learned that you can grow to like someone you used to hate in a matter of weeks.”

Tom stared at me for a moment, and it looked like there was a battle going on behind his eyes. Just as I opened my mouth to ask what was wrong, he took one step closer to me and took the mug from my hand, setting it on the counter. He put his hands on my knees and pushed them apart so he could stand between my legs. Then, he put his hands on my cheeks and kissed me.

I pushed him away almost immediately, shock going through my body. Tom didn’t say anything, just stood there breathing heavily through his nose. The shock wore off the longer I stared at his pink lips.

I gripped the back of his neck and brought him back in for a kiss. He growled against my lips, his teeth nibbling into my lower lip. I whimpered and tugged my fingers through his hair. “Fuck,” Tom moaned, pulling his lips away from mine. He grabbed my hair and tugged my head to the side, kissing my neck. He was leaving a mark, I knew, and his grip on my hair was tight. Rough. Dominant. Hot.

“Tom,” I moaned, threading my fingers in his hair again.

“What do you want, petal?” he asked.

“B-bedroom,” I stuttered. “Please. Please.”

“Love hearing you beg,” he said, his lips turning into a smirk against my skin. I didn’t say anything, just squeezed my eyes shut and whispered please to him again. He put his arms around my waist and threw me over his shoulder. I giggled a bit as he smacked my ass and carried me to his room. He dropped me onto the bed, and I pushed some hair away from my face as I smiled up at him. “Fuck,” Tom groaned, hanging his head as he hovered over me. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“What?” I asked, my smile dropping. “Like what? What did I do?”

“You’re so-” He cut himself off with a sigh. “-so different. So beautiful and good and honest and real, and I don’t want this to be the only time we do this, okay? I don’t, I never want to, to-” Tom’s hand balled into a fist as he pressed it into the mattress beside me, trying to compose himself. I frowned and furrowed my eyebrows, then brushed my fingers through his hair.

“What’s going on?” I asked. He clenched his jaw then licked his lips and sighed.

“I don’t want to just fuck you like I’ve fucked other girls,” Tom said. “I, I want to make you, make you feel good and kiss you and hold you, but it’s, it’s weird for me because I never do that.” He looked at me and pushed some hair away from my face. “But you make me want to be different,” he said.

“Is that a good thing?” I asked, taking his hand and kissing his palm

He laughed. “Yeah. I think it’s a good thing.” He leaned down to kiss me but pulled away before too long. “Now let me fuck you right.”

Tom started kissing my jaw, then down my neck. My chest was heaving as his fingers fumbled with the buttons of my sleep shirt. He got them all undone, and I sat up to take the shirt off and throw it across the room. Before he could do anything, I put my hands on the back of his neck and pulled him close to me. Our kiss was slow and full of tongues fighting for dominance. I sat up straighter and straddled his hips. Tom pulled his lips away from me and kissed down my chest, sucking one of my nipples into his mouth. I threaded my fingers in his hair and held his head close to me as I ground my hips against his. He pulled away from my chest with a pop and brought his lips back up to mine. I moaned into his mouth and scratched my nails against the back of his neck. He pulled away from me again and kissed along my jaw. “God, fuck me, Tom,” I moaned. I tugged at the waistband of his sweatpants and tried to tug them down his hips.

“No,” Tom said. His voice was commanding, so I stopped. “No, we’re gonna take our time. ‘M gonna make you feel so good, baby.” Tom pushed me off him, and I laid down on the bed looking up at him. He kissed me again, slowly and carefully. I whimpered as I felt one of his hands play with the hem of my sleep shorts. His hand slipped past the band and my underwear, and his fingers ran up my folds. I could feel him grin against my lips, and I let out a disappointed sigh as soon as he pulled away from me and brought his hands out of my pants. I watched as he sucked his fingers off and sent me a wink. “You taste lovely, petal,” he said, “and you’re already so wet for me.”

“T-Tom,” I breathed out. “Please. Can you, can you do something?”

“You know-” He chuckled. “-you’re so cute when you beg like that.” I wanted to say something else, but I was distracted when Tom hooked his fingers in the band of my shorts and panties and pulled them both down my legs. He threw them off to the side of the bed, then moved his body so his face was near my core. “God,” he almost moaned, “you smell like heaven.” I whined again and lifted my hips, trying to force him close to me. “Relax, relax, love,” he said. “I’ll take care of you.”

My head dug into the pillow as Tom started kissing my thighs. It had been so long since anyone went down on me, and I felt like I could cum just at the idea of it. “How bad do you want this?” he asked, sucking a mark on my thigh.

“So bad,” I whined. “‘S been so long.”

“How long?” he asked. “How long since someone’s eaten this pretty pussy?” He kept bringing his lips closer and closer to where I wanted them, but he kept leaving me disappointed.

“Too long,” I said. My eyes screwed shut as I felt his breath on my core. “Eyes on me baby.” I forced my eyes open and looked down at Tom. Just as fast, his eyelashes fluttered against his cheekbones as he looked back down at my core. Before I could beg him to touch me, he pressed his tongue flat against me and gave me a long lick. My hands went straight to his hair as he brushed his nose against my clit.

“Oh, shit,” I moaned. Tom grinned against me and started drawing shapes with his tongue. “Tom, please.” He pulled away from me, starting to leave sloppy wet kisses on my thighs again.

“What do you want, (Y/N)?” he asked, lightly biting my skin.

“Your, your fingers,” I said. Tom teased my cunt with his pointer finger, not quite moving it in all the way. I moved my hips to get closer to his hand, and he allowed his finger to slide in to his knuckles. He slid another finger in soon after and quickly brought his lips to my clit. He sucked it into his mouth, letting his tongue flick it over and over again. “Just like that, Tom,” I moaned, tugging at his hair again and digging my head back into the mattress. I jumped and looked down at him when he slapped my thigh.

“Eyes, on, me,” he said, emphasizing every word.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. I watched his every movement, relishing in the way his hair would tickle my thighs. “Tom,” I moaned as he curled his fingers to reach that spot. “I’m gonna come.” His fingers were relentless, and he kept swirling his tongue around my clit until I scratched my nails against his scalp and came. Tom didn’t move his face from between my legs until I rode out my high. He pretty much licked me clean before he gently kissed my thighs.

“Such a good girl,” he cooed, running his fingers up and down my legs. I hummed contently, and my eyes fluttered closed. He moved his body so that his knees were on either side of my legs, and he stroked my cheek to get me to open my eyes. “How much farther do you want to go, love?” he asked. “Because I’m not done if you’re not.”

“I’m not,” I said, shaking my head. I grabbed the back of his neck and pressed my lips to his again. He smiled against the kiss and pushed his tongue past my lips. I wrapped my legs around his hips and rubbed myself against him. He pulled away and nodded, then pulled his shirt over his head. I put my hands on his pecs and ran them down his stomach and to his joggers. He let me tug them past his hips and down his legs. His boxers quickly followed. I licked my lips and reached out for him, but he grabbed my wrists and pinned them to the bed.

“Let me get a condom,” he said. I nodded and watched him go into the bathroom. He came back a few seconds later with a foil. He got back onto the bed, and I took the foil from his hand, ripping it open with my teeth. Tom let out a heavy breath and watched as I rolled it onto his cock, pumping him a few times. He grabbed my wrist and pinned them to the bed again. He stared at me as he held his cock and brushed his tip along my folds. “Jesus,” he said, hanging his head. “Didn’t think I could get you anymore wet.” I almost started to beg him to do something, but he pushed himself into me and cut off anything I might’ve said. Instead, I moaned and squeezed my eyes shut. “Hey,” Tom said, slapping my cheek lightly and stopping his movements. My eyes fluttered open as I looked at him. “What have I said?”

“E-Eyes on you,” I stuttered.

“Right,” he said. “Eyes on me.” I nodded, and he finally bottomed out. He stayed that way for a moment before sliding out and slowly thrusting back in. He was fucking me slowly, pressing soft kisses across my neck as he did so. I forced myself to keep my eyes open, though the pleasure made me want to squeeze them shut again. I appreciated how slowly he was going. I felt cared about, but I hadn’t had sex in so long. I wanted to feel him everywhere.

“I, I, ah fuck,” I moaned. “Faster, Tommy.”

“What was that, darling?” Tom said, a smirk on his face.

“Please,” I whined. “You’re not gonna break me. Just, fuck, just go faster.”

“Did I hear you say Tommy?” he asked, nipping at the base of my throat.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “Please, please, ah- fuck.”

“Please what?”

“Please-” I hummed as he stopped moving his hips. “Please, Tom, s-sir, boss, fuck, just please.”

“Jesus Christ,” Tom mumbled. He bit my shoulder, then kissed the skin softly. “Call me sir.”

“Okay,” I said.

“Okay…”

“Sir,” I said. “Okay, sir.”

“Good girl,” Tom cooed. I moaned loudly when Tom snapped his hips against me harder. “Is this what you wanted?”

“Y-yes, sir,” I said. “Fuck, I love it.” Tom chuckled and kissed up my throat until he pressed our lips together. He grabbed my thigh and kept me close to him. “Can, can you-” I cut myself off with a moan as he lifted my leg above his shoulder and pounded into me at a new angle.

“Can I what, doll?” he asked, his hair flopping in front of his forehead. I knew I wouldn’t be able to form a sentence, so I grabbed his hand and brought it up to my lips, sucking his fingers into my mouth. Tom moaned as I swirled my tongue around his fingers. I pulled them away with a pop and brought his hand down to where our bodies met so he could rub my clit.

“Yes, Tom,” I screamed, tugging my fingers through his hair. He gently pressed his hand against my throat, and my breathing started to get labored.

“What’s my name?” he asked.

“Fuck,” I swore. “Shit. Sir. It feels so good, sir.”

“Are you close?” he asked.

“Yes,” I whined. “Yes, I’m gonna come.”

“Come for me,” he said. “Wanna feel you squeeze my cock.” He replaced his hand with his lips and started kissing my neck. With one little nibble on my sweet spot, I came even harder than I had the first time. “Oh, shit,” Tom moaned. With a few more thrusts, Tom came as well, moaning against my neck. He let my leg fall back against the mattress and had to hold himself up so he didn’t fall against me. He gently laid on my chest, and I threaded my fingers through his hair. He peppered kisses against my breasts, and I slowly felt him soften inside me.

“Tom?” I said after a few moments had passed.

“Mm?” he hummed.

“I hate to do this to you, but I gotta go pee,” I told him. I felt him smile -his lips were still on my chest- before he pushed himself up and slid out of me. I sighed at the feeling and got out of bed, then walked over to the bathroom.

When I got back, Tom was still laying in bed, though he was under the covers now, so I assumed he had gotten rid of the condom. I was hesitant to join him in bed. I knew he had said all of the stuff about not wanting me to be like other girls, but there was a tiny part of me that wondered if he was just saying that to get into my pants.

As if sensing my debate, Tom -who had been looking at his phone- looked up at me. “There’s boxers in the top drawer,” he told me. “T-shirts in the one under that.” I thanked him, deciding that had cleared up whether or not I was staying or leaving. Once I had the clothes on, I joined him in bed. Tom locked his phone and snuggled more under the covers, then turned on his side to face me. I mirrored his position, and he chuckled and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “Sounds like the storm’s passed,” he said. I listened for a moment and could only hear the sound of heavy rain outside Tom’s balcony.

“Good,” I said, “cuz I’m tired.” Tom grinned and turned onto his back, putting one hand behind his pillow and one above my head. I adjusted myself so I was laying on his chest with an arm wrapped around his stomach and my legs tangled with his. He started playing with my hair, and I melted into his arms, feeling like I was fitting into a puzzle I had been in before. “Tom?” I asked, my voice piercing the quiet around us.

“Mm?”

“Have we done this before?”

Tom chuckled and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “Goodnight, petal.”

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TAGLIST

#tom holland #tom holland imagine #tom holland x reader #tom holland fluff #tom holland angst #tom holland smut #smut #marvel #mob!tom #mob!tom holland #got your six

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themanicgalaxy · 3 years ago

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SPN 5X21 Two Minutes to Midnight

well...i have to jack sparrow it

lol they want me to disable adblocker that's so funny

oh god it's a doctor

I don't like the doctors in this show

this woman is dead

this motherfucker

boy he's such a dick about it too

she didn't deserve that :(

turns out its not even hot women that die! every woman dies!!

geh

aw Dean's having his complexes

CAS!! HE'S IN A HOSPITAL!!!

it upSet the SailoRs

ah right they had to go get pestilence

HE’S HUMAN! O H H E IS HUMAN!!

“or pain medication” he’s GRUMPY

Bobby will wire you the cash “I WILL??”

aww he has a crush

“you are not the broken shell and husk of a man I believed you to be” “thank you”

I missed them

“my nana” pfft

SMACK

ah they got into the visual

they’re doing great

seriously guys, fate of the world

ooo THE INTERFERENCE! OH THAT’S C O O L

oh…oh NO NOOO NOT CELESTE

I DON’T WANNA WATCH HER DIE TWICE

please tell me they manage to do something

AH it was a “how we got here”

it’s always brothers isn’t it

aw lil evil bitchboy holds a grudge for killing his shitgoblin brothers

and they all fall sick

I don’t like this episode

and they get sick too

they have half an hour left this can’t be the end

hey guys I think you need a new plan

mans sure did a 180 quick

he puts on MUCH more of a veneer it’s SCARY

he’s a lot crueler

does this motherfucker have daddy issues with god too

DOES EVERYONE??

“How’d you get here” “i took a bus” god I love Castiel so much

HOLY SHIT HUMAN CAS!!

HE’S A BADASSSS!!!

HE HAD A PLAN!! OH I’M SO PROUD

“tell us you have good news” “chicago is fucked”

hey I know chicago

CAS IS SO SASSY

oooo it’s death time isn’t it

crowley

CROWLEY

YA B O I

this is the funniest fucking scene

HE TOOK A PICTURE

yes he sold his soul

“he has a temper issue about it” heh

hey at least he’s smart about it

he yells

OH HE’S SHORT IT’S WHAT HE’S GOT

huh his arrogance did a 180

I think…huh something’s here

GOD I LOVE CROWLEY

“boy you’re lucky you’re pretty” heh

oH THERE WE GO! THE VACCINE

aH FUCK NOT THE CROATOAN VIRUS

oh SHIT WHAT AN ENTRANCE

HOLY S H I T

“are you really gonna bitch to me” yes bobby parent him too

“have fun killing death’ “have fun with the apocalypse”

aww the wendigo years

kiNg oF thE croSsrOaDs

is…I think…is crowley trying to help

this feels…fairly ableist tbh, as does most of bobby’s plot line? like I think i get what they were going for but?

Aw Crowley doesn’t like feeligns

ah it was strengthening the vessel, the demon blood

Cas you are terrible at good news

OK! NEW PLAN! I love Bobby

AW HE’S AN ANGEL WITH A SHOTGUN

oh fun it’s zombie time

boy bobby has reflexes

haha Crowley likes his chicago pizza

I love Crowley

ah only crowley can see all the reapers

like Cas

“whelp he’s not there let’s GO!!!”

Gotta appreciate the consistency at least

the impala

Crowley was in there heh

F O u nD HI M what?

he’s in there

the fucking pizza place lolll

the zapping thing is gonna come back

god I love the teleportation thing, crowley’s such a bitch with it

shocker everyone is dead

he be calmly eating his italian food :)

bro tHERE WENT YOUR WEAPON

“bacteria” heh

death, as always, is calm and big picture

‘eat”

“contemplate your insignificance”

solid

boy he looks young here

neither of us can remember who’s older, me or god

oo i like that

ah he doesn’t like being controlled

he’s a bit more…confident? arrogant??

I’d say deserved

“I suppose it can stay…I like the pizza”

“put lucifer in the cell”

“and kill your brother lol”

“you think- “i know”

“you can’t cheat death” uh

“would you like the instruction manual”

heh

aw bobby’s enjoying his legs

“the world’s dying bloody” yeah that does put a damper on it

so everyone but Dean wants Sam to say yes huh

Dean you fucking idiot

“an ass full of character defects” HAHAHA

they both raised him jeez

he’s been doing this for…ever

“what’s the specific hang up this time”

aw and no cool ending song

Death! ok so here’s the thing. Death was calmer, but he contextualized all the other three. Pestilence clearly cared about the other two horseman, but you got the sense they were younger..? not as big picture? like why did they go along like that? what was their goal? why was death the only one who rebelled? did the other like the chaos?

and death did have this like. “I do this because I want it” thing, but also..it’s death. That scene with Dean was so tense. he had so much more power and knowledge, everyone knew it, and Dean(and the audience was floundering). Hell of a bang, and it almost made me forget how they had to put them horseman in at the very end cuz they ran out of time

needle drop. closely followed but WHAT A FUCKING ENTRANCE! YOU KNOW E X A C T L Y WHAT THE CHARACTER’S ABOUT! CHEKOV’S FUCKING G U N, IT WAS RIGHT WITH THE PIZZA TOO!!(it set up so well)

Bobby. The wheelchair thing felt…weird, but I loved his specific snark.

Cas. Mans is a strategist, you can tell. He had a PLAN going into the pestilence thing. Also, he was funny, and he handled being human quite well! he was fun to watch.

obligatory Destiel. That lil scene with crowley and the phone was condo was Cute, they’re a fun dynamic. Worth noting he talked to Sam and it was Business, but good, and also they should have vibed more.

CROWLEY. God he was so fun. He was like…the fairy godmother but he was fucking terrible at it wasn’t he. it was so good

oh yeah Sam’s the main character isn’t he. Look. He just Angst. And do Heroic thing, Yell, then Angste. Cas, Crowley, Bobby, they all DON’T ANGST, and it’s FUN!! and Dean’s guilty of this too, btw, it wasn’t that fun to watch him, but he gets to be riled by the supernatural creatures(Cas and Crowley), so it’s ok

Also, boy how explicitly can you make it that Dean had an incredibly active role in raising sam, huh?

#pawswatchesspn #look this probably should have been a serous episode but between cas and crowley and bobby and Death #it was just kinda cool #and had both VERY funny scenes #and VERY cool ones #I think I’ll watch season 5 here #and then wait till I’m back to watch season 6 #cuz that’s gonna be rough lol

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pinkykitten · 5 years ago

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I was tagged by @writing-with-melon I hope my answers aren’t complete waste or if time and if so I’m sorry and I love you

Rules: Answer ten 10 questions, ask 10, and tag 10 people

1. What song automatically plays in your head when you look out the window on a long drive?

i dont really have an answer for this. i think i just automatically think about any song ive been listening to recently or any song that has been stuck in my head.

2. Do you have some snacks nearby when you write?

well i live in a two story house so the kitchen is downstairs and im usually lazy busy so since i have a mini fridge upstairs i just usually get water to drink while im writing. its kinda hard to eat and write cuz i loose focus really easily so when i am writing i am writing! i am in the zone! but if i am a little hungry ill usually snack on candy like chocolate kinder joys i love them but they r so expensive or snack on chips but i get like salt on my fingers or i like cheetos so cheetos dust and that just gets everywhere and later my hands and keyboard kinda smell like fart. 3. What do you do to combat creative burnout?

so burnout happens to me a lot so to get inspiration i either read other stories or fanfics which gets my head gears turning or i admire a piece of art or photography or a song. whats so unique and satisfying with writing you can explore and go anywhere with it, hehehe erotic if you know what i mean lol jk there are no barriers with writing just your imagination. there is inspiration any where you go and id advise to never stop writing. even if its a few short sentences or paragraphs about anything even bird poop its still progression and your mind is working and your searching for words like its all good for you bby. 4. Do you use (or like to use) prompts?

i do ill put the link here. im thinking of changing it though to do something different.

5. What is your favorite place to write?

lol boring, i know but my room. my room is really bright in the mornings and comfortable and chill and i have a candle of the pandora ride in disney that smells like the ride so its all good and relaxing and super peaceful plus i have a picture of myself the age of like 9 on my desk idk why but it encourages me and makes me focus to make sure i never get that cringy again.

6. What is a hobby or yous that you usually don’t talk about?

well i like working out HAHAHAHAHA jk that was a joke...get it...cuz i much rather be eatingokillstop. but i really like to draw which i have a art page you can see it if you click here pls look at my failed attempts to be hip and cool with the cool kids and being artsy fartsy. another hobby is i really like to do makeup and nail art, nail art is really tough guys no joke if you do it like you got wizard powers are something. maybe its bc my nails are shorter than pete davidson and ariana grande’s relationship, alright im trying to stop i swear!

7. Do you play an instrument? Which one?

no i wish though. i always wanted to learn to either play the piano or electric guitar cuz H.E.R looks so cool doing it.

8. How do you feel about your handwriting?

it sucks dont even try me. my sister can barely read it like no wonder nobody wants to steal my signature heck they can’t even read it!

9. Can you tell us of a story that marked your development as a person? As a writer?

ok sit back guys, sniff a nice amount of crack and get ready for the most cringy moment of my life but also a time when i knew i was meant to be *inhale* a fanfic writer.

so it was elementary school, i think 3rd grade and for my writing assignment we were given a prompt of idk what the heck tbh i think it was like be outside the box and im like ok imma nail this cuz im a weird child and yeah so i got my papers and pencil and i went TO TOWN on this paper. so i wrote two stories. one short story with a picture to go with it and one long story that yeah i buried years ago. so my first story was about a farmer was about that farming life. he had chickens and dairy. so i cant remember if the cheese was spoiled but doesnt matter. anywho these cheese and a chicken were alive like they could talk in the story and i gave them faces, yikes. but the whole story was the farmer was a b*tch and he was trying to eat the chicken and cheese so they hatched a plan to get away from the farmer. they did it successfully and they ran away. yay happy ending my teacher actually liked that one me too and my school mates were thinking what they heck is this girl on i made a story about how me and justin bieber made cookies for Christmas you know. so then my other story i was more proud of this one cuz it was a tone of paper, sorry trees, and this story was about how a female hippo (girl i was all about plus size and thicker girls and no body shaming) and an male ostrich were kidnapped from their own habitats and taken to become circus animals. failed version of Madagascar hey mine was before the circus movie OK THEY STOLE IT FROM MEEEEE. so they get taken and are treated to harsh punishment and the animals can talk and i think its in the point of view of the male ostrich guy thing. they are in the circus and they start to have this relationship happening. love starts blossoming its all good. im happy with this cuz i believed in love at age of 8. they find a way thru a kick butt scene of the animals escaping and the hippo and ostrich are so in love that they run away together and they have half hippo half ostrich babies and i think i named the species hipstrich or like ostppo idk but i was so proud of this story and when my teacher read it she was worried about me lol i think she thought i might like mate these two animals like secretly idk but she was like it was ok and i was like what this is frickin William Shakespeare writing or like F. Scott Fitzgerald writing. nevertheless it taught me a lesson that nobody else needs to like what im writing the main point and only thing that matters is if your proud of it and you like it and i really did. i will remember that story forever and thats what made me want to be a writer. lol sorry that was a lot.

10. @emdop I’m going to use this great question: Explain one of your WIPs in the most ridiculous way possible.

wellllll im working on my peaky blinders oc story its a lot of drugs money killing weapons jewelry rich profanities like its the show but written from my stubby hands so my oc and whatever its great and so excited to show it to you guys.

MY QUESTIONS:

1. WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO START TUMBLR?

2. IF YOU COULD CHANGE ANYTHING OF THIS WORLD, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

3. WHAT QUALITY IS IMPORTANT TO YOU?

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE OUTFIT?

5. WHAT MAKES YOU SMILE?

6. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SONG IN THE WHOLE WORLD?

7. IF YOU COULD VISIT A PLACE, WHERE WOULD IT BE?

8. WHAT SHOW OR MOVIE UNIVERSE WOULD YOU WANT TO BE IN?

9. WHAT IS THE SCARIEST MOMENT OF YOUR LIFE?

10. WHAT DO YOU WANT MORE IN THIS WORLD THAN ANYTHING ELSE?

im tagging: @thatlittlered, @ardentmuse, @acciosnapes, @lotsoffandomimagines, @collecting-stories, @blog-of-a-multitude-of-fandoms, @naughtyneganjdm, @lenahellgizibe and two random followers @spiritsent, @sucker-for-my-fandoms

i was tagged by @writing-with-melon again ty btw, ps i felt so much pressure lol jk 😊

Rules: Answer 5 questions, Ask 5 questions, Tag 5 people.

1. What is your favorite book?

fifty shades of grey hahaha naw my favorite book is obv you all know this is series of unfortunate events but i never usually cry period and i never cry for books ever so when i read mrs. tom thumb by melanie benjamin, its the part when her sister minnie dies i cried so hard idk it was just emotional the wording the way she described her pain it was so beautiful written yet so sad and that was just amazing to me cuz im like this book made me feel things and im like wow i would love to write a book one day and make someone feel something whether it be sadness anger happiness annoyance anything they are having an emotion and that is super powerful to do that with just words. pls go check out that book its a good read. also im a fan of the greatest showman so i really enjoyed it. there are many other books tho that i thoroughly enjoy so much.

2. What piece that you’ve written are you most proud of?

oh my god ive always wanted to be asked this question hands down i am always proud of my platonic gender neutral tony stark fic called in·con·sol·a·ble window to me i wrote it so sad and i was feeling like depressed lol when i saw peter die in infinity war like i didnt know what to do with my life tbh but im so glad that @impetrichorny requested it tysm i just like how its not based on romance or fluff or happiness it is based on when you lose someone the nightmares and sadness you go through and that there is nothing nobody can do about it except just be there for that person so i really like writing angst and something that was out of the box. ive been thinking tho of doing a part two since the fate of all the characters has changed after endgame. who knows tho.

3. What is the last song that inspired you?

well for art it would have to good news by mac miller when i did that kobe bryant memorial on my art page. i dont want to give it away though but ill just say some very powerful womens music inspired my oc writing and making.

4. How do you feel about letting people read what you write?

at first i was scared cuz i thought i wrote like trash which that feeling kinda doesnt go away like some days i feel that way others i feel confident or it depends on the request it just depends but anyways i was always insecure about my writing so when i started writing it was more like lets see how this goes if not ill delete the whole page. im glad to say it went great but in the begging it was hard cuz i kept putting myself down but i learned to accept or just understand that you keep learning with writing you always learn knew things with writing how you can explain something better or you words get more intricate and people see the improvement and you do too thats why i applaud those who dont speak english that english isnt their first language. you are doing a tremendous job and keep practicing cuz you’re gonna make it to the top. ive also learned that some days are not my days and you can take time off when youre not feeling it when you have writers block. just recollect your juices sip some tea go to the beach relax your mind a little and take as long as you need to come back and give it your all. also comments and reblogs and likes a follows those meant so much to me and encouraged me. thats why i cant express it enough how much all those mean to writers, artist, photographers, anybody who is truly trying their hard in this area of social media. its makes a person happy smile and confident in their writing but first train your mind into loving what you make not what others thing. you have to be happy with the outcome that is what truly matters and what makes your writing the best. look at me getting philosophical.

5. Do you get distracted easily? If yes with what?

yes and with porn haha i get distracted easily like very easily homeschooling was really tough for me. music distracts me, netflix, the urge to watch david dobrik or unus annus or buzzfeed unsolved on youtube, heck my farts distract me. i gotta be like troy bolton i gotta get my HEAD IN THE GAME!

MY QUESTIONS:

1. IF YOU COULD BE NAMED SOMETHING ELSE, WHAT WOULD YOU BE NAMED?

2. WHAT PERSON INSPIRES YOU THE MOST?

3. IF YOU KNEW THE WORLD WAS ENDING TOMORROW WHAT WOULD YOU DO TODAY?

4. WHAT DO YOU OFTEN THINK ABOUT IN THE SHOWER?

5. WHATS YOUR WEIRD COMBINATION FOOD?

im tagging: @thatlittlered, @ardentmuse, @acciosnapes, @lotsoffandomimagines, @collecting-stories AND WHOEVER WANTS TO DO THIS IF YOU FOLLOW ME OR LIKE MY STORIES TAG ME ILL READ YOUR ANSWERS. HOPE I DID THIS RIGHT SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING MWUAH

#ask #@writing-with-melon #rambles #writing #tips on writing #unus annus #david dobrik #netflix #buzzfeed unsolved #peaky blinders oc #kobe bryant #mac miller #tony stark #peter parker #the greatest showman #tom thumb #troy bolton #zac efron

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sillytorch · 4 years ago

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You wanna know what my problem with Roman's character in the Viz Manga is? It's not that he's "too serious" now or "he's actually being a threatening villain", it's that the person who's writing the manga is trying too hard to make Roman more "scarier" and "edgier" to the point that he's not this chaotic but charismatic bastard who's trying to survive anymore, he's a hatesink (a hatesink is a type of character that's meant to be hated by the audience on purpose by giving them ZERO sympathetic/relatable/redeeming qualities).

You may think "oh but Roman's a villain, you're not supposed to like him." Which you're right, but at the same time, the manga is going against his character. For example, in the show, while he's laughed while causing chaos, his overall attitude for the most part is just trying to get his job done and move on to the next crime job (which we can see in his fights with the heroes many times) In the manga, he pretty much goes on and on about how he loves causing misery and chaos and seeing everyone bleeding, suffering and/or dead on the ground which... Jesus I know he's a violent person but he's not morbid... Christ.... And when he went close to that territory, it was cuz he was angry at Ruby for throwing Neo off the airship, sending her into a sky full of Grimm where for all he knew, Neo was already Grimm food.

Speaking of Neo, let's not forget that in the latest chapter, she saved his life and you know what he says?:

He threatens to kill her for "interfering." And notice how she's in focus the whole time Roman's talking. So it wasn't just the WF Lt., he was also threatening her too. Which is COMPLETELY out of character for him! Like, Roman in the show wouldn't threaten to kill her! He'd be grateful!!! Like in the show when she hopped in to save her from Yang's dust blast, he smiled and cheerfully says, "LADIES! Ice Queen! Always a pleasure! Neo, if you would?"

And don't forget that Amity Arena pic of their Legendary card cuz he looks so proud of her there:

Like... A lot of people who watch RWBY, even the people who work on the show know how much those two mean to each other, and to see this shitty manga bastardize Roman into a total hatesink to the point that he's so cold towards Neo??? His partner in crime??? Someone he's implied to have saved???? He literally died b/c he was so worried about her flying in the sky surrounded by Grimm who might eat her???

And this "official" manga decides to spit all of that in the face by having Roman straight up threaten to kill Neo just because she "interfered" to save his life because if she left his ungrateful ass alone, he would have been bisected by Ruby's scythe, dead.

And he's not the only one that this manga's bastardized. Blake's arc in V2 has been cut altogether. Yang's talk with Blake that explains her backstory about how her search for Raven when Yang and Ruby were kids almost got them killed in order to snap Blake out of her obsession towards the WF that's costing her wellbeing. Oobleck is more rude and condescending than he was in the show instead of caring of the girls. Even the scene where WBY discusses their motivations of being huntresses, gone (and a lot of fans love that scene so much. One of the best scenes in the show)

Bunta Kinami has the audacity to call it the "official" RWBY manga when in reality, this "official RWBY manga" has bastardized the characters into lifeless soulless caricatures. I remembered that this manga promised to adapt the story like never before where we get more interactions. This made me hopeful that we might see more of the girls talking, more JNPR interactions, more Roman and Neo interactions, more Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury, more SSSN, CFVY! More world building!! The manga added additional scenes like Sun and Neptune being included in the paladin fight so why couldn't it add more interactions???

Mr. Bunta Kinami, you apparently had all of the time in the world to add more content in the manga and also change the characters and motives of Yang, Blake, Sun, Oobleck, and Roman. You could have done so much more and you ended up making it worse.

Literally the only "good" thing about this manga is that Ruby has more initiative than she did in the show, but RWBY is a show starting FOUR MAIN CHARACTERS. It's not just about Ruby. It's about Weiss, Blake, and Yang. And it cut out all of their development altogether! Ruby may have been a "better protagonist" but at what cost? When the rest of the characters are bastardized into shitty caricatures??

#roman torchwick #rwby #rwby manga #rwby viz manga #roosterteeth #bunta kinami #rwde?#i think?#rant #mine #i am so pissed off guys #the only comfort i have is that a lot of people are hating the manga too #and for the right reasons

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alyseofwonderland · 5 years ago

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Alyse Reads The Goldfinch, Part 2

What follows is my best attempt at liveblogging. I had the books as an audiobook in hopes that I could keep it from taking even more of my life from me. This was perhaps a mistake. I think I broke Siri trying to make notes. The notes that are rambly are the ones I dictated.

I entirely blame @rollono for my suffering. But I am also aware that it seems to give her joy.

Every time I reference Tara, I am talking about @wellntruly who’s own live blog of the book was the only roadmap I had to follow in this waterlogged wasteland of a novel.

Part 1

I thought Tara was making up the Camel-hair coat bit but APPARENTLY NOT.

Architecture has that much to do with the city and or northern Europe, really? I mean, “whitewash” doesn't everybody do that?

Nina ( @proud-librarian ) is going to have a lot to say about their descriptions of the Netherlands and Amsterdam in this book. like oh my God!

Theo Deckard doesn't understand how thermostats work.

This isn't satire? I don't understand we're like three minutes in and it has to be satire. right. right?

Who the hell says my mother and I didn't like my father much? like what.... what is this? what am I reading? what is happening? what.... I don't understand.... okay maybe fine whatever

This feels like it should be... I don't know.... satire is the word I'm looking for again. I don't want to just repeat what Tara, said but Jesus. the start of the story is he is rich enough to have a Doorman but not rich enough to afford the fancy private school, and him and his friends break into vacation homes in the Hamptons. what is this? what is this? I just... just.... just write a Jane Austen or Lord Byron novel if that's what you want to do just do that. do that.

My audiobook app just turned itself off in the middle of a passage because it decided I didn't need to listen to Theo talk about whatever he was talking about.

Curse you, Donna Tartt, for also being in the "all things coconut smell like suntan lotion" club. I did not want to have this in common with you.

I am laughing so hard it turns silent into my steering wheel because the audiobook reader makes Tom Cable sound like a surfer dude from the 70s, and I. cannot. handle. that.

"I like to think of myself as a perceptive person" is basically the way that I know that Theo has about Harry Potter level skills of observation when it comes to the people around him.

Y'all this book would be so much better if Theo actually thought like a 13-year-old that he is supposed to be in the intro part. That would just be peak comedy, which is really what I'm looking for.

Audrey Decker and the Laura Moon from American gods are now the two people that I have ever known to call men "puppy" which I still find alarming, in both cases. Surprisingly they also both die, so I guess more things they have in common.

The longer this book goes on the more clear it is that I am not bougie enough for its contents. ( timestamp 30 minutes)

(GIF BY @rollono BY MY REQUEST FOR EVERY TIME THIS BOOK MAKES ME FEEL POOR)

I just can't suspend my disbelief enough to think that a 13-year-old would know this much about their parent's job and be able to ask questions. I'm trying to think of what my dad was doing when I was 13, and I mean I know where he worked, and I know who his boss was, but if you tried to ask me daily issues or me giving advice... oh my gosh. I just can't. nobody talks like this.

I’m making a face akin to Kermit the frog.

I threw up in my mouth a little at the description of Pippa walking past in the museum.

Did we just describe a 12-year-old girl's arms as marble? is that what just happened? did I just have to listen to that?

Theo has given me a lot of like “Golden State killer” vibes right now with his desire to poke around through all these people's homes and stuff. like this is clearly the Visalia ransacker's motivation in the 70s. I know too much about true crime, that's what's happening right now.

The true-crime serial killer alarms keep going off in my brain.

I know Tara already mentioned how ridiculous the Murphys bed story is but it really is incredibly ridiculous and breaks the tension of the entire scene that is occurring at the time (laughed uncontrollably to the point that Siri typed nonsense)

I get it, Donna, you know things. You do not have list every fire truck to prove it.

Let's take a child to a dinner at 3 am. Really Donna?

Why does Donna insist on giving me the text of signs around whats going on? Why did I just listen to the smoothie specials while an emotional scene is occurring?

Donna, did you just call Mrs. Barough a weasel? [afronted gasp]

OI! (me shouting when Donna says that Andy was weird for being lactose intolerant.)

Pukes in my mouth a little at the term 'high verbal'. I get it, Donna, you think you are smarter than all of us stop being a dick.

Donna Tartt would make it to r/iamverysmart in like a minute if she understood how the internet worked.

WHO TAUGHT HER ABOUT FMA?

Okay, so either Donna Tartt knows someone who lost a parent and basing this off them or like went through it herself because I am white-knuckling through the grief bits trying not to have my own trauma response to the situation. Or she wrote Theo with like the exact grief I had. Her incessant need to list things in a room is the only thing between me and a spiral of remembering my dad's death.

ANDY IS A RAY OF LIGHT AND DOES NOT DESERVE TO BE IN THIS FAMILY OR IN THIS BOOK!

Five whole hours before the first sight of Hobie. Like Jesus.

I miss Terry Pratchett.

Hobie thank you for making this book interesting again.

Hobie is now my main squeeze and I won't hear a word against him.

POE DIDN'T INVENT SCIENCE FICTION FUCKING MARY SHELLY DID. DONNA WHAT THE FUCK.

The Hobie part of the story just makes me more sure that a version of the movie should have been without the Baroughers (sp?) and only included Hobie and Pippa.

Any is a murderino. I love this baby boy.

Aw, I love Hobie so so much.

Donna if you call Andy annoying one more time you are gonna catch my hands. (She just referred to his voice as annoying twice in a conversation and I swear to god I will rip this character out of her snobbish clutches she doesn't deserve him.)

Theo on this we agree, I too enjoy Hobie.

Hobie is the only person who belongs in this novel and he's a god damn delight.

SEVEN HOURS AND THE PAINTING HAS COME UP AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME IN LITERAL HOURS.

Theo straight up using Spanish to fuck over his father is just *chef's kiss.

I can see how much contempt Donna has for Xandra is longer and deeper than this book will ever be.

I am going to suplex Larry Decker I swear to god. (i have a very particular trigger to spouses bad-mouthing the dead one due to personal experience.)

Necco wafers are no one's favorite candy Donna. You can't just say shit like that and expect anyone to believe you.

I have just realized that Donna Tartt has never been to a public library. How do I know? Witchcraft books are never on the shelves. Ask any librarian. They are stolen pretty much the moment we buy them.

I am standing dead in the tea aisle at the store because Theo just thought it would be “gay” to tell the doormen he has known almost his whole life he is gonna miss them. (hours later I realize this is her backtracking in edits going "shit shit shit I have to add the repression in somewhere for those dumb readers that don't understand art" and I hate it more.)

Mrs. B is ready to physically fight Larry and I would pay real money to see it.

WHY DOES DONNA KNOW ABOUT DRAGON BALL Z?!? Step away from the things I love Donna I don't trust you near my media. (Also why she does reference it she clearly has NO concept of what DBZ hair would even look like to expect me to believe any child could achieve it.)

oh my god, Boris. I'm so happy to see you.

I am happy to report the audiobook narrator does not do an Australian accent for Boris. Thank the lord.

I knew I was going to love Boris but like a few minutes in I adore him.

It's interesting to me that Theo and Boris seem to have received similar amounts of attention/affection from non-parent adults, but while Theo finds it uncomfortable Boris soaks it in.

The Australian part of Boris's accent seems impossible.

*sobbing audibly into my keyboard* Popchyck

Boris you sweet like socialist.

Comrade Boris we need you in this election.

I'm sad he (Boris) doesn't get to go to college and like piss off every yuppie and hippie, and just make Philosophy 100 and Government 250 absolute hell for everyone.

Drunk Boris at Thanksgiving is a gift.

Me listening to this book before Boris: half paying attention, fucking around on my computer, doing chores. Me after Boris shows up: staring at the middle distance determined to listen to every fucking word because this prison sentence of a novel is finally interesting.

James: you said the author is a snob and you aren't enjoying the main character. Me: yeah James: then stop reading it. Me: No, then Donna and her Anna Wintour knock off hair cut will win. James, frowning and backing out of the room: k sweetie.

6:30 am is too early to hear Theo Decker describe his bed as "our bed"

I WAS RIGHT. Boris belongs in college making every American white kid absolutely furious in every Poli-sci.

Larry Decker calling Theo and Boris his "kids" made my heart skip a beat.

So the nurse notices they don't have vitamins and smell but doesn't call child services. I mean I know that I learned that school nurses are less likely to call CFS on white kids than they are on black kids but like god damn.

The sheer salt of Theo refusing to learn the name of Boris’s girlfriend is so hilarious.

Now *this* is gay.

The truth is Theo is ready to cut a bitch.

Fellas is it gay to do shots while your boyfriend talks about his girlfriend?

Theo trying to set up Boris with like a nice polite girl who won't fuck him is fucking hilarious. This poor baby gay.

Theo (and Donna cuz she writes him) have never heard of learning disabilities and I will legit throw down.

LARRY IS A SCORPIO IN CANON?! I thought that was something from the fan fics. omg Ally hates this.

No one wears white sport coats Donna stop trying to make it happen.

Boris totally knows what's going on with Larry and he's just trying to look out for Theo because he loves Theo but oh my gosh Boris why do you make me feel so many feelings!

Please, Donna, I am begging you to stop telling me what the light from the sun looks like at different times of the day. I just can't take it anymore. Every scene of Theo in Xandra's house does not need the qualifier of what type of sunlight he is seeing. Some times fine. But every time?

My entire stomach just dropped when I realized what Boris has done, and I'm just I'm so sad. this is not how I wanna start my commute to work today.

I have just had my first moments of being very proud of Donna's writing, because long long time ago, in the same chapter, she had the bit about how Xandra will say "apparently" when she's being bitchy with Theo and now in a conversation where Theo isn't paying attention to her she says "apparently" to Larry and I just had to stop and say this, this is the writing I'm looking for Donna. This is clever and interesting and I LIKED IT. Stop making lists and do more of this.

Friendship ended with Book Boris, Movie Boris is my best friend now.

I don't understand how the director and the screenwriter of the film could move who said those lines and then not make it gay. Like, commit to your choice.

My mom: You finish that book yet? Me, angrily: No. My mom slightly worried: do you like it? Me: unclear.

NEW CHAPTER!

Theo, I need you calm all the way down when you are looking at Pippa.

Love this lawyer. I want to be his friend.

God poor Pippa. All the shit she goes through and she still has to put up with Theo's weird obsession.

Theo, you slid right back into the serial killer habits in a second and I want you to stop it.

Oh god, I feel that in my soul. Like "no sir you have it wrong I look more like the parent I like best." (also I do look more like my dad. like way more like him)

I am begging someone to get Theo some kind of hobby or help or something so he stops acting like a victorian ghost.

I am gonna have to get the actual book so I can see what weird spelling is going on with the text messages. I just know its weird. The narrator does it in such a weird voice.

We spent so much time dealing with emotional issues and other whatnot that going back to the bit about the painting feels like a huge tonal shift in the book. I'm like staggering around confused.

Literally no one uses strawberry shampoo.

Love that Theo ‘s final plan is the one Andy purposed an eon ago.

Salty that Theo is getting the cool college experience that Boris would have crushed. I would have paid good money to watch him make the philosophy department cry.

[kermit in the car gif]

Yo! Theo struggling to deal with school is like exactly my semester after my dad died.

The adults attempting to force him into different living arrangements is so what we dealt with post my dad’s death.

Grisha! (Russians the only people I trust atm)

Tara was right, Andy's death comes off like a joke!

I gotta say, Crime Theo is my favorite Theo so far.

I don't know which serial killer Donna was channeling to write the parts about Theo being obsessed with Pippa, but it is just so intensely a serial killer vibe I cannot even begin to describe the look on my face; the feelings I'm having. I'm just like this man is going to kill someone. he's going to kill a lot of people. not only that it's going to be a lot of women because he doesn't view them as people. that's what I'm getting from this it's. Theo doesn't think women are people.

If Theo was on reddit he would be part of r/niceguys and r/iamverysmart.

If I have to listen to him drone on about his fantasies of Pippa for one more minute I will kill myself in the baking aisle of Aldis.

HES HOARDING HER HAIR?! HER UNWASHED CLOTHES?!? Please someone put him in jail.

[the sound of me throwing up in the frozen food section as Theo describes Kitsey]

Donna don’t try to act like you didn’t add that foreshadowing yourself about Andy. You crack me up you relentlessly snob.

How is Theo just The Worst all the time?

Theo freaking out because two gay guys know what’s up with him is just *chef’s kiss

Me having seen only the movie: Theo and Boris should get redemption and a romance run away. Me now: [ gif of “Ive had enough of this guy” from IASIP]

I mean I understand that John Crawley was a coward in so many of his directorial choices, but the fact that he didn't put the second meeting of Theo and this Lucius guy into a crowded weird restaurant where they're both getting hit by the waiters as they go past is just the weakest move you could've made. because this makes it so much funnier.

I'm with Hobie.

honestly this book should've just been 20 hours of art crime and like to shave off a good 10 hours of LISTS because that's what 10 hours is. give me 20 hours of art crime. I would love to watch each sale happen that would've been riveting to read but instead.... this.

Bish, you like those earrings or I will cut you.

Theo salty, while Kitsey picks out new china, is so fucking hilarious.

him just like "why are we buying new plates when my job is literally to find plates that were made by craftsmen?!?!” but being too fucking repressed in his bullshit to say anything, so he just making some poor sales lady suffer.

my friend Ally: “Theo’s repression makes everyone suffer is a good summary of the book.”

Alternative version of this book that would have been 8 million times better: Theo gets into art crimes but is also a serial killer. We don't know the second bit but it begins to start dawning on us as women seem to disappear from his social circles and weird hints of thoughts about blood and rivers. Bonus points if it ends with him on the run from the law with his only vaguely criminal (by comparison to serial killer Theo) boyfriend. We are left to wonder if they will be gunned down in the chase or if perhaps there will be one more body to great the river.

Theo's textbook serial killer nonsense is only comparable to the sheer petty gay energy he gives off.

The power trip he gets from being like "hahaha yes I have bagged the ice princess who wanted nothing to do with me when we were kids" is just so gross and hilarious.

Theo realizing he is not the only sociopath in the room is just *chef's kiss.

Boris, did you really send some guy to just watch your ex?

Boris, I am begging you. You have made Grisha so upset.

Donna shying away from describing Boris comes off, if you don't know who we are talking about, as weird and slightly racist.

You have the internet Theo, you can look up when movies are going to start. You are not living on the moors.

HOW IS THIS BOOK NOT A SATIRE OF AMERICAN PYSCHO FOR PEOPLE THAT HAVE BONERS FOR ANTIQUES?!?

Boris returns. I have almost forgiven him for what he put me through.

Maybe "fuck you" can be our always.

*tries not to cry when I realize that Boris' friends have heard about Theo

bless Aneurin for everything he did for this reunion in the movie.

Why is Boris such a slut? Why will I forgive him for anything?

Is it gay to think about the guy you used to jack off as handsome when you meet each other again?

Genetics means those kids can't be Boris' unless his mother was blonde. (Theo kind of agrees.)

My soul has left my body at the concept of Boris having a wife and kids.

I'm not saying I endorse crime, I'm just saying a mobster front with a pun in the name is really on-brand for me.

Knowing what I Know. That Boris thinks Theo is gonna try to kill him when they go for the "surprise" just makes the whole thing so tragic and sad.

Boris and his dog REUNITED AT LAST. I'm not crying. I'm fine.

Interesting that the next story we hear is about Gyuri's dead "brother" right after Boris says that Theo is "blood of his heart, his brother". Like. I might not be the biggest history buff in the world but I know gay code when I see it.

I mean I knew this was gonna happen, but I can't help but feel personally betrayed by Boris once again.

Donna, stay away from stuff about computers. Your attempts to use them make me, a technology expert, cringe.

Boris like "you don't deserve this dog. I deserve this dog."

"Babe I get that you are a WASP at heart but I need you to fight with me like a Russian now." - Boris to his disaster husband

"Did I lie?" "YES" (me laughing so hard I'm practically crying)

why does no one in this book appear to exchange numbers or like airdrop contact info.

Does Donna think that people only have iPhones?

Ally who is CTRL F reading this book "'Every few hundred pages she's like 'oh yeah, it's modern times...they're texting and there's emojis!' Seriously, there was the mention of emoji's and my soul escaped my body for a minute because it had no tether to time or space" @aces-low

Off the top of my head, the name that Donna is not saying for this Horace to guy is Volkswagen.

Instead of being in the mob Boris should run an animal shelter.

Boris being Bitchy and jelly when Theo is talking to the German guy is just so cute. You two deserve each other with your weird shit.

If Donna wasn't a coward this book would have had Theo just getting eyeballs deep in art crime with Boris and his associates.

Adding a sin for making me listen to whatever that just was.

Things Donna forgot to list in "girl food": chicken wings, bread, rolls, other types of bread, garlic bread, a bit more bread, maybe cookies, eight more cookies, 20 more cookies, every type of chocolate humanly imaginable, jam, and barbecue ribs.

What do ankles have to do with being attractive?!?!?! this isn't the Victorian age!

(from Ally re this comment: “I'm now convinced that every day Donna sat down to write this book she spun a wheel with different years on it, and that's the year the book was set that day”)

I didn't mind Kitsey cheating on Theo, because he doesn't even really like her. Until just now, when I realized that Mrs. B knows about it and she's keeping it from Theo, and my heart broke into 1 trillion pieces. she is the closest thing he has to a mother and he realized that she kept it from him, and I should not be crying in my car before my special Valentine night dinner.

James just walked in during a part describing Pippa and goes "Men writing women, huh?" and I had to pause the book, turn to him and say "a woman wrote this" and he just looks at me like 0_0

Mrs. B clutching Theo's hand so he won't leave her alone with Smalltalk-old-man is honestly the cutest thing in this entire book.

Hobie being able to be spotted from a distance at all times! I have a friend who is 6'5" and we can find him in crowds so easily!

Perhaps the funniest moment of this book is Theo saying "if girls loved assholes then Pippa would love me". buddy I'm going to post this entire book to r/niceguys

I WANT MORE ART CRIME! Why did you make me listen to 15 hours of boring nonsense when we could have had ART CRIME!

I deeply enjoy Boris's commitment to being a dramatic goofball, falling to his knees just be annoying.

Movie Boris appears in a dramatic way. Book Boris is just like there and also shoving food in his face and walking out of the party still eating all the food he just put in his cheeks like a chipmunk.

Hobie just like "if you want to run off with your gay love i'll cover."

Theodor Decker you get back in there and make sure that thief stays away from Nicole Kidman she has been through enough already!

Theo, I know that you don't actually have brains for anything besides drugs, crimes, being weird about women, and your own ass, but you could at least listen when people speak.

Theo is such a mess. He doesn't belong in modern times. He deserves to be Jack the Ripper.

I know the narrator is saying croissant the "correct" way. But every single time it happens I'm so fucking confused because who just leans into a french accent that hard for a single word?

Theo offers an actual good idea that Boris is going to use later and they all look at him like he's crazy.

I know "my brand" is "man holding gun" but listening to Boris assemble a gun I'm like "oh goodness I need to lay down". *fans self

Theo suddenly "I have made a huge mistake"

It's interesting to me how reluctant Boris is to make Theo a larger part of the heist. Theo reads it as frustrating but I read it like a kind of care and affection. He doesn't want his friend mixed up in something he can't handle, despite the fact that he wants Theo close so he can get him the painting back.

I see now why the heist in the movie was so fucking confusing. You need the Horst stuff and like a bunch of other nonsense that does not translate well to screen unless you re-write all the connections, which John Crowley was not willing to do.

Really love the "women drop their mark the first time" bit.

me: Theo I swear to god stop being high and sick in your room and go get some actual clothes and medication or at least don't make me listen to so much of it

this book is not 30 hours long. its 15 hours of a book and 15 hours of Donna going "gotta get that word count up or people with think I'm weak". Please, Donna. I don't need to hear this one thing happen for so long. It adds nothing to the tone, the themes, the plot, or the ambiance. You are just writing words for words sake.

The first suicide note was so well crafted that I honestly want Theo to kill himself now. If he can manage to write the others pretty okay I will be happy with this ending.

Don’t think I didn’t notice that the ghost of a dead loved one appeared on Christmas Eve.

I'm sorry who doesn't respond to "didn't you get my text?" with "my phone was dead" instantly?

me listening to Theo throw a tantrum at Boris because neither of them is capable of explaining themselves and like speaking as normal humans do: "It would have been better if Theo died"

Why must I be forced to listen to Donna make these scenes longer because these people don't talk like people?

Thud by Terry Pratchett does a much much better job of asking the question "can we trust our hearts and be the person we want to be?" And it honestly gives a better answer. And has you know, clever writing.

I thought it was like Over. I did. I was like "oh this is it wrapping up" ONLY THERE IS 30 MORE MINUTES AND I WANT TO SCREAM!

Me certain the book is over: i mean maybe this is a good ending

Me seeing i still have 30 more minutes: this is the worst book ever

This book held me fucking captive for over a week and all it left me with was like a few good lines, burning hatred for the main character, and the desire to go into Donna's home and rearrange all her stuff.

also, I now hate antiques. out of spite.

don't read The Goldfinch. it's not worth it y’all.

#jabberwockytalkies #words #donna tartt i just wanna talk #the goldfinch #alyse watches stupid movies #theodore decker #boris pavlikovsky #larry decker #xandra #donna tartt #this book beat me up and took my money and my will to put up with men

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alternativewinxcontinuity · 5 years ago

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will the winx alt. con. keep with canon relationships? cuz sky and bloom could be a dope couple with good writing, and aISHA AND NABU OHMYGOD-

TLDR:

Yes and No?Stella/Brandon are basically the same, while Sky/Bloom and Aisha|Layla/Nabu|Ophir are getting a little bit of a more obvious over haul they will still be A Thing.

Tecna/Timmy, Flora/Helia and Musa/Riven are... less so, like, if they happen as a romance thing, it will be a long time coming, or less obvious.

Mirta/Lucy& Palladium/Avalon are also A Thing, but more background than any of the others.

So in terms of ships in the Canon show: they are a mess. On the surface they seem plausible, maybe even okay, but the longer you look at them, the worse the relationships get. I've tried to keep the basics, but change certain circumstances so things are less... bad foundation-wise

Bitching and Alt Con spoiler alerts below the cut.

Stella/BrandonBloom/Sky (feat. Diaspro)Aisha/Nabu|Layla/Ophir (feat. Roy (&Nex))Tecna/TimmyFlora/HeliaMusa/Riven (feat. Darcy)Mirta/LucyDaphne/ThorenPalladium/Avalon

Final heads up, I'm about to say a lot of sh*t, and none of you have to agree, we all interpret things differently, I'm the kind of person who pulls things apart and finds the smallest speck of 'rot' and grows it in a mental Petri dish to see how awful things could be... that is a terrible analogy, but long-and-short-of-it: my opinions may be based on worst case scenario analysis, rather than any analysis you may use, and I am not saying you should not ship things, by all means, ship all the things.

I apologise for the high levels of in-coherency and absolute aggro.

Stella/Brandon

On the surface, this ship is changing perhaps the least because they're a “pretty stable” couple, unfortunately, they also began their relationship with a lie and that was never fully addressed in Canon. I tried to combat that by having Brandon and Stella 'test the waters' so to speak, with Brandon asking early on if Stella thought she'd still like him even if he wasn't a prince, and Stella later mentioning to Bloom that yeah, she would.

I say “pretty stable” because they don't break up every other episode, but their relationship is kind of... on the opposite end of the problem spectrum, like: “I'd jump off a cliff with no knowledge of what was below and no safety harness or ability to fly for you,” they've displayed a concerning level of co-dependency.

I tempered that a bit in the Alt Con, mostly be removing the situation where that (jumping off the cliff) happened, because it was the result of characters being sudden!dumb! But I also feel like, whatever universe, they'd be the kind of couple who'd get through rocky points in their relationship because they'd try to make it work because they are connected.

Canon treats them a little weirdly, because they are (excuse my language) psychotically-in-love, despite both being established as generally flirty people, but it only once really put the jealousy thing into play, in season 4 when the writers tried to make us take Mitzy as a 'serious villain' by turning her into Stella&Brandon's 'Diaspro problem'.

Alt Con Stella&Brandon are more reasonable, but are still very much 'our eyes met and something clicked' kinds of in love, but they definitely put work into a stable foundation, and were able to weather the SkyBrandon reveal with only a small wobble and some breathing space.

Bloom/Sky (feat. Diaspro) aka: the Drama Llama ship.

I think this one is changing the most, of the three main ships that are 'staying'. Alt Con Bloom&Sky didn't actually start dating until late in season 2, and are being very cautious with their relationship.

Unlike Canon Sky, Alt Con Sky was hesitant to begin a relationship when he knew he would have to end it, and knowing it would be a douche-bag move. Likewise, Bloom's Canon displayed empathic ability came into play, warning her that Sky was hiding something from her, and making her hesitant to even try dating while that was looming between them.

The biggest change with the Bloom/Sky dynamic is that it didn't start under falsehoods, and Diaspro was treated with the respect she deserved, rather than an unwanted crazy ex (even before she was the ex).

Canon Sky was a cheater, pure and simple, we've (probably all) talked the matter to death over the years, and there's no interpretation where what he did and didn't do, was okay. But it also explains his later douchey behaviour: people who cheat are more likely to suspect others of cheating.

Canon Sky has always been quick to jealousy, see season 2's full on stalking bullshit, and of course the thing with the FrEaKinG unicorn.

And of course, since he did start his relationship with Bloom as a cheater, Bloom knows he has a history of cheating, and cheaters don't typically 'find the right person and change their ways forever'. Sorry, but they don't, which explains why Bloom is so ready to believe Diaspro is succeeding in stealing Sky back, whether she actually is or not.

Canon Bloom/Sky have no trust foundation, like zero, none, maybe even negative trust foundation.

Fixing that was simple: I didn't let them get together while there were lies to be had.

Now, love her, hate her, pity her, Diaspro is a huge part of the Canon relationship, so I do have to talk about her.

Canon treats her like an increasingly manic instant drama dispenser, and I think we're all sick to death of it, not just because Diaspro has become more and more difficult to sympathise with, but because we're sick of the Bloom/Sky (relationship-status: “Yoyo's would be dizzy by now”) continuity.

But she's a princess, which means she should be more politically aware than what she is in Canon, she's marrying in to The Royal Family of Eraklyon. Sky's already there, he's set, he is the 'scheduled in in pen' Future King of Eraklyon, he ain't got to do shit.

Diaspro does. She has to be liked by the current king and the people, even if not her future husband, her marriage is a job.

So Alt Con Diaspro gets to do 'diplomacy' first, she gets to make first contact with the Winx, rather than being randomly attacked by a crazy ass fairy and being humiliated in public.

But this also means that Bloom wasn't humiliated in public, because Alt Con Diaspro was tactful in revealing the truth about the SkyBrandon switch. (Because the switch wasn't actually life or death protection.)

That whole first meeting in Canon was disaster from the word go, and put such a taint on the relationship that it's season 8, and the writers are apparently still trying to beat that dead horse.

The main thing that stops Bloom/Sky from moving past their beginning in Canon, is that they just don't communicate. They run into the slightest problem and suddenly they're breaking up and they stop trusting each other and its the end of the world and boohoo, blah blah woof woof.

They get back together as a matter of course, like its on a freaking check list for the writers to tick off, but they never really deal with what happened. It's all: Inciting incident, zero to sixty in three point five break up, way too long stealing the B plot's screen time being pouty and childish, 'oh we were wrong and are back together now without dealing with the actual problem because there wasn't one we're just dumb.'

Starting them off with knowing that they have an attraction to one another, but listening to a combination of common sense/basic decency and intuition so they wait until they're at a place where they can be honest and upfront about what needs to be spoken about, rather than having them run head first into what is nothing more than a revolving door of relationship drama was important for the Alt Con, because ain't nobody got time for that shit anymore. (Have you seen the new time line, it's condensed AF.)

The Alt Con also does something else I always wanted to see: addresses the fact that Bloom is now in a position to marry into a Royal Family.

Alt Con Bloom/Sky is a lot more tentative than Canon, they started of on a better foot, without that lie and cheating between them, but they're going into the relationship knowing that if they work, and they feel like there's a good chance they will, Bloom will have to assume the role of Queen Consort of Eraklyon one day, she's not just dating Sky, she's dating his family and his Planet which means they have to take it slower and more seriously.

Spoiler alert for season 3 of the Alt Con: the love potion is still happening, the set up of the relationship though means there's less 'why doesn't he love me anymore' and more 'Diaspro was (not totally fine with it but) prepared to accept the change, this isn't like her,' and 'Sky and I were okay last time we talked, he wouldn't do this without telling me, something is wrong here.' (Diaspro is not a psycho b*tch/Mark of Valtor theory coming well into play here.)

Aisha/Nabu|Layla/Ophir (feat. Roy (& Nex))

So in Canon, Nabu and Aisha first met when Nabu just randomly up and stalked Aisha through Magix on her day off after their engagement was announced. And because apparently princesses can't date first boyfriends who don't lie about their identity, Nabu introduced himself as 'Ophir'.

Look, I get that he was shy and embarrassed or something? But what the genuine frick-frack?!

The writers have apparently never had romantic relationships before because that trend was really friggen messed up. Like... none of the relationships in Winx Club are what I'd call ideal and healthy, all of them have some aspect of 'oh god run!' to them, but Aisha got the short end of a ratty stick.

So Canon timeline (allegedly): Middle of third year, Aisha's home world is under attack and she can't do more than she's already done. Trying to take a mental health day with her girls, and this rando dude up and stalks her, then, because she's a decent person, she chooses stalker's life over the Magical Dimension (Agador Box), and it turns out, this random ass stalker has lied about his identity and stalked her because he's the fiance she never wanted.

And yes, they do eventually end up falling in love and choosing one another... right before he fricken dies less than a year later.

So you know, Aisha does her 'vengeance is me' spree, which was awesome but designed to put her in a bad light, let's be real.

And then: nothing, an extra heaping of man hate because Aisha is an angry-girl, but no one really addressed her grief after the fact, like you don't just wake up and get over the death of someone that close, and yes, I know that people do move on, but we never saw her moving on, she calmed down after an episode of revenge and then she was 'all good' bar the aggro-tude. She spent season 5 and 6 angry at everything male, then suddenly she was dating Nex and... I'm sorry, I do block a lot of the later seasons out, but I genuinely do not remember them getting together, they just suddenly were after a season of Nex being an asshole with an almost redemption scene when he saved Roy, who mysteriously vanished, despite sticking around post his job-arc in season 6, but I guess that was for drama.

I don't really care for Nex, but that's a complex and layered issue that is only partly about shipping, and only partly about the fact that he was an absolute asshole who almost killed Roy during training basically on purpose, even if I didn't particularly like Roy, I don't hate Nex either.

Aisha has had all the boys thrown at her, and it was annoying, because she never needed one, she sure as sh*t didn't need a second and a third who inexplicably 'won her hand' or whatever the hell happened there.

I would have been fine if Aisha had stayed single after Nabu, like, just because people do move on, doesn't mean she has to date again.

So, Alt Con, Nex and... urgh, 'Thoren' are persona non grata, because let's be honest, they were introduced for shipping purposes and Daphne/Thoren was the stupidest thing to ever be shipped in Magix, I apologise if you like the ship, I don't mean to start a war, but it felt like it was so forced and it came out of even less than nowhere than Aisha/Nex.

Also Daphne isn't returning to life in the Alt Con, sorry, spoiler.

But Nabu isn't dying either. (I thought about it, but it was a stupid drama grab, so it's been chucked and set on fire. I did have an idea of a plot line for the closure, involving Nex as the son of a Valkyne who'd left Waltevy, and him taking Aisha to say a proper goodbye to Nabu, and freaking waiting for her to be ready to date again and just being a decent friggen person... but, yeah, nah.)

Salvaging Roy, even in Canon is actually pretty easy: Roy volunteered for the duty of driving Aisha around because he was actually good friends with Nabu, they went to school together before Roy joined the royal guard (or whatever), and while they never got the chance to meet while Nabu was alive, Roy wanted to get the chance to meet the young woman who stole Nabu's heart, the young woman who loved Nabu like he did. (yes, Roy is gay now.)

Boom! Roy: kept, forced attempt at shipping: gone, call back to that one dead character everyone loved in a way that could lead to closure: available.

(So yeah, Roy is also gay for his bestie in the Alt Con, but also understands that Nabu will never feel the same, and puts their friendship above his romantic interest... he might get someone one day...)

With the Alt Con, there are places where I want to run parallels, and the Aisha/Nabu|Ophir meeting is one of them, but also not.

Again, season 3 spoilers apply: Aisha will be meeting Nabu under the name Ophir, but it's not for 'nefarious purposes of deception' like Canon, it's just a misunderstanding no one cleared up until too late. Part of (Alt Con) Androsian culture is something called a 'Sidhe name', something that an Active magic user takes on when they achieve a certain level or status. Nabu's Sidhe name is Ophir, which he uses for important or official situations, like during the siege of Andros.

Ophir and Roy are showing up early on to take part in the defence of Andros, and to fight along side the Winx, not as love interests, but just as two guys who were available, who are capable and who are helping out.

'Ophir' and Aisha get along pretty well during the events, and Aisha's parents, having been quietly worried about finding someone who would be a good match for their 'not as courtly as she could be' daughter, reach out to Nabu's folks to see if he's in a relationship, and all parents get a little ahead of themselves which leads to the surprise engagement, which leads to Nabu tracking Aisha down to apologise and see if it is something she'd like to pursue or if they need to sit their parents down for a talk, which leads to the reveal, 'Ophir isn't my birth name, sorry, surprise I'm your fiance' moment, which is no longer a 'surprise your chosen-for-you future-husband is a rando stalker' event.

And because the parents went off the pre-existing mutual attraction rather than just up and picking a dude, it's less stupid when they get together anyway.

(I'm sorry but, Canon Aisha did not want to get hitched to some random guy, but he ended up being her first love? Urgh, maybe I'm just too jaded, but it just always hit me as a 'if you stick it out long enough you'll learn to love him, settle now to be happy later' message. I am so happy they did find love and happiness together, as brief as it was, but... come on not all arranged relationships end well...)

(And yes, Aisha will be taking Layla as her Sidhe name, because it is such A Thing within the fandom, I had to find a place to throw it in.)

Tecna/Timmy

Look, this ship is not a bad ship, I think I just don't like it because I liked that there was a romantic relationship that wasn't... standard hallmark romance or whatever. People aren't all the same, friendships and romantic relationships look different on different people, and I enjoyed that Tecna and Timmy were a... “bromance” style romance, that they knew what they had, and it was enough even if it didn't look like the other couples' relationships. If we had to have their relationship take up screen time, I would have preferred it wasn't a forced dinner date.

They were so uncomfortable, but as that damn subliminal message likes to tell us: 'normal dating is correct dating, your love is wrong, so in the end, their friends forcing them to do something they didn't want to do, and meddling in their relationship was “the right thing all along”'.

>:(

No, none of that in the Alt Con.

Tecna/Timmy is a lot slower in the Alt Con, because their friends are more respectful of their different emotional needs. Tecna is learning how to express herself in ways others can more easily see and recognise, but the Winx are also learning to read how Tecna expresses herself normally (for her).

Timmy is a capable leader, but also a bit introverted, while he can take charge, he's more of a team tactician, gathering the data and making it understandable.

Their relationship in the Alt Con is romantic, but it won't take up much 'screen' time, and it won't necessarily 'look' romantic.

Tecna and Timmy of the Alt Con are... shared spaces, quietly working on their own projects while in the same room, sharing tools as they work, they're technobabble too fast for anyone else to keep up, they're leaps in logic that only the other seems to follow in full, they're hooking pinky fingers together when they stand close.

They're slow and methodical and contented and they know where they are together, and they communicate well, even if they don't communicate like Brandon and Stella who do it loudly and with giant gestures and exaggerated facial expression, or Bloom and Sky who sit and hold hands and sometimes struggle to word things trying to make sure they're understood by the other because they're a little afraid.

Tecna and Timmy clicked quietly one piece of a puzzle at a time, and they know they don't do things like everyone else, but their way works for them, and that's what's important.

Flora/Helia

Look, I'mma be honest: this ship kinda irks me a little. It felt like Aisha showed up so Flora had to start the romantic process, because a maximum of 1 Winx may be single at a time. Again: this is not a bad ship, it just felt forced. (Like in Sailor Moon Crystal, how just because Serenity and Endymion were dating, their friendship group/generals/guards had to be exactly matched and dating each other too. This is not just my K/Z|M/Z shipper heart being bitter, it just always feels weird to me when this happens, like just because Juliet and Romeo had a thing, doesn't mean the Capulets and Montagues had to start dating one another... bad analogy let's move on.)

At this point, I have no plans for Flora and Helia to be A Thing in the Alt Con, but if it feels like there could be some natural development, I won't rule it out. Helia will still be around, he and Flora just won't be auto matched.

...I fell a little bad I don't have more to say about this ship... I guess... as 'blah' as I feel about them, even I think season 7 did them dirty?

Musa/Riven (feat. Darcy)

Ah yes, the other ship we probably all have strong 'fix it or end it forever' feelings for.

We as a fandom have talked this one over as well, we all know that no matter how passionate it was, the writers just could not let them get to a healthy place and stay there.

Any time it looked like these two dorks were going to be okay, and move past their rocky beginnings: NOPE! Misunderstanding because Riven is a 'Bad Boy' and Musa has abandonment issues which makes it hard for her to trust him... or something???

… honestly it's a little tricky to pin down exact reasoning with these two, because again, I don't think the writers have ever been anywhere near a healthy and supportive long term relationship, and they need to prolong the 'she can fix him if she just holds on' token relationship.

Because realistically that's what this one is, the ship that tells young girls that they can fix 'bad boys' if they just stick it out, that boys like that can be or want to be fixed and 'good boyfriends are prizes you get for fixing shitty ones'. It could have been so much more than that.

The problem is there was never any space where Musa wasn't 'in crush' with Riven or in a relationship with him, and there was only a few times when Riven got to not be an asshole, all of which were typically wipe away for status quo reasons within a few episodes.

So the starting point for these two (versus relationships) in the Alt Con, is Darcy. You all remember when Riven and Darcy dated in the first season, but it was so she could use him as a maybe spy? But she might have liked him for reals? But she totes dumped him like a sack of crap once he was no longer useful and once he did his redemption act, no one ever brought it up again?

I'm not the only one who remembers that right?

So Alt Con Darcy/Riven were actually in love, they met and clicked and it sizzled, and Darcy regretted having to choose between Riven and her sisters, to the point where she helped Riven escape, even though it ended up leading to her own downfall.

And Riven was genuinely in love with Darcy, even into season 2 and 3 he's still in love with her, but he's also trying to get over her, because she's a bad person who tried to rule/destroy the universe.

He had a shitty childhood, he has reasons (not excuses) for being the way he is, and being jealous of Sky's leadership position, but (and this is the important part) Riven knows he's kind of an asshole, and he knows he's not the nicest guy, and the one who wants to make Riven not an asshole, is Riven.

(Reasons: This is why I did the thing. | Excuses: This is why you should let me get way with it.)

Riven is relying on his friends, and yes on Musa too, to help him become a better person, but he's not leaving it all to them, they aren't forcibly shoving him down the road to redemption, Riven is taking responsibility and trying to be better for himself.

Fixing him is not Musa's job, she's just a friend who's supporting another friend on his road to self improvement.

That's not to say that Musa has only platonic friendship feels for Riven, oh no, she thirsts for that capable warrior man, but she also knows that he's kind of an asshole, and a pretty face is not enough to make a shitty attitude worth it.

Though she still occasionally checks him out, (because she has eyes, she can look,) Musa has set aside romantic ideas for the time being, and after season 1 the two settled into a bumpy but solid friendship.

If Musa/Riven do become A Thing, it will be far down the road after a long term friendship, once Riven has gotten to a place where he feels both okay with who he is as a person, and that he has moved on from Darcy and can share his heart with a new person the way they deserve (rather than forever being second string to his first girlfriend) ((and because they grew together while they were growing as people, not her getting a reward for waiting it out)).

(Yes I do understand she wasn't some blameless victim in an abusive relationship as this rant may have seemed to indicate, these two were both to blame for their poor communication and hang ups, but mostly because the writers were ass hats. This show is designed for young girls, every message in it is first intended for young girls, though they can be shared with anyone, and because my brain: what's the scariest maessage that can be taken from this fiasco of a relationship? ^that shit^)

Mirta/Lucy

It was Canon, and I'll hear nothing to the contrary, but holy shit did Lucy keep running back to the Trix and treating Mirta like crap.

I am giving them a little more screen time, and an ongoing background arc, so I let them talk it out.

Alt Con Mirta and Lucy are in 'denial' (they just shy) about being 'together' as of the end of season 2, but they've moved past their fears of being abandoned by one another just because their lives and magics have taken them down different roads.

They'll finish figuring their shit out eventually.

Daphne/Thoren

… no, none of this. Just... just no, thank you. She's staying 'dead' and he doesn't exist.

Palladium/Avalon

So in Canon, Palladium had a crush on who he thought was Avalon, but was actually a monster in disguise. This was never addressed, nor was any trauma Avalon may have suffered during his imprisonment, or the fact that people at Alfea would have acted like they knew him, when they didn't and that would have been confusing until he got to know them all.

This was a ship in it's infancy that never got to be, because it was based on even more of a lie than Bloom/Sky, Stella/Brandon, Aisha/Nabu in Canon.

The Canon of this ship was straight up (ha, pun) queer baiting, let's be real, so Alt Con switched a few key details.

1: Avalon was possessed by a demonic sleeper agent rather than an entire fake!Avalon, so the relationship actually happened, and didn't get retconned last minute.

2: The students ship it

3: Avalon feels like shit about being possessed, but he and Palladium are working through it together

End Note:

I personally feel like the two biggest problems facing the relationships in the Winx Club was the absolute lack of communication between people allegedly in relationships, and the writer's need for Status Quo Drama.

(Status Quo Drama: things that happen to create drama and are never truly solved in a satisfactory manner despite being 'resolved' by the end of the arc in a way that leaves all characters right back where they started while pretending their was some kind of progression.)

#Winx #winx club #Winx Alternative Continuity #Winx Alt Con #winx ships #shipping rant #I APOLOGISE FOR EVERYTHING #ranting about shipping #i’m just bitching now #I got an Ask!#Asking Alternix

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